“La Chanson de Roland,” édition, Léon Gautier.

The fact that the conventual Hospital of St. Mary Roncevall was founded at the village of Charing in the time of Henry III, and that it continued to exist till the dissolution of the religious houses by Henry VIII, is well known to students of the history of London; but, so far as the writer is aware, no definite attempt had been made to collect the remaining records of this interesting medical foundation before 1907, when the story of the Convent and its Hospital was published privately.^[1] Nevertheless, the influence of the Convent and the Hospital which it established was considerable during the three centuries of their existence in England. The name which the Convent in London received from the Mother House served to revive the memories of perilous journeys and of timely succour in the minds of many who had travelled abroad in France and Spain engaged either in warlike or peaceful affairs, the name of Roncevall in many forms came to be used as a family designation in various parts of England;^[2] and Chaucer refers to the existence of the Convent in a way that shows that the reference required no explanation to his readers. After the dissolution of the alien priories the fraternity owed its continued existence to the recognition of the charitable assistance it rendered to “the poor people flocking to the Hospital.”

This attempt to fill up a gap in the history of London hospitals may be of some service to the students of the history of medicine, and of interest to the larger number who are unwilling to forget the stories of Old London.

Roncesvalles.

There are few places so renowned in the early literature of the Romance languages as the pass through the Western Pyrenees, at the southern extremity of which lies the village of Roncesvalles. The Song of Roland handed down the memories of Roncesvalles from the early Middle Ages; but this famous poem (dating in its present form from the latter part of the eleventh century) must be regarded only as the final and successful effort to collect the traditions which form the foundations of French and Spanish history. The traditions find their earliest record in the legends and “chansons de geste,” which, in the first instance, served to commemorate the successful rising of the people of Spain to expel an invader, Charlemagne, the Emperor of the North. The rearguard of his retreating host, consisting chiefly of Frankish subjects of the Emperor under the leadership of the Count Roland, Captain-General of the Breton March, the Emperor’s nephew, was overwhelmed and annihilated, while traversing the Pass on their retreat from Spain in the year 778. The ancient history of Eginhard, telling of the Spaniards, says very suggestively “usque ad unum omnes interficiunt ac ... summa cum celeritate in diversa disperguntur.” Even “li gentilz quens” did not escape the massacre. The Chanson de Roland gives the French version of this tradition, which was accepted by the Normans in England; the Spanish legend of the hero Bernardo del Carpio gives, as it is to be expected, a very different account of the overthrow of the Emperor.

In the course of the succeeding centuries the Pass of Roncesvalles occupies on more than one occasion a prominent place in British history. One of the most picturesque passages in Froissart tells how the army of Edward the Black Prince traversed the Pass in the ill-omened invasion of Spain that led to his fatal illness. His remarkable victory at Navarrete scarcely relieves the gloomy record of this adventure. Little more than one hundred years have elapsed since Roncesvalles and the neighbouring defiles once more saw the advance of war-worn British soldiery. In the defence of these passes against the advance of the French under Soult, so nearly successful in overwhelming Wellington’s right flank, and in the subsequent pursuit of the retreating French armies, some of the most remarkable of the feats of arms which distinguished the Peninsular War took place. British military history contains few more stirring episodes than the combats between the French and the allied troops in the Passes of Maya and Roncesvalles.

The memories of Roncesvalles, therefore, are in no danger of being forgotten, but it has passed from knowledge that for a period of more than three hundred years the name of Roncesvalles was more familiar to the citizens of Westminster and London than to the dwellers in Pamplona and Bayonne. How it came about that an important religious house dedicated to Our Lady of Roncesvalles should have been established at Charing will best be understood if we consider the nature of the activities of the ancient Monastery in the Pass of Roncesvalles, the numbers of those on whom it conferred benefits, and the character of its benefactors in England.

The Convent of St. Mary Roncesvalles in Navarre.

