ker, and record keeper. People knew where they were in the calendar year from the announcement of holidays. The border of their parish was established by the annual tradition of beating the bounds. A record of a parishs members, both alive and dead, was kept in the Bede Roll. Local churches also served as poor relief and even served as a marker of social standing, with more prominent individuals having pews closer to the front of the church. These are a just a few examples of how the Church played a central role and had a political importance on a more local level. Because of this importance, the role of a local pastor was especially important. Many Church officials were also wealthy landowners, especially bishops, who sat in Parliament and were among the Kings counselors (The Oxford History of Britain, p. 241). In practice, it made no difference if a local priest was good or bad, they still worked on authority of the Church. In reality, however, many priests failed in this position of power. This is demonstrated by various instances in which a local community would riot against their pastor or steal a priests chalice until a compromise on a certain issue was worked out. This failure by religious officials to live up to their not only high moral, but also political position is mentioned in Langsfords Piers the Ploughman:Many chaplains are chaste, but lack charity. There are no men more greedy, once they get preferment... they swallow up everything they are given, and cry out for more... And there are parish priests galore who keep their bodies pure, yet are so burdened with avarice that they cannot wrench it off. (Langland, p. 37)This kind of comment shows that corrupt behavior within the Church was an issue in medieval Britain. The Church faced some of the greatest criticism during a tumultuous 14th century. When the Black Death reached Britain in 1348, the Church had to suddenly explain why its own people were dying,...
