Education in England in the Middle Ages Part 12

Music and the drama were also fostered by the gilds. Several gilds existed in England[452] with the object of developing an interest in music. The performance of dramatic representations was a common feature of the gilds.

Membership of the gilds also proved to be a training for the performance of the duties of citizenship and of society, as the members of such organisations were brought into intimate relation with a wider circle than their own individual interests would furnish, and they would be required to take part in the transactions of the business of the gild. It is noteworthy that gilds were organised on a social basis, and that women were admitted to the membership of the merchant and craft gilds, as well as to that of the social and religious gilds. Thus at Kingston, the Gild of the Blessed Virgin Mary was founded in 1357 by 10 men and 13 women,[453] and the Gild of Corpus Christi founded in the same town in 1338 included 18 women among its 43 founders.[454] The sons and daughters of these founders might be admitted to membership of the gilds without initiatory payment.[455] Again, at Coventry, the names of women as well as men are mentioned in the Charter of the gild merchant.[456]

One other point may be mentioned, a point which has been described as "the most important educational service of the gilds." This service was the growth of the system of apprenticeship. Originally, apprenticeship was merely a private contract between an individual and his prospective master. With the development of gilds, regulations specifying the conditions of such apprenticeship began to be issued, _e.g._ the master craftsman might teach his art to as many members of his family as he pleased, but he could only have one other apprentice. Moreover, from the outset, the apprentice was under the special protection of the gild which was practically a court of appeal in the event of any serious complaint on the part of the apprentice. Important, however, as this topic is, a further consideration of it would lead us beyond the special limits of our investigation.

CHAPTER IV.

CHANTRIES.

One of the characteristics of the ecclesiastical life of this country during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was the inst.i.tution of chantries; altogether upwards of 2,000 of them are known to have been founded during the period. As chantry priests played an important part in connection with the provision of educational facilities in England, the topic of chantries calls for careful consideration.

A chantry may be defined as a foundation for the purpose of providing a priest who shall pray daily, primarily for the soul of the founder, and secondly for the souls of all Christian people. The earliest instances of chantries definitely recognised as such, date from the latter part of the thirteenth century. The "Taxatio of Pope Nicholas" only mentions two; one which was founded by Hugh of Lincoln, who died in 1225, and the other which existed at Hatherton in the county of Warwick. The custom gradually grew, but did not become common until the fifteenth century, the period in which the number of such inst.i.tutions largely increased.[457]

The idea of offering prayers for the souls of the faithful departed was not a new one. The practice is at least as old as the inst.i.tution of the Christian faith, and is a custom which is perfectly natural to those who believe in the immortality of the soul, and a state of future personal existence. It had also been a custom, "from time immemorial," that prayers for the souls of the founders were regularly offered up in religious houses and other ecclesiastical foundations. A list of donors and benefactors was carefully preserved, and prayers for their good estate were offered up for them while they were living, and for the repose of their soul after death. Thus, the "Catalogus Benefactorum" of St. Albans Monastery, with its detailed account of every benefaction, is still preserved in the British Museum.[458] The distinctive mark of a chantry was, that it was expressly founded for the apparently selfish purpose of making financial provision to secure the prayers of others for the future well-being of the soul of the founder.

But though this selfish and personal purpose may have been the dominating thought in the case of some foundations, yet it is probable that it was not the only purpose of the majority of these inst.i.tutions. The primary point to be remembered is that it is a laudable desire to wish to perpetuate one's memory, especially if the memorial should take a form which will benefit the social community. In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the prevailing method of doing this was by establishing a chantry.

In attempting to investigate the reasons why chantries were founded, we are faced from the outset with a difficulty. The licence in mortmain, by which permission to a.s.sign lands for the support of the chantry priest was effected, scarcely ever mentions any other object for the memorial except the chantry itself, whilst the foundation statutes, which enumerate more specifically the purpose of the founder, are very rarely forthcoming.

An example will make this clear. In 1414 Langley, Bishop of Durham, issues to himself an episcopal licence empowering the founding of the chantry he wished to endow. In the same year he, in his temporal capacity as Earl of a County Palatine, grants a licence in mortmain, authorising the chantry to hold lands and to make the chantry priest a corporation.[459] Both these records are available, but in neither of them is there any reference to the _real_ objects for which the chantry was to be inst.i.tuted. Consequently, if further information was not forthcoming, we would a.s.sume that all that the Bishop of Durham had done was to evince, in some tangible manner, his belief in the efficacy of ma.s.ses for the departed.

Fortunately, however, there still survives a lengthy deed,[460] dated the day after the licences to which we have referred were granted. This deed specifies that the priests appointed to the chantry were to keep schools of grammar and of song respectively, in addition to offering prayers for the souls of the departed, and that a certain sum of money out of the proceeds of the chantry was to be used for the purpose of distribution to the poor.[461]

Strangely enough, we are dependent for information as to the purposes of chantries, on the instrument which brought about their destruction. In 1545 was pa.s.sed the Chantries' Act of Henry VIII. This Act began by reciting that many people had been appropriating the endowments of "Colleges, Freechapelles, Chantries, Hospitalles, Fraternities, Brotherhoods, Guilds and Stipendarie Priests," and that the expenses of the war with France and Scotland had been heavy, and then proceeded to give authority to the king to send out commissioners to investigate the nature of these endowments and afterwards to take such action as he thought fit.

