Baptism pre-Reformation

 Abstract.   Baptism before Reformation, 1534, was almost as important as Communion. It both purified and sanctified the individual. It was accepted new babies had to be baptised immediately and the ritual involved three Godparents and perhaps the midwife. The ceremony usually started at the door of the church and then a font near to the door. Vows were important. Wealthy families could be in the church which was richly decorated. It is mostly Thomas Cranmer’s baptismal service of 1552 that passed into the 1662 Book of Common Prayer which with minor change is used today.  

    The sacrament of baptism[1] in medieval times was believed to be a way of purifying or giving rebirth of the individual and uniting them with the church. It was another way God showed grace, sometimes called christening, and was second in importance to the mass. A ritual that was both a symbolic and a supernatural transformation. Baptism, mostly for adults, became common by the 2nd-century and up to the 12th-century was customary to enact on Easter Eve[2] or Pentecost Eve.[3] During this time the ritual was variable, location could be outside of a church, if near or in a church it necessitated a baptistry or very large font and age was not defined. After this time[4] baptism was considered essential to be held either on the day of birth, or if good reason delayed no more than two days. This immediacy was in order to save the child’s soul, to enable eternal salvation in case of early death.[5] Baptism was obligatory, though some avoided it, and the church had a prescribed liturgy. Immediate baptism also served to give the baby a name; invariably one name in medieval times. The church required three godparents to be present,[6] two to be the gender of the baby. The name was pronounced by the senior godparent and was repeated at least 16 times in the service. Some historians think it was the godparent who chose the name and so might have ignored the wishes of the parents. Latin was used in the service, but the vernacular was spoken in parts. Normally baptisms occurred in the church, but with extenuating circumstances it could be undertaken elsewhere by the midwife and, if the infant lived, validated later in the church. The midwife presented the infant, together with godparents, whilst the mother stayed at home for 6 weeks being considered unclean to visit the church. The father generally stayed away from the ceremony.

Early depiction of baptism from the catacomb of San Callisto, 3rd century. The baptised was usually naked. It appears water is being poured over the young person.

 

            Detail of the baptismal procedure was first recorded in the second half of the 13th-century.[7] The liturgy began at the cathedral door symbolising the transition from the sinful outside and moving into God’s house.[8] At this time many churches gained a porch for such a celebration and Lichfield Cathedral was probably no exception with an outward projecting atrium around the Great West door.[9] The priest asked the midwife for the gender of the infant and checked whether it had already received a name and any form of baptism.[10] A male baby was held by the priest to the right, a female to the left. He then gave a sign of the cross on the baby’s forehead and said some words to emphasise this and then repeated it on the baby’s breast. The senior godparent then announced the name as well as handing over a small amount of salt. The priest placed this in the baby’s mouth and said a series of prayers.[11] The salt was given to represent wisdom and the prayers exorcised the devil. Three verses from Matthew’s Gospel now described how children were brought for blessing. The priest now spat into his hand and placed saliva on the ears and nose of the baby simulating how Christ healed the blind man. Remember, a new born baby would have their eyes closed. Finally, the Pater noster (Lord’s prayer in Latin) and creed was said. A sign of the cross was given to the baby’s right hand. As the group moved into the church, the priest said, ‘Go into the temple of God, so that you may have eternal life and live world without end. Amen.’ Wealthy families would have decorated the church with fine cloth of silk and gold and arranged for many candles to be brought into the church. For some it was an event emphasising their status.

            The baptismal party stood by the font at the west end of the nave and not far from the entrance door. In later times, the priest asked in the vernacular the party to say the Pater noster, Ave Maria and Creed. He then charged the godparents to protect the infant from fire, water and other perils up to the age of seven (considered to be the age of reason)[12]. They should teach the child, especially the three prayers, and ensure they were confirmed when older. The priest now in Latin blessed the baby in the name of the Trinity and the cathedral saints (Chad and the Virgin Mary).

            Now followed an ordeal for godparents to give vows in Latin and for the naked baby to be immersed in the font three times.[13] The vows were, “Do you renounce Satan? Do you renounce all his works? Do you renounce all his pomps? Do you believe in God the father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth? Do you believe in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord, (who was) born and suffered? Do you also believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life after death everlasting?” Finally, he asked what the party were seeking and they had to reply ‘baptism.’ Then ‘Do you wish to be baptised?’ would be responded with ‘I do.’

