30. THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS OF CANTERBURY
On 10 September, 1224, nine Franciscan
friars, with Agnellus of Pisa as the provincial
minister of the new province of England at their
head, landed at Dover, and proceeding to Canterbury stayed two days at the priory of the Holy
Trinity, i.e. at Christchurch. Four of them then
set out for London, while the remaining five
lodged at the hospital of Poor Priests in Stour
Street. Soon a small room was. granted to them
in the schoolhouse: here they remained shut
up in the daytime, but in the evening, after the
scholars had gone home, they used to sit in the
schoolroom and make a fire; and sometimes they
would put on the fire a little pot in which Were
the dregs of beer, often diluted with water, and
dip a cup in the pot and pass it round, each, as
his turn came, saying some word of edification. (fn. 1)
The friars won the favour of Archbishop Stephen
Langtdn, who when promoting the first novice
in England to the Order of Acolytes called him
' Brother Solomon of the Order of the Apostles.' (fn. 2)
Alexander the master of the hospital of Poor
Priests gave them a plot of ground and built them
a chapel: as the friars could own no property,
this was made over to the commonalty of the
city, and the brethren had the use of it at the
will of the citizens. Their other chief benefactors
in these early years were Simon Langton, archdeacon of Canterbury and brother of the archbishop, Henry of Sandwich, and Loretta, countess
of Leicester,
the lady ankeress of Hackington who cared for them
in all things as a mother cares for her sons and obtained for them in wonderful manner the favour of
princes and prelates by her wisdom. (fn. 3)
As early as 1236 or 1237 Henry of Coventry
was appointed lector in this house by Albert of
Pisa, the second provincial minister. (fn. 4) The friary
was in the custody of London. (fn. 5)
Henry III, who lavished gifts on the Black
Friars of Canterbury, seems to have done little for
the Grey Friars. Fifteen cart-loads of fuel in
1241, 50s. to buy wood in 1246, and six beech
trees in 1272 seem to be the only grants by this
king recorded in the Public Records. (fn. 6)
In or about 1268 John Dygg or Diggs, alderman and afterwards bailiff of Canterbury, bought
the island called Binnewiht, situated between two
branches of the Stour and 'the place of the gate
on Stour Street,' for the use of the Friars Minors,
and in time transferred them thither. (fn. 7)
Licence to inclose a road which formed the
western boundary of their land was granted them
in 1279. (fn. 8)
From an agreement dated 24 June, 1294, between these friars and the monks of Ghristchurch
it appears that the former had inclosed in their
precincts several tenements belonging to the fee
of the prior and convent of Christchurch; namely,
the tenement once held by Samuel the Dyer
(from which was due 7¾d. a year), that once held
by Berengar in With (12d.), that once held by
Seron de Bocton (6d.), the rent of Wilbert formerly prior of Christchurch [1167] near Ottewel
(12d.), and the tenement of Stephen son of Lewen
Samuel (18d.). The monks agreed to remit all
arrears due to them ' for charity,' on condition
that the friars should pay them a yearly rent of
3s. in lieu of all services. (fn. 9)
Gregory de Rokesley, mayor of London, left
the residue of his estate in the dioceses and cities
of London, Canterbury, and Rochester, to the
poor in 1291, and instructed his executors to consult the warden of the Friars Minors in London
and the warden of the Friars Minors in Canterbury about the disposal of his property. (fn. 10)
About this time, while Peckham was archbishop, the monks of Christchurch were employing a Franciscan as lecturer to their convent.
In 1285 the prior wrote to the provincial chapter
of the Friars Minors assembled at Cambridge,
asking that Friar Ralph de Wydeheye, who had
already for long been their lector, might be confirmed in his office; and every year a similar
letter was addressed to the provincial chapter till
1298. (fn. 11) Ralph was succeeded by Friar Robert
de Fulham, who continued to lecture till 1314,
when the monks wrote that
his teaching has so sweet an odour in the city of Canterbury and has so fructified many of our congregation,
his sedulous hearers, with the waters of Holy Scripture,
that we regard them as fit to undertake the office of
lector in our schools. (fn. 12)
Edward I granted these friars firewood in
1278, (fn. 13) and in 1293 fuel from the archbishop's
woods during the vacancy of the see. (fn. 14) In 1289
he gave them 60s. for three days' food, in 1297
39s. for three days' food, and in February 12991300, 34s. for three days' food, and 40s. for four
days' food. (fn. 15) The number of friars was probably
about thirty-five.
