Curiosities of Christian History Part 9

At the end of the tenth century a new celebration was annexed to it. It was related that a French pilgrim, on returning from Jerusalem, had been cast on a little island in the Mediterranean, where he met a hermit, who told him that the souls of sinners were tormented in the volcanic fires of the island, and that he could often hear the devils howling with rage because their prey was rescued from time to time by the prayers and alms of pious men, and especially of the monks of Cluny. The hermit solemnly adjured the pilgrim to report this when he returned home, and accordingly the pilgrim mentioned it to the Abbot Odilo of Cluny, who in 998 appointed the morrow of All Saints to be solemnly observed there for the repose of all faithful souls, with psalmody, ma.s.ses, and copious alms to all the poor people present. The celebration was soon extended to the whole Cluniac order; and eventually some Pope, whose name is not known, ordered its observance throughout Christendom.

HOLIDAYS AND FEASTS IN THE MIDDLE AGES.

There were several holidays or celebrations of events very popular with young people and the lower clergy during the Middle Ages, and which had some connection with religious matters. These were the Feasts of the a.s.s, of the Deacons, of the Kings, of the Buffoons, and of the Innocents, all involving some horseplay and rude merriment, such as the Carnival still exhibits. About the twelfth century the Feast of the Kalends was conducted by actors having hideous beards over their faces. In the Feast of Buffoons of the same period the duties and rank of the clergy were caricatured and turned into fun and ribaldry. In the Feast of the a.s.s that animal was dressed like a priest, and all the people brayed as the incidents at the stable of Bethany and of Balaam's conversation were rehea.r.s.ed. In the Feast of Buffoons there were mock cardinals and a mock Pope. In the procession of the Mere Folle there were a mock tribunal, mock judgments, and mock sentences. As a counterpart to these boisterous revels, there were famous legends or superst.i.tions represented, such as the story of the "Wandering Jew," so called from a rebuke given to an insulting a.s.sault made on the Saviour at the Crucifixion, which was followed by a supposed sentence on the offender that he should await Christ's second coming; the superst.i.tion about Prester John, a sort of pontiff king, half Jew, half Christian, who was said to have governed a vast Indian empire, but no particulars of which were ever ascertained, and yet he was said to have invited the Pope to go and live in his dominions.

FEAST OF THE a.s.s.

The Feast of the a.s.s, already alluded to, was a feast celebrated in several churches in France in commemoration of the Virgin Mary's flight into Egypt. And the gross absurdities then practised under the pretence of devotion would surpa.s.s belief were there not such incontrovertible evidence of the facts. A young female, richly dressed, with an infant in her arms, was placed upon an a.s.s, when High Ma.s.s was performed with solemn pomp. The a.s.s was taught to kneel; and a hymn replete with folly and blasphemy was sung in his praise by the whole congregation. And as the climax to this monstrous scene of absurdity and profaneness, the priest used at the conclusion of the ceremony, and as a subst.i.tute for the words with which he on other occasions dismissed the people, to _bray three times_ like an a.s.s, which was answered by three similar brays by the people, instead of the usual response, "We bless the Lord," etc.

FESTIVAL OF THE BOY BISHOP.

The childish solemnities of the boy bishop on the Festival of St.

Nicholas, though prohibited so early as 1274 by the Synod and Bishop of Salzburg, were always much appreciated by the public. On the eve of the Holy Innocents the child bishop and his youthful clergy, in little copes and with burning tapers in their hands, went in procession chanting versicles, made some prayers before the altar, and sang complin. By the Statute of Sarum no one was to interrupt or press upon the children during their procession or service in the cathedral upon pain of anathema. This ceremony existed not only in collegiate churches, but in almost every parish. It is supposed that the anniversary montem at Eton, which used to be celebrated in winter, was only a corruption of this ceremony, and was as such suppressed by an order of Henry VIII.

MIRACLE PLAYS.

The miracle play was a theatrical representation of scenes in the Scriptures, and it seemed to be popular in mediaeval times, and the monks took part in it as active promoters. But there were some of these in every century after the third. In times when reading was impossible, and the fancy of the public was kept alive chiefly by the pictures and images in churches, it was natural that this cognate representation by means of actors on a stage should occur to those who catered for something like a recreation. Chaucer and Piers Plowman allude to this as a frequent indulgence. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries religious plays were acted in England, France, and Spain. Bishops and canons and monks all supported them, and they were acted in churches and on Sundays, as was said to be the case in St. Paul's until the time of Charles I. At length it was found that they degenerated into buffoonery and indecency. Some have said that the practice arose out of the lively spirits of the troops of pilgrims returning from the shrines of Compostella or St. Michael or Canterbury, and chanting or reciting sacred songs and hymns. The plays went out in England soon after the Reformation, and they became thereafter mere secular amus.e.m.e.nts.

