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Educational Organisation of the Mendicant Friars in England (Dominicans and Franciscans)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 February 2009
Extract
The absence of authentic materials will probably make it for ever impossible to recover with any degree of accuracy or fulness the history of the Mendicant Orders in England. Save for a few stray extracts embedded in other documents, all the Acts of the provincial chapters of all the four Orders in England are lost, and have been lost for centuries. It is in those Acts that one would have hoped to find the outlines of the educational organisation of the friars. In the absence of this source of information one has to rely on a few chronicles, a few letters, the general Constitutions of the Orders, the Acts of the General Chapters, the registers of the general masters, and the Acts of the provincial chapters of other provinces. But even here the Quellen are very incomplete: many have been lost; many exist only in manuscript or in very rare editions; while the manuscripts are generally difficult of access to an English student. In the present paper I have been compelled, owing to the want of materials, to omit all mention of Carmelites and Austin Friars, and to confine myself to Dominicans and Franciscans.
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- Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1894
References
page 49 note 1 The following are the chief authorities used for this paper:–
For the Dominicans: (1) Constitutiones antique Ordinis Predicatorum, anno 1228, edited by Denifle, (Archiv für Litteratur- und Kirchengeschichte des Mittelalters, vol. i.)Google Scholar; (2) Acta Select a Capitulorum Generalium Ord. Præd., edited by Martène, and Durand, (Thesaurus Novus, vol. iv.)Google Scholar; (3) extracts from the registers of the masters of the Order, in Brit. Museum, MS. Addit. 32446 (Rev. C. F. R. Palmer); (4) Douais, Essai sur l'Organisation des Eludes dans l'ordre des Frères Prêcheurs en Provence et Toulouse. [I did not see the Acts of the Provincial Chapters of Provence and Toulouse, edited by Douais 1894, in time to use them in the preparation of this paper,]
For the Franciscans: (1) General Constitutions and Acts of the General Chapters to the Year 1313, edited by Ehrle (Archiv f. L. u. K.G. vi. fasc. i.); (2) Constitutions of Benedict, xii. 1337 (MS. Bodl. Canonic. Misc. 75); (3) Analecta Franciscana, ii. (Quaracchi); (4) Monumenta Franciscana, i.
page 50 note 1 Archiv, i. 190; cf. ibid. 194, Constitutions of 1228.
page 50 note 2 Archiv, i. 221. Cf. decree of General Chapter at London, 1314, in Douais, p. 98.
page 50 note 3 Cf. Douais, pp. 12, 27, 68.
page 50 note 4 Douais, p. 53. Philosophy is generally equivalent to arts, and is sometimes applied to natural philosophy, so one may take ‘naturalium et artium’ as interpretative of ‘philosophic.’
page 50 note 5 Martène, iv. 1899–1900.
page 51 note 1 See Douais, pp. 58–61, 69; Denifle, , Universitäten i. 719–720Google Scholar.
page 51 note 2 Archiv, i. 202 (1228). A statute of the General Chapter of 1268 seems to point to the teaching of boys by the friars: ‘Item, scolares apti ad ordinem propter defectum vestium nullatenus dimittantur’ (Martène, iv. 1750).
page 51 note 3 Brit. Museum Add. MS. 32446, fol. 11 b.
page 51 note 4 ‘Conventus Jerm.’ (ibid. fol. 15).
page 51 note 5 Archiv, i. 201.
page 51 note 6 See Douais's, summary of the Libellus de instructione noviciorum, approved by the General Chapter 1283 (Douais, p. 15 seq.)Google Scholar
page 52 note 1 Archiv, 222; cf. Acta Capituli Generalis, A.D. 1243, § 6, 1246, § 23.
page 52 note 2 Martène, iv. 1903.
page 52 note 3 Douais, 59; Denifle, , Universitäten, i. 719, 720Google Scholar.
page 52 note 4 Martène, iv. 1726, § 25: ‘Item quod ordinetur in provinciis, quæ indiguerint, aliquod studium artium, vel aliqua ubi juniores instruantur.’
page 52 note 5 Douais, 3; Martène, iv. 1730; but only after they had received instruction in divine office, religion, and in observantiis regularibus (Acta Cap. Gen. 1283, § 2, Martène, 1810). This decree, however, seems to have applied only to certain specified provinces, of which England was not one.
page 52 note 6 Douais, 59, 177; cf. Martène, iv. 1957; Acta Cap. Gen. 1315: ‘studentes artium et philosophiæ … non ad conventus remotos sed proximos transmittanlur.’
page 52 note 7 Addit. MS. 32446, f. 10.
page 52 note 8 ibid. f. 14 b.
page 52 note 9 Reliquary, xix., article by Rev. Palmer, C. F. R.Google Scholar.
