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Londoners and London Mendicants in the Late Middle Ages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2015

Jens Röhrkasten
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Extract

Much attention has been paid to the role and functions of the mendicant orders in their urban environment. Among the topics discussed have been the friars' importance for urban development, their coexistence with other religious institutions, their economic practices and their relations with the secular authorities. As far as their spiritual and social significance is concerned their spectacular success and rapid development in the thirteenth century are generally accepted. There were some setbacks, particularly in towns where the Dominicans or Franciscans became involved in the suppression of heresy, but these had little impact on the rapid expansion of the orders. Members from all social groups, academics as well as aristocrats, merchants and artisans as well as the poor, felt the attraction of their sermons and way of life, some to such an extent that they decided to join one of the orders. But while the attraction of the mendicant ideal in the decades following the friars' arrival is undisputed, the problem of their importance for the religious life of the late medieval urban population is far more difficult to discuss. While there are assertions that the friars remained particularly popular, the orders' decline and their need of reform were already obvious in the fourteenth century and the various efforts to bring about a reinvigoration confirm this impression. In the fifteenth century famous mendicant preachers from Vincent Ferrer and Bernardino of Siena to Girolamo Savonarola attracted large crowds in many parts of Europe, but was this indicative of the population's general attitude towards the orders? Were the mendicants still perceived by the people as responding to their spiritual needs? How did the public react to signs of decadence, to disputes among the brothers? A general answer to such questions needs to be based on a large number of local studies and this is still a task for the future.

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Articles
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The Journal of Ecclesiastical History , Volume 47 , Issue 3 , July 1996 , pp. 446 - 477
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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43 CPMR 1381–1412, 239; London Assize of Nuisance, no. 569.

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45 CCR 1405–1409, 149.

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77 William Whelere (1387): ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 170r–v; Hugh Gardyner (1418): MS 9171/3, fos iv–2r; Thomas Aylward (1476): MS 9171/6, fos 207v–8v.

78 Galfridus Numan (1388): ibid. MS 9171/1, fo 172v.

79 John Bysshop (1392): ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 254r–v.

80 Richard North (1389): ibid. MS 9171/1, fos 187v–8r; Juliana Passur (1394): MS 9171/1, fo. 326V.

81 Nicholas Gorge (1395): ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 337v.

82 Thomas Sheyl (1402); ibid. MS 9171/2, fo. 53v.

83 William Pappe (1408): ibid. MS 9171/2, fo. 136v.

84 Richard Hatton (1409): ibid. MS 9171/2, fo. 154v; John Pymberd (1417): MS 9171/2, fo. 383v.

85 Ralph in the Hale: ibid. MS 9171/2, fo. 208r; Richard Bradfeld (1443): MS 9171/4, fo. 111v; William Siger (1444): MS 9171/4, fo. 132r–v.

86 Walter Sanney (1412): ibid. MS 9171/2, fo. 223r; John Schepard (1478): MS 9171/6, fos 225v–6r.

87 Reginald Dyer (1413): ibid. MS 9171/2, fo. 258r (inserted leaf); Thomas Congreve 9171/5. fos 391v–2r.

88 Richard Aston (1418): ibid. MS 9171/3, fo. 17r–v; Christiana Forde (1439): MS 9171/4, fo. 37r; Richard Brok (1442): MS 9171/4, fo. 99r; Idonia, widow of John von Wesull (1459): MS 9171/5, fo. 274r.

89 Richard Godard: ibid. MS 9171/3, fo. 85r.

90 Henry Denby: ibid. MS 9171/5, fo. 329r.

91 Thomas Combes: ibid. MS 9171/6, fo. 10r.

92 Ibid. MS 9171/6, fos 30V, 123r–v, 261v.

93 Ibid. MS 9171/5, fo. 389v.

94 John Laylond: ibid. MS 9171/6, fos 340r–1r.

95 John Wodeham: ibid. MS 9171/2, fos 78v–9r.

96 John Quyk: ibid. MS 9171/6, fos 41r–2r.

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99 Ibid. MS 9171/2 fos 136v (William Pappe), 208r (Ralph in the Hale), 223r (Walter Sanney); MS 9171/5, fo. 329r (Henry Denby); MS 9171/6, fos 41r–2r (John Quyk), 340r–41r (John Laylond).

100 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fos 187v–8r (Richard North); MS 9171/3, fo. 85r (Nicholas Cherman); MS 9171/4, fos 111v, 132r–v (Richard Bradfeld, William Siger); MS 9171/6, fo. 26iv (Robert Wylkynson).

