Fig. 1.
Charing Cross and the Chapel of St. Mary Roncevall in
the early part of the sixteenth century. (After Van den Wyngaerde.)
HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF OLD CHARING
The Hospital and Chapel of Saint
Mary Roncevall
Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England
AND THE
Monuments Erected in Her Memory
BY
JAMES GALLOWAY,
A.M., M.D.
Senior Physician, and a Vice-President, Charing Cross Hospital.
LONDON
JOHN BALE, SONS & DANIELSSON, Ltd.
OXFORD HOUSE
83-91, GREAT TITCHFIELD STREET, OXFORD STREET, W.
PREFACE.
These Studies in the history of Old London were written at the request of Students of Charing Cross Hospital, and were first published in their Gazette. The rough outlines, marks of which may be easily discerned, were formed by the notes for Lectures delivered to the Students and Nursing Staff of the Hospital on various occasions. It is hoped that in the present form these Studies may continue to be of interest to friends of Charing Cross Hospital, and perhaps also to the large and increasing number of Students of the history of London.
London,
Easter, 1914.
THE HOSPITAL AND CHAPEL OF
SAINT MARY RONCEVALL
THE HOSPITAL AND CHAPEL OF
SAINT MARY RONCEVALL
AT CHARING CROSS.
“En Rencesvals si est Carles entrez;
* * *
Rollanz remeint pur les altres guarder.
* * *
Halt sunt li pui e tenebrus e grant,
Li val parfunt e les ewes curranz.
* * *
Li gentilz quens, qu’il fut morz cunquerant.”
“La Chanson de Roland,” édition, Léon Gautier.
The fact that the conventual Hospital of St. Mary Roncevall was founded at the village of Charing in the time of Henry III, and that it continued to exist till the dissolution of the religious houses by Henry VIII, is well known to students of the history of London; but, so far as the writer is aware, no definite attempt had been made to collect the remaining records of this interesting medical foundation before 1907, when the story of the Convent and its Hospital was published privately.[[1]] Nevertheless, the influence of the Convent and the Hospital which it established was considerable during the three centuries of their existence in England. The name which the Convent in London received from the Mother House served to revive the memories of perilous journeys and of timely succour in the minds of many who had travelled abroad in France and Spain engaged either in warlike or peaceful affairs, the name of Roncevall in many forms came to be used as a family designation in various parts of England;[[2]] and Chaucer refers to the existence of the Convent in a way that shows that the reference required no explanation to his readers. After the dissolution of the alien priories the fraternity owed its continued existence to the recognition of the charitable assistance it rendered to “the poor people flocking to the Hospital.”
[1]. Galloway, James, “The Story of Saint Mary Roncevall,” private publication; and Charing Cross Hosp. Gaz., 1907, ix, p. 43. Cf. references by Dugdale, “Monasticon Anglicanum,” ed. 1830; Newcourt, “Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense,” 1708; Tanner, “Notitia Monastica,” 1744; also by Stow and later writers on London.
[2]. The records of the painful dispute between the Abbot of Rewley and John Ronceval and his associates, John, Thomas, and Walter Rounceval may be yet read with interest.—Calend. Pat. Rolls. 16 Ed. II and 14 Ed. III. (1323-41.)
This attempt to fill up a gap in the history of London hospitals may be of some service to the students of the history of medicine, and of interest to the larger number who are unwilling to forget the stories of Old London.
Roncesvalles.
There are few places so renowned in the early literature of the Romance languages as the pass through the Western Pyrenees, at the southern extremity of which lies the village of Roncesvalles. The Song of Roland handed down the memories of Roncesvalles from the early Middle Ages; but this famous poem (dating in its present form from the latter part of the eleventh century) must be regarded only as the final and successful effort to collect the traditions which form the foundations of French and Spanish history. The traditions find their earliest record in the legends and “chansons de geste,” which, in the first instance, served to commemorate the successful rising of the people of Spain to expel an invader, Charlemagne, the Emperor of the North. The rearguard of his retreating host, consisting chiefly of Frankish subjects of the Emperor under the leadership of the Count Roland, Captain-General of the Breton March, the Emperor’s nephew, was overwhelmed and annihilated, while traversing the Pass on their retreat from Spain in the year 778. The ancient history of Eginhard, telling of the Spaniards, says very suggestively “usque ad unum omnes interficiunt ac ... summa cum celeritate in diversa disperguntur.” Even “li gentilz quens” did not escape the massacre. The Chanson de Roland gives the French version of this tradition, which was accepted by the Normans in England; the Spanish legend of the hero Bernardo del Carpio gives, as it is to be expected, a very different account of the overthrow of the Emperor.
In the course of the succeeding centuries the Pass of Roncesvalles occupies on more than one occasion a prominent place in British history. One of the most picturesque passages in Froissart tells how the army of Edward the Black Prince traversed the Pass in the ill-omened invasion of Spain that led to his fatal illness. His remarkable victory at Navarrete scarcely relieves the gloomy record of this adventure. Little more than one hundred years have elapsed since Roncesvalles and the neighbouring defiles once more saw the advance of war-worn British soldiery. In the defence of these passes against the advance of the French under Soult, so nearly successful in overwhelming Wellington’s right flank, and in the subsequent pursuit of the retreating French armies, some of the most remarkable of the feats of arms which distinguished the Peninsular War took place. British military history contains few more stirring episodes than the combats between the French and the allied troops in the Passes of Maya and Roncesvalles.
Fig. 2.
Stanfords Geog. Estab. London.
A chart of the Western Pyrenees, showing the roads through the passes and the position of Roncesvalles and Ibañeta.
The memories of Roncesvalles, therefore, are in no danger of being forgotten, but it has passed from knowledge that for a period of more than three hundred years the name of Roncesvalles was more familiar to the citizens of Westminster and London than to the dwellers in Pamplona and Bayonne. How it came about that an important religious house dedicated to Our Lady of Roncesvalles should have been established at Charing will best be understood if we consider the nature of the activities of the ancient Monastery in the Pass of Roncesvalles, the numbers of those on whom it conferred benefits, and the character of its benefactors in England.
The Convent of St. Mary Roncesvalles in Navarre.
From very early Christian times a religious house, no doubt very small in its beginnings, was situated near the top of the pass through which runs the ancient road over the Pyrenees leading from Pamplona in Navarre, through the mountains by St. Jean Pied-de-Port, to Bayonne and Bordeaux. The religious community at this place received its most important support from Charlemagne himself, when he established a religious house intended to be a memorial of Roland and his comrades in arms. The original Convent of Charlemagne’s foundation was situated close to the village of Ibañeta, near the summit of the Pass and the site of the great battle. Of this house only insignificant and deserted ruins remain. After a destructive raid by the Moors under Abderramen, Caliph of Cordova, in 921, the community removed to the present site of the Monastery in the village of Roncesvalles, two or three kilometres farther south. The removal of the Convent to this site is said to have been determined by various miraculous signs, among others by the discovery of an image of the Holy Virgin, and it was clearly to the advantage of the community that its permanent settlement should be in the comparatively sheltered southern approaches of the Pass rather than on the exposed summit.
The Order of Roncesvalles thus became established on a firmer basis, and at first had distinct military as well as religious purposes. The members of the community consisted of knights and companions, as well as the brothers and sisters, who all bore the badge of the Order. The duties which they had to fulfil were military, for the Knights of Roncesvalles were in frequent conflict with the Moors, and religious, for not only did the brethren serve their Church, but one of the earliest and most important duties of the community was to establish a hospital in the Pass for wayfarers in this wild region.
