322 



On the Consuetudinary of S. Osmund. 



country, that he was connected with the Conqueror by ties of 

 affinity, and was employed by him in high and important offices He 

 had, therefore, special opportunities for carrying* out, at all events 

 in the church which he ruled, any improvement that might be 

 necessary, either in its liturgical forms, or its outward ritual. 



That some such change was needed, in the direction of greater 

 uniformity in the church in England, must have been generally 

 admitted. In different dioceses there were no inconsiderable varia- 

 tions ; and during the tenth century these increased greatly ; each 

 bishop directing such observances as he judged best to be used in 

 his own diocese. Of course in the eucharistic office, or " Canon of 

 the Mass," the essentials of the service were uniformly observed ; 

 yet even here there were variations of more or less importance. 



There are many reasons why the accession of Osmund to the see 

 of Sarum was a golden opportunity for effecting a greater uniformity 

 in ritual observances. The whole land was now fully subordinated 

 under one head, and so facilities for intercourse were naturally in- 

 creased. It was at Old Sarum, in the year 1086, that the king met 

 his " witan," and where all the landowners, that were of any account 

 over all England, submitted themselves to him and swore to him 

 oaths of fealty, that they would be faithful to him against all other 

 men. (Chron. Sax. A°. 1086.) It was not Unfitting, that from 

 Old Sarum should proceed that ritual " use " which should do some- 

 thing at all events towards welding together as one the various 

 dioceses throughout England. Moreover the high position and 

 acknowledged influence of Osmund — the valuable help he obtained 

 in his work from the band of canons whom he associated with him- 

 self, who are said to have been famed not only for their skill in 

 music but for their learning generally — Malmesbury speaks of the 

 " canonicorum claritas cantibus et literatura juxta nobilium " — all 

 tended to make that work a successful one, and to gain a ready 

 acceptance for, what has been usually termed, the " Use of Sarum/-' 

 in other dioceses besides his own. 



It must, however, be distinctly understood that Osmund's work 

 was not an original one; the arrangements in part may be so des- 

 cribed, but, as a whole, the work was a compilation from ancient 



