Warding off witches in Lincolnshire

Today is Halloween and, whilst from my view point, the modern commercialised things surrounding the day should be ignored, there has been the traditional telling of stories about witches and witchcraft and about warding off evil.

They have been some recent online reports about the ways in which people in the past warded off the activities of witches and of the evil eye in Lincolnshire.

The first concerns a survey that has been undertaken of witch marks and of other superstitious markings designed to protect against the house burning down at the Old Hall at Gainsborough. In recent years such symbolic marks have received more attention and it is clear that Gainsborough is a major resource for the study of these things. the Hickman family who owned the house at the beginning of the seventeenth century were closely associated with the Pilgrim Fathers who, of course, left initially from Boston for the United Provinces before their journey across the Atlantic in 1620. They and similarly-minded people were particularly conscious of what they saw as the threat posed by witches in the seventeenth century.

The reports can be seen from the Daily Telegraph at Secret ‘witch marks’ found in Tudor Manir House, from The Guardian at ‘Staggering array’ of witches’ marks discovered at English Heritage site, and from Sky News at 'Astonishing' witches' marks discovered at heritage site - including curses

Like some of the members of the Hickman’s ‘house church’ who met at the Hall the story of the discovery has crossed the Atlantic and is reported upon in some considerable detail by the Washington Post in Centuries-old ‘witches marks’ found carved into walls of English Manor House 

If you have not visited and are in the vicinity I would strongly recommend a visit to Gainsborough Old Hall, which has buildings dating from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, and is a relatively rare survival of a house of its type. It has a very impressive late medieval timber framed Hall and a spectacular brick kitchen with multiple hearths for feeding the owner and his household, not to mention distinguished guests.

The English Heritage website about it can be seen at Gainsborough Old Hall and Wikipedia has a history of the building and its owners at Gainsborough Old Hall

Coincidentally the BBC News website reports on a new exhibition at Lincoln Castle about charms against witches that have been found in the county from as late as the nineteenth century.

The article can be seen at Witchcraft charms go on display at Lincoln Castle

 It also refers to the Belvoir witchcraft case of 1618-19. BelvoirCastle, just over the county boundary in north-east Leicestershire, was at the centre of charges claiming that two children of the Earl of Rutland had been bewitched to death. The monument to the children in the Manners family burial place of Bottesford church is unique in explicitly stating that they died as a result of witchcraft. The story of this well documented and sensational case, together with modern theories about what was going on, can be seen on Wikipedia at Witches of Belvoir

The Coleorton Tunic and Coat

The other day I happened upon the website of the Leicestershire Museums Collections, and encountered there the Coleorton Tunic and the Coleorton Coat.

Coleorton is a small village in north-west Leicestershire. Originally just known as Orton it had, according to Wikipedia in Coleorton acquired the Cole prefix by at least 1443  due to it being a local centre for the digging and then mining of coal. In a somewhat similar process the nearby new town, as it then was, of Coalville acquired its name from the same industry in 1833.

Study of surviving early coal workings in 1985-93 revealed some remarkable survivals in the form of tools and clothing from past generations of miners. Most notable were the sodden, but retrievable, remains of a mid-sixteenth century tunic and a mid-seventeenth century coat, left, for whatever reasons in the coal workings. Sufficient survived to be preserved and displayed. There was evidence of the original dye to indicate the original colour of the tunic so as to enable a replica to be made. Both the original remains and the tunic replica can be seen, together with other finds, at Medieval Coal Mining

A contrary view on the Shroud of Turin

I have recently posted about new research into the Shroud of Turin and the significant evidence that suggest that it is indeed a first piece of first century linen that has been in the Holy Land.

In order to demonstrate my impartiality when it comes to assessing the scientific evidence I will now draw attention to an article in the Daily Telegraph which reports on research and an interpretation that puts forward a counter- argument as to how the image on the Shroud could or could not have come about, and indeed when that event might have happened.

The article can be seen at The 3D graphics that ‘prove’ the Shroud of Turin is a fake

I am not a scientist and claim no expertise at all in the technologies that have been implied by researchers into the history and nature of the Holy Shroud.

However, I would make two points against what appears to be the argument in the article.

Firstly, if I have understood the argument aright, it seems to be returning to a an explanation that is predicated on the cloth coming into contact with either a corpse or a living body, or a carved or moulded model that is somehow covered by an ungeant that would leave the marks on the burial cloth. Previous experiments on these lines produced similar distortions to the figure as opposed to those on the relic itself. That idea has, I believe, been ruled out in favour of a so-far unexplained burst of energy, so this seems to be a return to a discredited type of explanation for the markings on the fabric.

Secondly, the suggestion that this is somehow a forgery or, indeed, a piece of “Christian art” produced in the middle ages, requires the creators to have obtained an authentic piece of first century cloth from the Holy Land and furthermore to have used techniques that are completely unknown and unrecorded by contemporaries or indeed by anybody since.

We come back, it seems to me, to the case that on the basis of probability as other arguments are nullified that, however impossible it may appear. that it seems the “impossible” may have to be accepted.

