Maundy Money

Reverse of Maundy Penny of 1844

Obverse of 1746 Maundy Fourpence

Reverse of Gold Maundy Fourpence of 2002

In The Beginning...
Christ washed the feet of his disciples before the Last Supper as a demonstration of humility. He also gave them a new commandment, that they should love one another. This tradition was continued by his followers, and is still practised by the modern day Pope on the day before Good Friday. It has also been practised by a number of monarchs, lords, and religious leaders, often in conjunction with a distribution of alms in the form of food and drink (dole), cloth, and money.

Why Maundy?
The latin for commandment is mandatum, and it is from this that the word maundy is derived. The Thursday before Good Friday is now known as Maundy Thursday, although it has also been known as Shire Thursday.

The Royal Connection
In Britain, the tradition of giving silver coins to the poor is said to have originated with St. Augustine in 597 AD at Canterbury, and been performed by the monarch since the days of Edward II. Originally the recipients were all of the same sex as the monarch, but at some stage this was extended to both sexes. Samuel Pepys commented in 1667 "but the King (Charles II) did not wash the poor people's feet himself, but the Bishop of London did it for him." James II is said to have been the last British monarch to have performed this act personally. The washing of the feet was abondoned in the 18th century.

Denominations
Modern Maundy sets consist of four coins, penny, twopence, threepence, and fourpence, but in the days of Edward II, only silver pennies would have been distributed, even though fourpences known as groats would have been available. The other two denominations were not introduced until later, 1551 in the case of the threepence, and 1660 for the twopence. It was possibly in 1667 that all four denominations were given for the first time.

Designs
With the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II in 1660, a number of interlinked "C's", according to th value, so 4 on the 4 pence, etc. This was continued under James II until 1688, although the C's were changed to I's, for IACOBUS. From the reign of William & Mary in 1689, the design changed to a crown over a numeral representing the value, this same design is still used today.

The Ceremony Venue
The ceremony was originally performed at the Chapel Royal in Whitehall, but later moved to Westminster Abbey. In 1955 it was held at Southwark Cathedral, and since then has alternated between Westminster Abbey and other cathedrals until 1972 when it has rotated every year. The following list shows all the years and venues, those not shown were all held at Westminster Abbey.

• 1953 St. Paul's Cathedral
• 1955 Southwark Cathedral
• 1957 St. Alban's Abbey
• 1959 Windsor Chapel
• 1961 Rochester Cathedral
• 1963 Chelmsford Cathedral
• 1965 Canterbury Cathedral
• 1967 Durham Cathedral
• 1969 Selby Abbey
• 1971 Tewkesbury Abbey
• 1972 York Minster
• 1974 Salisbury Cathedral
• 1975 Peterborough Cathedral
• 1976 Hereford Cathedral
• 1978 Carlisle Cathedral
• 1979 Winchester Cathedral
• 1980 Worcester Cathedral
• 1982 St. David's Cathedral, Dyfed
• 1983 Exeter Cathedral
• 1984 Southwell Minster
• 1985 Ripon Cathedral
• 1986 Chichester Cathedral
• 1987 Ely Cathedral
• 1988 Lichfield Cathedral
• 1989 Birmingham Cathedral
• 1990 Newcastle Cathedral
• 1992 Chester Cathedral
• 1993 Wells Cathedral
• 1994 Truro Cathedral
• 1995 Coventry Cathedral
• 1996 Norwich Cathedral
• 1997 Bradford Cathedral
• 1998 Portsmouth Cathedral
• 1999 Bristol Cathedral
• 2000 Lincoln Cathedral
• 2002 Canterbury Cathedral
• 2003 Gloucester Cathedral
• 2004 Liverpool (Anglican) )Cathedral
• 2005 Wakefield Cathedral
• 2006 Guildford Cathedral
• 2007 Manchester Cathedral
• 2008 St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh (20th March)
• 2009 ?

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