Download the early catholic history of newark upon trent

THE EARLY CATHOLIC HISTORY
OF NEWARK UPON TRENT
THE WILTON DIPTYCH
(c. 1395-1399)
An extremely rare survival of a late English Medieval art.
This diptych was painted for King Richard II who is depicted
kneeling before the Virgin and Child
THE EARLY CATHOLIC HISTORY OF
NEWARK UPON TRENT
“Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth”
Newark on the river Trent in Nottinghamshire is one of England’s most
historic towns. The Parish Church of St. Mary Magdalene with its soaring
spire has been a well-known landmark for centuries. During the time of the
Reformation of the 16th century, and for nearly 400 years prior to that date,
Newark's Parish Church played a prominent role, both by being in the centre
of the town and central to the lives of those who lived and worked around
Newark.
THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY MAGDALENE NEWARK
painted by: Ted Towndrow
In those early times, the parish priest and other parochial officials in Newark
were deeply involved in many aspects of day-to-day life beyond those of a
strictly ecclesiastical nature. Religion and religious observances were an
integral part of English people's very existence in a way that is very difficult
to understand today. At times there were twenty or more religious officiating
in the town, with the parish priest, his curate, the chantry priests and those
serving as friars. One might imagine Newark Market Square in those days
with a population of the town being very small in comparison to today’s
numbers but with a very noticeable number of Clergy some shopping or going
about other business or preaching at the Market Cross. Parishioners too
contributed their time and gave alms for the support of those less fortunate.
Much of this charitable work for those in St. Leonard’s Hospital Northgate,
the poor, elderly and housebound was carried out through the work of the
many religious guilds of the town.
Daily Masses and other services were held at Newark Parish Church and at
other chapels around the town. One of the chantries at the Parish Church
was at the altar of St. Laurence and here every morning at 4am Mass was
celebrated, with a commitment to a regular Mass being celebrated there in
perpetuity, that is, forever. These early morning Masses were popular in
England in pre-Reformation days and were called by various names of which
'Morrow Mass' and 'Jesu Mass' were the most common.
Newark’s links with politics, with royalty and famous battles play an
important part of English history. At the locally fought battle of East Stoke in
1487 Henry Tudor was victorious and from then on he presided over a
dynasty that lasted over a century. His son, born in 1491, governed a
revolution that forcefully and dramatically changed the way the Christian
faith was practised in England, a faith by that time which had been in place
for 900 years. That revolution was the Reformation, and the son was one of
England's most famous kings - Henry VIII.
KING HENRY VIII
If the battle at East Stoke fought three miles from Newark had been lost by his father in
1487, then Henry would have not have succeeded to the throne. Therefore the Reformation
that so devastated the Catholic Church in England might never have happened!
It is ironic, that the Observant Friars were given residence in Newark by
Henry Tudor after his victory at East Stoke, and nearly 40 years later these
same Friars offered some of the strongest resistance to his son Henry VIII
and to the Reformation. Also it appears the last Catholic Priest to serve the
church of St Mary Magdalene, Father Henry Lytherland was born in the
same year as the battle of East Stoke 1487. Imagine what might have
transpired if Henry Tudor had lost the battle fought on a small field near
Newark……….
In Newark, as elsewhere in England, ordinary people together with priests
and monks opposed this enforced change to their religion, but failed to
prevent it. This story explores the origins of Newark’s Catholic heritage to
the time of the Reformation and describes some of the brave individuals who
were prepared to defend the old faith.
THE EARLY YEARS OF CHRISTIANITY IN NEWARK
In the 5th century A.D. there was an abrupt withdrawal from Britain of the
Romans and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. The shock to the
political, social, economic and religious life of the country must have been
profound. Although there is no evidence of Roman settlements at Newark the
effect on the Newark district must have had been devastating, being close to
the Fosse Way and not far from Lincoln a centre of Roman Geo’political life.
From the time of Constantine’s peace with the church 313 A.D. to the total
acceptance of the Christian faith by him and the Roman state, Christianity
flourished and prospered. With the country left isolated, Britain might have
been considered an orphan in most civilised respects, at the mercy of pagan,
barbarian and heretical attack, even so the holy sacrifice of the Mass
continued to be offered for the faithful, somewhere and somehow!
The time-span from the late 5th century A.D. to about the time of the Norman
Congress of 1066 is generally considered an 'unenlightened' period, and is
often called the Dark-Ages for that reason. In England during that time very
little was written or recorded and so we do not have a clear picture of day-today life. This began to change with the arrival of the monastic orders in
England, beginning with Augustine, later St Augustine, in the late 6th
century. The advent of the monastic orders brought educated monks to our
shores who were then able to teach others and spread their learning.
