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The History Of Selby, Its Abbey, And Its Masonic Associations.
a prosperous voyage approached Selby , when recognizing the place as shown in his vision he commanded the sailors to land him , which they did ; and truly to the storm-tossed saint the prospect must have been most inviting , for it was indeed a fair land , well-wooded and pastured , abounding in cattle , and also fish , especially the royal salmon , and having also in the neighbourhood good stone for building , and of which he and his successors were to make such
excellent use hereafter . It was also pleasantly and conveniently situate near the mouth of three great rivers , and near the royal and episcopal city of York . Truly Benedict might feel , as he raised the cross and built a hut under a large oak , that his lines had fallen in p leasant places . He then built of wood a monastery on the banks of the river Ouse , afterwards removed to its present site . Benedict was fortunate in obtaining the favour of Hugh , the Norman governor
of York , who introduced him to William the Conqueror , and probably procured him his favour ; who accordingly , in gratitude for his northern victories ( for here it was that in 1068 the great battle between the Saxon earls , Edwin ancl Morka , took place , in which William was victorious , and thus in consequence triumphantly consolidated his power in the north ) , determined to found the Abbey of Selby in 1069 , and granted the manor of Selby to Benedict , who was
ordained first abbot b y Thomas , Archbishop of York , who was also a great friend to the newly-established monastery . Benedict was unwearied in his efforts to obtain gifts for the monastery , and obtained from the king a carucate of land ( from sixty to one hundred acres ) on which the town and monastery were built ; one carucate of land in Snaith ; a wood called Flaxley , containing six bovates or oxgangs ; the town of Roucliffe ; and another half carucate of land at Braiton , and a fishery at Whitgift .
His friend , Thomas of York , gave Fryston ancl Minor Selby and the monks were free from all exactions ; and granted a court sac , toll , team , and infangenethefe , with all such customs as had been enjoyed by the Episcopal Church of St . Peter ' s at York . The manor of Crowle , in Lincolnshire , was given by Galfrid de la Wirchi ; an estate at Stamford-upon-Avon , Northamptonshire , by Wido de Rainscourt ; and the Pope Alexander II . granted at Auvergne , 31 st
May , 1076 , a faculty for the abbott and his successors for ever to use the ring , mitre , pastoral staff , dalmatic coat , gloves and sandals , and the right of blessing the palls of the altar and other ecclesiastical ornaments , and of conferring the first tonsure . These privileges were afterwards confirmed b y Archbishop Greenfield and the Dean and Chapter of York on 30 th March , 1308 . A copy of the charter founding the abbey is to be found in Dugdale ' s Nomasticon
, and as the same is most interesting I trust you will allow me to read it . " In the name of the holy and individual Trinity , Father , Son , and Holy Ghost , Amen , William , the bravest and most powerful of all the kings by whom at this time royal sceptres are swayed under heaven , governing the great realm of England , which , by the permission and will of God , first , by signs and wonders , and after b y great power and war overcoming the English ,
to holy church , as well as to his earls and barons and all his ministers , greeting . By the providence of God ' s divine pity and by my own goodness , inspired by the mercy of God , I have granted leave to Benedict , a most pious abbot , who has devoutly requested it , to build in Selby a monastery in honour of our Lord Jesus Christ and of His most blessed mother the Virgin Mary , and of St . Germain bishop of Auxerre , In which foundation I have comprised , and of my
royal mnnificence have set apart and given from my own table , Selby , itself , that is to say , one carucate of land in Snaith , six oxgangs of land in Flaxley and Roucliffe and half a carucate in Braiton , and a fishery at Whitgift ; and the lands given to the same church by Thomas , Archbishop of York , namely , Frieston aud Minor Selby , as well as by viva voce , as by the tenor of his brief . In the same manner I have without any reserve confirmed the grant of Crull , namely , one hundred , which lies in the county of Lincoln , and of Stamford in the county of Northampton , which Galfrid de la Wirchi , and Wido of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The History Of Selby, Its Abbey, And Its Masonic Associations.
