The “Danse MaCabre” in Richard Daye's “A Booke of Christian Prayers (1581)”: Prescriptive instruction to promptly prepare for death

Table of contents :
1498496.pdf
Thesis - Final Draft - Front Matter 7:12
Thesis - Final Draft - 7:12

Citation preview

THE DANSE MACABRE IN RICHARD DAYE’S A BOOKE OF CHRISTIAN PRAYERS (1581): PRESCRIPTIVE INSTRUCTION TO PROMPTLY PREPARE FOR DEATH

A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts

Amanda Jane Chura Indiana University of Pennsylvania August 2011

UMI Number: 1498496

All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent on the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion.

UMI 1498496 Copyright 2011 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.

ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346

© 2011 by Amanda Jane Chura All Rights Reserved

ii.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania The School of Graduate Studies and Research Department of History

We hereby approve the thesis of

Amanda Jane Chura

Candidate for the degree of Master of Arts

______________________

_________________________________________ Lynn A. Botelho, Ph.D. Professor of History, Advisor

______________________

__________________________________________ Steven Schroeder, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of History

______________________

__________________________________________ Irene Kabala, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Art History

ACCEPTED

________________________________________ Timothy P. Mack, Ph.D Dean School of Graduate Studies and Research

iii.

_____________________

Title: The Danse Macabre in Richard Daye’s A Booke Of Christian Prayers (1581): Prescriptive Instruction To Promptly Prepare For Death Author: Amanda Jane Chura Thesis Chair: Dr. Lynn A. Botelho Thesis Committee Members: Dr. Steven Schroeder Dr. Irene Kabala This research focused on Richard Daye's 1581 publication of A Booke of Christian Prayers, an overtly Protestant document. Specifically, this study looked at how images were used as an educational tool in prescriptive literature. The illustrations in the danse macabre of A Booke of Christian Prayers reflected and reinforced changes to the English religious culture surrounding death and the dead. Printers utilized such images of death to teach viewers about how good Christians should live. The danse macabre instructed sixteenth-century people on the importance immediate and sustained preparation in order to have a good Protestant death. A numerical analysis of the social standing, age, and gender of the danse macabre figures revealed that Daye printed A Booke of Christian Prayers for men who occupied professional and middling positions. Such imagery instructed Christians to quickly incorporate these changes into daily practice because Death could appear at anytime to anyone.

iv.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am grateful to Dr. Lynn A. Botelho for her patience and guidance through the entire research process. I would also like to thank to my other committee members, Dr. Steven Schroeder and Dr. Irene Kabala, for their assistance in the completion of this project.

v.

CONVENTIONS

Quotations from original sources retain the original spelling and punctuation. The letter “f” is replaced with “s” where appropriate. Occasional clerical errors have been corrected without notation.

vi.

CONTENTS

Chapter

Page

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................1 Images in Late Sixteenth-Century English Religious Culture.........................................1 Importance of Death in the Theological and Doctrinal Changes from Traditional Christianity to Protestantism.........................................................................8 Artistic Culture, the Danse Macabre, and the Transfer to Protestantism.......................22 “Reading” Images in Late Sixteenth-Century England..................................................32 A Booke of Christian Prayers (1581): The Danse Macabre as a Demographic Perspective......................................................................................................................41 I

PRESCRIPTION FOR ENGLISH PROTESTANTISM................................................46 Book Overview...............................................................................................................46 Protestant Instructions for How to Live.........................................................................49 Good Protestants Mirror Christ and Exhibit Virtue in Everyday Life...............49 Scenes from Christ’s Life...................................................................................50 Christian Values..................................................................................................53 Death and the Danse Macabre...........................................................................66

II

THE DANSE MACABRE: A PRIME PRESCRIPTIVE CONSTRUCTION.................74 The Cause of Social Stratification: Economics and Demography..................................72 The Language of Social Stratification............................................................................82 Social Sorts and the Danse Macabre..............................................................................87 The Professional and Middling Sorts..................................................................91 The Poor..............................................................................................................95 Burial and Remembrance for the Dead: Protestant Charity and Self-Preservation...................................................................................102 The Nobility and the Gentry..............................................................................103 Tudor Royalty....................................................................................................106

III

THE DANSE MACABRE: THE AUTHORITY OF AGE AND GENDER...................108 The Family: A Microcosm of the State Government.....................................................108 Age and Gender in the “Danse Macabre”.....................................................................111 Adult Men..........................................................................................................111 Women and the Family......................................................................................115 Young Adults.....................................................................................................118 vii.

Young Adults and Gender................................................................................120 The Elderly......................................................................................................124 Infants and Children........................................................................................128 A Multi-Dimensional Authoritative Hierarchy ..........................................................130 CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................131 A Booke of Christian Prayers:A Prescriptive Tool.....................................................131 Further Study: Protestant Funerary Sculpture in the “Danse Macabre”.....................136 Print Collecting and Prescriptive Album-Making.......................................................137 REFERENCES...........................................................................................................140 Primary Sources..........................................................................................................141 Secondary Sources......................................................................................................142 APPENDIX A: FIGURES & GRAPHS......................................................................150

viii.



INTRODUCTION Death has always been a central theme in traditional Christian art, yet England’s Reformation intensified concern over the fate of people’s souls. Protestant Reformers were attempting to eliminate traditional Christian practices in order to establish widespread adherence to the new English Protestantism. To contribute to the reforming effort, English printers published books with text and images to aid both the literate and the illiterate in the transition to Protestantism. Images in Late Sixteenth-Century English Religious Culture Art always played an important role in the dissemination of Biblical stories, Christian theology, and church doctrine, so it was wise for the Protestant Reformers to adapt existing visual programs as they introduced an altered religious culture. English art of the late sixteenth century strengthened and dispersed ideas about how to prepare for death that would satisfy the lay population as well as the Reformers. In doing so, early modern Protestants clearly recognized the power of print to spread the reformed message. One notable publication, A Booke of Christian Prayers (1581) by the printer Richard Daye, encompasses most of the major changes that Martin Bucer’s work on Christian rule and Calvin’s theological stance on predestination would bring to daily life and religious practice in

1



England.1 Morbid illustrations in the danse macabre of A Booke of Christian Prayers reflect and reinforce the changes in English religious culture surrounding death and the dead. Publishers utilize images of death to teach viewers about how good Christians should live life.2 These eerie images also provide prescriptive instruction on Protestant doctrine and theology to the public. Specifically, the danse macabre instructs people on the importance of immediate and sustained preparation in order to have a good Protestant death. By reminding the English laity of the dangers of unprepared and unexpected death, English Christians would be inspired to make a greater effort to improve their spiritual standing during life. Based on a numerical analysis of the social standing, age, and gender of the figures present in the danse macabre, Daye printed A Booke of Christian Prayers for men who occupied professional and middling positions. Professional men such as the doctors, lawyers, judges and entrepreneurs such as the merchants and the artisans could afford to purchase a large book and

1

Martin Bucer supported John Calvin’s doctrine of predestination and rejected the idea that good works alone could provide salvation. Although Bucer never created a “readily teachable and learnable dogmatic system” like Calvin, his determination to unite varying theological stances made his ideas easily adaptable to many Christian viewpoints. Bucer’s argument for the reinstatement of the “rule of Christ” in all kingdoms supported the authority of the monarchy as long as they used their position of power to set an example of piety. In Bucer’s De Regno Christi, he “...described the relationship between temporal rule and the rule of Christ as one of mutual submission: just as he who is subject to Christ’s rule - the Christian, in other words - obeys government and therefore finds a place for himself within the existing political and social orders, in the same way do those who govern, wherever their place in government may be, submit themselves and their political power to the rule of Christ.” Bucer’s ideas provided an ideal standpoint for Elizabeth I’s religious acts of reform since it held the potential to satisfy both traditional and Protestant Christians and maintain authority over the realm. Martin Greschat, Martin Bucer: A Reformer and His Times, trans. Stephen E. Buckwalter (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004),252, 240. 2

M.A. Overell, “The Reformation of Death in Italy and England, Circa 1550,” Renaissance and Reformation 23, no. 4 (September 1999): 8. See also Philippe Ariés, The Hour of Our Death, translated from the French by Helen Weaver (New York: Vintage Books, 1981), 110. 2



they held the most influence at the local level, especially in small and tight-knit communities.3 The local officials and assorted tradesmen had the responsibility of providing aid to growing number of poor sorts. If affluent Englishmen viewed images of death, and were thus moved to prepare for their own end by adhering to the prescribed tenets and moral behaviors of Protestantism, then these men would help the poor while simultaneously preparing for their own good death. The proper use of images for religious purposes presented a diverse set of arguments both for and against the utilization of Christian imagery by the English Protestant church. There was disagreement between people who thought that religious reform should change the way images were used and those who believed that images should be eliminated altogether from ecclesiastical usage. 4 Some people, including Martin Luther and his followers on the continent, concluded that the use of images in both two dimensional paintings and three dimensional sculpture, was acceptable as long as it was not substituted for proper worship of the true and only God.5 Still, others went to the extreme opposite and argued that any likeness of saints, martyrs,

3

Christopher Brooks, “Professions, Ideology and the Middling Sort in the Late Sixteenth and Early Seventeenth Centuries,” in The Middling Sort of People: Culture, Society and Politics in England, 1550-1800, eds. Jonathan Barry and Christopher Brooks (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994), 116, 113-5. The professions, including doctors, lawyers, judges, and clergymen, were as much, if not more, affected by the attitudes and needs of the middling sorts of people. The professional man was guided by political ideologies and political agendas from above in the social hierarchy. But, professionals relied on patronage from rich entrepreneurs so they had to please both the ruling elite and wealthy commoners. The varied social backgrounds and apprenticeship based training placed “the professional occupations within the social world of the merchant, the artisan and the yeoman farmer, as much as within that of the aristocracy and gentry.” Brooks, “Professions, Ideology and the Middling Sort,” 113-5. 4

Margaret Aston, England’s Iconoclasts, Volume I: Laws Against Images (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988), 34.

5 Aston,

England’s Iconoclasts, 34. Martin Luther states that idolatry is not just a simple act of worshipping before an image. To qualify as idolatry, a man or woman believes that something or someone other than God is capable of providing assistance or blessings. Martin Luther, Luther’s Large Catechism: God’s Call to Repentance, Faith and Prayer The Bible Plan of Salvation Explained, trans. Prof. John Nicholas Lenker, D.D. (Minneapolis: The Luther Press, 1908), 47. 3



and other Biblical figures tempted the faithful to sin by worshiping anyone other than Jesus or God.6 Less fervent English Protestants simply hid their images out of respect to the changes to Protestant worship or to avoid persecution while others completely destroyed objects related to traditional Christian worship.7 In response to canon laws instituted to address the use of visual representations in religious service books in 1550, “others, defiantly zealous, were all too ready to take license from the new law. The history of iconoclastic enactments reads throughout like a game of leapfrog; as the law moved forwards, so the image-breakers took another jump ahead.”8 Still, it is obvious from the great number of publications rich in both text and illustrations that the Reformers saw the potential that printed images held for converting the population to new rituals.9

6 Aston,

England’s Iconoclasts, 34; Furthermore, according to John Calvin, a significant distinction between images and relics, which were closely associated with the intercessory powers of the saints, did not exist. John Dillenberger, Images and Relics: Theological Perceptions and Visual Images in Sixteenth-Century Europe (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 14. 7 Aston,

England’s Iconoclasts, 135. Those who simply hid images are called iconmachs while the people who destroyed images are referred to as iconoclasts. Ibid. 8

Aston, England’s Iconoclasts, 7, 267, 269. When Reformers denied the doctrine of transubstantiation they also rejected the use of images. The supposition of the mind’s eye was central to the belief that what was invisible in the visible could be visualized by the mind and turned into a spiritual reality. So, imagery was “central to the reception of the sacrament...” especially for the sacrament of transubstantiation. Those who believed that Christ was actually present in the bread of the eucharist would then also believe that saints were present in the images made of them. Aston, England’s Iconoclasts, 7. 9

The Protestant justification for using images to teach ideas about faith may be connected to John Wycliffe who cited Gregory the Great’s letter to Bishop Serenus of Marseilles “...which justified pictures as the writings of the unlettered...” as he concluded that “ pictorial teachers of the right kind could stir the minds of the faithful to a more ardent devotion to God.” Wycliffe did, however, believe that it was necessary to warn the laity of the danger of idolatry before showing them images. Aston, England’s Iconoclasts, 99, 101. 4



The English reforming laws established during the sixteenth century attempted to eliminate idols in art because of Protestant interpretation of the second commandment.10 The first of God’s ten commandments instructs the faithful to worship one and only God. It explains that Christians should not worship false gods. The second commandment states that His children must not “...make thee no graué images, nether anie similitude of things that are in heauen aboue, nether that are in the earth beneth, nor that are in the waters vnder the earth.”11 Therefore, in order to be loyal to God, Protestants concluded that avoidance of idol worship was paramount to true faith.12 The text provided in the first and second commandments was separated and altered by the Protestants so that there was a greater emphasis on the sin of idolatry than in the older decalogue still used by Roman Catholics.13 When Elizabeth I took the throne, her Thirty-Nine Articles for 10 Annabel

Wharton describes the main differences between the terms icon and idol in her chapter included in part one of an edited book Icon & Word. Wharton states, “An icon is a work of art or of craft that represents an accredited form of spiritual power in a dubious manner. It occupies private or public space and alludes to the individual or communal devotion of those with whom an audience of Western intellectuals share their most recent spiritual traditions. The icon is a worthy subject of theological and semiological, as well as art historical, research, as this book suggests. An idol is a work of art or craft that represents a discredited form of spiritual power in a licit manner. It occupies private or public space and alludes to the practices of those cultural, if not spiritual, traditions have been embraced by Western intellectuals. Those who make idols have not realized that their gods are false.” Annabel Wharton, “Icon, Idol, Totem and Fetish,” in Icon & Word: The Power of Images in Byzantium, edited by Antony Eastmond and Liz James (Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2003), 6,7. 11

Exodus 20:4 (The Geneva Bible).

12

Idol worship was always heavily debated and unanimously discouraged by Christian leaders. The actual disagreement was over whether or not the use of images in worship inadvertently caused people to revere such icons. The term icon itself, to refer to images made in a way that makes them represent Christ’s human nature and were believed to hold the material presence of a person, started to emerge in Byzantium around the fourth century (common era) and were in their definitive form by the sixth century. The use of the word icon, distinct from the word idol, did not happen in Western churches, so it is important to distinguish between the two terms when discussing images from western Christendom. Around 730 CE, the Byzantine emperor Leo III adopted a strictly iconoclastic position on the use of icons. Leo III’s decree was reversed, however, by the Council of Nicaea between 780 and 813. Shortly after the Council of Nicaea asserted its support for the use of icons, around the year 845, the Eastern Orthodox church declared that iconoclasts were heretics. “The failure of iconoclasm was described in subsequent Byzantine history as the Triumph of Orthodoxy and the year 843 marked the firm establishment of the use of icons within the ritual and devotional practices of the Orthodox church.” Robin Cormack, Icons (London: The British Museum Press, 2007), 9. 13 Aston,

England’s Iconoclasts, 344, 372. The Greek Eastern Orthodox church considered the second commandment concerning graven images as an entirely separate rule from the first. The medieval Western Church combined the first two commandments into a singular concept. 5



the Church of England permitted militant iconoclasm while her injunctions provided “greater tolerance towards imagery.”14 Elizabeth made her orders regarding images to protect and preserve specific kinds of images, especially those like funeral monuments which were made for memorial purposes. Elizabeth maintained some of Mary’s earlier decrees when she protected images from unauthorized iconoclasm in a 1560 statute. 15 At the same time, idolatry became one of the “deadliest of sins” during the Reformation and this central issue was “deeply engraved on the English conscience.”16 The laity knew that there was a right and a wrong way to look at religious images. Generally, as described in the Elizabethan Homilies, the more realistic the image, the more of a threat it posed for idolatry. The realism of three-dimensional figures threatened the church because, as Margaret Aston shows, ...men are not so ready to worship a picture on a wall, or in a window, as an embossed or gilt image, set with pearl and stone. A painted story or history in two dimensions, delineating many figures, was more capable of teaching its viewers and less likely to

14 Aston,

England’s Iconoclasts, 303, 305. The twenty-second article, Of purgatory, states that “ ‘The Romish doctrine concerning purgatory, pardons, worshipping, and adoration of images as well as relics, and also invocation of saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of scripture, but rather repugnant to the word of God.’ ” Church of England, “The Thirty-Nine Articles, 1563,” in Religion and Society in Early Modern England: A Sourcebook, eds. David Cressy and Lori Anne Ferrell (London: Routledge, 1996), 65. Although Elizabeth I put great effort during the first few months of her reign to eliminate the church images that Mary had restored, Elizabeth still kept a crucifix in the royal chapel which seemed to contradict her official position. Elizabeth cannot be deemed an ardent iconoclast like the conservative Protestants of her regime. Margaret Aston, The King’s Bedpost: Reformation Iconography in a Tudor Group Portrait (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 97. 15 Aston,

England’s Iconoclasts, 314-15, 341. Aston points out, “With the notable exception of Edward VI...the Tudor monarchs appear to have been united in holding out against the iconoclasts, trying to restrain the destroyers and safeguard the existence of at least some imagery. One can explain their attitude on the grounds of social security, but...it was also a matter of religious inclination. Henry VIII and Elizabeth I had more in common with Mary than is sometimes allowed for: given the choice, they preferred some of the comforts of ancient ritual to the brilliant nakedness of the new Word.” Aston, England’s Iconoclasts, 341. 16

Aston, England’s Iconoclasts, 343. The image controversy was further exacerbated in the early 1560’s when the Council of Trent further cemented, and took even further, the usefulness of images in Christian worship and education. The Council’s ruling went against what iconomachs and iconoclasts had spent the last few decades fighting over. In response, on February 19, 1565, John Day published A Godly and Necessary Admonition of the Decrees and Canons of the Council of Trent. Day’s publication criticized the Council of Trent for what he called errors “ ‘repugnant unto the holy Scripture’. ” Aston, England’s Iconoclasts, 46. 6



induce idolatry than the single free-standing sculpture-even though both were ultimately abused.17 For this reason, Elizabethan England utilized images in the form of drawings, paintings, and especially prints in order to educate the laity about their new beliefs and responsibilities. 18 Correspondingly, memento mori type images grew in popularity.19 Illustrations dealing with the subject of death exhibited the heightened responsibility that Protestants placed on an individual to have a “good” or “proper” death. 20 English Reformers needed to produce what was essentially Protestant propaganda to acquire widespread acceptance of new Christian practices. The reformation took a long time to take hold in England. Medieval traditions and attitudes frequently intersected with the new Protestant practices. Protestant propaganda worked because it often only needed to make slight changes to the words and images associated with traditional worship. The danse macabre, for example, presented a similar argument to both Roman Catholics and Protestants: it was necessary to be prepared for death at all times.

17 Aston,

England’s Iconoclasts, 405.

18

Paintings could cause idol worship as an increased mastery of perspective and realism during the fifteenth through seventeenth-centuries made the human form a reflection of the divine. Woodcuts, engravings, and printed media were rarely associated with relics, so this medium was the safest option for the Protestant Reformers. Dillenberger, Images and Relics, 16. 19

Nigel Llewellyn, The Art of Death: Visual Culture In The English Death Ritual c. 1500-c.1800 (London: Reaktion Books, 1991), 19. 18

Phillipe Ariés provides a wide survey, now mainly discounted, on death in the western world from the early middle ages to the beginning of the modern world. His work provides a good starting point for research on death as Ariés surveys the elements of a “good” versus a “bad” death in what he refers to as the change from the “tame” death to the “untamed” death. He shows that it is impossible to separate practices and attitudes towards death by definitive beginning and ending dates. For a discussion of the transition of ideas regarding what constitutes a “good” death during the late medieval and early modern periods, see chapter three, “The Hour of Death: The Final Reckoning.” Ariés, The Hour of Our Death, 5-406, 95-139. Paul Binski describes the complexities and often contradictory meanings in comparisons of “good” deaths versus “bad” deaths in medieval culture. See Paul Binski, Medieval Death: Ritual and Representation (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996), 33-50. 7



Importance of Death in the Theological and Doctrinal Changes from Traditional Christianity to Protestantism The Protestant Reformation altered the traditionally accepted “...attitude of the living towards the dead.”21 Traditional historiographical accounts of the English Reformation argue that the practices and traditions of Catholicism were quickly eliminated and Protestant practices were incorporated into all English religious practice immediately following the state’s official declaration of an independent church.22 On the contrary, long-standing attitudes and ideas about the nature of death were not easily removed and replaced. It was thus expedient for the Protestant Reformers to adapt old visual programs to promote the new theological system. Some historians of the English Reformation contend that most English people were resistant to accepting the changes to traditional Christian practices and that medieval Catholic practices persisted in England throughout most of the sixteenth century.23 Acknowledgement of 21

Llewellyn, The Art of Death, 26-7.

22 An

important traditional account of of the “quick” Protestant Reformation in England was given by A.G. Dickens. Dicken’s survey of the English Reformation concluded that the Reformation in England was more or less completed by the end of Edward VI’s reign. A.G. Dickens, The English Reformation, 2nd Edition (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1991), 1-461. Eamon Duffy rejects Dicken’s conclusions in his historiographical survey of the English Reformation printed in the Renaissance Quarterly. Eamon Duffy, “The English Reformation After Revisionism” in Renaissance Quarterly 59, no. 3 (Fall 2006): 4. 23

These include several major studies of the English Reformations. Christopher Haigh ed., The English Reformation Revised (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 1-229; Christopher Haigh, English Reformations: Religion, Politics and Society under the Tudors (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993) 1-367; Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, Traditional Religion in England 1400-1580. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992), 1-654; J.J. Scarisbrick, The Reformation and the English People (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1984), 1-203. Peter Marshall discusses the historiography of Reformation scholarship in an introduction to his own focused study of the change of the English death ritual in post-Reformation England. Peter Marshall, Beliefs and the Dead in Reformation England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 1-5, 1-343. At this point in the scholarship of the English Reformation, particularly studies of the attitudes and acceptance of the Protestant agenda in England throughout the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the terms revisionist and post-revisionist are too broad to describe a particular set of findings. Even within the historiographical categories of revisionist and post-revisionist, the methodologies and conclusions are often in conflict. The revisionist studies are sometimes criticized because they produced extreme polarities between concepts of the quick and the long English Reformation because it mainly followed only the resistance to the reforming policies while post-revisionist research has started to weed out the processes that permitted certain Protestant changes to take hold on the local level. The purpose of study on the local level is to avoid making over-generalizations for the entire country, but rather to slowly build a more accurate picture of the stages of Protestant assimilation into the traditional Christian practices. Eamon Duffy, “The English Reformation,” 3-6. 8



this resistance is important because the use of printed images, such as those in A Booke of Christian Prayers, as a prescriptive tool for proper spiritual preparation further indicates the persistence of old traditions and attitudes in late sixteenth-century English religious culture. If most people subscribed to Protestant beliefs, then publishers would not have needed to distribute so much prescriptive literature about how to be a good Christian. Both Christopher Haigh and Eamon Duffy argue that Protestant practices were not immediately accepted in England. Haigh and Duffy both assert that Protestantism took at least three decades of assimilation to convert the majority of the English people.24 With rituals surrounding something as potentially frightening as death and the hereafter, changes to rituals that most English Christians thought would keep them from the fiery pits of hell proved to be even more challenging than, for example, eliminating allegiance to Rome. Nevertheless, religious law set by Elizabeth I and the Church of England required that the English laity and parish clergy members accept and follow new guidelines for proper worship and preparation for death. The Thirty-Nine Articles formed the first full and official English doctrine of the reformed faith and required for the first time that all clergy members, and all future clergy, to subscribe to its doctrine.25 During the meeting of Elizabeth’s first convocation, one of the first undertakings

24

The plural use of the word reformation is used in reference to the various stages of reform that took place in the English Church over the course of the sixteenth century. Haigh, English Reformations, 12; Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, xxxiii. 25

Edgar C.S. Gibson, The Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England (London: Methuen, 1898), 31-43. The nature of the change to official doctrine as described and evidenced by Gibson further proves the necessity for prescriptive literature to aid the laity in understanding the alterations to doctrine and theology. It also exhibits the slow and sometimes backward-moving nature of the English Reformations. 9



was the revision of Edward VI’s extremely Calvinistic Forty-two Articles.26 Elizabeth and her council retained the Protestant doctrine which erased Purgatory and intercessory prayer, instituted predestination, and acknowledged only two true sacraments. In keeping with the prevailing Protestant thinking, the Church of England retained baptism, the eucharist, and eliminated extreme unction.27 After her excommunication in 1570, Elizabeth found it necessary to solidify the English articles of faith in a further revision of the Articles of 1563 to the final Thirty-Nine Articles of 1571.28 According to the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England, extreme unction was no longer considered a sacrament. This changed some of the formal aspects of those who attended

26

Cressy and Ferrell, Introduction to “The Thirty-Nine Articles, 1563,” in Religion and Society, 59. Elizabeth managed to keep a lot of her articles somewhat ambiguous in order to win over both sides of the religious divide. For example, the article on predestination avoids discussion of the fact that predestination meant that some of the population is predestined to hell. Ibid. 27

While most of the Protestant Churches on the Continent retained only two of the seven traditional sacraments, baptism and the eucharist, England initially kept the sacrament of penance during the reign of Henry VIII. The Ten Articles of 1536, drafted by the Convocation with the aid of Cromwell, was a transitional document which allowed some Protestant ideas and maintained some traditional rituals of the medieval church. For instance, penance was still considered a sacrament, but the term transubstantiation was eliminated from discussion of the real presence of Christ in the eucharist. In terms of images, this was the first official English stance against the worshipping of images. Prayers to saints, however, were still permitted, as long as the praying person did not think that the saint was more capable of addressing their request than Christ. This was also the beginning of the elimination of purgatory since the abuses of this doctrine, such as selling indulgences, were forbidden although these articles allowed prayers for the dead. In between the Ten Articles of 1536 during Henry VIII’s reign and Edward VI’s Fortytwo Articles of 1553, several revisions to the official English articles of faith went back and forth between Catholic and Protestant doctrine and theological stances. The Forty-Two Articles of 1553, however, made the most drastic changes to the English Church, but the purpose of these articles was to clear-up controversial points of faith in the newly Protestant English church rather than to “form a complete system of theology.” Perhaps the most obvious purpose of the Forty-Two Articles was to point out the problems and outright heresies the English followers of Bucer and Calvin saw in the doctrinal and theological stances of the Medievalists and the Anabaptists. The FortyTwo Articles were never really enforced, however, because Edward VI died before Parliament could approve the document. For this reason, Mary never had to repeal the Forty-Two Articles. Edward VI’s Articles contained the most extreme Calvinistic language which was later revised and incorporated in a more tame version for the thirtynine Elizabethan Articles started in 1563. Gibson, The Thirty-Nine Articles, 3-4, 20-21, 29-30. The maintenance of three rather than just two of the seven sacraments in Henry VIII’s Ten Articles of 1536 is also noted by Cressy and Ferrell in Religion and Society, 2, 17. 28

Gibson, The Thirty-Nine Articles, 31-43; Cressy and Ferrell, Religion and Society, 59-70. It is possible to compare these articles in digital form. See also Church of England, Articles whereupon it was agreed, by the archbishoppes and bishoppes of both prouinces and the whole cleargie, London, 1563, Early English Books Online (hereafter EEBO), STC #10038.3; Church of England, Articles whereupon it was agreed, by the Archbishoppes and Bishoppes of both prouinces and the whole cleargie, London, 1571, EEBO, STC #10039. 10



the dying, particularly the roles of the priest, family and friends surrounding the deathbed. 29 Without the ministrations of a priest, family and friends now had to keep their expiring loved ones from losing faith at the moment of death.30 Other changes also included the acceptance of the King (or Queen) as the supreme head (or governor in the case of a Queen) of the Church, and the abolition of what the Protestant Reformers often called the “superstitious” practices of medieval Christianity.31

29

Gibson, The Thirty-Nine Articles, 585.

30

Lorraine Attreed, “Preparation for Death in Sixteenth-Century Northern England,” The Sixteenth Century Journal 13, no. 3 (Autumn 1982): 63-64, 66. The increased responsibility of family and friends at the deathbed began even before the Protestants eliminated the deathbed sacraments which where penance, extreme unction, and the eucharist. Scholars of the ars moriendi and the black death have noted that priests were often unable to be present at the deathbed during times of plague. Ibid. See also Austra Reinis, Reforming the Art of Dying: The ars moriendi in the German Reformation (1519-1528) (Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2007), 3. The family and friends at the deathbed provide the only comfort available to the dying person who faces attacks by the devil during moments of extreme weakness. The crowd around the bed supports the dying by guiding him or her through confession, in which the individual must truly grasp the seriousness of each sin and be genuinely sorry, giving communion, and then finally exclaiming true faith in God by saying, “ ‘Into thy hands, O Father, I commend my spirit’ ” in the last dying breath. Beach Langston, “Essex and the Art of Dying,” The Huntington Library Quarterly 13, no. 2 (February 1950), 114-115. In Protestantism, the devil’s main role became that of tempter. Nathan Johnstone, “The Protestant Devil: The Experience of Temptation in Early Modern England,” The Journal of British Studies 4, no. 2 (April 2004): 175-176. Also look at chapter seven “Like people, like priest” in Colin Platt’s King Death for a discussion of how the plague adversely affected the lot of the parish priests by both physical and spiritual corruption and elevated the role of the laity in the deathbed rituals. Colin Platt, King Death: The Black Death and its aftermath in latemedieval England (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1996), 97-119. 31

Gibson, The Thirty-Nine Articles, 768, 568. The changing of the term “supreme head” to “supreme governor” was more acceptable to the Reformers since it gave Elizabeth I the power to approve changes to the Church but not to make them. The term “superstitious” was included in the language of the Thirty-Nine Articles and the humanist Erasmus is also quoted using the term “superstition” to describe some of the Popish rituals of Catholicism, particularly in regard to invocation of the Saints. Ibid. For further discussion of the declaration of the King or Queen of England as “supreme governor” see Gibson, The Thirty-Nine Articles, 32, 59, 762, 765, 766. 11



The elimination of practices such as the invocation of the saints or the veneration of relics were the most difficult changes to enforce.32 In the Roman Catholic tradition, the anxiety produced by death’s unpredictability was countered by the promise, often included within the prayers in books of hours, that they could count on the Virgin, or a host of other saints such as St. Katherine, St. Barbara, or St. Erasmus, to “appear to them and give them warning of approaching death.”33 The intercessory power of the Virgin Mary, for instance, is described in the Golden Legend. In one particular paragraph, a sinful clerk envisions his damnation by God, but his devotion to Mary through recitation of the Hours of the Virgin compelled the mother of Christ to plead with God to give the clerk a second chance.34 When the clerk woke-up from this “dream” he vowed to change his ways and devote himself to a virtuous life.35 Many arguments in favor of such intercessory prayer were squashed when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in England. Henry’s decision to eliminate monastic houses was motivated by his need for both money and the absolute allegiance of his subjects.36 The 32

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 11-368. Duffy focuses on this resistance to dropping of what the Reformers referred to as “superstitious” practices within the smaller parish communities in the first section of his book. Ibid. Scarisbrick’s overview of local attitudes towards the spread of Protestantism reveals initial insight into the backfire that many local Reformers faced by pushing too much change too fast. J.J. Scarisbrick, The Reformation and the English People, 175-176. Haigh argues in English Reformations that the campaigns for Protestant conversion during the Tudor reigns were “haphazard and had only limited success.” The English Catholic church was not really guilty of the same abuses as the medieval churches on the Continent, particularly Germany, so those arguments against adhering to “popish” rites did not inspire lay rebellion against the existing religious establishment. Haigh, English Reformations, 12-13. Peter Marshall asserts that “...though intense hostility to purgatory and to traditional intercessory practices were at the very heart of the Reformation movement, deeply held beliefs about the respect due to honorable forebears, and the debts of ‘charity’ due to the dead in general, along with firm intuitions about the role of commemoration in the articulation and preservation of the social order, did much over the longer term both to blunt radical iconophobic impulses and to soften rigidly predestinarian attitudes.” Peter Marshall, Beliefs and the Dead, 315. 33

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 310-311.

34

“The Nativity of Our Lady,” in The Golden Legend or Lives of the Saints, first English edition by William Caxton, 1483, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/index.htm (accessed September 9, 2010). 35

“The Nativity of Our Lady,” 47.

36

Stanford E. Lehmberg, The Reformation Parliament (London: Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1970), 221. 12



suppression of the monastic houses prevented people from asking the monks to pray on their behalf.37 In fact, Henry VIII and Cromwell took special care to make sure that all of the wealth accrued by the crown’s acquisition of the monastic properties was handled by a newly created King’s revenue court.38 More often than not, the religious reforms from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I were designed to satisfy more than one agenda. For instance, A Booke of Christian Prayers aimed to both instruct good religious practice as well as to support the poor relief scheme, Bearing this in mind, the Spanish Ambassador to the English court, Eustace Chapuys, observed that Henry VIII and Cromwell probably viewed the abolition of the doctrine of purgatory as an opportunity to “...more easily confiscate endowments devoted to prayers for the dead.”39 Taking away the reassurance of a second, or even third or fourth, chance for redemption by prayers for souls in purgatory left a major void in the English death ritual. The Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory allowed survivors to essentially interact with the dead through permeable boundaries between heaven and earth.40 Purgatory provided Christians with the hope that once dead they could still get help from their surviving community members in order to secure release from purgatory. Purgatory developed into a widespread belief in late medieval Christianity that a geographic space existed in between the heaven and earth that provided souls

37

Lehmberg, The Reformation Parliament, 221. Greater allegiance to Henry VIII was further solidified by the creation of new offices and the sale of lands to gentlemen who hoped to get into the higher ranks of nobility, closer to the King and his administration. Glenn Richardson, Renaissance Monarchy: The Reigns of Henry VIII, Francis I and Charles V (London: Edward Arnold Ltd., 2002), 151. 38

Lehmberg, The Reformation Parliament, 228. The King’s revenue court, also called the Court of Augmentations, created many new administrative offices which served both the interests of both the monarchy and nobility as well as the middling sorts because in exchange for career promotion and ownership of the monastic lands, Henry VIII and his successors hoped to have greater influence and involvement at the local level. Social mobility, although desired by the middling sort, was still not supported by the aristocracy, so the middling sorts who purchased these lands and titles did not overthrow the existing nobility. Richardson, Renaissance Monarchy, 151. 39

Lehmberg, The Reformation Parliament, 3-4, 221.

