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| One of the large carved figures of angels with outstretched wings which decorate the 15th-century roof of St Mary's church, Mildenhall, Suffolk. |
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In answering this question the main printed primary source will be Judith Middleton-Stewart’s book containing the churchwardens’ accounts for Mildenhall for the first half of the 16th century.
Judith Middleton-Stewart, ed., ‘Records of the Churchwardens
of Mildenhall: Collections, 1446-1454, Accounts, 1503-1553’ (Suffolk Records
Society, vol. 54, 2011)
Middleton-Stewart was mainly
concerned to highlight changes in ecclesiastical practices within the
parish culminating with the effects of government directives on the church
during the reign of Edward VI. However, the concern here will be to squeeze the
source material as far as possible for evidence of how the Mildenhall parishioners
maintained their poor rather than how they maintained the fabric of their
church. In doing so, much use will be
made of Marjorie McIntosh’s recent study of the period in her book, “Poor
Relief in England 1350-1600”. The essay will begin by outlining the function of
churchwardens and their accounts followed by a discussion of pre-Edwardian
almshouses in Mildenhall and the role played by the local poor in pre-Reformation
commemorative practices. Then the focus will move to the watershed years of
1547 to 1553 with a description of the sale of the church plate and the stores
of candle wax and the relevance of this sale to the relief of the poor.
The consequences of the installation of the church poor box during this
period will also be discussed. Finally, there will be some exploration of the
way Mildenhall wills reveal testators’ attitudes to the poor, concluding with
some general discussion of how practices changed as the local community developed
more protestant sympathies.
Churchwardens’
accounts form the heart of any parish’s written history, as they are not only
an account of ecclesiastical expenses, but also of much of the community’s
civic life. They were once regarded as
the dreary preserve of parochial antiquarians but are now increasingly quarried
for information about the social relations of parish life.
Who served as churchwardens in Mildenhall? At
the beginning of the 16th century there were two churchwardens (but
occasionally four) who usually served for three years. They were chosen
from among the ‘substantial men’ of the parish - well-established and respected
local tradesmen and craftsmen, who possessed some wealth and standing in the
community. As the century progressed they
were to develop more and more responsibility for the maintenance of the parish
poor. However, prior to the 1540s there
is little evidence in the churchwardens’ accounts that they did much more than
make occasional distributions of money to the poor from their general fund. This is typical of the country as a whole
where “churchwardens seem to have made little effort prior to 1547 to raise
funds expressly for poor parishioners.”
In the Mildenhall accounts there is a single reference in 1505:
Item taken owte of the churche for the
pore 10s
Similarly, there is a single reference in the same
year to the maintenance of the local almshouse:
payd for a hundred bryckes for the
almes houses chymney 1s 4d
We do not know precisely when the Mildenhall
almshouse was built, though it must have been medieval in origin, but we do
know that at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th
century the founding of almshouses was increasing, especially in the south-east
and in East Anglia, with some testators leaving property in their will as
accommodation for the deserving poor.
However, the next reference in Mildenhall to local almshouses is not
until 1552 with the following entries
Item for crotchets [metal hooks] and
rafte for pooer almses howse 1s 4d
…
Item for medynge of the pooer menes
chymnes 7s 0d
…
Item thankeng [thatching] of an almes
howse 6d
The second item suggests that at least one of the
Mildenhall almshouses was for men only. Entrants
to the almshouses would need to fulfil certain requirements. We have no records for Mildenhall but in
Hadleigh those admitted to the Pykenham workhouse, set up in 1497, had to be
“of good and honest conversation and living and by fortune fall[en] to extreme
poverty.” No doubt, the Mildenhall almshouses provided an important
contribution to the maintenance of the poor, but they are unlikely to have provided
support to more than a few of the bedridden, disabled and elderly poor that
existed in the parish. The occasional
disbursement of alms at the church porch would arguably have had more impact on
the lives of the majority of the poor and needy. On the other hand, providing lodgings for the
alms people ensured that they had somewhere to live; and as almshouses usually
provided a small pension as well, these people would not be a ‘burden’ on the
parish funds.
