Reign of Edward I 1272-1307, Edward II 1307-1327
The first Rector we know about was Richard of Abindone. He was presented to the church in Willingham by King Edward I in 1302, a brilliant soldier known generally as Longshanks. It was a common practice then that the King would present a man to a Church living so that he could use the income from it to work for the King elsewhere. It provided the King with a very effective intelligence network. It was also part of the system of checks and balances between the power of the King as head of state and the power of the Pope as head of the Catholic Church.
From Chancellor of the Exchequer in Ireland to the Kings Ambassador in Bordeaux
When he came to Willingham, Richard had already spent 14 years in Dublin as collector of Revenues for the Archbishopric of Dublin, becoming Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland in 1299. We know that he was sent on the King’s Service to Bordeaux in Gascony, France, in 1310. The following year found him in Gloucester as an Assize Judge where he tried 80 citizens of Bristol who had revolted against the Corporation. The King obviously thought highly of him. He was rewarded not only with a salary, but in addition to Willingham he also became a Canon of Salisbury and Wells, and a Prebendary of Lichfield Cathedral. There were some worrying times in Willingham. Incessant rain over 2 successive summers in 1315 and 1316 caused widespread famine and cattle disease. Hopefully the surrounding fens would still have been a good source of fish and wild fowl.
Map of England & France with routes to Bristol & Bordeaux
Travel in the 1300’s
Richard’s travels prompt the question of how he would have travelled. The national road system was still based largely on Roman roads built 1000 years earlier, and routes were determined by available river crossings. The route from Cambridge to Bristol via London should have been relatively straightforward on old Roman roads, but even this is likely to have taken a week’s travel by horse, with security a constant problem. The route from Willingham to Bordeaux was on a different scale. He is likely to have sailed from London or Sandwich down the full length of the English Channel and across the Bay of Biscay. Against prevailing winds, this could have taken several uncomfortable weeks. It would not have been without risk either, but probably safer than the 400 miles overland on horseback across France,
Next time: A Golden Age in Willingham