J LI :BG2. CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ^^^ 7- ('prx^^^Jy^ , C'^-'vCci-^^-'-'.-^^O- THE CONVENTUAL BUILDINGS OF BLACK- FRIARS, LONDON, AND THE PLAY- HOUSES CONSTRUCTED THEREIN Cornell University Library PN 2596.L7B62 1917a Conventual buildings of Blackfriars, Lon iiiriiiiiiMitiiiiiiipiiiiiiliiiiiiitiiHii 3 1924 026 125 272 BY JOSEPH QUINCY ADAMS Reprinted from Studies in Pliihlogy, XIV, 2 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924026125272 THE CONVENTUAL BUILDINGS OF BLACK- FRIARS, LONDON, AND THE PLAY- HOUSES CONSTRUCTED THEREIN BY JOSEPH QUINCY ADAMS Reprinted from Studies in Philology, XIV, 2 A PLAN OF THE CONVENTUAL BUILDINGS AT THE TIME OF THE DISSOLUTION. (Farrant's Theatre, 24; Shakespeare's Theatre, 26 and 27.) :^2Fi7J f^ THE CONVENTUAL BUILDINGS OF BLACKFRIARS, LON- DON, AND THE PLAYHOUSES CON- STRUCTED THEREIN By Joseph QraNCY Adams In 1911 students of the Elizabethan drama were startled by the announcement of the discovery' of important documents among the Loseley Manuscripts proving the existence of an early Blackfriars playhouse once ovmed by John Lyly, and supplying many new details about the later Blackfriars theatre associated with Shakespeare. In 1913 M. Feuillerat, whose indefatigable labors have won the gratitude of all Elizabethan scholars, published a selection of these documents, • under the title Blackfriars Records, for The Malone Society. But these documents are very puzzling, consisting as they do of unconnected grants, surveys, and leases of scattered property, and extending over a period of a hundred years. The task yet remains correctly to interpret and articulate all these documents in order that we may gain a more exact knowledge of the two Blackfriars theatres — buildings which played an exceedingly interesting and important part in the history of Enghsh hterature. In the following essay I have attempted to reconstruct the an- cient Dominican Priory, and then to point out the precise location — with size, shape, and other details — of the two playhouses which were at several times established within the conventual buildings. The only previous attempt to reconstruct the priory, made by Mr. Alfred W. Clapham in an article entitled On the Topography of the Domin- ican Priory of London, printed in Archaeologia, 1912, is demon- strably wrong in virtually every feature. This is mainly due to the fact that Mr. Clapham wrote in ignorance of the Loseley documents. I cannot hope that the present reconstruction, made in the light of these documents, is correct in every detail; but that it is substan- tially correct in all important features will be evident, I think, from a careful examination of the miscellaneous documents now happily available to scholars.^ • It does not fall within the province of this paper to discuss the question as to who first made this discovery. It was first announced by M. Albert Feuillerat, of Rennes, in The Daily Chronicle, London, December 22, 1911. For the regret- table controversy between Mr. C. W. Wallace and M. Feuillerat over the credit for the discovery, see The Athenmum, November 2, 1912, and the following issues. 'These documents may be found in the following works: Albert Feuillerat, Blackfriars Records, in The Malone Society's Collections, 1913 (in the present Joseph Quincy Adams I. The Conventual BxjiLDiJrGS [The numbers prefixed refer to corresponding numbers on the ac- companying plan of the priory.] 1. The Preaching Nave of the church was 66 feet wide (9. 7),' approximately 120 feet long, with two aisles (9. 3; 10. 16), and, if we may trust Wyngaerde's View of London, five bays. 2. The Chancel, or choir, was 44 feet wide (110. 40), approximately 80 feet long, and was separated from the Nave by the Belfry and a passage leading into the Great Cloister. No aisles are referred to as existing in the Chancel. 3. The Belfry, situated between the Chancel and the Nave, seems to have been 20 feet wide (111. 40) and to have extended the entire breadth of the church (110. 34-6; 111. 