Richard of Evesham (occasionally of Eynsham)[1][note 1] was Abbot of Vale Royal from 1316 to 1342.
"Richard de Evesham, who from the flower of his youth up had loved his Creator with all his heart, and at length succeeded in winning from God the better part, which, like Mary, he had chosen.
[5] By Abbot Richard's time, this had increased in bitterness on his tenantry's behalf that on one occasion, whilst travelling around the villages collecting the Church's tithes, he was personally attacked.
And 1320 saw not just further violence but bloodshed: one of the Abbey's monks was assaulted in Tarvin, and in Darnhall, a servant of Abbot Richard was killed.
[1] In this particularly barbarous episode, having killed the man, the malefactors cut his head off and played football with it.