GIFT OF JANE K.SATHER .^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/englishliteraturOObenhrich PUBLISHED ON THE FOUNDATION ESTABLISHED IN MEMORY OF HENRY WELDON BARNES OF THE CLASS OF 1882, YALE COLLEGE ENGLISH LITERATUEE FROM WIDSITH TO THE DEATH OF CHAUCER A SOURCE BOOK BY ALLEN ROGERS BENHAM, A.M., Ph.D. ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY MDCCCCXVI Copyright, 1916 By Yale University Press First published, June, 1916 ^\^(A THE HENRY WELDON BARNES MEMORIAL PUBLICATION FUND The present volume is the fourth work published by the Yale University Press on the Henry Wei don Barnes Memorial Publica- tion Fund. This Foundation was established June 16, 1918, by a gift made to Yale University by William Henry Barnes, Esq., of Philadelphia, in memory of his son, a member of the Class of 1882, Yale College, who died December 3, 1882. While a student at Yale, Henry Weldon Barnes was greatly interested in the study of literature and in the literary activities of the college of his day, con- tributing articles to some of the undergraduate papers and serving on the editorial board of the Yale Record. It had been his hope and expectation that he might in after-life devote himself to liter- ary work. His untimely death prevented the realization of his hopes, but by the establishment of the Henry W^eldon Barnes Memorial Publication Fund his name will nevertheless be forever associated with the cause of scholarship and letters which he planned to serve and which he loved so well. TO MY FATHER AND THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER PREFACE " Literature is for the most part history or history at one remove, and what is culture but a mold of interpretation into which new things are thrust, a collection of standards, a sort of bed of King Og, to which all new ex- pressions must be lopped or stretched." H. G. Wells, The Discovery of the Future, p. 19. I The title of this venture is to be taken seriously; the work is a source-book, not an anthology nor a text-book; it exemplifies and urges in literary history the same methods that have long been successfully used in constitutional or political history. The differentia of anthology, text-book, and source-book merit further consideration. I take the anthology first; because, since this volume is a collection of quotations, it may most easil}^ be confused therewith. But to point out the difference between them is not difficult. The object of an anthology is to present to a reader, who perhaps has neither time nor inclination to examine the whole product, samples of the best literary product of an epoch or of a nation — best in technique and in content, appealing to the taste which every cultivated person aspires to have. The object of a source-book is to present to a reader, who has perhaps little leisure and meager library resources at his disposal, such documents from an age as fundamentally explain the life, ideals, and spirit thereof. An anthology aims to form taste; a source-book, to train judgment. The former is a means to appreciation; the latter, to scholarship. What is the aim of a text-book in English literary history? The question can best be answered in a paraphrase of the X PREFACE words of a current manual; thus: the purpose of this work is threefold; to induce people personally to know and desire the best books, to see that they are the representatives of different ages as well as of different authors, and to appre- ciate the development of English literature from simplicity to complexity. So far, so good; but the means adopted to attain these worthy ends is characteristic of nearly all the text-books that I have seen: to arrange in chronological order the author's more or less personal opinions of English writers. The chronological order is almost always the sole historical brand on the book. But chronology is merely the skeleton of history, and, important as a skeleton is, it can hardly serve as the whole body. Other elements must be found in a body and these are but ill-supplied in the ordinary text-book; for in the latter, to drop the figure, the reader gets a second- or third-hand view of the primary facts; he feels no contact with the men and movements that were the original active agents. This contact he does get, however, in the source- book, which "shows the very age and body of the time his form and pressure." From an anthology, then, my book differs in that it concerns judgment and scholarship rather than taste and appreciation, though these last may be the most precious by-products of the method it exhibits. From a text-book it differs in that it gives a direct rather than an indirect report of its field. II We are coming to realize that literary history, like other sorts, is a matter of reports or documents. But in literary history our difficulty has been that we have two sets of documents to deal with; while in political history, for instance, we have but one. Thus, for the age of Chaucer in literary history we have both Chaucer's works and contemporary comment thereon; whereas for the polit- PREFACE xi ical history of the same age we have but the surviving memorials. These are classified by historical science as conscious or unconscious memorials; most weight is given to the former, and only when they fail are the latter used. Current text- books, however, have been too prone to describe the un- conscious memorials only, and have thus lost their right to be considered history. I feel that my method is scientifically sound, because I have quoted generously from the extant criticism and biography which are the conscious literary memorials of our Old and Middle English periods. But literature is not produced in a vacuum; it is a social institution in a real world, affecting and picturing men who have real problems and real outlooks which we must see if we are to draw sound conclusions. Hence, most of the space in this book is given to the backgrounds, — political, social, industrial, and cultural, — which largely determine the liter- ary output. Literature has an instrument, the nature and possibilities of which must in some degree be sensed, if, again, we are to draw sound conclusions. Hence, notice is taken here of the linguistic background, completing the plan. The material quoted is thus classified in six divisions: namely, political background, social and industrial back- ground, cultural background, linguistic background, literary characteristics, and representative authors. Ill To the following authors and publishers I wish to record my thanks for permission to quote from works written or published by them: Professor F. M. Anderson of Dart- mouth College, the version of the Charter of Winchester in Outlines and Documents of English Constitutional History during the Middle Ages; Messrs. Chatto and Windus, pas- sages from the King's Classics Series; Messrs. Constable xii PREFACE and C\)nii)aiiy and Mr. G. G. Coulton, passages from A Medieval Garner; Messrs. E. P. Dutton and Company, passages from the Everyman s Library and the Temple Classics: Messrs. Ginn and Company and Professor E. P. Cheyney, passages from Readings in English History; Messrs. Ginn and Company and Professors Cook and Tinker, passages from Select Translations from Old English Prose; INIessrs. Ginn and Company and Professors Tuell and Hatch, passages from Selected Readings in English History: Lieutenant Colonel L. H. Holt, his version of Cynewulf's runic signature from the Elene; Messrs. The INIacmillan Company, Lord Tennyson's translation of the Battle of Brunanburh, passages from Mr. G. C. Macaulay's edition of the Chronicles of Froissart, from BelTs Eng- lish History Source Books, from Mr. E. F. Henderson's Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages, and from the Select Documents of English Constitutional History of Professors Adams and Stephens; the Oxford University Press, passages from several of its publications; Messrs. G. P. Putnam's Sons, passages from Professor Ashley's Edward III and His Wars and Mr. A. F. Leach's Educa- tional Charters and Documents; Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons, passages from Dean A. F. West's Alcuin; the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, passages from the Pennsylvania Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History. It remains to express my thanks to those who have helped me in my work in various ways; in particular, my colleagues in the English department at the University of Washington, Professors Frederick Klaeber, Hardin Craig, and Joseph W. Beach of the University of Minnesota, Albert S. Cook of Yale University, Charles G. Osgood of Princeton T^niversity, Felix E. Schelling of the University of Pennsylvania, and John M. Manly of the University of Chicago deserve my gratitude. Professor David Thomson PREFACE xiii of the University of Washington did me the great service of reading all the proofs; I can hardly repay the debt. But, though many have helped me, I am ultimately responsible for the contents of this volume, and its failings and peculi- arities must be charged directly to my account. Seattle, May 5, 1916. ALLEN R. BENHAM. CONTENTS AND LIST OF CITATIONS Chapter I FROM THE BEGINNINGS TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST PAGE I. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND. 1. Bede's Account of the Coming of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes to Britain. Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, I, 15. Tr. J. A. Giles. (Bohn Antiquarian Library, Geo. Bell & Sons, 1847.) ... 2 2. Nennius on the Exploits of Arthur against the Saxons. History of the Britons, 50. Tr. J. A.Giles, Six Old English Chronicles. (Ibid.) . . 4 3. Northumbria the Leading English Kingdom. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Tr. J. A. Giles. Entry for the Year 617. {Bohn Antiqimrian Li- brary.) ■ 5 4. Wessex the Leading English Kingdom. Ibid. Entry for the Year 827. 5 5. Danish Operations for the Year 870. Ibid. Entry for that Year. . 6 XL SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND. 1. Tacitus on the Life and Customs of the Early Germans. Selected Chapters from the Germania. Tr. Thomas Gordon. (Camelot ed. Walter Scott.) 8 2. Labor and Reading in a Monastery. The Rule of St. Benedict, 48. Tr. A. S. Cook in Cook and Tinker, Select Translations from Old English Prose, p. 282. (Ginn & Co., 1908.) " . . 19 3. Artificers in a Monastery. Ibid., 57. Ibid., p. 284 21 4. Selections from the Laws of Alfred the Great. Ancient Laws and In- stitutes of England, Ed. Thorpe, I, pp. 44-101 22 5. iEIfric on the Occupations of the People in the Tenth Century. Colo- guium. Tr. W. F. Parish from the Text in Thorpe, Analecta Saxo- nica 26 III. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND. 1. Early English Ideals of Life. (A) Beowulf's Account of His Own Life. Tr. the Editor from the Text of A. J. Wyatt, 11. 2724-2751. (Cambridge University Press, 1901.) 34 (B) Beowulf's Words of Counsel to Hrothgar on the Death of a Thane. Ibid.,\\. 1384-1389 35 (C) Bede's Story of the Conversion of Edwin of Northumbria. Op. cit., II, 13 36 2. Foreign Influences. (A) The Introduction of Christianity. (a) The Passion of St. Alban and His Companions. Ibid., I, 7. . . 39 xvi CONTENTS (b) Gregory the Great and the English Slave Boys. Ibid., II, 1 . 43 (e) Augustine's Mission to Britain. Ibid., I, 25, 26 44 (d) The Life of Bishop Aidan. Ibid., Ill, 5 47 (e) The Controversy about the Time of Keeping Easter. Ibid., Ill, 25 49 (f) Christian Art in England. Bede, The Lives of the Holy Abbot.i of Wcrcmouth and Jarrow. Tr. in Everyman's Library Ed., pp. 350- :{5.'{; .'$55, 350. (E. P. Dutton and Co.) 56 (B) Danish Influences. (a) Alcuin on the Danish Peril. Letter to the People of Kent. Tr. in E. P. Cheyney, Readings in English History, pp. 57, 58. (Ginn & Co.) .' 60 (b) A Brother's Remonstrance. Tr. the Editor from Text in E7ig- li.sche Studien, VIII, p. 62 61 3. Learnixg in Old England. (A) The Testimony of Bede. The Ecclesiastical History, etc., IV, 2. Tr.cit 62 (B) The Testimony of Alcuin. (a) His Account of Studies at York. Versus de Sanctis Eboracensis Ecclesice, 11. 1430 seq. From A. F. West, Alcuin, p. 32, (Chas. Scribner's Sons, 1892.) ....*... 63 (b) His Catalog of the Library at York. Op. cit., 11. 1535-1561. Ibid., p. 34 63 (c) His Comparison of Conditions in England with Those in the Empire of Charlemagne. Letter to Charlemagne. Tr. A. S. Cook, op. cit., p. 272 68 4. Book-making in Early England. (A) The Riddle on the Manuscript of the Bible. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Tupper, The Riddles of the Exeter Book. (Ginn & Co., 1910.) 69 5. The Position of the Poet in the Earliest England. (A) Widsith, 11. 1-5; 50-56; 135-143. Tr. in Morley, English rTViVer^ (CasscU and Co. Ltd., 1888), II, pp. 1-11 71 (B) The Scop in Beowulf. Tr. the Editor from op. cit., 11. 86-94 . . 72 (C) Dears Lament. Tr. R. M. Garrett from the Text of Wiilcker in Die Deutsche Ileldensage im Angel sdchsischen {The German Hero- Tale among the Anglo-Saxons), pp. 12, 13 72 IV. THE LIXGITSTIC BACKGROUND. 1. Bede on the Languages of England. Op.cit.,\,\. Tr.cit 74 2. English and Other Early Teutonic Languages. (A) The Lord's Prayer in Gothic, Old High German, Old English and Old Xor.se. (Texts of Wright, Bright, Vigfusson and Powell. . . 75 3. Specimens of the Old English Dialects with Translations. (A) Ccedmons Hymn in Northumbrian. Text of Sweet, An Anglo- Saxon Reader, p. 175. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1904.). ... 76 (B) The First Vespasian Hymn in Mercian. Ibid., p. 186 76 (C) A Ninth-century Bequest in Kentish. Text of Sweet, Second Anglo-Saxon Reader, p. 98. Tr. the Editor. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1887.) 77 CONTENTS xvii (D) CcBdmons Hymn in West Saxon. Text of Bright, Anglo-Saxon Reader. (Henry Holt and Co., 1899.) 79 4. The Old English Alphabet. (A) The Runic Signature of Cynewulf in the Elene. Tr. L. H. Holt from the T^xt of Kent in Yale Studies in English, XXI, p. 40. . 80 V. LITERARY CHARACTERISTICS. 1. The Spirit of Early English Literature. (A) The Battle of Brunanbnrh. Tr. Alfred Lord Tennyson, Works, p. 523 (The Macmillan Co., 1913.) 83 (B) The Wanderer. Tr. Emily H. Hickey in Academy, XIX, p. 355. . . 87 2. Literary Types. (A) The Homily. (a) iElfric on the False Gods. Tr. Mary W. Smyth in Cook and Tinker, op. cit., p. 186 92 (B) The Saint's Life. (a) iElfric's Life of St. Oswald. Tr. W. W. Skeat in the Early Eng- lish Text Society ed.. Original Series, 82, pp. 125-143. (With some changes by the Editor.) 95 (C) The Dramatic Arrangement of the Church Service. (a) The Winchester Easter Trope. Tr. the Editor from the Text of J. M. Manly, Specimens of Pre-Shakesperean Drama, I, pp. xix-xx. (Ginn and Co., 1900.) 102 VI. REPRESENTATIVE AUTHORS. 1. Bede's Account of Csedmon. Op. cit., IV, 24. Tr. in Cook and Tinker, op. cit., p. 54 104 2. The Life and Work of Bede. (A) Bede's Account of His Historical Method. Ibid., Preface, Ibid. . 108 (B) Bede's Account of His Education and His List of His Works. Op. cit.. Concluding Words. Tr. J. A. Giles Ill (C) Cuthbert's Letter on the Death of Bede. Tr. Chauncey B. Tinker in Cook and Tinker, op. cit., p. 255 114 3. The Life and Work of Alfred the Great. (A) Selected Chapters from Asser's Life of x\lfred. Tr. J. A. Giles, Six Old English Chronicles 118 (B) Alfred's Preface to His Translation of Gregory's Cura Pastoralis. Tr. A. S. Cook in Cook and Tinker, op. cit., p. 101 129 (C) His Preface to His Translation of Boethius, On the Consolation of Philosophy. Tr. J. S. Cardale. (With some changes by the Editor.) 131 (D) His Concluding Prayer to The Same. Ibid 132 4. The Life and Work of ^Elfric: (A) His Preface to Homilies II, Tr. Mary W. Smyth in Cook and Tinker, op. cit., p. 154 133 (B) His I'reface to His Latin Grammar. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Ziipitza, Sammlung Englischer Denkmdler {Collection of English Monuments), I, B(Tiey, op. cit., pp. 246-247 373 (d) Malmesbury Describes the Enthusiasm Aroused by the First Crusade. Op. e^ ^r. eiY., pp. 356, 364 375 (e) Robert of Normandy Moftgages His Duchy in order to Go on Crusade. Florence of Worcester, Chronicon {Chronicle). Tr. Forester, p. 202. {Bohn Antiquarian Library, George Bell and Sons, 1854.) 378 (f) The Prowess of Richard I at the Siege of Joppa. Itincrarium Peregrinatorum {The Journey of the Pilgrims), Book \T, Chap- ter 15. Tr. in Chronicles of the Crusades, pp. 316-318. {Bohn Lil/rary, 1842.) Revised by the Editor 378 (g) A Character Sketch of King Richard. Ibid., Book II, Chapter 5. Tr. ibid., pp. 155, 156. Revised by the Editor 380 2. Foreign Influence. (A) Giraldus Cambrensis Describes His Education in Paris. Works, Ed. Blower, Dinock and Warner (8 vols. 1861-1891). Rolls Series, XXI, Part 1, pp. 21 seq. Tr. in Chcyney, op. cit., pp. 164-166. (Slightly Revised by the Editor.) 383 xxii CONTENTS 3. Learning in the Period. (A) In General. (a) Abelard on the Current Enthusiasm for Learning. Opera (iror/.A), Ed. Cousin d. al. (Paris, Durand, 1849), I, pp. 25-27. Tr. in Coulton, op. cit., pp. 89-91 •. . 387 (b) A Wandering Scholar's Petition. Medieval Student's Song from Carmina Burana (Stuttgart, 184.7), p. 50. Tr. Symonds, Wine, Women and Song {King's Classics Series, Chatto and Windus, 1907), pp. 59, GO 389 (c) Piers the Plowman s Creed on the Oversupply of Learning. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Skeat (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1906), 11. 744-704 391 (d) Roger Bacon's Complaints about the Obstacles in the Way of Productive Scholarship. Bacon, Compendium Studiornm Primer of Science), Chapter VIII, pp. 471, 472; 469; 474; 475; Chapter V, pp. 425-427; Opus Tertium {Third Work), pp. 55; 34-38. Ed. Brewer, Rolls Series, XV, 1859. Tr. the Editor on the Basis of Tr. by Brewer in His Preface, pp. lix, Ixiii, lxxv-bDiviandbyCoulton,op.C2/., pp. 344,345; 342-344 ... 392 (e) The Purpose of a Medieval Encyclopedia. Translator's Prolog to His Version of Bartholomseus Anglicus, De Proprietatibus Rerum {On the Properties of Things). Tr. Robert Steele in Medi- eval Lore. {King's Classics Series, Chatto and W' indus, 1907.) . 401 (f) Chaucer on the Great Literary Lights of the Past. Hous{e) of Fame, Book HI, 11. 365-422. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Skeat. {Ed. cit.) 403 (B) Schools and Universities. (a) Lydgate's Picture of Himself as a Schoolboy. Lydgate, The Testament of Dan John Lydgate, U. 607-655. Tr. the Editor from the Text of MacCracken, pp. 351-353. {Early English Text Society, Original Series, 1911.) 405 (b) Chaucer's Description of Primary Education. The Prioress's Ta/r, 11. 36-84. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Skeat. {Ed. cit.) 407 (c) Bishop Grandisson's Protest agamst Using Pagan Authors in Christian Schools. Text and Tr. in Leach, Educational Charters and Documents, 598-1909, pp. 314, 317. (Cambridge University Press, 1911.) 408 (d) Rules of Oxford in 1292 and the Curriculum in 1267. Munimenta Academica Oxonica {Oxford Academic Record.s), Rolls Series, L, Part 1, pp. 58 seq., 34. (Ed. Anstey, 1868.) Tr. in Cheyney, op. eii., pp. 188-190. (With Some Changes by the Editor.) ... 409 (e) The Plea of the Bishop of Carlisle for Oxford. Letters from North- ern Registers, p. 122. {Rolls Series, LXI, ed. Raine, 1873.) Tr. in Cheyney, op. cit., pp. 194, 195 412 (f) A Merton "Scrutiny" in 1339. Tr. in Rogers, History of Agri- culture and Prices, II, p. 672. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1866- 1902.) 413 (g) The Oxford Secession of 1209. Roger of Wendover, Chronicon {Chronicle), p. 51. {Rolls Series, LXXXIV, Part 2, j). 51; Ed. Hewlett, 1806 ) Text and Tr. in Leach, op. cit., pp. 140- 143 415 CONTENTS xxiii (h) The Stamford Decree of 1344. Rymer, Foedera, II, p. 891. Tr. in Ashley, op. cit., pp. 34-35 416 4. Books and Their Place in Culture. (A) Richard of Bury on the Love of Book.s. Philohihlon {Love of Books), Chapters 3, 5, G and 12. Tr. E. C. Thomas in King's Classics Series. (Chatto and Windus, 1907.) 417 (B) The Catalog of the Library at the Monastery at Rievaux. Tr. the Editor from Text in Halliwell and Wright, Reliquioo Antiqvae {Ajicient Monuments) (London, Pickering, 1843), II, pp. 180-189. 430 (C) The List of Books Bequeathed to Bordesley Abbey in 1315 by Guy Beauchamp Earl of Warwick. Tr. the Editor from the Text in Edwards, Memoirs of Libraries (Triibner and Co., 1859), I, pp. 375-377 442 (D) Prices of Books as Compared with Other Prices. (a) Prices of Food under Edward II, 1315. De Pretio Victualium {On the Price of Victuals). Tr. in Somers Tracts, I, p. 6 . . . . 445 (b) Items from the Account Books of Merton College Grammar School for 1307, 1308 and 1347, 1348. Text and Tr. in Leach, o/>. cz7., pp. 220, 221; 300,301 446 5. The Position of the Poet and Literary Man. (A) The Story of the Fate of an Impious Minstrel and of Robert Bishop of Lincoln. Robert Mannyng, Handlyng Synne, 11. 4631-4774. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Furnivall {Early English Text So- ciety, Original Series, CXIX, CXXIII, 1901), pp. 154-159 .... 448 6. Wiclif's Protests against the Medieval System. (A) Wlclif on the Gospel in English. Tr. the Editor from the Text in Arnold, Select Works of John Wyclif (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1869-1871), I, p. 209 451 (B) W'iclif on the Contemplative Life. Tr. the Editor from the Text in F. D. Matthew, The Etiglish Works of John Wyclif, Hitherto Unprinted {Early English Text Society, Original Series, LXXIV, 1880), pp. 188, 189 • . . . 452 ^ (C) Wiclif on the Abuse of the Confessional. Ibid., pp. 331, 337 . . 452 (D) W'iclif on Ecclesiastical Secular Power. Ibid., p. 372 453 (E) WlcIif on Ecclesiastical Property. Ibid., p. 384 453 (F) Wiclif's Theological Theses. Fa.sciculi Zizaniorum {Bundles of Tares), pp. 277-282. {Rolls Series, Ed. Shirley, 1858.) Tr. in Pennsijlvania Translations, etc., II, 5, pp. 9-11 454 7. The Growth of a Feeling of Nationality. (A) The Will of William the Conquoror. Henry of Huntingdon, Hi,s- toria Anglomm {History of the English). Tr. Forester {Bohn Li- brary, 1853), p. 219 456 (B) Henry of Huntingdon on the Battle of Tenchcbrai. Ibid., p. 242. 456 (C) English and Normans in 1178. Richard Filzneale, Dialogus de Scaccario {Dialog on the Exchequer). Tr. in Henderson, Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages (Geo. Bell and wSons, 1892), j)I). 66-68 457 (D) The Treatment of the Jews at the Coronation of Richard I. (a) William of Xewburgh's Account. Op. ct tr. cit., p\). 555-557 . . 462 xxiv CONTENTS (b) Roger of Hoveden's Account. Chronica {Chronicle), Entry for the Year 1190. Tr. Riley, II, pp. 137, 138. {Bohn Library, 1853) 464 (E) Indignation at King John for His Loss of Lands. Provengal Poem. Text and Tr. in Wright, The Poliiical Songs of England from the Reign of King John to that of Edward II, p. 3 seq. {Publications of the Catnden Society, 1839.) 465 (F) The Reign of Henry III. (a) Norman Barons Dispossessed of Their English Lands. Matthew Paris, Ilistoria Major {Greater History). Tr. as Matthew Paris' English History, Giles {Bohn Library, 1852-1854), I, pp. 481, 482. 468 (b) The English Protest to the Pope against the Extortions of Italian Prelates in England. Ibid., II, pp. 74, 75 468 (c) "Of the Dreadful Ravages Made in England by Foreigners." Ibid., pp. 510, 511 469 (d) "How the King Distributed the Vacant Revenues amongst Unworthy Persons." Ibid., pp. 522, 523 470 (e) The Principles Involved in the Nationalist Struggle. The Song of Leaves, 11. 65-416. Text and Tr. in Wright, op. cit. pp. 71-120. 472 (G) The Reign of Edward III. (a) A Royal Bill of Protection to a Flemish Weaver, 1331. Rymer, op. cit., II, p. 823. Tr. in Ashley, op. cit., p. 29 480 (b) Prohibition of the Export of Wool. Adam of Murimuth, op. cit., p. 81. Tr. Ibid., p. 38 - . . . 481 IV. THE LINGUISTIC BACKGROUND. 1. The Status of the Language. (A) The Testimony of Robert of Gloucester in 1300. Chronicle, 11. 7502-7513. Tr. the Editor from Text in Emerson, op. cit., p. 210. 482 (B) The Testimony of the Cursor Mundi {Overrunner of the Earth) in 1310. Cursor Mundi, U. 236-249. Tr. the Editor from Text, ibid., p. 133 482 (C) The Statute of 1362. Statutes of the Realm, I, p. 371 . Tr. in Adams and Stephens, Select Documents of English Constitutional History. (The Macmillan Co., 1902), pp. 129, 130 483 (D) John of Trevisa on Linguistic Conditions in 1385. Tr. of Higden, Polychronicon, I, p. 59. {Rolls Series, XLI. Ed. Lumby.) Tr. the Editor from Text in Emerson, op. cit., pp. 224, 225 484 (E) Thomas Usk {?) on Latin, French and English. The Testament of Love. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Skeat {Oxford Chaucer, VII), pp. 1, 2 486 2. Specimens of the Middle English Dialects with Translations. (A) The Northern Dialect. Robert Bruce Crossing Loch Lomond. John Barbour, Bruce, III, 11. 435-466. Tr. W. F. Parish, from Text in Ed. of W. M. Mackenzie (The Macmillan Co., 1909.) . . 487 (B) The Midland Dialect. Dedication of the Ormulum. Tr. the Editor from the Text in Emerson, op. cit., pp. 8-13 489 (C) The Southern Dialect. Layamon on the Founding of the Round Table. Brut, 11. 11,368-11,498. Text and Tr. (Slightly Revi.sed . by the Editor) in Madden, Layamon s Brut, etc. (Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1847), II, p{). 532-543. . . 493 CONTENTS XXV (D) The Kentish Dialect. Postscript to Dan Michel's Ayenhite of Inicyt (Remorse of Conscience). Tr. the Editor from the Text in Morris Ed., p. 262. (Early English Text Society, Original Series, XXIII, 18G6. ) 502 (E) The London Dialect. The English Proclamation of Henry III. Tr. theEditorfrom the Text of Emerson, 0/). ciY., pp. 226, 227 .... 503 The Written Language, (A) Chaucer on the Difficulty of Getting a Text Copied Accurately. Troilus and Criseyde, Book V, 11. 1786-1797; Wordes unto Adam, His Owne Scriveyn. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Skeat. (Ed. cit.) 505 V. LITERARY CHARACTERISTICS. 1. The Spirit of Literature, 1066-1400. (A) The Didactic Spirit. Proem to Ancren Riivle (Rule for Anchores,ses). Text and Tr. in Ancren Riwle, Ed. James Morton, pp. 3-15. (Pub- lications of the Camden Society, LVII, 1853.) 506 (B) The Cheerful Romantic Spirit. Chaucer's Knight Criticizes the Monk's Tale. Canterbury Tales B, 11. 3957-3994. Tr. the Edi- tor from the Text of Skeat. (Ed. cit.) 512 (C) The Coarse Satirical Spirit. Chaucer's Apology for His Realism. Prolog to the Canterbury Tales, 11. 725-746. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Skeat. (Ed. Cit.) 513 (D) The Persistence of the Feeling for Poetry. Medieval Student's Song. Tr. Symonds, op. cit., p. 162 514 2. Literary Technique. (A) The Difficulties of Rimed Verse. Robert Mannviig of Brunne, The Story of England, 11. 71-135. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Furnivall (Rolls Scries, LXXXVII, Part 1, 1887), I, pp. 3-5. . 515 (B) A Monk's Definition of Tragedy. Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales B, 11. 3163-3172. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Skeat. (Ed. cit.) 516 ^ 3. The Popular Literary Types. ___^^ (A) The Romance. ^^ (a) The Testimony of the Cursor Mundi, Prolog, 11. 1-26. Tr. the Editor from op. cit., pp. 126, 127 518 (b) The Testimony of Ywain and Gawain, 11. 3081-3094. Tr. the Editor from the Text in Ritson, Ancient English Metrical Ro- mances; I, pp. 129, 130. (London, Nicol, 1802.) 518 (B) The Drama. (a) Proclamation of the Corpus Christi Eestiral at York in 1391^. Tr. the Editor from the Text in Lucy Toulmin Smith, The York Mystery Plays, p. xxxiv. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1885.) . . 520 (b) The Cost of the Corpus Christi Play at York in 1397. Cham- berlains' Acc-ounts. Tr. the Editor from the Text in E. K. Chambers, The Mediceval Stage (Oxford, (larendon Press, 1903), II, p. 402 521 (c) The Status of Actors in 1313 (?), Thomas de Cabham, Peniten- tial. Tr. the Editor from the Text, //>a/., p. 262 521 xxvi CONTENTS (d) The Durham Burial and Resurrection of the Crucifix. A De- scription or liriefc Declaration of All the Ancient Monuments, Riics and Custotnes helonginge or beinge within the Monastical Church of Durham before the Suppression, Ed. J. Raine, pp. 9, 2G. (Publications of the Surtees Society, X\,ISU.) 523 (e) The Grounds of Clerical Opposition to Miracle Plays. A Homily from a MS. Volume of English Sermons, Written at the Latter End of the Fourteenth Century, and now Preserved in the Library of St. Martins-in-the-Ficlds, London. Tr. the Editor from the Text in Wright and HaUiwell, Reliquiw Antique, II, pp. 42-57 525 (C) History. (a) The Prefatory Material to William of Newburgh, op. cit., tr. et ed. cit., pp. 397-402 544 VI. REPRESENTATIVE AUTHORS. 1. Marie de France. Preface to Her Lais. Tr. Eugene Mason in French Medioeval Romances. (Everyman's Library.) 551 2. Henry of Huntingdon's View of History. Op. et tr. cit.. Preface, pp. xxv-xxvii 553 3. William of Malmesbury's Zeal for Study. Op. et tr. cit., pp. 93, 94; 407; 476 555 4. Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Ancient Book in the British Tongue. Historia Regum Briianniae (History of the Kings of Britain), I, 1; XII, 20. Tr. Sebastian Evans, pp. 3-5; 325, 326. (Temple Classics ed., E. P. Dutton and Co.) 557 5. The Autobiography of Wace. Roman de Ron (Romance of Rollo), 11. 10,440 seq. Tr. Eugene Mason in Arthurian Tales and Chronicles, p. viii. (Everyman s Library.) 559 6. John of Salisbury's Studies in Paris and His Dislike of Mountaineer- ing. Metalogicus, II, X. Tr. Giles in Preface to His 1848 Ed. of Salisbury's Works (Slightly Altered by the Editor) ; Passage from a Letter Quoted in Tr. in Stubbs, Seventeen Lectures on the Study of Medieval and Modern History. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1886), p. 128 559 7. GiRALDUs Cambrensis. (A) His Account of Reciting His Topography of Ireland at Oxford. Autobiography, Book 2, Chapter 16. Tr. Editor from the Text in irorA-.y, I, pp. 72, 73. (Rolls Series, Y.d.BTe\\er,\m\.) 564 (B) His Defense of His Topography of Ireland on the Charge of In- cluding Fabulous Stories. First Preface to the History of the Con- quest of Ireland. Tr. Forester, pp. 165-167. (Bohn Library, 1863.) 565 (C) His Final Preface to the Conquest of Ireland. Ibid., pp. 172-178. 568 8. Walter Mapes or Map. Passages from De Nugis Curialium (Cour- tier.s Trifle.'!). Tr. the Pxlitor from the Text of W^right, pp. 1, 2; 41- 43; 64, 65; 195, 196. (Publications of the Camden Society, L, 1850). 574 9. Layamon's Autobiography. Brut, II. 1-33. Tr. in Madden, op. cit., I, pp. 1-4 579 10. Robert Manny ng of Brunne. Autobiographic Passages from The Story of England, I, 11. 135-144; Ilandlyng Synne, 11. 57-76; The CONTENTS xxvii Story of England, II {Hearnes Langtojt, pp. 336, 337); I, 11. 16, 689-17,730; Ilandhjng Synnc, 11. 43-52; The Story of England, 11. 1-20; 57-70. Tr. the Editor from Texts in op. e< erf. ci7 580 11. Richard Rolle of Hampole. Officium et Legenda de Sando Ricardo hercmiia postquam fuerit ab ecdesia canonizatus {Office and Legend of St. Richard the Hermit after He Shall Have Been Canonized by the Church), etc. Tr. the Editor from the Text in Engli.sh Prose Trea- tises of Richard Rolle de Hampole, pp. xv-xxxiii. (Ed. Perry, Early English Text Society, Original Series, XX, 1866.) 582 12. Pseudo-John Mandeviile. Prolog to The Voyage and Travel. Tr. the Editor from the Text in Ed. of J. O. Halliweli. (London, Reeves and Turner, 1883.) 585 13. John Wiclif. (A) Wiclif in 1377. Harleian MS. 2261, Folios 399, 399b. Tr. in Locke, War and Misrule, pp. 67, 68. {BeWs English History Source Books, 1913.) 588 (B) Wiclif's Followers. Chronicle of Adam of Usk, Ed. and tr. by Sir E. Maunde Thompson (1904), pp. 140, 141. (Quoted Ibid., pp. 77, 78.) 589 (C) The Bull of Gregory XI against Wiclif. Fasciculi Zizaniarum {Ed. cit.), pp. 242-244. Tr. in Pennsylvania Translations, etc., II, 5, pp. 11, 12 590 (D) Wiclif's Reply. Arnold, op. cit.. Ill, pp. 504-506. In Modernized English Spelling, Ibid., pp. 13, 14 592 (E) Knighton on W'iclif and the Bible. Chronicon, pp. 151, 152. {Rolls Series, XCII, Part 2, Ed. Lumby, 1889-00.) Tr. in Chey- ney, op. cit., p. 267 594 (F) Capgrave on the Death of Wiclif. Chronicle of England, p. 240. (/Jo//5Sm>5, Ed. Hingeston, 1858.) 594 14. W'illiam Langland {?) Traditional Autobiography from the Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman, C Text, VI, 11. 1-108. Tr. Burrell in Everyman's Library, pp. 63-66 595 15. John Gower. (A) His Marriage License. Statement in Macaulay, Works of Johti Gower (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1902), IV, p. xvii 599 (B) Opening W^ords of Gower's Epistle Dedicating Vox Clamantis (Voice of One Crying) to Archbishop Arundel of Canterbury. Tr. the Editor from the Text, Ibid., p. 1 599 (C) The Origin of the Confessio Amantis {Confession of One Loving). Prolog, II. 1-25; Earlier Form, 11. 24-75. Tr. the Editor from the Text, Ibid., II, pp. 1-5 599 (D) Dedication of His Ballades to Henry IV, 11. 15-21. Tr. the Editor from the Text, Ibid., I, p. 335 601 (E) Gower's Apology for Writing in Frencii. Traitie, XVIII, 11. 22- 27. Tr. the Editor from the Text, Ibid., p. 391 001 (F) Gower's Survey of His Own Literary Career. Tr. Editor from the Text, Ibid., Ill, pp. 479, 480 601 (G) Mr. Macaulay's Version of Gower's Will. Ibid., I, pp. xvii, xviii 602 (H) John Stow's Description of Gower's Tomb. Op. et ed. cit., p. 363. 604 XXVlll CONTENTS 16. Geoffrey Chaucer. (A) His Appearance. Canterbury Tales B, 11. 1881-1901. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Skeat. {Ed. cit.) 605 (B) His Delight in Books and Nature. Parlemeiit of Foules, 11. 15- !28; Prolofi to Legend of Good IVomen, B Version, 11. 25-39. Id. 605 (C) His Prolog to the Treatise on the Astrolabe. Id 606 (D) His References to Dante. Canterbury Tales B, 11. 3648-3652. Id. 607 (E) His References to Petrarch. Ibid., E, 11. 26-33. Id 608 (F) GoAver's Remarks on Chaucer. Confessio Amantis (Earlier Ver- sion), Book VIII, 11. 2941-2957. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Macaulay, III, p. 466 608 (G) A Poem on Chaucer by Eustache Deschamps (1340-1410). Tr. the Editor from the Text in Wright, Anecdota Literaria (Anecdotes of Literature), pp. 13, U. (London, John Russell Smith, 1844.) . . . 609 (H) Chaucer, To His Empty Purse. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Skeat. (Ed. cit.) 610 (I) The King's Reply. Letter of Henry IV. Tr. in King's Letters, I, p. 112. (King's Classics Series, Ed. Robert Steele. Chatto and Windus, 1907.) 610 (J) Chaucer's Retractions. Paragraph 104 of the Parson s Tale. Tr. the Editor from the Text of Skeat. (Ed. cit.) 611 Index 615 ENGLISH LITERATURE FROM WIDSITH TO THE DEATH OF CHAUCER ENGLISH LITERATUEE FROM WIDSITH TO CHAUCER: A SOURCE-BOOK CHAPTER I FROM THE BEGINNINGS TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST I. The Political Background Though modern scholarship ^ is agreed that the migra- tion to Britain began some time before, the year 449 is the traditional date of the arrival of the Jutes, the earliest of the Teutonic tribes to seek the shores of England. Later came the Angles and Saxons, considerably extending the period of settlement. As we have no record of these events before the middle of the sixth century, it is clear that many particulars, perhaps important particulars, will never be known. The earliest extant accounts are, in chronological order: Gildas, On the Downfall of Britain,'^ Bede, The Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation,^ and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ^ by an unknown compiler. As the Venerable Bede (673-735) is a medieval historian of the best type, I give his account, with which the two others are in substantial agreement. ^ See Hodgkin, The History of England from the Earliest Times to the Norman Conquest (Hunt and Poole, The Political History of England, Longmans, Green and Co., 1906 I), pp. 81 seq. This gives the latest views of the English conquest of Britain and the latest estimate of the source authorities. ^ This work is accessible in translation in Giles, Six Old English Chronicles. {Bohn Antiquarian Library.) ^ The best edition of Bede's historical works in Latin is the one by Plummer (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1890). The best edition of the Old English translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History is the one in the Early English Text Society's Publications (E. E. T. S.) by Miller, 1890-98. 4 The best edition is by Plummer (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1892-99). 2 ENGLISH LITERATURE In the year of our Lord 449, ]\Iartian being made emperor with Valentinian, and the forty-sixth from Augustus, ruled the empire seven years. Then the nation of the Angles, or Saxons, being invited by the aforesaid king,^ arrived in Britain with three long ships, and had a place assigned them to reside in by the same king, in the eastern part of the island, that they might thus appear to be fighting for their country whilst their real intentions were to enslave it. Accordingly they engaged with the enemy,^ who were come from the north to give battle, and obtained the victory; which, being known at home in their own country, as also the fertility of the country, and the cow- ardice of the Britons, a more considerable fleet was quickly sent over, bringing a still greater number of men which, being added to the former, made up an invincible army. The newcomers re- ceived of the Britons a place to inhabit, upon condition that they should wage war against their enemies for the peace and security of the country, whilst the Britons agreed to furnish them with pay. Those who came over were of the three most powerful nations of Germany — Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. From the Jutes are descended the people of Kent, and of the Isle of Wight, and those also in the province of the West-Saxons who are to this day called Jutes, seated opposite to the Isle of Wight. From the Saxons, that is, the country which is now called Old Saxony, came the East-Saxons, the South-Saxons, and the West- Saxons. From the x\ngles, that is, the country which is called Anglia, and which is said, from that time, to remain desert to this day, between the provinces of the Jutes and the Saxons, are descended the East-Angles, the ]Midland-Angles, Mercians, all the race of the Northumbrians, that is, of those nations that dwell on the north side of the river Humber, and the other na- tions of the English. The two first commanders are said to have been Hengist and Horsa. Of whom Horsa, being afterwards slain in battle by the Britons, was buried in the eastern parts of Kent, where a monument, bearing his name, is still in exist- ence. They were the sons of Victgilsus, whose father was Vecta, son of Woden; ' from whose stock the royal race of many ^ Vortigem, King of the Britons. ® The Picts. ' A god, from whose name we get Wcdnetiday. / THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 3 provinces deduce their original. In a short time, swarms of the aforesaid nations came over into the island, and they began to increase so much, that they became terrible to the natives themselves who had invited them. Then, having on a sudden entered into league with the Picts, whom they had by this time repelled by the force of their arms, they began to turn their weapons against their confederates. At first, they obliged them to furnish a greater quantity of provisions; and, seeking an occasion to quarrel, protested, that unless more plentiful supplies were brought them, they would break the confederacy, and rav- age all the island; nor were they backward in putting their threats in execution. In short, the fire kindled by the hands of these pagans, proved God's just revenge for the crimes of the people; not unlike that which, being once lighted by the Chal- deans, consumed the walls and city of Jerusalem. For the bar- barous conquerors acting here in the same manner, or rather the just Judge ordaining that they should so act, they plundered all the neighbouring cities and country, spread the conflagration from the eastern to the western sea, without any opposi- tion, and covered almost every part of the devoted island. Public as well as private structures were overturned; the priests ^ were everywhere slain before the altars; the prelates and the people, without any respect of persons, were destroyed with fire and sword; nor was there any to bury those who had been thus cruelly slaughtered. Some of the miserable remainder, being taken in the mountains, were butchered in heaps. Others, spent with hunger, came forth and submitted themselves to the enemy for food, being destined to undergo perpetual servitude, if they were not killed even upon the spot. Some, with sorrow- ful hearts, fled beyond the seas. Others, continuing in their own country, led a miserable life among the woods, rocks, and mountains, with scarcely enough food to support life, and ex- pecting every moment to be their last. The Teutonic conquest of Britain, however, was not so easy as Bede suggests; British resistance was stubborn and determined,^ and it was in the midst of these troubled 8 Britain, before this, had been Christianized; of. post, p. 39. ^ Cf. post, p. 96. 4 ENGLISH LITERATURE times that one of the world's great stories found its birth. This story centers about the hero now known as King Arthur. Gildas, Bede, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle make no mention of him as king, or even as leader. Nennius, an obscure author of the eighth or ninth century, is the first to mention his name. English advances in Britain were brought to a standstill, apparently, for a half cen- tury after 500 and it is in this period that Nennius places Arthur. Nennius ^^ tells of Arthur's exploits as follows: Then it was that the magnanimous Arthur, with all the kings and military force of Britain, fought kgainst the Saxons. And though there were many more noble than himself, yet he was twelve times chosen their commander, and was as often con- queror. The first battle in which he was engaged was at the mouth of the river Gleni. The second, third, fourth, and fifth, were on another river, by the Britons called Duglas, in the region Linuis. The sixth, on the river Bassas. The seventh in the wood Celidon, which the Britons call Cat Coit Celidon. The eighth was near Gurnion castle, where Arthur bore the image of the Holy Virgin, mother of God, upon his shoulders, and through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy Mary, put the Saxons to flight, and pursued them the whole day with great slaughter. The ninth was at the City of Legion, which is called Cair Lion. The tenth was on the banks of the river Trat Treuroit. The eleventh was on the mountain Breguoin, which we call Cat Bregion. The twelfth was a most severe con- test, when Arthur penetrated to the hill of Badon. In this en- gagement, nine hundred and forty fell by his hand alone, no one but the Lord affording him assistance. In all these engagements the Britons were successful. For no strength can avail against the will of the Almighty. ^^ ^^ Accessible in Giles, Six Old English Chronicles. ^^ It is clear that no very important historical inferences can be drawn from these statements of Nennius. But Arthurian scholarship is agreed that here is the historical kernel of the story of Arthur. Cf. Maynadier, The Arthur of the English Pods (Houf,'ht()n, Mifflin & Co., 1907), Chap. 2. Practically all the materials for a careful stutly of the earlier forrus of the Arthurian story are now available in the THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 5 We cannot say to a certainty when the Teutonic con- quest of Britain was complete, nor is it germane to our present purpose to investigate the question. But when it was ended, the conquerors in their restless military spirit turned to contests for the mastery among themselves, and these intertribal wars lasted down into the ninth century. So far as the history of English culture is concerned, Northumbria, the Anglian kingdom north of the Humber, as its name indicates, w^as the first to gain leadership. Northumbrian writers, scribes and monks won an Euro- pean reputation, but there is no hint of this cultural eminence in the following brief record of Northumbrian supremacy in the entry in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 617: This year Ethelfrid king of the North-humbrians was slain by Redwald king of the East- Angles, and Edwin ^^ the son of Alia succeeded to the kingdom, and subdued all Britain, the Kentish- men alone excepted. iVnd he drove out the ethelings, sons of Ethelfrid; that is to say, first Eanfrid, Oswald, and Oswy, Oslac, Oswudu, Oslaf, and Offa. Almost equally brief and barren of suggestion is the fol- lowing entry in the same compilation for the year 8''27, though the event there recorded is of immense signifi- cance for our literary history, since it is in the West-Saxon dialect that most of our extant Old English literature is written : This year the moon was eclipsed on the massnight of mid- winter. And the same year king Egbert conquered the kingdom of the Mercians, and all that was south of the Humber; and he was the eighth king who was Bretwalda. Ella king of the Everyman s JAhrary scries. The story, as is the case with all the medieval romances extant in earlier and later forms, becomes more and more complex as time goes on. E.g. with the bare narrative of our text compare the more detailed story given in Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the Kings of Britain, Book IX, Chaps. 3 and 4. ^2 The story of Edwin's conversion to Christianity is given yost, pp. 36-38. His death is referred to post, p. 90. 6 ENGLISH LITERATURE South-Saxons was tlie first who had thus iiiiich dominion; the second was Ceawlin king of the West-Saxons; the third was Ethelhert king of the Kentish-men; the fourth was Redwald king of the East-Angles; the fifth was Edwin king of the North- humbrians; the sixth was Oswald who reigned after him; the seventh was Oswy, Oswald's brother; the eighth was Egbert king of the West-Saxons. And Egbert led an army to Dore against the North-humbrians, and they there offered him obedi- ence and allegiance, and with that they separated.'^ The last event, or series of events, in the political field, that we need record here is the invasion of the heathen Danes, which began, according to the Chronicle, in the year 787. These people, of various Scandinavian origin, had apparently little appreciation of the rather high type of civilization that had been evolved in England; and their career of burning and harrying undid a good deal of slow and painful work. During the reign of Alfred the Great (871-901) the Danes became an integral part of the Eng- lish nation and in the early eleventh century furnished kings for the English throne. A typical year in their earlier career of devastation, however, is described in the following entr}^ from the Chronicle for the year 870: This year the army '^^ rode across Mercia into East-Anglia, and took up their winter quarters at Thetford: and the same winter king Edmund fought against them, and the Danes got the victory, and slew the king, and subdued all the land, and de- stroyed all the minsters which they came to. The names of their chiefs who slew the king were Hingwar and Hubba. At that same time they came to Medeshamstede, and burned and beat it down, slew abbot and monks, and all that they found there. And that place, which before was full rich, they reduced to nothing. And the same year died archbishop Ceolnoth. Then went Ethelred and Alfred ^^ his brother, and took Athel- '^ On some incidents in one of these intertribal wars, cf. 'post, p. 99. " I.e. the Danish army; the Chronicle is very careful to use one word through- out where referring to this army and another when referring to the English forces. ^* I.e. later Alfred the Great. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 7 red bishop of Wiltshire, and appointed him archbishop of Can- terbury, because formerly he had been a monk of the same minster of Canterbury. As soon as he came to Canterbury, and he was stablished in his archibishopric, he then thought how he might expel the clerks who (were) there within, whom archbishop Ceolnoth had (before) placed there for such need ... as we shall relate. The first year that he was made arch- bishop there was so great a mortality, that of all the monks whom he found there within, no more than five monks survived. Then for the ... he (commanded) his chaplains, and also some priests of his vills, that they should help the few monks who there sur- vived to do Christ's service, because he could not so readily find monks who might of themselves do the service; and for this reason he commanded that the priests, the while, until God should give peace in this land, should help the monks. In that same time was this land much distressed by frequent battles, and hence the archbishop could not there effect it, for there was warfare and sorrow all his time over England; and hence the clerks remained with the monks. Nor was there ever a time that monks were not there within, and they ever had lordship over the priests. Again the archbishop Ceolnoth thought, and also said to those who were with him, "As soon as God shall give peace in this land, either these priests shall be monks, or from elsewhere I will place within the minster as many monks as may do the service of themselves: for God knows that I . . ." '' II. The Social and Industrial Background The Roman historian Tacitus gives, in the Germania, the first extended account of Teutonic social and indus- trial life. Though we do not know the sources of his knowledge or his motive in writing this book; though he makes no mention of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, whom apparently he did not visit; though he wrote at the close of the first century, or early in the second; the Germania ^^ The manuscript is defective. 8 ENGLISH LITERATURE must yet be the })asis on wliieli our knowledge of early Germanic life rests, because it is all we have. The state- ments of Tacitus are borne out in a great numVjer of cases by the literature extant in the early Teutonic lan- guages. This fact increases our confidence in his work. The following chapters give the essential features of Taci- tus' description.^ For myself, I concur in opinion with such as suppose the people of Germany never to have mingled by inter-marriages with other nations, but to have remained a people pure, and independent, and resembling none but themselves. Hence, amongst such a mighty multitude of men, the same make and form is found in all, eyes stern and blue, yellow hair, huge bodies, but vigorous only in the first onset. Of pains and labor they are not equally patient, nor can they at all endure thirst and heat. To bear hunger and cold they are hardened by their climate and soil. Neither in truth do they abound in iron, as from the fashion of their weapons may be gathered. Swords they rarely use,^ or the larger spear. They carry javelins or, in their own lan- guage, framms,^ pointed with a piece of iron short and narrow, but so sharp and manageable, that with the same weapon they can fight at a distance or hand to hand, just as need requires. Nay, the horsemen also are content with a shield and a javelin. The foot throw likewise weapons missive, each particular is armed with many, and hurls them a mighty space, all naked or only wearing a light cassock. In their equipment they show no ostentation; only that their shields are diversified and adorned with curious colors.^ With coats of mail very few are furnished, and hardly upon any is seen a headpiece or helmet. Their horses are nowise signal either in fashion or in fleetness; 1 It should be remembered that Tacitus was not in sympathy with the lax morality of his time in Rome and that he may be idealizing conditions among the Germans. We should also keep in mind the fact that those features of life in which Germans most differed from Romans would impress him most deeply. 2 Swords were named among the Germans and handed down as heirlooms. 3 This word was adopted into Latin by late Latin writers. '' Perhaps the origin of coals of arms. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 9 nor taught to wheel and bound, according to the practice of the Romans: they only move them forward in a line, or turn them right about, with such compactness and equality that no one is ever behind the rest. To one who considers the whole it is manifest, that in their foot their principal strength lies, and therefore they fight intermixed with the horse: for such is their swiftness as to match and suit with the motions and engage- ments of the cavalry. So that the infantry are elected from amongst the most robust of their youth, and placed in front of the army. The number to be sent is also ascertained, out of every village an hundred, and by this very name they continue to be called at home, those of the hundred band: thus what was at first no more than a number, becomes thenceforth a title and distinction of honor. In arraying their army, they divide the whole into distinct battalions formed sharp in front. To recoil in battle, provided you return again to the attack, passes with them rather for policy than fear. Even when the combat is no more than doubtful, they bear away the bodies of their slain. The most glaring disgrace that can befall them, is to have quitted their shield; nor to one branded with such ignominy is it lawful to join in their sacrifices, or to enter into their as- semblies; and many who had escaped in the day of battle, have hanged themselves to put an end to this their infamy. In the choice of kings they are determined by the splendor of their race, in that of generals by their bravery. Neither is the power of their kings unbounded or arbitrary: and their generals procure obedience not so much by the force of their authority as by that of their example, when they appear enter- prising and brave, w^hen they signalise themselves by courage and prowess; and they surpass all in admiration and pre-emi- nence, if they surpass all at the head of an army. But to none else but the Priests is it allowed to exercise correction, or to inflict bonds or stripes. Nor when the Priests do this, is the same considered as a punishment, or arising from the orders of the general, but from the immediate command of the Deity, Him whom they believe to accompany them in war. They therefore carry with them when going to fight, certain images and figures taken out of their holy groves. What proves the })rin- 10 ENGLISH LITERATURE cipal incentive to tlieir valor is, that it is not at random nor by the fortuitous conflux of men that their troops and pointed bat- talions are formed, but by the conjunction of whole families, and tribes of relations. Moreover, close to the field of battle are lodged all the nearest and most interesting pledges of nature. Hence they hear the doleful bowlings of their wives, hence the cries of their tender infants. These are to each particular wit- nesses whom he most reverences and dreads; these yield him the praise which affects him most. Their wounds and maims they carry to their mothers, or to their wives, neither are their motliers or wives shocked in telling, or in sucking their bleeding sores. Nay, to their husbands and sons whilst engaged in battle, they administer meat and encouragement. In history we find, that some armies already yielding and ready to fly, have been by the women restored, through their inflexible importunity and entreaties, presenting their breasts, and showing their impending captivity; an evil to the Germans then by far most dreadful — when it befalls their w^omen. So that the spirit of such cities as amongst their hostages are en- joined to send their damsels of quality, is always engaged more effectually than that of others. They even believe them en- dowed with something celestial and the spirit of prophecy. Neither do they disdain to consult them, nor neglect the re- sponses which they return. In the reign of the late Vespasian, we saw Veleda ^ for a long time, and by many nations, esteemed and adored as a divinity. In times past they likewise wor- shipped Aurinia ^ and several more, from no complaisance or effort of flattery, nor as deities of their ow^n creating. Affairs of smaller moment the chiefs determine: about mat- ters of higher consequence the whole nation deliberates; yet in such sort, that whatever depends upon the pleasure and de- cision of the people, is examined and discussed by the chiefs. ^ Furneaux says this was the name of a prophetess among the Bructeri, one of the German tribes. See Gcrmauia of Tacitus, ed. Henry Furneaux (Oxford, Claren- don Press, 1894), p. 54. ^ Furneaux reatls Alhrnna and exphiins the name as that of one who was skilled in witchcraft and who interpreted the runes. For the latter, see post, pp. 77-82. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 11 Where no accident or emergency intervenes, they assemble upon stated days, either when the moon changes, or is full: since they believe such seasons to be the most fortunate for beginning all transactions. Neither in reckoning of time do they count, like us, the number of days but that of nights.'^ In this style their ordinances are framed, in this style their diets appointed; and with them the night seems to lead and govern the day. From their extensive liberty this evil and default flows, that they meet not at once, nor as men commanded and afraid to disobey; so that often the second day, nay often the third, is consumed through the slowness of the members in assembling. They sit down as they list, promiscuously, like a crowd, and all armed. It is by the Priests that silence is en- joined, and with the power of correction the Priests are then invested. Then the King or Chief is heard, as are others, each according to his precedence in age, or in nobility, or in warlike renown, or in eloquence; and the influence of every speaker proceeds rather from his ability to persuade than from any authority to command. If the proposition displease, they reject it by an inarticulate murmur: if it be pleasing, they brandish their javelins. The most honorable manner of signifying their assent, is to express their applause by the sound of their arms. In the assembly it is allowed to present accusations, and to prosecute capital offences. Punishments vary according to the quality of the crime. Traitors and deserters they hang upon trees. Cowards, and sluggards, and unnatural prostitutes they smother in mud and bogs under an heap of hurdles. Such di- versity in their executions has this view, tbat in punishing of glaring inicjuities, it behoves likewise to display them to sight; but effeminacy and pollution must be buried and concealed. In lighter transgressions too the i)enalty is measured by the fault, and the delincjuents upon conviction are condemned to pay a certain number of horses or cattle. Part of this mulct accrues to the King or to the comnuniity, ])art to him whose wrongs are vindicated, or to his next kindred. In the same ^ Cf. the modern expression /or/// /y/i/. 12 ENGLISH LITERATURE assemblies are also chosen their chiefs or rulers, such as adminis- ter justice in their villages and boroughs. To each of these are assigned an hundred j)ersons chosen from amongst the })oi)ulace, to accompany and assist him, men who help him at once with their authority and their counsel. Without being armed they transact nothing, whether of public or })rivate concernment. But it is repugnant to their custom for any man to use arms, before the community has attested his capacity to wield them. L^pon such testimonial, either one of the rulers, or his father, or some kinsman dignify the young man in the midst of the assembly, with a shield and javelin.* This amongst them is the manly robe, this the first degree of honor conferred upon their youth. Before this they seem no more than part of a private family, but thenceforward part of the Commonweal. The princely dignity they confer even upon striplings, whose race is eminently noble, or whose fathers have done great and signal services to the State. For about the rest, who are more vigorous and long since tried, they crowd to attend: nor is it any shame to be followers, higher or lower, just as he whom they follow judges fit. Mighty too is the emulation amongst these followers, of each to be first in favor with his Prince; mighty also the emulation of the Princes, to excel in the number and valor of followers. This is their prin- cipal state, this their chief force, to be at all times surrounded with a huge band of chosen young men,^ for ornament and glory in peace, for security and defence in war. Nor is it amongst liis own peojile only, but even from the neighboring communi- ties, that any of their Princes reaps so much renow^n and a name so great, when he surpasses in the number and magnanim- ity of his followers. For such are courted by Embassies, and distinguished with presents, and by the terror of their fame alone often dissipate wars. In the day of battle, it is scandalous to the Prince to be surpassed in feats of bravery, scandalous to his followers to fail in matching the bravery of the Princes. But it is infamy during life, and indelible reproach, to return alive from a battle where 8 Cf. the later ceremony of conferring knighthood. ^ Cf. the later relation of lords and vassals. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 13 their Prince was slain. ^*^ To preserve their Prince, to defend him, and to ascribe to his glory all their own valorous deeds, is the sum and most sacred part of their oath. The Princes fight for victory; for the Prince his followers fight. Many of the young nobility, when their own community comes to languish in its vigor by long peace and inactivity, betake themselves through impatience to other States which then prove to be in war. For, besides that this people cannot brook repose, besides that by perilous adventures they more quickly blazon their fame, they cannot otherwise than by violence and war support their huge train of retainers. For from the liberality of their Prince, they demand and enjoy that war-horse of theirs, with that victori- ous javelin dyed in the blood of their enemies. In the place of pay, they are supplied with a daily table and repasts; though grossly prepared, yet very profuse. For maintaining such liber- ality and munificence, a fund is furnished by continual wars and plunder. Nor could you so easily persuade them to cultivate the ground, or to await the return of the seasons and produce of the year, as to provoke the foe and to risk the wounds and death: since stupid and spiritless they account it, to acquire by their sweat what they can gain by their blood. Upon any recess from war, they do not much attend the chase. Much more of their time they pass in indolence, resigned to sleep and repasts. x\ll the most brave, all the most warlike, apply to nothing at all; but to their wives, to the ancient men, and to every the most impotent domestic, trust all the care of their house, and of their lands and possessions. They them- selves loiter. Such is the amazing diversity of their nature, that in the same men is found so much delight in sloth, with so much enmity to tranquillity and repose. The communities are wont, of their own accord and man by man, to bestow upon ^° Cf. the conclusion of the Old English Beowulf, when Wiglaf reproaches the thanes of Ikunvulf for deserting and surviving their lord. See also the entry in the Chronicle for the year 755, often called the oldest extant piece of prose narra- tive in a P^uropean vernacular. It is thought by some to be a prose version of an earlier ballad. The Old English poem The Baffle of Maldon also exhibits this no- tion of the duty of retainers to their lord in the day of battle. In later times Frois- sart gives many instances in his Chronicles of England, France and Spain. 14 ENGLISH LITERATURE their Princes a certain number of beasts, or a certain portion of grain; a contribution which passes indeed for a mark of reverence and honor, but serves also to supply their necessities. They chiefly rejoice in the gifts which come from the bordering coun- tries, such as are sent not only by particulars but in the name of the State; curious horses, splendid armor, rich har- ness, with collars of silver and gold. Now too they have learnt, what we have taught them, to receive money. That none of the several people in Germany live together in cities, is abundantly known; nay, that amongst them none of their dwellings are suffered to be contiguous. They inhabit apart and distinct, just as a fountain, or a field, or a wood happened to invite them to settle. They raise their villages in opposite rows, but not in our manner with the houses joined one to another. Every man has a vacant space quite round his own, whether for security against accidents from fire, or that they want the art of building. With them in truth, is unknown even the use of mortar and of tiles. In all their structures they employ materials quite gross and unhewn, void of fashion and comeliness. Some parts they besmear with an earth so pure and resplendent, that it resembles painting and colors. They are likewise wont to scoop caves deep in the ground, and over them to lay great heaps of dung. Thither they retire for shelter in the winter, and thither convey their grain: for by such close places they mollify the rigorous and excessive cold. Besides, when at any time their enemy invades them, he can only ravage the open country, but either knows not such recesses as are invisible and subterraneous; or must suffer them to escape him, on this very account that he is uncertain where to find them. . . . The laws of matrimony are severely observed there; nor in the whole of their manners is there aught more praiseworthy than this: for they are almost the only barbarians contented with one wife, excepting a very few amongst them; men of dignity who marry divers wives, from no wantonness or lubricity, but courted for the luster of their families into many alliances. To the husband, the wife tenders no dowry; but the husband to the wife. The parents and relatives attend and declare their approbation of the presents, not presents adapted to feminine THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 15 pomp and delicacy, nor such as serve to deck the new married woman; but oxen and horse accoutered, and a shield, with a javelin and sword. By virtue of these gifts she is espoused. She too on her part brings her husband some arms. This they esteem the highest tie, these the holy mysteries, and matrimonial gods. That the woman may not suppose herself free from the considerations of fortitude and fighting, or exempt from the casualties of war, the very first solemnities of her wedding serve to warn her, that she comes to her husband as a partner in his hazards and fatigues, that she is to suffer alike with him, to adventure alike, during peace or during war. This the oxen joined in the yoke plainly indicate, this the horse ready equipped, this the present of arms. 'Tis thus she must be content to live, thus to resign life. The arms she then receives she must pre- serve inviolate, and to her sons restore the same, as presents worthy of them, such as their wives may again receive, and still resign to her grandchildren. They therefore live in a state of chastity well secured; cor- rupted by no seducing shows and public diversions, by no irritations from banqueting. Of learning and any secret inter- course by letters, they are equally ignorant, men and women. Amongst a people so numerous, adultery is exceedingly rare; a crime instantly punished, and the punishment left to be in- flicted by the husband. He, having cut off her hair, expells her from his house naked, in presence of her kindred, and pur- sues her with stripes throughout the village. For, to a woman who has prostituted her person, no pardon is ever granted. However beautiful she be, however young, however abounding in wealth, a husband she can never find. In truth, nobody turns vices into mirth there, nor is the practice of corruj)ting and of yielding to corruption, called the custom of the age. Better still do those communities, in which none but virgins marry, and where to a single marriage all their views and in- clinations are at once confined. Thus, as they have but one body and one life, they take but one husband, that beyond him they may have no thought, no further wishes, nor love him only as their husband but as their marriage. To restrain generation and the increase of children, is esteemed an aboniin- 16 ENGLISH LITERATURE able sin, as also to kill infants newly born. And more power- ful with them are good manners, than with other people are good laws. In all their houses the children are reared naked and nasty; and thus they grow into those limbs, into the bulk, which marvel we behold. They are all nourished with the milk of their o^\ti mothers, and never surrendered to handmaids and nurses. The lord you cannot discern from the slave, by any superior delicacy in rearing. Amongst the same cattle they promiscuously live, upon the same ground without distinction lie, till at a proper age the free-born are parted from the rest, and till their bravery recommend them to notice. Slow and late do the young men come to the use of women, and thus ver^' long preserve the vigor of youth. Neither are the virgins hastened to wed. They must both have the same sprightly youth, the like stature, and marry when equal and able-bodied. Children are held in the same es- timation by their mother's brother as by their father. Some hold this tie of blood to be most inviolable and binding,^^ and in recei\'ing of hostages, such pledges are most considered and claimed, as they who at once possess affections the most unalien- able, and the most diffuse interest in their family. To every man, however, his own children are heirs and successors: wills they do not make; for want of children his next kin inherits; his own brothers, those of his father, or those of his mother. To ancient men, the more they abound in descendants, in rela- tives and kinsfolk, so much the more reverence accrues. All the enmities of your house, whether of your father or of your kindred, you must necessarily adopt; as well as all their friendships. Neither are such enmities unappeasable and per- manent; since even for so great a crime as homicide, compensa- tion is made V)y a fixed number of sheep and cattle,^- and by it the whole family is pacified to content. A temper this, wholesome to the State; because to a free nation, animosities " Probably a remnant of the method of tracing descent through the mother, knoi*-n as the matriarchate. " Cattle were the medium of exchange; thus the Old English word feoh means both coir and money; it is our modem v>ordfec. Cf. the Latin pccus and pecunia, whence pecuniary. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 17 and faction are always more menacing and perilous. In social feasts and deeds of hosi)itality, no nation upon earth was ever more liberal and abounding. To refuse admitting under your roof any man whatsoever, is held wicked and inhuman. Every man receives every comer, and treats him with repasts as large as his ability can possibly furnish. When the whole stock is consumed, he who had treated so hospitably guides and accom- panies his guest to a new scene of hospitality; and both proceed to the next house, though neither of them invited. Nor avails it, that they were not; they are there received, with the same frankness and humanity. Between a stranger and an acquaint- ance, in dispensing the rules and benefits of hospitality, no difference is made. Upon your departure, if you ask anything, it is the custom to grant it; and with the same facility, they ask of you. In gifts they delight, but neither claim merit from what they give, nor own any o}>ligation for what they re- ceive. Their manner of entertaining their guests is familiar and kind. For their drink, they draw a liquor from barley or other grain; and ferment the same, so as to make it resemble wine. Nay, they who dwell upon the bank of the Rhine deal in wine. Their food is very simple: wild fruit, fresh venison, or coagulated milk. They banish hunger without formality, without curious dressing and curious fare. In extinguishing thirst, they use not equal temperance. If you will but humor their excess in drinking, and supply them with as much as they covet, it will be no less easy to vanquish them by vices than })y arms. Of public diversions they have but one sort, and in all tluir meetings the same is still exhibited. \'c)ung men, such as make it their pastime, fling themselves naked and dance amongst sharp swords and the deadly points of javelins. From hal)it they acquire their skill, and from their skill a graceful manner; yet from lience draw no gain or hire: though this adventurous gaiety has its reward, namely, that of pleasing the spectators. What is marvellous, i)laying at dice is one of their most serious employments; and even sober, they are gamesters: nay, so desperately do Ihey venture upon chance of winning or losing, that when their whole substance is played away, they stake 18 ENGLISH LITERATURE their liberty and their persons upon one and the last throw. The loser goes calmly into voluntary bondage. However younger he be, however stronger, he tamely suffers himself to be bound and sold by the winner. Such is their perseverance in an evil course: they themselves call it honor. Slaves of this class, they exchange away in commerce, to free themselves too from the shame of such a victory. Of their other slaves they make not such use as we do of ours, by dis- tributing amongst them the several offices and employments of the family. Each of them has a dwelling of his otvti, each a household to govern. His lord uses him like a tenant, and obliges him to pay a quantity of grain, or of cattle, or of cloth. Thus far only the subserviency of the slave extends. All the other duties in a family, not the slaves, but the wives and children discharge. To inflict stripes upon a slave, or to put him in chains, or to doom him to severe labor are things rarely seen. To kill them they sometimes are wont, not through correction or government, but in heat and rage, as they would an enemy, save that no vengeance or penalty follows. The freedmen very little surpass the slaves, rarely are of moment in the house; in the community never, excepting only such na- tions where arbitrary dominion prevails. For there they bear higher sway than the freeborn, nay, higher than the nobles. In other countries the inferior condition of freedmen is a proof of public liberty. To the practice of usury and of increasing money by interest, they are strangers; and hence is found a better guard against it, than if it were forbidden. They shift from land to land; and, still appropriating a portion suitable to the number of hands for manuring, anon parcel out the whole amongst particulars accord- ing to the condition and quality of each. As the plains are very spacious, the allotments are easily assigned. Every year they change, and cultivate a fresh soil; yet still there is ground to spare. For they strive not to bestow labor proportionable to the fertility and compass of their lands, by planting orchards, by enclosing meadows, by watering gardens. From the earth, corn only is exacted. Hence they quarter not the year into so many seasons. Winter, Spring, and Summer, they understand; THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 19 and for each have proper appellations. Of the name and bless- ings of Autumn, they are equally ignorant. In conducting their funerals, they show no state or vain- glory. This only is carefully observed, that with the corpses of their noted men certain woods are burned. Upon the funeral pile they accumulate neither apparel nor perfumes. Into the fire, are always thrown the arms of the dead, and sometimes his horse. With turf only the sepulcher is raised. The pomp of tedious and elaborate monuments they contemn, as things griev- ous to the deceased. Tears and wailings they soon dismiss: their affliction and woe they long retain. In women, it is reck- oned becoming to bewail their loss; in men to remember it.^^ Doubtless this is a reasonably accurate picture of very early English life,^^ but migration to insular Britain, by giving the Teutons a chance to develop the arts of peace, of which, according to Tacitus, they knew so little, pro- foundly modified their mode of life. Now one of the main agencies in this social and industrial transformation was the monastery. The following section from the Rule of St. Benedict, sl document perhaps as influential as any political constitution ever written, will set forth the mo- nastic attitude toward labor and a typical daily program of labor and study: Idleness is the enemy of the soul. And therefore, at fixed times, the brothers ought to be occupied in manual labor; and again, at fixed times, in sacred reading. Therefore we believe that, according to this disposition, both seasons ought to be arranged; so that, from Easter to the Calends of October, going out early, from the first until the fourth hour they shall ^^ Cf. post, p. 35, the quotation from Beowulf. The most useful systematic commentary upon these selections from Tacitus is Professor Gummere's Germanic Origins (Chas. Scribner's Sons, 1892). Professor George Burton Adams' Civiliza- tion in Europe during the Middle Ages, Chaps. 2, 4, 5 should also be mentioned (Chas. Scribner's Sons, 1901). '^ But see Christabel F. Fiske, Old English Modifications of Teutonic Racial Conceptions in Studies in Language and Literature in Honor of J. M. Hart (Henry Holt & Co., 1910). 20 ENGLISH LITERATURE do what labor may be necessary. Moreover, from the fourth hour until about the sixth, they shall be free for reading. After the meal of the sixth hour, moreover, rising from table, they shall rest in their beds with all silence; or, perchance, he that wishes to read may so read to himself that he do not disturb another. x\nd the nona (the second meal) shall be gone through with more moderately about the middle of the eighth hour; and again they shall work at what is to be done until Vespers. But, if the exigency or poverty of the place demands that they be occupied by themselves in picking fruits, they shall not be dismayed: for then they are truly monks if they live by the labors of their hands; as did also our fathers and the apostles. Let all things be done with moderation, how^ever, on account of the faint-hearted. From the Calends of October, moreover, until the beginning of Lent they shall be free for reading until the second full hour. At the second hour the tertia (morning service) shall be held, and all shall labor at the task which is enjoined upon them until the ninth. The first signal, moreover, of the ninth hour having been given, they shall each one leave off his work; and be ready when the second signal strikes. Moreover after the refection they shall be free for their readings or for psalms. But in the days of Lent, from dawn until the third full hour, they shall be free for their read- ings; and, until the tenth full hour, they shall do the labor that is enjoined upon them. In which days of Lent they shall all receive separate books from the library; which they shall read entirely through in order. These books are to be given out on the first day of Lent. Above all there shall certainly be ap- pointed one or two elders, who shall go round the monastery at the hours in which the brothers are engaged in reading, and see to it that no troublesome brother chance to be found who is open to idleness and trifling, and is not intent on his reading; being not only of no use to himself, but also stirring up others. If such a one — may it not happen — be found, he shall be admonished once and a second time. If he do not amend, he shall be subject under the Rule to such punishment that the others may have fear. Nor shall brother join brother at unsuit- able hours. Moreover on Sunday all shall engage in reading: THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 21 excepting those who are deputed to various duties. But if any- one be so negligent and lazy that he will not or cannot read, some task shall be imposed upon him which he can do; so that he be not idle. On feeble or delicate brothers such a labor or art is to be imposed, that they shall neither be idle, nor shall they be so oppressed by the violence of labor as to be driven to take flight. Their w^eakness is to be taken into consideration by the abbot. The economic function of monasteries is suggested by this additional chapter from the same document: x\rtificers, if there are any in the monastery, shall practise with all humility their special arts, if the abbot permit it. But if any one of them becomes inflated with pride on account of knowledge of his art, to the extent that he seems to be conferring something on the monastery: such a one shall be plucked away from that art; and he shall not again return to it unless the abbot perchance again orders him to, he being humiliated. But, if anything from the works of the artificers is to be sold, they themselves shall take care through whose hands they (the w^orks) are to pass, lest they (the intermediaries) presume to commit some fraud upon the monastery. They shall always remember Ananias and Sapphira; ^'^ lest, perchance, the death that they suffered with regard to the body, these, or all those who have committed any fraud as to the property of the monastery, may suffer with regard to the soul. In the prices themselves, moreover, let not the evil of avarice crop out: but let the object always be given a little cheaper than it is given by other and secular persons; so that, in all things, God shall be glorified. ^^ The following selections are from la\vs ascribed to Alfred the Great. But, since law is always and every- where conservative, they embody much of primitive Teu- 15 Cf. Acts 5:1-5. i" For a modem writer's estimate of the economic service of monasteries, see William Cunningham, An Essay on Western Ciinlization in Its Economic Aspects {Medieval and Modern Times), pp. 35-40 (Cambridge Universitv Press, 1900). 22 ENGLISH LITERATURE tonic procedure and much of English custom prior to the time of Alfred. They, therefore, serve to reveal in its general outlines the structure of Old English social life and furnish an accurate index of social conditions. Inci- dentally, they show the nature of law in early England. I, then, Alfred, king, gathered these together, and commanded many of those to be written which our forefathers held,^^ those which to me seemed good; and many of those which seemed to me not good I rejected, by the counsel of my witan,^^ and in otherwise commanded them to be holden; for I durst not ven- ture to set down in writing much of my own, for it was un- known to me what of it would please those who should come after us. But those things which I met with, either of the days of Ine my kinsman, or of Offa, king of the Mercians, or of Ethelbert, who first among the English race received baptism, those which seemed to me the rightest, those I have here gath- ered together, and rejected the others. I, then, Alfred, king of the West Saxons, showed these to all my witan, and they then said that it seemed good to them for all these to be holden. At the first we teach that it is most needful that every man warily keep his oaths and his pledges. If any one be constrained to either of these wrongfully, either to treason against his lord or to any unlawful aid, then it is juster to belie than to fulfil. But if he pledge himself to that which is lawful to fulfil, and in that belie himself, let him submissively deliver up his weapon and his goods to the keeping of his friends, and be in prison forty days in a king's town: let him there suffer whatever the bishop may prescribe to him; and let his kinsmen feed him, if himself he have no food. . . . If any plot against the king's life, of himself, or by harboring exiles, or by his men, let him be liable in his life and in all that he has. . . . We also ordain to every church that has been hallowed by a bishop this right of peace, if a man in a feud flee to or reach one, ^"^ The conservative and traditionary character of law is well indicated here. ^* I.e. council of wise men. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 23 that for seven days no one drag him out. ... He who steals on Sunday or at Christmas or at Easter or on Holy Thursday or on Rogation days, for each of these we will that the fine be twofold, as during the Lenten fast. . . . If any one fight in the king's hall, or draw his weapon, and he be taken, be it the king's doom, either death or life, as he may be willing to grant him. If he escape, and be taken again, let him pay for himself according to the value of his life. . . . If a man fight before an archbishop or draw his weapon, let him make amends with one hundred and fifty shillings. If be- fore another bishop or an ealdorman this happen, let him make amends with one hundred shillings. If any one smite his neighbor with a stone or with his fist, and he nevertheless can go out with a staff; let him get him a leech, and work his work the while that himself may not. If an ox gore a man or a woman so that they die, let it be stoned, and let not its flesh be eaten. The lord shall not be liable, if the ox were wont to push with its horns for two or three days before, and the lord knew it not; but if he knew it, and he would not shut it in, and it shall then have slain a man or a woman, let it be stoned; and let the lord be slain, or the man be paid for, as the witan decree to be right. If it gore a son or a daughter, let him be subject to the like judgment. But if it gore a servant or slave, let thirty shillings of silver be given to the lord, and let the ox be stoned. If a man, kinless of paternal relatives, fight, and slay a man, and then if he have maternal relatives, let them pay a third of the price of the slain man's life; his gild-brethren a third part; for a third let him flee. If he have no maternal relatives, let his gild-brethren pay half, for half let him flee. Injure ye not the widows and the step-children, nor hurt them anywhere: for if ye do otherwise, they will cry unto me, and I will hear them, and I will then slay you with my sword; and I will so do that your wives shall be widows, and your children shall be step-children. If thou give money in loan to thy fellow who willeth to dwell with thee, urge thou him not as a slave, and oppress him not with the increase. 24 ENGLISH LITERATURE If a man have only a single garment wherewith to cover him- self, or to wear, and he give it (to thee) in pledge; let it be re- turned before sunset. If thou dost not so, then shall he call unto me, and I will hear him; for I am very merciful. We also command: that the man who knows his foe to be home-sitting fight not before he demand justice of him. If he have such power that he can beset his foe, and besiege him within, let him keep him within for seven days, and attack him not, if he remain within. And then, after seven days, if he will surrender, and deliver up his weapons, let him be kept safe for thirty days, and let notice of him be given to his kinsmen and his friends. If, however, he flee to a church, then let it be ac- cording to the sanctity of the church; as we have before said above. But if he have not sufficient power to besiege him within, let him ride to the ealdorman, and beg aid of him. If he will not aid him, let him ride to the king before he fights. In like manner also, if a man come upon his foe, and he did not before know him to be home-staying; if he be willing to deliver up his weapons, let him be kept for thirty days, and let notice of him be given to his friends; if he will not deliver up his weapons, then he may attack him. If he be willing to surrender, and to deliver up his weapons, and any one after that attack him, let him forgo all claim to the aid of his relatives. We also declare, that with his lord a man may fight without being liable to the charge of homicide, if any one attack the lord: thus may the lord fight for his man. After the same fashion, a man may fight with his blood relative, if a man attack him wrongfully, except against his lord; that we do not allow. . . . Judge thou evenly: judge thou not one doom to the rich, an- other to the poor; nor one to thy friend, another to thy foe, judge thou. . . . If (one's) hearing be impaired (by assault), so that he cannot hear, let sixty shillings be paid as amends. A man's grinder is worth fifteen shillings. A man's chin bone, if it be cloven, let twelve shillings be paid as compensation. If a man be wounded on the shoulder so that the joint-oil flow out, let amends be made with thirty shillings. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 25 If the arm be broken above the elbow, there shall be fifteen shillings as compensation. If the forearm be broken, the compensation is thirty shillings. If the thumb be struck off, for that the amends shall be thirty shillings. If the nail be struck off, the compensation shall be five shillings. If the shooting (i.e. index) finger be struck off, the compensa- tion is fifteen shillings; for its nail, four shillings. If the middle finger be struck off, the compensation is twelve shillings; and its nail, is two shillings. . . . If a man's thigh be pierced, let thirty shillings be paid him as compensation; if it be broken, the compensation is likewise thirty shillings. If the great toe be struck off, let twenty shillings be paid as amends; if it be the second toe, let fifteen shillings be paid. . . . If a man maim another's hand outwardly, let twenty shillings be paid him as amends, if it can be healed; if it half fly off, then shall the amends be forty shillings. He who smiteth his father or his mother shall perish by death. He who stealeth a freeman and selleth him and it be proved against him so that he cannot clear himself, let him perish by death. . . . If a thief break into a man's house by night and he be there slain, the slayer shall not be guilty of manslaughter. But if he do this after sunrise he shall be guilty of manslaughter, and then he himself shall die, unless he were an unwilling agent. . . . Swear ye never by heathen gods, nor cry ye unto them for any cause. An attractive and, at the same time, accurate repre- sentation of domestic and industrial life in eleventh-cen- tury England is given in a dialog between master and pupil, designed to familiarize boys with Latin. yElfric, monk and abbot, best extant example of the culture of his day, is the author of this primitive imaginary conver- sation. 26 ENGLISH LITERATURE Pupil. We children beg you, teacher, to teach us how to speak Latin correctly, for we are very ignorant and make mis- takes in our speech. Teacher. What do you want to talk about .^ Pi piL. What do we care what the subject is, provided the language be correct, and the discourse be useful, not idle and base? Teacher. Do you desire to be flogged in your learning? Pupil. We had rather be flogged for learning's sake than be ignorant; but we know that you are kind and will not inflict blows upon us unless we force you to do so. Teacher. I ask an answer to this: What is your work at present? Pupil. I am a monk by profession and I sing every day the seven services of the hours with my brethren and am occupied with reading and singing, but nevertheless I should like, be- tween times, to learn Latin. Teacher. What do these your comrades know? Pupil. Some are plowmen, some shepherds, some oxherds; and some are hunters, some fishermen, some fowlers, some mer- chants, some shoemakers, some salters, and some bakers. Teacher. Plowman, what can you say for yourself? How do you do your work? Plowman. O, dear master, I work very hard; I go out at daybreak, drive the oxen to the field and yoke them to the plow. Never is winter weather so severe that I dare to remain at home; for I fear my master. But when the oxen are yoked to the plow and the share and coulter fastened on, every day I must plow a full acre or more. Teacher. Have you any one to help you? Plowman. I have a boy who urges on the oxen with a goad. He is now hoarse from cold and shouting. Teacher. Do you do anything else in the course of a day? Plowman. I do a great deal more. I have to fill the bins of the oxen v^ith hay and water them and clean their stalls. Teacher. Oh ! Oh ! that is hard work ! Plowman. The labor is indeed great, because I am not free. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 27 Teacher. What is your work, shepherd, have you anything to do? Shepherd. Yes indeed, master, I have. In the early morn- ing I drive my sheep to their pasture and stand over them in heat or cold with dogs lest wolves devour them. I lead them back to their folds and milk them twice a day. In addition I move their folds, make cheese and butter and am faithful to my master. Teacher. Well, oxherd, what is your work.^^ Oxherd. O my master, my work is very hard. When the plowman unyokes the oxen, I lead them to pasture and all night I stand over them and watch for thieves. Then in the early morning I turn them over to the plowman after I have fed and watered them. Teacher. Is this one of your friends.^ Oxherd. Yes, he is. Teacher. Can you do anything? Hunter. I know one craft. Teacher. What is it? Hunter. I am a hunter. Teacher. Whose? Hunter. The king's. Teacher. How do you carry on your work? Hunter. I weave my nets and put them in a suitable place, and train my dogs to follow the wild beasts until they come un- expectedly to the nets and are entrapped. Then I kill them in the nets. Teacher. Can't you hunt without nets? Hunter. Yes, I can hunt without them. Teacher. How? Hunter. I chase wild beasts with swift dogs. Teacher. What wild beasts do you catch? Hunter. Harts, boars, does, goats and sometimes hares. Teacher. Did you go out to-day? Hunter. No, because it is Sunday; but I was out yesterday. Teacher. What luck did you have? Hunter. I got two harts and a boar. Teacher. How did vou catch them? 28 ENGLISH LITERATURE Hunter. The harts I took in a net and the boar I slew. Teacher. How did you dare to kill a boar.'^ Hunter. The dogs drove him to me, and I, standing opposite to him, slew him suddenly. Teacher. You were very brave. Hunter. A hunter should not be afraid; for many kinds of wild beasts live in the woods. Teacher. What do you do with your game? Hunter. I give the king what I take because I am his hunter. Teacher. What does he give you? Hunter. He clothes me well and feeds me. Occasionally he gives me a horse or a ring that I may pursue my craft more willingly. Teacher. What craft do you follow? Fisherman. I am a fisherman. Teacher. What do you gain by your craft? Fisherman. Food and clothes and money. Teacher. How^ do you catch your fish? Fisherman. I go out in my boat, throw my net in the river, cast in my hook baited and take in my creel whatever comes to me. Teacher. What if they are unclean fish? Fisherman. I throw the unclean ones back and keep the clean for meat. Teacher. Where do you sell your fish? Fisherman. In the city. Teacher. Who buys them? Fisherman. The citizens; I do not catch as many as I could sell. Teacher. What sorts of fish do you catch? Fisherman. Eels and pike, minnows and turbots, trout and lamphreys; in short, whatever swims in running water. Teacher. Why don't you fish in the sea? Fisherman. Sometimes I do; but seldom; because a large boat is needed for sea-fishing. Teacher. Wliat do you catch in the sea? Fisherman. Herring and salmon, dolphins and sturgeons, oysters and crabs, mussels, periwinkles, cockles, flounders, sole» lobsters and many others. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 29 Teacher. Wouldn't you like to catch a whale? Fisherman. No. Teacher. Why not? Fisherman. Because it is a dangerous thing to catch a whale. It is safer for me to go to the river with my boat than to go with many ships to hunt whales. Teacher. W^hy so? Fisherman. Because I prefer to take a fish that I can kill than one that with a single blow can swallow not only me but my companions also. Teacher. Yet, many catch w^hales without danger and get a good price for them. Fisherman. I know it, but I do not dare; for I am very timid. Teacher. What have you to say, fowler? How do you catch the birds? Fowler. I entice them in many ways, sometimes with nets, sometimes with nooses, sometimes with lime, sometimes by whistling, sometimes with a hawk and sometimes with traps. Teacher. Have you a hawk? Fowler. Yes. Teacher. Can you tame it? Fowler. Yes; what good would it be to me, if I could not tame it? Hunter. Give me a hawk. Fowler. I will gladly, if you will give me a swift dog. Which hawk do you prefer, the larger or the smaller? Hunter. Give me the larger one. Teacher. How do you feed your hawks? Fow^LER. They feed themselves and me in the winter and in the spring I let them fly in the woods. In the autumn I take the young birds and tame them. Teacher. And why do you let the tame ones go? Fowler. Because I don't want to feed them in the summer, since they eat a good deal. Teacher. Many people feed those that they have tamed, even through the summer, that they may have them ready again. 30 ENGLISH LITERATURE Fowler. Yes, so they do; but I do not take so much trouble for them, because I can get others, not one only, but many more. Teacher. What can you say, merchant.'^ Merchant. I say that I am useful to the king and to the magistrates and to the wealthy and to all the people. Teacher. How is that? Merchant. I go aboard my ship with my goods and row over parts of the sea, sell my things and buy precious treasures that are not produced in this country. These latter I bring here with great peril from the sea. Sometimes I suffer ship- wreck and lose all my wares, hardly escaping with my life. Teacher. What do you bring us.^ Merchant. Purple goods and silk, precious gems and gold, strange raiment and spices, wine and oil, ivory and brass, cop- per and tin, sulphur and glass, and the like. Teacher. Do you sell your goods for the same price for which you bought them.^ Merchant. No; what profit would I then have from my labor. ^ But I sell them dearer than I bought them, that I may make a profit. Thus I feed myself, my wife and my son. Teacher. And you, shoemaker, what do you do that is use- ful for us.^ Shoemaker. My craft is a cunning one and very useful to you. Teacher. How? Shoemaker. I buy hides and skins and prepare them by my art and make of them various kinds of footwear — slippers, shoes and gaiters; bottles, reins and trappings; flasks and lea- thern vessels; spurstraps and halters; purses and bags. None of you could pass a winter without the aid of my craft. Teacher. Salter, how is your craft useful to us? Salter. Who of you would relish his food without the savor of salt? Who could fill either his cellar or his store-room with- out the aid of my craft? behold, all butter and cheese would you lose, nor would you enjoy even your vegetables, without me. Teacher. And what do you say, baker? Does any one need your craft, or could we live without you? THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 31 Baker. Life might be sustained for a while without my craft, but not long nor well. Truly, without my skill, every table would be empty. Without bread all food would cause sickness. I strengthen the heart of man. I am the strength of men and few would like to do without me. Teacher. AYhat shall we say of the cook.^^ Do we need his skill for anything.'^ The Cook says: If you should send me away from your midst, you would be compelled to eat your vegetables green and your meat uncooked, and you could have no nourishing broth without my skill. Teacher. We do not need your skill, nor is it necessary to us; for we ourselves could cook the things which should be cooked and roast the things that should be roasted. The Cook says: If you send me away, that is what you will have to do. Nevertheless, without my skill, you cannot eat. Teacher. Monk, you who are talking with me, I have per- suaded myself that you have good comrades and that they are very necessary. Now, who are these .^^ Pupil. I have smiths — a blacksmith, a goldsmith, a silver- smith, a coppersmith, a carpenter and many other workers at various trades. Teacher. Have you any wise counselor? Pupil. I certainly have. How could our community be ruled without a counselor .f^ Teacher. What would you say, wise man? Among these crafts which seems to you the greatest? Counselor. I tell you that among all these occupations the service of God seems to me to hold the first place; for thus it is written in the Gospels: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added to you." Teacher. And among the worldly crafts which seems to you to be first? Counselor. Agriculture, because the farmer feeds us all. The Blacksmith says : Where would the farmer get his plow- share, or mend his coulter when it has lost its point, without my craft? Where would the fisherman get his hook, or the shoe- maker his awl, or the tailor his needle, if it were not for my work? 32 ENGLISH LITERATURE The Counselor responds: Verily, you speak the truth; but we prefer to live with the farmer rather than with you; for the fanner gives us food and drink. What you give us in your shop is sparks, noise of hammers and blowing of bellows. The Carpenter speaks: How could you spare my skill in building houses, in the use of various tools, in building ships and in all the things I make? The Counselor says: O comrades and good workmen, let us quickly settle these disputes, and let there be peace and har- mony among us. Let each one benefit the others with his craft and agree always with the farmer who feeds us and from whom we get fodder for our horses. And this advice I give to all workers, that each one shall follow his own craft diligently, for he who forsakes his craft shall be himself forsaken by his craft. Whoever you are, priest or monk or layman or soldier, exercise yourself in this. Be satisfied with your office; for it is a great disgrace for a man to be unwilling to be what he is, and what it is his duty to be. Teacher. Well, children, how have you enjoyed this conver- sation? Pupil. Pretty well, but you speak profoundly and beyond our age. Speak to us according to our intelligence that we may understand what you say. Teacher. Here is a simple question for you: why are you so eager to learn? Pupil. Because we do not wish to be like stupid animals that do not know^ anything but grass and water. Teacher. And what is your wish? Pupil. We wish to be wise. Teacher. In what wisdom? Do you w^ish to be crafty or to assume a thousand shapes, skilful in deceiving, astute in speak- ing, graceful, speaking good and thinking evil, using soft words, feeding fraud within, like a whited sepulcher, beautiful without, but full of corruption? Pupil. We do not wish for this kind of wisdom; for he is not wise who deceives himself with pretenses. Teacher. But how would you be wise? Pupil. We wish to be simple without hypocrisy, and wise THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 33 that we may turn from evil and do good. But you are speaking to us of matters deeper than we are able to understand on ac- count of our years. Speak to us in our own way and not so profoundly. Teacher. I will do as you ask. ^ly boy, what did you do to-day? Pupil. I did many things. In the night, when I heard the bell, I arose from my bed and went to church. After that we sang of all the saints and morning praise songs, and after that prime and seven psalms with the litany and the first mass. Then we sang terce and did the mass of the day. After this we sang sext and ate and drank and slept. Again we rose and sang nones and now we are before you ready to hear whatever you may say to us. Teacher. When will you sing vespers or evensong? Pupil. AVhen it is time. Teacher. Were you flogged to-day? Pupil, No; because I conducted myself carefully. Teacher. And what of your companions? Pupil. Why do you ask me that? I do not dare to tell you our secrets. Each one knows whether he was flogged. Teacher. What do you eat during the day? Pupil. As yet I eat meat, for I am a child kept under the rod. Teacher. What else do you eat? Pupil. Herbs, eggs, fish, cheese, butter, beans and all clean things I eat with great thankfulness. Teacher. You are very voracious, because you eat every- thing that is set before you. Pupil. I am not so greedy as to eat all kinds of food at one meal. Teacher. Then how? Pupil. Sometimes I eat one kind of food at one meal and sometimes another; but always with moderation as it becomes a monk; and not greedily; for I am no glutton. Teacher. And what do you drink? Pupil. Ale, if I can get it; water, if I have no ale. Teacher. Don't you drink wine? Pupil. I am not rich enough to buy wine for myself and 34 ENGLISH LITERATURE wine is not a drink for children or the foolish but for the old and wise. Teacher. Where do you sleep .^ Pupil. In the dormitory with the brethren. Teacher. Who wakes you for the night songs? Pupil. Sometimes I hear the bell and rise; sometimes the master rouses me sternly with the rod. Teacher. O good children and winsome pupils, I, your mas- ter, exhort you to be obedient to the divine command and keep yourselves pure in all places. Rise immediately at the sound of the church-bell and go into the oratory. Bow humbly before the holy altars, stand meekly and sing in accord. Pray for the err- ing ones and go out without haste into the cloister or the school. III. The Cultural Background Our problem here is to try to understand and appreci- ate the less mechanical phases of Old English life which affected and colored literature; the aims and temper of the people, the foreign influences upon them, their art and learning, the status of poets among them. 1. Early English Ideals and Temper. — Tacitus has al- ready suggested at long range what these were, but we need the closer view to be gained from English literature itself. The first illustrative passage chosen is the account, in the earliest Teutonic epic extant, the English Beowulf,^ of the death of the hero. Beow^ulf has ruled his people for fifty winters after a youth spent in deeds of warlike daring and generous aid to others, truly called chivalric. Feeling his end near, he reviews his life in words which reveal his aims and ideals.