Chapter 6: The Church

The Church is absolutely central to life in 1220. Apart from the Jews and a few magi, no one in England or Wales would claim not to be a member, even if some people rarely attend and show little evidence of Christian teaching in their lives. The overwhelming majority of people believe that they will burn in Hell for eternity unless they die on good terms with the Church, which gives it a lot of power. This chapter will deal with the various aspects of that power.

The Seculars

The seculars are those clergy who live in the world (Latin saeculus, world) and not according to a rule. Most clerics are seculars, and the overwhelming majority of those encountered outside a monastery are. All clergy are men, but not all are priests, nor celibate. Ordination is discussed in the section on the sacraments, page 68.

The Parish

The parish is the fundamental unit of the church in England and Wales. Everyone is a member of a parish, and is required to take the sacraments at that church and no other. (This rule is not always kept.) There are about 9,500 parishes in the provinces of Canterbury and York, 9,000 rural and 500 urban, and the average population of a parish is about 300. Every parish has a rector, who is entitled to receive the tithe and offerings from that parish (see page 58). The right to appoint the rector is known as the right of presentation, although the bishop may veto an unsuitable candidate, and the Pope may present anyone to any parish he likes.

In theory, the rector is supposed to reside in the parish and preside over the sacraments. However, only about a tenth of rectors are ordained priests, and thus most of them are canonically incapable of carrying out their duties. Further, although a dispensation from the bishop is required if a rector is to live out of his parish, such dispensations are quite common, the more legitimate reasons including study at a university. According to canon law, a man can be rector of only one parish. The Pope can and does dispense from this requirement, however, and many clergy hold more than one benefice. These men rarely reside in any of their benefices, having other jobs (see "Chaplains and Administrators," page 59). Finally, a large number of parishes have been appropriated to abbeys or other religious houses. This means that the monks claim the proceeds of the tithe, and pay someone to reside in the parish.

As a result, around 90% of parishes are not served by their rector. In some a chaplain is paid by the year, while in others a vicarage has been established. The vicar has a secure job, being paid a small stipend from the tithe.

The church tries to enforce a minimum of five marks per year, but lower pay is common. Out of this money, the vicar is expected to pay a deacon and a clerk to assist him, and to maintain the church and perform acts of charity in the village. This is not possible, and thus does not happen. Around 70% of vicars are ordained priests, enabling them to say mass, but in 30% of parishes there is noone qualified to carry out most of the sacraments.

The resident priest of a parish is usually barely literate, and is sometimes incapable of saying the mass. Their grasp of church doctrine is often little better than the peasants', and their lifestyles are very similar. While men in holy orders cannot marry, many rural priests live with women as if they were married, forming a stable family. Sometimes a son inherits his father's parish. The hierarchy is trying to stamp this out, but with little success as many of the priests and parishioners see nothing wrong with it. Some priests are promiscuous, and they are usually caught and punished.

The rector is responsible for maintaining the church and supplying vestments and a chalice and paten for the mass. Non-resident rectors usually do not bother, and the vicarage may be too poor to maintain the church, with the result that the building becomes unsafe. In addition, if the chalice or paten is broken and not replaced, mass becomes impossible. If the resident cleric is not a priest, mass is impossible anyway, so the church furniture may be more poorly cared for. Those parish churches which are in good condition are usually decorated with wall paintings on the inside, often depicting the last judgment — a Doom. Stained glass is not common as yet.

A parish, then, should have a resident priest, assisted by at least one deacon and a clerk (who may be in minor orders). The church should be in good condition, and the priest should aid the poor of the village. This is the situation in at most 10% of parishes. A further 50% are functional with lapses (for example, the priest lives with a woman), while the remaining 40% lack a priest or a usable church, and thus cannot function at all. The worst cases involve an absent rector, a chaplain no one has seen for years, and a church that is a positive hazard. The Dominion in such parishes may well have vanished entirely.

The Life of Clerics

Clerks should all strive to live continently and chastely, avoiding the sin of lust completely.
Clerks shall abstain from gluttony, drunkenness, hunting, and bird-catching.
Clerks are not to practice business, watch actors, or frequent taverns. They are not to gamble, or be present at gambling. They are to have a suitable tonsure, and must wear closed outer garments that are not in green or red cloth, or decorated. They must not wear buckles or belts decorated with gold or silver.
Clerks are utterly forbidden to sit up half the night in feasting and forbidden conversation.
Clerks must not store their own or anyone else's furniture in the church.
— From the decrees of the Fourth Lateran Council, 1215*

The Tithe

The tithe is a tenth of everything of which God gives the increase, and people are legally obliged to hand it over to their rector. The rules surrounding it are quite elaborate, covering all possible situations. The wealth of parishes varies enormously, from over £100 per year to less than four marks. In general, the richer parishes are in the north, because they are larger. Further, urban parishes tend to be poor, because little farming takes place. Instead, a tithe is collected on building rents.

The tithe is usually paid in kind (that is, the tithe of grain consists of a tenth of the grain, not its value in money, and similarly for the others), but if the rector is non-resident much of it will be converted into cash for his convenience. Parishioners devote a great deal of effort to trying to cheat the tithe, and sermons and penitentials promise grave penalties for doing so.

Chaplains and Administrators

Many non-resident rectors serve as chaplains and administrators to the nobility. As clergy, they are educated (and those appointed to such jobs usually have a proper education), and by presenting them to a benefice the lord can supply them with an income at no expense to himself. Canon law forbids those in holy orders from taking such jobs, but many of these clerks are only in minor orders anyway. Sometimes the clerks find themselves dispensing secular justice, which is totally forbidden, but this does not stop it happening. This practice applies at all levels: the king will have men appointed to bishoprics to pay them while they serve as chancellor of the realm or chamberlain.

Some such clerks are actually paid by their master from his own money, and they may be employed in virtually any capacity. However, there are no private chapels at this period for anyone much below the king, so clerks employed as chaplains can only celebrate mass if allowed access to the parish church, something which requires the incumbent's permission. Of course, if the clerk is technically rector of a certain parish, he may celebrate there.

Scholars

Virtually all scholars are clerks, although many are only in minor orders. In part this is because anyone with any pretensions to scholarship can easily pass the requirements for minor orders, and the protection from civil justice is worth having (see "Ordination," page 68, and "Canon Law," page 71). The most important centers for scholarship are the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but there are schools of theology at many cathedrals (all, in theory), and the most important chroniclers and historians are all monks.

Such education as there is for ordinary folk is provided by the church. A number of monasteries provide grammar schools, and parish clergy will often try to educate promising boys under their care. In the latter case, the quality of education will depend heavily on how educated the teacher is.

The Universities

Universities are a new feature of scholarly life, and there are only a handful in Europe. Of these, the most important are Paris and Bologna. Oxford is not much less important than Paris, and Cambridge is significant. Constitutionally, they are little more than loose associations of men with a common interest, and the award of the title "Master of Arts" simply indicates that those men find someone fit to teach in their town. The beginnings of organization are apparent: Both universities are headed by a chancellor, and there are rudimentary regulations for the control of students. (See Oxford, page 48, and Cambridge, page 43.)

Vagabond Clerks

The bishop is not supposed to ordain a man unless he can show that he has a means of support. This rule is not strictly followed, however. It is estimated that there are 60,000 clerks in England and Wales, about 2% of the population. The parishes and monasteries are inadequate to support so many, so there are many men with no secure source of income, but with immunity from prosecution by the civil authorities (see "Canon Law," page 71). As might be expected, this causes problems. Some clergy resort to begging, others to crime, still others to confidence trickery and spiritual blackmail which blurs the boundaries between the two. In London such clerks are a major problem, but the same is true everywhere to some extent. It would not be at all surprising for a bandit to be ordained, possibly even to holy orders. Of course, such a person was probably not a bandit when he was ordained.

Magical Tithes

A learned priest is appointed to the parish including the covenant. He turns out to be a natural magician, and he demands a tithe of the covenant's vis supplies. As God gives the increase, they clearly qualify. If the covenant refuses to pay up, he may threaten to complain to the bishop. In that case, the covenant is in a no-win situation, and the other covenants of the Order would not look kindly on a ruling that diverted a tenth of their vis to the church. Subtle negotiation (or, perhaps, a tragic accident) is in order.

The Regulars

The regulars are those people who live a holy life according to a rule (Latin regulus, rule). They are not all clergy, because some of them are women, nor are they all monks or nuns, although those classes of people do represent most of them. This is supposed to be the holiest possible sort of life, and laymen interested in the support of the prayers of such holy people make generous donations to their houses. As a result, they have an influence beyond their numbers, although there are about 12,000 monks and canons and 7,000 nuns in the Tribunal.

Master Robert Grosseteste

Born 1170
Master Robert is an official of the bishop of Hereford, and acts as his delegate in judging some legal cases. He is also a brilliant scholar, which raises the question of why, at fifty, he is still without a benefice, and thus a secure source of income.
Part of the answer lies in his background. He was born of very humble parents in the village of Stow Langtoft, which is owned by the Abbey of St. Edmund. His parents both died while he was young, and he had to beg for his bread, eventually finding himself in Lincoln. There, Adam of Wigford, a rich citizen of the town known for his generosity (and later to become the first mayor), befriended him and supported him at the local schools. There he made great progress in grammar, and soon went to the more prestigious schools at Cambridge, where he completed his education.
In Cambridge, he met the magi of Schola Pythagoranis, and while he was unGifted he quickly proved adept in natural magic. For a while he considered joining the covenant, but his natural piety and deep faith told against it: the magi were far too worldly for his liking. Nevertheless, this period gave him a certain independence of thought, and a fascination with less standard fields of study. Over the years, his growing abilities as a magician led him to a greater confidence in his own judgment.
After a brief period serving the bishop of Lincoln, in 1194 he took service with William de Vere, bishop of Hereford, partly on the strength of a letter of recommendation written by Gerald of Wales, which emphasized his medical abilities and legal knowledge. He progressed rapidly in the bishop's service, and his career seemed secure, until the bishop died in 1198 before granting him a benefice. Over the next twenty years he made ends meet by taking temporary jobs, with Hugh Foliot, the archdeacon of Shropshire, with the bishop of Salisbury, with the magi of Schola Pythagoranis, and in France, where he was driven by the interdict.
After returning to England he turned again to the service of Hugh Foliot, and when the latter became bishop of Hereford in 1219, his position seemed somewhat more secure. However, Robert is still without a benefice, and still only a deacon.
Grosseteste is a very vigorous man, of striking, though not handsome, appearance. He is very courteous and generous in his personal friendships, but stern in his official capacity. His main weakness is a tendency to take things to extremes: he works out the consequences of his beliefs, and lives according to them. Insofar as he can, he tries to compel those around him to live according to them, too. In all matters, he has a great trust in his own judgment, a trait that has brought him into conflict with more than one employer. He has said that he would defy the Pope if he thought the pontiff was in error. He does not advertise his magical abilities, although they have contributed to his vigor, and will only use them for ends that accord with Christian virtue. He is very well disposed to magi, having been friendly with all those he has known, and is not negatively affected by the Gift. However, his contact with the Order is sporadic at best, and he disapproves of its secular tone. He also loves music, and is concerned about the education of talented boys, especially if they are from a humble background.

