English Wayfaring Life In The Middle Ages (Xivth Century - free ebook by J. J. (Jean Jules) Jusserand

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English Wayfaring Life In The Middle Ages (Xivth Century

J. J. (Jean Jules) Jusserand

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ENGLISH WAYFARING LIFE in the MIDDLE AGES (XIVth Century) by J. J. JUSSERAND

ENGLISH WAYFARING LIFE in the MIDDLE AGES (XIVth Century) by J. J. JUSSERAND

We know Egypt, thanks to her tombs, and we know Rome, thanks to Pompeii, in these modern days, better than we know the Middle Ages of Europe and the life of an ordinary man during that period. We cannot hope to find in any corner of France or England a Pompeii, catacombs, or pyramids. In our countries the human torrent has never ceased flowing; rapid and tumultuous in its course, it has at no time ensured the preservation of the past by deposits of quiet ooze. Yet, this common life of our ancest

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PREFACE

PREFACE

In the remodelling of his text, which had appeared as a French book in 1884 and as articles in English some years earlier, the author has been assisted, he need hardly say, by his learned translator, to whom he owes much for having assumed the task of turning into English a work which she herself would have been so well qualified to write. He has been helped too by friends, all of whom he does not mean to name here. But though feeling that in this also his incompleteness will be very apparent, h

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INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

At the present day there are but few wayfarers. The small trades plyed along the road, in every chance village, are disappearing before our newer methods of wholesale manufacture; more and more rarely do we see the pedlar unstrap his pack at the farm door, the travelling cobbler mend by the wayside the shoes which on Sunday will replace the wooden clogs, or hear the wandering musician drone at the windows his oft rehearsed tunes. Professional pilgrims exist no longer, even quack doctors are losi

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CHAPTER I ROADS AND BRIDGES

CHAPTER I ROADS AND BRIDGES

“1. Pavimentum, or foundation, fine earth, hard beaten in. “2. Statumen, or bed of the road, composed of large stones, sometimes mixed with mortar. “3. Ruderatio, or small stones well mixed with mortar. “4. Nucleus, formed by mixing lime, chalk, pounded brick or tile; or gravel, sand, and lime mixed with clay. “5. Upon this was laid the surface of the paved road, technically called the summum dorsum .” 5 All Roman roads were not built with so much care and in such an enduring fashion; they were,

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CHAPTER II THE ORDINARY TRAVELLER AND THE CASUAL PASSER-BY

CHAPTER II THE ORDINARY TRAVELLER AND THE CASUAL PASSER-BY

The official purveyors found the carts wherever they went and freely appropriated them; they exercised their requisitions ten leagues on either side of the road followed by the royal convoy. They even took without scruple the carts of travellers who had come perhaps thirty or forty leagues distance, and whose journey was thus abruptly interrupted. There were indeed statutes against forced loans, which specifically provided that suitable payment should be made, that is to say, “ten pence a day fo

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CHAPTER III SECURITY OF THE ROADS

CHAPTER III SECURITY OF THE ROADS

More means were taken than formerly to hinder ill-doing; but numerous occurrences happened to destroy this incipient security. Society was in reality neither calm nor quite settled, and many of its members were still half savage. The term “half” may be taken literally. If a list were made of the characteristics of such or such an individual of the time, it would be found that some belonged to a refined, and some to a barbarous world. Hence these contrasts: on one side order, which it would perha

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CHAPTER I HERBALISTS, CHARLATANS, MINSTRELS, JUGGLERS, AND TUMBLERS

CHAPTER I HERBALISTS, CHARLATANS, MINSTRELS, JUGGLERS, AND TUMBLERS

“. . . Take off your caps, give ear, look at my herbs which my lady sends into this land and country; and because she wishes the poor as well as the rich to have access thereto, she told me that I should make pennyworths of them, for a man may have a penny in his purse who has not five pounds; and she told and commanded that I might take pence of the current coin in the land and country wherever I should come. . . . “These herbs, you will not eat them; for there is no ox in this country, no char

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CHAPTER II MESSENGERS, ITINERANT MERCHANTS AND PEDLARS

CHAPTER II MESSENGERS, ITINERANT MERCHANTS AND PEDLARS

Interested in all that was human he studied ordinary types and rare ones; he observed mine Host, and looked also for seekers of adventure, and was never tired of hearing their tales: {224} No greater pleasure for him than to see: He was in this a real connoisseur , fully appreciating the merit of a well-told fable and knowing how useful and pleasant some such may be found to beguile slow-winged time. Long before he started from the Tabard, “faste by the Belle,” for a journey which millions of En

