are grounds for concluding that he was born some time before the 1340, whilst it is certain that he died in 1408. year hannis Gower nuper defuncti, cuius testamentum per nos nuper de prerogativa nostre Cant. ecclésie pro eo quod idem defunctus nonnulla bona optinuit in diversis dioc. nostre Cant. provinc. dum vivebat et tempore mortis sue tunc extitit approbatum, et administracio bonorum eiusdem dicte Agneti commissa de et super administracione, etc. confidentes ipsanı ab ulteriori etc. In cuius rei etc. Dat. in Manerio nro de Lamhith vijmo, die mensis Novemb. Ao. dñi millesimo ccccmo. octavo, etc." The following inscription on his tomb, together with the account of it, will be found in Blore's "Sepulchral Antiquities of Great Britain," where the monument is erroneously said to be in St. John's Chapel, in the north side of St. Mary Overy's, commonly called St. Saviour's, Church in Southwark; but St. John's Chapel is now used as the vestry room. "The monument of John Gower is in the Chapel of St. John, in the north aile of the nave of St. Mary Overy's, commonly called St. Saviour's, Church in Southwark. It is entirely of stone, and consists of a canopy of three arches with bouquet [crocketed] pediments, parted by finials, and at the back of each pediment three niches, of which there are also seven in front of the altar tomb. Berthelet, in the introduction to his edition of the Confessio Amantis,' 1532, gives the following description of the three barbarous representations of Charity, Mercy, and Pity, which are now nearly obliterated, but which were painted against the wall within the three upper arches. 'Beside on the wall where he lieth, there be peinted three virgins, with crownes on their heades, one of the whiche is written Charitie, and she holdeth this diuise in hir honde. En top qui est fitz de dieu le pere Sauve soit que gist souz cest piere. "The second is written Mercie, which holdeth in hir hande this diuise : Dbon Jesu fait ta mercie A lalme, dont le corpe gist icy. "The thyrde of them is written Pitee, which holdeth in hir hande this diuise followynge: Pour ta Pite Jesu regarde Et met cest alme en sauve garde.' "On the top of the altar tomb is the effigy of the poet, his head reclining on three volumes, representing his three great works, and inscribed with their respective titles. The hair falls in a large curl on his shoulders, and is crowned with a chaplet of four roses, originally, as Leland tells us, intermixed with ivy, in token (says Berthelet) that he, in his life daies, flourished fresshely in literature and science.' It is inscribed, ihi merci. A long robe, closely buttoned down the front, extends from the neck to the feet, which are entirely covered. A collar of SS., from which is suspended a small swan, chained, the badge of Henry the Fourth, hangs from his neck; his feet rest upon a lion, and above, within a pannel of the side of the canopy, a shield is suspended, charged with his arms, Argent on a chevron Azure, three leopards' heads, Or; crest, on a cap of maintenance, a talbot seiant [passant]. Under the figure of Mercy are these lines, Armigeri scutum nihil a modo fert tibi tutum; "On the ledge of the tomb was an inscription, now entirely gone : Hic jacet J. Gower, arm. Angl. poeta celeberrimus ac Huic sacro edificio benefac. insignis Wirit temporibus. Ed. III. et R. JJ. "Adjoining the monument there hung originally a table granting 1500 days of These facts justify the belief that he was the John Gower, who, in 1373, executed a deed to which the same arms and crest are affixed, relating to lands in Suffolk, scarcely fifteen miles from the manor which the poet undoubtedly possessed: of that document the following is a copy. "Sciant presentes et futuri quod ego JOH'NES GOWER dedi concessi et hac presenti carta mea confirmavi D'no Joh'ni de Kobham Militi Wil'mo de Weston' Rog'o de Asshebournhame Thome de Brokhell' et D'no Thome de Preston' Rectori ecclesie de Tunstall totum Manerium meum de Kent Well' in comitatu Suffolchie habendum et tenendum totum predictum Manerium cum omnibus suis pertinenciis prefatis D'no Joh'ni de Kobham, Will'mo, Rog'o Thome et Thome et heredibus suis et suis assignatis de capitalibus dominis feodi illius per servicia inde debita et de jure consueto inperpetuum Et ego predictus Joh'nes Gower, et heredes mei totum Manerium predictum cum omnibus suis pertinenciis prefatis D'no Joh'ni de Kobham Will'mo Rog'o Thome et Thome et heredibus suis et suis assignatis contra omnes gentes warantizabimus in perpetuum. In cuius rei testimonium huic presenti carte mee sigillum meum apposui Hiis testibus Will'mo Topclive, Jacobo de Pecham, Ricardo Blore, Will'mo Symme, Stephano Norton', et aliis multis. Dat' apud Otteford die Jovis in festo s'ci Michaelis Archangeli anno regni regis Edwardi tercii post Conquestum quadragesimo septimo."