Medieval+England+Religion

In Europe during the Middle Ages the only recognised religion was Christianity, in the form of the Catholic religion. The lives of the medieval people of the Middle Ages was dominated by the church. From birth to death, whether you were a peasant, a serf, a noble a lord or a King - life was dominated by the church.
 * Religion in medieval England.**

The Life of people during the middle ages was dictated by the changes in the season. The different seasons and months of the year were celebrated with Religious Feasts and Festivals. January
 * Religious festivals.**

 Religious Festivals in January: Twelfth Night Religious festival and feasts celebrating the visit of the Wise Men, or Magi, following the birth of Jesus.

 February

 Religious Festivals in February: St Valentine's Day. The Medieval festival celebrating love - singing, dancing and pairing games.

 March

 Religious Festivals in March: Easter celebrated by the Mystery plays depicting the crucifixion

 ( Good Friday) and the resurrection ( Easter Monday )

 April

 Festivals in April: All Fool's Day. The Jesters, or Lords of Misrule, took charge for the day and caused mayhem with jokes and jests!

 May

 Festivals in May: May Day was a spring festival celebrating May Day when a Queen of the May was chosen and villagers danced around the maypole

 June

 Festivals in June: Midsummer Eve, the Mummers entertained at the 'Festival of Fire' reliving legends such as St George and the Dragon. Bones were often burned leading to the term 'bonfire'. The summer Solstice was June 23rd.

 July

 Religious Festivals in July: St. Swithin's Day falls on 15th July. Legend says that during the bones of St Swithin were moved and after the ceremony it began to rain and continued to do so for forty days.

 August

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Religious Festivals in August: Lammas Day was celebrated on August 2nd. The ' loaf-mass ' day, the festival of the first wheat harvest of the year. Houses were sometimes decorated with garlands and there were candle lit processions.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> September

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Religious Festivals in September: 29th September was when Michaelmas celebrated the life of St Michael and the traditional food on Michaelmas was goose or chicken

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> October

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Religious Festivals in October: October 25th celebrating St Crispin's Day. Revels and bonfires and people acted as 'King Crispin'.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> November

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Religious Festivals in November: The Day of the Dead - All Souls Day or All Hallow's Day ( Halloween ) when revels were held and bonfires were lit.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> December

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> Religious Festivals in December: Christmas celebrations. ||  || The daily life of medieval monks in the Middle Ages were based on the three main vows: Medieval Monks chose to renounce all worldly life and goods and spend their lives working under the strict routine and discipline of life in a Medieval Monastery. The reasons for becoming a monk, their clothes and the different orders are detailed in Medieval Monks.
 * Medieval monks.**
 * The Vow of Poverty
 * The Vow of Chastity
 * The Vow of Obedience

The daily life of medieval monks was dedicated to worship, reading, and manual labor. In addition to their attendance at church, the monks spent several hours in reading from the Bible, private prayer, and meditation. During the day the medieval monks worked hard in the Monastery and on its lands. The life of medieval monks were filled with the following work and chores:
 * Washing and cooking for the monastery
 * Raising the necessary supplies of vegetables and grain
 * Reaping, Sowing, Ploughing, Binding and Thatching, Haymaking and Threshing
 * Producing wine, ale and honey
 * Providing medical care for the community
 * Providing education for boys and novices
 * Copying the manuscripts of classical authors
 * Providing hospitality for pilgrim

The daily life of medieval monks included many different jobs and occupations. The names and descriptions of many of these positions are detailed below: The Medieval monastery was established during the middle Ages. Each monastery endeavoured to form an independent, self-supporting community whose monks had no need of going beyond its limits for anything. In course of time, as a monastery increased in wealth and number of inmates, it might come to form an enormous establishment, covering many acres and presenting within its massive walls the appearance of a fortified town. The following rooms would be included in a plan of a Medieval monastery. The descriptions of the rooms are as follows:
 * Abbot - the head of an abbey
 * Almoner - an almoner was an officer of a monastery who dispensed alms to the poor and sick
 * Barber Surgeon - the monk who shaved the faces and tonsures of the monks and performed light surgery
 * Cantor - the cantor was the monk whose liturgical function is to lead the choir
 * Cellarer - the cellarer was the monk who supervised the general provisioning of the monastery
 * Infirmarian - the monk in charge of the infirmary
 * Lector - a lector was a monk entrusted with reading the lessons in church or in the refectory.
 * Sacrist - the sacrist was the monk responsible for the safekeeping of books, vestments and vessels, and for the maintenance of the monastery's buildings
 * Prior - in an abbey the deputy of the abbot or the superior of a monastery that did not have the status of an abbey
 * Medieval Monastery**
 * Cellarium - store-house of a monastery
 * Chapter-house - The chapter house was a room in which monks met daily, to discuss business and to hear a chapter of the monastic rule
 * Cloister - the cloister was a covered walkway in a monastery often situated around an quadrangle A cloister often comprised of a plain wall or colonnade on the outer side and a series of windows on the inner side
 * Dorter - a dorter was a monastic dormitory. Sometimes the monks slept in isolated rooms called cells
 * Frater - a frater was another term for a refectory (dining room)
 * Garderobe - a garderobe was a lavatory in a medieval building
 * Granary - A monastery storehouse for threshed grain
 * Infirmary - the infirmary was the part of a monastery which housed the monks who were too sick or old to take part in the normal monastic life
 * Kitchen - The monastery kitchen where food was prepared and cooked
 * Lavatorium - the lavatorium was a room which contained a trough with running water where monks washed their hands before meals
 * Misericord - a misericord was the part of a monastery where monks were disciplined
 * Night Stair - A staircase used by the monks to enter a church directly from their dormitory in order to attend late night and early morning services
 * Refectory - the refectory was dining hall of a monastery
 * Sacristy - the sacristy was a small building, usually attached to the chancel in which vestments and sacred vessels were kept
 * Scriptorium - the scriptorium was the room in a monastery used by clerics or scribes copying manuscripts
 * Warming-house - the warming house was the only room in a monastery, apart from the infirmary and kitchen, where a fire was allowed. Also called a Calefactory.