Interactions Between Medieval Clergy and Laity in a Regional Context
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Clergy and Commoners: Interactions between medieval clergy and laity in a regional context Andrew W. Taubman Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of York Centre for Medieval Studies 2009 Taubman 2 Abstract This thesis examines the interactions between medieval clergy and laity, which were complex, and its findings trouble dominant models for understanding the relationships between official and popular religions. In the context of an examination of these interactions in the Humber Region Lowlands during the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, this thesis illustrates the roles that laity had in the construction of official and popular cultures of medieval religion. Laity and clergy often interacted with each other and each other‟s culture, with the result that both groups contributed to the construction of medieval cultures of religion. After considering general trends through an examination of pastoral texts and devotional practices, the thesis moves on to case studies of interactions at local levels as recorded in ecclesiastical administrative documents, most notably bishops‟ registers. The discussion here, among other things, includes the interactions and negotiations surrounding hermits and anchorites, the complaints of the laity, and lay roles in constructing the religious identity of nuns. The Conclusion briefly examines the implications of the complex relationships between clergy and laity highlighted in this thesis. It questions divisions between cultures of official and popular religion and ends with a short case study illustrating how clergy and laity had the potential to shape the practices and structures of both official and popular medieval religion. Taubman 3 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 2 Table of Contents ................................................................................................................ 3 List of Figures and Tables ................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgments................................................................................................................ 5 Conventions and Abbreviations ........................................................................................... 6 I. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 8 Part II ..................................................................................................................................... 43 1. Pastoral Care? The regional development and use of pastoral manuals ....................... 44 2: Interactions and Participation in the Construction of Devotional Practices .................... 95 Part III .................................................................................................................................. 141 3: The Relationships of Solitaries .................................................................................... 142 Part IV .................................................................................................................................. 157 4: Narratives of Interaction between Clergy and Laity: Complaints .................................. 158 5. Narratives of Interaction between Clergy and Laity: Refusals ...................................... 193 6. Neighbours: The local relationships of two medieval nunneries .................................. 227 V: Conclusions: Some implications ...................................................................................... 262 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 269 Taubman 4 List of Figures and Tables Figure 1: The Humber Region Lowlands ................................................................................ 20 Figure 2: Regional associations with the Manuel des Péchés ............................................... 47 Figure 3: Regional associations with Handlyng Synne ........................................................... 51 Figure 4: Regional associations with the Oculus Sacerdotis .................................................. 56 Figure 5: Regional associations with the Judica Me Deus ..................................................... 60 Figure 6: Regional associations with pastoral texts ................................................................ 63 Table 1: Prologues and contents of long Manuel versions ..................................................... 66 Table 2: Miracles of St William ............................................................................................. 108 Figure 7: Places associated with the Foston Virgin .............................................................. 119 Figure 8: Indulgence destinations in Yorkshire .................................................................... 129 Figure 9: Regional hermits and anchorites before 1348 ....................................................... 144 Figure 10: Locations of Chapter 4 case studies ................................................................... 160 Figure 11: Hagworthingham and Langar .............................................................................. 196 Figure 12: Handale Priory and its surroundings ................................................................... 236 Figure 13: Stixwould Priory and its surroundings ................................................................. 246 Taubman 5 Acknowledgments During the Middle Ages, the compiler who collected the works of established authorities and shaped them into something new of his own was held in as much esteem as the author of an original work. I have felt much like a compiler while completing this doctoral thesis because I could not have done it without the efforts and support of many other people whom I now have the pleasure to thank. Numerous faculty, staff, and colleagues at the University of York‟s Centre for Medieval Studies have all been incalculably helpful over the years. There are far too many to name without, inevitably, forgetting someone, so I must thank all of them for their interest, questions, advice, and challenges to my project. The Centre‟s many seminar and discussion groups are a tribute to its vibrant research environment and help to mould excellent future medievalists. All researchers rely on their libraries as well as on a growing number of online resources, which makes me ever more awed at the efforts of past medievalists who relied on paper files, card catalogues, and long-hand composition. Many sources used in this thesis have been drawn from online databases and projects, which I must acknowledge here: British History Online for making accessible and searchable, among other resources, the Victoria County Histories; the Humanities Research Institute‟s Taxatio Database; the University of Iowa for its creation of a fully searchable database of the Calendar of Patent Rolls; and the University of Houston O‟Quinn Law Library, which is digitising records from the National Archives in London. Much of my time has been spent in libraries and I must acknowledge two in particular. Staff at the library of the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies at the University of Toronto have always been helpful and welcoming on my many working holidays at home in Canada. I must give even greater thanks to the staff at the Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York who have been tremendously helpful, whether they were helping to find documents or re-spooling dusty microfilms from their excellent collection. Of the many people whom I should mention personally, I must confine myself to a few. Beyond the walls of the Centre, Fr Elias O‟Brien (O.Carm.) at Whitefriars, York provided, variously, insights into interactions between clerics and their flocks at modern parishes, discussions of his own doctoral work, and excellent hospitality. I will not, I think, ever adequately be able to thank my supervisors, Dr Jeremy Goldberg and Professor Jocelyn Wogan-Browne, whose constant attention over the past three years has been, at times, daunting and encouraging, but always superlatively helpful. I owe great thanks to my family, in particular to my parents, without whose support and encouragement I would not have even undertaken this project. Finally, I owe a lifetime of thanks to my wife, Ming Taubman, for her support. She has, with the patience of a medieval saint, endured countless discussions about this project; many impromptu Latin declamations and translations; rainy visits to crumbling monasteries and cold parish churches; and long absences. All that remains to do is, in appropriate medieval fashion, to apologise to the reader for any errors and faults that are, of course, my own. Andrew W. Taubman Centre for Medieval Studies University of York Conventions and Abbreviations Long passages of quotations from primary and published sources appear in the original language with a translation in the footnote. Short phrases or words intended to illustrate or clarify meaning appear in the original language in brackets immediately following the English. Generally, no reference appears for these if they have already appeared in a longer passage. No translation is given for Middle English passages. Punctuation is retained from published editions and added to unpublished