H Distort of St Huaustine's Monastery Canterbury. BY The Reverend R. J. E. BOGGIS, B.D. Sub- Warden of St. A ugustinfs College. Canterbury : CROSS & JACKMAN, 1901. PREFACE. Churchman or the Antiquarian cannot but feel THEa pang of regret as he turns over the pages of such a work as Dugdale's Monasticon, and notes the former glories of the Religious Houses of England before the hand of the spoliator, had consigned them to desecration and ruin. Some of these homes of religion and learning have entirely disappeared, while others are represented by fragments of buildings that are fast crumbling to decay; and among these latter possibly even among the former would have been counted St. Augustine's, had it not been for the pious and public-spirited action of Mr. A. J. Beresford Hope, who in 1844 purchased part of the site of the ancient Abbey, and gave it back to the Church of England with its buildings restored and adapted for the require- ments of a Missionary College. The outburst of en- thusiasm that accompanied this happy consummation of the efforts of the Reverend Edward Coleridge is still remembered not a few devout Church by people ; and there are very many besides, who rejoice in the fresh lease of life that has thus been granted to the PREFACE. old Foundation, and are interested in the service that is now being here rendered to the English Church of modern times. Such persons may like to have the opportunity of tracing the varied fortunes of the St. Augustine's of former ages, and I have therefore en- deavoured to set forth a sketch of its history during the 940 years of its existence as a Religious House, till the day when the Crown took possession of the Church's property, and "St. Augustine's Monastery" became "St. Augustine's Palace." I must here record my gratitude to Dr. A. J. Mason, to whom I am greatly indebted for many valuable suggestions and for correction of the proof-sheets; to John Newnham, Esq., A.R.I.B.A., for an excellent ground-plan of the mediaeval monastery as full and as accurate as it can at be and to the present made ; authorities of the British Museum and the Alcuin Club the former for leave to photograph the seals of the monastery, and the latter for permission to reproduce the Augustinian altar-piece in Mr. St. John Hope's "English Altars." ST. AUGUSTINE'S COLLEGE, CANTERBURY. June, 1901. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE I. The Foundation of St. Augustine's. (A.D. 598-613.) 1 II. St. Augustine's during the Heptarchy. (A.D. 613- 827.) .. .. 19 III. The Times of the Anglo-Saxon and Danish Mon- archs. (A.D. 827-1070.) .. .. .. 31 IV. The Norman Builders (A.D. 1070-1151.) .. 42 V. The Revolt from Episcopal Jurisdiction. (A.D. 1151-1253.) ........ VI. The Age of Worldly Magnificence. (A.D. 1253-1334.) 70 VII. The Pressure of the Papal Yoke. (A.D. 1334-1405.) 95 VIII. Days of Decadence. (A.D. 1405-1538.) .. .. Ill IX. The Dissolution (A.D. 1538.) .. .. 119 List of the Abbots . 126 APPENDIX. NOTE A. The Historians of the House. 129 B. St. as a Benedictine Augustine's Monastery. 133 C. The Abbey Church. .. .. .. .. 146 D. The Augustinian Calendar and Missal. 153 E. The Conventual Buildings. 159 F. The Library. 186 G List of Authorities . 195 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 1. The Great Gateway and St. Ethelbert's Tower in A.D. 1813. .. .. .. .. Frontispiece. TO FACE PAGE. 2. General view of the Remains of the Monastery in A.D. 1656. .. .. .. .. ., 9 3. Ruins of the Abbey-Church in A.D. 1722. .. .. 25 4. Ruins of the Abbey-Church in A.D. 1822. 57 5. The Altar-piece and "Corpora Sanctorum" in AD. 113 6. Seal of the Abbey, A.D. 1188. 137 Seal of Abbot Robert of Battle, A.D. 1243. Seal of Abbot Roger of Chichester, A.D. 1253-1273. > 161 \ Seal of Abbot Thomas Fyndon, A.D. 1283-1309. / Privy Seal of the Abbot, I3th century. \ Prior's Seal, I3th century. 8. \ 177 I Sub-Prior's Seal, I3th century. Treasurers' Seal, I4th or I5th century. 9. Seal of the Abbey, A.D. 1351. .. .. 193 Plan. 10. Ground . End of Book. CHAPTER I. THE FOUNDATION OF ST. AUGUSTINE'S. (A.D. 598-613.) moment when Augustine and his 4.0 companions THEfirst caught sight of the city of Canterbury or Doruvernis as it was then called must have been one of the most joyous and comforting of their lives. The toils and the terrors of their tedious journey from of the the which Rome were now things past ; goal, ever since the previous summer, they had been striving was reached still to gain, now ; Ethelbert, though heathen, was at least tolerant of their religion, and had even granted them permission to convert whom they the was in faith could ; and Bertha, Queen, already one of themselves. Truly the prospect was a fairer one than often greets the arrival of the Christian missionary! And even Nature herself added her cheer- ing influence, for it was now spring-time in the "garden of England" and late spring-time, if we are justified in believing that the actual date was the Tuesday in Rogation week, May 20th, in the year of Grace 597.* As they then, with hearts overflowing with joy, descended the last hill before reaching the city itself, 1 See Dr. Mason's Mission of St. Augustine, p. 236. A 2 THE FOUNDATION OF [598 their attention would be arrested by two buildings fraught with immense interest for them standing not far off on their right. Both of these were even then buildings of some antiquity, and both have been pre- served the one in its entirety, and the other partially to the present day. The first they would pass near the top of the slope, some 200 yards distant from " their path. It is described in Bede as a church dedicated in honour of St. Martin, and built long ago, when the Romans still occupied Britain, and in it the Queen, who, as we said before, was a Christian, was accustomed to worship." 1 The other edifice stood at the foot of the hill, and was within a stone's throw of the for the road had not at this been way ; period diverted to the south, but led on direct to Burgate. This too was a building of Roman origin, and was " at that time utilized, so Thorne tells us, as a. temple or idol-house, midway between St. Martin's Church and the city walls, where King Ethelbert and his nobles used to worship according to their national 2 rites." Having noticed these two houses of prayer, Augustine and his comrades passed on to the city " gate, bearing aloft their silver cross and the picture of our Lord and Saviour painted on a board," and " chanting their penitential litany, We beseech Thee, O Lord, of Thy great mercy, let Thy wrath and Thine anger be taken away from this city and from " 3 Thy holy house, for we have sinned. Alleluia ! It is not my purpose to enter into details about their temporary settlement at Stablegate, or their de- votional and ascetic manner of life, or their speedy successes too speedy one would think, if Ethelbert's baptism took place at St. Martin's as soon as Whit 2 I. 26. , H. E., Thorne, 1760. 3 Bede, H. E., I. 25. 3 613] ST. AUGUSTINE'S. 1 sun-eve, June ist of that same year. But let us investigate a little more closely the history of their permanent settlement on the site of the present cathe- dral, and notice How the establishment of the cathedral system in Canterbury led as a natural consequence to the foundation of St. Augustine's monastery without the walls. The account that Bede gives of the foun- dation of Canterbury Cathedral is to the effect that Augustine "recovered within the royal city a church, which, he was told, had been built of old by the Roman Christians. This he dedicated in the name of the Holy Saviour, our Lord God, Jesus Christ, and there he established a residence for himself and all his successors." 2 To this account later historians add the statement that Ethelbert resigned his palace to Augustine, and himself retired to Reculver.3 Such evidence as we possess is in favour of this statement concerning Ethelbert's palace, though it is a little disappointing that Bede is silent about it. But any- how it is quite certain that Augustine and his com- panions did obtain a site in the very heart of the city, and there founded a cathedral and established a capitular body, which were the first predecessors of the present Cathedral and Chapter of Canterbury. As soon, however, as the missionaries began to in settle down their permanent abode, a difficulty would naturally arise owing to the composite character of the community. Augustine's companions, indeed, are generally described as being all of them monks, but it seems quite evident that this was not the case. Some of them certainly were regulars, but on the other hand some were secular clergy. Thus Bede, in narrating r john Brompton in Decem Scriptores, col. 730. Bp. Browne's Augustine, pp. 55, 56. Elmham, p. 84. 2 in H. E., I. 33. Sprott Dugdale's Mon., vol. I., p. 126. 3 Thome, 1760. 4 THE FOUNDATION OF how Augustine sent to Rome to report progress to Gregory, plainly informs us that his envoys were " 1 Lawrence the priest, and Peter the monk." Again, the very first of the ecclesiastical problems on which " he consulted Gregory was, Concerning bishops, how " are they to live with their clergy ? The difficulty arose from the fact that Augustine was at once a bishop and a monk.