Parish Priests and Their People in the Middle Ages in England Part 24

"Thomas, Thomas, so might I ride or go, And by that lord that cleped is St. Ive, N'ere[410] thou our brother shouldest thou not thrive.

In our chapter pray we day and night To Christ that he here send hele and might[411]

Thy body for to welden hastilee."

The rustic roughly answers--

"G.o.d wot, quoth he, I nothing thereof feel, So help me Christ as I in fewe years Have spended upon divers manner freres Full many a pound, yet fare I never the bet."

"Ye sayn me thus how that I am your brother.

Ye, certes, quod the friar, trusteth wee, I took our dame the letter under our sel."[412]

Chaucer, "The Sompnour's Tale."

So "Piers Plowman" says--

"I am Wrath, quod he, I was sum tyme a frere And the convent's gardyner for to graff impes On limitours and lesyngs I imped Till they bere leaves of low speech lordes to please, And sithen they blossomed abrode in bower to hear shrifts.

And now is fallen thereof a fruite, that folk have well liever Shewen ther shriftes to hem than shryve them to their parsons.

And now parsons have percyved that freres part with them, These possessioners preache and deprave freres, And freres find them in default, as folk beareth witness."

Bonaventure, when General of the Franciscans, in a letter to one of his provincials, expresses great dissatisfaction with those of the brethren who, contrary to the rule of Francis, a.s.sault the clergy in their sermons before the laity, and only sow scandal, strife, and hatred, and with those who injure the parish priests by monopolizing to themselves the burial of the dead and the drawing up of wills, thereby making the whole Order detested by the clergy. But he complains of the injustice done by accusing the whole of what was the fault only of a few--"the sc.u.m floats on the surface, and is noticed by every one."[413] It was rather hard, perhaps, on the parish priest, that he should not only be obliged to submit to the intrusion of the friar, but should be expected to offer hospitality to the intruder, and make much of him, as a const.i.tution of Archbishop Peckham desires him to do.[414]

It is the popular belief that the friars, after having in the first burst of their enthusiasm effected a great revival of religion, very soon departed from the principles of their founders, became useless, if not mischievous, and fell into universal disfavour. There is no denying that the splendid enthusiasm of their first inst.i.tution cooled down, and the wonderful revival of popular religion which it brought about seemed to die out; it is the inevitable course of all such revivals; but it left good perennial results behind.

The burgesses of the towns in which the friaries were situated seem to have regarded them as useful workers among the poor. In many of the towns the civic authorities consented to hold the site and buildings of the friaries in trust, in order to evade the rule which forbade the orders themselves to hold property. The friars continued to live, and their continuance depended upon the daily voluntary alms of the townspeople. The churches of the friars were favourite places for civic functions and miracle plays; the people sought burial in their precincts; and down to the very eve of their dissolution a great number of wills, both of clergy and laity, contain small bequests to the friars. Perhaps the most striking evidence in their favour at the very end of their existence in England is that Edward IV. was a great patron of the Observants (the strictest section of the Franciscans); Henry VII. founded six convents of them; and Henry VIII. took one of them as his confessor. It is a fact which tells in their favour that they had not grown wealthy. When the dissolution came, the jackals of Henry VIII. found nothing but the houses and their precincts, usually in a poor neighbourhood, and their churches. Their income is commonly returned at 20_s._ to 40_s._, and the total value of the property, when the prior's house and the garden and orchard and the whole convent was let out on rent, was seldom over 10 a year.[415]

The truth seems to be that the friars continued to be the most popular preachers, and to carry on a steady work among the poor of the towns. But, strongly papal in sentiment, their const.i.tution made them an organized propaganda of any ideas which the cardinal protectors and generals of the orders residing in Rome suggested to the provincials in the several nations, they to the wardens of the districts, they to the priors of the houses, they to their individual friars, and they through the streets of the city and the length and breadth of the land. It was, perhaps, their political opposition to Henry VIII. more than any other cause of offence or dereliction of duty, which provoked their overthrow.

The two chief faults of the system were the principle of mendicancy and the exemption from episcopal control. It is worth while to study the inst.i.tution carefully, for something of the same kind--brotherhoods of educated and trained men, who are content to abandon the world's ambitions, to live among the poor, to preach the gospel in a popular way, and to minister to the temporal sufferings of the people--is exactly what is wanted to produce a new revival among the ma.s.ses of the people; and we need to ascertain the secrets of the friars' strength and of their weakness.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE "TAXATIO" OF POPE NICHOLAS IV.

