Compotus of Wm. Richardson “Vicegerent” of John Emott rector, of his benefice of Brancaster in 1535.First in glebe land, x acr’, by the yearly value of vj.Item in wheté, xx cūbe [cumbes].Item in myxteleyn, xl cūbe.Item in barley, xx cūbe.Item in pes, fetches, and oots (pease, vetches, and oats), xvj cūbe.Item in woll, xvj ston.Item in lambs, l.Item yeoffering of iiij days, xxiiijs.Item in odyr offerings of other days, xxs.Item in lactage and p’vy (privy) tythes, xxxvjs.Item in hempe, hony, and waxe, iiijs.Item in pygyns, vjs.viijd.Item in gyse and chekyns, iijs.iiijd.Item in tythe piggs, iiijs.Item in eggys, iijs.Item in saffron, j li.Theys ben yepcells yewych yesayd John Emott ps̄ūn̄ of Brancast’ aske yeallowance ofs.d.Fyrst in porcions to the monastȳ of RamseyxlItem to ps̄ūn̄ of BebdalexxvjviijItem to sexton in yemonastȳ aforsaidxiijiiijItem in p̄ōx̄ys (proxies)vijvijob.Item in sinage (elsewhere senage and synage, vol. v. 182, probably payment at synods)ijWilliam Richardson Curat’ there affirms the said rectory to be of the annual value altogether of:—Galfūs̄ WorleConst’}}}£s.d.Gilbtūs̄ Smyth}}ParishionersAffirmasabove.xxixiixiob.Ric Clerkxxviiixiob.Johīs̄ Cranexxviijixvijob.
Compotus of Wm. Richardson “Vicegerent” of John Emott rector, of his benefice of Brancaster in 1535.
First in glebe land, x acr’, by the yearly value of vj.
Item in wheté, xx cūbe [cumbes].
Item in myxteleyn, xl cūbe.
Item in barley, xx cūbe.
Item in pes, fetches, and oots (pease, vetches, and oats), xvj cūbe.
Item in woll, xvj ston.
Item in lambs, l.
Item yeoffering of iiij days, xxiiijs.
Item in odyr offerings of other days, xxs.
Item in lactage and p’vy (privy) tythes, xxxvjs.
Item in hempe, hony, and waxe, iiijs.
Item in pygyns, vjs.viijd.
Item in gyse and chekyns, iijs.iiijd.
Item in tythe piggs, iiijs.
Item in eggys, iijs.
Item in saffron, j li.
Theys ben yepcells yewych yesayd John Emott ps̄ūn̄ of Brancast’ aske yeallowance of
William Richardson Curat’ there affirms the said rectory to be of the annual value altogether of:—
Here are some examples taken from various localities; first, a country rural deanery:—
Deanery of Pershore. Diocese of Worcester. (“Valor,” iii. p. 263.)Rectory of Kington, glebe, 3s.4d.; private tithe at Easter, 10s.; oblations on the 4 principal feasts, 2s.8d.; tithe of corn and hay, £6 13s.4d.; various small tithes, 17s.; total, £8 6s.4d.R. of Broughton Hakett, tithe of corn and hay, £7 2s.8d.; lambs and wool, 5s.6d.; other tithe, 11s.6d.; 4 days, 2s.10d.(no pasch.); total, £8 2s.6d.Vicarage of Hymulton, glebe, 6s.8d.; tithe of hay, etc., £2 6s.0d.; Easter, 42s.2d.; 4 days, 20s.; pension from prior of W., 53s.4d.; total, £8 8s.10d.R. of Churchelenche, glebe, 32s.4d.; tithe, £5 14s.11d.; Easter, 33s.11d.; 4 days, 13s.6d.; total, £9 14s.8d.V. of Byshampton, glebe, 20s.; tithe, 54s.; pension, 40s.; Easter, 30s.; 4 days, 13s.4d.; total, £7 17s.4d.R. of Segebarowe, glebe, 30s.; tithe, £15 11s.6d.; Easter, 12s.3½d.; 4 days, 6s.3d.; total, £15 0s.0½d.R. of Grafton Flyford, glebe, 66s.; tithe, £16 14s.5½d.; Easter, 21s.5d.; 4 days, 7s.7d.; total, £20 10s.5½d.
Deanery of Pershore. Diocese of Worcester. (“Valor,” iii. p. 263.)
Rectory of Kington, glebe, 3s.4d.; private tithe at Easter, 10s.; oblations on the 4 principal feasts, 2s.8d.; tithe of corn and hay, £6 13s.4d.; various small tithes, 17s.; total, £8 6s.4d.
R. of Broughton Hakett, tithe of corn and hay, £7 2s.8d.; lambs and wool, 5s.6d.; other tithe, 11s.6d.; 4 days, 2s.10d.(no pasch.); total, £8 2s.6d.
Vicarage of Hymulton, glebe, 6s.8d.; tithe of hay, etc., £2 6s.0d.; Easter, 42s.2d.; 4 days, 20s.; pension from prior of W., 53s.4d.; total, £8 8s.10d.
R. of Churchelenche, glebe, 32s.4d.; tithe, £5 14s.11d.; Easter, 33s.11d.; 4 days, 13s.6d.; total, £9 14s.8d.
V. of Byshampton, glebe, 20s.; tithe, 54s.; pension, 40s.; Easter, 30s.; 4 days, 13s.4d.; total, £7 17s.4d.
R. of Segebarowe, glebe, 30s.; tithe, £15 11s.6d.; Easter, 12s.3½d.; 4 days, 6s.3d.; total, £15 0s.0½d.
R. of Grafton Flyford, glebe, 66s.; tithe, £16 14s.5½d.; Easter, 21s.5d.; 4 days, 7s.7d.; total, £20 10s.5½d.
Next to take a town—Droitwich.
