The Penitential Psalms as a focus point for lay piety in late medieval England

Abstract

During the late Middle Ages in England, the practice of religion was paramount in the lives of many of the laity. The Church taught that mankind was totally sinful and that penitence was essential. Salvation was obtained by calling on Christ and throwing oneself on His mercy. Recitation of the Penitential Psalms, which encapsulated the late medieval attitude towards penitence and piety, was one way to achieve this. Available at first in Latin (the language of the medieval Church), from about 1250 these Psalms started to appear in translations into Middle English, the vernacular of the people. These Psalms were part of Psalters, then later appeared as a discrete liturgical group in Books of Hours (also known as Primers); the people had knowledge of them at first in Latin, but then in their own everyday language. The Office of the Dead, containing three of these Psalms, was also part of the Book of Hours, and this formed an essential part of the acts of dying and burial, while there were frequent requests in wills for some or all of the Penitential Psalms to be said as part of a person’s obsequies. Commentaries, one written in the vernacular by Richard Rolle and one translated from French by Dame Eleanor Hull, focussed the attention of readers on Christ. The tone of these commentaries contained the penitential and affective spirit of the teachings of the Church, so would have enabled many to incorporate the Penitential Psalms into their daily devotions. In these Psalms, the voice of Christ Himself was evident, so that He spoke directly to any who heard or read them here. The final group of texts to be discussed here were written in verse as meditations on the Penitential Psalms. These meditations employed graphic descriptions of Christ’s sufferings for mankind, and encapsulated the Christian message within a framework of penitence. Access to these Penitential Psalms was both auditory and visual. People heard them as part of many church services, and read them in the Psalter and later in Books of Hours and Primers. When meditations on these Psalms became available in the vernacular, members of the laity could use them as a preparation before their annual confession or incorporate them into their daily devotional lives. The Penitential Psalms, because there were many points of access, gradually became embedded in late medieval affective piety.