The Rules

While all the regulars live under a rule, they do not all live under the same rule. There are many rules, so many that Pope Innocent III forbade the creation of new ones at the fourth Lateran Council, in 1215. This section describes the most important.

Benedictine

The oldest, and most important, rule is the Benedictine, created by Benedict of Nursia for his monastery at Monte Cassino in Italy around 500 AD. It was not supposed to be rigorously ascetic, rather requiring the monks to live a simple and disciplined life, separated from the world. Their most important occupation is the opus dei, the mass, which is supposed to be said or sung at each of the canonical hours (see page 64). They are also supposed to engage in manual labor to support themselves, but that has fallen out of fashion, so that monks normally employ servants for such tasks. Benedictines are known as black monks, from the color of their habits.

The monks are required to be chaste, and to obey the abbot of their monastery. They are also supposed to remain within the monastery at which they took their vows for the rest of their lives ("stability"). It is now common for monks to leave the monastery grounds for various reasons, but actually changing monasteries is still rare. Monks are not supposed to have any personal property, and they are not supposed to eat meat, although the latter rule is relaxed in the cold English climate. Although the monasteries were supposed to be separate from the world, many of them are now inside, or just on the edge of, towns, and some actually have jurisdiction over that town. The monks all meet daily in the chapter (so-called because a chapter of the rule is read to open the proceedings), at which the business of the monastery is dealt with.

The Benedictines arrived in England with St. Augustine, a monk himself, in 597, and established themselves wherever the church went. In the tenth century St. Dunstan led a reform of the English monasteries, which gave them new vigor. At this time a number of cathedral chapters adopted the Benedictine rule, a practice that is almost unique to Britain. Important Benedictine abbeys in England include Glastonbury (see page 84); Bury St. Edmunds (see page 82); St. Albans, an important center of art and learning; St. Augustine's; Canterbury, founded by St. Augustine in the early days of his mission; and Battle Abbey, which was founded by William the Conqueror on the site of the Battle of Hastings, with its high altar marking the spot where Harold died. In total, there are around 200 Benedictine monasteries in England, housing about 3,800 monks.

The Cluniacs are a group within the Benedictines of houses that depend on the abbey of Cluny in France. No other Cluniac house has an abbot, rather having a prior who is, in theory, the deputy of the abbot of Cluny. The Cluniacs place great emphasis on the opus dei, to the extent that it is going on almost constantly, and there is certainly no time for manual labor. They are also prone to building splendid churches for their monasteries. The Cluniacs only came to England in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, and there are only about 30 houses, with 500 monks. Castle Acre and Thetford in Norfolk were founded directly from Cluny, while the French house of La Charité founded five priories, including Bermondsey priory in London.

Most convents of nuns follow the Benedictine rule, which requires them to have a man living nearby to act as priest in the Divine Office. This can cause problems, and the vow of stability is taken more seriously for nuns than for monks. Nevertheless, abbesses are among the most influential women in the country. Important nunneries include Godstow, near Oxford, which was founded in the twelfth century and houses the tomb of fair Rosamund, the mistress of Henry II; Shaftesbury, founded by Alfred the Great; and Wilton, in Wiltshire, where the widow of Edward the Confessor and the daughter of Harold Godwinson lived after the Norman Conquest. There are, in total, about 7,000 nuns in England.

The Enemy of My Enemy

If the covenant has chilly relations with the local church and nobility, have a band of robbers set up and start causing them real trouble. It turns out that these robbers are all ordained. The local lord refuses to do anything, citing (correctly) benefit of clergy. The Church sends an official to preach to the bandits, but they ignore him. If the covenant dares to deal with them itself, all its members are excommunicated.

The Coming of the Monks

The covenant has managed to keep its existence secret from everyone, pretending to be an ordinary village. Now, the lord of the manor has given the village to the Cistercians, who have come to drive the villagers off their land. If the covenant is well hidden, the magi might simply lose their source of labor and food. Since covenants and Cistercians tend to seek out the same sorts of areas, conflict between the two orders is likely to be common.

Cistercian

The Cistercians were founded by Robert of Molesme at Cîteaux, in 1098, but their extraordinary growth was due to Bernard of Clairvaux, the most influential churchman of the twelfth century. They follow the Benedictine rule, and in origin did so more strictly than most other Benedictine monasteries. They wear habits of undyed wool, and thus became known as the white monks, and build simple monasteries far from civilization. These areas have turned out to be excellent for sheep farming, and the Cistercian monasteries of Yorkshire are among the largest suppliers of wool in Europe. From the beginning there were laymen, the conversi, associated with the Cistercians, who were responsible for helping the monks with the farming. There are about 3,250 Cistercian monks in England and Wales.

The Cistercian monasteries are grouped into a well-organized order. Every house is founded from an already-existing monastery (with the obvious exception of Cîteaux itself); the founding house is the mother house, the founded the daughter. The abbot of the mother house is responsible for visiting the daughters and ensuring that they are well run, and all the abbots meet every year in September, at Cîteaux, to discuss the issues facing the order.

By 1220 the Cistercians are less rigorously simple than they used to be, and some of the monasteries have built spectacular churches. They are still isolated, however, as they refuse to allow villages to grow up on their lands, and if they acquire an inhabited area, they drive the inhabitants out.

The first Cistercian monasteries were founded in England around 1130, and the order was very popular for the rest of the twelfth century, so that almost all new monastic foundations were Cistercian. Important Cistercian monasteries include Waverley, the first to be founded in England, Rievaulx in Yorkshire, and Fountains Abbey (see page 83). Most of the other English houses are daughter houses of one of these three.

Some convents of nuns are part of the Cistercian Order, albeit reluctantly on the part of the monks. They are not part of the normal chains of filiation, rather being placed under the control of a nearby male monastery.

Augustinian

The rule of Augustinian canons is derived from a letter written by St. Augustine of Hippo (not the St. Augustine who converted the English), but has been much expanded from those bare bones. The canons are not monks, because they are not supposed to be sequestered from the world. They are bound to poverty, chastity, and obedience, but they are expected to involve themselves in work with the laymen near their canonry. The canons have a common life, but they are attached to a cathedral, collegiate church, or hospital, and thus have pastoral duties like a secular priest.

There are a number of orders relying on the Rule of St. Augustine, including the Gilbertines (below), the Premonstratensians, and the Dominicans (page 64). These orders differ a great deal, and there are also many unaffiliated houses following the rule, some of which contain women rather than men. Thus, it is impossible to generalize about the behavior of regular canons, of whom there are about 3,500 in England and Wales.

Gilbertine

The order of St. Gilbert of Sempringham is unique in two ways. First, the order is confined to the east of England. Second, it has both male and female members. The women all follow the Benedictine Rule, and are rigorously enclosed. The clerical men follow the Augustinian Rule, and the laymen follow the Cistercian customs. The canons' first responsibility is to provide priestly services for the nuns, and despite careful precautions there are occasional scandals. The lay brothers do the farming, and the lay sisters act as servants for the nuns. There is an annual general chapter of the order, as for the Cistercians, which is attended by the prior of each house, who is always a canon. The most important house of the order is the first one, at Sempringham. There are about 1,000 members of the Gilbertine order, including both canons and nuns.

The Military Orders

The military orders are orders of monks who are also knights. The most famous are the Knights Templar, founded by Hugh de Payns and Godfrey of St. Omer in 1118, and strongly supported by Bernard of Clairvaux, and the Knights of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. They have rules which allow them to fight, primarily against the Moslems, but they hold land all over Christendom, and both orders have a number of houses in England. These houses do not hold active knights, although retired warriors may be accommodated; rather, they gather funds and supplies and send them on to the Levant. The Templars are also notable for their involvement in banking, generally in lending money to help with Crusading, and for their tendency to build round churches, including one in London.

The Friars

There are no friars in England. The Dominicans, or Black Friars, arrive in 1221, the Franciscans, or Gray Friars, in 1224. The Dominicans are devoted to preaching and teaching in resistance to heresy, and are officially called the Order of Preachers. The Franciscans are devoted to being poor and imitating the life of Christ and the Apostles as far as possible, renouncing learning along with wealth. They are officially called the Order of Little Brothers, or Friars Minor.

Monastic Organization and Property

Although individual monks are not allowed to own property, the same does not apply to their monasteries, and many are very wealthy. This property requires a rather more elaborate organizational structure than the rule originally allowed for, and this structure has developed. The only official recognized in the Benedictine rule is the abbot, who has absolute authority over the monks. He is supposed to listen to their advice, but they cannot overrule him. The prior, the abbot's deputy, is a common officer.

To this basic structure has been added the structure of obedientiaries. These are monks with responsibility for particular expenses of the monastery, such as the upkeep of the church (the sacristan), the choir and library (the precentor), food (the cellarer), and the giving of alms (the almoner). Some part of the monastery's property is assigned to each of these functions, and the obedientiary is responsible for managing that property, collecting the income, and spending it. This has obvious potential for abuse, and indeed most religious houses are deeply in debt, often to the Jews, as a result. Many bishops are now encouraging the institution of a single treasurer who handles all income and gives money to the obedientiaries, and presents his accounts to the chapter several times a year.

Some of the monastic property can be a long way from the monastery, making its management difficult. In response, many monasteries have established cells for a small number of monks, often less than half a dozen, on distant plots of land, and have delegated management of that land to those monks. Some cells have only one monk, which often leads to disciplinary problems and is a gross violation of the spirit of the Rule. Cistercian monasteries have remote farms called granges which are largely staffed by conversi, although they may be supervised by a monk.

The monastery normally has a great deal of property within the cloister as well. The church, cloister, abbot's house, refectory, dormitory, and chapter house are normally substantial stone buildings, and the church may be decorated with gold furnishings. All monasteries have a library, from which the monks are encouraged to borrow books for personal reading. The largest libraries contain several hundred volumes, including the works of pagan Romans as well as Christian literature.

The Canonical Hours

The canonical hours are the services which structure the day in a monastery. The day and the night are both divided into twelve roughly equal portions, called hours, with the first hour of the day starting at daybreak, and the first hour of the night starting at nightfall. At England's latitude, this means that a day hour in summer is twice as long as a day hour in winter. At each of the hours, psalms are sung, and at some masses are performed — at all in the Cluniac tradition, but in other traditions only at three.

