Parish Priests and Their People in the Middle Ages in England Part 3

It is to be observed that the Northumbrian king was not present with his n.o.bles and bishops at this synod; for eleven years previously (in 736) the Bishop of York had obtained the dignity of an archbishop with the Northumbrian churches as his province. The Papal legates visited the north, but we have no account of their doings there.

The laws of King Alfred are prefaced by a recapitulation of the early history of the Church, and recite the decree of the apostles at the Synod of Jerusalem. Then the king goes on to say that many synods were a.s.sembled in the old times, among the English race, after they had received the Faith of Christ, and ordained a "tort" for many misdeeds. Out of those laws which he had met with, either of the days of Ine his kinsman, of Offa, King of the Mercians, or of Ethelbryht who first among the English race received baptism, the things which seemed to him most right he had gathered together and rejected others. He had then showed them to the witan, and they declared that it seemed good to them all that they should be observed. We conclude that the codes of Ethelbert, Ine, and Offa (which last has not come down to us) were the princ.i.p.al codes then known. We select several of the laws of Alfred which deal with new matter.

1. If a man pledge himself and break his pledge, he is to surrender his weapons and goods to the keeping of his friends, and be in prison forty days in a bishop's town, and suffer there whatever the bishop may prescribe; his friends to find him food; if he have none, then the king's reeve to do it; if he escape, to be excommunicated of all Christ's churches. If a man seek a church and confess an offence not before known, let it be half forgiven--_i.e._ let him pay half the penalty.

One of the laws agreed upon between King Alfred and Guthrum was, if any man wrong an ecclesiastic or a foreigner as to money or life, the king or earl and the bishop shall be to the injured in the place of kinsman and protector.

Among the laws of Athelstan (925-940), (3) directs that there be sung, every Friday at every monastery, a fifty (of psalms) for the king, and for all who will what he wills, and for others as they may merit; (7) describes the ordeal by fire and by water.[52]

Among the laws of King Edmund (940-946) made at the Synod of London, "Odda, archbishop, and Wulfstan, archbishop, and many other bishops being present," it was ordered (1) that those in holy orders who have to teach G.o.d's people by their life's example keep their chast.i.ty according to their degree; (5) that every bishop repair the houses of G.o.d in his [district (?)], and also remind the king that all G.o.d's churches be well conditioned.

The "Canons of Edgar" (A.D. 959-975)[53] were made under the reforming influence of Archbishop Dunstan, and were intended as a standard of life and duty for the clergy. They begin with the recognition, which is amplified and emphasized in the laws of subsequent reigns, that the great duty which the order of the clergy perform in the service of the nation is to celebrate the wors.h.i.+p of Almighty G.o.d, and offer up prayers on behalf of the king and people. We give the substance of the canons as briefly as possible, but without any material omission, so that the reader may feel a.s.sured that he has the whole body of the legislation before him.

They decree that the ministers of G.o.d devoutly serve and minister to G.o.d, and intercede for all Christian folk; be faithful and obedient to their seniors (bishops, abbots, etc.); ready to help others, both G.o.dward and manward; and be to their earthly lords true and faithful; that they honour one another, the juniors diligently hearing and loving their seniors, and the seniors diligently teaching the juniors.

That every one come to the synod yearly, attended by his clerk, and an orderly man as his servant; that he bring his books and vestments,[54] and ink and parchment for the const.i.tutions;[55] and food for three days. That the priest report to the synod if any one has done him any serious injury, and that all should regard it as done to themselves, and obtain compensation according as the bishop shall determine. He shall also report if any one in his parish lives openly against G.o.d, or has done mortal sin, whom he cannot move to amendment, or dare not for fear.

That no dispute between priests shall be brought before secular judges, but reconciled by their fellows or referred to the bishop; no priest shall desert the church to which he was ordained, but hold to it as his lawful spouse. That he do not deprive another of anything which belongs to him either in his church or parish or gilds.h.i.+p; he shall not take another's scholar without his leave; that in addition to lore, he diligently learn a handicraft; that the learned priest do not throw scorn on the half learned, but correct him; that the well-born priest do not despise the low-born, for if he will consider all men are of one birth; that he administer baptism as soon as asked, and bid every one to bring his children to be baptized within thirty-seven days[56] of their birth and not defer too long to have them confirmed by the bishop.

