16. THE CROSSED FRIARS
The Friars of the Holy Cross are said to have
first come to England about 1244, (fn. 1) but it was
not until 1298 that they obtained a footing in
London. About that date, on land in Hart (fn. 2)
Street, at first rented and afterwards bought
from the prior of Christchurch, Aldgate, their
house was founded by Ralph Hosier and William
Sabernes, who afterwards themselves joined the
order. During the following twenty years they
were engaged in building the monastery and
church, (fn. 3) to the great dissatisfaction of the rector
of St. Olave's, who found himself thus deprived
of a source of income. At length a settlement (fn. 4)
was made by the dean of Arches and Stephen,
bishop of London, which provided that all who
so chose might be buried in the conventual
church and cemetery, but the rector was to have
the burial dues of those who belonged to or had
died in his parish; the maintenance of a lamp in
the church of St. Olave, and payment of an
annual sum of 2½ marks, secured the priory from
all other demands of the rector, who on his side
was not to hinder the dedication of the monastery, church, and cemetery.
The material progress of the priory was not
rapid, the acquisition of land and rent to the
yearly value of 100s., for which they had received
licence in 1331, (fn. 5) taking twelve years. (fn. 6) This
property lay in Tooting, (fn. 7) Tooting-Graveney, (fn. 8)
and 'Legham,' (fn. 9) co. Surrey, and in the parishes
of St. Olave, Hart Street, and St. Bartholomew without Bishopsgate (sic), (fn. 10) London. A
chantry of two chaplains established there by
Andrew de Bures (fn. 11) in 1331 was endowed with
land in 'Aketons' and Waldingfield, Suffolk;
another (fn. 12) for one chaplain by Dame Hewysia
Gloucestre (1335) with a tenement in Seething
Lane, and the house appears to have obtained
one or two little pieces of land elsewhere, (fn. 13) but
in 1341 (fn. 14) the revenues of the priory were still
so small that the convent was released from
payment of the subsidy.
It would, however, perhaps be a mistake to
imagine the house extremely poor. The fact
that the friars were endeavouring in 1342 to
provide accommodation at Oxford for thirteen
of their number to study at the university (fn. 15)
doubtless proves nothing but that they took the
same interest in education as the friars of other
orders; but it is difficult to believe that if they
had been without financial support they would
have begun a costly chapel in 1350. (fn. 16)
Moreover in 1359 three of the friars carried
off goods estimated to be worth £87 13s. 4d., (fn. 17)
so that unless a large amount is to be deducted
for the bulls and muniments stolen, the priory
seems to have been fairly well furnished. This
is not, by the way, the only robbery in which
members of the house were concerned, since in
1391 John Bures, then prior, was pardoned for
abetting a man who some years before had
stolen property valued at 600 marks from the
house of the bishop of Bath and Wells. (fn. 18)
Before the end of the century they had added
considerably to their resources. John de Causton, alderman of London, in 1350 gave them
a tenement with gardens and shops near the
Tower, and a tenement called the Cardinalshat
at 'Grascherche' as the endowment of the
two chantries founded by him in the conventual church (fn. 19) ; tenements near Dowgate, and
in 'Syvedenlane' were bequeathed by another
London citizen, Richard Rothyng, in 1379,
also for the establishment of a chantry (fn. 20) ; and
in 1383 Sir Richard Abberbury, kt., granted
to them lands and houses in Donington, (fn. 21) but
these they seem afterwards to have lost, as in
1447 Richard's heir, Thomas de Abberbury,
made them over to the duke of Suffolk. (fn. 22)
The priory must have been popular with the
foreigners who lived round its precincts, for the
Fraternity of the Holy Blood of Jesus, founded
in the church in 1459, and the Brotherhood of
St. Katharine, established there in 1495, were
both of German origin. (fn. 23) It is evident too that
the house was not viewed unfavourably by the
citizens generally, since on the petition of the
prior for aid in the rebuilding of the church in
1520 (fn. 24) the City accepted the patronage of the
foundation, pressed its claims upon the fellowships of London, (fn. 25) and in 1522 (fn. 26) granted some
common soil for its extension. It was probably
to the good offices of their new patrons that the
priory owed the bequest of £50 made to the
new buildings in 1524 by Sir John Skevington,
alderman, (fn. 27) and that of £6 13s. 4d. left in 1523
by Robert Collyns, haberdasher of London. (fn. 28) .
Sir John Milbourne, who had been mayor in
1521, purchased some land of the friars in 1534
for his almshouses, (fn. 29) and had his obit celebrated
in the conventual church. (fn. 30)
Such assistance as was procured was not, however, sufficient to rescue the house from its embarrassments. A woman named Margaret
Johnson complained to Cromwell about 1534
that she and her husband had lent the convent
large sums in 1512 and other amounts since, but
had not for ten years received the annuity
promised in return. (fn. 31) The priory in 1525 had
borrowed money on security of a silver-gilt cross
and some vestments, and in 1535 had not discharged the debt; (fn. 32) in 1527 it borrowed £27 10s.
from George Tadlow, haberdasher of London; (fn. 33)
and in 1538 it owed £40 to William Fernley,
a mercer, and £100 to the executors of a
certain Walter Marsshe. (fn. 34)
After 1530 monetary difficulties were not the
only ones with which the convent had to contend. The religious changes did not meet with
the approval of John Dryver, prior of the house
in 1532, and of course spies were not lacking to
report the imprudent expression of his opinions.
He had said that if it were true that the king
was determined to put down certain religious
houses he should be called 'Destructor Fidei,'
and in speaking of a fall the king's jester had
had from his horse had remarked that 'the fool
should say . . . that the king should have a fall
shortly.' (fn. 35) It is unlikely that he would have
been allowed to remain prior after this, and it
was Edmund Stretam who as head of the
house acknowledged the royal supremacy on
17 April, 1534. (fn. 36)
Robert Ball, the friar who was one of the
witnesses against Dryver, was prior in 1535, (fn. 37)
and was the subject of the well-known letter of
John Bartelot to Cromwell. (fn. 38) Bartelot's story
was that he and some others, having caught the
prior in an act of gross immorality, had been
bribed not to tell by a sum down and a promise of
more. The prior not paying the second amount
was arrested, but found a friend in the chancellor, who declared that it was a heinous
robbery on Bartelot's part. As far as one can
judge it appears to have been an attempt at
intimidation and blackmail based on the fact that
the court policy was known to have but the
half-hearted adherence of the convent. It is
not without significance that when the provincial
of the Austin Friars in 1535 refused to let the
Spaniards celebrate the emperor's victory in
Africa in that church until he knew the king's
pleasure, they went to the Crossed Friars for
their service. (fn. 39) A priest there was reported to
have tried to confirm a penitent in the old
doctrines in February, 1535, (fn. 40) and in March,
1536, (fn. 41) a doctor and three or four others of
the Crossed Friars were prohibited by Hilsey
from hearing confessions. It is possible to see
the reflection of these proceedings in the small
number of names (fn. 42) appended to the deed of
surrender, 12 November, 1538; for in December,
1350, before the priory had had time to recover
from the ravages of the Great Pestilence, there
had been eleven besides the prior and sub-prior, (fn. 43)
but the convent at the Dissolution had dwindled
to six. Raphael or Ralph Turner, (fn. 44) who heads
the list, and was granted an annual pension of
five marks for the term of his life, (fn. 45) was not the
prior, so that the house appears to have been
without a head at this time.
The possessions of the priory, valued at
£52 13s. 4d. (fn. 46) per annum, included the chapel
of 'Chockesmythes' with a messuage and garden
adjoining and lands and wood in 'Wellutham'
Magna, 'Wellutham' (fn. 47) Parva, and Bradfield
Combusta, co. Suffolk, (fn. 48) the site of the late
priory of Barham, (fn. 49) co. Camb., and tenements
in St. Olave's Hart Street, (fn. 50) St. Dunstan's in the
East, (fn. 51) Allhallows Dowgate, Allhallows Barking,
and St. Botolph's without Aldgate. (fn. 52)
The plate of the house, forty-one ounces in
parcel gilt, (fn. 53) seems a very small quantity, but
that stolen (fn. 54) a few years before may never have
been recovered, and some had certainly been
pawned (fn. 55) or sold during the last period of the
priory's existence.
Priors of the Crossed Friars
Adam, (fn. 56) occurs 1298 and 1319 (fn. 57)
William de Charryngworth, occurs 1350 (fn. 58)
John Bures, occurs 1379 (fn. 59) and 1391 (fn. 60)
John Lynoth, occurs 1384 (fn. 61)
William Bowry, occurs 1512 (fn. 62) and 1527 (fn. 63)
John Dryver, occurs 1532 (fn. 64)
Edmund Stretam, occurs 1534 (fn. 65)
Robert Ball, occurs 1535 (fn. 66)
A seal of 1350 (fn. 67) bears a cross pattée between
two crescents and two stars of six points within
a carved gothic quatrefoil. Legend:—
SIGILL COMVNE . DOMVS STE CRUCIS LONDON.
A seal of the sixteenth century (fn. 68) represents
Our Lord on the Cross; surrounded by the
eleven disciples who kneel in adoration; in the
field the sun, moon, and stars. Legend:—
S. FRATERNIT . FRM . CRVCIFEROR . LONDN .
ANNO XVCXXVI