Discoveries from ‘The Gribshunden’

Yesterday I attended online a most interesting set of lunchtime lectures at the Society of Antiquaries about the ongoing archaeological investigation of ‘The Gribshunden’. This was the flagship and floating command centre of King Hans of Denmark which sank off the coast of what is now southern Sweden, but was then still part of the Danish kingdom whilst sailing to an important meeting with the Swedish nobility at Kalmar in 1495. The King was hoping to reinvigorate the 1397 Union of the crowns of Denmark, Norway together with that of Sweden proclaimed at Kalmar in that year.  

A reconstruction of the Gribshunden at sea 

Image: Wikidata

The ships appears to have sunk in relatively shallow water following a possible explosion - it was heavily armed - but the waters of the Baltic are favourable to preserving rather than devouring ship timbers, as most notably with the Vasa in Stockholm harbour.

 

I have posted before about the Gribshunden in A fifteenth century King’s flagship.

I also wrote in Late fifteenth century Scandinavian Court cuisine and in More on the spices from the Gribshunden about the spices which had survived in the remains of the ship, and what they indicate about the life of the King and his courtiers

and the place of the Danish court in the international trade of the time.

There are two accessible, very detailed articles about the ship from the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology at The Danish Griffin: The Wreck of an Early Modern Royal Carvel from 1495 and from the Society for Combat Archaeology at Gribshunden: Significance and Preliminary Investigations

The Society of Antiquaries lectures are wide-ranging in their subject matter and free to watch online via their website and they also have recordings of previous lectures available. Yesterday’s set of talks by four experts working on different aspects of the project demonstrated the rich variety of discoveries already made from excavations of only a small portion of the ship. The vessel was about four-fifths the size of the Mary Rose but has already revealed comparable finds. Its potential, as is explained, is very considerable not just in terms of the development of ship building but also about life at the time and the links to the wider European culture of the end of the fifteenth century as well as to trading links on the other side of the world.

The lectures, which are only an hour in total but well illus, can be accessed at  https://www.youtube.com/live/UJtId-NdG1E?si=plZkOuZsfOT5gac-

A reconstruction technical drawing of the Gribshunden by Mats Vänehem

 Image: Wikinedia

Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales

Today is the 650th anniversary of the death of Edward, Prince of Wales in 1376. He was a week short of his forty sixth birthday, the national hero laid low by almost a decade of illness. His death was the passing also of the mid-century era of English military success in France and of a particular culture of chivalric behaviour. 

The effigy of Edward Prince of Wales on his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral

Image: berkhampstedcastle.org.uk

Popularly known as the Black Prince since the sixteenth century for reasons which are far from clear, he was in his lifetime and in the following years seen as an outstanding exemplar of medieval chivalric culture. Later centuries also subscribed to that view, but in recent decades his reputation been discussed by historians and popular writers. There have been a number of biographies, and debate over his actions in 1370 at the sack of Limoges became something of an academic battleground. That debates perhaps revealed more about misconceptions amongst some people today about the past than it did about the past itself. The current consensus appears more favourable to him.

The effigy of Edward Prince of Wales in Canterbury Cathedral

Image: World History Encyclopaedia 

Despite his public role as military leader and victor in notable battles, notably Crecy, Poitiers and Najera, his decade of rulership in Aquitaine, and the near contemporary accounts by the Chandos Herald and Jean Froissart, less emerges about him as a personality than his younger brothers, John, Edmund and Thomas. The superb effigy at Canterbury commemorates the public Prince but reveals little of the man, and that seems true of so much of his life. He appears to have been devout, with a particular devotion to the Trinity, which may well suggest an interest in theology akin to that of his nephew, the future King Henry IV. Very appropriately he died on Trinity Sunday. Having requested burial in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Undercroft at Canterbury it was deemed more appropriate to bury him above that chapel in the vicinity of the shrine of St Thomas in the Trinity Chapel. 

  

The Prince kneels in prayer before the Holy Trinity 

Image: mediastorehouse.com

His private life with at least two illegitimate sons born marriage is probably typical of his age. After talk when he was a small child of marrying him to the daughter of King Philip VI of France marriage to Margaret of Brabant was being actively discussed in the years 1339-45 but nothing came of it. As it was he married late, and initially secretly, to his relative Joan “the Fair Maid” of Kent, acquiring thereby a family of stepchildren. It is, perhaps, more than somewhat reminiscent of the marriage just over a century later of King Edward IV to Elizabeth Woodville. Joan’s sons the Hollands were again not altogether dissimilar to the Woodvilles and Greys.     

Joan, Princess of Wales

Image: A Royal Heraldry 

That Edward and Joan’s marriage was a love match seems clear, but their elder son died as a child and the future hopes of the couple and the dynasty were centred henceforth on the younger son, the future King Richard II.

 

The Prince at prayer from the remains of the painted decoration of St Stephen’s Chapel Westminster 

Image: luminarium.org

The Prince at prayer with his ostrich feather badge on the wall behind.

Image:mediastorehouse.com

The fact that he was eight years older than his next brother to reach adulthood Lionel, ten years older than John and twelve years older than Edmund, let alone twenty five years older than his youngest brother Thomas, born when Edward was himself already a father, must have affected the dynamics of the family and the way it worked as part of King Edward III’s system of governance. 

King Edward III creates his son the Prince of Wales as Prince of Aquitaine in 1362

Image: luminarium.org 

The Prince’s last years were overshadowed by illness, by the gradual loss of the military initiative and territory to the French, and the decline of his father King Edward III. His difficulties in Aquitaine reflected not only the significant financial consequences of his Castilian campaign - where he was given what is now his eponymous ruby - but also the long-standing traditions of local autonomy on the parts of the Gascon lords and which could be easily exploited by the French crown. In that respect he faced the type of problems that had confronted Richard Coeur de Lion almost two centuries earlier.The Gascons might well love a ruler based in London over one closer at hand in Paris, but an energetic Duke or Prince based in Bordeaux was too close for comfort.

The Oribce’s signet ring found at Montpensier in Auvergne in 1866.

Image: Wikipedia 

In his last months the Prince appears to have been seen by those opposing his father’s ministers as their supporter, but his participation is unclear. Family bonds still bound the Plantagenets closely, even if there was always the potential for differing views and policies between the monarch and his team, and those of the heir and his entourage. That had been present in the 1269s and was to be in the early fifteenth century, and, of course, a principal factor in politics from the seventeenth century onwards. It is a seemingly inevitable part of any dynastic system. For Edward his tragedy was that he was dying in the spring of 1376 and was never able to show how he might have ruled as a putative King Edward IV.

 

Later generations, and apparently, some contemporaries imagined a new reign would have brought new or reinvigorated policies, and see a divide between him and his next surviving brother, John, Duke of Lancaster. The evidence of Edward’s rule in Aquitaine suggests he would have been tough rather than merely amenable as king, and his knight and apparently close friend Sir Simon Burley was to be a major influence the young King Richard II and a principal object of the Appellant’s vengeance in 1388. A Whiggish view of the Prince does not work.    

 

His military triumphs and relatively early death loomed to a greater or lesser extent over the reign of his son, with the inevitable speculation as to what might have been. In that he was like his great-nephew King Henry V in the reign of his son. Victories like Poitiers and Agincourt opened up possibilities for both men which they were never able to achieve before death claimed them, and which their sons and their advisors could never fulfill.

The Prince’s great helm and shield from his achievements set over his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral 

Image: World History Encyclopaedia 

 

The arms in full heraldic display 

Image: A Royal Heraldry- Wikipedia 

The replicas of the Prince’s achievements 

Image: trc-leiden.nl

There is an article with additional information about the Prince’s surcoat at Jupon of the Black Prince

There is a video from a BBC series from 2018 about creating a faithful reproduction of the surcoat using the same fabrics as the original which can be seen at https://share.google/2kORvchUKkHyE3Teq

Wikipedia has a quite detailed biography which gives a good narrative of his life, considerable detail and discussion of chivalric culture, as well as a good bibliography but whose interpretation at times unfortunately relies on old-fashioned views from the old DNB entry. The illustrated article can be seen at Edward_the_Black_Prince

   

There is another quite detailed biography from Luminarium which can be accessed at Edward, the Black Prince of Wales (1330-1376)

I have previously shared articles about conservation and research work on the funeral achievements and the tomb at Canterbury. LiveScience has a 2021 article on the work on the effigy which can be seen at Tomb effigy of the 'Black Prince' was likely medieval propaganda to bolster his son's failing rule

I am not sure I fully agree with the argument about the intention of the tomb commission but the article is worth perusing.  

 

The effigy and tomb of the Prince at Canterbury 

Image: A Royal Heraldry - churchmonunentssociety.org

Pray for the repose of the soul of Edward Prince of Wales and of Aquitaine

 

Understanding medieval marginalia

I am sure we are all familiar with the illuminated marginalia in medieval manuscripts, especially those from the thirteenth century onwards. The bizarre world they create of knights fighting giant snails of rabbits, doing the comeuppance to a whole of a variety of opponents, grotesque creatures that are strangely deformed, to a variety of risqué subjects are a delight, and frequently used in book illustrations, on postcards from great library bookshops and so on. The Internet disseminates them far and wide.

We are amused, and quite probably bemused by them, not being sure what their meaning is, and perhaps being inclined to dismiss them as ‘doodles’.

Substack has an interesting piece which starting from the ‘doodle’ idea sets out to demolish that really implausible idea and to show that the marginal illuminations do relate to the text within the margins - and that is an important point - and should be understood as a commentary or aide memoire for the reader.  

The article from Weird Medieval Guys makes a good case for taking the humour of these illustrations seriously, and thereby enriching our understanding of what we are looking at.

The illustrated article is well worth reading and can be accessed at How to interpret medieval marginalia 101

The Vatican and SSPX - scholarship seeking resolution

The always scholarly and informed website Rorate Cæli has two new articles which are both important contributions to the debate about the proposed episcopal consecrations for SSPX.

The first looks at the modern, post 1870, understanding of Papal authority. In doing so it draws upon a range of historical material. I was particularly interested to see the writings of Augustinus Triumphus (1243-1328) cited. I recall reading Michael Wilks book about his very advanced theories of Papal power in Oriel library during one Long Vacation. That his ideas can be seen underlying contemporary concerns is, to put it mildly, interesting.

The article can be read at "The Performative Contradiction of the Society of St. Pius X" - Guest Article by Vigilius

The second article is by Bishop Athanasius Schneider and sets out to examine the fundamental issues in respect of the reception of the ideas of the avowedly “non-dogmatic” Second Vatican Council. The bishop makes a series of excellent points with clarity and coherence. He displays a wide and generous understanding of the history of the Church. He is clearly anxious to see a peaceful resolution of this matter in the interests of the whole Church. That must be commendable.

Bishop Schneider’s article can be read at "TRUTH: The Core Question Regarding the SSPX" - by Bishop Athanasius Schneider 

More reflections on the Vatican and SSPX

 

Corpus Christi, with its emphasis on the liturgical Presence of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord seems a not inappropriate day on which to reflect further on the tension between the Vatican and the SSPX over the intention of the Society to consecrate four new bishops without Papal mandate on July 1st.

I wrote about this issue last month in a post which can be seen at The Vatican vs SSPX  

It is a subject about which I continue to pray.

Since then a number of online features have caught my eye and I think them worth sharing.

 

For those not aux fait with the background there is a suitably neutral account from ReadyToHarvest about the conflict going back to the years immediately after Vatican II ended and which can be seen at Will SSPX Schism? What's Going On?

Shortly after my post I came across links to an open letter to the Pipe from Bishop Athanasius Schneider which the faithful could also sign expressing the hope that the Holy See would approve of the consecrations to avoid further rupture. This can be accessed at Bishop Schneider backs urgent appeal asking Pope Leo XIV to support SSPX consecrations

I signed the letter.

Subsequently I came upon a lengthy article on Substack which was a commentary on the letter. It is by a monk of Le Barroux and has some important references to history and canon law in respect of Papal powers. It can be read at We Do Not Save the Faith Against the Pope

 

The very well-informed website The Pillar had further thoughts on what might happen on July 2nd if neither side backs down - and there is nothing so far to suggest either will. That article, written by a leading member of a team who are well versed in canon law, can be found 

at Excommunication communication: What if the SSPX does a schism?

I have never attended an SSPX Mass other than watching a handful online during Covid. A friend, who does have contact with members of SSPX, opined that whereas in 1988 excommunication or the threat of it was a sobering thing today, as a legacy of the actions of Pope Francis, it is seen as no threat and enhances the resolve of the Society.

It would be difficult for either side to step back. For SSPX it would be a negation if so much, if not indeed all rhey have professed. For the Vatican, which clearly includes in the College of Cardinals very considerable disparity on the liturgy, the most obvious point of difference, and for the Pope, only a year into his pontificate, to give way in the point would be severely disabling.

 

That is to look at the clash in political terms. During the lead up to last year’s conclave several commentators but not perhaps enough - lamented the way in which the life of the Church was being presented in terms of secular, entrenched, adversarial,party politics. Maybe we must pray that this matter is not just resolved in charity but in a Christian charity that is worthy of the Body of Christ. 

Corpus Christi

Today is the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.

As a feast and day of devotion it is one of the high points in the Catholic calendar and in the Church year.

  

Image: Catholic Diocese of Little Rock

 

The Worship of the Lamb

The Ghent altarpiece 

Jan and Hubert van Eyck

Mid-1420s  - 1432

The feast originated two centuries earlier in the same region

Image: Catholic Diocese of Little Rock

Corpus Christi originated as a liturgical celebration in what is now Belgium and was officially established by Pope Urban IV on August 11 1264 in the bull Transiturus. However the Pope died a few weeks later on October 2, and for all that he had commissioned St Thomas Aquinas to compose the propers, the new feast languished. Only a few places observed it. It was not until 1317 when Pope John XXII published a compilation of new papal decrees assembled by his predecessor Pope Clement V in the Clementines that the celebration became widely known and made part of regular liturgical observance. The fact that this was the first feast mandated by the Papacy may have meant that its novelty meant that many thought it only applied in Rome. 

One the 1317 text reached its audience the new feast became not only widely observed but also very popular. So in England the day was marked with processions, religious con fraternities or guilds of the great and the good, as well as more humble members, and the staging of Mystery Plays by the trade guilds.  

Corpus Christi is a quintessentially later medieval feast, a living link to the piety of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries created in the solid foundation of that of the thirteenth century.

Alas, in England the events of the mid-sixteenth century swept that all away, despaired some attempts to continue or revive the plays in the Elizabethan era.

One of the longest established Corpus Christi processions is in the historic city of Toledo, the ecclesiastical capital of Spain. Here one can see, and if you are fortunate enough to be there, no doubt sense the religious milieu not just of late medieval Castile but of late medieval Christendom. Church, city and State combine to celebrate, with the astonishing early sixteenth century shrine for the monstrance being borne through the streets.

That is how religious worship should be confident, devout, traditional.

There is an online introduction to the celebration, linked to promoting visits to this great artistic and cultural centre, at Corpus Christi (Toledo, Spain) 2026

    

The beginning of the Procession 

Image: pillarcatholic.com

 

The Corpus Christi procession in Toledo

 

Image: Corpus Christi on X

There is a quite detailed history of the origins and development of the feast available on Wikipedia at Feast_of_Corpus_Christi

I wish a solemn, holy and joyful feast of Corpus Christi to all my readers

New England

The phrase New England today refers to the rural areas in particular of the north eastern USA, and evokes to most people images of neat white-painted clapboard or mellow brick houses gathered around a church tower or town hall with similar construction. 

To those wishing to show off their knowledge of Elizabethan exploration it might lead to a temptation to talk about Sir Francis Drake’s claim to what is now northern California and Oregon at Drakes Bay in 1579 as New Albion ( Nova Albion ) - partly because the coastline reminded him of the White Cliffs of Dover.

What it has been unlikely to do with other than a very few specialists is make anyone think of the Crimea … and I do not mean the events of 1854-6. Why, I can almost hear readers saying out loud, should the name New England be accorded to the Crimea?

I too would have said that, but was very interested and intrigued to read an article on the Medieval Realms site on Substack

The article can be read at New England

This can, indeed should, be supplemented by three Wikipedia articles: 

New_England_(medieval) which also outlines the story of ‘New England’ on the Black Sea, 

Siward_Barn about the apparent leader of this English enterprise 

J%C3%A1tvar%C3%B0ar_Saga about the narrative source for the story

In addition the Greek Reporter website had an article a short while ago which gives some background as it looks at the conflict between the Byzantine Empire and the emerging Rus’ during in the two centuries or so before the events covered in this research. The article can be read at When the Byzantine Empire Fought the Early Russians Over Crimea

That English military exiles served in the Varangian Guard in Constantinople is well known. A friend who is also a medievalist with whom I shared this story told me that he was once talking with M.R.D.Foot, the historian of S.O.E. who recalled visiting Istanbul, as it was after 1931, in the 1930s and seeing lots of blond-haired boys playing in the street outside his hotel. He was convinced that they were descendants of the Varangian Guard and pure Anglo-Saxon!

And finally, here is a throwback to 2020 and a comic take on HMG and Covid …..

but maybe it was no laughing matter ….

 

Early Christian Churches in Anatolia

I recently came across an online article from The Independent with an account of recent archaeological work and discoveries in western Anatolia that reveal significant aspects of the early Christian churches built after the Peace of the Church and about communities in the region of the Seven Churches of Asia addressed in the Johannine text of Revelation. 

Amongst the discoveries is in a tomb at Iznik - ancient Nicea - and is the best preserved example of those few paintings which survive showing Christ as the Good Shepherd with a definitely Romanised figure of Christ. This is dated to the early to mid third century

The Good Shepherd and other paintings in the Iznik tomb

Image: MSN

It is also covered by another Independent article from late last year which can be seen at Jesus fresco found in ancient tomb sheds light on early Christianity

At the other end of the social scale are the Christian graffiti cut onto walls and, arguably, the small pilgrim flask with the figure of St George from Pergamum. Christianity had come to be, and remained, part and parcel of the life of the region.

The more recent article also looks at evidence that has emerged of the scale of the Imperial cult, and sees the emerging Christian Church as a direct counterpoint to that in the pre-Constantinian era.

The discoveries are illustrated and outlined alongside these interpretative points in the article at Spectacular archaeological finds in Turkey shed new light on origins of Christianity

There is a video with commentary about the Good Shepherd painting from africanews which can be seen at 🔎 recent early christian discoveries in Turkey   

A longer version without commentary from AP may be viewed at 🔎 recent early christian discoveries in Turkey 

 

Another video reports on excavations and conservation  of a flooded basilica site at Iznik, the site of the original city of Nicea and of the Council of 325. As I understand it a subsequent earthquake submerged the original city beneath the lake, and Nicea was rebuilt on the hill above its drowned predecessor.

The video can be be seen at 🔎 recent early christian discoveries in Turkey 

What has been revealed by these discoveries is further evidence of the extent and stability of Christian life despite occasional persecution, and underscores the point that the Persecution under Diocletian and his supporters was not merely more intense but came after a period of seeming acceptance and co-existence.

The tomb with the Good Shepherd painting also demonstrates that at least some Christians belonged to an affluent social sphere and able to appreciate and commission artworks. The world of these Christian Anatolians was clearly not just one of slaves and the downtrodden but part of Roman society, even if that society did not officially recognise them, and was sometimes hostile.