Conclave

Summary. Linking Lichfield Cathedral with the Priory church in Coventry, later a cathedral, caused the problem of who selected the bishop. For two centuries the disagreement was intense and never resolved until the Dissolution of the Priory, 1539.

Four years after the Conquest,1066, Leofwin, Bishop of Lichfield, was summarily dismissed. It was backed by papal legates at the behest of Normans brought in to purge the English church. Leofwin had been too political and had maintained too close an association with the dissentient Earls of Mercia; he might have been related to them. He was never going to be compliant with the new Norman hegemony. They now appointed their bishops who then moved away from Lichfield. First to Chester, c.1072-3, and then to Coventry, c. 1095, the status of the Church of St Chad became very secondary to the associated cathedral in Coventry. Bishop Roger Clinton, 1129-1148, styled himself Bishop of Coventry and also of Chester, but he began to switch the focus of the diocese back to Lichfield; indeed, he quite possibly intended returning the bishopric. This meant the diocese had two cathedrals (initially three with Chester) and two chapters in play. The Benedictine monks of the Priory Church of St Mary, formed in 1102 and later becoming a cathedral, looked to the pope whereas Clinton and on occasions the canons of Lichfield favoured direction from the king.

The tradition for appointing bishops was with the crown and then obtaining confirmation by the pope. This changed with King Steven, 1135-54, who made it the responsibility of the Chapter of the cathedral to find a new bishop. That meant the chapter of the primary Coventry cathedral. This gave rise to a conflict on Lichfield’s right to a say in the election of the bishop. The canons wanted an equal voice with Coventry, but the monks of Coventry denied they had any right to any representation.

When Clinton died, Archbishop Theobald called on the monks of Coventry to elect a bishop and they chose Walter Durdent, the prior at Christ Church, Coventry. According to an account written about 1220 by Prior Geoffrey of Coventry, Theobald had summoned the monks of Coventry to Leicester, where they alone elected Walter bishop. The Canons of Lichfield objected to his selection and when Durdent tried to visit the cathedral the gates around The Close were closed.

 In 1183, the Lichfield Chapter refused to recognise the enthronement of Bishop Gerard La Pucelle. He died at Coventry 3 months later in circumstances that led some to suspect that he had been poisoned, and was buried in Coventry Cathedral.

In 1198, the canons were evicted from Canterbury at the consecration of Geoffrey de Muschamp. He became accepted at Lichfield and died in 1208. He was probably buried at Lichfield but the monks of Coventry vainly protested against the burial.   

 In 1210, the monks appointed a new bishop, but King John stopped it. Lichfield Chapter appointed their own candidate Walter de Gray, a chancellor of England and later Archbishop of York, but the Pope stopped this and instead William de Cornhill became bishop. Disagreement marked the appointment of the next bishop and again the pope intervened and consecrated Alexander de Stavensby. In 1224, Stavensby intervened to prevent the removal from Lichfield of the body of his predecessor, William de Cornhill, which was presumably being claimed by Coventry. In 1236, the monks made it one of their complaints against Stavensby that he called himself Bishop of Lichfield and not, as earlier bishops had done, of Coventry only; de Stavensby claimed that the change had been sanctioned by papal ordinance.

AI rendition of a conclave at Coventry in dispute.

Disagreements continued until 1228 when Pope Gregory IX then decreed that all future elections should be made jointly by Lichfield and Coventry — the first to take place at Coventry with both chapters sitting together, the next at Lichfield, and so on alternately. The Prior of Coventry was to have the first vote in each election. This sharing occurred during the episcopy of Alexander de Stavensby, and when he died, 1238, it is thought he was buried in the cathedral. The concordat continued for the next 100 years, but there was still much conflict on who best to appoint. A further refinement was added in 1255 when it was agreed at future elections the two chapters should be reckoned equal in number, even though one might in fact be more numerous than the other. This agreement with Coventry made it necessary for Lichfield to have a chapterhouse large enough to accommodate both chapters.

Chapterhouse conclave with the bishop in the middle, Benedictine monks from Coventry on the right and Canons of the cathedral on the left.

