Historiographical orthodoxy on late medieval religion
Historical debate - A.G. Dickens, Eamon Duffy
Historiographical orthodoxy - the reformation was rooted in centuries of popular discontent (priests frequently ill-educated, administrating to a lay community that resented ecclesiastical wealth, depended on Latin rites and rituals that the laity did not comprehend)
^ purgatory had a strong grip on popular consciousness
^^ high level of dissent, anti-clericalism and heresy
^^^ this model of late medieval religion was articulated by A.G. Dickens in ‘The English Reformation’
Revisionist view on late medieval religion
However, in the 90s, a revisionist school emerged - Eamon Duffy challenged this, arguing that Dickens was reading history backwards from the reformation, rather than examining late medieval religion in its own right
^ argued that Dickens was simply re-articulating a 16th century protestant critique of Catholicism
Duffy accepted that there were concerns about the quality of parish priests - however, argued that this was a mechanism to improve the quality of the priesthood
Contested the idea that late medieval parishioners did not understand what they were practicing
Argued that historians had given dissidents far too much attention and exaggerated the numbers
Lots of evidence that people gave voluntary gifts to local churches - suggested commitment to the church on a local level
Late medieval laity were not passive, they were shapers of religious life
Examples of material to educate priests
Priests were the key bridge between church and people - expected to administer sacraments and lead prayer
During the later middle ages, the church became particularly attentive to schooling priests - 14th and 15th century: flux of literature to teach priests (John Mirk’s ‘Instructions for Parish Priests’ written in Middle English)
^ Mirk’s ‘Festial’ - collection of sermons written in Middle English for use through the ecclesiastical year
What was used in churches to reinforce spoken messages?
Images, statues etc… reinforced spoken messages - e.g. Pew Finials in Blythburgh Church in Suffolk depicted the Seven Deadly Sins, Doom paintings in Wenhaston, Suffolk
Sources available to us to reconstruct lay belief
- wills - tell us how late medieval people prepared for death
- books of hours (prayer books) - standard liturgical texts that people can use to help them pray: many owners annotated theirs
- churchwardens’ accounts
- commonplace books
- church court records - give an incomplete picture as it records recusancy, priests’ failings etc…. (can be useful, but should be balanced against other records, as above)
The work of religion inmedieval England
Cannot take too narrow a view of what religion is for!!
The work of religion -
- Appeal to the saints: as intercessors in this world as well (as well as the next) and ‘present’ in relics and images.
- Apotropaic actions: invocations (e.g. Name of Jesus), gestures (e.g. making sign of the cross), sacramentals (e.g. sprinkling of holy water. Note: different to sacraments).
- The ritual year: the liturgy connected to agriculture and harvest: Plough Monday’s lights and blessings (January); processions with banners at Rogationtide against the Devil’s power.
- ^ theme of solidarity and community
How were the needs of the dead attended to in medieval religion
- Suffrages (helps to the soul in Purgatory): prayers, alms, masses.
- We can see in wills that testators wanted masses to be performed for their souls after death - chantries set up for this purpose
- ^e.g. Wakefield Bridge Chantry Chapel
- Celebrations of chantry masses central to medieval Oxbridge colleges
Evidence that provisions for the dead were not limited to the rich
Provision for all, including poorer parishioners’ souls:
- Name noted on the parish’s bede roll. (where they would be prayed for on a regular basis)
- Parish dead recalled by the ‘dead light’ or ‘All Souls Light’. (candle kept burning)
- Parishioners might provide for votive candles in their wills (at Morebath, Devon, some gifted hives of bees to provide the wax to make them).
- A general commemoration: all the dead remembered at the Feast of All Souls on 2nd November.
^system skewed to the advantage of the rich? - yes, the rich did have more options to provide for their mortal souls, but they also needed to do more (’easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven’ - Matthew 19:24)
What is Galpern’s view on late medieval Christianity and is it strong?
A.N. Galpern - late medieval Christianity as a ‘cult of the living in the service of the dead’
- our perception of religious life skewed by the fact that we often rely on wills (written on the deathbed)
- the relationship between the living and the dead was not one-way: the dead also did things for the living - gave them property, endowed churches through provisions in wills etc…
- acceptance that the dead wanted to be remembered but also an acknowledgment that the dead were not going to be remembered forever - chantries ceased activities once money ran out for example
- ^ the weight of the dead lightened by pragmatism
To what extent did heresy exist?
