I.—The Monastery, 1371-1537
The exact circumstances under which the house was founded are involved in some obscurity, for it would appear that at least three men were concerned at different times in the work. The share of the first of these, Ralph Stratford, Bishop of London, being but a slight one, may be briefly dismissed. In 1348-49 a terrible visitation of the black death devastated the country. The bishop, being concerned that many were being interred in unconsecrated ground, purchased three acres of land in West Smithfield outside the city boundaries, known as "no man's land," and consecrated it for purposes of burial, and erected also a mortuary chapel. The whole he called Pardon Churchyard and Chapel. It was situated adjoining the north wall of the garden of the monastery, and extended from St. John Street to Goswell Street. In 1349 additional ground was required, and Sir Walter de Manny bought thirteen acres and a rood from St. Bartholomew's Hospital, called the Spittle Croft, adjoining the land purchased by the bishop. Here he also built a chapel, from which building the Spittle Croft became known as New Church Haw. Stow asserts that more than 50,000 bodies were interred here. De Manny's original intention, as appears from a bull of Pope Urban VI. in 1378, was to endow a chantry with a superior and twelve chaplains. This project appears, however, subsequently to have been abandoned; for by letters patent, dated 6th February, 1371, the King licensed De Manny to found a house of Carthusian monks to be called the "Salutation of the Mother of God." In this work De Manny had the co-operation and sanction of Michael de Northburgh, successor to Ralph Stratford in the bishopric of London. It seems probable that when De Manny was summoned abroad on the King's wars Northburgh took up the work, and that to enable him to do so effectually the land De Manny had bought was transferred to him by a nominal sale.[62] The bishop died in 1361, and from his will it appears that he had acquired the land above mentioned, as well as the patronage of the chapel, from De Manny. Further, he left £2,000 and various lands and tenements to found a convent of Carthusians. De Manny and Bishop Northburgh thus share between them the credit of the foundation, although the allusion in the Papal Bull of Urban VI., "Conventum duplicem ordinis Carthusiensis," refers unquestionably not to the fact that there were two founders, but to the fact that the monastery was intended for twenty-four monks—double the usual number. Sir Walter de Manny, who may perhaps be regarded as the chief founder, was a native of Valenciennes, and was descended from the Counts of Hainault. Froissart, his fellow-countryman, is our chief authority for the events of his life, and has recorded at length his deeds of bravery and daring on many fields of battle. With these we are not concerned at length. It is sufficient to note that he first came to England in the train of Queen Philippa, distinguished himself in the Scottish wars, and was the recipient of many grants of land and other favours from Edward III. He was present at the battle of Sluys in 1359, and had conferred upon him the Order of the Garter. After an eventful career De Manny died in January, 1372. His will, dated November 30th, 1371, was proved at Lambeth, 13th April, 1372. He left directions that he should be buried in as unostentatious a manner as possible; but this being coupled with the provision that a penny should be paid to all poor persons coming to his funeral, it is not surprising to learn that the funeral procession was a large one. He was buried in the middle of the choir, and a fragment of the tomb was found in a wall which was being repaired in 1896, and may be seen to-day in the chapel of the Charterhouse. Various other benefactions were made to the house, and in particular a further grant of four acres of land from the hospital of S. John of Jerusalem in 1378. The relations existing between these two neighbouring institutions were always of a friendly character. John Luscote was appointed the first prior, and held office till shortly before his death, which took place in 1398. During many succeeding years the history of the foundation was uneventful, the peaceful life of the monks in their secluded home affording little of interest to the historian.[63]
Happy were the monks when they had no history. Troubles gathered thick around their successors of a later age, after the accession of Henry VIII. to the throne.
John Houghton was elected prior in 1531, and it is around his personality that the interest of the history now centres. "He was small," we are told, "in stature, in figure graceful, in countenance dignified. In manner he was most modest, in eloquence most sweet, in chastity without a stain." Such was the man who worthily upheld the traditions of his order during the Reformation troubles. For these and the succeeding events we have the authority of Maurice Chauncey, one of the fathers.[64]
In 1533 Henry obtained the sanction of Cranmer in the Archbishop's Court to his divorce from Catherine, and the King's marriage with Anne Boleyn was confirmed by Parliament. In 1534 the Royal Commissioners called upon the prior and monks of the Charterhouse to make formal approval of the marriage. Prior Houghton and the procurator Humphrey Middlemore were committed to the Tower, the Commissioners being dissatisfied with the nature of their answers. After a month's imprisonment they were induced to swear to the King's laws "as far as the law of God permitted," and were released and returned to the Charterhouse. The Commissioners extracted from the rest of the community a similar oath, by which the succession to the Crown was fixed upon the issue of Anne Boleyn to the exclusion of the Princess Mary. This, however, was but the beginning of troubles. The oath by which Henry was declared Head of the Church of England was a more serious matter. To deny him this title became high treason. Prior Houghton addressed the assembled fathers in a touching manner, and bid them prepare for death. The days were solemnly devoted to spiritual exercises. Their fears were only too well founded, and after interrogation Prior Houghton and Robert Lawrence were committed to the Tower by Cromwell. With them was arrested a third father, Augustine Webster, prior of the Charterhouse in Axholme. In the Tower they were visited by Cromwell and the Royal Commissioners, and memoranda of the interview remain.[65] John Houghton says that "he cannot take the King, our Sovereign, to be supreme head of the Church of England afore the Apostles of Christ's Church."
