If we consider the buildings of the second House we shall find ourselves assisted to a certain extent by the disposition of the courts and lanes at the present moment. Thus, the boundaries of the Precinct are those of the present parish of St. Anne. It is therefore proved that the Friars began by taking down the old wall of the City between Ludgate Hill and the river, in order to build over that part of their Precinct which came to them on the other side of the wall. Again, since the site of a burial-ground within a city is almost always ancient, we may conclude that any burial-ground now within the parish was formerly within the Precinct. And if we have the measurements of the Church, we may lay it down accurately, provided we have a single angle or corner with which to start.
Now, the burial-ground of St. Anne’s still remains untouched. Its length from east to west is about 60 feet. The church of the Friars was 220 feet long and 66 feet broad. It probably consisted of chancel and nave, or antechapel without transepts; the Cloister was a square of 110 feet; the Chapter House on the west was 44 feet by 22 feet. If the chancel was 60 feet long, which is a very fair proportion, it just fits in south of the present burial-ground, while the block of buildings looking upon Church Court corresponds with the breadth of the church. Laying down the church, therefore, with these data, we find the Cloister also fits in with its square of 110 feet, now partly occupied by the Court of the Apothecaries’ Hall.
BLACKFRIARS’ PRIORY
From an old painting in the Guildhall Museum.
The rest of the buildings, the dormitories, the Chapter House, the Refectory, the Great Hall, the Misericordia, were all contained in the square of the north-west angle. To place them lower down below the church and cloisters would be to ruin the effect of the group of buildings from the river, a thing abhorrent to the mediæval mind. The lower space, representing an area of more than three acres, was doubtless filled up with gardens, orchards, and offices. In appearance the House was said to resemble a fortress, because it had the battlements and towers of the City wall on two sides. (See Appendix IX.)
If for many generations the Franciscans were of all the Religious the most loved, their rivals, the Black Friars, who were considered the most stalwart defenders of the Faith, were the most respected for their learning. Even when the people threatened to destroy their House, in consequence of their arrogance, they still retained the general respect for learning. Their Precinct was a Sanctuary, so also was that of the Grey Friars; their strong-rooms and treasure-houses were used for the storing of the National Records, Acts, and Charters; they numbered among their body the greatest scholars, theologians, and jurists; their hall was used for the meeting of Parliament, and their church for the hearing of great cases. In the year 1382, for instance, Archbishop Courtenay held in the Blackfriars’ Church his court for the condemnation of Wyclyf’s opinions: and here was held, from day to day, and from week to week, the great trial before Cardinals Campeggio and Wolsey concerning the divorce of Queen Catherine. In the Hall of the Dominicans was assembled one of the Parliaments of Henry the Sixth; here was commenced the so-called “Black” Parliament of Henry the Eighth.
There are many other historical notes connected with this Order in London. Here are one or two of the more important:—
In 1258 the King gave orders that the Dominicans were to have at their desire freestone for making carved statues in stone and a pedestal for the statue of the Virgin; lead for their aqueduct, and other materials for the forwarding of their work. Obviously, therefore, they were engaged in building at their old House.
In 1326, when the Queen and her son issued letters to the citizens of London exhorting them to aid in destroying the enemies of the country, and Hugh le Despenser in especial, it was at the House of the Friars Preachers that the Mayor and Aldermen received the commonalty in conference. A little later occurs the very curious story (Chron. of Mayors and Sheriffs, p. 267) of the removal of Edward the Second to Berkeley Castle for fear that he might be carried off by the abetting and procurement of a Brother Thomas Dunheved, a Dominican, who, with many others of that Order, conspired with him. This Brother Thomas had been sent to the Pope from Edward to pray for a divorce from Isabel; he now raised a body of men in the King’s service, was unsuccessful, was taken prisoner, confined in Pontefract Castle, and was killed while endeavouring to escape. There were evidently two parties among the Preaching Friars.