diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/17848.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/17848.txt | 2969 |
1 files changed, 2969 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/17848.txt b/old/17848.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c05d951 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/17848.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2969 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Life in a Mediæval City, by Edwin Benson + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Life in a Mediæval City + Illustrated by York in the XVth Century + + +Author: Edwin Benson + + + +Release Date: February 24, 2006 [eBook #17848] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN A MEDIæVAL CITY*** + + +E-text prepared by R. Cedron, gvb, and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 17848-h.htm or 17848-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/8/4/17848/17848-h/17848-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/8/4/17848/17848-h.zip) + + +Transcriber's notes: + + All material added by the transcriber is surrounded by braces {}. + + The original has a number of inconsistent spellings and punctuation. + Three corrections have been made for obvious typographical errors; + they have been noted individually in the text. + + Text in italics in the original is shown between _underlines_. + Superscript (three instances in this book) is marked by a caret (^). + + + + + +LIFE IN A MEDIAEVAL CITY + +Illustrated by York in the XVth Century + +by + +EDWIN BENSON, B.A. + +With Eight Illustrations + + + + + + + +London: +Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge +New York: The MacMillan Co. +1920 + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTION + + +CHAPTER II + +IMPORTANT FACTORS AFFECTING THE HISTORY OF YORK + +(_a_) Geographical position; (_b_) Military value of its position; +(_c_) Political importance + + +CHAPTER III + +APPEARANCE + +A. _General appearance_ + +Church, State, people; outside the city; population; area-divisions + +B. _Streets_ + +Highways, traffic, open-spaces; Ouse Bridge + +C. _Buildings_ + +Dwelling-houses, shops, inns; civic buildings (guildhalls); +fortifications (castle, city walls, bars); religious buildings +(Minster; St. William's College; St. Mary's Abbey; Friaries; St. +Clement's Nunnery; Hospitals; Parish Churches) + +D. _York as a Port_ + + +CHAPTER IV + +LIFE + +A. _Civic Life_ + +City government, the parishes; extra municipal rights; a royal city; +charter; sheriffs; mayor; city councils; civic spirit; city and trade +rule; royal government; punishments; sanctuary + +B. _Parliamentary and National Life_ + +Leasing of royal power; Parliament; visits of Henry IV.; Wars of +Roses; Duke of Gloucester; judges of assize; royal larder + +C. _Business Life_ + +Middle class of merchant employers; Jews and Italians; professions; +wool trade; trade-guilds; their government; strangers; phases of guild +life; merchants; apprentices; working hours; trades; artist craftsmen; +markets and fairs; overseas trade; money; extracts from ordinances + +D. _Religious Life_ + +The Church in the Middle Ages; the Church and daily life; merchants +and religion; the Church and education; work of hospitals; priests (at +Minster; parish churches; Archbishop); pluralism; religious orders; +monastic life; St. Mary's Abbey; Anchorites; other types of religious +(pardoner, palmer, pilgrim {original had "pligrim"}); Church services + +E. _Education_ + +Higher education; grammar schools; elementary education; educational +welfare work; instruction; the ways in which the citizen got news and +information; vocations; literacy in fifteenth century; mediaeval +learning; Revival of Learning + +F. _Entertainments_ + +Holidays, travelling; mediaeval plays; York plays; Corpus Christi Day +Processions; production of pageants; other forms of entertainment; +archery + +G. _Classes_ + +Fashions and dress; nobles; religious; townspeople; women; the +freemen; soldiers; men in royal service; lepers; visitors (kings, +lords, commoners; judges; sailors) serfs + + +CHAPTER V + +CONCLUSION + +York a city of destruction and a "storehouse of the past" + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +YORK IN THE XVTH CENTURY +_(From a drawing by E. Ridsdale Tate)_ + +COOKING WITH THE SPIT +_(From the Louttrell Psalter)_ + +BISHOP AND CANONS +_(From Richard II.'s "Book of Hours")_ + +KNIGHTS DOING PENANCE AT A SHRINE +_(From a XVth Century MS.)_ + +ADMINISTRATION OF HOLY COMMUNION WITH HOUSEL CLOTH +_(From a XIVth Century MS.)_ + +SEMI-CHOIR OF FRANCISCANS +_(From a XVth Century MS.)_ + +ARCHERY +_(From the Louttrell Psalter)_ + +AN ABBOT + +[Illustration: YORK IN THE XVTH CENTURY FROM A DRAWING BY E. +RIDSDALE TATE] + + + + +A MEDIAEVAL CITY + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTION + + +In English history the fifteenth century is the last of the centuries +that form the Middle Ages, which were preceded by the age of racial +settlement and followed by that of the great Renaissance. Although the +active beginnings of this new era are to be observed in the fifteenth +century, yet this century belongs essentially to the Middle Ages. + +Perhaps the most attractive feature of the Middle Ages is that they +were so intensely human. A naive spirit appears in their formal +literature, as in Chaucer's account of the Canterbury pilgrims, in +their decorated religious manuscripts, in their thought, and very +characteristically, in their architecture, which combines a simple +naturalness with a bold and daring ingenuity. From columns, the +constructional motive of which is so simple and natural, and walls +pierced with windows, they erected systems of lofty arches and high +stone-vaulted roofs, the stability of which depended on very skilled +balancing of thrust and counter-thrust. + +To-day mediaeval buildings are to be found all over England. The +majority of them are examples of an architecture that has not been +surpassed for majesty, beauty, size, and constructional skill. Such +buildings, without the help of the literary and other memorials, +testify by themselves to the greatness of the Middle Ages. + +Through the fifteenth century England continued to be in a state of +political unrest. There were wars and risings both abroad and at home, +for besides the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) and the Wars of the +Roses (1455-1485) there were wars with the Welsh and the Scots, as +well as disorders made by powerful, intriguing barons. The barons and +great landowners took advantage of the weak royal rule to increase +their own power. Parliament, especially the House of Commons, +succeeded in the first half of the century in strengthening its +constitutional position, but during the Wars of the Roses it became +less truly representative of the solid part of the nation, the middle +class, and more and more a party machine worked by the baronial +factions. The proportion of people wanting peace and firm government +steadily increased, and, when the internecine Wars of the Roses, which +affected the lords and kings far more than the people, were followed +by the protection and order provided without excessive cost by the +Tudors, it was the people who most welcomed the change. + +The towns were, however, comparatively little disturbed by these +perpetual disorders. The mayors and corporations as a rule guided +their cities through difficult times with politic shrewdness. Town +life developed through flourishing trade and an increasing sense of +municipal unity, and municipal importance. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +IMPORTANT FACTORS AFFECTING THE HISTORY OF YORK + + +A. GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION + +Among the factors affecting this particular city geographical position +is evidently the most important. It is to this, combined with the +consequent military value of the site, that York owes its origin as a +city, its importance in the Middle Ages, and its practical importance +to-day. York, which is the natural centre for the North of England, is +the halfway house between London and Edinburgh, and is on the shortest +and quickest land or air route, however the journey is made, between +these two capitals. The Ouse and Humber have enabled it always to be +within navigable distance of the North-East coast. The city itself is +situated on an advantageous site in the centre of a great plain, the +north and south ends of which are open. The surrounding hills and +valleys are so disposed that a large number of rivers radiate towards +the centre of the plain. Civilisation--if we must rank the ultra-fierce +Norsemen, for instance, among its exponents--proceeded westwards from +the coast, and wave after wave of the invading peoples crossed with +ease the eastern and north-eastern hills, which are far less +formidable than those on the west. York was already an important place +in the days of Britain's making, the days when the land was in the +melting-pot as far as race and nationality are concerned. + + +B. MILITARY VALUE OF ITS POSITION + +York is situated on the higher ground, in the angle made by the rivers +Ouse and Foss at their junction; a little to the south, the east and +the west there are low ridges of mound. The outer, main series of +hills which border the central plain, are some dozen miles away, their +outer faces being more or less parallel and running very roughly north +and south. It seems clear that the site was chosen from the first for +its immediate defensive value, the direct result of its geographical +features. The position was of both tactical and strategic importance. +In Roman times, however, its tactical value decreased when the great +wall was built that stretched with its lines of mound, ditch, +stone-rampart, and road, and its series of camps and forts, from near +the mouth of the Tyne to Solway Firth. Henceforth the wall marked the +debatable frontier, but York never lost its strategic value. It was +thus used by the Romans, William I., Edward I., Edward II., and Edward +III. in their occupation of and their expeditions against the North. +It has served as a base depot and military headquarters for centuries. + + +C. POLITICAL IMPORTANCE + +York, then, whatever its name (for it had many names) or condition, +inevitably became an occupied place, a stronghold or a town from +earliest times. When the Church attained great importance in the +north, York, in addition to its natural and military values became, in +735, an ecclesiastical metropolis, for from this date the Archbishop +of York was not only the ruler of the diocese of York, but in addition +spiritual head of the Church in the North of England. Further, there +were established in the city branches of the civil government. +Business of the state, both civil and military, and of the Church was +regularly conducted at York from early times. This political +importance lasted long and is intimately connected with many events in +the city's history. The fort and military defences were renewed from +time to time, and staff-work and general administration, whether Roman +or Edwardian, were conducted from York. The king, from whom York was +rented by the citizens, had his official representatives with their +offices permanently established here. The siege of 1644 after the +royalist defeat at Marston Moor, was due mainly to the political +importance of the city. In Danish times there were kings of York. The +Archbishops, besides owning large areas of land in and around the +city, had their palace in the city. Monasteries grew up and flourished +till the Dissolution; churches and other religious buildings were +everywhere. Further, from century to century, York was the home of +important nobles of the realm. + +This political importance has persisted through the centuries. York +still claims its traditional rank of second city in the kingdom. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +APPEARANCE + + +A. GENERAL APPEARANCE + +A general view of fifteenth-century York ("Everwyk" in Anglo-French +and "Eboracum" in Latin) would give the impression of a very compact +city within fortifications. Almost immediately it would be noticed how +the three great elements of national society were very clearly +reflected in the general appearance. First, the _Church_, the +tremendous and ubiquitous power of which is emphasised by the +strikingly beautiful and wonderfully constructed massive Minster, but +so recently completed, standing, with its more than five hundred feet +of length, its central tower two hundred feet high, most of its roofs +a hundred feet or more above the ground, dwarfing the petty, storied +dwellings. This is but one great church. In brilliant contrast in +another quarter, adjoining the city, is the great abbey church of St. +Mary, crowned by a lofty and magnificent spire rising above the +equally fine conventual buildings. All over the city are seen the +churches and buildings of other monastic and religious houses. The +background of dwellings and shops, built in a similar style, is cut by +a few winding streets, and studded with the towers, spires, and roofs +of the multitude of parish churches. The intense and far-reaching +influence of the Church in all phases of life is indelibly marked on +this city. + +The great influence of the royal _State_, second only to that of the +Church, appears in the enclosing fortifications and especially in the +solid stance of the Castle, where the keep stands out stoutly on its +fortified mound. The whole castle, self-supporting within its own +defences, its massive walls, broad moats, outer and inner wards, +protected gateways, drawbridges and other tactical devices, conveys an +impression of power. On the Bishop-hill side of the river there +remains the mound (Baile Hill) on which the other castle was erected +by order of William the Conqueror. The whole city is enclosed by +defensive works consisting of an embattled wall on a mound, with a +moat or protecting ditch running parallel to it. At intervals along +the walls there are towers. Where the four main roads enter the city +there are the four gateways, or Bars, high enough to act as +watch-towers and fit by their solid construction to offer a stout +defence. The royal State keeps its stern watch around and within. + +The third great element, the _People_, are represented by the few +narrow, winding streets and the crowded houses, sending up blue smoke +from their hearths, clustering round the great buildings of Church and +State. The town itself is almost entirely in the eastern section of +the city. On the western side the houses are grouped along the river +bank and between Micklegate Bar and Ouse Bridge; there are several +monasteries and churches in this section also. The third estate, the +closely living masses, the people, has its outstanding buildings, but +these are of comparatively local and small importance. Although the +_city_ and _guild_ halls stand out utilitarian yet beautiful above the +dwelling-houses, yet they are not at all so prominent as the great +erections of the Church and the State. + +A glance over the city to-day from the Walls or the top of a church +tower emphasises the dominance of the cathedral over the whole city. +The castle keep (Clifford's Tower) is still an important feature in +the view. There were as rivals neither factories nor great commercial +offices in the fifteenth-century city. + +St. Clement's Nunnery and six churches, of which three were not far +from Walmgate Bar and one was near Monk Bar, were actually outside the +city walls. + +Without the city and the cultivated land near by most of the country +consisted of great stretches of forest,[1] _i.e._ wood, marsh, moor, +waste-land. This surrounding forest-land was crossed by the few +high-roads leading to and from the city, which they entered through +the Bars. The country was not all wild and tenantless, for here and +there, scattered about, were baronial castles and estates, and +monastic houses and lands, all of which had their farming. In the +forests there were villages each consisting of a few houses grouped +together for common security, where lived minor officials and men +working in the forest. The great Forest of Galtres, to the north of +York, was a royal domain. + +In the fifteenth century the population of York, the greatest city of +the north, was about 14,000. Newcastle was the next greatest, being +one of the ten or twelve leading cities of mediaeval England which had +a total population of about 2-1/2 millions. The inhabitants of York +registered in 1911 numbered 83,802. + +Within the city there was a number of sub-entities, each +self-contained and definitely marked off, often by enclosing, +embattled walls. Such was the Minster, which stood within its close. +The Liberty of the Minster of St. Peter included the parts of the city +immediately round the Minster, the Archbishop's Palace, and the Bedern +(a small district in the city where some of the Minster clergy lived +collegiately), and groups of houses and odd dwellings scattered +throughout other parts of the city and the county and elsewhere. +Individual monasteries formed further such sub-entities; for instance +St. Mary's Abbey, which was actually outside the city walls, but +within its own defensive walls; the Franciscan Friary near the Castle; +Holy Trinity Priory; the royal Hospital of St. Leonard. The Castle, +which obviously had to be enclosed and capable of maintaining and +enduring isolation, was independent of the city. Each of these +ecclesiastical institutions enjoyed a large measure of freedom from +the rule of the municipal authorities. The city was also subdivided +into parishes, which, of course, were not enclosed by walls. The +parish boundaries, although less well defined than those of the areas +above mentioned, were none the less distinctly marked. + + +B. STREETS + +Streets, as we use the word to-day, were quite few in number. They +were usually called gates and were mostly continuations of the great +high-roads that came into and through the city, after crossing the +wild country that covered most of northern England, a desert in which +a city was an oasis and a sanctuary. In the lofty and graceful open +lantern-tower of All Saints, Pavement, a lamp was hung to guide +belated travellers to the safety and hospitality that obtained within +the city walls. For the same purpose a bell was rung at St. Michael's, +Ouse Bridge. + +There were a few buildings along the high-roads just outside the great +entrances, the Bars. Besides the few hovels and huts there were +hospitals for travellers. There were four hospitals for lepers, the +most wretched of all the sufferers from mediaeval lack of cleanliness. + +Most of the streets were mere alleys, passages between houses and +groups of buildings. They were very narrow and often the sky could +hardly be seen from them because of the overhanging upper storeys of +the buildings along each side. Goods in the Middle Ages and right down +to the nineteenth century were carried in towns by hand. Carriages and +waggons and carts were not very numerous and would have no need to +proceed beyond the main streets and the open squares. If men must +journey off their own feet, they rode horses. Pack-horses were used +regularly to carry goods, where nowadays a horse or, more probably, a +steam or motor engine would easily pull the goods conveniently placed +on a cart or lorry. + +The paving of rough cobbles and ample mud was distinctly poor. There +was no adequate drainage; in fact there was very little attempt at any +beyond the provision of gutters down the middle or at the sides of the +streets. There were no regular street lights, and pavements, when they +existed, were too meagre to be of much use to pedestrians. + +Streets led to the two open market-places of this mediaeval city. Both +of them (Thursday Market, now called St. Sampson's Square, and +Pavement, which was a broad street with a market cross near one end) +were used as markets, but for different kinds of produce. Some +markets, such as the cattle market, were held in the streets. These +two market-places were the principal public open spaces, parts of a +town that are given such importance in modern town-planning schemes. +Other open spaces were the cloisters and gardens of the monasteries, +the courts of the Castle, the graveyards of the churches, and private +gardens. In spite of these and the passage of a tidal river through +the city, it cannot be denied that the inhabitants of our mediaeval +city lived in rather dirty and badly ventilated surroundings. + +The River Ouse was crossed by one bridge, which was of stone, with +houses and shops of wood built up from the body of the bridge. The +arches were small, and afford a striking contrast to the later +constructions, in which a wide central arch replaced the two central +small arches. The quays were just below the bridge. At one end of Ouse +Bridge was St. William's Chapel, a beautiful little church,[2] as we +know from the fragments of it that remain. Adjoining the chapel was +the sheriffs' court; on the next storey was the Exchequer court; then +there was the common prison called the Kidcote, while above these were +other prisons which continued round the back of the chapel. Next to +the prisons were the Council Chamber and Muniment Room. Opposite the +chapel were the court-house, called the Tollbooth,[3] the Debtors' +Prison, and a Maison Dieu, that is, a kind of almshouse. + +The present streets called Shambles (formerly Mangergate),[4] Finkle +Street, Jubbergate, Petergate, and especially Shambles, Little +Shambles, and the passages leading from them, help one to realise the +appearance of mediaeval streets and ways. + + +C. BUILDINGS + +[Illustration: COOKING WITH THE SPIT.] + +_Dwelling-houses_ ranged from big town residences of noble or +distinguished families, by way of the beautifully decorated, costly +houses of the rich middle-class merchants, to the humble dwellings of +the poorest inhabitants. Every type of house from the palace to the +hovel was well represented. The Archbishop's Palace, consisting of +hall, chapel, quadrangle, mint, and gateway with prison, was near the +Minster. Beyond the fine thirteenth-century chapel (now part of the +Minster library buildings) hardly a trace of this undoubtedly splendid +residence is left. The Percies had a great mansion in Walmgate. In +other parts were the mansions of the Scropes and the Vavasours. It is, +however, the houses of the prosperous traders that are the most +interesting, for in them we see the kind of house a man built from the +results of successful business. Most houses were of timber; those of +the more wealthy were of stone and timber.{original had ","} The use +of half-timbering, when the face of a building consisted of woodwork +and plaster, made houses and streets very picturesque. The woodwork +was often artistically carved. Each storey was made to overhang the +one below it, so that an umbrella, if umbrellas had been in use then, +would have been almost a superfluity, if not a needless luxury, +besides being impossible to manipulate in the narrow streets and ways +of a mediaeval city. The upper storeys of two houses facing each other +across a street were often very close. Usually there were no more than +three storeys. The roofs were very steep and covered generally with +tiles, but in the case of the smaller dwellings with thatch. From a +house-top the view across the neighbourhood would be of a huddled +medley of red-tiled roofs, all broken up with gables and tiny dormer +windows; there would be no regularity, just a jumble of patches of +red-tiled roofing. + +The present streets called Shambles, Pavement, Petergate and +Stonegate, contain excellent examples of mediaeval domestic +architecture. + +Shops were distinguished by having the front of the ground floor +arranged as a show-room, warehouse, or business room which was open +to the street. The trader lived at his shop. In the case of a +butcher's, for example, the front part of the shutters that covered +the unglazed window at night, was let down in business hours so that +it hung over the footway. On it were exhibited the joints of meat. +Butchers' slaughter-houses were then, as now, private premises and +right in the heart of the city. + +The rooms in the houses were quite small, with low ceilings. The small +windows, whether they were merely fitted with wooden shutters or +glazed with many small panes kept together with strips of lead, +lighted the rooms but poorly. The closeness of the houses made +internal lighting still less effective. The interior walls were of +timbering and plaster, often white- or colour-washed.[5] Panelling was +used occasionally. The ventilation and hygienic conditions generally +were far from good, as may be imagined from a consideration of the +smallness of the houses, the compactness of the city, particularly the +parts occupied by the people, and especially of the primitive system +of sanitation, which was content to use the front street as a main +sewer. There were, of course, no drains; at most there was a gutter +along the middle of a street, or at each side of the roadway. It was +the traditional practice to dump house and workshop refuse into the +streets. Some of it was carried along by rainwater, but generally it +remained: in any case it was noxious and dangerous. There was +legislation on the subject, for the evil was already notorious in the +fourteenth century. The first parliamentary attempt to restrain people +in towns generally from thus corrupting and infecting the air is dated +1388. The many visits of distinguished people and public processions +always conferred an incidental boon on the city, for one of the +essentials of preparation was giving the main streets a good cleaning. +There is no wonder that plagues perpetually harassed the people of +mediaeval times and reduced the population miserably. The plague never +disappeared till towns were largely rebuilt on a more commodious scale +in the next great building era, which began in 1666 in London and in +the early years of the eighteenth century elsewhere. No advance was +made in sanitation till the Victorian Age, when town sanitation was +completely revolutionised and, for the first time, efficiently +organised. + +The house fire was of wood and peat, though coal was also used. For +artificial lighting oil-lamps (wicks in oil) and candles were used. A +light was obtained from flint and tinder, the latter being ignited by +a spark got from striking the flint with a piece of metal. + +Rooms were furnished with chairs, tables, benches, chests, bedsteads, +and, in some cases, tub-shaped baths. Carpets were to be found only in +the houses of the very wealthy. The floors of ordinary houses, like +those of churches, were covered with rushes and straw, among which it +was the useful custom to scatter fragrant herbs. This rough carpet was +pressed by the clogs of working people and the shoes of the +fashionable. The spit was a much used cooking utensil. Table-cloths, +knives, and spoons were in general use, but not the fork before the +fifteenth century. At one time food was manipulated by the fingers. +York was advanced in table manners, for it is known that a fork was +used in the house of a citizen family here in 1443. The richer members +of the middle class owned a large number of silver tankards, goblets, +mazer-bowls, salt-cellars and similar utensils and ornaments of +silver, for this was a common form in which they held their wealth. + +Beer, which was largely brewed at home, was the general beverage, but +French and other wines were plentiful. The water supply came from +wells, the water being drawn up by bucket and windlass, or from the +river when the wells were low. The drinking water of the +twentieth-century city is taken entirely from the River Ouse, but now +the water is carefully treated and purified before reaching the +consumer. + +There were not many inns, as is shown in records by the number of +innholders, who formed a trade company. There were also wine-dealers. +Typical inn-signs were The Bull in Coney Street, and The Dragon. There +is no reason to believe that in this century there was a really large +amount of drinking and drunkenness, such as there was in the +eighteenth century. An ordinance of the Marshals of 1409--"No man of +the craft shall go to inns but if he is sent after, under pain of +4d."--may be quoted. + +The houses of the wealthy and the great lords were, of course, the +better furnished. They had walls adorned with tapestries and hung with +arras or hangings; occasionally their walls were panelled. Their +furniture was rich, well constructed, and carved by skilled craftsmen. +Their mansions were large, for they had to house, beside the owner's +family and personal household, retainers and dependents attached to +his service in diverse capacities. + +_Civic Buildings_ consisted chiefly of the halls connected with the +trade guilds. The rulers of the city and of the guilds were often the +same men, in any case usually men of the same set. These secular +buildings were really distinguished in appearance, but not monumental. +They reflected something of the wealth that accrued from trade. They +were of good size and proportions, built to be worthy of the practical +use for which they were intended. The lower stages were of stone, the +upper for the most part of wood and plaster (half-timbering). The +structural framework was composed of stout beams and posts of timber. +The timber roofs were covered with tiles. Examples may be seen in the +Merchants' Hall, Fossgate, and St. Anthony's Hall in Peaseholm Green. +The wooden roof of the Guild Hall, which was the Common Hall, erected +in the fifteenth century, is supported by wooden columns. The walls of +this hall and the entire basement are of stone. + +Of Davy Hall, the King's administrative offices and prison for the +Royal Forest of Galtres, not a trace remains to show the kind of +buildings they were. + +_The Fortifications_ consisted of the Castle and the city Walls with +their gateways. The massive stone Keep of the Castle was on a high +artificial mound at the city end of the enclosed area occupied by the +Castle. Around this mound there was a moat, or deep, broad ditch +filled with water. The Keep, which is in plan like a quatrefoil, +consisted of two storeys. Within, near the entrance, there is a well, +the memory of which is for ever stained by the unhappy part it played +in one of the most bitter persecutions of the Jews. Beyond the Keep +there were inner and outer wards, official buildings including the +King's great hall, the Royal Mint, and barracks for the King's +soldiers. The entire Castle, which was the residence of the royal +governor, and a military depot, was surrounded by walls, outside which +were moats, or the river, or swamps, according to the position of each +side. These moats, or defensive ditches, were crossed by drawbridges. +To enter a fortified place in the Middle Ages one had to pass a +barbican (_i.e._ an outwork consisting of a fortified wall along each +side of the one way); a drawbridge across the moat; a portcullis or +gate of stoutly inter-crossing timbers (set horizontally and +vertically with only a small space between any two beams, giving the +whole gate the appearance of a large number of small square holes, +each surrounded by solid wood) that could be lowered or raised at will +in grooves at the sides of the entrance opening. The ends of the +vertical posts at the bottom formed a row of spikes which were shod +with iron. The points of these spikes entered the ground when the +portcullis was lowered. Beyond, there were the wooden gates of the +inner opening. + +The city Walls, of which the present remains date from the reign of +Edward III., were broad, crenellated walls of limestone, on a high +mound which was protected without by a parallel deep moat. At the +north, east, south, and west corners there were massive bastions, and +between these, at short intervals, smaller towers. Besides being +crenellated the raised front of the wall itself was often pierced with +slits shaped for the use of long or cross-bows. The bowmen were very +well protected by these skilful arrangements. Some of these slits, +shaped like crosses, were of exquisite design architecturally. + +The continuity of these mural fortifications was broken only where +swamps and the rivers made them unnecessary and where roads passed +through them. The four principal entrances along the main high-roads +were defended by the four Bars, or fortified gateways. These, with +their Barbicans, three of which were so needlessly and callously +destroyed in the last century, were magnificent examples of noble +permanent military architecture. The outer facade of Monk Bar to-day, +spoiled as it is, expresses a noble strength. There was formerly only +the single way, both for ingress and egress.[6] The Bar was supported +on each side by the mound and wall, which latter led right into the +Bar and so to the corresponding wall on the other side. Each of these +entrances to the city was protected by barbican, portcullis, and gate. +Each evening the Bars were closed and the city shut in for the night. +Defenders used a Bar as a watch-tower or a fort. They could walk along +the high crenellated walls of the Barbican and shoot thence, and stop +the way by lowering the portcullis.[7] + +Near the Castle there were the Castle mills, where the machinery was +driven by water-power. + +Outside the walls there were strays, or common lands. Some of the land +immediately around the city was cultivated or used as pasture. There +were, besides dwellings, several churches and hospitals, just outside +the city. Beyond this suburban area was the forest. + +The most notable of the _Religious Buildings_ is the Minster, which +was practically completed in the fifteenth century, when the work of +erecting the three towers was finished. The architectural splendour of +this mighty church must have appealed very strongly to the people of +the fifteenth century, for did they not see the great work that had +gone on for centuries at last brought to this glorious conclusion? It +rose up in the midst of the city, always visible from near and far. +The inside was even more magnificent than the exterior. The fittings +and furniture were of the richest. The light mellow tone of the white +stonework was enhanced by the fleeting visions of colour that spread +across from the sunlit stained-glass windows, which still, in spite of +time and restoration, add enormously to the beauty of the interior. + +The Minster stood within its Close, one of the four gateways of which, +College Street Arch, remains. This part of the city around the Minster +was enclosed because it was under the jurisdiction of the Liberty of +St. Peter. + +[Illustration: BISHOP AND CANONS. +_From Richard II.'s "Book of Hours."