Trends in the Late Antique Wine Trade

The Mediterranean world has been and continues to be one with a more than passing interest in the creation and consumption of wine. Wine is intimately bound up with Mediterranean culture, a component from the earliest times.

Recent research has indicated what it is suggested were the leading or most marketed types of wine in the Late Antique world from the fourth to the seventh centuries. 

Two regions emerge, both in the Eastern Mediterranean. For quality wines the vinophile looked to Gaza, for the mass market to Cilicia and Cyprus.

The research is st out in Two Wines Dominated the Market in Late Antiquity in the Mediterranean: Gaza and Cilician

Lancelot in Silesia

A while ago I came upon an article on Medievalists.net about a series of early fourteenth century wall paintings depicting the story of Sir Lancelot in a medieval tower house at Siedleçin in Lower Silesia. Having been whitewashed they were initially rediscovered in the nineteenth century and have gradually been recovered and studied.

 

The Siedlečin Tower was built in 1312-15 by Duke Henry ( Henryk ) I of Jawor and the paintings are thought to be from a few years later. They may represent the influence or interests of his wife, a daughter of the King of Bohemia, whom he married in 1319.

The Medievalists.net account can be seen at Finding Sir Lancelot in Medieval Poland 

Wikipedia has an entry for the building at Siedlęcin Tower

The Tower represents one aspect of the convoluted aristocratic politics of medieval central Europe. In particular it is a section of the story of the fragmentation of Piast authority in the western lands of the Polish kingdom in the extended absence of central royal authority, and the dynastic moves that led towards Bohemian overlordship in 1392. There is an introduction to the region from Wikipedia at Lusatia .

There is a biography on Wikipedia of the builder at Henry I of Jawor and one of his spouse at Agnes of Bohemia, Duchess of Jawor  These biographies, and the links within them, are interesting in exploring the complex of familial ties amongst the aristocratic elites of the region and also by indicating the potential cultural contacts that could have flowed from them. Some aspects of those possibilities were examined in a 2015 guest post on the Edward II blogspot which can be seen at Edward II, Duke Henryk and 14th-Century Murals at Siedlęcin 

Tomb effigies now displayed in the town hall of Lwówek Ślaşki which represent, in all probability, Duke Henryk and his wife Agnes ( Anežka)

Image: Ludwig Schneider/ Edward II Blog

In England virtually the sole surviving example of such domestic paintings are those at Longthorpe Tower, which lies very much in the western suburbs of Peterborough. They also are dated to around 1330 and combine religious and secular themes. As a collection both by date and their nature they are very much a counterpart to those at Siedleçin. There is more information about these paintings and the history of Longthorpe at Longthorpe Tower from English Heritage, at Longthorpe Tower, and from Wikipedia at Longthorpe Tower

The important remains of mid-thirteenth century paintings in what was the refectory of the priory at Horsham St Faith, just north of Norwich, are perhaps comparable in their blending of the sacred and the secular. Painted to tell the story of the establishment of the priory, they depict its foundation after misadventures whilst travelling back from pilgrimage to Rome befell the husband and wife, Robert and Sybil Fitzwilliam. They founded the house in thanksgiving for their safe return. There are images at The Batchelor Collection - Wall Paintings

For Sale - The Church of Scotland

The Spectator has a good article by William Finlator deploring the wholesale selling off by the Church of Scotland of many of its churches. The article can be read at The tragedy of Scotland’s church sell-off

These are not just relatively modern buildings or ones of no architectural merit or historic significance. Many are fine buildings and certainly worthy of preservation.

I first became aware of this inane policy when, last year, I read an article about the closure of the medieval cathedral in Brechin. Fortunately there a group of trustees chaired by the Duchess of Fife have, as the Friends of Brechin Cathedral, taken on its care and preservation. The article can be read at Brechin Cathedral: What do you want for the future of the 803-year-old jewel in the city's crown?

 

Brechin Cathedral from the south west

Image: Wikimedia Commons

As Finlator suggests in his article finance has played a major part with the cathedral suffering a serious loss over roof repairs, as reported in 2018 in Closure-threatened Brechin cathedral creaking under £140,000 debt and in 2021 in Fears for 800-year-old Brechin Cathedral which Robert The Bruce helped pay for

The Times reported on the closure of the cathedral after so long a history in Debt forces the closure of cathedral after 800 years and in Brechin Cathedral shuts doors after eight centuries

The website of the Friends organisation who have courageously taken on the care of the building can be seen at Brechin Cathedral Trust - Home

Say what one might as a former Anglican about the Church of England and the Church in Wales they have not yet sunk to selling off wholesale historic cathedrals and parish churches.

Maybe the Church of Scotland should return the cathedral to the Piskies ( Episcopalians) or even the Papists ( Catholics ) ….

.

Brechin is one of the ancient episcopal sees of Scotland and still the title of the Episcopalian bishop based in Dundee. The cathedral, with its very distinctive profile is described by Wikipedia at Brechin Cathedral and in greater detail with a good selection of photographs at Brechin Cathedral Feature Page on Undiscovered Scotland

After a serious architectural mangling at the beginning of the nineteenth century a dramatic restoration at the very beginning of the twentieth century sought successfully to reconstruct much of its medieval architecture and appearance. This was followed by an impressive series of commissions of stained glass windows, making it arguably the finest collection of twentieth century glass in Scotland. This striking work is handsomely illustrated in Brechin Cathedral and a feast of stained glass

During the twentieth century this historic building underwent a major, and, no doubt, not inexpensive restoration and was clearly a patron of the visual arts. Yet now it is deemed surplus to requirements.

