London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the Greyfriars was a

Conventual Franciscan The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (O.F.M. Conv.) is a male religious fraternity in the Catholic Church and a branch of the Franciscan Order. Conventual Franciscan Friars are identified by the affix O.F.M. Conv. after their names. They are ...

friary A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may ...

that existed from 1225 to 1538 on a site at the North-West of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

Newgate Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...

in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of St Nicholas in the Shambles. It was the second Franciscan religious house to be founded in the country. The establishment included a

conventual The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (O.F.M. Conv.) is a male religious fraternity in the Catholic Church and a branch of the Franciscan Order. Conventual Franciscan Friars are identified by the affix O.F.M. Conv. after their names. They are ...

church that was one of the largest in London, and a '' studium'' or regional university, with an extensive library of logical and theological texts. It was an important intellectual centre in the early fourteenth century, rivalled only by

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

in status. Members of the community at that time included

William of Ockham William of Ockham or Occam ( ; ; 9/10 April 1347) was an English Franciscan friar, scholastic philosopher, apologist, and theologian, who was born in Ockham, a small village in Surrey. He is considered to be one of the major figures of medie ...

, Walter Chatton and

Adam Wodeham Adam of Wodeham, OFM (1298–1358) was a philosopher and theologian. Currently, Wodeham is best known for having been a secretary of William Ockham and for his interpretations of John Duns Scotus. But Wodeham was also an influential thinker in h ...

. It flourished in the fourteenth and fifteenth century but in the 16th century, it was dissolved at the instigation of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries of 1538.

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

was founded in the old conventual buildings, and the church was rebuilt completely by

Sir Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren FRS (; – ) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was acc ...

Christ Church Greyfriars Christ Church Greyfriars, also known as Christ Church Newgate Street, was a church in Newgate Street, opposite St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. Established as a monastic church in the thirteenth century, it became a parish church afte ...

after the original church was almost completely destroyed in the

Great Fire of London The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through central London from Sunday 2 September to Wednesday 5 September 1666, gutting the medieval City of London inside the old London Wall, Roman city wall, while also extendi ...

of 1666, and Wren's church was ruined in the London bombing of World War II. A memorial garden occupies the ruins, and a building now stands on part of the priory, designed by

Arup Group Limited Arup Group Limited, trading as Arup, is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London that provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment. ...

, currently occupied by

Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, doing business as Merrill, and previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investm ...

. It was named after the

friars A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendic ...

' practice of wearing grey

habits A habit (or wont, as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. A 1903 paper in the ''American Journal of Psychology'' defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology,

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpo ...

's donation of a tenement in 1353 or 1354. In 1229 Henry III of England">King Henry III gave the ''Conventual Franciscans'' of London oak to build their house. By 1243 there were eighty friars in residence, and by 1258 they had extended the site on the North and Westside. The original church was built with money provided by William Joynier (Lord Mayor of London, mayor of London in 1239), who built the chapel and also gave two hundred pounds towards the cost of other buildings. Historian Charles Lethbridge Kingsford, who published the London Greyfriars' register and wrote a history of the site in the same volume, concludes from the sums of money spent on building work in this period that the friary would have been "of a modest kind". Further work began on the church towards the end of the 13th century.

Henry le Walleis Henry le Walleis (sometimes spelled le Waleys) (died 1302) was a 13th-century English people, English politician and Lord Mayor of London, Mayor of London. His origins are obscure; he was an outsider to London and may have been Welsh people, Welsh ...

(d. 1302), another mayor of London, is supposed to have built the nave, and given timber for the altars. In 1301–1302 Queen Margaret ( Marguerite of France, born 1282, second wife of

King Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 1254 ...

) spent 60 marks on land in the parish of St Nicholas for the Grey Friars. The Choir was built on this site. She funded the construction of the church, spending 2,000 marks on the work before her death in 1318, at which point it was still unfinished. Queen

, the wife of

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...

(r. 1327–1377), was responsible for completing the work, spending around £700. The total expenditure on the new church was about £2700, a huge sum. There were six chapels within the church, eight other altars and many statues and images of saints (at least eight are documented, in addition to those in the chapels and on the altars). The church became a favourite burial place for those of high rank and status. Margaret was buried there, as was Isabella, widow of Edward II]; the heart of

Eleanor of Provence Eleanor of Provence ( 1223 – 24/25 June 1291) was a Provence, Provençal noblewoman who became List of English royal consorts, Queen of England as the wife of King Henry III of England, Henry III from 1236 until his death in 1272. She served ...

