Part iii, p. 1213; _Inhibicio Episcopi de ludis inhonestis_. The

bishop writes to all four bodies in identical terms. He wishes them ‘Salutem, et morum clericalium honestatem,’ and adds ‘Ad nostram, non sine gravi cordis displicencia et stupore, pervenit noticiam quod, annis praeteritis et quibusdam praecedentibus, in Sanctissimis Dominice Nativitatis, ac Sanctorum Stephani, Iohannis, Apostoli et Evangelistae, ac Innocencium Solempniis, quando omnes Christi Fideles Divinis laudibus et Officiis Ecclesiasticis devocius ac quiescius insistere tenentur, aliqui praedicte Ecclesie nostre Ministri, cum pueris, nedum Matutinis et Vesperis ac Horis aliis, set, quod magis detestandum est, inter Missarum Sollempnia, ludos ineptos et noxios, honestatique clericali indecentes, quia verius Cultus Divini ludibria detestanda, infra Ecclesiam ipsam inmiscendo committere, Divino timore postposito, pernicioso quarundam Ecclesiarum exemplo, temere praesumpserunt; Vestimenta et alia Ornamenta Ecclesie, in non modicum eiusdem Ecclesie nostre et nostrum dampnum et dedecus, vilium scilicet scenulentorumque (_or_ scev.) sparsione multipliciter deturpando. Ex quorum gestis, seu risibus et cachinnis derisoriis, nedum populus, more Catholico illis potissime temporibus ad Ecclesiam conveniens, a debita devocione abstrahitur, set et in risum incompositum ac oblectamenta illicita dissolvitur; Cultusque Divinus irridetur et Officium perperam impeditur....’

[1198] On the _Pastores_ cf. ch. xix. Gasté, 33, gives several Rouen chapter acts from 1449 to 1457 requiring them to officiate ‘cessantibus stultitiis et insolenciis.’ These orders and those quoted on p. 341 above were prompted by the _Letter_ of the Paris theologians against the Feast of Fools and similar revels. In 1445 (or 1449) a committee was chosen ‘ad videndum et visitandum ordinationem ecclesiae pro festis Nativitatis Domini et deliberationes Facultatis Theologiae super hoc habitas et quod tollantur derisiones in ipsis fieri solitas.’

[1199] At Sarum a _Constitutio_ of Roger de Mortival in 1324 (Dayman and Jones, _Sarum Statutes_, 52) forbade drinking when the antiphon ‘O Sapientia’ was sung after Compline on Dec. 16. John of Avranches (†1070) allowed for the feast of his ‘O’ at Rouen ‘unum galonem vini de cellario archiepiscopi,’ and the ‘vin de l’O’ was still given in 1377 (Gasté, 47). On these ‘Oes,’ sung by the great functionaries of cathedrals and monasteries, see E. Green, _On the words ‘O Sapientia’ in the Kalendar_ (_Archaeologia_, xlix. 219); Cynewulf, _Christ_ (ed. A. S. Cook), xxxv. Payments ‘cantoribus ad ludum suum’ or ‘ad’ or ‘ante natale’ appear in Durham accounts; cf. _Finchale Priory_ ccccxxviii (Surtees Soc.,) and _Durham Accounts_, _passim_ (Surtees Soc.). I do not feel sure what feast is here referred to.

[1200] Chérest, 49 sqq.

[1201] Ioannes Abrincensis, _de Eccl. Offic._ (_P. L._ cxlvii. 42) ‘Licet, ut in morte Domini, _Te Deum_ et _Gloria in excelsis_ et _Alleluia_ in aliquot ecclesiis, ex more antiquo, omittantur; quia ut Christus occideretur tot parvuli occidi iubentur; et illis occisis fit mors Christi secundum aestimationem Herodis; tamen quia placuit modernis, placet et nobis ut cantentur’; cf. the passage from Belethus quoted on p. 336; also Honorius Augustodunensis, _Gemma Animae_, iii. 14 (_P. L._ clxxii. 646), and Martene, iii. 40.

[1202] _Ordinarium_ of Rouen (fourteenth century) in Ducange, s.v. _Kalendae_; _P. L._ cxlvii. 155; Gasté, 35. On the Rouen feast cf. also Gasté, 48.

[1203] These chants are taken from _Revelation_, xiv. 3 ‘nemo poterat dicere canticum, nisi illa centum quadraginta quatuor millia, qui empti sunt de terra. Hi sunt, qui cum mulieribus non sunt coinquinati, virgines enim sunt. Hi sequuntur Agnum quocumque ierit.’ This passage is still read in the ‘Epistle’ at Mass on Holy Innocents’ day. Cf. the use of the same chants at Salisbury (Appendix M).

[1204] ‘Et tamdiu cantetur _Deposuit potentes_ quod baculus accipiatur ab eo qui accipere voluerit.’

[1205] _Ordinarium_ of Bayeux (undated) in Gasté, 37. On the Bayeux feast and its _parvus episcopus_ or _petit évêque_ cf. F. Pluquet, _Essai sur Bayeux_, 274.

