84. THE GREY FRIARS OF BEVERLEY
The origin of the friary is obscure. It was in
existence in 1267, when one of the friars
preached at Beverley on the feast of St. John,
and afterwards heard the confession of a woman
possessed by a devil. (fn. 1) In 1274 deacon's orders
were conferred on Peter de Nutel, and priests'
orders on Alexander de Willingham, Andrew de
Whitby, and John de Howm, all of this house. (fn. 2)
Archbishop Wickwane gave the Friars Minors
of Beverley 10 marks in 1282; (fn. 3) and Archbishop
Romanus, when organizing the preaching of the
Crusade in 1291, instructed them to send preachers to Driffield, Malton, and South Cave. (fn. 4)
The house at this time was probably within
the walls, and the founder may have been John
de Hightmede. (fn. 5) ' In 1297 William Lyketon
and Henry Wygthon bought certain lands near
Beverley, about the chapel of St. Elena, and
granted them to the friars of the order of St.
Francis, to build their houses; and also they
conferred many other goods on them.' (fn. 6) This
probably refers to the grant of a new site outside
Keldgate and near Westwood. (fn. 7) In 1304 William Ros of Hamlake granted to the Prior and
convent of Warter a bovate of land in Warter
in exchange for their granting to the Minorites
3 acres of land in Beverley, adjoining the friary. (fn. 8)
The numbers of the friars remained about the
same for some years. In 1299 the number
varied from thirty-two to thirty-six; there were
thirty-eight in May 1300 (when Edward I
gave them 38s. for three days' food by the hand
of Friar Thomas Maynard); thirty-four in 1301,
thirty-eight in 1304, twenty-six in 1335, and
thirty-two in 1337. (fn. 9)
'Afterwards for a long time this house, through
poverty, was almost destroyed and uninhabited,
until one Sir John Hotham, of Scorbrough, near
Leconfield, kt., almost entirely rebuilt it.' (fn. 10)
Hotham gave the friars the moiety of 1a. 1 r.
in Beverley in 1352; and an entry in the
town documents in 1356 may refer to the
rebuilding: in that year Friar John Botiler,
O.M., on behalf of his convent, came to the
gildhall and obtained leave to take sand in
Westwood for building purposes. (fn. 11) From the
time of this benefaction till the beginning of the
reign of Edward IV the Hothams were reckoned
the founders of the house, and several of them
were buried in the church: namely, Sir John
Hotham, Agnes his daughter, wife of Sir Thomas
Sutton, kt., and Sir Nicholas Hotham, kt. (fn. 12)
Others buried in the church were Sir Nicholas
Wake, Sir Geoffrey de Agulyon, kt., Lady Margaret Agulyon, Elyna widow of Sir John Sutton,
kt., William Kelk, esq., Robert Cause, esq.,
John Routh, esq., Robert Routh, esq. (fn. 13) Agnes
wife of John Kyler was buried in the cloister,
1380. (fn. 14) In 1400 a chantry was established in
the church for the souls of Thomas Kelk and
his son John, the twelve keepers of the town
being responsible for seeing that the services were
duly performed. (fn. 15)
In the troublous times at the beginning of the
reign of Edward IV, Thomas Bolton, S.T.P.,
the warden, tried to gain security for his convent
by granting the title of founder to Richard
Nevill, Earl of Warwick, and he subsequently
gave the patronage of the house to John Nevill,
Marquess Montagu. Both these having been
slain at Barnet in 1471, Bolton conferred the
title, and privileges of founder on Henry Percy,
Earl of Northumberland. (fn. 16) The earl, who died
