Page:Chronicle of the Grey friars of London.djvu/15

 alderman (sheriff in 1270 and 1273), who also presented all the brazen pots necessary for the kitchen, infirmary, and other offices; the dormitory was erected by sir Gregory de Rokesley, mayor from 1275 to 1282; the refectory by Bartholomew de Castro, another citizen; the infirmary by Peter de Helyland; and the studies by Bonde, king of the heralds.

The principal contributor to the cost of supplying the convent with water was William, called from his trade the Taylor, and who served King Henry the Third in that capacity. The chapter of the Register from which these particulars are abstracted may be transcribed as a specimen of this very curious record:— Prima fundacio ecclesiæ Fratrum Minorum London. In primis, quæ postmodum facta est magna pars Chori, construxit eis dominus Willielmus Joyner, et ad alias domos construendas donavit per vices expensas .cc. libras sterlingorum.

ecclesiæ construxit magnis sumptibus dominus Henricus de Galis [i. e. Waleys], maior London. et per multos annos redditus quos fratres solvebant diversis domibus alicorum religiosorum redemit, et fratres de illis redditibus deoneravit; cujus memoria in benedictione sit eterna. Amen.

eis construxit dominus Walterus le potter, civis et aldermanus London. et omnia vasa erea pro coquina, infirmaria, et aliis officinis necessaria eciam donavit.

constructum est de bonis communibus. [This was a slip of the writer's pen, for it was against the rule of his order to claim any property whatever, so he added, elimosinis scilicet, and made this insertion, Frater Thomas Feltham istud elongavit et multipliciter adornavit armariis tam inferius quam superius. Et aquaductum de pissina communis lavatorii illud [l. illuc] adduxit, [et] multa utilia a[lia] procuravit. Stevens has mistranslated this, "and brought thither the Aqueduct of most pure Water for the common Washing," instead of," And he brought thither a water-pipe from the cistern of the Common Lavatory," ''which was in the Cloister, as is stated more precisely afterwards. In the letters patent of 38 Hen. VIII. it is described as'' "unum lavacrum cupri duplicatum cum plumbo continentem per estimationem in longitudine octodecim acras et in profunditate duos pedes et dimidium."

Dormitorium totum cum lectis et cameris necessariis construxit dominus Gregorius de Rokysley maior Londinensis.

construxit dominus Bartholomeus de Castro civis Londinensis, et pavit semper fratres in die sancti Bartholomei.

vero quæ se extendunt in longum versus austrum constructa fuerunt de diversis communibus elimosinis. Sed dominus Henricus de Galeys dedit meremeum, cujus memoria in benedictione sit. Amen. Stevens apparently misread meremeum (the timber) as incrementum, for he has translated it "the Improvement."

construxit pro magna parte Petrus de Helyland, dando ad ejus constructionem. c. libras sterlingorum.

pro magna parte constructa fuerunt de bonis Bonde Regis heraldorum. Le roi de heraus. Stevens misread the latter words Henry Heruns. ''The party is a king of the heralds not mentioned in Noble's History of the College of Arms. Stowe calls him Bevis Bond, I suspect from misreading the words bonis Bonde, which are both in red ink, like other proper names in the MS. Mr. Trollope (P. 8) has altered Bevis to Roger, I do not know whether on any authority.''

construxerunt infra scripti. In primis caput aqueductus contulit Willielmus Taylour, sartor domini Henrici regis tercii post conquestum, ad instanciam fratris Willielmi de Basynges, qui totum aqueductum procuravit et usque ad finem complevit. Set expensas sive sumptus administraverunt felicis recordationis dominus Henricus rex Angliæ illustris supramemoratus, Salekynus de Basynge optimæ indolis adolescens, dominus Henricus de Frowyke, et dominus Henricus de Basynges milites. Isti fuerunt cooperatores et coadjutores præcipui. Et postea frater Galfridus de Camera novam domum in secundo capite construxit et antiquam melioravit, et omnes defectus notabiles investigavit et correxit, et multa bona pro eodem procuravit et fecit; cujus adjutores præcipui fuerunt Alanus Gille cum consorte sua civis Lond', dominus Henricus Darcy qui dedit .c. solidos pro cistrina de bonis, Johannes Tryple eciam coadjuvantes opus compleverunt. Pro cujus eciam anima fratres minores habuerunt Londini omnibus computatis .c. et x li. et xvij s. v d. qa. Cujus animæ propicietur Deus. Amen. ''Though these latter clauses are not very clear, it would seem that the rents, amounting to 110l. 17s. 5¼d. were wholly derived from the benefactions of John Tryple, or from his goods after death, for the true reading is very probably'' de bonis Johannis Tryple. Stevens, however, has given a very different version: "The Friars Minors had at London, all Things computed, 110l. 17s. 5¼d., to whose Souls God be merciful, Amen."

[Next follows, "Ut sciatur posicio canalium aqueductus fratrum Minorum Lond' "—a very curious description. The main channel or pipe is traced under Newgate, through the rivulet at Holborn-bridge, up Leather-lane ("Liwrone-lane"), and so to the conduit-heads in the fields. Having a vacant page, I have appended this to the Preface, at p. xxxiv.

Postmodum autem frater Thomas de Feltham de pissina communis lavacri in claustro lavatorium ad vestibulum advexit, et multa bona in vestibulo expendit anno domini M$l$,cc. (blank). Item anno domini 1422$o$ renovata sunt lavacra in claustro, cum deposito fratris Roberti Yongge. Summa expensarum 27 li. 9 s. 1 d. ob.

cum cameris versus Infirmariam procuravit frater Ricardus Knotte, et multa alia bona habuerunt fratres de procuratione ejus a Willielmo Albone.

cum Locutorio dispensa, cum cameris, et alia edificia necessaria constructa sunt de bonis communibus sicut fieri poterant, quia parva erant omnia et non multum sumptuosa; et in hiis morabantur fratres usque ad annum domini 136$o$. Tempore vero prædicto multum crevit erga fratres et conventum devotio et affectio fidelium, et secundum eam consequenter crevit fratrum numerosa multitudo in tantum quod aliquando centum, aliquando plures, et raro pauciores conventuales fratres London' habebantur. Et loca constructa quæ pro paucis sufficiebant postea tam multis sufficere non poterant, et idcirco nova et ampliora fideles inceperunt ipsis construere prout inferius declaratur. &c. &c. Waleys was then reappointed, and died mayor in 1302; after which Sir John le Blount was mayor during the six remaining years of Edward's reign. It is very possible that Waleys and Rokesley had the credit of erecting the buildings of the Grey Friars, not because they were done at their personal expense, but by contributions of the citizens under their patronage and superintendence. Waleys was apparently an equal or greater benefactor to the house of Franciscan Sisters without Aldgate, in whose chapel his bones were laid to rest. See the note upon him in the French Chronicle of London, p. 12.