- John Whethamstede
John Whethamstede (d.
20 January ,1465 ), Englishabbot , was a son of Hugh Bostock, and was born atWheathampstead inHertfordshire , owing his name, theLatin form of which is Frumenlarius, to this circumstance.After early schooling at the Abbey School (now
St Albans School ) he enteredSt Albans Abbey when only sixteen. He was chosenabbot of thisBenedictine monastery in 1420. In 1423, Whethamstede attended theCouncil of Siena . In theKingdom of England , his time was mainly occupied with lawsuits, several of which he carried on to defend the property and enforce the rights of the abbey.In 1440, he resigned his post but, in 1451, on the death of his successor John Stoke, he became abbot for the second time. He died on January 20, 1465, and his tomb may still be seen in the abbey church.
Whethamstede was an energetic and successful abbot. He greatly improved the buildings at St Albans, which suffered somewhat during his later years owing to the
Wars of the Roses , the first open conflict of which was theFirst Battle of St Albans in 1455. He also did some building atGloucester .He was also closely, if clumsily, associated with the humanistic activities of Henry V's youngest brother,
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester , who died in 1447 and was buried in St Albans Abbey, where he was honoured as a benefactor.External links
* [http://www.imagesonline.bl.uk/britishlibrary/controller/subjectidsearchid=8403&&idx=1&startid=11236 British Library: a picture of John Whethamstede from the "Golden Book of St Albans"]
References
*1911
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