In the 13th-century, the relationship between Lichfield and Coventry much depended on the personality of the bishop, With Bishop Langton, 1296- 1321, relationships were very good. After his death the quarrel over the right of election flared up once more. The election took place at Coventry, and when the two sides failed to reach agreement, the monks denied that both chapters should be counted as equal in numbers and elected their prior. Lichfield canons appealed to the Pope, Eugenius III, favouring Roger Northburgh to the see. The case dragged on for at least twelve years before finally confirming Northburgh, who then went on to upset the Chapter on many issues.  Northburgh died in 1358 and from 1360 for a hundred years bishops were usually selected by the pope and the king. Their nominations were sent by letter to the chapters to say whom each would accept if elected as bishop.  Apparently, all parties felt they had a share in the elections, and none had the spirit to protest against the other.

Popes were not involved after Reformation, 1534. The Priory Cathedral-Church of St Mary was demolished in 1539. In 1836, Coventry left the diocese of Lichfield and joined Worcester. In 1918, it became its own diocese of Coventry.

References

M. W. Greenslade and R. B. Pugh (eds.) 'House of secular canons - Lichfield cathedral: To the Reformation', in A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 3, (London, 1970). 

E. U. Crosby, Bishop and Chapter in the twelfth century England, A study of the Mensa Episcopalis. (Cambridge: 1994). 

H. E. Savage, The Chapter House, St Chad’s Day address, (1919), 14-17. Unpub. article held in Cathedral Library.

W. Beresford, Diocesan Histories. Lichfield (London: 1883).

C. P. Lewis, Communities conflict and episcopal policy in the diocese of Lichfield 1050-1150. (Cambridge: 2012), 75

 

Washing feet

Washing feet

Summary.  Washing feet on Maundy Thursday and after pilgrimage has been a rite from early times; it was a statute in the 12th-century. Did Richard II wash his courtier’s feet, 1398?

           Washing feet, [1]  or pedilavium, is based on the account when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples[2] at the beginning of the Last Supper.[3] It is the instruction from Jesus to wash one another’s feet. That has caused various interpretations,[4] including a baptism solely for the twelve disciples, to an order to baptise others, and to be a symbolic way of welcoming pilgrims. There is a pragmatic interpretation in which walking in sandals on dusty roads of the first century made it necessary for feet to be washed before a meal, especially where people sat at a low table and feet were in evidence. When Jesus began to wash the feet of the disciples, he was doing the work of the lowliest of servants; it was an act of humility.

     Foot washing in some form is thought to have continued in the early centuries of post-apostolic Christianity but the evidence is sparse. In the Book of Acts Paul and other men performed ablution before entering the temple in Jerusalem. It has been argued foot-washing was the prime way for sanctification and Christian initiation in the first century.[5] Tertullian mentioned Jesus ‘proffered the basin for the feet of His disciples’ in his De Corona, written around 201. Foot washing and drying often followed baptism.[6] It was mentioned in the controversial Synod of Elvira, c. 305–6, in southern Spain with the instruction ‘the feet of the newly baptized are not to be washed by the priests or clerics’ and receive payment.  It was practiced in the Church of Milan c. 380 and mentioned in The Rule of Saint Augustine, c. 400. According to St Benedict’s Rule written in 516, Chapter 53 stated hospitality feet-washing is encouraged in addition to a communal feet-washing for humility. Bede in the Life of St. Cuthbert, 699–705, wrote Cuthbert would keep his shoes on from one Easter to another, only taking them off on account of the washing of feet, which took place at the Lord ‘s Supper.  Bede in Historia Ecclesiastica[7] tells how Æthelthryth was a queen of the East Angles who became an abbess in the district of Ely. She would seldom take a hot bath, except before the great feasts of Easter, Pentecost and Epiphany, and then after all the nuns had washed themselves, assisted by her and her attendants. In The life of Bishop Wilfrid by Eddius Stephanus,[8] 712–4, Wilfrid made it his custom to wash during the night hours, winter and summer alike, with blessed and holy water. Bede clearly stated the washing of feet implied the spiritual purification of body and soul.[9]

 

AI Chad washing feet of his 7 or 8 brothers helping in his mynster 669-672.