Historically I have little time for the Church of Scotland and its constitutionally guaranteed position - I have read too much about the history of the northern kingdom in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries - although I had very great respect and regard for the one Church of Scotland minister I have known. Amongst other qualities he conveyed that sense, akin to the best of Anglicanism, that an Established Church has a responsibility for all the people within its territory. As William Finlator basically says in his article it is that tradition which is being betrayed by the Church of Scotland by pursuing such a blinkered policy.

The Euston Arch

I am old enough to remember the furore caused by the proposal to demolish the Euston Arch and the ultimately unsuccessful endeavours to save it. Along with the failure also to preserve the Coal Exchange these two campaigns were the beginning of active resistance to the demolition culture of mid-twentieth century Britain, which certainly predated the Second World War. The change in attitudes over succeeding decades is remarkable and heartening, although far too much was lost that could, and should, have been saved. At least the Arch’s neighbouring Victorian station, St Pancras, after the threat of demolition and consequent neglect, has been restored and appreciated, and given a new purpose. There is a Country Life 2008 account of the renovation of St Pancras at The immaculate restoration of the once-despised architecture of St Pancras station

This week Country Life has an article about the Euston Arch and the equally impressive, if less often remembered, Great Hall which was also destroyed as part of the rebuilding scheme in 1962. 

 

Today it is depressing to stand outside the bland unmemorable facade of Euston and see a plaque indicating where the Arch once stood. Someone really should start a serious campaign to recreate the Euston Arch on its original site.

The illustrated article can be seen at Curious Questions: Why was the original Euston Station destroyed in one of the greatest acts of cultural vandalism Britain has ever seen?

However it does not quite answer the question in its title, and explore the forces, the arguments, in favour of destruction. Brash modernity was backed right up to Cabinet level as part of the ‘received opinion’ of the times. The loss of the Euston Arch spurred on the heroic efforts of conservation campaigners, but was also ultimately a victory for the institutional vandals.

Medieval Women at the British Library

The Smithsonian Magazine has a very good preview and introduction to the British Library’s new exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words. The exhibition clearly draws together familiar figures with less well known women who have left a presence in the written record and in the works of illustrators and artists. Some of these are unique and chance survivals such as the autobiography of Margery Kempe, or have to be trawled from administrative recorde.

The exhibition opens today and runs until March 2bd next year.

The well illustrated introductory article can be seen at These Rare Artifacts Tell Medieval Women's Stories in Their Own Words

The road to Agincourt

Today is the anniversary of the battle of Agincourt in 1415. Probably no other comparable battle, no other comparable victory, has fixed itself, and did so even before Shakespeare, in the collective n English national self-consciousness. One result of that is a continuing range of publications about the battle and about King Henry V.

This autumn has seen the much publicised appearance of Dan Jones! new biography of the King. I have not so far looked at it, but in an online conversation Jones made a point about the injury suffered by the future King when Prince of Wales at Shrewsbury in 1403. He argues John Bradmore may have been an even more skilled surgeon than modern commentators give him credit for. This is a point I have made for several years. We also agree that surviving such an injury gave, or reinforced, a personal sense of destiny, of Divine favour, with the future King.

King Henry V

Image:MeisterDrucke

YouTube offers a range of features in Agincourt and on the life of its victor. Two of the best are an excellent pair of podcasts by the now well-established duo of Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook about the events leading up to the battle fought 609 years ago at Agincourt.

They can be seen at Hundred Years' War | Henry V's Invasion of France | Part 1 and at Hundred Years' War | The Road To Agincourt | Part 2

A Shrine for Bl. Charles of Austria in Minnesota

Last Monday, October 21st, was the day appointed in the ecclesiastical calendar for the commemoration of Bl. Charles of Austria. 

Last year the New Liturgical Movement had an article by J.P.Sonnen about a new shrine to the Emperor that had been created in the parish church of St Agnes in St Paul, Minnesota. The parish was founded in 1887, which was coincidentally the year of the future Emperor’s birth, by immigrants from Austria-Hungary. The church as built in 1912 is very much in the Baroque architectural tradition of the Habsburg dominions, and the parish has maintained links with both Austria and the Imperial Family. Indeed the Gebetsliga and its work for the canonisation of the Emperor appears to be very active generally in the US.

The generously illustrated article can be seen at New Shrine Dedicated to Blessed Karl by Canning Liturgical Arts

Bl. Emperor Charles pray for us

Boethius 1500

Today is believed to be the 1500th anniversary of the violent death of Boethius, on the orders of the Ostrogothic King Theodoric.

Boethius literary legacy, above all that of The Consolation of Philosophy, was immense - it and indeed his other works were essential reading for the next millennium. He served as link, a conduit, conveying the heritage of Greek learning as understood in the late Roman Empire to the medieval centuries and beyond. He is one of the great figures of European intellectual life.

