How important were the sacraments to rural peasants in 14th c. England?

by jwhite1979

Would they have taken the Eucharist, and if so, how often? Would their lives have revolved around the sacraments? What did or would have happened if the clergy in a rural village all died during the plague?

Thanks!

Flubb

The Eucharist was reserved for the priest by about 1415, to stop you wandering off with bits of Jesus on your face. You did get involved with all the other sacraments (baptism, confirmation, penance, anointing of the sick, holy orders, and marriage) but they are not always weekly events (obviously).

Villages regularly disappeared, even towns, and the clergy would have simply moved on. My favourite example in Dunwich in East Anglia, where before 1328, there was a Benedictine priory, 2 friaries, 6 parish churches, 2 chapels, and the Knights Templar. In 1328 there was a storm which destroyed part of the time, blocking the harbour, and therefore stopping its importance as a port town. In 1347 another storm destroyed 400 houses and 2 churches. Now it's a tiny village (population 84).