FRIARIES
24. THE HOUSE OF BLACK FRIARS (fn. 1)
The Friars Preachers in their second general
chapter held at Bologna, May, 1221, determined
to establish in England the eighth province of
their order. For this purpose thirteen friars
were sent with Gilbert de Fresnoy at their head.
Joining the retinue of Peter des Roches, bishop
of Winchester, they reached London 10 August,
and thence travelled to Oxford, where they
arrived 15 August, 1221. (fn. 2)
Their first habitation was in the Little Jewry,
partly in St. Edward's, partly in St. Aldate's
parish, (fn. 3) behind the present town hall. The
donors of the site are unknown, (fn. 4) but the land, or
some of the land, on which the first houses of
the friars were built, belonged to the prior and
canons of St. Frideswide. In the parish of
St. Edward the friars held of St. Frideswide's an
area next the house of Hugh the Cordwainer, (fn. 5)
and in the parish of St. Aldate the plots and
tenements of Isward, Sweynechild and Eylwyne
Cusse; (fn. 6) these latter seem to be identical with
the land granted to the priory by Robert Kepeharm about 1180. (fn. 7) Further, the friars possessed
a plot of ground, 'measuring in length from the
king's way to the parish of St. Edward 14
perches, and in breadth 8 perches,' which contained four messuages and the great school. (fn. 8)
They also purchased from Thomas son of Thomas
son of Edwin, for 100 shillings of silver, the
land with its appurtenances in the parish of
St. Edward lying between the lands of Robert
Wyth, and that formerly of John of Navarre;
for this land an annual rent of 13d. was due to
the Hospital of St. John without the East Gate. (fn. 9)
Peter son of Torald also sold them an annual
rent of 5s. 10d. in the parish of St. Edward; the
sale was confirmed 25 December, 1242, by his
granddaughter, Celena, daughter of Henry son of
Thomas. (fn. 10)
The friars built an oratory in honour of the
Virgin Mary, and began to teach in the schools
afterwards known as the schools of St. Edward. (fn. 11)
For the building of these and their houses the
abbot of Westminster gave them forty rafters in
1223, (fn. 12) and from 1229 Henry III gave them
wood for building or fuel nearly every year.
Thus, in 1229, he gave them timber for building
their house; in 1233 thirty oaks in Pauncehal
Forest for the work of their school; in 1237
two oaks in Windsor Forest for building a barge;
in 1240, ten oaks and 40s. (fn. 13)
The oratory stood within the parish of
St. Aldate on land in the fee of St. Frideswide,
and a dispute arose between the friars and the
canons of St. Frideswide, to whom a moiety of
the parish church of St. Aldate belonged, and
without whose consent the oratory could not
lawfully be erected. The canons carried the
matter before the pope, who constituted Alexander de Stavenby, bishop of Coventry, his
delegate; and the abbot of Oseney, William
archdeacon of Worcester, and Master Silurus,
rector of St. Michael's, Oxford, were appointed
provisors. On 16 August, 1228, these three
decreed (fn. 14) that the friars should give 40s. to the
canons for the escheat of the land; but if they
left, nothing should be done with the lands prejudicial to the canons; that they should not
knowingly admit any parishioner of St. Aldate
to the offertory, and if any such voluntarily
offered a gift at the altar of the oratory, the
same should be reserved for the church of
St. Aldate; that they should have only two
middle-sized bells for their oratory; and if anyone desired to give land for enlarging the oratory
or cemetery, the Bishop of Coventry should
decide what indemnity was due to the canons:
on these conditions the canons granted a chantry
and cemetery to the friars, pursuant to the
tenor of the apostolic mandate. All this
Gregory IX confirmed.
In 1233 the friars had a controversy with the
abbot of Oseney, concerning a gutter to be made
on the wall of the abbey sollar which joined the
friars' school, whereupon Peter son of Thorald,
mayor of Oxford, Robert Oen, Henry son of
Henry son of Simeon, and Philip Miller, bound
themselves and their heirs that, if the friars failed
to preserve the indemnity of the canons of Oseney
as to the gutter and the building attached to the
sollar, they would provide and preserve it at their
own expense. (fn. 15)
In 1224 the Friars Preachers entertained the
first Franciscans who came to Oxford. (fn. 16) In
1229-30, during the disturbances at Paris,
Jordan of Saxony, the second master general of
the order, visited Oxford; here he wrote to the
sisters of St. Agnes' monastery at Bologna, 'the
Lord has given us large hopes of a good capture.' (fn. 17) The first Englishman of distinction to
enter the order was John of St. Giles, a famous
physician and friend of Grosteste; he took the
vows in 1222, probably in Paris, and seems to
have taught later at Oxford. (fn. 18) Robert Bacon
was admitted to the order without going through
the year's novitiate, while he was regent in
theology at Oxford and socius to Edmund Riche
in the school, perhaps about 1230. (fn. 19) Robert
Bacon was prominent in university matters, (fn. 20) and
took an active part in obtaining the canonization
of his old friend and teacher St. Edmund of
Canterbury. (fn. 21) The first friar to incept under
him was Richard Fishacre. Both of these friars
continued to lecture in the new schools after the
removal of the friary from the parish of St.
Edward, (fn. 22) and both died in 1248, leaving,
Matthew Paris thought, none equal to them in
theology and other sciences. (fn. 23) In 1230 the first
provincial chapter of the Dominicans in England
was held at Oxford, (fn. 24) and the organization of the
province was probably now completed. In 1241
another chapter was held here, for which the
king gave 100s. out of the revenues of the see of
Canterbury to Friar Robert Bacon. (fn. 25)
In 1233 the king gave 26s. 8d. to pay for food
for the Friars Preachers and Friars Minors at
Oxford on the Friday after the feast of St.
Michael, (fn. 26) and food was likewise provided for
them and for the poor of Oxford on the anniversary of the death of the empress, the king's
sister, and at the obsequies of the queen his
mother. (fn. 27)
The friars doubtless from the first aimed at
converting the Jews and checking Judaizing
tendencies. It was perhaps not a mere coincidence that within a year of their settlement in
the Jewry a deacon who had long ago apostatized
for love of a Jewess, was brought before a church
council at Oseney, convicted, degraded, then
condemned by the secular court, and burnt. (fn. 28)
Henry III, about 1234, (fn. 29) built a 'house of Converts' for Jews, which was probably under the
direction of the Dominicans. The sheriff was
ordered, 2 January, 1241-2, to pay 40s. to two
converts in the charge of Friar Robert Bacon,
and 1 mark for their clothing. (fn. 30) A converted
Jew, aspiring to the Christian priesthood, was
promoted to the order of acolyte, but then relapsed; the sheriff was ordered, 6 April, 1245,
to ascertain his name from Friar Robert Bacon,
and keep him in custody till the diocesan should
determine what ought to be done in the matter. (fn. 31)
The names of several converts occur in the
records of the thirteenth century, (fn. 32) but there are
few direct traces of Dominican influence. (fn. 33)
The place in the Jewry soon proved too small,
and as it was impossible to expand there, the
friars obtained a site outside the walls in the
parish of St. Ebbe. (fn. 34) Henry III was said to
have granted the land, but the real donors were
Walter Mauclerc, bishop of Carlisle, and Isabel
de Bolbec, widow of Robert de Vere, earl of
Oxford. The bishop gave them 12 acres of
meadow and two mills, without the little gate,
which he purchased from Henry son of Peter. (fn. 35)
Henry the son of this Henry subsequently confirmed the gift and released the friars from the
payment of a rent of 17s. 9d., (fn. 36) and Ranulph the
tailor and Agnes his wife (probably the daughter
of Henry) in 1269 formally recognized the right
of the friars to the property, while in return the
prior made them and the heirs of Agnes partakers in all benefits and prayers in his church
for ever. (fn. 37) The countess gave them a plot of land
which she bought from Stephen son of Simeon. (fn. 38)
On this land the friars began to erect their
new buildings about 1237, for the grant of two
oaks from the king for making a barge would
have been of no use to them in the Jewry. (fn. 39) In
1241 the king directed the justices itinerant to
pay the fifteen marks, in which they had amerced
the Countess of Oxford, to the Friars Preachers
for the building of their church. (fn. 40) The public
records also contain other grants of money and
many of wood during these years from the king. (fn. 41)
In 1241 the prior was charged with obstructing
or closing a road in the suburb of Oxford, and a
few years later the friars had to justify themselves
for enclosing part of the Thames and making
dykes and walls there. (fn. 42)
The chief benefactor was the Countess of
Oxford, who was considered the foundress of the
new church. (fn. 43) She died 3 February, 1244-5;
her body was temporarily deposited in a narrow
vault in the church of the Jewry, whence it was
soon carried into the new church which her
munificence had raised, and there buried with
great ceremony and a splendid monument erected
over her remains. (fn. 44) On the feast of All Saints
(1 November), 1245, the friars left their 'little
dwelling' in the Jewry and entered their new
habitation near the great bridge, and on the feast
of the Assumption, 1246, the twenty-fifth anniversary of their arrival in Oxford, they celebrated
mass in their new church. (fn. 45)
Walter Mauclerc, who also helped the new
buildings, resigned his bishopric 29 June, 1246,
and entered the order at Oxford. He died here
28 October, 1248, in which year the convent
lost also Robert Bacon and Richard Fishacre;
the latter was buried under the west wall of the
church. (fn. 46)
The friars about this time sold their old
site in the Jewry. The land which they bought
of Thomas son of Thomas son of Edwin was
purchased by Randulph de Chiltun, chaplain, for
seven marks of silver; he immediately (1246)
resold it to Alice Haket of Lamburne for fifteen
marks. (fn. 47) The four messuages 'from the king's
way to the parish of St. Edward' with the great
school they sold to Richard Hamond for forty
marks; on his death it devolved on his brother,
Master John Hamond, who in his last testament
about 1266 conferred the property on the priory
of St. Frideswide in return for twenty marks.