Town of Wyche. (“Valor,” vol. iii. p. 268.)Rectory of Whitton in the town of Wyche, glebe, 14s.1d.; tithe, 75s.8d.; In libro compot pascal,[426]8s.8d.; 4 days, 4s.; total, £5 2s.5d.R. of St. Andrew in the town of Wyche, tithe, 19s.6d.; Easter, 40s.; 4 days, 14s.; total, £3 13s.6d.R. of St. Nicholas in the town of Wyche, tithe, 46s.8d.; Easter, 33s.4d.; 4 days, 10s.; total, £4 10s.Vicarage of St. Peter in the town of Wyche, tithe, 75s.; Easter, 40s.; 4 days, etc., 1s.; £6 7s.V. of Bromsgrove with chapel of Norton, in the town of Wyche, farm of a garden, 2s.; tithe, etc., £7 5s.; Easter, £12; 4 days, 40s.; mortuaries, 1s.; chapel tithe, £4; Easter, £16; total, £41 8s.
Town of Wyche. (“Valor,” vol. iii. p. 268.)
Rectory of Whitton in the town of Wyche, glebe, 14s.1d.; tithe, 75s.8d.; In libro compot pascal,[426]8s.8d.; 4 days, 4s.; total, £5 2s.5d.
R. of St. Andrew in the town of Wyche, tithe, 19s.6d.; Easter, 40s.; 4 days, 14s.; total, £3 13s.6d.
R. of St. Nicholas in the town of Wyche, tithe, 46s.8d.; Easter, 33s.4d.; 4 days, 10s.; total, £4 10s.
Vicarage of St. Peter in the town of Wyche, tithe, 75s.; Easter, 40s.; 4 days, etc., 1s.; £6 7s.
V. of Bromsgrove with chapel of Norton, in the town of Wyche, farm of a garden, 2s.; tithe, etc., £7 5s.; Easter, £12; 4 days, 40s.; mortuaries, 1s.; chapel tithe, £4; Easter, £16; total, £41 8s.
It is worth while to note the proportion which the offerings bear to the other sources of income, and to make a few notes upon them. We find the customary offerings at the four seasons and at Easter, as enjoined in Saxon times (see p. 71); only in some places, instead of the “oblationes quatuor festorum,” we find that the times had been reduced to three, as in the rural deanery of Irchingfield, in the diocese of Hereford (“Valor,” iii. p. 19), where we find “oblationes ibidem III bus temporibus anni usualibus”; or to two, as at Leeds, in the diocese of York, “oblationes duo’ dierum ibid’ consuet’.” The Easter offering was the more important; it is spoken of in various ways, “Decima privata in Festo Paschæ,” “Decimæ personaliæ vocatæ Lenten Booke,” “Decimæ personaliæ voc’ le Estre Booke,” “In libro Paschali,” “In Rotulo Paschali,” “In Rotulo Quadragesimali,”[427]“Lent Decimæ,” and “Oblationes in Pasch’.”
In settling the vicarages these fees were usually assigned to the vicar, and in town parishes the appropriators often left the vicar very little besidesto live upon. We give a few examples taken at random in illustration of these remarks:—
The Vicarage of Leeds, a house and garden valued at 15s.8d.; tithes of lambs and wool, £13; Lent tithes and oblations in Pasch’, £26; oblations of two daysibid’ consuet’, £4 10s.; oblations within the church, £4 6s.8d.; oblations of a chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 3s.4d.; total, £48 15s.8d.[428]The Vicarage of Sheffield, a house and garden valued at 10s.; tithe of wool and lambs, 36s.; oblations, £6 18s.; Easter Book, £4; small tithe, 2s.8d.; total, £13 6s.8d.[429]The Vicarage of Huddersfield, house and garden, 3s.4d.; tithes of wool, 60s.; of lambs, 64s.; oblations, £4 11s.8d.; small and private tithe, £9 18s.0½d.; total, £20 17s.0½d.[430]The Church of Doncaster, at the end of the thirteenth century,[431]was a rectory, held in two medieties; but in the course of the following centuries both medieties had been appropriated to the Abbey of St. Mary at York, which appointed a vicar. The vicar had a house and garden, valued at 6s.8d., and an annual pension from St. Mary’s,in pecunia numerata, of £33 6s.8d.[432]The income of the three churches in Nottingham—[433]St. Mary. Mansion and glebe, 30s.; tithe of bread and ale, 26s.8d.; tithe of wool and lambs, £4; tithe of geese, pigs, and fowls, 20s.; of fruits, 20d.; in Easter tithes, 60s.In the whole, £10 18s.4d.St. Peter. Mansion, 6s.8d.; personal tithes, £6 13s.4d.; oblations, 26s.8d.; tithe of bread and ale, 13s.4d.; offowls and eggs, 14d.; of pigs, 6s.8d.; of chrisom cloths inpannis crismalibus,[434]3s.4d.; oblations on the feast of the Purification, 3s.In the whole, £9 14s.2d.St. Nicholas. Mansion and garden, 8s.; a house, 8s.; oblations, 13s.4d.; Easter tithes, 36s.; tithe of bread and ale, 2s.6d.; tithe of pigs, fowls, and geese, 6s.; of fruits, 3s.7d.; tithe of flax and hemp, 3s.; eggset pannorum crismalium, 3s.In the whole, £4.Bingham Rectory. Mansion and land, 48s.; three houses, 18s.8d.; a pigeon-house, 13s.4d.; oblations of the three days, 20s.; Easter tithes, 46s.8d.; tithe of eggs, 3s.; pigs and geese, 20s.; fowls, 3s.; wool and lambs, 100s.; hay, 20s.; corn, £30; flax and hemp, 5s.In the whole, £44 19s.4d.
