"King's chaplain, son and heir, born in London say 1479", Educated at Westminster, Oxford and Cambridge was [Benedictine Monk in residence and Chamberlain of Westminster Abbey as well as Prior Blyth, Prior Tynemouth], Son of William Gardyner and Ellen Tudor, Thomas is the grandson of the Duke of Bedford, Jasper Tudor, Thomas Gardener’s father, William Gardynyr was knighted with Gilbert Talbot on the Field of Battle at Bosworth Market in 1485. William Gardyner was found with Richard’s Crown and is now thought by some to be one of the men who dealt the mortal blow to King Richard III August 23rd 1485. Thomas Gardiner was the nephew of the Father of the City of London, Mayor, Sheriff and Alderman of Walbrook Ward, Richard Gardiner.HRH King Henry VII had spent some years communicating his personal wishes for his Lady Chapel and Chantry to Westminster Monk Thomas Gardener. Upon Henry VIIs passing, HRH King Henry VIII personally took up every aspect of design and construction of the Lady Chapel and his fathers Chantry. The King and Gardener entered into a multi year project, Upon the conclusion of the project a major source of pecuniary income of the new King. The son of Sir William Gardynyr and Elyn Teddur, Thomas Gardener was dubbed Kings Chaplain, Son and Heir. Over the objections of some, the King insisting his cousin Thomas Gardener be made acceptable as head priest of his fathers sacred chamber and coincidentally very lucrative chantry, even though Gardener had never been intercepted in theology or had even come close.
There have been claims through the years Thomas and his cousins were quickly placed for their safety with other members of the Royal Families, when it was alleged after returning from Bosworth Market, William Gardiner was murdered by Yorkist supporters of Richard the III when leaving a Poultry Cross tavern. Thomas Gardiner was young Prince Henry's personal tutor, a proficient writer, he wrote works on Plantagenet ancestry. Presenting a manuscript to King Henry VIII, Thomas also penned, Flowers of England a manuscript of Tudor history. Thomas Gardener was corresponding with Polydore Vergil in the years prior to Vergil's master works on Henry VII and Henry VIII (Anglica Historia) Thomas Gardiner was laid to rest in the monks vault of Henry VIIs Lady Chapel in January 1537.
[ Thomas Gardener Kings Chaplain, Thomas Gardiner Kings Chaplain, Thomas Gardyner Kings Chaplain, T Gardener Kings Chaplain, Thomas Gardener Monk, Thomas Gardiner Monk, Thomas Gardyner Monk, T Gardener Monk, Thomas Gardener Westminster, Thomas Gardiner Westminster Chaplain, Thomas Gardyner Westminster Abbey, T Gardener Lady Chapel, Thomas Gardener Priest Lady Chapel, Thomas Gardiner King Chaplain son and heir, Thomas Gardynyr , T Gardynyr Monk, ]
[ Thomas Gardener Kings Chaplain, Thomas Gardiner Kings Chaplain, Thomas Gardyner Kings Chaplain, T Gardener Kings Chaplain, Thomas Gardener Monk, Thomas Gardiner Monk, Thomas Gardyner Monk, T Gardener Monk, Thomas Gardener Westminster, Thomas Gardiner Westminster Chaplain, Thomas Gardyner Westminster Abbey, T Gardener Lady Chapel, Thomas Gardener Priest Lady Chapel, Thomas Gardiner King Chaplain son and heir, Thomas Gardynyr , T Gardynyr Monk, ]
Sir Thomas Tonge, King At Arms of the North, depicts Thomas Gardiner's mother Ellen Tudor the illegitimate daughter of Jasper, Duke of Bedford; and, more than that, boldly impaled the arms of England with Gardeners own paternal coat, counting even the bar sinister an honour!1485, 8th October, Thomas Gardyner is named as son of William Gardyner and Ellen Tudor
William Gardyner, of London, Skinner who married Ellen Tudor, They had one son, Thomas Gardiner, Four daughters Philippe, Margeret, Beatrice and Ann. WILLIAM GARDINER - Skinner left a will dated 25th Sept. 1485, Proved 8th Oct. 1485, naming Ellen and his brother Richard Gardiner, [Alderman Walbrook Ward, Sheriff, Mayor London, President Mercers Guild] his executors and requesting burial in the chapel on the north side of church of St. Mildred Poultry London. His will included bequests to his five children (all named), His brothers, Richard, Robert and John Gardiner, and his sisters, Maude and Alice"1487, 19th January, Thomas Gardyner Is Litigate in his Father's Estate, William Gardyner:
William Sybson, Junior, draper, Peter Watson, draper, and others came before the Mayor and Alderman of London 19th Jan, 1487-1488 and entered into bond in the sum of 100 marks for payment into the Chamber of a like sum by the said William Sybson for the use of Thomas, Philippa, Magaret, Beatrix, and Anne [now children of John Gardiner custodian and brother of late] [ recte William Gardiner, when they come of age or marry. His widow Ellen, married (2nd) before 1493 WILLIAM SIBSON or (SYBSON) or London, Skinner, son of William Sibson, The Elder, Citizen and draper of London. He was named in the 1499 will of his father who bequeathed him 40 marks. In the period 1486-1493 Thomas Dra****y of London, mercer sued William Sibson, of London, Skinner, and Ellen his wife in the Chancery regarding a debt for furs supplied to said Ellen. In period,^1493-1494, Admitted a Benedictine monk at Westminster Abbey
1497, Oxford University (Gloucester Hall 1497-1499)
1497, Was made an Acolyte.
1498, Cambridge University
1498, Ordained a sub-deacon at Oseney Abbey, Oxford
1499-1500, Attending both Cambridge and Oxford
1501-1502, Peter Watson, Of London, draper and William Sybson,
1501-1507, In residence at Westminster Abbey.Husband of Ellen, late wife of William Gardiner, sued the Mayor, Aldermen, Sheriffs of London in Chancery on the behalf of the children of William Gardiner, to recover the portion of William's son, Thomas Gardiner who had entered Westminster Abbey.
