14 October 2022

Praying in Ordinary Time with USPG:
Friday 14 October 2022

The 15th century Saint James the Great Window in All Saints’ Church, North Street, York dates from ca 1410 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022; click on images for full-screen viewing)

Patrick Comerford

This has been a busy week, with meetings in Stony Stratford and Oxford about local charities and interfaith matters.

Before today gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for reading, prayer and reflection.

During the last two weeks, I was reflecting each morning on a church, chapel, or place of worship in York, where I stayed last month. This week I am reflecting on the windows in one of those churches: All Saints’ Church, North Street, York.

In my prayer diary this week I am reflecting in these ways:

1, One of the readings for the morning;

2, A reflection on the windows in All Saints’ Church, North Street, York;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary, ‘Pray with the World Church.’

Saint James the Apostle in the window is dressed as a pilgrim with a pilgrim staff and a Bible (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022; click on images for full-screen viewing)

Luke 12: 1-7 (NRSVA):

12 Meanwhile, when the crowd gathered in thousands, so that they trampled on one another, he began to speak first to his disciples, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.

4 ‘I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. 7 But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.’

The Virgin Mary with the Christ Child in the Saint James the Great Window (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022; click on images for full-screen viewing)

The Saint James the Great Window, All Saints Church, York:

All Saints’ Church, North Street, York, which I described in this prayer diary recently (28 September 2022), is said to be ‘York’s finest mediaeval church.’ It dates from the 11th century and stands near the River Ouse.

The church has an important collection of mediaeval stained glass, including ‘The Pricke of Conscience’ window, depicting the 15 signs of the End of the World; the window depicting the Corporal Works of Mercy (see Matthew 25: 31ff); the Great East Window, originally in the north wall and the Lady Chapel Window, which I was looking at yesterday (13 October 2022); the Saint James the Great Window, which I am looking at this morning; and the Saint Thomas Window and the Coats-of-Arms Window, which I hope to look at tomorrow (15 October 2022).

All Saints’ Church, on North Street, York, is known particularly for two early 15th century windows: the window depicting ‘The Pricke Of Conscience’ or ‘The Fifteen Signs of Doom’ window, which I was looking at earlier this week (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday); and the window depicting the ‘Corporal Works of Mercy’ (see Matthew 25: 35-46), which I was looking at on Wednesday.

This morning, I am reflecting on the Saint James the Great Window. The 15th century Saint James Window dates from ca 1410.

1, The Left Light: Saint James the Apostle, dressed as a pilgrim with a pilgrim staff and a Bible in his hands as he makes his way to the shrine at Santiago Compostela in northern Spain. ‘lago’ is the Spanish form of ‘lacobus’ or James.

Originally, there may have been a shell behind the saint’s right foot. Scallop shells were a sign of the shrine at Santiago.

The face of Saint James in this window may be the face of God the Father taken from another, now lost window. It was painted by John Thornton who made the East Window in York Minister in 1405.

2, The Centre Light: Our Lady, crowned as the Queen of Heaven, holding the Christ Child in her arms.

3, The Right Light: a kneeling archbishop. His mitre is behind him, and he is wearing the pallium around his neck, the symbol of and archbishop’s authority bestowed by the Pope. He is saying Mass and is kneeling at the elevation of the Host. Above him, Christ appears, accompanied by four angels.

In the past, the archbishop has been identified as Saint Gregory the Great, or as Saint William of York. However, recent research indicates he may be Saint Denis, Bishop of Paris in the third century. Denys, or Dionysius, was thought at the time this window was made to be the Dionysius who wrote the book on the nine orders of angels illustrated in an adjacent window.

Amidst the fragments below the three main figures is a charming bird. The incomplete inscription beneath the figure of the archbishop contains the only surviving ‘indulgence’ in an English stained-glass window.

An indulgence was believed to remove the penalty incurred by a confessed sin, and could be gained by, for example, going on pilgrimage, or by meditating on the truths of the faith expressed in a statue or, as in this case, a window.

Chaucer satirised this practice in the Canterbury Tales in the person of the shameless Pardoner. The mediaeval church employed Pardoners to squeeze the pockets of people to buy indulgences.

Fragments of other lost windows were added to this window in the 1970s.

