The Convents of the Franciscan Province of Anglia and their Role in the Development of English and Welsh Towns in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries

The available evidence suggests that the Franciscans created their English province in a planned and well organised manner, moving first into the major urban centres and then into the important county towns and harbours so that they were represented in all regions of the kingdom. The creation of urban convents had a profound impact on the topography of the towns in question because public, private and commercial space was gradually acquired by the friars when their precincts extended. In a number of cases the Franciscans also made significant contributions to the urban infrastructure by creating water supplies and aqueducts