A medieval election

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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 [e-mail]

Episode Transcript

Unknown (00:00):
Music.

richard abels (00:07):
Welcome to the podcast. Tis but a scratch fact
and fiction about the MiddleAges. I'm your host, Professor.
Richard Abels, I know. I knowjust 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,

(00:30):
chronicle of the abbey of BurySt Edmunds. This is more of a
personal memoir of what Jocelynsaw and experienced as a monk
than it is the standard monasticChronicle. It contains the
fullest account of the processby which English monasteries in
the High Middle Ages elected anabbot.

(01:00):
I thought that it would be a funand far less stressful subject
than our recent election, atleast less stressful for our
listeners, if not for the monksof Bury St Edmunds in 1182 this
episode is especially for thoseof our listening audience who
regard the US election resultswith fear and trembling and its
sickness unto death. That

Ellen Abels (01:21):
pretty much sums up my mood, and to

richard abels (01:23):
be frank, might as well. But when real life gets
too real, what could be betterthan to retreat into the Middle
Ages? The voice you just heardis, of course, that of my co
host for this episode, who is myvery favorite co host, and
that's my partner for life andinspiration for all things
medieval. Ellen. Ellen, it'sreally great to have you back on

(01:46):
the podcast after what seemslike forever.

Ellen Abels (01:49):
I certainly could use an escape from reality. So
let's escape into a differentreality. I'm sure that Professor
wemple or professor bean had usread Jocelyn or break Ellen, but
that was decades ago. Yeah, fivedecades ago. Okay, now I don't
remember much about it, and I'dbe interested to hear what you
have to say. Okay,

richard abels (02:07):
I should begin with a point that will be old
news for many of our listeners.
Elections were a medieval aswell as a modern thing. Well,
yeah, Anglo

Ellen Abels (02:17):
Saxton kings were elected by the weton, the
Council of secular andecclesiastical magnates, from
among those who were thrownworthy by blood. And many of
those elections were not onlycontested, but culminated in
violence. I mean, you wroteabout that in your biography of
ETHEL. Read the unready and the

richard abels (02:34):
kingship of Germany, and by extension, the
Office of the Holy Roman Emperorwas elected throughout the
Middle Ages. In the early MiddleAges, kings were chosen by a
consensus of German Dukes andbishops 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,

(02:56):
the Margrave of Brandenburg andthe King of Bohemia. Wasn't
there

Ellen Abels (03:00):
an elective quality also in the selection of
kings of France, at

richard abels (03:04):
least in theory, but the confession dynasty made
that more of a formality. KingLouis the seventh of France was
sufficiently concerned aboutsecuring succession for his son,
Philip the future PhilipAugustus. Right future Philip
Augustus, that he had Philipelected anointed co King in 1179
when the kid was just 14. Bythen, Royal election was really

(03:27):
only a formality, but Louis wastaking no chances. And

Ellen Abels (03:30):
of course, popes were elected by the College of
Cardinals, and they still are.
And I

richard abels (03:34):
really have to see the movie Conclave, which is
getting rave reviews, if you sayso, as our listeners have
probably already realized, Ellenis my partner for life, but he
is not my partner for moviegoing. Okay, back to medieval
elections. From 1059 on, popeswere chosen by election by the

(03:54):
College of Cardinals. Before1059, popes had been chosen in
various ways. In theory, theOffice of Pope, the bishop of
Rome was elected. According toCanon Law, bishops were to be
chosen by the clergy of theUnited States and then acclaimed
by the laity. In practice, inthe early Middle Ages, whatever
aristocratic family was dominantin Rome placed one of their own

(04:16):
on the papal throne, and someunsurprisingly, their candidates
would then be acclaimed by theclergy and the laity. Of Rome,
these popes sometimes chosetheir own successors. The kings
of Germany, in their capacity asRoman emperors, also claimed the
right to appoint popes just theyappointed other bishops within
the medieval Empire, andsometimes exercised that right.

(04:39):
Then Pope Leo the ninth launchedthe Gregorian reform with the
support of the Emperor Henry thethird, to purify the morals of
churchmen. A key part of thatreform was to free the clergy
from the undue influence ofsecular magnets. The practice of
purchasing church offices fromlayman simony was condemned as

(04:59):
an abuse. As was the practice oflay investiture. Ah,

Ellen Abels (05:03):
the investiture controversy a staple of every
undergraduate medieval surveycourse, including the ones we
took. That was the struggle toexclude kings and powerful
laymen from choosing bishops andabbots. Right? Yes,

richard abels (05:16):
in practice, and that was the underlying
intention, although layinvestiture itself was the
practice of laymen investingnewly elected bishops and abbots
with the spiritual symbols oftheir office. In the case of
bishops, this was the bishopstaff, his crosier, a highly
ornate shepherd's crookrepresents his pastoral
functions, and a ringsymbolizing his marriage to the