The kneeling archbishop has been identified as Saint Gregory the Great, or as Saint William of York, but is probably Saint Denis of Paris (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022; click on images for full-screen viewing)

Today’s Prayer (Friday 14 October 2022):

The Collect:

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

Lord, we pray that your grace
may always precede and follow us,
and make us continually to be given to all good works;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week is ‘Day of the Girl Child.’ This theme is introduced this morning by the Revd Benjamin Inbaraj, Director of the CSI-SEVA department, which runs the Church of South India’s social ministries.

The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today in these words:

Let us give thanks for the success of the Church of South India’s Children’s Synod. May we make a conscious effort to include children in the life of the Church.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

Fragments of other lost windows were added to the window in the 1970s (Photographs: Patrick Comerford, 2022; click on images for full-screen viewing)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Further reading:

‘Church of All Saints with Anchorage Attached, Historic England List Entry 1257067, <https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1257067> [accessed 8 October 2022].
‘The Stained Glass of All Saints’, All Saint Church, <https://www.allsaints-northstreet.org.uk/stainedglass.html> [accessed 8 October 2022].

The incomplete inscription beneath the figure of the archbishop contains the only surviving ‘indulgence’ in an English stained-glass window (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

York’s mediaeval guilds
and how some of their
great halls have survived

York Guildhall … built in 1445 for the Guild of Saint Christopher and Saint George and the City Corporation (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

York Guildhall, in the heart of the city and overlooking the banks of the Ruver Ouse, is an impressive survival from the Middle Ages. Most mediaeval cities had several guilds, and mediaeval York had more than 50 craft guilds, including vintners, butchers, scriveners and many others.

Two mediaeval guilds in York continue their activities and continue to operate from their mediaeval guild halls: the Merchant Adventurers and the Merchant Taylors.

There were two types of mediaeval guilds: trade guilds that regulated the activities of a trade or craft, and religious guilds for the spiritual benefit of their members alive and dead.

The Guild of Corpus Christi, founded in 1408, was the most important religious guild in York. From its foundation until its dissolution in 1546, it had nearly 17,000 members, including Archbishops of York, local nobles and leading members of city society.

The city’s trade guilds largely controlled trade within York, oversaw the quality of goods and workmanship within the city and looked after their members’ interests. The guilds inspected raw materials and finished goods, fixed wages and prices, and regulated the conditions of apprentices. Guild disputes were arbitrated by the mayor and council.

The arms of the Merchant Adventurers’ over the entrance to the hall on Fossgate (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The weavers were first recorded trade guild in York in 1163. By 1180, glovers, saddlers and hosiers had formed guilds, and butchers, drapers and vintners had their own guilds by the end of the 13th century. One document lists 80 guilds in the 15th century.

The guild rules were set out in ‘ordinances.’ The Ordinances of the Porters allowed only 16 named porters to carry goods from the river to named streets, charging a standard fee. The Drapers in 1492 sought ways to stop ‘foreign’ drapers – drapers who were not freemen of the city – trading in the city.

York Guildhall, the municipal building behind the Mansion House, was built in 1445 for the Guild of Saint Christopher and Saint George and the Corporation as a meeting place for the city’s guilds. The city corporation met there for the first time in 1459, and King Richard III was entertained there in 1483.

The city corporation took over the site in 1549. Margaret Clitherow, the Catholic martyr, was put on trial there in 1586, and it was there during the English Civil War that a ransom of £200,000 was counted before Charles I was released in 1647.

The entrance to the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall on Fossgate … it had the largest and most magnificent hall in York (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Over the years, many of the guilds have merged or been dissolved. However, nine guilds remain in York today. They are active in commercial and community pursuits, and two mediaeval guilds continue their activities and continue to operate from their mediaeval guild halls.

The Merchant Adventurers had the largest and most magnificent hall in York. Described as ‘Britain’s oldest surviving half-timbered guildhall,’ it was built in the 14th century on the site of an earlier Norman mansion.

The hall was built mainly in 1357 by a religious fraternity founded the previous year as the Guild of Our Lord Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

A hospital was established in the undercroft in 1371 for the poor people of York and the fraternity was granted a royal charter by King Henry VI in 1471 and renamed ‘The Mistry of Mercers.’ The members were mostly mercers, who exported wool and cloth across Europe, and imported wine and other goods.