40

Llewellyn, The Art of Death, 26-27; Marshall, Beliefs and the Dead, 13. 13



with one last chance to pay for their sins and then move on to heaven, as long as the living remembered to do their part in this process as well. The distinction between hell and purgatory, as it was understood by Christians in the late medieval English church, emphasized the idea that souls in Purgatory “abide in the charity of God.”41 Essentially, Protestant theology placed a barrier between the “quick and the dead.”42 It is possible to see why the elimination of the intercessory powers of the saints and purgatory with the introduction of Protestant theology and practices into the Church of England fundamentally changed the way that people approached death. Without purgatory, spiritual preparation during life became even more important, if not vital, to the salvation of Christian souls. 43 Reformers realized that late medieval Christians were intensely concerned for “the safe transition of their souls from this world to the next, above all with the shortening and easing of their stay in purgatory.”44 The Protestant leaders knew that they must appeal to what was most important to the Christians of England if they were to have any chance of controlling the English Church. Prior to the Reformation, people accepted that spirits could intercede in the lives of friends or family who did not help them get into heaven. The dead sometimes appeared before men and women as supernatural ghostly apparitions which crossed the barrier between life and death. The church explained that these apparitions appeared to the living “under the special

41

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 348.

42

Llewellyn, The Art of Death, 29.

43

The article “On Purgatory” (article xxii) states, “ ‘This life is the time of man’s probation; and no countenance is given to the view that a ‘second chance’ or time of probation, is to be looked for after death.’ ” Gibson, The ThirtyNine Articles, 552. 44

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 301. 14



providence of God.”45 Such thoroughly ingrained concepts about the nature of death had to be replaced by equally compelling reasoning about what happens to souls beyond the temporal world. Correspondingly, the organization of the traditional English church, as well as the physical structure and layout of the church buildings, reflected this focus on death and purgatory.46 Preoccupation with death was apparent in the rebuilding and decoration of churches, chapels, and colleges which were made possible by the donations of wealthy benefactors. For example, ...the fabric and furnishings of the parish church itself comprised a field of memory, on which parishioners could inscribe a post-mortem presence through the pious donation of objects personalized with names and coats of arms...In the words of Colin Richmond, ‘to walk into a parish church around 1500 was to enter an ante-chamber of purgatory. Almost everything was labelled with the names of local souls who required assistance’...the rood screen, ‘the most important single focus of imagery in the people’s part of the church’, frequently declared the identity of the donor, as did stained-glass windows.47 These “benefactions were prompted by a concern to erect before God a permanent witness to their piety and charity, which would plead for them at the Judgement Seat of Christ.”48 This concern over death was not so much morbid as it was practical.

45

Marshall, Beliefs and the Dead, 15-16. As quoted by Marshall, Thomas More states in The Supplication of Souls that, “ ‘no cuntrey ys there in crystendome in whych he shall not here credably reported of such apparycyons dyvers tymys there sene and apperying.’ ” Ibid. 46

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 301.

47

Marshall, Beliefs and the Dead, 24.

48

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 302. 15



In order to ensure the continuity of society after death, the late medieval parishioner did what they could during life to prepare for the afterlife.49 In essence, death was not more important than life, but rather the incorporation of ideas about death into everyday life elevated the “permanent value of life in the world of time and change.”50 Pre-Reformation, death did not end an individual’s connection to the world; communication was still possible and thus death in the medieval period was merely a transition into a different “age class” rather the the end of a life full of personal meaning and value.51 The persisting medieval perception of the human body’s matter and functions made it even more difficult, if not impossible, to completely to cut-off humanity’s link to the rest of the Christian universe.

49

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 303. Llewellyn explains that the continuity of society, at least the continuation of the existing social structure, depended on adequate financial planning before death. For instance, Llewellyn states, “In early modern England, the inheritance laws were such that to die with no male heir and many heiresses could be disastrous at all social and economic levels. The need for social cohesion and continuity in the face of the disruption which resulted from death - especially from the death of someone like a peer of the realm or a great landowner - was met by the theory of the Two Bodies.” Both the church and the state regulated death ritual in postReformation England. While the church’s regulations for spiritual preparation set out to protect an individual Christian’s natural (physical) “body” and social “body,” the state’s regulations, including laws set for the writing of wills, were used to protect the “bodies politic and economic.” Llewellyn, The Art of Death, 49, 38. Lorraine Attreed describes how family and friends of the dying and the dead ensured that social memory of the deceased was preserved by funerary monuments that included both the family lineage as well as the accomplishments and qualities of the dead person. Attreed, “Preparation for Death,” 64. Ariés explains that it was up to the family, close friends, and sometimes even a servant in the absence of kin to ensure that the memory of a person was preserved by the construction of a tomb and epitaph. Ariés, The Hour of Our Death, 230-233. 50

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 303. Keith Thomas examines how early modern English men and women of all social sorts used various avenues to cultivate value in life, although he acknowledges that most people of this time were more concerned with day to day survival then understanding the true meaning of human existence. Thomas considers six themes which he refers to as some of the “ends of life”. These themes are “military prowess, work, wealth, reputation, personal relationships, and the afterlife.” Most importantly to this research, Thomas argues that fulfillment during life through wealth and accomplishment were essentially means to the ultimate end goal: to be remembered after death. Keith Thomas, The Ends of Life: Roads to Fulfilment in Early Modern England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 2-3, 235-262. 51

Nancy Caciola, “Wraiths, Revenants and Ritual in Medieval Culture,” Past & Present no. 152 (Oxford University Press, August 1996), 7. See Patrick Geary for his original definition of the dead in medieval culture as an “age class”. Geary’s distinction of the dead as another “demographic” of medieval society and his explanation of the existing “gift culture” in medieval society, or the use of gifts both spiritual and physical to balance society, also shows why preparation for death ensured the continuity of society. In the medieval death ritual, the dead left gifts such as land or personal property to their kin through wills, and in return their kin would pray for them to balance the community. Even the giving of familial names to children was considered to be a gift that would subsequently ensure that the existing social order remained in tact. Patrick Geary, Living with the Dead in the Middle Ages (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994), 78, 78-92. 16



The galenic concept of the spiritus, or the physical matter that constituted the human “life force,” extended to the soul so that both medicine and theology were intertwined during the late medieval period, and it became impossible to separate the quick from the dead, even by physical means.52 According to the ancient Greek philosophers, astral and physiological phenomena were connected by the pnuema which could be found in both the earth’s atmosphere and within human reason.53 So, through the thin substance of pneuma, humans were both physically and spiritually connected to the heavenly or celestial bodies through a “universal sympathy.”54 The macrocosm found nourishment from “discharges” of the four elements of the earth, fire, air, earth, and water.55 Since the human came from the heavenly body, the human’s physical body is also made of the four elements which create either good or bad energies.56 The pnuema and the four elements were considered by late medieval and early modern Christians to be present in all humans regardless of biological sex. Still, the understanding of the exact physical boundaries between the living and the dead varied from place to place. Local ideas often complicated the official stance of ecclesiastical

52

Caciola, “Wraiths, Revenants and Ritual,” 9.

53

Matilde Battistini, Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy in Art, trans. Rosanna M. Giammanco Frongia (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2004),108. 54

Battistini, Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy, 108.

55

Battistini, Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy, 108. Tracts on Galen’s humoral theory were distributed in England during the sixteenth century. Printers, such as Thomas East in London, compiled and reproduced Galenic theories on medicine. The four elements of the earth and the four humors (black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood) are charted in Certaine workes of Galens. Galen, Certaine workes of Galens, called Methodus medendi (1566), London, 1566, EEBO, STC #11530. 56

Battistini, Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy, 108. Thomas Laqueur explains the way that the one-sex model, which persisted until the eighteenth century, was a mirror image of the design of the universe: the microcosm of the macrocosm. According to this model, “..the human body...is necessarily subject to death and because of its very material cannot be immortal, at least not physically.” Thomas Laqueur, Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990), 115-116. 17



writers and theologians.57 When these ideas about death were translated from the Latin writers, such as Thomas Aquinas and Albertus Magnus, into the vernacular of a different “semiosphere,” the terminology alone often permitted the very beliefs that the humanists were trying to eradicate to continue in local culture.58 The spiritus connects the body to the soul. After death and until the general resurrection, the dead body may be inhabited by any spirit like a type of “garment” until the soul is reunited with its original body. Nancy Caciola states that, iconographic evidence also suggests a basic parallelism in medieval conceptions of how a human spirit and a demon might use the body: the exit of the human spirit at death was portrayed in precisely the same way as the exit of an unclean spirit in exorcism scenes. Either spirit may leap out through the mouth, the gateway to the body's spiritual system in medieval physiological terms. The body, as some sort of envelope or tool, could be put on by any spirit and used as a means to interact more directly with the tangible world. 59 The deceased were omnipresent in medieval society; the living serviced the dead and vice versa. The dead could be close allies or formidable foes.60 The entire conceptual framework that modeled life, death, and the afterlife within the celestial macrocosm of permeable spaces was redrawn by the Protestants into three distinctly separate spheres: the temporal world, heaven and hell.61 57

Caciola, “Wraiths, Revenants and Ritual,” 11.

58

Caciola, “Wraiths, Revenants and Ritual,” 13-15; The term “semiosphere” was coined by Juri Lotman in her essay “On the Semiosphere.” Juri Lotman, “On the Semiosphere,” Wilma Clark trans, Sign Systems Studies 33, no. 1 (2005): 205-229. 59

Caciola, ““Wraiths, Revenants and Ritual,” 11-12.

60

Geary, Living with the Dead, 2, 5. Geary and Caciola agree that the concept of two distinct belief systems, the “popular” and the “elite” as clearly defined and directly opposing forces does not really exist. Most of the preserved literature regarding the cultural beliefs about death of the medieval period comes from ecclesiastical sources, so it is important to remember that the great diversity of cultural standards and beliefs were often recorded to conform to the writer’s own belief system. It is necessary to compare the formal articulation with the surviving evidence of lived experience. 61

Caciola, ““Wraiths, Revenants and Ritual,” 9. The cosmic system that governed both the material and spiritual worlds was referred to as the macrocosm. The macrocosm, according to Christian theology, is related to the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic philosophical doctrine that placed the Earth at the center of the universe. The macrocosm consists of “a cosmological system of concentric circles formed by the sublunar world and the celestial vault.” Battistini, Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy, 108. 18



The Protestant enclosed the three spheres of the universe, and basically sealed the windows between this world, heaven and hell. Windows between heaven, hell, and the earth, however, did not entirely remove the potential for humans to transcend time and space, to be both present in this world and the next. Accounts of religious liminality continued throughout the early modern period, but the experience in which the normal rules and human roles are suspended was explained by Protestant doctrine as a part of God’s plan.62 A liminal space exists within the universe, so the liminal moment occurs when time and place are aligned with God’s will. Since Christ rules over time, the human will is free from external forces, and the stars are only influential within the boundaries of “God’s providential plan.”63 The dead were no longer a part of the human’s experience with the celestial space and the will of the deceased was replaced by the will of God. Ideas, however, take a much longer time to eradicate, so the memory of the potential impact of the dead on the living, like the Reformation itself, took several decades to take effect on the perspective of English men and women. If God wished to send a message to humanity, He would directly communicate His will to certain individuals, most often the Christian mystics, whose intense spirituality made them ideal vessels for divine interaction. Printed works for private devotional practice, such as Godly Meditations written by the evangelical Protestant preacher John Bradford, signified the power that prayer and meditation provided believers to reach the religious liminal space.64 Godly Meditations contains a table of contents which lists a

62

Bynum, Fragmentation and Redemption: Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion (New York: Zone Books, 1992), 29-30; Battistini, Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy, 16. 63

Battistini, Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy, 16.

64

John Bradford, Godly Meditations vpon the Lords Prayer, the Beleefe, and Ten Commandments (1562), London, 1562, EEBO, STC #3484. 19



variety of recitations that the faithful could use to “see” God’s truths.65 The transition from Catholic to Protestant devotional books did not eliminate the opportunity for the faithful to have a liminal experience.66 The adaptation of divine guidance into the Protestant theology of death bridged old beliefs about spiritual intervention in daily life. The concept of providence “which preordained and governed all events, from quotidian happenings to the watersheds of world history...transcended the confessional divide” that arose between Catholics and Protestants during the great religious schism.67 Protestant theology focused on God’s constant presence and intervention in earthly matters, and John Calvin, a highly influential Protestant theologian, explained the doctrine of providence in several chapters of Institutes of the Christian Religion.68 Divine providence permitted Protestants to continue to seek personal union with God. Contemplation at specific times and in certain places was accepted because all actions and events occur by God’s will. Ultimately, God already knew when he created humans which individual Christians would receive divine grace, so all that humanity needed to do was continually prepare for their final destination, and along the way God may send signs of encouragement. It is important to note, however, that the English Church did not adopt John Calvin’s ideas at full strength. Instead, Reformation England took a more moderate Protestant stance on many of Calvin’s points, often embracing the compromising nature of Bucer’s theological work.69

65

Bradford, Godly Meditations, 3.

66

D. Andrew Penny, ‘Bradford, John (c.1510–1555),’ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, http://www.oxforddnb.com.navigator-iup.passhe.edu/view/article/3175 [accessed September 22, 2010]. 67 Alexandra

Walsham, Providence In Early Modern England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 8.

68

Walsham, Providence in Early Modern England, 9.

69

Greschat, Martin Bucer, 252, 240. 20



Accordingly, the mid-sixteenth century introduction of predestination in England was accompanied by prescriptive writings and images which encouraged the laity to remember the dead for their virtues so that they might mirror the deceased’s virtuosity in their own daily actions. Since the departed were already where they were supposed to be, living men and women should focus on their own salvation. Humans could not change their fate, but virtuous habits in the temporal world were often thought to hint at God’s grace. Money, good deeds, and prayers for the living replaced charity for the dead.70 The moralizing aspect of the danse macabre also transfered to Protestants the fear of a “bad” death which was a theme of the Roman Catholic traditions and the imagery which accompanied this threat of an unexpected death. A “bad” death, or dying without a full and honest proclamation of faith, was even scarier for the Christian population in post-Reformation England as the elimination of Purgatory meant that the Christian would be sent immediately to either Heaven or Hell. 71 Christian teachers needed to reinforce the idea that everyone must be spiritually prepared to die at any moment.

70

Peter Marshall points out that the Protestant Reformers argued that “to pray for the dead...was not merely ‘superfluous,’ but a positively uncharitable act.” This was because once dead, those who are saved are already in a blissful state and do not need help. Marshall, Beliefs and the Dead, 146. 71

Langston, “Essex and the Art of Dying,” 115, 109-111. The final moment did not factor into the doctrine of predestination, however, early modern Protestant Christians still believed that proclamation of true faith just before death prevented the devil from swooping in at the last moment and stealing the person’s soul. Ibid. According to Gerald Broce and Richard Wunderli, the final moment before death often acted as a substitute for purgatory. The final moment “merely condensed purgatory to an instant.” Gerald Broce and Richard Wunderli, “The Final Moment Before Death in Early Modern England,” The Sixteenth Century Journal 1, no. 2 (Summer 1989): 267. 21



Artistic Culture, the Danse Macabre, and the Transfer to Protestantism Easily recognizable images of death eased the transition from traditional death rituals to new ones, especially since they retained the concept that death leveled all social distinctions.72 Human desire to assign meaning or value to life, a reason for living even though death is always eminent, remained unchanged past the medieval period.73 Medieval Christians believed that, in physical death, neither the body nor soul were completely extinguished from existence as the body would be reanimated during the final resurrection and the soul inhabited another realm of the three spheres of the afterlife.74 Although it took several decades for new practices and ideas to be accepted by the majority of the sixteenth-century English population, the literary and visual culture associated with the death ritual in England was transformed to reinforce the reformed ideas regarding death and salvation. Artists, writers, and publishers could adapt old artistic schemes of death to Protestant theology because preparation during life for death was a key point in all Christian

72

Macabre images showed death’s indiscriminate nature. For further discussion of how death levels society, see Ariés, The Hour of Our Death, 112, 116. See also Binski, Medieval Death, 153. Additionally, a comparative study of Thomas More’s Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation, written as he was awaiting trial and execution for charges of treason, and Hans Holbein’s “Dance of Death” prints by K.J. Wilson suggests that More’s discussion of the nature of death was influenced by Holbein’s depiction of Death as unmoved by status or temporal power. Although More died before Holbein’s “Dance of Death” was printed, Wilson shows that More came into contact with Holbein when he arrived in England (with a recommendation from Erasmus). More’s passage about a King meeting Death echoes Holbein’s prints. More writes, “...the grisly cruel hangman death, which from his first coming in, hath ever hoved aloof and looked toward him, and ever lien in await on him, shall amid among all his royalty and all his main strength, neither kneel before him, nor make him any reverence, nor with any good manner desire him to come forth, but rigorously and fiercely grip him by the very breast, and make all his bones rattle, and so by long and diverse sore torments strike him stark dead...” K.J. Wilson, “More and Holbein: The Imagination of Death” The Sixteenth Century Journal 7, no. 1 (April 1976): 51-53. 73

Thomas, The Ends of Life, 2-3. Also, the resistance to changing certain religious beliefs and rituals noted by historians such as Christopher Haigh and Eamon Duffy also indicates that it was always important for people to feel that their actions have greater meaning than just getting from point A to point B on a daily basis. 74

Caciola, “Wraiths, Revenants and Ritual,” 7. 22



theology.75 All Christians preferred a good death. The permanence of human life, even after death, provided structure to maintain social order even during times of crises which often characterized the transition from the late medieval period to the early modern period.76 Prescriptive literature and images played on an enduring devotion to the significance of each human life in the greater universal scheme. Printed text and illustrations continued to explicitly describe how each person fit into God’s plan. Most importantly, this artistic culture of death outlined and explained in great detail how each human being must prepare for death, in a step-by-step order. The emergence of the Ars Moriendi genre of literature and the danse macabre in England during the late-medieval period influenced prescriptive works, such as A Booke of Christian Prayers which outlined many ideas about Protestant preparation for death. The shifted focus from collective to individual judgement during the fifteenth century also eased the transition from group to individual responsibility for spiritual preparation over the course of life.77

75

The exact moment of death as a determinant for salvation was never really a part of either traditional or reformed Christian theology, but the drama described struggle between “good” and “evil” in the final moments remained in both religious death rituals because it eased anxiety about salvation by allowing the believer to have a sense of control in his or her eternal fate. It also gave the English state more social control because, for example, the dying person’s desire to control his or her end actually served as an example to onlookers that it is better to follow the prescribed actions of the church and the state than to risk a bad death. Broce and Wunderli, “The Final Moment Before Death,” 259-260, 275, 273-274. 76

In post-Reformation England, both the church and the state regulated death rituals in order to maintain social stability. While the church’s regulations for spiritual preparation set out to protect the individual or natural “body” and social “body,” the state’s regulations, such as laws for the writing of wills, were used to protect the “bodies politic and economic.” The natural or physical body occupied one space while the other, or the social body, established and occupied “the individual’s place in society.” So, for instance, funeral monuments were used to preserve the social “body” of the deceased. Visual objects, such as the funeral monument, were used to dispose of the corpse “...with a due regard for feelings, and to help the culture take the steps necessary to safeguard the social fabric, thus resisting the challenge that even individual deaths made to the well-being of the community or even of the state.” Llewellyn, The Art of Death, 38, 48-49. 77

Clare Gittings, Death, Burial and the Individual in Early Modern England (London: Croom Helm, 1984), 9-11. Gittings traces the changes that the rise of individualism during the late medieval and early modern period made to the way that English people responded to death. An increased preoccupation with burial and funerals as a way to acknowledge the unique qualities of the deceased was a direct result of the individualization of death in western philosophy. Ibid. 23



Reformers published instructional manuals on how to die well so that more people could aid the dying. In the absence of the clergy, average men and women could guide their dying family members and friends. Death was the subject, but the lessons within books on how to die were really about life, mainly the continuous profession of true faith during life. In traditional Christianity, living well shortened time in purgatory. In Protestantism, a moral life might permit a Christian to experience signs of God’s grace.78 One tract in particular, the Ars Moriendi, or the “art of dying,” was produced between 1414 and 1418 on the Continent. The Ars Moriendi was the most influential and enduring tract on death preparation.79 Englishmen translated the Latin tract into the vernacular shortly after it was first published and it was first widely circulated throughout England in manuscript form.80 Then, with the introduction of printing, English printers were

78

Overell, “The Reformation of Death,” 6. The medieval church promoted individualized preparation for death as a part of a greater systematization of sin. Medieval ecclesiastics started to organize sin into greater and lesser assaults. The Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 decreed that all Christians must confess to a priest at least once a year and perform the prescribed penance in order to remain under the care of the medieval church which held the keys to salvation. The church used scholastic methods to teach the layperson how to identify and describe sin and its consequences. This not only placed more work on the individual, but it also placed the church as a mediator between the sinner and God. Medieval church leaders used “mnemonically clear numerical and diagrammatic structures in literature and images...” in order to direct the death ritual. Subsequently, a genre of literature and art developed in which the sinner played the lead character. Throughout the course of the story, the sinner began to see the error of his ways and repented. This type of writing and imaging eventually led to the creation of the Ars moriendi. How-to books on everything from death, manners and courtly behavior to how-to clean a house (for women) were interconnected as all showed that self-improvement prevented a bad death. Binski, Medieval Death, 37-39. 79

The Council of Constance, held between 1414 and 1418, supported the production of instructional text on godly living. Two types of text on the art of dying were produced, one which taught the laity how to provide support for the dying, the Tractatus artis bene moriendi, and another which shows the faithful how to prepare for their own death, the Ars Moriendi. The Ars Moriendi is most commonly found as a block-book that “consists of eleven woodcuts depicting a series of deathbed temptations of its central character, the dying man, Moriens.” Binski, Medieval Death, 39-40. Austra Reinis examines several German tracts on the art of dying. Reinis discovers that the Ars moriendi produced by the Reformers is a “confident and joyful approach to death” as, according to Martin Luther, good Christians could be assured of salvation. Reinis, Reforming the Art of Dying, 11, 6. It is important to remember, however, that this assurance is not a part of John Calvin’s doctrine of predestination. Still, the aspect of predestination which concluded that some of humanity is destined for damnation was left out of Elizabeth’s ThirtyNine Articles. See also Ariés, The Hour of Our Death, 105-110 and Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 316. 80

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 316. 24



able to produce and distribute full-length, shortened, and even altered versions of the Ars Moriendi.81 Subsequently, the chapter of the Ars Moriendi which discussed the dying man’s temptations, which are pride, faithlessness, impatience, greediness, and despair, was translated into a popular block-book which included eleven pictures with short texts that allowed even the illiterate to understand the significance of the deathbed. 82 It portrayed the deathbed as the centre of an epic struggle for the soul of the Christian, in which the Devil bent all his strength to turn the soul from Christ and His cross...against these temptations the cross and the armies of the redeemed were marshaled to assist the dying Christian. The bedroom became a crowded battlefield...It was a sequence which accepted the reality of the spiritual struggle and the deadly seriousness of the business of salvation, while offering a message of reassurance rooted in a vivid sense of the communion with the saints.83 The communal aspect of the deathbed extended from the saints and the priest to the friends, family, and neighbors of the dying and the deceased. When a person died, there was a sense that they would be on the other side to intercede for the living. 84 Protestants also endorsed such kinship except that now all alliances consisted of family, neighbors and friends on this side of the spiritual divide. Late medieval Christian instruction, as well as later Protestant teaching, embraced the idea that death affected all individuals equally, regardless of social status, so that all Christians 81

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 316. Some English versions of the Ars Moriendi varied from the original block-books made on the Continent with eleven images of the deathbed drama. For example, a book entitled Ars Moriendi by an anonymous author is composed entirely of text with the exception of the title page. The first line of the publication states that it is most important for the dying person “to haue a specyall frende...” in order to die well. Anon, Ars Moriendi, London, 1532, EEBO, STC #788.5. 82

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 317. The five deathbed temptations are listed in an image in the Ars Moriendi which shows the dying man in bed surrounded by the demons. The five temptations are listed in floating ribbons around the demons. Anon, Here begynneth a lytell treatyse called ars moryendi. London, 1506, EEBO, STC # 788. 83

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 317.

84

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 337. 25



should practice regular spiritual preparation for the inevitable end of their life.85 Spiritual preparation was often guided by death-bed books that were published in a pocket-size format so that they could be referenced frequently. Death-bed books outlined the actions and supplied the words that both the dying and the supporting friends and family needed to do and say so that the moment of death would be “good”. For example, ...by showing the sick man the great mercy and grace of God to all repentant sinners and true believers, the comforters fortify him against the separate assaults of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Finally, they administer communion, hear him recite the creed, and exhort him with his dying breath to commend his soul to God in the words of Christ on the cross, "Into thy hands, 0 Father, I commend my spirit." In this last exclamation they all join with a loud voice.86 It was also vital that each person prepare let go of the attachments that he or she had to earthly things, including persons even as close and important as spouse or child.87 This ability to disconnect one’s self from loved ones required great strength and commitment. 88 Fear of an improper death led traditional Christians to put a great deal of thought into preparation for a good death. The priest at the death bed provided both reassurance and support as well as a thorough interrogation of the dying person.89 The priest had the dying Christian confess all of their sins and declare their full trust in the Lord, even if the priest had to frighten

85

Llewellyn, The Art of Death, 19.

86

Langston, “Essex and the Art of Dying,” 113-115.

87

Langston, “Essex and the Art of Dying,” 118. Erasmus recalls the Apostle who spoke to the Corinthians and warned them to “let those who have wives live as though they had none...” Desiderus Eramus, “Preparing for Death: De praeparatione ad mortem,” in Collected Works of Erasmus: Spiritualia and Pastorialia, John N. Grant. trans., (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998), 395. 88

Langston, “Essex and the Art of Dying,” 118.

89 As

previously discussed, the role of the priest was transfered to the family and friends around the deathbed, but the same basic procedure was performed by clergy and non-clergy alike. Attreed, “Preparation for Death,” 63-64, 66. Also look at the changing role of the priest in Platt, King Death, 97-119. 26



them into confession.90 The justification for this intense, and enduring, ritual was the belief that just before death, the devil might take advantage of the weakened state of the dying individual in order to “pluck them from the arms of God.”91 In fact, fear of a horrible demise was so great and widespread that additional treatises on how to prepare for death were distributed throughout both England and the Continent to guide both the laity and the clergy through the process of death. These works, such as Erasmus’s Preparing for Death, translated into English in 1538, explained that fear of death existed because people were weak in faith, did not understand that God’s compassion was never-ending and placed greater love in temporal things than in God.92 Erasmus cites the book of Deuteronomy to explain that God “...never deserts those who have entrusted themselves completely into His care, but ‘guards them as if they were the apple of his eye.’ ”93 Other humanist viewpoints on death are delineated in Thomas Lupset’s Way of Dying Well, printed in England in 1534, and the The Sick Man’s Salve by Thomas Becon first published in 1561. 94 Becon’s treatise takes the form of a dialogue between five men. One man is sick and facing the prospect of death. In the

90

The importance of the Priest’s presence at the deathbed is indicated by lay concern over non-resident clergy members. In those cases, the dying individual may not receive the proper last rites if the clergy member is unable to arrive in time due to living far away from the village. Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 315. 91

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 316.

92

Desiderus Eramus, “Preparing for Death,” 390-394. Anne Boleyn’s father Thomas wrote to Erasmus in 1533 to request that he write something in English about how to prepare for death. Erasmus printed A Book about Preparing for Death in 1534 in Basel and addressed the prefatory letter to Thomas Boleyn with a note that he had already been contemplating such a work before receiving the request. Ibid. 93

Erasmus, “Preparing for Death,” 394.

94

Thomas Lupset, A compendious and a very fruteful treatyse, teachynge the waye of dyenge well written to a frende, by the flowre of lerned men of his tyme, London, 1534, EEBO, STC #16934; Thomas Becon, “The Sick Man’s Salve,” Prayers and Other Pieces of Thomas Becon, S.T.P., Rev. John Ayre, M.A. ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1844), 87-191; Original version also available in digital format, Thomas Becon, The sycke mans salue VVherin the faithfull christians may learne both how to behaue them selues paciently and thankefully, in the tyme of sickenes, and also vertuously to dispose their temporall goodes, and finally to prepare them selues gladly and godly to die. Made and newly recognised by Maister Tho. Becon, London, 1561, EEBO, STC #1757. 27



beginning of this moralizing story, the man called Philemon states, “We are in the Lord’s hand, as the clay in the potter’s, to do with us whatsoever his good pleasure is...” so time is better occupied by accepting God’s will through prayer.95 Since the men cannot change the sick man’s fate, Philemon suggests that they focus on “...visit[ing] the sick and comfort[ing] the diseased...” because participating in these faithful acts will be rewarded during humanity’s final judgement. 96 Moralists used depictions of death’s grim prospects as a tool to get medieval and early modern people to modify their behavior and adhere to either orthodoxy. In particular, the danse macabre was a common genre of images and it used the image of death personified, in the form of a skeleton, to illustrate that Death does not discriminate against any one individual.97 On the contrary, it depicts figures of all social ranks in descending order next to Death to visually reinforce this idea.98

The English Protestants utilized the medieval danse macabre to remind the laity that no

one could escape death, to convince all men and women to get ready to die now, to support their peers, and to understand the meaning of these recitations and meditations to avoid faltering in

95

Becon, “The Sick Man’s Salve,” 93.

96

Becon, “The Sick Man’s Salve,” 93.

97

James Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, 2nd ed. (Boulder: Westview Press, 2008), 97; Binski, Medieval Death, 153-158; The images of the danse macabre, isolated from any extraneous commentary, transmit the idea that death is experienced equally by all members of society. This is why the danse was so easily adapted by both traditional and reformed Christians. For further discussion of the danse macabre as commentary on the socially equalizing nature of death, see also Natalie Zemon Davis, “Holbein’s Pictures of Death and the Reformation at Lyons,” Studies in the Reniassance 3 (1956): 97; Wilson, “More and Holbein,” 53; Francis Henry Taylor, “The Triumph of Decomposition,” Parnassus 4, no. 4 (April 1932): 6. 98

Hall, Dictionary of Subjects, 97. Hall explains that the danse macabre is different than the “Dance of Death” as the latter corresponds to the medieval theme in which the dead rose from the ground and danced upon their graves at midnight prior to claiming “fresh victims from among the living.” The terms are often used interchangeably despite this technical difference. Ibid. 28



their last moments.99 Protestant doctrine rejected invocation of the Saints, the last rites given by the Priest, as well as purgatory, so the death ritual was modified to place a greater significance on the time between birth and the moment of death and the heightened responsibility of the individual Christian. Medieval piety, which often incorporated ascetic practices, supported the use of the danse macabre theme to remind the laity of the dangers of excessive materialism.100 Although the literature and depictions of the danse macabre itself portrays a dismal view of the human condition, religious and moral teachers did not use it to articulate “despair about the worth of human existence,” but rather they used the danse to persuade the laity “to seek eternal salvation at all costs.”101 The Reformer’s attempted to eradicate materialism among the affluent in order to meet multiple goals: to simultaneously save England’s souls and to fulfill the needs of the English state with charity for poor relief. Protestant Reformers promoted the idea that those with wealth should use it to care for the poor. Spiritual preparation and acts of charity were required for salvation in the medieval Christian traditions. Personal character took on a greater significance in Protestant religious and visual culture because in Protestantism, the moment of death resolved

99

Both Catholic and Protestants continued to believe that it was necessary to be in the “right” state of mind at the exact moment of physical death in order to achieve salvation, counter to the fact that Protestantism expounded predestination and divine providence. There was still hope that people could control their eternal fate, an attitude which Richard Wunderli and Gerald Broce of the University of Colorado refer to as “radical individualism”. John Foxe actually justified the continuation of the accomplishment of a “good” death as indication of salvation. In fact, Foxe used examples of the Protestant martyrs as heroic and used their behavior at the time of their death as indicators of true faith. Wunderli and Broce, “The Final Moment,” 259, 270-271. 100

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 305-306.

101

Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars, 305-306. It was possible for the danse macabre to be interpreted as an argument for enjoying each moment of life to the fullest and as a commentary on death as “the horrible physical end of life’s sinful joys.” The carpe diem undertone of the danse macabre was countered by religious teachers through associations with literature and oral traditions to keep the message of repentance clear. Davis, “Holbein’s Pictures of Death,” 97-99. 29



the question of salvation for each person. Financial contributions to the church for great building projects or the “purchase” of post-mortem prayers for the dead were useless. The Protestant danse macabre, which still emphasized that death was the universal equalizer, removed he advantage that wealthy citizens traditionally held over the poor when it was possible to purchase extra prayers and intercession. Charity for the living, therefore, took on a new importance within the Protestant death ritual. It is apparent in the danse macabre’s depictions that although Death levels social distinctions, Death in prescriptive literature is much harsher on those with the means to be charitable, especially when they covet their possessions all the way to the grave. Protestants eliminated purgatory and ended all opportunities for an individual to be transported or “movedalong” post-mortem based on money that they had given to the church or prayers offered by family and friends. In Protestantism, it would seem that God would judge the rich more harshly as they had the means to do more good than a poor person. For instance, in A Booke of Christian Prayers, the Rich Man of the danse macabre stands next to an ornate table covered with some type of linen and assorted treasures resting on the top (See Figure 1).102 Death possesses a kind of sinister grin in this image and grabs the rich man’s arm. In the caption at the bottom of this picture, the words read, “Thy sileur, nor golde: frõ death can theé whold.”103 In contrast, at the bottom of this woodcut, Death guides the Aged Man with a softer and more careful gesture as his head is tilted to the side to reveal what appears to be more compassion for the aged man who wears a simple frock and leans on a walking stick (See

102

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 91r, 110r, 129r.

