HOUSE OF BONHOMMES
16. THE COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE.
The College of Bonhommes at Ashridge, was
founded in 1283 by Edmund, Earl of Cornwall (fn. 1) in honour of The Precious Blood, on
one of his manors which lay on the Hertfordshire border, and now forms a part of
that county. It was the only house of this
order in England, except the small college
at Edington in Wiltshire (fn. 2) : the rule obeyed
by the brethren differed however very
little from that of the Austin Canons,
though the dress they adopted was more
distinctly monastic, consisting of a grey habit
and scapulary, with a long grey cloak and
cowl. (fn. 3)
The endowment was not at first very
large, and provided only for seven brethren
who were to be all priests, (fn. 4) and were to receive
six marks yearly from the Earl's treasury
for their support. (fn. 5) The chronicler of Dunstable tells us that there was at the time
little hope that the house would continue,
as the foundation was so insufficient, and
some of the brethren had not at first a very
good character, in spite of their name. (fn. 6) The
founder however seems to have been satisfied
with his work; the conventual church was
dedicated in 1286 by Bishop Sutton, (fn. 7) and
enriched by a very valuable relic—a phial
containing a portion of the Precious Blood,
bought in Germany by Richard King, of the
Romans and divided between this house
and the Abbey of Hailes. (fn. 8) In 1290, Edward I.
kept Christmas here with his Court. (fn. 9) In
1300 the founder died at Ashridge, (fn. 10) and his
heart, embalmed in a casket, was placed
beside that of St. Thomas de Cantilupe in
the Conventual Church; other parts of his
body were buried separately here and at
Hailes. (fn. 11)
In 1307 the rector and brethren of Ashridge
received the custody of the hospital of St.
Thomas of Acon in London (fn. 12) ; but in 1315
it was alleged that they had obtained this by
falsehood and suppression of the truth, during
the absence of the master, and it was taken
away from them. (fn. 13) They were cited at the
same time to appear before the pope in person
or by proxy to clear themselves of this charge,
and to bring all papers relating to the suit
between them and the master of the hospital. (fn. 14) It does not appear that they recovered possession of it.
In 1323 there was a suit with the Prior of
St. Bartholomew's, London, who finally surrendered to the brethren all his rights in the
church of Hemel Hempstead. (fn. 15) In 1346 a
chantry was founded in the conventual church
for the soul of Sir Bartholomew Burghersh,
at the appropriation of the church of Ambrosden. (fn. 16) After the Great Pestilence the
endowment of the house was found to be so
diminished in value as to be quite insufficient; and in 1376 the Black Prince increased
it so considerably that he was reckoned as the
second founder. At the same time the statutes were revised, and the house set on quite
a new footing. From this time forward the
ordinary number of the brethren was twenty, (fn. 17)
and even at the dissolution there were still
seventeen.
In 1380, just after the re-modelling of the
house, the rector, Ralf of Aston, claimed on
behalf of his convent to hold one half of the
roads or paths that led from Redbourne to
Hemel Hempstead, and the Abbot of St.
Albans ceded this without making any difficulty. Afterwards, on examination of the
evidences, it was found that those rights had
belonged from time immemorial to the abbey,
but it was too late to take back what had been
formally granted, and the monks of St. Albans
had to endure their loss with as good a grace
as they might, while 'the brethren' of Ashridge, says the chronicler, 'gloried in the
success of their fraud.' It is of course possible that the whole transaction might have
been very differently described by a chronicler
of Ashridge: it is given by Walsingham from
the point of view of his own house. (fn. 18)
In the year 1381 the brethren of Ashridge
suffered considerable losses on their manors at
Berkhampstead and Hemel Hempstead, from
the violence of the revolted peasantry, who
extorted from them new charters of liberty,
and treated them and their property in much
the same way as they had the monks of
St. Albans and the canons of Dunstable. (fn. 19) It
may have been partly in consequence of this
as well as other causes that they found themselves 'overwhelmed with great necessity' in
1413, when the Bishop of Winchester granted
them the church of Ivinghoe, and a clerk of
his household gave them £100 towards the
rebuilding of the choir. (fn. 20)
During the last years of its existence, the
conventual church was a notable place of pilgrimage in the county; and those convicted
of heresy were sometimes ordered to do their
penance there, or even to pass some time
in the monastery itself. (fn. 21) The last rector,
Thomas Waterhouse, assisted at the trial of
the relapsed heretic, Thomas Harding of
Chesham, who was condemned to death in
1532. (fn. 22) He signed the Acknowledgment of
Supremacy in 1535, (fn. 23) and surrendered his
house 6 November, 1539, (fn. 24) receiving by way
of pension the rectory of Quainton. (fn. 25) The
rest of the brethren, sixteen in number, received benefices or pensions of £6 or £7 a
year; two of them were living in 1552 as incumbents of Ayot St. Peter and Dachworth,
and both of these were married. (fn. 26) The old
rector himself lived till 1554, and seems to
have held steadily to the religion in which he
had been bred, bequeathing to several churches
at his death the vestments which he had contrived to keep as personal property all through
the reign of Edward VI. There was until
recently a fine brass on his tomb in Hemel
Hempstead Church, representing him in the
vestments of the priesthood, (fn. 27) it is now in the
chapel at Ashridge.
