Archaeological Journal/Volume 3/Original Documents: Extracts from the Archives, St. Paul's, London

 

Original Documents.

Amongst the records in the possession of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, London, numerous memorials of interest are preserved, which well deserve careful examination. For the following extracts from the archives, consisting of accounts of the sacrist and keeper of the treasury of that church, towards the latter part of the thirteenth century, we are indebted to the kindness of the Ven. Archdeacon Hale. It were much to be desired that a series of documents of this nature could be formed, valuable, not merely as supplying information regarding ecclesiastical usages, but on account of the precise data which they afford for the comparison of the value of money at various periods, the price of merchandise, rate of wages, and other points of statistical enquiry.

In the annual account of disbursements of Thomas de Culing, keeper of the treasury, from Easter, A.D. 1276, the following particulars occur.

The consumption of incense during the year amounted to eighteen pounds and a half, at tenpence the pound, eight pounds at ninepence, and nine pounds and a-half at seven pence. In other years it was purchased at a still lower price, namely at sixpence the pound.

Item, in carbone, cum cariagio, ij.s. ix.d. Item, in brachinellis, die pentecostes, ij.s. Item, in cirpis, iiij.d. q^a. Item, Dominica in ramis palmarum, in bucsis et palmis, vj.d. In scopacione ecclesie, per annum, v.sol. xi.d. q^a. Item, in mactis^[1], per annum, xj.sol.

Charcoal was used, doubtless, for the patella or chafer, named in another place, which supplied embers for the censers. Regarding the "brachinellis" at Pentecost, it may be confidently surmised that the term relates to the feasting which occurred at the Whitsun-ales; if, indeed, an error may have been made by the scribe or the transcriber, the true reading would be "crachinellis," cracknels^[2]; as, however, the chief preparation on these joyous occasions appears to have been the concoction of ale, the word may be some diminutive derivable from brachinum, or braciatorium, a brewery. Many notices might be given of the usage of strewing churches with rushes, a precaution, probably, as likewise the mactæ, or mats, against cold and damp, when the daily services were followed with regularity^[3].

Item, in stipendio trium famulorum ecclesie, per annum, x.sol. Item, in stipendio lotricis, per annum, ij.sol. vij.d. Item, in stipendio consutricis, pro tribus quarteriis anni, iiij.s. vj.d. Item, in victu clerici, per annum, xv.sol. In stipendio ejusdem, vj-sol.^[4]

Item, in j. serico magno empto, viij.d. Item, in j. serico minore, j.d. Item, in tunicula cujusdam panni de serico, et inde offertorio effecto, xviij.d. Item, in ij. phialis de stangno, iij.d. Item, in quatuor clochis in festo dedicationis ecclesie, j.d.

The term offertorium occurs in various significations connected with the services of the altar; in some instances it is used to designate an object of silver, or some solid material, set with gems and otherwise decorated, whilst from other authorities it is evident that the offertorium sericum was a kind of napkin, used by the deacon, for the sake of greater reverence, in which the chalice was wrapped when presented by him to the celebrant. It is a singular record of economy that, in this case, a certain tunicle of silken tissue should have been cut up to supply the material. The treasury of the church of London must have been greatly impoverished, when such niggard practices were admissible: the vessels even for the wine and water used at the service of the mass, called amulæ, phials or cruets, were of pewter, and cost only threepence the pair. It is not easy to comprehend the kind of diminutive bells, or clochæ, valued at four a penny, which were required on the feast of the dedication of the church: possibly they might be attached to the banner used on that occasion, as noticed subsequently.

The accounts of Thomas de Culing proceed with much uniformity, from year to year. In 1277 he disbursed,

In quadam olla aquatica, ob. In quadam tankarda aquatica, iij.d. ob. Item, in emendatione ferr' obbletarum, j.d. Item, in emendatione sicule argenti, ij.d.

The derivation and original use of the term tankard is very obscure: this is perhaps the earliest instance of the occurrence of the word, and it appears to designate some vessel of larger capacity than the more modern quart-can so called. The wafers, or "oblys," for the service of the altar, were prepared in most churches as occasion might require: great precaution being observed to ensure their being perfectly free from mouldiness or fermentation. The iron stamps or tongs, used for this purpose, are here designated.

The canons enacted in the reign of Edgar, A.D. 960, enjoin that mass be not celebrated without "clæne oflete," pure obly, and pure wine and water^[5]. Amongst the injunctions of the synod held at Exeter, A.D. 1287, it was ordained as follows: "Provideant sacerdotes quod oblatas habeant confectas de Simula frumenti et aqua duntaxat; ita quod nihil immisceatur fermenti. Sint et oblatæ integre, candide, et rotunde, nec per tantum tempus custodiantur quod in sapore vel aspectu abominabiles habeantur^[6]." The irons above mentioned served to impress upon the oblys the sacred monogram and symbol of the cross: the representation given by the Benedictines, in the "Voyage Litteraire," supplies a curious example; the wafer-irons described by them, apparently of no slight antiquity, were preserved in the abbey of Braine^[7].

