GUILDS AND FRATERNITIES
Every account of a mediæval parish must necessarily include some
description of the work of fraternities and guilds. Although these
societies, absolutely speaking, were not existent in every parish,
still they were so very general that they may be reckoned certainly as
one feature of pre-Reformation parochial life. It is hardly necessary
to say much upon the subject of guild origins. Their existence dates
from the earliest times, and they probably were one result of the
natural desire to realize some of the obvious benefits arising from
combination, in carrying out purposes of common utility. As a system of
widespread practical institutions, “English guilds,” says Mr. Toulmin
Smith, who may be regarded as our great authority on this matter,
“are older than any kings of England.” The oldest of our ancient
laws--those, for example, of Alfred, of Athelstan and Ina--assume the
existence of guilds, to some one of which, as a matter of course, every
one was supposed to belong. The same author thus defines the scope and
purpose of the ancient guilds. “They were,” he says, “associations of
those living in the same neighbourhood, who remembered that they had,
as neighbours, common obligations.” They were different entirely from
modern partnerships or trading companies, for their main characteristic
was to set up something higher than personal gain and mere materialism
as the main object of man’s existence, and to make the teaching of love
to one’s neighbour, not merely accepted as a hollow dogma of morality,
but known and felt as a habit of life.
An examination of the existing records leads to a general division of
mediæval guilds into two classes--_Craft_ or _Trade_ Associations and
_Religious_ Societies; or, as some prefer now to call them, _Social_
Guilds. It is with these latter that we are here chiefly concerned.
The former, as their name implies, had as the special object of their
existence the protection of some kind of work, trade, or handicraft;
and in this, for practical purposes, we may include those associations
of traders or merchants known under the name of “Guild-Merchants.”
Such, for instance, were the great Companies of the City of London;
and it was in reality the plea that they were trading societies, which
saved them from the general destruction which overtook all fraternities
and associations in the sixteenth century. The division of guilds
into the two classes named above is, however, after all, a matter of
convenience, rather than a real distinction, grounded on fact. All
guilds, no matter for what special purpose they were founded, had the
same general characteristic principle of brotherly love and social
charity; and no guild, so far as I have been able to discover, was
divorced from the ordinary religious observances commonly practised in
those days.
In speaking, therefore, of the purposes of what I have called
religious or social guilds, I must not be thought to exclude craft or
trade guilds. It is very often supposed that, for the most part, what
are called religious guilds existed for the purpose of promoting or
encouraging some religious practice, such as attendance at church on
certain days; taking part in ecclesiastical processions; the recitation
of offices and prayers, and the like. Without doubt there were such
societies existing in pre-Reformation days, such as, for example, was
the great Guild of Corpus Christi, in York, which counted its members
by thousands. But such associations were the exception, not the
rule. It is really astonishing to find how small a proportion these
_ecclesiastical_ or purely religious guilds formed of the whole number
of associations known as guilds. The origin of the mistaken notion is
obvious.
In mediæval days--that is, in the days when such guilds flourished--the
word “religious” had a wider, and in many ways a truer signification
than has obtained in later times. Religion was understood to include
the exercise of the two commandments of charity--the love of God, and
the love of one’s neighbour; and the exercises of practical charity,
to which guild brethren were bound by their guild statutes, were
considered as much religious practices as the attendance at church, or
the taking part in any ecclesiastical procession. In these days, as
Mr. Brentano, in his essay _On the History and Development of Gilds_,
has pointed out, most of the objects, to carry out which the guilds
existed, would be called _Social_ duties; but then, in mediæval times,
they were regarded as objects of Christian charity. “Mutual assistance,
the aid of the poor, of the helpless, the sick, of strangers,
pilgrims, and prisoners, the burial of the dead, even the keeping of
schools and schoolmasters,” and other such-like objects of Christian
charity, were held to be “exercises of religion.”
By whichever name we prefer to call them, the character and purpose
of these mediæval guilds cannot in reality be misunderstood.
Broadly speaking, they were the benefit societies and the provident
associations of the Middle Ages. They undertook towards their members
the duties now frequently performed by burial clubs, by hospitals,
by almshouses, and by guardians of the poor. Not infrequently they
are found acting for the public good of the community in the mending
of roads and in the repair of bridges. They looked to the private
good of their members in the same way that insurance companies to-day
compensate for loss by fire or accident. The very reason of their
existence was to afford mutual aid, and by timely contributions to
meet the pecuniary demands which were constantly arising from burials,
legal exactions, penal fines, and all other kinds of payments and
compensations. Mr. Toulmin Smith thus defines their object: “The early
English guild was an institution of local self-help, which, before the
poor-laws were invented, took the place, in old times, of the modern
Friendly or Benefit Society, but with a higher aim; while it joined
all classes together in the care of the needy and for objects of
common welfare, it did not neglect the forms and practice of religion,
justice, and morality,” which, it may be added, was indeed the
mainspring of their life and action.
“The Guild lands,” writes Mr. Thorold Rogers, “were a very important
economical fact in the social condition of early England. The Guilds
were the benefit societies of the time, from which impoverished
members could be and were aided. It was an age in which the keeping
of accounts was common and familiar. Beyond question, the treasurers
of the village Guild rendered as accurate an annual statement to the
members of their fraternity as a bailiff did to his lord.... It is
quite certain that the town and country guilds obviated pauperism in
the middle ages, assisted in steadying the price of labour, and formed
a permanent centre for those associations which fulfilled the function
that in more recent times trade unions have striven to satisfy.”