In the course of time the members of this military-religious community received the Augustinian Rule, but they retained much of their independence, the memories of their original order, and especially held to the traditions of hospitality and charitable succour to pilgrims and to those in distress. The Convent and its Hospital gradually acquired wide renown on account of the good works carried on by the Canons. Their house was on the main road between France and Spain. The military expeditions so frequently traversing the frontiers marched along the highway passing its doors, pilgrims visiting the shrine of St. James at Compostella must have halted there on their way to and from the south, and the road through the Pass was the chief highway for peaceful travellers of every kind. The community, therefore, increased in importance and in wealth by gifts from princes, nobles, knights, and the common folk, and came to possess property not only in Spain, but also in Portugal, Italy and in France, and, as the records show, in England and Wales, in Ireland, and in Scotland. It is stated that at the height of its prosperity the Convent distributed annually from 25,000 to 30,000 rations, each consisting of a loaf of 16 oz., half a pint of wine, with sufficient soup and meat, or fish on days of fast. Those who were infirm had chicken broth and mutton. The Hospital had a staff consisting of the physicians, with whom were associated surgeons and an apothecary, and one of the distinguishing features of the Order at a very early period was that it included sisters. In the case of patients dying while in hospital, free interment was given after the celebration of masses in due form. It is expressly stated that the daughter house in England, with its possessions in that country, in Ireland, and in Scotland, remitted annually the sum of 4,000 ducats for the support of the Mother House at Roncesvalles.[[3]]
[3]. Cf. Reseña histórica de la Real Casa de nuestra Señora de Roncesvalles; por D. Hilario Sarasa, Pamplona, 1878; a review was published by Wentworth Webster in the “Academy,” 1879, xvi, p. 135-6.
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the community of Roncesvalles fell on evil days. The march of events deprived them of their property abroad, while laxity in the observance of their Rule and the continually disturbed state of the Franco-Spanish frontier brought about the loss of the greater part of their accumulated possessions and wealth. Unfortunately the ancient records of the Monastery have nearly all been destroyed; but there remains in the library an unpublished manuscript giving the history of the Order and the Convent, written by Don Juan Huarte, about the middle of the seventeenth century, which incorporates information received from a certain Don Francisco Olastro[[4]] (who is stated to have been an ambassador from England in Madrid) respecting the history of their daughter house in London. But even at the time when this document was written, many statements it contains appear to have acquired the characteristics of tradition and can be accepted only after careful collation and criticism. We have, therefore, to depend almost entirely on the English records for the history of the House of Roncesvalles in London.
[4]. ? Francis Oliver.
The Convent of Saint Mary Roncevall at Charing.
To understand how it was possible that a religious house in the Pyrenees could hold possessions scattered throughout so many different lands, it must be clearly borne in mind that in the Middle Ages the rule exercised by the Church took very little cognizance of State limits. The ecclesiastical power was much stronger than the national influences of the time, and the Church drew its revenues from all Christian countries, quite irrespective of political boundaries. At the time when the House of Roncesvalles at Charing was founded, the overlordship of the Pope had been felt in England and in France in a very real manner. In addition to this ecclesiastical bond, the political relationships between England, France and Northern Spain were of the most intimate character, so that the all-pervading power of the Church could be exercised with the greater ease in these countries. During the period of the Norman, and even more so during the Angevin dynasty, the English barons experienced the greatest difficulty in detaching themselves from the influences exerted on them by their foreign relationships, even if they had the desire to do so. In many cases they seem to have frankly regarded their insular possessions as sources of revenue and power to be made use of in order to promote their Continental interests. In this respect they followed the example set in such unmistakable fashion by kings such as Richard and John. The Church acted in the same manner, and many foreign convents were able, by their powerful influence, to obtain possession of, and to exploit, the rich lands of England for their own support. It was not until the close of the reign of John and during the reign of Henry III that the separate destinies of England and France became apparent to the more sagacious of the English statesmen of that period. It is very instructive, therefore, to note as evidence of the complicated and distracting political and social influences still felt by the English magnates, that the noble family which perhaps most of all by its example and advice sought to uphold the political independence of England as apart from France, was nevertheless impelled to become one of the great benefactors of a foreign religious house.
Fig. 3. Fig. 4.
Figs. 3 and 4.—Front and profile views of the effigy in the Temple
Church of William Marshall, sen., Earl of Pembroke (ob. 1219).
William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke (1219-31), Founder of St. Mary Roncevall.
The House of Roncesvalles appears to have owed most of its property in England and in Ireland to the liberality of William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, the eldest son of the great William Marshall—Rector regis et regni—the Protector of the King and his kingdom after the death of John. The elder Marshall stands out in conspicuous fashion as the most steadfast of all the advisers of the king during the dark period coinciding with the reigns of Richard I and John. His early years were passed in France, acquiring skill in the martial exercises commonly practised by the young nobles of the day, and his courage and proficiency in arms were such that he had early acquired the reputation of being one of the most redoubtable knights in Christendom. If no other evidence remained of his prowess, the historic passage of arms against Richard Cœur de Lion while still Count of Poitiers will be sufficient proof.[[5]] On this occasion he overthrew Richard and held him at his mercy, preventing the mad attack on his father, and probably saved the Prince from the fate of being a parricide. In addition to his skill in the use of arms, he gradually built up for himself a reputation for prudence, sagacity and loyalty, so that while still a young man he was entrusted with the guardianship of the young Henry, son of Henry II, and in the succeeding reigns occupied the most prominent positions under the English Crown, trusted by the barons and even by John. The testimony of the French King Philip Augustus, when informed of the death of William Marshall, as to his reputation for loyalty and honour remains on record: “Et, en vérité le Maréchal fut l’homme le plus loyal que j’aie jamais connu.”[[6]]
[5]. “Al conte Richard ki veneit.
E quant li quens le vit venir
Si s’escria par grant haïr:
‘Par les gambes Dieu! Maréchal
Ne m’ociez; ce sereit mal.
Ge sui toz desarmes issi.’
Et li Maréchal respondi:
‘Nenil! diables vos ocie!
Cor jo ne vos ocirai mie.’”
—“L’Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal,” 8836-8844; publié pour la Société de l’Histoire de France par Paul Meyer.
[6]. “Dist li reis ‘mes li Maréchal Fu, al mien dit, li plus leials, Veir, que jeo unques coneusse En nul liu ou je unques fusse.”
—“L’Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal,” 19149-19152.
During the many years of William Marshall’s residence abroad he travelled widely throughout France and no doubt in Northern Spain. It is well known that he went on pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre in fulfilment of a promise given to the young Henry on his deathbed. Marshall must have been very familiar with the reputation of the Monastery at Roncesvalles. There can be little doubt that he had passed it on his journeyings; the military-religious character of its Rule would have appealed to him, and he may even have rested in the House of the Convent. His piety is evidenced by the fact that he became closely associated with the Order of the Knights Templars, was one of their great benefactors in England, and at his death received sepulture in their church, then newly built in London.
The elder Marshall died in the year 1219, and was succeeded by his eldest son, also called William, who then became possessed of one of the most extensive heritages in England, for the English and Welsh lands of the Clares, Earls of Pembroke, and in addition their great Irish inheritance in Leinster, had come into the possession of the Marshall family.
