Why, during the night of December 13th 1330, did the Rector of St Martin’s Church, assisted by his brother and two other men, place a ladder against the wall of St Augustine’s Abbey, and assisted an elderly “monk” (or was it a snake?) to scale the wall and escape on horseback to Bishopsbourne? Why did various search parties look for him and why was he forcibly returned to St Augustine’s Abbey against his will? Did he make any further attempts to escape and were they successful? If you’d been present in St Paul’s Church at Steve O’Hanlon’s lecture to CHAS on September 10th (image 1 below), you would have found out the answer to these questions.
These events were just a few in the colourful career of Peter de Dene (c.1265 – 1334 +). He seems to have been born in Sussex near Chichester, to have had an excellent education and to have become an ordained priest and ecclesiastical lawyer. During a meteoric rise he seems to have held positions of canon at York, London and Wells. He also attended several parliaments during the reigns of Kings Edward I and II. Image 2 below shows a 16th Century depiction of a parliamentary session of King Edward I. In the centre sit the justices and law officers (where Peter de Dene would have sat when he attended similar sessions).
In spite of a stellar career Peter de Dene developed a bitter feud with the Archbishop of Canterbury (Robert Winchelsea), perhaps because he (de Dene) had been caught poaching on the Archbishop’s estate. Perhaps this feud was one of the reasons he became legal counsel and generous benefactor to St Augustine’s Abbey (and supported them in disputes with the Archbishop and with Christchurch monastery). He paid for the kitchen, chapter house, Fyndon gate, and the brewhouse and bakehouse to be built or rebuilt between 1300 and 1320. He also paid for the re-roofing of the dormitory and additions to the infirmary.
Although de Dene had initially supported King Edward II, in 1322, he backed the Duke of Lancaster in his failed attempt to depose the King, and afterwards took sanctuary in St. Augustine’s Abbey for his own safety. He brought many valuables to the Abbey for safekeeping. He was allowed to lived separately from the monks in his own house within the grounds, and he could attend or absent himself from services and meetings as he pleased. By 1330 the political situation had changed entirely and de Dene considered his life was no longer in danger. However Abbot Bourne refused to permit his release (presumably wishing to retain not only de Dene but also his wealth within the Abbey community). Hence de Dene’s attempt to escape (with the Rector of St Martin’s help) on December 13th, and the monks success in recapturing him and returning him to the abbey. This episode provoked an extraordinary dispute between the two Canterbury monasteries with Prior Oxenden (Christchurch monastery) attending on several occasions and demanding that de Dene be released in accordance with a papal bull, which the monks of St Augustine’s claimed to be a forgery. It seems that de Dene was never able to leave the confines of the monastery and spent the rest of his life there.
It is a shame that we have no personal diary or memoirs of Peter de Dene to help us with further details but we can at least “admire” an image. While he was a canon of York Minster, he was the donor of the easternmost window in the north aisle of the nave. It is the oldest armorial window in England (image 3) and is known as “The Peter de Dene window”. The main part of the window is occupied with the history of St. Catherine, but in the central panel at the bottom of the window Peter de Dene has included a depiction of himself (image 4). He is kneeling, and is clothed in surplice, blue cope and hood, purple cassock and shoes, and furred amice.
Why the reference to a snake in the first line of this blog? Well it seems that Peter de Dene was none too popular with the monks and many others during his time at York. The Archbishop of York (William Greenfield) was a supporter but when the two men visited St Mary’s Abbey (in York) the chronicler referred to de Dene as the cruel master serpent. Later, when Archbishop Melton was at York, the chronicler reported that “a great serpent crawled among them”, and another reference in the abbey chronicle refers to him as a dreadful snake. Whatever the rights or wrongs of this there is no doubt that Peter De Dene was a great benefactor of St Augustine’s Abbey. Nowadays it is usual for a major sponsor to demand that their name be attached to a new building. So, as Steve O’Hanlon states, next time you pass the great Fyndon gate (image 5), perhaps you should think of it as the “Peter de Dene Gate”.
Click on each of the images below to enlarge it.
To read a more detailed account of the life of Peter de Dene please click here.