a prosperous voyage approached Selby , when recognizing the place as shown in his vision he commanded the sailors to land him , which they did ; and truly to the storm-tossed saint the prospect must have been most inviting , for it was indeed a fair land , well-wooded and pastured , abounding in cattle , and also fish , especially the royal salmon , and having also in the neighbourhood good stone for building , and of which he and his successors were to make such
excellent use hereafter . It was also pleasantly and conveniently situate near the mouth of three great rivers , and near the royal and episcopal city of York . Truly Benedict might feel , as he raised the cross and built a hut under a large oak , that his lines had fallen in p leasant places . He then built of wood a monastery on the banks of the river Ouse , afterwards removed to its present site . Benedict was fortunate in obtaining the favour of Hugh , the Norman governor
of York , who introduced him to William the Conqueror , and probably procured him his favour ; who accordingly , in gratitude for his northern victories ( for here it was that in 1068 the great battle between the Saxon earls , Edwin ancl Morka , took place , in which William was victorious , and thus in consequence triumphantly consolidated his power in the north ) , determined to found the Abbey of Selby in 1069 , and granted the manor of Selby to Benedict , who was
ordained first abbot b y Thomas , Archbishop of York , who was also a great friend to the newly-established monastery . Benedict was unwearied in his efforts to obtain gifts for the monastery , and obtained from the king a carucate of land ( from sixty to one hundred acres ) on which the town and monastery were built ; one carucate of land in Snaith ; a wood called Flaxley , containing six bovates or oxgangs ; the town of Roucliffe ; and another half carucate of land at Braiton , and a fishery at Whitgift .
His friend , Thomas of York , gave Fryston ancl Minor Selby and the monks were free from all exactions ; and granted a court sac , toll , team , and infangenethefe , with all such customs as had been enjoyed by the Episcopal Church of St . Peter ' s at York . The manor of Crowle , in Lincolnshire , was given by Galfrid de la Wirchi ; an estate at Stamford-upon-Avon , Northamptonshire , by Wido de Rainscourt ; and the Pope Alexander II . granted at Auvergne , 31 st
May , 1076 , a faculty for the abbott and his successors for ever to use the ring , mitre , pastoral staff , dalmatic coat , gloves and sandals , and the right of blessing the palls of the altar and other ecclesiastical ornaments , and of conferring the first tonsure . These privileges were afterwards confirmed b y Archbishop Greenfield and the Dean and Chapter of York on 30 th March , 1308 . A copy of the charter founding the abbey is to be found in Dugdale ' s Nomasticon
, and as the same is most interesting I trust you will allow me to read it . " In the name of the holy and individual Trinity , Father , Son , and Holy Ghost , Amen , William , the bravest and most powerful of all the kings by whom at this time royal sceptres are swayed under heaven , governing the great realm of England , which , by the permission and will of God , first , by signs and wonders , and after b y great power and war overcoming the English ,
to holy church , as well as to his earls and barons and all his ministers , greeting . By the providence of God ' s divine pity and by my own goodness , inspired by the mercy of God , I have granted leave to Benedict , a most pious abbot , who has devoutly requested it , to build in Selby a monastery in honour of our Lord Jesus Christ and of His most blessed mother the Virgin Mary , and of St . Germain bishop of Auxerre , In which foundation I have comprised , and of my
royal mnnificence have set apart and given from my own table , Selby , itself , that is to say , one carucate of land in Snaith , six oxgangs of land in Flaxley and Roucliffe and half a carucate in Braiton , and a fishery at Whitgift ; and the lands given to the same church by Thomas , Archbishop of York , namely , Frieston aud Minor Selby , as well as by viva voce , as by the tenor of his brief . In the same manner I have without any reserve confirmed the grant of Crull , namely , one hundred , which lies in the county of Lincoln , and of Stamford in the county of Northampton , which Galfrid de la Wirchi , and Wido of