Beauchamps/Mortimers & Malmesbury Abbey

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Cristopher Nash

Beauchamps/Mortimers & Malmesbury Abbey

Legg inn av Cristopher Nash » 24 nov 2006 18:24:25

Among the surviving medieval encaustic tiles found at the great abbey
of Malmesbury it appears, oddly, that while family arms are
represented among them, these are of two families only, Mortimer and
Beauchamp. (The latter may presumably — given the distinctive
possibility of a Mortimer connection — be of the Elmley->Warwick
line, though I've not yet verified that.)

This is not a region normally associated with either family, I've not
found a hint of any connection in the extensive histories, and I'm
curious to learn what descendant of both _might_ have been a
benefactor there, and why.

Genealogical allusions to Malmesbury Abbey have in the past been thin
on the ground, largely because it was established not by a secular
family but by (St) Aldhelm with the direct endorsement and support of
the Papal See, and because its development was so essentially owing
to the competition not between private families but (in the first
instance) between the kings of Wessex and Mercia and (subsequently)
between the Bishops of Salisbury, Winchester et al. for the
opportunity to sponsor and expand it, and was due ultimately to the
massive independent wealth of the Abbey itself.

There are of course several important Mortimer/Beauchamp
intermarriages, but obviously it's perfectly possible that no such
marriage _between_ them is relevant here. (Who knows, for example,
what other significant families aren't represented in the abbey's
surviving tiles? There's only the statistical teaser that, after all,
the Mortimer and Beauchamp tiles are the survivors.)

It's only this week that I've noticed this historical (and no doubt,
at some level, genealogical) puzzle, and I write with many apologies
for my leaping in here without yet having done my homework. I hope
simply that someone may have readily at hand some information that
might resolve the thing without too much fuss?

Cheers to all,

Cris

Nathaniel Taylor

Re: Beauchamps/Mortimers & Malmesbury Abbey

Legg inn av Nathaniel Taylor » 24 nov 2006 22:10:58

In article <mailman.298.1164398536.22297.gen-medieval@rootsweb.com>,
Cristopher Nash <c@windsong.org.uk> wrote:

Among the surviving medieval encaustic tiles found at the great abbey
of Malmesbury it appears, oddly, that while family arms are
represented among them, these are of two families only, Mortimer and
Beauchamp. (The latter may presumably ‹ given the distinctive
possibility of a Mortimer connection ‹ be of the Elmley->Warwick
line, though I've not yet verified that.)

This is not a region normally associated with either family, I've not
found a hint of any connection in the extensive histories, and I'm
curious to learn what descendant of both _might_ have been a
benefactor there, and why.

Genealogical allusions to Malmesbury Abbey have in the past been thin
on the ground, largely because it was established not by a secular
family but by (St) Aldhelm with the direct endorsement and support of
the Papal See, and because its development was so essentially owing
to the competition not between private families but (in the first
instance) between the kings of Wessex and Mercia and (subsequently)
between the Bishops of Salisbury, Winchester et al. for the
opportunity to sponsor and expand it, and was due ultimately to the
massive independent wealth of the Abbey itself.

There are of course several important Mortimer/Beauchamp
intermarriages, but obviously it's perfectly possible that no such
marriage _between_ them is relevant here. (Who knows, for example,
what other significant families aren't represented in the abbey's
surviving tiles? There's only the statistical teaser that, after all,
the Mortimer and Beauchamp tiles are the survivors.)

It's only this week that I've noticed this historical (and no doubt,
at some level, genealogical) puzzle, and I write with many apologies
for my leaping in here without yet having done my homework. I hope
simply that someone may have readily at hand some information that
might resolve the thing without too much fuss?

An interesting query and basis for it. Would it be possible to post
pictures of these tiles, or point to them if online somewhere?

Nat Taylor
http://www.nltaylor.net

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