That he diligently promote Christianity, and banish heathenism, and forbid well-wors.h.i.+p, necromancy, augury, man-wors.h.i.+p, incantations, and many things which they practise with various spells, and "frithsplottum,"[57]

and wich-elms and various trees and stones, and other phantasms by which many are deceived, and that devil's craft whereby children are drawn through the earth, and the merriment that men make on the night of the year (New Year's Eve).

That every Christian diligently train his child and teach him the Paternoster and Credo;[58] that on festivals men abstain from profane songs and devil's games, and on Sundays from trading and folk motes; that men cease from lies and foolish talking and blasphemy; and from concubinage, and have lawful wives; that every man learn the Paternoster and Credo if he desire to lie in holy ground [at his burial], and be considered housel-worthy [fit to receive Holy Communion], because he is not a good Christian who is not willing to learn these, nor may rightly be a sponsor at baptism nor at confirmation; that there be no contentions on festival or fasting days, nor oaths, nor ordeals.

That the priests keep the churches with all reverence for the Divine ministry and pure wors.h.i.+p, and for nothing else; nor do anything unbecoming there nor in the vicinity; nor allow idle talking, idle deeds, unbecoming drinkings, nor any other idle practices; nor allow dogs in the churchyard, nor more swine than a man is able to manage [or no dog nor swine so far as a man can prevent it], that nothing unbecoming be placed in the church; that at the church-wake men keep sober and pray diligently, nor practise drinking, nor anything else unbecoming; that no one be buried in church unless he was known when living to be so well pleasing to G.o.d as to be worthy of it.

That the priest do not celebrate the Eucharist in any house, but only in the church, except in case of extreme sickness, and do not consecrate except upon a consecrated altar,[59] and not without book and the canon of the ma.s.s before his eyes, that he make no mistakes, and that he have a corporal when he celebrates, and a _subuculum_[60] under his albe, and all necessary things rightly appointed, and have a good and correct book, and not without some one to make the responses; that every one receive fasting except in case of extreme sickness; that the priest reserve the host ready for any that need; that he celebrate with pure wine and pure water; that no priest celebrate ma.s.s without partaking, or hallow it unless he is holy. That the chalice be of molten material, never of wood; that all things which approach the altar or belong to the church be purely and worthily appointed, and that there be always lights in the church at ma.s.s; that there be no negligence about anything consecrated, holy water, salt, incense, bread, nor anything holy; that no woman come near the altar while the priest celebrates.

That at the right times the bell be rung, and the priest say his hours in church, or there pray and intercede for all men.[61] That no priest come into the church or into his stall without his upper garment, or minister without his vestment. That no man in orders conceal his tonsure, or leave it badly shaven, or wear his beard long; that priests be not ignorant of fasts or festivals, lest they lead the people wrong.[62]

That every one accompany his fasts with almsgiving; that "priests in ecclesiastical ministries be all on one equality, and in a year's s.p.a.ce, be like-worthy in all ecclesiastical ministries;"[63] that they diligently teach the young handicrafts, that the Church may be helped thereby.

That priests preach every Sunday, and well explain. That no Christian eat blood of any kind. That they teach the people to pay their dues to G.o.d, plough-alms fifteen days after Easter, the t.i.the of young at Pentecost, fruits of the earth at All Saints, Peter's penny on St. Peter's day, and church scot at Martinmas. That priests so distribute people's alms as to please G.o.d, and dispose the people to almsgiving; they shall sing psalms when they distribute alms, and bid the poor pray for the people. That priests avoid drunkenness, and warn the people against it; that they eschew unbecoming occupations, as ale-scop or glee man, but behave discreetly and worthily; abstain from oaths and forbid them; not consort too much with women, but love their own spouse, that is, their church; not bear false witness, or be the confidant of thieves; that the priest have not to do with ordeals or oaths, or be compurgator with a thane, unless the thane take the first oath; be not a hunter, or hawker, or dicer, but occupy himself with his books, as becomes his order.

