The Abbey of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, also known as St Mary of the Meadows, was founded in 1143 (or possibly 1139) by Robert Beaumont, second Earl of Leicester, also known as "le Bossu" (the Hunchback).
This new foundation was a college of Augustinian canons. The Augustinian Order was named after St Augustine of Hippo, a bishop of Hippo Regis (Roman North Africa - in modern Algeria) in the late fourth and early fifth centuries. Although St Augustine was a priest, he continued to live a monastic life save for the occasions when he went out into the world to preach. This meant that the Abbey was not a strict enclosed order, like the Cistercian Order, in which the monks remained confined within the Abbey precincts for their entire life. Instead, from time to time the canons would go out to parish churches owned by their house, where they would preach for a while, before returning to the confines of the Abbey.
Robert le Bossu ensured that the Abbey was richly endowed. He provided it with all the possessions of the college of secular canons (ie canons who lived in unenclosed communities) that his father, the first Earl, had founded at the church of St Mary de Castro (the church that lies within Leicester Castle). These holdings included all churches in the town of Leicester, as well as the church of Lilbourne (in Northamptonshire) and the manor of Asfordby, and various properties in Leicester. In addition he provided the Abbey with a number of other churches, most of which were in Leicestershire, but which included two in Northamptonshire, and one in Berkshire, along with the manor of Knighton and other properties. So from the start the Abbey was a very wealthy foundation.
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References:
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Houses of Augustinian canons: Leicester Abbey: A History of the County of Leicestershire: Volume 2 (London 1954), 13-9.
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Leicester Abbey: medieval history, archaeology and manuscripts: J Story, J Bourne and R Buckley (eds) (Leicester 2005). This book is especially recommended for anyone with an interest in Leicester Abbey.