Robert Lawrence says that "there is one Catholic Church and one Divine, of which the Bishop of Rome is the head; therefore, he cannot believe that the King is supreme head of the Church." On 29th April, 1535, after a trial lasting two[66] days, the three Carthusians and Father Richard Reynolds were condemned to be drawn, hanged, and quartered. On their way to the scaffold they passed their fellow-prisoner, Sir Thomas More, who saw them from his prison cell. "Lo, dost thou not see, Meg," he said to his daughter Margaret, "that these blessed fathers be now as cheerfully going to their death as bridegrooms to their marriage." When the scaffold was reached Father Houghton preached a brief but touching sermon:
"I call to witness Almighty God and all good people, and I beseech you all here present to bear witness for me in the day of judgment, that being here to die, I declare it is from no obstinate rebellious spirit that I do not obey the King, but because I fear to offend the majesty of God. Our holy Mother the Church has decreed otherwise than the King and parliament have decreed, and therefore rather than disobey the Church I am ready to suffer."
The cruel sentence was carried out on May 4th, 1535. Part of the mangled remains of Prior Houghton was fixed on the gateway of the Charterhouse. Three weeks after the prior's execution, three fathers, Exmew, Middlemore, and Newdigate, were thrown into the Marshalsea, where they were cruelly tortured, being bound upright to posts. They were brought to trial at Westminster, and executed on the 19th June with the same horrible mutilations as attended the execution of Houghton. For a period of two years after this no further executions are recorded; but Cromwell, exasperated by the firmness of the monks, adopted a new form of persecution. The King's Commissioners took charge of the monastery, which was placed in the charge of seculars. Pressure of every kind was brought to bear upon the religious, who were often deprived of food, robbed of their books, and made to listen to sermons in proof of the royal supremacy. Under the prolonged persecution of Cromwell's instruments, Whalley, Bedyll, and Fylott, some few of the monks gave way, but the major part remained firm.
In the early part of the year 1536 Cromwell took a new step. He appointed another prior, William Trafford, doubtless with the ulterior object of inducing the monks to transfer the property of the house to the King. At length he succeeded, and a large number—some twenty, both fathers and lay brothers—were persuaded to take the oath of supremacy. At least ten, however, refused to do so. These ten were cast into Newgate on 18th May, 1537, and here nine died of the cruel treatment they received. William Horn, the sole survivor, a lay brother, was transferred to the Tower and executed on 4th August, 1540. On the 10th June, 1537, a deed was executed, rendering up the monastery to the King. The monks remained till 15th November, 1538, when they were all expelled with a small pension of £5 per annum, with the exception of Trafford, who received £20. The yearly revenue of the house at its dissolution was valued at £642 4s. 6d. Thus the monastery was destroyed, though no accusation of immorality or wrong doing was ever brought against the unhappy men who perished with it. The monks were faithful to their vows, the house was well ordered. No record is to be found of any fault proved against the London Charterhouse: "Nunquam reformata quia nunquam deformata."
Though the old buildings have been largely swept away, or altered and added to, yet enough remains to enable us, with the help of a fifteenth-century plan, to constitute with some degree of exactness the arrangement of the old monastery. This plan, which is still preserved amongst the archives of the Charterhouse, is a vellum roll ten feet long, of four skins, showing the construction of a conduit by which the monastery was supplied with water from Islington. The waterpipe discharged into a conduit in the centre of the great cloister; from the conduit it was conveyed through the gardens into the cells of the monks. The playground of the Merchant Taylors' School occupies nearly the site of the great cloister, and on the east and the west side of it may be found traces of two of the cells. The lower part of the gatehouse served as entrance to the monastery, though the doors were probably renewed after the Carthusians had gone. The south and part of the east walls of the present chapel are those of the monks' church, and the lower part of the Tower was built by them probably in 1510-20. The charming little quadrangle, known as Wash House Court, was the habitation of the "conversi" or lay brothers, the servants of the convent. On the west external wall of this court are the letters J. H., which may possibly be the initials of the last Prior, John Houghton, and the wall itself of his building. Besides these remains there may also be seen a bit of the monastic refectory, now used as the brothers' library, though it has been thought by some that this is the site of the prior's cell.