Saint Mary Roncevall to the Year 1348.
The records of this alien settlement for many years consist mainly of statements of the gifts received from various important persons. The community seems to have flourished, and their work, both in London and in the Pyrenees, continued to deserve the sympathy and support of their pious benefactors. There is evidence that they possessed property in Norwich, Canterbury, Oxford, Pevensey, Southampton, and elsewhere, and that they received certain revenues from Ireland and from Scotland. It is easy to understand that their Irish revenues may have been considerable on account of the great estates possessed by the Marshall family in Leinster. It is clear also that the Convent had the advantage of royal favour and patronage, for the English records contain several confirmations of valuable gifts from both Henry III and Edward I, derived from royal property situated in the South of France, to the mother house in the Pyrenees. One of the most interesting of these gifts is the rent to be derived for the benefit of the Convent from the King’s lands in the town of Myramand, previously granted to Eleanor, the Queen Mother. This grant is specially mentioned in the same document as another endowment derived from the same source to be paid to the Abbey of Fontevraud. This benefaction to the House of Roncesvalles gives the measure of respect in which it was held, for an English king who placed the house of Roncesvalles in the same category as the Abbey of Fontevraud as worthy of support must have felt the claims of the Convent in the Pyrenees in the strongest possible way. Edward’s Angevin ancestors had been buried in the Church of Fontevraud for generations, and there was no ecclesiastical foundation possessing a greater claim on the munificence of the Angevin family than this Abbey.
The little that is known of the domestic progress of the House at Charing, in addition to such general indications as are given of its financial condition, concerns the appointment of certain officials. In the year 1278, and again in 1280, a certain Henry, son of William of Smalebrook, was appointed as his attorney for two years on each occasion by the Prior of the Hospital of Roncesvalles. The inference to be derived from this is that the weakness inherent in all the alien houses had already begun to show itself in the community at Charing. The management of the estates in England was entrusted to agents in this country, with the consequence that maladministration of their affairs was very apt to take place, and, as a result, opportunities frequently arose for the interference of neighbouring magnates or of the King himself with the affairs of the alien religious houses.
Complications of this nature must have taken place about this time at the House at Charing. In the year 1283 a certain Brother Lupus appears upon the scene for the first time. His position in England seems to have been that of envoy coming from the Pope, but in the same record he is described as a priest, envoy and preceptor of the Houses in England and Ireland of the Prior and Convent of the Hospital of St. Mary Roncesvalles, and he no doubt had instructions to supervise the management of their estates. The arrival of Brother Lupus, “streight comen fro the court of Rome,” with indulgences for the remission of sins, is an interesting proof that even so early as the year 1283 the sale of indulgences was one of the special functions of the brethren of Roncesvalles, and was no doubt a source of considerable income to the Priory[[8]]. Chaucer, writing a hundred years later, alludes, in his characteristic ironical manner, to this side of the activities of the Canons of Roncesvalles;[[9]] and even so late as the year 1432, when the House in London had come under the influence of the English clergy, a special effort was made to preserve this source of profit.
[8]. An instructive example is afforded by the exploits of Ralph de “Runcevill,” who is stigmatized as a vagabond monk, but who was nevertheless strong enough to retain possession of the Priory of Goldcliff in the Marches of Wales (near Newport, Monmouthshire) in spite of the efforts of his superior, the Abbot of the very important Convent of Bec-Hellouin, in Normandy, of which the House at Goldcliff was a “Cell,” “Calend. Pat. Rolls,” 12-14, Ed. II, (1319-1321).
[9]. “A Somner was ther with us in that place,
That had a fyr-reed cherubinnes face.”
* * * *
“With him ther rood a gentil Pardoner
Of Rouncival, his freend and his compeer,
That streight was comen fro the court of Rome.
Ful loude he song ‘Com hider, love, to me.’
This somnour bar to him a stiff burdoun,
Was never trompe of half so greet a soun.”
—The Prologue to the “Canterbury Tales” (Dr. Skeat’s edition).
The year 1290 must have been notable in the annals of the Hospital, for in that year died Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I, at Harby, near Lincoln, and the King in pious memory built a sculptured cross at every place where the body of his consort rested during the funeral procession to Westminster. The last station in this progress was at the village of Charing. The hospitality of the brethren must have been taxed to the utmost to provide accommodation for the retinue accompanying the King, even if supplemented by the exertions of the neighbouring hermitage of St. Catherine. The cross at Charing was completed in the year 1294, and the brethren no doubt at this time had many opportunities of conversing with the artists and handicraftsmen who formed the very flourishing and remarkable school of art at Westminster, and who were so enthusiastically encouraged both by Henry III and his son Edward. It is quite possible that the Chapel of the Convent may have benefited by the advice, or even by the workmanship of Alexander “the Imaginator,” of Abingdon, and William de Ireland, whose artistic handiwork formed so prominent a feature of the Eleanor Crosses.
