MITRED CISTERCIAN ABBEYS IN MEDIEVAL ENGLAND.

This article examines the papal grants of pontificalia—episcopal insignia including the mitre, ring, gloves, and other vestments—to English Cistercian abbots from the early fifteenth century onward, highlighting their rarity and late occurrence compared to other monastic orders. It identifies up to thirteen English Cistercian abbeys, including prominent royal foundations like Fountains and Furness, whose abbots received papal indults permitting use of these symbols, often linked to the abbey's status, founder, or the abbot's ecclesiastical roles. The study explores how mitred abbots displayed their status through heraldry, funerary monuments, and patronage of art and architecture, noting that such use reflected evolution within the Order rather than decline or decadence. The article also discusses the broader privileges conferred by these grants, such as bestowing benedictions and minor orders, and situates the Cistercian experience within wider late medieval monastic practices in England.