page 53 note 1 Acta Cap. Gen. 1297, § 9; Martène, iv. 1867, 1900.
page 53 note 2 General Chapter at Genoa, 1305 (3 years); Martène, 1900. General Chapter at Venice, 1325, and at Toulouse, 1328; Douais, 58, 70–1. The study of alchemy was frequently forbidden by the General Chapters: e.g. Martène, iv. 1831, § 10; 1943, § 10.
page 53 note 3 Addit. MS. 32446, f. 8.
page 53 note 4 In Provence in 1271 there were three studia naturalium, one for every ten convents; each studium was to have six students and one lector (Douais, 69).
page 53 note 5 Douais, p. 58; decree of the General Chapter at Venice, 1325.
page 53 note 6 Martène, iv. 1900.
page 54 note 1 Douais, 70–1. Contrast Acta Capituli Generalis apud Mediolanum, 1278, § 5, ‘Non propter studium artium fratres a studio theologiæ retrahantur;’ and Bacon, Roger, Op. Ined. 327, 426Google Scholar.
page 54 note 2 Douais, 128; cf. Acta Cap. Gen. 1288: ‘Postquam autem in aliquo studio per tres annos ad plus fuerint commorati, ipso facto sint ab illo studio absoluti, nisi,’ &c. (Martène, iv. 1824). Addit. MS. 32446, ff. 2, 8, 8 b, 16.
page 54 note 3 Martène, iv. 1947–8; Denifle, , Universitaten, i. 24Google Scholar.
page 54 note 4 The term lector principalis does not necessarily mean that there was another lector in the same convent; cf. Martène, iv. 1900, § 16.
page 54 note 5 MS. Addit. 32446; cf. grant of ten oaks for schools and six oaks for studia at Northampton in Close Roll, 42 Henry III. m. 6, 2.
page 55 note 1 Cf. Martène, 1741, § 14 (1265).
page 55 note 2 MS. Addit. 32446, ff. 2 b, 4 b, 6.
page 55 note 3 ibid. fol. 15 b.
page 55 note 4 The General Chapters of 1308, 1309, 1311, 1312 decreed that in every province there must be two studia bibliæ, in which ‘sola biblia legatur biblice;’ no friar was to be sent to a general studium until he had attended lectures on the Bible in one of these convents for a year. I find nothing about them in England. Probably the two studio bibliæ were fixed at Oxford and Cambridge.
page 55 note 5 Martène, iv. 1900; cf. ibid. 1954, § 10, 1956, § 18.
page 55 note 6 Oxf. Hist. Soc. Collectanea, ii. 226, 238; MS. Addit. 32446, f. I b, ‘quod possit stare lector in conventu Gulfordie, quousque possit prosequi Oxoniense cursorium sibi datum per acta’ (A. D. 1391).
page 55 note 7 Douais, 76, 128; cf. Martène, 1900, § 13.
page 55 note 8 MS. Addit. 32446, f. 15 b.
page 56 note 1 Acta Cap. Gen. 1261, § 21 (Martène, iv. 1730–1). There was a good deal of opposition to the reception of foreign students.
page 56 note 2 Acta Cap. Gen. 1246, § 3, Martène, iv. 1690, 1289, § 3; Martène, iv. 1830; ibid. 1870. From 1315 two students might be sent (Martène, iv. 1961, § 3). On these studentes extranei cf. Martène, iv. 1806, § 8; 1850, § 2; 1887, § 3; MS. Addit. 32446, ff. 4, 4 b, 7b; Pat. Roll, 44 Edw. III., p. I, m. 14 d; Close Rolls, 47 Edw. III. m. 10; 48 Edw. III. m. 13.
page 56 note 3 Martène, iv. 1681, 1692, 1956, § 19, &c.
page 56 note 4 Ibid. 1773, §§ 12, 13 (A.D. 1274); cf. p. 1733, § 13.
page 56 note 5 Cf. Ibid. 1956, § 19.
page 56 note 6 Ibid. 1736, § 3, 1896; MS. Addit. 32446, passim; cf. complaints about the action of the General Minister of the Franciscans, in 1304; Archiv, vi. 67.
page 57 note 1 MS. Addit. 32446, fol. 6.
page 57 note 2 Ibid.
page 57 note 3 Martène, iv. 1773, § 24; 1900, § 16; 1931, § 9.
page 57 note 4 General Chapter of 1305; Martène, iv. 1899.
page 57 note 5 Compare with this the complaint of the friars at Oxford in 1312: ‘unde licet frequenter legerit extra universitatem sententias et bibliam, tamen in universitate Oxonie non admittitur ad legendum bibliam nisi fuerit bachcllarius ut predicitur in statute’ (Oxf. Hist. Soc. Collectanea, ii. 226).