That every priest hear confession and give penance, and carry the Eucharist to the sick, and anoint him if he desire it, and after death not allow any idle customs about the body, but bury it decently in the fear of G.o.d. That every priest have oil for baptism, and also for anointing the sick. Let him promote Christianity in every way, as well by preaching as by good example, and he shall be rewarded by G.o.d Almighty; and let him remember when he fetches the chrism [at the yearly synod] to say the prayers for the king and the bishop.

The laws of King Ethelred (979-1016), made with the counsel of both the ecclesiastical and lay witan, are conceived in a very Christian spirit, and expressed with considerable eloquence. We think it worth while to give in full some of them which relate to the general desire of the authorities in Church and State to promote religion. (1) This, then, is first, that we all love and wors.h.i.+p one G.o.d, and zealously hold one Christianity, and every heathens.h.i.+p totally cast out, that every man be regarded as ent.i.tled to right, and peace and friends.h.i.+p be lawfully observed. (2) That Christian men and uncondemned be not sold out of the country, and especially into a heathen nation, that those souls perish not that Christ bought with His own life. (3) That Christian men be not condemned to death for all too little, and in general let light punishments be decreed, and let not for a little G.o.d's handiwork and His own purchase which He dearly bought be destroyed. (4) That every man of every order readily submit to the law which belongs to him; above all, let the servants of G.o.d, bishops and abbots, monks and mynchens, priests and nuns,[64] live according to their rule, and fervently intercede for all Christian people. (5, 6) Monks are not to live out of minster, but to observe specially three things: their chast.i.ty and monkish customs, and the service of the Lord. (7) Canons, where their benefice is, so that they have a refectory and dormitory, are to keep their minster rightly; and ma.s.s-priests to keep themselves from the anger of G.o.d. (9) Full well they know that they have not rightly, through concubinage, intercourse with women; he who will abstain from this and serve G.o.d rightly, shall be worthy of thane-wer, and thane-right both in life and in the grave; he who will not, let his honour wane before G.o.d and before the world. (10) Let every church be in grith (protection) of G.o.d and the king, and of all Christian people; let no man henceforth reduce a church to servitude, nor unlawfully make church-mongering, nor turn out a church minister without the bishop's counsel. (11) G.o.d's dues are to be willingly paid, plough-alms, t.i.the of young, earth fruits, Rome fee, and light scot thrice a year,[65] and soul scot at the open grave, or, if buried elsewhere, to be paid to the minster to which it belongs. (13-19) Sundays and holy days are defined as in previous laws, and at those holy tides let there be to all men peace and concord, and be every strife appeased. (22) Let every Christian man strictly keep his Christianity, and go frequently to shrift and housel.

(23) Let every injustice and wrong-doing be carefully cast out of the country, and (26) G.o.d's laws be zealously loved by word and deed, then will G.o.d soon be merciful to this nation.[66] Lastly (34), it is the duty of us all to love and wors.h.i.+p one G.o.d and strictly hold one Christianity, and totally cast out every kind of heathenism; and (35) let us faithfully support one royal lord, and all defend life and land together as best we may, and to G.o.d Almighty pray with inward heart.

The canons which go under the name of Elfric, and are of the end of the tenth century, add a little to the knowledge we have already gleaned. The 10th canon gives a list of the seven orders of the clergy under the degree of bishop, viz. ostiarius, lector, exorcist, acolyte, subdeacon, deacon, and priest, and defines their several offices. (17) reckons a priest and a bishop to be of the same order. (19) requires the priests and inferior clergy to be at church at the seven canonical hours: _Uhtsang_ (Prime) about 4 a.m., _Primsang_ (Matins) 6 a.m., _Undersang_ (Terce) at 9, _Middaysang_ (s.e.xt) at noon, _Nonsang_ (Nones) at 3 p.m., _aefensang_ (Vespers), and _Nightsang_ (Nocturns). (21) Every priest before ordination to be furnished with correct copies of the Psalter, Book of Epistles and Gospels, Missal, Hymnary, Penitential, and Lectionary. (23) The parish priest, every Sunday and holy day, is to explain to the people in English the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Gospel for the day. (25) Not to celebrate in a house except one be sick. (27) No priest is to take money for baptism or other office. (28) Priests are not to remove from one parish to another for the sake of advantage, but to remain in the cure to which they were ordained. (29) Not to turn merchant, soldier, or lawyer.

