FRIARIES
12. THE BLACK FRIARS, WORCESTER
The house of the Black Friars was founded in
1347 by William Beauchamp lord of Elmley,
who on 5 June of that year obtained licence
to alienate in mortmain to the Prior Provincial
and Friars Preachers in England a plot of land
called 'Belassis' within the walls of the city of
Worcester, 100 perches long by 30 perches
broad, which was said to be held in chief, to
build a house for friars of the Order. (fn. 1) The
foundation was confirmed, or 'conceded to the
province,' as the phrase ran, by the general
chapter of the Order at Lyons in 1348. (fn. 2) It
was one of the last, if not the last, house of
the Order to be established in England. On
17 February, 1349-50, Bishop John Thoresby
commissioned the bishops of Hereford and
Llandaff to consecrate or dedicate a place for
the cemetery of the church of the Friars
Preachers. (fn. 3) In 1351 William Beauchamp obtained licence to assign to the prior and brethren
2 acres of land, with their appurtenances, adjoining the house of the Friars Preachers, and said
to be held of the king in free burgage. In
return for this favour the friars were bound to
celebrate divine service every day for the king
and his heirs, and a fine of 1 mark was paid in
the hanaper. (fn. 4) However, more than a century
elapsed before the friars acquired full possession
of this land, though they had before that built
a gateway on it. The reason for the delay was
a disputed title: part of the land was claimed by
the prior of St. Mary's, Worcester, and part by
the prior of Great Malvern. In 1455 Sir John
Beauchamp of Powick, on paying 40s. in the
hanaper, obtained a writ of privy seal authorizing
him to carry out his ancestor's wish by granting
compensation to the priors of Worcester and
Great Malvern from tenements or lands which
he did not hold in chief of the crown. (fn. 5)
In 1364, at the petition of John Beauchamp,
'kinsman of the earl of Warwick,' son of Giles
and nephew of William Beauchamp, Urban V.
granted relaxation during ten years, of a year and
forty days of enjoined penance to penitents who
on the principal feasts of the year visit and give
alms for the repair of the church of St. Dominic
of the Friars Preachers of Worcester, of which
house the said John and his progenitors were
founders. (fn. 6)
Richard II. in 1391 granted the prior and
convent, for the enlargement of their garden, a
garden called 'Pynnokeshey,' lying between the
city walls on one side and the way called 'Dolday'
on the other, at a rent of 6d. a year. It was in
the king's hands because Audrey, late wife of
Adam Barras, had granted it without licence to
the church of St. Clement, Worcester, after the
Statute of Mortmain. (fn. 7)
There was a school of theology here as in all
Dominican convents. In 1393 Friar William
Shyrburne, and in 1397 Friar Philip son of
Raymund, were assigned to this house as lectors
by the master-general of the Order. (fn. 8)
On 7 May, 1431, a warrant was issued by
the Council for the arrest of Thomas Northfield,
S.T.P., a Friar Preacher, at Worcester, and for
the seizure of his magical books. (fn. 9)
The earliest extant bequest to the Friars
Preachers of Worcester is contained in the will
of Simon Gros of Worcester, dated 1360. (fn. 10)
Katharine, wife of Thomas Beauchamp, earl of
Warwick, and daughter of Roger Mortimer, earl
of March, left them £20 in 1369; (fn. 11) Henry
Wakefield, bishop of Worcester, left them 40s.
in 1395; (fn. 12) John Halle of Worcester left them
60s. in 1451. (fn. 13)
Sir John Beauchamp, K.G., baron of Powick,
in 1475 bequeathed his body to be buried in the
friars' church 'in a new chapel there now to be
made on the north side of the quire'; the chapel
of lime and stone, with the tomb, were to be
built according to the 'patroun of the portretour,'
or plan specified in an indenture drawn up
between the testator and John Hobbes, mason,
of Gloucester: on the tomb was to be placed
'a convenient image of alabaster.' For 'the
apparelling of the altar' in the chapel, Sir John
bequeathed a gilt chalice, two corporax cases,
mass book, vestments, and altar cloths of red
velvet and cloth of gold, and of white and red
silk. He also provided that a priest of the house
should say mass daily in the chapel, receiving 8d.
a week for ever: all the friars who were in
priests' orders were to take this duty in turn.
