CHAPTER XI
THE VARIOUS RELIGIOUS ORDERS 213
LIST OF ENGLISH RELIGIOUS HOUSES 251
INDEX 319
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT
PAGE
The Cloisters, Worcester 18 J. Charles Wall.
The Refectory, Cleve Abbey 23 J. Charles Wall.
Thomas Ramryge, Abbot of St. Alban’s (from brass) 43 J. Charles Wall.
Brother John of Walingford, Infirmarian of St. Alban’s 87 (Cott. MSS., Jul. D. vii.)
Gloucester Cloisters, The Lavatory 102 J. Charles Wall.
Nun asking Pardon of an Abbess 179 (Roy. MSS., 2 B. vii., f. 219.)
Benedictine Monk 215
[The figures representative of the various Religious Orders are reduced from Dugdale’s _Monasticon_ (1655) and Stevens’ _Continuation_ (1723).]
Benedictine Nun 216
Benedictine Monk of the Cluniac Congregation 219
Cistercian Monk 220
Carthusian Monk 223
Canon Regular of St. Augustine 224
Premonstratensian Canon 227
Gilbertine Canon 228
Gilbertine Nun 231
Knight Hospitaller 232
Knight Templar 235
Dominican Friar 236
Franciscan Friar 239
Franciscan Nun, or Minoress 240
Carmelite Friar 243
Austin Friar 244
Friar of the Sack 247
Trinitarian 248
LIST OF PLATES
St. Benedict, Patriarch of Western Monks _Frontispiece_ From a painting by Sassoferrato at Perugia.
