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Mail David
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in Medieval & Tudor Times
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In medieval & Tudor times,
there were lots of monasteries within and
immediately surrounding the walls of the City of London. Most of them
were lived in by
canons rather than monks. A few of them
started back in Saxon
times. They were all shut down by King
Henry VIII during the Dissolution
of the Monasteries in the 1530s. Monks lived at:
- Westminster Abbey was a
Benedictine monastery. It housed the
Shrine of St. Edward the
Confessor. The Kings of England were
both crowned and buried there. It was also a place of sanctuary where lots of
criminals hid out. Although the monks were sent away, it survived the
Dissolution because it has always belonged to the monarch. It is
now a Collegiate
Church.
- The Charterhouse was built
on the site of a cemetery for Black Death victims. It was a
Carthusian monastery for monks who all lived in separate little
houses and rarely saw and never spoke to one another. The Prior
and many of the monks were executed at the Dissolution. The
buildings were lived in by several great lords & Queen
Elizabeth I often visited. In 1611, it became the famous school of
the same name. This has since relocated to Sussex.
- St. Helen's Bishopsgate was
a Benedictine nunnery. Legend says to was founded by the Roman
Emperor Constantine the Great. St. Edmund's body was kept safe
there during the Viking Invasions. In the 14th century, the nuns
were told off for keeping pet dogs, kissing people & wearing
trendy clothes! The church eventually became a parish church. It
survived the Great Fire of London
& can still be seen today.
- Bermondsey Abbey was a
Cluniac monastery. It housed the famous 'Rood of Grace' relic.
Princess Mary of Scotland was buried there & so was the Duke
of Gloucester (temporarily). The queens of both Henry
V & Edward IV
retired & died there. When the monks left, it was pulled down
to build Bermondsey House. Many of the books in the library went
to Trinity College, Oxford.
- The Eastminster was a
Cistercian Abbey. The Pope said that people who visited on feast
days could get an indulgence
to reduce the amount of penance they were doing. It was
the main meeting place in England for the Cistercians. The Abbot
was allowed to wear a mitre.
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