We have it on the testimony of Harpsfield
that the Bonhommes of Ashridge were in very
deed what their name implies—boni homines
(fn. 28) :
nevertheless there are some serious flaws in
their record, as preserved in the episcopal
registers and elsewhere. It has been already
noticed that certain of the first chaplains of
the house, according to the chronicles of Dunstable, se habebant minus bene. (fn. 29) At the election of Ralf of Aston in 1368, there was some
dispute and opposition, and a commission was
ordered to inquire into the matter; the
rector was specially enjoined to reside, which
looks as if his predecessor had been at fault
in this respect. It is natural to suppose that
the revision of the statutes at the new foundation in 1376 brought about a renewal of
religious fervour, and a fresh desire for the
careful observance of the rule. (fn. 30) It was the
rule of St. Augustine to which the brethren
of Ashridge were professed, with the addition
of a few customs proper to their house. They
were placed under the government of a rector,
instead of an abbot or prior, and he was to be
supported by a corrector. As the brethren
were all priests, their time was to be given
mainly to the divine office, to prayer and to
study;—a granger superintended the temporal property of the house outside the limits
of the cloister, and a cellarer had charge of all
domestic affairs within the college. The life
of the brethren was to be strict and regular,
but not what would have been considered
then very austere, either in respect of fasting,
vigil or enclosure. They rose indeed, as all
religious were bound to do, for the midnight
office; but it was the Use of Sarum they observed (fn. 31) —the ordinary office of secular
priests—and they might retire again to rest
till prime if they desired. (fn. 32) They had ordinarily two meals in the day, and were not
altogether forbidden the use of linen for their
undergarments. Only a few women were
ever allowed to enter the cloister—the founder's wife, the queen, the mothers and sisters
of the brethren—but with these they might
speak, so it were briefly, and in the presence
of a companion. Their profession, like that
of Augustinians generally, took the form of a
promise of obedience made to the rector personally: the novice knelt and placed his
hands between the rector's hands, saying:
'I promise obedience to God, to Blessed
Mary, to thee, N., Rector of Ashridge, according to the rule of Blessed Augustine and
the institutions of the Boni homines of this
place;—and that I will be obedient to thee
and to thy successors unto my life's end.'
It was a simple and a moderate rule, and we
may hope that for the most part the brethren
continued faithful to its observance, and so
earned the character which Harpsfield gives
them. Towards the end of the fifteenth century, however, they seemed to have shared in
the general laxity that marked so many religious houses, as well as the life of the clergy of
that period. Bishop Smith visited the house
and laid certain injunctions upon the brethren, but the record of these is not preserved. (fn. 33)
At the visitation of Bishop Atwater in 1519
it was observed that silence was not well kept,
nor were the bells regularly rung. Complaint
was made that the rector and corrector
sometimes used bitter and opprobrious words
in the exercise of discipline; they were
enjoined to use more self-restraint in this
respect. The bishop also ordered that the
younger brethren should be more diligent in
study, and should not give themselves to idleness, to sport or to drinking: all were to sleep
in the dormitory according to rule, and the
accounts were to be more carefully kept. (fn. 34) It
seems that the last rector, Thomas Waterhouse, and perhaps his predecessors, took
some pains to secure the observance of these
injunctions, and to improve the discipline
of the house. The last visitation report,
that of Bishop Longland in 1530, is very
instructive as showing the natural results
of such efforts of reform, and also the freedom of speech which was allowed on such
occasions, so that anything like grave scandal
would have been exceedingly difficult to hide.