From very early Christian times a religious house, no doubt very small in its beginnings, was situated near the top of the pass through which runs the ancient road over the Pyrenees leading from Pamplona in Navarre, through the mountains by St. Jean Pied-de-Port, to Bayonne and Bordeaux. The religious community at this place received its most important support from Charlemagne himself, when he established a religious house intended to be a memorial of Roland and his comrades in arms. The original Convent of Charlemagne’s foundation was situated close to the village of Ibañeta, near the summit of the Pass and the site of the great battle. Of this house only insignificant and deserted ruins remain. After a destructive raid by the Moors under Abderramen, Caliph of Cordova, in 921, the community removed to the present site of the Monastery in the village of Roncesvalles, two or three kilometres farther south. The removal of the Convent to this site is said to have been determined by various miraculous signs, among others by the discovery of an image of the Holy Virgin, and it was clearly to the advantage of the community that its permanent settlement should be in the comparatively sheltered southern approaches of the Pass rather than on the exposed summit.

The Order of Roncesvalles thus became established on a firmer basis, and at first had distinct military as well as religious purposes. The members of the community consisted of knights and companions, as well as the brothers and sisters, who all bore the badge of the Order. The duties which they had to fulfil were military, for the Knights of Roncesvalles were in frequent conflict with the Moors, and religious, for not only did the brethren serve their Church, but one of the earliest and most important duties of the community was to establish a hospital in the Pass for wayfarers in this wild region.

In the course of time the members of this military-religious community received the Augustinian Rule, but they retained much of their independence, the memories of their original order, and especially held to the traditions of hospitality and charitable succour to pilgrims and to those in distress. The Convent and its Hospital gradually acquired wide renown on account of the good works carried on by the Canons. Their house was on the main road between France and Spain. The military expeditions so frequently traversing the frontiers marched along the highway passing its doors, pilgrims visiting the shrine of St. James at Compostella must have halted there on their way to and from the south, and the road through the Pass was the chief highway for peaceful travellers of every kind. The community, therefore, increased in importance and in wealth by gifts from princes, nobles, knights, and the common folk, and came to possess property not only in Spain, but also in Portugal, Italy and in France, and, as the records show, in England and Wales, in Ireland, and in Scotland. It is stated that at the height of its prosperity the Convent distributed annually from 25,000 to 30,000 rations, each consisting of a loaf of 16 oz., half a pint of wine, with sufficient soup and meat, or fish on days of fast. Those who were infirm had chicken broth and mutton. The Hospital had a staff consisting of the physicians, with whom were associated surgeons and an apothecary, and one of the distinguishing features of the Order at a very early period was that it included sisters. In the case of patients dying while in hospital, free interment was given after the celebration of masses in due form. It is expressly stated that the daughter house in England, with its possessions in that country, in Ireland, and in Scotland, remitted annually the sum of 4,000 ducats for the support of the Mother House at Roncesvalles.^[3]

During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the community of Roncesvalles fell on evil days. The march of events deprived them of their property abroad, while laxity in the observance of their Rule and the continually disturbed state of the Franco-Spanish frontier brought about the loss of the greater part of their accumulated possessions and wealth. Unfortunately the ancient records of the Monastery have nearly all been destroyed; but there remains in the library an unpublished manuscript giving the history of the Order and the Convent, written by Don Juan Huarte, about the middle of the seventeenth century, which incorporates information received from a certain Don Francisco Olastro^[4] (who is stated to have been an ambassador from England in Madrid) respecting the history of their daughter house in London. But even at the time when this document was written, many statements it contains appear to have acquired the characteristics of tradition and can be accepted only after careful collation and criticism. We have, therefore, to depend almost entirely on the English records for the history of the House of Roncesvalles in London.

The Convent of Saint Mary Roncevall at Charing.

