I
have written before about finding notes in old BMD parish registers that
referenced activities in the parish as wells as various historical events.
I
found the following note, apparently glued into the pages of the burial
register for Plympton St. Mary parish in Devon, England. It was at the end of a
section that listed burials in 1683. On the preceding page were some other
parish notes dated 1632 and 1662. On the following page, which is the last page
of the register book, were some notes dated 1680 and 1681.
At
the bottom of the insert is a reference to the information having been copied
by E. G. Hunt on what looks like July 5th, 1869. Edward George Hunt
was the Vicar of Plympton St. Mary from 1865 to 1872 so the 1869 date makes
sense. Why he did so then and in that register book, we may never know. One may
surmise he was studying one of the most accomplished leaders of the Church of
England and thought that particular register book which spanned the years 1603
to 1683 was the most appropriate place to include it.
A
transcription of the insert is as follows:
In A.D. 1637
Arch. Bp. Land, in presenting to the King
the annual
returns from the Bps. of his Province, reports
under “Exeter”.
“This year, by reason of the return of divers
that were
captured in Marocco, and having been in-
habitants of
those western parts, there arise in my Lord
the bishop a
doubt, how they, having renounced their
Saviour, and become
Turks, might be readmitted
into the Church
of Christ, and under what penitential
form. His
Lordship at his last being in London spoke
with me about
it, and we agreed on a form which
was afterward
drawn up, and approved by the right
reverend father
in God my Lord the bishops of London,
Elg. And
Norwich, and is now settled by your Majesty’s
appointment; and
I shall take care to see it regis-
tered here, and
have given charge to my Lord of Exon
to see it
registered below, to remain as a precedent
for future
times, if there should be any more and
examples of
apostasy from the faith.”
Laud’s Works. V. 352
The Bp. Of
Exeter at this time was the famous
Dr. Joseph Hall.
Copied July 5th
1869
by E. G. Hunt
It
is a curious entry and I wondered what it all meant. I knew that, between the
16th and 19th centuries, a white slave market had
flourished with tens of thousands of men, women and children taken in raids
along the European coast from Spain to England – from villages and ships at sea.
While captive many people converted to the Muslim religion – or “Turk” as it
was called – probably to save their lives.
Thousands
died in captivity as a result of overwork, malnutrition, disease or murder.
Over the decades, though, many were able to escape or were ransomed, and
returned to their home countries. Among many references about the subject is a
good summary on the History webpages,
called British Slaves
on the Barbary Coast.
The
return of the former captives posed a problem for the Established Church. The
ones who had converted to Muslim were considered apostates and could no longer
attend services or receive help from their local parishes.
One man who recognized the situation and who also realized that the majority of
former slaves had been forced to convert was Joseph Hall (1574-1656), who
served as the Bishop of Exeter between 1627 and 1641. Hall was an outspoken
theologian, often controversial, and a prodigious writer. Much of his writing was
compiled later and published, in twelve volumes, as The Works of Joseph Hall, D. D. All of the volumes, along with many
more books and essays by him can be read online. He had many
run-ins with authorities but also had many accomplishments within the Church of
England.
Dr.
Hall had been troubled by former slaves who returned home as apostates and
undertook to find ways to reunite them with their former church and
congregation and to become, once more, productive members of their communities.
The
note found in the parish register references a form which was drawn by Dr. Hall,
under the authority of Archbishop William Laud (1573-1645). The finished
document, published in 1635, can be found in Volume XII of The
Works of Joseph Hall, D. D. (pages
346-350) and is titled, A Form of Penance
and Reconcilitation of a Renegado, or Apostate from the Christian Church to
Turcism.
 |
| First part of 1635 Church of England form dealing with the Penance and Reconciliation of an Apostate |
The
rules for readmission into the Church were laid out in detail in this form. The
penitent was required to meet with clergy in his area for a number counselling
sessions. If his situation warranted, he would be allowed to offer penance over
several weeks, described firstly as:
The
next Sunday following, let the offender be appointed to stand all the time of
divine service and sermon in the forenoon, in the porch of the Church, if it
have any; if none, yet without the Church door, if extremity of weather hinder
not; in a penitent fashion, in a white sheet, and with a white wand in his
hand, his head uncovered, his countenance dejected, not taking particular
notice of any one person that passeth by him; and when the people come in and
go out of
the Church, let him upon his knees humbly crave their prayers, and acknowledge his offence in this form; “ Good Christians, remember in your prayers a poor wretched Apostate, or Renegado.
the Church, let him upon his knees humbly crave their prayers, and acknowledge his offence in this form; “ Good Christians, remember in your prayers a poor wretched Apostate, or Renegado.
After
numerous occasions of standing in penance, he would be questioned again if he
had “. . . found a true and earnest
remorse in his soul for his sin. . .” and, following substantial prayers
and public entreaties, a Minister would finally take away his white sheet and
absolve the individual by saying,
Dear Brother,
(for so we all now acknowledge you to be,) let me here advise you, with what
care and diligence, every day of your life, you ought to consider how much you
are bound to the infinite goodness of God, who bath called you out of that
woeful condition, whereunto you had cast yourself; and how much it concerneth
you ever hereafter to walk worthy of so great a mercy; being so much yourself
in all holy obedience to God, by how much you have more dishonoured and
provoked him by this your shameful revolt from him: which the same God, the
Father of mercies, vouchsafe to enable you unto, for the sake of the dear Son
of his love, Jesus Christ the righteous. Amen.
And
I learned all this after finding a strange note pasted into a parish register
by the local vicar in 1869. These kinds of notes will rarely be digitized and
almost never found in an online database of births, marriages and deaths. One
has to troll the pages themselves. In doing so, it might be possible to find
all manner of references to the history of the times.
The
image reproduced here is used with the kind permission of the
rightsholder, Plymouth and
West Devon Record Office, Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program in
England, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He has
published a number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is a past
Editor of Chinook, the quarterly
journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides
genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.