_] + +Originally founded in 627 by Edwin, King of Northumbria, the Minster +had been rebuilt and enlarged from time to time. It received its final +and present form in the fifteenth century. At one time the Nave was +rebuilt: at the same time there was built, near but separate from the +main building, the Chapter House, a magnificent octagonal parliament +house of one immense chamber: later the Chapter House was connected +with the main building by the Vestibule. Then the Choir was replaced +by a larger and finer building in the then latest architectural +fashion. The new choir contained the east window, which in the eyes of +contemporaries was wonderful and unrivalled for its size and painted +glass. It occupies nearly all the central space of the east wall from +a few feet above the ground to almost the apex of the gable. Gothic +architecture was so marvellously adaptable that all these parts, built +at widely different times, at various and strongly-contrasted stages +of the development of this English mediaeval architecture, together +make a single building that appears to possess the most felicitous +unity of general design and a perfectly wonderful diversity of +sectional design, for every part is in complete sympathy with the +scheme as a whole. + +To the east of the Central Tower is the Choir, which was kept +exclusively for the services; to the west, the Nave, the popular part. +The entrance to the Choir from the west is made through the stone +screen of Kings, which, with the lofty organ which rests on it, +prevents people in the Nave from getting anything more than a glimpse +of what is taking place in the Choir. Over the western ends of the +Nave aisles are the twin west towers, which contain the bells. The +high altar and reredos stood in the middle of the Choir between the +two choir transepts, the huge windows of which present in picture the +life stories of St. Cuthbert and St. William respectively. The Lady +Chapel, the part of the choir to the east of the reredos, was very +important in pre-Reformation days when the cult of the Virgin was very +popular. To the north and south of the Central Tower are the +Transepts. From the North Transept the Vestibule leads to the Chapter +House. The church is, therefore, of the shape of a cross (the centre +of which is marked by the Central Tower) with an octagonal building +standing near and connected with the northern arm. + +The furniture was of wood and elaborately carved. In the Choir were +the fixed stalls with towering canopies, and other seats, which were +ranged along the north and south sides and at the west end. Chapels +were marked off by wooden screens, often of elaborate tracery. + +The cost of erecting this huge and splendid church must have been +enormous. The Minster contained the shrine of St. William of York, +which, like those of St. Cuthbert at Durham and St. Thomas at +Canterbury of European fame, attracted streams of pilgrims, whose +donations helped the funds of erection and maintenance. This was an +established means of raising funds for church purposes. There was, +also, the money from penances and indulgences. The Archbishops were +keenly interested in their cathedral church. Citizens gave and +bequeathed sums of money to the Minster funds. In addition, the +Minster authorities received gifts from wealthy nobles of the north of +England. The house of Vavasour, for instance, supplied stone; that of +Percy gave wood to be used in building the great metropolitical +church. If the money cost was enormous, the completed building, for +design, engineering, and decorative work--in stone, wood, cloth, +stained glass--was far beyond monetary value. + +The Nave, the part open to the public, was used for processions; some +started from the great west door, entrance through which was a rare +privilege granted only to the highest. The Choir was the scene of the +daily services of the seven offices of the day. All around, in the +aisles and transepts, were altars in side-chapels, chantry-chapels,[8] +where throughout the early part of the day priests were saying masses +for the souls of the departed. There were thirty chantries in the +Minster. + +The Minster has from its foundation been a cathedral. The Chapter of +canons with the Dean at their head has always been its Governing Body. +As a church it was served by prebendaries or canons, who had definite +periods of duty annually, and two residential bodies of priests, of +whom some, the chantry priests, lived at St. William's College. This +College was erected shortly after the middle of the fifteenth century: +on the site there had been Salton House, the prebendal residence of +the Prior of Hexham, who was canon of Salton. This picturesque +building of stone, wood, half-timber work, and tiled roofs is a little +to the east of the Minster. It consists of a series of rooms ranged +round a central courtyard. It is of much historical interest, and +since it was restored recently to be the home of the Convocation of +the Northern Province, it has returned to the service of the church. +The minor-canons, or vicars-choral, who were employed by the canons as +their deputies, also lived in community. They had their hall, chapel, +and other buildings in an enclosed part called the Bedern not far from +the Minster. + +As a counterpart to the Minster, in appearance as in use, was the +great, rich Benedictine Abbey of St. Mary, of royal foundation. With a +mitred abbot who sat among the lords spiritual in Parliament, St. +Mary's was perhaps the most important of the northern monasteries. The +buildings were proportionally large and fine. The church, dating +mostly from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, was particularly +long and had a tall spire. It was only a little inferior to the +Minster in magnificence. On the south side were the Cloisters, the +open-air work-place and recreation place of the monks, while beyond +were the conventual buildings--such as the calefactory or +warming-house, the dormitories, and the refectory or room where meals +were taken. The cloisters were square in plan and consisted of a +central grass plot, along the sides of which there was a continuous +covered walk with unglazed windows facing the central open space. +Benedictine abbeys usually conformed to a common scheme as regards the +planning of the church and the conventual buildings. The cloisters +were only one of the courts or open squares, which separated groups of +conventual buildings. Further, there were gardens and orchards. Nearer +the river there was the Hospitium, or guest-house, where visitors were +lodged. The abbey was within its own walls, and on one side its +grounds extended to the river. The gateway, comprising gate, lodge, +and chapel, was on the north side. + +Near the Castle there was an extensive Franciscan Friary. On the other +side of the river there was the priory of the Holy Trinity, the home +of an alien Benedictine order. A Carmelite Friary in Hungate, opposite +the Castle, seems, from the few odd fragments of stone that remain, to +have had fine buildings. The Augustinian Friary was between Lendal and +the river. The Dominican house, which was burnt down in 1455, was on +the site of the old railway station. + +The only nunnery in the city was the Benedictine Priory of St. +Clement. There were sisterhoods in St. Leonard's and other hospitals. +It should, however, be noted there were many nunneries in the +districts round York. + +Some of the religious institutions were called Hospitals. The care of +the sick was only one of the functions of this type of religious +house. Such was the large and famous St. Leonard's Hospital, a royal +institution that was not under the control of a bishop. The beautiful +ruins of St. Leonard's, which adjoined St. Mary's Abbey, prove how +well this hospital had been built. These hospitals, of which there +were fifteen in York, were in close touch with the people. While St. +Mary's, for instance, was one of the great abbeys, where the monks, by +the time when the fifteenth century was advanced, were living +luxuriously, easily, and generally unproductively, the religious of +the hospitals and lesser houses, were still engaged in feeding the +poor, tending the sick, and educating the children of the people. + +Each of these religious institutions, whether monastery or hospital, +was within its own grounds, bounded by its own walls. Altogether they +occupied a large part of the total area of the mediaeval city which +their buildings adorned, and of which they were so characteristic a +feature: St. Mary's Abbey, which with its buildings and grounds +covered a large area, was actually outside the city proper, but it was +immediately adjoining it. There were nearly sixty monasteries, +priories, hospitals, maisons-dieu, and chapels. The maisons-dieu, of +which there were sixteen, were smaller hospitals. They combined +generally the duties of almshouse and chantry. + +_Parish Churches_, which were the centres of the religious life of the +laity, were everywhere. In the fifteenth century there were forty-five +churches and ten chapels, so that there was always a place in church +for every citizen. + +A church was always in use. Besides the regular public services which +took place frequently during the day, and the special services for +festivals, there were services in chantries. Both the high altar in +the chancel and altars in other parts of a church were used. Several +altars were necessary because the number of masses, for the +celebration of which money was liberally bequeathed, was very large. +The parish church was used for other than purely religious purposes. +It was the central meeting-place of the parish, and might be described +as the seat of parochial government. Meetings were held in the Nave. +Parts of the church were used as schools. The parish church was also +the depot for the equipment of those members who became soldiers. +Moreover, fire-buckets (generally of leather) were often kept in the +church, since, being of stone, it was perhaps the safest building in +the parish. There were also long poles with hooks at the end used to +pull thatch away from burning houses. + +Most, if not all, of these churches were fine specimens of the +architecture of the Middle Ages, the so-called Gothic architecture, +which is characterised by pointed arches, ribbed vaulting, and the +constant use of the buttress. These churches were, in contrast to the +present condition of most of those that remain, complete with chancel, +nave and aisles, towers or spires, bells, stained-glass windows, and +furniture, many of them being particularly rich in one or more of +these features. The painted windows[9] are especially interesting, for +they show the standard of this branch of fifteenth-century art and are +valuable historical documents. The rich, mellow tones of colour should +be noted, also the incidental pictures of mediaeval dress and +furniture. It is interesting to compare the fifteenth-century work +with that done, for instance, by the William Morris firm to the +designs of Burne-Jones (1833-1898), at a time when the revived art, +with other forms of decoration, was enjoying a period of great +success. In the fifteenth century the church was flourishing +materially, at least, and money and gifts were freely given. + +The offices and services in churches were recited and sung. Organs +were used, but were not very large and were capable of being carried +about: although working on similar principles to the modern organ they +lacked its size, power, and varied capacity. At the Minster there were +several organs, for instance "the great organs," "the organs in the +Choir," "the organs at the Altar B.V.M." + +The Chancel was the most sacred part of the church, for there was the +principal or high altar. In the Chancel were the stalls or seats of +the clergy and officials. The actual seats could be turned up when the +occupants wished to stand. Standing for long periods was made less +irksome in that the underside of each seat was made with a projecting +ledge, which gave some support. It is thoroughly characteristic of the +age that this very human device should have existed, and, secondly, +that these ledges were carved and ornamented. These misericords, as +they are called, were usually curiously, even grotesquely carved. Some +of these carvings were founded on natural objects, some were grotesque +heads, others represented subjects with man and animals. There were +pews for the nobility, but, apart from the few old and weak people who +used the rough bench or two in the body of the church, or the stone +bench that ran along the walls, the general public stood during the +services. + +Wealthy parishioners left money to the parochial clergy and for the +fabric of the church: they generally wished to be buried at some +particular place within their parish church. Such distinguished men as +Nicholas Blackburn, merchant of York, were commemorated at times in +their parish churches by means of stained-glass windows. The portraits +of Nicholas and his son and their wives appear in the east window of +All Saints', North Street; his arms also are to be seen in this +window. + + +D. YORK AS A PORT + +The Ouse was tidal and navigable right up to York. Trade, especially +in woollen goods, was carried on in the fifteenth century by river and +sea directly between York and ports on the west coasts of the +continent and, especially, Baltic ports. On arriving at York the boats +stopped at the quays, adjacent to which were warehouses, just below +Ouse Bridge. + +The sea-going boats were not large. They were usually one-masted +sailing ships, built of wood; they had high prows and sterns, with a +capacious hold between. Some of them were built in York. + +Their trade was such that some of the York merchants, for example the +wealthy Howme family, had establishments in foreign ports. The Howmes +had property in Calais. + +The regulation of the waterways in and near the city was vested in the +Corporation. Matters pertaining to navigation and shipping were +adjudged by an Admiralty Court under the King's Admiral, whose +jurisdiction extended from the Thames to the northern ports. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Derived from Latin foris=outside, without (the city). + +[2] A "church" that was in a parish, but was not the parish church, +was called a chapel. The parish church was the principal and parent +church of all within the parish. + +[3] Compare the Tollbooth, Edinburgh, and the Tolhouse, Yarmouth. + +[4] Cf. French _manger_. + +[5] Wall-paper, which still bears the influence of the hangings that +it replaced, came into general use early in the nineteenth century. + +[6] The view to-day from Petergate towards Bootham Bar gives a good +impression of a narrow main street, with gabled houses, leading to the +single fortified opening provided by the Bar. + +[7] The winch and portcullis are still in existence in Monk Bar, and +in working order. + +[8] The Leschman Chantry Chapel in Hexham Abbey is a typical example +in excellent preservation. A small erection of stone and wood, it +stands between two of the piers of the north Choir arcade. In small +compass there are a stone altar with five crosses, an aumbry beneath +the altar, and the tomb with recumbent effigy of the founder. A priest +would have just sufficient room to move about in the performance of +his service. Part of Archbishop Bowet's tomb in York Minster was a +chantry chapel. + +[9] Besides the exceptional display of fifteenth-century glass in the +Minster, notable examples occur in St. Martin's, Coney Street, All +Saints', North Street, and Holy Trinity, Goodramgate. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +LIFE + + +A. CIVIC LIFE + +"Parish government formed the unit in the government of the city. Each +parish was a self-governing community, electing its own officers with +the exception of its rector, making its own bye-laws, and, to meet +expenses, levying and collecting its own rates. Its constables served +as policemen, attended the Sessions, and acted as the fire brigade. +They looked after the parish-trained soldiers, acted as recruiters, +and had the care of the parish armour, which was kept in a chest in +the church. They distributed money among lame soldiers, gathered +trophy money, relieved cripples and passengers, but unfeelingly +conveyed beggars and vagabonds to prison. The parish soldiers kept +watch and ward over the parish defences. The parish stocks, in which +offenders were placed, stood near the churchyard stile. The constables +were also responsible for such lighting as the parish required, and +kept the parish lanthorn. + +"The officials looked after the parish poor, dispensing charity by +gifts of bread and money. The parish boundaries were perambulated +every Ascension Day. Parish dinners were held on the choosing of the +churchwardens, the visitation of the Archdeacon, etc. The parish +officials invoked the aid of the law when parochial rights were +infringed, especially by neighbours. The church was the centre of +parochial life and in it the business of the parish was transacted. + +"Parishes were grouped as wards. The wards chose city Councillors, and +these elected their Aldermen. The six wards formed the municipality +over which presided the Mayor. The Corporation exercised a general +supervision over the whole of the parishes of which there were +forty-five. + +"Gradually the duties and powers of the various parish officials have +been transferred to the City Council. The united parish soldiers +became the city trained bands. In 1900 the last remnant of parochial +officialdom passed into the power of the Corporation when parish +overseers ceased to exist, and, for rating purposes, the City of York +became one parish instead of the original forty-five separately rated +areas."