What we know of the son shows him to have been a man of much the same type as his father—probably not so rugged, but with the same steadfast ideals of loyal conduct. It is evident that his character was as strongly tinctured with religious feeling as was that of his father. He also was an Associate of the Order of the Knights Templars, and was one of their principal supporters after their removal to the “New Temple,” where the “Temple” Church still stands. His admiration for his father is clearly shown by the priceless biography of the elder William which we still possess. This poem is known as “L’Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal” and is evidently the work of a professional writer of the period, but it was composed under the direction of the son of the great Marshall with the assistance of Jean d’Erleé,[[7]] his father’s old companion and faithful squire.
[7]. Erlée; Earley (Erleia, Erlegh, &c.), near Reading.
Figs. 5, 6, and 7.—Front and profile views of the effigy in the
Temple Church of William Marshall, jun., Earl of Pembroke (ob. 1231).
During the lifetime of William Marshall and his son, and for long before and after, the high road through the Pass of Roncesvalles was much frequented. It was the main line of communication by land between France and Spain on the western frontier, and was used both by peaceful travellers and by the numerous military expeditions passing from one country to the other. These expeditions resulted not only from the constant warfare of the border but were also organized by Crusaders on their way to help the Spaniard against the Moor, frequently with the purpose of travelling farther to the Holy Land. At this time also the relationships formed by Henry II and his sons with the Courts of the new kingdoms in the north of Spain, which were beginning to arise as the tide of Moorish invasion receded, were of the most intimate character. It will be remembered that Richard, when King of England, married Berengaria, daughter of Sancho VI of Navarre, after a very troublesome wooing, and that the younger Sancho took the part of Richard while the latter was on crusade against their common enemies in the South of France. The relationship between the Courts of Aragon and Castile and the Angevin Kings was no less intimate. William Marshall and his eldest son were in the closest association with the Royal House. They both travelled far and wide over France and Northern Spain, so that the Angevin dominions in Aquitaine and the neighbouring kingdom of Navarre must at one time have been as well known to the Marshall family as their home in England.
Another reason which brought many travellers along the road through Roncesvalles was the attraction of the Shrine of St. James at Compostella. The pilgrimage to Compostella was undertaken by knights and their squires as the result of vows made on the field of battle, and was famed for its efficacy among all engaged in military affairs. But the pilgrimage even to armed bands was a dangerous one on account of the disturbed state of the frontier. An interesting example of this is presented in the relationships between Richard and his neighbour the Count of Toulouse. The ostensible cause for Richard’s warfare against the Count of Toulouse was the inveterate inclination of the latter to acts of brigandage. When war was declared the Count of Toulouse had actually captured and ill-treated two English knights named Robert le Poer and Ralph Fraser, on their return from a pilgrimage to Compostella. The reputation of the Hospital of St. Mary in the Pass of Roncesvalles and of the Convent which supported the Hospital was known to every traveller—peaceful or warlike—in Western Europe, and would certainly have appealed to the benevolence of such a man as the younger William Marshall. The probability is that both father and son had stronger motives for giving alms to the Community—the result of benefits received from the Convent and Hospital during their journeys between France and Spain.
The Coming of the Brethren to England (1229) and the Foundation of the Convent at Charing.
The first knowledge we have of the presence in England of members of the Community of Roncesvalles is obtained from the letters of protection given to certain brethren by Henry III, in the year 1229. These letters were of the usual complete character, and it is clear that the intention of the deputation from Roncesvalles was to seek alms in England for the support of their House in the remote valley in the Pyrenees. This purpose was definitely encouraged by a special clause in the letters of protection.
The brethren seem to have been taken under the patronage of the younger William Marshall from the beginning. They may even have come to England on his invitation, for we find that he soon commenced to make arrangements to give them revenues and an establishment in this country. Very unfortunately for the Convent, the Earl died in the year 1231, soon after his return to England from Henry’s disastrous campaign in Poitou and Brittany, where he had held the chief command. But the record of his great gift remains, for on August 11, 1232, Henry confirmed at Wenlock “the grant to Saint Mary and the Hospital at Roncevaux (Roscida Vallis) of the gift which William Marshall, sometime Earl of Pembroke, made to them of all his houses at Cherring, and the houses and curtilages adjoining them formerly belonging to William Briwere, and of 100s. at Suthanton payable from the houses of the said Earl there, of 13l. of land in Netherwent in the moor of Magor, and of a carucate of land in Assandon, which he bought from Robert de Rochford.”
It was thus in consequence of the munificence of William Marshall the younger that the brethren of Roncesvalles obtained the land on the banks of the Thames at Charing where they subsequently built their conventual dwelling, their Hospital for the sick, and the Chapel by the riverside, which were to remain an important feature of London for over three hundred years.
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.
The Black Death (1348-49).
The event which seems to have done more than any other single cause to depress the fortunes and to change the future relationships of the foreign community of St. Mary was the catastrophe of the Black Death. The plague visited London in the autumn of 1348. Its ravages were serious in the early days of November, and the condition of affairs had produced so much alarm that Parliament was prorogued on January 1, 1349. A further prorogation occurred on March 10, the reason given being that the “pestilence was continuing at Westminster, in the City of London, and at other places, more severely than before (gravius solito).” It had diminished, or almost disappeared, in London by the end of that year. The clergy appear to have suffered throughout the country even more severely than the rest of the populace—evidence that they did not fail in their duties during that terrible period. Geoffrey le Baker, a clerk of Osney, says, “Of the clergy and cleric class there died a multitude known to God only.”[[12]]
[12]. Creighton, “History of Epidemics in Britain,” 1891, Camb., i, chap. 3.
What actually happened at Charing Cross can only be guessed, but there are very clear indications that the Convent of St. Mary Roncevall suffered severely. The deaths among the brethren were probably numerous, for no one sufficiently important seems to have survived to uphold the interests of the parent House. The depressed state of the Convent is the more striking as the calamity occurred after a period of great prosperity.
When the plague ceased, and for some time after, the affairs of the Convent appear to have been in complete confusion. The immense mortality during the year of the prevalence of the plague disordered to a serious extent the whole executive of the country, and especially affected the Church. In some cases the community in the smaller convents died out entirely, in others the senior members and officials completely disappeared from the records, and in all cases serious losses must have occurred. This fatality was not confined to the monastic clergy alone; those holding benefices outside the religious houses perished probably in greater numbers. The consequence was that throughout the country rapid institutions to vacant benefices had to be made to carry on the duties of those who had fallen, and frequently unlettered, and in some cases unworthy, clerks succeeded to important charges. These difficulties must have been much accentuated in the case of alien houses. They suffered, as did all the other religious communities, and in addition, they felt the difficulty of being remote from the parent House. Officials who would have had the interests of the House at heart could not be sent from abroad to take charge on short notice, and the Prior at Roncesvalles, no doubt, did not even know of the deaths of his subordinates at Charing Cross. The vacant benefices in the possession of the alien houses were sought for and obtained by clergy on the spot who had influence, and there can be no doubt that the conclusion is correct, that many of these persons were more concerned in advancing their own interests and in retaining the possessions thus secured, than in guarding the rights of the foreign abbey or priory. Not only, however, did the local clergy secure the vacant benefices and property, but in many cases the property of the alien houses was taken possession of by their influential neighbours, sometimes without opposition, when the original possessors had entirely disappeared, at other times by the high hand when the rightful owners were few or feeble.
The Conflict of Interest between Alien and English Clergy at Saint Mary Roncevall (1350-1414).
