Seal-of-the-Gild-of-the--Holy-Cross,-Birmingham

The Guild or Gild of the Holy Cross was a medieval religious

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was founded in 1392 by three burgesses of the town – John Coleshill, John Goldsmith and William atte Slowe – in place of an attempt to found a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...

in the parish church of

St Martin in the Bull Ring St Martin in the Bull Ring is a Church of England parish church in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It is the original parish church of Birmingham and stands between the Bull Ring Shopping Centre and the markets. The church is ...

, that had been licensed ten years earlier but never came into effect. The Guild had several roles within the town. The majority of its income was spent maintaining

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

s and a

at St Martin's, but it also maintained

almshouses An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

, roads and the bridge over the

River Rea The River Rea (pronounced "ray") is a small river which passes through Birmingham, England. It is the river on which Birmingham was founded by the Beorma tribe in the 7th century. Since 2012, TA Media had obtained the rights and access to th ...

Deritend Deritend is a historic area of Birmingham, England, built around a crossing point of the River Rea. It is first mentioned in 1276. Today Deritend is usually considered to be part of Digbeth. History Deritend was a crossing point of the River R ...

. Its hall on New Street provided a social focus for the town, with feasting and the provision of a clock, chimes and a bell turret It had a number of paid officials including a warden, a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

, an

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

, a keeper of the hall and gardens, a

midwife A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...

and a bellman – one of whose jobs was to announce when the spit ceased to turn at feasts. These officials had a high degree of status within the town: a list of twenty nine leading men of Birmingham in 1482 placed the Master of the Guild above the

High Bailiff The High Bailiff ( gv, Ard-Vaylee) is a legal position held within the Isle of Man. The High Bailiff is the head stipendiary magistrate. The current High Bailiff is Her Worship Jayne Hughes, who took office on 11 March 2019. The High Bailiff a ...

of the borough. The Guild survived the investigations of the commissioners established by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

in 1545 to examine the religious endowments that remained after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but was suppressed along with its associated chantries under

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

in 1547. Property worth £21 per year was retained to fund the Grammar School (now King Edward's School) which was established in the Guild's former hall on New Street.

References

Bibliography

* * *{{Citation, last=Elrington, first=C. R., year=1964, contribution=Churches Built before 1800, contribution-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22975, editor-last=Stephens, editor-first=W.B., title=The City of Birmingham, series=The Victoria History Of The County Of Warwick, publication-place=Oxford, publisher=Oxford University Press, volume=VII, pages=361–379, url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.aspx?pubid=104, access-date=2009-08-11 1392 establishments in England Guilds in England History of Birmingham, West Midlands

See also

References

Bibliography