May 2006

Parish History Episode 61 Rector Gillow's Will

Religion exists, at least partly, to prepare us in this World below for a future of another kind. But the emphasis on this as on other aspects of religion has varied from age to age, and it would appear that Christendom in the Fifteenth Century was more obsessed with these weighty matters than is the Church of our time, or possibly most other times. The doctrine of Purgatory, that is of a place of purgation in the after-life, where souls were prepared for the Kingdom of Heaven by, it would seem, punishment for all the body’s failures in this World, was universally believed throughout Western Christendom. It was taught that this Purgatory was an exceedingly unpleasant place, differing from Hell chiefly, it would seem, in that its punishments were not of eternal duration. It was therefore advisable to lead a sinless life, so that, when death came, there would be no sins needing to be purged. But was that possible? The Apostle Paul had written, “All have sinned, and come short of the Glory of God”. If this be true, what then was Man or Woman to do? Baptism cleansed a candidate of all sin, but every adult had already been baptised, and the rite could not be repeated. And every adult was equally aware that he or she had committed numerous sins since their Baptism. There was still, it was true, the Sacramant of Penance. Everyone was expected to confess all their venial and mortal sins to a priest, and he would impose a Penance and grant Absolution. That would seem to suffice to remove the risk of Hell for those penitents who had confessed their sins. But in a society where it was customary for people to go to Confession but once a year (on Easter Eve, immediately prior to the one day of the year, Easter Day, on which they received the Consecrated Wafer, the Body of their Lord, in the Sacrament of Holy Communion), there was always likely to be a backlog of sins waiting to be confessed. This was particularly true of venial (minor) sins, those which were not sufficient by themselves to doom a person to eternal damnation; sinners who knew that they had committed a mortal sin would very likely seek Absolution as soon as they could contact a priest, thus ensuring that their souls would not, at the time of death, go to Hell. But though unabsolved venial sins certainly merited punishment in Purgatory, and that was, as mentioned above, a most unpleasant place, people seemed to feel that it was childish to bring all their minor failings to the attention of the priest, and they seemed to rely on the Confessional at Easter, or the Sacrament of Extreme Unction (the Last Rites) at the time of death, to keep them out of Purgatory. People were also aware that the Absolution would only be effective if the Confession was full, sincere, given with a contrite heart, and with a determination not to sin again. Many people were only too well aware that these conditions did not fully apply to their state of mind at Confession, and they did not feel confident in their Salvation. Fortunately the idea had grown up that mitigation or liberation from the pains of Purgatory could be obtained, not only by formal Confession, but also by undertaking certain actions. For instance, one could obtain a Plenary (full, entire) or partial (for so many days remission of punishment in Purgatory) Indulgence by, for instance, going on crusade, or on pilgrimage to certain shrines, or by prayer, or by fasting. But crusading had gone out of fashion, pilgrimages were time-consuming and expensive, and so was prayer, if taken to excess. But then it was discovered that money helped. Since the mid Fourteenth Century, belief had grown in the existence of a “Treasury of Merit”, as proclaimed by Pope Clement VI (one of the Avignonese popes) in 1343, which could be used to remit the sins of sinful man. The Merit in this Treasury was, so to speak, a store of superfluous merit, or Works of Supererogation as they were termed. These were “good deeds” performed by the saints, over and above the minimum number required to ensure the salvation of a soul. It was further held that this Treasury was in the possession of the Popes, and could be sold to needy sinners, so that the temporal punishments (“penances”) which normally had to be performed by a penitent, either on Earth or in Purgatory, could be remitted. Documents called Indulgences were issued by the popes, and sometimes by other prelates, acting under Papal licence, and sold to those in need of pardon.

Put like that, this doctrine does not sound very satisfactory to us. And though at first, those people who had money (and that might include relatively poor people, who might otherwise have to live very frugally: Indulgences were not always all that expensive) seem to have purchased Indulgences with enthusiasm - it was common prudence to buy them for oneself, it was an act of filial piety to buy them for one’s parents - more thoughtful individuals eventually turned against them; and that was to lead on to the Reformation.