To ensure the due celebration of his yearly obit, he
left to the convent 'in augmenting and amending
of their fare and diet every day 2d.' Among his
other bequests to the house were 'a pair of
organs of mine being within the parish church
of Chelsea in the county of Middlesex,' and
40 marks towards building the cloister and
repairing the church and houses. (fn. 14)
Margaret, wife of Sir John Beauchamp, who
died in 1487, left her body to be buried in the
same church, by the body of her lord and husband,
and 'ordained that a priest should sing for her
soul during the term of one whole year after her
decease, within the said house of friars, receiving
for his pains 100s. She also willed that a tablet
of alabaster should be made of the birth of our
Lord, and the three kings of "Colleyn," to be
set on the wall over her body when it should
be buried. Likewise an image of alabaster of
St. John the Evangelist, containing three-quarters
of a yard in length, with the chalice in his hand,
to be set over her likewise; also a candlestick of
white iron, with three branches, to set on the
tapers of wax of 4 lb., to burn before that image
every Sunday, as long as they should endure.'
Her will also contains elaborate instructions as
to her burial, and bequests of vestments to the
convent. (fn. 15) Richard Wycherley, O.P., titular
bishop of Olenus in Greece, in 1502 desired to
be buried in the choir of this church, opposite
the tomb of Richard Wolsey, O.P., (fn. 16) late bishop
of Down and Connor. (fn. 17)
It may be noted that Bishops Giffard, Gainsborough, and Reynolds, all of whom lived before
the Black Friars were established at Worcester,
were conservators of the privileges of the Friars
Preachers in England. (fn. 18)
The story of the dissolution and grant of this
house to the city will be told in part in connexion
with the history of the Grey Friars. 'The Black
Friars in Worcester,' wrote the bishop of Dover to
Thomas Cromwell in August, 1538, (fn. 19) 'is a proper
house without any lead, and may dispend by year in
rotten houses about twenty nobles by year, but all
is in decay. There was an "ancres," with whom I
had not a little business to have her grant to
come out, but out she is.' This friary is mentioned among 'houses of friars lately given up
which have any substance of lead:' it is probably
a mistake for the Grey Friars. (fn. 20)
The vestments of the Black Friars, to judge
from the inventory drawn up at the time of the
Dissolution, (fn. 21) were less elaborate than those of
the Grey Friars. Among the ten suits may be
mentioned 'a sute of blew branchyd damaske
pryst decon and subdecon,' and 'pryst decon
and subdecon off blacke worstede lackynge all
thynge.' Most of them were incomplete in
some respects. There were five single vestments,
four old chasubles, twelve copes (among them
'a red cope for marteres,' and 'ii lytyll copys
for chyldern'). No mention is made of any
books. The church contained a pair of organs,
and the steeple a great bell and a small. The
inventory gives the contents of the kitchen
(down to 'a broken gredyren"), of the brewhouse, and the buttery. The 'chambers' seem
to have been the best furnished part of the house,
containing 'v fether beddes with ther bolsteres,
a tester of greene saye, iiij candelstekes, with
ij basons and ij eweres, a payer of aundyeryns
and a fyer schwlue, an almery and ij coferes, a
tester and a syler grene saye and rede, a cubborde
clothe and a towell, a salt of pewter, a carpet
and vj cuscheynes, iij couerlettes.' The plate—
candelsticks, cross, censer, goblets, spoons, etc.—
weighed 178½ oz. In the nether sextry were
four great chests, a cross banner, and four staves
for the canopy. The ostry, frater, and prior's
chamber contained only tables, trestles, and
forms.
