Elf.Ed. Note: Click on the footnote number or “Notes” and it will take you down to that note, click on that footnote number and you will jump up to where you were in the text.
From Legends and Satires From Mediæval Literature, edited by Martha Hale Shackford; Ginn and Company; Boston; 1913; pp. 117-122.
It is forbidden a clerk in orders to perform or to see miracle plays, for they are sinful gatherings and sights. He may, in church, play the resurrection, showing how God rose, and thus make men believe faithfully that Christ rose in flesh and blood, and he may play without harm the part showing how God was born in Yule night, and thus teach men to believe steadfastly that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary. If he plays parts in the streets or in groves, it seems truly a sinful sight. Saint Isidore bears witness to this, for he says, ãThese men forsake what they accepted, — God and Christianity, when they take part in such things as miracle plays or in games or tournaments of great price.ä These are pomps that thou didst forsake when thou didst accept Christianity. At the font the ignorant man says, ãI forsake thee, here, Satan, and all thy pomps and thy works.ä This is the instruction thou hast had as a clerk. Hast thou kept thy promise when thou dost take part in such performances? Thou hast broken thy covenant with God, and dost serve thy sire, Termagant. Saint Isidore says in his writings, ãAll those who delight in seeing such things, or who lend horse or harness for them, are perilously guilty.ä If a priest or a clerk lends a vestment which has been hallowed by the sacrament, he, more than others, is to be blamed, for he 120 shall have the infamy which attends sacrilege, and shall be chastised as is right.
Dances, carols, and summer games bring shame in many ways; when thou dost plan to take part in these thou art slothful in Godâs service, and shalt be punished for thy sin.
What say you of minstrels, all of whom delight in such things? Their deeds are full of peril, and dear neither to God nor to Godâs house. They would rather hear of a dance or of deeds of boasting and of pride than any good of God in heaven, or other wisdom that may be named. In folly is spent all that they get, — on their dress, their drink, and their meat. And because of such things, I shall tell you what once befell a minstrel. Saint Gregory tells this story:
A minstrel, a goliardys,2 came once to a bishopâs house, and asked for charity. The porter let him enter. At meal time the board was laid; and when the benison should have been said, this minstrel made melody with music loud and high. By report, the bishop was a holy man. He sat down at the table, and should have blessed the food, with a word, but he was so disturbed by the noise of the minstrelsy that he did not say grace, as he usually did, very devoutly.
The bishop complained sorely, and said to all those who were there that he would not put the benison above the grace of charity. He saw well, in spirit, that vengeance was approaching speedily, and said, ãGiven him his alms, and let him go. Death approaches, which will slay him.ä The minstrel received charity, and then departed, and as 121 he passed out of the gate, a stone fell down from the wall, and slew him there. That betokened that God was not pleased with what the minstrel did, when he disturbed the devotion of the good man.
This is told for the sake of gleemen, so that they will take some heed as to where it is proper to make music, and also for the sake of those who listen, so that they will not love minstrelsy too dearly, nor have for it such affection that they will worship heavenâs King the less.
I shall tell you what I have heard of this bishop, Saint Robert, whose surname is Grossteste of Lincoln. He loved to hear the harp, for it makes the wit of man keen. Next his chamber, beside the study, was his harperâs chamber. Many times, by night and by day, he found solace in notes and lays. Some one asked him why he had such delight in minstrelsy, and he told why he held the harper dear: ãThe virtue of the harp will destroy the fiendâs might, and rightly the harp is likened to the cross. Another thing comforts me, — if God has given to a piece of wood the power to make men hear so much joy, even more joy, there must be where God Himself dwells. The harp often reminds me of the joy and bliss where God is. Therefore, good men, you should learn when you hear gleeman, to worship God with all your might, according as David says in the Psalter, Îin harp, in tabor, and in symphony, worship God; in trumpets and psaltery, in stringed instruments and organs, and in bells ringing, in all these worship heavenâs King.â It you do thus, I say boldly, you may hear your minstrelsy.ä
2 According to G. Paris he played on cymbals and exhibited a monkey.
Homilies in prose and in verse were a common means of instruction. They were usually more popular than mere sermons and sought to hold the attention by the use of copious illustration. The following extract is from ãHandlyng Synneä (Manual of Sins), translated in 1303 by Robert Mannyng of Brunne, from a French original, and edited by Dr. Furnivall, Early English Text Society, No. 119. ãHandlying Synne,ä a collection of homilies, denounces the seven deadly sins, citing many concrete instances of fact and of fable in order to enforce the moral lessons. The translation below interprets lines 4637-4774 (pp. 155-159), where the sin of sloth is under discussion.
For information about minstrelsy the student should consult
CHAMBERS, E. K. The Mediæval Stage, Vol. I, bk. i. Oxford University Press, 1903.
GALPIN, F. W. Old English Instruments of Music. A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 1911.
DUNCAN, E. The Story of Minstrelsy. Charles Scribnerâs Sons, New York, 1907.
CUTTS, E. Scenes and Characters of the Middle Ages. Vertue and Company, London, 1886.