RELIGIOUS HOUSES degree the enthusiasm manifested by London citizens^ for the Franciscans, neither did they show any of the abnegation and love of poverty which were the distinguishing features of the Grey Friars in the early days of the order. The site of the house, which was very different from that of Newgate, was not, of course, chosen by them, but within thirty years of the foundation an incident occurred in which they display a distinctly grasping spirit. Sir Henry de Chike- huU had given them a piece of land in Chichester subject to the condition that it was lawful for them to retain it. It was afterwards found that as the land was within a certain distance of the settlement of the Friars Minors of that city, it could not be possessed by any other order with- out infringing the privileges granted to the Franciscans by the pope. The Austin Friars were so reluctant to relinquish all claim to it that while they gave up the land they retained the title-deeds, until ChikehuU at last, in 1382, invoked the aid of Archbishop Peckham.^ They were accused in 1321 of raising walls without any right in the parishes of Allhallows on the Wall and St. Peter's, Broad Street," and it looks as if they had been taking advantage of the disturbances of the reign to encroach on the land on both sides. They may certainly have been tempted by their need of more space, for in 1334 they obtained some ground in order to extend their buildings,' and in 1345 Reginald de Cobham granted them three messuages for the same purpose,'^ while about this time other tenements were acquired from the priory of St. Mary without Bishopsgate.* The arrange- ment made with the rector of St. Peter's, Broad Street, as to tithes and oblations in 1349 points to recent acquisitions in the parish.' The rebuild- ing of their church in 1354 they owed to a descendant of their founder, another Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex,'" and the house doubtless benefited in 1361 under the will of the earl, who left 300 marks for masses to be sung by friars of the order." Repairs were very soon necessary, for the tall and slender steeple was ruined by a storm in 1362. The convent saw something of the horrors of ' The bequests to them judged from Sharpe, Cal. of Wills, were inconsiderable. ' Reg. Epist. Johan. Peckham (Rolls Ser.), i, 365. ' Cal. of Close, 1318-23, p. 314. "Cj/. of Pat. 1334-8, p. 31. ' Ibid. 1343-3, p. 458. ' Lond. and Midd. Arch. Soc. Trans. W, 13, ' Doc. of D. and C. of St. Paul's, A. Box 22, No. 1654. '° Fabyan Chron. (ed. Ellis), 464; Stow, Surv. of Lond. (ed. Strype), ii, 1 14. The church was evidently large. It had two chapels, one dedicated to St. Thomas, the other to St. John, and altars to St. James and St. Mary in the east wing of the church. Harl. MS. 6033, fol. 31. " Nichols, Royal Wills, 44. 1381 : thirteen Flemings who had taken refuge in the church were dragged out and killed by the mob,'^ but the animosity of the rioters does not seem to have extended to the friars. In the contest of the Mendicants with the archbishop of Armagh no special share can be assigned to the Austin Friars of London ; in the controversy with WycliflFe, however, they were well represented by Banchin, a friar of their house and afterwards prior, who took an active part in exposing the errors of his teaching in the council of 1382." Five years later the convent came into contact with the Lollards in a more exciting way. A certain Peter PatteshuU," who had once been an Austin Friar and had become a Lollard, preached in the church of St. Christopher to a congregation imbued with the same views as himself, on the iniquities practised by the members of his old order.'* Some of the convent, being informed, came to the church to hear him, and one openly protested. The Lollards set upon him, turned the friars out of the church, and roused by the charges made by Patteshull, determined to burn down the friary. They were checked by the prayers of two of the friars, and by that time one of the sheriffs arrived and persuaded them to disperse without doing any damage. How much foundation Patteshull had for his accusations — which were aimed at no particular friary, but at the order generally — it is impossible to say. Two friars had left the London house in 1364, taking with them books and other goods,'* apparently owing to a disagreement with their superiors, and another had apostatized in 1387, but neither case proves anything as to the state of the convent. The formation of libraries seems to have been a feature of the age, and in this respect the Austin Friars were not behind the London friars of other orders. Prior John Low making great additions to the books of the house in the early fifteenth century.'^ Two members at least of the London convent besides Banchin and Low were renowned for their learning : Thomas Pemchet, D.D., who taught divinity at Pavia, became provincial of England, and died in London in 1487 ; and John Tonney, at one time also provincial, who died in 1490. '* Stow, Annals (ed. 1 61 5), 288. "Stevens, Hist, of Abbeys, ii, 218; Wilkins, Concilia, iii, 158. " He was a doctor of divinity of Oxford, and was celebrated for his learned sermons. Stevens, op. cit. ii, 218. " Walsingham, Hist. Angl. (Rolls Ser.), 157, 158. " Cal. of Pap. Letters, iv, 42, 43. " Cal. of Pat. 1388-9, pp. 324, 386. " Leland, Coll. iii, 54; Stevens, op. cit. ii, 219. Low, who was a noted persecutor of heretics, died 1436. " Stevens, op. cit. ii, 220. 5"
