Battle Abbey - Battle United Kingdom - Abbeys, Convents and Monasteries on Waymarking.com

In 1070, Pope Alexander II ordered the Normans to do penance for killing so many people during their conquest of England. In response, William the Conqueror vowed to build an abbey where the Battle of Hastings had taken place, with the high altar of its church on the supposed spot where King Harold fell in that battle on Saturday, 14 October 1066. William started building it, dedicating it to St. Martin, sometimes known as "the Apostle of the Gauls," but died before it was completed. The Vill survey of 1076 and early legal documents of adjoining property refer to a hospital or guesthouse which was attached to the gate of the abbey.[2] Its church was finished in about 1094 and consecrated during the reign of his son William known as Rufus. William I had ruled that the church of St Martin of Battle was to be exempted from all episcopal jurisdiction, putting it on the level of Canterbury. Walter de Luci became abbot in 1139 and made several improvements. During the reign of Henry II of England rival church authorities at Canterbury and Chichester unsuccessfully tested the charter.[3] The church was remodelled in the late 13th century but virtually destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538 under King Henry VIII.

At the dissolution, the displaced monks of Battle Abbey were provided with pensions, including the abbot John Hamond and the prior Richard Salesherst, as well as monks John Henfelde, William Ambrose, Thomas Bede and Thomas Levett, all bachelors in theology.

The abbey and much of its land was given by Henry VIII to his friend and Master of the Horse, Sir Anthony Browne, who demolished the church and parts of the cloister and turned the abbot's quarters into a country house.

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Full name of the abbey/monastery/convent: Battle Abbey Address: High Street Battle, East Sussex England TN33 0AE Religious affiliation: Benedictine Date founded/constructed: 1180 Web Site: [Web Link] Status of Use: Abandoned Ruin

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