103

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 91r, 110r, 129r. 30



Figure 1). The caption for this illustration has a more sympathetic tone. It states, “By right I must be bold: with theé that is uest so old.”104 The aged were often also poor since they could no longer work. Both the old and poor needed help to survive. Justification for this kind of charity is found in the Bible. The idea that the poor are closer to God and therefore should be given better care was explained by St. Matthew’s transcription of Christ’s sermon on the mountain to his disciples and it was included in the 1560 edition of the Geneva Bible. St. Matthew stated, “Blessed are the meke: for they shal inherite the earth.”105 Of the poor, the true meek are the people who experience great hardship during their life and do not seek revenge towards those who caused them to suffer because they know that their faith in Christ will save them from any misery in this world. The meek, according to Psalms 73:11, are those “who rather wolde suffer all injuries, then they wolde reuenge théselues.”106 The text in Corinthians 8:9 reminds Christians that Christ chose a life of poverty so that humankind could realize that true wealth does not exist in material goods.107 The fact that A Booke of Christian Prayers, and other books with a similar message, were printed in several editions suggests that people were not actually following the Reformers instructions. Danse macabre prints circulated throughout England during the late sixteenth century because moralists hoped to influence the actions of the people through the didactic nature of these images. If the majority of English citizens were following these new rules, then it would not have been necessary for such educational material. While it is possible to show what

104

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 91r, 110r, 129r.

105

Matthew 5:3 (The Geneva Bible)

106

Matthew 5:3 (The Geneva Bible)

107

Corinthians 8:9 (The Geneva Bible) 31



the Reformers were trying to teach the laity, it is far more difficult to prove that these examples truly influenced the viewers. Nonetheless, the communal aspect of death remained an important feature in Protestant religious imagery. The cult of the dead of traditional Christianity was transformed into a kind of “cult of the living” which focused on the virtuous characteristics that a person needed for a good death.108 To ensure that the social and economic spheres of society would continue to function effectively, preparation for death through the making of last wills and testaments, doing charitable works, and committing ones self to Christ alone all focused on preserving a locality’s organization and identity.109 In short, the change to Protestantism as it was reflected in the religious and artistic culture surrounding death transitioned the focus from the deathbed to scenes from everyday life. Images proved to be a powerful tool for instruction on how to live a virtuous life to avoid a bad death. Reformers also employed images of the memento mori type, often coupled with moralizing texts, to encourage the laity to participate in the daily devotional exercises prescribed by the Protestant Church of England.110 With a large portion of the population unable to read, images allowed all viewers to essentially “read” an image like a text. Images could thus communicate all of these important ideas through common recognition of specific signs and symbols. “Reading” Images in Late Sixteenth-Century England The proliferation of printed material during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries permitted greater intimacy between viewers and images. Men and women of all literacy levels 108

Overell, “The Reformation of Death,” 8.

109

Binski, Medieval Death, 33-34. The use of the will as a “voice” for the dead in order to protect social order is discussed by Paul Binski as a part of a “good” death. 110

Llewellyn, The Art of Death, 19. 32



were aware of the complex codes, or systems of signs, present in images and texts regardless of the specific content.111 Unlike letters and words, images could be read in any direction.112 Images could also frequently be ambiguous.113 Still, early modern viewers were aware of how all of the individual elements within a composition were combined to create a dialogue between the visual elements of the images and the viewer.114 Viewers were also aware of the entire range of all potential images that might have been chosen by the artist so that it was obvious why a particular figure or object was chosen to represent a specific idea.115 The argument against the use of iconic images in religious art in late sixteenth-century England was essentially a response to the recognized power that associated meaning to particular signs could have over allegiance to a ruling group, case in point, the traditional Christians. 116 In some instances, sign systems functioned like a natural language, and according to Roland Barthes, this relationship between the signifier and the signified also included signs outside of language, or non-verbal communication.117 The sign is is formed by the signifier and the signified. So, for instance, if a person today wore Gucci eyeglass frames, the frames alone would be the signifier that physically displays the sign. The elevated social status related to the excessive cost for such a material good is the idea or the signified concept that is relayed by the signifier which in combination forms the complete sign: that the person wearing Gucci glasses is 111

R.W Scribner, For the Sake of the Simple Folk (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994), 11.

112

Scribner, For the Sake, xxviii, 11.

113

Scribner, For the Sake, 3-4.

114

Scribner, For the Sake, 11.

115

Scribner, For the Sake, 11.

116

Scribner, For the Sake, xviii; Roland Barthes, Mythologies, trans. Annette Lavers (New York: Hill and Wang, 1972), 58-61. 117

Scribner, For the Sake, 10. 33



part of the elite social group. In Barthe’s approach, “the ruling ideas of a given social group could come to seem universal and ‘natural.’ ”118 The ideas associated with certain Christian visual stimuli, such as the sign of death in the danse macabre in which the skeleton is the signifier of death, were already viewed as “natural” in pre-Reformation culture. The Reformers, who wished to change specific details of the preexisting cultural “discussion” of the nature of death, had to assign alternate meanings to the objects and figures that constructed the existing signs associated with death. The early modern human body at death formed “a sign.”119 The meaning was found in the relationship between the signifier (the natural body) and the signified (the social body), and how the association changed at death.120 The identification of this meaning was simultaneously indicated through other signifiers. Other signifiers, or bearers of meaning, included specific types of costume and heraldry which was frequently recorded in monuments to the dead to construct the social body and memory for early modern England.121 The gradual transfer of how specific signs were constructed to appear as though they always signified the same thing is described by Barthes as the myth of signs.122 Barthes suggested that the elite of society assigned meaning to a signifier to create a sign that allowed them to maintain their authority over culture.123 For instance, a diamond ring became a signifier

118

Scribner, For the Sake, xviii.

119

Llewellyn, The Art of Death, 51.

120

Llewellyn, The Art of Death, 51.

121

Llewellyn, The Art of Death, 51.

122

Barthes, Mythologies, 58-61; Umberto Eco also addresses this as a set of cultural codes. Umberto Eco, A Theory of Semiotics (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1976). 123

Panofksy, Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art of the Renaissance. (New York: Harper & Row, 1972), 4-5; Barthes, Mythologies, 60. 34



of a lifelong, romantic commitment in modern western culture. The bigger the diamond, the more that the public perceived that the woman wearing the ring chose her partner well. This perception was not universal. The signs were (and are) a myth because the same signifiers in different cultures, especially between different religious cultures, constructed completely different signs of ideas or values. Barthe’s proved this point in a case study of France’s guiding social group, the bourgeois, who supplied and circulated positive ideas about drinking red wine. The bourgeois promoted the idea that drinking red wine allowed the French to relax and enjoy life, and they associated this idea with images of red wine, depicted as a dark red bottle.124 The dark side of drinking, its potential for harmful social and physical side effects, was ignored, and the French elite used the image of the full bottle of red wine to maintain their authoritative position as all citizens beneath them strove to have the means to sit back and enjoy what became the “national beverage” of France.125 Myth or not, every identifiable object within a cultural dialogue functions as a part of the language of that society, and each simple word, object, or concept becomes a part of a much larger and complex semiotic system. The study of these signs and symbols in each society, from theory to applied analysis, has evolved from the early twentieth century to the present day. The extensive discourse on the subject of semiotics and its application to all branches of communication, including communication through images by way of iconography, most generally defined as the analysis of subject matter in visual representation, has made it

124

Barthes, Mythologies, 60.

125

Barthes, Mythologies, 60. 35



impossible to isolate any one particular method or model of semantic study when trying to evaluate how certain signs function in a society.126 Of relevance to the image analysis in the following chapters, Erwin Panofsky, often referred to as the father of iconography, developed a systematic methodology that allowed historians to view a work of art in the same manner as a historical document. Panofsky’s work in iconology and subsequent development of a major art historical theory and a formal iconographical methodology formed as a result of his participation in a larger contemporary study of signs and symbols across all forms of communication. Although it was not possible to prove that Panofsky studied the works of semioticians, this conclusion seems to be possible because of the similarities between “certain epistemological predispositions” in iconology and semiotics.127 A contemporary of Panofsky, Ferdinand Saussure, argued that systems of signs function in the same manner as natural human language, and this concept can explain how the border images of A Booke of Christian Prayers by Richard Daye were used to “tell” a story separate from the text of the same book. In a conversation about any given image, the grammar forms the rules of construction. The formal relationships between the parts create and maintain the syntax.128 In the study of both verbal language and images, how and why a particular word or physical object tells us something is just as significant as what it represents. In the study of art, the language of grammar is translated into the language of art in order to define the study of iconology and iconography. The formal aesthetic aspects of an image, illustrated by line and color, or form is 126

Lotman, “On the semiosphere,” 206.

127

Michael Ann Holly, Panofsky and the Foundations of Art History (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1984), 44.

128

Scribner, For the Sake, xviii. 36



like grammar while the positioning/combination of these formal elements and connections between the parts of the whole picture creates the equivalent of the syntax. While semiotics, or the system of signs present in all societies, assigns meaning to the physical signs and the ideas associated with these signs within all types of communication (oral, textual, and pictorial), iconology and iconography deal specifically with the relationship of image and text understood through a knowledge of the literary sources available to a particular group of people. It is not possible to really separate the two types of inquiry, semiotical and iconographical, but the iconographical method is divided into three diagnostic steps to interpret the meaning of images. This method proves to be the most useful to the art historian who must figure out what ideas specific elements of images communicated to the past viewer. In the first step of iconographical analysis, the subject matter is easily understood by the viewer because this event occurs on a regular basis and is well-known through practical experience. This is the factual meaning of the image.129 With the factual meaning, the viewer automatically assesses the psychological nuances of the figure standing in front of him as it naturally produces a certain reaction within the viewer. In contrast to the factual meaning, this meaning is understood through the viewer’s empathy or sensitivity to his acquaintance because the viewer has practical experience with the outward expression of a wide range of feelings.130 When a late sixteenth-century English viewer looked at the grouping of images in Richard Daye’s “Danse Macabre,” the observer’s pre-iconographical assessment of each image identified each separate form, or object, within each image. For example, when a person viewed the additional images of the danse macabre sequence, such as the woodcuts containing skulls, 129

Panofksy, Studies in Iconology, 3.

130

Panofksy, Studies in Iconology, 3-4. 37



bones, and two shovels, a pre-iconographical evaluation would conclude that these woodcuts displayed these particular items based on the lines and shading of white and black that established outlines of these easily recognizable shapes (See Figure 2).131 At the second level of iconographical analysis, subject matter is easily understood by the viewer because this event occurs on a regular basis and is well-known through practical experience.132 This form of identification is exemplified by the bone pile illustrations in the other woodcuts that construct the “Danse Macabre.” The presence of mass graves around early modern England and the natural association of the shovel with the act of digging into the ground permitted viewers to assign secondary meaning to these pure forms; the combination of bones and shovels signifies a large, public grave (See Figure 2). In A Booke of Christian Prayers, the most accurate comprehension of the publisher’s intended messages was achieved by the audience members who spent a significant amount of time viewing each grouping of woodcut images and formulating the hierarchy of ideas signified by the combination of iconographical elements. 133 He or she could describe all of the main points of the book’s visual program, such as the greater significance of Christ over Mary, the shift of charity for the dead to the living, and the responsibility of the middling sorts to the poor in post-Reformation England. The viewer recognized, for instance, that the iconography of

131

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 118r.

132

Panofsky, Studies in Iconology, 3.

133 Aston’s

study in The King’s Bedpost is aligned with Panofsky’s theories of iconography which is connected to symbols within an image’s subject matter derived from written sources, especially from scripture and mythology. Aston employs a methodology of examining the work of art within the context of its time (in Aston’s case, this method causes a change in the dating of the work). Aston considered the motivations and potential prejudices of the creator and/or patron. She also comparatively analyzed the themes that the artist’s peers employed and considered the iconography. Aston, The King’s Bedpost, 1-267. 38



Christ appears many more times than the iconography of Mary and made the connection to the Protestant conviction that Christ’s sacrifice alone allowed humanity the possibility of salvation. Since this meaning is only obvious to the viewer with sufficient knowledge of postReformation English religious culture in which the images were created, the final level of analysis is referred to as understanding the intrinsic meaning of a given image. 134 The unique interpretation of images based on time and place, along with all other types of communication and understanding of language, spoken, written, or illustrated, is possible because all language must be interpreted within the boundaries of what Juri Lotman terms the “semiosphere.”135 Language is translated through the boundaries of one “semiosphere” to the next. Panofsky’s iconographical method is useful to determine the deeper meaning, the cultural symptoms, of a particular image or set of images, but none of that analysis is possible without either a subconscious or conscious awareness of constant invisible semiotic processes. When analyzing sets of images that represent the beginning of a new religious culture, such as postReformation England, the institution of new ideas about salvation and the adaptation of old images to prescriptive literature for the new order all occurs in a kind of cultural bubble.136 The new ideas travel along the outer boundaries while the existing structures of communication and ideas remain in the center.137 While on the periphery, the “semiosphere” boundary allowed for “accelerated semiotic processes” to occur. As new concepts built strength it was possible for these new “semiotic

134

Panofksy, Studies in Iconology, 4-5.

135

Lotman, “On the Semiosphere,” 208-209.

136

Lotman, “On the Semiosphere,” 212.

137

Lotman, “On the Semiosphere,” 212. 39



structures” to continually break apart and flow into the “cultural sphere of the center.”138 Eventually the peripheral “semiotic structures,” such as the concept of predestination, the elimination of purgatory, and the transition from charity for the dead to charity for the living and all related language, “affix[ed]...to the core structures” and displaced these structures, such as the veneration of saints and intercessory prayer.139 This, in turn, stimulate[d] (as a rule, under the slogan: back “to basics”) the semiotic development of the cultural nucleus, in which new structures — linked to the path of historical development — are already visible, but which hides itself in the metacategories of old structures. The opposition of centre/periphery is replaced by the opposition of yesterday/today.140 In terms of post-Reformation England, the historical development of the Protestant church, complete with its theology and doctrine, over the course of the sixteenth century was visible to society and it was explained to Englishmen and women by implementing existing terminology and devices used to describe the traditional Christian ideas of yesterday. The danse macabre was an iconographic tool of the old “semiotic structure,” but the details of the new English death ritual replaced the old as they were hidden within this core structure.141 It is important to note, and scholars of semiotics and iconography often acknowledge this fact, that the reconstruction of a “semiotic whole through its parts” by a person removed from the system by time or place,

138

Lotman, “On the Semiosphere,” 212.

139

Lotman, “On the Semiosphere,” 212.

140

Lotman, “On the Semiosphere,” 212.

141

Lotman, “On the Semiosphere,” 212. 40



automatically creates a new language to describe the meaning and connection between signs and the signified.142 With this in mind, it is possible to interpret through the contextualization of images made during the late sixteenth century that the Protestant theological theses (the signified) within A Booke of Christian Prayers were embedded in the signs of the existing structures of traditional Christianity. Acknowledging the distance between time and space, this study itself is an extended exploration of how and why Protestantism employed images to disseminate its teachings to the populace. This research explores how artists and printers used the combination of specific themes within printed groups of images to create a visual program that could convey the most important values of Protestantism to a large audience. In order to determine how the English death ritual was altered by Protestant teaching, the images of the danse macabre in A Booke of Christian Prayers provided numerical and iconographical data that revealed the primary change, to prepare for death in a timely manner, in how the English were supposed to prepare for and approach death, as well as the extraneous financial motives of the state. A Booke of Christian Prayers (1581): The Danse Macabre as a Demographic Perspective An image-by-image investigation and analysis of the woodcut borders of Richard Daye’s 1581 edition of A Booke of Christian Prayers revealed that the most important aspect of the changes in the English death ritual was the transition of charity to the living instead of the dead. This satisfied both the Protestant Reformers and the English government as they needed financial

142

Lotman, “On the Semiosphere,” 215. The past is always accessed through the present. It is impossible for the historian to avoid the familiar present when observing the “otherness” of the past, so it is important that the historian recognize that “the writing of history itself becomes a kind of history.” Holly, Panofsky and the Foundations, 189-190. 41



aid for the poor relief program. “By granting royal privileges to printers, booksellers, and writers, the monarchs could exercise considerable influence on print culture both by extending benefits to particular printers and by ensuring that certain books or classes of books found their way into print.”143 Royal privilege was mutually profitable as the publishers had sole rights to the profits of a particular publication.144 The publisher, Richard Daye was the son of John Daye, the famous master printer of Elizabethan England, a zealous Protestant and publisher of John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.145 Richard Daye worked in his father’s print shop at Aldergate in London and he was given the opportunity to arrange the first edition of A Booke of Christian Prayers in 1578.146 Although Richard Daye needed to use his father’s name to obtain official permission to publish A Booke of Christian Prayers, Richard was capable as a publisher in his own right because A Booke of Christian Prayers expanded the iconographical scope from his father’s earlier prayer book Christian Prayers and Meditations.147 While the title page of the 1578 edition states that the book was printed by John Daye at his Aldergate Press cum priuilegio (with royal privilege), the title page of the 1581 edition of the book simply states that the book was printed in London for the Company of Stationers. The final page of the 1581 edition, however, includes this

143

7. 144

Cyndia Susan Clegg, Press Censorship in Elizabethan England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), Clegg, Press Censorship, 7.

145

John King, “ ‘The Light of Printing:’ William Tyndale, John Foxe, John Day, and Early Modern Print Culture,” Renaissance Quarterly, 54, no. 1 (Spring 2001): 55. Elizabeth I requested ecclesiastical licensing in her 1559 Injunctions, and she gave the first royal printing patent to Richard Daye’s father John Daye. Clegg, Press Censorship, 11 146

Samuel Chew, “The Iconography of ‘A Book of Christian Prayers’ 1578 Illustrated,” The Huntington Library Quarterly, 8, no. 3 (May 1945): 294. 147

Chew, “The Iconography,” 294. 42



information within the text “At London Printed by Iohn Daye, dwellyng ouer Aldergate beneath Saint Martines. Anno 1581. Cum gratia & Priuilegio Regie Maieftatis.” In a short overview of the iconography in the 1578 edition of A Booke of Christian Prayers, Samuel Chew notes the similarities between A Booke of Christian Prayers and another publication by John Daye entitled Christian Prayers and Meditations created in 1569. 148 Chew mentions that some historians refer to both A Booke of Christian Prayers and Christian Prayers and Meditations as “Queen Elizabeth’s Prayer-book” because of its woodcut image of Queen Elizabeth at prayer.149 Chew points out that some of the similarities between the two publications that lead historians to refer to the 1578 Booke of Christian Prayers as a “second edition” of Christian Prayers and Meditations. This was improbable, though, as Christian Prayers and Meditations included a prayer for Queen Elizabeth in the first person. 150 In A Booke of Christian Prayers, the Queen’s prayer was composed in the third person and this later book was compiled only in English.151 This was significant because the book was made for public use rather than as a personal prayer book for the Tudor Queen. Equally important, Richard Daye “omitted the meditations of 1569 and the Penitential Psalms, and with other deletions, numerous additions, and drastic rearrangement compiled what

148

Chew, “The Iconography,” 293. It seems that Chew put together this brief discussion of the 1578 edition for a new acquisition or updating within of the Huntington Library as the works are held locally by the institution. 149

Chew, “The Iconography,” 293. The woodcut image of Elizabeth in prayer is included in many discussions of Tudor Royal Iconography. John King explains that images of Elizabeth containing the iconographic composite of both the sword and the book are rare, The image “Elizabeth Regina” (Elizabeth at prayer) in Richard Day’s A Book of Christian Prayers, contains an important variation of the sword and book. “Much more common than presentations of the queen with the Sword and the Book are her portrayals as the Protestant heroine and savior of England who reads or carries a Bible or evangelical book.” This is significant in that Elizabeth’s image sets an example for the importance of solitary spiritual preparation. John N. King, Tudor Royal Iconography: Literature and Art in An Age of Religious Crisis (Princeton: Princeton University Press), 104. 150

Chew, “The Iconography,” 293.

151

Chew, “The Iconography,” 293. 43



is essentially a new work.”152 Nevertheless, the two different books made-up what Chew refers to as the only “prayer-books de luxe” that appeared in Elizabethan England.153 The publication was unconventional in form compared to other religious documents during the mid to late sixteenth century. It is therefore curious that art historians have given little attention to the iconography of images included in the woodcut borders. A Booke of Christian Prayers was popular enough for Daye to release four editions. It was re-issued after the 1578 edition and the prayer book was printed again in 1581, 1590, and 1608.154 The fact that so many of the same types of images and themes that were used in the woodcut borders of A Booke of Christian Prayers were copied and sometimes altered from the earlier 1569 prayer book may provide some insight into the changes in official English Church doctrine following the second official break from Rome in 1570. An extensive inquiry into the iconography of several of the editions of A Booke of Christian Prayers and Christian Prayers and Meditations (1569) is required, and beyond the scope of this project, to make any substantial claims to the changes between the publications. The main focus of this analysis, as stated above, are the social sorts, the age, and the gender of figures present in the danse macabre. Chapter one provides an overview of the images in the entire book to show how the book functioned as a comprehensive visualization of the changes in preparation for death. Chapter two gives an analysis of the social sorts present in the danse macabre to show that the greater size and purchase price of the publication, and the equal numbers of middling and poor sort figures reveals that the publishers meant for the middling sorts to purchase the document and see 152

Chew, “The Iconography,” 294.

153

Chew, “The Iconography,” 294.

154

Chew, “The Iconography,” 294. 44



that the poor sorts should be their main focus of charity. Finally, chapter three narrows down the target audience to the men of middle age by the greater number of this specific demographic present in the danse macabre figures.

45



CHAPTER I: PRESCRIPTION FOR ENGLISH PROTESTANTISM How newly converted English Protestant souls would be saved remained a top priority for Reformers during the late sixteenth century. Now, at death, souls were going straight to either heaven or hell. Potential converts needed to see why they should trust that Protestant practices were better than Roman Catholic traditions. Reformers used scripture to discount traditional rituals and to support lay pursuit of a personal and direct relationship with God. Nothing could guarantee salvation because God had already decided who will be saved and who will be damned. Uncertainty was countered by emphasizing the idea that the reprobate probably would not try to emulate Christ through acts of neighborly love and charity. In its entirety, Richard Daye’s A Booke of Christian Prayers (1581) taught readers how to be good English Protestants at all stages of the life cycle. This meant living by Christ’s example and exhibiting virtue over vice to prepare for a good death. The danse macabre, which directly engaged viewers with these concerns about the hereafter, received the most attention in this research. The danse macabre reinforced that all social sorts of Protestants needed to immediately begin preparations for death. Book Overview Richard Daye marketed A Booke of Christian Prayers to the middle to upper ranks of society who could afford this large and substantial book. The middling sorts of people, particularly the “persons in offices,” and the merchants at the local level, played a significant role in mediating social, as well as religious, change within tight-knit communities.1 The publication

1

Keith Wrightson, English Society 1580-1680 (New Brunswick, Rutgers University Press, 1982), 13, 226. Wrightson argues that changes in the economy and governing structures which allowed commoners to participate more in state affairs made local communities more connected to and unified with the national identity, but it also divided them more within the local communities. Ibid. 46



of A Booke of Christian Prayers took a considerable amount of time as each page required the arrangement of between five and six separate woodcuts. The cost made it necessary to market this book towards the professional and middling sorts who had disposable income during this time.2 Due to its substantial size, a total of 292 pages, it is beyond the scope of this project to analyze all of the images present in A Booke of Christian Prayers. It is, however, possible to provide a general overview of how the book functioned as a Protestant teaching tool by counting and comparing proportions of certain image types. The analysis is limited to strictly the border images. Since the texts, or prayers, of A Booke of Christian Prayers do not correlate with the woodcut scenes on each page, it is possible to conclude that the text and the images within the borders functioned as separate educational tool. The emphasis in this research is on the use of visual images as a means of educational discourse. While some images are purely for decoration, the rest deal with the subject of Christ, virtues and vices, and the danse macabre.3 The book is divided into five distinct sections of images. Each page contains woodcut borders with a variety of illustrations. The images follow a carefully organized visual program with five distinct parts: the decorative borders of the preface and conclusion, and the images contained in the “Humanity’s Redemption,” “Christian Values,” and the “Danse Macabre.” In

2

Several different factors allowed the middling sorts to acquire a surplus of wealth during the late medieval and early modern period. These circumstances included competition between feudal lords and a lack of strict control over the peasantry during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Professional and middling men gained economic strength in spite of political crises, such as the Hundred Years War, during the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. These sorts also benefited from a decline in the English population and subsequent slow population growth until the sixteenth century. They also had more opportunities to participate in trade activities. Since the aristocracy did not maintain stringent oversight of the upper ranks of the peasantry in the later middle ages, the middling sorts were able to keep more of their earned income to stimulate the economy and strengthen their own financial position. Dyer, Making a Living in the Middle Ages, 365. 3

The image sections of the book are organized in this order: “Humanity’s Redemption,” “Christian Values,” and the “Danse Macabre.” 47



order to establish the relationships between the images and the changes in religious visual culture. it was necessary to calculate the number of times that certain images appeared before implementing some basic iconographical analysis. The computation of simple proportions revealed a great deal about the publisher’s priorities, as well as those of the English religious authorities, which were to encourage people to live well as Protestants in order to die well. Each woodcut was counted individually, totaling 1,649.4 Many woodcuts depict more than one object or image although all still remain part of an individual woodcut. The 1,649 woodcuts are distributed throughout the entire book including the title-page, frontispiece and end-page. The only section in which each individual image within a particular woodcut was counted separately was in the focused analysis of the “Danse Macabre.” The danse macabre images were not, however, counted separately in the overall count for the composition of the book. A Booke of Christian Prayers is grouped into distinct sections of images which follow specific Christian subject and/or themes. The introductory and concluding borders contain purely decorative woodcuts while three main sections contain a combination of both decorative and thematic woodcuts. The three major sets of images are referred to in this research as the “Humanity’s Redemption,” “Christian Values,” and the “Danse Macabre.” For example, the first collection of woodcuts revolve around the subject matter of God’s human manifestation through Christ. Three images within each individual woodcut contain scenes from Jesus Christ’s life, including His birth, His miracles, and Christ’s resurrection.5 The woodcuts in “Christian Values” 4

This count does not include the woodcuts that were used for the title-page, frontispiece and end-page, nor does it include the two woodcuts which were used for the decorative initials which begin the preface. 5

Daye, “Birth of Christ,” A Booke of Christian Prayers, 3r, 21v; Daye “Christ’s Miracles,” A Booke of Christian Prayers, fol. 8, 26v, fol. 27, 28r; Day, “Resurrection of Christ,” A Booke of Christian Prayers, 17v, fol. 18, 19r, fol. 38. 48



exhibit that virtue overcomes vice, and the pictures in the “Dance Macabre” all “discuss” the subject of death and the theme of death’s universality. The introductory and concluding woodcuts contain several variations of large flower pots with assorted types of flowers and accompanying forms, often free floating, such as hands or the heads of angels (See Figure 1.1). Other decorative prints depict columns containing classicized human figures and mythical creatures such as nymphs or monstrous heads. Elaborate geometrical patterns, french fleur-di-lis, and Tudor roses are also present in these decorative woodcuts. Although the content of these decorative woodcuts is not without meaning, it is not possible at present to connect the seemingly arbitrary arrangement of these images to the arrangement of the other images. The visually distinct preface and conclusion of A Booke of Christian Prayers compose a relatively small and minor part of the document, both in the number of pages as well as total number of woodcuts in the entire book (See Graphs 1.1 & 1.2). The preface contains fourteen woodcuts (5% of the total woodcuts), the conclusion contains four woodcuts (1% of the total woodcuts) and all are purely decorative. Protestant Instructions for How to Live Good Protestants Mirror Christ and Exhibit Virtue in Everyday Life The borders of the “Humanity’s Redemption” and “Christian Values” outline and describe what people need to do in order to be good Protestants and achieve a good death. The “Dance Macabre” bolsters the Protestant moral arguments present in the first two thematic units because Death does not allow for second chances. All three major parts of A Booke of Christian Prayers formed a complete introduction to the major changes Protestantism brought to English religion. This included a greater emphasis on Christ instead of Mary, more responsibility placed

49



on the laity to live virtuously, and most importantly, the removal of purgatory from the English death rituals. Scenes from Christ’s Life While the traditional church placed a great emphasis on Mary’s relationship to Christ, this Protestant document redirects the focus to Jesus. The smallest of the sections, “Humanity’s Redemption,” comprises 27% of the book’s total pages (See Graph 1.2).6 In order to be good Protestants, the English people needed to imitate Christ’s behavior. Prayers to Mary and the saints were no longer an avenue for salvation. The images related to Christ’s life form the second largest number of woodcuts in the book (504) which indicates that the Protestant Reformers and the publishers wanted people to look at Christ as an example for how to live in order to prepare for death (See Graph 1.1). “Humanity’s Redemption” displays scenes from events leading up to Christ’s birth and ending after His death, with each image repeated twice (See Graph 1.3).7 The first page of each sequence shows Mary and the Christ Child seated at the top of the Tree of Jesse, flanked by the Old Testament Kings (See Figure 1.2). This image is repeated from the larger woodcut of the Tree of Jesse which appears on the title-page of A Booke of Christian Prayers (See Figure 1.3). Daye’s incorporation of the Tree of Jesse into the title-page and the woodcut borders of “Humanity’s Redemption” suited both the English monarchy and the Reformers. Old Testament Kings were often depicted in stained glass windows attached to the Tree of Jesse, a genealogical

6

“Humanity’s Redemption” contributes to 79 pages of this book.

7

Graph 1.3 provides a break-down of the subjects/themes in “Humanity’s Redemption”; The data excludes the decorative borders from calculation. 50



tree.8 This tree showed how Hezekiah, Josiah, and Manasseh were all linked to David and in turn connected to Mary and Christ.9 Margaret Aston explains that, ...Judaic models were much in vogue in the sixteenth century as patterns for contemporary monarchs, Solomon and David had always been examples to conjure with, and in this age Henry VIII and Philip II were happy to lend their features to depictions of King Solomon, while Francis I did duty for King David. It was, however, the preoccupations of the Reformers, with their fierce fidelity to the old law that gave new prominence to certain kings of the Old Testament.10 Daye’s inclusion of the Tree of Jesse related the authority of Protestantism to the power and wisdom of the Old Testament Kings. The apostolic connections asserted by such iconography strengthened the reforming argument that everyone should convert to Protestantism and adhere to its prescriptions to live and die well. Both rounds of these illustrations begin with the auspicious conception of Mary. Captions inserted next to Mary’s scenes reveal that God had planned the miraculous conception long before Christ was born. The woodcuts show Mary’s birth, her betrothal to Joseph, and her visitation by the Angel Gabriel. Between the images of Mary with the Angel Gabriel and Mary’s impregnation is an image of Eve reaching towards a serpent, that has a human head, in a tree (See Figure 1.4).11 This image of the sinful Eve near the Virgin Mary reminds the Protestant English viewer that Mary was merely a woman; she was simply the vessel through which Christ

8 Aston,

The King’s Bedpost, 49.

9 Aston,

The King’s Bedpost, 49.

10 Aston,

The King’s Bedpost, 26.

11

“Despite the many negative connotations of serpents in the Bible, Protestants also identified them with the doctrine of justification by faith in their interpretations of the Brazen Serpent and the incident of which St. Paul miraculously escaped death from a viper’s bite when he threw a poisonous serpent back into a fire (Acts 28:1-6).” King, Tudor Royal Iconography, 238. 51



arrived to this world.12 Since the Protestant Reformers did not believe in the intercessory powers of the Virgin, or any of the saints for that matter, they tried to persuade Christians to avoid adoring anyone other than Christ. Protestantism’s elimination of Mary as intercessor is also apparent in the greater number of woodcut images which focus on Christ instead of Mary. The image of Christ’s birth appears after only three images of Mary’s early life. Then, the rest of each of the two image arrangements focus on Christ. The total number of woodcuts that feature Mary account for just 3% of the section’s total woodcuts while those that emphasize Jesus equal 22% of the section’s total woodcuts.13 The images follow the entire life cycle of Christ to encourage the viewer to follow Christ’s example for both living and dying. “Humanity’s Redemption” illustrations may also be divided into categories based on stages of life, such as infancy and childhood, adult life, and death. Specifically, the number of woodcuts which focus on infancy and childhood, adult life and death correlate with the educational priorities evident in “Christian Values” and the “Danse Macabre.” (See Graph 1.3).

