User:Chrisfow/Sandbox1: Difference between revisions
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==History== |
==History== |
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The Augustinian Friary in London was founded in 1253 by Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex and Constable of England, on his return from the [[Seventh Crusade]].<ref |
The Augustinian Friary in London was founded in 1253 by Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex and Constable of England, on his return from the [[Seventh Crusade]].<ref>Page, p. 510</ref> The friary was close to the church of St. Peter le Poor on Broad Street, and had lands in that parish as well as in the nearby parishes of Allhallows on the Wall and St. Mary without Bishopsgate. |
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Not unusually for friaries within the City of London, Austin Friars was favoured by the aristocracy and by other wealthy people both as a place of worship and as a final resting place. The friary made these associations profit; their church was completely rebuilt on a grander scale than the original in 1354, and the friary had no difficulty in funding a replacement steeple when theirs was demolished by a storm in 1362.<ref>Page, p. 510</ref> |
Not unusually for friaries within the City of London, Austin Friars was favoured by the aristocracy and by other wealthy people both as a place of worship and as a final resting place. The friary made these associations profit; their church was completely rebuilt on a grander scale than the original in 1354, and the friary had no difficulty in funding a replacement steeple when theirs was demolished by a storm in 1362.<ref>Page, p. 510</ref> |
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===Reformation and Dissolution=== |
===Reformation and Dissolution=== |
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The later history of the friary is inextricably linked with the [[English Reformation]]. In 1526, the Cantabrigian scholar and Augustine monk [[Robert Barnes (martyr)|Doctor Robert Barnes]] was punished for heresy at [[St. Paul’s Cathedral]]. Dr. Barnes was the Prior of Austin Friars, Cambridge, and was sent to Austin Friars in London after his penance had been done at the cathedral and in the notorious [[Fleet Prison]]. His time at Austin Friars, though supposedly undertaken as a form of house arrest, was free and unmolested – he was able to meet whom he liked, and to buy and sell copies of the English New Testament,<ref>Page, p. 512</ref> a work banned at the time as heretical.<ref> |
The later history of the friary is inextricably linked with the [[English Reformation]]. In 1526, the Cantabrigian scholar and Augustine monk [[Robert Barnes (martyr)|Doctor Robert Barnes]] was punished for heresy at [[St. Paul’s Cathedral]]. Dr. Barnes was the Prior of Austin Friars, Cambridge, and was sent to Austin Friars in London after his penance had been done at the cathedral and in the notorious [[Fleet Prison]]. His time at Austin Friars, though supposedly undertaken as a form of house arrest, was free and unmolested – he was able to meet whom he liked, and to buy and sell copies of the English New Testament,<ref>Page, p. 512</ref> a work banned at the time as heretical.<ref>Pollard, pp. 87–91</ref> |
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In 1532 King Henry VIII’s councillor, Thomas Cromwell, began to build his huge main residence on land leased from the friary. Cromwell was a leading supporter of the English Reformation, indeed one of its principal masterminds, and found his neighbour the Prior to be sympathetic to his cause. The Prior, George Brown, preached sermons in support of the King’s unpopular divorce from [[Catherine of Aragon]] and subsequent marriage to [[Anne Boleyn]]. Brown was later rewarded by Cromwell with work as a commissioner, whose job it was to visit all the monastic houses in the kingdom to assess them for piety and wealth before the dissolution.<ref>Page, p. 512</ref> |
In 1532 King Henry VIII’s councillor, Thomas Cromwell, began to build his huge main residence on land leased from the friary. Cromwell was a leading supporter of the English Reformation, indeed one of its principal masterminds, and found his neighbour the Prior to be sympathetic to his cause. The Prior, George Brown, preached sermons in support of the King’s unpopular divorce from [[Catherine of Aragon]] and subsequent marriage to [[Anne Boleyn]]. Brown was later rewarded by Cromwell with work as a commissioner, whose job it was to visit all the monastic houses in the kingdom to assess them for piety and wealth before the dissolution.<ref>Page, p. 512</ref> |
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Part of Cromwell’s drive to dissolve the monasteries is explained by his low opinion of monks and friars.<ref>Dickens, |
Part of Cromwell’s drive to dissolve the monasteries is explained by his low opinion of monks and friars.<ref>Dickens, p. 79</ref> With the exception of the Prior, he will have found his neighbours to have been exemplars of exactly the kind of behaviour which made reform justified and necessary: anonymous disaffected members of the friary reported in 1534 on the neglect of services, drinking of alcohol, dining alone and the lack of any adherence to monastic rules.<ref>Page, p. 512</ref> |
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The friary was dissolved in November 1538 and yielded an income of £57 0s 4d to the Crown.<ref>Page, p.512</ref> |
The friary was dissolved in November 1538 and yielded an income of £57 0s 4d to the Crown.<ref>Page, p.512</ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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==Bibliography== |
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*Dickens, A. G. (1989). ''The English Reformation'' (2nd ed.). London: B. T. Batsford. |
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*Page, William (1909) ''A History of the County of London: Volume 1: London within the Bars, Westminster and Southwark'' London: Victoria County History |
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*Pollard, Alfred W. ed. (1974), ''Records of the English Bible'', Kent: Wm. Dawson & Sons Ltd |
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==See Also== |
==See Also== |
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Revision as of 19:19, 20 September 2012
Austin Friars, London was an Augustinian friary in the City of London from its foundation in 1253 until dissolution in 1538. King Henry VIII’s advisor Thomas Cromwell lived in a large house at the site, on land leased from the friary.