In spite of these adverse conditions the house of St. Mary Roncevall survived, although new influences appear directing its affairs. The earliest records after the Plague show that English clergy were in possession of the Church and Hospital, and the title of Warden is made use of for the first time by the chief clerical official. Special interest appears to have been taken in its affairs by the Crown, perhaps because its estate afforded a ready source of revenue, but more likely on account of the proximity of the Convent to the Royal Palace at Westminster. The Church and Hospital afforded convenient opportunities of preferment and of income to the clergy connected with the Chapel Royal of St. Stephen or of the Royal Household.
The first records after the Plague are of special significance. In 1379, in the reign of Richard II, the chapel and lands of St. Mary Roncevall were seized into the King’s hands in accordance with the statute dated at Gloucester, “for the forfeiture of the lands of schismatic aliens,” and in accordance with the policy of the Crown at this period to suppress all the alien religious houses. At this time there was a certain Nicholas Slake, a clerk, who, wise in his generation, had not failed in procuring preferment and much advantage from the Church. He possessed various benefices throughout the country, and finally became Dean of the Chapel Royal of St. Stephen, Westminster, in the year 1396.[[13]] Nicholas Slake had obtained possession of the revenues and had become Warden of the Hospital and Chapel of “Rounsyvale,” probably when the Crown took possession of the property after the forfeiture of 1379. In 1383, we find that the King grants a writ of aid for Ralph Archer, Proctor of Nicholas Slake, Master of the Hospital of St. Mary Roncevall, “to arrest and bring before the King and Council all persons whom he shall prove to have collected alms in the realm as Proctor of the Hospital, and converted the same to their own use.”
[13]. Hennessy, “Novum Repertorium Ecclesiasticum Parochiale Londinense.”
It seems probable that an effort had been made by Nicholas Slake to put the affairs of his church in order, either on his own initiative, or on account of the renewed interest taken in the house at Charing Cross by the Mother Convent. It is noteworthy that about this time the Prior and brethren at Roncesvalles commenced a process at law to claim their property. An inquisition took place before the King’s Court at Westminster into the foundation of the Hospital, and as it appeared in evidence that the chapel and its property belonged to the Prior of Roncesvalles, it was restored (April 23, 1383).
There now appears to have been a short period of quiet and good fortune for the brotherhood. It will be remembered that the years 1390-92 are known as the three “quiet” years of the Hundred Years’ War with France. Peaceful communications were restored between Navarre, through France to England, so that we are not surprised to find that in 1389, Garcias, a Canon of Roncesvalles, is ratified as Warden of the Chapel of Roncevall by Charing Cross, at the supplication of the King’s kinsman, Charles of Navarre. What happened in the next year, 1390, is a little obscure. Garcias does not seem to have been at home or comfortable at Charing Cross, or the influence of the London clergy may have prevailed over the alien, for in that year we note that John Hadham, the King’s clerk, is Warden of the Hospital.
The following years must have brought much anxiety to the remnants of the alien clergy in England. They must have become more and more conscious of the insecurity of their tenure. England was once more engaged in deadly war with France; communications between the two countries were constantly interrupted or carried on with great risk and danger, and in the case of the Hospital of St. Mary, the sending of their surplus revenue to Navarre through France must have been regarded by the King, constantly seeking funds for military purposes, with the utmost jealousy. Most of the alien houses had already been suppressed. The continued existence of the House of St. Mary Roncevall, as mentioned above, had been seriously threatened. The affairs, therefore, of the community of Charing Cross must have been in great disorder and can have afforded little satisfaction to the parent House. That the Prior did make efforts to supervise the affairs of the Convent in England is clear, but the control must have been very ineffective.
In 1396, John Newerk obtained the wardenship and the property of the Hospital, including the charters, various apostolic bulls and other documents, and apparently installed himself comfortably in his benefice, for in the year 1399 we find that ratification of the estate of Ronceval was given to Newerk. In the meantime Francis, who was then Prior at Roncesvalles, learned of the doings of John Newerk, and commenced a process against him for having broken into the close and houses belonging to the Prior in the parish of St. Martin’s in the Fields, of having removed a sealed chest worth 20s., containing the charters and other muniments of the hospital, and claimed damages to the extent of 200l. This action seems to have dragged on for a wearisome length of time, for in the year 1409 special directions are given by the King, that, “whereas the suit has been long delayed, the justices are ordered to proceed therein, but not to give judgment without consulting him.” The plea was concluded in Hilary Term, 1409, and judgment was given to the effect that at the time of the trespass the close and houses were the sole and free tenement of the Prior, so that John Newerk was mulcted in damages to the extent of 100 marks, but he was held not guilty in respect of the matter of the chest and writings. Though the Prior was largely successful in this action, his success did not long delay the only possible issue.
Saint Mary Roncevall passes into the Hands of English Clergy (1414).
The end of the strife between the Navarrese and English clergy for supremacy in the House at Charing Cross was not far off. By the year 1414 the few remaining alien priories and convents were suppressed by Henry V, but what influence this final suppression had on the activities of the Convent of St. Mary Roncevall is not quite clear. English clergy were already in possession of the appointments in the Church and Hospital, and the services of the Convent to the people of London seem to have continued. There arose no question of handing over the property for secular purposes, and probably there was no serious dislocation of the usual work of the House. The management of its affairs must simply have been recognized to be entirely independent of the Prior and his officials. It is to the credit of both parties that this separation was accomplished without severe disturbance, for, as we shall see, communications between the Prior at Roncesvalles and the Warden of St. Mary Roncevall remained on what seems to have been a friendly basis. The English wardens who were now appointed were, so far as is known, men of note, and frequently in close relationship with the Court.
In 1417 Walter Sheryngton, Prebendary of Goderynghill, is confirmed in his possession of the estate and the “free chapel” of Rouncevall in the Diocese of London. During his tenure of office there appears to have been an action at law between the Prior of the Hospital and the Warden, the exact nature of which is uncertain; but during its course the conditions of the early foundation of the Convent at Charing Cross came under discussion.
In 1432 Roger Westwode, who was also a Prebendary of the Chapel Royal, St. Stephen’s, was Warden of the Chapel or Hospital of St. Mary Roncevall. He was clearly conscious of the advantages to be gained by the connexion with the House in the Pyrenees, as he obtained a royal licence to receive bulls and letters of indulgence for the profit of his own chapel from the Prior in Navarre, and also to remit alms for the poor and other monies to the Priory. An echo of the old difficulties can be noted in this document, as the royal licence states clearly that the said Priory is “outside our allegiance, and the licence is to continue so long as there is no war between us and the King of Navarre.”
The fortunes of the Hospital in the middle fifteenth century can only be judged by inference, but there can be little doubt that it continued to be useful, and that gradually its functions as a place for the cure of the needy sick became more developed. The co-operation of nursing sisters must have also become familiar to the London community by this time. The brethren and sisters had pursued their avocation in tending and in nursing the infirm from very early days in the history of the community of St. Mary both in Navarre and in England. As the religious house became more distinctly a hospital their services must have been in constantly increasing request.
The Establishment of the Fraternity of St. Mary Roncevall (1475).
