The mother of our meek saint was a fair Saracen,
whom his father had married in the Holy Land. On the site of this house
rose the hospital, built within twenty years after the murder of Thomas;
yet such was the repute of his sanctity, that it was dedicated to him,
in conjunction with the blessed Virgin, without waiting for his
canonization. The hospital consisted of a master and several brethren,
professing the rule of St. Austin. The church, cloisters, &c. were
granted by Henry VIII. to the Mercers' Company, who had the gift of the
mastership.[1]
[1] Tanner.
"In the old church were several monuments; among others, one to James
Butler, Earl of Ormond, and Joan his wife, living in the beginning of
the reign of Henry VI. The whole pile was destroyed in the great fire,
but was very handsomely rebuilt by the Mercers' Company, who have their
Hall here.
"In this chapel the celebrated, but unsteady, archbishop of Spalato,
preached his first sermon in 1617, in Italian, before the Archbishop of
Canterbury, and a splendid audience; and continued his discourses in the
same place several times, after he had embraced our religion; but having
the folly to return to his ancient faith, and trust himself among his
old friends at Rome, he was shut up in the Castle of St. Angelo, where
he died in 1625."
"The Mercers' Company is the first of the twelve. The name by no means
implied, originally, a dealer in silks: for _mercery_ included all sorts
of small wares, toys, and haberdashery; but, as several of this opulent
company were merchants, and imported great quantities of rich silks from
Italy, the name became applied to the Company, and all dealers in silk.
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