Maundy money
Encyclopedia
Royal Maundy is a religious service in the Church of England
held on Maundy Thursday
, the day before Good Friday
. At the service, the British Monarch
or a royal official ceremonially distributes small silver coins known as "Maundy money" (legally, "the Queen's Maundy money") as symbolic alms
to elderly recipients. The coins are legal tender
but do not circulate because of their silver content and numismatic
value. A small sum of ordinary money is also given in lieu of gifts of clothing and food that the sovereign once bestowed on Maundy recipients.
The name "Maundy" and the ceremony itself derive from an instruction, or mandatum, of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper
that his followers should love one another. In the Middle Ages, English monarchs washed the feet of beggars in imitation of Jesus, and presented gifts and money to the poor. Over time, additional money was substituted for the clothing and other items that had once been distributed.
Beginning in 1699 the monarch did not attend the service, sending an official in his place. The custom of washing the feet did not survive the 18th century. In 1931 Princess Marie Louise
was at Royal Maundy, and afterwards suggested that her cousin, King George V
make the distributions the following year, which he did, beginning a new royal custom. Traditionally, the service was held in or near London, in most years in the early 20th century at Westminster Abbey
. Today, Queen Elizabeth II
almost always attends (she has been absent only four times in her reign), and the service is held in a different church (usually a cathedral) every year. Recipients were once chosen for their poverty and were entitled to remain as Maundy recipients for life; today new recipients are chosen every year for service to their churches or communities, on the recommendation of clergymen of various Christian denominations. Generally, recipients live in the diocese where the service is held, although this was altered for 2011.
Maundy money is struck in denominations of one penny, two pence, three pence, and four pence. Until the 18th century the coins given were from the circulating coinage, and it was not until the latter half of the century that the four Maundy coins developed as distinct, noncirculating pieces. The obverse design of the coins features the reigning monarch. The reverse, with a crowned numeral enclosed by a wreath, derives from a design first used during the reign of William and Mary
, and which has been virtually unaltered since 1822. In most years there are fewer than 2,000 complete sets of Maundy money; they are highly sought after by collectors.
The Gospels relate that on the eve of his Crucifixion
, Jesus Christ ate a meal with his disciples. After the meal, it is recorded that Jesus washed their feet, and gave them the following mandatum or command: "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done unto you." Mandatum is the derivation of the word "Maundy", and the Royal Maundy service evolved from Jesus' command to his disciples.
By the fourth or fifth century a ceremony had been developed following Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday, in which high Church
leaders washed the feet of the poor. The ceremony, known as the pedilavium, was performed daily in some monasteries; in 992, Bishop Oswald of Worcester
died during its performance.
The first English monarch to be recorded as giving gifts of small silver coins to the poor is John
who in 1213 gave 13 pence to each of 13 poor men at a ceremony in Rochester—the number being symbolic of the Twelve Apostles together with either Jesus or an angel. John may also have given to the poor of Knaresborough
, Yorkshire in 1210. Few details of the 13th century Maundy survive; they are known to have existed from records which show the spending necessary for the gifts to the poor. The monarch was not alone in performing the rituals of the Maundy service; Henry III
's children assisted him as part of their political and religious training. Henry's son, Edward I
, was the first monarch to keep the Maundy only on or about Maundy Thursday; before Edward, additional Maundys might be kept during the year. According to Virginia Cole in her study of royal children's role in the 13th century Maundy, the service had a political purpose as well, as the very act of needing to humble himself by doing the pedilavium proclaimed the monarch's greatness. Attendance at a Maundy service became an obligation for all major European ruling houses.
By 1363 the British monarch performed the pedilavium and also gave gifts, with both the number of pence given and the number of recipients equal to the monarch's age: that year, fifty-year-old Edward III
gave fifty pence to each of fifty poor men. The ceremony was not always performed on Maundy Thursday; it could be postponed a day to Good Friday
by royal command, as it was in 1510. Nobles could hold their own Maundy distributions, as did Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland
in the early 16th century, according to a contemporary record: "My Lord useth and accustomyth yerly uppon the said Maundy Thursday when his Lordshipe is at home to gyf yerly as manny Pursses of Lether ... with as manny Penys in every purse to as many poore men as his Lordshipe is Yeres of Aige and one for the Yere of my Lords Aige to come."
Although Mary I
and Elizabeth I
differed religiously, both performed elaborate Maundy ceremonies. Records from 1556 show that Mary washed the feet of forty-one poor women (reflecting her age) while "ever on her knees", and gave them forty-one pence each, as well as gifts of bread, fish, and clothing, donating her own gown to the woman said to be poorest of all. In 1572 disliking the scenes as each woman tried to secure a piece of the royal gown, Queen Elizabeth granted a sum of £1 to each recipient in lieu of the gown, giving it in a red purse. Contemporary writer William Lambarde
noted that the money was substituted for the gown "to avoid trouble of suite, which accustomabile was made for that perferment". In years in which plague was rife, the monarch did not attend, sending an official, usually the Lord High Almoner to make the distributions and perform the pedilavium. Even though scented water was used to disguise any unpleasant odours from the poor, the feet were washed three times before the monarch performed the pedilavium, once by a menial and twice by Court officials. In later years, sweet-smelling nosegay
s were used to disguise odours—the nosegays are still carried today.
rarely attended the Royal Maundy service. Author Brian Robinson, who traced the development of Royal Maundy, suggests that after the Restoration, his son Charles II
attempted to gain popularity by assiduous attendance (and distribution of money) at the service. Charles II even attended during the plague years of 1661 and 1663. His brother and successor, James II
performed the ceremony as well. Although there is a record of William III
doing so in 1698, most sources state that James was the last to wash the feet of the poor himself, in 1685. There is no record of any attendance by a monarch at the Royal Maundy ceremony after 1698 until 1932, but pre-1725 records are vague. The Lord High Almoner continued to perform the pedilavium at the Maundy ceremony until 1737. Today, the only traces of the pedilavium at Royal Maundy are the nosegays and the linen towels worn by several of the officials.
