<159>a - Boy Bishop token

Tr. 2: ‘Boy Bishop’ token, probably made in Bury St Edmunds or Ely. This example is probably of the half-groat size. Obverse has a crudely executed Bishop’s mitre and the reverse a standard long-cross, triple pellets within the central field and illegible legend. Diameter c. 27mm. Boy Bishop tokens were issued during the Christmas festive period between St Nicholas’ day on the 6th December until Childermas (or Holy Innocents’ Day) on the 28th December. During this period, a choirboy was elected as bishop and treated as a real bishop. During his time as bishop, the Boy Bishop lead processions and preached sermons, but was not allowed to celebrate Mass. The Boy Bishop would preach a sermon on the 28th December, resigning the same day. In some cities and towns, especially East Anglia lead tokens were issued, with the main centre at Bury St Edmunds, although the practice also exited at Sudbury, Ipswich and Ely. Tokens were typically exchanged for alms. Most tokens were based on general coinage and groat size, the half-groat size, such as this example, being much rarer, with more finely detailed ones generally earlier in date. The practice of electing Boy Bishops effectively ended with the Dissolution in 1536 (for a fuller discussion on these objects see Rigold 1977).