, wife of Henry III, was buried there as well. Built in the

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

style, it was completed in 1348, and was the second-largest in medieval London, measuring long by across. The monastery was dissolved in 1538 by Thomas Chapman, an agent of

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

. On 12 November the house signed a deed of surrender, probably composed by Chapman. The Friars were made to confess that "the perfeccion of Christian liuyng dothe not conciste in ... weryng of a grey cootte, disgeasing our selffe aftyr straunge fassions, dokynge, nodyngs and bekynge, in gurdyng our selffes wythe a gurdle full of knots, and other like Papisticall ceremonyes" After the Surrender, some of the houses on the site were converted for private use, and the church was closed and used as a store-house for treasure looted from the French. In 1547, the king gave the church, the buildings called "le Fratrye," "le Librarye," "le Dorter," and "le Chapterhouse," and the ground called "le Great Cloyster," and "le Little Cloyster" to the

. The church, which had suffered damage and looting,"The Visitors Guide to the City of London Churches" Tucker,T: London, Friends of the City Churches, 2006 now called Christ Church was to be the church of a new parish formed by joining St Nicholas and St Ewen. It was re-opened on 30 January 1547. It was destroyed by the

in 1666.

('' Blue Coat School'') was founded for orphans in some of the old friary buildings in 1553 by

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

. The school relocated to

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

in 1902.

Burials

John Clinton, 6th Baron Clinton Sir John Clinton, 6th Baron Clinton (c. 1429 – 29 February 1488), of Maxstoke, was an English peer.Dates given in the Julian calendar, with the start of year adjusted to 1 January (see Old Style and New Style dates) He was the son of John de ...

* John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham(c. 1433–1501) *

Elizabeth Barton Elizabeth Barton (1506 – 20 April 1534), known as "The Nun of Kent", "The Holy Maid of London", "The Holy Maid of Kent" and later "The Mad Maid of Kent", was an English Catholic nun. She was executed as a result of her prophecies against the ...

(1506?–1534), executed Catholic nun *

Beatrice of England Beatrice of England (25 June 1242 – 24 March 1275) was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the daughter of Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence. Childhood Born 25 June 1242, Beatrice was the second-eldest daughter of King Henry III ...

(1242–1275), was a Princess of England as the daughter of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence * Thomas Brandon (diplomat) * William FitzWarin and his wife, Maria de Ergadia *

Francis Bigod Sir Francis Bigod (4 October 1507 – 2 June 1537; also spelled ''Bigot, Bygod, Bygott, Bygate'') was an English nobleman who was the leader of Bigod's Rebellion. Family Francis Bigod was descended from the Bigod Earls of Norfolk and from the ...

, was the leader of Bigod's Rebellion. * Elizabeth Bourchier (died 1557) * Richard Hastings, Baron Welles * Robert de Lisle, 1st Baron Lisle *

William Gage (15th-century landowner) William Gage (about 1447 – 16 February 1496/7) was an English landowner and the father of the Tudor courtier John Gage. Early life William Gage was the elder son of Sir John Gage and his wife Eleanor St Clere. Three sources give slightly i ...

* Margaret de Vere *

John Devereux, 1st Baron Devereux John Devereux, 1st Baron Devereux, (1337 – 22 February 1393), was a close companion of Edward, the Black Prince, and an English peer during the reign of King Richard II. Birth and Ancestry John Devereux of Whitchurch Maund was the son of ...

John de Cobham, 2nd Baron Cobham (of Kent) John de Cobham, 2nd Baron Cobham (died 1355) lord of the Manor of Cobham, Kent, was an English nobleman.Richardson, Douglas. ''Magna Carta Ancestry''. Baltimore, MD: GPC, 2005. 902. He was the eldest son and heir of Henry de Cobham, 1st Baron ...

* John de Cobham, 3rd Baron Cobham *

Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy, KG (1 August 1474) was an English politician. Early life and family Walter Blount was born about 1416, the eldest son of Sir Thomas Blount (1378–1456) and Margery Gresley and grandson of Sir Walter Bloun ...

*Sir William Blount (c.1442-1471) * Edward Blount, 2nd Baron Mountjoy * John Blount, 3rd Baron Mountjoy * James Blount * Robert de Lisle, 1st Baron Lisle *Sir Ralph de Spigurnell, Admiral of the Fleets *

Eleanor Percy, Duchess of Buckingham Eleanor Percy, Duchess of Buckingham ( – 13 February 1530), was the eldest daughter of Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, by his wife, Lady Maud Herbert, daughter of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke. Eleanor Percy married Edward ...

Walter de Beauchamp (Steward to Edward I) Walter de Beauchamp (died 1303/06), ( Latinised to ''de Bello Campo'') of Beauchamp's Court, Alcester in Warwickshire and of Beauchamp Court, Powick in Worcestershire,Burke was Steward of the Household to King Edward I from 1289 to 1303. He was ...

Buildings

Arup plan

Notes

References

* * (hosted by British History online) * Leland, "List of manuscripts in the Library of the Grey Friars", ''Collectanea'', iv., 49–51. * (hosted by British History online)
History of Newgate

External links

London Greyfriars
at the ''Logic Museum''. (LogicMuseum dot com) {{coord, 51.5162, -0.0996, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Monasteries in London

1225 establishments in England Christian monasteries established in the 1220s 1538 disestablishments in England Former buildings and structures in the City of London

Burials

Buildings

Notes

References

Further reading

External links