The service was usually held somewhere near London. This was done to suit the monarch's convenience: in medieval times, it was held in Windsor
, Eton
, Richmond, Greenwich, or wherever the monarch happened to be at Eastertime. In 1714, with the monarch no longer present at the ceremony, the service was moved to the Chapel Royal, Whitehall
, where it remained until 1890, when the Chapel was given to the Royal United Services Institute
. After 1890, by order of Queen Victoria
, it was moved to Westminster Abbey
, though in years when there was a Coronation
and the Abbey was closed for preparations, the service was held at St. Paul's Cathedral. From 1954 to 1970, it was held in even-numbered years at Westminster, and in odd-numbered years at provincial cathedrals; since then it has, in most years, been held outside London. When the service was confined to London, recipients were customarily householders who had met their financial obligations to society, but had since fallen on hard times.
The number of recipients continued to track the monarch's age. Until the joint reign of William and Mary
, the recipients were of the same sex as the monarch. During that reign, each of the monarchs made gifts to poor people of their sex, but after the death of Mary
, only men received gifts from King William
. Beginning with the reign of George I (1714–1727), both men and women have received gifts, each sex in a number corresponding to the monarch's age, each recipient receiving that number of pence. Despite the monarch's absence, the ceremony was held each year, with the Lord High Almoner or the Sub-Almoner deputising for the sovereign.
The gift of clothing was eliminated for women beginning in 1724, as the recipients immediately tried on the gifts and exchanged ill-fitting ones with each other, a practice thought unseemly in a church. The women were instead given 35 shillings (decimalised as £1.75). For men, the clothing gift was replaced by woollen cloth that year. Men continued to be given cloth until 1883, when royal officials realised that many of the recipients were too poor to have the cloth made into garments and were instead selling it. Men were given 45 shillings (decimalised as £2.25) in lieu of the cloth, an amount increased in 1973 to £3 for both men and women.
There is a record of the 1802 Royal Maundy; it notes that the recipients were given 4 pounds (1.8 kg) of beef and four threepenny loaves. After the 1837 Maundy, King William IV
ordered that as the recipients were selling the food gift for less than its full value—they were to be given 30 shillings in food which was sometimes sold by the recipients for as little as five shillings—it was to be replaced by a money gift of 30 shillings. This amount (decimalised into £1.50), is still given. The same year, a report on the Civil List
written for the House of Commons proposed eliminating the Royal Maundy: "Considering that the sum distributed annually as alms and charity is applied in a manner suited rather to ancient than modern times and is attended with some expense, it may not be inexpedient to consider whether the purpose of the Royal benevolence might not be more fully attained if some other and better mode of distribution were adopted." King William's death at the age of 71 that year and the accession of 18-year-old Queen Victoria
resulted in a dramatic drop in the number of Maundy recipients. As at that time, a Maundy recipient continued in that status for life, the surplus recipients were placed on waiting lists, and given royal charity through other means. One vacancy occurred a week before the 1838 Maundy when Maundy recipient Elizabeth Love died at the age of 110.
In 1843, The Illustrated London News described a Maundy ceremony:
The drinking of the monarch's health, which is believed to have originated with the custom of the loving cup
, was abolished in the 19th century, though the exact date is uncertain.
In the early 20th century, members of the Royal Family sometimes attended the Royal Maundy service—Queen Alexandra
twice was present. Most Royal Maundy ceremonies in the first part of the century were attended by Princess Helena
or by her daughter Princess Marie Louise
. In 1931, Marie Louise was present at Royal Maundy and suggested, after the service, that her cousin King George V make the distributions the following year. King George did so in 1932, the only time he was at the service during his reign. In 1936, the year of King George's death, the new king, Edward VIII
made the distribution. George VI
(who succeeded King Edward on his abdication late in 1936) did not attend until 1940, and then not again until 1944, his place being taken in most years by the Lord High Almoner, Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury
. Queen Elizabeth II has been present for all but four Royal Maundy services of her long reign. She was absent twice following childbirth, and twice because she was visiting other parts of the Commonwealth. She first attended Royal Maundy as Princess Elizabeth of York in 1935.
Until 1956 a recipient once chosen for the Maundy service had the right to continue to be a recipient for life. In 1957, with the service leaving London for the first time in over two centuries (it was held in 1957 at St. Albans), this became impractical and it was decided that, in future years, recipients would attend once only. To honour the promise to the surviving lifetime appointees, they were given the opportunity to attend whenever the service was held in London, and were sent an equivalent sum by post in years when it was not.
Today the recipients are pensioners, chosen on an interdenominational basis from various Christian churches for their service to their churches and communities. In most years, recipients are nominated by Christian clergy of various denominations in the diocese where the service is held. In 2011, however, as well as recipients representing Westminster Abbey, forty recipients came from the Anglican Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe
, which covers continental Europe, and forty from the Diocese of Sodor and Man
, which consists of the Isle of Man
. Robert Patterson, Bishop of Sodor and Man
, while at a conference of Anglican bishops had invited the Queen to his cathedral for Maundy services; he received word that this would be too difficult, but that his diocese could nominate recipients.
The Yeomen of the Guard are present at the ceremony and serve as "Indoor Guard"; the choir of the Chapel Royal is also present. Six wandsmen, whose original function is uncertain, guide the recipients to their places and render any other help which is needed. Present at the ceremony are four Maundy Children (formally "Children of the Royal Almonry"), two boys and two girls. The original Maundy Children were four old men, charity recipients, whose sole duty was to attend at the Royal Maundy service wearing linen scarves. As their fees for the service amounted to over twenty pounds per year, this was deemed an abuse of charity, and in 1808 the old men were pensioned off and replaced by actual children. The first children appointed from 1808 did not personally attend the service, but their parents received five guineas
per year to aid in their education until the age of fourteen, and four other children, from schools in the City of Westminster
represented them at the service. Today, the Maundy Children are chosen from religious and state schools, and receive a set of Maundy coins for their participation. Officials in the Maundy service wear towels over their clothing, worn over the shoulder and tied at the waist. The linen towels were once retained by their wearers, but since 1883, the same towels, laundered each year, have been used.