12

Mary Fissell describes a prayer book by the Englishman Thomas Raynalde in 1548 that altered the content of prayers said by women following childbirth. Raynalde’s prayer book instructs women to associate the discomfort and pain of giving birth to punishment for Eve’s sin. In these prayers, women are supposed to give thanks to God and Christ for their getting them safely through labor. Additionally, English Reformers during the early sixteenth century began to use analogy to demonstrate Mary’s role in the birth of Christ. One priest, in Yorkshire, for example, stated that “...the Virgin was like a pudding when the meat was taken out” to define Mary’s vessel-like properties. Mary E. Fissell, Vernacular Bodies: The Politics of Reproduction in Early Modern England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 43, 25. 13

Images that focus on Mary equal a total of 8 woodcuts and include the following subcategories: Mary and Prophecy=7, Mary Grieving=1; Images that focus on Christ total 71 woodcuts and include the following subcategories: Birth of Christ=2, Infant Christ=8, Flight from Egypt=4, Christ Child=4, Christ Temptation=2, Christ Miracles=6, Christ Teaching=8, Plot to Kill Christ=8, Last Supper= 2, Death of Christ=14, Entombment=4, Resurrection=9. 52



Renderings of infancy and childhood and adult life occur equally with each occupying 8% of the section’s total woodcuts (See Graph 1.3).14 Death accounts for 9% of the representations in “Humanity’s Redemption,” one percentage more than the other two stages of life, to remind people how Christ’s good death saved humanity. These pictures impart the sense that death gives renewal because of His sacrifice. If you live like Christ, you will die like Christ and enjoy heaven. Within the scenes, Jesus is depicted after His resurrection. His facial features are created with soft, smooth lines in contrast to the harsher lines used to illustrate his mortal face. The combination of Christ’s features and gestures after He rose from the grave suggests that He is the one, not Mary, who people should look to for grace. Christ’s miracles are a focal point of this section to both remind viewers of his charity and saving power. The preternatural abilities of Christ, above all other divine entities, are highlighted by excluding any reminders of extraneous saintly intercession. The second sequence in “Humanity’s Redemption” presents two alternate sets of Christ’s miracles in addition to those depicted during the first cycle. The first group contains the raising of Lazarus in which the top image depicts a dead human figure (Lazarus) surrounded by onlookers. The image below it shows Jesus reaching down to an unclothed man rising out of a grave, stretching to Christ for help.15 Additional marvels reinforce the idea that the strong should care for the weak. In this

14

Infancy and Childhood total 25 woodcuts and include the following subcategories: Mary & Prophecy=7, Birth of Christ=2, Infant Christ=8, Flight from Egypt=4, Christ Child=4; Adult Life totals 24 woodcuts and includes the following subcategories: Christ Temptation=2, Christ Miracles=6, Christ Teaching=8, Plot to Kill Christ=8; Death totals 30 woodcuts and includes the following subcategories: Death of Christ=14, Entombment=4; Mary Grieving=1, Skeletons=2. 15

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 8r, 27v. 53



part, several woodcuts mark the phenomenon of Christ and the Canaanite woman as well as the time that He fed the five thousand hungry with five loaves of bread and fish (See Figure 1.5). The largest portion of the images fall into the category of the “Word of God” because each of these images is related to the Bible. Lay Bible reading became a major, if not the most significant, aspect of Protestant practices.16 To illustrate the importance of reading the scriptures, 50% of the woodcut images in this section of A Booke of Christian Prayers are devoted to scripture study (See Graph 1.3).17 Each page contains a woodcut at the bottom with two male figures, presumably Church fathers, facing two sets of scriptural excerpts framed between two columns. From page to page, the Church fathers vary in pose, clothing, and facial features. The bottom image of the outer right and left side woodcut for each page of this section correlates to the scripture set between the two Church fathers. For instance, on one page in this section, the two Church fathers point towards two scriptural excerpts which refer to original sin and the sinful nature of women. The scripture is from Genesis, and states, “Esau selleth his byrth right for a messe of pottage..” and “The woman seyng the tree to be pleasaunt, tooke of the fruit” (See Figure 1.6). The bottom image to the left of this woodcut depicts Adam and Eve. Adam sits in the right side of the picture while Eve reaches up towards a serpent in a tree. The woodcut images and enclosed text on the bottom of this page are employed in conjunction with images of Christ’s temptations. Unlike Eve, Christ resists temptation therefore the viewer is

16 All

worthy Protestants read the Bible for themselves and worked to interpret the meaning of each part. Mysteries could still be revealed to even the common person by reading the Bible, especially the New Testament which recorded the teachings of Christ. 17

Word of God includes the following subcategories: Church Father’s=79, Corresponding Church Father’s Scriptural Depiction=79. Although these scriptural depictions appear at the bottom of the woodcut containing scenes from Christ’s life on the left or right side of each page these pictures are included with the Word of God. This is because these images correspond to the scripture in the bottom border. This is one instance where it made sense to count images within the same woodcut in separate categories. 54



encouraged to follow His example. Being strong-willed against sin like Christ, not Adam, would allow Protestants to experience God’s grace. The messages communicated by the “Word of God” woodcuts and the scenes of Christ’s life are the same: follow Christ’s example. “Humanity’s Redemption” borders reemphasize God’s direct instruction to humanity through Christ to the newly Protestant, and yet to be converted, English laity. Protestant authorities hoped that by emphasizing Christ’s good works and his saving grace, the laity would be motivated to follow his example and seek a personal relationship with the Lord. Christian Values The second grouping of woodcut images in A Booke of Christian Prayers address the characteristics which might differentiate God’s from the damned. Although English Protestants were predestined to go to either heaven or hell, the Reformers advised that good (and thus probably saved) Protestants never stopped their efforts to be virtuous. The images in “Christian Values” encompass a wide range of moralizing subjects and focus on the personal characteristics and habits that make a Christian more likely (but not guaranteed in any way) to be predestined for salvation. These attributes include strong faith in Christ and charitable actions. “Christian Values” contains figures that depict personified Christian virtues and vices, each configuration appearing twice. Each page’s outer side border delineates a Virtue overcoming a Vice. In close proximity to “Humanity’s Redemption,” “Christian Values” contributes to 28% of the books total pages (See Graph 1.2). “Christian Values” contains the least amount of individual woodcuts due to the large size of each personified virtue, but it

55



accounts for the second greatest number of pages in the book because virtue should be promptly and extensively contemplated in daily life in order to prepare for a good death (See Graph 1.2). 18 “Christian Values” is an image of a personified virtue overcoming a personified vice. For instance, the virtue Hope is a woman who walks over the back of the cynic Judas in order to extinguish disbelief in the hopeful power of faith in Christ.19 This particular type of image appears in 48% of the total woodcuts for this section, thus making the personified virtues/vices the most significant subject of the entire section (See Graph 1.4).20 The size and number of virtuous figures attest to the considerable advantage of good over evil. Furthermore, the English people could see a visual hierarchy of virtuous Christian life in the personified Virtues to help them to prioritize and prepare for the finality of a Protestant death. While traditional Christianity expounded seven virtues and seven deadly sins, this Protestant document proposes twenty-eight different ways to exhibit virtue in God’s eyes. The traditional church supported two sets of virtues. The first set describes seven virtues which were subdivided into the three theological virtues: Faith, Hope and Love (also referred to as Charity) and the four cardinal virtues: Prudence, Justice, Restraint (or Temperance), and Courage (or

18

The section “Christian Values” contains 384 woodcuts and it comprises 81 pages of the book.

19

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 42v, 63r.

20

Personified Virtues/Vices includes the following subcategories: Temperance=3, Chastity=3, Faith=2, Measure=3, Industry=3, Mercy=2, Concord=2, Love=2, Christian Soldier=2, Wisdom=2, Understanding=2, Memory=2, Justice=2, Strength=2, Courage=2, Sobriety=2, Perseverance=2, Sight=2, Hearing=2, Taste=2, Smelling=2, Touching=2, Knowledge of God=1, Love of God=1, Hope=2, Patience=1, Humility=1, Charity=25. 56



Fortitude).21 The second assortment directly opposes the seven deadly sins and includes Chastity, Temperance, Charity, Diligence, Patience, Kindness, and Humility. 22 Correspondingly, the twenty-eight virtues depicted in this section of A Booke of Christian Prayers are illustrated through images of women who are dressed in classical garments of flowing fabric while others are displayed in contemporary dresses. 23 Daye’s incorporation of the female as an allegorical device engaged with the reformer’s belief that they could justify Protestant conversion through historical (and biblical) proof that their authority was set all the way back to antiquity.24 The forms and symbols of classical pagan art were adapted to medieval Christian art and then later utilized by the Protestants. The female figures carry various 21

Hall, Dictionary of Subjects, 189, 347. The western scholastics of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries distinguished the difference between the theological and the cardinal virtues. William of Auxerre wrote that the three theological virtues were present in an individual by God’s grace. The cardinal virtues, on the other hand, were created from by the natural guiding laws to social interaction between human beings. While the cardinal virtues cannot be used to acquire salvation, the presence of these virtues allow men and women to outwardly show the inner theological virtues of God’s grace. Thomas Aquinas also commented on the difference between the types of virtues. Aquinas believed that some of the virtues are “infused” and thus “...have union with God as the direct or indirect aim...” while others are “...acquired virtues, which are directed towards the attainment of the human good as discerned by reason.” Jean Porter, “Virtue Ethics” in The Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics, ed. Robin Gill (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 102-103; The three theological virtues are mentioned in the 1560 edition of the Geneva Bible. The passage in I Corinthians 13:13 states, “And now abideth faith, hope & lue, euen these thre: but the chiefest of these is loue.” I Cor. 13:13 (The Geneva Bible). The four cardinal virtues are acknowledged in the Wisdom of Solomon 8:7 in the apocryphal section of the Old Testament. Solomon 8:7 declares that “if a man loue righteousnes, her labours are vertuous: for she teacheth sobernes & prudécie, righteousnes abd stegth, which are the moste profitable things that men can haue in this life.” Solomon 8:7 (The Geneva Bible). Also, it is significant that the personification of the virtues presented in A Booke of Christian Prayers mirrors the way in which the Wisdom is personified in the scripture of the Wisdom of Solomon. Richard Daye and the artists in his employ, like the Reformers, looked directly to the words of the Bible to model their lay manual. The use of women figures in allegorical representations of virtue was already a longstanding tradition, but in order to follow Protestant teaching, the publishers needed to look directly to the Bible. 22

Hall, Dictionary of Subjects, 347. The employment of seven virtues to directly oppose the seven deadly sins began as a pastoral technique. The pastor simplified the highly analytical and philosophical discussion of virtues discussed among the church father’s, and explained virtues as remedies for vices. Porter, “Virtue Ethics,” 100-101. 23

Many of Hall’s entries for the symbolism associated with specific figures, including humans, animals, and inanimate objects, have several different interpretations originating from antiquity to present day. For instance, the entry for the virtue of Justice, in combination with prudence, fortitude, and temperance, explains that the four cardinal virtues were first described in Plato’s Republic. During the Renaissance, humanists often depicted Justice with scales, adapted from the Roman era, to represent justice’s impartiality. Hall, Dictionary of Subjects, 189. 24

The Faerie Queen by Edmund Spenser, which alluded to Elizabeth in the Virtue Glory (Gloriana), used images of women (as well as men) to depict Virtues. Female bodies in allegory held an elevated status and were not viewed the same as in illustrations of average mortal women. See Edmund Spenser, The faerie queene Disposed into twelue books, fashioning XII. morall vertues, London, 1590, EEBO, STC #23080. 57



implements related to their virtue and they are most always standing on top of another figure representing a particular vice. 25 The first personified virtue in this section is Temperance. Temperance’s iconography conveys the power and strength that self-discipline has over sin. Temperance is depicted as a woman dressed in a Hellenic garment of flowing fabric and sandals (See Figure 1.7). 26 In this case, Temperance holds a bridle in one hand and a clock stay in the other hand as she stands on top of a male figure (a glutton) who vomits onto the ground. In detail, “the clock stay symbolizes the moderation that it provides for clocks: controlling the movement of the wound clock in a set, uniform fashion...” and “the bridle is a unanimous symbol for temperance, as its real life application is to control and assuage the wild movements of horses.” 27 A short text appears above the female figure which states, “Temperance watcheth and bridleth,” while another short text fills the space at the bottom of the woodcut and claims that “Intemperance ouercommeth the heart.” Self-control and self-discipline is key to becoming an exemplary Protestant. Protestantism’s elimination of purgatory, indulgences, and the intercessory power of saints, placed a much greater responsibility on the individual to prepare for death. Temperance, or the practice of moderation, was thus vital to achieving an exemplary life end. Temperance maintains a calm, serene stance and facial expression which adds to the inspirational value of this

25

In order to preserve the foundations of the original church, the Church fathers applied the duality of Stoic philosophy which clearly distinguished between “the ‘wise’ and the ‘foolish,’ and they used to it to form the church’s ‘standards of membership’.” Waldo Beach and H. Richard Niebuhr, Christian Ethics: Sources of the Living Tradition, 2nd ed. (New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1973), 50-51. 26

Chris Gregg, “Emblem 93” in The Minerva Brittanna Project. Middlebury College. http://f01.middlebury.edu/ FS010A/students/n093.htm (accessed February 20, 2010). 27

Gregg, “Emblem 93.” 58



depiction.28 The majority of woodcuts in this section follow the same format as the personification of Christian virtues and vices, with only a few exceptions such as the illustrations of Charity. This homogeneity helps viewers to easily recognize the common themes that connect all of the Christian values to the English Protestant death rituals. A standardized approach also upheld the equal significance of each virtue in every life. Most of the virtues and vices in this section are illustrated through the aforementioned formula, but a few others are depicted in a slightly altered manner to indicate the special treatment required for the implementation of these ideals. The bulk of Christian merits are personified by a female form, but the credits of Christian Soldier and Charity are illustrated by a male figure (See Figure 1.8). In terms of gender, the choice of the male form for this image follows the standard gender assignment for this occupation during this period. The use of the male form for Charity, in all but two of the woodcut images, occurred because Daye knew that cultural gender norms gave men a greater opportunity to interact with the general population, especially strangers and vagrants, than women. Charity appears a considerable amount of times (25) in this section, compared to the one to three times that Daye employs the other virtues, because charity for the living, instead of the dead, was a key change to preparing for a good death. The Christian Solider appears twice in this section and he is depicted standing in a full suit of armor, holding a lance in one hand while pointing towards the sun with the other hand.29

28

The iconography of these images seem to be derived from popular emblems which would have allowed English society members to easily interpret the various elements present in this and the other personified virtues and vices throughout this section. 29

The Christian Soldier is protected from the devil by the “armour” of his faith. The believer may “put on the ‘whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the assaults of the deuil.” Ephesians 6:11 (The Geneva Bible). 59



Within this sun, the hebrew characters for Yahweh appear in the center as rays emanate and fill the space above the soldiers head. The Christian Soldier stands on top of a lion’s head which represents the mouth of hell.30 The text above the soldier and the sun at the top of the woodcut states “Christian souldiour harnised” while the text at the bottom includes the words “Hell Temptation ouercome.” When the Christian individual harnesses the power of being a soldier for Christ, then a human may diminish the power of hell’s temptation. For the Protestant laity, this concept could motivate the viewer to envision themselves, as opposed to the saints of traditional Christianity, as a protector of the Christian faith and its faithful. This group of personified virtues and vices is distinctive because each is divided into two images and the woodcut at the bottom of each of these pages also corresponds to Charity’s illustrations on the outer sides of each page. The differences in the layout and quantity of these pictures, compared to the rest, contributes to the heightened significance of charity in the Protestant church. It also reinforces the practical and everyday ways in which the viewer may apply this increasingly needed virtue in post-Reformation England. Within Charity, there are six different types. These are feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, harboring strangers, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and visiting prisoners.31 Each form is illustrated by three different images in which the figures are involved in the corresponding activity. For example, feeding the hungry utilizes an image of a man giving food out of a basket to two men kneeling before him. Below this illustration, a man is standing and handing a large plate of food to a seated male figure (See Figure 1.9). In addition to this, at the

30

Peter’s gospel advises Christians to “be sober and watch: for your aduersarie the deuil as a roaring lyon walketh about, seking whome he may dououre...” I Peter 5:8 (The Geneva Bible). 31

These forms of charity are the same as the medieval corporal works of mercy. 60



bottom of the page, a man is shown kneeling down to a seated man on the ground. In this separate woodcut, the man is handing the seated man a large plate of food.32 The charitable men tower above those in need of assistance to reinforce the idea that the rich have great power over the less fortunate which also endows them with responsibility for the poor.33 Another set of woodcuts in “Christian Values” takes an alternate form to convey the idea that virtue, not vice, allows Christians to live and die well. Images that incorporate animal symbolism to describe Christian virtues use mammals, amphibians, and reptiles in varying landscape and domestic scenes to convey meaning (See Graph 1.4).34 The incorporation of animal symbolism and allegory represent both the increased study of the natural world that occupied the academic sorts at the close of the sixteenth century, as well as the renewed interest in individual interpretation of Biblical stories which often included animal legends, such as St. Jerome and the lion.35 The Apostles and Church fathers were often associated with certain animals, either together or just the animal, to bring to memory the associated person, so the long history of these associations justified such Protestant adaptations. Also, since the Reformers encouraged a return to the ways of the apostolic church, the use of animals to represent virtuosity is a sensible choice since the four evangelists are often represented by the “apocalyptic beasts”

32

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 52r, 72v.

33

The story of Dives and Lazaraus was used to teach the affluent that the poor are already closer to God, so it is up to the affluent to show their commitment to God through helping His poor. Slack, Poverty & Policy in Tudor and Stuart England (New York: Longman Inc., 1988), 22. 34

Animal Symbolism in Virtues/Vices includes the following subcategories: Eagle=2, Deer=2, Monkey=2, Dog=2, Turtle=3, Animal Group=4. 35

Herbert Friedman, A Bestiary for Saint Jerome: Animal Symbolism in European Religious Art (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1980), 10. For a survey of the depiction of animals in art, see Francesco Mezzalira, Beasts and Beastiaries: The Representation of Animals from PreHistory to the Renaissance (Turin: Umberto Allemandi & C., 2001), 1-177. 61



which are “the ox, lion, eagle, and angel.”36 The natural world was replete with symbolic meanings of the Christian tradition from antiquity to the Post-Reformation world. In both medieval Christianity and Protestantism, the laity depended on external signs of “moral and spiritual qualities” for reassurance that they were on the right path. For this reason, the senses of sight, taste, hearing, smell, and touch played a vital, and heightened, role in the daily customs of medieval and early modern society, unlike modern day perceptions of sensory experience.37 Daye’s inclusion of the virtues of the senses appeared concurrently with debates, that began during the late sixteenth century and persisted into the seventeenth century, over whether knowledge is gained through direct evidence and the study of nature or reason alone.38 Perception is a two-way process. 39 Moral influences and personal qualities, and even the qualities of an inanimate object, could be transfered from animate being to inert thing, and vice versa, through simple sensory contact.40 For example, a person wearing a stone could actually corrupt the “virtue of a stone...by the poor moral quality of the wearer” just as the glimmer of a jewel could transmit positive energy through the eyes, and even good or bad smells could indicate sanctity or sin.41 36

Hall, Dictionary of Subjects, 229.

37

C.M. Woolgar, The Senses in Late Medieval England (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), 1-2.

38

William B. Ashworth, Jr., “Light of Reason, Light of Nature: Catholic and Protestant Metaphors of Scientific Knowledge,” Science in Context 3, no. 1 (March 1989): 1, 104. Ashworth points out that in title-page illustrations for many scientific tracts during the first half of the seventeenth-century “...the various arguments were often waged by a series of light metaphors: the Light of Reason, the Light of Nature, and the Lights of Sense, Scripture, and Grace. When such illustrations are examined with the authors’ theological views in mind, it becomes apparent that...Catholic authors favored the Light of Reason as a source of truth, while Protestant authors favored the Light of Nature.” This is not to say that either religion was responsible for the evolution of science. Instead, Ashworth’s research exhibits the common differences between Catholic and Protestant stances on how to interpret and analyze evidence provided by the human senses.” Ibid, 1. 39

Woolgar, The Senses, 267.

40

Woolgar, The Senses, 267.

41

Woolgar, The Senses, 1, 268. 62



The roles of the senses, especially vision, in the perception of the natural world, remained the foundation of meditative practice after the Reformation. 42 The iconography of A Booke of Christian Prayers played into the theory that sight could be used to develop a good memory through the association of specific places or things with sacred texts. 43 Keen vision was a virtue that evidenced an individual’s ability to read and memorize scripture or moral texts using mnemonic techniques, often by the creation of a related image or metaphor.44 Daye’s artists adapted traditional meanings to the additional Christian virtues highlighted in Protestantism. The woodcut which contains the virtue of Sight depicts an eagle standing in a land/seascape with its wings outstretched in front of a tree (See Figure 1.10). The eagle looks towards the sun which shines brightly with long radiating beams that extend over the top quarter of the image. In like manner as the Christian Soldier, the eagle looks towards the sun which represents Christ. Sharp vision allow eagles to identify prey from a long distance and thus makes the eagle an excellent emblem for Sight.45 Sight reminds the viewer that good vision, both physical and spiritual, will allow them to have a close relationship with Christ in order to benefit from His sacrifice. This group of images only accounts for 9% of this section’s total woodcuts, but these images support the renewed, and altered, virtues of the senses in Protestantism.

Images which depict beliefs about life, death, the sacraments, and judgement appear in

woodcuts included at the bottom of varying pages throughout the two cycles of “Christian

42

Woolgar, The Senses, 186-189, 269.

43

Woolgar, The Senses, 187-188.

44

Woolgar, The Senses in Late Medieval England, 188.

45

Hall, Dictionary of Subjects, 113; Woolgar, The Senses in Late Medieval England, 149. The eagle is often representative of advanced vision, along with the lynx and the cockerel. 63



Values.” These types of images account for 19% of the woodcuts in “Christian Values” (See Graph 1.4).46 The one fifth of image space that these types of illustrations occupy prevents the viewer from losing sight of the bigger picture: that each person has an obligation to prepare for death through spiritual exercise. The extra woodcuts contextualize virtue and vice in the larger scheme. The sacraments of baptism and the eucharist appear randomly in the beginning of each of the two cycles and images detailing theological beliefs about judgement appear at the end of each set. While traditional Christianity believed in seven sacraments, the Protestant Reformers reduced the sacraments from seven to two: baptism and the eucharist. 47 The religious rituals for specific stages of life remained an important part of spiritual preparation for death. Baptism, the first sacrament an individual ever receives, is logically inserted at the on the bottom of this section’s first page (See Figure 1.11). Baptism appears in similar form to the subsequent representations of reading and speaking the word of God directly from the Bible. The fact that the people are so engaged in sacramental rituals points to the greater lay participation in the Protestant churches. In this famous image, the minister is holding an open Bible in one hand while simultaneously using his other hand to dip the head of an infant into a small pool of water. Meanwhile, one woman, probably the mother, holds the infant as another woman stands to her right side and two men stand to her left. A group of people that make up the rest of the congregation simultaneously stand behind a divider and watch the ritual.

46

Protestant Theology includes the following subcategories: Baptism=3, Eucharist=1, Judgement=8, Apocalypse=20. 47

Baptism and the eucharist (Lord’s Supper) are the only sacraments acknowledged by the Elizabethan Church. Church of England, Articles whereupon it was agreed, London, 1563, EEBO, STC #10038.3; Church of England, Articles whereupon it was agreed, London, 1571, EEBO, STC #10039. 64



The baptismal illustration appears again at the beginning of the second succession, but this time it is followed by the eucharist ritual. The eucharist, which only includes confirmed members of the church, is shown after baptism because confirmation comes later in the life cycle. The picture plane is divided by the diagonal placement of a table in this image (See Figure 1.12). As the preacher administers the eucharist to the congregation which crowds around the table, both bread and wine are displayed to exemplify the Protestant belief that all believers should be allowed to receive both the “body” and the “blood” of Christ in a memorial ceremony. Each Protestant’s understanding of the altered sacramental theology requires acceptance that, regardless of right spiritual practice, the world will eventually end and all of humanity will receive God’s judgement. Additionally, a group of pictures appear at the end of both sets which illustrate the apocalypse and judgement to conclude the life cycle of the pre-destined Protestant believer. Scenes of the apocalypse and God’s judgement, with the exception of some animal figures, appear in the final pages of both image sets. The apocalypse, a woodcut image of the sun, the moon, and the stars, explain to the viewer through the accompanying text that “The sun shall be darkned, moon shall lose hir light, and the starres shall fall from heauen.” (See Figure 1.13). When the devastation begins, humankind’s wrongdoings cannot be reversed. The lights will literally. and figuratively, be extinguished on humanity. The end of the world will calculate the sum of all human action and the theme of individual responsibility during each part of life is stressed throughout the entire Booke of Christian Prayers. Without Protestantism, everyone will be damned. Prescriptive Protestant literature offered Englishmen and women the potential for predetermined salvation.

65



Additional pages at the end of “Christian Values” contain images related to God’s final judgement. In an outer side woodcut, the top image contains two walking men. Below this illustration, an angel and a devil each grabs one of the men. The text reads, “two men shall be in the field, the one receaued, the other shall be refused.”48 The bottom woodcut contains an alternative view of the angel and devil each carrying one man away to either heaven or hell (See Figure 1.14). This portrayal is replicated in another woodcut, but substitutes two female figures because both sexes face God’s judgement. Protestant Reformers include scary images like these to persuade the laity to abide by their moral codes. Men and women of every social sort risk being carried away by the devil if they do not try to achieve a good death. Frightening pictures and descriptions of hell were used to deter people from sin because the devil could tempt even the most faithful Christians in the final moments before death. The rest of the representations of the apocalypse and judgement continue with the destruction of the world as the sea’s swell, buildings fall, and the dead rise. Judgement is demonstrated in accordance with the reformed belief in predestination. Since God has already elected those who will be saved, the images which show the angel and the devil carrying men and women directly to heaven and hell reflect this Protestant theology. Images depicting the word of God also contribute to a considerable portion of the images in “Christian Values.” In this grouping, nearly a quarter of them (24%) focus on the importance of reading the scriptures (See Graph 1.4). 49 God’s word appears frequently throughout the first two segments of A Booke of Christian Prayers which “tells” the viewer that reading the Bible is

48

This quote is taken directly from Matthew 24:40 (Geneva Bible).

49

Word of God includes the following subcategories: Church Fathers=36, Reading the Word=2, Preaching the Word=2. 66



a major priority for Protestants. Identically to “Humanity’s Redemption,” a large portion of woodcuts related to God’s word are presented by pictures of Church fathers placed between two sets of scripture. Both of the first two major divisions of A Booke of Christian Prayers maintain the heightened significance of the Bible for the Protestant laity because scriptural interpretation provides each Christian the opportunity to have a personal relationship with God. The scriptures set between the Church fathers correspond to virtues pictured in the outer side of each page. Also, some images depicting Protestants reading and preaching from the Bible, are placed at the bottom of varying pages in this section. A Protestant congregation, just like the woodcut images of sacramental rituals, surrounds a preacher who leads the group in reading and understanding biblical stories (See Figure 1.15). In this tradition, literate and illiterate alike have the chance to personally examine the evidence for Christian faith. The unadulterated presentation of God’s word could help prevent the corruption of church leaders and the manipulation of ignorant lay persons. The inclusion of these types of images in the first two major groups of woodcut borders serve to remind viewers that understanding scripture, regardless of the way in which they learn them, will help humankind to live virtuously according to God’s will. Such spiritual achievement would affect everyone on Earth regardless of class, age, or gender as death requires a lifetime of preparation. The greater emphasis placed on charity in “Christian Values” supports the assertion that Richard Daye and his associates intended for this book to be read by the wealthy to remind them of their responsibility to care for the poor since giving to the poor was no longer a good work with a spiritual reward. A more detailed account of this concept of the social hierarchy and social responsibility is provided in the following chapters which focus on the “Danse Macabre.”

67



The “Danse Macabre” is similar in appearance to the first two sections, in terms of the general layout, but it entertains a much more limited variation of subjects and themes. Death and the Danse Macabre It seems likely that the change from traditional Christianity to Protestantism during the late sixteenth century influenced a greater focus on dying and death. This preoccupation with death is reflected in the considerably larger portion of the visual program devoted to reflections on Christian mortality. Images of death, in the form of a skeleton accompanying individual members of society in order of social rank, appear on each page of this section. The “Danse Macabre” accounts for both the largest number of pages in A Booke of Christian Prayers as well as the most woodcuts within a single section, and it has 10% more pages than the book’s other sections (See Graph 1.2).50 This last major grouping also contains nearly half of the woodcuts of the entire book (See Graph 1.1).51 Most of the purely decorative borders are eliminated and replaced with borders containing varying images related to death such as skeletons, graves, and tombs.52 The moralizing imagery of the woodcuts found in “Humanity’s Redemption” and “Christian Values” primes viewers for a “good” death and prepares viewers for the last significant image set. The “Danse Macabre” appears in the last part of the book, to reinforce the theology and morals presented in the first two sets about Christ and virtue, and its large size physically shows that a good death was a major priority (See Graph 1.1).53

50

The “Danse Macabre” contribute 110 pages to A Booke of Christian Prayers.

51

The “Danse Macabre” contains 689 woodcuts. This is considerably more than the 504 woodcuts of the first section, and the 384 woodcuts of the second section. 52

This will be discussed in further detail in following chapters.

53

The total number of woodcuts in the book is 1,649, divided into the following categories (count equals total woodcuts): Preface=56, “Humanity’s Redemption”=504, “Christian Values”=384, “Danse Macabre”=689, Conclusion=16. 68



Within the “Danse Macabre,” each woodcut border on the right side of the page contains one to two images that depict personified Death standing next to a human figure to create the danse macabre. Death’s victims appear according to their hierarchical rank within English society and follow the traditional danse macabre sequence which begins with people of the highest social rank and ends with the lowest social rank. It is possible to analyze each figure according to their corresponding social level to learn how the existing social order affected common perceptions of how to prepare for death. Each of these images also presents the opportunity to analyze how the age and gender of each human figure in the danse macabre contributes to our understanding of the larger picture. The “Danse Macabre” exclusively illustrates the subject of death and includes a few variations on themes related to the end of the human life cycle. Over half (51%) of the woodcuts in this section fall under the general subject of death (See Graph 1.5).54 Whereas the inner right, left side, and top borders of each page in the first two parts utilize mostly decorative borders, this section replaces those decorative borders with images of skeletons, mass graves, and human figures in varying states of decay (See Figure 1.16). The pictures remind the viewer that death may be present anywhere, anytime. Each supporting border to the main danse macabre image is arbitrarily placed on each page to maintain the focus on death; the viewer is immersed in the subject. Not only is the viewer reminded of physical death, he or she is also forced to consider how he or she will be remembered by future generations. A positive legacy requires proper preparation. To express this concern, a considerable number of images are devoted to the

54

Death includes the following subcategories: Skeleton(s)=146, Grave=129, Wrapped Skeleton=10, Male Figure=46, Skeleton w/ Scythe=1. 69



concept of public memory, or memorials to the dead, to both add to the idea that death comes to everyone as well as how a good death positively affects the remembrance of an individual person. Memorial images appear in 17% of the total woodcuts as a single woodcut at the bottom of each page (See Graph 1.5).55 Each image contains a type of tomb with an individual human in varying states of decay, some are merely skeletons while others appear to be recently deceased. The front of each tomb contains words that relate to the text and images in the main danse macabre woodcut. Not only do they provide another example of how a good death affects the social memory of a person, these images also support the inevitability of death. In the danse macabre, death is a skeleton that accompanies each human figure, of varying social sort, age, and gender. The individuals depicted begin with those of the highest ranks of post-Reformation Society, and end with the people of the lowest social stature. The danse macabre continues through three cycles. The number of Englishmen and women of particular social standing, age, and gender groups revealed that Richard Daye wanted to especially influence middle-aged men of the middling and professional sorts to prepare for death through greater charity for the lower sorts. This conclusion is logical as the majority of the figures represented by the artists of this book belonged to this early modern English social group. A Booke of Christian Prayers showed people how to be good Protestants, and the danse macabre emphasized the importance of timely preparation for a good death. A good death was the ultimate sign of a moral, and probably saved, Protestant. That was the main point of the images of death. Daye targeted the book at the lesser officials and middling men in order to expand

55

Memorial includes the following subcategories: Sarcophagus=109. 70



Protestant conversion and to gain more support for poor relief now that the Church could no longer provide this type of charity. A shift in the distribution of wealth from the aristocracy to the middling sorts placed the financial burden of neighborly charity onto the newly affluent group. Just like any other new social policy, the success of the poor relief program was contingent on widespread acceptance and participation by the wealthy. England’s national poor relief project encompassed care for members of the lower orders, particularly those individuals and families who faced periods of severe destitution.56 The English Reformation took many years to gain popular support and the poor relief scheme also required many years of debate and revision to the existing laws before it was relatively successful.57 State directed poor relief started as early as 1536 after Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries (a major source of care for the poor) and occurred alongside the turmoil of the Reformations. At first, the English state started to charge an early form of income tax to support the unemployed who previously received aid from the Church.58 Local officials collected these forced taxes and the monarchy began to define poor laws in greater detail towards the end of the sixteenth century. Eventually, printed Books of Orders were disseminated as guidebooks to show regional and local authorities how to enforce each poor relief act.59 The Books of Orders, first published in 1578, described relief programs that touched on care for the sick poor, the 56

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 138-156.

57

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 138-156.

58

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 138-156. For more about the development of the poor laws in early modern England, see also Keith Wrightson, “Redefining the Commonwealth,” in Earthly Necessities: Economic Lives in Early Modern Britain (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000), 215-220. Additionally, a commonly cited major survey of the English poor laws was written by E.M. Leonard in 1900. See E.M. Leonard, The Early History of English Poor Relief (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1900), 1-397. 59

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 139. 71



regulation of food sales to ensure adequate universal access, as well as guidelines for apprenticeship opportunities to make the poor more viable in the job market.60 It was necessary for social welfare reformers to create official printed works that could be distributed throughout the country to counsel local tax enforcement officials.61 Attempts to enforce social uniformity through the Books of Orders met resistance as people used ideas of “popular morality and traditional charity” to argue against submission to the royal prerogative, especially when it regulated neighborly charity or placed restrictions on the freedom of human movement in times of plague. 62 Poverty was a major issue for Tudor England and charity was a product of preparing for a good death, so Richard Daye purposefully included a greater number of figures from the two largest groups of English society in order to affect the most change. An analysis of simple proportions on the book’s images as a whole and the specific grouping of woodcuts related to death provided an opportunity to see that those in charge of disseminating this type of prescriptive literature had precise and specific goals: to convert English citizens to Protestant Christianity and to instruct the newly converted how to be exemplary Protestants. Fear of a bad death provided the most powerful tool for Reformers to persuade Christians to exhibit moral behavior. Reminders of sudden and unexpected death, as displayed in the danse macabre, instilled the urgency for preparation. The relative prosperity and social influence of the middling sorts in local communities, particularly the places where 60

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 139-142.

61

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 138-139.

62

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 144. Slack presents the “alternative concept of order; not order in the sense of tidiness and command, but order as harmony between the several parts of the body politic, each with reciprocal rights and duties...;” this resistance failed to overcome control from above as most of the “better sort” supported rules that would protect them from the risk of infection by the “lower sort.” Ibid, 144. 72



Reformers had the most difficult time enforcing Protestant rituals, made them the target audience for prescriptive literature such as A Booke of Christian Prayers.63

63

Keith Wrightson concludes that the middling sorts played the greatest role in mediating change at the local level. This could be because people trust their neighbors more than outsiders attempting to change their closely held traditions and values. Wrightson, English Society, 226. 73



CHAPTER II: THE DANSE MACABRE: A PRIME PRESCRIPTIVE CONSTRUCTION The Cause of Social Stratification: Economics and Demography The danse macabre spoke to English people because of the sharp social distinctions during these tough economic times. Increased poverty was a product of a population explosion and economic inflation. Early modern English society was highly stratified into distinct degrees of citizens.1 By the sixteenth century, Englishmen and women recognized four general sorts of people: gentlemen, citizens and burgesses, yeomen, and the poor.2 While not new, social and economic shifts in the sixteenth century created larger gaps between them. The danse macabre reminded people that death happens to everyone, at any age. It taught viewers about the urgency of dying well because it was the preferred form of Christian death. Financial disparities created by the changing economy gave the message of the danse macabre relevance and weight. Higher market demand by the growing population, the devaluation of currency and exportation of food items forced prices and poverty to rise, especially during the mid-sixteenth century.3 The English population almost doubled from 1500 to the early 1600’s.4 The greatest increase occurred between 1561 and 1586; the same time that

1

The highly structured character of early modern English society according to types of people and their status within the larger picture is commonly recognized by early modern English historians. Keith Wrightson states, “It is a commonplace to assert that sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Englishmen were deeply preoccupied with the problems of order and degree. In their most elevated discussions of the nature of the universe they envisaged a ‘great chain of being’ stretching down from the deity to the very elements, in which each creature...had its appointed place...Such accounts of society were at once an explanation of social inequality and a scheme of values. They portrayed society as it ought to be, providing a prescription for an ideal harmony in social relations.” Wrightson, English Society, 17, 18-19. 2

William Harrison. The Description of England, ed. Georges Edelen (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1968), 115-119. 3

H.R. French and R.W. Hoyle, The character of English rural society: Earls Colne, 1550-1750 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007) 30-31. 4

Slack, Poverty and Policy, 44. A.L. Beier, Masterless Men: The vagrancy problem in England 1560-1640 (London: Methuen, 1985), 19. 74



Richard Daye published A Booke of Christian Prayers.5 Poverty rose because resources and employment could not keep-up with the swelling population. Most early modern English people lived in the countryside and population fluctuations directly affected the rural economy.6 Urban markets determined the prices for food stuffs based on supply and demand, so the majority of the population were subject to economic forces outside of their control. 7 Population and economic inflation were interrelated and together they altered local power structures. Urban officials, merchants and rural yeomen landowners gained greater financial power and political authority. The rest of the laboring population were left behind. Physical factors, such as population increases and years of poor harvests, coupled with monetary factors, such as the debasement of coinage and the lowering of the foreign exchange rate, contributed to inflation and periods of economic crises.8 Periods of low prices also adversely affected smalltime farmers and rural laborers because they could not afford to sell food as cheaply as the larger farm owners. During times of overproduction and monetary stability, “agrarian capitalism” offered greater profits for the relatively few large landowners.9 Consolidation of smaller tracts of leased land forced husbandmen (tillers) to abandon their livelihood. Larger farms created greater output of food products so they could sell at lower prices and still make a profit. In order to meet 5

Slack, Poverty and Policy, 44.

6

French and Hoyle, The character of English rural society, 30-31. “In the middle of the sixteenth century...about one in twenty lived in towns” and the rest resided in the arable and hinterlands. French and Hoyle, The character of English rural society, 1. 7

French and Hoyle, The character of English rural society, 30-31.

8

R.B. Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 2nd edition, prepared for The Economic History Society (London: The Macmillan Press Ltd., 1969), 50. 9

French and Hoyle, The character of English rural society, 29-30. “The rise in population led to greater competition for holdings, rising rents, and the proliferation of uneconomic smallholdings. By 1600, it barely paid to farm less than 30 acres of arable.” French and Hoyle, The character of English rural society, 21. 75



greater demand, many landholders consolidated estates “with lots of smallholdings...” because they held “lots of unlettable tenancies and unviable tenants.” This trend further eliminated subsistence farming in early modern England and widened the gap between the rich and the poor. It also contributed to fluctuations in the value of English money.10 The stress of population growth on agricultural production was the primary cause of price rises because there were too many young, dependent mouths to feed. Currency devaluation also added to the poverty problem as people’s money was suddenly worth less in the marketplace.11 These economic shifts depended largely on regional and local factors such as population density and transportation costs from farms to markets.12 The stark contrast in purchasing power between rich and poor English people created discord in many communities.13 Economic inflation in Tudor England peaked during the mid-sixteenth century, increased somewhat steadily, and then surged again in the 1590’s.14 Agricultural prices as of 1550 were over double what they were during the beginning of the century and industrial prices escalated as well, but at a slower rate than food stuffs and farm production.15 Wages only ascended to half the level of food prices because too many people were seeking employment. 16 Displacement and periods of marked famine inspired contemporary discussion of the causes of inflation. The danse

10

French and Hoyle, The character of English rural society, 40-41.

11

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 50.

12

French and Hoyle, The character of English rural society, 40-41.

13

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 20-21.

14

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 15.

15

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 15.

16 A.L.

Beier, Masterless Men: The vagrancy problem in England 1560-1640 (London: Methuen, 1985), 20. 76



macabre spoke to the viewers because of the sharp polarization of wealth in such an unstable economy. When inflation was at its worst and affected people’s ability to provide basic provisions for their family, scholars and moralists took the most notice.17 The bulk of Tudor discussion on rising prices was recorded between 1548 and 1556 when the cost of living soared above previous levels.18 Yet, population growth was not commonly evidenced as an economic stress.19 The few Englishmen who did, such as Alderman Box, suggested that the great numbers of people in England by the late sixteenth century largely reduced the amount of arable land for farming which caused food prices to rise. In 1576, Box explained to Lord Burghley that “...the people are increassid and grounde for plowes dothe wante, Corne and all other victuall is scanete...”20 Contemporary poverty analysis mostly cited short term causes for price instability.21 Sixteenthcentury explanations for inflation were not always accurate, but perception held the most power for prescriptive works.22 It was difficult for sixteenth-century men to accurately comprehend the causes and effects of inflation because they could not view long term economic trends. Instead, it was easier for men to attribute inflation to the greed and misconduct of the men in direct social and political 17

Men of the “Commonwealth School” often commented on economic disparity. The term “commonwealth” in the sixteenth century pervaded scholarship about government. “Capable of referring to to public, social, or political community, or both, to invoke commonwealth principles was to subscribe to Platonic and Aristotelian commonplace that whatever its constitutional form government must be directed to the public good.” So, men who thought this way believed that the English government should protect all members of society. Jonathan Scott, “What Were Commonwealth Principles?” The Historical Journal 47, no. 3 [2004]: 591. 18

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 17.

19

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 22.

20

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 22.

21

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 17.

22

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 20-21. 77



opposition.23 For example, the most obvious explanation for dearth to the “vulgar sorts” was the greed of the “better sorts” who appeared to control prices and create shortages through either enclosure or increased exportation of goods. 24 Writers frequently pointed to enclosure or engrossment as the cause of dearth. The swell in food prices, especially the price of grain, led contemporary writers to place a lot of the responsibility for inflation on enclosure.25 Enclosure did not account entirely for the rise in food prices, but English scholars from the Commonwealth School wrote about the great affect that the greed of the upper ranks had on the rest of the population.26 Enclosure consolidated land owned by many small-holders into one large land that restricted grazing rights to an individual. Engrossment involved converting land that was previously used for food production and living spaces into large sheep farms.27 Both forced tenants to search for another way to earn a living and led to much discussion over people’s right to earn a living. A well-known Commonwealth School member, and noted humanist, Thomas More, wrote Utopia in 1516, a fictional account of the social and economic state of England. More compared England to an ideal state and he attributed the increase in poverty and the crimes associated with poverty, such as thievery, to the greed of the idle noblemen and other wealthy landowners.28 The enclosure of farm lands to raise more sheep for wool and allocate more land

23

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 20-21.

24

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 23.

25

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 18-19.

26

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 18-19.

27

Beier, Masterless Men, 22.

28

Thomas More, Utopia, Book I (1516) in Ch. 1 “Social Order and Tensions in Tudor England, “ in Sources and Debates in English History 1485-1714, eds. Newton Key and Robert Bucholz (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), 10-12. 78



for private hunting forced many families to move in order to find work.29 More claimed that “for in whatever parts of the land sheep yield the finest and thus the most expensive wool, there the nobility and gentry, yes, and even a good many abbots - holy men - are not content with the old rents that the land yielded to their predecessors.”30 The depopulation of rural villages and displacement of long-existing family homesteads colored opinions about enclosure. Nonlandowners, which included all of the poor sorts, viewed enclosure as the primary reason for their inability to work and it was difficult for subsistence farmers to adapt an increasingly urban centered market economy. Monetary factors also contributed to the wider divide between the poor and the “better sort” of common folk. Currency debasement benefited the monarchy and hurt the “commonality.”31 To pay off their own debts faster, the government melted down gold or silver coins and mixed them with other materials. The devaluation of coinage during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI provoked speculation that inflation was caused by a reduction in the physical value of coins. The rest of the population experienced decreased purchasing power as a direct result.32 Elizabeth I reformed the coinage around 1560, but the damage caused during the first half of the sixteenth century was still a memory for many in 1581 when Daye published A Booke of Christian Prayers.33 Additionally, excessive food exportation by greedy merchants and the government, for the deployed military, caused heightened anxiety about inflation, especially during years of poor 29

More, Utopia, 12.

30

More, Utopia, 11.

31

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 19-20.

32

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 48.

33

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 20. 79



harvest.34 “An Act of 1555 castigated those ‘covetous and unsatiable persons seking their onely lucers and gaynes’ who were exporting provisions, etc., ‘By reason wherof, the sayd Corne Vyctuall and Wood arre growen unto a wonderfull dearthe and extreame pryses.’ ”35 William Harrison, a Protestant minister who wrote an extended account of English society, noted the disparity in nutrition that exportation and limited supply created between the rich and the poor. Bread made of wheat was typically only enjoyed by the gentility.36 The poor mostly ate cheaper grains such as rye or barley.37 When there was a shortage of all grains, the poorer sorts were forced to make their bread using beans, peas, or oats. 38 Furthermore, a lack of market regulation for the “assizes” of bread, or “the statutory regulation of the weight, price, and ingredients of bread” added to famine.39 Statute outlined the requirements for the sale of bread, but civil officers in country towns were more likely to side with the merchants in order to keep good favor. 40 Farmers grew corn in many more places than in earlier times, but high prices made it impossible for laboring men to purchase corn. The poor were forced to settle for what Harrison refers to as “horse corn,” including simple and cheaper provisions such as beans, lentils, and oats.41 Grain remained expensive because landlords were

34

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 21.

35

Outhwaite, Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 21.

36

Harrison, The Description of England, 133.

37

Harrison, The Description of England, 133.

38

Harrison, The Description of England, 133.

39

Harrison, The Description of England, 247.

40

Harrison, The Description of England, 247.

41

Harrison, The Description of England, 133. 80



permitted to export it in order to keep the prices higher.42 This further indicates that the middling sorts of men held the most local pull and wealth. On account of inadequate and overpriced food supplies, standards of living were much higher for a select few who were able to amass abundant wealth. Widening income margins may be confirmed by Tudor tax records which also show that the environmental landscape of each region affected the distribution of wealth.43 In many areas, approximately one quarter to over one half of people were not required to pay taxes because they lacked landed (property) and material assets.44 Tax records, however, do not distinguish between different levels of poverty, so it is not always possible to compare prosperity from one town to the next.45 For instance, areas in higher elevations that supported pasture farming often had more poor households because large numbers of people depended on small subdivided areas of land.46 They also had to purchase food from distant markets at higher prices and industrial villages that supported themselves by trades such as weaving depended on the market demand as well.47 Historians must analyze and compare different types of records at the local level to extrapolate descriptions of the standards of living for the poor from village to town to urban center.

42

Harrison, The Description of England, 133.

43

Slack, Poverty and Policy, 40-41, 43.

44

Slack, Poverty and Policy, 40-41.

45

Slack, Poverty and Policy, 40-41. “It seems probable that one third of adult males on average escaped the taxation net.” “It is not easy to say how poor the exempt third were. In theory they earned less than £1 a year in wages and did not have goods worth that amount. It is clear in practice, however, that this was a wholly artificial criterion and that everything depended on local judgement.” Ibid. 46

Slack, Poverty and Policy, 42.

47

Slack, Poverty and Policy, 42-43. 81



The Language of Social Stratification Contemporary terms used to describe the “sorts” of people in early modern England indicated the acute differentiations in levels of wealth and poverty. The language employed to delineate England’s sixteenth-century social hierarchy was “very much a product of the Elizabethan age...”48 Englishmen of authority took classical notions of social distinction and adapted them to fit contemporary demographic and economic issues.49 Designations such as the “better sort” and the “ruder sort” were used to identify the difference between the ruling members of the middling sorts and the rest of the “commonality.”50 The increased power of certain professions and vocations within the “commonality” made the use of these terms a tool for asserting power within local structures.51 Any simple classification system had to include broad categories in order to cover the complex differentiation between people’s status. Everyday speech was much more specific and used words and phrases such as the “the best men” or the “inferior sort” as opposed to broad terms like the “middle sort.” The word “middling” did not differentiate between the distinct differences in wealth and status which was important to sixteenth-century Englishmen. In fact,

48

Keith Wrightson, “ ‘Sorts of People’ in Tudor and Stuart England,” in The Middling Sort of People: Culture, Society, and Politics in England, 1550-1800, eds. Jonathan Barry and Christopher Brooks (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994), 29. 49

Wrightson, “ ‘Sorts of People’,” 29.

50

Wrightson, “ ‘Sorts of People’,” 40-44. The “commonality” was a title frequently used to describe the the ancient estate of everyone outside of the clergy and the gentry. Wrightson, “ ‘Sorts of People’,” 40-44. 51

Wrightson, “ ‘Sorts of People’,” 40-44. Keith Wrightson agrees that population growth and economic inflation led to the development of sharp social distinctions between people. He also suggests that the conflict between traditional and Protestant Christians also added to the differentiation between types of people. The “language of sorts” put people in direct opposition with each other based on ideas of civility and proper conduct. Wrightson explains that the greater stratification of English people reflected the “...actual collisions of interests, authority, and ideals.” Wrightson, “ ‘Sorts of People’,” 38-39. 82



the use of the term the “middle or middling sort” was not widely employed during the early modern period.52 Contemporary social classifications revealed that, in theory, title was valued even more than wealth. In reality, wealth was just as important, if not more, in day to day life. The highest grouping encompassed those who fit into William Harrison’s description of the “gentlemen” of English society. The “gentlemen” “...were not a legally defined group in society.”53 “Gentlemen” typically included all men who held titles based on inheritance, although knights were occasionally chosen from lesser families.54 The most privileged were the dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and the barons. These men could serve in Parliament and held some special legal protection.55 Knights were next on the hierarchy followed by “the younger sons of peers.”56 Harrison explained how “gentlemen” received their status. He remarked that, dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons either be created of the prince or come to that honor by being the eldest sons or highest in succession to their parents. For the eldest son of a duke during his father’s life is an earl, the eldest son of an earl is a baron, or sometimes a viscount, according as the creation is. The ‘creation’ I call the original donation and condition of the honor given by the prince for good service done by the first ancestor with some advancement, which, with the title of that honor, is always given to him and his heirs male only. The rest of the sons of the nobility by the rigor of the law be but esquires, yet in common speech all dukes’ and marquises’ sons and earls’ eldest sons be called lords, the which name commonly doth agree to none of lower degree than barons, yet by law and use these be not esteemed barons.57

52

Wrightson, “ ‘Sorts of People’,” 38-39.

53

Wrightson, English Society, 23.

54

Wrightson, English Society, 23. Knights only received their title through appointment by either the King or someone with the appointed authority to make such a determination and it could not be passed down to heirs. Harrison, The Description of England, 102. 55

Wrightson, English Society, 23.

56

Wrightson, English Society, 23.

57

Harrison, The Description of England, 100-101. 83



The “gentlemen” displayed a mix of wealth; some owned a multitude of estates while others only ruled over one.58 The social hierarchy was further complicated by the fact that “gentlemen” who lost their wealth kept their title but lost their position in Parliament.59 On the way to “agrarian capitalism,” wealth and social status were often not at the same level in each noble and “common” household. Harrison placed “citizens and burgesses” second to the “gentlemen.” These men were those that are free within the cities and are of some likely substance to bear office in the same. But these citizens or burgesses are to serve the commonwealth in their cities and boroughs, or in corporate towns where they dwell. And in the common assembly of the realm, wherein our laws are made (for in the counties they bear but little sway), which assembly is called the High Court of Parliament, the ancient cities appoint four and the boroughs two burgesses to have voices in it and give their consent or dissent unto such things as pass or stay there, in the name of the city or borough for which they are appointed.60 The local officials were the middlemen between the aristocracy and the “middling sorts.” The merchants stood at the same level of social status as the citizens and the burgesses. Moralizing writers blamed such merchants for the rising cost of imported goods.61 Elizabeth’s statutes limited who could import goods into the realm to the benefit of urban tradesmen and the expansion of exported English goods also increased the prices on assorted items and made merchants richer than ever before.62 The social standing of merchants was further blurred by the fact that some came from families of gentle standing. This could also be said of the professions

58

Wrightson, English Society, 25.

59

Harrison, The Description of England, 100-101.

60

Harrison, The Description of England, 115.

61

Harrison, The Description of England, 115-117.

62

Harrison, The Description of England, 115-117. 84



since 12.6% of apprentices for London companies were from the nobility between 1570 and 1646.63 “Yeomen,” the third sector in Harrison’s Description, described the rising group of men who farmed for the gentility or even artisans who amassed significant wealth to the “...the sum of 40s. sterling, £6 as money goeth...” in the sixteenth century.64 As a social group, “Yeomen” included all freeholders who were “...free to sell, exchange or devise [their land] by will...” in contrast to the other husbandmen who only had a copyhold and had to renew their rights to land with a fee and remained a part of the poorer sorts.65 The affluence of this group was apparent as they could sometimes “...buy the lands of unthrifty gentlemen, and often, setting their sons to the schools, to the universities, and to the Inns of the Court....”66 The term the “middling sort” captured the political leaders and the men who engaged in trade and farming activities at a higher profit than the laboring poor.67 The poor day laborers often wandered from place to place in

63

Wrightson, English Society, 29.

64

Harrison, The Description of England, 117.

65

Wrightson, English Society, 31.

66

Harrison, The Description of England, 117.

67

The term “middling sorts” is difficult to define since so many variations existed between the wealth and status of people within this group from place to place in early modern England and it included a variety of working types of people. The best, and most precise definition, is given in the introduction to The Middling Sort of People: Culture, Society, and Politics in England, 1550-1800. Jonathan Barry writes, “the middling sort had to work for their income, trading with the products of their hands (for example, yeomen and husbandman farmers and artisans) or with the skills in business or the professions for which they had trained (for example, merchants, attorneys, and apothecaries). Moreover, they were rarely employed by others in this - even the emerging group of government officials mostly depended on fees or viewed their offices as a property investment, as did the professions; The middling sort defined themselves in relations to households, which often formed the heart of a trading unit - in farm, shop or craft workplace - but also acted as the key unit for the reproduction and security of the family, centered on the figure of the adult male householder.” Jonathan Barry, “Introduction” in The Middling Sort of People: Culture, Society, and Politics in England, 1550-1800, eds. Jonathan Barry and Christopher Brooks (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994), 2-3. 85



search of wage work opportunities with the merchants, citizens, and yeomen who owned their own property and businesses.68 The citizens, merchants and yeomen had greater purchasing power and closer contact to the “lower sorts” than the gentlemen. 69 The fourth sort did not own property and therefore did not have any power or authority in government at any level. 70 Harrison declares that ...the poor is commonly divided into three sorts, so that some are poor by impotency, as the fatherless child, the aged, the blind, and lame, and the diseased person that is judged to be incurable; the second are poor by casualty, as the wounded soldier, the decayed householder, and the sick person visited with grievous and painful diseases; the third consisteth of thriftless poor, as the rioter that hath consumed all, the vagabond that will abide nowhere but runneth up and down from place to place (as it were seeking work and finding none), and finally the rogue and strumpet, which are not possible to be divided in sunder but run to and from over all the realm, chiefly keeping the champaign soils in summer to avoid the scorching heat, and the woodland grounds in winter to eschew the blustering winds.71 It was up to the local officials to deal with the problems of poverty including vagrancy and crime. Harrison believed the first two types of poor, the impotent and “the poor by casualty” to be truly deserving of charity and the responsibility of every good Christian.72 This was a common view; it was vital to understanding the differences between the “ruder sorts” so as not to reward unworthy parties.

68

Beier, Masterless Men, 14-28.

69

By the end of the sixteenth century, “gentlemen” were eliminating a large portion of their servants from the household which further distanced the elite from the poor. Beier, Masterless Men, 23. 70

Harrison, The Description of England, 118-119.

71

Harrison, The Description of England, 180-181.

72

Harrison, The Description of England, 180-181. 86



Social Sorts and the Danse Macabre A Booke of Christian Prayers conferred a conventional view of English society. Social prejudice combined with legal policy intensified discussion about what to do with the “vulgar sort.” Roving wage laborers threatened the stability of already overpopulated villages, towns, and cities. The poor laws defined legal residents as those who had lived in one place for at least three years.73 Without financial aid provided to struggling residents, large numbers of the poor were forced to move over and over in an attempt to find relief. 74 Officials labeled such vagrants and rogues as dangers to society. In reality, A.L. Beier points out, these “masterless men” moved from place to place, often over long distances, just to find work.75 The sense of urgency exhibited by the danse macabre corresponded to the pressing weight of poverty on Tudor England. The danse macabre exhibited stark differences between the physical appearance of the “ignorant” and the “meaner sorts.”76 The “middle sorts,” the audience of A Booke of Christian Prayers held the most influence in each village, town, and city.77 The wealthy “middling sorts” had the money to purchase the publication which placed greater social responsibility this group. These men were powerful agents to spread message of the danse macabre; that each Christian 73

Beier, Masterless Men, 32. Between 1597 and 1662, residency was changed and then required one year of habitation in a fixed place. Beier, Masterless Men, 32. 74

Beier, Masterless Men, 32.

75

Beier, Masterless Men, 30-31.

76

Wrightson, “ ‘Sorts of People’,” 40-44.

77

Brooks, “Professions, Ideology and the Middling Sort,” in The Middling Sort of People: Culture, Society, and Politics in England, 1550-1800, eds. Jonathan Barry and Christopher Brooks (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994), 116, 117. Christopher Brooks provides evidence for the mediary role of the professional and official sorts, such as lawyers or judges, between the monarchy and “the people” as they served both their own interests and that of the elite by making “...public pronouncements about society and the State.” For example, Brooks points out, “...in 1588...Sir Richard Crompton told the yeomen and the lesser-gentry farmers who composed the grand jury in Shropshire that kings had been ordained by God to govern and that their subjects were commanded to obey.” Ibid. 87



should prepare for death in a timely manner. The followers of Bucer and Calvin supported the maintenance of a structured social hierarchy.78 Although the existing hierarchy was important to the nobility and the gentry; some mobility was accounted for in the descriptions of the sorts. 79 The danse macabre was a suitable scheme because it represented a widely accepted view of an increasingly stratified English society. It also showed that Death paid no mind to social distinctions to encourage prompt preparation. Civic officials and merchant-types judged the worthiness of the poor for relief on a regular basis so the equal numbers of these figures in the danse macabre represented the collective interests of the largest portion of English society: the commonality. The danse macabre showed men of the rising group that they needed to promptly care for the physical and spiritual needs of their families, as well as the poor, in order to be good Protestants and, as a result, achieve a good death. Death came to everyone, at any time, in equal measure. Social inequality characterized early modern Christian life. The only difference was that people knew where they stood in life, but what God had planned for them after death was a mystery. As all body parts are crucial to good physical performance; all occupations were important for the proper functioning of England. Moralists likened the physical body to the social body of Christians. Without all parts in tact, the body is disabled or even destroyed. The Gloucester minister John Baker explains, ...as it is in the body naturall of men that al members are not alike, nor haue the fame function, yet all are necessary: and although the foote be not so excellent a member as the hand or the eye, yet for the use of the body, it is as necessary and profitable: neither can the head say to the foote, I haue no need of thee, but one hath neede of the helpe of 78

Greschat, Martin Bucer, 252, 240.

79

Morgan, “Of worms and war: 1380-1558.” in Death in England: An Illustrated History, 126; Wrightson, English Society, 22. Contemporary descriptions of English society form a “broad pattern” that compiles “...several elements of social estimation in varying proportions, including (in no particular order of significance) birth, conferred title, wealth and the nature of that wealth, life-style, occupation, form of land tenure, tenure of positions of authority and legal status.” Wrightson, English Society, 22. 88



another for the maintenance of y whole. So it is in y mystical body of y Church, some haue more excellent giftes then others, and some may be likened to the head, some to the eye, and some to the hand...80 These well-known analogies are why the point of the danse macabre, the exigency of dying well, was best presented in terms of social status and order. Since money could no longer be used to aid the dead, Reformers needed to encourage rich men to transfer donations otherwise made to deceased family and friends to poor neighbors. Protestant Reformers reminded the wealthier men of the necessity of everyday moral behavior and charity. If most early modern people were already making the proper preparations for death, then it would not have been prudent for the publishers and the Reformers to allocate their time and resources to the subject. Good Protestants, those who frequently read or listened to God’s word, expounded Christian virtue, and made arrangements well in advance for the wellbeing of their neighbors and family, would achieve a good death. The Reformers recognized the strong influence that the local officials and merchants held over their respective communities.81 Local officials, who enforced laws and made proclamations, and tradesmen, who took in apprentices, interacted with large numbers of people in the local market on a daily basis. The poorer sorts often relied on the neighborliness of the wealthier townspeople to provide food and other provisions during hard times.82 Local attitudes in small and tight-knit communities put the most pressure on able contributors to help poor

80

John Baker, Lectures of I.B. vpon the xii. Articles of our Christian faith briefely set forth for the comfort of the godly, and the better instruction of the simple and ignorant. Also hereunto is annexed a briefe and cleare confession of the Christian faith, conteining an hundreth articles, according to the order of the Creede of the Apostles. Written by that learned [and] godly martyr I.H. sometime Bishop of Glocester in his life time, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #1219. 81

See note 77.

82

Slack, Poverty and Policy, 62. 89



neighbors and extended family. 83 Correspondingly, rich and influential men could relay the guidance of the danse macabre to their fellow citizens, especially those of the lower sorts who could not afford to purchase such a large book. If the poor saw the positive effects of Protestantism on their lives through increased charity as the rich attempted to prevent a bad death, then the Reformers could achieve their goal of converting and making good Protestants out of the two largest groups of the early modern English society. For this analysis, the danse macabre prints were grouped into four categories of social sorts: the royalty, the nobility and the gentry group, the professional and the middling sorts, and the lower orders. The division of these sorts varies somewhat from the traditional descriptions provided by English contemporaries such as Harrison, however, this method allowed for analysis of groups by peerage which influenced individual actions more than official statutes. The human figures in each border appear in hierarchical order, beginning with the Emperor and ending with the Fool. Each illustration is divided in half and contains a human figure belonging to one of the four groups.84 An animated skeleton always stands next to the human figure; a caption appears below that lists the title of the person along with a line of prose related to death’s universality (See Graph 2.1).85 In contrast to earlier versions of the danse macabre, this series does not

83

Slack, Poverty and Policy, 62.

84

The only exception to this layout occurs in the presentation of the printers and the musicians.

85

The danse macabre’s four social sorts including the following sets of figures in this order (each set appear on the same woodcut border): Emperor & King =3, Duke & Marques=3, Baron & Vicount=3, A. Bishop & Bishop=3, Doctor & Preacher=3, Lord & Knight = 3, Esquire & Gentleman=3, Judge & Justice=3, Sergeant at Law & Attorney =3, Mayor & Sheriff=3, Bailiff & Constable=3, Physician & Astronomer=3, Herald & Sergeant at Arms=3, Trumpetor & Purfuiant=3, Drummer & Fife=2, Captain & Soldier=2, Merchant & Citizen=2, Printers=3, Rich man & Aged man=3, Artificer & Husbandman=3, Musicians=3, Shepherd & Fool=3, Beggar & Roge=3, Youth & Infancy=3, Empress & Queen=3, Princess & Duchess=3, Countess & Vicountess=3, Baroness & Lady=3, Judge’s wife & Lawyer’s wife=3, Gentlewoman & Alderman’s wife=3, Merchant’s wife & Citzien’s wife=3, Rich man’s & Young woman=3, Maid & Damsell=3, Farmer’s wife & Husbandman’s wife=3, Countrywoman & Nurse=3, Shepherd’s wife & Aged woman=2, Cripple & Poor woman=2, Infant & Fool=2. 90



include the Pope because the Church of England follows the English King or Queen, the Supreme Head of the Church, not the Bishop of Rome. A basic numerical analysis of the social sorts among the figures presented in A Booke of Christian Prayers revealed that an equal percentage of figures depict the “better” and the “ruder” commoners, each with sixty-six figures (See Graph 2.1).86 The greater number of these two types of people correlated with the true demographic structure of England: the middling and the poor sorts accounted for the majority of the English population. They were thus also the biggest concern for the government and the church. Appropriately, the next largest group was the nobility and gentry, distinguished by forty-eight figures and the royalty was the least visible with only fifteen figures (See Graph 2.1).87 The Professional and Middling Sorts The danse macabre appears in three sets in the final section; each professional and middling figure repeats two to three times (See Graph 2.2). 88 Ranging from law enforcement and educated professionals, such as lawyers and physicians, to tradesmen and merchants, the viewers could see themselves in the danse macabre.89 Professionals, for instance, found that temporal law held no power in death. The woodcut picture of the justice and the judge depicts each individual dressed in stately robes and hats (See Figure 2.1). Both men appear to be plump, 86 A small

number of figures were undetermined. This is due to a lack specific identifying characteristics/title. It most likely accounts for the even percentage between the middle and lower sorts. 87

The figures of Infancy, Infant, Aged Man, Young Woman, Aged Woman, Damsel, and Maid were omitted from the numerical analysis as these titles and the depictions of the figures do not directly indicate a specific social status. 88

The danse macabre repeats three times, but the last section is cut short. The truncation of the final cycle affects only the inclusion of the female lower sorts in the last set. 89

The Professional and Middling Sorts includes the following subcategories: Doctor=3, Preacher=3, Judge=3, Judge=3, Justice=3, Sergeant at Law=3, Attorney-3, Mayor=3, Sheriff=3, Bailiff=3, Constable=3, Physician-3, Astronomer=3, Merchant=3, Citizen=3, Printers=3, Rich Man=3, Judge’s Wife=3, Lawyer’s Wife=3, Alderman’s Wife=3, Merchant’s Wife=3, Citizen’s Wife=3, Rich Man’s Wife=3. The total social positions represented is 24, which equals 31% of the figures of the danse macabre section. 91



which points towards their wealth, and in their prime, which is indicated by the strong upright stance. The two officials are exactly the men who could afford to give to the needy people of the English towns and villages over which they presided. The judge and the justice were charged with upholding the poor laws. The two men prescribed legal punishment to those who failed to give the required charity. Both figures are presented with Death, who grabs each by the arm or hand and shows them that death strips away prestigious clothing and titles. For the illiterate, they were decorated by robes with wide, draping arm openings and honor stoles hanging around the shoulders and down the front of the robe. This representation clearly indicates the profession assigned to each figure. Additionally, the woodcuts include printed captions below each figure to further clarify the intended sort depicted in each space. The iconography of the judge and the justice prevented the viewer from mistaking who was depicted in each woodcut. It was the charge of judicial members to uphold the morals prescribed by Protestantism. “In the 1570s,” wrote Paul Slack, “some of the Norfolk justices met regularly at the new ‘Bridewell’ at Acle where, after prayers, they punished rogues, drunkards, and bastard-bearers: work both ‘necessary and...full of piety’.”90 A justice or a judge had to maintain the civic laws of the state, as well as the spiritual laws of the realm. Professionals often had to reconcile duties imposed on them by both the state and the church. The woodcut of the merchant and the citizen also depicts two particularly influential figures (See Figure 2.2).91 The top portion illustrates the moment when the merchant meets 90

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 149; Slack discusses the types of poor; the deserving and the undeserving. Those impoverished whose involvement in sinful activities prevents them from earning money makes them both undeserving and often dangerous. Men of this time believe they should be punished and excluded from social charity. Slack, Poverty & Policy, 61-112. 91

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 90r, 109r, 128r. 92



Death, a skeleton cocking his head in a playful pose. The merchant is facing the skeleton. The merchant’s back and half of his face is turned away from the viewer as he places his hand on Death’s shoulder. The skeleton appears to be in the process of decomposition; a few bits of hair jut out of his skull. The remaining flesh on the skeleton’s face is pulled into a full grin. The merchant wears upper trunk hose over stockings with a cloak and a flat, beret-like hat with a feather, which points towards the growing wealth of this sort who works, but dresses similarly to the non-working gentleman. Additionally, a caption appears below the two figures and the merchant’s title, which states, “Neither craft nor trade: Can me perswade” (See Figure 2.2).92 For literate viewers, this caption reiterates the meaning that is signified by the skeleton. While the merchant does well in his earthly business, his success does not exempt him from his spiritual obligations. The citizen, too, is bound to the same charitable commitments imposed on him by the state and the church. In fact, this representation overtly expresses the wealthy citizen’s duty to the poor as a crippled man sits on the ground at his feet with his crutch in his hand (See Figure 2.2).93 The citizen is dressed in a long coat and wears a hat while the cripple is covered only by a torn short sleeved shirt and plain pants. The bag that hangs from the cripple’s shoulder probably contains his only possessions; his plainness stands out in contrast to the elegance of the citizen. As Death grasps the citizen’s shoulders, the citizen looks down at the cripple and hands him a bag that most likely contains either food or money. While the point of the danse macabre is to remind the laity that they cannot take their riches to the other side, it does not say anything in particular against the use of elaborate 92 Daye,

A Booke of Christian Prayers, 90r, 109r, 128r.

93 Daye,

A Booke of Christian Prayers, 90r, 109r, 128r. 93



memorials. The images simply show that wealth is transitory so enrichment of the soul must come first. Death will force the citizen to relinquish his money so he is reminded to distribute his excess wealth to the needy. The caption below the image states, “Of towne and Citie: I haue no pitie” (See Figure 2.2).94 This declaration cautions urbanites against looking down-on rural inhabitants who were left behind with the rise of the towns and the cities.95 Subsequently, the tomb depicted in the bottom woodcut of the page with the merchant and the citizen warns against the overvaluation of earthly things and the negation of spiritual preparation (See Figure 2.2).96 Regardless of the body’s state, the corpse no longer has any use for money or treasures. Even the elaborate tomb inscribed with a poetical statement on the front is simply a place for the body to to rot and eventually turn to dust. The tomb’s inscription reads, “Use gayne of gold, and lyue in cost: So as by death, lyfe be not lost.” (See Figure 2.2)97 The tomb supports a corpse, in the very early stages of decomposition, as its shroud is still in tact covering various parts of the body, and the muscular structure of the body has not yet begun to break down.

94 Daye,

A Booke of Christian Prayers, 90r, 109r, 128r.

