Week of Books - Going to Church in Medieval England

 

Going to Church in Medieval England
Nicholas Orme

Churchgoing as a religious and social activity in Britain can be envisaged by at least AD 313 when the Emperor Constantine recognised Christianity as a lawful religion and allowed it to have permanent public places of worship.
(Page 5)

Why am I so drawn to the Medieval time period, specifically in Britain? I could probably point to a few things: my love of learning, history, books, England, architecture. All these things play a role in the Medieval time period. Over this time, books became more widely available (not just manuscripts, but eventually the printing press), which allowed more learning opportunities as more and more people became literate, as the reading culture was shifting from Latin to English. 

As one who is a long-time reader and appreciator of C.S. Lewis, I firmly believe that one cannot read his books and not be pointed into the Medieval ideas and books. From his early published The Allegory of Love on courtly love in Medieval time period, to the literary tome of his academic career The Oxford History of English Literature in the Sixteenth Century Excluding Drama, and all his writings in between, almost every book or story he wrote harkens back to writers, beliefs, quotes, and ideas from Medieval Britain. To better understand Lewis and what he was writing about, one must venture into the Middle Ages. So, needless to say, my interests have taken me along that similar journey of discovery, and now I am led to the churches in this time period, pre-Reformation and up to the Reformation. 

The book covers the time period from Augustine's arrival around 597 in south England (setting up in Canterbury) to the time of Elizabeth I in 1559. I have been learning about the origins, the church building itself, the staff of churches, the congregation and their activity and behavior, the seasons, etc. 

He also covers interesting literary connections from the books at that time, in their references of the church, from The Canterbury Tales, Piers Plowman, and many other works. It's a history book, full of details and anecdotes from records of churches. Some of them quite humorous when the behavior of people is detailed. People were not always so well-behaved as we might think from our modern perspective. Crying babies were an annoyance to many churchgoers, and in some country parishes, dogs and animals seemed to be difficult to keep out of the church (and they asked that weapons be left out on the porch), it's a wonder to me how a service of solemnity could have taken place!  

Wider literacy during the later Middle Ages, at least in reading French or English, enabled the language gap to be bridge to some extent. Primers and books of prayers in the vernacular languages helped, as did guides to services like the 'Lay Folks' Mass Book'.
(Page 187)