In the thirteenth century the popes a.s.sumed the right, as feudal lords over the Church, to demand from every church benefice a fine of its first year's income from every new inc.u.mbent, and an annual tax of one-tenth of its income. The Saxon kings had made the Church lands exempt from state imposts;[416] but now kings very naturally began to think that the necessities of the State had as good a claim as those of the pope; and there ensued a certain amount of friction. The popes, with very astute policy, reconciled the kings to the tax by sometimes ceding the proceeds of it to them. Thus in 1253, Pope Innocent IV. gave the tenths to King Henry III. for three years, which occasioned a taxation or valuation to be made in the following year, sometimes called the Norwich Taxation, sometimes Pope Innocent's Valor.

Again, in 1288, Pope Nicholas IV. gave the tenths to King Edward I. for six years, towards an expedition to the Holy Land; that they might be fully collected a new taxation was made by the king's precept, which was begun in that year and finished in the province of Canterbury in 1291, and in the province of York in 1292.[417] This taxation continued to be the basis of all a.s.sessments upon the Church down to the time of the Reformation.

The survey takes each diocese by itself, each archdeaconry of the diocese, each rural deanery, and, finally, each benefice. Here is a specimen, selected because it is a deanery of which the writer has some personal knowledge.

SPIRITUALIA ARCHIDIACONATUS ESs.e.xIae. DECANATUS DE BERDESTAPLE.

_s._ _d._

Ecclia de Thurrok pva 5 6 8 Porco Rectoris de Westurrok ibidem 0 6 6 Ecclia de Oresith 16 0 0 Porcio Cancellarii Sci Pauli Lond' ibidem 6 0 0 Porcio Magri Johis de Sco Claro ibidem 2 0 0 Porcio Prioris de Pritelwell in North Beniflete 1 6 8 Porcio Abbis Westm. ibidem 0 13 4 Porcio Decani Sci Martini London' ibm 0 10 0 Ecclia de Westilleb? 13 16 8 Ecclia de Estilleb? 14 13 4 Ecclia de h.o.r.n.yngdone 12 0 0 Vicar' ejusdem 4 13 4 Porcio Abbis Colcestr' ibidem 2 0 0 Porcio Prioris de Beremondes' ibidem 1 13 4 Ecclia de Mockyng 14 13 4 Porcio Abbisse de Berkyngg ibidem 2 0 0 Ecclia de Stanford 16 0 0 Pensio Abbis de Bileye in Langedon 2 0 0 Ecclia de Bulephen 13 6 8 Ecclia de Coringham 8 0 0 Porcio Prioris de P'telewell in Wikford 2 13 4 Porcio ejusdem Prioris in Thunderle 1 4 0 Ecclia de Bures 6 13 4 Ecclia de Bourgsted 13 6 8 Ecclia de Leyndon 13 6 8 Ecclia de Fobbing 10 0 0 Ecclesia de Chaldewell 5 6 8 Ecclia de Magna Bemfleth 6 13 0 Porcio Abbatis Colcestr' in Ecclia de Picher'

cu' penc' sua in eadem 1 6 8 Ecclia Dontone 5 6 8 Pensio Prioris de Okebourn ibidem 2 13 4 Ecclia de Burgsted pva 4 13 4 Ecclia de Hoton 9 6 8 Penc' Abbis de Bello ibidem 0 5 0 Ecclia de Shenefeud 10 0 0 Ecclia de Duddynggeherst 8 0 0 Ecclia de Gingg Rad'i 6 13 4 Ecclia de Ramesden Cray 5 6 8 Ecclia de Ramesden Belhous 6 13 4 Ecclia de Dounham 5 6 8 Ecclia de Fangge 6 13 4 Sm{a} 268 14_s._ 10_d._

In the list of smaller benefices we find also belonging to this deanery--

Vicar' de Tilleby magna 2 0 0 Ecclia de Parva Benifleth 1 13 4 Ecclia de Wykford 2 6 8 Ecclia de Thunderle 1 10 0 Ecclia de Thorndon magna 1 13 4

