Once I Was A Clever Boy: The Vestments of Dr Adrian Fortescue

Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

The Vestments of Dr Adrian Fortescue

A friend has pointed out to me a set of posts on the St Lawrence Press blog about the surviving vestments of Dr Adrian Fortescue the original author of, inter alia, that classic work for practical liturgists The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described. There is an online biography of him here, and Fr Aidan Nichols has a book on him coming out in the new year.

In my days at Pusey one of the regular female attenders, who now, like me, has crossed the Tiber remarked of some of the Sacristan-servers "They ought to have bracelets marked not with WWJD [What Would Jesus Do] but WWFD - What Would Fortescue Do."

The posts are about vestments which were both designed and worn by Fortescue, and are in the gothic style, and can be viewed at The Vestments of Adrian Fortescue, DD. Part I, The Vestments of Adrian Fortescue, DD - Part II, The Vestments of Adrian Fortescue, DD - Part III, The Vestments of Adrian Fortescue, DD - Part IV, The Vestments of Adrian Fortescue, DD - Part V, The Vestments of Adrian Fortescue, DD - Part VI, The Vestments of Adrian Fortescue, DD - Part VII

2 comments:

Rubricarius said...: Thank you for the link Once I was a Clever Boy. I like the idea of WWFD bracelets but I suspect it would have been very hard to predict what the good Dr. would do and probably not be what most people would expect!; 13 December 2011 at 19:34
Anagnostis said...: Same as Jesus, then! ;o); 13 December 2011 at 20:05

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