The year 1475 marks the official commencement of the last stage of the existence of the Hospital. In that year a royal charter of Edward IV records the “foundation of a fraternity or perpetual gild of a master, two wardens and the brethren and sisters who may wish to be of the same in the Chapel of St. Mary Rounsidevall by Charyng Crosse, and of a perpetual chantry of one chaplain to celebrate divine service at the High Altar in the said chapel.” In 1478 a grant in mortmain is recorded to the Master, Wardens, Brethren and Sisters of the Fraternity of the said Chapel or Hospital, and of its property, revenues and privileges, for the sustenance of the chaplain and two additional clergy who now seem to have been required for the services of the chapel, and of “the poor people flocking to the Hospital.”
In the years following, the affairs of the Hospital seem to have been administered with energy and prudence, for we have records in 1494, 1495 and 1496 of legal proceedings concerning the property and privileges of the Hospital, in which the master and wardens vigorously upheld their position and successfully defended their rights. The litigation, which seems to have gone on intermittently chiefly for the recovery of the ancient possessions of the Hospital, appears to have been brought to a conclusion in the year 1510, when, in the Mastership of Laurence Long, the fraternity paid the sum of 20s. into the hanaper for the confirmation of the various charters granted to the fraternity by the King.
Again there seems to have been a period of comparative calm and, no doubt, of successful performance of the duties of the Hospital. The fraternity may have even thought that the storm which burst over the Church in the time of Henry VIII would leave them unharmed on account of the fulfilment of their useful functions in the community, for so late as the year 1542, while William Jenyns was Master, a record can be read giving evidence of their continuing interest and careful management of their affairs. In this year they obtained certain property and a wharf in the parish of St. Margaret, in respect of rents to be paid from a tenement called the “Shippe” and certain lands in the Parish of St. Clement Danes without Temple Bar. This, however, is the last deed recorded of the ancient community, with the exception of the final act which was very soon to take place.
Dissolution of the Fraternity by Henry VIII (1544).
The policy of the King, enforced in many cases by the greed of his agents and other members of the Court, could not leave the Hospital unscathed, and not even the charitable deeds of the fraternity were sufficient to save them from dispersion. The grief with which the master, wardens and members of the fraternity assembled to ratify their last official act in a corporate capacity may be conceived, and it is possible to some faint extent to imagine the feelings of despair and of bitter irony uppermost in the minds of the brethren and sisters when they heard the words of the Deed of Surrender read aloud. In this document the master, wardens, brethren and sisters of the fraternity declared that they are “specially influenced at the present time by divers causes and considerations to give and concede by this Charter to the most excellent and invincible prince, our Lord Henry VIII, by the Grace of God, King of England, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith and Supreme Head of the Church in England and Ireland,” their Church, Hospital, and all other property and privileges. The affixing of their Common Seal to this document concludes the chequered history of the Convent of St. Mary Roncevall at Charing Cross (November 11, 1544).
Though the remaining members of the Community were deprived of their offices and ejected from the home which they had so long possessed at Charing Cross, their lot was not so hard as in the case of many others driven into the world at this time. A pittance from their income was left. There may be read in a book of payments of Edward VI, under the heading “Pencions out of Monasteries” that the guardians of Roncevall were allotted the munificent annual income of 6l. 13s. 4d. Very oddly in this document the larger sum of 8l. is entered and crossed out in favour of the smaller amount mentioned. The amount of the pension was measured with parsimonious exactness. Quarterly payments of 33 shillings and 4 pence are entered as being paid to the few surviving members of the fraternity so late as at Christmas, the Annunciation, Midsummer and Michaelmas, 1551 and 1552.
Fig. 10.—The common seal of the Fraternity of St. Mary Roncevall.
Fig. 11.—From the imperfect impression attached to the Deed of Surrender.
The Later History of the Estate of Roncevall.
The subsequent fate of the Chapel and Hospital and the land on which they stood may be shortly stated. The site was granted, no doubt with the buildings on it, in the year 1550 to Sir Thomas Cawarden.[[14]] Cawarden had been master of the revels to Henry VIII and had established claims to reward or remuneration from the King which had not been satisfied on his death. He was able to establish and enforce these claims in the early years of Edward VI. With some difficulty he obtained in discharge of his claims on the Crown the estate and property of Roncevall and also the church and property of the Blackfriars within the City of London. He seems also to have secured at this time the stewardship of Nonsuch Palace and its lands in the County of Surrey.
[14]. “A Survey of London,” by John Stow, 1603. The edition by Charles L. Kingsford, Clarendon Press, 1908, i, p. 341; ii, p. 350.
The properties of Roncevall and of the Blackfriars soon passed from the hands of Cawarden, probably during the period of wild speculation in land and real estate which followed the dissolution of the religious houses, but the stewardship of Nonsuch he continued to hold with much tenacity in spite of the efforts to dislodge him from this favourite position by Cardinal Pole during the reign of Queen Mary.
Cawarden died in the year 1559. In the meantime the Roncevall property had passed to Sir Robert Brett. It was purchased early in the seventeenth century by Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, who built himself a town house, described as a “sumptuous palace,” on the site, using for the purpose the material of the ancient Convent. This house was completed in the year 1605 and was known for some years as Northampton House. It consisted of buildings arranged on three sides of a quadrangle, and open towards the garden and river. From him the property passed by inheritance to his nephew, Thomas Howard, first Earl of Suffolk, the second son of Thomas, fourth Duke of Norfolk, who completed the quadrangle, the house being then known as Suffolk House. From the Howard family the property passed by an heiress to Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumberland, in 1642; another heiress of the Percy family brought the property to Charles Seymour, Duke of Somerset. While in the possession of the Somerset family and their immediate successors, the Strand front was much improved and acquired the architectural features so long associated with Northumberland House at Charing Cross. By another heiress, Lady Elizabeth Seymour, the property passed into the possession of the present Duke of Northumberland’s family.
In consequence of the construction of the Thames Embankment, and the necessity for making a wide approach from Charing Cross, the late Metropolitan Board of Works bought the property from the Duke of Northumberland, in 1874, for the sum of £500,000. Northumberland House, the last of the old river-side mansions, was completely demolished and now Northumberland Avenue and the great buildings near it occupy the site of the Convent and Hospital of St. Mary Roncevall.[[15]]
[15]. “Old and New London,” V. iii, by Edward Walford (Cassell, Petter and Galpin). “Charing Cross,” by J. H. MacMichael (Chatto and Windus), 1905.
The Roncevall Property in London; from Information in an unpublished Manuscript of the beginning of the Seventeenth Century in the Library at Roncesvalles.[[16]]
[16]. The author is indebted to Don José Urrutia, the Abbot-Prior, for a précis of this document.
Most of the ancient documents dealing with the history of the Priory have been destroyed or lost as the result of war, fires and other causes. There remains in the Library at Roncesvalles an unpublished MS. dealing with the early history of the Priory and its dependencies, written about the second quarter of the seventeenth century by Don Juan Huarte. This MS. incorporates information obtained by the writer from various sources, and especially under the date April 12, 1623, from a certain Brother Miguel de Spiritu Sancto, who derived it in his turn from a certain Don Francisco Olastro—(Francis Oliver?)—who is stated to have been an ambassador from England in Madrid. This document states that there is situated in the suburbs of London a wide street named “the Street of Our Lady of Roncesvalles.” The houses in this street have sculptured over their doorways a single cross according to the use of Roncesvalles. At the end of the street is a large building, now nearly dismantled, which was a sumptuous church in the time of the Catholic Religion. Over the portico of the church were sculptured three crosses of the same form, and in addition there was a clearly engraved Latin inscription to the effect that this church was built and completely finished in honour of the Blessed Virgin by Henry IV, King of England, who, in addition, granted to the Community of St. Mary of Roncevall large possessions and revenues for the service of the Priory and Hospital. The inscription is dated in the MS. 1378, but this date, which is clearly impossible, is probably an error of transcription for 1408, arising from peculiarities in the formation of the figures, and there are other errors to be noted, showing that the information is derived through indirect channels. The inscription is given as follows:—
“Henricus quartus Dei gratia Rex Angliæ, Iberniæ et Irlandæ, Princeps Gales, et Dux (Lancastrie?). Hanc ecclesiam sacratissimæ Virginis et Matris Mariæ construxit locupletavit et a fundamentis edificavit, et eam in honorem dictæ Sanctissimæ Virginis et Matris multis possessionibus et redditibus et inquiliniis ditavit, et eam cum suis omnibus possessionibus, inquiliniis subditis et redditibus donavit in donum perpetuum ordini et hospitali generali coenobii Sanctæ Mariæ Roncesvallis in anno domini Salvatoris nostri Jhesu Christi, MCCCLXXVIII.”
The document goes on to say that the Priory possessed in England property including the Chapel and Convent at Charing Cross (“Caringrasso”) of the yearly value of 9,300 pounds English money, corresponding to 8,223 Spanish ducats, and that it also owned property in Canterbury (“Conturbel”) of the yearly value of 4,000 pounds, and in Oxford (“Oxonia”) of 5,700 pounds. A Procurator was appointed directly by the Abbot at Roncesvalles, who had his headquarters in London at Charing Cross, and had complete powers of administration to deal with the property of the Convent scattered through England, Scotland, and Ireland, and he also directed the Hospital and other enterprises of the Brotherhood.
The Huarte MS. also states that, in the ancient archives of the Abbey there existed a record in alphabetical arrangement, from which it is gathered that Henry VI of England, finding that no official was being sent from Roncesvalles, directed one of his chaplains to obtain from Roncesvalles an account of the property in London and Charing Cross belonging to the Priory: “Las pertenecientes á la capilla y encomienda de Roncesvalles situada junto á Caringrasso de Inglaterra,” and a warrant to collect the income and charitable contributions and send them to Roncesvalles for the maintenance of the clergy and the poor. There is also a statement on the authority of a “military personage in the City of London,” that there existed in London a large house which had belonged to Roncesvalles, as shown by the crosses of the special form used by the Order still to be seen on the stones, and that this house had been converted into a seminary of the Anglican Church.
It will be observed that much of the information in the Huarte MS. is traditional and cannot be accepted without careful collation with the more complete and authentic information contained in the English records. It is, however, of much interest to know that a document perpetuating the memory of the Hospital of Roncevall in London still exists in the parent House.
The Illustrations.
Fig. 1.—The Chapel of St. Mary Roncevall on the bank of the Thames previous to 1544. The chapel is of the middle of the thirteenth century, in two storeys, with later additions, probably of the Tudor period, to the south of the church and at the north-east angle. The tower and belfry are at the north-east end of the church. The chapel is built on a terrace, faced by a high wall, pierced by a door giving access by steps to the river. The sketch gives indications of portions of the conventual buildings, some of which may be identified by referring to the inventory contained in the grant to Sir Thomas Cawarden; for instance, the gardens, the churchyard, wharf, the almshouse. The Cross at Charing, St Martin’s Church of that period, other features in the village of Charing, and St. Giles’s in the Fields, may be identified.
Fig. 2.—A chart of the Western Pyrenees, showing the roads through the passes, and the position of Roncesvalles and Ibañeta.
Figs. 3 and 4.—The effigy of William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke (ob. 1219), in the Temple Church.
Figs. 5, 6, and 7.—The effigy of William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, son of the preceding (ob. 1231). These figures of the Marshalls are from Edward Richardson’s “Monumental Effigies of the Temple Church.” Longmans, 1843. William Marshall, sen., the regent, and his son were closely associated with the Knights Templars, and benefactors of the Order. It will be noted that the effigy of the father shows the figure in a straight position, whereas the effigy of the son is in the cross-legged attitude. The question is naturally raised as to the significance of the cross-legged position. There is no doubt that William Marshall the elder did go to the Holy Land in fulfilment of the dying request of Henry, the eldest son of Henry II, in the years 1185-87. In the case of the son there is no evidence of a journey to Palestine, though it is possible that he may have taken part in campaigns against the Moors in Spain.
Fig. 8.—A copy of an ancient drawing lately in the possession of Mr. E. Gardner, now in the collection of Sir Edward F. Coates, Bart. The drawing is supposed to be contemporary and to have been the work of an early Italian artist resident in England. It was purchased at the Strawberry Hill sale by Dr. Wellesley for the Gardner collection; and the Marquis of Salisbury is stated to have several drawings by the same early Italian artist. The sketch shows part of the north-westerly aspect of the Chapel of St. Mary Roncevall, with some of the later Tudor additions. The battlements were probably added when additions were built, perhaps in the time of Henry IV, or later. The Tudor chimneys appearing over the battlements are reminiscent of the work of Cardinal Wolsey at Hampton Court and would have been constructed in brick. The building on the extreme left of the sketch is probably the corner of a north porch. The sketch also shows the gardens of the Convent of which very special note is made in Cawarden’s inventory, and in the distance the buildings of Whitehall and of Westminster.
Fig. 9.—Copy of an official stamp now used in the Priory, showing the Cross of Roncesvalles.
Figs. 10 and 11.—The common seal of the Fraternity and Guild of St. Mary Roncevall. The seal appears to be of the fifteenth century and was no doubt the seal specially mentioned as being given to the Fraternity by Edward IV. The seal is round, the engraved part being 2-1/4 in. in diameter. Unfortunately the impression is imperfect.
Fig. 10 is from a cast taken by Doubleday in the middle of the last century.
Fig. 11 is from a cast taken by Mr. Ready from the impression still attached to the Deed of Surrender. It will be noted on careful examination that there are certain interesting differences in the state of preservation of these two casts. The seal on the Deed of Surrender has been backed and strengthened, but this repair does not altogether account for the differences noticed in the impressions. It is possible that another impression may have existed when Doubleday made his cast. The seal represents “the assumption of the Virgin, who is standing on a crescent upheld by an angel and surrounded by radiance. At each side three flying angels issuing from clouds. Overhead in clouds the Trinity. The legend reads:—
‘SIGILLU(M COĒ FRATER)NITATIS BĒ MARIE DE ROUNCIVA(LL).’”
(Birch’s Catalogue of Seals.)
The author cannot conclude this account of the Convent and Hospital without expressing his cordial thanks to those from whom he has sought assistance and criticisms. He desires especially to acknowledge his obligations to Mr. E. Salisbury and other officials of the Public Record Office for their courteous and patient guidance; to Mr. E. Gardner for his kind permission to see the valuable collection of material illustrating the history of London formerly in his possession, and to reproduce one of the drawings in this paper; to Mr. Herbert Wigglesworth and his assistant, Mr. L. H. Glencross, for drawings of the Chapel of St. Mary, and for important criticisms respecting its structure and architectural features; and to Don José Urrutia, the Abbot-Prior, and Don Ignacio Ibarbia Fernandez de Guevara, Canon of Roncesvalles, for much information respecting the present state of the Convent, and for their sympathetic interest in the history of one of the ancient “cells” of the Real Colegiata.
Calendar of the Hospital of St. Mary Roncevall, Charing Cross.
ANNO 1229.
Letters of Protection to the Brethren of St. Mary Roncesvalles.
De Protectione. Fratres hospitalis Sancti Marie Roscidi Vallis habent literas de protectione sine termino cum hac clausula:—
“Rogamus vos quatinus cum nuncii ejusdem hospitalis ad vos venerint elemosinas petituri,” &c.
Calendar Patent Rolls, 13 Henry III, p. 265.
1232.
Record of the grant to St. Mary and the Hospital of Roncevaux (Roscida Vallis) of the gift which William Marshall, sometime Earl of Pembroke, made to them of all his houses at Cherring, and the houses and curtilages adjoining them, formerly belonging to William Briwere, and of 100s. at Suthanton, payable from the houses of the said Earl there, of 13l. of land in the Moor of Magor and of a carucate of land in Assendon which he bought from Robert de Rochford. 11th August; Wenlock.
Calend. Charter Rolls, 16 Henry III, p. 168.
1240.
Grant by the King to the Brethren of “Roscida Valle” of 32 acres which they have sown in Pevensey, of land which William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, gave to them. 26th July; Quicfeld.
Calend. Close Rolls, 24 Henry III, m. 8.
1242.
Grant of pasturage by King Henry III beyond the water called “Lador” (Adour) to the Prior and Brethren of the Hospital of St. Mary Roncevaux. La Sauve Majeure.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 26-27 Henry III, p. 334.
1242.
Bond by the King for payment of 90 pounds of Morlaas to Dominic Paschalis, Provost of Roncevaux. La Sauve Majeure.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 27 Henry III, p. 349.
1253.
Simple protection, without term, for the prior and brethren of the Hospital of St. Mary, Rouncevall. 11th February; Windsor.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 37 Henry III, m. 17.
1253.
Protection for one year for the Master and brethren of Roscidevalle, with this clause, that all their beasts may feed throughout the King’s land of Gascony, as they have been accustomed to do. 1st October: Benauge.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 37-38 Henry III, m. 20.
1254.
Protection for four years, as above. 26th August; Bordeaux.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 37-38 Henry III, m. 8.
1278.
Henry, son of William of Smalebrok, nominated Attorney for 2 years for the Prior of the Hospital of Roncevaux. Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 6 Ed. I, p. 283.
1279.
The sum of 16l. 13s. 4d. charged on the pedage of “Maramande” (Myramand), to be paid to the hospital of Roncevaux (Rossidevall). Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 7 Ed. I, p. 7.
1280.
Henry, son of William of Smalebrok, nominated Attorney for 2 years for the Prior of the Hospital of Roncedevall. Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 8 Ed. I, p. 382.
1281.
Note in a Record of Accounts that the King’s lands granted to Eleanor his mother, of the town of Myramand, are charged with 20l. Arvaldenses equivalent to 16l. 13s. 4d. of Tours to the hospital of Rossedevall. Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 9 Ed. I, p. 447.
1283.
Protection for Brother Lupus, Priest, Envoy, and Preceptor of the Houses in England and Ireland of the Prior and Convent of the Hospital of St. Mary Roncevaux, coming from the Pope with indulgences for the remission of sins. Macclesfield.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 11 Ed. I, p. 75.
1290.
G. Prior and the Hospital of Roncevaux (Roscida Vallis) to Edward I, praying the King to be attentive to what shall be told him by certain Brethren of the Hospital who are bearing the present letter to England and to grant their request. 2 Id. July.
Ancient Correspondence, vol. xx, No. 44.
1291.
Emendæ. Item, fratre Lupo procuratori Hospitali Runcivallis dampnis fratrum dicti Hospitalis adjudicatis coram auditoribus querelarum pro domibus suis Suthamtonæ xiiij li, ij s. xiiij li, ij s.
19 Ed. I. Extract. Liberationes factæ per Executores Dominæ Alienoræ Consortis Edwardi Regis Angliæ Primi: Rot. primus.
(Vide Manners and Household expenses of England: p. 105, Roxburghe Club; edited by T. Hudson Turner, presented by Beriah Botfield: 1841 (London, William Nicol, Shakespeare Press).
1292.
William de Cestre, and Peter Arnaldi de Sancto Michaele nominated attorneys for 5 years for the Prior of Roncyvall staying beyond seas. Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 20 Ed. I, p. 476.
1293.
Lupus de Canone, preceptor of the Houses of Ronceval in Bordeaux, and Arnaldus de Sancto Johanne, a lay person, nominated attorneys for the Prior of Ronceval (Roscidevall), staying beyond seas for three years. 12th May; Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 21 Ed. I, p. 14.
1293-94.
The Prior of the Hospital of Rosci de Vall seeks against Adam, son of Walter the Scot, one toft with appurtenances as the right of the said Hospital, by writ of entry. A predecessor of the Prior is admitted to have held this toft and tenements 15 years previously (in 1279).
Assize Rolls, No. 544, 22 Ed. I, m. 21.
Probably late Ed. I, or Ed. II.
A petition from the Prior of the Convent and Hospital of Roncevall to restore to them property consisting of a site before the Cross at Charing, and also certain other small rents and three acres of land which John of Lincoln, Burgess of London, had held for a period of ten years, and which on his death, on account of the default of the Attorney of the said Prior and Convent and Hospital, were taken into the hand of the King. The petition requests the restoration of this property to the Prior and Convent to hold them as they had been in the custom of doing “come les gentz dil pais le sauont bien et toute la veisinetee.” Undated.
Ancient Petitions, 9635.
1310.
Evidence of property held in Norwich by the House of Roncevaux, in a licence for alienation in mortmain by William But of Norwich, to the Friars Preachers of that place. 30th March; Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 3 Ed. II, p. 222.
1321.
William Roberti, Canon of the Hospital of St. Mary Roncevall, appointed Proctor in England for the recovery of their lands and rents. Their late Proctor, John de Rouncevall, having died, and not being aware of his death, they did not appoint a new Proctor, wars and other impediments hindering them, so that their lands and rents were taken by divers men. 24th August; Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 15 Ed. II, p. 23.
1321.
Protection granted to the messengers sent to England by William Roberti, Canon of the Hospital of St. Mary Roncevall, and Proctor-General in England of the Prior and Convent of that place, in consideration of the benefits constantly given in that hospital to poor pilgrims visiting the shrine of Santiago. 25th August; Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 15 Ed. II, p. 15.
F. (?) Prior and the Hospital of Roncevaux to Edward II, on behalf of the citizens of Bayonne, greatly impoverished by the late wars.
Ancient Correspondence, xxxiv, No. 167.
1335.
An account of the abandonment of the 10 acres of land known as “Ronsevalcroft,” in Kensyngton, by the brethren of the Hospital of Roncevaux; how the land was taken by Simon de Kensyngton without the King’s licence, escheated to the Crown, and finally restored to the Convent. 12th July; Carlisle.
Calend. Close Rolls, 9 Ed. III, p. 423.
1348-49.
The Black Death.
1379.
The chapel and lands of St. Mary Rounceval seized into the King’s hands in accordance with a statute, dated at Gloucester, for the forfeiture of the lands of schismatic aliens. 2 Ric. II.
Cf. Close Rolls, 10 Henry IV, m. 7. 1409, vide infra.
1382.
Nicholas Slake,[[17]] Master of the Hospital of St. Mary Roncevalles.
