The end of the strife between the Navarrese and English clergy for
supremacy in the House at Charing Cross was not far off. By the year
1414 the few remaining alien priories and convents were suppressed by
Henry V, but what influence this final suppression had on the activities
of the Convent of St. Mary Roncevall is not quite clear. English clergy
were already in possession of the appointments in the Church and
Hospital, and the services of the Convent to the people of London seem
to have continued. There arose no question of handing over the property
for secular purposes, and probably there was no serious dislocation of
the usual work of the House. The management of its affairs must simply
have been recognized to be entirely independent of the Prior and his
officials. It is to the credit of both parties that this separation was
accomplished without severe disturbance, for, as we shall see,
communications between the Prior at Roncesvalles and the Warden of St.
Mary Roncevall remained on what seems to have been a friendly basis. The
English wardens who were now appointed were, so far as is known, men of
note, and frequently in close relationship with the Court.
In 1417 Walter Sheryngton, Prebendary of Goderynghill, is confirmed in
his possession of the estate and the “free chapel” of Rouncevall in the
Diocese of London. During his tenure of office there appears to have
been an action at law between the Prior of the Hospital and the Warden,
the exact nature of which is uncertain; but during its course the
conditions of the early foundation of the Convent at Charing Cross came
under discussion.
In 1432 Roger Westwode, who was also a Prebendary of the Chapel Royal,
St. Stephen’s, was Warden of the Chapel or Hospital of St. Mary
Roncevall. He was clearly conscious of the advantages to be gained by
the connexion with the House in the Pyrenees, as he obtained a royal
licence to receive bulls and letters of indulgence for the profit of his
own chapel from the Prior in Navarre, and also to remit alms for the
poor and other monies to the Priory. An echo of the old difficulties can
be noted in this document, as the royal licence states clearly that the
said Priory is “outside our allegiance, and the licence is to continue
so long as there is no war between us and the King of Navarre.”
The fortunes of the Hospital in the middle fifteenth century can only be
judged by inference, but there can be little doubt that it continued to
be useful, and that gradually its functions as a place for the cure of
the needy sick became more developed. The co-operation of nursing
sisters must have also become familiar to the London community by this
time. The brethren and sisters had pursued their avocation in tending
and in nursing the infirm from very early days in the history of the
community of St. Mary both in Navarre and in England. As the religious
house became more distinctly a hospital their services must have been in
constantly increasing request.