The Vicarage of Leeds, a house and garden valued at 15s.8d.; tithes of lambs and wool, £13; Lent tithes and oblations in Pasch’, £26; oblations of two daysibid’ consuet’, £4 10s.; oblations within the church, £4 6s.8d.; oblations of a chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 3s.4d.; total, £48 15s.8d.[428]
The Vicarage of Sheffield, a house and garden valued at 10s.; tithe of wool and lambs, 36s.; oblations, £6 18s.; Easter Book, £4; small tithe, 2s.8d.; total, £13 6s.8d.[429]
The Vicarage of Huddersfield, house and garden, 3s.4d.; tithes of wool, 60s.; of lambs, 64s.; oblations, £4 11s.8d.; small and private tithe, £9 18s.0½d.; total, £20 17s.0½d.[430]
The Church of Doncaster, at the end of the thirteenth century,[431]was a rectory, held in two medieties; but in the course of the following centuries both medieties had been appropriated to the Abbey of St. Mary at York, which appointed a vicar. The vicar had a house and garden, valued at 6s.8d., and an annual pension from St. Mary’s,in pecunia numerata, of £33 6s.8d.[432]
The income of the three churches in Nottingham—[433]
St. Mary. Mansion and glebe, 30s.; tithe of bread and ale, 26s.8d.; tithe of wool and lambs, £4; tithe of geese, pigs, and fowls, 20s.; of fruits, 20d.; in Easter tithes, 60s.In the whole, £10 18s.4d.
St. Peter. Mansion, 6s.8d.; personal tithes, £6 13s.4d.; oblations, 26s.8d.; tithe of bread and ale, 13s.4d.; offowls and eggs, 14d.; of pigs, 6s.8d.; of chrisom cloths inpannis crismalibus,[434]3s.4d.; oblations on the feast of the Purification, 3s.In the whole, £9 14s.2d.
St. Nicholas. Mansion and garden, 8s.; a house, 8s.; oblations, 13s.4d.; Easter tithes, 36s.; tithe of bread and ale, 2s.6d.; tithe of pigs, fowls, and geese, 6s.; of fruits, 3s.7d.; tithe of flax and hemp, 3s.; eggset pannorum crismalium, 3s.In the whole, £4.
Bingham Rectory. Mansion and land, 48s.; three houses, 18s.8d.; a pigeon-house, 13s.4d.; oblations of the three days, 20s.; Easter tithes, 46s.8d.; tithe of eggs, 3s.; pigs and geese, 20s.; fowls, 3s.; wool and lambs, 100s.; hay, 20s.; corn, £30; flax and hemp, 5s.In the whole, £44 19s.4d.
Here follows a case in which the personal tithe, that is, the Easter offering, due from each principal parishioner, is set forth in detail:—
Vicarage of Cowarne Magna gives Decimis psonalibus anitvidelīt̄ de Thoma Scull 6s., John̄e ap Madoke 4d., and four others at 4d.each; villat’ de Locatt 8s.7d., Villat’ de Hopton 6s.2d.; Villat’ de Bache 3s.1½d.and five other villatæ, amounting to £10 1s.5d.; oblations at the four accustomed times 14s.8d.; Lez crysoms 12d.Candles offered in die Pur’ Bte Marie; Denar’ oblat’ cum pane benedicta 2s.6d.[435]The V. of Frome also mentions “lez crysoms” and offerings both at the Cross at Easter and on the other Paschal days.R. of Estnor mentions “oblationes tam ad fontem benedict’ 20s.,” and ad crucem in die Parescheue 6d., quam al’ oblac̄ōn’ accustumat’ anti13s.4d.unacum le bede roll’ 16d.and debit’ pascalibz 23s.4d.[436]The Rector of Streteford[437]was indebted oblac̄īonibus Ste Cosm̄e et Damiane, 40s.5d.He probably had a relic of the Physician Saints in his church, and the people resorted to it for cure of maladies.
Vicarage of Cowarne Magna gives Decimis psonalibus anitvidelīt̄ de Thoma Scull 6s., John̄e ap Madoke 4d., and four others at 4d.each; villat’ de Locatt 8s.7d., Villat’ de Hopton 6s.2d.; Villat’ de Bache 3s.1½d.and five other villatæ, amounting to £10 1s.5d.; oblations at the four accustomed times 14s.8d.; Lez crysoms 12d.Candles offered in die Pur’ Bte Marie; Denar’ oblat’ cum pane benedicta 2s.6d.[435]
The V. of Frome also mentions “lez crysoms” and offerings both at the Cross at Easter and on the other Paschal days.
