mention has been made of hugh rhodes and his "book of nurture." it is pretty evident that this master of music was attached to the older form of faith, since he published in queen mary's reign a poem bearing the extravagant title: "the song of the chyld-bysshop, as it was songe before the queen's maiestie in her priuie chamber at her mannour of saint james in the feeldes on saynt nicholas' day and innocents' day this yeare now present by the chylde bisshop of poules church with his company. londini in ?dibus johannis cawood typographi regin?, 1555." this effusion warton derides as a "fulsome panegyric" on the queen's devotion; and the censure is not wholly unjust, since the author, without much regard for accuracy, likens that least lovable of our sovereigns to judith, esther, and the blessed virgin. meanwhile, who or what was the "chyld-bysshop," or, as he is usually styled, the boy-bishop?
in the first place it may be noted that the latin equivalent of the phrase was not, as might be expected, episcopus puerilis, but episcopus puerorum, suggesting that the boy, if boy he was, was elevated above his compeers and possessed perhaps some jurisdiction over them. there is no question of the access of dignity, but the amount of authority enjoyed by him would have depended on the humour of his fellows, and boys are not always docile subjects even of rulers of their own election. this, however, is a minor consideration, since the boy-bishop, when we first make his acquaintance, has already emerged from the obscurity of school and playground, and made good his claim to the homage of superiors in age and station. hence the term "boy-bishop" appears to define more accurately than its latin analogue the rank and privileges of the immature prelate.
it seems to lie in the nature of things that the boy-bishop was originally an institution of the boys themselves, the chief figure in a game in which they aped, as children so commonly do, the procedure of their elders, and that, in course of time, those elders, for reasons deemed good and sufficient, extended their patronage to the innocent parade, and made it a constituent of their own festal round.
in tracing the migration of the custom from the precincts to the interior of the church we must not forget the tradition of the roman saturnalia, with the season and spirit of which it accorded, and to which the christian festival, with its greater purity and decorum, may have been prescribed as an antidote. the pagan holiday was held on december 17th, and as the sigillaria formed a continuation of it, the joyous celebration endured a whole week. the boy-bishop's term of office was yet longer, extending from st. nicholas' day (december 6th) to holy innocents' day (december 28th).
the distinctive feature of the saturnalia was the inversion of ordinary relationships; the world was turned upside down, and the licence that prevailed, by dint of long usage and inviolable sentiment, imparted to the merry-making a rough and even immoral character. slaves assumed the position of masters, and masters of slaves; and the general nature of the observance is aptly described by the patron deity in lucian's play on the subject: "during my reign of a week no one may attend to his business, but only to drinking, singing, playing, making imaginary kings, playing servants at table with their masters."
the advent of christianity was impotent to arrest the annual scenes of disorder; and, in some form or another—sometimes tolerated, sometimes the object of the church's anathema—the tradition held its own down through the dark ages, and we meet with the substance of the saturnalia, during the centuries immediately preceding the reformation, in the burlesque festivals with which the rule of the boy-bishop has been often identified. we shall see presently how far this judgment is correct. an example will, no doubt, readily recur to the reader from a source to which we owe so many impressions of the middle ages, some true, others false or at least exaggerated—we mean the historical romances of sir walter scott. that writer has introduced into "the abbot" an abbot of unreason, and he explains in a note that "the roman catholic church connived at the frolics of the rude vulgar, who, in almost all catholic countries, enjoyed, or at least assumed, the privilege of making some lord of the revels, who, under the name of the abbot of unreason, the boy-bishop, or the president of fools, occupied the churches, profaned the holy places by a mock imitation of the sacred rites, and sang indecent parodies of the hymns of the church." the last touch, at any rate, may be safely challenged as untrue, and the whole picture has the appearance of being largely overdrawn. this is certainly the case as regards england, though there is evidence that on the continent the boy-bishop celebration was, at certain times and in certain places, not free from objectionable features. in 1274 the council of salzburg was moved to prohibit the "noxii ludi quos vulgaris eloquentia episcopus puerorum appellat" on the ground that they had produced great enormities. probably this sentence referred to the accessories, such as immoral plays, but it is quite possible that the boy-bishop ceremonies themselves had degenerated into a farce. as the rex stultorum festival was prohibited at beverly minster in 1371, we must conclude that similar extravagance and profanity had crept into yuletide observances in this country. the festival of the boy-bishop, however, was conducted with a decency hardly to be expected in view of its apparent associations. it would seem, indeed, to have been an impressive and edifying function, and that reasonable exception can be taken to it only on the score of childishness, and the absence of any warrant from scripture, apart from the rather doubtful sanction of st. paul's words, "the elder shall serve the younger."
