CHAPTER VIII.

‘fratribus Minoribus, Carmelitis, Oxonii, Leycestrie, Parisius, et fratribus ordinis S. Trinitatis;’

the third, to pay any debts he might leave. As Amaury was dispossessed of the Treasurership in Aug. 1265 (after holding it only for a few months), and never recovered it, these bequests were merely a pious wish.

John de Doclingtonbequeathed 20s.to each of the four Orders in Oxford in 1335[667].

Nicholas Acton[668], parson of the church of Wystantowe (Salop), and owner of property in London, left the Oxford Franciscans 40s.in 1337.

William de Burchestreleft them one marc in 1340[669].

John son of Walter Wrenche, of Milton, spicer, by a will dated May 4th, and proved on May 5th, 1349, gave to the Friars Preachers and Friars Minors of Oxford each ten quarters of corn[670].

Edmund Bereford[671], lord of several manors near Oxford, in his will dated Jan. 8th, 1350/1 and proved in 1354, gave, among many other pious bequests, 20s.at his death and 10s.on his anniversary to the Minorites.

‘Item volo quod xij trisennalia celebrentur pro anima mea, videlicet ... in quolibet ordine fratrum j trisennale.’

Henry Malmesbury, citizen of Oxford, left them 20s.in 1361[672].

John de Bereford[673], citizen and sometime Mayor of Oxford, bequeathed 13s.4d.to each of the Orders in 1361,

‘ut habeant animam meam inter eorum missas recommendatam.... Item, cuilibet ordini fratrum predicatorum Minorum Carmelitarum et Augustinensium Oxon’, die sepulture mee 2s.6d., et in die commemorationis anime mee in mensem 2s.6d., et die anniversarii mei 2s.6d.’

Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex (who died 1361), devised

‘to the students of each house of the four orders of Mendicants in Oxford and Cambridge £10 to pray for us[674].’

Richard Bramptone, butcher of Oxford, in 1362, left 10s.to be divided equally among the four Orders of friars[675].

Walter de Berney[676], a wealthy citizen of London, with apparently no near relations, was a benefactor: his will, made in 1377, contains, among many similar bequests, the following:

‘Item fratribus minoribus Oxon’ et Cantebrig’ equaliter x li.’

Richard Carsewell, butcher of Oxford, in 1389 left the house in which he lived, ‘without the South Gate of Oxford toward Grantpounde,’ to his executors, with instructions to sell it

‘and to distribute to the poor friars minors of the money received for the said tenement, ten marks[677].’

John OcleorOkele, of Oxford, ‘skinner,’ left in 1390, 20s.a year for three years to Friar John Schankton, of the Order of Minors, to celebrate masses for the soul of the testator and his friends, in the Franciscan church at Oxford. To the convent of Friars Minors he bequeathed 5s., to celebrate divine service for him on the day or the morrow of his death[678].

Sir John Golafre, of Langley and Fyfield, knight, by will dated Jan. 19th, 1393/4, left the Minorites £10, if he were buried in their church:

‘et si ita contingat quod corpus meum sepultum fuerit alibi, tunc volo quod predicti fratres minores non habeant nisi tantum x li[679].’

Richard de Garaford, of Oxford, who was buried in the Dominican cemetery, left the Friars Minors 6s.8d.in 1395[680].

John de Waltham, Bishop of Salisbury, left them 6s.8d.in the same year ‘to pray specially for his soul[681].’

John Maldon, Provost of Oriel, left 3s.4d.to each of the Mendicant Orders at Oxford in 1401[682].

John Bannebury, of Oxford, left 40d.to the Grey Friars in 1401[683].

Matthew Coke, of Oxford, in the same year, bequeathed 30s.to bedivided among the Orders of friars, ‘to celebrate for my soul,’ and added the hope:

‘et ultra hoc spero in voluntate uxoris mee[684].’

John Thomas, priest, left by will made at Oxford 1413, 10s.to the Friars Minors there,

‘to say one dirige for me with their other usual suffrages[685].’

Lady Alienora de Sancto Amandoin 1426 left £8 to be divided amongst the four Orders at Oxford ‘to celebrate for her soul[686].’

Robert James, Esq., lord of Borstall, left 6s.8d.to each Order at Oxford in 1431[687].

