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Happy New Year!

31/12/2017

To all my blessed readers,

May the Lord grant you joy (of the spiritual kind) and bestow rich blessings (again, of the spiritual variety) for your kindness in reading this blog over the last year.

I also look forward myself to granting you all the odd blessing here and there over the forthcoming year. There is much for which to be grateful.

Amen!

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Christmas blessings

24/12/2017

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The Anglo-Saxon Monk wishes his blessed readers a most solemnly joyful Christmas...

Blessing for Christmas Day, from the Anderson Pontifical. © British Library Board. London, British Library, MS Additional 57337 (Canterbury or Winchester, c. 1000), f. 104r. Public Domain: no copyright restrictions. Click on image to go to the source.

Blessed ones,

I hardly have the time, what with all the other prayers I'll be singing in just a few minutes, but because you are all so beloved, I have rushed off a translation of the Christmas Day blessing from the so-called Anderson Pontifical (above) written about the year 1000.

So, please, tomorrow, whether you be stuffing your Christmas bird or stuffing it down your face, whether playing games or engaging in similar, excessively indulgent behaviour, and be you knocking back mead or wine, please note that the Lord has made Christmas a holy day of solemnity. And therefore, at the very least, please make sure you sing the bits of the blessing written in red back to me.

Amen, and have a blessed Christmas!

MAY THE OMNIPOTENT LORD BLESS YOU, and your purpose may he arouse to the heavens, he who made this most holy day of the birth of his son to be solemn. AMEN

And he who made him, who is the bread of angels, to be the food of faithful souls in the manger of the church, may he both make you in the present world taste of the sweetness of eternal joys and in the future lead you to the full satisfaction of the eternal reward. AMEN

And he who in his infancy was willing to put on clothes of little value, may he himself clothe you in the ornaments of celestial robes. AMEN

May he deign to grant… ITEM ALIA

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How to get into a monastery... and 1000 herrings!

21/12/2017

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Seven more charters from 'the book of Rochester' translated in time for Christmas

1000 smoked herrings distributed to the poor of Rochester. Picture credit: click on image.

Blessed ones,

I have an early Christmas present for you all. I know, I'm very loveable. Well, to be frank, it's Dr Monk (not quite so endearing) who offers you this gift: seven translations of charters from Textus Roffensis ('the book of Rochester'), that wonderful twelfth-century compilation of legal texts, providing us with rich insights into the lives of the English peoples, from the Anglo-Saxon period to the decades after the Conquest. (That last word always gives me indigestion.)

The spiritual life...

This time, beloved, we have two charters that document how certain individuals found their way into the monastery at Rochester. Let's just say they didn't get in for free.

Getting one's son into a monastery

Getting one's brother in

Clothing the righteous...

An angel clothes the righteous. © British Library Board. London, British Library, MS Additional 18633 (England, 2nd half of 13th century), f. 12r. Public Domain: free from copyright restrictions. Click on image to go to source.

Then we have a charter that tells us the pounds, shillings and pence collected by Gundulf, bishop of Rochester (1087-1108), for clothing his monks. Very nice man, Gundulf.

Getting one's clothes

Building up the spiritual home...

We also have two charters documenting various provisions made by Ernulf, a subsequent bishop of Rochester (1114-24), for his wonderful monks. The first is very important for showing how the bishop allocated funds for the building and maintenance of the brothers' home... in other words, how he got the priests in the diocese to cough up; and the other is indispensable for its insights into the importance of livestock for keeping the blessed brethren going.

Getting money from the priests

Getting calves, lambs and piglets

The gifts of the spirit...

Nice shoes! From the illustrated Prose Life of Cuthbert. © British Library Board. London, British Library, MS Yates Thompson 26 (Durham, last quarter of 12th century), f. 80r. Public Domain: free from copyright restrictions. Click on image to go to source.

Following these, we have a later twelfth-century note, a rather testy one, if truth be told, stating how the bishop finances his procurement of clothes, shoes, candles, gifts, and whatnot. We believe you, bishop, we believe you!

Getting one's shoes

Giving to others...

Salmon for the brothers! Detail of a leaping salmon. From Gerald of Wales, Topographia Hiberniae. © British Library Board. London, British Library, MS Royal 13 B. viii (Lincoln?, c. 1196-c. 1223), f. 23r. Public Domain: free from copyright restrictions. Click on image to go to source.

And finally, blessed ones, we go back to Ernulf and Gundulf for a charter that, in many ways, tells us what this religious life is all about. We learn that the good Ernulf sets up an annual charity in honour of the great Gundulf.

So there's a record of alms-giving from various sources, including 1000 herrings (!) donated by the cellarer (one of the chief monks), and eight whole salmon from several of the monastic estates in Kent and beyond. Then we hear of the subsequent distribution to the poor.

Ah, that is kindness and godliness to marvel at, is it not? And so inspiring at this time of year. Mind you, best not dwell on the final part of the charter:

'Having acquired bread and herrings, the cellarer himself with the almoner will distribute these very things to the poor on this day. The salmon, however, the brothers will have in the refectory.'

Oh, I see.

Getting your salmon

N.B. To access all of Dr Monk's published translations to date, click on the button below:

Textus Roffensis translations

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