-Carta Antique in Mus. Brit. 50. I. 14. The seal attached to it is represented by the annexed engraving. Another presumption of the identity of the possessor of Kentwell with the poet, arises from the fact that the former selected a Sir John Cobham to be one of his feoffees, and that the latter appointed a Sir Arnold Savage to be one of his executors, between which families there was about that time an alliance. The families of Savage and Denne were seated in Kent, and as the poet appointed members of each his executors, it is probable that he was connected with that county. pardon, ab ecclesia rite concessos,' and for all those who devoutly prayed for his soul." According to a MS. of Nicholas Charles, Lancaster Herald, the arms of Gower formerly stood in the highest south window of the body of the church near the roof. In the Biographia Britannica it is said, that Agnes the poet's wife is buried under the same tomb; but it does not appear upon what authority. Thursday, 29th of Sept. 1373. 2 It will also be seen that the possessor of Kentwell was likewise a feoffee of Sir John Cobham's manor of Aldyngton in Kent. 3 Reginald Cobham of Rundal in Kent, grandson of Sir John Cobham, who died in the 36 Edw. III., and nephew of Sir John Cobham of Hever, married Elizabeth, or Isabel, daughter of Sir Arnold Savage, and died in the 7th Hen. IV. She remarried William Clifford. The Sir Arnold Savage, who was appointed one of the poet Gower's executors, was probably the Sir Arnold Savage who was born in 1358 (Esch. 49 Edw. III.) and who married Joan, daughter of Echingham, and died in 1410; ard it is likely that the above-mentioned Sir John Cobham of Hever was the feoffee of Kentwell, in 1373. If this be conceded, his identity with the lord of Kentwell is rendered more likely, since the above deed was dated "at Orford," and some of the feoffees besides Cobham resided in Kent. Of the family of Gower of Suffolk, the following particulars have been discovered. On the 25th June, 7 Edw. III. 1333, David de Strabolgi, Earl of Atholl, granted to Sir Robert Gower, knight, the manor of Kentwell, with the appurtenances in Suffolk, to him and his heirs and assigns 1; on the 4th March, 13 Edw. III. 1339, the king confirmed to Sir Robert that manor in fee2; and in the 23 Edw. III. 1349, the custody of the said manor, quod fuit Roberti Gower def"" was granted to Katherine, Countess of Atholl, until his heir became of age, she paying twenty marks per annum3. Sir Robert Gower left two daughters, Katherine and Joan, and from the inquisition on the death of the former in the 40th Edw. III. 1366, it appears that her sister Joan was her heir, who was then the wife of William Neve of Wyting, and twenty-three years of age. Katherine is said to have died seised of lands in Radwater in Essex, and of half the manor of Kentwell, and Kentwell-hall, in Suffolk. There can be little doubt that it was this Sir Robert Gower who was buried in the church of Brabourne, near Ashford, in Kent, where his effigy was placed, holding a shield before him, charged with the same bearings as were used by the poet'. Philipot has given a drawing of it, and both he and Weever state that the epitaph was Hic jacet expertus sub marmore miles opertus Philipot says, "This I found in brasse one a very faire monument, raysed in an arche over the north side the quire." By letters patent dated at Westminster on the 5th December, 40 Edw. III. 1366, a special pardon was granted to William Neve, and In the Harleian MS. 299, f. 183, a copy of the charter of the 13 Edw. III. is given, which recites the grant of the Earl of Atholl at length. The following notice of the former grant occurs in the Rotulorum Originalium, vol. ii. p. 100. "Ao. 9 Edw. III. David de Strabolgi comes Atholl' dimisit Roberto Gower manerium de Kentwell cum p'tinent' in com' Suff' quod de R. tenetur in capite tenend' eidem Roberto ad totam vitam suam maner' est,"&c. 2 Calend. Rot. Patent. p. 134, and Harl. MS. 299, f. 183. 