(30) To have always two oils, one for children, the other for the sick.

(33) Orders the canons of the first four councils to be regarded like the four Gospels; "there have been many councils held in later ages, but these four are of the greatest authority." (36) "The housel is Christ's body, not bodily but spiritually, not the body in which He suffered, but the body about which He spake, when He blessed bread and wine for housel....

Understand now that the Lord who could before His pa.s.sion change the bread to His body and the wine to His blood spiritually, that the same daily blesses, by the hands of His priests, the bread and wine to His spiritual body and blood."

An important feature in the administration of criminal law was the recognition of the right of _Sanctuary_ to the house of the king and the churches, which had probably been introduced from the imperial law by the influence of the missionaries. The laws of Ine recognize the right of sanctuary to a church; a murderer taking sanctuary is to have his life but to make bot, according to law, a theowe who has incurred scourging shall be excused the penalty.

The laws of Alfred allow three days' sanctuary in the "mynsterham," which is free from the king's farm, or any other free community, with a bot of 120_s._ for its violation, to be paid to the brotherhood; and seven days in every church hallowed by the bishop, with the penalty of the king's "mund and byrd" and the church's "frith" for its violation. The Church ealdor is to take care that no one give food to the refugee. If he be willing to give up his weapons to his foes, then let them keep him thirty days, and give notice to his kinsmen (that they may arrange the legal bot[67]). King Athelstan's laws further modify the right of sanctuary; a thief or robber fleeing to the king or to any church, or to the bishop, is to have a term of nine days; if he flee to an ealdorman, or an abbot, or a thane, three days; and he who harbours him longer is to be worthy of the same penalty as the thief. The king's grith (protection) is to extend from his burhgate where he is dwelling, on its four sides three miles three furlongs and three acres breadth, and nine feet nine palms and nine barley-corns. A law of Canute already quoted (p. 53) a.s.signs different values of grith (protection) to the different kinds of churches, the grith bryce (penalty for violation of grith) of a chief minster is 5; of a minster of the middle cla.s.s, 120_s._, and of one yet less where there is a small parish (lytel eoom, in the laws of Henry I.), provided there be a burial-place, 60_s._, and of a field-church, where there is no burial-place, 30_s._

Akin to this privilege of sanctuary is the penalty for acts of violence in certain places and before certain persons. By the laws of King Ine, if any man fight in a king's house he shall forfeit all his property; if in a minster, make bot of 120_s._ By the laws of King Alfred, if a man fight or draw his weapon before an archbishop he shall make bot of 150_s._; if before a bishop or an ealdorman, 100_s._ The laws of Alfred enact that if any man steal from a church he shall restore it and lose his hand, or redeem his hand at the amount of his "wergild;" it is to be remembered that churches were used as places of deposit for valuables, and the law probably is intended to protect these as well as the movables belonging to the church itself.

The laws of Wihtred of Kent make the word of a king or a bishop incontrovertible without an oath; a priest, like a king's thane, is to clear himself with his own oath at the altar; he is to stand before the altar in his vestments, and laying his hand upon the altar, to say, "_Veritatem dico in Christo, non mentior_;"[68] the superior of a monastery is to make oath like a priest; a clerk, like a "ceorlish man,"

to make like oath at the altar, but to have four compurgators. The rank of a priest as equal to that of a thane is frequently recognized.[69] The laws of Ine (15 and 19), make the oath of a man who is a communicant worth twice as much as that of a man who is not.