Agnes, wife ofMichael Norton[688], in 1438 willed to be buried in the Minorite church at Oxford, and gave instructions that her tenement in St. Ebbe’s should be sold and that

‘from the money so acquired an anniversary should be held in the said church of the friars Minors of Oxford for my soul and the soul of Thomas Clamiter (?) my late husband, for the space of twenty years, the friars receiving for each such anniversary 6s.8d.’

James Hedyan, LL.B., and Principal of Eagle Hall, in 1445 bequeathed 8s.to the Franciscans, in whose church he was buried, and 20d.to Friar Giles (his Franciscan confessor?)[689].

Reginald Mertherderwa, doctor of laws and rector of the parish of St. Crida the Virgin in the diocese of Exeter, in 1447 left 6s.8d.to each of the four Mendicant Orders at Oxford; and to the convent of Friars Minors

‘to provide one breakfast or dinner among them, that they may the more devoutly pray for my soul, three shillings and four-pence[690].’

William Skelton, clerk, rector of the parish of St. Vedast, London, left the Minorites 3s.4d.in the same year[691].

Walter Morleyse, ‘de alta Sebyndon,’ Co. Wilts, left them 5s.(1451)[692].

Richard Browne, alias Cordon[693], LL.D. and Archdeacon of Rochester, Canon of York, Wells, etc., provides in his will dated 1452, that if he dies in or near Oxford, every Order of friars there shall have one noble (6s.8d.)

‘for the labour of masses and other suffrages to be said for the salvation of his soul and the souls of all the faithful dead.’ Further, ‘I give and bequeath to Friar David Carrewe, Minorite, Master in Theology, 6s.8d.’

William Lord Lovell[694]made arrangements before his death ‘to be buried at the Grayfreris of Oxenford;’ (will dated 18 March, 1454/5, proved Sept. 1, 1455). In the arrangements a bequest would no doubt be included.

Master Philip Polton, Archdeacon of Gloucester (buried in All Souls Chapel), left 40d.to each Order of friars of Oxford by will dated 1461[695].

John Donganin 1464 desired to be buried ‘in the cemetery of the Friars Minors of the University of Oxford,’ to whom he gives 40d.[696]

John Russel, of Holawnton, Wilts, made his will in 1469[697].

‘Also I give and bequeath to the iiij ordyrs off ffrerys wtin þe Vniuersite, of Oxford iiij nowbles to haue myne obyte holden ther and to pray for my sowle and the sowlys of sir Robert Russell, Knyght’ (and other members of the family).

William Dagvyle, gentleman, left 30s.to the five Orders of friars at Oxford in 1474[698].

William Chestur, ‘marchaunte of the staple of Caleys and Citezein and Skynnere of London,’ bequeathed in 1476[699],

‘to euery of þe iiij ordres of ffreres in Oxenforde xxxiijs.iiijd.’

Robert Abdy, Master of Balliol College, left £4 to the four Orders of friars at Oxford in 1483[700].

Alice Dobbis, ‘wif of John Dobbis of yetown of Oxenford Alderman,’ gave and bequeathed 6s.8d.to the ‘ffreris Minours’ in 1488[701].

James Blacwode, of Oxford, in 1490 left to the Minorites there ‘Vset unum Gublet de Argento pouncede[702].’

Master John Martoke, elected Fellow of Merton College in 1458, left each Order of friars at Oxford 6s.8d.(will executed 1500, proved 1503)[703].

Margaret Goldsmithin 1503 left 13s.4d.to be divided among the four Orders[704].

Thomas Banke, Rector of Lincoln College, willed in 1503

‘that the friars of each of the Religions in the town of Oxford should celebrate exequies for him, and that each house should receive of his goods 6s.8d.[705]’

John Pereson(buried at St. Mary Magdalen), left the four Orders 13s.4d.in 1507[706].

In the same year, Thomas Clarke, the executor of the will ofJohn Falley, promised to pay Dr. Kynton, Minorite, 26s.8d.in four instalments[707].

Edmund Crofton, M.A., who made bequests to Brasenose College and the convents of St. Frideswide, Osney, and Rewley, left 26s.8d.to the four Orders (1508)[708].

