Part 12 (1/2)
Agnus Dei qui tollis pecata mundi miserere n.o.bis.
[Ill.u.s.tration: PRE-REFORMATION PLATE (1) 13th Century (2) Early 16th Century (3) Elizabethan (4) Ma.n.u.s Dei (5) Vernicle]
The grave of Bishop Grostete at Lincoln yielded up an ancient paten (1230-53), which has the figure of a bishop vested, the right hand raised in the act of blessing, the left holding a crozier. The oldest piece of church plate still in use is a remarkable paten at Wyke Church, near Winchester, the date of which is about 1280. It bears an engraving of the _Agnus Dei_ holding a banner, and around the rim is the legend--
c.u.n.tA: CREO: VIRTUTE: REGO: PIETATE REFORMO.
Another favourite inscription was _Benedicamus patrem et filium c.u.m spiritu sancto_; but on the paten in the church of Great Waltham, Ess.e.x, the important word _spiritu_ is omitted for want of room.
[Ill.u.s.tration: CENSER OR THURIBLE]
We have already mentioned several of the important pieces of church plate which were in use in mediaeval times. Censers, or thuribles, were common in all our ancient parish churches, sometimes of gold or silver, more usually of bra.s.s or latten, and were in the shape of a covered vase or cup, perforated so as to allow the fumes of burning incense to escape. Most of our English censers are now in museums, but several ancient ones are still in use in the private chapels of Roman Catholic families.
Old inventories always mention a pyx, a box or vessel of gold or silver, in which the Host was reserved for the sick and infirm. It often resembles a chalice, except that instead of the bowl there is a covered receptacle for the Host. A beautiful specimen was dug up a few years ago in the churchyard of Yateley, Hants. Another vessel was the monstrance, in which the Blessed Sacrament was carried in procession, and exposed on the altar. The form varied. Sometimes monstrances were made in the shape of a tower, or a covered chalice; sometimes in the form of images carrying silver pyxes, elaborately ornamented with many jewels.
Processions were always a great feature of mediaeval wors.h.i.+p; hence the monstrance was frequently in use, especially on such occasions as the celebrations of Corpus Christi Day.
Holy oil was much used in the services, as in the Roman Catholic Church at the present time. It was blessed by a bishop on Maundy Thursday, and used in Baptism, Confirmation, and Extreme Unction, as well as at the Consecration of Churches, Ordination, and the Coronation of Kings. The vessel for holding the oil was an important piece of church plate, and was called a chrismatory. Usually there were three distinct vessels, one for holding the oil for the sick, a second for use at confirmations, and a third for the baptismal oil. Sometimes these vessels are labelled with the words EXT. UNC., CAT., and CHR., according to the recommendation of St. Charles Borromeo, in order that each oil might be kept for its proper use, and that no confusion might arise.
The pax was a small tablet of silver or other precious metal, used for giving the kiss of peace during High Ma.s.s. The celebrant kissed the tablet, and held it aloft before all the people. It was usually adorned with a representation of the _Agnus Dei_. Of the cruets containing wine and water for the celebration we have already written. Then there was a sacring bell, often made of silver, which was rung during the service at the time of the elevation of the Host, and at the sound the congregation knelt.
We have now examined the aumbry, and noted its contents, upon which the commissioners in the reign of Edward VI. made such shameful inroads.
Henceforth the plate was confined to a chalice and paten, alms-dish, and usually a large silver flagon. The form of the chalice was entirely changed. As we have noticed, the bowl of the pre-Reformation chalices became smaller and shallower, on account of the gradually introduced practice of refusing the wine to the laity. Now in the year 1562 the size of the bowl was greatly enlarged, and the ”Communion cup” took the place of the ”Ma.s.sing chalice.” Some poor parishes were obliged to content themselves with pewter vessels. St. Lawrence's Church, Reading, had a curious bridal cup, which was carried before all brides who were married in that church. The custom of drinking wine in the church at marriages is enjoined in the Hereford Missal, and the Sarum Missal ordered that the bread immersed in the wine, and consumed by the company, should first be blessed by the priest. Some of these post-Reformation vessels are extremely interesting. They record the thankofferings of pious donors on the occasion of some great event in the national annals, such as the Restoration, or of some private mercy vouchsafed to the individual. They record the connection of some family with the parish, the arms they bore; and the Hall marks tell us of their date, which is often anterior to the date of the inscription.
Hall marks were first introduced in 1300 by Edward I. in order to keep up the purity of silver, and consisted of the lion's or leopard's head crowned. This was called the king's mark. The maker's mark was introduced in 1363, and was some initial or badge chosen by the silversmith. To these were added in 1438 the year letter or a.s.sayer's mark, a different letter being chosen for each year. When the alphabet was exhausted, another with differently shaped letters was begun. In 1545 the lion pa.s.sant was introduced, and since 1784 the portrait of the reigning sovereign has appeared. With the a.s.sistance of Mr. Cripps' _Old English Plate_, which contains a list of the alphabets used in marking plate, it is not very difficult to discover the date of any piece of silver. Inventories of church plate are being made in many counties and dioceses, and no more useful work can be undertaken by our local antiquarian societies.
