How Religiously Dependent Were Lay People on Clergy in the Fifteenth Century?

How religiously dependent were lay people on clergy in the fifteenth century?

Piety in the fifteenth century took a variety of forms. The clergy, who had always been thought of as the 'channels to communicate the Christian faith and message' was presented with a challenge to maintain lay religious dependency, as new methods of religious observance became increasingly popular. It was not, as may first be expected, that religion was in decline and for this reason the role of the clergy was disputed. Instead, the laity was more concerned with religion and they sought active participation. To name a few, the availability of texts in the vernacular and the rise of literacy levels would lend themselves to the illiterate laity. The fifteenth century attempt to 'realign the boundaries between the material and spiritual' in an attempt to lead a true spiritual life would cast doubt over the clergy's religious role. Needless to say the clergy were vital in some aspects of fifteenth century religious life, namely the sacrament of mass and penance. With supernatural power, it alone could perform mass, and it alone was able to grant absolution and indulgences to the sinful laity

There existed a fundamental part of late medieval Christianity that could only be granted by the clergy, that is, absolution. Essentially, 'late medieval religion...was about saving souls'. The later middle ages paid 'increasing attention to the sacrament of penance'. The system in which a lay person would confess, gain absolution, penance and thus be restored to grace was viewed with 'seriousness'. To grant absolution, was 'the spiritual role of the church' and could not be attained elsewhere. It is apparent then that the laity relied intently on the clergy for this service. Its degree of importance grew steadily into the fifteenth century with increasing scope for the acquisition of indulgences. Indulgences would offer 'sometimes total, sometimes partial remission of punishment due for temporal sins'. If they were given official status in the fourteenth century, it points to an increasing, if not, constant dependency on the clergy in that by the fifteenth century they encompassed a wider audience. In 1476 indulgences were applied to those already in purgatory. The idea that by paying a 'fixed amount', 'plenary remission should avail by intercession for the said souls in purgatory' was appealing. Thus a dependency on the clergy also grew because it alone had the power to lessen suffering for the financier, and now, the financier's family. An indulgence was a 'favour conferred by the church', once again displaying the clerical role in what was considered an essential facet of religious life.

The importance of the clergy in performing mass is vital to consider. The mass was deemed imperative because its celebration 'was integral to the process whereby individuals sought and attained salvation'It was thus a weekly and if not, daily routine. The 'prestige' of the mass implied an 'enormously high doctrine of priesthood'. There was a tendency to 'leave the service more and more to clerks alone'. This clerical superiority must be note. It is widely accepted that the 'evolution of parishes' in the fifteenth century meant the 'laity took responsibility for the fabric and church property'. Yet they still wanted a resident priest. Gild masses were run by the laity, but the clergy were paid to perform the service. When churches were nationalised under kings, princes or lords, the lay ruler still wanted 'churchmen' in charge of the services. It shows that although lay people may have been taking responsibility for the administrative side of church dealings, the religious aspect still remained in the hands of the clergy

This dependence on the clergy to perform the mass was because only the priest was able to speak the words that transformed bread and wine into the flesh and blood of Christ. This is because it was believed the mass was a magical ceremony. There was evidence to support this. For example, when the Yarborough church was destroyed by fire in 1405, the Host was virtually the only thing that was preserved. The medieval church therefore 'acted as a repository of supernatural power which could be dispensed to the faithful'. Without the clergy, lay people would have no means to access the prize of redemption and salvation. Thus the 'virtual spectators', the laity, depended on the 'special power of the priest', which, in their commonness they would never acquire.

The evidence suggests that lay people were religiously dependent on the clergy in regards to the mass. Their involvement should be examined however as it is not as it may that it was purely an observance. Apparent is the view that 'it makes no sense to talk here about an alienated liturgy of the altar'. Altars, nave and Jesus alike were often owned by the laity. They specified times and seasons at which worship surrounding the altar would be conducted. They had increasing input as to what gospels were read, although these had to be agreed by clerical advisors. This was worship in which 'lay people called the shots'. Although it cannot be said that the lay people's dependency on the clergy was eliminated altogether as clerical assistance was needed to perform the service, lay people were certainly more independent regarding the occurrence and content of their worship. Increasingly by the end of the fifteenth century Masses were sustained by the benefactions of the elite. The Jesus Mass of All Saints Bristol was 'effectively the private chantry chapel of Thomas Halleway'. Whether it was financial stability that the wealthy could offer, or merely an accepted principle, the laity assumed a certain degree of independency from the clergy in its worship.

This independence was manifested predominantly in methods of popular participation which did not require the clergy. Van Engen said that the fifteenth century was distinguishable by the laity's 'appropriating for themselves...texts, images, and exercises that had been largely the preserve of privileged clergymen and religious'. In reference to the text Van Engen refers to, religious independency can largely be attributed to the wider availability of literature. To follow the arguments surrounding the bible and religion, it required dealing with books. Amongst a population that was not of mass literacy, these texts would 'retain their validity because it would be hard to challenge their written and authoritative structure'. However, the 'number of schools grew in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries', which meant that literacy levels were