Some of the friars of this house appear to have
accommodated themselves to the religious changes.
The sheriff of Gloucester, Thomas Bell, complained to the bishop of London (9 June, 1536)
that Bishop Latimer had admitted to preach a
Black Friar 'called Two-year old,' who was
banished from the diocese of Worcester by
Dr. Bell, then chancellor, for his abominable
living and drunkenness. (fn. 22) And Latimer himself
after the surrender wrote to Cromwell on behalf
of the prior, Richard Edwards, who, 'when he
surrendered up his house, was promised his
capacity freely, both for himself and all his
brethren. He is honest . . . I tolerate him in
my diocese, and trust you will favour him.' (fn. 23)
Lawrence Thorold was prior here in 1528. (fn. 24)
13. THE GREY FRIARS, WORCESTER
The Franciscans settled at Worcester between
1225 and 1230. It was probably there that
Peter of Eport, rector of Stoke Prior, was received
into the order in 1226, (fn. 25) and it is certain that the
famous Adam de Marisco entered the order at
Worcester not later than 1230. (fn. 26) This house
was head of one of the seven custodies into
which the English province was divided—the
custody comprising in the fourteenth century
the convents of Worcester, Coventry, Lichfield,
Stafford, Preston, Shrewsbury, Chester, Llanfaes,
and Bridgnorth. (fn. 27) The special characteristic of
the custody under the first custodian, Robert of
Leicester, was 'pura simplicitas'; 'for Friar Robert,
a man of small body but large heart, was always
devoted to the highest simplicity and brought
many simple men into the order.' (fn. 28)
The site of the original house is unknown;
it was probably within the city wall, as
Henry III. in 1231 commanded the bailiffs of
Worcester to enlarge the postern in the wall
before the house of the friars or make them
a more convenient way for bringing in firewood
and other necessaries. (fn. 29) This position did
not allow room for expansion, and during the
ministry of Albert of Pisa (1236-9) the friars
moved to a new site outside the city wall,
where they seem to have remained till the
Dissolution. (fn. 30) In 1246 the friars again received
from the king permission to have a postern in
the wall of the city, 'if it be not to the damage
of the city.' (fn. 31) The friary was being enlarged or
rebuilt in 1257, when the king granted the
brethren six oaks in Kinefare forest for the
construction of their buildings at Worcester, (fn. 32)
and similar grants of 'oaks fit for timber' were
made by Edward I. in 1276 and 1282. (fn. 33)
The Worcester annalist after relating the death
and funeral of William Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, at the Grey Friars in 1298, continues: (fn. 34)
'And so they buried him in a place where no one
had yet been interred, in which in winter time he
will be said to be drowned rather than buried,
where I have once seen herbs growing.' As
the earl left his body to be buried in the choir of
the Grey Friars, it would appear that the church
had recently been rebuilt on a new site.
