t became an alien priory, and its
landed possessions, which had once surpassed those of the abbeys at
Gloucester and at Winchcombe, were dwarfed to very scanty dimensions.
It suffered, too, in prestige, having become a priory, and was
constantly being harried by successive monarchs.

We find that the Conqueror confirmed the grant of the Abbey of
Deerhurst to St. Denis, but that King John confiscated its revenues.
In 1225 Pope Honorius III. by a Bull approved that the Priory should
be perpetual and conventual. In virtue of this the Prior could claim
not to come into the King's hands, but it was many years before this
claim was barely recognised. In this same year the Prior was again in
possession of the Priory and its lands; but in 1250 (_temp._ Henry
II.), the Priory was sold to Richard, Duke of Cornwall, who seems to
have driven out the monks and destroyed the greater part of their
buildings. Later in the same reign, 1260, the Abbot of St. Denis again
got possession of the Priory.

In 1295 Edward I. took possession of all the existing alien priories
for the sake of the revenue they would bring into his exchequer.
Edward III.[29] again despoiled the monks of what was theirs, and his
grandson, Richard II., followed in his steps.

The Priory had a respite from such continued harryings with the
accession of Henry IV. (1399). This king took possession of it as an
alien Priory, but immediately handed it over to William Forester, the
then Prior, with the stipulation that in the event of a war with
France the King should receive a sum of money equal to that which in
time of peace would be paid to the Abbey of St. Denis. With halcyon
days like these the Priory set about rebuilding what had been
destroyed, and works were undertaken--much of which is standing at the
present time.

Henry V. by charter in 1419 confirmed the policy of Henry IV. in
giving the Prior all the rights and privileges enjoyed by William
Forester, and Henry V. acknowledged the claim of the Priory to be
conventual and perpetual, and as such, not to come into the King's
hands. However, one king proposes, another disposes. Henry VI. in
1463, while confirming all existing rights, made the Priory a denizen
priory with the same status as all other similar English foundations.
But this change was followed by yet another in four years' time. Henry
VI. being the founder of Eton College, and King's College, Cambridge,
was in want of funds, and he relieved the pre