Chapter VII: The Abbey 1200-1248
Any connection that might have existed between Paisley and Wenloc was thus severed, but that between Paisley and the house of Clugny remained firm as before. In the Bull of Honorius, the rights of others were reserved, and not even the Pope ventured to erect the Paisley house finally into an Abbey, without the consent of the Abbot of Clugny. It was not until twenty-six years afterwards that this dignitary gave his permission. [15] During that time the Cistercians, a religious order that had become powerful in Scotland, did all in their power to get the Paisley house transferred to them, by promising the Stewart those privileges for his monastery which Clugny refused to grant, and the monks themselves were subjected to considerable persecution to induce them to consent to this transference. In the year 1245, the Council of Lyons was held in furtherance of the Crusades. At this Council William the Bishop of Glasgow, and other Scottish Bishops, were present, and being in the neighbourhood of Clugny, took occasion to bring before Hugo the Abbot the condition of the Convent of Paisley. After the Council was over, the Abbot of Clugny entertained with munificent hospitality the Pope, the Emperor of Constantinople, the King of France, and many church dignitaries,—twelve cardinals, three archbishops, fifteen bishops, and an host of others, clerical and lay, without depriving the brethren of their chambers, their refectory, chapter house, and other ordinary apartments. It is probable that the Bishop of Glasgow and some of his brethren were among the guests, at any rate, they pleaded very earnestly the case of Paisley. They stated strongly that Humbaldus, the Prior of Wenloc, had cheated and deceived the founder of Paisley, concealing from him the fact that the head of his convent had no power to receive the profession of the monks, and it had thus happened that all the monks during the course of many years had died without making profession, on account of the want of an abbot, contrary to the intention of the founder, who might have provided an abbot for the said house from any order he chose to select. Hugo granted their request, and consented to the election of an abbot; and the bishops, in return for this favour, became bound, in behalf of Paisley, to pay two marks yearly to the Monastery of the Clunaic order at Pontefract in England, at the Feast of St. Peter ad Vincula. This subsidy the monks of Paisley seem to have forgotten to pay, and the license granted by Hugo was withdrawn by his successor, Stephen. The Bishop of Glasgow again pled the cause of the Paisley monks, and again obtained the requisite permission on his promising, in their name, prompt payment of the two marks for the future, and undertaking that the Abbot of Paisley should personally or by proxy, visit Clugny every seven years to make obeisance, and render an account to his superior.
William was probably the first abbot of Paisley, though it is possible that Roger may have assumed the title. The former is mentioned frequently in various deeds between 1225 and 1248. He seems to have been an ecclesiastic of no small energy, if we may judge from the zeal and determination which he showed in defending the privileges and possessions of his house. He had a notable controversy with his diocesan, Walter, Bishop of Glasgow, who, with the Bishop of St. Andrews, claimed right to tax the revenues of the churches belonging Paisley for proper payment of the vicars, who served them, and to exact from them certain dues in name of “procurations.” [16] This assumption, though backed by the decree of a Scotch ecclesiastical Council, William stoutly resisted. He made a journey himself from Paisley to Rome, [17] and pled his cause before the Pope, as the supreme protector of the order of Clugny and its privileges. Honorius III., who was at that time Pope, wisely refrained from pronouncing judgment upon a matter so intricate and of so local a character as the taxation of parish churches, and by a bull dated at Reate, in 1226 [18] referred the whole matter to the Bishop of Lismore and the Abbots of Kilwinning and Dercongal, giving full powers to any two of them to settle the dispute. These commissioners were successful in effecting a compromise between the contending parties. They met together in the church of Peebles, and drew up a scale of stipends for the vicars serving the churches belonging to the Abbey. These stipends were not very large, and consisted chiefly of the altar dues, eked out by a chalder or two of wheat, and supplemented occasionally by a few acres of ground in the neighbourhood of the church. The bulk of the revenues went to the Monastery. The question of procurations was settled at the same time; a scale of taxation for this purpose was agreed upon, and the church of Erskine was ceded to Glasgow. A firm peace was thus apparently concluded between the contending parties. It does not seem to have been so lasting as was expected, and even in William's time the controversy was revived. There was always a strong jealousy between the regular and the secular clergy, and their jurisdiction was perpetually clashing. As far as we can judge, the abbot on this occasion came off victorious.
[15] Ibid., p. 15.
[16] Reg. de Pas, p. 323, et supra.
[17] Ibid., p. 314.
[18] Ibid., p. 320.