in 1489, left nothing in his will to these friars. (fn. 17)
Bequests were made to them by Sir William
Vavasour, 1311, Henry Lord Percy, 1349, John
de Ake of Beverley, merchant, 1398, Richard
Lord Scrope of Bolton, 1400, Sir William Normanville, kt., 1449, and many others. (fn. 18) Thomas
Walkington, rector of Houghton, in 1400 left
£4 to Friar William Burn, of this house. (fn. 19) Guy
Malyerd, mercer, of Beverley, left twenty wainscots to each house of friars here in 1486. (fn. 20)
William Poteman, Archdeacon of the East Riding, left to each house a quarter of corn, 1493. (fn. 21)
A collection of sermons and a book of 'exempla'
were bequeathed to the Grey Friars by William
Sherp, chaplain, in 1508, and a Bible by Thomas
Carr, vicar of Santon, in 1509. (fn. 22)
In 1516 Sir Ralph Salvayn, kt., granted to
them 60s. rent in Beswick. (fn. 23)
In 1522 Thomas Kodall, of South Ferriby,
Lincolnshire, esq., and Margaret his wife, gave
the friars an annual rent of 4s. for twenty-eight
years, probably to celebrate masses for the dead, (fn. 24)
and the friars also received 7s. 6d. a year from
land in Lund belonging to a chantry founded
by the Thwaytes family in the church of Lund. (fn. 25)
Dr. George Browne, visiting the friary on
4 July 1534, had no difficulty in getting the
brethren to acknowledge the royal supremacy;
but he found there one friar, Dr. Gwynborne,
who had written seditious libels against the king's
marriage, whom he sent to Cromwell with his
writings, describing him as ' a lunatic or in a
frenzy,' ' poorly booked and poorly learned.' (fn. 26)
At the beginning of October 1536 Christopher Stapleton of Wighill, who had been ill
for sixteen years, was staying with his wife (fn. 27) at
the Grey Friars, Beverley, for change of air, as he
had been the summer before. He was joined by
his brother William, who had to delay his journey
to London owing to the rising in Lincolnshire.
The rebellion broke out in Beverley on Sunday,
8 October. The commons assembled on Westwood Green, outside the Grey Friars. The
friars generally do not seem to have favoured the
movement (some of the rebels proposed to burn
the friary and those within it), but it found
ardent supporters in Christopher's wife, and in
Thomas Johnson alias Bonaventura, an Observant
Friar, who on the suppression of that order had
been assigned by the Warden of York to the
convent of Beverley. Friar Bonaventura did
much towards supervising the rising, and at
length by judicious flattery persuaded William
Stapleton to become leader. He offered himself
to go in harness to the field, which he did as far
as Doncaster, but then set off to the Minorites'
house at Newcastle-on-Tyne. (fn. 28)
The friary was surrendered to the Bishop of
Dover by Thomas Thomson, warden, 25 February 1538-9. (fn. 29) The site occupied some 7
acres, and was valued at 26s. 8d. a year, rents
elsewhere bringing the total to £5 6s. 2d. (fn. 30)
Wardens
Richard de Dalton, 1350 (fn. 31)
Thomas Bolton, S.T.P., c. 1471
Thomas Thomson, 1538-9
85. THE GREY FRIARS OF DONCASTER
The Friars Minors established themselves at
this town on an island formed by the rivers Cheswold and Don, at the bottom of French or
Francis gate, at the north end of the bridge
known as the Friars' Bridge, (fn. 1) some time in the
13th century. Nicholas IV, 1 September 1290,
granted an indulgence to those who visited their
church, which was of the invocation of St.