1, 35-40). Through it ran the Entry, perpetuated in modern London by the alley known as Church Entry. The Entry led from the Great Cloister into the churchyard, and thence into the city. Thus the entire length of the church — ^Nave, Chancel, and Bel- fry—was 220 feet (9. 12). 4. The Chapel was situated "on the north side of the said church" (9. 33), adjoining the Chancel (110. 29 ff.), and "annexed" to the Vestry at the east end of the Chancel (110. 35). Its dimensions are not given; but the Vestry was 22 feet in width, and, in all probability, this was the width of the Chapel also. essay the citations in parentheses are to the pages and lines t>l this volume) ; Charles William Wallace, The Children of the Chapel at Blackfriars, 1908, Shakespeare and His London Associates, 1910, The Evolution of the English Drama up to Shake- speare, 1912; The Seventh Report of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, 1879, Appendix, pp. 596-680; Alfred J. Kempe, The Loseley Manuscripts, 1836; F. G. Fleay, A Chronicle History of the London Stage, 1890, containing the Green- street documents, pp. 127 fi., 208 ff.; James Greenstreet, The Blackfriars Play- house: Its Antecedetits, in The Athenaum, July 17, 1886, p. 91; Alfred W. Clapham, On the Topography of the Dominican Priory of London, in Archaeologia, 1912, reprinted in part in Clapham and Godfrey's Some Famous Buildings and their Story, 1913; The Victoria History of London, 1909, vol. 1, p. 498; Sir Walter Besant, Mediaeval London, 1906, vol. ii, p. 407; Charles R. B. Barrett, The History of the Society of ApotJiecaries of London, 1905; Palmer, C. F. R., Burials at the Priories of the Blackfriars, in The Antiquary, xxiii, 122, xxiv, 28, 76. 'The numbers in parentheses refer to the pages and lines in FeuiUerat's Blackfriars Records, printed in The Malone Society's Collections, 1913. * The Antiquary, xxiv, 76, 79; quoted in Archaeologia, 1912, p. 66. Conventual Buildings of Blackfriars, London In 1502 John Bailies was buried "in St. Anne's Chapel"; and in 1520 Roger Watley was buried "in the Chapel of St. Anne within and adjoining the church."^ It seems probable that the Chapel at the northeast end of the church was called St. Anne's Chapel, and that this was the building used by the early inhabitants of Blackfriars as a parish church. (See the document printed in The Athenceum, July 17, 1886, and compare it with Blackfriars Records 2. 1 £f., and 110. 29-112. 13. Phillipps, who was allowed the use of a part of the parish church for a stable, lived in the Anchoress' House). 5. The Vestry, belonging to the Chapel (110. 36), was "on the north side on the east end" of the church (10. 21), and "at the end" of the Chancel (110. 35). It extended 22 feet in a north and south direction (110. 39), and apparently 22 feet in an east and west direc- tion (compare the measurements cited 110. 41-111. 2). Like the rest of the church it was roofed with lead (10. 21). 6. The Church Porch, later known as the Square Tower, seems to have occupied the usual position on the north side of the Nave at the west end, and to have been in the nature of a small chapel dedi- cated to Our Lady (see Archaeologia, 1912, p. 64). It was 24 feet square (107, 36-42; 114. 28-30; 115. 21 ff.). Later there was erected to the west of it a "shop, commonly called the Round house or Corner shop" (107. 36-109. 2). 7. The Anchoress' House was on the north side of the Nave, and near the highway (9. 18; 112. 15-114. 14). Its dimensions are given as 24 feet north and south (113. 32), and 30 feet east and west (113. 2). Before its grant to Cawarden it was occupied by Sir Morisse Griffith (11. 1); in 1550 Cawarden rented it to Thomas Phillipps, the Clerk of the Revels (44. 32-45. 1; 53. 8). 8. The Churchyard "on the north side of the body of the said church containeth in breadth ... 90 feet, and in length . . . 200 feet" (9. 6-13). There seems to be some reason for beheving that the length of the churchyard was nearer 300 feet (see 111. 14 ff.; 114.20ff). 