^ Beowulf discoursed, spoke notwithstanding his wound, his piteous deadly hurt; he was fully conscious that he had lived out his allotted day of earthly joy, that the whole of his destined ^ On Beowulf as a typical Teutonic hero, see E. Dale, National Life and Char- acter in the Mirror of Early English Literature, pp. 23-27 (Cambridge University Press, 1907). THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND, 35 time was measured, (that) death was very near; "Now would I bestow my war-gear on my son, had any heir sprung from my body been given me to come after me. I have guided this people fifty years, nor has there been any folk-king among my neigh- bors, no not one, who durst attack me in war, grievously oppress me. I awaited on earth my appointed time, guarded well my own, sought no cunning wiles, nor swore many false oaths. Hence, though stricken with deadly wounds, I may rejoice, because the Warden of men cannot lay the murder of kinsmen to my charge when my life parts from my body. Do thou, dear Wig- laf,' go quickly to see the treasure beneath the hoary stone, since the dragon ^ lies slain, sleeps sorely wounded, bereft of treasured life. Hasten, that I may look upon the ancient stores of golden wealth, closely examine the bright gems, that I may the more easily thereafter leave my life and the realm which I have long ruled." The first 2200 lines of the poem Beowulf tell the story of Beowulf's adventures in behalf of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, whom Beowulf comes over the sea to help in his efforts to free his land and people of the monster Grendel. On the death of one of Hrothgar's thanes at the hands of Grendel's mother, Beowulf gives the following advice, which may be compared with the w^ords of Tacitus already cited: ^ Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, spoke: "Sorrow not, wise man; to avenge one's friend is better than Lo mourn much. Each one of us must stay for the end of his life in this world; (therefore) let him who may, do his work of glory before death; this will have been the best course for a hero whose life is done." No one knows just when the poem Beoivulf was com- posed and so the time which elapsed between the date of our first illustration and that of the last must for us be ^ One of IJeowulf s most trusted companions. 3 The monster in conflict witli which Beowulf got his death- wound. * Cf. ante., p. 1<). 36 . ENGLISH LITERATURE unmeasured. But in the interim Christianity has been introduced among the Enghsh and they are to have the chance of contact with the main stream of world civiHza- tion. Later documents will deal more fully with the intro- duction of Christianity, but here our attention should center on the glimpses we get of traits easily recognized as English to-day; such as, in the story to be quoted, the almost commercial common sense of the priest Coifi, and the reflective sensitiveness of the still pagan nobleman whose unknown name deserves record. For one's appreciation of the following story, he should know that Bishop Paulinus of York has had one interview with King Edwin of Northumbria regarding the accept- ance of Christianity by the latter, and that, using as a means of approach a mystic sign which had been revealed to the king in a vision, the bishop has now come to claim the royal convert. The king,^ hearing these words, ^ answered, that he was both -^dlling and bound to receive the faith which he taught; but that he would confer about it with his principal friends and counsellors, to the end that if they also were of his opinion, they might all together be cleansed in Christ the Fountain of Life. Paulinus con- senting, the king did as he said; for, holding a council with the wise men, he asked of every one in particular what he thought of the new doctrine, and the new worship that was preached? To which the chief of his own priests, Coifi, immediately answered, *'0 king, consider what this is which is now preached to us; for I verily declare to you, that the religion which we have hitherto professed has, as far as I can learn, no virtue in it. For none of your people has applied himself more diligently to the wor- ship of our gods than I; and yet there are many who receive greater favors from you, and are more preferred than I, and are more prosperous in all their undertakings. Now if the gods were good for any thing, they would rather forward me, who have 5 Edwin of Northumbria (585?-633, a.d.) ® Cf. Bishop PauHnus of York (died 64-i a.d.) THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 37 been more careful to serve them. It remains, therefore, that if upon examination you find those new doctrines, which are now preached to us, better and more efficacious, we immediately receive them without any delay." Another of the king's men, approving of his words and ex- hortations, presently added: "The present life of man, O king, seems to me, in comparison with that time which is unknown to us, like to the swift flight of a sparrow through the room wherein you sit at supper in winter, with your commanders and ministers, and a good fire in the midst, whilst the storms of rain and snow prevail abroad; the sparrow, I say, flying in at one door, and immediately out at another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry storm; but after a short space of fair weather, he imme- diately vanishes out of sight, into the dark winter from which he emerged. So this life of man appears for a short space, but of what went before, or what is to follow, we are utterly ignorant. If, therefore, this new doctrine contains something more certain, it seems justly to deserve to be followed." The other elders and king's counsellors, by Divine inspiration, spoke to the same effect. But Coifi added, that he wished more attentively to hear Paulinus discourse concerning the God whom he preached; which he having by the king's command performed, Coifi, hearing his words, cried out, "I have long since been sensible that there was nothing in that which we worshipped; because the more dili- gently I sought after truth in that worship, the less I found it. But now I freely confess, that such truth evidently appears in this preaching as can confer on us the gifts of life, of salvation, and of eternal happiness. For which reason I advise, O king, that we instantly abjure and set fire to those temples and altars which we have consecrated without reajiing any benefit from them." In short, the king publicly gave his licence to Paulinus to preach the Gospel, and renouncing idolatry, declared thai lie received the faith of Christ: and when he inquired of tlie liigh priest who should first profane the altars and temples of their idols, with the enclosures tluit were about them, he answered, "I; for who can more properly than myself destroy those things which I worshipped through ignorance, for an example to all 38 ENGLISH LITERATURE others, through the wisdom which has been given me by the true God?" Then ininiediately, in contempt of his former supersti- tions, he desired the king to furnish him with arms and a stal- Hon; and mounting the same, he set out to destroy the idols; for it was not la^^'ful before for the high priest either to carry arms, or to ride on any but a mare. Having, therefore, girt a sword about him, with a spear in his hand, he mounted the king's stalHon and proceeded to the idols. The multitude, beholding it, concluded he was distracted; but he lost no time, for as soon as he drew near the temple he profaned the same, casting into it the spear which he held; and, rejoicing in the knowledge of the worship of the true God, he commanded his companions to de- stroy the temple, with all its enclosures, by fire.^ This place where the idols were is still shown, not far from York, to the east- ward, beyond the river Derwent, and is now called Godmunding- ham, where the high priest, by the inspiration of the true God, profaned and destroyed the altars which he had himself conse- crated.^ 2. Foreign Influences. — Were we to take in chronologi- cal order the foreign influences on the Teutons after their arrival in Britain, the first to be mentioned would be that of the Celts who invited them into the island and who finally gave way before them. But the conclusions of modern scholarship are that the Celts exercised little if any immediate influence upon the English.^ Passing them by, therefore, the next foreign influence is that of Chris- tianity. This was, as the sequel will show, much more than a narrowly religious influence. Contact with Chris- tianity in the sixth century of our era meant contact with the highest and best in civilization. This will be abun- dantly evident in the documents which follow. Here, ^ Cf. the advice given by Bishop Daniel of Winchester to St. Boniface in his labors among the heathen. English Correspondence of St. Boniface, pp. 51 seq. (King's Classics edition, Chatto and Windus, 1911.) ^ For a further reference to King Edwin, cf. post, p. 99. ^ Cf . Cambridge History of English Literature, I, pp. 305-7 and bibliography to Chap. XII. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 39 however, our primary interest is in the introduction of Chris- tianity. It was first brought to Britain, apparently, before it became the authorized state rehgion of the Roman Empire and experienced the fortunes and misfortunes of general Christianity in the pagan w^orld. Our first docu- ment will illustrate this pre-German Christianity by pic- turing the martyrdom of St. Alban. The chronological difficulties in the way of our accepting Bede's statements as he makes them, need not interfere with our getting real information in a general way on religious conditions in pagan Roman Britain. At that time ^^ suffered St. Alban, of whom the priest Fortuna- tus,^^ in the Praise of Virgins, where he makes mention of the blessed martyrs that came to the Lord from all parts of the world, says: In Britain's isle was holy Alban born. This Alban, being yet a pagan, at the time when the cruelties of wicked princes were raging against Christians, gave enter- tainment in his house to a certain clergyman, flying from the persecutors. This man he observed to be engaged in continual prayer and watching day and night; when on a sudden the Divine grace shining on him, he began to imitate the example of faith and piety which was set before him, and being gradually instructed by his wholesome admonitions, he cast off the dark- ness of idolatry, and became a Christian in all sincerity of heart. The aforesaid clergyman having been some days entertained by him, it came to the ears of the wicked prince, that this holy confessor of Christ, whose time of martyrdom had not yet come, was concealed at Alban 's house. Whereupon he sent some sol- diers to make a strict search after him. When they came to the martyr's house, St. Alban immediately presented himself to the soldiers, instead of his guest and master, in the habit or long coat which he wore, and was led bound before tlie judge. It happened that the judge, at the time when Alban was ^^ 305 A.D. during the persecutions of Christians under Diocletian. ^^ Cf. jjost, J). G7 and note. 40 ENGLISH LITERATURE carried before him, was standing at the altar, and offer- ing sacrifice to devils. When he saw Alban, being much en- raged that he should thus, of his own accord, put himself into the hands of the soldiers, and incur such danger in behalf of his guest, he commanded him to be dragged up to the images of the devils, before which he stood, saying, "Because you have chosen to conceal a rebellious and sacrilegious person, rather than to deliver him up to the soldiers, that his contempt of the gods might meet with the penalty due to such blasphemy, you shall undergo all the punishment that was due to him if you abandon the worship of our religion." But St. iVlban, who had volun- tarily declared himself a Christian to the persecutors of the faith, was not at all daunted at the prince's threats, but putting on the armor of spiritual warfare, publicly declared that he would not obey the command. Then said the judge, "Of what family or race are you.'*" — "What does it concern you," answered Alban," "of what stock I am? If you desire to hear the truth of my religion, be it known to you, that I am now a Christian, and bound by Christian duties." — "I ask your name;" said the judge, "tell me it immediately." "I am called Alban by- my parents," replied he; "and I worship and adore the true and living God, who created all things." Then the judge, inflamed with anger, said, "If you will enjoy the happiness of eternal life, do not delay to offer sacrifice to the great gods." Alban rejoined, "These sacrifices, which by you are offered to devils, neither can avail the subjects, nor answer the wishes or desires of those that offer up their supplications to them. On the contrary, whoso- ever shall offer sacrifice to these images shall receive the ever- lasting pains of hell for his reward." The judge, hearing these words, and being much incensed, ordered this holy confessor of God to be scourged by the execu- tioners, believing he might by stripes shake that constancy of heart, on which he could not prevail by words. He, being most cruelly tortured, bore the same patiently, or rather joyfully, for our Lord's sake. When the judge perceived that he was not to be overcome by tortures, or withdrawn from the exercise of the Christian religion, he ordered him to be put to death. Being led to execution, he came to a river, which, with a most rapid THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 41 course, ran between the wall of the town and the arena where he was to be executed. He there saw a multitude of persons of both sexes, and of several ages and conditions, who were doubt- less assembled by Divine instinct, to attend the blessed con- fessor and martyr, and had so taken up the bridge on the river, that he could scarce pass over that evening. In short, almost all had gone out, so that the judge remained in the city without attendance. St. Alban, therefore, urged by an ardent and devout wish to arrive quickly at martyrdom, drew near to the stream, and on lifting up his eyes to heaven, the channel was immediately dried up, and he perceived that the water had departed and made way for him to pass. Among the rest the executioner, who was to have put him to death, observed this, and moved by Divine inspiration hastened to meet him at the place of execution, and casting down the sword which he had carried ready drawn, fell at his feet, praying that he might rather suffer with the martyr, whom he was ordered to execute, or, if possible, instead of him. Whilst he thus from a persecutor was become a companion in the faith, and the other executioners hesitated to take up the sword which was lying on the ground, the reverend confessor, accompanied by the multitude, ascended a hill, about five hun- dred paces from the place, adorned, or rather clothed w4th all kinds of flowers, having its sides neither perpendicular, nor even craggy, but sloping down into a most beautiful plain, worthy from its lovely appearance to be the scene of a martyr's suffer- ings. On the top of this hill, St. Alban prayed that God would give him water, and immediately a living spring broke out before his feet, the course being confined, so that all men perceived that the river also had been dried up in consequence of the martyr's presence. Nor was it likely that the martyr, who had left no water remaining in the river, should want some on the top of the hill, unless he thought it suitable to the occasion. The river having performed the holy service, returned to its natural course, leaving a testimony of its obedience. Here, therefore, the head of our most courageous martyr was struck off, and here he re- ceived the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.^- But he who gave the wicked stroke, was not per- 12 Cf. James 1: 12. 42 ENGLISH LITERATURE mitted to rejoice over the deceased; for his dropped upon the ground together with the blessed martyr's head. At tlie same time was also beheaded the soldier, who before, through the Divine admonition, refused to give the stroke to the holy confessor. Of whom it is apparent, though he was not re- generated by baptism, yet he was cleansed by the washing of his own blood, and rendered worthy to enter the kingdom of heaven. Then the judge, astonished at the novelty of so many heavenly miracles, ordered the persecution to cease immediately, beginning to honor the death of the saints, by which he before thought they might have been diverted from the Christian faith. The blessed Alban suffered death on the twenty-second day of June, near the city of Verulam, which is now by the English nation called Verlamacestir, or Varlingacestir, where afterwards, when peaceable Christian times were restored, a church of won- derful workmanship, and suitable to his martyrdom, was erected. In which place, there ceases not to this day the cure of sick persons, and the frequent workings of wonders. At the same time suffered Aaron and Julius, citizens of Chester, and many more of both sexes in several places; who, when they had endured sundry torments, and their limbs had been torn after an unheard-of manner, yielded their souls up, to enjoy in the heavenly city a reward for the sufferings which they had passed through. These untoward conditions did not last long, however, after the time of Alban's martyrdom; for in 312 or 313 Constantine put Christianity on the same basis as other religions in the Empire and the Church doubtless pros- pered in Britain as did other things Roman. But on the withdra\val of the legions early in the fifth century troub- lous times came on again and Christian priests were not spared as the pagan Teutons swept in conquest over the island. Britain returned to paganism — this time of a Teutonic type — for about a century and a half and then a process of re-Christianization began. One Gregory, after- wards Pope Gregory I, surnamed the Great, is, according to Bede, responsible for beginning this missionary work THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 43 among the English. How Gregory became interested in the EngHsh is told by Bede as follows: It is reported, that some merchants, having just arrived at Rome on a certain day, exposed many things for sale in the market place, and abundance of people resorted thither to buy: Gregory ^^ himself went with the rest, and among other things, some boys were set to sale, their bodies white, their counte- nances beautiful, and their hair very fine. Having viewed them, he asked, as is said, from what country or nation they were brought? and was told, from the island of Britain, whose inhab- itants were of such personal appearance. He again inquired whether those islanders were Christians, or still involved in the errors of paganism? and was informed that they were pagans. Then fetching a deep sign from the bottom of his heart, "Alas ! what pity," said he, "that the author of darkness is possessed of men of such fair countenances; and that being remarkable for such graceful aspects, their minds should be void of inward grace." He therefore again asked, what was the name of that nation? and was answered, that they were called Angles. " Right," said he, "for they have an Angelic face, and it becomes such to be coheirs with the Angels in heaven. What is the name," proceeded he, "of the province from which they are brought?" It was replied, that the natives of that province were called Deiri. "Truly are they De ira,'' said he, "withdrawn from the wrath, and called to the mercy of Christ. How is the king of that province called?" They told him his name was Ella: and he, alluding to the name, said, "Hallelujah, the praise of God the Creator must be sung in those parts." Then repairing to the bishop of the Roman aposotolical see (for he was not himself then made pope), he entreated him to send some ministers of the word into Britain to the nation of the English, by whom it might be converted to Christ; declaring himself ready to undertake that work, by the assistance of God, if the apostolic pope should tliink fit to have it so done. Whicli not being then able to perform, because, though the pope was willing to grant his request, yet the citizens of Rome could not ^^ Al this liiiu> ;i ria. ■-"^ Of Canterbury. Cf. post, pp. 57, 02, 100. -^ Of York. 50 ENGLISH LITERATURE happened in those times that Easter was twice kept in one year; and that when the king liaving ended the time of fasting, kept his Easter, tlie queen and her followers were still fasting, and celebrating Palm Sunday. This difference about the observance of Easter, whilst Aidan lived, was patiently tolerated by all men, as being sensible, that though he could not keep Easter contrary to the custom of those who had sent him, yet he industriously labored to practice all works of faith, piety, and love, according to the custom of all holy men; for which reason he was de- servedly beloved by all; even by those who differed in opinion concerning Easter, and was held in veneration, not only by indifferent persons, but even by the bishops, Honorius of Canter- bury, and Felix of the East Angles. But after the death of Finan, who succeeded him, when Col- man, who was also sent out of Scotland, came to be bishop, a greater controversy arose about the observance of Easter, and th^ rules of ecclesiastical life. "Wliereupon this dispute began naturally to influence the thoughts and hearts of many, who feared, lest having received the name Christians, they might happen to run, or to have run, in vain.^- This reached the ears of King Oswy and his son Alfrid; for Oswy, having been instructed and baptized by the Scots, and being very perfectly skilled in their language, thought nothing better than what they taught. But Alfrid, having been instructed in Christianity by ^Yilfrid,^^ a most learned man, who had first gone to Rome to learn the ecclesiastical doctrine, and spent much time at Lyons with Dalfin, archbishop of France, from whom also he had re- ceived the ecclesiastical tonsure, rightly thought this man's doc- trine ought to be preferred before all the traditions of the Scots. For this reason he had also given him a monastery of forty families, at a place called Rhypum; which place, not long be- fore, he had given to those that followed the system of the Scots for a monastery; but forasmuch as they afterwards, being left to their choice, prepared to quit the place rather than alter their opinion, he gave the place to him, whose life and doctrine were worthy of it. 22 Cf. PhiHppians 2: 16. 23 Of York. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 51 Agilbert, bishop of the West Saxons, above-mentioned, a friend to King Alfrid and to Abbot Wilfrid, had at that time come into the province of the Northumbrians, and was making some stay among them; and at the request of Alfrid, made Wilfrid a priest in his monastery. He had in his company a priest, whose name was Agatho. The controversy being there started, con- cerning Easter, or the tonsure, or other ecclesiastical affairs, it was agreed that a synod should be held in the monastery of Streaneshalch, which signifies the Bay of the Lighthouse, where the Abbess Hilda,^'^ a woman devoted to God, then presided; and that there this controversy should be decided. The kings, both father and son came thither. Bishop Colman with his Scot- tish clerks, and Agilbert with the priests Agatho and Wilfrid, James and Romanus were on their side; but the Abbess Hilda and her followers were for the Scots, as was also the venerable Bishop Cedd, long before ordained by the Scots, as has been said above, and he was in that council a most careful inter- preter for both parties. King Os\\y first observed, that it behoved those who served one God to observe the same rule of life; and as they all ex- pected the same kingdom in heaven, so they ought not to differ in the celebration of the Divine mysteries; but rather to inquire which was the truest tradition, that the same might be followed by all; he then commanded his bishop, Colman, first to declare what the custom was which he observed, and whence it derived its origin. Then Colman said, "The Easter which I keep, I re- ceived from my elders, who sent me bishop hither; all our fore- fathers, men beloved of God, are known to have kept it after the same manner; and that the same may not seem to any con- temptible or worthy to be rejected, it is the same which St. John the Evangelist, the disciple beloved of our Lord, with all the churches over which he presided, is recorded to have observed." Having said thus nmch, and more to the like effect, the king commanded Agilbert to show whence his custom of keej^ing Easter was derived, or on what authority it was grounded. Agil- bert answered, "I desire that my disciple, the priest Wilfrid, 2* Iler life is told in The Ecclesiastical History, IV, Chap. 23. She presided over the monastery when Caedmon lived there. Cf. post, \). 104. 52 ENGLISH LITERATURE may speak in my stead; because we both concur with the other followers of the ecclesiastical tradition that are here present, and he can better explain our opinion in the English language, than I can by an interpreter." Then Wilfrid, being ordered by the king to speak, delivered himself thus: "The Easter which we observe, we saw celebrated by all at Rome, where the blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, lived, taught, suffered, and were buried; we saw the same done in Italy and in France, when we travelled through those countries for pilgrimage and prayer. We found the same practised in Africa, Asia, Egypt, Greece, and all the world, wherever the church of Christ is spread abroad, through several nations and tongues, at one and the same time; except only these and their accomplices in obstinacy, I mean the Picts and the Britons, who foolishly, in these two remote islands of the world, and only in part even of them oppose all the rest of the universe." When he had so said, Colman answered, "It is strange that you will call our labors foolish, wherein we follow the example of so great an apostle, who was thought worthy to lay his head on our Lord's bosom, when all the world knows him to have lived most wisely." Wilfrid replied, "Far be it from us to charge John with folly, for he literally observed the precepts of the Jewish law, whilst the church still Judaized in many points, and the apostles were not able at once to cast off all the observances of the law which had been instituted by God. In which way it is necessary that all who come to the faith should forsake the idols which were invented by devils, that they might not give scandal to the Jews that were among the Gentiles. For this reason it was, that Paul circumcised Timothy, that he offered sacrifice in the temple, that he shaved his head with Aquila and Priscilla at Corinth, for no other advantage than to avoid giving scandal to the Jews. Hence it was that James said, to the same Paul, 'You see, brother, how many thousands of the Jews have believed; and they are all zealous for the law. And yet, at this time, the Gosi)el spreading throughout the world, it is needless, nay, it is not lawful, for the faithful either to be circumcised, or to offer up to God sacrifices of flesh.' So John, pursuant to the custom of the law, began the celebration of the feast of Easter, on the four- THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 53 teenth day of the first month, in the evening, not regarding whether the same happened on a Saturday, or any other day. But when Peter preached at Rome, being mindful that our Lord arose from the dead, and gave the world the hopes of resurrection, on the first day after the Sabbath, he understood that Easter ought to be observed, so as always to stay till the rising of the moon on the fourteenth day of the first moon, in the evening, according to the custom and precepts of the law, even as John did. And when that came, if the Lord's day did not fall the next morning after the fourteenth moon, but on the sixteenth, or the seven- teenth, or any other moon till the twenty-first, he waited for that, and on the Saturday before, in the evening, began to ob- serve the holy solemnity of Easter. Thus it came to pass, that Easter Sunday was only kept from the fifteenth moon to the twenty-first. Nor does this evangelical and apostolic tradition abolish the law, but rather fulfil it; the command being to keep the passover from the fourteenth moon of the first month in the evening to the twenty-first moon of the same month in the even- ing; which observance all the successors of St. John in Asia, since his death, and all the church throughout the world, have since followed; and that this is the true Easter, and the only one to be kept by the faithful, was not newly decreed by the council of Nice,-^ but only confirmed afresh; as the Church History informs us. "Thus it appears, that you, Colman, neither follow the ex- ample of John, as you imagine, nor that of Peter, whose tradi- tions you knowingly contradict; and that you agree with neither the law nor the Gospel in the keeping of your Easter. For John, keeping the Pasclial time according to the decree of the ^losaic law, had no regard to the first day after the Sabbath, which you do not practice, who celebrate Easter only on the first day after the Sabbath. Peter kept Easter Sunday between the fifteenth and the twenty-first moon, which you do not, but keep Easter Sunday from the fourteenth to the twentieth moon; so that you often begin Easter on the thirteenth moon in the evening, whereof neither the law made any mention, nor did our Lord, ^ The first council of Nice or Nicaea (a.d. 325) where the orthodoxy of Atha- nasian, as against Arian, theology was settled. 54 ENGLISH LITERATURE the Author and Giver of the Gospel on that day, but on the fourteentli, either eat the old passover in the evening, or deliver the sacraments of the New Testament, to be celebrated by the church, in memory of his passion. Besides, in your celebration of Easter, you utterly exclude the twenty-first moon, which the law ordered to be principally observed. Thus, as I said before, you agree neither with John nor Peter, nor with the law, nor the Gospel, in the celebration of the greatest festival." To this Colman rejoined: "Did Anatolius,-^ a holy man, and much commended in church history, act contrary to the law and the Gospel, when he wrote, that Easter was to be cele- brated from the fourteenth to the twentieth? Is it to be be- lieved that our most reverent Father Columba ^^ and his successors, men beloved by God, who kept Easter after the same manner, thought or acted contrary to the Divine waitings? Whereas there were many among them, whose sanctity is testi- fied by heavenly signs and the working of miracles, whose life, customs, and discipline I never cease to follow, not question- ing their being saints in heaven." "It is evident," said Wilfrid, "that Anatolius was a most holy, learned, and commendable man; but what have you to do with him, since you do not observe his decrees? For he, follow- ing the rule of truth in his Easter, appointed a revolution of nineteen years, which either you are ignorant of, or if you know it, though it is kept by the whole church of Christ, yet you despise it. He so computed the fourteenth moon in the Easter of our Lord, that according to the custom of the Egyptians, he acknowledged it to be the fifteenth moon in the evening; so in like manner he assigned the twentieth to Easter-Sunday, as be- lieving that to be the twenty-first moon, w^hen the sun had set, which rule and distinction of his it appears you are ignorant of, in that you sometimes keep Easter before the full of the moon, that is, on the thirteenth day. Concerning your Father Columba and his followers, whose sanctity you say you imitate, and whose rules and precepts you observe, which have been confirmed by 26 Cf. post, p. 113. 27 521-597 A.D., Irish civilizcr of Scotland. We have his life by the Abbot Adamnan. The edition by Fowler is the best (Clarendon Press). THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 55 signs from heaven, I may answer, that when many, on the day of judgment, shall say to our Lord, 'That in his name they prophesied, and cast out devils, and wrought many wonders,' our Lord will reply, 'That He never knew them.' ^^ But far be it from me, that I say so of your fathers, because it is much more just to believe what is good, than what is evil, of persons whom one does not know. Wherefore I do not deny those to have been God's servants, and beloved by Him, who with rustic simplicity, but pious intentions, have themselves loved Him. Nor do I think that such keeping of Easter was very prejudicial to them, as long as none came to show them a more perfect rule; and yet I do believe that they, if any catholic adviser had come among them, would have as readily followed his admonitions, as they are known to have kept those commandments of God, which they had learned and knew. "But as for you and your companions, you certainly sin, if, having heard the decrees of the x\postolic See, and of the uni- versal church, and that the same is confirmed by holy writ, you refuse to follow them; for, though your fathers were holy, do you think that their small number, in a corner of the remotest island, is to be preferred before the universal church of Christ throughout the world. ^ And if that Columba of yours (and, I may say, ours also, if he was Christ's servant) was a holy man and powerful in miracles, yet could he be preferred before the most blessed prince of the apostles, to whom our Lord said, 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and to thee I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven '.f^" -^ When Wilfrid had spoken thus, the king said, "Is it true, Colman, that these words were spoken to Peter by our Lord.'^" He answered, "It is true, O king!" Then says he, "Can you show any such power given to your Columba.^" Colman an- swered, "None." Then added the king, "Do you both agree that these words were principally directed to Peter, and that the keys of heaven were given to him by our Lord?" They both answered, "We do." Then the king concluded, "And I also say unto you, that he is the door-keeper, whom I will not 28 Cf. Matthew 7: 21-23. 29 cf. Matthew IG: 18. 56 ENGLISH LITERATURE contradict, but will, as far as I know and am able, in all things obey his decrees, lest, when I come to the gates of the kingdom of heaven, there should be none to open them, he being my ad- versary who is proved to have the keys." ^^ The king having said this, all present, both great and small, gave their assent, and renoimcing the more imperfect institution, resolved to con- form to that which they found to be better. An earlier discussion has already ^^ put before us the economic importance of monasteries and we shall now see their importance for art. We have also observed that the civilizers of Britain were prevailingly monks. The neces- sity of furnishing their monastic establishments in Britain led to the introduction there of many new trades and artistic objects. The following passage from Bede's Lives of the Holy Abbots of Wearmouth and J arrow will illustrate this point: Not long after, a merchant- vessel arrived, which enabled him ^- to gratify his wish.^^ At that time, Egbert, king of Kent, had sent out of Britain a man who had been elected to the office of bishop, Wighard by name, who had been adequately taught by the Roman disciples of the blessed Pope Gregory in Kent on every topic of Church discipline: but the king wished him to be ordained bishop at Rome, in order that, having him for bishop of his own nation and language, he might himself, as well as his people, be the more thoroughly master of the words and mys- teries of the holy faith, as he would then have these adminis- tered, not through an interpreter, but from the hands and by the tongue of a kinsman and fellow-countryman. But Wighard, on coming to Rome, died of a disease, with all his attendants, before he had received the dignity of bishop. Now the Apostolic Father, that the embassy of the faithful might not fail through the death of their ambassadors, called a council, and appointed '" Cf. the aUitude of Coifi toward paganism, a7itc, p. 36. '1 Cf. ante, pp. 19-21. '2 I.e. Benedict Biscop, master of Bede; cf. post, p. 111. ^ To visit Rome. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 57 one of his Church to send as archbishop into Britain. This was Theodore,^^ a man deep in all secular and ecclesiastical learning, whether Greek or Latin; and to him was given, as a colleague and counsellor, a man equally strenuous and prudent, the abbot Hadrian. Perceiving also that the reverend Benedict would be- come a man of wisdom, industry, piety, and nobility of mind, he committed to him the newly ordained bishop, with his fol- lowers, enjoining him to abandon the travel which he had under- taken for Christ's sake; and with a higher good in view, to return home to his country, and bring into it that teacher of wisdom whom it had so earnestly w^ished for, and to be to him an interpreter and guide, both on the journey thither, and after- wards, upon his arrival, when he should begin to preach. Bene- dict did as he was commanded; they came to Kent, and were joyfully received there; Theodore ascended his episcopal throne, and Benedict took upon himself to rule the monastery of the blessed Apostle Peter, of which, afterwards, Hadrian became abbot. He ^^ ruled the monastery for two years ; and then sucess- fully, as before, accomplished a third voyage from Britain to Rome, and brought back a large number of books on sacred literature, which he had either bought at a price or received as gifts from his friends. On his return he arrived at Vienne, where he took possession of such as he had entrusted his friends to purchase for him. When he had come home, he determined to go to the court of Conwalh, king of the West Saxons, whose friendship and services he had already more than once experi- enced. But Conwalh died suddenly about this time, and he, therefore, directed his course to his native province. He came to the court of Egfrid, king of Northumberland, and gave an account of all that he had done since in youth he had left his country. He made no secret of his zeal for religion, and showed what ecclesiastical or monastic instructions he had received at Rome and elsewhere. He displayed the holy volumes and relics of Christ's blessed Apostles and martyrs, which he had brought, and found such favor in the eyes of the king, that he forthwith 34 Cf. ante, p. 49; pod, pp. GZ, 109. ^ I.e. Benedict Biscop. 58 ENGLISH LITERATURE gave him seventy hides of hiiid out of his own estates, and or- dered a monastery to be built thereon for the first pastor of his church. This was done, as I said before, at the mouth of the river Were, on the left bank, in the 674th year of our Lord's incarnation, in the second indiction, and the fourth year of Egfrid's reign. After the interval of a year, Benedict crossed the sea into Gaul, and no sooner asked than he obtained and carried back with him some masons to build him a church in the Roman style, w^hicli he had always admired. So much zeal did he show from his love to Saint Peter, in whose honor he was building it, that within a year from the time of laying the foundation, you might have seen the roof on and the solemnity of the mass celebrated therein. When the work was drawing to completion, he sent messen- gers to Gaul to fetch makers of glass (more properly artificers), who were at this time unknown in Britain, that they might glaze the windows of his church, wdth the cloisters and dining- rooms. This was done, and they came, and not only finished the work required, but taught the English nation their handi- craft, which was well adapted for enclosing the lanterns of the church, and for the vessels required for various uses. All other things necessary for the service of the church and the altar, the sacred vessels, and the vestments, because they could not be procured in England, he took especial care to buy and bring home from foreign parts. Some decorations and muniments there were which could not be procured even in Gaul, and these the pious founder deter- mined to fetch from Rome; for which purpose, after he had formed the rule for his monastery, he made his fourth voyage to Rome, and returned loaded with more abundant spiritual mer- chandise than before. In the first place, he brought back a large quantity of books of all kinds; secondly, a great number of relics of Christ's Apostles and martyrs, all likely to bring a blessing on many an English church; thirdly, he introduced the Roman mode of chanting, singing, and ministering in the church, by obtaining permission from Pope Agatho to take back with him John, the archchanter of the church of St. Peter, and abbot of THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 59 the monastery of St. Martin, to teach the Enghsh. This John, when he arrived in England, not only communicated instruction by teaching personally, but left behind him numerous writings, which are still preserved in the library of the same monastery. In the fourth place, Benedict brought with him a thing by no means to be despised, namely, a letter of privilege from Pope Agatho, which he had procured, not only with the consent, but by the request and exhortation of King Egfrid, and by which the monastery was rendered safe and secure for ever from foreign invasion. Fifthly, he brought with him pictures of sacred repre- sentations, to adorn the church of St. Peter, which he had built; namely, a likeness of the Virgin Mary and of the twelve Apostles, with which he intended to adorn the central nave, on boarding placed from one wall to the other; also some figures from eccle- siastical history for the south wall, and others from the Revela- tion of St. John for the north wall; so that every one who entered the church, even if they could not read, wherever they turned their eyes, might have before them the amiable countenance of Christ and his saints, though it were but in a picture, and with watchful minds might revolve on the benefits of our Lord's incar- nation, and having before their eyes the perils of the last judg- ment, might examine their hearts the more strictly on that account. When Benedict had made this man ^*^ abbot of St. Peter's and Ceolfrid abbot of St. Paul's, he not long after made his fifth voyage from Britain to Rome, and returned (as usual) with an immense number of proper ecclesiastical relics. There were many sacred books and pictures of the saints, as numerous as before. He also brought with him pictures out of our Lord's history, which he hung round the chapel of Our Lady in the larger mon- astery: and others to adorn St. Paul's church and monastery, ably describing the connexion of the Old and New Testament; as, for instance, Isaac bearing the wood for his own sacrifice, and Christ carrying the cross on which he was about to suffer, were placed side by side. Again, the serpent raised uj) by Moses in the desert was illustrated by the Son of Man exalted on the cross. Among other things, he brought two cloaks, all ^ Eastenvine. 60 ENGLISH LITERATURE of silk, and of incomparable workmanship, for which he received an estate of three hides on tlie south bank of the river Were, near its mouth, from King Alfrid, for he found on his return that Egfrid had been murdered during his absence. Christianity is thus seen to have been a constructive influence in early England; it made for higher culture. There was, however, a foreign influence brought to bear on England, which, as we have already seen, was decidedly destructive; namely, the Danes.^' Alcuin (735-804) in the following letter pleads for national unity and purity in the presence of the pagan peril: To the most excellent nation and praiseworthy people and to the imperial kingdom of the people of Canterbury, the humble Alcuin sends greeting. ... A very great danger threatens this island and the people dwelling in it. Behold a thing never before heard of, a pagan people is becoming accustomed to laying waste our shores with piratical robbery; and our own people, the iVngles, are disagree- ing ^^ among themselves as to kingdoms and kings. There is scarcely any one, a thing which I do not say without tears, found of the ancient lineage of kings, and the more uncertain the origin the less the bravery. In like manner throughout all the churches of Christ teachers of truth have perished; almost all follow after worldly vanities and hold the regular ^^ discipline in aversion: even their warriors desire avarice rather than jus- tice. Read Gildas,"*^ the wisest Briton, and you will see why the parents of the Britons lost their kingdom and fatherland; then, consider yourselves and you will find things almost the same. Fear for yourselves the statement of the very truth which has been given in regard to the church, saying, "Every kingdom divided against itself will not stand." ^^ Behold how great a division there is between the people and the tribes of the Angles; ^^ Cf. ante, p. 6. ^^ Cf. ante, p. 5. ^^ I. e. monastic. ^° Cf. ante, p. 1. In the concluding words of the preface to his book Gildas suggests that his purpose will be to show how the miseries of Britain are due to her sins. There are many remarks in the body of the work to the same effect. 41 Cf. Matthew 12: 25. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 61 and on this account they are faiHng in their duty to themselves, because they do not preserve among themselves peace and faith. Recall, if it may be done, your bishop, Adelhard,''- a man wise and venerable; strengthen then the state of your kingdom by his advice, removing the customs displeasing to God; study to do those things which will tend to call upon you his mercy. It is not well that the seat of St. iVugustine, our first preacher^ should remain vacant; no one else can in any way be ordained in Adelhard's place. It is ruinous to people everywhere not to obey the priests and to drive out from their midst the preachers of safety. Subject yourselves humbly to your bishop, the min- ister of your safety, that divine grace may follow you in all your works. Believe me, in no other way can you retain God's favor to you; through him you can, I believe, have peace, and hope for eternal safety. Enter into a plan for your prosperity, act manfully, and you will find it well; turn to entreaties, prayers, and fasting, that divine mercy may be gained for you, that it may preserve you in peace and safety, that it may grant to you a safe dwelling in your fatherland and a glorious kingdom in the eternal home. O worthy and venerable brethren, may the right hand of God Omnipotent protect and rule over you, and may it deem you worthy of being exalted in present happiness and eternal bliss. The following passage, a portion of the sole extant fragment of familiar correspondence in the vernacular of pre-conquest England, puts the attitude of at least one sensitive Englishman before us in a still more intimate way. The letter as we have it is undated, but the indications are that it falls somewhere in the tenth centur^^ I will also say to you, brother Edward, since you have asked me about this, that you are doing wrong in giving up the English customs which your fathers held, and in hankering after the manners of heathen who hardly allow you to live. You are ^ Adelhard (his name is spelled Ethelhard in the Dictionary of National Biog- raphy) was a Mercian consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury in 793. His Kentish subjects were loth to have a Mercian presiding over the see and had expelled him. He is not known as a writer. He died in 805. 62 ENGLISH LITERATURE making it perfectly clear by your bad habits that you despise your kin and elders when, in order to annoy them, you dress after the Danish fashion with neck uncovered and hair strag- gling down over your eyes. I sha'n't say any more about these wretched fashions except that books tell us that he shall be ex- communicated who follows heathen ways in his life and by that means dishonors his own people. 3. Learning in Old England. — Bede, in an early chapter of the fourth book of his Ecclesiastical History^ gives the following account of the educational activities of Arch- bishop Theodore of Canterbury and his assistants. Theo- dore was sent from Rome to carry on the work begun in England by Augustine, and he left a deep impression on English learning. As both of them ^^ were well read both in sacred and in secular literature they gathered a crowd of disciples, and there daily flowed from them rivers of knowledge to water the hearts of their hearers; and, together with the books of holy writ, they also taught them the arts of ecclesiastical poetry, astronomy, and arithmetic. A testimony of which is, that there are still living at this day some of their scholars who are as well versed in the Greek and Latin tongues as in their own, in which they were born. Alcuin, in the next century, thus describes in verse the curriculum of his ahna mater, the famous school founded at York by Egbert, one of Bede's pupils. Through this school, says Mr. Gaskoin, "The old Roman city of Ebo- racum became the intellectual centre of Christian Europe north of Italy and Spain, and maintained that position for nearly half-a-century, till Alcuin left his Northumbrian home to impart to Frankish pupils at Aachen and at Tours the learning he had himself amassed under Egbert and his two successors." ^ ^^ I.e. Archbishop Theodore and Abbot Hadrian, see ante, pp. 49, 57; post, p. 109. « Alcuhi: His Life and His Worlc, p. 33. (C. J. Clay and Sons, 1904). THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 63 There the Euboric scholars felt the rule Of Master yElbert,''^ teaching in the school. Their thirsty hearts to gladden well he knew AVith doctrine's stream and learning's heavenly dew. To some he made the grammar understood And poured on others rhetoric's copious flood. The rules of jurisprudence these rehearse. While those recite in high Aonian verse, Or play Castalia's flutes in cadence sweet And mount Parnassus in swift lyric feet. Anon the master turns their gaze on high To view the travailing sun and moon, the sky And starry hosts that keep the law of heaven. The storms at sea, the earthquake's shock, the race Of men and beasts and flying fowl they trace,^'' Or to the laws of numbers bend their mind And search till Easter's annual day they find. Then, last and best, he opened up to view The depths of Holy Scripture, Old and New. Was any youth in studies well approved, Then him the master cherished, taught and loved, And thus the double knowledge he conferred Of liberal studies and the Holy word. Later on in the same poem, Alcuin catalogs the volumes in the Library at York as follows: There shalt thou find the volumes that contain All of the ancient fathers who remain. With those that glorious Greece transferred to Rome, — The Hebrews draw from their celestial stream, And Africa is bright with learning's beam. *^ iElbert was the kin.sninn and eventual successor of Egbert at York. ^^ On the conception of the world current in the days of Alfred the Great, see the first chapter of King Alfred's translation of Orosius (cf. po.st, p. 64 note). This is accessible as Old South LcajUi No. 112 (Vol. V., pp. 245-259). Alfred's addi- tions to Orosius' text are there indicated, the text is carefully annotated, and Sir Clements Markham, President of the Royal Geographical Society, comments on King Alfred as a geographer. G4 ENGLISH LITERATURE Here shines what Jerome/^ Ambrose/^ Hihiry *^^ thought Or Athanasius ^° and Augustine ^^ wrought. Orosius,'- Leo,^^ Gregory ^^ the Great, Near Basil ^^ and Fulgentius ^^ coruscate. ■'^ St. Jerome (331-420a.d.), translator of the Old and New Testaments into Latin. His translation came into common use and is hence known as the Vulgate. He was a pupil of the grammarian Donatus (cf . infra) at Rome, became fond of philosophy, and took great pride in his library. Plautus and Cicero were his favorite Latin authors. In 386 he founded a monastery at Bethlehem. His biographical work De Viris Illustribus {On Famous Men) is the source of much of our information about classical writers. His Letters are famous. Jerome was very popular during the Middle Ages. His works are the source from which many quotations found their way into medieval literature. *^ St. Ambrose (340-397), Christian hymn-writer, who made his songs teach the doctrines of the church. ^^ Hilary was the earliest of the Christian hymn-writers of medieval Europe. He introduced church music from the East. He was bom at Poictiers in France late in the third century, became bishop of Poictiers in 353, and died in 368. ^ St. Athanasius, one of the Greek fathers of the Church (295-373), champion of what turned out to be orthodox Christianity in contrast to the unitarianism of Arius. Athanasius was an orator and controversialist. ^1 St. Augustine (354-430), one of the great theologians. We have his autobi- ography in his Confessions. In 384, he was teaching rhetoric at Milan, and in 387 was converted and baptized. He is the author of many controversial works. His City of God, a philosophy of life and the world from the Christian point of view, was finished in 426. ^- Orosius, who was bom in the latter part of the fourth century, was a younger friend and assistant of Augustine. His chief work, Adversus Paganos Historiarum Libri VII {Seven Books of History against the Pagans), was WTitten to disprove the current statement that the woes of the later Roman Empire were caused by the anger of the pagan gods. Orosius shows that the world had been aflBicted by just as terrible calamities before, as after, the introduction of Christianity. His book was the favorite text-book of universal history during the Middle Ages. Alfred translated it into Old English. ^ Leo I, Pope 440-461. We have his Letters and Sermons. ^^ Gregory the Great (550-604). The Pope under whose direction Augustine came to England in 597. Gregory wrote several works that were very popular. Among these are his Cura Pastoralis {Pastoral Care) and his Dialogs, translated into English by Alfred the Great or under his direction. Cf. 'post, pp. 123, 129-131. ^ St. Basil (331-379) was one of the interpreters of Christianity to the Greeks. He was the author of a work on the use of pagan poetry by Christians, which has been translated into modem English by Professor Padelford in Yale Studies in English, XV. ^ Eulgentius (about 480-550) was an African grammarian. He wrote works THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 65 Grave Cassiodorus ^'^ and John Chrysostom ^^ Next Master Bede '^^ and learned Aldhelm ^^ come, on mythology, an allegorical interpretation of Virgil and a history, De Mtatihus Mundi (On the Ages of the World). " Cassiodorous (480-575) was minister of the Ostrogothic dynasty in Italy during the first half of the sixth century. Between 526 and 533 he wrote his II hiory of the Goth,s, now lost. In 537 he brought out his Varioe or Letters, which are of ex- treme historical value. He wrote commentaries on the Bible, the Tripartite History (a history of the Church), and Institutiones Divinarum et Humanarum Lectionum {Elements of Divine and Human Learning). The latter, which consists of compendia of the liberal arts, was begun about 543. He composed a treatise on spelling {De Orthographia) and a Chronicon or Chronicle, an abstract of universal history do\\-n to 519 A.D. His works were widely kno^vTi in the Middle Ages. ^ St. John Chrysostom (344-404) was one of the great preachers of the Church. ^^ Bede, the Englishman so often referred to already. For documents on his life and a list of his works, cf. post, pp. 107-117. ^° Aldhelm (650-709), also an Englishman, Bishop of Sherburne. *' Aldhelm," says Bede {Ecclesiastical History, Book V., Chap. 18; Giles' tr., p. 267), "when he was only a priest and abbot of the monastery of Malmesbury, by order of a s;yTiod of his owTi nation, wrote a notable book against the error of the Britons, in not celebrating Easter at the proper time, and in doing several other things not conso- nant to the purity and the peace of the Church; and by the reading of this book he persuaded many of them, who were subject to the West Saxons, to adopt the Catholic celebration of our Lord's resurrection. He hkewise wrote a notable book On Virginity, which, in imitation of Sedulius (cf. infra), he composed double, that is, in hexameter verse and prose. He wrote some other books, as being a man most learned in all respects, for he had a clean style, and was, as I have said, won- derful for ecclesiastical and liberal erudition." William of Malmesbury, the twelfth- century English historian, wrote a life of Aldhelm in which, on the authority of the note-book ascribed to Alfred the Great, he records the familiar story that "Aldhelm had observed with pain that the peasantry were become negligent in their religious duties, and that no sooner was the church service ended than they all hastened to their homes and labors, and could Avith difficulty be persuaded to attend to the exhortations of the preacher. He watched the occasion, and sta- tioned himself in the character of a minstrel on the bridge over which the people had to pass, and soon collected a crowd of hearers by the beauty of his verse; when he found that he had gained pcjssession of their attention, he gradually introduced among the popular poetry which he was reciting to them, words of a more serious nature, till at length he succeeded in impressing upon their minds a truer feeling of religious devotion; 'whereas, if . . . 'he had proceeded with severity and ex- communication, he would have made no impression whatever upon them.' " (Cf. Wright, Biographia Britannica Literaria, Anglo-Saxon Period, p. 215.) We have extant a number of Aldhelm's letters, al)out one hundred riddles in verse, the treatises On Virginity, and various miscellanies. (Cf. Cambridge History of English Literature, I., p. 80.) 66 ENGLISH LITERATURE While Victorinus ^^ and Boethius ^- stand With PHny ^^ and Pompeius *^^ close at hand. Wise Aristotle ^'-^ looks on Tully ^'' near, Seduliiis ^^ and Juvencus ^^ next appear. There come Albinus,*^^ Clement/° Prosper ^^ too, ^^ \'ictorinus flourished about 300 a.d. He was a rhetorician, commentator, and translator. Among his translations are certain works on Platonic philosophy. He wrote a treatise on Meter in four books. He became a Christian in later life. ^- Boethius (■i80-5'24') was the last of the pagan philosophers. His De Consola- tione Philosophiw {On the Consolation of Philosophy) was probably the most popu- lar book on philosophy in the Middle Ages. Alfred the Great translated it into Old English, Chaucer into Middle English, and Queen Elizabeth into the language of her day. Boethius translated and commented on Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero. He wrote works on arithmetic, geometry, and on music which were widely used as text-books. ^^ This is Pliny the Elder, the author, in the first century after Christ, of the Natural History, the source of much information during the Middle Ages. ^ Pompeius Trogus, who lived in the first century before, and the first century after, Christ completed in 9 a.d. the first Universal History written in Latin. It has survived to our time in an abridgement. ^ Aristotle, called by Dante (Inferno, IV., 131) "the master of those who know," was probably kno^^^l at this time in his logical works only, in an abstract by Cas- siodorus. ^ Tully is kno\\Ti more commonl}^ to-day as Cicero (106-43 b.c). A few only of his speeches and letters could have been knoAMi to Alcuin. "He was revered," writes Dr. Sandys (History of Classical Scholarship, I., p. 623), "throughout the Middle Ages as the great representative of the liberal art of Rhetoric." ^^ Sedulius (fifth century a.d.) was a h;>Tmi-WTiter and orator. He wrote among other things a Carmen Paschale (Easter Song). He was probably a Scot from Ire- land. (March, Latin Hymns, p. 248.) Aldhelm, according to Bede, imitated him. (Cf. supra.) ^ Juvencus (about 330 a.d.) was a Christian imitator of Virgil. ^^ The Manuscript here reads Alcuinas. Editors generally adopt the reading in the text. Albinus was a learned abbot and friend of Bede. He succeeded Hadrian as abbot at Canterbury in 710. It was he who urged Bede to write his Ecclesiastical History. Cf. post, p. 109. ^° This is probably Clement of Alexandria (160-215 a.d.). He was a lecturer at Alexandria. He wrote the Exhortation, a learned and systematic attack on pa- ganism, fiealing almost entirely with Greek mythology and speculation; Pceda- gogus, a course of instruction resting on reason as well as revelation, partly borrowed from the (ireek philosophers; Miscellanies, in which he tried to reconcile truth and reason, paganism and Christianity. ^' Prosper of Aquitaine (403-403 a.d.) was a priest at Marseilles in France. He was a friend of St. Augustine. His literary activity was occupied in historical comj)osition, mostly ecclesiastical. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 67 Paulinus ^- and Arator.'^^ Next we view Lactantius/^ Fortiinatus.'^-^ Ranged in line Virgilius Maro/*^ Statins," Lucan ^^ shine. Donatus/^ Priscian,^^ Probus,^^ Procas,^^ start ^2 Paulinus of Nola (353-431) wrote Christian poems showing the influence of Virgil. ^^ Arator (flourished 540 a.d.) is the author of a metrical version of the Ads of the Apostles. ^^ Lactantius (flourished 300 a.d.) is often called "the Christian Cicero." He was a teacher of rhetoric at Nicomedia in Bithynia. He became a Christian later in life and devoted his literary talents to the service of Christianity. His Institutes of Divinity is an exposition of Christian teaching, while his De Mortibus Persecu- torum (On the Deaths of the Persecutors, i.e. The Emperors who persecuted Chris- tians) "had a large effect in fixing the tradition of the later Empire as viewed throughout the Middle Ages." (J. W. Mackail, Latin Literature, p. 25G.) His De Ave Phcenice {On the Phoenix) is undoubtedly the source of the Old English poem of the same title. "^^ Fortunatus (535-600) is the author of an epic on St. Martin of Tours mod- eled on Virgil and Claudian. 76 Virgil (70-19 B.C.) was the most popular and best knowTi classical Latin poet of the Middle Ages. His reputation for learning was such that he became in popu- lar legend a great magician. Cf. Comparetti, Vergil in the Middle Ages (London, Swan, Sonnenschein & Co., 1895). '^ Statius (40-96 a.d.), Latin epic writer, author of Thehais (Story of Thebes in Greece); Achilleis (The Life of Achilles); and of the Silvoe (miscellaneous poems). ^8 Lucan (39-65 a.d.) was a Latin epic writer, nephew of Seneca, the philoso- pher. Lucan wrote the Pharsalia, a poem in ten books, on the civil war between Pompey and Caesar, in which he takes the side of Pompey. The poem was very popular during the Middle Ages. ^^ Donatus (flourished 355 a.d.) was the author of a grammar, in shorter and longer form, which was used throughout the Middle Ages. So well was he known that the word donet taken from his name came to mean "grammar." (Cf. Piers Ploivman, B. Text, V., 1. 209.) Donatus also wrote commentaries on Terence and Virgil. ^° Priscian is the author of a grammar finished in 526 or 527 a.d.; of a work on numerals, weights and measures; of one on the meters of Terence; and of a volume of rhetorical themes. The popularity of his grammar is attested by the fact that about a thousand manuscripts of it are extant. Cf. post, p. 134. ^^ Probus (flourished 56-88 .\.d.) was the foremost grammarian of the first cen- tury after Christ. He edited Plautus, Terence, Lucretius, Virgil, Horace, and Persius. ^2 According to the Dictionary of ('hristian Biography, one Phocas of Edessa lived not earlier than the eigiith century. He wrote an introduction to the Syriac translation of the works of Dionysius the Areopagite. I can find no reference to Procas, the name in the text, as a grammarian. 68 ENGLISH LITERATURE The roll of masters in grammatic art; Eutychius,^^ Servius,^ Pompey,^^ each extend The list, Comminian ^^ brings it to an end. There shalt thou find, O reader, many more Famed for their style, the masters of old lore, Whose many volumes singly to rehearse Were far too tedious for our present verse.^^ Alcuin was destined to be of great service to Charle- magne in educational work, but was not entirely satisfied with the educational outlook in his adopted country. He, therefore, writes to the Emperor comparing opportunities in England and France, as follows: In some measure, however, I,^^ your servant, lack the choicer books of erudition which I had in my own country through the devoted industry of my teacher,^^ and even by my own slighter exertions. I say these things to your Excellency ^° to the end that, if perchance it should please your intent, so desirous of all wisdom, I may be permitted to send over some of our young men to obtain everything we need, and bring back into France the flowers of Britain. In this way not only will York be a garden enclosed, but Tours will have its outflowings of Paradise and its pleasant fruits, so that the south wind may come and blow upon the gardens of the Loire, and the spices thereof may flow out. As far as my moderate abilities will permit, I will not be sloth- ful in sowing the seeds of wisdom among your servants in these parts, being mindful of the sentence: 'In the morning sow thy S3 Eutychius (flourished 488 a.d.) was an heretical theologian. *• Servius (born about 355 a.d.) "was famous," says Dr. Sandys (pp. cit., p. 218) "as a Virgilian commentator, whose work owes much of its value to its wealth of mythological, geographical, and historical learning." *= Pompey is a grammarian of uncertain date, used by Servius and Cassiodorus. ^ Comminian is a Latin grammarian of the latter part of the fourth century. ^ For a comprehensive account of foreign influence on English, cf. T. G. Tucker, The Foreign Debt of English Literature (Geo. Bell and Sons, 1907). ^ Alcuin. 8" Cook's note, "Albert, Archbishop of York from 767 to 788." ^ Charlemagne. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 69 seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand, for thou know- est not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.' ^^ In the morning, when my studies, because of my time of life, were flourishing, I sowed in Britain; now, as my blood grows chill in the evening of my days, I cease not to sow in France, hoping that both, by the grace of God, may spring up.^^ 4. Book-Making in Early England. — The manufacture and sale of books have had a great deal to do with the standardizing of language in modern times. Our informa- tion regarding these matters in the Old English Period is limited, but we are not left wholly in the dark. We have already seen that books were brought from abroad, were copied in England and gathered into libraries. Nothing is more characteristic of the old English civilizers and mission- aries than their zeal in the collection of books. But a fuller realization of what their enthusiasm meant is had when one finds out what the mechanical difficulties of book-making at this epoch w^ere. These difficulties are made clear in the document quoted below. The document consists of some verses wdiich form Riddle 27 in the collection of 95 in the Exeter Book, one of the few^ precious manuscripts of Old English poetry extant. These riddles give us many valuable suggestions on the life of the time and the one here quoted is among the most important .^^ A foe deprived me of my life,^^ robbed me of worldly strength, then dipped me in dampening water; took me thence again and set me in the sun, where I soon lost the hair with which I had been covered. The keen edge of a knife then scraped me, cleansed 91 Cf. Ecclesiastcs 11:6. '^ Cf. William of Malmesbury, Chronicle qf the Kings of England, Giles' tr., p. 62 (Bohn Antiquarian Library). ®* The latest information regarding the Riddles is in Professor Tapper's edition in the Albion Series (Ginn & Co., 1910). Cf. also Mr. Wyatt's edition in Heath's Belles Lettres Series. Mr. Wyatt takes a different view from Professor Tupper in many points. ^ The parchment is speaking. 70 ENGLISH LITERATURE of all impurities; fingers folded me, and the exultant quill sprinkled me over with useful drops, passed carefully over the brown rim,'''^ took up j^art of the ink, rested again on me, and journied on, leaving a trail of black. A craftsman then bound me in covers of leather, adorned me with gold; so that beaute- ous, spiral patterns made by artists embellished me. Let now these ornaments, the scarlet dye, and my glorious possessions make widely kno\\ii the Lord of Hosts, and not the pains of hell. If the children of men will make use of me, they will be the safer and the more successful, the bolder in heart, and the happier in mind, the more prudent in spirit. They will have. the more friends, near and dear, true and good, tried and trusty, who will gladly enchance their fame and well-being, surround them with joys and benefits, and hold them fast in bonds o! love. Ask what my name is, for the good of men; my name is glorious, of service to mankind, and holy of itself. 5. The Position of the Poet in the Earliest England. — In the second chapter of his book On Germany, Tacitus re- marks that ancient songs are "the only kind of tradition and history that they (the Germans) have"; and in the follow^ing chapter he adds, "They have also certain songs, by the intonation of which {barditns, as it is called) they excite their courage, while they divine the fortune of the coming battle from the sound itself." Numerous other references ^^ indicate that poetry was highly and widely cultivated by the Teutons. So w^e are not surprised to find evidence in Old English literature that the scop and gleeman were honored members of society and that the recitation of traditional poems ^^ was a favorite form of amusement. ^^ The vessel containing ink. ^ Professor Gummere, in his OUl English Ballads {AthenoBum Press Series, Ginn & Co., 1903), pp. 297-298, has collected the references to the ballads of Europe. Professor Padelford in his Old English Musical Terms (Bonner Beitrdgc zur Anglistik, IV.) .shows that music of all sorts was highly developed in Old English times. ^ Cf. William of Malmesbury's references to ballads as historical sources THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 71 Three illustrations are cited. The first, from Widsith, is of especial importance, since the poem is perhaps our earliest piece of vernacular verse. In the poem a minstrel tells us of his experiences as a traveling entertainer at the courts of several princes. Widsith unlocked his word-hoard; and then spake He among men whose travel over earth Was farthest through the tribes and through the folks; Treasure to be remembered came to him Often in hall. 'Thus far I traveled through strange lands, and learnt Of good and evil in the spacious world; Parted from home-friends and dear kindred, far The ways I followed. Therefore I can sing And tell a tale, recount in the mead-hall How men of high race gave rich gifts to me. Thus wandering, they who shape songs for men Pass over many lands, and tell their need. And speak their thanks, and ever, south or north, Meet some one skilled in songs and free in gifts. Who would be raised among his friends to fame. And do brave deeds till light and life are gone; He who thus wrought himself praise, shall have A settled glory underneath the stars. ^^ (Giles' tr., pp. 138, 148, 315.). Also Wace's references to the truth of the Arthurian legend. Cf. Arthurian Chronicles, translated by Eugene Mason, p. 56 {Ercryman's Library ed.) ®^ The latest work on Widsith is the book by Mr. R. W. Chambers, JMdsith, a Study in Old English Heroic Legend. Mr. Chambers studies all the references in the poem very carefully and makes his book a veritable introduction to Teutonic heroic literature. (Cambridge University Press, lObZ.) Professor Gummere. in The Oldest English Epic (The Macmillan Co.. 1!)()J)), has material on Widsith. He also deals with lieowulf, Einnshurg, Waldere, Deois Lament, and the German Ilildebrand. For stories of early Teutonic heroes see also Foulke tr.. History of the Langobards (Lombards), by Paul the Deacon {Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, Tniversity of Pennsylvania, 1907) and Mierow tr.. The Gothic History of Jordanes (Princeton University Press, 1915). 7^ ENGLISH LITERATURE The second illustration, from Beowulf, records an ordi- nary court entertainment in Heorot, the stately hall built by Hrothgar in which he planned to entertain and care for his thanes. These glimpses of life in the lord's hall have been compared, and properly, to those in the Homeric epics. Then the mighty spirit ^^ whose abode was in darkness, for a time listened in agony to the loud sounds of rejoicing which came each day from the Hall.^°'^ There was the music of harp, the sweet song of poet. He chanted who knew how to relate from of old the creation of men; recounted how the Almighty wrought the Earth, the beauteous plain, how water encompasses it; how He renowned for his victories, established the sun and moon as lights to lighten the nations, and adorned all the cor- ners of the Earth with boughs and leaves; how he also bestowed life on all the creatures who live and move. The third illustration, Deofs Lament, registers the risks which the scop must have run, since he had to trust to the precarious favor of a prince. Weland ^°^ knew anguish ; the constant-hearted hero suffered heaviness of heart; he had as his companions sorrow and long- ing, winter-cold bitterness of spirit; he often experienced woe after Nithhad laid distress on him by cutting his sinew-bands. He overcame that, so may I this. Beadohild sorrowed not so much for her brothers' death as she did when she clearly knew that she was with child; she could not think how she might ever endure (her disgrace). '^ I.e. the monster Grendel. ^^ I.e. Heorot, Hrothgar's hall. '°^ The references in the first two strophes are to characters in the legend of Weland. (Cf. Vigfusson and Powell, Corpus Poeticum Boreale, I., 1G8 seq.) Weland, according to Teutonic myth, was the first of smiths and held a position analogous to that of Hephffistus or Vulcan in classical myth. Weland and his two brothers entrapped three Swan Maidens and took them as wdves. After some years of happiness, the wives, during the absence of their husbands, flew away. Weland, thereupon, was seized by Nithhad, King of the Niars, hamstrung (cf. "cutting his sinew-bands") and compelled to work for him at the forge. Weland took ven- geance on Nithhad by killing his sons and violating the virginity of his daughter, Beadohild, referred to in the text as both Beadohild and Mtjethilde. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 73 She overcame that, so may I this. We have heard many thmgs of Maethilde; the love of the Geat ^°- was boundless, so that love-sorrow robbed him of sleep. He overcame that, so may I this. Theodoric ^"^ possessed the fortress of the Maerings thirty win- ters, til at was well known to many. He overcame that, so may I this. We have heard of the wolfish mind of Eormanric; ^"'* he ruled the great folk of the Gothic kingdom; that was a grim king ! Many a man sat bound with sorrows, with woeful mind, wished enough that there might be an end to this reign. They overcame that, so may I this. Sorrowing he sits, deprived of joy; it grows dark in his soul; it seems to hun that his share of sorrow is endless. Moreover, he should recollect that throughout the world, the all-knowing Lord makes all things to change: to many a man he shows honor, broad fame; to some, a share of woes. I w411 tell of myself that once I was the bard of the Heoden- ings,^^ dear to my lord — my name was Deor; many winters had I a loyal following and a friendly lord, until now Heor- renda,^^^ a man crafty in song, received the land which the pro- tector of heroes gave to me before. He overcame that, so may I this. 102 I.e. her father Nithliad. 103 Dietrich of Bern, kno^^^l to history as Theodoric the Ostrogoth, master of Italy 493-526 a.d., and to legend and saga as one of the great heroes of his race. 104 Historical King of the Ostrogoths, who, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, committed suicide in 375 a.d. in order to avoid falling into the hands of the Huns. 105 Descendants of Hedin, seducer of the daughter of Hagen, King of Ireland, personages in the opening part of the great popular German epic of the Middle Ages, Gudrun. 106 To be identified with Horand, famous singer, another character in the Gudrun. All of these references serve to show that the Old English had the same stock of legend and saga as their continental brethren. Two articles in Modern Philology, IX., one by Professor W. W. Lawrence in No. 1, the other by Professor F. Tupper in No, 2. (July and October, 1911, respectively) will help to clear up the inter- pretation of Dears Lament. Two convenient handbooks of Teutonic legend and mythology, are the following, both foimd in the Temple Eticyclopedic Primers Series published by J. M. Dent & Co.: Jiriczek, Northern Legends, tr. by M. Bentinck Smith; and Kaufmann, Northern Mythology, tr, by M. Steele Smith. 74 ENGLISH LITERATURE IV. The Linguistic Background 1. Bede on the Languages of England. — We are so acciistoined to-day to composition in the vernacular that we seldom stop to think of our real attitude toward our mother tongue. English as a vehicle for the expression of dignified thought has not always enjoyed its present posi- tion. Bede's reference, which we quote, betrays no hint that the vernacular has a peculiar status among the pos- sible languages of a community. This island at present, following the number of the books in which the divine law was written, contains five languages — those of the English, Britons, Scots, Picts and Latins — each examining and confessing one and the same knowledge of the highest truth and of true sublimity. Scattered references in other writers ^ show that English was considered good enough for everyday purposes but that Latin was the proper language for serious and schol- arly works. This is all that can be gathered from our sources as to the attitude of the early English tow^ard their native language. 2. English and Other Teutonic Languages. — For some- what over a century now scholars have been engaged in studying out the connections between English and other European and Asiatic languages. They have concluded that English is no isolated tongue, but that it has relatives in eight, some say nine, groups of languages. These are Sanskrit, Persian, Armenian, Greek, Latin, Albanian, Cel- tic and Slavic. English itself is included in the gi'oup termed the Germanic or Teutonic and finds its neai'est relatives there. The versions of the Lord's Prayer in early Teutonic languages quoted below show how similar in some respects these languages are. 1 E.g. 'pod, p. 131. THE LINGUISTIC BACKGROUND 75 Gothic (380 a.d.) : Swa nu bidyaith yiis: Atta unsar thu in himinam, weihnai namo tliein; quimai thiudinassiis theins; wairthai wilya theins swe in himina yah ana airthai; hlaif unsarana thana sinteinan gif uns himma daga; yah aflet uns thatei skulans siyaima swaswe yah weis afletani thaim skulani unsaraim; yah ni briggais uns in fraistubnyai, ak lauseiuns af thamma ubihn; unte theina ist thiudangardi, yah mahts, yah wulthus in aiwins. Amen. Old High German (MS. of the Ninth Century) : Fater unser, thu in himilom bist, giwihit si name thin, queme richi thin, werde willeo thin, same so in hiniile endi in erthu. Broot unseraz emezzigas gib uns hiutu. endi farlaz uns sculdhi unsero, samo so wir farlazzem scolom unserem. endi ni gileidi unsih in costunga, auh arlosi unsih fona ubile. Old Norse (Printed a.d. 1540) : Fathir Vor, sa thu ert a himnum, helgist nafn thitt. Tiki komi thitt riki. Verthi thinn vili svo a jorthu sem a himni. Gef OSS i dag daglight brauth. Og fyrirlat oss vorar skuldir, svosem ver fryirlaturm vorum skulunautum. Og inn leith oss eigi i freistni. Heldr frelsa thu oss af illu: thviatt thitt er rikit, mattr og dyrth um allthr allda. Amen. Okl English (Late Tenth or Early Eleventh Century): Eornustlice gebiddath - eow thus : Faeder ure thu the eart on heofonum, si thin nama gehalgod. Tobecume thin rice. Gewurthe thin willa on eorthan swa swa on heofonum. Urne gedaeghwamlican hlaf syle us to daeg. And forgyf us urne gyltas, swa swa we forgyfath urum gyltendum. And ne gelaed thu us on costunge, ac alys us of yfele. Sothlice. 3. Specimens of the Old English Dialects irith Transla- tions. — Though the tribes which invaded England all spoke what they themselves call English, they did not all speak the same variety of English. We are familiar wdth local differences in vocabulary and j^ronunciation in the 2 In order to make comparison easier I have not used here the character 9 which in Old Enghsh represents the th sound. Cf. post, p. 76. 76 ENGLISH LITERATURE EiifTjlisli spoken to-day and there were the same sorts of differences in early Enghmd. Four dialects are usually distinguished, called Northumbrian, Mercian, West-Saxon, and Kentish. The first was the language of the North, the second, that of the ^lidlands, the third, that of the main portion of Southern England, and the fourth, that of Kent. Specimens will indicate some of the variations among these four dialects. We are fortunate in having the poem known as Coedmons Hymn in two of the dialects, and these versions we quote as our first and fourth specimens. The second is a Mercian version of the MagnificaU and the third is the so-called Codex Aureus Inscription. A. Northumbrian, Nu scylun hergan hefaenricaes uard, metudaes maecti end his modgidanc, uerc uiildurfader; sue he uundra gihuaes, eci Dryctin, or astelidae. He aerist scop aelda barnum heben til hrofe, haleg scepen. Tha middungeard, moncynnaes uard, eci Dryctin, aefter tiadae firum foldu, frea allmectig.^ B, Mercian. micla9 ^ sawul min dryhten 7 ^ gefaeh gast Magnificat anima mea Dominum, et exultavit spiritus min in gode halwyndum minniim for9on gelocade mens in Deo salutari meo. quia respexit eaclmodnisse menenes his sehcle so9lice of 9issum humilitatem ancillae suae: ecce enim ex hoc cadge mic cweo9acl alle eneorisse fordon dyde beatam me dicent omnes generationes. quia fecit 3 For translation of this and D see, post, p. 105. '• Symbol for th sound. ^ Short-hand sign for and. THE LINGUISTIC BACKGROUND 77 me (5a miclan se maehtig is 7 halig noma mihi magna qui potens est; et sanctum nomen his 7 mildheortnis his from cynne in cyn ejus; et misericordia ejus a progenie in progenie ondredendum hine dyde maehte in earme his timentibus eum. fecit potentiam in bracchio suo: tostregd oferhogan on mode heortan his ofdune sette dispersit superbos mente cordis sui; deposuit maehtge of selde 7 upahof ea9mode hyngrende potentes de sede; et exaltavit humiles. esurientes gefylde godum 7 weoHe forleort idelhende onfoe9 implevit bonis; et divites dimisit inanes. suscipit cneht his gemyndig mildheortnisse his Israhel puerum suum recordatus misericordiae suae swe spreocende wes to feadrum urum Abram sicut locutus est ad patres nostros Abraham, et sede his o9 in weoruld semini ejus usque in saeculum.^ C. Kentish. Orate pro Ceolheard presbyteri, Niclas, 7 Ealhhun, 7 Wulfhehn Pray for Ceolhard the priest, Niclas, and Ealhhun, and Wulfhehn aurifex. the goldsmith. In nomine Domini nostri Ihesu Christi, ic Aclfrcd aldermon 7 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I Alfred, a magistrate, ® This composition, so far as the Enghsli is concerned, is what is known as a gloss; i.e an interlinear transhition. We have many of these in Old English and they are of great value in hel|)ing us to determine the meanings of words. Read in the modem English Bible, Luke 1 : 46-55 for a translation. 78 ENGLISH LITERATURE Werburg iiiin gefera begetan Oas bee ?et haednum herge mid unere ehrne feo Oaet donne wses mid elsene golde. 7 dsei wit deodan for and Werburg my wife reclaimed these books from the heathen army' with our good money; that is with pure gold. And that we did for Godes lufan 7 for unere saule Qearfe, ond for 9on 9e wit noldan Qset 9as God's love and for our souls' need, and because we were unwill- mg that halgan beoc lencg in Ssere hseSenesse wunaden, 7 nu willa5 heo gesellan these holy books remain longer among the heathen, and now we are inn to Crlstes circan Gode to lofe 7 to wuldre 7 to going to give them to the church of Christ for the praise, glory and weorfunga, 7 his 3rowunga to 9oncunca, 7 cisem godcundan geferscipe to honor of God, as memorials of His sufferings, and for the enjoy- ment of brucenne 9e in Cristes circan da?ghw9emlice Godes lof rseraci, to cisem the holy company who daily in the church of Christ sing the praise gerade Sset heo mon arede eghwelce mona9e for Aelfred 7 of God, on condition that they pray each month for Alfred and for for Werburge 7 for AlhSry^e, heora saulum to ecum lecedome, Da hwile Werburg and for Alhthryth, for the everlasting healing of their ' I.e. the Danish army; cf. ante, pp. G, G0-G2. THE LINGUISTIC BACKGROUND 79 9e God gesegen hsebbe 9set fulwiht set Deosse stowe beon mote, souls, so long as God decrees that baptism may be administered at this Ec swelce ic Aelfred dux 7 Werburg biddaO 7 halsiatl on Godes place. Likewise I Alfred and Werburg beg and entreat in the name of almaetiges noman 7 on allra his haligra dsei nsenig mon seo to 9on God almighty and in those of all His saints, that no man be so gedyrstig Qsette 9as halgan beoc selle ocl3e aSeode from Cristes circan bold as to sell these holy books or take them from Christ's church, 9e hwile Oe fulwiht stondan mote. so long as baptism is administered here. Aelfred. Werburg Alh3ry9 eoriim filia. Alfred. Werburg. Alhthryth their daughter. D. West Saxon. Nu we sculan herian heofonrices Weard, Metodcs mihte and his mongeSanc, weorc Wuldorf seder; swa he wundra gehwses, ece Dryhten, or onstealde. He serest gesceop eor9an bearnum heofon to hrofe, halig Scyppend; 9a middangeard, monncynnes Weard, ece Dryhten, sefter teode firum foldan, Frea ^Imihtig. 4. The Old EncjU.sh Alphabet. — To-day we use the Latin alphabet with little appreciation that it is an importation, coming in the train of Latin Christianity. The Teutons, however, before the introduction of Christianity, had an 80 ENGLISH . LITERATURE alphabet, known as runic,^ perhaps a modification of the Greek, and in this character one of the old English men of letters signed his name to four of his poems. We quote his signature from the Elene in a passage of autobiographi- cal interest which may be regarded as a supplement to the documents in Section VI. Old and ready for death by reason of this failing house, I thus have woven a web of words and wondrously have gathered it up; time and again have I pondered and sifted my thought in the prison of the night. I knew not fully the truth concern- ing the cross until wisdom revealed a broader knowledge through its marvelous power o'er the thought of my heart. I was stained with deeds of evil, fettered in sins, torn by doubts, girt round with bitter needs, until the King of might wondrously granted learning unto me as a comfort for my old age; until he gave unto me his spotless grace, and imbued my heart with it, re- vealed it as glorious, in time broadened it, set free my body, unlocked my heart, and loosed the power of song, which joyfully and gladly I have used in the world. Not one time alone, but often had I thought upon the tree of glory, before I had the miracle revealed regarding the glorious tree, as in the course of events I found related in books and in writings concerning the sign of victory. Ever until that time was the man buffeted in the surge of sorrow, was he a weakly flaring torch (C)^ although he had received treasures and appled gold in the mead-hall; wroth in heart (Y), he mourned; a companion to need (N), 8 Cf. Cambridge History of English Literature, I., Chap. 2 and bibliography. A. J. Wyatt, in his Old English Riddles (D. C. Heath's Belles Lettres Series), pro- vides a teble of the more common Old English runes and the meanings of their names. The Old English called their alphabet futhorc, a word made up of the first six letters of their system, just as the word alphabet is made up of the names of the first two letters in the Greek alphabet. The word rune means in Old English se- cret or mystery as well as letter of the alphabet, indicating that to our forefathers there was something mysterious about writing. There was a verb runian from the noun run, and this verb came down into the English of Shakespeare's time as to round, meaning to whisper, thus carrying on the idea of mystery or secrecy. '^ The corresi)onding runic cliaracters L^ f^ Nt^ 1^/1 H^ ANj r*» f^ in order are: ' '. IlL I , I I. K, I IJ , K The scholar John M. Kemble, in Archwologia, 28: SGO-SGi (1840), announced his discovery that this combination of runic letters spoiled Cynewulf. THE LINGUISTIC BACKGROUND 81 he suffered crushing grief and anxious care, although before him his horse (E) measured the miles and proudly ran, decked with gold. Hope (W) is waned, and joy through the course of years; youth is fled, and the pride of old. Once (U) was the splendor of youth (?); now after that allotted time are the days departed, are the pleasures of life dwindled away, as water (L) glideth, or the rushing floods. Wealth (F) is but a loan to each beneath the heavens; the beauties of the field vanish away beneath the clouds, most like unto the wind when it riseth loud before men, roameth amid the clouds, courseth along in wrath, and then on a sudden becometh still, close shut in its narrow prison, crushed by force. Thus shall all this world pass away, and in like manner de- vouring flame shall seize upon whoever was born into it, at that time when the Lord himself with a host of angels shall come into judgment. There shall each man hear the doom on all his deeds from the mouth of the judge, and likewise shall pay the penalty for all the foolish words ever spoken by him, and all his overbold thoughts. Then shall the people divide into three parts for the embrace of the flame, every man who hath ever lived throughout the broad earth. Those who have clung fast to the truth shall be highest in the flame, the throng of the blessed, the host of them that yearn for glory, the multitude of the right- eous, and thus may they endure and suffer more lightly without distress. He tempers for them all the glare of the flame as shall be most easy for them and most mild. The sinful men, those stained with evil, heroes sad of heart, shall be in the middle place, shrouded with smoke amid the hot surge of fire. The third part, accursed sinful foes, false haters of men, the host of the wicked, shall be in the depth of the surge, bound fast in flame by reason of their former deeds, in the gripe of the glowing coals. Nor shall they come thereafter from the place of punish- ment to the memory of God, King of glory, but they shall be cast forth. His wrath-stirring foes, from that fierce flame into the depths of hell. I nlike this sliall it be with the other two parts: they may look u])on the Prince of angels, the God of victories. They shall be refined and freed from their sins, like pure gold that is all cleansed from every alloy, refined and 82 ENGLISH LITERATURE melted in the surge of the furnace's fire. Thus shall each of those men be separated and purified from all their guilt, their deep transgressions, by the fire of the judgment. And there- after they may enjoy peace and eternal well-being. The Lord of angels shall be merciful and gracious unto them, inasmuch as they abhorred each sin, each work of guile, and called upon the Son of the Creator in their prayers. Wherefore now their forms shall shine like unto the angels, and they shall enjoy the heri- tage of the King of glory for ever and ever.^^ Amen. V. Literary Characteristics 1. The Spirit of Early English Literature. — It is a dif- ficult matter to choose specific selections to illustrate the spirit of a body of national literature. But the poems to be quoted will do much, if read with the writings already examined in mind, to lead us into sympathetic relations with the animating motives of Old English literature. Our first illustration, in the spirited rendering of Tenny- son, brings before us that trait of Germanic life which would occur to many as its leading feature — a devotion to military pursuits which Tacitus found ^ to be the pre- dominating business of the German freeman. The Battle of Brunanhurh is all the more interesting, since in the origi- nal, it is found as the entry for the year 937 in the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle and celebrates the glorious victory won by Athelstan. "It is a markedly patriotic poem and shows deep feeling; its brilliant lyrical power, and the national enthusiasm evident throughout, have made it familiar, in one form or another, to all lovers of English verse. Great care was taken with the meter, which is the ancient rhe- torical verse." ^ 10 Cf. C. F. Brown in Englische Studien, 40 (1909), pp. 1-29, Irish-Latin Influ- ence in Cynewulfian Texts. 1 Cf. ante, pp. 8-19. 2 See Cambridge Ilisforj/ of English Literature, I, pp. 151-152; Political History oj England (Hunt and Poole), I. (Hodgkin), pp. 334-337. LITERARY CHARACTERISTICS 83 I Athelstan ^ King Lord among Earls, Bracelet-bestower and Baron of Barons, He with his brother, Edmund ^ AtheUng, Gaining a Hfelong Glory in battle, Slew with the sword-edge There by Brunanburh, Brake the shield-wall. Hewed the linden-wood, Hacked the battle-shield, Sons of Edward ^ with hammered brands. II Theirs was a greatness Got from their grandsires — Theirs that so often in Strife with their enemies Struck for their hoards and their hearths and their homes. Ill Bowed the spoiler, Bent the Scotsman, Fell the ship-crews Doomed to the death. All the field with blood of the fighters Flowed, from when first the great Sun-star of morning-tide. Lamp of the Lord God, Lord everlasting, ^ Athelstan (89.5-940), grandson of Alfred the Great and King of England, was fighting in this battle against a coalition of Scots and Danes. •* Edmund (922P-04G), half-brother of Athelstan and his successor as King of England. ^ Edward, surnamed the Elder (died 924), son of Alfred the Great and his suc- cessor as King of England, father of Athelstan and Edmund. 84 ENGLISH LITERATURE Glode over eartli till the glorious creature Sank to his setting. IV There lay many a man Marred by the javelin, Men of the Northland Shot over shield. There was the Scotsman Weary of war. V We the West-Saxons, Long as the daylight Lasted, in companies Troubled the track of the host that we hated. Grimly with swords that were sharp from the grindstone, Fiercely we hacked at the flyers before us. VI Mighty the Mercian, Hard was his hand-play. Sparing not any of Those that with Anlaf,^ Warriors over the Weltering waters Borne in the bark's-bosom, Drew to this island — Doomed to the death. VII Five young kings put asleep by the sword-stroke. Seven strong Earls of the army of Anlaf Fell on the war-field, numberless numbers, Shipmen and Scotsmen. ^ There were two Anlaf.s in the coalition against Athelstan, cousins, both kings of bands of Danes settled in Ireland. LITERARY CHARACTERISTICS 85 VIII Then the Norse leader,^ Dire was his need of it, Few were his following, Fled to his war-ship; Fleeted his vessel to sea with the king in it, Saving his life on the fallow flood. IX Also the crafty one, Constantinus,^ Crept to his North again, Hoar-headed hero! X Slender warrant had He to be proud of The welcome of war-knives — He that was reft of his Folk and his friends that had Fallen in conflict, Leaving his son too Lost in the carnage, Mangled to morsels, A yomigster in war! XI Slender reason had He to be glad of The clash of the war-glaive — Traitor and trickster And spurner of treaties — He nor had Anlaf With armies so broken A reason for bragging That they had the better ' I.e. Anlaf, mentioned above. ^ King of Scots. 86 ENGLISH LITERATURE In perils of battle On places of slaughter — The struggle of standards, The rush of the javelins, The crash of the charges, The wielding of weapons — The play that they played with The children of Edward. XII Then with their nailed prows Parted the Norsemen, a Blood-reddened relic of Javelins over The jarring breaker, the deep-sea billow, Shaping their way toward Dyflen ^ again, Shamed in their souls. XIII Also the brethren, King and Atheling, Each in his glory, Went to his owni in his own West-Saxonland, Glad of the war. XIV Many a carcase they left to be carrion. Many a livid one, many a sallow-skin — Left for the white-tailed eagle to tear it, and Left for the horny-nibbed raven to rend it, and Gave to the garbaging war-hawk to gorge it, and That gray beast, the wolf of the weald. XV Never had huger Slaughter of heroes Slain by the sword-edge — 9 I.e. Dublin. LITERARY CHARACTERISTICS 87 Such as old writers Have writ of in histories — Hapt in this isle, since Up from the East hither Saxon and Angle from Over the broad billow Broke into Britain with Haughty war-workers who Harried the Welshman, when Earls that were lured by the Hunger of glory gat Hold of the land.^o The second illustration is one of the most beautiful of our Old English poems, elegiac in nature, serious and even gloomy in tone. We do not know its date; but it is inter- esting to compare this product of long-past experience with a poem of comparatively recent origin like Arnold's Dover Beach and observe the similarity of mood. English poetry has dealt much with sea-themes and these verses are characteristic. W^e note the brooding over the power of fate and the spirit of loyalty to one's lord which are com- mon themes of Teutonic poetry. "Still the lone one and desolate waits for his Maker's ruth — God's good mercy, albeit so long it tarry, in sooth. Careworn and sad of heart, on the watery ways must he Plow with the hand-grasped oar — how long? — the rime-cold sea, ^^ Henry of Huntingdon (Forester's tr., Bohn Anfiqiiarian Llhrdri/, p. 1(>J)). in his account of the reign of Athelstan, refers to the Battle of Hrunanburh and says of the Old English poem: "Of the grandeur of this conflict English writers have expatiated in a sort of poetical description, in which they have employed both foreign words and metaphors. I therefore give a faithful version of it, in order that, by translating their recital almost word for word, the majesty of the language may exhibit the majestic achievements and the heroism of the English nation." The italics are mine. Henry lived from 10S4 (?) to 1155, and his use of the term /orc/v/i in relation to Old English indicates that a knowledge of that language was not a part of the equipment of the learned generally in the bith century. (The quota- tion is from Huntingdon's History of the English, Book V, anno 924.) 88 ENGLISH LITERATURE Tread thy paths of exile, O Fate, who are cruelty." Thus did a wanderer speak, being heart-full of woe, and all Thoughts of the cruel slayings, and pleasant comrades' fall: "Morn by mom I, alone, am fain to utter my woe; Now is there none of the living to whom I dare to sliow Plainly the thought of my heart; m very sooth I know Excellent is it in man that his breast he straightly bind. Shut fast his thinkings in silence, whatever he have in his mind. The man that is weary in -heart, he never can fate withstand; The man that grieves in his spirit, he finds not the helper's hand. Therefore the glory^-grasper full hea^y of soul may be. So, far from my fatherland, and mine o^\ti good kinsmen free, I must bind my heart in fetters, for long, ah ! long ago. The earth's cold darkness covered my giver of gold ^^ brought low; And I, sore stricken and humbled, and winter-saddened, went Far over the frost-bound waves to seek for the dear content Of the hall of the giver of rings; ^^ but far nor near could I find Who felt the love of the mead-hall,^^ or who with comforts kind Would comfort me, the friendless. 'Tis he alone will know ^\Tio knows, being desolate too, how evil a fere is woe; For him the path of the exile, and not the twisted gold; ^^ For him the frost in his bosom, and not earth-riches ^^ old. *'0, well he remembers the hall-men, the treasure bestowed in the hall; The feast that his gold-giver ^^ made him, the joy at its highth, at its fall; He knows who must be forlorn for his dear lord's counsels gone, Wliere sleep and sorrow together are binding the lonely one; When himthinks he clasps and kisses his leader of men, and lays His hands and head on his knee, as when in the good yore-days, ^* Kennings for the lord. ^2 Cf. the situation m Beowulf where Hrothgar builds his hall Ileorot for the care and entertainment of his thanes. The hall of the lord became the center of the social life of the comnmnity. 13 I.e. the ring or bracelet given him by his lord. " I.e. a landed estate. LITERARY CHARACTERISTICS 89 He sat on the throne of his might, in the strength that wins and saves. But the friendless man awakes, and he sees the yellow waves, And the sea-birds dip to the sea, and broaden their wings to the gale. And he sees the dreary rime, and the snow commingled with hail. O, then are the wounds of his heart the sorer much for this, The grief for the loved and lost made new by the dream of old bliss. His kinsmen's memory comes to him as he lies asleep. And he greets it with joy, with joy, and the heart in his breast doth leap; But out of his ken the shapes of his warrior-comrades swim To the land whence seafarers bring no dear old saws for him; Then fresh grows sorrow and new to him whose bitter part Is to send o'er the frost-bound waves full often his weary heart. For this do I look around this world, and cannot see Wherefore or why my heart should not grow dark in me. When I think of the lives of the leaders, the clansmen mighty in mood; When I think how sudden and swift they yielded the place where they stood. So droops this mid-earth ^^ and falls, and never a man is found Wise ere a many winters have girt his life around. Full patient the sage must be, and he that would counsel teach — Not over-hot in his heart, nor over-swift in his speech; Nor faint of soul nor secure, nor fain for the fight nor afraid; Nor ready to boast before he know himself well arrayed. The proud-souled man must bide when he utters his vaunt, until He knows of the thoughts of the heart, and whitherward turn they will. The prudent must understand how terror and awe shall be. When the glory and weal of the world lie waste, as now men see On our mid-earth, many a where, the wind-swept walls arise. And the ruined dwellings and void, and the rime that on them lies. ^^ In Teutonic mythology cartli, the abode of men, was conceived as situated between the home of the gods and the phice of the departed. 90 ENGLISH LITERATURE The wine-halls crumble, bereft of joy the warriors lie, The flower of the doughty fallen, the proud ones fair to the eye. War took off some in death, and one did a strong bird bear Over the deep; and one — his bones did the gray wolf share; And one was hid in a cave by a comrade sorrowful-faced. O, thus the Shaper of men hath laid the earth all waste, Till the works of the city-dwellers, the works of the giants ^^ of earth. Stood empty and lorn of the burst of the mighty revelers' mirth. *'Who wisely hath mused on this wallstead, and ponders this dark life well. In his heart he hath often bethought him of slayings many and fell. And these be the words he taketh, the thoughts of his heart to tell: * Where is the horse and the rider? Wliere is the giver of gold.^ Where be the seats at the banquet? Where be the hall- joys of old? Alas for the burnished cup, for the byrnied chief to-day ! Alas for the strength of the prince ! for the time hath passed away — Is hid 'neath the shadow of night, as it never had been at all. Behind the dear and doughty there standeth now a wall, A wall that is wondrous high, and with wondrous snake-work wrought. The strength of the spears hath fordone the earls and hath made them naught, The weapons greedy of slaughter, and she, the mighty Wyrd; ^^ And the tempests beat on the rocks, and the storm-wind that maketh afeard — The terrible storm that fetters the earth, the winter-bale, ^^ We have already seen that according to Tacitus the Teutons did not Hve in cities. (Cf. ante, p. 14.) In fact, they looked on the walls and buildings of cities as miracles, works performed by giants. ^' I.e. Fate, one of the leading concepts in Teutonic mythology. Cf. the wierd sisters in Macbeth. LITERARY CHARACTERISTICS 91 When the shadow of night falls wan, and wild is the rush of the hail, The cruel rush from the north, which maketh men to quail. Hardship-full is the earth, o'erturned when the stark Wyrds say: Here is the passing of riches, here friends are passing away; And men and kinsfolk pass, and nothing and none may stay; And all this earth-stead here shall be empty and void one day"'i« 2. Literary Types. — Old English Literature is char- acterized by its simple literary form and style, its un- sophisticated versification and rhetoric, and by its restricted range of types. ^^ We hav^e already examined in other con- nections some of the most abundant sorts of our earliest writings ^"^ and thus need add here only such as we have not touched on. The first of these is the homily or sermon, a mode of expression much used in the Middle Ages for a variety of purposes. iElfric, Abbot of Eynsham from 1005 to a date in the neighborhood of 1020, is the most prolific writer of homilies in the vernacular whose w^orks have come dow^n to us. He is the foremost representative of English culture in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. His homi- lies cover a variety of subjects and of them all I have chosen this fragment. On the False Gods, both because of ^^ See the essay Old English Poetry in Richard's Burton's Literary Likings, pp. 175 seq. See ApoUinaris Sidonius on the Saxon sea-rovers in Hodgkin, Italy and Her Invaders, II, pp. 366, 367. The letter is reprinted in Ilodgkin's tr. in Tuell and Hatch, Selected Readings in English History, pp. 9, 10 (Ginn & (\)., 1913). The great mass of extant Old English poetry is religious in subject-matter, but no essential difference in spirit is to be observed between these religious poems and the two secular ones quoted. Hence, I have not thought it necessiiry to include here any passages from the religious poems. 1^ This statement is true, of course, only in relation to the complexity of the later periods. 2° E.g. passages from history on pp. 2-7, 36-38, 39-56, etc.; laws on pp. 22-25; a dialog on pp. 26-34; letters on pp. 60, 61, 68; narrative verse on pp. 34, 35, 63- 68, 69, 71, 72; lyrics on pp. 72-73, 83-91; a form of bequest on pp. 77-79. 92 ENGLISH LITERATURE its intrinsic merit and because of the light it throws on the culture of the day.-^ Beloved brethren, divine Scripture teaches us the worship of one true God, in these words, "There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Of Him are all things, and through Him are all things, and in Him are all things; to whom be glory forever. Amen." -^ The Almighty Father begat a Son of Himself, without inter- course of woman, and by the Son He made all creatures, both seen and unseen. The Son is just as old as the Father, for the Father was always without beginning, and the Son was always begotten of Him without beginning, as mighty as the Father. The Holy Ghost is not begotten but is the Will and the Love of the Father and the Son, of them both alike; and by the Holy Ghost are quickened all creatures that the Father created by His Son, who is His Wisdom. The Holy Trinity is one Almighty God, ever without beginning and end. They are three in name — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost — but they are not three Gods; these three are one Almighty God, inseparable, for in these three there is one nature, one intelligence, and one energy in all things, and it is better for us to believe truly in the Holy Trinity, and to confess it, than to wonder too much about it. This Trinity created the bright angels, and then Adam and Eve as human beings, giving them dominion over earthly crea- tures. And they might have lived forever, without death, if they had never broken that one commandment of God. Adam then dwelt in happiness, free from care, and no creature could harm him so long as he kept the heavenly behest. No fire hurt him, though he stepped into it, nor could water drown the man, even if he suddenly ran into the waves. Neither could any wild beast injure him. No more could hunger, nor thirst, grievous cold, nor extreme heat, nor sickness afflict Adam in the world, so long as he kept that little commandment with faith. But 21 Material to be introdueed in the next section will show what the range of Old English literature is; e.g. Alfred's and i'Elfric's prefaces. Cf. Cambridge His- tory of Engliah Literature, I, Chap. VII, and bibliography for a treatment of the Old English homili.sts. -- Ephesians 4: 5. LITERARY CHARACTERISTICS 93 when he had sinned and broken God's behest, he lost happiness, and lived in toil, so that lice and fleas boldly bit him whom formerly not even the serpent had dared to touch. Then he had to beware of water and of fire, and to be on the watch lest harm befall him, and to provide food for himself by his own toil. Moreover, the natural gifts with which God had endowed him he had to guard with great care in order to keep them. Even so the good do still, they who with toil keep themselves from sins. The sun also, and likewise the moon, were deprived of their fair light after Adam's guilt, though not of their own deserts. The sun had been seven times brighter before man sinned, while the moon had the light which the sun now gives us. Neverthe- less, after the Day of Judgment they shall again have their full light with which they were created. And the moon shall not grow old, but shall shine undiminished, even as the sun does now. With much effort men may bring it to pass that they dwell with God in eternal happiness after the Day of Judgment, for- ever without death, if in their deeds they now obey His com- mandments. But those who deny God shall be plunged into hell, into everlasting punishments and endless torments. Now we do not read in Scripture that men set up idolatry during any of the time before Noah's flood, and not until the giants made the wonderful tower after Noah's flood, and God gave them as many tongues as there were workmen. Then they separated and went into distant lands, and mankind increased. Then they were taught by the old devil who had formerly de- ceived Adam, and they wickedly fashioned gods for themselves, forsaking the Creator who had made them men. And they con- sidered it the part of wisdom to worship as gods the sun and the moon, because of their resplendent light, and offered them gifts, neglecting their Creator. Some men also said of the bright stars that they were gods, and willingly worshipped them. Some be- lieved in fire, for its (juick burning, some also in water, and worshipped these as gods; while others believed in the earth, since it nourishes all things. But they might have discerned, if they had had the sense, that there is one God who created all things for men's use, through His great goodness. Creatures do 94 ENGLISH LITERATURE just as their Creator taught them, and can do nothing but the will of the Lord, for there is no Creator save the one true God. And we worship Him with firm faith, saying with our lips, and in all sincerity of mind, that He alone is God who created all things. Yet the heathen would not be satisfied with so few gods, but began to worship as gods various giants, and men who, though they lived shamefully, were powerful in worldly affairs, and terrible in their lives. There was a man living in the island Crete, whose name was Saturn, so violent and cruel that he devoured his sons when they were born, in an unfatherly manner making their flesh food for himself. Yet he left one alive, though he had previously de- voured the brothers. This one was called Jove, malignant and mighty. He drove his father out of the aforesaid island, and would have slain him had he approached. This Jove was so licentious that he married his sister, who was named Juno, a very great goddess. Their daughters were Minerva and Venus, both of whom the father foully debauched; and many of his kinswomen he also infamously defiled. These wicked men were the greatest gods that the heathen worshipped and converted into gods. The son, however, was more worshipped in their foul idolatry than was the father. This Jove was the most venerable of all the gods whom the heathen in their error, had; among certain nations he was called Thor, most beloved of the Danish people. His son was named Mars, who continually made dis- sensions, and stirred up calumnies and misery. The heathen worshipped him as a great god; and as often as they marched out, or decided to fight, they offered their sacrifices in advance to this god, believing that he could aid them greatly in battle, since he loved battle. There was a man named Mercury while he lived, very crafty and deceitful in deeds, loving thefts and falsehood. The heathen made him a powerful god, offering him gifts at the meeting of the ways, and bringing him sacrifices on the high hills. This god was honored among all the heathen; in Danish he is called Odin. A certain woman was named Venus, the daughter of Jove, so vile in lust that her father and also her brother had her as a LITERARY CHARACTERISTICS 95 harlot, as did also some others; yet the heathen honor her as a great goddess, as the daughter of their god. Many other gods, and also goddesses, were devised in various ways, and held in great honor throughout the whole world, to the ruin of mankind; but these, notwithstanding their shameful lives, must be reck- oned the principal ones. The artful devil who lurks about men led the heathen into the great error of taking for gods foul men who loved sins that please the devil, and brought it to pass that their worshippers also loved their filthiness, and were estranged from Almighty God, who loathes sin and loves purity. They also appointed a day for the sun and the moon and for the other gods, giving to each his day — Sunday to the sun, Monday to the moon; the third day they devoted to Mars, their battle-god, that he might aid them. The fourth day they gave, for their own advantage, to the aforesaid Mercury, their great god. The fifth day they solemnly consecrated to Jove, the greatest god. The sixth day they appointed for the shame- less goddess called Venus — Frigg in Danish. To the ancient Saturn, father of the gods, they gave their own profit, the seventh day, the last of all, though he was the oldest. Wishing to pay the gods still more honor they bestowed on them stars, as if they had dominion over them — the seven heavenly bodies, the sun and the moon, and the five others which always move toward the east, against the firmament, but which the heaven always turns back. Yet the stars shone in the heavens at the beginning of the world, before the wicked gods were born, or chosen as divinities. The second literary type chosen for illustration here is the saint's life, a peculiarly medieval form.^"^ And from all the Old English lives of saints, I have selected .Elfric's Life of Saint and King Osicald because of its national interest. After Augustine came to England, there was a noble king called Oswald in the land of the Northumbrians, who believed ^' Cf. Chaiu-er, Troiliis and f'risri/dc, Book II, II. 117-118, where Cressula, pre- sumably a Trojan, speaks of reading saints' lives. 96 ENGLISH LITERATURE greatly in God. He went in his youth from his friends and kindred by sea to Scothmd,-^ and was there forthwith baptized, together with his companions who had traveled with him. About that time Edwin his uncle, king of the Northumbrians, who be- lieved in Christ,-^ was slain by the British king named Cadwalla, and (also) two of his successors within two years; and this Cadwalla slew and shamefully ill-treated the Northumbrian people after their lord's fall, until Osw^ald the blessed extinguished his wickedness."'^ iOswald came to him and fought boldly against him with a little army, but his faith strengthened him, and Christ helped him to the slaughter of his enemies. Then Oswald raised a cross quickly to the honor of God before he came to battle, and cried to his companions, "Let us fall down before the cross, and pray the Almighty that He will save us against the proud enemy who desires to kill us. God Himself knoweth well that we fight justly against this cruel king, to deliver our people." Then they all fell down in prayer with Oswald, and afterward on the next morning went to the fight, and there won the victory, even as the almighty ruler granted them for Os- wald's faith, and subdued their enemies the proud Cadwalla, with his great host, who thought that no army could withstand him. The same cross which Oswald had there erected, after- ward stood there for worship. And many infirm men were healed, and also cattle through the same cross, as Bede hath related to us. A certain man fell on ice and broke his arm, and lay in bed very severely afflicted, until some one fetched to him, from the aforesaid cross, some part of the moss with which it was over- grown, and the sick man was forthw^ith healed in sleep in the same night, through Oswald's merits. The place is called Heaven- field in English, near the long wall which the Romans built, where Oswald overcame the cruel king. And afterward there was reared a very famous church to the honor of God who liveth 24 I.e. Ireland. 25 Skeat'.s note refers to Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, III, 2. Cf. ante, pp. 0, 3G-38. ^ This .sentence will illustrate the statement on p. 3, a7ite, about the slowness of the English conquest of Britain. LITERARY CHARACTERISTICS 97 for ever. Well then ! Oswald began to enquire concerning the will of God as soon as he obtained sovereignty, and desired to convert his people to the faith and to the living God. Then he sent to Scotland where the faith was then, and prayed the chief men that they would grant his requests, and send him some teacher who might allure his people to God, and this was granted to him. Then they sent straightway to the blessed king a cer- tain venerable bishop, named Aidan.-^ He was a very famous man in the monastic way of life, and he had cast away all worldly cares from his heart, desiring nothing but God's will. "Whatever came to him of the king's gifts, or (of those) of rich men, that he quickly distributed to the poor and needy with benevolent mind. Lo then ! Oswald the king rejoiced at his coming, and honorably received him as a benefit to his people, that their faith might be turned again to God from the apostasy to which they had been turned. It befell then that this believ- ing king explained to his counsellors in their own language the bishop's preaching with glad mind, and was his interpreter, be- cause he knew Irish well, and bishop Aidan could not as yet turn his speech into the Northumbrian dialect ^^ quickly enough. The bishop then went preaching faith and baptism throughout all Northumbria and converted the people to God's faith, and he ever set them a good example by (his) works, and himself so lived as he taught others. He loved self-restraint and holy reading, and zealously drew on young men with knowledge, so that all his companions, who went with him, had to learn the Psalms or some reading, whithersoever they went, preaching to the people. He would seldom ride, but traveled on his feet, and lived as a monk among the laity with mucli discretion and true virtues. King Oswald became very charitable and hum])le in man- ners, and in all things bountiful, and they reared churches every- where in his kingdom, and monastic foundations with great zeal. ^^ It happened upon a certain occasion tliat tliey sat together, Oswald and Aidan, on the holy Easter Day; tluMi Wwy l)are to the king the royal meats on a silver disli. And anon there came in one of the king's thegns who had charge of his alms, and said that many poor men were sitting in the streets, come 27 C'f. ante, p. 47. ^ ('f. anfr, p. 76. 98 ENGLISH LITERATURE from all quarters to the king's alms-giving. Then the king im- mediately sent to the poor the silver dish, victuals and all, and bade the men cut the dish in pieces and give it to the poor, to each of them his portion, and they then did so. Then the noble bishop Aidan took the king's right hand with much joy, and cried out with faith, thus saying to him: "May this blessed right hand never rot in corruption." And it happened to him even as Aidan had prayed for him, that his right hand is sound until this day. J Then Oswald's kingdom became greatly en- larged, so that four peoples received him as their lord, Picts, Britons, Scots and Angles, even as the Almighty God united them for the purpose, because of Oswald's merits, who ever honored Him. He completed in York the noble minster w^hich his kinsman Edwin had before begun, and labored for the heavenly kingdom with continual prayers, much more than he cared how he might preserve the transitory dignities in the world, which he little loved. He w^ould very often pray after matins, and stand in the church apart in prayer from the time of sun-rise with great fervor; and wheresoever he was he ever worshipped God with the palms of his hands uplifted heaven- ward. At that same time also a certain bishop ^^ came from the city of Rome, called Birinus, to the king of the West Saxons, called Cynegils, who was yet a heathen, as w^as all the land of the West Saxons. Birinus indeed came from Rome by desire of the Pope, who was then in Rome, and promised that he would execute God's will and preach to the heathen the Savior's name and the true faith in far lands. Then he came to Wessex, which was as yet heathen, and converted to God the king Cynegils and all his people to the faith with him. Then it happened that the faithful Oswald, the king of the Northumbrians, had come to Cynegils, and took him to baptism, fain of his conversion. Then the kings, Cynegils and Oswald, gave to the holy Birinus the city of Dorchester for a bishop's see and he dwelt therein, ex- alting the praise of God, and guiding the people in the faith by his teaching for a long time, until he happily departed to Christ; and his body was buried in the same city, until afterwards bishop 29 Skeat's note refers to Bede, op. cit.. Ill, 7. LITERARY CEARACTERISTICS 99 Hedda carried his bones to Winchester, and with honor de- posited them in the old Minster, where men honor them yet. Now Oswald the king held his kingdom "^^ gloriously as for the world, and with great faith, and in all his deeds honored his Lord, until he was slain in the defence ^^ of his people in the ninth year that he had obtained the rule, when he himself was thirty-eight years old. It happened because Penda, king of the Mercians, made war upon him, he who had formerly assisted Cadwalla at the slaying of his kinsman king Edwin; and this Penda knew nothing of Christ, and all the Mercian people were unbaptized as yet. They both came to battle at Maserfield, and engaged together until the Christians fell, and the heathen approached the holy Oswald. Then he saw approach his life's ending, and he prayed for his people who died falling, and com- mended their souls and himself to God, and thus cried in his fall, "God have mercy on our souls." Then the heathen king commanded to strike off his head and his right arm, and to set them up as a mark (trophy). Then after the slaying of Oswald his brother Oswy ^^ succeeded to the kingdom of Northumbria, and rode with an army to where his brother's head was fastened on a stake, and took his head and his right hand, and with reverence brought them to Lindisfarne church. There was fulfilled, as we said before, that his right hand continueth whole with the flesh, without any corruption, as the bishop had said. The arm was laid reverently in a shrine wrought of silver-work in Saint Peter's Minster within the town of Bamborough, by the sea-strand, and lieth there as sound as when it was cut off. His brother's daughter after- ward became Queen of Mercia, and asked for his bones and brought them to Lindsey, to Bardney Minster, which she greatly loved. But the monks would not, by reason of human error, receive the Saint, but they pitched a tent over the holy bones that were within the hearse. Behold then God showed that he ^^ Skeat's note refers to Bede, op. cit.. Ill, 9. ^^ These statements that follow will illustrate the remarks on p. 5, ante, regarding the intertribal wars of the English. •^2 This is the same Oswy who called the conference at Whitby in 6C4. Cf. ante, pp. 49-56. 100 ENGLISH LITERATURE was a holy saint so that a heavenly light, being extended over the tent, stood up to heaven like a lofty sunbeam all night long, and the people beheld it throughout all the province, greatly wondering. Then the monks were much affrighted, and prayed then in the morning that they might reverently receive the Saint, him whom they had before refused. Then they washed the holy bones, and bare them reverently to a shrine in the church, and laid them up. And there were healed through his holy merits many infirm men of various diseases. The water with which they had washed the bones within the church had been poured out as it were in a corner, and the earth afterward that had received the water became a remedy to many. By means of that dust devils were put to flight from men who before w^ere afflicted with madness. So also from the spot where he fell slain in the battle men took of the earth for diseased men, and put it in w^ater for the sick to taste, and they were healed through the holy man. A certain wayfaring man rode towards the fleld, when his horse became sick, and soon fell down there rolling all over the earth, most like a mad creature. While it was thus rolling about the extensive field, it came at length where king Osw^ald fell in the flight, as we have said before; and it rose up as soon as it touched the place, whole in all its limbs, and the master rejoiced thereat; the rider then went forward on his w^ay whither he had intended. Then there was a maiden lying in paralysis, long afflicted; he began to relate what had happened to him during the ride and they carried the maiden to the aforesaid place. Then she fell asleep, and soon afterwards awoke, sound in all her limbs from the terrible disease; she covered up her head and blithely journied home, going on foot as she had never done before. Again afterward, a certain horseman bound on an errand was passing by the same place, and bound up in a cloth some of the holy dust from the precious place, and carried it forward with him to where he was hastening. He met with some merry guests at the house; he hung the dust on a high post, and sat with the revellers rejoicing together. There was a great fire made in the midst of the guests, and the sparks wound towards the roof LITERARY CHARACTERISTICS -IX^V quickly, until the house suddenly became all on fire, and the revellers fled frightened away. The house was entirely con- sumed except the one post whereon the holy dust was hung. The post alone remained whole, together with the dust, and they greatly wondered at the holy man's merits, that the fire could not consume the mould. And many men afterward sought the place, fetching thence their cure, and (some) for each of their friends. His fame spread widely throughout those lands,"^-^ and also to Ireland, and also southward to Frankland (Germany), even as a certain mass-priest told concerning one man. The priest related that there was in Ireland a learned man who took little heed of his doctrine, and he cared little about his soul's needs, or his Creator's commands, but passed his life in foolish works until he became sick, and was brought (near) to his end. Then he called the priest who afterwards made it known thus, and said to him forthwith with sorrowful voice, "Now must I die a wretched death, and go to hell for wicked deeds; now would I make amends, if I might remain and turn to God and to good w^ays, and change all my life to God's will; and I know that I am not worthy of the respite, except some saint intercede for me to the Savior Christ. Now it is told us that a certain holy king is in your country, named Oswald; now if thou hast any- thing (as a) relic of the saint, give it me, I pray thee." Then the priest said to him, "I have (a piece) of the stake on which his head stood, and if thou wilt believe, thou shalt become whole." So the priest had pity on the man, and scraped (shaved) into holy water some of the sacred tree and gave to the diseased man to drink, and he soon recovered, and afterward lived long in the world, and turned to God with all his heart, and with holy works; and whithersoever he came he made known these wonders. Therefore no man ought to nullify that which he of his own will promiseth to Almighty God when he is sick, lest he should lose himself, if he deny that to God. Now saith the holy Bede who indited this book,"^' it is no wonder that the holy king should heal sickness, now that he liveth in heaven, because he desired to help, when he was here ^3 Skeat's note refers to Bode, op. cit.. Til, 13. ^* Evidently Bede's Ecclesiastical History is meant. 102 ENGLISH LITERATURE on earth, the poor and weak, and to give them sustenance. Now hath he honor with Ahnighty God in the eternal world for his goodness. Afterward the holy Cuthbert,"^^ when he was yet a boy, saw how the angels of God carried the soul of Aidan, the holy bishop, joyfully to Heaven, to the eternal glory which he had merited on earth. The holy Oswald's bones were afterwards brought after many years into Mercia to Gloucester, and God there often showed many wonders through the holy man. For this be glory to the Almighty God, who reigneth in eternity for ever and ever. Amen. As the modern drama originated in the services of the church, we shall close this part of our study by citing a translation of the Winchester trope of 973, which gives us an exact account of this primitive religious play. While the third lesson is being read, let four brothers put on their robes; and let one in his alb enter as if for some other duty, go up to the sepulcher without making any demonstra- tion, and, holding a palm in his hand sit down there quietly. And, while the third responsory is being performed, let the re- maining three brothers, all in their copes, carrying in their hands thuribles with incense in them, come slowly before the sepul- cher as those who are looking for something would come. These things are done in imitation of the angel sitting at the tomb, and of the women coming with spices to anoint the body of Jesus. When the brother sitting near the tomb sees the three, walk- ing around, and as it were looking for something, approach him, let him begin to chant sweetly in a moderately loud voice: "Whom seek ye in the sepulcher, O worshippers of Christ?" And when this has been intoned to the end, let the three respond in unison: "Jesus of Nazareth, O dweller in the sky." And let the former say to them; "He is not here; He is risen as He said: Go, announce His resurrection from the dead." ^ Saintly Bishop of Lindisfarne (d. G87), whose Hfc was written by Bede; see Bede's statement, po.s/, p. 113. REPRESENTATIVE AUTHORS 103 At this word of command, let the three turn, saying to the chorus : "Alleluia, the Lord is risen.'* Then, let the brother sitting there, as if to call them back, repeat the antiphone: *' Come, see the place where the Lord lay : alleluia : alleluia ! " While he is saying this, let him stand up, draw a curtain, and show them that the cross has disappeared from the place, and that only the linen cloths in which the cross had been wrapped are there. And when they understand these facts, let them set down their thuribles which they had carried into the sepulcher, let them take up the cloths, and spread them out before the congregation: and, as if to show that the Lord was risen and not wrapped in them, let them sing this antiphone: "The Lord is risen from the tomb. He who hung upon the tree for us." And let them put the clothes upon the altar. At the end of the antiphone let the prior, rejoicing in the triumph of our King, in that He had conquered death and risen, begin the hymn: "We praise Thee, O God," As this begins, the bells are all rung together; after this, let the priest say the verse thus far: "In Thy resurrection, O Christ"; and let him then begin matins, saying: "Lord, haste Thee to my help." VI. Representative Authors The larger share of medieval literature in the whole of Western Europe is anonymous. Literary fame, apparently, did not appeal so strongly to the poet as to make him wish to be known for his fruits. Consequently we have little medieval literary biography. In England, however, several names of authors have come down to us with what may be regarded as authentic lists of their works. Csedmon is generally regarded as the earliest English 104 ENGLISH LITERATURE man of letters for whom we have even the suggestion of a biography. This is recorded by Bede in his Ecclesiastical Jlisionj of ihc English People, IV, Chap. 24, quoted below^ Modern schohirship holds that the Old English poems wdiose names correspond to the titles of Csedmon's poems men- tioned toward the close of this chapter cannot, for linguistic reasons, be ascribed to Csedmon. He may have written parts of them, but in their present form they cannot be his.^ There was in the monastery of this abbess ^ a certain brother especially distinguished by the grace of God, since he was wont to make poems breathing of piety and religion. Whatever he learned of sacred Scripture by the mouth of interpreters, he in a little time gave forth in poetical language composed with the greatest sweetness and depth of feeling, in English, his native tongue; and the effect of his poems was ever and anon to incite the souls of many to despise the world and long for the heavenly life. Not but that there were others after him among the people of the Angles who sought to compose religious poetry; but none there was who could equal him, for he did not learn the art of song from men nor through the means of any man; rather did he receive it as a free gift from God. Hence it came to pass that he never was able to compose poetry of a frivolous or idle sort; none but such as pertains to religion suited a tongue so religious as his. Living always the life of a layman until well advanced in years, he had never learned the least thing about poetry. In fact, so little did he understand of it that when at a feast it would be ruled that every one present should, for the entertainment of the others, sing in turn, he would, as soon as he saw the harp coming anywhere near him, jump up from the table in the midst of the banqueting, leave the place, and make the best of his way home. This he had done at a certain time, and leaving the house where the feast was in progress, had gone out to the stable where ^ See Cambridge JJistnry of English Literature, I, for chapters on Old English literature and the latest hihliographies. The latter are not always exhaustive. ' Hild, superior of tlie monastery at Whitby, whose life is narrated in the chap- ter preceding the account of Ca'dmon. REPRESENTATIVE AUTHORS 105 the care of the cattle had been assigned to him for that night. There, when it was time to go to sleep, he had lain down for that purpose. But while he slept some one stood by him in a dream, greeted him, called him by name, and said, "Csedmon, sing me something." To this he replied, "I know not how to sing, and that is the very reason why I left the feast and came here, be- cause I could not sing." But the one who was talking with him answered, "No matter, you are to sing for me." '*Well, then," said he, "AYhat is it that I must sing.^" "Sing," said the other, "the beginning of created things." At this reply he immediately began to sing verses in praise of God the Creator, verses that he had never heard, and whose meaning is as follows: "Now should we praise the Keeper of the heavenly kingdom, the might of the Creator and His counsel, the works of the Father of glory; how He, though God eternal, became the Author of all marvels. He, the almighty Guardian of mankind, first created for the sons of men heaven as a roof, and afterwards the earth." ^ This is the meaning, but not the precise order, of the words which he sang in his sleep; for no songs, however well they may be com- posed, can be rendered from one language into another without loss of grace and dignity. When he rose from sleep, he remem- bered all that he had sung while in that state and shortly after added, in the same strain, many more words of a hymn befitting the majesty of God. In the morning he went to the steward who was set over him, and show^ed him what gift he had acquired. Being led to the abbess, he was bidden to make known his dream and repeat his poem to the many learned men who were present, that they all might give their judgment concerning the thing which he related, and whence it was; and they were unanimously of the opinion that heavenly grace had been bestowed u\nm him l)y the Lord. They then set about expounding to liim a jiiece of sacred history or teaching, bidding him, if lie could, to turn it into the rhythm of poetry. This he undertook to do, and de- parted. In the morning he returned and delivered the j)assage assigned to him, converted into an excellent i)oeni. The abbess, ^ See two versions of this poem, one in the West Saxon dialect and one in the Northuni]:»rian, ante, pp. 7G, 79. 106 ENGLISH LITERATURE honoring the grace of God as displayed in the man, shortly afterward instructed him to forsake the condition of a layman and take ui)on himself the vows of a monk. She thereupon re- ceived him into the monastery with his whole family, and made him one of the company of the brethren, commanding that he should be taught the whole course and succession of Biblical history. He, in turn, calling to mind what he was able to learn by the hearing of the ear, and, as it were, like a clean animal, chewing upon it as a cud, transformed it all into most agreeable poetry; and, by echoing it back in a more harmonious form, made his teachers in turn listen to him. Thus he rehearsed the creation of the world, the origin of man, and all the story of Genesis; the departure of Israel from Egypt and their entry into the promised land, together with many other histories from Holy Writ; the incarnation of our Lord, His passion, resurrec- tion, and ascension into heaven; the coming of the Holy Ghost and the teaching of the apostles; moreover he made many poems about the terror of the future judgment, the aw fulness of the pains of hell, and the joy of the heavenly kingdom, besides a great number about the mercies and judgments of God. In all these he exerted himself to allure men from the love of wicked- ness, and to impel them to the love and practice of righteous living; for he was a very devout man, humbly submissive to the monastic rule, but full of consuming zeal against those who were disposed to act otherwise. Hence it came to pass that he ended his life with a fair death. For when the hour of his departure drew nigh, he was afflicted for the space of a fortnight with a bodily weakness which seemed to prepare the way; yet it was so far from severe that he w^as able during the whole of that time to walk about and converse. Near at hand there was a cottage, to which those who were sick and appeared nigh unto death were usually taken. At the ap- proach of evening on the same night when he was to leave the world, he desired his attendant to make ready a place there for him to take his rest. The attendant did so, though he could not help wondering at the request, since he did not seem in the least like a person a})out to die. When he was placed in the infirmary, he was somehow full of good humor, and kej^t talking REPRESENTATIVE AUTHORS 107 and joking with those who had already been brought there. Some time after midnight he asked whether they had the eu- charist at hand. "What do you need of the eucharist?" they answered, "you aren't going to die yet, for you are just as full of fun in talking with us as if nothing were the matter with you." "Never mind," said he, "bring me the eucharist." Tak- ing it in his hand, he asked, "Are you all at peace with me, and free from any grudge or ill-will?" "Yes," they all responded, "we are perfectly at peace with you, and cherish no grievance whatever." "But are you," said they, "entirely at peace with us?" "Yes, my dear children," he answered without hesitation, "I am at peace with all the servants of God." And thus saying, he made ready for his entrance into the other life by partaking of the heavenly journey-bread. Not long after he inquired, "How near is it to the hour when the brethren are wakened for lauds?" "But a little while," was the reply. "Well then," said he, "let us wait for that hour," and, making over himself the sign of the cross, he laid his head on the pillow, and falling into a light slumber ended his life in silence. And so it came to pass that, as he had served the Lord in simplicity and purity of mind and with serene attachment and loyalty, so by a serene death he left the world, and went to look upon His face. And meet in truth it was that the tongue which had indited so many help- ful words in praise of the Creator, should frame its very last words in His praise, while in the act of signing himself with the cross, and of commending his spirit into His hands. And that he foresaw his death is apparent from what has here been related.^ Bede (672-735), the authority to whom we have so often referred, is a medieval scholar of the best type. His text- books on various subjects were used all over Western Europe. "We ask with earnest desire," says St. Boniface in a letter to Egbert of Y^ork, "that to bring joy into our sorrow as you have done before, you shouhl take care to send us a tiny gleam from that candle of the Church, which ■* Verse composition was among the regular accomplishments of the English scholars of this time. Cf. The English Correspondence of St. Boniface, ed. cit., pp. 40, 100. 108 ENGLISH LITERATURE the Holy Spirit lit within the limits of your province; that is that 3^ou should deign to send across some part of the commentaries which Bede, that saintly priest and investi- gator of the Holy Scriptures, composed, especially, if it be possible, his Homilies and his Proverbs of Solomon, for they w^ill be very convenient and useful to us in our preach- ing. We have heard that he wrote commentaries on these subjects." ^ Dante places Bede in the Heaven of the Sun along with other great scholars.^ We quote three docu- ments regarding the life and work of Bede. The first, the Preface to the Ecclesiastical History, gives us his atti- tude toward his work and his method of research. I formerly, at your ^ request, most readily transmitted to you the Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, which I had newly published, for you to read, and give it your approbation; and I now send it again to be transcribed, and more fully considered at your leisure. And I cannot but commend the sincerity and zeal, with which you not only diligently give ear to hear the words of the Holy Scripture, but also industriously take care to become acquainted with the actions and sayings of former men of renown, expecially of our own nation. For if history relates good things of good men, the attentive hearer is excited to imi- tate that which is good; or if it mentions evil things of wicked persons, nevertheless the religious and pious hearer or reader, shunning that which is hurtful and perverse, is the more earnestly excited to perform those things which he knows to be good, and worthy of God. Of which you also being deeply sensible, are desirous that the said history should be more fully made familiar to yourself, and to those over whom the Divine Authority has appointed you governor, from your great regard to their general welfare. But to the end that I may remove all occasion of doubting what I have written, both from yourself and other readers or hearers of this history, I will take care briefly to intimate from what authors I chiefly learned the same. 5 Ibid., p. 130. See T. Wright, Biographia Britannica Literaria (1842), I, for a collection of all the materials of literary biography for the Old English period. ^ Cf. Paradiso, X. ' Ceolwulf, King of Northumbria (d. 704). REPRESENTATIVE AUTHORS 109 My principal authority and aid in this work was the learned and reverend Abbot Albiniis; ^ who, educated in the Church of Canterbury by those venerable and learned men, Archbishoj) Theodore ^ of blessed memory, and the Abbot Hadrian,^^ trans- mitted to me by Nothelm,^^ the pious priest of the Church of London, either in writing, or by word of mouth of the same Nothelm, all that he thought worthy of memory, that had been done in the province of Kent, or the adjacent parts, by the dis- ciples of the blessed Pope Gregory, i- as he had learned the same either from written records, or the traditions of his ancestors. The same Nothelm, afterwards going to Rome, having, with leave of the present Pope Gregory, ^^ searched into the archives of the holy Roman Church, found there some epistles of the blessed Pope Gregory, and other popes; and returning home, by the advice of the aforesaid most reverend father Albinus, brought them to me, to be inserted in my history. Thus, from the beginning of this volume to the time when the English na- tion received the faith of Christ, have we collected the writings 8 Abbot of St. Peter's, Canterbury (d. 732). Cf. ante, p. 60. ^ Of Canterbury, cf. ante, pp. 49, 57, 62. Theodore was a native of Tarsus in Cilicia and born about 602. He studied at Athens and was a well-known monastic scholar on his arrival in Rome in 668. He arrived in Canterbury in May, 009, where he effected great reforms, ecclesiastical and educational. Though a very religious man, his piety was not of a sort to attract monastic historians for no miracles are ascribed to him. He died on Sept. 19, 090. The chief source of our knowledge of his life is Bede, The Ecclesiastical History, etc. See the Dictionary of National Biography for a full modern account. ^° Cf. ante, p. 57, Abbot of St. Peter's, Canterbury. There is no article on liiiu in either the Dictionary of National Biography, Smith and Wace, Dictionary of Christian Biography, or The Encyclopcedia Britannica. From the biographies of Archbishop Theodore, however, we learn that Adrian or Hadrian, an African by birth, was the person originally selected by Pope \'italian as Archbishop of Can- terl)ury to succeert, created Earl of Hereford. 144 ENGLISH LITERATURE Alongside of this story of the Battle of Hastings put the following, the product of a later generation and the source of many accounts in current text-books. Its author, Wil- liam of INIalmesbury {circa lOSO-circa 1143), has, since the days of Milton,^' been recognized as the best of twelfth- century historians. He prided himself not so much on giving the facts as on interpreting them correctly and fully. King Edward declining into years, as he had no children him- self, and saw the sons of Godwin growing in power, despatched messengers to the king of Hungary to send over Edward, the son of his brother Edmund, with all his family, intending, as he declared, that either he or his sons, should succeed to the heredi- tary kingdom of England, and that his own want of issue should be supplied by that of his kindred. Edward came in consequence but died almost immediately at St. Paul's in London; he was neither valiant nor a man of abilities. He left three surviving children; that is to say, Edgar -^ who, after the death of Harold, was by some elected king; and who, after many revolutions of fortune, is noAv living wholly retired in the country, in extreme old age; Christina, who grew old at Romsey in the habit of a nun; Margaret, whom Malcolm King of the Scots espoused. Blessed with a numerous offspring, her sons were Edgar and Alexander, who reigned in Scotland after their father in due suc- cession: for the eldest, Edward, had fallen in battle with his father: the youngest, David, noted for his meekness and dis- cretion, is at present King of Scotland. Her daughters were Matilda, whom in our time King Henry -^ has married, and Maria, whom Eustace the younger. Count of Boulogne, espoused. The King, in consequence of the death of his relative, losing his first hope of support, gave the succession to William Earl of Nor- mandy. He was well worthy of such a gift, being a young man of superior mind, who had raised himself to the highest eminence by his unwearied exertion: moreover, he was his nearest rela- tive by l>lood, as he was the son of Robert, the son of Richard 2^ Ili.storj/ of EiKjland, Book iv, Mitford's ed., v, p. 172. 28 I.e. the child Edgar of the proc-eeding passage. 23 I.e. Henry I, youngest son of William the Conqueror. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND U;5 the second, whom we have repeatedly mentioned as the brother of Emma,^° Edward's mother. Some affirm that Harold himself was sent into Normandy by the King for this purpose: others, who knew Harold's more secret intentions, say that he lacing driven thither against his will, by the violence of the wind, imag- ined this device in order to extricate himself. This, as it appears nearest the truth, I shall relate. Harold, being at his country seat of Boseham, went for recreation on board a fishing vessel, and, for the purpose of prolonging his sport, put out to sea; when, a sudden tempest arising, he was driven with his com- panions on the coast of Ponthieu. The people of that district, as was their native custom, immediately assembled from all quarters; and Harold's company, unarmed and few in number, were, as it easily might be, quickly overpowered by an armed multitude and bound hand and foot. Harold, craftily meditat- ing a remedy for this mischance, sent a person whom he had allured by very great promises, to William, to say that he had been sent into Normandy by the King for the purpose of ex- pressly confirming in person the message which had been imper- fectly delivered by people of less authority ; but that he was detained in fetters by Guy Count of Ponthieu and could not execute his embassy: that it was the barbarous and inveterate custom of the country, that such as had escaped destruction at sea, should meet with perils on shore: that it well became a man of his dignity not to let this pass unpunished; that to suffer those to be laden with chains who appealed to his protection detracted somewhat from his own greatness: and that if his caj)- tivity must be terminated by money, he w^ould gladly give it to Earl William, but not to the contemptible Guy. By these means Harold was liberated at William's connnand and conducted to Normandy by Guy in person. The Earl entertained him with niuch respect both in banf|ueting and in vesture according to the custom of his country and, the l)etter to learn his (hs])osition and at the same time to try his courage, took him with liim in •■'" Emma had married (1) Etlu'lrcd tlu^ Iriready. Kin^' of Kn<,d;ind !)?!) lOK), father of Edward the Confessor; ("2) ("nute, K'uv^ of En«,dand lOKI-lO.S.). The son of C'nute and Emma was Hardienute, King of England 1()4()-1()4'2. One source of our knowledge of this period is a work called F.urowiinu Ktiinuv {Praise of Emma). 146 ENGLISH LITERATURE an expedition he at that time led against Brittany. There, Harold, well proved, both in ability and courage, won the heart of the Norman; and, still more to ingratiate himself, he of his own accord, confirmed to him by oath the castle of Dover, which was under his jurisdiction, and the Kingdom of England after the death of Edward. Wherefore, he was honored both by hav- ing his daughter, then a child, betrothed to him, and by the confirmation of his ample patrimony ^^ and was received into the strictest intimacy. Not long after his return home, the King was crowned at London on Christmas-day and, being there seized with a disorder of which he was sensible he should die, he commanded the church of Westminster to be dedicated on Innocents'-day.^2 Thus, full of years and of glory, he surrendered his pure spirit to heaven, and was buried on the day of the Epiphany ^^ in the said church, which he first in England, had erected after that kind of style which now almost all attempt to rival at enormous expense. The race of the West Saxons which had reigned in Britain five hundred and seventy-one years from the time of Cerdic, and two hundred and sixty-one from Egbert, in him ceased altogether to rule. For, while the grief for the King's death was yet fresh, Harold, on the very day of the Epiphany, seized the diadem and extorted from the nobles their consent; though the English say that it was granted him by the King: but I conceive it alleged, more through regard to Harold, than through sound judgment, that Edward should transfer his inheritance to a man of whose power he had always been jealous. Still, not to conceal the truth, Harold would have governed the kingdom with prudence and with courage, in the character he had assumed, had he undertaken it lawfully. Indeed, during Edward's lifetime, he had quelled by his valor, whatever wars were excited against him; wishing to signalize himself with his countrymen and looking forward with anxious hope to the crown. He first vanquished Griffin King of the Welsh, as I have before related, in battle; and, afterwards, when he was again making formidable efi'orts to recover his power, deprived him of his head; appointing as his successors two of his own adherents, 3' Harold had succeeded his father Godwin as Earl of Wessex in 1053. 32 I.e. December 28, 1065. ^3 i,e. January 6, 1066. / THE POLITY AL BACKGROUND U7 that is, the brothers of Griffin, Elegant and Rivallo, who had obtained his favor by their submission. The same year Tosty arrived on the Humber from Flanders with a fleet of sixty ships and infested with piratical depredations those parts which were adjacent to the mouth of the river; but, being quickly driven from the province by the joint force of the brothers Edwin and Morcar, he set sail towards Scotland; where, meeting with Harold Harfager King of Norw^ay then meditating an attack on England with three hundred ships, he put himself under his command. Both then with united forces, laid waste the country beyond the Humber; and falling on the brothers, reposing after their recent victory and suspecting no attack of the kind, they first routed and then shut them up in York. Harold, on hearing this, pro- ceeded thither with all his forces, and, each nation making every possible exertion, a bloody encounter followed: but the English obtained the advantage and put the Norwegians to flight. Yet, how^ever reluctantly posterity may believe it, one single Nor- wegian for a long time delayed the triumph of so many and such great men. For, standing on the entrance of the bridge which Ls called Standford Bridge, after having killed several of our party, he prevented the whole from passing over. Being invited to sur- render, with the assurance that a man of such courage should experience the amplest clemency from the English, he derided those who entreated him; and immediately reproached the set of cowards who were unable to resist an individual. No one approaching nearer, as they thought it unadvisable to come to close quarters with a man who had desperately rejected every means of safety, one of the King's followers aimed an iron jave- lin at him from a distance and transfixed him as he was boast- fully flourishing about and too incautious from his security, so that he yielded the victory to the English. The army innne- diately passing over without opposition, destroyed the disi)ersed and flying Norwegians. King Harfager and Tosty were slain; the King's son with all his ships was kindly sent back to his own country. Harold, elated ])y his successful enteri)rise, vouch- safed no part of the spoil to his soldiers. Wherefore, many, as they found opportunity, stealing away, deserted the King, as he was proceeding to the battle of Hastings. For with the excep- us ENGLISH LITLRATURE lion of his stipendiary and nicrconary soldiers, lie had very few of the peoj)le with him; on which acconnt, eircnnivented by a stratagem of William's, he was routed with the army he headed, after possessing the kingdom nine months and some days. The effect of war in this affair was triffing; it was brought about by the secret and wonderful counsel of God; since the Angles never again in any general battle, made a struggle for liberty, as if the whole strength of England had fallen with Harold, who certainly might and ought to pay the i)enalty of his perfidy, even though it were at the hands of the most unwarlike people. Nor in say- ing this, do I at all derogate from the valor of the Normans, to whom I am strongly bound, both })y my descent and for the privileges that I enjoy. Still those persons appear to me to err who augment the numbers of the English and underrate their courage; who, while they design to extol the Normans, load them w^ith ignominy. A mighty commendation indeed ! that a very warlike nation should conquer a set of people who were obstructed by their multitude and fearful through cowardice ! On the contrary, they were few in number and brave in the ex- treme; and, sacrificing eveiy regard to their bodies, poured forth their spirit for their country. But as these matters await a more detailed narrative, I shall now put a period to my second book, that I may return to my composition, and my readers to the perusal of it, with fresh ardor. . . . When King Edward had yielded to fate, England, fluctuating with doubtful favor, was uncertain to which ruler she should commit herself: to Harold, William or Edgar: for the King had recommended him also to the nobility, as nearest to the sover- eignty in point of birth; concealing his better judgment from the tenderness of his disposition. Wherefore, as I have said above, the English were distracted in their choice, although all of them openly wished well to Harold. He, indeed, once dignified with the diadem, thought nothing of the covenant between him- self and William: he said that he was absolved from his oath l)ecause his daughter, to whom he had been betrothed, had died before she was marriageable. For this man, though j)Ossessed of numberless good qualities, is reported to have been careless al^out abstaining from perfidy, so that he could by any device, elude THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND UO the reasonings of men on this matter. Moreover, supposing that the threats of WilHam eould never })e put into execution, be- cause lie was occupied in wars witli neighboring ])rinces, he had, with his subjects, given full indulgence to security. For indeed, had he not heard that the King of Norway was approaching, he would neither have condescended to collect troops, nor to array them. William, in the meantime, began mildly to address him by messengers; to expostulate on the broken covenant; to mingle threats with entreaties; and to warn him that, ere a year had expired, he would claim his due by the sword, and that he would come to that place where Harold supposed he had firmer footing than himself. Harold again rejoined what I have related concerning the nuptials of his daughter and added that he had been precipitate on the subject of the kingdom in hav- ing confirmed to him by oath another's right without the uni- versal consent and edict of the general meeting and of the ])eople : again that a rash oath ought to be broken; for if the oath or vow which a maiden under her father's roof made concerning her person without the knowledge of her parents was adjudged invalid, how much more must that oath be which he had made concerning the whole kingdom when under the King's authority, compelled by the necessity of the time and without the knowl- edge of the nation. Besides, it was an unjust request, to ask him to resign a government which he had assumed by the uni- versal kindness of his fellow subjects and which would neither be agreeable to the people nor safe for the military. In this way, confounded either by true or by plausible argu- ments, the messengers returned without success. The earl, how- ever, made every necessary preparation for war during the whole of that year; retained his own soldiers with increased pay and in- vited those of others; ordered his ranks and battalions in such wise that the soldiers should be tall and stout; that the commanders and standard-bearers, in addition to their military science, should be looked up to for their wisdom and age; insomuch that each of them, whether seen in the field or elsewhere, might be taken for a prince, rather than a leader. The bislioj)s and abbots of those days vied so much in religion, and the nobility in princely liberality, that it is wonderful, within a ])eriod of sixty years, 150 ENGLISH LITERATURE liow either order should have become so unfruitful in goodness, as to take up a confederate war ^^ against justice: the former, through desire of ecclesiastical promotion, embracing wrong in preference to right and equity; and the latter, casting off shame, and seeking every occasion for begging money as for their daily pay. But at that time the prudence of William, seconded by the providence of God, already anticipated the invasion of England; and, that no rashness might stain his just cause, he sent to the pope, formerly Anselm Bishop of Lucca, who had assumed the name of Alexander,^^ alleging the justice of the war which he meditated with all the eloquence he was master of. Harold omitted to do this, either because he was proud by nature or else distrusted his cause; or because he feared that his messengers would be obstructed by William and his partisans, who beset every port. The pope, duly examining the pretensions of both parties, delivered a standard to William as an auspicious presage of the kingdom: on receiving which, he summoned an assembly of his nobles, at Lillebourne, for the purpose of ascertaining their sentiments on this attempt. And when he had confirmed by splendid promises all who approved his design he appointed them to prepare shipping, in proportion to the extent of their posses- sions. Thus they departed at that time; and in the month of August reassembled in a body at St. Vallery,^*^ for so that port is called by its new name. Collecting, therefore, ships from every quarter, they awaited the propitious gale which was to carry them to their destination. When this delayed blowing for several days, the common soldiers, as is generally the case, began to mutter in their tents, "The man must be mad who wishes to subjugate a foreign country; that God opposed him who withheld the wind; that his father purposed a similar attempt and was in like manner frustrated; that it was the fate of that family to aspire to things beyond their reach and find God for their adversary." In consequence of these things, which were enough to enervate the force of the brave, being publicly noised abroad, the duke held a council with his chiefs and ordered the body of St. Vallery to be brought forth and to be exposed to the ^ A reference to the disorders of the reign of Stephen; cf. post, pp. 2Q6-209. ^ Alexander II. 3" In Picardy. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 151 open air for the purpose of imploring a wind. No delay now interposed but the wished-for gale filled their sails. A joyful clamor then arising summoned every one to the ships. The earl himself first launching from the continent awaited the rest at anchor nearly in mid-channel. All then assembled round the crimson sail of the admiral's ship; and having first dined they arrived after a favorable passage at Hastings. As he disem- barked he slipped down but turned the accident to his ad\an- tage; a soldier who stood near calling out to him, "You hold England, my lord, its future king." He then restrained his whole army from plundering; warning them that they should now abstain from what must hereafter be their own; and for fifteen successive days he remained so perfectly quiet that he seemed to think of nothing less than of war. In the meantime Harold returned from the battle with the Norwegians; happy in his own estimation at having conquered; but not so in mine, as he had secured the victory by parricide.^ ^ When the news of the Normans' arrival reached him, reeking as he was from battle, he proceeded to Hastings though accompanied by very few forces. No doubt the fates urged him on, as he neither summoned his troops nor, had he been willing to do so, would he have found many ready to obey his call; so hostile were all to him, as I have before observed, from his having ap- propriated the northern spoils to himself. He sent out some persons, however, to reconnoiter the number and strength of the enemy: these, being taken within the camp, William ordered to be led amongst the tents, and, after feasting them plentifully, to be sent back uninjured to their lord. On their return Harold inquired what news they brought: when, after relating in full the noble confidence of the general, they gravely added that almost all his army had the appearance of priests, as they liad the whole face, with both li|)s, shaven. For the English leave the upper lip unshorn, suffering the hair continually to increase; which Julius Caesar ^^ in his treatise on the Gallic Wav aflirnis to have been a national custom with the ancient inhabitants of Britain. The King smiled at the simplicity of the relators, ob- ^^ Fratricide rather; lie li;i(l lieljx'd kill his brother Tostig. ^* Book iv, chapter 1-t. ((iiles' note.) 152 ENGLISH LITERATURE serving with a pleasant laugh that they were not priests but soldiers, strong in arms and invincible in spirit. His brother Girth, a youth on the verge of manhood and of a knowledge and valor surpassing his years, caught up his words, "Since," said he, "you extol so much the valor of the Norman, I think it ill- advised for you, who are his inferior in strength and desert, to contend with him. Nor can you deny being bound to him by oath, either willingly or by compulsion. Wherefore, you will act wisely, if, yourself withdrawing from this pressing emergency, you allow us to try the issue of a battle. We, who are free from all obligation, shall justly draw the sword in defence of our country. It is to be apprehended that, if you engage, you will be subjected either to flight or to death, whereas, if we only fight, your cause will be safe at all events: for you will be able to rally the fugitives and to avenge the dead." His unbridled rashness yielded no placid ear to the words of his adviser, thinking it base and a reproach to his past life to turn his back on danger of any kind; and with similar impudence, or, to speak more favorably, imprudence, he drove away a monk, the messenger of William, not deigning him even a complacent look; imprecating only that God would decide between him and the earl. He was the bearer of three propositions; either that Harold should relinquish the kingdom, according to his agree- ment, or hold it of William, or decide the matter by single combat in the sight of both armies. For William claimed the kingdom on the ground that King Edward by the advice of Stigand the Archbishop and of the earls Siward and Godwin had granted it to him and had sent the son and nephew of God- win to Normandy as sureties of the grant. If Harold should deny this, he would abide by the judgment of the pope or by battle, on all which propositions the messenger being frustrated by the single answer I have related, returned and communicated to his party fresh spirit for the conflict. The courageous leaders mutually prepared for battle, each according to his national custom. The English, as we have heard, passed the night without sleep in drinking and singing and, in the morning, proceeded without delay towards the enemy; all were on foot, armed with battle-axes, and covering themselves THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 153 in front by the junction of their shields they formed an impene- trable body, which would have secured their safety that day, had not the Normans by a feigned flight induced them to open their ranks which till that time according to their custom were closely compacted. The King himself on foot stood with his brother near the standard, in order that, while all shared ecjual danger, none might think of retreating. This standard William sent after the victory to the pope; it was sumptuously embroidered with gold and precious stones, in the form of a man fighting. On the other side the Normans passed the whole night in con- fessing their sins and received the sacrament in the morning. Their infantry with bows and arrows formed the vanguard, while their cavalry, divided into wings, were thrown back. The earl, with a serene countenance declaring aloud that God would favor his as being the righteous side, called for his arms; and presently when through the hurry of his attendants he had put on his hauberk the hind part before, he corrected the mistake with a laugh: saying, "My dukedom shall be turned into a kingdom." Then beginning the song of Roland,^ ^ that the warlike example of that man might stimulate the soldiers, and calling on God for assistance, they began the battle on both sides. They fought with ardor, neither giving ground, for a great part of the day. Finding this, William gave a signal to his party that by a feigned flight they should retreat. Through this device the close body of the English, opening for the purpose of cutting down the straggling enemy, brought upon itself swift destruction; for the Normans, facing about, attacked them thus disordered, and com- pelled them to fly. In this manner, deceived })y a stratagem, ^^ This is the name of the national epic of early France, correspontlinj^ roii^'hly to the Old English Beoumlf. Whether the song started at Hastings was any part of the extant Song of Roland cannot be stated, but Malniesbury's words indicate, at least, that the story of Roland was popuhir. Wace (cf. />o.s7, p. .5;)9). in his Hrul, ii, 11, 1. 803.5 .srr/., says that the minstrel who started the song at Hastings was named Taillefer. The most popular rditi(m of the extant Chanson dv Roland {Song of lio- land) is by Leon Gautier, with text, transhition (into modern FrcnclO, introduction, notes, variant readings and glossary. This edition was first i)ul)lishcd at Tours in 1872 and has been often reissued. The Old French has been rendered into modern English prose by Isabel Butler {Rivcr:iidc Literature Series, Houghton Mifflin Co.. 1904). 154 ENGLISH LITERATURE they met an honorable death in avenging their country; nor indeed were they at all backward in avenging themselves, as, by frequently making a stand, they slaughtered their pursuers in heaps: for, getting possession of an eminence, they drove down the Normans when roused with indignation and anxiously striving to gain the higher ground, into the valley beneath, where, easily hurling their javelins and rolling down stones on them as they stood below, they destroyed them to a man. Be- sides, by a short passage, with which they were acquainted, avoiding a deep ditch, they trod under foot such a multitude of their enemies in that place that they made the hollow level with the plain by the heaps of carcasses. This vicissitude of first one party conquering and then the other prevailed as long as the life of Harold continued; but when he fell from having his brain pierced with an arrow, the flight of the English ceased not until night. The valor of both leaders was here eminently conspicuous. Harold, not content with the mere duty of a general in exhort- ing others, diligently entered into every soldier-like office; often he would strike the enemy when coming to close quarters, so that none could approach him with impunity; for immediately the same blow levelled both horse and rider. Wherefore, as I have related, receiving the fatal arrow from a distance, he yielded to death. One of the soldiers with a sword gashed his thigh, as he lay prostrate; for which shameful and cowardly action he was branded with ignominy by William and dismissed the service. William too was equally ready by his voice and by his pres- ence to be the first to rush forward, to attack the thickest of the foe. Thus everywhere raging, everywhere furious, he lost three choice horses which were that day pierced under him. The dauntless spirit and vigor of the intrepid general, however, still persisted though often called back by the kind remonstrance of his body-guard: he still persisted, I say, till approaching night crowned him with complete victory. And no doubt, the hand of God so protected him that the enemy should draw no blood from his person, though they aimed so many javelins at him. This was a fatal day to England, a melancholy havoc of our dear country, through its change of ntksters. For it had long since adopted the manners of the Angles which had varied THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 155 greatly according to the times; for in the first years of their arrival they were barbarians in their look and manners, war- like in their usages, heathen in their rites; but, after embracing the faith of Christ, by degrees and in the process of time, from the peace they enjoyed, regarding arms in a secondary light only, they gave their whole attention to religion. I say nothing of the poor, the meanness of whose fortune often restrains them from overstepping the bounds of justice: I omit men of eccle- siastical rank whom sometimes respect for their profession and sometimes the fear of shame, suffer not to deviate from the truth: I speak of princes who from the greatness of their power might have full liberty to indulge in pleasure; some of whom, in their own country and others at Rome, changing their habit, obtained a heavenly kingdom and a saintly intercourse. Many during their whole lives in outward appearance only embraced the present world in order that they might exhaust their treas- ures on the poor, or divide them amongst monasteries. What shall I say of the multitudes of bishops, hermits and abbots.^ Does not the whole island blaze with such numerous relics of its natives that you can scarcely pass a village of any consequence but you hear the name of some saint, besides the numbers of whom all notices have perished through the want of records? Nevertheless, in process of time, the desire for literature and religion decayed for several years before the arrival of the Nor- mans. The clergy, contented with a very slight degree of learn- ing, could scarcely stammer out the words of the sacraments; and a person who understood grammar '*" was an object of won- der and astonishment. The monks mocked the rule of their order by fine vestments and the use of every kind of food. The nobility, given up to luxury and wantonness, did not go to church in the morning after the manner of Christians, but merely in a careless manner heard matins and masses from a lunrying priest in their chambers amid the blandishments of their wives. The commonalty, left unprotected, became a prey to the most powerful who amassed fortunes by either seizing on their ])rop- erty or by selling their persons into foreign countries; although it is an innate quality of this people to be more inclined to 4» I.e. Latin. 156 ENGLISH LITERATURE revelling than to tlie accumulation of wealth. There was one custom, repugnant to nature, which they adopted; namely, to sell their female servants, when pregnant by them and after they had satisfied their lust, either to public prostitution, or foreign slavery. Drinking in parties was a universal practice, in which occupation they passed entire nights as well as days. They consumed their whole substance in mean and despicable houses; unlike the Normans and French who, in noble and splendid mansions, lived in frugality. The vices attendant on drunkenness which enervate the mind followed; hence it arose that engaging William more with rashness and precipitate fury than military skill they doomed themselves and their country to slavery by one, and that an easy, victory, "For nothing is less effective than rashness and what begins in violence quickly ceases or is repelled." In fine, the English at that time wore short garments reaching to the mid-knee; they had their hair cropped; their beards shaven; their arms laden with golden bracelets; their skin adorned with tattooed designs. They were accustomed to eat till they became surfeited and to drink till they were sick. These latter habits they imparted to their con- querors; as to the rest they adopted their manners. I would not, however, have these bad propensities universally ascribed to the English. I know that many of the clergy at that day trod the path of sanctity by a blameless life; I know that many of the laity, of all ranks and conditions, in this nation were well- pleasing to God. Be injustice far from this account; the accusa- tion does not involve the whole indiscriminately. "But, as in peace, the mercy of God often cherishes the bad and the good together; so, equally, does His severity sometimes include them both in captivity." ^Moreover, the Normans, that I may speak of them also, were at that time and are even now% proudly apparelled, delicate in their food but not excessive. They are a race inured to war and can hardly live without it; fierce in rushing against the enemy, and where strength fails of success ready to use strata- gem or to corrupt by bribery. As I have said, they live in large houses with economy, envy their equals, wish to excel their superiors and plunder their subjects, though they defend them THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 157 from others; they are faithful to their lords, though a slight offence renders them perfidious. They weigh treachery by its chance of success and change their sentiments for money. They are, however, the kindest of nations and they esteem strangers worthy of equal honor w^ith themselves. They also intermarry with their vassals. They revived by their coming the observances of religion which were everywhere grown lifeless in England. You might see churches rise in every village and monasteries in the towns and cities, built after a style unknown before; you might behold the country flourishing with renovated rites; so that each wealthy man accounted that day lost to him which he had neglected to signalize by some magnificent action. But, having enlarged sufficiently on these points, let us pursue the transactions of William. ^^ In less than a century after the Conquest, fresh con- tinental contact and influence were thrust upon England when Henry of Anjou, great-grandson of William the Con- queror, came to the English throne. The vigor of his ^^ In addition to the written sources of information on the Xorman Conquest of England, we have the famous Bayeux Tapestry. "It is a pictorial story of the events from the time Harold was blown across the Channel in 1065, to his death. It is embroidered on a strip of canvas nineteen inches wide and two hundred and thirty-one feet long. It was probably designed for the Bayeux Cathedral, where it is still preserved." Cross, op cit., p. 60. It was made under the orders of Odo, half-brother of the Conqueror. The latest detailed political history of this period is Adams, Political History of England, 1066-1"21(). (Vol. ii in Hunt and Poole, Political History of England, Longmans, Green and Co., 190o.) Xorman ascen- dancy in England was not established by the single victory at Hastings; William was occupied for several years in "putting down risings and overcoming resistance to the extension of his authority." Cross, op. cit., p. 77. It was at this time that the hero Hereward was active. He is mentioned by Florence of Worcester, Chron- icle, tr. Forester, p. 177 (Bohn Antiquarian Library, 1854) as "a man of great bravery." He is given a good deal of attention in Ingulph's Chronicle of the Abbey of Croyland, tr. Riley {Bohn Antiquarian Library, 1854), pp. 135-148, Index. This. Professor Freeman liolds, may cml)ody genuine Croyland tradition. {Dictionary o/ National Biography, article Ingulph.) See also Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, entries for 1070 and 1071. Charles Kingsley in Hereward the Wake (1860) has made an inter- esting story of his life, real and fictitious. Other literary works treating the period of the Conquest are Bulwer Lytton, Harold: the Last of the Saxons (1848) and Tennyson, Harold (1876). 158 ENGLISH LITERATURE policies, primarily intended to strengthen the royal powers, and the long life of the dynasty established by him,'*^ make it worth while to become acquainted with him. He is thus described by Peter of Blois {circa llSo-circa I'^Oo), secretary to Richard and Baldwin, successive archbishops of Canterbury. What you ^^ have urgently asked me, — to send you a true account of the appearance and habits of the lord king of England, is indeed beyond my power. For that task even the genius of a Virgil would seem insufficient. But what I know I will tell without malice or slander. Of David it is written in praise of his beauty j^"^ that he was of a ruddy complexion, and you know that the lord king was some- what ruddy until venerable old age ^^ and the coming of gray hair changed him a little. He is of medium height, so that among short men he appears tall and not insignificant among taller ones. His head is round in shape, as if it were the seat of great wisdom and the special sanctuary of noble counsel. In size it harmonizes well with his neck and the proportions of his whole body. His eyes are round, and when he is in a peaceable mood, dove-like and quiet; but when he is angry and his spirit is disturbed, they seem to flash fire and are like lightning. He is not bald, but his hair is kept close-cut. His face is lion-like and quadrangular in shape. His nose is prominent, in keeping with the symmetry of his whole body; his highly-arched feet, limbs suited for horsemanship, broad chest and brawny arms proclaim him a man strong, active and daring. . . . His hands by their coarseness show the indifference of the man, for he neglects them absolutely and never puts on a glove except when he is hawking. Every day, all day long, he is standing on his feet, whether at mass, in council, or engaged in other public business, and although his limbs are terribly bruised and dis- colored from the effects of hard riding, he never sits down unless « The Plantagenets reigned in England 1154-1399. *^ The letter is addressed to William Archbishop of Palermo, Sicily. ^ Cf. 1 Samuel 16: 12. *^ Henry II was born in 1133 and this letter was written in 1177. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 139 he is on horseback or is eating. In one day, if business demands it, he accompHshes four or five days' journeys, and so })y his rapid and unexpected movements he often forestalls and defeats the plans of his enemies. He wears straight boots, a jjlain hat and easy dress. An ardent lover of field sports, he is no sooner through with a battle than he is exercising with hawk and hoimd. He would find his heavy weight a burden did he not overcome his tendency to corpulence by fasting and exercise. He is still able to mount a horse and ride with all the lightness of youth, and he tires out the strongest men by his travels nearly every day. For he does not, like other kings, stay quiet in his palace, but, rushing through the provinces, he inquires into the deeds of all men, judging especially those whom he has appointed to be judges over others. No one is more shrewd in counsel, more ready in speech, more fearless in danger, in prosperity more prudent, in adversity more steadfast. The man whom he has once loved he always loves, but he will rarely admit to familiarity one whom he has once found disagreeable. Unless he is in council or at his books he always has in his hands a bow, a sword, spears and arrows. For whenever he can take a respite from cares and anxieties he occu- pies himself with private reading, or in the midst of a group of clergymen, endeavors to solve some knotty problem. Your king ^^ knows literature well, but ours is much better versed in it.^' For I know the attainments of each of them in the knowledge of books. You know that the lord king of Sicily was my ])upil for a year, and after he had learned from you the elements of versification and literary art, by my industry and care he gained the benefit of fuller knowledge. But, as soon as I left tlic king- dom, throwing aside his books, he gave himself uj) to the idle- ness of the palace. But as for the lord king of England, his '"■' William II, King of Sicily. ■^^ Henry II, was a great patron of literary men and scholars; cf. Stubhs, Snrn- teen Lectures on the Study of Mediwval and Modern Ifistori/, Lectures vi and vii. Learning and Literature at the Court of flenrij II. Henry's wife. KIcanor of Aqni- taine, was the friend and patroness of many I'roven(;al trouhadours. Another de- scription of Henry from the works of Giraldus Camhrensis (Rolls Series, xxi. Part 5, pp. 302-30G, accessible in Cheyney, op. cit., pp. l'J7-l.'{})) agrees in the main with this of Peter of Blois, but emphasizes the secular character of Henry's reign. IGO ENGLISH LITERATURE daily leisure is habitually devoted to the discussion of questions. None more than our king is honorable in speech, restrained in eating, moderate in drinking, none is more noble at home; hence, his name is spread out like sweet ointment and the whole church of the saints celebrates his alms. Our king is of a peaceful dis- position, victorious in war, glorious in peace, and above all the desirable things in the world he zealously looks out for the peace of his people. Whatever he thinks or says or does is for the peace of his people. That his people may have peace he con- stantly undergoes troublesome and grievous toil. With a view to the peace of his people he calls councils, makes treaties, forms alliances, humbles the proud, threatens war, strikes terror to rulers. For the peace of his people he uses that enormous wealth which he gives, receives, collects and spends. No one is more skilful or lavish than he in building walls, defenses, fortifications, moats, places of enclosure for game and fish, and in building palaces. His father, a very powerful and noble count,^^ made great additions to his territory, but he, by the strength of his own hand adding to his father's possessions the duchies of Normandy, Aquitaine and Brittany, the kingdoms of England, Scotland,^^ Ireland and Wales, has beyond measure surpassed his noble father's claims to greatness. No one is more gentle to the afilicted, more kind to the poor, more oppressive to the proud: for he has always made it a study like a god to put down the insolent, to raise the oppressed, and to the arrogance of pride to oppose continual and grievous persecutions. But although, after the custom of the kingdom, he takes a very powerful and important part in making appointments, yet he has always kept his hands clean and free from all venality. I w411 not describe, but will merely touch in passing, those other gifts, both of mind ^^ Geoffrey of Anjou (1113-1151) married in 1129 Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, and widow of Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor. He ruled Anjou for approximately 20 years, most of which was spent in wars with the Angevin barons and for the conquest of Normandy, which was in the hands of Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror, or of his family. ^^ Peter grows rather enthusiastic here; Scotland and Wales were not a part of Henry's domain and but a portion of Ireland was included therein. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND Ifil and body, with which nature has endowed him far above other men; for I confess my incompetence, and indeed I should con- sider Cicero or Virgil unequal to so great a task.^'^ . . . This other letter throws additional light on the disposi- tion of the King: Peter of Blois, Archdeacon of Bath, to Roger the deacon, greeting and good counsel: No teacher is more trustworthy or more efficient than he who has tested by experience the theory that he teaches. Not long since I was sent to the King on business connected with the church of Canterbury. ^^ As usual I went into his presence cheer- fully, but reading and understanding from his face the vexation of his spirit, I immediately closed my lips and held my tongue, fearful lest I should increase his irritation, for to me his face was a faithful interpreter of his mind. So I postponed my business until a more favorable hour and a more serene coun- tenance should prosper it. For he who approaches an angry prince on business is like unto one who spreads his nets in a storm. He who offers himself to the tempest without waiting for smoother water quickly destroys both himself and his nets. I know that your mission to the King is a disagreeable one, there- fore it behooves you to carry yourself all the more cautiously. ^^ This document is part of letter dccc. in vol. vii of Materials for the History of Archbishop Thomas Becket {Rolls Series, 1875-1885, ed. Robertson and Sheppard). The earlier part of the letter exhorts Archbishop William to show kindness to pil- grims and thanks him for certain gifts. Tli^Jj^^^part of the letter asserts tliat Henry II is guiltless of the death of Becket, tells ot the king's visit to the martyr's tomb, his victory over the Scots and his suppression of the rebellion of his sons. ^^ As stated in the next section (post, p. W-Z) some of the most important of Henry's political activities involved the position of the church. The document in which his position regarding the relation of church and state is set fortii in its most extreme form is the famous Constitutions of Clarendon (11(54). Tlie Latin text of this is in Stubbs, Select Charters, 8th ed., pp. 137 seq. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1895). It will be found translated into English in Adams jiml Sl(>phens, Select Documents of English Constitutional II isfor// (New York, Tiie Macmillan Co.. 1001). PI). 11-14; in Cheyney, op. cit., pp. 148-150; and in Lee, Source Book of English Ilistort/ (New York, Henry Holt and Co., 1900), pp. 18.'}-1.SG. The Constitutions of Clarendon should not be confused with The Assize of Clarendon (11G6) to be quoted post, pp. ZlZ-'-IKi. 162 ENGLISH LITERATURE For even pleasant news may be irritating at an inopportune time and some times disagreeable matter may be so presented as to give pleasure. Do not hurry to bring your business before the King until the way is prepared by me or some one else who knows his habits. For he is a lamb when his mind is at ease, but a lion or more fierce than a lion when he is aroused. It is no joke to incur the anger of one in whose hands are honor and disgrace, heirship and exile, life and death. Witness Solomon: ^- the anger of a king is the messenger of death. ^^ The most spectacular events of Henry's reign are un- doubtedly those that center around his efforts to subordi- nate the church to the royal power. The contest between church and state in post-Conquest England was not a new problem of Henry's reign; for Anselni and AYilliam Rufus had had their difficulties: but the struggle was at its most acute stage at this time and led to results which were soon incorporated in popular tradition. ^^ Thomas a Becket, S2 Proverbs 16: 14. *3 Peter of Blois became Archdeacon of Bath soon after 1173. ^ Becket was canonized by Pope Alexander III in 1173. His tomb soon became the favorite Enghsh resort of religious pilgrims. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are told on a pilgrimage to this shrine. Of the seven-volume Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, the first contains the Life and Passion of St. Thomas by William, the Monk of Canterbury (written about 1172), the greater part of which consists of stories of the miracles wrought at the tomb of the martyr. The second volume contains The Passion of St. Thomas of Canterbury and The Miracles of St. Thomas of Canterbury by Benedict of Peterborough, the Life of St. Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury and Martyr by John of Salisbury (cf. post, pp. 559-563) and Alan of Tewkesbury and the Life of St. Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury and Martyr by Edward (irim, from which we quote, post, pp. 163-166. The third volume has the lives by AVilliam Fitzstephen (died 1190?), from which we quote the introduction, kno\Mi as The Description of London (cf . post, pp. 309-320) and Herbert of Bosham (flourished 1102-1186). The fourth volume has two anonymous lives, the extracts from the chronicles bearing on the history of Becket and the life commonly called Quadrilngus, i.e, composed from four sources. The fifth, sixth and seventh volumes contain letters pertaining to the career of Becket. The amount of material avail- able on Becket is thus evidently abundant. These materials are all in Latin. Becket soon became the subject of vernacular literature as well, as the poem on his life and death attests. [(Cf. Matzner, Alt-Englische Sprach-Proben {Specimens of the Old English Language), i, pp. 176-193, translated into modern English verse THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 163 moreover, Henry's opponent in the strife, was the latter's best friend and had been appointed archbishop because Henry thought he would certainly take the King's side on the subjects at issue. Henry's disappointment and vexation finally became so aggravated at Becket's suc- cessful championship ^^ of the church that he was led to make his famous angry outcry, "My subjects are slug- gards, men of no spirit; they keep no faith with their lord, they allow me to be made the laughing-stock of a low-born clerk." The result was that four knights at once started for Canterbury, followed the monks into the Cathedral, and murdered the Archbishop in the transept on Decem- ber 29, 1170. Edw^ard Grim, an attendant of Becket's, with him at the time, thus describes the incidents of the murder. When the monks entered the church the four knights followed immediately behind with rapid strides. With them was a cer- tain subdeacon, armed with malice, like their own, Hugh, fitly surnamed for his wickedness, Mauclerc, who showed no rever- ence for God or the saints, as the result showed. When the holy archbishop entered the church the monks stopped vespers which they had begun and ran to him, glorifying God that they saw their father who they had heard was dead, alive and safe. They hastened, by bolting the doors of the church, to protect their shepherd from the slaughter. But the champion, turning to them, ordered the church doors to be thrown open, saying, "It is not meet to make a fortress of the house of prayer, the in Weston, The Chief Middle English Poets, pp. 41-50 (Boston, Houphton Mifflin, 1914)]]. See also II. Snowden Ward, The Canterhnn/ PiUjriuuujes (Lippincott, !!)().")), Stanley, Historical Memorials of Canterbury, now available in Krrri/nian's Lihniri/, Tennyson, Becket (1884), which gives a wonderfully accurate and vivid account of the career of Becket. ^ The last cause of contention hetwccn Kin^' and Arclihisliop was the corona- tion of Henry's eldest son, often in contemporary documents termed llcnry III, as his successor. This was the prerogative of the Archhishop of Canterhury, hut Henry had the ceremony j)erforme(l, in Becket's absence on the Continent, by the Archl)ishop of York. Becket, thereupon, excommunicated and suspended many of tlic King's followers. 164 ENGLISH LITERATURE church of Christ: though it be not shut up it is able to protect its own; and we shall triumph over the enemy rather in suffering than in fighting, for we came to suffer, not to resist." And straightway they entered the house of peace and reconciliation with swords sacrilegiously drawn, causing horror to the beholders by their very looks and the clanging of their arms. All who were present were in tumult and fright, for those who had been singing vespers now ran hither to the dreadful spectacle. Inspired by fury the knights called out, "Where is Thomas Becket, traitor to the king and realm?" As he answered not, they cried out the more furiously, "Where is the archbishop?" At this, intrepid and fearless (as it is written, "The just, like a bold lion, shall be without fear"),^^ he descended from the stair where he had been dragged by the monks in fear of the knights, and in a clear voice answered, "I am here, no traitor to the king, but a priest. Why do ye seek me?" And whereas he had already said that he feared them not, he added, "So I am ready to suffer in His name, who redeemed me by His blood; be it far from me to flee from your swords or to depart from justice." Having thus said, he turned to the right, under a pillar, having on the one side the altar of the Blessed Mother of God and ever Virgin Mary, on the other that of St. Bene- dict the Confessor, by whose example and prayers, having cruci- fied the world with its lusts, he bore all that the murderers could do, with such constancy of soul as if he had been no longer in the flesh. The murderers followed him. "Absolve," they cried, "and restore to communion those whom you have excommunicated, and restore their powers to those whom you have suspended." He answered, "There has been no satisfaction, and I will not absolve them." "Then you shall die," they cried, "and re- ceive what you deserve." "I am ready," he replied, "to die for my Lord, that in my blood the church may obtain liberty and peace. But in the name of Almighty God I forbid you to hurt my people, whether clerk or lay." Thus piously and thought- fully did the noble martyr provide that no one near him should be hurt or the innocent be brought to death, whereby his glory 66 Cf. Proverbs 28: 1. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 1G5 should be dimmed as he hastened to Christ. Thus did it be- come the martyr knight to follow in the foot-steps of his Cap- tain and Saviour who, when the wicked sought Him, said, "If ye seek me, let these go their way." " Then they laid sacrilegious hands on him, pulling and dragging him that they might kill him outside the church, or carry him away a prisoner, as they afterwards confessed. But when he would not be forced away from the pillar, one of them ])ressed on him and clung to him more closely. Him he pushed off, call- ing him, "pander," and saying, "Touch me not, Reginald; you owe me fealty and subjection; you and your accomplices act like madmen." The knight, fired with terrible rage at this rebuke, waved his sword over the sacred head. "No faith," he cried, "nor subjection do I owe you against my fealty to my lord the king." Then the unconquered martyr, seeing the hour at hand which should put an end to this miserable life, and give him straightway the crown of immortality promised by the Lord, inclined his head as one who prays, and, joining his hands, lifted them up and commended his cause and that of the church to God, to St. Mary and to the blessed martyr Denys.^^ Scarce had he said the words when the wicked knight, fearing lest the archbishop should be rescued by the people and escape alive, leapt upon him suddenly and wounded this lamb who was sac- rificed to God, on the head, cutting oft' the top of the crown which the sacred unction of the chrism had dedicated to God; and by the same blow he wounded the arm of him who tells this. For he, when the others, both monks and clerks, fled, stuck close to the sainted archbishop and held him in his arms till the arm he inter|)osed was almost severed. Behold the simplicity of the dove, the wisdom of the serpent, ^^ in the martyr who opposed his body to those who struck, thai lie might preserve his head, that is, his soul and the cliunh, un- harmed; nor would he use any forethought against tliose wlio destroyed the body whereby he might es('ai)e. () worthy shej)- herd, who gave himself so boldly to the wolves that liis flock " Cf. Jolin 18:8. 58 Converter and patron Saint of (iaul, su|)|)()se(l to liave been niartyreil in tlie Valerian persecution. ^^ Cf. Matlliew 10: 10. 166 ENGLISH LITERATURE might not be torn. Because he had rejected the world, the world in wishing to crush him unknowingly exalted him. Then he received a second blow on the head, but still stood firm. At the third blow, he fell on his knees and elbows, offering himself a living victim, and saying in a low voice, "For the name of Jesus and the protection of the church I am ready to embrace death." Then the third knight inflicted a terrible wound as he lay, by which the sword was broken against the pavement, and the crown, which was large, was separated from the head; so that the blood white with the brain, and the brain red with blood, dyed the surface of the virgin mother church with the life and death of the confessor and martyr in the colors of the lily and the rose. The fourth ^^ knight prevented any from interfering, so that the others might freely perpetrate the murder. In order that a fifth blow might not be wanting to the martyr who was in other things like Christ, the fifth (no knight, but that clerk who had entered with the knights) put his foot on the neck of the holy priest and precious martyr, and, horrible to say, scattered his brains and blood over the pavement, calling out to the others, "Let us away, knights; he will rise no more." ^^ The efforts of Henry II to strengthen the royal power, seconded by the policy of the ministers of his successor, Richard I, succeeded so well that England in the latter years of the twelfth century seemed well started as an absolute monarchy. Two causes, however, intervened to change the trend of events. One was the arbitrary and capricious use of his power by King John, the worst of the Angevins; the second, the discovery by the barons, under the leadership of Archbishop Stephen Langton of Canter- ®° The four knights were Reginald de Fitzurse, Hugh de Moreville, William Tracy and Richard de Brut. ^' Henry was on the Continent when Becket was murdered, and when the news was brcjught to him, he expressed his grief, was deeply repentant, paid a humiliating visit to the tomb of the martyr, and sought absolution from the pope. But it should be remembered that, though the terms, so to speak, of the struggle between Becket and Henry were religious, its underlying importance — the enhancing of the royal power by subordinating that of the church — is political. THE POLITICAL BACKBROUXD 167 biiry,^- that the rehition between king and barons was a contractual one, and that the viohition of the contract by one party nulHfied its apphcation to the other. Roger of Wendover, a contemporary chronicler, in the following pas- sage tells how the barons acted on this knowledge and compelled the king to grant them Magna Charta, called by the Earl of Chatham the first element in the "Bible of the English Constitution." ^^ Of the demand made by the barons of England for their rights. A.D. 1215; which was the seventeenth year of the reign of King John; he held his court at AYinchester at Christmas for one day, after which he hurried to London, and took up his abode at the New Temple, and at that place the . . . nobles came to him in gay military array, and demanded the confirma- tion of the liberties and laws of King Edward, ''^ with other liberties granted to them and to the kingdom and church of England, as were contained in the charter and . . . laws of Henry I;^^ they also asserted that, at the time of his absolu- tion ^^ at Winchester, he had promised to restore those laws and ancient liberties and was bound by his own oath to observe them. The King, hearing the bold tongue of the barons in this demand, much feared an attack from them, as he saw that their demands were a matter of importance and difficulty, and he therefore asked a truce till the end of Easter, that he might, after due deliberation, be able to satisfy them as well as maintain the dignity of his crown. After much discussion on both sides the King at length, although imwillingly, j)rocured the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Ely and William Marshal as his sureties, that on the day agreed on, lie would in all reason satisfy them all, on which the nobles returned to (^2 Cf. KateNorgate, John Lackland, pp. 211-^2:54 (The Macmillan Co.. 1J)(>2). \vhere the writer makes it clear that it was the (hsc-overy of the Charier of Ilniri/ I that showed the barons a way out of the (hffieiilty witli John. *^ Cf. Goodrich, Select British Eloquence, p. 112. ^ I.e. the Confessor. ^ ("f. post, pp. 20.S seq. ^ John had been excommunicated by Pope Innocent III in 1209, had subniittcil and been absolved by Archbishop Langton in 1218. 168 ENGLISH LITERATURE their homes. The King, however, wishing to take precautions against the future, caused all the nobles throughout England to swear fealty to him alone against all men, and to renew their homage to him; and, the better to take care of himself, he, on the day of St. Mary's Purification,'^^ assumed the cross of our Lord,^^ being induced to this more by fear than by devotion. . . . Of the principal persotis loho compelled the King to grant the laws and liberties In Easter week of this same year, the . . . nobles assembled at Stamford, with horses and arms; for they had now induced almost all the nobility of the whole kingdom to join them, and constituted a very large army; for in their army were computed to be two thousand knights, besides horse soldiers, attendants and foot soldiers who were variously equipped. . . .^^ All of these being united by oath, were supported by the con- currence of Stephen Archbishop of Canterbury who was at their head. The King at this time was awaiting the arrival of his nobles at Oxford. On the Monday next after the octaves of Easter, ^'^ the said barons assembled in the town of Brackley: and when the King learned of this, he sent the Archbishop of Canterbury and William Marshal Earl of Pembroke with some other prudent men to them to inquire what the law^s and liber- ties were which they demanded. The barons then delivered to the messengers a paper containing in a great measure the laws and ancient customs of the kingdom, and declared that, unless the King immediately granted them and confirmed them under his own seal, they would by taking possession of his fortresses force him to give them sufficient satisfaction as to their previously presented demands. The Archbishop with his fellow messengers then carried the paper to the King, and read to him the heads of the paper one by one throughout. The King when he heard the purport of these heads derisively said with the greatest in- dignation, "Why, amongst these unjust demands, did not the barons ask for my kingdom also.'^ Their demands are vain and ®^ Fel^ruary 2. '^^ I.e. vowed he would go on Crusade. ^^ Names of "chief promoters of this pestilence" follow. ^° I.e. the second Monday after Easter. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 169 visionary and are unsupported by any plea of reason whatsoever." And at length he angrily declared with an oath that he would never grant them such liberties as would render him their slave. The principal of these laws and liberties, which the nobles re- quired to be confinned to them, are partly described above in the charter of King Henry and partly are extracted from the old laws of King Edward, as the following history will show in due time. The Castle of Northampton besieged by the barons As the Archbishop and William Marshal could not by any persuasions induce the King to agree to the demands, they re- turned by the King's order to the barons and duly reported all that they had heard from the King to them; and when the nobles heard what John said, they appointed Robert Fitz- Walter commander of their soldiers, giving him the title of '* Marshal of the army of God and the holy church," and then, one and all flying to arms, they directed their forces toward Northampton. On their arrival there they at once laid siege to the castle, but after having stayed there for fifteen days and having gained little or no advantage, they determined to move their camp; for having come without petraria^ "^ and other engines of war, they, without accomplishing their purpose, pro- ceeded in confusion to the castle of Bedford. At that siege the standard-bearer of Robert Fitz- Walter, amongst other slain, was pierced through the head with an arrow from a cross-bow and died, to the grief of many. How the city of London teas given up to the barons When the army of the barons arrived at Bedford, they were received with all respect by William de Beauchamp. There also came to them there messengers from the city of London, se- cretly telling them, if they wished to get into iliat city, to come there immediately. The barons, ins])irited by this agreeal)le message, at once moved their camp and arrived at Ware; after this they marched the whole night and arrived early in the ^' Macliinos for tlirowinu stones. 170 ENGLISH LITERATURE morning at the city of London, and, finding the gates open, they on the '-24th of May, which was the Sunday next before our Lord's Ascension, entered the city without any tumult whilst the inliabitants were performing divine service, for the rich citizens were favorable to the barons and the poor were afraid to murmur against them. The barons having thus got into the city, placed their own guards in charge of each of the gates and then arranged all matters in the city at will. They then took security from the citizens and sent letters throughout England to those earls, barons and knights who appeared to be still faith- ful to the King, though they only pretended to be so, and ad- vised them with threats, as they regarded the safety of all their property and possessions, to abandon the King who was per- jured and who warred against his barons, and together with them to stand firm and fight against the King for their rights and for peace; and that, if they refused to do this, they, the barons, would make war against them all, as against open enemies, and would destroy their castles, burn their houses and other build- ings, and destroy their warrens, parks and orchards.^- . . . The greatest part of these, on receiving the message of the barons, set out to London and joined them, abandoning the King entirely. The pleas of the exchequer and of the sheriffs' courts ceased throughout England, because there was no one to make a valua- tion for the King, or to obey him in anything. The conference between the King and the barons King John, when he saw that he was deserted by almost all, so that out of his regal superabundance of followers he scarcely retained seven knights, was much alarmed lest these barons should attack his castles and reduce them without diflficulty, as they would find no obstacle to their so doing; and he deceit- fully pretended to make peace for a time with the . . . barons, and sent William Marshal Earl of Pembroke with other trust- worthy messengers to them and told them that, for the sake of peace and for the exaltation and honor of the kingdom, he would willingly grant them the laws and liberties they required; he '2 Names of those to whom the message was sent follow. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 171 also sent word to the barons by the same messengers to apj^oint a fitting day and place to meet and carry all these matters into effect. The King's messengers then came in all haste to London, and without deceit reported to the barons all that had been deceitfully imposed upon them; they in their great joy appointed the fifteenth of June for the King to meet them, at a field lying between Staines and Windsor. Accordingly, at the time and place agreed on, the King and nobles came to the appointed conference, and when each party had stationed themselves apart from the other, they began a long discussion about terms of peace and the aforesaid liberties. There were present on behalf of the King the archbishops, Stephen of Canterbury and H. of Dublin, the bishops W. of London, P. of Winchester, H. of Lincoln, J. of Bath, Walter of Worcester, W. of Coventry and Benedict of Rochester; master Pandulph familiar of our lord the pope, and brother Almeric the master of the knights-tem- plars in England; the nobles, William Marshal Earl of Pembroke, the Earl of Salisbury, Earl Warrene, the Earl of Arundel, Alan de Galway, W. Fitz-Gerald, Peter Fitz-Herbert, Alan Basset, Matthew Fitz-Herbert, Thomas Basset, Hugh de Neville, Hubert de Burgh seneschal of Poictou, Robert de Ropley, John Marshall and Philip d'Aubeny. Those who were on behalf of the barons it is not necessary to enumerate, since the whole nobility of England were now assembled together in numbers not to be computed. At length, after various points on both sides had been discussed. King John, seeing that he was inferior in strength to the barons, without raising any difficulties, granted the laws and liberties listed below, and confirmed them by his charters. . . . ^^ *'To insure the inforcement of the terms of the charter a committee of twenty-four barons and the Lord Mayor of London were appointed who were authorized to levy war on the King until any transgression of which he might l)e guilty should have been amended. This machinery for securing its observance was the weakest thing about it, ~^ Magna Charta follows. See the text as it appears in the various source i)ooks of English history. 172 ENGLISH LITERATURE for there could be no peaceful progress under any such arrangement. It was soon given up, and before the cen- tury had passed we find a body in the making to whom, in due course of time, the maintenance of its great principles was intrusted." '^ This body has gradually developed into what we now call parliament, elements of which had been in existence for some time. Thus, Tacitus ^^ records that the members of the various Teutonic tribes conferred and voted regarding the course of action to be taken by the tribe; Alfred the Great promulgated "^ his laws with the sanction of the wise men; representative juries elected in the several counties undertook various sorts of royal busi- ness from the time of Henry II and furnished the typical procedure for the election of representatives to parlia- ment.''^ The year 1295 is marked by the assembling of what has long been known as *'the Model Parliament." It was "not the 'product' of grand purposeful building for the fu- ture," "^ but of anxiety about the immediate problems of 1295. Edward I, "needed money as never before, and he used the means to obtain it which the experience of the past thirty years and his instincts as a practical states- man suggested. He needed the help of all classes and, as far as conditions allowed, he took them all into his confidence. It can hardly be thought that the representative elements were really asked to give their consent to taxation, but their good will could be gained and consultation with them facilitated assessment and collection. There was no grand theorizing. . . ." '^ Specimen writs of summons to the three estates show us ^^ Cross, op. cit., p. 144. The word parliament means talking or conference and is used a great deal in literature 1100-1400 in this sense. We must not import into the medieval use of the word our modern conceptions of parliament as an institu- tion. 75 cf. ante, pp. 10-12. '^ /^^v/., pp. 22-25. 77 The origin and early history of parliament are carefully treated in White, op. cit., pp. 298-401. 78 iiifi_^ p. 298. 79 qi White, op. cit., p. 329. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 17; how the matter of a national representative assembly was presented in 1295 and outline the business of the assembly when called. (a) Summons of a Bishop to Parliament, 1296 The King to the venerable father in Christ Robert, by the same grace archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, greeting. As a most just law, established by the careful provi- dence of sacred princes, exhorts and decrees that what affects all, by all should be approved, so also, very evidently should common danger be met by means provided in common. You know sufficiently well, and it is now, as we believe, divulged through all regions of the world, how the king of France fraudu- lently and craftily deprives us of our land of Gascony, by with- holding it unjustly from us. Now, however, not satisfied with the before-mentioned fraud and injustice, having gathered to- gether for the conquest of our kingdom a very great fleet, and an abounding multitude of warriors, with which he has made a hostile attack on our kingdom and the inhabitants of the same kingdom, he now proposes to destroy the English language alto- gether from the earth, if his power should correspond to the detestable propostion of the contemplated injustice, which God forbid. Because, therefore, darts seen beforehand do less injury, and your interest especially, as that of the rest of the citizens of the same realm, is concerned in this affair, we command you, strictly enjoining you in the fidelity and love in which you are bound to us, that on the Lord's day next after the feast of St. Martin, in the approaching winter, you be present in person at Westminster; citing beforehand the dean and clia])ter of your church, the archdeacons and all the clergy of your diocese, caus- ing the same dean and archdeacons in their own persons, and the said chapter by one suitable proctor, and the said clergy by two, to be present along with you, having full and sufhcient power from the same chapter and clergy, to consider, ordain and provide, along with us and with the rest of the j)relales and prin- cipal men and other inhabitants of our kingdom, how the dan- gers and threatened evils of this kind are to l)e met. Witness the king at Wangham, the thirtieth day of Sei)tenil)er. 174 ENGLISH LITERATURE (b) Sinnmons of a Baron to Parliament, 1295 The king to his beloved and faithful relative, Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, greeting. Because we wish to have a consultation and meeting with you and with the rest of the principal men of our kingdom, as to provision for remedies against the dangers which in these days are threatening our whole kingdom, we com- mand you, strictly enjoining you in the fidelity and love in which you are bound to us, that on the Lord's day next after the feast of St. Martin's, in the approaching winter, you be present in person at Westminster, for considering, ordaining and doing along with us and w^ith the prelates, and the rest of the principal men and other inhabitants of our kingdom, as may be necessary for meeting dangers of this kind. Witness the king at Canterbury, the first of October. (c) Summons of Representatives of Shires and Towns to Parliament, 1295 The king to the sheriff of Northamptonshire. Since we intend to have a consultation and meeting with the earls, barons and other principal men of our kingdom with regard to providing remedies against the dangers which are in these days threaten- ing the same kingdom, and on that account have commanded them to be with us on the Lord's day next after the feast of St. Martin, in the approaching winter, at Westminster, to consider, ordain, and do as may be necessary for the avoidance of these dangers, we strictly require you to cause tw^o knights from the aforesaid county, tw^o citizens from each city in the same county, and two burgesses from each borough, of those who are espe- cially discreet and capable of laboring, to be elected without delay, and to cause them to come to us at the aforesaid time and place. Moreover, the said knights are to have full and sufficient power for themselves and for the community of the aforesaid county, and the said citizens and burgesses for themselves and the communities of the aforesaid cities and boroughs sepa- rately, then and there for doing what shall then be ordained according to the common counsel in the premises, so that the aforesaid business shall not remain unfinished in any way for THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 175 defect of this power. And you shall have there the names of the knights, citizens and burgesses and this writ. Witness the king at Canterbury, on the third day of October. A phrase in the third sentence of the first writ suggests a cause on which much English treasure and life were spent in the concluding century of our period. The kings of France and England, close territorial rivals on the Con- tinent, each trying to unify and increase his lands, many times made it their chief business to check each other's movements. Hence, there is much anti-French senti- ment in fourteenth-century English literature and we must take account of the fact here. But, before we turn to this subject, there is another which w^e must take notice of, also a matter of foreign policy and one that loomed large in English feeling and imagination. This is the relation of England and Scot- land. From about 1290 until 1707, when England and Scotland were united, there was more or less friction ^^ between the two countries. In all this long history of strife, no event made so deep a popular impression as the dis- astrous defeat of English arms by the Scotch at Ban- nockburn in 1314. Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbrooke, a contemporary chronicler, thus describes a famous inci- dent in the battle. On that night you might have seen the English host deep in their cups, wassailing and toasting immoderately; on the other hand the Scots silently kept their vigil fasting, their every thought centered in their desire for their country's freedom; ^* and this desire, though ungrounded, was vehement and ecjual to all risks. On the morrow the Scots seized the most advan- 8° There is little doubt that the ahuost constant border strife b(>t\ve(>n Knuland and Scotland, making the Scotch inarches a region of perpetual adventure, is the exphmation of the fact that so many of the Enghsh and Scottish jxipular ballads are located there. In the field of the poetry of art, cf. Hlinr waiting some time, they discovered that the Scots had gained the river, and passed over before them. Their scanty store of provisions being now cxhausliMl, ilic EngHsh suffered greatly from hunger, and il rained so inces- santly that the horses, as well as the men, were ahiiost worn out. However, they were still bent upon encountering the ScoN. and the King offered a large reward to any one who should ni- form him where they were to be found. Tlu\v had now been 178 ENGLISH LITERATURE several days seeking for information, when, about three o'clock one afternoon, a squire came galloping up to the King, and reported that he had seen the enemy — that they were but a short distance from them, and quite as eager for battle as them- selves. Edward upon this put his army in array, continued marching, and soon came in sight of the Scots, who were drawn up in three battalions, on the slope of a mountain, at the foot of which ran a rapid river, full of large stones and rocks, and very difficult to cross. When the English lords perceived the disposition of the enemy, they sent heralds, offering to fight them in the plain; but the Scots would consent to no arrange- ment, and having kept the English in suspense for some days, , at last retired. During all this time there were frequent skir- mishes, and many lives lost on both sides; and though there was no general engagement between the two armies, the Scots were driven back into their own country, and both parties quite tired out. Edward, on his way home, halted his weary forces at Durham, where he paid homage to the church and bishopric, and gave largesses to the citizens. Sir John and his company, heartily thanked and rewarded for their services, were escorted by twelve knights and two-hundred men-at-arms to Dover, whence they embarked for Hainault. It is thus evident that the Scots were an unsatisfactory enemy so long as they ^vere so ably led and employed such tactics. But King Robert Bruce died of leprosy in April, 1328, leaving his son David, a child of seven, his heir; the King's death, coupled with the determination of the English to wipe out the disgrace of Bannockburn, at length brought about the desired result, and on July 19, 1333, Edward defeated the Scots at Halidon Hill. Law- rence Minot, whose few extant patriotic poems are all we know of him, celebrates this victory in stirring verse. So keen is his sense of the relation of Bannockburn and Halidon Hill, that he names his poem after the first battle but devotes his attention to exultation over the sec- ond and its results. We quote a translation into modern verse. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 179 (Now to tell you I will turn Of the battle of Bannockburn.) Scots out of Berwick and Aberdeen, At the Burn of the Bannock were ye too keen. There ye slew many guiltless, as now ye have seen. And now has King Edward wreaked vengeance, I ween. It is avenged, I wot, well worth the while, Wreaked upon the Scots, for they are full of guile. Where are ye Scots from St. John's town.^ The boast of your banners is all beaten down. When ye fell to your boasting King Edward was boun To kindle your care and crack your crown. He has cracked your crown, well worth the while ! Shame o'ertake the Scots, for they are full of guile. Scots out of Sterling stern were and stout: Of God and good men no fear they had nor doubt; Now have the robbers themselves turned about; But King Edward at last has rifled their rout. He has rifled their rout, well worth the while; For the Scots are as fond of gauds as of guile. Poor roughfoot rivling, now wakens thy care ! Bag-bearing boaster, thy dwelling is bare ! False wretch and forsworn where now wilt thou fare? Go, get thee to Bruges and bide thy time there I There, wretch, shalt thou pine and weary the while; Thy dwelling in Dundee is gone through thy guile. The Scot goes to Bruges, and beats the streets. Threats to the English he alway repeats. Loud makes he his moan to all whom he greets; Few mind his laments, well worth the while; He mingles his threats witli Aviles and witli guile. But for many who threaten and speak now full ill 'Twere better, sometimes, they should be slone-still. The brash Scot with his threats has wind only to spill; For Edward, our King, will ;it last ha\e his will. He had his will at Berwick, well worth the while; Scots gave him the keys, but look out for their guile. 180 ENGLISH LITERATURE In alarm at the success of Edward, the Scots sent King David to France and secured the aid of King Phihp VI, ^'' who determined to take the offensive against the EngHsh. Thus was begun the Hundred Years' War between Eng- land and France when Edward in October, 1337, pro- claimed himself king of France. The basis on which he did this is set forth by Froissart as follows: Now sheweth the history that . . . Philip le Beau, king of France, had three sons and a fair daughter named Isabel, mar- ried into England to King Edward the second; and these three sons, the eldest named Louis, who was king of Navarre in his father's days and was called King Louis Hutin; the second had to name Philip the Great or the Long, and the third was called Charles; and all three were kings of France after their father's decease by right succession each after other, without having any issue male of rtieir bodies la\\'fully begotten. So that after the death of Charles, last king of the three, the twelve peers and all the barons of France would not give the realm to Isabel, the sister, who was Queen of England, because they said and maintained, and yet do, that the realm of France is so noble that it ought not to go to a woman, ^*' and so consequently not to Isabel, nor to the king of England, her eldest son. For they determined the son of the woman to have no right nor succes- sion by his mother, since they declared the mother to have no right; so that by these reasons the twelve peers and barons of France by their common accord did give the realm of France to the lord, Philip of Valois, nephew sometime to Philip le Beau, king of France, and so put out the queen of England and her son, who was as the next heir male, as son to the sister to Charles, the last king of France. Thus went the realm of France out of the right lineage, as it seemed to many folk, whereby great wars have ^ France and Scotland had made an alliance in 1295 "by which Scotch manners and customs were profoundly influenced by the French" (Cross, op. cit., p. 170) and the consequences of which were "most significant for England's foreign and domestic history." {Ibid., p. 169.) It is these complications which are referred to in the writs of summons to the ]\Iodel Parliament of 1295. (Cf. ante, pp. 173, 175.) ^ The principle knowTi as the Salic Law. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 181 moved and fallen, and great destructions of j)eople and coun- tries in the realm of France and other places, as ye may- hereafter see. This is the very foundation of this history, to recount the great enterprises and great feats of arms that have fortuned and fallen. Sith the time of the good Charlemagne, king of France, there never fell so great adventures. . . . Of these "great enterprises and great feats of arms" none is more important than the battle of Crecy, August 26, 1346, thus narrated by Froissart: The Englishmen, who were in three battles, ^^ lying on the ground to rest them, as soon as they saw the Frenchmen ap- proach, rose upon their feet fair and easily without any haste and arranged their battles. In the first which was the prince's ^ battle, the archers stood in the manner of a herse,*^^ and the men of arms in the bottom of the battle. The earl of Xortliliampton and the earl of Arundel, with the second battle, were on a wing in good order, ready to comfort the prince's battle, if need were. The lords and knights of France came not to the assembly in good order, for some came before and some came after in such evil order that one of them did trouble another. When the French king saw the Englishmen his blood changed, and he said to his marshals, "Make the Genoways ^^ go on before and begin the battle in the name of God and St. Denis." ^^ There were of the Genoways crossbows about fifteen thousand, but they were so weary of going afoot that day a six leagues armed ^^ ith their crossbows, that they said to their constables, "We be not well ordered to fight this day, for we be not in case to do any feats of arms: we have more need of rest." These words came to the earl of Alenf;on, who said, "A man is well at ease to })e charged with such a set of rascals, to be faint and fail now at most need." Also the same season there fell a great rain and liglitning with terrible thunder, and before the rain there came flying over both battles a great number of crows for fear of the *^ I.e. divisions. ^^ P^dward the Black Prince, eldest son of Edward III, made his debut as a warrior in this battle. ^9 j ^ ^ harrow. ''° I.e. Genoese. ^^ I.e. Patron saint of France, as St. George of England. 182 ENGLISH LITERATURE tempest coming. Then anon the air began to wax clear, and the sun to shine fair and bright, the which was right in the Frenchmen's eyen ^^ and on the EngHshmen's backs. When the Genoways were assembled together and began to approach, they uttered very great cries to abash the Englishmen, but they stood still and stirred not for all that; then the Genoways again a second time made a great and a fell cry, and stept for- ward a little, and the Englishmen removed not one foot; thirdly again they cried out and then they shot fiercely with their cross- bows. Then the English archers stept forth one pace and let fly their arrows, so wholly and so thick that it seemed snow. When the Genoways felt the arrows piercing through heads, arms and breasts, many of them did cast down their crossbows and did cut their strings and returned discomfited. When the French king saw them fly away, he said, "Slay these rascals, for they shall let ^^ and trouble us without reason." Then you should have seen the men of arms dash in among them and kill a great number of them; and ever still the Englishmen shot whereas they saw the thickest press; the sharp arrows ran into the men of arms and into their horses, and many fell, horses and men, among the Genoways, and when they were down they could not rise again; the press was so thick that one overthrew another. And also among the Englishmen there were certain rascals that went afoot with great knives, and they went in among the men of arms and slew and murdered many as they lay on the ground, both earls, knights and squires, whereof the king of England was after displeased, for he had rather they had been taken prisoners. The valiant king of Bohemia, called Charles of Luxembourg, for all that he was nigh blind, when he understood the order of battle, he said to them about him, "Where is the lord Charles, my son?" His men said, "Sir, we cannot tell; we think he be fighting." Then he said, "Sirs, ye be my men, my companions in this journey. ^"^ I require you to bring me so far forward that I may strike one stroke with my sword." They said they would do his commandment, and to the intent that they should not lose him in the press, they all tied the reins of their bridles each "^ I.e. eyes. ^^ I.e. hinder. ^ I.e. "day's work." THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 183 to the other and set the king before to accompHsh his desire, and so they went on their enemies. The lord Charles of Bohe- mia, his son, who wrote himself king of Almaine ^^ and bare the arms, he came in good order to the battle; but when he saw that the matter went awry on their party, he departed, I can- not tell you which way. The king, his father, was so far for- ward that he strake a stroke with his sword, yea, and more than four and fought valiantly, and so did his company; and they adventured themselves so forward that they were all there slain, and the next day they were found in the place about the king, and all their horses tied each to the other. . . . In the morning, the day of the battle, certain Frenchmen and Almains ^^ perforce opened the archers of the prince's battle and came out and fought with the men of arms, hand to hand. Then the second battle of the Englishmen came to succour the prince's battle, the which was time, for they had as then much ado; and they with the prince sent a messenger to the king who was on a little windmill hill. Then the knight said to the king, "Sir, the earl of Warwick, and the earl of Oxford, Sir Raynold Cobham, and other, such as be about the prince, your son, are fiercely fought withal and are sorely handled; wherefore they desire that you and your battle ^^ will come and aid them; for if the Frenchmen increase, as they doubt they will, your son and they shall have much ado." Then the king said, "Is my son dead or hurt on the earth felled?" "No, sir," quoth the knight, "but he is hardly matched; wlierefore he hath need of your aid." "Well," said the king, "return to him and to them that sent you hither, and say to them that they send no more to me for any adventure that falleth, as long as my son is ali\c; and also say to them that they suffer him this day lo win liis spurs; for if God be pleased, I will this journey '''^ l)c liis and the honor thereof, and to them that be about him." TIumi tlic knight returned again to them and slicwcd the king's words, the which greatly encouraged tliem, and rc})oined •"•' that ihcy had sent to the king as they did. ^ I.e. Germany. •* lo. (ionnan.s. »^ The king was evidently in command of tiie tliird division of the English. »8 I.e. "day's work." '•''•' I.e. fell sorry. 184 ENGLISH LITERATURE 111 the evening the French king, who had left about him no more than threescore persons, one and another, whereof sir John of Hainault was one, who had remounted once the king, for his horse was slain with an arrow, then he said to the king, "Sir, depart hence, for it is time; lose not yourself wilfully; if ye have loss at this time, ye shall recover it again another season." And so he took the king's horse by the bridle and led him away in a manner perforce. Then the king rode until he came to the castle of Broye. The gate was closed, because it was by that time dark; then the king called the captain, who came to the walls and said, "Who is it that calleth there this time of night?" Then the king said, "Open your gate quickly, for this is the fortune of France." The captain knew then it was the king, and opened the gate and let down the bridge. Then the king entered, and he had with him but five barons, sir John of Hainault, sir Charles of Montmorency, the lord of Beaujeu, the lord d'Aubigny and the lord of Montsault. The king would not tarry there, but drank and departed thence about midnight, and so rode by such guides as knew the country till he came in the morning to Amiens, and there he rested. This Saturday the Englishmen never departed from their battles for chasing of any man, but kept still their field, and ever defended themselves against all such as came to assail them. This battle ended about evensong time. Crecy and Poictiers (Sept. 19, 1356), "those withering overthrows for the chivalry of France," ^^° with the inter- vening siege and capture of Calais (Sept. 2, 1346-Aug. 3, 1347), mark the height of English success in the war with France. Economic difficulties at home, coupled with the failing health of the Black Prince, the generalship of Bertrand du Guesclin, Constable of France, and the sur- ^^^ The phrase is De Quincey's; cf. his Joan of Arc, Professor Turk's Athenopum Press cd., p. 265. Cf, "The ... consequences (of Crecy) were momentous; tlie very foundations of medieval society were shaken when the flower of French mailed knighthood had to yield to yeomen archers and Welsh and Irish serfs armed with knives and spears. It was a mortal l)low at the old system of warfare and the social and i)olitical structure built upon it." Cross, op. cit., p. lOG. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 185 prising ^^^ statesmanship of the unmiHtary Charles V, caused the tide to turn, and the long reign of Edward III ended gloomily ^"- in 1377. His eldest son had died the preced- ing year, leaving a son, Richard surnamed of Bordeaux, a boy of ten, who now succeeded his grandfather as Rich- ard II. But the problems left over from the preceding reign, the solution of which grew increasingly difficult during the minority and irresponsible rule of the young king, finally led to his deposition, the second in his family in a century, in 1399. For some reason, contemporary chronicle accounts of the events culminating in this de- position are scanty and unsatisfactory. We shall depend on the allegorical story in the following poem which gives, better than any other material, a sense of the complex situation in 1399. The poem now known as Richard the Redeless (i.e. Richard Lackwisdom) ^^^ was ascribed by the late Professor Skeat to the author of the Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman. ... As I passed to my prayers where priests were at mass In a blessed old borough that Bristol ^^'^ is called, ^^^ Cf. the remark of Echvard III quoted, from I know not what source, in Cross, op. cif., p. 204, '"There never was a king who had less to do with arms, yet there was never a king who gave me so much to do.' " ^^ Cf. the statement in Bnd {Early English Text Society ed.. Original Seriefi, cxxxvi, p. 334), quoted in Vickers, England in the Later Middle Ages (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1914), p. 243, "For as in the beginning all things were joyful and pleasing to him and to all the people, and in middle life he surpassed all men in high joy anil worship and blessedness, so, when he drew into age, tlegenerating through lust and other sins, gradually all those blessed and joyful things, good fortune and pn)spd from this docu- ment). Cf. the representation of this in Shakespeare, Richard II, Act I. scenes 1 and .3. ^•^^ I.e. some of those wlio had joiueil Henry changed their n\inds and went over to Richard. ^'^^ I.e. the writer is so insignificant that his opinion made little ditferenee one way or the other. 188 ENGLISH LITERATURE After this exposition of the occasion of his poem and his purpose in writing it, the author goes on to explain at some length that he dischiims any proud purpose and begs that his work be accepted in the spirit in which it was written. He adds that he has the young especially in mind in order to save them from the ill results of will- fulness. This completes the introduction to the poem. The first section or passus opens as follows with the au- thor's view of the causes of Richard's fall: Now, Richard the Redeless, have ruth on yourself, Who lawless have led both your life and your people; For through wiles and by wrong and waste in your time You have lightly been lifted from what you thought lief, And through willfulest works your will has been changed. And bereft have you been of both riot and rest. Your cares were renewed through your own cursed council, And crazed has your crown been for covetousness.^°^ The love of money is the root of all evils}'^^ Of allegiance now learn a lesson or two, Its source of security, staple supply — ^^"^ The Chronicles of London, already cited, devote 28 pages to an account of the deposition of Richard and statement of the charges against him. Of these latter there are 33 and of these 8 deal with money matters. The following (p. 30) is the most striking of the list: "also, whereas the king of England may honestly and sufficiently live off the profits and revenues of his realm and the patrimony belonging to the Crown, without oppressing his people while the realm is not charged with the cost and expense of war, Richard, being, so to spe«,k, all his time in truce between the realm of England and his adversary (i.e. France), hath given, granted and done away to diverse persons very im worthy, the most part of what belongs to the Crown. And furthermore (he) hath put so many charges of grants and taxes on his subjects and lieges, and that almost every year, that overmuch and exces- sively he has oppressed his people to the great hindering and impairing of his realm by poverty. And the same goods that have been so raised have not been s[)ent for the profit or worship of the realm, but for the commendation of his own name and pomp and vain glory, dispersing the same goods unprofitably. And yet the greatest sums of money are owing in the realm for victuals and expenses of his household, though he has had more riches than any of his progenitors that any man can reckon or have in mind." ^^^ This line is a translation of the Vulgate reading of 1 Tim. 6: 10. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 189 Not dread nor din nor deeming untrue, Not creation of coin for commerce in guile, Not pillage of people your princes to please; Not wanton caprice against wisdom's will; Not taxation of towns without any war By robbers who rioters ruthless were aye; Not appraising by poleax that pitiless falls, Nor debts from your dicing, demur as you may; Not letting of law down by pampering love."^ If this, for a dull noil, be darkly drawn up, Much need is there not to muse thereupon; For mad as I am and little mind have, I could it portray in a very few words; For loveless allegiance availeth but little. Later on, after speaking of the happy auspices under which Richard had become king, the writer recurs to his fall as follows: What became of this crown would a clerk ^^'- here might tell; But as well as I can I propose to declare. And name I no names but those that were nighest: Very privately plucked they your great power away. And quite royally rode they throughout all your realm; From tillers, like tyrants, they took what they pleased. And paid them with pate-blows when pennies were few. For none of your people durst plain of their wrongs For dread of your dukes and of double their woe. IVIen might as well hunt for a hare with a taper iVs hope for amends for all their misdeeds, "^ Thirteen of the charges against Ric-hard in The Chronicles of London account deal with his abuse of the legal system of England, one of which (p. -2S) goes as follows: "Also, notwithstanding tiiat the King at his coronation swore tli;it in ;ill his judgments he should do and ord:iin to he (hme even .lud righteous ju.sticc and righteousness in mercy and truth hy ;dl his power and niii,dit ; nevertheless he with- out any sort of mercy with great vigor ordained upon great pain tiiat no niainier of man should speak or pray him for any sort of grace or mercy for Harry I)uk(> of Lancaster. In which thing tiie same king against all bonds of cliarity broke his aforesaid oath which he had made." ^^^ I.e. a more learned man than the present writer. 190 ENGLISH LITERATURE Or a plea against pensioners publish at all.^^'^ For blinded with friendship were you for all these; There was no single person to punish the wrongs, And this maddened your men, as needs it must do: They wist not for woe to whom to complain. For, as it was said, in earlier days, "Where the grooms and good freemen are all alike great, 'Tis sad for the dwellings and dwellers therein." ^^^ They led you with love who law feared to meet In judging your dukes* deeds, so dark were they then. Thus cracked was your crown, to be newly recast. Through parting with power to paramours base. Later on in the third passus of his poem the writer touches more specifically on judicial abuses as the cause of the King's ruin, as follows: But still there's a foul fault that often I find: They (i.e. royal agents) pry after presents before pleas are drawn. And abate all the bills of those that bring none (i.e. no pres- ents) ; And whoso is grouchy or groans at their grants (i.e. the con- clusion of his case) May lose his life lightly and no less a pledge. ^^^ Thus mightiest lords do lower the law. Who more than all others misdoers maintain. ^^^ Charge 5 in The Chronicles of London (p. 27) asserts: At the same time the king raised a great company of evil doers in Chester "of whom some went alway ^^^th the King through the realm, and cruelly slew many heges of the realm as well within the King's house as without; and some they beat, wounded, maimed and robbed, and took up victuals without payment and ravished wives and other women. And although great pleas and complaints were made, spoken and declared in the King's hearing, he, nevertheless, took no heed, nor arranged to ordain any remedy or help for the trouble. But he let them alone and favored them in their evil deeds, trusting in them more than in all the other lieges of his realm. Where- fore all the true subjects of this realm grew very active amongst themselves and engendered] great cause and matter of indignation amongst them." ^^* A saying, according to Skeat, attributed to Bede. "^ Charge 21 in The Chronicles of London (p. 33) states that the King, in order to raise money, encouraged various people to spy on the nobles and clergy and bring in accusations of treason against them. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 191 For maintenance (i.e. abetting evil doers) aye — much more is the pity ! — Hath many more men at meat and at meals Than ever a Christianlike king that you knew; For, as Reason and Right rehearsed to me once, These men are the ones who make the most woe. For chiders of Chester ^^^ were chose many days To be counsel for cases that came })efore court. And pleaded Pie-Poudre ^^^ for all sorts of plaints. They cared for no coifs that court-lawyers use. But made many motions that man never thought (of before), And falsehood they feigned till they drew out a fine. And knew none of the cases commonly called. No other sign had they to show up the law But a pallet ^^^ of leather their heads to protect And cover them up in lieu of a cap. They conjured up quarrels the people to quench. And pleaded with polaxes, sword points and pikes; As doom was declared they drew out their blades, And lightly they lent men the lore of long bats.^^^ They lacked all the virtues a la\\yer should have, For, before the case opened, they called out the end. Without hope of appeal 'less one hated his life. And if one complained to the prince, guard of peace, Regarding these mischievous mongers of wrong. He was easy arrested, ungraciously seized. And mummed on the mouth ^''^ and menaced with death. They laid on your lieges. King, many a lash. Nor dreaded a deal the doom of the law. None dared in the realm to rebuke them when wrong, No judge, nor yet justice, that judgment would give For aught that they took, or trespassing dcvd. "6 Cf. note 11.3 on p. 190, ante. "^ Skeat notes, "i.e. in the court of Pie-l\)ii(lre; llie siuunmry court foriutTly held at fairs, and so caUcd from the dusty feet {pml.s poudrcnx) of those present ." ^'^ Skeat says in his note "a leathern head-piece." '•^ Skeat paraphra.ses, "And gave men the free exp<'ri(>iu-e of their long staves." ^-^ I.e. slapped on the mouth ;in(l told to kecj) "minu." 19-2 ENGLISH LITERATURE The author further dilates on the troublous condition of England, couching his thoughts in allegorical terms drawn from the current natural history, now become fabu- lous, of which writers were so fond even to the time of Lyly and Shakespeare.^-^ Our poet thus applies the habits of the hart and the partridge respectively to the state of the country: I refer to the Hart ^" that in height of his time — When pasture thus pricks him and his proper age — When he's hobbled on earth an hundred of years, So he's feeble in flesh, in fell and in bones, His custom's to come and catch, if he can. Such adders as harm all other clean beasts. Through bushes ^^^ and brakes this beast in his way. Goes seeking and searching for adders, the shrews, That steal to our homesteads to sting us to death. And when it has happened the Hart catches one. He puts him to pain as one would treat prey And feeds on the venom a long time on end. This is clearly his nature — not to grieve colts. ^^^ 121 Cf. As you Like It, II, i, 11. 12-17: Sweet are the uses of adversity, Which like the toad, ugly and venomous. Wears yet a precious jewel in his head; And this our life exempt from public haunt. Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks. Sermons in stones, and good in everything. 122 Skeat's note reads, "The story of the hart, in the old Bestiaries, is that, when he grows old, he seeks out an adder and swallows it; but, the adder's poison causing him to bum, he rushes to the water and drinks plentifully^ so rendering the venom harmless; after which he sheds his horns, and renews his strength." The point of the use of the hart here is that the white hart was the favorite badge of Richard 11. His retainers had it on their liveries. Cf. the translation of the story of the hart in the Bestiary in Weston, Chief Middle English Poets (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1914), p. 328. 123 The reference to the bushes here seems to be a pun on the name of Sir John Bushy, one of the best known cronies of Richard; cf. the note on p. 185, ante. 1'^ On this and the other animals mentioned here, cf. Skeat's note, "The horse is Richard Fitz-alan, Earl of Arundel, beheaded on Tower-hill a.d. 1397; the colt. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 193 Nor harass good horses, harnessed and tamed. Nor strive with the Swan, though he should attack, ^^5 Nor bait the fell Bear, nor bind him up either, Nor wistfully woo his willingest kin,^^'^ Nor list him to look at allies when they bleed; This is all against Nature, as clerks have declared: On account of ingratitude, the free man is recalled to slavery, as in the prick of conscience and in civil law.^^? And, therefore, our hart his health has quite missed, And could not pass even the point of his prime. Now construe this who can — I no more can say.^^^ Now I'll fare to the fowl which I mentioned before. Of all the billed birds that build on the ground My pleasure's to praise the partridge's ^-^ way, That in season of summer when sitting is near. And each fowl with his fere doth follow his kind, This bird by a bank doth build up her nest, his son Thomas, who fled to join Henry, and was one of the small company who landed with him at Ravenspur; the sican, Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, Riciiard's uncle, so treacherously murdered by his orders at Calais, about the same time that Arundel was beheaded; and the bear, Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, seized with Arundel by Richard's orders, and banished by him for life to the Isle of Man, though afterwards released by Henry. They were named from their badges, the white horse being that of Arundel, the swan that of Gloucester, which he had adopted from his father Edward III, who sometimes used it; and the black bear that of the Earl of Warwick." Five of the charges against Richard in the Chronicles of London account of his deposition, cited before, have to do with his treatment of the Duke of Gloucester, the Earl of Arundel and the Earl of Warwick. Thus, the fourth charge states that the King put to death the first two and doomed the last and the Lord Cobham to perjjetual imprisonment, though they all had royal charters of pardon. ^-^ I.e. not even though Gloucester should take the initiative against ihc ( rown. ^ Cf. the quotation from TraisonctMort du Roy Richart on p. 18{), ante, and from Froissart, ed. cit., p. 468, where Richard requests an interview with Henry of Lancaster. ^27 This is the tran.slation of a sentence in Latin inserted into the Englisli text; is the expression "prick of conscience" a reference to the Middle English work of that name? 1-^ The general meaning seems to be that, whereas the iioi)Ie hart rc(t>iii)s liiin- self by hunting adders (i.e. the "undesirable citizens" of the country), Richard has oppressed and killed off the most noteworthy people in the conununity and has thus failed to make his way. '-^ This account of the partridge, too. is derived from the Hestiary. ( f. Wright. Popitlar Treatises on Science Written during the Middle Ages (London. ISH . p. 108. 194 . ENGLISH LITERATURE And heaps up her eggs and heats them all well. And, when the dam's done what belongs to the deed, And hopes all to hatch ere harvest begin, Then comes on a coward who wears a gray coat, As nice in her noil as if she'd made the nest. Another proud partridge, approaches the place, And privily hides there until the dam pass; Then seizes the seat with all her soft plumes. And sits on the eggs that the other has laid. She covers them well till the young come to life, And fosters and feeds them till feathers appear. And coats given by Nature compass them round. But as soon as they stiffen so they can step. Then comes up and cries their own cunning dam, And they know w^ell her note at the very first noise. And leave quite the lurker that erstwhile them led — For their stomachs too seldom the substitute filled, And their limbs were too lean, for with hunger they'd lived. Now, daily they cheerily dine with their dam And she fosters them forth until they can fly. "What may this all mean, man?" well may you me ask, "For it's darkly endited, for dull brain too hard; Wherefore I wish now it might be your will To tell what is proved by the partridge's case." Ah ! go to, Hick Heavy-head, hard is your noil To catch any cunning if craftily said ! Did you not hear what I spoke but just now — The Eagle ^^^ had entered his own in the East And cried and called out for his own kind of birds Annoyed in his nest and nourished full ill And worried to death by a leader all wrong? But these needy nestlings the note having heard Of the great Eagle, good angel of all. Broke from the bushes ^^^ and briars that tore them, '3^ The Eagle is Henry of Lancaster, who apparently had taken over this badge, one of the numerous insignia of his grandfather, Edward III (Skeat's note). '•^' The reference to the bushes is again a pun on the name of Sir John Bushy. Cf. ante, p. 185. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 195 And, bent upon reaching him, burnished their bills And followed him fiercely to fight out his wrongs; They with their bills babbled how beaten they'd been. And troubled with twigs for twenty-two ^^^ years. Thus, left they the leader who led them awry. And missed not a thing but taxed up their corn,^^^ And gathered their groats with guile as I trow. They followed their father with faith strong and free; Because he would feed them and foster them further. And bring them from bondage to which they'd been broke. Then sighed all the swimmers (i.e. the friends of Gloucester) because the Swan ^^^ failed, And followed this Falcon (i.e. the Eagle) throughout fields and towns. With many fair fowls, though many were faint And hea\y for hurt which had come to the Horse. Yet they fluttered all forth as fast as they could, To have from the Eagle some help from their harm; For he headed them all and was highest of heart In keeping the crown as the chronicle ^^^ tells. He cheered up the Bear and broke off his bonds, And left him at large, to leap where he would. And then all the bear-cubs (i.e. Warwick's friends) burst out at once. As fain as the fowl that flies in the sky, That brought to his own and unbound was the boss.^^^ ^^ I.e. for the term of Richard's reign. ^^^ I.e. Richard's tax-gatherers were very careful to Hst all one's property for assessment and even took all of a farmer's crops as taxes. ^** See the note on the meanings of these animal names, onte, p. I9i. ^^ Just what chronicle is meant there is no means of knowing, but it is iutcn-st- ing that in The Chronicles of London (ed. cit., p. 43), after the account of the deposi- tion of Richard, there is inserted Henry's challenge of the cnm-n, as follows: "In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I, Harry of I^mcaster, claim the realm of P^ngland and the cro\\Ti with all the memhers and appurtenances. As I that am descended by direct line of the blood, coming from the good King Harry IH. And through that right, that God of His grace hatii sent to me. with help of my kin and of my friends to recover it. The which realm was on tlie point of lieing undone for lack of governance and good law." ^^ The very word of the text. 196 ENGLISH LITERATURE They gathered to-gether in a great rout, To lielj) out the heirs ^^ who long had been wronged. Out on the green ^^^ they cackled their grief For friends that had fallen through foul schemes of crime. They mourned for the murder of manfullest knights. Sternly withstanding many a storm; They 'monished the Marshal ^^^ for his misdeeds, Who ill-knew his craft when he covered the Horse. And aye as they followed this Falcon about At each moving foot for vengeance they cried On all that assented to that evil deed. The poem concludes with the following vivid narrative, which furnishes a kind of composite picture of the last parliaments of Richard's reign. The poem ends abruptly and is unfinished, as its beginning is missing. For where now was Christian king you ever knew That held such an household, measured by half. As Richard in England's realm others "misruled." So that not all his fines for faults or fee-farms, Nor forfeitures many that fell in his day. Nor nonages ^^^ numberless ever renewed, Like March ^^^ and like Mowbray and manifold more, ^^"^ According to feudal law (cf . post, p. 203) the suzerain had a right to a certain fine, much like a modern inheritance tax, when the heir succeeded to his property. According to The Chronicles of London {ed. cit., p. 28), the sixth charge against Rich- ard was that his assessment of fines and ransoms was excessive and could not be depended upon; i.e. after an offender or suitor had paid his fine, he was just as likely as not to be called on to pay it again. 138 This reference to the green, again, is doubtless a pun on the name of Sir Henry Green, one of Richard's friends. ^^^ Skeat's note, "The Earl-marshal was Thomas De Mowbray, Duke of Nor- folk, son-in-law to the Earl of Arundel. The latter was executed by Richard's orders; and, as Froissart tells us, the Earl-marshal actually bandaged his father-in- law's eyes at the execution. . . . This is why the poet says Mowbray knew his craft ill; for the oflSce of a Marshal (lit. servant of the horse) is to attend to the wants of a horse, not to bandage its eyes." ^^^ Cf . " At the death of the vassal, the possession of his holding reverted to the over lord as a result of the latter's abiding proprietorship; when the heir of the de- ceased vassal took possession of the land, the payment of the relief was an acknowl- THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 197 Nor all cases in courts the king could control, Nor selling that soaks up silver right fast, Nor ])rofits of lands in the princely domain, \Yhen accounts were cast up, with the custom of wills. Could reach far enough, even adding his rents, To pay the poor people purveyance's ^^^ cost, "Without praying Parliament for poundage ^"^ beside, And fifteenths and tenths, ^^^ And custom of cloth for sale at the fairs? ^"^ Yet if credit had come not in at the last, Though the curse of the commons has cleaved to it aye, edgement of this fact. ^Yhen the heir was a minor, the lord was his guanhan during minority and received more or less of the land's income during that time." AVhite, op. cit., p. 106, note. The Earls of March were descendants in the female line of Lionel Duke of Clarence, third son of Edward III, and rightful heirs to the throne after Richard II. Roger Earl of March died in 1398 and was succeeded by his son Edmund, a minor. The Mowbrays were Earls of Nottingham and, later, Dukes of Norfolk; "John de Mowbray and Thomas de Mowbray both succeeded to the title while in their minority in this reign." (Skeat's note.) ^^^ Purveyance was provision for the subsistence of the King and his train during a royal progress through the country; cf. note on p. 190, ante. ^^ A tax on merchandise, assessed by weight. ^^^ "So-called because, originally and usually, they consisted of a tenth of the revenues or chattels of burgesses and a fifteenth from the landholders of shires." Cross, op. cit., p. 210, note. 1^ Cf. "Outside the local markets and the towns, trading centered m the great annual fairs. The most famous of these were at Stourbridge and Winchester. The Stourbridge fair controlled the trade of the eastern counties and the Baltic Sea. Every trade and nationality was represented. It was under the control of the corporation of Cambridge, it was opened annually on 18 September, when temporary booths were set up, and it continued for three weeks. More important still was the Winchester fair under the control of the Bishop of Winchester. Lying between Southampton and London it was the great mart for the southeast. It opened every year on the eve of St. Giles (31 August) and lasted for sixteen days. During the session of the fair all trade was suspended in the neighborhood and weights and measures were carefully scrutinized. The fairs had a special law administered in the Pie Powder Court, so-called from the French Piah poudrcs (dusty feet; cf. ante, p. 191) in reference to the traveling merchants and others who came under its jurisdiction. In return for privileges and protection the merchants paid heavy toll to the lord who controlled the fair, and curiou.s cases are on reconl of those who tried to evade their obligations by digging their way in under the palisades. Other fairs were held at Boston, St. Ives, Oxford, and Stamford." Ibid., p. 103. 198 ENGLISH LITERATURE They'd been drawn to the devil becanse of their debts. And when riot and revehy'd used up the rent, And nothing was left except the bare bags,^''^ Then fell they to force to fill them again And feigned some folly that never them failed. And cast out their coils in council at even To parhament privily for their own profit. The writs went out secretly sealed up with wax. For peers and for prelates who then should appear; And riders they sent out to neighboring shires To choose ^^^ them such knights as w ould cheerfully come To sit for the shire in seats with the great. And, when the day came for the deed to be done. The sovereigns assembled and knights of the shire. And, first, as their form is, they start to declare The cause of their coming and then the King's wdll. Comely a clerk then commenced to call out. And the points he pronounced to all present there, And a motion for money w as mainly the thing. For glossing the great ^^^ lest grief should arise. 1^ Doubtless a punning reference to Sir William Bagot, a third of Richard's notorious friends; cf. ante, p. 185. 1*^ The nineteenth charge against King Richard in The Chronicles of London account of his deposition (ed. cit., p. 32) runs as follows: "Also, whereas by old statute and custom of his realm in the convocation and summonmg of every par- liament, the people of the realm in every shire were wont, and still should be free, to choose the knights of the shire for the Parliament, and to show their griefs and suggest remedies for them as it seemed to them best for their success. The King now, (however), to the intent that he might the more freely have his foolish desire performed, sends out ofttimes his commands to divers sheriffs, that they should choose certain persons whom he names himself, to come to his Parliament, and no others. And these knights, thus being favorable, the King can brmg round to his purpose and desire to consent to him, either by menaces and threats, or else by gifts; and thereby make ordinances that should turn to the great prejudice of the realm and very expensive to the people; and especially, that of granting to the same King the wool subsidy (i.e. the returns from the tariff on wool shipped out of Eng- land, which was ordinarily granted from Parliament to Parliament and thus offered a means of controlling the royal conduct) for the term of his life and other subsidies for certain years, to the great oppressing of his people." "^ I.e. Parliament was asked to provide money to gloss over the offenses of the great, on the plea that, if they did not, worse things would happen to England. THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND 199 And when he had told the tale to the end, They decided to meet on the morrow ere meat. These knights of the towns, to consider the same With citizens sent from the shires to their sire, To review all the bills and grant the re([uests. But yet, as a manner of making men blind, ^'** Some argued against the right to assess; And said, "We are servants and salaries get. And are sent by the shires their griefs to show forth, And parley for profit to them, not to pass And grant of their gold for the good of the great In a very wrong way unless there were war; And if we are false to our friends backv at home. We'll be but ill worthy of winning our pay." Then sat some like ciphers in numerous seats That number a place but nothing avail; ^'^^ xAnd some had but supped with Simon at eve,^^° And showed for the shire but lost all the show; ^^^ And some others were tattlers and went to the King And soon made him foes of his earlier friends ^^- Who believed in the best and " unblamcAvorthy " were By King or by council or even by commons, If one could keep count of the meaning of things. Some slumbered and slept and said almost nil; ^^^ I.e. as a "bluff" or "blind." ^^^ I.e. zero has a place in the Ust of figures, but there's "nothing in it." ^^° Skeat says, "I have no doubt that *to sup with Simon' means hero to sup with ecclesiastics, to share in the revels which some churchmen indulged in. Simon means Simon Peter, and is used elsewhere . . . as a general name for the clergy." . . . ^^1 I.e. they were in their seats but knew nothing of what was going on. ^^2 Charge 25 against Richard in The Chronicle.^ of London account (<• entry for the year 1154 in the Peterborough MS. of the Anglo-Suxnn Chronirlf pens the following striking sentence, "When the King (Stephen) died, the Earl (Henry, still Earl or Count of Anjou) was beyond sea, and no man durst do other than good for very dread of him." Tr. eit. This 1154 entry is the last in the Chronicle and is liy many taken to mark the end of the Old English i)eriod of our language and literature. eiO ENGLISH LITERATURE edict, that such foreigners as had flocked to England under King Stej)hen for the sake of booty, as well as military service — and esj)ecially the Flemings of whom a vast number at that time burthened the kingdom, should return to their own coun- try by an appointed day, to stay beyond which would be at- tended with certain danger. Terrified at this edict, they glided away in a moment, as quickly as a phantom vanishes; while numbers wondered at their instantaneous disappearance. He next commanded the newly-erected castles, which were not in being in the days of his grandfather, to be demolished, with the exception of a few advantageously situated, which he wished to retain for himself or his partisans, for the defence of the king- dom. He then paid serious attention to public regulations and was anxiously vigilant that the vigor of the law which in King Stephen's time had appeared lifeless and forgotten, should be revived. He appointed oflScers of law and justice throughout his realm for the purpose of restraining the audacity of offend- ers, and administering redress to complainants according to the merits of the case; while he himself either enjoyed his pleasure or bestowed his royal care on more important avocations. As often, however, as any of the judges acted remissly or improp- erly and he was assailed by the complaints of the people, the King applied the remedy of his royal revision and properly corrected their negligence or excess. Such being the outset of the new sovereign, the peaceably disposed congratulated and commended, while the lawless muttered and were terrified. The ravening wolves fled or were changed to sheep; or if not totally changed, yet they dwelt harmlessly amid the flock, through fear of the law. Swords were beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks; none learned war any more,^^ but all enjoyed the leisure of that long-wished-for tranquillity now kindly ac- corded them by God, or were intent on their several employ- ments. . . . The King, reflecting that the royal revenues which, in the time of his grandfather, had been very ample, were greatly re- duced, because through the indolence of King Stephen, they had, for the most part, passed away to numerous other masters, 16 Cf. Isaiah 2: 4. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 211 commanded them to be restored entire by the usurper, of what- soever degree, and brought back to their former jurisdiction and condition. Such as had hitherto become proprietors in royal towns and villages produced for their defence the charters which they had either extorted from King Stephen, or earned by their services: but these could avail them nothing, as the grants of an usurper could not be permitted to operate against the claims of a lawful prince. Highly indignant at first thereat, but after- wards terrified and dispirited, they resigned — though reluc- tantly, yet entirely — everything they had usurped and held for a considerable time as if by legal title. ^Yhilst all through- out each county of the kingdom submitted to the royal pleasure . . . the King proceeded beyond the Humber and summoned William Earl of Albermarle,^^ who in the times of Stephen had been more truly a king there than his master, to surrender in this respect as well as the others, to the weight of his authority. Hesitating a long while and boiling with indignation, he at last, though sorely hurt, submitted to his power and very reluctantly resigned whatever of the royal domains he had possessed for many years, more especially that celebrated and noble castle of Scarborough. . . . Phrases like "strict regard to justice," "serious atten- tion to public regulations," or "vigor of the law" in the preceding document open long vistas into the field of Henry's activities, which may be comprehensively de- scribed as a return to the w^ork of his grandfather, Henry I, in establishing feudalism on a sound legal basis. "Trained in the law-," says Miss Bateson, "a lover of the subtleties of law, canon and civil, he and his staff of learned clerks made it their business to smooth away those ragged edges which the first Norman kings had left in the fitting of Norman on to the English law. In the process many and great changes were made, changes calculated to strengthen the central ^^ as against the feudal power. A lawyer king ^^ lie had been created Earl of Yorksliire l)y Kinj? Stephen and had possessed the larger j)ortion of that country. See Dugdale, Baronage, I, C£. (Stevenson.) 18 Cf. ante, p. 158. 212 ENGLISH LITERATURE found further a grand opportunity before him to display his learning and his strength when he engaged in one of the longest and most exciting rounds in the periodic wres- tling match between church and state." ^^ One of Henry's devices for improving the legal system of England and the administration of justice was the Assize of Clarendon, promulgated in 1166, just a century after the battle of Hastings. In a modern English translation of the twelfth- century Latin, it reads as follows: Here begins the Assize of Clarendon, made by King Henry II, with the assent of the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls and barons of all England. § 1. In the first place, the aforesaid King Henry, with the consent of all his barons, for the preservation of the peace and the keeping of justice, has enacted that inquiry should be made through the several counties and through the several hundreds, by twelve of the most legal men of the hundred and by four of the most legal men of each manor, upon their oath that they will tell the truth, whether there is in their hundred or in their manor, any man who has been accused or publicly suspected of himself being a robber, or murderer, or thief, or of being a re- ceiver of robbers, or murderers, or thieves, since the lord king has been king. And let the justices make this inquiry before themselves, and the sheriffs before themselves. § 2. And let any one who has been found by the oath of the aforesaid to have been accused or publicly suspected of having been a robber, or murderer, or thief, or a receiver of them, since the lord king has been king, be arrested and go to the ordeal of water and let him swear that he has not been a robber, or mur- derer, or thief, or receiver of them since the lord king has been king, to the value of five shillings, so far as he knows. § 3. And if the lord of the man who has been arrested or his steward or his men shall have claimed him, with a pledge, within the third day after he has been seized, let him be given up and his chattels until he himself makes his law. 13 Op. cit. p. 141. Cf. ante, p. 161. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 213 § 4. And when a robber, or murderer, or thief, or receiver of them shall have been seized through the above-mentioned oath, if the justices are not to come very soon into that county where they have been arrested, let the sheriffs send word to the nearest justice by some intelligent man that they have arrested such men, and the justices will send back word to the sheriffs where they wish that these should be brought before them; and the sheriffs shall bring them before the justices; and along with these they shall bring from the hundred and the manor where they have been arrested, two legal men to carry the record of the county and of the hundred as to why they were seized, and there before the justice let them make their law. § 5. And in the case of those who have been arrested through the aforesaid oath of this assize, no one shall have court, or judgment, or chattels, except the lord king in his court before his justices, and the lord king shall have all their chattels. In the case of those, however, who have been arrested, otherwise than through this oath, let it be as it has been accustomed and ought to be. § 6. And the sheriffs who have arrested them shall bring such before the justice without any other summons than they have from him. iVnd when robbers, or murderers, or thieves, or receivers of them, who have been arrested through the oath or otherwise, are handed over to the sheriffs they also must receive them immediately without delay. § 7. And in the several counties where there are no jails, let such be made in a borough or in some castle of the king, from the money of the king and from his forest, if one shall be near, or from some other neighboring forest, on the view of the serv- ants of the king; in order that in them the sheriffs may be able to detain those who have been seized by the oflScials who are accustomed to do this or by their servants. § 8. And the lord king, moreover, wills that all should come to the county courts to make this oath, so that no one shall remain behind because of any franchise which he has or court or jurisdiction which he has, but that they should come to the making. of this oath. § 9. And there is to be no one within a castle or without a 214 ENGLISH LITERATURE castle or even in the honor of AVallingford, who may forbid the sheriffs to enter into his court or his land for seeing to the frankpledges and that all are under pledges; and let them be sent before the sheriffs under a free pledge. § 10. And in cities and boroughs, let no one have men or receive them in his house or in his land or his soc, whom he does not take in hand that he will produce before the justice if they shall be required, or else let them be under a frankpledge. § 11. And let there be none within a city or borough or within a castle or without, or even in the honor of Wallingford, who shall forbid the sheriffs to enter into his land or his jurisdiction to arrest those who have been charged or publicly suspected of being robbers or murderers or thieves or receivers of them, or outlaws, or persons charged concerning the forest; but he re- quires that they should aid them to capture these. § 1*2. And if any one is captured who has in his possession the fruits of robbery or theft, if he is of bad reputation and has an evil testimony from the public, and has not a warrant, let him not have law. And if he shall not have been accused on account of the possession which he has, let him go to the water. § 13. And if any one shall have acknowledged robbery or murder or theft or the reception of them in the presence of legal men or of the hundred, and afterwards shall wish to deny it, he shall not have law. § 14. The lord king wills, moreover, that those who make their law and shall be absolved by the law, if they are of very bad testimony, and publicly and disgracefully spoken ill of by the testimony of many and legal men, shall abjure the lands of the king, so that within eight days they shall go over the sea, unless the wind shall have detained them; and with the first wind which they shall have afterw^ard they shall go over the sea, and they shall not afterward return into England, except on the permission of the lord king; and then let them be out- lawed if they return, and if they return they shall be seized as outlaws. § 15. And the lord king forbids any vagabond, that is a wandering or an unknown man, to be sheltered anywhere except in a borough, and even there he shall be sheltered only one THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 215 night, unless he shall be sick there, or his horse, so that he is able to show an evident excuse. § 16. And if he shall have been there more than one night, let him be arrested and held until his lord shall come to give securities for him, or until he himself shall have secured pledges; and let him likewise be arrested who has sheltered him. § 17. And if any sheriff shall have sent word to any other sheriff that men have fled from his county into another county, on account of robbery or murder or theft, or the reception of them, or for outlawry or for a charge concerning the forest of the king, let him arrest them. And even if he knows of himself or through others that such men have fled into his county, let him arrest them and hold them until he shall have secured pledges from them. § 18. And let all sheriffs cause a list to be made of all fugi- tives who have fled from their counties; and let them do this in the presence of their county courts, and they will carry the written names of these before the justices when they come first before these, so that they may be sought through all England, and their chattels may be seized for the use of the king. § 19. And the lord king wills that, from the time when the sheriffs have received the summons of the justices in eyre to appear before them with their county courts, they shall gather together their county courts and make inquiry for all who have recently come into their counties since this assize; and that they should send them away with pledges that they will be before the justices, or else keep them in custody until the justices come to them, and then they shall have them before the justices. § 20. The lord king, moreover, prohibits monks and canons and all religious houses from receiving any one of the lesser people as a monk or canon or brother, until it is known of what reputation he is, unless he shall be sick unto deatli. § 21. The lord king, moreover, forbids any one in all England to receive in his land or his jurisdiction or in a house under liim any one of the sect of those renegades who have been excom- municated and branded at Oxford. And if any one shall have received them, he will be at the mercy of the lord king, and the house in which they have been shall be carried outside the 216 ENGLISH LITERATURE village and burned. And each sheriff will take this oath that he will hold this, and will make all his servants swear this, and the stewards of the barons, and all knights and free tenants of the counties. § 'i'Z. And the lord king wills that this assize shall be held in his kingdom so long as it shall please him. The feudal documents so far quoted have illustrated mainly the governmental and legal aspects of a great social system. Materials will now be adduced to do a like serv- ice for the life of those who lived under the system; namely, English manorial documents. "The manor," says Professor Cheyney, "was the most fundamental in- stitution of medieval society. Li the use of the term as a territorial expression, equivalent to villa, vill, or town- ship, a manor was a stretch of country occupied by a rural population, grouped in a single village, or perhaps in several hamlets, surrounded by agricultural lands. Part of the land of the manor, known as the desmesne, was cultivated by the lord of the manor through a bailiff or other officers; the remainder w^as used by tenants, free and serf, w^ho cultivated their scattered holdings and, in the form of compulsory services, performed most of the labor on the demesne lands. The manor, in this sense, was the agricultural unit of the country, and had its own internal organization based upon the form of distribution of the land, the method of its cultivation, and the recip- rocal relations of the demesne and the rest of the land. The greater part of England was divided into such manors, either contiguous or separated by unused stretches of moor, fen, or forest." ^^ ^^ Pennsylvania Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, iii, 5, p. 1. Valuable and interesting comment on these documents will be found in chapter 2 {Village Life Six Hundred Years Ago) of Jessopp, The Coming of the Friars and Other Historic Essays (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1908). This essay- is largely ref)rinted in Tuell and Hatch, Selected Readings in English History (Ginn and Co., 1913). THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 217 The manorial system naturally developed greatly in complexity during our period. Our first document is a survey or "extent" of a manor belonging to Peterborough Abbey about 11''25. The record is comparatively simple. In Werminton are 7 hides at the taxation of the king. And of this land '20 full villeins and 29 half-villeins hold 34 virgates and a half; and for these the full villeins work 3 days a week through the year; and the half tenants as much as corresponds to their tenancies. And all these men have 16 plows, and they plow 68 acres and a half, and besides this they do 3 boonworks with their plows, and they ought to bring from the woods 34 wagon loads of wood. And all these men pay 4£. lis. 4d. And to the love feast of St, Peter 10 rams and 400 loaves and 40 platters and 34 hens and 260 eggs. And there are 8 socmen who have 6 plows. In the demesne of the court are 4 plows of 32 oxen, and 9 cows and 5 calves, and 1 riding horse and 129 sheep and 61 swine and 1 draught-horse and 1 colt. And there is 1 mill with 1 virgate of land and 6 acres which pays 60s. and 500 eels. And Ascelin the clerk holds the church, with 2 virgates of land from the altar of St. Peter of Borough. Robert, son of Richard, has 2 virgates and a half. In this vill 100 sheep can be placed. The following description of a manor house at Ching- ford, Essex, in 1265 will bring before us both the general possibilities of a manorial dwelling and the arrangement of manorial grounds. The manor house was the residence of the lord of the manor or his representative, the official center of the community. He -^ received also a sufficient and handsome hall well ceiled with oak. On the western side is a suitable bed, on tlie ground, a stone chimney, a wardro})e and a certain other small cliamber; at the eastern end is a i)antry and a butlery. Between the hall and the chapel is a side-room. There is a decent cha])el covered with tiles, a portable altar, and a small cross. In the hall are four tables on trestles. There are likewise a good kitchen well 21 I.e. the heir to the property. 218 ENGLISH LITERATURE covered with tiles, with a furnace and ovens, one large, the other small, for cakes, two tables, and alongside the kitehen a small house for baking. Also a new granary covered with oak shingles, and a building in which the dairy is contained, though it is divided. Likewise a chamber suited for clergymen and a necessary chamber. Also a hen-house. These are within the inner gate. Likewise outside of that gate are an old house for the serv- ants, a good stable, long and divided, and to the east of the ]:)rincipal building, beyond the smaller stable, a solar for the use of the servants. Also a building in which is contained a bed; also two barns, one for wheat and one for oats. These* buildings are enclosed with a moat, a wall, and a hedge. x\lso beyond the middle gate is a good barn, and a stable for cows and another for oxen, these old and ruinous. Also beyond the outer gate is a pigstye. Two more village surveys or "extents" follow, one, dated 1307, for the manor of Bernehorne; another, dated 1308, for the manor of Borley. The first is quoted because of the detailed way in which the various feudal services, due from the many tenants, are indicated in it. The Borley extent is cited because it states the right of common, of mill, and of court and because it gives apparently careful expression to common notions of feudal duties, as, for example, in the last paragraph. Both documents indicate the kind of accounts kept on a feudal estate. It is rather amusing in the first or Bernehorne survey to find several times the statement that a given service is of no gain to the lord, coupled with insistence that the service must, nevertheless, be performed. Extent of the manor of Bernehorne, made on Wednesday next after the feast of St. Gregory the Pope, in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of King Edward, in the presence of Brother Thomas, keeper of Marley, John de la More, and Adam de Thruhlegh, clerks, on the oath of William de Gocecoumbe, Walter le Parker, Richard le Knyst, Richard the son of the latter, Andrew of Estone, THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 219 Stephen Morsprich, Thomas Brembel, WiUiam de Swynham, John Pollard, Roger le Glide, John Syward and John de Lillinge- wist, who say etc., that there are there all the following things: The jurors say that the principal messuage and its garden with the herbage and curtilage are worth yearly 6s. 8d.; and the dovecote is worth yearly 5s.; and the windmill is worth yearly 20s. And there are there 12 acres of thick undergrowth whence the pannage and herbage are worth yearly 2s. And there are there 42 acres of maritime ^^ land in a certain place called Scotsmarsh, each acre of which is worth yearly 12d., the sum being 42s. And there are there 7 acres and 1 rood of maritime land in a certain place called Aldithewisse; and 47 acres and 3 roods of maritime land in a certain place called Flittermarsh, each acre of which is worth yearly 12d., the sum being 55s. And there are there 22 acres of maritime land in two places called Pundfold and Longrech; and 7 acres of maritime land in a certain place called Wyssh, and 8 acres and 3 roods of mari- time land in a certain place called Upcroft marsh, and 3 acres and a half of maritime land in a certain place called Redewysshe; and each acre is worth yearly 12d., the sum being 41s. 3d.-^ The total of the acres of woods is 12 acres. The total of the acres of arable land is 444 acres and 3 roods, of which 147 acres 4 roods are maritime land, 101 acres marshy land, and 180 acres waste ground. The total of the acres of meadow is 13 acres 1 rood. The total of the whole preceding extent 18£. 10s. 4d. John Pollard holds a half acre in Aldithewisse and owes 18d. at the four terms, and owes from it relief and heriot. John Suthinton holds a house and 40 acres of land and owes 3s. 6d. at Easter and Michaelmas. -"* ^ Apparently land which was close to the salt marsh but yet capable of being cultivated, since agricultural services of the villein tenants are mentioned subse- quently. Bernehorne is in Sussex, quite near the sea. (The notes on this docu- ment are Prof. Cheyney's.) 23 Various numbers of acres of land situated in different places and at values from 3d. to 18d. per acre a year are here named. ^4 j g Sept. 29. 220 ENGLISH LITERATURE "William of Swynhaminc holds 1 acre of meadow in the thicket of Swynhamme and owes Id. at the feast of Michaelmas. Ralph of Ley bourne holds a cottage and 1 acre of land in Pinden and owes 3s. at Easter and Michaelmas, and attendance at the court in the manor every three weeks, relief and heriot. Richard Knyst of Swynhamme holds two acres and a half of land and owes yearly 4s. William at Knelle holds 2 acres of land in Aldithewisse and owes yearly 4s. Roger le Glede holds a cottage and 3 roods of land and owes 2s. Cd. at Easter and Michaelmas. Alexander Hamound holds a little piece of land near Aldithe- wisse and owes 1 goose, of the value of 2d. The sum of the whole rent of the free tenants, with the value of the goose, is 18s. 9d. They say moreover that John of Cay worth holds a house and 30 acres of land, and owes yearly 2s. at Easter and INIichaelmas; and he owes a cock and two hens at Christmas, of the value of 4d. And he ought to harrow for 2 days at the Lenten sowing with one man and his own horse and his own harrow, the value of the work being 4d.; and he is to receive from the lord on each day 3 meals, of the value of 5d., and then the lord will be at a loss of Id. Thus his harrowing is of no value to the service of the lord. And he ought to carry the manure of the lord for 2 days with 1 cart, with his own 2 oxen, the value of the work being 8d.; and he is to receive from the lord each day 3 meals of the price as above. And thus the service is worth 3d. clear. And he shall find 1 man for 2 days for mowing the meadow of the lord, who can mow, by estimation 1 acre and a half, the value of the mowing of an acre being 6d.; the sum is therefore 9d.; and he is to receive each day 3 meals of the value given above; and thus that mowing is worth 4d clear. And he ought to gather and carry that same hay which he has cut, the price of the work being 3d. And he shall have from the lord 2 meals for 1 man, of the value of Ijd. Thus the work will be worth Ijd. clear. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 221 And he ought to carry the hay of the lord for 1 day ^Yith a cart and 3 animals of his own, the price of the work being 6d. And he shall have from the lord 3 meals of the value of ^Jd. And thus the work is worth Sjd. clear. And he ought to carry in autumn beans or oats for 2 days with a cart and 3 animals of his own, the value of the work being 12d. And he shall receive from the lord each day 3 meals of the value given above; and thus the work is worth 7d. clear. And he ought to carry wood from the woods of the lord as far as the manor ^^ for two days in summer with a cart and 3 animals of his own, the value of the work being 9d. And he shall receive from the lord each day 3 meals of the price given above; and thus the work is worth 4d. clear. And he ought to find 1 man for 2 days to cut heath, the value of the work being 4d., and he shall have 3 meals each day of the value given above; and thus the lord wdll lose, if he receives the service, 3d. Thus that mowing is worth nothing to the service of the lord. And he ought to carry the heath which he has cut, the value of the work being 5d. And he shall receive from the lord 3 meals at the price of 2jd. And thus the work will be worth 2M. clear. And he ought to carry to Battle -^ twice in the summer sea- son, each time half a load of grain, the value of the service being 4d. And he shall receive in the manor each time 1 meal of the value of 2d. And thus the work is worth 2d. clear. The total of the rents, with the value of the hens, is 2s. -td. The total of the value of the works is 2s. 3jd.; owed from the said John yearly. William of Cay worth holds a house and 30 acres of land and owes at Easter and Michaelmas 2s. rent. And he shall do all customs just as the foresaid John of Cayworth. William atte Grene holds a house and 30 acres of land and owes in all things just as the said John. Alan atte Felde holds a house and 16 acres of land (for which ^ I.e. the manor-house. ^ The manor of Bernehorne was a lioldin^ of Battle Abbey, the foundation of WilHam the Conqueror after the battle of Hastings. 202 ENGLISH LITERATURE the sergeant pays to the court of Bixley 2s. ),^^ and he owes at Easter and INIichaehnas 4s., attendance at the manor court, reUef and heriot. John LyUing"^^'yst holds a house and 4 acres of land and owes at the two terms 2s., attendance at the manor court, relief and heriot . The same John holds 1 acre of land in the fields of Hoo and owes at the two periods ^s., attendance, relief and heriot. Reginald atte Denne holds a house and 18 acres of land and owes at the said periods 18d., attendance, relief and heriot. Robert of Northehou holds 3 acres of land at Saltcote and owes at the said periods attendance, relief and heriot. Total of the rents of the villeins, with the value of the hens, 20s. Total of all the works of these three villeins, 6s. lOjd. And it is to be noted that none of the above named villeins can give their daughters in marriage nor cause their sons to be tonsured,^^ nor can they cut down timber growing on the lands they hold, without license of the bailiff or sergeant of the lord, and then for building purposes and not otherwise. And after the death of any one of the foresaid villeins the lord shall have as a heriot his best animal, if he had any; if however he have no living beast the lord shall have no heriot, as they say. The sons or daughters of the foresaid villeins shall give for en- trance into the holding after the death of their predecessors as much as they give of rent per year. Silvester the priest holds 1 acre of meadow adjacent to his house, and owes yearly 3s. Total of the rent of tenants for life, 3^. Petronilla atte Holme holds a cottage and a piece of land and owes at Easter and Michaelmas . . .; attendance, relief and heriot. 2^ Bixley was a neighboring manor, held by the Bishop of Chichester, having certain claims over some of the land in the manor of Bemehome. -•^ That is to let them enter the clergy. This was not only a common prohibi- tion according to the custom of many manors but was enacted in statute law. "Sons of rustics ought not to be ordained without the assent of the lord on whose land they are known to have been bom." Constitutions of Clarendon, c. IG (a.d. 1164). THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 223 Walter Herying holds a cottage and a piece of land and owes at Easter and Michaelmas 18d., attendance, relief and heriot. Isabella Mariner holds a cottage and owes at the feast of St. Michael 12d., attendance, relief and heriot.-^ Total of the rents of the said cotters, with the value of the hens, 34s. 6d. And it is to be noted that all the said cotters shall do as regards giving their daughters in marriage, having their sons tonsured, cutting down timber, paying heriot, and giving fines for entrance just as John of Cay worth and the rest of the villeins formerly mentioned. Note, fines ^^ and penalties, with heriots and reliefs, are worth yearly 5s. The survey of Borley is as follows : Extent of the manor of Borley made there on Tuesday next after the feast of St. Matthew the Apostle, a.d. 1308, in the first year of the reign of King Edward, son of King Edward, in the persence of John le Doo, steward, by the hands of William of Folesham, clerk, on the oath of Philip, the reeve of Borley, Henry Lambert, Dennis Rolf, Richard at Mere, Walter Johan and Robert Ernald, tenants of the lord in the said vill of Bor- ley. These all, having been sworn, declare that there is one mansion well and suitably built; that it is sufficient for the products of the manor, and that it contains in itself, within the site of the manor, four acres, by estimation. The grass there is worth yearly, by estimation, 2^.; and the pasturage there is worth yearly 12ri., sometimes more and sometimes less, accord- ing to its value. And the fruit garden there is worth yearly, in apples and grapes, perhaps o.v. and sometimes more. Total, Ss. 23 Eleven other cotters are named holdinfj cottajjes and amonnis of land var\ ini,' from a rood to three and a half acres and giving payments iij) to tluei- ,sliilliii<,rs, and the other services. 3° A "fine" was a payment made to tlic lord hy any oii<> who aciiuinMl land in the manor in any other way than by inheritance, in which case the payment was rehef. The usnal word for a penalty was not "fine" but "amerciament"; or it was recorded that a person was "in mercy." 1 224 ENGLISH LITERATURE And it is to be known that the lord is the true patron of the church of Borley, and the said church is worth yearly, accord- ing to assessment, in grains, in offerings, in dues and in other small tithes £10. And there is one water mill in the manor, and it is worth yearly on lease 60^. x\nd the fish pond in the mill dam, with the catch of eels from the race, is worth yearly, by estimation, Ud. Total, Qls. There is there a wood called le Hop, which contains 10 acres, and the underbrush from it is worth yearly, without w^aste, 5s.; and the grass from it is w^orth yearly 5s.; and the feeding of swine there is worth yearly VZd. And there is there a certain other wood called Chalvecroft, which contains, w^ith the ditches, 5 acres. And the herbage there is worth yearly ^s. dd.; and the underbrush there is worth yearly 3^.; and the feeding of swine there is worth yearly Qd. Total value, 17^. There are there, of arable land in demesne, in different fields 300 acres of land, by the smaller hundred. And it is worth yearly, on lease, £15, at the price of IZd. per acre. Total acre- age, 300. Total value, £15. And it is to be known that the perch of land in that manor contains 16| feet, in measuring land. And each acre can be sown suitably with 2| bushels of wheat, with 2| bushels of rye, with 2 J bushels of peas, with 3 bushels of oats, and this sown broadcast, and with 4 bushels of barley, even measure. And each plow should be joined with 4 oxen and 4 draught horses. And a plow is commonly able to plow an acre of land in a day, and sometimes more. There are likewise of mowing meadow in various places 29 acres and 1 rood. This is worth yearly £7 6s. Sd., at 5s. an acre. Total acreage, 29A., IR. Total of pence, £7 6s. Sd. There are likewise of enclosed pasture 28 acres, and this is w^orth yearly 42s. at IM. per acre. Of this 16 acres are assigned to the dairy for the cows, and 12 for the oxen and young bul- locks. Total, 425. It is to be known that the lord may have in the common pasture of Borley, along with the use of the fresh meadows and of the demesnes of the lord, in the open time, 100 sheep, by THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 225 the greater hundred. And their pasture, per head, is worth 2s. yearly, and not more, on account of the allowance of food to the shepherd. Total, 20^. _ There is there likewise a certain court of free tenants of the lord and of the customary tenants, meeting every three weeks. And the fines and perquisites thence, along with the view of frankpledge, are worth 206\ a year. . . . There are, moreover of the services of the aforesaid custom- ary tenants 22^ tasks, of which each task requires plowing upon the land of the lord at different seasons. And a task at the convenience of the lord at all plantings is worth l()|c?. Total, 19^. Sid. There are, moreover, of the autumn works of the aforesaid customary tenants from the first of August to the feast of St. Michael, 424 days' work, the price of each day's work being 2d. Total, 41.^. M. The sum of the total value, according to the extent, is £43 19s. id. Likewise from Reginald Crummelond 10^. yearly, discovered after the extent was made up, as above. From which should be subtracted 7d. rent owed to Lady Felicia of Sender, yearly, for a certain meadow called Baselymede, near Radbridge. There remains £43 18.^. ojc/., plus 10s. as above. And it is to be known that the lord prior of Christ Church of Canterbury has his liberty in the vill of Borley; and he has jurisdiction over thieves caught on the manor and tenants of the manor taken outside the manor with stolen goods in their hands or on their backs. And the j udicia l gallows of this franchise stand and ought to stand at Radbridge. And now let us intiuire concerning the pillory and tumbrel. It is reported by the jury that it ought to stand beyond the outer gates toward the west, next to the pigstye of the lord. And it is to be remembered that as often as It is necessary for the reeve and four men to be present before I lie justices in eyre or anywhere else, that is to say, at the jail delivery of our lord the King, or wheresoever it may be, the lord ought to find two men at his expense before the same justices; and the vil- lagers of Borley will find three men at their expense; and this 226 ENGLISH LITERATURE according- to custom from a time to which, as it is said, memory does not extend. And it is to be known that when any customary tenant of the hmd in the manor dies, the lord will have as a heriot the best beast of that tenant found at the time of his death. And if he have not a beast, he shall give to the lord for a heriot 2s. 6(1. And the heir shall make a fine to the lord for the tenement which was his father's, if it shall seem to be expedient to him; if not , he shall have nothing. Nevertheless, to the wife of the deceased tenant shall be saved the whole of the tenement which was her husband's on the day he died, to be held of the lord as her free bench till the end of her life, if she shall remain without a husband, and on performing the services due and customary thence to the lord. If, however, through the license of the lord, she shall have married, the heirs of the aforesaid deceased shall enter upon the aforesaid tenement by the license of the lord, and shall give one half of the said tenement to the widow of the deceased as dowry. Our final entry in this section is a thirteenth century certificate of manumission, issued to a villein when his lord had made up his mind to free him. The certificate illustrates both the procedure of manumission, the condi- tion of the villein before he attained freedom and the privi- leges to which he was admitted when free. To all the faithful of Christ to whom the present writing shall come, Richard by the divine permission abbot of Peterborough and the convent of the same place, eternal greeting in the Lord. Let all know that we have manumitted and liberated from all yoke of servitude William, the son of Richard of Wythington whom previously we have held as our born bondman, with his whole progeny and all his chattels, so that neither we nor our successors shall be able to require or exact any right or claim in the said William, his progeny, or his chattels. But the same William with his whole progeny and all his chattels will remain free and quit and without disturbance, exaction, or any claim on the part of us or our successors by reason of any servitude, THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 227 forever. We will moreover and concede that he and his heirs shall hold the messuages, land, rents and meadows in Wything- ton which his ancestors held from us and our predecessors, by giving and performing the fine which is called merchet for giving his daughter in marriage and tallage from year to year according to our will — that he shall have and hold these for the future from us and our successors freely, quietly, peacefully, and heredi- tarily, by paying thence to us and our successors yearly 40s. sterling, at the four terms of the year, namely; at St. John the Baptist's day, 10s., at ^Michaelmas, 10s., at Christmas, 10s., and at Easter, 10s., for all service, exaction, custom, and secular demand: saving to us nevertheless attendance at our court of Castre every three weeks, wardship and relief, and outside serv- ice of our lord the king, when they shall happen. And if it shall happen that the said AYilliam or his heirs shall die at any time without an heir, the said messuage, land, rents, and mead- ows with their appurtenances shall return fully and completely to us and our successors. Nor will it be allowed to the said William or his heirs the said messuage, land, rents, meadows, or any part of them to give, sell, alienate, mortgage, or in any way encumber by which the said messuage, land, rents, and meadows should not return to us and our successors in the form declared above. But if this should occur later their deed shall be declared null and what is thus alienated shall come to us and our successors. In testimony of which duplicate seals are ap- pended to this writing, formed as a chirograph, for the sake of greater security. These being witnesses, etc. Given at Borough, for the love of lord Robert of good memory, once abbot, our predecessor and maternal uncle of the said William, and at tlie instance of the good man brother Hugh of Mutton, relative of the said abbot Robert; a.d. 1278, on the eve of Pentecost. Manufacture and trade, nearly unknown to the (icrinaiis described by Tacitus,^^ gradually grew in importance and ^^ Cf. ante, pp. 8-19. Amon^ the numcnnis trcatisivs on Kiif^Misli industrial history at this time may l)c mentioned: Traill, Social KtujlatuL ii. Chapters 5, G (Cassell & Co., 2d ed., 189.5); Ashley, EtujUsh Eronnmic Illsfnrji, ii (Lonf^mans, Green & Co., 1894); Cheyney, Social and Jmhisfrial Ilistori/ of England, Chapters l-.> (The Macmillan Co., 1901); Cunninj,diain, (ironili of English Indnsiry and Coinincrci, i 228 ENGLISH LITERATURE complexity in our period and came by degrees into the control of gilds, organizations which undoubtedly origi- nated in voluntary associations for the attainment of some common object, but settled into rigidly governed bodies. The gild merchant of a community was a combination of its mercantile forces for the complete control of trade, and in many cases became identical with the municipal or borough corporation. The craft gilds were organizations not unlike modern trade unions, for the control of labor, price and output in a given occupation, and, sometimes, as in the case of London, came to perform important municipal functions. These highly developed forms of gild organization, however, did not drive out the earlier type of voluntary clubs, for the latter give every evidence of continuing vigor, making gild life in the later thirteenth century and throughout the fourteenth very complex. The craft gilds undoubtedly set up the standard for early university organization in England, where the first scholas- tic foundations are practically gilds of masters and of students respectively. Gilds of various sorts became im- portant enough, in their own eyes at least, to seek and secure charters of privileges, as did cities and towns. It is clear that gilds would be most easily organized and most numerous in urban communities and, hence, we are safe in describing the gild as the typical organizing force in medieval city life, as feudalism was in corresponding rural life. Our first document referring to the gilds is the Ordinances of the Spurriers of London, a craft gild. This set of by-laws will show us what a typical craft gild tried to do and what it conceived it had a right to expect of its members. (Cambridge University Press, 3d. ed., 1903). See also Bland, Brown and TawTiey, English Economic History: Select Documents, ed. 2. (Geo. Bell and Sons, 1915), White and Xotestein, Source Problems in English History, pp. 109-157, An Aspect of the Agricultural Labor Problem in the Fourteenth Century (Harper and Bros., 1915.) THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 229 Be it remembered, that on Tuesday, the morrow of St. Peter's Chains, in the nineteenth year of the reign of King Edward III, the articles underwritten were read l^efore John Hannnond, mayor, Roger de Depham, recorder, and the other aldermen; and seeing that the same were deemed befitting, they were accepted and enrolled in these words. In the first place, — that no one of the trade of spurriers shall work longer than from the beginning of the day until cur- few rung out at the Church of St. Sepulchre, without Newgate; by reason that no man can work so neatly by night as by day. And many persons of the said trade, who compass how to prac- tice deception in their work, desire to work by night rather tlian by day; and then they introduce false iron, and iron that has been cracked, for tin, and also they put gilt on false copper, and cracked. And further, — many of the said trade are wandering about all day, without working at all at their trade; and then, when they have become drunk and frantic, they take to their work, to the annoyance of the sick, and all their neighborhood, as well by reason of the broils that arise between them and the strange folks who are dwelling among them. And then they blow up their fires so vigorously, that their forges begin all at once to blaze to the great peril of themselves and of all the neighborhood around. And then, too, all the neighbors are nuich in dread of the sparks, which so vigorously issue forth in all directions from the mouths of the chimneys in their forges. By reason thereof it seems unto them that working by night should be put an end to, in order such false work and such perils to avoid: and therefore the mayor and the aldermen do will, by the assent of the good folks of the said trade, and for the com- mon profit, that from henceforth such time for working, and such false work made in the trade, shall be forbidden. And if any person shall be found in the said trade to do tlic contrary hereof, let him be amerced, the first time in 40d., onc-lialf thereof to go to the use of the Chamber of the Guildhall of London, and the other half to the use of the said trade; the second time, in half a mark, and the third time in 10s., to tlie use of the same Cham- ber and trade; and the fourth time, let him forswear the trade forever. 230 ENGLISH LITERATURE Also that no one of the said trade shall hang his spurs out on Sundays, or any other days that are double feasts; but only a sign indicating his business: and such spurs as they shall so sell, they are to show and sell within their shops, without ex- posing them without, or opening the doors or windows of their shops, on the pain aforesaid. Also, that no one of the said trade shall keep a house or shop to carry on his business, unless he is free of the city; and that no one shall cause to be sold, or exposed for sale, any manner of old spurs for new ones, or shall garnish them or change them for new ones. Also, that no one of the said trade shall take an apprentice for a less term than seven years, and such apprentice shall be enrolled according to the usages of the said city. Also, that if any one of the said trade, who is not a freeman, shall take an apprentice for a term of years, he shall be amerced as aforesaid. Also, that no one of the said trade shall receive the appren- tice, serving-man or journeymen of another in the same trade, during the term agreed upon between his master and him; on the pain aforesaid. Also, that no alien of another country, or foreigner of this country, shall follow or use the said trade, unless he is enfran- chised before the mayor, aldermen and chamberlain; and that by witness and surety of the good folks of the said trade, who will undertake for him as to his loyalty and his good behavior. Also, that no one of the said trade shall work on Saturdays, after None has been rung out in the City; and not from that hour until the Monday morning following. Chaucer has described in the Prolog to the Canterbury Tales five members of a gild which Avas not, however, a craft gild, but must have been more or less of a social club made up of the members of various craft organiza- tions. His words also tell us somewhat of the social privi- leges of the members of the gilds. A haberdasher and a carpenter, a weaver, a dyer and an upholsterer were with us ^^ also, clothed in the same livery, that ^ I.e. on the pilgrimage to Canterbury. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 231 of a solemn and great fraternity. Their gear had been freshly and newly adorned; their table knives were in sheaths capped not with brass but with silver, wrought full clean and well, and their pouches also were in good shape. Each of them seemed, indeed, to be a fair burgess, (worthy) of sitting in a gild-hall on a dais. Each one on account of his wisdom was capable of being an alderman. They had rent enough and other i)roperty, and their wives would likewise agree (to let them be aldermen). Otherwise the wives would be much to blame. For it is very pleasant to be called "madame," to go to festivals at the head of the procession and to have one's mantle royally borne. The document which follows is a royal license, given by Richard II in ISO'^ after due investigation, for the founda- tion of a charitable gild whose membership was to include the whole population of the town of Birmingham, if they cared to join. The King to all, etc.. Greeting. Know ye, that whereas on the 25th October in the sixth year of our reign, by our letters patent, we granted license to Thomas Sheldone, now dead, John Coleshulle, John Goldsmythe, and William atte Slowe, Burgesses of Bermyngeham, enabling them to give and assign certain lands, tenements, and rents, with their ai)purtenances, in 15er- myngeham and Egebaston, not held of us in chief, and worth twenty marks a year, to two chaplains, for the celebration of divine service in the church of St. Martin of Bermyngeham, to the honor of God, the blessed INIary his mother, the Holy Cross, St. Thomas the Martyr,^^ and St. Katherine; to be held by the said chaplains and their successors for e\'er; as in those letters patent is more fully set forth: — Now, in consideration of our said letters patent, which have never, as is said, tak(Mi t'tVccl, and wliicli the Bailiffs and Connnonalty (of Bermyngchani) have sent back into oin- Chancery to be cancelled, nnd ui)on the prayer of the 15ailitt's and Connnonalty Ihemselves, and for fifty pounds which they have paid to us, wc do, for us and our heirs, so far as in us lies, grant and give license to the said 15ailiffs 23 I.e. Tlioinas a Ik'ckcl. 232 ENGLISH LITERATURE and Commonalty, tliat tliey may make and .found, in honor of the Holy Cross, a Ciild and brotherhood of brethren and sisteren among themselves in that town, to which shall belong as well the men and women of the town of Bermyngeham as men and women well disposed in other towns and in the neighborhood; and that they may make and ordain a Master and Wardens of the Gild and brotherhood, who shall have rule and govern- ance over the same; and may make and found a chantry, for the celebration by chaplains of divine service in the church of St. Martin of Bermyngeham; and may do and find other works of charity, for our welfare and that of the Queen, and for the brethren and sisteren of the said Gild and brotherhood, and for all good-doers to them, and for their souls' sake and those of all Christians, according as the ordering and will of the said Bailiffs and Commonalty shall appoint in that behalf. And further, we grant and give license, for us and our heirs, to the said John Coleshulle, John Goldsmythe, and William atte Slowe, that they may give and assign to the said Master and Wardens eighteen messuages, three tofts, six acres of land, and forty shillings of rent, with the appurtenances, in the said towns of Bermyngeham and Egebaston, w^hich are not held of us, to have and to hold to them and their successors. Masters and Wardens of the said Gild and brotherhood, to enable them to find there for ever chaplains to celebrate divine service, and to do other works of charity for ever, as aforesaid, according to their order- ing and wdll. And we grant our special license to the same Master and Wardens that they may take the messuages, land, and rents aforesaid, with the appurtenances, from the afore- named John, John, and William, and hold them, to themselves and their successors, finding thereout chaplains to celebrate divine service in the church aforesaid, and doing other works of charity, for ever, according to their own ordering and will as is before said; the statute against putting lands in mortmain not- withstanding; desiring that neither the aforesaid John, John, and William, nor their heirs, nor the said Master and Wardens nor their successors, shall, by reason of that statute, be charged, troubled, or in any way made to suffer, either by us or our heirs, or by any Justices, Escheators, Sheriffs, or other Bailiffs or THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 233 INIinisters whomsoever, of us or our heirs: Saving however, to the chief lords of the fee, the services due and accustomed. Witness, etc. Given at Moulton, on the 7th day of (August). The next two documents, Ordinances of the Gilds of St. Mary and of The Lord's Prayer respectively, are particu- larly interesting and significant for our purposes, because these gilds were founded for the express object of perform- ing pageants or plays. The first, that of St. ^lary, was to have charge of an annual festal procession in honor of the Virgin Mary at Beverl}^ though it had charitable duties as well. The relation of these pageants to plays is well known. The other gild, that of The Lord's Prayer, simi- larly, was founded at York to perform a play on the Pater- noster (Lord's Prayer) wdiich play w^as probably not, as the name might suggest, like a morality play with personi- fication of the several petitions, but a saints' play in which various saints w^ere seen struggling with the seven deadly sins, the respective opposites of the seven petitions in the Prayer.^^ (a) This gild was founded, by persons named in the return, on January 2oth, a.d. 1355. There shall be an alderman and two stewards of the gild, wlio shall manage its affairs according to what the brethren and sis- teren shall have agreed. The brethren and sisteren shall each pay, on entry, towards the expenses of the gild, five shillings, and one pound of wax, or more. Every year, on tlic foa'st of the Purification of the Blessed Mary,'^^ all the brethren and sisteren shall meet together in a fit and ai)pointed phuw away from the church: and there, one of the gild shall be clad in comely fashion as a queen, like to the glorious ^'irgin Mary, having what may seem a son in her arms: and two olliers shall be clad like Jose})h and Simeon; and two shall go as angels, carrying a candle-bearer on wliicli sliall l)c twenty-four tliick *» I owe this information to Professor Iljinliii Cnii^' of the University of Min- nesota. ^ I-c. Fel)riiary '2. 234 ENGLISH LITERATURE wax lights. With these and other great hghts borne before them and with much music and gladness, the pageant Virgin with her son, and Joseph and Simeon, shall go in procession to the church. And all the sisteren of the gild shall follow the Virgin: and afterwards all the brethren: and each of them shall carry a wax light weighing half a pound. x4.nd they shall go two and two, slowly pacing to the church: and when they shall have got there, the pageant Virgin shall offer her son to Simeon at the high altar: and all the sisteren and brethren shall offer their wax lights, together with a penny each. All this having been solemnly done, they shall go home again with gladness. And any brother or sister who does not come, unless cause for staying away be shown, shall pay half a pound of wax to the gild. On the same day, after dinner, the brethren and sisteren shall meet together, and shall eat bread and cheese and drink ale, rejoicing in the Lord, in the praise of the glorious Virgin Mary: and they shall then and there choose, with the assent of the elder part of the brethren and sisteren of the gild, an alder- man and stewards for the next year, who shall at once undertake the affairs of the gild. Prayers and offerings shall be given for the dead. The alderman and stewards of the gild shall visit those brethren and sisteren who are poor, ailing or weak and who have not enough of their own to live upon: and they shall give to these as they think right out of the gild stock, as has been agreed: namely, to each one so being poor, ailing or weak, eightpence, sixpence or at least fourpence, every week, to help their needs. And if any of those poor brethren dies, or any other of the gild who is not well oif, he shall be buried at the cost of the gild and have all becoming services. (6) As to the beginning of the said gild, be it known that, once on a time, a play, setting forth the goodness of the Lord's Prayer, was played in the city of York: in which play all manner of vices and sins were held up to scorn, and the virtues were held up to praise. This play met with sq much favor that many said, "Would that this play could be kept up in this city, for the health of souls and for the comfort of the citizens and neigh- bors." Hence, the keeping up of that play in times to come, for the health and amendment of the souls as well of the up- THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUUD 235 holders as of the hearers of it, l^ecanie the whole and sole cause of the beginning and fellowship of the brethren of this brother- hood. And so, the main charge of the gild is, to keep up this play, to the glory of God, the maker of the said prayer, and for the holding up of sins and vices to scorn. And because those who remain in their sins are unable to call God their Father, therefore, tlie brethren of the gild are, first of all, bound to shun company and businesses that are unworthy, and to keep tliemselves to good and worthy businesses. And they are bound to pray for the brethren and sisteren of the gild, both alive and dead, tliat tlie living shall be able so to keep the gild that they may deserve to win God's fatherhood, and that the dead may have tlieir torments lightened. Also, they are bound to come to the burial ser\dces of the dead brethren and sisteren of the gild. And if any one does not leave enough to meet the cost of such services, tlie rest of the brethren shall bear the cost. And if any brother dies and is buried away from this city, the brethren shall hold services for him within the city of York. Also, it is forbidden that any brother of the gild shall, in the belief that he w^iU have help from his brethren, be forward in getting into law suit or quarrel, or in upholding any wrongful cause whatever, upon pain of losing all help and friendshij), or any relief from the gild. And because vain is the gathering of the faithful unless some work of kindliness is done, therefore, the brethren have made this ordinance: That if haply it befall that any of the brethren be robbed, or his goods or chattels perchance be burned, or he be imprisoned for any wrongful cause, or be brought to want through any visitation of God, the other brethren shall for kindness' sake, help him according to his need, under the guidance of the wardens of the gild, so that he may not hni)ly perish through lack of help. Also, they are l)()und to find one candle-bearer, with seven lights, in token of the seven sui)pli{a- tions in the Lord's Prayer: which candle-!)earer shall hang in the cathedral church of York, and be lighted on Sundays and feast days, to the glory and honor of God Almighty, the Maker of that Prayer, of St. Peter the glorious confessor, of St. William and of all saints. Also, they are l)ound to make, and as often as need be, to renew, a table showing the whole meaning and use 236 ENGLISH LITERATURE of the Lord's Prayer, and to keep this hanging against a pillar in the said cathedral church near to the aforesaid candle-bearer. Also, they are bound, as often as the said play of the Lords' Prayer is played in the city of York, to ride with the players thereof through the chief streets of the city of York: and, the more becomingly to mark themselves while thus riding, they must all be clad in one suit. And to ensure good order during the said play, some of the brethren are bound to ride or to walk with the players until the play is wholly ended. And once in a year a feast shall be held, and fresh wardens shall be chosen by the gild, and a true account shall be given to the newly chosen wardens of all that has been done on behalf of the gild during the last year. Also, it is ordained that no one shall be let come into this gild, until after he shall have been questioned by the wardens of the gild as to whether he has bent his will to live rightly, and so to deal towards the gild and its affairs that he may be at one with the wardens. And, because the founders of the said gild well knew that they themselves might not be wise enough to make, at once, all needful ordinances, therefore, at the end of the Ordinances then made, they added this clause: "Whensoever, and as often soever, as it may perchance happen that we or our successors, wardens and brethren of this gild, may become wiser than we now are, none of us nor our succes- sors shall be deemed a rebel, or as standing out against our wishes or against those of any of our successors, if haply we put forth, or there shall be put forth at any time hereafter, any new ordinance that will be for the greater glory of God or the wel- fare of this gild." Under which saving clause other wardens of the gild have since added, that a chaplain shall, once a year, celebrate divine service before the gild, for the good of the brethren and sisteren of the gild, alive and dead, and for that of the good-doers to the gild. Moreover, the brethren are wont to meet together at the end of every six weeks, and to put up special prayers for the welfare of our lord the King and for the good governance of the kingdom of England and for all the brethren and sisteren of this gild, present and absent, alive and dead, and for all the benefactors of the gild or to the gild breth- ren: and also, once in a year, to have a general service for the THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 237 dead brethren and sisteren. There do not belong to the gild any rents of land, nor any tenements, nor any goods save only the properties needed in the playing of the before-named play: which properties are of little or no worth for any other purpose than the said play. And the gild has one wooden chest in which the said properties are kept. (It is added that), as the seals of the wardens of the gild will be unknown to many, they have asked that the seal of the Vicar- General of the Archbishop of York shall be jnit to this return: which has accordingly been done, in witness of the truth of the return, on the i21st January, 1388 (9). The last entry in this section devoted to the gilds is the Order of the Pageants of the Play of Corpus Christi at York. The list W'as made up in 1415, a little after the end of our period, but it doubtless represents conditions in the last decade of the fourteenth century as well as in the opening years of the fifteenth. Note the cooperation of town au- thorities with the gilds in the production of the play. The Order of the Pageants of the Play of Corpus Christi, in the time of the mayoralty of William Alne, in the third year of tlie reign of Henry V, anno (year) 1415, compiled by Roger Burton, town clerk, — Tanners. — God the Father Omnipotent creating and forming the heavens, the angels and archangels, Lucifer and the angels who fell with him into the pit. Plasterers. — God the Father in his substance creating tlic earth and all things which are therein, in the space of five days. Cardmakers. — God the Father forming Adam from the nmd of the earth, and making Eve from Adam's rib, and inspiring them witli the breath of life. Fullers. — God forbidding Adam and Ev(^ to (^at of tlie tree of life. Coopers. — Adam and Eve and tlic tree between lliem, the ser])ent deceiving tliem with a])ples; (lod s])eaking to them and cursing the seri)ent, and an angel with a sword driving them out of Paradise. 238 ENGLISH LITERATURE Armorers. — Adam and Eve, an angel with a spade and dis- taff ai)pointing them their labor. Glovers. — Abel and Cain sacrificing victims. Shipwrights. — God warning Noah to make an ark out of j)laned wood. Fishmongers a fid Mariners. — Noah in the ark with his wife, three sons of Noah with their wives, with various animals. Parchment-makers and Book-binders. — Abraham sacrificing his son Isaac on the altar. Hosiers. — Moses lifting up the serpent in the w ilderness. King Pharaoh, eight Jews looking on and wondering. Spicers. — \ doctor declaring the sayings of the prophets concerning the future birth of Christ. Mary, the angel saluting her; ]\Iary saluting Elizabeth. Pewterers and Founders. — Mary, Joseph wishing to send her away, the angel telling them to go over to Bethlehem. Tilers. — ^lary, Joseph, a nurse, the child born and lying in a manger between an ox and an ass, and an angel speaking to the shepherds, and to the players in the next pageant. Chandlers. — Shepherds speaking to one another, the star in the East, an angel announcing to the shepherds their great joy in the child which has been born. Goldsmiths, Goldbeaters and Moneyers. — Three kings coming from the East, Herod questioning them about the child Jesus, and the son of Herod and two counsellors and a herald. ^lary with the child and the star above, and three kings offering gifts. {Formerly) The House of St. Leonard, (now) Masons. — Mary, with the boy, Joseph, Anna, the nurse, with the young doves. Simeon receiving the boy into his arms, and the two sons of Simeon. Marshalls. — Mary with the boy and Josej^h fleeing into Egypt, at the bidding of the angel. Girdlers, Nailers, and Sawyers. — Herod ordering the male children to be slain, four soldiers with lances, two counsellors of the king, and four women weeping for the death of their sons. Spurriers and Lorimers. — Doctors, the boy Jesus sitting in the temple in the midst of them, asking them questions and THE SOCL\L AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 239 replying to them, four Jews, Mary and Joseph seeking him, and finding him in the temple. Barbers. — Jesus, John the Baptist baptizing him, and two angels attending. Vinters. — Jesus, Mary, bridegroom with the bride, ruler of the feast with his slaves, with six vessels of water in which the water is turned into wine. Smiths. — Jesus on a pinnacle of the temple, and the devil tempting him with stones, and tv\'o angels attending, etc. Curriers. — Peter, James, and John; Jesus ascending into a mountain and transfiguring himself before them. Moses and Elias appearing, and the voice of one speaking in a cloud. Ironmongers. — Jesus, and Simon the leper asking Jesus to eat with him; two disciples, Mary Magdalene bathing Jesus' feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. Plumbers and Patternmakers. —Jesus, two apostles, the woman taken in adultery, four Jews accusing her. Pouchmakers, Bottlers, and Capmakers. — Lazarus in the sepul- chre, Mary Magdalene and Martha, and two Jews wondering. Spinners and Vestmakers. — Jesus on an ass with its colt, twelve apostles following Jesus, six rich and six poor, eight ])oys with branches of palm, singing Blessed, etc., and Zaccheus climl)- ing into a sycamore tree. Cutlers, Bladesmiths, Shearers, Scalers, Bucklermakers, and Homers. — Pilate, Caiaphas, two soldiers, three Jews, Judas selling Jesus. Bakers. — The passover lamb, the Supper of the Lord, twelve apostles, Jesus girded with a towel, washing their feet, institu- tion of the sacrament of the body of Christ in the new law, com- munion of the apostles. Cordwainers. — ^ Pilate, Caiaphas, Annas, fourtctMi aruuMJ sol- diers, Malchus, Peter, James, John, Jcsns, and .luda^ ki»inu and betraying him. Bowjjers and Fletchers. — Jesus, Annas, (\iiai)lias, and four Jews beating and scourging Jesus. Pc(h 36 Cf. ante p. 227. •'' Ihid.. p. -H\). 242 ENGLISH LITERATURE beaver hat; his boots were neatly tied. He spoke very solemnly and his conversation always bore on his gainful bargains. He wanted the sea policed at any cost between Middleburg and Orewell.^^ He well knew how to make a profit by his exchange of crowns in the different money-markets of Europe. This worthy man laid out his wit well; no one knew that he was in de]:)t, so dignified was he in his governance with his bargains and his agreements for borrowing money. Forsooth he was alto- gether a very worthy man, but, to tell the truth, I don't know what his name was. In the poem known as The Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman, long ascribed to William Langland,^^ we have curiously realistic pictures of many features of fourteenth-century life. In one section of the poem there is a series of confessions of the seven deadly sins, the longest of which, very interestingly, is by Covetousness and includes a good account of sharp retail practices which sounds very modern. Covetousness has had a long busi- ness experience in various trades, and, like Chaucer's Mer- chant, has been both tradesman and banker. We need to keep in mind the fact that, in the Middle Ages, all legal trade was retail. Then came Covetise, him cannot I describe, So hungry and hollow Sir Harvey's self he looked: Beetle-browed, babber-lipped, with his bleared eyes. And, like a leather purse, his cheeks lolled down Below his chin and shivered with age. A hood upon his head, and a lousy hat on top, A tawny cloak upon him, twelve winters old. All torn and rotten and full of creeping lice; ^^ The wool trade was one of the staple English trades at this time; the wool was shipped extensively from Orewell, near Harwich, to INIiddleburg, in the Low Countries; hence, this merchant wishes this trade route kept free of pirates, which were quite common. ^'•' The best reference on the present state of scholarly opinion on the "Piers Plowman" c|uesti(m is The Cambridge Ilidory of English Literature, ii, Chapter 1 and Bibliography. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 243 But, if a louse could leap away, she had not been there. So threadbare was the cloth of it. "I have been covetous," quoth this caitiff, "I do acknowledge it. Once I served Sim At-stile, and was his 'prentice bound, First I learned to lie, a page or two of lies, Then to weigh false was my second lesson, To Winchester and Weyhill I went to the fair With all kinds of merchandise as my master bade, But had not the grace of Guile gone with me and my goods, They had been unsold seven years, God's my witness. Then I passed to the drapers, to learn my other lessons. To draw the edges out that the flannel might seem longer. Among the rich striped cloths I learned another lesson, Threaded them with pack-needles, fastened them together, Put them in a press, pinned them down therein, Till ten yards or twelve made out — thirteen. INIy wife was a weaver, woolen cloths she made. She spake to her spinners to spin it soft, But the pound-weight she paid by weighed a quarter more Than my own balance did, when I weighed fair. I used to buy her barley, she brewed it to sell, Penny ale and thick ale, she mixed it together, For laborers and poor folk. Zt lay by itself; The best ale in my bower, or in my bedchamber; Any man that boozed of that never bought other, Fourpence a gallon, and no good measure either When it was served in cups. In that wife was cunning; Rose of the Small Shop was her true name. She had been a huckster these eleven winters. "But now I swear, so may I thrive, this cheating I will stop. Nevermore will I weigh false, nor cheat in selling. But I will wend me to Wal- singham, and my wife with me. And pray to Bromholm cross, to save mc from my sins." "Didst ever repent? didst never rest i tut ion niake.^" 244 ENGLISH LITERATURE *'Yes, once I was in an inn, with a heap of travellers, I rose when they were sleeping, and rifled their packs." *'That was no restitution, that was a robber's theft; Thou hadst deserved hanging more than all thy cheating for that else." "I thought rifling 7cas restitu- tion," says he, I know no French i 'faith, "Didst ever use usury, "Nay saving in my youth, I weighed a pence with a weight. And lent money on pledge, I wrote me out agreements; I gat me more wealth "I never learned my book; only from far Norfolk." in all thy lifetime.^" with Lombards and Jews, I pared the heaviest, the pledge was worth more than the loan, if the borrower failed his day, than through merciful lending. "I have lent to lords and ladies, and myself redeemed the pledge; I lent to folks that were will- ing to lose I had bankers' letters I counted it right here, "Didst ever lend to lords "Ay, I have lent to lords; I have made many a knight They gave me colors to wear, Never a pair of gloves a bit from every coin. and took my coin to Rome, but there it was less." in return for their protection .^^ " they never loved me after; into mercer and draper, thus were my 'prentices, did they pay me for the same." "Hast thou pitied the poor, who sometimes must needs bor- row "Ay, as much pity Would kill them and they catch them, " Art thou free among thy neigh- bors as pedlars have on cats, for the sake of their skins.' with thy meat and drink .^ rP THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 245 "I am held as courteous That is the name I have among them." "God grant thee never Save thou repent thee soon God grant thy sons after thee And thine executors no profit That which was won by wrong For neither Pope nor Pardoner To pardon thee thy sins, as a dog is in a kitchen; his grace through all thy life, and use well thy goods. no joy of that thou winnest, in that thou leavest them; shall be spent by the wicked, hath ever power save thou make reparation." THE SIN IS NOT REMITTED SAVE RESTITUTION BE MADE. "Ay, I have won my goods I have gathered what I have I mixed my merchandise. But the best was outside the shop There was wit in that. And if my neighbor had man or beast I tried many a trick And, save I got it otherwise, I shook his purse out with false word and wit, with glosing and with guile; I made a fine array, and the worst inside — better at all than mine, to get for mine own, at the last I stole it; or I picked his locks. "If I went to the plough, A foot or a furrow If I reaped I would reach over, Seize with their sickles In holy days at church, I had no will Nay I mourned my loss of goods, When I did deadly sin. As when I lent and thought it lost If I sent my servant To do traftic with money No man could comfort me. I pinched of his half-acre, of my neighbor's land, or bade them that reaped forme what I never sowed. when I heard mass, to weep my sins; and not my body's guilt. I feared it not so much, when payment was delayed, to Bruges or Prussia land, and to make exchange, nor mass nor matins. ^246 ENGLISH LITERATURE Nor penance done, ]My mind was on my goods, nor paternoster prayed; not on God's grace." WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS THERE SHALL YOUR HEART BE ALSO. ^^ "In sooth," Repentance said. Were I a Friar, in good faith, I would take no money of thine. Nor mend our church with gold of thine. By my soul's health I would not For the best book in our House, If I knew thee to be what thou say est I would sooner starve." BETTER DIE THAN LIVE ILL. "I counsel anv faithful friar never to sit at board of thine "I have pity on thy life, for all the gold in earth, nor robe me in goods of thine, nor take a dinner's cost from thee; a penny pittance of thee though the leaves were burnt gold; I would liever, by our Lord, Than have food and finding live upon watercress from a false man's fortune. WHEN THOU EATEST RICH FOOD THOU ART ANOTHER S SLAVE; FEED ON THINE OWN LOAF AND BE FREE. *'Thou art unnatural; Make reparation, All that take of thy goods, Are bound at the High Judge- ment The priest that taketh tithe of thee. Shall share thy purgatory Never workman in this w^orld Look in the Psalter: I cannot pardon thee, and reckon with them all. God is my witness, to help thee to restore. if he know thee what thou art 3 and help to pay thy debt, shall thrive on thy winnings; FOR LO THOU DESIREDST TRUTH. '^^ "Then thou shall know fully what usury doth mean. And what the priest's penance is who is proud of thine offerings; ^^ Matt. 6: 21. ^^ Psalm 51: 6. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND '247 For a harlot of her body hire may more boldly pay church tithe And shall sooner come to heaven than an arrant usurer like thee, God be my witness." Then that shrew waxed despairing, and would have hanged himself, Had not Repentance comforted him thus: "Have mercy in thy thoughts, and in thy prayers pray for it. For God's mercy is more than all His other w^orks, And all this world's wickedness, that man can work or think, Is no more to the mercy of God than is a spark in Thames. Thou hast not good enough in thee to buy thee a wastel cake, Saving by penitence, or work of thy two hands. The goods thou hast gotten began in falsehood. And long as thou livest on thou payest not but borrowest them more; And if thou know not to whom to make thy reparation. Take thy money to the Bishop, bid him use it for thy soul; He shall answer for thee at the High Judgment day. For thee — and many more." The "moral Go\ver," '^~ too, the contemporary of Chaucer and of the author or authors of The J^isioii of WiUiam concerning Piers the Plowman, has something to say about the evils of trade in his day. Gower, in fact, speaks his mind on the subject in many places in his writings; of all his remarks I have selected the follow ing passages from his French poem Mirour de Vomme, usually known by its Latin title Speculum Medifaufis (the French title means The Mirror of Man, the Latin, The Lookituj-ijhiss of One Thinking). This poem was long supposed to be lost, but was identified as still extant by its lal(\st editor in IS!),"). The poem as a whole is a comi)rehensive commentary in about 30,000 lines on the author's times. The poet speaks thus of commercial matters: 42 ("f. C'liinucr, rroiliis and Crisn/dr. Hook V. 1. 1S.)(!. 248 ENGLISH LITERATURE Everybody knows that of our bounden duty we should preach to the vicious for their amendment, (though) we should not flat- ter the virtuous by commenting on their virtue, for to blame the evil is to i^raise the good; and for this reason if I tell fools the truth about their folly, no wise man need be at all angry at what I say; for Reliability alongside of Trickery is rendered more ])raiseworthy by the appearance of its opposite. The good are good, the bad are bad; wherefore if I preach to the dishonest, it ought not to be a matter of any consequence to those who are honest; for each according to his works should have his praise or his blame. To tell the truth, the merchant who sets his thoughts on deceit and he who puts in every day in honest toil are not of the same quality; both, to be sure, are working for gain, but they are not at all alike. Of one sort of merchant at the present day people speak very commonly; Trick is his name, full of guile, and if you seek from the East to the very extremest West, there is no city nor beau- tiful towTi where Trick does not gather his harvest. Trick in Bordeaux, at Seville and at Paris buys and sells; Trick has his ships and his troops of servants, and of noble riches Trick has ten times more than other people. Trick at Florence and at Venice has his depositary and the freedom of the town, as well as at Bruges and at Ghent; in his care, too, is put the noble city on the Thames which Bru- tus ^ founded long ago; but Trick is now about to throw it into confusion by fleecing his neighbors of their goods; for he cares not under what guise he acts, whether it be before or behind; " This legend of the origin of things British as due to the efforts of one Brutus, from whose name by a sort of umlaut Britain is derived, was first given currency by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Hisioria Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), of whom more later. (Cf. post, pp. 544-550; 556-558). In order, appar- ently, to give prestige to the legendary lore of romantic Britain, of which his book was to be so full, Geoffrey represents Brutus, a grandson of ^Eneas, as coming to the island since called Britain and starting a civilization there which was to rival the ancient in its glory. Brutus founded London, which is frequently styled in medieval writers New Troy. See Geoffrey of Monmouth, op. cit.. Book I, Chaps. 3-18. The best modern F^nglish translation of Geoffrey's History is that of Dr. Sebastian Evans in the Temple Classics edition or Everyman's Library. There is also a translation by Giles in Six Old English Chronicles. (Bohn Library.) THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 249 he goes about seeking his own good and despises the common profit. Sometimes Trick is a grocer, but he is not very trustwortliy in the matter of buying by one weight, and on the other hand of selHng by a Hghter weight than he bought by before, so that by deceit he keeps the surphis and his customer the deficit (in measure or weight): but what does he care, for Trick has so set his heart on money that he always looks out for a sharj) bargain? Trick also with his trickery oftentimes as a mercer deceives, but in a very different way, for he is full of cunning, of wiles and of cranks, to make fools of other people, so that he may get possession of their silver. He speaks so politely and makes himself orally such good company. But in thought he is sub- tlely looking out for your money, behind the mask of courtesy. This sort of bird ^"^ is never speechless, and so he is more clamorous than a sparrow hawk: when he sees people whom he doesn't know, he approaches and draws near, with calls and cries, saying: "Come right in without delay! Beds, kerchiefs, ostrich feathers, sandals, silks and goods from oversea: come in, ril show you everything, for if you'll buy, you need go no further; here is the best stock on the street." But look out for one thing: if once you enter his premises, be very wise in your buying, for Trick never gives himself away: by his covert guile he will give you chalk for cheese. You would think from what he says that that wild nettle is a precious rose, so polite is his appearance; but if you wish to be safe, do not rest with his paper. Again, Trick is a draper and then he knows how to catch [\\o people who are buying cloth. He will swear in God's naiiu', it' you'll buy, that he is giving you a good bargain and just meas- ure; but I assure you it will be a case of chance (wlictlicr yon get what you should), if he once gets your money: tor, wliat- ever he says or swears, his game is alwMvs ((uitc ditlcrcnt from looking after your rights. For they tell us, and I bcHcvc it, that tiiat wliicli Ioncs (lar]<- ness,'*^ hates and avoids the light: licucc, wiicu I sec the (Iraj)cr "^ Literally, "tliut wiiicli is drawn out of tliis cafre." '^ ("f. Jolin :5: ^20. 250 ENGLISH LITERATURE ill his house, it seems to me he has no clear conscience: for dark is tlie window where he does business with you, so that you can hardly tell green from blue: he is also shady in his manner, for no one can trust his first word as to price. At a double price darkly with an oath, he puts up his cloth for sale and thus beguiles you with the more subtlety, for he makes you believe that he is doing you a favor, when he has thus contrived: for he will say that he has quoted you this price in order to have your friendship, and has gained nothing by your custom; whereas, the measure and the bargain will tell you it is quite otherwise. Thus, Trick in his draper's business is intent upon a double deceit. He is deceitful in his business when he is selling woolens: for here Trick is in his element — in cities he is received, in the country he is known, he goes about picking up bargains, he has his brokers retained, he turns things upside down and makes the first last.^^ Trick's attitude is quite worldly, for he completely overlooks the good of others and seeks always his own advancement: but he is especially subtle when he controls the wool staple,^^ for he is then dealing in and speaking of his own good at close range (though no one suspects it); whatever comes into his neighbor- hood there, he gets a goodly share of ill-gotten gain there- from; but his conscience will never rest easy unless God absolve him. O wool, noble dame, you are the goddess of merchants, to serve you they are all ready; you make some mount to the heights of riches and fortune and you cause others to fall to ruin; the staple, in whatever neighborhood located, is not without fraud and crooked dealing which wound the human con- ^ Matthew 19:30. *'' "By the close of the thirteenth century England had come to be the great wool-producing country of Europe, ^^^th her chief market among the Flemish weav- ers. Accordingly, various attempts were made to fix the towns or staples where the wool should be sold. Sometimes they were in England, sometimes in the Low Countries, while, for a short period in the reign, trade was free and the staple towns were done away with altogether. In 1362 the staple was removed to Calais, where it remained, except for short intervals, till the town passed back to the French in 1558." Cross, op. cit., p. 212. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 251 science. O wool, Christians as well as pagans and Saracens seek to have you and confess to you. O wool, we ought not to keep silent about your doings in strange lands; for the merchants of all countries, in times of peace, in times of war, are coming to look for you because of their great love; for whoever else has his enemies, you are never without good friends, who have given themselves to your serv- ice for your profit: you are cherished throughout the world, the law of which you are guardian can do great things because of you. Over all the world you are taken, by land and sea, but you are directed to the richest people: you are a native of England, but that you are ill- managed, people say in divers tongues; for Trick, who has a great deal of money, has been made regent of your staple, and has his own way in strange countries, looks out for his own advantage and injures the rest of us. O beautiful, O white, O delightful one, the love of you stings and binds so that the hearts who make merchandise of you are not able to disengage themselves from you; thus they start many a scheme and lay many a trap in order to catch you: and then they make you cross the sea, as the one who is properly the queen of their na^'y, and in order to get you people to come enviously and covetously to bargain for you. Exchange, usury and desire for gain, O wool, under your guid- ance come and take service in the very court; and Trick there makes provision for them (i.e. the king and his ministers); he makes them acquainted with Avarice,''^ and in order to make a profit, he has them retain brokers. But if any one desires to keep free of fraud, Trick at once gets ahead of him, and thus I have seen several cease to })ractise the ancient usages of loyalty in order to keep up the wool trade. But let him gain who will, one in our country could in my opinion wonder a great deal at the Lombards,^'-' who arc aliens ■•^ Cf. ante, p. lOS, wlicrc Parliainoiit is cliargrd willi granliii^' illegally the wool subsidy to Richard II for life. *^ I.e. Italians, from whom Loiiihard St. in London was naniod, wlio, with the Jews, carried on, often under royal protection, the business of bankinj^, frowned on by the Church. On one of these Italian banking (irnis that failed in 1343, see po-'^t, pp. 2G 1-262. 252 ENGLISH LITERATURE and yet will assert the right to stay in our country just as freely and acceptably as if they had been born and brought up among us; in order to beguile us they appear to be our friends, and under that cloak they have set their hearts on robbing us of our silver and our gold. These Lombards give us a bad bargain, they exchange their straw for our grain, for two goods they do us four ills, they bring to us their fustian, and in their falsity drain us of our fine nobles ^^ of royal gold and of our sterling coins of pure metal; this is one of the principal causes why our land is so ill-off; but if people would take my advice, may God help me, such fellows would not be so near us. But they, for their part, are so skillful in playing the game of brokerage and business, that by deceit and flattery they bring around to their will the government of our country with which they are more familiar than are others: hence, it is common report that they spy on our councils, whence great perils often come to us, and any one who to-day has his eyes open will see the plain folly of it. Look there at some Lombards coming up like fellows poorly dressed but by their deceit and talent for conspiracy before they have gone a step they dress themselves more nobly than the bur- gesses of our city; and if they feel the need of power or of friendship, they know how to get it by fraud and subtlety, for their cause is advanced whether we like it or not. There is no reason I can see, nay rather, we ought to cry shame on such lords as, in order to get gifts by chicanery, are willing to give credence or faith to such gentry as lie in wait to ruin us for their own gain: but it is a great pity that our gov- ^*^ "Edward III . . . made several important innovations: he not only issued a gold coinage, but also larger silver coins, viz., groats (fourpence) and half groats (twopence); his second coin was the Noble. . . . This beautiful work of art was current for six shillings and eightpence. On the obverse the king standing in the ship, is supposed to refer to the victory over the French fleet off Sluys in 1340." Bartholomew, A Literary Historical Atlas of Europe, pp. 104-, 105. {Everyman s Library, 1910.) The volume contains a very good series of plates of English coins, as well as excellent maps of Europe in general, plans of important battle-fields and maps of literary localities, such as the English Lake Country, the Burns country, and many others. THE SOCI.\L AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 253 ernment, which ought to administer the kiw in our behalf, has thrown our merchants into slavery and secretly enfranchised aliens to rob us. But covetousness has conquered all, for he who gives will have friends and can bring his plans to a (successful) issue, it is the custom in my country: but one who pays attention to my advice will be able to see on all sides, both at home and abroad, that trickery in business is always with us; and further (he will perceive) that the people who live by their trades are all trained in one school. The writer goes on at some length to speak of other trades, such as druggists, goldsmiths, furriers, bakers and butchers, but concludes the passage I wish to include with this rather brisk account of the means of trickery in the liquor business : If you are ever going to know Trick, you will know him by his piment, his claree and his new ypocras. With these he fat- tens his purse, when city dames, who before visiting the min- ster or the market come tripping in the morning to the tavern. But then Trick is well paid, for each one will try wine provided it is anything but vinegar. And then will Trick make them understand that, if they will just wait, they may have vernage, Greek wine and Malvesie. To cozen them into spending more money, he will name them wines of several sorts — of Crete, Ribole and Roumania, he will describe wines of Provence and Monterosso, he will say that he has in his cellar Riviera and ^Muscatel for sale, — but he hasn't a third of all these; rather he says so as a novelty that he may induce them to drink. From one cask, forsooth, he will draw them ten different wines, when once he has them seated in their chairs; and so he says to them, "O my dear ladies, make good cheer, drink just as you please, for we have sufficient leisure." Then Trick has his heart's desire, when he has such cliaml)erers who know how to deceive their husbands; for it is all one to him if they are thieves, so long as he makes his profit. 254 ENGLISH LITERATURE Better than any master of the black art, Trick knows all the art of wine selling, its tricks and wiles; he will counterfeit with his craft Rhein wine with vintage of France; truly, such as never grew anywhere save on the banks of the Thames he will brisk uj) and disguise and say it's Rhenish in the pitcher, so knowingly does he devise. There is no man so wide-awake that Trick does not trap him in the end. If Trick is a wicked one in wine, he is still worse, by common report, in beer: I say this not for the French, but for the Eng- lish who daily at the ale-house drink: but especially for the poorer sort who have neither a head nor a tail ^^ of their own unless it come from their labor, and who all make a great clamor that the keeper of the ale-house is not reliable.^'- Every system of economic and industrial practice is ac- companied, as it were, by some sort of system of economic thought, including explanations, justifications and rules of action. Thus the system of slave labor in ancient Greece is postulated by Plato and Aristotle. And in the Middle Ages, w^iile economics, in any modern sense of that term, w as far from being thought of as a science separate from ethics or jurisprudence, there are a good many statements of concepts which are recognizable as economic. One of these has already been cited in the note on page 188, ante, where, in one of the charges against Richard II, the im- plication is left wath the reader that in medieval public economy the theory w^as that the king was expected to live off the revenues of the estates belonging to the crown ^^ Literally, "cross or pile," i.e. the face or the reverse of a coin. ^2 I got the suggestion of including here these passages from Gower from G. G. C'oulton, A Medieval Garner, pp. 575-578 (Constable and Co., Ltd., 1910), a book which Professor Jolm M. Manly called to my attention. But though I have had Mr. Coulton's translation by me, I have both made my own and included more than he. Mr. Coulton in his prefatory note says that the second passage translated consists of 11. 18, 421, seq., whereas it is 11. 26, 077-26, 136. The subject-matter of Gower's diatribe is similar to that in a sermon of Berthold of Regensburg, the popular German preacher of the thirteenth century. The sermon is translated in Coulton, op. (-it., pp. 348-354. Cf. Herbert Spencer, The Morals of Trade in Essays: Moral, Political and /Esthetic, 1864. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 255 without recourse to taxation.'*^ This is an outgrowth of the feudal conception of land -holding and is a leading doctrine in the economic thought of the time. Two other important medieval economic concepts are included here: the genealogy of money -power and the doctrine of usury. The passage setting forth the first is taken from The Vision of William concerning Piers the Ploivman, from which quotation has already been made.''' In the earlier sections of this poem one of the most promi- nent characters is Lady Meed, who, in the allegory, is usually interpreted to be Bribery on the one hand or Reward on the other. It seems, however, that, on account of her conduct in the poem, she should be explained as Money-power. It is represented that the color of ]Meed, so to speak, will depend upon her alliances (and this is the reason she is personated as a woman); that is, if she is married to Conscience, as the king suggests, all will be well, but if she is wedded to Falsehood, as is proposed by Flattery and Liar, two other characters in the allegory, all will be ill. The latter marriage, however, is about to take place when certain protests regarding it come in and the case is brought before the king himself for trial. In the course of the latter the following statement of the genealogy of Meed is made: Then Theology ^^ flared up when he heard tliis tale, and said to sir Simony,^^ "Now may you have sorrow because you have arranged such a wedding as may anger Truth. And woe to your council before this marriage be consummated ! For Meed is a woman whose mother was Amends; though Falsehood wcic her father and Fickle-Tongue her sire, yet Amends was iier mother })y the testimony of good witnesses. Willionl tlie con- '^^ C"f. Ilaney, Uisiorji of Econoniir TfioiK/hi, p. 7!) ( M;icinill:iu Co., 1911). M Cf. ante, pp. 242-217. " I.e. Canon Law; the ("hunli had judicial control of marriage. 56 A clerical friend of Meed. 056 ENGLISH LITERATURE sent of her mother Amends, Meed may not be wedded, for Truth promised her (the mother) faithfully to espouse one of her daughters, and the agreement has God's blessing provided there is no guile, and you have given her (Meed) as Guile directed, God give you sorrow!" Amends, the mother of Meed, should be explained as the poet's characterization of the medieval doctrine of "just price"; that is, "every commodity had some one true value which was objective and absolute, and was to be determined in the last analysis by the common estimation of the cost of production." ^' Now, Amends means "exact compensation for" and as such corresponds clearly with the medieval idea that in a business transaction no profit should be made on either side: each should give an exact equivalent to the other. Thus, Thomas Aquinas says, " . . . if either the price exceeds the value, or conversely, the value exceeds the price of the thing, the balance of justice is destroyed." ^^ Aquinas was the great philosophic authority in the late thirteenth and the fourteenth cen- turies. But Amends was married to Falsehood, though an earlier line states that Meed was illegitimate,^^ and the issue of the union w^as Meed. This exactly accords with the doctrine of the church fathers, copied by most medieval writers, that Money -power is evil by nature. "This was based on a theological distinction between human nature as it existed on its first creation, and then as it became in the state to which it was reduced after the fall of Adam. Created in original justice, as the phrase ran, the powders of man's soul were in perfect harmony. His sensitive na- ture, i.e. his passions, were in subjection to his will, his will to his reason, his reason to God. Had man continued in this state of innocence, government, slavery, and pri- vate property would never have been required." ^° " Haney, op. cit, p. 70. ^8 //^,v/.^ p. 77. 59 ^f. Text, Passus III, 1. 24. «° Bede Jarrett, Mcdiaval Socialism, p. 9. (T. C. and E. C. Jack, The People's THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 257 The protest of Canon Law, that Meed and her fiance Falsehood are within the forbidden degrees of relationship, is successful and the marriage does not take place. But the fact that Meed is tried before the king himself is interest- ing as suggesting another economic idea of the time; Meed is the ward of the king — this is the only basis on which she is brought before the king for trial; for in feudal law the vassal was subject to his lord's court. The royal guardianship of Meed, however, bears out the theory that she is Money-power in general, since royal care of the money of the country is a cardinal doctrine in medieval economic thought.^^ The medieval theory of usury fits in well with the con- cept of money-power just expounded. The first passages to be submitted are from the Ayenhite of Inivyt {Remorse of Conscience) of Dan Michel, which he tells ^- us he fin- ished in 1340. The work is "a translation of a popular French treatise, the Somme des Vices et des Vertus (or Sum of Vices and Virtues, known also as Li Livres roiaux des Vices et des Vertus or The Royal Books of Vices and Virtues and Somme le Roi or Sum the King) compiled, in 1279, by frere Lorens, a dominican, at the request of PhiHp the Bold, son and successor of Louis IX. This, in its turn, was borrowed from other writers, and was composed of various homilies, on the ten commandments, the creed, the seven deadly sins, the knowledge of good and evil, the seven petitions of the Paternoster, the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, the seven cardinal virtues and confession, many of which exist in manuscripts anterior to the time of frere Lorens. *'The treatment of these subjects, especially in the sec- tion on the seven deadly sins, is allegorical. The sins are first compared with the seven heads of the beast which Books, London, 1913). This gives a theoretic basis for the diatribes against trade, already quoted. ^^ Cf. Ilaney, op. cit., p. 79. ''- See post., p. 503. 258 ENGLISH LITERATURE St. John saw in the Apocalypse; then, by a change of metaphor, pride becomes the root of all the rest, and each of them is represented as bringing forth various boughs. Thus, the boughs of pride are untruth, despite, presump- tion, ambition, idle bliss, hypocrisy and wicked dread; while from untruth spring three twigs, foulhood, foolish- ness and apostasy. This elaborate classification into divisions and subdivisions is characteristic of the whole work, and becomes not a little tiresome; on the other hand, the very frequent recourse to metaphor which ac- companies it serves to drive the lesson home. Idle bliss is the great w^ind that throweth down the great towers, and the high steeples, and the great beeches in the w^oods, by which are signified men in high places; the boaster is the cuckoo w^ho singeth always of himself. "Sometimes these comparisons are drawn from the natu- ral history of the day, the bestiaries, or, as Dan Michel calls them, the 'bokes of kende' (books of nature). Thus, flatterers are like to nickers (sea-fairies), which have the bodies of women and the tails of fishes, and sing so sweetly that they make the sailors fall asleep, and afterwards swal- low them; or like the adder called ^seraj^n,' which runs more quickly than a horse, and whose venom is so deadly that no medicine can cure its sting. Other illustrations are borrowed from Seneca, from ^Esop, Boethius, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, St. Bernard, St. Jerome and St. Anselm." ^^ Using the complex system of division referred to, the author makes Usury the first root of Avarice and then discusses the different sorts of Usury. Later he makes Chaffering the eighth bough of Avarice. There are seven kinds of usury. The first is lending that lendeth silver for other things, where over and above the capi- ^ Cambridge History of EtKjlish Literature, I, pp. 395, 396. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 259 tal sum the lender taketh the profits either in pence, or in horses, or in corn, or in wine, or in fruits of the ground that he taketh in mortgage, without reckoning these profits as part-pay- ment. And what is worse, he will reckon twice, or even thrice in the year in order to raise the rate of usury, and yet he hath gifts as well for each term; and he maketh often of the usury a principal debt. These are usuries evil and foul. The courteous lender is he that lendeth without always making bargains for profit, either in pence, or in horses, or in cups of gold, or in silver, or in robes, or in tuns of wine, or in fat swine, or in serv- ices of horses or carts, or providings for himself or his children, or in any other things that he takes by reason of the loan. This is the first manner of usury, that is, lending wickedly. The second manner of usury is in those that do not themselves lend, but that which their fathers or the fathers of their wives or their elders have received in pledge and they inherit, by usury they retain and will not yield it up. The third manner of usury is in them that have shame to lend with their own hand, but they lend their pence through their servants or other men. These are the master money-lenders. Of such sin great men are not quit, who hold and sustain Jews and usurers that lend and destroy the country; and the great men take the rewards and the great gifts, and oftentimes the ransom money of the goods of the poor. The fourth manner is in those that lend with other men's silver that they buy at small cost in order to lend at a greater. These are the little usurers that teach so much foul craft. The fifth manner is in bargaining when men sell a thing, whatsoever it is, for more than it is worth at the time. And what is worse, is wickedly selling at that time when they see their wares are most needed; then they sell the thing for twice the dearer, or thrice as much as the thing is worth. Such folk do much evil. For their bargaining destroyeth and maketh beggars of knights and nobles that follow tournaments. And they take their lands and their heritage in i)ledge and mortgage, from which they never acquit them. Others sin in buying things, as corn, or wine, or other things, for less than half the pence that it is worth, and then they sell them again for twice as much, or thrice the dearer. Others buy things when they are least 260 ENGLISH LITERATURE worth and of great cheapness, as corn sold in harvest time, or wine, or bargains, in order to sell them again whenever they are most dear. And they wish for a dear time in order to sell the dearer. Others buy corn in the blade and vines in the flower, when they are of fair-shewing and good forwardness, that they may have, whatever befal, their wealth safe. The sixth manner is when they give their pence to merchants in such w ise that they are fellows in winning but not in losing. . . . The seventh man- ner is in those that lend their poor neighbors, in their needs, a little silver, or corn, or do them a little courtesy. And when they see them poor and needy, then they make w4th them a bargain to do their work, and for the pence they have before given to the poor man or the corn they have lent him, they have three pennyworth of work for one penny. The eighth bough of Avarice is chaffering, wherein one sinneth in many ways, for worldly winning; and, namely, in seven manners. The first is to sell the things as dear as one may, and to buy as good cheap as one may. The next is lying, swear- ing, and forswearing, the higher to sell their w^ares. The third manner is by weights and measures, and that may be in three ways. The first when one hath divers weights or divers measures, and buyeth by the greatest weights or the greatest measures and selleth by the least. The other manner is when one hath rightful weights and rightful measures to sell untruly, as do the taverners that fill the measure with scum. The third manner is when those that sell by weight contrive that the thing that they w^eigh showeth more hea\'y. The fourth manner to sin in chaffer- ing is to sell to time. Of this w^e have spoken above. The fifth manner is to sell otherwise than one hath showed before; as doth these scriveners that show^eth good letter at beginning and after do badly. The sixth is to hide the truth about the thing that one wall sell, as do the dealers of horses. The seventh is to contrive that the thing one selleth maketh for to show better than it is; as do the sellers of cloth that choose dim places wherein to sell their cloth. In many other manners one may sin in chafferings, but long thing it were to say.*^^ ^^ On this medieval antipathy to usury cf. Tacitus' reference to the absence of the practice among the early Germans; ante, p. 18. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 261 Our last passage deals with a specific instance where the evil practice of usury is censured. Giovanni Villanni (1275-1348), a merchant and politician of Florence, his native city, wrote a historical work which he calls His- torie Fiorentine {Florentine History) or Cronica Universale {Universal Chronicle), and which begins with Biblical times and comes down to the year 1348. There is no better authority for the intellectual and economic life of Florence in the first forty-eight years of the fourteenth century, which Villani observed at first hand. In one of the later chapters of his work he thus records the failure of a well-known Italian banking house. The causes of the failure, he says, in quite the medieval fashion, are avarice and usury. In the year 1345 in the month of January failed the conipany of the Bardi, who had been the greatest merchants in Italy. x\nd the reason was that they, like the Peruzzi, had lent their money and that invested with them to king Edward of England and to the king of Sicily; and that the Bardi found they had owing to them from the king of England, what with capital and interest and gifts promised by him, 900,000 florins of gold, and on account of his war with the king of France he was unable to pay; and from the king of Sicily 100,000 florins of gold. And to the Peruzzi were owing from the king of England 600,000 florins of gold, and from the king of Sicily 100,000 florins of gold, and a debt of 350,000 florins of gold, so they must stop payment to citizens and foreigners, to whom the Bardi alone owed more than 550,000 florins of gold. Whereby many other smaller companies and individuals whose money was in the hands of the Bardi or Peruzzi or others who had failed, were ruined and so became bankru])t. By this failure of the Bardi, Peruzzi, Acciajuoli, and Bonaccorsi — of the company of Uzzano Peran- doli, and many other small companies and individual craftsmen, owing to the burdens on the state and the disordered loans to lords, of which I have made mention (though not of all, which were too long to tell), came greater ruin and discomfiture to our 202 ENGLISH LITERATURE city of Florence than any onr state had received, if the reader well considered the damage caused })y sucli a loss of treasure and money lost by our citizens, and lent from avarice to lords. O cursed and greedy usury, full of the vice of avarice reigning in our blind and mad citizens of Florence, who from covetous- ness to gain from great lords put their wealth and that of others in their power and lordship to lose, and ruin our republic; for there remained no substance of money in our citizens, except in a few craftsmen and lenders who with their usury consumed and gained for themselves the scattered poverty of our citizens and subjects. But not without cause come to states and citi- zens the secret judgments of God, to punish the sins which have been committed, as Christ with his own mouth said in the gospel "Ye shall die in your sin." The Bardi agreed to give up to their creditors their possessions, which they estimated would come to 9 shillings and 3 pence in the pound, but at a fair price did not come to six shillings in the pound. '' Medieval life w^as corporate in character; that is, men thought of themselves not as individuals but as members of groups; this is why excommunication, boycott and out- lawry were so terrible to the medieval man — they excluded him from his group and cut him off from all the emolu- ments, prerogati\^es and privileges of his group. The fact of the corporate character of medieval life also accounts for the sumptuary legislation ^^ of the Middle Ages, the attempt minutely to regulate the equipment and expendi- ture of various social ranks and classes. Two phases of this "corporation" have already been illustrated, the feudal system of landholding and military service and the gild system of commerce and trade respectively. There is a third phase left, the religious orders of monks and friars. In the first chapter two passages from The Rule of St. Benedict were quoted ^^ to illustrate the economic function ^ Cf. the English statute of 13G.'3, designed to regulate wearing apparel, quoted in Locke, War and Misrule, pp. 5G-59 {BcWs English History Source Books, 1913). ee Cf. ante, pp. 19-21. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND ^63 of monasteries, but here are to be included documents which will show how complex the monastic system had grown and how in some ways it had degenerated. iVs a background for these, however, a description of the monas- tic ideal in general will be used and for this purpose a selection from the Dialogus Miraculorum {Dialog of Mira- cles) by Caesarius of Heisterbach has been chosen. Cie- sarius, to be sure, was a German, but the ideal set forth in his book was European in its scope, applying to England as well as to Germany. Csesarius was educated in Cologne, became Prior and Teacher of the Novices at the Cister- cian monastery of Heisterbach, and between 1220 and 1235 wrote his Dialog, a book intended for the guidance and instruction of the novices in the monastery, some biogra- phies and treatises on chronology ^" and a book of Homi- lies. The persons in the Dialog are a Monk and a Novice. In the Monastery of St. Chrysanthius (in the Eiffel) there dwelt a schoolmaster named Ulrich, a Frenchman by birth, of great prudence and learning. The revenues of his office were so small that he could not avoid falling into debt. One of the brethren at the Pnemonstratensian ^Monastery of Steinl'eld, perceiving that he was a man of great learning, oft-times per- suaded him to enter his monastery by grace of conversion. At last this Ulrich, by divine inspiration, answered thus: "I owe a little money; pay that, and I will come to you." When the Provost of the aforesaid monastery heard this, he gladly i)aid the money, and Ulrich forthwith took the habit. Not long afterwards, he was elected Provost of that house: (for there were as yet no Abbots in the Prtemonstratensian order). Con- sidering then that, with this office, he had undertaken the keeping not of flocks and lands but of men's souls, he busied himself with the uprooting of vices rather than willi (lie amassing of money, knowing that covetousness is the root of all evil.*''* ''^ The reader has douhlless noticed that medieval records of all sorts reckon time by the Church calendar of holidays and saints' days. This fact accounts for the great number of treatises on chronology written in the Middle Ages. 68 Cf. 1 Tim. G: 10. 264 ENGLISH LITERATURE Now lie had a lay brother so skilful and circumspect in the management of worldly things, so careful and exact, that every- thing passed through his hands, and he was almost the only one who provided the monastery farms with all that they needed, both i)loughs and cattle and money. He was all in all, dis- posing everything, neglecting nothing, adding field to field and joining vineyard to vineyard. The Provost, marking this, and, reading in the Scriptures that nothing was more wicked than ava- rice called the lay-brother to him one day, and said: "Dost thou know, my bearded ^^ fellow, wherefore I am come into this Order?" (Now he was uncunning in the German tongue; and therefore to the lay-brethren all his speech seemed crooked and distorted.) The lay -brother answered: "I know not, my Lord." "Then I will tell thee: for I am come hither to weep in this spot for my sins. Wherefore art thou come hither?" The other made answer: "My Lord, for the same cause." "If then," said .the Provost, "thou art come to bewail thy sins, thou shouldest have kept the fashion of a penitent: assiduous in church, in watch- ings, in fastings: constant in prayer to God for thy sins. For it is no part of penitence to do as thou dost — to disinherit thy neighbors and (in the words ^*^ of the prophet Habacuc) to load thyself with thick clay. Whereunto the lay-brother an- sw^ered: "Lord, those possessions w^hich I get are continuous with the fields and vineyards of our convent." "Well," said the Provost, "when these are bought, thou must needs buy those also which border thereon. Knowest thou what Isaiah saith? *Woe unto you that join house to house and lay field to field even to the end of the place: shall you alone dwell in the midst of the earth?' ^^ For thou settest no bounds to thy covetous- ness. When thou shalt have gotten all the land of this province, thou shalt cross the Rhine at a stride: then shalt thou go on even to the mountains; nor even so shalt thou rest until thou be come to the sea. There at last, methinks, shalt thou halt, ^' "The lay-brethren, unHke the monks, let their beards grow." (Mr. Coulton's note.) ^" The only words of this tenor to be found in Habacuc are in the second chapter and sixth verse; the modern Revised version does not mention clay. " Cf. Isaiah .5:8. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 265 for the sea is broad and spacious, and thy stride is short. Abide therefore within thy cloister, haunt thy church, that thou mayest bewail thy sins night and day. Wait awhile, and thou shalt have enough earth beneath thee and above thee and within; for dust thou art and into dust thou shalt return." '^ Some of the elder brethren, hearing this, said: "Lord, lord, if this lay-brother be removed, our house will go to rack and ruin." Whereunto he answ^ered: "Better the house should perish, than the soul:" and paid no heed to their prayers. Novice. He was a true shepherd, knowing that the sheep committed to him had been redeemed not with corruptible things as gold and silver, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled." Monk. This appeared plainly enough in his words and actions. For in the days when Rheinhold was made Archbishop of Cologne, and found the revenues of the see mortgaged and the farms desolate, he was persuaded to borrow from the different Cister- cian houses in his diocese faithful and prudent lay-brethren who might watch over the farms and reform the revenues by their industry. When therefore he had accepted this counsel, and had collected certain lay-brethren both of the hill and of the plain, he was persuaded to take this aforesaid lay-brother also. Wherefore he sent an honorable ambassador, who, after greeting the Provost from the Archbishop, added: "My lord hath a small boon to ask of you which ye should not deny him." "Nay," answered the Provost, "it is my Lord's part not to ask me, but to command." Then said the other: "The Archbishop beseeches you to lend him such and such a lay-brother for such and such uses." Whereunto the Provost answered with all due humility, constancy and gentleness: "I have two hundred sheep at such a Grange, so and so many in such and such others; oxen have I likewise and horses; let my Lord take then of whatso- ever he will; but a lay-brother conunittcd (o my soul lie sliall never have for such uses, since it is not i'or sliec|) and oxen that I am to render account at the judgment-day Ijcfore the Supreme Shepherd, but for souls tlial have ])een coininilted to my care." He left also another ])r()of of his liberality, a somewhat profit- able example against monastic avarice. One day, before that ^2 Cf. Genesis 3: 19. '' Cf. 1 I'ctcr 1: 18, 19. •200 ENGLISH LITERATURE aforesaid lay-lM'othor was removed from his offiee, the Provost came to one of his granges; wherein, seeing a comely foal, he enquired of the same brother whose it was or whence it came. To whom the brother answered: "Such and such a man, our good and faithful friend, left it to us at his death." "By pure devotion," asked the Provost, "or by legal compulsion?" "It came through his death," answered the other, "for his wife, since he was one of our serfs, offered it as a heriot." '^^ Then the Provost shook his head and piously answered: "Because he was a good man and our faithful friend, therefore hast thou despoiled his wife.^ Render therefore her horse to this forlorn woman; for it is robbery to seize or detain other men's goods, since the horse was not thine before (the man's death)." The same Provost, being a man of prudence, was unwilling to take the younger brethren with him when he went abroad on the business of the monastery; for he knew that this was inex- pedient for them, by reason of the devil's temptations. Now it befel on a day that he took with him one of the youths; and as they were together, talking of I know not what, they met a comely maiden. The Provost, of set purpose, reined in his steed and saluted her most ceremoniously; she in her turn stood still and bowed her head to return his salute. When, therefore, they had gone a little further, the Provost (willing to tempt the youth) said: "Methinks that was a most comely maiden." "Believe me, my Lord," replied the youth, "she was most comely in mine eyes also." Whereupon the Provost answered: "She hath only this blemish, namely, that she hath but one eye !" "In truth, my Lord," replied the youth, "she hath both her eyes; for I looked somewhat narrowly into her face." Then was the Provost moved to wrath, and said: "I too will look narrowly into thy back ! Thou shouldest have been too simple to know whether she w^ere male or female." When therefore he was come back to the monastery, he said to the elder monks: "Ye, my Lords, sometimes blame me that I take not the younger brethren abroad with me." Then he expounded this whole case, and chastised the youth sternly with words and stripes. This same Provost was so learned that (as it was told me by an elder ^^ For the matter of the heriot see ante, p. 222. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 267 monk of that house) he preached a sermon in the Cha])ter- General of Citeaux one day when he came thither for the busi- ness of his Order. Novice. It oftentimes happens that great men wrest from their subjects money or possessions to which they have httle right, and build therefrom Houses of rehgion. ^lay the Reh- gious knowingly accej^t such alms as these? Monk. Whatsoever gnaweth the conscience, defileth the conscience. Yet know that such things are sometimes done by God's just judgment, as thou mayest learn by the following example. A certain great and noble man, willing to build on his lands a House of our Order, and finding a spot suitable for a monastery, drove out its in- habitants partly by bribes, partly by threats. But the Abbot who was to send monks to that ])lace, fearing divine dis- pleasure if the poor were thus deprived of their possessions, prayed to God that He might vouchsafe to reveal His will in that case. Then was that just man not suffered to dwell long in anxious suspense concerning this matter: for one day, as he was in prayer, he heard a voice saying unto him in the words of the Psalmist: "Thou, my God, hast given an inheritance to them that fear Thy name." ''^ Rising therefore from his knees, he forthwith understood, how it was God's will that undevout men should be cast forth from these lands, and that men who feared and praised God should be settled there: as we read that the Lord gave to the children of Israel the lands of the Canaan- ites and other unclean nations. Yet these must not be con- strued into a precedent; for all covetousness and injustice should be abhorred l)y the Religious. Novice. Yea, and scandal should all the more be avoided in such matters, because secular folk are unwilling to have Religious for their neighbors. This is a high unworldly ideal; })rol)al)ly it unfortu- nately remained nioslly an ideal, for a monastery was a groat corporation with many prol)loms to solve and obligations to meet. The abbot was supposed })oth to maintain a high standard of religious life in his house and to perform in an efficient manner many of the functions of the manager '^ The concordance gives no such verse. 268 ENGLISH LITERATURE of a modern business concern. It is true that he had his assistants, but the responsibiHty came back in the ultimate to the abbot; and if he did not always perform all his functions in an equally satisfactory way,, his delinquencies must be debited to the account of human nature. We are fortunate in the possession of a monastic chronicle, The Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond,'^^ which gives us a very intimate sense of the quality of life in the Abbey of St. Edmundsbury in the latter part of the twelfth century, and from which we shall quote. It is not a romantic picture that is there set before us, but a realistic one, giv- ing us plenty of detail of the homely routine of the great establishment. The monks are everyday, flesh-and-blood Englishmen, daily companions of the author Jocelin, of whom we know nothing save what he himself tells us in his book. He was a monk, had likely been brought up and educated in the monastery, and shows himself a person of some learning, since he quotes Virgil, Horace and Ovid. His Preface is as follows: * I have undertaken to write of those things which I have seen and heard, and which have occurred in the church of Saint Ed- mund, from the year in which the Flemings ^'' were taken with- out the town, in which year I also assumed the religious habit, and in which Prior Hugh was deposed and Robert made Prior in his room. And I have related the evil as a warning, and the good for an example. ^^ '^ This is the chronicle whicli Carlyle used as the basis of his picture of the past in Past and Present. The original chronicle is in LaLin and was first republished in modern times by the Camden Society in 1840; it also finds place in Thomas Arnold, Memorials of St. Edmund's Abbey, I, pp. 209-336. It was first translated into modern P^nglish by Tomlins as Monastic and Social Life in the Twelfth Century, as Exemplified in the Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond in 1844. * This and the other passages from Jocelin's Chronicle which follow are quoted by permission of Messrs. Chatto and Windus from their edition in the King's Classics Series. " The allusion is to the battle of Fornham, November, 1173. ^8 Perhaps the best treatment of English monastic life in general is Gasquet, THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 269 We gather from the opening chapter that the business of the monastery was rather run down when JoceHn's story begins : In those days Abbot Hugh grew old, and his eyes were dim. He was a good and kindly man, a godfearing and pious monk, but in temporal matters he was unskilful and improvident. He relied too much on his own intimates and believed too readily in them, rather trusting to a stranger's advice than using his own judg- ment. It is true that discipline and the service of God, and all that pertained to the rule, flourished greatly within the cloister, but without the walls all things were mismanaged. For every man, seeing that he served a simple and ageing lord, did not that which was right, but that which was pleasing in his own eyes. The townships and all the hundreds of the abbot were given to farm; the woods were destroyed, and the houses on the manors were on the verge of ruin; from day to day all things grew worse. The abbot's sole resource and means of relief was in borrowing money, that so it might at least be possible to maintain the dig- nity of his house. For eight years before his death, there was never an Easter or Michaelmas which did not see at least one or two hundred pounds added to the debt. The bonds were ever renewed, and the growing interest was converted into principal. This disease spread from the head to the members, from the ruler to his subjects. So it came to pass that if any official had a seal of his own, he also bound himself in debt as he listed, both to Jews and Christians. Silken caps, and golden vessels, and the other ornaments of the church, were often ])la(C(l in pledge without the assent of the monastery. 1 have seen a l)ond made to William Fit/Isabel for a thousand and two score i)()uii(ls, but know not the why nor wherefore. And I lune seen m not her bond to Isaac, son of Rabbi Joce, for fonr hundred })ounds, but know not wherefore it was made. I \\-a\c seen also a third bond to Benedict, the Jew of Norwicli, for ei.uht hundred and four- score pounds, and this was the origin and cause ol' that debt. English Momi.siic Life, The Antiqiianj.s Books, Uli cd. (Loncii)n, Mclliucu & Co., 1910). 270 ENGLISH LITERATURE Our ])uttery was destroyed, and the sacristan William received it to restore whether he would or no. He secretly borrowed forty marks at interest from Benedict the Jew, and made him a bond, sealed with a certain seal which was wont to hang at the shrine of St. Edmund. With this the gilds and brotherhoods used to be sealed; afterwards, but in no great haste, it was destroyed by order of the monastery. Now when that debt increased to one hundred pounds, the Jew came, bearing letters of the lord king concerning the sacristan's debt, and then at last that which had been hidden from the abbot and the monks appeared. So the a])bot in anger would have deposed the sacristan, alleging a privilege of the lord pope that enabled him to remove William his sacristan when he would. However, there came one to the abbot, who pleaded for the sacristan, and so won over the abbot that he suffered a bond to be made to Benedict the Jew for four hundred pounds, payable at the end of four years, that is, a bond for the hundred pounds to which the interest had in- creased, and for another hundred pounds which the same Jew had lent to the sacristan for the use of the abbot. And in full chapter the sacristan obtained that all this debt should be paid, and a bond was made and sealed with the seal of the monastery. For the abbot pretended that the debt was no concern of his, and did not affix his seal. How^ever, at the end of the four years there was nothing wherewith the debt might be discharged, and a new bond was made for eight hundred and fourscore pounds, which was to be repaid at stated times, every year fourscore pounds. And the same Jew had many other bonds for smaller debts, and one bond which was for fourteen years, so that the sum of the debt owing to that Jew was a thousand and two hundred pounds, over and above the amount by which usury had in- creased it. Then came the almoner of the lord king and told the lord al^bot that many rumors concerning these great debts had come to the king. And when counsel had been taken with the prior and a few others, the almoner was brought into the chapter. Then, when we were seated and were silent, the abbot said: "Behold the almoner of the king, our lord and friend and yours, who, moved by love of God and Saint Edmund, has shown to us THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 271 that the lord king has heard some evil report of us and you, and that the affairs of the church are ill-managed within and without the walls. And therefore I will, and command you upon your vow of obedience, that you say and make known openly how our affairs stand." So the prior arose, and speaking as it were one for all, said that the church was in good order, and that the rule was well and strictly kept within, and matters out- side the walls carefully and discreetly managed; and that though we, like others round us, were slightly involved in debt, there was no debt which might give us cause for anxiety. When he heard this, the almoner said that he rejoiced greatly to hear this witness of the monastery, by which he meant these words of the prior. And the prior, and Master Geoffrey of Coutances, answered in these same words on another occa- sion, when they spoke in defence of the abbot at the time when Archibishop Richard, by virtue of his legatine power, came into our chapter, in the days before we possessed that exemption which we now enjoy. Now I was then in my novitiate, and on a convenient occa- sion talked of these things to my master, who was teaching me the Rule, and in whose care I was placed; he was Master Sam- son, who was afterwards abbot. "^Yhat is this," I said, "that I hear? And why do you keep silence when you see and hear such things — you, who are a cloistered monk, and desire not offices, and fear God rather than man?" But he answered and said, "My son, the newly burnt child feareth the fire, and so is it with me and with many another. Prior Hugh has l)een lately deposed and sent into exile; Dennis, and Hugo, and Roger de Hingham have but lately returned to the house from exile. I was in like manner imprisoned, and afterwards was sent to Acre, for that we spoke to the common good of our church against the will of the abbot. This is the hour of darkness; this is the hour in the which flatterers triumph and are believed; their might is increased, nor can we prevail against them. These things must be endured for a while; the Lord see and judge!" At length Abbot Hugh fell from his horse and was killed and Jocelin tells us how the monastery was taken over by 272 ENGLISH LITERATURE the officers of the king, just as would be the case with any other feudal barony: When Abbot Hugh had been laid to rest, it was decreed in the chapter that one should tell the death of the abbot to Ranulf de GhinvillJ^ Justiciar of England. Master Samson and Master Robert Ruffus hastened across the sea, bearing this same news to the lord King, and obtained from him letters directing that the possessions and revenues of the monastery, which were distinct from those of the abbot, should remain entirely in the hands of the prior and of the monastery, and that the rest of the abbey's property should be in the hands of the King. The wardship of the abbey was given to Robert de Cokefield and to Robert de Flamvill the seneschal, who at once placed under surety and pledges those of the servants and relatives of the abbot to whom the abbot had given anything after he fell ill, or who had taken anything from the property of the abbot. And they also treated the chaplain of the abbot in the same way, for whom the prior became surety. And entering our vestry, they made a double inventory of all the ornaments of the church. Meanwhile the monks in a very human way gossip over the qualifications of the possible successors of Abbot Hugh: The abbacy being vacant, we often, as was right, made sup- plication unto the Lord and to the blessed martyr Edmund that they would give us and our church a fit pastor. Three times in each week, after leaving the chapter, did we prostrate ourselves in the choir and sing seven penitential psalms. And there were some who would not have been so earnest in their prayers if they '' Chief justiciar of England and reputed author of Tractatus de legihus ct consue- titdinibiis regni Angliae {Tractate on the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom of England), first printed in 1554. After rising through various grades of pul)Hc office, he became the right-hand man of Henry II, and during the latter's repeated absences from England was practically viceroy. On Henry's death in 1189, Glanville was removed from office by Richard I, heavily fined and imprisoned. On his release he took the cross and died at the siege of Acre in 1190. His book noted above is a practical treatise on the forms of procedure in the king's Court and "as the source of our knowledge of the curia regis, and for the information it affords re- garding ancient customs and laws, it is of great value to the student of English history." (Enclyclopo'dia Brilannica, ed. 11, article GlanviU). THE SOCUL AND INDUSTRL\L BACKGROUND 273 had known who was to become abbot. As to the choice of an abbot, if the king should grant us free election, there was much difference of opinion, some of it openly expressed, some of it privately; and every man had his own ideas. One said of a certain brother, "He, that brother, is a good monk, a likely person. He knows much of the rule and of the customs of the church. It is true that he is not so profoundly wise as are some others, but he is quite capable of being abbot. Abbot Ording was illiterate, and yet he was a good abbot and ruled this house wisely; and one reads in the fable that the frogs did better to elect a log to be their king than a serpent, who hissed venomously, and when he had hissed, devoured his subjects." Another answered, "How could this thing be? How could one who does not know letters preach in the chapter, or to the people on feast days? How could one who does not know the scriptures have the knowledge of binding and loos- ing? For the rule of souls is the art of arts, the highest form of knowledge. God forbid that a dumb idol be set up in the church of Saint Edmund, where many men are to be found who are learned and industrious." Again, one said of another, "That brother is a literate man, eloquent and prudent, and strict in his observance of the rule. He loves the monastery greatly, and has suffered many ills for the good of the church. He is worthy to be made abbot." Another answered, "From good clerks deliver us, oh Lord ! That it may please Thee to preserve us from the cheats of Norfolk; we beseech Thee to hear us !" And again, one said of one, "That brother is a good husband- man; this is proved by the state of his office, and from the posts in which he has served well, and from the buildings and repairs which he has effected. He is well able to work and to defend the house, and he is something of a scholar, though too much learning has not made him mad. He is worthy of the abbacy." Another answered, "God forbid that a man who can neither read nor sing, nor celebrate the holy office, a man who is dishonest and unjust, and who evil intreats the poor men, should be made abbot." Again, one said of another, "That brother is a kindly man, 274 ENGLISH LITERATURE friendly and amiable, peaceful and calm, <>enerous and liberal, a learned and eloquent man, and proper enough in face and gait. He is beloved of many within and without the walls, and such an one might become abbot to the great honour of the church, if God wills." Another answered, "It is no credit, but rather a disgrace, in a man to be too particular as to what he eats and drinks, to think it a virtue to sleep much, to know well how to spend and to know little how to gain, to snore while others keep vigil, to wish ever to have abundance, and not to trouble when debts daily increase, or when money spent brings no re- turn; to be one who hates anxiety and toil, caring nothing while one day passes and another dawns; to be one who loves and cherishes flatterers and liars; to be one man in word and another in deed. From such a prelate the Lord defend us." And again, one said of his friend, "That man is almost wiser than all of us, and that both in secular and in ecclesiastical matters. He is a man skilled in counsel, strict in the rule, learned and eloquent, and noble in stature; such a prelate would become our church." Another answered, "That would be true, if he were a man of good and approved repute. But his char- acter has been questioned, perhaps falsely, perhaps rightly. And though the man is wise, humble in the chapter, devoted to the singing of psalms, strict in his conduct in the cloister while he is a cloistered monk, this is only from force of habit. For if he have authority in any office, he is too scornful, holding monks of no account, and being on familiar terms with secular men, and if he be angry, he will scarce say a word willingly to any brother, even in answer to a question." I heard in truth another brother abused by some because he had an impediment in his speech, and it was said of him that he had pastry or draff in his mouth when he should have spoken. And I myself, as I was then young, understood as a child, spake as a child; and I said that I would not consent that any one should be made abbot unless he knew something of dialectic, and knew how to distinguish the true from the false. One, more- over, who was wise in his own eyes, said, "May Almighty God give us a foolish and stupid pastor, that he may be driven to use our help." And I heard, forsooth, that one man who was Indus- THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 275 trious, learned, and pre-eminent for his high birth, was abused by some of the older men because he was a novice. The novices said of their elders that they were invalid old men, and little capable of ruling an abbey. And so many men said many things, and every man was fully persuaded in his own mind. At length, after an election formula which delighted Carlyle in its simplicity, Samson the subsacristan was chosen Abbot. He had been recognized for some time as a man of power, though he was a silent fellow. Abbot Hugh had tried to flatter him ^^ and had said to his inti- mates that Samson w^as the only man he had found whom he had not been able to bend to his ow^n w^ll. He w^as zealous for learning ^^ and had great religious sensibility, for when he heard of the capture of Jerusalem by the Saracens, "he began to wear undergarments made of horse hair, and a horse-hair shirt, and gave up the use of flesh and meat."^- "He was an eloquent man, speaking both French and Latin, but rather careful of the good sense of that which he had to say than of the style of his words. He could read books written in English very well, and was wont to preach to the people in English, but in the dialect of Norfolk, where he was born and bred." ^^ He was a careful manager ^^ and very patriotic, since he gave more than his share for the ransom of King Richard I.^^ The beginning of his rule in the monastery is thus described by Jocelin: In those days I was prior's chaplain, and within four months was made chaplain to the abbot. And I noted many things and committed them to memory. So, on the morrow of his feast, the abbot assembled the prior and some few others together, as if to seek advice from others, but he himself knew what he would do. He said that a new seal must be made and adorned with a mitred effigy of himself, though his predecessors had not had 8" Jane's translation in the King's Classics Series, pp. 9, 10. ^^ Ibid., p. 57. 82 Ibid., p. 63. 83 ji^ifi^^ p, 64. ^ Ibid., pp. 66-67. ^ Ibid., p. 85. 276 ENGLISH LITERATURE such a seal. For a time, however, he used the seal of our prior, writing at the end of all letters that he did so for the time being because he had no seal of his own. And afterwards he ordered his household, and transferred various officials to other offices, saying that he proposed to maintain twenty-six horses in his court, and many times he declared that ''a child must first crawl, and afterwards he may stand upright and walk." And he laid this especial command upon his servants, that they should take care that he might not be laid open to the charge of not providing enough food and drink, but that they should assidu- ously provide for the maintenance of the hospitality of the house. In these matters, and in all the things which he did and de- termined, he trusted fully in the help of God and his own good sense, holding it to be shameful to rely upon the counsel of another, and thinking he was sufficient unto himself. The monks marvelled and the knights were angered; they blamed his pride, and often defamed him at the court of the king, saying that he would not act in accordance with the advice of his freemen. He himself put away from his pri^y council all the great men of the abbey, both lay and literate, men without whose advice and assistance it seemed impossible that the abbey could be ruled. For this reason Ranulf de Glanvill, justiciar of England, was at first offended with him, and was less well-disposed towards him than w^as expedient, until he knew well from definite proofs that the abbot acted providently and prudently, both in domes- tic and in external affairs. Samson's talents for government were not suffered to remain long in the obscurity of the monastery; he soon got into public office, as Jocelin tells us in the following chapter : Seven months had not yet passed since his election, and, behold ! letters of the lord pope were sent to him appointing him a judge for hearing causes. In the performance of this work he was rude and inexperienced, though he was skilled in the liberal arts and in the holy scriptures, as being a literate man, brought THE SOCL\L AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 277 up in the schools and a ruler of scholars, and renowned and well proved in his own work. He therefore associated with himself two clerks who were learned in the law and joined them with him, using their advice in church matters, while he spent his leisure in studying the decrees and decretal letters. * And the result was that in a little while he was regarded as a discreet judge, by reason of the books which he had read and the causes which he had tried, and as one who proceeded in the cases which he tried according to the form of law. And for this cause one said, *' Cursed be the court of this abbot, where neither gold nor silver profit me to confound my enemy !" In course of time, he became somewhat skilled in temporal matters, being guided by his commonsense, for his mind was so subtle that all men wondered, and Osbert FitzHerbert, the under- sheriff, used to say, "This abbot is given to disputation; if he goes on as he has begun, he will blind us all, however many we be." But the abbot, being approved in these matters, was made a justice in eyre, though he kept himself from error and wander- ing. But "envy seeks out the highest." His men complained to him in the court of St. Edmund, since he would not give judg- ment hastily or believe every spirit, but proceeded in a judicial manner, knowing that the merits of the cases of suitors are made clear by discussion. It was said that he would not do justice to any complainant, unless money were given or promised; and because his aspect was acute and penetrating, and his face, like Cato's, rarely smiling, it was said that his mind lent rather to severity than to mercy. Moreover, when he took fines for any crime, it was said that judgment rejoiced against mercy, for i;i the opinion of many, when it came to a matter of taking money he rarely remitted that which he might lawfully take. So his wisdom increased, as well as his care in managing affairs, and in improving his state, and in spending honorably. Some of the abbey's financial difficulties were conceived as due to the Jews, and Samson finally secured royal per- mission to drive them from the neighborhood. The recovery of the manor of Mildenhall for one thousand one hundred silver marks, and the expulsion of the Jews from the 278 ENGLISH LITERATURE town of St. Edmund's, and the foundation of a new hospital at Babwell, were signs of great virtue. The lord abbot sought letters from the king that the Jews might be expelled from the town of St. Edmund's, asserting that whatever is in the town of the blessed Edmund, or within the district subject to the jurisdiction of the monastery, belongs of right to the Saint, and that consequently the Jews ought either to be the men of St. Edmund, or else be driven from the town. Leave, therefore, was given to him to eject them, provided that they should have all their chattels, as well as the value of their houses and lands. And when they were sent forth, and under armed force were conducted to various towns, the abbot ordered that in every church and before every altar those should be solemnly excommunicated who should henceforth receive Jews or entertain them as guests in the town of St. Edmund's. This provision was afterwards modified by the justices of the king, to the effect that if Jews should come to the great pleas of the abbot in order to exact debts due to them from their debtors, then for this reason they might be entertained for two days and two nights in the town, and depart in peace on the third day. Samson was a stout defender of the monastery's rights, even against archbishops and kings. In a manor of the monks of Canterbury, which is called Eleigh, and which is in the hundred of the abbot, there chanced to be a murder. But the archbishop's men would not allow the mur- derers to take their trial in the court of St. Edmund. Then the abbot made complaint to king Henry, and said that archbishop Baldwin was claiming the liberties of our church for himself, on the ground of a new charter which the king had given to the church of Canterbury after the death of the blessed Thomas. Then the king answered that he had never given a charter to the prejudice of our church, and that he did not wish to take from the blessed Edmund anything which he had formerly pos- sessed. On hearing this, the abbot said to his intimate advisers: "It is wiser counsel that the archbishop should make complaint of me than that I should make complaint of the archbishoj). I wish to place myself in possession of this liberty, and then I will THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 279 defend myself with the help of St. Edmund, in whose right our charters bear witness that this liberty is." Accordingly, unexpectedly, and very early in the morning, with the help of Robert de Cokefield, about eighty armed men were sent to the town of Eleigh, and took those three murderers by surprise and brought them bound to St. Edmund's, and cast them into the dungeon of the prison. And when the archbishop made complaint of this, Ranulf Glanvill, the justiciar, com- manded that those men should be bound by surety and pledges to stand their trial in the court wherein they ought to stand it; and the abbot was summoned to come to the court of the king and to make reply concerning the violence and injury which he was said to have done to the archbishop. And the abbot many times presented himself at the court, without attempting to make excuse. At last, at the beginning of the fasting time, they stood before the king in the chapter-house of Canterbury, and the charters of the two churches were read publicly. And the lord king answered, "These charters are of equal age, and come from the same king Edward. I know not what to say, save that the charters are contradictory." To this the abbot replied, "What- ever may be said about the charters, we are seised of the liberty, and have been in the past, and on this point I will submit to the verdict of the two counties, Norfolk and Suffolk, which will allow^ this." Archbishop Baldwin, however, having first taken counsel with his men, said that the men of Norfolk and Suffolk loved St. Edmund greatly, and that a large part of those counties was under the rule of the abbot, and therefore he would not abide by their arbitration. But the king was angry and offended at that, and rising up, left the place, saying, "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." And thus the matter was postponed, and is still undecided. But I saw that some of the men of the monks of Canterbury were wounded to the death by the rustics of the township of Midling, which is situated in the hundred of St. Ednumd, and as they knew that the prosecutor is bound to go to the court of the defendant, they preferred to be silent and to hide the matter. 280 ENGLISH LITERATURE rather than comphiin of it to the abbot or his officers, since they were in nowise wilhng to come and plead in the court of St. Edmund. After these things the men of Eleigh set up a certain measure for the doing of justice in cases where bread and corn had been measured with false measures, and the abbot made complaint of this to the lord bishop of Ely, who was at that time justiciar and chancellor. But he would not hear the abbot, because he was alleged to be scenting the archbishopric, which was then vacant. When, however, he had come among us, and was re- ceived as legate, before he departed, he made prayer at the shrine of the holy martyr. And the abbot, seizing the opportunity, said in the hearing of all w^ho were present, "My lord bishop, the liberty, which the monks of Canterbury claim, is the right of St. Edmund, whose body is here, and as you will not assist me to protect the liberty of his church, I put a complaint between you and him. Henceforth he may secure his right." The chan- cellor did not condescend to make any answer, and within a year was forced to leave England, and suffered divine vengeance. But when the same chancellor had returned from Germany and had landed at Ipswich, and spent the night at Hitcham, a report came to the abbot that the chancellor wished to pass through St. Edmund's, and to hear mass with us on the morrow. Therefore the abbot forbade the celebration of the divine offices while the chancellor was present in the church, for he said that he had heard in London that the bishop of London had pro- nounced the chancellor excommunicate, in the presence of six bishops, especially for the violence which he had done to the archbishop of York, at Dover, and that the said chancellor, while excommunicate, had departed from England. Accordingly, when the chancellor came among us on the mor- row, he found no one to chant mass for him, either clerk or monk. But the priest, indeed, who stood at the first mass and at the canon of the mass, and the other priests by the altars, ceased, and stood with unmoved lips, until a messenger came and said that he had left the church. The chancellor took no notice openly, but he did many ills to the abbot, until, by the media- tion of friends, they both returned to the kiss of peace. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 281 In the matter, too, of the commercial rights of the mon- astery Samson showed himself true to his namesake. The merchants of London wished to be quit from toll at the fair of St. Edmund's. Many, however, though unwillingly and under compulsion, paid it, and on this account many tumults and a great disturbance occurred between the citizens of London in their court. Wherefore, having held a meeting about the matter, they sent word to abbot Samson that they ought to be quit of toll throughout all England, under the authority of the charter which they held from king Henry the Second. To this the abbot answered that, were it needful, he could easily bring the king to warrant him that he had never made them a charter in prejudice of our church, or to the injury of the liberties of St. Edmund, to whom the holy Edward had granted and confirmed toll and theam and all regalian rights before the conquest of England. And he added that king Henry had given to the Londoners quittance from toll throughout his ow^n demesnes, where he had the right to give it; for in the city of St. Edmund's he could not give it, for it was not his to give. When the Londoners heard this, ,they decreed with common assent that none of them should come to the fair of St. Edmund's and for two years they did absent themselves, whence our fair suffered great loss, and the offerings in our sacristry were greatly diminished. Eventually, when the bishop of London and many others had mediated, an agreement was reached between them and us whereby they should come to the fair, and some of them should pay toll, but this should be at once returned to them, that by such a device the privilege of both parties might be maintained. But as time went on, when the abbot had come to an agree- ment with his knights, and as it were, rested in peace, lo ! again, "The Phihstines be upon thee, Samson !"^^ For the Londoners, with one voice, threatened to level with the earth the stone houses, which the abbot had built in the same year, or to take distress a hundredfold from the men of St. Edmund, if the abbot ^ Cf. Judges lG:4-2'2. 282 ENGLISH LITERATURE did not at once make reparation to them for the wrong which they had suffered from the baiHffs of the town of St. Edmund's. For they had taken fifteen pence from the carts of the citizens of London, which were coming from Yarmouth and carrying her- rings, and which passed through our town. And the citizens of London said that they had been quit of toll in every market, and always and in every place, throughout all England, from the time when the city of Rome was first founded, at which time the city of London was also founded. They said that they ought to have this privilege throughout all England, both on the ground that their city was a privileged city, which had been the metropolis and capital of the kingdom, and on the score of the antiquity of the city. The abbot, however, asked for a truce on this dispute for a reasonable time, until the return of the king to England, that he might consult with him on this matter; and taking the advice of men skilled in the law, he handed back to the complainants those fifteen pence as a pledge, without prejudice to the ques- tion of the right of either party. In the tenth year of the abbacy of abbot Samson, by common counsel of our chapter, we made complaint to the abbot in his court and said that the receipts from all the goods of the towns and boroughs of England were increased, and had grown to the advantage of the possessors and the greater profit of their lords, save in the case of this town, which had been wont to pay forty pounds and had never had its dues increased. And we said that the burghers of the city were responsible for this, since they held so many and such large stands in the market-place, shops and sheds and stalls, without the assent of the monastery, and at the sole gift of the bailiffs of the town, who were annual holders of their offices, and as it were servants of the sacristan, being removable at his good pleasure. But when the burghers were summoned, they answered that they were under the jurisdiction of the king, and that they ought not to make reply, contrary to the liberty of the towns and their charters, concerning that which they had held and their fathers well and in peace, for one year and a day without dispute. And they said that it was the old custom that the bailiffs should. THE SOCL\L AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 283 without consulting the monastery, give to them places for shops and sheds in the market-place, in return for some annual pay- ment to the bailiwick. But we disputed this, and wished the abbot to dispossess them of such things as they held without having any warrant for them. Then the abbot came to our council, as if he had been one of ourselves, and privately informed us that he wished, so far as he could, to do right to us; but that he had to proceed in a judicial manner, and that he could not, without the judgment of the court, dispossess his free men of their lands and revenues, which they had, whether rightly or wrongly, held for many years. He added that if he were to do this, he would be liable to punishment at the discretion of the king and at the assizes of the kingdom. The burghers, therefore, took counsel and offered the monas- tery a revenue of a hundred shillings for the sake of peace, and that they might hold that which they held as they had been accustomed. But we would not grant this, preferring to post- pone the matter, and perchance hoping that in the time of another abbot, either we might recover all, or change the place of the fair; and so the matter for many years advanced no further. The management of the cellar had always been a diffi- culty in the abbey, and, after trying various other expedi- ents, Samson decided to undertake it himself, with what results is shown in the following: In the year of grace one thousand one hundred and ninety- seven, certain changes and alterations were made in our church, which may not be passed over in silence. When our cellarer did not find his ancient revenues sufficient, ab])ot Samson ordered that fifty pounds should be given him in annual increase from Mildenhall by the hand of the prior. This was not to be paid at one time, but in instalments every month, that in each month there might be something to spend, and that the whole might not be used up in one part of the year; and so it was done for one year. 284 ENGLISH LITERATURE But tlie cellarer and his assistants complained of this, and he said that if he had had that money in his hands, he would have provided for himself and gathered stock for himself. Then the abbot, against his will indeed, granted that request. And when the beginning of August came, the cellarer had already spent the whole amount, and moreover owed twenty-six pounds, and was bound to pay a debt of fifty pounds before Michaelmas. And when the abbot heard this, he was wroth, and spoke thus in the chapter, "I have often threatened that I would take our cellar into my own hands owing to your incompetence and ex- travagance, since you bind yourselves with great debt. I placed my clerk with your cellarer as a witness, that the office might be managed with greater care. But there is no clerk or monk who dares tell me the cause of the debt. It is said, indeed, that the too elaborate feasts in the prior's house, which occur with the assent of the prior and of the cellarer, and the superfluous expense in the guest-house owing to the carelessness of the guest- master, are the cause of it. You see," he went on, "the great debt which is pressing on us; tell me your opinion as to the way in which the matter should be remedied." ]\Iany of the cloistered monks, hearing this, and, as it were, laughing to themselves, were pleased with what was said, and said privately that what the abbot said was true. The prior cast the blame on the cellarer, and the cellarer on the guest- master, and the guest-master made excuse for himself. We, of course, knew the true reason, but were silent from fear. On the morrow the abbot came and again said to the monastery, "Give me your advice as to how your cellar may be more thoughtfully and better managed." And there was no one who would answer a word, save one who said that there was no waste at all in the refectory whence any debt or burden could arise. And on the third day the abbot said the same words, and one answered, "The advice ought to come from you, as from our head." Then the abbot said, "Since you will not give advice, -4|iid cannot rule your house for yourselves, the control of the monas- terj' falls upon me as your father and chief guardian. I receive," he went on, "into my own hand your cellar and the charge of THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 285 the guests, and the task of getting supplies within and without." And with these words, he deposed the cellarer and guest-master, and replaced them with two monks, with the titles of sub-cellarer and guest-master, and associated with them a clerk of his table, master G., without whose assent nothing was to be done in the matter of food and drink, or in expenditure or in receipts. The former buyers were removed from the work of buying in the market, and food was to be purchased by a clerk of the abbot, and our deficits were to be made good from the abbot's treasury. Guests who ought to be received were received, and those who ought to be honored were honored. Officials and cloistered monks alike took their meals in the refectory, and on all sides superfluous expenses were cut down. But some of the cloistered monks said among themselves, *' There were seven, yes, seven, who devoured our goods, and if one had spoken of their devouring, he would have been regarded as one guilty of high treason." Another said, as he stretched forth his hands to heaven, "Blessed be God, who hath given such a desire to the abbot, that he should correct so great faults." And many said that it was well done. Others said that it was not well done, thinking so great a reformation derogatory to the honor of the house, and calling the discretion of the abbot the ravening of a wolf; and in truth they called to mind old dreams, to the effect that he who should become abbot would raven as a wolf. The knights were astonished, the people marvelled, at these things which had been done, and one of the common sort said, *'It is a strange thing that the monks, being so many and learned men, should allow their affairs and revenues to be confused and mingled with the affairs of the abbot, when they had always been wont to be separated and parted asunder. It is strange that they do not guard themselves against the danger which will come after the death of the abbot, if the lord king should find things in this state." A certain man again said that the abbot was the only one who was skilled in external aft'airs, and that he ought to rule all, who knew how to rule all. And one there was who said, "If there were but one wise monk in so great a monastery, who ^286 ENGLISH LITERATURE might know how to rule the house, the abbot would not have done such things." And so we became a scorn and derision to those who were round about us. About this time it happened that the anniversary of abbot Robert was to be celebrated in the chapter, and it was decreed that a Placebo and a Dirige should be sung more solemnly than was wont, that is, with ringing of the great bells, as on the anni- versaries of abbots Ording and Hugh. The cause of this was the noble deed of the said abbot Robert, who separated our goods and revenues from those of the abbot. But this solemnity was due to the counsel of some that so the heart of the lord abbot might be moved to do well. One there was, however, who thought that this was to be done to the shame of the abbot, who was accused of wishing to confound and intermingle his affairs and revenues and ours, in that he had taken our cellar into his own hand. Then when the abbot heard the unusual ringing of bells, and knew well and considered that this was contrary to custom, he wisely hid the cause of the action and sang mass solemnly. But on the follow^ing Michaelmas, since he wished to silence the murmurs of some men in part, he appointed him who had been sub-cellarer to the post of cellarer, and ordered another to be nomi- nated as sub-cellarer, though the same clerk remained with them and procured all needful things as before. But when that clerk passed the bounds of moderation, saying, "I am Bu," — whereby he meant that the cellarer had passed the bounds of temperance in drinking, — and when, without consulting the abbot, he held the court of the cellarer and took sureties and pledges, and re- ceived the revenues for the year and spent them w^ith his own hand, he was publicly called chief cellarer by the people. And when the clerk often wandered through the court, and many poor and rich debtors followed him as if he had been mas- ter and chief agent, as well as claimants of divers sorts and on divers matters, perchance one of our officials stood in the court. He saw this, and wept for shame and confusion, thinking that this was a shame to our church, and thinking of the danger which would result, and thinking that a clerk was preferred to a monk to the })rejudice of the whole monastery. Accordingly THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 287 he, whoever he was, procured by means of another, that this should be fitly and moderately pointed out to the lord abbot, and it came to pass that it was brought to the abbot's knowl- edge how arrogant the clerk was, and what he did to the shame and wrong of all; and that he was the cause of great disturb- ance and discord in the monastery. But when the abbot heard this, he at once ordered word to be sent to the cellarer and to the said clerk, and commanded that the cellarer should hence- forth regard himself as cellarer in the receipts of money, and in holding pleas, and in all other matters, saving this only, that the said clerk should assist him, not on an equality, but as a witness and adviser. ^^ Thus the story runs on, adding detail to detail of our knowledge of monastic life. We see King John on a visit to the monastery and learn of his niggardliness, we hear of various new disputes between various officers; but, as Jessopp says,^^ these serve to vary the monotony of routine. We are furnished a list of the knights of the abbey and their duties and learn of the death and election of a prior. The Chronicle comes to no particular conclu- sion and ends before the death of Samson leaving "the monastery at peace with all men." But the monastic system decayed, and when we get down to these portraits of monastic figures by Chaucer, we see little in them to connect them with either an exalted reli- gious life or a strenuous business life in the community. There was also a nun, a prioress, "^^ who was very simple and coy in her smiling; her greatest oath was but by St. Loy.^*^ She was called ^ladame Eglantine. She j)crformcd divine serv- ice very well, intoned in her nose in seemly fashion, and she ^'^ Cf. Augustus Jessopp, Daily Life in a Medicral Monastery in The Coming of the Friars (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 15th impression, 1908). 88 The Coming of the Friars, p. 189. 83 I.e. among the pilgrims to Canterbury. 3'' Patron saint of goldsmiths who refused to swear an oath; to say, therefore, that the Prioress' greatest oath was by St. Loy is to say that she swore not at all. 288 ENGLISH LITERATURE spoke French properly after the school of Stratford-on-the-Bowe, for Parisian French was unknown to her. She was well-bred at meals and let no morsel fall from her lips nor did she wet her fingers much in the sauce. She could carry a morsel well and see to it that no drop fell upon her breast. She had set her heart on having good manners. She wiped her upper lip so clean that not a bit of grease was seen in her cup after she had taken a drink. She reached after her food politely and really was good company and very pleasant and amiable in bearing, took pains to imitate courtly behavior, to be stately in carriage and held worthy of reverence. And, to speak of her sensibili- ties, she was so loving and piteous that she would weep if she saw a mouse if it were caught in a trap or bleeding. She had some little dogs that she fed on roast meat and fine bread and would weep bitterly if one of them died, or even if you hit one smartly with a stick; all with her was sensibility and tender- ness. Her hood was very neatly fastened; her nose straight; her eyes gray as glass; her mouth small, soft and red. She had a wonderful forehead, it was almost a span high, I believe; and, to be accurate, she was not undergrown. Her cloak was very chic, as I was aware. She had a set of coral beads on her arm, varied with green ones at intervals, and on this string of beads hung a very fine brooch of gold on which was first engraved a capital A and then the legend. Amor vincit omnia (Love con- quers all). There was a monk, a splendid candidate for athletic honors, a bold rider who loved hunting; a manly man, capable of being an abbot. He had many a fancy horse in his stable; and, when he rode, you could hear his bridle jingling in the whistling wind as clear and as loud as does the bell of the chapel of this lord's monastery. The Rule of St. Maur or of St. Benedict, because they were old and somewhat strict, he disregarded. He was inclined to pooh-pooh old things and take his stand with the moderns. He didn't care a plucked hen for the text that says that hunters are not holy men, nor for the idea that a monk out of his cloister is like a fish out of water. He held such things not worth an oyster, and I was rather disposed to agree with him. Why should he study and make himself mad with THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 289 always poring over a book in the cloister or doing manual labor, as St. Augustine bade? How is the world to be served? Let Augustine follow such courses if he likes them. Therefore, this monk was a hunter in earnest; he had some greyhounds, swift as birds in flight; his whole heart was set on riding and hunting rabbits — he spared no expense. I noticed that his sleeves were trimmed at the wrist with fur and that the finest to be had; and that to fasten his hood under his chin he had a very curious pin made of gold — a lover's knot formed the larger end of it. His head was bald and shone like glass, his face, also, shone as if it had been oiled. He was a lord fat and in a flourishing physi- cal condition; his eyes, deep set and rolling in his head, gleamed like the fires under a furnace; his boots were supple and his horse well cared for. Now certainly he was a fine specimen of a prelate — he was not pale like a tormented ghost. Of all roasts he liked best a fat swan. His riding horse was as brown as a berry. The restlessness and skepticism largely engendered in Europe by the Crusades roused many good souls to a feel- ing that a great revival of gospel Christianity was needed. ^^ Two of these, Dominic, a Spaniard, and Giovanni Bernar- done, an Italian better known as Francis of Assisi, founded new religious fraternities or brotherhoods since called orders of friars (from Latin f rater, brother), Dominicans or Black Friars and Franciscans or Gray Friars, named from the respective colors of their clothing. These friars were not to remain in solitude, devoted to self-cultivation like monks, but were bound to go out among the people ])reacliing and offering practical assistance of all kinds. Francis, soon canonized, insisted that his companions should work in absolute poverty, depending on alms for subsistence. This principle was likewise later ado])led by St. Dominic. On the whole the Franciscan order has left us better records of its activities and was llu^ more characteristic of the whole movement, and our first two documents relate^ to ^^ Cf. the lltlc c.ss;iy in Jcssoj);), op. cit. 290 ENGLISH LITERATURE it. The first consists of the more important provisions in the Rule of St. Frcuicis, the constitution of his order. (After a long prolog.) I. In the name of God: here begins the Rule of the Friars Minor, '■^" the first chapter. The rule for the life of the friars minor is this, to observe and keep the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ by living in obedi- ence without property and in chastity. Brother Francis promises obedience and reverence to the lord Pope Honorius and to his la\A'ful successors and to the Church of Rome. All other brothers are bound to obey Brother Francis ^^ and his successors. II. Of Those Who Are to Be Admitted to This Life and How They May Be Admitted. If any who desire to take up this life come to our brethren, let the latter send them to the provincial ministers, ^^ to whom only is granted license to receive brothers. The ministers shall diligently examine the candidates in the Christian faith and the sacraments of the Church. The ministers shall carefully examine and if the applicants steadfastly believe in them (i.e. the faith and the sacraments referred to) and will truly and- faithfully grant and confess them, and (agree) steadfastly to keep them to the end of their lives: and if they are not married: ... let the ministers say to them the words of the holy gospel, namely that they go and sell all their goods, and themselves try to dis- tribute the proceeds to the poor: ^^ but if they cannot do the latter, their good intention is sufficient. And the brethren shall ^ St. Francis with characteristic huraihty dubbed his followers "brothers of lower rank than all others," hence friars minor or minorites. The materials for our knowledge of the life and character of St. Francis are practically all included in the Temple Classics and Everyman s Library; these include The Little Flowers; The Mirror of Perfection, the Life by Bonaventura, and other Lives. The standard work of modem scholarship on St. Francis is the Life by Paul Sabatier. It has been translated from the original French into English. (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1912.) °3 St. Francis always called himself Brother Francis. ^* Europe, for purposes of organization, was divided into sections called prov- inces and over each of these was set a sort of superintendent called a provincial minister. Notice that the titles of even the superior officers in the order mean service; minister is from the identical Latin word meaning servant, cf. Matt. 20: 25-28. "s Cf. Matt. 19: 21. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 291 see to it that they do not meddle with nor busy themselves with their temporal good nor with the procuring thereof, in order that instead they may freely do whatsoever God suggests or inspires in their minds. Nevertheless, if advice be demanded or asked of them in this matter, the ministers have permission to send them (i.e. the persons asking the advice) to God-fearing persons, by whose counsel their goods may be distributed and given to the poor. Then after this (examination and giving up their property) the ministers shall give the initiates the clothing of probation, that is to say, two coats without hoods, a cord, a femoral and a shirt. Unless it be thought expedient by the said ministers that the time of probation be lengthened or shortened in special cases, when the year of probation is finished and ended, the probation- ers may be received to obedience and profession. And in no wise may it be lawful for them to forsake this religious order, after and according to the commandment of the Pope, for, as the holy gospel says, no man putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of heaven. ^^ And those who have made their profession and promised obe- dience shall have one coat with a hood and another without . . . and such as have need or are constrained by necessity may wear shoes. And all the brethren must be clothed in simple and cheap garments. And they may patch and mend them with pieces of sack-cloth or with other pieces, with the blessing of God. And I warn the brethren not to despise nor judge ^^ such men as they see clothed in delicate and soft raiment, or with colored and costly array, or using delicious meats and drinks, but I charge each one rather to judge and despise himself. III. How the Brethren Should Behave Themselves when They Travel. I counsel and also warn and exhort my brethren in our Lord Jesus Christ that they brawl not, nor strive in their words of comrhunication nor judge and condemn other men; but that they be meek, peaceable, soft,^** gentle and courteous, speaking honestly and answering every man as they should and ought. ^ Cf. Luke 9: 02. '••' Cf. Matt. 7: 1. ^^ (^f Proverbs 1.5: 1. 292 ENGLISH LITERATURE And they shall not ride unless they be constrained by evident necessity or else by sickness. Into what house or place soever they enter they shall first say, "Peace be unto this house." ^^ And, according to the holy gospel, they may eat of all such food as is set before them. IV. That the Brethren May not Receive iVny Coin or Money. I command steadfastly and strictly all the brethren that in no wise they receive any sort of coin or money, either directly in person or through any sort of intermediary. Nevertheless, for the needs of sick brothers, and for the clothing of the brethren, through spiritual friends, the ministers only and custodians and wardens shall have diligent care and charge according to the places, to the times and seasons, and to cold countries and re- gions, as it shall seem to them expedient according to their neces- sity and need. Saving this always, that, as I said before, they may not receive any sort of coin or money. V. How the Brethren Shall Busy and Occupy Themselves in Bodily Labor. The brethren to whom God hath given grace and strength to labor shall truly and devoutly work in such wise that Idleness,^'^^ the enemy of the soul, being excluded and put away, they quench not the inward fervor and spirit of holy prayer and devotion to which all transitory and temporal things ought to yield and give place. As for pay for their labor they may receive for them- selves and their brethren those things that are needful and necessary for their bodies except coin or money. (Let them receive their pay) in a lowly and meek spirit, as pertains to the servants of God and the true followers of most perfect and holy poverty. VL How the Brethren May not in any wise Burden Themselves with Any Kind of Property. The brethren shall have no property, either in houses or lands, or rents or any sort of thing, })ut shall be like pilgrims and »9 Cf. Luke 10: 1-lG. "0 Cf. ante, p. 19, the first quotation from the Rule of St. Benedict. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 293 strangers ^°^ in this world, in poverty and meekness, serving Alniiglity God. They shall boldly,!"- faithfully, surely and meekly go for alms. Nor shall they, nor ought they to be ashamed, for our Lord made Himself poor in this world. ^"^ A II. Of Penance to Be Enjoined on the Brethren that Fall into Sin. VIII. Of the Election of the Minister General of This Frater- nity and of the Chapter at Whitsuntide. (Pentecost, fifty days after Easter.) IX. Of the Preachers. The brethren shall not preach in the diocese of any bishop who forbids them to do. so. And none of the brethren shall be so bold as to preach to the people unless he has been examined, approved by the minister general of this brotherhood and ad- mitted by him to the office of preaching. I warn also and re- quire and exhort the same brethren that in their preaching their words and speech be select and chaste to the profit and edifica- tion of the people, showing to them vices and virtues, pain and joy in few words; because our Lord's sermons on earth were but brief. X. Of the Admonition and Correction of the Brethren. XL That the Brethren Are Forbidden to Enter Nunneries. XII. Of Those that Desire to Go among the Saracens or Other Unbelievers. Whosoever of the brethren by divine inspiration wishes to go among the Saracens or other infidels, shall seek i)ermission of their provincial ministers and the latter shall not grant it except to such as they think to be serious and able and sufiicient to be sent. These things by obedience I enjoin on the ministers that they ask and request one of the canhnats of tlic Po|)(^ and of the Holy Church of Rome to be governor, defender and corrector of this brotherhood, that we always being subject and abject under the feet of Holy Church, being stable and steadfast in the catliolic and Christian faith, may truly keep i°i Cf. IIol)row,s 1 1 : 13. i'^- ( f . Mall. 7: 7. "« C'f. 2 ( '..r. S : 9. 294 ENGLISH LITERATURE poverty and meekness and the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, which we have steadfastly and strictly vowed and promised to do. Conclusion. And, therefore, in no way shall it be lawful for any man to violate or oppose this charter or writing of our confirmation, or to go contrary to it, or to move against it by boldness and pre- sumption or by rash audacity in any way, for whosoever is so hardy as to presume or undertake to do such a thing shall know and understand that he thereby will fall into the great wrath of God and of His blessed apostles Peter and Paul. Given at the Lateran, November 26, in the eighth year of our pontificate (1224). (A long note on chapter 5 follows.) Thomas of Eccleston, a writer of whom we know only what he tells us in his book, Liber de Adventu Minorum in Angliam {Account of the Arrived of the Minorites in Eng- land), but who seems to be a careful investigator of Fran- ciscan history and was a contemporary of King Henry III of England (king 1216-1272), describes in the follow- ing paragraphs how the doctrines of St. Francis were brought to England. It is to be noted that, according to this account, the Dominicans had already established them- selves in London and at Oxford w^hen the Franciscans arrived. In the year of our Lord 1224, in the time of the lord Pope Honorius, and in the same year in which the Rule of the Blessed Francis was confirmed by him, in the eighth year of the reign of King Henry, son of John, on the third day after the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin,^''^ which fell that year on a Sunday, the Minorite Brethren first landed in England at Dover; there were four clerks and five laymen. The following were the clerks: first. Brother Agnellus of Pisa, a deacon of about thirty years old, who had been appointed by the Blessed Fran- ^^ Sept 11. (The Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin is on Sept. 8.) THE SOCL\L AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 295 cis in the last general chapter. Provincial Minister in England. . . . The second was Brother Richard of Ingworth, an English- man, a priest and preacher somewhat more advanced in years, who was the first to preach to the people beyond the moun- tains. i°^ . . . The third was Brother Richard of Devon, also an Englishman, a young acolyte, who left us divers examples of longsuffering and obedience. . . . The fourth was Brother Wil- liam Ashby, a youthful Englishman, still a novice wearing the garb of probation. The laymen were these: First, Brother Henry of Ceruise, a Lombard, who, on account of his sanctity and great discretion, was made warden of London, and who, when his period of labor in England was completed, after the numbers of the brethren had been increased, returned to his own country. The second was Brother Laurence, from Beauvais, who was engaged at the be- ginning in uncompleted work, according to the injunctions of the Rule; afterwards he journeyed to the Blessed Francis, whom he was favored to see frequently, and by whose conversation he was comforted; finally, the holy Father freely gave him his robe, and with a most pleasant benediction sent him back joyful to England. . . . The third was Brother W. of Florence, who returned to France, soon after the reception of the brethren (in England). The fourth was ]\Ielioratus; the fifth. Brother Jaco- bus Ultramontanus, still a novice in the garb of probation. These nine, who had been brought across for charity to Eng- land and freely sup]>lied with necessaries by the monks of Fe- camp, came to Canterbury and abode at the j:>riory of the Holy Trinity for two days; then four of them, to wit. Brother Richard of Ingworth, Brother Richard of Devon, i^rotlicr IIcMirv and Brother Melioratus, j)roceeded to London. The fi\-c ollicrs went to the Hospital of Poor Priests, wlicre they remained until (liey had ])rei)are(l a ])lace of residence for tliemsehes; soon alter, a small room within the school was given to tlieni, wliere lliey remained from day to day, slmt \\\) almost constantly. \\'lien the schohirs returned liome in the evening, the brethren entered the house where the scholars had l)een seated, made tliemseh-es afire, and sat near it; sometimes, when they wished lo drink, 1^6 I.e. noiili of till- .VIps. 296 ENGLISH LITERATURE they placed on a fire a i)ot witli the dregs of beer, and put a dish in the i)ot, and drank in turn, sj^eaking each some words of pious instruction; and as he bears witness who shared in their real simplicity, and was a participator in their holy poverty, their drink was often so thick that, when the pots came to be heated, they poured in water, and so drank with pleasure. The four brethren, of whom I have spoken above, when they came to London, betook themselves to the Friars Preachers (i.e. the Dominicans), by whom they were kindly received, and with whom they remained for two weeks, eating and drinking what was set before them, like intimate friends. Afterwards they hired a house in the village of Cornhill, where they constructed cells, stuffing the interstices between the cells with grass. They remained until the following summer in their early simplicity, without a chantry, because they had as yet no privilege to erect altars and celebrate divine service in their house. Just before the Feast of All Saints,^°*' and before Brather Agnellus had come to London, Brother Richard of Ingworth and Brother Richard of Devon came to Oxford, and there also were most kindly re- ceived by the Preaching Friars in whose refectory they ate and in whose dormitory they slept for eight days. Afterwards they hired for themselves a house in the parish of St. Ebba and there remained without a chantry until the following summer. There the Blessed Jesus sowed a grain of mustard-seed which after- wards became the greatest among herbs. ^'^^ From that place Brother Richard of Ingworth and Brother Richard of Devon set out to Northampton where they took up their abode in the hospital. And afterwards they hired for themselves a house in the parish of St. Egidius, where the first warden was Brother Peter of Spain who wore an iron corslet next his body and fur- nished many other examples of perfection. The first warden of Oxford was Brother William Ashby, hitherto a novice; he was now given the dress of the Order. The first warden of Cam- bridge was Brother Thomas of Spain; of Lincoln, Brother Henry Misericorde, a layman. The lord John Travers first received the brethren at Cornhill, and gave them a house; a certain layman from Lombardy was appointed warden, who first taught letters i«> Nov. 1. i«7 Cf. Matt. 18: 81, 32. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 297 by night in the church of the Blessed Peter at Cornhill, and afterwards became Vicar of England, while Brother Agnellus went to the general chapter. In the vicarate he had as his associate Brother Richard of Ingworth; in the end, being unable to endure such heights of prosperity and being weakened by so many orders, he became insane and apostatized from the Order. It is worthy of note that in the second year of the administra- tion of Brother Peter, fifth Minister of England, that is to say, in the thirty-second year after the arrival of the brethren in England, the number of brethren living in the province of Eng- land, in forty-nine places, amounted to twelve hundred forty- two. The movement flom'ished, got to itself learning, and pro- duced great scholars. Englishmen of European scholastic reputation like iVlexander Hales, Roger Bacon, ^^^ and Duns Scotus were Franciscans; continentals like Albertus Mag- nus and Thomas Aquinas, the official theologians of the Church, were Dominicans. In less than fifty years after the Minorites landed at Dover, a member of the Order had become Archbishop of Canterbury and Bonaventura, General of the Order, had declined the Archbishopric of York. "In 1281 Jerome of Ascoli, Bonaventura's suc- cessor as General, was elected Pope, assuming the name of Nicholas IV." 109 But for some reason the movement lost the purity of its early ideals, the orders fell into decay, and within a cen- tury of the election of Nicholas IV, we find an English poem like the following, piu'porting to be written by a novice in one of the orders, full of severe censure of the everyday life of the friars. No priest, monk, canon nor any man of religion is so fervent in his devotion as is this holy friar. For some devote themselves to chivalry, some to rioting and ribaldry; but friars devote themselves to great study and to long prayers; whoso keeps 103 Cf. post, pp. 391-401. 103 Cf. Jessopp, op. cit., p. -45. 298 ENGLISH LITERATURE their whole Rule both in word and deed will certainly, I am sure, reap heaven's bliss as his reward. Men can see by their faces that they are men of severe pen- ance and also that their living is thin and weak. I have lived now forty years and fatter men in the kidneys I never saw than these friars in countries where they wander about. Without meat they become so emaciated and penance so subdues them that each must ride on horseback when they must pack up and leave town. Alas ! that it ever should be so that such clerks as they should walk from town to town to seek their living. By God who won all this world, he who organized this order methinks must have been a very simple sort of man. For they have naught to live by, they wander here and there and deal in divers merchandise just as if they were pedlars. They deal in purses, pins and knives, in girdles and gloves for girls and women; but always the husband comes off ill where friars are numerous. For when the goodman is from home and the friar comes to his dame, he spares neither for sin nor shame to do his will. If they got no help from housewives when hus- bands are not in, the welfare of the friars would be bad and they w^ould brew so thin ! Some friars carry rich furs about for greater dames and stout to trim their clothes on the outside with, after they are finished. For some vaire,^^^ for others gryse,^^*^ for some cloth and others silk, and also many sorts of spice they carry in their bags. Whatever pleases the women the friars have at hand; but the husband who must foot the bill gets but small return. Tricks they know and many a scheme; for one can with a pound of soap get him a kirtle and a cape and something else to boot. Why should I swear an oath.'^ There is no pedlar that carries a pack can sell his wares half so dear as that friar can. For if he gives a woman a knife that cost but two-pence, he will have pay worth ten knives, I know before he goes. Let every man that lives here, if he have wife or fair daugh- ter, allow no friar to shrive them in public or in private. Though women seem steadfast in heart, they can make their hearts "° Various kinds of fine furs for which we have no modern equivalent names. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 299 changeable with fair heliesl and table and fulfill their desires. Beware always of the limitor ^^^ and of his fellow as well, for if they play their tricks in your house, it will probably turn out ill for you. They say that they (the friars) destroy sin, but they (really) maintain peoi)le most therein; for if a man had slain all his kin, let him go to a friar for absolution, and for less than a i)air of shoes he will wash the murderer clean and declare that the sin he has committed will never harm his soul. It seems in sooth that men say of them in many different lands that the cursed caitiff Cain founded these orders. Now see in truth whether it be so: the name Carmelite ^^^ begins with C, Augustinian ^^'- begins with A, Jacobin with I and Minorite with M; thus Caim ^^'^ started these four orders and filled the world with error and hypocrisy. All the wickedness that men can recount dwells among them; there is no room for other souls in hell, there is such a crowd of friars. They travel eagerly and busily, to humiliate the secular clergy; ^^^ they slander them and thus do wrong. Whoso lives many years will see that it will l^ippen to the friars as it did to the Templars ^^^ who lived among us so long. For they did ^^^ A friar licensed to beg in a certain district and limited to that district. ^^2 Augustinians and Carmelites were less important orders of friars founded aft«T the greater two. ^^^ The preferred spelling of the name in the Middle Ages. "■* Secular clergy or secular priests, so-called to distinguish them from regular clergy or those living under monastic or other rules, were priests living out in the world (Latin sa'cidurii) among the people; they were also called possessit)ners because they were in possession of the parish churches and incomes. 1^^ The Knights Templars or Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple «)f Solo- mon were one of the three great military orders (the other two were the Teutonic Knights and the Knights of St. John or Knights Hospitallers) founded in the twelfth century. Its object was to protect |)ilgrims after the first Crusade. The Order became widespread, |)()pnl;ir and wciilliy, its history is thai of the Crusades. The Order was suppre.s.sed in France, wlicn> i! •>riginaleil. on cliarges of li»>resy and immorality, after .several knights had been torlured and after a (rial wliicli lasted for two years, on May G, VM'i. The real molivr for the sui)pression was that the Order had become .so gr<«at that Philip I\' (tii.- Fair) of France felt that in the interest of c<'ntrali/iiitr aulhorilv in his realm, he would have to get rid of it. 300 ENGLISH LITERATURE not regard religion but lived as they pleased, but they were brought down and destroyed through the ordinance of the king. The friars are doing dreadful things that can never come to good ending; the friar will go on for eight or nine years or per- haps ten or eleven. ^^^ But when his time has fully passed he then has no scruple about stealing six or seven marks from any body. These friars, so wily and so gay, have arranged such anni- versary masses that no possessioners ^^^ can keep up with them. It fell to them to live entirely by begging on alms gathered from place to place and for all that helped them they were to pray and sing (masses). But now this land is raked so clean that secular priests ^^^ can scarcely get positions on account of these friars. That is a wonderful thing and a quaint custom ordained among them that friars are become annual priests and in that way sell their songs. Very wisely they can preach and talk; but they do nothing but talk. I was a friar for a long time and therefore know whereof I speak. But when I saw that their lying didn't agree with their preaching, I cast off my friar's clothing and straight- way went my way. Other leave took I none when I went but I sent them all to the devil, both prior and convent. Though I am out of the order I am no apostate; I lacked one month of twelve and nine odd days or ten (of completing my novitiate). I made ready to leave; before the day came to take the final vow I went my way throughout the town in sight of many men. Lord God, who with such dreadful pains didst redeem mankind, let no man after me have the desire to be a friar."^ "^ The friars' organizations, along with other rehgious corporations, were done away with in England in the time of Henry VIII. "^ It would almost seem that Chaucer had this poem before him when he com- posed his description of the friar in the Prolog to the Canterbury Tales. Cf. 11. 208- 271. He uses many of the same expressions as occur in this poem. Cf. Skeat's notes to Chaucer's account of the friar. Chaucer, in fact, has little that is serious to say of any of the regular clergy, i.e. those living under rules. But he makes up for this in his portrait of the country priest. Cf. Prolog to the Canterbury Tales, 11. 479-530. The picture there given reminds one of the character of Dr. Primrose in the Vicar of Wakefield, or of Cowper's model preacher in the Task, Book IH, 11. 395-413. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 301 The Teutonic heirs of the Roman Empire, who, in their earher years, according to Tacitus, ^'^ had shunned cities, began about the tenth century, in England at least, to build towns or boroughs and by 1300 or 1400 had come to regard them as very important. The name borough (Old English burh), the characteristic medieval name for towns in Eng- land, meant originally a fortified place, and, as applied to towns, probably goes back to the time when Edward the Elder (king 900-924), in his efforts to reconquer the Dane- lagh, fortified high places and assigned chiefs as their guardians. About the high place w^as an open space ''in- closed by a ditch, re-enforced by a rampart of earth pro- tected by a wooden palisade. Often people coming to these strongholds for protection engaged in trade and other industries." ^^^ These traders and artisans, desiring the protection of the fortification and the chief and, later, eager for more freedom and scope for their own action, are the organizers of the gilds of which we have treated, ^-° and the leaders in demanding from nobles and kings char- ters in w^hich their exact rights and duties as burgesses should be set forth. It is from town charters that some of our most valuable information regarding town life is de- rived. These charters are very numerous; for, though but eighty English towns are named in Doomsday Book, the Xorman Conquest, by stimulating foreign trade and keep- ing up a connection with the Continent, gave a great impetus to city life; and England built many towns. But these charters are also very much alike, and hence one or two samples will illustrate the whole mass,^'-^ "8 Cf. ante, p. 11. i'^ Cross, op. cit., p. 47. i-" Cf. anfc, p. 228 scq. ^^^ That must liavc Ixmmi ;i kind of charter which Leofric, at the plea of Godiva, granted to Coventry. The story, as told in Sir William Dugdale's Antiquities of Waricickshire (IGoO). is as follows: "The Counte.ss Godiva, l)earing an extraordi- nary affection to this place (Coventry), often and earnestly besought her husband that, for the love of God and the blessed X'irgin. he would free it from that grievous servitude whereunto it was sui)ject; but he, rebuking her for imj)()rtvming him in a 302 ENGLISH LITERATURE Before quoting the charters, however, we should notice another sort of interesting municipal document, namely, the statement of town custom. For this purpose the Cu>itoms of Chester and Neivcastle-upon-Tyne, the former from Doomsday Book, have been selected. (a) The city of Chester, in the time of King Edward, paid tax as being of fifty hides; ^" three and a half hides of which were outside of the city. That is, one and a half hides were beyond the bridge, and two hides in Newton and Redcliff, and in the bishop's borough; these paid tax with the city. In the time of King Edward, there were in the city 431 houses paying tax. x\nd besides these the bishop had 56 tax-paying houses. Then the city paid ten and a half marks ^-^ of silver; two parts belonged to the king and the third to the earl. And the following laws existed there: When peace had been granted by the hand of the king, or by his letter or through his bailiff, if any one broke it, the king had 100 shillings for it. But if the same peace of the king, at his order had been granted by the earl, if it was broken, of the 100 shillings which were given therefor, the earl had the third penny. manner so inconsistent with his profit, commanded that she should thenceforward forbear to move thereon; yet she, out of her womanish pertinacity, continued to solicit him, insomuch that he told her if she would ride on horseback naked from one end of the to^\Ti to the other, in sight of all the people, he would grant her re- quest. \Miereunto she replied, 'But will ye give me leave to do so?' And he re- plying, ' Yes, ' the noble lady, upon an appointed day, got on horseback naked, with her hair loose, so that it covered all her body but her legs; and thus performing her journey, she returned with joy to her husband, who thereupon granted to the inhabitants a charter of freedom. ... In memory whereof the picture of him and his lady was set up in a south window of Trinity Church in this city about Rich- ard Il's time, his right hand holding a charter with these words written thereon: ' I, Luriche, for love of thee, doe make Coventry Tol-free.' " The Works of Tennyson with Notes by the Author, edited by Hallam, Lord Tennyson (The Macmillan Co., 1913), pp. 901, 902. Cf. Tennyson's Godiva and Landor's Leofric and Godiva. Leofric died in 1057. ^~ A hide was a unit of taxation or of measurement, equalling in the latter case approximately 120 acres. It is here evidently the former. ^^ The mark of silver was equal to V3s. 4^/.; of gold, £6. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 303 If, however, the same peace was infringed when granted by the reeve of the king or the officer of the earl, it was compounded for by forty shiUings, and the third penny belonged to the earl. If any free man of the king l^roke the peace which had been granted and killed a man in his house, all his land and money came to the king, and he himself became an outlaw. The earl had tlie same concerning his man making this forfeiture. No one, how- ever, except the king, was able to grant peace again to an outlaw. He who shed blood between Monday morning and the ninth hour of Saturday compounded for it with ten shillings. From the ninth hour of Saturday to Monday morning bloodshed was compounded for with twenty shillings. Similarly any one paid twenty shillings who did this in the twelve days after Christ- mas, on the day of the Purification of the Blessed Mary, on the first day of Easter, the first day of Pentecost, Ascension Day, on the Assumption or Nativity of the Blessed Mary and on the day of All Saints. He who killed a man on these holy days compounded for it with £4; but on other days with forty shillings. Similarly he who committed burglary or assault, on those feast days or on Sunday £4. On other" days forty shillings. Any one setting prisoners free ^'^ in the city gave ten shillings. But if the reeve of the king or of the earl committed this offence he compounded for it with twenty shillings. He who committed theft or robbery or exercised violence upon a woman in a house compounded for each of these with forty shillings. If a widow had illegitimate intercourse witli any one she com- pounded for it with twenty shillings; a girl, however, with ten shillings for a similar cause. He who in the city seized u])()n the land of anotlicr antl was not able to prove it to be his, was fined forty shillings. Simi- larly also he who made a claim ni)()n it, if he was not able to prove it to be his. He who wished to make relief of his own land or that of his relative gave ten shillings. 124 The word hangcwitham, tlms trauslalrd. has also boon considered to mean the offence of liaiiging a person without warrant of law. — Dueange. 304 ENGLISH LITERATURE If he was not able or did not wish to do this the reeve took his huid into the hand of the king. He who did not pay the tax at the period at which he owed it componnded for it with ten shiUings. If fire burned the city, he from whose house it started com- pounded for it with three oras^^^ of pennies, and gave to his next neighbor two shiUings. Of all these forfeitures two parts be- longed to the king and the third to the earl. If without the license of the king ships came to the port of the city or departed from the port, from each man who was on the ships the king and the earl had forty shillings. If against the peace of the king and after his prohibition the ship ap- proached, as well it as the men, with all things which were upon it, did the king and the earl have. If, however, with the peace and license of the king it had come, those who were in it sold what they had in peace; but when it w^ent away, four pence from each lading did the king and the earl have. If to those having martens' skins the reeve of the king gave orders that to no one should they sell until they had first brought them and show^n them to him, he who did not observe this compounded for it by paying forty shillings. A man or a w^oman making false measure in the city, and being arrested, compounded for it with four shillings. Similarly a person making bad ale, was either placed in the ducking stool or gave four shillings to the reeve. This forfeiture the officer of the king and of the earl received in the city, in whosesoever land it had been, either of the bishop or of another man. Simi- larly also, if any one held the toll back beyond three nights, he compounded for it with forty shillings. In the time of King Edward there were in this city seven moneyers,^^^' who gave seven pounds to the king and the earl, besides the ferm,^-^ when the money was turned over. ^25 An ora is a number of pennies, varying in different times and places, here possibly sixteen or twenty. *'^ The moneyers were men who had tlie contract for coining money, paying a fee for the privilege of reserving to themselves the seigniorage. '2^ A ferm was a fixed amount paid as a lump sum in place of a number of smaller or more irregular payments. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 305 There were at that time twelve judges of the city, and these were from the men of the king, and of the bisho]), and of the earl; if any one of these remained away from the hundred court on the day in which it sat, without a clear excuse, he compounded for it with ten shillings, between the king and the earl. For repairing the city wall and the bridge the reeve sum- moned one man to come from each hide of the county. If the man of any one did not come his lord compounded for it to the king and the earl with forty shillings. This forfeiture was in addition to the ferm. This city paid at that time of ferm £45 and three bundles of marten's skins. The third part belonged to the earl, and two to the king. When Earl Hugh received it, it was worth only £30, for it was much wasted. There were 205 fewer houses than there had been in the time of King Edward. Now there are just as many there as he found. Murdret held this city from the earl for £70 and one mark of gold. He had at ferm for £50 and one mark of gold all the pleas of the earl in the county and in the hundreds, with the excep- tion of Inglefeld. The land on which the temple of St. Peter stands, which Robert of Rodelend claimed for demesne land, as the county has proved, never pertained to the manor, outside the city, but j)er- tains to the borough; and it has always been in the custom of the king and the earl, like that of other burgesses. (6) These are the laws and customs which the burgesses of Newcastle-upon-Tyne had in the time of Henry, king of Eng- land, and ought to have: Burgesses may make seizure for debt from those dwelling outside, within their market place and without, and within their house and without, and within their borough and without, without the license of the reeve, unless courts are held in the borough, and unless they are in the army or on guard at a castle. From a burgess a burgess is not allowed to make seizure for debt without the license of the reeve. If a burgess has agreed u])()n anything in the borough with 306 ENGLISH LITERATURE those dwclliiiiX outside, the debtor, if he acknowledges it, must pay the debt himself, or he must grant right in the borough. Suits which arise in the borough are to be held and finished there, except those whicli belong to the king's crown. If any burgess is summoned on any prosecution, he shall not plead outside of the borough except for want of a court. Nor must he respond without day and term, unless he shall have first fallen into an absurd defense; except with regard to things which pertain to the crown. If a ship has put in at Tynemouth and wishes to depart, it is allowed to the burgesses to buy whatever they wish. If a suit arises between a burgess and a merchant, it shall be settled before the third tide. AYhatever merchandise a vessel has brought by sea ought to be carried to land, except salt and brine, which ought to be sold on the ship. If anyone has held land in burgage for a year and a day justly and without prosecution, he need not make defense against a claimant, unless the claimant has been outside the realm of England, or in the case where he is a boy having no power to speak. If a burgess has a son in his house, at his table, the son shall have the same liberty as his father. If a villain comes to stay in a borough, and there for a year and a day stays as a burgess in the borough, let him remain altogether, unless it has been said beforehand by himself or by his lord that he is to remain for a certain time. If any burgess makes an accusation concerning any matter, he cannot wage battle against a burgess, but let the burgess defend himself by law, unless it is concerning treason, when he ought to defend himself by battle. Nor can a burgess wage battle against a villain, unless he has first departed from his burgage. No merchant, unless he is a burgess, may buy any wool, hides, or other merchandise, outside of the town, nor inside of the borough except from burgesses. If forfeiture happens to a burgess, he shall give six oras to the reeve. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 307 In the borough there is no merchant, nor heriot, nor blood fine, nor stenge.sdiuf. Each burgess may have his oven and hand-mill if he wishes, saving the king's right to the oven. If a woman is in transgression concerning bread or concerning ale, no one ought to intermeddle excej)t the reeve. If she shall have transgressed a second time, let her be whipped for her transgression. If for a third time she shall have transgressed, let justice be done upon her. No one except a burgess may buy clothes for dyeing, nor make, nor shear them. A burgess may give his land, or sell it, and go whither he wishes, freely and quietly, unless he is engaged in a suit. The charters selected are those of Lincoln, granted by Henry II, and of Winchester, granted by his son Rich- ard I, which follow: (a) Henry, by the grace of God, king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, count of Anjou, to the bishop of Lincoln, justiciars, sheriffs, barons, officers and all his faithful, French and English, of Lincoln, greeting. Know that I have con- ceded to my citizens of Lincoln all their liberties and customs and laws, which they had in the time of Edward and AYilliam and Henry, kings of England; and their gild merchant of the men of the city and of other merchants of the county, just as they had it in the time of our aforesaid predecessors, kings of England, best and most freely. And all men who dwell within the four divisions of the city and attend the market are to be at the gilds and customs and assizes of the city as they have been best in the time of Edward, Wilham and Henry, kings of Eng- land. I grant to them moreover, that if anyone shall buy any land within the city, of the burgage of Lincoln, and shall have held it for a year and a day without any claim, and he who has bought it is able to show that the claimant has been in the land of England within the year and has not claimed it, for the future as before he shall hold it well and in peace, and without any prosecution. I confirm also to them, that if anyone shall have remained in the city of Lincoln for a year and a day with- 308 ENGLISH LITERATURE out claim on the part of any claimant, and has given the cus- toms, and is able to show by the laws and customs of the city that the claimant has been in existence in the land of England and has not made a claim against him, for the future as in the past he shall remain in peace, in my city of Lincoln, as my citizen. Witnesses, E., bishop of Lisieux; Thomas, chancellor; H., constable; Henry of Essex, constable. At Nottingham. (6) Richard, by the Grace of God, King of England, Duke of Normandy, etc., to the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, sheriffs, ministers, and all bailiffs, and his faithful subjects of his whole land, greeting. Know ye, that we have granted to our citizens of Winchester, of the gild merchant, that none of them shall be impleaded outside the walls of the city of Winchester in any plea, except pleas of outside tenures, money ers and our ministers being excepted. We have granted also to them that none of them engage in the duel, and that for pleas pertaining to our crown they may proceed according to the ancient custom of the city. These things also we have granted to them, that the citizens of Winchester, of the gild merchant, be quit of duty, custom and bridge toll, in the market and outside, and through the sea ports of our whole land this side of the sea and beyond; and that no one be amerced save according to the ancient law of the city, as it prevailed in the time of our ancestors; and that they shall hold justly all their lands and tenures and pledges and dues. And, in the case of their lands and tenures, which are in another city, their rights shall be maintained according to the custom of the city; and for all dues adjustable at Winchester and for the pledges made there, they shall hold pleas at Winchester. And if anyone in our whole land takes duty or custom from the men of Win- chester, of the gild merchant, after he has failed of right, the sheriff of Southampton or the reeve of Winchester shall take a pledge for his appearance at Winchester. Moreover, for the benefit of the city, we have granted to them, that they shall be quit of exactions and levies, except a levy made by our sheriff or other officer. These said customs we grant to them, and all other liberties and franchises which they had in the time of our ancestors; and THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 309 if any unjust customs have been levied in war, they shall cease; and whoever seeks the city of Winchester with his merchandise, from whatever place, whether a foreigner or other, shall come, stay and return in our peace, rendering right customs, and no one shall disturb him, on account of this, our charter. There- fore, we wish and firmly decree that they and their heirs have by inheritance and hold all the aforesaid, of us and our heirs. Witness, Walter, Archbishoi) of Rouen; Roger of Bath, Henry of Coventry, bishops; Bertram of Verdun, John ^Marshall, Wil- liam Marshall. Given by the hand of John of Alencon, arch- deacon of Lisieu, our vice-chancellor, at Nunancurte, on the fourteenth day of March, in the first year of our reign. London is naturally the most interesting of all English cities, and we are fortunate in possessing a very spirited and detailed account of London life in the late twelfth century, which wall be quoted entire. This Description of London was written by William Fitzstephen, a devoted follower of Thomas a Becket, as an introduction to his Life of his master. ^-^ Of the Situation of the Same (London). Amongst the noble and celebrated cities of the world, that of London, the capital of the kingdom of England, is one of the most renowned, possessing above all others abundant wealth, extensive commerce, great grandeur and magnificence. It is happy in the salubrity of its climate, in the profession of the Christian religion, in the strength of its fortresses, the nature of its situation, the honor of its citizens and the chastity of its matrons; in its sports, too, it is most i)leasant, and in the production of illustrious men most fortunate. All which things I wish separately to consider. Of the Mildness of the (Miniate. There then "Men's minds are soft'ned by a temp'rate clime," not so, however, that they are addicted to llctMilioiisncss, but so that they are not savage andbrntnl, l)ut rallicr kind and generous. 128 I.e. Th.)ma> a H.-cket. 310 ENGLISH LITERATURE Of the Religion. There is in St. Paul's church an episcopal see: it was for- merly metropolitan, and, it is thought, will be again, should the citizens return to the island: unless perhaps the archiepiscopal title of St. Thomas, 1-9 and his bodily presence there, should al- ways retain that dignity at Canterbury where it now is. But as St. Thomas has ennobled both these cities, London by his birth, and Canterbury by his death, each of them, with respect to the saint, has as much to allege against the other, and with justice too. As regards divine worship, there are also in London and in the suburbs thirteen larger conventual churches, besides one hundred and thirty-six lesser parochial ones. Of the Strength of the City. On the east stands the Palatine tower, a fortress of great size and strength, the court and walls of which are erected upon a very deep foundation, the mortar used in the building being tempered with the blood of beasts. On the west are two castles strongly fortified; the wall of the city is high and thick, with seven double gates, having on the north side towers placed at proper intervals. London formerly had walls and towers in like manner on the south, but that most excellent river the Thames, which abounds with fish and in which the tide ebbs and flows, runs on that side and has in a long space of time washed down, undermined and subverted the walls in that part. On the west also, higher up the bank of the river, the royal palace rears its head, an incom- parable structure, furnished with a breastwork and bastions, situated in a populous suburb, at a distance of two miles from the city. Of the Gardens. Adjoining to the houses on all sides lie the gardens of those citizens that dwell in the suburbs, which are well furnished with trees, spacious and beautiful. Of the Pasture and Tillage Lands. On the north side too are fields for pasture and a delightful plain of meadow land, interspersed with flowing streams, on which stand mills, whose clack is very pleasing to the ear. Close by lies an immense forest, in which are densely wooded thickets, 129 Cf. ante, p. 163. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 311 the coverts of game, stags, fallow-deer, boars and wild bulls. The tillage lands of the city are not barren gravelly soils, but like the fertile plains of Asia which produce abundant crops and fill the barns of their cultivators with "Ceres' plenteous sheaf." Of the Springs. There are round London, on the northern side, in the suburbs, excellent springs; the w^ater of which is sweet, clear and salu- brious, "'Mid glistening pebles gliding playfully:" amongst which Holywell, Clerkenwell and St. Clement's well are of most note and most frequently visited, as well by the schol- ars from the schools as by the youth of the city when they go out to take the air in the summer evenings. The city is delight- ful indeed when it has a good governor. Of the Honor of the Citizens. This city is ennobled by her men, graced by her arms and peopled by a multitude of inhabitants; so that in the wars under King Stephen ^^^ there went out to muster, of armed horsemen, esteemed fit for war, twenty thousand, and of infan- try sixty thousand. The citizens of London are respected and noted above all other citizens for the elegance of their manners, dress, table and discourse. Of the Matrons. The matrons of the city are perfect Sabines.^'^^ Of the Schools. The three principal churches possess, by j^rivilege and ancient dignity, celebrated schools; yet often, by the favor of some person of note or of some learned men eminently distinguished for their philosoi)liy, other schools are permit led ui)on suft'er- ance. On festival days the masters assemble liieir j^upils at those churches where the feast of the patron saint is solemnized; and there the scliolars disj)utc, some in n dcmoiist rat i\'c way, and otlier logically; some again recite enthymcmes, while others use the more perfect syllogism. Some, to show their abilities, ^•■'" Cf. anfr, pp. m>-2(M). '•" Kcfcrenco to tlio Sal)iiu' woincii of Itoinan liistorv. 312 ENGLISH LITERATURE engage in such disputation as is practised among persons contend- ing for victory alone; others dispute upon a truth, which is the grace of perfection. The sophisters, who argue upon feigned toj^ics, are deemed clever according to their fluency of speech and conunand of language. Others endeavor to impose by false conclusions. Sometimes certain orators in their rhetorical ha- rangues employ all the powers of persuasion, taking care to ob- serve the precepts of the art and to omit nothing apposite to the subject. The boys of the different schools wrangle with each other in verse and contend about the principles of grammar or the rules of the perfect and future tenses. There are some who in epigrams, rimes and verses use that trivial raillery so much practised among the ancients, freely attacking their companions with Fescennine ^^- license, but suppressing the names, discharg- ing their scoffs and sarcasms against them, touching with Socratic wit the failings of their school fellows or perhaps of greater per- sonages, or biting them more keenly with a Theonine ^^^ tooth. The audience, '*well disposed to laugh, With curling nose double the quivering peals." Of the Manner in which the Affairs of the City Are Disposed. The artizans of the several crafts, the vendors of the various commodities and the la])orers of every kind have each their separate station which they take every morning. There is also in London, on the bank of the river, among the wine-shops which are kept in ships and cellars, a public eating-house: there every day, according to the season, may be found viands of all kinds, roast, fried and boiled, fish large and small, coarser meat for the poor, and more delicate for the rich, such as venison, fowls and small birds. If friends, wearied with their journey, should unex- pectedly come to a citizen's house, and, being hungry, should not like to wait till fresh meat be bought and cooked: "The canisters with bread are heap'd on high; The attendants water for their hands supply." ^^ Fescennium was a town of Etruria and "From this town the Romans are ^aid to have derived the Fescennine songs bandied about at harvest festivals; these w.ere usually of a coarse and boisterous character." (Smith, Smaller Classical Dic- tionary.) 133 Could this be a misprint for "Leonine".^ THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 313 Meanwhile, some run to the river side and there every thing that they could wish for is instantly procured. However great the number of soldiers or strangers that enter or leave the city at any hour of the day or night, they may turn in there if they please and refresh themselves according to their inclination; so that the former have no occasion to fast too long, or the latter to leave the city without dining. Those who wish to indulge themselves would not desire a sturgeon or the bird of Africa ^"^'^ or the goodwit of Ionia, when the delicacies that are to be found there are set before them. This indeed is the public cookery and is very convenient to the city and a distinguishing mark of civilization. Hence we read in Plato's Gorgias, "Juxta medi- cinam esse coquorum officium, simulantium et adulationem quartse particulse civilitatis." ^^^ There is without one of the gates, immediately in the suburb, a certain smooth field in name and in reality. There every Friday, unless it be one of the more solemn festivals, is a noted show of well-bred horses exposed for sale. The earls, barons and knights, who are at the tirrte resi- dent in the city, as well as most of the citizens, flock thither either to look on or to buy. It is pleasant to see the nags with their sleek and shining coats, smoothly ambling along, raising and setting down alternately, as it were their feet on either side: in one part are horses better adapted to esquires; these, whose pace is rougher but yet expeditious, lift up and set down, as it were, the two opposite fore and hind feet together; ^^^ in another the young blood colts, not yet accustomed to the bridle, 1^^ A species of goose. ^^ This must be a quotation from some garbled medieval Latin translation of the Gorgias. Translated literally into modern English, it reads, "The art of cook- ery, of those who pretend to flatter the fourth part of the state, is next to medicine." In the Gorgias Socrates is discussing rhetoric with (iorgias, Polus, and Callicles. He maintains that rhetoric, usually called the art of persuasion, is really no art at all, but bears the same relation to the right and wrong of argument as the art of cos- tuming bears to gymnastic art, or sophistry to legislation, or cookery to medicine. Fitzstcphen either had a bad translation or he has misunderstood his text, for, whereas he would put cookery next to medicine, Socrates contrasts theni as sham and trufe art respectively. See Jowett's translation of the Gorgtas in his Dialogs oj Plato, iii, pp. 49-51 (New York, ( harlcs Scribner's Sons, 1911). ^^ I.e. tlu' horses were pacers. 314 ENGLISH LITERATURE "Whifh upright walk on pasterns fimi and straight, Their motions easj', prancing in their gait," in a third are the horses for burden, strong and stout-limbed; and in a fourth, the more valuaVjle chargers of an elegant shape and noble height, with nimbly moving ears, erect necks and plump haunches. In the movements of these the purchasers observe first their ea.s\' pace and then their gallop, which is when the fore-feet are raised from the ground and set down together, and the hind ones in like manner, alternately. AMien a race is to be run by such horses as these and perhaps by others, which in like manner, according to their breed, are strong for carriage and vigorous for the course, the people raise a shout and order the common horses to be withdrawn to another part of the field. The jfxrkeys, who are boys expert in the man- agement of horses, which they regulate by means of curb-bridles, .sometimes by threes and sometimes by twos, according as the match^is made, prepare themselves for the contest. Their chief aim is to prevent a competitor getting before them. The horses, too, after their manner, are eager for the race; their limbs tremble, and, impatient of delay, they cannot stand still; upon the signal being given, they stretch out their limbs, hurry over the course and are borne along with unremitting speed. The riders, insjjired with the love of praise and the hope of victorj% clap .spurs to their flying horses, lashing them with their whips and inciting them by their shouts. You would think with Ileraclitus '^^ that all things were in motion, and that Zeno's '■'* opinion was altogether erroneous, when he said that there was no such thing as motion and that it was impossible to reach the goal. In another quarter, apart from the rest, stand the goods of the peasants, implements of husbandry', swine with their long sides, cows with distended udders, "r>xen of bulk immense, and woolly flocks." ''^ Ileraclitus wa.s a Grf^.-k philos/^>phf;r who flourished at Ephcsu.s afxjut .500 B.C. Hj.s writings ha/J the reputation of Fx-ing very obscure. .Accorriing to him fire was the underlying motive peno the Eleatic philr>sr>pher, no called from the town of Elea in South- em Italy, where he flourished aUjut 488 (?) B.C. He argued for the unrf*a!ity of TTIE SfK lAI. AM) INDr-IIUAL liACKGROUXD 31.1 Then- too stand \ho inaros fitted for the plow, the dray and the cart, of which .sf)nic arc hi^ with foal, others have their frolic- some colts ninnin^ close hy their sitles. To this city from every nation tinder lieaven merchants hrin^' tlieir commodities hy sea, "Arabia's ^old, Sahaea's '"^^ spice nnrl incense, Scythia's keen weapons, and the oil of palms Frmn Babylon's rich soil, Nile's precious gems, Norrvay's warm peltries, Russia's costly sables. Sera's ^*^ rich vestures and the wines of Gaul, Hither are sent." According to the evidence of chroniclers Ix)ndon is more ancient th;in Rome: for, as both derive their origin from the same Trojan ancestors, this was founded by Unit us before that by Romulus and Remus. '^' Hence it is that, even to this day, both cities use the same ancient laws and ordinances. Thi>, like Rome, is divided into wards; it has annual sheriffs instead of consuls; it has an order of senators and inferior magistrates and also sewers and aqueducts in its streets; each class of suits, whether of the deliberative, demonstrative or judicial kind has its appropriate place and proper court; on stated days it has its assemblies. I think that there is no city in which more np- proved customs are observerl, in attending churches, honoring (ifxi's orflinanccs, keeping festivals, giving alms, receiving strang- ers, confirming espousals, contracting marriages, celebrating werldings, pre[)aring entertainments, welcoming guests and also in the arrangement r)f the funeral cerenu)nies and the buri;d of the dead. The only inconveniences of I>ondon are the immoder- ate drinking of ffK)lish persons and the frefjuent fires. More- over, almost all the bishops, abbots and great men of Kngland are in a manner (•itiz<'n> and fn'cmen of London; as they have magnifirent houses there to which they resort, >penfling large sums of money, whenever they are Mimmoned thither to councils and as,s<"mblies l)y the king or their iinl mpniitan, or are com- pelled tr) go there l)y their own busin<*>>. motion ;in«l sp.uf. He .-iliouM not Iw <«»nfii.sofl with tho other 'Aenn of the Uh anri .'Ul fcntiirirM n.c, the foimrler f>f Stoirism. '•" I.r. Arahia. '•" I.-. C h ni ' ' ( f. nn/r. p. UH. 316 ENGLISH LITERATURE Of the Sports. Let us now proeeed to the sports of the city; since it is ex- pedient that a city be not only an object of utihtj^ and impor- tance but also a source of pleasure and diversion. Hence even in the seals of the chief pontiffs, up to the time of Pope Leo/^^ there was engraved on one side of the Bull the figure of St. Peter as a fisherman, and above him a key stretched out to him, as it were, from heaven by the hand of God, and around him this verse, "For me thou left'st thy ship, receive the key." On the obverse side was represented a city, with this inscription, GOLDEN ROME. It was also said in praise of Augustus Caesar and the city of Rome, "All night it rains, the shows return with day, Caesar, thou bear'st with Jove alternate sway." London, instead of theatrical shows and scenic entertainments, has dramatic performances of a more sacred kind, either repre- sentations of the miracles which holy confessors have wrought, or of the passions and sufferings in which the constancy of martyrs was signally displayed. ^^^ Moreover, to begin with the sports of the boys, for we have all been boys, annually on the day which is called Shrovetide,^^ the boys of the respective schools bring each a fighting cock to their master and the whole of that forenoon is spent by the boys in seeing their cocks fight in the school-room. After dinner all of the young men of the city go out into the fields to play at the well-known game of foot-ball. The scholars belonging to the several schools have each their ball; and the city tradesmen, according to their re- spective crafts, have theirs. The more aged men, the fathers of the players and the wealthy citizens come on horseback to see the contests of the young men, with whom after their manner, they participate, their natural heat seeming to be aroused by the sight of so much agility and by their j)articipation in the amusements of unrestrained youth. Every Sunday in Lent, ^^ I have been unable to find which Pope Leo is meant. ^^^ A dear reference to religious plays. 1^ The Tuesday before Ash- Wednesday, the first day of Lent. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 317 after dinner, a company of young men enter the fields, mounted on warlike horses — "On coursers always foremost in the race'*; of which "Each steed's well-trained to gallop in a ring." The lay-sons of the citizens rush out of the gates in crowds, eciuipped with lances and shields, the younger sort with pikes from which the iron heads have been taken off, and there they get up sham fights and exercise themselves in military combat. When the king happens to be near the city, most of the courtiers attend and the young men who form the households of the earls and barons and have not yet attained the honor of knighthood, resort thither for the purpose of trying their skill. The hope of victory animates every one. The spirited horses neigh, their limbs tremble, they champ their bits, and, impatient of delay, cannot endure standing still. When at length "The charger's hoof seizes upon the course," the young riders having been divided into companies, some pursue those that go before without being able to overtake them, whilst others throw their companions out of their course and gallop beyond them. In the Easter holidays they play at a game resembling a naval engagement. A target is firmly fas- tened to the trunk of a tree which is fixed in the middle of the river, and in the prow of a boat driven along by oars and the current stands a young man who is to strike the target with his lance; if, in hitting it, he break his lance and keep his posi- tion unmoved, he gains his point and attains his desire: but if his lance be not shivered by the blow, he is tumbled into the river, and his boat passes by driven along by its own motion. Two boats, however, are ])laced there, one on each side of the target, and in llicni a nunilxT ol' young men to lake up the striker, when he first emerges from the stream or when "A second time he rises from the wave." On the bridge and in l)alconies on the banks of the river stand the spectators "well disposed to laugh." 318 ENGLISH LITERATURE During the holidays in summer the young men exercise them- selves in the sj^orts of leaping, archery, wrestling, stone-throwing, slinging javelins l:)eyond a mark and also fighting with bucklers. Cytherea leads the dance of the maidens who merrily trip along the groinid beneath the uprisen moon. On almost every holiday in winter, before dinner, foaming boars and huge-tusked hogs, intended for bacon, fight for their lives, or fat bulls or immense boars are baited with dogs. When that great marsh which washes the walls of the city on the northside is frozen over, the young men go out in crowds to divert themselves upon the ice. Some, having increased their velocity by a run, placing their feet apart and turning their bodies sideways, slide a great way: others make a seat of large pieces of ice like mill-stones and a great number of them running before and holding each other by the hand, draw one of their number who is seated on the ice: if at any time they slip in moving so swiftly all fall down head- long together. Others are more expert in their sports upon the ice; for fitting to and binding under their feet the shinbones of some animal, and taking in their hands poles shod with iron, which at times they strike against the ice, they are carried along with as great rapidity as a bird flying or a bolt discharged from a cross-bow. Sometimes two of the skaters having placed them- selves a great distance apart by mutual agreement, come to- gether from opposite sides; they meet, raise their poles and strike each other; either one or both of them fall, not without some bodily hurt: even after their fall they are carried along to a great distance from each other by the velocity of the mo- tion; and whatever part of their heads comes in contact with the ice is laid bare to the very skull. Very frequently the leg or arm of the falling party, if he chance to light upon either of them, is broken. But youth is an age eager for glory and desir- ous of victory, and so young men engage in counterfeit battles, that they may conduct themselves more valiantly in real ones. Most of the citizens amuse themselves in sporting with merlins, hawks and other birds of a like kind and also with dogs that hunt in the woods. The citizens have the right of hunting in Middlesex, Hertfordshire, all the Chilterns and Kent as far as the river Cray. The Londoners, then called Trinovantes, re- THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 319 pulsed Caius Julius Csesar, a man who delighted to mark his path with blood. Whence Lucan says, "Britain he sought, but turn'd his back dismay'd." ^^^ The city of London has produced some men who have subdued many kingdoms and even the Roman empire; and very many others whose virtue has exalted them to the skies, as w^as prom- ised to Brutus ^^*^ by the oracle of Aj)ollo : "Brutus, there lies beyond the Gallic bounds An island which the western sea surrounds: To reach this happy shore thy sails employ: There fate decrees to raise a second Troy, And found an empire in thy royal line Which time shall ne'er destroy, nor bounds confine." Since the planting of the Christian religion there, London has given birth to the noble emperor Constantine ^^^ w^ho gave the city of Rome and all the insignia of the empire to God and St. Peter and Pope Sylvester,^-^^ whose stirrup he held, and chose rather to be called defender of the holy Roman church than emperor: and that the peace of our lord the Pope might not, by reason of his presence be disturbed he withdrew from the city which he had bestowed upon our lord the Pope and built for himself the city of Byzantium. London also in modern times 145 Cf. Lucan, Phar.mlia, Book ii, 1. 572. ^^^ Cf. ante, pp. 2i8, 31o. 1^^ A mistake of Fitzstephen's enthusiasm or ignorance. "^ A reference to the famous donation of Constantine embodied in a document kno\vn as Constitutum Constantini {The Decree of Constantine). This was possibly pubHshed about 7.54 A.D., but, according to the article on the Donation in the Xew International Knchjclopedia, was never used before the thirteenth century to vin- dicate papal claims to temporal power. It is difficult to tell here whether Fitz- stephen refers to the Constitutum or simply to the tradition of the gift. If to the former, his reference would antedate the Enclyclopedia\s. The pontificate of .^\ 1- vester I, the Sylvester referred to in the text, extended from 31-t-33;j. Laurcntius Valla {circa 1406-1457), the eminent Italian Renaissance scholar, proved in 143!) that the Constitutum was a forgery in his book De Falso Crcdita ct Emcntita Con- stantini Donatione Declamatio {Speech concerning the Falsely Credited and Forged Donation of Constantine). A translation of the Constitutum is to be found in Hen- derson, Select Ili.dorical Documents of the Middle Ages, pp. 319-329 (George Bell and Sons, 1892). 320 ENGLISH LITERATURE lias jiroduced illustrious and august princes, the empress Ma- tilda,'^'* King Henry III '-'^ and St. Thomas, '^^ the archbishop and glorious martyr of Christ than whom no man was more guileless or more devoted to all good men throughout the whole Roman world. "The city is delightful indeed," remarks Fitzstephen of London, "when it has a good governor." ^^- Unfortu- nately, good governors were not always the lot of London, as w^e see from the following document, which is interest- ing on two accounts; one, that it is the first petition in the English language presented to Parliament; the other, that it records an account of London municipal politics in the later fourteenth century. It is preserved in a MS. in the Public Record Office, London, and bears date, 1386. To the most noble and worthy lords, most righteous and w^ise advisors to our liege lord the King, make complaint, if you please, the folk of the Mercers' Company of London as citizens of the same, of many subtle wrongs as well as open oppressions done them for a long time past. One of which was that, whereas the election of a mayor is made by the freemen of the city with the good and peaceable advice of the wisest and truest men, every year freely — notwithstanding this freedom or franchise, by force, Nicholas Brembre ^^^ with his follow ers nominated him- self, the next year after John Northampton, as is well known, and with violence and by main strength, w^as chosen mayor, to the destruction of the rights of many, contrary to the peace aforementioned. For in the same year, the aforesaid Nicholas, unnecessarily, against the peace, made divers armed attacks by day as well as by night and destroyed the King's true lieges, some by open slaughter, some by false imprisonments; and some fled the city for fear, as it is openly known. And, further, to maintain these wrongs and many others, the next year after, the same Nicholas, against the aforesaid '^^ Daughter of Henry I of England. ^^^ Eldest son of Henry II. '^1 Thomas a Becket. i52 ^f „^j^^^ p 311 *^2 See the article on him in the Dictionary of Nalional Biography. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 321 freedom Jiiid true summons, made open proclamation that no man should come to vote for mayor but those who were sum- moned; and all that were summoned were of his persuasion and party. And on the night next following he had a great quantity of arms and armor carried to the gild-hall, with which both aliens and citizens were armed in the morning contrary to his own proclamation, which was to the effect that no one should be armed; and certain ambuscades were laid, so that, when the freemen of the city came to vote for mayor, armed men broke out upon them, crying, "Slay, slay," and followed them. And so the people for fear fled to their houses and other j)laces of hiding, as if they were in a land at war and afraid of being killed en masse. And from that time to this the office of mayor has been held as if by conquest or force, and so have many other offices, so that any man, known to be discontented, complaining at or expressing himself in opposition to any of these wrongs, or ac- cused by the statement of any one at all, even if the charge were ever so false, was impeached, if Nicholas willed it, anon was imprisoned, and, though it were on the false testimony of the lowest officer that it pleased him to maintain, was held untrue to our King; for, if any one accused an ofScer suborned by Nicholas, of wrong or anything else, he pledged Nicholas against his accuser and Nicholas, though unworthy as he himself ad- mitted, represented the King. Also, if any man because of service or for any other permissible reason approached a lord, to whom Nicholas w^as afraid his evil courses might become known, he was at once accused of being false to the interests of the city and so to the King. And if a general complaint were made against his treachery, as by us of the Mercers' Company or any other craft, or if any general method of withstanding him were broached, or, — as time out of mind has been the custom, — ^ people would club together, however lawful or profitable it might be for us, we were at once accused of disturbing the peace and many of us are still under false indictments. And we are openly slandered, considered false and traitors to our King; for this same Nicholas said before the mayor, aldermen and our craft gathered in a place 322 ENGLISH LITERATURE of record, tliat twenty or thirty of us should be hanged and drawn, which charge, may it please your worships, should be ])roved or disproved before a fair judge, that the truth may be known; for truth amongst us is either the prerogative of a few, or else for many a day none of us may show himself; and not only has it (the truth) been obscured and hidden l)y man now, but also aforetime, the most profitable points of true governance of the city, gathered together after protracted labor of discreet and wise men, without the advice of true men — in order that these points might not be known nor kept in force — in the time of mayor Nicholas Ext on were completely destroyed by fire. And so far have these false ways gone that often he, Nicholas Brembre, has said, in support of his falsehood, our liege lord's will was such as it never was, we submit. He said also, when he had slandered us, that those who would admit that they had been false to the King, the King would pardon, cherish and be kind to: and if any of us all, who with God's help have been and shall be found true, was so bold as to offer to prove himself true, he was at once ordered to prison, as well by the mayor now in office as by his predecessor, Nicholas Brembre. Also, we have often been commanded, by our loyalty, to do unnecessary and illegal acts and also by the same token kept from things necessary and lawful, as was shown when a com- pany of good women, in a case where men were helpless, went barefoot to our liege lord to seek grace of him for true men as they supposed; for then were such proclamations made that no man or woman should approach our liege lord to ask grace, and overmany other commandments also, before and since, by the suggestion and information of such as would not their treachery were known to our liege lord. And, lords, by your leave, our liege lord's commandment, to simple and unassuming men, is a great thing to be used so familiarly without need; for they, unwise in using it, may easily sin against it. Therefore, gracious lords, may it please you to take heed in what manner and when our liege lord's power has been misused by the aforesaid Nicholas and his followers, for since these wrongs aforesaid seem the accidental or common outward branches, it is clear the root of them is a rotten substance or THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 3^28 stock within, namely, the aforesaid briar or bramble (Brembre, a variant spelling of bramble), who practices wrong against the city and others, if it please you, as may be shown and well-known by an impartial judge and mayor of our city; the which with your rightful lordships' foremost remedy granted, as God's law and reason will, namely, that no man should be judge in his own cause, wrongs will be more openly known and truth appear at the door. Otherwise among us, we cannot know in what man- ner it will appear without more trouble, since the governance of the city stands, as has been said before, and will stand while victuallers ^'^ are allowed to assume such state; the which gov- ernance, formerly hidden from many, now shows itself openly whether it has been a cause or beginning of division in the city and afterward in the kingdom, or not. Wherefore, for greatest need, we meekly petition you, most worthy, righteous and wise lords and council to our liege lord the King, graciously to correct all the wrongs aforesaid, and that it please your lordsliips to be gracious mediators between us and our liege lord the King, that such wrongs may be known to him, and that we may show ourselves and then be held as true to him as we are and ought to be. Also, we beseech your gracious lordships that if any of us, individually or collectively, are im- peached before our liege lord or his worthy council by conniv- ance of others, or approach to the King, as by Breml^re or his abettors by false witness, because it stood otherwise among us than as now proved it has stood, or by any other wrong sugges- tion by which our liege lord has been unlawfully informed, that then your worships may be such that avc may come in answer to excuse ourselves; for we know well, at least most of us do and we hope all do, that all such Avrongs have l)een unwitting on our j)arl, or else entirely against our will. And, righteous lords, as one of the greatest remedies, among others, to withstand many of the aforesaid troubles among us, we pray wilh incckucss lor this especijilly, llial llic statute or- dained and made l)y Parliament, held at Westminster in the sixth year of our King now reigning, may be enforced and exe- cuted here in London as elsewliere in tlic rcahii; to wit: ^'-^ Brcniln-c was a xicluallfr l>\ trade. 824 ENGLISH LITERATURE ... It is ordained and ordered that neither in the city of London nor in any other city, borough, manor or sea-port, throughout the entire aforesaid reahii, shall any victualler have judicial jurisdiction over another person, nor exercise it, nor enjoy it in any manner, except on manors where another person cannot be found according to this statute unless the same judge for the time in which he is in office leave off and abstain from his victualling, on pain of losing his goods, etc. England in the fourteenth century may be said to have become conscious of the labor problem. This is indicated by the fact that a series of royal ordinances, culminating in a statute in 1357, tried unsuccessfully to deal with the matter by legislation. Realization of the labor difficulty was aided by the appearance in England about 1348 of the Black Death, a form of the bubonic plague, which carried off about one-third of the population of the coun- try. Henry Knighton, a contemporary chronicler, thus comments on the Black Death and couples it with an account of labor conditions: ^^^ Then the grievous plague penetrated the seacoasts from Southampton and came to Bristol and there almost the whole strength of the town died, struck as it were by sudden death; for there were few who kept their beds more than three days or two days or half a day: and after this the fell death broke forth on every side with the course of the sun. There died at Leicester in the small parish of St. Leonard more than 380, in the parish of Holy Cross more than 400, in the parish of St. IMargaret of Leicester more than 700, and so in each parish a great number. Then the Bishop of Lincoln sent through the whole bishopric and gave general power to all and every priest, both regular and secular, to hear confessions and absolve with full and entire episcopal authority except in matters of debt, in which case the dying man, if he could, should pay the debt while he lived, or others should fulfil that duty from his property after ^■'■' C'f. F. A. (iasquet, The Great Pedilence (A.D. 131f8-9), (Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent and Co.. Ltd., 1893). THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 325 his death. Likewise the pope granted full remission of sins to whoever was absolved in peril of death and granted that this power should last until next Easter, and everyone could choose a confessor at his will. In the same year there was a great plague of sheep everywhere in the realm, so that in one place there died in pasturage more than 5000 sheep and so rotted that neither beast nor bird would touch them. And there were small prices for everything ^ui account of the fear of death. For there were very few who cared about riches or anything else. For a man could ha\'e a horse which before was worth 40^. for 6s. Sd., a fat ox for 46*., a cow for VZd., a heifer for 6d., a fat wether for 4-d., a sheep for Sd., a lamb for 2d., a big pig for 5d., a stone of wool for 9d. Sheep and cattle went wandering over fields and through crops and there was no one to go and drive or gather them, so that the number cannot be reckoned which perished in the ditches in every district for lack of herds- men; for there was such a lack of servants that no one knew what he ought to do. In the following autumn no one could get a reaper for less than 8<:/. with his food, a mower for less than l^fZ. with his food. Wherefore, many crops perished in the fields for want of someone to gather them: but in the pestilence year, as is above said of other things, there was such abundance of all kinds of corn that no one much troubled about it. The Scots, hearing of the cruel pestilence of the English, believed it had come to them from the avenging hand of God, and — as it was commonly reported in England — took for their oath when they wanted to swear, "By the foul death of England." But when the Scots, believing the English were under the shadow of the dread vengeance of God, came together in the forest of Selkirk with purpose to invade the whole realm of England, the fell mortality came upon them, and the sudden and awful cruelty of death winnowed them, so that a])out 5000 d'wd in a sliort time. Then the rest, some feeble, some strong, (lelcrmin(Hl to return lionie, l)ul the English t'ollowed and overlook them and killed many of them. Master Thomas of Bradwardine '•'''' was consecrated by the ^^* C'luiuccT rcfrrs lo him in his Xun\s Prie.sf's Talc, I. \l^l, as a great tlicological authority. 326 ENGLISH LITERATURE pope archbishop of Canterbury, and when he returned to Eng- land he came to London, but within two days was dead. He was famous beyond all other clerks in the whole of Christendom, especially in theology, but likewise in the more liberal sciences. At the same time priests were in such poverty everywhere that many churches were widowed and lacking the divine offices, masses, matins, vespers, sacraments and other rites. A man could scarcely get a chaplain under 10 pounds or 10 marks to minister to a church. And when a man could get a chaplain for 5 or 4 or even for 2 marks with his food when there was an abundance of priests before the pestilence, there was scarcely any one now who was willing to accept a vicarage for 20 pounds or 20 marks; but within a short time a very great multitude of those whose wives had died in the pestilence flocked into orders, of whom many were illiterate and little more than laymen, ex- cept so far as they knew how to read although they could not understand. ^leanwhile, the King sent proclamation into all the counties that reapers and other laborers should not take more than they had been accustomed to take, under the penalty appointed by statute. But the laborers were so lifted up and so obstinate that they would not listen to the King's command, but if any one wished to have them, he had to give them what they wanted, and either lose his fruit and crops or satisfy the lofty and covet- ous wishes of the workmen. And when it was known to the King that they had not observed his command and had given greater wages to the laborers, he levied heavy fines upon abbots, priors, knights, lesser and greater, and other great folk and small folk of the realm, of some 1006'., of some 405. , of some 20.s'., from each according to what he could give. He took from each caru- cate ^^^ of the realm 205. and, notwithstanding this, a fifteenth. And afterwards the King had many laborers arrested and sent them to prison; many withdrew themselves and went into the forests and woods; and those who were taken were heavily fined. Their ringleaders were made to swear that they would not take daily wages beyond the ancient custom, and they were freed from prison. And in like manner was done with the other 1" I.e. 100 acres. THE SOCIAL AND IXDUSTRL\L BACKGROUND 327 craftsmen in the burroughs and villages. . . . After the afore- said pestilence, many buildings, great and small, fell into ruins in every city, borough and village for lack of inhabitants, like- wise, many villages and hamlets became desolate, not a home being left in them, all having died who dwelt there; and it was probable that many such villages would never be inhabited again. In the winter following there was such a want of servants in work of all kinds, that one would scarcely believe that in times past there had been such a lack. . . . And so all necessaries be- came so much dearer that what in times past had been worth Id. was then worth M. or od. Magnates and lesser lords of the realm who had tenants made abatements of the rent in order that the tenants should not go away on account of the want of servants and the general dear- ness: some, half the rent; some more, some less, some for two years, some for three, some for one year, according as they could agree with them. Likewise, those who received of their tenants day-work throughout the year, as is the practice with villeins, had to give them more leisure, and remit such works, and either entirely to free them, or give them an easier tenure at a small rent, so that homes should not be everywhere irrecoverably ruined, and the land everywhere remain entirely uncultivated. Knighton speaks of labor ordinances and describes their general tenure; the follow^ing proclamation addressed to the sheriff of Kent gives us in more detail the provisions of l)ractically all the labor laws of the time, clearly outlines the problem, and states the penalties for violation. The king to the sheriff of Kent, greeting. Because a great part of the people, and especially of workmen and servants, have lately died in the pestilence, many seeing the necessities of masters and great scarcity of servants, will not serve unless they may receive excessive wages, and others ])rcf erring to beg in idle- ness rather than by labor to get llieir li\ ing; we, considering the grievous incommodities which of the huk cs})ecially of ])lough- men and such laborers may licrcaflcr come, liave upon delibera- tion and treaty with the prelates and thc^ nobles and learned men assisting us, with their unanimous counsel ordained: 328 ENGLISH LITERATURE That every man and woman of our realm of England, of what condition he be, free or bond, able in body, and within the age of sixty years, not living in merchandize, nor exercising any craft, nor having of his own whereof he may live, nor land of his own about whose tillage he may occupy himself, and not serving any other; if he be required to serve in suitable service, his estate considered, he shall be bound to serve him which shall so require him; and take only the wages, livery, meed, or salary which were accustomed to be given in the places where he oweth to serve, the twentieth year of our reign of England, or five or six other common years next before. Provided always, that the lords be preferred before others in their bondmen or their land tenants, so in their service to be retained; so that, nevertheless, the said lords shall retain no more than be necessary for them. And if any such man or woman being so required to serve will not do the same, and that be proved by two true men before the sheriff, bailiff, lord, or constable of the town where the same shall happen to be done, he shall immediately be taken by them or any of them, and committed to the next gaol, there to remain under strait keeping, till he find surety to serve in the form aforesaid. If any reaper, mower, other workman or servant, of what estate or condition he be, retained in any man's service, do de- part from the said service without reasonable cause or license, before the term agreed, he shall have pain of imprisonment; and no one, under the same penalty, shall presume to receive or retain such a one in his service. No one, moreover, shall pay or promise to pay to any one more wages, liveries, meed, or salary than was accustomed, as is before said; nor shall any one in any other manner demand or receive them, upon pain of doubling of that which shall have been so paid, promised, required or received, to him who thereof shall feel himself aggrieved; and if none such will sue, then the same shall be applied to any of the people that will sue; and such suit shall be in the court of the lord of the place where such case shall happen. And if lords of towns or manors presume in any point to come against this present ordinance, either by them or by their THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 329 servants, then suit shall be made against them in the form afore- said, in the counties, wapentakes, and trithings, or such other courts of ours, for the penalty of treble that so paid or promised by them or their servants. And if any before this present ordi- nance hath covenanted with any so to serve for more wages, he shall not be bound, by reason of the said covenant, to pay more than at another time was wont to be paid to such a person; nor under the same penalty, shall presume to pay more. Item. Saddlers, skinners, white ta\\yers, cordwainers, tailors, smiths, carpenters, masons, tilers, shipwrights, carters, and all other artificers and workmen, shall not take for their labor and workmanship above the same that was wont to be paid to such persons the said twentieth year, and other common years next preceding, as before is said, in the place where they shall happen to work; and if any man take more he shall be committed to the next gaol, in manner as before is said. Item. That butchers, fishmongers, hostelers, brewers, bakers, poulterers, and all other sellers of all manner of victuals, shall be bound to sell the same victuals for a reasonable price, having respect to the price that such victuals be sold at in the places adjoining, so that the same sellers have moderate gains, and not excessive, reasonably to be required according to the distance of the place from which the said victuals be carried; and if any sell such victuals in any other manner, and thereof be convicted, in the manner and form aforesaid, he shall pay the double of the same that he so received to the party injured, or in default of him, to any other that will sue in this behalf. And the mayors and })ailiffs of cities, boroughs, merchant towns, and others, and of the ports and maritime places, shall have power to inquire of all and singular, which shall in any thing offend against this, and to levy the said penalty to the use of them at whose suit such, offenders shall be convicted. And in case the same mayors and bailiffs be negligent in doing execution of the premises, and thereof be convicted before our justices, by us to be assigned, then the same mayors and bailiffs shall be compelled by the same justices to pay the treble of the thing so sold to the party injured, or in default of him, to any other that will sue; and nevertheless they shall be grievously i)unished on our part. 330 ENGLISH LITERATURE And because many strong beggars, as long as they may live by begging, do refuse to labor, giving themselves to idleness and vice, and sometimes to theft and other abominations; none upon the said j)ain of imprisonment, shall, under the color of pity or alms, give anything to such, who are able to labor, or presume to favor them in their idleness, so that thereby they may be compelled to labor for their necessary living. It would appear that this law was drastic enough to meet the situation, but that it did not is clear from the fact that nearly the same statute was re-enacted thirteen times in the century following 1349. Labor troubles con- tinued and combined with other things to produce several protests against the medieval system in the latter years of the fourteenth centur3\ Perhaps the most violent and prac- tical of these was the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The fol- lowing account of some episodes in this revolt from the pen of Froissart makes it very vivid. In these chapters the writer largely abandons "the glowing, rich and pow^er- ful" ^^^ style of his usual "feudal painting" ^^^ and gives us a rapid account of events. His lack of s^anpathy with the laborers, just wdiat is to be expected from Froissart, the friend of aristocrats and kings, is evident. ^^^ While these conferences ^^^ were going forward, there happened in England great commotions among the lower ranks of the people, by which England was near ruined without resource. Never was a country in such jeopardy as this was at that period, 1=8 Cf. Scott, Walpole in The Lives of the Novelists, p. 192. Ed. Saintsbury in Everyman's Library. 