Matins is held at the seventh hour of the night, while Lauds marks daybreak. Prime marks the end of the first hour of the day, and is followed by the Morrow Mass ("morning mass"), and the meeting of the chapter. Terce marks the end of the third hour, and is followed by a sung mass. Sext marks noon, and is followed by a sung mass dedicated to the Virgin Mary. None ends the ninth hour, and Vespers the eleventh. Compline marks the close of the day and the beginning of the night. The monks are allowed to sleep between Compline and Matins, and Matins and Lauds. The rest of the time is split between labor and reading. The bells of the monastery church are rung to summon the monks to the various services, and to wake them up for the night office.

Most of the day is spent in silence, and during meals the monks are supposed to listen to a reader, rather than speak. This has led to the development of fairly elaborate sign languages in some monasteries, although in others they have not got beyond "Please pass the bread." The monks are usually allowed to converse after chapter, and possibly in the evening as well. Of course, a monk engaged in managing the monastery's property will not be able to maintain silence all day. Much time is spent in reading and copying manuscripts, now that manual labor is discouraged, and the Benedictine monastery of St. Albans is a notable artistic center, both in manuscript illumination and in other arts: Walter of Colchester, a monk of St. Albans, was employed to design the new shrine for St. Thomas at Canterbury.

Pastimes

As mentioned above, the monks have many opportunities for reading, and this is one of the few pastimes which is universally approved. They also play chess, and occasionally dice, although the stricter moralists disapprove. Most monasteries have a pack of hounds, and many abbots enjoy the hunt. Indeed, sometimes it is necessary to remind them that they are supposed to remain at the monastery. Minstrels and actors are also hired, on occasion, to entertain the monks, and the obedientiaries sometimes keep their own tables, where their friends can enjoy good food and wine. The monks also spend much time outside the cloister, socializing in the local town, although this is generally frowned upon. Occasionally, these visits are to women, or women are entertained within the cloister. However, actual violations of the vow of chastity seem to be rare, as it is rarely mentioned in the reports of visitations. This particular vice seems to be more common among nuns, although this may just be because it is easier to catch guilty women.

The Sacraments

The seven sacraments are the centerpiece of the Church's work. Without them, no one can be saved, and everyone is damned to hellfire for eternity. Despite the warnings of priests, many people believe that you will be saved if you get the right sacraments at the right times, no matter how you live. The sacraments are effective if performed correctly, irrespective of the intent or status of the priest, and in some cases even if performed incorrectly, provided that the intent was to perform the sacrament. This is because the sacrament is the display of God's power through the priest, not a display of the priest's own power. However, it is generally believed that a sacrament is more effective if the celebrant is virtuous.

Baptism

Baptism is the most important of the sacraments, as far as the individual is concerned. Anyone who has not been baptized will go to hell, no matter how they live, as they are tainted with Adam's Original Sin. Accordingly, children are baptized as soon as possible after birth. If the child is healthy, this will take place within a couple of days. The mother cannot go to the church, as she is ritually unclean after the birth, so the infant is taken by the midwife, godparents (traditionally three, two of the same sex as the child), or father. The priest meets the group at the church door, and asks the baby's name — this is the point at which the child gains its true name, which is normally the name of one of the godparents. He then exorcises the child to drive off evil spirits, and makes it a catechumen before leading the party to the font. The priest asks the child questions based on the creed, and the godparents answer "I believe" on its behalf. The baby is then stripped naked and plunged into the water three times, while the priest says, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Immediately afterwards the child receives its first communion, in the form of a sip of wine, and if a bishop is present (which is rare) it may be confirmed. The religious ceremony is then followed by celebrations.

Because of the vital importance of baptism to the child many precautions are taken to ensure that it can always be administered. The resident priest is always to be available, or have a deputy ready, and is not to refuse to baptize, no matter when he is asked. Holy water is to be kept in the font at all times, and the font is supposed to be kept locked to guard against desecration, although it often isn't. If the baby is so sickly that it might not survive being carried to the church, the midwife may baptize it by sprinkling water on it and repeating the formula. This is true even if the midwife is not Christian (a Jew, for example), and even if she totally mangles the formula, provided that her intent is right. Midwives and other women who attend at births are taught the formula, and encouraged to baptize in emergencies, or when they think that there may be an emergency. It is even permissible to baptize the child when it is only half out of the mother, and if necessary the midwife is to cut the child out of the mother so that it can be baptized, even though this will almost certainly result in the mother's death.

It is believed to be unlucky to baptize a child on Easter Eve or the Eve of Whitsunday, and the clothes and vessels used in the process are believed to have magical properties.

Confirmation

Confirmation can be administered only by a bishop, and it involves drawing a cross in oil on the forehead of the recipient while saying, "I sign you with the sign of the cross and confirm you with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Since there are few bishops and many people, many people are never confirmed. Some bishops, when on visitation, make sure that they wear their vestments at all times, so that they can confirm anyone they meet who asks for it, and others confirm whole crowds at once.

Penance

Although baptism wipes away the stain of original sin, people are still capable of sinning on their own account, and confession, penance, and absolution are required to remove the stain of personal sin. Children are held to be incapable of personal sin until the age of twelve, because they cannot understand what they are doing. After that age, however, all Christians are encouraged to confess and do penance at least once a year, as specified by the fourth Lateran Council.

Confession, penance, and absolution are all private matters, unless the crime for which penance must be done is a public scandal. Confession is not a simple affair, as the priest is supposed to ask many questions, probing into every aspect of the penitent's life, from "Have you ever left the churchyard gate open so that beasts got in?" to "Have you killed any man in anger?" and covering superstitious and magical practices in between. Priests were provided with books of questions and suggested penances for sinners; these were called penitentials, and the laity were not allowed to read them in case it gave them ideas. Penances usually involve fasting, prayer, and the giving of alms, which are all things that can be done without drawing attention.

Confession is clearly a substantial burden on the priest, even if only done once a year, especially as most people confess during Lent, in preparation for taking communion at Easter. However, laymen are required to confess only to their parish priest, unless they are travelers or soldiers about to go into battle.

The Eucharist

The mass is the central feature of the church's liturgy. It was first celebrated by Christ himself on the night before he was crucified, and it constitutes a reenactment of his saving sacrifice. As the words of consecration are spoken unleavened bread — the Host becomes the body of Christ, while the wine becomes His blood. Although they remain bread and wine in appearance, their substance is that of God Himself. (Thus, consecrated bread and wine are totally immune to magical, faerie, and demonic powers.) Only an ordained priest can perform the consecration itself, although those in lesser orders and laymen assist at the service.

The mass is performed entirely in Latin (and is named from the final words: "Ite, missa est" — "Go, it is finished") and for most of it the celebrant has his back to the congregation, and is largely hidden behind a screen. This is not calculated to hold the congregation's attention, and indeed it is normal for people to talk through the mass, and for people to go purely to meet their lovers. Immediately after consecration, however, the priest raises the Host above his head, so that the congregation can see it. This is the elevation of the Host, and is accorded great importance: seeing the Host at this point is an assurance of salvation, and possibly mundane help. Some people wait outside the church, talking and playing, and rush inside to see the elevation before leaving again.

Very few of the laity take communion because it is necessary to have received absolution beforehand, and to fast and abstain from sexual relations for three days. Thus, most laymen and women communicate once a year, or even less, although the Lateran Council in 1215 tried to set once per year as the minimum. When they do take communion, they receive both the bread and the wine, although there is a movement to give them the bread only, to avoid the possibility of spilling the wine and thus showing disrespect to the blood of Christ.

The consecrated substances, particularly the Host, are credited with many powers. Bleeding Hosts are commonly reported, and many hedge wizards try to use the Host in their rituals. Common report falsely attributes the same thing to the Jews. (It is very easy to obtain a consecrated Host: take communion, but don't swallow. The wine is harder to obtain, and has fewer superstitions around it.) Peasants also use the Host in charms, crushing it and sprinkling over a field or burying it in the floor of a house to bring divine blessings.

The Mass of St. Gregory the Great

A certain woman used to provide the bread for the altar at which Pope Gregory said Mass, and one Sunday, when she was going to receive communion, Gregory held out the Host to her, saying "May the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ benefit you unto life everlasting." The woman burst out laughing, as if he had told a joke, and Gregory drew back the Host, laying it on the altar. In front of the whole congregation he asked her why she was laughing. She said, "Because you called this bread, which I made with my own hands, the Body of the Lord." Gregory was troubled by the woman's lack of faith, and lay before the altar in prayer. When he stood, he found the Host transformed into a finger. When the woman saw this, her faith was restored, and on Gregory's prayers it was turned back into bread, which she received in true piety.
— From the Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine.*

Marriage

Marriage is the sacrament which causes the Church most trouble, because the material interests of great families are closely bound up with it, and marriages which were convenient to them might not fit with the Church's regulations. The theological position is that if a man and a woman, alone in a room at a tavern, say something like "I take you as my wife/husband" to each other, then they are married as long as there is no legal impediment. If they say "I will take you as my wife/husband," then they are married as soon as they have sex. No priest is required, no witnesses, and no consent from parents. Legal impediments can arise from a number of sources. If one partner was already married, then he or she cannot marry again. A man ordained to holy orders cannot marry anyone, and incestuous marriages cannot be contracted. Incest is defined as a marriage to anyone with whom you share an ancestor in the last four generations (that is, back to great-greatgrandparents), or to someone who is a godparent. The incest taboos are carefully observed by the peasantry, who, as a result, generally know their ancestry at least four generations back. Nobles, who want advantageous alliances, will often obtain Papal dispensations to allow them to marry within the more distant incestuous degrees.

The church strongly encourages a more elaborate ceremony, and most people want one, so that it is clear that they are married. The couple declare their intentions at a troth-plighting. They join hands in the presence of their families, and other friends, give and receive a ring, and declare their assent to marriage. If the couple are old enough, they then retire and consummate the marriage. This ceremony, clearly, constitutes a canonical marriage. Some time later, generally when the bride is pregnant so that the groom knows she can bear children, the couple go to church. The priest meets them at the door and inquires whether there is any impediment to the marriage. The groom states the dower he is settling on his wife and gives her a ring and a small gift of money on the spot. They then declare their assent again, and the priest leads them into the church for the nuptial mass, which is followed by a feast. The elaboration of these ceremonies depends on the wealth of the parties to the marriage, but some peasants do not marry formally because they cannot afford the proper ceremonial.