3 Rot. Orig. vol. ii. p. 201. 4 If, as is probable, the subjoined record related to this individual, his wife was Margaret, the third sister and co-heiress of Sir John de Mowbray. "A. 10 Edw. III. Exemplificatio relaxationis Margaretæ uxoris Roberti Gower ac tertiæ sororis et unius hæredum Johannis de Moubray Mil' Domini de Toures in Vymen' in Franc' fact' Mariæ de Sancto Paulo Comitissæ Pembr' in feodo de toto jure suo in dicto dominio de Toures."-Calend. Rot. Patent. p. 125. 5 MS. note of the Escheat 40 Edw. III., No. 13, where it is said, that Robert Gower, her father, died in the 32 Edw. III., but this is probably an error for the 23rd; since the record above cited states that he was dead in that year. 6 Calendarium Inquis. Post Mortem, vol. ii. p. 274. 7 Harleian MSS. 3917. See also the MS. marked Philpot's Kent, No. 25, f.i18, in the College of Arms. & Funeral Monments, p. 270. Johanna his wife, sister and heiress of Katherine, daughter of Robert Gower, deceased, which Katherine held the moiety of the manor of Kentwell hall, in Suffolk, and the moiety of 4l. rent, in Radwynter, in Essex, "in dominico suo ut de feodo de nobis in capite per servicium militare," for having entered on that property on her sister's decease without process in the king's court, performing homage, &c. ; in consequence of which the lands had been seized into the king's hands, and the said William Neve and Joan were restored to the same upon the payment of 100 shillings fine1. Neve must have died within less than two years of that time, for on Wednesday next after the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, in the 42 Edw. III., 28th June, 1368, Thomas Syward, pewterer, and citizen of London, and Joan his wife, daughter of Sir Robert Gower, knight, granted the manor of Kentwell in Suffolk, with the appurtenances, to JOHN GOWER2. The earliest notice which has been discovered of a John Gower, or Gour, who could possibly have been the poet3, is in the 38 Edw. Original patent, preserved among the Ancient Charters in the British Museum, marked 43 E. 1. The annexed notices occur in the Rotulorum Originalium, relative to the possession of Kentwell by Neve and his wife. 40 Edw. III. "P'cept' est Roger de Wolfreton esc' R. in com Suff' et Essex' q'd accepta securitate etc. Et Will'o Neve de Wyting et Johanne ux' ejus soror' et hered' Katerinæ fil. Rob' Gower def' demedietate manerii de Kentewelleshalle cum p'tin' in com' Suff" et demedietate quatuor librar' redditus cum p'tin' in Radwinter in d'co com' Essex ad d'c'm manerium p'tinen' q' de R' tenent' in capite p' s'vicium militare plen' seis' h're fac salvo, &c."-Vol. ii. p. 288. 40 Edw. III. "Wills Neve de Wetyngge et Johanne ux' ejus soror et heres Katerine fil. Roberti Gower def' dant centum solidos p' ingrediendo &c. medietatem man' de Kentwelhall et medietate quatuor libratar' redditus cum p'tin' in Radwynter, q' etc."-Ibid. vol. ii. p. 291. 2 Ancient Charter, marked 56 G. 42. The document is dated at Melford, and was witnessed by Sir Thomas Murieux and Sir Thomas Cornerde, Knights, and Henry Englysse, John Bataill, John Rougheved "et aliis," but the seal has not been preserved. The deed marked 56 G. 41, is a letter of attorney relating to the same conveyance. Ao. 42 Edw. III. "Joh'es Gower dat sex decim marcas p' lic' adquir' etc. manerium de Kentwell etc. fine lic."-Rot. Orig. vol. ii. p. 301. 3 A family of Gower seems to have been then resident in Dorsetshire; for, by a writ tested on the 8th June, 30 Edw. III. 1356, a John Gower was one of the merchants summoned from that county to advise with the King's council.-Rolls of Parliament, vol. ii. p. 457. In Palgrave's Parliamentary Writs, Digest, p. 641, a Walter Gower is stated to have been a citizen of Salisbury in 1301. The name also then existed in Cambridgeshire.-Ibid. A will of an Adam Gower, of Bristol, was proved in Doctors' Commons in 1493.-Doggett. This is perhaps a proper place for introducing the few other notices of the name, unconnected with Yorkshire, which have been discovered in the searches for this investigation. In the 21 Edw. I. 1292-3, a John Gower held lands in the town of Drusselan, in Wales.