The Story of London

by Henry B. Wheatley

White Friars.—The origin of the Friars of the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel is not very clear. Their rule, which was chiefly that of St. Basil, is said to have been given them by Albert, Patriarch of Jerusalem about 1205, and to have been confirmed by Pope Honorius III. in 1224. They were driven out of Palestine by the Saracens about 1238, and they then sought refuge in Europe. They were brought into England by John Vasey and Richard Gray, and had their first houses at Hulne in Northumberland and Ailesford in Kent. At the latter place they held their first European charter A.D. 1245.

The London house of the Carmelites or White Friars was founded in 1241 by Sir Richard Grey on land situated between Fleet Street and the Thames which was given by Edward I. The garments of the friars at first were white, but having been obliged by the infidels to change them to parti-coloured ones, they continued these for fifty years after their coming into England, but about the year 1290 they returned to the use of white again.[374]

Of the four chief Orders of mendicant friars, the Carmelites ranked last, and in official processions had to give place to the Dominicans, Franciscans and Austin Friars.

The district which originally contained the house of the White Friars continues still to be known by the old name. After the dissolution of the religious houses, the privileges of sanctuary were still allowed to the inhabitants, and in consequence the place, generally known as Alsatia, gained a most unenviable notoriety. Other places in London obtained an evil repute from the same cause, but Whitefriars was far beyond all others in disgraceful associations. It is known from old records that the bad repute of the district dates back to a period long before the suppression of the friary.

From a Close Roll of the 20th Edw. III., it appears that persons of ill-repute had for a considerable time made their abode so close to the friary that the friars could not celebrate divine service in their church in consequence of the continual clamours and outcries by which the district was disturbed, and the Mayor and aldermen of London were ordered, in the King’s name, for the tranquility of the prior and brethren, to remove the nuisance.

Mr. Trevelyan writes: ‘Twenty years before Wycliffe’s attack was made Fitz-Ralph, Bishop of Armagh, had laid a famous indictment against the four Orders before the Pope at Avignon. It made a great stir at the time, but came to nothing, for the friars were under the Pope’s special protection. The bishop chiefly complained of their competition with his secular clergy in the matter of confession and absolution.[375]

Besides the four chief Orders, several other Orders of friars were settled in London. First in importance of these were the Crutched Friars, from the cross forming part of the staff carried by them, which was styled a crutch. This was afterwards given up, and a cross of red cloth was placed upon the breast of the gown. The Order is said to have been instituted by Gerard, Prior of St. Mary of Morella at Bologna, and confirmed in 1169 by Pope Alexander III., who brought them under St. Austin’s rule. They came to England in 1244, and had their first house at Colchester. It was not until about 1298 that these friars came to London, and the house in the parish of St. Olave, Hart Street, was founded by Ralph Hosier and William Sabernes. The memory of the friary is kept alive in the name of the street that marks its site.

Other Orders in London were the Friars of the Penance of Jesus Christ, or de Sacco, and the Friars de Areno.

The Friars of the Sac, according to Stow, first settled in a house near Aldersgate, outside the gate. This was about the year 1257. When the Jews were banished from England by Edward I., these friars were given the synagogue on the south side of Lothbury, at the north corner of the old Jewry.