It is convenient to gather into one view what the laws say about the _t.i.the and other Payments_ which the people made to the church. The laws did not then for the first time enact these payments. The first missionaries had no doubt taught the people that it was the duty of Christian men to maintain the church and the clergy by t.i.thes and offerings. If the a.s.sertion be true that the people had been accustomed to pay t.i.the to their heathen priests, and there is evidence in favour of the probability, then it came the easier to them.[70] The kings and their witans, in this as in many other matters, recognized and gave the sanction of law to existing custom. The payment of t.i.the was recognized as obligatory in the Legatine Council of Cealchythe in 785, which being attended and confirmed by the Kings of Kent, Mercia, Wess.e.x, and Northumbria, and their ealdormen, had the authority of a Witenagemot, just at the time that similar measures were being taken in the Frank dominions.

From that time the payment was frequently mentioned in the laws. The laws of King Alfred define the t.i.the as of "moving and growing things." The laws of King Edmund enact that every man pay t.i.the, church scot, Rome fee, and plough-alms on pain of excommunication. The laws of Edgar define to whom the payment shall be made, viz. to the old minster to which the district belongs; a thane who has a church at which there is a burial-place, may pay a third of his t.i.the to his own priest; if the thane's church is without a burial-place, he is to pay his t.i.the to the minster, and church scot and plough-alms are also to be paid to the minster, and the thane may pay to his priest what he will. They also recite the times at which these payments are to be made on penalty of the full "wite" (fine to the king) which the Doom-book specifies. They also prescribe a process for the recovery of t.i.the; the king's reeve and the bishop's reeve, with the priest of the minster to whom it is due, are to take the t.i.the by force, and the rest is to be forfeited half to the king and half to the bishop, whether the defaulter be a king's man or a thane's. The payment of the "hearth penny" (St. Peter's penny) is to be enforced by a very curious process: the defaulter is to be taken to Rome--perhaps it means to the house of the pope's agent, for the collection of Peter pence--and, in addition to what is due, is to pay 30_d._, and bring a certificate of the payment, and then is to forfeit 120_s._ to the king; if he refuse, he is to be taken again to Rome, and on his return to forfeit 200_s._; and if he still refuse, he is to forfeit all that he has. The severity of the enactment suggests the question whether there was at that time on the part of some persons a special unwillingness to pay the "penny of St. Peter."

The _religious observance of Sunday_ was the subject of frequent enactments. The third of the laws of Ine enacts that if a theow work on Sunday by his lord's command, the theow shall be exempt from penalty, but his lord shall pay 30_s._; if the theow work of his own accord (since he has no money), he shall "pay with his skin," _i.e._ shall be scourged. If a free man work on that day without his lord's command, he shall forfeit his freedom or pay 60_s._; a priest offending shall be liable to a double penalty. The laws of Wihtred of Kent contain enactments to the same effect. The laws of Alfred encourage the observance of other holy days by the enactment that "to all free men these days be given" (_i.e._ free men are not to be required by their lords to work on these days): twelve days at the Nativity, Good Friday--"the day on which Christ conquered the devil," St. Gregory's day, seven days before Easter and seven days after, St. Peter's day and St. Paul's day, in autumn a full week before the festival of St. Brice (Nov. 13), one day before All Saints, and the four Wednesdays in the four fasting (Ember) weeks. The law does not free theowes from work on these days, but suggests to their masters to give them, in G.o.d's name, such relaxation from work on such of these days as they shall deserve. The laws of Edgar define that Sunday is to be kept from noontide of Sat.u.r.day till dawn of Monday. At the Council of Eynsham (1009), it was further enjoined that there be no markets or folk motes (the laws of Canute also forbid hunting) on Sundays; that all St. Mary's feast tides be honoured with those of every apostle, and Fridays be kept as a fast. Festivals of English saints were from time to time added to the Kalendar. We have seen that the Council of Clovesho (747), decreed the observance of days in honour of St. Gregory and St. Augustine. In the decrees of the Council of Enysham we find: "The witan have chosen that St.

Edward's ma.s.s day shall be celebrated all over England on the XV. Kal.

Apr." (March 18). The laws of Canute repeat the obligation of the previous holy days, and after mention of the witan's appointment of a festival of St. Edward, add a festival of St. Dunstan on XIV. Kal. Junias (May 19).