"Apparently, Henry had a fit of reaction after the Chantries' Act was pa.s.sed. He is reported to have dissolved Parliament with a speech in which he said he was going to reform chantries, not destroy them."[462]

A new Chantries' Act was pa.s.sed in the first parliament of Edward VI.[463]

The object of this Act was essentially different from that of its predecessor. The preamble to the Act specified that it was thought that "a great part of superst.i.tion and errors in Christian religion has been brought into the minds and estimation of men, by reason of their ignorance of the very true and perfect Salvation through Christ Jesus, and by devising and fancying vain opinions of purgatory and ma.s.ses satisfactory to be done for them which be departed, the which doctrine and vain opinion by nothing more is maintained and upholden than by the abuse of trentals, chantries, and other provisions made for the continuance of the said blindness and ignorance."

The Act proceeded to vest in the Crown "all Colleges, Free Chapels and Chantries"; "all Lands given for the finding of a Stipendiary Priest for ever"; "all payments made by corporations, gilds, fraternities, companies, or fellowships, of mysteries or crafts."

A commission was to be issued, under the Great Seal, to investigate the origin and purpose of the various chantries, etc., to arrange for the continuance of such charitable objects as they deemed necessary, and to a.s.sign pensions to the inc.u.mbents whose office was abolished.

It is to the returns that were made to these commissioners that we are mainly indebted for a knowledge of the objects and purposes for which the chantries were provided. The purposes, which are most frequently mentioned, are:--

1. Provision of a priest to teach children freely.

2. a.s.sistance of the parish priest.

3. Care of bridges.

4. Relief of the poor.

5. Provision of almshouses.

6. Repairing the parish church.

7. Equipping soldiers.

8. Repairing the sea walls.

9. Provision of lamps.

10. Provision of dowries.

Of these purposes, the most important was probably the provision of an endowment to enable a priest to keep a school. Mr. Leach, who was the first writer to realise fully the significance of the chantries in relation to the provision of facilities for education, states that "in all 259 schools appear in these records."[464] Two or three examples will serve to make clear the nature of the provision for education made by the chantry bequests.

"WYMBORNE.

Cantaria Margarite Comitisse Rychemond et Derbie matris Domini Regis Henrici Septimi.

Memorandum that this was foundyd to the intent that the inc.u.mbent thereof should say ma.s.se for the solles of the founders and to be a Scolemaster, to teche frely almanner of childern Gramer within the said College."[465]

"THE PARISH OF NEWLAND.

Gryndoures chauntrye.

Foundyd to Fynde a preste and a gramer scole half free for ever and to kepe a scoller sufficientt to teche under hym contynually."[466]

"TOWCESTER.

The Colledg or Spones Chauntree.

Founded to mayntene 2 Prestes, beyng men of good knoweledg. The one to preach the Worde of G.o.d. And the other to kepe a Grammar Scole."[467]

Our task is now that of attempting to interpret the reasons why the chantries were founded.

We must give due weight to the ostensible object, which must be also regarded as the primary one. A widespread belief in the efficacy of prayers for the departed existed; unfortunately, there also prevailed, apparently, a belief in the value of hired prayers. It must be clearly realised that it was for the purpose of securing prayer for the welfare of the living and the repose of the departed soul that these chantries were founded.

But, side by side with this main object, there also existed in the minds of the majority of the founders a desire to benefit the community. We have already enumerated the main directions in which it was proposed to effect the benefit. The remarkable fact is, that, in as many as 259 cases, education was regarded as of such importance that specific arrangements were made to provide for it.

In a large number of cases, it is specified that the proceeds of the chantry are to be devoted to the support of a priest to a.s.sist the parish priest. We venture to suggest that there is to be found here a clue to the explanation of many of the unspecified trusts and particularly of those in which it is expressly laid down that it was a purpose of the chantry to provide a priest for educational purposes. We have previously shown that it was a recognised duty of the parish priest to keep a school. The growth in the duties of a parish priest would make it difficult for him effectively to discharge this function; possibly, in some cases, he might be incapable of doing so; moreover, the progress of the universities had caused the profession of a teacher to be a definite one. Our a.n.a.lysis of the social structure[468] has enabled us to realise that the increasing complexity of our industrial system and the social and economic changes which occurred, had caused education to be more necessary and to be esteemed more highly. The "Paston Letters" show that the dependents and servants of great households were able to read and write.[469] Thorold Rogers states that the accounts of bailiffs afford proof that they were not illiterate, and he also evidences that artisans were able to write out an account.[470] We must not, however, a.s.sume that a knowledge of reading and writing, though probably widespread, was universal. It is interesting to note that, of the twenty witnesses who were examined in connection with the enquiry touching Sir John Fastolf's will in 1446, eleven were described as "illiterate"; they consisted of five husbandmen, one gentleman, one smith, one cook, one roper, one tailor, and one mariner.

The description "literatus" was applied to seven persons, two husbandmen, two merchants, and one whose occupation was not specified.[471] The two remaining witnesses could both read and write.

Our hypothesis is, that the founder of the chantry desired to be of a.s.sistance, both to the parish priest himself, and to the children of the parish. He sought to accomplish this by leaving lands to provide an endowment to support a priest who would relieve the parish priest of his duties as a teacher. This hypothesis would also help to explain the gradual disappearance of the parish priest as the responsible master of the parochial school, a disappearance which would be accelerated by the increasing recognition of the fact that teaching was a specialist function, to be entrusted to a person expressly appointed for that purpose.

A most important and noteworthy feature of some chantries is, that in certain parishes they were founded by the inhabitants themselves, for the express purpose of providing educational facilities. We do not imply that the religious element was lacking, or that the doctrine of the efficacy of prayer for the departed was lightly held. In all probability, the religious motive was a strong impelling force. For our present purpose, the significant fact is, that in certain communities some of the inhabitants founded chantries with the provision of facilities for education as the expressed object. We have been able to trace the origin of the following schools to the action of the inhabitants, but it is not claimed that the list is exhaustive.

Aldeborough. Wragby.

Basingstoke. Bridgenorth.