Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Anti-clerical
criticisms of
the Church and
monasteries
- few dared to
criticise the
practice and
rituals of the
Church openly
in fear of the
consequences
- Pluralism
- a priest held the rights to more than one parish. Took money from
both and employ sometimes only partially educated cleric as deputy
- These uneducated
people didn't live up
to the ideals of the
Church, and
expectations of the
people
- Wages could have been
less than those of
agricultural labourers
- Simony
- sale of an
ecclesiastical
title.
- Occurred most frequently when a priest enjoying the
income of a rich parish sold the position to whoever
was willing to pay the most
- Mortuary
fees
- when a person died, his/her family
would have to pay a fee in money or
goods to the priest. One of the main
disputes of the Richard Hunne case
- Indulgences and 'holy relics'
- priests sold these 'pardons' to trusting
people who believed their time in
purgatory would be shortened
- relics could bring
good fortune and
protection
- Behaviour
of the clergy
- priests and monks were expected
to live to their vows of chastity and to
be obedient to laws of the Church
but not all were able to
- Gossip suggested that a number of
priests had affairs and some had children.
It's hard to know how widespread this was
and how much was actually true
- Benefit of
the clergy
- if a priest was suspected of
committing offences he could be claim and be
tried in a Church court. Could
escape death penalty if found guilty.
- Benefits were criticised as those brought in to undertake the
work of absent priests could also access the Church courts
- Laymen who read Latin
could also claim
- Tithes
- each adult living in a
parish ad to pay 1/10
of goods they
produced
- this was paid to the clergy but
sometimes the Church had sold the
right to collect tithes to a member of the
laity
- Where parishioners refused
or were unable to pay tithes,
they were taken to Church
courts
- Disputes over payments were common, but on
the whole, the system worked