Wikipedia has a useful introduction to his life and writings with an extensive and reasonably up-to-date bibliography. It can be seen at Boethius

A while back the Daily Telegraph had an article by Lindsay Johns about Boethius and his place not only in European culture, but also in his own life. That article can be read at The philosophical genius we all need to read

During the Covid lockdown I thought The Consolation of Philosophy seemed an appropriate thing to read. I had not done so before and, to be honest, for all of its elegant expression and charm of manner, I did not feel I drew much from it other than being able to say that I had now read it. Maybe I need to try again, as even older and, possibly, wiser. I think, however, that the problem may lie deep with me - my mind does not respond to the abstract world of Philosophy as an end in itself, but rather as a context within which one views the world of the past, the present and the future. That said, that was what Boethius was attempting to accomplish in The Consolation …. so perhaps I was just not in the right frame of mind at the time.

Honorius Augustodunensis’ “Gemma animae”

The latest Minute Missive from the FSSP has a review by Fr William Rock of a new academic edition of Honorius Agustodunensis’ Gemma animae or Jewel of the Soul. Dating from the early twelfth century it is a commentary on the liturgy and choir offices as they were celebrated at the time. It was widely read in succeeding years, although eventually  superseded by Durandus’ Rationale at the end of the thirteenth century.

The review brings out the importance of the text and places it in the context of the evolution of theological opinion at the time. It can be read at Jewel of the Soul - A Short Review

What little is known about Honorious himself, and a list of his other writings, is set out by Wikipedia at Honorius Augustodunensis

Cardinal Brandmüller on Provincial Councils vs Episcopal Conferences

One of the ideas which appears to have emerged from the Synod on Synodallty is that of giving wider powers to national Episcopal Conferences to determine doctrine within their territories.

This idea looks to be one rich in possibilities of generating new problems, and taking the Church further down the road of the German Synodical Path. Doubtless with that in mind, if for no other reason, and as reported by LifeSiteNews the very distinguished figure Cardinal Walter Brandmüller has written an article contrasting the historic rights of Provincial Councils, presided over by their Metropolitan Archbishop, to legislate for that province of the Church, and those of modern Episcopal Conferences, whise area is that of a modern political unit rather than an historic component of the Church.

The LifeSiteNews article can be read at Cardinal Brandmüller warns against Synod proposal to give local bishops undue 'doctrinal authority'

I once had the great privilege of meeting the then Monsgr Brandmüller at a seminar in Oxford, when I was still an Anglican. He is a very eminent historian of the Church, and was so long before he became His Eminence. His views are well worth harkening unto.

An Anglo-Saxon replica of a gold solidus of Emperor Honorius

My friend Adrian Marsden, who is the numismatist with the Norfolk Historic Environment Service, and often involved in identifying coins found by treasure hunters, was back on the BBC News website yesterday with an interesting find.

This was an Anglo-Saxon replica of a gold solidus issued by the Emperor Honorius. It is not a forged coin but a copy as it includes a suspension loop. Roman coins were clearly prized as personal jewellery or talismans in the centuries after the Western Empire disintegrated and this quite skilful copy in gold shows that there was a market for such copies.

The piece was found in a field at Attleborough in southern central Norfolk and not in connection with other items of specie. Whether it was lost, or has been moved over the centuries by ploughing, or if it had once been buried with its owner is unknown. It is however a further insight into the post-Roman world of Anglo-Saxon settlers and their  sense of Roman civilisation as it crumbled around them.

The illustrated article can be seen at Anglo-Saxon coin pendant found at Attleborough is 'very unusual'

The Viking and Norse trade in Walrus Ivory

Recently published research into the trading networks established by Viking and Norse  seafarers across the North Atlantic in search of walrus ivory and their internal trade routes across Europe as far as Kyiv to sell this valuable commodity were reported upon recently by The Independent and on the Life Science website.

The period concerned stretches from the tenth to the thirteenth centuries, the period of the colonisation of the coasts of southern Greenland by Europeans.

Analysis of the physical makeup of surviving examples of such craftsmanship has been compared with that from existing walrus colonies on the coasts of Greenland and northern Canada. What has emerged is that the sources of the tusks were further afield than had been thought and this opened up the possibility of more contact between the Vikings or Norse and the Inuit of the sub-Arctic than had been thought previously.

The Independent article can be seen at Study of walrus ivory gives remarkable insights into how Vikings travelled

The longer and more detailed account from Live Science can be accessed at Medieval walrus ivory may reveal trade between Norse and Indigenous Americans hundreds of years before Columbus, study finds

Establishing the Anglo-Saxon defences of Oxford

Archaeological investigations inevitably expand our knowledge of the past and Need us to reassess our understanding of what we think we know about the history of the environment around us. In centre of a city like Oxford the opportunities to carry out such investigations are inevitably limited by the very nature of the city that we know today. Any new building work likely to turn up evidence of past occupation in the city centre and indeed in the historic suburbs.

