The Decline in the Use of Latin for Will- and Testament-making in Early Sixteenth-century Bedfordshire

Abstract

In recent years historians have placed increasing emphasis on the importance of understanding the contexts in which the 'reforms, reactions and reversals' of the reformation process were enacted} A stimulus to (and sometimes a product of) the development of the contextual approach to Reformation history has been a growing awareness of the significance of the beliefs and attitudes of ordinary members of sixteenth-century society. Scholars have become preoccupied with the question of whether the 'English Reformation' was the result of authoritative action from above or whether it was brought about by popular demand from below. In order to illuminate further this central question of Reformation dynamics it may be valuable to examine some of the linguistic contexts of Tyndale's great work of translating the Bible into English. Was the vulgar tongue accepted in non-scriptural ecclesiastical documents? Or did the preReformation Church attempt to maintain its authority and separateness by insistence on the universal application of Latin for Church activities? If so, how successful was the Church in that attempt and what pressures were there from the populace for change? One early-sixteenth-century ecclesiastical document which survives in sufficient numbers to be of value to the historian and which may provide some answer to these questions is the canonical will. The formularized character of late medieval wills has made their utility for historians limited and problematical, particularly where the evaluation of patterns of individual belief is concerned. However, the formal style of wills and testaments, reflecting as it does the complex mixture of canon law, common law and the principles of equity which characterized the medieval law of succession, does provide valuable evidence for the study of the tensions and changing relations between Church and laity. This paper will examine the evidence provided by the eight hundred wills and testaments recorded in the first three surviving probate registers of the court of the Archdeacon of Bedford. Willand testament-making developed from the teaching of the early Christian Church that a dying man should make atonement for his sins by devoting a portion of his worldly goods to the relief of the poor and other pious purposes.s Thus, the 'will' or 'testament' began as a form of charity which provided a motive for the right of bequest and which was closely associated with the last confession. So close was this association that an individual who died intestate was suspected of dying without the ministrations of the Church. During the medieval period the Church developed laws and institutions, administered by the Church courts, that supervised and saw to the enforcement of testamentary bequests and thus the Church became involved in the law of succession. The jurisdiction