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Church, society and politics in the early fifteenth century as viewed from an English pulpit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2016

Roy M. Haines
Roy M. Haines*
Affiliation:
Dalhousie University
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Extract

Some may question the suitability of sermon material as a means of illuminating the thought and background of a specific period. If anything, preachers were even less original—though that is too modern a concept—than other categories of medieval author. Frequently the same material was recast and pressed into service on a variety of occasions; a practice familiar to preachers down the centuries, but one which effectively blurs the dates of initial ‘publication’ and the extent of an individual’s contribution.

Much of this criticism is applicable to the collection of twenty-five sermons which occupies the first part of Bodley MS 649. Yet, when all the customary quotations from classical and medieval authors have been abstracted, along with the time-worn exempla to be found in the works of Jacques de Vitry, Vincent de Beauvais, Jacques de Voragine, and a host of other compilators, acknowledged and unacknowledged, there remains a core of material which is both contemporary and in the manner of its handling, particular. As one reads the sermons there is an increasing awareness of atmosphere, the sense of a distinct historical period and its problems. A wealth of contemporary metaphor and apt proverbial phrase, the interpolation of arresting—albeit to our ears incongruous—passages in english, and the mention of specific events, together contribute to an impression of society which is both vital and convincing.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Church History , Volume 12: Church Society and Politics , 1975 , pp. 143 - 157
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 1975

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References

1 I gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Dalhousie research and development fund in the preparation of this paper. The MS has been described in my earlier communication: ‘“Wilde Wittes and Wilfulnes” [:John Swetstock’s Attack on those “Poyswunmongeres”, the Lollards’], SCH 8 (1971), pp 144-5 nn.

2 [The Sermons of Thomas] Brinton [, Bishop of Rochester (1373-1389)], ed M. A. Devlin C Ser, 3, 85-6 (1954).

3 Attributed in the 1602 MS catalogue (Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson Q e 31, fol 117v) to a John Swetstock, who was seemingly the scribe. See ‘Wilde Wittes and Wilfulnes’, p 144 nn 3-4. The script is anglicana with some secretary forms, for example ‘a’, ‘r’ and final ‘s’. The hand is not unlike that described by Parkes, M.B., English Cursive Book Hands 1250-1500 (Oxford 1969) p 17 no i Google Scholar, as a ‘typical Oxford hand of the period 1425-50’, though the writing, not being in double columns, is better spaced and of more regular appearance. A single hand is responsible for the whole MS.

4 Sermon 24, fol 124v, In ista prece et in speciali venerabile collegium et capitulum Sancti Francisci sacre professionis qui liquerunt divicias, vanitates, pompam et iactanciam huius mundi pro Dei amore et clauserunt se voluntarie infra custodiam paupertatis et alte perfeccionis, quod Deus ex sua bonitate det eis graciam sic servare et defendere castellum sue sacre et approbate religionis … Both here and later in the same sermon he speaks of the friars in the third person.

5 He identifies himself with the possessionati, for example sermon 24, fol 125r (compare 6, fol 35r), speaking of ‘our’ possessions and food. In sermon 8, fols 48r-49r (the exordium), he talks of Oxford as of his alma mater and alludes to his ‘master’, ‘Ut honorabilis meus magister told 30W on Sonday last’ (fol 49v). Elsewhere (sermon 25, fol 132v) he lauds the multitude of saints ‘qui vixerunt et moriebantur ob [for ‘sub’?] vexillo sancti Benedicti’. The reference to the doctrine of the assumption of our lady comes in sermon 24 (fol 124r-v) preached on that festival.

6 Sermon 8; sermon 14, fols 89v (non longe ab Oxon’), 90v (in Notyngham’ comitatu).

7 The theme of sermon 1 is from the epistle for the first Sunday in lent. Themes for sermons 2-13 are from the gospels for the Sundays in lent (in order) down to passion Sunday. Sermon 14 was presumably preached on palm Sunday, sermon 15 during holy week and 17 on Good Friday.