An examination of the various articles of association contained in the
returns made into the Chancery in 1389, and other similar documents,
shows how wide was the field of Christian charity covered by these
“fraternities.” First and foremost among such works of religion must be
reckoned the burial of the dead, regulations as to which are invariably
to be found in all the guild statutes. Then came, very generally,
provisions for help to the poor, sick, and aged. In some, assistance
was to be given to those who were overtaken by misfortune, whose goods
had been damaged or destroyed by fire or flood, or had been diminished
by loss or robbery; in others, money was found as a loan to such as
needed temporary assistance. In the guild at Ludlow, in Shropshire, for
instance, “any good girl of the guild had a dowry provided for her if
her father was too poor to find one himself.” The “guild-merchant” of
Coventry kept a lodging-house with thirteen beds, “to lodge poor folk
coming through the land on pilgrimage or other work of charity ... with
a keeper of the house and a woman to wash the pilgrims’ feet.” A guild
at York found beds and attendance for poor strangers, and the Guild of
Holy Cross in Birmingham kept almshouses for the poor in the town. In
Hampshire, the guild of St. John at Winchester, which comprised men and
women of all sorts and conditions, supported a hospital for the needy
and infirm of the city.
Speaking of the poor, Bishop Hobhouse, in his preface to the Somerset
churchwardens’ accounts, says--
“I can only suppose that the brotherhood tie was so strongly realized
by the community (of the parish) that the weaker were succoured by
the stronger, as out of a family store. The brotherhood tie was, no
doubt, very much stronger then, when the village community was from
generation to generation so unalloyed by anything foreign, when all
were knit together by one faith and one worship and close kindred,
but, further than this, the Guild-fellowship must have enhanced all
the other bonds in drawing men to spare their worldly goods as a
common stock. Covertly, if not overtly, the guildsman bound himself
to help his needy brother in sickness and age, as he expected his
fellow-guildsman to do for him in his turn of need; and these bonds,
added to a far stronger sense of the duty of children towards aged
parents than is now found, did, I conceive, suffice for the relief of
the poor, aided only by the direct almsgiving which flowed from the
parsonage house, or in favoured localities, from the doles or broken
meat of a monastery.”
For the purpose of collecting money for parochial needs, the services
of the various fraternities were constantly requisitioned. In some
places, as at St. Dunstan’s, Canterbury, the authorized collectors
wore badges, by which they could be recognized as such; at others, as
at St. Peter’s Cheap, London, the various brotherhoods were connected
with some special chapel, or altar, or statue, and regularly collected
for the particular end of their society. In some parishes these
religious fraternities were more numerous than many at this day would
be inclined to suppose. At St. Dunstan’s, Canterbury, just mentioned,
there was first the brotherhood of the “Schaft,” which seems to have
been a general society embracing the whole parish, and which possessed
property, such as malt, barley, wheat, cattle, and sheep. Besides this,
there was the fraternity of St. Anne, which included women, and that
of St. John; there were also small groups under their wardens; and of
these we have the wardens of St. John’s light, those of St. Anne’s
light, and those of St. Katherine. Mr. Cowper, the editor of these
accounts, on this remarks: “These all go to show what life and activity
there was in the little parish, which never wanted willing men to
devote their time and influence to the management of their own affairs.”
In times of common need, or when some great work of repair or of
decoration was undertaken by the parish for their church, the various
“fraternities” are found contributing out of their peculiar “stores”
to the object. At Ashburton, for example, in 1486-87, a “silver foot”
was made to the parish cross, and also the weather-cock got out of
order and had to be seen to. To both of these objects there were
contributions from “the stores of St. Nicholas,” and “of St. George,”
etc. In fact, in this parish there were apparently about a dozen of
these confraternities, namely: “the Stores of the B. V. Mary;” of “the
Junior torches;” of St. George, St. Margaret, St. Clement; of “the
Wyvyn store” of B. V. Mary; of St. Thomas of Canterbury; of St. James
and of St. Giles. Some of these had as much as forty shillings at one
time as a fund under their administration.
Some of the “fraternities” were merely spiritual associations, which
helped to strengthen the bond of brotherhood between parishes. One
such existed in connection with the Cathedral of Lichfield, called
the “Fraternity of the Brethren and Sisters of St. Chad.” Enrolled
as members are many bishops, abbots, priors, and other religious
superiors, besides priests and all sorts and conditions of lay people.
The priests were all pledged to say Masses for the welfare of the
associates, living or dead. Thus, in each of the abbeys of Darley,
Burton, and Shrewsbury, 100 Masses were said yearly for this end; at
Trentham Priory 60 Masses; and at the Convent of Derby 300 psalters by
the Benedictine Nuns were said for the associates. In the Cathedral
church of Lichfield also four Masses were said daily, two for the
living and two for the dead members; and in every associated parish 30
Masses were said during the year. In all these churches, every Sunday
before the Holy Water, the “Our Father” was said by priest and people,
“with hands raised,” followed by a versicle and prayer to St. Chad. In
the fifteenth century, when the bishop gave an indulgence to all those
who were members of the fraternity, he states that this union of prayer
already comprised 2434 Masses and 452 psalters yearly.