To understand how it was possible that a religious house in the Pyrenees could hold possessions scattered throughout so many different lands, it must be clearly borne in mind that in the Middle Ages the rule exercised by the Church took very little cognizance of State limits. The ecclesiastical power was much stronger than the national influences of the time, and the Church drew its revenues from all Christian countries, quite irrespective of political boundaries. At the time when the House of Roncesvalles at Charing was founded, the overlordship of the Pope had been felt in England and in France in a very real manner. In addition to this ecclesiastical bond, the political relationships between England, France and Northern Spain were of the most intimate character, so that the all-pervading power of the Church could be exercised with the greater ease in these countries. During the period of the Norman, and even more so during the Angevin dynasty, the English barons experienced the greatest difficulty in detaching themselves from the influences exerted on them by their foreign relationships, even if they had the desire to do so. In many cases they seem to have frankly regarded their insular possessions as sources of revenue and power to be made use of in order to promote their Continental interests. In this respect they followed the example set in such unmistakable fashion by kings such as Richard and John. The Church acted in the same manner, and many foreign convents were able, by their powerful influence, to obtain possession of, and to exploit, the rich lands of England for their own support. It was not until the close of the reign of John and during the reign of Henry III that the separate destinies of England and France became apparent to the more sagacious of the English statesmen of that period. It is very instructive, therefore, to note as evidence of the complicated and distracting political and social influences still felt by the English magnates, that the noble family which perhaps most of all by its example and advice sought to uphold the political independence of England as apart from France, was nevertheless impelled to become one of the great benefactors of a foreign religious house.

The House of Roncesvalles appears to have owed most of its property in England and in Ireland to the liberality of William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, the eldest son of the great William Marshall—Rector regis et regni—the Protector of the King and his kingdom after the death of John. The elder Marshall stands out in conspicuous fashion as the most steadfast of all the advisers of the king during the dark period coinciding with the reigns of Richard I and John. His early years were passed in France, acquiring skill in the martial exercises commonly practised by the young nobles of the day, and his courage and proficiency in arms were such that he had early acquired the reputation of being one of the most redoubtable knights in Christendom. If no other evidence remained of his prowess, the historic passage of arms against Richard Cœur de Lion while still Count of Poitiers will be sufficient proof.^[5] On this occasion he overthrew Richard and held him at his mercy, preventing the mad attack on his father, and probably saved the Prince from the fate of being a parricide. In addition to his skill in the use of arms, he gradually built up for himself a reputation for prudence, sagacity and loyalty, so that while still a young man he was entrusted with the guardianship of the young Henry, son of Henry II, and in the succeeding reigns occupied the most prominent positions under the English Crown, trusted by the barons and even by John. The testimony of the French King Philip Augustus, when informed of the death of William Marshall, as to his reputation for loyalty and honour remains on record: “Et, en vérité le Maréchal fut l’homme le plus loyal que j’aie jamais connu.”^[6]

During the many years of William Marshall’s residence abroad he travelled widely throughout France and no doubt in Northern Spain. It is well known that he went on pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre in fulfilment of a promise given to the young Henry on his deathbed. Marshall must have been very familiar with the reputation of the Monastery at Roncesvalles. There can be little doubt that he had passed it on his journeyings; the military-religious character of its Rule would have appealed to him, and he may even have rested in the House of the Convent. His piety is evidenced by the fact that he became closely associated with the Order of the Knights Templars, was one of their great benefactors in England, and at his death received sepulture in their church, then newly built in London.

The elder Marshall died in the year 1219, and was succeeded by his eldest son, also called William, who then became possessed of one of the most extensive heritages in England, for the English and Welsh lands of the Clares, Earls of Pembroke, and in addition their great Irish inheritance in Leinster, had come into the possession of the Marshall family.

What we know of the son shows him to have been a man of much the same type as his father—probably not so rugged, but with the same steadfast ideals of loyal conduct. It is evident that his character was as strongly tinctured with religious feeling as was that of his father. He also was an Associate of the Order of the Knights Templars, and was one of their principal supporters after their removal to the “New Temple,” where the “Temple” Church still stands. His admiration for his father is clearly shown by the priceless biography of the elder William which we still possess. This poem is known as “L’Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal” and is evidently the work of a professional writer of the period, but it was composed under the direction of the son of the great Marshall with the assistance of Jean d’Erleé,^[7] his father’s old companion and faithful squire.