Criticism, dissent and heresy did exist (growing literacy and expansion of knowledge about the faith meant that people could interrogate the contents of faith themselves)
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and Langland’s The Vision of Piers Plowman created images of ecclesiastical corruption and failings
What values were at the core of Wyclif’s thought?
- Bible to be available in the vernacular.
- Criticism of devotional images.
- Questioning of Church teaching about the Eucharist, the saints, masses for the dead.
- Rejection of the doctrine of transubstantiation
Was Lollardy influential?
Ecclesiastical fear that heresy (Lollardy) was spreading like ‘the overwhelming multiplication of seedlings’ (Henry Knighton, chronicler, d. 1396). - this statement arguably derived from his fears rather than logic
Beliefs of Lollards sometimes incoherent and contradictory
Limited movement - gained traction amongst the ‘Lollard knights’ of Richard II’s court, some radical clergy, artisans, lawyers
How does Duffy refer to the laity’s relationship with the Church?
Also evidence of lay ‘invested-ness’ in the structures of what Duffy has called ‘traditional religion’, esp. at the parish level.
AND there is evidence of adaptability in the face of social and cultural change. - evidence that the Church was actually responsive to social change (e.g. responded to growing lay literacy by making available a body of texts that could be used for personal devotion)
A case study adaptability: late medieval mystics and their writings ….
- Anonymous, Cloud of Unknowing (later 14thc).
- Julian of Norwich (d. after 1416), Revelations of Divine Love.
^ discussed meditative encounters with Christ, which people could practice themselves - the Church tolerated this (saw that it could serve as an adjunct to belief rather than a challenge to it)
Was medieval Christianity flexible?
We should be alert to the flexibility and adaptability of late medieval Christianity
Late medieval Church as a ‘broad’ Church and the possibilities for diversity within orthodoxy (Mishtooni Bose and the concept of ‘polychromatic orthodoxy’ in the late Middle Ages - the idea that orthodoxy itself has elements of diversity within it)
Definitions of orthodoxy, heresy and heterodoxy
Orthodoxy = adherence to the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church
Heresy = rejection of doctrine
Heterodoxy is everything that lies between these extremes
Does heterodox practice act as evidence against the strength of the medieval church?
Heterodox practice can be proof of a fundamental vitality within the Church - the spectrum of belief does not necessarily point to flaws within the Church
^ e.g. saints - local saints grew in prominence —> the Church didn’t like this but did not stamp this out
Role of saints was to intercede - people wanted saints that they could relate to personally and who would relate to them/sympathise with them
Similar to political intercession of the House of Commons - reflects a fundamentally hierarchical society wherein peasants saw their place to be lower
^ no rejection of the fundamentality of intercession - orthodoxy of belief exists and manifests itself in heterodoxy of practice
e.g. of a sophisticated argument to make in an essay about orthodoxy
orthodoxy of belief exists and manifests itself as heterodoxy of practice
e.g. emergence of local saints - may not have been mandated by the Church but reflects a fundamental belief in the intercessory powers of saints (a key orthodox belief)
How can we use the example of saints to show that the Church met the needs of the laity?
What were the needs of the laity? - achieving salvation, solutions to their troubles in this life
The plethora of local saints reflects that the needs of the laity were being met as the laity were able to find saints that they could relate to personally with an eye to achieving intercession - the fact that the Church tolerated this shows that they saw this as important to meeting the needs of the laity (embraced some heterodox practice - the laity found fulfilment in what the Church was willing to offer them)
Other examples of the Church meeting the needs of the laity
Laity turn to the Church for comfort and support - Church functions as a social charity: local monastic communities provided healthcare, education etc….
Strengthening sense of community - e.g. pax-bread ceremony at mass (congregation offer each other pax-bread - fosters a sense of social cohesion) - also dispute resolution occurred through pax-bread offerings
Church offered comfort to families facing deaths
Orthodoxy in religious belief and liturgical practice
- The Eucharist and Transubstantiation: Belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist was central to late medieval piety. The Corpus Christi festival, during which the consecrated Host was carried through towns in a lavish procession, reinforced belief in the sacrament and Christ’s presence within the community.