[17]. Hennessy: “Nov. Repert. Ecclesiast. Paroch. Londin.” Nicholas Slake, Prebendary of Wenlakesbarn; of Erdington in Briggenorth; of Shirecote in Tamworth; Rector of St. Mary Abchurch; and Dean of St. Stephen’s Chapel Royal, Westminster (1396).
The King grants a writ of aid for Ralph Archer, Proctor of Nicholas Slake, to arrest and bring before the King and Council all persons whom he shall prove to have collected alms in the realm as proctor of the Hospital, and converted the same to their own use. 18th July. Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 6 Ric. II, p. 195.
1383.
Inquisition into the foundation of the Hospital of Rouncevall, before the King’s Court at Westminster.
Plac. coram Rege apud West. de term. Mich. 7 Ric. II, Rot. 21 Middx.; also Chancery Miscellanea, 68/466.
It appears that the Crown had resumed possession of the Hospital and land and all its possessions after the forfeiture of 1379, and that a cleric, Nicholas Slake, had obtained the Wardenship of the Hospital and Chapel of “Rounsyvale.” On inquisition, however, it was shown that the Hospital and Chapel and its property pertained to the Prior of the Hospital of the Blessed Mary of Rounsyvall, and was accordingly restored. 23rd April.
Cf. Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, edit. 1820, vi, pt. 2, p. 677.
1389.
Garcias, Canon of Roncivale, ratified as Warden of the Chapel of Roncivall by Charyncroix, at the supplication of the King’s kinsman, Charles of Navarre. 16th November; Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 13 Ric. II, p. 152.
1390.
John Hadham, the King’s clerk, Warden of the Hospital of St. Mary of Ronsyvale at Charryng by Westminster. 18th February; Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 13 Ric. II, p. 205.
1396.
Grant for life to John Newerk of the Wardenship of the Hospital of St. Mary Rouncyvall by Charryng Crouch. 20th October; Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 20 Ric. II, p. 30, pt. 1, m. 15.
1396.
Grant to John Newerk of the Hospital of St. Mary Rouncyvall. 5th October; Calais.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 20 Ric. II, p. 44, pt. 1, m. 6.
1399.
Ratification of the estate of John Newerk, Warden of the Hospital of St. Mary Rouncyvale by Charing Crouch. 28th October; Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 1 Henry IV, p. 25, pt. 1, m. 16.
1409.
Exemplification at the request of John Newerk, of:—
(1) Letters patent dated 5th October, 20 Richard II (1396), granting to him the hospital of St. Mary Rouncyvall.
(2) Letters patent dated 20th October, 20 Richard II, granting to him for life the wardenship of the hospital of St. Mary Rouncyvall by Charryngcrouch. 5th February; Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 10 Henry IV, pt. 1, m. 10.
1409.
Francis, Prior of the Hospital of St. Mary de Rouncyvall of the diocese of Pampeluna and Warden of St. Mary of Rouncyvall by Charyng Crosse, impleaded John Newerk, clerk, for having broken into a close and houses of the said Prior in the parish of St. Martin’s in the Fields, and taken away a sealed chest worth 20s., containing charters, writings, bulls, apostolic instruments and other muniments, and committed other offences to the damage of £200 in the reign of Richard II. John Newerk alleges that the said chapel and all its property had been seized in the King’s hands according to the statute dated at Gloucester, 2 Ric. II, and that afterwards the Wardenship of the said chapel was granted to the said John by letters patent, dated 20th October, 20 Ric. II, and that he is not answerable for the above property, etc., to the said Prior without consulting the King, and whereas the suit has been long delayed the King orders the Justices to proceed therein, but not to give judgment without consulting him. Westminster.
Close Roll, 10 Henry IV, m. 7 (see also m. 11).
1409.
Record of the above-mentioned plea between Francis, Prior of St. Mary de Rouncyvall, and John Newerk, Clerk, returned on a writ de causis certiorari, dated 1st September, 5 Henry V, 1417.
Placita coram rege, Hilary Term. 10 Henry IV, 1409.
This document recites the conditions of the trespass of John Newerk on the Monday after the Feast of All Saints, 21 Ric. II, when with force and arms he broke into the close and houses of the said Prior in the town of Westminster, mentioning the sealed chest and charters and the amount of damage done to the Prior. It continues to recite John Newerk’s defence and especially that he, John Newerk, had been granted the custody of the said Chapel.
Judgment: That at the time of the trespass the close and houses were the sole and free tenement of the said Prior—damages for the said Prior 100 marks. As to the said chest and writings the said Newerk is found “not guilty.”
Chancery Miscellanea, 68/466.
1411.
Pardon to John Newerk, Clerk, for his outlawry in the County of Middlesex for not appearing before the King to satisfy the Prior of St. Mary Rouncivall ... of 100 marks which the Prior recovered against him on account of a trespass in the time of Richard II, he having surrendered to the Marshalsea Prison and satisfied the Prior. 5th May; Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 12 Henry IV, m. 12.
1417.
Confirmation to Walter Shiryngton,[[18]] Prebendary of Goderynghill, in the Collegiate Church of Westbury, of the free chapel of Rouncevale, in the diocese of London, of his estate and possession to the said prebend and chapel. Westminster.
Pat. Roll, 5 Henry V, m. 10. (By Privy seal.)
[18]. Hennessy: Loc. cit. Walter Shiryngton, Prebendary of Gevendale oin York; of Offley; of Mora, &c.; Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster; ob. 1448. Buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral.
1418.
Recorda 5 Henry V, pt. 1. “Recordum et processus inter Prior Hosp. beate Mar. ibidem et Custodem Capelle ibidem ubi fit mentio de primata fundatione.”
The reference of this note has not been found in the Memoranda Rolls of the reign of Henry V.
1432.
Royal licence to “our chaplain,” Roger Westwode,[[19]] Master of the Chapel or Hospital of St. Marie de Roncidevall by Charyngcroix in the diocese of London, his successors or their proctors, to receive bulls and other letters of indulgence for the profit of the said Chapel, from the Prior and Convent of Rouncidevall in Navarre, in the diocese of Pamploma, and to remit alms for the poor and other moneys to the Priory in Navarre, because the said Priory is outside our allegiance, to last so long as there is no war between us and the King of Navarre. Westminster.
Pat. Roll, 11 Henry VI, pt. 1, m. 16.
[19]. Hennessy: Loc. cit. Roger Westrode, Prebendary of St. Stephen’s Royal Chapel, Westminster, 1422; ob. 1433.
1440.
Grant to John Gourney of a parcel of land, late of the King of Scotland, lying between a plot of the Archbishop of York towards the south, and the chapel of St. Mary Rouncevale towards the north (etc.). 1st April; Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 18 Henry VI, pt. 3, m. 12.
1440.
Grant of the alien Priories in England and Wales to Henry, Archbishop of Canterbury, and others.
Rymer’s Fœdera. 12th September, 19 Henry VI.
1475.
Foundation of a fraternity or perpetual gild of a Master, and two Wardens, and the Brethren and Sisters who may wish to be of the same in the Chapel of St. Mary Rounsidevall by Charyng Crosse in the suburbs of London: “They shall form one body, and shall have perpetual succession and a Common Seal”; and of a perpetual Chantry of one Chaplain to celebrate divine service daily at the High Altar in the said Chapel, for the good estate of the King and his Consort Elizabeth, Queen of England, and his firstborn son Edward, and the Brethren and Sisters of the fraternity, and for their souls after death. 28th October; Westminster.
Calend. Pat. Rolls, 15 Ed. IV, pt. 2, m. 10, p. 542.
1478.