Reading Abbey

The Abbot: Power and Authority

After taking their vows, usually in their early twenties, and retiring from the hurly-burly of everyday life into the seclusion of the cloister, it is strange that for some monks there was a return to the demands of social niceties and administration problems of the highest complexity. For Abbots were customarily chosen from the ordinary monks after showing their ability in holding down positions of lesser responsibility. The first Abbots of Reading were selected by the king and bishops from other monasteries, but then the monks of Reading usually chose their own Abbot from amongst themselves, the election being confirmed by king and bishop.

The responsibilities of the Abbot of Reading stretched widely. He was ultimately in charge of the spiritual and material needs of the monks and visitors and the upkeep of the monastery buildings. He was treated with deference and respect, having his special dais in the Chapter House and Dining Room, and being acknowledged by the monks as he passed them by their standing and bowing. He was responsible for the smooth running of the town of Reading; on behalf of the king he imposed and collected taxes, administered justice and fined or imprisoned wrongdoers, and he maintained the roads and bridges. He had the right to issue his own coinage under royal supervision. At first the mint was in London but in the 14th century it was set up within the monastery walls and the coins bear the Abbey's shell emblem. The Abbot also chose the chief official of Reading, known after 1300 as the Mayor, although at times with some opposition from the citizens of the town who remembered easier times before the founding of the Abbey when their lord was not the Abbot on their doorstep but the king.

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