The next records show that officials with foreign names are in charge of the estate of Roncesvalles in England. In 1292 William de Cestre and Peter Arnaldi de Santo Michaele are nominated attorneys for five years for the Prior then staying beyond seas, and again, the following year, we find Lupus de Canone concerned in the management of the Roncesvalles property, having a lay person, Arnaldus de Sancto Johanne, associated with him.
Evidence of the vigour displayed by Brother Lupus in his administration of the affairs of the Convent occurs in an entry in the statement of accounts drawn up by the Executors of Queen Eleanor. It gives the information that the Executors paid the comparatively large sum of 14l. 2s. to Brother Lupus, Procurator of the Hospital of Roncesvalles, as damages claimed by the brethren on account of their houses at Southampton. This payment was made in the year 1291, and not only indicates that the estate of Roncesvalles in England was being watchfully managed, but also gives us the information that the Convent still possessed the property at Southampton, originally conveyed to them in the foundation-gift of William Marshall.
The brethren of St. Mary of Roncesvalles at Charing did not fail to defend their rights when unjust inroads were made on their property. There are indications that efforts, stimulated no doubt by the Mother House, were made after periods of lax management—numerous in the troubled times that followed—to repossess themselves of the rents and property seized by powerful neighbours. These efforts were in many cases successful, partly by the good will of charitably disposed persons, partly by the influence of the Crown, but mainly by the sturdy support of the rights of their House before the King’s Court.
In the year 1294, the Prior of the Hospital claimed, by writ of entry, one toft with appurtenances in Westminster from Adam, son of Walter the Scot. It was admitted that the toft and tenements had been held fifteen years previously by the Prior, who had lost them by default, as he did not appear before the Court when the ownership of the property was in question. The Convent made good its claim, though it seems that Adam was quite willing to restore the property to the Convent, but a special inquiry had to be made to show that there was no collusion in permitting this property to pass in mortmain to the religious house. It is of interest to note that the Prior, Garcia de Ochoa, died in November, 1278, and was succeeded by the Prior Juan. In the year 1279, when this property passed by default, difficulties may have arisen on account of an interregnum at Roncesvalles.
To this period an incident should probably be referred to which attention is drawn in an undated petition from the Prior, requesting that property lying before the Cross at Charing, to the extent of 3 acres, and certain rents, should be restored. This property had been held for a period of ten years by a certain John of Lincoln, Burgess of London, and on his death had passed into the hands of the King on account of default on the part of the Attorney of the Prior and Convent. This petition quaintly recites as part of the evidence that the property belonged to the Convent, that the fact was a matter of common knowledge, “come les gentz dil pais le sauont bien et toute la veisinetee.” The little incident has a strong resemblance to other successful claims for their lost lands made under the stimulating influence of Brother Lupus.
During the troubled times when England was engaged in Continental wars, soon to become almost continuous, communication between Gascony and England must have been so difficult as to be well-nigh impossible to men of peace. Convoys under military protection were in imminent danger of capture, and from what we know, especially in the case of naval warfare at this period, there were few of the vanquished who escaped death. In addition to the dangers of travelling another source of great difficulty was felt by the Prior and his officials. The King was in constant and urgent need of money to permit of the prosecution of his warlike policy, and his agents were not too scrupulous as to how it was obtained. If it could be represented that the property of the alien religious houses in the King’s dominions could be used for the support of his enemies abroad, or if it could be urged in extenuation that funds sent abroad by the alien communities could be captured in transit, it is evident that the King would have many excuses and would exercise little scruple in levying heavy contributions on the property of the alien clergy in this country, or even of confiscating it entirely. It was under these conditions that the earliest suppressions and confiscations of the alien houses took place.
Fig. 8.
After an ancient drawing in the Gardner collection. On the left is part of the south end of the chapel of St. Mary Roncevall; in the foreground and to the right the gardens of the Convent. In the distance the river and the buildings of Whitehall and Westminster.
