Chapter V: Medieval Clergy

_Deacons._

There is no complete brass to a deacon now extant, and there exists but one solitary mutilated example at Burwell, Cambridge, on the reverse of part of the brass of John Lawrence, Abbot of Ramsey.

The dalmatic was their distinguishing vestment. It was shorter than an alb, slit up on either side for a short distance and had a straight edge before and behind. The left side and lower edge were fringed for a deacon, _both_ sides when worn by a bishop.

When St Stephen, St Philip or St Lawrence appear in canopies, they wear this vestment.

The tunicle was worn by sub-deacons. It is similar to the dalmatic, but of linen, whereas the latter was usually of silk and often richly decorated.

_Mass Vestments._

The most numerous brasses to the clergy are to the incumbents of our country churches, and these are usually depicted in mass vestments. The average country parson was, as now, a man of modest means, and so it is not surprising that these brasses as a rule are small, and very few have canopies or even marginal inscriptions. There is but little development in any of the vestments, as these had become fixed in their main features many centuries earlier.

The chief characteristic change is that the hair of early ecclesiastics is long and curly and tends to become less so, till by Tudor times it is absolutely straight. In fourteenth century brasses the material of the vestments seems to be thin and fits closely to the body, whereas later it is stiff and heavy.

The fylfot cross is found on the vestments of many priests, as at Kemsing, Kent, c. 1320, and in the brass of Rich. de Hakebourne, Merton College, Oxford, 1310. This ancient symbol, known in the Sanscrit as the _swastika_, is found on Buddhist inscriptions in India and China, on Greek vases and Roman pavements (as at Brading, I.o.W.) and on Runic inscriptions and elsewhere. On brasses it is mainly found upon those of the fourteenth century.

We will consider in detail the monument of Lawrence de St Maur, 1337; at Higham Ferrers, which must serve for all the others (see frontispiece). It is by far the finest, and, indeed, there are only four or five others with canopies at all, and hardly a dozen have effigies over three feet long. The central panel of the canopy contains God the Father, the soul and two angels, St Peter and St Paul, St Andrew and St Thomas. At the four corners are the Evangelists. Then, St Gabriel opposite (perhaps) St Mary; St John Baptist opposite (perhaps) the Magdalene; St Stephen opposite (perhaps) St Lawrence; the Abbot St Maur opposite St Christopher, whose bare feet can be seen standing in a river. Beneath the priest’s feet are two dogs quarrelling over a bone.

The total length of the brass is 8 ft. 3 inches, and breadth 3 ft. 5 inches.

The figure wears an _alb_ with apparels at the foot and on each arm. In the earliest brasses these pieces of embroidery went right round the wrists, but they were soon reduced to simple squares. The amice encircles the neck and is like a handkerchief with a strip of embroidery along one side. As worn it looks like a collar. The stole was crossed over the breast and held in place by the girdle of the alb. Usually, as here, only the ends can be seen. At Sudborough, Northants., 1415, at Horsham, Sussex, c. 1430, and at Upwell, Norfolk, 1435, it can be seen in entirety. Over the left arm hangs the maniple, a strip of embroidery, similar to a stole. Over all he wears a fine chasuble. In this case there is a narrow band of embroidery round the edge, but this is unusual. The ordinary type is perfectly plain. In the sixteenth century a central pillar of embroidery or orphrey is common. It is also found on the chasubles of bishops and abbots at an earlier date. Occasionally, the whole ground was covered with a pattern.

It will be noticed that many priests are represented holding chalices. There is quite a considerable group of brasses consisting of chalices only. They all commemorate priests. The selected list in the Appendix will be useful to those who wish to study them more closely. It was customary to bury pewter chalices with priests who were interred in their mass vestments. The author himself has one of these coffin chalices. It was probably from this custom that the idea originated of making chalice brasses. The earliest are in Yorkshire; there are many in Norfolk, but few outside these counties.

Robt. Wodehowse’s brass at Holwell, Beds., 1515, has as a rebus two wode-howses, or wild men, with clubs, on either side of the chalice.

There is a peculiar brass at Winwick, Lancashire, to Sir Peter Legh, 1527. On the death of his wife, he gave up his calling as a knight and became a priest.

He is bare-headed and has a tonsure. Over his armour he wears a chasuble, and between his hands is a coat-of-arms.