Also, the search for Salvation was never normally, of course, quite so mercenary as it is represented here. Not everybody bought Indulgences. Some preferred to invest time and money in forming pious associations and supporting chantry guilds, and this was to become the preferred way in Houghton.

But that still involved money. Money, it seemed, could always do something for the deceased, but it never seemed to be enough. Nobody could ever be sure of their own, or their loved one’s, salvation. The age seemed to be obsessed by the question, raised by Paul’s Philippian jailer, “What must I do to be saved?”; or, if some individuals were not so obsessed, visiting Pardoners made it their duty to put that question into their heads. Rector Gillow may have been the agent for supplying the Medicine of Immortality to his parishioners, but he seems to have been far from confident of his own salvation. He presumably saw to it that his own mother was attended at her death with all that the Church could do for her soul, but he still feared that it was not enough. When he died, in 1483, he left money in his will for the endowment of a chantry guild, which would erect a chantry chapel over his grave, and his mother’s grave, both being buried side by side just outside the south wall of the chancel, and to pay a chantry priest to say Masses daily for his soul, his mother’s soul, and for the souls of other members of the Guild, and for their kindred.

The Guild of the Most Holy Trinity, formed out of this bequest, did fulfil the terms of Rector Gillow’s will, and did erect a chantry chapel over the Rector’s grave, which still stands to-day. It was on two stories, with the chantry chapel on one floor and the living quarters for the chantry priest on the other. At later times, the building, attached to the chancel of the church, and with a door giving communication from one to the other, has been used as a residence for an assistant curate, at other times for the sexton. Now it is used as the clergy vestry, with the church office above. (The choir vestry was built later, and was never part of the chantry chapel.)

The chantry chapel also seems to have served as a meeting room for the Chantry Guild. Members of the Guild met regularly for several purposes. There were administrative duties, of which the most time-consuming perhaps was seeing that there was money enough to say all the Masses needed. If money was short, then the Members could either chip in out of their own purses, or try raising funds from outside sources, or admit new Members and take their fees. Another administrative function would no doubt involve the oversight of the chantry priest, and making sure that he said the Masses for which he was paid.

Besides these practical purposes, the Members of the Guild seem also to have met for spiritual purposes, for prayer and mutual study, led perhaps by the rector, but also perhaps by their chantry priest, who thus acted as a sort of collective private chaplain to the whole Guild. In that aspect, the Guild would have something of the flavour of a class meeting within the Methodist movement of four hundred years later. It also, no doubt, had a social aspect: the Members probably enjoyed each other’s company, and were pleased to have such a good excuse for meeting together. It seemed much more respectable than meeting in a tavern and gossiping over pots of ale.

We later learn of other chantry guilds in Houghton, one known as the Guild of Saint Mary, and another as the Guild of Saint Catherine. Probably there were never three guilds operating simultaneously. The Guild of Saint Mary appears to be the Guild of the Most Holy Trinity, re·organised and renamed, but still using the same chapel, Rector Gillow’s foundation having perhaps run into financial difficulties; while, when the Reformation had taken hold, and the chantry guilds were in 1547 dissolved, there appears to have been only one guild operating in Houghton. Its name, the Guild of Saint Mary and Saint Catherine, implies amalgamation of the two earlier guilds.

The terms of Rector Gillow’s will were therefore not carried out as smoothly as he had no doubt hoped. But the will is interesting, not only for the permanent architectural change to our church, but also for what it tells us about the testator. We can see, for a start, that the rector was well aware of his own unworthiness, and that he knew that, despite all his works, he was an unprofitable servant of the Lord. Most, if not all, previous and succeeding rectors were equally aware of the Lord’s teaching, but they do not seem to have believed so readily in the necessity of overcoming their unworthiness by the regular recitation of Masses.

The will also tells us two more things about Gillow. First, it would seem that he was not an absentee rector. As his mother as well as himself are both buried here, Houghton was presumably their normal residence during their later years. Further, it is not unreasonable to assume that old Mrs. Gillow was living at the Rectory with her son Henry, and was probably acting as his housekeeper. This makes it very probable that Henry Gillow, unlike so many of his contemporaries, did keep his vow of celibacy.

Dick Toy

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