In Catholic theology, people who provided help for
the poor gained spiritual benefits for themselves and this is where the role of
the poor in remembering the dead was significant. In her discussion of funerals and obits prior
to the changes brought about by the Reformation, Middleton-Murray points out
that:
“Commemorative practices were diverse and catered for every section of
society except for the very poor, but even this impoverished class had a part
to play, for the prayers of the deserving poor were considered to be of greater
significance than the prayers of the well-heeled laity. The almost
obligatory attendance of the poor at funerals was rewarded with a dole, often
accompanied by… refreshment….”
Thus, we find in the accounts for 1529 the
following entry where monetary returns on land left by Sherd supported his
anniversary and that of his wives:
Item payd to the prystes and clerkes
and poore pepyll up on the anniverser of Thomas Scherd, Anabyl and Alys, his wyefys 4s 0d
It is unclear exactly how much the “poore pepyll” received but this
entry is indicative of the quality of aid in pre-Reformation England which was
often infrequent, unpredictable and of low value (for example, a loaf of bread
or a penny), and was not intended to provide regular relief. By 1547, the theology of paying the poor to
remember the dead was largely redundant and wills and churchwardens’ accounts
witnessed the replacement of terminology such as ‘quethword’ (prayers for the
soul) with the more acceptable term ‘legacy’.
From now on several such legacies would include amounts of money to be
given to the poor man’s box.
The installation of a poor man’s box in Mildenhall church was the result
of a government injunction of 1547. It
signified a move from the medieval practice of giving alms or occasional doles
of money with something approaching a more sustained and systematic approach to
dealing with the needs of the poor. Now,
under Protestant Edward VI, “money formerly
bequeathed for ‘blind devotions’, or collected by gilds and fraternities, was
to be diverted into poor-relief.”
Mention of the poor man’s box makes a prompt
appearance in the Mildenhall accounts in 1547:
Memorandum payde to John Lane for one
lok and 2 keyes for the hutche for the pore and the hutche for the regestre 1s
2d
This hutch with one lock and two separate keys contained alms for the
poor. McIntosh points out that “the box was supposed to solicit as well as store
contributions: it was to be set up ‘near the high altar, to the intent the
parishioners should put into it their oblation and alms for their poor
neighbours.’” The royal injunction of 1547 specifically ordered the parish
clergy to “call upon, exhort, and move their neighbours to confer and give as
well they may spare to the said chest.”
There was an expectation also that parishioners would take note of this
royal order when writing their wills. Certainly,
the location of the box indicates that money given to the poor was seen as a
replacement for the common provision in Catholic wills of a token amount to the
high altar for payments forgotten etc.
With the installation of the poor box and the new requirement that
collections for the poor were to be made at church services, parishes such as
Mildenhall suddenly began to assume a more pro-active role in poor relief. McIntosh points out that “for recipients, it was of great benefit that money could now
be reserved and awarded gradually, either on a regular basis or in response to
their particular needs, rather than be handed out on the spot as soon as it was
donated.” However, the amounts paid out could still vary enormously as they
depended on the generosity and capability of parishioners.
The sale of Mildenhall church’s plate took place at around this time but
it is unclear whether the proceeds were used to relieve the poor. Large sums of money were raised during 1547: £60 0 0 and £12 15 0. And in 1548 the sale of “sylver
plate” realised £23 10 0. In Boxford,
interest from the lending of ‘plate money’ was specifically earmarked for the
use of the poor and something similar may have occurred in Mildenhall.