From the list of _temporalia_ in the same deanery we find that the following--the Abbots of Coggeshall, Stratford, St. Osyth, Colchester, Battle, Westminster, Byleigh, the Abbess of Barking, the Priors of Thoby, Prittlewell, Okeburn, Bermondsey, Leigh, b.u.t.tele,[418] Kereseye, the Chapter of St. Paul's, and the Chapter of St. Martin's, London, had income in land, rent, marsh, young of animals, mills, fallen wood, from the following places: Langedon, Thorndon magna, Bursted parva, Ging Rudulphi, Thorndon, Thorndon parva, Tillebery parva, Duddyngeherst, Stornyngdon, Donton, Doneham, Westlee, Horton, Wykford, Bournstead (Bursted) magna, Bulewephen, Fanga (Vange), Leydon, Mocrkyngge, Bowers, Benifleth parva, Chaldwell, Shenefeud, Piches [in a footnote Picheseye = Pitsey], Raumesden Cray, Rammesden Belhous, Felbingge, Thurrock parva, Thonderle, Bemfleth magna.

Every "Ecclesia" in the list gives the name of a parish, and where the word occurs it implies that the parish was a rectory. Where it is followed by _Vicaria ejusdem_--the vicarage of the same--it implies that the rectory had been appropriated to some religious house, which had founded a vicarage therein; in this particular deanery there is only one vicarage; but it is very possible, for anything which appears, that some of the Ecclesiae may have been appropriated to a religious house, which was technically the rector possessing all spiritual and temporal rights in the church and parish, and serving the cure by one of its own members, or by a stipendiary priest.

Even where the benefice had not been appropriated to a religious house, it often happened that some "portion" of the profits of the benefice--_e.g._ of the t.i.the or of some part of the land--had been appropriated; or that a definite annual payment, "pension," had been a.s.signed out of the benefice. Thus, under "Ecclesia de Oresith," the rectory of Orsett, appears quite a list of "portions," viz. of the Chancellor of St. Paul's, of Mr. John of St. Clair, of the Prior of Prittlewell, of the Abbot of Westminster, of the Dean of St. Martin, London; the Abbot of Bileigh had a "pension" out of the rectory of Stanford, the Prior of Oakburn out of Dunton, the Abbot of Battle out of Hutton. There are two ways of explaining this. One is the way of the enemy of the religious houses, whose cynical explanation is that the monks had their spoon in everybody's porridge--the Rector of Orsett had half a dozen spoons clattering together in his dish. The other explanation is that of the friend of the religious houses: that they were held in such general admiration, that lords of manors and patrons of parochial benefices who could not do more, at least made small appropriations to them out of their patronage, in token of good will, and in order to secure a permanent interest in the friendship and prayers of the Religious. With these explanations of the list of benefices of the deanery of Barstaple, we leave it for the present, proposing to make it the text of further exposition hereafter.[419]

In studying this mediaeval clergy-list, the first thought which occurs to every one is to count the parishes and ascertain the total. Allowing for difficulties which tend to a few omissions, or the counting of a few names over again, it may be depended upon that the number of parishes was about 8085; that out of those which had been appropriated to religious bodies vicarages had been endowed in about 1487, the 457 chapels had probably some endowment, besides the chapels-of-ease, dependent on the inc.u.mbent of the parish. Adding the parish churches and chapels together, we get a total of 8542 endowed places of public worship and centres of pastoral care.[420]

Vicarages Ecclesiae not founded in exceeding Vicarages Ecclesiae. them. Chapels. 10 marks. ditto.

Canterbury 221 58 15 47 28 Rochester 108 31 0 50 39 London 459 86 13 150 33 Lincoln 1738 353 76 467 279 Norwich 1165 80 17 354 35 Chichester 286 112 3 91 81 Exeter 529 139 49 344 158 Hereford 291 94 48 155 82 Sarum 493 104 50 222 80 Bath and Wells 262 42 19 113 29 Winton 338 53 41 84 34 Worcester 335 34 60 136 26 Coventry and Lichfield 382 28 27 154 27 Ely 135 37 3 15 35 St. David's 223 0 4 124 0 Llandaff 131 9 9 72 6 St. Asaph's 109 63 13 47 55 Bangor 34 0 1 26 1 York 625 113 4 93 61 Durham 117 43 4 15 25 Carlisle 94 25 1 2 14 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 8085 1487 457 2711 1125 457 1125 ---- ---- 8542 3836

The next question which naturally excites interest is the incomes of the benefices, by which the services of the mediaeval parish clergy were remunerated. The general idea is that the mediaeval clergy were richly endowed. The truth which is revealed by the figures of this official doc.u.ment is that, when we take away the livings a.s.signed by their patrons as the prebends of cathedrals, and those appropriated to religious houses, the benefices of the "working clergy," the rectors and vicars, were mostly of small value.