8 Sermon 1, fol 1r. The image is used elsewhere, for example sermons 4, 10, 16, 23; fols 22r, 60v, 97r, 121r.

9 Sermon 1, fol 7v.

10 Sermon 6, fol 35r.

11 Sermon 5, fol 30r, Spiritualiter quando placuit digno principi Jhesu hastiludiare pro nobis super crucem contra diabolum he disgisid se in extraneis armis … gestabat ex argento cum 5 rosis of goles.

12 Sermons 5, 17; fols 30r, 100v.

13 Sermon 2, fols 8r et seq, Sic civitas misericordie est summe commendabilis quia alte muratur profunde fossatur et situatur super pulcherrimum flumen quod unquam fluxit in terris. For the ‘maledicta civitas’ figured by Jericho see fols 10v-11r.

14 Sermon 14, fol 125r. Compare 22, fol 113r, Per castellum quod erat in fiendo et non potuit stare interpreto castellum demonis inferni Oldcastel et eius sectam.

15 Sermons 6, 24; fols 35r, 125r.

16 Sermon 2, fol 10v.

17 Sermon 5, fol 28r.

18 Sermon 6, fol 35r.

19 Sermons 4, 10, 23; fols 22r, 60v-61r, 121r-v.

20 Sermons 4, 10, 23; fols 22r-v, 61v, 123v.

21 Sermons 4, 10, 25; fols 22r, 61r, 129v.

22 Sermon 23, fols 120v et seq. This is the division used in the poem ‘The Parlement of the Thre Ages’.

23 Sermon 3, fols 15r-v, 19r-v. At fol 19r the preacher uses a testamentary metaphor, Misericors pater celi legavit nobis suam hereditatem; and at fol 101r that of the ‘patent eterne vite’ likened to royal letters patent ‘quia sicut in patente … in una parte est ymago regia in altera impressio armorum et est sufficiens warant pro tua vita’.

24 Fol 15r, Omnes erant rotulati in diaboli court rolle, omnes erant pral deaboli and dide him sute and service.

25 For example, sermon 4, fols 24v, 25v. He cites Solinus [De mirabilibus mundi] to the effect that the mantichora ‘generatur et educator in India et est a parlous best eciam stupenda, habet 3 ordines dencium in ore, habet faciem similem nomini et caudam similem scorpioni et precipue desiderat vesci de humanis carnibus’.

26 The ox [sermon 15, fol 95r] ut novistis est grande cornutum animal et forte ad tractum et designat pes helberes, ringleders et extorcionatores qui trahunt patriam totalem post se, agunt secundum libitum non secundum legem. For the other animals, see below.

27 Rev. 6. 8.

28 Sermon 11, fol 72v.

29 Sermon 13, fol 84r, Volunt agitare supercilia super te, habebis a groyn pro tuo labore et ibis antequam potaveris.

30 Sermon 3, fol 16v. Elsewhere [sermon 9, fol 55v] there is a reference to the ‘wile fox’.

31 Sermon 11, fol 71v.

32 Sermon 1, fol 3r.

33 Sermon 4, fol 23v.

34 Sermon 9, fol 56v. Hit fareth de istis [gulosis] sicut de ludentibus perdicem sub disco. Videmus quod si quis currat sepius rond circa discum ubi figitur candele lumen caput wext so gidi cerebrum ita evertitur quod quando credit se optime procedere versus lumen vel cadit in ignem per viam vel frangit caput ad scabellum vel abit awayward et capit tuam umbram. Sic est de istis gulosis que [sic] credunt capere lumen felicitatis sua delicata vita …

35 Ibid, … currunt a cocis ad cocos a taberna ad tabernas ad pascendum cadaver adeunt ita frequenter circa discum, ciphus rowt so longe inter ipsos, donee quelibet candela appareat due.

36 This is quoted—from Owst, [G.R.], Literature and Pulpit [in Medieval England,] (Cambridge 1933, 2 ed Oxford 1961) p 510 Google Scholar—in Middle English Dictionary, ed H. Kurath and S. M. Kuhn (Ann Arbor 1956-) see under ‘bobet’. But the marginal ‘byrlyryhode’ is better for the rhyme than the ‘biliried’ of the text.