William de Gerberg, kt., indicted of procuring
some persons to commit a murder in Norfolk,
took sanctuary in the Minorites' church of Canterbury, and remained there full half a year
(1305). (fn. 16)
In 1309 they acquired from James or John de
Bowme a roadway Jeading from the. highway to
the water of the Stour, and obtained royal licence
to build a bridge across the Stour extending from
the said roadway to their dwelling-house, for the
benefit of persons wishing to attend service in
their church: the bridge was to be so built as to
allow a clear passage for boats underneath it; (fn. 17)
Their new church and cemetery were consecrated by Archbishop Reynolds in 1325. (fn. 18) From
royal grants it appears there were thirty-five
friars in this house in 1320, (fn. 19) and thirty-seven in
1336. (fn. 20) Friar Simon de Husshebourne, O.M.,
when visiting his convent at Canterbury in 1328,
had 10 marks of the king's gift for his expenses. (fn. 21)
The friars at Canterbury seem to have had the
usual troubles with the parish priests. In a letter
to the archdeacon of Canterbury, dated 2 December, 1287, Peckham maintained their right to
hear confessions against the assertions of some
rectors and vicars, and claimed that they were
more learned and holy than the secular priests. (fn. 22)
Archbishop Winchelsey licensed eight Friars
Minors to hear confessions in his diocese in 1300. (fn. 23)
Archbishop Reynolds licensed Robert of St.
Albans, the warden, Nicholas de Clive and Alan
de Bourne and William Venable in 1323, in
place of four other friars who had been transferred elsewhere, and this brought up the number
of Friars Minors thus licensed living at Canterbury to twelve. (fn. 24)
Two friars of this house, John atte Noke of
Newington and John of Bromesdon, received the
royal pardon in 1338 for rescuing two felons adjudged to death at Canterbury, while on their
way to execution. (fn. 25)
A further addition to their precinct was made
in 1336, when they acquired from Master John
of Romney, Hugh le Woder and William, parson
of St. Mildred's, Canterbury, a messuage and
garden io perches square. (fn. 26)
The friars neglected to pay the rent due to
Christchurch, and the monks in consequence
withdrew the annual grant which they were
accustomed to make to the friars; the queen
dowager, Isabella, begged them to renew the
alms in 1343, but the prior refused to comply. (fn. 27)
In 1358 Archbishop Islip, perhaps in consequence of the ravages of the Black Death,
authorized five Franciscans of the convent of
Oxford and three of that of Cambridge to preach
in the diocese of Canterbury. (fn. 28)
The Grey Friars received numerous bequests,
and their church was the burial-place of many
people of rank and many citizens of Canterbury.
Among those buried here were William Balliol
le Scot, sixth son of John Balliol and Devorguila,
1313; (fn. 29) Bartholomew lord Badlesmere, who
was hanged at Canterbury in April, 1322; (fn. 30) Sir
Giles Badlesmere, kt., his son, 1337; (fn. 31) Elizabeth, lady of Chilham; (fn. 32) Sir William Manston,
kt., and Sir Roger Manston, kt., his brother; (fn. 33)
Sir John Brockhill, kt., 1382, and several others
of this family; (fn. 34) Sir Falcon Payfarer, kt.; Sir
Thomas Dayner, kt.; Lady Alice of Maryms;
Lady Candlin; ' Sir Alan Pennington of . . .