The guild became even more powerful in 1581 when Queen Elizabeth I granted it a charter as the Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York and gave them a monopoly over most goods imported into the city.

The Merchant Adventurers’ Hall was built in the 14th century and is ‘Britain’s oldest surviving half-timbered guildhall’ (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The principal parts of the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall are the Great Hall, the chapel and the undercroft. The Great Hall, on the upper floor, was built over a five-year period. It is a massive timber-framed room, with supports in the middle because it was too large to be built all in one piece.

The collections of silver, furniture and old paintings in the hall include a mediaeval ‘Evidence Chest’ that is older than the hall itself. Works of art include a painting by Jan Griffier, ‘Dutch snow scene with skaters,’ a painting by Joseph Farington depicting the Old Ouse Bridge at York and a portrait by William Etty of his brother, John Etty.

The undercroft, like the Great Hall, is divided in two by its supporting row of timber posts. It was used as a hospital and almshouse until 1900, and there is a small chapel attached to the hall. The undercroft also provides access to an attached chapel built for the use of the ill and poor in the hospital as well as the members of the Merchant Adventurers’ Guild. It is still used for worship.

In later centuries, the guild widened admission criteria to include politicians and businessmen. Membership could be by inheritance or nomination, and even today many members can trace their involvement through many generations.

Notable Merchant Adventurers have included members of the Rowntree and Terry families, whose names are familiar because of the chocolate companies they founded in York.

The Merchant Adventurers helped to found the York Chamber of Commerce in 1895 and the University of York in 1963.

Today, the Hall is a Grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument. It is used by the 160 members of the Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York for meetings and formal occasions. But it is also popular for outside functions, including weddings.

The Merchant Taylors’ Hall in Aldwark was built in 1415 by the Fraternity of Saint John the Baptist (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The Merchant Taylors’ Hall in Aldwark, near the city wall, was built by the Fraternity of Saint John the Baptist, a religious guild linked to the Taylors’ Guild.

The Great Hall was built in 1415, the year of the Battle of Agincourt. A new wing, now known as the Small Hall, was built In the late 15th century. It was referred to as the ‘Counsell howse’ in 1539, and later as the Counting House, although it could have been built or used as a chapel.

The width of the Great Hall was ambitious, and the method of spanning the space can be seen in the exposed roof timbers. The roof is an unusual combination of two systems – a triangular truss consisting of a bottom tie with a central post and braces and two big curved arches both of which are capable of supporting the pitched rafters and roof covering.

The main hall is 60 by 30 ft (18.3 by 9.1 m), with 30 ft (9.1 m) ceilings. This means the width and height of the Great Hall are similar and with a length that is twice that dimension, it forms two cubes side by side.

At the west end of the Great Hall lies the Entrance Hall which forms the original screen’s passage – one of the very few that exists in England today – on the further side of which were kitchens and service rooms, now the cloakrooms. At the other end of the Hall, under the great window was a dais where the Master and Officers of the Company sat.

The heraldic arms over the fireplace are those of the London Drapers Company, painted on wood before 1668, long before the Merchant Taylors of York had their own arms.

The heraldic arms of the Merchant Taylors of York (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The adjoining Counsel House, sometimes called the Counting House, has two stained glass windows by Henry Gyles of York. The south window shows Queen Anne, and was made to commemorate her accession to the throne.

The hall was hidden from public view until the 1960s by a terrace of buildings fronting onto Aldwark, including an entrance archway built in 1887. A large part of the forecourt was also occupied by terrace dwellings. When the archway was demolished, the stone coat of arms above the archway depicting the arms of the London Company of Merchant Taylors was saved and built into the new boundary wall beside the hall porch.

The hall now has a splendid forecourt and garden. The building is still used by the Guild of Merchant Taylors of York, and is available to hire.

In addition, the Bedern Hall is owned by the Bedern Hall Company and is home today to three of York’s Guilds: the Gild of Freemen of the City of York, The Company of Cordwainers and the York Guild of Building.

The Bedern Hall is home today to three of York’s Guilds (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)