page 57 note 6 Martène, ibid.
page 58 note 1 MS. Addit. 32446, f. 2 b.
page 58 note 2 Ibid. f. 8. He was clearly to be chief lecturer: ‘et absolutus quilibet alius ibidem lector’.
page 58 note 3 Martène, 1933–4, § 28.
page 58 note 4 Ibid. 1741, § 22; 1746, § 6, &c.; MS. Addit. 32446, passim.
page 58 note 5 Denifle, , Universitäten, i. 373Google Scholar.
page 58 note 6 MS. Addit. 32446, fol. 15 (A.D. 1512), fol. 15b (1525), f. 16 (1527).
page 58 note 7 Ibid. 32446, ff. 1, 2, 3 b, &c.; Martène, iv. 1889–90, 1894.
page 58 note 8 Martène, 1800, § 8.
page 58 note 9 Ibid. 1917, § 4; 1926, § 14.
page 59 note 1 Martène, p. 1727, § 32(A.D. 1259); 1741, § 14(A. D. 1265); 1773, § 24(A. D. 1274).
page 59 note 2 Ibid. p. 1947, § 9 (1314); 1955. § 15 (1315).
page 59 note 3 Archiv, i. 220, note, 223; Martène, iv. 1941–2.
page 59 note 4 Martène, iv. 1701, §§ 22–4; 1955, § 14; 1741, § 13; 1941, §6.
page 59 note 5 Ibid. 1955, §16.
page 59 note 6 Ibid. pp. 1947–8, §9 (1314).
page 59 note 7 Ibid.
page 59 note 8 Archiv, i. 190–1.
page 60 note 1 Archiv, i. 197.
page 60 note 2 Martène, iv. 1681, § 21; 1890, § 23.
page 60 note 3 Ibid. p. 1677 (A. D. 1239); 1726, §§ 18, 24 (A. D. 1259).
page 60 note 4 Ibid. p. 1954, § 12 (A. D. I315).
page 60 note 5 Ibid. p. 1890, § 24 (A. D. 1303).
page 60 note 6 These are taken from MS. Addit. 32446.
page 60 note 7 Close Roll, 42 Hen. III. m. 2; 53 Hen. III. m. 6; Liberate Roll, 45 Hen. III. m. 6.
page 60 note 8 Martène, iv. 1974, § 8 (A. D. 1315).
page 60 note 9 MS. Addit. 32446, f. 1: ‘Item concessit fratri Johanni Muren cellam quam Rodulfus de Luda construxit in conventu Lincolniensi’.
page 61 note 1 Martène, iv. 1674, § 8 (1236); 1691, § 19 (1246); 1705, § 6 (1255).
page 61 note 2 MS. Addit. 32446, fol. 8. Cf. ibid. f. 2: ‘Item eodem die [Dec. 24, 1392] eoncessit [Magister Ordinis] fratri Henrico de Hundoyrwindeo, quod possit intrare villam et visitare amicos cum socio grato, petita prius licentia. Item ratificavit concessionem sibi factam per conventum suum de quadam camera; et quod possit in ea comedere tempore infirmitatis; et ibidem invitare fratres hospites. Item quod possit gaudere gratiis Lectorum in Conventu suo’. Cf. also Lanercost Chronicle, p. 130; a curious story which shows that the Magister Scholarum among the Oxford Franciscans had a separate camera in the thirteenth century.
page 61 note 3 Martène, iv. 1691, §19.
page 61 note 4 Ibid. 1691, § 11; 1730, § 21; 1811, § 15.
page 61 note 5 Ibid. 1953, § 6 (1315); 1894, § 4; 1899, § 9 (1304, 1305). The English Dominicans seem to have been provided with 20s. a year to buy clothes (Reliquary, xix).
page 61 note 6 Ibid. 1956, § 18 (1315).
page 62 note 1 Martène, 1768, § 15 (1273); cf. 1715, § 19 (1256).
page 62 note 2 Ibid. 1820, § 7 (1287).
page 62 note 3 Cf. Martène, Ibid.; Douais, 41 seq.
page 62 note 4 Martène, iv. 1679.
page 62 note 5 Ibid. iv. 1946, § 4 (A. D. 1314).
page 62 note 6 As to the amount of the studentia in England, compare Reliquary, xix; at King's Langley, in Edward II.'s reign, friars were maintained by the King at the rate of five marks a year for each friar; at the end of Edward III.'s reign the rate was 100s. a year for each for maintenance and 20s. for clothing. Among the Franciscans the studentia seems to have been generally 5l. a year; see Grey Friars in Oxford, p. 53.