R. of Estnor mentions “oblationes tam ad fontem benedict’ 20s.,” and ad crucem in die Parescheue 6d., quam al’ oblac̄ōn’ accustumat’ anti13s.4d.unacum le bede roll’ 16d.and debit’ pascalibz 23s.4d.[436]
The Rector of Streteford[437]was indebted oblac̄īonibus Ste Cosm̄e et Damiane, 40s.5d.He probably had a relic of the Physician Saints in his church, and the people resorted to it for cure of maladies.
The compotus of the vicarage of Newark, Notts, is worth giving at full length:—
The Vicar of Newark returns his income from “tiethe chekens, doves, gowse, piggs, apples, peares, worth a yere xlsiij; offering daies, viz. All Saynts’ Daie, Xr̄ēmas Daie, and the Sondaie nexte after the feaste of Mary Magdaleyn, iiijlivis; personall tithes at Eastor, xxjli; offerings at m’iages, purificac̄ōn̄s of women, buryalls, witother casualties, iijliivs.; total, £30 10s.Whereof to the archebushopp of Yorke for synage, xvijsvid; to the archedeacon of Nottingham for procurac̄ons, xvijsvid; for waxe spent in the sv̄īc̄ē time in the churche, xvjsixd; for wyne the ole yere and at Eastor spent in the churche, xvijsvid; for oyle spent in the lampe in the queyre day and night, ixs; for breade and franckingsence, ijsviijd; for bell-strings, iiijd, and for the stipend of thone of the parryshe preistes, vli. Total, £21 5s.1d.”[438]
The Vicar of Newark returns his income from “tiethe chekens, doves, gowse, piggs, apples, peares, worth a yere xlsiij; offering daies, viz. All Saynts’ Daie, Xr̄ēmas Daie, and the Sondaie nexte after the feaste of Mary Magdaleyn, iiijlivis; personall tithes at Eastor, xxjli; offerings at m’iages, purificac̄ōn̄s of women, buryalls, witother casualties, iijliivs.; total, £30 10s.Whereof to the archebushopp of Yorke for synage, xvijsvid; to the archedeacon of Nottingham for procurac̄ons, xvijsvid; for waxe spent in the sv̄īc̄ē time in the churche, xvjsixd; for wyne the ole yere and at Eastor spent in the churche, xvijsvid; for oyle spent in the lampe in the queyre day and night, ixs; for breade and franckingsence, ijsviijd; for bell-strings, iiijd, and for the stipend of thone of the parryshe preistes, vli. Total, £21 5s.1d.”[438]
Some special sources of income which occur here and there are worth notice:—
The Vicar of Leominster has the herbage of the cemeteries of the church and chapels; the tithes of the bakersand taverners within the borough. Mass pennies and candle oblations, and oblations for the blessed bread on the Lord’s days.[439]
The Vicar of Leominster has the herbage of the cemeteries of the church and chapels; the tithes of the bakersand taverners within the borough. Mass pennies and candle oblations, and oblations for the blessed bread on the Lord’s days.[439]
The case of Lenton, Notts, has also features of special interest. It was appropriated to the Prior of Lenton:—[440]
Richard Matthew, vicar there. Is worth for his house there, and with an acre of land, by the year, 6s.8d.; for Easter tithes, 54s.; for offerings on the three days, 12s.; for offerings at marriages, churchings, and burials, one year with another, 5s.; for oblations on Sundays, 1¼d., amounting to 7s.4d.a year; for a corrody of bread and ale at the Priory of Lenton, every week 1s.6d., amounting to 78s.a year; and every day for food from the cook of the said prior to the value of 1d., amounting to 30s.5d.a year; for tithe of wool and lambs, one year with another, 12s.; for pigs, geese, and fowls, 10s.; for tithe of flax and hemp, 3s.; for tithe of fruits, one year with another, 12s.; for grass and hay for one horse, found by the said prior, 3s.4d.a year; in the whole £10 11s.1¼d.Thence is paid annually to the said prior and his successors for a certain pension, 28s.8d.And there remains £9 2s.6¼d.
Richard Matthew, vicar there. Is worth for his house there, and with an acre of land, by the year, 6s.8d.; for Easter tithes, 54s.; for offerings on the three days, 12s.; for offerings at marriages, churchings, and burials, one year with another, 5s.; for oblations on Sundays, 1¼d., amounting to 7s.4d.a year; for a corrody of bread and ale at the Priory of Lenton, every week 1s.6d., amounting to 78s.a year; and every day for food from the cook of the said prior to the value of 1d., amounting to 30s.5d.a year; for tithe of wool and lambs, one year with another, 12s.; for pigs, geese, and fowls, 10s.; for tithe of flax and hemp, 3s.; for tithe of fruits, one year with another, 12s.; for grass and hay for one horse, found by the said prior, 3s.4d.a year; in the whole £10 11s.1¼d.Thence is paid annually to the said prior and his successors for a certain pension, 28s.8d.And there remains £9 2s.6¼d.
We began with a return from a curate in sole charge of the parish of an absentee rector. Here is the case of a non-resident rector who lets his benefice to farm:—
Tunstall, Kent. The certificate of Sir Symon Jenyns, parson there, made by Symon Spacherst, his farmer:—First, the same Symon Spacherst payeth to the saidparson yearly £8. Item paid to the priest for his wages, £6 13s.4d., making £14 13s.4d.Whereof deducted for proxies[441]yearly 5s., leaving clear annual value, £14 8s.4d.
Tunstall, Kent. The certificate of Sir Symon Jenyns, parson there, made by Symon Spacherst, his farmer:—
First, the same Symon Spacherst payeth to the saidparson yearly £8. Item paid to the priest for his wages, £6 13s.4d., making £14 13s.4d.Whereof deducted for proxies[441]yearly 5s., leaving clear annual value, £14 8s.4d.
