Dom Maurice Chauncvarrd the Charterhouse

DOM MAURICE CHAUNCY rductionof AND THE

John P.H. Clark

The Carthusiansprovided more Catholic under Henry VIII than any other in ; apart from the evidence furnished by statedocuments, we owe a detailedaccount of theseevents to Dom Maurice Chauncy', a monk of the London charterhouse,who survived theseevents. Chauncy was born in about 1509, and studied at Oxford and Gray's Inn. He entered the charterhouseunder the Dom , probably in 1532,and had made his profession by May 1534,when the story begins. It was in 1534 that Henry secured three crucial acts. The first, the Act of Succession,confirmed his marriagewith , following his divorce from Catherineof Aragon, obtainedon the authority of Thomas Cranmer,Archbishop of Canterbury,and regardlessof the 's refusal to grant such a divorce; this establishedthe right of successionof the issueof 'supreme this marriage. The Act of Supremacy proclaimed Henry to be head' of the in England, including a spiritualjurisdiction which could be exercisedby his Vicar-Generaland Visitors. The third act, the Act of Treasons,was an extensionof an earlier statute,and was intendedto 'supreme enforce acceptanceof the title head of the Church in England' claimed by Henry. Following the martyrdomof eighteenEnglish ,with the dissolution of the London charterhouse,a number of the surviving English CaÍhusians subsequentlymade their way abroad, to renew their religious vocation. Among others, Chauncy himself had arrived at the charterhouse of Val de Grace in Bruges by February 1547', shortly after the death of Henry VIII, and it was there that he wrote his first account of the English Carthusianmartyrs (= version A), at the requestof the Prior of Bruges, Dom Peter Ruge van Hoorne. The fullest manuscript of this version is in

'On Dom Maurice Chauncy,see E.M Thompson,The ClarthusianOrder in Engtand,London I930, pp. 343-353;375-378l'500-514;The Passionand Martyrdom ofrhe Holy English CarthusianFathers: The Short Narration By Don Maurice Chauncy,ed. G W.S. Curtis. London 1935,- HistoricalIntroduction by E.M. Thompson,pp. 24-33; D. Knowles, The ReligiousOrders in England,Yol 3: The Tudor Áge, Cambridge1959, pp. 222-237 passim,240; J de Grauwe and F. Timmermans,Prosopographia CartusianaBelgica Renovata,AC | 54, SalzburgI 999, Vol. 2, p 450 Chauncy'sprobable date of birth is hereolacedc.1513. ? Miss Thompson's account in The Passion and Mar\rdom, ed. Curtis, must be updated by the information indicatedin Knowles, op. cit., p 222, note 2, which was not availableto her The date of February1547 is suppliedby GuildhallMS 1231(alone ofthe textsofversion A). whichreads (f.24r): ... que etiam citius si licuisseteuulgassem, sed principumterror me hactenusa propositorefrenauit, vsquead annumDominj 1546in Februariolt is assumedthat Chauncy used'English dating'. counting the year from Lady Day to Lady Day - I am indebtedto ProfessorPeter Cunich at this point. JohnP.H. Clark

the NationalLibrary at ,MS. SN 12751(formerly MS. 93668 in the In l5t Imperial Library).3There is an abridgedform of this in MS. 0.81 of the but in 1568r Royal Library at the Hague.' Both of rhesehave been published by the lnto a separÍ Bollandists. Another, differently abbreviated,form of this version is in end; the Pro London Guildhall MS. 1231,combined with a report of rhe martyrdom of drove them St. .' charterhoust In order to gain the authority of the Prior-General for the refugee 1590,and V monks to remain at Bruges, the consent of the General Chapter was where the E necessary.Previously, at the time of the crisis over the royal supremacy, from time the then Prior-General,Dom Jean Gaillard, had been misinformed about contemplati' the true stateof affairs in England,and had even beeninduced to acceptthe in 1783.'o royal supremacy and admit Cromwell to fraternity of the order. So at the The I instanceof the Prior of Bruges,Chauncy wrote a secondaccount of the Sheen, and martyrdom for the present Prior-General,Dom Jean Valon. This was were often v edited, with some improvements to the style, by the Prior of Mainz, II of r Dom Vitus a Dulken, with the assistanceof the Procurator, Dom authorities Í Guillelmusa Sittart,and publishedat Mainz in 1550(= versionB).6 A fine martyrdoms reprint of this, with some annotations,prepared by Dom Victor Doreau, archives (M was made by the Carthusiansof Monrreuil in 1888. also been ; Meanwhile the General Chapter of 1547 had authorisedthe Prior of background Bruges to admit the English refugeesto their secondprofession.' account of Under Mary Tudor as Queen of England there were hopes that Elizabeth ir carthusian life (and the religious life of other orders) might be restoredin distinctly bz England.In 1555 Chauncy was authorisedto return to England,and lead the different the community which was to be re-establishedat Sheencharterhouse, not In 15' far from London. But the Queen's prematuredeath in 1558 put an end to aid from a thesehopes. The surviving monks rerurnedin 1559to Bruges. martyrdoms it is longer ' Pubfishedin Analecta Bollandiana l4 (1895). pp.268-283. Ít ís this manuscript,freshly transcribed allusions,al from microfilm of the MS., which will be the base-textíor versionA. ' the mouths r Publishedin AnalectaBollandiana 6 ( I 887),pp. 35-5I . r See J.P.H.Clark, "The Martyrdom of St. TÈomasMore and of the EnglishCarthusians as recordedin some differ( London Guildhall MS 1231", a paper read at the Molsheim (2005) Carthusianconference, to be eventsrelatl publishedin the,4claofthat conference. 6 N' Dom StanislasAutorc, Scriptores Sacri Ordinis Cartusiensis,photographically reproduced in AC I20, accounts. Vol.9, SalzburgI993, p 79. listsa furtheredition at Munich 1573;p. El, editionsat cologne 15g0, living at sol Burgos1583 and Milan 1606,as well asthe edition of Montreuil1888. gives a full The printededition was also reworkedin an editionofChenr 1608by Dom ArnoldusHavensius (d. l6l0), who was prior ofa successionofcharterhouses in the .On Dom Havensius.see de events leadi Grauwe and rimmermans, Prosopographia... Renovata,Vol. 2. p. 338. on his edition of chauncy's church, and work, see Dom Stanislas AutoÍe, ScripÍores Ordinis Cartusiensis,Tomus Primus, transcribedand arrangedby JeanPicard, AC 200:4,Salzburg 2005, pp. 133-4.Dom Autore's manuscripttext at this point E is photographicallyreproduced in AC 200, Vol. 2, Salzburg2003. pp. 29l-293. An Englishversion of The charlae n Havensius' text was madel this has been edited by J. Clark, "Dom Maurice Chauncy's Passionand The Chartae oJ Martvrdom of the Holy English Carthusian Fathers: An Unpublished Version", ín Liber Ámicorum Jan John Clark, AC I 'o de Grauve: Essaysover de Ceschiedenis en het Spiriruel Leven van de Kartuisers, ed. Tom Gaens and E.M ThomPt FrancisTimmerm ans, AC 222, Salzburg2004, pp. 73-134. la ( 1 Histoire de The Chartae of rhe Carthusian Ceneral Chapter 1536-1570(MS. Grande Chartreuse I Carr tJ), ed. r783),Ac 48,s. tt JohnClark, AC 100:36,Salzbure 2000 o.6l Analecta Bolla DomMaurice Chauncy and the London Charterhouse