William Hasard, of Magdalen College, Proctor of the University in 1495, by a will dated 19th Aug. 1509 and proved 31st Aug. of the same year, bequeathed 10s.to each house of friars,

‘praying each Order to celebrate one trental for his soul with the exequies of the dead and a mass on the day of his death[709].’

‘Richard ffetiplace, of Estshifford[710](Berks) Squyer,’ made a will in 1510 containing the entry:

‘Item I bequeth to the iiij orders of freers in Oxford xxvjs.viijd., and eueryche of theym to kepe a solempne dirige and masse praying for my soule.’

‘DameElizabeth Elmysof Henley upon Thamys’ in 1510 left to each of the four Orders in Oxford, if she died in that neighbourhood, 10s.for a trental, &c.

‘And I will that thos said places of freeres to whom my legacies shall come, Immediatly aftir shall syng in their places oon masse of Requiem wtplacebo, dirige, laudes, and commendacion[711].’

‘Sebyll Danvers,’ widow, of Waterstoke, in the diocese of Lincoln and county of Oxford, in 1511 left the four Orders 13s.4d.to be divided equally among them[712].

Thomas Dauys, of St. Edwardstowe, Worcester diocese, in 1511 gave in his will

‘to the iiij orders of freeres for iiij trentalles to be said in Oxford xls.[713]’

William Perot, of Lambourne, Salisbury diocese, in 1511 left to the ‘Grey freres of Oxon xxd.[714]’

Richard Harecourt, Esquire, of Abingdon, left 26s.8d.to the four Orders in Oxford in 1512[715].

William Besylis, Esquire, in 1515 bequeathed ‘to the grey ffryers in Oxenfford vjs.viijd.’[716]

Robert Throkmorton, Knight, willed in 1518[717], that

‘ther be said for my soule in as shorte a space as it may be doon after my deceas twoo trentalles in the Graye ffrieris of Worceter, ij Trentalles in the grey ffreris of Oxford, ij trentalles in the grey ffreris of Cambrygge, ij trentalles in the blake ffreris of Oxford (and same of Cambridge), and for euery of thes trentalles I will there be gyven xs.apece.’

Sir Richard Elyot, ‘Knyght, one of the Kinges Justices of his commen benche,’ willed in 1520, that the four Orders at Oxford and elsewhere,

‘haue at my burying or moneth mynde to kepe dirige and masse for me iijs.iiijd.’[718]

John Tynmouth, Franciscan friar, Bishop of Argos, Suffragan of Sarum, and parson of Boston, left to the Grey Friars of Oxford £5: the will was made in 1523, and proved in 1524[719].

In 1526Richard LekeorLeek[720], ‘late bruer of Oxford,’ bequeathed 4d.to each Grey friar of Oxford being a priest, and 2d.to each ‘being noo prest;’ 6s.8d.to the friars ‘to make a dyner in their owne place;’ 6s.8d.to the Warden ‘to prouide for the premisses;’ 20s.for altars; and an additional 10s.to be paid in three instalments, namely, ‘at my burying,’ ‘at my monethes mynde,’ and ‘at my yeres mynde.’

Walter Curson, of Waterperry[721], ‘gentilman,’ bequeathed a legacy in these terms:

‘Also I woll and gyue to the iiij orders of ffreers in Oxforde for iiij Trentalles to be doēn and had for my soule and my ffrendes soules xls.eqally to be dewyded that is to wit to euery one of them xs.’ (executed 24 Nov. 1526, proved 2 May, 1527).

John Rogers(Exeter College) in 1527 also bequeathed each Order 10s.[722]

John Coles(1529), left the four Orders 13s.4d.(his executors were M.A.’s)[723].

John Seman, of Oxford, by will dated 1529, gave

‘vnto euery one of the iiij orders of ffryours in Oxford, so that they be at my buryall and monethes mynde, xs.[724]’

Anthony Hall, of Swerford, a considerable landowner, desired in his will dated 1529 and proved 1530, to

‘haue a trentall of masses to be said for me, the one half at our lady ffryers (i.e. Carmelites), and the other half at the gray ffryers[725].’

John Byrton, of ‘Abburbury,’ also a farmer or landowner, left in 1530 to the four Orders at Oxford 4s.[726]

Thomas Goodewyn, of Alkerton (Oxon), a large sheepfarmer, bequeathed 2s.8d.to the ‘gray ffryers of Oxford,’ in 1530[727].

In 1532William Clare, of Hollywell, Oxford, left 3s.4d.to each Order of friars at Oxford[728].

Jane Foxe, of Burford, in 1535 bequeathed her lands and tenements and ‘ii c (200) shepe’ to her son, and 5s.8d.‘to the iiij order of frears in Oxford[729].’

Henry Standish[730], Friar Minor, and Bishop of St. Asaph, in 1535 bequeathed

‘five marcs to buy books to be placed in the library of the scholars of the friars Minors in the University of Oxford,’

ten marks to the church of the same friars, £40 for the exhibition of scholars[731]in the University of Oxford, and £40 to build an aisle in the church of the friars Minors at Oxford.

Thomas Sowche, of ‘Spellusbury,’ left to the ‘fore orders of freers in Oxford, euery one of them iiijd.[732]’

Richard ElemensorElemeus, of ‘Welleford’ (Berkshire?), in 1536 left ‘vnto the Gray freers yn Oxford xs.[733]’

John Claymond, S.T.B., President first of Magdalen College, then of Corpus Christi College, left 20s.to each of the convents of friars at Oxford in 1536,

‘ut celebrent in ecclesiis suis pro anima ejus[734].’

Elizabeth Johnson, of Oxford, widow, in 1537 left

‘to the four ordres of fryers four nobles to singe dirige and masse at All-hallowes churche at the buryall and moneth mynde.’

The will was proved on Jan. 12th, 1538/9,—after the suppression of the friaries[735].

Many testators authorized their executors to make due provision of trentalls and masses ‘for the wealth of their souls,’ without specifying where they were to be celebrated: the friars no doubt came in for a share of these. Thus Thomas Hoye, Vicar of Bampton, in 1531 gives the following instructions[736]:

‘It is my will that the forsaid goodes be preysid and put to vendicion and the money therof cummyng to be ordered and distributed by myn executors for trentallys of masses off Requiem eternam and masses of the V woundes of our lord to be celebrate and said for the welthe of my soule and all Christen sowles. Amen.’

On the other hand, the parish priests or rectors of churches were legally entitled to one-fourth of the gifts, bequests, and fees given by their parishioners to the friars[737]: but it is impossible to say whether the right was generally enforced. In 1521 Leo X,

‘owing to the importunate exaction of the funeral fourth by some rectors of churches,’

exempted the friars from the payment[738].

Among other sources of revenue may be enumerated the institution of annual masses for fees (of which the wills often make mention), commutations of penances for money[739], payment by the University and others for the use of their church, schools, and other buildings on various occasions[740], and collections in church[741]. At the beginning of the sixteenth century we hear of a

‘gild of St. Mary in the church of the Friars Minors[742],’

which no doubt supported one or more friars to say mass in one ofthe ten chapels. Of manual labour there is little evidence; the only kind mentioned is the transcription of manuscripts of which we have already spoken.

We may here say a few words on two other points. Firstly, from what classes of society were the Franciscans mainly drawn? In the thirteenth century a very large number of men of position, of high birth, were attracted to the Order; but that this was unusual may be gathered from the rejoicings which took place over converts who were ‘valentes in saeculo[743].’ There is every reason to suppose that the Grey Friars, as well as the other students at the University, were mainly recruited from the sons of tradesmen, artisans, and villeins[744]. Friar Brackley, D.D. was the son of a Norwich dyer[745]; and the towns probably supplied the greater proportion of the Oxford Franciscans[746]. Secondly, what led men to take the vows of the Minorites? Excluding again the thirteenth century (when the highest motives were predominant), and confining ourselves to the later times, we must admit that, apart from those who entered the Order as boys, either from choice or at the instigation or compulsion of relatives[747]—the leading motive was a superstitious belief in the externals of religion, in the efficacy of ‘the washing of cups and pots.’ How strong this feeling was may be seen from the fact that Latimer was at one time in danger of yielding to it.

‘I have thought,’ he wrote to Sir Edward Baynton, ‘that if I had been a friar in a cowl, I could not have been damned, nor afraid of death; and in my sickness I have been tempted to become a friar[748].’

