The British Church in the 14 Century

In the summer of 1381 a large group of peasants led by Wat Tyler stormed London. These peasants, unwilling to pay another poll tax to pay for an unpopular war against France and discontent with unfair labor wages, freed prisoners from London prisons, killed merchants, and razed the home of John of Gaunt, considered the creator of the poll tax. Perhaps more important, however, was the rebels attack on the Temple, a symbol of the British Church’s wealth and power. The rebels burned the charters, legal records of the Church’s vast land-holdings, stored within the Temple. This act - a religious building being targeted of in rebellion against a mismanaged, abusive government - shows an acknowledgement by the peasantry of the British Church’s political power. The Church’s involvement in politics, though making it more central in a person’s life, also left it more vulnerable to corruption and subsequent criticism.

The Church in Britain was a medieval “cradle to grave” institution. People were born Christian, received Baptism shortly after, married under a Christian auspices, and were given their Christian last rites shortly before they died. This type of existence is talked of in literature of the time, such as in Langla

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People knew where they were in the calendar year from the announcement of holidays. The people’s reaction was heard loudly near the end of that century and would be heard even louder in the coming religious changes that loomed ahead. 34)

This kind of comment demonstrates the deep central role that the Church played in a British person’s life. The Church emphasized a focus on the afterlife, that worldly wealth and sinful actions could play against a person during their judgment. These are a just a few examples of how the Church played a central role and had a political importance on a more local level. not to be bolder before you break the Ten Commandments. no doubt you are though wise, and possess enough of the world’s wealth to buy yourselves pardon and papal Bulls - but on that dreadful day when the dead shall rise and all men shall come before Christ to render up their accounts, then the sentence shall state openly how you led your lives, how well you kept God’s laws, and everything you have practiced day by day. This failure by religious officials to live up to their not only high moral, but also political position is mentioned in Langsford’s Piers the Ploughman:

“’Many chaplains are chaste, but lack charity. 34):

“‘I am the Holy Church,’ She replied, ‘You should recognize me, for I received you when you were a child and first taught you the Faith. The legitimacy of such actions was probably called into question by many of Britain’s people.

Approximate Word count = 1475
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