Mysteries of the April-May 1303 Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid

Summary: The Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid May 30-Jun 3, 1303, remains mysterious in its noisy realization in a contemplative order's buildings.

The 1303 Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid occurred while King Edward I was camped at Linlithgow, West Lothian, southeastern Scotland, hammering at his favorite quarry, the Scots: oil painting on north, or altar, side of Westminster Abbey sedilia (seats for priests during Mass) thought to portray King Edward I, during whose reign the sedilia were erected: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid May 30-June 3, 1303, abounds in mystery, not least of which appears in the length of time between the act and its announcement to the king.

The mysteries began with the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raiders' "thick hempen weeds deliberately grown [in 1302] across the monks' cemetery to conceal their blasphemous handiwork." They continued for days with the "echoing rasp of hammer and chisel as the bars of the chosen window nearest in the  Crypt were brutally forced." They demanded diverting such daily traffic as "farmers who had the right to pasture their cattle or those who wished to use the latrines built there."

The Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid exacted three days of extensive exposure extracting "Cups and goblets, dishes, plates, precious jewels, sacred relics, gold and silver coins."

Ferreting filched gems, icons, jewels, plateware and vessels from windows, through fields and gates, to the River Thames fanned further Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid mysteries.

Getting precious metals and stones to and from temporary hideaways before and during days of locked doors and gates April 30-May 3, 1303, goaded additional mysteries. That "the bulk was removed to the Palace or, across the wasteland and royal gardens, to barges waiting on the Thames" heralded contemporary and historical mysteries. That "Such items were now being discovered in the London money market and scattered in the fields and meadows around Westminster and elsewhere in the city" injected intrigue.

The hundreds judged as knowing about and profiting from the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid joined with just seven judged guilty as perhaps the greatest mystery.

King Edward I (June 17, 1239-July 7, 1307) knew nothing until "the testimony of faithful and loyal people" about the month-old Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid.

The king launched battles northward against neighboring Scots and southwestward against neighboring Welsh, located "all the great offices of state" in York and lived with lag-times. Paul Doherty mentions Kings Chapel, Hall and House staff discovering the raid May 27, 1303, and their courier making it in seven-plus days to Linlithgow, Scotland. Nobody in St. Margaret's Church and Westminster Abbey's Chapel, Chapter House, cloister, dormitory, guest-house, infirmary, kitchen and refectory west of Westminster Palace noticed four noisy nights.

Not one of the farmers pasturing cattle, guests relying upon latrines or monks seeking God objected to four days of noisy break-ins, guards, locks and takeouts.

Doherty posits that "Some of the thieves had been drinking heavily after carousing in a local prison; others were sober, eager to move their ill-gotten wealth."

That more than "A few items were lost" between Abbey grounds, Abbey and Palace gates, Kings Bridge, the Thames and London quadrupled questions about nefarious noise. That "precious items were being hauled from the Thames as well as found in ditches and fields around Westminster," especially St. Margaret's cemetery, required royal apprisal. The Coroner of Westminster shared his suspicions on the source of the suspect stray treasure, only to be silenced by the Westminster Abbey sacristan and sub-prior.

Five justices turned up, within two years, seven for hanging from hundreds who helped, in, knew about or profited from the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid.

Westminster Abbey's Royal Treasury raiders gained entrance through one of the Chapter House's six windows rather than by doors, which were locked; Chapter House and Pyx Chamber doors opened onto the Abbey's East Cloister; engraving of Thompson's "South East Angle of the Cloisters," with Pyx Chamber door (right), by Joseph R. Hamble (fl. 1775-1825) in William Combe's The History of the Abbey Church of St. Peter's Westminster, vol. II (1812), Plate T, opposite page 260: Public Domain, via HathiTrust

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

The 1303 Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid occurred while King Edward I was camped at Linlithgow, West Lothian, southeastern Scotland, hammering at his favorite quarry, the Scots; oil painting on north, or altar, side of Westminster Abbey sedilia (seats for priests during Mass) thought to portray King Edward I, during whose reign the sedilia were erected: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gal_nations_edward_i.jpg

Westminster Abbey's Royal Treasury raiders gained entrance through one of the Chapter House's six windows rather than by doors, which were locked; Chapter House and Pyx Chamber doors opened onto the Abbey's East Cloister; engraving of Thompson's "South East Angle of the Cloisters," with Pyx Chamber door (right), by Joseph R. Hamble (fl. 1775-1825) in William Combe's The History of the Abbey Church of St. Peter's Westminster, vol. II (1812), Plate T, opposite page 260: Public Domain, via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/gri.ark:/13960/t8x933058;
Public Domain, via HathiTrust @ https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark:/13960/t8x933058;view=1up;seq=429;size=75;
Public Domain, via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/gri.ark:/13960/t8x933058?urlappend=%3Bseq=429;
via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/historyofabbeych02comb/page/n428/mode/1up

For further information:

Combe, William. 1812. The History of the Abbey Church of St. Peter's Westminster: Its Antiquities and Monuments. Vol. I. London, England: L. Harrison and J.C. Leigh, MDCCCXII.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/historyofabbeych01comb

Combe, William. 1812. The History of the Abbey Church of St. Peter's Westminster: Its Antiquities and Monuments. Vol. II. London, England: L. Harrison and J.C. Leigh, MDCCCXII.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000197240

Doherty, Paul. 2005. The Great Crown Jewels Robbery of 1303: The Extraordinary Story of the First Big Bank Raid in History. New York NY: Carroll & Graf Publishers.

Hall, Hubert. 1891. The Antiquities and Curiosities of the Exchequer. With Illustrations by Ralph Nevill. The Camden Library. New York NY: A.C. Armstrong & Son; London, England: Elliot Stock.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015035120412
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/cu31924032413340

Harrod, Henry. 31 March 1870. "On the Crypt of the Chapter House, Westminster Abbey." Chapter XXIII, pp. 373-382 in Archaeologia: or Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London. Vol. XIV.
Available via HathiTrust @ https://hdl.handle.net/2027/njp.32101076451788?urlappend=%3Bseq=163
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/archaeologiaopt244sociuoft#page/373/mode/1up

Keay, Anna. 2011. The Crown Jewels. London UK: Thames & Hudson Ltd.

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 April 2018. "Richard Puddlicott and the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid, 1303." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/richard-puddlicott-and-westminster.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 May 2018. Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid in April and May 1303 in England." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid.html

Upcott, William. 1818. "The History of the Abbey Church of St. Peter's, Westminster, Its Antiquities and Monuments: 79. South East Angle of the Cloisters." Vol. II: 868. London, England: Richard and Arthur Taylor, MDCCCXVIII.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/bibliographicala02upco#page/868/mode/1up