A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



provided for at Langley from the Exchequer 

 did not exceed twenty, apparently increased by 

 twenty under his will." 



The priory of King's Langley was refounded 

 by PhiUp and Mary in June 1557 *" as a house 

 of Dominican sisters, at the request, and for 

 the benefit of seven nuns, formerly at Dartford. 

 The prioress and convent were declared a cor- 

 porate body, having perpetual succession and 

 power to acquire property and to sue and be 

 sued at law. They were given the house and 

 site of the late friary, ^"^ the land called ' le 

 Courte Wike ' in King's Langley which had 

 belonged to the priory, and a house and build- 

 ings within ' the old manor ' lying near the 

 pales of the royal park. 



On 8 September 1558 ** the king and queen 

 granted to the Prioress and convent of Langley 

 the reversion of certain tenements in Dartford, 

 formerly demesne lands of the nuns of that 

 place, and until the expiration of the lease, 

 the rent of 3^30 fs. jd. They gave also, besides 

 other demesne lands, the house of the late 

 nunnery with the property in Dartford assigned 

 after its suppression to Anne of Cleves, and 

 it has been supposed ^ that the nuns now 

 returned to Dartford. In any case, the convent's 

 existence was very short. Queen Mary died 

 in November of that year, and by an Act 

 passed in Elizabeth's first Parliament all 

 restorations or foundations of monasteries since 

 the death of Edward VI were made void, and 

 their possessions given to the Crown.^ 



Elizabeth Cressener *^ was the only prioress. 



Priors of King's Langley 



John de Warefeld, 1308-15 ** 



Robert de Duffeld, appointed 13 15," occurs 



October 1316** and 1319*' 

 Roger de Woderowe, occurs 1 3 29 and 1 340 *" 

 John de Dunstable, died c. 1343 ^ 



'9 Nichols, Royal Wills, 60. 



*" Pat. 3 & 4 Phil, and Mary, pt. vii, m. 23. 

 Cardinal Pole instituted the nunnery at the wish of 

 the king and queen. 



*' From the report on the place in 1554-5 (Aug. 

 Off. Misc. [Exch. Q.R.], bdle. 83, no. 13) the priory 

 was habitable. 



82 Pat. 5 & 6 Phil, and Maiy, pt. iii, m. 20. 



83 Rev. C. F. R. Palmer, ' Prelates of the Black 

 Friars of England,' Antiq. xxvii, 114. 



8* Stat. I Eliz. cap. 24. Palmer says the house 

 was suppressed July 1559- 



85 Pat. 3 & 4 Phil, and Mary, pt. vii, m. 23. 



8S Rev. C. F. R. Palmer, ' Prelates of the Black 

 Friars of England,' Jntiq. xxvii, 1 14. 



8^ Ibid. 



^ Cal. Close, 1307-13, p. 438. 



89 Rev. C. F. R. Palmer, ' The King's Confessors,' 

 Antiq. xxii, 1 5 9. 



90 Rev. C. F. R. Palmer, ' Prelates of the Black 

 Friars,' Antiq. xxvii, 1 14. 



" Ibid. 



John Woderowe, occurs 9 June 1356** 



Thomas Walsh, occurs 1374" 



John, occurs October 1384 •* 



William Syward, occurs January 1394-5 •• 



Philip Boydon, occurs 1426 •• 



John Henle," removed before May 1427 •• 



John de Hunden, D.D., resigned in 1458 on 



becoming Bishop of Llandaff '• 

 William Wignale, S.T.D., occurs 16 July 



1458 w 

 Thomas Welles, occurs 14 July 1466' 

 Richard Wycherley, resigned on becoming 



Bishop of ' Olivence ' * 

 Thomas Powel or Poynes, occurs 1494'- 



c. 1498* 

 Richard Wycherley, Bishop of ' Olivence,' 



appointed 1498-9, died c. 1502-3 ' 

 Robert, occurs c. 1502-3 • 

 Thomas Cowper, S.T.B., occurs 15 19 ' 

 Robert Mylys or Miles, occurs 1522 ' 

 Richard Yngworth, S.T.P., occurs 1530 • and 



December 1537^° 



A 15th-century seal of the house,*^ in shape 

 a pointed oval, bears a representation of the 

 Annunciation in a niche of very elaborate 

 design, below which the royal founder kneels 

 in prayer. On either side of him is a shield 

 not of the arms of Edward II, but of France 

 and England. Of the legend only two letters 

 survive. 



A later seal,^ also a pointed oval, repre- 

 sents our Lord in majesty. In the base, 

 under a carved four-centred arch, is the king 

 as in the earlier seal. The inner border is 



92 Cal Pat. 1354-8, p. 444. 



»» Rev. C. F. R. Palmer, ' Prelates of the Black 

 Friars,' Antiq. xxvii, 114. 



" Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf 177, no. 47. 



9' Ibid. no. 49. He was Prior of London in 1382 

 {V.C.H. Lond. i, 502) and vicar-general of the order 

 in England in 1387 (Chan. Warr. [Ser. i], file 175, 

 no. 7). 



*^ He ceased to be prior then {Antiq. xxvii, 1 14). 



" He succeeded Boydon (Antiq. loc. cit.). 



'8 Cal. Papal Letters, vii, 514. 



" Antiq. xxvi, 212. 



100 Add. Chart. 27339. 



1 Cal. Pat. 1461-7, p. 556. 



^ Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 266, no. 2. 



3 Antiq. xxvii, 1 1 4. 



* Early Chan. Proc. bdle. 266, no. 2. 



' Ibid. He rendered his accounts 17 Hen. VII, 

 i.e., 1 501— 2, after holding office four years, and must 

 have died shordy afterwards, since his successor Robert 

 petitioned the chancellor on the subject of hii 

 executors in 1502-3. 



« Ibid. 



' Antiq. loc. cit. 



8 Ibid. 



9 B.M. Seals, xlv, 41. 



10 L. and P. Hen. hll, xii (2), 1 1 56. 

 " B.M. Scab, bdv, 69. 



" Ibid, xlv, 40. 



450 