In 1321 we have a very suggestive record that William Roberti, Canon of the Hospital of St. Mary, is appointed Proctor-General in England for the recovery of their lands and rents. The late Proctor, John de Roncesvalles, had died, and the Prior in Navarre,[[10]] not being informed of the fact, did not appoint a new Proctor, “war and other impediments hindering them, so that their lands and rents were taken by divers men.” Immediately following, letters of protection are given to William Roberti to aid him in his task, “in consideration of the benefits constantly given in that Hospital to poor pilgrims visiting the shrine of Santiago.” As the result of this vigorous action the House of St. Mary Roncesvalles at Charing passed through a period of comparative prosperity, for so late as 1335 a strong policy still seems to have been pursued. In that year there is an interesting record of the recovery of 10 acres of land known as “Roncesvalcroft,” in Kensington. It was stated to have been abandoned by the brethren and was in the occupation of a certain Simon de Kensyngton. In such matters, however, the King’s agents were usually very active. Simon de Kensyngton did not long remain in possession, for the watchful eyes of William Trussel and Walter de Hungerford, the King’s escheators, were upon him and they claimed the land for the Crown. The legal argument in this dispute goes on to state how the land, not being held directly from the Crown, was restored to the brethren.
[10]. Andrés Ruiz de Medrano; ob. August 21, 1327 (?).
It was in the second quarter of the fourteenth century that the community of St. Mary of Roncesvalles in this country appears to have been most prosperous. The Convent at Charing Cross was the headquarters of the brethren in our islands. The Procurator for the Prior who managed the estates and collected the revenues had his residence there. The property they possessed in London was the most valuable, and consisted of plots of land in various parts of the suburbs, as well as at Charing Cross, but the Convent also possessed a considerable amount of property in Canterbury and at Oxford. Evidence remains that they derived revenue from property in Norwich and that they had possessions elsewhere in England, in Wales, in Ireland, and in Scotland. The income derived from these possessions was sufficient to permit of a subsidy towards the support of the Mother House in the Pyrenees.
At Charing Cross itself the Priory possessed a piece of land fronting on the river and extending back to the roadway between London and Westminster. The depth of this plot was then not so great as it is now, for the waters of the river extended much nearer to Charing Cross than at present.[[11]] The position of Inigo Jones’s well-known watergate at the foot of Buckingham Street, the last relic remaining of York House, indicates the line of the river bank at a date over two hundred years subsequent to the time now under consideration.
[11]. Charing Cross stood approximately on the site now occupied by the statue of King Charles I.
Occupying the most easterly part of the river frontage was situated the Church of the Convent. This Church, or Chapel as it was usually called in London, was built soon after the foundation of the Convent, but there is evidence that considerable alterations and additions were made much later, perhaps at the end of the fourteenth, and again during the last phase of the existence of the house, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Some idea of the appearance of the Chapel and the neighbouring buildings may be gained by studying two ancient drawings still in existence, made while the conventual buildings were standing. One of these is the well-known sketch of London by Anthony Van den Wyngaerde, dating from the middle of the sixteenth century. The other is a very beautiful sketch in the Gardner collection which shows a portion of the south-western end of the chapel, the gardens of the Convent, and in the distance Whitehall and Westminster. Judging by the evidence thus obtained, the chapel consisted of a rectangular nave, built of stone. The type of work indicates that it was built about the middle of the thirteenth century. There appear to have been two storeys in this building, the lower storey with three large pointed windows, and the upper storey with three smaller windows also pointed. The upper part, with the small windows, may have formed the clerestory. It is possible, however, that the upper part of the church was cut off from the lower part, and that this upper storey was lighted by the three smaller windows alluded to. Instances of this arrangement are known to have occurred in the churches belonging to hospitals. In such cases part of the church served the purpose of sheltering the sick, while at the eastern end was the chapel proper, arranged so that the sick should have the full benefit of the services of the church.
The pitch of the chapel roof was steep, the form most easily constructed at the period of which we speak, and was no doubt covered with lead. A belfry was situated at the north-eastern end of the chapel. Certain buildings of a much later date than the main part of the edifice, and probably built of brick, are seen to have been added to the northern and southern ends of the chapel, and along the river front. From a terrace on the south-east side of the chapel stairs led down to the water’s edge. Immediately to the west of the chapel were the Convent gardens, extending in the direction of the roadway to Westminster, and partly terraced to the river bank. Lying back from the chapel were the conventual buildings and other tenements in the possession of the community. These appear to have been arranged on both sides of a court which opened on the high road close to the cross.
Fig. 9.
The cross according to the use of Roncesvalles, from a stamp now used in the “Real Casa.” This ensign “unites in one figure the Cross, the Crozier, and the Sword.”
It is stated that over the doorway of each of these houses was sculptured a cross, according to the use of Roncesvalles. There also appears to have been a Latin inscription around or near the doorway of the chapel indicating the date of an addition or restoration in the time of Henry IV. The exact position occupied by the Hospital itself cannot be now identified unless, as is very probable, the chapel itself did duty both as a church and a hospital. The churchyard of the community was probably situated in the lands to the south-west of the conventual buildings. The situation of the chapel corresponds approximately to the middle section of Charing Cross Railway Station in alignment with York Gate and extending towards the land now occupied by Craven Street and Northumberland Avenue.