 

It is the same for baptism and links to the ritual introduced by John the Baptist at Al-Maghtas on the east bank of the river Jordan[10]  and in a pool at Ænon, near Salim[11]. Bede described how Peada, son of Penda King of Mercia, was baptised by Bishop Finan, together with all his companions and thegns.[12]  Cuthbert was travelling along the Teviot River teaching the country people and baptizing them. Bede stated Chad travelled on foot across the country devoted to the task of keeping the church in truth and purity.[13] He was following the tradition of his teacher Aidan and his elder brother Cedd, both keen on baptizing. The traditional view has been missionaries believed their prime mission was to encourage people to be baptised and that is how Bede perceived the sacrament even though he was somewhat apathetic to using a river. The lack of any surviving liturgy for baptism and foot-washing in the pre-Viking Conquest period in England is a hindrance to knowing how it was undertaken. There is an aspect that could improve our understanding. Around 23 tanks have been found, many having Christian symbols, which are believed to be portable and could well have been used for baptism or foot washing. The Walesby tank from Lincolnshire shows a scene that has been interpreted as a baptism, but not everyone agrees.

 

AI rendition of a drawing of the Ashton Tank, Northamptonshire. It has been estimated to have held 220 litres (6 gallons) of water. Made of three layers of lead sheet, it would not have been easy to move around.

 

 Foot-washing on Maundy Thursday[14]  was first recorded in Rome by the pope washing the feet of his attendants and mentioned in the third canon of the 17th Council of Toledo, Spain, in 694.[15]  In 992, Bishop Oswald of Worcester died during its ritual. It was mentioned in the late 12th-century when the pope washed the feet of twelve sub-deacons after his Mass and of thirteen poor men after his dinner.[16] In the Middle Ages, English monarchs washed the feet of beggars in imitation of Jesus, and presented gifts and money to the poor. Over time, additional money was substituted for the clothing and other items that had once been distributed. Maundy Thursday became two observances of pedilavium and alms-giving. Beginning in 1699 the monarch did not attend the service, sending an official instead. The royal connection was continued for a time in England after the Reformation but ended in the Church of England in 1754.

 

          Pedilavium at Lichfield Cathedral presumably started with the local stream. The first cathedral, 669 onwards, was close to an unnamed stream, now the Curborough Brook. Around 50m distance separated the original water-course[17] and the nave shrine chapel revealed in 2003. Bede, recorded the mass baptisms of Paulinus in the Rivers Glen and Swale and apparently river baptism to be an improvised arrangement, which he excused by claiming the church had not been able to build any oratoria uel baptisteria (oratory or baptistery).[18]^,[19] Chad had his own oratory, a private chapel, but there is no mention of a baptistry. If the early cathedral used the river for the sacrament, there is no evidence for the rite continuing into the 8th-century. The power of devotion in an external water was repeated by Leland, mid-16th century, who claimed ‘some say Chad was wont to stand naked in the water (at Stowe?) and pray’.[20]

AI enhanced drawing of the vestibule in J. Britton, 1820¹⁶. 

 

View of vestibule today.

 

          Lichfield had the earliest set of statutes and ordinances (constitutions of the chapter) known for any English cathedral. It was originally drawn up for the new foundation at Coventry, but also applied to Lichfield. The original, now lost, was always thought to have been the work of Bishop Hugh Nonant in 1191, but this has been disproved.[21] The statutes, probably drawn up by the Dean and Chapter for the Bishop, listed two observances on Maundy Thursday. The first was a distribution of bread-cakes and wine or ale to the poor and the second was the washing of feet in the choir area, a vestibule was not yet built.

The vestibule is today set out for this Maundy liturgy, though large attendance causes it to be held in the nave. The vestibule to the Chapter House was added with a door cut through the north quire wall,[22] third bay, by raising the sill of a window above, 1230–40. It has 13 arcades, with another at the end which is blocked, each with a seat for the foot washed and a space behind for a standing witness. Whether or not the vestibule was built precisely to be for pedilavium is uncertain; 13 arcades indicates not and it is someway from an altar or font, or entrance door for pilgrims,[23] but it is one of the outstanding features of the cathedral.[24] Clifton wrote, “here the ceremony of washing the feet of the poor took place on Maundy Thursday; as there were thirteen niches, this is highly probable.”[25] This might be wrong.

On the outside of the west wall of the south transept are 12 blind arcades with a seat. Did pilgrims arriving at the south door - see the post, 'Pilgrimage defines the cathedral,'- have their feet washed before entering the south door? Usually, the last mile of pilgrimage was done with bare feet and it would be considered essentially that the past dirt is cast off before entering the cathedral on a new spiritual journey. If this was the location for pedilavium, it strongly suggests the vestibule was used by a selective group of perhaps all priests and not as Clifton suggested for the poor. 

