At this Christmas time, when people think of giving gifts to their family and friends, it is possible to take a look at a form of monastic giving that happened throughout the year but which could be different from almsgiving. Nowadays, when someone grumbles that he or she is paid a pittance they usually mean that they are not paid enough money for the job that they do. In the middle ages, the word pittances meant something very different. The monk official most often in charge of distributing these was the pittancer. Some of the late medieval account rolls of this officer survive, allowing a brief glimpse in this aspect of monastic life.
Pittancer’s account roll WCM C340 for the year 1477-78. Image copyright the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral (UK)
Pittances in the monastic accounts were most commonly payments either in cash or kind by monks who held posts within the monastery to their fellow monks. They were given to celebrate religious occasions, anniversaries or when commemorating someone or something. Pittances in kind, as has been noted by Barbara Harvey, was a term used when referring to the extra types of dishes eaten by the monks in addition to the general dishes of food eaten at certain dinner times[i].
Pittancer’s account roll WCM C338 for the year 1472-73. Image copyright the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral (UK)
In 1472-73, the pittancer had a budget of £50 6s 11d. He spent this on maintaining a stock of houses in the city that he could rent out for money. However, the majority of his expenditure was for the pittances he distributed. The most well-known of these was on the occasion of the singing of the Advent antiphon ‘O Virgo Virginum’. For this occasion, he dispersed 8s to the prior, 4s to the subprior, precentor and the pittancer himself and 3s to the remaining thirty-seven monks. Sometimes he also purchased fish for the convent[ii]. A similar customary payment he made to the monks was at the feast of St. John the Baptist, for the purchase of wool. He gave the prior a further 4s, 2s 6d to the subprior and precentor, and 2s to each of the other monks[iii].
Excerpt from the Pittancer’s account roll WCM C341 of 1479, showing customary payments called ‘portions’. Image copyright the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral (UK)
The payments the pittancer made to the monks didn’t end there. They also received what was termed ‘portions’ to celebrate the time of the Annunciation and Michaelmas, as brother William Hynkeley did in 1480-81[iv]. For these portions, the prior was given another 30s, the subprior and precentor 13s 6d and the remaining thirty-seven monks gained 12s each. Portions were customary payments that he paid at Michaelmas and Lady Day on the occasion of the monks’ blood-lettings[v]. The pittancer also paid for spices for the priory’s dinner table at the feast of All Saints and at Christmas, as well as geese at Christmas[vi].
Excerpt from the Pittancer’s account roll WCM C346, showing spices and geese at Christmas. Image copyright the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral (UK)
In addition to specific gifts given by custom, the pittancer had the ability to make payments using his own initiative. He gave a gift to the prior at Christmas and Easter, payments to the household of the prior for their breakfast at Advent, and money to the city’s mace bearers for their gifts at Christmas[vii]. James M. Wilson and Cosmo Gordon noted that when a new monk celebrated his first mass, the pittancer would give a pittance to the monks as a celebration[viii].
Excerpt from the Pittancer’s account roll WCM C346, showing gifts to the Prior and macebearers at Christmas. Image copyright the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral (UK)
So next time you think of giving a gift to someone to celebrate an anniversary or special occasion or on the occasion of a religious festival, remember the monks and their pittances.
David Morrison
Bibliography:
Joan Greatrex, The English Benedictine Cathedral Priories Rule and Practice, c.1270-c.1420, Oxford University Press 2012.
Barbara Harvey, Living and Dying in England 1100-1540. The Monastic Experience, Clarendon, Oxford 1996.
James M. Wilson and Cosmo Gordon (eds.), Early Compotus Rolls of the Priory of Worcester, Worcestershire Historical Society vol.19, Oxford 1908.
Worcester Cathedral Muniments.
[i] Barbara Harvey, Living and Dying in England 1100-1540. The Monastic Experience, Clarendon, Oxford 1996, pp. 10-11.
[ii] WCM C292
[iii] WCM C338
[iv] WCM C342
[v] S. G. Hamilton (ed.), Compotus Rolls of the Priory of Worcester of the 14th and 15th Centuries, Worcestershire Historical Society vol. 21, Oxford 1910, p.xv
[vi] WCM C346
[vii] E.g. WCM C.340, 342, 345
[viii] James M. Wilson and Cosmo Gordon (eds.), Early Compotus Rolls of the Priory of Worcester, Worcestershire Historical Society vol.19, Oxford 1908, p.xxxvi; WCM C344.
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