The Middleton Accounts of 1526: #15

The next three entries in the Middleton household accounts for Sir Henry Willoughby in 1526 were all made on 1st April, which was Easter Sunday. The first entry was described as a payment at Easter for bread and wine for Middleton Church and the amount was 9 pence, which was the equivalent of about £16.55 today. The second entry was described as a payment for oil and chrism and the amount was 4 pence, which was the equivalent of about £7.35 today. Finally, the third entry was described as a payment for frankincense and the amount was 2 pence, which was the equivalent of about £3.68 today.

St John's Church, Middleton, Warwickshire, 2015. Photograph taken by Debbie Jordan.

In Tudor times, the parishioners of a church paid for the essential elements of the Easter and Holy Week rituals. All of the items mentioned in these account entries were part of that.

The bread and wine were part of the Eucharist, or Communion, and were a physical symbolism of the Last Supper. In multiple Gospels it was written that at the Last Supper Christ blessed and then broke the bread, shared it with his disciples, and said for them to take it for it was his body. Christ then took a cup of wine, blessed it, and then gave it to all of them saying that this was his blood. In pre-Reformation Tudor times, Easter was the only time when the laity received both the bread and wine. Normally, they only received the bread. The wine was reserved for the priest.

There were three holy oils: the oil of the sick; the oil of the catechumens; and the chrism oil. These oils were blessed during the chrism mass on Maundy Thursday. The oil of the sick was made of pure olive oil and was used for the anointing of those who were sick. The oil of the catechumens was also made of pure olive oil and was used for those who were being baptised. The chrism oil was a mixture of olive oil and aromatic balsam, which was a sweet-scented resin. Sometimes other aromatics were added to it such as spices, roses or citrus. The chrism oil was used in confirmations, baptisms and ordinations.

In Tudor times, during Easter services, frankincense was burned and it had two principal functions. Firstly, it was to symbolise prayers rising to God. Secondly, it was considered as an agent of purification for the church and the congregation.

The English Reformation began less than a decade from these entries and it changed all of these elements. Bread and wine survived the Reformation. However, the meaning of them were fundamentally changed because the Anglican Church rejected the Catholic belief that bread and wine were a representation of the body and blood of Christ. Instead, they became a remembrance of Christ. Nevertheless, they still remained a core part of worship and in fact the wine aspect of Communion was extended to all of the congregation at all services. The use of the blessed oils for baptism, confirmation and the visitation of the sick was abolished as their use was viewed as superstitious. The use of frankincense was almost completely abolished as it was viewed as a very “popish” superstition. Some cathedrals did retain its use and its widespread use did not vanish immediately either. However, that was often because clergymen used it to hide unpleasant odours present within a church rather than for the religious symbolism it once had.

Further Reading: W. H. Stevenson, Report on the Manuscripts of Lord Middleton, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1911. p.379.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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