You will need to load the following files
before you can use the Genesis applications :

- !ArcFS
- System
- Font  
- !Browser (in the Genesis folder)


Once you have loaded these, you can click on the
!CHURCH file to run it.



The !CHURCH file is a guide to a 'typical' medieval
parish church (whatever the word typical means in this
context ?).


The material is aimed at pupils studying Key Stage 3,
National Curriculum History, Study Unit 1.

Once !CHURCH is running, you will be presented
with a title screen that shows the basic layout
of a medieval church.

Clicking on any of the RED BOXES will take you
from one information screen to another.


Please find below some general background information
on English parish churches.


The English Parish
------------------

Just how religious was the ordinary member of the parish ?

In theory, every person was supposed to know at least
the PATERNOSTER (The Lord's Prayer), and AVE MARIA, either
in Latin or English.

Many grew up with little understanding of what was
happening during a church service.

Many priests were badly educated.

'Parson Sloth' in the VISION OF PIERS PLOWMAN says;

'I have been a priest and parson for thirty winters past,
But I cannot solfa or sing, or read a Latin life of saints;
But I can find a hare, in a field or in a furrow,
Better than construe the first Psalm or explain it to the parish.
I can hold a friendly meeting, I can cast a shire's accounts,
But in mass-book or Pope's edict I cannot read a line.

It was common for the congregation to laugh and chatter during the
service.

The congregation learned more from the sermon, than from
the latin church service.

The centre of religious life was the parish church.

It's priest was given a house, a certain amount of land
(called the glebe), and a yearly sum of money (mainly from
tithes). Out of this sum the priest had to keep the chancel of
the church in good repair, help the poor and show
hospitality to visitors.

Every church consisted of at least two parts - the chancel and
the nave.

The chancel (with its altar) was at the east end of the church
and was the responsibility of the priest.

The nave, to the west, was used by the parishioners and was
their responsibilty. Villages often took great pride
in making their churches as beautiful as possible.

In most churches the chancel was separated from the nave by
a wooden screen, with a gallery above it called the rood loft,
because upon it stood the rood or crucifix. The priest was
supposed to read the Epistle and Gospel from here, but this
only really happened in greater churches.

There might be a number of altars in the nave, as well as side 
chapels dedicated to saints. Certain altars or chapels
might be the responsibility of a local guild. Some altars or
chapels might be chantry altars or chantry chapels.

A chantry was a church service that might be paid for
by a local lord or businessman. He would leave money or land
to the church in order for services/prayers to be said for 
himself when he died. Some individuals would pay to
improve that part of the church where their services were 
to be held.

The bells in the tower called the faithful to church for
services - and the ringing of bells drove away evil
spirits (or so it was believed).

There would be a porch on the south side of the nave.
The chief part of the marriage service took place
in the porch.

At the west end of the church you would usually find
a font. A child would be baptised the day after its
birth. They believed that unbaptized infants who died
would be cast into hell.

All parishioners were expected to take communion and make their
confessions at least once a year.

The priest would hear confessions in the nave.

Stained glass windows and wall paintings would instruct 
parishioners who could not read about certain aspects 
of church teachings.

Walking into a medieval church one would be met with
a riot of colour.

Prayers would be said before the crucifix and 
statues of saints.

In 1102 the Archbishop of Canterbury laid down 
strict rules for priests :

1) Priests should no longer have wives.

2) No priest shall work for the government, nor
   be judge of life and death.

3) Priests shall not spend time in pubs.

4) They should dress in clothes of one colour and
   simple clothes.

5) No church office shall be sold.

6) No tithe should be given to anyone but a
   priest.

THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH
-------------------

The medieval church was diverse and there is a great difference between
the church in Rome - the national churches (Spain, France,
England) - and 'a semi-literate cleric in some rude chapel min
the midst of inhospitable forests or fields, surrounded by
peasants who muttered charms over their ploughs and whispered
magic words at crossroads.'

'For most people in medieval England life was a constant battle
to get enough food, fuel and shelter to sustain existence
from one year to the next....Even the greatest lords in the
land could not escape the evil effects of their environment,
in which infant mortality was high, life expectancy low,
illness and early death commonplace.'

In this atmosphere superstition was rife and people turned
to the church for salvation in the next world and for
miracle cures in this one.

"Henry, paralysed in the right side and carrying his arm in
a sling, came to Simon de Montfort's tomb and took dust from
it, which he rubbed on his arm. He was healed at once,
before many witnesses."

"A girl from Eynsham, blind for some time, wished to go to
St. Frideswide's for a cure; taken to the shrine, she slept
at the sepulchre. In the morning, after shedding many tears
bloody pus flowed from her eyes and she recovered her sight."

From the 14th century onwards there is greater devotion to
Christ and the Virgin Mary. In many churches you will find
newly created Lady Chapels.
              


The following sources were used in compiling the Genesis
application and textfiles :



The Buildings of England : Sussex.
A Penguin Guide. Ian Nairn and Nikolaus Pevsner.
1985.

English Parish Churches. Smith, Cook and Hutton.
Thames and Hudson. 1976.

English Life in the Middle Ages. L.F. Saltzman.
Oxford University Press. 1926.

The following church guides :

- Piddinghoe, Southease, Rodmell, Clayton,
  Battle and Bramber parish churches (Sussex).      

- Charing, Chilham, Newchurch, St Nicholas-at-Wade,
  Appledore, Brook, Harbledown, Chartham and
  Pluckley parish churches (Kent).        

- the Temple Church, London.      

Sussex Churches and Chapels. 
Museums Service, Brighton. 1989.

Medieval Panorama. G.G.Coulton.
Cambridge University Press. 1938.

The Historical Growth of the English Parish Church.
A.H.Thompson. Cambridge University Press. 1911.

The Sussex Story. David Arscott. 1992.

Miracles and Pilgrims. Ronald Finucane. 1977.



Any spelling or factual mistakes are mine - please
change them.


Please feel free to alter any of the material in the
Genesis application file.



Jim Fanning,   
History Department,
Tideway School,    
Southdown Road,
Newhaven,
East Sussex.


May 1995.