The Chronicles of Deer Abbey

Who’s in charge here? That was a central dilemma of the fifteenth century. The Kings of England and France were fighting over control of French territories - the Hundred Years’ War. The Houses of York and Lancaster were squabbling over the English throne - the Wars of the Roses. In 1475, the Treaty of Picquigny gave a formal end to the Hundred Years’ War; but the Wars of the Roses went on. In the end, the answer to the question was simple: the person in charge was the nearby noble with the armed men. The higher-ups were busy. It was enough to drive you to an abbey to live in holy peace. That didn’t always work. This is the story of Margaret of Shaftesbury, Abbess of Deer Abbey, who had to guide her small flock through these unruly years.