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CHAPTER III OUTLAWS, WANDERING WORKMEN, AND PEASANTS OUT OF BOND

CHAPTER III OUTLAWS, WANDERING WORKMEN, AND PEASANTS OUT OF BOND

Robbers, bandits, poachers, knights in trouble might thus meet as comrades in the depths of the wood. The forest is the first thought of the proscribed squire in the “Nut Brown Maid,” the masterpiece of English poetry in the fifteenth century, a musical duet of love, full of the wild charm of the great forest, with a well-accented cadence, frequent rhymes and assonances charming the ear as the oft repeated rustling of the forest leaves. On the verge of capture, the poor squire is fain to choose

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CHAPTER I WANDERING PREACHERS AND FRIARS

CHAPTER I WANDERING PREACHERS AND FRIARS

All, in fact, did the same kind of work. For different motives and with different aims, they led to the same results: the belief that the State, the Church, the Government, the Court, the rule of the masters, whether spiritual or temporal, were not what they should be, and that a change must come. Doubts and discontents always help each other; whoever strikes at the tree shakes the tree. Wyclif’s theory, “both before and after the rising, was that temporal lords had a right to their property, bu

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CHAPTER II THE PARDONERS

CHAPTER II THE PARDONERS

Little by little the idea of an actual commutation vanished, and was replaced by a different system, known as the theory of the “Treasury.” It had indeed become obvious as the use of indulgences spread, and they were more and more easily gained, that they could no longer be justified as offering to the sinner only his choice between {314} several sorts of even penances. They were something else. A short, well selected prayer, a small gift in money, would now exempt devout people from the greates

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CHAPTER III PILGRIMS AND PILGRIMAGES

CHAPTER III PILGRIMS AND PILGRIMAGES

Pilgrimages were incessant; they were made to fulfil a vow as in cases of illness or of great peril, or in expiation of sins. Confessors frequently gave the going on a pilgrimage as penance, and sometimes ordered that the traveller should go barefoot or in his shirt. “Commune penaunce,” says Chaucer’s parson in his great sermon, speaking of atonement which must be public, “commune,” because the sin has been public too, “is that prestes enjoynen men comunly in certeyn caas, as for to goon, peradv

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CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

The great questions of the age, social and religious, move towards their solution, partly on the road, through the influence of the wanderers, a direct influence from the sincere ones, indirect from the others. Begging friars go from door to door, pardoners grow rich, pilgrims live by alms and by the recital of their adventures, always on the way, always at work. What is this work? By constantly addressing the crowd, they in the end make themselves known for what they are, and cause their listen

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II (p. 53) PETITION CONCERNING AN OLD BRIDGE, WHOSE ARCHES WERE TOO LOW AND TOO NARROW TO PERMIT BOATS TO PASS

II (p. 53) PETITION CONCERNING AN OLD BRIDGE, WHOSE ARCHES WERE TOO LOW AND TOO NARROW TO PERMIT BOATS TO PASS

“Unto the ryght wise and discrete comons of this present Parlement; besecheth mekely the comons off the countees of York, Lincoln, Notyngham, and Derby; That whereas ther is, and of longe tyme hath been, an usuall and a commune passage fro dyvers and many parties of the seid countees unto the citees of York, Hull, Hedon, Holdernes, Beverley, Barton, and Grymesby, and so forth, by the hie see, by the costes, unto London and elles where, with all maner of shippes charged with wolle, leed, stone, t

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III (p. 62) LONDON BRIDGE AND ITS MAINTENANCE

III (p. 62) LONDON BRIDGE AND ITS MAINTENANCE

At the end of his edition of the “Liber niger Scaccarii,” London, 1771, vol. i. pp. 470*-478*, Hearne printed a series of curious Letters Patent relating to London Bridge. That of John, commending Isembert to the city, is given above (Appendix I.). There follow, an order of John applying the tax paid by foreign merchants established in London to the support of the bridge (Close Roll, 15 John, m. 3); a patent of Henry III addressed “to the brothers and chaplains of the chapel of St. Thomas on Lon