Understandably change was slow, and many years were to pass before a
significant proportion of the populace became literate.
One man in particular played an important role in recording life in those
times. Saint Bede the Venerable - considered the Father of English History –
was born in the north east of England in 673 on land owned by the
Benedictine monastery of Wearmouth. At the age of seven he began his
education under the watchful eye of the monastery's abbot and a few years
later he moved to a new monastery at Jarrow where he remained for the rest
of his life.
Bede received an impressive education from the monks, in particular
learning Latin, exploring literature and the Bible. At the age of 19 he was
ordained a deacon by the Bishop of Hexham and later wrote the first account
of Anglo-Saxon England, which was completed in 731. It is thanks to his
written word, the ‘Ecclesiastical History of the English People’ that we have a
reference to these early times and in particular the acceptance of the
Christian faith in England and in the Newark area.
In his writing, Bede tells of a British king in the year 156 who wrote to Pope
Eleutherus asking to be made a Christian by his direction. The king's request
was quickly granted, and the Britons received the Faith. Later Bede
describes how the holy Pope Gregory the Great (590-604) sends Augustine,
then a prior of a Roman monastery, together with 40 monks to preach to the
English nation, encouraging them in a letter to persevere in their mission. In
the region around Newark, it was a monk called Paulinus who visited with
the Christian message.
St Benedict, who established this first monastery at Monte Cassino in Italy
around 529, is commonly regarded as the founder of Western monasticism.
Benedict's rule was based upon vows of poverty, obedience and chastity.
Augustine brought the Benedictine rule to England, founding the first
Benedictine Abbey in Canterbury in 598. Under Pope Gregory’s guidance, he
adapted rites and practices to local conditions, and successfully evangelized
the kingdom of Kent, establishing bishoprics at Canterbury, Rochester and
London.
In 601, Pope Gregory sent Paulinus, a monk from the same monastery as
Augustine, as part of the second group of missionaries to England. While
visiting the Newark district, Paulinus assisted in the conversion of Britons,
and at Newark itself, multitudes followed him, some of whom were baptised
in the River Trent. Paulinus built the first Christian church - made of wood in 627 at York. The church at York was later rebuilt of stone, and Paulinus
also founded a stone church at Lincoln.
NEWARK IS GIVEN TO THE GILBERTINES
In Saxon times a church once stood on the site of Newark’s St. Mary
Magdalene Parish Church and at that time there may also have been a
church where Newark Castle now stands.
HOUGH ON THE HILL
At the local village of Hough on the Hill can be seen the remains of a turret from the
original Saxon church. In Saxon times at Newark similar constructed churches would
have stood.
There are today more than 250 Saxon church remains in England, some
standing as they were built but the majority modified and extended over the
centuries. At the nearby village of Hough-on-the-Hill for example, two thirds
of the rectangle bell tower with attached semi-circular stair turret
constructed in the 9th/10th centuries can be found and only a couple of miles
from Newark other Saxon/Norman churches were built, the remains of Saxon
type stone work can be seen in these village churches at Farndon and
Averham. From viewing these we might imaging how Newark’s early church
may have looked. Of course as Newark grew in size and importance so did the
number attending Mass and eventually the need arose for a larger place to
worship.
In the early 11th century, England was divided into four provinces, Wessex,
East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia. Newark fell within the boundaries of
Mercia. Each of these provinces was controlled by an Earl with Newark
governed by Leofric and his famous wife Lady Godiva. Leofric had amassed a
fortune from the mutton trade around Shrewsbury and using his wealth
funded the building of a monastery in the centre of Coventry in 1043. Both
were generous benefactors to a number of religious establishments including
those at Evesham, Worcester and Chester.
In the 11th century, on a high altar of Newark’s Saxon Church, Leofric the
Great of Mercia, and his celebrated wife Lady Godiva, are said to have
dedicated the Manors of Newark and its church to the Benedictine monks of
Stow, near Lincoln. Stow’s endowment is described in writs belonging to King
William I and these charters record that Bishop Remigius of Lincoln (1067 –
1092) re-established the abbey of Stow in 1091. These sources, thought to
date from the first half of the 1070s, show that the endowment comprised
Newark, Fledborough and Brampton (Notts) and Well wapentake (Lincs).
By the time of the Norman Conquest of 1066, under the authority of the Pope
in Rome, a more or less unified Christian system of belief had been
established. After the Norman Conquest the endowment made by Leofric and
Lady Godiva passed to the Bishop of Lincoln and in the 12th century it was
given by the Bishop to the Gilbertine Priory of St Katherine, Lincoln. The
Gilbertine Canons then oversaw the building of the Parish Church and
provided the priests for Newark, retaining control of the church until the
Reformation. The Gilbertines were the only English monastic order and were
founded by St Gilbert of Sempringham, Lincolnshire in the mid-12th century.