A provincial chapter of the order (of which no
records remain) was held at Worcester in 1260. (fn. 35)
In 1285 Bishop Giffard requested William of
Gainsborough, vicar of the English province, to
appoint Robert de Crull lector in the convent of
Worcester. (fn. 36) But in 1337 the principal studium
of the custody was not at Worcester, but at
Coventry. (fn. 37)
The Worcester convent does not seem to
have produced many learned men; the famous
Johannes Wallensis is said by Bale and others
to have been a Minorite of Worcester. (fn. 38) Ralph
of Loxley, regent master at Oxford about
1310, was buried there—probably in his native
convent. (fn. 39) Roger of Conway, the opponent of
Richard Fitz-Ralph, archbishop of Armagh,
belonged to the custody of Worcester, but in
1355 obtained papal licence to live in London. (fn. 40)
The friary seems to have possessed a considerable
theological library: two manuscripts in the
British Museum can be identified as having formerly belonged to it—one containing the bible, (fn. 41)
the other the letters of St. Augustine. (fn. 42)
It is clear that the Minorites of the diocese,
and probably of the city of Worcester, had disputes with the parish priests about their right
to hear confessions and to preach, (fn. 43) but no details
seem to have been preserved. (fn. 44)
So far as they can be traced, the relations of
the friars to the bishops of Worcester were
friendly; their relations to the monks hostile. (fn. 45)
Bishop Giffard in 1275 gave orders that the
Friars Minors should be admitted to the churches
throughout the diocese to preach the Crusade
and grant indulgences. (fn. 46) On account of 'the
sincerity of his devotion' to the Minorites, he
was made partaker of all the suffrages of the
order by Jerome of Ascoli, the minister general,
in 1278, and the privilege was confirmed by
Jerome's successor, Bonagratia, in 1282. (fn. 47) On
the Sunday following the feast of St. Francis in
the latter year the bishop celebrated mass in
the Grey Friars' Church, and supplied food to all
the brethren. (fn. 48) In 1384, ' wishing to help the
Friars Minors and the nuns dwelling in Worcester in their poverty,' he ordered the bailiff of
Worcester to deliver to the friars ' two quarters
of good and pure corn and half a mark of silver
to buy herrings,' and supply similar provisions
to the nuns. (fn. 49) In 1290 the Franciscan archbishop of Canterbury, John Peckham, thought it
necessary to remind Giffard of the privileges of
the Friars Minors as to hearing confessions and
granting absolution without the consent of the
parish priest, (fn. 50) and about the same time he interfered vigorously in a quarrel between the
Minorites and the monks of Worcester.
The quarrel arose over the burial of Henry
Poche, a citizen of Worcester. Monks and friars
both claimed the body. On 1 March, 1289-90,
the sacristan of St. Mary's obtained it by force and
buried it in the cathedral cemetery, in spite of
the opposition of many friars. There was
something of a tumult, and the friars suffered
some injury. They appealed to the archbishop,
complaining that they had been attacked and
wounded by the monks, and demanding redress
of grievances. A rumour of the riot reached
the king. Peckham took up their cause with
energy. He wrote to the bishop of Worcester
stating the friars' case and declaring that the
wrong could not be endured. Giffard was slow
to move, and received in July a peremptory
letter from the archbishop, ordering him to have
the body exhumed and given back to the friars,
or to cite the prior and convent to appear before
the archbishop before 1 August. Bishop Godfrey
held a formal inquiry into the matter on 24 July,
and, according to the monastic annalist, a jury of
clerks and laymen found that the last wish of
the deceased was to be buried in the cemetery of
St. Mary, and that no one had hurt the friars
intentionally, but that by the pressure of the
crowd they had been forced on to some dung
heaps, where they had stumbled and fallen.
Peckham was not satisfied with this result:
on 13 December, 1290, the prior received notice
that if the body was not restored to the friars
within a fortnight, he and the elders of his
house would be suspended. The monks yielded,
stipulating that the friars should take away the
body privately. ' But instead of that,' writes the
Worcester annalist, 'on the day after the feast
of St. Thomas the Apostle (22 December) with
great pomp and uproar, explaining their right
to the people in the mother tongue, and inviting
all they could to the spectacle, to our confusion,
they carried the body away through the great
square, singing, amidst an uproarious scene.' (fn. 51)
Meantime an attempt had been made to avoid
such scandals in future by a compromise: mass
for the dead was first to be celebrated in the
cathedral church: then, 'provided that no loss
accrue to the church, if the Friars Minors can
lawfully prove that the bodies have been bequeathed to them, they shall be free to carry
them away to their place of burial.' It does
not appear whether the friars accepted this
settlement. (fn. 52)
The next bishop, William of Gainsborough,
was himself a Franciscan, and the Worcester
friars took a prominent part in the ceremonies of
his enthronement. (fn. 53) He and several of his successors were appointed by the Apostolic See to
the office of ' conservator of the privileges of the
Friars Minors in England.' (fn. 54)
Among the benefactors of the house the
Beauchamps are the most prominent. In 1268
William Beauchamp, lord of Elmley, father of
the first earl of Warwick of this family, bequeathed his body to be buried in the church of
the Friars Minors of Worcester and directed that
at his funeral a horse fully armoured with all
military caparisons should go before his corpse.