1501, Thomas Gardiner Is Ordained
1502-1503, Thomas Gardiner, Prior of Mane, Receipts and payments (cancelled) on behalf of T. Gardner (Mun. 33288, f. 21b).
1505-1506, His name dropped out of our manorial lists.
1507-1511, Appointed by King Henry VII, Prior of Blyth (Benedictine) acting through the Duchy of Lancaster.
1472, Edward IV presented William Massam, a monk of Durham, (Kinsman of Thomas Gardyner mentioned in Alderman Gardyners last will) to whom his own house were greatly attached; he was granted the privilege of wearing the Durham frock, like any other brother of the house, whenever he came on a visit.(fn. 41) Henry VII presented in 1496 and again in 1507, when Thomas Gardiner, a monk of Westminster, was made prior; on this last occasion the presentation is entered in the register as having been made by the king as Duke of Lancaster. (fn. 42) The institution of the last prior in 1534 is also registered as being done under the seal of the Duchy of Lancaster. (fn. 43)
1507, Thomas Gardener, monk of Westminster, on the same presentation. Admitted as Prior, 20th May, 1507. On a leaf in the beginning of the Blyth register, in the Harleian library, written in an indifferent hand, are these lines —
1507-1515, Robert Pocapart, priest, sued John Bate, priest, in Chancery regarding a debt of Thomas Gardyner, prior of Blyth, due to Thomas Hardyman, of London, fishmonger, for which both parties became sureties along with Thomas Barker, of London, scrivener, now deceased.Emmanuel-"Pray for me now I am natt here, Of Blyeth sometyme prior, T. Gardener;In London borne, and no farther, And sumtyme moncke in Westmynster."
1509, 21st April, HRH King Henry VII, Dies (aged 52) Dies at Richmond Palace, buried Lady Chapel Chantry at Westminster Abbey, London
1511, 16th July, Gardiner resigns appointment as Prior of Blyth before returning to Westminster to oversee The Chantry of HRH King Henry VII being rewarded with a 2/5 share from the Manors. (Dugdale, Monast. iv, 621)
1511, Thomas Gardner returns to Westminster where he was selected as one of the three monks who performed daily mass at the Henry VII Chapel, The Lady Chapel, The chantry established by Henry VII. Thou Gardner had never been incepted in theology or even come close. The King insisted Thomas Gardyner be made acceptable at a priest of Henry VII's Chantry.
 |
| 1504 King Henry VII with Foxe, Warham, Wyngar |
1512, Gardiner completed a short chronicle of English history entitled: "The Flowers of England." The best-known copy of this, MS Ortho C. vi in the Cotton Lib., was destroyed by fire in 1731, but the full text can be obtained by combining two manuscripts in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, parts of MSS E.1.15 (no. 513) and E.5.22 (no. 633); the former appears to have been Gardiner's own copy and his summary entries for a further two years. Another copy, reaching 1516 but damaged and very imperfect, is in the Bodleian Lib., MS Rawlinson D. 1010, fols. 1-32. It is a partisan treatise, written to show that his cousin, King Henry VIII, was the rightful inheritor, by all lines of descent, of the crown of England.^
The text is so briefly described by Thomas Tanner, from London today illegible manuscript
"Scripsit anglice Epitomen historiae Anglicanae a Bruto ad 7 Henr VIII cui titulus"
"The Flowers of England."
It was identified in the manuscripts of the Bodleian Library by J.J.G. ALEXANDER and May McKISACK: it is a chronic which traces the lineage HENRY VIII since CADWALLADER via ALFRED GUILLAUME and the Conqueror and ends with the coming of MARGARET, Queen of Scotland in London on May 3 1516; several missing folios in the manuscript, Pedigree of the kings of Wales, France and England.
Gardiner also compiled another minor historical work, a pedigree of the kings of Wales, France, and England, to exhibit Henry VIII's ancestry. A mid-sixteenth-century copy is Bodleian Lib., MS Eng. hist. e. 193, and excerpts are in British Lib., Cotton MS Julius F.ix, fol. 24; it may date from 1515-16.
1516, 19 February, Thomas Gardyner Performs Mass
The new addition to the Abbey was the glorious Lady chapel built by King Henry VII, first of the Tudor monarchs, which now bears his name. This has a spectacular fan-vaulted roof and the craftsmanship of Italian sculptor Pietro Torrigiano can be seen in Henry's fine tomb. The chapel was consecrated on 19 February 1516.
Westminster monk Thomas Gardiner, whose manuscript history of England is our only source for the dedication date, was no doubt well aware that all of Henry VII's wishes had not been respected, yet this did not prevent him from hailing the foundation as:
"the most honorabull... that hath bene harde off... an insampull to all kynges crystum to privide for ther parpetuall rememberunsse"
~T. Gardiner, Kings Chaplain
1521, Appointed Kitchener, Westminster Abbey
1528-1529, Appointed Chamberlain, Westminster Abbey, Received a double share of outfit now being himself Chamberlain.
1520-1530, Cardinal Wolsey pays wages to one Thomas Gardyner of 40s 12d.
1528, Thomas Gardiner Chaplain to HRH King Henry VIII, Appointed Prior of Tynemouth, Northumberland,
One would deduce Thomas Gardiner had been hearing confession and conducting mass for many years at this point. Thomas and the King were I'm sure already well acquainted. The King surely wouldn't be entrusting his mortal soul and those of his children to someone who was unknown to the family, Thomas was in a position of one would surmise of complete trust as far as the King would be concerned. This also appears to be a way for HRH King Henry VIII to provide indirect material support for his children from his former mistress, Lady Mary Boleyn Carey who some claim is the mother of his bastard daughter.
