(Vol. ii., p. 248.)
A correspondent inquires what was the difference between a crozier and a
pastoral staff. The crozier (_Crocia_, Mediæval Latin), Fr. _Crosse_,
Ital. _Rocco Pastorale_, German. _Bischofstab_, is the ornamental staff
used by archbishops and legates, and derives its name from the cross
which surmounts it. A crozier behind a pall is borne on the primatial
arms of Canterbury. The use of the crozier can only be traced back to
the 12th century. _Cavendish_ mentions "two great crosses of silver,
whereof one of them was for his archbishoprick and the other for his
legatry, always before" Cardinal Wolsey. The fact did not escape Master
_Roy_, who sings thus:--
"Before him rydeth two Prestes stronge,
And they beare two Crosses right longe,
Gapinge in every man's face."
_Hall_ says that he removed from Whitehall "with one cross." In the
Eastern Church patriarchs only have a crozier; a patriarch has two
transverse bars upon his crozier, the Pope carries three.
The pastoral staff was the ensign of bishops. Honorius describes it as
in the form of a shepherd's crook, made of wood or bone, united by a
ball of gold or crystal, the lower part of the staff being pointed.
"In Evangelio Dominus Apostolis præcepit, ut in prædcatione
nihil præter virgam tollerent. Et quià Episcopi pastores gregis
Dominici sunt, ideò baculum in custodiâ præferunt: per baculum,
quo infirmi sustentatur, auctoritas doctrinæ designatur; per
virgam, quà improbi emendantur, potestas regiminis figuratur.
Baculum ergò Pontifices portant, ut infirmos in Fide per
doctrinam erigant. Virgam bajulant, ut per potestatem inquietos
corrigant: quæ virga vel baculus est recurvus, ut aberrantes à
grege docendo ad poenitetiam trabat; in extremo est acutus, ut
rebelles excommunicando retrudat; hæreticos, velut lupos, ab
ovili Christi potestativè exterreat."--_In Gemmâ Animæ_, lib. i.
cap. 218, 219., _apud Hitterpium_.
In its primitive form it appears to have been a staff shaped like a T,
and used to lean upon. It was gradually lengthened, and in some cases
was finished at the top like a mace. The pastoral staff is mentioned in
the _Life of S. Cæsarius of Arles_. Gough says that the pastoral staff
found in the coffin of Grostete, Bp. of Lincoln, who died in 1254, was
made of red wood ending in a rudely shaped ram's horn. It was inscribed:
"Per baculi formam
Prælati discite normam."
In the first prayer-book of the Reformed English Church, 2 Edward VI.,
at the time of the holy communion the bishop is directed to have "_his
pastoral staff in his hand, or else borne by his chaplain_." It was used
in solemn benedictions; and so lately as at the coronation of Queen
Elizabeth. The second book of King Edward VI., published A.D. 1552,
being revived in that reign, the use of the staff was discontinued, as
we find by the consecration service of Archbishop Parker.
"Postq' hæc dixissent, ad reliqua Communionis solemnia permit
Cicestren. nullu. Archie'po tradens Pastorale
baculum."--_Bramhall_, vol. iii. p. 205., Part i. Disc. 5. App.,
Oxon. 1844.
A crozier was borne at the funerals of Brian Duppa, of Winton, A.D.
1662; Juxon of London, 1663; Frewen of York, 1664; Wren of Ely, 1667;
Cosin of Dunelm, 1671; Trelawney of Winton, 1721; Lindsay of Armagh,
1724. It is engraven on the monuments of Goodrich of Ely, 1552; Magrath
of Cashel, 1622; Hacket of Lichfield, 1670; Creggleton of Wells,
Lamplugh of York, 1691; Sheldon, 1677; Hoadley of Winton, and Porteus of
London. Their croziers (made of gilt metal) were suspended over the
tombs of Morley, 1684, and Mews, 1706. The bishop's staff had its crook
bent outwards to signify that his jurisdiction extended over his
diocese; that of the abbot inwards, as his authority was limited to his
house. The crozier of Matthew Wren was of silver {314} with the head
gilt. When Bp. Fox's tomb was opened at Winchester some few years since,
his staff of oak was found in perfect preservation. A staff of wood
painted in azure and gilt, hangs over Trelawney's tomb in Pelynt Church,
Cornwall. The superb staff of the pious and munificent founder of the
two St. Marie Winton Colleges is still preserved at Oxford, as is also
that of the illustrious Wykehamist, Bp. Fox, to whose devotion we owe
Corpus Christi College in that university. One of the earliest tombs
bearing a staff incised, is that of Abbot Vitalis, who died in 1082, and
may be seen in the south cloister of St. Peter's Abbey in Westminster.
There were croziered as well as mitred abbots: for instance, the
superior of the Benedictine abbey at Bourges had a right to the crozier,
but not to the mitre. The Abbot of Westminster was croziered and mitred.
I intended to write a reply, but have enabled with a note.