The school was at this time let for a term of
years to Alan Mey. (fn. 48)
In February, 1250-1, Henry III gave the
friars £10 towards making a cloister, (fn. 49) and continued till the end of his reign to make them
frequent grants of wood. Thus in 1269 he
gave seven good oaks in Shotover Forest 'to
repair their studies.' (fn. 50) In 1256 he confirmed a
donation which William de Bruere made them
of a plot of land in Oxford, (fn. 51) and in 1257
licensed the abbot of Oseney to remove a weir in
the Thames which was an annoyance to the
friars. (fn. 52)
In 1258 the 'Mad Parliament' sat in this
friary, (fn. 53) and John of Darlington, a Friar Preacher,
confessor to Henry III, and afterwards archbishop
of Dublin, was one of those chosen to represent
the king's side in drawing up the Provisions of
Oxford. (fn. 54) While the king was in Oxford in
March, 1264, the friars obtained pardon for two
outlaws, Walter Esendon and John de Preston. (fn. 55)
Prince Edward stayed here in 1264, and he and
Richard, king of the Romans, held a royalist
assembly within the friary church. (fn. 56)
In 1262 the new church was consecrated on
the feast of SS. Vitus and Modestus by Richard
of Gravesend, bishop of Lincoln, (fn. 57) whose successors had a house at the Black Friars where
they lodged when staying in Oxford. (fn. 58) One of
the first persons buried in the church after the
consecration was William, son of William of
Fors, earl of Albemarle, (fn. 59) who perhaps was a
benefactor of the house. Soon after this Richard
the miller gave the friars some meadow land
in St. Aldate's parish adjoining their area, freed
from rent to the superior lord, the abbot of
Abingdon, and also 4s. a year to sustain
a light 'before the altar of the Virgin Mary
in their church of St. Nicholas.' (fn. 60) In a final
concord of the year 1269-70 the church is
referred to as 'the church of St. Mary without the South Gate.' (fn. 61) It would appear
that the friary precincts were enclosed with a
wall about this time, for in 1279 William
le Deweneys held a tenement worth half a
mark a year from the Friars Preachers for life
for the service 'of shutting and opening the
gate.' (fn. 62)
The general chapter held in Paris 1246
decreed that the provinces of Provence, Lombardy, Germany, and England should each
provide for the establishment of a generale
studium et solemne in a suitable convent, to
which every provincial prior should have the
right of sending two friars to study. (fn. 63) This
decree was confirmed by the general chapter in 1247 and 1248, but the provincial
prior and chapter of England failed to carry
it out. The general chapter at Barcelona
in 1261 (fn. 64) fixed the general study at Oxford,
deposed Simon the provincial prior, sent him to
lecture in Germany, and enjoined on him the
penance of seven days on bread and water, seven
disciplines and seven masses; the diffinitores of
the provincial chapter, who did not consent to
students of other provinces being sent to Oxford,
were suspended from acting in this capacity for
seven years, deposed if they were priors, and
sentenced to penances; while the prior and
friars of Oxford were ordered to receive the
foreign friars kindly and not willingly cause them
annoyance. (fn. 65) Robert Kilwardby, who had succeeded Robert Bacon and Fishacre as master of
the schools, was now elected provincial. (fn. 66) By
subsequent decrees of general chapters (1289,
1298, 1300, 1301) certain provinces which had
been recently divided were allowed to send only
one friar each to Oxford. (fn. 67)
It is clear from the pages of Thomas of
Eccleston and Matthew Paris (fn. 68) that there was
much rivalry between the learned men of the
two great Mendicant Orders in the middle of
the thirteenth century. A curious record has
survived of a controversy between the two
houses at Oxford on the subject of evangelical
poverty in 1269. (fn. 69) A Dominican, Solomon of
Ingham, began the quarrel by accusing the
Franciscans of receiving money contrary to their
profession and rule. A number of the Dominicans took part in the dispute,—Robert of Newmarket, afterwards prior of the Friars Preachers
of London, Vincent le Sauvage, William de
Stargil, Adam de Lakeor, and his socius, William
of Hotham, then 'cursor of the sentences,' and
afterwards famous as a theologian, and man of
affairs, (fn. 70) Ralph of Ewelme, formerly prior of the
house, John de Meslay visitor of Oxford, and
the provincial prior Robert of Kilwardby.
Though Friar Solomon eventually withdrew his
words, it must be admitted that the Dominicans
had the best of the argument. (fn. 71)
A few years later the quarrel between the
orders was revived in the sphere of philosophy.
The doctrine of Thomas Aquinas, which placed
the principle of individuation in matter, was condemned even by the Dominican Archbishop
Kilwardby at Oxford in 1277. The general
chapter of the Dominicans, in 1278, ordered the
Friars Preachers to maintain the Thomist doctrine; and when Peckham repeated Kilwardby's
condemnation in 1284, he was accused by the
provincial prior of the Dominicans, in a congregation at Oxford, of being moved thereto by a
desire to injure the rival order. The condemned
doctrines were evidently being maintained by
the Friars Preachers. (fn. 72)
In 1280 Peckham, on the accusation of
Robert de Cruce, provincial of the Minorites,
forbade an Oxford Dominican to act as confessor
or chaplain 'in a certain college of women' on
account of grave suspicion. The prior of the
convent thought that the archbishop was unduly
influenced in coming to this decision. (fn. 73)
Henry III granted the convent fifty marks a
year, and this was continued by all the kings
(except Edward V) down to the dissolution. (fn. 74)
Edward I was also a considerable benefactor.