- Lay Participation in Mass: Regular attendance at Sunday Mass, confession, and Easter communion was required by ecclesiastical law, but lay engagement extended far beyond these obligations. The laity demonstrated deep devotion to the Mass, evidenced by widespread donations for the maintenance of altars, the purchase of candles, and the commissioning of votive Masses. Margery Kempe’s account of attending Mass shows how deeply laypeople internalized and responded to its rituals, sometimes with intense emotional fervor.
The emotional and personal dimensions of lay piety
Beyond formal orthodoxy, religious belief was deeply personal and emotional. Devotional literature encouraged laypeople to engage affectively with Christ’s suffering, fostering a deeply internalized piety.
- Meditation on Christ’s Passion: The practice of imaginative meditation, popularized by works such as ‘Meditationes Vitae Christi’, encouraged worshippers to visualize Christ’s suffering as if they were present at the scene. Margery Kempe’s visions of Christ’s Passion during Holy Week services exemplify this heightened emotional devotion.
- Candlemas and the Power of Sacramentals: The blessing and use of candles at Candlemas reflected both doctrinally orthodox beliefs (associating Christ with light) and popular piety (belief in their protective power). Parishioners took these blessed candles home to use during storms and illness, showing how liturgical objects were imbued with personal spiritual significance.
- Guilds and Lay Religious Expression: Guilds played a crucial role in maintaining parish religious life, funding lights for the altars, and organizing processions. The Beverley Candlemas Guild, for instance, staged elaborate reenactments of the Presentation at the Temple, complete with a member impersonating the Virgin Mary. These guild activities reinforced orthodox religious themes but also allowed laypeople to take an active role in religious pageantry.
The integration of folk traditions and popular customs in the religious calendar
While religious practice was largely orthodox, elements of older folk traditions persisted, sometimes in tension with official Church teachings.
- Rituals with Pagan or Superstitious Origins: Some festival observances contained clear pre-Christian elements. The plough ceremonies at the beginning of the agricultural season, where young men dragged a plough through the village demanding offerings, were fertility rites that had been incorporated into the Christian calendar. Similarly, on St. Agnes’s Eve, young women engaged in divination rituals to learn the identity of their future husbands.
- The Church’s Response to Folk Beliefs: While many of these customs were tolerated and even integrated into Christian festivals, clerical authorities were aware of the potential for superstition. Preachers warned against the improper use of sacramentals—such as using blessed candles in magic rituals—or the over-reliance on charms and relics.
How was religious belief intertwined with social hierarchy?
Religious belief was also deeply intertwined with social hierarchy, reinforcing local power structures and communal identities.
- Processions and Social Order: Public religious events, such as the Corpus Christi procession, served as both devotional acts and displays of civic and social hierarchy. Townspeople competed for positions of honor in these processions, sometimes leading to conflict, as seen in the Chester Corpus Christi riots of 1399. Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s insistence on being the first to make her offering at church reflects the importance of religious rituals in asserting social status.
- Ritual as Social Control: The Church also used religious ceremonies to reinforce moral and social order. The elaborate Maundy Thursday foot-washing ritual, where rulers and clerics washed the feet of the poor, reinforced ideals of Christian humility while subtly reinforcing the hierarchical relationship between clergy and laity.
Examples of bequests for Church ornaments and liturgical objects
Laypeople commonly left gifts of church ornaments, candles, and vestments in their wills to enhance the beauty of religious worship. These bequests served both as acts of piety and as guarantees that prayers would be said for the donor’s soul.
- Ornaments and Vestments for Major Feasts: Many bequests explicitly stated that gifts should be used on “principall festes” (major feasts). For example, Beatrice Kirkemer, in 1509, left a set of prayer beads (rosary) to be hung on church images “on good dayes,” while Alice Carre, in 1523, donated coral beads specifically to adorn the image of St. Anne on her feast day.
- Seasonal and Festive Donations: Testators often left items that would visibly enhance the church during major celebrations. Some bequests ensured that extra music or bell ringing would occur on important feast days, emphasizing how laypeople sought to shape the liturgical experience even after their death.