Until 1979, the Queen made two distributions of money in leather purses to each recipient. The first distribution, given to women in green purses and to men in white, was of an allowance in lieu of the clothing formerly given. The white purses used for the clothing allowance may be distinguished from the white purses which contained Maundy money, as the former was tied with a short green string; the latter bears a long red string. The clothing allowance purses had been introduced in 1936; prior to that, the clothing allowance was distributed in a paper packet. In the second distribution two purses were given by the monarch; the red one contained £1.50 for provisions, once given in kind, and the additional sum of £1 mandated by Elizabeth I. The white purses contained the Maundy money. After 1979, the separate distribution of the clothing allowance was discontinued—the gifts have now been consolidated, and recipients now receive two purses in a single distribution, one white containing the Maundy coins, and one red containing the other money. The distributions were consolidated so as to reduce the physical strain of the ceremony on the Queen as she aged. The red purse contains £1 representing the money for redemption of the monarch's gown, £3 in lieu of the clothing once given, and £1.50 in place of the food once presented, totalling £5.50. In 2011, the £5.50 not given in Maundy money took the form of a £5 coin commemorating the Duke of Edinburgh's ninetieth birthday, and a 50p coin marking the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
One man and one woman are chosen for each year the Queen has lived (including the year she is currently living), and they receive Maundy money equivalent in pence to that number of years. The purses are carried into the church by the Yeomen on the dishes, held above their heads. The origin of this custom is uncertain but apparently dates from the times when provisions were distributed to the poor; some experts believe the dishes were carried high to stop the poor from grabbing at the food prematurely; others believe that the position was to prevent the congregation from being overwhelmed by the smell of fish.
The Order of Service for Royal Maundy is a simple one. It begins with the reading of John 13:34, which contains the mandatum from which Royal Maundy evolved. It contains two lessons, the first of which (John 13) also recalls the mandatum. The second reading contains that portion of Matthew 25 which describes the Last Judgment
. The Queen makes half of the presentations after the first lesson, and half after the second. Anthems, led by the Chapel Royal choir and the local choir, are sung while the distribution is going on, concluding with Handel
's Zadok the Priest. The Royal Maundy service concludes with prayers, "God Save the Queen
" and the blessing. Two hymns are sung; there is no address. Six silver dishes are used to hold the gifts; one, the traditional Maundy Dish, forms part of the Royal Regalia and is held at the Tower of London
when not in use. All six dishes date from the reign of Charles II; five of the six have been added to the service since 1971. They are held by the Yeomen as the Queen walks about, greeting recipients and giving them their gifts. The Lord High Almoner receives his only recompense for his position if he attends the Royal Maundy service—a small fee, though payable in Maundy money.
The Pope still performs the pedilavium, as does the Archbishop of Canterbury
. In recent years, the pedilavium has become more popular across Christian denominations, and even as a gesture of humility among those serving the poor. Today, the Royal Maundy ceremony involves a considerable security operation, with drains in the area checked. Two 17-year-old boys were arrested in Wakefield
in 2005 for popping balloons in the area of the service; as the sound might be mistaken for gunfire.
Mercia Tapsell, a 71-year-old Maundy recipient who participated in the 1992 ceremony at Chester
for her work with the Salvation Army
, spoke of the ceremony before her death in July of that year:
, the coins distributed might bear a previous year's date. To evade statutory prohibitions on the striking of silver coin during the Napoleonic Wars
, all Maundy pieces issued from 1800 to 1815 bear the date 1800, though most were struck later. When the date was finally changed in 1816, after the prohibition ended, the size of the coins was slightly reduced, as the Royal Mint implemented a change from striking 62 shillings of silver coin from one troy pound of sterling silver to 66 shillings. The last year in which no Maundy coins were struck was 1821.
In 1689, the Royal Mint began using a design for the reverse of the four low-denomination silver coins depicting a crowned numeral. The designer is unknown (Richard Lobel, in his catalogue of British coins, suggests the artist was George Bower, an employee of the Royal Mint whose medals bear similar characteristics), but his work has endured, in a revised form, for over three hundred years. In 1822 an amended reverse was introduced, and has been struck every year since then in all four denominations. The 1822 reverse design, which places the crowned numeral within an oak wreath was done by Jean Baptiste Merlen. This design is still struck each year, though the crown was altered in 1888, as was the appearance of the numeral "2" on the twopence. These changes were made by Royal Mint engraver Leonard Charles Wyon
. A proposal by the Royal Mint in 1950 to return to the pre-1888 "2" as more artistic was refused by George VI, who felt the current numeral was stylistically similar to the numerals on the other coins, and the pre-1888 "2" was not.
Beginning in 1834 threepence pieces were struck for circulation, bearing the same design as the Maundy threepence. The circulation pieces were initially struck for use in the West Indies, but beginning in 1845, were coined for use in Britain as well. Many of the threepences presented to impoverished Maundy recipients were spent and are rarer than the other values today. Maundy threepences may sometimes be distinguished from currency threepences as dies with a more polished field were used for the Maundy pieces. The design of the circulation threepence remained the same as that of the Maundy threepence until 1928, when a new design was introduced for the circulating coins. Twopence coins identical to Maundy pieces, intended for colonial use, were struck in 1838, 1843, and 1848.
The original composition of the coins was sterling
(0.925) silver. In common with all British silver coins, the fineness was reduced to 0.500 in 1921. In 1947 silver was removed from all circulating British coinage in favour of cupronickel
, but as it was felt to be inappropriate to strike Maundy coins in base metal, their fineness was restored to 0.925. On Decimal Day
15 February 1971, the pound sterling
became decimalised, with 100 new pence instead of 20 shillings of 12 pence (240 pence) in a pound. No change was made to the design of the Maundy pieces, and all Maundy pieces, both pre- and post-Decimal Day are deemed denominated in new pence, more than doubling the face value of the pre-1971 pieces. The Maundy pieces continue to use the original obverse design for Queen Elizabeth II by Mary Gillick
, although the bust of the Queen on other British coins has been repeatedly replaced as she ages. At the time of decimalisation, the Royal Mint Advisory Commission recommended the retention out of affection for the Gillick design; this was accepted by the Queen.
requested pieces for her private use, as much as £10 (2,400 pence) per year. Many sets were purchased by coin dealers, others by Mint officials as gifts.
Small quantities of Maundy twopences and fourpences (principally the latter) were obtained by colleges at the University of Cambridge
for use in making token
annual payments. These requests were fulfilled until the middle of the 20th century, after which the Royal Mint refused them; the colleges thereafter used obsolete circulation groats (fourpences), or dispensed with the custom.
According to Robinson, the practice of recipients being asked to sell their gifts "is of long standing". Robinson recounts a description of the scenes after a Maundy service at the turn of the 19th century:
By 1897, Maundy recipients were being urged to sell the small pieces at a premium; there are tales of Americans paying high prices for a set that year, wishing a souvenir of Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
In 1903, the Royal Mint made its first effort to cut back on the number of pieces distributed, eliminating 200 Mint workers (principally charwomen and labourers) from the distribution list. Until 1908 Maundy sets could be ordered through banks. Beginning in 1909, however, distribution of the pieces was restricted to Maundy recipients and certain officials. Mintage of sets of Maundy money dropped from 9,929 in 1908 to 2,428 the following year. By 1932, Maundy recipients were routinely selling the coins to dealers at a premium. There was little official response to this until the 1960s, when questions were asked in the House of Lords
after the press reported that recipients were being approached by dealers after the service and being offered cash for their gifts. In response, the Royal Mint decreased the number of sets available to officials, though Royal Mint employees of long service are offered the opportunity, every few years, to purchase a set. A number of sets are used as prizes for students at Westminster School
, a practice said to have begun with Elizabeth I, though this now occurs only in years when the service is held at Westminster Abbey. Sets distributed by the Royal Mint in these ways are not given in purses, but in presentation cases.
In recent years, approximately 1,600–1,900 sets have been minted. Additional sets have been struck for inclusion in special silver proof sets
marketed by the Royal Mint in 1996, 2000 and 2006, with a special issue in gold as part of a gold proof set in 2002. Individual Maundy recipients have realised as much as £100 per set of four pieces by selling them on eBay
.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
held on Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Great & Holy Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, is the Christian feast or holy day falling on the Thursday before Easter that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles as described in the Canonical gospels...
, the day before Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
. At the service, the British Monarch
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
The monarchy of the United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February 1952. She and her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties...
or a royal official ceremonially distributes small silver coins known as "Maundy money" (legally, "the Queen's Maundy money") as symbolic alms
Alms
Alms or almsgiving is a religious rite which, in general, involves giving materially to another as an act of religious virtue.It exists in a number of religions. In Philippine Regions, alms are given as charity to benefit the poor. In Buddhism, alms are given by lay people to monks and nuns to...
to elderly recipients. The coins are legal tender
Legal tender
Legal tender is a medium of payment allowed by law or recognized by a legal system to be valid for meeting a financial obligation. Paper currency is a common form of legal tender in many countries....
but do not circulate because of their silver content and numismatic
Numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the...
value. A small sum of ordinary money is also given in lieu of gifts of clothing and food that the sovereign once bestowed on Maundy recipients.
The name "Maundy" and the ceremony itself derive from an instruction, or mandatum, of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper
Last Supper
The Last Supper is the final meal that, according to Christian belief, Jesus shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "communion" or "the Lord's Supper".The First Epistle to the Corinthians is...
that his followers should love one another. In the Middle Ages, English monarchs washed the feet of beggars in imitation of Jesus, and presented gifts and money to the poor. Over time, additional money was substituted for the clothing and other items that had once been distributed.
Beginning in 1699 the monarch did not attend the service, sending an official in his place. The custom of washing the feet did not survive the 18th century. In 1931 Princess Marie Louise
Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein
-Titles:*1872–1891: Her Highness Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein*1891–1900: Her Highness Princess Aribert of Anhalt*1900–1917: Her Highness Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein...
was at Royal Maundy, and afterwards suggested that her cousin, King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
make the distributions the following year, which he did, beginning a new royal custom. Traditionally, the service was held in or near London, in most years in the early 20th century at Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
. Today, Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
almost always attends (she has been absent only four times in her reign), and the service is held in a different church (usually a cathedral) every year. Recipients were once chosen for their poverty and were entitled to remain as Maundy recipients for life; today new recipients are chosen every year for service to their churches or communities, on the recommendation of clergymen of various Christian denominations. Generally, recipients live in the diocese where the service is held, although this was altered for 2011.
Maundy money is struck in denominations of one penny, two pence, three pence, and four pence. Until the 18th century the coins given were from the circulating coinage, and it was not until the latter half of the century that the four Maundy coins developed as distinct, noncirculating pieces. The obverse design of the coins features the reigning monarch. The reverse, with a crowned numeral enclosed by a wreath, derives from a design first used during the reign of William and Mary
William and Mary
The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the coregency over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, of King William III & II and Queen Mary II...
, and which has been virtually unaltered since 1822. In most years there are fewer than 2,000 complete sets of Maundy money; they are highly sought after by collectors.
Origins; early and medieval history
The word Maundy derives from the command or mandatum by Christ at the Last Supper, to love one another.The Gospels relate that on the eve of his Crucifixion
Crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion of Jesus and his ensuing death is an event that occurred during the 1st century AD. Jesus, who Christians believe is the Son of God as well as the Messiah, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally executed on a cross...
, Jesus Christ ate a meal with his disciples. After the meal, it is recorded that Jesus washed their feet, and gave them the following mandatum or command: "If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done unto you." Mandatum is the derivation of the word "Maundy", and the Royal Maundy service evolved from Jesus' command to his disciples.
By the fourth or fifth century a ceremony had been developed following Holy Communion on Maundy Thursday, in which high Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
leaders washed the feet of the poor. The ceremony, known as the pedilavium, was performed daily in some monasteries; in 992, Bishop Oswald of Worcester
Oswald of Worcester
Oswald of Worcester was Archbishop of York from 972 to his death in 992. He was of Danish ancestry, but brought up by his uncle, Oda, who sent him to France to the abbey of Fleury to become a monk. After a number of years at Fleury, Oswald returned to England at the request of his uncle, who died...
died during its performance.
The first English monarch to be recorded as giving gifts of small silver coins to the poor is John
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
who in 1213 gave 13 pence to each of 13 poor men at a ceremony in Rochester—the number being symbolic of the Twelve Apostles together with either Jesus or an angel. John may also have given to the poor of Knaresborough
Knaresborough
Knaresborough is an old and historic market town, spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, located on the River Nidd, four miles east of the centre of Harrogate.-History:...
