A medieval election

I know. Just what everyone needed, an episode about an election. To take a break from reading and watching election postmortems, I decided to return to one of my favorite teaching texts, the monk Jocelin of Brakelond’s Chronicle of the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds. This is more of a personal memoir of what Jocelin saw and experienced as a monk than it is the standard monastic chronicle. It contains the fullest account of the process by which English monasteries in the High Middle Ages elected an abbot, and I thought that would be a fun and a far less stressful subject than our recent election—at least for our listeners if not for the monks of Bury St. Edmunds in 1182. My co-host for this episode is my partner for life and inspiration for all things medieval, my wife Ellen.  This episode is especially for those of our listening audience who regard the U.S. election results with fear and trembling and a sickness unto death.

[This is a corrected version of the episode. The first posting had some glitches which I corrected. Sorry about that.]

Quotations are from
Jocelin of Brakelond, Chronicle of the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, trans. Diane Greenway and Jane Sayers. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.

This episodes includes a musical interlude: 
Orbita Solaris (Short Version) Gregorian Chant 
Chant group Psallentes, directed by Hendrik Vanden Abeele, singing from a 12th century antiphoner, prepared for the Mariakerk in Utrecht. Semi-live recording by Jo Cops at Heverlee, Belgium, May 2009. Singers are: Conor Biggs, Pieter Coene, Lieven Deroo, Paul Schils, Philippe Souvagie and Hendrik Vanden. Abeele.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo-yb-UDBHA

Listen on Podurama https://podurama.com

Intro and exit music are by Alexander Nakarada

If you have questions, feel free to contact me at richard.abels54@gmail.com

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

Music.

richard abels: 0:07

Welcome to the podcast. Tis but a scratch fact and fiction about the Middle Ages. I'm your host, Professor. Richard Abels, I know. I know just what everyone needed, an episode about an election well, to take a break from reading and watching election post mortems, I decided to return to one of my very favorite teaching texts, the monk Jocelyn of breaklands, chronicle of the abbey of Bury St Edmunds. This is more of a personal memoir of what Jocelyn saw and experienced as a monk than it is the standard monastic Chronicle. It contains the fullest account of the process by which English monasteries in the High Middle Ages elected an abbot. I thought that it would be a fun and far less stressful subject than our recent election, at least less stressful for our listeners, if not for the monks of Bury St Edmunds in 1182 this episode is especially for those of our listening audience who regard the US election results with fear and trembling and its sickness unto death. That

Ellen Abels: 1:21

pretty much sums up my mood, and to

richard abels: 1:23

be frank, might as well. But when real life gets too real, what could be better than to retreat into the Middle Ages? The voice you just heard is, of course, that of my co host for this episode, who is my very favorite co host, and that's my partner for life and inspiration for all things medieval. Ellen. Ellen, it's really great to have you back on the podcast after what seems like forever.

Ellen Abels: 1:49

I certainly could use an escape from reality. So let's escape into a different reality. I'm sure that Professor wemple or professor bean had us read Jocelyn or break Ellen, but that was decades ago. Yeah, five decades ago. Okay, now I don't remember much about it, and I'd be interested to hear what you have to say. Okay,

richard abels: 2:07

I should begin with a point that will be old news for many of our listeners. Elections were a medieval as well as a modern thing. Well, yeah, Anglo

Ellen Abels: 2:17

Saxton kings were elected by the weton, the Council of secular and ecclesiastical magnates, from among those who were thrown worthy by blood. And many of those elections were not only contested, but culminated in violence. I mean, you wrote about that in your biography of ETHEL. Read the unready and the

richard abels: 2:34

kingship of Germany, and by extension, the Office of the Holy Roman Emperor was elected throughout the Middle Ages. In the early Middle Ages, kings were chosen by a consensus of German Dukes and bishops from 1273 on. The number of electors were fixed at seven, the archbishops of Trier Mainz and Cologne, the Duke of Saxony, the count Palatine of the Rhine, the Margrave of Brandenburg and the King of Bohemia. Wasn't there

Ellen Abels: 3:00

an elective quality also in the selection of kings of France, at

richard abels: 3:04

least in theory, but the confession dynasty made that more of a formality. King Louis the seventh of France was sufficiently concerned about securing succession for his son, Philip the future Philip Augustus. Right future Philip Augustus, that he had Philip elected anointed co King in 1179 when the kid was just 14. By then, Royal election was really only a formality, but Louis was taking no chances. And

Ellen Abels: 3:30

of course, popes were elected by the College of Cardinals, and they still are. And I

richard abels: 3:34

really have to see the movie Conclave, which is getting rave reviews, if you say so, as our listeners have probably already realized, Ellen is my partner for life, but he is not my partner for movie going. Okay, back to medieval elections. From 1059 on, popes were chosen by election by the College of Cardinals. Before 1059, popes had been chosen in various ways. In theory, the Office of Pope, the bishop of Rome was elected. According to Canon Law, bishops were to be chosen by the clergy of the United States and then acclaimed by the laity. In practice, in the early Middle Ages, whatever aristocratic family was dominant in Rome placed one of their own on the papal throne, and some unsurprisingly, their candidates would then be acclaimed by the clergy and the laity. Of Rome, these popes sometimes chose their own successors. The kings of Germany, in their capacity as Roman emperors, also claimed the right to appoint popes just they appointed other bishops within the medieval Empire, and sometimes exercised that right. Then Pope Leo the ninth launched the Gregorian reform with the support of the Emperor Henry the third, to purify the morals of churchmen. A key part of that reform was to free the clergy from the undue influence of secular magnets. The practice of purchasing church offices from layman simony was condemned as an abuse. As was the practice of lay investiture. Ah,

Ellen Abels: 5:03

the investiture controversy a staple of every undergraduate medieval survey course, including the ones we took. That was the struggle to exclude kings and powerful laymen from choosing bishops and abbots. Right? Yes,

richard abels: 5:16

in practice, and that was the underlying intention, although lay investiture itself was the practice of laymen investing newly elected bishops and abbots with the spiritual symbols of their office. In the case of bishops, this was the bishop staff, his crosier, a highly ornate shepherd's crook represents his pastoral functions, and a ring symbolizing his marriage to the church of which he was preside we'll do a separate episode on the Gregorian reform and investiture controversy. But back to the election of Popes in 1059 Pope Nicholas, the second, anxious to secure reform against the reactionary forces of the Roman aristocracy, issued the papal bull in nominate Domini, in the name of the Lord which made the seven Cardinal bishops of Rome responsible for electing uphold Could

Ellen Abels: 6:06

you explain Cardinal Bishop cardinals

richard abels: 6:09

were and are the clergy attached to the titular churches and suburbicarian diocese that surround Rome. That's a mouthful. In the Middle Ages, the Diocese of Rome was ringed by seven suburban diocese directly subordinate to it. As the power and authority of the papacy grew, so did the number of these, so called titular churches. By 1130 there were 28 of them. The bishops, priests and deacons of these titular churches were the principal members of the papal Curie of the Pope's court, and they served as his counselors, administrators, and from 1059 on, as the electors of a new Pope. Okay,

Ellen Abels: 6:51

but why are they called Cardinals?

richard abels: 7:02

The adjective Cardinals derives from the Latin term Caddo, meaning a hinge or a pivot, and by extension, that upon which a thing turns or depends. By the eighth century, it was applied to the Pope as the hinge that opens and closes the door of the Roman Catholic Church and to the clergy of the suburbicarian diocese because of their close connection with the papacy.

Ellen Abels: 7:27

Excuse me, were they all local from Rome? Probably that was the case in

richard abels: 7:31

the early Middle Ages, but it became less and less true as the Middle Ages went on. That's the Cardinals could be bishops elsewhere. They're holding both the

Ellen Abels: 7:41

oh, okay, now I get it, because so the 28 were high ranking clergy from all over Europe. It could, theoretically, it could be the

richard abels: 7:50

ones who were in Rome and who were resident in Rome would be Cardinal priests and Cardinal deacons, and they were the clergy who tended to these Episcopal churches in Rome. Okay, in 1130 the Electoral College of Cardinals were extended to include the priests and Cardinal deacons, although the number of let of electors was limited to 30.

Ellen Abels: 8:14

And I'll bet that went over big with the German kings, right? Yeah, of course

richard abels: 8:18

it did in the dispute between reformed popes and German emperors, which continued throughout the Middle Ages. German kings would, on occasion, choose their own Popes. These men are now called anti popes, though that is a retroactive designation in textbook lists of Pope they often appear italicized the Papa sees declaration of independence from both the Roman aristocracy and the German emperor was only the first shot in the investiture controversy. The real prize was control over bishoprics and abbeys, because

Ellen Abels: 8:52

they held so much land and because they had so many secular followers,

richard abels: 8:57

yes, and because of that, they had wealth and power throughout Christendom, bishops, as landowners and defenders of their cities, were responsible for sending troops and sometimes leading them when called upon by a king.

Ellen Abels: 9:11

Wait a minute. I thought canon law prohibited bishops from shedding blood.

richard abels: 9:15

It did, it does, but that was often overlooked. Here's a really weird statistic that I came across between the years 886, and 908, 10 German Bishops fell in battle in the year 1000 Bishop Bernard commanded forces of Emperor out of the third and fought with the lance that contained a nail of the True Cross. One

Ellen Abels: 9:38

of the fiercest warriors in the late 11th century Song of Roland is Archbishop Turpin. He is said to have killed 400 heathens before dying because of his many wounds. The poet had no doubt the Turpin was an ideal cleric, regardless of canon law,

richard abels: 9:53

and most relevant to today's subject, Jocelyn tells us that when Prince John rose and read the. Ellen against his brother, King Richard then in captivity in Germany, and seized the royal castle at Windsor. And this was in 1193 Abbot Samson personally led knights levied from the lands of Bury St Edmunds to support William Marshall in the siege of that castle. Samson not only led the abbeys company of knights, but along with several other English abbots, wore armor and appeared under his own standard. This is one of the few times in his chronicle that Jocelyn is actually disapproving of Abbot Samson, but not because Samson violated canon law by going armed into battle, but because of the expense incurred by the Abbey, and because of the possible precedent it set quote, but we cloister monks considered this a dangerous proceeding, and were alarmed that, as a result, a future Abbot might be compelled to go on a military campaign in person, more importantly than the military service of bellicose bishops and abbots were their duties as royal administrators, because the clergy of the 11th and 12th century were the educated elite. Kings and counts relied upon them for royal administration and diplomacy. Given all this, it's not surprising that kings, Dukes and counts would have demanded control of the appointment of Bishops within their territories, okay,

Ellen Abels: 11:24

that explains why an election of an abbot for Bury St Edmunds mattered outside the Abbey. Yeah,

richard abels: 11:32

and that brings us to how the investiture controversy was resolved in England, because it does relate to what happened at Bury St Evans, okay, in 1105 King Henry the first was preparing to go to war against his elder brother, Duke Robert of Normandy. He wanted papal approval for this, or at least he wanted papal neutrality. The stumbling block was lay investiture. Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury. St Anselm had gone into exile in obedience to the Pope's ban on lay investiture, and had excommunicated those bishops whom the king had invested with the symbols of their spiritual office. In December 1105 Henry the first and Anselm reached a compromise that was approved by Pope Paschal the second. Henry would accept the ban on lay investiture, Pascal would lift excommunication of the bishops who had been so invested. And Henry would continue to receive homage from newly elected bishops in return for the landed thiefs and temporal powers they received from the king the last reversed urban the seconds decree of 1095 against bishops doing homage to laymen. The agreement was formally ratified by King and Archbishop in the concordant of London, 1107 in essence, the English solution of 1105 1107 recognized the Episcopal sees two bodies as pastors of the church. Bishops received the authority and power from God via the church's clergy through apostolic succession, but as magnets of the realm and land holders of thieves, they received their temporal powers and authority from the King.

Ellen Abels: 13:13

That sounds a lot like the concurrent of forms of 1122, I thought that ended the investiture controversy in the Holy Roman Emperor. Yeah,

richard abels: 13:22

yeah. What was going on in England in 1105 through 1107 was pretty much a dry run for the Concordia de bombs, which also was a compromise that recognized the dual nature of bishops and abbots. German Bishops would be freely elected by the clergy of their diocese, anointed and vested with the symbols of their spiritual office by the presiding Archbishop. The newly elected bishop would then receive the so called regalia, the symbols of his secular office, from the King. This gave the king a de facto beetle on the selection of a bishop. In practice in England in the 12th century, clergy elected bishops and monks elected their abbots in cooperation and with the approval of the King, the monks of an abbey would petition the king for his permission to hold a free election. And that brings us to Jocelyn. Finally, yeah, finally, we have gotten to Jocelyn breakland. And before I talk about Jocelyn, let me Talk a little bit about the abbey itself.

Ellen Abels: 14:44

Merry St Edmunds was one of the wealthiest and most important monasteries in medieval England. It's in Suffolk, if I remember correctly, not

richard abels: 14:51

merely in Suffolk, the Abbot, by grant of King Edward the Confessor, was the virtual ruler of much of the western portion of. That county yabi possess secular jurisdiction over eight and a half 100 in the county of Suffolk. Okay,

Ellen Abels: 15:07

could you briefly explain what 100 was? Yeah,

richard abels: 15:10

the 100 was an administrative district within an English Shire. And a Shire is simply another word for an English county. The 100 court heard and adjudicated criminal accusations and civil lawsuits, usually the royal sheriff or one of his underlings would preside, except when the king granted jurisdiction to a private landowner as a legal franchise, and that was true for the abbey of Bury St Edmunds. Within these hundreds, the abbey held extensive estates, but the jurisdiction of the abbot extended beyond the Abbey's lands to the lands held by others in the 11th through 13th centuries. The so called Liberty of the abbey was absolute over the town of Bury St Edmunds, the abbots court heard and dealt with criminal cases and levied and collected fines outside the town and the rest of the eight and a half hundreds, the abbot collected dues owed to the king and held court much like a shire court, but the free men of these hundreds were also liable to pay suit in the Shire court, and the sheriff would sit beside the abbot in the abbots court in cases that involve pleas of the crown that is high justice. And high justice meant murder, theft, harboring murders, harboring thieves. The sheriff of Suffolk and the abbot split the sheriff's fee. The abbot not only had jurisdiction in the town of Burg St Edmunds, the abbot also collected an annual rent from the burgesses of the town. This rent, however, was fixed by custom at 40 pounds a year. The main wealth of the abbey came from its extensive holdings of land and profits of justice. The abbot and the monks each had separate landed holdings for their maintenance. Little wonder

Ellen Abels: 16:55

that the king wanted of hand in the selection of the monasteries. Abbot. Okay. What do we know about Jocelyn? Pretty

richard abels: 17:01

much only what he tells us. He was born in the mid 12th century in the section of the town of Burra St Edmunds called Franklin hence Jocelyn of breakland. He entered the abbey as an office in 1173 when he was in his late teens, he was well educated, not only in Scripture, but in the Latin classics. I

Ellen Abels: 17:21

know what I think of as Latin classics, but what did a monk think of as Latin classics at the time? Well, actually,

richard abels: 17:27

probably what you think of it. He scatters quotations and tag lines for Roman authors such as Horace and Ovid throughout the Chronicle. And it probably he does it in order to show off his education. He prided himself as being what was then called a literatus, when one who is well versed in Classical Latin literature, and from his more catty comments about his fellow monks and their lack of education, he was more than a bit snobbish about his own education. He was commissioned to write a monastic chronicle by Abbot Samson, and worked on it from 1190 until his death in 1202, unsurprisingly, Abbot Samson comes across as the hero of this work, not that the his Abba see was without its bumps. Samson, at one time or another, pissed off his fellow monks, the knights who held lands from the Abbey, the town's businessmen, the bishop and abbot of the rival Abbey of Ely, and even King Richard the Lionheart, and that was over disputed night service in the king's attempt to name the ward for an heiress to one of the abbeys land holdings. Jocelyn usually sides with the abbot in these disputes, presenting the abbot as a shrewd advocate for the Liberty and possessions of the Abbey, knowing when to exert his authority, when to seek compromise and when, if confronted by a greater power, just to give way. Usually,

Ellen Abels: 18:49

not always. I mean, I would think that if Samson was still Abbot when Jocelyn was writing this, this would be a hagiography.

richard abels: 18:57

Yeah, you would think that, but it isn't. In one case, Jocelyn was clearly on the other side of the issue. In a dispute between the monks and the abbeys gatekeeper, Abbot Hampton sided with the gatekeeper against the monks. The Gatekeeper had been pursuing lawsuits against the abbeys of beauty and

Ellen Abels: 19:17

Terry, okay, what's an obedient Terry?

richard abels: 19:19

It's simply a fancy word for a monk who holds one of the administrative offices of the monastery, okay, sellers, sacris, that type of thing. Thank you. In the absence of Abbot Samson, the monks responded by withholding some of the gatekeepers wages. The Gatekeeper complained to Samson, pointing out that they had exceeded their authority and showed contempt for the abbot by failing to seek His approval. Samson ordered the wages to be restored, and when the seller, speaking on behalf of the monks, refused, Samson ordered that the seller be prohibited both food and water until he gave in Jocelyn. Writes. Quote, then there was great uproar in the COVID such as I had never seen before, and was said the Abels command should not be obeyed. End. Quote, this was in defiance of the rule of st Benedict that enjoined absolute obedience on monks in all things, unless clearly against the will of God, the younger monks took the lead. The quarrel became so heated that it was rumored that the monks planned to kill the Abbot, which resulted in Samson excommunicating the ring leaders. The

Ellen Abels: 20:32

monks plotted to kill the Abbot, and the abbot excommunicated them. Yeah, okay,

richard abels: 20:37

I don't think that they actually plotted. I think that this is a this is something that was perhaps rumored, and I think it was used by Samson to get to get control over a problem that was getting out of hand. Monks plotting to kill their abbots is, strangely enough, a medieval trope. Abelard claimed that when he was Abbot of a Breton monastery and tried to restore the rule of st Benedict good order and discipline, his dissatisfied monks plotted to kill him. I think that Samson was upping the ante by saying that he heard this rumor. It also gave him an excuse to stay away from the Abbey. At any rate, the excommunications led to a meeting of the abbot with the monks. The reunion was careful, and the monks humbly apologized for disobedience. Samson lifted the excommunications. Everybody embraced each other in tears and gave kisses, and Samson then secretly ordered that the gatekeeper be restored his wages. Okay, the monks, according to Jocelyn, turned a blind eye to this, as they quote, at last comprehended that there is no Lord who does not wish to domineer and that a struggle is dangerous when it is started and waged against a stronger and more powerful adversary. End quote, but all that said, Jocelyn had no doubt that Samson was the right man to have been elected Abbot. Okay.

Ellen Abels: 22:11

Now, now let's get to the election. Okay. Finally,

richard abels: 22:14

the election was necessitated by the death of Abbot Hugh, the first in 1180 and it occurred after the election was necessitated by the death of Abbot. You the first in 11 Abbot. You had served as Abbot for some 23 years.

Ellen Abels: 22:34

Wait a minute. You started by saying, This election took place in 1182, yeah,

richard abels: 22:38

it did for almost two years, the Abbey's prior, Robert served as acting Abbot.

Ellen Abels: 22:45

Why didn't he simply succeed? Hugh, if he was the prior,

richard abels: 22:49

a hiatus and vacancy in an abscess was not unusual, as the monks needed to await a letter from the King granting them the right of free election. Uh huh,

Ellen Abels: 22:59

so much for the concordance of London and forums. Yeah,

richard abels: 23:03

it was pretty much a given that the king would grant the privilege of a free election. What was a bit unusual was how long this vacancy was. You would think that Robert was the natural successor to Hugh, but Jocelyn is at best lukewarm about Robert's handling of things during the vacancy, he wrote of him that he, quote, concentrated all his attention on preserving tranquility within the convent and upholding our church's reputation for hospitality toward guests. His aid was to keep everybody and everything on an even keel by not upsetting or angering anyone. And because of that, he chose to ignore faults that ought to have been corrected in the conduct of the be the anti Aires. Because of this, many considered the prior as head of the convent to be culpably negligent. Later, when the time came to elect an abbot, our brother monks reminded one another of this end quote, okay, yeah. So here we have a situation in which the Abbey is being ruled by its prior and unsupported

Ellen Abels: 24:12

also be it's also being ruled by a religious lame duck. Yeah, and, and so Jocelyn is saying not just that he's a lame duck, that he wasn't willing to make hard decisions because there was going to be an election down the road, but that he was an obentary Obey the interior himself, who abused his position. Yeah,

richard abels: 24:33

and but the worst of men

Ellen Abels: 24:36

here a sarist.

richard abels: 24:38

Okay, Jocelyn fingered William the sacras as the prime example of an obedient Terry who abused his position even more than Robert. Now William as saris was responsible for the general care of the Church, which included acquiring and maintaining everything needed to conduct services. Is if a new building was required, the sacras was one or one of his sub sacras oversaw its construction. The sacraments. Was also in charge of the Abels, valuables, its sacred vessels, its vestments. Jocelyn wrote that William, quote, behaved during the vacancy as though he did not care what he did with his department, neither paying any debts nor putting up any buildings, yet foolishly squandering income from offerings and gifts. End, quote, The only check in him was his sub sachrist Samson, yeah, the two ended up in a public feud and unsurprisingly became rivals as candidates to be the new Abbot. This

Ellen Abels: 25:43

place sounds kind of like a snake pit. How did these people, the monks, go about selecting candidates? You

richard abels: 25:50

know, it is pretty much like a snake pit. Jocelyn portrays his fellow monks as a gossipy and pretty catty bunch. For example, He tells us, when one monk said that a brother is a good monk, a commendable person and knows a great deal about the rule and the customs of the church, another monk would point out that that said brother was poorly educated and didn't know Scripture well enough to preach a sermon in the chapter or to the people At festivals, when another monk suggested a different brother as being a perfect Abbot, candid for Abbot, because he was wise in both ecclesiastical and secular matters, correct in the observance of the rule, had good judgment and was well educated and eloquent. Another brother, brother pointed out that whatever this particular monk that whenever this particular monk had held a position of authority, he had become impatient with his fellow monks, really spoke or consulted with them, and seemed to prefer the company of laymen. Another brother, who came from a wealthy family but was of suspect character, told a group of us that he heard many monks tell him, Sir, you ought to be the next Abbot. Nobody has acquired more land for the abbey than you. Nobody has overseen the construction of such beautiful buildings you would make a perfect Abbot. A beautiful Abbot, the brother added that if he were elected, the first thing he would do is drive out the Jewish money lenders from our town and then build a beautiful wall around it to keep the riffraff out, and he would make the most of Ely pay for that. Wait

Ellen Abels: 27:27

a minute. Wait a minute, you're making this up. And forgive me, but right now, I'm beyond humor.

richard abels: 27:31

Yeah, sorry. Couldn't resist Okay, okay,

Ellen Abels: 27:35

let's get it. Chris, yeah, okay. On a serious

richard abels: 27:38

note, the late 12th century was, in fact a period of rising anti semitism in England, and Jocelyn account is riddled with that anti semitism. One of Jocelyn key objections to the sacrifice was his close relationship to the Jews of the town and the debts he incurred for the abbey by taking out large loans from them. One of the first things that Samson did as avid was to pay off those loans. Jocelyn explained that William the sacks was known as the father and patron of the Jews, for he gave them protection. The money of the Jews were what was deposited while William was sacris in the Abbey's treasury and in Williams custody. Bruce Saint Evans was the site of one of the several blood libels that was raised against the Jews in the final century. Why am I not surprised a boy named Robert was supposedly martyred by Jews? Nothing really is known about this Robert and I suspect that the monks of Bury St Edmunds were inspired by the cult of the boy Martin William in Norwich to claim that they also had a victim of vicious Jews. Anti semitism ramped up as preparations were made for the Third Crusade in 1190 the same year as the more notorious massacre of Jews in Clifford's tower in York, the townspeople of Bury St Edmunds killed 57 Jews in a riot.

Ellen Abels: 29:04

Dear God, King Richard couldn't have been all that happy about that. Weren't Jews legally served to the crown and an economically valuable asset?

richard abels: 29:12

Yeah, they were. They were, in fact, really a valuable asset. Now, the church pronounced that money lending for interest is a sin. It's a sin of usury, but money lending was a necessary economic activity. Because of this, Jews, who were prohibited from joining craft guilds, became the bankers of the early and High Middle Ages as serfs of the crown in England, France and Germany. They were an important fiscal resource for kings. Christian kings could not profit directly from the sin of usury, but if they needed some ready cash, they could squeeze the Jews whose property legally belonged to them. Richard responded for the massacre in Europe by. Name 59 of the leading families in that city for their participation in the massacre.

Ellen Abels: 30:05

And how did he respond to the massacre at Bury St Edmunds. Here is where

richard abels: 30:09

Samson demonstrated how clever and resourceful he was. He used the Jew status as kings men against them. Abbot Samson having paid off the outstanding debt to Jewish money lenders and therefore acquitting himself up for with the king, responded by petitioning Richard to allow him to expel the remaining Jews from the town and the abbeys lands. Okay, I

Ellen Abels: 30:36

see where this is going. Sims had argued the Jews belong to the Crown all residents within the abbeys franchise whoever could only owe allegiance to the Abbey, therefore the king would either have to transfer the Jews to the abbey or allow the abbey to expel them.

richard abels: 30:50

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Ellen Abels: 30:52

But you do make the point about how an election could divide a monastery, and

richard abels: 30:57

the ill feelings could be lasting. Jocelyn tells us that believing that he was speaking in confidence, he expressed his authentic opinion, that a certain senior brother who had been very fond of him, who had been his mentor, had been his patron, had been generous to him, was nonetheless less worthy of being Abbot than Another brother, even though he liked perfectly, liked that other brother less. Of course, his sentiments were not kept in confidence. As a result, Jocelyn wrote that even to the present day, he was unable fully to regain his benefactor and former friend's approval, either by appealing to him or by making gifts to Him. Wait a

Ellen Abels: 31:39

minute, monks giving each other gifts. I mean, I thought that monks weren't allowed to have personal belongings.

richard abels: 31:44

No, I was struck by that. Also, you're absolutely right. The vow of poverty is an essential part of Benedictine monasticism. And Bury St Edmunds was a Benedictine monastery the sixth century. Rule of st Benedict is crystal clear about this quote, without an order from the Abbot, no one may presume to give, receive or retain anything as his own, nothing at all, not a book, writing tablets or stylist, in short, not a single item. Especially since monks may not have the free disposal even of their own bodies and wills for their needs, they are to look to the father of the monastery, that's the Abbot, and are not allowed anything which the abbot has not given or permitted. All things should be the common possession of all, as it is written, so that no one presumes to call anything his own. That's acts 432, end quote, because Saint Benedict himself came from a gift giving society. His rule explicitly forbids bugs from exchanging gifts with one another. The gifts that an abbot gave to kings and counts to court their favor came from the monastery's endowment, not from his personal belongings. Jocelyn tells us approvingly how Abbot Samson regained lost favor from King Richard by giving him a gift of hunting dogs and horses. Hunting

Ellen Abels: 33:06

dogs and horses. I mean, I know that monks came from aristocratic families, but surely that's not monastic life.

richard abels: 33:14

Yes, I know hunting doesn't sound like it should have been a monastic pastime, but as you said, most monks came from aristocratic families and shared in that culture. Clerical reformers from the Carolingian period on occasionally denounced the practice as a secular pastime unsuitable for monks. The practice was sufficiently common in the early 14th century to warrant the attention of Pope Clement, the fifth, one of the candidates of the Council of the end of 1412, explicitly prohibits, quote, All monks from hunting and fowling or being present at a hunt, nor should they presume to have hunting dogs or birds of prey in their keeping of the monastery or in the houses in which they live or within the cloister. End, quote, this was a clash of cultures, but as the rule of st Benedict did not explicitly forbid monks from hunting or fouling, and if the abbot either did not object or led the hunt himself, monks saw nothing wrong in doing so. It shouldn't be all that surprising that Abbot Samson maintained a kennel of hunting dogs and a stable of horses. After all, this was an abbot who wore armor and led the abbeys knights on campaign. I would note that the gift of the dogs and horses was initiated by Richard in a letter to the abbot. This was, I believe, a friendly gesture on the king's part. As I said, gift giving and gift exchange were mechanisms for creating, maintaining and restoring friendships. The king responded to the abbots gift, appropriately, dispatching a warm letter of thanks, along with his own gift to the Abbey, a precious ring given to Richard by Pope Innocent third, soon after Richard's coronation, Jocelyn was far less approving of the gifts that William the sacras had been spreading around during the. Vacancy to win favor and support for his candidacy. Those gifts also came from the coffers of the monastery, but you have a really good point. Jocelyn was part of the gift giving society, and thought in those terms. As a monk, he would not have had the personal property that he could give to his erstwhile mentor to regain his friendship, but there were other forms of gifts that he could give. Jocelyn tells us that he drew up a list of all the churches belonging to the monastery as a gift, and he uses the term gift as a gift to Abbot Samson. Okay,

Ellen Abels: 35:36

now I get it. Thank you. This sounds like electing a department chair in a contemporary college or university, at least from the pettiness. What is the old cliche? The reason academic politics are so vicious is because the stakes are so small.

richard abels: 35:49

Yeah, it does have a lot of things in common. From personal experience, I can tell you that departmental elections can result in long, lasting animosities, and tenure professors are about as immobile as cloistered monks. There are differences. Most. Most faculty members don't want to be chair. Often, senior professors need to be persuaded to run. The rule of st Benedict states that monks owe absolute obedience to their abbots, and believe me, that's not true of faculty to a chair, and

Ellen Abels: 36:24

Abbott is a lifetime appointment. A chairmanship is not, thank God, both from the point of view of the faculty and the chair.

richard abels: 36:31

And I know how you feel about that when, when I extended my chairmanship for a couple of years.

Ellen Abels: 36:37

Okay? So now we have the monks gossiping away with each other about who should be the next Abbot. How was the election actually conducted after a

richard abels: 36:44

vacancy of a year and three months, King Henry the second sent to the prior a lettering that the prior and 12 members of the Abbey, who would speak on behalf of all the months, should appear in his presence on an appointed day to elect a new habit.

Ellen Abels: 37:01

The prior and the 12 monks sound like the monastic version of the members of the American electoral college. What guidance did they receive from their fellow monks? A lot, I'll bet. Okay.

richard abels: 37:15

When the chapter met, they charged the prior, at the peril of his soul, conscientiously, to choose 12 of the fellow brothers to accompany him, and he was to choose them on the basis of their life and conversation and that they would never swerve from what was right. The prior thereupon nominated six from one side of the choir and six from the other. His choice was by, according to Jocelyn, by the dictation of the Holy Ghost, everybody agreed, these are the guys who should be sent the chapter. However, was not disposed to leave the matter entirely in the hands of these 13 monks. They chose six other of their number, again, men of the best reputation, who went apart and with their hands on the Gospels, selected three brothers of the convent who they believed to be most fit to be Abbot. The names of these three men were then committed to writing, sealed up and given to the 13 who were to go before the king.

Ellen Abels: 38:20

Okay, okay, I have the world's most basic question here, who actually went to Henry the second, was it the prior and the 12? Or was it the six? I'm confused. Okay,

richard abels: 38:32

those six men stayed within the monastery. Those six men were chosen by their fellow monks because they were considered to be really prudent, and they knew all the monks, and they knew who would have the best qualities to be the next Abbot. Instead of choosing the next Abbot, what they did is they chose three men who they believed would be worthy abbots. They wrote their names down, sealed the letter, handed it to the delegation to carry with the delegation to the king. Now, the delegation doesn't know who those three men are until they would open up that letter in

Ellen Abels: 39:11

front of the king. So the idea is, in a perfect world, the 13 would have supported at least one of the three names to the king. Okay, now I get it,

richard abels: 39:21

and what these three names would be would be nominations, and they would be nominations to the king, and the king would select which of those of the three he would want. And then the 13, on behalf of the entire monastery, would formally elect that did they have to elect one

Ellen Abels: 39:41

of the three? That

richard abels: 39:43

is certainly what the monks wanted and hoped would happen. But an election of an abbot in late 12th century England, even a so called free election, was a negotiation between the monks of the Abbey and the king Bury St Edmunds was not only a wealthy Abbey. City, but its Abbot possessed broad jurisdictional authority within Suffolk. King Henry the second wanted to be certain that the new abbot was a man that he could work with and whom he could trust. He didn't want to repeat the mistake he had made two decades earlier in elevating his Chancellor, St Thomas Becket to the arch Episcopal see of Canterbury. The real concern that the monks had was that the king would decide to choose someone, another monk, from a different Abby, to be their Abby. That's what they were really afraid. Because the one thing that they really didn't want is to have an outsider ruling over them. So the delegation of 13 were further instructed in the case of necessity, to accept anyone of their own convent dominated by the king, but to return to consult the chapter if the king named an outsider.

Ellen Abels: 40:59

Okay, so when push came to shove, they could live with one of their own, but not an outsider. So how did Samson become Abbot?

richard abels: 41:08

Okay, so the deputation came before the king at Waltham, one of the Hampshire matters of the Bishop of Winchester, and it appeared on the 21st of February, 1182, the king told them to give him the names of three monks of their Abby worthy of being the Abbot, the prior asked permission to withdraw briefly so that they could consult together. The 13 went into a private chamber where they broke the seal on the letter and read the names of the three monks nominated by the six brothers in that order, yeah, but to quote Jocelyn, the ranking embarrassed the Senior Brothers, and everyone was surprised that you was both an elector and one of the candidates. However, because they could not make a major alteration, they agreed simply to change the order of the names putting you first because he was third prior, Roger the seller of second and Samson third. End quote. In other words, what they did is they rearranged the list so that it would reflect the hierarchy of offices within the monastery. The oath that the 13 had taken forbid them to alter the names, but they did change the order according to convent precedence and placed Samson last, because he was the most junior of all of these, because he didn't know any of his nominees. King Henry the second, ordered the 12 monks to nominate three others, and they named the prior who was present, the sacrist William, who was present, and a third senior monk who is also present. The king then, quote, for the good of the kingdom, ordered them to nominate three monks from other monasteries, which they did on the proviso that if the king selected one of them, the monks would have to return to the monastery to get the chapters approval. The king then asked them to remove three names from those lists.

