 Monastic houses in London often leased land within their precincts to secular tenants, and Austin Friars was no exception.Several tenements were built on the western side of the precinct and the friary also owned a number of properties just outside the precinct, adjoining Throgmorton Street, which included the Swanne and Bell inns.The larger tenements were rented to important officials and dignitaries; in the first half of the 16th century their tenants included Thomas Cromwell, the wealthy Italian merchant John Cavalcante, the Holy Roman Emperor's ambassador Eustace Chapuys, the French ambassador, and Erasmus, who left without paying his bill.