HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF OLD CHARING
The Hospital and Chapel of Saint
Mary Roncevall
Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England
AND THE
Monuments Erected in Her Memory
BY
JAMES GALLOWAY,
A.M., M.D.
Senior Physician, and a Vice-President, Charing Cross Hospital.
LONDON
JOHN BALE, SONS & DANIELSSON, Ltd.
OXFORD HOUSE
83-91, GREAT TITCHFIELD STREET, OXFORD STREET, W.
PREFACE.
These Studies in the history of Old London were written at the request of Students of Charing Cross Hospital, and were first published in their Gazette. The rough outlines, marks of which may be easily discerned, were formed by the notes for Lectures delivered to the Students and Nursing Staff of the Hospital on various occasions. It is hoped that in the present form these Studies may continue to be of interest to friends of Charing Cross Hospital, and perhaps also to the large and increasing number of Students of the history of London.
London,
Easter, 1914.
THE HOSPITAL AND CHAPEL OF
SAINT MARY RONCEVALL
THE HOSPITAL AND CHAPEL OF
SAINT MARY RONCEVALL
AT CHARING CROSS.
“En Rencesvals si est Carles entrez;
* * *
Rollanz remeint pur les altres guarder.
* * *
Halt sunt li pui e tenebrus e grant,
Li val parfunt e les ewes curranz.
* * *
Li gentilz quens, qu’il fut morz cunquerant.”
“La Chanson de Roland,” édition, Léon Gautier.
The fact that the conventual Hospital of St. Mary Roncevall was founded at the village of Charing in the time of Henry III, and that it continued to exist till the dissolution of the religious houses by Henry VIII, is well known to students of the history of London; but, so far as the writer is aware, no definite attempt had been made to collect the remaining records of this interesting medical foundation before 1907, when the story of the Convent and its Hospital was published privately.[[1]] Nevertheless, the influence of the Convent and the Hospital which it established was considerable during the three centuries of their existence in England. The name which the Convent in London received from the Mother House served to revive the memories of perilous journeys and of timely succour in the minds of many who had travelled abroad in France and Spain engaged either in warlike or peaceful affairs, the name of Roncevall in many forms came to be used as a family designation in various parts of England;[[2]] and Chaucer refers to the existence of the Convent in a way that shows that the reference required no explanation to his readers. After the dissolution of the alien priories the fraternity owed its continued existence to the recognition of the charitable assistance it rendered to “the poor people flocking to the Hospital.”
[1]. Galloway, James, “The Story of Saint Mary Roncevall,” private publication; and Charing Cross Hosp. Gaz., 1907, ix, p. 43. Cf. references by Dugdale, “Monasticon Anglicanum,” ed. 1830; Newcourt, “Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense,” 1708; Tanner, “Notitia Monastica,” 1744; also by Stow and later writers on London.
[2]. The records of the painful dispute between the Abbot of Rewley and John Ronceval and his associates, John, Thomas, and Walter Rounceval may be yet read with interest.—Calend. Pat. Rolls. 16 Ed. II and 14 Ed. III. (1323-41.)
This attempt to fill up a gap in the history of London hospitals may be of some service to the students of the history of medicine, and of interest to the larger number who are unwilling to forget the stories of Old London.