Born: Christopher
Smart, poet, 1722, Shepburne in Kent; David Hamilton,
architect, 1768, Glasgow; Marshal Lannes, Duke of
Montebello, 1769, Lectoure;
George Canning, statesman,
1770, London.
Died: Cardinal
Beaufort, 1447, Winchester; Gaston de Foix, French
warrior, 1512, Ravenna; Pope Gregory XIII, 1585;
Stanislaus Poniatowski, last King of Poland, 1798,
St. Petersburg; John Galt, novelist and miscellaneous
writer, 1839.
Feast Day: St. Leo the
Great, Pope, 461. St. Antipas, martyr. St. Maccai,
abbot, 5th century (?). St. Aid, abbot in Ireland. St.
Guthlac, hermit, patron of the abbey of Croyland, 716.
ST. GUTHLAC
St. Guthlac, one of the
most interesting of the old Saxon anchorets, we have a
good biography by a nearly contemporary monk named
Felix. From this it appears that the saint was at
first devoted to warlike enterprises, but after a time
was moved to devote himself wholly to a contemplative
religious life in Croyland Isle in the fen countries.
Here he performed, as usual, many miracles, was
tortured by devils, and had many blessed experiences;
at length, on the 11th of April 716, he was favoured
with a quiet and easy passage to a higher state of
existence, at the age of forty-one.
There is much that is
admirable in this biography, and the character it
ascribes to St. Guthlac. The account contains no trace
of those monstrous aceticisms which so often disgust
us. He wore skins instead of linen, and had one daily
meal only, of barley-bread and water; but no
self-inflictions are recorded, only abstemious habits
and incessant devotion. 'The blessed man Guthlac was
a chosen man in divine deeds, and a treasure of all
wisdom; and he was stedfast in his duties, as also he
was earnestly intent on Christ's service, so that
never was aught else in his mouth but Christ's praise,
nor in his heart but virtue, nor in his mind but peace
and love and pity; nor did any man ever see him angry
nor slothful to Christ's service: but one might ever
perceive in his countenance love and peace; and
evermore sweetness was in his temper, and wisdom in
his breast, and there was so much cheerfulness in him,
that he always appeared alike to acquaintances and to
strangers.' We must confess, not a revolting
character.
Monk Felix describes the fen
wilderness: 'There are immense marshes, now a black
pool of water, now foul-running streams, and also many
islands, and reeds, and hillocks, and thickets.'
Doubtless, a true description. The villages were
mostly built on beds of gravel, which afforded
comparative security.
Ethelbald founded an abbey in
Croyland Isle, St. Guthlac's retreat, which was
destroyed by the Danes when they sacked Ely and
Peterborough. It was rebuilt, and destroyed by fire;
and again rebuilt. The monks in after time got to be
somewhat ill-famed for drunkenness, revellings, and
such like.
Croyland Isle, like the Isle
of Ely, is now no more. Of the four streams which
enclosed it, the drainage has removed all trace of
three, changing them. to quiet pastures and rich
farming land; and the Welland itself now runs wide of
the village, in a new channel. The curious old
triangular bridge stands high and dry in the centre of
the village square, lorn of its three streams; and on
it sits a robed figure in stone, with a great stone in
its hand, supposed to be, amongst other things, a
loaf. The modern church is built out of part of the
old abbey, and a beautiful portion of ruin remains,
though the restorers, alas! are at it. We ourselves
can testify to the beautiful peace of those Croyland
fens, even at this day; and they must have been much
more beautiful in the saint's time.
CARDINAL BEAUFORT
Henry of Beaufort, who was a
very good example of the political prelates of our
papal middle ages, and is well known in the annals of
England during the fifteenth century, was the second
son of John of Gaunt, by that
prince's third wife, the
Lady Catherine Swynford, and he was therefore
half-brother of King Henry IV. He took his name from
the castle of Beaufort, in France, where he was born.
His birth occurred before the marriage of his parents,
but he was legitimatized in the 20th of Richard II,
along with his brothers, the eldest of whom was
Marquis of Dorset and Lord High Admiral of England,
and the other became distinguished as a warrior, and
was created Duke of Exeter by Henry V. From the former
the present ducal house of Beaufort claims descent.
Henry of Beaufort was thus allied by blood both with
the crown and with the most powerful men of the day.
He studied at Aix-la-Chapelle and at Oxford, and
appears to have been well versed in the civil and
canon laws. In 1397, and therefore immediately after
his legitimization, he was intruded by Pope Boniface
IX into the bishopric of Lincoln, and the new prelate
appears to have been in favour with Richard II, for
he accompanied that prince in his last expedition into
Ireland, and was with him on his return when he met
Beaufort's half-brother, Henry of Lancaster, and
became his prisoner.
No doubt Bishop Beaufort stood
high in the favour of his brother when the latter
ascended the throne. On the death of William of
Wickham, in 1405, he was translated from the see of
Lincoln to that of Winchester, which he continued to
hold during the rest of his life. It is recorded of
him, that when Henry V, obliged to obtain large sums
for his wars, meditated a heavy taxation of the
ecclesiastical body, the Bishop of Winchester did not
oppose his nephew's demand, but he bought off the
danger by lending the king, out of his own great
wealth, the sum of twenty thousand pounds. That his
power in England was great, and that he was not
unpopular, was proved by the circumstance that on the
death of Henry V he was chosen by the Parliament to
be, with the Earl of Warwick, guardian of the infant
prince, who had now become Henry VI.
He seems to have
taken an active part in the government from the first,
but he differed in many of his views from the Duke of
Gloucester, and the disagreement rose to such a height
that the bishop wrote to the Duke of Bedford to call
him from France to interfere, and his presence alone
effected a reconciliation. Nor was this reconciliation
easy, for though the regent Bedford arrived in London
on the 10th of January, private negotiations produced
so little effect that, after several months'
discussion, it was found necessary to submit the
matter to a parliament, the members of which were
forbidden to appear in arms, lest it might end in a
fight.
'The twentieone of February,' says Stow,
'began a great councell at St. Albans, which was
afterwarde rejorned to Northampton, but, for that no
due conclusion might be made, on the 15th of March was
called a parliament at Leicester, the which endured
till the 25th day of June. This was called the
parliament of battes, because men being forbidden to
bring swords or other weapons, brought great battes
and staves on their neckes, and when those weapons
were inhibited them, they took stones and plomets of
lead. During this parliament, the variance betwixt the
two lords was debated, insomuch that the Duke of
Gloucester put a bill of complaint against the byshop,
containing sixe articles, all which articles were by
the bishop sufficiently answered; and finally, by the
counsel of the lord regent, all the matters of
variance betweene the sayde two lords were put to the
examination and judgement of certain lords of the
parliament.' The bishop, however, seems not to have
been fully satisfied, for soon afterwards he resigned
his office of Lord Chancellor.
Immediately after this
reconciliation, on the 23rd of June 1426, Bishop
Beaufort's ambition was gratified by his election at
Rome to the dignity of a cardinal (of St. Eusebius),
and on the Duke of Bedford's return to France in the
February of the following year he accompanied him to
Calais to receive there the cardinal's hat. In the
autumn of 1429, Cardinal Beaufort was appointed by the
Pope the papal legate in the army which he was sending
against the Bohemian heretics, who at the same time
enjoined him to bring with him out of England a body
of soldiers to assist in the expedition, for the
raising of which he authorized him to levy a tax of
one-tenth on the incomes of the spirituality in
England. Cardinal Beaufort raised the money, collected
upwards of four thousand English soldiers, and was on
his way to the Continent, when he received a message
from the Regent Bedford, earnestly requesting him to
carry him whatever troops he could to reinforce him in
Paris. The cardinal's patriotism overcame his devotion
to the Pope, and he proceeded with his soldiers to
Paris, where he was gladly received, but, after
remaining no long while there, the cardinal continued
his journey to Bohemia. He soon, however, returned
thence to England, having, as far as is known,
per-formed no act worth recording.
Cardinal Beaufort continued to
take an active part in political affairs, and he
appears to have been generally considered as a friend
to reforms. He was popular, because he seems to have
steadily supported the French policy of Henry V, and
to have been opposed to all concessions to the enemy.
The remarkable political poem entitled the Libel of
English Policy, written in the year 1436, was
dedicated to him. Yet he acted in concert with the
Duke of Suffolk in concluding the truce of 1444, and
in bringing about the marriage of the young King of
England with Margaret of Anjou, which was the fertile
source of so many troubles in England. From this time
the cardinal's political party became identified with
Suffolk's party, that is, with the party of the queen.
Beaufort was himself perhaps falling into dotage, for
he was now an octogenarian, and he did not long
survive this event, for he died in his Episcopal
palace of Walvesey, on the 11th of April 1447. He had
ruled the see of Winchester during the long period of
nearly forty-three years.
Cardinal Beaufort was
usually considered to be a selfish, hard, and
unfeeling man, yet it must be remembered to his credit
that, when Joan
d'Arc was brought into the
market-place of Rouen for execution, Beaufort, who sat
on a scaffold with the prelates of France, rose from
his seat in tears, and set the example to the other
bishops of leaving the place. He was certainly
ambitious, for at the advanced age of eighty he still
cherished the hope of securing his election to the
papacy.
HOCK-TIDE
A fortnight after Easter our
forefathers celebrated a popular anniversary, the
origin and meaning of which has been the subject of
some dispute. It was called Hoke-tide, or Hock-tide,
and occupied two days, the Monday and Tuesday
following the second Sunday after Easter, though the
Tuesday was considered the principal day.
On this day
it was the custom for the women to go out into the
streets and roads with cords, and stop and bind all
those of the other sex they met, holding them till
they purchased their release by a small contribution
of money. On the Monday, the men had proceeded in the
same way towards the women. The meaning of the word hoke, or hock, seems to be
totally unknown, and none
of the derivations yet proposed seem to be deserving
of our consideration. The custom may be traced, by its
name at least, as far back as the thirteenth century,
and appears to have prevailed in all parts of England,
but it became obsolete early in the last century. At
Coventry, which was a great place for pageantry, there
was a play or pageant attached to the ceremony, which,
under the title of 'The old Coventry play of Hock
Tuesday,' was performed before Queen Elizabeth during
her visit to Kenilworth, in July 1575. It represented
a series of combats between the English and Danish
forces, in which twice the Danes had the better, but
at last, by the arrival of the Saxon women to assist
their countrymen, the Danes were overcome, and many of
them were led captive in triumph by the women. Queen
Elizabeth 'laughed well' at this play, and is said to
have been so much pleased with it, that she gave the
actors two bucks and five marks in money. The usual
performance of this play had been suppressed in
Coventry soon after the Reformation, on account of the
scenes of riot which it occasioned.
It will be seen that this
Coventry play was founded on the statement which had
found a place in some of our chroniclers as far back
as the fourteenth century, that these games of
Hock-tide were intended to commemorate the massacre of
the Danes on St. Brice's day, 1002; while others,
alleging the fact that St. Brice's day is the 13th of
November, suppose it to commemorate the rejoicings
which followed the death of Hardicanute, and the
accession of Edward the Confessor, when the country
was delivered from Danish tyranny.
Others, however,
and probably with more reason, think that these are
both erroneous explanations; and this opinion is
strongly supported by the fact that Hock Tuesday is
not a fixed day, but a moveable festival, and
dependent on the great Anglo-Saxon pagan festival of
Easter, like the similar ceremony of heaving, still practised on the borders of
Wales on Easter Monday and
Tuesday. Such old pagan ceremonies were preserved
among the Anglo-Saxons long after they became
Christians, but their real meaning was gradually
forgotten, and stories and legends, like this of the
Danes, afterwards invented to explain them. It may
also be regarded as a confirmation of the belief, that
this festival is the representation of some feast
connected with the pagan superstitions of our Saxon
forefathers, that the money which was collected was
given to the church, and was usually applied to the
reparation of the church buildings. We can hardly
understand why a collection of money should be thus
made in commemoration of the over-throw of the Danish
influence, but we can easily imagine how, when the
festival was continued by the Saxons as Christians,
what had been an offering to some one of the pagan
gods might be turned into an offering to the church.
The entries on this subject in the old churchwardens'
registers of many of our parishes, not only shew how
generally the custom prevailed, but to what an extent
the middle classes of society took part in it. In
Reading these entries go back to a rather remote date,
and mention collections by men as well as women while
they seem to shew that there the women, 'hocked,' as
the phrase was, on the Monday, and the men on the
Tuesday. In the registers of the parish of St.
Laurence, under the year 1499, we have
'Item, received of Hock
money gaderyd of women, xxs.
Item, received of Hok money
gaderyd of men, iiijs.,
And, in the parish of St.
Giles, under the date 1535
'Hoc money gatheryd by the
wyves (women), xiijs. ixd.'
And, in St. Mary's parish,
under the year 1559�
'Hoctyde money, the mens
gatheryng, iiijs. The womens, xijs.'
Out of this money, it would
appear that the wyves,' who always gained most, were
in Reading treated with a supper, for we find in the
churchwardens' accounts of St. Giles's parish, under
the year 1526, this entry
'Paid for the wyves supper
at Hoctyde, xxiiijd.'
In the year 1450, a bishop of
Worcester inhibited these 'Hoctyde ' practices, on the
ground that they led to all sorts of dissipation and
licentiousness. It may be added that it appears, from
the entries in the churchwardens' registers of various
parishes, that in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries Hock-tide was called in London Hob-tide.
