Abbot of Evesham

The Abbot of Evesham was the head of Evesham Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in Worcestershire founded in the Anglo-Saxon era of English history. The succession continued until dissolution of the monastery in 1540:

List

Abbots of St Mary of Evesham
From	Until	Incumbent	Citation(s)	Notes
fl. 692–717		Ecgwine	[1]	Founding abbot and saint
dates unclear		Æthelwold	[2]	First in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[2]
dates unclear		Aldbore	[2]	Second in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[2]
dates unclear		Aldbeorth	[2]	Third in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[2]
dates unclear		Aldfrith	[3]	Fourth in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
dates unclear		Tilhberht	[3]	Fifth in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
dates unclear		Cuthwulf	[3]	Sixth in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
dates unclear		Aldmund	[3]	Seventh in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
dates unclear		Credan	[3]	Eighth in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
dates unclear		Thingfrith	[3]	Ninth in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
dates unclear		Aldbald	[3]	Tenth in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
dates unclear		Ecgberht	[3]	Eleventh in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
dates unclear		Ælfrith	[3]	Twelfth in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
dates unclear		Wulfweard	[3]	Thirteenth in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
dates unclear		Cynelm	[3]	Fourteenth in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
dates unclear		Cynath I	[3]	Fifteenth in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
dates unclear		Ebba	[3]	Sixteenth in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
dates unclear		Cynath II	[3]	Seventeenth in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
dates unclear		Edwine	[3]	Eighteenth in Thomas of Marlborough's abbot list[3]
c. 970	expelled 975	Osweard	[4]	Abbey was secularised in 975, but afterwards went into the hands of one "Bishop Agelsius" (probably Æthelsige I, Bishop of Sherborne, resigned, translated or died 990 x 992), afterwards to Bishop Ælfstan (either Ælfstan, Bishop of Rochester (died 995), or Ælfstan, Bishop of London (died 995 x 996), after whose death Ealdwulf, Bishop of Worcester, established Ælfric and Ælfgar as abbots.[4]
995 x 997	unclear	Ælfric	[4]
997 x 1002	unclear	Ælfgar	[4]
dates unclear		Brihtmaer	[4]
unclear	c. 1013	Ælthelwine	[4]	Became Bishop of Wells, c. 1013[4]
c. 1014	died 1044	Ælfweard	[5]	Became Bishop of London c. 1016, but retained abbey of Evesham until death[5]
1044	resigned 1058	Mannig (or Wulfmær)	[5]	Suffered paralysis and resigned 1058; died on epiphany, i.e. 6 January 1066[5]
1058	died c. 1077	Æthelwig	[5]
1077	died 1104	Walter	[5]
unclear	died 1130	Maurice	[5]
1130	died or resigned 1149	Reginald Foliot	[5]	Uncle of Gilbert Foliot
1149	died 1159	William de Andeville	[5]
1159	1160	Roger	[5]
1161	died 1189	Adam de Senlis	[5]
1190	resigned 1213	Roger Norreis	[6]	Became Prior of Penwortham, an Evesham dependency [6]
1214	died 1229	Randulf	[7]	Previously Prior of Worcester and Bishop-elect of Worcester [7]
1230	died 1236	Thomas of Marlborough	[8]
1236	died 1242	Richard le Gras	[8]	Was elected Bishop of Coventry in 1241, but either declined office or died before this disputed election was resolved [8]
1243	died or resigned 1255	Thomas of Gloucester	[9]
1256	died 1263	Henry of Worcester	[9]
1263	died or resigned 1266	William of Malborough	[9]
1266	died 1282	William of Whitechurch	[9]
1282	died 1316	John of Brockhampton	[9]
1316	died 1344	William de Chiriton	[9]
1345	died 1367	William du Boys	[9]
1367	died 1379	John of Ombersley	[10]
1379	1418	Roger Zatton	[11]
1418	1435	Richard Bromsgrove	[11]
1435	c. 1460	John Wykewan	[11]
1460	1467	Richard Pembroke	[11]
1467	1477	Richard Hawkesbury	[11]
1477	1483	William Upton	[11]
1483	1491	John Norton	[11]
1491	1514	Thomas Newbold	[11]
1514	1539	Clement Litchfield or Lychfeld	[11][12]	died October 1546 and buried in the southern chantry chapel of All Saints, Evesham
1539	1540	Philip Hawford (or Ballard)	[11]

Notes

1. Lapidge, "Ecgwine"
2. Sayers and Watkiss (eds.), History of the Abbey of Evesham, p. 139
3. Sayers and Watkiss (eds.), History of the Abbey of Evesham, p. 141
4. Knowles, Brooke and London (eds.), The Heads of Religious Houses : England and Wales. 1, 940–1216, p. 46
5. Knowles, Brooke and London (eds.), The Heads of Religious Houses : England and Wales. 1, 940–1216, p. 47
6. Knowles, Brooke and London (eds.), The Heads of Religious Houses : England and Wales. 1, 940–1216, p. 48
7. Knowles, Brooke and London (eds.), The Heads of Religious Houses : England and Wales. 1, 940–1216, p. 48; Smith and London, The Heads of Religious Houses : England and Wales. 2, 1216–1377, p. 41
8. Smith and London, The Heads of Religious Houses : England and Wales. 2, 1216–1377, p. 41
9. Smith and London, The Heads of Religious Houses : England and Wales. 2, 1216–1377, p. 42
10. Smith and London, The Heads of Religious Houses : England and Wales. 2, 1216–1377, pp. 42–3
11. Page and Willis-Bund, "Abbey of Evesham"
12. John Chambers, Biographical illustrations of Worcestershire: including lives of persons, natives or residents, eminent either for piety or talent: to which is added, a list of living authors of the county (W. Walcott, 1820) p.45

References

• Knowles, David; Brooke, C. N. L.; London, C. M, eds. (2001), The Heads of Religious Houses : England and Wales. 1, 940—1216 (2nd ed.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-80452-3
• Lapidge, Michael (2004), "Ecgwine (d. 717?), bishop of Worcester", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, retrieved 30 March 2009
• Page, William; Willis-Bund, J. W., eds. (1971), "Houses of Benedictine monks: Abbey of Evesham", A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 2 (1971), British History Online, pp. 112–27, retrieved 30 March 2009
• Smith, David M.; London, C. M, eds. (2001), The Heads of Religious Houses : England and Wales. 2, 1216–1377, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-80271-7