Mr. E. B. Poland has produced in The Friars in
Sussex, (Combridges, Hove, Sussex, 12s.) a useful and interesting con- tribution to local history. He has gathered and arranged all the surviving records of the Franciscan, Dominican, Carmelite, and Augustinian establishments in Sussex ; prefacing each by a short and clear account of the Order, its origin and character. The Convents and priories at Rye, Winchelsea, and Chichester naturally occupy much of the space. Those interested in mediaeval history will fasten upon the far too short chapter in which the author gives his reasons for supposing that the ancient building in Rye, usually called the house of the Carmelites, really belonged to the " Friars of the Sack " or Brothers of Penitence : an obscure order which was established in England from 1257 to its suppression in 1807. At the end are notes on eminent friars connected with Sussex, and short chapters on the post-Reformation history of the Mendicant orders in England. The book is well illustrated from photographs and portraits.
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