in Lancashire, kt., who coming from the wars
beyond seas died in this city '; Lady Ladrie
of Valence; Sir William Trussell, kt.; Sir
Bartholomew Ashburnham, kt.; Sir John Montenden, kt., a friar of this house; (fn. 35) Thomas Barton
of Northgate, Canterbury, 1476; (fn. 36) Margaret
Cherche of St. Alphege, 1486; (fn. 37) John Forde of
the parish of St. George, who desired to be buried
' in the north part of the church near the altar of
St. Clement,' 1487; (fn. 38) Milo Denne of Canterbury, barber, 1490-1; (fn. 39) Hamon Beale, twice
mayor of Canterbury, 1492, and Isabel his wife; (fn. 40)
Richard Martin, suffragan to the archbishop and
sometime warden of the house, 1502, who bequeathed to the friars his chrismatory of silver
and parcel gilt with its case, and mentions in his
will the chapel of St. Saviour in this church; (fn. 41)
Elizabeth Master, 1522; (fn. 42) Alexander Elyothe, (fn. 42a)
priest, 1524; Anne Culpeper, widow of Harry
Agar, esq., 1532. (fn. 43)
Other benefactors were Elizabeth de Burgh,
lady of Clare, 1360; (fn. 44) Sir Richard atte Lease,
kt. 1393; (fn. 45) William Woodland of Holy Cross,
Canterbury, who left £5 for the repair of the
church and 5 marks for the repair of the dormitory, 1450; (fn. 46) Richard Tilley, 1485, John
Bakke, 1500, and Elizabeth, wife of John Hales,
alderman, 1506, all of Canterbury; (fn. 47) John
Roper of Eltham, esq., 1523-4; (fn. 48) Sir John
Rudstone, kt. and alderman of London, who
bequeathed to the Observant Friars here 'one long
gray woollen cloth for their habits,' price 5 marks,
1530; (fn. 49) H. Hatche, who bequeathed 15s. a year
to the Observant Friars of Canterbury, and 5
marks to every house of Observant Friars in
England, 1533. (fn. 60) From Lord Darcy they received 5 marks in 1526. (fn. 51) Lord Lisle in 1534
authorized the collection of money at Calais for
' the Grey Friars of Canterbury who have no
lands or rents.' (fn. 52)
The friars seem to have had a valuable library.
Friar Ralph of Maidstone, who was bishop of
Hereford, 1234-9, gave them a New Testament
with gloss, now in the British Museum. (fn. 53)
Richard Wych, bishop of Chichester, bequeathed
them a copy of the book of Isaiah with gloss in
1253. (fn. 54) Five other volumes now in the British
Museum also belonged to them; namely a
thirteenth-century copy of the Gospels of St.
Mark and St. Matthew; (fn. 55) a volume also of the
thirteenth century containing Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Britonum, the Historia Hierosolimitana of James of Vitry, Gesta Alexandri and
Historia Romanorum, and the Chronicle of Martin
of Troppau; (fn. 56) a fourteenth-century manuscript
of Genesis and Exodus, (fn. 67) and another containing
the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel, the
gift of Master Adam of Richmond, (fn. 58) and another
of St. Paul's Epistles, the gift of Friar Henry of
Rye. (fn. 59) A collection of treatises by Aristotle,
Albertus Magnus and others on natural science,
now in the Bodleian Library, belonged to John
Bruyl, a friar of this house, (fn. 60) who in 1397-8 was
warden of London. (fn. 61) And in the fifteenth
century the convent possessed a volume entitled
' Notabilia super ecclesiasticam historiam et tripartitam cum extractionibus Willelmi Malmesburiensis,' having on the back of the binding the
letters þ ι h
(fn. 62)
In 1498 the house was included by Henry VII
among the convents of the Observant Friars or
reformed branch of the Franciscans. (fn. 63) The Act
of the king was confirmed by Pope Alexander VI
in 1499, and the English Observants, who had
since 1484 been under the government of the
commissary of the vicar-general, were formed
into a province. (fn. 64) In his will Henry VII left
100 marks to the Observant Friars of Canterbury
and entrusted £200 for their use to the prior of
Christchurch. (fn. 65) They received £13 6s. 8d. from
Henry VIII for saying daily masses for the late
king in 1509. (fn. 66) They seem to have been active
preachers in the neighbourhood; they are found,
for instance, preaching at Romney and receiving
alms from that town in 1506 and 1517-18. (fn. 67)
Alexander Barclay, the translator of the Ship
of Fools, appears to have been for a time a
member of this community. (fn. 68) A provincial
chapter, was held here in 1532, which William
Peto attended. (fn. 69) Two friars of this house,
Hugh Rich, warden of Richmond, and Richard
Risby, warden of Canterbury, were among
the chief supporters of the Holy Maid of
Kent. They stood with her on the scaffold at
Paul's Cross, 23 November, 1533, when Dr.