Despite the church's emphasis on the consent of the people involved, marriages among the upper classes usually revolve around political and territorial alliances, with young girls being married off to old men, and boys to widows, and marriages being contracted between children of four and babies of a few months. Many people regard such practices with distaste, but there is no sign of them ceasing.

Ordination

The sacrament of ordination sets men apart for the service of God. It can only be performed by a bishop, and a man can only be ordained to each degree once. There are two classes of ordination: minor orders and holy orders. The minor orders are doorkeeper, lector, exorcist, and acolyte. Ordination to these orders requires little more than getting a haircut. This, the tonsure, is distinctive and worn by all clerks. It is cut bald on the top of the head and short around the sides. Minor orders impose few duties, and in particular they do not prevent a man from marrying. Thus, most scholars are in minor orders, since this leaves a worldly career open to them.

Clergymen, even those in minor orders, are not supposed to get involved in the shedding of blood, whether as a robber, soldier, executioner, or judge handing down capital sentences. They also supposed to avoid dishonorable professions, such as moneylending or petty trading. However, since there is no record kept of those in minor orders, leaving them involves little more than growing your hair out again.

Holy orders are a much more significant step. The four holy orders, in ascending order of status, are subdeacon, deacon, priest, and bishop. A man ordained to holy orders must take a vow of celibacy, show that he is of legitimate birth (that is, that his parents were married at the time), and that he has some means of support which is appropriate to a clerical station. He should also pass a test of his learning, and be of good moral character. Papal dispensations can easily be obtained for illegitimate candidates for holy orders, and bishops are not always very thorough in checking education and means of support. For a man to be ordained priest, he must also be at least twenty five years old, although this can, again, be dispensed from by the Pope, and often is. Note that deacons and subdeacons cannot perform Mass or grant absolution, and their main role is to assist priests.

While not all monks and canons are clergy (and the original Benedictine rule assumed that few would be), it is normal practice in the thirteenth century for them to be ordained to minor orders, at least. Roughly speaking, about a quarter are ordained to the priesthood, about a quarter to the diaconate, about a quarter to the subdiaconate, and about a quarter are in minor orders only.

Extreme Unction

Extreme unction is an anointing with oil, given in preparation for death. It is normally given by a priest, as it is part of a sequence which starts with confession and absolution, followed by the anointing, and concluding with the eucharist. Most people do not receive it, however, because it is widely believed that if you do receive it, you will definitely die. People also believe that if you receive it and survive, you must then live a celibate life. The church rejects both beliefs as superstitions, but few outside monasteries and nunneries receive the sacrament, all the same.

Ecclesiastical Organization

Bishops

The bishops are the most important part of the ecclesiastical hierarchy — even the Pope's authority comes from his position as bishop of Rome. All bishops must be ordained bishop by at least two other bishops, and the line of ordination is believed to be unbroken all the way back to the twelve apostles, who are regarded as the first bishops. Every bishop is ordained to a diocese, and can only move to a different diocese by Papal dispensation.

In theory, the bishop is elected by the chapter, the group of clergy attached to the cathedral church. In England, about half of these chapters are made up of monks (Canterbury, Carlisle, Durham, Ely, Norwich, Rochester, Winchester, Worcester), while the others are made up of secular clergy. The dioceses of Coventry and Lichfield and Bath and Wells both have two groups of electing clergy; Coventry and Bath are monastic, while Lichfield and Wells are secular. In practice, influence can be brought to bear by the king or the Pope. Ultimately, the king can do nothing about the election if the chapter resists him (although he can make life difficult for the bishop), but the Pope can refuse to consecrate the elected bishop, and, if the election was disputed (which it must have been if the Pope is unhappy with the result), he may set aside the chapter's decision and install his own man.

The bishop gains a substantial income from his diocese, ranging from about £200 per year for Rochester to £3000 for Winchester. Durham, Canterbury, and Ely are also particularly wealthy, with incomes over £2000. It is not unknown for favored clerics to be moved from a poorer to a richer see. With such incomes, bishops normally live like members of the nobility, with large retinues, fine clothing, and superb meals.

The bishop's job is to support and oversee the clergy of his diocese. He has two main ways of doing this. The first is the diocesan synod, which is supposed to be held every year, usually in the autumn. All the clergy of the diocese are supposed to attend, although in the larger dioceses, such as Lincoln and York, the clergy of distant parishes rarely do. At these synods decrees are issued which deal with problems in the church; forbidding those in holy orders to keep women, for example, or requiring all priests to obtain a mass book.

The second, and more useful, episcopal power is the visitation. The bishop travels round his diocese, visiting the parish churches and religious houses and examining their behavior. It is very rare for the bishop to deprive someone of a benefice as the result of a visitation, but he will often require improvements to be made. Three things limit the effectiveness of visitations. First, the bishop may well be part of the royal administration, in which case he will have little time for diocesan affairs. Second, many monasteries are exempt from the authority of their bishops, including all Cluniac and Cistercian houses. Finally, some of the dioceses are simply too large for one man to cover in any reasonable length of time, so that even the most conscientious bishop could only visit a parish once in several years. Of course, some bishops are simply lazy, and do not carry out their duties as well as they should.

Archbishops, as well as serving as bishops of their own dioceses, are supposed to oversee all the dioceses in their province. They call provincial synods from time to time, which are attended by all their subordinate (or suffragan) bishops and the heads of major religious houses, and some of them attempt to carry out visitations of the whole province, although this takes place even less often than an ordinary episcopal visitation. Since the archbishops have spiritual authority over large areas of the kingdom, the king usually tries to ensure that the person installed is favorable to him. This doesn't always work, and Thomas Becket is the most famous error.

Dioceses and Bishops in the Stonehenge Tribunal, 1220

Province of Canterbury

Diocese Bishop

Canterbury Stephen Langton (Archbishop)

Bath and Wells Jocelyn of Wells*

Chichester Ralph Wareham

Coventry and Lichfield William of Cornhill

Ely John de Fountains

Exeter Simon of Apulia

Hereford Hugh Foliot

Lincoln Hugh of Wells*

London William de St. Mere Eglise

Norwich (Pandulf)†

Rochester Benedict of Sawston

Salisbury Richard le Poore

Winchester Peter des Roches

Worcester William of Blois

Welsh Bishoprics

(part of the Province of Canterbury)

Diocese Bishop

St. Asaph Renier

Bangor Cadwgan

St. David's Iorwerth

Llandaff William

| |#### Province of York | | Diocese | Bishop | | ------ | ------ | | York | Walter Gray (Archbishop) | | Carlisle | Hugh of Beaulieu | | Durham | Richard Marsh |
^* Jocelyn of Wells and Hugh of Wells are brothers.
^† Pandulf is the Papal legate, and was elected bishop of Norwich in 1215. He has not yet been consecrated, because the Pope does not want his legate to be under the authority of the archbishop of Canterbury.

Archdeacons

The archdeacon is the most active of a bishop's subordinates. He is responsible for enforcing canon law in a specified area of a diocese, known as an archdeaconry, for collecting fines, and for advising the bishop on the appointment of rectors. Archdeacons are not popular, as they are almost purely concerned with discipline and taxation, and they have a reputation for corruption that many of them bear out. An archdeaconry is, however, an important step in an ecclesiastical career. The number of archdeaconries depends on the size of the diocese. Chichester has two, while the immense diocese of Lincoln has eight.

A Miracle of St. Wulfstan

Some merchants from Bristol were sailing to Ireland when they were caught up in a dreadful storm. The wind and rain raged, and the ship lost its oars, the ropes snapped, and finally the mast broke. The storm passed, but the ship was now drifting helplessly. The men on the ship saw nothing but death ahead of them. On the fourth day, one of the men was inspired by God, and spoke to the crew, "Those of you who are so lucky as to have Wulfstan as your bishop, pray now for aid."
Desperate, they did so, and it seemed to them as if Wulfstan himself came to ship, and went round it repairing the ropes and the mast. He encouraged the men to hoist the sail, telling them that he would see them safely to port. Then the vision disappeared, and the ship came safely home.
When this tale was reported to Wulfstan, he would not comment on it, other than to praise the mercy of God, but the report gave him great authority with the men of Bristol, and enabled him to abolish the slave trade there.
(Wulfstan was the bishop of Worcester for many years both before and after the Norman Conquest.)
— From the Life of St. Wulfstan by William of Malmesbury

The Visitation

The bishop comes to carry out his visitation of the parish church near the covenant. If the covenant gets on well with the priest, the bishop is likely to find the man's preaching a little dubious. If they are hostile, the priest has the perfect opportunity to report the covenant to someone powerful enough to do something about it. If they have done away with the priest altogether (visitations did sometimes discover that there had been no resident priest for years), then the bishop is likely to be very annoyed. Add to this a retinue of fifty people, and the situation could be very tricky indeed. If the covenant is pretending to be a religious house, then the bishop will come to visit them.

Canon Law

Canon law is the law of the Church, binding on all its members, wherever they live. It is based on the law of the Roman Empire, as extended and modified by the decrees and decisions of the Popes. The line between ecclesiastical and civil jurisdiction is not well defined, and is constantly disputed. St. Thomas Becket was martyred in the course of a dispute over jurisdictions, showing how important these issues can be.

At one level, canon law is having an important influence on the development of political institutions. The notion of a corporate body was first developed to handle monasteries and cathedral chapters, and is now being applied, occasionally, in the secular world. Canon law also defines the duty of a ruler to take counsel and gain the consent of the ruled, precedents which are influencing the development of royal councils throughout Europe. In particular, the idea that a corporate body consents when a majority of its members do is well established, as is the idea that a small body, such as a cathedral chapter, can represent a much larger one, such as all the Christians in a diocese. Recently, canon lawyers have begun to suggest that subjects may violently resist a tyrannical ruler; indeed, some have suggested that this is a duty.

The influence of canon law on daily life is more important to most people. Canon law, as would be expected, controls the administration of the sacraments. This does have a few wide-ranging consequences. First, anyone who has been ordained, even to minor orders, is entirely under the jurisdiction of the canon law. Any crime that he commits, even murder, must be judged by a church court. Since ordained judges are not allowed to spill blood, the worst that is likely to happen is that the criminous clerk will lose his ordained status and be set a heavy penance, probably involving a pilgrimage. He cannot be tried in civil courts for the same offense. (This privilege was won by Becket's martyrdom, and no lord or king would dare to ignore it.) This protection also applies to layfolk closely associated with the church, most notably nuns.

