St Wulstan of Worcester

Today is the feast of St Wulstan, born c.1008, and Bishop of Worcester from 1062 until 1095. He was the only Anglo-Saxon bishop to retain his see following the Conquest. At Worcester he initiated the rebuiilding of the cathedral and it was under his auspices that Great Malvern Prory was founded. His cult came into prominence in the early part of the thirteenth century, when miracles at his tomb began to be recorded. He was canonized in 1203.

St Wulstan

Later fifteenth century glass at Great Malvern Priory

Image: Gordon Plumb on Flickr

The Meeting at the Golden Gate

In the middle ages the standard representation of the fact of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady was the meeting of St Anne and St Joachim at the Golden Gate.

Here are some depictions of that event in medieval stained glass, posted by the Rev Gordon Plumb on the Medieval Religion discussion group; all of them date from the end of the fifteenth or the very beginning of the sixteenth century:

A few medieval, some of them restored, images of the Meeting or Kiss at the Golden Gate:

Elland, St Mary the Virgin, West Yorkshire, East window, 3a:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/22274117@N08/15218851455

Rouen, St Ouen, Bay 30:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/22274117@N08/15491062969

Great Malvern Priory, Worcestershire, NII:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/22274117@N08/15317572766

Gresford, Denbighshire:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/22274117@N08/15243404958

There are more views, posted by Dr Madeleine Gray, of the glass in this window at:
http://stainedglass.llgc.org.uk/image/6335
Click below the photo for the larger version - and scroll down for thumbnails of the rest of the sequence.

St Wulfstan in stained glass

Today is the feast of St Wulfstan (or Wulstan), Bishop of Worcester, who died in 1095 and was the last surviving Anglo-Saxon bishop from the pre-Conquest hierarchy. My post about him from last year can be read at St Wulfstan of Worcester.

This year I am posting this photograph of a window in the north clerestory of Great Malvern priory, which is a late medieval depiction of one of the patrons of the diocese. Although it is not in any way contemporary to St Wulfstan's lifetime, it does indicate both late medieval devotion to him and is a handsome example of the glazier's art - the face and head definitely suggest a monastic:

Image: Gordon Plumb on Flickr