A very Good instance of this has happened at Oriel with the discovery of the line of the eastern ditch defending the tenth century town as originally laid out. This is often associated with the burh foundations made by Æthelflæd  Lady of the Mercians ( c.870-918 ) the daughter of King Alfred. This town, whose street plan underlies that of much of the present city centre, is where the town, and later city began as a trading community alongside St Frideswide’s religious foundation. Rebuilding of the kitchens at Oriel has revealed the width and depth of the defensive ditch which lies alongside what is now called Magpie Lane*. A century or so later this town was expanded east and south-eastwards along the line of the High Street down towards Magdalen Bridge. As a result the ditch was filled in or gradually accumulated soil and rubbish and disappeared as a consequence. 

The Oxford Mail reported on the discovery in an article which can be seen at Archaeologists solve 125-year-old mystery about origins of Oxford

More or less the same account can also be seen in the Daily Express at Archaeologists discover hidden secret behind one of the UK's prettiest cities

This is an important  insight into the history of the origins and development of the urban community in Oxford. 

Never let be said that Oriel has neglected its responsibilities to record the history of the city and university, even if we had to pull down the kitchens in order to do so.

 * The various names over the centuries of this narrow lane are of interest, and informative, but far too indelicate for a blog like this. The answer can be found in volume i of The History of the University of Oxford - try the map of Oxford in the thirteenth century.

 

Results of a survey on Communion in the hand

Yesterday the Zenit website reported on a survey that have been undertaken in the United States about the attitude of the laity to communion in the hand and other related Eucharistic practices of the contemporary Church. Although I am often suspicious of the value of public opinion research on issues that don’t always come down to a simple affirmative or negative this has been apparently the largest survey that has been undertaken of lay opinion. The results are actually encouraging for those of us of a traditional frame of mind. It does of course depend where the survey was taken because as we know the church in the US shows great extremes of opinion and practice in a way that is perhaps less evident in this country. The report was commissioned by a clearly conservative group but the results are striking. That being so it is perhaps all the more surprising to read it on Zenit which often seems to be very much the voice for current Vatican orthodoxy.

What the survey, the largest so far conducted with regular worshippers, suggests is a desire for greater reverence for the Eucharist, not by only by favouring reception on the tongue but also in externals such as genuflecting and avoiding the use of lay ministers. There was a desire to re-establish in churches the centrality of the Tabernacle. Only a minority of respondents were attending the pre-Conciliar liturgy. The US bishops are being forwarded the report as part of an initiative on the part of those who commissioned it to restore reverence for the Eucharist. 

The article can be seen at Communion in the Hand or in the Mouth? Results Are Published of the Largest Survey in the U.S. on the Eucharist

Ultima Thule identified?

The website Greek Reporter is a useful resource for stories about Classical Greece and the Hellenistic world. A recent report outlined the latest theory to emerge to try to identify Thule, or Ultima Thule, as described by Pytheas of Massalia ( Marseilles ) and which survives only in quotations and citations by later Greek authors. 

In the years leading up to 300BC Pytheas sailed from his home city, or possibly from the mouth of the Loire, around the islands to the north for which he gives the first record of their name - Britain. He then sailed a further six days northwards to a wintry world of ice and snow, the very limit of humanity. This he named Thule, or Ultima Thule. Where exactly he was has been a source of much speculation. However the latest theory, which looks on the surface reasonable, given our fragmentary knowledge of Pytheas’ work, identifies it as most probably being Iceland. The article making the case can be read at Greek Discovery of Iceland Supported by Linguistic Evidence

It contains a link to an earlier article on the same website about Pytheas’ exploration of the north-east Atlantic, and his recording of Britain, which can be seen at The First Ancient Greek to Reach Britain and the Arctic

To know more about Pytheas, or at least about the theories about him, Wikipedia has a quite detailed account at Pytheas

Both articles reproduce an Italian map made in 1490 that sought to reconstruct Ptolomey’s second century AD map of the British Isles which was based partly on evidence accumulated during the Roman conquest in the previous century and partly based on Pytheas’ measurements.

The reconstructed Ptolemaic map

Image: Wikipedia 

It may not be the Ordnance Survey, but, all things considered, it is no mean achievement as one looks back across the space of two millennia.

Roman armour from Trimontium

The BBC News website reports on the return to the National Museum of Scotland from the exhibition at the British Museum of the restored and reconstructed Roman brass arm guard from the military camp at Trimontium.

Trimontium, in the Borders, takes its name from the distinctive and dominant Eildon Hills, and was a forward post in the Roman attempts to either subjugate what is now Scotland or to at very least maintain a degree of control beyond Hadrian's Wall in the first and second centuries. 

There is a good introduction to the site on Wikipedia at Trimontium (Newstead)

as well as other online links to information.

Although discovered over a century ago it is only recently that this piece of armour has been identified as protection for the arm of the wearer from shoulder to wrist, and that it has been pieced together from numerous fragments. It is one of only three such pieces known to survive from the Roman Empire.