Stephen Langton

Archbishop of Canterbury, born 1165, archbishop since 1207
Stephen Langton was born in Langton, in Lincolnshire, the eldest son of a minor landowner. He was an intelligent youth, and wished to enter the church. In 1180 he traveled to Paris, to attend the university there. He remained until 1206, a canon at the cathedral of Notre Dame, lecturing on theology. In that time he became the most noted teacher of theology in the university, and in 1206 he was made Cardinal Priest of St. Chysogonus.
In 1207 the monks of Canterbury elected him archbishop, and he was consecrated at Viterbo. However, he could not at this time move to England, as King John was hostile to the church, and the country was under interdict. Instead he resided at the abbey of Pontigny, where St. Thomas Becket had taken refuge, making occasional journeys to England in an attempt to bring the king to an agreement with the Pope. The dispute was over ecclesiastical elections, and at length King John came to terms, and Langton entered Canterbury in 1213.
He arrived in a divided country, and immediately set about trying to bring peace. He was influential in the drafting and signing of Magna Carta, but when the Pope declared that agreement null and void, and civil war broke out, Langton left the country, suspended from office by the Pope. He traveled to Rome for the Lateran Council, curing a demoniac on the way, and eventually had the suspension lifted, although he was not allowed to return to Canterbury until 1218.
In the last two years, Langton has played a minor role. Pandulf, the papal legate, took over from William Marshal as the regent for the young king, and the archbishop has had little to do with politics. That may be about to change. He has just completed an inquiry into the sainthood of Hugh of Lincoln, and will be involved in the formal coronation of Henry III in May. He plans to ask the Pope to remove the legate's authority, thus leaving the archbishop of Canterbury as the highest ecclesiastical authority in the land.
Langton is a tall and thin man, with a full head of graying hair. His voice is powerful, and he is an excellent public speaker, his skills honed over years of lecturing in Paris. His main aims are to see England at peace, with the church ruled by canon law and the realm by common law, and to ensure that the reforming decrees of the Lateran Council are implemented throughout his province. A scholar himself, he is sympathetic to scholars, and all too aware that good men can honestly differ on important points. He is, however, of the highest morals, and will tolerate error, but not sin.

The second large area that the sacraments bring under the church's notice is marriage. Some issues related to marriage, including many of those relating to property, fall within the purview of the civil courts, but most are church business. Thus, the church must decide whether a marriage is valid, which may be difficult if it was contracted secretly (see "Marriage," page 68). This can be important if one partner wants to marry someone else, or if the couple have died and their children wish to inherit as legitimate heirs. Church courts can also annul marriages, finding that the couple were never really married in the first place, because they were too closely related, or one partner did not give free consent. Canon law also covers all sexual misdemeanors, from fornication to sodomy.

Walter de Grey

Archbishop of York, elected 1215
Walter de Grey is the son of an important family, and was educated at Oxford, although he is no scholar. In 1205 he paid John 5000 marks for the office of chancellor, and devoted himself to carrying out the king's will. While this did not make him generally popular, he was well rewarded. In 1210 he was elected bishop of Lichfield at John's insistence, but the monks of Coventry elected Prior Josbert to the same post. In the end, both elections were quashed by Pandulf. In 1213 Walter temporarily resigned the chancellorship while he was sent as an ambassador to Flanders, but he took it up again in 1214. In the same year, he was elected bishop of Worcester.
In early 1215 John tried to impose him as archbishop of York, reputedly in fulfillment of a promise that he should have the next available archbishopric. The monks elected Simon Langton, Stephen's brother, instead. The king objected, and the election eventually found its way to the Pope, and the Lateran Council. The monks laid their case before the pontiff, as did Walter's supporters. The Pope refused to install Langton, probably in part because Stephen Langton was still suspended and Simon was suspected of worse crimes. He told the monks to hold a new election, and they elected Walter. He was present for the council, so he was immediately invested as archbishop and presented with the pallium.
On his return to England, Walter supported the young king, and Henry likes him. He was seriously ill for much of 1219, and thus has not done much since taking up his see. He has, however, got into a quarrel with Stephen Langton over whether he has the right to have his cross borne in front of him while he is in the southern province.

Richard de Marsh

Bishop of Durham, elected 1217
Richard's origins are obscure, and he is almost wholly a creature of King John. In 1197 he was an officer of the exchequer, and from 1207 he was in constant attendance on the king. From 1210 he advised the king on how he might extort the most money from the religious houses in England, particularly the Cistercians, thus making himself very unpopular with the church. John was reputed to have said that Richard de Marsh was his god during one dispute with an abbey. In 1214 he became chancellor, and he still holds that office today.
In 1217 he was, on Papal recommendation, elected bishop of Durham. This puts him at the head of one of England's two palatinates, giving him authority equal to that of the king within County Durham. Almost immediately he became embroiled in a quarrel with the monks of the cathedral priory. They accuse him of encroaching on their rights, and of other dreadful misdeeds. Reports of these vary, from fornication, through sodomy, to devil worship, depending in part on how far from Durham the story is being told.
Richard is greedy, authoritarian, and completely unscrupulous. He is ordained, but has shown no sign of respect for any part of the church other than himself. He owes his bishopric entirely to the Pope's effort to ensure that Henry is supported by friendly bishops in the first part of his reign.

The final such area is that of wills, where the church's responsibility for the dead brings then within its jurisdiction. The church encourages people to make wills, in part because the church cannot inherit by the laws of intestate succession, and it is the job of church courts to decide whether a will is valid. Canon lawyers hold that a person may leave his property to whomever he wishes, even if it seems unreasonable, but a will including a substantial donation to the church is, perhaps, more likely to be upheld.

Heresy is another area that falls under the church courts. However, this is not a major issue in England, which does not have a large heresy problem. The aim of the court is not to find and burn all heretics, but to bring people back into the fold of the church, so that repentant heretics will be let off with a penance. Further, the rules of evidence (see below, pages 75-76) make it very difficult to convict heretics in most cases.

Canon law also regulates a few rather less obvious areas of life. Defamation falls within the purview of the church courts. If one person accuses another of criminal behavior calling them a thief, whore, perjurer, or sodomite, for example — then a prosecution can be brought in the church courts. If the insult is merely unpleasant — bastard, liar, or serf, for example — then there is no ground for legal action. If the case is brought, truth is no defense, unless the accusation was made and sustained in court. That is, even if a woman has been convicted of being a whore, you can still be successfully prosecuted for defamation if you call her such outside a court case.

Much of trade and industry also falls under canon law. It specifies days when people may not work — Sundays and Holy Days (holidays). More generally, it covers the rules of fair trade. The accumulation of wealth by honest labor or trading is seen as perfectly acceptable, and some canonists even encourage it. Once you have accumulated this wealth, you may do whatever you want with it. In particular, if the king tries to force you to give it to him, he is acting as a tyrant, and you may oppose him. This does not apply if you have consented, and so taxation can only be imposed with the consent of the realm.

The limits of honest labor are also set by the church. First, there are three different classes of occupation. Most respectable are those suitable for clergy, the clerical jobs. These are those jobs involving reading, writing, meditation and mental work. In the second category fall manual jobs which do not naturally tempt one towards sin, such as farming or most crafts. The third category contains jobs which put you at severe risk of sin, such as acting, tavernkeeping, and fortunetelling. The position of trading is somewhat ambiguous. While it does not involve much manual labor, it does involve temptations to usury (see below), and thus could be placed in the third category. Even such respectable positions as estate management or royal service are regarded as dubious, because of the temptations towards corruption.

Within any business, canon law forbids a number of unfair practices. First, it is illegal to charge interest on loans. This is usury, and is regarded as a major sin. One saint refused to eat a particular dish of meat, because the calf was descended in the seventh generation from a cow purchased with the profits of usury. The law is enforced quite rigorously against smallscale pawnbrokers and the like, but rich merchants can generally disguise the interest as something else — a share in profits, or a penalty for late repayment, for example.

It is also illegal to manipulate prices. The fair price is the market price: what the buyer is willing to offer and the seller, to accept. Any attempt to manipulate this, by, for example, cornering the wheat market in a particular town, is illegal. There are terms for many of these techniques. If suppliers withhold a product to drive the price up, that is forestalling, while buying up all supplies and then selling at a higher price is engrossing. However, buying something cheaply in one place, transporting it a substantial distance (not just from the market town to the village), and then selling it at a profit is regarded as fair. The profit is the merchant's recompense for the risk he has undertaken.

Canonical Procedure

In theory all canon law cases are judged by the bishop of the diocese, but in practice most now appoint deputies, known as their officials or officials principal, to hear the cases for them in what is known as the "consistory court." The bishop may still hear cases in person, and this is called the "court of audience."

If someone wishes to bring an action in the church courts, they must convince the judge, or more likely his clerk, that the case falls within that court's competence, and that there is a case to answer. If he agrees, the court sends a summons to the defendant, requiring him to appear in ten days' time to answer the accusations. If he fails to turn up, a second summons is sent, and a third, but if he fails to turn up a third time a summary judgment will be given, which becomes binding if the defendant does not turn up within a year to answer the case. Thus, the defendant gets thirty days to prepare a defense.

Once the defendant appears, the plaintiff must submit the libel, a formal, written account of the charges. The defendant then has the option of asking for twenty days in which to decide what to do, and, if necessary, to plan his defense. In this period, he can also raise "exceptions" against the libel. Peremptory exceptions allege that there is some fundamental error of fact or law, and if the judge rules for the defendant the case is dismissed. Dilatory exceptions allege some procedural error, such as that the judge chosen by the plaintiff is biased. The exceptions must be determined before the case can proceed, and the defendant pays all costs if the decision goes against him. However, since the ruling on an exception can be appealed to the Pope, these procedures can be used to delay cases almost indefinitely. Sometimes, cases are settled out of court while the exceptions are being determined.

If the preliminaries are got through and the case actually comes to trial, the plaintiff and defendant must both swear that they are undertaking the prosecution and defense honestly, and not through malice. The plaintiff must then produce good evidence. Essentially, this means either a confession from the defendant (given in court), or two witnesses who have both seen and heard the relevant event. "Witness" is interpreted very strictly. If a priest is accused of concubinage, the witnesses must have seen and heard him engaging in coitus with the woman. Seeing that they live together, and even seeing them naked in bed together, do not qualify. Thus, some crimes are very difficult to prosecute successfully.

An Engrossing Problem

If a covenant is living off stores of anything but cash, they could be brought before the church courts on a charge of engrossing. As long as their contacts are happy with them, there is unlikely to be a problem, but if they annoy a merchant he would probably have enough evidence to start proceedings against them. This could also apply if the covenant creates large quantities of some substance (to save vis), and then sells it off slowly to avoid flooding the market.

After a decision is taken, either side may appeal. They may always appeal directly to the Pope, but that is very expensive. If the presiding official is a bishop, they may appeal to his archbishop. This can stretch the case out even further, because the same procedure applies again.

Criminal charges must be brought by an accuser, who faces severe penalties if the case is not proved. This discourages frivolous accusation, but also discourages genuine accusation of hidden crimes, such as heresy. Accordingly, the church has instituted two new procedures.

