HOUSES OF GILBERTINE CANONS
10. PRIORY OF ST. EDMUND, CAMBRIDGE
The first experiment in the collegiate system
was the foundation of Walter de Merton at
Oxford, but in 1233 another 'House' was founded
in Oxford for the monks of Gloucester Abbey,
and this, in 1291, was thrown open to all Benedictines; but the Gilbertine Canons had a house
in Cambridge which anticipated the expansion of
Gloucester Hall in 1291, at least by several
months, and, being from its beginning as much
college as monastery, has precedence in point of
time over all Cambridge colleges except Peterhouse, its neighbour, and over all monastic colleges except Gloucester Hall in its first form.
On 9 June 1290 Pope Nicholas IV instructed
the Archdeacon of Stow to grant the place held
by the Friars de penitencia, which, as he believed,
they were then about to leave, to the Master and
Brethren of Sempringham, who were 'wont to
send members of their order to study at the castle
at Cambridge' and needed a house in which to
form a canonry there. A fair price was to be paid
for the site and deposited in safe keeping for the
subsidy for the Holy Land, or other purposes at
the Pope's pleasure. (fn. 1)
The Pope assumed that the Friars of the Sack,
who had been technically 'suppressed' 16 years
before, could no longer need their friary outside
Trumpington Gates; in fact they remained there
for more than another 16 years. (fn. 2) The White
Canons, however, had already found a neighbouring site, the first licence to grant them property
there being dated only 3 days later than the papal
mandate. (fn. 3) Cambridge furnishes more than one
example of a family of wealthy townsfolk owning
a church as a piece of personal property, (fn. 4) and of
these families one of the most notable took its
name from its proprietary chapel of St. Edmund, (fn. 5)
which stood opposite the house of the Friars of
the Sack, (fn. 6) and was served by wardens, of whom
John de Ry and Robert de Horningshethe had
business dealings with the friars. (fn. 7) In 1279 the
head of this family was Luke, who had 70 acres
in demesne (besides many tenements in Barnwell
held of him), (fn. 8) brother and heir of Master Thomas,
a member of the University and benefactor of the
Friars of the Sack. (fn. 9) By 1290 their inheritance
had passed to their sister Cecily, who, on 12 June,
obtained licence to alienate to the Master and
Brethren of Sempringham 2 acres of her patrimony and the advowson of St. Edmund's Chapel. (fn. 10)
The canons appear to have at once begun to
adapt the property, which retained its name of the
Chapel of St. Edmund. (fn. 11) The wording of the
mandate, that they were accustomed to study 'at
the castle of Cambridge', suggests some connexion
with the first Carmelite centre near the castle
before the Gilbertines had a house of study of
their own. Their priory founded at Stamford in
1292, with the same purpose of fostering the
study of theology within the Order, is said to have
been a direct result of the fame of the Carmelite
schools there. (fn. 12) On 29 August 1290 Nicholas IV
licensed the conventual Prior of Sempringham to
have in the mother-house 'a discreet and learned
doctor of theology, to teach those of the brethren
who desired to study that science'. (fn. 13) The intention would seem to have been that the doctor
should obtain his degree through the faculty of
theology established within the last 40 years at
Cambridge. In the 15th century at least one
Gilbertine scholar is described as having studied 'at
other Universities' as well as at Cambridge, (fn. 14) but
in 1290 faculties of theology were rare, and there
is nothing to show that White Canons were going
abroad for the degrees they could obtain at home.
The author of the Liber Memorandorum
records that the canons of Sempringham were
living at St. Edmund's Chapel first in 1291, and
that they were instant in attending lectures and
in disputations, (fn. 15) and a papal indulgence of
17 April 1291 gave remission of penance for a
year and 40 days to those who devoutly visited
the chapel of St. Edmund on his feast day, or that
of St. Gilbert, or on the anniversary of the dedication. (fn. 16) In 1293 Cecily St. Edmund gave to the
Order a house with 60 acres of land, and 40s. of
rent, subject to the annual payment of 15s. 10¾d.
to the bailiffs of Cambridge towards the farm of
the town. (fn. 17)
The demesne of the St. Edmund family thus
became the 'Canons Close', which covered,
roughly, the present site of Addenbrooke's
Hospital. The original chapel had had right of
burial: Master Walter, an early graduate, had
given it land before 1272 'with the body of his
mother', wife of John the Clerk of Cambridge. (fn. 18)
Excavators found female bones on the site in 1896,
and a number of human remains had already been
turned up in the hospital garden in the 18th century. (fn. 19) Although these discoveries may mark the
canons' graveyard, it is more probable that they
go back to the days of the proprietary chapel.