1530, 30th December, The Rev. Father in God Thomas Gardiner, prior of the monaſtery of Tinmouth, and the convent of the ſame, granted a leaſe from W'hitſunday next enſuing, to the end of 25 years, of all the coals and coal-mines in the fields and bounds of Elſwick, in the county of Northumberland, to Chriſtopher Mitford, of Newcaſtle upon Tyne, Gentleman, at the annual rent of twenty pounds, upon condition that not above twenty chalder (ſix bowls to the chalder) ſhould be drawn in a day.' ^
1532, Correspondence with Polydore Vergil, who wrote a history of England which was published at Basel in 1534
1532-1536, He sued the executors of the late Thomas Somer in Chancery regarding a debt on a falsified bill and money allegedly embezzled by Somer.
1530, HRH King Henry VIII Appoints Thomas Gardynyr Prior of Tynemouth for Life.
1535, He granted a rent of 40s. from Elswick, Northumberland to Richard Layton, one of the commissioners for the suppression.
1536, 8th October, He leased the manor of Bewick, Northumberland to Robert Collingwood.
1536, Thomas Gardiner died shortly before 13th December 1536, when his post as prior was reported vacant. ^
1536 Last mention 1535-1536 (Chamberlain).
1537, January, Thomas Gardiner is laid to rest in the monks vault, Lady Chapel, Westminster Abby
PRIOR OF TYNEMOUTH
THOMAS GARDINER, succeeded to the office of PRIOR OF TYNEMOUTH. He occurs holding that dignity in A.D. MDXXVIII, And continued to be Prior until nearly the time of the dissolution of the Monastery, for he occurs so late as 1535. Of his parentage we have very distinct information; of his education, character, and monastic career, no particulars have come down to us. He was descended from the noble Queen Katherine, daughter of Charles, King of France, and widow of King Henry V. Owen Tudor, by his marriage with Katherine, had issue, Edmund, Earl of Richmond, and Jasper, surnamed of Hatfield, who was created Earl of Pembroke in 18th Henry VI and Duke of Bedford in the first year of the reign of his royal nephew, King Henry VII., and who died on 21st December, in the eleventh year of that reign,ll leaving only a natural daughter, Ellen, who became the wife of William Gardiner, Citizen of London, who was father of the lord Prior of Tynemouth. " The Herald who has noted these particulars on his visitation of the Monastery of Tynemouth in 1530, has subjoined the following representations of the arms" of Prior Thomas Gardiner, and adds :—
"These be the armes of my lord, the Prior of Tynmouth whose name is Gardiner.
"be yt noted that the said Prior of Tynmouth hath geven unto me, Noorey, kyne of the armies of the north parties, this pedigre and armes, of his owne reporte, whiche he woll afferme at all tymes to verify and approve before the Kyne and counsaill, that this pedigree ys true and armes also."
-Thomas Tonge, Norrey King of Arms, 1530
LADY MARY BOLEYN
Thomas Gardyner was patron of Lady Mary Boleyn - Cary, King Henry VIII mistress, until his death in 1536.
Mary Boleyn, also known as Lady Mary, was the sister of Queen Anne Boleyn, whose family enjoyed considerable influence during the reign of King Henry VIII. Mary was one of the mistresses of Henry VIII, from a period of roughly 1521 to 1526.
PRIOR OF BLYTH
(William Massam listed in the probate of Richard Gardyners Last Will)
25. William Massam, a monk of Durham, was admitted August 7, 1472, being presented by the same king. How came the monks of Blyth to go so far for a prior? Probably some brief-bearer from Durham had visited Blyth Priory, and on inquiry being made if he could recommend them a successor to Scotes in the event of a vacancy, had named Massam; or Massam himself had been at Blyth in that capacity and the monks had not forgotten him, or he had not forgotten the Priory of Blyth, when the vacancy actually occurred. By one party or other application was probably made to the Crown, and granted.
The Convent of Durham were greatly attached to him, and the feeling was doubtless reciprocal. At the request of the convent the prior granted Massam leave to wear his monk's frock whenever he revisited the great Northern house, which was endeared to him by so many cherished recollections. Here is the licence at full length:—
"On the 30th day of the month of May, A.D. 1473, sixth indiction, second year of the pontificate of the most holy father in Christ and our Lord Sixtus IVth, by Divine Providence Pope, the venerable father in Christ, Richard, by Divine permission Prior of the cathedral church of Durham, having called before him certain of his brethren of the chapter in the chapel of St. Nicholas, situate near his apartments, declared publicly to the venerable and religious man William Massam, late monk and brother of the same church, professing the order of St. Benedict, and then and there present and standing by, that, although he, by accepting the priorate of Blyth, in the diocese of York, where, as is asserted, he is, with the consent of those who are concerned in the matter, lawfully invested with and put in possession of the office of prior, has lost all and singular the rights of a brother in the aforesaid church with his own free consent, nevertheless the same venerable father, at the request of his brethren, and for the singular affection which he feels and ever hath felt for him, hath of his abundant kindness granted leave to the said William, that as often as he comes to the monastery of Durham as a stranger and visitor he may wear a frock like any other brother of the house, as long as he stays, without any molestation, provided that by so doing he make no claim to any other right, but conduct himself creditably among all the inmates. If he acts differently (quod absit) he shall be deprived of the privilege."
William Massam died at Blyth, having been prior nearly twenty-four years. If it were possible William Massam would form one more link in that chain which binds the writer of these pages to Durham by the most affecting recollections and associations.