The online report can be seen at Rare reconstructed Roman armour goes on display 

An award for Wentworth Woodhouse

In my recent article about the plan to rebuild the north-west tower of the Abbey of St Denis I commented that such schemes of restoration  of great buildings struck a deep emotional chord with me. Another example I cited is the ongoing project to restore the great eighteenth century country house at Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire. The fact that this building, so historcally and architecturally important, faced such a sequence of threats to its very survival and is now, seemingly against the odds, being so imaginatively and impressively restored is, I find, deeply moving.

Yesterday the BBC News website reported that the restoration of the Camellia House and Lady Rockingham’s Tea Room at its rear had won an award from the Georgian Group as their 2024 outstanding repurposing of a building of the period. The camellias, thought to be the first imported into this country, are themselves doughty survivors as their home fell into decay around them before they, and it, were rescued.

The article can be seen at Wentworth Woodhouse Camellia house restoration recognised

For those unfamiliar with Wentworth Woodhouse there is, literally, an overview of the spectacular house - it is in effect two stately homes back-to-back - and the equally impressive stable block which can be seen at Wentworth Woodhouse, Yorkshire

The interior of part of the house can be seen in a video at Wentworth Woodhouse  - Inside the grand house

The state of much of the interior, and its very real need of restoration, is shown in another of the excellent videos produced by the Preservation Trust at Wentworth Woodhouse Off Limits: breathtaking exteriors mask a brutal reality 

A friend shared with me the latest information video from Wentworth on the ambitious aims for the Stable Block which blends the prosaic realities of adapting historic buildings with a spectacular vision of what might be achieved in coming  years. It can be seen at Stables Regeneration Phase 1: September 2024 update

Carmelite Traditional Rite

To mark the Feast of St Teresa of Avila yesterday the New Liturgical Movement posted an article with a film from the 1950s or early 1960s of the celebration at Aylesford Priory of Mass according to the traditional Carmelite Use. 

As the article explains this originally was used by the Carmwes as it was the Use of the Church of Jerusalem in the Crusader epoch. As the Carmelites moved into Europe they brought the liturgy they were used to with them. It has remained a possession and preserve of the older Carmelite community. The reformed, discalced version established by St Teresa and St John of the Cross were, after their deaths to adopt the 1570 form of Mass.

The article gives a few further introductory comments and then links to the film of the Mass. This is therefore the Mass as attended by SS Teresa and John of the Cross in the Spain of King Philip II, but also the one offered across medieval Europe in Carmelite friaries, and, until more recently, in those of the White Friars  who followed the ancient practice of the Order. Ultimately it is a living 000 link to the spiritual life of the Crusader kingdoms if the Holy Land and the founding fathers of the Order on Mount Carmel.

The article can be seen at For the Feast of St Theresa of Avila - A Film of Mass in the Ancient Carmelite Rite

The Knights Templar seek redress

We live in a litigious age, with so many seeking redress to the courts for wrongs, be they real or imagined. It reaches to the highest levels and can have wide implications.

In recent years the rather curious legal processes of the Vatican have been in the news with internal espionage and more recently charges relation to high-level fraud and corruption. All grist to the journalist’s mill and those of webmasters and bloggers. 

However a story on the usually very sober Rome based  Zenit website promised something that could be not the trial of the century but of the millennium: the Knights Templar are seeking to sue the Holy See for restitution and compensation, and to establish a new legal basis for their relationship with the Papacy.

The report can be seen at Knights Templar Sue the Pope and Call for Their Rehabilitation

Now, maybe these are not the Knights Templar from 1312, but then who knows? Some Freemasons claim thatthey are, for what that is worth…. not much in my opinion. The Portuguese Order of Christ has a good claim, as they were re-established from the Templars by King Dinis.

This Spanish based group has tried several times in recent years to sue, so we shall have to wait and see what happens.

Try to imagine calculating over seven centuries of lost income, maybe at compound interest, let alone the restitution of property. What about compensation for reputational damage? Will they want the Holy Shroud back? Will they make the French State a party as successor to King Philip IV? Given the present Pope’s oft stated opposition to the death penalty will he feel compelled to pay compensation to the heirs of Jacques de Molay, Geoffrey de Charnay and the other victims? 

Normally I have an instinctive reaction against anything other than a purely academic work that refers to the Knights Templar. Who knows, with the right lawyer, this could be fun. Maybe the courts in California would be a good place to pursue the suit.

  

St Edward the Confessor - Anglo-Saxon and Catholic Christian

Today, were it not a Sunday, would be the Feast of St Edward the Confessor, a patron of England, of the Monarchy and of the Order of the Garter. His feast is kept on the anniversary of the translation of his relics at Westminster  in 1163 and 1269 rather than the anniversary of his death.

 

  

St Edward the Confessor from the Bayeux Tapestry

Image: Wikipedia 

St Edward the Confessor from the Wilton Diptych, circa 1397

This was from probably peak of his cult under King Richard II

Image: Wikipedia

St Edward the Confessor as depicted in an icon commissioned in 2019 for his shrine in Westminster Abbey

Image: Westminster Abbey

Wikipedia, which is very detailed in its lives of Anglo-Saxon royalty, has a lengthy account of his life and cult at Edward the Confessor

The other week I posted in More academic folly  about the blinkered nonsense of those academics who re-name courses and journals dealing with Anglo-Saxon history and literature as Early English or Early Medieval - there is, I stress, nothing wrong per se in that specific terminology - because of a “woke” perception, notably in the US, that “Anglo-Saxon” has white supremacist connotations.

