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An End To Frithsplottum
This description is by necessity only the simplest outline
of a story of great complexity and the conversion of the
heathen and establishment of the Christian church was by
no means a done deal just because St Augustine arrived.
Look inside our magical 12
th
century churches, built 500
years after Augustine’s mission and you can see how
persistent the old ways were with pagan symbols merrily
mixed in with Christian ones. It could be said that our
parish priests were for many centuries missionaries taking
the word out into the wilds of England just as the Christian
missionaries took it into wilds of Africa in the 19
th
century.
The
Canons of Edgar
laid down in the time of Archbishop
Dunstan in the 10
th
century describe what was expected of
the parish priest:
That he diligently promote Christianity, and banish
heathenism, and forbid well-worship, necromancy,
augury, man-worship, incantations, and many things
which they practise with various spells, and frithsplottum
and wich-elms and various trees and stones, and other
phantasms by which many are deceived, and that devil’s
craft whereby children are drawn through the earth, and
the merriment that men make on the night of the year
(New Year’s Eve).
Historians aren’t entirely sure of
frithsplottum
, they think
it means the veneration of ground as sacred to pagans.
There’s also a fair bit about how the priest should conduct
himself:
That at the right times the bell be rung, and the priest say
his hours in church, or there pray and intercede for all
men. That no priest come into the church or into his stall
without his upper garment, or minister without his
vestment. That no man in orders conceal his tonsure,
or leave it badly shaven, or wear his beard long; that
priests be not ignorant of fasts or festivals, lest they lead
the people wrong.
Priests could be married at this time, it was the Normans
who introduced the call to celibacy, but it is interesting
to note that while the
Canons of Edgar
bid the priests to
avoid drunkenness and be neither hunter nor hawker nor
dicer, when it comes to women they make only the
somewhat feeble recommendation that they
not consort
too much with women, but love their own spouse.
Having a Living in One's Gift
When a parish was formed, the Saxon manorial chapel
became the parish church and the priest became the Rector
from the Latin for ruler. As the Bishops of the new church
didn’t want to be financially responsible it became a
condition of establishing a parish that the Rector had an
endowment of land roughly the size of a self-sufficient
smallholding, usually about 25 or 30 acres. This parcel of
land was called the Glebe and it was usually given by the
Lord of the Manor, who in return as patron, retained the
right known as the
advowson
to appoint the incumbent.
Hence 1000 years later in Sussex Earl De La Ware is
struggling to give away the living of Withyam.
Great & Small Tithes
Each parish was identified with a
Benefice
, which is an
ecclesiastical office under Canon (church) Law carrying
certain duties and conditions known as the
spiritualities
together with certain revenues known as the
temporalities.
The Bishop was responsible for making sure that an
appropriate person was appointed to care for the spiritual
needs of the people of each parish. This spiritual care is
known as the
cure of souls
and originally the man given
the cure was known as the curate although today that name
has come to be used for a trainee clergyman. The holder
of the Benefice is known as the incumbent. Historically
parochial Benefices were of three kinds: Rectors, Vicars
and Perpetual Curates and they were distinguished by the
remuneration they received.
The Tithe Barn at Maidstone