History
The Augustinian Friary in London was founded in 1253 by Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex and Constable of England, on his return from the Seventh Crusade.[1] The friary was close to the church of St. Peter le Poor on Broad Street, and had lands in that parish as well as in the nearby parishes of Allhallows on the Wall and St. Mary without Bishopsgate.
Not unusually for friaries within the City of London, Austin Friars was favoured by the aristocracy and by other wealthy people both as a place of worship and as a final resting place. The friary made these associations profit; their church was completely rebuilt on a grander scale than the original in 1354, and the friary had no difficulty in funding a replacement steeple when theirs was demolished by a storm in 1362.[2]
During the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, thirteen Flemings who had been sheltering in the friary were taken out and lynched by the mob, though the friars themselves appear to have been left unharmed. Five years later, a sermon to Lollards in St. Christopher’s Church about the practices and privileges of Augustinian monks almost led to the razing of the friary by that congregation – only the timely intercession of the local sheriff led the mob to disburse.[3]
Reformation and Dissolution
The later history of the friary is inextricably linked with the English Reformation. In 1526, the Cantabrigian scholar and Augustine monk Doctor Robert Barnes was punished for heresy at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Dr. Barnes was the Prior of Austin Friars, Cambridge, and was sent to Austin Friars in London after his penance had been done at the cathedral and in the notorious Fleet Prison. His time at Austin Friars, though supposedly undertaken as a form of house arrest, was free and unmolested – he was able to meet whom he liked, and to buy and sell copies of the English New Testament,[4] a work banned at the time as heretical.[5]
In 1532 King Henry VIII’s councillor, Thomas Cromwell, began to build his huge main residence on land leased from the friary. Cromwell was a leading supporter of the English Reformation, indeed one of its principal masterminds, and found his neighbour the Prior to be sympathetic to his cause. The Prior, George Brown, preached sermons in support of the King’s unpopular divorce from Catherine of Aragon and subsequent marriage to Anne Boleyn. Brown was later rewarded by Cromwell with work as a commissioner, whose job it was to visit all the monastic houses in the kingdom to assess them for piety and wealth before the dissolution.[6]
Part of Cromwell’s drive to dissolve the monasteries is explained by his low opinion of monks and friars.[7] With the exception of the Prior, he will have found his neighbours to have been exemplars of exactly the kind of behaviour which made reform justified and necessary: anonymous disaffected members of the friary reported in 1534 on the neglect of services, drinking of alcohol, dining alone and the lack of any adherence to monastic rules.[8]
The friary was dissolved in November 1538 and yielded an income of £57 0s 4d to the Crown.[9]
After the dissolution of the friary and the attaint and execution of Thomas Cromwell, the site was divided. Cromwell’s house was sold to the Worshipful Company of Drapers,[10] while part of the friary was given by the Crown in 1550 to the Dutch community to use as a place of worship. The entire site was razed by the Great Fire of London in 1666, and many of the buildings which were built in their stead were destroyed in the Blitz during World War II.
Today
Today the site is divided by a road named Austin Friars. The site is mainly occupied by office blocks. However, the Draper’s Hall and the Dutch Church still stand here, separated by the road, although both buildings are replacements for those that were destroyed in the Great Fire (and again during the Blitz, in the case of the Dutch Church).
In Fiction
Hilary Mantel’s novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies create a fictional account of the career of Thomas Cromwell. Many scenes are set at his home in Austin Friars.
References
Bibliography
- Dickens, A. G. (1989). The English Reformation (2nd ed.). London: B. T. Batsford.
- Page, William (1909) A History of the County of London: Volume 1: London within the Bars, Westminster and Southwark London: Victoria County History
- Pollard, Alfred W. ed. (1974), Records of the English Bible, Kent: Wm. Dawson & Sons Ltd
See Also
- Dutch Church, Austin Friars
- Thomas Cromwell
- Austin Friars disambig
- Drapers Hall
- Robert Barnes (martyr)
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