Bonhommes
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The Bonhommes, or "bluefriars" on account of the colour of their robes, were a holy order set up in 1276 by Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, Lord of Berkhampstead castle and cousin of Edward I
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[edit] Name
The name is a corruption of the Latin Boni Homines. They were not apparently connected with any of the continental orders of the same name, although they have sometimes been described as of the Order of Grammont.
[edit] History
They were granted an Abbey at Ashridge in Hertfordshire. They followed the rule of St. Augustine. At the foundation Edmund gave the order a phial of the Sacred Blood Of Jesus Christ he had acquired while travelling in Germany. It was intended to be comprised of 20 brothers, but rarely achieved this.
The Black Prince, a later lord of Berkhampstead castle, became interested in the College around the time of the Black Death around 1350. A second house of the Order was established at the prince's direction at Edington, Wiltshire in 1352 by taking over an existing secular college there. There is an effigy of a Bonhomme at the Priory in Edington today.
Another house is mentioned at Ruthin in Denbighshire but little is known of this.
In 1534 at the Dissolution of the Monasteries the house was peacefully dissolved and the brothers given pensions for life.
[edit] Albigensian connection
There has been speculation that the order was in some way associated with the Albigensian heresy of southern France. The evidence for this is circumstantial and the conclusion contested. Edmund's mother was the daughter of Raymond VI of Toulouse, a protector of the heretical sect. Wall paintings in the college cloisters, now lost, were described in the eighteenth century as favouring the Albigensians. Wall paintings in a cottage at nearby Potten End discovered in 1953 have been similarly described. [1]
[edit] Cultural references
In the video game Drakkhen for Super Nintendo, there are merchants called Bonhommes. They appear as friars dressed in green, accompanied with chanting voices.
[edit] References
- From: 'House of Bonhommes: Edington', A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 3 (1956), pp. 320-24. Date accessed: 28 July 2006.
- Coult, Douglas A Prospect of Ashridge, pub Phillimore, Chichester, 1980 , ISBN 0-85033-360-1 Chapters 2 to 6.
- ^ History of England The Inquisition , Note 4 , The Cathars movement did indeed come to England
