The Medieval Boy Bishops

In the mid-seventeenth century, clergyman John Gregory made a surprise discovery in Salisbury Cathedral that began to reveal the truth of the Boy Bishops. The Boy Bishops of the Middle Ages, following widespread and popular custom, supplanted the true bishops in their cathedrals for a period of time during the Christmas season.This strange and largely forgotten tradition, stretching from the early Middle Ages to the present day, gives a fascinating insight into the medieval world and its legacy. Elected by their fellows, these Boy Bishops exercised their power in cathedrals, churches and beyond, right across Europe. They controlled services, directed the clergy, enjoyed lavish entertainment, went on visitations to great noble and religious houses and received huge sums of money. However, the topsy-turvy reign of a Boy Bishop was often accompanied by bitter eclesiastical arguments, violence, civil unrest and even murder. It is a little-known fact that the Boy Bishop tradition is still alive today.The Medieval Boy Bishops will appeal to those interested in religious history, the peculiarities of the medieval world and the place of children in society. Author Neil was inspired to write the book by his passion for English literature and history. “I was fascinated by the idea of Boy Bishops,” says Neil. “I’m trying to bring back to life a largely forgotten corner of medieval history.” This book will revive interest in a fascinating but neglected area of medieval history in the same way as books such as A Very English Deceit, Longitude and The Mechanical Turk have done for more recent history.

1321. Simon and Baldwin are rewarded for their services in a previous investigation by a summons to Exeter over the Christmas period to receive prestigious gloves of honour from the Boy-Bishop. However, they learn that Ralph, the glovemaker, has been robbed and murdered. Soon after, a Secondary named Peter is poisoned at the cathedral. Suspicion falls on him, with many assuming that he killed Ralph and then committed suicide, but Simon and Baldwin are unconvinced. Their investigation unearths deception by the highest ranks of Exeter's leading citizens, and a ruthless murderer, poised to strike again...

Kids Those Days is a collection of interdisciplinary research into medieval childhood. Contributors investigate abandonment and abuse, fosterage and guardianship, criminal behavior and child-rearing, child bishops and sainthood, disabilities and miracles, and a wide variety of other subjects related to medieval children.

Vince has provided a useful and, for the most part, usable reference work. His introduction should be required reading for anyone approaching medieval theater. Choice Scholars increasingly see medieval theatre as a complex and vital performance medium related more closely to political, religious, and social life than to literature as we know it. Reflecting the current interest in performance, A Companion to the Medieval Theatre presents 250 alphabetically arranged entries offering a panoramic view of European and British theatrical productions between the years 900 and 1550. The volume features 30 essays contributed by an international group of specialists and includes many shorter entries as well as systematic cross-referencing, a chronology, a bibliography, and a full complement of indexes. Major entries focus on the theatres of the principal linguistic areas (the British Isles, France, Germany, Iberia, Italy, Scandinavia, the Low Countries, and Eastern Europe), and on dramatic forms and genres such as liturgical drama, Passion and saint plays, morality plays, folk drama, and Humanist drama. Other articles examine costume, acting, pageantry, and music, and explore the theatrical dimension of courtly entertainment, the dance, and the tournament. Short entries supply information on over one hundred playwrights, directors, actors and antiquarians whose contributions to the theatre have been documented. This informative guide brings new depth to our appreciation of the richness and color of medieval public entertainments and the symbolism and pageantry that were a part of daily life in the Middle Ages. Designed to appeal to general reader, this volume is also an attractive choice for libraries serving students and scholars of theatre history, English and European literatures, medieval history, cultural history, drama, and performance.

Based in records and iconography, this book surveys medieval festival playing in Britain more comprehensively than any other work to date. The study presents an inclusive view of the drama in the British Isles, from Kilkenny to Great Yarmouth, from Scotland to Cornwall. It offers detailed readings of individual plays-including the York Creed Play, Pentecost and Corpus Christi plays and the little studied Bodley plays, among others - as well as a summary of what is known of their production. Clifford Davidson here extends the usual chronological range to include work typically categorized as early modern, enabling a juxtaposition of earlier plays with later plays to yield a better understanding of both. Complementing documentary evidence with iconographic detail and citation of music, he pinpoints a number of common misconceptions about medieval drama. By organizing the study around the rituals of the liturgical seasons, he clarifies the relationship between liturgical feast and dramatic celebration.

In the fourth century, clerics began to distinguish themselves from members of the laity by virtue of their augmented claims to holiness. Because clerical celibacy was key to this distinction, religious authorities of all stripes—patristic authors, popes, theologians, canonists, monastic founders, and commentators—became progressively sensitive to sexual scandals that involved the clergy and developed sophisticated tactics for concealing or dispelling embarrassing lapses. According to Dyan Elliott, the fear of scandal dictated certain lines of action and inaction, the consequences of which are painfully apparent today. In The Corrupter of Boys, she demonstrates how, in conjunction with the requirement of clerical celibacy, scandal-averse policies at every conceivable level of the ecclesiastical hierarchy have enabled the widespread sexual abuse of boys and male adolescents within the Church. Elliott examines more than a millennium's worth of doctrine and practice to uncover the origins of a culture of secrecy and concealment of sin. She charts the continuities and changes, from late antiquity into the high Middle Ages, in the use of boys as sexual objects before focusing on four specific milieus in which boys and adolescents would have been especially at risk in the high and later Middle Ages: the monastery, the choir, the schools, and the episcopal court. The Corrupter of Boys is a work of stunning breadth and discomforting resonance, as Elliott concludes that the same clerical prerogatives and privileges that were formulated in late antiquity and the medieval era—and the same strategies to cover up the abuses they enable—remain very much in place.

Fresh perspectives on the English clergy, their books, and the wider Anglo-Saxon church.

Medieval festivals such as carnival and misrule, were occasions which created a temporary and dynamic upside-down world. This text shows these occasions were highly diverse, and discusses how they were able to negotiate a range of meanings and values.