0:00:05 > 0:00:07CROWS CAW
0:00:10 > 0:00:13On the 3rd of November, 1459,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16Sir John Fastolf lay close to death at Caister Castle.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20Fastolf was an ambitious and successful man,
0:00:20 > 0:00:22a soldier who'd made a vast fortune
0:00:22 > 0:00:25fighting in England's wars with France.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Fastolf had served kings and princes.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33In the process he'd become fabulously wealthy
0:00:33 > 0:00:35and built this castle here in Norfolk.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40So now, facing his last illness at the age of nearly 80,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43he could pay for the best care money could buy.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49For Fastolf this didn't mean medicine for his body;
0:00:49 > 0:00:52it meant medicine for his soul.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55He would die in a room full of priests not doctors,
0:00:56 > 0:00:58helped by prayers not prescriptions.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03Because death, for the people of the Middle Ages, wasn't the end,
0:01:03 > 0:01:05but the doorway to everlasting life.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08They say the past is another country.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12They do things differently there,
0:01:12 > 0:01:16but just how differently did the Medieval world approach
0:01:16 > 0:01:21life's great rites of passage, birth, marriage and death.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24HE CRIES
0:01:24 > 0:01:28The way we handle these fundamental moments of transition in our lives
0:01:28 > 0:01:31reveals a lot about how we think and what we believe in.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35For the people of the Middle Ages this life mattered
0:01:35 > 0:01:38but the next one mattered more.
0:01:38 > 0:01:40Heaven and hell were real places,
0:01:40 > 0:01:43and the teachings of the Catholic Church
0:01:43 > 0:01:47shaped thoughts and beliefs across the whole of Western Europe.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50But by the end of the Middle Ages
0:01:50 > 0:01:54the Church would find itself in the grip of momentous change,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57and the rituals of birth, marriage and death
0:01:57 > 0:01:59would never be quite the same again.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16Most of the time, we try not to think about death.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20But the people of the Middle Ages didn't have that luxury.
0:02:20 > 0:02:26Death was always close at hand, for young and old, rich and poor,
0:02:26 > 0:02:30even before the horrors of the Black Death, which killed millions
0:02:30 > 0:02:32in a few short months.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36John Fastolf had managed to live to a ripe old age,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39but he was still concerned with the Church's message
0:02:39 > 0:02:43that what would happen after his death - an eternity spent in heaven or hell -
0:02:43 > 0:02:47was more important than his life's fleeting achievements.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54So, in a world where death shaped life,
0:02:54 > 0:02:56how did the people of the Middle Ages
0:02:56 > 0:02:59deal with the last great rite of passage?
0:03:10 > 0:03:13One of the reasons why we know about John Fastolf's death
0:03:13 > 0:03:16is because he was a friend of the Paston family.
0:03:17 > 0:03:21The Pastons had estates near Fastolf's in north-eastern Norfolk,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23as well as a fine townhouse in Norwich.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33The Pastons were wealthy and they lived in one of the richest
0:03:33 > 0:03:35and most cosmopolitan parts of the country.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39Norwich was late-Medieval England's second city.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42But they weren't aristocrats.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45They were as ordinary, or extraordinary,
0:03:45 > 0:03:47as any other well-to-do family.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52But what makes them unique, and why we know so much about them,
0:03:52 > 0:03:54is that we still have their letters.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02It's a remarkable stroke of luck that we have them
0:04:02 > 0:04:06because almost no private letters survive from this period.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Most of the Paston letters have ended up here in the British Library
0:04:09 > 0:04:15and they form the earliest great collection of private correspondence in the English language.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23More than a thousand documents survive,
0:04:23 > 0:04:26spanning three generations of the family.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28We don't know what the Pastons looked like,
0:04:28 > 0:04:31and most of the houses they lived in are long gone;
0:04:31 > 0:04:35but, thanks to their letters, we can still hear their voices.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40I've been studying these letters for 25 years,
0:04:40 > 0:04:43but, because they've been in print for a long time,
0:04:43 > 0:04:45I very rarely get to see the real thing.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50So this is thrilling, because the Pastons feel like my Medieval family,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54and that's because these letters give us glimpses of
0:04:54 > 0:04:57a human experience that speaks across the centuries.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10The letters capture the everyday lives of the Pastons themselves
0:05:10 > 0:05:15and the people they knew, including their wealthy neighbour John Fastolf,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17who lived here at Caister Castle.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21Fastolf had no children of his own;
0:05:21 > 0:05:25and when he died, John Paston claimed to be his heir.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28Instead, Fastolf's will, and the fate of his fortune,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32became the subject of a lengthy dispute;
0:05:32 > 0:05:34and the legal papers from the case
0:05:34 > 0:05:37ended up in the archives of Magdalen College, Oxford.
0:05:38 > 0:05:43Among them are statements from those who were with Fastolf in his final days.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47And they give us an intimate portrait of one Medieval death.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51This is one of the witness statements in the case
0:05:51 > 0:05:54from a local gentleman who came to visit Fastolf,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56and it takes us right to his bedside.
0:05:57 > 0:05:59He found him "lying in his bed,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02right weak and full feeble in his spirits
0:06:02 > 0:06:04as a man ready to die."
0:06:05 > 0:06:08And this extraordinary document is
0:06:08 > 0:06:11the statement of one of Fastolf's chaplains.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14It tells us who was there in Fastolf's last hours.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18His servants were waiting on his every need.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23Harry Wynstall, his barber, came into his chamber and shaved him;
0:06:23 > 0:06:27and John Bernard, his physician looked in from time to time
0:06:27 > 0:06:29to check on his condition."
0:06:30 > 0:06:34But the most constant presence in Fastolf's bedchamber were his priests.
0:06:35 > 0:06:41This chaplain, Thomas Howes, "said mass in the said chamber, and John Davy, another chaplain of his,
0:06:41 > 0:06:45said a book of devotions for Fastolf, who was so short in his breath
0:06:45 > 0:06:50and so overcome with the pain of his sickness that a man might not hear him speak
0:06:50 > 0:06:52but he laid his ear to his mouth."
0:06:55 > 0:06:58In Fastolf's last moments, he needed his priests around him
0:06:58 > 0:07:03because death in the Middle Ages wasn't so much a physical end
0:07:03 > 0:07:06to be managed by doctors as a transition
0:07:06 > 0:07:10from the mortal life of the body to the eternal life of the soul.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13CHORAL MUSIC
0:07:27 > 0:07:32Fastolf's understanding of death, like that of all his contemporaries,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35was shaped by the Catholic Church.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38And the Church taught that, although the physical body died,
0:07:38 > 0:07:40the soul was eternal.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46And one day God would judge which souls would spend eternity in heaven
0:07:46 > 0:07:48and which would spend it in hell.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58Few people in the Middle Ages could read;
0:07:58 > 0:08:03so wall paintings like this one, in St Thomas's Church in Salisbury,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06explained the Church's teaching in pictures rather than words.