He bestowed on the friars many gifts of fuel and
timber (fn. 75) (further buildings being necessary to provide accommodation for the foreign students). He
gave them 20s. for food on 21 December, 1276;
70s. 4½d. for three days' food in 1277; £4 16s.
for three days' food in November, 1305. (fn. 76) The
number of friars in these years would probably be
sixty, seventy, and ninety-six respectively. The
executors of Queen Eleanor of Castile gave these
friars twenty marks out of her legacies in 1291. (fn. 77)
Edward I allowed the friars to make a conduit
through the king's meadows from a spring at
Hinksey to their house, and in 1285 gave them
permission to repair it when necessary. (fn. 78) In the
same year a charge made against the friars in
1275 (fn. 79) was renewed, namely that they had
obstructed the king's mills and flooded his
meadows owing to a stone bridge, with a stone
column beneath it, which they had lately constructed near their house. After an inquiry
before the justices in eyre the king gave them
licence to retain the bridge. (fn. 80) In 1304 he gave
them leave to quarry 100 ft. of stone at Charlegrave by Wheatley in Shotover Forest, for repairing their buildings, which sometimes suffered
from floods, (fn. 81) and Edward II authorized them to
use the same quarry in 1323. (fn. 82)
The general chapter of the whole order was
held here on Pentecost (9 June), 1280, and
Edward I honoured the assembly with his presence. (fn. 83) The master general on this occasion
admitted Queen Eleanor and her children to a
spiritual participation in all the good works of
the order, and prescribed prayers for her in life
and after death. (fn. 84) Thomas de Jorz, prior of
Oxford, was one of the representatives of the
province in the general chapter at Strassburg,
1295; but the chapter was put off till the
following year, and in the meantime the provincial prior being made archbishop of Dublin,
Thomas de Jorz, as prior of the convent where
the next provincial chapter was to be held, took
over the government of the province. (fn. 85)
Provincial chapters were celebrated here in
1288, in 1297—when Thomas Jorz, prior of
Oxford, was elected provincial—and in 1305; in
aid of these the king gave, in 1288, (fn. 86) £6 13s. 4d.
through Friar Robert of Newmarket for food on
one of the days; in 1297 £12 by the hands of
Friar Nicholas Trivet; (fn. 87) and £10 for the chapter
to be held on 8 September, 1305. (fn. 88) Edward II
gave £15 for the chapter held here 28 August,
1318, and a like sum for that held here in 1326. (fn. 89)
The king's confessor, Friar Robert de Duffield,
probably attended the latter, as he received,
28 September, 42s. 7¾d. for the expenses of himself, his companion, horses and grooms, going on
secret affairs of the king to 'the parts of Oxford.' (fn. 90)
In April, 1292, Bishop Sutton addressed a
letter to the rectors and vicars in the archdeaconries of Oxford and Buckingham, instructing them to assist Friar Walter of Langley, O.P.,
in preaching the crusade, Friar Walter having
come to England with thirty-five friars for that
purpose. (fn. 91) On 2 August, 1300, six friars of the
Oxford convent were licensed to hear confessions
in the archdeaconry of Oxford, (fn. 92) and three days
later these six, together with eight other friars,
were licensed as confessors throughout the
diocese. (fn. 93) In November of the same year
Thomas Jorz, the provincial prior, requested
Bishop Dalderby to license twenty-four friars
in the convent of Oxford as confessors throughout the diocese. The bishop protested against
the large numbers presented, and refused to
allow more than fifty to be licensed for the
whole diocese. (fn. 94) Among those licensed on this
last occasion was Friar Walter Jorz, afterwards
archbishop of Armagh. His more famous brother,
Thomas Jorz, the cardinal, who had been prior
of the Oxford convent in 1295, was afterwards
buried in the choir of the church. (fn. 95)
The Oxford convent, besides being the seat of
the studium generale, was head of one of the four
'visitations' into which the English province was
divided in the thirteenth century. The visitation of Oxford, called also the March, included
Wales and the western part of central England. (fn. 96)
The visitation formed a unit for certain educational purposes; thus the visitors were bound to
make diligent inquiry every year in each convent
to find out promising students and co report to
the provincial chapter; they had also to report
on the efficiency and conduct of the lecturers,
and punish any neglect of duty, but after 1314
this function devolved on the 'Master of the
students.' It is possible also that each visitation
contained a school of natural philosophy and an
advanced school of theology, but the whole subject of the organization of the Dominican schools
in England is very obscure. (fn. 97)
The friars, in 1307, established at King's
Langley, Hertfordshire, a school in which the
elementary branches of science were taught preparatory to the higher studies at the universities. (fn. 98)
Edward II endowed it with revenues for the
support of 100 friars in honour of his favourite,
Piers Gaveston, who was beheaded near Warwick, 19 June, 1312. Some Black Friars carried
the corpse to Oxford, where it was deposited in
their church till 30 December, 1314, when it
was removed to King's Langley. At Oxford
the body was guarded by two custodians, who
lodged in the guest house of the convent and
kept at the king's expense a very hospitable
table; their bill for twenty-eight days in December, 1314, amounted to £15 0s. 6½d. The
prior and Nicholas Trivet, then regent master,
partook of their good cheer, 24 December, 1314.
Further, the city supplied the Friars Preachers at
this time with food and wine to the value of
10s. 4d. (fn. 99)
The end of the thirteenth and beginning of
the fourteenth centuries witnessed everywhere a
violent outbreak of hostility against the Mendicant Orders, and the quarrel between the
Dominicans and the university of Oxford,
which culminated in the years 1311-13, is
an incident in the European struggle. The
quarrel was partly a revival of the controversy
which arose over the inception of the Franciscan
Thomas of York in 1253. (fn. 100) It had then been
decreed that no one who had not ruled in arts
should incept in theology unless he had obtained
a special grace from the chancellor and regent
masters of all faculties; and Hugh de Musterton,
then regent master of the Friars Preachers, had
given his consent to the statute. (fn. 101) It was held
that the vote of the regent masters must be
unanimous, a single dissentient could prevent the
granting of the grace. (fn. 102) However, the grace had
become almost a matter of course, (fn. 103) and the friars
would not have raised the question had not other
causes of complaint occurred. In 1302-3 a
revolutionary statute was made enacting that a
statute carried by the regents in two faculties,
together with a majority of the non-regents,
should bind the whole university. (fn. 104) This statute
was certainly directed against the Mendicants,
and under the new constitution which it set up,
a statute (passed in 1303) ordained that the
'examinatory sermons' required of bachelors
before inception in theology should be transferred from the Dominican and Minorite convents to St. Mary's, (fn. 105) and another statute in 1310
required that theological vespers—the disputation
on the eve of inception—should be held in
St. Mary's; hitherto they had been held in the
schools of the different masters, or often at the
mendicant friaries. (fn. 106) About the same time a
more important change was made. It was
decreed that no one should lecture on the Bible
biblice, i.e. textually and exegetically, until he
had lectured as B.D. on the Sentences of Peter
Lombard. (fn. 107) Friars had hitherto been allowed to
lecture on the Bible on the recommendation of
their superiors without formal admission to the
degree of B.D. (fn. 108) The Dominicans urged that
many of their order were fitted to lecture on the
Bible who were not qualified for the more difficult task of lecturing on the Sentences, and
prayed that the course of lecturing on the
Sentences should be put after the lecture on the
Bible, as at Paris. (fn. 109) The university replied that
errors had arisen from the incompetence of Bible
lecturers. (fn. 110) The masters having obtained from
the Archbishop of Canterbury a sentence of excommunication against all who denied the
validity of the new statutes, (fn. 111) the friars complained to the king (who wrote in their favour
to the university 9 December, 1311) (fn. 112) and then
appealed to the pope. They prayed for the
repeal of the obnoxious statutes and the substitution for them of the statutes and customs of
the university of Paris; according to these the
consent of the masters was not necessary to the
conferment of degrees on the friars. (fn. 113) When
attempting to serve notice of the appeal on congregation assembled at St. Mary's (November,
1311), the proctor of the friars, Brother Lawrence of Warwick, was turned out of the church,
but mounted a tombstone and shouted his message through an open window; after which he
retired amid the curses of the scholars' servants,
who declared it would be a good thing to block
up the doors of the friary and burn the friars
within. (fn. 114) Brother Lawrence being prevented
from going into the chancellor's school to serve
the notice, waited for him to come out and threw
the document into his robes; the chancellor
flung it into the mud with indignant words. (fn. 115)
The appeal was also published before great multitudes of people in the Franciscan church. (fn. 116)
The regent master of the Dominicans, Hugh of
Sutton, having refused to take an oath to observe
the new statutes, was excluded from congregation. (fn. 117) Grace to incept was refused to Friar
Roger de Baketon, who had been nominated as
regent master for the coming year, and Friar
Richard of Huntley was prevented from taking
the degree of B.D. (fn. 118) While the statutes required
every candidate for the theological degrees to
respond and oppose in the school of every master
of theology, the masters refused to admit the
friars, especially Friar Henry Croy, to their
schools, and the latter were thus hindered from
performing the necessary academic exercises. (fn. 119)
The masters also by intimidation prevented
scholars from attending the friars' schools, and
both scholars and laity were deterred from
confessing to the friars or being buried in their
churches. (fn. 120)
They are further [the friars complained] stirring up
the clergy and laity throughout the whole province
against the friars, so that the necessary means of livelihood, good name and affection are withdrawn from
them, and thus students from foreign provinces afflicted
with hunger, worn out by insults and deprived of their
accustomed teaching, have entirely left the convent. (fn. 121)
The university, pleading poverty, was eager
to have the cause tried in England; the friars
declared that they would not get justice except
in the papal curia. (fn. 122) Clement V, 1 May, 1312,
addressed a letter to the Bishops of London,
Worcester, and Llandaff, papal commissioners,
ordering them to admit Friars Roger de Baketon
and Richard de Huntley to the degrees of D.D.