A winding staircase at the vestibule's south-east corner gives access to an upper storey, later an annexe to a library over the chapter house. The room, known in 1896 as St Peter’s Chapel, has an unknown origin, but a private Bishop’s chapel has been conjectured. Jacob Epstein’s bronze bust of Bishop Edward Woods, 1958, was first placed in the north choir aisle and later moved to the end of the vestibule in 1989. A Royal Maundy was held in 1985.

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[1] Frequently the word is used to label the location where the rite of foot washing occurs and that is misunderstanding.

[2] 1 Timothy 5, v 10 mentions the washing of the feet of saints.

[3] John 13 v14–17

[4] J. Hunwick, Pedilavium or foot washing: such a wealth of different meanings. Online at http://liturgicalnotes.blogspot.com/2017/04/pedilavium-or-foot-washing-such-wealth.html

[5] M. F. Connell,  'Nisi Pedes, Except for the Feet: Footwashing in the Community of John's Gospel,' Worship, (1996),  70, 524.

[6] The Bobbio Missal and the Stowe Missal, both Celtic, include foot washing after immersion in the font. There are texts used in Gaul which have this. Ambrose in Milan did likewise.

[7] Book 4, Chapter 19. See J. McClure and R. Collins, Bede. The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. (Oxford: 2008), 203.

[8] B. Colgrave, The life of Bishop Wilfrid by Eddius Stephanus. (Cambridge: 1927), Chapter 21, 44–5.

[9] Bede: Homily II.5, CCSL 122, p 216-7. See Bede and D. Hurst, Homilies on the Gospels: Lent to the dedication of the Church. (Trappist, Kentucky: 1991), 46–7.

[10] John 1, v28

[11] John 3, v23

[12] HE book 3, Chapter 21. J. McClure and R. Collins, (2008), 144.

[13] HE book 3, Chapter 28. J. McClure and R. Collins, (2008), 164.

[14] John 13, v 1–17

[15] J. Monti, The Week of Salvation: History and Traditions of Holy Week (Huntington, Indiana.: 1993), 110.

[16] C. Herbermann, ‘Washing of Feet and Hands’, Catholic Encyclopaedia. (New York: 1913).

[17] Determined by the archaeological dig led by Martin Carver. See M. O. H. Carver, 'Excavations south of Lichfield Cathedral, 1976--1977'. South Staffordshire Archaeological and Historical Society Transactions, 1980--1981, (1982), 22, 35--69.

[18] N. Mayhew-Smith, ‘Nature rituals of the early medieval church in Britain’. Unpub. thesis, Dept. of Humanities, Univ. of Roehampton. (2017), 21.

[19] This is the only reference in Anglo-Saxon England to a baptismal church. See J. Blair (2005), 70.

[20] J. Leland and L. Toulmin Smith, Leland's Itinerary in England and Wales. In or about the years 1535-1543 parts 4 and 5 · Volume 2 (Southern Illinois: 964), 99.

[21] This date was worked out by H. E. Savage and became an address to the cathedral in 1920, entitled, The earliest Statutes of the Cathedral. Unpub. article in cathedral library. The statutes were revised in 1526 and printed by W. Dugdale in 1673, Monasticum Anglicanum vol. 3, 1255–7 and again by D. Wilkins in 1737, Concilia, i, 501. For disproof of Nonant’s part in the statutes see M. J. Franklin, ‘Nonant, Hugh de (d. 1198)’. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (Oxford: 2004). 

[22] it is possible that it was originally planned to have the entrance to the Chapter House in the north transept but that this scheme was abandoned to avoid interfering with St. Stephen's altar and the grave of Bishop Pattishall.

[23] J. Britton, The history and antiquities of the See and cathedral church of Lichfield. (London: 1820), 43, suggests the vestibule with its thirteen arches might have received the thirteen minor canons or priest- vicars belonging to the cathedral. The opposite side of the vestibule has eight niches, or spaces between the columns, and suited to receive the eight choristers.

[24] M. W. Greenslade and R. B. Pugh (eds.) 'House of secular canons - Lichfield cathedral: To the Reformation', in A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 3, (London, 1970), 140–166.

[25] [25] A. B. Clifton, The Cathedral church of Lichfield. Bell Series. (London: 1900).