The activities of the Ecclesiastical Court
The activities of the
Ecclesiastical Court
Jersey’s Ecclesiastical Court, which was created under Norman Law to deal with offences against Canon Law, has been in existence since at least the 11th century, and remains today
Not always based in the Island, it dealt with such matters as heresy, attendance and behaviour in church, the conduct of the rectors and church officials, the state of the Church itself, betrothals, marriages, immorality and all wills of personalty until 1949.
First mention
The first surviving mention of the Ecclesiastical Court is in the Jersey Assize Rolls of 1299. It is referred to as the "Court of Christianity".
At that time the religious head of the Channel Islands was the Bishop of Coutances. Anyone accused of a moral or heretical crime was summoned to his court in France. So began a long history of battles between the Civil and Ecclesiastical Courts.
At any period of time when France and England were at war, anyone summoned before the Bishop's court was, in effect, being tried by an enemy of the King and, on a number of occasions the Bishop's Summoner in Jersey, and anyone else who launched a complaint through the Ecclesiastical Court was deemed to be acting in contempt of the King.
Drogo de Barentin, was fined 60 shillings tournois for summoning Guillaume Payn and 30 shillings tournois for suing Nicolas Malesars "at Coutances in the dominion of the King of France, contrary of the terms of the armistice". There are several other examples in the Roll.
Justices’ visit
When the new Justices arrived in 1309, they found the practice was continuing. The Dean of Jersey, Pierre Falleyse, had already summoned the Bailiff to appear before the Court, after he had read the King's proclamation that "the practice of committing blasphemers, drunks and adulters to the Bishop's prison in Coutances should cease".
By the time the Justices arrived they had to arrest 33 people for "causing subjects of the King to be summoned out of the realm".
Also in trouble was the Prior of Bonne Nuit who had been spreading a rumour that the Bishop was about to send 80 men to Jersey to arrest the Justices and take them to France. This never happened and the Priest was fined 20 livres tournois.
The dispute grew and eventually the Dean appeared in the Royal Court and excommunicated all the Justices. He was immediately arrested and thrown into prison, but he was rescued by his fellow clerics by force of arms and continued effectively to arrange the deportations.
Accidental death
The Assize Rolls of 1331 record that a priest, Roger de Castillon, had already been brought before the Ecclesiastical Court after an accidental death and had been sentenced. The story goes that Roger had met the Lieut-Bailiff riding home one evening. The Roll states "as a friend with a friend" he pulled at a naked sword that the Lieut- Bailiff was carrying under his arm. Although he meant no harm, he accidentally severed a vein and, in those days, with no effective medical treatment, the Lieut-Bailiff bled to death.
The Ecclesiastical Court sentenced him to three years in the Bishop's prison before purging himself, but the Justices were not satisfied and summoned him to appear before the Royal Court.
Once again the Dean stepped in and forced the Justices to accept the authority of the Bishop.
In 1378 the Ecclesiastical Court was suspended for a time during a dispute over the election of the next Pope. Jersey found itself in great difficulty as France supported one side and England the other.
Richard Averty
A religious reformation had overtaken Jersey in the 1500s, strengthened when Henry VIII cut ties with the Catholic Church. After his death, during the reign of Edward VI, a new prayer book was sent to the Island in 1553, now firmly embracing Protestantism.
It was not long before England suffered one of its many religious swings as Edward died and was succeeded by his elder sister Mary, a Catholic. The old religion was immediately restored and in Jersey many were persecuted, especially priests who had married (as allowed under the Protestant faith).
Richard Averty was a Proctor of the Ecclesiastical Court and one of the keenest 'enforcers' of this regime. He "wrought much harm to the unfortunate priests who had married, forcing them not to consort in any way soever with their wives, and causing them to be punished bitterly if they disobeyed".
During this period Catholicism, although forced on the population, failed to take hold. Many continued to worship in a Reformed Church, either by travelling to France or by receiving the sacrament in secret.
Averty made one fatal error; he had made his servant, Marie Belee, pregnant and she was alone with him when the baby was born. That evening he baptised the child, strangled it and burled it under the hearth in his house. Somehow he was discovered and the court ordered that the body he disinterred and he be arrested for infanticide.
An Act of the Royal Court states that he compounded his offence by trying to escape but ultimately confessed to the crime. He was sentenced to be "dragged to the gallows and hanged until he was dead, his body to be left on the gibbet until it should rot away."
The Dean made several attempts to save him. He claimed that he should be tried by the Ecclesiastical Court and not the Royal Court. This was refused. When Averty was taken to the gallows, the Dean threw a surplice over him, offering God's protection, but the hangman stripped it off and threw it away when he reached the scaffold.
Averty's death destroyed any chance of Catholicism regaining a foothold in the Island and soon afterwards, in 1558, Queen Mary died, to be succeeded by Elizabeth I and the continuation of the Reformation.
The exact date of Averty's execution is not given, but it is known that on 23 July 1555 Mary Belee was tried as an accomplice, along with another woman, Thomasse Clement. They were both acquitted by the Royal Court, but sent to the Ecclesiastical Court for punishment for their "immorality".
Pews
Arguments about church pews frequently came to the Ecclesiastical Court. In 1706 Jean Le Couteur extended his pew in St John's Church and obstructed Josue Allier's view. He complained to the Ecclesiastical Court and they ordered his pew to be restored to its original size. Le Couteur, reluctant to do this, appealed to the Royal Court, who instructed Ahier to stop complaining. Incensed, Ahier protested to the Dean and the Royal Court sent him to prison for two years.
The Dean retaliated by excommunicating Le Couteur and ordered each parish church to read out the excommunication. The Royal Court forbade the Rectors to do this. Those who ignored the Royal Court were fined.
Excommunication
Excommunication was the worst punishment the Ecclesiastical Court could inflict. The process entailed an announcement throughout the Island to be publicly read from the pulpit, which would name the individual and "cut him off as a septic limb from the fellowship of the church and the Body of Christ". The faithful were also instructed to have nothing further to do with the excommunicated person.
Other punishments included public penance. In 1726 Elizabeth Le Boutillier of St Brelade, found guilty of adultery, was ordered to "present herself before the pulpit wearing a shroud with feet and legs bare and there, on her knees, she shall confess her sin and acknowledge the scandal she has caused".
The Court stated that if she then showed signs of true repentance "she should be received back into the peace of the church".
Betrothals
Sometimes public penance accompanied breach of promise cases, most commonly the breaking off of a betrothal. The other sentence in these cases was to be ordered to be married within three months or pay heavy damages. If this failed, excommunication followed, which nearly always did the trick.
Not all the cases worked out successfully. In 1765 Elizabeth Binet, daughter of Michel of Trinity, summoned Edouard Binet of the same parish to "fulfil his promise of marriage to her". Witnesses were called in June, but it proved difficult for Elizabeth to make her case. The witnesses did confirm that they spent a lot of time together, so Edouard was released but forbidden to marry anyone else while his former girlfriend remained single. The records show that they were married a year later at St John.
First Divorce?
Another rarity is divorce. In 1611 Thomas de La Perelle from St Ouen was granted a divorce from his wife Sara de Laicq. He was a sailor and had been held captive by pirates for two and a half years. When he returned home, not only had his wife committed adultery, but had also had a child while he was away. She could not be brought before the court as she had already fled the Island, so the divorce was allowed.
Gossip
In 1776 Jacques Clement caused a disturbance that so outraged the Court that they accused him of behaving in the manner of a Nero. Jacques had himself carted through the streets of St Aubin "in a forlorn and ridiculous manner to rouse the laughter of the reprobates, to the great scandal of all decent folk". He was reprimanded by the Court and claimed to be truly repentant
Once he was released he did it again and each time he was called back, the same thing happened. The Court accused him of lewdness, wandering drunkenness, mouthing indiscretions and blasphemies and "taking advantage of all rumours that may cause trouble between man and wife, or expose his neighbours to the mockery of the world." Jacques was a drunk and a gossip, who clearly enjoyed baiting the Ecclesiastical Court.
Avoiding the collection
In 1749 the St Martin churchwardens had a problem. The collection was taken at the door as people were leaving by the almoners, rather then being passed from hand to hand as it is today. The church had four doors, but only two almoners, so many parishioners were leaving without contributing. The churchwardens went before the court and asked for permission to block up two of the doors. It was granted and the escape routes were closed forever.
Imbecile rector
A problem with a rector occurred in the same year when the Parish of St Saviour had trouble with the Rev Jean Rocques. There are several mentions in the Ecclesiastical Court records.
It is reported that he was so indisposed as to be unable to spend time in the States and was neglecting his ministry. He was reprimanded for losing his concentration during a sermon and later the Court was told was found wandering in the churchyard in St Helier, in the middle of the night. When the churchwardens arrived he was beating on the door, demanding to be admitted to "his church".
The Court described him as an an imbecile and ordered that the wheels be set in motion for his replacement
Drunk in church
Members of the congregation in various parishes were brought before the Court if they attended services drunk. There are numerous examples of this.
Philippe Nicolle was accused of entering St Martin's Parish Church on Sunday 3 May 1767 and creating a "disturbance to the detriment of the worshippers". When brought before the Court towards the end of the same month, he apologised and promised to mend his ways. His only punishment was to pay for the cost of his trial.
On 1 June 1769 Benjamin Le Seelleur of St Martin was charged with being drunk in his parish church. He was removed by the churchwardens and promptly walked to Trinity Church where he did the same. On 20 January 1770 Elie Croissard was accused of "comporting himself irreverently" in St Martin's Church and Jean Pipon of St Peter entered his church in a drunken state and was brought before the Court on 2 November the same year.
The punishment for Le Seelleur and Croissard was the same; to make public penance before the Dean in their respective parish churches. Jean Pipon had already appeared before the Royal Court for misbehaviour in Church and had been fined. He was discharged after making a promise to "behave in the future as a man of his standing should".
Too much fun
Christmas Eve 1742: Jean Renouf and his wife, and Nicolas Le Couteur, celebrated the holiday with a noisy party at a house in St Mary. They must have upset the neighbours as they were all hauled before the Court for permitting "excessive drinking and grave indecencies". The case took five years to be dealt with and finally, in October 1747, those who organised the party were ordered to make public penance.
Sunday, 1 January 1761: Mr and Mrs Jean Aubin had a party to celebrate New Year's Day at their house in St Martin. Their guests played cards and sang songs and they were reported by a neighbour, outraged that they had not attended church services. On 12 October they were acquitted after promising "not to allow such worldly pursuits on Sundays" in future.
The end of Calvinism
In 1663 the Ecclesiastical Court was revived after a dormant period of 23 years. At this time the new Dean had some catching up to do and was determined to enforce strictly the rules of the Anglican Church.
During the Commonwealth period, Jersey had been Protestant and all of its ministers were strict Calvinists. After the Restoration there were a number of clashes through the Ecclesiastical Court over the correct way of holding services. The Rector of St Saviour was summoned three times for giving the sacrament to people who stood, instead of kneeling.
Others who spoke out were also reported. Jean Bichard was summoned as it was claimed he had said "kneeling at Communion was idolatry". Simon Lesbirel, of St Helier, called the service in his parish church a mass and was punished for speaking against the Liturgy of the Anglican Church.
Marie Lesbirel, wife of Richard of St Peter, was punished for going to a masked ball dressed as a man. One of the churchwardens in St Mary was censured for forgetting to remove his hat in church.
On 21 December 1663 Philippe Romeril and Colette Baudain, his wife, of St John, were summoned for "anticipating the benediction of their marriage" and were ordered to make public penance. This probably means that Colette was pregnant before they married.
There are quite a number of such cases in the records but it is not clear why some were brought before the court and others ignored, because a study of church marriage and baptism records show that in the 17th and 18th century it was extremely common for the first child of a marriage to make its appearance well before the expiry of nine months from the wedding.
On 25 January 1664 Colette Godel was censured by the Rector of St Helier for "comporting herself scandalously with a stranger".
Witches
The Ecclesiastical Court held many of the witch trials in Jersey, primarily in the 17th century7 when ‘witch fever’ caused many women to be hung or burnt at the stake, after being referred to the Royal Court.
By 1736 the Court was no longer inclined to over-react to that extent. So, when Marie Godfray, wife of Etienne Machon of St Saviour, was reported for sorcery on 4 October she promised to abstain from ‘the practice of illicit arts and prophesying hidden events’.
Effectively she had been practising as a fortune teller – something which is still essentially illegal in the island to this day. Those who had been to see her were warned against going again from every pulpit in the island and she was dismissed with a warning. Half a century or so earlier she would not have been so lucky.
Based on an article in Island Eye by Alex Glendinning in 1992.