37 Sermon 13, fol 82r.

38 For example, sermons 2, 3, 9, 16; fols 13r, 17r, 55r, 99v.

39 Sermon 25, fol 130v. Navis Anglie claudebatur infra pluribus annis a tempore Edwardi ultimi ad tempus nunc regis nostri. As Owst suggests, this could represent the preacher’s own life-span.

40 Sermon 6, fol 35r, Ista guerra non duravit per unum vel duos dies sed a tempore Wiclif qui fuit armatus in heresi.

41 Ibid, fol 35v, Per lanceam quam miles vibravit in manu interpretatur acuta sentencia contra lollardos per quam traduntur igni et morti.

42 Sermons 16, 25; fols 97v, 130r.

43 Ibid, Quando domini litigabant inter se.

44 Ibid, At þe scharp schowr Salopie. ‘Sharp shower’ was a favourite expression: see, for instance, fols 61r, 71r, 106r, 131r.

45 Sermon 6, fol 35r-v, Fuisset triset inter rebelles dominos et lollardos qui insurrexerunt contra ipsum. I am assuming that this refers to two separate incidents (close in time), though they are conflated in the similar passage at fol 130r (see next note).

46 Sermon 25, fol 130r. ‘Fuit eciam in grandi periculo quando lollardi rebellabant et surrexerunt contra Deum et regem to a destroyed him …’. Compare sermon 22, fol 113r, where the lollards are likewise set in opposition to God, the king, and the church’s ministers.

47 For instance, fol 35v. ‘He was schaply to ha be ded in campo aut capi ad bellum de Agyncourt nisi secure fuisset armatus armis grade, non posset durare in yeme guerras Normannie nisi quod armatur aureis gracie armis’.

48 Sermon 4, fol 22r; repeated at fol 129v (sermon 25). Compare sermons 10, 16; fols 61r, 97r. Owst, Literature and Pulpit pp 68 et seq., considers the ‘symbolic ship’ and renders parts of the present sermons in english.

49 Fol 129v. At fol 61r (sermon 10) it is the preacher himself who stands in the topcastle ‘ad premuniendum vos de hostibus supra mare’. The steersmen are the clergy who rule the whole ship: þe rothir per quod tota navis is stirrid bi est predicado et doctrina’ (fol 62v).

50 Fol 129v. Owst, Literature and Pulpit p 72 & n, has ‘pavys’ (with a palisading of shields), but it is just possible that the preacher may have intended ‘streamers and pennons’. He uses ‘pavysid’ (with a ‘v’ form) earlier in the passage.

51 Ibid. Owst reads ‘of toure’ (a towered ship?, and ‘turyeres (or curyeres)’. The regular use of place-names in these passages points to a proper name, though ‘tour’ itself does not occur elsewhere. Tours, admittedly far inland, was on the Loire, and its merchants well known in England. ‘Curyeres’ is confirmed by ‘krayir’ in two other places (fols 22r, 97r). The Scottish National Dictionary ed W. Grant and D. D. Murison (Edinburgh 1941-), gives ‘coracle’ under Currach, Curragh. See also sermons 4, 16; fols 22r, 97r (where the ‘great cog’ of France and Normandy is added).

52 Sermon 4, fol 22r. ‘Omnia Christiana regna olim timebant et venerabantur Anglicos propter fortitudinem et bonam gubernacionem que fuerat inter ipsos’. The phrase is omitted from fol 97r, but it is repeated at fols 129v-130r. Corresponding to the naval boast is a military one: ‘Omnia Christiana regna honorabant et timebant Anglicos in tantum quod a litel penown Anglici militis sculd aferayed in campo totum exercitum regium’. Sermon 8, fol 50r, repeated in sermon 11, fol 69v.

53 Sermon 25, fol 130r. Compare fol 22r (sermon 4) where there is a similar passage with a gap in the MS after ‘modica fischers bote’. Owst, Literature and Pulpit p 72 n 8, suggests that this is a reference to Owain Glyn Dŵr’s successes against Henry IV.

54 For example, sermon 6 fol 35r. ‘Iste celestis miles est qui celice vivit ligius dominus nostri [sic] rex quem Deus misit nobis in defensionem ecclesie et salvacionem tocius regni’. In sermon 5 (fol 29v) Christ himself figures as the celestial knight sent by God for man’s salvation. See 2 Mace. 11.8.