More than one of the brethren complained
that the granger was unfaithful in the exercise of his office, and sold poultry and other
goods of the convent for his own profit. One
or two brethren complained that the seniors
were not sufficiently consulted nor held in
due honour by the rector; nor did the
juniors reverence or bow to them as custom
required. Others however were ready to bear
witness that the chief complainant was disobedient, impatient, and wont to contend with
the rector. Another simply stated his opinion
that the rector's rule was beneficial to the
college. (fn. 35) There were smaller complaints as
to eating and drinking between meals; that
a woman had once spent two nights in the
monastery; that a brother had once been out
in secular habit.
The injunctions show a real grasp of the
situation. The brethren are exhorted to live
in virtue, in concord and in charity, and to be
pure alike in heart and body. They are
gently reminded that the reform of all disorders lies with the rector and corrector, and
that complaining serves no good purpose. All,
under pain of contempt, are to abstain from
eating and drinking between meals without
reasonable cause; those who do so without
licence of the rector or corrector shall fast
upon bread and water. The rector and corrector are to see that all women are kept
outside the cloister; they are to repress all
murmuring by prudent government. The
accounts are to be shown yearly to four senior
brethren; the granger and cellarer are to
give a faithful account of their stewardship.
Licences to go out are to be rarely given, and
the juniors are never to go alone. (fn. 36)
In 1538 one of the brethren of Ashridge
incurred some danger by rash words spoken
against 'Mr. Dr. Petre' (fn. 37) —probably in connection with the dissolution of some neighbouring houses (fn. 38) —and a letter was sent up to
Cromwell by Sir John Russell on his behalf,
saying that he was but a simple man, and that
what he did was for lack of discretion. It is
probable that no proceedings were taken
against him; but the danger of such words
at that time was a very real one. (fn. 39)
The Deed of Surrender, now lost, probably
acknowledged that the brethren with unanimous consent gave up their house to the king.
The last entry in their register, for which the
rector was probably responsible, speaks their
mind more truly. Hoc anno nobilis domus de
Asscherugge destructa fuit et fratres expulsi
sunt in die S. Leonardi. Hoc anno decapitatus
fuit ille eximius haereticus et proditor Thomas
Cromwell, qui causa fuit destruccionis omnium
domorum religiosorum in Anglia. (fn. 40)
The original endowment of the house included the manors of Ashridge, Pitstone
(Bucks), Little Gaddesden and Hemel Hempstead (Herts), with the advowson of the
church of Hemel Hempstead. Before his
death the founder added the manors of Ambrosden and Chesterton (Oxon), with their
churches. (fn. 41) The church of Pitstone with
Nettleden chapel was appropriated in 1381, (fn. 42)
and that of Ivinghoe in 1420. (fn. 43)
From 1302 until 1346 the Rector held one
quarter of a knight's fee at Ashridge, half a
fee in Hemel Hempstead, a quarter of a fee in
Flaunden, and half a fee in Little Gaddesden. (fn. 44)
The temporalities of the house in 1291 were
valued at £72 5s. 7d. (fn. 45) ; in 1535 its clear income was £416 16s. 4d. (fn. 46) The Ministers'
Accounts give a total of £467 3s. 7½d., including the manors of Aldbury, Ambrosden,
Chesterton, and Hemel Hempstead, and the
churches of Hemel Hempstead, Pitstone,
Ambrosden, Chesterton and Ivinghoe. (fn. 47)
Rectors of Ashridge
Richard of Watford, (fn. 48) first rector, elected
1283, resigned 1297.
Ralf of Aston, (fn. 49) elected 1297, resigned 1336
Richard of Saretta, (fn. 50) elected 1336, died 1346
Gilbert Boweles, (fn. 51) elected 1346
Ralf of Aston, (fn. 52) elected 1368, died 1396
John of Tring, (fn. 53) elected 1396
Abel (fn. 54)
Robert Farneburgh, (fn. 55) occurs 1416 and 1428
John (Audelee), (fn. 56) occurs 1435 and 1445
John Whytton or Wilton, (fn. 57) occurs 1482 and
1492
Ralf (fn. 58)
John of Berkampstead, (fn. 59) resigned 1521
John Malden, (fn. 60) elected 1521, died 1529
Thomas Waterhouse, (fn. 61) last rector, elected
1529
Red pointed oval seal of the fourteenth century, of which only a fine fragment remains
attached to the Acknowledgment of Supremacy 1534. (fn. 62) The impression represents on an
altar with large cover the Agnus Dei. In
base a lion rampant in allusion to the arms of
the founder, Edmund, son of Richard, Earl of
Cornwall, 1283. Legend: COMVN . . . VIR.