The organization of these societies was the same as that which has
existed in similar associations up to the time of our modern trade
unions. A meeting was held, at which officers were elected and accounts
audited; fines for non-acceptance of office were frequently imposed,
as well as for absence from the common meeting. Often members had to
declare, on oath, that they would fulfil their voluntary obligations,
and would keep secret the affairs of the society. Persons of ill repute
were not admitted, and members who disgraced the fraternity were
expelled. For example, the first guild statutes printed by Mr. Toulmin
Smith are those of Garlekhith, London. They begin--
“In worship of God Almighty our Creator and His Mother, Saint Mary,
and all Saints and St. James the Apostle, a fraternity is begun by
good men in the Church of St. James at Garlekhith in London, on the
day of Saint James, the year of our Lord 1375, for the amendment of
their lives and of their souls, and to nourish greater love between
the brethren and sisters of the said brotherhood.”
Each of them have sworn on the Book to perform the points underwritten--
“First, all those that are, or shall be, in the said brotherhood
shall be of good life, condition, and behaviour, and shall love God
and Holy Church and their neighbours, as Holy Church commands.” Then,
after various provisions as to meetings and payments to be made to
the general fund, the statutes order that “if any of the aforesaid
brethren fall into such distress that he hath nothing and cannot, on
account of old age or sickness, help himself, if he has been in the
brotherhood seven years, and during that time has performed all the
duties, he shall have every week after from the common box fourteen
pence (_i.e._ about £1 of our money) for the rest of his life, unless
he recovers from his distress.” In one form or other this provision
for the assistance of needy members is repeated in the statutes of
almost every guild. Some provide for help in case of distress coming
“through any chance, through fire or water, thieves or sickness, or any
other haps.” Some, besides this kind of aid, add, “and if it so befall
that he be young enough to work, and he fall into distress, so that he
have nothing of his own to help himself with, then the brethren shall
help him, each with a portion as he pleases in the way of charity.”
Others furnish loans from the common fund to enable brethren to tide
over temporary difficulties. “And if the case falleth that any of the
brotherhood have need to borrow a certain sum of silver, he (can) go
to the keepers of the box and take what he hath need of, so that the
sum be not so large that one may not be helped as another, and that he
leave a sufficient pledge, or else find a sufficient security among
the brotherhood.” Some, again, make the contributions to poor brethren
a personal obligation on the members, such as a farthing a week from
each of the brotherhood, unless the distress has been caused by folly
or waste. Others extend their Christian charity to relieve distress
beyond the circle of the brotherhood--that is, of any “whosoever falls
into distress, poverty, lameness, blindness, sent by the grace of God
to them, even if he be a thief proven, he shall have sevenpence a week
from the brothers and sisters to assist him in his need.” Some of the
guilds in seaside districts provide for help in case of “loss through
the sea,” and there is little doubt that in mediæval days the great
work carried on by such a body as the Royal Lifeboat Society would
have been considered a work of religion, and the fitting object of a
religious guild.
Dr. Jessopp has described for us the functions of these religious
brotherhoods--
“Besides all this there were small associations, called Gilds, the
members of which were bound to devote a certain portion of their time
and money and their energies to keep up the special commemoration
and the special worship of some Saint’s chapel or shrine, which was
sometimes kept up in a corner of the church, and provided with an
altar of its own, and served by a chaplain who was actually paid
by the subscriptions or free-will offerings of the members of
the gild whose servant he was. Frequently there were half a dozen
of these brotherhoods, who met on different days in the year; and
frequently--indeed, one may say usually--there was a church house,
a kind of parish club, in which the gilds held their meetings and
transacted their business.”
In the account of the “Building of Bodmin Church” in the fifteenth
century we have an example of the working of this guild system. Every
one appears to have given according to his means, and even generously.
There were personal gifts, like that of an “hold woman,” who gave
3_s._ 2½_d._; and another woman, in addition to her subscription,
sold her “crokk for 20_d._” and gave the money to the Church. But the
success of the enterprise evidently is to be attributed to the guilds
which existed at that time in great numbers and in a most flourishing
state in Bodmin. “Religious life,” we are told, “permeated society,
particularly in the fifteenth century.” In Bodmin at that time almost
every inhabitant seems to have been included in one or other of the
many fraternities. Indeed, the spirit of association seems to have been
so strong at this time that various groups of people joined themselves
together for the purpose of making a common gift. In this way we read
that “the young maidens of Fore Street and Bore Street” gave a common
subscription in addition to the sums received from the Guild of Virgins
in the same streets.
These interesting accounts also give the names of no fewer than forty
guilds, all more or less connected with the parish church of Bodmin.
Of these, five are trade guilds: the skinners and glovers under the
patronage of St. Petroc; the smiths under St. Dunstan and St. Eloy;
the cordwainers under St. Anian; the millers under St. Martin; and the
tailors and drapers under St. John the Baptist. All the rest of these
fraternities “were,” says the editor of these accounts, “established
for social and religious objects, for the glory of God and the good of
man.” For the “wax gathering,” money was received from (1) the Guild
of St. David in “forestreet;” (2) St. Luke; (3) St. Michael; (4) Holy
Trinity; (5) St. Leodgarius; (6) St. Clare; (7) St. Gregory, Pope;
(8) St. Thomas; (9) B. V. Mary in the porch of the church; (10) Holy
Trinity; (11) St. Katherine; (12) St. Anian; (13) St. Stephen; (14) St.