26. Robert Guillam, a monk of Blyth, succeeded Massam, and was admitted March 3, 1496, being presented by Henry VII. in right of the duchy of Lancaster. He died in the office, and was followed by
27. Thomas Gardener, a monk of Westminster, on the same presentation. He was admitted Prior of Blyth 20th May 1507. On a leaf in the beginning of the Blyth register, in the Harleian library, written in an indifferent hand, are these lines—
Pray for me now I am natt here, Emmanuel. Of Blyeth sometyme prior, T. Gardener; In London borne, and no farther, And sumtyme moncke in Westmynster. 1507. ^
THOMAS GARDINER'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND
Henry VIII seems to have been even less concerned than his father to proclaim his British descent. None of the roll pedigrees examined for this study shows his British origin, although some rough contemporary notes by Thomas Gardiner, " a monk of Westminster ", show Henry's descent from Cadwalader both through his father's line and, via the Mortimers, through his mother. 3 One roll, commencing with Adam, does include the British kings but does not connect them with the later English line culminating in Henry VIII; 4 another commences with Edward I; 5 while a third begins with the Saxon Egbert and Rollo, the Norman. 6 The most pretentious of these genealogies also begins with Egbert and includes the Norman and Angevin lines. It was intended, by its compiler, not as a repetition of 1 B.M. King's MS. 395 ; Harleian 838, fols. 12b~49b. Wriotheskys Book (Add. MS. 46,354) fols. 105-6, gives a descent for Henry VII traced through Edmund and Owen Tudor, Idwall and thus to Cadwalader. But this manuscript also contains a Brutus descent for Richard, Duke of York (see above p. 22). Another roll pedigree which does not link Henry VII with the British kings is College of Arms MS., Box 28, no. 19. This indicates Henry Tudor's Welsh ancestry but only takes this back to 1377 and does not show a connection with the British line. In connection with the subject of roll pedigrees, it is interesting to note the payment of 3s. 4d., recorded in John Heron's Chamber Accounts under 4 May 1498, to " one that wrete a copye of a rolle of diuerse kinges ". See the BULLETIN OF THE JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY, xliii, no. 1 (1960), 33. 2 College of Arms MS., Box 2, no. 13. A. 3 Cotton. Julius F- ix, fols. 24a and b. 4 College of Arms MS., Box 28, no. 33. 5 College of Arms MS., Box 43, no. 9. 6 B. M. Lansdowne Roll 5.
EARLY TUDOR PROPAGANDA
27 unproven myths and medieval accretions but as an attempt at serious analysis of the political history bearing upon the English royal house.1 It is not too much to see in this carefully-written document a new critical attitude to history. The struggle over the British History that flared up in the middle of the sixteenth century was a battle between backward-looking antiquarians. As Kendrick has pointed out, it is probable that educated opinion at court would have supported opponents of the British History such as Lily and Lanquet rather than a'' passionately over-loyal antiquary like Leland ".2 Such educated opinion is probably reflected in the jettisoning of the British History in this genealogical roll. The place where one would expect to find reference to the British descent of the Tudors, if this were an important element of their propaganda, is in pageant series the popular expression of ideas current upon the royal visitor making a civic entry. The northern progress of 1486 was the occasion for the first pageant series of the Tudor era. Henry VII was new-come from the continent and a feeling that the original British dynasty had returned was in the air. This feeling was naturally at its strongest in Wales but in England similar ideas found expression in pageantry. At York Ebrancus, one of the most formidable British monarchs, greeted Henry as a lineal descendant of his own race. At Worcester it was intended to welcome the new king with the words quoted at the beginning of this essay, as the fulfiller of the prophecy made to Cadwalader. It is an explicit statement of Henry's British pedigree and shows that, in this early period, such ideas leapt to people's minds though the proximity o Worcester to Wales should be noted as a possible influence. Nevertheless, subsequent pageants do not insist upon this motif. Never again was there a reference as specific as the projected speech at Worcester. In the London pageants for Prince Arthur's marriage in 1501 ,the pedigree emphasized was not the British but that from John of Gaunt who was the ancestor common to Arthur and Catherine of Aragon. In 1522 the John of Gaunt descent was again used as appropriate to both Henry VIII and Charles V 1 B.M. Lansdowne Roll 6. This roll begins with a very forthright statement of its historical principles. See Appendix, below p. 74. 2 Kendrick, British Antiquity, p. 42. 28 THE JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY and was reinforced by a genealogical tree from Alphonso the Wise of Castile. The London pageants for Anne Boleyn's entry in 1533 did not show a Tudor genealogy but, following the prevailing taste for name parallels, included a pageant of the progeny of St. Anne accompanied by a speech praying that Queen Anne would be as fruitful as her namesake. Finally, the pageants for Edward VI's coronation entry in 1547 had no genealogies at all. 1 This evidence, taken in conjunction with that of the genealogical rolls, suggests an early interest in the British descent of the Tudors both on the part of the Court circle and of the king's subjects and that this interest declined throughout the reigns of the first two Tudor monarchs a view which can now be corroborated by an examination of the use made of King Arthur during the same period.^
A NARRATIVE Pedigree (on vellum) of THE KINGS of ENGLAND, drawn up by Thomas Gardiner monk of Westminster, 35 Hen. VIII. Near the end is a coloured drawing of the arms of France and England quarterly, supported by two winged boys, with the date A° 1543. A miniature of Henry the Eighth inscribed VIVAT REX HENRICVS, and below a lion couching. The last entry begins:
"Kynge Henry the vij th in wysedome and ryches equall to Kynge Salomon he was sonne "
-Thomas Gardener, Flowers of England
The label for Henry the Eighth was not filled up. At the foot is the autograph of W. Lambarde, 1564. Exhibited by William Lambarde, Esq. ^
Thomas Gardiner Roll
THE MONASTERIE OF TYNMOUTH.
ARMS.
Gules, three crowns or.
