Its canons observed the Rule of St Augustine to a varying degree, with some serious lapses, at least in the late 15th century, when the order's visitor uncovered widespread sexual exploitation of local women.

[33] At this point the convent of Dodford had dwindled to a single canon, Thomas Tipton,[34] who was therefore the prior at the time of dissolution, and the king's reference to the "decrease of fruits and profits" makes clear that the priory was in financial difficulties.

On 1 September orders were issued from Nottingham to Bartholomew Burghersh, the constable of Dover Castle, to permit the abbots of Halesowen and West Dereham Abbeys to cross the Channel with their entourages, with 20 marks each for expenses.

Entering the community, sometimes as children, they would progress through a novitiate, under the tutelage of the novice master, until able to make their religious profession as full members, specifically as part of the convent of Halesowen.

[63] On the vigil of Trinity Sunday 1419 Thomas Holder of Halesowen convent was ordained a subdeacon during a vacancy in the see by Nicholas Duffield, the abbot of Pershore, who had been recognised as bishop of Dunkeld by the Roman antipopes during the Western Schism.

In 1488 William Hales, a priest, was in charge of the infirmary and Thomas Cooksey, who had been accused alongside Saunders in 1478 but found innocent, made his first appearance as prior of Dodford Priory, which had been absorbed by the abbey some years previously.

The first extant report by Redman on Halesowen, dated 1478, found the canons complaining about the abbey's bread, which was said to insufficienti, non de frumento sed alliis granis confecto, ministris altaris Christi minus congruo et inhonesto: "inadequate, not made of wheat but produced from other grains, unsuitable for ministers of the altar of Christ and shameful.

He retained Hales in royal hands, so Henry II was in a position to make a gift of it to his sister Emma of Anjou, who had married Dafydd, the son of Owain, king of Gwynedd and Prince of Wales.

If this was confusing in relation to the manor, the residents of the wider parish of Halesowen, who looked to the abbey as their church, could be greatly inconvenienced, as it crossed the boundary of the enclave and included settlements that were undoubtedly in Worcestershire.

This was the conclusion to a fairly protracted dispute: at the court of 9 May he had been placed in day-to-day distraint, detention with no fixed limit in the abbey prison, because he refused to part with the payment due on his mother-in-law's death.

The abbot and convent petitioned the king in parliament to obtain help in their dispute with the men of the manor of Halesowen who, on the plea that from of old they had belonged to the royal demesne, were refusing to render their feudal customs and services.

[106] Instead of rushing to the aid of the convent, Edward I had scented an opportunity to recover royal estates and had a writ of quo warranto issued, compelling the abbot to state under what authority he held the manor.

[137] William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke quitclaimed to Halesowen Abbey the forty acres as well as common of pasture at Ab Lench for the souls of himself and his wife Eleanor, the king's sister.

[153] The rent paid by the abbot was available for the king to grant to whomever he pleased, and in 1337 he gave it to Alice Plomton, a lady in waiting to his own sister, Eleanor, Countess of Guelders, as an allowance, pending a fuller provision which he promised he would arrange later.

[157] The second, dated similarly, refers to the estate being alienated in mortmain and gives a little more detail about the conditions of the grant, stipulating six wax candles for Joan's anniversary and alms of 20 shillings to be distributed among the poor.

Medieval property transactions seldom refer to cash considerations, but it is possible that Richard retained Warley for his own lifetime only after the abbey and Joan offered a way to relieve him of heavy debts.

As well as using Jewish lenders, Premonstratensian Dale Abbey employed a cleric, William of Southwell to find encumbered estates for them, sometimes using feoffment for a single rose to conceal money transactions.

Halesowen Abbey responded, like other major landowners, by leasing out more and more of its demesne to those who were in a position to cultivate it, and in some cases even selling land, initially in small transactions involving peasants.

The Lyttelton charters give glimpses of this process, starting on 25 March (Lady Day) 1335 with the lifetime lease of a tenement at Ridgeacre and two other plots to John Weston of Coventry and his wife for eight shillings per year.

[181] The date 1415 may be a clue to the purpose of the transaction: the king was about to launch the invasion of France that led to the Battle of Agincourt and religious houses had every reason to minimise their tax liability and their exposure to the levying of "voluntary" loans.

Behind this were tales of all the mistakes, competing claims, royal caprice, avarice and deceit that characterised medieval property transactions and made the apparently simple statement of fact a complex and nuanced interpretation of a chequered history.

[190] After reviewing all the documentation relating to the abbey's relationship with Halesowen church, starting with Peter de Roches' original grant, Adam Orleton, Bishop of Worcester, issued an inspeximus and confirmation on 4 January 1331.

[192] A reference in the Worcester annals relating to 1232 makes clear that a payment of 20 shillings and the gift of the cope were expected from the newly elected abbot,[193] who was presumably blessed in his capacity of patron of Halesowen parish church.

The prior had requested his perquisites for eight years without success, as Walter de la Flagge had been abbot since 1305,[194] so it is not surprising that he ended his letter with the implied threat that he wished to avoid discord and litigation.

[200] The three churches or chapels of Cradley, Warley and Lutley are mentioned together not only in the Valor Ecclesiasticus but also when their advowsons and lands were granted, together with all the estates of Halesowen Abbey, to Sir John Dudley in September 1538.

[206] In January 1223 William Ruffus was summoned to the Court of Common Pleas to explain why he claimed the advowson of the church of Walsall, where Magister Serlo de Sunning, had been rector since he was installed by King John.

[210] Despite both royal and papal confirmations that the advowson of Walsall now belonged to Halesowen Abbey, whatever its previous status and whoever the donor, Henry III presented Osbert of Maidstone to the parish on 3 June 1245.

As justification, the abbot pointed to the high cost of hospitality, as Halesowen was on a main road, and the recent losses of income: there had been a major fire in the borough of Hales and a decline in veneration of the head of St Barbara one of the abbey's most important relics.

[253] Some time that year or early in 1539 the moveable property, plate, lead, bells, and buildings of the abbey were sold and the receipts entered at the Court of Augmentations under the name of the "late commissioner", John Freman.

[271] Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley, who succeeded to the title in 1586, was soon in deep financial difficulties and was pursued by the Privy Council for failure to maintain his family, as well as facing the Star Chamber over his violent feud with the Lytteltons.