The first is investigation "through notoriety." If everyone knew who the criminal was, then the judge could pronounce sentence without going through the details of the procedure. However, it is obvious to everyone that this procedure is wide open to abuse, and thus it is not widely used. Indeed, some academic lawyers claim that for an offense to be truly "notorious," it must be committed in front of the judge, while he is sitting in court, with a large enough audience to constitute most of the community. (So calling someone a perjured sodomite during a court case for usury is probably a bad idea.)

The second is the inquisitorial procedure, and it has been introduced over the last twenty years. It is not much used in England, but is growing in popularity elsewhere. A judge may initiate an investigation on the basis of widespread belief that a crime has been committed, without waiting for an accuser or true notoriety. The judge decides which charges to bring, which witnesses to call, and how to rule on the case. The normal rules of evidence apply, in theory, and some judges think that confessions gained under torture are good evidence. Most disagree, however, pointing out that people will confess to anything while you are pulling out their toenails.

The accuser in a criminal proceeding, and both plaintiff and defendant in a civil proceeding, may employ a proctor, or legal representative. These individuals need not have formal training, but generally have extensive experience of the courts, and have full authority to make decisions on their clients' behalf. The defendant in a criminal proceeding may not employ a proctor, nor may he or she receive legal advice.

Notorious Heretics

The local bishop sends an agent to the covenant, indicating that many people accuse them of heresy, that, indeed, their heresy is almost notorious, and that they should think about proving their fidelity to the true church by undertaking some task for him. If the claim is even half convincing (for example, most magi never attend mass) the magi would be well advised to comply, or they may face summary judgment. Once the task is completed, they might want to work on their public image.

Punishment

The judge in a church court has wide discretion over the punishment of convicted criminals. The aim is to make the punishment fit the crime, and, if at all possible, to help with the reform of the criminal. There need be no correlation between the apparent severity of the crime, and that of the punishment. For example, a rich engrosser might be fined a very large sum of money and sent on a pilgrimage to Rome, because otherwise he would sin again, while a poor and repentant heretic might be set to fast for two weeks and abstain from sex for a year, just to make sure that his repentance is genuine.

Church courts may not invoke punishments that involve the shedding of blood, and imprisonment is not an option in most cases. Thus, their punishments involve fines, imposed fasting or sexual abstinence, pilgrimages to distant places, enforced labor in some good cause, confinement in a monastery (a good approximation to imprisonment), or, in extreme cases, excommunication. An excommunicated individual cannot take the sacraments, testify in trials, or, in theory, deal with anyone who is still in communion with the church. Anyone who does deal with an excommunicate may be excommunicated himself. Thus, this is a terrible punishment, unless the victim is powerful, and might well prompt people to flee to a covenant.

In very serious cases, the court has the option of relaxation to the secular arm. The criminal is handed over to the secular authorities, who have the ability to maim, torture, and execute.

The Pope

The Pope is the head of the church, the source of canon law, and he must approve the appointment of bishops. He is also the ultimate court of appeal. In general, however, he has little to do with the day to day activities even of kingdoms. At present, however, there is a Papal Legate, Pandulf, in England. He has full papal authority, and, since King John swore fealty to the Pope, he is in theory the most powerful man in England, outranking both the king and the archbishop of Canterbury. England also pays an annual tax to the papacy, known as Peter's Pence. In theory, this is one penny for every household, but the actual amount is set by negotiations between the king and the Pope.

Popular Religion

Most Christians do not express their beliefs in the ways that learned theologians would choose, and sometimes not even in ways that their parish priest entirely agrees with. The line between popular religion and superstition is blurred, so that burying the consecrated Host under a floor could count as either, depending on whether the priest in question approved of it.

Saints

Saints, especially the Virgin Mary, are perhaps the most important feature of popular religion. Most people do not pray directly to God, rather asking a favored saint to intercede for them. This saint may be a personal favorite, or one with an acknowledged concern for a particular area of endeavor. Saints are generally believed to have more power in certain areas, generally near their earthly remains or other relics. The relics themselves are invested with a great deal of the saint's power, and the possession of relics is essential for a church.

This localization of power often leads to contests over the bodies of saints, with several churches wanting to be the burial place. Sometimes the body is split to accommodate this, at others the clergy of one church will take and keep the body by force. Occasionally the saint will intervene in person, indicating where the body should be kept. This competition may not end when the body is installed, although then it becomes a case of "Our saint is better than your saint." Some recipients of miraculous cures testify that they visited several shrines before finally coming to the saint who succeeded in removing their affliction. This can lead to absurdity when two places claim association with the same saint, such as claims that the Virgin of Walsingham is more powerful than the Virgin of Ipswich.

Prayers to saints usually take the form of bargains — "If you save me now, I will do such and such for you." A common bargain is to vow a penny, by bending it between the fingers as the prayer is uttered, or to offer candles with a wick the same length as the body of the person to be healed. If the saint is deprived of his due, he can become quite vengeful, inflicting the disease again. Sometimes, the saint will do this if not offered the exact penny that was vowed.

The miracles, and behavior, attributed to saints were varied — see the legends in the sidebars for examples. Their essential attribute was their thaumaturgical power, and this could maintain a cult even when the church authorities did not fully approve. Of course, such a cult would be discouraged, possibly even persecuted, and so would most likely not last, but not all local saints were ever canonized by the Pope. (Theologically, this was not a problem, as canonization was merely human acknowledgment of a divine decision, and it was widely admitted that there were many saints who had not been canonized.)

A Miracle of St. Thomas Becket

A bird that had learned human speech was being chased by a hawk. As it fled, it cried out a phrase it had been taught, "Saint Thomas, help me!" At once, the hawk fell dead from the sky, and the bird escaped.
— From the Legenda Aurea of Jacobus de Voragine

A Miracle of St. Erkenwald

After a fire in London, a new reliquary was being constructed for St. Erkenwald, whose relics had miraculously survived. A foolish man named Eustace was in the habit of visiting the place where it was being built, and distracting the laborers with drunken jokes and antics.
One day, he entered while the wooden sepulcher that was to hold the saint's relics stood open and, seized by a greater madness than usual, he lay down in the open shrine and began to call out, "I am the most holy Erkenwald; bring me gifts; ask for my help; make me a sepulcher of silver!"
As he was shouting these blasphemies, he was suddenly seized by a severe pain. His friends snatched him from the coffin and took him home, but he died within a few days, struck down by divine judgment.
— From The Miracles of St. Erkenwald
(St. Erkenwald was bishop of London in the seventh century, and is the patron saint of the city.)

Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage is an important part of devotion to the saints. It usually involves a visit to the saint's tomb, but other holy sites also attract pilgrims, such as sites of martyrdom, or of important visions. It is common to vow to visit a saint's tomb if he helps you out of trouble, particularly if the saint is local. Pilgrimages are also imposed as penances for serious sins. They may also be undertaken as a kind of holiday, especially by the well off, although as pilgrims are seen as holy, they can often live by begging. This is discouraged, especially for women, as they can be driven to prostitution if their money runs out.

Many pilgrims travel simply for the spiritual benefits, or for the break, but others go in the hope of seeing, or receiving, a miracle. It is believed that the closer you can get to the body of the saint, the greater your chances of a miracle, so the tombs are designed with holes into which a hand or head can be thrust, to touch the inner coffin. Sometimes people manage to climb inside the tomb, and lie next to the coffin, although the tending monks don't much like this. People will often wait for some time near the tomb, to give the saint a decent chance to perform, before leaving, possibly to visit another saint.

The tombs themselves are quite ornate, and pious visitors often leave offerings of money on them. Candles and wax images of body parts that either have been healed or need healing are also popular, and other images, representing particular kinds of aid given or sought, are also left. These are cleared up to a certain extent, but as their presence is evidence of the saint's power and popularity, many of them are left in place. Some unscrupulous folk steal coins by pretending to kiss the tomb, but this invites divine wrath. To one side sits a literate clerk, assessing claims of miracles and recording those that seem to be genuine.

The four most important pilgrimage sites in England are the tomb of St. Thomas at Canterbury (see page 44), the tomb of St. Cuthbert at Durham (see page 45), the tomb of St. Edmund at Bury St. Edmunds (see page 82), and the tomb of St. Etheldreda at Ely. Sites of lesser, but growing, importance include the tomb of St. Godric at Finchale, near Durham, and the shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham, in Norfolk.

Festivals

There are many festivals and holidays during the year, invariably connected with some saint or other major event of the Christian calendar. Although the main festivals are constant across Christendom, the way in which they are celebrated varies greatly from place to place. This section describes those customs that are common to most of England.

Christmas is the most important festival, although Easter is a more important religious date. Christmas sees the greater festival because it occurs in the middle of winter, when there is little work to do in the fields, and people thus have time to celebrate. The celebrations start on or a little before Christmas Day, and continue for the full twelve days of Christmas. Churches and houses are decorated with evergreen branches, particularly holly and ivy, and noble households hold great feasts. The greatest feast is often held on Twelfth Night, rather than Christmas Day, and the main dish is traditionally pork, with the boar's head forming the centerpiece of the display. At these feasts the Wassail Bowl or Cup will be passed round. This is a large bowl full of wine, which the host holds up, saying "Wassail." He is answered by the guests saying "Drinkhail," and he drinks from the bowl before passing it to the person next to him, who repeats the process. It is customary to give gifts around this time, whether on Christmas Day, January 1st, or Twelfth Night.

Saint Acies of Flambeau

Magi fulfill most of the criteria for sainthood: they have great power, being able to heal the sick and change the weather; they are more powerful in certain areas; and they are willing to smite their enemies and aid their friends in return for gifts. Thus, the local people might well decide that the magi are saints. This would draw the attention of the church, but if the magi spoke in support of the priesthood, paying tithes, and obeying the secular lords, and made a convincing show of orthodoxy, the priests might well confirm their sanctity, rather than stir up pointless trouble. They might even be convinced. The Order would not approve, but they can hardly declare a Wizards' March against acknowledged saints.

Pilgrimages to Adventure

Pilgrimages are a good way of getting characters to travel long distances. A pious character can have one imposed as penance (most player characters commit lots of sins), and even impious ones can have them imposed as penalties in a church court, perhaps as the result of a judgment from notoriety. Indeed, a court could impose the penalty on a fairly arbitrary group of characters, and the other members of the covenant would want to encourage them to go, to avoid further trouble. The pilgrimage could be to Canterbury, or to Rome, or to Jerusalem. On the way, the characters stumble across the storyguide's latest plot.