55 For example, sermon 15 fol 95v. ‘Sed misericors et miserator dominus videns ruinam et miseriam sui templi huius regni quod erat in puncto corruendi et destruendi ex sua gracia et misericordia erexit fortem columpnam in medio templi ad sustinendum totum opus nostrum ligium dominum graciosum regem, qui nunc est, Deus fortificet ipsum in virtute et augeat ipsius honorem’. Sec Rev. 3.12.

56 For example, sermon 25 fols 132r 133r.

57 For example, sermon 15 fol 96v. ‘Noster graciosus rex suos isiomodo vicit hostes intus et ex[t]erius.’ The recent (tarde) death of Oldcastle (1417)—the captain of the lollards—is mentioned at fol 38r.

58 Sermon 25, fol 132r.

59 Ibid. ‘Et quare credis rota sui honoris rotatur versus sursum? Certe spiritus vite ascendit qui movet istam rotam. Quid est iste spiritus vite? Bonus zelus altus amor quem habet erga Deum et ecclesiam.’

60 In pursuance of his father’s vows Henry V founded the carthusian house at Sheen and the nearby bridgettine house of Syon. Jacob, E.F., The Fifteenth Century (Oxford 1961) p 196 Google Scholar; and for Syon’s foundation, The Incendium Amoris of Richard Rolle of Hampole ed M. Deanesly (Manchester 1915) pp 91-144.

61 Fol 132r, Sic ipse augmentavit cultum Dei per fundacionem locorum sacrorum et destruccionem lollardorum. Sic Deus auxit honorem ipsius, salvavit eum per graciam a multis periculis and sent illi victoriam de suis inimicis.

62 Fol 133r. See Ecclus. 24.8-11. This may well have been a valedictory sermon for Henry’s final journey to France.

63 Sermon 8, fols 48r-49r.

64 Fol 49r, Sicut hec universitas fuit olim verus fons fidei et virtutis sic reputatur iam a chef … [gap in MS] hereticorum et lollardorum. Istomodo mater nostra scandalizatur. Non est meum verbum, est communis clamor in patria.

65 For example, sermons 3, 18; fols 18r, 103r. For lollardy see, for instance, sermon 9 fol 55r, Sed que est causa istius tocius doloris creditis? Certe serpentinum venenum inferni cxecrata lollardria que flatur inter nos.

66 Sermon 1, fols 11v-12r.

67 Sermon 4, fol 23v, Quia ut dicitur peccatum luxurie non tantum fuit usitatum ante ista tempora inter vulgares sicut iam in diebus. He frequently returns to this theme of ostentatious dress, for example in sermons 2, 22; fols 10v-11r, 114v-115v.

68 Sermon I, fol 11v, see under ‘Avaricia’. Si pauperem iniqua extorcione oppresisti … Si aliquem defraudasti in mercimoniis per falsas ulnas et mensuras. Compare fols 94v-95r. In sermon 7 (fol 45r) the preacher, using a musical analogy, castigates the victuallers of his day. See also fol 57v.

69 Fol 12r see under ‘Invidia’. Vide si peiorasti aut deprivasti si diffamasti aut scandalizasti proximum, si falsas fabulas finxisti ex proprio capite ab uno ad alium portasti discenciones et discordia in Christi plebe seminasti.

70 Ibid, see under ‘Ira’. Vide si gessisti rancorem aut odium adversus aliquem si prosecutus es ipsum per brevia si imbillasti eum in Marchesiam magis ex malicia quam ex iusticia, for to undo pi self for to undo him. Compare fol 41v. On the use of the name ‘Marshalsea’ see Pugh, R.B., Imprisonment in Medieval England (Cambridge 1968) pp 120-1Google Scholar.

71 Fol 12r see under ‘Gula’. Also sermon 10, fol 62r, Vis videre hoc aperte pes riotours qui cadunt cotidie in ebrietatem, iactantur de gula in luxuriam, de luxuria in furtum, de furto in homicidium, de homicidio in desperacionem, de desperacione in puteum inferni.

