Lay Religion in Late Medieval Bridgwater

Abstract

My research explores the role of different ecclesiastical institutions in shaping the local forms of pious provision within an English provincial town, Bridgwater, and its hinterland c.1400-c.1500. In contrast to much recent work on lay piety which has focused on single institutions, religious life in the fifteenth century is here surveyed by identifying the ways in which people engaged with religious houses and the parish church, and their respective secular and regular clerical communities. Thus, this thesis investigates pious provision, lay agency, and the character of local piety, revealing how parishioners invested in the range of orthodox Christian expressions available within their geography of devotion.

Given the richness of the source material for Bridgwater, three main categories have been consulted to show how they can offer diverse perspectives on parochial piety: churchwardens’ accounts, bishops’ registers, and wills. My research reveals groups within the parish each engaged in distinctive activities negotiated through the various governing structures in order to express their own private and shared devotional aspirations. Therefore, my argument is two-fold. First, that the arrangements of ecclesiastical institutions in a particular townscape or region were a significant local factor in how religious life was perceived and expressed by the laity and clergy living there. Second, that the framework of the institutional Church in a defined locality should be considered in its entirety in studies of late medieval lay religion. This thesis concludes that we must integrate both secular and religious communities into revisionist perspectives on parochial piety to better understand their influences over the action and reception of Christianity in provincial town communities.