[1206] ‘Dum perventum fuerit ad illum: _Deposuit potentes_, vadunt omnes ad medium ecclesiae et ibi qui in processione stant ordinate eumdem versum, episcopo inchoante, plures replicantes. Qui dum sic cantatur, offert ipse episcopus sociis suis de choro baculum pastoralem. Post multas itaque resumptiones dicti versus, revertuntur in chorum, _Te Deum laudamus_, si habent novum episcopum, decantantes, et ita canendo deducunt eum ad altare, et mitra sibi imposita et baculo cum capa serica, revertuntur in chorum, illo qui fuerat episcopus explente officium capellani, creato nihilominus novo cantore. Tunc chorus, si non fuerit ibi novus episcopus, vel novus episcopus qui baculum duxerit capiendum, cum suis sociis resumit a capite psalmum _Magnificat_, et sic cantant vesperas usque ad finem.’

[1207] _Novus Ordinarius_ of Coutances (undated) in Gasté, 39.

[1208] ‘Post Matutinas conveniant omnes pueri ad suam tabulam faciendam, quibus licitum est maiores personas Ecclesiae minoribus officiis deputare. Diaconis et subdiaconis ordinatis, thuribula imponantur et candelabra maiora videlicet et minora. Episcopo vero, cantori et aliis canonicis aquam, manutergium, missale, ignem et campanam possunt imponere pro suae libito voluntatis. Nihil tamen inhonestum aut impertinens apponatur; antiquiores primi ponantur in tabula et ultimi iuniores.’

[1209] ‘Quo facto dicat [Episcopus] _Deposuit_. Statimque electus Episcopus, tradito sibi baculo pastorali a pueris ad altare praesentetur, et osculato altari in domum suam a dictis pueris deferatur. Et interim, finito tumultu, eat processio ad altare S. Thomae martyris.’

[1210] _Rituale_ (fourteenth century) of Tours in Martene, iii. 39. There was a _cantor puerorum_ as well as the _episcopus_. At second Vespers ‘quando _Magnificat_ canitur, veniunt clericuli in choro cum episcopo habentes candelas accensas de proprio et quando _Deposuit_ canitur, accipit cantor puerorum baculum, et tunc in stallo ascendunt pueri, et alii descendunt.’

[1211] Ducange, s. v. _Kalendae_.

[1212] ‘Omnes pueri et subdiaconi feriati, qui in numero dictorum Innocentium computantur.’

[1213] ‘Ipsa autem die de mane equitare habet idem episcopus Innocentium ad monasteria SS. Mansueti et Apri per civitatem transeundo in comitiva suorum aequalium, quibus etiam maiores et digniores personae dignitatum comitantur per se vel suos servitores et equos, et descendentes ad fores ecclesiarum praedictarum intonat unam antiphonam et dicit episcopus orationem, sibique debentur a quolibet monasteriorum eorundem xviij den. Tullenses, qui si illico non solvantur, possunt accipere libros vel vadia.’

[1214] ‘Cantatis eiusdem diei vesperis, episcopus ipse cum mimis et tubis procedit per civitatem cum sua comitiva, via qua fiunt generales processiones.’

[1215] ‘In crastino Innocentium, quo omnes vadunt per civitatem post prandium, faciebus opertis, in diversis habitibus, et si quae farsae practicari valeant, tempore tamen sicco, fiunt in aliquibus locis civitatis, omnia cum honestate.’ Another passage, referring more generally to the feast, has ‘Fiunt ibi moralitates vel simulacra miraculorum cum farsis et similibus ioculis, semper tamen honestis.’

[1216] ‘In octavis Innocentium rursus vadit episcopus cum omni comitiva sua in habitibus suis ad ecclesiam B. Genovefae, ubi cantata antiphona de ipsa virgine cum collecta, itur ad domum parochialem eius ecclesiae vel alibi, ubi magister et fratres domus Dei, quibus ipsa ecclesia est unita, paraverint focapam unam, poma, nuces, &c. ad merendam oportuna; et ibi instituuntur officiarii ad marencias super defectibus aut excessibus in officio divino per totum annum commissis.’

[1217] ‘Fit ... assignatio post coenam diei Innocentium; ita quod is qui illa die festum peregit, gratias refert episcopo et toti comitivae, ac excusari petit, si in aliquo defecit; et finaliter pileum romarini vel alterius confectionis floreum exhibet ipsi episcopo, ut tradat canonico in receptione sequenti constituto ad futurum annum ipsum festum agendum.’ Cf. the bouquets at the ‘defructus’ (p. 324).

[1218] ‘Si autem facere contemneret adveniente festo, suspenderetur cappa nigra in raustro medio chori, et tamdiu ibi maneret in illius vituperium, quamdiu placeret subdiaconis feriatis et pueris chori; et in ea re non tenerentur nobis capitulo obedire.’

[1219] Amiens: Rigollot, 13 and passim; cf. p. 339.

[1220] St. Quentin: Rigollot, 32; Grenier, 360.

[1221] Senlis: Rigollot, 26; Grenier, 360.

[1222] Soissons: Matton, _Archives de Soissons_, 75.

[1223] Roye: Rigollot, 33; Grenier, 359.

[1224] Peronne: Rigollot, 34; Grenier, 359, 413.

[1225] Rheims: Rigollot, 50; Petit de Julleville, _Rép. Com._ 348; Marlot, _Hist. de Rheims_, ii. 266. In 1479 the chapter undertook the expense, ‘modo fiat sine larvis et strepitu tubicinis, ac sine equitatione per villam.’ Martene, iii. 40, says that there is no trace of any of the _triduum_ ceremonies in the early thirteenth-century Rheims _Ordinarium_.