9. The Great Cloister lay to the south of the Nave. It was 110 feet square, extending from the body of the church on the north to the south Dorter (sometime occupied by Lady Kingston) on the south, and from the East Dorter (sometime occupied by Sir Anthony Ager) on the east, to the Porter's Lodge (occupied by Lord Cobham) and Joseph Quincy Adams the Buttery on the west (7. 17; 9. 20-28; 111. 1; 115. 34, 39). The cloister-alleys were approximately 10 feet wide, with an inner mea- surement of 8 feet {Archaeologia, 1912, p. 70, note 1), were paved (9. 35), enclosed with windows, glazed (10. 8), and roofed with lead (10. 25). In the south-west corner of the cloister yard was a flowing conduit of water and a lavatory at which the friars washed their hands before passing into the adjacent f rater to break their fast; and " nigh " this lavatory was " the picture of the holy crucifix there set" (Archaeologia, 1912, p. 68). This cloister afterwards became "the great square garden" belonging to the mansion of Cawarden and More (118. 2, 9, 15, 21; 92; 3 ff.; etc.). 10. The East Dorter, or Dormitory, flanked the Great Cloister on the east. At its northern end it abutted on the Belfry and Chancel (110. 29 ff.). Here was a stairway, enclosed, and roofed with lead (10.22), "coming out of the church to the Dorter" (10. 23), and "going up into the late East Dorter" (110. 43). At its southern end was an entry leading into the Great Cloister, and from its southern wall, a pair of stairs leading up into the Provincial's Chamber which ad- joined it on the east (Grant to Gresham, September 7, 36 Henry VIII, printed in Archaeologia, 1912, p. 70, note 1). The roof was covered with tile and slate (10. 1). 11. The Prior's Lodging, with larders, buttery, kitchen, store- room, cellar, gallery, and other parcels, lay just to the east of the East Dorter and to the south of the Chancel (110. 41), with both of which it was directly connected. A small Prior's Chapel was "adiacent usque ad ecclesiam," and connected with the Prior's Lodging by a gallery. All this group of buildings is described in the grant to Sir Francis Bryan (103. 20-104. 13), but without enough details to allow of a reconstruction. 12. The Convent Garden lay to the east of the Prior's Lodging and the Chancel (110. 38), and consisted of about one acre of land (3. 3). In the grant to Bryan it is described as "duo gardina nostra ibidem adiacentia usque ad dictum hospicium vocatum le Priour's Lodgynge ex orientali parte & super magnam Garderobam regiam ibidem vulgariter vocatam the Kynge's Create Warderobe ex occiden- tali parte, continentia per estimacionem unam acram terre" (104. 9-12). Conventual Buildings of Blackfriars, London 13. The Chapter Home was on the eastern side of the Great Cloister, and measured in length 44 feet and in breadth 22 feet (9. 27; 114. 31). 14. The Provincial's Lodging lay to the east of the Dorter and above the garden ("super gardinum"), i. e. the Hill Garden. A pair of stairs led from the southern wall of the Dorter up into the Lodging: " et unius paris gradium vocati le Payer of Stayers ducentis per murum lapideum australem dicti dormitorii usque ad dictam cameram voca- tam the Provyncyall Chamber." An entry 16 feet long and 8 feet, wide ran under the southern end of the Dorter from a door leading into the Cloister to a door in the eastern side of the Dorter; thence northward for a distance of 20 feet measured from the south wall of the Dorter to the first beam towards the north; and here to an entry leading to the Provincial's Lodging. The dimensions and the exact situation of the Lodging, however, cannot be accurately determined. (The document from which the above statements are drawn is the grant to Paul Gresham, printed in Archaeologia, 1912, p. 70, note 1.) 15. The Common Jakes Chamber, mentioned in the Siurvey of 1555-6 (3. 