In fifteenth-century Norfolk, a rector and Master of Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, bequeathed camping-land to his local parish for playing games, such as running and shooting. And this was far from an isolated event.
Dances, dogs, football, bartering, trading, courting and gossiping: not how one would typically describe the everyday happenings of the medieval church—but this is no incorrect picture. Throughout the past, our ecclesiastical buildings and lands have been used for a multitude of what we may term “secular” activities or, at least, non-specifically devotional purposes. While the church was of course the holiest of places, ecclesiastical property was not often considered an entirely separate and sacred world—but rather a domain where the secular and sacred crossed paths. In this talk, we will consider an array of these fascinating and sometimes frankly shocking examples. It hopes to be a captivating adventure into the intersecting world of the cultural and religious history of medieval Christendom—one you may not have been privy to before.
Dr. Emma J. Wells, Lecturer in Ecclesiastical and Architectural History at the University of York, will deliver the 2020 Candida Lycett Green Memorial Lecture - Holy Inappropriate? “Secular” uses of the medieval church.
The event is named in honour of the late Candida Lycett Green, renowned author, journalist, conservation campaigner and critically acclaimed editor of her father John Betjeman's letters. A lifelong campaigner for conservation, Candida was a commissioner for English Heritage and a much valued supporter and Vice President of the Churches Conservation Trust.
