Sigebert Buckley
Encyclopedia
Sigebert Buckley was a Benedictine monk in England, who is regarded by the Benedictines and by Ampleforth College
in particular as representing the continuity of the community through the English Reformation
.
Although the English Benedictines had been dissolved by Henry VIII
in the 1530s, one solitary monastery
was re-established in Westminster Abbey
by the Roman Catholic Queen, Mary I of England
20 years later. After only a few years, her half-sister Queen Elizabeth I dissolved this monastery again. By 1607 only one of the Westminster monks was left alive: Father Sigebert Buckley.
Buckley survived until the reign of James I
, by which time a number of Englishmen had become Benedictines in the monasteries of Italy and Spain, and had obtained a faculty from Pope Clement VIII (in 1602) to take part with the secular clergy and the Jesuits in the English mission. It was through the efforts of the English monks of the Cassinese or Italian Congregation that Buckley became instrumental in preserving monastic continuity in England.It is through Buckley that the English Benedictine Congregation
lays claim to an unbroken continuity with the pre-Reformation monasticism of England.
Ampleforth College
, the largest Roman Catholic boarding school in England, was opened in 1802 and is run by the Benedictine monks of Ampleforth Abbey
, which traces its history through Buckley.
Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, England, is the largest Roman Catholic co-educational boarding independent school in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1802, as a boys' school, and is run by the Benedictine monks and lay staff of Ampleforth Abbey...
in particular as representing the continuity of the community through the English Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
.
Although the English Benedictines had been dissolved by Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
in the 1530s, one solitary monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
was re-established in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
by the Roman Catholic Queen, Mary I of England
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
20 years later. After only a few years, her half-sister Queen Elizabeth I dissolved this monastery again. By 1607 only one of the Westminster monks was left alive: Father Sigebert Buckley.
Buckley survived until the reign of James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, by which time a number of Englishmen had become Benedictines in the monasteries of Italy and Spain, and had obtained a faculty from Pope Clement VIII (in 1602) to take part with the secular clergy and the Jesuits in the English mission. It was through the efforts of the English monks of the Cassinese or Italian Congregation that Buckley became instrumental in preserving monastic continuity in England.It is through Buckley that the English Benedictine Congregation
English Benedictine Congregation
The English Benedictine Congregation comprises autonomous Roman Catholic Benedictine communities of monks and nuns and is technically the oldest of the 21 congregations that are affiliated in the Benedictine Confederation....
lays claim to an unbroken continuity with the pre-Reformation monasticism of England.
Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College
Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire, England, is the largest Roman Catholic co-educational boarding independent school in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1802, as a boys' school, and is run by the Benedictine monks and lay staff of Ampleforth Abbey...
, the largest Roman Catholic boarding school in England, was opened in 1802 and is run by the Benedictine monks of Ampleforth Abbey
Ampleforth Abbey
Ampleforth Abbey is a monastery of Benedictine Monks in North Yorkshire, England, part of the English Benedictine Congregation. It claims descent from the pre-Reformation community at Westminster Abbey through the last surviving monk from Westminster Sigebert Buckley.The current Abbot is Fr...
, which traces its history through Buckley.
Buckley's statement
I, D. Sebert, otherwise Sigebert, priest and monk of the monastery of St. Peter, Westminster, of the Congregation of England of the Order of St. Benedict: lest the rights, privileges, insignia, should perish which were formerly granted by Princes and Pontiffs and which for some years, God so permitting, have been preserved in me the sole survivor of all the English monks: did at London in the year 1607, the 21st day of November, with the consent of their superiors receive and admit as brethren and monks of the said monastery D. Robert Sadler of Peterborough and D. Edward Maihew of Salisbury, English priests and monks professed of the Cassinese Congregation of St. Justina of Padua: and to them did grant, impart and assign all rights, privileges, ranks, honours, liberties and graces which in times past the monks professed and dwelling in the said monastery did enjoy.
And the same by these presents I do again approve, ratify and confirm. And I do receive and admit as monks, brethren, lay-brethren, oblates of the said monastery and to them do grant, impart and assign all rights, privileges, as above, all those whom D. Thomas Preston of Shropshire, D. Augustine [Smith] and D. Anselm [Beech] Lancastrians, and D. Maurus [Taylor] of Ely have admitted or received as monks, lay-brethren, oblates, and to whom they have granted the rights, &c, as above: since to them I did grant authority and power so to admit, &c, as appeareth more at large in my letters of the 21st November 1607: the which [letters] as to all and each of their parts I do by virtue of these presents hold ratified and confirmed, and will so hold them in perpetuum. Given at Punisholt, otherwise Ponshelt, Anno Domini 1609, the 8th day of November, in the presence of the underwritten Notary and witnesses".