Mary Magdalene; (15) St. James; (16) Holy Cross; (17) B. V. Mary in the
chancel; (18) B. V. Mary in the chapel of St. Gregory; (19) St. Loy;
(20) St. Petroc; (21) St. John; (22) St. Thomas “in Church hay;” (23)
Corpus Christi.
One purpose of distinct utility to the parish, which was served by
the guilds, was the provision of additional priests for the services
of the church. In this they had the same object as the founders of
chantries had in establishing them. Thus, to take an example, in the
“Chantry Certificates” for Suffolk the purpose of the Guild of the
Holy Ghost at Beccles is stated to have been to keep a priest “to
celebrate in the church,” to “pay the tithes, fifteenths and other
taxes,” and to contribute 40_s._ a year to the poor. A note appended
says that “Beccles is a great and populous town” of “800 houseling”
people, and “the said priest is aiding unto the curate there, who
without help is not able to discharge the said cure. The said Guild is
erected of devotion.” So, too, to take another example, in the parish
of Bingham, in Nottinghamshire, there was “a guild of our Lady to
maintain a priest;” and the Palmer’s Guild of Ludlow, sometimes called
the “Fraternity of St John,” which was maintained partly by endowments
of land and partly through the donations of its members, maintained no
fewer than ten priests out of its funds.
In reality there is hardly any good and useful purpose which can be
imagined, religious or social, to which some mediæval guild or other
was not devoted. Mr. Toulmin Smith, after examination of the documents
relating to these fraternities, has enumerated the following as objects
for which they were founded, or at any rate worked: (1) relief in
poverty--a very general object; (2) sickness; (3) old age; (4) loss
of sight; (5) loss of limb; (6) loss of cattle; (7) on fall of house;
(8) in making pilgrimages; (9) loss by fire; (10) loss by flood;
(11) loss by robbery; (12) shipwreck; (13) imprisonment; (14) aid in
pecuniary difficulties; (15) aid to obtain work; (16) defending in law;
(17) relief to deaf and dumb; (18) relief for leprosy; (19) dowry on
marriage or on entry into religious house; (20) repairs of roads and
bridges; (21) repairs of churches; (22) burial of the dead.
Mr. Thorold Rogers, in his _Economic Interpretation of History_, says
of the Guilds that--
“they were well-nigh universal, though they were unchartered and
informal. Their prosperity was derived from grants or charges on
land or houses made for the purpose of securing the continuance of a
religious office, much appreciated and exceeding common in the period
of English social history which precedes the Reformation, prayers or
Masses for the dead.
“The ancient tenements, which are still the property of the London
companies, were originally burdened with Masses for donors. In
the country the parochial clergy undertook the services of these
chantries.... The establishment of a Mass or chantry priest at a fixed
stipend, in a church with which he had no other relation, was a common
form of endowment. The residue, if any, of the revenue derivable from
these tenements was made the common property of the Guild, and as the
continuity of the service was the great object of its establishment,
the donor, like the modern trustee of a life income, took care that
there should be a surplus from the foundation. The land or house was
let, and the Guild consented to find the ministration which formed the
motive of the grant.”
This is very true, but it may be questioned whether Mr. Thorold Rogers
appreciated the extent to which these chantry funds were intended to
be devoted to purposes other than the performance of the specified
religious services. Certainly writers generally have treated the
question of the chantries as if they had no object but the keeping of
obits or anniversary services for the original founder and his kin.
To show what really was the case, it may be well to take a couple
of instances in Hampshire. In connection with the parish church of
Alton in the sixteenth century there were six obits or chantries.
The following is the account of these which I take from the Chantry
Certificates made by the King’s Commissioners in the first year of the
reign of Edward VI.:--
“(1) Issues of land for an obit for John Pigott; growing and coming
out of certain houses and lands in Alton, for to maintain for ever a
yearly obit there, in the tenure of Thomas Mathew of the yearly value
of 23_s._ 4_d._ Whereof to the poor 15_s._ 4_d._, to the priest and
his clerk 8_s._: (2) The same for an obit for William Reding of the
annual value of 15_s._, of which the poor were to have 10_s._ and
the priest and his clerk 5_s._: (3) The same for Alice Hacker of the
yearly value of 10_s._, of which the poor were to get 7_s._ 8_d._ and
the priest 2_s._ 4_d._: (4) Another of the value of 4_s._, the poor
getting 2_s._ 10_d._ and the priest 1_s._ 2_d._: (5) Another for the
soul of Nicholas Bailey, worth annually 11_s._, and of this 7_s._
8_d._ was intended for the poor and 3_s._ 4_d._ for the clergy: (6)
Another for Nicholas Crushelow worth 4_s._ 4_d._, the poor getting
3_s._ 1_d._ and the priest 1_s._ 3_d._”
That is to say, out of a total of 77_s._ 8_d._ the poor were to get
46_s._ 7_d._, and only 31_s._ 1_d._ was devoted to the ecclesiastical
services connected with the obits of Alton. Or, if we take the value
of money in those days as being only twelve times that of our present
money, out of a total of £36 12_s._ some £27 19_s._ went to support the
poor.
