A HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE 



of his goods to the same friary. Among his 

 executors were the prior, Friars William of 

 Hatfield, John of Burton, and Thomas de Grene 

 of Lancashire, then a servant of the prior and 

 convent.' A provincial chapter was held at 

 this friary in 1376.° The friars in 1397 re- 

 ceived the royal pardon, on paying 20s., for acquir- 

 ing without licence several small plots, worth 

 1 2s. 6d. a year, ' for the enlargement of the 

 entrance and exit of their church.^ Two friars 

 of the house, John Slaydburn and John Belton, 

 were appointed papal chaplains in 1398 and 

 1402/ 



John of Gaunt was regarded as one of the 

 founders,' and his son Henry of Bolingbroke on 

 his journey from Ravenspur in July 1399 

 lodged at the friary,' where also Edward IV was 

 entertained in 1470, Henry VII in i486, and 

 the Princess Margaret Tudor in I 503.*" Edward 

 IV in 1472 conferred the privilege, of a corpora- 

 tion on the convent, 'which is cf the foundation 

 of the king's progenitors and of the king's 

 patronage,' and licensed the friars to acquire 

 lands to the yearly value of ;^20." At the 

 beginning of the i6th century the Earl of 

 Northumberland claimed the title of founder of 

 the house.'' 



Several members of the house attained some 

 distinction as writers. Such were John Marrey, 

 who died in 1407,*' John CoUey who flourished 

 c. 1440,'^ John Sutton, provincial prior 1468," 

 and Henry Parker, who got into trouble by 

 preaching on the poverty of Christ and His apos- 

 tles and attacking the secular clergy at Paul's 

 Cross in 1464 ; he is probably the author of the 

 dialogue entitled Dives et Pauper which was 

 printed both by Pynson and by Wynkyn de 

 Worde at the end of the 15th century." 

 John Breknoke, keeper of the Dragon Inn at 

 Doncaster, left the friars some books in 1505." 



Among those buried in the church were 

 William and Ellen Leicester about 1450, 

 Elizabeth Amyas who in 1 45 1 desired to be 

 buried before the image of the Virgin Mary ; 



' Test. Eior. i, 82, where the date is twice mis- 

 printed 1346. Many bequests are noted by F. R. 

 F.iirbank in Vorks. Ar^h. "Journ. xii, xiii. 



' Tanner, Bibhothecc:, 562 



^ Pat. 20 Ric. II, pt. ii, m. 22. 



' Cal. of Papal Lctten, iv, 305, 315. 



» B.M. Karl. MS. 539, fol. 144. 



" Hardyn, Chron. (ed. Ellis), 353. 



'° Torks. Arch. Journ. xiii, 267-8. 



" Pat. 12 Edw. \X , pt. ii, m. 4. 



" Northumb. Household Bk. (ed. T. Percy), 338, 339 

 (20/. a year toward the buying of their store). Henry 

 Percy, Earl of Northumberland, in his will made 

 14S5, left these friars ^^20 ; Test. Ebor. iii, 304. 



" Diet. Nat. Biog. xxxvi, 196. 



" Ibid, xi, 337. " Tanner, Bibl. 700 n. 



" Ibid. 574 ; Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. viii, App. iii, 

 107 ; Diet. Nat. Biog. xliii, 237 ; Fuller, fVorthies. 



" Test. Ebjr. iv, 239. 



Sir Robert Willis, kt., who took part in War- 

 wick's plots and was executed at Doncaster in 

 March 1469-70, and his wife Elizabeth daughter 

 of John Bourchier, Lord Berners, 1470 ;" and 

 Margaret Cobham, wife of Ralph Nevill, second 

 Earl of Westmorland, who was buried in 1484 

 in ' a goodly tomb of white marble,' which was 

 afterwards removed to the parish church.'^ 

 Many of the bequests were made to ' Our Lady 

 of Doncaster,' a wonder-working image of the 

 Virgin, before which the hair shirt of Earl 

 Rivers was hung after his execution in 1483.*" 

 To this image Sir Hugh Hastings left a taper of 

 wax in 1482,'' Katherine Hastings, his widow, 

 ' her tawny chamlett gown ' in 1 506, Alice 

 West her best beads in 1520, John Hewett of 

 Friston-super-aquam one penny in 1521, the 

 sister of Geoffrey Proctor of Bordley a girdle 

 and beads about 1524, while the Earl of 

 Northumberland gave 1 31. \d. a year to keep a 

 light burning before Our Lady.'' On 15 July 

 1524 William Nicholson of Townsburgh 

 attempted to cross the Don with an iron-bound 

 wain in which were Robert Leche and his wife 

 and their two children ; being overwhelmed by 

 the stream they called on our Lady of Doncaster 

 and by her help came safely ashore ; they came 

 to the White Friars and returned thanks on 

 St. Mary Magdalen's Day, when ' this gracious 

 miracle was rung and sung in the presence of 

 300 people and more.' " 



On the eve of the Dissolution the house was 

 divided against itself. The famous John Bale, 

 about 1530, being then a friar at Doncaster, and 

 perhaps prior, taught one William Broman ' that 

 Christ would dwell in no church made of lime 

 and stone by man's hands, but only in heaven 

 above and in man's heart on earth."* 



In the Pilgrimage of Grace, though the lords 

 used the White Friars as their head quarters 

 while negotiating with Robert Aske at Doncas- 

 ter,'' the prior, Lawrence Coke, supported the 

 rebellion. He was imprisoned in the Tower 

 and in Newgate, condemned by Act of Attainder 

 a few days before Cromwell's fall, but pardoned 

 on 2 October i 540 ; it is not clear whether the 

 pardon was issued in time to save him from 

 execution." 



" Hunter, South Torks. i, 15-17 ; Test. Ebor. v, 17. 



" Leland, Itin. i, 36. '° Rous, Hist. 2 1 3-14. 



" Test. Ebor. iii, 274. 



" Torks. Arch. Journ. xiii, 270 ; Northumb. House- 

 hold Bk. 338. 



^ Torks. Arch. Journ. xiii, 558; Hist. MSS. Com, 

 xiv, App. iv, I. 



" L.andP. Hen. nil, ix, 230. 



" Engl. Hist. Rev. v, 341 ; L. and P. Hen. Fill, 

 xii (I), 6. 



"i. and P. Hen. Fill, xii (i), 852, 854 ; (2), 

 181; xiii (i), 1024; XV, pp. 215, 217; xvi, 

 220 (7) ; Burnet, Reformation (ed. Pocock), i, 566 ; 

 Gasquet, Hen. Fill and the Engl. Mon. ii, 366. 



268 