95

The rise of towns and cities began in the western side of the Continent during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. 96 Daye,

A Booke of Christian Prayers, 90r, 109r, 128r. Kathleen Cohen explains that transi tombs were often constructed prior to death. Transi tombs were objectionable to Protestants, particularly the Lutherans of Germany, but it is obvious in A Booke of Christian Prayers that the publishers were adapting the common image of the transi tomb to ease the transition from one tradition to another. The tombs often served as a kind of momento mori to the patron. Some tombs, like those shown in these woodcuts, “combined an emphasis on teaching with hope for salvation.” The moralizing transi tombs were typically engraved with poetic verse that commented on “human glory and immortality.” In England, the emaciated transi was the most popular type of the sepulchral monument. Cohen points out, “there are obvious physical resemblances between the corpse figures potrayed on the transi tombs and those used in popular representations such as the Dance of Death and the Triumph of Death.” In contrast to the tombs’ expression of hope for salvation during the medieval period, the transi tomb replaced this idealized imagery with a more realistic depiction of the physical realities of the body after death. Kathleen Cohen, Metamorphosis of a Death Symbol: The Transi Tomb in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973), 182-6, 84-7, 2, 1. 97 Daye,

A Booke of Christian Prayers, 90r, 109r, 128r. The inscription appears on the front of the tomb in the bottom woodcut of these pages. 94



The prescribed changes in the death ritual were not necessarily followed by the majority of the population, but the danse macabre’s outline for behavior echoed Protestant ideas about the nature of death. To counter old traditions, Protestant leaders changed the focus of bequeathals. The distribution of wealth through wills and bequests was a major part of the traditional English death ritual. Instead of leaving wealth to purchase prayers for the deceased to aid in his or her transition from this life to the next, benefactors were encouraged to leave charitable contributions for surviving family members, friends, and the parish. Those with money in excess of the cost of living should support those who cannot support themselves. Compassion for other people, just like God’s mercy and Christ’s sacrifice for the human race, is paramount to forgiveness for trespasses against God’s commandments. Through charitable living both earthly life and eternal life is saved. This idea could also relieve the government’s stress of being the sole subsidizer of the poor relief, which they could not do, at the same time that it fulfills the Protestant spiritual duties required to live and die well. The Poor Henry VIII’s destruction of the mendicant orders eliminated the voluntary poor and made poverty a condition which was to be avoided by everyone.98 Issues that arose from the plague, and several other major illnesses such as outbreaks of “burning” fevers (which could have been a variety of influenza or typhus) incited discussion about what should be done with the wandering poor.99 In towns and cities, vagrancy was a perceived as a significant problem and an issue that 98

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 23. See chapter 2 “Perceptions of Poverty” in Poverty & Policy for a more in depth discussion of the distinctions between the types of the poor sort. 99

Ralph Houlbrooke explains that some of the underlying causes in addition to the religious changes that forced the issue of how to deal with death in agreement with the moral obligations of Protestantism. The most significant alteration is shown by a greater concern for the preparation for funeral sermons and commemorative works as a service for the survivors since the dead are already where they are supposed to be. Ralph Houlbrooke, Death, Religion, and the Family in England 1480-1750 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998), 5-27. 95



needed to be dealt with by authorities to maintain the physical and financial safety of the community. The role of the poor in this scheme was not passive. It required a good deal of spiritual and moral preparation during life. To be considered deserving of charity, society expected physically capable poor men and women to work hard, exhibit piety, and expound proper social behavior. Distinctions between the “worthy and unworthy poor” existed before the sixteenth century. The first printed tract that addressed this situation, entitled Dives and Pauper, was written in the beginning of the fifteenth century and published in 1493. 100 Printed books capitalized on the biblical story of Dives and Lazarus which taught Christians that the poor are already closer to God, but that the rich must be much more careful and had the more difficult duty of holding his wealth “in trust for the poor.”101 Protestants who used wealth to help the needy members of Christian society were more likely to be part of God’s chosen. Common law distinguished between true need and laziness in the “lower sorts” as an effort to prevent giving help those who were unworthy. Discrimination against the unfavorable poor was prevalent throughout England when this book was published in 1581. Associations between crime, disease, and the idle and dangerous poor correlated with the rise of vagrancy because people feared strangers.102 Mostly, vagrants threatened community balance since resources were already stretched to the limit and over in many areas. This led to a great dichotomy between the deserving and the undeserving poor. 103 The deserving, or “God’s poor,”

100

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 22.

101

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 19.

102

Beier, Masterless Men, 30-31.

103

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 23-24. 96



were those who were unable to work or to make enough money due to inescapable circumstances or impotence, such as a physical disability, while the undeserving were considered the devil’s poor.104 The wealthy were to assist the sinful poor in cases of extreme need, but only after the virtuous poor received aid.105 All of the various kinds of poor are included in A Booke of Christian Prayers. Each figure meets death regardless of his or her virtues or vices. Still, the prescriptive Protestant nature of the document, which conceded that all people had purpose in the social body, and the state’s need for help dealing with the entire poor population, is apparent with the inclusion of both the “good” and “bad” poor sorts. The poor, however, often did not fit neatly into either category. 106 The subversive poor, the vagabonds and rogues, were often dramatized and romanticized in tales of “the world turned upside down,” but their life was anything but ideal. 107 Such circumstances were recorded in local records and statutes. 108 Wandering poor men and women could be persecuted in one town, but shown compassion in the next. Although Englishmen should still be wary of the idle poor, A Booke of Christian Prayers stressed the point that death leveled all of these distinctions. The point of Daye’s book was to get everyone to prepare for death by doing good things for other people; if the rich needed to discriminate between types of poor, they must do it immediately and give aid to those who deserve it in order to die well.

104

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 25.

105

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 23.

106

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 23; Also, see chapter four for an analysis of these local records that shows that some of the idle poor were willing to work, but could not find work, etc. Slack, Poverty & Policy, 25. 107

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 25.

108

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 25. 97



In A Booke of Christian Prayers, the overlapping stereotypes among the poor are apparent (See Graph 2.3). 109 Low income occupations were not regarded equally by English people. While positions in service to the rich often placed men and women of the lower orders in close vicinity to the aristocracy, which allowed them to dress nicer and live in better quarters than the rest of the poor, the meager pay and the lack of job security for these positions kept them in poverty. For instance, the woodcut that depicts the drummer and the fife player illustrates two men dressed in tailored costume, complete with a hat and feather (See Figure 2.3).110 Death approaches the two figures as they are in the middle of playing their instruments to illustrate the spontaneity of the moment. In the upper half of the woodcut, Death grabs the drummer’s shoulder, tilts his head, and gazes at him. The drummer looks back into the eyes of death with a concerned, if not surprised, expression. The caption below the drummer’s title states, “Drommer call together: all foloyars to my baner” (See Figure 2.3).111 In this case, the job of the drummer is to set the beat as a way to express that even the poor must set the example for living well. Below the drummer, the fife player is playing his instrument while Death grabs him around the shoulder to whisk him away. The skeleton’s head is looking off into the distance while the fife player looks down in the opposite direction and continues to play. His only job at that point is to do as the caption below suggests, “Fife see thou play: to leade them the way” (See

109

The Lower Orders include the following subcategories: Trumpetor=3, Pursuiant=3, Drommer=3, Fife Player=3, Artificer=3, Musicians=3, Shepherd=3, Fool (Male)=3, Beggar=3, Rogue=3, Farmer’s Wife=3, Husbandman=3, Husbandman’s Wife=3, Countrywoman=3, Nurse=3, Shepherd’s Wife=3, Cripple=2, Poor Woman=2, Fool (Female)=2, Herald=3, Sergeant at Arms=3, Captain=3, Soldier=3. 110

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 89r, 108r, 127r.

111

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 89r, 108r, 127r. 98



Figure 2.3).112 The fife player’s position in society is relatively minor, but he too must forget about his lot in life and lead by example. The danse macabre further illustrates the diversity of the lower orders. Laboring poor, including the artisan and husbandman, are often in need of charitable assistance from the wealthy, especially when tough times, such as disease or famine due to poor harvests, take their toll. The woodcut depicting the artisan (artificer) and the husbandman illustrates that even the hardworking poor must take time for spiritual preparation during their busy and precarious lives. The artisan wears a respectable outfit of upper trunk hose over stockings. It is noticeably plainer than what wealthier men, such as the merchant, would wear. His hat appears to be a basic cloth hat. The artisan carries some tools of his trade, a protractor in his left hand and a bag over his right shoulder, probably full of odds and ends used to craft new tools. Death’s legs are intertwined with the artisan’s. This act grabs the artisan’s attention and he stares back into the jovial face of the skeleton. Without care for the artisan’s possessions, Death literally inserts himself between the artisan and his minimal material wealth. Just as the text at the bottom of the woodcut claims, “No compas or arte: can cause me [death] depart.” (See Figure 2.4) 113 Material wealth, great or small, does not matter at death. Likewise, the husbandman is depicted in the lower half of the border. He wears plain and practical clothing for his outdoor labor. The extended brim of his hat is an added indicator of his vocation in land cultivation. The husbandman carries a scythe. While he holds the tool in his left hand, Death grasps his right forearm to let him know that his laboring will soon cease to matter. Spiritual work is the only labor that matters in anticipation for death. 112

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 89r, 108r, 127r.

113

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 89r, 108r, 127r. 99



The lowest of the lower orders, the beggar and the rogue, also appear in the danse macabre, although they truly live on the margins of early modern English society.114 Beggars were often viewed as idle and undeserving, but occasionally physical disability provided exceptions for impoverished English Christians.115 The beggar in the upper half of the woodcut is seated and leans on a crutch while he wears loose, draping fabric to cover his bottom half. Shirtless, the beggar is clearly in dire need of new clothing, money, and probably food in order to survive. The beggar looks up towards Death, who is also wearing drapery that flows behind him to indicate his swift movement which will quickly remove the beggar from his sufferable position in life. The deserving poor are reminded that they too must prepare by living well, as God will relieve them of their pains if they are patient. The caption below the beggar being whisked away by death reiterates this idea as it states, “Begging is done: For I am come.” (See Figure 2.4)116 The old begging man suffers and is at the mercy of his neighbors for survival. Death is a reward for the beggar so he must be ready to die at any time. Rogues were considered to be “a social danger of unlimited proportions.”117 Rogues were mostly just laborers: skilled in a trade but unemployed due to the “demographic shifts and massive migrations” that characterized the English population during the sixteenth and early

114

For a discussion on marginality in some of the poor sorts of early modern England, see Slack, Poverty and Policy, 22-36. 115

Licenses for begging were sometimes distributed in early modern England to assist those who were not capable of physical work. Slack, Poverty and Policy, 63, 92, 118-119, 122-123, 167. 116

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 89r, 108r, 127r.

117

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 23. 100



seventeenth centuries.118 The rogue was able-bodied, moving from town to town in search of survival. His intentions always suspect, the rogue provoked intense unease. The healthy and robust, yet unemployed, rogue or vagrant, defied the existing social order and held the potential for chaos and damage to traditional structure of authority.119 The sixteenth-century English state proliferated ideas about the dangers posed by rogues and vagrants in order to combat the threat that “masterless” men presented to the realm’s administration: they were not supervised therefore they might not conform to standards of conduct 120 Adversely, the earliest draft of the English poor law in 1531, and the subsequent poor law of 1536, acknowledged that most able-bodied wanderers were inclined to labor, but could not find work.121 The rogue of the danse macabre characterizes the disreputable attributes of the wandering poor. He is depicted in the bottom half of the woodcut and appears to be wearing many layers of clothing. Since he never settles down, he must wear everything that he owns. The rogue frightens most of the population, especially the affluent classes who worry that the rogue will steal from them. Death, however, is not deterred by the rogue’s suspicious demeanor. For professional and middling viewers, this scene illustrates that even outlying members of society will face the same end as higher ranking men and women. If the affluent Christian may never be positive of his or her salvation, then the final spiritual destination of even the dangerous poor

118

Beier, Masterless Men, xx, 3. A.L. Beier analyzes local records including those of the “...county quarter sessions, of the various borough courts, of houses of correction, especially London’s Bridewell, and of arrests at parish level...” Beier employs a quantitative analysis of the number of vagrants arrested for varying types of crime. He compares the personal information provided in individual examinations conducted and recorded by the local magistrates for individual vagrants in order to extrapolate commonalities between them which led him to his conclusion that most vagrants were simply traveling in search of employment. Beier, Masterless Men, xx, 3. 119

Beier, Masterless Men, xviiii.

120

Beier, Masterless Men, xviiii.

121

Lehmberg, The Reformation Parliament, 230-233. 101



sorts is also a mystery. Careful thought and consideration about how and what specific acts of generosity were appropriate was all a part of effective planning for death. Burial and remembrance for the dead: protestant charity and self-preservation The spirit of giving transitioned from Roman Catholicism to Protestantism with a different emphasis on its purpose. Preachers in England “...were obsessively anxious to counteract any inclination among Protestants to let doctrines of grace and justification by faith discourage good works: rather, they argued that charitable generosity should be seen as ‘firm and evident proof’ that a man was a ‘true and not a false Christian.’ ”122 Charity complemented the key element of English Protestantism’s theological stance on salvation; every Christian must always doubt that he or she is saved. Assisting the living with preparation for their own death became a priority of Protestant charity. Funerals no longer needed to be elaborate and expensive, although it was difficult to eliminate this tradition with those who could afford it. In postReformation England, the most involvement that Christians needed to have with the dead was through the execution of testamentary wills and the internment of the dead physical body. The poor could rarely afford to execute a testamentary will, let alone proper Christian funerals and burials, so it was up to the local parishes to help poor families pay to bury their deceased relatives.123 To accomplish this, parishes relied on taxes levied on all property owners to pay for the funerals of the poor.124 Although the wealthy avoided interaction with the

122

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 10.

123

Gittings, Death, Burial and the Individual, 60-61.

124

Pre-industrial English men and women held onto “extremely literal interpretations of the resurrection, making the correct burial of dead bodies a matter of vital importance in their eschatological scheme. In common belief, a Christian funeral was held to assist the passage of the soul to the hereafter.” Gittings, Death, Burial and the Individual, 60. 102



dangerous poor, even the dead vagrant received a proper burial.125 Burial was such a significant aspect of the Christian rites that members of society who committed crimes, such as high treason or suicide, were often denied a proper Christian burial as a form of punishment, even after death.126 Indeed, it was so important that one of the seven corporal Christian mercies was to bury the deceased. Aside from the traitor and those who committed suicide, it was a Christian’s duty to aid fellow Christians during life and at the final rite, so all members of English society, even the poorest, would receive a proper Christian burial. An early sixteenth-century Articles of Faith lists proper Christian burial as the last of the “...vii warkes of merry corporall...”127 The anonymous author describes how good Christians must “...bery or helpe by the almes the dede body of Cristen people.”128 Ignoring these duties would surely make it more difficult for a Christian to achieve their own good death. The Nobility and the Gentry Proper burial, often coupled with exorbitant monuments and post-mortem tributes, was extremely important to the nobility and the gentry who wanted to leave monuments as a lasting record of their social status.129 The danse macabre presents an accurate image of such highsociety in sixteenth-century England. While the aristocracy enjoys a higher social status, it is discussed in this study after the lower and middling sorts because members of the nobility and 125

Gittings, Death, Burial and the Individual, 61.

126

Gittings, Death, Burial and the Individual, 69-70.

127 Anon,

In this boke is co[n]teyned the Articles of oure fayth The. x. co[m]mau[n]dementis. The. vii. works of mercy. The. vii. dedely synnes. The. vii. pryney pall vtues. And the. vii. sacramentis of holy chirche whiche euery curate, is bounde for to declare to his parysshens. iiii. tymes in the yere, London, 1509, EEBO, STC #3359. 128 Anon, 129

In this boke is co[n]teyned the Articles of oure fayth, London, 1509, EEBO, STC #3359.

Llewellyn, The Art of Death, 38, 48-49, 51; Attreed, “Preparation for Death,” 64. 103



the gentry contributed to a noticeably smaller percentage of the danse macabre in A Booke of Christian Prayers (See Graph 2.1 and Graph 2.4).130 The number of nobles and gentle people reflect the small size of their group within the demographic make-up of early modern England. The danse macabre’s message, that death levels social distinction so everyone should prepare for death now, meant something to the nobles and gentility, especially because of population growth and economic crises. The increased wealth created by the urban marketplace and population growth negatively affected the aristocracy in terms of wealth and local authority. Infertility and disease were also enemies of the English nobility.131 A considerable number of nobles and gentlemen failed to produce direct male heirs for a time during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and, to add to this problem, rich old ladies often outlived the heirs to their deceased husband’s estates.132 This caused a high extinction rate of direct noble lines. In addition, the early Tudors did what they could to weaken the power of the nobility to reinforce their own authority.133 In response, English aristocrats clung desperately to traditions that would maintain their position in the social hierarchy and an intense pride of paternal ancestry developed during the sixteenth century. 134 Yet, physical records of human life were meaningless if a person’s true attributes did not match. The danse macabre sought to remind viewers that the preparation for a good death was the only part of their fate that they could control. Human

130

The Nobility and the Gentry include the following subcategories: Duke=3, Marques=3, Baron=3, Vicount=3, Lord=3, Knight=3, Esquire=3, Gentleman=3, Duchess=3, Countess=3, Vicountess=3, Baroness=3, Lady=3, Gentlewoman=3, Archbishop=3, Bishop=3. 131

Platt, King Death, 49-62.

132

Platt, King Death, 49-62.

133

Lawrence Stone. The Crisis of the Aristocracy, 1558-1641: Abridged Edition. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967), 10. 134

Stone, The Crisis of the Aristocracy, 16. 104



declarations about individual character and titles did not matter because God pre-determined damnation or salvation. Early modern Englishmen and women coveted the privileges of the nobility and the gentry even if it was not necessarily greater than the wealth of the merchant or the lawyer.135 The high regard for elite status was apparent as Englishmen equated land ownership with political influence and power, so, wealthy merchants, yeomen, and civic leaders often used their wealth to purchase a landed estate. 136 The professionals, local officials and merchants were sometimes wealthier than members of what Harrison called the “gentlemen” of England, but they were still required to respect the social authority of well-born men. A nobleman or a gentleman might appear to still have a great deal of wealth by his fancy clothing and large estate, but he or she could also be literally wearing the last of the family’s assets.137 To conserve the social hierarchy, a priority for the higher sorts, rich commoners could use their excessive wealth to fund poor relief instead of using it to sponsor social mobility into the upper ranks of English society.138 It is possible to see in the images of the noble and gentlemen of the danse macabre that the social elites kept their traditional roles in dress, titles, and power. For example, the woodcut image of the baron and the vicount displays two men who command respect by sight of their crowns and impressive robes (See Figure 2.5). 139 The baron in the top half of the woodcut

135

Stone, The Crisis of the Aristocracy, 24.

136

Stone, The Crisis of the Aristocracy, 24-25.

137

Stone, The Crisis of the Aristocracy, 26.

138

Ironically, printers from the middling sort like John Daye and Richard Daye, with monopolies over certain printed works, distributed this propaganda which placed the heaviest financial burden on their own types. 139 Daye,

A Booke of Christian Prayers, 83r, 102r, 121r. 105



border wears a heavy robe with fur trim around the collar. His robe is clearly expensive by the fur and his crown is most likely constructed of silver or gold. Death approaches the baron without hesitation or the reverential regard that everyone below him in society would display, and takes both of the baron’s arms into his grasp. The caption below the baron’s title states, “Barons of nobilitie: sweare to me fealty.” (See Figure 2.5)140 After death, however, the baron’s high position is inverted, and the only act of fealty that counts is the one that he swears to Christ. Tudor Royalty The monarchy’s extremely limited involvement in everyday social activity is reflected by the significantly low percentage of royal figures in the danse macabre (See Graph 2.5).141 The Tudor royals were not involved with the administration of the poor relief laws outside of signing the statute into law. Although the English royalty should be concerned with the welfare of its citizens, all of early modern society knew that the King or Queen’s main concern was maintaining the security of the state. This included ensuring that the poor did not starve and revolt which threatened the monarch’s position. The English royals signed acts into poor laws, but the money which funded the poor relief schemes came from the pockets of the professional and the middling sorts through taxes levied at the local level.142 The few royal figures are easily identifiable, even for the illiterate, by the inclusion of a sword, a scepter, and the much taller and more elaborate crowns than any of the nobility (See Figures 2.6 and 2.7). Of notable significance is the the tomb pictured beneath the royalty. While the rest of the tombs connected

140

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 83r, 102r, 121r.

141

The Royal Division includes the following subcategories: Emperor=3, King=3, Empress=3, Queen=3, Princess=3. 142

Slack, Poverty & Policy, 126-127; Slack provides details about several Acts instituted by Elizabeth I between 1572 and 1601. Slack, Poverty & Policy, 126-127 106



to the danse macabre figures on each page show a corpse in varying states of decay, the tombs at the bottom of the royal figures maintain the integrity of the royal body, both literally and figuratively.143 A Booke of Christian Prayer’s danse macabre really only “told” viewers to hurry-up and prepare for death because it could happen at any time to anyone. The instruction for how early modern English people could prepare was distributed in Protestant moral tracts and printed images, such as the images in the “Humanity’s Redemption” and “Christian Values,” that outlined or displayed the actions that might suggest that someone was a part of God’s elect. Most importantly, the danse macabre spoke to the viewers, who were professionals, entrepreneurs, and landholders, in a “language of sorts” that made the most sense to them. It also exhibited the significance of age and gender in the determination of authority and social responsibility. Within the professionals and middling sorts, only fully mature men, of middle age, were endowed with the power to govern the actions of people within their household and community.

143

For more about the concept of the social body in art, see Llewellyn, The Art of Death, 46-49. 107



CHAPTER III: THE DANSE MACABRE: THE AUTHORITY OF AGE AND GENDER Early modern England was divided into four broadly defined sorts of people. Within each group, Englishmen were described by their wealth and occupation. Simultaneously, age and gender further distributed authority in English society. In this hierarchy, fathers and husbands held the most power. Middle-aged men governed wives, instructed children, and cared for elderly parents and neighbors. Adult men used their authority to enforce the spiritual and social instructions of children and youth so that they too would prepare to die. 1 The danse macabre reminded men and women that death could strike everyone of all ages, gender, and sorts, at any time. People accepted the danse macabre as a valid argument because it represented a logical and natural order to sixteenth-century minds. Readiness for life’s end was paramount to a good Christian death. To avoid a bad death, each person needed to immediately begin preparation for the final moment. The Family: A Microcosm of the State Government To keep peace and discipline in the realm, the family was modeled like a miniature version of the government. Patriarchs ruled over everyone living in their small “political unit.”2 Such entities, early modern modern English “families,” included all inhabitants of a single household.3 A household could include both related and unrelated individuals such as servants,

1

Tudor writers rarely agreed on exact numbers for the official ages of children and youth in the “ages of man” schemes. It was typical for English authors to generally refer to youth from approximately 14 until age 28. Paul Griffiths, Youth and Authority: Formative Experiences in England, 1560-1640 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1960), 20-21. Elizabeth Sears examines how the ages of man was interpreted in western society from antiquity to the medieval period. For more on the development of age categories, see Elizabeth Sears, The Ages of Man: Medieval Interpretations of the Life Cycle (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986): 1-318. 2

Garthine Walker, Crime, gender, and social order in early modern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 9-10. 3

Walker, Crime, gender, and social order, 9-10. 108



apprentices, elderly in-laws, and children.4 Effective domiciliary management maintained existing structures of authority at all levels of the English state.5 Families were often negatively affected by the increasing demographic pressure on the English economy which gave the danse macabre greater magnitude. Population spikes meant that England had a greater number of dependent youth to feed, clothe and shelter. The danse macabre presented such sharpened differences between different ages and gender just as it showed the varying degrees of wealth and social status. Men were expected to take care of their family’s physical and spiritual requirements, but this could be a challenge for some as young people caused the greatest financial strain on households during the 1500’s.6 As of 1581, “35 per cent of the population were aged under 15 and 8 per cent over 60...”7 As discussed in chapter two, the combination of population growth and rising prices forced large numbers of wage laborers into poverty. This meant that men of greater means, such as the merchants or the magistrates, were responsible for the financial care of many neighboring families. The numerical analysis of age and gender in the danse macabre justly revealed that Richard Daye targeted the rising group of middle-aged professionals, civic leaders, and local businessmen because they had the greatest surplus of income. Men in these positions were most likely to be married, past the age of apprenticeship, and they possessed the most wealth and the greatest authority within the household and the community. Subscription to spiritual preparation by such influential men provided the most significant results for the church and the state because 4

Walker, Crime, gender, and social order, 9-10; Blood related relatives living outside of the household were referred to as “kin.” Ibid. 5

Berry and Foyster eds, The Family in Early Modern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), 160. 6

Slack, Poverty and Policy, 44.

7

Slack, Poverty and Policy, 44. 109



they set an example for the rest of their community.8 Neighborly charity, a part of spiritual maturation, was best performed by these richer commoners who cared for the poor as well as dependent women, the elderly, and children. Age distribution within a household largely affected its economic strength. Neither the very young nor the very old could typically actively participate in the poor relief scheme (especially since the old were often the focus of poor relief) and the majority of women lived under the authority of either a husband or other male family member.9 Young and old men and women were often stereotyped, such as idle youth, senile old men or devilish old spinsters, as a result of concerns over how to maintain stability in an increasingly vulnerable economy.10 8

See chapter two, note 81, about the influence of the richer middling men and local pundits. Brooks, “Professions, Ideology and the Middling Sort,” 116, 117. 9

Walker, Crime, gender, and social order, 9-10. The definition of family in early modern England is also discussed in the introduction to Berry & Foyster, The Family in Early Modern England, 7. Additionally, recent studies on women’s social experience in early modern English history reveal that women were often able to push the boundaries and step outside of prescriptive roles. Early modern English women “learned how to manipulate patriarchy for their own ends” but they did this within the limits of the patriarchal system. Barbara Hanawalt argues that women in late medieval London were not strictly subservient and frequently used wealth from their dowry and inheritance to both acquire and maintain ”...their own standard of living”. Barbara A. Hanawalt, The Wealth of Wives: Women, Law, and Economy in Late Medieval London (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), vii, 13. Early modern Englishwomen may have experienced some freedom and opportunities to work and express themselves both within and outside of the home, but the sixteenth-century daughter, wife, mother, or widow was generally confined to activities that contributed to the well-being of the household. She was not responsible for financial contributions outside of the home. Amy Louise Erickson explains that “women receiving large amounts of property and exerting power over it in a distinctive way does not change the fact of oppression, but it does highlight the disjunctive between theory and practice. It also exhibits the ingenuity of many ordinary women working within a massively restrictive system.” Amy Louise Erickson, Women and Property in Early Modern England (London: Routledge, 1993), 20. See also Bernard Capp, When Gossips Meet: Women, Family, and Neighborhood in Early Modern England (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 1-398. 10

Research on age. gender and family dynamics in early modern England has expanded since the 1970’s, especially after Lawrence Stone published The Family, Sex, and Marriage in England, 1500-1800 Stone argues that three distinct types of family structures existed and overlapped between 1500 and 1800 in England. Stone suggests that the English people started with what he terms the “Open Lineage Family” in which behavior was determined by outside pressure from the community. Stone claims that towards the end of the sixteenth century and until the midseventeenth century, the “Restricted Patriarchal Nuclear Family” was guided by ties to the church and/or the state. Sometime in the late seventeenth century and into the eighteenth century, the the “Closed Domesticated Nuclear Family” appeared as “the product of the rise of affective individualism.” Stone, The Family, Sex, and Marriage in England, 1500-1800, (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1977), 1-800, 6-8. Historians, such as Alan MacFarlane, have since revised Stone’s arguments. Still, Stone’s research and conclusions, although filled with over-generalizations, is widely recognized as a starting point for all subsequent research on family history because no-one else is yet able to provide a better explanation or “meta-narrative” for change in the structure of the English family from the early modern to the modern period that covers both what changed and what stayed the same. Berry and Foyster, The Family in Early Modern England, 3-4. 110



Age and Gender in the “Danse Macabre” With this in mind, adult figures represented the most images in the danse macabre (76%), followed by young adults (15%), the elderly (5%), and then children and infants (4%) (see Graph 3.1).11 Among these categories of age, men accounted for the majority of the figures in each separate category, with the exception of the figures that represented young adulthood. Not surprisingly, the majority of the figures (64%) in the danse macabre were male to reflect the inherent social and religious authority associated with the early modern male body (see Graph 3.2). This was because the early modern body represented a hierarchy of power and strength. Men and women existed as one sex in which the male qualities outranked female qualities. 12 Modern sex categories did not exist in sixteenth-century England. To the early modern mind, the male body was the better version of the human sex and God designed the male body for better reproduction. The chemical make-up of men’s hotter and dryer bodies allowed them to exhibit better judgment than women whose colder and wetter bodies made them less capable of making good decisions.13 Adult Men Justification of adult male authority was made through arguments about the competencies of sex and age. The power associated with age and sex was complex and interconnected in early modern England. Women’s bodies made them inferior to men at all ages and both the very young and the very old of both genders lacked the competence associated with middle-age. The 11

Young adults could also be called youth which by early modern definitions constituted the age between childhood and true adulthood, or the teen years and early twenties. See Paul Griffiths, Youth and Authority: Formative Experiences in England, 1560-1640 (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1996), 20-21. 12

For a discussion of the one-sex model, see chapters 1-4 in Thomas Lacquer, Making Sex, 1-148.

13 Anthony

Fletcher, Gender, Sex and Subordination in England 1500-1800 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995), 44-59. 111



man in his prime could best spread the danse macabre’s message, to hastily prepare for death, to the women, youth, and elderly under his charge. The danse macabre acknowledged adult male dominion through its renderings of these particular figures. Since the danse macabre showed that Death did not differentiate between physical and mental strength when choosing his victims, the greater numbers of adult men points to the fact that they guide the rest of the community. The division of adult figures in the danse macabre correlated almost exactly to the division of figures across the social sorts as the most adult figures were represented by the the professional and middling sorts (35%) (see Graph 3.3). 14 The poor sorts had the second largest number of adults (34%), followed by the nobility and the gentry (24%) and the royals (7%) (see Graph 3.3).15 Expectedly, the majority of the adult figures were the male (70%) (see Graph 3.4). Adult professional and middling men were the the perfect mix of physiology and financial means to guide the rest of the English commonality. Adult men were the heads of households and supervisors in their work. No longer a ward or apprentice, they were essentially the “supreme governors” of the domestic and public spheres in each village, town and city. 16 The average husband and father not only needed to think of his own preparation for death, he was also expected to set an example to the young and to aid the

14

Only the adult age category was large enough to separate and analyze by social sorts. Adults of the Professional and Middling Sort include the following subcategories: Doctor=3, Preacher=3, Judge=3, Justice=3, Sergeant At Law=3, Attorney=3, Sheriff=3, Bailiff=3, Constable=3, Physician=3, Merchant=3, Citizen=3, Printers=3, Rich Man=3, Judge’s Wife=3, Lawyer’s Wife=3, Alderman’s Wife=3, Merchant’s Wife=3, Richman’s Wife=3. 15 Adults

of the Poor Sort include the following subcategories: Herald=3, Sergeant At Arms=3, Trumpetor=3, Pursuiant=3, Drummer=3, Fife Player=3, Captain=3, Soldier=3, Artificer=3, Husbandman=3, Musicians=3, Shepherd=3, Beggar=3, Roge=3, Farmer’s Wife=3, Husbandman’s Wife=3, Countrywoman=3, Nurse=3, Cripple=2; Adults of the Nobility and the Gentry include the following subcategories: Duke=3, Marques=3, Baron=3, Vicount=3, Arch Bishop=3, Bishop=3, Lord=3, Knight=3, Duchess=3, Countess=3, Baroness=3, Lady=3, Gentlewoman=3; Adults of the Royals include the following subcategories: Emperor=3, King=3, Empress=3, Queen=3. 16

The authoritative structure and government of a household was supposed to appear as a microcosm of the English state. Berry and Foyster, eds, The Family in Early Modern England, 160. 112



elderly. The man’s role in the spiritual preparation of his wife and children is described in the preface to a manual called The maner to dye well. The author, Pedro de Soto, declares, For if the father be wearie of his care, who coulde be able to shewe howe proude and insolent the thoughtes, eyes, tongue, eares, and other members would become. This house is the conscience, wherein this Father dwelleth, and gathereth together the treasure of vertues, for which he doth watche diligentlie, least the house should be broken up. And it is not one, but many Theeues that would commit this buglary [sic] and robbery, For euery vertue hath a nice incident unto it. The cheefe Theefe is taken to bee the Deuell, againste whom...the saide father (if he be not negligent) doth watche and warde his house...and euerie houre is to bee feared, for it is not knowen in what houre the theefe will come. We oughte always to watche, least the sleepe of sinne do unwares creepe upon us.17 Another publication, the Glass of Government, by George Gascoigne clarifies a father’s critical duties. It is a fictional account of two rich citizens from Antwerp who send their sons to a schoolmaster to “...briefly instruct them their duetie towards God, their Prince, their Parents, their cuntrie, and all magistrates in the same.”18 The four boys are about to leave the guardianship of their fathers. The fathers are charged with giving their children a spiritual foundation and hope that the schoolmaster will instill a greater sense of urgency for spiritual preparation. Once the boys leave home it will be up to them to work towards a good death so their father’s guidance at this time is crucial. Additional publications, including Andrew Boorde’s The boke for to learne a man to be wyse in buyldyng of his howse, instruct men how to

17

Pedro de Soto, The maner to dye well An introduction most compendiouslie shewinge the fruytfull remembrance of the last fowre things: that is to say, death, hel, iudgement, and the ioyes of heauen. Gathered out of manye good authors, both comfortable and profitable to the dilligent reader. Learnedly instructing howe to prouide for death, London, 1578, EEBO, STC #1075. 18

George Gascoigne, The [H]glasse of gouernement A tragicall comedie so entituled, bycause therein are handled aswell the rewardes for vertues, as also the punishment for vices. Done by George Gascoigne Esquier. 1575. Seen and allowed, according to the order appointed in the Queenes maiesties iniunctions, London, 1575, EEBO, STC #11643a. 113



set-up their household in order to achieve good spiritual health both for himself and his family.19 The proper functioning of the household, just like the state, was likened to the body in which all parts are necessary, although certain organs and appendages are valued more because they play a bigger role. When men took care to watch over the physical and spiritual health of the household, all of the members could achieve good death, whenever it might happen. To differentiate the adult men in the danse macabre from the rest, each lack the awkward stance and the high-arching eyebrows of carefree youth, but they have not yet acquired the hunch-back and deep wrinkle lines of old age. Stance, facial lines used to express wrinkling of the skin, as well as the length of facial hair, all indicate age. Stereotypical images of men equate the length of a beard with maturity and wisdom; the longer the beard, the more aged and wise the man.20 The adult men have not reached the wisdom of the long-bearded elderly men, but they can prepare for death with greater expediency and diligence than the old man who, although wise, might also be too decrepit incompetent to perform his daily spiritual exercises without assistance. One professional type of adult man, the lawyer, a well-educated and experienced individual, shows-off the vigor and eloquence of his position as stands-up straight and firmly grasps what appears to be a scroll (see Figure 3.1).21 The lawyer’s beard is short, much like most of the other adult male figures in their prime. He is still capable of maintaining the outward

19 Andrew

Boorde, The boke for to learne a man to be wyse in buyldyng of his howse for the helth of body [and] to holde quyetnes for the helth of his soule, and body The boke for a good husbande to lerne, London[?], 1550, EEBO, STC #3373. 20

L.A. Botelho, “Images of Old Age in Early Modern Cheap Print: Women, Witches, and the Poisonous Female Body,” in Power and Poverty: Old Age in the Pre-Industrial Past, eds. Susannah R. Ottaway, L.A. Botelho, and Katharine Kittredge (Westport: Greenwood Press, 2002), 232. 21

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 86r, 105r, 124r. 114



signs of his social distinctiveness through “apt speech and behavior” that are beyond both the immature young man and the senile aged man.22 The furrowing of the lawyer’s brow indicates the stress of adult responsibility, but the definition line of his calf muscle displays his present physical strength. Even adult men of the poor sorts hold a much greater responsibility to live well than men from the other age groups. The poor adult man must care for his wife, children and his parents, all the while struggling to earn enough money to manage his responsibilities. He must rely on the charity of his wealthier neighbors. A man, such as the soldier, whose low income would have prevented him from extending charity to his peers and the elderly poor, was an additional responsibility of the “better” sort of men (see Figure 3.2).23 The soldier’s beard is short, he stands straight and tall, and his face displays few lines. His physical features are similar to the middling men, but his social status keeps him from being a part of the group who could influence English men and women to prepare for death in the present rather than the future. Women and the Family Protestantism expanded and established concrete ideas about gender relations within the family. 24 Post-Reformation England maintained male authority and people viewed social institutions in a reflexive manner.25 The church preached obedience in the home in order to maintain stability at all levels of society. According to Hugh Latimer, a noted sixteenth-century preacher, “ ‘Every man must be in his own house, according to St. Augustine’s mind, a bishop, 22

Nina, Taunton, Fictions of old age in early modern literature and culture (New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, 2007), 77. 23

Daye, A Christian Booke of Prayers, 89r, 108r, 127r.

