Stronghold Heaven

Priests lived as part of the local community and tended to be worldly, often being married. Traditionally, the youngest sons of poorer families were destined for the priesthood and it was a good way to get an education as they would often be sent to a monastery to be educated. However serfs and women were banned from being priests. Once educated and trained, a priest would be appointed to his parish by the local bishop.

The only education most poor children got was from priests. There were no schools as such but, for the country to function, some reasonably literate people were needed. The church trained the priests and they, in turn, taught literacy in both English and Latin and often acted as secretaries to the aristocracy

The priest held regular, often daily, services at his church together with extra festivals and saints’ days. He was at the centre of the community and would give advice and arbitrate when necessary. He collected tithes from people, once a year, which were generally one tenth of anything produced during that year, whether seeds, harvested crops or animals. The tithes were to feed the priest, for the upkeep of the church buildings and for the poor in the area and if they failed to pay, the people were told that they would go to Hell. The collection of tithes also gave the priest an opportunity to catch up with local gossip. The tithes were kept in huge tithe barns.