Capon denounced the two friars in particular, for
having 'suborned and seduced their companions
to maintain the false opinion and wicked quarrel
of the queen against the king.' They were then
taken to Canterbury and made to do public
penance, and were hanged and beheaded at
Tyburn with the Maid and others 20 April,
1534. The bodies of the two Observants
and the Maid were buried at the Grey Friars,
London (fn. 70)
Other Observant Friars who died at Canterbury about this time were Judocus of Amsterdam
and Lewis Wilkinson; another, Christopher
Burrell, remained at Canterbury, mad. Some
were sent away for safe custody, others fled
abroad. (fn. 71) Only two—Father Mychelsen and
Father John Gam—are mentioned as having
refused to take the oath of allegiance and supremacy exacted from the friars in the spring of
1534. (fn. 72)
The king did not suppress the Grey Friars of
Canterbury at this time, but forbade them to go
out of their house and appointed John Arthur as
warden, against the wishes of the provincial.
Arthur, who had left a bad reputation behind
him at Oxford, (fn. 73) treated the Observants of
Canterbury with severity, imprisoning some ' because they rebelled against the king and held so
stiffly to the bishop of Rome, for which he daily
reproved them.' He and his opponents accused
each other of theft and immoral intercourse with
women. His special enemy was Friar Henry
Bocher, who succeeded in turning the tables on
the warden by accusing him of speaking against
the king. The charge seems to have been
founded on a sermon which Arthur preached in
the church of Herne on Passion Sunday, 1535,
in which he blamed these new books and new
preachers for discouraging pilgrimages, especially
to the shrine of St. Thomas:
and he said, if so be that St. Thomas were a devil in
hell, if the church had canonized him, we ought to
worship him, for you ought to believe us prelates
though we preach false.
The result was that Bocher was set free, and
Arthur imprisoned at Cromwell's command.
The provincial appointed an Observant, Arthur's
' mortal enemy,' as warden. Arthur, fearing
starvation, succeeded in escaping to France. (fn. 74)
The bishop of Dover came to Canterbury on
13 December, 1538, to dissolve the friaries; he
found them all in debt, but the Black and Grey
Friars were able with their implements to pay all
their debts, the visitor's costs, and a little more. (fn. 75)
The documents relating to the surrender have
disappeared.
Cranmer had already, 5 October, 1538, written
to Cromwell that 'as the Grey Friars, Canterbury,
is very commodious for my servant, Thomas
Cobham, brother to Lord Cobham, I beg you
will help him to the said house.' (fn. 76)
In the following February the site was let to
Thomas Spilman, one of the receivers of the
augmentations, for 40s. a year. (fn. 77) A clothier
named John Batherst asserted that the king
wished him to have the house for the erection of
clothmaking, but he failed to eject Spilman, (fn. 78)
who, in July, 1539, bought the premises, including the church and bell-tower, for £100, and
sold them in 1544 to Thomas Rolf or Roffe. (fn. 79)
The lands consisted of the site of the house and
two messuages, two orchards, two gardens, 3 acres
of land, 5 acres of meadow, and 4 acres of pasture
in the parishes of St. Peter, St. Mildred, and St.
Margaret, held in chief of the crown. (fn. 80) Rolf in
1549, with the permission of the commonalty,
narrowed the principal entrance (in the High
Street, opposite the Black Friars entry) to a
passage. (fn. 81) William Lovelace died seised of the
house in 1576, and the property remained in
this family for many years. (fn. 82)
Wardens
G. c. 1250 (fn. 83)
Robert of St. Albans, 1323 (fn. 84)
John, 1479 (fn. 85)
Richard Martin, c. 1490 (?) (fn. 86)
Richard Risby, 1532-3 (fn. 87)
Gabriel Pecock, 1532 (fn. 88)
John Arthur, 1533-5 (fn. 89)
Bernardine Covert, 1534 (fn. 90)
The seal (fn. 91) of this house in the fourteenth
century represented Becket's martyrdom, under a
carved gothic canopy. In base under a pointed
arch between two half arches, a friar praying to
the right. Legend:—
S FRATRVM MINORVM CANTVARIE