Clarice took part in a one-week curatorial research micro-internship in June 2023, hosted by the University of Oxford Heritage Partnerships Team and co-supervised by the London Charterhouse.
About a 10-minute walk from Farringdon Station lies a hidden relic embedded in London and England’s past: the London Charterhouse. Had it not been for the Oxford micro-internship scheme, any other day I might have missed this former monastery and never have known of its existence. Now an almshouse, the building boasts a rich history evidenced in its architecture, which is similar to that of Oxford colleges. The Charterhouse is a place where the idea of “London” diminishes and you are instead transported into the closed and homely grounds of what was once a home for monks belonging to the Carthusian order.
My project entailed answering the question of whether any evidence survives that might suggest the cloistered Carthusians provided any alms for the sick. My first day began with independent research, beginning with the question “who were the Carthusians?” Not a difficult question to answer if looking at the basic principles of the Carthusian Order, but challenging to place in 14th century London where comparatively few records were written or kept, and even fewer survived after events such as the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the early 16th century and the great Fire of London in 1666.
Having worked hard on the first day to establish what evidence there was, including information on the living quarters of the Carthusians and a short panegyric mention of the Carthusian Monastery as imagined by Samuel Herne 200 years after its dissolution and martyrdom of its monks, the second day looked brighter with a visit to the site itself, including a tour by the Master and Chief Executive of the Charterhouse. It is fair to say that reading about the seclusion of the monks and actually seeing how this seclusion was lived out are almost two completely different things. The Norfolk cloister, which housed the Carthusian monk’s individual cells, was not only stunning; it was an insightful and necessary experience for my research question. How could these men, whose very diet was controlled and reliant upon a mediator between themselves and the outside world have any role in providing alms to the sick?
I found myself jumping from online sources to the British Library, the Bodleian, the Weston Library and Pusey House to put together separate accounts of a history of monasteries and any accounts surrounding the Charterhouse monastery in particular. To my great excitement, I stumbled upon a mention of a Portincula Indulgence provided to the monastery by the Pope in 1399, pardoning and allowing them to admit women into their church because of the rise in riots, rebellions and the curse of the plague. Hence, the London Carthusians seemed to differ from their European neighbours, in that they did not lead a completely secluded lifestyle. Whilst it is plausible to assume that its location on the outskirts of a busy city naturally led to the monks’ involvement with the surrounding community, evidence to suggest the fact is challenging to locate.
It was a pleasure to partake in the micro-internship and to be of use in uncovering more about the past of the London Charterhouse, and especially to play a role in researching the lives of the often illusive Carthusian monks.
Clarice Mihele is an English finalist at Trinity College. Her research interests include Christology in Old, Medieval and Victorian literature, and presentations of the dying "virtuous pagan" and Christian martyr.
Find out more about the TORCH Heritage Programme here.