To the convent he gave 40s. (fn. 55)
William Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, son
of the above, by will made in 1296 (fn. 56) left his
body to be buried in the choir of the Friars
Minors, to whom he also bequeathed two great
horses, namely those which at his funeral should
carry his armour, and further £200 for the
solemnizing of his funeral. He died 9 June,
1298. The Worcester annalist (fn. 57) attributes his
decision to be buried here rather than with his
ancestors in the cathedral church, to the influence
of Brother John of Olney. 'At length,' he
goes on, 'on 22 June, the friars, having got
hold of the body of so great a man, like conquerors who had obtained booty, paraded the
public streets, and made a spectacle for the
citizens.'
Guy, Earl of Warwick, son of William,
buried his mother, Maud, daughter of John
FitzGeoffrey, here in 1300 next her husband,
'though in her lifetime she arranged to be buried
elsewhere.' (fn. 58)
Sir Nicholas de Muthon (Mitton), Knt., in
1290 left legacies to the friars of Worcester and
other places; he bequeathed his body to be
buried at Bredon, and his heart in the place of
the Friars Minors of Worcester, and with his
heart £40 for the fabric of six altars in the same
place. (fn. 59)
Sir Walter Cokesey, Knt., in 1295 bequeathed
his body to be buried here among the Friars
Minors, and gave them 10 marks of silver instead
of his armour, which was to go before his corpse,
but to be returned to his son Walter; (fn. 60) the horse
which carried his armour was to become the
property of the friars. Bishop Godfrey Giffard
left the Friars Minors of Worcester 100s. (fn. 61)
Katharine, widow of Thomas Beauchamp, earl
of Warwick, left them £20 in 1369. (fn. 62) Henry
Wakefield, bishop of Worcester, left them 40s.
in 1395. (fn. 63) William ap Rees was buried here,
and left the friars 20s. in 1446. (fn. 64) John Halle of
Worcester left them 40s. in 1451. (fn. 65) Sir John
Beauchamp, K.G., Baron Powick, in 1475 left
'to the house or priory of the Grey Friars of
Worcester iiii torches, or some other necessary
thing behoveful for their church.' (fn. 66) Margaret
Leynham, widow of Sir John Leynham, Knt.,
in 1482 directed she should be buried 'in the
quere of the church of the Grey Freres of
Worcester,' if she died in that county, and bequeathed to the house 50 marks, and to Dr.
Wibbe, 'prior' of the said house, £20. But she
subsequently annulled both bequests, 'insomuch
as she shall not now be buried there,' and left to
Dr. Wibbe 'only 40s., over the reward that she
gave him afore her departing out of the country.' (fn. 67)
Sir Robert Throckmorton, Knt., whose will
was proved in 1520, desired that 'ther be said
for my soule in as shorte space as it may be doon
after my deceas twoo trentalles in the Graye
ffrieris of Worceter (and elsewhere), and for
every of thes trentalles I will there be gyven xs.