Be Yt Notid that Saint Oswyn, Kyng of Daire, in latyn written Rex Dareorum, founded furst the Monasteri of Tynmouth of Blak Monkes. And within certeyn yeres of his foundacion the Danys dystroied the said monastery, and so contynowed longe on edified, untill the tyme of the Conquerors commyng. And then Robert Mowbray, Erie of Northumberland, whiche cam in with the Conquerour, edified and founded the said Monastery of Tynmouth ageyn. And so he and hys yssue arn founders of the said monastery, of whom ys dyscendyd the right high and myghti prince, Thomas Duke of Norfolk.'
1 Henry, according to Surtees.
2 The arms are those generally ascribed to him. 'Fo. 49. B.
SECOND SHIELD.
Sable, a chevron between three bugle horns argent, stringed and mounted or.
These Be The Armes of my Lord The Priour Of Tynmouth' whose name ys Gardener. And the said Priour ys descendyd of the noble Quene Kateryn, wyfe to Kyng Henry the Vth, and doughter to Charles Kyng of France. For the said Quene Kateryn was after maryed to Owayn Teddur, by whom he had yssue Edmond Erie of Richemond, and Jasper Due of Bedford. Whiche Jasper begate a bastard doughter called Ellen, maryed Willyam Gardener,1 who was father to my said Lord Priour.
"Be Yt Notid that Malcolyn Kyng Of Scotland was slayne at Andewik by Robert Mowbray, Erie of Northumberland, and Foundour of Tynmouth. And the said Malcolyn lyeth buried in the said Monastery of Tynmouth, in the Chapiter House"
THIRD SHIELD.
Same coat as in the second shield. Impalement. England, debruised by a bend sinister [untinctured], within a border azure charged with eleven martlets or. azure charged with eleven martlets or.azure charged with eleven martlets or.
Be Yt Notid that the said Priour Of Tynmouth hath geven unto me, Norrey Kyng of Armes of the North parties, this pedigre and armes of his awne reporte, whiche he woll offerme at all tymes to verefy and approve before the Kyng and his Counsaill, that this pedigre is true and the armes also. ^
THE ACADEMY
We wonder what Whethamstede would have said to Blakeney's immediate predecessor, Thomas Gardiner, who when Norroy King-at-Arms held the first heraldic visitation in the north in 1536 (1530) , did not scruple to show by his pedigree that his mother was an illegitimate daughter of Jasper, Duke of Bedford; and, more than that, boldly impaled the arms of England with his own paternal coat, counting even the bar sinister an honour ! What would Benedict have said to such a profaner of his rule P The mention of Benedict reminds us of the many admirable illustrations of the history of his Order which these volumes contain. Mabillon would have heartily welcomed them. Let us, in conclusion, express a hope that we may soon have in print the Acts of the Chapter-General of the Black Monks in England, as far as they can be traced, together with a new edition of the Rule, with its Anglo-Saxon or English versions. We should be thankful also to see in print a series of Account Rolls, on a larger scale than those of the cells of Durham, to show the inner life and working of one of the great Benedictine houses. Durham is probably the only place at which such a series can be found. JAMES RAINE.
The Warriors at Helgeland. [Haermaendene på Helgeland. Skuespil i fire handlinger af Henrik Ibsen. Tredje Udgave.] (Copenhagen: Hegel, 1874.) ^
The Academy, Volume 6, 1874, Pages 89-93
FICTITIOUS BITS OF HISTORY.
"These be the Armes of my Lord the Priour of Tynemouth, whose name ys Gardener. And the said Priour ys descendyd of the noble Quene Kateryn, wyfe to Kyng Henry the vth, and doughter to Charles Kyng of France. For the said Quene Kateryn was after maryed to Owayn Teddur, by whom he had yssue Edmond Erie of Richmond, and Jasper Due of Bedford. Whiche Jasper begate a bastard doughter called Ellen, maryed Willyam Gardener, who was father to my said Lord Priour."
We may here remark that the common pronunciation of the name Tudor, as if Tewdor is a modernism. The most common spelling at the time is Tydder—it is "one Henry Tydder," who is denounced in Richard III.'s proclamations—Tydder, or even Tedder, coming much nearer to the Welsh sound of Tudor than the pronunciation which we commonly give it, In p. 64, "Robert iijde son" of Sir Robert Aske, comes in in the course of the dry emuneration of his family. Before long he was to be famous. ^
The Oddities of history: and strange stories, for all classes of readers, Griffin's shilling manuals, Compiled by John Timbs, Publisher Charles Griffin, 1872, Original from Oxford University, Jun 20, 2006
A Descriptive and Historical Guide to Tynemouth, William Sidney Gibson, 1849
Thomas Gardiner who occurs as holding that dignity in 1528 In the sanctuary of Tynemouth where blood stained guilt repenting solace found Or innocence from stern oppression flew A person accused of having been party to a murder committed in the county of Durham took refuge in the year 1523 whereupon cardinal Wolsey then bishop of Durham wrote to lord Dacre as Warden of the West Marches requesting his assistance for the apprehension of the malefactor and his delivery to Sir William Buhner sheriff of the county palatine The steps which were taken on this letter do not appear In the same year the prior was called upon to give up not a criminal but a part of his annual revenue towards the expenses of the army destined for the invasion of France Injpursunnce of this oppressive demand of the crown an account of the possessions of the priory and its rents and profits for the period of one year was rendered by prior John Stonewell which account illustrates the then affluent condition tion of the Convent The gross rent of lands let to farm was returned at 225 13s 4d that of the demesne lands being returned separately at 191 8s 8d besides the proceeds of titheable matters in parishes belonging to the Priory were stated at 70 8s 4d of fines 30 and of hides wool salt coal malt and fish sold 188 10s 8d making a total of 706 The coal mines beneath some of the lands of the Convent yielded a considerable revenue and many of them were leased by the prior and monks Thus a mine described to be within the fields of the vill of Elswick was at this time leased to Christopher Mitford of Newcastle for 25 years at the yearly rent of 20 with power to sink pits and to cut timber within the woods of Elswick for upholding the mine and the staiths and buildings thereof A colliery called le Heygrove at Elswick was the subject of a lease by the prior and convent so early as 1330 and other leases of coalpits in adjacent lands of the Convent were granted about the same time and the rents derived were even then important But a fatal change was now approaching In the preceding pages we have traced the prosperity and eminence of this religious house through a long course of time and have seen how fruitful was the vine which God's right hand had planted and the branch which He made so strong for His own glory We have seen it a nursing parent of religious devotion a refuge from the storms of worldly contest in ages when the land was but little removed from barbarism a calm retreat of piety a home of virtue and of learning a place of shelter for the persecuted and oppressed We have seen this Priory the object of royal solicitude and protection and have traced its acquisition of territorial wealth and power we have seen it flourishing as the green bay tree and spreading forth its branches as a cedar of the forest But now its antient cloisters were doomed soon to echo the unhallowed tread of the spoiler the monks were about to be expelled from their time honoured patrimony and the revenue which pious Christians had bestowed for the perpetual honour of religion and for the maintenance of charity and of a hospitality which knew no bounds were about to be seized by the royal tyrant and bestowed upon the parasites of his court The costly vestments the plate and jewels that pious munificence had dedicated on St Oswin's shrine to God were to be sold and appropriated to the sinful wants of the profligate and insatiable spoiler The cherished acquisitions of learning were about to be ruthlessly dispersed or ignorantly destroyed and the venerable walls which ever since the establishment of the English monarchy had resounded daily to the praise of the King of Heaven were to be stripped of all that could be removed and sold and to be left unroofed and desolate like the rest of the Monasteries of England The pleading works of bright departed days Before this fatal change was consummated Thomas Gardiner whom we stated to have succeeded Stonewell in the priorate of Tynemouth was permitted to rest from his cares Of his personal history a few words should be said in this place