72 This and other assumptions to be gathered from the sermons were doubtless commonplace. At many points there are echoes of the thought of Jean Gerson. See, for instance, Pascoe, Louis B., Jean Gerson: Principles of Church Reform (Leiden 1973)Google Scholar, and for the methodology which Pascoe adopted: Ladner, G.B., The Idea of Reform (New York 1967)Google Scholar.

73 Sermon 15, fol 91v, Speciale templum et habitacio quod Christus filius Dei superni habet hic in terris est multitudo et congregacio fidelium angligenarum concordat scriptura 2a ad Corinthios vi. The pope occurs in a phrase which is transferred from one sermon to another: sermons 6, 24; fols 35r, 125r.

74 Sermon 3, fols 14r ff; nos 13, 24; fols 79v ff, 124 ff. See ‘Wilde Wittes and Wilfulnes’ pp 148-9.

75 For example, sermon 13 fol 80v, Isti laici qui nesciunt litteras volunt se smater de profundissima clerimonia, movebunt altas materias, petent arduas questiones difficiles alicui clerico ad solvendas. Compare sermon 16, fol 98r, Ideo tu qui es laicus et licet bene litteratus tene te deorsum ad pedem montis. But clergy also had to recognise their limitations, Minimus punctus fidei est supra humanum sensum, transcendit naturalem racionem. Nullus clericus potest ipsum attingere nisi Deus ad ipsum descendat per specialem inspiracionem (fol 80r). A similar statement is to be found at fol 97v.

76 Sermon 10, fol 64v.

77 See fol 64r and compare fol 113v (sermon 22).

78 Sermons 3, fol 18v, Oportet te scire, non potes iudicare hic secundum gustum vel visum quia hic deficit naturalis racio, omnes sensus tui decipiuntur. Compare fols 90r, 98r, Quod Christi corpus caro videlicet et sanguis est in altari sub specie panis et vini per virtutem verborum Christi que sacerdos recitat in missa … sed subtilitatem et circumstancias istius puncti, quomodo sapor et color remanens panis et vini absque substancia panis et vini et alias circumstancias quas non expedit hic recitare, non teneris cognoscere, non pertinet ad te (fol 98r).

79 See sermon 22, fol 117v, Et sicut per speculum concavum capitur ignis a sole, sic per visum speculi misericordie per contemplacionem ignis devocionis et amoris accenditur in nobis erga Deum. This suggests Rolle, but I have not found this passage in his Incendium Amoris. Compare fol 14v, addressed to the clergy, tenete vos in altis ramis fidei, date vos contemplacioni divine.

80 Sermon 15, fols 93v-94r.

81 Sermon 4, fol 23r. This advice is apparently directed specifically to the clergy.

82 Sermons 13, 17; fols 83r, 101r. In the later version this refers to the beginning of the mass, Vix assumet aquam benedictam et dicere ‘Sancti Amen’ ut veniunt, capiunt consortes, transith ecclesiam up and donne. Compare fol 30r.

83 Sermon 5, fol 30r.

84 Fols 31v, 39v.

85 Sermon 4, fol 22v, Indulgent parochianis suis et omnium pessimum lucro modici auri paciuntur subiectos suos iacere in peccatis et non corrigunt ipsos. Or again (fol 2r), Et nulla fit correccio vel modica. Moreover, according to the preacher there might be some danger in making correction because of the spread of lollardy, Suus ordinarius ipsum non audebit corrigere pre mortis timore (ibid).

86 For example, fol 10v (sermon 2), Sacerdotes prankyt [and] pinchet in togis suis sicut seculares. Compare fol 115r (sermon 22), þi goune is pinchet and prankid retro wt goteris enowe, apparently a specific reference to the clergy.

87 Sermon 22, fol 116r, Lex et avaricia connectuntur, rectum non habet exitum nisi moneta ostendatur. Avaricia regnat communiter in omni curia et adhuc Christiana curia est pessima ut noscitur per experienciam.