101 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 337v (Nicholas Gorge); Ms 9171/3, fo. 85r (Nicholas Cherman).

102 Ibid. MS 9171 /2, fo. 53v (Thomas Sheyl).

103 Four to the Franciscans, four to the Dominicans, two to the Carmelites and one to the Friars of the Cross.

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107 Only 3 among 63. These were Margareta van de Good: GL, MS 9051–1, fo. 282r; Katerine van Aken: MS 9051/1, fo. 296r–v; Margarete Deloe: MS 9171/1, fo. 459r.

108 Chiffoleau, Comptabilité de l'au-delà, 50: one-third of the total of wills left by women, two-thirds by men; Baur, P., Testament und Bürgerschaft. Alltagsleben und Sachkultur im spätmittelalterlichen Konstanz, Sigmaringen 1989, 57 Google Scholar: wills by men 67%–88.5%, wills by women 17.8–33%.

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111 Henry de Causton stated in his will (1348) that ‘lego mulieribus vocatis sororibus in civitate London pro se caste viventibus’: Corporation of London Record Office, Husting Roll 78 no. 210. An anchoress moved into the precinct of the London Blackfriars still in the sixteenth century: Clay, R. M., The hermits and anchorites of England, London 1914, 96 Google Scholar; Warren, A. K., Anchorites and their patrons in medieval England, Berkeley, CA. 1985, 288–9Google Scholar.

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114 Paxton, C., ‘The nunneries of London and its environs in the later Middle Ages’, unpubl. PhD. diss. Oxford 1993, 95–110 Google Scholar.

115 GL, MS 9171/5, fos 146v–8r (Thomas Hawkyn).

116 Ibid. MS 9171/6, fos 205v–6r (William Power).

117 Ibid. MS 9171/6, fo. 282V (Henry Buchlyn).

118 Ibid. MS 9171/3, fo. 88v (Robert Cowper).

119 Ibid. MS 9171/3, fo. 215r (John Halman).

120 Ibid. MS 9171/5, fo. 140r–v (William Barefeld).

121 Attention is again drawn to the different result obtained by Thomson, , ‘Piety and charity’, 189–90Google Scholar. Bequests to the friars were made by a far greater proportion of testators whose wills were enrolled in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury. Also of great interest is the result of Wood, R. A., ‘Poor widows, c. 1292–1415’, in Barron, C. M. and Sutton, A. F. (eds), Medieval London widows 1300–1500, London 1994, 55–70 Google Scholar, who analysed the wills of 49 poor widows from the Archdeaconry Register. Only four of them made bequests to the friars. In contrast, more than 20% of testators who had their wills enrolled in the Husting Rolls made a reference to the friars.

122 Gougaud, L., Devotional and ascetic practices in the middle ages, London 1927, 135–6Google Scholar; ‘Si dives in patria quisquis infirmetur,/Illuc frater properans et currens monetur;/Et statim cum venerit infirmo loquetur,/Ut cadaver mortuum fratribus donetur …/Quod si pauper adiens fratres infirmetur,/Et petat ut inter hos sepulturae detur,/Gardianus absens est, statim respondetur,/Et sic satis breviter pauper excludetur’: Political poems and songs relating to English history, ed. Wright, T. (Rolls Series, 1859), i. 257 Google Scholar; Owst, G. R., Preaching in medieval England: an introduction to sermon manuscripts of the period c. 1350–1450, Cambridge 1926, 88–90 Google Scholar. It should also be noted that among the wills enrolled in the Husting the proportion of those with references to friars is higher, cf. Table 1.

123 GL, MS 9171/1, fo. 117r,v.

124 Ibid. MS 9171/2, fo. 142r.

125 Ibid. MS 9171/3, fo. 151v.

126 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 32r.

127 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 125r–6r.

128 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 340r–v.

129 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 150r–v (John Eystone).

130 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fo. 88r: ‘ubi executores mei ordinare voluerint sit in ecclesia aut in cimiterio’.

131 A part of BL, MS Harley 544, fos 50r–74v – a copy made by John Stow – is the burial register of the Franciscan house.

132 GL, MS 9051/1, fo. 147v.

133 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fos 195v–6r (Richard Scot), 296r–v (Katerine van Aken).

134 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fo. 38r–v (Jacobus Francisse Monaldi); MS 9171/5, fo. 292r (Thomas Machon).