Before we go into a detailed examination of them, it is desirable to make two preliminary remarks. The first is as to the value of money at that period. The question will be more fully considered in the next chapter in connection with the new valuation which was made in the time of Henry VIII., but it will be convenient to antic.i.p.ate here the estimate there accepted that the purchasing power of money at the end of the thirteenth century was about twenty-four times as great as now, so that a pound was then equivalent to about 24 now. The other remark is in reply to the question which will naturally arise in every reader's mind: were not the benefices much undervalued? On the contrary, it was the object of pope and king to estimate them as highly as possible, so as to increase the amount of the tenth to be demanded from them. Every source of income was taken into the account; and the general complaint at the time was that they were overestimated.

Turning now to a little study of the value of the ordinary parochial benefices, the writer has shrunk from the laborious task of anything like a complete a.n.a.lysis; for a few general facts are sufficient for the present purpose. First of all, many of the benefices were so small that both pope and king[421] were ashamed to demand a tenth of their poor income; a limit of ten marks (= 6 13_s._ 4_d._) was fixed, and all livings not over that sum were exempted. No wonder, when we reckon that the present value of a benefice of ten marks would be about 160 a year.

But there were 2711 rectories and 1129 vicarages, making a total of 3840, nearly half the number of parochial benefices under the limit of ten marks.

Looking at the better-endowed benefices: Canterbury was an exceptionally rich diocese; out of its 279 benefices, there are 82 of ten marks and under, only 80 above 20, and the richest living, a rare exception, is 133. In Rochester, with 139 benefices, 46 are less than ten marks, only 34 of 20 and upwards, and there are two "golden livings" of 60 each. In Exeter diocese, out of 668 benefices, there are 189 of ten marks and under, 15 of 20 and over, only one so large as 50. In Bath and Wells, out of 304 parishes, there are 124 under ten marks; three of 50 and over, and the highest is one of 60. In Carlisle, out of 24 parishes, there are 18 of ten marks and under; 42 of 20 and over; one of 90, and one of 120. The usual income of a vicarage was 5, a little more or less; there are very few of greater value, up to 8 and 10.

The conclusion is forced upon us by these official figures, that the mediaeval parish clergy were scantily endowed; one would wonder how, in many cases, with such endowments, they could live, and maintain hospitality to travellers, and help their poor, if one did not call to mind that the majority of the clergy had not a wife and family to maintain; that the rectors were mostly of the families of the gentry, and many of the vicars probably of the middle cla.s.s, and that--then, as now--the majority of the beneficed clergy probably had some resources of their own, and perhaps--then, as now--brought as much into the church of their own as they took out of it in their annual profits.

A contemporary copy of the taxation of the Diocese of Exeter gives on the end page a summary of the tenths for the whole kingdom--

_s._ _d._ Sum of the tenth of the Province of Canterbury 16,258 18 4 Sum of the tenth of the Province of York 4,155 10 7 -------------------

Sum total of both provinces 20,414 8 11 ------------------- Which, multiplied by ten, will give the total value taxed 204,144 9 2

The Bishop of Oxford, "as the result of a painful calculation from the 'Taxatio,'" arrives at the following conclusion:--

Spirituals, 135,665; temporals, 74,978; total, 210,644; and the temporals of the bishops included in the total amount of temporals was 16,826.

Of the number of the clergy nearly a century later we have an exact official return. In the year 1377 a poll-tax was levied on the whole body of the clergy of England and Wales, excepting those of the counties Palatine of Durham and Chester, of twelve-pence on "every beneficed ecclesiastic, exempt and not exempt, privileged and not privileged, and all abbots, priors, abbesses, prioresses, monks, canons, canonesses, and other regulars of whatever order, s.e.x, and condition, the four orders of mendicants alone excepted;" and fourpence on "every priest, deacon, sub-deacon, accolite, and those obtaining the first tonsure exceeding the age of fourteen years."

The total number of men given in the returns is 15,238 beneficed, and 13,943 unbeneficed. If we suppose the number in the excepted counties of Durham and Chester to have been in the same proportion, we should have a total for the whole of England (Wales is not included in the return) of about 15,800 beneficed, and 14,000 unbeneficed, and a total of about 29,800. From the same return we gather that the whole population of the country at that time was about 2,065,000.[422]

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE "VALOR ECCLESIASTICUS" OF HENRY VIII.