View source for Lleision ap Thomas

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Lleision ap Thomas
| image =
| caption =
| office = [[Abbot of Neath]]
| term_start = {{circa|1510}}
| term_end = 9 February 1539
| predecessor =
| successor = none

| birth_name =
| birth_date = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} -->
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{circa|1541}}<!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} -->
| death_place =
| nationality = Welsh
| other_names = Leyshon Thomas
| occupation = Cleric
}}
'''Lleision ap Thomas''' or '''Llyson Thomas''' etc.{{efn|His name is variously spelled Llyson, Leisan, Lesan, Leyshon, Leyson, Lleison, Llysan, and sometimes Thomas Llyson rather than Llyson Thomas.{{sfn|Knowles|Smith|Brooke|2008|p=315}} }} (died {{circa|1541}}) was the last abbot of [[Neath Abbey|Neath]] in [[West Glamorgan]], Wales.
He was one of the most influential [[Cistercians]] in Wales in the period before the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]].
He is widely rumoured to have settled as a farmer in the upper Swansea valley, raising a family who remain in the locality of the name Leyshon

==Abbot of Neath==
Lleision ap Thomas succeeded John ap Hywel (Hoell), who is mentioned as Abbot of Neath in 1507.
Lleision is mentioned as abbot on 28 January 1510.{{sfn|Knowles|Smith|Brooke|2008|p=315}}
He studied at the [[University of Oxford]] and obtained the degrees of B.Can.L. in 1511 and B.D. in 1512.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=71}}
In 1513 Lleision was appointed to a commission of the peace that met at [[Cardiff]].{{sfn|Saunders|1959}}
He was named Reformator of the Cistercian Order for Wales, and was noted for his zealous activity.
In 1517 he was named a [[definitor]] for the family of [[Clairvaux Abbey|Clairvaux]], and in 1518 became a definitor for the lineage of [[Cîteaux Abbey|Cîteaux]].
He visited Paris in 1521 in connection with work for the Order.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=72}}

In 1532 King [[Henry VIII of England]] appointed Lleision to replace the Abbott of [[Chaâlis Abbey|Chaâlis]] as one of five abbots on a visitation of England and Wales.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=72}}
In 1532 he was said to hold the leading position in public life of [[Gower]], and played a major role in handling disputes between the English and Welsh portions of this district.
He was also charged that year with restoring the college of Saint Bernard in Oxford.{{sfn|Saunders|1959}}
Llyson, Abbot of Nethe, Lewis, Abbot of Morgo, and others were named in a commission of the peace on 24 February 1536.{{sfn|Bielch|1897|p=359}}

[[Image:Neath abbey.JPG|right|thumb|Ruins of Neath Abbey]]

==Later life==
Neath abbey had an income of only £132 annually at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries and therefore should have been covered by the Act of Suppression in 1536, which applied to the lesser monasteries.{{sfn|Foot|2011}}
The abbey obtained a stay of this decision in exchange for payment of a fine of £150.
However, on 9 February 1539 Lleision had to resign and to cede all the possessions of the abbey to the king.
In response to an appeal to [[Thomas Cromwell]] by the Crown deputy, Sir [[John Prise]], he was given a rectory and a pension of £48.{{sfn|Saunders|1959}}
His rectory of Llangatwg-iuxta-Nedd (Llangattock-juxta-Neath) was situated beside his former monastery.{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=87}}
There are no records of Lleision after 1541.{{sfn|Saunders|1959}}

Lleision ap Thomas was the most influential of the late medieval Cistercian abbots in Wales.{{sfn|Foot|2011}}
According to [[Lewys Morgannwg]] he was pious and learned, and Neath Abbey was a bastion of the [[Welsh language]] and culture.{{sfn|Saunders|1959}}
In 1539 one of the Crown Visitors said "He had ever lived worshipfully and well."{{sfn|Williams|2001|p=73}}

==Notes==
{{notes}}{{reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
*{{citation|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofmargama00bircuoft/historyofmargama00bircuoft_djvu.txt
 |last=Bielch |first=Walter de Gray|publisher=British Museum|location=London|year=1897 
 |title=A history of Margam Abbey : derived from the original documents in the British Museum, H.M. Record Office, the Margam muniments, etc |accessdate=2016-04-09}}
*{{citation|url=http://cistercians.shef.ac.uk/abbeys/neath.php
  |last=Foot|first=Sarah|year=2011 |title=Cistercian Abbeys: NEATH|work=Cistercians in Yorkshire Project |accessdate=2016-04-09}}
*{{citation
 |last1=Knowles|first1=David|last2=Smith|first2=David M.|last3=Brooke|first3=Christopher Nugent Lawrence|title=The Heads of Religious Houses: England and Wales, III. 1377-1540
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jjqMN2G8fGoC&pg=PA315|accessdate=2016-04-09|date=2008-03-13|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-86508-1}}
*{{cite DWB|mode=cs2|id=s-LLEI-THO-1513|title=Lleision ap Thomas|last=Saunders |first=Evan John|year=1959|accessdate=2016-04-09}}
*{{citation
 |last=Williams|first=David Henry
 |title=The Welsh Cistercians: Written to Commemorate the Centenary of the Death of Stephen William Williams (1837-1899) (The Father of Cistercian Archaeology in Wales)
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GSv77Ry8oW4C&pg=PA87|accessdate=2016-04-09|year=2001|publisher=Gracewing Publishing|isbn=978-0-85244-354-5}}
{{refend}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lleision ap Thomas}}
[[Category:1541 deaths]]
[[Category:Cistercian abbots]]
[[Category:Welsh Cistercians]]
[[Category:Neath]]