Francis. (fn. 2) Archbishop Romanus in 1291 enjoined the friars of this house to preach the
Crusade at Doncaster, Blyth (Notts.), and
Retford. (fn. 3)
In 1299 Edward I gave the friars 10s. through
Friar Edmund de Norbury, on the occasion of
his visit to Doncaster, 12 November: in January
1299-1300 he gave them 20s. for two days'
food and 6s. 8d. for damages to their house when
he was at Doncaster, by the hand of Friar de
Portynden. On 8 June 1300 his son Edward
gave them 10s., and the king in January 1300-1
gave them 10s. for the exequies of Joan, nurse
of Thomas of Brotherton. The friars at this
time numbered thirty. (fn. 4)
In 1316 Sir Peter de Mauley, lord of the
town of Doncaster, granted the Friars Minors a
plot of land, 14 p. by 6 p., adjacent to their
dwelling-place. (fn. 5)
In 1332 Thomas de Saundeby, the warden,
and Friars Nicholas de Dighton, Thomas de
Moubray, William de Halton, and John de
Brynsale, were sued by John de Malghum for
having seized and imprisoned him. (fn. 6) In 1335
the king pardoned them for acquiring in mortmain without licence in the time of former kings
divers plots in Doncaster, now inclosed with a
wall and dyke, whereon they had built a
church and houses. (fn. 7) Between 1328 and 1337
the number of the friars varied between eighteen
and twenty-seven, as is proved by the royal alms
granted to them by the hand of Friars John de
Bilton, Nicholas de Wermersworth, and others. (fn. 8)
Sir Hugh de Hastings, kt., in 1347 left the
friars 100s., 20 quarters of corn and 10 quarters
of barley. (fn. 9) A friar of this house, Hugh de
Warmesby, was authorized in 1348 to act as
confessor to Lady Margery de Hastings, Sir
Hugh's widow, and her family. (fn. 10) Her son Hugh
was buried in the church of St. Francis at Doncaster, 1367. (fn. 11) Another Sir Hugh Hastings in
1482 left a serge of wax to be burned here in
honour of the Holy Rood, and a quarter of wheat
yearly for three years. (fn. 12)
Among the bequests may be mentioned that
of Roger de Bangwell, rector of Dronfield, of
20s. to the convent and 12d. to each friar in
1366. (fn. 13) Thomas Lord Furnival of Sheffield,
1333, (fn. 14) and Sir Peter de Mauley, 1381, were
buried in the church; the latter left his best
beast of burden as mortuary and 100s, to the
convent. (fn. 15) John Mauleverer was buried in the
church of St. Francis and left 6 lb. of wax and
6 marks to the friars, 1451. (fn. 16) William Vasey,
alderman, left them 5s. a year rent to keep his
obit, 1515. (fn. 17) Robert Skirley of Scarborough,
who died at Doncaster, probably in this house,
was buried here, 1522, and left, among other
bequests, his horse as his 'corse present.' (fn. 18)
George Danby, a friar of this house, formerly
warden of the Grey Friars of Scarborough, received on 8 April 1480 a general pardon from
Edward IV for all offences committed by him
before i April. (fn. 19)
In 1524 Richard Wilford granted 29s. 6d.
yearly rent in Beighton, Derbyshire, for the use
of these friars for ever. (fn. 20)
Friar Thomas Kirkham was admitted D.D. of
Oxford in July 1527, his composition being
reduced to £4 'because he is very poor'; in
November he was dispensed from the greater
part of his necessary regency because he was
warden of the Grey Friars of Doncaster and
could not continually reside in Oxford. (fn. 21) Thomas
Strey, a lawyer of Doncaster, left 20 marks to
the convent in 1530 and 26s. 8d. to buy the
warden a coat. (fn. 22)
Two Observant Friars, William Ellel and
Robert Baker, were sent after the suppression of
the order to the Minorite convent at Doncaster,
where they soon died, perhaps from severe
treatment. (fn. 23) Robert Aske, the leader of the
Pilgrimage of Grace, when he went to Doncaster to meet the royal commissioners, November
and December 1536, lodged at the Grey Friars
with his followers, the Duke of Norfolk being
at the White Friars. (fn. 24)
The house was quietly surrendered 20 November 1538 by the warden and nine friars, three
of them novices, to Sir George Lawson and his
fellows, who were 'thankfully received.' (fn. 25) The
goods, including a pair of organs, an old clock, a
table of alabaster, the coverings of five altars,
and eighteen 'cells de waneskott' in the dormitory, were sold to Thomas Welbore for
£11 4s. 9d. Out of this sum £3 was given
to the ten friars, and £1 13s. 4d. paid to John
Roberts to redeem a chalice which the friars
had pledged for a debt. There were 43 fother
of lead, four bells, three chalices and two cruets
weighing 50 oz. (fn. 26) The site and adjacent
grounds (including four fish-ponds) contained
about 6½ acres, besides a cottage in Fishergate;
these were let to Thomas Welbore for 36s. 8d. (fn. 27)
A manuscript of the chronicle of Martin of
Troppau formerly belonging to this friary was
in the possession of Ralph Thoresby in 1712. (fn. 28)
Wardens
Thomas de Saundeby, (fn. 29) 1332
Robert Acaster, (fn. 30) 1372
Thomas Kirkham, S.T.P., (fn. 31) 1527, 1538
The seal, of which a very indistinct impression
remains, represents a saint seated under a canopy
between two women. (fn. 32)