0:08:09 > 0:08:15Doomsday was the day of judgment, the day at the end of the time when Christ would return in glory
0:08:15 > 0:08:18to judge the quick and the dead,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21and the people of the Middle Ages couldn't miss the message
0:08:21 > 0:08:25of paintings like this on the walls of their parish churches.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29On the right hand of Christ the shrouded figures of the saved
0:08:29 > 0:08:34rise from their graves and angels help them towards the joys of heaven.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39On his left, the souls of the damned are dragged into the mouth of hell.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45A jaunty devil presides over this scene of torment,
0:08:45 > 0:08:47another hurls the sinners into the fire.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55And as they sink into the flames, a painted inscription reminds us that in hell
0:08:55 > 0:08:59"Nulla est redemptio", there is no redemption.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10The disconcerting problem with this binary system
0:09:10 > 0:09:14was that only the saintly, in the literal sense of the word,
0:09:14 > 0:09:16people who were actually saints,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18could be confident of having sinned so little
0:09:18 > 0:09:22that they would definitely be going to heaven.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25But did that really mean that a merciful God
0:09:25 > 0:09:27would damn most ordinary sinners to hell?
0:09:32 > 0:09:34It wasn't easy to tell.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37The Bible didn't give a clear explanation of what happened to a soul
0:09:37 > 0:09:41between the moment of death and the Last Judgement
0:09:41 > 0:09:43at the end of the world.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48There was an idea that some sin could perhaps be purged after death;
0:09:48 > 0:09:50and in the 12th century,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53when the Church went through a powerful movement of reform,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56this became a key theological question.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59Gradually an answer emerged.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02When a person died,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05their soul would go to an interim place called purgatory.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Here they would have the chance to atone for the sins
0:10:09 > 0:10:13they'd committed in life; and that meant that, by Judgment Day,
0:10:13 > 0:10:15their way into heaven would be open.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21In 1254, Pope Innocent IV adopted purgatory
0:10:21 > 0:10:23as an official doctrine of the Church.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28So what could people expect to experience in purgatory?
0:10:29 > 0:10:33Carl Watkins is a historian of Medieval religion
0:10:33 > 0:10:37who has studied ideas about this middle space between heaven and hell.
0:10:38 > 0:10:45Purgatory was characterised by darkness and by fire and by terror.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49Because it's the place where the great majority of people
0:10:49 > 0:10:53expected to pass, at death, a place where they would be
0:10:53 > 0:10:57purged of sins that they'd not expiated in life.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00A place where their souls would, if you will, be burnished
0:11:00 > 0:11:05before they could make a final passage on into heaven.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07How long would someone expect to spend there?
0:11:08 > 0:11:12Well, the period of punishment would be proportional
0:11:12 > 0:11:16to the sins they'd committed during their lives.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20And there's also a sense in which time in purgatory is elastic,
0:11:20 > 0:11:24in that, because the pains are so intense and terrible,
0:11:24 > 0:11:26the fire is so tormenting,
0:11:26 > 0:11:31that even a moment in purgatory felt like an epoch of Earthly time.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33And would the punishment fit the sin?
0:11:33 > 0:11:37There's a real sense in purgatory that punishments fit the crime.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41So if you'd been violent, perhaps you'd been a murderer in the other world,
0:11:41 > 0:11:45maybe you might expect to be hewn on a butcher's block.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49If you had been avaricious, if you'd been money-minded,
0:11:49 > 0:11:53you might discover, in purgatory, molten gold was poured down your throat.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55If you were a liar or a back-biter
0:11:55 > 0:11:59you might be nailed down by your tongue.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02So there's a really strong sense here in which punishments
0:12:02 > 0:12:08are conceived as fitting in rather a direct way to the kinds of sins people have committed during life.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22This image of purgatory might seem terrifying and gruesome.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24In fact, little different from hell.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28But there was a fundamental difference.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31Purgatory was like hell but it was only temporary;
0:12:31 > 0:12:34a staging-post on a sinner's route to heaven.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39How long that took, though, depended on how much you had sinned in life.
0:12:42 > 0:12:47The first way to make your time in purgatory as short as possible was to be good.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51It was the same for everyone, commoner or king,
0:12:51 > 0:12:56so a king like Henry VII, who had brutally executed his rivals
0:12:56 > 0:13:00and secured the allegiance of his nobles through financial blackmail,
0:13:00 > 0:13:02had a lot to worry about.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09Henry VII had been a ruthless and paranoid king who'd ruled
0:13:09 > 0:13:13through fear and protected his power by any means necessary.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17And at the end of his life, he, like all his subjects,
0:13:17 > 0:13:19was preoccupied with one question.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24If death was a doorway, where was it a doorway to?
0:13:28 > 0:13:32For a sinner like Henry there was a chance, even at this late stage,
0:13:32 > 0:13:34of helping himself in the afterlife.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40This drawing records the scene at his deathbed.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45Three doctors, here holding flasks, attended their royal patient.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50And members of Henry's privy chamber gathered around the king.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54But the attendants to whom Henry looked now were his spiritual advisers,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57including John Fisher, the Bishop of Rochester,
0:13:57 > 0:14:00who later described Henry's last hours.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06"For the space of 27 hours together," Fisher said,
0:14:06 > 0:14:09"he lay continually abiding the sharp assaults of death.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Henry fixed his gaze on the crucifix that was held in front of him,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17lifting up his head and his hands towards it,
0:14:17 > 0:14:21and with great devotion kissing it and beating oft his breast,
0:14:21 > 0:14:27so that all those that gathered round his bed scarcely might contain themselves from tears and weeping."
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Fisher was emphasising that Henry was dying a "good death",
0:14:35 > 0:14:38going gladly to meet his maker,
0:14:38 > 0:14:40full of contrition for the sins he'd committed.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46And when he'd confessed, he would receive forgiveness, absolution,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49as part of the Church's sacraments of the Last Rites.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55The Last Rites are still used today,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58and, in essence, they've changed little since the Middle Ages.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Reverend Colin Simpson is still called upon
0:15:01 > 0:15:05to perform the last rites for some of his parishioners.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09What does giving the last rites actually involve, what do you do?
0:15:10 > 0:15:16It really depends on the stage of death that the individual's in.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19But if they're still...