As a further example of the way in which property was left to a guild
as trustees, the case of the “Candlemas Guild” at Bury St. Edmund’s may
be cited. A few years after its foundation in 1471, one of its members
left the guild considerable property for the common purposes of the
fraternity, and for certain other specified objects. The name of the
donor was John Smith, and his will was witnessed by the Abbot and Prior
of Bury. It provided for the keep of an annual obit “devoutly,” and
for the residue of income to be kept till the appointment of every new
abbot. On that event the sum thus accumulated was to be paid to the new
abbot in lieu of the sum of money the town was bound to find at every
election. Should there be any sum over the amount necessary for this
purpose, it was to be expended in payment of the tenth or fifteenth,
or other tax imposed on the citizens by royal authority. Year by year,
at the annual meeting of the guild, the wardens were bound to give
an account of their administration of this trust. Year by year John
Smith’s will was read out at the meeting, and proclamation was made
before the anniversary of his death in the following manner: “Let us
all of charity pray for the soul of John. We put you in remembrance
that you shall not miss the keeping of his dirge and also of his Mass.”
Round the town went the crier also with the lines--
“We put you in remembrance all that the oath have made,
To come to the Mass and the dirge the souls for to glade;
All the inhabitants of this towne are bound to do the same,
To pray for the souls of John and Anne, else they be to blame;
The which John afore-rehearsed to this town hath been full kind,
Three hundred marks for this town hath paid, no penny unpaid behind.
Now we have informed you of John Smith’s will in writing as it is,
And for the great gifts that he hath given, God bring his soul to
bliss.
Amen.”
The example set by this donor to the Candlemas Guild at Bury was
followed by many others in the latter part of the fifteenth century.
For instance, “a gentlewoman,” as she calls herself, Margaret Odom,
after providing by will for the usual obit, and for a lamp to burn
before “the holie sacrament in St. James’ church,” desires that the
brethren of the guild shall devote the residue of the income arising
from certain houses and lands she has conveyed to their keeping, to
paying a priest to “say mass in the chapel of the gaol before the
prisoners there, and giving them holy water and holy bread on all
Sundays, and to give to the prisoners of the long ward of the said gaol
every week seven faggots of wood from Hallowmas (November 1) to Easter
day.”
One function of the mediæval guilds must not be altogether passed by.
This was their attendance at the great processions, and notably at
that of Corpus Christi. Some guilds, like the celebrated Corpus Christi
Guild at York, with its thousands of members, were, of course, founded
chiefly to do honour to the Blessed Sacrament. But, ordinarily, guilds
of every kind were only too ready in those days to take part in the
ecclesiastical pageants of the day. One example will suffice. It is the
Order of the Corpus Christi procession at Winchester in 1435--
“At a convocation held at the city of Winchester the Friday next
before the feast of Corpus Christi, in the 13th yere of the raigne of
King Harry the sixt, after the Conquest--it was ordained by Richard
Salter, mayor of the cytie of Winchester, John Symer and Harry Putt,
Bailiffs of the cytie aforesaid, and also by all the cytizens and
commonaltee of the same cytie: It is accorded of a certain general
processyon in the feste of Corpus Christi of diverse artyficers and
crafts within the same cytie being: that is to say: the Carpenters and
Felters shall go together first; Smythes and Barbers, second; Cooks
and Buchers, third; Shomakers with two lights, fourth; Tanners and
Tapaners, fifth; Plummers and Silkmen, sixth; Fyshers and Farryers,
seventh; Taveners, eighth; Wevyres with two lights, ninth; Fullars,
with two lights, tenth; Dyers with two lights, eleventh; Chandlers and
Brewers, twelfth; Mercers with two lights, thirteenth; Wyves with one
light and John Blak with another, fourteenth; and all these lights
shall be borne orderlie before the said procession before the prieste
of the citie. And four lyghtes of the Brethren of St. John’s shall be
borne about the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, the same day in the
procession aforesaid.”
Lastly, it may be well to give an instance of some of the laws under
which the mediæval guild system was governed. For this purpose the
Statutes of the “Guild of the Purification of our Lady” at Bury St.
Edmund’s, which were revised and renewed in 1471, may be taken as a
sample:--
1. All members were to swear obedience to the laws: were to pay 4_d._
on enrollment and 1_d._ to the light kept by the guild in the parish
church: they must also get a surety to pay 10_s._ to the property of
the fraternity on their death.
2. On becoming members all shall swear to fulfil the wills of John
Smith and Margaret Odham, which were written in English at the
beginning of the book, and which were to be read every year at the
Guild dinner on February 2. After the dinner all members of the Guild
shall kneel and say the _De profundis_ and the “prayers that long
therto” for the souls of the above founders.
3. All officers to be elected yearly.
4. All shall “have every year ther presens and speche daye at the
charnell or in the churchyard in the day of the Epiphany for the
ordynaunce and profit of the guylde. And yf any be absent of the sayde
fraternytie but if he have a reasonable excuse he shall loose a pounde
waxe.”
5. All shall come to the Guild hall “anent after evensonge the daye
of the Purification to the beadesbydding and there devoutly to praye
for all the brethrene and systerne sowles that have been in guylde
aforesaide.” For absence a fine of a pound of wax.
6. On the death of any one member all shall attend at the “Exequye and
Dirige.”
7. The Alderman and Dye (_i.e._ sword-bearer) shall have £10 to give a
dinner to the Guild out of the “crease.” The £10 to be delivered to the
next Alderman and Dye at election.
8. The Alderman and Dye to have for their trouble 3_s._ 4_d._, and one
pound and a half of wax for a torch. Also the Alderman shall have
6 gallons of ale and the Dye 4 gallons, “and every eche of the four
holders two gallons ale of the best of the guylde aforesaide.”
