His holiness Pope Calixtus had reserved to himself the next
appointment to this as well as to certain other wealthy abbeys.
The nuns in much distress appealed to the Bishop, but he could do
nothing for them. Such reservations had been constant in the
subservient days that followed King John's homage, and though the
great Edwards had struggled against them, and the yoke had been
shaken off during the Great Schism, no sooner had this been healed
than the former claims were revived, nay, redoubled, and the pious
Henry VI. was not the man to resist them. The sisters therefore
waited in suspense, daring only meekly to recommend their Prioress in
a humble letter, written by the Chaplain, and backed by a
recommendation from Bishop Beauchamp. Both alike were disregarded,
as all had expected.
The new Abbess thus appointed was the Madre Matilda de Borgia, a
relation of Pope Calixtus, very noble, and of Spanish birth, as the
Commissioner assured the nuns; but they had never heard of her
before, and were not at all gratified. They had always elected their
Abbess before, and had quite made up their minds as to the choice of
the present Mother Prioress as Abbess, and of Sister Avice as
Prioress.
However, they had only to submit. To appeal to the King or to their
Bishop would have been quite useless; they could only do as the Pope
commanded, and elect the Mother Matilda, consoling themselves with
the reflection that she was not likely to trouble herself about them,
and their old Prioress would govern them.
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