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The English Church in the Fourteenth Century
An outstanding analysis of the governance of the Church in England, its relations with popes and monarchs as well as intellectual life and religious literature - pastoral, moral, mystical. Originally by Cambridge University Press, 1955.
- GenresHistory
292 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
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July 15, 2024
This book tells us that no institution in the 14th century England was so often the object of satire as the Church. The great organisation with its wealth, its power, and its conventional traditions, might have been expected to offer a safeguard against social decay, but the Church itself was a fruitful breeding ground for those very things which it sought to eradicate.
A spirit of sacrifice, a respect for authority and an acceptance of discipline were the characteristics which the Church must foster, if it was to retain its position and discharge its function in the society. Anyone who is acquainted with the real condition of the church, of the spiritual degeneration of its officials — bishops, friars, monks pardoners etc.—-knows that all these qualities were very badly wanting in them.
This book has been divided into three sections:
**In Section 1, the author examines social and political aspects of the church, such as the make up of the episcopacy, and the influence of the crown on church affairs.
**In Section 2 the book deals with the intellectual activities and culture of the church in a time of change and controversy, as university education became more common for priests and monks.
**Section 3 discusses the religious literature of the period, for both clergy and laity, and the growth of the mystical tradition in England.
The principal characteristics of the churchmen were, to use the words of a famous critic, “contempt for authority, evasion of discipline and a thorough-going worldliness which not only sought the good things of life, but sought them at the expense of the needy.”
The author shows us that such was the sad condition of the church. Lacking the spiritual zeal and religious fervour, shorn of their moral influence, the churchm en lived a godless and shamefully worldly life, concerned more about their prospity and worldly pleasures than their spiritual duties.
Yet nothing was done to reform the sorry state of affairs. The king could do nothing as all the power rested in the hands of the Pope and bishops; but the spiritual guardians had forgotten their duties.
With the removal of the seat of the Pope from Rome to Avignon in 1309 and the Great Schism of 1378, the Pope had lost much of his authority and moral influence. In 1378 Europe witnessed the usual spectacle of two rival Popes—with their seats at Rome and Avignon, both claiming divine authority and each calling down the curse of God upon all those who supported his rival.
All conscientious people were indignant at the state of affairs. While others only spoke against the individual Popes, Wycliffe went to the extreme of refusing to recognise the very institution of Papacy.
The bishops were no less corrupt than the other churchmen. The bishops were usually accused of being too much occupied with secular interests at the expense of their spiritual duties. Though supported by the Church, they spent lives in serving the King. The extent to which corruption was then prevalent can be gauged from the fact that from amongst the twenty-five persons who were bishops in England and Wales between 1376 and 1386, thirteen held high secular offices under the Crown.
Other church officials were similarly corrupt and dishonest. They brought the noble profession of churchmen into contempt. In the beginning friars were spread over the country ‘like a plague of locusts.’
They used to carry pins, purses etc., with them and were rightly termed by Wycliffe as ‘peddlers’. Chaucer has painted a realistic picture of such a friar. The friars, moreover, used to grant absolution in return for small sums of money.
The pardoners, carrying the seal or the Pope with them, were always successful in befooling the innocent people and received large sums of money from them. The monks never remained in their cells as they were supposed to do. They not only conveniently forgot their vow of poverty but also freely indulged in hunting and riding.
The book focusses completely on the degeneration into which the church had fallen in the 14th century. The gold itself was rusting. And the theme of this book completely agrees with the famous observation of G. M. Trevelyan : “The fire of religious enthusiasm and the light of learning burnt much low within the walls of monasteries that once had supplied England with noble leadership.”
For students of Medieval England, this book is priceless.
A spirit of sacrifice, a respect for authority and an acceptance of discipline were the characteristics which the Church must foster, if it was to retain its position and discharge its function in the society. Anyone who is acquainted with the real condition of the church, of the spiritual degeneration of its officials — bishops, friars, monks pardoners etc.—-knows that all these qualities were very badly wanting in them.
This book has been divided into three sections:
**In Section 1, the author examines social and political aspects of the church, such as the make up of the episcopacy, and the influence of the crown on church affairs.
**In Section 2 the book deals with the intellectual activities and culture of the church in a time of change and controversy, as university education became more common for priests and monks.
**Section 3 discusses the religious literature of the period, for both clergy and laity, and the growth of the mystical tradition in England.
The principal characteristics of the churchmen were, to use the words of a famous critic, “contempt for authority, evasion of discipline and a thorough-going worldliness which not only sought the good things of life, but sought them at the expense of the needy.”
The author shows us that such was the sad condition of the church. Lacking the spiritual zeal and religious fervour, shorn of their moral influence, the churchm en lived a godless and shamefully worldly life, concerned more about their prospity and worldly pleasures than their spiritual duties.
Yet nothing was done to reform the sorry state of affairs. The king could do nothing as all the power rested in the hands of the Pope and bishops; but the spiritual guardians had forgotten their duties.
With the removal of the seat of the Pope from Rome to Avignon in 1309 and the Great Schism of 1378, the Pope had lost much of his authority and moral influence. In 1378 Europe witnessed the usual spectacle of two rival Popes—with their seats at Rome and Avignon, both claiming divine authority and each calling down the curse of God upon all those who supported his rival.
All conscientious people were indignant at the state of affairs. While others only spoke against the individual Popes, Wycliffe went to the extreme of refusing to recognise the very institution of Papacy.
The bishops were no less corrupt than the other churchmen. The bishops were usually accused of being too much occupied with secular interests at the expense of their spiritual duties. Though supported by the Church, they spent lives in serving the King. The extent to which corruption was then prevalent can be gauged from the fact that from amongst the twenty-five persons who were bishops in England and Wales between 1376 and 1386, thirteen held high secular offices under the Crown.
Other church officials were similarly corrupt and dishonest. They brought the noble profession of churchmen into contempt. In the beginning friars were spread over the country ‘like a plague of locusts.’
They used to carry pins, purses etc., with them and were rightly termed by Wycliffe as ‘peddlers’. Chaucer has painted a realistic picture of such a friar. The friars, moreover, used to grant absolution in return for small sums of money.
The pardoners, carrying the seal or the Pope with them, were always successful in befooling the innocent people and received large sums of money from them. The monks never remained in their cells as they were supposed to do. They not only conveniently forgot their vow of poverty but also freely indulged in hunting and riding.
The book focusses completely on the degeneration into which the church had fallen in the 14th century. The gold itself was rusting. And the theme of this book completely agrees with the famous observation of G. M. Trevelyan : “The fire of religious enthusiasm and the light of learning burnt much low within the walls of monasteries that once had supplied England with noble leadership.”
For students of Medieval England, this book is priceless.
Displaying 1 of 1 review