(05:39):
church of which he was presidewe'll do a separate episode on
the Gregorian reform andinvestiture controversy. But
back to the election of Popes in1059 Pope Nicholas, the second,
anxious to secure reform againstthe reactionary forces of the
Roman aristocracy, issued thepapal bull in nominate Domini,

(05:59):
in the name of the Lord whichmade the seven Cardinal bishops
of Rome responsible for electinguphold Could

Ellen Abels (06:06):
you explain Cardinal Bishop cardinals

richard abels (06:09):
were and are the clergy attached to the titular
churches and suburbicariandiocese that surround Rome.
That's a mouthful. In the MiddleAges, the Diocese of Rome was
ringed by seven suburban diocesedirectly subordinate to it. As
the power and authority of thepapacy grew, so did the number

(06:30):
of these, so called titularchurches. By 1130 there were 28
of them. The bishops, priestsand deacons of these titular
churches were the principalmembers of the papal Curie of
the Pope's court, and theyserved as his counselors,
administrators, and from 1059on, as the electors of a new

(06:50):
Pope. Okay,

Ellen Abels (06:51):
but why are they called Cardinals?

richard abels (07:02):
The adjective Cardinals derives from the Latin
term Caddo, meaning a hinge or apivot, and by extension, that
upon which a thing turns ordepends. By the eighth century,
it was applied to the Pope asthe hinge that opens and closes
the door of the Roman CatholicChurch and to the clergy of the

(07:22):
suburbicarian diocese because oftheir close connection with the
papacy.

Ellen Abels (07:27):
Excuse me, were they all local from Rome?
Probably that was the case in

richard abels (07:31):
the early Middle Ages, but it became less and
less true as the Middle Ageswent on. That's the Cardinals
could be bishops elsewhere.
They're holding both the

Ellen Abels (07:41):
oh, okay, now I get it, because so the 28 were
high ranking clergy from allover Europe. It could,
theoretically, it could be the

richard abels (07:50):
ones who were in Rome and who were resident in
Rome would be Cardinal priestsand Cardinal deacons, and they
were the clergy who tended tothese Episcopal churches in
Rome. Okay, in 1130 theElectoral College of Cardinals
were extended to include thepriests and Cardinal deacons,

(08:11):
although the number of let ofelectors was limited to 30.

Ellen Abels (08:14):
And I'll bet that went over big with the German
kings, right? Yeah, of course

richard abels (08:18):
it did in the dispute between reformed popes
and German emperors, whichcontinued throughout the Middle
Ages. German kings would, onoccasion, choose their own
Popes. These men are now calledanti popes, though that is a
retroactive designation intextbook lists of Pope they
often appear italicized the Papasees declaration of independence

(08:40):
from both the Roman aristocracyand the German emperor was only
the first shot in theinvestiture controversy. The
real prize was control overbishoprics and abbeys, because

Ellen Abels (08:52):
they held so much land and because they had so
many secular followers,

richard abels (08:57):
yes, and because of that, they had wealth and
power throughout Christendom,bishops, as landowners and
defenders of their cities, wereresponsible for sending troops
and sometimes leading them whencalled upon by a king.

Ellen Abels (09:11):
Wait a minute. I thought canon law prohibited
bishops from shedding blood.

richard abels (09:15):
It did, it does, but that was often overlooked.
Here's a really weird statisticthat I came across between the
years 886, and 908, 10 GermanBishops fell in battle in the
year 1000 Bishop Bernardcommanded forces of Emperor out
of the third and fought with thelance that contained a nail of

(09:37):
the True Cross. One

Ellen Abels (09:38):
of the fiercest warriors in the late 11th
century Song of Roland isArchbishop Turpin. He is said to
have killed 400 heathens beforedying because of his many
wounds. The poet had no doubtthe Turpin was an ideal cleric,
regardless of canon law,

richard abels (09:53):
and most relevant to today's subject, Jocelyn
tells us that when Prince Johnrose and read the. Ellen against
his brother, King Richard thenin captivity in Germany, and
seized the royal castle atWindsor. And this was in 1193
Abbot Samson personally ledknights levied from the lands of
Bury St Edmunds to supportWilliam Marshall in the siege of

(10:16):
that castle. Samson not only ledthe abbeys company of knights,
but along with several otherEnglish abbots, wore armor and
appeared under his own standard.
This is one of the few times inhis chronicle that Jocelyn is
actually disapproving of AbbotSamson, but not because Samson
violated canon law by goingarmed into battle, but because

(10:38):
of the expense incurred by theAbbey, and because of the
possible precedent it set quote,but we cloister monks considered
this a dangerous proceeding, andwere alarmed that, as a result,
a future Abbot might becompelled to go on a military
campaign in person, moreimportantly than the military