0:15:20 > 0:15:22If they're still conscience,
0:15:22 > 0:15:26if you like, then we can have a conversation about their life
0:15:26 > 0:15:30and the things that they've done that they regret,
0:15:31 > 0:15:35and then, with a prayer and laying on of hands,
0:15:35 > 0:15:37I can pray for wholeness,
0:15:37 > 0:15:39and finally anoint,
0:15:39 > 0:15:42anointing, as in the kings of old - and as in the Queen.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46When she was crowned she was anointed with oil.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49It's a blessing, it's a seal, if you like,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52of that love, of that forgiveness.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59And if the individual is capable, um,
0:16:01 > 0:16:04then they can receive communion.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07What has the experience of giving the last rites been like for you?
0:16:09 > 0:16:12For me it's been a great privilege.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18To be invited into somebody's home
0:16:18 > 0:16:22at a point where a life, a loved life, is ending,
0:16:23 > 0:16:29and to offer what comfort I can
0:16:30 > 0:16:32and to help that process.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35Cos dying is not easy.
0:16:35 > 0:16:42And I've seen it have a calming effect on the one who's dying,
0:16:42 > 0:16:46but also because the family can share the communion,
0:16:47 > 0:16:49that's a bridge, if you like,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52and a link between the living and dead.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02The link between the living and the dead went beyond the last rites.
0:17:02 > 0:17:07Because once someone had died there was a funeral to organise.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12Once again the Church had an elaborate set of rituals that the funeral should follow,
0:17:12 > 0:17:16from what was known as the Placebo - the evensong on the night before the funeral -
0:17:16 > 0:17:20to the Requiem Mass which was sung just before the burial.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27The richer you were, the more magnificent the ritual you could pay for.
0:17:27 > 0:17:33But while a lavish funeral might serve as a demonstration of earthly power and status,
0:17:33 > 0:17:35its central focus was the life to come.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Henry VII had made sure he had a good death,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44and he was equally determined to have the best possible send off.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51This extraordinary object is all that remains of
0:17:51 > 0:17:54the elaborate trappings of Henry's funeral.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57It's the head of a life-sized effigy of the King,
0:17:57 > 0:18:01and the plaster face is taken from a death mask,
0:18:01 > 0:18:03so when we look at this face
0:18:03 > 0:18:05we're looking at the face of Henry VII himself.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10As it is now it's an austere and haunting portrait of the man,
0:18:11 > 0:18:14but at the funeral it played a very different role.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19The effigy was dressed in sumptuous robes and held an orb and sceptre
0:18:19 > 0:18:24in its hands, and on this head was the glittering crown of England.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28The effigy lay on cloth of gold cushions on top of the coffin
0:18:28 > 0:18:31to symbolise the majesty of an anointed sovereign,
0:18:31 > 0:18:35which endured even on his journey to the grave.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46And it was an impressive journey.
0:18:46 > 0:18:50Once the coffin arrived at Westminster Abbey, masses were sung;
0:18:50 > 0:18:54and then - in a scene of startling drama - a nobleman
0:18:54 > 0:18:57dressed in the dead king's armour rode a warhorse
0:18:57 > 0:19:02through the Abbey's Great West Door and up to the high altar.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05There, he was stripped of the armour and weapons,
0:19:05 > 0:19:09and these symbols of Henry's earthly power were offered up to God.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21The Pastons of Norfolk had only a fraction of the resources of
0:19:21 > 0:19:23the Tudors who ruled England;
0:19:23 > 0:19:26but a death in the family was just as momentous for them.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30And they were equally keen to do what they could
0:19:30 > 0:19:32to help the soul of the departed
0:19:32 > 0:19:35as it started its journey through purgatory.
0:19:37 > 0:19:41The stress of John Paston's involvement in the dispute
0:19:41 > 0:19:44over Fastolf's will meant the family had to arrange a funeral
0:19:44 > 0:19:46much sooner than they'd expected.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53By the autumn of 1465, John's mother Agnes was worrying about him.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57"By my counsel," she wrote,
0:19:57 > 0:20:01"dispose yourself as much as you may to have less to do in the world."
0:20:01 > 0:20:06"Your father said, 'In little business lies much rest.'
0:20:06 > 0:20:09This world is but a thoroughfare and full of woe;
0:20:09 > 0:20:11and when we depart there from,
0:20:11 > 0:20:15right naught we bear with us but our good deeds and ill.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18And there knows no man how soon God will call him,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21and therefore it is good for every creature to be ready."
0:20:23 > 0:20:25The letter makes haunting reading -
0:20:25 > 0:20:27because Agnes was right to be worried.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31Seven months later, at the age of just 44,
0:20:31 > 0:20:34John Paston died, suddenly, in London.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45And his widow Margaret poured all her shock,
0:20:45 > 0:20:47and her fear for the family's future,
0:20:47 > 0:20:51into the most splendid funeral she could devise.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54A priest and 12 poor men, bearing torches,
0:20:54 > 0:20:58walked beside the coffin for six days as it was carried in procession
0:20:58 > 0:21:01more than a hundred miles from London
0:21:01 > 0:21:05to the Pastons' parish of St Peter Hungate, here in Norwich.
0:21:09 > 0:21:14In the church, 38 priests stood ready to pray over the corpse,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17while 20 miles further north, at Bromholm Priory,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20just outside Paston village, preparations were underway
0:21:20 > 0:21:22for the burial and funeral feast.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30At the priory more than 90 servants were paid
0:21:30 > 0:21:32to wait on the Pastons' guests,
0:21:32 > 0:21:35and so many animals were slaughtered for the feast
0:21:35 > 0:21:38that it took two men three days to flay them.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47When John was finally laid to rest,
0:21:48 > 0:21:51the church was so ablaze with torches
0:21:51 > 0:21:54that afterwards the stench of tallow was overwhelming.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57A note was made that two panes of glass had to be removed
0:21:57 > 0:21:59from a window to let out the reek.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04Margaret kept precise notes of the funeral expenses,
0:22:04 > 0:22:08and the final total came to almost £250,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11a staggering sum, more than a year's income from the Paston estates.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18Margaret had spent a fortune, not just to show that the Pastons
0:22:18 > 0:22:21were a force to be reckoned with in this life,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24but because she believed that she was giving her dead husband
0:22:24 > 0:22:27the best start she could in purgatory.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30For the Pastons, like all Medieval families,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33purgatory was a real place of physical torment.
0:22:33 > 0:22:37And the ways in which the living tried to equip the dead to face it
0:22:37 > 0:22:39could be surprisingly practical.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Archaeologist Roberta Gilchrist has explored evidence of
0:22:45 > 0:22:49this practical help from burial excavations,
0:22:49 > 0:22:53including one remarkable skeleton, now housed, among many others,
0:22:53 > 0:22:55in the Museum of London.
