not merely because of the feasting, but because he had usually the right
to levy contributions on the faithful, and the amounts collected were
often very large. At York, for instance, in 1396 the "bishop" pocketed
about L77, all expenses paid.

The general parallelism of the Boy Bishop customs and the Feast of Fools
is obvious, and no doubt they had much the same folk-origin. One point,
already mentioned, should specially be noticed: the election of the Boy
Bishop generally took place on December 5, the Eve of St. Nicholas,
patron of children; he was often called "Nicholas bishop"; and sometimes,
as at Eton and Mayence, he exercised episcopal functions at divine
service on the eve and the feast itself. It is possible, as Mr. Chambers
suggests, that St. Nicholas's Day was an older date for the boys'
festival than Holy Innocents', and that from the connection with St.
Nicholas, the bishop saint _par excellence_ (he was said to have been
consecrated by divine command when still a mere layman), sprang |308|
the custom of giving the title "bishop" to the "lord" first of the boys'
feast and later of the Feast of Fools.

In the late Middle Ages the Boy Bishop was found not merely in cathedral,
monastic, and collegiate churches but in many parish churches throughout
England and Scotland. Various inventories of the vestments and ornaments
provided for him still exist. With the beginnings of the Reformation came
his suppression: a proclamation of Henry VIII., dated July 22, 1541,
commands "that from henceforth all suche superstitions be loste and
clyerlye extinguisshed throughowte all this his realmes and dominions,
forasmoche as the same doo resemble rather the unlawfull superstition of
gentilitie [paganism], than the pure and sincere religion of
Christe."{25} In Mary's reign the Boy Bishop reappeared, along with
other "Popish" usages, but after Elizabeth's accession he naturally fell
into oblivion. A few traces of him lingered in the seventeenth century.
"The Schoole-boies in the west," says Aubrey, "still religiously observe
St. Nicholas day (Decemb. 6th), he was the Patron of the Schoole-boies.
At Curry-Yeovill in Somersetshire, where there is a Howschole (or schole)
in the Church, they have annually at that time a Barrell of good Ale
brought into the church; and that night they have the priviledge to
breake open their Masters Cellar-dore."{26}

In France he seems to have gradually vanished, as, after the Reformation,
the