During the lifetime of William Marshall and his son, and for long before and after, the high road through the Pass of Roncesvalles was much frequented. It was the main line of communication by land between France and Spain on the western frontier, and was used both by peaceful travellers and by the numerous military expeditions passing from one country to the other. These expeditions resulted not only from the constant warfare of the border but were also organized by Crusaders on their way to help the Spaniard against the Moor, frequently with the purpose of travelling farther to the Holy Land. At this time also the relationships formed by Henry II and his sons with the Courts of the new kingdoms in the north of Spain, which were beginning to arise as the tide of Moorish invasion receded, were of the most intimate character. It will be remembered that Richard, when King of England, married Berengaria, daughter of Sancho VI of Navarre, after a very troublesome wooing, and that the younger Sancho took the part of Richard while the latter was on crusade against their common enemies in the South of France. The relationship between the Courts of Aragon and Castile and the Angevin Kings was no less intimate. William Marshall and his eldest son were in the closest association with the Royal House. They both travelled far and wide over France and Northern Spain, so that the Angevin dominions in Aquitaine and the neighbouring kingdom of Navarre must at one time have been as well known to the Marshall family as their home in England.

Another reason which brought many travellers along the road through Roncesvalles was the attraction of the Shrine of St. James at Compostella. The pilgrimage to Compostella was undertaken by knights and their squires as the result of vows made on the field of battle, and was famed for its efficacy among all engaged in military affairs. But the pilgrimage even to armed bands was a dangerous one on account of the disturbed state of the frontier. An interesting example of this is presented in the relationships between Richard and his neighbour the Count of Toulouse. The ostensible cause for Richard’s warfare against the Count of Toulouse was the inveterate inclination of the latter to acts of brigandage. When war was declared the Count of Toulouse had actually captured and ill-treated two English knights named Robert le Poer and Ralph Fraser, on their return from a pilgrimage to Compostella. The reputation of the Hospital of St. Mary in the Pass of Roncesvalles and of the Convent which supported the Hospital was known to every traveller—peaceful or warlike—in Western Europe, and would certainly have appealed to the benevolence of such a man as the younger William Marshall. The probability is that both father and son had stronger motives for giving alms to the Community—the result of benefits received from the Convent and Hospital during their journeys between France and Spain.

The Coming of the Brethren to England (1229) and the Foundation of the Convent at Charing.

The first knowledge we have of the presence in England of members of the Community of Roncesvalles is obtained from the letters of protection given to certain brethren by Henry III, in the year 1229. These letters were of the usual complete character, and it is clear that the intention of the deputation from Roncesvalles was to seek alms in England for the support of their House in the remote valley in the Pyrenees. This purpose was definitely encouraged by a special clause in the letters of protection.

The brethren seem to have been taken under the patronage of the younger William Marshall from the beginning. They may even have come to England on his invitation, for we find that he soon commenced to make arrangements to give them revenues and an establishment in this country. Very unfortunately for the Convent, the Earl died in the year 1231, soon after his return to England from Henry’s disastrous campaign in Poitou and Brittany, where he had held the chief command. But the record of his great gift remains, for on August 11, 1232, Henry confirmed at Wenlock “the grant to Saint Mary and the Hospital at Roncevaux (Roscida Vallis) of the gift which William Marshall, sometime Earl of Pembroke, made to them of all his houses at Cherring, and the houses and curtilages adjoining them formerly belonging to William Briwere, and of 100s. at Suthanton payable from the houses of the said Earl there, of 13l. of land in Netherwent in the moor of Magor, and of a carucate of land in Assandon, which he bought from Robert de Rochford.”

It was thus in consequence of the munificence of William Marshall the younger that the brethren of Roncesvalles obtained the land on the banks of the Thames at Charing where they subsequently built their conventual dwelling, their Hospital for the sick, and the Chapel by the riverside, which were to remain an important feature of London for over three hundred years.

The records of this alien settlement for many years consist mainly of statements of the gifts received from various important persons. The community seems to have flourished, and their work, both in London and in the Pyrenees, continued to deserve the sympathy and support of their pious benefactors. There is evidence that they possessed property in Norwich, Canterbury, Oxford, Pevensey, Southampton, and elsewhere, and that they received certain revenues from Ireland and from Scotland. It is easy to understand that their Irish revenues may have been considerable on account of the great estates possessed by the Marshall family in Leinster. It is clear also that the Convent had the advantage of royal favour and patronage, for the English records contain several confirmations of valuable gifts from both Henry III and Edward I, derived from royal property situated in the South of France, to the mother house in the Pyrenees. One of the most interesting of these gifts is the rent to be derived for the benefit of the Convent from the King’s lands in the town of Myramand, previously granted to Eleanor, the Queen Mother. This grant is specially mentioned in the same document as another endowment derived from the same source to be paid to the Abbey of Fontevraud. This benefaction to the House of Roncesvalles gives the measure of respect in which it was held, for an English king who placed the house of Roncesvalles in the same category as the Abbey of Fontevraud as worthy of support must have felt the claims of the Convent in the Pyrenees in the strongest possible way. Edward’s Angevin ancestors had been buried in the Church of Fontevraud for generations, and there was no ecclesiastical foundation possessing a greater claim on the munificence of the Angevin family than this Abbey.