The sale of stocks of candle wax also provided a
boost to church income. At Mildenhall in
1548, receipts from this sale were spent on the poor with the consent of the
‘hole pariche’ which suggests some sort of open meeting of all ‘substantial
parishioners’:
Memorandum that there dothe remayne the
6 day of Auguste In the second yere of the reyne of Kynge Edwarde the VI £2 4s
8d of the stoke of waxe and thys day gatheryd to the use of the pore wherof ys
dystrybuted the same daye to thes persons folowynge by the assente and consente
of all the hole pariche 2s 7d
Item to Johane Clement and to Wylliam
Clement and to Pantelles wyffe for to kepe them 1s
Item to Mother Worde 6d Margerey
Conyers and to Alys Barker 8d
Item to the pore boye 5d
Item payde out of the mony before
specyfyd, whyche ys £2 4s 8d, 12s save 2d layde oout to the pore pepll at tyme
whan they dyd call for yt.
Item layd out of the sayd mony for one
payer off shooes for the chylde 6d
Item payd for one moneth for the chylde
14 days before Chrystmes 1s 8d
Item payd for the chyldes coote and for
the makynge to Thomas Cootes 2s 8d”
The latter part of the entry highlights that there
is a “chylde” in the churchwardens’ care who received a pair of shoes and a
coat from the sale of the redundant wax as well as his keep over the Christmas
period. This part of the Mildenhall
accounts [folio 36r] is notable in that it deals specifically with monies paid
out to the poor resulting from the ban of the use of candles in church
services. McIntosh points out that “with
their newly enlarged revenues for the poor, augmented in some cases by the sale
of goods before the anticipated royal appropriations of parish property, many
Edwardian churchwardens expanded their activities on behalf of the needy.”
As an appendix to her book Judith Middleton-Stewart
has included a selection of the Wills made by Mildenhall parishioners between
1433 and 1585. We have already noted
that the poor received doles of money at times of ‘prayers for the dead’ but
specific bequests to the poor are rare in the printed wills before 1547. The first mention of ‘poor people’ in the 16th
century wills appears in 1516.
Will of Sir Simon Etton [chantry priest of the charnel]:
My bullocks, 12 coombs of malt and my
sheep to be sold to the best value and disposed among the poor people within
the town of Mildenhall to the value of 30s…
There are also monies left poor people in wills for
1530 (3s 4d) and 1535 (4 marks). In 1537 we have the Will of John Halsted of
Westrowe (who, in 1524, was worth £18 in moveables):
… I will there be bestowed at my
burying day and at my 30 day 4 marks, equally to be divided, i.e. at every of
the said 2 days 26s. 8d, among priests, clerks and poor people.
I will that at every of the said days
there be killed and disposed in deeds of charity a young bullock or steer over
and besides the said 4 marks toward the relief of the poor people…
It would be interesting to know whether the beef
was sold off and the proceeds given to the poor, or whether it was part of the
general feasting at the ‘wake’?
Ten years later in December 1547 Richard Cole,
whose occupation was ‘tanner’ and who must have been a relatively wealthy
parishioner because he left 40s for the ‘reparation of the church’, makes a
substantial contribution towards the maintenance of the parish poor:
… To the poor people of Mildenhall
parish, £10 in money, to be distributed 10 years immediately after my decease,
that is every 20s to be distributed and dealt at 2 several times in the year,
that is at Christmas 10s. and Our Lady day the Annunciation, the other 10s. and
so from year to year…
With his legacy stretching over ten years, Richard
Cole seems to have understood and accepted the Edwardian requirement that
charitable contributions to the relief of the poor should be substantial and
regular. Over the next two decades the
selected wills of the ‘substantial men’ (and one widow) of the parish reveal a
steady outflow of funds to the poor and they are summarised here:
1549 widow of a dyer
|
20s. and 20s
|
1551 yeoman
|
40d
|
1553 weaver
|
12d
|
1558 organ player and clerk
|
£10 and 10s
|
1559 thatcher
|
10s and 10s
|
Without access to all the Wills for the second half
of the 16th century [only 10 are printed compared with 45 for the
first half] it is difficult to estimate what percentage of Mildenhall testators
left money to the poor. However, there
is evidence from studies elsewhere that calls for generosity by the ‘powers
that be’ did indeed have an effect upon the extent of almsgiving. For example, in Colchester, bequests to the
poor increased from 15 percent of all testators between 1528 and 1537 to 38
percent between 1548 and 1553.