I. Norwich Cathedral, with Cloisters _To face page_ 14 J. Charles Wall.
II. Canons in Choir " 16 Cott. MSS., Dom. A. xvii. f. 11{b}.
III. The Cloisters, Gloucester, showing Carrels " 20 From Murray’s _Cathedrals_.
IV. The Chapter House, Westminster " 26 J. Charles Wall.
V. John Stoke, Abbot of St. Alban’s; Prior Reymund, St. Alban’s " 52 Cott. MSS., Nero D. iii., pp. 35, 49.
VI. Heading of Mortuary Roll, Thomas Brown, Bishop of Norwich, _d._ 1445 " 64 Cott. Charters, ii., 18.
VII. Adam the Cellarer, St. Alban’s " 74 Cott. MSS., Nero D. iii., f. 16{b}.
VIII. End of Mortuary Roll, Thomas Brown, Bishop of Norwich, _d._ 1445 " 94 Cott. Charters, ii., 18.
IX. Franciscans in Choir " 112 Cott. MSS., Dom. A. xvii.
X. Community in Chapter House, Westminster " 122 Harl. MSS., 1498, f. 76.
XI. Henry VI. being received as a Confrater at Edmondsbury " 126 Harl. MSS., 2278, f. 6.
XII. Refectory Pulpit, Chester " 138 E. H. New.
XIII. Carmelite in his Study " 148 Roy. MSS., 14 E. i., f. 3.
XIV. Elizabeth Harvey, Abbess of Elstow " 154 From Walter’s _Brasses_.
XV. Benedictine Nuns in Choir " 158 Cott. MSS., Dom. A. xvii.
XVI. Franciscan Nuns in Choir " 176 Cott. MSS., Dom. A. xvii.
XVII. Henry VII. giving Charter to Monks at Westminster Hall " 194
XVIII. {Seneschal John Whitewell and Mother} {Illuminator of St. Alban’s } " 200 Cott. MSS., Nero D. iii., ff. 103, 105.
Plan of Beaulieu Abbey, Cistercian " 14
Plan of Repton Priory, Austin Canons " 24
Plan of Watton Priory, Gilbertine, Double House " 34
Map of Houses of the Black Monks } Map of Houses of the White Monks } Map of Houses of the Carthusians and Friars } " 318 Map of Houses of the Regular Canons } Map of Houses of the Nuns }
PREFACE
This volume does not appear to call for any lengthy preface. It should introduce and explain itself, inasmuch as, beyond giving a brief account of the origin and aim of each of the Orders existing in England in pre-Reformation days, and drawing up a general list of the various houses, all I have attempted to do is to set before the reader, in as plain and popular a manner as I could, the general tenor of the life lived by the inmates in any one of those monastic establishments. In one sense the picture is ideal; that is, all the details of the daily observance could not perhaps be justified from an appeal to the annals or custumals of any one single monastery. Regular or religious life was never, it must be borne in mind, such a cast-iron system, or of so stereotyped a form, that it could not be, and for that matter frequently was, modified in this or that particular, according to the needs of places, circumstances, and times. Even in the case of establishments belonging to the same Order or religious body this is true; and it is of course all the more certainly true in regard to houses belonging to different Orders. Still, as will be explained later, the general agreement of the life led in all the monastic establishments is so marked, that it has been found possible to sketch a picture of that life which, without being perhaps actually exact in every particular for any one individual house, is sufficiently near to the truth in regard to all the houses in general. The purposes for which the various parts of the monastery were designed and were used, the duties assigned to the numerous officials, the provisions by which the well-being and order of the establishment were secured, the disposition of the hours of the day, and the regulations for carrying out the common conventual duties, etc., were similar in all religious bodies in pre-Reformation days; and, if regard be paid to the changed circumstances, are still applicable to the monastic and religious establishments now existing in England.
It remains for me to publicly record my thanks to those who have assisted me in the preparation of this volume.
In regard to the list of the ancient religious houses, which it is to be hoped may be found of use to the student of monastic archæology, I have to acknowledge the kind help of the Rev. Dr. Cox, the general editor of the series; of Mr. W. H. St. John Hope; of Mr. R. C. Fowler, of the Public Record Office; of the Rev. R. M. Serjeantson; and of the Rev. H. J. D. Astley. My readers are also indebted to Mr. St. John Hope and to Mr. H. Brakspear for permission to reproduce three plans giving the typical arrangement of different religious houses; and lastly, my thanks are due to Dom H. N. Birt for various suggestions, and for his careful reading of the proofs for me.
LIST OF MANUSCRIPTS AND PRINTED BOOKS
By the advice of the editor of this series, the present list of the principal manuscripts and books used in this volume to describe the life of an English mediæval monastery is here printed, in place of giving multitudinous references at the foot of every page. In the case of the MSS. full transcripts have been made of most of them, in order that all the available evidence bearing on the subject might be fully considered.
_Consuetudinarium Monasterii B. Marie, Ebor._ St. John’s Coll., Cambridge, MS. D. 27.
_Consuetudinarium Abbatiæ S. Petri Westmonasteriensis_ (Abbot Ware’s). (4th part only, much burnt.) Cott. MS. Otho c. xi.
_Constitutiones pro monasterio de Abingdon._ Harl. MSS. 209, ff. 11-12, 85-87.
_Ordinale S. Edmundi de Burgo._ MS. Harl. 2,977.
_Ordinale ecclesiæ S. Augustini Cantuariensis: de disciplina Monachorum_, etc. Cott. MS. Vitellius D. xvi.
_Consuetudines quædam Abbatiæ S. Edmundi Buriensis._ (Stated in a Papal letter in the Marini transcripts). Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 15,358, f. 439 _seqq._
_Traditiones patrum O.S.B._ in _Liber albus_ of Edmundsbury. Harl. MS. 1005.
_Consuetudines quædam Abbatiæ de Reading._ MS. Cott. Vesp. E. v. f. 37 _seqq._
_Memoriale qualiter in monasterio conversare debemus._ Harl. MS. 5,431, f. 114 d.
_Officium Senescall. aule Hospitum ecclesie Cantuariensis faciendæ._ MS. Cott. Galba E. v. f. 26 d _seqq._
_Consuetudines Cantuarienses._ Arund. MS. 68, f. 55 _seqq._
_Traditio Generalis Capituli super mores et observantias monachorum Ordinis S. Benedicti._ Cott. MS. Faustina C. xii. f. 181.
_Consuetudines Elemosinæ ecclesiæ Sti. Petri et S. Swithune, Winton._ Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 29,436, f. 72 d. _seqq._
_Walteri de Wykwane, Abb. de Winchcombe, perquisita spiritualia et temporalia, una cum ejusdem monasterii Constitutionibus et Ordinationibus per eundem factis._ Cott. MS. Cleop. B. II. f. 1. Printed in _Monasticon_.