page 63 note 1 Cf. The Grey Friars in Oxford, p. 53; Bullarium Romanum (Cherubini), i. 251; Douais, p. 40; in Provence the convent had to give to each student fifty sous tournois every year for four years, and there was a general tax levied on the province to form a central fund for the support of students. Amongst the Franciscans the convent of Paris received xii libræ Parisiensium for every student sent there before the debasement of the coinage, and the equivalent of the undepreciated xii libræ after the debasement (Archiv, vi. 52).
page 63 note 2 Martène, 1738 (1264).
page 63 note 3 MS. Addit. 32446, fol. 15.
page 63 note 4 See Douais, p. 32, for the custom in Provence. On the custom among the Franciscans see Mon. Franc., i. 354–5, 357.
page 63 note 5 MS. Addit. 32446, ff. 6, 8; John Cawod made lector 1397; ‘et confirmata fuit studentia dicti Johannis in eodem conventu’.
page 63 note 6 Grey Friars in Oxford, pp. 97–8; Fletcher's, Black Friars in Oxford, p. 7Google Scholar; Milne, , Blackfriars of Perth, p. xxiGoogle Scholar, note—grant from the customs of the town.
page 64 note 1 Mon. Franciscana, i. 38.
page 64 note 2 On disputations cf. Bacon, Roger, Opera Ined. pp. 328–9Google Scholar; Martène, iv. 1801; Douais, pp. 77–9.
page 64 note 3 Mon. Franc. i. 38.
page 64 note 4 Ibid. 319.
page 64 note 5 Close Roll, 42 Henry III., m. 6.
page 64 note 6 Harleian MS. 431, fol. 100b; one is printed in The Grey Friarsin Oxford, pp. 313–4.
page 65 note 1 Cf. Mon. Franc. i. 314.
page 65 note 2 Mon. Franc. i. 539.
page 65 note 3 Archiv, vi. 64.
page 65 note 4 Opera Ined. p. 426; see the whole passage, pp. 425–32.
page 66 note 1 General Constitutions of 1292: ‘Jura vero et phisica in scolis theologie ab eodem lectore et eodem tempore non legantur, sed alibi et alias ubi fuerit opportunum: seculares autem ad huiusmodi lectiones nullatenus admittantur’ (Archiv, vi. 108).
page 66 note 2 See The Grey Friars in Oxford, chapter iii. and appendix D.
page 66 note 3 Analecta Franciscana, ii. 276.
page 66 note 4 Provinciale Vetustissimum, ed. Fr. Eubel, C., Quaracchi, 1892Google Scholar. Eccleston omits Newcastle and Bristol, and mentions a custody of Salisbury (Man. Franc. i. 27–8). The convent of Salisbury was afterwards included in the custody of London.
page 67 note 1 Archiv, vi. 89.
page 67 note 2 Mon. Franc. i. 48.
page 67 note 3 Tanner MS. 165 (xv.), Reg. W. Molessh, in the Bodleian. Cf. Brit. Mus. Royal MS. 3DI., ‘Tabula septem custodiarum.’ Bale (MS. Seld. supra, 64, f. 32 b) says, ‘Doctores septem custodiarum Anglie, apud Minoritas, scripserunt Catalogum de libris et autoribus ex Minoritarum Bibliothecis,’ ex Lincolniensi Collegio, Oxon:' ‘Opus septem custodiarum super Biblia, ex multis doctoribus antiquis et novis; ex bibliotheca Carmelitarum Norwici.’ See Gasquet's, article in Dublin Review, 10, 1893, p. 909Google Scholar.
page 68 note 1 Mon. Franc. i. 390–1.
page 68 note 2 Ibid. 319–21.
page 68 note 3 MS. Bodl. Canonic. Misc. 75, fol. 80.
page 68 note 4 Ibid. fol. 78.
page 68 note 5 Provinciale Vetust. ut supra.
page 69 note 1 Novum Castrum may mean also Neufchâteau, in the custody of Lorraine (province of France); Neuburg on the Rhine (province of Argentina or Strassburg); Castelnuovo (province of Sicily); Castelnuovo (in the vicaria of Bosnia).
page 69 note 2 Eulogium Nistorianun, iii. 415.
page 69 note 3 Oxf. Hist. Soc. Collectanea, vol. i. part i.
page 69 note 4 See Catal. Cod. Latin. Bibl. Mediceæ Laurentianæ, tom. 5; BiH. S. Cruets, Plut. xxxvi. Cod. xii. p. 25; Catal. of MSS. in the Univ. Library, Cambridge, Ff. iv. 38, ff. 27–112; Merton Coll. Cod. vii.
page 69 note 5 Provinciate Vetustissimum, ut supra.
page 69 note 6 General Constitutions of 1260 and 1292, in Archiv, vol. i. p. 108.