The willingness of testators and churchwardens to
implement royal orders on behalf of the poor suggests that some of them were thinking
about their Christian and community responsibilities in new ways commensurate
with those reforming protestant ideas that were becoming current throughout the
kingdom. These ideas were characterised
by a reinvigorated civic humanism and a belief in the well-ordered Christian
state often referred to as the ‘commonwealth’.
A society which neglected the incapacitated poor could not be regarded
as a just commonwealth. Jordan conducted some important quantitative
research in the 1950s: “Between 1480 and 1540, 53% of all charitable donations
went to specifically religious causes (mainly prayers, church repairs or
buildings, and maintenance of the clergy), while only 13% was given to poor
relief. Between 1540 and 1560, however, just 15% of the total went to
religious causes, but 27% to poor relief; between 1561 and 1600, the figures
reached 7% for religion and 39% to the poor…”
At the same time more diverse forms of aid became the norm. In the 1570s purchases for clothing, shoes,
food, coal or wood became more frequent; probably to ensure that the cash
equivalent was used to benefit the recipient, whereas actual money may have
been spent on other things. Additionally, by the 1590s documents suggest that more
parishes were paying for shrouds, winding sheets and burials of poor
parishioners. Care for poor children
also became much more common. It would
be interesting to explore how far Mildenhall in the second half of the 16th
century shared those aspects of poor assistance explored by McIntosh in her
exemplary study of Hadleigh.
Craig has presented evidence from the Mildenhall churchwardens’
accounts of the last two decades of the 16th century that suggests a
growing puritanism among parishioners.
He cites, in particular, the sale of the parish organ in 1582 and the
purchase of a ‘Geneva Bible’ in 1585. Marjorie
McIntosh has suggested that government directives accompanied by religious
teaching of a ‘puritan nature’ led to an increase in ‘human compassion’ and a
perception that the harmony and security of a community like Mildenhall could
not survive when desperate poverty could be witnessed on a daily basis. There was also an understanding that
well-managed poor relief programmes would reap dividends in the longer
term. Self-interest also played a part:
not only did charitable service promote a donor’s social standing within the
community but the names and generosity of donors would remain after death
because bequests would be listed in the church records, perhaps as a plaque on
the church wall. Prayers for the dead may well have been ‘outlawed’ but the
names of worthy parishioners could live on in a different guise.
Bibliography
Botelho,
L. A., ed., ‘Churchwardens’ Accounts of Cratfield, 1640-1660’ (Suffolk Records
Society, vol. 42, 1999)
Craig,
J., ‘Co-operation and initiatives: Elizabethan churchwardens and the parish
accounts of Mildenhall’, (Social History, 18, 1993), pp.357-80
Craig, J.,’ Reformation,
Politics and Polemics: the growth of Protestantism in East Anglian market
towns, 1500-1600’, (Ashgate, 2001)
Duffy, E., ‘The Voices of Morebath: reformation and
rebellion in an English village’, (Yale 2001)
Dymond
D., ed., ‘The Churchwardens’ Book of Bassingbourn’, Cambridgeshire, 1496-c.1540
(Cambridgeshire Records Society, vol. 17, 2004)
Dymond,
D., & Paine, C., ‘Five Centuries of an English Parish Church: ‘The State of
Melford Church’, Suffolk’ (3rd edn. Cambridge, 2012)
McIntosh, M., ‘Poor Relief in England 1350-1600’
(CUP 2012)
McIntosh, M., ‘Poor Relief and Community in
Hadleigh, Suffolk 1547-1600’, (University of Hertfordshire Press, 2013)
Middleton-Stewart,
J., ed., ‘Records of the Churchwardens of Mildenhall: Collections, 1446-1454,
Accounts, 1503-1553’ (Suffolk Records Society, vol. 54, 2011)
Northeast, P., ed., ‘Boxford Churchwardens’
Accounts 1530-1561’, (Suffolk Records Society, 23 1982)
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