Patron Saints

All craft guilds, all chambers of rhetoric, all religious fraternities were dedicated to patron saints; it would be therefore surprising if shooting guilds were not.

Choice is once again an important factor here. As Marc Boone has shown for craft guilds, dedication was always an important decision, a demonstration of devotion, even when the choice was a standard one.³²⁸

Given the importance of choice, it seems surprising how little variety was present among the patron saints of shooting guilds. From the fourteenth century onwards, almost all Flemish archery guilds were dedicated to Saint Sebastian, and almost all crossbow guilds to Saint George. Saint Sebastian, according to tradition, was a

328 M. Boone, ‘Reseaux urbaines,’ W. Prevenier, (ed.), Le Prince et le peuple: images de la société du temps des Ducs de Bourgogne, 1384-1530 (Anvers, 1998), 233-247.

Roman soldier martyred by his own archers, so a fitting choice for archers.³²⁹ Saint George had no clear connection to crossbowmen, but was an important military saint, popular across Europe.³³⁰ Both saints were, or became over the course of the fourteenth century, martial protectors of great status, and so fitting choices for guilds seeking honour. It is noteworthy that George and Sebastian are usually called ‘knights’ in guild sources.³³¹

Flemish militia men may have made similar choices while serving together in the later thirteenth and early fourteenth century. It is interesting to look at the choices made in Hainault, Brabant and France regarding patron saints. In each area different choices were made. In Brabant and Hainault many crossbow guilds were devoted to the Virgin Mary, most famously Notre Dame de la Sablon of Brussels.

The Brussels crossbowmen played a major role in the annual procession and escorted the miraculous statue of the Virgin ‘saved’ from Antwerp in the twelfth century.³³² In the Hainault town of Enghiens the crossbowmen were dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, while the archers were dedicated to the Virgin.³³³ In both

329 J. Colgan, Acta Sanctorum- Janurii tomus secundus (Paris), 621-660; H. Pleij, Sebastian, martelaar of mythe (Zwolle, 1993); H Micha, ‘Une rédaction en vers de la vie de Saint Sébastien,’

Romania 92 (1971), 405-419.

330 G. Henschenio et D. Papebrichio (ed.), Acta Sanctorum – April toum tertuis (Paris, 1866), 621-660; S. Riches, St George, Hero, Martyr and Myth (Stroud, 2000) 1-35, 68-100; D. A. L. Morgan,

‘The cult of St George c. 1500: national and international connotations,’ PCEEB 35 (1995), 151-162.

331 For example the crossbowmen of Courtrai were dedicated to the ‘holy martyr and knight Saint George’, RAK, 5800. Sint Jorisgilde. 1 stuk. Both George and Sebastian are depicted among the knights of Christ in Jan van Eyck’s Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, for this see, L. B. Philip, The Ghent Altarpiece and the Art of Jan van Eyck (Princeton, 1971). For general ‘knighthood’ of saints see J. Folda, ‘Mounted Warrior Saints in Crusader Icons: Images of the Knighthoods of Christ,’ Knighthoods of Christ: Essays on the History of the Crusades and the Knights Templar, Presented to Malcolm Barber. Ed. N. Housley (Aldershot, 2007), 87-107.

332 According to tradition, in 1348 Beatrix Soetkens had a vision telling her to take the miraculous statue from Antwerp to Brussels, where it was placed in the church on the sands (Sablon) under the care of the crossbowmen who would take her name. For the procession see Brown and Small, Court and Civic Society, 242-3 for the role of the crossbowmen see Petit-Jean, Historique de l’ancien Grand Serment, 20-27, for this continuing tradition, see L. Bernaerts, Chronologie du Grand serment royal e de Saint Georges des arbalétriers de Bruxelles (Bruxelles, 2007), 20-33.

333 E. Matthieu Histoire de la ville d’Enghien vol. 2 (Mons, 1878), 740-786; idem., ‘Sceaux des serments ou guildes de la ville d’Enghien’, 768- 774.

Mons and Valenciennes the crossbow guilds were dedicated to the Virgin Mary.³³⁴ The crossbowmen of Nivelles demonstrated their dedication to the Virgin through a statue, destroyed with the chapel, and much of the town centre, on 14^th May 1940. The statue was described by a local historian in 1901 as the Virgin holding in one arm the infant Christ, and in the other a crossbow.³³⁵ Many surviving seals from Brabant feature the Virgin and a crossbow next to her, showing the strength of devotion.

Many French guilds, such as the crossbowmen and archers of Rouen,³³⁶ did choose George and Sebastian as their respective patrons. Other guilds chose saints with different significances. The crossbowmen of Paris were dedicated to Saint Denis, French royal saint.³³⁷ The crossbowmen of Besançon were dedicated to Saint Peter, just as the cathedral was.³³⁸ Perhaps the Flemish guilds, in larger towns with more military activities wanted knightly protectors, but the almost uniform choice of George and Sebastian in Flanders does seem remarkable.

