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 A HISTORY OF LONDON chapter, chosen by the archdeacon and paid by oblations from the parochial churches, whose duties were not defined, but seem to have consisted mainly in summoning members to the chapters and to the observances for the dead ; he may also have performed some such work as that of the later ' apparitors ' of the archdeacon, for he swore before the chapter to serve the archdeacon faithfully, and not for greed or hate maliciously to accuse to him or his official any rector or capellaiius. The archdeacon chose in the chapter fit persons for the consecration of chrism, and two or three of the more prudent and discreet members were appointed to collect the ' pittances ' of the capellani in rents or other forms, and faithfully distribute them, while twice a year excommunications were to be read in the chapter against all who defrauded the capellani of pittances or hindered the fulfilment of wills benefiting them. Other clauses deal with small matters of detail concerning oblations and fees for marriages, burials, &c., and with the pro- ceedings, culminating in excommunication, taken against any parishioner who refused to pay his parochial dues. The general excommunications, which were to be read four times a year in the churches, are enumerated, and also a special excommunication to be read once a year, directed against those who deprived the Church of due tithe from farms and gardens. It was also decreed that all capellani of the archdeaconry should be present, in their own persons or by proctors, with their parishioners at procession in St. Paul's on certain days."^ The number of persons taking part in these processions and the crowded state of the great cathedral can be gathered from some casual indications. Thus on the eventful Ascension Day when Becket's excommunication of Gilbert Foliot was unexpectedly announced in St. Paul's, the cathedral was filled with a dense multitude whose number covered the messenger's escape. In 1230 an incident is recorded which also illustrates the character of the much-loved Bishop Roger Niger : On the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul when the bishop stood in the cathedral church before the great altar celebrating in the presence of the people gathered together in honour of St. Paul, a great cloud suddenly obscured the sky so that in the church men could scarcely see each other. . . The people thought the day of judgement had come, the church seemed to rock and there was a general rush out of the building. . . Only out of all the multitude the bishop with one deacon stood clothed in his sacred vestments before the altar, awaiting the will of God. When the panic was over and the people again entered the church the bishop finished the mass.^" The external observances and the pageantry of religion must have been especially prominent in London in the 13th century. Ecclesiastical councils and synods were being constantly held either in the City or at Westminster,^" and Matthew Paris thus describes the opening of one in 1237 : The legate arrived at the church [of St. Paul] very early, even at daybreak, and there was awaiting him a very great multitude, through which he entered with difficulty. He advanced to the high altar and there vested himself in his pontifical robes. . . . Then, the '" One version mentions only the Monday in the week of Pentecost, while the other adds Palm Sunday and Ascension Day. '" Roger of Wendover, Tlores Hist. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 382. '*' Wilkins, Conciha, passim.