9. On the death of any member, all shall contribute ½_d._ to be
disposed of to the poor by the Alderman.
10. If a brother is sick whilst the Guild is “holden” he shall have
meat and drink also as well as the one present at the dinner.
11. The number of the brethren were not to exceed 32, that they must be
“of goode name and fame.”
12. If any of the members “fall in stryfe together, ... they shall not
pursue to judicial courte,” but notify it to the Alderman, who shall
try to settle it and “bring them to accord.” If he cannot, “then they
may goo to common law.”
13. If any brother “have anie need of our heres or lighte to any friend
of his dead,” he may have them for the “common profit of the guylde.”
If he take any other, he must pay a pound of wax.
14. Accounts to be passed every year by four auditors.
15. An unworthy member may be expelled by the “more part of the
fraternity,” and any property he holds must be returned.
16. The Guild shall maintain 5 tapers, one of 5 lbs. and four of “five
quarters,” burning in the Church of St. James; one shall burn each year
at the sepulchre--“one year in the church of our Lady, and another year
in the church of St. James.”
17. The fraternity shall sing a Mass on the Purification at one of the
churches, at which each shall offer ¼_d._ for dead members.
18. The Alderman shall find a part of the high days in the Guild hall,
that is, “all manner naperie to the sayde deyce or table longing; and
also all manner stuffe to the firste messe except bread and ale. And
the Dye, the charges in the kechen and the holders all the necessaries
longing to the buttery, pantry and to the said tables in the guylde
hall except bread and ale.”
19. All who hold any “Guylde Cattle” shall come to the Hall on the
Sunday after the Assumption, and the Alderman, Dye and auditors shall
have the roll of stock and the increase entered.
20. The Alderman and Dye “shall receive of two houses in Wellis street
of the gift of Jeffery Glemes for the 2_s._ yerely, keeping the
reparation of four alms-houses joining to them.”
21. Upon any alienation of the lands, etc., that John Smith gave to the
town of Bury, the same shall be done with those which Margaret Odham
gave to the Candlemas Guild, also those belonging to St. Mary’s aulter,
to St. Thomas’ aulter and to the almshouses.
22. According to John Smith’s will, four of the feofees of the property
to be chosen at Candlemas are to give account to the other feofees.
They shall provide for the Dirge on St. Peter’s even at Midsummer and
the Mass next day for J. S. and his wife Anne.
23. Those who have keys of the hutch or of the porch door of Guild are
to bring them in at Candlemas, and they are to be given to those “who
are considered best to keep them.”
In the foregoing chapters I have endeavoured to gather together
from the scattered and frequently minute material which exists some
illustrations of parochial life in mediæval times. The result must
speak for itself; it is, I feel sure, as far as it goes, correct as
to the outline of the picture. Had I not been anxious not to weary
the reader by the very multiplicity and minuteness of the details,
the result might have been perhaps more definite, and the lights
and shades been more effective. As it is, however, my purpose has
been accomplished if I have succeeded in interesting them in this
description of the life led by our ancestors in a mediæval parish--a
life so strangely and entirely different to that which now exists in
the towns and villages of modern England. For “in the Middle Ages,”
says a writer in a late number of _The National Review_, in a passage
already referred to, “the conscious sharing in a world-wide tradition
bound the local to the universal life, and through art and ritual the
minds of the poor were familiarized with facts of the Christian faith.
By our own poor I fear these facts are very dimly realized.”
INDEX
Absolution Day, 177
Adoration of the Cross, 179
Advent, 164
Altar, 46-49;
cælatura, 46;
frontal of, 49;
beam, 51, 134
Ambry, 46
Angelus, 162, 163
Appropriations, 86
Aquæbajularius, 112-114
Arundel, Archbishop, 162, 217
Ash Wednesday, 168-170
Ave bell, 162
_Babe of Nurture_, 248, 249
Banns, 209, 225
Baptism, sacrament of, 188-192;
no fee exacted, 190
Becon, 48
Bede-rolls, 136, 222-225
Bedes, bidding of, 222, 223
Bellman, 119, 120
Benefice of the Blessed Water, 115
Brentano, 255
Bidding prayer, 157
_Boke of Kervynge_, 145
Booth, Mr., 244, 246
Borde, Andrew, 145