93668 in the In l56l Chauncy was appointedPrior of the Bruges charterhouse, . 0.81 of the but in 1568 the General Chapterauthorized him to form the English monks ished by the into a separatecommunity at Bruges.8Theexiles'troubles were not at an verstonls In end; the ProtestantNetherlanders, suspecting them of Spanish sympathies, rartyrdom of drove them from Bruges in 1578, but they found a refuge in the charterhouseof Louvain." Subsequentlythey would move to Anvers in 'the refugee 1590,and Malines in 1591,and eventuallyin the next centuryto Nieuport, Jhapter was where the English Carthusians,gaining recruits of their own contrymen I supremacy, from time to time, would continue until the suppression of the ormed about contemplative monasteriesas uselessto society by the Emperor JosephII to acceptthe in 1783.'o er. So at the The English Carthusianscontinued to look back with longing to count of the Sheen,and their new establishmentwas called Sheen Anglorum. They n. This was were often wretchedly poor; the annuity of f 100 grantedto them by Philip or of Mainz, II of Spain was not always paid. It was probably to enlist the support of the rator, Dom authorities at that Chauncy wrote the third account of the English n B).'A frne martyrdoms in 1564 (= version C), of which there is a copy in the Vatican :tor Doreau, archives(Miscellanea, Armadio LXIV, vol. 28, ff. 2l3r-239v). This has also been published by the Bollandists." In this version the detailed the Prior of background picture of life at the London charterhouseis omitted, but an account of the Marian restoration at Sheen and its dissolution under hopes that Elizabeth is given. The account of the martyrdom in this version is : restoredin distinctly based on version A rather than on version B, as the collation of rd, and lead the different versionsin this edition shows. :rhouse,not In 1570 Chauncy wrote, no doubt again as an appeal for monetary ut an end to aid from a mainland European public, his fourth account of the English 'Short marfyrdoms (= version D). This is called in its title a Narration', but it is longer than the others, with much rhetoric and additional scriptural :shly transcribed allusions,and sometimesspeeches which can only be imaginary put into the mouths of the characters.It follows in broad outline version C, but with rs as recordedin some differences,and towards the end a notable difference in the order of rnference,to be events related. It includes some biographical items not found in the other ucedin AC 120, accounts.No doubt for the benefit of mainland Europeanreaders who were t CologneI580, living at some distanceboth in spaceand time from the events,Chauncy gives Henry VIII and his ministers,and of the political rs Havensius(d a full accountof avensius,see de eventsleading to Henry's assumptionof the title of head of the English ,n of Chauncy's church, and to the suppressionof the .There is here a very transcribedand text ar this point glish 'The versionof Chartae... 1536-1570.o.168. e t's Passionand The Chartae ofrhe CarthusianGeneral Chapter I57l-1568 (MS. Crande Charteuse I Cart I1),ed ' Ámicotum Jan JohnClark, AC 100:37,Salzburg 2001, p. 65. (GeneralChapter of 1579) Tom 'o Gaensand E.M. Thompson, The Carthusian Order in England, pp. 510-515 More recently. Jan de Grauwe, Histoire de la Chartreuse Sheen Ánglorun au Continent: Bntges. Louvain, Malines, Nieuport (1559- I Cart IJ).ed. 1783),AC 48, Salzburg1984. " AnalectaBollandiana22 (.|903). pp 5l-78. JohnP.H. Clark D much increased sharpnessof tone in referring to Henry VIII and his Chauncy; the lr authorities, especially Cromwell. No doubt by this time Chauncy was virtues. The mar becoming painfully aware that the possibility of a return to England for the versionB, which exiled religious was receding.An excellentedition of this version by the sevenin the Mon Revd. G.W.S. Curtis, with a historical introduction by Miss Margaret Chauncy t Thompson, the great pioneer historian of the English CaÍhusians, has been disliked being a, providedby the S.P.C.K.''? the Apostles thi Dom Chauncy remained in office as Prior of the English Carthusian brethren showec community until his death.In 1581he went to Spainon the businessof his acceptedthis as community, and on his way back to Bruges he died at the Paris nor to him but t charterhouseon July 12'h158 l. brother to anothe Version A of Chauncy's accountof the martyrdom, followed here by Again, Hc Version B, gives a vivid picture of the personality of the Prior Dom John apostates.To ol Houghton, and of the life of the London charterhouseunder his rule. As turned the other mentioned,this material is not repeatedin versionsC and D. No doubt prison by his Chauncy, who received his monastic formation under Houghton, has a punishmentto a hagiographical purpose in his presentationof the Prior and other leading to self-mortificat personalitiesamong the Carthusianmartyrs, and a tastefor the miraculous, In his pro but he provides concrete details and the picture which he gives may be tears, which mi5 taken as a faithful one in essentials. offering the Ho In theseearlier versions Chauncy begins by referring to Houghton's confessing his f birth in Essex of honourable and devout parents,and to his attaining the preservationof p degree of Bachelor of Civil and Canon Law at Cambridge University. when it was n Houghton entered the London charterhousein his twenty-eighth year (that superfluousor 'c is, in 1515). His life was marked by great austerity towards himself, Houghton humility, patience,and self-mortification.'3After Houghton was appointed reYerencewas ( Sacristan,Chauncy relates (on the authority of the then Vicar of the slowly. If therev charterhouse)a notable incident when Houghton overcame fear and and rebuke this f distaste,and consumed,when celebratingMass, a Host which two days or low voice, he previously had been regurgitatedby a gravely ill monk; Houghton was or low in the mol rewarded by tasting indeed in spirit, in the words of the Psalm, that the In version Lord is gracious.'oAfter Houghton had held the office of Sacristanfor five the younger mor years, he was appointed Procurator;after three years of exemplary service would practisea in this office, he was elected Prior of Beauvalecharterhouse. Scarcely six than four or five months afterwards (in 1531) the Prior of the London charterhouse(Dom thus avoiding un John Batmanson,who had been in office for just two years), died, and monks and eightr Houghton was recalledto succeedhim, and was appointedprincipal Visitor thirty-eight years of the English Province.'sIt was as Prior that Houghton had been known to 'u A: MS. vienna, ff. l9 12 't See note I A, Ms Vienna,ff. l9 '' 't A: MS. Vienna(V), ff. l93rb-l93vb; B: EditionofMontreuil 1888.c. l, pp 38-39.The additional A: MS Vienna,ff. l9 't informationon dates,etc., supplied in bracketshere and elsewherein the accountofthe martyrs,is drawn A: MS vienna, ff. I9 'oA: from the sourcesindicated in note l, unlessotherwise stated. MS Vienna,ff. I9, 'o :r A: MS Vienna,ff. l93vb-l94va;B: Montreuil,c. 2, pp.40-43 B: Monrreuil,p. 52. 'r A: MS, Vienna,ff. l94va-vb;B: Montreuil,c.3,pp.4446 " A: MS. Vienna.ff. l9 DomMaurice Chauncy and the London Charterhouse ry VIII and his Chauncy; the latter dwells at considerable length on his outstanding re ChauncY was virtues. The material in version A is elaborated in the fourth chapter of > England for the version B, which occupiesseventeen pages out of one hundred and twenty- is version bY the sevenin the Montreuil reprint.'u , Margaret Chauncy beginsby emphasisingHoughton's profound humility. He Miss 'Domine', has been disliked being addressedas referring to Christ's injunction to rusians, 'Rabbi'. the Apostles that they should not be called When any of the rglish Carthusian brethren showed him the marks of respectenjoined by the Statutes,he re businessof his acceptedthis as a humiliation, urging them always to refer such reverence ed at the Paris not to him but to God. When in the cell of any monk, he spoke as one brother to another.'? followed here bY Again, Houghton's patiencewas attestedeven by bad monks and Prior Dom John apostates.To one who treated him with physical violence he literally nder his rule, As turned the other cheek; when the offending monk was put in the monastic md D. No doubt prison by his brethren, Houghton forgave him and commuted his Houghton, has a punishmentto a few days in his cell. Above all, his discipline was directed r' Lndother leading to self-mortification. ,r the miraculous, In his profound devotion and love of God, he received the gift of he gives may be tears, which might appear in the refectory, and especially when he was offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Almost every month, when rg to Houghton's confessing his faults in chapter,he wept. His special concern was the his attaining the preservationofpeace and charity. He sought to be loved rather than feared; 'idge University. when it was necessary to rebuke anyone, or to refuse something 'curious', -eighth year (that superfluousor he did it with gentlenessrather than austerity.re :owards himself, Houghton was especially vigilant to see that uniformity and )n was appointed reverence was observed in worship, and that the chant was rendered ren Vicar of the slowly. If there was any carelessnessin the chant, he would leave the choir, )rcame fear and and rebuke this fault at the next chapter.If the psalms were sung in a tepid which two days or low voice, he would expressthe hope that the love of God was not tepid r; Houghton was or low in the monks' hearts.Chauncy gives specific instances.2o : Psalm, that the In version B gives a particularpicture of Houghton's influenceon Sacristanfor frve the younger monks. He was gentle yet firm with all the monks, but he xemplary service would practisea ceÍain detachmentwith those who were professedfor less ,use.Scarcely six than four or five years,just as Josephmade himself strangeto his brothers, arterhouse(Dom thus avoiding undue familiarity.'?'At that point, in a community of thirty years),died, and monks and eighteenlaybrothers,z'there were about twenty who were under tprincipalVisitor thirty-eight years old. The Prior would ask the younger monks individually rd been known to 'o A: MS. Vienna,ff. 194v6-l97ra;B: Montreuil,c.4, pp 47-63 '' A: MS. Vienna,ff. l94vb-l95rb;B: Montreuil,p. 48 't r. 38-39 The A: MS- Vienna,ff. l95rb-vb; B: Montreuil,pp 48-49 additional 'n of the martyrs,is A: MS. Vienna,ff. l95vb-l96rb;B: Monrreuil.pp. 50-51 drawn to A: MS. Vienna.ff. l96rb-19?ra;B: Montreuil,pp 53-57.with somedifferences of detail. -' B: Montreuil,p. 52. " A: MS. Vienna.ff. I97ra-rb. JohnP.H. Clark DomMaur: about their use of time and spiritual exercises.He was prudentin giving long as they remainedof counsel,and discreetin his words.2' which indeed came to p In version A Chauncy adds a physical description of Houghton; he upon the community, an was of small stature, fine-featured, dark-haired, modest in his appearance formation during his long and gentle in speech.'o In version B Char In version B Chauncy adds some details fumished by Dom William Exmew, who was born o Exmew, the , who was Houghton's confessor. After Mattins Latin; he joined the Ord Houghton never returnedto bed, unlessseriously unwell, but restedon a first Vicar and then Proc bench with a small mattressthe would not allow othersto do this unless personalreminiscences w they were strong in body and religious observance.t' Conversely,Chau: Brief indications in version A are expandedto a full chapter in reverse of exemplary, a version B on the perfection of discipline and monastic life at the London several times apostasise charterhouse.'uHere Chauncy breaks into self-reproach for his failure to spirits; his being deliverr follow his Prior to martyrdom: ways.* Another monk n Numaliud exspectandum quam quod vocem pastoris audierint et eumsecuta sint? Non religiouslife, was eventu plane,non; me solum excepto, qui quasi pecus macilentum ac scabiosumde ovili Dom Nicholas Rawling sum,27 abscissus distinctly luke-warm, w He gives a radiant picture of the silenceand solitudethat was observed, entered the church, but rt unity of heart and soul of the community. The performanceof the and the occasion,when celebratir at the London charterhousewas a bye-word among the Divine Office not proceed, and was ot in version B is devoted to the citizens of the city.8 A further chapter instancesare adduced." ceremoniesat the charterhouse.2n uniformity of observanceand Chauncy then tur version a further chapter to Following version A, B devotes London charterhousein Mention is made of outstandingexamples of holinessamong the monks. describing the events le would be among the laybrothersRoger Edwards and John Davy;'othe laner earlier versions are matcl the Carthusianmartyrs. Special mention is made of Dom William Tynbigh, - in versionsC and D. at the the Irishman who following a miraculous deliverancefrom captivity One night the whc hands of the Saracensin the Holy Land, at the intercessionof St. Catherine comet in the heavens 1 joined 'second of Alexandria, the London charterhouse,and became a occasion, as the Prior pi was Anthony' in his life of and conflict with the spirits of evil. He after the secondNoctum, over sixty years in the Order; we know from other sources that he was same was seen by anotl Prior from 1500 to 1529.'tChauncy describeshow at Mass for many years swarÍnsof flies, one blacl before his death Dom Tynbigh could seldom recite the beginning of St. The time of trial bt John's Gospel without tears. Like St. Paul, he was taken in spirit into in May at the London , Paradise, and received the gift of prophecy. He was wont to warn the community assentto the l community of the sufferings that would come on them, telling them that as the divorce from Catheri srant such a divorce. Tht - B: Montreuil,pp. 58-59 to A: MS. Vienna.f. l96vb tt 2s A: MS Vienna,ff. l97vb-l98rb; B: Montreuil,pp 6l-62 tt t'A, B: Montreuil. pp.77-18. MS. Vienna,ff. l97ra-r6;B: Montreuil,c, 5, pp 64-70. '" 27 A: MS. Vienna.f. l98va: B: Mon B: Montreuil.o. 64. tt " A: MS. Vienna.ff. lgEva-vb:B: I A: MS. Vienna,f. l97rb: B: Montreuil.p. 69. tu 2e A: MS. Vienna ff. lg8vb- l99ra; I B: Montreuil,c.6,pp.7l-72 'o " A: MS. Vienna,ff. l99ra-va;B: Ir A: MS. Vienna,ff. l97rb-vai B: Montreuil,c 1,p.74. '8 jr A: MS. vienna, ff. I99va-vb;Mor J. Hogg,"The Pre-ReformationPriors ofthe ProvinciaAnglie": AC I (NS), p. 28, with note 103. DomMaurice Chauncy and the London Charterhouse

prudentin giving long as they remained of one heart and mind they would not be overcome, which indeed came to pass." Tynbigh obviously left a lasting influence n of Houghton;he upon the community, and Dom Houghton himself received his monastic in his appearance formation during his long priorate. In version B Chauncy also singles out for mention Dom William J by Dom William Exmew, who was born of a distinguishedfamily, and expert in Greek and rr. After Mattins Latin; he joined the Order at the age of twenty-eight, and was appointed :ll, but restedon a first Vicar and then Procurator of the London house.He repeatsExmew's s to do this unless personalreminiscences which are indicative of his profound humility.33 Conversely, Chauncy refers to some monks whose lives were the ' a full chapter in reverse of exemplary, as a warning. He describes Thomas Salter, who life at the London several times apostasised,and being imprisoned, was attacked by evil r for his failure to spirits; his being delivered from them still did not lead him to change his ways.3 Another monk named George, who was clearly unsuited to the : eum secutasint? Non religious life, was eventually expelled by licence of the General Chapter.35 ac scabiosumde ovili Dom Nicholas Rawlings, whose dedication to the Carthusian life was distinctly luke-warm, was on one occasion -hat was observed, struck with blindness as he entered the church, but recovered rerformanceof the on being led back to his cell; on another occasion,when celebratingMass, he was :-word among the so struck with terror that he could not proceed, and was obliged to take off the priestly vestments.36 is devoted to the Other instances )use.r are adduced.'7 Chauncy then turns to significant portents urther chapter to that occurred in the London charterhousein 1533, the year before the crisis. Iention is made of From this point, describing the events leading up to :r would be among and including the martyrdom, the earlier versions are matched - with r William Tynbigh, some expansionsand minor variations - in versionsC and D. om captivity at the One night on of St. Catherine the whole communiry, returning from Mattins, beheld a comet in the pointing becamea 'second heavens towards the charterhouse. On another 'its occasion, as the Prior passed from of evil. He was the church to the monastic cemetery after the secondNocturn, he saw a great globe rurces that he was of blood in the heavens;the same was ass for many years seen by another brother. Again, in the same year two great swanns of flies, one black, the other of various e beginningof St. colours,appeared.3t The time of trial beganin 1534.Henry VIII's lken in spirit into commissionersarrived in May at the London charterhouse, and demanded that wont to warn the the Prior and community assentto the king's marriageto Anne Boleyn elling them that as as licit, following the divorce from in the face of the Pope's refusal to grant such a divorce. The Prior replied that it was no part of his vocation,

2E,with notei03. h. JohnP.H. Clark UI nor the vocation of his monks,to meddlewith the king's affairs; the king committed again might marry whom he would, so long as he made no demands on them in how at the elevati this matter. The commissionerswere not content with this reply, but sibilusquidam demanded that the Prior and the community without more ado repudiate pluribusPerciPi cordisqz the king's marriage to Catherine.The Prior replied that he could not Meanwhile understandhow a marriage celebratedaccording to the rites of the Church Beauvale,and D and so long observed could be set aside. At this the Prior, with the Axholme, came ! Procurator, Dom Humphrey Middlemore, was carried off to the Tower of together with the London, where they were detainedfor a month. There they were persuaded to ask that they n that the present issue was not in itself a matter of faith for which they were put in the l should be prepared to die. On returning to the charterhouse, the Prior accept HenrY as addressedthe community and advisedthem that they might take the oath of matters,they wot Successionwithout betrayal of their faith, but warned them of a hardertrial Cromwell would to come in the future. The king's commissionerscame twice while this was the tradition of going on with threatsof imprisonment if the community as a whole did not CarthusianPriorr concur, to no avail; the third time, the community acquiescedand took the have found them oath of Succession- version B adds: cum conditione tamen quatenus into finding thet licitum esset.3" traitors. The thre parliamentary But the respite was short. In 1535 the further 4'h 1535,were ( against enactment meant that a charge of high treason could be brought horrible and ci anyone who upheld the authority of the Pope and refusedto acceptthe king dismernbered.Cl as the supreme head on earth of the . Again the Prior in his forty-eigh called the community together. According to version B, he expresseda the king, and for particular concern for the younger monks, who might not feel able to stand Christ on the C firm at this moment of decision.Chauncy relatesthat the whole community followed by the stood together: version B, was n Tuncdixerunt omnes constanti animo et una voce: "Moriamur omnes in simolicitate nostra í40 The dismt and hung in vari The Prior expressedthe wish that they might all die together,and so Houghton, whic enter eternal life together, but he foresaw that he and the senior monks subsequentlybu would be given to death, and the younger monks set free. Version B says: shirt in which tht "... dimittent avolare liberos in terram non suam",o'a reference,with Dom Hou hindsight, to the exile of some at least of the survivors after the dissolution. gave, indicating Come what might, let God's will be done. The Prior directed that each Pope's authorit) monk should choosea confessor,and that there should be a day of mutual William Exmew reconciliation in the community, followed by a Mass of the Holy Spirit. it to Chauncy hi When the day of reconciliation came, the Prior led the way in asking who undertook t pardon of the senior monk beside him for any faults that he might have shirt, to the Pope

*t A: MS. Vienna,ff 2( pp qualification,cum conditione o'A: " A' MS, Vienna, ff l99vb-200vb; B: Montreuil, 89-91. The explicit MS, Vienna,ff 2( tamen quatenuslicilum esset,is added in B. * * A: MS. MS. Vienna, pp,9l-93 quotationis given in the B form The A: MS. Vienna ff.200vb-20lra;B: Montreuil, The was subsequentlydisco quotationis from I Machabees2.37 t'A' n' Msvi"nn"-ff 2ol A: MS. Vienna.f. 20lra: B. Montreuil.o. 93 DomMaurice Chauncv and the London Charterhouse

rg's affairs; the king committed againsthim. At the Mass of the Holy Spirit, Chauncyrelates demandson them in how at the elevation of the Host therewas a new Pentecost: with this reply, but sibilusquidam aure tenuis, exterius paululum sonans, interius vero mullum operans, a pluribuspercipitur et auditurauribus corporis, et abomnibus sentitur et hauriturauribus more ado repudiate cordisa2 that he could not I Meanwhile Dom Robert Laurence,professed of London and Prior of e rites of the Church Beauvale, and Dom , professed of Sheen and Prior of the Prior, with the Axholme, came to the London charterhouseon business.Dom Houghton, off to the Tower of together with them, resolved to go to the king's vicar, Thomas Cromwell, they were persuaded to ask that they might be dispensedfrom taking the ,but aith for which they were put in the for their pains. To the demand that they rterhouse, the Prior accept Henry as head of the English church both in temporal and spiritual right take the oath of matters,they would assent"as long as the divine law shall have permitted". .hemof a hardertrial Cromwell would have no exceptionor qualification, and scornedappeals to twice while this was the tradition of the Church and to St. Augustine. Accordingly the three ty as a whole did not CarthusianPriors were brought to trial. The jury that was convenedwould uiescedand took the have found them not guilty of treason,but were brow-beatenby Cromwell )ne tamen qualenus into finding them guilty after all, on pain of being themselvesdeclared traitors. The three were condemned,and on the appointedday, May :ther parliamentary 4'h 1535, were dragged on hurdles through the streetsof London to a I be brought against horrible and degrading death, in which they were hanged and ed to acceptthe king dismembered.Chauncy gives a vivid picture of Houghton before his death, md" Again the Prior in his forty-eighth year, witnessing to the Catholic faith, and praying for r B, he expresseda the king, and for those who stood by; there is a clear echo of the prayer of rot feel able to stand Christ on the Cross for those who crucified him. Houghton died first, re whole community followed by the two other Priors. Together with them, Chauncy adds in version B, was martyred Fr. ,the Bridgettine of Syon.o' nnesin simplicitate nostra The dismembered bodies of the martyrs were boiled in cauldrons die together,and so and hung in various parts of London. Chauncy records that an arm of John rd the senior monks Houghton, which was hung on the gate of the London charterhouse,was ree.Version B says: subsequentlyburied, together, he addsin versionB, with the bloody hair- t' a reference,with shirt in which the Prior was martyred.4 after the dissolution. Dom Houghton's own account of his trial and the answers that he r directed that each gave, indicating explicitly that he was condemnedfor refusing to reject the I be a day of mutual Pope's authority, and not for ploning against the king, were sent to Dom ; of the Holy Spirit. V/illiam Exmew, the Procuratorof the London charterhouse,who entrusted the way in asking it to Chauncy himself; Chauncy entrusted the same to a certain Spaniard, that he might have who undertook to convey it, together with a fragment of the martyr's hair- shirt, to the Pope.os

o2A: ualifi cation, cum MS. Vienna,ff 201ra-vb,B: Montreuil, pp.94-97.Thequotation is given in the B form (p.96). conditione o'A: MS, Vienna,ff. 20lvb-203va;B: Montreuil,c. 9, p. 97 - c. 10,p. I05. *A:MS.MS is given in the B form The Vienna,f.203va;B: Montreuil,pl05,VersionC(Án.Bol! 22,p65)relatesthatthearm 'a was subsequentlydiscovered by ministrisdiaboli' and destroyed. -'A: MSViennaff.203va-vb; B: Montreuil.pp. 105-106 t0 JohnP.H. Clark

After Houghton's martyrdom, the leadership of the London he now r charterhousepassed to the Vicar, Dom Humphrey Middlemore, the were inc Procurator,Dom William Exmew, and Dom SebastianNewdigate, the returnin5 former courtier who had embracedthe Carthusianlife. Efforts to persuade It or bully these into submissionfailed, and they too suffered martyrdom in after he June of the same year. The accountin version B especiallyis written in destructi words of great beauty: the oath Hitres, juvenes erant aetate, senili tamen animo, gratia et virtutibus pleni praeclaraeque future ( prosapie,et tertiuseorum, Pater fueratenutritus in Regis; Sebastianus, domodomini charterhr omnesapprime docti et magna constantia, audacter allegantes deScripturís Sanctis ante tribunalJudicum, quod Rex non potuit sibi vendicare ex debito et auctoritateJuris divini, deepercr illamsupremitatem et primatum Ecclesie quam Papa et sacerdotibustribuit TI ChristusDominus noster. lveruntque admortem quasi ad epulas, suscipientes eam cum were im maximamansuetudine et patientia cordis, alacritate corporis et hilaritatevultus, spe vita were thr aetema,anno Domini 1535, die XIX Junii.qe one deac Two years passed,during which no more monks were imprisoned, (or Parsc but all the while Cromwell and his assistantsstrove by all meansto break William the unity and determinationof the London Carthusians.Secular men were they wer put in charge of the .They ate and drank in luxury, while prison,b terrorising the monks. They took away the monks' books, hoping by this M, means to deprive them of resourcesfor defending the Catholic faith, but taken pla the monks kept the faith with holy simplicity. The king's representatives in May 1 constantly visited the monastery,and derainedthe monks in argumentsso to Crom that they could not sing Vespersor Mattins at the proper hours.Friends and charterhr relativesalso visited and tried to weakentheir resolve.One Sundayfour of Rocheste the monks were seizedduring High Mass, and taken to St. Paul's Cross, outside\ where in the company of a great crowd, including leading citizens,they year and were compelled to listen to a sermon from a learnedbishop againstthe Version authority of the Pope.u'VersionD saysexplicitly that Chauncywas himself of Supret one of the four.€ Bu The king's commissionerswere still not gainingtheir end. On May the king - - 4'h 1536 the anniversaryof Houghton's martyrdom they sent four of the monks w London Carthusiansto distantcharterhouses (Hull and Beauvale),in order says that to weakenand divide the community. In version B Chauncyadds the detail professe< that the departure of one of these monks was delayed becausehe was king's tet sacerdoshebdomadarius at the time.'eEight of those who remained were Crucifix sent to the Bridgettine houseat Syon, to hearthe argumentsof learnedmen unspeaka in the king's cause.In particularthe agedand dying confessor-general,(Fr. was put Coppinger), declared that he reproached himself for having earlier counselledFr. Houghton to reject the royal supremacyithe matter was not, to A, MS. vi t'A, Ms.vie ou 52 A: MS, Vienna. ff.204ra-va;B: Montreuil,c. I l, pp. 107-108.The quotationis in B, p. 108. Ar MS. v ot A: MS. Vienna,ff.204va-205rb: B: Montreuil,pp. 108-l I l. (Thereis somedifference of order in B). executedon a8 The Passionand Martyrdom(ed. Curtis). pp. 108-l 10. Whatmore, 7 on t'A, A: MS. Vienna,ff.205rb-va; B: Montreuil,c.12,pp. ll2-l 13" MS.vi, Dom Maurice Chauncy and the London Charterhouse ll on he now said, somethingfor which to die. Hearinghim, some of the eight :he were inclined to follow the counselof this agedand respectedman, but on :he returningto the charterhousetheir earlier resolvewas renewed.-' rde It is after this that Chauncy was induced to the act for which ever in after he reproached himself. The royal commissioners threatened in destruction of the charterhouseif the remaining monks did not accedeto the oath of Supremacy.The community was divided. In order to securethe future of the monastery, as they thought, one group within the charterhouse,including Chauncy himself, took the oath, even againsttheir deeperconvictions, and askingpardon of God as they did so.t' The ten remaining London Carthusianswho refusedto take the oath were imprisoned in appalling conditions at the end of May 1537.There were three priests: Thomas Green, Richard Beere, and ; one deacon,John Davy; and six lay-brothers:Robert Salte,Walter Peerson (or Parson);Thomas Scriven, Thomas Redding, William Greenwood,and William Horne. Nine of them were soon dead from the squalor in which they were kept. One lay-brother, William Horne, was moved from the prison, but was eventuallyexecuted at on August 4'hL540.s2 Meanwhile in the north of England the Pilgrimage of Grace had taken place againstthe king's actions.This was crushed,and subsequently, 'certain in May 1537,a nobleman' near the Hull charterhousedenounced to Cromwell the two London monks who had been placed in the Hull charterhouseas rebels against the king. The two monks, Dom John Rochesterand Dom JamesWalworth, were subsequentlyhanged in chains outside York. The other two monks who had beensent to Beauvale,after a year and a half were remitted to the Bridgettinesof Syon, Chauncynotes in Version B, and it was here that they were persuadedto accedeto the oath of Supremacy- again,he says,a feigned acquiescence.t' But in any casethe hope of saving the charterhouseby assentingto the king's demand was in vain. On November 15'h1538 the remaining monks were expelledfrom the London charterhouse;in version B Chauncy says that these were twelve professedmonks, three hospites, and six professedlay-brothers. The monastery was desolatedand profaned. The king's tentsand armour were put in the church;the imagesof saintsand the Crucifix itself were broken; men played dice on the altars, and other unspeakableacts were performed in the church. However, in 1544 an end was put to this; the charterhousewas given to a knight named Edward

so A: MS. Vienna,ff. 205va-vb;B: Montreuil,pp. ll3-l 14. t' A: Ms. Vienna,ff.205vb-206ra; B: Montreuil,pp. I l5- I 16. " A: MS. Vienna,ff. 206ra-rb:B: Montreuil,pp. ll6-117. - Chauncysays that William Horne was executedon November4th I 54l, but other reliableevidence supports the dateof August 4th I 540. - L.E. Whatmore, The Carthusiansunder King Henry the Eighth, AC 109(Salzburg 1983), pp,214-215. " A: MS. Vienna,ff. 206rb-va;B: Montreuil,pp. I lS-t tq. t2 JohnP.H. Clark

North, who made himself a'palace' there, and convertedthe church into cha his dining-room.* Do Chauncy then relatesvarious miracles to witness to the glory of the sub martyrs. In the Coventry charterhousea certain monk named Richard Ger Croftes attemptedto drown himself in the monastery'sfish-pond, but was Co'' preventedfrom doing so by a great light, in which the samemonk and the bee Prior saw the martyred London fathers. Chz In the London charterhousewere two monks who were closefriends. Car named Robert Raby and John Darley; the former died first, but after his Qu. death appearedto his friend, in white clothing, declaring that he was ther himself in glory, but the martyrs were far higher in glory, and before them othr all the Prior, Dom John Houghton,wore a more splendidcrown. In version con B Chauncy says that this vision was related to the king's commissioners, rec( who forbade the surviving brother,John Darley, to tell it to anyone,under oft severethreats.ss But now (in version B) Chauncy relates it to the Prior- Car General, asking for mercy for himself on the day of judgment, and ofI meanwhile asking the Prior-Generalto allow him to remain at the Bruges charterhouse,together with John Perdon, who had been a hospes at the Car London charterhouseat the time of the dissolution, and , a goo professedlay-brother of the house,who had come with him into exile.* 155 Chauncy concludesversion B by quoting the psalm,,Pretiosa in Roc conspectuDomini mors sanctorumeius. As for their oppressors,they came Eliz to bad ends. Cromwell was himself beheadedwithin two years on the Cart charge of treason.And a woman who came into the church contemptuously the while Mass was being celebrated,within five daysdied wretchedly.' beer In version C, and at greaterlength in version D, Chauncy describes Que the plight of the dispossessedCarthusians, and other religious,after the toB dissolution.They were exiles in their own countrli like the Israelitesof old, they sat by the waters of Babylon and wept. The ports were watched, and escapewas impossible save at the risk of their lives. But at last they took the risk, and reachedthe charterhouseof Bruges in safety.s In these later versions,Chauncy describesthe glowing hopes for restorationof the Carthusianlife in England under Queen Mary. In 1555 Chauncy was authorisedby the General Chapter to return to England, with Dom John Fox and Brother Hugh Taylor, both formerly of the London

to A: MS. Vienna.f.206va: B: Montreuil,pp. I lg-120. tt A: MS. Vienna, ff.206vb, 207rb-vb;Montreuil, c. 14,pp. 121-123.(This and the following item occur in different order betweenA and B). tu A: MS. Vienna,ff.207ra-rb; B: Montreuil, pp. 123-125. tt A: MS. Vienna,ff.207vb-208ra; B: Montreuil,Epilogue,pp.126-127. t' tnc:t C: An. Boll.22, c.21, p.71; D: The Martyrdom,pp. l30-132; 132-134.Pp. 130-l32have Passionand uo the extendedlament on the plight of the Carthusians(and other Catholicsand especiallyreligious) after c,, the dissolution of the monasteries,referring to Ps. 136 (Vulgate numbering). and the Book of as the Lamentations. hope Í Dom MauriceChauncv and the LondonCharterhouse 13 rto charterhouse.Dom Fox died soon after their arrival. He was replaced by Dom Richard Croftes, formerly of the Coventry charterhouse, and he subsequentlyVicar of the charterhouseof Hollandia (Montis Sancta .rd Gertrudis). It will be recalled that Croftes had had severeproblems at AS Coventry at one point before the dissolution, but clearly these had now he been overcome. But Croftes too died soon after his arrival in England. Chauncy and Taylor were now doubly bereavedand vulnerable, but Cardinal Pole and Sir Robert Rochestei. the latter the Controller of the Queen's household, who had supported the project from the first, gave them all possiblesupport in their hour of need.They werejoined by fifteen other former Carthusianswho had remained in the country, and the community was established at Sheen; the former charterhouse was recovered by the Queen,not without some difficulty, from the secondwife of the Protector Somerset,who had been granted it by Henry VIII. The Carthusiansentered Sheen on November l7'h, 1555,the feast of St. Hugh of Lincoln.e Chauncy is eloquent in describing the generosityof the Queen, the Cardinal, and Rochesterto the re-instatedCarthusian community. But the good hopes were destinednot to be fulfilled. Again on St. Hugh's day, in 1558, the Queen and Cardinal Pole were taken from them in a single day. Rochester died just after, on November 25'h. With the accession of Elizabeth, the Pope's authority was once again abjured, and the Carthusianswere expelledfrom Sheenon or shonly after July 1" 1559. In the event, Elizabeth dealt with the monks more leniently than might have been the case; at the instanceof King Philip of Spain, the widower of Queen Mary, they were allowed to leave England peacefully,and returned to Bruges.n

tn C'.An. Bolt. 22,c. 21,p. 7 | - c. 24,p. 73; D: The passion,pp. 134-l46. "" C: An. Boll. 22. c. 24, p. 73 - c. 26, p. 75; D: The Passion,pp. 146-158. Version C givesJuly 8'h I 559 as the dateof the expulsion;Version D saysJuly 1".- The restof D (pp. 158-162)is an expressionof hopefor the continuingCarthusian life of the Englishexiles, without any immediatehope of return.