Thomas Casemore has written a very good article about this phenomenon, and its wider implications, in The Catholic Herald. It can be read at Another attack on Britain’s Christian heritage: Don't say 'Anglo-Saxon' Catholic

May St Edward the Confessor pray for the King and the nation

St Wilfrid

Today is the Feast of St Wilfrid, the great Northumbrian born seventh and early eighth century Bishop of York, and then of Hexham, founder of what became the see of Chichester, tireless missionary and a determined and combative fighter for the rights of the Church and its adhesion to the Roman obedience.

I have posted about him in 2010 in St Wilfrid, in 2011 in Celebrating St Wilfrid, in 2013 in More on St Wilfrid, and in 2022 in St Wilfrid. These cover more of his life and achievements, and have links to relevant sites.

I have also written about his place in the formation of Fr Faber in my 2011 article St Wilfrid and Fr Faber. Continuing the Oratorian theme in 2013 I wrote about the foundation at the church of St Wilfrid in York of a new Oratory in the city in St Wilfrid's York

A modern depiction of St Wilfrid

Image: St. Wilfrid’s Catholic High School

A while back I happened upon an online piece which interviewed the author of an English Historical Review article about the way in which those who claimed the St Wilfrid on his deathbed in 709/10 at Oundle had nominated them to succeed him in the abbacy at Ripon or to the see of Hexham, and happened to be the only witnesses to what the saint had said…. The article can be read at Historian turns detective to uncover ancient Ripon conspiracy

Whilst looking for illustrations I found a very well illustrated account of Hexham Abbey ( strictly speaking Priory) on the website of Great English Churches. This has, in addition to splendid views of the interior of the later medieval church and of the stone episcopal seat from the Anglo-Saxon era, a good selection of pictures of the significant quantity of painted decorative woodwork from the fifteenth century in the building. It may not be the greatest art but it does indicate what medieval church interiors were like. The article can be seen at Hexham Abbey

Hexham Abbey is very well worth seeing, as is the very attractive town centre as part of an exploration of Hadrian’s Wall, looking for the Wars of the Roses battlefield or at the Jacobite associations of Dilston Castle, or simply enjoying the glorious Northumberland countryside.

St Wilfrid Pray for us

The Sacristy at Westminster Abbey

Writing about the proposed rebuilding of the north-west tower and spire of the Abbey of St Denis coincides, I find, with publicity about a not altogether dissimilar project at what is in not a few ways its English equivalent as a royal monastery and necropolis, Westminster Abbey. This is the plan to rebuild on the excavated medieval foundations the Great Sacristy which was an original part of King Henry III’s scheme. It stood to the north of the nave, an almost freestanding structure on an L plan, linked at one end to the North Transept, and on the other to the north door of the nave. It was demolished in the early eighteenth century. The new building will rise from the medieval foundations and provide storage space and serve as an entrance for visitors to the Abbey, who will then walk round to the West Door to enter the main building. As a new building in the present reign it is to be named the King Charles III Sacristy.

Westminster Abbey has produced two short videos about the project which can be seen with the Dean at Introducing: The King Charles III Sacristy. and with the architect at  Designing: The King Charles III Sacristy . The main website, which includes those two videos, can be viewed at The King Charles III Sacristy | Westminster Abbey

There is also a video of The Queen visiting the site as the recently announced Patron of the scheme, which can be seen at Camilla tours site of new King Charles III Sacristy at Westminster Abbeyand in a longer version at Queen becomes Patron of Westminster Abbey's Sacristy project

There is a report on the excavation from the archaeologists responsible for the work, Pre-Construct Archaeology, which can be seen at Westminster Abbey – Pre Construct Archaeology

There are other reports from 2020  about the excavation in The Guardian at Lost medieval sacristy uncovered at Westminster Abbey, and shorter ones in Current Archaeology at Sacristy uncovered at Westminster Abbey, and in Archaeology Magazine at Medieval Great Sacristy Uncovered at Westminster Abbey - Archaeology Magazine

Rebuilding at St Denis

In 2020 I wrote about the proposal to rebuild of missing north-west tower and spire of the Abbey of St Denis. My post can be seen at Restoring St Denis

In it I write enthusiastically in favour of the scheme, and it is one, like the rebuilding of the Frauenkirke in Dresden or watching videos of the ongoing restoration of Wentworth Woodhouse in my home area, that brings a lump to my throat and a tear to my eye. Such is the impact upon me of such restorations that so defiantly resist the destructive urges of recent times.

St Denis as it is now and as it is hoped it will be

Image:FSSPX News

I am not the only person to feel enthusiastic about the project as can be seen from the Reddit post at From the ArchitecturalRevival community on Reddit: The Basilique de Saint-Denis's Northern tower will be rebuilt, I'm so glad ! It's a really important church in French history as it was a the resting place of many kings and queens before the Revolution. They're currently running archaeological digs before starting.