24 Patricia 25

Crawford, Women and Religion in England, 1500-1720 (London: Routledge, 1993), 42.

Crawford, Women and Religion, 49. 115



not alonely giving good ensample, but teaching according to it, rebuking and punishing vice.’ ”26 This was reflected by the danse macabre as figures of adult men outnumber women. Females account for much less (only 30%) of the total adult depictions because women’s sexual nature made them a subservient figure (see Graph 3.4).27 The danse macabre presents all Englishmen first. Even the queen, although Elizabeth I contradicts this idea, does not appear before the lowest male which is in agreement with Protestant teachings about the female body. To communicate female inferiority in the danse macabre, women’s faces of all age groups are less distinctive than the men. The adult women have small and meek sized faces with simple dots and lines for the eyes and nose (see Figure 3.3). They lack the facial contours that distinguish the adult men. For example, the images of the judge and lawyer’s wives reveal very little of their facial features except that they are neither very old nor young (see Figure 3.3).28 As mothers, they took part in their children’s Christian education within the home.29 Still, directly addressing the female audience through these images was unnecessary and would have contradicted women’s inferior role.30 Wives may have encouraged their husbands to live well, but good Christian women did not try to equal or usurp male power. Men acknowledged that women’s work was essential to the household. Still, “...whatever she did her houswifery defined her character whereas his work defined the objectives of family

26

Crawford, Women and Religion, 42.

27

Crawford, Women and Religion 38-52.

28

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 96r, 115r, 134r.

29

For more about attitudes towards women’s education in early modern England, see Kenneth Charlton, Women, Religion and Education in Early Modern England (London: Routledge, 1999), 1-332. 30

Crawford, Women and Religion, 45. 116



life” and women who challenged these ideals incited suspicion and persecution.31 Records of widows and spinsters illustrate how independent women often caused local anxiety.32 In order to avoid such circumstances, single women between adolescence and middle age were pushed into service by local officials.33 Young girls “...who refused this course risked the insinuation that they were whores.”34 Nevertheless, some Protestant women of early modern England were noted for their pious examples. Katherine Brettergh, for instance, was a “good” Protestant woman who died with stoic acceptance in contrast to the emotional breakdown of the archetypal Catholic woman.35 Likewise, Phillip Stubbes acknowledged his wife Katherine’s exceptional virtues in A Crystall Glasse for Christian Women printed in 1591. Stubbes recalled that during Katherine’s life she “...was a mirror of womanhood: and now being dead, is a perfect pattern of true Christianity.”36 She strictly followed God’s commandments, including one that instructed

31

Women’s subordination to men in Tudor England is exhibited by the tax and court documents. These records specifically list male occupations, such as tailors or husbandmen, but simply identify women’s occupations as either “...spinsters, wives, and widows. A woman was almost never identified by her occupation in the ecclesiastical probate records.” Women did, however, often work alongside or in place of their husbands in order to help the family. Anthony Fletcher, Gender, Sex and Subordination in England 1500-1800 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995), 225. 32

Fletcher, Gender, Sex and Subordination, 228.

33

Fletcher, Gender, Sex and Subordination, 228.

34

Fletcher, Gender, Sex and Subordination, 228.

35

Patricia Phillipy, Women, Death and Literature in Post-Reformation England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 101-107. 36

Phillip Stubbes, A crystall glasse, for Christian vvomen wherein they may see most wonderfull and rare examples of a right vertuous life and Christian death, as in the discourse following may appeare, London, 1591, EEBO, STC #23381. 117



women to “...be silent and to learn of their husbands at home.”37 The female body was not credited for such positive attributes. Instead, women were acknowledged for their ability to be good Christians in spite of their femaleness. To justify this, prescriptive examples of exceptionally pious Protestant women attributed male characteristics to their ability to lead by example but never accorded greater authority to these women. The real reason that Protestant moralists used stories of exceptionally pious Protestant women was to increase the authority of Protestantism over Catholicism, and the English government over the Pope.38 Women themselves were secondary in this scheme and were simply praised for their obedience. Women needed to conform to the moral standards set for female church members in order to achieve a good death, so the danse macabre reminded them that Death could strike during any breaks in pious behavior. Death made no exceptions for badly behaved women and impropriety would prevent them from having a good death. Young Adults Early modern young adults were the next most significant age group (16%) presented in the danse macabre (see Graphs 3.1 and 3.5).39 This stage of life, which was also often referred

37

Stubbes, A crystall glasse, London, 1591, EEBO, STC #23381. Christina Luckyj argues that historians who only acknowledge the term “silence” in early modern English prose as a measure of obedience, or “...erasure, negation” or “repression,” of the silenced person, ignore the fact that definitions of the word have “astonishing semantic elasticity...” Such definitions may vary “... from consent to secrecy, from impotence to shame, [and] may thus be due in part to the diverse etymological origins of its Latin roots.” Language both freed and constrained both men and women, so Luckyj explains the complexities of early modern English rhetoric. Since silence could also be associated with masculine restraint, it is necessary to carefully evaluate the context of early modern usage of the word “silent.” Christina Luckyj, “A Moving Rhetoricke”: Gender and Silence in Early Modern England, (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002), 2, 1-12. For further reading on the gendering of early modern England, see Katherine Usher Henderson and Barbara F. McManus, Half Humankind: Contexts and Texts of the Controversy About Women in England (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985), 1-391. 38

Phillipy, Women, Death and Literature, 103.

39

The category Young Adults includes the following figures: Esquire=3, Gentleman=3, Fool (male)=3, Princess=3, Vicountess=3, Citizen’s Wife=3, Young Woman=3, Maid=3, Damsell=3, Shepherd’s Wife=3, Poor Woman=2, Fool (female)=2. 118



to as youth, defined the time between childhood and mature adulthood.40 Conduct books demonstrated a common fear of uncontrollable youth which was especially prevalent because of the Tudor England’s youthfulness.41 Learning to help aging parents was a significant part of developing youth’s Christian zeal. Writers described the perils that occur when ignorant children neglect their parents. George Gascoigne advises youth in The Glasse of Gouernement. He arranges eight paragraphs to outline the most important things that youth must remember as they mature into full adults.42 Gascoigne insists that young men and women must respect the monarchy and all royally appointed persons because God gave them supreme temporal authority. 43 Gascoigne also believes that youth should Honor thy parents, for God hath commaunded it. Loue thy parents, for they haue care ouer thee. Be assisting unto thy parentes with any benefite that God hath indeed thee, for it is thy duetie. Give place to thine elder, for it is thy prayse. Let not a gray head passe by thee without a salutation. Take counsell of an elder, for his experience sake.44

40

Youth encompassed young people between the ages of approximately 14 and 28 years of age. Griffiths, Youth and Authority, 20. 41

The chapter titled “The punishment of disobedience, shewed uppon an obstinate and stubborne Sonne, who most miserablie and unnaturallie, withheld from his Parentes, the needfull nourishmentes, of theyr necessarie sustenaunce” in A dyall for dainty darlings explains that sons who are ungrateful to their parents and do not treat their parents well will suffer punishment by God. W. Averell, A dyall for dainty darlings, rockt in the cradle of securitie A glasse for all disobedient sonnes to looke in. A myrrour for vertuous [H]maydes. A booke right excellent, garnished with many woorthy examples, and learned aucthorities, most needefull for this tyme present. Compiled by VV. Auerell, Student in Diuinitie, and Schoolemaister in London, London, 1584, EEBO STC #978. Other books outline the obligations of youth to the aged. For an example, see James Yates, The castell of courtesie whereunto is adioyned the holde of humilitie: with the chariot of chastitie thereunto annexed. Also a dialogue betwéene age and youth, and other matters herein conteined, London, 1582, EEBO, STC #26079. 42

Gascoigne, The [H] glasse of gouernement, London, 1575, EEBO, STC #11643a.

43

Gascoigne, The [H] glasse of gouernement, London, 1575, EEBO, STC #11643a.

44

Gascoigne, The [H] glasse of gouernement, London, 1575, EEBO, STC #11643a. 119



The youthful figures are on the cusp of adulthood and how they handle themselves during this period of time will partly determine their place in English society, at least within the local community.45 Young Adults and Gender Sixteenth-century gender relations were clearly defined by occupational training for young men and domestic training for young women.46 For young adult men, “guild ideologies and practices, including ceremonies and patterns of residence and tutelage for young people, reaffirmed economic and social distances between youth and adulthood.”47 Young male apprentices were under the direct control of merchants and artisans. Transition into full-blown adulthood for the young man was not only marked by marriage, but also by occupational skills and an official status change from apprentice to independent employer.48 Their supervisors held the power to enforce timely moral preparation which is why the danse macabre’s message was best directed at adult men. Since youth did not possess the logic of mature and wise men, Daye would not have targeted this group for A Booke of Christian Prayers. The young adult male was not yet able to fully participate in society, although he needed to be aware of his forthcoming religious and civic duties. According to Aristotle’s laws of nature, which were followed by the learned and unlearned in early modern England, “young men were capable of vigour, eloquence, and

45

The terms used for youth by historians create some controversy over the proper terms as they would have, or would not have, been used by early modern people. For this analysis, however, the term Young Adults includes anyone from the teen years to approximately thirty years of age as it is impossible to pin point an exact age without specific numerical notation by the publisher. Griffiths, Youth and Authority, 22. 46

Griffiths, Youth and Authority, 28-29.

47

Griffiths, Youth and Authority, 27.

48

Griffiths, Youth and Authority, 27. 120



invention...only the mature had judgement, practical wisdom, and self-mastery.”49 The young adult male lacked the wisdom that came from experience and superior physiology as he was much too moist (according to humoral theory) and strong to have a fixed and sedate mind capable of rational authoritative decisions. 50 The strength and agility of such an inexperienced young man is apparent in the depiction of the esquire. He stands firm with his feet planted almost as if he might physically resist Death’s pull (see Figure 3.4).51 The esquire’s face is smooth and free of any facial hair which indicates that he lacks the maturity associated with a full beard. Even the size of the esquire’s calf muscle, in comparison to some of the other male adults depicted in the danse macabre, is larger to distinguish between the physical strength of adolescence and mature age. In contrast to occupational orientation of men, English society encouraged youthful women to focus on learning how to be a good wife and mother. Women matured fully when they took control over the domestic side of a household.52 Young women often participated in work outside of the home, sometimes assisting with the family business or even participating in a formal apprenticeship.53 Regardless, prescriptive conduct books all agreed that women’s work

49

Keith Thomas, Age and Authority in Early Modern England (Oxford: The British Academy, 1976), 5.

50

The “drying-up of the body” was associated with better judgement and authority. Thomas, Age and Authority, 5-6. 51

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 85r, 104r, 123r.

52

Griffiths, Youth and Authority, 29.

53

Griffiths, Youth and Authority, 28-29. The collection of essays in Attending to Women in Early Modern England, a product of a symposium on women’s history held at the University of Maryland at College Park in 1990, addresses the necessity of interdisciplinary collaboration to piece together the fragments of women’s experience in the early modern world. Betty S. Travitsky and Adele F. Seeff, eds, Attending to Women in Early Modern England (Cranberry: Associated University Presses, 1994), 13-14. 121



was in the home.54 Due to their limited options, spiritual instruction and guidance for young adult women was paramount to maintaining their moral goodness and chastity in order to secure a husband. Women of all ages were “the weaker vessel” and thus more likely to stray from living a good and pious life.55 Her ability to have a good death relied heavily on constant preparation which was best overseen by her father and later her husband. These unmarried young women must be constantly reminded of their Christian duties to attract a decent Christian husband. 56 The church expected young women to maintain their innocence and the danse macabre recognizes this priority by inverting the gender majority (74% women) in this age category. The embodiment of such pure young women, the maid and the damsel represent two social positions specifically related to marital status (see Figure 3.5). 57 In preparation to move from overlordship by her father to her husband, the good maid or damsel 54

Griffiths, Youth and Authority, 28-29. Some women, particularly elite women, were able to extend moral influence outside of their home. For instance, Katherine Willoughby, the duchess of Suffolk, first married in 1533, was actively involved in promoting Protestant practices. Willoughby’s religious influence in her community and her recognition by prominent Protestant Reformers as “an ‘instrument’ for the spread of the Gospel to other men and women” shows that some women held semi-independent social positions outside of the household. Katherine “...employed godly ministers as chaplains in her home, sponsored the publication and circulation of Protestant texts, and presented Reformers to ecclesiastical livings in her control.” Katherine Willougby did not agree with the Elizabethan settlement and thought that it made too many compromises so she did what she could to use her connections to persuade her community to follow the example of zealous Protestants. This research on women and the English Reformations demonstrates that women’s experience and attitudes towards women during the backward and forward movements of sixteenth-century English Protestantism also changed frequently and varied across local communities. It also is a part of the larger revisionism of traditional reformation studies. Melissa Franklin Harkrider’s analysis also points out what other historians, such as Barbara Hanawalt, have established: that women were able to negotiate for their own interests within the constraints of patriarchy. Melissa Franklin-Harkrider, Women, Reform and Community in Early Modern England: Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, and Lincolnshire’s Godly Aristocracy, 1519-1580 (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2008), 2, 12-13. For a more general survey of early modern women, see Merry E. Wiesner, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 1-325. 55

Fletcher, Gender, Sex and Subordination, 60. “The phrase ‘the weaker vessel’ originated with William Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament into English in 1526 and became common usage during the next hundred years or more.” Ibid. 56

Reformers were attempting to change ideas about women’s reproduction as well as the attitudes that persisted from the medieval period. Traditionally, the female vessel was strongly connected to the Virgin Mary. Additionally, “at the same time, a new kind of story about motherhood was being printed in a new kind of small cheap pamphlet....printers began to churn out sensational stories about murders, witchcraft, and monsters, framed by a religious discourse that emphasized God’s providence.” Fissell, Vernacular Bodies, 52-53. 57

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 98r, 117r, 136r. 122



must maintain her chastity, learn how to care for a husband and manage a household. The maid in the top frame of the border tilts her head back and appears to be listening carefully to the instruction that death has for her. The caption below the young woman describes her as “Fresh, galant, & gay.”58 It reminds all maids, and their suitors, that enjoyment of youthful beauty should not take precedence over her spiritual obligations. 59 Below the maid, Daye places the damsel’s propriety into the larger context of Protestant beliefs about death. The young woman’s salvation is already determined, but she should continue to act virtuously and always doubt that she safe from the entrails of the devil. The judgement of a woman’s virtue was up to prospective husbands who must wisely select their wife for the good government of their household. Father’s must train their sons to search for godly qualities in future wives and to avoid the traps of beauty and surface appeal. A passage in W. Averell’s A dyall for dainty darlings tells a story about a rich man whose son was wiser than he. The greedy and superficial father urges his son to marry the comely daughter of a wealthy knight.60 The father is not concerned with her character. He is captivated by the girl’s fairness and the size of her dowry.61 The sensible son, however, rejects his father’s unscrupulous elections for his future wife. W. Averell states, he, whose wisdome ouerwaide his fathers greedie will, considered that the sweetest cedar in smell, is bitter in sent, that the fayrest fruit in touch, is not the best in taste...that the spider may lurke in the role, the rotten worme in the fayre fruite....and therefore discretelie aunswered his father, that as duetie dyd driue him to esteeme his good will, so

58

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 98r, 117r, 136r.

59

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 98r, 117r, 136r.

60 Averell,

A dyall for dainty darlings, London, 1584, EEBO, STC #978.

61 Averell,

A dyall for dainty darlings, London, 1584, EEBO, STC #978. 123



reason reuolts him from his unseemelie choise, which his fancie grounded on vertue misliked...62 The son in this story is a good example of expedient preparation for death. Young men like him have to elect a wife who will work with them to create a godly household. If the wife does not complete her Christian duties within the house it reflects poorly on her husband’s spiritual integrity. The rich heir in A dyall for dainty darlings is not distracted by worldly things like his father, so, when Death comes for him, he will be ready to die well. The Elderly Management of the aged, as with the youngest part of the population, was also a responsibility of good Christian men. Death could strike anyone at any time, but certainly death was most obviously closest to this portion of society. Of course, the aged were expected to continue to prepare for death. No amount of spiritual preparation was enough. Moralists published literature directed at the aging body and mind to keep it in shape for the trials of the moment of death. For aging men, a book entitled, The Old Man’s Dietarie, explains the steps that men need to take to keep their bodies in top condition so that they may be productive members of society. Among elderly males, the book divides them into three sorts, another example of why the danse macabre appealed to the English desire for order.63 The The Old Man’s Dietarie identifies the first group as the aging man who is what they call a “green and lustie age” in which the man has just entered the latter part of life. 64 These men can still perform some physical work and think with clarity. Next comes, a “graue, reuerent and honorable age”

62 Averell,

A dyall for dainty darlings, London, 1584, EEBO, STC #978.

63

Thomas Newton, The [H]olde mans dietarie A worke no lesse learned then necessary for the preseruation of olde persons in perfect health and soundnesse. Englished out of Latine, London, 1586, EEBO, STC #18513. 64

Newton, The [H]olde mans dietarie, London, 1586, EEBO, STC #18513. 124



when time weakens the body, but the mind is still capable of meaningful contemplation. The final stage of the aging process is marked by the an overall feebleness and incompetence that comes when they “...haue the one foote, and almost both, alreadie in the graue.”65 The theme of old age and the process of aging appears much less than death itself in early modern western literature.66 Early modern writers instead viewed aging as an unpleasant period of time before life’s end; a stage of life when society pitied the aged for their ineptitudes and sometimes victimized them in their weakened state.67 Even once powerful biblical men cannot protect themselves from abuse. For example, “...Bathsheba conspires with the prophet Nathan against her husband, the aged King David, to thwart the succession of Adonijah. The senile David is easily persuaded that he has promised the throne to Bathsheba’s son Solomon...”68 The ineptitude of these final days made aid from younger members of society imperative to an old man’s good death. The elderly factored less into the danse macabre because they were less of a financial burden to the rest of society than the large numbers of dependent youth.69 The danse macabre reflects these statistics as the elderly accounts for the second smallest number of figures present 65

Newton, The [H]olde mans dietarie, London, 1586, EEBO, STC #18513.

66

David H. Fowler, Lois Josephs Fowler, and Lois Lamdin, “Themes of Old Age in Preindustrial Western Literature,” in Old Age in Preindustrial Society edited by Peter N. Stearns (New York: Holmes & Meier, 1982),19. “With death for both youth and adult a constant presence through those centuries of hunger, disease, and pestilence, the trials of old age may have seemed comparatively trivial to writers, most themselves not old.” Ibid 20. 67

Fowler, “Themes of Old Age,” 19-21.

68

Fowler, “Themes of Old Age,” 21.

69

Slack, Poverty and Policy, 44. Martin Daunton explains in his introduction to Charity, Self-Interest and Welfare in the English Past how the demographic shifts and later marriages in early modern England forced families to allocate more of their financial assets to support dependent youth. Daunton cites the “ ‘nuclear hardship’ ” thesis to explain why families were more focused on providing for the younger portion of the early modern English population. The chapters in this edited book show that poor relief in England from the early modern to the modern period did not follow a straight and even progression into a highly organized welfare state. Martin Daunton, “Introduction,” in Charity, Self-Interest and Welfare in the English Past, edited by Martin Daunton (Abingdon: Routledge, 1996), 1, 2, 1. 125



(6%) in the danse macabre (see Graph 3.1).70 Fewer numbers of elderly did not change the fact that their care placed a financial strain on many families who now had more children to care for at the same time that their parents could no longer work and needed sustenance. Average men could rarely afford to keep both their dependent young children and their aged parents in same house. More often than not, the impoverished elderly went to the local parish for alms or applied for a portion of the poor rate. 71 Day did not publish the danse macabre for an aged audience so only four relatively generic figures represent the elderly population. For this reason, two figures, the aged man and aged woman, are not associated with any prior profession (see Graph 3.7). The majority of the elderly (82%) in the danse macabre are male which accounts for common aging gender perceptions. (see Graph 3.8). English scholars widely circulated tracts that described stereotypical associations between age and gender and the three to one ratio of elderly male to female figures follows the typical prejudices towards the aging female body. The danse macabre’s aged man represents the stereotypical elderly male body (see Figure 3.6).72 The old man in the danse macabre of A Booke of Christian Prayers resembles other contemporary depictions of senior men. One in particular shows an almost identical aged man led by Death in a woodcut print titled The daunce and song of death (see Figure 3.7). The old man is hunched over, and he wears a long beard while he is bald on the top of his head. He holds on to a walking cane in order to maintain his balance. The inclusion of the staff, commonly used by old men in popular print, reminds the viewer of the hard physical labor

70

There is a section of literature specifically aimed at the elderly to aid in preparation for death; The Elderly category includes the following subcategories: Mayor=3, Astronomer=3, Aged Man=3, Aged Woman=2. 71

Slack, Poverty and Policy, 84.

72

Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 91r, 110r, 129r. 126



that his body endured for many years. 73 Furthermore, the staff itself also has a general iconographical association with both dignity and power which was confirmed by its connection to gods and saints from classical and Christian literature.74 The aged man is no longer able to support himself, both physically and financially. He is still regarded as a figure worthy of respect because of his acquired wisdom.75 Neglect of these elderly men who have earned the esteem of the younger members of society would threaten vile ends for men of all ages. The aged woman, on the other hand, is Daye’s only example of the aging female body and her aging physical attributes carry different meanings than the aged man (see Figure 3.8).76 The elderly woman’s physical decline is illustrated by a feeble stance and the inclusion of a walking staff. Her staff does not garner respect, however, but rather fear.77 Staffs carried by elderly women were often interpreted as a sign of witchery. The dried-up old hag was not considered to be deserving of poor relief, but rather to be avoided at all costs.78 Since the aged woman no longer fit into the only socially acceptable female identity as mother or wife, she no longer fit into the existing social order.79 Mostly, “the essence of English witchcraft...was the use of verbal power as a substitute for action. It was very closely associated with scolding. The helpless old woman who had fallen out with neighbors had no other resort but to curse them: the 73

Botelho, “Images of Old Age,” 232.

74

Botelho, “Images of Old Age,” 232-233.

75

Botelho, “Images of Old Age,” 233.

76 Daye, 77

A Booke of Christian Prayers, 99v, 118v.

Botelho, “Images of Old Age,” 233.

78

Botelho, “Images of Old Age,” 233. Not all old women were thought to be witches, and even this particular connection of the aged woman to witchlike characteristics does not indicate that she would have been accused of practicing witchcraft. In fact, very few aged women actually faced accusations of witchery. Botelho, “Images of Old Age,” 238. 79

Botelho, “Images of Old Age,” 234. 127



‘chief fault’ of witches...is that they are scolds.’ ”80 Able men with means and social authority had to protect their communities from contamination by devilish women. The middling men kept an eye out for dangerous shrews while justices metered out punishment to correct or eliminate such ungodly women. Their own good deaths depended on protecting the community from the devil’s work. Infants and Children On the other end of the age spectrum, figures representing infancy and childhood in the danse macabre account for the least (4%) figures (see Graph 3.1). This is not to say, however, that children were not cared for or provided special treatment, as Nicholas Orme has refuted in Medieval Children, but rather they are fewer in numbers because it was the parents who were responsible for their spiritual development. In fact, vigilant care for children was necessary in a Christian household because the very young frequently faced a heightened risk for unexpected death. John Lydgate considered these precarious circumstances in verses that accompanied the danse macabre scene at St. Paul’s church in London. The verse reads, Little infant, that were but late born, Shaped in this world to have no pleasance, Thou must with other that go here before, Be led in haste, by fatal ordinance. Learn of new to go on my dance; There may non age escape soon therefrom.

80

Fletcher, Gender, Sex and Subordination, 25. Prescriptive literature advised women to be silent and confine themselves to the household, but often, as Laura Gowing elucidates in Domestic Dangers: Women, Words, and Sex in Early Modern London, women stepped outside of the house and verbally expressed themselves through the “language of insult” to other women. Frequently, English women held-up the inequalities of gender relations in early modern England through words and actions. Laura Gowing, Domestic Dangers: Women, Words, and Sex in Early Modern London (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 1-29. 128



The child answers, A, a, a, - a word I can not speak; I am so young I was born yesterday. Death is so hasty on me to be wreak [avenged], An list [will] no longer to make no delay. I came but now, and now I go my way; Of me no more no tale shall be told; The will of God no man withstand may; As soon dieth a young man as an old.81 The child cannot speak the words. So, in order to ensure that children are ready for death should it arrive early, parents must baptize infants, read prayers to their children, teach the very young to read for themselves, and set an example for living well. Death came frequently to children of all social sorts, but the poor experienced the greatest financial burden from childhood death.82 Proper funerals were necessary for all baptized people young and old. When a poor family could not afford to provide the burial rites for a deceased infant or child, it would have been up to the local parish to provide a basic funeral. 83 The infant and child figures can only be associated with the general roles defined by gender and the family’s social sort. The three childhood figures depicted in the danse macabre are simply referred to as youth (male) and infancy (male and female) (see Graph 3.9).84 The figures of childhood reaffirm the accepted social hierarchy of gender and all but two (75%) of the figures depict male children (see Graph 3.10). The danse macabre visually represents infant vulnerability. Each male and female infant illustrated lying in a cradle and gazing up at the much

81

Nicholas Orme, Medieval Children (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), 112-113.

82

During the late Tudor period, “425 children died before they were ten (42.5%).” Orme, Medieval Children, 113.

83

Orme, Medieval Children, 119.

84

The category Childhood includes the following subcategories: Youth (male)=3, Infancy (male)=3, Infant (female)=2. 129



bigger Death (see Figure 3.9).85 Death grasps the male infants tiny arm while the baby boy is unrestrained in his cradle, a potential hazard for a small body that could easily fall out or be attacked by domestic animals wandering through the house.86 In the image of the female infant, the small girl is tightly swaddled inside of her cradle, but this does not protect her from the sharp arrow in death’s hand aimed directly at her tiny head. Only parents can try to keep their children safe and help their babies and young children avoid an awful death. A Multi-Dimensional Authoritative Hierarchy Richard Daye included all of the social sorts, age groups, and genders within the danse macabre of A Booke of Christian Prayers to represent the accepted social order of sixteenthcentury England. Numerical analysis of these three demographic categories showed that Daye provided the most examples of the two groups that caused the greatest concern for the Reformers and the English government. The common connection between all of the ages and genders of figures in the danse macabre is the authority that middle-aged men hold over everyone else in society. This power endows them with the greatest responsibility to live well in order to properly govern and maintain order and morality among their subordinates and the danse macabre instilled urgent concern to address these responsibilities without delay in order to attain a good Christian death.

85

Left: Male Infancy: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 93v, 112v, 131v; Right: Female Infant: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, 100v, 119v. 86

Orme, Medieval Children, 99. 130



CONCLUSION Richard Daye’s A Booke of Christian Prayers (1581) mapped out many of the changes that Protestantism brought to spiritual preparation in sixteenth-century England. In conjunction with the multitude of how-to books published during the sixteenth century, Daye distributed A Booke of Christian Prayers to guide to both literate and illiterate men and women to convert and adhere to Protestantism. By adapting traditional images, Daye used the danse macabre to reinforce immediate preparation for death. This served two purposes, first to eliminate traditional Christian death rituals and to instill Protestant ideas into everyday life, and second, to convince the laity to contribute to poor relief. This strategy was apparent in the number of images of the professional and middling men included in the “Danse Macabre” as well as the publication’s considerable size that limited its consumption to local officials, professionals and merchants who could afford its price. A Booke of Christian Prayers: A Prescriptive Tool The twofold objective of this research was to uncover the distinctly Protestant ideas and values that appear to convert and instruct English Christians. A combination of numerical and iconographical analysis revealed such elements that combine to create an overtly Protestant document. All together, the book’s images formed an introduction to the major changes that Protestantism brought to English religion. In particular, the “Danse Macabre,” stressed the urgency of incorporating the included morals and values into everyday activities so that men and women might die well. Protestant theology and doctrine, as it was circulated throughout England during the sixteenth century, was incorporated into the book’s sets of images. First, “Humanity’s

131



Redemption” focused on Jesus instead of Mary. Mary was no longer to be used for her intercessory powers, nor the various saints that were often called upon for aid. This was proven by the inclusion of only a few images of Mary and showed that the Virgin was now to only be thought of as the vessel through which humanity received Christ. To further establish this point, images of Eve and original sin illustrated women as the weaker sex. Since women depended on men’s stronger morality to instruct them of their godly duties, females of all ages were not part of the targeted readership for A Booke of Christian Prayers. Christ’s life, displayed in “Humanity’s Redemption,” was now the primary example for all people to follow since human salvation was renewed through Christ, although God had already predetermined each individual man or woman’s eternal fate. Daye illustrated this through an emphasis on His miracles which show the power of faith in Christ and reinforced that human acts of charity could lead to a good death. Also, the importance of reading God’s word directly from the Bible was expressed by images depicting two Church fathers pointing to a text box of scripture. Ultimately, these images encouraged people to avoid depending on anyone other than Christ to establish a personal relationship with God and take personal responsibility for a good death. The images in the subsequent section, “Christian Values,” continued the argument that Protestant believers must do everything in their own power to exhibit virtue everyday to have a good death. To strengthen this assertion, “Christian Values” contained twenty-one additional virtues in contrast to the traditional seven virtues of Catholicism to demonstrate the heightened weight of personal virtue in Protestantism. Most importantly in this scheme, charity took precedence because scripture contended that the rich must care for the poor as they are closer to

132



God. Affluent men were responsible for the well-being of the poor and this function would help the rich to cultivate a relationship with Christ. If the wealthy showed that they placed people above material things, then they might be able to experience an positive final moment. Furthermore, the biblical stories and allegories featured in some of the “Christian Values” woodcuts offered each reader the opportunity to interpret meanings and discover spiritual truths for themselves, a key argument of Protestant Reformers. This was perhaps the greatest freedom that Protestantism brought to the laity: the opportunity to enlighten themselves. Additionally, virtue and God’s work may be seen anywhere in nature, sensory experience was already a big part of medieval culture, so acceptance of human ability to see and understand God’s workings everywhere was easily adapted to allow Protestants to use their senses to search for divine knowledge. Such perception and insight was important to adequate spiritual preparation, the pressing objective of the danse macabre. Protestantism’s changes to the sacraments were also evident in the congregation woodcuts. It exhibited increased lay involvement in the administering of the sacraments, such as the baptism of infants, partaking in receiving both the “body” and the “blood” of Christ in a memorial service, and actively reading the word of God out loud, together, in church. The final images of “Christian Virtues,” and all of the images in the “Danse Macabre,” imparted the seriousness of Protestantism’s moral lessons. A good death became more important to the English laity because there was no longer a chance for post-mortem absolution through donation or prayer. Pre-destination forced Protestants to accept that God has already decided each individual’s fate, but good and charitable acts and high morality during life could indicate each man or woman’s destiny. It was necessary to continually doubt one’s salvation, but if a person

133



regularly performed good works, then it was more likely, although never confirmed, that they were set for salvation. The danse macabre was easily adapted to express Protestant ideology because it acknowledged the necessity of all sorts of people for a country’s proper functioning along with Death’s indifference to social standing. A more in-depth numerical analysis of the “Danse Macabre” images determined that Daye aimed the A Booke of Christian Prayers at the adult professionals, merchants, and artisans because they had the most social responsibility. Based on this analysis, it was possible to deduce by the count for each social sort, age, and gender that the men who headed households could spread the message to the most people to help convert Englishmen and women to Protestantism. Although equally as many of the poor sorts were represented, the size of this publication would have prevented the poor from being able to afford this book. The greater numbers of middling men reflected the increased wealth and power of this group and the way that the church and state, although separated at this point, relied on similar images and ideas to fulfill different objectives. The distribution of A Booke of Christian Prayers in the late sixteenth century coincided with the publication of the Books of Orders which outlined programs that were being installed to organize the care programs for the poor. The Books of Orders also included guidelines for apprenticeships for the poor which would also have been focused at the merchants and artisans of the middling sorts who could provide such opportunities as both good Protestants and good citizens. While the Reformers hoped that these moral lessons would cement Protestant practices into English society, the state’s governors wanted people to follow these guidelines to keep the existing social order in tact. The danse macabre’s theme could fulfill the needs of the church and the state as people would hurry up to

134



give what money and guidance they could to make their community better to achieve a good death. Suitably, the various types of poor figures included in the danse macabre reminded prosperous viewers that part of their spiritual work was to think about who deserved financial assistance and provide the deserving poor with the most help. At the least, wealthy parish members had to ensure that poor parishioners received proper burials. The composition of English professionals, civic leaders, and businessmen was diverse, including both educated and uneducated, but mostly skilled, members, so the danse macabre’s highly differentiated figures provided a sensical tool to persuade middling men to adhere to its prescriptions. The use of images as a separate educational tool allowed Daye and his associates to disseminate the most important points of Protestant teachings to a large audience. Although A Booke of Christian Prayers may not reflect how most early modern Englishmen and women actually approached death, it is telling of how print was used to try and get people to follow the rules decided by the church and the state. The conclusions here, that A Booke of Christian Prayers informed sixteenth-century viewers about the most important changes that Protestantism made to existing religious practices and that the danse macabre, in the final set of images, instructed them to incorporate these changes into daily practice immediately because Death could appear at anytime to anyone, are just a start to further investigation on the book’s functions. Certainly, there is more to analyze in the “Danse Macabre,” including the additional illustrations of corpses in various states of decay, mass graves detailed with piles of skeleton pieces, as well as the tombs that in themselves signify similar, but distinct, themes of death. The Protestant version of the transi tomb, especially,

135



relays a message similar to the danse macabre about the nature of death, that it can sneak-up on anyone at anytime.1 Further Study: Protestant Funerary Sculpture in the “Danse Macabre” Both the danse macabre and the tombs, depicted in prints and sculpted monuments, force the viewer to practice “self-contemplation” as they see opposite states of being paired together; the living and the dead, used to express the “perfect ‘social’ body above - the man in life - and the imperfect ‘natural’ body below.”2 Additionally, a deeper look at the tombs in A Booke of Christian Prayers could illuminate more about why such monuments were primarily constructed in northern Europe and how and why they were transfered from late medieval Christianity to Protestant.3 It is certainly curious that the epitaphs on the tombs in the “Danse Macabre” sound like a continuation of the text for the danse macabre. In contrast, most epitaphs on late-sixteenth century English tombs discuss the attributes of the deceased, particularly in regard to fame gained after death for life achievements and personal attributes of virtue.4 For instance, “the pairing of ‘name’ and ‘fame’ was applied twice on the tomb of Elizabeth Knightly (d. 1602) at Norton (near Daventry), Northamptonshire...” and “...the epitaph set out her virtuous life, praising her feminine acts of charity, hospitality, healing and household management.”5 This

1

Binski, Medieval Death, 145.

