A book of the west. Volume 2, Cornwall : $b being an introduction to Devon and Cornwall — John Shaqi
A book of the west. Volume 2, Cornwall : $b being an introduction to Devon and CornwallBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History
A book of the west. Volume 2, Cornwall : $b being an introduction to Devon and Cornwall
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Cornwall (England : County)
Now this was very peculiar, quite unlike anything that existed in the
civilised Roman world.
This organisation consisted in the creation of an ecclesiastical tribe
side by side with the tribe of the land. The saint was given by the
king or chief a certain territory, and at once he set to work thereon
to constitute an ecclesiastical tribe subject to his rule, precisely
similar to the secular tribe subject to the rule of the chieftain. A
rill of water usually divided the two settlements. The idea of the
church and the priest in the midst of the tribe of the land, acting as
chapel and chaplain did to the Saxon thane or the Norman baron, did not
occur to the Celt. The two tribes coexisted as separate units, but tied
together by reciprocal rights.
The saint having been given a bit of land, at once constituted his
sanctuary. He put up stones or crosses marking his bounds, a thousand
paces from his cell, in a circle.
Every noble, _arglwyd_, or _flath_ exercised rights of sanctuary, and
the extent of his sanctuary constituted his _llan_, or lawn. The lowest
grade of noble had the limits of his lawn marked at the distance of
three throws of a spear or a ploughshare from his door; the _rig_ or
king had his as far as sixty-four pitches.
Now all those who took refuge within the lawn had sanctuary for a
limited period, and the noble or the saint employed this time of
respite to come to terms with the prosecutor, and furnish the fine
(_eric_) appointed by law for the offence committed by the refugee.
If he could not pay the fine he surrendered the man who had come for
sanctuary, but if he paid it, thenceforth that man became his client,
and he provided him with a _bod_ or _both_, a habitation, and land
to cultivate; he became one of his men. This was an important means
whereby the saint recruited his tribe.
Throughout Cornwall a number of sanctuaries remain, under the name of
“sentry fields.” If we could find out how many and where they are, we
should know what were the mother _llans_ of the early saints.
But a saintly tribe was recruited in another way. Every firstling
of the secular tribe was made over to the saint: the first son of a
family, the first lamb and calf. The son did not necessarily become an
ecclesiastic, but he passed into the ecclesiastical tribe, and became
subject to the jurisdiction of the saint.
But it may be asked, What happened when the saint died?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account