16. The Friars of Hull

As straightforward Yorkshire folk the medieval inhabitants of Hull didn’t mess around when it came to naming streets.  Close by Beverley gate was the religious house belonging to the order of the Carmelite Friars, commonly called the White Friars as they wore a white cloak over their brown habits.  The street where they lived therefore became known as Whitefriargate, with gate being an Old Norse or Viking word for road.  Similarly Blackfriargate, off the southern end of High Street, was home to the Augustian Friars whose uniform was a black habit.

Friary buildings formed a notable presence in medieval Hull.  The Augustinians could boast an impressive six storey gothic tower while the large site of the Carmelites included a church, houses, orchards and gardens.  These properties where administered by trustees as the friars did not own anything themselves.  Like monks they renounced worldly goods to live a life of poverty following strict rules.  The Carmelites of Hull were instructed to value silence and refrain from eating meat.  Living as they did in a fishing port, the friars were fortunate that in reality they only had to follow the laxer definition of vegetarianism and could still enjoy a fish supper. 

Friars were reliant on the charity of others to maintain their buildings and obtain their daily bread and in return they prayed for the giver’s soul.  During the early years of the town, King Edward I himself gifted the Carmelites 13 shillings to pay for three days food.  Some particularly wealthy local patrons enjoyed the privilege of being given an external resting place.  Several were buried at the Augustinian Friary in superior quality coffins made from the finest Baltic oak.

The religious life of a friar was not one of isolation and solitary reflection as in a monastery.  Friars placed themselves at the centre of their local earthly community and went out and about on the streets of Hull to hear confessions or teach.  They gave lively sermons warning of the dangers of sin, attracting peoples’ attention with a passionate and vivid style that contrasted with the staid preaching usually heard in church.

Rather than join a specific house, friars joined an order then moved around the country.  Augustinians departing Hull might be sent to the order’s house in Grimsby or that in the scholarly atmosphere of Oxford.  Each move offered new challenges and a chance for personal development.  Life as a friar was an appealing career path, an opportunity to do good by bringing spiritual direction to those around you.  By 1340, around a century after the first English friaries had been established, there were 190 houses across England housing around 5000 friars.

Photo: Blackfriargate, Hull, looking from the High Street.

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15. The Black Death

Medieval merchants brought some lovely goods into Hull, not least wine from southern France, along with some less delightful items, like those pungent relatives garlic and onions.  They also brought news, which in 1348 consisted of unwelcome tidings of a terrible new disease.  Victims apparently grew disgusting, foul smelling black boils or buboes in their armpits and groin before falling into a fever from which few recovered.

As the months passed this plague came ever closer, moving through Italy, then France, then Flanders.  Finally in June the Black Death arrived in England.  It came ashore in Dorset before spreading north leaving a trail of destroyed lives in its wake.  Everybody lost someone, be it parent, child, spouse or friend.  At least a third of the population died and densely populated towns like Hull lost up to half their inhabitants.  Daily life was affected for years after.  For Hull this meant work on completing and improving its city wall slowed dramatically and it wasn’t finished until 1356.

Those yet to fall ill eagerly attended Mass to offer prayers begging that they and their families be spared, as well as to acquire holy bread which was said to have preventative properties.  Those already sick were plied with concoctions of herbs but usually to no avail.  Most died within a few days of falling ill, giving people little chance to prepare for a good Christian death.

Most crucial was making your final confession, but priests were hard to find as they too were dying.  At Barrow, on the south bank of the river Humber, three new priests had to be appointed just in one year.  Things were so bad that that one bishop decreed that if necessary men may confess to each other or even, if absolutely desperate, to a woman.

After death your soul went to purgatory, a staging post from where it might go to heaven or to hell.  How long it lingered there and its final destination depended on how many people prayed for you.  The prayers of your family, while undoubtedly heartfelt, could only go so far.  Plus the Black Death showed that they could all too easily die along with you.

It became increasingly popular to leave money in your will to religious institutions to pay for priests to say prayers specifically for your soul.  Well off families established their own dedicated chapels and Holy Trinity church had twelve such chantry chapels, including one belonging to the de la Poles.  Being especially wealthy, the de la Poles also established a Cathusian monastery and hospital, known as the Charterhouse, whose inhabitants said even more prayers for departed family members.

Photo: St Mary’s Church, Hull. 

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