there are weighty considerations on the other side. the medi?val church derived stores of strength from its sympathetic attitude towards women and children and the illiterate; and there was a sensible loss of vitality and interest when the ministry of the church was curtailed to suit the common sense of a handful of statesmen, scholars, and philosophers. at the time the festival was abolished, opinion was divided even among the leaders of reform. thus archbishop strype openly favoured the custom, holding that it "gave a spirit to the children," and was an encouragement to them to study in the hope of attaining some day the real mitre. broadly speaking, then, the boy-bishop festival is evidence of the tender condescension of holy mother church to little children, and it does not stand alone. at eyton, rutlandshire, and elsewhere, children were allowed to play in church on holy innocents' day, possibly in the same way as at the "burial of the alleluia" in a church at paris, where a chorister whipped a top, on which the word "alleluia" was inscribed, from one end of the choir to the other. as mr. evelyn white points out, this "quickening of golden praise," by its union of religious service and child's play, exactly reproduces the conditions of the boy-bishop festival. certain it is that the festival was extraordinarily popular. there was hardly a church or school throughout the country in which it was not observed, and if we turn to the northumberland book cited in the foregoing chapter we shall find that provision was made for its celebration in the chapels of the nobility as well. the inventory is as follows:
"imprimis, myter well garnished with perle and precious stones with nowches of silver and gilt before and behind.
"item, iiij rynges of silver and gilt with four redde precious stones in them.
"item, j pontifical with silver and gilt, with a blew stone in hytt.
"item, j owche broken silver and gilt, with iiij precious stones and a perle in the myddes.
"item, a crosse with a staf of coper and gilt with the ymage of st. nicholas in the myddes.
"item, j vesture redde with lyons of silver with brydds of gold in the orferores of the same.
"item, j albe to the same, with stars in the paro.[2]
"item, j white cope stayned with cristells and orferes redde sylk with does of gold and white napkins about their necks.
"item, j stayned cloth of the ymage of st. nicholas.
"item, iiij copes blue sylk with red orferes trayled with whitt braunches and flowers.
"item, j tabard of skarlett and a hodde thereto lyned with whitt sylk.
"item, a hode of scarlett lyned with blue sylk."
there is an entry in the book showing upon what terms the custom was observed in the house of a great noble. when chapel was kept for st. nicholas—st. nicholas was, of course, the patron saint of boys—6s. 8d. was assigned to the master of the children for one of the latter. when, on the contrary, st. nicholas "com out of the towne where my lord lyeth and my lord kepe no chapel," the amount is reduced to 3s. 4d.
abbeys, cathedrals, and parish churches were equally forward in their recognition of the custom, and strove to celebrate it on a scale of the utmost splendour and magnificence. a list of ornaments for st. nicholas contained in a westminster inventory of the year 1388 comprises a mitre, gloves, surplice, and rochet for the boy-bishop, together with two albs, a cope embroidered with griffins and other beasts and playing fountains, a velvet cope with the new arms of england, a second mitre and a ring. in 1540 mention occurs of the "vjth mytre for st. nicholas bisshope," and "a great blewe cloth with kyngs on horsse back for the st. nicholas cheyre." at st. paul's cathedral twenty-eight copes were employed not only for the boy-bishop and his company, but for the feast of fools. the earliest inventory of the church—that of 1245—speaks of a mitre, the gift of john de belemains, prebendary of chiswick, and a rich pastoral staff for the use of the boy-bishop. at york minster were kept a "cope of tissue" for the boy-bishop, and ten for his attendants, while an inventory made in 1536 at lincoln refers to "a coope of rede velvett with rolles and clowdes ordeyned for the barne bisshop with this scripture the hye way is best." typical of many other places, the custom was observed at winchester, durham, salisbury, and exeter cathedrals; at the temple church, london (1307); st. benet-fynck; st. mary woolnoth; st. catherine, near the tower of london; st. peter cheap; st. mary-at-hill, billingsgate; rotherham; sandwich, st. mary; norwich, st. andrew's and st. peter mancroft; elsing college, winchester; eton and winchester colleges; magdalen college, oxford, and king's college, cambridge; witchingham, norfolk (1547); great st. mary, cambridge (1503); hadleigh, suffolk; north elmham, norfolk (1547). when the goods of great st. mary, cambridge, were sold, in may 1560, among the rest were the following: "it. ye rede cote and qwood yt st. nicholas dyd wer the color red. it. the vestement and cope yt seynt nicholas dyd wer. also albs for the children."