THE Pa.s.sION PLAYS OF THE AMMERGHAU.

Dean Milman says he was present at one of the performances of the last of the ancient mysteries which still linger in Europe, the _Pa.s.sion Spiel_ by the peasants of the Ammerghau. He never saw even in leading theatres finer scenic effects, more rich and harmonious decorations, and dresses more brilliant with blended colours. All was serious, solemn, and devout; actors and audience were equally in earnest. The Saviour was represented with a quiet gentle dignity, admirably contrasting with the wild life and tumult, the stern haughty demeanour of the Pharisees and rulers in their secret plottings and solemn council, and the frantic agitation of the Jewish people. There were one or two comic touches and rude jests, as in the greedy grasping of Judas after the pieces of silver, and the eager quarrelling of the Roman soldiers throwing dice for the seamless coat. The theatre was not roofed, but was erected at the bottom of a green valley flanked by picturesque mountains. The effect of all this on the peasants was said to be excellent. No one was permitted to appear even in the chorus unless of unimpeachable character.

THE FESTIVAL OF THE ROSE AT SALENCY.

St. Medard or Mard, who died in 545, was in his youth impulsively generous. One night a thief entered his garden and stole his grapes; but, losing his way in the dark, was caught and brought before Medard. All that the saint said was, "Let him go; I have given him the grapes." It was St.

Mard who founded the Festival of the Rose at Salency. He charged his family estate with a fund sufficient to yield a sum of money, to be given annually with a crown of roses to the best-behaved girl in the village.

Not only must the girl have the highest character, but her parents also.

As lord of the manor, he had the privilege of selecting one of three girls, who were presented to him as candidates. When he had named the successful one, he announced it next Sunday from the pulpit, and asked all who had any objections to bring them forward. Then at the day and hour appointed, the Rosiere, dressed in white, and attended by twelve girls in white with blue sashes, and twelve boys, went to the castle in a procession, and thence to the church. Vespers were sung, and afterwards the priest took the crown or hat of roses from the altar, blessed it, and gave her the hat and a purse containing twenty-five francs. The procession returned to the church, where a _Te Deum_ was chanted with an anthem. This custom was said to be a standing encouragement for centuries of the good behaviour of all the girls in the parish.

THE ROSARY.

The Rosary is a festival inst.i.tuted to commemorate the victory of the Christians over the Turks at Lepanto in 1571. It was a practice of the ancient anchorites to count the number of their prayers by little stones or grains. In the twelfth century one lady was said to recite every day sixty angelical salutations. Peter the Hermit taught the laity who would not read the Psalter to say a certain number of "Our Fathers" and "Hail Martyrs." St. Dominic was eminent for encouraging the custom of reciting fifteen decades of the angelical salutations, with one "Our Father" before each decade, in honour of the princ.i.p.al mysteries of the Incarnation. This repet.i.tion of a hundred and fifty angelical salutations was inst.i.tuted by him in imitation of the hundred and fifty Psalms, on which account the Rosary has been often called the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin.

THE MILLENNIUM EXPECTED IN 1000.

As the year 1000 approached, among the many senseless notions then prevalent, and industriously cherished by the priests for the sake of lucre, was the persuasion that the last day was at hand. This doctrine had been broached in the preceding century, grounded upon the Revelation of St. John, and now was generally taught and received in Europe, and produced an excessive terror in the minds of the people. For the apostle had clearly foretold, as was taken for granted, that, after the tenth decade from the birth of Christ, Satan would be let loose, Antichrist would come, and the destruction of the earth would ensue. Hence great numbers, leaving their possessions and giving them to churches or monasteries, repaired to Palestine, where they thought that Christ would descend from heaven to judge the world. Others solemnly devoted themselves and all their goods to churches, monasteries, and the clergy, and entered their service as bond-slaves, performing a daily task. Their hope was that, if found in such a condition of life, their fate would be more favourably judged. Hence, when an eclipse of the sun or moon happened, they fled to rocks and caverns to hide themselves. Crowds flocked to be near where the Saviour was expected to appear for judgment. Others consecrated their effects at once to G.o.d and the saints--that is, to priests and friars. Hence many also suffered their houses to go to ruin, thinking these would soon be of no use. This delusion was not got rid of till the end of the eleventh century.