_Slavery_ was a recognized inst.i.tution of the society of those times. The cla.s.s of "theowmen" was probably made up partly of conquered Britons and their descendants, partly of captives taken in the mutual wars of the heptarchic kingdoms, partly of freemen who had been condemned to this penalty for their crimes or incurred it by poverty. A prominent feature of the influence of Christianity was the encouragement it gave to masters to treat their theowes with kindness, and its success in promoting their manumission as an action well-pleasing to G.o.d. Several of the codes of law deal with the subject. We have seen already how the legislation on the observance of Sundays and holy days did not go so far as to interfere with the right of the masters, but did invite them, for the love of G.o.d, to give their theowes some relaxation of labour on the great festivals of the Church. A law of Wihtred, King of Kent, defines that if any one give freedom to his man at the altar, he shall be folk-free, though it retains to the freedom-giver the heritage and wergild and mund of his family. A law of Ine enacts that he who sells over sea his own countryman, bond or free, though he be guilty, shall pay according to his wer.

A law of Alfred enacts that if any man buy a Christian slave, he shall serve for six years, and on the seventh he shall go out as he came in, with the same clothes, etc.; if he came in with a wife he shall go out with her, but if the lord have given him a wife, she and her children shall still belong to the lord. A law of Ethelred (978-1016) enacts that a slave (uncondemned) shall not be sold out of the country.

The Church set the example of the manumission of its slaves.[71] At the Council of Cealchithe (816) it was unanimously agreed that each prelate at his death should bequeath one-tenth of his personal property to the poor, and set at liberty all bondsmen of English descent whom his Church had acquired during his administration, and that each bishop and abbot who survived him should manumit three of his slaves, and give 3_s._ to each.

The laity followed the example. In the English wills published by Thorpe[72] a considerable number occur in which the testator gives freedom to serfs, _e.g._ Queen aethelflaed sets free half of her men in every vill; Wynflaed gives a long list of serfs by name who are to be freed, and the freedom of penal serfs is given in nine other wills.

Still the inst.i.tution continued. At the end of the Saxon period, a thriving trade in the export of English slaves was carried on at Bristol, till Bishop Wulstan put an end to it. The Twenty-ninth Canon of the Synod of Westminster, held under Anselm in 1102, enacted that there should be no buying and selling of men in England as heretofore, as if they were kine or oxen. But this did not put a stop to it. Slaves were bought and sold by Church dignitaries as late as the fourteenth century, as we shall see in a later chapter, and the status of serfdom continued to the sixteenth century.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Coronation of Harold by Archbishop Stigand. Bayeux tapestry.]

CHAPTER VI.

THE NORMAN CONQUEST.

One immediate result of the Norman conquest was that Archbishop Stigand and several other bishops and abbots were ejected, and foreign ecclesiastics put in their place. It is not necessary to suppose that William acted solely on the desire to put men devoted to his interests into these positions of power and influence, for Edward the Confessor had already appointed some foreign bishops with the object of raising the tone of learning and religion in the English Church; and all William's nominees were men of character, learning and practical ability. The removal of some of the sees from unimportant villages to the princ.i.p.al town of the diocese was a wise measure. It is said that some of the Norman bishops desired to make the further improvement of replacing the monks, where they existed, in their cathedrals, by canons, but were thwarted by Lanfranc.[73]

The parochial clergy seem to have been left undisturbed in their benefices; only, as the benefices fell vacant in the usual course of things, the new Norman lords of the manor, who had in so many cases supplanted the old Saxon thanes, not unnaturally appointed relatives or countrymen of their own to at least the more valuable of the parochial benefices in their gift.

The Norman conquest of England opened up this country more fully to the influence of the political and religious life of the Continent. The patriarchal authority of the Roman see had long since been acknowledged by the Saxon Church, but hitherto had very rarely intervened and as seldom been appealed to; henceforward it was to become a much more important factor both in the political and ecclesiastical life of this country. The foreign bishops appointed by Edward the Confessor and William, and the foreign parsons introduced by the new lords into their parishes, brought with them the Hildebrandine theories of the relations of the Pope to the Church and to the State. William sought to limit the exercise of the Papal authority in his new kingdom by a decree that the Pope should send no legates and no bulls without the consent of the Crown, and that his own subjects should make no appeal to Rome without the Crown's permission.