The Chronicle of the Abbey of Evesham is a remarkable medieval history of one of England’s great Benedictine monasteries. Beginning with the abbey’s legendary and royal foundations, it traces the fortunes of Evesham through centuries of religious devotion, political conflict, legal struggle, rebuilding, reform, and royal patronage. At the heart of the chronicle is the abbey’s determination to defend its ancient liberties. Its monks record disputes with bishops, appeals to popes and papal legates, contested elections of abbots, lawsuits over lands and privileges, and the long struggle to preserve Evesham’s exemption from episcopal control. Alongside these institutional battles are vivid accounts of saints and miracles, including St Ecgwine, St Odulf and the royal martyr St Wistan, whose relics and cult formed an important part of the abbey’s identity. The chronicle also preserves a wealth of detail about everyday monastic life. It describes the building and repair of churches, cloisters, chapels, halls, mills, granges and fishponds; the acquisition of estates and revenues; the making of vestments, shrines, bells and liturgical books; and the provision of food, clothing, recreation and medical care for the monks. Successive abbots emerge not merely as religious superiors but as administrators, builders, patrons, diplomats and defenders of the community. Extending into the later Middle Ages, the narrative reflects the changing political world around Evesham, from the Norman Conquest and the Angevin kings to the Wars of the Roses and the reign of Henry VIII. The result is both a history of a single monastery and a richly detailed record of medieval English religious, legal, economic and political life. This edition offers modern readers direct access to one of the most important monastic chronicles of medieval England, revealing how the monks of Evesham understood their saints, their privileges, their rulers and their place in history.

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John More 1451-1530

Around 1451 John More was born.

On 24th April 1474 John More [aged 23] and Agnes Graunger were married at St Giles without Cripplegate Church [Map].

On 7th February 1478 Thomas More was born to John More [aged 27] and [his wife] Agnes Graunger at Milk Street. He married 1505 Jane Colt and had issue.

In 1499 [his wife] Agnes Graunger died.

In 1505 Thomas More [aged 26] and [his daughter-in-law] Jane Colt were married.

In 1518 John More [aged 67] was appointed Justice of the Common Pleas.

In 1520 John More [aged 69] was appointed Justice of the King's Bench.

After 1520 John More [aged 69] and Alice More were married.

Around 1527 Hans Holbein The Younger [aged 30]. Portrait of John More [aged 76].

In 1530 John More [aged 79] died.

In 1545 [his former wife] Alice More died.