With the forthcoming exhibition of the BayeuxTapestry
at the British Museum there will over the next year be, I am sure be a great deal of coverage and discussion about the events of 1066.
Tragically the monument to his victory and the place for atonement and prayer for the departed created by King William I at Battle Abbey has, apart from some ruined domestic buildings and the gatehouse, gone, yet another casualty of the dissolution of the monasteries.
The English Heritage website for the abbey includes some reconstructions of what has been lost as well as photographs of the existing remains. It can be viewed at History of Battle Abbey and Battlefield
A reconstruction of Battle Abbey
in the early sixteenth century
Image: English Heritage and Media Storehouse
Plan of the abbey
Image: English Heritage
However an insight into the continuing prayer offered by the monks can be gleaned from a BBC News article about one of the surviving office books from the later years of the abbey. From this it can be seen that the specific cycle of intercession established at its foundation by the Conqueror in about 1071 was maintained until the suppression in 1538.
The report can be seen at Newly unveiled prayer book shows religious life after Battle of Hastings
1 comment:
Thank you for sharing this John!
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