A history of tithes

by Henry William Clarke

From the beginning of the 13th century, tithes became payable to the parsons of the parishes by common right. But monasteries and chapters had to show their title to them either by grants or by prescriptions. We may thus trace tithes in England from their origin, (1) as free-will offerings; (2) compulsory payment to some religious body, and (3) compulsory payment only to the incumbents of parishes. It is an error to state that all the tithes of England were paid freely. I have stated enough to show that it was not so.

Tithes appropriated to monasteries were of two kinds—(1) Monastical, (2) Parochial. With reference to (1), the monastic bodies performed no spiritual functions for the tithes which the benefactors had granted them out of demesnes which had no churches annexed. For these tithes they had distributed alms to the sick, the poor, and stranger who called at their gates; and said masses perpetually in their own churches for the souls of their founders and benefactors, and those of their heirs and relatives.

As regards the second case, they received churches, with the tithes and glebe lands annexed thereto, as a free gift from the owners, and had therefore the cure of souls. They purchased the advowsons of other churches, and even built churches themselves, of which as owners they possessed the advowsons. At first if the churches were near the monasteries, they sent members of their community, who were in holy orders, to perform the religious duties. But when the churches were situated at a considerable distance, and became numerous, the monastic bodies employed curates or vicars to perform the religious duties. These at first received no part of the tithes as their salaries, but only a small sum of money, just what the monks liked to give, and the miserable sum they allowed varied from year to year as it suited the caprices of the monks, who received all the tithes, offerings, and oblations. In the king’s licence, permitting the appropriation, there was the usual condition which the monks ignored, “that an adequate portion be allowed the vicar out of the profits of the church.” The wretched salaries of the curates or vicars produced great scandal and complaints. As the curate or vicar was liable to be dismissed at any moment by the appropriator, he was not likely to insist too rigidly on the sufficiency of his stipend, and so the miserable salary was continued after the passing of Richard II.’s Act. The bishops were much to blame in this matter. Some of them had been monks themselves from their youth; others were anxious to be buried among the monks, or their anniversaries kept by them. These considerations induced some, but not all of the bishops, to favour the appropriation of churches to monasteries. Again, the rich monasteries were able to bribe the bishops, and even the papal curia, and they did so; they allowed the bishops pensions out of the tithes, and even appropriated some of their churches, i.e. the rectorial tithes of their churches, to the bishop’s table, on condition that he, as bishop, allowed them to receive churches with all their endowments from the lay owners.[260]

The preaching friars and John Wickliffe opened the people’s eyes as to the monastic luxuries, and the poverty of the vicars whom they employed to do their work. The age of building monasteries and granting extravagant endowments had passed, never again to be revived, but there was a growing tendency to sweep all the monasteries away. The scandalous manner in which the monastic bodies had paid the vicars induced Parliament to pass the following Act in 1392.[261]

“In Appropriation of Benefices there shall be Provision Made for the Poor and the Vicar.”

“In every licence from henceforth to be made in the chancery of the appropriation of any parish church, it shall be expressly contained and comprised that the diocesan of the place, upon the appropriation of such churches, shall ordain, according to the value of such churches, a convenient sum of money to be paid and distributed yearly of the fruits and profits of the same churches, by those that shall have the said churches in proper use, and by their successors, to the poor parishioners of the said churches in aid of their living and sustenance for ever; and also that the vicar shall be well and sufficiently endowed.”

Lord Selborne remarks on this statute: “This law had nothing to do with tithes in particular, or with fruits and profits of any churches not appropriated to monasteries. If there had been then (i.e. in 1391) a law for a partition of tithes, as against all rectors, giving the poor one-third, or any other definite share, no such legislation could have been necessary; nothing would have been wanting, except simply to enforce that existing law.”[262]

These remarks are open to grave objections. The law refers to a provision being made for the vicar as well as for the poor. When a church was appropriated to a monastery, it simply meant that the monastic corporation appropriated all the endowments, lands and tithes of that church together with all oblations. The monastic corporation placed a deputy, called a vicar, in the parish to perform the ecclesiastical duties, and allowed him such a wretchedly poor stipend, insufficient to keep soul and body together. As for the poor of the parish, it is too much to expect, as Lord Selborne remarks above, that the poor of 1391, or 500 years ago, had their legal remedy against the powerful and rich monastic corporation in order to enforce their common law and legal rights to one-third of the tithes. Why, in this enlightened and advanced age, as compared with 1391, the poor are coerced and defrauded of their rights by the wealthy, who know that they have not the means “to enforce their rights” in the superior courts—a luxury which can only be enjoyed by those who have a good banking account.

Lord Selborne says the law had nothing to do with tithes in particular, and yet the provision for the vicar, namely the small tithes, formed his main endowments. This law, no doubt, referred to all the endowments of the vicar. The statute did not move the monastic bodies, who had still the power of removing at pleasure the vicar of the parish, until the Act 4 Henry IV. c. xii. (1402) was passed. “That from henceforth in every church appropriated, or to be appropriated, a secular person be ordained perpetual vicar, canonically instituted and inducted to the same, and convenably endowed by the discretion of the Ordinary, to do divine service, to inform the people and to keep hospitality there.” What is meant by keeping hospitality? To provide for the poor out of the endowments. Here is a list of the small tithes:—