We take up now the question which was postponed from the preceding chapter, of the value of money at various periods during the Middle Ages compared with its value in our times, and especially at the period of the “Taxatio,”A.D.1292, and at the period of the “Valor,”A.D.1534. The comparative value of a given income at the two periods depends upon two things: first, upon the purchasing power of a pound at the end of the thirteenth century, and again at the middle of the sixteenth century compared with the present day; and, second, upon the style of living at the several periods.
First, as to the comparative purchasing power, it is not an easy question to determine. The late Mr. Thorold Rogers has given an immense mass of data[442]for its determination, but he has not conferred upon students the advantage of a table of comparative values for certain dates. In default of this, we fall back upon other conclusions drawn from similar collections of materials. Hallam, in his “History of Europe,” arrives at the conclusion that “we can hardly take a less multiple than about thirty for animal food, and eighteen or twenty for corn, in order to bring the prices of the thirteenth century to a level with those of the present day.Combining the two, and setting the comparative dearness of cloth against the cheapness of fuel and many other articles, we may perhaps consider any given sum under Henry III. and Edward I. as equivalent in general command over commodities to about twenty-four or twenty-five times its normal value at present;” and again, “In the time of Edward I., an income of £10 or £20 a year was reckoned a competent estate for a gentleman; at least the lord of a single manor would seldom have enjoyed more.” The same writer says, “Sixteen will be a proper multiple, when we would bring the general standard value of money in the reign of Henry VI. to our present standard.” Dean Milman, speaking of payments in 1344, says, without giving reason or quoting authority, “Multiply by fifteen to bring to present value.”[443]Froude says, “A penny in terms of the labourer’s necessities must have been equal in the reign of Henry VIII. to the present shilling;” and adopts “the relative estimate of twelve to one,” as generally representing the comparative value of money at that period. The Rev. Dr. Cunningham, formerly professor of Economic Science, K.C.L., kindly replying to a question on the subject, says, “For 1535, I should say that a penny was worth at least a shilling in the present day. I could not give a guess of any value as to the change between 1291 and 1535. At the former date I fancy the values were estimates, and that the actual receipts were chiefly in kind.” We have ventured to take, asapproximate multiples, twelve times for the date of the “Taxatio” (A.D.1291), and twenty-four times for the “Valor” (A.D.1535).
But the comparative position of the parochial clergy, as of all other classes of society, at these two periods, and at the present day, depends not only on the amount of money which they received yearly, and on the quantity of things which it would purchase, but also on the style of living at the periods compared. In those times the houses of the smaller gentry were rudely but substantially built of timber, and did not involve frequent repairs. A little carving on the roof timbers of the hall—the one living room—was a permanent decoration, which never needed renewing; a high table of oak, with a great chair for the master, boards and trestles for the other tables, benches to sit upon, and a few stools, were the sufficient furniture; a little tapestry on the walls, a few bankers (cushions on the benches), made quite a luxurious furnishing; and green rushes strewed upon the floor supplied the place of carpets. The furniture of the rest of the house was rude and substantial. Clothing, among all the middle classes, was durable, and was worn for years; one or two better garments, worn only on great occasions, lasted for a lifetime. The whole mode of life of the middle classes was simple and homely to a degree which we can hardly believe. They were early to rise, and lived an outdoor life, the labouring men in field-work, the farmers not only overlooking the work, but putting their hands to it; the squires looking sharply after their own estates,and spending their leisure in field sports. The food was simple but abundant; air and exercise gave hearty appetites for homely fare, and early to bed saved light and firing.
The result was that a much smaller income enabled a man to hold his position in society.[444]In 1253, Henry III. issued an edict that whoever had estates of £15 yearly value should be made knights.[445]In the second year of Henry V. (1415), an Act of Parliament fixed £20 a-year as the income which qualified a man to be a Justice of the Peace.
A country rector, therefore, could hold his position in relation to his farmers, and his squire, and his country neighbours, on an income which seems to us wonderfully small; and the vicar and parish chaplain with £5 a-year did not seem to his neighbours of any degree to be in a condition of degrading poverty.
DOMESTIC CHAPELS.
The Byzantine emperors first set up a private chapel in their houses; kings followed their example, and the nobles followed the example of their kings; and there was a danger of the clergy of these chapels, supported by their lords, making themselves independent of the oversight of the bishops, and of the worship of the rich being separated from the worship of the poor.[446]In 692, the second Trullan Council decreed that no clergyman should perform the rite of baptism or celebrate the Eucharist in such a chapel without the bishop’s permission. Gregory the Great gives licence for the consecration of an oratory which Firmilian, a notary, has built on his farm outside the city of Fermo, on condition that there shall not be a baptistery orcardinalem presbyterum, a titled parishpriest.[447]The Council of Clermont, 535, decreed that on Sundays and festivals all should come to church, and not invite priests to their houses to say mass.
Conisborough Castle.10. The Chapel.
The great Saxon nobles had chapels in their houses and private chaplains. Their chaplains are sometimes named in their wills,e.g.Queen Ethelfleda, c. 972, leaves “4 hides of land to her reeve, 2 to her page, and 2 to each of her priests.” Lotgiva gives legacies “to Ailric my household priest, and to Ailric my page.”[448]Some of them Roger of Wendover accuses of hearing in bed the daily mass said by their chaplains.[449]With the Norman nobles the custom was universal; of the numerous castles of the Norman period which remain to us, we do not call to mind one which has not a chapel in the keep-tower. They differ in size, from an oratory contained within the thickness of the wall, as at Conisboro’ and at Brougham, to a church forming a prominent feature of the plan and elevation, as at the White Tower, London, and at Colchester.
