Excommunication & Punishment
>A note about 'Excommunication' - This should not be viewed as a punishment, rather a reaction to obduracy. It was a measure of censure and was usually applied for non-payment of tithes to the Church. Once an excommunicate paid his dues, the censure was lifted. In 1076 Pope Gregory VII excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV - one of the most powerful monarchs in Europe.
Being excommunicated meant that the offender was excluded from the communion of believers, the rites or sacraments1 of the Church, (such as the consecrated bread given at Mass) and the rights of church membership. If one died as an excommunicate, Hell and damnation for all eternity was a certainty. What was fifty years or so on this Earth, even living a harsh life, when an eternity of suffering was assured? Thus absolute obedience to the rules and practices of the Church was essential in order to stand any chance at all of eternal salvation. Is it any wonder that people lived every day in fear for their immortal souls?
To reinforce this belief there was often a huge painting on the church wall (known as a "Doom painting") to remind people about what happened after they died. The painting showed angels welcoming good people into Heaven whilst devils roasted wicked people over fires in Hell.
Here is an extract from a Sermon on Hell attributed to Bede c. 730 :~
"He beheld trees all on fire, and sinners tormented on those trees; and some were hung by their feet, some by their hands, some by their hair, some by the neck, some by the tongue, and some by the arm. And again, he saw a furnace of fire burning with seven flames, and many were punished in it; and there were seven plagues round about the furnace: the first, snow; the second, ice; the third, fire; the fourth, blood; the fifth, serpents; the sixth, lightning; the seventh? stench; and in that furnace itself were the souls of the sinners who repented not in this life. There they are tormented, and everyone receiveth according to his works: some weep, some howl, some groan; some burn and desire to have rest, but find it not, because souls can never die. Truly we ought to fear that place in which is everlasting dolour, in which is groaning, in which is sadness without joy? in which are abundance of tears on account of the tortures of souls; in which a fiery wheel is turned a thousand times every day by an evil angel, and at each turn a thousand souls are burnt upon it. "
The clergy were, after all, the only learned and educated people around so their influence over the common man was enormous. Education was usually only open to the sons of the wealthy so knowledge was at a premium. With no incentive to question these beliefs people followed the teachings of the Church blindly. People believed in the Church implicitly; in what it preached and in what it stood for. Ordinary people did not argue with the Church.
Read to St. Brendan's (6th. Cent. Irish saint) vision of Hell (unknown Irish author 12th.Cent. ~ from A Celtic Miscellany):
"~~~~~~~~~~~encampments of venomous demons, full of the weeping and shrieking and injury and pitiful cries and great wailings and lamentation and beating together of hands, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ in the eternally dark, eternally cold, eternally stinking, eternally foul, eternally gloomy, eternally rough? eternally long, eternally melancholy, deadly, baneful severe, fiery~haired dwelling place of the most hideous depths of Hell, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~troops of demons are dragging them into pitiful, grievous, rigid, fiery, dark, deep, hidden, empty, base, black, idle, filthy, antiquated, old and stinking, everlastingly quarrelsome,-~-~-~-- full of wailing, screaming, complaining, and bitter crying; horrible. There are curly, cruel, bold, big~headed maggots; and yellow, white, great-jawed monsters; fierce ravening lions; red, black, brown, devilish dragons; mighty treacherous tigers; inky bristly scorpions; red high~soaring hawks; rough sharp~beaked griffins; black hump-backed beetles;sharp snouted flies; bent bony-beaked wasps; heavy iron mallets; ancient old rough flails; sharp swords; red spears; black demons; stinking fires; streams of poison; cats scratching; dogs rending; hounds hunting; demons calling; fetid lakes; great sloughs; dark pits; deep gullies; high mountains; hard crags; a mustering of demons; a filthy camp; torture without cease; a ravenous swarm; frequent conflict; endless fighting; demons torturing; torment in abundance; a sorrowful life. "
(I think we all get the picture!)
Even the most powerful of nobles lived in fear for his immortal soul, as witnessed within the Canons enacted in the reign of King Edgar (956 -975)
"Thus may a powerful man, and rich in friends, with the support of his friends, greatly lighten his penance---- Let him then lay aside his weapons, and vain ornaments, and take a staff in his hand; and go barefoot zealously, and put on his body woollen or haircloth" and not come into a bed, but lie on a pallet, and so do, that in three days the series of 7 years be dispensed with thus: let him proceed with aid; and first let him take 12 men, and let them fast 3 days on bread, and on green herbs, and on water; and get, in addition thereto, in whatever manner he can, seven times 120 men, who shall also fast for him 3 days; then will be fasted as many fasts as there are days in 7 years."
However, despite the horrors of hell fire and the very real fear with which people lived, actual punishments for religious wrongdoings tended to be penances of fasting etc., as outlined above. Sometimes these penances could be quite savage - several years on bread and water in some instances! Witchcraft for instance carried a penance of five years.
The following are taken from Ancient Laws and Institutes of England c. 690
9. "1f anyone destroy a person by black magic he is to do penance for 7 years, 3 of these on bread and water."
20. "1f anyone is an astrologer (mathematicus), that is one who changes the mind of a man by the invocation of devils, he is to do 5 years penance, 1 on bread and water."
23. "Anyone who makes a habit of auguries and divinations is to do penance 5 years."
26. "Those who fast in honour of the moon to bring about healing are to do penance 1 year."
1 - Sacrament - '..the visible form of an invisible grace' - St. Augustine of Hippo (354 - 430A.D.)