FRIARIES
13. THE HOUSE OF FRANCISCAN FRIARS, BEDFORD
The house of the Grey Friars at Bedford
was said by Leland to have been founded by
Lady Mabel de Pattishall (fn. 1) ; the Valor Ecclesiasticus however gives the name of John
St. John as the first founder. (fn. 2) It is uncertain
at what date the Grey Friars came to Bedford,
but their church was completed and dedicated
on 3 November 1295, (fn. 3) when indulgences were
granted by Bishop Sutton to those who should
visit it. In 1300 (fn. 4) some of the friars of Bedford received licences from Bishop Dalderby
for hearing confessions. Like their Dominican brethren, they seem to have met with
more kindness from the nuns than from the
monks of the older orders: for in 1310 the
prioress and convent of Harrold (fn. 5) joined with
some of the citizens of Bedford in making
them a grant of divers small plots of land
within the town for the enlargement of their
area.
The friars of Bedford (fn. 6) signed the acknowledgment of the royal supremacy on
14 May 1534, John Vyall, S.T.P., (fn. 7) being
at that time warden of the house; his name
appears again in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of
1535. The warden of the Friars Observants
of Greenwich was sent to this house in 1531,
when the brethren of his own order were
dispersed, and was kept there under some
kind of restraint. (fn. 8) The deed of surrender, (fn. 9)
which is dated 3 October 1538, gives the
names of a warden, vice-warden, and ten
other friars (fn. 10) ; it is in the form which seems
to have been offered to the friars only, beginning 'Forasmuch as we the warden and
friars of the house of Saint Francis in Bedford . . . do profoundly consider that the
perfection of Christian living doth not consist in dumb ceremonies, wearing of grey
coat, . . . ducking and becking and girding
ourselves with a girdle full of knots, and
other like pharisaical ceremonies'; and has
no seal. (fn. 11) The value of the house in 1535
was £3 13s. 2d. (fn. 12)
Footnotes
| 1 |
Quoted Dugdale, Mon. vi. 1509. |
| 2 |
Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv. 190. |
| 3 |
Linc. Epis. Reg., Memo. Sutton, 127. |
| 4 |
Ibid. Memo. Dalderby, 11d. |
| 5 |
Pat. 4 Edw. II. m. 18. |
| 6 |
L. and P. Hen. VIII. vii. 665. |
| 7 |
This can scarcely be the same as the warden
who signed the deed of surrender; though the
Christian name of the latter is John, his surname
certainly begins with 'M' and ends with 'er.' |
| 8 |
There is a letter printed in Beds N. and Q.
i. 191 from the vicar of the Observants to Sir
John Dyve, a knight dwelling in Bedfordshire,
asking him to find out how the warden is being
treated, whether his friends may resort to him or
write. The writer wishes the king knew his virtue
and religious conversation and loyalty; and promises to find money, if Sir John will see that he has
all he needs. |
| 9 |
Deeds of Surrender (P.R.O.), No. 19. |
| 10 |
The confiscation of the conventual seal was
one of the means employed to obtain the surrenders of the friars (Canon Dixon, History of the
English Church, ii. 38). It would be interesting to
know why the friars surrendered in English and
the monks in Latin; and also why the special
humiliation of signing such a document as this was
reserved for friars. |
| 11 |
The friars, as well as the nuns of Elstow and
Chicksand, seem to have been usually known by
their family names; the majority of the Cistercians and the Austin canons are called by placenames. |
| 12 |
Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv. 190. |