The bearing sable a cheve ron between three bugle horns argent stringed or was granted to Gardiner of Berwick in 1580 and is borne by the Gardi ners of Middlesex and Leatherhead Anthony Gardiner who with the prior Robert Blakeney & other monks of Tynemouth were represented as signing the surrender of the Arms Monastery and William Gardiner a Carmelite friar of Newcastle who occurs among the pilgrims from England to Rome in 1506 were probably related to prior Thomas Gardiner
Of his monastic career we have no information His name as prior occurs in the statement of crimes of which the visitors appointed by Henry VIII pretended to accuse the monks of Tynemouth a statement which these prejudiced inquisitors fabricated to give colour for the commission of the crime of sacrilege by their Satanic employer Prior Gardiner occurs also in a deed of rent charge upon the Convent lands in Ben well which the prior and convent granted on the last day of December 1534 in consideration doubtless of money borrowed for the purpose of bribing the ministers of the tyrant with presents and annuities in the hope of postponing the evil day The lesser Monasteries those not possessing a clear revenue of 200 a year had been then suppressed and this confiscation of monastic property together with the assumption of the Supremacy of the Crown over the Church no doubt warned the unhappy monks of Tynemouth of the approaching suppression of their antient house Although prior Gardiner was spared the pain of actually surrendering his noble Monastery he must have foreseen the coming devastation and have heen subjected to many anxieties in these last years of its existence The records of his Convent may have borne testimony to his constancy in this time of trouble But the myrmidons of the tyrant destroyed all documents except those which related to the possessions of the house We find however that the good father looked with fond and excusable pride on his descent from the persecuted Katharine of Valois Let us hope that he was equally tenacious of his monastic vow and that amid the persecutions which he suffered from her graceless descendant Henry VIII he may have witnessed a good confession for Christ's sake The latest deed of the prior and convent that we find on record before they surrendered all the possessions of their Convent to the King is a bond to Sir Thomas Clifford who had lent to them in their great need a hundred marks We will not detain the reader by describing the successive steps of the tyrant's desolating course Suffice it to remark that the King's hatred towards the pope was not his only motive for seizing Tynemouth and the rest of the greater Monasteries The spoils he had gained from the lesser houses made him more impatient for that which was to be derived from the spoliation of the richer Monasteries And in this design he was aided by the servile parliament for instead of patriotic lords and prelates England there saw assembled a rapacious crew of whom many were the favourites of the Monarch eagerly expectant of the abbey lands The monks were accused of unheard of enormities and by threats violence or cajolery their possessions were wrested from many Convents in succession and transferred to the crown Refractory abbots and monks were hung under their own gateways or when very mercifully treated were only turned forth destitute and pensionless while obsequious monks were tempted by liberal pensions from the confiscated possessions they had lately called their own Perjury was called in to support the charges of immorality or of treason which were made against the brethren But those charges are for the most part utterly undeserving of eredit and were mode under circumstances which outraged all legal procedure and disgraced the name of justice And all this wrong was committed on pretence of a reformation of manners and of promoting the good of religion whereas the reforming zealots were in fact mere ravenous wolves hungering for the fair lordships and dedicated jewels of the Church The storm of devastation at length reached the venerable cloisters of Tynemouth Priory One holy Henry rear d those Gothic walls And hade the pious inmates rest in peace Another Henry the kind gift recals And bids devotion's hallow d echoes cease And now behold the tortured brethren assembled in that Chapter house in which they had so often met in prosperity and in adversity to deliberate on their conventional affairs to set their common seal to deeds of charity to promote the welfare of their Church to administer the godly rule of holy Benedict to rejoice in fraternal sympathy on the success vouchsafed to their humble endeavors to afford to each other mutual support and counsel or to strengthen a weak brother against the attacks of Sathan behold them now assembled there to hear a myrmidon of the tyrant read over the humiliating deed of surrender enumerate the wide possessions which they were by that deed to relinquish to his grasp and to sign their own sentence of perpetual banishment from the territories which were then departing from them of exclusion from the gardens which their hands had cultivated from the old familiar scenes which had so long known their pensive footsteps and from those halls in which Kings nobles travellers and pilgrims had alike partaken generous hospitality but to which they were never to return And so on the 12th January 1539 in the 30th Henry VIII the common seal was set to the deed of surrender In this instrument which though curious is too long to be given here the brethren by a bitter mockery are represented to relinquish their conventual property of their own free will and for reasonable causes affecting their souls and consciences and the names of Robert Blakeney prior of fifteen monks and three novices purport to be subscribed This deed is preserved among the records of the former Court of Augmentations at Uarlton Ride London The seal is a beautiful impression on which the tracery is sharp and perfect The blessed Virgin and the infant God are represented under one canopy and St Oswin under another the legend surrounding the seal is Sigillum commune Prioratus Sancte Marie et Beati Os wini de Tinemutha Robert Blakeney who has been mentioned as the last of the priors of T emouth succeeded Gardiner about 1536 It would seem that he previously filled the important office of celerar of St Alban's Abbey Probably he was related to the Norfolk family of Blakeney The Priory of Tynemouth was at the time of his appointment under the dictation of the King's agents and it would appear that he was made prior only that a surrender in due form should be obtained by the crown It is not on record
A descriptive and historical guide to Tynemouth, with notices of North Shields, Seaton Delaval, and neighbouring antiquities, William Sidney Gibson, 1849
WESTMINSTER ABBEY
Gardener, Gardyner, Thomas.
