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 27 June 2023

Prayers of a fretful and ailing monarch


The Mail Online reports on an academic study of two copies of Psalms and Prayers, compiled by Queen Catherine Parr and which are believed to have belonged to King Henry VIII. One of the volumes is in the collection at Elton Hall in Huntingdonshire and the other, its previous royal ownership only recently attributed, is in the remarkable Getty Library at Wormsley in Buckinghamshire. Both Elton and Wormsley are fascinating to visit in their own right - Elton as a house with medieval beginnings and open to the public, Wormsley is open by arrangement for groups and is an amazing treasury of books and bindings.

Psalms and Prayers was published in 1544 and the work of the King’s bluestocking sixth Queen, a lady with definitely evangelical tendencies. This was at a time when the King’s government led by the Duke of Norfolk and Bishop Gardiner had a distinctly Catholic temper whilst many of those around the Court, and particularly the heir Prince Edward, such as the new Queen and the Earl of Hertford ( the future Protector Somerset ) were inclined towards reformed religion. With an ageing and ailing monarch and a malleable heir there were very high stakes to play for. 

That the King was using this more ‘modern’ prayer book rather than the Books of Hours on which he was doubtless raised is in itself very interesting.

The particular focus of this research has been on the various marginal notes which are believed to have been made by the King himself to indicate particular verses. In most cases they are in the medieval tradition of a hand with a pointing finger, or, in other cases, a triangle of dots and a linking flourish. 

The verses the King highlighted referred to illness, from which he increasingly suffered in these years, and to fear of Divine judgement. The latter certainly suggests a more reflective and introspective man than the popular perception of him. 

Whatever one thinks of King Henry VIII - and how much one thinks he should have feared the wrath of God and needed His mercy - it is fascinating to have this glimpse into the inner life of such a ruler and in that period of history.



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