APDL Eductation Resources

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The English Church ------------------ What was the situation when William of Normandy invaded ? Laity acknowledged the superiority of celibacy over marriage. The piety of the monk was the most superior - they showed the perfect pattern of life - and when they organised into communities they worked, through their prayers, for the benefit of the whole community - the living and the dead. At this point there was no rivalry between the secular and the ecclesiastical. (Frank Barlow on the 11th century). 'Thus the laity were dominant everywhere in the 11th century.' Placing your monastery under royal patronage meant protection from local lords. The Continentals knew little of the English Church except what they learned from Bede. The road to Rome was a familiar one. In the reign of Edward, contacts with Rome increased as Pope Leo IX improved the church's administration. We know little about the ecclesiastical situation in England in Edward's reign - overshadowed by the invasion and then the canonisation of Edward. Histories and Lives were written in the monasteries and were biased. In the time of King Edward, Archbishop Stigand was a despised man - he held two monasteries, combined the sees of Canterbury and Winchester, was a great patron of the arts. He was deposed in 1067 by William. Parish churches were in the possession of the local lord who guarded its revenues carefully. e.g. -burial rights. - right to celebrate marriages. - baptismal rights. - right to take a tithe and other church taxes. The priest was an ecclesiastical vassal of the lord. In 1066 churches could be divided into : - chief minsters. - smaller minsters. - even smaller minsters where there was still a cemetery. - field churches. i.e. manorial churches. Very, very few 'free' churches. The Monasteries --------------- It is the monasteries that are the centres of learning - education of the parish priest is very limited ! By the year 1000 there were more than 40 Benedictine monasteries in England, of which at least 30 were for men. Most were products of the 10th century 'reformation'. By the reign of Edward the Confessor this monastic revolution had 'run out of steam'. Monasteries were maintained by landed estates, which were the gift of the faithful. The monasteries were single-sex societies of all ages. - adult monks or nuns. - children offered to God (oblates) who would make their profession at puberty. - the old and dying laity who had taken the cowl in preparation for death. - servants, usually ordinary laymen. The basic accommodation required : - a church. - a dormitory for sleeping. - a refectory for eating. - a cloister for non-liturgical activities. - a chapter house for meetings. - latrines. - an infirmary. - a guest house. - a kitchen. - a cellar. - a larder. Monks and nuns took the triple vow of : - chastity - poverty - obedience. The main purpose of the monastic community was to perform a prescribed series of communal religious exercises. 'The Normans after the Conquest were greatly impressed by the wealth of the monasteries and the profusion of their ornaments.' Barlow, Frank. The English Church. 1000-1066. Longman. 1979. ---------------------------------------------------- Monasteries have existed in England as long as Christianity itself. Celtic monasteries were very humble affairs - merely a collection of huts, each occupied by a monk, with a chapel - the whole being surrounded by a rough wall. The earliest MONASTIC ORDER introduced to this country was the BENEDICTINE. After the Conquest, the number of Benedictine or BLACK MONKS increased drastically. A reformed branch of this Order, known as the CLUNAIC, taking its name after the monastery of CLUNY in FRANCE, arrived in England shortly after the Conquest. Its chief house in this country was the PRIORY of ST PANCRAS in Lewes, East Sussex, built soon after 1077. REMEMBER, monks were laymen living in a religious Order, they were not themselves in Holy Orders - they were not priests. There were however certain monastic Orders that were made up of priests. For example, the AUGUSTINIAN or BLACK CANON'S. The CISTERCIANS or WHITE MONKS were the first of the monastic Orders to preach simplicity and reject the grand buildings that others were erecting. The Cistercians did not build in the towns, like other Orders, they lived and built their monasteries in the countryside. To help with farming, they took on LAY BROTHERS, who acted as labourers. The only English Order in which the monks lived in separate CELLS was the CARTHUSIAN. There were a few monasteries occupied by nuns, mainly Benedictine. England possessed the only Order that shared both sexes. This was the GILBERTINE; the monasteries were doubled, with two cloisters, but a common church, divided down the middle by a wall. There were a number of Orders of Friars, who travelled the countryside preaching. Their houses were neither large nor magnificent. The life of a monastery concentrated round its CHURCH and this was always the first building to be put up. The Parish Church and the Cathedral ----------------------------------- In England, scores of parish churches were built on the same principal; the little 'axial' buildings, of aisle-less nave and chancel separated by a simple lantern tower in place of the oriental dome, represent the English architects' interpretation of the church-plan of the Holy Land. The popularity of the true cruciform plan for larger parish churches during the 12th and 13th centuries may also be traced to the Crusader influence. The parish church