A lovely couple have just returned to our umble habode singing the praises of Edington Priory and the local microbrewery, the Three Daggers, and their fine ales. That caused me some anxious neuron bumping. Haven't we mentioned Edington on TME? Sure enough we have, it was the "Saints and Sinners Trail".
The four churches are All Saints’ in Alton Priors, St Leonard’s in Sutton Veny, St Mary’s in Old Dilton and St John the Baptist in Inglesham. With The Red Lion Freehouse in Pewsey, The Beckford Arms in Fonthill Gifford, The Three Daggers in Edington and Stanton House Hotel in Stanton Fitzwarren.Not sure where the The Three Daggers name comes from, but it might be from the way the locals treat unwelcome visitors.
During Jack Cade's rebellion in 1450, William Ayscough, Bishop of Salisbury and confessor to Henry VI, was forced to flee Salisbury. Seeking refuge in the church at Edington, he was discovered on 29 June, dragged from the high altar during mass and murdered in the fields outside the church.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edington_PriorySomething we missed at the time, it turns out that Edington Priory was founded by yet another obscure set of monks. The Brothers of Penitence.
The Brothers of Penitence or Fratres Saccati were an Augustinian order also known as Boni Homines, Bonshommes or Bones-homes, with houses in Spain, France and England. They were also known as the "Bluefriars" on account of the colour of their robes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_of_PenitenceThe Order of Grandmont, founded by St. Stephen of Muret (b. 1046, d. 1124) for an austere order of eremitical friars professing the rule of St. Augustine (though they have sometimes been claimed also by the Benedictines). Towards the end of the twelfth century they possessed more than sixty housed, principally in Acquitaine, Anjou, and Normandy. The kings of England (then rules of Normandy) were great benefactors of these friars, who were known as the Bonshommes of Grandmont from the earliest times. The oldest house of the order was at Vincennes (founded by Louis VII, in 1164); and this more than four centuries later came into the possession of the Minims, who were hence known afterwards as Bonshommes.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02672b.htmI had to look it up. eremitical = hermits.