2

Binski, Medieval Death, 147.

3

Binski, Medieval Death, 140.

4

Peter Sherlock, Monuments and Memory in Early Modern England (Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2008), 156. 5

Sherlock, Monuments and Memory, 156. 136



type of effigy corresponds to women’s spiritual preparation through godly household administration discussed in chapter three. It is also possible, and likely, that the tombs displayed in the danse macabre of A Booke of Christian Prayers, are in fact “table-tombs,” a Protestant adaptation of the earlier Catholic transi tombs. According to Peter Sherlock, table-tombs ...abandoned the old form of a chest as a platform on which to display effigies of the dead, moving beyond its relationship to the Catholic symbol of the altar or the literary metaphor of the tomb as a cabinet. Instead of shaping memory around the form traditionally associated with prayer and the sacrifice of the mass, table-tombs adopted the new form of the communion table. The living would gather around the table as if for a meal, to engage in conversation, and to call the dead to mind in the memory.6

Still, as much of what changed in the making of tombs also stayed the same because ideas about the body, death and memory were deeply engrained in early modern Christian minds.7 Because of this, it is not constructive to try to chart a linear progression of the transi or table-tomb through textual or visual sources.8 Instead, it is more productive to look at them as a product of a bodily awareness distinguished by duality. While all illustrations in the “Danse Macabre” are related to death, each theme performs slightly different functions. So, it would be beneficial to look at each type separately before piecing them together to determine how viewers might have “read” them as a whole unit. Print Collecting and Prescriptive Album-Making Woodcut prints were heavily used to create Protestant propaganda, but there is also evidence to show that a significant number of people collected prints to construct personalized 6

Sherlock, Monuments and Memory, 65.

7 Binksi, 8

Medieval Death, 142.

Binksi, Medieval Death, 142. 137



moralizing books; albums which highlighted their favorite images and texts through cut and paste.9 Print collecting was supported by the major northern European publishing houses which purposefully constructed individual and series of prints to satisfy a growing market for this medium.10 Although print collecting and classification did not reach its height until the seventeenth century, the trend started during the late Renaissance and the manner in which collectors at this time assembled their albums could reveal an otherwise disguised purpose to a seemingly arbitrary placement of particular woodcuts in A Booke of Christian Prayers.11 Finding and comparing assortments of moral prints in such personal collections to publications such as Daye’s A Booke of Christian Prayers would show the differences and similarities in the selection and organization of particular woodcuts and inscriptions. Such assemblage and analysis could reveal if Daye’s image arrangement was informed by lay taste, ecclesiastical solicitation, or a combination of both. This juxtaposition would tell which moral examples were favored by the men who could purchase large printed books. Certain findings would be significant because the very men who could afford to give to poor relief were the same sort of men who collected large quantities of prints. It would also further prove that Daye intended A Booke of Christian Prayers to be read primarily by the rich middling men of English society. All in all, the time and consideration required of print collectors to organize material according to various categories of differentiation, which often overlapped in themes and subject 9

Peter Parshall, “Art and the Theater of Knowledge: The Origins of Print Collecting in Northern Europe,” Harvard University Art Museums Bulletin 2, no. 3 (Spring 1994): 10. “The first important northern European collections of prints, and also drawings, were probably acquired locally and furnished mainly from the legacy of artists’ workshops. Initially artists assembled prints as material for copying and for training apprentices,,,therefore buying up the stocks of a painter/printmaker’s shop was surely the quickest means of pulling together a sizable corpus of prints.” Ibid. 10

Parshall, “Art and the Theater,” 13.

11

Parshall, “Art and the Theater,” 27. 138



matter, signals that the images in A Booke of Christian Prayers did more than just convert people to Protestantism; it made the moral code of English Protestantism a product of both the Reformers and the common people. The sixteenth-century lay audience was both active and engaged with prescriptive literature, even if they did not always follow its advice.

139



REFERENCES Primary Sources Anon. Ars Moriendi, London, 1532, EEBO, STC #788.5. ____. Here begynneth a lytell treatyse called ars moryendi. London, 1506, EEBO, STC #788. ____. In this boke is co[n]teyned the Articles of oure fayth The. x. co[m]mau[n]dementis. The. vii. works of mercy. The. vii. dedely synnes. The. vii. pryney pall vtues. And the. vii. sacramentis of holy chirche whiche euery curate, is bounde for to declare to his parysshens. iiii. tymes in the yere, London, 1509, EEBO, STC #3359. ____. The daunce and song of death, London, 1569, EEBO, STC #6222. Averell, W. A dyall for dainty darlings, rockt in the cradle of securitie A glasse for all disobedient sonnes to looke in. A myrrour for vertuous [H]maydes. A booke right excellent, garnished with many woorthy examples, and learned aucthorities, most needefull for this tyme present. Compiled by VV. Auerell, Student in Diuinitie, and Schoolemaister in London, London, 1584, EEBO, STC #978. Baker, John. Lectures of I.B. vpon the xii. Articles of our Christian faith briefely set forth for the

comfort of the godly, and the better instruction of the simple and ignorant. Also hereunto

is annexed a briefe and cleare confession of the Christian faith, conteining an hundreth

articles, according to the order of the Creede of the Apostles. Written by that learned

[and] godly martyr I.H. sometime Bishop of Glocester in his life time, London, 1581,

EEBO, STC #1219. Becon, Thomas. The sycke mans salue VVherin the faithfull christians may learne both how to behaue them selues paciently and thankefully, in the tyme of sickenes, and also vertuously to dispose their temporall goodes, and finally to prepare them selues gladly and godly to die. Made and newly recognised by Maister Tho. Becon, London, 1561, EEBO, STC #1757. _____________. “The Sick Man’s Salve,” Prayers and Other Pieces of Thomas Becon, S.T.P. Edited by Rev. John Ayre, M.A.. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1844. Boorde, Andrew. The boke for to learne a man to be wyse in buyldyng of his howse for the helth of body [and] to holde quyetnes for the helth of his soule, and body The boke for a good husbande to lerne, London[?], 1550, EEBO, STC #3373. Bradford, John. Godly Meditations vpon the Lords Prayer, the Beleefe, and Ten Commandments (1562). London, 1562, Early English Books Online, STC #3484.

140



Church of England. “The Thirty-Nine Articles, 1563.” In Religion and Society in Early Modern England: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge, 1996. _______________. Articles whereupon it was agreed, by the archbishoppes and bishoppes of both prouinces and the whole cleargie, London, 1563, Early English Books Online STC #10038.3. _______________. Articles whereupon it was agreed, by the archbishoppes and bishoppes of both prouinces and the whole cleargie. London, 1571, Early English Books Online, STC #10039. Daye, Richard. A Booke of Christian Prayers (1581). London, 1581, Early English Books Online, STC # 6430. Erasmus, Desiderius. De immensa dei misericordia. Translated by Gentian Hervet. Early English Books Online, STC # 10476. ________________. “Preparing for Death: De praeparatione ad mortem.” Collected Works of Erasmus: Spiritualia and Pastorialia. Translated by John N. Grant. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998. Galen. Certaine workes of Galens, called Methodus medendi (1566), London, 1566, EEBO, STC #11530. Gascoigne, George. The [H]glasse of gouernement A tragicall comedie so entituled, bycause therein are handled aswell the rewardes for vertues, as also the punishment for vices. Done by George Gascoigne Esquier. 1575. Seen and allowed, according to the order appointed in the Queenes maiesties iniunctions, London, 1575, EEBO, STC #11643a. Harrison, William. The Description of England. Edited by Georges Edelen. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1968. Larke, John. The boke of wisdome. Early English Books Online, STC #3358, 1-88. Lupset, Thomas. A compendious and a very fruteful treatyse, teachynge the waye of dyenge well written to a frende, by the flowre of lerned men of his tyme. London, 1534, EEBO, STC #16934. Luther, Martin. Luther’s Large Catechism: God’s Call to Repentance, Faith and Prayer The Bible Plan of Salvation Explained. Translated by Prof. John Nicholas Lenker, D.D. Minneapolis: The Luther Press, 1908.

141



More, Thomas. Utopia, Book I (1516) in Ch. 1 “Social Order and Tension in Tudor England,” in Sources and Debates in English History 1485-1714. Edited by Newton Key and Robert Bucholz. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Newton, Thomas. The [H]olde mans dietarie A worke no lesse learned then necessary for the preseruation of olde persons in perfect health and soundnesse. Englished out of Latine, London, 1586, EEBO, STC #18513. Spenser, Edmund. The faerie queene Disposed into twelue books, fashioning XII. morall vertues, London, 1590, EEBO, STC #23080. Soto, Pedro de. The maner to dye well An introduction most compendiouslie shewinge the fruytfull remembrance of the last fowre things: that is to say, death, hel, iudgement, and the ioyes of heauen. Gathered out of manye good authors, both comfortable and profitable to the dilligent reader. Learnedly instructing howe to prouide for death, London, 1578, EEBO, STC #1075. Stubbes, Phillip. A crystall glasse, for Christian vvomen wherein they may see most wonderfull and rare examples of a right vertuous life and Christian death, as in the discourse following may appeare, London, 1591, EEBO, STC #23381. “The Nativity of Our Lady,” in The Golden Legend or Lives of the Saints, first English edition by

William Caxton, 1483, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/goldenlegend/index.htm

(accessed September 9, 2010). Yates, James. The castell of courtesie whereunto is adioyned the holde of humilitie: with the

chariot of chastitie thereunto annexed. Also a dialogue betwéene age and youth, and

other matters herein conteined, London, 1582, EEBO, STC #26079. Secondary Sources Ariés, Phillippe. The Hour of Our Death, translated from the French by Helen Weaver. New York: Vintage Books, 1981. ____________. Western Attitudes toward DEATH: from the Middle Ages to the Present, translated by Patricia M. Ranum. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1974. Ashworth, William B. Jr. “Light of Reason, Light of Nature: Catholic and Protestant Metaphors of Scientific Knowledge.” Science in Context 3.1 (March 1989): 89-107. Aston, Margaret. The King’s Bedpost: Reformation and Iconography in a Tudor Group Portrait. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. 142



Attreed, Lorraine. “Preparation for Death in Sixteenth-Century Northern England.” The Sixteenth Century Journal 13, no. 3 [Autumn 1982]: 37-66. Barry, Jonathan. “Introduction” in The Middling Sort of People: Culture, Society, and Politics in England, 1550-1800. Edited by Jonathan Barry and Christopher Brooks. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994. Barthes, Roland. Mythologies. Translated by Annette Lavers. New York: Hill and Wang, 1972. Beach, Waldo and H. Richard Niebuhr. Christian Ethics: Sources of the Living Tradition, 2nd edition. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1973. Beier, A.L. Masterless Men: The vagrancy problem in England 1560-1640. London: Methuen, 1985. Berry, Helen and Elizabeth Foyster, editors. The Family in Early Modern England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Berry, Lloyd E. The Geneva Bible: A facsimile of the 1560 edition. Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1969. Biernacki, Richard. “Language and the Shift from Signs to Practices in Cultural Inquiry.” History and Theory 39 [October 2000]: 289-310. Binski, Paul. Medieval Death: Ritual and Representation. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996. Botelho, L.A. “Images of Old Age in Early Modern Cheap Print: Women, Witches, and the Poisonous Female Body,” in Power and Poverty: Old Age in the Pre-Industrial Past, edited by Susannah R. Ottaway, L.A. Botelho, and Katharine Kittredge. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2002, 225-46. Broce, Gerald and Richard Wunderli. “The Final Moment Before Death in Early Modern England.” The Sixteenth Century Journal 1, no. 2 [Summer 1989]: 259-275. Brooks, Christopher. “Professions, Ideology and the Middling Sort,” in The Middling Sort of People: Culture, Society, and Politics in England, 1550-1800. Edited by Jonathan Barry and Christopher Brooks. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994. Bynam, Caroline Walker. Fragmentation and Redemption: Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion. New York: Zone Books, 1992.

143



Caciola, Nancy. “Wraiths, Revenants and Ritual in Medieval Culture,” Past & Present no. 52, Oxford University Press [August 1996]: 3-45. Capp, Bernard. When Gossips Meet: Women, Family, and Neighborhood in Early Modern England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. Charlton, Kenneth. Women, Religion and Education in Early Modern England. London: Routledge, 1999. Chew, Samuel. “The Iconography of ‘A Booke of Christian Prayers’ 1578 Illustrated.” The Huntington Library Quarterly 8, no. 3 [May 1945]: 293-305. Clegg, Cyndia Susan. Press Censorship in Elizabethan England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Cohen, Kathleen. Metamorphosis of a Death Symbol: The Transi Tomb in the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Berkeley: University of California, 1973. Cormack, Robin. Icons. London: The British Museum Press, 2007. Crawford, Patricia. Women and Religion in England, 1500-1720. London: Routledge, 1993. Cressy, David. Birth, Marriage, and Death: Ritual, Religion, and the Life-Cycle in Tudor and Stuart England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. Davis, Natalie Zemon. “Holbein’s Pictures of Death and the Reformation at Lyons.” Studies in the Reniassance 3 [1956]: 97-130. Duffy, Eamon. “The English Reformation After Revisionism.” Renaissance Quarterly 59, no. 3 [Fall 2006]: 4. ___________. The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England 1400-1580. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992. Dyer, Christopher. Making a Living in the Middle Ages: The People of Britain, 850-1520. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. Eco, Umberto. A Theory of Semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1979. Erickson, Amy Louise. Women and Property in Early Modern England. London: Routledge, 1993. Evenden, Elizabeth. Patents, Pictures, and Patronage: John Day and the Tudor Book Trade. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2008. 144



Fissell Mary E. Vernacular Bodies: The Politics of Reproduction in Early Modern England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Fletcher, Anthony. Gender, Sex, and Subordination in England 1500-1800. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995. Franklin-Harkrider, Melissa. Women, Reform and Community in Early Modern England: Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, and Lincolnshire’s Godly Aristocracy, 1519-1580. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2008. French, H.R. and R.W. Hoyle. The character of English rural society: Earls Colne, 1550-1750. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2007. Friedman, Herbert. A Bestiary for Saint Jerome: Animal Symbolism in European Religious Art. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1980. Geary, Patrick. Living with the Dead in the Middle Ages. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1994. Gittings, Clare. Death, Burial and the Individual in Early Modern England. London: Croom Helm Ltd., 1984. Gowing, Laura. Domestic Dangers: Women, Words, and Sex in Early Modern London. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Gregg, Chris. “Emblem 93” The Minerva Brittanna Project. Middlebury College. http://f01.middlebury.edu/FS010A/students/n093.htm (accessed February 20, 2010). Greschat, Martin. Martin Bucer: A Reformer and His Times. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004. Griffiths, Paul, Adam Fox and Steve Hindle. The Experience of Authority in Early Modern England. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996. Griffiths, Paul. Youth and Authority: Formative Experiences in England, 1560-1640. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. Haigh, Christopher. “A.G. Dickens and the English Reformation.” Institute of Historical Research 77.195 [February 2004]: 24-38. _______________, ed. The English Reformation Revised. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. ______________. The Plain Man’s Pathways to Heaven: Kinds of Christianity in PostReformation England, 1570-1640. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. 145



Hall, James. Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art. Second edition. Boulder: Westview Press, 2008. Hanawalt, Barbara. The Wealth of Wives: Women, Law, and Economy in Late Medieval London. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Henderson, Katherine Usher and Barbara F. McManus. Half Humankind: Contexts and Texts of the Controversy About Women in England. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985. Holly, Michael Ann. Panofsky and the Foundations of Art History. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1984. Houlbrooke, Ralph. Death, Religion, and the Family in England, 1480-1750. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998. Johnstone, Nathan. “The Protestant Devil: The Experience of Temptation in Early Modern England.” The Journal of British Studies 4, no. 2 [April 2004]: 173-205. Jupp, Peter C. and Clare Gittings, eds. Death in England: An Illustrated History. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2000. King, John. “ ‘The Light of Printing’: William Tyndale, John Foxe, John Day, and Early Modern Print Culture.” Renaissance Quarterly 51.1 [Spring 2001]: 52-85. King, John N. Tudor Royal Iconography: Literature and Art in an Age of Religious Crisis. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989. Langston, Beach. “Essex and the Art of Dying.” The Huntington Library Quarterly 13, no. 2 [February 1950]: 109-129. Laqueur, Thomas. Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990. Lehmberg, Stanford E. The Reformation Parliament. London: Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, 1970. Leonard, E.M. The Early History of English Poor Relief. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1900. Llewellyn, Nigel. The Art of Death: Visual Culture In The English Death Ritual c. 1500 - c. 1800. London: Reaktion Books, 1991. Lotman, Yurui M. “On the semiosphere.” Translated by Wilma Clark. Sign Systems Studies 33, no. 1 [2005]: 205-229. 146



_____________. Universe of the Mind: A Semiotic Theory of Culture, translated by Ann Shukman. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990. Luckyj, Christina. “A Moving Rhetoricke”: Gender and Silence in Early Modern England. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002. Marshall, Peter. Beliefs and the Dead in Reformation England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Mezzalira, Francesco. Beasts and Beastiaries: The Representation of Animals from PreHistory to the Renaissance. Turin: Umberto Allemandi & C., 2001. Orme, Nicholas. Medieval Children. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001. Outhwaite, R.B. Inflation in Tudor and Early Stuart England, 2nd edition, prepared for the Economic History Society. London: The Macmillan Press, Ltd., 1969. Overell, M.A. “The Reformation of Death in Italy and England, circa 1550.” Renaissance and Reformation. 23.4 [September 1999]: 5-21. Panofsky, Erwin. Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art of the Renaissance. New York: Harper & Row, 1972. _____________. “The History of Art as a Humanistic Discipline.” Meaning in the Visual Arts. New York: Double Day Anchor Books, 1955: 1-25. Parhsall, Peter. “Art and the Theater of Knowledge: The Origins of Print Collecting in Northern Europe.” Harvard University Art Museums Bulletin 2, no. 3 [Spring 1994]: 7-36. Penny, D. Andrew. “Bradford, John (c.1510–1555),” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, http://www.oxforddnb.com.navigatoriup.passhe.edu/view/article/3175 [accessed September 22, 2010]. Phillippy, Patricia. Women, Death and Literature in Post-Reformation England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Platt, Colin. King Death: The Black Death and its aftermath in late-medieval England. Toronto: Toronto University Press, 1997. Podro, Michael. The Critical Historians of Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982. Porter, Jean. “Virtue Ethics,” in The Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics edited by Robin Gill. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001. 147



Reinis, Austra. Reforming the Art of Dying: The ars moriendi in the German Reformation (1519-1528). Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2007. Richardson, Glenn. Renaissance Monarchy: The Reigns of Henry VIII, Francis I and Charles V London: Edward Arnold Ltd., 2002. Sears, Elizabeth. The Ages of Man: Medieval Interpretations of the Life Cycle. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986. Scribner, R.W. For the Sake of the Simple Folk. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994. Scott, Jonathan. “What Were Commonwealth Principles?” The Historical Journal 47, no. 3 [2004]: 591-613. Sherlock, Peter. Monuments and Memory in Early Modern England. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2008. Stone, Lawrence. The Family, Sex and Marriage in England, 1500-1800. New York: Harper & Row, 1977. _____________. The Crisis of the Aristocracy, 1558-1641: Abridged Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967. Taunton, Nina. Fictions of old age in early modern literature and culture. New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, 2007. Taylor, Francis Henry. “The Triumph of Decomposition.” Parnassus 4, no. 4 [April 1932]: 4-9, 36. Thomas, Keith. Age and Authority in Early Modern England. Oxford: The British Academy, 1976. ____________. The Ends of Life: Roads to Fulfilment in Early Modern England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Walsham, Alexandra. Providence in Early Modern England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Walker, Garthine. Crime, gender, and social order in early modern England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

148



Walter, John. “Faces in the crowd: Gender and age in the early modern English crowd” in The Family in Early Modern England, Helen Berry and Elizabeth Foyster eds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Wharton, Annabel. “Icon, Idol, Totem and Fetish,” in Icon & Word: The Power of Images in Byzantium, Antony Eastmond and Liz James eds. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2003. Wiesner, Merry E. Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Wilson, K.J. “More and Holbein: The Imagination of Death.” The Sixteenth Century Journal 7, no. 1 [April 1976]: 51-58. Woolgar, C.M. The Senses in Late Medieval England. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. Wrightson, Keith. English Society 1580-1680. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1982. ______________. “Redefining the Commonwealth,” in Earthly Necessities: Economic Lives in Early Modern Britain. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000. ______________. “ ‘Sorts of People’ in Tudor and Stuart England,” in The Middling Sort of People: Culture, Society, and Politics in England, 1550-1800. Edited by Jonathan Barry and Christopher Brooks. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994.

149



APPENDIX A: FIGURES & GRAPHS

Figure 1.0. Top Detail: The Rich Man and the Aged Man; Bottom Detail: The Rich Man and the Aged Man transi tomb. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 91r, 110r, 129r. 150



Figure 2.0. Grave in the “Danse Macabre.” Source: Daye A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC # 6430, 118r. 151



Figure 1.1. Decorative Border. Source: Daye, “Preface,” A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

152









Figure 1.2. Left: The Birth of the Virgin Mary. Right: Detail of The Birth of the Virgin Mary. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC # 6430, 1r, 19v.

153



Figure 1.3. Tree of Jesse Title-Page. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

154



Figure 1.4. Eve and Serpent. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 2r, 20v.

155



Figure 1.5. Christ’s Additional Miracles. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 26v, 27r.

156



Figure 1.6. Church fathers. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

157



Figure 1.7. Temperance. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 41r. 49v, 70r. 158



Figure 1.8. Christian Soldier. Source: Daye, A Book of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 45v, 71v. 159



Figure 1.9. Christian Charity Feeds the Hungry. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers. London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 52r, 72v. 160



Figure 1.10. Sight. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers. London, EEBO, STC #6430, 55r, 75v.

161



Figure 1.11. Top: Temperance and baptism. Bottom: Detail of baptism. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers. London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 41r, 61v.

162



Figure 1.12. Top: Love of God and communion. Bottom: Detail of communion. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers. London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 62r. 163



Figure 1.13. Sun, Moon and Stars. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers. London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 57v, 78r.

164



Figure 1.14. Two Men and Two Women: Received and Refused. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers. London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, fol. 58, 78v-79.

165



Figure 1.15. Detail of the Congregation Reading the Word of God. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers. London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 45r.

166



Figure 1.16. First Page of “The Danse Macabre.” Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers. London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 82r.

167



Figure 2.1. The Judge and the Justice. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 85v, 104v, 123v.

168



Figure 2.2. The Merchant and the Citizen. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 90r, 109r. 128r.

169



Figure 2.3. The Drummer and the Fife Player. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 89r, 108r, 127r.

170



Figure 2.4. The Artisan and the Husbandman. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 91v, 110v, 129v.

171



Figure 2.5. The Baron and the Vicount. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 83r, 102r, 121r.

172



Figure 2.6. The Emperor and the King. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 82r, 101r, 120r.

173



Figure 2.7. The Empress and the Queen. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 94r, 113r, 132r.

174



Figure 3.1. The Attorney. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 86r, 105r, 124r.

175



Figure 3.2. The Soldier. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 89r, 108r, 127r.

176



Figure 3.3. The Judge’s Wife and the Lawyer’s Wife. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 96r, 115r, 134r.

177



Figure 3.4. The Esquire. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 85r, 104r, 123r.

178



Figure 3.5. The Maid and the Damsel. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 98r, 117r, 136r.

179



Figure 3.6. The Aged Man. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 91r, 110r, 129r.

180



Figure 3.7. Detail: The Old Man and the Child. Source: Anon, The daunce and song of death, London, 1569, EEBO, STC #6222.

181



Figure 3.8. The Aged Woman. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430, 99v, 118v.

182



Figure 3.9. Left Detail: Infancy. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, EEBO, STC #6430, 93v, 112v, 131v. Right Detail: The Infant. Source: Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, EEBO, STC #6430, 100v, 119v.

183



1%3%

31% 42%

23%

Preface - 56 woodcuts “Humanity’s Redemption” - 504 woodcuts “Christian Values” - 384 woodcuts “Danse Macabre” - 689 woodcuts “Conclusion” - 16 woodcuts

Graph 1.1. The Division of Woodcuts in the Five Image Sections in A Booke of Christian Prayers. Source: N=1,649. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430. 184



1% 5%

27%

38%

28%

Preface - 14 woodcuts “Humanity’s Redemption” - 79 woodcuts “Christian Values” - 81 woodcuts “Danse Macabre” - 110 woodcuts Conclusion - 4 woodcuts Graph 1.2. The Division of Pages in the Five Image Sections of A Booke of Christian Prayers. Source: N=291. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

185



3% 22%

50% 8%

8% 9%

Main Subject is Mary - 8 woodcuts Main Subject is Christ - 71 woodcuts Infancy and Childhood - 25 woodcuts Adult Life - 24 woodcuts Death - 30 woodcuts Word of God - 158 woodcuts Graph 1.3. The Division of Woodcut Subjects and Themes in the “Humanity’s Redemption.” Source: N=239, not including 265 decorative border woodcuts. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

186



24%

48% 9%

19%

Personified Virtues/Vices - 79 woodcuts Protestant Theology - 32 woodcuts Animal Symbolism of Virtues/Vices - 15 woodcuts Word of God - 40 woodcuts Graph 1.4. The Division of Woodcut Subjects and Themes in the “Humanity’s Redemption.” Source: N=113, not including 271 decorative border woodcuts. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

187



0% 17% 32%

51%

Danse Macabre Figures - 212 woodcuts Death - 332 woodcuts Memorial - 109 woodcuts Protestant Theology - 3 woodcuts Graph 1.5. The Division of Woodcut Subjects and Themes in the “Danse Macabre.” Source: N=554, not including 137 decorative border woodcuts. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

188



7%

7%

23% 31%

31%

Royal - 15 Figures Nobility & Gentry - 48 Figures Professional and Middling Sort - 66 Figures The Lower Orders - 66 Figures Undetermined - 15 Figures Graph 2.1. The Division of Social Sorts in the Danse Macabre. Source: N=210. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

189



5%

5% 5%

5%

5%

5%

5%

5%

5%

5%

5%

5%

5%

5% 5%

5% 5%

5% 5%

5% 5%

Doctor - 3 Figures Judge - 3 Figures Sergeant at Law - 3 Figures Mayor - 3 Figures Bailif - 3 Figures Physician - 3 Figures Merchant - 3 Figures Printers - 3 Figures Judge’s Wife - 3 Figures Alderman’s Wife - 3 Figures Citizen’s Wife - 3 Figures

5%

Preacher - 3 Figures Justice - 3 Figures Attorney - 3 Figures Sheriff - 3 Figures Constable - 3 Figures Astronomer - 3 Figures Citizen - 3 Figures Rich Man - 3 Figures Lawyer’s Wife - 3 Figures Merchant’s Wife - 3 Figures Richman’s Wife - 3 Figures

Graph 2.2. The Professional and Middling Sorts Depicted in the Danse Macabre. Source: N=66. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

190



5%

5% 5%

5%

5%

5%

5%

5%

3%

5%

3%

5%

3% 5%

5% 5%

5% 5%

5% 5%

5% 5%

Trumpetor - 3 Figures Drummer - 3 Figures Artisan - 3 Figures Shepherd - 3 Figures Beggar - 3 Figures Farmer’s Wife - 3 Figures Husbmandman’s Wife - 3 Figures Nurse - 3 Figures Cripple - 2 Figures Fool (Female) - 2 Figures Sergeant at Arms - 3 Figures Soldier - 3 Figures

5%

Purfuiant - 3 Figures Fife - 3 Figures Musicians - 3 Figures Fool (Male) - 3 Figures Rogue - 3 Figures Husbandman - 3 Figures Countrywoman - 3 Figures Shepherd’s Wife - 3 Figures Poor Woman - 2 Figures Herald - 3 Figures Captain - 3 Figures

Graph 2.3. The Lower Orders Depicted in the Danse Macabre. Source: N=66. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430. 191



6%

6%

6%

6%

6%

6%

6%

6%

6%

6%

6%

6% 6%

6% 6%

Duke - 3 Figures Vicount - 3 Figures Esquire - 3 Figures Countess - 3 Figures Lady - 3 Figures Bishop - 3 Figures

6%

Marques - 3 Figures Lord - 3 Figures Gentleman - 3 Figures Vicountess - 3 Figures Gentlewoman - 3 Figures

Baron - 3 Figures Knight - 3 Figures Duchess - 3 Figures Baroness - 3 Figures Archbishop - 3 Figures

Graph 2.4. The Nobility and Gentry Depicted in the Danse Macabre. Source: N=48. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

192



20%

20%

20%

20%

20%

Emperor - 3 Figures Queen - 3 Figures

King - 3 Figures Princess - 3 Figures

Empress - 3 Figures

Graph 2.5. The Royalty Depicted in the Danse Macabre. Source: N=15. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

193



4%

5%

15%

76%

Infants and Children - 8 Figures Adult - 164 Figures

Young Adult - 33 Figures Elderly - 11 Figures

Graph 3.1. The Division of Age in the Danse Macabre. Source: N=210. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

194



37%

63%

Male - 132 Figures

Female - 78 Figures

Graph 3.2. The Gender Division in the Danse Macabre. Source: N=210. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

195



7%

34%

24%

35%

Royals - 12 Figures Nobility and Gentry - 39 Figures Professional & Middling Sort - 57 Figures Poor Sort - 56 Figures Graph 3.3. The Division of Adult Figures in the Danse Macabre. Source: N=164. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

196



30%

70%

Female - 50 Figures

Male - 114 Figures

Graph 3.4. The Gender Division of Adult Figures in the Danse Macabre. Source: N=164. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

197



6%

9%

6%

9%

6%

9%

9%

9%

9%

9%

9% 9%

Esquire - 3 Figures Fool (Male) - 3 Figures Vicountess - 3 Figures Young Woman - 3 Figures Damsel - 3 Figures Poor Woman - 2 Figures

Gentleman - 3 Figures Princess - 3 Figures Citizen’s Wife - 3 Figures Maid - 3 Figures Shephard’s Wife - 2 Figures Fool (Female) - 2 Figures

Graph 3.5. The Division of Young Adult Figures in the Danse Macabre. Source: N=33. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

198



27%

73%

Female - 24 Figures

Male - 9 Figures

Graph 3.6. Gender Division of the Young Adult Figures in the Danse Macabre. Source: N=33. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

199



18% 27%

27%

27%

Mayor - 3 Figures Aged Man - 3 Figures

Astronomer - 3 Figures Aged Woman - 2 Figures

Graph 3.7. The Division of Elderly Figures in the Danse Macabre. Source: N=11. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

200



18%

82%

Female - 2 Figures

Male - 9 Figures

Graph 3.8. Gender Division of the Elderly Figures of the Danse Macabre. Source: N=11. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

201



25% 38%

38%

Child (male) - 3 Figures Infant (female) - 2 Figures

Infancy (male) - 3 Figures

Graph 3.9. The Division of Infants and Children in the Danse Macabre. Source: N=8. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

202



25%

75%

Female - 2 Figures

Male - 6 Figures

Graph 3.10. Gender Division of Infants and Children in the Danse Macabre. Source: N=8. Daye, A Booke of Christian Prayers, London, 1581, EEBO, STC #6430.

203