i think Frank is absolutely right here, and it raises some interesting
questions about the earliest efforts of xnty to convert the tribes of
europe. it seems to me that much of the working man's religion is centered
around fertility -- of his wife (wives), livestock, and fields. and in
this sense, as far as i can make out, the xnty that came north had very
little to offer, which may, among other things, account for why it was not
particularly successful among the populace for an extended period (i wd
argue until the 11th cn). [obvious exception here for relics which address
the "other" great issue -- health.]
richard
At 07:13 PM 9/22/99 -0400, you wrote:
>
>One facet of farming that has changed only slightly since the middle ages
>is the profound dependence of the farmer's and his family's welfare on the
>weather. Then as now, drought, flood, and hail could spell disaster in
>terms we find difficult to understand.
>
>As a pastor, I stood next to a farmer looking out over a field of mush
>that had been, only minutes earlier, a crop worth thousands of dollars.
>That was before the hail storm. He was shaking and wringing his cap into
>an unrecognizable rag. And he had something which I have never heard
>medieval farmers having -- crop insurance.
>
>As farmers make up an ever decreasing percentage of the population, it
>will become ever more difficult for the rest of us to understand how a
>mere five minutes of very bad weather could ruin the livelihood of an
>entire family. And we shall also increasingly lose touch with the strong
>link there is between the uncertainty that has always been the farmer's
>lot and the religious faith with which very many farmers have met that
>uncertainty.
>
>Thus, perhaps our difficulty in dealing with the religious beliefs and
>practices of medieval farmers stems not only from our lack of knowledge of
>medieval parish life but also from our lack of knowledge of medieval farm
>life.
>
>
>A (sometime) farm boy,
>
>Frank
>
>
>
>
>Frank Morgret
>15 Towering Hts -- #1206
>St Catharines, Ontario
>CANADA
>L2T 3G7
>
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>
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