(10:59):
service of bellicose bishops andabbots were their duties as
royal administrators, becausethe clergy of the 11th and 12th
century were the educated elite.
Kings and counts relied uponthem for royal administration
and diplomacy. Given all this,it's not surprising that kings,
Dukes and counts would havedemanded control of the

(11:21):
appointment of Bishops withintheir territories, okay,

Ellen Abels (11:24):
that explains why an election of an abbot for Bury
St Edmunds mattered outside theAbbey. Yeah,

richard abels (11:32):
and that brings us to how the investiture
controversy was resolved inEngland, because it does relate
to what happened at Bury StEvans, okay, in 1105 King Henry
the first was preparing to go towar against his elder brother,
Duke Robert of Normandy. Hewanted papal approval for this,
or at least he wanted papalneutrality. The stumbling block

(11:54):
was lay investiture. ArchbishopAnselm of Canterbury. St Anselm
had gone into exile in obedienceto the Pope's ban on lay
investiture, and hadexcommunicated those bishops
whom the king had invested withthe symbols of their spiritual
office. In December 1105 Henrythe first and Anselm reached a

(12:15):
compromise that was approved byPope Paschal the second. Henry
would accept the ban on layinvestiture, Pascal would lift
excommunication of the bishopswho had been so invested. And
Henry would continue to receivehomage from newly elected
bishops in return for the landedthiefs and temporal powers they
received from the king the lastreversed urban the seconds

(12:38):
decree of 1095 against bishopsdoing homage to laymen. The
agreement was formally ratifiedby King and Archbishop in the
concordant of London, 1107 inessence, the English solution of
1105 1107 recognized theEpiscopal sees two bodies as
pastors of the church. Bishopsreceived the authority and power

(13:01):
from God via the church's clergythrough apostolic succession,
but as magnets of the realm andland holders of thieves, they
received their temporal powersand authority from the King.

Ellen Abels (13:13):
That sounds a lot like the concurrent of forms of
1122, I thought that ended theinvestiture 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 adry run for the Concordia de
bombs, which also was acompromise that recognized the
dual nature of bishops andabbots. German Bishops would be
freely elected by the clergy oftheir diocese, anointed and
vested with the symbols of theirspiritual office by the
presiding Archbishop. The newlyelected bishop would then

(13:45):
receive the so called regalia,the symbols of his secular
office, from the King. This gavethe king a de facto beetle on
the selection of a bishop. Inpractice in England in the 12th
century, clergy elected bishopsand monks elected their abbots
in cooperation and with theapproval of the King, the monks

(14:06):
of an abbey would petition theking for his permission to hold
a free election. And that bringsus to Jocelyn. Finally, yeah,
finally, we have gotten toJocelyn breakland. And before I
talk about Jocelyn, let me Talka little bit about the abbey
itself.

Ellen Abels (14:44):
Merry St Edmunds was one of the wealthiest and
most important monasteries inmedieval England. It's in
Suffolk, if I remembercorrectly, not

richard abels (14:51):
merely in Suffolk, the Abbot, by grant of
King Edward the Confessor, wasthe virtual ruler of much of the
western portion of. That countyyabi possess secular
jurisdiction over eight and ahalf 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 issimply another word for an
English county. The 100 courtheard 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 privatelandowner as a legal franchise,

(15:32):
and that was true for the abbeyof Bury St Edmunds. Within these
hundreds, the abbey heldextensive estates, but the
jurisdiction of the abbotextended beyond the Abbey's
lands to the lands held byothers in the 11th through 13th
centuries. The so called Libertyof the abbey was absolute over

(15:52):
the town of Bury St Edmunds, theabbots court heard and dealt
with criminal cases and leviedand collected fines outside the
town and the rest of the eightand a half hundreds, the abbot
collected dues owed to the kingand held court much like a shire
court, but the free men of thesehundreds were also liable to pay
suit in the Shire court, and thesheriff would sit beside the

(16:16):
abbot in the abbots court incases that involve pleas of the
crown that is high justice. Andhigh justice meant murder,
theft, harboring murders,harboring thieves. The sheriff
of Suffolk and the abbot splitthe sheriff's fee. The abbot not
only had jurisdiction in thetown of Burg St Edmunds, the

(16:36):
abbot also collected an annualrent from the burgesses of the
town. This rent, however, wasfixed by custom at 40 pounds a
year. The main wealth of theabbey came from its extensive
holdings of land and profits ofjustice. The abbot and the monks
each had separate landedholdings 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 ofthe town of Burra St Edmunds
called Franklin hence Jocelyn ofbreakland. He entered the abbey
as an office in 1173 when he wasin 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 Latinclassics at the time? Well,
actually,

richard abels (17:27):
probably what you think of it. He scatters
quotations and tag lines forRoman authors such as Horace and
Ovid throughout the Chronicle.
And it probably he does it inorder to show off his education.
He prided himself as being whatwas then called a literatus,
when one who is well versed inClassical Latin literature, and
from his more catty commentsabout his fellow monks and their

(17:49):
lack of education, he was morethan a bit snobbish about his
own education. He wascommissioned to write a monastic
chronicle by Abbot Samson, andworked on it from 1190 until his
death in 1202, unsurprisingly,Abbot Samson comes across as the
hero of this work, not that thehis Abba see was without its

(18:09):
bumps. Samson, at one time oranother, pissed off his fellow
monks, the knights who heldlands from the Abbey, the town's
businessmen, the bishop andabbot of the rival Abbey of Ely,
and even King Richard theLionheart, and that was over
disputed night service in theking's attempt to name the ward
for an heiress to one of theabbeys land holdings. Jocelyn

(18:31):
usually sides with the abbot inthese disputes, presenting the
abbot as a shrewd advocate forthe Liberty and possessions of
the Abbey, knowing when to exerthis authority, when to seek
compromise and when, ifconfronted 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 whenJocelyn 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 theother side of the issue. In a
dispute between the monks andthe abbeys gatekeeper, Abbot
Hampton sided with thegatekeeper against the monks.
The Gatekeeper had been pursuinglawsuits 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 administrativeoffices of the monastery, okay,
sellers, sacris, that type ofthing. Thank you. In the absence
of Abbot Samson, the monksresponded by withholding some of
the gatekeepers wages. TheGatekeeper complained to Samson,
pointing out that they hadexceeded their authority and

(19:42):
showed contempt for the abbot byfailing to seek His approval.
Samson ordered the wages to berestored, and when the seller,
speaking on behalf of the monks,refused, Samson ordered that the
seller be prohibited both foodand water until he gave in
Jocelyn. Writes. Quote, thenthere was great uproar in the

(20:03):
COVID such as I had never seenbefore, and was said the Abels
command should not be obeyed.
End. Quote, this was in defianceof the rule of st Benedict that
enjoined absolute obedience onmonks in all things, unless
clearly against the will of God,the younger monks took the lead.
The quarrel became so heatedthat it was rumored that the

(20:24):
monks planned to kill the Abbot,which resulted in Samson
excommunicating the ringleaders. 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 issomething that was perhaps
rumored, and I think it was usedby Samson to get to get control
over a problem that was gettingout of hand. Monks plotting to
kill their abbots is, strangelyenough, a medieval trope.

(21:02):
Abelard claimed that when he wasAbbot of a Breton monastery and
tried to restore the rule of stBenedict good order and
discipline, his dissatisfiedmonks plotted to kill him. I
think that Samson was upping theante by saying that he heard
this rumor. It also gave him anexcuse to stay away from the
Abbey. At any rate, theexcommunications led to a

(21:25):
meeting of the abbot with themonks. The reunion was careful,
and the monks humbly apologizedfor disobedience. Samson lifted
the excommunications. Everybodyembraced each other in tears and
gave kisses, and Samson thensecretly ordered that the
gatekeeper be restored hiswages. Okay, the monks,

(21:45):
according to Jocelyn, turned ablind eye to this, as they
quote, at last comprehended thatthere is no Lord who does not
wish to domineer and that astruggle is dangerous when it is
started and waged against astronger and more powerful
adversary. End quote, but allthat said, Jocelyn had no doubt

(22:06):
that Samson was the right man tohave 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 1180and it occurred after the
election was necessitated by thedeath of Abbot. You the first in
11 Abbot. You had served asAbbot 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 toawait a letter from the King
granting them the right of freeelection. 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 freeelection. What was a bit unusual
was how long this vacancy was.
You would think that Robert wasthe natural successor to Hugh,
but Jocelyn is at best lukewarmabout Robert's handling of
things during the vacancy, hewrote of him that he, quote,
concentrated all his attentionon preserving tranquility within

(23:24):
the convent and upholding ourchurch's reputation for
hospitality toward guests. Hisaid was to keep everybody and
everything on an even keel bynot upsetting or angering
anyone. And because of that, hechose to ignore faults that
ought to have been corrected inthe conduct of the be the anti
Aires. Because of this, manyconsidered the prior as head of

(23:47):
the convent to be culpablynegligent. Later, when the time
came to elect an abbot, ourbrother monks reminded one
another of this end quote, okay,yeah. So here we have a
situation in which the Abbey isbeing 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 Jocelynis saying not just that he's a
lame duck, that he wasn'twilling to make hard decisions
because there was going to be anelection down the road, but that
he was an obentary Obey theinterior 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 obedientTerry who abused his position
even more than Robert. NowWilliam as saris was responsible
for the general care of theChurch, which included acquiring
and maintaining everythingneeded to conduct services. Is

(25:00):
if a new building was required,the sacras was one or one of his
sub sacras oversaw itsconstruction. The sacraments.
Was also in charge of the Abels,valuables, its sacred vessels,
its vestments. Jocelyn wrotethat William, quote, behaved
during the vacancy as though hedid not care what he did with

(25:21):
his department, neither payingany debts nor putting up any
buildings, yet foolishlysquandering income from
offerings and gifts. End, quote,The only check in him was his
sub sachrist Samson, yeah, thetwo ended up in a public feud
and unsurprisingly became rivalsas candidates to be the new

(25:42):
Abbot. This

Ellen Abels (25:43):
place sounds kind of like a snake pit. How did
these people, the monks, goabout selecting candidates? You

richard abels (25:50):
know, it is pretty much like a snake pit.
Jocelyn portrays his fellowmonks as a gossipy and pretty
catty bunch. For example, Hetells us, when one monk said
that a brother is a good monk, acommendable person and knows a
great deal about the rule andthe customs of the church,
another monk would point outthat that said brother was

(26:12):
poorly educated and didn't knowScripture well enough to preach
a sermon in the chapter or tothe people At festivals, when
another monk suggested adifferent brother as being a
perfect Abbot, candid for Abbot,because he was wise in both
ecclesiastical and secularmatters, correct in the
observance of the rule, had goodjudgment and was well educated

(26:34):
and eloquent. Another brother,brother pointed out that
whatever this particular monkthat whenever this particular
monk had held a position ofauthority, he had become
impatient with his fellow monks,really spoke or consulted with
them, and seemed to prefer thecompany of laymen. Another
brother, who came from a wealthyfamily but was of suspect
character, told a group of usthat he heard many monks tell

(26:59):
him, Sir, you ought to be thenext Abbot. Nobody has acquired
more land for the abbey thanyou. Nobody has overseen the
construction of such beautifulbuildings you would make a
perfect Abbot. A beautifulAbbot, the brother added that if
he were elected, the first thinghe would do is drive out the
Jewish money lenders from ourtown and then build a beautiful

(27:21):
wall around it to keep theriffraff 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 semitismin England, and Jocelyn account
is riddled with that antisemitism. One of Jocelyn key
objections to the sacrifice washis close relationship to the
Jews of the town and the debtshe incurred for the abbey by
taking out large loans fromthem. One of the first things

(28:00):
that Samson did as avid was topay off those loans. Jocelyn
explained that William the sackswas known as the father and
patron of the Jews, for he gavethem protection. The money of
the Jews were what was depositedwhile William was sacris in the
Abbey's treasury and in Williamscustody. Bruce Saint Evans was

(28:20):
the site of one of the severalblood libels that was raised
against the Jews in the finalcentury. Why am I not surprised
a boy named Robert wassupposedly martyred by Jews?
Nothing really is known aboutthis Robert and I suspect that
the monks of Bury St Edmundswere inspired by the cult of the
boy Martin William in Norwich toclaim that they also had a

(28:45):
victim of vicious Jews. Antisemitism ramped up as
preparations were made for theThird Crusade in 1190 the same
year as the more notoriousmassacre of Jews in Clifford's
tower in York, the townspeopleof 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'tJews legally served to the crown
and an economically valuableasset?

richard abels (29:12):
Yeah, they were.
They were, in fact, really avaluable asset. Now, the church
pronounced that money lendingfor interest is a sin. It's a
sin of usury, but money lendingwas a necessary economic
activity. Because of this, Jews,who were prohibited from joining
craft guilds, became the bankersof the early and High Middle

(29:35):
Ages as serfs of the crown inEngland, France and Germany.
They were an important fiscalresource for kings. Christian
kings could not profit directlyfrom the sin of usury, but if
they needed some ready cash,they could squeeze the Jews
whose property legally belongedto them. Richard responded for
the massacre in Europe by. Name59 of the leading families in

(30:00):
that city for theirparticipation 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 theJew status as kings men against
them. Abbot Samson having paidoff the outstanding debt to
Jewish money lenders andtherefore acquitting himself up
for with the king, responded bypetitioning Richard to allow him

(30:31):
to expel the remaining Jews fromthe 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 allresidents within the abbeys
franchise whoever could only oweallegiance to the Abbey,
therefore the king would eitherhave to transfer the Jews to the
abbey or allow the abbey toexpel 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 wasspeaking 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 beengenerous to him, was nonetheless
less worthy of being Abbot thanAnother brother, even though he

(31:20):
liked perfectly, liked thatother brother less. Of course,
his sentiments were not kept inconfidence. As a result, Jocelyn
wrote that even to the presentday, he was unable fully to
regain his benefactor and formerfriend's approval, either by
appealing to him or by makinggifts to Him. Wait a

Ellen Abels (31:39):
minute, monks giving each other gifts. I mean,
I thought that monks weren'tallowed to have personal
belongings.

richard abels (31:44):
No, I was struck by that. Also, you're absolutely
right. The vow of poverty is anessential part of Benedictine
monasticism. And Bury St Edmundswas a Benedictine monastery the
sixth century. Rule of stBenedict is crystal clear about
this quote, without an orderfrom the Abbot, no one may
presume to give, receive orretain anything as his own,

(32:08):
nothing at all, not a book,writing tablets or stylist, in
short, not a single item.
Especially since monks may nothave the free disposal even of
their own bodies and wills fortheir needs, they are to look to
the father of the monastery,that's the Abbot, and are not
allowed anything which the abbothas not given or permitted. All
things should be the commonpossession of all, as it is

(32:30):
written, so that no one presumesto call anything his own. That's
acts 432, end quote, becauseSaint Benedict himself came from
a gift giving society. His ruleexplicitly forbids bugs from
exchanging gifts with oneanother. The gifts that an abbot
gave to kings and counts tocourt their favor came from the
monastery's endowment, not fromhis personal belongings. Jocelyn

(32:54):
tells us approvingly how AbbotSamson regained lost favor from
King Richard by giving him agift of hunting dogs and horses.
Hunting

Ellen Abels (33:06):
dogs and horses. I mean, I know that monks came
from aristocratic families, butsurely that's not monastic life.

richard abels (33:14):
Yes, I know hunting doesn't sound like it
should have been a monasticpastime, but as you said, most
monks came from aristocraticfamilies and shared in that
culture. Clerical reformers fromthe Carolingian period on
occasionally denounced thepractice as a secular pastime
unsuitable for monks. Thepractice was sufficiently common

(33:34):
in the early 14th century towarrant the attention of Pope
Clement, the fifth, one of thecandidates of the Council of the
end of 1412, explicitlyprohibits, quote, All monks from
hunting and fowling or beingpresent at a hunt, nor should
they presume to have huntingdogs or birds of prey in their
keeping of the monastery or inthe houses in which they live or

(33:55):
within the cloister. End, quote,this was a clash of cultures,
but as the rule of st Benedictdid not explicitly forbid monks
from hunting or fouling, and ifthe abbot either did not object
or led the hunt himself, monkssaw nothing wrong in doing so.
It shouldn't be all thatsurprising that Abbot Samson
maintained a kennel of huntingdogs and a stable of horses.

(34:17):
After all, this was an abbot whowore armor and led the abbeys
knights on campaign. I wouldnote that the gift of the dogs
and horses was initiated byRichard in a letter to the
abbot. This was, I believe, afriendly gesture on the king's
part. As I said, gift giving andgift exchange were mechanisms
for creating, maintaining andrestoring friendships. The king

(34:41):
responded to the abbots gift,appropriately, dispatching a
warm letter of thanks, alongwith his own gift to the Abbey,
a precious ring given to Richardby Pope Innocent third, soon
after Richard's coronation,Jocelyn was far less approving
of the gifts that William thesacras had been spreading around
during the. Vacancy to win favorand support for his candidacy.

(35:03):
Those gifts also came from thecoffers of the monastery, but
you have a really good point.
Jocelyn was part of the giftgiving society, and thought in
those terms. As a monk, he wouldnot have had the personal
property that he could give tohis erstwhile mentor to regain
his friendship, but there wereother forms of gifts that he
could give. Jocelyn tells usthat he drew up a list of all

(35:26):
the churches belonging to themonastery as a gift, and he uses
the term gift as a gift to AbbotSamson. Okay,

Ellen Abels (35:36):
now I get it.
Thank you. This sounds likeelecting a department chair in a
contemporary college oruniversity, at least from the
pettiness. What is the oldcliche? The reason academic
politics are so vicious isbecause the stakes are so small.

richard abels (35:49):
Yeah, it does have a lot of things in common.
From personal experience, I cantell you that departmental
elections can result in long,lasting animosities, and tenure
professors are about as immobileas cloistered monks. There are
differences. Most. Most facultymembers don't want to be chair.

(36:10):
Often, senior professors need tobe persuaded to run. The rule of
st Benedict states that monksowe absolute obedience to their
abbots, and believe me, that'snot 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 acouple of years.

Ellen Abels (36:37):
Okay? So now we have the monks gossiping away
with each other about who shouldbe the next Abbot. How was the
election actually conductedafter a

richard abels (36:44):
vacancy of a year and three months, King Henry the
second sent to the prior alettering that the prior and 12
members of the Abbey, who wouldspeak on behalf of all the
months, should appear in hispresence 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 theAmerican electoral college. What
guidance did they receive fromtheir 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 accompanyhim, and he was to choose them
on the basis of their life andconversation and that they would
never swerve from what wasright. The prior thereupon
nominated six from one side ofthe choir and six from the

(37:38):
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 thechapter. However, was not
disposed to leave the matterentirely in the hands of these
13 monks. They chose six otherof their number, again, men of

(37:59):
the best reputation, who wentapart and with their hands on
the Gospels, selected threebrothers of the convent who they
believed to be most fit to beAbbot. The names of these three
men were then committed towriting, sealed up and given to
the 13 who were to go before theking.

Ellen Abels (38:20):
Okay, okay, I have the world's most basic question
here, who actually went to Henrythe second, was it the prior and
the 12? Or was it the six? I'mconfused. Okay,

richard abels (38:32):
those six men stayed within the monastery.
Those six men were chosen bytheir fellow monks because they
were considered to be reallyprudent, and they knew all the
monks, and they knew who wouldhave the best qualities to be
the next Abbot. Instead ofchoosing the next Abbot, what
they did is they chose three menwho they believed would be

(38:53):
worthy abbots. They wrote theirnames down, sealed the letter,
handed it to the delegation tocarry with the delegation to the
king. Now, the delegationdoesn't know who those three men
are until they would open upthat letter in

Ellen Abels (39:11):
front of the king.
So the idea is, in a perfectworld, the 13 would have
supported at least one of thethree 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 benominations to the king, and the
king would select which of thoseof the three he would want. And
then the 13, on behalf of theentire monastery, would formally
elect that did they have toelect 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 anabbot in late 12th century
England, even a so called freeelection, was a negotiation
between the monks of the Abbeyand the king Bury St Edmunds was
not only a wealthy Abbey. City,but its Abbot possessed broad
jurisdictional authority withinSuffolk. King Henry the second

(40:06):
wanted to be certain that thenew abbot was a man that he
could work with and whom hecould trust. He didn't want to
repeat the mistake he had madetwo decades earlier in elevating
his Chancellor, St Thomas Becketto the arch Episcopal see of
Canterbury. The real concernthat the monks had was that the
king would decide to choosesomeone, another monk, from a

(40:31):
different Abby, to be theirAbby. That's what they were
really afraid. Because the onething that they really didn't
want is to have an outsiderruling over them. So the
delegation of 13 were furtherinstructed in the case of
necessity, to accept anyone oftheir own convent dominated by

(40:53):
the king, but to return toconsult 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 notan outsider. So how did Samson
become Abbot?

richard abels (41:08):
Okay, so the deputation came before the king
at Waltham, one of the Hampshirematters of the Bishop of
Winchester, and it appeared onthe 21st of February, 1182, the
king told them to give him thenames of three monks of their
Abby worthy of being the Abbot,the prior asked permission to
withdraw briefly so that theycould consult together. The 13

(41:29):
went into a private chamberwhere they broke the seal on the
letter and read the names of thethree monks nominated by the six
brothers in that order, yeah,but to quote Jocelyn, the
ranking embarrassed the SeniorBrothers, and everyone was
surprised that you was both anelector and one of the
candidates. However, becausethey could not make a major
alteration, they agreed simplyto change the order of the names

(41:53):
putting you first because he wasthird prior, Roger the seller of
second and Samson third. Endquote. In other words, what they
did is they rearranged the listso that it would reflect the
hierarchy of offices within themonastery. The oath that the 13
had taken forbid them to alterthe names, but they did change

(42:16):
the order according to conventprecedence and placed Samson
last, because he was the mostjunior of all of these, because
he didn't know any of hisnominees. King Henry the second,
ordered the 12 monks to nominatethree others, and they named the
prior who was present, thesacrist William, who was

(42:37):
present, and a third senior monkwho is also present. The king
then, quote, for the good of thekingdom, ordered them to
nominate three monks from othermonasteries, which they did on
the proviso that if the kingselected one of them, the monks
would have to return to themonastery to get the chapters
approval. The king then askedthem to remove three names from

(42:59):
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 werepresent, removed their own names
from consideration, and it camedown to the prior and Samson the
12 recommended Samson Wow, KingHenry the second, accepted the
choice, but warned the monks.
Quote, you have presented Samsonto me. I am not acquainted with

(43:26):
him. If you have presented yourprior, I would have accepted Him
as I already know him, but Iwill do as you wish. However,
take care by the very eyes ofGod. If you do wrong, I shall
personally take it out on you.
He then asked the prior if hewas in full agreement with this,
and the prior replied he was,and that Samson was far worthy,

(43:50):
worthy of the order that hehimself was, huh, yeah.
Whereupon Samson, the newelected Abbot, prostate himself
in front of the king, kissed theking's feet, then hurriedly got
up and hastened to the altar,chanting, have mercy upon me, oh
God. His head up and hisexpression unchanged. When the

(44:12):
king saw this, he said tobystanders, by God's eyes, I
love that oath, by God's eyes,this man considered himself
worthy to take charge of theAbbey. Is that