135 John Mapylton: ibid MS 9051/1, fo. 179r–v: ‘videlicet ante ymaginem S. Cristofori depictatam super murum dicte ecclesie’ – the church of the Carmelites; MS 9051/1, fo. 244r: ‘coram ymagine beate Marie in parte australi dicte ecclesie’ – the church of the Franciscans (David Bardevyle); cf. also MS 9171/3, fos 102v (William Croft), (Albertus Alfkyn), 396v (Gamelin Gawyn), 465v (John Walton).

136 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fo. 158v (William Asshe).

137 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fo. 298r (Mariona Williamesdoughter).

138 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 53r (Elizabeth Dyere); MS 9171/2, fo. 289r (William Burstede).

139 Ibid. MS 9171/5, fo. 3r (Raphael Ponsola).

140 Ibid. MS 9171/5, fos 110r–v (Joan Neumarche); 166v (John Malberthorp).

141 Ibid. MS 9171/6, fo. 50v–1r (William Bowes).

142 Ibid. MS 9171/6, fo. 206r.

143 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fo. 152v.

144 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fo. 227r.

145 Ibid. MS 9171/5, fo. 331r.

146 Ibid. MS 9171/5, fo. 234r. For a closer analysis of the will see Sutton, A. F., ‘Alice Claver, silkwoman (d. 1489)’, in Barron, and Sutton, , Medieval London widows, 129–42 at pp. 130–1Google Scholar.

147 Nicholas de Hingstworth, pewterer, provides a good example: he wished to be buried in Ludgate, St Martin ‘ubi solebam sedere dum in ipsa ecclesia divina officia consuevi audire’: Corporation of London Record Office, Husting Rolls 93 no. 15Google Scholar.

148 GL, MS 9051/1, fo. 301v.

149 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fo. 66r–v (John Hay), 212r (Richard Shrympling); MS 9171/2, fos 141r (William Muller), 367v (John Hall).

150 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fo. 213r (John Clerk); MS 9171/6, fo. 79v (John White).

151 Ibid. MS 9171/2, fo. 162r (John Wheston).

152 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fos 158v (William Asshe), 268r (Alicia de Northfolkke), 269r (William Ekynton); MS 9171/1, fos 211r–v (William Maynard), 360v (John Punchon); MS 9171/2, fos 107r (Simon Frenssh), 148r (John Paley), 279v (Joan Alfold); MS 9171/4, fo. 135v (Agnes Wynsley); MS 9171/5 fo. 233v (John Water); MS 9171/6, fos 206r (Thomas Dagworthe), 21 or (Joan Logeman).

153 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fo 152v (Richard Barton); MS 9171/3, fo. 152v (John Basset); MS 9171/4, fos 115r–v (Henry Asshebourne), 200v (William Michell); MS 9171/5, fos 302r (Richard Walter), 339v–40r (Baldewin Payne), 351r (Thomas Thomas), 404r (Robert Wyllmote); MS 9171/6, fos 75r (John Englesse), 161r (Richard Waryn).

154 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 379r (William Kyngman); MS 9171/2, fo. 9r–v (John Viannde).

155 Ibid. MS 9171/3, fo. 281r (John Yong); MS 9171/5. fo. 349r–v (John Grene).

156 Ibid. MS 9171/4, fo. 220r (William Hoton).

157 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 43r (Edith Shark); MS 9171/2, fo. 227r–v (John Marty); MS 9171/5, fo. 230r–1r (William Benyngton); MS 9171–6, fo. 269r–v (William Benet).

158 Ibid. MS 9171/2, fo. 166r–v (William Frost); MS 9171/4, fo. 255r (John Exton).

159 Ibid. MS 9171/3, fo. 396v (John Mone); MS 9171/5, fo. 6v (Andreas de Furnariis); MS 9171/6, fo. 143r (Jacobus de Ferrara).

160 Ibid. MS 9171/3, fos 491r–v (John Copsheth), 500r–v (Robert Donnesbury); MS 9171/5, fo. 220r (Katherin Gargade); MS 9051/1, fo. 301v (William Launde).

161 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 370v (Laurentius de Gerard); MS 9171/2, fos 242v (Joan Perseholt), 289r (William Burstede); MS 9171/6, fo. 50r,v (William Narburgh).

