19. FRANCISCANS, CAMBRIDGE
The first Franciscans landed in England at
Dover on 10 September 1224. (fn. 1) Of this small band
of nine persons a young English friar, William de
Esseby, was appointed first Warden at Oxford,
although still in his novitiate, in 1225, (fn. 2) and some
years later he was sent to found a convent at Cambridge. (fn. 3) As the friars in these early years would
receive 'nothing as of their own', the burgesses
made them a loan of an old synagogue adjoining
the house of Benjamin the Jew, which had been
converted into a jail. (fn. 4) It was presumably on the
site of the synagogue that the friars erected 'a
chapel so exceedingly humble that a carpenter in
one day made and in one day set up the 14 pairs of
rafters' (fn. 5) which formed the frame of the roof.
Here on St. Laurence's Day William de Esseby
and his two comrades, friar Hugh de Bugeton,
and a lame novice named Elias, solemnly sang
mass. (fn. 6) But the site was cramped and there was
only one entrance for friars and jailers alike; so
in June 1238 King Henry granted to the friars
for the enlargement of their site the house of
Master Benjamin and authorized the burgesses of
Cambridge to build a new jail and acquire land
which would discharge the rent of 1 mark due to
him from the Jew's house. (fn. 7) The only subsequent
additions to the site seems to have been in 1328,
when the friars were licensed to enclose a lane
20 perches in length adjoining their site, paying
a yearly rent of 6d. to the commonalty of the
town; (fn. 8) and in 1353, when William de Horewode
and John de Barneye were allowed to alienate to
them 2 messuages for the enlargement of their
dwelling-place. (fn. 9)
The Cambridge convent was head of a Custody.
It is not known exactly when the custodies were
formed, but Richard of Ingworth was the first
head of the Cambridge Custody (fn. 10) before he was
sent to Ireland in 1231-2; (fn. 11) and Eccleston,
referring to the coming of Albert of Pisa to
England in 1237, says that the Cambridge friars
were so zealous for holy poverty that, until this
visit 'the brethren of that Custody wore no
mantles'. (fn. 12)
In 1239, the year in which Elias, the Master
General, was deposed at a General Chapter held
in Rome and Albert of Pisa, the English Provincial, succeeded him, there was a second large
migration of scholars from Oxford to Cambridge. (fn. 13)
In July 1240 the Provincial Chapter of the Friars
Minor assembled in Cambridge for one of its most
important meetings, and the king made a grant of
10 marks towards its expenses. (fn. 14) For the chapter
held here in 1246 the king ordered the sheriff to
provide food for the friars for three days. (fn. 15) Other
chapters are known to have been held at Cambridge in 1279, (fn. 16) 1285, (fn. 17) 1292, (fn. 18) and 1304 (or
possibly 1334). (fn. 19)
It was probably the educational side of the
friars' work that brought them an important
royal bounty. In 1304 Edward I gave 25 marks
to the Grey Friars of Cambridge, (fn. 20) and this gift
became a regular annual alms until the Dissolution, confirmed, early in his reign, by every king
down to Henry VIII. (fn. 21) Only three Franciscan
houses in the kingdom received such a regular
grant, but the circumstances of a studium generale
were probably considered exceptional. (fn. 22) In addition to this regular pension gifts pro pitancia are
found among the royal alms from 1289 to 1338,
made to 39 out of the 58 Franciscan houses in
England, Cambridge being one. The Hundred
Years' War seems to have brought this particular
charity to an end. While they lasted these pittances, being at the rate of a groat a head, indicate
the number of friars in the house. At Cambridge
the numbers seem to have fluctuated remarkably
little; alms given indicate 58 friars in 1277, 59 in
1297, 55 in 1326, and 61 in 1328; in 1289 there
were apparently 75, (fn. 23) but this grant of 50s. was
probably not on the exact basis of a groat a head,
as the same sum was granted to the Friars
Preachers (q.v.).
