Richard Caister

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A Richard Caister pilgrim badge

Richard Caister (mid-1300s – 4 April 1420) was an English priest and poet in the late 14th and early 15th-centuries, and was the confessor to the English mystic Margery Kempe. After his death in 1420 his burial place in Norwich became a pilgrimage site.

Early life[]

Caister was born in the middle of the 14th-century in either Caistor St Edmund or Caister-on-Sea.[1]

Clerical career[]

In 1385 Caister was admitted to Merton Priory in Surrey (now in Greater London), where he was educated for ordained ministry.[1] It is likely that, after ordination, he spent 10 years as a monk of Norwich Cathedral Priory.[1] From 1397 to 1402 he was Vicar of St Mary's Church, Sedgeford, and from 1402 to his death in 1420 he was Vicar of St Stephen's Church, Norwich.[2]

While Vicar of St Stephen's, Caister was confessor to the mystic Margery Kempe, and he is mentioned a number of times in The Book of Margery Kempe.[1] Kempe describes how she was commanded by a direction from Christ to go to St Stephen's and for Caister to become her confessor.[3] Caister defended Kempe when she was tried by the Bishop of Norwich Henry le Despenser for Lollardy.[1]

Poetry[]

Caister's only extant work is a metrical hymn which begins Jesu, Lord thou madest me,[1] for which a choral setting has been written.[4] Jesu, Lord thou madest me was written in English; as was the Revelations of Divine Love written by Julian of Norwich, who was both Caister's contemporary and neighbour.[1]

The late 16th and early 17th-century Roman Catholic scholar John Pits attributed to Caister lost works on the Ten Commandments and on the meditations of Saint Bernard.[1]

Veneration and Legacy[]

Caister was buried in the chancel of St Stephen's, and his burial place became a focus for pilgrimage throughout the 15th-century.[1] Kempe records that, even during his lifetime, Caister was a "holy man … whom God has exalted and showed and proved by miracles to be holy."[3] After Caister's death, Kempe travelled to St Stephen's to pray for the healing of a priest. The priest was healed, and it is likely that this led to Caister's burial place becoming a shrine for pilgrimage in the latter half of the 15th-century.[1] The late 16th and early 17th-century Roman Catholic scholar John Pits in his De Illustribus Angliae scriptoribus states that "both during [Caister’s] life and after his death [was] renowned for many miracles."[1] St Stephen's was rebuilt in the 16th-century, and Caister's burial place is now unmarked.[5]

Numerous designs[6] of pilgrim badges of Caister survive, with examples held in collections in the British Museum,[7] Museum of London,[8] and Lynn Museum,[9]

The strongly partisan Protestant John Bale (Bishop of Ossory during the reign of Edward VI) claimed Caister as having Wycliffite views.[1]

Having become an almost-forgotten figure,[10] awareness of Caister was revived in 2020, for the 600th anniversary of his death, by St Stephen's, which hosted the Richard Caister Project as a celebration of his life and legacy.[11] The Project included a number of lectures on Caister and related subjects.[12]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "St Stephen's Norwich: The Story of Richard Caister". Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  2. ^ "St Stephen's Norwich: The Story of Richard Caister". Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  3. ^ a b "The Book of Margery Kempe". Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Irving, Alex, "Six hundred years on", Church Times, 31 January 2020, p 19". Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Historic England List Entry No 1051920". Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  6. ^ "St Stephen's Norwich: Pilgrimage Badges". Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  7. ^ "British Museum: pilgrim badge". Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Museum of London: Richard Caister Pilgrim Badge". Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Norfolk Museums: Richard Caister (pilgrim badge)". Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Mantell, Rowan, "Nine stories of Norfolk saints and shrines", Eastern Daily Press, 1 April 2020". Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  11. ^ "St Stephen's, Norwich: The Richard Caister Project". Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  12. ^ "St Stephen's, Norwich: The Caister Talks". Retrieved 13 January 2022.
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