The chapel in the White Tower is the largest of the series. It is situated on the principal (first) floor,and under it on the ground floor is a kind of crypt. It has a nave with aisles, and a chancel with circular apse. Gundulph of Rochester, who was its architect, gave great importance to the chapel by projecting its round apse beyond the line of the east wall like a great semicircular bastion, the only break in the massive quadrangular plan. The keep of Colchester Castle, no doubt by the same architect, is exactly on the same plan, only that the chapel is without aisles.
In the keeps of Rochester, Newcastle, Hedingham, Middleham, and others, a commodious chapel, with handsome ornamentation of zigzag arch mouldings and vaulted roof, is contained in the annex to the keep, which defends the great stone stair leading to the principal floor. It is very probable that where the keep had only a small oratory there was always a larger chapel in the castle bailey[450]for the general inhabitants of the castle, for in later times we commonly find an oratory for the lord and another for the lady, and a chapel besides.
In the Edwardian castles, the chapel is a constant feature. Conway affords a good example; there it is on the south side of the outer court, and the chaplain’s room is in the adjoining tower. There are also, in the inner court adjoining the state apartments, two small elegant oratories, one called the king’s and the other the queen’s. There are other examples at Beaumaris,Kidwelly, etc. Usually a small vestry and a priest’s chamber communicate directly with the chapel.
MARRIAGE OF COUNT WALERAN DE ST. POL WITH THE SISTEROF RICHARD, KING OF ENGLAND.ROYAL 14, E. IV., f. 30.
In the great houses of the nobles down to the end of the mediæval period, the chapel is as universal a feature as the hall or the great chamber.[451]The chapels at Ightham Mote, Kent; at Bodiam, Sussex; at the Vyne, Hampshire; and at Wolsey’s Palace at Hampton Court, are fine examples. The still perfect chapel of Haddon Hall is in all respects like an ordinary village church, with font and pulpit. The College Chapels of Oxford and Cambridge, of Eton and Winchester, and of all the other mediæval colleges and schools, the chapels of the Episcopal Palaces at Winchester, Farnham, Lambeth, etc., are all normal examples of the architectural features and furniture of the domestic chapels, and their services are examples of the manners and customs of the chapel services of the greater mediæval houses.
The western end of the chapel is sometimes divided into two stories, both opening upon the sacrarium; the upper story was usually intended for the family, and the lower for the domestics. Sometimes the chapel on the principal floor has, besides its internal approaches, an external stone stair by which people from other parts of the house could enter the chapel without passing through the house, as at the fourteenth-century houses of Inceworth (?) and Earth, both in Cornwall.
The principal residence of a great noble needed a chapel of considerable size to accommodate the number of people, as numerous as the population of a country parish or a small town, who were gathered into the castle during the residence of its lord:—the lord’s household of knights and squires, yeomen and pages; his lady’s separate household of ladies, bower-women, and women in various kinds of service; the garrison of the castle, with its commanders of knightly degree, their squires, men-at-arms, yeomen, and grooms; the several staffs which looked after the various departments of the service, the chambers, kitchens, stables, kennels, and mews; besides a constant flow of visitors, with their complex trains of guards and attendants.
In England only the chief royal houses have maintained the mediæval dignity of their ecclesiastical domestic establishments. Windsor Castle, besides its oratory, has its noble chapel dedicated to St. George the Patron Saint of England,[452]and its establishment of dean and canons, singing men and boys, housed in a picturesque group of collegiate buildings arranged round several cloistered courts. The Tower of London, besides its chapel in the White Tower, has its church of St. Peter ad Vincula in the courtyard.
Many of the great nobles, who maintained a state little inferior to that of royalty, had their chapel establishment of proportionate dignity. In the opinionof that time, a man of great rank and estate owed it to the glory of God that the worship of his household should be offered with circumstances of solemn splendour; he owed it to the well-being of the numerous people who depended upon him; and to the still more numerous people of all estates, who looked to him for an example.
The Duke of Buckingham’s house at Thornbury had a chaplain, eighteen clerks of the chapel, and nine boys.[453]
The household book of Henry Algernon, the fifth Earl of Northumberland, who was born in 1477, and died in 1527, gives us very full details of the organization of the chapel staff of a great nobleman, their duties, and their emoluments in money and kind. They consisted of a dean, who was to be a D.D., or LL.D., or B.D., and ten other priests, eleven gentlemen, and six children who composed the choir.[454]Thesecular duties which were assigned to some of them will perhaps be better understood by a reference to the past. The clergy had always been the advisers of the English kings and nobles in the ordinaryaffairs of life: the Archbishop of Canterbury was the king’s official chief counsellor till long after the Norman Conquest. Every ealdorman and great thane probably had a learned clerk in his house, not only as a chaplain, but as an adviser in general affairs. Henry II. organized his domestic religious establishment into a Department of State, and used Churchmen in the civil administration as ministers, ambassadors, and judges—there were none others so capable. The nobles were following on the same lines, when they made one chaplain steward, another secretary, and another tutor, in addition to their not burdensome duties in the maintenance of Divine worship. So the people resorted to their parish priest to advise them in their domestic difficulties and extraordinary matters of business, to arbitrate in their differences, and make their wills, for the simple natural reason of his wider knowledge of affairs, his greater experience of mankind, his disinterestedness, and, not least, his sacred character.
