Clerical Discipline – Consistory

Office c. Sir Richard Wodehous and Agnes Wilson [?]

In July 1487 a widow, Agnes Wilson, of Staines, Middlesex, or somewhere nearby, was examined regarding allegations that she and the local vicar, Sir Richard Wodehous, were engaging in a sexual relationship. [Note that “Sir” was the honorific title used for priests as well as for knights, similar to “Father” or “Reverend” today.] This isContinue reading “Office c. Sir Richard Wodehous and Agnes Wilson [?]“

Sir John Hode c. Master John Row

Here we see an altercation between priests over a breviary, a book containing the “divine office” for each day, which priests used to conduct church services. The Consistory paid special attention to allegations of violence against priests – even in a case such as this one where the accused assailant was a priest, too. TheContinue reading “Sir John Hode c. Master John Row“

Sir John Lyall c. Sir Thomas Kyrkeham

This is a case about the complex arrangements regarding the incomes for the support of parish clergy, known as benefices. Benefices were, on the one hand, pieces of property that ecclesiastical authorities, lay institutions such as guilds, and individual laypeople held, bought, and sold. On the other hand, benefices were not simply ordinary economic investments,Continue reading “Sir John Lyall c. Sir Thomas Kyrkeham“