Royal Maundy - Origins; Early and Medieval History

Origins; Early and Medieval History

The word Maundy derives from the command or mandatum by Christ at the Last Supper, to love one another. The Gospels relate that on the eve of his Crucifixion, Jesus Christ ate a meal with his disciples. After the meal, it is recorded that Jesus washed their feet, and gave them the following mandatum or command: "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done unto you." Mandatum is the derivation of the word "Maundy", and the Royal Maundy service evolved from Jesus' command to his disciples.

By the fourth or fifth century a ceremony had been developed following Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday, in which high Church leaders washed the feet of the poor. The ceremony, known as the pedilavium, was performed daily in some monasteries; in 992, Bishop Oswald of Worcester died during its performance.

The first English monarch to be recorded as giving gifts of small silver coins to the poor is John who in 1213 gave 13 pence to each of 13 poor men at a ceremony in Rochester—the number being symbolic of the Twelve Apostles together with either Jesus or an angel. John may also have given to the poor of Knaresborough, Yorkshire in 1210. Few details of the 13th century Maundy survive; they are known to have existed from records which show the spending necessary for the gifts to the poor. The monarch was not alone in performing the rituals of the Maundy service; Henry III's children assisted him as part of their political and religious training. Henry's son, Edward I, was the first monarch to keep the Maundy only on or about Maundy Thursday; before Edward, additional Maundys might be kept during the year. According to Virginia Cole in her study of royal children's role in the 13th century Maundy, the service had a political purpose as well, as the very act of needing to humble himself by doing the pedilavium proclaimed the monarch's greatness. Attendance at a Maundy service became an obligation for all major European ruling houses.

By 1363 the British monarch performed the pedilavium and also gave gifts, with both the number of pence given and the number of recipients equal to the monarch's age: that year, fifty-year-old Edward III gave fifty pence to each of fifty poor men. The ceremony was not always performed on Maundy Thursday; it could be postponed a day to Good Friday by royal command, as it was in 1510. Nobles could hold their own Maundy distributions, as did Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland in the early 16th century, according to a contemporary record: "My Lord useth and accustomyth yerly uppon the said Maundy Thursday when his Lordshipe is at home to gyf yerly as manny Pursses of Lether ... with as manny Penys in every purse to as many poore men as his Lordshipe is Yeres of Aige and one for the Yere of my Lords Aige to come."

Although Mary I and Elizabeth I differed religiously, both performed elaborate Maundy ceremonies. Records from 1556 show that Mary washed the feet of forty-one poor women (reflecting her age) while "ever on her knees", and gave them forty-one pence each, as well as gifts of bread, fish, and clothing, donating her own gown to the woman said to be poorest of all. In 1572 disliking the scenes as each woman tried to secure a piece of the royal gown, Queen Elizabeth granted a sum of £1 to each recipient in lieu of the gown, giving it in a red purse. Contemporary writer William Lambarde noted that the money was substituted for the gown "to avoid trouble of suite, which accustomabile was made for that perferment". In years in which plague was rife, the monarch did not attend, sending an official, usually the Lord High Almoner, to make the distributions and perform the pedilavium. Even though scented water was used to disguise any unpleasant odours from the poor, the feet were washed three times before the monarch performed the pedilavium, once by a menial and twice by Court officials. In later years, sweet-smelling nosegays were used to disguise odours—the nosegays are still carried today.