A charter was produced in January 1232 and began
From King Henry Greetings:
"Know that we, in the sight of God, and for our souls, and for the sake of our predecessors and heirs, have granted and confirmed by this our charter, for us and our heirs, eternally to God and to the glorious Virgin Mary, and to the church, the house of the converts which we founded in the suburbs of London. Namely, a village called New Street, in honor of the same Virgin, and to the converts who reside there and who will reside in the future, seven hundred marks to support those converts and to make the construction of their church and their buildings, to be received every year to our treasury, that is to say, one half to the Easter treasury, and another half to the treasury of St. Michael, until we or the heirs of the same converts shall provide more abundantly in lands or rents, assigned to them in a certain place, from which they can competently support themselves and their families to the honor of God and the aforesaid glorious Virgin."
There was more, but it ended with
Witnessed,
P. Winton, Bishop
W. Carl, Bishop
H. De Burgh
These were Peter des Roches Bishop of Winchester, Walter Mauclerc Bishop of Carlisle, and Hubert de Burgh, Chief Justiciar and one of the most important men in the kingdom who would fall out with Henry later in 1232. William Mauclerc was the first warden (custos) of the Domus Conversorum, responsible for the proper running of the place and the man to whom they could bring grievances.
I've discussed de Burgh's place in Henry's reign before. I want to talk about Mauclerc and des Roches tomorrow.
N.B. The Domus Conversorum has a special place in my heart. I first learned about it while researching my first Chaucer mystery, A Death in Catte Street. For years I kept asking myself why anyone would give up their whole former life and identity for pauper's wages and dormitory living. Many scholarly books have been written about the place, and we even have England's records of the names of those who were baptized and entered. There are also records of grievances the residents brought to the king. In have written two novels, each 100,000 words (and each with numerous footnotes), about life for these residents, their challenges getting along, adapting to their new lifestyle and new religion, and challenges in dealing with the outside world. In 2027 I hope to bring these to publication and introduce people to a little-known part of English and religious history.