and B.D. respectively, and after an exhaustive
statement of the points in dispute, announced
that if the parties would not agree they were to
be cited to appear before the pope within six
months. (fn. 123) Accordingly, at the beginning of 1313,
the case was before Cardinal Richard Petronus of
Siena at Avignon, but a few months later it was
being heard before the papal commissioners in
England. (fn. 124) The litigants, represented on the one
side by Edmund de Mepham and Anthony Bek,
on the other by Friars Luke of Woodford and
Ralph of Seton, appeared several times before
these papal commissioners, and at length (November, 1313), agreed to submit the case to arbitration, each side depositing £200 with the prior of
St. Frideswide, to be forfeited if they refused to
accept the award. The arbitrators were John,
bishop of Llandaff, Gilbert of Middleton, canon of
Lincoln, Friar Peter de Kenyngton, O.P., and
Friar Thomas Everard, O.P. (fn. 125) The award was
to be confirmed by the king's court, and the
courts of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the
Bishop of Lincoln. The royal confirmation was
given, 7 April, 1314. (fn. 126) The award was mainly
in favour of the university, but certain concessions were made to the friars:— (1) Every B.D.
was to preach one sermon in the Black Friars'
church, but the preacher was not to pay anything to the friars—a stipulation inserted at the
request of the friars themselves. (2) The grace
to incept in theology could not be refused to a
friar, who had not ruled in arts, by the vote of a
single master, but only by the judgement of the
majority of masters of theology. (3) A statute
must be passed by a majority of masters in three
faculties, not of two, together with a majority of the
non-regents. (4) The Friars Preachers were to
have the schools in their house free and under
their own control as to lectures, disputations, and
determinations. This agreement was accepted
by the university. The Friars Preachers were
allowed to resume their lectures, their regent
master (1314-5) being the famous Nicholas
Trivet. (fn. 127)
It was, however, more than six years before
the friars desisted from litigation. Perhaps the
general chapter of the order, which was held in
London in June, 1314, objected to the agreement. The friars sought help from Edward II,
who in 1312 and again in 1313 ordered the
university to submit the new statutes to him and
his council, and meanwhile to revoke any statutes
they may have attempted to make to the injury
of the friars. (fn. 128) Early in 1318 the king took the
friars under his special protection, (fn. 129) and ordered
the chancellor of the university to desist from
aggrieving them and from attempting to exercise
jurisdiction over them. (fn. 130) However, in November
of the same year, in the Parliament of York, the
royal power was thrown wholly on the side of
the university, and the papal privileges which the
friars claimed were repudiated. (fn. 131) On the death of
Winchelsey, a supporter of the university, Walter
Reynolds became archbishop of Canterbury. As
bishop of Worcester he had been conservator of
the privileges of the Friars Preachers, and had
rebuked the chancellor of the university in 1312
for presuming to punish a friar, John de Merston; (fn. 132) as archbishop he wrote to the cardinal
bishop of Ostia in 1316 urging him to support
the friars against the university, and commending
to him their proctor Thomas Everard. (fn. 133) This
renewed appeal to Rome may have delayed the
papal confirmation of the award of 1314 till
16 October, 1317, (fn. 134) and may have led to the
issue of two letters of John XXII on 25 October, 1317, declaring that mendicant friars may
be made masters in theology without having
ruled in arts. (fn. 135) The provincial chapter—perhaps
that held at Oxford in 1318 (fn. 136) —discussed and
revised the articles of peace, and sent Friars
Nicholas de Stratton and John de Wrotham to
bring the matter again before the pope. (fn. 137)
John XXII referred the case once more to the
Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Exeter,
and the Bishop-elect of Winchester (August,
1320). (fn. 138) The latest document we have on the
controversy—dated 11 December, 1320—merely
authorizes Friars Peter de Kenyngton, Luke de
Wodeford and William de Ebrynton to act as
proctors on behalf of Thomas of Westwell, prior,
and the Oxford convent in making peace and
concord with the university. (fn. 139)
Some apostate Friars Preachers took advantage
of the quarrel to publish appeals in the university
against their prelates, who had, they alleged,
subjected them to inhuman treatment. The
archbishop forbade the chancellor to pay attention to such appeals, and the sheriff of Oxford
was ordered to arrest any friars publishing
these scurrilous writings, especially Stephen de
Sydolvesmere, their proctor. (fn. 140)
Among the more distinguished inmates of the
friary about this time we may mention (besides
Nicholas Trivet) Thomas Waleys or Wallensis
and Robert Holcot. Thomas Waleys, S.T.B.,
went to the papal court with the king's recommendation in 1318 or 1319 on business of the
order, (fn. 141) perhaps in connexion with the controversy just described. He was imprisoned by
the pope for heretical views on the Beatific
Vision: his writings, however, remained popular
throughout the Middle Ages. Robert Holcot
lived later under the patronage of Richard of
Bury, and is probably the real author of the
Philobiblon. (fn. 142)
In 1329 the Friars Preachers of Oxford
wrote to the pope in support of Ralph of
Shrewsbury, chancellor of the university, who
had been elected bishop of Bath and Wells in
defiance of a papal provision of the see. (fn. 143) A
provincial chapter was at Oxford in August,
1330. (fn. 144) It met in troublous times, for the
provincial prior, Simon de Burniston or Boraston,
had been implicated in the recent rebellion of
the Earl of Kent, and banished. (fn. 145) The fall of
Mortimer enabled Simon to return, and he was
still in office in 1333. (fn. 146) The last years of his
life he seems to have spent in composing works
on theology and law at Oxford. (fn. 147) To the
chapter of 1330 Edward III contributed £15,
and he gave ten marks to the Oxford convent in
March, 1354-5. (fn. 148)
Durandus de Bugwell in 1352 bequeathed to
the friars after the death of his wife Alice a
messuage in Grandpont, through which was the
access to their house. (fn. 149) When the attack on
the friars led by Richard Fitzralph was at its
height, Richard White, a citizen of Oxford, left
by will in 1358 the reversion of his tenement in
the parish of St. Michael in the South Gate to
the Friars Preachers, after the death of his wife. (fn. 150)
The floods of the Thames having damaged
much on the south side of their dwelling, the
friars in 1367 obtained from the king a piece
of ground along the river bank 20 ft. in breadth
to enable them to protect their property. The
town authorities opposed the concession on the
ground that the stream would be obstructed,
but without success; they continued to dispute
the point till they were ordered by the king in
1376 to desist from molesting the friars any
longer. (fn. 151)
In the controversies with Richard FitzRalph
and his supporters the Oxford Dominicans do
not seem to have taken a prominent part.
They joined with the other orders in instituting
proceedings both before the king in council and
at the court of Rome to obtain the repeal of
the statute of 1358 which forbade the mendicants to receive novices under the age of
eighteen. (fn. 152)
In 1358 a Friar Preacher, who had in a
sermon attacked the 'Sophists' as persons who
want to appear wise but never attain true
wisdom, was supposed to be aiming at the
Faculty of Arts (whose students were known
by that name), and was compelled publicly to
retract his 'foolish, indiscreet, and ignorant'
words. (fn. 153) A member of the convent, William
Jordan, wrote a treatise against Utred Boldon
in defence of mendicancy. (fn. 154) Several of the
Oxford Dominicans took part in condemning the
Wicliffite heresies; (fn. 155) but the only two who call
for special mention are Roger Dymock, who
addressed to Richard II a treatise against twelve
errors and heresies of the Lollards—probably the
Lollard conclusions which were produced in the
Parliament of 1395, (fn. 156) and Thomas Palmer, who
wrote on the adoration of images. (fn. 157) Throughout
this period the Dominicans are less prominent
than the Carmelites or the Franciscans. The
internal affairs of the convent were perhaps of
more absorbing interest.
In 1355, the year after the riot on St. Scholastica's Day, there were troubles about the
students from the province of Ireland, which
was authorized to have two students at Oxford. (fn. 158)
The general chapter ordered the provincial of
England to make inquiries as to the refusal to
admit Irish students to the universities, while the
master general was to see that their exhibitions
were paid and the arrangements made concerning
them were carried out generally, especially with
reference to Friar John Tropt, lecturing on the
Sentences at Oxford, and Friar Walter Sorel,
lecturing on the Sentences at Cambridge. (fn. 159) In
1357 the general chapter ordered the Irish
friars to send their contribution to the Oxford
convent by the hands of the definitor of the
general chapter. (fn. 160)
In 1370 there broke out among the students
of the convent a rebellion caused by some
actions of the provincial prior in his visitation.
The provincial, William de Bodekisham, appealed
to the secular power; and a royal mandate of
4 May charged Master Robert de Sustede, LL.D.,
parson of Willingham, and John de Watlyngton,
his serjeant-at-arms, to aid the provincial or his
vicar in reducing the rebels to order, to secure
him a peaceable entry into the convent, and
to place it at his full and free disposal; and
prohibited any armed assistance to be rendered
to the insurgents from without, under pain
of the loss of the arms and incarceration for
any who abetted them. (fn. 161) The rebellious friars
were John de Chesham, Adam de Styvele, John
Banastre, Henry of Saxony, Henry of Gloucester,
John Wycombe, John Cherdyslee, Thomas
Fairford, Nicholas Maidenhead, John Staundon,
Lupus of Spain, Facinus of Genoa, Fortanerius
de Candareru, Richard Lowe, Egbert of Dacia,
Thomas Sharpmor, and John Lynlowe. Five
or six (fn. 162) out of the seventeen were foreigners.
Henry Alberti of Saxony was appointed by the
general chapter this year to lecture on the
Sentences at Oxford. (fn. 163)
The master of the order, Elias, visited England in 1372 or 1373, made ordinances for the
refcrmation of the religion, and deposed the
provincial prior, Thomas Vichor or Russhock. (fn. 164)
The master's decrees relating to promotions in
the universities and to the treatment of foreign
students met with opposition in the English
province. The royal council, 18 October, 1373,
ordered the prior of Oxford to remove from the
convent many foreigners who under the pretence
of being friars and students were said to be
spying out the country and giving information
to the enemy. (fn. 165) This measure was suggested by
some of the English friars, and the general
master appointed a vicar to investigate the
matter and punish those who had denounced
their brethren. (fn. 166) The council replied by a writ,
28 August, 1374, warning Friar Stephen
Coulyngs that he or any other who should
punish an English friar openly or secretly would
be treated as a rebel and made an enduring
example to all other friars: and of this he was
to inform the master general as soon as possible. (fn. 167)
The vicar of the master and many friars were
said to have been imprisoned at the instance
of the rebellious party in the English province.
The general chapter of 1378 renewed the
master's sentence of deposition on Thomas
Vichor or Thomas Russhock the provincial,
appointed John of Paris vicar in England,
deposed twelve priors, summoned Friars G. de
Benchiniquis, S.T.P., Thomas Boquerelli, S.T.P.,
and G. de Bencanor to answer accusations in
the Roman curia, annulled the licences previously
given to friars to proceed to the master's degree
in Oxford, and forbade John de Bruscore,
William Boconde, William Dambasus, and John
Cellers to perform any scholastic act within or
without the university, until they had answered
certain grave charges. (fn. 168) Meanwhile the provincial, who was about this time appointed
confessor to Richard II, appealed to Rome, and
the parliament of Gloucester (10 November,
1378) warned the Dominican Friars, though in
ambiguous terms, to disregard the sentences of
the general master and chapter. (fn. 169) Some of the
enemies of the Mendicant Friars at Oxford took
advantage of the schism within the order to refuse
degrees to certain Friars Preachers, and were
ordered by the king to desist (22 May, 1379). (fn. 170)
The decision of the curia (25 August, 1379)
was wholly in favour of the provincial prior. (fn. 171)
The quarrel between the English province
on the one side and the general chapter and
master on the other continued for many years.
It was really a struggle for the control of promotions in the university. Each of the four
visitations into which the province was divided,
Oxford, Cambridge, London, and York, presented friars for degrees in turn, with the sanction
of the provincial chapter; sometimes a visitation
seems to have presented several friars (one result
of this practice being a glut of candidates), and
the general chapter tried to limit the right to a
single nomination. (fn. 172) Further, every third year or
every third vacancy was reserved for foreign
students. The appointments of foreigners were
usually made by the general chapter; thus
in 1376 (fn. 173) the chapter appointed Vincent of
Lisbon to read the Sentences at Oxford; 'for
the second turn due to foreigners, we appoint
John de Belverano of the province of Aragon;
for the two intermediate years we commit
appointments to the provincial prior and chapter
of England.' (fn. 174) But the general chapter of this year
expressly claimed for itself the right of nominating
the English friars for promotion at Oxford as well
as foreign friars. (fn. 175) In 1378 the general chapter
at Carcassonne appointed Friar John de Gesta as
regent and Friar Thomas de Bascho to incept
under him: for the degree of B.D., in the
present year, Friars Robert Biton and John
Valreijraij: for the next year Friar Stephen
Almi or Friar Nicholas Chioful; 'and, so far as
in us is, for the first year due to foreigners Friar
Dominic Januarii of Provence.' (fn. 176) In 1380 the
general chapter at Lausanne committed the appointment of foreigners at Oxford and Cambridge to the master general, the appointment of
native students to his vicar. (fn. 177) The province
resisted these measures, and the provincial chapter
went on nominating candidates for degrees. (fn. 178)
The nominees of the master seem to have sought
degrees elsewhere, by petitions to the pope and
others; it was probably against them that the
Friars Preachers in England induced Richard II
to issue the writ, 1 December, 1390, declaring
that
'whereas some friars of their order, notoriously vicious,
apostate, and for their crimes condemned to prison,
cross the seas and by fraud obtain degrees, though
Oxford and Cambridge are the places in which doctors
of the said order have hitherto been examined and
promoted to degrees, no such friar shall be admitted to the privileges pertaining to doctors in
theology.' (fn. 179)
In 1393 the general master appointed as his
visitors in the visitations of London and Oxford
('Marchia'), Friar Thomas Palmer, and in those
of Cambridge and York, Friar William Bakthorp,
to deal with those who opposed the graces and
ordinations of the master: (fn. 180) at the same time he
appointed candidates for the B.D. for each
visitation; among them Thomas Feknam, of the
visitation of Oxford, was appointed to read the
Sentences at Cambridge, William Sawnisford of
the visitation of Cambridge, John Cawd of the
visitation of York, and William Scorbinus, probably of the visitation of London, were appointed
to read the Sentences at Oxford. (fn. 181) Thomas Palmer
was about this time elected provincial, (fn. 182) and to
him the general master committed the government of the convent of Oxford. (fn. 183) But in 1395
the master instituted an inquiry into Palmer's
conduct—especially as to 'whether he had vexed
the foreign students at Oxford contrary to the
privileges conceded by us and the general chapter at Venice'; in February, 1395-6, he confirmed these privileges and deposed Palmer. (fn. 184)
The privileges included exoneration from the
'obedience' as well as the use of private chambers and exemption from the choir services.
