A HISTORY OF LONDON How far the prior, George Burnham, in acknowledging the king as supreme head of the church 17 April 1534,^' represented the opinions of the friars it is impossible to tell.'^ Information was laid against one of them, Robert Austyn by name, for a sermon preached in St. Bride's June 1537 which showed that he preferred if possible to avoid the subject.'" But actual opposition to the new doctrines was doubtless felt to be worse than useless when the provincial, a supporter of the royal policy ,^^ had his head quarters there.'*' The priory was sur- rendered 10 November, 1538, the deed being signed by the prior John. Gybbes and twelve friars.* Gybbes was in receipt of a pension ofj^io until March 1544.^' The possessions of the house, estimated as worth £2b "js. jd. per annum by Stow '** and ^^63 I is. ^d. by Dugdale," included tenements in the parishes of St. Dunstan in the West '^ and St. Olave near the Tower, but the most valuable part of the property must have been the convent buildings and precinct which consisted of the church, chapter house, dormitory, fratry, kitchen, library, the cloister with its green, and several gardens, and which stretched from Fleet Street to the Thames and from Water Lane on the east to Serjeants' Inn and the Temple on the west." The amount of plate belonging to the church, 114 oz. in gilt plate, 100 oz. parcel gilt, 244 oz. of white plate," does not argue great riches or extrava- gant display. Priors of the White Friars Osbert Pickingham, died 1330 " John Elin or Helin, died 1339" John de Reppes, occurs 1343 '^ Thomas Brome, provincial 1362 " John, occurs 1393^ Thomas Asshewell, S.T.P., occurs 1443" John Milverton, D.D., occurs 1465 *" William Bachelor, died at Rome 1515 " Thomas Gaskyn, occurs 1527 " John Kele, occurs 1533*^ George Burnham, occurs 1534^* John Gybbes, occurs 1538" The convent seal of the thirteenth century shows two canopied niches : in the one to the left, a saint holding in the right hand a sword, in the left hand a church ; in the one on the right, the Virgin crowned, with the Child on her right arm. Legend : S CONVENTVS FRM . CARMELI . LOND. There is also a prior's seal of the fourteenth century.^^ This is a pointed oval, and repre- sents a saint, seated in a canopied niche, holding a sword in the right hand. Overhead in a smaller niche sits the Virgin crowned, with the child on her left knee. Legend : — P ORIS . LODON ord . . Carmel' CE . MAR DE. " L. and P. Hen. VIII, vii, 665.
- In 1534 Cromwell evidently had his eye on the
house, for among his remembrances is a list of books which the late prior had had of various printers. Ibid, vii, 923. " Ibid, xii (2), 65. Two of the points against him were that he omitted the reverence due to his Prince and Supreme Head under God and that he did not preach against the usurped power of the bishop of Rome.
- John Bird, D.D., was appointed one of the preach-
ers for E.istcr i 537. He was made bishop of Penrith 15 June, 1537, and afterwards bishop of Bangor and of Chester. L. and P. Hen. VIII, xii (l), 726, and note ; xii (2), 191 (19). "Ibid, xvi, 1500 (37/^).
- « Ibid, xiii (2), 788.
"AugOfF. Bk. 233, fol. i6ib; Land P. Hen. VIII, xix (i), 368, fol. 13. It was a life pension. The friars do not seem to have received pensions, at any rate none is recorded in the augmentation books. '" Stow, Sarc. ofLond. (Strype's ed.), iii, 267. In the margin there is a note that the sum was given in the first edition as [fiz. Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vi, 1572. " L. and P. Hen. VIII, xv, 210 ; xix (l), 1035 (15) ; see also Cal. Inq. a.q.d. (Rec. Com.), 363 and 382, for property here in reigns of Hen. IV and Hen. VI. " L. and P. Hen. VIII, xix (2), 340 (34). "Ibid. XV, 924 (105), xvi, 678 (24). " Monastic Treasures (Abbotsford Club), 19. 14. THE AUSTIN FRIARS The earliest settlement of the Friars Hermits of the order of St. Augustine in these islands was made in Wales in 1252.^ It was here probably that Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex, and constable of England, came into contact with them on his return from the Crusade, since in 1253 ^^ founded the house of that order near the church of St. Peter le Poor in Broad Street, London.^ The Austin Friars never seem to have aroused in the slightest " Villiers de St. Etienne, Bibl. Carmel, ii, 521. " Stevens, Hist, of Abbeys, ii, 166. " Cal. Pap. Pet. i, 24. He was made a papal chaplain at the request of Queen Isabella and the earl of Derby. Ibid. Stevens, op. cit. ii, 166. '" Cal. of Pat. I 391-6, p. 357. «' B.M. Chart. L.F.C. xx, 3. ^ Coll of London Citizen (Camd. Soc), 228. Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vi, 1572. " Harl. Chart. 79, F. 32. ^ L. and P. Hen. VIII, xvi, 1500 (22^). ^ Ibid, vii, 665. He subscribed to the royal supremacy. «' Ibid, xiii, (2), 788. «« B.M. Seals, Ixviii, 42. <^ Ibid, kviii, 36. ' Stevens, Hist. ofJbbeys, ii, 221. ' Stow, Surv. ofLond. (ed. Strype), 114. 510
