medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Function of a medieval bell per a (translated) Latin poem:
"Behold my uses are not small,
That, God to prayse, Assemblyes call:
That breake the Thunder, wayle the Dead,
And cleanse the Ayre of Tempests bred;
With feare keepe off the Fiends of Hell,
And all by vertue of my Knell."
For more details see www.metmuseum.org/pubs/bulletins/1/pdf/3258293.pdf.bannered.pdf
I rang bells in our parish church (and have also rung at St Mary Redcliffe!) and certainly it was common to ring at 'secular' events, eg. anniversaries, village events etc. They would have been used as alarm signals and to call the faithful to prayer in the middle ages, even if they weren't doing method ringing.
Ali
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