LLANTHONY, MONASTERY OF

House of canons regular of st. augustine, situated in the remote valley of the Honddu (hence its name Llanhonddu or Church-of-the-Honddu) in the Black Mountains of southeastern Wales. The priory began as the hermitage of William de Lacy, a knight turned hermit in the time of William Rufus (1090–1100). A church was consecrated in 1108 and evolved into an Augustinian priory c. 1118. It flourished until the turmoil in wales following the death of Henry I (1135). A second priory,

Llanthony Secunda, was then founded near Gloucester. At Llanthony Prima new buildings of great beauty were begun c. 1175 to 1190 and completed by 1230. The two priories became independent by agreement c. 1205. Llanthony Prima, though holding considerable possessions in its own vicinity and in Ireland, suffered a marked decline during the difficult period of the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1481 Henry deane, prior of Llanthony Secunda, obtained a royal grant for the merger of Llanthony Prima with his own priory. Abp. William warham visited Llanthony Prima in 1504. It continued to maintain a prior and four canons until the Dissolution, when its income was estimated in Valor Ecclesiasticus as £112. On March 10, 1538, the deed of surrender of both priories was signed by Richard, prior of Llanthony Secunda, and David, prior of Llanthony Prima, as well as 23 others.

Bibliography: A Bibliography of the History of Wales (2d ed. Cardiff 1962). g. williams, The Welsh Church from Conquest to Reformation (Cardiff 1962). o. e. craster, Llanthony Priory (London 1963).

[g. williams]