Ellen Abels: 43:00

Let me guess, they eliminated the outsiders. How did you

richard abels: 43:03

know? Well, with the three outsiders, eliminated the two nominated monks who were present, removed their own names from consideration, and it came down to the prior and Samson the 12 recommended Samson Wow, King Henry the second, accepted the choice, but warned the monks. Quote, you have presented Samson to me. I am not acquainted with him. If you have presented your prior, I would have accepted Him as I already know him, but I will do as you wish. However, take care by the very eyes of God. If you do wrong, I shall personally take it out on you. He then asked the prior if he was in full agreement with this, and the prior replied he was, and that Samson was far worthy, worthy of the order that he himself was, huh, yeah. Whereupon Samson, the new elected Abbot, prostate himself in front of the king, kissed the king's feet, then hurriedly got up and hastened to the altar, chanting, have mercy upon me, oh God. His head up and his expression unchanged. When the king saw this, he said to bystanders, by God's eyes, I love that oath, by God's eyes, this man considered himself worthy to take charge of the Abbey. Is that

Ellen Abels: 44:22

a is that a complimentary criticism? That's a compliment? Okay, so much for no low episcolar. Yeah. Okay, never mind. I can say why. Samson was a successful Abbot. He knew how to suck up to the powerful, and he had a gift for being theatrical. Yep,

richard abels: 44:37

he did. The Bishop of Winchester gave Samson the Episcopal benediction at Miro on 28th of February, on Palm Sunday, that was 20 the first of March in that year, Samson was fought, was solemnly received by the convent. Homage was done to him on the fourth day of Easter by barons and Freeman who held lands from the convent or who. Within the franchise, okay, Bury St Edmunds for the 30 years of his rule, Abbot Samson proved himself to be a superior of unflinching integrity and of exceptional business capacities, at least as presented by Jocelyn. Jocelyn portrayal of Samson led the mid 19th century English essayist Thomas Carlyle defined him a model for modern British leadership. He wrote of Samson in his book of essays past and present, which was published in 1843 quote, no one will accuse our Lord Abbot of wanting worldly wisdom. Do interest in worldly things? A skillful man full of cutting inside lively interest, always discerning the road to his object, be it circuit, be it shortcut and victoriously traveling forward there on Nay. Rather, it may seem from Jocelyn narrative, as if he had his eye all but exclusively directed on terrestrial matters, and was much too secular for a devout man. But this too, if we examine it, was right, okay. For it is in the world that a man, devout or other, has his life to lead, his work waiting to be done. The basis of abbots Samson, we shall discover was truly religion. After all, returning from his dusty pilgrimage with such welcome as he's as we saw, he sat down at the foot of Saint Edmund shrine, not a talking theory that no a silent practice. End quote for Carlisle, what made Samson a model for 19th century British leadership was his practicality, his willingness to do what was necessary for the best of his Abby. In other

Ellen Abels: 46:46

words, Carlyle believed that that the that the Anglican Church was the Tory party at prayer he really did.

richard abels: 46:54

In fact, he ends that chapter with criticism of the of the excessive piety of the Methodist.

Ellen Abels: 47:02

Okay, yeah, okay, okay. So, I mean, so Carlisle is enthusiastic about a man who followed the massacre of Jews within his jurisdiction with the expulsion of all the survivors, yeah, but okay, from a 12th century perspective, that wasn't exactly a bad thing. Okay, yeah,

richard abels: 47:22

no, I can't share call house enthusiasm for for a bed. Who did? Who did that? I can't, I can't do that. But Samson was a successful Abbot from a 12th century viewpoint, among the qualities that most impressed Jocelyn is Samson's refusal to appoint his old friends and companions to the Abby's offices, instead selecting men whom he thought best capable of doing the job. This is exceptional that is almost always appointed their friends and enrich their family members. Yes, this is not what Samson did. Okay, Jocelyn was really impressed by that. Others were a little bit less impressed. Jocelyn tells us that many of the of his fellow monks, uh, branded Samson as irascible, unsociable, arrogant, and called him a Norfolk trickster. Apparently, if you're in Suffolk, being called a Norfolk Trickster is a really bad thing, okay, most importantly, for Jocelyn and for the monks of Bury St Edmunds, Abbott Samson protected the possessions and privileges of the Abbey, of course, impressed Jocelyn would probably have said, is this the right man to have become Abbot? Well, of course, he was the right man, because the monks were guarded by guided by the Holy Spirit in choosing him as their Abbot. But given how rarely Jocelyn actually writes about religion and piety, I'm not sure whether he would even have believed that. What I would take away from this story about the election of a 12th century English Abbot is the seriousness with which the monks approached the choice of the man who would rule them and their Abby and the steps they took to winnow out those who would promote their own interest over the good of the Abbey. This was not a simple popularity contest. If it had been Samson, who even Jocelyn mitts could be cold and Stan offish would probably not have won, and now afraid needs to be the last word for this episode. I hope you will join us for future episodes, and I hope that however you feel about how this election turned out, you'll be able to accept those results with equanimity. That is, after all, what democracy is all about. It is the box populate. If it's not the box day,

Ellen Abels: 49:48

wait a minute. When I worked in a courthouse in elizabeth new jersey, carved into the marble above the top of the entrance was folks populate. Folks day, the voice of the people in. Is the voice of God, which I thought was hilarious when you consider that the people of New Jersey had stormed the previous building and burned the tax and property records.

richard abels: 50:10

Be that as it may, okay, be that as it may. I think that in terms of American democracy and the Vox Populi, I think I'll leave it with a saying from my very favorite Greek philosopher, mediocrities, meh is good enough.

Ellen Abels: 50:28

Okay, I can live with that. Thanks

richard abels: 50:30

for joining us, and bye for now. Bye, you.