apece.' (fn. 68)
The Grey Friars had also, Nash notes, (fn. 69)
'several benefactors amongst the gentry of this
county, whose arms are still remaining in the
bow window of their great hall, now part of the
city gaol; those of Throgmorton, Besford,
Russel, Hodyngton, Bridges, and another—sable
. . . . between three crescents argent.' (fn. 70)
Though Edward II. granted the Friars Minors
of Worcester a charter of confirmation in 1322,
in which he speaks of the place and areas given
to them by 'our ancestors and others,' (fn. 71) the
house seems to have owed little to royal bounty
until the end of the fifteenth century. In September, 1483, Richard III. granted to Friar
Thomas Jonys, of the house of the Friars Minors,
within the city of Worcester, a meadow called
'Digley' (Diglis), lying under the castle, during
pleasure; it was in the king's hands owing to the
minority of Edward, earl of Warwick. (fn. 72) In
December of the same year he granted to Master
Peter Webbe, S.T.P. warden, and the Friars
Minors of the house of St. Francis, Worcester,
the king's moiety of the manor of Pyrye (Perry) by
Worcester, and a mill under the castle of Worcester called 'Frogge Mille,' a street adjoining
(called Frog Lane till the end of the nineteenth
century), with their appurtenances, to hold during
the minority of Edward, earl of Warwick, at a
rent of £6 a year. (fn. 73) In May, 1485, the rent
was remitted, 'because the dormitory of their
house, which was ruinous, fell down on the
evening of St. Laurence's day' (10 August), and
the daily celebration of masses 'for the good estate
of the king and the soul of his father' substituted
for the money payment. (fn. 74)
The religious changes of Henry VIII.'s reign
found the friars divided. In 1536 the sheriff of
Gloucester sends to the bishop of London information about 'the disorderly and colorable
preaching of certain of the bishop of Worcester's
preachers.' 'He will not suffer any D.D. or B.D.
of the diocese to preach, who are known for discreet men and learned, but has admitted the
warden of the Grey Friars, Worcester. . . . and
divers other light persons, who follow the parson
of Stawton (Staunton near Gloucester) to the
disquiet of Christian people,' and preach against
Purgatory, prayers for the dead and so on. The
writer trusts 'that by you and the duke of Norfolk the premisses will be redressed' (June 9). (fn. 75)
Next year, Thomas Cromwell is interested in
the case of 'a friar, a Scot born,' who is in ward
with the bailiffs of Worcester for traitorous
words. (fn. 76) The nature of these and his fate do
not appear.
The visitation of the friaries took place in
1538. On 23 May, Richard Ingworth, bishop
of Dover, wrote to Cromwell that he had been
to Worcester and other places in the west, visiting
the friars' houses, and found everywhere poverty,
'and moche schiffte made with suche as theie
had before, as yewellys selling, and other schiffte
by leasys.' He put a stop to this by making
indentures and sequestering the common seals,
'so that I thinke before the yere be owt ther
schall be very fewe housis abill to lyve, but schall
be glade to giffe up their howseis.' (fn. 77)
The two houses of friars in Worcester surrendered on 4 August into the hands of the bishop
of Dover, 'considering that they were not able
to live for very poverty, and no charity had come
to them as of old, for in the space of six weeks
each house had run at least £3 in debt.' (fn. 78) The
bishop had a good deal of difficulty in getting the
Grey Friars to surrender. 'They be so close to
each other that no man can come within them
to know their hearts.' (fn. 79)
The inventory of the Grey Friars at the time
of the Dissolution (fn. 80) shows that they possessed ten
complete suits (priest, deacon, and sub-deacon),
many of them elaborately ornamented with fishes
of gold, stars of gold, birds, harts, and lions; a
number of single vestments decorated with fleur
de lis of gold, dragons, harts, lions of gold, angels
of gold, flowers, stars, Katherine wheels, 'green
popinjays and silver heads,' and 'one of silk of
divers colours with the ragged staff'—perhaps a
gift from the Beauchamps. In the dormitory
were two feather beds with their bolsters, two
pairs of blankets, five poor coverings, four good
mattresses, and two bolsters. In the 'custere's'
(custodian's?) chamber were three bedsteads, two
chairs, and three poor forms; and in the minister's chamber two bedsteads, a chair, and a few
other articles. Among the contents of the
kitchen were 'xiii. platers and dyschys and one
sawser and iii. counterfeit dyschys.' The brewhouse and buttery present no features of special
interest. The service books consisted of five
antiphonars, five graduals and a chanter's book,
six psalters, two 'versycull' books, three mass
books for the altars, a gospel book, and a 'priest
book.' In the quire were a pair of organs and a
'frame for the sepulcher,' and two bells in the
steeple. The plate, consisting of two chalices,
a pix and cruets, three masers, and two 'paxseys
off yuery bonde aboute with sylver,' weighed
86 oz.