0:22:56 > 0:23:01It's an extraordinary feeling, surrounded by all these boxes of human remains, isn't it?
0:23:01 > 0:23:05- 17,000 people.- 17,000?
0:23:05 > 0:23:08And here's the one person we're coming to visit.
0:23:08 > 0:23:13The most basic burial for someone who'd died a good Christian death
0:23:13 > 0:23:17would be to be prepared for your burial,
0:23:17 > 0:23:20and that means the washing of the body, stripping away of clothes,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23and placing them within a white shroud.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26And inside the shroud, the body would be naked?
0:23:26 > 0:23:30That's the theory, but there's increasing archaeological evidence
0:23:30 > 0:23:32for a clothed burial.
0:23:32 > 0:23:37And we have things like medical items being placed with the dead as well.
0:23:37 > 0:23:43And this is a mature man, so a man in his mid-forties or older,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46but we have the remarkable survival, in this case,
0:23:46 > 0:23:50that the man was actually buried wearing a hernia truss.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53- That's a hernia truss?- Yes.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57So around his pelvis he's got a textile item,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00and you can see these buckles that are used
0:24:00 > 0:24:02to hold the textile onto his body,
0:24:02 > 0:24:06so there would have been something else around the back of him,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09like a sort of linen strap or something holding it.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13Obviously, in the Middle Ages, a hernia wouldn't have been operated on.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16They've found a way of trying to make him more comfortable.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19- To hold it in place.- To hold it in place.- Physically.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23He has died, literally, holding it in place.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27- It's so moving...- It is...- to see his hands,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30you can almost see him in life, holding on.
0:24:31 > 0:24:36Now the question is, why wouldn't this have been removed when he died?
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Medieval people believed that when you were resurrected
0:24:40 > 0:24:43at Judgement Day, you were resurrected perfect,
0:24:43 > 0:24:46at the age of 33, no matter what age you died.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Whether you were an infant or you were 110,
0:24:49 > 0:24:53you would be resurrected in perfect condition at the age of 33.
0:24:53 > 0:24:5533 the perfect age because?
0:24:55 > 0:24:57The age at which Christ died on the cross.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01So, the assumption is not that he needs this for resurrection,
0:25:01 > 0:25:04he needs this for the journey through purgatory.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09What we find with these medical items is what they particularly leave on the body
0:25:09 > 0:25:12are the ones that are to do with mobility, and allowing the body to walk.
0:25:12 > 0:25:18They thought it was a real physical place, and although they knew the body was in the grave rotting,
0:25:18 > 0:25:23they thought their loved ones were physically experiencing purgatory
0:25:23 > 0:25:25and, literally, walking.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28And so if they died with an impairment,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31which would make mobility difficult,
0:25:31 > 0:25:34they were leaving objects on the corpse to assist them.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50The idea the living could help the dead through purgatory
0:25:50 > 0:25:55didn't stop at equipping them with physical support for the suffering they would endure,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58because the Church taught that, that suffering could be shortened
0:25:58 > 0:26:02if the living offered spiritual help to the departed soul.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09Praying for the dead, or hearing masses for them,
0:26:09 > 0:26:12could actually reduce time spent in purgatory.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16So when people in the Middle Ages wrote a will,
0:26:16 > 0:26:18they were concerned, above all,
0:26:18 > 0:26:22to make sure they'd be remembered with prayers and masses.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28We think of wills as a way for the dead to bequeath property,
0:26:28 > 0:26:30things they can no longer use,
0:26:30 > 0:26:35to those they leave behind. But for the people of the Middle Ages,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38wills were also a way for the dead to keep a hold on the living.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41To make sure they couldn't simply be forgotten.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44And that was certainly true for Margaret Paston.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54In 1482, Margaret was 60 years old.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57Since the death of her husband, John, 16 years earlier,
0:26:57 > 0:27:01she'd been a wealthy widow, the matriarch of the Paston family.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Now her thoughts were turning to her own approaching end.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13Margaret was a very practical person,
0:27:13 > 0:27:15and hers was a practical will,
0:27:15 > 0:27:17dividing up the contents of her house,
0:27:17 > 0:27:21beds, bed linen, kitchen equipment and her best clothes,
0:27:21 > 0:27:23between her children and her servants.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28But the main purpose of Margaret's will was to direct the ways
0:27:28 > 0:27:30in which she'd be remembered.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33She left detailed instructions about her funeral,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36and the candles that were to burn around her grave
0:27:36 > 0:27:38here in the church at Mautby.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42And she described the elaborate marble stone, engraved with the arms
0:27:42 > 0:27:45of her Mautby ancestors, that was to mark her tomb.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51But this wasn't just about leaving a memorial of her wealth and status.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53The inscription round the stone
0:27:53 > 0:27:55would also remind all those who saw it
0:27:55 > 0:27:59to pray for her by asking God to have mercy on her soul.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10The Church taught that the best way to shorten the departed's time
0:28:10 > 0:28:14in purgatory was to leave money for Masses.
0:28:14 > 0:28:18So Margaret left money to pay a priest to sing Mass in Mautby church
0:28:18 > 0:28:20every day for seven years.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23HE SAYS MASS
0:28:27 > 0:28:30A Mass was the greatest help a soul could have
0:28:30 > 0:28:34because it was the holiest and most sacred act of worship,
0:28:34 > 0:28:37a repetition of Christ's sacrifice on Earth,
0:28:37 > 0:28:40because when the priest consecrated the bread and wine,
0:28:40 > 0:28:43it became the body and blood of Christ.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46BELL RINGS
0:28:51 > 0:28:55It wasn't clear by how much a Mass would shorten the pains of purgatory,
0:28:56 > 0:28:59but what was clear was that the heaping up of Masses
0:28:59 > 0:29:01would do a soul a great deal of good.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06So it's no surprise that the richer you were
0:29:06 > 0:29:09the more Masses you would pay for,
0:29:09 > 0:29:12and if you were a king you would leave as many as possible.
0:29:14 > 0:29:19Just as Henry VII had had a magnificent and elaborate funeral,
0:29:19 > 0:29:22so his will, now kept in the National Archives,
0:29:22 > 0:29:24is no less excessive.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26In fact, it's the longest of any English king.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31In life, Henry had a reputation as a miser,
0:29:31 > 0:29:33but he was clearly prepared to spend in death.
0:29:35 > 0:29:41Henry begins with a long paragraph giving his soul not only into "the most merciful hands of Him
0:29:41 > 0:29:43that redeemed and made it,
0:29:43 > 0:29:47but also to the Virgin and all the holy company of Heaven,
0:29:47 > 0:29:51that is to say angels, archangels,
0:29:51 > 0:29:53patriarchs, prophets, apostles,
0:29:53 > 0:29:55evangelists, martyrs,
0:29:55 > 0:29:58confessors and virgins."