Once more the secular power intervened; a royal
writ 12 July, 1396, commanded the prior of
the Oxford friary to remove from the convent
with all speed, and under pain of forfeiture of
life and limbs, all students who were not living
according to the accustomed 'obedience' of the
community. (fn. 185)
In 1397 Raymond of Capua, the master
general, assigned William Snayth for the degree
of doctor, and Friars John Parm, Philip Raymundi, and John Leek of Yarm, for other
scholastic acts in the university of Oxford. (fn. 186) He
also appointed a vicar for each of the visitations—
John Bromyard, D.D., being the vicar for the
Oxford visitation—and made Friar John Chesham
(who had been one of the rebels in 1370 and afterwards as S.T.M. joined in condemning Wiclif's
teaching) vicar in the Oxford convent. (fn. 187) He also
annulled the punishment inflicted by the last provincial chapter on the native friars of this house,
because they had refused to admit to an election
certain friars sent to the convent by the 'pretended'
chapter held under Thomas Palmer. (fn. 188) In January, 1398-9, Friar Thomas Stanley had licence
from the master to go to the Roman curia to
expedite certain matters for the convent of
Oxford, on condition that he attempted no other
business. (fn. 189)
The names of several Oxford friars who sought
degrees abroad during this period are preserved;
Hugh of Stamford, assigned by the provincial
chapter for the degree of master, petitioned the
pope for the degree in 1363, 'because by reason
of the multitude of candidates he would have to
wait too long' at Oxford. (fn. 190) John Gilberti, B.D.,
of Oxford, a foreigner, obtained leave from the
pope in 1366 to continue his course at Paris
because he had incurred the enmity of the
chancellor and master of Oxford by supporting
his Order in a dispute with the university in the
Roman court and elsewhere. (fn. 191) In 1397 the
master of the schools of the sacred palace was
ordered to confer the master's degree on
Friar Dominic de Fighino, who had studied at
Oxford and elsewhere. (fn. 192) The university occasionally rejected candidates for degrees in theology
on the ground that they had not ruled in arts, as
in 1387, when the king ordered the chancellor
to deal favourably with the religious. (fn. 193)
Though some Friars Preachers were implicated
in plots against the Lancastrian dynasty (among
them being Friar John Ketylby of the Oxford
convent), Henry IV supported the English province in its struggle against the general chapter
and master, and issued a mandate 1 May, 1402,
to the prior of Oxford that all students, in spite
of the master general's exemptions, should live
conformably with the rest of the students in
obedience to the prior on pain of immediate
removal. (fn. 194) In 1405 he forbade all priors and
brethren of the order to send contributions to the
master general. (fn. 195)
The general chapter at Erfurt in 1403 decreed
that no one should be promoted S.T.P. in any
university except by the general chapter; and if
the candidate were an Englishman he must
have studied at Oxford and must be presented by
his provincial chapter. (fn. 196) Difficulties about the
Irish students seem to have arisen again at the end
of the fourteenth century. (fn. 197) The expulsion of the
'wild Irish men' from the English universities
by Act of Parliament in 1423 was probably not
unwelcome to the Dominican authorities. (fn. 198) In
1426 the general chapter declared that friars from
Ireland should not in future be received in any English convent, but should be compelled to return to
their province, unless they were willing to take
their share in the common expenses in England,
and especially that in the convents of Oxford
and Cambridge no Irish friar, except the two
sent for purposes of study, in accordance with the
statutes of the order, should be received under
pain of grievous fault. (fn. 199) At the same time Friar
Jacob Buti of Siena was assigned to read the
Sentences at Oxford 'for the first place due to
foreigners.' (fn. 200) Various appointments were made
in the general chapters of 1431 and 1434, friars
from Aragon, Sicily, Portugal, France, and Rome
being nominated to lecture or study at Oxford. (fn. 201)
In 1442 the general chapter at Avignon decreed
that
whereas the English province has omitted to send to
general chapters for many years, and neither the provincial prior nor the brethren have paid attention to
the acts of the chapters nor sent any excuse, we will
that those responsible be punished by the Master or
his Vicar. (fn. 202)
In the general chapter at Siena in 1462 all the
friars appointed to Oxford were English—namely,
for the first and second year, Nicholas Suton as
regent, John Valiton as B.D., John Eye as
master of the students, John Mores as biblicus;
for the third year, John Eye as B.D., Thomas de
Bectris as master of the students. (fn. 203) In 1476 John
Hille of Bishop's Lynn was appointed to read
the Sentences at Oxford. (fn. 204) Appointments at
Oxford were committed in 1478 to the master
general, (fn. 205) in 1481 (with the exception of Peter
Alue appointed B.D. by the general chapter) to
the provincial prior. (fn. 206) The general chapter in
1484 approved Hermand Nighemberch as lecturer, (fn. 207) and in 1491 appointed Michael of Genoa
and Raynald of Sicily as regents, leaving the
other appointments to the provincial prior; (fn. 208) but
in this year the master assigned John Bunelli of
Caen as lector at Oxford, ordering him on pain
of excommunication to go there within nine
days. (fn. 209) In 1505 the master assigned Sebastian
de Vigtore (?) as 'student of arts' in the convent
of Oxford. (fn. 210) The provincial was authorized in
1512 to promote two bachelors, about whom he
had written to the master, in the university of
Oxford, 'according to the custom of the province,' (fn. 211) and in 1526 Robert Miles the provincial
received from the master licence (fn. 212) to promote
three persons to the degree of master and twenty
to the degree of bachelor in some university after
rigorous examination and with the consent of
the province. In this year the master general
issued an important decree to the provincial and
to the priors of Oxford, Cambridge, London,
York, Salisbury, and Exeter to the effect that
every convent of the province was to send one
student to Oxford or Cambridge, the numbers
being divided equally between the two universities
as the provincial prior should decide, and each
convent was to supply its student every year
with two angelots or three ducats at least. (fn. 213) This
reform came too late to be carried out.
Among Dominicans who attained some prominence in the affairs of the university in the
fifteenth century was Dr. Wilnale the prior, one
of the commissioners appointed to regulate the
bequest of Cardinal Beaufort in 1447, (fn. 214) and
Dr. John Wattys who was cancellarius natus in
1463. (fn. 215) The conventual priors of London and
Oxford were commissioned by the master of the
order to confirm or cancel the election of the
provincial prior in 1474 and 1484. (fn. 216)
In the reign of Henry VI and Edward IV the
friars were several times in danger of losing the
annual grant of 50 marks owing to acts of resumption in 1450, 1464, 1467-8, 1473, (fn. 217) but
on each occasion—sometimes after considerable
delay—the grant was exempted. The friars,
however, often had to sue for the payment, as
the sum was generally charged on the revenues
due from a sheriff or other royal official. Thus
in 1464 the bailiff of the abbot of Westminster
and the sheriff of Staffordshire, in 1469 the
sheriff of Northamptonshire, in 1491, 1495,
1498, 1507, 1515 the sheriff of Devon, were
sued either for the whole or for part of the
50 marks. (fn. 218)
Among other sources of livelihood were small
annual or weekly grants in money or kind from
Durham College, the nunnery of Godstow and
Oseney Abbey. (fn. 219)
The friars received many bequests: among
their benefactors may be mentioned—John of
St. John, clerk (c. 1230); (fn. 220) Nicholas de Weston,
1271; (fn. 221) Walter de Merton, bishop of Rochester,
1277; (fn. 222) Nicholas of Croyland, canon of Chichester, 1287; (fn. 223) Thomas Waldere of High Wycombe, 1291; (fn. 224) Sir Hugh Plesset, knt., lord of
Cudlington, 1292; (fn. 225) John de Doclington,
1335; (fn. 226) Edmund de Bereford, 1350; (fn. 227) Elizabeth de Burgh, lady of Clare, 1360; (fn. 228) Henry
of Malmesbury, citizen of Oxford, 1361; (fn. 229)
Walter de Berneye, 1377; (fn. 230) Thomas Golafrey,
1378; (fn. 231) Robert Wathington, 1387; (fn. 232) John
Okele, skinner of Oxford, 1390; (fn. 233) John de
Waltham, bishop of Salisbury, 1395; (fn. 234) John
Maldon, provost of Oriel, 1401; (fn. 235) John Bannebury of Oxford, 1401. (fn. 236) Elizabeth de Bohun
countess of Northampton, bequeathed to them in
1356, 100 marks, two vestments with two old
copes, two cloths of gold of one suit, and a
chalice. (fn. 237) Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex, left them £10 in 1361. (fn. 238)
Richard de Garaford, 1395, was buried in their
churchyard and left them money and goods. (fn. 239)
Sir Amalric, third Baron de S. Amando, K.B.,
directed his body to be buried in the choir, beside Lady Ida, his first wife, and bequeathed
20 marks to Friar John Chesham of this house,
his confessor, in 1403. (fn. 240) Lady Eleanor de S.