[3] _Mediaeval Chalices and Patens_, by W.H. St. John Hope and T.M. Fallow.
[4] Surtees Society, vol. xv. pp. 45, 49.
CHAPTER XVI
MONUMENTAL EFFIGIES AND BRa.s.sES
Reverence for the dead--Cists--Stone coffins--Devices--Introduction of effigies--Cross-legged effigies--Wooden effigies--Incised effigies--Bra.s.ses--Essentially English--Vast number of bra.s.ses-- Palimpsests--Destruction--Costumes and fas.h.i.+ons--Ecclesiastics-- Lawyers--Soldiers--Canopies and inscriptions--Punning inscriptions-- Contractions--Emblems--Heraldry.
The pious care which we all love to bestow on the mortal remains of our nearest and dearest, and the respect and honour with which all men regard the bodies of departed heroes, kings, saints, and warriors, have produced a remarkable series of sepulchral monuments, examples of which may be found everywhere. The cairns and tumuli of the primitive races which inhabited our island were the results of the same feelings of reverent regard which inspired the beautifully carved mediaeval monuments, the memorial bra.s.s, or the cross-shaped tombstone of to-day.
I have already mentioned the cromlechs and barrows and other memorials of the early inhabitants of Britain. We have seen the cists of Saxon times, the coffins formed of several stones placed together in the form of a table. The Normans introduced stone coffins for the sepulchre of their great men, many of which may be seen in our cathedrals and old conventual churches. On the lids of their coffins they frequently cut a single cross. When the style of architecture changed to that of the Early English and Decorated periods, monumental slabs were ornamented with much greater richness and elaboration, and inscriptions were added, and also some device which showed the trade, rank, or profession of the departed. Thus the chalice and paten denoted a priest; a sword showed the knight; an axe, a forester; an ink-horn, a notary; shears, a wool merchant.
At the beginning of the thirteenth century it occurred to someone to preserve the likeness of his departed friend as well as the symbols of his rank and station. So effigies were introduced upon the surface of the slabs, and were carved flat; but ere fifty years had pa.s.sed away the art of the sculptor produced magnificent monumental effigies. Knights and n.o.bles lie clad in armour with their ladies by their sides. Bishops and abbots bless the spectators with their uplifted right hands. Judges lie in their official garb, and merchants with the emblems of their trade. At their feet lie animals, usually having some heraldic connection with the deceased, or symbolical of his work--_e.g._ a dragon is trodden down beneath the feet of a bishop, signifying the defeat of sin as the result of his ministry. The heads of effigies usually rest on cus.h.i.+ons, which are sometimes supported by two angels.
A peculiar characteristic of the military effigies in England is that the knights are often represented with the legs crossed. Many speculations have been made with regard to the meaning of this fas.h.i.+on of cross-legged effigy. It is a popular superst.i.tion, in which for some years the writer shared, that such effigies represented Crusaders. We were told in our young days that when the knight had his legs crossed at the feet he had gone to the Crusades once; when at the knees, that he had been to two Crusades; and when crossed at the thighs, he had been thrice to rescue the Holy City from the hands of the infidels. All this seemed very plausible and interesting, but it is undoubtedly a myth.
Many known Crusaders have their effigies with uncrossed legs, and many who never went to the Crusades have cross-legged effigies. Moreover, there are no such monuments in any foreign country which swelled the army of Crusaders. Hence we must abandon the pleasing superst.i.tion, and reconcile ourselves to the fact that no particular signification can be a.s.signed to these cross-legged effigies, and that only fas.h.i.+on prompted the mediaeval sculptors to adopt this att.i.tude for their figures. This mode prevailed until about the year 1320.
At the close of the fifteenth century the art of making monumental effigies degenerated together with the skill of the architects of that period. We see the husband and wife kneeling facing each other, with a faldstool before each figure. A company of small figures below the effigies represent the children, the boys on one side, the girls on the other.
Early wooden effigies were also in use. There is one much battered by the careless hands of former generations of villagers in the rural church of my parish of Barkham. The artists often used much colour, gilding, and enamel in making these effigies; and often rich canopies were erected over them, containing fine tabernacle-work and figures of saints in niches.
Another form of effigy was commonly in use, in addition to the figures just described. These are called incised effigies, which were cut in outline upon flat slabs of stone, the lines being filled in with enamelled metals. Thorton Abbey, Lincolns.h.i.+re, and Brading, in the Isle of Wight, have examples of this work. But the great expense of these enamels, and also their frailty when exposed in the pavements of churches, led to the use of bra.s.s; and hence arose the introduction of memorial bra.s.ses for which our country is famous.