. Abbot Peter has been described as "the most noteworthy of his line." It may well have been he, around 1338, who authored—or at least began—the
chronicle known as the
Ledger Book. This recorded not only a history of the abbey and its abbots until 1338, but also contained the abbey's litigation records and
papal bulla granted to the Cistercians. Abbot Peter was also responsible for re-siting Vale Royal in 1330, which was deemed necessary because the old quarters (which the house had occupied since 1281) had become, says the
Ledger, "unsightly and ruinous" but the abbey had been so short of funds to carry out its original building works that much of the church and convent buildings were still incomplete. The Abbot reported in 1336 that the
vaults, the roof or the windows of the church had yet been finished, and was forced to ask the
General Chapter for financial assistance. Around late 1327 or early 1328, Abbot Peter was
sued by
Shrewsbury Abbey for the sum of 500
marks. This was related to the ongoing dispute over the
advowson of
Kirkham Church, Lancashire, which had arisen during the abbacy of Peter's predecessor,
Walter of Hereford. The advowson had originally belonged to Shrewsbury in the twelfth century, but in 1196 it had been acquired—through litigation—by
Theobald Walter. It had been granted, however, by Edward I to Vale Royal as part of its
endowment. Theobald Butler, a descendant of Walter's, continued to press his family's claim to Kirkham. In defence of the abbey's rights to that church, Walter of Hereford had managed not only to get Edward II to confirm his father's grant to the abbey, but also to persuade the pope to confirm it as being in possession for perpetuity. This had been taxed at £160 in the 1270s, but by the time of Peter's abbacy its value had halved to £80. Notwithstanding these confirmations, Abbot Peter was summoned to appear before the
Archbishop of York, to demonstrate under what grant or law Vale Royal held Kirkham. He attended the hearing armed with a great deal of written evidence (in the form of
charters) and witnesses. The fact that the abbot was forced to publicly defend his rights to his superior may well be a reflection on weaknesses in the wording of the original grant. "Even the Abbey's own chronicler," said historian
Peter Coss "cast some doubt on the justice" of the grant. Although Shrewsbury's clam was for eight years' rents from Kirkham church (twelve marks annually), Peter was unable to obtain the dismissal of the suit (or other "favourable termination"). Although Peter managed to redeem "that writ and many others" from the
Sheriff of Lancashire, Shrewsbury's case was not settled until after Peter's death. In 1337 Abbot Peter became involved in a dispute with Sir William Clifton over the church's
tithes from the villages of
Clifton and
Westby, from which Peter claimed that Sir William had unlawfully taken twenty marks (or, it has been suggested, because the Abbot refused to sell the tithes to Clifton). Peter further accused the knight of taking the money with violence, threatening the
rector of Kirkham church and physically preventing him from collecting what was due to the abbey, and sending his
retainers to invade the church, stop the
service, and hold up a
baptism. Sir William also, said Peter, injured the rector's riding horse in what the Abbot described as a "ridiculous manner". He had also abducted Thomas, one of the Abbot's own clerks, and
flagellated him through the streets of
Preston. Thanks to the involvement of the
Abbot of Westminster, who was the head of the
Cistercian Order in England, Clifton was forced to surrender himself to the Abbot in supplication. Abbot Peter received his tithe money and an oath of good behaviour from the errant knight.
Feud with the villagers of Darnhall Vale Royal Abbey had been unpopular with the local villagers, as its grants of local land—surrounding villagers claimed—impinged on their customary liberties. Relations between the abbey and its tenantry had always been tempestuous. In 1275, only a year after the abbey's foundation, tenants of Darnhall attempted to withdraw from paying the Abbot customs and services, a position from which they would not withdraw, but rather pushed with increasing vigour for the next fifty years. Abbot Peter continued his predecessors' campaign to maintain the
villeinage of his tenants; or, to put it another way, was "an energetic defender of the rights of his house." The tenantry initially relied on the law to obtain satisfaction, but finding Abbot Peter's political connections and influence too powerful, their campaign turned increasingly violent. The tenants of
Darnhall, joined by those of surrounding villages, took such umbrage with Abbot Peter's actions that in June 1337 a group of them even followed him across England. The Abbot had visited
King Edward III at his
King's Cliffe Hunting Lodge. Returning through
Rutland, Abbot Peter and his party were accosted by the Cheshiremen (a "great crowd of the country people" reports the
Ledger). The latter attacked, and in the melée that followed, the Abbot was "ignominiously taken," and his
groom killed. The following day the King ordered the Abbot's release, which was swiftly complied with by his captors, who were themselves then imprisoned. In a curious episode, the King later ordered the Abbot to return to his rebellious tenantry (who by then had been released) the goods Peter had confiscated from them. Less curiously, perhaps, the Abbot refused to do so. == Death ==