Amando, his second wife, was buried next her
husband before the high altar, and left 20s. to the
church and £2 to the convent. (fn. 241) John Thomas,
priest, was buried here 'before the image of
St. Peter of Milan,' 1413. (fn. 242)
The knightly family of Bessels, of Bessels
Leigh, near Abingdon, was closely connected with
this house. Sir Peter Bessels, knt., by will
dated 20 December, 1424, and proved 7 March
following, directed his body to be buried in the
church next his father. (fn. 243) Sir Peter Bessels, knt.,
by will dated 23 October, 1424, and proved
25 October, 1426, directed that '£120 be paid
to the Friars Preachers of Oxford to make six
windows in their church, in the north aisle, as
has been begun.' (fn. 244)
Other benefactors were Robert James, esq.,
lord of Borstall, c. 1428; (fn. 245) Reginald Mertherderwa, LL.D., 1447; (fn. 246) William Skelton,
rector of St. Vedast, London, 1447; (fn. 247) Walter
Morlayse de alta Sebyndon, co. Wilts, 1451; (fn. 248)
William More, master, who was buried here
1452; (fn. 249) John Russel of Holawnton, co. Wilts.,
1469; (fn. 250) William Chestur, merchant of the Staple
of Calais and citizen and skinner of London,
1474; (fn. 251) Richard Abdy, master of Balliol College,
1483; (fn. 252) William Bishop of Burford, 1485; (fn. 253) Alice
Dobbis, wife of John Dobbis, alderman of Oxford, 1488; (fn. 254) James Blacwode of Oxford, 1490; (fn. 255)
Thomas Banke, rector of Lincoln College, 1503; (fn. 256)
William Hasard (proctor in 1495), 1509; (fn. 257)
Richard Fettiplace of East Shefford and Bessels
Leigh, esq., 1510; (fn. 258) Dame Elizabeth Elmys
of Henley on Thames, 1510; (fn. 259) Sebyll Danvers
of Waterstoke, widow, 1511; (fn. 260) Thomas Davys
of St. Edwardstowe, dioc. Worcester, 1511; (fn. 261)
William Perot of Lambourn, dioc. Sarum, 1511; (fn. 262)
Richard Harcourt of Abingdon, esq., 1513. (fn. 263)
John Kyrkeby, citizen and merchant tailor of
London, 1511, bequeathed to the friars 1d. a day
for ten years, to be paid to them once a year 'for
the amending of their fare'; for this 'they shall
daily after their dinner done say de profundis for
my soul, the souls of Walter Stalworth and Edith
his wife and all Christian souls.' (fn. 264)
William Hope who was buried in St. Frideswide's, 1511, bequeathed to the Friars Preachers
two houses which he recently bought from
Thomas Low of Witney, and 13s. 4d., in
money; to Friar W. Dyngyll he left 26s. 8d.,
to celebrate thrice a week in the church of St.
Clement for one year; the residue of his goods
was to be divided equally between his children
and the Friars Preachers, according to the discretion of his executors, Thomas Andrews of
Islip and William Howse. The witnesses were
Dr. Howden (prior of the Black Friars), Friar
W. Dyngyll (who appears at the dissolution as
an anchoret), and W., rector of the church of
St. Clement. (fn. 265) John de Vere, earl of Oxford,
by will proved 1513, ordered 2,000 masses of
requiem to be sung by every friar, being priest, in
the house of the Black Friars at Cambridge, Oxford, and elsewhere, and left to the Black Friars
of Oxford his 'image of St. Bartholomew silver
and gilt.' (fn. 266) William Dewre, an Irishman, principal of Bull Hall, was buried here, 1514, before
the image of St. Patrick. (fn. 267) William Bessels,
esq., 1515, directed his body to be buried in
this church; bequeathed to Dr. Howden, prior,
20s.; to the house 10 marks. He also charged
his lands in Longworth with the payment of £4
yearly for four years to be paid to some honest
priest of the house to say mass daily for the souls
of himself, his wife, ancestors, and friends. (fn. 268) His
widow, Alice, desired to be buried here if she
died near Bessels Leigh (1526). (fn. 269) Among the
latest bequests are those from Sir Robert Throckmorton, knt., 1518-20(?) (fn. 270) ; Sir Richard Elyot,
knt., justice of the Common Pleas, who married
Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of William
Bessels, and widow of Richard Fetiplace, esq.,
1522; (fn. 271) Richard Leke, brewer of Oxford,
1526; (fn. 272) Walter Curson of Waterperry, esq.,
1526; (fn. 273) John Seman of Oxford, 1529; (fn. 274) John
Burton of Abberbury, 1530; (fn. 275) William Furborne of Salford, 1531; (fn. 276) Elizabeth Johnson of
Oxford, widow, 1537; (fn. 277) William Clare of Holywell, Oxford, 1532; (fn. 278) Jane Foxe of Burford,
1535; (fn. 279) John Claymond, president of Corpus
Christi College, 1536-7. (fn. 280)
John Hyde, sometime bailiff of Oxford, in
1447 let to Walter Wynhale, prior of the Friars
Preachers, for five years a quarter of Aylriches
Eyte and the island called Spitels Eyte near
Grandpont, for the nominal rent of a rose. (fn. 281)
In 1505 Richard Hastings Lord Willoughby
and Joan his wife gave David Huys or Hewes,
D.D., prior, 200 marks of gold for making and
building the 'queer and dorter.' In return the
friars made the donors partakers in their prayers for
ever; they also covenanted to find two priests to
say two masses daily at the altar of St. Mary
Magdalen in their church for the family and
friends of the donors. Every succeeding prior
before confirmation in his office was bound to
swear to observe these covenants; in default of
fulfilment £20 yearly was to be paid to the
president and scholars of Magdalen College, who
should have power to make scrutiny. (fn. 282)
The granting of 'letters of fraternity' was
also a source of income to the friars; but the
value of them had sunk low by 1534, when
Sir Adrian Fortescue obtained the privileges of
fraternity for 12d. (fn. 283)
Of the library of the friary very little is known.