CHOIR AND PROCESSIONAL VESTMENTS

_The Almuce._

Except when at Mass, the usual vestments worn were cassock and surplice, almuce, hood and cope.

The cassock was the ordinary walking dress of the clergy. In a few cases it is shown alone. (Appendix.)

The almuce was a large cape turned down over the shoulders and lined with fur. D.D.’s and canons wore one lined with grey fur, and the former had the outside cloth scarlet.

All others wore dark-brown fur. The tails of the animals were sewn round the edge and two long lappets hung down in front. The fur lining is the only part shown in brasses, and this is usually represented by cutting away the metal and filling up the surface with lead or coloured earths. Of these there are a fair number. (Appendix.)

_The Cope._

More usually the _cope_ accompanies the almuce. Over a hundred brasses of coped priests remain. Many are both large and fine, with canopies. They usually commemorate Church dignitaries.

The cope was a beautiful and costly vestment, shaped like a cloak, and was fastened across the breast by the morse. Orphreys adorned the straight edges. The general surface was usually plain, though occasionally covered by a pattern, as in the case of Robt. Langton, Queen’s College, Oxford, 1518, and John White, Winchester College, Hants., c. 1548. This is generally a sign of late work. A small, semicircular hood attached to the back of the cope was usually hidden by the upper part of the almuce, the lappets of which are also visible beyond the long sleeves of the surplice.

The two following are among the finest extant:

John Sleford, Balsham, Cambs., 1401, was Rector of Balsham, Master of the Wardrobe to Edward III, Chaplain to Queen Philippa, Canon of Wells and later of Ripon, Archdeacon of Wells, etc. The whole composition measures 8½ ft. × 4½ ft., and the figure is 5 ft. 2 in. long. The triple canopy supports a shrine which is divided in half. The lower portion shows the soul of the deceased supported in a sheet by two angels. He is being borne up to the Holy Trinity, who are represented in the upper story. Two seraphim are poised on the finials of the two side arches.

The shields are: dexter, quarterly Old France and England; sinister, the same impaling Hainault. The arms of the See of Ely (three crowns) are shown on the third shield, and the fourth is lost.

Down the orphreys of the cope are depicted five pairs of saints under embattled canopies: St Mary and St John Baptist; St John the Evangelist and St Etheldreda; St Catherine and St Peter; St Paul and St Margaret; St Mary Magdalene and St Wilfred. The sacred monogram I. S. is shown on the morse and also on two roundels.

The other brass is equally fine and measures 8 ft. 9 in. × 4 ft. 1 in.

John Blodwell was Dean of St Asaph, Prebend of Lichfield and of Hereford, Canon of St David’s and Rector of Balsham. His canopy is of a different type to Sleford’s. It has a single arch resting on broad shafts, in each of which are four niches with saints. The cope has saints down the orphreys which are rather worn. The whole surface is adorned with lions’ heads. The inscription is in a dialogue between Blodwell and his guardian angel. The Dean’s words are in relief.

The alb and amice are substituted for surplice and almuce at Horsham, 1411, Upwell, 1428 and 1435, Beeford, Yorks., 1472, Hitchin, 1498, and Rauceby, 1536.

Canons of Windsor, instead of a cope, wore the mantle of the Order of the Garter. It has a small cross on the left shoulder and is found on the brasses of Roger Parker (headless demi), Northstroke, Oxon., 1370; Unknown, Bennington, Herts, (mutilated, an ordinary cope with badge on shoulder), c. 1450; Roger Lupton, Eton College, 1540; Arthur Cole, Magdalen College, Oxford, 1558.

_Academic Dress._

There are a considerable number of brasses showing the academic dress, in all 75 to 80.

About one-third are at Oxford and Cambridge, and the rest are widely scattered. The distinction between the various degrees being usually made by the colour and material rather than by the shape renders the task of differentiating difficult.

The academic tabard without sleeves, the cape or tippet, and the hood are usually worn over a cassock, as on the brasses of Thos. Mason, M.A., of Magdalen, Oxford, 1501, and of John London, M.A., S.T.P., of New College, Oxford, 1508. Sometimes the academic tabard has short sleeves.