88 See, for example, fol 93v.

89 Norman Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millennium (rev ed Oxford 1970) has demonstrated the influence of apocalyptic writings on medieval and later heretical movements. For some animadversions see Lerner, R.E., The Heresy of the Free Spirit in the Later Middle Ages (Berkeley 1972)Google Scholar. As our preacher shows, the orthodox also invoked apocalyptic imagery. Antichrist, Antiochus Epiphanes, the celestial knight, the pillar of the temple, the great portent in the sky and the pale white horse all figure in his sermons.

90 Sermon 11, fol 69v, for instance. Boethius’s wheel was a commonplace of the fifteenth century. A contemporary illustration of it aptly serves as the cover for Du Boulay, F.R.H.’s, An Age of Ambition (London 1970)Google Scholar. Our preacher also used Ezechiel’s wheel—within which moved the ‘spiritus vite’—to represent the ‘honor istius seculi’. See fols 70r, 131r.

91 Sermon 25, fol 131r. Compare fols 49v, 69v.

92 Sermon 15, fol 124v.

93 For medieval notions of poverty see Études sur l’Histoire de la Pauvreté, ed Michel Mollat (Paris 1974). Cahier no 2 (1963-4 roneotype) contains a paper by Mollat (not included in the above and which I have not yet seen) entitled: ‘La pauvreté dans la pensée de Thomas Brinton, évêque de Rochester, au temps de soulèvement des travailleurs’. See Brinton, intro, pp xxiii-xxiv, xxvii-xxviii.

94 The preacher frequently stresses national unity and its necessity. For example, fol 103r ‘Nostrum regnum quod est unum corpus’. He harks back nostalgically to a time when ‘clerus and pe laife huius terre wer knet to gedur in uno fagot and brenden super istum ignem [perfecte caritatis]’ (fol 50v). The most extravagant eulogy of Henry V is in sermon 6, fol 35r-v, but sermon 25 is notably jingoistic. The latter is shortly to be printed in Mediaeval Studies. For a brief discussion of fifteenth-century ‘nationalism’ see Loomis, L.R., ‘Nationality at the Council of Constance: an Anglo-French Dispute’, Change in Medieval Society ed Thrupp, S.L. (New York 1964) pp 279-96Google Scholar. Hay, Denys, ‘The Church of England in the later Middle Ages’, History 53 (1968) pp 35–50 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, rightly argues that it can be appropriate to speak of the ‘Church of England’ at this time.

95 Since reading this paper I have received pertinent information from Patrick Horner who is working on some english sermons in another Bodleian MS, Laud misc. 706. I have made a preliminary examination of this MS, which contains just over thirty sermons. Four of them, as Horner points out, are to be found in Bodley MS 649 (nos 5—inchoate in Laud, 12, 15 and 19). The Laud MS has ornamental capitals reminiscent of those in the Bodley MS and the initial hand, which recurs from time to time, is similar to (and possibly the same as) the hand of the latter—attributed to John Swetstock. A rubric (fol 13r) declares that John Paunteley preached one of the sermons at the funeral of Walter Froucester, abbot of Gloucester, 3 May 1412. But although some of the Laud MS sermons have characteristics recalling those of the Bodley material, it is probable that closer scrutiny will show that the former constitute a collection which is, as the numerous hands suggest, far from homogeneous. The Laud MS was in the possession of John Paunteley, a monk of St Peter’s abbey, Gloucester. He was ordained deacon and priest in 1392—Registrum Johannis Trefnant Episcopi Herefordensis, ed W. W. Capes (London 1916) pp 201, 203; Bodleian Library Quarto Catalogues II, Laudian Manuscripts, ed H. O. Coxe (repr Oxford 1973) pp 505-6. The Paunteley of the Worcester sede vacante register, who was ordained priest in 1375, see A Biographical Register of the University of Oxford, ed A. B. Emden (Oxford 1957-9), must be a different man. According to Emden (citing PRO 047/127/5, now C258/38 no 30), Paunteley was (in 1410) a doctor of theology and (by inference) from Gloucester College. What we know of Paunteley suggests that he would fit very well as the author of the Bodley MS 649 sermons, the first twenty-five that is. He must have been born about 1367, which would make him roughly 55 years of age in 1422. I am most grateful to Horner for placing his information about Paunteley at my disposal.