The term sicula, used in these accounts of the treasurer of St. Paul's, occasionally signifies a measure of liquids, (sicla, sigla, or sicula, Ducange,) it is possibly, however, here written for situla, the holy-water vat or stoup, not unfrequently made of precious metal, in wealthy establishments.

In accounts of the years 1278 and 1279, the following items occur.

In patella ferrea, xiiij.d. In zonis puerorum, ij.d. Item, consutrici, pro octo albis, novis vexillis, puerorum vestimentis, et aliis necessariis, vij.s. ix.d. ob. Item, in ij. paribus corporalium, xij.d. Item, in xij. ulnis panni linei, iiij.s. iiij.d. precium ulne, iiij.d. Item, in xliiij. ulnis panni lynei, xij.s. x.d. precium ulne iiij.d. ob. Item, in dealbacione ejusdem panni, ix.d. Item, in x. ulnis de karde, iij.s. v.d. Item, in kanevaz ad sustendas ij. tapetas, et ad emendendas paruras vestimentorum, v.s. iij.d. In custu et filo tapete, ij.s. iij.d. Item, in renovacione vexillorum majorum, xxi.s. x.d. Item, in emendatione vexillorum minorum, ij.s. iijd. Item, in lanceis, j.d. iij.q^a. Item, in capa noviter de serico contexta, et in orfreis freseis, et in stipendio consutricis, lxj.s. vij.d.

Item, in brachinellis die Pentecostes, xxv.d. Item, in mundacione ecclesie contra Pentecostem x.

Item, in scopis per annum, ij.d. q^a. Item, Dominica balmarum, vj.d. Item, in hokis, j.d. ob. Item, in j. howe. iij d. Item, in tribus ulnis de kanevaz ad vexillum in dedicacione ecclesie, et in pictura ejusdem vexilli, xx.d. ob. Item, in j. ferro ad hostiam faciendam, iij.s. Item, in ligaturis tankard, j.d.

In processions, especially on the rogation days, when parochial perambulations took place, various banners were used, of which the tradition was in recent times preserved, in some places, by carrying garlands suspended to poles, during the perambulation of boundaries. The service-book, called a processional, supplies full information in relation to the use of banners, and one of the earliest printed editions exhibits, by means of woodcuts, the proper arrangement of these decorations^[8]. In wealthier churches the banners were not only ornamented with sacred subjects, but they exhibited armorial bearings, as shewn in the list of the "vexilla pro rogationibus," belonging to Christ Church, Canterbury, printed by Dart from Cott. MS. Galba, E. IV. The banner of the lion, and that termed the dragon, were commonly displayed, and are enumerated in a MS. inventory of the church of Sarum, A.D. 1214. By Archbishop Winchelsey's constitutions the provision of "vexilla" was required from the parishioners, and the injunction was repeated by Archbishop Peccham. Amongst the earliest instances of their use in England, the gifts of Bishop Leofric to Exeter cathedral may be cited, amongst which are mentioned "ij. guthfana," war-vanes, or standards.

Amongst various other extracts from the curious archives of St. Paul's, kindly communicated by the Archdeacon, there are accounts of sums received in the pixis, truncus, or money-box, entitled "Recepta de pixide crucis borialis," dated A.D. 1343, 44. These monies appear to have been taken out monthly, the amount received each month varying from 12l. to 20l. The account frequently mentions broken money, "argentum fractum, ferlingos fractos," not estimated; the deficiency of small currency had occasioned the subdivision of coin into fractional parts. We hope to be enabled, by Archdeacon Hale's obliging assistance, to resume the consideration of the evidences supplied by these curious records.

1. In an account of the year 1279, the corresponding item gives this word as "natis," mats; in another "naclis."
2. "Crakenelle, brede, Creputellus, fraginellus, artocopus." Prompt. Parv.
3. Of the custom of strewing churches see the notes on country wakes, in Brand's Popular Antiquities, by Sir Henry Ellis.
4. In another roll he is called clericus de vestibulo, and rated at 7d. a week.
5. Wilkins, i. 227. Ancient Laws and Inst., ii. 253. In Anglo-Saxon the wafer was termed also oblaten. The German word oblate, Dutch oblie, and Icelandic oblata, signifies a cake or wafer, in low Latin oblea, or oblata, in French oublie, terms derived from the Latin oblatus, offered.
6. Wilkins, ii. 132.
7. Voyage Litt., ii. 35.
8. See Processionale ad usum Sarum, 1528.