26), is more fully described in the grant to Paul Gresham just mentioned: "Necnon firma cujusdam camere ruinose vocate le Comon Jakes Chamber, juxta dictam cameram vocatam the Provyn- cyalles Chamber. " 16. The Schoolhouse was closely connected with the Provincial's Lodging and the southern end of the Dorter. It is described as situated at or near the eastern corner of the Great Cloister, with its windows overlooking a garden — ^presumably the Hill Garden (104- 2>2>), which along with the Schoolhouse and the Provincial's Lodging was granted to Lady Anne Grey. Its dimensions are not given, but its situation is indicated by the following: "Ac etiam unius camere, vocate le Scolehouse, existentis apud orientalem finem magni claustri. Ac etiam unius parvi gardini ejusdem existentis ante fenestras ejusdem domus vocate le Scolehouse" {Archaeologia, 1912, p. 70). It was probably a chamber under the East or the South Dorter. 17. The Southern Dorter, or Dormitory, flanked the Great Cloister on the south, and seems to have been the chief mansion of the monas- tery. It was 26 feet in breadth (21. 7-8, 10-11), and was covered with slate and tile (10. 1). At the time of the grant to Sir Thomas Cawarden it was occupied by Lady Kingston; later Cawarden made it into his own "Great Mansion"; and after his death it passed to Joseph Quincy Adams Sir William More (19. 21-26. 30; 30. 33-31. 13; 117. 21 £f.; 92 1 £[.). The section on the eastern end (numbered 17a on the plan) was known as Liggon's Lodgings (21. 14; 119. 40 ff.; 118. 1). 18. The Inner Cloister, called also the Old^ Cloister (120. 3), the Upper^ Cloister {The Antiquary, xxiv, 119), and the south' Cloister (3. 15), was smaller than the Great Cloister, but its exact dimen- sions are not known. After the dissolution, it was granted, with various adjacent buildings, to Lady Kingston (104. 24 ff.). Later this property passed to her son. Sir Henry Jerningham, then to Anthony Kempe, and finally to Lord Hunsdon, the Lord Chamberlain and patron of Shakespeare's troupe (124. 15 ff.). 19. The Library flanked the Inner Cloister on the east. It con- sisted of "the Great or Upper Library," the "Under Library," "and also two chambers and a cellar underneath the Ubrary which sometime was the Under Library adjoined to the HiU Garden" (104. 32-33). The exact dimensions of the building are unknown. 20. The HiU Garden adjoined the Library (104. 33), the School- house overlooked the garden, and the Provincial's Lodging was "super gardinum"; moreover the Schoolhouse, the Provincial's Lodging, and a part of the Library were granted along with the Hill Garden to Lady Anne Grey. All this serves to fix the location of the garden. It was called the "Hill" garden probably for the same reason that the Inner Cloister was called the "Upper" cloister and the Frater was called the "Upper" frater; all stood on the crest of the hill. (See 3. 27; 104. 33; and Archaeologia, 1912, p. 70.) 21. The building, presumably once a dormitory, at the south of the Inner Cloister was rented out by the friars as an independent lodging long before the dissolution of the monastery. It was at one time occupied by Lady Elizabeth Dentonys, who died in 1519 {The Antiquary, xxiv, 76). In 1536 the Prior leased it to Sir William King- ston, Lady Mary Kingston, and her son Henry Jerningham. Access to the lodging was had through "a way to the water-side, between the garden of my Lady Paycokes of the west part, and the garden of Richard Trice of the east part. " To accommodate Sir William, the 'M. Feuillerat wrongly applies the adjective "old" to the Great Cloister. "Possibly it was called "upper," like the Frater, because it stood on the highest level, from which the land sloped rapidly to the river. ' In the Survey of Cawarden's property (8.12 £f.) the term "South Cloister" is loosely applied to the cloister south of the church, i.e., the Great Cloister. Conventual Buildings of Blackfriars, London Prior allowed him also the use of the two chambers and a cellar under- neath the adjacent Under Library. After the dissolution Kingston secured the greater portion of the Library, the Inner Cloister, and other buildings, all of which passed ultimately to Lord Hunsdon, the Lord Chamberlain. (See 104. 24 ff.) 22. The Porter's Lodge constituted a part of the mansion of Lord Cobham (115. 3-15; 13. Iff.; 14. Iff.). It was 21 feet in width, abutting on the Great Cloister at the north-west end (115. 39; 16. 29-31); 52 feet in length, 20 feet of which abutted against the south wall of the church (116. 1-9) ; and at this point it had a window opening into the Church — "cum quandam ffenestra, vocata le Closet Wyn- dowe, ad perspiciendam in ecclesiam ibidem" (13. 6-8). The rest of Cobham's lodging cannot be exactly described. He seems however, to have occupied a large part of the hall over the Buttery, which later he purchased from Cawarden. 23-24. The Buttery was the name given to the large building flanking almost the entire western side of the Great Cloister. It extended from Lord Cobham's mansion on the north to the Frater on the south, a distance of 98 feet,* and from the Great Cloister on the east to the Kitchen Yard on the west 27 feet.' The northern section, numbered 23, was later sold to Lord Cobham, and ultimately passed into the possession of the Society of Apothecaries. The southern section, nmnbered 24, became first Farrant's private theatre, and later the Pipe OfiSce. 25. The Kitchen Yard is described as follows: "A Kitchen Yard, an old Kitchen, an entry or passage adjoining to the same; contain- ing in length 84 feet, abutting to the [Water] lane aforesaid on the west side, being in breadth at that end 68 feet, abutting against an old Buttery on the East side, being in breadth at that end 74 feet, abutting to Mr. Portynary's parlor next the lane on the south side, and to my Lord Cobham's brick wall and garden on the north side." (7. 5 ff.). The Kitchen here mentioned, elsewhere called the "Old" or "Conventual" Kitchen, is hard to place. I suspect that it was ' The section of the Buttery sold to Cobham was 52 feet in length (16.18) , the remaining section was 46 feet in length (27.21; 29.19;120.43). These measure- ments seem to be more accurate than the survey (7.17) which gives the length as 95 feet. The same survey gives the length of the Frater as 107 feet instead of 1 10 . •The measurements difier— 27 feet (16.19; 20. 5), and 25 feet (27.22; 29.21). I take it that 27 feet represents approximately the exterior width of the building, and 25 feet the interior. The width of 36 feet (7.16) includes, I think, the gallery or cloister-alley at the east of the building. Joseph Quincy Adams under the northern end of the Buttery. It is described as being "in the south end of Lord Cobham's lodging" (10. 3), as having a gallery 40 feet long and 10 feet wide on its eastern side (14. 16; 116. 27), which may have been a section of the cloister-aUey, and as having a pair of stairs leading from the Kitchen up into the Great Cloister (14. 20; 116. 32). The evidence on this point, however, is far from conclusive. 26-28. The Upper Frater building was situated to the south of the Buttery and to the west of the Inner Cloister; its exact position as indicated on the plan is rendered certain by numerous references in the documents published by M. Feuillerat. It was 110 feet long, 52 feet wide, with stone walls three feet thick, and with a flat roof of lead. The top floor consisted of a single room known as the Upper Frater, and also as the Parliament Chamber from the fact that during the reign of Henry VIII the English parliament met here on several occasions. The Parliament Chamber was reached by means of a winding stair leading out of the yard to the north, and thus was an independent unit, quite distinct from the other sections of the build- ing. After the dissolution it was used for a time for the revels (105. 42); later it was converted into the Frith and Cheeke Lodgings; and ultimately it was purchased by James Burbage. The space below the great Parliament Chamber was divided into three units, the Hall, the Parlor, and the Infirmary. 26. The Hall was imder the ParHament Chamber or Upper Frater at the north end, and is mentioned in the survey as foUows: "A hall . . . under the said Frater" (7. 26), and again in the side-note: "Memorandum, my Lorde Warden claimeth the said haU. " Its di- mensions are not exactly known; I have made it conform to the width of the Duchy Chamber on the west, with which it later constituted a tenement (63. 