Colchester Abbey was an Benedictine

Benedictine

Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...

 abbey

Abbey

An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...

 in Colchester

Colchester

Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...

 (Grid reference

British national grid reference system

The Ordnance Survey National Grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references used in Great Britain, different from using latitude and longitude....

  or ).

In 1120 Eudo Dapifer

Eudo Dapifer

Eudo Dapifer was a Norman aristocrat favoured by William the Conqueror.-Early life:Eudo was the fourth son of Hubert of Ryes, who is legendarily known as the loyal vassal who saved the life of Duke William of Normandy in his flight from Valognes during a revolt 1047. Eudo's brothers were Ralph,...

, steward

Lord Steward

The Lord Steward or Lord Steward of the Household, in England, is an important official of the Royal Household. He is always a peer. Until 1924, he was always a member of the Government...

 to William I

William I of England

William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...

 and Henry II

Henry II of England

Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

, was buried there, whilst May 1157 Henry II held a trial in the Abbey concerning the right of the pope to over rule him on matters of religion.

John Ballard

John Ballard

John Ballard was an English Jesuit priest executed for being involved in an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I of England in the Babington Plot.John Ballard was the son of William Ballard of Wratting, Suffolk...

, an archer, captured the archdeacon

Archdeacon

An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, Chaldean Catholic, and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...

 of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 during the latter part of the fourteenth century. He deserted from the army before entering Calais

Calais

Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

 and smuggled his prisoner into Colchester Abbey and finally sold him in London for £50.

1523 John Rainsford was accused by Richard Vynes, an ex-servant of the abbot

Abbot

The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...

 of Colchester, of committing a murder within the sanctuary of Colchester Abbey. Rainsford's answer to the evidence against him was that he had been conversing with the victim when two men entered and killed him after a struggle in which Rainsford's efforts to protect him failed because he was unarmed at the time; not realizing the seriousness of the victims wounds, Rainsford had tried to succour him and was thus found with the body.

In 1539 Colchester abbey was dissolved

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

 and its abbot, Thomas Marshall

Thomas Marshall (the Blessed John Beche)

Thomas Marshall was the last Abbot of Colchester Abbey.-Life:He was educated at Oxford University where he took his degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1515. He then became the twenty-sixth Abbot of St. Werburgh's, Chester and went on to become Abbot of St. John's, Colchester on 10 June 1530...

, hanged outside its gates for refusing to sign it over to Henry VIII.