, Yorkshire in 1210. Few details of the 13th century Maundy survive; they are known to have existed from records which show the spending necessary for the gifts to the poor. The monarch was not alone in performing the rituals of the Maundy service; Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
's children assisted him as part of their political and religious training. Henry's son, Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
, was the first monarch to keep the Maundy only on or about Maundy Thursday; before Edward, additional Maundys might be kept during the year. According to Virginia Cole in her study of royal children's role in the 13th century Maundy, the service had a political purpose as well, as the very act of needing to humble himself by doing the pedilavium proclaimed the monarch's greatness. Attendance at a Maundy service became an obligation for all major European ruling houses.
By 1363 the British monarch performed the pedilavium and also gave gifts, with both the number of pence given and the number of recipients equal to the monarch's age: that year, fifty-year-old Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...
gave fifty pence to each of fifty poor men. The ceremony was not always performed on Maundy Thursday; it could be postponed a day to Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
by royal command, as it was in 1510. Nobles could hold their own Maundy distributions, as did Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Algernon Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland, KG was an English noble who was a member of the courts of both Henry VII and Henry VIII.-Biography:...
in the early 16th century, according to a contemporary record: "My Lord useth and accustomyth yerly uppon the said Maundy Thursday when his Lordshipe is at home to gyf yerly as manny Pursses of Lether ... with as manny Penys in every purse to as many poore men as his Lordshipe is Yeres of Aige and one for the Yere of my Lords Aige to come."
Although Mary I
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
and Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
differed religiously, both performed elaborate Maundy ceremonies. Records from 1556 show that Mary washed the feet of forty-one poor women (reflecting her age) while "ever on her knees", and gave them forty-one pence each, as well as gifts of bread, fish, and clothing, donating her own gown to the woman said to be poorest of all. In 1572 disliking the scenes as each woman tried to secure a piece of the royal gown, Queen Elizabeth granted a sum of £1 to each recipient in lieu of the gown, giving it in a red purse. Contemporary writer William Lambarde
William Lambarde
William Lambarde was an antiquarian and writer on legal subjects.-Life:Lambarde was born in London. His father was a draper , an alderman and a sheriff of London. In 1556, he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn...
noted that the money was substituted for the gown "to avoid trouble of suite, which accustomabile was made for that perferment". In years in which plague was rife, the monarch did not attend, sending an official, usually the Lord High Almoner to make the distributions and perform the pedilavium. Even though scented water was used to disguise any unpleasant odours from the poor, the feet were washed three times before the monarch performed the pedilavium, once by a menial and twice by Court officials. In later years, sweet-smelling nosegay
Nosegay
A nosegay, tussie-mussie, or posy/posey/posie is a small flower bouquet, typically given as a gift. They have existed in some form since at least medieval times, when they were carried or worn around the head or bodice....
s were used to disguise odours—the nosegays are still carried today.
Post-Restoration
Charles ICharles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
rarely attended the Royal Maundy service. Author Brian Robinson, who traced the development of Royal Maundy, suggests that after the Restoration, his son Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
attempted to gain popularity by assiduous attendance (and distribution of money) at the service. Charles II even attended during the plague years of 1661 and 1663. His brother and successor, James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
performed the ceremony as well. Although there is a record of William III
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
doing so in 1698, most sources state that James was the last to wash the feet of the poor himself, in 1685. There is no record of any attendance by a monarch at the Royal Maundy ceremony after 1698 until 1932, but pre-1725 records are vague. The Lord High Almoner continued to perform the pedilavium at the Maundy ceremony until 1737. Today, the only traces of the pedilavium at Royal Maundy are the nosegays and the linen towels worn by several of the officials.
The service was usually held somewhere near London. This was done to suit the monarch's convenience: in medieval times, it was held in Windsor
Windsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
, Eton
Eton, Berkshire
Eton is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, lying on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor and connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The parish also includes the large village of Eton Wick, 2 miles west of the town, and has a population of 4,980. Eton was in Buckinghamshire until...
, Richmond, Greenwich, or wherever the monarch happened to be at Eastertime. In 1714, with the monarch no longer present at the ceremony, the service was moved to the Chapel Royal, Whitehall
Banqueting House, Whitehall
The Banqueting House, Whitehall, London, is the grandest and best known survivor of the architectural genre of banqueting house, and the only remaining component of the Palace of Whitehall...
, where it remained until 1890, when the Chapel was given to the Royal United Services Institute
Royal United Services Institute
The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies , officially still known by its old name, the Royal United Services Institution, is a British defence and security think tank. It was founded in 1831 by The Duke of Wellington.RUSI describes itself asIt won Prospect Magazine's...
. After 1890, by order of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
, it was moved to Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, though in years when there was a Coronation
Coronation of the British monarch
The coronation of the British monarch is a ceremony in which the monarch of the United Kingdom is formally crowned and invested with regalia...
and the Abbey was closed for preparations, the service was held at St. Paul's Cathedral. From 1954 to 1970, it was held in even-numbered years at Westminster, and in odd-numbered years at provincial cathedrals; since then it has, in most years, been held outside London. When the service was confined to London, recipients were customarily householders who had met their financial obligations to society, but had since fallen on hard times.
The number of recipients continued to track the monarch's age. Until the joint reign of William and Mary
William and Mary
The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the coregency over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, of King William III & II and Queen Mary II...
, the recipients were of the same sex as the monarch. During that reign, each of the monarchs made gifts to poor people of their sex, but after the death of Mary
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
, only men received gifts from King William
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
. Beginning with the reign of George I (1714–1727), both men and women have received gifts, each sex in a number corresponding to the monarch's age, each recipient receiving that number of pence. Despite the monarch's absence, the ceremony was held each year, with the Lord High Almoner or the Sub-Almoner deputising for the sovereign.
The gift of clothing was eliminated for women beginning in 1724, as the recipients immediately tried on the gifts and exchanged ill-fitting ones with each other, a practice thought unseemly in a church. The women were instead given 35 shillings (decimalised as £1.75). For men, the clothing gift was replaced by woollen cloth that year. Men continued to be given cloth until 1883, when royal officials realised that many of the recipients were too poor to have the cloth made into garments and were instead selling it. Men were given 45 shillings (decimalised as £2.25) in lieu of the cloth, an amount increased in 1973 to £3 for both men and women.