Fourteenth-century Flemish guilds usually focused on George and Sebastian;

famous, male, military saints. Where another choice was made the saint still had these attributes. The crossbowmen of Douai were dedicated to Saint Martin,³³⁹ like Sebastian a Roman soldier, later bishop of Tours; a martial saint.³⁴⁰ As devotional activities increased in the fifteenth century, Flemish guilds made a

334 Devilliers, ‘Notice Historique sur les milices communales’, 169-285; Stein, Archers d’autrefoi, 237-8.

335 G. Willame, Notes sur les serments Nivellois (Nivelles, 1901), 8-12.

336ORF vol. 6, 538-541.

337 ORF vol. 9, 522-6.

338 M. Prinet, J. Berland et G. Gazier, Inventaire sommaire, ville de Besançon, premier 1290-1576, série BB (Besançon, 1912), 74.

339 DAM, 24 II 232, Arbalestiers de Douay f. 1.

340 J. Fountain, Suplice Severe, vie de Saint Martin, vol. 1, Introduction, texts et traduction (Paris, 1967).

greater variety of devotional choices. The crossbowmen of Croix, a small town near Lille, chose Saint Nicholas as their patron,³⁴¹ while the archers of Cambrai were dedicated to Saint Christopher.³⁴²

Choices could, from the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries include female saints. Choosing female saints may have reflected a growing role for women, and a move away from military service towards peace. At least one Flemish guild, the crossbowmen of Pecquencourt, was dedicated to Mary Magdalene.³⁴³ Many established guilds began to diversify, bringing in female saints. The greater crossbowmen of Ghent had an altar to Saint Margaret, it had been founded by Charles the Bold and Margaret of York in 1474, but still attracting donations in the early sixteenth century.³⁴⁴ The Ghent archers included Saint Christine with Saint Sebastian in their chapel from at least 1511.³⁴⁵

The reasons for diversification are rarely ever given; rather a new chapel or new dedication is simply recorded. In one town this change is clearly explained. The archers of the small town of Armentières were, at the end of the fourteenth century, dedicated to Saint Sebastian. However in 1513 they received a ‘portion of divinity and reliquary of the eleven thousand Virgins and Saint Ursula’.³⁴⁶ Upon receiving the relic, the archers of Armentières rededicated themselves to Saint Ursula, though later documents refer to the archers of Saint Sebastian and

341 AML, RM, 16973, f. 15 r.-v.

342 E. Gautier et A. Lesort, Inventaire sommaire, ville de Cambrai (Cambrai, 1907) ,122-3.

343 ADN, 1H369.

344 SAG, SJ, NGR, 25.

345 RAG, Archief van Sint Baafs en bisdom Gent tot 1801 (inv no 020/O), 3820.

346 The relic was a gift from a nobleman, Thierry de Val. To date it has not been possible positively identify this figure, nor establish if he had any previous connection to the guild.

Saint Ursula.³⁴⁷ Such diversification shows a great deal of thought within the guilds about their heavenly protectors; their devotion was chosen and changeable.

Archers and crossbowmen were, by the early sixteenth century, not the only shooting guilds in Flanders. A striking diversity among patron saints was

apparent among the emerging gunners’ guilds. Those of Ghent were dedicated to Saint Anthony,³⁴⁸ those of Lille to Saint Barbara³⁴⁹ and those of Oudenaarde to Saint Roche.³⁵⁰ Though guns had no obvious model, such as Saint Sebastian, diversity among is significant. Where no clear model existed, the Flemish shooting guilds could be innovative in choosing saints linked to their vision of spirituality. All shooting-guilds, all crafts groups and all fraternities chose a patron saint, and their choice said a great deal about how the groups saw themselves and their spirituality. In choosing Saint George or Saint Sebastian, Flemish guilds chose regional community, a theme we shall return to in chapter six, and linked their guilds to existing martial religious culture.

3.4 Processions.

Urban processions brought the entire community together in devotional celebration, often in demonstration of peace. Though status and position of participants was important within processions, such events demonstrate a shared

347 AAM, EE4.

348BMG Sint Antonius gilde, register der doodschulden, inven.1091. Though no modern survey of this guild exists, the following remain useful; Burgraere, Notice historique sur les chefs

confréries; V. Vanderhaeghen, Jaerboeken van het souvereine gilde der kolveriniers, busschieters en kannoniers gezegd hoofdgilde van st Antone te Gent (Gent, 1867).

349 Espinas, Les origines, 490-494.

350 No foundation charter issued has survived, but the town accounts begin to give them wine in 1513; AGR 31809, microfilm 1560, Accounts, 1513-14, f. 56.

spirituality. The participation of archery and crossbow guild should be seen in this context, and as a sign that they were part of civic ideology. ³⁵¹

In every town for which records survive, the shooting guilds played an important, often central, role in civic processions. Arguably Flanders’s most famous

procession was the Holy Blood procession of Bruges. The focus of the event was a vial of Christ’s blood, brought back from the Holy Land by Thierry d’Alsace, Count of Flanders.³⁵² The route of the procession, around the town walls made a clear statement of civic pride. The relic itself was a huge part of Bruges’s civic identity while emphasising links to the counts and by extension the Dukes of Burgundy. All craft guilds, and all religious confraternities took part in the procession, each with a set place. The procession forced members to choose one identity, they could not march as crossbowmen and weavers and brothers of Our Lady of the Snow. The high numbers of liveries purchased by the shooting guilds or by the members for the procession, as well as regulations requiring guild-brother all to attend, suggest that the vast majority chose to march as shooters, not craftsmen.

In Bruges the social standing of the shooters was made clear in the procession.

The crossbowmen marched next to the relic, guarding it, while the archers were just in front of it.³⁵³ By marching next to the relic the crossbowmen demonstrated

351 Ouvry, ‘Officieel ceremonieel te Oudenaarde,’ 25-64; Brown, ‘Civic ritual: Bruges and the Count of Flanders in the Later Middle Ages,’ 277-299; Brown and Small, Court and Civic Society, 239-252; E. Lecuppre-Desjardin, La ville des ceremonise; essai su la communication politique dans les anciens Pays-Bas Bourguignons (Turnhout, 2004), 165-197; for procession more generally see M. James, ‘Drama and the Social Body in the Late Medieval English Town,’

PP 98 (1983), 3-29; C. Zika, ‘Processions and Pilgrimages; Controlling the Sacred in Fifteenth-Century Germany,’ PP 118 (1998), 25-64; Black, Italian Confraternities, 108-116.

352 Brown, ‘Civic ritual: Bruges and the counts of Flanders’, 277-99; idem., ‘Ritual and State Building; Ceremonies in Late Medieval Bruges’ in J. Van Leewen, (ed.), Symbolic

Communication in Late Medieval Towns (Leuven, 2006), 1-24.

353 Brown and Small, Court and Civic Society, 213; Lemahieu, De Koninklijke hoofdgilde sint-sebastiaan Brugge, 31-34.

their high social position; theirs was one of the most prestigious parts of the entire event, demonstrating status as well as devotion to the relic. It is also possible they were there for practical purposes, to protect Bruges’s most precious treasure. The guilds’ presence here went deeper than a demonstration of prestige; civic

regulations ordered them to attend, and they were rewarded with money or wine for attendance.³⁵⁴

In Lille the procession of Notre Dame de la Treille, going back to the thirteenth century, was a great civic event.³⁵⁵ As in Bruges, the crossbowmen were at the centre, near the sacred object, here a statue of the Virgin, although by the mid sixteenth century the military confraternities were further forward in the procession.³⁵⁶ Attendance was not just desirable for the guild members, from at least 1443 all guild-brothers were required to attend the procession and

accompany their ‘king’, in full livery and hood, any guild-brother who failed to do so should have paid a 10 shilling fine.³⁵⁷

As in Bruges, the Lille town governors paid guild-brothers to attend. From 1415 the crossbow guild were collectively given £ 4 by the town for taking part in the procession, and the archers received 40 shillings. From 1432 the lesser

crossbowmen received 40 shillings, and by 1439 the smaller archers were also required to attend, also in return for 40 shillings. The Lille guilds also took part in general processions, marching with the clergy of Saint Peter’s for the procession called in 1469 ‘for praising God our creator and for the peace’ made between

354 SAB, 385, Sint Jorisgilde, register met ledenlijst enz. 1321-1531 f. 54, given every year to both guilds, for example in the crossbowmen’s accounts of 1447, BAS, 385 Sint Joris gilde,

Rekeningen 1445- 1480, f. 14 v., and to the archers in 1455, ASSG, Volume 3 t. 1, 1454 – 1456, f.

31 v.

355 Knight,’ Processional Theatre in Lille in the Fifteenth Century’, 99-109 ;Brown and Small, Court and Civic Society, 251-2; The charter of Margaret, Countess of Flanders, established the procession in 1269, ADN, 16 G 86, 895.

356 Knight, ‘Processional Theatre in Lille in the Fifteenth Century’, 99-109.

357 AML, PT, 5883 f. 28-31.

Louis XI of France and Charles the Bold.³⁵⁸ The Guilds had served in Charles’

wars, but they were a key part of the ways Lille chose to celebrate peace. No other civic group in Lille was paid to attend the procession, once again showing their status as much as their devotional practises. Granting money to guilds to attend processions was not limited to the larger towns. In Ninove, from 1397, the crossbowmen of Saint George and the archers were collectively given £12, later

£18, for attending the procession.³⁵⁹ In Kaprijke the archers were paid 36 shillings for participating in the procession from 1407.³⁶⁰

Processional routes may further indicate guilds’ status and devotion. However most guild chapels, as we shall see, were in or next to parish churches, so on procession routes before guild chapels were established in them. Processions can be interpreted as demonstrations of status, but the genuine belief in the relics that the guilds accompanied and the devotional significance of processing, in full livery, at municipal expense must be remembered. In every town for which records could be found, guilds demonstrated devotion and status through paid participation in civic procession, carrying their weapons not to war, but for peace.