THE CHURCH-BUILDING AGE.

As the millennium had been expected by all Christendom to occur in the year 1000, most pious people at that date suspended all undertakings of a lasting character. When the time arrived and the event did not take place, a pa.s.sion arose to build churches. Old churches were taken down, and new churches built on a larger scale and with splendid embellishments.

Charlemagne's cathedral at Aix, which had been copied from the Byzantine type, was imitated in many churches built along the Rhine. St. Mark's at Venice was built about that time. The art of staining gla.s.s was supposed to be invented or greatly extended at this period, and the cathedral of Rheims was described as having windows adorned with divers histories.

THE ROUND TOWERS OF SCOTLAND AND IRELAND.

The learned men of many generations have been much exercised as to the origin, object, and use of the round towers, of which there are two in Scotland and seventy-six in Ireland, and, like the campaniles of Italy, are altogether detached from any neighbouring structure. In Scotland one is at Brechin, and the other at Abernethy. The height is eighty-six and seventy-two feet; the building tapers gradually, and the interior is divided into seven sections. The entrance in one case is on the west side; the other on the north side, in the form of a semicircular arch, surmounted by a figure of the Crucifixion, a small statue on each side, one carrying a pastoral staff, the other a cross-headed staff, and also a book. The walls are three and a half feet thick, and the diameter of one is about thirteen feet and the other eight feet in the interior. These structures are both in ancient churchyards. The learned have concluded that the Scotch towers were erected by Irish monks between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Those being warlike ages, it is conjectured that they were meant as a defence against the savage irruptions of the Danes--not only as a refuge for ecclesiastics, but also as a secure hiding-place for relics, shrines, books, bells, crosiers, and other treasures of the Church.

PETER DAMIANI ADVOCATES WORs.h.i.+P OF THE VIRGIN.

Peter Damiani was born at Ravenna in 1002, and soon became a famous teacher. He developed a strong turn for asceticism, wore sackcloth, fasted and prayed, and used to tame his pa.s.sions by rising from bed and standing for hours in a stream till his limbs were cold and stiff, and then he would hasten to visit churches and recite the Psalter. Once, on offering a silver cup to some monks as a present to their abbot, and which they refused because it was too heavy to carry, he was so pleased with their unworldly views that he soon became monk, and no one could equal him in his austerities. He was early enlisted by Hildebrand to propagate the doctrine of the supremacy of the Pope over all emperors and kings; and though his style of preaching was only a rhapsody of scriptural phrases and allegories, he always carried out the High Church doctrines of his employer. He distinguished himself by his deification of the Virgin and his devotion to flagellation. His glorification of the Virgin consisted in making her the centre of all power in heaven and in earth. His enthusiasm on this subject led to offices of prayer being framed for her, which afterwards became developed into a series of prayers known as the Rosary.

But Damiani's masterpiece was the discovery and education of Dominic, a priest, and the greatest master of the art of self-flagellation. Dominic wore a light iron cuira.s.s, which he never put off except to chastise himself. His body and arms were confined by iron rings, his neck loaded with heavy chains, his clothes were scanty rags. His usual exercise was to recite the Psalter twice a day, while he flogged himself with both hands at the rate of a thousand lashes to ten psalms. These self-flagellations were said to serve as a satisfaction for the sins of other men. This system of Dominic was extolled by Damiani as something divine. Damiani was also a determined enemy to the marriage of the clergy, which he denounced as a very Gomorrah. By Hildebrand's influence he was made a cardinal, and died in 1072.

THE TRUCE OF G.o.d.

At the end of the tenth century Guido, Bishop of Puy, in Velai, was said to be the first to establish the _Treuga Dei_, which was the origin of the great expedient for securing peace, emanating a century later from the monks of Cluny. The Council of Clermont (1095) decreed that the Truce of G.o.d should be observed during the leading Church festivals, and every week from sunset on Wednesday till sunrise on Monday. At the Council of Soissons in 1155 King Louis VII. and many princes a.s.sembled, and swore to observe the Truce of G.o.d inviolably. And in 1209 the Pope's legate prescribed its observance to the barons of France. Others say that the Truce of G.o.d was brought into prominence by Rudolph the Bald in 1033, as in that year there had been, after three years' famine, a most abundant harvest, and the clergy suggested that men's minds would then be well disposed to any sacrifice, more especially as the recent events connected with the expected millennium in 1000 were still in vivid remembrance. The Council of Limoges resolved that those who refused to adopt a similar practice, called the Peace of G.o.d, should be excommunicated, and their country laid under an interdict. Yet there was a vigorous opponent, named Gerard of Cambray, who protested that war was an affair of state in which the clergy had no business to interfere; moreover, that the exercise of arms was sanctioned by Scripture. But the vast majority of the people welcomed the new practice, and the time chosen, between the evening of Wednesday and the dawn of Monday, was noted to include the interval between the Saviour's betrayal and the Resurrection. The time was soon, however, abridged. Odilo of Cluny had been a prominent advocate of this restriction on the military barbarism of his time; and William the Conqueror, before the Conquest, had also joined in its observance.

