by C. D. Baker
52. What is the meaning of the Tinker’s riddle, “You are a vessel within a vessel. Each is cracked, but each is yet filled with darkness. Both must be broken to let the light in”? How is Heinrich cracked in both body and spirit, but not fully broken? Why would the wise tinker later tell Heinrich to “suffer the suffering”?
Chapter 23
53. The kind priest at Zell tells Heinrich that truth “is what remains when all else fails.” What “truths” have already failed Heinrich throughout his life? What else must fall before only God remains?
54. Heinrich finally arrives in Rome, only to find that the Holy City does not live up to his expectations. How are the Roman priests similar to those in Weyer? Why does Heinrich continue to pursue acts of penance when it has always proven futile in the past? Why does the physical pain provide relief from his mental anguish?
Chapter 24
55. Heinrich departs on what is supposed to be a “forty-day journey,” yet is gone for several years. How does this compare with the wilderness wandering of the Israelites? Who or what is responsible for the continued delays, setbacks, and disappointments? What is God trying to teach Heinrich in his “wilderness experience”?
56. In what ways does Sister Anoush demonstrate the true love of Christ, while other members of the Church have not? How does Heinrich respond to the nun’s unconditional acceptance? Why is it important for the church today to open its arms to those who are hurting and confused?
57. How does Heinrich react to seeing his sons again? Why doesn’t he immediately make himself known to them? What is the source of his fear and what does it cost him?
Chapter 25
58. Heinrich desperately chases after his sons, only to miss them several times. When he finally locates the children, they are already aboard the slave ship. Why does God allow the situation to come to such a critical point? What would have happened to the other children if Heinrich had found his sons earlier and headed home?
59. What finally causes Heinrich to break his vow and look up to the sun? What breakthrough does this action signify? In the end, who was Heinrich’s greatest oppressor?
60. What do you make of the suggestion that in all these years, while Heinrich thought he was the seeker of Hope, the fact was that Hope had been seeking him all along? How would you describe your own spiritual quest? Did you find God, or did God find you?
GLOSSARY
The Medieval Clock
Medieval time was divided into twelve hours of available daylight. Therefore, a summer’s hour would have been longer than a winter’s. The corresponding times below, typically called the seven canonical hours, are approximate to the modern method.
Matins: midnight
Prime: daybreak (6 A.M.)
Terce: third hour of light (9 A.M.)
sixth hour of light (noon)
Nones: ninth hour of light (3 P.M.)
Vespers: twelfth hour of light (6 P.M.)
Compline: twilight darkness
The Medieval Calendar
The Seasons
Winter: Michaelmas to the Epiphany. A time of sowing wheat and rye.
Spring: the Epiphany to Easter. A time of sowing spring crops (oats, peas, beans, barley, vegetables).
Summer: Easter to Lammas. A time of tending crops.
Autumn: Lammas to Michaelmas. A time of harvest.
Note: The medieval fiscal year began and ended on Michaelmas.
Holy Days and Feast Days
Feast of Circumcision / Feast of Fools, January 1: celebration of circumcision of Jesus / a secular feast marked by uproarious behavior honoring those normally of low standing.
The Epiphany /The Feast of Three Kings, January 6: celebration of the three wise men’s visit of Jesus.
The Baptism of our Lord: the Sunday after the Epiphany.
Lent: begins 40 days before Easter, not counting Sundays. A time to deny oneself in order to meditate upon the sufferings of Christ.
Palm Sunday.
Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday.
Easter Sunday.
May Day, May 1: Not a holy day, but celebrated throughout much of Christendom as a time of renewal.
Ascension Day: 40 days after Easter, usually early to mid-May. Celebrates the ascension of Christ into heaven.
Pentecost: 50 days after Easter, usually late May or early June. Celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Midsummer’s Day: Not a holy day, but rather a celebration of the summer solstice, June 21.
Lammas, August 1: beginning of harvest.
Assumption of the Virgin, August 15: celebrates Mary’s assumption into heaven.
St. Michael’s Day (Michaelmas), September 25: celebrates the archangel.
All Hallows’ Eve, October 31: a vigil that anticipates All Saints’ Day.
All Saints’Day, (Hallowmas), November 1: the honoring of all saints, known and unknown.
All Souls’Day, November 2: commemoration of all the faithful now departed.
Martinmas: November 12: Celebrates St. Martin of Tours who spared a freezing beggar by sharing his cloak.
Season of Advent: begins 4th Sunday before Christmas and lasts through December 24. It is the anticipation of the birth of Christ.
The Twelve Days of Christmas: Christmas Day to the Epiphany.
Christmas Day: December 25.
St. Stephen’s Day, December 26: to honor the martyr.
St. John the Evangelist’s Day, December 27: to honor the disciple.
Miscellaneous Terms:
abbess: female superior of a nunnery.
abbey: an autonomous monastery ruled by an abbot.
abbot: the title given to the superior of an autonomous monks’ community.
alles klar: German for “all is well.”
almoner: official appointed to distribute alms to the poor.
avanti: Italian for “keep moving.”
Ave Maria: Latin referring to a prayer to Mary.
arpent: unit of land roughly equivalent to an acre.
assart: the clearing of woodland.
bailey: inner courtyard of castle.
bailiff: chief officer of a manor, typically supervising general administration and law enforcement.
balk: an unploughed strip of land serving as a boundary.
bambini: Italian for “children.”
benefice: a grant of land or other wealth.
bienvenues: French for “welcome.”
bitte: German for “please; you’re welcome.”
bloody flux: dysentery.
bon: French for “good.”
bowshot: unit of measurement equivalent to approximately 150 yards.
Bube: German for little boy.
castellan: governor of a castle.
cellarer: monk charged with providing food stocks for the kitchener.
cerebritis: inflammation of the brain.
chain mail: body armor made of small, interlocking steel rings.
chalice: the cup holding the wine of the Eucharist.
chapter: the daily convening of a religious order for purposes of discipline and administration.
chapter house: the building attached to a monastery facilitating the chapter.
chin cough: whooping cough.
cives: Latin referring to the aristocracy.
cloister: a place of religious seclusion. Also a protected courtyard within a monastery.
commotion: concussion.
confiteor: the formal expression of repentence.
congestive chill: accumulation of blood in the vessels.
corruption: infection.
cottager: a bound person of the poorest station.
crenels: the gaps in the parapets atop a castle’s ramparts.
croft: small yard adjacent to a peasant’s cottage, normally used to grow vegetables.
demesne: the land of a manor managed exclusively for the lord.
dowry: originally a gift of property granted by a man to his bride as security for her old age
or widowhood.
ell: a unit of measurement equivalent to four feet.
flail: a hinged stick used for threshing wheat. Also a weapon consisting of a long rod with a swinging appendage on a hinge.
forester: manorial officer managing the lord’s woodland, usually under the supervision of the woodward.
frater: Latin for “brother.”
Frau: German for “wife, Mrs., or woman.”
furlong: a unit of measurement equivalent to 220 yards.
glaive: a weapon with a blade attached to a shaft.
glebe: a parcel of land owned by the Church for the benefit of a parish.
Gloria Dei: Latin for “praise God.”
gratia: Latin for “grace.”
grippe: influenza.
halberd: a lance-like weapon.
hauberk: a heavy, sometimes quilted, protective garment usually made of leather.
Hausfrau: German for “housewife.”
hayward: official charged with supervising the management of the fields.
hectare: a unit of land measurement roughly equivalent to 2 1/2 acres.
herbarium: the building in a monastery where herbs were stored.
heriot: death tax.
Herr: German for “husband. Mr., or man.”
hide: a unit of land equaling about 120 acres.
hogshead: a unit of volume equivalent to 2 barrels.
holding: typically, heritable land granted to a vassal.
Holy See: the seat of papal authority.
ich bin: German for “I am.”
ja: German for “yes.”
Junge: German for “boy.”
Kind/Kinder: German for “child/children.”
king’s evil: swelling of neck glands.
kitchener: the monastery’s food overseer.
In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti: Latin for: “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
lago: Italian for “lake.”
league: unit of measurement equivalent to 3 miles.
list: area of castle grounds located beyond the walls.
Mädel/Mádchen: German for “maiden/young girl.”
manor: the land of a lord consisting of his desmesne and tenant’s holdings.
manumission: fee required to buy freedom from the lord. Also, act by which freedom is granted.
mark: a unit of weight or money equaling roughly 8 ounces of silver.
matrona: Italian for “mother; woman.”
mead: a fermented beverage made from honey and water.
mein Gott/mein Gott in Himmel: German for “my God/my God in heaven.”
merchet: a tax paid for the privilege of marriage.
merlon: the solid segments in the gapped parapets atop a castle’s ramparts.
milites: Latin referring to the military class.
milk leg: inflammation of the leg.
monastery: a religious house organized under the authority of the Holy See.
morbus: disease.
mormal: gangrene.
mortal sin: according to the Roman Church, a sin so heinous as to rupture the state of grace between a Christian and God.
Mus: German for “mush,” a dish of boiled grains.
Mutti: German for “mommy, mama.”
novice: a new member of a religious community undergoing an apprenticeship of sorts and not yet fully committed by vows.
nunnery: a religious house for nuns; a convent.
oath-helper: a person who pledges their word in support of an accused.
oblate: a child given to a monastery for upbringing.
ordeal: a method of trial by which the accused was given a physical test to determine guilt.
Ordnung: German for “order.”
paten: the dish on which the bread of the Eucharist is placed.
pater: Latin for “father.”
Pater Noster: Latin referring to the Lord’s Prayer.
Pfennig: German for “penny.”
plenary indulgence: according to the Roman Church, the remitting of temporal punishment due for sins already forgiven by God.
portcullis: iron grate dropped along vertical grooves to defend a gate.
pound: an accounting measurement of money equaling 20 shillings, or 240 pennies—a pound of silver.
postulant: a candidate for membership in a religious order.
pottage: a brothy soup, usually of vegetables and grains.
prior: the official ranked just below an abbot. Sometimes the superior of a community under the jurisdiction of a distant abbey.
putrid fever: diphtheria.
pyx: the box in which the Eucharist is kept.
quinsey: tonsillitis.
reeve: village chief, usually elected by village elders.
refectory: the dining hall of a monastery.
rod: a measurement equivalent to 6 feet.
routier: mercenary.
scapular: a long smock worn over the front and back of a monk’s habit.
scriptorium: the building in a monastery where books were maintained and copied.
scrofulous: skin disease.
scutage: a tax paid by a freeman in lieu of military service obligations to his lord.
See: the seat of ecclesiastical authority, i.e. bishop.
serf: a bound person of little means.
shilling: an accounting measurement of money valued at 12 pennies.
signora: Italian for “lady, Mrs.”
signore: Italian for “gentleman, Mr.”
Spiritus Sanctus: Latin for “Holy Spirit.”
Stube: German for “parlor.”
St. Anthony’s Fire: skin infection.
St. Vitus’s Dance: nervous twitches.
steward: chief overseer of a manor, typically including legal and financial matters.
tithing: a unit often persons.
tonsure: the shaving of the crown of the head to signify Christ’s crown of thorns received as part of religious vows. trebuchet: a catapult.
trencher: flat board used as a plate.
tunic: garment worn as an over-shirt, typically hooded, sleeved, and belted outside the leggings.
vassal: a freeman who held land from a lord in exchange for his oath of fealty, usually obligated to perform military service.
Vati/Vater: German for “daddy/father.”
vattene: Italian for “hurry along, leave.”
vellein: a bound person of some means owing labor to his lord and subject to certain taxes.
venial sin: according to the Roman Church, a sin that interferes with a Christian’s fellowship with God, though not serious enough to violate the state of grace.
vielen dank: German for “many thanks.”
virgate: One-fourth of a hide. Considered the minimum amount of land necessary to support one peasant family for one year.
Volk: German for “people.”
wattle-and-daub: construction material consisting of woven sticks and clay.
whitlow: boils.
winter fever: pneumonia.
wunderbar: German for “wonderful.”
woodward: manorial overseer of the lord’s woodland.
yeoman: a free farmer of modest means.
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