However, by contradiction, the monastery was nevertheless the most important in Staffordshire and by the 1530s had the highest revenue. The abbot was both a secular lord and, "exercised an independent spiritual jurisdiction. He was a figure of some standing, regularly serving on papal and royal commissions and acting as a collector of clerical taxes within the diocese." At various times between 1295 and 1322, the abbot was summoned to attend the Parliament of England, and again in 1532. It is also known that there were frequent Royal visits to the abbey, including those by William I, Henry II and Edward I.