recapitulating, the vestments and ornaments of the boy-bishop and his attendants, as gleaned from these and similar sources, were: (i) mitre; (ii) crosier or pastoral staff; (iii) ring; (iv) gloves; (v) sandals; (vi) cope; (vii) pontifical; (viii) banner; (ix) tabard; (x) hood; (xi) cloth for st. nicholas' chair; (xii) alb; (xiii) chasuble; (xiv) rochet; (xv) surplice; (xvi) tunicle; (xvii) worsted robe.
usually the boy-bishop was chosen from the choristers of the cathedral, collegiate or other church by the choristers themselves; but at york, after 1366, and possibly elsewhere, the position fell, as of right, to the senior chorister. the date of the election was the eve of st. nicholas, when the boys assembled for an entertainment, and gloves were presented to the boy-bishop. on st. nicholas' day the boys accompanied the youthful prelate to the church; and we learn from the sarum use that the order in which the procession entered the choir was as follows: first the dean and canons, then the chaplain, and lastly the boy-bishop and his prebendaries, who thus took the place of honour. the bishop being seated, the other children ranged themselves on opposite sides of the choir, where they occupied the uppermost ascent, whilst the canons bore the incense and the petit canons the tapers. the first vespers of their patron saint having been sung by the boys, they marched the same evening through the precincts, or parish, the bishop bestowing his fatherly blessings and such other favours as were becoming his dignity.
the statutes of st. paul's cathedral show that, as early as 1262, the rules underwent some modification. it was thought that the celebration tended to lower the reputation of the church; so it was ordained that the boy-bishop should select his own ministers, who were to carry the censer and the tapers, and they were to be no longer the canons, but "clerks of the third form," i.e., his fellow-choristers. but the practice remained for the boy-bishop to be entertained on the eve of st. john the evangelist either at the deanery or at the house of the canon-in-residence. should the dean be the host, fifteen of the boy-bishop's companions were included in the invitation. the dean, too, found a horse for the boy-bishop, and each of the canons a horse for one of his attendants, to enable them to go in procession—a show formally abolished by proclamation on july 25, 1542, but, nevertheless, retained for some years owing to the attachment of the citizens to the ancient custom.
the question has been raised—did the boy-bishop say mass? the proclamation of henry viii. distinctly affirms that he did, but there is reason to suspect the truth of the statement. in the york missal, published by the surtees society, there is a rubric directing the boy-bishop to occupy the episcopal throne during mass—a proof that he cannot have been the celebrant. but the boy-bishop, if he did not officiate at the altar, unquestionably preached the sermon. the statutes of dean colet for the government of his school enjoin that "all the children shall every childermas day come to paule's churche, and heare the chylde bishop sermon, and after be at hygh masse and each of them offer 1d. to the chylde bysshop." specimens of the sermons preached on holy innocents' day have come down to us from the reigns of henry viii. and mary, and are of extreme interest. they, indeed, go far to justify the custom as a mode of inculcating virtue and, particularly, reverence in the minds of the auditors. the earlier discourse appears to have been prepared by one of the almoners of st. paul's, and the "bidding prayer" contains a quaint allusion to "the ryghte reverende fader and worshypfull lorde my broder bysshop of london, your dyocesan, also my worshypfull broder, the deane of this cathedral churche." the later discourse was pronounced by "john stubs, querester, on childermas-day at gloceter, 1558," and, most appropriately, based on the text, "except you be convertyd and made lyke unto lytill children," etc. referring to the "queresters" and children of the song school, the preacher remarks, with a touch of delightful humour, "yt is not so long sens i was one of them myself"; and, in explaining the significance of childermas, adverts to the protestant martyrs, who, alas! are without "the commendacion of innocency." it may be added that, according to the testimony of the exeter ordinale, the boy-bishop, on st. nicholas' day, censed the altar of the holy innocents, recited prayers, read the little chapter at lauds "in a modest voice," and gave the benediction.
we have seen that dean colet required his scholars to contribute, each one, a penny to the boy-bishop. at norwich annual payments were made by all the officials of the cathedral church to the boy-bishop and his clerks on st. nicholas' day, and the expenses of the feast were defrayed by the almoner out of the revenues of the chapter. an account of nicholas of newark, boy-bishop of york in 1396, shows that, besides gifts in the church, donations were received from the canons, the monasteries, noblemen, and other benefactors. on the octave he repaired, accompanied by his train, to the house of sir thomas utrecht, from whom he obtained "iijs. iiijd."; on the second sunday he went still farther afield, including in his perambulation the priories of kirkham, malton, bridlington, walton, baynton, and meaux. en route, he waited on the countess of northumberland at leconfield, and was graciously rewarded with a gold ring and twenty shillings.