THE DISSOLUTION.

Attitude of the Grey Friars towards the Reformation in its intellectual, religious, and political aspects.—The Divorce.—Visitation of Oxford in 1535.—Suppression of the friaries in 1538.—Condition of the Grey Friary.—Expulsion of the friars; their subsequent history; Simon Ludford.—Houses and site of the Grey Friars.—Dr. London tries to secure the land for the town.—The place leased to Frewers and Pye; bought by Richard Andrews and Howe; resold to Richard Gunter.—Subsequent history of the property.—Total destruction of the buildings.

The intellectual torpor which oppressed Oxford for more than a century after the disappearance of Wiclif and his followers was due less to the repressive measures adopted by Archbishop Arundel, than to the want of vitality, of adaptability to new modes of thought, in the scholastic philosophy and method, with which the intellectual life of Oxford had for so long been identified. The University as a whole did not extend a warm welcome to the New Learning, and it was to be expected that the Mendicant Orders especially should be attached to the old state of things, with which their past greatness was connected, and to which their present position and any prestige they still possessed were due[749]. The Grey Friars consequently were inclined to oppose the revival of learning; and Tyndale no doubt classed them among ‘the old barking curs, Duns’ disciples and like draff called Scotists, the children of darkness,’ who ‘raged in every pulpit against Greek, Latin, and Hebrew[750].’ Dr. Henry Standish, sometime Warden of the Grey Friars of London and Provincial Minister of England, attacked Erasmus’ version of theNew Testament in a sermon at Paul’s Cross and in conversation at Court, and seems to have been the recognised leader of the ‘Trojan’ party in England[751]. But even among the Minorites there are traces of the influence of the Renaissance. Another Provincial Minister, Richard Brynkley, was a student of Greek, and was supplied with a copy of the Gospels in Greek from the Franciscan Library at Oxford. Friar Nicholas de Burgo seems to have been one of that band of Humanists whom Wolsey attracted to Oxford, that they might propagate in his own University the learning and culture of Italy[752].

The close historical relation, notwithstanding the fundamental differences, between the intellectual movement and the religious movement, was neatly expressed in a saying current among the friars: ‘Erasmus laid the egg; Luther hatched it[753].’ The beginnings of the English Reformation in its religious aspect are to be sought among the educated classes, especially at Cambridge. The Minorites, while generally hostile to the new religion[754], did not take a leading part in suppressing it. And when it is remembered how very little progress the Lutheran doctrines made in England before the Dissolution, the few instances of sympathy with those doctrines recorded in the lives of Oxford Franciscans acquire a certain importance[755]. These, however, were exceptional cases. If we trace the fortunes of individual Franciscans after the Dissolution, it will be found that no generalization as to their attitude towards the Reformation can be made. A few remained loyal to the old religion[756], others embraced the new[757], and on both sides persecution was suffered for conscience’sake[758]; others again contrived to reconcile themselves with both old and new according to circumstances[759].

With the Reformation as a political movement, the Franciscans had more sympathy. A large section of them had, long before this, taught the supremacy of the State over the Church in all things political[760]; they approved in principle the confiscation of Church-property for the common good[761]; and Friar Henry Standish, in defending the claim of the temporal courts to try and punish criminous clerks, together with the broad principles on which that claim rested, was only applying to present circumstances the time-honoured traditions of his Order[762]. It is true that the Friars of the Observance resisted the royal supremacy in 1534. But the supremacy claimed by Henry VIII went beyond anything asserted by his predecessors, involving, as it did in effect, the establishment of a lay jurisdiction superior to all ecclesiastical courtsin spiritualibusas well asin temporalibus, constituting Henry ‘a king with a pope in his belly’[763]. The Franciscans at Oxford seem, like most of the religious, to have accepted the supremacy in this extended form and to have taken the oath without demur: at least there is no evidence to the contrary[764].

The oath administered to the monks and friars involved an acknowledgment, not only of the royal supremacy, but of the lawfulness of Henry’s divorce from Katharine and marriage with Anne Boleyn, and a promise to preach the same on every occasion[765]. The attitude of the Oxford Franciscans to the divorce, so far as it can be ascertained, may be briefly stated here.