Scolaris studens Oxon. (6. 13s. 4rf.) 1497-1499 ; studens Oxon. et Cantebrig. 1499 - (Christmas) 1500 -(Treasurer).
Prima Missa 1500-1501 (Chamberlain; New Work; Almoner; Sacrist; Treasurer; St Mary's Chapel).
Was receiving and making payments for Prior Mane Jul. 1502 (Mun. 33288, f. 21 b).
His name occurs in the Flores Historiarum MS. (Chetham Library, Manchester) ; cf. Manuscripts of Westminster Abbey, p. 25.
In the list presented by Abbot Islip to Cardinal Wolsey 31 Dec. 1518 his name appeared between George Abyndon (1502-1503) and Nicholas Lindesey (1503-1504) ; (Mun. 12790).
His name dropped out of our manorial lists after 1505-1506, as on 20 May 1507 he was appointed Prior of Blythe by the Crown acting through the Duchy of Lancaster. He resigned this office before 16 Jul. 1511, returned to Westminster and was given a share from the Manors 1511-1512 (Dugdale, Monast. iv, 621).
Ad skillam 1520-1521 (New Work; Almoner; Cellarer; Sacrist; St Mary's Chapel; Monk-Bailiff; Warden of the Churches).
Coquinarius 1521-1522?+ (Mun. 33330).
Camerarius 1528-1529 [nuper camerarius 24 Jun. 1530; (Mun. 188211).
He received a double share of outfit in 1528-1529, being himself Chamberlain; but was not afterwards mentioned, except as above. ^
A HISTORY OF NORTHUMBERLAND
A marked feature of the close of the history of this monastery is its growing independence of St. Alban's and dependence upon persons of influence at court. Wolsey, in 1519, with the nominal consent of Abbot Ramrigge, exempted Prior Stonywell from the jurisdiction of St. Alban's during that prior's lifetime.' When he determined to create Stonywell's successor abbot of Peterborough, William Franklin, chancellor of Durham, and Sir William Buhner, hearing of the cardinal's intention, wrote requesting him to give the priory to Dr. Peter Lee of the monastery of Durham, a man of learning and good conversation.4 Lady Mary Cary prevailed in getting the appointment given to Thomas Gardiner, one of the king's chaplains, a son of William Gardiner, citizen of London, by a natural daughter of Jasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke. She was rewarded by receiving an annuity of a hundred marks out of the conventual revenues. The favour of Thomas Cromwell was secured by the grant of a pension, and altogether Gardiner burdened the revenues of his house with annuities amounting to two hundred marks.
'Cromwell informed the abbot of St. Alban's that it was the King's pleasure that Gardiner should have Tynemouth priory for life, an order with which the abbot was obliged to comply.'An ominous hostility towards the priory on the part of the neighbouring gentry was beginning to be apparent, as is shown in the following petition addressed to the king at some date between 1528 and 1536:
To the kynge our soveraigne lord.
