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.
Visiting Oxford?
Allow me to be your guide... and discover the history of Oxford with an Oxford historian.
I offer a wide range of guided walks around the city and university. These can be a general introduction to the history and architecture or looking at specific themes and subjects.
I am a Catholic and a historian based in Oxford, where I am a member of Oriel College. My research, for a long delayed D.Phil., is a study of Richard Fleming, Bishop of Lincoln in the second decade of the fifteenth century. I also work as a freelance tutor in History and as an independent tour guide.
I was received into the Church in 2005 and am a Brother of the External Oratory of St Philip Neri at the Oxford Oratory.
ROGATIONS
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The three Rogation Days are upon us! Instituted in Gaul around 475 'to
repel calamities'; to ask that God will ... in the words of Cranmer's
translations o...
Saint Gabriel
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The angels call for our veneration and awe as part of God’s creation. Part
of the destructive modernism of the 1970s included advice to Catholic
school t...
The Lord’s descent into the underworld
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At Matins/the Office of Readings on Holy Saturday the Church gives us this
'ancient homily', I find it incredibly moving, it is about Holy Saturday,
about ...
The Wikipedia account of his life and cult is detailed and worth looking at. It can be found at Saint Stephen
I have written in previous years about his depiction in art as in St Stephen's Day
Here are some more images from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries - including a wider view of the Fra’ Angelico of the ordination of St Stephen as one of the first deacons.
St Stephen by Giotto painted 1320 -1325
Museo Horne Florence
Image: Wiktionary
The stones hitting his head became a common way of referring to the manner of his martyrdom in such paintings.
Fra Angelico, “Saint Peter Consecrates Saint Stephen, with the Seven Deacons,” circa 1448. Image: National Catholic Register Being a familiar figure as a deacon and martyr St Stephen often appears amongst the surviving paintings of saints on the base of late medieval English rood screens. One particularly fine example is at Hempstead in north-east Norfolk. It is discussed and illustrated in a useful study at Hempstead screen: St Stephen St Stephen from the Hempstead rood screen Image: Simon Knott on Flickr. The paintings of the story of St Stephen in the chantry chapel of William Lord Hastings, one of the victims of the violent political events of 1483, in St George’s Chapel Windsor are discussed in The Martyrdom of St Stephen - College of St George St Stephen Pray for us
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