A custom observed at many cathedrals around Christmas is the Boy Bishop. One of the choristers is chosen on St. Nicholas's day to take the place of the bishop until Holy Innocents', the 28th of December. He wears full regalia, sings the services, and is treated with due reverence. As he is not ordained, he cannot actually celebrate the sacraments, but he takes on the other functions of the bishop. The Church generally looks favorably on this custom, only intervening when it threatens to get out of hand. More general "misrule" events are frowned upon, as they can involve mock services in praise of demons.

The 2nd of February is Candlemas, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this day everyone is expected to attend church, bringing a candle to be blessed by the priest, as they celebrate the coming of light into a dark world, both physically and spiritually. The candles are placed before the high altar, sprinkled with holy water, and perfumed with incense while the priest pronounces a blessing over them. After mass, the candles are carried round the church, but they are then kept and only lit in times of trouble, as a way of invoking divine aid.

Easter is preceded by the forty days of Lent, when all good Christians are supposed to fast, abstaining from meat in particular. Lent starts on Ash Wednesday, and so the preceding day, Shrove Tuesday, serves among the aristocracy as an opportunity for a feast. This doesn't extend to peasants, whose normal diet meets the church's requirements for a fast. Cock fighting is a traditional entertainment for the day. Nevertheless, people are expected to confess before the day ends, so that they start Lent with a clean slate.

On Ash Wednesday itself people are supposed to go to church in penitence, where they kneel before the priest. He blesses ashes, mixes them with holy water, and then either gives some to each person, or places some on their forehead, saying, in Latin, "Remember O Man that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." The more pious folk make the sign of the cross in the ash. In some churches the rood (the image of the cross) is covered with a veil on this day, and not uncovered until the end of Lent.

The Feast of the Annunciation, Lady Day, is the 25th of March, and thus falls within Lent. It is the first day of the New Year for many purposes. (Easter, January 1st, and the date of the king's accession (October 18th for Henry) can all serve this purpose as well.)

The end of Lent is first heralded on Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, when Christ's entry into Jerusalem is remembered. The laity bring branches, usually of willow or yew, which are green at this time of year, to the church to be blessed, and then bear them in procession behind the priest, who carries the consecrated host. This procession goes out of the church, round it, and then back inside, where the story of the crucifixion is read. The priests and choir boys make small wooden crosses from the branches, which are distributed among the laity, and kept for their protective influence.

The Thursday before Easter is Maundy Thursday, and on this day the king recreates Christ's actions at the last supper. He washes the feet of thirteen paupers, and gives them a purse containing some money with which to buy clothes. The ceremony usually takes place in Westminster Abbey. A similar custom is also followed by high ecclesiastics.

Throughout the country the altars are washed on Maundy Thursday, while people have their hair cut and confess in preparation for Good Friday. Bishops also bless oil for use in extreme unction. Before the altars are washed there is an unusually solemn mass, to which the people are summoned not by bells, but by wooden clappers or rattles. At this mass, two additional hosts are consecrated.

On Good Friday, the crucifixion is commemorated. Mass is not celebrated, and the whole story of the Passion is read from St. John's gospel. At the end, the crucifix is placed on the altar steps and the priest and people crawl to it, on hands and knees, and kiss its feet. Communion follows, using one of the hosts consecrated on Thursday. The cross and the other consecrated host are then wrapped in cloths and placed in a sepulcher, a special niche on the north side of the church, which is closed with a cloth.

On Easter Sunday, before dawn, the host and crucifix are removed from the Sepulcher, often as part of a play in which the discovery of the empty tomb is recreated.

At Easter it is traditional to give gifts of colored eggs. These are usually hard-boiled, and are dyed while they are being cooked. Sometimes they are dyed a single color, and at others they are painted with elaborate designs. The royal household even gilds its eggs. These eggs may then be used in a variety of games: they may be rolled down hills, or used as weapons in an attempt to break other people's eggs. Generally, the owner of the egg that wins the race, or is the last unbroken, is held to have some special status, which varies from place to place.

The first of May marks the beginning of summer, and is celebrated by going Maying. This involves bringing flowers from the surrounding country into a village. In some places a large pole is decorated with these flowers, and serves as the centerpiece of drinking and reveling which is universal.

Pentecost, or Whitsunday, which occurs seven weeks after Easter, celebrates the granting of the Holy Spirit to the early church, after Christ had ascended to heaven, which happened on Ascension Day, forty days after Easter. It is an occasion for feasting and games, as there are two holidays following it. The Sunday itself sees processions round the boundaries of the parish, which are often used to display pride in the community, and can lead to fights with members of neighboring parishes. The week after Whitsun is Trinity Sunday, which marks the end of the winter festivals.

Midsummer festivals are concerned with fire. The festivals are held on the 23rd of June, the eve of St. John's Day, and the 28th, the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul. At these feasts three great fires are lit, one made of clean bones, called the bonfire, one of wood, called the wakefire because people sit by it and stay awake, and one of a mixture, called St. John's Fire. The smell of the burning bones is thought to drive away dragons and other malicious creatures. On the same day a large cartwheel is swathed in straw, so that none of the wood is visible, pulled to the top of a hill, and ignited before being allowed to roll down. If it reaches the bottom without being extinguished, this is a good sign.

The first of August is Lammas, the beginning of harvest, when God's bounty is celebrated. This day is a common one for fairs, the appointment of officials, and similar things, and is marked by games and celebrations. These cannot be too rowdy, however, as the harvest must be brought in. At the end of harvest, in September, the workers are feasted by the lord of the land. The last day of October is the feast of the dead, and is followed by All Saints, when all those in heaven are remembered. In November, around Martinmas, the eleventh, animals are slaughtered for winter, and this is usually the occasion for a feast, as some of the meat can be eaten fresh. Advent, the approach to Christmas, begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, at the end of November, and the cycle of the year is complete.

Alms

Almsgiving is a Christian duty, as well as an expression of the virtue of charity, and most of those with money give some of it away. The two recipients of charity are the Church and the poor, generally in that order. Most of the great cathedrals of England were built with donations from the people of the diocese, and all the great monasteries had their origin in a gift.

The picture is complicated because many members of the Church are regarded as poor. The friars, in particular, have renounced all wealth and are thus worthy recipients of charity, but as monks also take vows of poverty, a monastery serves as an equally worthy recipient.

Slightly less worthy, but still with a strong claim, are those who have been impoverished through no fault of their own, and who do not complain about their state. "Impoverished" is a relative term; a knight who could no longer afford to maintain a horse might count, even though he were vastly richer than most peasants. Sometimes, these people are not really poor, but rather powerless: widows and orphans fall into this category. These people seldom need financial assistance, but might be desperate for other kinds of aid. However, hard-working peasants facing starvation as a result of a poor harvest have a very strong claim on charity, and some relief will almost always be provided.

Those who are poor through their own fault, or who rail against their lot in life, are regarded as least deserving, perhaps not even deserving at all. Wastrels who spent all their money, or peasants who grumble about the relative wealth of the nobility, fall into this class.

Gifts are given both in life and at death, although the church encourages people to give while they are still alive, as the deed garners greater merit. Testamentary gifts are often to priests for the purposes of praying for the departed, and for feeding a number of paupers at the funeral, thus guaranteeing a good crowd.

Private Devotion

Devotion in 1220 is still centered on the parish church, and private chapels are very rare. Nevertheless, people do extend their religious practice into their daily lives. One way is to extend some approximation of the canonical hours to domestic life. This could be as simple as morning and evening prayers, or, for the wealthy, as elaborate as any monastery.

Few people have access to devotional literature, as it is still written almost exclusively in Latin. Thus, much private devotion takes forms at which the church might look askance. Particular prayers are recited to ward off harm, or blessed items, such as candles, are taken from the church to perform some other function. In the overwhelming majority of cases such actions have no pagan undertones; the people are simply acting out their Christianity as best they can.

Religious gilds are also an important part of private devotion. These groups dedicate themselves to a saint, usually the patron of the parish church, and commit themselves to giving alms to living members in difficulties, and to burying and praying for members who die.

Heresy

There is little heresy in England in 1220, in marked contrast to other parts of Europe. Certainly, many of the laity hold beliefs that are not quite what the Church teaches, but priests are instructed not to pry into these as long as the person expresses a desire to believe as the Church believes. While there are, no doubt, a number of isolated heretics throughout the country, there are no organized groups or heretical churches to compare to the Cathars in southern France.

Places

Bury St. Edmund's

The abbey was founded in 633 by King Sigebert, and around 900 the body of King Edmund, who had been martyred by the Danes, was brought there, and the monastery was rededicated to the royal martyr. The king was decapitated on his death, and his head guarded by a wolf until a priest was led to it by a dream. King Cnut built a fine, round shrine for the royal saint in the early eleventh century, and it still stands in the Abbey Church.

The abbey is extremely wealthy, having been richly endowed by its founder, Cnut, and Edward the Confessor. It is also exempt from visitation by the bishop of Norwich and the archbishop of Canterbury, thus answering only to the Pope. Within a mile of the abbey, the abbot has the authority of a bishop, and thus the right of visitation in the parish churches. The abbot is also the king's representative in the whole of West Suffolk. The abbot is responsible for collecting taxes, seeing justice done, and enforcing royal writs; the sheriff has no authority in the area.

The town of Bury St. Edmund's is wholly under the abbey's control, a situation that does not please all the citizens. The abbot expelled the Jews in 1190 after the citizens rioted against them, and thus secured some degree of popularity. However, as more towns in England gain borough charters the citizens of Bury are starting to seek more freedom.

The abbot of St. Edmund's is Hugh, who was elected in 1215 after a long and bitter dispute that involved the king and Pope, as well as the monks of the abbey. The monks elected Hugh in 1212 without making reference to the king's will, and, while this was perfectly in accord with canon law, it did not please King John. About half of the monks thought that Hugh should be ejected and the king's man installed, and the dispute was heard before many judges. In the end, it was settled at Runnymede, the day before Magna Carta was signed.

As befits a wealthy house and center of pilgrimage, the abbey has glorious buildings. There are two parish churches, those of St. James and St. Mary, within the boundaries of the abbey, and the abbey church itself is one of the largest churches in Europe. The west entrance is flanked by two great octagonal towers, topped with spires, and the crossing point is surmounted by a further tower. Until recently, the crossing tower was also topped by a spire, but that fell in 1210.