The English Monastic Order of the Gilbertines originates from Sempringham in
Lincolnshire: The Gilbertine Monastery of St Catherine of Lincoln was responsible for the
care of Newark and the Abbots of that House had the responsibility for selecting a Parish
Priest to serve Newark for some four hundred years, from the 12th century through to the
last Catholic Priest appointed, Father Henry Lytherland in 1532
Between the years 1154 and 1169 a charter from King Henry II confirmed
the foundation of the Gilbertine Monastery and its ownership of Newark
Church.
“Henry, King of England, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine…by this present
charter have confirmed to the Church of Canons of the Order of
Sempringham …which with the consent of his Charter, has founded hard-by
the city of Lincoln and to the Canons serving God there…the Church of
Newerc” (meaning Newark).
King Henry in his charter gave:
“a tenth penny (a tithe) of the whole toll of the burgh of Newerc…and four
shillings worth of land held in Newerc. All these I have granted to the
aforesaid church for the soul of King Henry, my grandfather, and for the soul
of Matilda, Empress, my mother, and for my salvation and Eleanor, my
Queen…Witnesses – (for this charter included the) Archbishop of York and
others at Westminster.”
Although subject to the Bishop of Lincoln as Lord of the Manor, Newark with
the rest of Nottinghamshire lay in the Diocese of York and at times this
resulted in much tension as both ecclesiastical Overlords and the Prior of St.
Katherine’s’ Lincoln attempted to impose their own wills on the town of
Newark and the Parish Church.
NEWARK PARISH CHURCH
Work started on the building of Newark’s St. Mary Magdalene Church about
1180, around 20 years after the formation of the Lincolnshire Gilbertine
Order which at that time had responsibility for the care of Newark. It is
likely that the same skilled craftsmen, mainly lay brothers from that Order
who had worked on their own monastic settlement at Sempringham or even
Lincoln Cathedral, were later involved in building the Newark Parish
Church.
Whilst brothers from the Gilbertine Order were overseeing the construction
of Newark’s Church, other skilled craftsmen would have been employed on its
fabrication over a period of some 350 years. Quite early in the Middle Ages,
the various trades connected with building had become organized, each
controlled by its own Guild. There were Guilds of masons, carpenters,
plumbers, glazers, plasterers, tilers, many of whom would have participated
in the building of Newark’s church. The senior craft was generally that of
mason with the master mason supervising the work, the nearest medieval
equivalent to the modern architect.
The spire of St. Mary’s Newark was completed in 1330 and once stood at 262
feet.Unfortunately the spire lost ten feet of its final taper in the early part of
the 19th century. However Newark’s spire was not quite so tall as that at
Grantham’s Parish Church at 280 feet but both are of similar design and
were completed at around the same date. One might wonder if at the time of
construction both towns being so close to each other were striving to achieve
the highest and most beautiful building. And it might have been the case that
some of the stonemasons and labourers worked on both of these churches.
The building of the church was however suspended for about forty years or so
when the plague known as the ‘black death’ struck Newark about the year
1349. This horrendous visitation took two thirds of the population of Europe
and would therefore have seriously affected the skilled workforce working on
the building of the church. In fact church building, then in progress in all
parts of the country, was brought to a sudden standstill, and, craftsmen and
labourers alike being dead, for the most part remained at a standstill for a
whole generation. Thus a long interval elapsed before the inhabitants of the
Newark had means and heart to finish their church, and when they did
proceed with it, the designs of the old craftsmen had been forgotten, and a
new architectural the era, the Perpendicular, had begun.
PAYING FOR THE CHURCH
The building of such a magnificent church would have cost a great deal of
money. However, from the earliest times in the Christian Church it was
regarded as everyone's duty to assist in such projects, according to their
means. In Newark and elsewhere in England by the middle of the 10th
century the religious duty of paying tithes was enforceable by law and this
form of tax was known as ‘God’s portion’ ‘the tribute of needy souls.’
In the pre-Reformation days everyone was liable to pay a tenth portion of all
‘profits’ earned or goods produced, for the use of the Church and the poor. At
that time this was considered to be a fair offering to God and one not too
burdensome on those who were obliged to pay.
People often made gifts of land, or of materials to build churches. Gifts were
also made to monks who used land and materials given to build monasteries
for worship and then worked the land. Once the monastic land was made
suitable for agriculture, it was sometimes leased back to the local community
who in return gave their tithes, one tenth of any profit, as a proportion of
profits made. The tithe may have been paid in money or in goods such as
wool, sheep, cattle, cereals or other products of the land. Tithe money was
used to support monastic life and the poor, but it also contributed to the cost
of constructing churches. Up until the Reformation it was taught that tithes
really ought to be divided into four parts: one to the poor, one to the bishop, if
he needed it, one to the ministers and one part for the repair of the church
fabric.
Raising funds for the building of a parish church such as Newark’s St. Mary
Magdalene was the responsibility of both the parishioners and religious. It is
no exaggeration to say that in Catholic times the parish church was the care
and business of all. The repair and beautification of the nave became the
responsibility of the congregation, but the chancel's upkeep was the
responsibility of the rector or priest, which was sometimes called ‘parson’s
freehold’. This was to be found from a portion of tithe received by the priest.
In medieval wills, parishioners would often bequeath money or land for the
construction, repair and enhancement of the parish church. As far as the
clergy's financial contribution was concerned, in addition to the regular
revenue from parochial tithes, the parish priest had other sources of income
for instance from the offerings made for various services to individuals -
baptism, marriages and funerals. Offerings from individuals were also made
for events such as a special Mass said or sung for a particular person or
intention. Not least, every adult parishioner above the age of 14 was obliged
to make an offering four times a year, at Christmas and Easter, on the
patronal feast, and on the dedication feast of his parish church, or according
to custom, on All Saints’ day.
After the death of King John in 1216, his successor Henry III made a grant of
timber for use in the Newark Church. This grant, made in 1227, was given as
a royal order, and sent to the Sheriff of Nottinghamshire.
“That he cause the Canons (the Gilbertines of Lincoln) serving the Church of
Newark to have six oaks in the forest of Sherwood, for the repair of the
aforesaid church of Newark”
By law, according to the statute of Archbishop Peckham in 1280, which
remained in force till the Reformation, the parish, broadly speaking, was
bound to find all that pertained to the services – such as vestments, chalice,
missal, processional cross, paschal candles etc – and to keep fabric and
ornaments of the church in repair. Surviving churchwarden accounts and the
church inventories prove beyond dispute that the people of England were
only too anxious to maintain and improve their parish churches and that
frequently between neighbouring churches there was a holy rivalry in this
labour of love. A Dr. Jessopp wrote:
“The immense treasures in the churches were the joy and boast of every man
and woman and child in England, who day by day and week by week,
assembled to worship in the old houses of God which they and their fathers
had built, and in whose every vestment and chalice and candlestick and
banner, organ and bells, and picture and image, and altar and shrine, they
look upon their own, and part of their birthright.”
NEWARK CHURCH IN THE EARLY DAYS
The pre-Reformation church in England would have been resplendent with
stained glass, gilded and painted walls, woodwork, beautiful hanging
paintings and sculptured figures. On festival days church interiors would be
decked with floral and evergreen decorations. In addition the old Catholic
liturgy called for vestments, altar frontals, canopies and a range of items
needed for the Mass or for rituals associated with feast days such as Corpus
Christi: altar crosses, censers, incense boats, candlesticks, processional
crosses and illuminated service books. On certain feast days such as Corpus
Christi, processions around Newark and through the market place would
have taken place with the participation of large numbers of locals. What an
impressive sight that would have been!
14TH CENTURY PICTURE - HANGING IN A VILLAGE CHURCH NEAR NEAWRK
Beautiful art like that from a painting shown above which has survived the destruction of
the Reformation once filled all churches in England. Father Henry Lytherland spoke
requesting that such images were not removed from his church at Newark
The Archbishop of York had ordered, as far back as 1250, that every parish
should provide:
“the principal image in the chancel of the saint to which the church is
dedicated.”
At Newark there would have been an image of St Lawrence, to the repair of
whose altar 20 shillings was left in 1466. The image of the Virgin Mary is
mentioned in his will by John Burton, Vicar of Newark in 1475.
“I will that certain jewels (monilia), rosaries, rings, gems, crucifixes and other
jewels (jocalia), remain for ever, for adorning of the image of the Blessed
Mary Virgin and of her son, in the Chapel beyond the south folding doors of
the aforsaid church, in honour of God, the blessed Mary Virgin, and of all
saints, and in perpetual memory of me, the aforesaid John”
The spacious Chancel of Newark's Parish Church was erected at the joint
expense of the Prior and Convent of St. Catherine, with the aid of a
particular benefactor from Newark. In 1483, Nicholas Kayser, who had been
warden of the Newark Trinity Guild bequeathed 26 shillings and 8 pence to
the new building of the chancel.
A prominent feature in the south transept was the Altar of the Holy Trinity,
towards which in 1466 William Boston was a contributor in his will. He also
bequeathed an image of the Blessed Virgin.
Each of the Newark Guilds would have also have had images of their patron
saints. There were 16 altars beside the High Altar. These included the Altars
of the Holy Trinity, in the south transept, Our Lady, in the north side of the
church, Jesus, Corpus Christi, St Lawrence, St Nicholas, St Katherine, St
James, St Peter and St Stephen.
It is said that the windows of Newark Parish Church were of great richness
and beauty. There was a window to Thomas a Becket, as it is recorded,
“glaess wyndow in the church of Newerke of Thomas Bekket wasse taken
downe at the laste affore crystenmes” (1538 or 1539 – that is during time of
the Reformation).
Rich benefactors had delighted in adorning the beautiful edifice with the best
that the artist could produce. In 1506, Sir Thomas Tempest of Bracewell
made this bequest.
“I wyll xiiis.iiid be given to make one glasse wyndow in the chapell of Saynt
Saveyour in Newark.”
It is also recorded:
“In the windows of the north aisle were painted the history of the New
Testament and that the great east window had a history of Joseph.”
One of the most striking differences between an English parish church before
and after the Reformation was the post-Reformation absence from the
eastern end of the nave, above the chancel screen, of a Rood and the
necessary apparatus for supporting this large crucifix (the Rood was often
mounted on a large horizontal oak beam several feet above the chancel screen
or sometimes directly on the screen itself). A Rood was a large representation
of Christ crucified, flanked on either side by Our Lady and St. John. Our
Lady and St. John were usually large and painted statues.
At Newark there were 13 chantries in all. Chantries date from the medieval
period, but they were not numerous in England until the 14th and 15th
centuries. Chantries were often added to existing churches or were contained
within them as in our Newark church. While some chantries were established
for the purpose of saying Mass and prayers for the dead, they were also
established on behalf of Guilds.
A Newark man Henry de Newark, later the Archbishop of York, endowed
with the consent of the Gilbertine Prior of St. Catherine Lincoln, the first
Chantry Chapel to Newark together with some of his Yorkshire property.
“November 12th 1293..Henry de Newark, Dean of St. Peter’s,York …two acres
of land in Northorp, with the church there, to the Prior and Convent of St.
Catherine, Lincoln, to find two chaplains to celebrate divine service in the
chapel of St. Catherine and St. Martha, recently built by the said Henry in
the churchyard of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, for the soul of the said
Henry and the souls of his ancestors.”
On the 25 May 1349, one Alan Flemyng of Newark founded, within the
Chapel of Corpus Christi, a chantry for one secular chaplain to celebrate for
various souls and for himself. The special function of a chanty priest (not to
be confused with a parish priest) was to sing Masses for the soul of the
founder of the chantry and his departed relatives. The most usual way of
endowing at this period was to establish a chantry or chapel, with priests
specially attached to it to sing Masses and to say private prayers for the souls
of deceased persons named in the bequest. Prayers for the dead were no new
thing, for in the 11th and 12th centuries, the foundation of monastic houses
absorbed most of the endowments, and the monks then undertook to say
Masses for the souls of the benefactors.
We might search through all England and find few, if any, parish churches
with such an array of chantries as Newark. The chantries were a way in
which Christians expressed their love of their brethren, and their zeal for the
glory of God. Newark Parish Church chantries included: Corpus Christi, Holy
Trinity, Blessed Virgin Mary, All Saints, St Catherine, St Nicholas, St
Magdalen and Morrow Mass.We could take this as evidence of the great
wealth and prosperity of the town in those days and also as evidence of the
piety and devotion of the citizens.
NOTABLE FEATURES OF NEWARK’S CHURCH
An interesting feature to be seen at the top of Newark Parish Church, and
one not common in England, is the ornate Sanctus bell cote made of stone.
The Newark Sanctus bell mounted on the roof of the Chancel is best viewed
from the garden that was once a cemetery, on the north side of the church.
The use of the Sanctus bell was first introduced in England towards the end
of the 12th century and became of general use during the 13th century.
When the Sanctus Bell was rung, its sound alerted those unable to attend,
the sick such as those in St Leonard’s Hospital Northgate, the housebound,
those working in the town and in the fields around the town, telling them
that the consecration at the Mass was taking place. The bell would also allow
people working and shopping in the market place and elsewhere in the town
to stop what they were doing and offer an act of adoration to God. Inside the
church it helped to focus the attention of the faithful on the miracle that was
taking place on the altar with the words of the priest, “Sanctus, Sanctus,
Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth” (Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts).
The most ancient part of the present church of St. Magdalene is the crypt,
dating from mid to late 12th century. The lower stage of the tower is early 13th
century, while the south aisle and the spire are from the early 14th century.
The rest of the church dates from the 15th century, with the exception of the
transepts, vestry and porches, which are early 16th century. Architecturally
speaking, it seems that the Parish Church we see today is very much as it
was when it was built before the Reformation.
THE GUILDS OF NEWARK
In medieval times many would have attended Mass and other services at the
Parish Church. At that time it was normal practice for parishioners to help
with their time or to give alms to the poor and less fortunate. In addition to
providing a tithe for the use of the church, many in the congregation would
also have been active members of one of the town’s several guilds.
In those days guilds fell into two classes – craft or trade associations, and
religious societies.
Craft guilds controlled the work and their members, with responsibilities for
regulating quality, prices and the employment of apprentices. Their function
was essentially the protection and promotion of a particular work or trade
and the people engaged in it. All guilds, however, no matter for what special
purpose they were founded, craft or religious, had the same general
characteristic guiding principles of brotherly love and charity. It seems that
no guild was divorced from the ordinary religious observances commonly
practised at that time.
In Newark there were several guilds whose aim was to come together in
every exercise of religion, and primarily to associate for the veneration of
certain religious mysteries and in honour of the saints. Each of these guilds
was placed under the patronage of a saint, chapel or shrine, for example, St
Peter, the Holy Cross, or the Holy Sacrament. In Newark, the largest of the
guilds was under the patronage of the Holy Trinity.
In honour of the guilds there were dedicated altars in the church where
prayers would have been said. Each altar displayed an image of their
patronage illuminated with candles. The Holy Trinity altar was situated in
the south transept.
Religious guilds had considerable power in the town and were joined by many
prominent people. This enabled the purchase of lands for the building of
chapels, the erection of altars and the maintenance of chaplains and priests.
Each guild was managed by an Alderman who was annually elected by its
members and meetings were held in the Guild Hall or elsewhere in the town.
These associations also prayed for the souls of members who had died, made
provisions for their funerals, and maintained shrines. Some founded and
supported schools and arranged relief for members with financial difficulties.
Annual guild processions were made through Newark, normally on the feast
day of each guild's particular patron. Some guilds had their own minstrels or
employed minstrels for their own use, and these featured in colourful
pageants. The annual pageants of the guilds provided some of the principle
festivals and entertainment of the year.
We can get some idea of the spectacle of these pageants, from the last entry
made for the Trinity Guild of Newark in 1546, at a meeting held in the Guild
Hall chaired by the then Alderman, Anthony Foster. Requests were made for
money from funds to pay for a bellman and for the bearer of the dragon, for
the tunics of actors and for the repair and materials necessary for the cloths
of the banners. Money was also asked for the supply of bread and wine for
celebration at the altar of the Holy Trinity and for the supply of wax for the
candles to be lit at this altar. In the same account 20 shillings had been
requested for three priests of that guild for spending on the repair of their
houses.
In the will made by Thomas Magnus in1530, monies were left for the
following guilds of Newark; Holy Trinity, Mary Magdalene, Our Lady’s (also
know as the guild of the Virgin Mary), Corpus Christi, Holy Richard de
Newark and St Peters.
The Guild of the Holy Trinity in Newark was the largest and also the
wealthiest and most influential. Its members bestowed annual pensions on
the poor, received travelling strangers and carried out other acts of charity as
far as their revenues allowed. We know that the Holy Trinity Guild in
Newark existed as long ago as the 13th century, because a deed of 1271
conveyed land in Balderton Gate to the guild.
In 1477, William Calesse of Newark made a will and bequeathed 20 shillings
for the Altar of the Holy Trinity to be expended about the house of the guild
of the Holy Trinity, which he had at one time owned. Houses were purchased
by some guilds or inherited, as was the case with the gift made by Mr.
Calesse. Some of these properties were then rented at low rates to some of
the poorer inhabitants of the town.
By the middle of the 15th century, there were an estimated 30,000 religious
guilds in England, but by 1548, the last of them would be disbanded or
converted into a 'craft only' guild. The fall of the religious guilds in England
began in 1536 when King Henry VIII drastically changed the liturgical
calendar, abolished most saints' days and ordered all saints' images to be
removed from the churches. Without an annual day for feasting and a
physical manifestation of their patron saint in the local church, their
activities diminished and many guilds just slowly died away. The final blow
to these once vigorous and well supported associations came in 1547 under
Edward VI with the Chantries Act, which abolished all intercessory
institutions and guilds and confiscated their property.
NEWARK CASTLE BUILT BY THE BISHOP
Newark Castle also has Christian associations. A Thoroton Society of
Nottinghamshire report gives details of excavations at Newark Castle, and
reveals that several Christian burials, oriented east west, were found. These
were dated as mid 10th to mid 11th centuries. This report suggested that a
religious settlement might have once been situated on the site; "the presence
of a cemetery taken in conjunction with the existence of a Saxon stone
building, raises the possibilities of a church or monastic settlement"
In a royal charter from Henry I, possibly dated from the last year of his reign
in 1135, Newark was granted a castle.
"Henry, King of England - to all the Barons and to the Sheriffs and to
his ministers and faithful men of Nottinghamshire, Greeting. Know ye,
that I have granted to Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, that he may make
a ditch and rampart of his fishpond of Niwerc upon the Fosseway and
he may divert the Fosseway through the same town as he shall wish."
In this charter permission was given to Bishop Alexander, of Lincoln to start
work on the castle. The bishop of Lincoln, appointed 1123 was known as
Alexander ‘the Magnificent.’ Alexander, who was also Lord of the Manor of
Newark, had distinguished himself by completing the building of Lincoln
Cathedral, started, by one of his predecessors Bishop Remigius (1067).
The Bishop later obtains permission from the king, in another charter, to
build a bridge over the river Trent, for the ease of entry to the castle and to
Newark.
"Know ye that I have granted to Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, that he
may cause a bridge to be made over the water of Trent to his castle of
Newerc it so be that it will not harm my city of Lincoln nor my borough
of Nottingham, and if it would injure them, let him make such a one as
will not injure them."
The Castle once housed a chapel, which was dedicated to the Apostles Philip
and James and was built by the Bishop of Lincoln, Alexander. This was
consecrated in 1123. It is still possible to see parts of this chapel, through the
windows of the tower, above the gatehouse.
Bishop Hugh (later St. Hugh) was appointed Bishop of Lincoln in 1186. St.
Hugh stayed at the Castle on several occasions and St. Hugh’s Chaplain
reported on one of these occasions
"Bishop Hugh kissed a Leper in the town of Newark. He touched the livid
face of the Lepers, kissed the sightless eyes or eyeless sockets, I shudder with
disgust but Hugh said to me that these afflicted ones were the flowers of
Paradise – pearls in the Coronet of the Eternal King, waiting for the coming
of their Lord, who in his own time, would change their forlorn bodies into the
likeness of his own glory”
SAINT HUGH OF LINCOLN
Window to be found in Holy Trinity Church Newark showing St. Hugh embracing a
Leper in the grounds of Newark Castle
Perhaps Newark Castle's most famous visitor was King John. Crossing the
marshy area known as the Wash in East Anglia, King John in 1216 lost his
most valuable treasures, including the Crown Jewels to the unexpected
incoming tide. This dealt him a terrible blow, which affected his health and
state of mind. Moving from place to place, and suffering from dysentery, he
arrived at Newark Castle. Feeling that death was imminent, King John took
steps to secure the royal succession on his son Prince Henry and then sought
religious aid from the Abbot of Croxton (a visiting monk from Croxton, near
Grantham). The king suffered severely for three days, and in that time he
received both the Sacraement of Confession, and Holy Communion, before
breathing his last on the 18th October 1216. He is buried in Worcester
Cathedral.
In King John’s will, which was written in Latin, it is recorded:
“in making satisfaction to God and the Holy Church for all indignities offered,
damages sustained, and injuries brought upon it by any means”
NEWARK CASTLE
When we consider King John’s past we might better understand this will.
John expelled the Canterbury monks in July 1207 and the Pope ordered an
interdict against the kingdom. John immediately retaliated by seizure of
church property for failure to provide feudal service. In November 1209 John
was excommunicated, and, in February 1213, Pope Innocent threatened
stronger measures unless John submitted. The papal terms for submission
were accepted in the presence of the papal legate, and in 1213 King John
offered to surrender the Kingdom of England to God and Saints Peter and
Paul.
HOSPITALS AND THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR
When Bishop Alexander had completed his work on Newark Castle he
proceeded with building monasteries and hospitals, in Newark founding a
hospital in Northgate dedicated to St. Leonard. A register cites a document of
August 3rd 1315, when a commission was issued to the Archbishop of
Armagh, authorizing the dedication of three altars, newly erected in the
Chapel of St. Leonard’s Hospital in honour of St. Mary, St. Leonard and St.
Catherine.
The Military Order of the Knight Templars was founded about the year 1118.
They derived their name from the Temple of Jerusalem, and the original
purpose of their institute was to secure the roads to Palestine and protect the
holy places. They came to England in the reign of King Stephen and had
several foundations at that time the earliest known being 1136. The Order
was suppressed by Pope Clement V in 1309.
THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR
Once had a presence in Newark and were disbanded on the instruction of the Pope
In 1185 a hospital at Newark was granted to the Knights Templars, but we
cannot be accurate about its location. It is thought that a chapel dedicated to
St John of Jerusalem, the patron of that order, once stood at the west end of
the current town hall to the north of Stodman Street. By the late 13th century
Newark folk may have been familiar with the sight of the Templars, walking
the streets, in their white mantles with red cross. Some years later Newark
would have known the two orders of friars (their name derived from frater,
Latin for brother) who supplied their services to the town.
TEMPLE BRUER
Just 15 miles from Newark a rare survival of a Knights Templar Preceptory. One of two
towers that stood on the east end of the church at Temple Bruer. Knights from Newark’s
Chapel of St John of Jerusalem may have journeyed here for meetings either by foot or horse
THE NEWARK FRIARS
The first order of Friars to settle in Newark was that of the Austin Friars or
to give then their proper title, the Hermits of St. Augustine, who built for
themselves a house near Appleton Gate. This particular body of friars took its
historical origin in the union of several existing friars and was established in
1265 by Pope Clement IV. They were regarded as belonging to the ranks of
the mendicant friars and not to the monastic order.
We do not know exactly when the Austin friars arrived in Newark, but the
Order was introduced into England in mid 13th century and they may have
been resident in the town for a couple of centuries prior to the Reformation.
They dressed in a black gown with broad sleeves, girded with a leather belt
and a black cloth hood. Their religious observances included the singing of
psalms at all hours and the nightly reading immediately after Vespers. The
chief work was that of evangelisation and they were continually teaching and
preaching and preparing religious functions in Newark and in the
surrounding villages.
The Order of St. Francis known as the Franciscans began in Assisi in central
Italy and dates from 1209. St. Francis died in 1226 and was canonised by
Pope Gregory XI shortly after. In 1224 nine Franciscan friars landed at Dover
and within ten years there were 22 in England. By 1230 they were
establishing their 13th house in this country at Nottingham and by 1260 there
were some 50 Franciscan friaries and a thousand friars.
In the early 15th century a movement spread within the Order for a more
strict interpretation of the Franciscan Rule. The friars of this movement were
known as Franciscan Observants and they arrived to England in 1482. The
first Observant Franciscan Friary was established at Greenwich in July of
that same year at the insistence of King Edward IV.
The Observant Friars were introduced to Newark by Henry VII (Henry
Tudor) the conqueror at the battle of East Stoke of 1487. Henry Tudor
became a special patron of the Observants and founded several English
houses, which were chiefly re-foundations of original Franciscan
establishments. But there appears to be no evidence that there was any
house of the Observants at Newark prior to the days of that king. His
founding of the Newark house of this severe order occurred about the year
1499. By that time the Friars represented nearly 300 years of Franciscan
history.
The Observant Friars from the Franciscan Order were some of the best educated in the
country. They were to oppose the king and his appointment as head of the church and
suffered greatly for their resistance
Through a codicil to his will, Henry VII in 1509 left £200 to the convent.
'that by his succour and aid was newly begun in the town of Newark.’
In March 1513 Henry VIII wrote from Greenwich Palace to Pope Leo that he
could not sufficiently praise the Observants in their adherence to poverty and
their battle against vice. In Newark these austere Observants were housed at
the friary in Appleton Gate and wore the Order's habit of grey tunics of
coarse cloth with long sleeves and a knotted rope for a girdle. An attached
pointed black hood or capuche formed part of the habit, and their feet were
bare or protected by sandals.
Following the Rule of St. Francis, the Observants of Newark would have
practised an austere life of self-sacrifice, visiting the sick, such as those in St.
Leonard’s Hospital Northgate, aiding the poor and destitute and those cast
out from society, including those suffering from leprosy, an infectious disease
that was common in England in those days.
The Observants had a reputation for providing leading national scholars,
some of whom reshaped the nation's universities from seats of learning for
lawyers into centres of theology and philosophy. A German historian wrote:
“The English nation had given to the Franciscan Order a greater number of
eminent scholars than all the rest of the nations put together.”
Each friary had its own lecturer and most had libraries. In Newark there
were at least three Crosses erected, where the Friars would preach the
gospel. They would speak on other subjects too, such as the validity of Henry
VIII as head of the English Church, for it is recorded that they spoke out
against the Reformation in Newark. Later they suffered greatly for publicly
expressing these views. The Friar Crosses originally stood in the Market
Place, Beaumond Cross and near the friary, north of Cliff Nook Lane.
Nationally the Franciscans had a reputation as peacemakers and, being
trusted by all sides, they successfully negotiated a number of treaties. Their
efforts would have been readily witnessed in Newark prior to the dissolution
of the monasteries.