In a 14th-century list of the Regent Masters
of the Franciscan convents at Oxford and Cambridge (fn. 24) Vincent of Coventry is given as the first
Master at Cambridge, and presumably before he
was appointed Lecturer to the London Grey Friars
by Albert of Pisa in 1236-7 he had been the first
Lecturer to those at Cambridge. (fn. 25) There is
nothing to show that there was any Faculty of
Theology at Cambridge at the time of his appointment, but it certainly existed soon after 1250 and
the connexion of the Cambridge friars, Franciscan as well as Dominican, with its foundation was
close. It was a common practice to study at both
Oxford and Cambridge (fn. 26) and several Cambridge
Masters did so, among them Eustace de Normanville; Thomas of York; Thomas Bungay; and
Roger de Merston. (fn. 27) Eccleston seems to imply
that the first Cambridge lector who held the
office of Master in the same sense as Adam Marsh,
first Regent at Oxford, was John de Weston. (fn. 28)
About 1250 Adam Marsh (who had applied to
the head of the Cambridge Custody for a supply
of vellum (fn. 29) while he was Warden at Oxford)
informed Robert de Thornham, then Custodian,
that Eustace de Normanville, Weston's immediate
predecessor in the list of Cambridge Masters,
had declined the post of lecturer at Norwich, in
his Custody of Cambridge; (fn. 30) the reference to a
lecturer at Norwich suggests that the Franciscan
educational system later codified by Benedict XII
was already taking shape. By the Constitutions of
1336 no Franciscan was to be chosen to lecture
on the Sentences at Paris, Oxford, or Cambridge
unless he had already done so at another studium
generale or at one of twenty-one selected convents. (fn. 31) In England one of these convents was
appointed for each custody, and that for the
Custody of Cambridge was at Norwich. (fn. 32) There
seems to have been a tendency for Cambridge to
retain promising scholars after the completion of
their course, for in 1414 the Warden of Norwich
petitioned that he might have precedence over all
other houses in the custody in choosing friars born
within the limites of Norwich, or having taken
habit there, to live in his convent. The Minister
General obtained his request for him during the
Council of Constance, and it was laid down that
the Cambridge Warden, on receiving from Norwich the names of the brethren chosen, must
show them the letter or send them forthwith to
Norwich, on pain of losing his office: if he delayed, the Warden of Norwich might recall them
by letter directed to them without reference to the
Warden of Cambridge, and they were bound on
their obedience to return; moreover only the
Minister General was to have power to remove a
'native' brother from Norwich, without the consent of the Warden, except in case of proved
scandal. (fn. 33)
The Custodian appears to have been permanent
Visitor within his custody; he also admitted
novices to profession, and from an early date the
custody formed an educational unit. The Provincial Chapter probably chose the English candidates for the degree of B.D. at Oxford or Cambridge as far as possible from each custody in
turn. (fn. 34) Chapters for the custodies were never
established, and after 1240 the convents elected
their own wardens, hitherto appointed by the head
of the custody.
The feeling against the Mendicants in the
Universities, which was so strong at the beginning
of the 14th century, was the outcome of a natural
professional jealousy. In the case of the Dominicans it probably existed from their arrival; in that
of the Franciscans from their first incursion into
learning. In the University the Arts course,
which contained no religious teaching, was essential for all scholars, clerical or lay, before proceeding to a higher faculty, and theology was the
highest faculty of all. The friar was forbidden by
his profession to study Arts, and claimed to proceed straight to theology, so that the presence of
the friars was a continual anomaly and their preponderance in the faculty of theology, which
others could only reach after long years of study, an
irritant. The question was first raised at Oxford,
so far as is known, when the Franciscans petitioned that Thomas of York, later their 4th
Master, should be allowed to incept in theology,
not having previously taken a degree in Arts.
