? After learning the news, John Darby, Bishop of Lincoln, was furious. In the next six months, the bishop wrote to the local parish several times in succession, asking them to cancel the worship activities in Lawrence's cemetery, which he clearly pointed out was superstition. In Europe in the14th century, bishops have the right and obligation to guide the religious activities of clergy and laymen. When folk religions disagree with the official opinions, folk activities are always easily classified as superstitions and cancelled. This time, however, not only the people of peterborough, but also the local clergy resisted the bishop's orders. They privately regard Lawrence as a "saint" without official certification.
? Christianity in the Middle Ages was not a unified religious organization as it is today. Besides popes and clergy everywhere, there are also different religious organizations and forms among the people. Scholars point out that most of the history and documents of Christianity we see today are recorded by elite scholars and clergy in history, and these official Christian cultures are very different from unrecorded folk Christian cultures. Therefore, when the Bishop declared the sacrifice in Lawrence's cemetery as "superstition", it meant that the incident would completely disappear from the official records. However, the long-standing anger of local people and grass-roots clergy could no longer be suppressed, and they launched a vigorous resistance movement. A thrilling struggle not mentioned in historical documents. From the preserved personal letter from Bishop John, we can restore the general outline of this event.
? The abbot and his servant
? Gao Fulei, the abbot of peterborough, is a local spiritual leader, secular authority, judicial officer and big landlord. His St. Benedictine Church started as an ascetic monk, and by the14th century, it had accumulated a lot of land and wealth, and had extensive power over religious and secular affairs within its jurisdiction. Like the second son of other princes and nobles in medieval Europe, Gao Fulei was sent to a monastery to study and become a priest. 1299 was appointed as the abbot of the abbey, which was recognized and rewarded by King Edward I of England of England. According to records, after he took office, he vigorously carried out infrastructure construction and decoration, expanded temples and built many temples and manors. The energetic dean often hunts and is keen to entertain guests in beautifully decorated monasteries.
? However, by the beginning of 13 13, the gossip about the dean began to spread. The bishop was reported, and Gao Fulei knew the physical characteristics of four women in his territory. Gao Fulei allowed thieves to transfer their property from the church to one of his estates. There are also rumors that he once instructed prison guards to torture prisoners, resulting in accidental death. The most terrible rumor is that the dean put his soul in danger, defiled his faith, and created a terrible scandal like death-an obscene cruelty with his servant Lawrence of Oxford.
? 13 13 On February 23rd, Bishop John personally presided over a hearing on the reputation damage of Gao Folei, which was called Compurgation. At the hearing, the person accused of reputation damage should openly listen to the charges against him; Then, he will publicly swear to the public to refute the accusation. On the same day, Gao Fulei did not show up, but sent an agent to appear in court for him. His agent denied all the charges against Gao Fulei after the formal oath, and then several respected "trustworthy people" testified in court, all of whom provided testimony to prove the innocence of the dean. Bishop John accepted the testimony of all the witnesses and declared that the character of Dean Godfrey was beyond reproach and his reputation as an abbot was restored.
While the dean was temporarily relieved, his servant Lawrence was in great trouble. Peterborough's religious court and secular court tried the theft of church manor at the same time. Two months after the Bishop declared Godfrey rehabilitated, a jury in peterborough Sok decided that Lawrence was the thief who moved the church property to the manor. Therefore, the royal judge ruled that Lawrence had committed serious crimes, including robbery and theft. The other 14 people who were tried with Lawrence helped him transport or collect stolen goods, but they were all acquitted in the end. 1331On April 23rd, Lawrence was put into prison and hanged soon.
Lawrence's death did not bring peace to the dean. On the contrary, the rumor that Lawrence was killed by Gao Fulei spread quickly. 1313 may 14, the bishop had to come to peterborough in person. He summoned all the members of the monastery to hear the charges against the dean. The accusation this time includes that the dean manipulated Lawrence's death penalty. The priest testified that the dean had confessed to him: "I know Lawrence's wife's physical characteristics and gave her three clothes." Dean Godfrey himself swore his innocence before the Bishop. A number of monks also testified and strongly supported the dean's innocence. On May 26th, the Bishop issued a formal letter signed by himself, declaring the dean Gao Fulei innocent and restoring his reputation again.
Folk sage
No matter how you evaluate Lawrence, you can't see that he has the potential and possibility to become a "saint". However, after his death, he was regarded as a folk saint. From June 13 13 at the latest, Lawrence's cemetery has become a sacred place for people to hold religious sacrificial ceremonies. He himself is informally regarded as a "saint". After the bishop defined this activity as "superstition" and presided over two hearings to declare the dean's reputation innocent, this kind of folk sacrifice showed no signs of abating. This shows the people's strong dissatisfaction with Dean Gao Fulei and their determination to fight back. The root of this religious and social crisis lies in the decline of the Pope from the early Middle Ages. At that time, clergy at all levels and princes and nobles in the jurisdiction moved frequently, and the authority of the Pope and the old rules of the church were seriously challenged and ignored. The church Simony phenomenon is rampant. Many people get clergy positions at all levels by paying a lot of money, and take strict tax policies to collect money after taking power. At the same time, the canon of the private life of clergy was also broken. Many clergy openly marry and have children, support their wives and children with the property of the church, and even worse, give the public property of the church to their sons for inheritance. Unmarried clergy also take concubinage, commit adultery, patronize brothels, and the strict abstinence of the canon is like decoration.
The chaos of church life has aroused a lot of dissatisfaction from all walks of life, and the call for papal reform has gradually strengthened. However, at that time, the Pope was at a low tide, and he was willing to reform the church but unable to reform it. The lower clergy and ordinary people who suffered greatly from it were oppressed by the heavy tax burden. They look forward to reform and a "saint" to save them. I don't know what happened after Lawrence's death. In short, the desire for change makes people believe that there is an epiphany in heaven, and Lawrence's graveyard is a place to listen to God's voice. The discerning masses believe that the bishop's words and deeds show that he is not interested in investigating the truth of the rumors about Gao Fulei, and he just wants to use his power to calm the situation.
? be punished
? When the Bishop went to peterborough in May, he noticed that there were dissidents among the clergy. In his letter in August, he sternly pointed out that the church strictly forbids monks to form parties and engage in intrigue, because this will break the harmony and stability of the church and cause turmoil in secular society. Lord John singled out two monks, William of Wharton and Jeffrey of Waddington, for openly disobeying the bishop's orders and supporting people to worship in Lawrence's cemetery. The two men also spread rumors in their own parishes, saying that the bishop sheltered Godfrey and damaged the reputation of these two adults. The bishop said that their words and deeds proved that they were enemies of regional peace. However, the bishop's criticism not only failed to make them turn over a new leaf, but soon more junior monks and priests joined the team that violated the bishop's instructions and slandered Gao Fulei.
Therefore, from June131311day, the bishop began to summon monks and priests who disobeyed orders to come before him for questioning, hearing and punishment. Some people were excommunicated, others stayed in the church, but were punished by corporal punishment. There is no evidence to find out about expulsion. It can be learned from your letter that * * * five clergymen and one civilian were subjected to corporal punishment. Three priests were punished for standing in front of the church in the center of the town for three consecutive Sundays in the cold January, facing the whole town. Dressed in white robes, with bare heads and shoulders, they held the cross over their heads with their hands and accepted public criticism. The civilian was punished by standing in the noisy market for three days in a row, taking off his coat and showing his head, shoulders, arms and legs. He was punished for holding the cross in one hand and the whip in the other. The priest in the church picked up his whip and explained to the audience why he was punished when he whipped his body. In addition, these four people have to go barefoot to the cathedral in Lincoln for seven years in a row to make a pilgrimage and repent.
? In this way, the archbishop finally announced that the church had successfully stopped this superstitious activity, discouraged local clergy from confronting their superiors and restored local peace. We have reason to believe that the sacrificial activities in Lawrence's cemetery have not stopped for a long time, and his status as a "saint" in people's minds should have existed long ago. Because later, some songs officially defined as "rumor songs" became popular in Petrograd, and these songs alluded to the Lawrence incident. In a word, medieval Europe, where politics and religion were integrated, was called the "dark age", and Lawrence's suspected unjust case was a typical case to prove "darkness". Fortunately, this dark day didn't last long. From the papal reform in the early Middle Ages, the power struggle between the pope and the Roman emperor, to the retranslation of Greek classics into Latin and the continuous development of scholars, European society finally moved towards modern civilization.