8-11). For other evidence as to its dimensions see the discussion of the Second Blackfriars Playhouse, and the plan accompanying that discussion. 27. The Parlor, or dining chamber, adjoined the Hall on the south, and was described in the Survey as "under the said Frater, of the same length and breadth." (7. 26). The room could hardly have been of the same length and breadth as the great Parliament Chamber, for not only would such dimensions be absurd for an informal dining chamber, but we are actually told that a part of the Parliament Chamber was over the Infirmary, and that the Infirmary was approxi- 10 Conventual Buildings of Blackfriars, London mately one-third the size of the Parhament Chamber. Accordingly I have interpreted the phrase to mean (if it was not an error) that the Parlor was square. When the room was sold to Burbage in 1596 it was said to be 52 feet in length from north to south (61. 30), which happens to be exactly the breadth of the building from east to west. I have therefore represented the Parlor as being 52 feet square — ample dimensions for a room "where commonly the friars did use to break their fast." The Parlor, as well as the Hall adjoining it, was claimed by the Lord Warden, whose heirs later made trouble for More (see Document X); the two rooms were later combined to constitute Shakespeare's playhouse. 28. The Infirmary, commonly called the Fermery, is described as being situated at the western corner or end ("ad occidentalem finem") of the Inner Cloister (104. 4; 105. 11), as being under the Parliament Chamber or Upper Frater (106. 14), and as being approxi- mately one-third the size of the Parhament Chamber (106. 15). Furthermore, this section of the Frater building, because of the sudden fall of the ground as it sloped to the river, was four stories high, consisting of a " room beneath the Fermery, " probably a cellar, the Infirmary itself, a "room above the same" (105. 35), and, finally, the southern end of the Parliament Chamber, which was "over the room above the Fermery." (106. 15). The Infirmary section of the Frater building never belonged to Ca warden or More. It was granted in 1545 to Lady Kingston: "Necnon totam illam domum . . . vocatam le Fermery, scituatam et existentem ad occidentalem finem dicti Claustri ... Ac totum spacium terram solum edificium et hereditamentum nostrum supra et subtus idem le Fermery existens eidem le Fermery spectans vel pertinens" (105. 10 £f.). When later this property was purchased by Kempe, the last clause was made the occasion for a dispute. Kempe, we are told, "by cuUor of this graunt of the Fermerye and of the building &c. above and benethe" laid claim to the entire Parliament Chamber (105. 29 ff.). Since the Infirmary, with the room below and the room above, was never in the possession of Cawarden or More, it was not included in Burbage's purchase of 1596. This clearly explains why the audi- torium of the second Blackfriars playhouse was limited in length to 66 feet, instead of being the full 110 feet of the Frater building. In all probabihty there was a passage leading from the Inner Cloister through the Infirmary, and connecting with the lane leading to Water Lane. 11 Joseph Quincy Adams 29. The Duchy Chamber was a single room on the same level with the Parliament Chamber, "containing in length 50 feet and in breadth 16 feet, abutting east against the north end of the said Frater, abutting west on Mr. Portynary's parlor" (8. 8; 12. 9). Possibly it was called the Duchy Chamber because of its use in coimection with the sittings of Parliament in the adjacent hall. Below it was a lodging (8. 8; 63. 11), and above it was a room or loft (62. 24). It was included in the Burbage purchase of 1596. 30. Mr. Portynary's Parlor is often referred to in the documents describing Cawarden's property (7. 10, 25, 31; 8. 2, 11; 52. 3). The house was later occupied by John Tyce (125. 4), and was purchased by the Burbages in 1610 (Documents X, XVII). 