The Carmelites, together with the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians, constituted the four famous orders of Mendicants: and it is somewhat remarkable that they all established themselves at Lynn, and had the whole town, in a manner, divided among themselves, which seems not to have been unusual with them. [495]—Of the present order, that of the Carmes, or Carmelites, the following account will give the reader, it is presumed a sufficiently correct idea.
“About the middle of this century (the 12th) a certain Calabrian, whose name was Berthold, set out with a few companions for mount Carmel, and there, upon the very spot where the prophet Elias is said to have disappeared, built an humble cottage with an adjoining chapel, in which he led a life of solitude, austerity, and labour. This little colony subsisted, and the places of those that died were more than filled by new comers; so that it was at length erected into a monastic community by Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem. This austere prelate drew up a rule of discipline for the new monks, which was afterwards confirmed by the authority of the Roman pontiffs, who modified and altered it in several respects, and among other corrections mitigated its excessive rigour and severity. Such was the origin of the famous Order of Carmelites, or, as they are commonly called, of the Order of our Lady of mount Carmel, which was afterwards transplanted from Syria into Europe, and obtained the principal rank among the mendicant or begging orders. It is true the Carmelites reject, with the highest indignation, an origin so recent and obscure, and affirm to this very day, that the prophet Elias was the founder of their ancient community. Very few, however, have been engaged to adopt this fabulous and chimerical account of their establishment, except the members of the order, and many Roman Catholic writers have treated their pretensions to such a remote antiquity with the utmost contempt.”
“Scarcely, indeed, (says Maclaine) can any thing be more ridiculous than the circumstantial narrations of the occasion, origin, founder, and revolutions of this famous order, which we find in several ecclesiastical authors. They tell us, that Elias was introduced into the state of monachism by the ministry of angels; that his first disciples were Jonah, Micah, and also Obadiah, whose wife, in order to get rid of an importunate crowd of lovers, who fluttered about her at the court of Achab after the departure of heir husband, bound herself by a vow of chastity, received the veil by the hand of father Elias, and thus became the first abbess of the Carmelite order. They enter into a vast detail of all the circumstances that relate to the rules of discipline, which were drawn up for this community, the habit which distinguished its members, and the various alterations which were introduced into their rule of discipline in process of time. They observe, that among other marks which were used to distinguish the Carmelites from the seculars, the tonsure was one; that this mark of distinction exposed them, indeed to the mockeries of a profane multitude; and that this furnishes the true explication of the term bald-head, which the children addressed, by way of reproach, to Elishah, as he was on his way to Carmel. (2 Kings ii. 23) They tell us, moreover, that even Pythagoras was a member of this ancient order; that be drew all his wisdom from mount Carmel, and had several conversations with the prophet Daniel at Babylon, upon the subject of the Trinity. Nay they go still further into the region of fable, and assert, that the Virgin Mary and Jesus himself assumed the habit and profession of Carmelites; and they load this fiction with a heap of absurd circumstances, which it is impossible to read without the highest astonishment.” [498]
The Carmelites came into England in 1240, and appear to have obtained an establishment at Lynn not a very long while after. What sort of men they were, the reader can now form some idea.
Section III.
Account of the convent of the Grey Friars, Friars Minors, or Franciscans, in Fuller’s Row, now St. James’s Street, with a sketch of that religious order.