Boy-bishop, 165-167
Bracton, 27, 67, 82, 209
Brantyngham, Bishop, 23, 26, 100, 115, 197
Bride gear, 61
Bronescombe, Bishop, 86
Brunton, Bishop, 197
Candlemas Day, 168
Candle-silver, 138
Candlesticks, 50, 51
Cælatura, 46
Cemetery, 66, 67, 68;
consecration of, 68;
trees in, 67
Cess, 125
Chancel, the, 22, 23, 44-46, 54
Chantries, 59, 73, 74, 95, 96, 111, 149, 264, 266
Chantry certificates, 264, 266
Chantry priest, 95, 96, 111, 118, 266
Chapel of ease, 99-101
Chapel of repose, 178
Chaplains, 99-101
Chaucer, 151
Childermas, 165
Choir, 44, 45
Chrism, 196
Chrismatory, 196
Chrism-cloths, 27, 196
Christmas, 165
Church ale, 237-239
Churches, riches of, 70
Church house, 233-237, 239
Churchwardens, 103;
origin of, 103, 104;
election of, 104;
number of, 105;
duties of, 106, 108, 110, 111, 121, 122, 126, 132, 133, 138, 210,
232, 241, 243
Churching of women, 193;
origin of rite, 193;
fee, 193
Clergy, district, 3, 4;
from all classes, 72-76;
their education, 74-78;
dress of, 80, 81;
status of, 81;
qualifications, 83;
hospitality, 84
Collections, 127-130, 240-243
Confession. _See_ Penance
Confirmation, sacrament of, 193-197;
spiritual relationship of god-parents in, 194;
instruction before, 194;
preparation for, 194
Confraternities, 30, 109
Constitutions of Cardinal Otho, 27, 78, 82, 92;
of St. Edmund of Canterbury, 28, 64, 189;
of Archbishop Winchelsea, 53;
of Cardinal Othobono, 80;
of Archbishop Stratford, 82;
of Lambeth, 86;
of Archbishop Courtney, 93;
of Archbishop Boniface, 113, 114;
of Archbishop Peckham, 141, 148, 214-218;
of Bishop Gilbert, 159;
of Province of York, 159;
of Archbishop Chichely, 159;
of Archbishop Thoresby, 159;
of Archbishop Mepham, 180;
of Archbishop Walter Reynold, 199
Corona, 78, 80;
of candles, 57
Corpus Christi day, 185
Councils of Orleans (fourth), 4;
of Mainz, 4;
of Macon (second), 5, 11;
of Rouen, 5;
of Merton, 12;
of York, 217;
of Oxford, 226
Cranmer, Archbishop, 140, 190
Creeping to the Cross, 179
Crucifix, on altar, 50, 54;
_summus_, 54, 57, 58
Curate, 92, 94, 224
“Cyphus pro Infirmis,” 205
De Asserio, Bishop, 88, 91, 95
De Bytton, Bishop, 25
De Salopia, Ralph, Bishop, 162
De Worde, Wynkin, 145
Deacon, 101, 116
_Dives and Pauper_, 11, 12, 32, 50, 57, 58, 140, 161, 174, 179, 209,
210, 247, 249
Dowelling money, 137
Ducange, 56
Durham Halmote Rolls, 244-246;
rites, 182
Easter Day, 181-183;
customs, 183
Easter sepulchre, 177-179
Ecclesiastical institutes, 170
Edyndon, Bishop, 66
Ethelwulf of Wessex, 11
Evensong, 159
Excommunications, 227-230
Extreme unction, sacrament of, 201-207
Farming of tithes, 19
Feast of the Star, 165
Fees, for consecration of altar, 50;
for blessing altar-cloths, 50;
for burial, 130;
for churching, 193;
for marriage, 209;
for quethe-word, 225;
for Mass, 86
FitzRalph, Archbishop, 185
Font, 63, 64;
safe-keeping of, 64, 192;
leave for construction of, 192;
blessing of, 189;
made of stone and kept covered, 192
Fraternities, 253-273
Gabriel bell, 162
_Gawayne and the Green Knight_, 146
Gervase, 51
Gifts in kind, 135
_Golden Legend_, 166
Good Friday, 179
Grace with meals, 247, 248
Grandisson, Bishop, 16, 24, 80, 190, 193, 196, 206
Grosseteste, 220
Guilds, 120, 142, 253;
craft, 254;
religious, 254, 255;
chapels, 59;
hall, 236, 237;
lands, 256;
priests, 264;
statutes, 261, 269-273;
objects, 265;
trusts, 267;
processions, 269;
oaths, 260, 261
Halmote Rolls, Durham, 244-246
Harleian charters, 82
Hingeston-Randolph, Prebendary, 28, 219
Hobhouse, Bishop, 7, 21, 106, 134, 213, 225, 258
Hock-tyde, or hock-days, 241, 242
Holy Eucharist, sacrament of, 200, 201;
obligatory once a year, 200;
under form of bread, 201;
use of wine and water from chalice, 201
Holy Innocents’ Day, 165
Holy loaf, 139, 157
Holy Saturday, 64, 180, 181, 189;
superstition concerning, 189, 190
Holy-water bearer, 112-114
Holy water, blessing of, 155;
stoup for, 65
Impropriation of tithes, 15-18
Indulgences, 226, 227
Innocent I., Pope, 3
Instructions, familiar, by clergy, 214
Interrogations, seven, 206
Jessopp, Dr., 69, 236, 239, 262
Jesu Mass, 142
John XXII., Pope, 162
Judas candle, 175
Judas of the Paschal, 181
_Jus pauperum_, 85
Langham, Simon, Bishop of Ely (after, Archbishop), 45, 93, 150, 160,
188, 216
Langland, 171, 184
Langton, Walter, Bishop, 226
Latimer, Bishop, 75
Lent, 170, 171
Lenten veil, 170, 171
_Liber Festivalis_, 171, 176
Lollards, 216
Lord’s Bread, the, 8
Lyndwood, 8, 10, 19, 23, 64, 71, 87, 98, 113, 114, 141, 159, 180, 194,
204
Manuals, 220
Marriage, 207;
at the church door, 209;
form, 209;
ornaments, 209, 210;
some provided by parish, 210
Mass, daily, 140, 144, 146
Mass, High, 155
Matins, 152-154;
books, 152
Matrimony, sacrament of, 207-210
Maundy, the, 176, 177
Maundy Thursday, 176, 177
Mepham, Simon, Archbishop, 180
Minstrels, 246
Miracle plays, 248-252
More, Sir Thomas, 153, 171, 177
Morrow Mass, 142, 143
Myrc, John, 19, 68, 148, 153, 192, 193, 196, 199, 205, 222
Nave, 45
Nevill, Archbishop, 217
Obits, 96, 97, 266, 267, 268
Oblations, 10, 87
Old Symon, 76
Orders, reception of, 76
Otho, Cardinal, 81, 91
Othobono, Cardinal, Legate, 23, 188
Palm Sunday, 171-174
Palms, 172
Parish, derivation of word, 2;
clergy, 3;
system, 4, 6, 7;
meaning of word, 4, 5, 21;
revenues, 9;
repairs nave, 28;
duties, 33;
expenses, 34-43;
provides frontal of altar, 49;
management, 102;
officials, 103-123;
church, 107;
land, 235;
provides marriage ornaments, 210;
meetings, 234-236;
house, 233-237, 239
Parson, the, 43, 71, 82, 83
Paschal candle, 181;
money, 138
Pax, the, 34
Peacock, Mr., 238, 239
Peckham, Archbishop, 8, 32, 114, 167, 193, 203, 215
Penance, sacrament of, 197-200;
obligatory once a year, 197;
instructions, 198, 199;
manner of confessing women, 199;
and men, 200
Penances, public, 231, 232
Pentecostal, 137
Peter’s pence, 42, 138
Pew-rents, 135
Piscina, 51, 52
Pollock and Maitland’s _History of English Law_, 81, 103, 104
Porch, 65
Processions, 156, 157, 172-174, 184, 185
Proofs of age, 189
_Prymer_ of 1538, 145, 152
Pulpit, 211, 212;
publication of laws from, 227;
of notices, 227;
of excommunications, 227-230;
of citations, 230
Pyx, the, 48, 49, 101
Quethe-word, the, 225
Quevil, Peter, Bishop, 13, 23, 25, 66, 75, 87, 109, 115, 129, 149,
192, 207
Rates, voluntary, 42, 124, 125
Rector, the, 71, 82;
qualifications, 83
Rectory house, 88, 89
Red Cross, 171
Registers, Bishop Grandisson’s, 196, 229;
Bishop Brantyngham’s, 100, 197;
Bishop Bronescombe’s, 229
Reichel, Rev. Oswald, 1, 3, 4, 6
_Rites of Durham_, 182
Robert of Gloucester, 146
Rock, Dr., 158, 166, 172
Rogations, 184
Rood, 54;
screen, 54, 56;
light, 57;
loft, 56, 57
Rotherham, Archbishop, 74
Rowell, 57
Sacramental system, 187
Sanctus bell, 147
_Sarum Manuale_, 20
Schaft, 109, 259
_Schoole of Virtue_, 75
Schoolmaster, 118
Scott Robertson, Canon, 51
Screen, 44
Scrope, Archbishop, 238
Sedilia, 51
Sermons, 211-222;
distinguished from instructions, 213
Servile work, 159-161
Sexton, 118
Sheer Thursday, 176
Sheffield, William, Dean of York, 9
Shrovetide, 168-170
Shryving-stool, 200
Simons, Canon, 145, 146
Smoke-farthing, 137, 138
Stafford, Bishop, 28, 100
Stapledon, Bishop, 16, 24, 90, 95, 219
Statute of Labourers, 106
Stipendiary priest, 98
Stoup, 65
Stubbs, Bishop, 86
Stratford, Archbishop, 86
Sunday, observance of, 159-161
Synods of Exeter, 109, 115, 137, 192, 197, 201, 207;
of Ely, 93, 150, 188, 216;
of Oxford, 194, 214, 215
Tenant-right, 246
Tenebræ, 175
Theodore, Archbishop, 156
Thoresby, Archbishop, 215
Thorold Rogers, 72, 256, 265, 266
Thurible, 33
Tithes, 10-14, 16-18
Tonsure, 78, 80
Toulmin Smith, Mr., 253, 256, 261, 266
Towneley mysteries, 251
Universities, education of clergy at, 76, 77
_Valor Ecclesiasticus_, 14, 87, 92, 118
Vespers, 159
Viaticum, 206
Vicar, duties and position of, 90, 91;
institution of, 91;
perpetual, 92;
general, 92
Visitations, 218-220
Visitation of the sick, 201-205
Wickham Legg, Dr., 116
Winchelsey, Archbishop, 33, 46
Windows, 58, 59
Wives’ dance, 243
Woodlock, Bishop, 26, 194
_Young Children’s Book_, 145
PRINTED BY
WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
LONDON AND BECCLES.
* * * * *
Transcriber’s note
Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. Spelling of
names have been standardized. Otherwise, spelling has been retained as
originally published.
Illustrations tags have been moved so they do not break up the
paragraphs.
Page xiv: Entries for CLERICAL LIFE were put in alphabetical order.
Page number references in the index are as published in the original
publication and have not been checked for accuracy in this eBook.
The following printer error has been changed:
Page 46: “or _magus altare_” “or _majus altare_”
Page 46: “renew this _cœlatura_” “renew this _cælatura_”
Page 85: “_eleemosyæ_, the” “_eleemosynæ_, the”
Page 172: “as Aelfric tells us” “as Ælfric tells us”
Page 219: “at at St. Mary Church” “at St. Mary Church”
Page 230: “denunciation, an incicident” “denunciation, an incident”
Page 261: “London. Théy begin” “London. They begin”