During medieval times making a living as a trader was very difficult, in most cases they found themselves living hand to mouth most of the time, scratching a living and just about getting by. Our story today tells of a Hereford trader who went to extraordinary lengths to keep his head above water, but the outcome may not be quite what you expect.
Charles a local trader was a good man, he worked hard and worried constantly about how he, his wife and household were going to survive. He was meticulous and prudent in his business dealings but it didn’t stop him from fretting month to month and year to year about providing for his family. As he lay awake in bed one night his mind raced with ideas considering all the ways that he could improve his prospects in the coming year. Money was so tight that he had recently calculated he would have enough money almost for the whole year ahead bar one day. What was he to do about this deficit? As he watched the dawn breaking from his window his wife awoke from her slumber. She could see the concern on Charles’s face and asked her husband what was troubling him so.
He explained his predicament to her but before she had a chance to respond he smiled and told her that after a sleepless night he had finally found a solution.
“I shall pretend to be dead for a day. You will need to lay out my body in the hall and cover me up. As I am dead I shall not eat anything. The household won’t eat anything either for they will be deep in grief. That my darling will remove our problem.”
In agreement Charles’s wife readied her plan. As the household rose she began wailing that her wonderful husband had died in his sleep. Her husband’s body was duly moved to the hall, covered with a sheet and the household went into mourning. No food was prepared that day as a mark of respect. But there was one thing that Charles hadn’t considered. His servants shocked at the news of his sudden death started to spread the word in the community. The terrible news then landed at the door of the cathedral clergy which is when things took an unexpected turn.
In medieval times the clergy at the cathedral had the monopoly on burials. Burials provided a significant income for them so before long a representative was sent to visit the family and make arrangements for Charles’s burial.
After the priest said a prayer over the body he requested some food but Charles’s wife advised that none had been prepared. Hungry and insistent the priest demanded he be fed and not wishing to upset the priest or raise suspicion she prepared him a hearty meal.
As Charles lay in the hall he could hear the priest enjoying his meal and realised very quickly that his best laid plans had gone awry, he had not saved any food that day. It was time to bring the farce to an end he thought. So he raised his head and spoke out loud, his voice echoing through the hallway. As he did so the startled priest leapt into action. Thinking that an evil spirit had taken hold of the dead body upon which he had just prayed he seized an axe next to the fireplace and proceeded to hit Charles with it, dealing him a fatal blow. “You’ve killed my husband”, Charles’s wife yelled hysterically. The woman stood in shock and disbelief, unable to comprehend what had just taken place. Flustered the priest looked at her and responded, “your husband was dead, the devil had taken hold of him. I have rid his body of this evil spirit so that he can now be buried in consecrated ground.”
We have to say this wasn’t quite the ending we were expecting. Poor Charles, he had thought of almost everything. How could he have ever imagined that divine intervention would ruin his carefully planned deception and ultimately lead to his untimely demise.
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