The Bailiffs, Aldermen, and Common Council
petitioned Cromwell to get the friars' houses
granted to the city for the repair of the walls and
bridge, which were decayed. 'The stone of the
said houses is very meet for the purpose. (fn. 81) 'They
are set in two barren sides, (fn. 82) where is no defence
but the said houses joined to the walls.' The
churches should be pulled down to make towers
and 'fortytudes' in the walls. (fn. 83) Latimer also
wrote to Cromwell on behalf of the city, mentioning as a third object to which the property
should be applied the maintenance of the school,
which had hitherto been supported by the guild of
the Holy Trinity. (fn. 84)
In December, 1539, a grant was made
to the bailiffs and citizens for £541 0s. 10d.
of the house and site of 'lez Blacke Frears' in
the city of Worcester, and of the house and
site of 'lez Grey Frears' near the said city,
and within the liberties thereof; the churches,
steeple, and churchyards of the said houses, and
twenty messuages, lands, etc., in the said city,
and in Powick, Warmedon, and Severn Stoke
belonging to the said houses. The city was to
hold the property of the king by the service of
the twentieth part of one knight's fee and an
annual rent of 26s. 8d. (fn. 85)
No materials exist from which a list of either
the custodians or the wardens could be compiled. Besides those already mentioned, the
warden of the Friars Minors, Worcester, acted
on a papal commission to investigate charges of
disobedience brought by the patriarch of Jerusalem against certain persons in 1287; (fn. 86) between
1333 and 1337 the warden was among those commissioned by Bishop Simon de Monte Acuto, in
consequence of a papal bull, 'to convoke the
clergy and people, and to address the clergy in
Latin, the people in the mother tongue, and to
preach the word of the cross.' (fn. 87)
14. TRINITARIAN FRIARS OF WORCESTER
There is no evidence of the existence of a
house of this order in Worcester. Nash says:
'Within this parish of St. Nicholas towards the
bottom of the Angel Lane, between that and the
Broad Street, was a religious house belonging to
the friers of the Holy Trinity, for the redemption
of captives.' (fn. 88) He also states that the new
churchyard in this parish (i.e. All Saints), consecrated in 1644, 'was formerly called the
garden-ground in Angel Lane, or Friars'
Orchard, and did belong to the Friars of the
Holy Trinity over against it.' (fn. 89) There can be
little doubt that the chantry of the Holy Trinity
in the parish of St. Nicholas, founded in 1371,
has been mistaken for a house of the Trinitarian
Order. (fn. 90)
15. PENITENT SISTERS, WORCESTER
Henry III. granted six oaks to the Penitent
Sisters of Worcester on 13 February, 1240-1. (fn. 91)
Nothing more is known about them.
16. FRIARS OF THE PENANCE OF JESUS CHRIST OR FRIARS OF THE SACK, WORCESTER
There was a house of this order in Worcester
at the end of the reign of Henry III. On
5 March, 1271-2, the king granted them in free
alms the street (vicus) called 'Dolday,' 120 or
140 ft. in length, and 11 ft. in width, for the
augmentation of their place. The jurors who held
the 'inquisitio ad quod damnum' in February
declared that the grant would not be injurious
but 'to the advantage and honour of the king
and to the advantage of the citizens.' (fn. 92) The
Order was suppressed by the Council of Lyons
in 1274. (fn. 93)