-Rot. Orig. vol. i. p. 83. Henry le Gower, Bishop of St. David's, held lands in South Wales, which he charged with the support of two chaplains to pray for his soul, in 6 Edw. III. 1332.-Ibid. vol. ii. p. 75. Caxton, it must be remembered, says the poet was a native of Wales. In the Cotton MS. Julius C.VII. f. 152, is a notice of a deed, but no date is mentioned, to which a Sir Ralph Spigurnell, Sir John de Byshopston, and John Gower were parties, and to which their arms were appended by a string: 1st, three bars, with two crests; 2nd, a chevron between three talbots; 3rd, per chevron three cinquefoils. An original deed of a John Gour, who styled himself "Lord of Pudeleston" in Herefordshire, and dated at Pudeleston on Tuesday next after the feast of Saint Nicolas, 46 Edw. III. 1372, by which he quit-claimed to Richard de Billebury, chaplain, all his right to certain lands, is now in the possession of Mr. W. H. Black, of New North-street, Red Lion-square. III., 1364, when the abbot of Reading granted to a person of those names, in tail general, certain lands and tenements in Jugington, Leominster, which the king confirmed'; but it is most likely that he was a different person. As has been just stated, in 1373, a John Gower, who bore the same arms as the poet, and as Sir Robert Gower who was buried at Brabourne, purchased the manor of Kentwell, in Suffolk, of the heir of Sir Robert Gower; and before offering any further observations, all which has been found of persons bearing the name of the poet, about the period in which he lived, will be inserted. In the 39th Edw. III., 1365, William, the son of Sir William Septuames, knight, granted to John Gower and his heirs ten pounds rent out of the manor of Wygebergh, in Essex, and released to the said John and his heirs the manor of Aldyngton, in Kent 2. In June, 43 Edw. III., 1369, a fine was levied between John Gower on the one part, and John Spenythorn, and Joan his wife, on the other part, by which the said John, and Joan Spenythorn, gave up all right to the manor of Kentwell, excepting a rent of 107., and for which Gower gave them 200 marks of silver3; and Thomas Brockhull, in the 7 Ric. II., 1377-8, released to Sir John Frebody, rector of Bocton Aluph, and John Gower, divers lands, &c. in the parish of Bouhersmersh, and elsewhere, in the marsh of Romney in Kent 4. To prove that the John Gower, who was a feoffee of the manor of Aldyngton in the 38th Edw. III., was the same person as the owner of Kentwell, in the 47th Edw. III., it is only necessary to observe that in the year last mentioned, John Cobham, and others, are said to have held both those manors 5. From the extracts which have been given it is manifest that the John Gower who acquired the manor of Kentwell was living at the same time with the poet; that they must have been of nearly the same age; that they bore precisely the same arms; that they were both connected with Suffolk, and probably with Kent; and that most of the 1 Calend. Rot. Patent. p. 178. In the Reading Chartulary, Cottonian MS. Domitianus iii. are two charters of a John Gour about that period. "Carta indenture facta Joh'i Gour de tribus partibus unius mesuag. unius carucat' terre in Yvynton."—f. 234. "Carta Joh'is Gour ut patet inferius." "Dat' in hospicio meo apud Radyng_xxvio die Aprilis Anno r' r' Edwardi tercii post conquestum tricesimo. Hijs test. Joh'e de Stratfeld, Th' de Suldeford, Joh' Maurden, et aliis.”—f. 235. 2 Clause Rolls, abstracted in the Harleian MS. 1176, fol. 16. By an inquisition held before John Cobham of Kent, and others, to inquire into the estate of William, son and heir of Sir William Septuans. Knt. deceased, at Canterbury, on Tuesday next before the feast of St. George, 40 Edw. 1366, it was found that John Gower was a feoffee of the manor of Aldyngton, in Kent, in the 38th Edw. III., 1364.—Rolls of Parliament, vol. ii. p. 292. The following entry also occurs in the Calendarium Inquisitiones post Mortem, vol. ii. p. 273. "Ao. 39 Edw. III. Johannes Gower, Aldyngton maner' mediet' ut de castro Roffens' Kanc:" and in the Rotulorum Originalium, vol. ii. p. 286, "Joh'es Gower dat quinquaginta et tres solidos p' lic' adquirend' &c. medietatem manerii de Aldyngton juxta Berghstede cum p'tin' &c. Kanc.' Grossi Fines, 39 Edw. III. 3 Ancient Charters, 50. I. 13. 4 Hasted's Kent, ed. 1790, vol. iii. p. 425. 5 Calend. Inquis. post Mortem, vol. ii. p. 331. |