1^^ Some would include in these protests passages from the J^ision of William concerning Piers the Ploicman. But, while the author or authors of this work are critical of the al)uses that have found their way into the medieval system, it is quite clear that he or they had no thoroughgoing dissatisfaction with the system in itself. Langland, if we may still use that name, was a prophet in the Old Testa- ment sense; that is, he desired that the medieval system might be restored in its pristine purity rather than that any other be put in its place. On the prophets see Wallis, The Sociological Study of the Bible (The University of Chicago Press, 1912). 1^0 The negotiations ^^-ith the Scots, mentioned post, p. 338. THE SOCIAL AND IXDUSTRL\L BACKGROUND 331 and all through the too great comfort of the commonalty. Rebellion was stirred up, as it was formerly done in France by the Jacques Bons-hommes,^*^^ who did nmch evil, and sore troubled the kingdom of France. It is mar\'ellous from what a trifle this pestilence raged in England. In order that it may serve as an example to mankind, I will speak of all that was done, from the information I had at the time on the subject. It is customary in England, as well as in several other coun- tries, for the nobility to have great privileges over the com- monalty, whom they keep in bondage; that is to say, they are bound by law and custom to plough the lands of gentlemen, to harvest the grain, to carry it home to the barn, to thrash and winnow it: they are also bound to harvest the hay and carry it home. All these services they are obliged to perform for their lords, and many more in England than in other countries. The prelates and gentlemen are thus served. In the counties of Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Bedford, these services are more oppressive than in all the rest of the kingdom. The evil-disposed in these districts began to rise, saying they were too severely oppressed; that at the beginning of the world there were no slaves, and that no one ought to be treated as such, unless he had committed treason against his lord, as Lucifer had done against God; but they had done no such thing, for they were neither angels nor spirits, but men formed after the same likeness with their lords, who treated them as beasts. This they would not longer bear, but had determined to be free, and if they labored or did any other works for their lords, they would be paid for it. A crazy priest in the county of Kent, called John Ball, who, for his absurd preaching, had been thrice confined in the ])ris()n of the archbishop of Canterbury, was greatly inslrunuMital in in- flaming them with those ideas. He was accustomed, every Sunday after mass, as the pe()])le wvvc coming out of the church, to preach to them in tlie ni;irk('t-j)l;ice and assemble a crowd around him; to whom lie would say: "My good friends, things cannot go on well in England, nor ever will, until everything ""'' A <:-()nt('iii{)tu()Us name ^nvcii hy IVcikIi iiohKvs to Frcncli i)c;is;ints who after tlic l)altlc of PoitiiTS (l.'5.")()j rose in revolt a^'aiii>l their lords, hiil were put down. 332 ENGLISH LITERATURE shall be in common; when there shall neither be vassal nor lord, and all distinctions levelled; when the lords shall be no more masters than ourselves. How ill have they used us ! and for what reason do they thus hold us in bondage? Are w^e not all descended from the same parents, Adam and Eve? and what can they show, or what reasons give, why they should be more the masters than ourselves? except, perhaps, in making us labor and work, for them to spend. They are clothed in velvets and rich stuffs, ornamented with ermine and other furs, while we are forced to wear poor cloth. They have w4nes, spices, and fine bread, when we have only rye and the refuse of the straw; and, if we drink, it must be water. They have handsome seats and manors, when we must brave the wind and rain in our labors in the field; but it is from our labor that they have wherewith to support their pomp. AVe are called slaves; and, if we do not perform our services, we are beaten, and we have not any sov- ereign to whom we can complain, or who wishes to hear us and do us justice. Let us go to the king, who is young, and remon- strate with him on our servitude, telling him we must have it otherwise, or that we shall find a remedy for it ourselves. If we wait on him in a body, all those who come under the appellation of slaves, or are held in bondage, will follow us, in the hopes of being free. When the king shall see us, we shall obtain a favorable answer, or we must then seek ourselves to amend our condition." With such words as these did John Ball harangue the people, at his village every Sunday after mass, for which he was much beloved by them. Some who wished no good declared it was very true, and murmuring to each other, as they were going to the fields, on the road from one village to another, or at their difi'erent houses said, "John Ball preaches such and such things, and he speaks truth." The archbishop of Canterbury, on being informed of this, had John Ball arrested, and imprisoned for two or three months by way of punishment; but it would have been better if he had been confined during his life, or had been put to death, than to have been suffered thus to act. The archbishop set him at liberty, for he could not for conscience' sake have put him to death. The moment John Ball was out of prison, he returned to THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 333 his former errors. Numbers in the city of London having heard of his preaching, being envious of the rich men and nobihty, began to say among themselves that the kingdom was too badly governed, and the nobility had seized on all the gold and silver coin. These wicked Londoners, therefore, began to assemble and to rebel: they sent to tell those in the adjoining counties they might come boldly to London, and bring their companions with them, for they would find the town open to them, and the com- monalty in the same way of thinking; that they would press the king so much there should no longer be a slave in England. These promises stirred up those in the counties of Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Bedford, and the adjoining country, so that they marched towards London; and, when they arrived near, they were upwards of sixty thousand. They had a leader called Wat Tyler, and with him were Jack Straw and John Ball: these three w^ere their commanders, but the principal was Wat Tyler. This Wat had been a tiler of houses, a bad man, and a great enemy to the nobility. When these wicked people first began to rise, all London, except their friends, were very much fright- ened. The mayor and rich citizens assembled in council, on hearing they were coming to London, and debated whether they should shut the gates and refuse to admit them; but, having well considered, they determined not to do so, as they should run a risk of having the suburbs burnt. The gates were therefore thrown open, when they entered in troops of one or two hundred, by twenties or thirties, according to the populousness of the towns they came from; and as they came into London they lodged themselves. But it is a truth, that full two-thirds of these people knew not what they wanted, nor what they sought for: they followed one another like sheep, or like to the she})herds of old, who said they were going to conquer the Holy Land, and afterwards accomplished nothing. In such manner did these poor fellows and vassals come to Lon- don from distances of a hundred and sixty leagues, but the greater part from those counties I have mentioned, and on tlieir arrival they demanded to see the king. The gentlemen of the country, the knights and sciuires, began to be alarmed when they saw the people thus rise; and, il" lliey were frightened, they had 334 ENGLISH LITERATURE sufficient reason, for less causes create fear. They began to collect together as well as they could. The same day that these wicked men of Kent were on their road towards London, the princess of Wales, ^*^- mother to the j^jjjg 163 ^yj^g returning from a pilgrimage to Canterbury. She ran great risks from them; for these scoundrels attacked her car, and caused much confusion, which greatly frightened the good lady, lest they should do some violence to her or to her ladies. God, however, preserved her from this, and she came in one day from Canterbury to London, without venturing to make any stop by the way. Her son Richard ^^^ was this day in the Tower of London: thither the princess came, and found the king attended by the earl of Salisbury, the archbishop of Can- terbury, sir Robert de Xamur, the lord de Gommegines and several more, who had kept near his person from suspicions of his subjects who w^ere thus assembling without knowing what they wanted. This rebellion was well known to be in agitation in the king's palace before it broke out and the country peoi:)le had left their homes; to which the king applied no remedy, to the great astonishment of every one. In order that gentlemen and others may take example, and correct wicked rebels, I will most amply detail how this business was conducted. On Monday preceding the feast of the Holy Sacrament, ^^^ in the year 1381, did these people sally forth from their homes to come to London to remonstrate with the king, that all might be made free, for they would not there should be any slaves in England. At Canterbury they met John Ball (who thought he should find there the Archbishop, ])ut he was at London), Wat Tyler, and Jack Straw. On their entrance into Canterbury they were much feasted by every one, for the inhabitants were of their way of thinking; and, having held a council, they resolved to march to London, and also to send emissaries across the Thames to Essex, Suffolk, Bedford, and other counties, to press the people to march to London on that side, and thus, as it were, to surround it, which the king would not be able to prevent. It was their intention that all the different parties should be 162 Widow of the Black Prince. ^'^^ Richard II. ^'^ I am unabk" to find out Avhat day this was. THE SOCUL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 335 collected together on the feast of the holy Sacrament, or on the following day. Those who had come to Canterbury entered the church of St. Thomas, and did much damage: they pillaged the apartments of the archbishop, saying, as they were carrying off different articles: "This chancellor of England has had this piece of furniture very cheap: he must now give us an account of the revenues of England, and of the large sums he has levied since the coronation of the King." After they had defrauded the abbey of St. Vincent, they set off in the morning, and all the populace of Canterbury with them, taking the road towards Rochester. They collected the people from the villages to the right and left, and marched along like a tempest, destroying every house of an attorney or king's proctor, or that belonged to the archbishop, sparing none. On their arrival at Rochester they were much feasted, for the people were awaiting for them, being of their party. They advanced to the castle, and seizing a knight called sir John de Newton, who was constable of it and captain of the town, they told him that he must accompany them as their commander-in- chief, and do whatever they should wish. The knight endeavored to excuse himself, and offered good reasons for it, if they had been listened to; but they said to him, "Sir John, if you will not act as we shall order, you are a dead man." The knight, seeing this outrageous mob ready to kill him, complied with their request, and very unwillingly put himself at their head. They had acted in a similar manner in the other counties of England, in Essex, Suffolk, Cambridge, Bedford, Stafford, Warwick, and Lincoln, where they forced great lords and knights, such as the lord Manley, a great baron, sir Stephen Hales, and sir Thomas Cossington, to lead and march with them. Now, observe how fortunately matters turned out, for had they succeeded in their intentions they would have destroyed [\\c whole nobility of England: after this success, the people of other nations would have rebelled, taking examj)le from those of (ihent and Flanders, wlio were in actual rebellion against their lord.'*" In this same ^'"'^ Philip van Arteveldc was at this tiiiu' Iradiiif^ the burghers of Fhmders against their Count Louis. The revolt was crushed with the aid of Philip the Bold of Burgundy, son-in-law of Louis. 336 ENGLISH LITERATURE year the Parisians acted a similar part, arming themselves with leaden maces. ^^'^ They were upwards of twenty thousand, as I shall relate when I come to that part of my history; but I will first go on with this rebellion in England. AVhen those who had lodged at Rochester had done all they wanted, they departed, and, crossing the river, came to Dartford, but always following their plan of destroying the houses of law- yers or proctors on the right and left of their road. In their way they cut off several men's heads, and continued their march to Blackheath, where they fixed their quarters: they said they were armed for the king and commons of England. When the citizens of London found they were quartered so near them, they closed the gates of London Bridge: guards were placed there by orders of sir William Walworth, mayor of London, and several rich citizens who were not of their party; but there were in the city more than thirty thousand who favored them. Those who were at Blackheath had information of this; they sent, therefore, their knight to speak with the king, and to tell him that what they were doing was for his service, for the king- dom had been for several years wretchedly governed to the great dishonor of the realm and to the oppression of the lower ranks of the people, by his uncles,^^^ by the clergy, and in par- ticular by the archbishop of Canterbury, his chancellor, from whom they would have an account of his ministry. The knight dared not say nor do anything to the contrary, but, advancing to the Thames opposite the Tower, he took boat and crossed over. While the king and those with him in the Tower were in great suspense, and anxious to receive some intelligence, the knight came on shore: way was made for him, and he was conducted to the king, who was in an apartment with the prin- cess his mother. There were also with the king his two maternal brothers, the earl of Kent and sir John Holland, the earls of Salisbury, Warwick, Suffolk, the archbishop of Canterbury, the great prior of the Templars in England, sir Robert de Namur, the lord de Vertain, the lord de Gommegines, sir Henry de '^ A renewal about this time of the movement referred to on p. 331. ^^"^ Notably by Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 337 Sausselles, the mayor of London, and several of the principal citizens. Sir John Newton, who was well known to them all, for he was one of the king's officers, cast himself on his knees and said: "My much redoubted lord, do not be displeased with me for the message I am about to deliver to you; for, my dear lord, through force I am come hither." "By no means, sir John; tell us what you are charged with: we hold you excused." "^ly very re- doubted lord, the commons of your realm send me to you to entreat you would come and speak with them on Blackheath. They wish to have no one but yourself; and you need not fear for your person, for they will not do you the least harm: they always have respected and will respect you as their king; but they will tell you many things, which they say it is necessary you should hear; with which, however, they have not em- powered me to acquaint you. But, dear lord, have the goodness to give me such an answer as may satisfy them, and that they may be convinced I have really been in your presence; for they have my children as hostages for my return, whom they will assuredly put to death if I do not go back." The king replied, "You shall speedily have an answer." Upon this he called a council to consider what was to be done. The king was advised to say that if on Thursday they would come down to the river Thames, he would without fail speak with them. Sir John Newton, on receiving this answer, was well satisfied therewith, and, taking leave of the king and barons, departed: having entered his boat, he recrossed the Thames and returned to Blackheath, where he had left upwards of sixty thousand men. He told them from the king, that if they would send on the morrow morning their leaders to the Thames, the king would come and hear what they had to say. This answer gave great pleasure, and they were contented witli it: they passed the night as well as they could; but you nuist know that one-fourth of them fasted for w;mt of ])ro\ision, as tliey had not })r()ught any with them, at whicli they were nuich vexed, as may be su])])()sed. At this time the earl of Huckingham "'"^ was in Wales, where ^^^ Constabk' of England and thoroforo an important man in this emergency. 338 ENGLISH LITERATURE he j)ossessed great estates in right of his wife, who was daughter of the earl of Hereford and Xortham])ton; but the common report about London was that he favored these people: some assured it for a truth, as having seen him among them, because there was one Thomas very much resembhng him from the county of Cambridge. As for the EngHsh barons who were at Plymouth making preparations for their voyage, they had heard of this rebellion, and that the people were rising in all parts of the kingdom. Fearful lest their voyage should be pre- vented, or that the populace, as they had done at Southampton, AVinchelsea, and Arundel, should attack them, they heaved their anchors, and with some difficulty left the harbor, for the wind was against them, and put to sea, when they cast anchor to wait for a wind. The duke of Lancaster ^^^ was on the borders, between la ^Morlane, Roxburgh, and Melrose, holding conferences with the Scots: he had also received intelligence of this rebellion, and the danger his person was in, for he well knew he was unpopular with the common people of England. Notwithstanding this, he managed his treaty very prudently with the Scots commis- sioners, the earl of Douglas, the earl of Moray, the earl of Sutherland, the earl of Mar, and Thomas de Vesey. The Scots- men who were conducting the treaty on the part of the king and the country knew also of the rebellion in England, and how the populace were rising everywhere against the nobility. They said that England was shaken and in great danger of being ruined, for which in their treaties they bore the harder on the duke of Lancaster and his council. We will now return to the commonalty of England, and say how they continued in their rebellion. On Corpus Christi ^'° day king Richard heard mass in the tower of London, with all his lords, and afterwards entered his barge, attended by the earls of Salisbury, Warwick, and Suffolk, with other knights. He rowed down the Thames towards Rother- hithe, a manor belonging to the crown, where were upwards of ten thousand men, who had come from Blackheath to see the king and to speak to him: when they perceived his barge ap- i*'' John of Gaunt, the King's uncle. *^° Thursday, June 13. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 339 proach, they set up sueh shouts and eries as if all the devils in hell had been in their company. They had their knight, sir John Newton, with them; for, in case the king had not come and they found he had made a jest of them, they w ould, as they had threatened, have cut him to pieces. When the king and his lords saw this crowd of people, and the wildness of their manner, there was not one among them so bold and determined but felt alarmed: the king was advised by his barons not to land, but to have his barge row^ed up and down the river. "What do ye wish for.^" demanded the king; "I am come hither to hear what you have to say." Those near him cried out with one voice: "We wish thee to land, when we will remonstrate with thee, and tell thee more at our ease what our wants are." The earl of Salisbury then replied for the king, and said: "Gentlemen, you are not properly dressed, nor in a fit condition for the king to talk with you." Nothing more was said; for the king was desired to return to the Tower of London from whence he had set out. When the people saw they could obtain nothing more, they were in- flamed with passion, and went back to Blackheath, where the main body was, to relate the answer they had received, and how the king was returned to the Tower. They all then cried out, "Let us march instantly to London." They immediately set off, and, in their road thither, they destroyed the houses of lawyers, courtiers, and monasteries. Advancing into the suburbs of London, which were very handsome and extensive, they pulled down many fine houses: in particular, they demolished the prison of the king called the Marshalsea, and set at liberty all those confined within it. They did nuich damage to the suburbs, and menaced the Londoners at the entrance of the bridge for having shut the gates of it, saying they would set fire to the suburbs, take the city by storm, and afterwards l)nni and destroy it. With respect to the common ])eople of London, nnnib(>rs were of their opinions, and, on assembling together, said: "Why will you refuse admittance to these honest men? They are our friends, and wliat they are doing is for our good." It was then found necessary to open the gates, when crowds rushed in, and 340 ENGLISH LITERATURE ran to those shops which seemed well stored with provision: if they sought for meat or drink it was placed before them, and nothing refused, but all manner of good cheer offered, in hopes of appeasing them. Their leaders, John Ball, Jack Straw, and Wat Tyler, then marched through London, attended by more than twenty thou- sand men, to the palace of the Savoy, which is a handsome build- ing on the road to Westminster, situated on the banks of the Thames, belonging to the duke of Lancaster; they immediately killed the porters, pressed into the house, and set it on fire. Not content with committing this outrage, they went to the house of the knights-hospitalers of Rhodes, dedicated to St. John of Mount Carmel, which they burnt, together with their hospital and church. They afterwards paraded the streets, and killed every Fleming they could find, whether in house, church, or hos- pital; not one escaped death. They broke open several houses of the Lombards, taking whatever money they could lay their hands on, none daring to oppose them. They murdered a rich citizen called Richard Lyon, to whom Wat Tyler had been for- merly servant in France; but, having once beaten this varlet, he had not forgotten it, and, having carried his men to his house, ordered his head to be cut off, placed upon a pike, and carried through the streets of London. Thus did these wicked people act like madmen; and, on this Thursday, they did much mis- chief to the city of London. Towards evening they fixed their quarters in a square called St. Catherine's, before the Tower, declaring they would not de- part thence until they should obtain from the king everything they wanted, and have all their desires satisfied; and the chan- cellor of England made to account with them, and show how the great sums which had been raised were expended; men- acing, that if he did not render such an account as was agreeable to them, it would be the worse for him. Considering the various ills they had done to foreigners, they lodged themselves before the Tower. You may easily suppose what a miserable situa- tion the king was in, and those with him; for at times these rebellious fellows hooted as loud as if the devils were in them. About evening a council was held in the presence of the king, THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 341 the barons who were in the Tower with him, sir WilHani Wal- worth the mayor, and some of the principal citizens, when it was proposed to arm themselves, and during the night to fall upon these wretches, who were in the streets and amounted to sixty thousand, while they were asleep and drunk, for then they might be killed like flies, and not one in twenty among them had arms. The citizens were very capable of doing this, for they had secretly received into their houses their friends and servants, properly prepared to act. Sir Robert Knolles remained in his house, guarding his property, with more than six score companions completely armed, who would have instantly sallied forth. Sir Perducas d'Albreth was also in London at that period, and would have been of great service; so that they could have mustered upwards of eight thousand men, well armed. But nothing was done; for they were too much afraid of the com- monalty of London; and the advisers of the king, the earl of Salisbury and others, said to him: "Sir, if you can appease them by fair words, it will be so much better, and good humoredly grant them what they ask; for, should we begin what we cannot go through, we shall never be able to recover it: it will be all over with us and our heirs, and England will be a desert." This counsel was followed, and the mayor ordered to make no movement. He obeyed, as in reason he ought. In the city of London, with the mayor, there are twelve sheriffs, of whom nine were for the king and three for these wicked people, as it was afterwards discovered, for which they then paid dearly. On Friday morning those lodged in the square before St. Catherine's, near the Tower, began to make themselves ready; they shouted much, and said that if the king would not come out to them, they would attack the Tower, storm it, and slay all in it. The king was alarmed at these menaces, and resolved to speak with them; he therefore sent orders for them to retire to a handsome meadow at Mile-end, where, in the summer time, people go to amuse themselves, and that there the king would grant them their demands. Proclamation was made in the King's name for all those who wished to si)eak with him to go to the above-mentioned ])lace, where he would not fail to meet them. The commonaltv of the different villages began to march 342 ENGLISH LITERATURE thither; but all did not go, nor had they the same objects in view, for the greater part only wished for the riches and destruc- tion of the nobles, and the plunder of London. This was the principal cause of their rebellion, as they very clearly showed; for when the gates of the Tower were thrown open, and the king, attended by his two brothers, the earls of Salisbury, of Warwick, of Suffolk, sir Robert de Namur, the lords de Vertain and de Gommegines, with several others, had passed through them, Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, and John Ball, with upwards of four hundred, rushed in by force, and, running from chamber to chamber, found the archbishop of Canterbury, whose name was Simon, a valiant and wise man, and chancellor of England, who had just celebrated mass before the king: he was seized by these rascals, and beheaded. The prior of St. John's suffered the same fate, and likewise a Franciscan friar, a doctor of physic, who was attached to the duke of Lancaster, out of spite to his master, and also a serjeant-at-arms of the name of John Laige. They fixed these four heads on long pikes, and had them carried before them through the streets of London: when they had sufficiently played with them, they placed them on London Bridge, as if they had been traitors to their king and country. These scoundrels entered the apartment of the princess, and cut her bed, which so much terrified her that she fainted, and in this condition was by her servants and ladies carried to the river-side, when she was put into a covered boat, and conveyed to the house called the Wardrobe, where she continued that day and night like to a Woman half dead, until she was comforted by the king her son, as you shall presently hear. When the king was on his way to the place called Mile-end, without London, his two brothers, the earl of Kent and sir John Holland, stole off and galloped from his company, as did also the lord de Gommegines, not daring to show themselves to the populace at Mile-end for fear of their lives. On the king's arrival, attended by the barons, he found up- wards of sixty thousand men assembled from different villages and counties of England: he instantly advanced into the midst of them, saying in a pleasant manner, "My good people, I am your king and your lord: what is it you want? and what do THE SOCL\L AND INDUSTRL\L BACKGROUND 343 you wisli to say to me?" Those who heard him answered, "We wish thou wouldst make us free forever, us, our heirs and our lands, and that we should no longer be called slaves, nor held in bondage." The king replied, "I grant your wish: now, there- fore, return to your homes and the places from whence you came, leaving behind two or three men from each village, to whom I will order letters to be given sealed with my seal, which they shall carry back with every demand you have made fully granted: and, in order that you may be the more satisfied, I will direct that my banners shall be sent to every stewardship, castlewick, and corporation." These words greatly appeased the novices and well-meaning ones who were there, and knew not what they wanted, saying, "It is well said: we do not wish for more." The people were thus ctuieted, and began to return towards London. The king added a few words, which pleased them much: "You, my good people of Kent, shall have one of my banners; and you also of Essex, Sussex, Bedford, Suffolk, Cambridge, Stafford, and Lincoln, shall each of you have one; and I pardon you all for what you have hitherto done; but you must follow my ban- ners, and now return home on the terms I have mentioned." They unanimously replied they would. Thus did this great assembly break up, and set out for London. The king instantly employed upwards of thirty secretaries, who drew up the letters as fast as they could; and, having sealed and delivered them to these people, they departed, and returned to their own counties. The principal mischief remained behind: I mean Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, and John Ball, who declared that though the peoj)le were satisfied, they would not thus depart; and they had more than thirty thousand who were of their mind. They continued in the city, without any wish to have their letters, or the king's seal; but did all they could to throw the town into such confu- sion that the lords and rich citizens might be nnu'dered, aud their houses pillaged and destroyed. The Londoners suspected tins, and kept themselves at home, with their Irieuds and servants, well armed and prepared, every one according to his abilities. Wlien the ])eo])le had been ai)peased at Mile-end (ireen, and were setting off for their different towns as s])ee(li]y as they could 344 ENGLISH LITERATURE receive the king's letters, king Richard went to the Wardrobe, where the princess was in the greatest fear: he comforted her, as he was very able to do, and passed there the night. I must relate an adventure which happened to these clowns before Norwich, and to their leader, called William Lister, who was from the county of Stafford. On the same day these wicked people burnt the palace of the Savoy, the church and house of St. John, the hospital of the Templars, pulled down the prison of Newgate, and set at liberty all the prisoners, there were col- lected numerous bodies from Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk, who proceeded on their march towards London, according to the orders they had received, under the direction of Lister. In their road they stopped near Norwich, and forced every one to join them, so that none of the commonalty remained behind. The reason why they stopped near Norwich was, that the governor of the town was a knight called sir Robert Salle; he was not by birth a gentleman, but, having acquired great renown for his ability and courage, king Edward ^^^ had created him a knight: he was the handsomest and strongest man in England. Lister and his companions took it into their heads they would make this knight their commander, and carry him with them, in order to be the more feared. They sent orders to him to come out into the fields to speak with them, or they would attack and burn the city. The knight, considering it was much better for him to go to them than they should commit such outrages, mounted his horse, and went out of the town alone, to hear what they had to say. When they perceived him coming, they showed him every mark of respect, and courteously entreated him to dismount, and talk with them. He did dismount, and committed a great folly; for, when he had so done, having surrounded him, they at first conversed in a friendly way, say- ing," Robert, you are a knight, and a man of great weight in this country, renowned for your valor; yet, notwithstanding all this, we know who you are: you are not a gentleman, but the son of a poor mason, just such as ourselves. Do you come with us, as our commander, and we will make so great a lord of you that one (juarter of England shall be under your command." 1^1 King Edward III. THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 345 The knight, on hearing them thus speak, was exceedingly angry; he would never have consented to such a proposal; and, eyeing them with inflamed looks, answered, "Begone, wicked scoundrels and false traitors as you are: w^ould you have me desert my natural lord for such a company of knaves as you? I would much rather you were all hanged, for that must be your end." On saying this, he attempted to mount his horse; but, his foot slipping from the stirrup, his horse took fright. They then shouted out, and cried, "Put him to death." When he heard this, he let his horse go; and, drawing a handsome Bor- deaux sword, he began to skirmish, and soon cleared the crowd from about him, that it was a pleasure to see. Some attempted to close w4th him; but with each stroke he gave, he cut off heads, arms, feet, or legs. There were none so bold but were afraid; and sir Robert performed that day marvellous feats of arms. These wretches were upwards of forty thousand; they shot and flung at him such things, that had he been clothed in steel instead of being unarmed, he must have been overpowered: However, he killed twelve of them, besides many whom he wounded. At last he was overthrown, when they cut off his legs and arms, and rent his body in piecemeal. Thus ended sir Robert Salle, which was a great pity; and when knights and squires in England heard of it, they were nnich enraged. On the Saturday morning the king left the Wardrobe, and went to Westminster, where he and all the lords heard mass in the abbey. In this church there is a statue of our Lady ^"'- in a small chapel that has many virtues and j)erforms great miracles, in which the kings of England have much failli. The king, having paid his devotions and made his offerings to this shrine, mounted his horse about nine o'clock, as did tlie ])arons who were witli him. They rode along tlic causeway to return to London; })ut, when they had gone a little way, lie turned to a road on the left to go from London. This day all tlic rabble were again assembled, under the con- duct of Wat Tyler, -lack Straw, and John Hall, to parley at a place called Smitlifield, where, e\-ery Friday, the horse-market is kei)t. They amounted to upwards of twenty thousand, all 1"- Tlic \ir<,qii Mary. 346 ENGLISH LITERATURE of the same sort. Many more were in the city, breakfasting and drinking Rhenish and IMahnsey Madeira wines, in taverns and at the houses of the Lombards, without paying for anything; and happy was he who could give them good cheer. Those who were collected in Smithfield had the king's banners, which had been given to them the preceding evening; and these reprobates wanted to pillage the city this same day, their leaders saying *'That hitherto they had done nothing. The pardons which the king has granted will not be of much use to us; but, if we be of the same mind, we shall pillage this large, rich, and powerful town of London, before those from Essex, Suffolk, Cambridge, Bedford, Warwick, Reading, Lancashire, Arundel, Guildford, Coventry, Lynne, Lincoln, York, and Durham shall arrive; for they are on the road, and we know for certain that Vaquier and Lister will conduct them hither. If we now plunder the city of the wealth that is in it, we shall have been beforehand, and shall not repent of so doing; but if we wait for their arrival, they will wrest it from us." To this opinion all had agreed, when the king appeared in sight, attended by sixty horse. He was not thinking of them, but intended to have continued his ride without coming into London: however, when he came before the abbey of St. Bartholomew, which is in Smithfield, and saw the crowd of people, he stopped, and said he would not proceed until he knew what they wanted; and, if they were troubled he would appease them. The lords who accompanied him stopped also, as was but right, since the king had stopped; when Wat Tyler, seeing the king, said to his men, "Here is the king: I will go and speak with him: do not you stir from hence until I give you a signal." He made a motion with his hand, and added, "When you shall see me make this sign, then step forward, and kill every one except the king; but hurt him not, for he is young, and we can do what we please with him; for, by carrying him with us through England, we shall be lords of it without any opposi- tion." There was a doublet-maker of London, called John Tide, who had brought sixty doublets, with which some of the clowns had dressed themselves; and on his asking who was to pay, for he must have for them thirty good marks, Tyler replied, "Make THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 347 thyself easy, man; thou shalt be well paid this day: look to me for it: thou hast sufficient security for them." On saying this, he spurred the horse on which he rode, and, leaving his men, galloped up to the king, and came so near that his horse's head touched the crupper of that of the king. The first words he said, when he addressed the king, were, "King, dost thou see all those men there?" "Yes," replied the king; "why dost thou ask.^" "Because they are all under my command, and have sworn by their faith and loyalty to do whatever I shall order." "Very well," said the king; "I have no objections to it." Tyler, who was only desirous of a riot, answered, "And thinkest thou, king, that those people and as many more who are in the city, also under my command, ought to depart without having had thy letters.^ Oh no, we will carry them with us." "^Yhy," replied the king, "so it has been ordered, and they will be de- livered out one after the other: but, friend, return to thy com- panions, and tell them to depart from London: be peaceable and careful of yourselves, for it is our determination that you shall all of you have your letters by villages and towns, as it has been agreed on." As the king finished speaking, Wat Tyler, casting his eyes around him, spied a squire attached to the king's person bear- ing his sword. Tyler mortally hated this squire; formerly they had had words together, when the squire ill-treated him. "What, art thou there.^" cried Tyler: "give me thy dagger." "I will not," said the squire: "why should I give it thee?" The king, turning to him, said, "Give it him, give it him;" which he did, though much against his will. When Tyler took it, he began to play with it and turn it about in his hand, and, again address- ing the squire, said, "Give me that sword." "I will not," replied the squire; "for it is llic king's sword, and thou art not worthy to bear it, who art ))ut a mechanic; and, if only thou and I were together, thou wouldst not June dared to say what thou hast for as large a heap of gold as this church." "By my troth," answered Tyler, "I will not eat this day before I have thy head." At these words, the mayor of London, with about twelve more, rode forward, armed under llicir robes, and, j)ush- ing through the crowd, saw Tyler's manner of behaving: ui)on 348 ENGLISH LITERATURE which he said, "Scoundrel, how dare you thus behave in the presence of the king, and utter such words? It is too impudent for such as thou." The king then began to be enraged and said to the mayor, "Lay hands on him." Whilst the king was giving this order, Tyler had addressed the mayor, saying, '*Hey, in God's name, what I have said, does it concern thee? what dost thou mean?" "Truly," replied the mayor, who found himself supported by the king, "does it become such a stinking rascal as thou art to use such speech in the presence of the king, my natural lord? I will not live a day, if thou pay not for it." Upon this, he drew a kind of scimitar he w^ore, and struck Tyler such a blow on the head as felled him to his horse's feet. When he was down, he was sur- rounded on all sides, so that his men could not see him; and one of the king's squires, called John Standwich, immediately leaped from his horse, and, drawing a handsome sword w4iich he bore, thrust it into his belly, and thus killed him. His men, advancing, saw their leader dead, when they cried out, "They have killed our captain: let us march to them, and slay the whole." On these words, they drew up in a sort of battle-array, each man having his bent bow before him. The king certainly hazarded much by this action, but it turned out fortunate; for when Tyler was on the ground, he left his attend- ants, ordering not one to follow him. He rode up to these rebellious fellows, who were advancing to revenge their leader's death, and said to them, "Gentlemen, what are you about? you shall have no other captain but me: I am your king: remain peaceable." When the greater part of them heard these words, they were quite ashamed, and those inclined to peace began to slip away. The riotous ones kept their ground, and showed symp- toms of mischief, and as if they were resolved to do something. The king returned to his lords, and asked them what should next be done. He was advised to make for the fields; for the mayor said "that to retreat or fly would be of no avail. It is proper we should act thus, for I reckon that we shall very soon receive assistance from London, that is, from our good friends who are prepared and armed, with all their servants in their houses." W'hile things remained in this state, several ran to THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 349 London, and cried out, "They are killing the king! they are killing the king and our mayor." Upon this alarm, every man of the king's party sallied out towards Smithfield, and to the fields whither the king had retreated; and there were instantly collected from seven to eight thousand men in arms. Among the first, came sir Robert Knolles and sir Perducas d'Albreth, well attended; and several of the aldermen, with up- wards of six hundred men-at-arms, and a powerful man of the city called Nicholas I3ramber, the king's draper, bringing with him a large force, who, as they came up, ranged themselves in order, on foot, on each side of him. The rebels were drawn up opposite them: they had the king's banners, and showed as if they intended to maintain their ground by offering combat. The king created three knights: sir ^Yilliam Walworth, mayor of London, sir John Standwich, and sir Nicholas Bramber. The lords began to converse among themselves, saying, "What shall we do? We see our enemies, who would willingly have murdered us if they had gained the upper hand." Sir Robert Knolles advised immediately to fall on them and slay them; but the king would not consent, saying, "I will not have you act thus: you shall go and demand from them my banners: we shall see how they wdll behave when you make this demand; for I will have them by fair or foul means." "It is a good thought," replied the earl of Salisbury. The new knights were therefore sent, who, on approaching, made signs for them not to shoot, as they wished to speak with them. When they had come near enough to be heard, they said, "Now attend; the king orders you to send back his banners, and we hope he will have mercy on you," The lianners were directly given up, and brought to the king. It was then ordered, under pain of death, that all those wlio had obtained the king's letters should deliver them uj). Some did so; ])ut not all. The king, on receiving tliem, had them torn in their ])resen('e. You must know that from the instant wlieii I lie king's ])anners were surrendered, these fellows kei)t no order; but the greater })art, throwing their bows to the ground, took to their heels and returned to London. Sir Robert Knolles was in a violent rage that they were not 350 ENGLISH LITERATURE attacked, and the whole of them shun; but the king would not consent to it, saying, he would have ample revenge on them, which in truth he afterwards had. Thus did these people disperse, and run away on all sides. The king, the lords, and the army returned in good array to London, to their great joy. The king immediately took the road to the Wardrobe, to visit the princess his mother, who had re- mained there two days and two nights under the greatest fears, as indeed she had cause. On seeing the king her son, she was mightily rejoiced, and said, "Ha, ha, fair son, what pain and anguish have I not suffered for you this day!" "Certainly, madam," replied the king, "I am w^ell assured of that; but now rejoice and thank God, for it behoves us to praise him, as I have this day regained my inheritance, and the kingdom of England, which I had lost." The. king remained the whole day with his mother. The lords retired to their own houses, A proclamation was made through all the streets, that every person who was not an inhab- itant of London, and who had not resided there for a whole year, should instantly depart; for that, if there were any found of a contrary description on Sunday morning at sunrise, they would be arrested as traitors to the king, and have their heads cut off. After this proclamation had been heard, no one dared to infringe it; but all departed instantly to their homes, quite discomfited. John Ball and Jack Straw were found hidden in an old ruin, thinking to steal aw^ay; but this they could not do, for they were })etrayed by their own men. The king and the lords were well pleased with their seizure: their heads were cut off, as was that of Tyler, and fixed on London bridge, in the place of those gallant men whom they beheaded on the Thursday. The news of this was sent through the neighboring counties, that those might hear of it who were on their way to London, according to the orders these rebels had sent to them: upon which they instantly returned to their homes, without daring to advance further.^^^ 1^' For the historical study of this episode in English history, cf. the following; Powell, The Rising in East Anglia in 1381 (Cambridge University Press, 1890); Kriehn, Studies in the Sources of the Social Revolt of 1381 (American Historical Review, VII, pp. 254-285; 458-484); Oman, The Great Revolt of 1381 (Oxford, THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 351 Our final entry in this section devoted to the social and industrial background of this period in English literary history is also a protest, though a more or less humorous one. It is the poem, The London Lyckpenny, long ascribed, on the sole testimony of the sixteenth-century antiquarian John Stowe, to John Lydgate. But this external evidence is very late and "of internal evidence, there is not a shred to render Lydgate's authorship probable." ^"^ The poem, then, is anonymous, but we can still enjoy its humorous complaint. To London once my steppes I bent, Where trouth in no vryse should be faynt. To Westmynster-ward I forthwith went, To a man of law to make complaynt: I sayd, ''For Marys love, that holy saynt, Pyty the poore that wold proceede (i.e. go to law) !" But for lack of mony I cold not spede. And as I thrust the prese amonge, By froward chance my hood was gone; Yet for all that I stayed not longe, Tyll to the Kynges Bench I was come: Before the judge I kneled anon. And prayed hym for Gods sake to take heede; But for lack of mony I myght not speede. Clarendon Press, 1906). Aconsiderablebody of literature has been inspired hv this revolt. Chaucer, to be sure, mentions it but once (cf. The Nuris Priests Tale, Canterhury Talcs, B, 11. 4584, 4585), but a large part of the Vox Clamantis {Voice of One Crying) by Gower is devoted to it. There are accounts in other chroniclers. (For Knighton's account see Cheyney, Readings in English History, pp. -iOl- 2G5; for Adam of I'sk's, Locke, War and Misrule 1307-1309, pp. 71-73). Then there is an Elizabethan play of 1587, Jack Sfraiv, to be found in Dodslcy's Old Plays (1744). Next comes Southey's play, Wat Tyler (1794). The most famous writing inspired by the rebellion is probal)ly The Dream of John Ball, by Wil- liam Morris (1888); the latest is the novel. Long WilL by Florence Converse (1903), which connects Langland with the revolt. 17" Cf. E. P. Hammond in Anglia, XX, pp. 404-420. The quotation in the text is from j). 409. 352 ENGLISH LITERATURE Beiieth hem sat clarkes, a great rout, Which fast dyd wryte by one assent: There stoode up one and eryed about, "Rychard, Robert and John of Kent !" I wyst not well what this man ment, He eryed so thy eke there in dede; Rut he that lackt mony myght not spede. L^nto the Common Place (Pleas) I yode (went) thoo (then), Where sat one with a sylken hoode; I dyd hym reverence, for I ought to do so. And told my case as well as I coode. How my goodes were defrauded me by falshood: I gat not a mum of his mouth for my meed, And for lack of mony I myght not spede. Unto the Rolles I gat me from thence. Before the clarkes of the Chancerye, Where many I found earnyng of pence; But none at all once regarded mee. I gave them my playnt uppon my knee: They lycked it well, when they had it reade; But, lackyng mony, I could not be sped. In Westmynster Hall I found out one Which went in a long gown of raye (a striped cloth): I crowched and kneled before him anon; For Maryes love, of help I hym praye. *'I wot not what thou meanest," gan he say; To get me thence he dyd me bede (bid) : For lack of mony I cold not speed. Within this hall nether rich nor yett poore Would do for me ought, although I shold dye. Which seing, I gat me out of the doore. Where Flemynges began on me for to cry, "Master, what will you copen (cheapen) or by.^ Fyne felt hattes, or spectacles to reede.^ Lay down your sylver, and here you may speede." THE SOCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL BACKGROUND 353 Then to Westmynster Gate I presently went, When the sonne was at hyghe pryme. Cookes to me they tooke good entente, And proferred me bread with ale and wyne, Rybbes of befe both fat and ful fyne; A fay re cloth they gan for to sprede: But, wantyng mony, I myght not then speede. Then unto London I dyd me hye; Of all the land it beareth the pryse. "Hot pescodes !" one began to crye; "Strabery (strawberries) rype!" and "cherryes in the ryse (on the branch) !" One bad me come near and by some spyce: Peper and saffrone (saffron) they gan me bede (offer) : But for lack of mony I myght not speed. Then to the Chepe (Eastcheap) I gan me drawne. Where much people I saw for to stand. One of red me velvet, sylke and lawne; An other he taketh me by the hande: *'Here is Parys thred, the fynest in the land." I never was used to such thynges in dede. And, wantyng mony, I myght not speed. Then went I forth by London stone, Thoroughout all Canwyke streete: Drapers mutch cloth me offred anone. Then met I one cryed, "Hot sliepes feet !" One cryde, " Makerell ! " "Ryshes (rushes) grene!" another gan greete; On bad me by a hood to cover my head. But for want of mony I myght not be sped. Then I hyed me into Est Chepe: One cryes, "Rybbes of befe!" and many a pye; Pewter pottes they clattered on a heaj): There was harpe, pype and mynstralsye; "Yea, by Cock !" "Nay, by Cock !" some began crye; 354 ENGLISH LITERATURE Some songe of Jenken and Julyan for there mede. But for lack of niony I myght not spede. Then into Cornhyll anon I yode, Where was mutch stolen gere among: I saw where honge myne owne hoode, That I had lost amonge the thronge; To by my own hood I thought it wronge; I knew it as well as I dyd my crede; But for lack of mony I could not spede. The taverner tooke me by the sieve; "Sir," sayth he, "wyll you our vryne assay?" I answered, "That can not mutch me greve; ^ A peny can do no more then it may." I drank a pynt and for it dyd paye; Yet sore a-hungerd from thence I yede (went), And, wantyng mony, I cold not spede. Then hyed I me to Belyngsgate (Billingsgate), And one cryed, "Hoo ! go we hence !" I prayed a barge-man, for Gods sake. That he would spare me my expence. "Thou scapst not here," quod he, "under two pence; I lyst not yet bestow my almes dede." Thus, lackyng mony, I could not speede. Then I convayed me into Kent, For of the law I would meddle no more; Because no man to me tooke entent, I dyght me to do as I dyd before. Now Jesus, that in Bethlem was bore, Save London, and send trew lawyers there made ! For who-so wantes mony with them shall not spede ! III. The Cultural Background 1. Ideals of the Period. — The official clerical philosophy of the Middle Ages included a doctrine which was so strong an influence on medieval culture that it deserves treatment THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 355 by itself. This is the doctrine or ideal of asceticism; i.e. the belief that this life in itself is inherently bad; that delight in the world as we perceive it by the senses is an ill-omen for the life of the spirit; and that mortification "of the four great natural passions — joy, hope, fear and grief," ^ is the way of salvation. Asceticism, says Professor Ross, "is the resource of a rising contemplative class in getting the upper hand of rude, violent men. . . . The volume and persistence of the world's asceticism cannot be understood until we take note of it as instrument of social control." - The typical medieval writer is the ecclesiastic; his literary talent finds expression in homily, saint's life, vision, alle- gory or religious play; and all of these inculcate directly the philosophy of asceticism. This we must understand in order to appreciate this large body of medieval literature. On the other hand, lay-literature in the Middle Ages, small in bulk at first but growing larger as the course of the world proceeds, is critical of the ascetic spirit. But again, the latter must be before us or we cannot see the -point of the criticism, which may take the form of subtle satire. The document selected to illustrate this ascetic ideal is the Debate between the Body and the Soul. The poem, too, is typical of a large body of didactic verse presenting doc- trine in the form of discussion; and, further, it is interest- ing because it is a vision poem, that peculiar product of the medieval mind. The poem was evidently popular since it is found in six MSS. The only difficulty in our including it here is its length — in the original it consists of 61 stanzas of 8 lines each. But this obstacle has been overcome by present- ing a partial synopsis with direct ciuotation of the more impressive stanzas. In the opening stanza we are Inlroduced to a vision of the ^ Cf. Robinson, Readings in European Ilistori/, I, p. SS (Ciinn and Co., 190-i). 2 Social Control, pp. 310, 311 (The Mjic-niillan Co., 1901). 350 ENGLISH LITERATURE death of a knight who had led a gay life. His soul, about to leave his body, addresses the latter, so foul and black, and wishes to know what has become of all the pleasures in which the body was wont to indulge: "Where now are all thy rich and costly weeds, Thy sumpter horses and thy silken bed, Thy pacing palfreys, and the other steeds That thou hast often with thy right hand led; Thy swift- winged falcons that were wont to scream, And all the baying hounds that thou hast fed? God grants but little to thee, it would seem, Now all thy former friends have from thee fled." ^ At the conclusion of this list of pleasures, which includes several stanzas, the body admits that it did indulge in them, but asserts that everything was done at the instance of the soul. The body says: "I served thy pleasure ever, night and day. At darkening even and at dewy morn; E'en as a child thou guidedst me at play, Yea, from the very day when thou wert born. Thou, who couldst judge of good and evil deeds, Shouldst have known how to count the bitter cost Of acts like mine, and where such folly leads; Blame, then, thyself, if now thou shalt be lost." '^ The soul's reply, one of the best passages in the whole poem, is quoted in full: The spirit answered, "Body, be thou still; And of thy fierce words have a care; Think not to chide and mock me at thy will That swollen like a bottle liest there. Think not, O wretch, though thou art soon to fill With thy foul flesh a dark and narrow grave. That, after all the deeds thou didst of ill. Thou yet so easily thyself shalt save. 3 Stanza 4. ^ Stanza 8. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 357 " Think not to get sweet peace, thus stained with sin, There where thou liest, mouldering in the clay; Though thou shalt be decayed without, within, And wafted by the idle wind away, Still shalt thou rise complete from out the sod Again to meet me at the judgment day. And come before the dooming })ar of God, Where we the penalty of sin must pay. "Thou wert assigned to me to teach me good, But when thou thought'st to do some evil deed, I could not hold thee back, strive as I would; I had to follow thee, instead of lead. Thee I withstood as firmly as I could. But bit in teeth, like a rebellious steed, Thou wouldst not cleave to innocence or good. Thou followedst sin and wrong with shameful speed. "I wished to show thee what was fair, what bad; Tell thee of Christ and of His church on earth; But thou, in thy career, so wild and mad, Receiv'dst my teaching but with mocking mirth. Although with fervor I might preach and pray. Thy wricked mind and heart were not inspired; But still rejected good from day to day. And did whatever evil they desired. "I bade thee think upon thy poor soul's needs. Matins and masses, vesper, evensong; But thou wert fain to do first other deeds, And at my warning words laughed loud and long; By field and stream, swift as an arrow speeds. Didst hasten to the Court to do men wrong; But for the sake of pride or other meeds Little of right thou didst among the throng. "Who is a greater traitor to his lord. Or who can less contrive to do his will. Than one he trusts in every act and word Through every day and hour to serve him still? 358 ENGLISH LITERATURE And while thou wert so prosperous and great. And while I searched and sought with all my might Thy rest and peace, thou strov'dst to seal my fate, And plunge me ever into hell's dark night. **Xow may the wild beasts roam the fields at will. Or lie in peace beneath the branch and leaf; And birds fly freely over mead and hill; For thy false heart may cause them no more grief: Thy lips are dumb, thy ears no sound can hear, Thy eyes are blinded by the hand of death, Thou liest loathsome, grinning on thy bier, From thy foul form there comes an evil breath. "No lovely lady, whom in days of old Thou didst caress and woo with glances sweet, Would lie beside thee where thou liest cold. Though all the wide world's wealth were at her feet. Thou art unlovely, fearsome now to see; Those icy lips tempt not for kisses meet; Thou hast no friend who would not wildly flee. If he should meet thee strolling on the street." ^ The body again answers that his w^hole conduct was suggested by the soul. But the latter reminds the body that their constant association was not voluntary, at least on his part: '*0f the same woman were we born and bred, body, both together, without doubt; Together were we fostered fair and fed. Till thou didst learn to speak and run about. And softly thee with tenderest love I led. To cause thee woe I never did incline, To lose thy service was my constant dread — 1 knew no other body would be mine." ^ ^ Stanzas 9-lG inclusive. ^ Stanza 22, THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 359 '*Thy flesh and blood seemed very fair to me: I wished to see thee thrive while thou didst live; For all my love was truly placed on thee, And peace and rest I ever sought to give. But thou didst grow so stubborn and unkind, So weak in works, so blind to what was best, I tried no longer to oppose thy mind; Although I ever lived within thy breast. "So for our ruin thou didst everything Of malice, en\y, gluttony and pride, That was displeasing unto heaven's King And ever in His anger didst abide. So evermore thou hadst thy sinful way And none of thy foul pleasures wouldst thou leave; Full dearly now I for thy sins must pay — Ah, well-a-day, too sorely must I grieve. "Of w^hat would surely come to thee and me A faithful warning oft to thee I gave; But as an idle tale it seemed to thee, That thou couldst fall into the silent grave. Thou didst all evil things the world thee bade, And took each pleasure which thy flesh did crave; I suffered thee, and was myself as mad — Thou the wild master; I, thy wretched knave." ^ The body in its turn asserts that all knowledge of right or wrong comes from the soul and again places the re- sponsibility for his conduct on the soul: "Think'st tliou, () spirit, a reward to gain By saying falsely that thou wort my thrall? Or to escape from punishment and pain By lying words and groans and tears withal.'^ In all my life long never did I aught. Or stole or robbed or sinned in any way, ' Stanzas 2-1-^20 inclusive. 360 ENGLISH LITERATURE But that from thee first eame the wicked thought: He who has earned the punishment must pay. ' "How coukl I know what act was wrong, what right, What I should take or what I should forgo, Except the things thou placedest in my sight, Because I deemed that wisdom thou didst know? Wien evil were the deeds thou taughtest me. And then to me thou didst begin to moan, Thy way being evil, as I then could see, I strove another time to have mine own. "But hadst thou then, as Christ deserved of thee, My flesh subdued w^ith hunger, thirst and cold, Remembering naught of good was known to me. When in my wickedness I grew so bold, All I had undertaken in my youth That had I followed still when I was old; Thou letst me ever wander north and south And have my will and my own false way hold. "Thou never shouldst, for any life or land. Nor any other worldly joy to win. Have suffered me to turn to either hand, To any act that led to shame or sin. But thee I found so easy to control. Of so small wit, so swayed by every wind As is a waving wand, O wretched soul — No reason to cease sinning could I find. "Thou knew'st that every man is prone to sin; From the beginning it was always so; And strives the pleasures of the world to win, And serves the fiend that is our deadly foe. So, when I turned to sin, like all my kind. Thou shouldst have kept me from these evils all: But when the blind attempt to lead the blind, Into the ditch they })oth are sure to fall." ^ 8 Stanzas 27-31 inclusive. For the reference in the last two lines cf. Matt. 15:14. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 361 The soul admits that he felt his responsibility for the care of the body, but concludes that both body and spirit have been beguiled by the world, the flesh and the devil: "The false, foul fiend of hell, that enviously Has ever looked upon all humankind. Was alway as a spy to thee and me When I a good thought put into thy mind. The world and flesh he had for company. That many a soul before deceived had; These three, who knew the foolishness of thee. Beguiled thee, wretched one, and made thee mad." ^ This draws from the body a bitter lament over his mis- spent life. Among other things the body bewails the fact that he was fated to be a human body. Why could he not have been a brute and so have avoided all these troublesome moral problems.'^ The soul, however, breaks in to remark that nothing can now shield them from the consequences of their sin; the hell-hounds are at hand: "Should all the men who still retain their lives. And all the dark robed priests who masses sing. And all the gracious maidens and good wives And widows weep for us and their hands wring — If five times every one who is alive. And five times over every earthly thing Should plead, since we our own selves did not shrive — Us unto heaven's bliss they could not bring. "Body, I may no longer with thee dwell; Nor stand beside thee here to speak with thee; For now I hear the hell-hounds' ])icrcing yell; And fiends more than a man did ere this see Are coming now to drag me down to hell: And from them I can never h()])e to (lee; But with thy skin and blood, remember well, At doomsday shalt thou be again with me." ^^ 9 Stanza 33. >" Stanzas 44, 45. 362 ENGLISH LITERATURE A vivid description of the torture of the body follows: They ^^ said that rich and costly weeds to wear Was on the earth the thing he ^^ loved the best; Therefore, a devil's cloak was there, All burning hot, and on him it was pressed. With hot clasps was it fastened, close and tight. Clinging with torture to his back and breast. A helmet on his head by no means light They placed and then led forth a horse all dressed. A bridle was brought forth to place on it; A cursed devil as a colt then seemed, Horridly grinning, flames his red eyes lit. Upon his head and throat the bright fire gleamed. A saddle in the middle of the side, Full of sharp spurs, all glowing red and hot, Whereon the wretched spirit was to ride — A fearful seat and rough it was, I wot. Upon the saddle was he slung, W^here he should suffer ever more and more, A thousand devils then his death song sung, Pursued him here and there and beat him sore; With hot spears, then, he through and through was stung: All torn and bruised he was from head to feet. At every step forth glowing sparks were flung. As from a brand that burns with fervent heat. W^hen he a while had ridden on that road, From off the saddle where he had been placed He was cast down to earth as is a toad. And hell-hounds fierce and cruel then him chased. They tore great pieces from him on the way As shrieking madly he was hellward led; A man might mark by bloody drops that day Where the wild fiends and that poor soul did* tread. " I.e. the torturing fiends. ^- I.e. tlie guilty body. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 363 In cruel sport they bade him })low his horn. Cry on his hounds Bauston and Bevis too; As in the days of yore, at early morn Out hunting he was ever wont to do. A hundred howling devils in a row Beat him with cords, and shouted curses bold. Until they reached that dark pool, loathed and low. Where hell is, as I often have been told. And when they had to that dark dwelling won, The fiends cast into air so wild a yell. The solid earth it opened up anon. And smoke and vapor from it up did swell; Odor of pitch and brimstone forth did go; For five miles round men might perceive it well — Lord, he would be a man in fearful woe Who must endure a tenth of such a smell. ^^ The poem concludes with the futile plea of the soul for mercy, the casting of the body into hell, and the dreamer's reflections on the experience, exhorting men to repent while yet there is time. Interweaving with this ascetic ideal and yet contrasting with it was chivalry, which can best be described as a system of social life and manners, the cultural reflection of the feudal §ystem. Chivalry has its roots ^^ in the Teu- ^^ Stanzas 50-56 inclusive. For a satire on the ascetic ideal sec the beast epic of Reynard the Fox. Mr. Jacobs' adaptation in Burt's Home Library gives a very good version of the numerous tales. The Introduction is also a valuable account of the sources and relations of the various stories. ^^ Cf. e.g. ante, p. 1'2, the Teutonic ceremony for initiating the youth into the tribe. The English before tiie Norman Conquest may c\v\\ have made .some prog- ress in systematizing the conferring of knighthootl. ("f. the following record in Ingulph, Chronicle of the Abbey of Croyland, ". . . It w.is llic custom of the English. that he who was about to be lawfully cousecr.ilcd a knight .should, the evening be- fore the day of his consecration, with coutrilion and compunction, make confession of all his sins, before some bishop, abbot, monk or priest, and should, after being absolved, pass the night in a church, giving him.self up to prayer, devotion and mortification. On the following day he was to hear mass and to make offering of 364 ENGLISH LITERATURE tonic military spirit and this, consecrated by the church, blossomed in the knightly ideals of courtesy, individual accomplishments, and morality. Much of the literature of our period aims directly or covertly to teach the principles of chivalry, as for example this French story of Sir Hugh of Taharie. In the years when Saladin was King, there lived a Prince in Galilee, who was named Sir Hugh of Tabarie. On a day he was with other Christian men who gave battle to the Turks, and, since it pleased God to cast his chivalry behind him, Sir Hugh was taken prisoner, and many another stout knight with him. When dusk closed down on the field, the Prince was led before Saladin, who, calling him straightway to mind, rejoiced greatly and cried, "x-Vh, Sir Hugh, now are you taken." "Sire," answered the brave knight, "the greater grief is mine." "By my faith, Hugh, every reason have you for grief, since you must either a sword upon the altar, and, after the gospel, the priest was to bless the sword and, with a blessing, lay it upon, the neck of the knight; on which, after having commu- nicated at the same mass in the sacred mysteries of Christ, he became a lawful knight. The Normans held in abomination this mode of consecrating a knight, and did not consider such a person to be a lawful knight, but a mere tardy trooper, and a degenerate plebeian." Riley's translation in Bohn's Antiquarian Library, 1854! (George Bell and Sons). Too much importance must not be assigned to this notice on account of the doubtful character of the Chronicle from which it is quoted. But Miss Dodd in her Early English Social History from the Chronicles (London, George Bell and Sons, Ltd., 1913), quotes it as of some value on p. 134. Chaucer draws three pictures of chivalric personages, the knight, the squire and the j'eoman. Cf. Prolog to the Canterbury Tales, 11. 42-117. His Knighfs Tale is a good example of the romance of chivalry, drawing its material from the "matter of antiquity" (cf. post, p. 518). The best general treatment of chivalry in English is Francis Warre Cornish, Chivalry in the Social England Series (The Mac- millan Co., 1901). The most extensive work published is by Alwin Schultz, Das Hofische Leben {The Courtly Life) (Leipzig, S. Hirzel, 1889). For chivalry in its bearing on English literature consult W. H. Schofield, Chivalry in English Literature: Chaucer, Malory, Spenser, Shakespeare (Harvard Studies in Comparative LiteraturBy II, the Harvard University Press, 1912). On the courtly person and his counter- part, the villein, cf. S. L. Galpin, Cortois and Villain in French and Provengal Poetry, 1200-1400, pp. 95, 96 (Yale Dissertation on the subject published by the author and printed by Ryder's Printing House, New Haven). See also C. S. Bald- win, An Introductioii to English Medieval Literature (Longmans, Green and Co., 1914), chivalry and courtly love in the Index. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 365 pay your ransom or die." "Sire, I am more fain to pay ransom than to die, if by any means I may find the price you require of me." "Is that truly so.'^" said the King. "Sire," said Sir Hugh, "in the fewest words, what is the sum you demand of me?" "I ask of you," repHed the King, "one hundred thousand besants." ^^ "Sire, such a sum is too great a ransom for a man of my lands to pay." "Hugh," said the king, "you are so good a knight, and so hardy, that there is none who hears of your prison and this ransom, but will gladly send of his riches for your ease." "Sire," said he, "since thus it must be, I promise to pay the sum you require, but what time do you grant me to find so mighty a ransom?" "Hugh," said the King, "I accord you the grace of one year. If within the year you count me out the tale of these besants, I will take it gladly; but if you fail to gain it then must you return to your prison and I will hold you more willingly still." "Sire, I pledge my word and my faith. Now deliver me such a safe conduct that I may return in safety to my own land." "Hugh, before you part I have a pri\y word to speak to you." "Sire, with all my heart, and where?" "In this tent, close by." When they had entered into the pavilion, the Emperor Saladin sought to know in what fashion a man was made knight of the Christian chivalry, and required of him that he should show it to his eyes. "Sire, whom then should I dub knight?" "My- self," answered the King. "God forbid that I should be so false as to confer so high a gift and so fair a lordship even upon the body of so mighty a prince as you." "But wherefore?" said the King. "For reason, sire, that your body is but an em])ty vessel." "Empty of what, Sir Hugh?" "Sire, of Christianity and of baptism." "Hugh," said he, "think not hardly of me because of this. You are in my hand, and if you do the thing that I require of you, what man is there to blame you greatly vhen you return to your own realm? I seek this grace of you, ^^ The coin referred to licre is prohahly tlic ^old luv.ant, more properly called solidus, issued by the emperors at (\)nstantinoi)le in the Middle Ages, worth in present American money $2.4iJ. There was also a silver coin of the same issue, called the white bezant, worth 70 cents. The word bezant comes from the name of the city liyzantium, so called before Constantine made it over into Constantinoj)le. 366 ENGLISH LITERATURE rather than of another, because you are the stoutest and the most })erfect knight that ever I may meet." "Sire," said he, "I will show you what you seek to know, for were it but the will of God that you were a christened man, our chivalry would bear in you its fairest flower." ^^ "Hugh," said he, "that may not be." Whereupon Sir Hugh made ready all things necessary for the making of a knight; and having trimmed the hair and beard of the King in seemly fashion, he caused him to enter within the bath and inquired, ' Sire, do you understand the meaning of this water?" "Hugh, of this I know nothing." "Sire, as the little child comes forth from the waters of baptism clean of sin, so should you issue from this bath washed pure of all stain and villainy." "By the law of the Prophet, Sir Hugh, it is a fair beginning." Then Sir Hugh brought the Sultan before an un- touched bed, and having laid him therein, he said, "Sire, this bed is the promise of that long rest in paradise which you gain by the toils of chivalry." So when the King had lain softly therein for a little space. Sir Hugh caused him to stand upon his feet, and having clothed him in a fair white vesture of linen and silk, said, "Sire, this spotless stole you first put on is but the symbol of a body held and guarded clean." Afterwards he set upon the King a gown of scarlet silk and said, "Sire, this ver- meil robe keeps ever in your mind the blood a knight must shed in the service of his God and the defence of Holy Church." Then taking the King's feet in his hands, he drew thereon shoes of brown leather, saying, "Sire, these brown shoes with which you are shod, signify the color of the earth from which you came, and to which you must return; for whatever degree God permits you to attain, remember, O mortal man, that you are but dust." Then Sir Hugh raised the Sultan to his feet and girt him with a white baldric, saying, "Sire, this white cincture I belt about your loins is the type of that chastity with which you must be girded withal. For he who would be worthy of .such dignity as this must ever keep his body pure as any maid." After this was brought to Sir Hugh a pair of golden spurs and these he did upon the shoes with which the sultan was shod, saying, "Sire, so swiftly as the destrier plunges in the fray at the prick of these ^^ Cf. Saladin as Scott pictures him in The Talisman. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 367 spurs, so swiftly, so joyously, should you fight as a soldier of God for the defence of Holy Church." Then at the last Hugh took a sword, and holding it before the King, said, "Sire, know you the three lessons of this glaive?" "What lessons are these?" "Courage, justice and loyalty. The cross at the hilt of his sword gives courage to the bearer, for when the brave knight girds his sword upon him he neither can, nor should, fear the strong adversary himself. xA^gain, sire, the two sharp edges of the blade teach loyalty and justice, for the office of chivalry is this, to sustain the weak against the strong, the poor before the rich, uprightly and loyally." The King listened to all these words very heedfully and at the end inquired if there was noth- ing more that went to the making of a knight. "Sire, there is one thing else but that I dare not do." "What thing is this?" "It is the acolade." "Grant me now the acolade and tell me the meaning thereof." "Sire, the acolade is a blow upon the neck ^^ given with a sword, and the significance thereof is that the newly made knight may always bear in mind the lord who did him that great courtesy. But such a stroke will I not deal to you, for it is not seemly, since I am here your prisoner." That night Saladin, the mighty Sultan, feasted in his cham- ber with the fifty greatest lords of his realm, emirs, governors and admirals, and Sir Hugh of Tabarie sat on a cushion at his feet. At the close of the banquet Sir Hugh rose up before the King and said, "Sire, grant me grace. I may not forget that you bade me to seek out all fair and honorable lords, since there is none who would not gladly come to my help in this matter of my ransom. But, fair Sir King, in all the world shall I never find a lord so wise, so hardy and so courteous as yourself. Since you have taught me this lesson, it is but just and right tliat I should pray you to be the first to grant me aid herein." Then Saladin laughed loudly out of a merry heart and said, "Pray God that the end be as sweet as the beginning. Truly, Sir Hugh, I will not have it on my conscience that you miss your ransom because of any meanness of mine, and, Ihcret'ore, without guile, for my part I will give you fifty thousand bcsants." ^^ Cf. the possibly Old English custom reconk'd in llie extract from Ingulph's Chronicle, ante, p. 3G4. 368 ENGLISH LITERATURE Then the great Sultan rose from his throne, and taking Prince Hugh with him, came to each of the lords in turn, emir, governor and admiral, and prayed of him aid in the business of this ran- som. So all the lords gave largely out of a good heart in such measure that Sir Hugh presently acquitted himself of his ransom and returned to his own realm from among the paynim. The pomp and circumstance of chivalry are well illus- trated in the following passage from Gawain and the Green Knight which the late Gaston Paris, the great French au- thority on medieval literature, called the pearl of English medieval romance. At the opening of the story, while Arthur is celebrating New Year's Day at Camelot, a gi- gantic Green Knight, riding a green horse, enters and offers to allow any of King Arthur's knights to strike him with his ax a blow on the neck, provided the respondent will allow the challenger to return the compliment the fol- lowing year. At first all are dumfounded, but at length Gawain, the pattern knight, screws up his courage to under- take the enterprise. After the proper preparations have been made, Gawain cuts off the Green Knight's head and it rolls about the floor. But the giant unconcernedly picks it up by the hair, gets back on his horse, and rides off, reminding Gawain of his promise to meet him at the Green Chapel the next year. Our passage tells how, after his time of respite is over, Gawain prepares to redeem his promise.^^ Yule is now^ o'erpast and the year is gone. Each season has succeeded in due turn; For after Christmas time comes crabbed Lent, Demanding fish for flesh and simpler cheer. Then the world's weather with the winter strives, The cold withdraws itself, the clouds uplift, '* Cf. a complete verse translation of Gawain and the Green Knight in Weston, Romance, Vision and Satire (Houghton Mifflin Co., 1912). The same trans- lator before had published a partial pn^se rendering of the story as Vol. I of the series Arthurian Romances Unrepresented in Malory (David Nutt, 1900). THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 369 And softly falls the rain in showers warm On the fair plains on which the flowers appear. The meadows and the groves are clad in green, Birds busk themselves to build and l:)lithely sing For solace of soft summer that ensues: Upon the banks the bonny blossoms bloom, Both rich and rank, and noble notes enough Are heard in fairest woods from dawn to dark. After the summer season with soft winds, When Zephyr breathes his soul on seeds and herbs. Full joyous is the growth that waxes there. When the dark dew drips from the drooping leaves Beneath the blissful blush of the bright sun. And then comes harvest, hardening the grain, And warning it to wax for winter ripe. With drought he drives the dust into the air On high and wafts it widely over face of fields. The wroth wind of the welkin with the sun Angrily wrestles and the leaves drop down From ageing trees and light upon the ground: And gray are all the groves that were so green But yesterday, and ripe is all the fruit That then was flower; so goes the gliding year Into its many yesterdays, and so The winter comes again, and the world needs No sage to tell us this. Now when the morn Of ]Michaelmas ^^ was come, with warning sad Of winter near, full oft thought Gawain Of that dread journey which he soon must take. Yet till All-Hallows'-'" Day lie lingcMvd there With Arthur, who, on thai same day, made feast For that brave hero's sake, witli revelry. And all the richness of the Table Round — The courteous knights and comely ladies there 1^ Sept. ^2i). "'' Nov. 1. 370 ENGLISH LITERATURE Were all in sorrow for that well loved knight; And, though they spoke no word to tell their grief, Still many there were joyless for his lot. After the meat, with mourning Gawain turned Unto his king and uncle and then spoke About his riding and his words were these, "Now, liege lord of my life, your leave I crave. You know my plight and, therefore, I am bound To say no more. In honor am I pledged To set forth on the morrow on my search For that Green Knight as God may give me light." Then came together all the noblest knights, Ywain and Eric and full many more. Sir Dodinel le Sauvage, the great duke Of Clarence, Launcelot and Lionel, Lucan, the Good, Sir Bors, Sir Bedivere, Both mighty men, and heroes many too. With Mador de la Porte. These courtiers all Got round the King, with hea\^ hearts. To give their counsel unto Sir Gawain. Much grief and weeping was there in the hall That such a gallant knight should wend his w^ay On such an errand, seeking for a blow So deadly, and should deal no other stroke With his good sword. But he made good cheer And said, "W^hy shrink? What yet remains To do for a brave man but prove his fate. However dire and fearsome it may be?" He dwelt there all that day, but the next morn He rose up early, asking for his arms. Which then were brought and in this knightly wise: First a rich carpet on the floor was laid — How gaily on it glittered the gold gear As the knight stepped thereon and grasped the steel ! Clad was he in a doublet of rich silk With a close hood, well made and lined throughout With soft, warm fur. Steel shoes upon his feet THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 371 They set and wrapped his Hmbs in shining greaves With knee caps polished briglit and fastened firm About his knees with knots of gleaming gold. His thighs were cased in cuisses of strong steel. Fast closed with leather thongs. They gave him then The shield of polished steel rings, firmly sewn Upon fair stuff; and burnished braces strong L'pon his arms, with elbow pieces stout, They tightly lashed, and gave him too the gloves Of steel to shield his hands, and other gear That should protect him in his hour of need. And over all they cast a rich surcoat; And fastened on his heels the golden spurs; And by a silken girdle to this hero's side They bound a sword full sure. ^Yhen he was garbed In harness thus, his armor was right rich. For the least loop or lartchet of that mail Burned with bright gold. Accoutered as he was, He barkened to the mass and offering made At high church altar. Then to king And nobles of the court and ladies fair He came and farewell bade them courteously. Who kissed him and commended him to Christ. Then Gringalet his steed, with saddle girt That glistened bright with many a gilded fringe, Stood ready for the venture, decked anew. The bridle barred with buttons of clear gold. The covertures and trappings of that steed. The crupper and the long and flowing skirts Accorded with the saddle, for they shone And glittered, like the rising sun's bright rays, With rich red gold. His helmet then he took And raised it hastily and on his head He set it high and hasped it fast behind. All strongly was it made and lined throughout. 37!2 ENGLISH LITERATURE Over the ventail was a kerchief Hght, Broidered and })ound about with finest gems On a broad silken ribbon, and gay birds, And many a turtle and true lover's knot Were also broidered there, entwined so thick, It seemed that many maidens must have wrought Quite seven winters long to finish it. But the fair circlet that his helmet crowned AYas wealthier still of price, adorned as 'twas With a device of diamonds, large and pure. Then showed they him the shield of splendid red, Whereon the pentangie enamelled was In golden hue. And why the noble prince Bore this device, I fain would tell, Although I thus must tarry in my tale. ■\ It is a sign which Solomon once set, ""^ ; Betokening truth, by title that it had; Because it is a figure with five points, Each line of which another overlaps. And hath nowhere beginning nor an end. Being an endless knot in English speech. Hence, it was suited well unto this knight And his clear arms, for faithful in five-fold Was good Gawain, and pure as gold was he, Void of all ill and well endowed With virtues all: and so this mark He bore upon his shield and outer coat, As truest hero and as gentlest knight. Faultless in his five senses was he first; And his five fingers never played him false; And all his trust was in the five great wounds That Christ felt on the cross, as told in Creed. And when in battle he was sore beset He wist well that he drew his conquering strength From the five joys which Heaven's Queen Had of Her Child. For this cause did he bear An image of Our Lady, wrought out well. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 373 On one half of his shield, that when he looked On Her sweet face he should not lack for aid. And the fifth five that my fair hero used I find were frankness and good fellowship Above all else; and purity of soul, And courtesy, that never failed or swerved, And sweet compassion, that surpasseth all. In these five virtues was he wrapped and clothed, iVnd all these, five-fold, were linked each with each. So that they had no end; and they were fixed Upon five points that ne'er were known to want — Nor were they joined or sundered anywhere. Nor could ye a beginning find or end. Therefore, upon his shield was shaped that knot, All painted with keen gold on ground of red. Which is the pure pentangie, as they know Who learning have. So Gawain was prepared iVnd took his lance in hand and bade good-bye Unto them all — he feared forevermore.-^ A concrete expression of the spirit of chivalry is to be seen in the supposed founding by Edward III in 1344 of the Order of the Garter, modeled on the knighthood of King Arthur. The event is thus described in the Con- tinuation of the Chronicles by Adam of Murimuth, a con- temporary. In the year 1344, the king, Edward III, ordered a great tournament to be held on the nineteenth day of January in the place of his birth, that is, in the castle of Windsor; and this 2^ The story ends Jis follows: "As the next New Year drew nigh, Gawain, riding wild ways afar in his seareh, was reeeived and nobly entertained at Christniastide in a eastle whose lord promised to eseort him betimes to the Green Chapel hanl by. IMeantime showing as a guest the noblest and most scrupulous courtesy, Gawain was three times tempted by his host's lady in vain. Then standing by the Green Chapel to receive the return stroke, he was but grazed; for the Green Knight, re- vealing himself as the lord of the castle and the deviser of the temptations, declared himself satisfied that Gawain was intleed worthy." Baldwin, op. cit., p. 155. 374 ENGLISH LITERATURE he caused to be publicly proclaimed a sufficiently long time be- forehand as well in foreign parts as in England. He invited to this by his own letters all the ladies of the south of England and the wives of all the citizens of London. There assembled in the said castle on Sunday, the twentieth of January, earls, barons, knights and very many ladies. There the king provided the customary banquet so that the great hall was filled with the ladies, not a single man being present excepting only two knights who had come from France for this occasion. At this banquet there were present two queens, nine countesses, wives of the barons, knights and citizens, who could not easily be counted, and who had been placed by the king himself in their seats according to rank. The Prince of Wales, the duke of Cornwall, the earls, barons and knights ate together with the people in a tent and other places where food supplies and all other necessaries had been prepared freely for all without murmur; and in the evening there was dancing. For the three following days the king with nineteen other knights kept a jousting against all who came from without; and the same lord, not on account of royal favor but because of great skill which he showed and because of the good fortune which he had, for three days gained the palm among those at home. A foreign lord, knight of Stapleton, gained the victory on the first day, on the second Philip Des- penser, on the third John Blount. On the Thursday following the tournament of the sons, the lord king gave a banquet at which he founded the order of the Round Table, and under a certain form belonging to the said Round Table he received the oaths of certain earls, barons and knights whom he wished to belong to this said Round Table; and he fixed the day for hold- ing the Round Table for the next day of Pentecost following, giving to all present the right of returning home with their badges of honor. Afterwards he ordered a very fine building to be erected there, in which the said Round Table could meet at the designated time. For the erection of this building he brought in stonecutters, carpenters and other workmen, ordering wood as well as stone to be procured, sparing neither labor nor expense. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 375 The chivalric spirit also found expression in the Cru- sades, that series of expeditions lasting from 109G to 1^272, which purposed to protect the Holy Sepulcher from the Turks and secure it as a permanent shrine for Christen- dom. This purpose the Crusades failed to achieve, but, in lieu of gaining their primary object, served as a great cultural stimulus to the European mind by bringing it into touch with an alien civilization of apparently high attracting power. Undoubtedly the most picturesque figure among English crusaders is Richard the Lion- Hearted, patron of knights and troubadours, himself a knight and troubadour. Richard soon became a romantic figure and, though the prosaic facts of his life were known, had ascribed to him a legendary genealogy and career which put him on a par with King Horn, Havelock, King Arthur and Guy of Warwick. William of Malmesbury thus describes the enthusiasm aroused by the first Crusade, an enthusiasm typical of that aroused by all the others. ^^ In the year of the incarnation 1095, pope Urban the second, who then filled the papal throne, passing the Alps, came into ^ On the Crusades in general consult the medieval histories and Archer and Kingsford, The Crusades: the Story of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem {The Story oj the Nations Series, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1895). Villehardouin and De Joinville, Chronicles of the Crusades is a number in Everyman's Library. On literary material from the Crusades, see Vaublanc translation in Munroe and Sellery, Medieval Civi- lization, enlarged ed., pp. 2(59-277 (The Century Co., 1910). See also Chaucer, The Squire's Tale in The Canterbury Tales with Skeat's notes. Martha Pike (\^nant in the Introduction to her Oriental Tale in England in the Eighteenth Century (Columbia I'niversity Studies in Comparative Literature; Columbia Cniversily Press, 1908). has a few remarks about oriental infitiences in the Middle Ages. On Richard as a crusader, see Archer, The Crusade of Richard I {English History Told- by Contem- poraries, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 188G). On Richard as a troubadour, .see J. F. Rowbotham, Troubadours and Courts of Love, chap, v, pp. ()()-7,'J {The Social Eng- land Series; The Macmillan Co., 1905). On Richard as a hero of romance, .see Weston, The Chief Middle English Poets, pp. 12.'J-1.'}2 and notes (Houghton MifHin Co., 1914). The Crusades left one indelible mark on European romance — the villains of many romances are Saracens. This trait comes down at least as far as Spenser. 376 ENGLISH LITERATURE France. The ostensible cause of his journey was that, being driven from Rome by the violence of Guibertr^ he might prevail on the churches on this side of the mountains to acknowledge him. His more secret intention was not so well known; this was, by Bohemond's -^ advice, to excite almost the whole of Europe to undertake an expedition into Asia; that in such a general commotion of all countries, auxiliaries might easily be engaged by whose means both Urban might obtain Rome; and Bohemond, Illyria and Macedonia. . . . Still, nevertheless, whatever might be the cause of Urban's mission, it turned out of great and singular advantage to the Christian world. A council, therefore, was assembled at Clermont which is the most noted city of Auvergne. ... A clear and forcible dis- course, such as should come from a priest, was addressed to the people on the subject of an expedition of Christians against Turks.2^ . . . The bulk of the auditors were extremely excited and attested their sentiments by a shout, pleased with the speech and inclined to the pilgrimage. And immediately in the presence of the Council some of the nobility, falling down at the knees of the pope, consecrated themselves and their property to the service of God. Among these was Aimar, the very power- ful bishop of Puy, who afterwards ruled the army by his pru- dence and augmented it through his eloquence. In the month of November, then, in which the council was held, each departed to his home: and the report of this good resolution soon becom- ing general, it gently wafted a cheering gale over the minds of 2^ I.e. Guibert of Ravenna (circa 1030-1100), antipope under the title Clement III from June 25, 1080 to his death in September 1100. Urban II, of course, did not recognize him as pope, and hence our story calls him by his personal, not his papal, name. Guibert maintained himself at Rome from 1084i until he was driven out by the crusaders in 1097. 2^ I.e. Ikjhemond I (circa 1058-1111), Prince of Otranto and later of Antioch, a Norman, son of Robert Guiscard, Duke of Calabria and Apulia. Bohemond was a trusted adviser of Urban II and the real leader of the first Crusade. For the various accounts of the capture of Jerusalem by Bohemond and his colleagues in 1099, see Duncalf and Krey, Parallel Source Problems in Medieval Ilisfori/ (Harper's Parallel Source Problems, Harper and Brothers, 1912), pp. 95-133. Bohemond had a strenuous life in his struggles against the Turks and the Eastern Emperor. ^ The sermon of Urban follows. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 377 Christians: which being universally diffused, there was no nation so remote, no people so retired, as not to contribute its portion. This ardent love not only inspired the continental provinces but even all who had heard the name of Christ whether in the most distant lands or savage countries. The Welshman left his hunt- ing; the Scot his fellowship with lice; the Dane his drinking party; the Norwegian his raw fish. Lands were deserted of their husbandmen; houses of their inhabitants; even whole cities migrated. There was no regard to relationship, affection to their country w^as held in little esteem, God alone was placed before their eyes. Whatever was stored in granaries or hoarded in chambers, to answer the hopes of the avaricious husbandman, or the covetousness of the miser, all was deserted, they hungered after Jerusalem alone. Joy attended those who went while grief oppressed those who remained. But why do I say re- mained? You might see the husband departing with his wife, indeed, with all his family; you would smile to see the whole household loaded on a wagon, about to proceed on their way. The road was too narrow for the traffic, the path too confined for the travelers, so thickly were they thronged with endless multi- tudes. The number surpassed all human imagination, though the itinerants were estimated at six millions. Doubtless, never did so many nations unite in one opinion; never did so immense a population subject their unruly passions to one, and almost to no, direction. For the strangest wonder to behold was, that such a countless multitude marched gradually through various Christian countries without plundering, though there was none to restrain them. Mutual regard blazed forth in all, so that if any one found in his possession what he knew did not belong to him, he exposed it everywhere for several days to be claimed; and the desire of the finder was suspended till perchance the wants of the loser might be rci)airc(l. As a specific instance of inlcrcvsl in (lie first Crusade a little nearer England, notice the foHowing account by Florence of Worcester of how Robert, Duke of Normandy, eldest son of Wilh'ain the (\)ii(|ueror, mortgaged his (hichy in order to follow the suggestion of Fope Urban. The King 378 ENGLISH LITERATURE William mentioned in the text is William II, Rufus, second son of William I the Conqueror. After this, Robert, Earl of Normandy, proposing to join the Crusade to Jerusalem, sent envoys to England, and requested his brother King William that, peace • being restored between them, he would lend him ten thousand silver marks, receiving Normandy in pledge. The King, wishing to grant his request, called on the English lords to assist him with money, each ac- cording to his means, as speedily as possible. Therefore, the bishops, abbots and abbesses broke up the gold and silver orna- ments of their churches and the earls, barons and viscounts robbed their knights and villeins, and brought to the King a large sum of mone3^ With this he crossed the sea in the month of September, made peace with his brother, advanced him six thousand six hundred and sixty-six pounds, and received from him Normandy as security for its repayment. Just one incident in the crusading career of Richard I may be cited here as a sample passage from his life. This is the account from the Itinerary of Richard 7, by Richard of the Holy Trinity, of the King's prow^ess at the siege of Joppa in 1192. The writer describes himself in his Prolog as an eye-witness of the events he records and excuses the want of literary finish in his book on the plea that he com- posed on the spot and did not have time to revise. Modern critics are disposed to accept his statements as correct. Joppa at the time in question was in Christian hands, but Saladin, hearing that Richard w^as absent from the town, determined to besiege it. The Christians sent a message of distress to Richard, w^ho responded by at once sending on his main force by land, while he with a smaller body of warriors came up to Joppa by sea. The incident then developed thus: The Turks, discovering the arrival of the King's fleet, sallied down to the seaside with sword and shield and sent forth showers of arrows: the shore was so thronged with their numbers that THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 379 there was hardly a foot of ground to spare. Neither did they confine themselves to acting on the defensive, for they shot their arrows at the crews of the ships, and their cavalry spurred their horses into the sea to prevent the King's men from landing. The King, gathering his ships together, consulted with his officers what was the best step to take. "Shall we," said he, "push on against this rabble multitude who occupy the shore, or shall we value our lives more than those of the poor fellows ^\ho are exposed to destruction for want of our assistance.^" Some of them replied that further attempts were useless, for it was by no means certain that any one remained alive to be saved, and how could they land in the face of so large a multitude.^ Rich- ard looked around thoughtfully, and at that time saw a priest plunge into the water and swim toward the royal galley. When he was received on board, he addressed the King with palpitating heart and spirits almost failing him. "Most noble King, the remnant of our people, waiting for your arrival are exposed like sheep to be slain, unless divine grace bring you to the rescue." "Are any of them still alive, then.^" asked Richard, "and if so, where are they?" "Some of them are still alive," said the priest, "and hemmed in and at the last extremity in front of yonder tower." "Please God, then," replied the King, "by whose guidance we have come, we will die with our brave brothers in arms, and a curse light on him who hesitates." The word was forthwith given, the galleys were pushed to land, the king dashed forward into the waves with his thighs unprotected by armor, and up to his middle in the water; he soon gained firm footing on the dry strand: behind him followed Geoffrey du Bois and Peter de Pratelles, and in the rear came all the others rushing through the surf. Tlie Turks stood to dctVnd the shore which was covered witli IIhmp nunicroiis troops. Rich- ard, with an arbalest which lie hekl in his liand, (h'ove tliem back right and left; his companions pressed upon the recoihng enemy whose courage (juaihMl wlien they saw it was the King, and they no longer dared to meet him. He brandisluMJ his fierce sword, which allowed them no time to resist, but they yielded before his fiery blows, and were (hiv(Mi in confusion with blood and havoc by the Kiiiii's in(Mi until [he sliore was entirely 380 ENGLISH LITERATURE cleared of them. They brought then together beams, poles and wood, from the old ships and galleys, to make a barricade; and the King placed there some knights, servants and arbalesters to keep guard and to dislodge the Turks, who, seeing that they could no longer oppose our troops, dispersed themselves on the shore with cries and yells in one general flight. The King then, by a winding stair, which he had remarked in the house of the Templars, was the first to enter the town, where he found more than three thousand Turks turning over everything in the houses and carrying away spoil. The brave King had no sooner entered the city, than he caused his banners to be set up on an emi- nence, that they might be seen by the Christians in the tower, w^ho, taking courage at the sight, rushed forth in arms from the tow^er to meet the King, and at the report thereof the Turks were thrown into confusion. Richard, meanwhile, with bran- dished sword, still pursued and slaughtered the enemy, who were thus enclosed between the two bodies of Christians and filled the streets with their dead. Why need I say more.^ All were slain except such as took to flight in time; and thus those w^ho had before been victorious were now defeated and received con- dign punishment, while the King still continued the rout, show^- ing no mercy to the enemies of Christ's Cross, whom God had given into his hands; for there never was a man on earth who so abominated cowardice as he. The same writer thus characterizes Richard: His generosity and his virtuous endowments the Ruler of the World should have given to the ancient times, for in this period of the world, as it waxes old, such feelings rarely exhibit them- selves, and, when they do, they are objects of wonder and as- tonishment. He had the valor of Hector, the magnanimity of Achilles, and was equal to Alexander and not inferior to Roland in bravery; nay, he outshone many illustrious characters of our ow^n times. The liberality of a Titus was his, and, what is so rarely found in a soldier, he was gifted with the eloquence of Nestor and the prudence of Ulysses; and he showed himself preeminent in the conclusion and transaction of business, as one whose knowledge was not without active good-will to aid it. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 381 nor his good-will wanting in knowledge. Who, if Richard were accused of presumption, would not readily excuse him, knowing him for a man v.ho never knew defeat, iini)atient of an injury, and impelled irresistibly to vindicate his rights, though all he did was characterized by innate nobleness of mind. Success made him better fitted for action. Fortune ever favors the brave and, though she works her pleasure on whom she will, Richard was never to be overwhelmed with adversity. He was tall of stat- ure, graceful of figure, his hair between red and auburn, his limbs were straight and flexible, his arms rather long and not to be matched for wdelding the sword or for striking with it, his long legs suited the rest of his frame, while his appearance was commanding and his manners and habits suitable; and he gained the greatest celebrity not more from his high birth than from the virtues that adorned him. But why need we take much labor in extolling the fame of so great a man.^ He needs no superfluous commendation, for he has a sufficient meed of praise w^hich is the sure companion of great actions. He was far superior to all others both in moral goodness and in strength and memorable for prowess in fight; and his mighty deeds out- shone the most brilliant description we could give of them. Happy in truth might he have been deemed, had he been with- out rivals who envied his glorious actions, and whose only cause of enmity was his magnificence and his being the searcher after virtue rather than the slave of vice.-*^ 2. Foreign Influence. — A simple but coniprclicnsivo title in this chapter for the a])ove topic might be the single word French. Beginning as far back as the reign of Ed- ward the Confessor, who was brought nj) in Xonnandy, and coming down in successive waves almost to llir {\[\y<, of Chaucer, French was the (loiiiiiiaiit loi-cign force in English culture. After the Xornians came Henry II with his Angevins, bringing willi tlicin in (^ueen Eleanoi- a 2^ Tlic list of \in';\[ iiicii to \vli(tiii Kidiard i> Iutc ((Wiii).!!!'!! comprises most of the names of the heroes most admired in ihr Middle A^es; the only serions omis- sion is that of Judas Ma<. 382 ENGLISH LITERATURE representative of the civilization of Provence, the home of the troubadours, a land quite different in history and tra- dition from Northern France, the home of the Normans. And Henry II, it should be remembered, controlled more territory on the Continent than did his liege, the King of France. And the Angevins were followed by other French men and fashions soon to be dominant in England.^^ But French influence in this age means more than the mere influence of France. It involves a whole congeries of cultural forces gathered in Gaul from the entire con- tinent of Europe, Asia Minor and Africa. It is said that St. Francis owes his name Francisco to his knowledge of French affairs and language -^ and Dante records Parisian habit in at least one regard.-^ In fact, the connection of France with the wide world seems electric; no sooner was an idea broached or a movement started anywhere than the news was flashed to Paris and the idea or the move- ment became prominent there. And England, from her close connection with France, was especially susceptible to all these things. The Crusades, the friars, the new orders of knighthood, the most recent developments in philosophy and theology and Arthurian romance all came to England from France. But, to recur to French influence in the narrower sensei notice this account of his education among some auto- biographical remarks by Giraldus Cambrensis ( 1 146-1220 .f^), a story repeated in the lives of many prominent men of his and later days. Giraldus, or Gerald de Barri, a Welsh- man, was one of the most prominent men at the literary court of Henry II and the author of the Topography of Ireland^ a History of the Conquest of Ireland, an Itinerary -^ French prisoners of the Hundred Years' War contributed their share to Eng- hsh culture; among them was King John II of France, captured ^^^th his young son at Poitiers in 1356 and a prisoner in Enghtnd 1357-60. ^ Cf. Jessopp, op. cit., p. 10. 20 (jf Purgatorio, XI, 81. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 383 through Wales, a Description of Wales and the Gemma Ecclesiastica {Churchly Jewel), a manual of instruction for Welsh priests. Gerald frequently refers to his own life in his works, as in this extract from the first of the four works just mentioned, and one of his many affectations is to speak of himself in the third person, as he does here: ^^ Giraldus was born in the southern part of Wales near the seacoast of Dyved, not far from the principal town of Pembroke, the castle of Mainarpir. He sprang from freeborn parents; for his mother was Angarath, daughter of Nesta, the noble daughter of Rhys, chieftain of South Wales, and a son of Theodore. She married a most excellent man, William de Barri, and from this marriage Giraldus was born. He was the youngest of four brothers. When the three others were busy in their childish pleasures, building in the sand and gravel now camps, now towns, now palaces, he, in his own fashion, alone in his play, devoted his entire energy to the construction of churches or monasteries. After his father, watching him, had considered this with admira- tion, influenced as if by inspiration, he determined with pro- phetic soul that this son must devote himself to literature and the liberal arts. . . . ^° For studies of French influence at this time in England, see Tucker, op. cit.; Rowbotham, op. cit.; the Cambridge History of English Literature, I, chap, viii and bibhography; W. H. Schofiekl, English Literature from the Conquest to Chaucer (The Macmillan Co., 190G), the Introduction and chaps. 2, 3, 4. Mr. Schofiekl intro- duces many quotations into his text, but unfortunately he doesn't give us the exact source of his material. Thus on pp. 12 and !.'{ he quotes testimony to the pre-emi- nence of Paris from Chrestien de Troyes, Bartholonueus Anglicus and Richard of Bury, but gives no clue to the location of the passages in the respective works. His treatment of this subject, however, is brilliant. See also Baldwin, op. cit.. Index, and Traill, Social England, I, pp. :344-i3.3() (Cassell and (\>.. 1894-1898). Many references to the importance of French will be found later in this section and in sections iv, v, and vi, post, cf. pp. 418, 5;39-oG2 and the Index. It is rather suggestive, in this matter of French influence, that the songs of the birds near the end of Chaucer's Parlement of Foulcs and of the laborers at the end of the Prolog to the Vision of William concerning Piers the Plowman are alike French. (Cf. Chau- cer, Parlement of Foules, 11. C7.'J-fi79; Vision, etc., Prolog, \ text 1. KKJ. B text 1. 224. C text 1. 228.) One of these poems, Chaucer's, is courtly, celebrating the marriage of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia; the other is plebeian. 384 ENGLISH LITERATURE In the process of time a desire for higher study and progress led him (i.e. Giraldus) to cross over three times to France. For three periods of several years he studied the liberal arts in Paris, and at length, equaling the greatest teachers, excellently taught the trivium ^^ and obtained especial praise for his rhetori- cal ability. He was thoroughlj^ devoted to his studies, showing no levity or jesting in deed or in spirit, so much so that when the doctors of arts wished to give an example of the good scholar, they mentioned Giraldus above all others. So, as he was worthy to give an example of all scholarly excellence and preeminence in early childhood, since his good deeds continued, he could do so in youth as well. . . . After arrangements had been completed, Giraldus, since he believed nothing finished as long as anything higher remained, looking not back but ever striving towards the future, ascended step by step without cessation. Since the treasures of books were greater abroad, he determined to cross over to France for higher and more mature study, and in Paris to apply himself diligently anew to his choicer studies. He was to erect on the foundation of arts and letters the walls of canon law and to finish the sacred roof of theology above. Thus a building of triple structure connected by the firmest of joints would be strong in lasting qualities. When for many years he had applied his studious mind to civil law, then at length had turned it to more sacred heights, he obtained so great influence in cases of canon law, which by established custom were discussed on Sun- days, that on the day on which it was known that such ques- tions were to be debated, so great a throng of almost all of the doctors with their scholars came forth for the pleasure of hear- ing him, that scarcely was there a house large enough to hold the audience. For so much did he aid the reasonings of canon law by his rhetorical skill, so much did he adorn the cause, as well by his figures of speech and brilliant style as by depth of thought, and so well did he adapt the sayings of philosophers and authors, ^' I.e. the more elementary group of medieval studies comprising grammar (i.e. Latin), rhetoric, and logic; the second group of four studies — music, arithmetic geometry, and astronomy — made up the quadrivium. Trivium and quadrivium together made up the list of the seven liberal arts. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 385 with wondrous aptness fitting them in pro})er phices, that just as the more learned and adept agreed with him, so much the more eagerly and attentively they applied their minds and thoughts to listen and commit to memory. . . . Let us now return to our own affairs and likewise to the con- tinuation of the narrative. Giraldus, after a long period of study determined to return to his father land. He waited for his messengers to bring him money until long after the date set for their return. iVIeanwhile his creditors, to whom he was greatly in debt, kept pressing him impatiently and rudely from day to day. Grieving, anxious and almost desperate he went to the chapel of St. Thomas of Canterbury ^^ and St. Germain d'x\uxerre founded and dedicated by the archbishop of Rheims, brother of King Louis. To this chapel, founded in honor of that saint ^" at the time of his martyrdom, Giraldus fled for refuge, with his friends, to beg and implore the aid of the martyr, ^■- knowing indeed, as the philosopher Philo ^^ says, that when human aid fails we must hasten to the divine. When the mass had been piously heard and an offering presented, a reward for his piety was divinely given, for he received in the same hour his messenger with joy and prosperity. It was indeed a wonder- ful interposition of God, who gains in His own way from human affairs His holy results, and although He knows that His gifts are given purely from love, nevertheless wishes them to be gained, as it were, by prayers and deeds. 3. Learning in the Period. — "When we try to picture to ourselves," says Symonds, "the intellectual and moral state of Europe in the Middle Ages, some fixed and almost stereotyped ideas immediately suggest themselves. We think of the nations immersed in a gross mental lethargy; passively witnessing the gradual extinction of arts and sciences which Greece and Rome had splendidly inaugu- rated; allowing libraries and monuments of antique civiliza- tion to crumble into dust; while they trembled under a '- I.e. Thomas a Berket. ^^ A Jewish-Hellenistic j)hil()s<)ph(T horn at Alexandria about 25 a.d. While in ritual a strict Jew, in intcrjjrelation of Scripture he was allegorical and theosophic. 386 ENGLISH LITERATURE dull and brooding terror of coming judgment, shrank from natural enjoyment as from deadly sin, or yielded them- selves with brutal eagerness to the satisfaction of vulgar appetites." ^^ Symonds goes on to show that this view of medieval Europe, so long held, is erroneous and that the Middle Age was an epoch of great zeal for intellectual endeavor and learning, a conclusion that is now generally accepted. In fact, we can say that Europe at this time was in one of its most active period^, but that if the re- sults of her research were not always commensurate with her effort, it was because of lack of materials and tools to work with, as Roger Bacon complains. ^^ One of the most enthusiastic scholars and thinkers of the epoch was Abelard, worthy of "renown by virtue of his extraordinary intellectual power and bold honesty of sci- entific attitude." ^^ In the first letter in the first volume of Cousin's edition of his works, Abelard reviews his "calamities," describes his own eager pursuit of knowledge, the jealousy of less keen fellow-students and teachers, and his retirement to a solitary place in order to devote himself to his own studies and thoughts. But he was to be dis- appointed, for thither followed him a great company of disciples, and in his account of their conduct we have a striking testimony to their zeal.^^ 3^ Wine, Women, and Song, p. 1 (King's Classics ed.; Chatto and Windus, 1907). 35 Cf. post, p. 391. 36 Schofield, op. cii., p. 52. " The most thorough and comprehensive study of medieval culture is H. Osborn Taylor, The Medieval Mind: a History of the Development of Thought and Emotion in the Middle Ages, 2 vols. (The Macmillan Co., 1911). Mr. Taylor had come to this study after two other important books on the history of culture; viz. Ancient Ideals, 2 vols. (Published for the Columbia University Press by The Macmillan Co., 1900) and The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages (Columbia University Studies in Literature: the Columbia University Press, 1903; 2d ed). The Mac- millan Co. announces (March, 1915) another work, doubtless of the same high quality, to be entitled Deliverance: the Freeing of the Spirit in the Ancient World. On English Ix-urning in our period, cf. Traill, op. cit., I, pp. 332-343; 429-440; II, pp. 61-74; Schofield, op. cit., chap. 2; the Cambridge History of English Literature, THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 387 I, therefore,^^ withdrew to a solitary spot that I knew of in the country of Troyes. Here I received tlie gift of some land whereon, with the assent of the bishop of that diocese, I first built a little oratory of reeds and straw which I dedicated to the name of the Hoty Trinity. Here I lived in hiding with a certain clerk for my companion and could with truth chant that psalm to the Lord, "Lo, I have gone far off flying away; and I abode in the wilderness." ^^ When the scholars heard this, they began to flock together from all parts, leaving their cities and towns and com- ing to live in my wilderness. Here, instead of spacious houses, they built themselves little tabernacles; for delicate food they ate naught but herbs of the field and rough country bread; for soft couches they gathered together straw and stubble, nor had they any tables save clods of earth. They seemed in very truth to imitate those ancient philosophers of whom Jerome ^ thus wrote in his second book against Jovinian, "Through the senses, as through windows, vices creep into the soul. . . . Impelled by such reasons, many philosophers have left the press of cities and suburban gardens, where the fields are pleasantly watered and the trees thick with foliage; where birds chirp and living pools mirror the sky; where the brook babbles on its way and many other things entice men's ears or eyes; lest through the luxury and abundance of plenty a soul's strength be turned to weakness and its modesty violated. For indeed it is unprofit- able to gaze frequently on that whereby thou mayest one day be caught, and to accustom thyself to such things as thou shalt afterwards scarce be able to lack. For the Pythagoreans also, avoiding such frequented spots were wont to dwell in the wilder- ness and the desert." Moreover, Plato himself, though he was I, chap, ix; I, chap, xv and bibUographies. On Abchird, cf. Joseph McCabe, Ahc- lard (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1901); Gabriel Goinpayrc, Abilard and flic Origin and Earlij History of Universities {Great Educators Series; Charles Seribner's Sons, 189:5). The Letters of Aljclard to Eloisc are accessible in an English version partly translation, partly paraphrase, in the Temple Classics Series (K. P. Dutton and Co.). In Robinson, op. cit., I, j)p. 44(5— i.^-i, further passages from th<> h'tter (pioled in the text are translated, as well as the Inlrodiiclion iind sjiruplc (lucslions from Aix-lanrs Sic ct Non {Ves and No). ^ I.e. because of his scholastic troubles with his former colleagues. 39 Cf. Psalm ? ■'" Cf. oiv Bioi {Lives of the Philosophers) . The latter does not record the story to which our text alludes, but does tell the following, which is somewhat like it: "On one occasion Plato had invited some friends who had come to him from Dionysius to a banquet, and Diogenes trampled on his carpets, and said, 'Thus I trample on the empty pride of Plato'; and Plato made him answer, 'How much arrogance are you displaying, O Diogenes! when you think that you are not arrogant at all.' But, as others tell the story, Diogenes said 'Thus I trample on the pride of Plato'; and that Plato rejoined, 'With quite as much pride yourself, O Diogenes.' " Tr. Yonge, The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, p. 226 (Bohns Library, 1905 ed.; George Bell and Sons). « Cf. 2 Kings 2; 9: 1. « Cf. Romans 8: 28. ^ Quintilian (circa 35 A.D.-circa 97), Roman rhetorician and teacher of elocu- tion, whose De Institutione Oratoria Libri XII (Tivelve Books on the Education of THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 389 place." For these fellows, complaining within themselves and groaning with envy, said, "Behold, the whole world hath gone after him; "^^ we have profited naught in persecuting him; nay, we have added rather to his renown. We have sought to ex- tinguish his name and have kindled it the more. Lo, these scholars have all necessaries at hand in their towns; yet, con- temning the delights of the city, they flock together to the penury of this wilderness, and are miserable by their own choice." Yet it was then my intolerable poverty more than anything else that drove me to become a master in the schools; for I could not dig, and to beg I was ashamed; wherefore, falling back upon the art which I knew, I was compelled to employ my tongue instead of the labor of my hands. My scholars, of their own accord, provided me with all necessaries not only in food and raiment but in tilling of the fields and defraying the cost of build- ings, so that no household care might withdraw me from my studies. Seeing then that my oratory could no longer hold even a small portion of them, they must needs extend it, building it more solidly with stones and wood. Though formerly it had been established and hallowed in the name of the Holy Trinity, yet because I had there found a refuge in mine exile and some small share of the grace of God's consolation had been l)reathed into my despair, therefore in memory of that loving kindness I called it the Paraclete. The same enthusiasm is reflected in a poem found in the collection of medieval student songs known as Car- mina Burana and thus translated by Symonds: I, a wandering scholar lad. Born for toil and sadness. Oftentimes am driven by Poverty to madness. Literature and knowhMlge Fain would still be earning the Orator) was a standard Icxf-liook on rlicloric and crilicisin for oMif uri(\s. The tenth book opens with a condensed survey of (ireek. and I^atin Literature wluMiee many medieval writers drew their knowhul^e of th(« names and eliarueteristies of classical authors. '^ Cf. .loiui 1-': 1!). 390 ENGLISH LITERATURE Were it not that want of pelf Makes me cease from learning. These torn clothes that cover me Are too thin and rotten; Oft I have to suffer cold, By the warmth forgotten. Scarce I can attend at church, Sing God's praises duly; Mass and vespers both I miss, Though I love them truly. Oh, thou pride of N , By thy worth I pray thee Give the suppliant help in need. Heaven will sure repay thee. Take a mind unto thee now Like unto St. Martin ;4« Clothe the pilgrim's nakedness, Wish him well at parting. So may God translate your soul Into peace eternal. And the bliss of saints be yours In His realm supernal. ^'^ * ^ Martin, son of a Roman military tribune, was born about 31G a.d. He re- tired to religious solitude late in life, whence he was drawn to become bishop of Tours in 374. He was stationed at Amiens during the severe winter of 332 and, noticing a man shivering with the cold, took his own coat from his shoulders and cut it in two with his sword, giving half to the shiverer and keeping half for him- self. "^ Chaucer's Oxford clerk (cf. Prolog to the Canterbury Tales, 11. 285-310) was perhaps a scholar of this sort. But see the article of H. S. V. Jones in the Publica- tions of the Modern Language Association of America, XX, no. 1 (March 1912), in which the writer, in opposition to most of the commentators, takes the view that Chaucer's clerk was not a mendicant. He had the same enthusiasm for learning, however. * By permission of Messrs. Chatto and Windus from tlieir edition in the Ki?uj's Clas.iics Scries- THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 391 The author of Piers the Plowman s Creed (dated by Skeat about 1394) thinks that this zeal for l)ook-learning has gone so far as to be a nuisance and a menace. He says: Now-a-days every shoemaker's son must be sent to school and every beggar's brat study his books, come to be a writer, dwell with a lord or falsely be a friar, and serve the fiend. So that, instead of the beggar's brat we shall have a bishop who will sit close to the peers of the land. And the sons of lords will bow low to these rascals and knights will crouch and scrape to them. And their fathers were shoemakers, soiled with grease, and their teeth jagged as a saw from working with leather ! Alas, that the lords of the land believe in such wretches and trust such vagabonds on account of their mild words. They (i.e. the lords) should make the sons of their own brothers or others of gentle blood, bishops. It would seem better so rather than to foster traitors and allow^ false friars to become fat and flourishing and cumber their flesh. These climbing knaves were fitter to wash dishes rather than to have the chief seats at table and be served with silver. They ought to fill their stomachs from a great bowl of beans and bacon rather than eat roast partridges, plover or peacocks. Roger Bacon (1214-1292) was the greatest scholar of his day, equally remarkable as scientist, linguist, man of letters and philosopher. He entered, much to his regret later, the Franciscan order, the superiors of which viewed his studies with suspicion and did all they couhl to make him unproductive. It finally required a special command of Pope Clement IV to enal)le him to write his ])riiu'ipal books. Bacon, however, was not satisfied willi a www reproduction of current learning; he insisted on .•jdvnncing. In the following extracts from his works he ('omphiins of various obstacles in the way of productive scholarship in his time: If llic saints made mistakes in tlicir t ranslalion^, nnicli more do these men, who haxc lilllc or no title* t(j sanctity at all. So, 392 ENGLISH LITERATURE though we have numerous translations of all the sciences by Gerard of Cremona,*^ Michael Scot/^ Alfred the Englishman,^^ Herman the German ^° and William Fleming,^° there is such utter falsity in all their writings that none can sufficiently wonder at it. For a translation to be true, it is necessary that the trans- lator know the language from which he is translating, the lan- guage into which he translates and the science he wishes to work in. But who is he.^ and I will praise him, for he has done mar- vellous things. Certainly none of the above-named had any true knowledge of the tongues or of the sciences, as is clear* not from their translations only, but from their condition of life. All were alive in my time; some in their youth, contemporaries of Gerard of Cremona who was somewhat more advanced in years among them. Herman the German, who was very inti- mate with Gerard, is still alive and a bishop. When I ques- tioned him about certain books of logic which he had to translate from the Arabic, he roundly told me that he knew nothing of logic and therefore did not care to render them; and certainly, if he was unacquainted with logic, he could know nothing of other sciences as he ought. Nor did he understand Arabic, as he confessed, because he was rather an assistant in the trans- lations than the real translator. For he kept Saracens about him in Spain who had the principal hand in his versions. In the same way, Michael the Scot claimed the merit of numerous *^ Circa 1114-1187 a.d.; medieval translator of Ptolemy's Astronomy. Gerard studied in the Moslem school at Toledo. He translated sixty-six other scientific works. ^^ Circa 1175-circa 1234. He was probably a Scotchman (see Bacon's next ref- erence to him below, where he is called Michael the Scot). Educated at Oxford, Paris, and Bologna, Michael spent most of his later life at the court of the Emperor Frederick II in Sicily. He came back to Oxford about 1230 with trans- lations of and commentaries on Aristotle. He wrote the Physiognomice Magistri Michaelis Scoti (Master Michael Scot on Physiognomy) and Mensa Philosophica (often translated as The Philosopher s Banquet). His life in Sicily gave him an op- portunity to translate the Arabic commentaries on Aristotle. He wrote on as- tronomy and alchemy and later came to be known as a magician. Cf. Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel, the action of which centers about the traditional grave of Michael Scot at Melrose Abbey. ^ The names of these three are not to be found in modern works of refer- ence. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 393 paraphrases. But it is certain that Andrew, a Jew, labored at them more than he did. And even Michael, as Herman re- ported, did not understand either the sciences or the tongues. x\nd so of the rest; especially the notorious William Fleming who is now in such reputation. Whereas it is well known to the literati at Paris that he is ignorant of the sciences in the original Greek, to which he makes such pretensions; and there- fore, he translates incorrectly and corrupts the philosophy of the Latins. For Boethius ^^ alone was well acquainted with the languages and their interpretation. My Lord Robert (Grosse- teste) ^2 by reason of his long life and the wonderful methods he employed, knew the sciences better than any other man; for though he did not understand Greek or Hebrew, he had many assistants. But all the rest were ignorant of the tongues and the sciences, and above all this William Fleming who has no satisfactory knowledge of either and yet has undertaken to revise all our translations and give us new ones. But I have seen his books and I know that they are faulty and that they should be avoided. For as at this time the enemies of the Christians, the Jews, the Arabs and the Greeks, have the sciences in their own tongues, they will not allow the Christians the use of perfect MSS., but they destroy and corrupt them, particularly when they see incompetent people, who have no acquaintance with the tongues and the sciences, presuming to make translations. . . . 51 Cf. ante, p. 66. 52 Circa 1175-1253 a.d., statesman, theologian, writer, liishop of Lincoln. He was bom of humble parentage, educated at Oxford, and became proficient in law, medicine, and natural science. He taught at Oxford, where he became chancellor. He was the first rector of a school established at Oxford about Hi^! by the Fran- ciscan friars, whom he gladly welcomed on tluMr arrival in Kngland. He was chosen Bishop of Lincoln in 12.'}5 and showed himself an ecclesiastical reformer of a severe type, for which reason he had a hard time in f)utling his ideas into practice. He was independent in his attitude toward papal encroachments in England in his time. He wrote in French Chu.straii dWutonr {Thr (\tstle nj Lorr), an allegorical work who.se popularity is shown by the fact that it was .several times translated into English. (See an extract translated in Shackford, Lajendu and Satires from Medieval Literature, pp. 05-97; Ginn and Co., IDIS.) Ilis EpiMola: {Letters) have been ed. for the RoUti Series (XXV, 1861). i>y 11. !{. Luard. See the story of his attitude toward minstrelsy, post, p. 450. 394 ENGLISH LITERATURE The scientific books of Aristotle,"'^ of Aviccnna,-''* of Seneca,^^ of Cicero '•" and other ancients cannot be had except at great cost; their princii)al works have not been transhited into Latin, and copies of others are not to be found in ordinary libraries or elsewliere. The admirable work of Cicero De Repuhlica ^"^ is not to b(> discovered anywhere, so far as I can hear, although I have made anxious incjuiry for it in different i)arts of the Avorld and by various messengers. And so of many other works of which I sent extracts to your Beatitude.*'^ 1 could never find the works of Seneca until after the time when I received your commands,-'** although I made diligent search for them for twenty years and more. And so it is with many more useful books of this noble science (ethics). . . . And so, all who know anything at all disregard the false trans- lations of Aristotle, and seek such remedy as they can. This is a trutli which men lost in learning will not consider; but they seek consolation for their ignorance like brutes. If 1 had control over the books of Aristotle (as we have them now), I would have them all burned; for to study them is but lost time and a source of error and niultij)lication of ignorance beyond all human power to calculate. And, seeing that the labors of ^^ Cf. ante, p. GO. Other reniark.s of liacon uhout Aristotle follow in our ex- tracts and show his ascendency in medieval thought. " I.e. Abn AH al Ilossein Ibn Sina (980-<'ach, Educational Charters and Documentt 598-1909, pp. 100-109 (Cambridge University Tress — in the United States, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1911). 410 ENGLISH LITERATURE having the book; and let no book be given outside of the col- lege without a still better bond, and with consent of all the scholars. , . . No one shall interfere with the regular arrangement of the household either in the choice of dinners or in the occupation of the rooms of the house, but each scholar shall give diligent assistance; and especially they shall not exceed an expense of twelve pence a week each from the common treasury, except in the three principal weeks, unless a special dispensation has been given by the university, . . . All the scholars of the house shall often speak Latin, in order that they may obtain an easier and more ready and more deco- rous manner of speaking in disputations and in other proper circumstances. Let them all live honorably, like clerics, as becomes saints, not fighting, nor using tales or scurrilous language, nor singing love songs, nor telling tales of love adventures or such as lead to evil thoughts; nor ridiculing any one or stirring him to anger, nor shouting so that students may be interfered with in their study or rest. IVIasters of the liberal arts willingly perform varied and hea\y labors in lecturing and discussing, for the profit and advantage of their pupils, but on account of stinginess, w hich has grown up in these modern days more than formerly, they are not suffi- ciently rewarded by them for these labors, as is befitting and as was formerly done; therefore, it is made a rule, that each stu- dent under the faculty of arts attending in the hall at the usual weekly exercises shall pay, for either the old or new logic,^^ at least twelve pence for the w^hole year, dividing it in proper pro- portions for the separate terms. Those who shall regularly hear lectures on books on physics must pay eighteen pence for hearing these books for a year. It is made a rule that masters of the grammar schools shall be required to dispute on grammar on Thursdays. ^ The old logic was the realistic logic developed in the earlier Middle Ages on the basis of very poor and meager translations of Aristotle; the new logic was the nominalistic logic developed by Abelard. Cf. Hastings Rashdall, The Univer- sities of Europe in the Middle Ages (Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1895), Index. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 411 Since it has been made law from old time, that masters hold- ing schools of grammar should, on their oath, give attention to the positive knowledge of their pupils; yet some, looking for gain and profit and forgetful of their own salvation, treating that statute with contempt, have presumed to give what they call "cursory lectures," to the evident injury of their students; the chancellor, wishing to look out for the profit of the . . . stu- dents, and especially the younger ones, as he is bound to do, has suspended such attendance, which is not only frivolous but injurious to the advancement of the said younger pupils, and has made a law, that whosoever shall in future wish to conduct schools of grammar shall desist from cursory lectures of this kind, upon pain of being deprived of the rule of the schools and of under going imprisonment at the will of the chancellor. Neither in the schools nor anywhere in the university shall they give such courses of lectures as these, nor allow them to be given, but shall diligently attend to the positive instruction of their pupils. ... The bachelors about to take their degrees in a certain year must appear before certain masters, with the good testimony of some other masters and bachelors. They shall then swear, touching the sacred objects, that they have heard all the books of the old logic ^^ at least twice, except the books of Boethius,^*^*^ which it is enough to have read once, and the fourth book of the Topics of Boethius, which they are not required to read. Of the new logic ^^ they shall swear that they have read the books of First Topics and Outlines twice, the book of Later Topics at least once. Of grammar they must swear that they have heard Priscian ^°^ On Constructions twice, the Barlxirism of Dona- tus ^"^2 once, or three books of physical matters; that is Physics,^^^ Of the Soul, Of Generation and Corruption.^^'^ "» Cf. ante, p. 66. "" Cf. ante, p. 67. '"^ ('f_ „„f,.^ p. 07. ^^ The three titles ure of works of Aristotle. 1*'* This last paragraph is a statement of the Oxford eurriculuin in b2(!7. ( f. what is said of Cambridge in 1109 in the Continuation of Ingiilph's Chronicle of the Abbey of Croyland {fr. cit., p. 2.'J7): "He (a certain Al)l)ol Joirrid) also sent to his manor of Cottenhain, near Cambridge, the lord (iislebert, his fellow-monk, and professor of Saered Theology, togetiier with three other monks who had aec-om- panied him into England; who, being very well instrii(t(>d in philosophirai theo- 412 ENGLISH LITERATURE In 1296 a patriotic English bishop wrote to the pope, asking for Oxford the same privileges as those already granted to Paris. His letter is as follows: To the most holy father in Christ, Lord Boniface (VIII), by divine providence of the very holy Roman and universal church highest pontiff, John, by the mercy of the same, humble minis- ter of the church at Carlisle, with reverential obedience sends kisses for his blessed feet. Great fertility gladdens a mother, and the more virtuous the offspring the greater is the occasion for joy. The inexhaustible fertility of the University of Oxford does not cease to produce rems and other primitive sciences, went every day to Cambridge, and, having hired a pubUc barn there, openly taught their respective sciences and in a short space of time collected a great concourse of scholars. For in the second year after their arrival, the number of their scholars from both the country as well as the town, had increased to such a degree, that not even the largest house or barn, nor any church even, was able to contain them. For this reason, they separated into dif- ferent places, and, imitating the plan of study adopted at Orleans, brother Odo, who was eminent in these days as a grammarian and a satirist, early in the morn- ing, read grammar according to the doctrine of Priscian, and the comments of Remigius thereon, to the boys and younger students assigned to him. At the first hour, brother Terricus, a most acute sophist, read the Logic of Aristotle, according to the Introductions of Porphyry and Averroes, to those who were somewhat older. Then at the third hour, brother William read lectures on the Rhetoric of Tully and the Institutes of Quintilian. Master Gislebert, being unacquainted with the Eng- lish language, but very expert in the Latin and French, the latter being his native tongue, on every Lord's day and on the festivals of the Saints, preached to the people the Word of God in the various churches. On feast days before the sixth hour, he expounded to the literates and the priests, who in especial resorted to hear him, a text from the pages of Holy Scripture." The mention of the Spanish- Arabian physician, jurist and philosopher Averroes {circa 1126-1178) in this pas- sage destroys its historical reliability, but even if Ingulph and his continuators are the authors of a fourteenth-century historical novel, their statement here may tell us what went on at Cambridge later than the date assigned to these lectures. The earliest reliable mention of Cambridge according to Leach {op. cit., p. 149) is 1231. The Remigius spoken of in the passage is Remigius of Auxerre (born in Burgundy before 850, died about 908), a Benedictine teacher and commentator who wrote on the liberal arts, Priscian and Donatus, the Bible and the mass. The commentaries of Averroes on Aristotle were widely used in the Middle Ages. Porphyry (233- circa 304 a.d.) was a Syrian by birth and education and a lecturer on grammar, history and philosophy. Priscian, Tully and Quintilian have been noticed before (pp. 67, 6G and 388 respectively). THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 413 iricany great and useful sons for the ranks of the Lord, so that it is truly rated as the mother and nurse of English learning, and is deserving of being held in honor with the affection due to a mother. Therefore, since a wise son is the gladness of a father, she ought to be held in favor who increases the house of God with the wisdom and devotion of such sons. As I have learned, the apostolic foresight has considered it best to distinguish the university of the kingdom of France by such a privilege that all who have attained in any faculty the rank of the honor of master shall be permitted to deliver lec- tures in the same faculty anywhere, and to continue these as long as they please, w^ithout a new examination or approbation, without the duty of going back to the beginning, or of seeking the favor of any one. I therefore affectionately and devotedly beg your pious fatherly care that, for increasing the peace and uniformity among scholastics, it may be pleasing to your apos- tolic kindness to extend the common privilege of this dispensa- tion to the said University of Oxford. There is truly a fear felt by many of the great men of the kingdom of England, that peace cannot long be preserved inviolate by the students, — a thing which is especially necessary among universities, — un- less the English university is acknowledged to be deserving of being ranked with the rest in liberties and scholastic powers. May the Lord preserve your Holiness to rule the universal church through all time ! Dated at Berwick, on the third day of September, 1296. "At Merton College, Oxford, the warden and fellows were bound to meet three times a year at a 'scrutiny,' wherein each gave his opinion of the condition of the college. Of three of these meetings some rough notes taken by one who was present have been preserved." '"' One set of these notes dated 1339 gives us the following notion of a medie- val faculty meeting: Middleton. William the chaplain has often insulted the fellows. Handel. It would be well if the senior fellows were summoned to make peace between Wylie and Finmer. ^^ See Ashley, Edward III and II h Wars. j). G5. 414 ENGLISH LITERATURE Westcomhe. The noise the fellows make in their rooms. Humberstone. The quarrel between Wylie and Finmer. The fellows keep dogs, and progress in their studies is prevented by idleness. The statute is not observed, for we have no bursars. Also it would be well if the land in Little Wolford were let to a farmer. Finmer. Wylie, although appointed under the statute to audit accounts, will not audit them, and though thrice sum- moned and again called upon by the fellows, has rebelliously refused, and so falls under the statute; and he unjustly receives better commons, and they who ought to proceed against him are too remiss. Wanting. The warden should not go on insulting the senior fellows in the way he has begun. Willie. Somebody should be sent to Stratton to enquire about the college estates and other business. Lynham. As to allaying the quarrels among the fellows. Sutton. They ought to have a keeper of pledges, ^°^ but have not, and there is a deficit; and it is said that some books are sold, without the college or the fellows benefiting by it. The warden does not enforce process against the debtors of the college and especially against the bailiff of Elham; and Wanting owes the bailiff of Elham seven pounds and sixteen pence which belong to the college, and as he excuses himself from all other business, he ought not to take part in these college meetings. . . . Handel. Would be glad if a volume of decrees and of decretals were placed in the library and if the books of the college were arranged. Buckingham. Wanting has sold the college horses at Elham, and has kept the money in his hands, and has rendered no ac- count nor has the bailiff. . . . There should not be a number of people taking notes in the meeting. Dumhleton. Nothing. Monhy. Wylie has publicly, in the presence of all the fellows, insulted Finmer. 106 Professor Ashley {Ibid., p. G6) suggests that these "pledges" were objects left by students in pawn with the college for loans from college funds; they may also have been deposits for loans from the college library; cf. ante, p. 409. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 415 Leverington. The seneschal is not present in chapel on saints' days, but is absent for the most part. . . . Wylie. Begs that what has been said by Elyndon and Want- ing be corrected and recommends charity. The warden should correct it, especially what had been said to the warden in the meeting, and above all what Elyndon said, that the reputations of some of the fellows were tarnished; and how that Durant accused Wylie of planning with the other seniors to prevent the election of a fellow, and that he had this from those who were recently in London. Middleton. Elham is in fault as to the breaking of the hall door. We ought to have a mill at Seaton. Handel. This opportunity should be taken of restoring peace. The juniors should show reverence to the seniors, and everyone should be enjoined publicly to observe charity, and each should try to bring this about as far as he can.- Humberstone. The warden ought by statute to get the help of some of the fellows who are impartial to put an end to the quarrel between Wylie and Finmer. W^anting has behaved dis- respectfully towards the warden by publicly addressing him as Robert. The early careers of the medieval universities were troublous, full of struggles for recognition with the civil and ecclesiastical authorities. Especially hard was their conflict with the former, for the university students all wished to be ranked as clerics and enjoy all the privileges of their order, particularly the right of immunity from the ordinary civil courts. The constituted powers in cities and towns, in the interest of law and quiet, naturally wished all the inhabitants to be subject to the saiiu* law. This difference of opinion or jurisdiction was the cause of many a "town and gown" riot in university towns. A famous brawl occurred at Oxford in I'^OJ) and is thus described by Roger of ^Vendover: About (this) time a clerk, who was studying \hv liberal arts at Oxford, by accident killed a woman, and when he found she 416 ENGLISH LITERATURE was dead, sought safety in flight. But the bailiff of the town and others who came up and found the woman dead, began to try and find the murderer in his hostel, which he had hired with three other clerks, and not finding the criminal, took his three friends, who knew almost nothing about the murder, and threw them into prison. A few days afterwards, on the orders of the king of the English, in contempt of the liberty of the church, they were taken outside the town and hanged. On this nearly three thousand clerks, masters and scholars alike, left Oxford, not a single one of the whole University remaining. Some of them went to study the liberal arts at Cambridge, some to Reading, but the town of Oxford was left empty. This attempt to get desired privileges by secession reminds one of the conduct of the plebeians in their contests with the patricians at Rome, and these exoduses, which were numerous, became quite serious in the eyes of the town authorities, for they realized that, notwithstanding the added difficulties and responsibilities that a university com- munity brought to a city, it was an advantage for a muni- cipality to have a university within its borders, because of the additional business brought them thereby. Hence, when in 1334 a secession to Stamford from Oxford had taken place, pressure was brought to bear on King Ed- ward III himself to issue a decree forbidding the erection of a university at Stamford. This incident has added interest because "so late as the first quarter of the nine- teenth century every candidate for an Oxford degree was required to take an oath not to lecture at Stamford." ^^'^ The King expressed himself thus: The king, to the sheriff of Lincoln, greeting. Whereas we are given to understand that many masters and scholars of our '^ Cambridge History of Englinh Literature, II, p. 392, note. Chapter xv, from which this note is taken, with its bibliography, is the most convenient reference on the subject we liave just been treating. See the reference to the method of dis- puting in schools in Fitzstephen's Description of London, ante, p. 311; and to school games in the same document, ante, p. 316. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 417 university of Oxford under color of certain dissensions lately, as it is said, arisen in that university, and with other idle pre- texts, withdrawing themselves from that university, presume to betake themselves to the town of Stamford, and there carry on their studies and perform scholastic exercises, having by no means sought our assent or license; which, if it were toler- ated, would manifestly turn not only to our contempt and dis- grace but also to the dispersion of our said university; We, unwilling that schools or studies should in any wise be carried on elsewhere within our realm than in places where there are now universities, order and firmly enjoin you to go in per- son to the said town of Stamford, and there and elsewhere within your bailiwick w^here it is expedient, cause it to be publicly pro- claimed with our authority, and prohibition made that any vshould carry on study or perform scholastic exercises elsewhere than in our said universities, under penalty of forfeiting to us all they can forfeit; and cause us, without delay, to be informed distinctly and openly, in our chancery, and under your seal, of the names of those whom you find disobeying, after this procla- mation and prohibition; For we will that speedy justice be done as is fitting to all and everyone ready to bring their complaints of any violence or injury done to them at the said city of Oxford, before our jus- tices there, specially deputed for this purpose. Witness the king at Windsor, the second day of August. By the king and council. ^°^ 4. Books and Their Place in Culture. — Richard d'Aun- gerville (1281-L345), better known as Richard of Bury, has made himself famous as the greatest private l)ook collector of the age and, by writing a volume on the love of books, has enabled posterity to get his ideas and ideals as a collector. He was left an orphan at an early age and brought up under the care of an uncle who sent him to 108 "This vigorous measure was successful but not until a writ had hcen issued next year ordering the seizure of the books of the disobedient." Ashley's note, op. cit., p. 35. 418 ENGLISH LITERATURE Oxford. Of his pursuits at the University, Richard writes, "From an early age, led by we know not what happy accident, we attached ourselves with present solicitude to the society of masters, scholars and professors of various arts, whom perspicacity of wit and celebrity of learning had rendered most conspicuous; encouraged by whose con- solatory conversation we were most deliciously nourished, sometimes with explanatory investigation of arguments, at others with recitations of treatises on the progress of physics, and of the Catholic doctors, as it were multiplied and successive dishes of learning. Such were the com- rades we chose in our boyhood; such we entertained as the inmates of our chambers, such were the companions of our journies, the messmates of our board and our associates in all our fortunes." His brilliance as a student recommended him as a tutor for the future Edward III, and by that means he was introduced to the public life of his day, becoming a diplomat and statesman. But he never lost liis interest in book collecting and used his position to further his favorite avocation. On one diplo- matic mission he visited Paris, and of his impression of the city says, "O blessed God of Gods in Sion! what a rush of the flood of pleasure rejoiced our heart as often as we visited Paris the Paradise of the world! There we longed to remain, where on account of the greatness of our love the days ever appeared to us to be few. There are de- lightful libraries, in cells redolent of aromatics; there, flourishing greenhouses of all sorts of volumes; there academic meads trembling with the earthquake of Athe- nian Peripatetics, pacing up and down; there, the promon- tories of Parnassus, and the porticoes of the Stoics. . . . There, in very deed, with an open treasury and untied purse strings we scattered money with a light heart, and redeemed inestimable books with dirt and dust. Every buyer is apt to boast of his bargains; but ... we will THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 419 add a most compendious way by which a great multi- tude of books, as well old as new, came into our hands. Never, indeed, having disdained the poverty of religious devotees, assumed for Christ, we never held them in ab- horrence, but admitted them from all prarts of the world into the kind embraces of our compassion; ... to these, under all circumstances, we became a refuge; to these we never closed the bosom of our favor. Wherefore, we de- served to have ... as well their personal as their mental labors, who going about b}^ sea and land, surveying the whole compass of the earth, and also inquiring into the general studies of the universities of the various provinces, were anxious to administer to our wants, under a most certain hope of reward. . . . Besides all the opportunities already touched upon, we easily acquired the notice of the stationers and booksellers, not only within the provinces of our native soil, but of those dispersed over the king- doms of France, Germany and Italy, by the prevailing power of money; no distance whatever impeded, no fury of the sea deterred them; nor was cash wanting for their expenses when they sent or brought us the wished for books; for they knew to a certainty that their hopes . . . were secure with us. . . . Moreover, there was always about us in our halls, no small assemblage of antiquaries, scribes, bookbinders, correctors, illuminators, and gen- erally of all such persons as were qualified to labor advan- tageously in the service of books." He would not have been content with the modest twenty books of Chaucer's clerk and yet we learn that Richard's collections, called "an infinite number of books" by Adam of Murimuth, totaled somewhat more than five cartloads. ^^^ He made noble use of his treasures, for in chapters 18 and 1!) of his Philobiblon {Love of Books) we lia\'e (lie following words: "We have for a long time, held a rooted purpose ... to 109 Cf. Baldwin, up. oil., p. V.H. 420 ENGLISH LITERATURE found in perpetual alms, and enrich with the necessary- gifts, a certain Hall in the revered University of Oxford, the first nurse of all the liberal arts; and further to enrich the same . . . with deposits of our books, so that they may be made common* as to use and study, not only to scholars of the said Hall, but through them to all the students of the aforesaid University forever. . . . Five of the scholars dwelling in the aforesaid Hall are to be appointed by the Master, ... to whom the custody of the books is to be deputed. Of which five, three shall be competent to lend any books for inspection and use only; but for copying and transcribing we will not allow any book to pass with- out the walls of the house. Therefore, when any scholar, whether secular or religious, whom we have deemed quali- fied for the present favor, shall demand the loan of a book, the keepers must carefully consider whether they have a duplicate of that book; and if so, they may lend it to him, taking a security which in their opinion shall exceed in value the book delivered; and they shall immediately make a written memorandum both of the security and of the book lent. . . . But if the keepers shall find that there is no duplicate of the book demanded, they shall not lend such book to any one whomsoever, unless he be of the company of scholars of the said Hall, except . . . for inspection within the walls of the foresaid Hall, but not to be carried beyond them. But to every scholar whatever of the aforesaid Hall, any book may be available by loan. . . . And the aforesaid keepers must render an account every year to the master of the house, and two of his scholars to be selected by him; . . . and every person to whom any book has been lent shall exhibit the book once in the year to the keepers, and if he wishes it he shall see his security." It is a pity that Richard's collections were entirely dispersed or destroyed by the time of Edward VI. After these personal references to Richard we are THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 421 ready for some further passages ^^^ from his book; namely chapters 3, 5, 6 and 12, which are entitled What are ice to think of the price. in the buying of hooks. The complaint of books against the possessioners. The complaint of books against the mendicants, and Why we have caused books of grammar to be so diligently prepared. From what has been said we draw this corollary welcome to us, but, as we believe, acceptable to few: namely, that no dear- ness of price ought to hinder a man from the buying of books, if he has the money that is demanded for them, unless it be to withstand the malice of the seller or to await a more favor- able opportunity of buying. For if it is wisdom only that makes the price of books, which is an infinite treasure to mankind, and if the value of the books is unspeakable, as the premises show, how shall the bargain be shown to be dear where an infinite good is being bought? Wherefore, that books are to be gladly bought and unwillingly sold, Solomon, the sun of men, exhorts us in the Proverbs: Buy the truth, he says, and sell not wisdom. ^^^ But what we are trying to show by rhetoric or logic, let us prove by examples from history. The arch-})hiloso- pher Aristotle, ^^2 whom Averroes ^^^ regards as the law of Nature, bought a few books from Speusippus ^^^ straightway after his death for 72,000 sesterces. Plato, ^^^ before him in time, but after him in learning, bought the book of Philolaus ^^® the Py- thagorean, from which he is said to have taken the Timxpus,'^^'^ for 10,000 denaries, as Aulus Gellius ^^^ relates in the Xocte.s Attica;. ^1° The passages so far quoted are from the Philohiblon, chaps. 8, 19 and 20 in the translation of Inghs inchided in Edwards, Memoirs of Libraries (2 vols., London, Trubner and Co., 18.59), I, pp. 377-383. "1 Cf. Proverbs 23: 23. "2 cf. ante, p. 66. "^ Cf. ante, p. 412. ^^* Nephew of Plato and his successor in the school of the Academy. "6 B.C. 429 or 428-347, cf. ante, p. 388. "^ A contemporary of Socrates, the master of Plato and the chief character in all his Dialogs, died B.C. 399. ^^"^ The Tinifrns of Plato, one of the most obscure of his Dialogs, druls with theories of creation and was one of the three Platonic dialogs known in the Middle Ages, the other two bcirig the Plurdo and the Mcno. "* Aulus Gellius was a Roman granunarian who livivl about a.d. 117-180. Ilis Nodes AtticoB (Athenian Nights) contains many extracts from classical writers and 422 ENGLISH LITERATURE Now Aulus Gellius relates this that the foolish may consider how wise men despise money in comparison with books. And on the other hand, that we may know that folly and pride go together, let ns here relate the folly of Tarquin the Proud in despising books, as also related by Aulus Gellius. An old woman, utterly unknown, is said to have come to Tarquin the Proud, the seventh king of Rome, offering to sell nine books, in which, as she declared, sacred oracles were contained, but she asked an immense sum for them, insomuch that the king said she was mad. In anger she flung three books into the fire, and still asked the same sum for the rest. When the king refused it, again she flung three others into the fire and still asked the same price for the three that were left. At last, astonished beyond measure, Tarquin was glad to pay for three books the same price for which he might have bought nine. The old woman straightway disappeared, and was never seen before or after. These were the Sibylline books, which the Romans consulted as a divine oracle by some one of the Quindecemvirs, and this is believed to have been the origin of the Quindecemvirate."^ What did this Sibyl teach the proud king by this bold deed, except that the vessels of wisdom, holy books, exceed all human estimation; and as Gregory ^^^ says of the kingdom of heaven: They are worth all that thou hast?* The venerable devotion of the religious orders is wont to be solicitous in the care of books and to delight in their society, as thus served as a kind of dictionary of favorite quotations in the Middle Ages. Some of the writers quoted by Aulus are not extant in any other form. The out- lines of the reign of Tarquin the Proud are given in Livy (b.c. 59-a.d. 17), History oj Rome, book i, chapter 49, but Livy does not tell the story of these books. The authorities for that story are Dionysius of Halicarnassus (died a.d. 7), History of Rome, book iv, chapter 62, Varro, a Roman writer of the first century B.C., as quoted by Lactantius (see ante, p. 67) in his Institutes of Divinity, book i, chapter 6, Aulus Gellius, op. cit., book i, chapter 19 and Isidore of Seville (see post, p. 434), Origins, book viii, chapter 815. "^ According to modern authorities, Tarquin assigned two men of equestrian rank to the care of these books; the number was after 367 b.c. increased to ten and the college was not made to consist of fifteen until the first century B.C. '^ Probably Gregory the Great; of. ante, p. 64. * By permission of Messrs. Chatto and Windus fr«m their Edition in theKing's Classics Series. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 423 if they were their only riehes. For some used to write them with their own hands between the hours of prayer, and gave to the making of books such intervals as they could secure and the times appointed for the recreation of the body. By those labors there are resplendent to-day in most monasteries these sacred treasures full of cherubic letters, for giving the knowledge of salvation to the student and a delectable light to the path of the laity. O manual toil, happier than any agricultural task ! O devout solicitude, where neither Martha nor Mary ^-^ deserves to be rebuked ! O joyful house, in which the fruitful Leah ^-^ does not en\'y the beauteous Rachel ^^^ but action ^-^ and contem- plation ^"^ share each other's joys ! O happy charge, destined to benefit endless generations of posterity, with which no planting of trees, no sowing of seeds, no pastoral delight in herbs, no building of fortified camps can be compared ! Wherefore the memory of those fathers should be immortal, who delighted only in the treasures of wisdom, who most laboriously provided shining lamps against future darkness, and against hunger of hearing the AYord of God, most carefully prepared, not bread baked in ashes, nor of barley, nor musty, but unleavened loaves made of the finest wheat of divine wisdom, with w^hich hungry souls might be joyfully fed. These men were the stoutest cham- pions of the Christian army, who defended our weakness by their most valiant arms; they were in their time the most cun- ning takers of foxes, who have left us their nets, that we might catch the young foxes, who cease not to devour the growing vines. Of a truth, noble fathers, worthy of perpetual benedic- 121 Martha (c-f. Luke 10: 38-42) and Leah (cf. Genesis 20 and 30) were taken in the Middle Ages as tyi)es of the aetive Hfe; and Mary and Rachel, of the eontenipla- tive life. The former was the life of the person out in the world and the latter that of the cloistered monk. Toynbec in his Dante Diclionanj adduces quotations fro:u Gregory the Great, Hugli of St. Victor and Aquinas to sliow how Leah was used in this symbolism; Toynbec is annotating Dante, Pnrgnfori/, xxvii. 11. 100-108. Since Rachel was by Jacob preferred to Ix'ah, and Mary to Martha, by Jesus, medievid philosopher^ and theologians took the conleniplative life to i)e superior to the ac- tive. Dinsmore in his Aids to the Stuil;/ of Dnntr, ])p. 31!)-;{22. quotes in translation the teaching of Ac|uinas as to the relative merits of the two ideals of life, the active and the contemplative. Ci. post, pp. 4.51— too for VVyclif's protest against the or- thodox assumption. 4^24 ENGLISH LITERATURE tion, ye would have been deservedly happy, if ye had been al- lowed to beget offspring like yourselves, and to leave no degen- erate or doubtful progeny for the benefit of future times. But, painful to relate, now slothful Thersites ^^^ handles the arms of Achilles ^-^ and the choice trappings of war-horses are spread upon lazy asses, winking owls lord it in the eagle's nest, and the cow^ardly kite sits upon the perch of the hawk. Liber Bacchus ^^^ is ever loved, And is into their bellies shoved. By day and by night; Liber Codex ^^^ is neglected. And with scornful hand rejected, Far out of their sight. And as if the simple monastic folk of modern times were de- ceived by a confusion of names, while Liber Pater ^-^ is preferred to Liber Patrum,^^^ the study of monks nowadays is in the empty- ing of cups and not the mending of books; to which they do not hesitate to add the wanton music of Timotheus,^-^ jealous of chastity, and thus the song of the merrymaker and not the chant of the mourner is become the office of the monks. Flocks and fleeces, crops and granaries, leeks and potherbs, drink and goblets, are nowadays the reading and study of the monks, ex- cept a few elect ones, in whom lingers not the image but some slight vestige of the fathers that preceded them. And again, no materials at all are furnished us to commend the canons regular for their care or study of us, who though they bear their name of honor from their twofold rule, yet have neglected the notable clause of Augustine's Rule,^'^^ in which we are com- mended to his clergy in these words: Let books be asked for each day at a given hour; he who asks for them after the hour is not to receive them. Scarcely any one observes this devout 122 The buffoon in the Iliad. 123 jhe hero of the Iliad. 124 Names of the classic god of wine. 126 I.e. the MS. of a book, i.e. bookmaking. 126 I.e. the Book of the Fathers, the writings of the great Christian scholars. 12^ A celebrated Greek musician and poet, a musical innovator; born B.C. 428, died 357. i=» Cf. ante, p. 64. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 425 rule of study after saying the prayers of the Church, but to care for the things of this world and to look at the plow that has been left is reckoned the highest wisdom. They take up bow and quiver, embrace arms and shield, devote the tribute of alms to dogs ^^ and not to the poor, become the slaves of dice and draughts, and of all such things as we are wont to forbid even to the secular clergy, so that we need not marvel if they disdain to look upon us,^^° whom they see so much opposed to their mode of life. Come then, reverend fathers, deign to recall your fathers and devote yourselves more faithfully to the study of holy books, without which all religion will stagger, without which the virtue of devotion will dry up like a shred, and without which ye can afford no light to the world.* Poor in spirit, but most rich in faith, off-scourings of the world and salt of the earth, despisers of the world and fishers of men, how happy are ye, if suffering penury for Christ ye know how to possess your souls in patience ! ^^^ For it is not want, the avenger of iniquity, nor the adverse fortune of your parents, nor violent necessity that has thus oppressed you with beggary, but a devout will and Christ-like election, by which ye have chosen that life as the best, which God Almighty ]Made Man as well by word as by example declared to be the best. In truth, ye are the latest offspring of the ever-fruitful Church, of late divinely substituted for the Fathers and the Prophets, that your sound may go forth into all the earth, and that instructed by our ^^^ healthful doctrines ye may preach before all kings and nations the invincible faith of Christ. ^Moreover, tliat the faith of the Fathers is chiefly enshrined in })ooks tlie second chapU^r has sufficiently shown, from which it is clearer than li.^ht tliat ye ought to be zealous lovers of })()()ks above all Christians. \e are commanded to sow upon all waters, because the Most High 125 Cf. Chaucer's description of llic prioress and monk, anlc, pp. ^287, ^88. 1^ The books are addressing the monks. 13' The books are addressing? tlie friars. * By permiasion of Messra. Chatto and Wimlus from ibcir Edition in iho King's Classics Series. 426 ENGLISH LITERATURE is no respecter of persons, nor does the INIost Holy desire the death of sinners, Who offered Himself to die for them, but de- sires to heal the contrite in heart, to raise the fallen and to correct the perverse in the spirit of lenity. For which most salutary purpose our kindly Mother Church has planted you freely, and having planted has watered you with favors, and having watered has established you with privileges, that ye may be co-workers with pastors and curates in procuring the salva- tion of faithful souls. Wherefore, that the order of Preachers was principally instituted for the study of the Holy Scriptures and the salvation of their neighbors, is declared by their con- stitutions, so that not only from the Rule of Bishop Augustine,^^^ which directs books to be asked for every day, but as soon as they have read the prolog of the said constitutions they may know from the very title of the same that they are pledged to the love of books. But alas a threefold care of superfluities, viz., of the stomach, of dress and of houses, has seduced these men and others follow- ing their example, from the paternal care of books and from their study. For, forgetting the providence of the Savior, who is declared by the Psalmist ^^^ to think upon the poor and needy, they are occupied with the wants of the perishing body, that their feasts may be splendid and their garments luxurious, against the Rule, and the fabrics of their buildings, like the bat- tlements of castles, carried to a height incompatible with poverty. Because of these three things, we books, who have procured their advancement and have granted them to sit among the powerful and noble, are put far from their hearts' affection and are reckoned as superfluities; except that they rely upon some treatises of small value, from which they derive strange heresies and apocryphal imbecilities, not for the refreshment of souls, but rather for tickling the ears of the listeners. The Holy Scripture is not expounded, but is neglected and treated as though it were commonplace and known to all, though very few have touched its hem, and though its depth is such, as holy Augustine ^^^ declares, that it cannot be understood by the human intellect, however long it may toil with the utmost intensity of 132 Cf. ante, p. C-l. ^^ Cf. Psahus 9: 12 and 18. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 427 study. From this lie who devoted himself to it assiduously, if only He will vouchsafe to open the door who has established the spirit of piety, may unfold a thousand lessons of moral tea(!liing, which will flourish with the freshest novelty and will cherish the intelligence of the listeners with the most delightful savors. Wherefore the first professors of evangelical poverty, after some slight homage paid to secular science, collecting all their force of intellect, devoted themselves to labors upon the sacred scrip- tures, meditating day and night on the Law of the Lord. And whatever they could steal from their famishing belly, or inter- cept from their half-covered body, they thought it the highest gain, to spend in buying or correcting books. Whose worldly contemporaries observing their devotion and study bestowed upon them for the edification of the whole Church the books which they had collected at great expense in the various parts of the world. In truth, in these days as ye are engaged with all diligence in pursuit of gain, it may be reasonably believed, if we speak according to human notions, that God thinks less upon those whom He perceives to distrust His promises, putting their hope in human providence, not considering the raven, nor the lilies, whom the Most High feeds and arrays. ^^"^ Ye do not think upon Daniel ^^^ and the bearer of the mess of boiled pottage, ^^^ nor recollect Elijah ^^^ who was delivered from hunger once in the desert by angels, again in the torrent by ravens, and again in Sarepta by the widow, through the divine bounty, which gives to all flesh their meat in due season. Ye descend, as we fear, by a wretched anticlimax, distrust of the divine i)rovidence i)ro- ducing reliance upon your own prudence, and reliance upon your own prudence begetting anxiety about worldly things, and excessive anxiety about worldly things taking away the love as well as the study of books; and thus poverty in these days is abused to the injury of the Word of God, whicli ye have chosen only for profit's sake. With summer fruit, as the people gossip, ye attract boys '^'^ 1'* Cf. Matt. 6: 26-28. '^ C7. Daniel 6. I'o cf. Gen. 25: 28-34. 1^ Cf. 1 Kings 19:5; 17: 6; 10-1(1. ^* Cf. the words of Bacon, ante, pp. I{!)!)-K)l. 428 ENGLISH LITERATURE to religion, whom wlien they have taken the vows ye do not instruct by fear and force as their age requires, but allow them to devote themselves to begging expeditions, and suffer them to spend the time in which they might be learning, in procuring the favor of friends, to the annoyance of their parents, the danger of the boys and the detriment of the order. And thus no doubt it happens that those who were not compelled to learn as unwilling boys, when they grow up, presume to teach though utterly unworthy and unlearned, and a small error in the begin- ning becomes a very great one in the end. For there grows up among your promiscuous flock of laity a pestilent multitude of creatures, who nevertheless the more shamelessly force them- selves into the edifice of preaching, the less they understand what they are saying, to the contempt of the Divine Word and the injury of souls. In truth, against the Law, ye plow with an ox and an ass together,^^^ in committing the cultivation of the Lord's field to the unlearned. Side by side, it is written, the oxen were plowing and the asses feeding beside them: since it is the duty of the discreet to preach, but of the simple to feed themselves in silence by the hearing of sacred eloquence. How many stones ye fling upon the heap of Mercury ^^^ nowadays ! How many marriages ye procure for the eunuchs of wisdom ! How many blind watchmen ^^^ ye bid go round about the walls of the Church ! O idle fishermen, using only the nets of others, which when torn it is all ye can do to clumsily repair, but can net no new ones of your own! ye enter on the labors of others, ye repeat the lessons of others, ye mouth with theatric effect the super- ficially repeated wisdom of others. As the silly parrot imitates the words that he has heard, so such men are mere reciters of all, but authors of nothing, imitating Balaam's ass,^^ which, '39 Cf. Deut. i2: 10. ^*^ Mercury, the classical messenger of the gods, was the god of travelers and in his honor heaps of stones were to be found at the cross-roads, each waj'farer being supposed to add one to the heap. Mercury was also the inventor of ^^•ise and clever discourse. The allusion is an apt one, for the friars were supposed to be the wandering messengers of a new gospel and were to be pre-eminently preachers of the Word. The irony of Bury's remark is very pointed. »« Cf. Isaiah 56: 10 and Song of Solomon 3: 3. ^*^ Cf. Numbers 2i: 21-30. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 429 though senseless itself, yet became eloquent of speech and the teacher of its master though a prophet. Recover yourselves, O poor in Christ, and studiously regard us books, without which ye can never be properly shod in the preparation of the Gospel of Peace. ^^ Paul the Apostle, preacher of the truth and excellent teacher of nations, for all his gear bade three things be brought to him by Timothy, his cloak, books and parchments,^^ affording an example to ecclesiastics that they should wear dress in modera- tion, and should have books for aid in study, and fiarchments, which the Apostle especially esteems, for writing: and especially, he says, the parchments. And truly that clerk is crippled and maimed to his disablement in many ways, who is entirely igno- rant of the art of writing. He beats the air with words and edi- fies only those who are present, but does nothing for the absent and for posterity. The man bore a writer's ink-horn upon his loins, who set a mark Tau upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and cr\' fEzekiel ix.); teaching in a figure that if any lack skill in writing, he shall not undertake the task of preaching repentance. Finally, in conclusion of the present chapter, books implore you: make your young men who though ignorant are apt of intellect apply themselves to study, furnishing them with neces- saries, that ye may teach them not only goodness but discipline and science, may terrify them by blows, charm them by bland- ishments, mollify them by gifts and urge them on by painful rigor, so that they may become at once Socratics in morals and Peripatetics in learning. Yesterday, as it were at the eleventh hour,^^^ the prudent Householder introduced you into his vine- yard. Repent of idleness before it is too late: would that with the cunning Steward ye might be ashamed of begging so hopelessly; for then no doubt ye would devote yourselves more assiduously to us books and to study.* '« Cf. Ephesians G: 11. '" Cf. i Tim. 4: 13. ^^ \n allasion to the comparative youth of the orders of friars; the scriptural allusion is Matt. 20: 1-16. * By permission of Messrs. Chatto and Windus from their Edition in the Kin^'t Classics Series. 430 ENGLISH LITERATURE While we were constantly delighting ourselves with the read- ing of books, which it was our custom to read or to have read to us every day, we noticed plainly how much the defective knowledge even of a single word hinders the understanding, as the meaning of no sentence can be apprehended, if any part of it be not understood. Wherefore we ordered the meanings of foreign words to be noted with particular care, and studied the orthography, prosody, etymology and syntax in ancient gram- marians with unrelaxing carefulness, and took pains to eluci- date terms that had grown too obscure by age with suitable explanations, in order to make a smooth path for our students. This is the whole reason why w^e care to replace the anti- quated volumes of the grammarians by improved codices, that we might make royal roads, by which our scholars in time to come might attain without stumbling to any science.* The number and range of volumes in a medieval mo- nastic library are indicated in the following catalog of the Library at the Monastery of Rievaux. The catalog was written in the fourteenth century and is extant in a MS. in the Library of Jesus College, Cambridge, and first printed in 1843.1^^ (A) The Codex of Justinian }^'^ The Decrees of Gratian.^"^^ John'^^^ on the Decrees. Haymo,^^ On the Epistles of St. Paul. ^^ Each item followed by a period in the catalog represents a volume imless otherwise specified. Dashes before an item indicate that the books mentioned were written by the same author as those preceding. ^^^ Justinian was Roman Emperor at Constantinople 527-565 a.d., and under his orders the law of the Empire was codified. This involved three tasks, the collection of all that was valuable in the writings of earlier jurists (called the Digest or Pandects), the collection of the imperial laws proper (called the Justinian Codex or Code) and the preparation of an elementary treatise on law (called the Institutes) for the use of law students. Sometimes the term Code is applied to all three of these works together, sometimes to the second work only; it is impossible to tell which is meant here. '^* Ciratian, a Benedictine monk, in 1144 put out his Decretum (Decrees), a code of canon, that is church, law founded on the Justinian Code and the decisions of ecclesiastical officials. Gratian probably taught canon law at Bologna, but the study long faced the opposition of the Church. ^^^ ? ^^ Cf. ante, p. 133. * By permission of Messrs. Chatto and Windus from their Edition to iheKing's Classics Series. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 431 (B) Augustine,^'^ On the City of God. — , On John. — , On the Psalter, in five volumes. — , On the Ten Commandments, On Grace and Free Will, the Epistle of Prosper ^''^ to Augustine, the Epistle of Hilary ^''^ to Augustine. Augustine, On the Predestination of the Saints, On the Virtue of Perseverance, On Genesis against the Mani- chceans.^^^ — , On the Sermon on the Mount, On Nature and Grace and Letter to Valentine. ^'^^ — , On the Size of the Soul. Ambrose, ^"^^ 0?i the Good of Death, On Justice and On Widows. Augustine, On the Perfection of Justice, On Reproof and Grace and God with^ Us. — , On Charity and his Retractions. — ; On Dualism, On the Discipline of Christians, On the Ten Strings,^^'^ the Rule for the Life of Clerics, On Marriage and Concupiscence, Against Julian,^'^ Against Two Epistles of the Pelagians, ^^^ On Holy Virginity. — , To Simplicianus '^^^ against Pelagius ^""^ and others. (C) Against Faustus.^^^ — , On the Trinity. — , On Confes- sions. — , On the Words of the Lord. — , On the Literal Inter- pretation of Genesis, Against Damasippus.^^^ The Letters of Augustine and — , In Reply to Pelagius the Heretic. — , Oii Peni- tence, Whence Evil, Of Free Will, Against Five Heresies, Of Proper Marriage, a certain part of On the Perfection of Justice and Hugo,^"^ On Noah's Ark. xVugustine, On the Baptism of Infants, To Mar- cellinus,^^^ On One Baptism, On the Letter and the Spirit, To Pau- linus,^*^^ Yponosticon, Against the Pelagians, On Deaths in the ChurcJi, 1^^ Cf. ante, p. 64; consult also Encyclopedia Britannica, ed. 11, article Augus- tine. ^^2 \ disciple of Augustine. ^" Cf. ante, p. 64. ^^* An oriental sect, dualistic in its doctrine, teaching that the universe is the home of two warring powers of about equal might. Augustine was a Manichiean before his conversion to Christianity. 155 Possibly Bishop Valentine, who labored in Rhietia in the first half of the fifth century. '^ Cf. ante, p. 64. '^^ Probably a musical work. 158 01 Kclanum, the most gifted and consistent champion of IVlagianism. 159 ']■'],(. IVlagians were followers of Pelagius (mentioned later), a Hrilish monk of the fifth century who denied human need of divine grace and the doctrine of original sin. "'" .^ '"' .\ Manieluean. '^2 The word Versus, which I have rendered Aijaiust. may also mean I'crscs; since Damasippus seems unknown, it is impossible to tell which rendering is correct. 163 Hugh of St. Victor (circa 1078-1141), mystic philo.sopher much read in the Middle Ages; the Encbjclnprrdia liritaunica article says there is a copy of his works in nearly every monastic library of which we have record. '"' ? 105 I'robably Paulinus of Xola (.'J.>.'J-4.'J1). who, we know, corresponded with 432 ENGLISH LITERATURE Against the Letter of a ManichoBau and On the Care to Be shown about Death. — , Concerning Christian Doctrine. — , Against Lying, To Renatus ^^^ on the Origin of the Soul against the Books of J^incentius,^^'^ To Peter ^^^ against the Books of Vincentius,^^"^ To Vin- centius Vi^tor,^^"^ Against the Perfidy of the ArianSy^^^ Against the Ad- versaries of the Law and the Prophets, a Book of Bestiaries ^^° and The Epistles of Anselm.^'^^ Augustine, On the Harmony of the Evatigelists and two sermons On Swearing. The Soliloquies of Augustine. — , Against the Academics and On the Order of Monks. (D) Bernard,^''^ On the Song of Songs. Books of Bernard; that is, The E.rposition of the Gospel, The Angel Gabriel Was Sent, On the Degrees of Humility and Pride, On the Varieties of Monastic Discipline, On Grace and Free Will and Love of the Lord, the Exhortation to the Templar s,^"^^ and his Book to Pope Eugenius (III). The Sermons of Bernard for the course of the year. The same, — , On Grace and Free Will, his Book to Cardinal Ascelinus ^^* on Loving God and the Verses of Hildebert ^^-^ on the Mass. The same, Bernard, On Loving God, his Sentences on the Trinity, On Foreknowledge, On the Sacrament of the Altar, On Certain Sacra- ments of Faith, The Epistles of Bernard. Anselm, Why God Man, On the Virgin Birth, On the Mount of Humiliation, On Repara- tion for Human Redemption, Exposition of the Gospel, Jesus En- Augustine. Paulinus Avrote an Opus Sacramentorum et Hymnorum (Book of the Sacraments and Hymns) and a Liber de Laude Generali Omnium Martyrum {Book in General Praue of All the Martyrs). Or the Paulinus mentioned in the text may be PauHnus of Pella {circa STG-ioQ), author of a long autobiographic poem, Eucharis- ticos or Eucharisticon Deo sub Ephemeridis Mece Textu {The Sacrament to God under the Form of My Ephemeral Life). ^^e ? i67 ? m ? 169 Followers of Arius, fourth-century Unitarian theologian. 17° Cf. ante, p. 192. 1^1 Circa 1033-1109, Archbishop of Canterbury, Italian by birth and education. Attracted by the fame of Lanfranc, Prior of Bee in Normandy, later Archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm came to Bee and, when Lanfranc was made archbishop by William the Conqueror, Anselm succeeded him as prior. Anselm d'd his literary work at Bee. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by William II Rufus, Anselm spent the greater part of his tenure of office in controversy with the King over the civil position of clerics, anticipating the struggle of Becket with Henry II. 172 St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), one of the most famous of medieval monks and preachers. '^a (^f ante, p. 299. i74 i "5 Circa 1055-1133, French writer and ecclesiastic, known as egregius versificaior (famous verse writer). THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 433 tered into a Certain City, His Life (i.e. Anselm's) and Wimundus,^^'^ On the Body of the Lord against Berengarius}'^'^ The Books of An- selm on the Incarnation of the Word, Monologion, Prosologion, the Attack of a Certain Man on the Second, Third and Fourth Chap- ters of a Work of His {i.e. Anselm's) and the Latter s Reply, the Letter to Bishop Walerranus}''^ Anselm, Tractate on Truth, Trac- tate on Free Will, On the Fall of the Devil, On the Agreement of Foreknowledge and Predestination and Grace with Free Will, On Similitudes, On Grammar. Ailred,^^^ On Spiritual Friendship and Oti the Origins of Cloisters. A Book of Sermons which begins thus, You Seek from Me, etc. Ailred,^^^ O71 the Burdens of Isaiah. — , On the Life of St. Edward,^^^ On the Generosity and Habits and Death of King David, On the Life of St. Bishop Minian,^^^ On the Miracles of the Church at Hexham. The Epistles of Ailred.^''^ — , On the Sold. The Mirror of Charity. The Letters of the Roman Pontiffs. The Letters of Cyprian.^^^ Ailred/^^ On a Bundle of Leaves. (E) Origen/^^ On the Old Testament, in two volumes. Ra- banus/^"^ On Matthew. Haimo/^^ On the Epistles of Paul. Jose- phus/^^ The Antiquities. , On the Jewish War and Ailred/'^ On the Generosity of King David. The Sentences of Peter Lombard. ^^"^ 176 p ^" Died 1088, a heretic on the subject of transuhstantiation, wliich he held to be unreasonable. ^~^ ? "^ An English ecclesiastic and historian (1109-1166), monk and abbot at Rie- vaux. ^^ I.e. Edward the Confessor. ^^^ 360-432, Apostle of the Southern Picts, Bishop of Whitehorn or Whithern. ^^2 Saint (circa 200-258), Bishop of Carthage, one of the most notable of the early martyrs. ^^^ Cf. ante, p. 396. ^^ Rabanus or Hrabanus Maurus (circa 776-856 a.d.), German lUnens and vr]A\cs fioui antliors of rri)ulr. It was intended as a marnial for scholastic disputants and as such was used for five hundred years as the basis of many lectures and treatises. (Cf. ante, p. 3!)9.) It was one of the first b(Joks printed and many editions have been published. 434 ENGLISH LITERATURE (F) The Morals of St. Gregory Pope,^^^ in five volumes. — , On Ezechiel. — , The Pastoral Care, the Book on the Three Kinds of Homicide and the Book on the Conflict of Vices and Virtues. The Book of Gregory's Dialogs. A Book of Fifty Homilies. The First Part of the Rcgister.^'^'^ Augustine, On True Religion and Marsias.^^^ The Second Part of the Register ^^^ and A Book on the Science of Speaking. On the Highest Trinity and the Catholic Faith. Robert,^^^ On the Apocalypse. A Book of Sermons, certain excerpts from the books of Justinian and passages of the Bestiaries.^^^ (G) Ambrose, On Luke. — , On the Blessed Immaculates. — On Duties and Sacraments. The Letters of Ambrose. — , Oil Virgins, On Xaboth, his Sermon on Fasting, a book of Prior Richard ^^^ on Benjamin and his Brethren, On Certain Parts of the World, On the Seven Wonders of Rome, On the Five Parts of England. Ambrose, On the Good of Death, On Fleeing the World, On Widoivs, his Hexameron, On Penitence and Cassiodorus,^^'^ On the Virtues of the Soul. The First Part of the Etymologies of Isidore,^^'" the Exposi- tion of the Grammar of Donatus,^^^ Certain Derivations Arranged in Alphabetical Order, and the Rules of Versification. The Second Part of the Etymologies of Isidore, On Certain Proper Names of the Old and New Testaments and Their Meanings, and a book of Isidore called Synonyms. John Chrysostom,^^^ On the Fiftieth Psalm, On the Canaanitish Woman, On Reparation for Backslid- ing. x\ugustine. On a Brave Woman, The Life of Two Priests, On Ten Abusive Things, The Miracle of the Body and Blood of Our Lord, Bede,^^^ On Tobias, Isidore, On the Highest Good, and Divers Virtues. A Book of St. Gregory Nazianzen.^^^ An interlinear copy of the Book of Chronicles, certain Little Expositions of the Epistles of St. Paul and the Sermons of Babio.^^^ Laurentius,^^! Oil the 188 Cf. ante, p. 64. '83 P>i(lently the books in which daily records of matters important to the monastery were kept. ^••° .'' 1^1 Perhaps Robert Pulleyn, mentioned hiter; cf. p. 435. '•'2 Cf. ante, p. 192. 1-3 Richard of St. Victor (.^1173), theological writer of allegorical and mystical tendencies. '^■* Cf. ante, p. 65. '^^ Archbishop of Seville (flourished ?636) : his Etymologies in 20 books was a favorite medieval encyclopedia. ^^^ Cf. ante, p. 67. '"^ Ibid., p. 65. •98 Ibid., p. 65. 133 Ibid., p. 396. 200 p 201 p THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 435 Consolation of Friendship, certain decrees of the fathers, and Ysagoge (Introduction) of Johannicius.^"^ The Letters of Seneca}^ The sermons of Mauricius ^'^^ which begin thus, Festus upon Fes- tus. Twenty-eight sermons of St. Bernard, On the Song of Songs. (H) Hugo,20'^ On the Sacraments in two vohimes. — , On the Contempt of the World, his Soliloquy on the Pledge of the Soul, the same. On the Virginity of St. Mary, his solution of the question Why Can There not Be Marriage ivith One Sex and his Didas- calion. A Treatise by Hugh and The Miracles of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Hugo, On Ecclesiastes, and a book of Ecclesi- astical Dogmas by Gennadius -°^ and a Eulogy of Master John of Cornwall. "-^'^ Ivo of Chartres,^^^ Pannormia. The same, the Letters of Dindimus ^^^ and Alexander, the Letter of Lord Bald- win,"^^^ Abbot of Forda, a Sermon concerning St. Thomas ^^^ and St. William ^^^ and a salutary piece of advice by a certain wise man How Rude and Unskilled Persons Should Speak Cautiously of God and the Soul. The Sentences of Hugo.'~'^ The Letters of Lvo 2^^^ and the Letters of Hildebert ^^"^ Bishop of Le Mans. Hugo,^^^ On the Hierarchy. Robert,^^^ On Matthew. — , On Leviticus, a sermon of master Robert Pulleyn,^^^ On All the Necessary J^ir- tues of the Christian Life, a book of Prior Richard,^^^ On Benja- 202 ? 203 cf. ante, p. 394. 2°^ Possibly one of the martyrs under Maviinian 286-305 a.d. 205 I.e. Hugh of St. Victor; ante, p. 431. 206 Of Massiha (Marseilles), flourished iQ'i-iQd a.d. His best kno^^^l work is a. continuation of St. Jerome, De Viris Illustribus (On famous Men) by the same title. This work of Gennadius is an important source of knowledge of the 93 writers mentioned in it. 207 Flourished 117(5. 208 Circa 1010-1116, Bishop of Chartres, a pupil of Lanfranc at Bee. 209 A fictitious King of the Brahmins, who debate;! inconclusively with King Alexander the (Jreat the merits of the active and the contemplative life. Cf. Scho field, op. cit., p. 302. 2'o This is Archbishop Baldwin of (antcrbiiry, who died at Acn> on crusade with Richard the Lion-IIearted in 1190. 211 i^ Thomas a Bccket. 212 I.e. William, Archbishop of York, 1140-1154. 2'3 I.e. Hugh of St. Victor; ante, p. 431. 2'^ Ibid., p. 432. 2'5 Probably Robert PuUeyn (I'liUciu). an Kiiglisliman {circa 1080-1150). who studied in Paris under Abehird, lectured at Oxford «>u the Scriptures in 1133, became a cardinal under Celestine II and papal chancellor under Lucius H. 2'6 Cf. ante, p. 434. 436 ENGLISH LITERATURE juin and His Brethren, the Rule of St. Basil}^"^ The Letters of Mauricius}^^ Books of MauriciuSj^^"* namely, The Mirror of Monastic Religion, his Apology, The Itinerary of Peace, his book On Rythni and On the Translation of the Body of St. Cuthbert.^^^ A Lapidary ^^ and certain sermons, sentences and compilations. (I) Bede,"^ On Luke. — , On Mark. — , On the Tabernacle. — , On the History of the English. — , On Seasons and certain chroni- cles of his. — , On Thirty Questions and On Esdras. — , On Samuel. — , On the Canonical Epistles and On the Song of Songs. — , On the Life of St. Cuthbert ^'^ and Cuthbert,222 On the Death of St. Bede. Two English books. (K) The Ecclesiastical History.^^ The History of {H)Egesip- pus.^^ The History of Henry.^^ The History of Jerusalem.^^^ The History of the Britons.'^'^ The Itinerary of Clement.^'^ The Sermons of master Geoffrey Babio ^^^ and an Exposition of the Prophets Joel and Nahum. Orosius,^^'' On the History of the World, — the History of the Trojan War by Dares,-^^ the Verses of Peter Abelard ^^^ to His Son, and The English Chronicle. ^^^ Books of Aldhelm,^ certain names and words from a book of capitularies, Hugo of Folieto,^^^ On the Material Cloister, the same. On the Spiritual Cloister, an Attack on Solomon. An Exposition of the Gospel, Simon Peter Said to Jesus, a sermon On the Labor and Reward of the Saints, a sermon On the Nine Months of the Con- ception and the Eight Days of the Circumcision of Christ, a sermon On Holy Easter, collections of extracts and meditations, a Trea- tise on Certain Chapters of the Song of Songs and a Handbook of Matters and Words. An Exposition of the Song of Songs, Am- brose, On the Song of Songs, an Exposition of the Eight Construc- 217 Cf. ante, p. 64. 218 /^^^^^ p 435 219 75^-^^ p io2. 220 I.e. a book on the mystical virtues of stones; cf. passages translated from the Lapidary in Shackford, op. cit., pp. 111-116 and notes. 221 Cf. ante, p. 65. 222 jjji^^ pp lU-in. 223 Perhaps that of Hugo of Fleury, who died about 1118. 22* An ecclesiastical writer of the second century. 225 p 226 p 227 Of Geoffrey of Monmouth? cf. ante, p. 248. 228 ? 229 ? 230 Cf. ante, p. 64. The word Ormeda in the Latin title of Orosius' book I have rendered History on the authority of Ducange. 231 Qf ante, p. 404. 232 Ibid., p. 386. 233 ffjg Anglo-Saxon Chronicle? 234 ^f ^^^^^ p q^ 236 p THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 437 tions of Priscian, an Exposition of the Apocalypse, the same, an Exposition of the Song of Songs, glosses of Boethius,^-'^^ and a Brief Exposition of Certain Psalms. John ^^"^ on the Decrees of Gratian, The Body of the Canon Law. An interlinear Matthew. An inter- linear Acts of the Apostles. Boethius,^'^'^ On the Trinity, the Book of Cato,^^ the Passion of St. Laurence,^^^ Proverbs from the Books of the Poets, the Life of St. Mary of Egypt,"^^ Hildebert,^'! On the Edification of the Soul, likewise some Verses of his, certain hymns, Odo,^^^ On the Powers of Herbs, Marbodeus,^'^ On the Kinds of Stones, the Passion of St. Mauricius,'^^'^ the Life of Thais 2'*'' and other verses, the Cosmography of Bernard Sylves- ter,^'*^ the Passion of St. Thomas "^"^ and other verses and remarks. An Anthology of Pagan Poetry, the Passion of St. Laurence -'^^ and an Art of Calculating with Arabic Figures. (L) The Lives of the Fathers, a Life of St. Guthlac,^^'^ a book 236 Cf. ante, p. 66. 237 ? ^f. ante, p. 430. 238 I.e. Dionysius Cato, the title given to a small collection of moral precepts in verse, which was very popular in the Middle Ages. It is very doul)tful if such a person as Dionysius Cato ever existed. The date of the original compilation is the third century B.C. The best known title of the work is Dionijsii Catonis Dis- iicha de Moribus ad Filium {('oupleta of Dionysius Cato on Morals for JIvi Son). The book has a Preface and 56 injunctions of a simple character, such as Lave your parents, and 144 moral precepts, each of which is couched in two dactyllic hex- ameters. The book was much used as a text-book in Latin for young pupils. Thirty editions of it were put out in the fifteenth century. An early English trans- lation was published by Caxton, the first English printer. 23!' A Christian martyr in the Valerian persecution August 10, 2o8. 2'" A more or less mythical third-century Christian ascetic. 2« Cf. ante, p. 432. . 242 p 2'*3 Circa 103.5-1123, Bishop of Rennes; his book On Gems is the source of much material in the medieval Lapidary. Cf. Shackford, op. cit., i)p. 170, 171. 24^ Cf. ante, p. 43.5. 245 \ Christian saint and penitent in Egypt in the fourth century; a Lifr l)y Marljodeus is extant. 2"* Of Chartres or more properly of Tours, a twelfth-century phihxsophical writer of whom little is known. His favorite philosopher was Plato, though he pnjbably knew nothing of Plato's except the Tinurus; in his Platonic tendency Bernard was unlike most m<'dieval phil()soi)hers. 247 Tins' may be either 'I'homas a Becket or Thomas the Apostle. 248 An Anglo-Saxon hermit and saint who lived circa 673-714. Pn)i)ai)Iy the Life menti(med is that by the monk Felix, which is our authority for the life of Guthlac. 438 ENGLISH LITERATURE which is called The Formula for an Honorable Life. A Life of St. Godric ^^^ the Hermit. John the Hermit ^^^^ on Ten Conferences. A Book of Fourteen Conferences.'^'''^ Prosper,^-'^ On the Active and the Contemplative Life and Diadem of Monks. The Book of Odo.^^ Little E.vpositions of the Old and New Testaments, Certain Acts in the Church before the Passion of the Lord, Augustine, On the Psalms, other compilations and The Rule Shines Forth. The Book of Bishop Heraclis ^°^ which is called Paradise and The Persecu- tion of the Province of Affrica. The Sentences of Master Walter ^'""^ which begin, Salvation Has Made a Litter for Itself. The Sen- tences which begin thus. While Silence Is in Our Midst. The Rule of John Cassian.'^^^ An interlinear Psalter of Abbot Ailred.^^ An interlinear Psalter of Lord xVbbot Ernald.^^^ An interlinear Psalter of Master Walter. ^^^ An interlinear Psalter of Hurold. An interlinear Psalter of Ralph Barum. x\n interlinear Psalter of Simon of Sigillum. A small interlinear Psalter for those on probation. A Psalter of Geoffry Dinant. A Psalter of Fulco. A Psalter of William of Rutland. A Psalter of Jerome ^'""^ which belonged to William of Barking. (M) The Book of Justinian on the Laws. A medical book which is called A Collection of Antidotes. The Introduction ^^^ of Johannicius. A Large Priscian. Priscian, On Constructions. Bernard,^^^ On the Twelve Degrees of Humility, Sermons and Useful Observations, the Apologetics of St. Bernard and Interpretations of Hebrew Names. Sermons of St. Bernard wdiich begin Holy through Faith and certain observations. An Exposition of the Prophet 2^3 Possibly Godric I, Abbot of Croyland 870-941. 2^" John Cassian {circa 360-435), who introduced into Western Europe the rules of Eastern monasticism. His two principal works are the Institutes and the Twenty- Jour Conferences. Ten of these seem to be bound in this volume and the remaining fourteen in the next. 2^' I.e. Prosper of Aquitaine, a disciple of Augustine, cf. ante, p. 431. "^"^ Possibly some work of Odo of Cheriton, died 1247, known as a preacher and fabulist. 253 Possibly Hcraclas, Bishop of Alexandria from 231-247, pupil and opponent of Origcn. ^* Probably Walter of St. Victor, twelfth-century mystic ])hilosopher and theo- logian, opponent of Abelard and Peter Lombard. ^^ Cf. ante, p. 433. ^^ ? not mentioned in the Cathotic Encyclopedia. 2^7 Cf. anle, p. 64. 268 75^^^ p, 435 259 75^^?., p. 432. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 439 Nahum and On Joel, observations and sermons and profitable letters of several persons, Laurentius,^^^ On the Creation and Works of the Lord. A Collection of Divers Observations Applied to Divers Situations in the Catholic Church and Excerpts, Ornately Put, from the Register of Gregory. Cicero's Synonyms, certain matters About the Calculation of Time and the Rules of Versifica- tion. Rhetoric. Boethius,^^^ On the Consolation of Philosophy. Porphyry's -''- Introduction to the Categories of Aristotle and other books of dialectic. A book Of the Miracles of St. Mary.^^^ (N) A Book of Homilies for Winter. A Book of Homilies for Summer. A Passional ^'^ for the Month of October. A Passional for the Months of November and December. A Passional for the Month of January. The Life of St. Sylvester ^"'-^ and lives of other saints. A Life of St. Ambrose and of other saints. Homilies for Quadragesima. A tripartite Psalter. (O) Jerome,-"'^ On the Twelve Prophets in two volumes. — , On Jeremiah and On Daniel. — , On Hebrew Questions, On the Dwell- ings of the Children of Israel, On the Distances of Places, On the Interpretation of Hebrew Names, On Questions of the Book of Kings, On Chronicles, On the Ten Temptations, On the Six States of Fugi- tives, On the Song of Deborah,"^^"^ On the Lamentations of Jeremiah, Prudentius,^^^ On Building, Hugo of Folieto,^^^ On the Cloister of the Soul, Jer' Gennad',"'° Isidorc^-^^ On Illustrious Men, Cassio- dorus,^^- On the Institutions of Divine Letters, Ailred,^^^ Ofi a Standard of Weights and Measures, Of the Map. Bernard, On the Song of Songs, an interlinear Jeremiah, the Minor Works r/ Bernard, the letters and observations of several persons, an inter- linear list of Barbarisms, the Letters of Seneca and St. Paiil.'-'^ 260 ? 261 Qi ante, p. GO. 202 //^^v/.^ p. ^^o 2'"'^ I.e. the mother of Jesus. ^ci j ^. .,^ \\^i ^,f \\•^^^ saints' days for the luontli. 265 Pope from 314-335, to whom C'onstantine is supposed to have made the famous Donation; ef. ante, p. .'519. The Life is le^jenchiry. 2«s Cf. ante, p. 64. 207 (;f J,„lf,es .5. 26'* A Christian lloman poet born 313 a.d. lie was the first really great Christian poet. His (Udhcmcrinon (Daili/ lioiiiid) has been translated into modern Kn^dish verse and is aecessible in the Temple r/f/.v.sw'r.s- ed. (K. P. Dutton and Co.). 263 (^f. ante, p. VM',. 270 :. 271 //„v/^ p 434 2-2 Ihid., p. (;r,. 273 ji,i,i ^ p 4153. 2^^ Generally regarded to-day as spurious. 440 ENGLISH LITERATURE The Sermons of Peter Manducatorr^^ On the Birth of St. Cuth- bert, the Passion of St. Thomas Archbishop of Canterbury,^'^^ the Miracle of the Image of St. Mary, the Life of St. Olaf.^'''' Cer- tain acts of the Savior, a sermon of Robert Pulleyn ^^^ the Rule of Certain Adverbs and the Question of a Certain Construction, Jerome, Against Jovinian ^^^ on Mystical Places, Bede, On the Metrical Art and On Figures of Speech, Hugo,^^° On the Training of \ or ices, the Letter of Abbot Patellicus -^^ to His Bishop and the Bishop's Reply. The Life of St. Jerome and his Letters. The Sentences of Master Robert INIelun.^^^ The Sermons of Abbot Werrus.-^ The Letters of Sidonius.^^"^ (P) Interhnear Books. Genesis. Exodus. Isaiah. The same. Job. The same. The Twelve Prophets. The same. The same. Six Prophets. To- bias, Judith, Esther and the Apocalypse. The Song of Songs and the Canonical Epistles. Matthew. Mark. The same. Luke The same. The same. John. The same. The same. The Canonical Epistles. The Epistles of Paul. The same. The Apocalypse. The same and the Song of Songs. (Q) A Book of Usages in two volumes. A Brief Gloss of the Psalter. Certain Passages from the Gospels briefly Explained, the E.rhortation of St. Bernard to Pope Eugenius (III), Observations of the Father concerning Vices and Virtues and a Physics. A Prayer-Book which begins Lord Jesus Christ Son of the Living ^^ Thirteenth-century French theologian . ^^^ I.e. Thomas a Becket. 2" Patron saint of Norway (circa 995-1030)., 278 Qf ante, p. 435. 2^* An Italian heretic of the fourth century who opposed asceticism, celibacy, and monachism, held that Mary after the birth of Jesus was no longer a virgin, that the l)lessedness of heaven does not depend on the merit of good works, and that a Christian cannot sin wilfully. 280 Possibly Hugh of St. Victor; cf. ante, p. 431. 28i a 282 An English philosopher and theologian (circa 1100-1167). He studied with Hugh of St. Victor and probably with Abelard and was the master of John of Salis- bury (cf. post, p. 559) and Thomas a Becket. Through the influence of the latter he became Bishop of Hereford in 1163. His Sentences have never been published in full but are still in MSS. 283 ? 2**' A Christian author, bom at Lyons about 430 and died at Clermont about 480. He became Bishop of C'lermont, wrote poems and letters, and is the last representative of the ancient culture in Gaul. His Letters, though somewhat rhe- torical and ornate, give a unique picture of the life of the times. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 441 God, Bernard, On Propriety in Poetry, the Hours of St. Mary, the Institution of a Chapter and Exposition of Certain Prayers. The same, a Prayer-Booh which begins Lord Jesus Christ Who into This World. Sentences which begin Do not Desire for Your- self and Prudentius.-*^^ An Explanation of Certain Names and Words in the Epistles of St. Paul, Verses concerning Christ, sermons of certain fathers on the sacraments of the faith. A Hand-hook, Verses of a Certain Man On the Death of Robert Bloet,^^^ Bishop of Lincoln and the more difficult parts of the Old and New Testa- ments. Certain comments on philosophy, certain observations of Paul and Isaiah, glossed, an Anthology of the Gospels, the Golden Gem^ a letter of the Bishop of Chartres,^'^^ wonderfully useful, a book on St. Patrick, a Conference of the Trinity, St. Augustine Himself to Himself, excerpts from the Pannormie of Ivo of Chartres,^^'^ the Soliloquy of Mauricius ^^^ and interpreta- tions of certain words. A Psalter half in verse and certain prayers in rhythm. A little book which is called An Image of the World and other observations. A medical book which be- longed to Hugh of Beverly. 2^^ As contrast and supplement to the foregoing, we include the following list of books, showing the tendencies of lay and courtly taste, bequeathed to Bordesley Abbey, Wor- 285 Cf. ante, p. 439. ^^ Died 1123, chancellor of England under William the Conqueror and William Rufus. He was an indifferent ecclesiastic but a good administrator. Henry of Huntingdon (cf. ante, p. 87 and post, pp. 553-555) addresses him as patron. ^"^ Probably Ivo (cf. ante, p. 435), though John of Salisbury (cf. post, p. 559) was also Bishop of Chartres and wrote "wonderfully useful Lt>ttors." 288 Cf. ante, p. 435. 289 So far as 1 know, this is the first time this catalog has been translated or an- notated. Edwards, o/;.rt<., I, pp. 333-341, prints it without translation or conuncnt. He also {ibul., pp. 122-2.35) prints for the first time the catalog (»f tlic Lilirary of the Benedictine M(ipicnl; so that the recipients might become secondary jjublisluM-s, as it \vcr(>. 'I'o llicm the author communicated any alterations he might wish to make in the work. From time to time, at the request of friends, he would haxc made umlcr his supervision new exemplars; and these would naturally iii(oi|)oratc aii.\- alterations he might have made in the meanwhile. I have found no evi