> And many of these folk tales would have been garbled or assimilated
versions
> of stories of saints ...
>
> And do not forget that a "poor parson" on his pastoral rounds would be
> sitting by sick beds / death beds or sharing a mug of ale in the toft and
> telling stories. This would have been seen as entertainment as much as moral
> exhortation, especially if he had the talent of a good raconteur. (How many
> modern clergy are actors manqué ???) And these stories would have been
> remembered and passed on by lay-folk. The intelligent illiterate usually
> have an excellent and accurate memory for aural input.
The role of minstrels, lay or ex-clergy, in passing on saints lives is
also something to bear in mind. It's after hearing a minstrel tell a
gathered crowd the tale of St. Alexis that Peter Waldes begins to reflect
on his own religious life. Waldes then invites the minstrel to his house
to continue the story.
I've never explored this is detail, but there must have been some
minstrels who were renegade clergy of one sort or another--literate and
able to make a living through storytelling (like the main character in
Barry Unsworth's _Morality Play_). When minstrels told stories like this,
they were in effect lay-preaching.
John
____________________________________________________________________________
John Shinners e-mail:[log in to unmask]
Professor Phone: (office): (219) 284-4494
Humanistic Studies Program Phone (dept.): (219) 284-4501
Saint Mary's College Fax: (219) 284-4716
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
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