[1226] Brussels: Laborde, _Ducs de Bourgogne_, ii. 2. 286 ‘[1378] Item xxi decembris episcopo scholarium sanctae Gudilae profecto Sancti Nycolay quod scholares annuatim faciunt 1¹⁄₂ mut[ones].’

[1227] Lille: E. Hautcœur, _Hist. de Saint-Pierre de Lille_, ii. 217, 223. On June 29, 1501, Guillemot de Lespine ‘trépassa évêque des Innocens.’ His epitaph is in the cloister gallery (Hautcœur, _Doc. liturg. de S. P. de Lille_, 342).

[1228] Liège: Rigollot, 42; Dürr, 82. A statute of 1330 laid the expense on the last admitted canon ‘nisi canonicus scholaris sub virga existens ipsum exemerit.’

[1229] Laon: Rigollot, 21; Grenier, 356, 413; C. Hidé, _Bull. de la Soc. acad. de Laon_, xiii. 122; E. Fleury, _Cinquante Ans de Laon_, 52. A chapter act of 1546 states that the custom of playing a comedy at the election of the Boy Bishop on St. Eloi’s day (Dec. 1) has ceased. The Mass is not to be disturbed, but ‘si les escoliers veulent faire un petit discours, il seroit entendu avec plaisir.’

[1230] Troyes: T. Boutiot, _Hist. de Troyes_, iii. 20.

[1231] Mans: Gasté, 43; Julleville, _Les Com._ 38.

[1232] Bourges: Martene, iii. 40.

[1233] Châlons-sur-Saône: Du Tilliot, 20; C. Perry, _Hist. de Châlons_ (1659), 435.

[1234] Grenoble: Pilot de Thorey, _Usages, Fêtes et Coutumes en Dauphiné_, i. 181.

[1235] _C. of Cognac_ (1260), c. 2 (Mansi, xxiii. 1033) ‘cum in balleatione quae in festo SS. Innocentium in quibusdam Ecclesiis fieri inolevit, multae rixae, contentiones et turbationes, tam in divinis officiis quam aliis consueverint provenire, praedictas balleationes ulterius sub intimatione anathematis fieri prohibemus; nec non et Episcopos in praedicto festo creari; cum hoc in ecclesia Dei ridiculum existat, et hoc dignitatis episcopalis ludibrio fiat.’ _C. of Salzburg_ (1274), c. 17 (Labbé, xi. 1004) ‘ludi noxii quos vulgaris elocutio Eptus puor. appellat’; _CC. of Chartres_ (1526 and 1575; Bochellus, _Decr. Eccl. Gall._ iv. 7. 46; Du Tilliot, 66) ‘stultum aut ridiculum in ecclesia’ on days of SS. Nicholas and Catharine, and the Innocents; _C. of Toledo_ (1565), ii. 21 (Labbé, xv. 764) ‘ficta illa et puerilis episcopatus electio’; _C. of Rouen_ (1581; Hardouin, _Concilia_, x. 1217) ‘in festivitate SS. Innocentium theatralia.’

[1236] There are traces of it in the eighteenth century at Lyons (Martene, iii. 40) and Rheims (Barthélemy, v. 334); at Sens, in the nineteenth, the choir-boys still play at being bishops on Innocents’ day, and name the ‘archbishop’ _âne_ (Chérest, 81).

[1237] Grenier, 358, quoting Le Vasseur, _Epistolae_, Cent. ii. Epist. 68; cf. on the Noyon feast, Leach, 135; Du Tilliot, 17; Rigollot, 27; L. Mazière, _Noyon religieux_, in _Comptes-Rendus et Mémoires_, xi. 91, of _The Comité arch. et hist. de Noyon_. Le Vasseur, an ex-Rector of the University of Paris, writes to François Geuffrin ‘ecce ludunt etiam ante ipsas aras; internecionem detestamur, execramur carnificem. Ludunt et placet iste ludus ecclesiae.... Tam grandis est natu ritus iste, quem viguisse deprehendo iam ante quadringentos annos in hac aede, magno totius orbis ordinum et aetatum plausu fructuque.... O miserum saeculum! ... solo gestu externoque habitu spectabiles, sola barba et pallio philosophi, caetera pecudes!’

[1238] _Chronicon Montis Sereni_ in Pertz, _Scriptores_, xxiii. 144.

[1239] _Monum. Boic._ xiii. 214, quoted by Specht, 228 ‘in festo nativitatis Dominicae annuatim sibi ludendo constituentes episcopum.’

[1240] Vitus Arnpekius, _Chron. Baioariorum_, v. 53, cited by Martene, iii. 40.

[1241] Specht, 228.

[1242] Ibid. 225; Creizenach, i. 391; both quoting E. Meyer, _Gesch. des hamburgischen Schul-und Unterrichtswesens im Mittelalter_, 197 ‘praeterea scholares nunquam, sive in electione sive extra, aliquos rhythmos faciant, tam in latino, quam in teutonico, qui famam alicuius valeant maculare.’ In the thirteenth century a child-abbot was chosen in Hamburg on St. Andrew’s day (Nov. 30). On St. Nicholas’ day (Dec. 6) he gave way to a child-bishop, who remained in office until Dec. 28 (Tille, _D. W._ 31, citing Beneke, _Hamburgische Geschichte und Sagen_, 90).

[1243] Specht, 229.

[1244] Ibid. 228.

