11. THE HOUSE OF THE FRIARS OBSERVANT OF RICHMOND
Henry VII. in 1499 founded six English
houses for Friars Observant, of which Richmond was one. These friars were a reformed
branch of the great Franciscan order, instituted about 1400 by St. Bernadine of Sienna.
After Henry VIII. had been several years on
the throne, he wrote more than once to Pope
Leo X. in favour of the Observants, especially
those of Greenwich and Richmond, declaring
his deep and devoted affection for them, and
saying that it was impossible to adequately
describe their zeal night and day to win
sinners back to God, and that they presented
the very ideal of Christian poverty, sincerity
and charity. (fn. 1) Henry on several occasions
gave special alms to the Richmond friars,
who possessed no property save the site of
their house, although they were often remembered in wills. (fn. 2)
Towards the latter part of his reign the
king took a dislike to these friars, who protested
against the putting away and subsequent
divorce of Catherine. But even among
them the king and Cromwell could find
tools. Friar Laurence, writing to Henry
VIII. on 29 August 1532, to certify him of
what was done at their provincial chapter,
stated that Father Robynsone had been chosen
'discrete' for their convent of Richmond to
the said chapter. Laurence voted against
him, knowing he was not in favour with
the king, and recorded a conversation alleged
to have taken place in which Robynsone
defended his action and utterances, and
said he would never take any promotion at
the king's hands. In another communication
from Laurence to Cromwell, he stated that
he was forbidden to write to the king or
Cromwell under pain of imprisonment, but
proceeded to traduce his brethren, and
promised to communicate viva voce with the
latter. (fn. 3) Laurence did his best to make
further mischief later in the same year by
writing again to the king and to Cromwell.
His letter to the former begins by saying that
he was in the greatest anguish of heart, for his
father minister (the superior) had put him
out of office for his communications, saying
'I will not obey the king but the religion.' (fn. 4)
Richard Lyst, a lay brother of the Greenwich Observants, wrote at great length to
Cromwell on February 1533, stating that
in less than three quarters of a year five of
the brethren had gone over the walls out of
our religion, namely three from Greenwich
and two from Richmond; little credit however can be given to any of his statements. (fn. 5)
In spite of all remonstrance, the divorce of
the king was announced on 23 May 1533,
and on 1 June Anne Boleyn (to whom
Henry had been secretly married some
months before) was crowned at Westminster.
One of the boldest to rebuke Henry was Friar
Peto of the Observants, who had been transferred from the priory of Richmond to that
of Greenwich. In May, at the latter house,
Peto preached a sermon of singular vigour
and plainness as to sin in high places. Henry
ordered Dr. Curwin, afterwards Archbishop
of Dublin and Bishop of Oxford, to answer
him in the same place on the following Sunday, and attended to hear the confutation.
But, at the end of the sermon, Friar Elstow
answered Curwin from the rood-loft to the
king's discomfiture. (fn. 6) On the Monday Peto
and Elstow were brought before the council,
and apparently escaped with a severe reprimand and exile.
John Coke, clerk to the Merchant Adventurers at Antwerp, wrote to Cromwell in June
1533, stating that Peto and other friars of
Richmond, Greenwich and Canterbury were
at Antwerp, writing books against the king's
marriage with Queen Anne; he had got
hold of three of their letters which he enclosed. (fn. 7)
This is not the place to enter into the remarkable story of Elizabeth Barton, 'the holy
maid of Kent,' a nun of St. Sepulchre's, Canterbury, and her supposed revelations and
ecstasies. (fn. 8) But the Observants of Richmond
were among those accused of conniving with
her denunciation of the king's conduct.
Father Hugh Rich, the warden or minister
of the Richmond friars, was imprisoned for a
long time on this charge. On Sunday, 23
November 1533, he, together with the nun
and several other priests and two laymen,
was placed on a high scaffold at St. Paul's
Cross to do public penance. Dr. Capon, the
bishop-elect of Bangor, was the preacher, and
specially blamed the two Observant friars,
Hugh Rich and Richard Risby of Canterbury, for maintaining the quarrel of Queen
Catherine against the king. (fn. 9) After the sermon the nun and her companions were taken
back to the Tower. Eventually Father Rich
and the rest, were condemned unheard by a
special act of attainder and executed as traitors
at Tyburn on 5 May 1534. It is said that
Fathers Rich and Risby were twice offered
their lives if they would accept Henry as
supreme head of the English Church. (fn. 10)
The Friars Observant and the Carthusians
were foremost among the small minority of
the religious of England who offered serious
opposition to the Act by which the papal
authority over religious houses was transferred
to the king, and his supremacy in the church
openly proclaimed. All the houses were called
upon to sign a formal assurance of their acceptance of the change.
Notwithstanding the execution of their
warden for refusing to recognize the supremacy of Henry, the majority of the Richmond
Observants remained steadfastly opposed to
the new order of religion. Rowland Lee, one
of the king's chaplains, lately preferred to
the see of Coventry and Lichfield, together
with Thomas Bedyll, the clerk of the council, were commissioned by Henry to make a
final effort to bring about the submission
of the Richmond Observants. Lee and his
companion wrote to Cromwell saying they
only received order to visit Richmond at six
o'clock on the previous Saturday evening (15
June 1534), but departed that night reaching
the town between 10 and 11. The next
morning they first had communication with
the warden and one of the seniors named
Sebastian: and after that, with the whole
convent, begging them to affix their seal to
the articles of supremacy: but they only met
with a resolute refusal. At last the convent
was persuaded to leave the settlement of the
matter to their seniors, 'otherwise called
"discretes,"' who were four in number. They
then arranged that these four friars should
meet them on the morrow (Monday 17 June)
at the house of the Greenwich Observants
and bring their convent seal with them. At
Greenwich, however, the king's commissioners met with resistance from all the friars
of that house, as well as from the Richmond
deputies. Bishop Lee recited the arguments
he used to Cromwell, adding: 'all this reason
could not sink into their obstinate hearts,' and
they resolved 'to live and die in the observance of St. Francis' religion.' The style of
reasoning adopted by the bishop and the
official of the council was not very likely to
be convincing according to their own showing. When the Observants cited the rule of
St. Francis as to the pope, the commissioners
coolly remarked that they considered that part
had been forged by some malicious friars. (fn. 11)
There was but one way, in the opinion of
Henry, to deal with these friars who refused
to be convinced. The whole order of the
Observants was speedily suppressed, and
within a few days of the visit of Lee and
Bedyll to Richmond and Greenwich two
cartloads of these friars passed through the
city to the Tower. (fn. 12) By the beginning of
August four of the Observant houses including that of Richmond were emptied of their
occupants, and the other two were daily expecting to be expelled. At the end of the
month, Chapuys, the Imperial ambassador,
wrote that all the Observants had been driven
from their monasteries, and had been for the
most part distributed in several monasteries,
'where they were locked up in chains, and
worse treated than they would be in prison.'
Fifty of the Observant friars died in prison,
but some of them obtained leave through
Wriothesley's influence to retire into France,
Scotland and Ireland.