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IV (p. 65) INQUESTS RELATING TO THE MAINTENANCE OF BRIDGES

IV (p. 65) INQUESTS RELATING TO THE MAINTENANCE OF BRIDGES

A great many examples of these inquests may be found in the collection published by the Record Commission, “Placitorum in domo capitulari Westmonasteriensi asservatorum abbreviatio,” London, 1811, fol. Here are references to some of the more interesting ones: Case where an abbot is explicitly obliged, as one of the conditions of his tenure, to repair a bridge, p. 205; 11 and 12 Ed. I. Agreement between the abbot of Croyland and the prior of Spalding for the construction of several bridges, p. 20

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V (p. 92) THE KING’S JOURNEYS-PETITIONS AND STATUTES CONCERNING THE ROYAL PURVEYORS

V (p. 92) THE KING’S JOURNEYS-PETITIONS AND STATUTES CONCERNING THE ROYAL PURVEYORS

“Nullus vicecomes vel ballivus noster vel aliquis alius capiat equos vel carettas alicujus pro cariagio faciendo, nisi reddat liberationem antiquitus statutam; scilicet pro caretta ad duos equos decem denarios per diem, et pro caretta ad tres equos quatuordecim denarios perdiem.” Magna Charta, first confirmation by Henry III, art. 23, A.D. 1216. “Statutes of the Realm,” 1810, vol. i. p. 15. This article is found in successive confirmations of the great charter; the germ of it was contained in Jo

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VI (p. 112) THE RECURRENCE OF LEET-DAYS AND VISITS OF JUSTICES

VI (p. 112) THE RECURRENCE OF LEET-DAYS AND VISITS OF JUSTICES

The Commons petition as follows the Good Parliament of 1376: “Item où de ancien temps ad esté custume qe les presentours dussent presenter les articles du lete et de vewe de frank plegg tan soulement deux foitz par an, . . . les baillifs avaunt ditz fount les povres gentz et les husbandes de pais, qeux dussent travailer en leur labours et husbandriez et pur le commune profit, venir de trois semaignes en trois à lour wapentachez et hundredez, par colour de presentement avoir, et rettent leur labo

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VII (p. 115) THE DRESS OF THE WORLDLY MONK

VII (p. 115) THE DRESS OF THE WORLDLY MONK

According to the Council of London (1342): “. . . Militari potius quam clericali habitu induti superiori, scilicet brevi seu stricto, notabiliter tamen et excessive latis, vel longis manicis, cubitos non tegentibus [tangentibus in Labbe] sed pendulis, crinibus cum [two words not in Labbe] furrura vel sandalo revolutis, et ut vulgariter dicitur, reversatis, et caputiis cum tipettis miræ longitudinis, barbisque prolixis incedere, et suis digitis annulos indifferenter portare publice, ac zonis stip

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VIII (p. 120) EXACTIONS OF CERTAIN NOBLEMEN WHEN TRAVELLING

VIII (p. 120) EXACTIONS OF CERTAIN NOBLEMEN WHEN TRAVELLING

Petitions of the Commons, “Rolls of Parliament,” vol. i. p. 290 (8 Ed II), A.D. 1314: “Item par là où asquns grantz seignurs de la terre passent parmi le pays, ils entrent en maners et lieus de Seint Eglise et des autres, et pernent saunz congé le seignur et les baillifs gardeyns de meisme les leus, et encontre lour volunté, ceo q’il voillent saunz rien paer encontre la lei et les ordenaunces, non pas eaunz regard à l’escomenge (excommunication) doné encontre tutz tels. Et si homme les devi rien

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IX (p. 130) PASSAGE OF THE HUMBER IN A FERRY

IX (p. 130) PASSAGE OF THE HUMBER IN A FERRY

“Ad peticionem hominum de Estriding petenc’ remedium super nimia solucione exacta ad passagium de Humbr’ ultra solitum modum.” The king directs the opening of an inquest, with power to the commissioners to re-establish things in their prestine condition. “Rolls of Parliament,” i. p. 202, 35 Ed. I, 1306. Another petition under Edward II: “A nostre seigneur le [roi] et à son consail se pleint la comunauté de sa terre qe par là où homme soleit passer Humbre entre Hesel et Barton, homme à chival pou

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X (pp. 165 and 171) THE RIGHT OF SANCTUARY

X (pp. 165 and 171) THE RIGHT OF SANCTUARY

Examples of entries in the Durham sanctuary register: “Memorandum quod vj die mensis octobris, Aº D i M. CCCC LXX VII º Willielmus Rome et Willielmus Nicholson parochiæ de Forsate, convolarunt ad ecclesiam cath. Sancti Cuthberti Dunelm., ubi inter cætera pro feloniâ per eosdem commissâ et publice confessatâ, in, de, et pro occisione Willielmi Aliand, per eosdem antea occisi, pecierunt a venerabilibus et religiosis viris dominis Thomâ Haughton sacristâ ipsius ecclesiæ et Willielmo Cuthbert magist

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XI (p. 211) A MONOPOLY OF MINSTRELSY FOR THE KING’S (EDWARD IV) OWN MINSTRELS

XI (p. 211) A MONOPOLY OF MINSTRELSY FOR THE KING’S (EDWARD IV) OWN MINSTRELS

“ Pro Fraternitate Ministrallorum Regis ” (Rymer, “Fœdera,” 24, 1469). “Rex (etc.) . . . Sciatis quod ex querelosa insinuatione {436} dilectorum nobis Walteri Haliday, marescalli, Johannis Cliff (and six others) ministrallorum nostrorum accepimus qualiter nonnulli, rudes agricolæ et artifices diversarum misterarum Regni nostri Angliæ, finxerunt se fore ministrallos, quorum aliqui liberatam nostram eis minime datam portarent, seipsos etiam fingentes esse ministrallos nostros proprios, cujus quide

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XII (p. 213) POPULAR ENGLISH SONGS OF THE MIDDLE AGES

XII (p. 213) POPULAR ENGLISH SONGS OF THE MIDDLE AGES

The following collections may be consulted: “Ancient Songs and Ballads from the reign of Henry II to the Revolution,” collected by John Ritson, revised edition by W. C. Hazlitt, London, 1877. “Political Songs of England from the reign of John to that of Edward II,” edited by Thomas Wright; Camden Society, London, 1839. “Specimens of Lyric Poetry composed in England in the reign of Edward I,” ed. Th. Wright, Percy Society, 1842. “Reliquiæ antiquæ, scraps from ancient MSS. illustrating chiefly ear

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XIII (p. 314) INDULGENCES AND THE THEORY OF THE “TREASURY” ACCORDING TO POPE CLEMENT VI

XIII (p. 314) INDULGENCES AND THE THEORY OF THE “TREASURY” ACCORDING TO POPE CLEMENT VI

“Quantum ergo exinde ut nec supervacua, inanis aut superflua tantæ effusionis miseratio redderetur, thesaurum militanti Ecclesiæ acquisivit, volens suis thesaurizare filiis pius pater, ut sic sit infinitus thesaurus hominibus, quo qui usi sunt, Dei amicitiæ participes sunt effecti. Quem quidem thesaurum non in ærario repositum, non in agro absconditum, sed per beatum Petrum cœli clavigerum, ejusque successores, suos in terris vicarios commisit fidelibus salubriter dispensandum, et propriis et ra

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XIV (p. 321) SERMON ACCOMPANYING THE DISPLAY OF A PAPAL BULL (ON THE OCCASION OF THE COMING OF HENRY OF LANCASTER)

XIV (p. 321) SERMON ACCOMPANYING THE DISPLAY OF A PAPAL BULL (ON THE OCCASION OF THE COMING OF HENRY OF LANCASTER)

“French metrical history of the deposition of King Richard II,” by Créton, edited and translated into English by Rev. J. Webb. “Archæologia,” t. xx. p. 310. This speech is attributed by the chronicler to Thomas Arundel, {440} Archbishop of Canterbury, and is supposed to have been delivered at the time of the landing of Henry of Lancaster in 1399 (Henry IV). “French metrical history of the deposition of King Richard II,” by Créton, edited and translated into English by Rev. J. Webb. “Archæologia,

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XV (pp. 324, 327, 337) ECCLESIASTICAL DOCUMENTS CONCERNING CHIEFLY ENGLISH PARDONERS

XV (pp. 324, 327, 337) ECCLESIASTICAL DOCUMENTS CONCERNING CHIEFLY ENGLISH PARDONERS

“Cum sit statutum in canone ne qui eleemosynarum quæstores ad prædicandum aut indulgentias clero et populo insinuandum sine literis dioecesanis aut apostolicis admittantur, literæque apostolicæ quæstoribus hujusmodi concessæ ante admissionem eorum per diocesanos examinari debeant diligenter: ex gravi tamen multorum querela ad nostrum pervenit auditum, quod nonnulli ex hujusmodi quæstoribus, non sine multa temeritatis audacia, motu suo proprio, in animarum subditorum nostrorum periculum et jurisd

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XVI (p. 344) THE FIRST RECORDED CRUCIFIX IN ENGLAND SCULPTURED FROM LIFE

XVI (p. 344) THE FIRST RECORDED CRUCIFIX IN ENGLAND SCULPTURED FROM LIFE

Thomas of Burton, Abbot of Meaux, near Beverley, writes: “Dictus autem Hugo abbas xv us crucifixum novum in choro conversorum fecit fabricari. Cujus quidem operarius nullam ejus formosam et notabilem proprietatem sculpebat nisi in feria sexta, in qua pane et aqua tantum jejunavit. Et hominem nudum coram se stantem prospexit, secundum cujus formosam imaginem crucifixum ipsum aptius decoraret. Per quem etiam crucifixum Omnipotens manifesta miracula fecerat incessanter. Unde tunc etiam putabatur qu

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XVII (p. 141, 362) THE PILGRIMAGE OF REYNARD

XVII (p. 141, 362) THE PILGRIMAGE OF REYNARD

Tired of his sins, duly shriven, ordered by the hermit to go to Rome, and there receive absolution, Reynard, He does not care to travel alone and, like most pilgrims, prefers company: and leads him to a place where he finds and whom he persuades to go with him, thus avoiding, he suggests, being eaten by his owners. A third member, the donkey, is soon added to their party: and he is easily persuaded to follow. They enter the forest. Night comes. Where shall they find shelter? Why should we, Reyna

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PART I — ENGLISH ROADS

PART I — ENGLISH ROADS

4 J. Horsley, “Britannia Romana,” London, 1732, p. 391. 5 H. M. Scarth, “Roman Britain,” S.P.C.K., London, 1883, p. 121. Cf. T. Codrington, “Roman Roads in Britain,” S.P.C.K., 1903. 6 When Henry VIII gave the lands of the dissolved monastery of Christ Church to Canterbury Cathedral, he declared that he made this donation “in order that charity to the poor, the reparation of roads and bridges, and other pious offices of all kinds should multiply and spread afar.” Elton, “Tenures of Kent,

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PART II — LAY WAYFARERS

PART II — LAY WAYFARERS

231 “Diz de l’Erberie.” “Œuvres complètes de Rutebeuf,” Jubinal’s edition, 1874, vol. ii. p. 58. 232 Isambert, “Recueil Général des anciennes lois Françaises,” vol. iii. p. 16, and iv. p. 676. 233 “The Play of the Sacrament,” “Philological Society Transactions,” ed. Whiteley Stokes, 1860, p. 127. 234 “Let scarlet cloth be taken, and let him who is suffering small-pox be entirely wrapped in it or in some other red cloth; I did thus when the son of the illustrious King of England suffered from sma

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PART III — RELIGIOUS WAYFARERS

PART III — RELIGIOUS WAYFARERS

384 “Item priont les communes . . . de ordeiner et commander que null neif ou vileyn mette ses enfantz de cy en avant à Escoles pur eux avancer par clergie, et ce en maintenance et salvation de l’honour de toutz Franks du Roialme.” “Rolls of Parliament,” vol. iii. p. 294, 15 Rich. II, 1391. 385 Beginning at an uncertain date: before the papal schism, i.e. 1378, according to Shirley, Introduction to “Fasciculi Zizaniorum,” 1858, Rolls series; “several months before the revolt of 1381 broke out,”

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APPENDIX

APPENDIX

596 The famous Hubert Walter (or Walter Hubert) who had accompanied King Richard to Palestine and crowned King John; archbishop from 1193 to 1205; for a number of years, as much the ruler of England as those kings themselves. His tomb in Canterbury Cathedral has been identified in our days. 597 Creteyne , increase, rising flood; in French, crue 598 A “movable” part, just for the passage of masts....

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