Henry of Essex

Henry of Essex was one of Henry II's constables, and a great and powerful man. Alas, he not only failed to give St. Edmund his due, but also tried to take the saint's privileges away. The wicked man unlawfully deprived the saint of rents worth 5s, and tried to have a case transferred from the saint's court to his own on false grounds.
But wicked men do not enjoy prosperity for ever, and in March of 1163 he was accused of treason by Robert de Montfort. Henry declared that he was innocent, and refused to back down before the accusations, so the king ordered that the matter be resolved by a duel.
The duel was held at Reading, on an island near the abbey, and a great crowd of people came to see it. Robert fought well and courageously, and struck blow after blow, slowly gaining the upper hand. At this point Henry looked around, and was astonished by what he saw.
There, at the water's edge, was the glorious figure of St. Edmund, king and martyr, dressed in armor and apparently floating in mid air. The saint looked at Henry with angry eyes, shaking his head repeatedly and gesturing in an angry fashion. With him was another figure, of lower rank and head and shoulders shorter than the saint, who also looked on him with fury. This was Gilbert de Ceriville, whom Henry had had put in chains and tortured to death, on the basis of a false accusation from Henry's wife.
Henry was frightened by this vision, and sure that his wicked deeds were catching up with him. In desperation he turned to the attack, striking out violently. But the more he struck out, the more he was struck, until he fell to the floor and was left for dead. At the plea of his relatives his body was taken up by the monks of Reading, and when he recovered from his wounds he took the monastic habit, so as to finish his days in virtue.
— From Jocelin of Brakelond, Chronicle of the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds

Fountains

Fountains Abbey is a Cistercian foundation, one of the largest in England and the motherhouse of a filiation extending throughout the country and as far as Norway. It was founded in 1132 by monks from York. They had been inspired by the example of the Cistercians to seek a reform of York Abbey, but the abbot had refused. In the end, the archbishop took them under his protection, and gave them some land to support their new home.

At first, things were very hard. The monks had to shelter among the rocks and caves, before they managed to build a temporary house under a large elm tree, which is still standing. In 1133 they applied for membership in the Cistercian Order, and were admitted as a daughter house of Clairvaux. In the same year a wooden monastery was built, finally giving the monks adequate accommodation. Unfortunately the harvest failed, and the monks were reduced to eating a gruel made from the leaves of their elm tree. In 1134 it seemed clear that the community would fail, and Abbot Richard obtained St. Bernard's permission to abandon the abbey.

While he was away, however, the community's fortunes had changed. Three wealthy churchmen had joined the abbey, bringing their status and their wealth with them. The money was split into three equal parts: one for the poor, one for immediate needs, and one for a building fund. With their immediate survival assured, the monks began to attract benefactions, and the abbey started to grow. In 1135 the abbey was formally admitted into the Cistercian Order.

The abbey's new prosperity allowed it to build in stone, and to begin founding daughter houses. In total, eight other monasteries were founded from Fountains, including one at Lysa in Norway. In 1144 a new abbot, Henry Murdac, was sent from France to bring the abbey into line with current Cistercian practice, and to oversee rebuilding. This he did enthusiastically, but he also involved the abbey in a dispute over the election to the archbishopric of York. In 1147 the sitting archbishop was deposed, and Henry elected in his place. However, feeling against him ran so high that he was unable to enter the city, and a mob sacked and burned Fountains.

Over the next thirty years the abbey was greatly expanded, to nearly its current size, and greater ornamentation began to be used in its decoration. There followed a period of consolidation, but the opening of the thirteenth century saw renewed building, extending the choir of the church in a fine Gothic building. A new abbot, John of Kent, has just been elected to replace John de Fountains, who has just become bishop of Ely. He has further plans for expanding his monastery.

The abbey has about 120 monks and 400 lay brothers at Fountains, and more lay brothers at outlying granges. It owns a great deal of property in Yorkshire, and some in Cumbria, all of which it manages directly. It produces more than it needs, and owns properties in a number of towns, including York and Boston, to help it trade the surplus.

Glastonbury

Glastonbury is the oldest and richest monastery in England, the isle of Avalon, and the burial place of Arthur. It stands on an island in the fens of Somerset, near the commanding height of Glastonbury Tor. The first church on the site was built by Christ himself when he visited the country with Joseph of Arimathea, and dedicated to his virgin mother.

Joseph later stood at the foot of the cross as Christ died, catching Christ's blood in a vessel which he took away with him. Joseph buried the body in his tomb, and after the resurrection he was imprisoned by the Jews for burying Jesus. He was miraculously released, and left the Holy Land, traveling west with eleven companions. At length they reached Glastonbury, and found the church waiting for them. They built twelve huts, and lived holy lives there. The local kings, impressed with their sanctity, granted them twelve hides of land, one for each of the priests, which are still held by the abbey.

At length, these men all died, and the monastery was abandoned for some time. In the second century St. Phagan and St. Deruvian came to Britain and converted the natives, finally coming to Glastonbury, where they established a new community. Later, just before the time of Arthur, St. Patrick came from Ireland to Glastonbury. The monks, seeing that he was a holy man, demanded that he became their abbot, and he reluctantly agreed, bringing them all under a rule of life.

In the time of Arthur, the abbey was the most important in his realm. St. Gildas was a monk at the abbey, but his brother Hueil was a king in Scotland, and fought against Arthur. The saint reconciled them, and finally died and was buried under the pavement of the old church.

St. Collen lived around the same time, a hermit closely associated with abbey, living on the side of the Tor. One day he heard two men discussing Gwynn ab Nudd, saying that he was king of the faeries and Annwfn. He was exasperated, and told them that the faeries were nothing but pagan demons. The men told him that he would soon see Gwynn ab Nudd himself, and indeed a finely garbed messenger came that very night and took him to a fine castle on the Tor, where beautiful maidens served valiant knights. He was taken before Gwynn, seated on a golden throne, who asked him whether he had ever seen men in finer clothes than his in red and blue. The saint replied that the clothes represented punishment, the red being fire and blue extreme cold. He then sprinkled holy water over them, and they, and the castle, disappeared.

After the death of Arthur and his burial at the abbey, the times were hard, and the monastery was nearly deserted. Indeed, the very location of Arthur's grave was lost. In the sixth century St. David came from Wales to rededicate the old church, but was told in a dream that God himself had dedicated it, and it would be sacrilege to repeat the ceremony. He was wounded in his hand as a sign, and then healed as he consecrated the host in the church. St. David returned to Wales to die, but the monks claim that his relics were brought to Glastonbury in the ninth century. The cathedral chapter of St. Davids disagrees.

In the tenth century St. Dunstan was closely associated with Glastonbury. He was a handsome man, a skilled craftsman and artist, as well as a learned man and superb administrator. Although he lived chastely all his life, he was greatly attracted to women and found this a great trial. One time, while he was yet young and working in his shop in the abbey, the devil took on human form and came to stand outside the window and talk to him. The saint seemed willing to talk, as he was finishing his labor, and the devil quickly turned the conversation to women, seeking to distract the saint with ribald stories. Dunstan merely nodded, heating his tongs in the forge. Then, as the devil talked, he turned and seized his nose with the tongs, twisting it. The devil, maddened by the pain, fled screaming "What has that man done! What has that man done!"

St. Dunstan went on to be archbishop of Canterbury and led a great reform of the English church, revitalizing monasticism everywhere, but Glastonbury retained a special place in his heart. The monks of the abbey claim that they rescued his relics from Canterbury during the Danish raids of the eleventh century, but the monks of the cathedral claim that they are still there. King Edgar, who was greatly guided by St. Dunstan, gave many gifts to the abbey and was, at the end, buried there.

The monastery then lived peacefully until the Norman Conquest, when the Conqueror installed a Norman Abbot, Thurstan. He tried to impose foreign customs, with disastrous consequences. (See insert, page 85) As a result of this scandal Thurstan was removed, but in later life he bribed William Rufus to restore him to the abbacy, although it brought him no joy.

In 1184 the abbey was smitten by a terrible fire, which destroyed all the buildings, including the old church. Work immediately began on rebuilding, and a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary was built on the site of the old church. The rebuilding of the great monastic church was also begun, and the monks first used it at Christmas 1213, although it is not yet complete.

From 1195 to 1219 the abbacy was united with the bishopric of Bath. This was a bad time for the abbey, as its revenues were appropriated to serve the bishop's political ends. In 1219 the monks obtained a privilege from Pope Honorius III dissolving the union, and confirming the abbot's right to wear a bishop's miter and bless clerical vestments. The first abbot elected freely under this regime was William of St. Vigor, who is still the abbot now.

Abbot Thurstan

A wicked dissension arose between Thurstan and his convent. He rejected the Gregorian chant, and tried to force the monks to use that of William of Fécamp. He also spent the abbey's wealth on his own business, and reduced the food given to the monks. They, especially the older ones, took this ill, and found his foreign habits hard to tolerate.
One day Thurstan entered the chapter in an agitated frame of mind, and began to address the monks angrily on these matters. They refused to bend to his will, and, in a moment of rage, the abbot summoned his soldiers to arms. The monks were terrified when they saw this, and fled to the church.
The servants of Belial followed them, however, breaking down the doors and attacking them with bows and arrows. Reverence for the holy place and the saints did not stop them until they had killed one of the monks, transfixing him with a lance as he embraced the holy altar, and had slain another with arrows at its foot. The monks then defended themselves as far as they were able, and drove the attackers from the choir with benches and sticks.
One of the soldiers, more tenacious in wickedness then the others, saw a monk holding up a silver cross as a shield, and let an arrow fly at him. By God's grace the arrow wounded the Lord's image, striking it below the knees and bringing forth a stream of blood. The sight of this drove the man who had fired the arrow mad, so that he left the church and fell, breaking his neck and giving up his soul. The others fled at the sight, but they did not escape divine punishment.
— From John of Glastonbury's Cronica

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See Also

Chapter 6: The Church

The Seculars

The Parish

The Life of Clerics

The Tithe

Chaplains and Administrators

Scholars

The Universities

Vagabond Clerks

Magical Tithes

The Regulars

Master Robert Grosseteste

The Rules

Benedictine

The Enemy of My Enemy

The Coming of the Monks

Cistercian

Augustinian

Gilbertine

The Military Orders

The Friars

Monastic Organization and Property

The Canonical Hours

Pastimes

The Sacraments

Baptism

Confirmation

Penance

The Eucharist

The Mass of St. Gregory the Great

Marriage

Ordination

Extreme Unction

Ecclesiastical Organization

Bishops

Dioceses and Bishops in the Stonehenge Tribunal, 1220

Province of Canterbury

Welsh Bishoprics

Archdeacons

A Miracle of St. Wulfstan

The Visitation

Canon Law

Stephen Langton

Walter de Grey

Richard de Marsh

Canonical Procedure

An Engrossing Problem

Notorious Heretics

Punishment

The Pope

Popular Religion

Saints

A Miracle of St. Thomas Becket

A Miracle of St. Erkenwald

Pilgrimage

Festivals

Saint Acies of Flambeau

Pilgrimages to Adventure