[1245] Cf. p. 319.

[1246] Tille, _D. W._ 31.

[1247] Ibid. 299.

[1248] Dürr, 67, quoting a _Ritual_ of the cathedral (‘tempore Alberti’).

[1249] It began:

‘Iam tuum festum Nicolae dives more solemni recolit iuventus, nec tibi dignus, sacerdotum Caesar, promere laudes.’

[1250] Tille, _D. W._ 31, citing Nork, _Festkalender_, 783. Dürr’s tract was published at Mainz in 1755.

[1251] Wetzer und Welte, s. v. _Feste_ ‘consuetudo seu potius detestabilis corruptela, qua pueri a die S. Nicolai usque ad festum SS. Innocentium personatum Episcopum colunt ... ea puerilibus levitatibus et ineptiis plena coeperit esse multumque gravitatis et decoris divinis detrahat officiis ... ne clerus se pueris die SS. Inn. submittat ac eorum locum occupet, aut illis functiones aliquas in divinis officiis permittat, neque praesentes aliquis Episcopus benedictiones faciat, aliique pueri in cantandis horariis precibus lectionibus et collectis Sacerdotum, Diaconorum aut Subdiaconorum officia quaedam usurpent; multo minus convenit ut Canonici aut Vicarii ex collegarum suorum numero aliquem designent Episcopum qui reliquos omnes magnis impendiis liberali convivio excipiat.’

[1252] W. H. R. Jones, _Vetus Registr. Sarisb._ (R. S.), ii. 128; Wordsworth, _Proc._ 170 ‘Item, annulus unus aureus ad Festum Puerorum.’

[1253] _Constitutiones_, § 45 (Jones and Dayman, _Sarum Statutes_, 75; cf. Jones, _Fasti_, 295) ‘Electus puer chorista in episcopum modo solito puerili officium in ecclesia, prout fieri consuevit, licenter exequatur, convivium aliquod de caetero, vel visitationem exterius seu interius nullatenus faciendo, sed in domo communi cum sociis conversetur, nisi cum ut choristam ad domum canonici causa solatii ad mensam contigerit evocari, ecclesiam et scholas cum caeteris choristis statim post festum Innocentium frequentando. Et quia in processione quam ad altare Sanctae Trinitatis faciunt annuatim pueri supradicti per concurrentium pressuras et alias dissolutiones multiplices nonnulla damna personis et ecclesiae gravia intelleximus priscis temporibus pervenisse, ex parte Dei omnipotentis et sub poena maioris excommunicationis, quam contravenientes utpote libertates dictae ecclesiae nostrae infringentes et illius pacem et quietem temerarie perturbantes declaramus incurrere ipso facto, inhibemus ne quis pueros illos in praefata processione vel alias in suo ministerio premat vel impediat quoquomodo, quominus pacifice valeant facere et exequi quod illis imminet faciendum; sed qui eidem processioni devotionis causa voluerint interesse, ita modo maturo se habeant et honeste sicut et in aliis processionibus dictae ecclesiae se habent qui ad honorem Dei frequentant quando que ecclesiam supradictam.’

[1254] Appendix M.

[1255] Jones, _Fasti_, 299.

[1256] Wordsworth, _Proc._ 259. The _oblationes_ vary from lvi_s._ viii_d._ in 1448 to as much as lxxxix_s._ xi_d._ in 1456.

[1257] Jones, _Fasti_, 300; Rimbault, xxviii; Planché, in _Journal of Brit. Archaeol. Assoc._ xv. 123. Gregory, 93, gives a cut of the statue.

[1258] _Ordinale secundum Usum Exon._ (ed. H. E. Reynolds), f. 30.

[1259] _Archaeologia_, l. 446, 472 sqq. (_Invent._ of 1245) ‘mitra alia alba addubbata aurifrigio, plana est; quam dedit J. Belemains episcopo innocentum.... Mitra episcopi innocentum, nullius precii.... Capa et mantella puerorum ad festum Innocentum et Stultorum [cf. p. 323] sunt xxviij debiles et contritae.’ In 1402 there were two little staves for the Boy Bishop (Simpson, _St. Paul’s Cathedral and Old City Life_, 40).

[1260] _Statutes_, bk. i, pars vi. c. 9, _De officio puerorum in festo Sanctorum Innocencium_ (W. S. Simpson, _Registrum Statutorum et Consuetudinum Ecclesiae Cathedralis Sancti Pauli Londinensis_, 91).

[1261] ‘Memorandum, quod Anno Domini Millesimo cc lxiij. tempore G. de fferring, Decani, ordinatum fuit de officio Puerorum die Sanctorum Innocencium, prout sequitur. Provida fuit ab antiquis patribus predecessoribus nostris deliberacione statutum, ut in sollennitate Sanctorum Innocencium, qui pro Innocente Christo sanguinem suum fuderunt, innocens puer Presulatus officio fungeretur, ut sic puer pueris preesset, et innocens innocentibus imperaret, illius tipum tenens in Ecclesia, quem sequuntur iuvenes, quocumque ierit. Cum igitur quod ad laudem lactencium fuit adinventum, conversum sit in dedecus, et in derisum decoris Domus Dei, propter insolenciam effrenatae multitudinis subsequentis eundem, et affluentis improborum turbae pacem Praesulis exturbantis, statuendum duximus ut praedicti pueri, tam in eligendo suo Pontifice et personis dignitatum Decani, Archidiaconorum, et aliorum, necnon et Stacionariorum, antiquum suum ritum observent, tabulam suam faciant, et legant in Capitulo. Hoc tamen adhibito moderamine, ut nullum decetero de Canonicis Maioribus vel Minoribus ad candelabra, vel turribulum, vel ad aliqua obsequia eiusdem Ecclesiae, vel ipsius Pontificis deputent in futurum, set suos eligant ministeriales de illis qui sunt in secunda forma vel in tercia. Processionem suam habeant honestam, tam in incessu, quam habitu et cantu, competenti; ita vero se gerant in omnibus in Ecclesia, quod clerus et populus illos habeant recommendatos.’