Ellen Abels (44:22):
a is that a complimentary criticism? That's
a compliment? Okay, so much forno low episcolar. Yeah. Okay,
never mind. I can say why.
Samson was a successful Abbot.
He knew how to suck up to thepowerful, and he had a gift for
being theatrical. Yep,

richard abels (44:37):
he did. The Bishop of Winchester gave Samson
the Episcopal benediction atMiro on 28th of February, on
Palm Sunday, that was 20 thefirst of March in that year,
Samson was fought, was solemnlyreceived by the convent. Homage
was done to him on the fourthday of Easter by barons and
Freeman who held lands from theconvent or who. Within the

(45:00):
franchise, okay, Bury St Edmundsfor the 30 years of his rule,
Abbot Samson proved himself tobe a superior of unflinching
integrity and of exceptionalbusiness capacities, at least as
presented by Jocelyn. Jocelynportrayal of Samson led the mid
19th century English essayistThomas Carlyle defined him a

(45:22):
model for modern Britishleadership. He wrote of Samson
in his book of essays past andpresent, which was published in
1843 quote, no one will accuseour Lord Abbot of wanting
worldly wisdom. Do interest inworldly things? A skillful man
full of cutting inside livelyinterest, always discerning the

(45:43):
road to his object, be itcircuit, be it shortcut and
victoriously traveling forwardthere on Nay. Rather, it may
seem from Jocelyn narrative, asif he had his eye all but
exclusively directed onterrestrial matters, and was
much too secular for a devoutman. But this too, if we examine
it, was right, okay. For it isin the world that a man, devout

(46:06):
or other, has his life to lead,his work waiting to be done. The
basis of abbots Samson, we shalldiscover was truly religion.
After all, returning from hisdusty pilgrimage with such
welcome as he's as we saw, hesat down at the foot of Saint
Edmund shrine, not a talkingtheory that no a silent

(46:27):
practice. End quote forCarlisle, what made Samson a
model for 19th century Britishleadership was his practicality,
his willingness to do what wasnecessary for the best of his
Abby. In other

Ellen Abels (46:46):
words, Carlyle believed that that the that the
Anglican Church was the Toryparty at prayer he really did.

richard abels (46:54):
In fact, he ends that chapter with criticism of
the of the excessive piety ofthe Methodist.

Ellen Abels (47:02):
Okay, yeah, okay, okay. So, I mean, so Carlisle is
enthusiastic about a man whofollowed the massacre of Jews
within his jurisdiction with theexpulsion of all the survivors,
yeah, but okay, from a 12thcentury 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? Ican't, I can't do that. But
Samson was a successful Abbotfrom a 12th century viewpoint,
among the qualities that mostimpressed Jocelyn is Samson's
refusal to appoint his oldfriends and companions to the

(47:44):
Abby's offices, insteadselecting men whom he thought
best capable of doing the job.
This is exceptional that isalmost always appointed their
friends and enrich their familymembers. Yes, this is not what
Samson did. Okay, Jocelyn wasreally impressed by that. Others
were a little bit lessimpressed. Jocelyn tells us that

(48:06):
many of the of his fellow monks,uh, branded Samson as irascible,
unsociable, arrogant, and calledhim a Norfolk trickster.
Apparently, if you're inSuffolk, being called a Norfolk
Trickster is a really bad thing,okay, most importantly, for
Jocelyn and for the monks ofBury St Edmunds, Abbott Samson

(48:27):
protected the possessions andprivileges of the Abbey, of
course, impressed Jocelyn wouldprobably have said, is this the
right man to have become Abbot?
Well, of course, he was theright man, because the monks
were guarded by guided by theHoly Spirit in choosing him as
their Abbot. But given howrarely Jocelyn actually writes

(48:50):
about religion and piety, I'mnot sure whether he would even
have believed that. What I wouldtake away from this story about
the election of a 12th centuryEnglish Abbot is the seriousness
with which the monks approachedthe choice of the man who would
rule them and their Abby and thesteps they took to winnow out
those who would promote theirown interest over the good of

(49:11):
the Abbey. This was not a simplepopularity contest. If it had
been Samson, who even Jocelynmitts could be cold and Stan
offish would probably not havewon, and now afraid needs to be
the last word for this episode.
I hope you will join us forfuture episodes, and I hope that
however you feel about how thiselection turned out, you'll be

(49:35):
able to accept those resultswith equanimity. That is, after
all, what democracy is allabout. 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 inelizabeth new jersey, carved
into the marble above the top ofthe entrance was folks populate.
Folks day, the voice of thepeople in. Is the voice of God,
which I thought was hilariouswhen you consider that the
people of New Jersey had stormedthe 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 Americandemocracy and the Vox Populi, I
think I'll leave it with asaying 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.