Monday, January 1, 2018

Indulgences in the 15th century Diocese of Exeter

Indulgences in the 15th century Diocese of Exeter

Niall C.E.J. O’Brien

Indulgences in the medieval church have received a bad press over the centuries from the outcry’s of Martin Luther and Archbishop Cranmer.[1] But indulgences were not just for making money for church officials and building St. Peter’s in Rome or providing a source of income for Johannes Gutenberg to display his new printing press.[2] Instead indulgences provided a cleansing of the soul for the laity while providing money to engage in a whole series of activities that bound the parish and the community to the wider Christian world.[3]

The diocese of Exeter, like any other diocese in the Christian world, used indulgences to fund local building works, help ransom foreign captives and all important things like seeking good weather. On 31st July 1441 a mandate was issued on the authority of Archbishop Henry Chicle of Canterbury for litanies and processions to take place for the peace and prosperity of the Kingdom and for good weather every Wednesday and Friday in return for a grant of forty days indulgences.[4]

Nicholas Orme, emeritus professor of history at Exeter University, has previously written on the subject a few years ago, entitled, “Indulgences in the Diocese of Exeter, 1100-1536”, in Report and Transactions of the Devon Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art, Vol. 120 (1988), pp. 15-32. This article gives but a sample of the kinds of projects funded by indulgences granted in the diocese of Exeter in the mid fifteenth century.

Funding parish churches and chapels

As an ecclesiastical system of funding projects indulgences provided a source of income for many parish churches to engage in building work which possibly could not be funded by local resources. On 12th June 1437 any visitors or contributors to the Chapel St. James in parish of Brodar were entitled to a grant of forty days indulgence.[5] On 23rd April 1438 a grant of indulgence was issued to all who contributed to the building, repair and restoration of the parish church of All Hallows on the Walls in Exeter.[6] In 1658 the Commonwealth government decided that All Hallows and eleven other churches in Exeter were surplus to requirements and the building was sold for £50 at auction.[7]

Meanwhile, on 19th August 1438 a grant of forty days indulgence was issued for the building, repairing and maintenance of the parochial chapel of St. Petrock near Dartmouth.[8] On 6th November 1438 a grant of forty days indulgence was made for the building, repairing and maintenance of the Chapel of St. Thomas the Martyr at Tiverton to continue at the Bishop’s pleasure.[9] It is not known how much was collected by way of these indulgences but the general repairs and maintenance bill for the parish church of Ashburton ranged from £4 7s 9d in 1482-3 to about £12 per year in 1516-7.[10]


Exeter Cathedral 

Sometimes people were expected to give more than just money to gain an indulgence. On 11th July 1437 a grant of indulgence was made to all parishioners and visitors to the Guild St. John the Baptist in the chapel of the Holy Trinity at Dartmouth. This chapel was newly built and visitors were not just expected to give money but were also asked to say the Lord’s Prayer with the Angelie Salutation along with making or celebrating mass.[11]

Indulgences were also issued to support confraternities within churches. On 16th June 1440 people were asked to contribute to the upkeep of the Confraternity of Minstrels of the Blessed St. Mary Magdalene at Launceston.[12] On 24th June 1449 people were asked to support the confraternity at the image of St. Mary Magdalene at a certain altar in the parish church of St. Crida in Cornwall.[13]

Some indulgences were used to encourage pilgrims to attend a church on the feast day of that church where a local market also provided extra outlets for people to part with their money. On 31st October 1450 visitors, penitent, contrite and confessed people were granted an indulgence of forty days for visiting the chapel of St. Laurence at Ayssheperton on the feast-day of St. Laurence and at other times who contributed to the fabric, lights etc., of the chapel.[14] On 4th November 1448 visitors to St. Gregory’s parish church at Dawlish, on the feast day, or other days, were asked to support the fabric, lights, etc., for as long as the Bishop’s pleasure.[15]

The indulgence system was often used to fund a belfry or the purchase of bells for a church or chapel. On 16th December 1437 a grant of forty days indulgence was issued to all parishioners of Bradninch who contributed to the building and repair of the Bradninch church belfry which was in need of rebuilding. This grant was to be effective for two years. On 11th February 1438-9 a grant of forty days indulgence was made for all contributors to the rebuilding of the belfry and bells of Little Torrington parish church which was destroyed by lighting. On 22nd June 1440 people were asked to contribute to the purchase and upkeep of new bells at the parish church of St. Welwele in Cornwall in return for forty days indulgence.[16]

In these local grants of indulgence given by the Bishop of Exeter the period of relaxation of penance was only forty days. A papal grant of indulgence could be considerably longer as in the grant of 140 days given in 1445 for visitors who contributed alms to the chapel of St. Mary the Virgin situated in the cemetery of the parish church of St. Michael, South Churyton, in the Diocese of Exeter on the feast of the Assumption.[17]

Occasionally parishioners in the Diocese of Exeter were asked by way of a grant of indulgences to contribute to churches outside the diocese. On 6th October 1448 parishioners were asked to support the building and repair of the parish church of Twyford in the Diocese of Norwich.[18]

Indulgences for the dead

On 17th May 1439 a grant of forty days indulgence was issued for all those who devoutly said the Lord’s Prayer and the Angelic Salutation for the soul of Lady Matilda Talbot, late prioress of Polslo Priory whose body was buried in the conventual church. People could also pray for all the faithfully departed at the same time.[19] Polslo Priory was located in the north-eastern part of Heavitree parish and was also called the Nunnery of St. Catherine. The priory was founded in about 1159 when the canons of Exeter Cathedral allowed the nuns of Polslo to bury at Polslo deceased members of their community, their priests and visitors but not any parishioners of Exeter church without permission. The priory was under the patronage of the bishop of Exeter and was surrendered in February 1538 by the last prioress, Eleanor Sydnam. The conventual church, where Matilda Talbot was buried, was destroyed in the reign of Charles II by the then owner, Sebastian Isaac, to make way for a mansion house.[20]

Funding hospitals

In a time when the government didn’t contribute much in the way of social protection, it was left to the mechanism of the church to organise the funding of hospitals and other places for the sick and marginalised. On 24th January 1437-8 a grant of forty days indulgence was made for the parishioners at Totnes and other truly penitent, confessed and contrite people who contributed to the maintenance of the poor Leper’s Hospital of St. Mary Magdalene at Totnes. On 23rd April 1440 a grant of indulgence was made for all contributors who supported the Hospital of St. Margret near Pylton for poor lepers.[21] On 2nd October 1440 a similar grant of forty days was made for all who contributed to the maintenance of the Hospital of St. Mary Magdalene for poor lepers at Tavistock.[22]

Funding roads

Another area where government would be expected to finance was the building and repair of the King’s highways but this was not always the case. On 1st November 1441 a grant of forty days indulgence was issued to anybody who gave money or personal labour for the rebuilding, repair and making good the King’s highway from Liskeard to the chapel of St. Mary at Parke.[23]

Funding bridges

Bridges in any age are important features in the landscape. They allowed the flow of goods and people over rivers and water and help bound a parish together. On 27th December 1439 a grant of forty days indulgence was made for all contributors to the bridge commonly called Greyton Bridge near Tamer in Cornwall. On 3rd March 1439-40 a grant of indulgence was issued for all contributors to the bridge at Aveton Giffard.[24] Later, on 12th May 1448 another grant of indulgence was given to contributors to the upkeep and repair of the bridge over the Exe River at the north end of Tuverton town.[25]

Yet contrary to what Martin Luther may have thought, indulgences were not always about money. People could give goods or services to full fill an indulgence. On 24th May 1437 Bishop Edmund Lacy issued a grant of indulgences for forty days to the parishioners of Barnstaple and others who gave goods and manual help for building, repairing and the maintenance of Barnstaple Bridge. The bridge at Bideford received a similar indulgence on the same date of 24th May. Both indulgences were to operate indefinitely at the Bishop’s pleasure.[26]

On 12th June 1437 grant of indulgence for forty days was made for all who contributed to Lostwithiel Bridge. It is not clear if this was just a financial contribution or by way of goods and services.[27] Lostwithiel was an ancient bridge by 1437 with a record of repairs in 1359.[28] On 12th July 1437 a grant of indulgence was made to anybody who gave money or personal labour for the repair of Havtesbridge.[29] On 28th April 1438 an indulgence of forty days was granted to those who contributed to the repair and upkeep of the new bridge called Hatherlegh Brigg.[30] By 1638 there were three bridges in Braunton parish including Hatherlegh Bridge but the parishioners were unable to support the three from their own resources and asked the Devon Assizes for outside contributions.[31] On 9th October 1438 a grant for forty days of indulgences was made for the repair of Teigngrace Bridge.[32]

In some cases people were expected to fund more than just the building or repair of a bridge in return for their indulgences. On 8th September 1438 people were asked to funds repairs to Otery Bridge of St. Mary and the chapel of the Saviour beside the bridge.[33] In 1637 local rate payers were still expected to contribute to the repairs of Otery Bridge without any remission for sins but a day in court if they refused to pay.[34]

But all these grants of indulgence given by the Bishop of Exeter were valued for forty days. In 1442 the supporters of Womberley Bridge in the diocese of Exeter got a papal indulgence for one hundred days. The bridge was broken down for many years previously and many people had perished crossing the water. The papal grant was to operate for three years.[35]

Funding ship quays

Bridges were not the only transport infrastructure that benefitted for indulgences. On 6th June 1437 a grant of indulgence for forty days was made to all the parishioners of St. Paul, and for any outsiders, who contributed to the building, repair and maintenance of a certain quay or jetty at Newlyn quay in the parish.[36] On 10th January 1349-40 a grant of forty days indulgence was made for all who contributed to the repairs of the quay on the shore at Trewew Blustry in the parish of St. Columb Minor in Cornwall.[37]

Conclusion

From this brief survey of the Diocese of Exeter in the mid fifteenth century, it can be seen that the system of indulgences, for remission of time spent in penance, was used to fund a varied of different projects, both ecclesiastical and secular. Of course the system could be opened to abuse like the excessive fees that Martin Luther objected to. He wasn’t against the indulgences themselves, certainly at the start of the Reformation, but only the way they were sold.[38] After the Reformation projects like bridges, roads, and hospitals still needed funds but by then people got no remission for their sins just a day in court if they didn’t pay up. In their time indulgences encouraged the people to give money to projects and causes which they may normally have not supported. It also funded projects in areas that didn’t have a rich support base and provided infrastructure where the government didn’t want to get involved.  

Bibliography

Brodeur, A.F., Indulgences and Solidarity in Late Medieval England (University of Toronto thesis, 2015)
Browne, Rev. C.G. & Reichel, Rev. O.J. (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter (A.D. 1420-1455), Part 2 – the Registrum commune (Devon & Cornwall Record Society, 1915)
Cockburn, J.S. (ed.), Western Circuit Assize Orders 1629-1648: A Calendar (London, 1976)
Daniell, Rev. J.J. A compendium of the History and Geography of Cornwall (Truro, 1906)
Dunstan, G.R. (ed.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter, 1420-1455 Registrum Commune, Vol. III (Devon & Cornwall Record Society, New Series, Vol. 13, 1968)
Harding, Lt-Col. W., ‘An account of some of the ancient ecclesiastical edifices of Exeter’, in Transactions of the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society, Vol. 4, Part 3 (1853), pp. 255-284
Twemlow, J.A. (ed.), Calendar of entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. IX, A.D. 1431-1447 (London, 1912)

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[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJITsWCua1M accessed on 30th December 2017
[3] Brodeur, A.F., Indulgences and Solidarity in Late Medieval England (University of Toronto thesis, 2015), pp. ii, iii
[4] Browne, Rev. C.G. & Reichel, Rev. O.J. (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter (A.D. 1420-1455), Part 2 – the Registrum commune (Devon & Cornwall Record Society, 1915), p. 800
[5] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 670
[6] Dunstan, G.R. (ed.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter, 1420-1455 Registrum Commune, Vol. III (Devon & Cornwall Record Society, New Series, Vol. 13, 1968), p. 1
[7] Harding, Lt-Col. W., ‘An account of some of the ancient ecclesiastical edifices of Exeter’, in Transactions of the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society, Vol. 4, Part 3 (1853), pp. 255-284, at p. 257
[8] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 709
[9] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 717
[10] Hanham, A. (ed.), Churchwarden’s accounts of Ashburton, 1479-1580 (Devon & Cornwall Record Society, New Series, Vol. 15, 1970), pp. 3, 55, 56
[11] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 679
[12] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 770
[13] Dunstan (ed.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Registrum Commune, Vol. III, p. 39
[14] Dunstan (ed.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Registrum Commune, Vol. III, p. 89
[15] Dunstan (ed.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Registrum Commune, Vol. III, p. 14
[16] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, pp. 686, 725, 770
[17] Twemlow, J.A. (ed.), Calendar of entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. IX, A.D. 1431-1447 (London, 1912), p. 490
[18] Dunstan (ed.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Registrum Commune, Vol. III, p. 13
[19] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 735
[20] Harding, Lt-Col. W., ‘An account of some ecclesiastical edifices of Exeter’, pp. 255-284, at pp. 274, 275
[21] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 768
[22] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, pp. 688, 776
[23] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 808
[24] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, pp. 751, 767
[25] Dunstan (ed.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Registrum Commune, Vol. III, p. 3
[26] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 668, accessed on 7th August 2014
[27] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 670
[28] Daniell, Rev. J.J. A compendium of the History and Geography of Cornwall (Truro, 1906), p. 256
[29] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 679
[30] Dunstan (ed.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Registrum Commune, Vol. III, p. 1
[31] Cockburn, J.S. (ed.), Western Circuit Assize Orders 1629-1648: A Calendar (London, 1976), no. 615 = the Assizes agreed to outside contributions if the parishioners paid their full share.
[32] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 715
[33] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 710
[34] Cockburn (ed.), Western Circuit Assize Orders 1629-1648: A Calendar, no. 521
[35] Twemlow (ed.), Calendar of Papal Registers Great Britain & Ireland, Vol. IX, A.D. 1431-1447, p. 248
[36] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 670
[37] Browne & Reichel (eds.), The register of Edmund Lacy, Part 2 – the Registrum commune, p. 755
[38] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJITsWCua1M accessed on 30th December 2017

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