[1262] ‘Die vero solemnitatis post prandium ad mandatum personae Decani convenient omnes in atrio Ecclesiae, ibidem equos ascendant ituri ad populum benedicendum. Tenetur autem Decanus Presuli presentare equum, et quilibet Stacionarius sua personae in equo providere.’

[1263] _Statutes_, bk. i, pars vii. c. 6 (Simpson, _op. cit._ 129), a statute made in the time of Dean Ralph de Diceto (1181-†1204) ‘Debet eciam novus Residenciarius post cenam die Sanctorum Innocencium ducere puerum suum cum daunsa et chorea et torchiis ad Elemosinariam, et ibi cum torticiis potum et species singulis ministrare, et liberatam vini cervisiae et specierum et candellarum facere, et ibidem ministri sui expectare, quousque alius puer Canonici senioris veniat. Et secundam cenam in octavis Innocencium tenebit, Episcopum cum pueris et eorum comitiva pascendo, et in recessu dona dando, et, si diu expectat adventum illorum nocte illa, ad matutinos non teneatur venire.’

[1264] Rimbault, xxxii.

[1265] Printed in Rimbault, 1. Duff, _Handlists_, ii. 5, notes also a _Sermo pro episcopo puerorum_ by J. Alcock, printed in the fifteenth century by R. Pynson.

[1266] _Concio de puero Iesu pronunciata a puero in nova schola Iohannis Coleti per eum instituta Londini in qua praesidet imago Pueri Iesu docentis specie_ (Erasmi _Opera_ (1704), v. 599). The English version was printed by W. Redman (Lupton, _Life of Colet_, 176). It is not clear that this _Concio_ was preached by a boy bishop, for Colet’s school (cf. next note) attended the ‘bishop’ of St. Paul’s song-school.

[1267] Lupton, _op. cit._ 175 ‘Alle these Chyldren shall every Chyldremasse day come to paulis Church and here the Chylde Bisshoppis sermon, and after be at the hye masse, and eche of them offre a 1^d. to the Childe Bisshopp; and with theme the Maisters and surveyours of the scole.’

[1268] _Lincoln Statutes_, ii. 98 ‘Inveniet [thesaurarius] Stellas cum omnibus ad illas pertinentibus, preter cirpos, quos inveniet Episcopus Puerorum futurorum [?fatuorum], vnam in nocte Natalis Domini pro pastoribus et ·ij^{as} in nocte Epiphanie, si debeat fieri presentacio ·iij^{um} regum.’

[1269] Warton, iv. 224 ‘Ioannes de Quixly confirmatur Episcopus Puerorum, et Capitulum ordinavit, quod electio Episcopi Puerorum in ecclesia Eboracensi de cetero fieret de eo, qui diutius et magis in dicta ecclesia laboraverit, et magis idoneus repertus fuerit, dum tamen competenter sit corpore formosus, et quod aliter facta electio non valebit.’

[1270] Warton, iv. 237 ‘nisi habuerit claram vocem puerilem.’

[1271] Warton, iv. 224.

[1272] Appendix M. Cf. Rimbault, xi, for further elucidations of the _Computus_.

[1273] Percy, _North. H. B._ 340.

[1274] _York Missal_, i. 23. The rubric at the beginning of Mass is ‘Omnibus pueris in Capis, Praecentor illorum incipiat.’ There are some responds for the ‘Praecentor’ and the ‘turba puerorum.’ After the Kyrie, ‘omnibus pueris in medio Chori stantibus et ibi omnia cantantibus, Episcopo eorum interim in cathedra sedente; et si Dominica fuerit, dicitur ab Episcopo stante in cathedra _Gloria in excelsis Deo_: aliter non.’ The _Sequentia_ for the day is

‘Celsa pueri concrepent melodia, eia, Innocentum colentes tripudia, &c.’

[1275] Rimbault, xvi. The dates are between 1416 and 1537.

[1276] Raine, _Fabric Rolls of York Minster_ (Surtees Soc.), 213 sqq. (†1500, the additions in brackets being †1510) ‘una mitra parva cum petris pro episcopo puerorum ... [unus annulus pro episcopo puerorum et duo owchys, unus in medio ad modum crucis cum lapidibus in circumferenciis cum alio parvo cum uno lapide in medio vocato turchas].... Capae Rubiae.... Una capa de tyssue pro Episcopo puerili ... [duae capae veteres olim pro Episcopo puerorum].’ Leach, 132, says ‘At York, in 1321, the Master of the Works gave “a gold ring with a great stone for the Bishop of the Innocents.” In 1491 the Boy Bishop’s pontifical was mended with silver-gilt.’

[1277] _Lincoln Statutes_, i. 290 (_Black Book_, †1300); ii. ccxxxi.

[1278] _Archaeologia_, liii. 25, 50; _Monasticon_, viii. 1282 ‘Item, a coope of Rede velvett w^t Rolles & clowdes ordenyd for the barne busshop w^t this scriptur “the hye wey ys best”.’ The entry is repeated in a later inventory of 1548.

[1279] Hereford, _Consuetudines_ of thirteenth century (_Lincoln Statutes_, ii. 67) ‘Thesaurarius debet invenire ... in festo Innocencium pueris candelas et ·ij^{os} cereos coram parvo Episcopo.’

[1280] Lichfield--J. C. Cox, _Sports in Churches_, in W. Andrews, _Curious Church Customs_, 3, quoting inventories of 1345 and of the fifteenth century. The latter uses the term ‘Nicholas Bishop.’

[1281] Gloucester--Rimbault, 14, prints from _Cotton MSS. Vesp._ A. xxv, f. 173, a _Sermon of the Child Bishop, Pronownysed by John Stubs, Querester, on Childermas Day, at Gloceter_, 1558.

[1282] Norwich--a fourteenth-century antiphonal of Sarum Use, probably of Norwich _provenance_ (_Lansd. MS._ 463, f. 16^v), provides for the giving of the _baculus_ to the _Episcopus Puerorum_ at Vespers on St. John’s Day.

[1283] Beverley--the fifth earl of Northumberland about 1522 gave xx_s._ at Christmas to the ‘Barne Bishop’ of Beverley, as well as to him of York (Percy, _North. H. B._ 340); cf. p. 357.

[1284] Wordsworth, _Proc._ 52; cf. Appendix M (1).

[1285] Ottery--_Statutes_ of Bishop Grandisson (1337), quoted by Warton, ii. 229 ‘Item statuimus, quod nullus canonicus, vicarius, vel secundarius, pueros choristas in festo sanctorum Innocentium extra parochiam de Otery trahant, aut eis licentiam vagandi concedant.’

[1286] Magdalen--see Appendix E.

[1287] All Souls--An inventory has ‘j chem. j cap et mitra pro Episcopo Nicholao’ (Rock, iii. 2. 217).

[1288] In 1299 Edward I heard vespers said ‘de Sancto Nicholao ... in Capella sua apud Heton iuxta Novum Castrum super Tynam’ (_Wardrobe Account_, ed. Soc. of Antiq., 25). In 1306 a Boy Bishop officiated before Edward II on St. Nicholas’ Day in the king’s chapel at Scroby (_Wardrobe Account_ in _Archaeologia_, xxvi. 342). In 1339 Edward III gave a gift ‘Episcopo puerorum ecclesiae de Andeworp cantanti coram domino rege in camera sua in festo sanctorum Innocentium’ (Warton, ii. 229). There was a yearly payment of £1 to the Boy Bishop at St. Stephen’s, Westminster, in 1382 (Devon, _Issues of Exchequer_, 222), and about 1528-32 (Brewer, iv. 1939).

[1289] The fifth earl of Northumberland (†1512) was wont to ‘gyfe yerly upon Saynt Nicolas-Even if he kepe Chapell for Saynt Nicolas to the Master of his Childeren of his Chapell for one of the Childeren of his Chapell yerely vj^{s.} viij^{d.} And if Saynt Nicolas com owt of the Towne wher my Lord lyeth and my Lord kepe no Chapell than to have yerely iij^{s.} iiij^{d.}’ (Percy, _North. H. B._ 343). An elaborate _Contenta de Ornamentis Ep., puer._, of uncertain _provenance_, is printed by Percy, _op. cit._ 439.

[1290] St. Mary at Hill (Brand, i. 233); St. Mary de Prees (_Monasticon_, iii. 360); St. Peter Cheap (Journal of _Brit. Arch. Ass._ xxiv. 156); Hospital of St. Katharine by the Tower (_Reliquary_, iv. 153); Lambeth (Lysons, _Environs of London_, i. 310); cf. p. 367.

[1291] Louth (E. Hewlett, _Boy Bishops_, in W. Andrews, _Curious Church Gleanings_, 241)--the payments for the Chyld Bishop include some for ‘making his See’ (_sedes_); Nottingham (_Archaeologia_, xxvi. 342); Sandwich (Boys, _Hist. of S._ 376); New Romney (_Hist. MSS._ v. 517-28), Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Somersetshire (J. C. Cox, _Sports in Churches_, in W. Andrews, _Curious Church Customs_); Bristol--L. T. Smith, _Ricart’s Kalendar_, 80 (1479-1506, Camden Soc.). On Nov. 24, the Mayor, Sheriff, and ‘worshipfull men’ are to ‘receyue at theire dores Seynt Kateryn’s pleyers, making them to drynk at their dores and rewardyng theym for theire playes.’ On Dec. 5 they are ‘to walke to Seynt Nicholas churche, there to hire theire even-song: and on the morowe to hire theire masse, and offre, and hire the bishop’s sermon, and have his blissyng.’ After dinner they are to play dice at the mayor’s counter, ‘and when the Bishope is come thedir, his chapell there to synge, and the bishope to geve them his blissyng, and then he and all his chapell to be serued there with brede and wyne.’ And so to even-song in St. Nicholas’ church.

[1292] _L. T. Accounts_, i. ccxlvi record annual payments by James IV (†1473-98) to Boy Bishops from Holyrood Abbey and St. Giles’s, Edinburgh.