Leland (fn. 284) notices two books—a treatise called
Scutum falsely ascribed to Bede, (fn. 285) and William
Rowel's commentary on the Sentences. From
notes by Thomas Gascoign we learn that the
library possessed parts of the Summa of Alexander
of Hales, and a tabula of Richard Fishacre's
commentary on the Sentences. (fn. 286) The MS. of
Simon of Burniston's compilation De ordine judiciario, &c., was finished in this friary. (fn. 287)
Some indications may be given of the moral
condition of the order and convent before the
dissolution. Some of the friars had before 1520
contracted debts in Oxford and departed without
paying; among them being the prior, John
Capel, who this year died at Rome. (fn. 288) The
general master in 1525 ordered the next provincial chapter to inquire whether Robert Miles,
provincial prior and D.D. of Cambridge and Oxford, 'keeps a concubine, has sons, sells prelacies
and other offices, gets drunk, and is useless and
incompetent to exercise the duties of provincial.' (fn. 289)
He ceased to be provincial in 1526 or 1527. (fn. 290)
In 1536 Christopher Tredar was denounced to
Cromwell by the Bishop of Lincoln for 'deceiving the people by conjuration and invocation of
spirits for goods lost and finding goods in the
ground. Divers crosses have lately been cast
down to dig for money.' (fn. 291) The friar was
arrested, but was soon afterwards at liberty in
Oxford, and accused of having committed adultery
with the wife of one Peter the Irishman. The
woman admitted the charge; the friar denied it,
but on the day appointed for trial the judge was
absent and nothing was done. (fn. 292)
On questions connected with the Reformation
the Dominicans did not take a very decided line.
Dr. John de Coloribus, a foreigner, was employed
by Wolsey to write against Luther. (fn. 293) John Hopton, the prior of the Oxford house, was recommended by Cromwell for the divinity lectureship resigned by Dr. Nicholas de Burgo (1535),
but the university preferred a secular. (fn. 294) Hopton
was thereupon promoted (1525-6) to an office
'of equal or greater value,' that of provincial
prior. (fn. 295) It is clear that he had not at this time
adopted the strongly anti-protestant line which
distinguished him later. In 1535 John Hilsey,
then provincial, begged Cromwell to confer a cell
of Châlons called Portkellerd (Beddgelert) in
North Wales, on Maurice Griffith, B.D., a poor
friar, a scholar of Oxford, 'who in the last
chapter answered de primatu Romani pontificis,
but for lack of an exhibition is like to abandon
his study.' (fn. 296)
After the preliminary visitation by Layton in
1535, (fn. 297) the house surrendered to Dr. John London, Mr. Banaster, Mr. Pye, and Mr. Fryer in
July 1538. (fn. 298) Dr. London writing to Cromwell,
8 July, thus describes the priory:— (fn. 299)
The Black Friars hath in their backside likewise
divers islands well wooded and containeth in length a
ground. Their choir was lately newly builded and great
covered with lead. It is likewise a big house, and all
covered with slate saving the choir. They have a
pretty store of plate and jewels, and specially there is
a good chalice of gold set with stones, and is better
than 100 marks: and there is also a good cross, with
other things contained in the bill. The ornaments
be old and of small value. They have a very fair conduit, and runneth freshly. There be but ten friars
being priests, besides the 'anker,' which is a well-disposed man, and have 50 marks yearly of the king's
coffers.
The jewels and plate pertaining to the Black
Friars consisted of—
a chalice of gold and the paten set with stones weighing 36⅓ oz.: a cross of silver and gilt, 120 oz.: the
foot of the same cross, 72 oz.: a chalice with beryl in
the middle all gilt, 19 oz.: a chalice all gilt with a
paten, 13 oz.: another chalice all gilt, 17 oz.: a pax
silver and gilt, 7 oz.: two censers silver and gilt,
73 oz.: a ship of silver parcel gilt, 8 oz.: a pax with
silver and ivory: two basons of silver parcel gilt, 101 oz.:
and the little pyxe on the altar wherein the sacrament
is contained. (fn. 300)
About 14 August Dr. London sent to Thomas
Thacker, Cromwell's servant, 204 score 1 oz.
of white plate from the four Oxford friaries;
this was deposited, 23 November, in the royal
jewel house. (fn. 301)
All the friars expressed their willingness to
become secular priests. The names of those
desiring 'capacities,' sent to Cromwell 31 August,
were William Waterman, B.D., Thomas Borrell,
Peter Fletcher, Richard Prikilbanke, Hugh Cordowen, James Norys, Guido Welsch, William
Glanton, Henry Mathew, Edward Bampton,
William Dingle, anchoret; Davy Jones and
Henry Benet, not in orders; John Low, subdeacon. (fn. 302)
Dr. London urged that the town should have
the Black and Grey Friars to set up cloth-making
there, as on the friars' waters were fit places for
fulling mills. (fn. 303) This was not carried out. The
dismantling of the house seems to have begun at
once. London proposed to sell all the stuff at
once, 'as the people make waste in the friars'
houses.' (fn. 304) In the accounts of St. Giles' parish
are the following entries in 1539, probably for
labour in taking away materials: 'Item for ale
fetched to the Black Friars, 2d.: Item for the
house at the Black Friars, 20s. 4d.' (fn. 305) In the
accounts of the parish of St. Mary Magdalen,
1540, is the entry: 'Paid for taking down of a
rood at the Black Friars with Mary and John and
the carriage of them from the said Friars to our
church, 20s.' (fn. 306)
On 10 August, 1540, the site was leased to
William Frewers (or Freer) and John Pye for
twenty-one years. (fn. 307) The property consisted of
the site of the priory with houses, gardens, &c.,
a close or wood on the east of the church and
priory containing three acres; a little grove at the
back containing 6 acres—rented at 40s.; a tenement with garden at the Blackfriars Gate late in
the occupation of Robert Syers, 5s.; total 45s.
The land and houses of the Black Friars, with
many other monastic possessions, were sold to
Richard Andrews of Hailes, Gloucestershire, July,
1544. (fn. 308) Andrews sold the whole of the Black
Friars in August, 1544, to William Freer and
Agnes his wife. (fn. 309) Freer pulled down the church
and most of the house and sold the materials. (fn. 310)
Sir Thomas Pope, when he founded Trinity
College, purchased stones from this priory, with
which he erected the wall which enclosed the
college gardens in Park Street. (fn. 311)
Though there was no revival of the friary in
the reign of Mary, a Spanish Dominican from
Valladolid, John de Villa Garcia, lectured at
Magdalen College and was admitted to the degree
of B.D. and D.D. in 1555 and 1558. (fn. 312)
Priors
Gilbert de Fresnoy first provincial, is said to
have been also prior of this house. (fn. 313)
Jocius, (fn. 314) 1233
Richard of Dunstable, (fn. 315)
c. 1245
William de Tyford, (fn. 316)
c. 1245
Ralph of Ewelme, (fn. 317) before 1269
Thomas, (fn. 318) 1269
Oliver de Encourt, (fn. 319) 1274
Thomas de Jorz, (fn. 320) 1295
William de Brithampton (?), (fn. 321) 1300
Thomas Everard, (fn. 322) 1311
Thomas of Westwell, (fn. 323) 1320
Thomas Lucas, (fn. 324) 1392
(John Chesham, (fn. 325) vicar 1397)
John Blackwell or Brakwell, (fn. 326) 1407-18
Walter de Wynhale or Wilnale, (fn. 327) 1437, 1447,
1455
Owen Commode, (fn. 328) 1464, 1470
Peter, (fn. 329) 1474
Morgan Arnold, (fn. 330) 1491
David Huys or Hewes, (fn. 331) 1495, 1499, 1505
Roger Vaughan, (fn. 332) 1507
John Hadcum, (fn. 333) (?) 1507-8
John Howden, (fn. 334) 1510, 1514
John Capel, (fn. 335) 1520
William Arden, (fn. 336) 1520 (prior elect 1520)
John Hopton, 1528, (fn. 337) 1530, 1535, 1536
Visitors
John de Meslay, (fn. 338) 1269
Thomas Palmer, (fn. 339) 1393
John Bromyard, (fn. 340) 1397
An impression of the seal of the friary is appended to letters from the university of Oxford,
the friars and others to Innocent IV, about the
year 1244, petitioning for the canonization of
Edmund Rich, and now or lately preserved in
the abbey of Pontigny. It bears the Blessed
Virgin seated on a throne, with the Infant Jesus
in her arms, and a kneeling figure at her
feet; under the lower arcade a suppliant friar.
Legend:—
+ SIGILL' CAPITVLI FRAT. PREDICATORU' OXON. (fn. 341)