This Convent is said to have been founded about 1264; [499a] and the founder’s name, according to Parkin, was Thomas Feltham, or de Folsham, [499b] the very same person, probably, he mentions as one of the reputed founders of the Carmelite Convent, though the name is somewhat differently spelt. Parkin says, that the Grey Friars settled here about the 52d. of Henry III, (a date, by the bye, somewhat later than that given above,) “and built this convent near Synolf’s fleet, on which the mill formerly called Swagg’s mill, afterwards the common mill, or town mill, stands.” That mill, however, has long ago ceased to stand there, though the memory of it is still preserved in the name of the adjoining lane, which is yet called mill lane. “In 1287, (as the same writer informs us) on Monday August 7, in the court at Lenn, Adam de St. Omer being then mayor, and Richard de Walsingham, steward, Richard Sefull gave by deed 12d. rent per ann. which his ancestors used to receive out of a certain area by the church-yard of Saint James’s to the west, which the said Adam de St. Omer purchased of Adam Silvester, for the enlarging of the area, where the Friars Minors now inhabit.” He also says, that Bernard le Estree, within the same year, purchased of William de Lindesey, in St. James’s Street, a certain area, and gave it to enlarge the friars minors’ area. In the 7th of Edward II, as we are further told, these friars had a patent for bringing the water to their house from a spring in North Runcton, called Bukenwell. In the 38th of Edward III, they had a patent for two messuages to enlarge their manse. From the same writer we also learn, that Richard Peverel, Esq. of Tilney, by will, dated March 15, 1423, bequeath his body to be buried in the church of the friars minors of Lynn Bishop, appoints Mr. John Spencer, vicar of Tilney, his executor—proved May 15, 1424.—The said testator also left a house of 10l. value to the duke of Exeter, to be supervisor of his will, of whom he held lands. This is the chief of what Parkin relates of the Lynn Grey Friars and their convent; except that the house was surrendered by the Warden and nine brethren Oct. 1, the 1539, the 30th of Henry VIII.—It is some what remarkable that the steeple or tower of this edifice, or of the church of the Grey Friars, though apparently but of slight construction, has survived all the rest, and is still standing: and it may, possibly, with proper attention, stand yet many years. The Dominicans, and Augustinians had probably their towers also, as well as the Carmelites, but they have all long ago disappeared.
Of this famous order of mendicants it will not be easy, perhaps, to give the reader a better idea that by laying before him the following outline of the history and character of its founder, commonly called saint Francis. This distinguished personage appeared a short time before his equally distinguished contemporary St. Dominic. He was born in 1182, at Assisi, in Umbria. In his youth he is said to have been of a debauched and dissolute character, but at 25, after his recovery from a severe fit of illness, occasioned by his licentious course of life, he became so wholly religious, and so unfit for any other business, that his father threatened to disinherit him; to which he was so far from having any objection that, in presence of the bishop of Assisi, he solemnly disclaimed all expectation from him, and declared that from that time he would acknowledge only his father in heaven. He is said to have then devoted himself to works of charity of the most humiliating kind: and being one day at church, hearing mass, he was so forcibly struck with those words, Matt. x. 9. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves, for the workman is worthy of his meat; that he cried out “This is what I seek!” and immediately threw away his shoes, staff, wallet, and all his money, and kept only one coat. He also laid aside his girdle, which was of leather, and made use of a piece of rope in its stead. From this time, in imitation of the apostles, he began to exhort other persons to repent; and he did it in a very forcible manner, and with wonderful success, always beginning his discourse with saying “God give you peace.”—When he had got three disciples, they dispersed, to preach in different places. Some received them with great humanity, looking with astonishment on their extraordinary dress and great austerities, while others made a mock of them and abused them: this however they bore very patiently.
When he had seven disciples, he exhorted them to go to different countries, preaching repentance, without regarding any treatment they might meet with; assuring them that in a short time many learned and noble would join them, and they would preach to kings and princes, as well as to the common people. When he had eleven disciples, one of whom was a priest, he wrote out a rule for them, taken wholly out of the Gospels, and presented it to pope Innocent III, who, after making some objection, approved of it, in 1210.—Having obtained this confirmation of his institute, Francis went with 12 disciples and established himself in a church which he had repaired at Pontremoli, and this was the first house of his order, which, by way of humility, he called that of the minor brethren, frates minores, in French feres, in English by corruption friars, as the Dominicans had at the same time assumed the name of preaching brothers, or friars.—From this place they went forth preaching in the neighbouring towns and villages, not with studied harangues, (but like the methodists of our time) in a manner that made uncommon impression upon the hearers, as they had the appearance of men of another world, having their faces always turned towards those regions whither they were continually directing their audience.—In 1211 they founded several convents, the most considerable of which were those of Cottona, Pisa, and Bologna; and Francis himself, having preached through all Tuscany, returned to Assisi, in Lent, 1212.
In such veneration was he held at this time, that when he went into any city, they rung the bells, and the clergy and people went to meet him, bearing branches of trees, and singing, thinking themselves happy, who could kiss his hands or feet. That Lent he preached at his native place, where he had many converts, and among them St. Claire, a young woman of a noble family, who by his direction, though only at the age of eighteen, abandoned the world, and notwithstanding the remonstrances of her relations, fixed herself in a monastery, first at St. Ange de Pansa, where she was joined by her sister Agnes, and then at St. Damien of the order of the Benedictines, which was the first church St. Francis had repaired. Here she continued 42 years, many disciples joining her; and thus was formed the order of poor women, or that of St. Claire, being the second order of Franciscans.