[1293] Wilkins, ii. 38 ‘Puerilia autem solemnia, quae in festo solent fieri Innocentum post vesperas S. Iohannis, tantum inchoari permittimus, et in crastino in ipsa die Innocentum totaliter terminentur.’

[1294] _Archaeologia_, lii. 221 sqq.

[1295] _Transactions_ of _London and Middlesex Arch. Soc._ vols. iv, v.

[1296] _Athenæum_ (1900), ii. 655, 692 ‘data Pueris de Elemosinaria ludentibus coram Domino apud Westmonasterium, iij^{s.} iiij^{d.}’ Dr. E. J. L. Scott and Dr. Rutherford found in this entry a proof of the existence of the Westminster Latin play at ‘a period anterior to the foundation of Eton’!

[1297] Rimbault, xviii; _Finchale Priory_ (Surtees Soc.), ccccxxviii; _Durham Accounts_ (Surtees Soc.), iii. xliii, and passim.

[1298] _Hist. MSS._ xiv. 8. 124, 157.

[1299] _Computi_ of Cellarer (Warton, ii. 232, iii. 300) ‘1397, pro epulis Pueri celebrantis in festo S. Nicholai ... 1490, in larvis et aliis indumentis Puerorum visentium Dominum apud Wulsey, et Constabularium Castri Winton, in apparatu suo, necnon subintrantium omnia monasteria civitatis Winton, in festo sancti Nicholai.’

[1300] G. W. Kitchin, _Computus Rolls of St. Swithin’s_ (_Hampshire Rec. Soc._), passim; G. W. Kitchin and F. T. Madge, _Winchester Chapter Documents_ (_H. R. Soc._), 24.

[1301] Warton, ii. 231 ‘1441, pro pueris Eleemosynariae una cum pueris Capellae sanctae Elizabethae, ornatis more puellarum, et saltantibus, cantantibus, et ludentibus, coram domina Abbatissa et monialibus Abbathiae beatae Mariae virginis, in aula ibidem in die sanctorum Innocentium.’

[1302] Harpsfield, _Hist. Eccl. Angl._ (1622), 441, citing Peckham’s _Register_. He says the mandate was in French.

[1303] _Visitations of Diocese of Norwich_ (Camden Soc.), 209 ‘Domina Iohanna Botulphe dicit ... quod ... habent in festo Natalis Domini iuniorem monialem in abbatissam assumptam, vocandi [? iocandi] gratia; cuius occasione ipsa consumere et dissipare cogitur quae vel elemosina vel aliorum amicorum largitione acquisierit ... Iniunctum est ... quod de cetero non observetur assumptio abbatissae vocandi causa.’

[1304] Gregory of Tours, x. 16 (_M. G. H. Script. Rerum Meroving._ i. 427), mentions among the complaints laid before the visitors of the convent of St. Radegund in Poitou, that the abbess ‘vittam de auro exornatam idem neptae suae superflue fecerit, barbaturias intus eo quod celebraverit.’ Ducange, s. v. _Barbatoriae_, finds here a reference to some kind of masquing, and Peter of Blois, _Epist._ 14, certainly uses _barbatores_ as a synonym for _mimi_. The M. G. H. editors of Gregory, however, explain ‘_barbatoria_’ as ‘_primam barbam ponere_’ the sense borne by the term in Petronius, _Sat._ lxxiii. 6. The abbess’s niece had probably no beard, but may not the reference be to the cutting of the hair of a novice when she takes the vows?

[1305] Ducange, s. v. _Kalendae_ (‘de monialibus Villae-Arcelli’), ‘Item inhibemus ne de caetero in festis Innocentum et B. M. Magdalenae ludibria exerceatis consueta, induendo vos scilicet vestibus saecularium aut inter vos seu cum secularibus choreas ducendo’; and again ‘in festo S. Iohannis et Innocentium mimia iocositate et scurrilibus cantibus utebantur, ut pote farsis, conductis, motulis; praecepimus quod honestius et cum maiori devotione alias se haberent’; Gasté, 36 (on Caen) ‘iuniores in festo Innocentium cantant lectiones suas cum farsis. Hoc inhibuimus.’ In 1423, the real abbess gave place to the little abbess at the _Deposuit_. Gasté, 44, describes a survival of the election of an ‘abbess’ from amongst the _pensionnaires_ on the days of St. Catherine and the Innocents in the Abbaye aux Bois, Faubourg St. Germain, from the _Mémoires_ of Hélène Massalska. This was about 1773.

[1306] Howlett, _Monumenta Franciscana_ (R. S.), ii. 93 ‘Caveant fratres in festo Sancti Nicolai seu Innocentium, vel quibuscunque aliis festis vestes extraneas religiosas seu seculares aut clericales vel muliebres sub specie devotionis induere; nec habitus fratrum secularibus pro ludis faciendis accommodentur sub poena amotionis confusibilis de conventu.’

[1307] Denifle, i. 532. It was forbidden ‘in eisdem festis vel aliis paramenta nec coreas duci in vico de die nec de nocte cum torticiis vel sine.’ But it was on Innocents’ Day that the _béjaunes_ or ‘freshmen’ of the Sorbonne were subjected to rites bearing a close analogy to the feast of fools; cf. Rigollot, 172 ‘1476 ... condemnatus fuit in crastino Innocentium capellanus abbas beiannorum ad octo solidos parisienses, eo quod non explevisset officium suum die Innocentium post prandium, in mundationem beiannorum per aspersionem aquae ut moris est, quanquam solemniter incoepisset exercere suum officium ante prandium inducendo beiannos per vicum super asinum.’