THE NUMBER SEVEN IN SCRIPTURE.

Students of Scripture have noticed how frequently the number seven is chosen as the standard for a vast variety of computations. The seventh day after the Creation G.o.d rested. The children of Israel on the seventh day of the seventh month feasted seven days and remained seven days in tents.

The seventh year was the Sabbath of rest for all things: for the land lying fallow; for release of debts. Seven was fixed for Jacob's years of serving for Rachel; for years of plenty and then for famine in Egypt; for fat beasts and lean beasts; for ears of full corn and blasted corn; for bullocks and rams sacrificed; for King Ahasuerus' feast days; for Queen Esther's maids of honour; for days of unleavened bread; for days of feast of tabernacles; for Joseph mourning; for Churches of Asia; for golden candlesticks; for stars, lamps, seals, angels, devils, phials of wrath. It is noticed that our Saviour spoke seven times from the cross, remained seven hours, appeared seven times. Then there were seven heavens, planets, stars; seven notes in music, primary colours, deadly sins, senses. A child was not named before seven days; the teeth sprang in the seventh month, renewed in the seventh year; faculties develop in thrice seven years, and life extends to ten times seven.

THE POPE MAKING A JUBILEE YEAR.

In 1300 Pope Boniface VIII., whose chief objects were ambition, avarice, and revenge, celebrated with religious ceremonies the year of Jubilee. A rumour had been raised in 1299 among the people of Rome that whosoever in the ensuing year should visit the temple of St. Peter might obtain remission of all his sins, and that this blessing and felicity was annexed to every secular year. Boniface ordered inquiry to be made into the truth of this common opinion, and found, from the testimony of many witnesses of undoubted credit, that it was decreed from the most ancient times that they who repaired to St. Peter's Church with a devout disposition on the first day of the secular year should obtain indulgences of a hundred years. The Pope, therefore, by a circular epistle addressed to all Christian people, declared that those who at this time would piously visit the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul at Rome, confessing their offences, and declaring their sorrow for them, should receive an absolute and plenary remission. The successors of Boniface not only adorned this inst.i.tution with many new rites, but, learning by experience how honoured and how lucrative it was to the Church of Rome, brought it within a narrower compa.s.s of time, so that soon every twenty-fifth year was a year of Jubilee. From every part of Latin Christendom crowds of the faithful began to pour towards Rome. John Villani, the chronicler, who was present, estimates that there were 200,000 strangers in the city. Another chronicler describes the mult.i.tudes as resembling an army constantly marching both ways along the street. And even the poet Dante, who was then a visitor, being away from the republic of Florence, watched the people in their mult.i.tudes pa.s.sing to and from St. Peter's, along the bridge of St.

Angelo, which, to prevent confusion, had a part.i.tion erected to facilitate the pa.s.sengers. Some authors say that the magnificence of the scene gave the poet, and also a contemporary chronicler, the idea of composing their respective works. The coffers of the Pope were filled to overflowing, and one chronicler says he saw at St. Paul's two of the official clergy raking together infinite heaps of money. Boniface was so intoxicated with his success that next day he showed himself in the attire of an emperor, with a sword in his hand, explaining that he was Caesar and emperor, as well as successor of St. Peter. Boniface, in his soaring ambition to subject to his jurisdiction all temporal powers, met in Philip the Fair of France an antagonist as keen and unscrupulous as himself, and their quarrels have amused posterity. He died of insanity and rage in 1303.

VILLANI'S ACCOUNT OF THE JUBILEE IN 1300.

