CHURCHES AND MONASTERIES IN DANISH AND LATER SAXON TIMES
1. In speaking of our towns and villages we are obliged to make mention
frequently of churches and monasteries. At the time when Cnut was king,
each vill or tun had its church and its priest to minister in it. There
were parts of the land, in the common fields and pasture, mixed up with
the villeins' strips, set apart for the support of the services of the
Church, the maintenance of the priest, and the care of the poor. In
time various dues and customs were also paid to the priest for certain
things which he was expected to do.
2. There are very few churches still standing which have any parts of
their structure dating from before the time of King Cnut. In the early
days churches were very simple buildings, built mainly of wood, and in
the Danish wars most of them were destroyed.
3. In the tenth century there was a very general belief that the
world was coming to an end at the end of the thousand years after
the establishment of Christianity; so there was not much actual
church-building going on. But in King Cnut's time a revival of interest
in church-building took place, and there are in a good many of the old
churches of England little bits of work in the walls, or very rude
carvings over the doorways, which belong to this time. Unless such work
is pointed out to you by one who understands something about these
matters, you will not be likely to discover it for yourself, any more
than you are likely to discover the traces of the pit-dwellings, of
which we spoke in an early chapter.
4. These parish churches and parish priests were under the control of
the bishop, who had his chief church or =cathedral= in some important
place in his diocese. Those cathedrals were generally served by
colleges of clergy, called canons.
5. These were the =public churches=. But besides them there were
colleges and monasteries, which were =private societies= of men living
together. Some of the religious houses were in towns, as we have seen,
and others were in wild desolate places. Every religious house, whether
a monastery for men or a nunnery for women, had its church, which was
the private chapel of the house, and not open to the public. In the
course of years these private chapels were built as huge churches,
much larger than the parish church. Even now you may see close to a
big college church a much smaller parish church, as for example St.
Margaret's Church, which stands by the side of Westminster Abbey. As
more land came into the possession of these religious houses, the monks
had more business with the outside world, for, as landlords, they had
to see that their lands were turned to good account, and cultivated
according to the notions of the day.
6. The monasteries, especially in their early days, were great centres
of good and useful work. Those who founded them, or gave them lands,
did so because they felt they were doing excellent service for
the people, and they wanted to have a share in the work, and to be
remembered in the prayers of the monks. Founders of religious houses
believed that they were getting something worth having in return for
the lands which they gave.
7. In the wild times of the Danish invasions the monasteries were
looked upon as places of safety for the weak and helpless. But they
were not always safe places. People sometimes, when the country was in
a disturbed state, would send their valuables to the nearest monastery.
In time the Danes got to know of this, and many a religious house was
attacked and sacked by them on account of the tales they had heard of
the marvellous wealth hidden there.
8. A story is told of a worthy person living near St. Alban's
monastery at a time when a visit from marauding Danes was expected.
One market-day he sent a number of heavy iron-bound chests, guarded by
armed men, through the market to the monastery. Everybody, of course,
turned to look, and talked about the affair. As a matter of fact
the chests only contained stones; the treasure was carefully hidden
somewhere else, till all danger was thought to be over. That plan was
used to put the Danes "off the scent", as we should say.
9. All the land that did not go with the tuns and vills in early days
was apparently regarded as belonging to the people, and was called the
=folk-land=. The king came to be regarded as the custodian or guardian
of these folk-lands. Little by little they became the =property of
the king=, until practically he could do what he pleased with them.
It was from these folk-lands--which in early times were probably
scraps of land which nobody thought to be worth very much, since the
nearest vills and tuns had never taken them in--that kings gave land
to bishoprics and monasteries. By and by these rough lands became very
valuable; but in most cases it was the labour, the skill, and the
brains of the monks of the early days which turned the waste lands into
fruitful fields.
=Summary.=--Each vill had its church, but there are none of these
old churches now standing. Bits of stone-work belonging to that
time are sometimes found built into old church walls. The early
churches were mostly of wood. The monastery churches were often
very large, but they were not public churches. In times of danger,
monasteries were looked upon as places of safety. The waste lands
which did not belong to any tun or vill in early times were called
_folk-land_, and belonged to the people. The king was regarded as
the guardian of these lands, but in time they were looked upon as
his private property. Land given to monasteries was often very
rough, but the care the monks gave to it in time made it fertile.