Known as the last resting place for Etherstan, the first king of England, the Malmesbury Abbey, has a long and diverse history, founded in the 7th century in the village of Malmesbury in Wiltshire. He is one of the only British religious figures with a history that lasted from the 600s until the dissolution of the monastery under King Henry VIII.
However, the history of the monastery was not well known, and there were some rather dark times. While studying Malmesbury's history, Tony discovers that this beautiful monastery once housed a murderous monk named John of Tintan. Tony spoke to the BBC about his discovery, compared the monk, and was elected to be the abbot of Malmesbury.
He said: “He worked as a gang and a gangster.
John had a rather long criminal history, beginning in 1318, 22 years before becoming the abbot of Malmesbury. In his first crime, he was accused of being brought before Edward II and participating in a “massive brawl.”
A few years later, John and the other monks of Malmesbury were caught up in hiding 10,000 pounds.
This money is believed to have been given to the monastery for safety by the Despencer family, who were faithful to King Edward II. Following the king's deposition and Despencer's execution, the monks kept the money secret for about ten years.
After this was finally discovered, John realized he had fallen into legal trouble again, but King Edward III forgave him and the other monks after regaining 10,000 pounds.
But seeing John fall in history as a rather disgraceful monk k was not only brave and stolen. Despite taking the vows of singleness, he lived openly with him, publicly showing off his relationship with Margaret of Lee.
He burned Margaret's house and accused her of living with her husband, and accused her of being accused of being there.
John also faced murder accusations and hired assassins to kill many people. Most of them were local gentlemen and tenants living in the land of abbeys. Tony suggests that this was so that he could instead give land to his own “friends”
Ultimately, all of these charges were issued for John's arrest warrant, and both he and Margaret fled. However, despite being accused of murder rather than facing prison or death penalty, John was eventually sentenced to £500. This is equivalent to hundreds of thousands of people today.
After his career as both a monk and a criminal, John died in 1349 and suspected he had become a victim of the black plague.
However, before his death, John appears to have sought pardon for his crimes, and attempts to ask the Pope for “dul.” This means that his sins will be forgiven at the moment of his death.
