RELIGIOUS HOUSES the Thames within Ludgate " and close to Montfichet's Tower which was now pulled down and the material used to construct the new house of Black Friars." Of this new foundation Edward I was the principal patron^': in 1278 he granted for its aid all deodands falling to him during the next three years, and besides other sums,^* a gift of 200 marks in 1280^' to the building of their church, begun in 1279, and dedicated to the honour of St. Mary the Virgin and St. John the Evangelist.^^ The work must have extended over some years. The church was still unfinished in 1288^"; the cloister was being made in 1292,^' and in 1312 ^^ and 1313^' more land was needed to enlarge the convent quarters, for a house of seventy inmates^* required some space. Unfortunately there is no record, such as exists for the Grey Friars, of the con- tributors to these buildings, the cost of which could not have been defrayed entirely by the king. The friars had certainly obtained 550 marks for their house in Holborn from Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln,^' and they doubtless re- ceived many bequests similar to that of Richard de Stratford,"' a novice of the house, who, in 1 28 1, assigned the proceeds of the sale of his property in London towards the building of the chapter-house, and that of Elizabeth de Bohun, countess of Northampton,^' who left to the church 100 marks and the cross made of wood of the Holy Cross, besides altar cloths, &c. The Black Friars of London received an ample share of the favours shown to the whole " The house evidently adjoined the City wall, which appears to have been pulled down there and reconstructed soon afterwards. CaL of Pat. 1307—13, p. 159; ibid. 1 313-17, p. 270; Liber Custum. in Mm. GildhaU (Rolls Ser.), i (2), 455. " Stow, Surv. of Land, i, 62. " Ibid, iii, 177. '« C-j/. of Pat. 1272-81, p. 252; Cal. of Close, 1279-88, pp. 448, 508. " Cal. of Pat. 1272-81, p. 376. '» Chron. of Edw. I and Edw. II (Rolls Ser.), i, 88. In 1278 leave was granted by the bishop of London and chapter of St. Paul's. Palgrave, Ancient Kalendars and Invent, of Exch. (Rec. Com.), 71. ' Antiq. xxvii, III, Art. by Rev. C. F. R. Palmer. ™ Cal. of Close, 1 279-88, p. 508. The king directs a fine of 50 marks to be given to the expedition of the works of the Friars Preachers, London.
- ' Cal. of Pat. 1281-92, p. 484.
"Ibid. 1307-13, p. 483. "Ibid. 556. " Devon, Issues of the Exch. 1 29. 5 Dec. 9 Edw. II. 35/. paid to John de Wrotham, prior of the Friars Preachers, London, for dd. each to 70 brethren of the convent. " CaL of Close, 1279-88, p. 428. "' Sharpe, Cal. of Wills enrolled in Court of Hustings, Land, i, 52. It was enrolled in 1281. The will itself has no date. " Nicolas, Testamen'ta Vetusia, 60. order by Edward 11,^^ and most probably laid then ^' the foundation of the peculiar franchises^ of their precinct. The king appears to have sometimes resided at the house,^' and the amount of state business transacted there ^^^ in this reign is sufficient indication of the importance of the convent. The presence of the prior at the examination of the Templars in 1309'^ is also of significance in this connexion. It is possible that power may have turned their heads, and that they may have shown the lack of becoming humility of which they were afterwards accused.'* But the affection of the king was in itself quite sufficient to account for the hatred with which they were regarded by the City, where they became so unpopular that when the king fell they feared for their lives and fled.'* If it is true that Friar Dunheved was a member of the London house, the convent was closely con- nected with the movement for the rescue of Edward II in which the Dominicans generally were implicated. The power of the London friary had received a check from which it took a few years to recover — at least that seems to be the explanation of the length of time their contest with Hyde Abbey " lasted. Both the abbey and the friary claimed a certain Arnold Lym as belonging to their community. The bishop of Winchester decided in favour of the friars, but the monks overrode his sentence with papal bulls, kept possession of Arnold for about ten years, and blocked all action on the part of the friars until in 1347 in answer to a petition in Parliament the king ordered right to be done. ™ Riley, Memorials ofLond. 1 1 1 ; see also note 2. ^' In 1347 the inhabitants of London petition the king about a debtor who had taken refuge at the Friars Preachers. Pari. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 187^. '" Lansd. MS. 155 gives the liberties claimed by the inhabitants of the late dissolved houses of the Black and White Friars. They claimed to be free from all City laws and jurisdiction, and from arrest within the precinct by the City officers. ^' Sharpe, Cal. of Letter Bk. D, 17. Tuesday after the Assumption of the B. Mary, 131 1, the said Richer was presented before the king lying at the Preaching Friars, &c. "" C<j/. of Close, 1313-18, p. 216; 1318-23, p. 313 ; 1323-7, pp. 41 1, 564 ; and Cal of Letter Bk. E, 211. " Wilkins, Concilia Mag. Brit, ii, 335. " Charges were brought against the order in the general chapter held at London, 13 14, by friars who afterwards apostatized and spread abroad their ac- cusations, see Mr. Little's article in Engl. Hist. Rez'. v, 107, and the royal writ against them, Cal. of Pat. 1313-17, P- 176. '* Riley, Chron. ofOldLond. 264. " Ibid. »' Rev. C. F. R. Palmer, 'Provincials of the Friars Preachers,' Arch. Journ. xxxv, 150. Stow, however, in his Annals {Qd.. 161 5), 225, says nothing about Dunheved being of the London convent. " Pari. R. (Rec. Com.), ii, 186. 499