31. "A little kitchen, containing in length 23 foot and in breadth 22 foot, abutting to the aforesaid Water Lane on the west, towards the said Parlor on the east, to Mr. Portynary's house on the north, and to a way leading to my Lady Kingston's house on the south" (7. 27 ff.). 32. "A little chamber, with a void room thereunder, containing in length 26 foot, in breadth 10 foot, abutting west to the kitchen east to the Parlor, north to Mr. Portynary's house, and the said way to my Lady Kingston's house south" (7. 33-8. 3). M. Feuillerat would identify the "little kitchen" and the "little chamber" with the Butler's Lodging, occupied after the dissolution by Lawrence Bywater (see Documents X, XI, and XII). If this identification be correct, the "little chamber" was the "Uttle house havinge chalyces & singinge cakes paynted in ye Mdndowe of ye same house, and syled about w' waynscott" (42. 24). The dimensions given for the Butler's Lodge differ widely (cf. 7. 27ff., and Documents XI and XII). ZZ. The Brew House and the Bake House were adjacent to the Infirmary, and were granted along with that building to Lady King- ston (104. 41-42; 105. 13-14; 3. 16). Since great emphasis is laid upon the fact that the Brew House stood very near to the Butler's Lodge (43. 4, 35; 44. 7; 51. 1), I have placed it on the west side of the Infirmary. It may, however, have stood to the south of that building. No indication as to the size of the Brew and Bake Houses is furnished. 34. The Stable was adjacent to the Brew House, and was included in the grant to Lady Kingston (104. 42; 105. 14; 3. 17). Its size and its exact location are matters of conjecture. 12 Conventual Buildings of Blackfriars, London II. A Description of the Blackfriars Priory from Pierce the Ploughman's Crede Apparently we have a description of the Blackfriars Priory in Pierce the Ploughman's Crede, written about 1394. I quote the passage in full in order that one may compare it with the preceding reconstruction.^ panne Jjoujt y to frajTie ]je first • of )jis foure ordir=. And pressede to ]>e Prechoures ■ to proven here wille. Ich hijede to her house • to herken of more; And whan y cam to Jiat court ■ y gaped aboute. Swich a bild bold,^ y-buld • opon erjie heijte, Say i noujt in certaine ■ sijjjje a longe tyme. Y jemede' vpon )jat house ■ and jeme Jjeron lokcd, How ]>e pilers weren y-peynt • and pulched* ful dene, And queynteli i-corven ■ wi}) curiouse knottes, WiJ) wyndowes well y-wroujt ■ wide vp o-lofte. And })anne y entrid in ■ and even-for)> went, And all was walled ))at wone ■ J^ouj it wid were, Wi)j postemes in pryuytie ' to passen when hem liste; Orchejardes and erberes • euesed^ well clene. And a curious cros • craftily entayled,' WiJ) tabernacles' y-tijt' • to toten all abouten. pe pris of a plouj-lond ■ of penyes so rounde To aparaile Jiat pyler • were pure lytel. JJanne y munte me forji ■ J>e mynstre to knowen. And a-waytede a woon' ■ wonderlie well y-beld, Wi|j arches on eueriche half • and beUiche y-corven, Wi)? crochetes on corners • wiJ; knottes of golde; Wyde wyndowes y-wroujt ■ y-written" full [jikke Schynen wi}) schapen scheldes • to schewen aboute, WiJ? merkes of marchauntes ' y-melded bytwene. Mo ))an twenty and two • twyes y-noumbred. per is none heraud l^at ha]? • half swich a rolle, 1 1 follow the text as edited by W. W. Skeat in 1906. ' A building so built. ' I looked .carefully. * Polished. " Surrounded by clipped borders. • Carved. ' Arched canopies of stone. ' Firmly set. ' And I beheld a building. '" Inscribed. 