consists basically of a nave and sanctuary. A typical church plan - depends on when built - influence of continental styles. The medieval cathedral - a grander parish church - is in reality a copy of the monastic church of the period. From ENGLISH MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE ------------------------------------------------------- Walsingham, A Place of Pilgrimage For All People ------------------------------------------------ Mary, the Mother of Jesus, appeared to Richeldis, a young widow, three times in the year 1061, in the reign of Edward the Confessor, and told her to build a copy of the Holy Family's home at Nazareth. This she did and Walsingham became one of England's most popular and most wealthy shrines. The young Henry VIII made a pilgrimage barefoot here. ------------------------------------------------------- Abbeys : A Cartoon Guide ------------------------ The word MONK means 'one who lives alone'. The earliest monks were HERMITS. They lived alone in places where there were not many people. These holy men were respected and soon came to attract many followers. As a result, communities of monks came to be formed. They elected one of themselves as a leader. he was called the ABBOT (the word ABBA means father). A community of monks led by an ABBOT is called an ABBEY. If the community is one of women, they are NUNS and they live in a CONVENT. In the 6th century AD a monk called Saint Benedict wrote a set of rules about how monks should live. The monks who followed these rules were called BENEDICTINES. CISTERCIANS, AUGUSTINIANS, FRANCISCANS AND DOMINICANS are all monks - they just live by a different set of rules. They all have one thing in common however. They promise not to marry, not to own anything and to give their lives to the worship of God. That is the VOWS of POVERTY, CHASTITY and OBEDIENCE. The Monastic Day included : - 2am get up and go to church to pray. MATINS. - the rule of silence. - PRIME. - meeting in the Chapter House. - prayers said in Latin. TERCE. - one meal of the day at 12 noon. - prayers. SEXT. - sleep for an hour. - NONES is the next service.. - then VESPERS. - last service of the day is COMPLINE. - 9pm to bed. The buildings/places you could expect to find in a monastery were : - infirmary. - fish pond. - dormitory. - warming house. - church. - monks cemetery. - stables. - abbot's house. - cloister. - refectory. - lavatarium for washing. - reredorter a toilet. ------------------------------------------------------- NOTES : - the role of the Virgin Mary. - church doctrines, practice and belief. - confession. - anti-Semitism. - the Sacraments. - pilgrimage. - fasting. - heresy. - remember, things did not stay static. e.g. the effect of the 4th Lateran Council in 1215. - difference between the understanding and practices of the ignorant peasant and the educated elite. - magic. ------------------------------------------------------- Richard Hermit (as he was called in the Middle Ages), known to us as Richard Rolle. He died in 1349 at Hampole, where he 'had a cell in the solitude of the fields', or according to another tradition ' in a wood near the nunnery, where he was wont to repair to sing psalms and hymns'. An English mystic, whose writings were to have great influence. Miracles at his shrine. ------------------------------------------------------- The Abbeys and Cathedrals of Scotland ------------------------------------- Glossary AISLE : Division of church from nave, choir or transepts; often chapel containing family tombs. AMBULATORY : Walk-way behind the altar. APSE : Rounded end of choir or chancel of church. ATRIUM : Court, or large porch in front of church. AUMBRY : Wall cupboard. Often used to house sacred vessels. BARREL-VAULT : Semicircular roof of stone or timber. BOSS : Ornamental cover at intersection of vault ribs. CALEFACTORY : Monks warming room. CAMPANILE : Detached bell-tower. CHANCEL : Alter space. CHAPTER HOUSE : Business room in a monastery. CHOIR : Space between the chancel and the nave where monks sang the offices. CLERESTORY : Upper window space of nave. CLOISTER : Square enclosure with covered walk in monastery. CRUCIFORM : Plan in form of a cross. DORSAL : Back of the altar. DORTER : Monk's dormitory. FRATER : Monk's dining hall. LANCET : Narrow window with a pointed arch. NAVE : Part of church west of crossing, reserved for lay brothers in abbey. PARLOUR : Room in a monastery where conversation was allowed. PISCINA : Wall basin with drain, usually near the altar. PRESBYTERY : End of church reserved for clergy. PULPITUM : Stone screen between lay and clerical parts of church. REFECTORY : Dining hall. REREDORTER : Latrines. REREDOS : Screen behind altar. ROOD : Screen, sometimes with a loft above it for the choir, at the west end of the chancel. SACRAMENT HOUSE : Wall tabernacle to contain Blessed Sacrament. SALTIRE : Diagonal cross. SEDILIA : Seats for priests or monks on south side of altar. SQUINT : Hole allowing viewing of the altar from outside. SLYPE : Covered passage. TRANSEPT : Projecting bay of church on either side of the crossing. TREFOIL : Three leafed, hence quatrefoil (four), cinqfoil (five), etc. TRIFORIUM : Arcaded passage between celestory and nave arches. TYMPANUM : Space between door lintel and arch. -------------------------------------------------------------- English Parish Churches ----------------------- The original Anglo-Saxon parish church belonged to the local thegn or lord. he could build it - take it down - turn it to other uses - appoint the priest - the closeness of the manor house to the church shows the close relationship of the two. The priest would very often be married - he had a duty to perform 7 services a day - although after the 11th century this was reduced to three. The financial basis of the parish was the tithe - one tenth of a persons produce had to be paid over (in cash or in Kind) for the upkeep of the church. What we now call a church was not so called until as late as the 10th century. There are 3 kinds of churches : - the early diocesan cathedrals. - the monastic and collegiate churches. - the parish church owned by the lord. The parish church and the graveyard in which it was set was the centre of village life. Saints Days and Feast Days - Church Ale. Village notices posted in the porch and legal transactions carried out there. Birth, marriage and death. Penance. Sanctuary. The vast number of parish churches built or enlarged by the Normans were designed not only for the accommodation of a growing population, but to accord with changes in ritual. The new continental, more Roman clerics, brought in more ritual, better Latin, more colour, better chanting and singing. However : - priests remained married. - the life of the ordinary Anglo-Saxon cleric changed little under the early Normans. What had a big impact on the parish church, was the granting of parish churches to monasteries. By 1150 there were between 450 and 500 monasteries in England. From 1200 to the Black Death : - parishioners were responsible for the building, maintenance and enlargement of their churches. - secular activities continued to take place in churches. - no heating in churches until modern times. - the floors were strewn with rushes or bracken. - no seats. - always much noise during the service with people coming and going. -------------------------------------------------------------- White Monks - Cistercians - because of the undyed wool of their habits. They were a silent order who adopted a life of simplicity. Their abbeys had to be remote from the world or even the bells of other abbeys. They preferred to develop land on the fringes of existing settlements. A feature of the order was to attract lay brothers - conversi - who worked the lands. '...they time arrived when the order came into disrepute as whole villages were destroyed to make room for the monk's sheep.' The number of abbeys founded was so great that in 1152 an edict was passed forbidding the founding of others. Monks duties : - abbot. - prior and sub-prior. - cantor. - sacristan (in charge of the altar). - cellarer. - almoner (dispensed charity). - infirmarium. - guest master. The monks day : - 2.30 rise and prayers. - 5-6.00 Reading. - 6-6.45 prayers. - 6.45 Prime, prayers. - 7.30-8.00 reading. - 8.00 Terce, psalms. Chapter meeting. - 9.45-12.00 Work. - 12.00 Prayers. - 1.30 None, prayers. - 2.00 Dinner. - 2.45-4.30 Reading or work. - 4.30 vespers, prayers. - 5.30 Reading. - 6.15 Compline. - 6.30 Retire. (From a winter timetable at Canterbury) 'I cannot endure the daily tasks. The sight of it all revolts me. I am tormented and crushed down by the weight of the vigils.' Contemporary view. -------------------------------------------------------------- William De Warenne, one of William the Conqueror's chief barons, and his wife, Gundreda, wanted a Cluniac monastery established in Lewes, east Sussex. This happened in 1077 and, because of their patronage, it became one of the wealthiest foundations of its kind. nb only the abbot of Cluny enjoyed the title Abbot - in other houses the chief monk was known as the Prior. Lewes itself had 7 daughter houses in England - it owned much land locally, as well as 2 hospitals in the town. In 1537, when it was dissolved, it was the wealthiest monastery in the county - the number of monks was between 33 and 59 - it owned over 20,000 acres in Sussex, as well as estates in other counties and 19 parish churches. THE PRIORY OF ST PANCRAS, LEWES. -------------------------------------------------------------- The Augustinian Priory of the Holy Trinity was founded at Michelham in 1229 by Gilbert de l'Aigle. The Austin or Augustinian canons were known as 'Black canons' because of the colour of their habit. They were not monks, but ordained priests, who renounced private property and lived life in a community. They followed a Rule based on the writings of St Augustine of Hippo, who lived in North Africa around the year 400 AD. St Augustine believed that religious life in a community should be balanced between prayer and service outside the community, by providing priests for local churches and preaching. There were nearly 200 Augustinian Priories in England between 1100 and 1250. In 1440 the priory had : - a Prior and sub-prior. - Precentor (in charge of church services and the library). - Cellarer (food). - Master of Novices. - between 5 and 10 canons. - salaries were paid to a Keeper of the Park, Collector of rents, Bailiff, Baker, Carter, a carver, 2 cheese makers, a Steward, an Attorney, a Receiver General. The Prior was told to cut his household to : - a chaplain. - an esquire. - a chamberlain. - a cook. - a valet. - a page of the kitchen. The Bishop's visitation in 1441 and 1442, showed that Prior John Leem was giving large gifts to laymen, neglecting the Priory buildings, whilst the canons were breaking their vows of silence and drinking in the local tavern. In 1478 : - the vestments and ornaments of the church were in a very bad condition. - the canons were not eating together and they chatted during church services. - one canon admitted fornicating with a local married woman. --------------------------------------------------------------