. Parish life in mediaeval England . church. It wasconsequently decided that to raise the necessary cash theyshould sell a piece of silver church plate, which had beenpurchased some years before by the common contributionsof the faithful. The instance furnishes a supreme exampleof the way in which the people of a mediaeval parishregarded the property of Gods house as their own. Parish Clerk, or Holy-water Bearer (Aqucebajularius).—Second only in importance to the churchwardens was theparish clerk, or, as he was frequently called from one ofhis chief duties, the water-bearer. Originally, as the
. Parish life in mediaeval England . church. It wasconsequently decided that to raise the necessary cash theyshould sell a piece of silver church plate, which had beenpurchased some years before by the common contributionsof the faithful. The instance furnishes a supreme exampleof the way in which the people of a mediaeval parishregarded the property of Gods house as their own. Parish Clerk, or Holy-water Bearer (Aqucebajularius).—Second only in importance to the churchwardens was theparish clerk, or, as he was frequently called from one ofhis chief duties, the water-bearer. Originally, as thename clerk implies, he was a cleric, and his office wasconsidered to be a regular ecclesiastical benefice. In thefourteenth century the clerk was married, but one such wasfined for the offence in a visitation in that century in theSalisbury diocese. In process of time, however, owing tothe scarcity of clerics, the office was often held by a marriedlayman. The English law as to this official was laid down in THE PARISH OFFICIALS 11. HOLY WATER CLERK the Constitution of Archbishop Boniface of Savoy, in thethirteenth century. The benefice was, according to this, tobe bestowed upon poor clerks. And as there had beenmany disputes about the bestowalof the office, the archbishop de-creed that henceforward therectors and vicars (of parishchurches), who know better thanparishioners those that are fit forthe office, shall institute suchclerics in these benefices as theyknow in their hearts can and willproperly serve in the Divine offices(of the church) and will obey theirdirections. Upon which lawLyndwood remarks, that it is always the privilege of theEcclesiastical Superior to appoint his inferiors in his ownchurch, and that it is no part of the right of any patron ;which, in this instance, may be taken to include the parishioners,who were supposed to find the salary. In the manuscriptaccounts of the wardens of St. Botulphs, Aldersgate Street,a payment of £4 a year was made to the cl
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