John Villani, the chronicler of Florence, who died of the plague in 1348, thus relates his visit to Rome at the Jubilee of 1300: "For the consolation of the Christian pilgrims every Friday and solemn festival, there was shown in St. Peter's the _sudarium_ of Christ; on which account a great portion of the Christians then living made this pilgrimage, women as well as men, from different and distant countries, from afar off as from near places. And it was the most astonis.h.i.+ng thing that ever was seen, how continually throughout the whole year they had in Rome, beside the Roman people, 200,000 pilgrims, besides those who were on the road going and coming; and all were furnished and satisfied with food in just measure, men and horses, with great patience and without noise or contentions, and I can bear witness to it, for I was present and saw it.

And from the offerings made by the pilgrims the Church gained great treasure, and the Romans from supplying them all grew rich. And I, finding myself in that blessed pilgrimage in the holy city of Rome, seeing her great and ancient remains, and reading the histories and great deeds of the Romans, as written by Virgil, Sall.u.s.t, Lucan, Livy, Valerius, Paulus, Orosius, and other masters of history, who wrote the exploits and deeds, both great and small, of the Romans, and also of strangers in the whole world, to leave a record and example to those who are to come, so I took style and form from them, though as a disciple I was not worthy to do so great a work, and I began to compile a book in honour of G.o.d and of the Blessed John, and in praise of our city of Florence."

A PIOUS ARAB KING'S PRAYER FOR RAIN (A.D. 1343).

In 1343 Juzef Ben Ismail, King of Granada, made a truce of ten years with King Alphonso of Castile, and was noted for his pious laws and ordinances.

Among other reforms he forbade people to go through the streets praying for rain, as he said those who made that offering should go forth to the fields with much devotion and humility, and utter the following prayer: "O Lord Allah, Thou, the ever merciful, who hast created us out of nothing, and knowest our faults, by Thy clemency, O Lord, Thou, who dost not desire to destroy us, regard not our shortcomings, but rather consider Thy mercy and longsuffering. Thou who hast no need of us or our services, O Lord, have pity upon Thy innocent creatures, the unconscious animals and birds of the air, who find not wherewithal to sustain their lives. Look upon the earth which Thou hast created, and upon the plants thereof, which perish and are wasted for lack of the waters that should be their nourishment. O Lord Allah, open to us Thy heavens, turn upon us the blessing of Thy waters, let us again be refreshed with Thy life-giving airs, and send upon us that mercy that shall revive and refresh the dying earth, giving succour and support to Thy creatures, that the infidel may no longer say Thou hast ceased to hear the prayer of Thy true believers. O Lord, we implore Thee by Thy great mercy, for Thou lookest with pity on all Thy creatures. O Lord Allah, in Thee it is we believe, Thee we adore, from Thee we hope for pardon for our errors, and at Thy hands we seek for succour in our need."

THE TERROR OF THE BLACK DEATH IN 1348.

The black death, which was said to have carried off one-fourth of the population in four years, and in England carried off half the population, was a disease which puzzled the scientific men of the period. Carbuncles, tumours, spots on arms and thighs, became fatal in about three days, and the disease spread like fire among dry fuel. The effect on society was enormous. Merchants of unbounded wealth began to carry their treasures to monasteries and churches, and to lay them at the foot of the altar; but the monks in their turn shuddered at the gift, as in their view it only brought death, and they threw it over the convent walls. People were driven by despair to take up pious works as a last defence. In Avignon the Pope found it necessary to consecrate the Rhone, so that bodies might be thrown into the river as the speediest mode of burial. The morals of the people suffered by the hopeless and ghastly spectacles around, for churches were deserted by priests, and the people without shepherds gave way to covetousness as well as licentiousness. When the alarm was over, there was a notable increase of lawyers, who, like locusts, devoured the property left without owners. The plague raged from 1347 to 1350; and owing to the Pope Clement VI. appointing a jubilee in 1350, and a vast concourse of pilgrims to Rome, it was said that scarcely one in a hundred escaped alive. The Brotherhood of the Cross or of the Flagellants reappeared at this time, which betokened the end of the world to many, and, taking on themselves the sins of the people, went about scourging themselves in churches and markets, as a mode of averting the wrath of Heaven. This imposing sacrificial ceremony had been invented about a century before by Dominic, and was kept up from time to time in various countries. The panic of the black death was in some places ascribed to the infidel practices of Jews, who were accordingly hunted to death and burnt in their synagogues, or put to the sword without compunction. The physicians of the period were all at their wits' end how to administer remedies to those requiring a remedy. Among those carried off by this scourge was John Villani, the historian, and Laura, the beloved of Petrarch. Though the black death was so fatal in England, it was noted that Ireland escaped.

THE DANCING MANIA AND SWEATING SICKNESS IN GERMANY AND HOLLAND.