The taberdium talare is longer and probably implies a B.D., though it is worn by others who had not this degree. Good examples are to be seen on the brasses of John Bloxham, B.D., Merton College, Oxford, c. 1420 (with John Whytton on bracket) (see Chap. XIV), and of Wm. Blakwey, Little Wilbraham, Cambs (kn.), 1521.

D.D.’s have the _cappa clausa_. This is a plain, sleeveless gown, and the arms appear through a single opening, which only reaches to the waist. The tippet is usually of fur, and a cap is worn. The latter is either a skull cap or raised one or two inches and brought to a low point in the centre. The first type is shown in the brass of Dr Billingford, St Bene’t’s, Cambridge, 1432; the second in the brass of Dr Towne, at King’s College, Cambridge, 1496.

Doctors of other faculties wear the cap and pallium, a long gown similar to the taberdium talare. It must not be confounded with the pallium of an archbishop. Many academic persons wear the cope or almuce, sometimes with the doctor’s cap. There are a few academic brasses of Elizabethan and Jacobean date. They usually show the long, civilian gown of the period. From it has developed the present University gown, which has not sprung from the ancient tabard.

_Bishops._

Bishops and Mitred Abbots wore the mass vestments of the priests with certain additions. The tunicle and dalmatic were worn below the chasuble. The former is often of the same length as the dalmatic and so cannot be seen. Sandals adorned with jewels and gloves similarly ornamented were usually worn. The episcopal ring had a single precious stone.

The mitre and crozier are perhaps the most characteristic vestments. The earliest mitres were low with plain edges; they gradually became higher and crockets were added to the sides of the horns. In brasses the extreme height to which they developed is not shown. They were made of plain linen, of embroidered linen and of precious metals. Two narrow strips of silk called “infulae” hung down from the back of the mitre. These can be seen in the brasses at York and East Horsley.

The crozier and pastoral staff are the same, the cross staff of the archbishop is not really a crozier at all. The latter represents the shepherd’s crook. A scarf was often fastened to the knob below the crook. It was called either an “infula”--like the ribbons of a mitre--or “vexillum.” The latter name refers to the Cross banner of Constantine.

Croziers and mitres are depicted long after vestments had fallen into disuse. The last crozier, 1631, is at Chigwell, Essex. Mitres are found even later, but are probably used as a crest.

Archbishops generally hold the cross staff instead of a crozier and wear the _pall_. It was simply a narrow loop of white lamb’s wool placed round the neck and with a weighted band hanging down before and behind.

Thos. Cranley, 1417, clearly shows all the vestments; his cross, as was often the case, was a crucifix. The triple canopy with super-canopy is exceptionally fine, though somewhat mutilated.

The crozier, or cross, is usually held in the left hand. The mitred abbots wore exactly similar robes.

Bishop Wyvil of Salisbury, in three-quarter length, 1375, is shown within a battlemented castle with his champion standing under the gate beneath. This commemorates his recovery of Sherborne Castle for his See.

The Edenham brass (c. 1500) was formerly in a panel on the outer face of the church tower, 40 feet from the ground. It is now inside the church. Probably it represents St Thomas à Becket, the patron saint of the donor of the tower.

Bishop Goodryke of Ely, 1554, wrote “My duty towards my neighbour,” and holds the prayer book in his hand. He also holds the Great Seal, as he was formerly Lord Chancellor. Both he and Bishop Bell died during the reign of Mary, which might be considered sufficient explanation of their wearing vestments. Bishop Pursglove, however, whose brass is at Tideswell, died in the middle of Elizabeth’s reign.

The fact is that vestments only gradually fell into disuse. They were undoubtedly worn by some of the clergy right into the seventeenth century.

The figure of John Bell at St James’s, Clerkenwell, the lower part of which is lost, was sold in 1788 when the old church was pulled down. It passed into the collection of Mr J. B. Nichols and on his death was replaced in the new church.

The vestments in which the king is crowned are largely of an ecclesiastical nature. They include the dalmatic, the surcoat, the belt, the stole and a surplice without sleeves. On monuments, kings are shown wearing a long tunic with close sleeves, a cloak, or cope, and a tippet of ermine. The only _brass_ is a demi-figure, c. 1440, at Wimborne Minster, Dorset, laid down in memory of King Ethelred, martyred 872 A.D. He is crowned and holds a sceptre.