The little that is known of the domestic progress of the House at Charing, in addition to such general indications as are given of its financial condition, concerns the appointment of certain officials. In the year 1278, and again in 1280, a certain Henry, son of William of Smalebrook, was appointed as his attorney for two years on each occasion by the Prior of the Hospital of Roncesvalles. The inference to be derived from this is that the weakness inherent in all the alien houses had already begun to show itself in the community at Charing. The management of the estates in England was entrusted to agents in this country, with the consequence that maladministration of their affairs was very apt to take place, and, as a result, opportunities frequently arose for the interference of neighbouring magnates or of the King himself with the affairs of the alien religious houses.

Complications of this nature must have taken place about this time at the House at Charing. In the year 1283 a certain Brother Lupus appears upon the scene for the first time. His position in England seems to have been that of envoy coming from the Pope, but in the same record he is described as a priest, envoy and preceptor of the Houses in England and Ireland of the Prior and Convent of the Hospital of St. Mary Roncesvalles, and he no doubt had instructions to supervise the management of their estates. The arrival of Brother Lupus, “streight comen fro the court of Rome,” with indulgences for the remission of sins, is an interesting proof that even so early as the year 1283 the sale of indulgences was one of the special functions of the brethren of Roncesvalles, and was no doubt a source of considerable income to the Priory^[8]. Chaucer, writing a hundred years later, alludes, in his characteristic ironical manner, to this side of the activities of the Canons of Roncesvalles;^[9] and even so late as the year 1432, when the House in London had come under the influence of the English clergy, a special effort was made to preserve this source of profit.

The year 1290 must have been notable in the annals of the Hospital, for in that year died Eleanor of Castile, the wife of Edward I, at Harby, near Lincoln, and the King in pious memory built a sculptured cross at every place where the body of his consort rested during the funeral procession to Westminster. The last station in this progress was at the village of Charing. The hospitality of the brethren must have been taxed to the utmost to provide accommodation for the retinue accompanying the King, even if supplemented by the exertions of the neighbouring hermitage of St. Catherine. The cross at Charing was completed in the year 1294, and the brethren no doubt at this time had many opportunities of conversing with the artists and handicraftsmen who formed the very flourishing and remarkable school of art at Westminster, and who were so enthusiastically encouraged both by Henry III and his son Edward. It is quite possible that the Chapel of the Convent may have benefited by the advice, or even by the workmanship of Alexander “the Imaginator,” of Abingdon, and William de Ireland, whose artistic handiwork formed so prominent a feature of the Eleanor Crosses.

The next records show that officials with foreign names are in charge of the estate of Roncesvalles in England. In 1292 William de Cestre and Peter Arnaldi de Santo Michaele are nominated attorneys for five years for the Prior then staying beyond seas, and again, the following year, we find Lupus de Canone concerned in the management of the Roncesvalles property, having a lay person, Arnaldus de Sancto Johanne, associated with him.

Evidence of the vigour displayed by Brother Lupus in his administration of the affairs of the Convent occurs in an entry in the statement of accounts drawn up by the Executors of Queen Eleanor. It gives the information that the Executors paid the comparatively large sum of 14l. 2s. to Brother Lupus, Procurator of the Hospital of Roncesvalles, as damages claimed by the brethren on account of their houses at Southampton. This payment was made in the year 1291, and not only indicates that the estate of Roncesvalles in England was being watchfully managed, but also gives us the information that the Convent still possessed the property at Southampton, originally conveyed to them in the foundation-gift of William Marshall.

The brethren of St. Mary of Roncesvalles at Charing did not fail to defend their rights when unjust inroads were made on their property. There are indications that efforts, stimulated no doubt by the Mother House, were made after periods of lax management—numerous in the troubled times that followed—to repossess themselves of the rents and property seized by powerful neighbours. These efforts were in many cases successful, partly by the good will of charitably disposed persons, partly by the influence of the Crown, but mainly by the sturdy support of the rights of their House before the King’s Court.

In the year 1294, the Prior of the Hospital claimed, by writ of entry, one toft with appurtenances in Westminster from Adam, son of Walter the Scot. It was admitted that the toft and tenements had been held fifteen years previously by the Prior, who had lost them by default, as he did not appear before the Court when the ownership of the property was in question. The Convent made good its claim, though it seems that Adam was quite willing to restore the property to the Convent, but a special inquiry had to be made to show that there was no collusion in permitting this property to pass in mortmain to the religious house. It is of interest to note that the Prior, Garcia de Ochoa, died in November, 1278, and was succeeded by the Prior Juan. In the year 1279, when this property passed by default, difficulties may have arisen on account of an interregnum at Roncesvalles.

To this period an incident should probably be referred to which attention is drawn in an undated petition from the Prior, requesting that property lying before the Cross at Charing, to the extent of 3 acres, and certain rents, should be restored. This property had been held for a period of ten years by a certain John of Lincoln, Burgess of London, and on his death had passed into the hands of the King on account of default on the part of the Attorney of the Prior and Convent. This petition quaintly recites as part of the evidence that the property belonged to the Convent, that the fact was a matter of common knowledge, “come les gentz dil pais le sauont bien et toute la veisinetee.” The little incident has a strong resemblance to other successful claims for their lost lands made under the stimulating influence of Brother Lupus.

During the troubled times when England was engaged in Continental wars, soon to become almost continuous, communication between Gascony and England must have been so difficult as to be well-nigh impossible to men of peace. Convoys under military protection were in imminent danger of capture, and from what we know, especially in the case of naval warfare at this period, there were few of the vanquished who escaped death. In addition to the dangers of travelling another source of great difficulty was felt by the Prior and his officials. The King was in constant and urgent need of money to permit of the prosecution of his warlike policy, and his agents were not too scrupulous as to how it was obtained. If it could be represented that the property of the alien religious houses in the King’s dominions could be used for the support of his enemies abroad, or if it could be urged in extenuation that funds sent abroad by the alien communities could be captured in transit, it is evident that the King would have many excuses and would exercise little scruple in levying heavy contributions on the property of the alien clergy in this country, or even of confiscating it entirely. It was under these conditions that the earliest suppressions and confiscations of the alien houses took place.

In 1321 we have a very suggestive record that William Roberti, Canon of the Hospital of St. Mary, is appointed Proctor-General in England for the recovery of their lands and rents. The late Proctor, John de Roncesvalles, had died, and the Prior in Navarre,^[10] not being informed of the fact, did not appoint a new Proctor, “war and other impediments hindering them, so that their lands and rents were taken by divers men.” Immediately following, letters of protection are given to William Roberti to aid him in his task, “in consideration of the benefits constantly given in that Hospital to poor pilgrims visiting the shrine of Santiago.” As the result of this vigorous action the House of St. Mary Roncesvalles at Charing passed through a period of comparative prosperity, for so late as 1335 a strong policy still seems to have been pursued. In that year there is an interesting record of the recovery of 10 acres of land known as “Roncesvalcroft,” in Kensington. It was stated to have been abandoned by the brethren and was in the occupation of a certain Simon de Kensyngton. In such matters, however, the King’s agents were usually very active. Simon de Kensyngton did not long remain in possession, for the watchful eyes of William Trussel and Walter de Hungerford, the King’s escheators, were upon him and they claimed the land for the Crown. The legal argument in this dispute goes on to state how the land, not being held directly from the Crown, was restored to the brethren.