[1] + +The Cathedral, _i.e._ the Liberty of St. Peter, and the Royal Castle +were outside municipal control. The Archbishops also had their +privileges. They had once owned all the city on the right bank of the +Ouse. In the fifteenth century they still retained many of their +privileges and possessions in this quarter, as, for example, the right +of holding a fair here in what was formerly their shire. These +archiepiscopal rights have not all lapsed, for in 1807 the Archbishop +of the time, successfully asserting his legal rights, saved from +demolition the city walls on the west side of the river. + +York was a royal borough, that is, the freemen of the city had to pay +rent to the king, from whom it was farmed directly. It was not owned +by any knight or lord, that is, apart from the Archbishop's +possessions, which belonged to the western section of the city; the +city proper was almost entirely on the opposite side of the river. The +King retained possession of certain properties, such as Galtres +Forest, lying in the valley stretching northwards from York. He had a +larder and a fish pond at York; also a court, offices, and a prison +(Davy Hall, of which the name alone remains) for the administration of +the forest. These town-properties were, of course, entirely +extra-parochial. + +York received a long succession of royal charters. Henry I. granted +the city certain customs, laws and liberties, and the right to have a +merchant guild. The possession of these rights was confirmed by King +John in the first year of his reign. In 1396 Richard II., at York, +made the city a county in itself. In consequence the office of bailiff +was replaced by that of sheriff. + +The King's official representative in the city was called the sheriff, +whose office in York has been continuous down to the present day. The +sheriffs--there were usually two--were responsible for the +maintenance of order, for the local soldiery, and the collection of +the royal taxes and dues. The sheriff was a busy and important +mediaeval official. + +The Mayor was the real governor of the city. He was a powerful +official and literally ruler of the city. In practice he was most +often a wealthy and important merchant; and, like the Aldermen, +belonged to the group of men who governed the trade guilds as well as +the municipality. Various symbols were attached to his office. The +chief objects among the corporation regalia at the present time are +the sword, mace, and cap of maintenance. + +There were three city councils, "the twelve," "the twenty-four," and +"the forty-eight," as they were called. There were the Aldermen and +Councillors--the "lords" and "commons" of the municipal parliament. +The ordinary council-chamber was at Ouse Bridge: the other was the +Common Hall, the present Guildhall. Sometimes the whole community of +citizens met, when for the moment the government of the city became +essentially and practically democratic. This was only done on +important occasions to decide broad questions of policy, or when +numbers were needed to enforce a decision. The commons really +possessed no administrative power. The form of civic government was +supposed to be representative, but as a matter of fact it was not only +not founded on popular election (a procedure enforced in 1835 by the +Municipal Reform Act), but was kept exclusively in the hands of the +wealthy merchant and trading class, the middle class. Men of this +class became Aldermen. When a vacancy occurred in the upper house of +civic government, they chose a man like themselves. The Mayor was +elected by the Aldermen, who naturally chose one of themselves. In +fact the government of the city was in the hold of a "close +self-elected Corporation." + +The civic spirit developed a good deal during the fifteenth century, +no doubt in connection with the simultaneous increase in the wealth +and social pretension of the rising merchant middle class. It appeared +in the greater respect bestowed on the office of Mayor and the pomp +and reverence attached to his position. The "right worshipful" the +Mayor and the Aldermen wore rich state robes edged with fur. In +addition, contemporary city records reflect the new spirit in such +expressions as "the worshupful cite," "the said full honourabill +cite," "this full nobill city." This spirit, however, developed more +fully in the sixteenth century. + +The Mayor held his court in the Common Hall, where he heard pleas +about apprentices and mysteries (_i.e._ the rules of the crafts); +offences against the customs of the city; breaches of the King's +peace. It was his duty to administer the statute merchant. The +Recorder was the official civic lawyer. + +The governors of the city were intimately connected with the control +of trade, and the rule of the pageants. These phases of city life +overlapped considerably and were interdependent. Weaving was the +principal trade. The Mayor and Aldermen were the masters of the +mysteries of the weavers. Power to enforce the ordinances of the other +mysteries was granted by the Mayor and Corporation. + +There were times when the King took the government into his own hands. +This was done during the rebellion of the Percies, a northern family +skilled and experienced in rebelling. Henry IV. withdrew the right of +government from the city in 1405, but he restored it in 1406 after the +execution of Archbishop Scrope, who had been so popular with the +people of York. + +Of mediaeval punishments the most obvious were the stocks, a +contemporary picture of which is to be seen in one of the +stained-glass windows of All Saints', North Street. Examples of stocks +survive in the churchyards of Holy Trinity, Micklegate, and St. +Lawrence's. They were near the entrance to the churchyard and +commanded full public attention. The petty offender, condemned to +spend so many hours in the public gaze and subject to whatever +treatment the public chose to inflict on him, sat on the ground or on +a low seat, while his feet were secured at the ankles by two vertical +boards. The upper was raised for the insertion of the ankles in the +specially cut-out half-round holes in each board, so that when the +boards were touching and in the same vertical plane, the ankles were +completely surrounded by wood. + +To its political importance York owed the ghastly exhibition of heads +and odd quarters of traitors and others who had gained punishment of +national importance, which usually consisted of "hanging, drawing and +quartering," when the quarters and the head were sent to London and +the principal towns of the kingdom to be exhibited on gateways, +towers, and bridges. This practice served to provide the public with +convincing proof that a traitor was actually dead, and was very +necessary in an age when Rumour, "stuffing the ears of men with false +reports" held sway over "the blunt monster with uncounted heads, the +still discordant wavering multitude." Micklegate Bar was so used. In +Shakespeare's _Henry VI._ Queen Margaret makes, with reference to the +Duke of York, this bitter play of words:-- + + "Off with his head and set it on York gates; + So York may overlook the town of York." + +One very interesting practice in connection with the mediaeval system +of law and policing was the use of the right of sanctuary. The +monasteries, the Minster, and all churches had this right of giving a +sacrosanct safety to criminals and others flying from their pursuers, +whether officers of the law or the general mob, whose right, be it +noted, it was to join in the chase after offenders (the "hue and cry") +and help to arrest them. Provided the pursued reached the prescribed +area, which, in some cases, as at the nationally famous sanctuary of +St. John of Beverley, prevailed for some distance from the church +itself, he was safe from his pursuers. Hexham Abbey and Beverley +Minster still exhibit their sanctuary chairs or frith-stools. In the +north door of Durham Cathedral there is an ancient, massive knocker, +the rapper, of the form of a ring, being held in the mouth of a +grotesque head. The frith-stool, to which the seeker went at once, +stood near the high altar at which he made his declarations on oath. +His case was carefully investigated and often sanctuary-seekers were +allowed to exile themselves from the kingdom. The coroner was the +public officer of inquiry. The Church took every care that the crime +of breaking the sanctuary so granted was regarded not at all lightly. +The right of sanctuary, after being changed to apply to certain towns +only--among them York--continued till it was ended by law in the reign +of James I. + +Condemned heretics were burnt[2] at Tyburn, the site of local +executions, some way from Micklegate Bar along the main south road. + + +B. PARLIAMENTARY AND NATIONAL LIFE + +According to the general principle, the King was the ultimate and +absolute owner and ruler of the land and people. The rights, +liberties, customs, and powers possessed by individuals and corporate +bodies were specified parts of the royal power which the King had +granted on some consideration or other. Thus, knights, archbishops, +and nobles received lands and rights in return for the provision, when +required, of military service by themselves and a certain force of +their retainers, except that no personal military service was required +from the archbishop from the very nature of his calling. The +monasteries and other Church institutions had many possessions and +rights. The Church, which was established in the realm before +Parliament, was a very great owner of land. The authorities of cities, +with their trade-guilds, received the right of trading, or holding +markets, and of levying tolls or municipal taxes. They received also +the right of making their own local laws or bye-laws. These +authorities, whether individuals or corporate bodies, to whom rights +and liberties were granted, had their own officers and laws +controlling their liberties. Besides the King's peace, there were, +therefore, the jurisdictions of these various rights granted from the +supreme royal authority. + +[Illustration: KNIGHTS DOING PENANCE AT A SHRINE. +_From a Fifteenth-Century Manuscript._] + +From York there went to the national Parliament the lord Archbishop of +York, the lord Abbot of St. Mary's Abbey, those nobles who resided in +the city and were Lords Temporal, and the two representatives of the +commonalty of the city. The body of Lords Spiritual was of great +importance in the Middle Ages. The Convocation of the lords of the +Church had itself a share in the governing of the nation as well as of +the Church, its own particular sphere. The Church was one of the most +powerful and richest factors in national affairs. The clear division +of the Parliament of the Middle Ages into three groups reflects the +sharp divisions that there were between the three great classes of the +nation--the nobles, the clergy, the people. + +In the fifteenth century, as in other centuries, York was frequently +visited by the King. From time to time, as when the King and Court +proceeded north during the wars with Scotland, Parliament was moved to +York, where it was held in the Chapter House of the Minster. Six of +the seven windows of the Chapter House contain their original stained +glass, in which appear shields of King Edward I. and members of the +Court. The Chapter House was used as a Parliament house during the +reigns of the first three Edwards. The King, in mediaeval times, was +actual commander-in-chief, and it suited him well for Parliament to +meet in the political capital of the north, so that he could continue +the civil administration while conducting warfare in the north. + +Henry IV. was in York on several occasions, chiefly because of +rebellions. The house of Percy, which engaged frequently in revolt and +faction, led the rebellion of 1403 in which Henry Percy, called +Hotspur, was killed at the battle of Shrewsbury. Harry Hotspur, whom +Shakespeare made in accordance with tradition the fiery and valorous +counterpart of Prince Hal, Henry IV.'s heir and Falstaff's companion, +was buried in the Minster. When Archbishop Scrope headed a revolt, +also not unconnected with the Percies, from York and was arrested, +Henry IV. hastened to York, and the popular archbishop was executed +forthwith, a royal and sacrilegious deed that caused intense +indignation especially among the people of York, who for some months +lost the right of local government as a result of this affair. + +The Wars of the Roses (1455-1485), a long internecine feud between +kings, lords, and landed gentry, affected the towns but little. The +baronage suffered heavily, the middle class lightly. No town ever +stood a siege, while Towton was the only battle in which the common +soldiers had heavy losses. Warwick made it a practice to spare the +commoners, whereby he conciliated the people. Under Yorkist rule, +after the decisive battle of Towton (1461) England can be described as +not unprosperous. One very notable feature was the immense amount of +building that was done, and that not so much of castles, as of country +houses, churches, and cathedrals, so many of which splendidly adorn +the land to-day. The only people seriously affected by the Wars of the +Roses were the main participants. Compared with modern warfare, which +is unabated scientific extermination, mediaeval warfare was often of +the nature of a mild adventure. The size of the opposing forces was +very small even compared with the scanty population. The chief weapons +were lances, swords, long-bows, and cross-bows, but protective armour +was worn. The fighting was generally sporadic and desultory and the +casualties were very few. + +It was at York that Henry VI. awaited the news of the result of the +battle of Towton. Edward IV. entered York as victor after the battle. +York, like other cities at the time, took care to maintain the good +graces of both sets of combatants. Although through the Wars of the +Roses national parliamentary government ultimately broke down and gave +way to the strong personal kingship of Henry VII., the towns, which +actually suffered little, increased their local powers. Civic +government developed much and trade flourished during the century. + +York had a good friend in Richard, Duke of Gloucester. The city was +very loyal to him and helped him by raising troops in his support. +When he visited York he was received with immense festivity and +magnificence. The Mayor and Corporation in their correspondence with +him addressed him as "our full tender and especial good lord." They +had to thank him "for his great labour now late made unto ye king's +good grace for the confirmation of the liberties of this city." But +for his death at Bosworth, York would have benefited greatly by his +munificence. + +Henry VII. was in York in 1487. After Bosworth (1485) the city had +assured him of its loyalty. The marriage of Henry of Richmond, who +represented the House of Lancaster, and Elizabeth, daughter of Edward +IV. Duke of York, fittingly followed the conclusion of the Wars of the +Roses. With Henry VII.'s reign a new era began in English history. + +Throughout the century the city could not avoid contact with rival +parties and powers. In spite, however, of rebellions and the Wars of +the Roses, the capital of the north managed generally to steer a safe +course through many storms. + +Other links with national affairs were the periodic visits of the +King's judges who travelled on circuit over the country, stopping at +important centres to hold assize there. Their duties consisted not +only in settling matters of litigation, but also in reviewing the way +in which all the King's affairs were being conducted in each locality. +They supervised the work of the sheriffs. + +Galtres Forest and the Fish Pond, both royal property, helped to +furnish the king's table with food. From the royal Larder at York such +foodstuffs as venison, game, and fish were despatched salted to +wherever the King required them. + + +C. BUSINESS LIFE + +Business, in one form or another, was the occupation of the majority +of the citizens. There were a few capitalist merchants, many traders, +and thousands of employed workpeople, skilled and unskilled. Such +street names as Spurriergate, Fishergate, Girdlergate, Hosier Lane, +and Colliergate would suggest that men in the same trade had their +premises in the same quarter, possibly in the same street. + +The English middle class, which had taken form in the fourteenth +century, was well established in the fifteenth century, when it became +so important as to be an appreciable factor in the national life. The +middle class arose through currency, the use of money to bring in more +money by trading. Trade became the monopoly of the middle class, the +successful master-traders. It was men of this class, the capitalist +employers, the merchants and traders who were the mayors and aldermen, +who ruled the city. The exclusiveness, which was eminently +characteristic of this class, appeared especially in their attitude +towards national taxation and in that towards trade organisations. +With regard to taxation the towns persistently avoided the assessment +of individual traders, who did not wish to disclose the amount of +their wealth, by agreeing that the whole town should pay to the +Exchequer a sum to be raised by the Mayor and Corporation. The middle +class achieved its aims politically by transformation from within. +Instead of making a direct assertive attack, these master-traders +usually so developed their own interests within the established +institutions (such as the guilds) that they ultimately gained their +object quietly and shrewdly. This class established itself against the +King and the nobles on the one hand, and during the century in +effective fashion against the workers on the other. This appears in +the more definite distinctions of class among the citizens that arose. +The masters had got the control of the guilds into their own power. +While maintaining the original outward appearance of the guilds as +societies of men affected by the same interests in daily life, the +employers had actually become a powerful vested class that ruled both +city and guild life. In the fifteenth century the workmen were +founding fraternities of their own. + +Memory of the Jews, the money-dealers of other times, survived if only +from the harrowing stories of the various persecutions that had taken +place all over England, and not least in York. The Jews had been +expelled from the country by Edward I., with the encouragement of the +Church, in 1290, partly for economic, partly for religious reasons. +Their supplanters, the Italian bankers, whom Edward favoured, soon +acquired from their trading an unpopularity equal to that of the Jews +as traders. The rise of the middle class had coincided with the +release of money in coin from the hoards of the Jews, and from the +coffers of the Knights Templars, whose order was abolished in 1312. + +The merchant and trading class, apart from the nobility and the +Church, formed the bulk of the people of the nation. They were the +solid part of the nation, that paid taxes, that supplied clerks, +monks, and priests, that liberally supported the Church, that kept the +nation progressive and solvent by commercial undertakings. + +The professions, as we use the term to-day, had not as yet attained +sufficient importance for them to form a distinct class division. +There were a few capable physicians, but generally the practice of +medicine was shared by the Church and the barber-surgeons. Priests and +officers of the Church had the privilege peculiar to the Church by +which even a poor but intellectually capable man could rise to high +office and become the social equal of nobles. Architecture was +practised by master-masons under the patronage of leading +ecclesiastics and nobles. Teaching was nearly all the work of the +Church. The lawyers, however, were already to be distinguished from +those who gained profit by dealing in goods, for they made profit from +transactions on paper, from managing the interests of others, from +trading in their own acute mental powers. + +The wool trade was by far the most extensive and flourishing trade of +England in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This was the trade +that made England great commercially. Wool was England's raw material +and the source of most of her wealth. The numerous monasteries had +huge sheep-farms. Edward III. had encouraged foreign clothworkers to +settle in England (in York, as in other places). The first York +craftsmen to be incorporated were the weavers, who received a charter +from Henry II., in return for which they paid a tax to the King for +the customs and liberties he granted them. The weavers were the +largest and wealthiest body of traders. + +Guilds had developed from societies of masters and men engaged in the +same trade, to the trade-guilds, which in the fourteenth century were +trade corporations, the lower ranks of members being the workers, the +higher ranks, including the office-holders, the richer merchants, the +capitalist employers. The ruling committees of the trade-guilds made +regulations and generally governed their particular trades. Despite +the power of the guilds the municipal authority maintained its +supremacy in civic government because it enforced the ordinances of +the trades. Moreover, disputes between the guilds themselves gave the +city authority opportunities of increasing its power, of which it +availed itself. + +The system of serfdom, by which serfs were bound to a particular +domain and owned by their overlord, had not yet ceased. Nearly all the +workmen of York, however, were freemen, _i.e._ they had full and +complete citizenship. The members of the councils of aldermen and +councillors, the mayors and city officials, the members of the +trade-guilds, were all freemen. + +In the fifteenth century the wealthy and important employers and +traders governed the guilds. They were in the position and had the +power to regulate the conduct in every way of their own trades. Thus, +rules were laid down as to the terms of admission of men to the +practice of a trade; the government of the guild and the meetings of +the members and ruling committees; the moral standard of the members +in their work and trafficking; the payments of masters to workers; the +prices of goods to be sold to the public or other traders; the rates +of fines and the amount of confiscations inflicted on those who broke +the rules of their guild; the terms on which strangers, English and +foreign, were to be allowed to pursue their trade in the city; whether +Sunday trading was to be permitted or not; the duties of the +searchers; everything incident to the share of the guild in the city's +production of pageant plays. + +The question of the terms of the residence and trading of strangers +received constant consideration. The city had, in many respects, +complete local autonomy and rules were made with regard to strangers +who came to carry on their trades in the city. From 1459 aliens had, +by municipal law, to live in one place only, at the sign of the Bull +in Coney Street, unless they received special permission from the +Mayor to reside elsewhere. The guilds were ruled by masters and +wardens. They had their various officials. The searchers were officers +appointed to observe that the rules of the trade were being carried +out properly. They took care that only authorised members pursued the +trade of the guild of which they were the officers. They vigilantly +watched the conduct of the members, and it was their duty to take +action in case of infringement of the rules and to bring offenders +before the Mayor in his court. + +The wealthy trading class all over the country did great and lasting +work in founding grammar schools and building or rebuilding cathedrals +and churches or parts of them. There was a social side to the guilds. +This appeared in the public processions and the performances of plays, +the morality and mystery plays of mediaeval England. There was also a +strong religious side to the guilds. The processions and plays were +fundamentally religious. The Church's festivals were recognised as +holidays. Much money was given and bequeathed for the foundation of +chantries, which with their priests have their place also in the +educational life of the city. + +The merchants lived well. They were rich from trade, and through the +corporate guilds governed their own trades both legislatively and +executively; the highest offices in civic life were theirs; they lived +in houses as splendid as they cared to have them; they furnished their +homes with quantities of silver plate, both for use and for ornament, +for this was the most suitable outlet for superfluous wealth in days +when modern facilities for investment did not exist; they wore clothes +of fine material, richly trimmed; they were honoured citizens; they +were earnest in religion and their benevolence to the Church is very +remarkable. They were forming a lesser aristocracy now that they were +becoming owners of agricultural land as well as town property. They +had the benefits of wealth and comfort, while they were shrewd enough +to avoid the penalties of advertised riches. A typical instance of a +successful merchant who rose to high positions was that of Sir Richard +Yorke, who was Mayor of the staple of Calais and Lord Mayor of York in +1469 and 1482, and member of Parliament. A window in St. John's +Church, Micklegate, in commemoration of him is still to be seen. A +shield bearing his arms (azure, saltire argent) appears in the glass; +another bears the arms of the Merchants of the Wool staple of Calais. +He was knighted by Henry VII. when that king was in York in 1487. + +Masters took apprentices, who themselves generally became masters in +their turn. The conditions of apprenticeship were ruled in detail by +the guilds. + +When a workman became a skilled artisan he was called a journeyman,[3] +that is, a man who earned a full day's pay for his work. The legal +hours of work were, from March to September, from 5 a.m. to 7.30 p.m., +with half an hour for breakfast, and an hour and a half for dinner. +Saturday was universally a half-holiday. There were 44 working weeks +in a year and, consequently, a total of holidays and non-working times +of eight weeks. The burden of the very long hours was increased by the +great physical exertion required from men who had to do much that is +now done with the help of machinery. The strain was not always +unrecognised, for the Minster workmen were allowed a period of rest +during the working day. + +Some of the men engaged in the construction of the Minster were not +York men. The men employed there were by exception under +ecclesiastical control. They were not governed by any of the city +trade guilds. The master-mason was in charge of the whole of the +building operations. + +A list of trades in the city will suggest the kinds of business there +were. Some of the names will go far to explain some modern surnames. + +_Wool Trades_:-- + Mercers. + Tapiters and couchers (makers of tapestry, hangings, carpets, and + coverlets). + Fullers. + Cardmakers. + Littesters (dyers, listers). + Shermen (shearmen). + Sledmen. + Dyers. + Weavers of woollen. + +_Leather Trades_:-- + Barkers (tanners). + Curriers. + +_Building Trades_:-- + Carpenters, wrights and joiners. + Plasterers. + Tilers. + Ironmongers. + Painters. + Glaziers. + +_Food Trades_:-- + Spicers (grocers--_Cf._ French _epicier_). + Cooks and waterleaders. + Baxters (bakers). + Vintners and taverners. + Bouchers (butchers). + Pulters (poultry-dealers). + Wine-drawers (carters of wine). + Sauce-makers.[4] + +_Outfitting Trades_:-- + Tailors. + Skinners (vestment makers). + Glovers. + Hosiers. + Hatmakers. + Capmakers. + Cordwainers (cobblers). + Saddlers. + Girdlers and nailers. + Spuriers and lorimers (makers of spurs, bits for bridles, etc.). + +_Armour Trades_:-- + Armourers. + Smiths. + Bowers and flecchers (fletchers)--(makers of bows and arrows. _Cf._ + French _fleche_). + +_Household Trades_:-- + Coopers. + Pewterers and founders. + Chaundlers (makers of candles and wax images). + Potters. + Culters. + Bucklemakers, sheathers, bladesmiths. + Drapers. + Linenweavers. + +_Miscellaneous Trades_:-- + Goldsmiths. + Latoners (workers in the metal called latten). + Barber-surgeons (the mediaeval medical practitioners). + Parchemeners and bookbinders. + Scriveners. + Writers of texts. + Ostlers (inn-holders). + Shipwrights. + Fishers and mariners. + +Artist craftsmen of York supplied most of the churches of the north of +England with their beautiful vessels, furniture, and ornaments. In the +workshops of the city, the metropolis of the north, there were worked +and made embroidered vestments of all kinds, engraved chalices and +vessels of silver and of gold, and carved work, including statues and +images in stone, wood, and wax. Bells were cast with beautiful +lettering. Brasses for grave-slabs were made bearing finely designed +effigies. + +Marketing, _i.e._ trading, was done mostly at the frequent and regular +markets and at the fairs. The right to hold a market or a fair was +among the rights obtained by means of royal charters. While markets +were held once or several times a week or every day, fairs took place +more rarely and at some of the most important and popular holiday +seasons of the year, like Whitsuntide. Fairs attracted a much larger +public than the markets. + +In the city there were markets in different places for different kinds +of produce on certain days. For instance, in the fifteenth century +there was a market of live-stock at Toft Green every Friday. The +public squares, called Thursday Market and Pavement, were used as +market-places. Some markets were held in the streets. Stalls were set +up on which to exhibit the wares. The ordinary foodstuffs and +materials, just as in the open market held at the present time in the +long and broad Parliament Street, formed of Thursday Market and +Pavement and the space formerly occupied by a compact mass of old +houses between the two originally distinct squares, were the things +sold and bought at the mediaeval markets: such as butter, meat, fish, +linen, leather, corn, poultry, herbs. Some, for example butchers' +shops, kept open market every day. Craftsmen worked goods at the +premises of their merchant employers, which usually combined the +latters' home and workshop; it was chiefly at the markets and fairs +that these goods were sold. + +Markets and fairs were controlled by the authority, whether municipal +or archiepiscopal, that possessed the right of holding them. Again, +particular care was taken to ensure preference being obtained by the +citizens over strangers. The Lammas fairs were held under the +authority of the Archbishops, who assumed the rule of the city and +suburbs for the period of the fair. The sheriffs' authority, in +consequence, was suspended for that period. The Archbishop, meanwhile, +took tolls, and all cases that arose during the holding of the fair +were judged by a court set up by him. + +Fairs combined both trading and entertainments, for they were held on +public holidays. They fostered trade and served to provide a change +from the ordinary routine of life. It was perhaps at fairs that +mediaeval people were at their noisiest, for these were occasions when +they gave themselves up unrestrainedly to merry-making, wild and +clamorous. Strolling players and the whole variety of mediaeval +entertainers set up their stands and booths, and amused the dense +surging crowds that thronged the squares and streets. + +York had a large overseas trade, especially in wool and manufactured +cloth. Some of its merchants owned property abroad. Some went abroad +and encountered perils by sea and perils from foreigners on the +continent. York traded with the Low Countries, where Veere (near +Middleburg) and Dordrecht were ports that ships entered to discharge +cargoes loaded on the York quays. The trade between York and the +Baltic ports was much greater than that done with them from any other +English port. + +Foreign sailors were to be seen in the streets of fifteenth-century +York; foreign goods were handled in the city. Wines were imported from +France, fine cloths from Flemish towns, silks, velvet, and glass from +Italy, while from the Baltic came timber and fur. From the North sea +came fish, much of which was brought to York from the coast by +pack-horse across the moors. The herring was an important article of +food. + +Money was measured in marks, shillings, and pence. Of the current +coins those in gold were called the angel, half-angel, the noble, +half-noble, and quarter-noble; in silver there were the groat, +half-groat, the penny, and half-penny. The local branch of the royal +Mint was housed within the Castle. The building containing it was +rebuilt in accordance with an order of 1423. The coins from this mint, +which was at work during a large part of the fifteenth century, bore +distinctive marks to show the place of minting. Silver coins bore the +inscription CIVITAS EBORACI. The archbishops continued to use their +privilege of coining money. + +The following extracts, interesting for the substance and the literary +form, are taken from the city records as published by the Surtees +Society, vols. 120, 125, "The York Memorandum Book." + +From the ordinances of the Pewterers, 1416. + +"Ordinaciones pewderariorum. + +"Ceux sont les articles de lez pewderers de Lounders, les queux les +genz de mesme lartifice dyceste citee Deverwyk ount agrees pur agarder +et ordeiner entre eux par deux ans passez, devant Johan Moreton, +maire." + +Others of the earlier ordinances are in Anglo-French; many are in +Latin. Later ordinances are in English as in the case of those of the +Carpenters, 1482, of which the following are the opening paragraphs:-- + +"In the honour of God, and for the weile of this full honourabill cite +of York, and of the carpenters inhabit in the same at the special +instaunce and praier of" ... (here follows a list of names) ... +"carpenters of this full nobill cite, ar ordeyned the xxij^ti day of +Novembyr in the xxij^ti yere of the reing of king Edward the iv. in +the secund tym of the mairalte of the ryght honorabill Richard York +mair of the said cite, by the authorite of the holl counsell of the +said full honourable cite, for ewyr to be kept thez ordinaunces +filluyg, + +"Furst, for asmoch as here afore ther hath beyn of old tym a +broderhode had and usyd emong the occupacion and craft above said, the +wich of long continuaunce have usid, and as yit yerly usis to fynd of +thar propir costes a lyght of diwyrs torchis in the fest of Corpus +Christi day, or of the morn aftir, in the honour and worship of God +and all saintes, and to go in procession with the same torchis with +the blessid sacrament from the abbey foundyd of the Holy Trenite in +Mykylgate in the said cite on to the cathedrall chyrch of Saint Petir +in the same cite; and also have done and usyd diwyrs odir right full +good and honourabill deides, as her aftir it shall more playnly apeir. +It is ordenyd and esyablyshid be the said mair, aldermen, and all the +holl counsell of the said full nobill cite, be the consent and assent +of all tham of the said occupacion in the said cite, that the said +fraternite and bredirhode shalbe here after for ewyr kept and +continend as it has beyn in tymis passid, and that every brodir thar +of shall pay yerly for the sustentacion thar of vjd, that is to say, +at every halff yer iij^d, providyng allway that every man of the said +occupacion within the said cite shalnot be compellid ne boundeyn to be +of the said fraternite ne brodirhood, ne noyn to be thar of bot soch +as will of thar free will." + + +D. RELIGIOUS LIFE + +[Illustration: ADMINISTERING HOLY COMMUNION WITH THE HOUSEL CLOTH. +_From a Fourteenth-Century Manuscript._] + +Insistence can hardly be too great on the tremendous and wide-spread +influence of the Church in the Middle Ages. The greatness of the +Church continued during the fifteenth century; it derived from the +traditions of an age when absolute power prevailed, from the +undisputed usage of centuries, from a logical system of dogmas, and +from international sanctions. The ornate services, allegiance to the +distant Pope, the immense hold of the priests on the laity, the large +territorial possessions of ecclesiastical bodies, impressed the people +with the power of the Church. These things came to the fifteenth +century as established facts. The spirit of revolt indeed had appeared +with Wiclif and his followers in the fourteenth century, but Lollardy +met with severe repressive opposition. It was not till Tudor times +that the new spirit, stimulated by the Revival of Learning, the +Reformation, the invention of printing from type, geographical +discovery, the suppression of long years of internecine warfare, and +the establishment of a strong government, had accumulated enough +energy to burst the bonds of mediaevalism. The fifteenth century was at +the end of an age. + +It is interesting to note that Wiclif (_d._ 1384), one of England's +greatest men, was ordained in York. He stands out as a "daring and +inspired pioneer" who strove to provide the land with priests who were +true and earnest shepherds. He attempted the superhuman task of +reviving true religion among a people that had become to a certain +extent dull, irreverent, ignorant, and thoroughly superstitious. + +By the fifteenth century the Church was suffering from those ills +which needed and later gained drastic treatment. The Church had done +almost miraculous work in the first few centuries of its existence, if +we think only of the success with which it substituted its system of +morality for that of pagan Rome. The fifteenth century followed those +centuries when the Church of England, under the direction of great and +earnest men, was doing its work with conspicuous success. Yet, the +very forces that enabled the Church to make itself a living power in +the Dark Ages, the early centuries embracing the Fall of Rome, the +Empire of Charlemagne, and the kingship of Alfred the Great, became +harmful to its continued activity beneficially in many directions. The +inadequacy of its work in these centuries appears in the lack of +spiritual activity and in the predominance of the material side of +religion. The mediaeval Church suffered badly from excessive +conservatism, which led towards sloth and a complacent inactivity. The +morbid element showed itself during the fifteenth century mainly in +lack of real earnestness, in the enjoyment of luxurious laziness, and +in the steady neglect of the age to revise its Christianity. The +Church moreover, with its complete segregation from other estates of +the realm had become unpopular socially, while in its political and +temporal aspects it had become an immense corporation with strong +vested interests. Kings found it necessary to fight it; religious +reformers had to rise up and overcome every form of repression used +against them. The decadence is exemplified incidentally in the +increasing poverty in material and expression of the monastic +chronicles, which practically died out by 1485. The period of turmoil +and change was yet to come. + +Such was the general state of affairs. Nevertheless the forms and +practices of the Church continued. The granting of indulgences and +pardons, the inexhaustible demand for Peter's pence, went on +vigorously. A recognised means of publicly raising funds was employed +in February 1455-6, when the Archbishop proclaimed an indulgence of +forty days to those who would help the Friars Preachers, whose +cloister and buildings including 34 cells together with their books, +vestments, jewels, and sacred vessels, had been destroyed by fire. + +The faith of the ordinary citizen was, however, intact. The Church +came into the people's life daily. The citizen could not walk away +from his home without seeing a church, and meeting a priest or a +friar. He attended the Church services and fulfilled his religious +duties. Baptism, marriage, death, illness, public rejoicing, +soldiering, dramatic entertainments, the language of daily life--all +these bore the stamp of the Church. The very days of relief from work +were holy-days, feast days in the Church's calendar. Taking part in +the public processions on Corpus Christi Day, a great annual holiday, +was a religious exercise; at the same time this day was devoted +especially to entertainment. Wills of the century show that the +citizens lived as religiously as formerly. This spirit is seen perhaps +most characteristically in the numbers of candles that wealthy +citizens bequeathed for use in church, and in the sums of money they +left to specified clergy and other "religious" for the provision of +masses for the souls of themselves, their wives and families, and for +those for whom they ought to pray. Masses were thus provided for by +hundreds, and in some cases by thousands. The following extracts from +the will[5] of a rich citizen and merchant of York, who had been +sheriff and mayor of the city, show admirably the spirit of a member +of the middle class in the fifteenth century:-- + +"In the name of God Amen. The 4th day of September in the year of our +Lord 1436, I Thomas Bracebrig, Citizen and merchant, York, sound of +mind and having health of body, establish and dispose my Will in this +manner. First, I command and bequeath my soul to God Almighty, to the +blessed Mary, Mother of God and ever Virgin, and to All Saints, and my +body to be buried in the parish church of St. Saviour in York, before +the image of the Crucifix of our Lord Jesus Christ, next to the bodies +of my wives and children lately buried there, for having which burial +in that place I bequeath to the fabric of the same parish church 20s. +Also I bequeath for my mortuary my best garment with hood appropriate +for my body. Also I bequeath to Master John Amall, Rector of the said +parish church for my tithes and oblations forgotten, and that he may +more specially pray for my soul, 20s. Also I bequeath for two candles +to burn at my exequies 30 lbs. of wax. Also 10 torches to burn around +my body on the said day of my burial, and that each torch shall +contain in itself 14 lbs. of pure wax.... Also I bequeath to 10 men +carrying or holding the said 10 Torches in my exequies 10 Gowns, so +that each of the said 10 poor men shall have in his gown and hood +3-1/2 ells of russet or black cloth, and that the aforesaid gowns +shall be lined with white woollen cloth. And I will that my Executors +shall pay for the making of the same gowns with hoods.... Also I will +and ordain that two fit and proper chaplains shall be found to +celebrate for my soul, and the souls of my parents, wives, children, +benefactors, and for the souls of those for whom I am bound or am +debtor, as God shall know in that respect, and for the souls of all +the faithful departed, for one whole year, immediately after my +decease, in my parish church...." + +The will is a very long one. Altogether 470 lbs. of wax, to last 15 +years, would be necessary to satisfy the requirements of the will. 765 +masses are specially arranged for; besides, provision was made for +masses to be said by more than 21 chaplains, the religious of 5 +priories for women, and by every friar and priest of the four orders +of friars in York. There were also bequests to 2 anchoresses, 1 +anchorite, and 1 hermit, to pray for the soul of the testator and the +souls aforesaid. Bequests were made to the poor of St. Saviour's; to +lepers "in the 4 houses for lepers in the suburbs," to the poor in +maisons-dieu; to the prisoners in the Castle, in the Archbishop's +prison, and in the Kidcote. The testator ordered gifts of coal, wood, +and shoes, and 1000 white loaves of bread, to be made among the poor +and needy. The bequests to relatives and directions to the Executors +occupy a large part of the Will, which is that of a particularly +wealthy and important citizen. Charity, however, was a marked +characteristic of these men who had become rich through trade. With a +generous spirit they put into practice the teachings about giving to +the poor and to prisoners. The amount of money spent in founding +chantries, in paying priests for masses for the departed, testifies to +their faith. + +It was part of the policy of the Church to keep the instruction of the +people, young and old, in its own control. Practically all the +educational work in York during the century was the work of the +Church. + +Through the monasteries and hospitals the Church did valuable work in +feeding the poor, helping the needy, and in educating the poorer +citizens' boys. The royal Hospital of St. Leonard did such work. It +was a peculiar institution, being under the authority of the King, and +containing a sisterhood as well as a brotherhood. It included a +grammar school and a song-school. As an institution it was +self-supporting; food was made on the premises, and the carpenters' +and similar work was done by brethren in the Hospital's own workshops. + +The large number of priests were variously employed. There were +priests who officiated in the monastic churches, in the parish +churches (as rectors and chaplains, of whom there were 300 in York in +1436), in the cathedral where the number of chantry-chapels was very +great and where services were held simultaneously as well as +frequently. Some priests were vicars, that is, while the living or +"cure" of souls was held by the rector, the vicar was the actual +priest in charge, for the rector probably held more than one benefice +and could not serve personally in more than one. Generally it was a +corporate body, like the Dean and Chapter, or a monastery, that was +the rector of a number of livings at the same time. + +Of the many clergy serving the Minster the Dean, who was the +incumbent, ranked first. Much of the revenue of the Dean and Chapter, +the Governing Body, came from landed possessions in York and various +parts of the surrounding country. These possessions, divided into +prebends, provided livings for the thirty-six prebendaries or canons, +who collectively formed the Chapter. Each canon served at the Minster +during a specified portion of the year, when he lived at his residence +at York. The residences of the prebendaries were mostly round the +Minster Close. While his own parish was served vicariously while he +was at York, each canon had a minor-canon or vicar-choral to act as +his deputy at York when he was absent. These vicars-choral formed a +corporate body and lived collegiately in the Bedern. The numerous +chantries in the Minster were served by priests who also lived +collegiately but at St. William's College. The College, at the head of +which was a Provost, was founded about the middle of the century. +Previously these priests had lived in private houses. + +The parish priest was occupied in performing the services in his +church, in hearing confessions, in teaching the children, in visiting, +interrogating, consoling, and ministering the Sacraments to the sick +and dying, and in guiding and sharing the life of his parish +generally. Each parish church had a number of clergy besides the +parish priest attached to it: the number varied from one to ten or +more according to the number of chantries at the church. Each priest +was helped a great deal in parochial affairs by the parish clerk. The +latter was the chief lay official for business in connection with the +parish church. His duties required him to be a man of some education. + +The Archbishop was both bishop of the diocese of York, and head of all +the dioceses which together formed the Northern Province of the two +provinces into which England was divided for the purpose of Church +rule. His diocese formerly extended so far south as to include +Nottingham and Southwell. + +The Archbishop was a Primate and occupied a high position in the +State. Besides being supreme head of the Church in the northern +province, he was a great landowner. He possessed, besides his palace +near the Minster, a number of seats (like Cawood Castle) in the +country. When he was in London he resided at his fine official palace, +York House. The Archbishops were great lords of the realm in every +way. Archbishop Neville, brother of Warwick "the king-maker," +celebrated his installation in 1465 with a very famous feast. The huge +amount and delicacy of the dishes prepared, the number of retainers +employed, the splendour of the scene, which was honoured by the +presence of the Duke of Gloucester and members of some of the most +noble families in the kingdom, all the details of this sumptuous +feast, were intended to impress King Edward IV. with the might of the +Nevilles. + +Ecclesiastical preferment was often a reward for services in other +branches of the service of the State. Sometimes great offices in the +Church and the State were held simultaneously. Thus, Archbishop +Rotherham was also Chancellor of England for a time. Both Richard +Scrope and William Booth, archbishops of the century, had been +lawyers. The appointment of George Neville, who had been nominated +when only twenty-three to the see of Exeter, was a purely political +one, the bestowing of a high and lucrative office on a member of a +noble family that was enjoying the full sunshine of popularity and +power. The King could also benefit from Church positions otherwise +than by presenting them to partisans. During the two and a half years +that the see of York was kept vacant between the time of the execution +of Archbishop Scrope and the appointment of Henry Bowett (in 1407), +the revenues went, in accordance with the established practice, to the +royal purse. + +There were also "clerks," educated men, but not priests, who were in +"minor orders." Many a man, asserting that he was a clerk, made +application for trial by an ecclesiastical court, so as to get the +benefit of the less stringent judgment of the Church courts, to which +belonged the right of dealing with ecclesiastical offenders. + +One abuse within the Church was pluralism, that is, the holding of +more than one office at the same time with the result that the holder +was drawing revenue for work he could not himself do. William Sever, +for instance, while Abbot of St. Mary's, York, became Bishop of +Carlisle. These two high offices, one monastic and the other secular, +he held simultaneously from 1495 to 1502. + +The religious orders were of two kinds, viz. monks (and nuns) who +lived in seclusion in monasteries, abbeys, or convents, and friars, +who lived under a rule but came out into the world to preach and work. +Both kinds took the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience to the +rule (_e.g._, Cistercian or Benedictine, Franciscan or Dominican). Some, +but not all, monks and friars were priests. There were four well-known +orders of mendicant friars, viz. Franciscan (Grey friars, friars +minor), Dominican (Black friars, friars preachers), Carmelite (White +friars), Augustinian (Austin canons). Monks and friars wore sandals, +and long, loose gowns with hoods or cowls which they could pull over +their heads to serve as hats. The alternative titles of some of the +orders of friars came from the colour of their friars' gowns. The +Carmelites used undyed cloth, which was white in comparison with the +black of the Dominicans. The Benedictine monks of St. Mary's Abbey +wore black garments. Their heads were shaved on the crown, the +technical term for which was the tonsure. + +[Illustration: SEMI-CHOIR OF FRANCISCANS. +_From a Fifteenth-Century Manuscript._] + +Monks spent their time in attending the frequent services in the +monastery church, which they entered at the night and early morning +services directly from the dormitories; in copying manuscripts, which +occupied a large part of their day; in contemplation and in study; in +manual work; in recreation. The cloister where work was carried on and +the church were the essential buildings of the monastery. Monastic +life centred in these two places. Its arrangements were dictated by +the purpose of making a religious atmosphere pervade everything; thus +a religious book was read at meals. + +The luxury and laxity that obtained in monastic life were not confined +to the fifteenth century. The Archbishop had frequent occasion in the +fourteenth century to complain, for instance, of the use by monks and +nuns of ornaments, and of clothes of finer material than the +traditional rule permitted. He condemned the wearing of clothes cut to +a worldly pattern. The religious had to be admonished from time to +time not to admit strangers within the cloister, and to conform in all +respects strictly to their rule. + +During the century St. Mary's Abbey contained about sixty monks, +including the Abbot, the supreme head, and the Prior, who held the +second highest office; besides, there was a very large number of +lay-brethren, servants and officers, for in addition to the internal +work at the abbey, there was the management of the abbey estates and +business. Abbots and monks were always keen traders. Altogether the +personnel of St. Mary's might have numbered about two hundred. + +The influence of such a monastery as St. Mary's was very far from +being restricted to affairs within the abbey walls. Through its Abbot +it had a spokesman in the House of Lords. There were cells dependant +on the abbey and often at a distance. The Abbot had a number of +residences in the country and one in London. The abbey itself had +numerous possessions of land and manors in many parts of the country. +This was a principal source of revenue. St. Mary's Abbey also had +jurisdiction over many churches, not only in York and Yorkshire, but +in other counties as well. The other monastic institutions and the +Minster and some of the hospitals, for example St. Leonard's, had +similar rights of jurisdiction and the ownership of land, property, +and churches. + +In some of the churchyards there lived anchorites, anchoresses, and +hermits. These were individuals who chose to live a solitary life +spent in prayer and religious work. Anchorites led a life of strict +seclusion, for they were literally shut in their cells, from the +world. They did not, however, eschew all intercourse with others, for +their solitary lives of devotion, and in some cases of study, gave +them a reputation for wisdom that led people to seek them for their +advice. Permission was given by the Church authorities to those who +took up this mode of life, the assumption of which formed part of a +special service. The Pontifical of Archbishop Bainbridge, who held the +see from 1508 to 1514, contains an office for the Enclosing of an +Anchorite. Hermits lived in less strict seclusion. Their aims were +similar, but they went about in the world doing good works. + +One of the worst features of the religious decadence of the Middle +Ages was the craftiness of such spurious types of men as those whom +Chaucer painted in the Pardoner and the Somonour, and Charles Reade +depicted in the peripatetic "cripples" of "The Cloister and the +Hearth." Chaucer wrote in the true spirit of comedy _mores corrigere +ridendo_, but Langland, his contemporary, who described similar types +of men of State as well as of Church, did so from the point of view of +a moral reformer whose satire is a trenchant weapon. + +There were many other types of religious men, but it must suffice to +refer to Pardoners, who by virtue of papal bulls gave pardons, +expecting, exacting if necessary, a reward in return, and to mention +only palmers and pilgrims, who were seen in York when they came to +visit the shrine of St. William in the Minster. The palmers were +pilgrims who had visited the Holy Land. They liked to wear a +scallop-shell in their broad-brimmed hats as a sign of their extensive +travels. Journeying from shrine to shrine was a favourite occupation, +a professional one, of those pilgrims who loved a wandering and easy +life, seeing the sights and living at the expense of the monastic +hospitality. Some pilgrimages were done by proxy, through the +employment of professional pilgrims. A pilgrimage to a shrine +celebrated for miraculous cures or the efficacy of the spiritual +benefit derived from worshipping at it and invoking the help of the +saint, was for many an exercise of deep religious devotion. There is +no doubt, moreover, that at the shrines of the saints the Church +proved itself a great healer. It was in fact the popular physician. +Apart from surgery, the medical practice of the twentieth century is +in some ways the successor of that of the Church of the fifteenth. + +When very popular religious men died, or when, if they were already +dead as in the case of William, Archbishop of York (who died in 1153 +and was canonised in 1227), popularity sprang up, it was quite usual +for it to be discovered that miracles were being wrought at their +tombs. The case of the popular Archbishop Scrape who was executed is a +typical one. In this way the calendar of saints was enlarged, the +devout had a new interest, the Church maintained its position in the +popular eye and mind, and its funds increased. + +The mediaeval Church, however, appeared perhaps at its best in its +Church services, which drew their effect from the sanctity of the +magnificent building (whether cathedral or parish church), the awe +inspired by the Church politic, the use of Latin and the learned +atmosphere, the religious teaching, and, not least, the imposing +ceremonies, and the ornate ritual performed amid a profusion of +lighted wax candles by priests and dignitaries in resplendent +vestments. + + +E. EDUCATION + +The only school engaged in higher education in York in the century was +St. Peter's School, a very old foundation, where Alcuin, who (in 782) +had carried educational reform to the land of the Franks, had been +master. At this school, which was attached to the cathedral, were +educated those who were to spend their lives in scholarship, +especially, as now, after residence at Oxford or Cambridge; future +priests and clerks; the sons of the nobility and of the more wealthy +members of the merchant class in the city. Other regular schools were +the Grammar School at the royal Hospital of St. Leonard and the one at +Fossgate Hospital. This educational work was one of the most valuable +kinds of public work done by these hospitals. + +A more elementary and less well organised education was given by the +parish priests and the chantry priests, from whom the children of the +city generally, boys and girls, received at least oral instruction. + +Girls usually received a practical upbringing at home. The only +schools for girls were those attached to women's monasteries, of which +there was St. Clement's Nunnery alone in York. + +Educational welfare work, as distinct from direct and organised +class-teaching, was carried on by the friars, the religious men who +lived under a rule but who went out to work in the world, instead of +spending their lives in seclusion as the monks did. The Dominican and +Franciscan Friars played an important part in education by teaching, +especially at the Universities. Education was also a foremost interest +of the Augustinians, who supported a college at Oxford. + +Books, which had all to be written by hand, were scarce. The copying +of manuscripts, which was done mostly in the monasteries, was +laborious work. Instruction was given as a rule orally, but also by +means of pictorial art and drama. The stained-glass windows were more +than ornamental additions to the church building: they were part of +the means of instruction. Mediaeval drama had originated in the +Church's effort to make events described in the gospel more real +through their representation dramatically. + +The teaching of manual skill and craftsmanship was entirely the work +of the masters of the crafts under the general supervision of the +guilds. The work of the age was made beautiful, and being handwork +each piece of work gained the interest of individuality. The details +of architectural ornament, in consequence, show wonderful diversity of +form. The naive spirit of the ordinary handicraft workman was often +reflected in his work. The arts of the goldsmith, silversmith, +bell-founder, vestment-maker (which required elaborate embroidery), +and the sculptor, were practised in York with excellent results. + +There has never been a university of York, although under Alcuin the +school of York was doing work of high quality, work that gained +European fame. Even within the last hundred years, when so many +provincial universities and university colleges have been established, +York, one of the most appropriate places, has not obtained a +university. + +News and information reached the citizens mainly from personal +intercourse. Merchants visiting other cities discussed with fellow +merchants not only their immediate business but also past and current +events. Pilgrims, palmers, and sailors recited their adventures on +distant seas and lands, and told of the wonders of the world. The +ordinary citizen, who read little, depended on conversations with +better-informed citizens and strangers. The city council was +continually in communication with the King and the great officers of +State: information filtered down from the council to the citizens. The +messengers often supplied the latest semi-official news. Officials and +servants attached to the royal service or to that of nobles or of +ecclesiastics (like the Archbishop of York), were the source of much +political gossip. The news of the country passed to and fro between +the city and the monastic lands, the castles, the manors, and the +forests by means of the visits of men who lived at those places. +Markets and fairs and public assemblies, whether the holding of +assizes or on State visits, were occasions for the dissemination of +news. The ordinary citizen gathered news and information also from the +pulpit and from guild and parochial meetings, and from the bellman. +The only authoritative news he received at first hand he got by +listening to the public reading of proclamations. + +In the Middle Ages educated men who had no inclination for the life of +the Church, monastic or secular, nor for landed proprietorship, with +which was combined hunting and soldiering, became clerks. The clerks +in the royal service helped in the work of administration of national +affairs. Tradesmen's sons of ability and opportunity succeeded in +gaining good positions in this service. Nobles also employed clerks. + +Altogether there seems to have been in the fifteenth century good +provision for higher education. The people of the Middle Ages were not +illiterate. The outstanding age of illiteracy (not to mention a host +of other evils) in England was the age that began with the Industrial +Revolution, when statesmen failed to make the public services keep +pace with the rapidly increasing population and the rapid development +of new conditions. That there was as large a public ready and eager to +buy the books that printing from type made possible has been regarded +as a disproof of general illiteracy. The books were published in the +vernacular: the people read them. It was in 1476 that Caxton set up +his press at Westminster. The first printing press established in York +was set up in 1509. + +Nevertheless the general state of education and scholarship in England +in the fifteenth century was at a low level, mainly owing to lack of +enthusiasm and to the limited subjects of study. Natural science was +unable yet to flourish. Mediaeval education was humanistic, but the old +springs of this form of study were nearly dried up. The Greek classics +were entirely lost. Even the few Latin classics that the mediaevals +possessed, they did not understand aright. To Virgil's AEneid they gave +a Christian interpretation! Grammar was the basis of study, which +dealt mainly with such works as those of Cicero, Virgil, Boethius. + +The fifteenth century, the last century of an age, was a backwater in +education as in literature. The great revival was to come. The +fifteenth century was indeed a century of revolution in so far as +under the almost placid surface of continuity and conformity, there +were forces of revolt at work, probing, accumulating knowledge and +experience, perhaps unconsciously, for the day of liberation and +change. The Bible was not yet popularly available. Wiclif had been a +pioneer in the work of translation and publication, but Tyndale and +Coverdale in the sixteenth century supplied what he had aimed at doing +in the fourteenth. The fifteenth century was the quiet dark hour +before the dawn. As Coleridge expressed it: No sooner had the Revival +of learning "sounded through Europe like the blast of an archangel's +trumpet than from king to peasant there arose an enthusiasm for +knowledge, the discovery of a manuscript became the subject of an +embassy: Erasmus read by moonlight because he could not afford a +torch, and begged a penny, not for the love of charity, but for the +love of learning." But even then, when the enthusiasm and the will +were there, such was the dearth of material for learning that, as in +the case of Erasmus, the pioneers had practically nothing to work at +but the classical texts and a few meagre vocabularies with etymologies +of mediaeval scholarship. In 1491 Grocyn began to teach Greek at +Oxford. In 1499 Erasmus first visited England. Referring to his visit +to this country in 1505-6 he wrote: "There are in London five or six +men who are thorough masters of both Latin and Greek; even in Italy I +doubt that you would find their equals." England's position was, +therefore, in this respect a good one. + +[Illustration: ARCHERY.] + + +F. ENTERTAINMENTS + +In the Middle Ages holidays were taken at festivals marked in the +Church calendar. Some feasts, like that of Whitsuntide, were +universally observed. The ordinary length of a festival was eight +days, that is, the full week--the octave. Apart from pilgrimages, the +ordinary people travelled little. Moreover the life and property of +travellers were not altogether secure in the forest land, with the +result that treasure and distinguished people travelled under the care +of an armed escort. A large city like York was practically +self-supporting in public amusements. The fifteenth century saw the +full development of the religious mystery plays, and the allegorical +morality plays, which with their comic interludes had become popular +from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The feast of Corpus +Christi (instituted about 1263) was the most important time in the +year for the playing of these typically mediaeval dramas. Begun more +than three centuries earlier within the Church and performed by the +clergy, as a dramatic reinforcement of the services and preaching, the +mediaeval drama owed its origin mainly to the Church which maintained +its influence as long as this drama continued. It soon came into the +care of laymen, who took part in the productions. In the fifteenth +century, these plays, which were produced almost entirely by laymen, +were so numerous that they were formed in cycles or groups. The texts +of some of the most famous cycles, those of York, Chester, Wakefield, +and Coventry, have survived. The various trade-guilds made themselves +responsible for the production of one pageant of the local cycle, or +two or three guilds joined to produce a pageant, so that the whole +city produced a large number of plays to celebrate the feast of Corpus +Christi. Among its officers a guild had its pageant-master, whose duty +it was to supervise the guild's dramatic work. + +The York plays, the texts dating from the middle of the fourteenth +century, are extant. In 1415 fifty-seven pageant plays were produced. +Productions were made in York down to 1579. The following are examples +taken from among the fifty-seven plays and guilds:-- + +The Shipwrights produced the Building of the Ark, +the Fishers and Mariners " Noah and the Flood, +the Spicers " " Annunciation, +the Tilers " " Birth of Christ, +the Goldsmiths " " Adoration, +the Vintners " " Wedding in Cana, +the Skinners " " entry into Jerusalem, +the Baxters " " Last Supper, +the Tapiters and Couchers " Christ before Pilate, +the Saucemakers " " Death of Judas, +the Bouchers " " Death of Christ, +the Carpenters " " Resurrection, +the Scriveners " " Incredulity of Thomas, +the Tailors " " Ascension, +the Mercers " " Day of Judgment. + +The full cycle gave in dramatic form the leading episodes of the +Scriptures from the Creation to the Last Day. + +While the trade-guilds were thus responsible for individual pageants, +help and control were given by the Guild of Corpus Christi +(inaugurated in 1408 and incorporated in 1459), and the city council. +The guild had a very large number of members, among whom were the +Archbishop, many bishops and abbots and nobles. These dramatic +productions belonged to the religious and social sides of the guilds. +The plays, however, did not always provoke pleasure, for sometimes +members of some of the guilds complained of the financial burden they +were forced to bear in order to produce the plays allotted to them. + +The guilds also took part in public processions with torches on Corpus +Christi Day in celebration of this popular festival. In the +processions, which were closely connected with the religious and +guild-phases of city life, there walked city clergy wearing their +surplices, the master of the Guild of Corpus Christi, the guild +officials, the bearers of the shrine of the guild, the mayor, aldermen +and corporation, and officers and members of the Guild of Corpus +Christi and of the city trade-guilds. As the procession went on its +way litanies and chants were sung by the clergy. The shrine, the +central feature of the procession, was presented in 1449. It was +itself of gilt and had many images some of which were gilded, while +the main ones under the "steeple" were in mother-of-pearl, silver, and +gold: to it were attached rings, brooches, girdles, buckles, beads, +gawds and crucifixes, in gold and silver, and adorned with coral and +jewels. + +On the occasion of the processions and performances of pageants, as at +fairs, the city was filled with a boisterous multitude which turned +what was by tradition a religious exercise and entertainment, to a +time of riotous merry-making, and uncouth disorder. In 1426 a kind of +crusade was preached by a friar minor, William Melton, against the +riotous and drunken conduct of the people at the Corpus Christi +festival. He denounced the disgracing of the festival and affirmed +that the people were forfeiting by their conduct the indulgences +granted for the festival. The result of the friar's crusade was the +holding of a special meeting of the city council, which decided that +the processions and pageants were to be held on separate days, the +pageants on the eve of Corpus Christi, and the procession on the feast +itself. Formerly both had taken place on the same day. + +The pageants were produced in suitable parts of the city. Stages on +wheels were brought to these places, some of them open spaces, others +main streets. The stages, which were the work of citizen workmen, were +of three storeys, the central and principal one, the stage proper, +representing the earth. Demons, in gaudy attire, came up from the +flame-region of the lowest storey; divine messengers and personages +came down from the star and cloud adorned tipper storey. The +tiring-room was below and behind the stage. The acting was by members +of the guilds. They, no doubt, practised here, as elsewhere, the +ranting delivery of their speeches so denounced by Hamlet in his +critical address to the Players, whom he admonished to speak +"trippingly on the tongue" and not to "out-Herod Herod." There are +several references in Shakespeare to these plays of the Middle Ages. +For instance, in _Twelfth Night_: + + "Like to the old Vice + ...... + Who with dagger of lath + In his rage and his wrath, + Cries, Ah, ah! to the devil." + +and in _Henry V._: + + "... this roaring devil i' the old play + that every one may pare his nails with a wooden dagger." + +Stands for spectators were erected by private enterprise for profit in +many places in the city. The general assembly, preparatory to the +beginning of the performances {original had "performanes"}, took place +on Pageant Green, now called Toft Green (which lies behind that side +of Micklegate which is opposite Holy Trinity). The first performances +were made at the gates of Holy Trinity Priory (on the west side of the +river); there were four performances in Micklegate (a street near the +Priory); four in Coney Street (the main street on the east side of the +river)--and likewise performances in other parts of the city. The last +three performances took place at the gates of the Minster; in Low +Petergate, and in Pavement, which was one of the city market squares. + +When Richard III. came to York in 1483, part of his entertainment +consisted of performances of pageants. + +The only other public dramatic entertainments were crude, coarse, +popular plays, done by strolling players. A mediaeval crowd at fair +time was entertained by mountebanks, tumblers, and similar rough +makers of unrefined mirth. + +The Corporation had a band of minstrels in its service. + +Of physical games archery was the most practised. This was the +national physical exercise, one which had helped the English soldiers +to gain a great reputation for themselves, as at Agincourt (1415). At +York the "butts," where men practised archery, were outside the city +walls. + + +G. CLASSES + +Class divisions were well marked. They appeared in manners, in dress, +and in occupation. + +Fashions varied considerably as the century progressed. There were +close-fitting dresses and loose ones, small head-dresses like the caul +(a jewelled net to bind in the hair) and high and broad erections that +went to the other extreme. Men now wore their hair long; later they +had it close-cropped. Perhaps the most wonderful fashion was that +which men followed in wearing hose of different colours. With all the +vagaries of fashion the most striking feature of dress was the use of +rich and a manifold variety of colours. Excepting the case of the +dress of the religious, which was generally of a sombre hue, colour +characterised men's clothes as much as it did the dresses of women. +The doublet was the coat of the time. Sleeves were generally big. Long +and pointed shoes were characteristic, but it was the cloak that +proved so effective a piece of dress, the cloak that has such scenic +possibilities, that can so nicely express character. There were only +few kinds of personal ornament. The most usual were brooches, belts, +chains, and pendants, and especially finger-rings, of which the signet +ring was a popular form. + +The nobles, great landowners, in many cases of Norman origin, were +lords over a considerable number of people. York, being a royal city, +escaped many of the troubles consequent on rule by an immediate +overlord. Besides himself, his family, and personal servants, a lord +provided for a retinue of armed retainers, who formed a kind of +body-guard and a force to serve the king as occasion demanded; in +addition, important household officials, such as secretaries and +treasurers. Among noblemen's followers there were many dependents, +some, no doubt, parasites, but a number, especially if literary men, +in need of patronage to help them to live as well as to pursue their +vocation. + +[Illustration: AN ABBOT.] + +The different kinds of religious men have already been mentioned from +archbishops and abbots to the scurrilous impostors who used a +religious exterior to rob poor people, at whose expense they lived +well a wandering, loose, hypocritical life. In York, there were monks +and friars, cathedral, parochial, and chantry priests, and clerks. The +monastic life was a recognised profession. In the monasteries there +were, besides regular monks, novices or those who aspired to take the +full monastic vows, and, especially in the fifteenth century, by which +time the importance of lowly, arduous service for the brethren and +personal labour had lapsed, a very large number of semi-religious and +lay brethren, who were really servants to the regular monks. In the +fifteenth century the religious houses were extremely wealthy. Some of +the monks were of noble birth. Nobles, when travelling, usually lodged +at the monastic houses, which were dotted all over England. The kings +resided often at abbeys when visiting the provinces. Richard III., +when Duke of Gloucester, resided at the Austin Friary in York. + +The one monastic house for women was St. Clement's Nunnery. There +were, moreover, sisterhoods in the hospitals of, for example, St. +Leonard and St. Nicholas. + +St. Leonard's Hospital, among its many functions, was a home of royal +pensioners. + +The townspeople were chiefly merchants and tradesmen and those they +employed, and the wives and families of all of them. Men of this type, +both rich and poor, rose to important positions in trade and city +life, and in the King's service. Some entered the service of nobles. +Great dignity was attached to the higher positions of authority in +city and guild life. Trade led to wealth and increased comfort and a +higher social state. Men in the King's service received preferment +more often than direct monetary reward. + +Women had only the monastic life to enter as a profession. They could +become full members of a number of the York trade-guilds. The social +position of women in the retrograde fifteenth century fully agrees +with the absence of women from among those who achieved notability in +the city during the century. + +The most interesting type of citizens was that composed of the +freemen, who formed the vast majority of the inhabitants. As the name +implies, they were historically the descendants of the men who in +earlier times were freed from serfdom. It was the freemen who, through +the Mayor and Corporation, paid rent to the King for the city, its +rights and possessions. There are still, it may be noted, freemen of +the city, distinct from those distinguished men who have received its +honorary freedom. The main privileges of the mediaeval freemen included +the right of trading in the city, and of voting. They also had rights +over the common lands attached to the city, and they were eligible to +fill the offices of local civic government if thought wealthy enough +to be elected into such a "close self-elected corporation." + +Soldiers of the royal army were stationed in York at the Castle. The +Wars of the Roses, wars of kings and nobles, lasted from 1455 to 1485 +and, although York itself hardly experienced the warfare, it saw +contingents of the forces of both sides, as well as the leaders and +royal heads of both parties. + +There lived in the city a number of men in the royal service. Some +worked at the administrative offices of the royal forest of Galtres, +Davy Hall, where the chief officer himself dwelt. There were also the +men who worked at the royal Fish Pond near which was Fishergate in +which street most of these men lived. + +Those afflicted with leprosy, a disease which in England disappeared +toward the end of the fifteenth century, dwelt apart for fear of +infecting the healthy. The four hospitals outside the four main +entrances to the city served to keep the disease isolated. + +York received from time to time a large number and a great diversity +of visitors. Distinguished visitors usually received gifts from the +Corporation. Kings, queens, and full court and retinue came, and +sometimes the entire houses of Parliament. At such times great crowds +of nobles, spiritual lords, commoners, officers, military and civil, +thronged the city and taxed its accommodation. On such an occasion as +Richard III.'s attendance at the Minster for mass, or the visit of +Henry V., the narrow streets were packed to suffocation with people +assembled to watch the processions of gorgeously arrayed sovereigns, +princes, peers, ecclesiastics, soldiers, and distinguished commoners. +The Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III., was very popular in +the North, especially in York, where he was received (as in 1483) with +magnificence and festivity. The north was loyal to him and gave him +much support in his political schemes. + +The visits of the royal judges of assize, of sailors and pilgrims, +have already been mentioned. Pedlars, who were active nomad tradesmen, +were always to be found in town and country dealing in their small +wares. + +Last, and some of the unhappiest, among the types of people to be +found in a mediaeval city were serfs who had absconded from the lands +or the service to which they were bound. They sometimes fled to a city +for the security it afforded. Serfdom, however, was rapidly +disappearing. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] G. Benson: "Parish of Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, York." + +[2] _De heretico comburendo_, 1401. In 1539 Valentine Freez, a +freeman, and his wife, were burnt at the stake on Knavesmire for +heresy. Frederick Freez, Valentine's father, was a book-printer and a +freeman (1497). + +[3] Cf. French _journee_. + +[4] Sauce was much used. The people of the Middle Ages had an especial +liking for spices and highly-seasoned foods. + +[5] As translated from the Latin by the late Mr. R.B. Cook and found +among his valuable contributions to the publications of The Yorkshire +Architectural Society. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +CONCLUSION + + +Life in York in the fifteenth century was active. Trade, home and +continental, was flourishing. Building operations were in hand; work +was always proceeding at the Minster or at one or other of the +religious houses and churches. There were so many social elements +established in and visiting York that something of interest was always +taking place. Entertainments were plentiful and pageants were as well +produced in York as anywhere in the kingdom. The city enjoyed a +particularly large measure of local government. Its reputation was +great. According to contemporary standards it was a fine prosperous +city, one that contained resplendent ecclesiastical buildings that +were second to none. In short, it was a "full nobill cite." + +Although the present city looks, in parts, more typically mediaeval +than modern, York to-day forms a very great contrast with the +fifteenth-century city. We are separated from the fifteenth century by +the Renaissance, the Reformation, and Tudor England, by the Civil War +and the Restoration, by the "age of prose and reason," the keen-minded +and rough-mannered eighteenth century, by the Industrial Revolution, +and by that second Renaissance, the Victorian Age, during which the +amenities of daily life were revolutionised. Radical changes are to be +seen, for example, in the style of architecture, the mode of +transmission of news, the methods of transport, the form of municipal +government, the maintenance of the public peace, and in social +relationships, more particularly with regard to industry and commerce +and the parts played by employer and employed. The number of +inhabitants to-day is about six times that of the mediaeval city. The +contrast, which is so great in most ways as to be quite obvious, is an +interesting and profitable study, but it might have been founded on +more precise data, for, great as is the amount of valuable material +that York can supply concerning its history, investigation shows how +much greater that amount would have been had the city and its rulers +during the last century or two realised the value of the accumulated +original historical riches that it contained. + +Whereas the moderns obliterated practically all they came against, +fortunately the earlier people were content to make no change beyond +what was immediately necessary. Hence the survival of material most +valuable to the historian and archaeologist. York, as it is to-day, is +a city marvellously rich in survivals of past ages. It is also, as a +result especially of the nineteenth century, a city of destruction. +While we may regret but not repine at the disappearance of much of +interest and value as the result of progress, yet wanton, ruthless +destruction, such as has taken place within the last century, deserves +the sternest denunciation. In spite of its being, in consequence, a +"city of destruction," York is a store-house of original material for +the history of England. Its records are in earth, stone, brick, wood, +plaster, bone, and coin-metal; on parchment, paper, and glass; above +the ground and below it--everywhere and in every form. This wealth of +historical material, connected with practically every period of our +national history, is a priceless possession and one that is not yet +exhausted. + + + + +Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Ltd., London and Beccles. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE IN A MEDIæVAL CITY*** + + +******* This file should be named 17848.txt or 17848.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/8/4/17848 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://www.gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: +https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + |