Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776Reilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776
Reilly, S. A.
Law -- England -- History
Everyone in the village went to church on Sunday and brought
gifts such as grain to the priest. Later, contributions in the form of
money became customary, and then expected. These "tithes" were spent
for church repair, the clergy, and poor and needy laborers. The church
fixed the amount to be one-tenth, but local custom determined the
amount. There was also church-scot: a payment to the clergy in lieu of
the first fruits of the land. There were also offerings, originally
voluntary but afterwards compulsory, for sacraments. The priest was the
chaplain of a landlord and his parish was coextensive with that
landlord's holding and could include one to several villages. The
priest and other men who helped him, lived in the church building. Some
churches had lead roofs and iron hinges, latches, and locks on their
doors. The land underneath had been given to the church by former kings
and persons who wanted the church to say prayers to help their souls go
from purgatory to heaven and who also selected the first priest. The
priest conducted Christianized Easter ceremonies in the spring and
(Christ's mass) ceremonies in winter in place of the pagan Yuletide
festivities. Burning incense took the place of pagan burnt animal
offerings, which were accompanied by incense to disguise the odor of
burning flesh. Holy water replaced haunted wells and streams. Christian
incantations replaced sorcerer's spells. Nuns assisted priests in
celebrating mass and administering the sacraments. They alone
consecrated new nuns. Vestry meetings were community meetings held for
church purposes. The people said their prayers in English, and the
priest conducted the services in English. A person joined his hands in
prayer as if to offer them for binding together in submission.
The church baptized babies and officiated or gave blessings at
marriage ceremonies. It also said prayers for the dying, gave them
funerals, and buried them. There were burial service fees, candle dues,
and plough alms. A piece of stone with the dead person's name marked
his grave. It was thought that putting the name on the grave would
assist identification of that person for being taken to heaven. The
church heard the last wish or will of the person dying concerning who
he wanted to have his property. The church taught that it was not
necessary to bury possessions with the deceased. The church taught boys
and girls.
Every man carried a horn slung on his shoulder as he went about
his work so that he could at once send out a warning to his fellow
villagers or call them in chasing a thief or other offender. The
forests were full of outlaws, so strangers who did not blow a horn to
announce themselves were presumed to be fugitive offenders who could be
shot on sight with impunity. An eorl could call upon the ceorl farmers
for about forty days to fight off an invading group.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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