0:29:58 > 0:30:02He leaves money for the chapel he's building in Westminster Abbey,
0:30:02 > 0:30:07which is to contain a tomb for himself and "our dearest late wife the Queen,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11and upon the same, one image of our figure, and another of hers,
0:30:11 > 0:30:13either of them of copper and gilt."
0:30:14 > 0:30:17Crucially, in this chapel, priests will say Masses
0:30:17 > 0:30:19for the good of his soul.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31These Masses were so crucial for Henry's prospects in purgatory
0:30:31 > 0:30:33that they were to go on forever.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36Henry was leaving what was known as a chantry,
0:30:36 > 0:30:40funding for a priest, or a college of priests, to say Masses -
0:30:40 > 0:30:43in this case, until the end of time.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54But even perpetual Masses weren't enough for Henry.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57As extra insurance he left detailed instructions
0:30:57 > 0:31:01for a huge number of special Masses to be sung as soon as possible
0:31:01 > 0:31:04after his death, giving his soul a turbo-charged start
0:31:04 > 0:31:06to its journey through purgatory.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13Here you can see, in Roman numerals, "10,000 Masses,
0:31:13 > 0:31:17to be said forthwith and immediately after our decease."
0:31:18 > 0:31:20And Henry knows exactly what he wants.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25"1,500 of those Masses are to be said in the honour of the Trinity;
0:31:25 > 0:31:302,500 in the honour of the five wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ;
0:31:30 > 0:31:342,500 in honour of the five joys of our Lady;
0:31:34 > 0:31:38450 in the honour of the nine orders of angels;
0:31:38 > 0:31:41150 in honour of the patriarchs;
0:31:41 > 0:31:43600 in honour of the 12 apostles;
0:31:44 > 0:31:49and 2,300, which maketh up the whole number of the said 10,000 masses,
0:31:50 > 0:31:52in the honour of All Saints."
0:31:55 > 0:31:59The willingness of those who could afford it to pay for spiritual help
0:31:59 > 0:32:03for their souls meant that money poured into Church coffers.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07Endowments for chantries didn't just pay for priests to sing Masses,
0:32:07 > 0:32:10but also for the buildings in which they were sung.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16As Henry's will specified,
0:32:16 > 0:32:19his chantry was housed here in his exquisite chapel
0:32:19 > 0:32:21in Westminster Abbey.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26It's a particularly regal and expensive example,
0:32:26 > 0:32:30but all over the country the building of new chantries
0:32:30 > 0:32:32shaped the later Medieval Church physically
0:32:32 > 0:32:34as well as spiritually.
0:32:34 > 0:32:36CHORAL MUSIC
0:33:02 > 0:33:07But churches weren't the only buildings that could help a rich sinner through purgatory.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10Another good way of helping your soul in the next life
0:33:10 > 0:33:12was by helping others in this one,
0:33:12 > 0:33:15through the foundation of charitable institutions,
0:33:15 > 0:33:18and the results could be remarkably long-lasting.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22This is Norwich Great Hospital,
0:33:22 > 0:33:25which was founded in 1249 by Bishop Walter Suffield.
0:33:28 > 0:33:32In the Middle Ages, hospitals like this one not only received the sick
0:33:32 > 0:33:36but fed the poor, and its primary aim was to give the needy
0:33:36 > 0:33:41a Christian community in which they could die well.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44This was an impressive act of Christian charity.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48But, as historian Carole Rawcliffe explains,
0:33:48 > 0:33:51there was a great deal in it for Bishop Suffield too.
0:33:53 > 0:33:55What are these documents?
0:33:55 > 0:33:59They both relate to Walter Suffield, Bishop of Norwich, and to this hospital.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03Because founding a hospital is one of the very best things you could do
0:34:03 > 0:34:06to ensure you have a quick trip through purgatory
0:34:06 > 0:34:11and your soul is saved. And this is his will of 1256,
0:34:12 > 0:34:15which has got his seal, and the seals of the witnesses, on it.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17It's a spectacular document.
0:34:17 > 0:34:22So this is a very personal document. It's all about looking after Bishop Walter's soul.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26Immensely so. This is his passport to paradise, if you like.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29So there's money for Masses, there's money for poor relief,
0:34:29 > 0:34:31there's money to his servants.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35He's particularly investing in institutional charity,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38and particularly in this hospital here.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42So it's a very cohesive system. Bishop Walter's not just doing
0:34:42 > 0:34:44a good work by looking after the poor,
0:34:44 > 0:34:46but the poor are also looking after him.
0:34:46 > 0:34:51Yes, it's mutually supportive. You could argue that the poor are doing more than the rich,
0:34:51 > 0:34:55because although the rich are very successful and happy in this life,
0:34:55 > 0:35:00it's the life to come that really matters. People are very aware of
0:35:00 > 0:35:05the Biblical parable of Dives and Lazarus, which is a very powerful story.
0:35:05 > 0:35:07And it's about a rich man who has everything,
0:35:07 > 0:35:11and this poor beggar, who's sick, comes to his door
0:35:11 > 0:35:14and asks for charity - and he sends him packing.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17And this poor, diseased man dies in a ditch.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20But he goes to heaven, whereas Dives goes to hell.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23And Lazarus begs God to release him,
0:35:23 > 0:35:27but God refuses, because Dives has been so cruel to the poor.
0:35:27 > 0:35:30And people took this to heart, especially the rich.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33And it's interesting to note that this hospital, where we are now,
0:35:33 > 0:35:38is actually on the Bishop's doorstep. Because his palace is just across the road.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41So what he's saying is, I'm not Dives.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44I'm taking care of the sick and the poor.
0:35:44 > 0:35:49They matter to me, because they will take care of him in the next life.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52And their prayers at the Masses that are said here
0:35:52 > 0:35:54will ensure his place in heaven.
0:35:55 > 0:36:00What if you didn't have enough money to set up a foundation on this lavish scale?
0:36:00 > 0:36:04Were there another ways you could make sure your soul would be remembered?
0:36:04 > 0:36:08You could do it very easily, as we can see from this remarkable,
0:36:08 > 0:36:10and now unique, document,
0:36:12 > 0:36:18which is a register of all the people who gave money, or land,
0:36:18 > 0:36:20or perhaps a pair of sheets,
0:36:20 > 0:36:25to a leper hospital outside King's Lynn, the Gaywood Hospital,
0:36:25 > 0:36:27dedicated to St Mary Magdalene.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31And most of these people are very ordinary. Weavers, carpenters,
0:36:31 > 0:36:36cloth workers. People who would probably only be able to afford a few pence.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39And it is a sort of snapshot of a list of people who supported
0:36:39 > 0:36:43the hospital and whose names are written down in the book of life, as it were,
0:36:43 > 0:36:46so they will be remembered whenever Mass is celebrated.
