A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



Father Palmer collected a large number of 

 small bequests made to these friars by will, 

 between 1355 and I5O&. 1 



The provincial chapter of the Dominicans was 

 held at Sudbury in 1316. The king gave 15 for 

 the food of the friars on this occasion, being $ 

 for himself and 5 for his queen, and ^5 for his 

 son Edward. On 24 August the ' de orando pro 

 rege et regina,' &c., was issued to the assembly. 

 The province met here again in 1368, when 

 Edward III made a like donation.* 



This priory was suppressed some time before 

 October, 1539, for in that month Thomas Eden, 

 clerk of the king's council, and Griselda his wife 

 obtained a grant of the site and appurtenances in 

 as full manner as John Cotton, the last prior, 

 held the same. 5 



Weever has a long list of distinguished burials 

 in this church, which includes, in addition to the 

 founders, many members of the families of 

 Gifford, Cressenon, Walgrave, and St. Quintyn. 4 

 The most noteworthy member of this com- 

 munity was John Hodgkin, who took a 

 prominent part in the Reformation movement 

 immediately preceding the dispersion of the 

 friars. He was a D.D. of Cambridge and taught 

 theology in the convent of Sudbury. In 1527 

 he was appointed provincial by the English 

 Dominicans. In February, 1529-30, Godfrey 

 Jullys, prior of Sudbury, and the brethren granted 

 him the use of a house to the west of their 

 church, with garden and stabling, at a yearly 

 rental of I 5*., so long as he was provincial. On 

 the establishment of the royal supremacy in 

 1534 Hodgkin was regarded with some sus- 

 picion, and court influence procured his deposi- 

 tion and the appointment of John Hilsey as 

 provincial in his place. Hodgkin endeavoured 

 to get reinstated, and he wrote a sycophantic 

 and meanly submissive letter to Cromwell, 

 declaring that he would be ' ever ready to do in 

 the most lowly manner such service as he shall 

 be commanded.' Towards the end of 1536 he 

 was restored to the office of provincial ; and the 

 priory of Sudbury, ' considering the help and 

 comfort they had by the presence of Master 

 Doctor Hodgkin provincial,' renewed the lease 

 of his lodging at the reduced rental of 131. ^.d. 

 On 3 December, 1537, he was appointed by 

 the king one of the suffragan bishops, and was 

 consecrated at St. Paul's on 9 December under 

 the title of bishop of Bedford. On the suppres- 

 sion of the friary of Sudbury, Hodgkin had his 

 lease registered in the Court of Augmentation, 

 and continued to reside there till February, 

 1541. At that date he obtained the vicarage of 

 Walden, Essex, and afterwards other preferment. 

 He did active work as suffragan and married in 

 the reign of Edward VI. When Mary came 



1 Re/ijuaiy, xxiv, 82-4. * Ibid. 84. 



1 Pat. 31 Hen. VIII, pt. iv, m. 38. 

 1 Weever, Funeral Monuments, 743, 778. 



to the throne he was deprived of his preferments, 

 but repudiating his wife and expressing penitence 

 obtained a dispensation and preferment from 

 Cardinal Pole. On the accession of Elizabeth 

 Hodgkin was quite ready to conform yet again, 

 and took part in several consecrations of bishops. 

 He died in 1560. 



37. THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS OF 

 BURY ST. EDMUNDS 



In the year 1238 both the Dominicans and 

 the Franciscan friars endeavoured to establish 

 themselves at Bury ; but the legate Otho was 

 then at the great monastery, and being dis- 

 couraged by him the Dominicans desisted from 

 their attempts. 6 



The Franciscans, however, persisted in their 

 efforts, and at last they obtained a bull in their 

 favour from Alexander IV. Relying on this, 

 they entered Bury on 22 June, 1257, an ^ hastily 

 established themselves in a farm at the north end 

 of the town. The officials of the abbey remon- 

 strated with them, but in vain, and at last the 

 monks, in spite of the papal bull, expelled them 

 with ignominy, though without personal violence. 

 The friars appealed to Rome, and the pope wrote 

 severely to the convent, enjoining the primate 

 and the dean of Lincoln to induct them into 

 another homestead which had been granted them 

 on the west side of the town. Accordingly the 

 treasurer of Hereford cathedral, as the commis- 

 sary of the archbishop, and the dean of Lincoln 

 in person arrived at Bury, gave their judgement 

 in the parish church of St. Mary, and invested 

 the friars in their new premises. The monks, 

 however, in their indignation, drove out both 

 friars and delegates from the town. 



The next step of the Franciscans was to lay 

 their grievance at the foot of the throne, when 

 Henry III, specially urged by his queen, espoused 

 the side of the mendicants, and caused the friars, 

 backed by the civil power, to be established on 

 the western site in April, 1258. Here they 

 rapidly raised buildings and remained for between 

 five and six years. After the death of Alexan- 

 der IV, the monks laid their case before his 

 successor, Urban IV, with the result that the new 

 pope ordered the friars to pull down their build- 

 ings and abandon the ground. The friars obeyed, 

 and reconciliation was effected between them 

 and the monks on 19 November, 1262. On 

 leaving the town itself the monks granted the 

 friars a site beyond the north gate, just outside 

 the town jurisdiction, called Babwell, and here 

 they continued till the dissolution. 



There was some delay on the part of the friars 

 in carrying out their promise, but they finally 

 quitted the town in November, 1263. Their 



4 Arch. Journ. xxxv, 162-5. 



6 Arnold, Memorials (Rolls Ser.), ii, 30. 



124 



