Note 157 — Chapter II · THE COLLEGES

The brethren and sisters of the two guilds presumably thus taxed all house property bequeathed by them to their college, to defray the expenses of the wax lights so freely used in funeral and other liturgical rites. It has been pointed out that the riots occurred two days after the feast of Corpus Christi, with its recent procession in England, the contribution of wax tapers for which may have greatly aggravated the grievance. The feast is of xiii c. origin, the outdoor procession dates from the late xivth.