0:36:46 > 0:36:51Each entry starts with pro anima, meaning "for the soul of",
0:36:51 > 0:36:56and then the names come and come. It feels so personal, doesn't it, these little snapshots?
0:36:56 > 0:37:01- Piers Woodhouse I can see here, and his wife Anastasia.- Yes.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04And it would be put on the altar during the Mass
0:37:04 > 0:37:10so that these people are next to the body and blood of Christ, it was believed.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13And the names would probably be said once a year.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16The book would be read out from start to finish,
0:37:16 > 0:37:21to actually say the name as an act of commemoration.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25So death was absolutely central to the experience of living.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28Unfortunately yes, because life is transitory.
0:37:28 > 0:37:33Someone compared it to a sparrow flying through a baronial hall,
0:37:33 > 0:37:35it's just over like that,
0:37:35 > 0:37:38and it's the next life that you must concentrate on.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42Because, all round you, the people you know, the members of your family, are dying young.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46So you must make provision for what comes next.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55Preparation was all very well,
0:37:55 > 0:37:58but what if death found you suddenly and unexpectedly?
0:38:01 > 0:38:06To the people of the Middle Ages, an unprepared death was a terrifying prospect.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10The Church urged its congregations to be constantly ready for death,
0:38:10 > 0:38:15by following Church teaching and leading a good Christian life.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20But heavenly help was also at hand, thanks to St Christopher,
0:38:20 > 0:38:24more commonly known as the patron saint of travellers,
0:38:24 > 0:38:29but in the Middle Ages it was believed that no one who looked at an image of St Christopher
0:38:29 > 0:38:31would die a "bad" death that day.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36And that's why more paintings of St Christopher survive on the walls
0:38:36 > 0:38:40of Medieval churches in England than of any other saint.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46This is the painting of St Christopher at Paston Church.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49Now only delicate traces are left.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52But when the Paston family came to worship here,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55it was newly painted, in vivid colours.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58It shows the giant figure of St Christopher crossing a river.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02Balanced in his palm is the Christ child,
0:39:02 > 0:39:05carrying the weight of the world in his left hand,
0:39:05 > 0:39:08and raising his right to bless the saint.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11This unmissable image was painted opposite the door
0:39:11 > 0:39:14so that people would see it when they came in,
0:39:14 > 0:39:18and so ward off an unexpected death - for that day at least.
0:39:27 > 0:39:30Death wasn't only in people's thoughts;
0:39:30 > 0:39:33it was also part of the fabric of their daily lives.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41Every Sunday they walked through graveyards into churches filled with tombs.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46And some churches even housed skeletons within their walls.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51The Bone Crypt at Holy Trinity Church
0:39:51 > 0:39:52in Rothwell, Northamptonshire,
0:39:52 > 0:39:55contains the remains of 1,500 people.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59No one knows exactly why they are here,
0:39:59 > 0:40:03but the fact they were gathered into the church tells us how powerful a sense of community
0:40:03 > 0:40:06there was between the living and the dead.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12This physical presence of the dead among the living
0:40:12 > 0:40:16was a graphic reminder of what lay ahead for all mortal bodies,
0:40:16 > 0:40:20and the need to pray for the souls of the departed.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24But what happened when bodies piled up so quickly and so high
0:40:24 > 0:40:27that the dead threatened to overwhelm the living?
0:40:37 > 0:40:40That's exactly what happened when England was visited by
0:40:40 > 0:40:44an apocalyptic plague that we know as the Black Death,
0:40:44 > 0:40:48though contemporaries called it simply the "Pestilence",
0:40:48 > 0:40:50or the "Great Mortality".
0:40:51 > 0:40:55The plague reached the south coast of England in the summer of 1348.
0:40:56 > 0:41:01By the end of the following year, almost half of the country's people,
0:41:01 > 0:41:05perhaps three million men, women and children, were dead.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50It was a cataclysm on a scale so vast
0:41:50 > 0:41:53that it seemed the world might be ending.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57And its horror was intensified by the fact that a good death,
0:41:57 > 0:42:01in these brutal circumstances, was no longer possible.
0:42:07 > 0:42:12With millions dying so suddenly, the comforts of a good death were gone.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15Families were ripped apart,
0:42:15 > 0:42:20and the priests who should have ministered to the dying were dying themselves.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31Special measures were needed.
0:42:31 > 0:42:35The Bishop of Bath and Wells gave instructions to his flock that...
0:42:35 > 0:42:37"If they are on the point of death
0:42:37 > 0:42:40and cannot secure the services of a priest,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43then they should make confession to each other,
0:42:43 > 0:42:46or, if no man is present, then even to a woman."
0:42:53 > 0:42:55There was little comfort in that idea;
0:42:55 > 0:43:00and less in the likelihood that sin was the cause of all this suffering.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05In the autumn of 1348, William Edendon,
0:43:05 > 0:43:08the bishop whose tomb lies here in Winchester,
0:43:08 > 0:43:10had no doubt of the diagnosis.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15"It is to be feared that the most likely explanation
0:43:15 > 0:43:17is that human sensuality,
0:43:17 > 0:43:21the fire which blazed up as a result of Adam's sin,
0:43:21 > 0:43:24has now plumbed greater depths of evil,
0:43:24 > 0:43:28producing a multitude of sins which have provoked the divine anger,
0:43:28 > 0:43:31by a just judgment, to this revenge."
0:43:32 > 0:43:35Bishop Edendon urged his congregation
0:43:35 > 0:43:38to pray for their souls and confess their sins.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46Every Friday, he said, the clergy and people of Winchester
0:43:46 > 0:43:50should process around the marketplace with bowed heads
0:43:50 > 0:43:55and bare feet, reverently saying the Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary.
0:43:55 > 0:44:00And he granted all those who did so an indulgence of 40 days,
0:44:00 > 0:44:03that is, the time they would eventually spend in purgatory
0:44:03 > 0:44:05would be 40 days shorter.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13Norwich, the home of the Paston family,
0:44:13 > 0:44:16was one of the worst-hit cities in England.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18Probably two-thirds of its population died.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27And now, for already devastated families,
0:44:27 > 0:44:29the plague became a recurrent fact of life.
