RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



FRIARIES 



19. THE HOUSE OF THE DOMIN- 

 ICANS OF WINCHESTER 



At the second general chapter of his Order 

 held at Bologna in May, 1221, St. Dominic 

 decided to send thirteen friars to England to 

 establish the Dominicans in that country. 

 This first missionary band of friars-preachers 

 journeyed in the train of Bishop Peter des 

 Roches, who was then returning to his 

 diocese. The bishop first endeavoured, in 

 1225, to establish these Dominicans at Ports- 

 mouth ; but the project fell through, probably 

 owing to his absence from his diocese from 

 1226 till 1230. The date of their establish- 

 ment at Winchester is somewhat uncertain, 

 but it was between 1231 and 1234.* 



According to Matthew Paris, it was one of 

 these friars who preached the crusade in 

 Winchester in 1 234, when Richard, Earl of 

 Cornwall, the king's brother, and many other 

 magnates took the cross. The site assigned 

 for their convent was in the High Street, 

 near the Eastgate, with the river Itchen on 

 the east and Busket Street on the west. The 

 ground round the house, exclusive of the 

 buildings, was about 2| acres, for which they 

 paid to the Crown the yearly rent of 35. ^d. 



Henry III. was their munificent patron 

 throughout his reign, particularly in helping 

 them with their buildings. In 1235, he 

 gave forty oaks for building out of the forest 

 of Bere ; in 1236, ten oaks out of the same 

 forest for fuel ; in 1239, loos., and in 

 1240, 2O marks for building; in 1246, 15 

 marks for the works; in 1256, ten oaks to 

 finish the frater ; in 1260, six oaks fit for 

 timber towards their church, then in progress ; 

 in 1261, six oaks fit for timber out of Pembere 

 Forest, which the bailiffs of Southampton were 

 to deliver; in 1262, ten oaks; in 1265, 

 twelve oaks fit for timber ; in 1269 ten good 

 oaks for the repair and ornamenting of the 

 church*; in 1270, six good oaks for ceiling 

 the church, then approaching completion ; 

 and in 1271, ten more oaks, five from 

 Porchester Forest and five from Pembere, for 

 the construction of the farmery. 



The king further bestowed on the Win- 

 chester Dominicans other gifts in kind, the 

 record of which affords information as to 

 their number. In 1239, each of the twenty- 

 eight friars received from Henry III. a pair of 



1 Reliquary, iii. (n.s.) 207 (Rev. C. F. R. 

 Palmer). 



8 Ad eccksiam suam mde reparandam et lam- 

 bruiscandam. 



shoes and four ells of cloth tor tunics. Like 

 gifts of clothing were made for the next five 

 years, when the friars numbered thirty-one. 

 In 1261 they had a royal grant of^ioto 

 buy winter clothing and shoes. Cartloads of 

 wood or dead oaks for fuel were frequently 

 granted them by the Crown, and on one 

 occasion a tun of wine. 3 



In 1266 licence was granted by the Crown 

 for the friars to enclose a small lane which 

 was adjacent to their site. 



The church of the friars-preachers of Win- 

 chester was dedicated to St. Katharine, the 

 patroness of the Order. The buildings when 

 finished could accommodate from forty to 

 fifty of the friars. Edward I. did much 

 for the house, but now that it was finished 

 there was not the same necessity for royal 

 bounty. He gave them on several occasions 

 leafless or dead oaks for fuel, and in 1298 

 ten oaks fit for timber out of the forest of 

 Bere. 4 



When the king visited Winchester in 

 1302, he gave this convent an alms of 385. 

 for three days' food. When Edward II. 

 visited the city on 29 April, 1325, he gave 

 to the forty-six Dominican friars an alms of 

 1 55. 6d. for a day's food, being at the rate of 

 Hfd. a head. Edward III. on his arrival in 

 Winchester on 23 November, 1331, found 

 thirty-six friars in the convent, and rendered 

 an alms of 1 2s. for the like purpose. 5 



When the provincial chapter was held at 

 Winchester in 1259, Henry III. gave the 

 friars IODJ. towards their expenses. In 1315 

 a provincial chapter was again held at Win- 

 chester, when Edward gave iocw. or three 

 days' food for himself, and the like amount 

 both for his queen and for his son Edward. 

 When the Order assembled here on 16 

 February, 1339, Edward III. gave the like 

 sum of 15 ; and on 21 October he 

 diverted to the same purpose the 20 which 

 the Crown usually bestowed on the general 

 chapter, as the chapter of that year was held 

 at Clermont, France, with which country 

 England was then at war. 6 



Some information has already been given 

 with regard to episcopal licences to the 

 Dominicans and other friars for preaching and 



3 The references to the Close and Liberate 

 Rolls for all these grants are given in Father 

 Palmer's article on this house, Reliquary, iii. (n.s.) 

 207-15. 



4 Close, 27 Edw. I. m. 13. 



8 Expense Rolls, cited by Father Palmer. 



Ibid. 



189 