Eventually he was allowed to incept and became
lecturer in theology at Oxford, and afterwards the
6th of the Franciscan Masters at Cambridge, but
a statute was made at Oxford 9 March 1253
requiring that an inceptor in theology should
always have ruled in Arts. (fn. 35) It seems to have been
the custom, at least in theory, that one Master
should rule in each convent in the University each
year. (fn. 36) The date and place in the list held by the
15th Master, 'Friar Bungay', the famous 'wizard',
seems to imply this, and such evidence as exists
bears out the implication. In 1359 it was enacted
at Cambridge that no two friars of the same convent might incept in one year, and that no two,
whether Doctors or Bachelors, should 'concur' in
their lectures, on the Sentences or on the Bible; but
while one might lecture in his own convent, the
other must lecture in the common schools of the
University. (fn. 37)
The Franciscan, like other students, had to deposit a pledge or 'caution' on entering upon a
course of study, as surety that he would complete
it; there are many records of the deposit of such
pledges by Cambridge Grey Friars. (fn. 38) There are
indications that, in the case of the Mendicants,
charitable persons would provide money for the
book or piece of plate required, or give it to the
convent to be used for this purpose. In the higher
faculties the inceptor's fee took the form of feasting the Regents, or paying a fine, fixed at 10
marks for 'possessioner' monks and 8 marks for
friars: (fn. 39) the Friars Minor appear always to have
paid the fine. In 1458 these fines were allotted
to the completion of the south side of the Schools
quadrangle, and the £5 6s. 8d. each paid by John
Croxton and two other friars in 1468 was paid
over for that purpose by the proctors. (fn. 40)
How far the Cambridge, or any other, Grey
Friars depended upon actual day by day begging is
difficult to estimate. Cases both of 'perpetual
alms' and of landed endowment are known, but
not at Cambridge, and there is evidence that at
their suppression they owned no more than their
site there. Something is known of the number
and names of the Cambridge 'limitors' begging in
the diocese of Ely under licence from the bishop,
but to form any adequate idea of the income of any
one house a continuous series of the accounts demanded by the Franciscan Constitutions would be
needed. It so happens that the sole fragment of
such an account which is known to survive belongs
to Cambridge. (fn. 41) The compotus should have been
presented fortnightly in every house by the
Warden and Proctor, or head of the begging
department; the Cambridge fragment consists of
two leaves, one apparently belonging to 1363, the
other dated 1366, and it appears that 9 such
accounts were presented every year at the Cambridge convent, each covering a period of from
3 to 6 or 7 weeks. The first of these fragments
seems to cover the three weeks from Saturday
5 August to 25 August: three friars take part in
collecting a total of £3 2s. 6d. pro pitancia, or for
the good estate of the donors, or for the souls of
their friends. The individual donations vary from
2s. 6d. to a mark. In another compotus the burgesses of Lynn are shown as giving 40d. The only
alms in kind which are recorded are gifts of pigs,
herrings, and figs from two other Franciscan
houses: once Brother John Marbilthorp (or
Mablethorp), who was Warden of the London
Grey Friars and Queen Philippa's confessor at
this time, sent a number of herrings and some
baskets of figs, and several times one pig was received from the Lady Abbess of Denney. It is
probable that these accounts relate to one only of
several districts within the Cambridge limites.
The foundation of a small house of their own
Order at Ware in 1350 (fn. 42) caused some encroachment on the limits of the Cambridge convent,
and in 1395 they petitioned the Pope against this,
setting out that they 'had been wont from old
time, on account of the University at Cambridge,
to receive a very great number of brethren of the
Order of various regions and provinces and to
supply them with food and other necessaries out
of the procurations of alms from the limits of their
house': the convent at Ware, in the diocese of
London, had been founded near these limits, and
its friars extended their limits of procuration so
far towards Cambridge that the multitude of
Franciscans there incurred great loss. The friars
of Ware were forbidden to extend their limites for
begging or preaching more than 5 miles from their
house towards any place which, before their
foundation, was within the Cambridge limits,
except to the town of Puckeridge in the diocese
of London. (fn. 43)
As this decision indicates, the limitor was appointed by his Warden to preach as well as to beg;
the licence to act as confessors in the parishes of
the diocese, or in particular cases, was given by
the bishop. In 1338 Richard de Kellowe, Warden of the Cambridge convent, had such a licence, (fn. 44)
and in April 1341, when he was acting as commissary for the Chancellor of the University,
Bishop Simon Montacute licensed him to reconcile any scholar who had laid violent hands on a
clerk, so long as the Chancellor should be absent: (fn. 45)
a general licence to act as penitentiaries was given
to John de Alby, Custos of the Cambridge Custody, and to Adam de Folsham, Warden of the
convent, in 1347: (fn. 46) other Friars Minor were
presented to the Bishops of Ely for licence to hear
confessions throughout the diocese by the Provincial ministers, and others again were appointed
by the bishops to do so within their own limites.
