THE FRIARS OF THE SACK
Acommunity of Friars of Penitence of Jesus Christ,
popularly known as Friars of the Sack, was established
at Chester before 1274 when the Council of Lyons
condemned the order to gradual extinction. (fn. 1) The
Chester community is the most recently identified and
still the most obscure of the sixteen foundations of the
order in England. (fn. 2) In 1277 Edward I sent the community 5s. for food and at that date it seems to have been
larger than that of the Carmelites. (fn. 3) When the next
royal donations were made in 1284, the Friars of the
Sack received four payments totalling £1 13s. 4d.,
considerably less than the other three communities of
friars. (fn. 4) Only one other benefaction is known: Joan, the
widow of Geoffrey de Dutton, bequeathed 4s. to
fratribus indutis saccis. (fn. 5) Nothing further is known of
the community's history and it probably died out
before 1300.
Footnotes
| 1 |
For the history of the order see R. W. Emery, 'The Friars
of the Sack', Speculum, xviii. 323–34. |
| 2 |
Letter from R. W. Emery in Downside Review, lxix.
520; D. Knowles and R. N. Hadcock, Medieval Religious
Houses, Eng. and Wales (2nd edn. 1971), 247–9. |
| 3 |
P.R.O., E 101/350/23, m. 2 (on the same date the
Carmelites were allowed 3s. 9d. and the Franciscans and
Dominicans 13s. 1d. each). |
| 4 |
Tribute to an Antiquary, 110–11 (the Dominicans
received £8 14s. 1d., the Franciscans £6 17s. 3½d., and the
Carmelites £4 12s. 4d.). |
| 5 |
Bodl. MS. Dodsworth 62, f. 43v. (printed 3 Sheaf, ix, p.
117). The will is not dated but the benefaction may be early
as the Carmelites are not mentioned. |