0:44:30 > 0:44:35Epidemics continued to sweep the country, at unpredictable intervals,
0:44:35 > 0:44:37for more than a century to come.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47The plague of 1479 was particularly virulent.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51Yet again, Norwich was badly hit,
0:44:51 > 0:44:55and among the families struck by tragedy were the Pastons.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59Margaret Paston's son Walter had just graduated from Oxford
0:44:59 > 0:45:01and his mother had high hopes for his future;
0:45:02 > 0:45:06but he died at home, here in Norwich, that August.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09The family were in church to hear Mass for his soul
0:45:09 > 0:45:12when news came that his grandmother Agnes had died.
0:45:12 > 0:45:16And these losses were weighing on the mind of Margaret's eldest son,
0:45:16 > 0:45:19John, when he wrote to her from London that autumn.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23"I was in such fear of the sickness," he said.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26A couple of weeks later he, too, was dead.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38No wonder the subject of death looms so large
0:45:38 > 0:45:42not only in the Paston letters but also in the art and literature
0:45:42 > 0:45:45of the later Middle Ages.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48Cadaver tombs like this one, with a sculpted corpse
0:45:48 > 0:45:53instead of a fine effigy, began to insist on the reality of death
0:45:53 > 0:45:55rather than the splendour of life.
0:46:00 > 0:46:05And the message was spelled out in the story of the Three Living and the Three Dead,
0:46:05 > 0:46:09which was once told with urgent drama in this now faded painting
0:46:09 > 0:46:11at Paston church.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14It was a popular tale
0:46:14 > 0:46:17told in paintings and manuscripts across Europe.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20Three young kings are out enjoying the hunt
0:46:20 > 0:46:23when they're confronted by a dreadful apparition,
0:46:25 > 0:46:29three skeletons, who tell them, "As you are, we once were;
0:46:29 > 0:46:31as we are, so shall you be."
0:46:32 > 0:46:35It's a ghastly vision of their own future -
0:46:35 > 0:46:39and a reminder that power and riches meant nothing in the face of death.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45It's not surprising that death haunted the Medieval imagination,
0:46:45 > 0:46:49and that anxiety about it manifested itself in unusual ways.
0:46:53 > 0:46:56In about 1400, a monk from Byland Abbey in Yorkshire
0:46:56 > 0:46:58recorded some local ghost stories.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01These featured poor wandering souls
0:47:01 > 0:47:04who had not even made it to purgatory -
0:47:04 > 0:47:06perhaps because they'd been excommunicated,
0:47:06 > 0:47:09or died too soon to be baptised a Christian.
0:47:10 > 0:47:14They are chilling stories - but strangely offer some comfort too.
0:47:18 > 0:47:21Why were ghost stories written down here at Byland?
0:47:21 > 0:47:26It wasn't unusual in the late to Middle Ages for monks to write down ghost stories.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29Ghost stories were a good way of teaching people about
0:47:29 > 0:47:32the pains of purgatory and the suffering of the dead,
0:47:32 > 0:47:35and the need to remember the dead and pray for them.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38But what makes the Byland ghost stories rather unusual
0:47:38 > 0:47:41is that the monk seems to have been collecting stories
0:47:41 > 0:47:44that were being told by local people,
0:47:44 > 0:47:48which have all sorts of rough edges and strange folkloric elements
0:47:48 > 0:47:51that don't really fit with orthodox theology.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55It seems that a number of the ghosts are actually struggling
0:47:55 > 0:47:57to get into purgatory in the first place.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59One of the ghosts is unbaptised,
0:47:59 > 0:48:03and so he's caught in a kind of limbo condition.
0:48:03 > 0:48:09The story begins with a man who is travelling on a pilgrimage
0:48:09 > 0:48:13to the shrine of St James in Compostela,
0:48:13 > 0:48:17and at night he takes his turn keeping watch against night fears,
0:48:17 > 0:48:22so the story says. And while he's keeping watch he sees a procession approaching.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26And it's a procession not of the living but a procession of the dead.
0:48:26 > 0:48:29And these souls of the dead are riding on animals.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32Animals, which it turns out, are their mortuaries.
0:48:33 > 0:48:37Beasts that were given to the Church as a kind of death duty when they expired.
0:48:37 > 0:48:41But at the end of this procession, a child is crawling.
0:48:42 > 0:48:48And the man conjures the child to tell him what it is,
0:48:48 > 0:48:52and the child says you ought not to conjure me because I am your son
0:48:52 > 0:48:54who died unbaptised.
0:48:55 > 0:49:00And so, at this point, the man is able to, if not baptise the child,
0:49:00 > 0:49:03at least name the child.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05And this clearly is enough to transform its state,
0:49:05 > 0:49:11because, at this point, the child jumps up, rejoins the procession, but walking erect.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14How strictly did these stories follow Church teaching,
0:49:14 > 0:49:17or is there a sense of beliefs that go beyond that?
0:49:17 > 0:49:20The Byland stories are treading an interesting line.
0:49:20 > 0:49:24They are full of terror and fear,
0:49:24 > 0:49:29they are full of stories about terrible torment of some of the dead who have committed grievous sins.
0:49:29 > 0:49:33But balancing that, there is a softening of
0:49:33 > 0:49:35some of the edges of hard theology,
0:49:35 > 0:49:41allowing some of the dead that have committed sins, or died outside the faith in some sense,
0:49:41 > 0:49:44to have a second chance, almost,
0:49:44 > 0:49:47in death, to be readmitted to the other world
0:49:47 > 0:49:49and to make progress there.
0:50:00 > 0:50:03Stories like this showed how much souls
0:50:03 > 0:50:05could still be helped after death,
0:50:05 > 0:50:09but what the dead couldn't do was help themselves.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12Their fate now depended on the living they had left behind.
0:50:15 > 0:50:19But what if you had an uncaring family, or no family or friends;
0:50:19 > 0:50:24or if you were so poor that you left this life without the means to pay for the Masses and prayers
0:50:24 > 0:50:26that would help you in the next?
0:50:29 > 0:50:31Belief in purgatory was so universal
0:50:31 > 0:50:34that the Church had a special feast day to make sure
0:50:34 > 0:50:37that no one was left to face it totally alone.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44All Souls' Day fell on the 2nd of November,
0:50:44 > 0:50:47and it was a chance to do exactly what it said.
0:50:47 > 0:50:50To remember all the souls in purgatory,
0:50:50 > 0:50:55in God's prison, explained a 14th century priest named John Myrk,
0:50:55 > 0:50:58who have great need to be helped.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02The greatest help they could have would be the Masses said on All Souls' Day.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05But other customs developed too.
