RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



engrailed. Legend : sigillum : coSIune : 



FRATRUM : PREDIC : DE : LANGELEYE. 



A 16th-century seal/' of the same shape but 

 slightly larger, shows the coronation of the 

 Virgin in a niche with two-arched canopy. 

 On each side there is a smaller canopied niche ; 

 the one on the left containing St. Margaret, 

 crowned, standing on the dragon, which she 

 pierces with a long cross, and holding in her 

 right hand a book ; in that on the right is an 

 archbishop with mitre and crozier. Below is 

 the founder on his knees under a carved round- 

 headed arch ; he holds a church and in front 

 of him on the ground is his crown. Legend : 



.... VENT . MONAST'iI DE LAN . . Y. The 



counterseal shows two impressions of a shield- 

 shaped signet with arms, a bend engrailed 

 between six fleurs de hs with three crosslets 

 fitchy on the bend, the ownership of which is 

 unknown. 



16. THE FRIARS MINORS OF WARE 



The Franciscan priory of Ware owed its 

 foundation to Thomas second Lord Wake of 

 Liddell, who received the king's permission in 

 February 1338 to give to the Friars Minors a 

 messuage and 7 acres of land in Ware for an 

 oratory, houses and other buildings.^* In Sep- 

 tember 1350 the pope confirmed the acceptance 

 of the site by the minister-provincial and Friars 

 Minors in England.^^ Land for the enlargement 

 of the priory was granted to the friars in 1 372 by 

 Blanche Lady Wake.^' For their maintenance 

 the community depended mainly on alms. They 

 thus came into colhsion with the Franciscans of 

 Cambridge, on whose complaint they were 

 forbidden by the pope in August 1395 to extend 

 their bounds for begging and preaching within 

 5 miles of any place, except Puckeridge, which 

 before their house was founded had belonged 

 to the district of the Cambridge friars.^' 



Henry IV, after the death and forfeiture of 

 Thomas Holland Earl of Kent, allowed them 

 the underwood of an acre of wood near Ware, 

 two cartloads of hay from the meadows there, 

 and the fishery of the water along the priory 

 during such time as the late earl's property 

 remained in his hands." 



" B.M. Seals, xlv, 38, 39. 



^^ Cal. Pat. 1338-4.0, p. 14. Weever, Chauncy 

 and others, confusing it with the alien priory, dated 

 its foundation far too early (R. Waters, 'Priory of 

 Ware,' East Herts. Arch. Soc. Trans, i [i], 41). 



1' Cal. of Papal Letters, iii, 394 ; Wadding, ^»W« 

 Minorum, viii, 75. 



" Pat. 46 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 32. 



" Cal. of Papal Letters, iv, 5 1 7. 



^^ Cal. Pat. 1 399-1401, p. 226. The Earl of 

 Kent was the heir of the Wakes through his grand- 

 mother Joan, Princess of Wales. The friars pro- 

 bably enjoyed these privileges under the Wakes and 

 Hollands. 



They must have derived some advantage from 

 burials in their church," from legacies"" and 

 probably from obits, though only one is recorded, 

 that of Thomas Hyde, established in 1525.^ 

 But the house must always have been small 

 and poor, and its obscurity was perhaps the 

 reason why Roger Donwe or Dewe, the minister- 

 provincial, removed for just causes in 1430,"^ 

 was sent here to end his days."* 



The royal supremacy was duly acknowledged 

 by the convent in May 1534."^ The warden seems 

 to have been friendly with Lord Hussey in 

 1537,^^ but there is no evidence to connect him 

 with the religious troubles. The surrender of 

 the priory took place in the autumn of 1538."' 

 Its lands, including the site,"' were worth only 

 2()s. %d. a year. 



Wardens of the Friars of Ware 



Paul, occurs 3 October 1525 "* 



Thomas Chapman, S.T.B., occurs 5 May 1534^^ 



The contemporary seal*" is a pointed oval. 

 On the right kneels the founder. Lord Wake, 

 in armour, with a shield of his arms ; oppo- 

 site to him is his wife, Blanche of Lancaster. 

 The object of their adoration seems to be the 

 Crucified. The field is powdered with stars ; 

 there is a httle tree between the two worshippers 

 and a larger one at each side. Below, under 

 a four-centred arch, the warden is represented 

 in prayer. Legend : s' gardiani (fratrvm) 

 minorvm de ware. 



17- 



THE CARMELITE FRIARS OF 

 HITCHIN 



The CarmeUte priory of St. Mary in Hitchin 

 was founded in 1317, apparently by Edward II, 



18 Weever {Anttent Funeral Monum. 312) records 

 two or three burials here. 



"" Elizabeth de Burgh, Lady Clare, bequeathed 

 them 40/. in 1 355 (Nichols, Royal Wills, 23, 33) ; 

 and they are mentioned in other wills {Herts. Gen. 

 and Antiq. i, 47, 3^6 [2], 318 ; ii, 91 [2], 238 ; 

 iii, 274 ; P.C.C. 21, Bodfelde ; 22, Porch). 



21 Add. Chart. 36070. 



22 Wadding, op. cit. x, 1 69. 



^^ Monum. Francis. (Rolls Ser.), i, 539; Little, 

 The Grey Friars in Oxford, 259. 



2< L. and P. Hen. Fill, vii, 665 (2). 

 ""Ibid, xii (2), 2 (3); 157 (2)- 



26 The Bishop of Rochester wrote to Cromwell 

 27 Sept. 1538 offering to bring about its 

 surrender (ibid, xiii [2], 437), which was made, 

 however, to the Bishop of Dover (ibid. 102 1). It 

 seems to have been in the king's hands about 

 Michaelmas 1538 (Mlns. Accts. Hen. VIII, 



no. 1617). ,..,, 



27 Rented at 20/. (Mins. Accts. Hen. VIU, 



no. 1617). 



28 Add. Chart. 36070. 



29 L. and P. Hen. Vlll, vii, 665 (2). 



30 B.M. Seals, Ixiv, 73. 



45 T 