162 Harding, V., ‘“And one more may be laid there': the location of burials in early modern London’, London Journal xiv (1989), 112–29CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and ‘Burial choice and burial location in later medieval London’, in Basset, S. (ed.) Death in towns: urban responses to the dying and the dead, 100–1600, Leicester 1992, 119–35Google Scholar.

163 In the case of Nicholas Twyford also the presence of a friar at the death bed: GL, MS 9171/1, fos 223r–5r.

164 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 158r–v (Roger Lunt).

165 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 117r–v (Robert Denton).

166 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fos 22v–3r (Thomas Chapman); MS 9171/6, fos 136v–v (Thomas Wellys).

167 Ibid. MS 9171/5, fos 260r–1v (John Carter, alias Bamme).

168 Ibid. MS 9171/5, fo. 331r.

169 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fos 239r–40r.

170 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fos 353r (John Muster), 389v–90r (William Palmer).

171 Ibid. MS 9171/5, fos 339v–40r (Baldewin Payne).

172 Ibid. MS 9171/2, fos 10r–11r (Sir Baldewin Radyngton).

173 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 459r (Margaret Deloe); MS 9171/3, fos 114v–15r (John Mycholl).

174 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 459r (Margaret Deloe).

175 Ibid. MS 9171/2, fo. 324r (Walter Umfray).

176 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 196r.

177 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fos 344v–5v (Thoma s Erlond).

178 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 118r.

179 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 131r.

180 Ibid. MS 9171/5, fo. 326v.

181 Ibid. MS 9171/3, fo. 243v (Thomas Henyngham).

182 Ibid. MS 9171/3, fos 496v–7v: ‘die humationis mee’ (Richard Bamburgh).

183 Ibid. MS 9171/2, fos 171v–3r.

184 ‘Ad inde inveniendum unum lampadem ardentem coram summo altari ecclesie eiusdem domus et ad inveniendum panem vocatum Singyngbred pro omnibus fratribus capellanis illius domus sub conditione quod prefati prior et conventus et successores sui teneant anniversarium meum in ecclesia sua predicta modo honesto die quo me obire contigerit’: ibid. MS 9171/3, fos 393r–v.

185 Ibid. MS 9171/4, fo. 227v (Thomas Ely).

186 ‘quamdiu idem Prior secundum eius sanam conscientiam voluerit’: ibid. MS 9171/5, fos 193v–4r (John Queldryk).

187 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fos 5v–6r (Matilda, widow of William Penne).

188 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 256r–v (John Tettesworth).

189 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fos 125r–6r (John de Bisshopeston), 140r (John Gloos), 159r Roger Bobynton).

190 ‘Ut ipsi animam meam in orationibus suis cotidianis pie habeant recommendatam’: ibid. MS 9171/5, fo. 125r (Richard Dee).

191 Ibid. MS 9171/6, fos 70r–1v.

192 Ibid. MS 9171/5, fo. 148v (Thomas Murdag).

193 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fo. 289r (William Bele).

194 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fos 227v–8r (John Fyfhyde); PRO, C 270/32/20; Catalogue of Ancient Deeds, London 1906, v. 126 Google Scholar.

195 GL, MS 9171/1, fos 150v–1r.

196 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 175r–v.

197 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fos 61r, 94v–5r.

198 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fos 141v, 145v.

199 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 170r–v.

200 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fos 51v–2r.

201 Bequest ‘inter fratres minores maxime indigentes’: MS 9171/3, fo. 93r (John Pellyng); ‘lego pauperi conventui Fratrum Carmelitarum’, MS 9171/5, fos 299v–300r (Richard Shergete). Little, A. G., ‘A royal inquiry into property held by the mendicant friars in England in 1349 and 1350’, in Edwards, J. G., Galbraith, V. H. and Jacob, E. F. (eds), Historical essays in honour of James Tail, Manchester 1933, 179–88 at p. 182Google Scholar. The inquiries may have been connected with anti-mendicant feeling but showed no irregularities: Raban, S., Mortmain legislation and the English Church 1279–1500, Cambridge 1982, 62 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The special role of the poor in commemorating the dead is emphasised by Rexroth, F., ‘Armut und Memoria im spätmittelalterlichen London’, in Geuenich, D. and Oexle, O. G. (eds), Memoria in der Gesellschaft des Mittelalters, Göttingen 1994, 336–60 at pp. 341, 347–9Google Scholar.

202 ‘Pro suo proprio usu’: GL, MS 9171/1, fo. 403v (John Clapscheth).

