Oswald of Worcester

We now come to Oswald of Worcester who, along with the recently explored Æthelwold and Dunstan, was considered one of the "Three English Holy Hierarchs."

Oswald was actually Danish, and a nephew of Archbishop of Canterbury Oda (mentioned during the clash between Dunstan and Eadwig). Oswald was taught by the Frankish scholar Frithegod, a clergyman who served Oda, then was sent to an abbey at Fleury in France to become a monk. Oda called Oswald back to England, but died (2 June 958) before Oswald arrived.

Oswald looked for a mentor, and found it in the Archbishop of York, Oskytel. Oswald worked at York until he was made Bishop of Worcester in 961, succeeding Dunstan. One of his acts as bishop was to invite to England a monk he knew at Fleury, Germanus of Winchester. He wanted Germanus to be prior of a new monastic community at Westbury-on-Trym.

The continent had experienced a revival of Benedictine Rule that was much more strict than what was going on in England's monasteries. Oswald (along with the efforts of Æthelwold and Dunstan) wanted to bring that stricter lifestyle to the island. He also wanted to expunge the secularism he saw in the English Church, where indulgences were sold and positions were given to lay people for the monetary advantage instead of to clergy.

There were married clergy at the time, and one tradition states that Oswald expelled any priests who would not give up their wives and replaced them with monks. An alternate story is that he established monasteries near the cathedrals, allowing the secular priests to maintain their duties until he had enough properly trained monks to take over the cathedral duties, pushing out the priests.

He founded Ramsey Abbey, and in 985 invited Abbo of Fleury to run its school. Abbo taught computus, the method used to calculate the dates of Easter.

Oswald was named Archbishop of York in 972 but stayed Bishop of Worcester, an unusual arrangement that applied to the Archbishops of York for the next 50 years. It aided York financially to have a very wealthy diocese added to its holdings.

Oswald's daily custom during Lent was to wash the feet of the poor. On 29 February 992, while doing so at Worcester, he died. He was buried at the Church of St. Mary at Worcester. Miracles were reported at his funeral and tomb. Ten years later, his remains were translated to a spot at Worcester Cathedral. 

The man who started him on his rise to fame, Archbishop Oda, has been named a few times in recent days, and we'll see what else he did, tomorrow.

The Great Famine of 1315-1317

In 1315, Europe's spring rains never stopped.

The rains kept coming, flooding the fields. Crop failures followed, lasting right through until the summer harvests of 1317. Full recovery took another several years. Hunger and disease devastated the population. People starved; cannibalism is hinted at in records; there is some evidence that parents might have abandoned children to fend for themselves. (The story of Hansel and Gretel may have originated in a famine: the children have been cast out by the parents during a famine.) Records of the city of Bristol report

...such mortality that the living could scarce suffice to bury the dead, horse flesh and dog's flesh was accounted good meat, and some eat their own children. The thieves that were in prison did pluck and tear in pieces, such as were newly put into prison and devoured them half alive. [link]

Harvests were not the only casualty. Marshland that had been reclaimed for crops or grazing was returned to marshland. Constantly wet ground—and a lack of forage—is not good for livestock. Disease killed off cows and sheep. Records from Ramsey Abbey show one manor going from 48 cows to only 2 at this time.

Villages themselves physically suffered. Not only were some abandoned due to dying population and un-tillable soil, but some coastal villages disappeared. The rains and storms reclaimed shoreline communities. One of the wealthiest ports in England, Dunwich, lost almost 300 houses, barns, and shops. 

Of course, prices soared. Edward II stopped at St. Albans on 10 August 1315, and there was not enough bread for him and his entourage; he tried to freeze food prices (in Lorraine, wheat prices rose by 320%), but vendors simply refused to sell for so little, and Parliament overturned the king's decree in 1316. What grain there was was wet, and needed to be dried before using, but it resulted in a poorer quality product. People were forced to consume the grain hey had set aside for planting the following year. Begging and stealing became rampant. Groups of roaming peasants looking for work and food were common, having abandoned their farms and villages.

What caused this weather? Well, like the volcanic winter of c.536, a likely candidate is the 1314 eruption of Mount Tarawera in New Zealand spewing ash into the atmosphere that precipitated rain for two years. Also, this all took place just after the Medieval Warm Period, a three-century span of milder temperatures that were ideal for agriculture; this coincided with a boom in population—a population that could not be maintained when harvests became so poor.

It's been over ten years since I had anything to say about the Medieval Warm Period. I think it's time for another look. See you tomorrow.