13 Joseph Quincy Adams Rijt as a ragman" ■ ha]j rekned hem newe. Tombes opon tabernacles ■ tyld opon lofte,'^ Housed in himes" ■ harde set a-bouten, Of armede alabaustre • dad for Jje nones, [Made vpon marble • in many maner wyse; Knyghtes in her conisantes" • for ]pe nones,] All it seemed seyntes • y-sacred opon er)7e; And louely ladies y-wroujt • leyen by her sydes In many gay garmentes • })at weren gold-beten. pouj ])e tax of ten jer • were trewly y-gadered, Nolde it noujt maken pat hous • half, as y trowe. panne kam I to Jjat cloister ■ and gaped abouten How it was pilered and peynt • and portreyd'^ well clene, All y-hyled" wij) leed • lowe to ]>e stones. And y-paued wij? peynt til" ■ iche poynt after olpei; Wi); kundites of clene tyn ■ closed all aboute, WiJ) lauoures of latun • louelyche y-greithed. I trowe })e gaynage of \>e ground ■ in a great schire Nolde aparaile ))at place ■ oo poynt til other ende. panne was )>e chaptire-house wroujt • as a greet chirche, Coruen and couered ■ and queyntUche entayled; Wi}) semlich, selure" • y-set on lofte; As a Parlement-hous ■ y-pejTited aboute." panne ferd y into fraytour • and fond jjere an oj^er, An halle for an hey 5 kinge and householde to holden , Wijj brode hordes^" abouten ' y-benched wel clene, Wi); windowes of glas • wroujt as a chirche. panne walked y ferrer ■ and went all abouten. And seij halles full hyje ■ and houses full noble, Chambers wi)? chymneyes ■ and chapeUs gaie; And kychens for an hyje kinge ■ in casteUs to holden. And her dortour" y-dijt ■ wi}> dores ful stronge; Fermery and fraitur ■ with fele mo houses, And all strong ston wall • steme opon hei)je, Wi); gaie garites and grete ■ and iche hole y-glased; And o))ere houses y-nowe • to herberwe ]>e queene. " Catalogue, list. '^ Elevated above the floor. " Enclosed in niches. " Cognisances, or badges of distinction. " Adorned. " Covered. " Painted tiles. " Decorated ceiling. " That is, the walls were decorated with painting. " Tables. " Dorter, or Dormitory. Conventual Buildings of Blackfriars, London III. The Blackfriars Precinct a Suitable Location for Playhouses At the dissolution of the religious houses, the Blackfriars property- passed into the possession of the crown, hence, although it was within the city walls, it was wholly free from the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor and his brethren the Aldermen: "All the inhabitants within it," says Stevens in his History of Ancient Abbeys, Monasteries, etc., "were subject to none but the King . . . neither the Mayor, nor the sheriffs, nor any other officers of the City of London, had the least jurisdiction or authority therein." Since the municipal fathers for puritanical and other reasons were seeking by every means in their power to harass the players and drive them out of the City, those districts which were under the jurisdiction of the crown offered to the latter a grateful haven of refuge. But of all the districts thus available to the actors, Blackfriars must have been the most attrac- tive: the fact that many noblemen had their residence there made it one of the aristocratic sections of London, and the fact that it was near the centre of London's population — as one writer puts it "scituated in the bosome of the Cittie" — made it readily accessible to playgoers even during the cold and disagreeable winter months. As a result two playhouses were at different times constructed within the old conventual buildings, one by Richard Farrant in the Buttery, the other by James Burbage in the Prater. IV. The First Blackfriars Playhouse, 1576-1584 In 1548 both the Buttery and the Prater (with the exception of the Infirmary, which already had been granted to Lady Kingston) were granted by King Edward to Sir Thomas Cawarden, the Master of the Revels. In 1554 Cawarden sold the northern section of the Buttery, 52 feet in length, to Lord Cobham (Document VI), whose mansion adjoined it on the north. The remainder of the Buttery, and the Great Parliament Chamber, Cawarden made into two tenements. Through the length of the Parliament Chamber he ran a partition dividing it into two sections. The section on the west of the partition he rented to Richard Frith'; the section on the east ' Frith paid a rental of £8, and his lease, once renewed, was to expire on Lady Day, 1S89. The lease, I think, was taken over by John Lyly after he came into possession of Farrant's theatre, and was sold by Lyly to Lord Hunsdon in 1584. Hunsdon continued to pay the rental of £8, and in 1590 he notes that the lease had recently expired (118.3.3: 119.3: 122.1 £f.). 15 Joseph Quincy Adams QrS'fuMIUl/ OAiAcU/TT/ Vlavd' QUirucly wyLanMmi/)U.a/nijurri/ }