In the castles of less noble and wealthy persons it is not uncommon to find that there were several chaplains organized into a college of secular priests, as at Colchester, Exeter, Hastings, Pontefract, etc., and not infrequently endowed out of the rectories in the lord’s gift. In some instances the lord of numerous estates endowed the chapel of his principal castle with the churches upon all his estates, as at Colchester, Clitheroe, etc. The intention probablywas not so much to enrich the chaplain or form an endowment for the collegiate staff of the chapel, as to make the castle chapel the mother church of the village churches on the surrounding estates; just as the seneschal of the castle was the superior officer of the bailiffs of the various manors; and so to concentrate the ecclesiastical administration of all the estates, as well as their civil administration, under the eye of the lord and his most trusted agents.
Sometimes, on the other hand, the lord gave the service of the castle chapel into the hands of some neighbouring monastery (probably of his own founding), as at Colchester to the Abbey of St. John, at Brecon to the Priory of Brecon. When Robert de Haia, in 1120, founded the Priory of Boxgrove, Sussex, he stipulated that he should choose one of the canons to officiate in the chapel of his neighbouring manor house of Holnaker. So Sir Ralph de Eccleshall,temp.Edward I., gave his mill, etc., to the monks of Beauchief, who covenanted in return to find him a priest for his chapel at Eccleshall. They stipulated, however, that in floods or snow they shall be excused from sending one of their canons to Eccleshall, but may say the due masses in their own church at Beauchief. So the chapel of the De Lovelot’s castle at Sheffield was served by the canons of their Priory of Worksop.
The Collegiate Church of St. George within the royal castle of Windsor had, and still has, an establishment consisting of a dean, twelve canons, eight minor canons, eight vicars choral, and eight choristerboys.[455]The Chapel of Wallingford Castle[456]was served by a dean, five prebendaries, and a deacon. Tickhill had four prebendaries;[457]three was a common number, as at Exeter, etc.; Pontefract had two. The chapel of Bridgenorth Castle had a college of secular priests, and in later times served as a parish church to the people of the borough. The castle chapels at Nottingham and Skipton were rectories. The Castle Chapel at Kirby Ravensworth had a chantry of two priests.
The chapels of Skipton, Tutbury, and Stafford Castles are called “free chapels.” Of Skipton Castle Chapel certain liberties and duties of the parson or chaplain were written in two mass-books, one new, the other old, in one of which the earl granted that the said chaplain should have meat and drink sufficient within the hall of the lord of the castle for him and one garçon[458]with him. And if the lord be absent, and no house kept, he and his successors shall have for every ten weeks one quarter of wheat and vis.viiid.; and vid.in money and one robe or gown yerely at ye Nativity of o’r Lord, or xiiis.ivd.in monie. An inquisition of Edward III. adds as part of the endowment onecameram fenestratam(a chamber with a window) and pasture for viii oxen, vi cows, and two horses, and sufficient timber for repairing his house and chamber, and dry wood for firing.At the dissolution of chantries and free chapels, it became a question whether this was not a parsonage.[459]In other cases, the chaplain had a definite endowment, which seems to have been calculated upon the not very large income of a parish chaplain. The four chaplains of Tickhill were endowed with £5 each; the chaplain of Nottingham Castle with £5; the chaplain at Pleshey Castle, Essex, with £5;[460]the chaplain at Denbeigh with £8, the foundation of the king; at Southampton with £10, payable by Royal Letters out of the customs of that port. Probably in many cases there was no endowment; the chapel was practically a “free chapel,” and the emoluments such as were agreed upon between the patron and his nominee; these would naturally tend to become a customary payment and perquisites; the Skipton agreement gives an instance of what was probably customary: viz. a corrody for himself and a boy, and a small sum in money.
The priest of the Chapel of Skelton Castle, Yorkshire, was, at the time of the Suppression, only partly paid by Lady Conyers, 23s.; and his stipend was made up of payments from half a dozen other persons, from the 18s.of R. Robinson, down to the 3s.10d.of John Gyll, making a total of £4 2s.10d.[461]
The domestic chapels of the nobility and great men were always consecrated, and had a perpetual licence for Divine service.
Very probably, where there were several chaplains,they all served their lord in various clerkly capacities. So Piers Plowman:—
Somme serven the Kyng, and the silver tellenIn chequer and chauncerie, challengen his dettesOf wardes, and of wardemotes, weyes and theyves;And some serven as servants lordes and ladies,And in stede of stewardes sitten and demen.
The domestic chaplain is frequently named in wills as a witness or an executor, and not infrequently as a legatee;e.g.Giles de Gadlesmere, knight, 1337, leaves to Wm. Ocham, clerk, 100 shillings, unless he be promoted before my death; Wm. de Ocham is one of the witnesses to the will.[462]
We find in the “Valor Eccl.” a considerable number of chantries recorded as founded in the chapels of castles. There is doubt in some cases whether these were the ordinary endowments of the chaplain, made under the name of a Chantry, for reasons of legal convenience, or whether, in addition to the ordinary chaplain, a special endowment had been made for mortuary masses, and, if so, whether the ordinary chaplain was also the Cantarist and received the chantry endowment in addition to his normal stipend. The chaplain celebrating in the chapel of the Castle of Downhead received from the grant of King Stephen £5 a year, and chaplain for celebrating mass twice every week at Penhill, for the soul of the founder, £2 13s.4d.[463]There werechantries in the chapels of the castles of Chester, Sherifhoton, Pickering, Malton, Pontefract, Penrith, Sandall, Skelton, Whorleton, Kermerdenin in Wales, Durham, Barnard Castle, Tutbury, Stafford, Wilton, Norham, Alnwick, etc. The lord of Bridgenorth Castle arranged with the Dean and Canons of Windsor to supply a priest to celebrate three days a week for the founder and King John.
