The priory at Amesbury is known for its literary connection to Thomas Malory’s depiction of Guinevere. The convent's community has deep roots, existing since before the Norman Conquest. By the late 14th century, the relationship between the convent and its mother abbey in France grew tumultuous. As monks and nuns acted out against authority, Prioress Sibyl Montague expelled the prior, Robert Daubeneye. This led to Daubeneye orchestrating a kidnapping of Sibyl in 1400, requiring royal intervention to ensure her release from confinement.
The history of the religious community at Amesbury stretched back even before the Norman Conquest, hosting devout nuns praying for community patrons.
From 1177, Amesbury had been a daughter-house of the famous Fontevraud Abbey, but by the late fourteenth century, relations had soured drastically.
Prioress Sibyl Montague expelled Prior Robert Daubeneye in 1398, laying the blame for the chaos at the convent squarely on his shoulders.
In March 1400, the king's court commissioned investigators to rescue Prioress Sibyl Montague from a kidnapping orchestrated by Prior Daubeneye.
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