There are those who are not in favour as reported by The Times in French academics at odds over €25m plans to rebuild spire of Basilica of Saint-Denis. and as set out by one critic, founder of La Tribune de l’Art quoted in The Connexion at Rebuilding church’s long lost tower is ‘historic lie’

This reminds me somewhat of the reaction in this country of that pioneering conservation group the Society for the Protection of Ancient Monuments who withdrew their intended donation towards the restoration of the west front of Wells Cathedral because the Dean and Chapter commissioned a new statue of Christ in to replace the damaged one, reduced as it was only to waist height, of the top of the west front. Leaving it as a ruin was seen by the Society as preferable to restoring the figure of Christ on the front of a functioning cathedral.

Whilst I can appreciate some of the reservations expressed by dissenters at St Denis I remain completely convinced this is the right thing to do. The foundations have been found to be secure after all, and the threat to the Merovingian era graves obviated.  There are detailed drawings from the 1840s, and some at least of the original stonework survives. The taking down of the tower and spire in 1845-6 was meant to be a temporary measure. The delay in rebuilding is an indictment of state control of church buildings, not of the idea. The fact that this planned rebuilding began in the reign of Louis Philippe speaks sufficiently for French bureaucracy, neglect and probably anti-clericalism and anti-royalism.

An article last year in Le Monde covered the excavations of the Merovingian levels and the investigation of the foundations and can be seen at Basilica of Saint-Denis: Newly discovered graves bring back the past

The scheme and debate about it is also outlined on the FSSPX News website at Work Begins on the Spire of Saint-Denis

However the nay-sayers appear to have been held at bay, and scheme does seem to be going ahead, albeit rather slowly. A report covers trading new stonemasons at Masons are restoring the church where France's kings were buried for centuries

The rebuilding is entirely privately funded and looks to attract other funding from visitors whilst they work is carried out. This has been found to be a successful fundraising method in France. The hope  is the building work will prove a means of drawing visitors to Saint Denis and thereby benefit the local economy and community. St Denis is noted as a run-down area, with a high immigrant population and a poor reputation with outsiders. One hears stories of intending visitors to the Abbey being advised against such a visit by Parisian hoteliers, or telling them to just visit the Basilica and then to come away. Some of this is covered in a 2017 article on Medieval Histories, which has links to some French websites. It can be seen at Rebuilding or Restoring the spire of Saint-Denis

Wikipedia has a good illustrated history of the fabric of the Abbey, including unrealised proposals for Bonapartist and Orleanist crypts, and of its place in the history of France and of art and architecture at Basilica of Saint-Denis

The misfortunes inflicted upon this great and noble building from the end of the medieval era until the end of the Ancien Regime is outlined in Deterioration and first renovations of the Saint-Denis Basilica. Then followed the horrific ransacking of the royal tombs and remains in 1793.

As a building the Abbey has suffered much from those with wicked intentions and from those with misguided if well intentioned ones. This rebuilding is not - it is positive, it is renewing and restoring one of the most important buildings in the history of France and of Christian Art.

St Denis Pray for this scheme and its completion, and continue to pray for his shrine church.

St Denis

Today is traditionally the day on which the Church has commemorated St Denis and his companions, three martyrs from the mid-third century. As the proto-martyrs of Paris their cult flourished in the diocese, and especially around the grave of the martyr bishop to the north of the city. This became the centre of the immensely influential abbey named in his honour, and which witnessed the birth of gothic architecture. Wikipedia has an account of his cult at Denis of Paris

I have posted about St Denis and his depiction in religious art in past years. Unfortunately not all of the images have downloaded but there is still a good selection to view. From 2011 there is St Denis and from 2015 St Denis and his companions

St Denis shown carrying his head after his execution from the Book of Hours of King Charles VIII, painted by Jean Bourdichon. His two companions can be seen at the bottom left.

Image: Wikipedia 

St Denis is probably the most famous cephalaphore saint, and artists and sculptors have depicted him carrying his head in various ways, and sometimes carrying his physical head but having on his shoulders a replacement spiritual one. 

The Last Communion and Martyrdom of St Denis

Commissioned from Henri Bellechose in 1416 by Duke John the Fearless of Burgundy for the Carthusian monastery of Champnol near Dijon. Now in the Louvre.

The spectacular use of blue and gold in the depiction of the vestments is presumably intended to evoke the imagery of the fleur-de-lys of the French monarchy.

The obvious brickwork in the tower on the left points to the Netherlandish origins of the artist. 

The figure of the executioner is interesting. In a painting of the martyrdom of St John the Baptist Rogier van der Weyden, and in a BL Royal MS, executioners are shown like this one as having rolled their hose down to their knees. Was this to avoid blood splatter on their clothing? The axe is typical of the type used for beheadings in Germany and Scandinavia until modern times, and more like a meat cleaver than the English type of executioner’s axe, which can be seen in the example on display in the Tower of London. This looks to be an artist drawing upon actual practice or experience.

Image: Wikipedia 

I will post separately about the plans to rebuild the north western tower of the abbey church - now designated a minor basilica and the cathedral of a diocese - which I wrote about in 2020.

St Denis and his companions Pray for us