203 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fos 263r–4v (John Pyncheon); MS 9171/3, fo. 167r–v (Agnes, widow of Richard Gyffard).

204 Ibid. MS 9171/2, fos 22v–3v (Bartholomeus Neve).

205 Ibid. MS 9171/3, fo. 93r.

206 Ibid. MS 9171/3, fos 285v–6r.

207 For example ibid. MS 9171/5, fos 327v–8r (Joan Gedeney).

208 ‘Cuilibet dotnui fratrum XII denarios ac etiam domui S. Crucis XII denarios’: ibid. MS 9171/2, fo. 22r (Agnes, widow of Richard Fraunceys).

209 The reform-movement became active in England in the middle of the fifteenth century: Definities der Generate Kapittels van de orde van het H. Cruis 1410–1765, ed. van der Pasch, A., Brussels 1969, no. 45Google Scholar; GL, MS 9171/6, fos 49r (James Monthorpe), 50r–v (William Narburgh), 63r–4r (Dame Katherin Marrow), 90r (Robert Taillour); van den Bosch, P., ‘Die Kreuzherrenreform des 15. Jahrhunderts’, in Elm, K. (ed.) Reformbemühungen und Observanzbestrebungen im spätmittelalterlichen Ordenswesen, Berlin 1989, 71–82 Google Scholar.

210 For example, GL, MS 9051/1, fo. 111r–v (Elizabeth, widow of Robert Burlee).

211 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 111r (Randolf Bethlehem).

212 The total number of wills in this group, including those requesting burial, is 492.

213 GL, MS 9171/1, fos 26v–7r (John Berlyngham).

214 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fo. 178v (Arnold Huet); MS 9171/1, fos 108v–9r (Sir John Corson), 252r (Adam in the Lance); MS 9171/2, fos 262v–3r (Baillardus Denbidam); MS 9171/4, fos 194v (John Cadolen), 233r (Sebet Tierlott); MS 9171/5, fos 13v (Arthur de Cursy), 170r (Robert Aleyn), 309v (Albert Grate); MS 9171/6, fos 138v (George Belton), 162v (Arnold Otte alias Fawkener), 311r (Robert de Prato).

215 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fos 62v–3r (John Boteswayn), 76r (Margery, widow of William Vale).

216 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fos 443v–4v (Thomas Panton).

217 Ibid. MS 9171/5, fos 260r–1v (John Carter alias Bamme).

218 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 114r (John de War); MS 9171/2, fos 30v (Christina Rede), 69r–v (Ralph Freman).

219 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fo. 148v (Idonia, widow of Robert Salesbury and of Geoffrey Puppe).

220 Ibid. MS 9171/1, fos 156r (Richard Hale), 175r–v (John de Nevill, Lord Raby).

221 Ibid. MS 9171/5, fos 333v–4r (Robert Cristemasse).

222 Ibid. MS 9171/4, fo. 217r–v (William Pope).

223 Ibid. MS 9171/5, fo. 223v (Margaret Dolowe).

224 Ibid. MS 9171/6, fos 244v–5v (John Rogerson).

225 Ibid. MS 9051/1, fo. 287v (William Scut).

226 ‘Memorandum quod licet Ricardus Wodecok civis dum vixit et salter (…) filium suum legitimum et seniorem Willelmum nomine adtunc sub habitu regulari ordinis fratrum minorum degentem non processum [sic] ex quadam sua negligentia ut dixit in suo testamento predicto preterierit et omiserit nullam de eo in dicto suo testamento faciens mentionem (…) Postea tamen dicto testamento sic condito et confecto de prefato Willelmo filio suo reminiscens et recogitans consideransque quod idem Willelmus filius suus possit ante professionem suam dictum habitum religionis et ordinem dimittere et ad seculum et secularem vitam redire si voluerit. Et propterea ne in eventu quo idem Willelmus ante professionem suam dictum habitum et ordinem dimitteret et ad seculum rediret sua sustentatione esset desdtutus et sic forte daretur in occasio malignandi aut necessitas mendicandi prefatus Ricardus pater suus (…) ex paternali affectione quam erga filium suum Willelmum adtunc habuit motus et excitatus ad dictum testamentum suum aliqua inferius descripta pro sustentatione dicti Willelmi si ipsum ad seculum ut premittitur redire contigerit quasi per modum codicilli vive tamen vocis oraculo addidit.’ Ibid. MS 9171/2, fo. 315r.

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