Now! Then! On the longest of the 42 days of his carnivalesque reign, boy-bishop John de Cave of York goes on a 200-mile begging spree

Excerpt

On the second Sunday of his episcopate, which was the feast of St William, the bishop went out of town on his longest circuit. A girdle was now bought for him which cost 3d., and he had not gone far when his cap required mending at the expense of 1d. His party took a breakfast before starting, and consumed, in bread, 2d.; in meat, 5d.; and in ale, 3d. The sum of 2d. was also paid for “horse bread.” Their first visit appears to have been to the Prior of Kirkham, who gave the bishop 2s.; and the second to the wealthier Prior of Malton, whose offering was a noble. They proceeded next to the Countess of Northumberland [Maud Lucy] living at Leconfield, who was the bishop’s most generous benefactor: she gave him twenty shillings and a gold ring. From thence to Bridlington, where the prior gave him a noble. He next gathered 3s. 4d. from the Prior of Watton, and the like sum from the Rector of Baynton and from the Prior of Meaux. Between the two last places the cavalcade passed through Beverley, where a girth was bought for 1d. He proceeded to Ferriby, where the prior gave him 20d.; Sir Stephen de Scrope gave him 6s. 8d.; and to the priory of Drax, where he received 2s. On coming to the abbey of Selby, the head of that great monastery gave him a noble; from the Prior of Pontefract he had half a noble; and from the Prior of St. Oswald at Nostell a noble. The Prior of Monk Bretton gave him half a noble, and “Dominus John Depdene” a noble. He went to the residence of the Lady Marmion [Elizabeth Grey, wife of Henry FitzHugh?] at Tanfield on the Yore and received a noble and a gold ring with a silk purse; to the residence of Lady Darcy, “the Lady of Harlsay,” and obtained half a noble; and to the Lady Roos at Helmsley Castle, who gave him a noble. He now came to the abbey of Rievaulx and had only two shillings; the like at Byland abbey; the like at Newburgh priory; and twenty pence at the priory of Marton.

Order the book

Subscribe to the free daily email

To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.
Abbreviations:

ER: East Riding
GM: Greater Manchester
NR: North Riding
NY: North Yorkshire
SY: South Yorkshire
WR: West Riding
WY: West Yorkshire

Comment

Rimbault quotes one John Gregory, who in the Sarum Processionale found the following:

The Episcopus Choristarum was a chorister-bishop chosen by his fellow children upon St. Nicholas’ day… From this day till Innocents’ day at night (it lasted longer at the first), the Episcopus Puerorum [Boy-Bishop] was to bear the name and hold up the state of a bishop, answerably habited, with a crosier or pastoral staff in his hand, and a miter upon his head; and such an one too som had, as was multis episcoporum mitris sumtuosior, saith one – very much richer than those of bishops indeed. The rest of his fellows from the same time being were to take upon them the style and counterfeit of prebends, yielding to their bishops (or else as if it were) no less then canonical obedience. And look what service the very bishop himself with his dean and prebends (had they been to officiate) was to have performed, the mass excepted, the verie same was done by the chorister-bishop and his canons upon this Eve and the Holy Day.

This may be the origin of the York ritual, which nevertheless, and for reasons unknown to me, starts and ends later. The “account of Nicholas of Newark, guardian of the property of John de Cave, boy bishop in the year of our Lord 96” accounts for receipts (offerings in the cathedral, from canons, and from the nobility and monasteries visited) and expenditure (clothing, beer, food, music, etc.). The world-turned-upside-down visitations of the episcopus puerorum/Innocencium and his band remind me somewhat like those practised by the Raad van Elf of carnival associations in the Catholic Netherlands. Was there a similar serious business + drunken fun combination? For example, “the medieval breviary in the Sarum (but not in the Roman) use prescribed ‘O Virgo Virginum’ as antiphon upon the Magnificat for December 23, but was it sung for the boy-bishop on 23 December in humorous reference to his postulated sexual inexperience?

O Virgin of Virgins, how shall this be? For neither before thee was any like thee, nor shall there be after. Daughters of Jerusalem, why marvel ye at me? That which ye behold is a divine mystery (Bls 2007/12/23).

Yann Dahhaoui has compiled a map showing the locations visited by John de Cave numbered in chronological order:

(Dahhaoui 2006)

There is a 13th century sculpture of what some say is a boy bishop at the marvellous St Oswald’s Church, Filey – the church guide suggests that it might instead by

one of the canons regular of St Augustine, a member of Bridlington Priory who served the church at Filey. It was not uncommon in the 13th and 14th centuries for such a person to keep up his connection with the church by having his heart buried there with an appropriate miniature representation of himself in stone.

The account documents 42 days starting on 23 December, but I don’t know how long John de Cave’s rule actually lasted. Liz Truss managed 49 days.

Irrelevant, but St. William is presumably William of Donjeon/Bourges, whose feast day is 10 January, to which 7 January was the closest Sunday.

https://archive.org/details/stationsofsunhis0000hutt/page/100/mode/1up

Something to say? Get in touch

Original

On the second Sunday of his episcopate, which was the feast of Saint William (Jan. 7), the bishop went out of town on his longest circuit. A girdle was now bought for him which cost 3 d., and he had not gone far when his cap required mending at the expense of 1 d. His party took a breakfast before starting, and consumed, in bread, 2 d.; in meat, 5 d.; and in ale, 3 d. The sum of 2 d. was also paid for “horse-bread.” Their first visit appears to have been to the Prior of Kirkham, who gave the bishop 2 s.; and the second to the wealthier Prior of Malton, whose offering was a noble. They proceeded next to the Countess of Northumberland [Maud Lucy (1343-1398)] living at Leconfield, who was the bishop’s most generous benefactor: she gave him twenty shillings and a gold ring. From thence to Bridlington, where the prior gave him a noble. He next gathered 3 s. 4 d. from the Prior of Watton, and the like sum from the Rector of Baynton and from the Prior of Meaux. Between the two last places the cavalcade passed through Beverley, where a girth was bought for 1 d. He proceeded to Ferriby, where the prior gave him xx d.; Sir Stephen de Scrope gave him 6 s. 8 d.; and to the priory of Drax, where he received 2 s.

On coming to the abbey of Selby, the head of that great monastery gave him a noble; from the Prior of Pontefract he had half a noble; and from the Prior of St. Oswald at Nostell a noble. The Prior of Monk Bretton gave him half a noble, and “Dominus John Depdene” a noble. He went to the residence of the Lady Marmion [Elizabeth Grey, wife of Henry FitzHugh?] at Tanfield on the Yore and received a noble and a gold ring with a silk purse; to the residence of Lady Darcy, “the Lady of Harlsay,” and obtained half a noble; and to the Lady Roos at Helmsley Castle, who gave him a noble.

He now came to the abbey of Rievaulx and had only two shillings; the like at Byland abbey; the like at Newburgh priory; and twenty pence at the priory of Marton.

374 words.

Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

7 January 1397: On the longest of the 42 days of his carnivalesque reign, boy-bishop John de Cave of York goes on a 200-mile begging spree

Excerpt

Comment

Comment

Original

Tags

Similar

Search

Subscribe/buy

Donate

Music & books

Social