            The priest immersed the baby in the font water and said, ‘I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ He repeated the immersion twice more symbolically recalling the Trinity.[14] There are later accounts when affusion, pouring water over the head of the baby, occurred; it is unclear which way was used at Lichfield. Single dipping became the custom from the instruction in the 1552 Prayer Book. If the font was the stonework uncovered in the 1850s in the presbytery area and now lost, it was large enough for total immersion. The senior godparent then held the baby whilst the priest said a prayer and then anointed the baby with chrism[15] on the top of the head. The baby was wrapped in a white cloth known as a ‘chrisom,’ with some words being spoken. Finally, a candle was held in the baby’s hand and some more words spoken. Sometimes, two gospel readings were now given, but this would require an assistant for the priest.

Anointing with chrism from France, possibly Amiens, between 1300 and 1310. MS M.751 fol. 48r. The Morgan Library and Museum, New York. The background of the image has been removed. The anguish on all the faces is obvious.

 

            Normally the party would leave the church, but there are records of refreshment being consumed, sometimes to excess. If many servants helped in the ceremony there could be a distribution of money. It was forbidden to pay the priest,[16] but money was often offered later.   

  The current cathedral font was installed in 1860 and is made of alabaster, Caen stone with marble pillars. Originally close to the north-west door of the nave, it was moved to the North Transept in 1982. The front of the font shows Christ being baptised. John the Baptist holds a scallop shell holding water from the river Jordan over the head of Jesus. A scallop shell symbolises pilgrimage and baptism was seen as a similar journey in faith.

 

            Jewish Law forbade a new mother to return to the church for 33 days for a boy and 66 for a girl. In the medieval church this time changed to 40 days irrespective of the sex of the baby. She could then have a ‘churching’ in which she (her blood) was purified. She visited the priest wearing a head veil, usually accompanied by her midwife and assistant matrons, then made an offering and was pronounced clean. She also returned the chrisom cloth, to be used for further baptisms. Then followed a mass. There might have been in the cathedral a ‘child-wife’s seat.’ The general custom was she could only after churching resume to have sexual intercourse. This church procedure, never made canon law but was in later manuals. It was possibly flouted and indeed if the mother had a real need to pray in church after childbirth it was seen as acceptable. Wealthy parishioners turned the service into a special occasion with the woman wearing a new dress and entertaining a feast afterwards. 

             It is mostly Thomas Cranmer’s[17] baptismal service of 1552 that passed into the 1662 Book of Common Prayer which with minor change is used today.   

[1] Baptisma is Greek for washing or dipping. It originated from Jewish ritualistic practices during the Second Temple Period, c.530 BC–70 AD. It is unknown whether Jesus was baptised by standing in the river Jordan or by total submersion in the water.

[2] Jesus returned to new life at Easter.

[3] John 20, v.22 described the disciples being born again before the Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost.

[4] Infant baptism was accepted at an earlier time in Europe. There are records as early as the 9th-century. During the ninth century in England, both civil and religious regulations required baptism for Christian infants before they reached one month of age. No date can be placed on when it became the norm for England for immediate baptism, which is odd.

[5] Estimates of up to 100 deaths per 1000 live births.

[6] The godparents were held to uphold the spiritual development of the child and were therefore equal in importance to the parents. Finding a godparent with higher status than the parents was frequently sought. After Reformation the role of godparents was reduced.

[7] Described by N. Orme, Going to church in Medieval England, (New Haven and London: 2022), 302–314. The historical record was called ‘proofs of age.’ See also P. Cramer, Baptism and Change in the Early Middle Ages, c.200-c.1150 (Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought), (Cambridge: 2003), Fourth Series, Series Number 20.

[8] The medieval church held that babies were inherently tainted by the doctrine of Original Sin, a state of separation from God. All people were born into this separation as a result of the disobedience of Adam and Eve. 

[9] See the post King Richard II of Bordeaux and Lichfield. The other two doors on the west front might have had some porch, but this is unrecorded.

[10] Only Royalty were allowed baptism outside a mainstream church. They used a private chapel. Very early medieval baptism was sometimes undertaken at wells and springs.

[11] Boys received 5 or 6 prayers, girls three or five prayers.

[12] The Fourth Lateran Council, 1215, decreed that all children past the age of seven should confess their sins and receive communion at least once a year.

[13] The font water would have previously been consecrated with prayers, a cross made in the water, the priest breathing three times on the water in the shape of the cross and dropping wax from a burning candle and adding holy oil to the water.

[14] How a new born baby responded to this is unclear, but it must have been an unpleasant experience. Usually the water was church cold, though sometimes it was warmed. In later years the baby was firstly immersed on the side facing north, then facing south and finally immersed face down.

[15] a mixture of oil and balsam, consecrated and used for anointing at baptism and used in other rites 

[16] Third Lateran Council, 1179.

[17] Archbishop of Canterbury, 1532–1556.