In his most humble wyse shewith and complayneth unto your excellent highnes your daily and feithfull oratour, Thomas, pryor of Tynmowth, in your countie of Northumbreland, that where Sir Thomas Hylton, knyght, son and heire apparent vnto the baron of Hylton,-Sir John Delavale, knyght,
Henry Ewer and Richard Bellyces, esquyers, accompayned with cc persons or ther-aboutes to your seid oratour unknowen, the Fryday next before Candelmes Day last past, ryottously assembled and gathered themselfes togider at Tynmowthe forseid, and than and ther ryottously with force and armes endyvored themselfes to the best of ther power to have entred in at the gate of the priory of Tynmowthe forseid, to th’entent and purpose without any autoritie, right or title, against the order of your lawes, soveraigne lorde, and against the will of your seid oratour, to have kepte a court within the precyncte of the seid pryory; and for the appeasyng of the seid ryottous persons, and to th’entent that no hurt or breche of your peax shuld growe or ensue therby, your seid oratour shewed and declared, in the open presence of them all, that my lorde of Rocheford was high stuard of the seid pryory, and it apperteyned to no person other than to the seid Lorde Rocheford and his deputies to kepe any court within the precyncte of the seid pryory. And for by cause your seid oratour wold have had the good will, love and favour of the seid Sir Thomas Hylton and Sir John Delavale, and of the other above named, desired them in gentill maner to come into his place and take such chere as he than had, and they shuld be welcome right hartily thereto; and than the seid Sir Thomas Hylton, being in a great fury, swore many great othes that he wold be high stuard of the sayed pryory whosoever sayed nay; and than and ther, most gracious soveraigne lorde, the seid Sir Thomas Hylton and Sir John Delavale gafe unto your seid oratour many great manessheyng wordes, and put your seid oratour and all his household and servaunttes in great feare and jupardie of ther lyfes. And aswell the seid Sir John Delavale as the seid Sir Thomas Hylton than and ther openly reported and sayed that, yf your seid oratour or any of his servaunttes came within ther walke, they wold do them right high displeasure. And so it is, most gracious soveraigne lorde, the seid ryottous persons perseveryng ther said ungracious purpose, shortely after a mounke of your seid oratour, being bowser' of the seid pryory, was rydyng in the countrey ther aboute the besynes of the seid pryory by the comaundement of your seid oratour;—diverse of the servaunttes of the seid Sir John Delavale, by the commaundement of the seid Sir John Delavale, lay in watche for the seid bowser, and with force and armes forcibly against his will toke hym and caryed hym to the place of the seid Sir John Delavale, and ther kepte hym prysoner by the space of too dayes. And furthermore, the seid Sir John Delavale, therwith not contentid, syns that tyme hath made his avowe, and in sundry places within your seid contie openly reported and sayed, that he wold serve your seid oratour in lyke maner as he served his chaplen, by reason wherof your seid oratour dar not for feare and juperdie of his lyfe goo oute of his seid pryory to kepe his courtes and oversee his manourz, landes, tenementes and hereditamentes belongyng to the seid pryory, for feare of the seid Sir John Delavale and Sir Thomas Hylton; for they be confidered togider to murder and slaye your seid oratour, as far as your seid oratour can understond and perceive; which haynous actes be not onely against your peax and lawes, but also to the worst example that hath been seen in those parties, yf due punesshement be not had and provided herein. In consideracion wherof may it please your gracious highnes of your most aboundaunt grace to grauntte your gracious letters of pryvey seale to be directed unto the seid Sir Thomas Hylton, Sir John Delavale, Henry Ewer and Richard Bellycez, comaundyng them in your most dreid name personally to appere before your roiall highnes and the lordes of your most honorable counsaill, at a certen day and under a certen payn by your seid highnez to be lymytted, in your halles at Westminster to make aunswer unto the premyssez, and for the same to be orderd and punesshed according to ther demerites; and your seid oratour shall daily pray for your most noble and ryall person long to endure. (Endorsed.) Fiant brevia sub privato sigillo ad comparendum quindena Trinitatis Thome Hilton militi et tribus aliis infrascriptis.
-THO. MORE, Knight, Chauncellour.
I.e. bursar. * Star Chamber Proceedings, Hen. VIII, bundle 29, No. 84.
Gardiner did not long remain prior. In the following December his post was vacant. The Pilgrimage of Grace had taken place in the meantime. Rich monasteries like Tynemouth had little to gain by joining in that movement; indeed, that house seems to have suffered from standing aloof; its own tenants carried off" cattle, sheep and corn from the demesne, withheld the rents by force, and threatened to enter into the priory.'
Cromwell was the means of securing the appointment of Robert Blakeney, late chaplain to Abbot Ramrigge, to the office of prior. Shortly after his election, on April 3rd, 1537,
A History of Northumberland. Issued Under the Direction of the Northumberland County History Committee, Volume 8, Northumberland county history committee, Reid, Sons & Company; London, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Company, limited, 1907 ^
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Thomas Gardiner's History of England, Gilbert J. Smyly, Hermathena, vol. 19, no. 43, 1922, pp. 235–248. Trinity Collage, Dublin. www.jstor.org/stable/23037307.
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Serving God And King: Cardinal Thomas Wolsey Patronage Networks And Early Tudor Government, 1514-1529, With Special Referance To The Archdiocese Of York, Nadine Lewychy Ph.d, History, University Of York, October 2008
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TANNER DNB 309 DNB New (Nigel RAMSAY) VENN BRUO II 193 II 743. Structures and works
HARVEY (B.), The Monks of Westminster and the University of Oxford, in DU BOULAY (F. R.)
BARRON (C.), Studies in the Reign of Richard II, London, 1971, 108-131.
(Dugdale, Monast. iv, 621).
Manuscripts
MS. Trinity College Dublin E 1. 15
MS. Trinity College Dublin E 5. 22
MS. London BL Cotton Otho C 6 (burned)
MS. Oxford BL Rawlinson D 1020, f.1-33.
The text is so briefly described by Thomas Tanner , from the manuscript London today unreadableMS. B. L. Oxford English History 193 e, f.1-33.
"scripsit anglice Epitomen historiae Anglicanae a Bruto ad 7 Henr VIII cui titulus The Flowers of England.";
it was identified in the manuscripts of the Bodleian Library by JJG ALEXANDER and May McKISACK : it is a chronicle that traces the lineage of Henry VIII since CADWALLADER via ALFRED and Guillaume the Conqueror and ends with coming of MARGARET, Queen of Scotland in London the 3 Mai 1516 ; several missing folios in the manuscript
Star Chamber Proceedings, Hen. VIII. bundle 20, No. a. « Letters and Papers, Hen. VIII. vol. iv. p. 1469.
Letters and Papers, Hen. VIII. vol. iii. p. 176. 'Ibid. voL iv. p. 1574.
See Augmention Office, Conventual Leases, Northumberland, bundle I, for an annuity of ten marks granted by Gardiner out of Benwell. Gibson, vol. ii. appendix, cli.
Letters and Papers, Hen. VIII. vol. vi. p. 337.
Reference Library:
