TRACES OF EARLY TIMES IN THE CHURCHES (_Cont._)
1. The fourteenth century is covered by the reigns of King Edward II,
King Edward III, and King Richard II. The architecture became much
more ornamental, and there is a good deal of fine stone-carving. Many
beautiful window-heads and doorways belong to this period. A good many
aisles were added to the old naves; many of the old Norman towers were
rebuilt, and crowned with graceful spires; but the work is not all
equally good.
2. There are a great many =tombs= in the churches in various parts of
the country, and much money was spent upon them in this and in the
next century. They are raised some two or three feet from the ground;
the sides are divided into panels and ornamented with rich carvings
and shields of arms, brilliantly coloured and gilded. On the top of
the tombs are to be seen effigies carved in stone of the man and his
wife, lying on their backs, with hands clasped. The men are usually in
armour, and their wives in the dress of the time, with strange-looking
head-dresses. Many of the effigies are much defaced and battered, but
there are others of them well preserved still. It was in the latter
part of the fourteenth century that great attention began to be paid to
shields of arms, and heraldry became an important science.
3. But in the middle of the fourteenth century, during the reign of
King Edward III, there came a time of great distress. There were the
long years of war with France, years of famine and the =Black Death=.
That meant a period of great distress for the country; all classes
suffered, and there was much discontent and disorder. These bad times
left their mark upon the buildings, especially upon the churches. In
some churches work can be pointed out to you which was begun before the
time of the Black Death on a grand scale, but finished off in a much
plainer manner--apparently years after it was begun. The work had been
started, but bad times stopped it, and it had to wait. Those who had
begun it never saw it finished, for the pestilence carried them away;
and, long afterwards, those who did finish it were not well enough off
to carry out the design as it was at first intended.
4. Still, all through these centuries much was spent on the churches,
not only by the great nobles, not only in monastery buildings and the
cathedral churches, but on the ordinary town and village churches as
well.
5. The wealthy =wool-merchants=, especially in the fourteenth century,
spent much on the building and decoration of churches. Some of the
finest churches in the eastern and western counties of England owe much
to them. Then, too, it was quite a common thing for the various =trade
guilds= in a town to have a little chapel, or an aisle, or an altar
in the parish church, which the guild undertook to keep up. One guild
tried to outdo the others in this matter. All the craftsmen of those
days belonged to a trade guild of some sort, and much good artistic
work was done, which found a place in the churches.
6. People took much interest in their churches, and we find them
leaving money towards their upkeep, towards making a statue, or doing
some carving, or even keeping a light burning. Whatever may have been
their reasons for so doing, the fact that they did so is very clear.
7. They used their churches in ways that may seem strange to us; but
they looked upon them as their own, and were evidently in many cases
proud of them. Each parish annually chose its =churchwardens=, who had
charge of the buildings and the furniture, and these were responsible
to the bishop, as well as to the people of the parish. Every now and
then the bishop visited the parish, or sent someone to do so in his
name. Enquiry was made as to how the priest and the people carried out
their duties towards each other. Complaints were heard, and attempts
made to set matters right. Some of the reports which were made on such
occasions have come down to us, and show often much disorder, and at
times much that was evil. But we must not forget that good was also
being done then, which was not talked much about.
"The evil that men do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones."
=Summary.=--The kings of the fourteenth century were Edward II,
Edward III, and Richard II. There was much ornamental stone-work
then done; _aisles_ were added to the naves, and towers and
spires built. _Altar tombs_ came much into use, with effigies,
panelled sides, coloured shields of arms, and rich carving. The
_Black Death_ divided the century into two parts, and work done
after that time was often much poorer than before, because the
country was poorer. As the century went on, building revived.
The great _wool-merchants_ of the east and west of England were
great church-builders. _Trade guilds_ often looked after parts
of churches. People were proud of their churches, and often left
presents to them in their wills. _Churchwardens_, who had charge
of the churches, were important officers at that period.