[1308] Denifle, iii. 166.

[1309] ‘Verbis nedum gallicis sed eciam latinis, ut ipsi qui de partibus alienis oriundi linguam gallicam nequaquam intelligebant plenarie.’

[1310] S. F. Hulton, _Rixae Oxonienses_, 68. There had been many earlier brawls.

[1311] _Statute_ xxix (T. F. Kirby, _Annals of Winchester College_, 503) ‘Permittimus tamen quod in festo Innocencium pueri vesperas matutinas et alia divina officia legenda et cantanda dicere et exsequi valeant secundum usum et consuetudinem ecclesiae Sarum.’ The same formula is used in _New College Statute_ xlii (_Statutes of the Colleges of Oxford_, vol. i).

[1312] Cf. Appendix E. Kirby, _op. cit._ 90, quotes an inventory of 1406 ‘Baculus pastoralis de cupro deaurato pro Epõ puerorum in die Innocencium ... Mitra de panno aureo ex dono Dñi. Fundatoris hernesiat (mounted) cum argento deaurato ex dono unius socii coll. [Robert Heete] pro Epõ puerorum.’

[1313] _The Charter of King’s College_ (1443), c. 42 (_Documents relating to the Univ. of Camb._ ii. 569; Heywood and Wright, _Ancient Laws of the Fifteenth Century for King’s Coll. Camb. and Eton Coll._ 112), closely follows Wykeham’s formula: ‘excepto festo S^{ti} Nicholai praedicto, in quo festo et nullatenus in festo Innocentium, permittimus quod pueri ... secundum usum in dicto Regali Collegio hactenus usitatum.’ The Eton formula (c. 31) in 1444 is slightly different (Heywood and Wright _op. cit._ 560) ‘excepto in festo Sancti Nicholai, in quo, et nullatenus in festo Sanctorum Innocentium, divina officia praeter missae secreta exequi et dici permittimus per episcopum puerorum scholarium, ad hoc de eisdem annis singulis eligendum.’

[1314] Warton, ii. 228; Leach, 133. The passage from the _Consuetudinarium_ is given from _Harl. MS._ 7044 f. 167 (apparently a transcript from a _C. C. C. C. MS._) by Heywood and Wright, _op. cit._ 632; E. S. Creasy, _Eminent Etonians_, 91 ‘in die S^{ti} Hugonis pontificis solebat Aetonae fieri electio Episcopi Nihilensis, sed consuetudo obsolevit. Olim episcopus ille puerorum habebatur nobilis, in cuius electione et literata et laudatissima exercitatio, ad ingeniorum vires et motus excitandos, Aetonae celebris erat.’

[1315] _Eton Audit Book_, 1507-8, quoted by H. C. Maxwell-Lyte, _Hist. of Eton_ (ed. 1899), 149 ‘Pro reparatione le rochet pro episcopo puerorum, xj^{d.}’ An inventory of Henry VIII’s reign says that this rochet was given by James Denton (K. S. 1486) for use at St. Nicholas’ time.

[1316] Maxwell-Lyte, _op. cit._ 450.

[1317] Hearne, _Liber Niger Scaccarii_, 674 ‘Item, unam Mitram de Cloth of goold habentem 2 knoppes arḡ. enameld, dat. ad occupand. per Barnebishop.’

[1318] John Stone, a monk of Canterbury, records in his _De Obitibus et aliis Memorabilibus sui Coenobii_ (_MS. C. C. C. C._, Q. 8, quoted Warton, ii. 230) ‘Hoc anno, 1464, in festo Sancti Nicolai non erat episcopus puerorum in schola grammatica in civitate Cantuariae ex defectu Magistrorum, viz. I. Sidney et T. Hikson.’

[1319] J. Stuart, _Extracts from Council Registers of Aberdeen_ (Spalding Club), i. 186. The council ordered on Nov. 27, 1542, ‘that the maister of thair grammar scuyll sell haf iiij^s Scottis, of the sobirest persoun that resauis him and the bischop at Sanct Nicolace day.’ This is to be held a legal fee, ‘he hes na uder fee to leif on.’

[1320] Wilkins, _Concilia_, iii. 860 ‘And whereas heretofore dyverse and many superstitious and childysshe observations have been usid, and yet to this day are observed and kept in many and sondry parties of this realm, as upon sainte Nicolas, sainte Catheryne, sainte Clement, the holye Innocentes, and such like; children be strangelye decked and apparelid to counterfaite priestes, bysshopps, and women; and so ledde with songes and daunces from house to house, bleasing the people, and gatherynge of monye; and boyes doo singe masse, and preache in the pulpitt, with suche other unfittinge and inconvenyent usages, rather to the derision than to any true glory of God, or honour of his saints; the kyng’s majestie therefore mynding nothing so moche, as to avaunce the true glorye of God without vayne superstition, willith and commaundeth, that from henceforth all suche superstitions be loste and clyerlye extinguisshed throughowte all this his realmes and dominions, forasmoche as the same doo resemble rather the unlawfull superstition of gentilitie, than the pure and sincere religion of Christe.’ Brand,