these "visitations" seem to have been characterized by feasting and merriment and some undesirable mummery. puttenham, in his "arte of poesie" (1589), observes: "on st. nicholas' night, commonly, the scholars of the country make them a bishop, who, like a foolish boy, goeth about blessing and preaching with such childish terms as make the people laugh at his foolish counterfeit." in some quarters regulations were in force to preclude such levity. at exeter, for example, one of the canons was appointed to look after the boy-bishop, who was to have for his supper a penny roll, a small cup of mild cider, two or three pennyworths of meat, and a pennyworth of cheese or butter. he might ask not more than six of his friends to dine with him at the canon's room, and their dinner was to cost not more than fourpence a head. he was not to run about the streets in his episcopal gloves, and he was obliged to attend choir and school the next day like the other choristers.
it may be remarked that the boy-bishop proceedings had their counterpart in the girls' observance of st. catherine's day; and the phrase "going a-kathering" expressed the same sort of alms-seeking as attended the ceremonies in honour of st. nicholas.
in its palmy days the festival of the boy-bishop was favoured not only by the people, but by the monarch. edward i. and henry vi. gave their patronage to the custom, and the latter is said to have followed the example of his progenitors in so doing.
however, in 1542, henry viii. "by the advys of his highness' counsel," saw fit to order its abolition, which he did in the following terms:
"whereas heretofore dyuers and many superstitions and chyldysh obseruances haue been used, and yet to this day are obserued and kept, in many and sundry partes of this realm, as vpon st. nicholas, saint catherine, saint clement, the holie innocents, and such-like holie daies, children be strangelie decked and apparayled to counterfeit priests, bishopes, and women, and so be ledde with songes and dances from house to house, blessing the people and gathering of money; and boyes do singe masse and preache in the pulpitt, with other such onfittinge and inconuenient vsages which tend rather to derysyon than enie true glorie of god, or honour of his sayntes: the kynges maiestie, therefore, myndynge nothinge so muche as to aduance the true glory of god without vain superstition, wylleth and commandeth that from henceforth all such superstitious obseruations be left and clerely extinguished throu'out all his realme and dominions for as moche as the same doth resemble rather the vnlawfull superstition of gentilitie than the pure and sincere religion of christ."
the allegation that boys dressed up as women is confirmed by a compotus roll of st. swithin's priory at winchester (1441), from which it appears that the boys of the monastery, along with the choristers of st. elizabeth's collegiate chapel, near the city, played before the abbess and nuns of st. mary's abbey—attired "like girls."
the custom was restored by an edict of bishop bonner on november 13, 1554, much to the satisfaction of the populace; and the spectacle of the boy-bishop riding in pontificalibus—this was in 1556—all about the metropolis gave currency to the saying—"st. nicholas yet goeth about the city." foxe tells us that at ipswich the master of the grammar school led the boy-bishop through the streets for "apples and belly-cheer; and whoso would not receive him he made heretics, and such also as would not give his faggot for queen mary's child." (by this expression, which was common during this reign, was intended the boy-bishop; the queen had, of course, no child of her own.) amidst the sundry and manifold changes that marked the accession of elizabeth the boy-bishop again went down; and the memory of the festival lingered only in certain usages like that at durham, where the boys paraded the town on may-day, arrayed in ancient copes borrowed from the cathedral.
on one or two points connected with the subject there prevails some degree of misapprehension, and thus it will be well—very briefly—to touch upon them. it is not now believed that the effigy in salisbury cathedral—"the child so great in clothes"—which led to the publication, in 1646, of gregorie's famous treatise, is that of a boy-bishop, who died during his term of office and was buried with episcopal honours. there are similar small effigies of knights and courtiers. nor, again, does it seem correct to state that the boy-bishop might present to any prebend that became vacant between st. nicholas' and holy innocents' day. this usage, if it existed at all, was apparently confined to the church of cambray.
on the other hand, the eton ad montem ceremony has the look of genuine descent from the older festival, with which it has numerous features in common. the boy-bishop custom, it will be remembered, was observed at the college.
finally, reference may be made to the coinage of tokens, some of them grotesque, which bore the inscription moneta epi innocentium, or the like, together with representations of the slaughter of the innocents, the bishop in the act of giving his blessing, and similar scenes. opinions differ as to the purpose for which these tokens, which date from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, were struck, but it is extremely probable that they were designed to commemorate the boy-bishop solemnity. barnabe googe's popish kingdom tells of
"st. nicholas money made to give to maidens secretlie,"
and in the imperfect state of human society this may have been, at times, their incongruous destiny.
