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.


Monday 26 July 2021

The Feast of St James at Santiago de Compostella


Yesterday was the Feast of St James and this year, as the Feast fell on a Sunday it was designated a Jacobean year and witnessed the high point of the celebrations at Santiago de Compostela. The King and Queen of Spain and their two daughters attended the Mass and there was a display of church and civic ceremonial to honour the Saint, including the swinging of every thurifer’s delight the Botafumeiro…

There is online film coverage of the day from the local television channel here and from the Spanish Royal Family’s Casarealtv channel here. That also carries the King’s formal address to St James in a separate report.

The cathedral itself is described and illustrated in considerable detail, including the history of the Botafumeiro, on Wikipedia at Santiago de Compostela Cathedral


Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)