Any one might build an oratory in his house,[464]but Divine service, that is the Holy Communion, might not be celebrated in it without the bishop’s permission. Towards the close of the thirteenth century, the lesser gentry began to include a chapel in the plan of their manor houses, and the custom seems to have become almost universal in the following centuries. We may take it as an indication of a growing desire to maintain the regular daily practice of religious worship in a seemly solemn way for their families and households.
In the valuable digest of the Exeter Registers, for which historical students are much indebted to Canon Hingeston-Randolph, the licences issued during the twenty-four years of Edmund Stafford’s Episcopacy (1395-1419) are arranged under the family names of the persons to whom they were granted, and there are two hundred and seventy-two names. In many cases the licence extends to all theirmansions and manors in the Diocese of Exeter; which gives a rough estimate of about three hundred domestic chapels in the manor houses of the two counties of Devon and Cornwall; if we multiply that figure by twenty-six, we get a rough estimate of over seven thousand domestic chapels in England and Wales.
All these domestic chapels, except those of royal houses[465]and of some free chapels, were under the jurisdiction of the bishop, and a constant and perhaps jealous oversight was maintained lest they should detract from the general assembly of all the parishioners for united worship in the parish church, or interfere with the pastoral position and rights of the rectors of the parishes. People with interest at Rome sometimes obtain their licence direct from the pope. There is an example of the king’s ambassador obtaining a batch of them in 1343, but they are granted with strict limitations.
Among the Constitutions of Archbishop Stratford, made at the Council of London (1342), is one which even restricts the power of the bishops to grant licences: it decrees that “all licences granted by the bishops for celebrating mass in places not consecrated other than to noble men and great men of the realm, and to persons living at a considerable distance from the church, or notoriously weak or infirm, shall be void.” The decree goes on to saythat “whosoever, against the prohibition of the canon, shall celebrate mass in oratories, chapels, houses, or other places, not consecrated, without having obtained the licence of the diocesan, shall be suspended from the celebration of Divine service for the space of a month.”[466]
Robert Fitz Aer, the second of the name (c. 1190-1195), gave to the Convent of Haughmond certain lands on condition that they would have Divine service performed in his Chapel of Withyford three days a week, when he or his wife or their heirs were resident in the manor. All festivals were excluded from the agreement, and the parishioners were not to attend these services to the injury of the mother church.[467]
Robert Fitz Aer, the second of the name (c. 1190-1195), gave to the Convent of Haughmond certain lands on condition that they would have Divine service performed in his Chapel of Withyford three days a week, when he or his wife or their heirs were resident in the manor. All festivals were excluded from the agreement, and the parishioners were not to attend these services to the injury of the mother church.[467]
Here is an early example of the foundation of a domestic chapel under the guise of a chantry:—
Sir G. de Breaute, in right of Joane his wife, had liberty given him by Robert Dean of St. Paul’s, with the consent of Walter Niger, Vicar of Navestock, Essex, to found a chapel and chantry in his court at Navestock, provided he and his heirs maintained a chaplain at his own charge, sworn to preserve the liberty of the mother church, and to pay the vicar all the profits he should receive there, and admit none of the parishioners to confession or other offices there under pain of being suspended by the vicar. The founder also and the heirs of the said Joane his wife, and whoever else had the said chapel in his lordship, were also to be sworn to preserve the rights of the motherchurch under like pain. In which chapel the chaplain was to administer the mass only with Bread and Holy Water, forbearing all other holy offices, saving that at Easter the founder and his wife and heirs, together with his free servants and guests, were to be admitted to the sacrament of the altar; but all his servants were to go to the mother church throughout the year.[468]And for this grant the founder and his wife and heirs were to give to the mother church two wax candles, each weighing a pound, to be offered, one at the Purification, the other at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, before vespers.[469]
Sir G. de Breaute, in right of Joane his wife, had liberty given him by Robert Dean of St. Paul’s, with the consent of Walter Niger, Vicar of Navestock, Essex, to found a chapel and chantry in his court at Navestock, provided he and his heirs maintained a chaplain at his own charge, sworn to preserve the liberty of the mother church, and to pay the vicar all the profits he should receive there, and admit none of the parishioners to confession or other offices there under pain of being suspended by the vicar. The founder also and the heirs of the said Joane his wife, and whoever else had the said chapel in his lordship, were also to be sworn to preserve the rights of the motherchurch under like pain. In which chapel the chaplain was to administer the mass only with Bread and Holy Water, forbearing all other holy offices, saving that at Easter the founder and his wife and heirs, together with his free servants and guests, were to be admitted to the sacrament of the altar; but all his servants were to go to the mother church throughout the year.[468]And for this grant the founder and his wife and heirs were to give to the mother church two wax candles, each weighing a pound, to be offered, one at the Purification, the other at the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, before vespers.[469]
Another similar example is the chapel at the Vyne, Hampshire.