It was in the second quarter of the fourteenth century that the community of St. Mary of Roncesvalles in this country appears to have been most prosperous. The Convent at Charing Cross was the headquarters of the brethren in our islands. The Procurator for the Prior who managed the estates and collected the revenues had his residence there. The property they possessed in London was the most valuable, and consisted of plots of land in various parts of the suburbs, as well as at Charing Cross, but the Convent also possessed a considerable amount of property in Canterbury and at Oxford. Evidence remains that they derived revenue from property in Norwich and that they had possessions elsewhere in England, in Wales, in Ireland, and in Scotland. The income derived from these possessions was sufficient to permit of a subsidy towards the support of the Mother House in the Pyrenees.

At Charing Cross itself the Priory possessed a piece of land fronting on the river and extending back to the roadway between London and Westminster. The depth of this plot was then not so great as it is now, for the waters of the river extended much nearer to Charing Cross than at present.^[11] The position of Inigo Jones’s well-known watergate at the foot of Buckingham Street, the last relic remaining of York House, indicates the line of the river bank at a date over two hundred years subsequent to the time now under consideration.

Occupying the most easterly part of the river frontage was situated the Church of the Convent. This Church, or Chapel as it was usually called in London, was built soon after the foundation of the Convent, but there is evidence that considerable alterations and additions were made much later, perhaps at the end of the fourteenth, and again during the last phase of the existence of the house, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Some idea of the appearance of the Chapel and the neighbouring buildings may be gained by studying two ancient drawings still in existence, made while the conventual buildings were standing. One of these is the well-known sketch of London by Anthony Van den Wyngaerde, dating from the middle of the sixteenth century. The other is a very beautiful sketch in the Gardner collection which shows a portion of the south-western end of the chapel, the gardens of the Convent, and in the distance Whitehall and Westminster. Judging by the evidence thus obtained, the chapel consisted of a rectangular nave, built of stone. The type of work indicates that it was built about the middle of the thirteenth century. There appear to have been two storeys in this building, the lower storey with three large pointed windows, and the upper storey with three smaller windows also pointed. The upper part, with the small windows, may have formed the clerestory. It is possible, however, that the upper part of the church was cut off from the lower part, and that this upper storey was lighted by the three smaller windows alluded to. Instances of this arrangement are known to have occurred in the churches belonging to hospitals. In such cases part of the church served the purpose of sheltering the sick, while at the eastern end was the chapel proper, arranged so that the sick should have the full benefit of the services of the church.

The pitch of the chapel roof was steep, the form most easily constructed at the period of which we speak, and was no doubt covered with lead. A belfry was situated at the north-eastern end of the chapel. Certain buildings of a much later date than the main part of the edifice, and probably built of brick, are seen to have been added to the northern and southern ends of the chapel, and along the river front. From a terrace on the south-east side of the chapel stairs led down to the water’s edge. Immediately to the west of the chapel were the Convent gardens, extending in the direction of the roadway to Westminster, and partly terraced to the river bank. Lying back from the chapel were the conventual buildings and other tenements in the possession of the community. These appear to have been arranged on both sides of a court which opened on the high road close to the cross.

It is stated that over the doorway of each of these houses was sculptured a cross, according to the use of Roncesvalles. There also appears to have been a Latin inscription around or near the doorway of the chapel indicating the date of an addition or restoration in the time of Henry IV. The exact position occupied by the Hospital itself cannot be now identified unless, as is very probable, the chapel itself did duty both as a church and a hospital. The churchyard of the community was probably situated in the lands to the south-west of the conventual buildings. The situation of the chapel corresponds approximately to the middle section of Charing Cross Railway Station in alignment with York Gate and extending towards the land now occupied by Craven Street and Northumberland Avenue.

The event which seems to have done more than any other single cause to depress the fortunes and to change the future relationships of the foreign community of St. Mary was the catastrophe of the Black Death. The plague visited London in the autumn of 1348. Its ravages were serious in the early days of November, and the condition of affairs had produced so much alarm that Parliament was prorogued on January 1, 1349. A further prorogation occurred on March 10, the reason given being that the “pestilence was continuing at Westminster, in the City of London, and at other places, more severely than before (gravius solito).” It had diminished, or almost disappeared, in London by the end of that year. The clergy appear to have suffered throughout the country even more severely than the rest of the populace—evidence that they did not fail in their duties during that terrible period. Geoffrey le Baker, a clerk of Osney, says, “Of the clergy and cleric class there died a multitude known to God only.”^[12]