Pembroke, Priory of
PEMBROKE, PRIORY OF
Also known as Monkton, former Benedictine monastery in Pembroke, Saint Davids diocese, Wales. It was founded in 1098 as a cell to St. Martin's Abbey, Séez, Normandy, by Arnulf Montgomery, Lord of Pembroke, and was further endowed by later earls of Pembroke. Richard II, because of the French war, seized it into his hands (1378). Henry IV restored it (1399), but it was evidently again seized, since Henry VI granted it (1441) to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who in turn granted it to the Abbey of saint albans (1443). Under Saint Albans, Pembroke had a prior and probably three or four monks. Henry VIII dissolved it (1539). Dugdale describes the priory church, prior's mansion, dove house, and two chapels. The church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, and mother of two other Pembroke churches, continues in (Anglican) ecclesiastical use.
Bibliography: w. dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum (London 1655–73); best ed. by j. caley et al., 6 v. (1817–30) 2:243–244; 4:320–323; 6.2:999. Calendar of Documents Preserved in France, ed. j. h. round (London 1899–) v. 1. j. e. lloyd, A History of Wales from the Earliest Times to the Edwardian Conquest, 2 v. (3d ed. New York 1939) v. 2. d. knowles and r. n. hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses: England and Wales (New York 1953).
[r. w. hays]