Fuller wrote of the church in 1643 that it 'lay
buried in its churchyard, and the churchyard in
oblivion' although the name 'White Canons' was
still in use. (fn. 20)
The direct dependence of the individual
priories upon the 'Prior of Priors' at Sempringham, together with the very complete exemptions
enjoyed by the Order, makes the history of the
Gilbertine houses obscure. That of St. Edmund's
Chapel continued, until the time of the Black
Death, to receive augmentations of its property,
which lay entirely in Cambridge and in the open
fields about it; in June 1299 Nicholas de Bolingbrok had leave to grant a messuage and 67 acres
of land in Cambridge, (fn. 21) and in the tallage of 1312
the Prior of Sempringham paid 14s. 4d. on the
Cambridge possessions. (fn. 22) Edward II in 1314
granted the canons licence to acquire further
property to the value of £10 a year, (fn. 23) and under
this they obtained 4 more messuages with a little
land and rent in 1318, (fn. 24) and 9 messuages with
more land and rent in 1332. (fn. 25) In addition to this
purely urban property they acquired, before the
middle of the 14th century, numerous strips in
the open fields, and especially in the eastern or
Barnwell field, which, after the dissolution of the
monasteries, were bought by the corporation of
the town. Probably a good deal of exchanging
was done to bring the various sections given by
different small benefactors into more convenient
shape: one such exchange was that of nearly 5 acres
lying in three parcels in Barnwell Fields, which
the canons gave to the nuns of St. Radegund for
about 3½ acres lying in four parcels in Swinecroft,
nearer their priory. (fn. 26) By 1341 the prior seems to
have had town property detached from the conventual buildings, for the warden and scholars of
King's Hall appropriated part of a lane running
between the garden of St. John's Hospital and
'tenements of the Prior of St. Edmund's, which
part extended from the lodging of the prior opposite All Saints' church (fn. 27) . . . to the King's Ditch';
and in January 1341 the king also gave them more
land to increase their site, including a garden
bought from the Prior of the Gilbertines, (fn. 28) which
must have been near the present boundary between
Trinity and St. John's.
In 1348 the priory seems to have suffered from
an outbreak of fire, as it was alleged in 1381 that
all their charters and muniments had been burnt
by misfortune in that year. (fn. 29) To the subsidy of
1379 'the chapel of St. Edmund', rated as under
£20, made a single payment of 5s., ranking with
the other colleges, immediately after which it is
entered; (fn. 30) no canons are, therefore, named and
there is nothing to show the number then, or at
any time, in residence. Money for the support of
two priest canons at Cambridge until they had
each acquired the degree of Bachelor of Divinity
was left to the Master of Sempringham in 1435
by John Leventhorp, a lawyer of eminence. (fn. 31)
Of the canons' library the only survival is an
imperfect copy of the Sentences of Peter Lombard,
now in the British Museum, given to the priory
by Master John Hanworth. (fn. 32) It is an early-14thcentury copy, but there is nothing to show at what
date it was given to the canons.
St. Edmund's, being the house of study for the
whole Order, was maintained, over and above its
endowments in Cambridge, by contributions from
the various monasteries of the Order. (fn. 33) Among
the earlier Gilbertine scholars at Cambridge was
the most eminent, Robert Manning of Bourne in
Lincolnshire, (fn. 34) the only writer of the Order,
except the biographer of St. Gilbert, whose works
have survived. Although he was a student,
Robert wrote in English 'for unlearned men', (fn. 35)
and his Handlyng Synne has been said to have
exercised more influence on the English literary
language than any other poem before Chaucer.
He wrote it in 1303, when he had been professed
15 years, and at some period he appears to have
studied at Cambridge, but whether before he
joined the Order is not clear; so that it is not
possible to claim him definitely as a member of
St. Edmund's.
The later history of St. Edmund's is almost a
complete blank except for a few unimportant
transactions in the way of leases of parts of their
property. In 1499 the town treasurers paid 40s.
to the prior 'for his robe' and for having his friendship for this year; (fn. 36) this may have been connected
with the fact that the priory held part of the
ground covered by Sturbridge Fair. (fn. 37) A further
payment that year of 16d. for wine given to 'the
Lord of the White Canons' (fn. 38) may indicate the
presence of the Master of Sempringham on visitation. No surrender of the priory is recorded, but
the last prior, Humphrey Spensley, was awarded
a pension of £5 in November 1539. (fn. 39)
The estates of the priory, which had been
rated at £8 4s. in 1340, (fn. 40) were valued in 1535
at £14 18s. 8½d. (fn. 41) Parts of them seem to have
been leased to Peterhouse, Christ's, and Corpus,
and to have been retained by those colleges. (fn. 42) The
actual site was granted in 1544 to Edward Elrington and Humphrey Metcalf, (fn. 43) who at once transferred it to Ralph Bicardyke. (fn. 44)
Priors of St. Edmund's
Olbert, occurs 1304-5 (fn. 45)
Henry de Gretford, before 1341 (fn. 46)
John de Leccheworth, occurs 1355 (fn. 47)
John Burton, occurs 1428 (fn. 48)
Richard, occurs 1456 (fn. 49)
James Bolton, occurs 1474 (fn. 50)
Jonson, occurs 1492 (fn. 51)
William Gayton, occurs 1498, (fn. 52) 1501-2 (fn. 53)
Roger Felton, occurs 1508 (fn. 54)
Humphrey Spensley, surrendered c. Nov.
1539 (fn. 55)
A seal used in 1474 and 1498 is sketched and
described by Cole (fn. 56) as oval, bearing the figure of
St. Edmund, crowned and holding two arrows in
his right hand, standing under a canopy surmounted by a cross; in a niche below, a canon
kneeling. Legend: + REX EST EDMŪDUS P . . . S.