0:51:05 > 0:51:07In old time, Myrk explained,
0:51:07 > 0:51:09good men and women would this day buy bread
0:51:09 > 0:51:13and deal it, give it to the poor, hoping with each loaf
0:51:13 > 0:51:16to get a soul out of purgatory,
0:51:16 > 0:51:20and during the night before, church bells were rung in the darkness
0:51:20 > 0:51:22to comfort the souls in their suffering
0:51:22 > 0:51:25that they were not forgotten.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27BELL TOLLS
0:51:38 > 0:51:42We tend to assume that we have to choose between helping others
0:51:42 > 0:51:47and helping ourselves, between altruism and self-interest,
0:51:47 > 0:51:50but the huge strength of Medieval beliefs about the dead
0:51:50 > 0:51:53was that no one had to make that choice.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56The rich had money to spend for the good of their souls
0:51:56 > 0:52:00but their wealth in this life meant they had to work harder
0:52:00 > 0:52:02to reach heaven in the next,
0:52:02 > 0:52:06so they needed the prayers of the poor who were already, as Jesus had said,
0:52:06 > 0:52:08closer to God.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11So the rich could help the poor with money,
0:52:11 > 0:52:14and the poor could help the rich with prayers.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18And by doing these works of charity, everyone, rich and poor,
0:52:18 > 0:52:20would also be helping themselves.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38In theory, then, this was a system of death
0:52:38 > 0:52:40that seemed to work well for everyone.
0:52:41 > 0:52:45But it gradually became clear that it might also be open to abuse.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50By the end of the Middle Ages, the Church found itself accused of corruption,
0:52:50 > 0:52:54of feeding on the fear of its congregations to enrich itself.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58Money flowed into the Church's coffers
0:52:58 > 0:53:00as people paid not just for ever more
0:53:00 > 0:53:04complex combinations of Masses, but for "indulgences";
0:53:04 > 0:53:08pardons offered by the Church to shorten time spent in Purgatory
0:53:08 > 0:53:12by anything from 40 days to 40,000 years.
0:53:16 > 0:53:20Across Europe, reformers known as Protestants began to demand change.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24But in England, reformation came about in a different way.
0:53:29 > 0:53:31Like his subjects, King Henry VIII was a Catholic
0:53:31 > 0:53:35who believed in heaven, hell, and purgatory.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39He didn't set out to change the way his people thought about death;
0:53:39 > 0:53:42but, through two other rites of passage, a new marriage
0:53:42 > 0:53:46and the birth of a new heir, that's what he did.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51Henry wanted to divorce his queen, Katherine of Aragon,
0:53:51 > 0:53:53in order to marry Anne Boleyn.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57But when the Pope refused to grant Henry an annulment of his marriage,
0:53:57 > 0:54:00he rejected the Pope, and, with him, the Church of Rome.
0:54:03 > 0:54:07For those who saw the Church as corrupt, this was an opportunity.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14Protestant reformers wanted to sweep away
0:54:14 > 0:54:16far more than simply the Pope.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20One of their chief targets was the doctrine of purgatory.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23They wanted to know why purgatory seemed to be a way
0:54:23 > 0:54:26for the Church to collect money from the faithful.
0:54:26 > 0:54:32Money for Masses and indulgences, to buy a way out of a place that wasn't even mentioned in scripture.
0:54:32 > 0:54:37So, piece by piece, they set about dismantling the apparatus
0:54:37 > 0:54:40of what they now called a "vain imagination".
0:54:52 > 0:54:56The first crushing change to the physical apparatus of the Church
0:54:56 > 0:55:01came in 1536 with the dissolution of the monasteries,
0:55:01 > 0:55:03the great power-houses of prayer for the dead.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14In parish churches everywhere, including here in Paston,
0:55:14 > 0:55:18images of the Last Judgment, of the Three Living and the Three Dead,
0:55:18 > 0:55:21and of the comforting figure of St Christopher,
0:55:21 > 0:55:23disappeared under layers of whitewash.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31But, keen though Henry was to appropriate the vast wealth of the Church in England,
0:55:31 > 0:55:35he wasn't trying to uproot the most fundamental doctrines of the faith.
0:55:37 > 0:55:42So when Henry died in 1547, he died a Catholic,
0:55:42 > 0:55:44and, like so many of his subjects,
0:55:44 > 0:55:47he left money for Masses to help his soul in purgatory.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55But the reformation he'd set in motion
0:55:55 > 0:55:58couldn't so easily be stopped halfway,
0:55:58 > 0:56:00and under his son and heir, Edward VI,
0:56:00 > 0:56:02England became a Protestant country.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09And one of the first Acts passed by the boy king and his Council
0:56:09 > 0:56:11was the dissolution of the chantries.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15All those priests who'd been employed to say Masses for the dead
0:56:15 > 0:56:18until the end of time were now out of a job.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28Edward ruled for only six years,
0:56:28 > 0:56:33but in that time he did his best to change the faith of his kingdom.
0:56:33 > 0:56:38The enormity of that change couldn't have been clearer when, in 1553,
0:56:38 > 0:56:41Edward himself lay dying at Greenwich Palace
0:56:41 > 0:56:44on the river Thames, at the age of just 15.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52His grandfather, Henry VII,
0:56:52 > 0:56:56had been surrounded on his deathbed by a team of spiritual experts.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00Priests who would guide his soul, via the pains of purgatory,
0:57:00 > 0:57:02to heaven.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08Now, purgatory had gone, and chantries too.
0:57:09 > 0:57:14For protestant Edward, salvation came by faith alone;
0:57:14 > 0:57:16and that was how he chose to face his death.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24Edward wasn't physically alone. He was attended in his last hours
0:57:24 > 0:57:28by his doctors, and by his childhood friend, Henry Sidney.
0:57:28 > 0:57:33Sidney took the dying boy in his arms; but spiritually,
0:57:33 > 0:57:36Edward was moving beyond the help of the living.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40He made an exemplary protestant end.
0:57:40 > 0:57:44"I am faint," he said. "Lord have mercy upon me, and take my spirit.'
0:57:46 > 0:57:49Death in England would never be the same again.
0:57:55 > 0:57:57For the people of the Middle Ages,
0:57:57 > 0:58:01the rites of passage of birth, marriage and death
0:58:01 > 0:58:04were defined and shaped by the Catholic Church.
0:58:05 > 0:58:08Rituals which could be both a constraint and a comfort.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12Five centuries later, we face the same moments of
0:58:12 > 0:58:15transition in our lives.
0:58:15 > 0:58:18What we lack is the same certainty and structure,
0:58:18 > 0:58:22so we have to search for our own meanings to define them.
0:58:22 > 0:58:26And, as the people of the Middle Ages would have recognised,
0:58:26 > 0:58:28that is no easy task.
0:58:46 > 0:58:49Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd