CHAPTER III.

A sermon of his preached on the feast of Epiphany is in MS. Oxford, New Coll. 92, f. 82 b[1105].

29.Philip of BriddiltonorBridlingtonwas contemporary with Adam of Hoveden, and like him was licensed as D.D. by the Bishop of Lincoln to hear confessions in 1300[1106]. He responded in the schools to Master Richard de Heddrington or Herington on the question ‘an omnes beati equaliter participant beatitudine[1107],’ a problem which agitated western Christendom in the early fourteenth century.

30.Peter de Baldeswell[1108]was at Oxford in 1300, when he was presented by the Provincial to the Bishop of Lincoln, but not licensed to hear confessions[1109]. He was not then D.D.

31.John de Horley, co. Oxon or Surrey (the same applies to him as to P. of Baldeswell).

32.Martin of Alnwickwas a member of the Oxford convent in 1300; he was among the twenty-two friars for whom Hugh of Hertepol sought to obtain license to hear confessions, and was one of those rejected. He was not a D.D. at this time[1110]. He took his degree and lectured at Oxford between 1300 and 1311. In the latter year he was summoned to Avignon to take part in the controversy between the Conventual and Spiritual Franciscans, as one of the four advisers of the General Minister. The matter was tried by a commission of cardinals and theologians; Martin and his fellows pleaded the cause of the Conventuals, or Community of the Order. The case was adjourned to the Council of Vienne and decided by the bullExivi de Paradiso(which was published in the last session of the Council, May 6, 1313) in favour of the better section of the Conventuals[1111]. Martin of Alnwick was evidently one of the leading Franciscans of the time. According to Bale he died 1336 and was buried at Newcastle[1112].

A universal chronicle, ‘Flores temporum seu chronicon universale ab urbe condita ad annum 1349,’ is sometimes attributed to him; Leland, e.g. says: ‘Catalogus quoque Franciscanorum scriptorum Chronicorum Alaunovicani meminit’ (Tanner, Bibl. 515). See also MS. Arundel 371 (sec. xv). This is the chronicle of Hermann Gigas based on the well-known chronicle of Martinus Polonus (printed 1750). In the preface Hermann says that he has followed, ‘inter modernos, Martinum Romane sedis penitenciarium (?) de ordine fratrum predicatorum’ (Ar. MS. 371, f. 2).Several philosophical treatises byMartinus Anglicusare extant in MS. Vienna:—Bibl. Palat. 4698 (sec. xiv).

Several philosophical treatises byMartinus Anglicusare extant in MS. Vienna:—Bibl. Palat. 4698 (sec. xiv).

33.Robert of Beverley.

34.Richard de ConitonorConyngton(co. Cambridge or Huntingdon) was at Oxford in 1300 and was one of the friars to whom the Bishop of Lincoln refused the right to hear confessions[1113]. He became D.D. and lecturer to the Franciscans between 1300 and 1310. He was afterwards thirty-first master of the Minorites at Cambridge[1114]. He was sixteenth Provincial of England, and held the office in 1310[1115]. About this time the Order was disturbed by the violent antagonism of the two parties within it—the ‘Community,’ the lax or moderate party which comprised the majority and included the official heads of the Order, and the strict or ‘Spiritual’ party. A papal investigation into the causes of dispute and into the observance of Rule by the Order was instituted, and the leaders of each party summoned to the Curia. Richard Conyngton as Provincial was the official representative of the English Franciscans at Avignon and Vienne (1301-1313)[1116]. He was buried at Cambridge[1117].

He is said by Leland and Bale to have written a treatiseDe Christi Dominioagainst Ockham in defence of the papal authority[1118].

Wadding states that he had seen Richard’sCommentary on the Sentencesin the Vatican[1119]. Bale mentions his exposition on the seven penitential psalms,ex monasterio Nordovicensi[1120].

Tractatus Magistri Richardi Conygton Ministri Angliae de paupertate contra opiniones Fratris Petri Joannis (Olivi).Inc.‘Beatus qui intelligit super egenum et pauperem. Ps. Praecedit actus meritorius.’

MS. Florence:—Laurentiana,ex Bibl. S. Crucis, Plut. XXXVI, Dext. Cod. xii (sec. xivexeuntis).

35.Thomas of Pontefractwas at Oxford in 1300; when the bishop of Lincoln refused to grant him license to hear confessions.He became D.D. and lecturer in theology some years after this. In July 1311 he was one of the inquisitors appointed to extort confession of heresy from twenty-four Templars in the Province of York[1121].

36.Peter de Sutton; ‘jacet Stanfordiae,’ i.e. Stamford, co. Lincoln[1122].

37.Ralph of Lockysley[1123]orLockeleye[1124]was regent master at Oxford about 1310. He was buried at Worcester[1125]. According to Bale (I, 366) he wroteDe paupertate evangelica, &c.

38.William of Schyrbourne(1312) was at Oxford in 1300; he was one of the friars presented by the Provincial for license to hear confessions, and rejected by the bishop of Lincoln[1126]. He was master of the Friars Minors in 1312, and in this capacity gave some support to the Dominicans in their controversy with the University[1127].

Leland says: ‘Ejus extantQuodlibeta Theologica, lib. i.’ (?)[1128].

39.William of Nottinghamis confounded with the fourth Provincial Minister by Wadding, Bale, Pits, and the Register of Friars Minors of London[1129]. In a work attributed to him, but really composed by his namesake, occurs the following note, in a hand of the fifteenth century[1130]—

‘This Notyngham was secular canon and precentor of the Church of York’ (and in another hand), ‘afterwards he became a friar of the order of St. Francis.’

In the absence of any confirmatory evidence, no weight can be attached to this statement. No William of Nottingham occurs in Le Neve’sFasti. At the beginning of the fifteenth century a John of Nottingham held two prebends and was treasurer of York: and he may be the person referred to in the first part of the note; it is worthy of remarkthat the MS. originally came from York. William of Nottingham must have been reader to the Franciscans soon after 1312. While regent in theology at Oxford he was largely occupied in transcribing MSS., especially the works of Nicholas de Gorham, the expenses being defrayed by his brotherDominusHugh of Nottingham[1131]. He succeeded Richard Conyngton as seventeenth Provincial Minister[1132]. In 1322 he was at the General Chapter of Perugia, and, with the other ministers, signed the famous letter in which the Franciscans declared that the doctrineDe paupertate Christiwas not heretical but sane and catholic; this was the beginning of the revolt of the whole Order (as distinguished from the Spirituals) against John XXII[1133]. According to Bale he died Oct. 5, 1336[1134]. He was buried at Leicester[1135].

Bale ascribes to himDeterminatio pro lege Christianorum, lib. i.Inc.‘Numquid deus posset revelare aliquam legem.’‘Ex Redingensi Minoritarum cenobio.’ (MS. Seld. sup. 64, f. 215.)

Bale ascribes to himDeterminatio pro lege Christianorum, lib. i.Inc.‘Numquid deus posset revelare aliquam legem.’

‘Ex Redingensi Minoritarum cenobio.’ (MS. Seld. sup. 64, f. 215.)

40.John de Wyltonlectured at Oxford in 1314: in February of that year he appears, as representative of the Minorites, in a list of twelve regent masters in theology (i.e. the theological faculty for the time being), who condemned as heretical eight articles, chiefly concerning the nature of the Trinity, in the convent of the Austin Friars[1136]. Wood[1137], Bale[1138], and Tanner[1139], call him an Austin Friar. Bale states that he studied and lectured as master at Paris, and says that John Baconthorpe, in his commentaries on Books I and II of the Sentences, speaks of him with high praise[1140]. His works seem to have perished[1141].

41.John de Crombe(Cott. MS.) orCrombre(Phil. MS.) was perhaps a native of Combs in Suffolk: he was buried at Oxford[1142].

Compendium theologicae veritatis per fratrem Johannem de Combis, lib. vii.Inc.‘Veritatis theologie cum superni.’

MS. Cambridge:—Caius Coll. 193.Anonymous in MSS. Charleville 19 (writtenA. D.1337), and Metz 448 (sec. xv): generally ascribed to Albertus Magnus and printed at the end of tom. xiii. of his works, Lyons 1651.

MS. Cambridge:—Caius Coll. 193.

Anonymous in MSS. Charleville 19 (writtenA. D.1337), and Metz 448 (sec. xv): generally ascribed to Albertus Magnus and printed at the end of tom. xiii. of his works, Lyons 1651.

42.William of Alnwickis possibly identical with the friar called Roger of Alnwick in the list of Oxford Franciscans presented to the bishop of Lincoln in 1300[1143]. After lecturing at Oxford (c. 1315-1320?), he was sent to the University of Naples, as Doctor of Theology[1144]. He was present at the General Chapter of Perugia in 1322, and joined with the other leading men in the Order in declaring that the doctrine of Evangelical Poverty was not heretical[1145]. In 1330 he was made bishop of Giuvenazzo near Bari[1146]. He is said to have died at Avignon in 1332[1147]. Bartholomew of Pisa mentions him among the famous Franciscan theologians of the English nation[1148]; William Woodford places him among

‘inceptores ordinis Minorum qui egregie scripserunt super sententias[1149].’

Questiones Almoich super primum Sententiarum.

Questiones Almoich in 1 et 2 Sententiarum[1150].

MSS. Padua:—Bibl. S. Anton. (Tomasin, p. 61 b, 62 b.)Cf. MS. Ball. Coll. 208 (sec. xiv), an abridgment of the commentary of Duns Scotus on the 2nd book of the Sentences by ‘Master William of Alnwick, Friar Minor.’

MSS. Padua:—Bibl. S. Anton. (Tomasin, p. 61 b, 62 b.)

Cf. MS. Ball. Coll. 208 (sec. xiv), an abridgment of the commentary of Duns Scotus on the 2nd book of the Sentences by ‘Master William of Alnwick, Friar Minor.’

43.William HerberdorHerbert, if we may credit the Lanercost Chronicle, which is usually trustworthy at this period, was at Paris in 1290[1151]. From his place in the list of masters, it might be inferred that he lectured at Oxford about 1315-1320. But if the following works ascribed to him are genuine, he must have flourished not much later than 1250-60. They are preserved in a fourteenth-century MS. formerly in the library of Henry Farmer of Tusmor, Oxon, now in the Phillipps Library at Thirlestaine House[1152].

Sermo Fratris Willielmi Herebert in Ecclesia B. Mariae Virginis Oxon; in haec verba: ‘Dixit mater Ihu ad eum, Vinum non habent.’Sermo ejusdem Fratris in Ecclesia B. Mariae Oxon. in translatione S. Edmundi Archiepiscopi in haec verba: ‘Homo quidam erat dives et induebatur purpura,’ etc.(St. Edmund was translated in 1247; the words however must meanin festo translationis, i.e. June 9th.)Ejusdem Fratris Epistolae summo Pontifici, Episcopo Coventrensi et Lichfeldensi (Roger of Wesham?), Symoni de Montfort, etc.[1153]Historica quaedam de Papis Romanis (anon.).Tractatus de Veneno et Antidotis (anon.).Hymns in old English[1154], quibus haec notula adjicitur: ‘Istos Hympnos et Antiphonas transtulit in Anglicum non semper de verbo in verbum, sed frequenter sensum aut non multum declinando, et in manu sua scripsit frater Willielmus Herebert; qui usum horum autem habuerit, oret pro anima dicti Patris.’

Sermo Fratris Willielmi Herebert in Ecclesia B. Mariae Virginis Oxon; in haec verba: ‘Dixit mater Ihu ad eum, Vinum non habent.’

Sermo ejusdem Fratris in Ecclesia B. Mariae Oxon. in translatione S. Edmundi Archiepiscopi in haec verba: ‘Homo quidam erat dives et induebatur purpura,’ etc.

(St. Edmund was translated in 1247; the words however must meanin festo translationis, i.e. June 9th.)

Ejusdem Fratris Epistolae summo Pontifici, Episcopo Coventrensi et Lichfeldensi (Roger of Wesham?), Symoni de Montfort, etc.[1153]

Historica quaedam de Papis Romanis (anon.).

Tractatus de Veneno et Antidotis (anon.).

Hymns in old English[1154], quibus haec notula adjicitur: ‘Istos Hympnos et Antiphonas transtulit in Anglicum non semper de verbo in verbum, sed frequenter sensum aut non multum declinando, et in manu sua scripsit frater Willielmus Herebert; qui usum horum autem habuerit, oret pro anima dicti Patris.’

William Herbert was buried at Hereford, which was probably his native convent[1155].

44.Thomas of St. Dunstan(Kent?).

45.John of Reading(de Radingia) was buried at Avignon. He had probably gone to the papal curia in connexion with the revolt of Michael de Cesena and William of Ockham[1156].

Cf. MS. Florence:—Laurentiana,ex Bibl. S. Crucis, Plut. XXXV, Dext. Cod. xi,Primus Fratris Joannis de Padingia(=Radingia?),S.T.D. ord. Min.(super sententias?).

46.John of Thornton; the name is uncertain; it may be Jornton; the Phillipps MS. reads Zortone.

47.Richard of Drayton, was buried at Shrewsbury[1157].

48.Robert of Leicesterseems to have been a protégé of Richard Swinfeld, bishop of Hereford, to whom he dedicated his first extant work in 1294[1158]. He was S.T.P. and in residence at Oxford in 1325, and probably lecturer to the friars about the same time. In this year he was associated with Nicholas de Tyngewick, M.D. and S.T.B. as ‘Magister Extraneus’ of Balliol College[1159]. The two were called upon to decide whether the statutes of the College allowed the members to attend lectures in any faculty except that of Arts, and ordained ‘in the presence of the whole community’ that this was not permissible.Among those present in the Hall of Balliol when the decision was proclaimed was Richard Fitzralph, afterwards Archbishop of Armagh, the great opponent of the Mendicant Orders[1160]. Bale and Pits say that Robert died at Lichfield in 1348; ‘but,’ adds Wood, ‘I suppose ’twas sooner.’

De compoto Hebreorum aptato ad Kalendarium, four parts with prologue; composedA. D.1294.Inc. prol.‘Operis injuncti novitatem, pater meritis insignissime, magister et domine R. Dei gratia Herfordensis antistes ecclesie.’

Compotus Hebreorum purus.Inc.‘Prima earum est a creacione mundi.’

Commentariolus supra tabulas in tractatu primo supra recensito descriptas(or,De ratione temporum), written in 1295.Inc.‘Ad planiorem et pleniorem prescripti tractatus intelligenciam.’

These three works are contained in MS. Bodl. Digby 212 (sec. xiv).

Distinctiones.

MS. Cambridge:—Pembroke Coll. 220, § 1; ‘Enchiridion poenitentiale ... ex distinctionibus ... Rob. de Leycester (aliorumque).’

De paupertate Christi.

Attributed to him by Leland[1161].

49.Walter de Foxisley, orFfoxlein Phillipps MS. (Norfolk or Wilts?).

50.Henry Cruche.A sermon by ‘H. de Cruce, Minor,’ is in Merton Coll. MS. No. 248, f. 170. This name is omitted in the list given in the Phillipps MS.

51.John de Ratforde(cf. 63rd master).

See MS. Bodl. Digby 216, f. 40, containing three theological questions to which the name ‘Ratforde’ is prefixed; the MS. dates from the fourteenth century: the questions are: ‘an quilibet adultus teneatur laudare Deum; utrum ex sui meriti vel demeriti circumstantiis juste debeat augeri vel minui pena; utrum ad omnem actum creature rationalis concurrat necessario Dei efficientia specialis.’

52.John de Preston[1162].

53.Walter de Chauton[1163]is no doubt identical withWalter de Chatton, who with the warden was summoned to appear in the Mayor’s Court, to answer a charge, brought against the convent, of wrongfully keeping two books, in 1330[1164]; he evidently held some official position at this time, presumably that of regent master. He is said to have been warden of Norwich, probably his native convent, and to have taught theology there[1165]. He was one of the D.D.’s whom Benedict XII consulted in drawing up his Statutes for the Franciscan Order in 1336[1166]. This fact lends some support to Bale’s statement that he became papal penitentiary and died at Avignon in 1343[1167]. Bartholomew of Pisa mentions him among the famous writers of the Order; William of Woodford among those who entered the Order in their youth, and ‘wrote many works of great wisdom[1168].’

Cathon sur les Sentences[W. Chatton[1169]or R. Cowton?].

MSS. Paris:—Bibl. Nat. 15886, 15887 (sec. xiv), two copies.

Questio fratris Galtheri magistri ... de schaton, que est secunda in ordine primi sui in prologo.Inc.‘Utrum Deus possit creare.’Expl.‘Et ideo non est simile.’

MS. Cambridge:—Public Library, Ff. III, 26, f. 122, 123, 130 b.Cf. MS. Harl. 3243, fol. 55,Adam Wodham de divisione, etc. contra Chatton.

MS. Cambridge:—Public Library, Ff. III, 26, f. 122, 123, 130 b.

Cf. MS. Harl. 3243, fol. 55,Adam Wodham de divisione, etc. contra Chatton.

54.John de Ridevaus,Rideval, orRedovallensis, sometimes called John de Musca, according to Bale[1170], flourished about 1330. Of the works attributed to him, the Commentary on Fulgentius seems to be the same as that attributed to John Wallensis; similarly perhaps with the commentary on the letter of Valerius to Rufinus; the moral exposition of the Metamorphoses seems to differ from that ascribed to Thomas Walleys and Peter Bercherius.

Lectura super Apocalypsi.

MS. Venice:—St. Mark, Class. I, Cod. 139, fol. 110-119 (sec. xiv), ‘Extracta de lectura fratris Joannis Rydelbast super Apocalypsi, ordinis Minorum.’

‘Commentarius super Fulgencium continens picturas virtutum et viciorum sub ymaginibus deorum et dearum quos colebat vana superstitio paganorum editus a fratre J. de Ridevall de ordine fratrum minorum.’Inc.‘Intencio venerabilis viri Fulgencii.’

MSS. Cambridge:—Pub. Libr. Ii II, 20, f. 121-162 (sec. xv); and Mm I, 18, § 6 (xv).Worcester Cathed. Libr. 154 (= Bernard 829).Venice:—St. Mark, Class. I, Cod. 139, f. 121-136 (xiv).

MSS. Cambridge:—Pub. Libr. Ii II, 20, f. 121-162 (sec. xv); and Mm I, 18, § 6 (xv).

Worcester Cathed. Libr. 154 (= Bernard 829).

Venice:—St. Mark, Class. I, Cod. 139, f. 121-136 (xiv).

‘Ovidii Metamorphoseos fabule ccxviii moraliter exposite.’Inc.‘In hujus expositionis initio.’

MSS. Cambridge:—Pub. Libr. Ii II, 20, f. 162-199 (anon. but in the same writing as theComment. super Fulgenciumwhich it follows).Worc. Cath. Libr. 89 (= 764), ‘Jo. Risdevallus.’

MSS. Cambridge:—Pub. Libr. Ii II, 20, f. 162-199 (anon. but in the same writing as theComment. super Fulgenciumwhich it follows).

Worc. Cath. Libr. 89 (= 764), ‘Jo. Risdevallus.’

In Valerium ad Rufinum de uxore non ducenda.Inc.‘Loqui perhibeor.’

Cf. MSS. Cambridge:—Pub. Libr. Mm I, 18, § 5; and London:—Lambeth Palace 330 (xv).

Commentaries on St. Augustine’s De Civitate Dei.Inc.‘Magnus dominus et laudabilis nimis in civitate Dei.’

MSS. Oxford:—C.C.C. 186 and 187 (sec. xvineuntis); on books 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7, by ‘Jo. Rydevallis’ or ‘Rydewall,’ Friar Minor[1171].

55.Lawrence Britonis perhaps the same as Laurentius Wallensis mentioned by Tanner, who wrote a dialogue on free will[1172]. A sermon by him is preserved in Merton College, MS. 248, f. 170. He flourished about 1340. A Dominican of the same name was S.T.P. of Paris in the thirteenth century[1173]. Among the MSS. mentioned in the old catalogue (1381) at Assisi[1174], is a ‘Summa mag. fratris Laurentii Vualensis Anglici ordinis Minorum;’ this is perhaps a mistake for Johannes Wallensis.

56.John de RudintonorRodyngtonbelonged to the custodyof Oxford, and the convent of Stamford[1175]. He was D.D. of Oxford[1176], nineteenth Provincial Minister of England[1177], and is described in the Register of the Grey Friars of London as ‘vir sanctissimus[1178].’ He was buried at Bedford[1179]; Bale and his followers mention 1348, the date of the first great pestilence, as the year of his death.

Joannes Rodinchon in lib. i. Sententiarum.

Included by Joannes Picardus in hisThesaurus Theologorum(A. D.1503)[1180].

Johannis de Rodynton determinationes theologicae.

MS. Munich:—Bibl. Regiae, Cod. Lat. 22023 (sec. xiv).

Quaestiones super quartum librum Sententiarum(by the same author?).

MS. ibid. fol. 18.

Questiones super quodlibeta rodincon.

MS. Bruges, 503 (sec. xv).

57.John de Howden(c. 1340).

[John Hoveden of London, S.T.P. and author of many works, was not a friar; he diedA. D.1275: Tanner,Bibl.415.]

58.T. Stanschaw, called by Brewer, G. Stanforth[1181], by others, Thomas Stanchaw, Straveshaw, &c., was a Minorite of Bristol[1182]. Bale says:

‘obiit AvenioneA. D.1346. Ex quodam Minoritarum registro[1183].’Some sermons in MS. Merton Coll. 248 (sec. xivexeuntis) are ascribed to ‘Stanschawe.’A number of works are attributed to him by Bale, ‘ex Bibliotheca Nordovicensi,’ and ‘ex officina Roberti Stoughton[1184].’

‘obiit AvenioneA. D.1346. Ex quodam Minoritarum registro[1183].’

Some sermons in MS. Merton Coll. 248 (sec. xivexeuntis) are ascribed to ‘Stanschawe.’

A number of works are attributed to him by Bale, ‘ex Bibliotheca Nordovicensi,’ and ‘ex officina Roberti Stoughton[1184].’

59.Edmund Grafton.

60.Stephen Sorel.

61.Adam WodhamorGodhamwas one of the most famous of the later Franciscan schoolmen[1185]. He is said to have lived chiefly atNorwich, London, and Oxford[1186], and was probably reader in theology at several convents in succession. He was a follower of William of Ockham in philosophy and probably attended his lectures. He may be the Adam to whom Ockham’sSumma logiceswas addressed[1187]. The date of his lecturing as regent master at Oxford is unknown; it must have been about 1340 or soon after. He was perhaps the ‘Frater Adam magister in sacra theologia de Anglia,’ who went to Basel in 1339 to consult Friar James de Porta on some miracles alleged to have been wrought there[1188]. He died, if we may believe Bale, at Babwell in 1358[1189].

Comment. in IV libros Sententiarum, abbreviated by Henry of Oyta.Inc. prol.‘Ista est lex Adam.’

MSS. Paris:—Bibl. Nat. 15892 and 15893 (sec. xiv)[1190].Bruges, 162, ‘Magistri Adae lecturae super IV. Sententiarum’ (?).Toulouse, 246, the abbreviated version of the lectures of Adam Godham or ‘Adam de Vodronio’ by Henry de Hoyta, written in the Franciscan convent at Paris,A. D.1399.Rouen, 581 (sec. xiv-xv).Printed at Paris, 1512. Perhaps some of the MSS. cited above contain the original work of Adam Wodham. See Wadding,Sup. ad Script.2-3.

MSS. Paris:—Bibl. Nat. 15892 and 15893 (sec. xiv)[1190].

Bruges, 162, ‘Magistri Adae lecturae super IV. Sententiarum’ (?).

Toulouse, 246, the abbreviated version of the lectures of Adam Godham or ‘Adam de Vodronio’ by Henry de Hoyta, written in the Franciscan convent at Paris,A. D.1399.

Rouen, 581 (sec. xiv-xv).

Printed at Paris, 1512. Perhaps some of the MSS. cited above contain the original work of Adam Wodham. See Wadding,Sup. ad Script.2-3.

Quaestiones variae philosophicae et theologicae, by Godham and others[1191].

MS. Brit. Mus.: Harl. 3243 (sec. xiv).

Comment, super Cantica Canticorum.

MS. formerly in the Franciscan Library in London (Leland,Collect.III, 49).

Postilla super Ecclesiasticum, Lib. I.

‘Ex registro Decani Nordovicensis’ (Bale MS. Bodl. Seld. sup. 64).

Determinationes, or,Determinationes XI.Inc.‘Utrum officina.’

Mentioned inCatalogus illustrium Franciscanorum, and by Bale (MS.ut supra) ‘ex bibliotheca Nordovicensi[1192].’

62.Robert de Redclive.

63.Thomas Radford(cf. 51st master).

64.John WentorGwentwas a native of the Bristol custody[1193]. He probably incepted in theology and lectured to the Friars at Oxford about 1340 or soon after. His character for holiness was such that he was believed to have wrought miracles in his lifetime[1194]. He succeeded John de Rodyngton as Provincial Minister, being the twentieth in Order, probably between 1340 and 1350[1195]. Bale adds:

‘he died at HerefordA. D.1348, as I have found in a register of the Minorites[1196].’

It is however not improbable that he found only the first statement in the register and added the date. Both the catalogues of the Provincial Ministers state that he was buried at Hereford[1197].

65.Thomas Oterbornecan hardly have written the chronicle generally ascribed to him. The chronicle itself bears no marks of having been written by a Franciscan; even the notices of the Order given in Walsingham and the Eulogium Historiarum are sometimes omitted, and usually shortened, in the so-called Otterbourne. But apart from this, the evidence of dates is fairly conclusive: the chronicle, as edited by Hearne, leaves off abruptly in the year 1420, and Hearne puts Otterbourne’s death at 1421. Pits and Wood suppose from MSS. which end in 1411 that the writer died in that year. Hearne says

‘there are not wanting MSS. which bring the history hardly beyond Edward III.’

But even assuming the existence of such MSS. it is practically impossible that they can have been the work of the Franciscan doctor. Thomas Oterborne must have lectured at Oxford before 1350. It is true that the last nine names of lectors given in the list are in a more recent hand than the earlier ones; but the names of Went and Oterborne are in the same writing, and there can be no reasonable doubt that they were contemporaries. The dates of Oterborne’s two immediate successors at Oxford are unknown[1198], and the list of lectors here comes to an end. We cannot therefore know whether there were any more lectors before Simon Tunstede. Assuming that he was thesixty-eighth lector, we may naturally conclude that the sixty-fifth read several years before him, i.e. several years before 1351 when Simon was ‘regent among the Minorites at Oxford[1199].’ It is therefore most probable that Thomas was reader not later than 1345. The historian was perhaps the Thomas Otterburn who became rector of Chingford in 1393 and was ordained priest in 1394[1200].

66.John Valeys[1201]was perhaps the Friar John Wells who took a prominent part in the disputed election to the Chancellorship in 1349, as a supporter of John Wyllyot, fellow of Merton, whose conduct seems to have been of a peculiarly riotous and lawless character[1202]. He may possibly be the John Welle, S.T.P. and Friar Minor[1203], who was robbed by his servant in London in 1377; some curious details about this affair will be found in Appendix B.

67.Richard Malevileof the London Custody (c. 1350?); this name is added in a still later hand.

FRANCISCANS WHO STUDIED IN THE CONVENT AT OXFORD, OR HAD SOME OTHER CONNEXION WITH THE TOWN OR THE UNIVERSITY.

AgnellusorAngnellus of Pisawas custodian of Paris before becoming first Provincial of England[1204]. He is said to have been made Provincial by St. Francis in 1219[1205]; the order as given by Francis a S. Clara[1206]is as follows:

‘Ego frater Franciscus de Assisio Minister Generalis praecipio tibi fratri Agnello de Pisa per obedientiam, ut vadas ad Angliam, et ibi facias officium Ministeratus. Vale. Frater Franciscus de Assisio.’

It may be doubted whether this letter is authentic, nor is the date beyond dispute. It may be considered as certain that Agnellus did not come to England till September 1224[1207]. He was then a deacon, and about thirty years of age[1208]. He landed with eight others at Dover, went to Canterbury, and thence to London, establishing houses and receiving novices. Such was his humility that he long refused the order of priesthood, and only at length consented, when the Provincial Chapter had procured a command from the General Chapter, that the order should be conferred on him[1209]. He was a zealous guardian of the primitive poverty of the Rule of St. Francis, and would only allow houses to be built or areas to be enlarged where it was absolutely necessary[1210]. He urged the demolition of a conventual building calledValvertat Paris, and forbade the enlargement of the house at Gloucester: he had the infirmary at Oxford built so low that a man couldscarcely stand upright in it. He built a school at Oxford of more generous proportions, and encouraged the love of learning in the Order[1211]. The choice of Grostete as the first master of the Minorites was due to Agnellus[1212]. He was, according to Matthew Paris, on familiar terms with the King, and was one of his counsellors[1213]. In December, 1233, he offered his services as peace-maker between Henry III and the rebellious Earl Marshall, though his efforts to induce the latter to submit were unavailing[1214]. It would seem to have been after this that he went to Rome on some business of the English prelates[1215], and he may also at the same time have attended a General Chapter in Italy[1216]. On his return, he was seized with dysentery at Oxford; it was believed that his health had never recovered from the severities to which he was exposed while labouring for peace in the winter of 1233[1217]. He recommended that the General Minister, Elias, should be requested to appoint Albert of Pisa, or Haymo, or Radulf of Rheims, as his successor. He constituted Peter of Tewkesbury his Vicar, and made his last confession to him. He died at Oxford in great pain, crying continually, ‘Veni, dulcissime Jesu.’ The exact date of his death is uncertain; it was probably early in 1235[1218]. He was, says Eccleston,

Back to Index Next