_Statuta Capituli Generalis O.S.B._ (Reading and Abingdon, A.D. 1388). Cott. MS. Faustina A. II. f. 93 _seqq._
_Westminster Chapter O.S.B. under King Henry V._ Cott. MS. Vesp. D. ix. f. 193 _seqq._
_Acta Capitulorum Generalium O.S.A._ Brit. Mus. Cotton Charter xiii. 3.
_Acta Capituli Generalis Ordinis Sti. Augustini_, A.D. 1506. R.O. Exchequer, Q.R. Miscell. 916/44.
_Mortuary Rolls (Norwich)._ Brit. Mus. Cotton Charter II. 17 and 18.
_Visitationes Abbatiæ de Hayles Ord. Cist._ Brit. Mus., Royal MS. 12, E. XIV. f. 73 _seqq._
_Visitatio Ecclesiæ Cath. Wynton_ (Bp. William of Wykham, A.D. 1386). Harl. MS. 328.
_Monasticon Cisterciense._ Julianus, Paris. ed. nova Hugo Séjalon. 1892.
_Bibliotheca Premonstratensis_, 1633. Le Paige.
_Customary of the Benedictine Monasteries of Saint Augustine, Canterbury, and Saint Peter, Westminster._ ed. Sir E. Maunde Thompson (Henry Bradshaw Soc.). 1902.
_The Ancren Riwle._ ed. J. Morton (Camden Soc.). 1853.
_The Observances in use at the Augustinian Priory at Barnwell, Cambridgeshire._ ed. J. Willis Clark, M.A., F.S.A. 1897.
_Apostolatus Benedictinorum in Anglia._ Reyner, Clemens.
_Antiquiores Consuetudines Cluniacensis Monasterii--Collectore Udalrico Monacho._ Migne, Patr. Lat. vol. 149, col. 635 _seqq._
_The Lausiac History of Palladius._ ed. Dom Cuthbert Butler. Part I. Introduction (Texts and Studies, vol. vi.).
_De Antiquis Ecclesiæ Ritibus._ Martène, III. pp. 253 _seqq._
_Ordinale Conventus Vallis Caulium._ ed. W. de Gray Birch. 1900.
_De Consuetudinibus Abbendoniæ, Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon._ ed. J. Stevenson (Rolls Series), II. p. 296 _seqq._
_The Ancient English Version of the Rule of St. Francis--Abbreviatio Statutoram._ 1451: in _Monumenta Franciscana_. Vol. ii. (Rolls Series). ed. R. Howlett.
_Rouleaux des Morts du ix{e} au xv{e} Siècle_, Léopold Delisle (Soc. de l’Histoire de France). 1866.
_Accounts of the Obedientiars of Abingdon Abbey._ ed. R. E. G. Kirk (Camden Soc.). 1892.
_Compotus Rolls of the Obedientiaries of St. Swithun’s Priory, Winchester._ ed. G. W. Kitchin (Hampshire Record Soc.). 1892.
_De prima Institutione Monachorum_ in _Monasticon Anglicanum_. (ed. Calley Ellis and Bandinel), I. xix. _seqq._
_Processus electionis Abbatum S. Albani._ Mon. Angl. II. 191, _note_.
_De Consuetudinibus et Ordinationibus officialium separalium in Abbatia de Evesham._ Mon. Angl. II. 23-5.
_Literæ Constitutionum Hugonis, Lincoln. Episcopi, Visitatione Monalium de Cotun._ Mon. Angl. V. 677.
_Tractatus Statutorum Ordinis Cartusiensis pro Noviciis_, etc. Mon. Angl. VI. pp. v., xii.
_De Canonicorum Ordinis Origine_, etc. Mon. Angl. VI. pp. 39-49.
_Ordinatio pro coquina conventus Canonicorum de Haghmon._ Mon. Angl. VI. 111.
_Ordinatio pro officiis Prioris et Subprioris ibidem._ Mon. Angl. VI. p. 112.
_Institutiones beati Gilberti et successorum ejus, per Capitula Generalia institutæ._ Mon. Angl. VI. p. 2, pp. *xxix.-*xcvii.
_Regula Monachorum S. Trinitatis._ Mon. Angl. VI. p. 3, p. 1,558 _seqq._
_De primordiis et inventione sacræ Religionis Iherosolimorum._ Mon. Angl. V. p. 2, pp. 787 _seqq._
_De Canonicorum Ordinis Præmonstratensis Origine_, etc. Mon. Angl. V. p. 2, pp. 857 _seqq._
_Consuetudines Abbatiæ Eveshamensis._ Mon. Angl. II. 27-32.
_De officis Præcentoris._ Mon. Angl. II. p. 39.
_De Sacrista._ Mon. Angl. II. p. 40.
_Constitutiones per Decanum et Capitulum Ecclesiæ Cathedralis S. Pauli, Lond., factæ, Moniales Cœnobii S. Helenæ prope Bishop’s-gate, infra Civitatem London, tangentes._ Mon. Angl. IV. p. 553.
_Leges Monachis Hydensibus ab Edgaro Rege datæ._ Mon. Angl. II. p. 439 _seqq._
_Constitutiones Capituli Generalis O.S.B. apud Northampton_, A.D. 1225, in Mon. Angl. I. pp. xlvi.-li.
_A Consuetudinary of the Fourteenth Century for the House of St. Swithin, Winchester._ ed. G. W. Kitchen, D.D. 1886.
_Collectanea Anglo-Premonstratensia_ (Camden Soc.). 1904.
_Charters and Records of Cluni._ G. Duckett.
_Visitations of English Cluniac Foundations._ G. Duckett.
_Two Chartularies of the Priory of St. Peter at Bath._ ed. W. Hunt (Somerset Record Soc.). 1893.
_Rentalia et Custumaria of Glastonbury._ ed. C. Elton (Somerset Record Soc.).
_Woman and Monasticism._ L. Eckenstein. 1896.
_S. Gilbert of Sempringham and the Gilbertines._ Rose Graham. 1902.
_Gesta Abbatum S. Albani._ ed. Riley (Rolls Series), II. pp. 95-107, _Constitutiones Abbatis Johannis de Maryns_, c. 1308. pp. 301-316, _Constitutiones_, c. 1336. pp. 418-466, _Constitutiones Abb. Thomæ de la Mare_, c. 1386. pp. 511-519. _Constitutions for nuns of Sopwell._
_Gesta Abbatum S. Albani._ ed. Riley (Rolls Series), III. pp. 470-72. _Constitutiones Abbatis Johannis de la Moote._
_Adam de Domerham._ Hearne, p. 123. _De electione Walteri More Abbatis Cenobii Glastoniensis._
_The Register of Ralph of Shrewsbury, Bishop of Bath and Wells (1329-1363)._ ed. T. S. Holmes (Somerset Record Soc.). 1896.
_Episcopal Register of the Diocese of Winchester._ William of Wykeham. ed. T. F. Kirby (Hampshire Record Soc.). 1899.
_Episcopal Registers of the Diocese of Exeter._ Seven vols. ed. F. C. Hingeston-Randolph.
_Episcopal Register of the Diocese of Winchester_, John de Sandale and Rigaud de Asserio. ed. F. J. Baigent (Hampshire Record Soc.). 1897.
_Episcopal Registers of the Diocese of Worcester._ ed. J. Willis Bund (Worcester Hist. Soc.).
_Visitations of the Diocese of Norwich_, A.D. 1492-1532. ed. A. Jessop, D.D. (Camden Soc.). 1888.
_Rites and Customs within the Monastical Church of Durham._ ed. J. Raine (Surtees Soc.). 1842.
_The Durham Household Book._ ed. J. Raine (Surtees Soc.). 1844.
_Halmota Prioratus Dunelmensis._ ed. J. Booth (Surtees Soc.). 1886.
_Durham Account Rolls._ ed. J. T. Fowler (Surtees Soc.). 3 vols. 1898-1900.
ENGLISH MONASTIC LIFE