Henry attached great importance to securing a decision in favour of his divorce from the chief universities of Europe. The divorce became the all-absorbing topic at Oxford; and individual Minorites took a prominent part in the discussions. But the convent as a whole did not present a united front. Dr. Thomas Kirkham, a Franciscan, is mentioned as one of the Doctors of Divinity who opposed thedivorce and were ready to write against it[766]. Dr. Kynton seems to have been on the same side at first[767]; Archbishop Warham complained of his having spread calumnious reports about himself in connexion with the ‘King’s matter,’ and demanded his punishment. But it is doubtful whether in the end Kynton had the courage of his opinions; he was one of the committee of three appointed by the theological faculty to decide the question with the assistance of thirty other members to be nominated by the smaller committee[768]. This body subsequently issued, in the name of the University, the qualified declaration in favour of the King, the tenour of which is well-known.

The most active champion of the King’s cause was also a Minorite, Dr. Nicholas de Burgo, a native of Italy, who enjoyed the patronage of Cardinal Wolsey[769]. The unpopularity of the divorce, among those who were guided by their sentiments rather than by their personal interests, is shown by the treatment he received at Oxford. He was pelted with stones in the street, and the good women of the town would have ‘foyled’ him ‘if their handys might have served their harts’[770]. In retaliation the friar caused about thirty women to be locked up in Bocardo for three days and nights[771]. As we shall see later on, his services did not go unrewarded[772]. The position of Friar Nicholas, however, was exceptional, and his action cannot be regarded as representative of the feelings of the Oxford Convent.

The causes which led to the dissolution of the monasteries do not concern us here. The friaries were not included in the Act of 1536 for the abolition of the lesser monasteries; they possessed as a rule no estates except the site on which they were built, and the gains to be derived from their disendowment were perhaps regarded as insufficient compensation for the odium which the measure would necessarily involve. The first blow had already fallen upon the Observant Friars, the fearless champions of the legality of the Queen Katharine’s marriage and of the Papal supremacy. The conventuals were left alone till Henry decided on the general suppression of the religious houses throughout England. The object of the royal party was then to obtain what was called a ‘voluntary’ surrender of their property from the members of each religiouscommunity; and among those who had the courage to offer opposition were many houses of Franciscans, ‘with hom,’ writes the Bishop of Dover, ‘in every place I have moche besynes’[773]. But among these we cannot reckon the convent at Oxford.

In 1535 Cromwell sent his agent, Layton, and others, to Oxford to reform the University. After abolishing the study of the schoolmen[774], the visitors proceeded to deal with the religious students[775]. For the reform of the monasteries, they were armed with a set of eighty-six articles of inquiry and twenty-five injunctions[776], the real though not avowed object of which was to make monastic life unbearable and so to prepare the way for ‘voluntary’ surrenders[777].

‘We have further,’ writes Dr. Layton to Cromwell on the 12th of September[778], ‘in visitynge the religiouse studenttes, emongyste all other injunctions, adjoyned that none of them for no manner of cause shall cum within any taverne, in, alhowse, or any other howse whatsoever hit be, within the towne and the suburbs of the same, upon payne onse so taken by day or by nyght, to be sent imediatly home to his cloister whereas he was professede. Withoute doubte we here say this acte to be gretly lamentede of all the duble honeste women of the towne, and specially of ther laundres that now may not onse entre within the gaittes, and muche lesse within ther chambers, wherunto they wer ryght well accustomede. I doubt not but for this thyng onely the honeste matrones will sew unto yowe for a redresse.’

It is probable, that, between this time and the summer and autumn of 1538, when the general dissolution of the friaries took place, many of the Oxford Franciscans had left their house[779]. The Friary, it will be seen, was wretchedly poor and in a ruinous condition; ‘and few do geve any almys to them’[780]. The commission to visit the Oxfordfriaries in 1538 consisted of Dr. John London, the mayor (Mr. Banaster) and ‘master aldermen’ (apparently Mr. Pye and Mr. Fryer). On the 8th of July[781], Dr. London writes to Cromwell that he and his fellow-commissioners have been ‘at all the places of the fryers in Oxforde,’ and wishing ‘to know your lordeships pleasur’ on certain doubtful points, he proceeds to give an account of his work.

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