There is a record of the 1802 Royal Maundy; it notes that the recipients were given 4 pounds (1.8 kg) of beef and four threepenny loaves. After the 1837 Maundy, King William IV
William IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
ordered that as the recipients were selling the food gift for less than its full value—they were to be given 30 shillings in food which was sometimes sold by the recipients for as little as five shillings—it was to be replaced by a money gift of 30 shillings. This amount (decimalised into £1.50), is still given. The same year, a report on the Civil List
Civil list
-United Kingdom:In the United Kingdom, the Civil List is the name given to the annual grant that covers some expenses associated with the Sovereign performing their official duties, including those for staff salaries, State Visits, public engagements, ceremonial functions and the upkeep of the...
written for the House of Commons proposed eliminating the Royal Maundy: "Considering that the sum distributed annually as alms and charity is applied in a manner suited rather to ancient than modern times and is attended with some expense, it may not be inexpedient to consider whether the purpose of the Royal benevolence might not be more fully attained if some other and better mode of distribution were adopted." King William's death at the age of 71 that year and the accession of 18-year-old Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
resulted in a dramatic drop in the number of Maundy recipients. As at that time, a Maundy recipient continued in that status for life, the surplus recipients were placed on waiting lists, and given royal charity through other means. One vacancy occurred a week before the 1838 Maundy when Maundy recipient Elizabeth Love died at the age of 110.
In 1843, The Illustrated London News described a Maundy ceremony:
On the day alluded to a certain number of poor men and women, of each the exact number of our sovereign's age, attends divine worship in the Royal Chapel, Whitehall in the morning and afternoon. Bread, meat and fish is distributed to them in large wooden bowls, and a procession formed of the royal almoner or sub-almoner, with other officers, who are decorated with white scarfs and sashes, and each carrying a bouquet of flowers; one of the officers supports a large gold dish or salver, on which are placed small red and white leather bags, the red containing a sovereign, the white the pieces ... termed Maundy Money. One of each of these bags is given to the persons selected to receive the royal bounty; they have likewise given to them cloth, linen, shoes &c., as well as a small maple cup, out of which previous to the termination of the ceremony they drink the Queen's health ... These small pieces are, by an order of Government declared current coins of the realm, therefore no one dare refuse to take them if offered in payment, still they are not in reality intended for that purpose.
The drinking of the monarch's health, which is believed to have originated with the custom of the loving cup
Loving cup
A loving cup is a shared drinking container traditionally used at weddings and banquets. It usually has two handles and is often made of silver. Loving cups are commonly used as trophies. They can be found in several European cultures, including the Celtic quaich and the French coupe de marriage...
, was abolished in the 19th century, though the exact date is uncertain.
In the early 20th century, members of the Royal Family sometimes attended the Royal Maundy service—Queen Alexandra
Alexandra of Denmark
Alexandra of Denmark was the wife of Edward VII of the United Kingdom...
twice was present. Most Royal Maundy ceremonies in the first part of the century were attended by Princess Helena
Princess Helena of the United Kingdom
Princess Helena was a member of the British Royal Family, the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert....
or by her daughter Princess Marie Louise
Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein
-Titles:*1872–1891: Her Highness Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein*1891–1900: Her Highness Princess Aribert of Anhalt*1900–1917: Her Highness Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein...
. In 1931, Marie Louise was present at Royal Maundy and suggested, after the service, that her cousin King George V make the distributions the following year. King George did so in 1932, the only time he was at the service during his reign. In 1936, the year of King George's death, the new king, Edward VIII
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...
made the distribution. George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
(who succeeded King Edward on his abdication late in 1936) did not attend until 1940, and then not again until 1944, his place being taken in most years by the Lord High Almoner, Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
. Queen Elizabeth II has been present for all but four Royal Maundy services of her long reign. She was absent twice following childbirth, and twice because she was visiting other parts of the Commonwealth. She first attended Royal Maundy as Princess Elizabeth of York in 1935.
Until 1956 a recipient once chosen for the Maundy service had the right to continue to be a recipient for life. In 1957, with the service leaving London for the first time in over two centuries (it was held in 1957 at St. Albans), this became impractical and it was decided that, in future years, recipients would attend once only. To honour the promise to the surviving lifetime appointees, they were given the opportunity to attend whenever the service was held in London, and were sent an equivalent sum by post in years when it was not.
Royal Maundy today
Queen Elizabeth views the service as an important part of her devotional life, and it is the only occasion on which the Queen visits others to make awards; usually recipients of honours come to her. According to Ronald Allison and Sarah Riddell in their The Royal Encyclopedia, the service "has become the occasion of a royal pilgrimage to different parts of the country". The Queen has directed that the service not be held in London more often than once in ten years. Westminster Abbey was the site of the 2011 Royal Maundy; it had previously hosted it in 2001. The 2011 service was televised live for the first time.Today the recipients are pensioners, chosen on an interdenominational basis from various Christian churches for their service to their churches and communities. In most years, recipients are nominated by Christian clergy of various denominations in the diocese where the service is held. In 2011, however, as well as recipients representing Westminster Abbey, forty recipients came from the Anglican Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe
Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe
The Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe is geographically the largest diocese of the Church of England and arguably the largest diocese in the Anglican Communion, covering some one-sixth of the Earth's landmass, including Morocco, Europe , Turkey, and the territory of the former Soviet...
, which covers continental Europe, and forty from the Diocese of Sodor and Man
Diocese of Sodor and Man
Sodor and Man is a diocese of the Church of England. Originally much larger, today it covers just the Isle of Man and its adjacent islets.-Early history:...
, which consists of the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
. Robert Patterson, Bishop of Sodor and Man
Bishop of Sodor and Man
The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese covers the Isle of Man. The see is in the town of Peel where the bishop's seat is located at the Cathedral Church of St German, elevated to cathedral status on 1...
, while at a conference of Anglican bishops had invited the Queen to his cathedral for Maundy services; he received word that this would be too difficult, but that his diocese could nominate recipients.
The Yeomen of the Guard are present at the ceremony and serve as "Indoor Guard"; the choir of the Chapel Royal is also present. Six wandsmen, whose original function is uncertain, guide the recipients to their places and render any other help which is needed. Present at the ceremony are four Maundy Children (formally "Children of the Royal Almonry"), two boys and two girls. The original Maundy Children were four old men, charity recipients, whose sole duty was to attend at the Royal Maundy service wearing linen scarves. As their fees for the service amounted to over twenty pounds per year, this was deemed an abuse of charity, and in 1808 the old men were pensioned off and replaced by actual children. The first children appointed from 1808 did not personally attend the service, but their parents received five guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
per year to aid in their education until the age of fourteen, and four other children, from schools in the City of Westminster
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
represented them at the service. Today, the Maundy Children are chosen from religious and state schools, and receive a set of Maundy coins for their participation. Officials in the Maundy service wear towels over their clothing, worn over the shoulder and tied at the waist. The linen towels were once retained by their wearers, but since 1883, the same towels, laundered each year, have been used.
Until 1979, the Queen made two distributions of money in leather purses to each recipient. The first distribution, given to women in green purses and to men in white, was of an allowance in lieu of the clothing formerly given. The white purses used for the clothing allowance may be distinguished from the white purses which contained Maundy money, as the former was tied with a short green string; the latter bears a long red string. The clothing allowance purses had been introduced in 1936; prior to that, the clothing allowance was distributed in a paper packet. In the second distribution two purses were given by the monarch; the red one contained £1.50 for provisions, once given in kind, and the additional sum of £1 mandated by Elizabeth I. The white purses contained the Maundy money. After 1979, the separate distribution of the clothing allowance was discontinued—the gifts have now been consolidated, and recipients now receive two purses in a single distribution, one white containing the Maundy coins, and one red containing the other money. The distributions were consolidated so as to reduce the physical strain of the ceremony on the Queen as she aged. The red purse contains £1 representing the money for redemption of the monarch's gown, £3 in lieu of the clothing once given, and £1.50 in place of the food once presented, totalling £5.50. In 2011, the £5.50 not given in Maundy money took the form of a £5 coin commemorating the Duke of Edinburgh's ninetieth birthday, and a 50p coin marking the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
One man and one woman are chosen for each year the Queen has lived (including the year she is currently living), and they receive Maundy money equivalent in pence to that number of years. The purses are carried into the church by the Yeomen on the dishes, held above their heads. The origin of this custom is uncertain but apparently dates from the times when provisions were distributed to the poor; some experts believe the dishes were carried high to stop the poor from grabbing at the food prematurely; others believe that the position was to prevent the congregation from being overwhelmed by the smell of fish.
The Order of Service for Royal Maundy is a simple one. It begins with the reading of John 13:34, which contains the mandatum from which Royal Maundy evolved. It contains two lessons, the first of which (John 13) also recalls the mandatum. The second reading contains that portion of Matthew 25 which describes the Last Judgment
Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
. The Queen makes half of the presentations after the first lesson, and half after the second. Anthems, led by the Chapel Royal choir and the local choir, are sung while the distribution is going on, concluding with Handel
Georg Händel
Georg Händel was a barber-surgeon and the father of Georg Frideric Handel. As a young man he had to stop attending grammar school when his father Valentin died and had to give up his aspirations to become a lawyer...
's Zadok the Priest. The Royal Maundy service concludes with prayers, "God Save the Queen
God Save the Queen
"God Save the Queen" is an anthem used in a number of Commonwealth realms and British Crown Dependencies. The words of the song, like its title, are adapted to the gender of the current monarch, with "King" replacing "Queen", "he" replacing "she", and so forth, when a king reigns...
" and the blessing. Two hymns are sung; there is no address. Six silver dishes are used to hold the gifts; one, the traditional Maundy Dish, forms part of the Royal Regalia and is held at the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
when not in use. All six dishes date from the reign of Charles II; five of the six have been added to the service since 1971. They are held by the Yeomen as the Queen walks about, greeting recipients and giving them their gifts. The Lord High Almoner receives his only recompense for his position if he attends the Royal Maundy service—a small fee, though payable in Maundy money.
The Pope still performs the pedilavium, as does the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
. In recent years, the pedilavium has become more popular across Christian denominations, and even as a gesture of humility among those serving the poor. Today, the Royal Maundy ceremony involves a considerable security operation, with drains in the area checked. Two 17-year-old boys were arrested in Wakefield
Wakefield
Wakefield is the main settlement and administrative centre of the City of Wakefield, a metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England. Located by the River Calder on the eastern edge of the Pennines, the urban area is and had a population of 76,886 in 2001....
in 2005 for popping balloons in the area of the service; as the sound might be mistaken for gunfire.
Mercia Tapsell, a 71-year-old Maundy recipient who participated in the 1992 ceremony at Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
for her work with the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
, spoke of the ceremony before her death in July of that year:
It surpassed anything that I ever thought. I didn't ever think that I should be in the cathedral with the Queen and all the dignitaries that were there. And the singing, the organ, the Queen, just everything and everybody. It's really been out of this world. Just to hear Zadok the Priest, I think, has lifted me to Cloud Nine, because it's something that I love. And to hear that and to have the Queen pass so close to me. And yes, she smiled. She smiled at me.
Maundy coinage
Development and design
Sets of one penny through four pence silver coins are known from the time of Charles II onwards. However, as there is no record of any denomination higher than one penny (then struck for circulation in silver) being used in the Maundy gift before 1731, sets from before then are most likely ordinary circulation strikes. At that time, coins used for the Maundy money distribution were indistinguishable from those struck for circulation. It was not until 1752 that coins not struck for circulation were used for the Maundy distribution. In a time when little silver was being struck by the Royal MintRoyal Mint
The Royal Mint is the body permitted to manufacture, or mint, coins in the United Kingdom. The Mint originated over 1,100 years ago, but since 2009 it operates as Royal Mint Ltd, a company which has an exclusive contract with HM Treasury to supply all coinage for the UK...
, the coins distributed might bear a previous year's date. To evade statutory prohibitions on the striking of silver coin during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, all Maundy pieces issued from 1800 to 1815 bear the date 1800, though most were struck later. When the date was finally changed in 1816, after the prohibition ended, the size of the coins was slightly reduced, as the Royal Mint implemented a change from striking 62 shillings of silver coin from one troy pound of sterling silver to 66 shillings. The last year in which no Maundy coins were struck was 1821.
In 1689, the Royal Mint began using a design for the reverse of the four low-denomination silver coins depicting a crowned numeral. The designer is unknown (Richard Lobel, in his catalogue of British coins, suggests the artist was George Bower, an employee of the Royal Mint whose medals bear similar characteristics), but his work has endured, in a revised form, for over three hundred years. In 1822 an amended reverse was introduced, and has been struck every year since then in all four denominations. The 1822 reverse design, which places the crowned numeral within an oak wreath was done by Jean Baptiste Merlen. This design is still struck each year, though the crown was altered in 1888, as was the appearance of the numeral "2" on the twopence. These changes were made by Royal Mint engraver Leonard Charles Wyon
Leonard Charles Wyon
Leonard Charles Wyon was a British engraver of the Victorian era most notable for his work on the gold and silver coinage struck for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887 and the bronze coinage of 1860 with the second head portrait, in use from 1860 to 1894.-Career:The eldest son of chief...
. A proposal by the Royal Mint in 1950 to return to the pre-1888 "2" as more artistic was refused by George VI, who felt the current numeral was stylistically similar to the numerals on the other coins, and the pre-1888 "2" was not.
Beginning in 1834 threepence pieces were struck for circulation, bearing the same design as the Maundy threepence. The circulation pieces were initially struck for use in the West Indies, but beginning in 1845, were coined for use in Britain as well. Many of the threepences presented to impoverished Maundy recipients were spent and are rarer than the other values today. Maundy threepences may sometimes be distinguished from currency threepences as dies with a more polished field were used for the Maundy pieces. The design of the circulation threepence remained the same as that of the Maundy threepence until 1928, when a new design was introduced for the circulating coins. Twopence coins identical to Maundy pieces, intended for colonial use, were struck in 1838, 1843, and 1848.
The original composition of the coins was sterling
Sterling silver
Sterling silver is an alloy of silver containing 92.5% by mass of silver and 7.5% by mass of other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925....
(0.925) silver. In common with all British silver coins, the fineness was reduced to 0.500 in 1921. In 1947 silver was removed from all circulating British coinage in favour of cupronickel
Cupronickel
Cupronickel or copper-nickel or "cupernickel" is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese. Cupronickel is highly resistant to corrosion in seawater, because its electrode potential is adjusted to be neutral with regard to seawater...
, but as it was felt to be inappropriate to strike Maundy coins in base metal, their fineness was restored to 0.925. On Decimal Day
Decimal Day
Decimal Day was the day the United Kingdom and Ireland decimalised their currencies.-Old system:Under the old currency of pounds, shillings and pence, the pound was made up of 240 pence , with 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a...
15 February 1971, the pound sterling
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
became decimalised, with 100 new pence instead of 20 shillings of 12 pence (240 pence) in a pound. No change was made to the design of the Maundy pieces, and all Maundy pieces, both pre- and post-Decimal Day are deemed denominated in new pence, more than doubling the face value of the pre-1971 pieces. The Maundy pieces continue to use the original obverse design for Queen Elizabeth II by Mary Gillick
Mary Gillick
Mary Gillick was a sculptor best known for her effigy of Elizabeth II used on coinage in the United Kingdom and elsewhere from 1953 to 1967....
, although the bust of the Queen on other British coins has been repeatedly replaced as she ages. At the time of decimalisation, the Royal Mint Advisory Commission recommended the retention out of affection for the Gillick design; this was accepted by the Queen.
Distribution and resale
In the 19th century, as many as sixty times the number of pieces needed for the ceremony were struck, due to public interest in the ceremony and the pieces. Beginning in 1846, Queen VictoriaVictoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
requested pieces for her private use, as much as £10 (2,400 pence) per year. Many sets were purchased by coin dealers, others by Mint officials as gifts.
Small quantities of Maundy twopences and fourpences (principally the latter) were obtained by colleges at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
for use in making token
Peppercorn (legal)
A peppercorn in legal parlance is a metaphor for a very small payment, a nominal consideration, used to satisfy the requirements for the creation of a legal contract. "A peppercorn does not cease to be good consideration if it is established that the promisee does not like pepper and will throw...
annual payments. These requests were fulfilled until the middle of the 20th century, after which the Royal Mint refused them; the colleges thereafter used obsolete circulation groats (fourpences), or dispensed with the custom.
According to Robinson, the practice of recipients being asked to sell their gifts "is of long standing". Robinson recounts a description of the scenes after a Maundy service at the turn of the 19th century:
[A] s soon as the service is over, crowds of buyers flock eagerly around the old people, who take a price for their coins. The rate they usually charge is four or five times the face value of the coins. The purses are sometimes disposed of at from one to two shillings each, depending on the market.
By 1897, Maundy recipients were being urged to sell the small pieces at a premium; there are tales of Americans paying high prices for a set that year, wishing a souvenir of Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
In 1903, the Royal Mint made its first effort to cut back on the number of pieces distributed, eliminating 200 Mint workers (principally charwomen and labourers) from the distribution list. Until 1908 Maundy sets could be ordered through banks. Beginning in 1909, however, distribution of the pieces was restricted to Maundy recipients and certain officials. Mintage of sets of Maundy money dropped from 9,929 in 1908 to 2,428 the following year. By 1932, Maundy recipients were routinely selling the coins to dealers at a premium. There was little official response to this until the 1960s, when questions were asked in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
after the press reported that recipients were being approached by dealers after the service and being offered cash for their gifts. In response, the Royal Mint decreased the number of sets available to officials, though Royal Mint employees of long service are offered the opportunity, every few years, to purchase a set. A number of sets are used as prizes for students at Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
, a practice said to have begun with Elizabeth I, though this now occurs only in years when the service is held at Westminster Abbey. Sets distributed by the Royal Mint in these ways are not given in purses, but in presentation cases.
In recent years, approximately 1,600–1,900 sets have been minted. Additional sets have been struck for inclusion in special silver proof sets
Proof coinage
Proof coinage means special early samples of a coin issue, historically made for checking the dies and for archival purposes, but nowadays often struck in greater numbers specially for coin collectors . Many countries now issue them....
marketed by the Royal Mint in 1996, 2000 and 2006, with a special issue in gold as part of a gold proof set in 2002. Individual Maundy recipients have realised as much as £100 per set of four pieces by selling them on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
.