page_title: Order of Brothelyngham
hierarchical_section_title: Order of Brothelyngham
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Kathedrale von Exeter English: Exeter Cathedral. Español: Catedral de Exeter. Suomi: Exeterin tuomiokirkko.
context_page_description: The Order of Brothelyngham was a group of men who formed themselves into a fake religious order in the city of Exeter in 1348, perhaps as a satire against the Church, which was commonly seen as corrupt, with its priests not living according to their vows in the late 14th century. They named themselves after a non-existent place which would have suggested chaos, wretchedness or some similar context to their contemporaries. They dressed as monks and elected a madman as their abbot, who ruled the men from a theatrical stage.
  The Brothelynghamites caused much trouble in the city and its environs, regularly emerging from their base—which may have been some form of medieval theatre—and terrorising the populace of Exeter. Bearing their 'Abbot' aloft before them, they kidnapped locals whom they held for ransom and extortion, although it is likely that they saw themselves as theatrical players rather than criminals.
  The Bishop of Exeter, John Grandisson, issued instructions to his agents in Chudleigh to investigate, condemn and excommunicate the order, explicitly for their disobedience and debauchery.
context_section_description: The Order of Brothelyngham was a group of men who formed themselves into a fake religious order in the city of Exeter in 1348, perhaps as a satire against the Church, which was commonly seen as corrupt, with its priests not living according to their vows in the late 14th century. They named themselves after a non-existent place which would have suggested chaos, wretchedness or some similar context to their contemporaries. They dressed as monks and elected a madman as their abbot, who ruled the men from a theatrical stage.
  The Brothelynghamites caused much trouble in the city and its environs, regularly emerging from their base—which may have been some form of medieval theatre—and terrorising the populace of Exeter. Bearing their 'Abbot' aloft before them, they kidnapped locals whom they held for ransom and extortion, although it is likely that they saw themselves as theatrical players rather than criminals.
  The Bishop of Exeter, John Grandisson, issued instructions to his agents in Chudleigh to investigate, condemn and excommunicate the order, explicitly for their disobedience and debauchery. As one of the few such gangs known to modern historians, the order of Brothelyngham is considered historiographically significant for what it implicitly suggests of anticlerical activities and attitudes in England during this period. The name was probably a play on the  Order of Sempringham, which was the target of contemporary gossip and rumour on account of enclosing both monks and nuns on the same premises.
caption: Exeter Cathedral, from where the Bishop of Exeter, John Grandisson, launched his attack on the Order of Brothelyngham
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