Leicester Austin Friars

Leicester Austin Friars or St. Katherine’s Priory, Leicester is a former Priory of Augustinian Hermit Friars in Leicester, England.

Leicester Austin Priory

An image of a medieval funeral procession in Leicester involving Friars from four different mendicant orders including the Austin Friars, as well as the Greyfriars, the Blackfriars, some Whitefriars (an order not present in Leicester), and a group of lay mourners. The church depicted is the now demolished St Sepulchre outside the southern wall of old Leicester (now Leicester Royal Infirmary).[1]
Location within Leicestershire
Monastery information
Other names	St Katherine’s Priory
Order	Order of Hermits of Saint Augustine
Established	1254
Disestablished	November 10th, 1538
Dedicated to	St Katherine
Diocese	Lincoln
People
Important associated figures	Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster
Site
Coordinates	52.633362°N 1.144428°W / 52.633362; -1.144428
Visible remains	None

340m
371yds

Newarke Houses

Market

Jewry Wall

Newarke Church

Magazine Gateway

Guildhall

Austin Friars

Blackfriars

Blackfriars

Greyfriars

Castle

All Saints

Cathedral

St Mary de Castro

St Nicholas

St Margaret's

   

Map of central Leicester showing the location of the Austin Friars (marked in green) among the key sites of Leicester Old Town. The Roman and medieval walls are marked by the dotted line. The churches are marked in red, the monasteries in black, secular buildings in blue, and the one surviving Roman ruin in purple.

History

Leicester Austin Priory was founded in 1254 and dedicated to St Katherine of Alexandria. It was enlarged in 1304 by Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster.^[2][3]

In 1372 a general chapter of the Order of Austin Hermit Friars was held at the priory. Around the same time (the late 14th-century) the community was home to a Friar Hermit named Thomas Ratcliffe, who was regarded as a renowned preacher.^[3]

The priory was surrendered for dissolution on November 10th, 1538. The priory does not appear to have been very large. At dissolution it was home to the Prior and three friars, and owned only the land it stood upon and a few small properties within the town. The annual income of the priory was listed as only £1.^[3]

The priory was unusual in having two cloisters.^[4]