In 1348 Bishop Lisle appointed the Warden of
Cambridge one of the six Vicars General who
administered the diocese during the Black Death,
apparently ex officio. (fn. 47)
The fragmentary accounts of 1363 and 1366
have been incorporated into the binding of the
Codex Leicestrensis of the New Testament which,
about the beginning of the 16th century, belonged
to Richard Brinkley, a Cambridge Franciscan and
Provincial Minister in 1524, (fn. 48) who must have
been among the last representatives of a tradition
of Franciscan scholarship going back to Roger
Bacon. Transliterations of Greek and Hebrew in
Latin characters are found in English 13thcentury manuscripts of Franciscan provenance,
and among 14th-century Friars Minor who had
a considerable knowledge of both languages was
Henry de Cossey, 46th Master at Cambridge
about 1330 and one of the leaders of the English
friars in their revolt against Pope John XXII. (fn. 49)
The Cambridge Grey Friars led the opposition of
the University to the Pope, and were particularly
active in the dogmatic dispute which aroused it.
In August 1329 John XXII wrote to the young
King of England and to the Queen requesting
support for his nuncio, Master Itherius de
Concoreto, in the case of Peter de Saxlingham
and John de Hequinton, Friars Minor, accused of
heresy, arrested at their convent at Cambridge, and
in custody there; the accused were to be sent to
the papal court for trial. (fn. 50) A letter was also sent to
the Provincial, William of Nottingham, ordering
the extradition of the friars in safe custody,
and adding the names of Henry de Cossey and
Thomas de Helmedon, whom the nuncio had
handed over to Thomas de Caminges, a Friar
Minor, and Richard de Fakenham, the ViceWarden at Cambridge. (fn. 51) At the same time
duplicate letters omitting the names of Henry de
Cossey and Thomas de Helmedon were also sent
to Itherius de Concoreto with instructions to use
his discretion as to which form of citation he produced, as it appeared that these two were less
guilty than the others. (fn. 52)
At least eight friars of the Cambridge convent
are known to have become Provincial Ministers
of England. (fn. 53) Thomas Bungay and Richard
Conyngton, who occurs as Provincial 1310-13,
were Doctors of Oxford who became Cambridge
Masters; (fn. 54) Roger de Denemede, the 36th, and
William de Tychemersch, the 60th Master, held
office later; John Zouch was Provincial Minister
in 1402, deposed 1405, reinstated 1406, again
deposed about 1408, when he became Bishop of
Llandaff, and died in 1422; (fn. 55) John David was
Provincial in March 1425; (fn. 56) Richard Brinkley
was Provincial in June 1524 and died probably
in the next year. William Call, who took his
D.D. in 1509-10, was made Provincial under
Cromwell's influence from 1531 to 1538. (fn. 57)
The humble chapel of the first Franciscans at
Cambridge must soon have been outgrown and
have been rebuilt by 1330, when Richard Conyngton, Provincial Minister, was buried there. (fn. 58)
Further enlargement may have taken place about
this time, as on 30 January 1350 Bishop Lisle's
Vicar General licensed the Warden to have the
conventual church, with its altars and the adjacent
cloister and cemetery, dedicated by any Catholic
bishop, and to present candidates to him for admission to Minor Orders on the day of the dedication. (fn. 59) This church, because of its convenient
size, came to be used by the University for the
ceremonies of Commencement. Dr. Caius,
writing in 1574, (fn. 60) describes these functions 'held
to-day in the University church, but formerly,
within our own memory, in the church of the
Franciscans, twenty years before it was pulled
down'. A 'theatre' of joiners' work, arranged in
steps, was set up within it on Ash Wednesday for
the admission to B.A., and about St. Peter's Day
for the Congregation at which the M.A. and
degrees in the higher faculties were conferred; the
doctors disputed, seated on the 'degrees', and the
rest of the University sat silent in the midst, as in
an arena. The earliest account for erecting this
staging occurs in 1507-8 when carpenters were
employed to carry the materials from the schools
to the friars' church, set them up, and carry them
back again. The work seems to have involved
some structural interference with the church, for
40s. was paid to Bruno Cornelius for mending the
windows and 3s. 8d. to a smith for iron bars, (fn. 61) and
similar payments were made in later years. In
1516 and 1517-18 the ceremony was held in the
schools, but the mass with which it began was
sung in the church of the Franciscans, who were
given 4d. for the accommodation. (fn. 62) In 1518-19
the theatre was again set up in their church, and
the University made a gift of 40s. to the Warden
for necessary repairs. (fn. 63) In 1524 it was decided to
give the Grey Friars a regular 10s. a year 'for
kepyng safelye ye frame of our Commensment as
long as it xal please ye Universite', (fn. 64) in addition
to a smaller sum from time to time 'for taking
down the windows' and payment to workmen for
carrying the planks backwards and forwards, (fn. 65)
and this was paid to the Warden until 1536-7. (fn. 66)
Early in 1539 the friars had left their dissolved
house, but the staging was erected in the church,
and perhaps left standing, for in 1540 the payments are for scrubbing 'ly formes in templo
franciscanorum', for cleaning the 'temple' itself
three times, and for washing the whole theatre
and providing herbs, and finally, after some renewed carrying of the boards between St. Mary's
and the Friars, for their removal to the schools. (fn. 67)
During these years the University made repeated efforts to acquire the church for its own
continued use. The vice-chancellor was directed
by Grace to intercede with the king, and with
Cromwell, as Chancellor, that it might be spared, (fn. 68)
and Roger Ascham wrote to Thomas Thirlby,
consecrated Bishop of Westminster in 1540,
asking for his interest to obtain the house of the
Franciscans for the University, as it would be
both an ornament and a convenience for the holding of congregations and other business. (fn. 69)
In 1517-18 two Franciscans entered for
opposition who had studied Arts for 6 years and
theology for 7, (fn. 70) but it is more probable that they
became friars after having taken Arts as secular
scholars than that the ban on secular studies was
breaking down. Franciscans of the Oxford convent still came to continue their studies at Cambridge or sought incorporation after taking their
degree, and in all well over twenty Friars Minor
were admitted to degrees in theology, generally
after 10 to 15 years' study, between 1500 and
1538. (fn. 71) Notable among these 16th-century
Franciscans were John Underwood, Bishop of
Chalcedon and Suffragan to the Bishop of Norwich, who was admitted B.D. in 1500 (fn. 72) and D.D.
in 1501; (fn. 73) and Bartholomew Treherne or Treheron, B.D. 1532-3, who subsequently became a
strong supporter of the Reformation and was
Keeper of the King's Books under Edward VI
and for a short time Dean of Chichester. (fn. 74) In
1527-8 Dr. Swynborn, the Warden, was permitted 'to rule or not rule at pleasure' on paying
1 mark to the University. (fn. 75) Among these Bachelors and Doctors of Divinity only the two Doctors
(representing the earlier 'lectors' or 'Masters'
lecturing in the house), and the Vice-warden,
appear among the twenty-four friars who signed
the surrender of the friary. Dr. Robert White
incepted in 1521-2 after what seems to have been
an unusually short course at both Universities;
Dr. Thomas Disse, had been Warden when he
was admitted to read the Sentences in 1532-3 and to
incept in 1535. On the 1st Sunday in Lent 1534, (fn. 76)
not long before the acceptance of the King's
supremacy by the University, Disse was to preach
the University sermon, but 'after the prayers he
was so abashed and astonied that he could neither
say it by heart nor read it from his paper, and so
he was fain to come down from the pulpit' protesting 'that he was never in that taking before,
but that now he was entangled with worldly
business concerning the house, and for that he gave
not so great diligence as became him to do'. (fn. 77)
Disse was a B.D. and his sermon may have been
that for his Doctor's degree; he had a grace however, in the following year, to incept after two
sermons, one at Cambridge and one at Paul's
Cross, and he was then still Warden. (fn. 78) At the
surrender he and Robert White, the other D.D.,
signed immediately after William White, who was
then Warden, and before John Fakun, the Vicewarden. (fn. 79) There is no date to the surrender, but
the convent, both friars and servants, had dispersed before the royal valuers came down. They
returned the yearly value of the convent's lands
at £4 13s. 4d., and noted that there were 104
fodders of lead on the church and buildings and
three bells in the tower; the jewels, plate, and
movables had been taken away by the King's
visitors. (fn. 80)
When Leland, shortly before the Dissolution,
visited the library of the Franciscans at Cambridge (fn. 81)
the only works which he thought worth noting
were: Letters of Robert Grosseteste, 127 in number; a letter or pamphlet of [the Bishop of] Lincoln (i.e. Grosseteste) to Adam Rufus; two sermons preached by him before the Pope; a letter on
Obedience by Brother William of Nottingham;
and 'Ambrosius Ausbert'. Probably the Greek
manuscripts of the Psalter (now in Caius College
Library) and of the New Testament (one in the
same library and one at Leicester) (fn. 82) had already
been lost; (fn. 83) and other books may have already been
sent overseas for safe-keeping, or perhaps accompanied their owners into exile; for recent research
has shown that among the books of English origin
in the Ottoboni collection in the Vatican Library (fn. 84)
several have clear indications that they belonged
to the Black Friars or the Grey Friars of Cambridge, and some of these were out of England,
and probably in Rome, at the beginning of 1545.
They nearly all represent scholastic philosophy
and theology and some of them contain numerous
annotations in pencil—a frequent practice in
manuscripts which belonged to the working
library of students. They may therefore be taken
as representative of the books provided for study
in the Cambridge friaries during the greater part
of their existence.
Eight, probably nine, and possibly more of these
books belonged to the Grey Friars. Of these four,
namely two commentaries of Hugh de S. Caro,
on St. Luke and on Isaiah, Eusebius Ecclesiastical History, and Bonaventura, Quaestiones super
IV Sentent., are full of pencil notes. Of the other
four one containing works of St. Anselm had been
bought with money given by Eleanor de Huntingford and was deposited as the 'caution' of Brother
John Wynch in 1346. A Petrus Comestor was
given to the convent by Brother Nicholas
Ramesey; another volume which contains Isidore's
Etymologiae, the Venerable Bede, de Figuris, and
other matter belonged to Brother Thomas Trumpington, D.D.; (fn. 85) and an incomplete Aristotle, de Anima (with a note of the defects), also formed
part of the contents 'of the book-cupboard of the
Friars Minor of Cambridge'.
The book whose provenance is not quite
certain is an Ockham, Quaestiones in IV Sentent.:
besides these (and the manuscripts which came
from the Dominican house at Cambridge) there
are six manuscripts which certainly came from
Cambridge friaries, but cannot be so clearly
assigned to either house; some of these, too, are
annotated freely in pencil, and some have been
deposited as 'cautions'.
Wardens of the Franciscans
Thomas de Hispania, 1st warden (fn. 86)
Richard Kellowe, occurs 1338 (fn. 87)
Adam de Folsham, occurs 1347 (fn. 88)
John de Daventre, occurs 1348 (fn. 89)
William Pecham, occurs 1349 (fn. 90)
John, occurs 1479 (fn. 91)
Bartholomew, occurs 1486 (fn. 92)
Dr. Swinburne, occurs 1527-8 (fn. 93)
Thomas Disse, occurs 1532, 1536 (fn. 94)
William White, surrendered 1538 (fn. 95)
A pointed oval seal, (fn. 96) apparently that of the
warden, in use c. 1330, bears an eagle displayed
and nimbed, with a scroll below it inscribed
IOHNIS; in base a half-figure in prayer. Legend:
. . . . NIS: SVSPEDE: P'C . . .
A matrix of a seal (fn. 97) of a 'vicar of the custos of
Cambridge', found in 1819, is presumed to refer
to the Franciscan Custodia. It shows under a
canopy a shield charged with the implements of
the Passion; below, under an arch, the vicar
kneeling to sinister. Legend: S' . VICARII:
CVSTODIS: CANTABRIGGE.