Melchbourne Preceptory

Melchbourne Preceptory was a priory in Melchbourne, Bedfordshire, England. It was established in the 12th century and disestablished around 1550. HistoryThe preceptory of Melchbourne was founded in the reign of Henry II by Alice de Claremont; other benefactors, including Roger de Clare, Earl of Hertford, Hugh de Beauchamp of Eaton, and William, Archbishop of York, added gifts of land and churches. Richard de Clare, the son of Roger, confirmed the gifts of his father and of Alice de Claremont; and after the suppression of the Knights Templar some of their property in Bedfordshire was transferred to Melchbourne. A general chapter was held at this preceptory in 1242, under the presidency of Brother Terricus de Nussa, prior of the hospital in England; but beyond this very little is known of the history of the house. On two occasions the Hospitallers of Bedfordshire came into collision with the canons of Dunstable Priory, on account of one of the customs of their order. They were allowed by a special privilege of the pope to grant Christian burial to all those who had given alms to their fraternity, whatever the manner of their death. So in 1274, when the canons of Dunstable refused to bury a suicide, the Hospitallers impleaded them, and they had to pay a fine for the sake of peace. Again in 1282, when one of the servants of John Duraunt, a merchant of Dunstable, committed suicide by jumping into a well, and his body in consequence was flung into a ditch outside the town, the Hospitallers found him and buried him in their cemetery. The Hospitallers, like other religious, received boarders into their houses from time to time. In 1527 a certain William Browne received a grant of board and lodging in the preceptory of Melchbourne, from the prior of the hospital. References to this house are very few and far between: except in a few notices of leases, it is not mentioned in the large chartularies of the order.

Melchbourne Preceptory was a priory in Melchbourne, Bedfordshire, England. It was established in the 12th century and disestablished around 1550. HistoryThe preceptory of Melchbourne was founded in the reign of Henry II by Alice de Claremont; other benefactors, including Roger de Clare, Earl of Hertford, Hugh de Beauchamp of Eaton, and William, Archbishop of York, added gifts of land and churches. Richard de Clare, the son of Roger, confirmed the gifts of his father and of Alice de Claremont; and after the suppression of the Knights Templar some of their property in Bedfordshire was transferred to Melchbourne. A general chapter was held at this preceptory in 1242, under the presidency of Brother Terricus de Nussa, prior of the hospital in England; but beyond this very little is known of the history of the house. On two occasions the Hospitallers of Bedfordshire came into collision with the canons of Dunstable Priory, on account of one of the customs of their order. They were allowed by a special privilege of the pope to grant Christian burial to all those who had given alms to their fraternity, whatever the manner of their death. So in 1274, when the canons of Dunstable refused to bury a suicide, the Hospitallers impleaded them, and they had to pay a fine for the sake of peace. Again in 1282, when one of the servants of John Duraunt, a merchant of Dunstable, committed suicide by jumping into a well, and his body in consequence was flung into a ditch outside the town, the Hospitallers found him and buried him in their cemetery. The Hospitallers, like other religious, received boarders into their houses from time to time. In 1527 a certain William Browne received a grant of board and lodging in the preceptory of Melchbourne, from the prior of the hospital. References to this house are very few and far between: except in a few notices of leases, it is not mentioned in the large chartularies of the order.