The Paternoster (rosary)

During the medieval period, religion played a much different role in society than it does today. Religion was part of everyday life; the church heavily influenced social customs, science, food and even colour. Everyone during this time would be religious and would appear to be so by wearing a paternoster, known today as the rosary (rosarius means a garland or bouquet of roses). The rosary was used as a prayer counter to aid the reciting of prayers, and was heavily used during the medieval period. Saying the rosary was said to be an antidote to heresy and sin.

This practice seems to have originated among the early monks and hermits, who used a piece of heavy cord with knots tied at intervals upon which they recited their shorter prayers.

Rosaries aren't standardised at this point, so they can vary from twenty to one hundred and fifty beads. They do not have to have a crucifix on the end; some have a cross, but it is of the square variety rather than the T shape. Rosaries often had symbols of the person’s favourite saint or a simple tassel. Its' beads are made from wood, bone, glass, pewter or, rarely, silver. From the thirteenth century the manufacturers of these beads (bead was the Old Saxon word for prayer) were known as "paternosterers."

The construction of the rosary follows a simple pattern that is connected to prayer; the two types of beads represent the two types of prayers. The smaller beads are divided after every tenth bead by a larger or different bead. These ten beads are called ‘Hail Marys’ and they are divided with an ‘Our Father’ bead between each ten. A full rosary would consist of one hundred and fifty ‘Hail Marys’ beads and fifteen ‘Our Fathers’. Rather than just the simple repetition of these two prayers, in Latin, we were expected to contemplate and meditate upon the 15 mysteries of Christ.