Westminster Abbey.
Photo: 26 May 2013.
Source: File:Westminster-Abbey.JPG
Author: Σπάρτακος (changes by Rabanus Flavus)
(Wikimedia Commons)
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is a large, mainly Gothic, Abbey Church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the West of the Palace of Westminster.
It is one of the United Kingdom’s most notable Religious buildings and the traditional place of Coronation and a burial site for English and, later, British Monarchs.
Since the Coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066, all Coronations of English and British Monarchs have occurred in Westminster Abbey.[4][5]
Westminster Abbey.
Available on YouTube at
Sixteen Royal Weddings have occurred at the Abbey since 1100.[6]
According to a tradition first reported by Sulcard in about 1080, a Church was founded at the site (then known as Thorn Ey (Thorn Island)) in the 7th-Century A.D., at the time of Mellitus, a Bishop of London. Construction of the present Church began in 1245 on the orders of King Henry III.[4]
The Church was originally part of a Catholic Benedictine Abbey, which was Dissolved in 1539. It then served as the Cathedral of the Diocese of Westminster until 1550, then as a second Cathedral of the Diocese of London until 1556.
According to a tradition first reported by Sulcard in about 1080, a Church was founded at the site (then known as Thorn Ey (Thorn Island)) in the 7th-Century A.D., at the time of Mellitus, a Bishop of London. Construction of the present Church began in 1245 on the orders of King Henry III.[4]
The Church was originally part of a Catholic Benedictine Abbey, which was Dissolved in 1539. It then served as the Cathedral of the Diocese of Westminster until 1550, then as a second Cathedral of the Diocese of London until 1556.
Français: Salle capitulaire de l'abbaye de Westminster.
English: The Chapter house, Westminster Abbey.
Photo: 29 July 2016.
Source: Own work.
Author: ChrisVTG Photography
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Abbey was restored to the Benedictine Order by Mary I in 1556, then, in 1559, made a Royal Peculiar — a Church responsible directly to the Sovereign — by Queen Elizabeth I.
The Abbey is the burial site of more than 3,300 people, usually of prominence in British history: At least sixteen Monarchs, eight Prime Ministers, Poets Laureate, Actors, Scientists, Military Leaders, and The Unknown Warrior — the first person interred in the Abbey’s Poets' Corner was Geoffrey Chaucer, in 1400. As such, Westminster Abbey is sometimes described as “Britain’s Valhalla”, after the iconic hall of the chosen heroes in Norse mythology.[7]
The Abbey is the burial site of more than 3,300 people, usually of prominence in British history: At least sixteen Monarchs, eight Prime Ministers, Poets Laureate, Actors, Scientists, Military Leaders, and The Unknown Warrior — the first person interred in the Abbey’s Poets' Corner was Geoffrey Chaucer, in 1400. As such, Westminster Abbey is sometimes described as “Britain’s Valhalla”, after the iconic hall of the chosen heroes in Norse mythology.[7]
A late tradition claims that Aldrich, a young fisherman on The River Thames, had a vision of Saint Peter near the site. This seems to have been quoted as the origin of the salmon that Thames fishermen offered to the Abbey in later years, a custom still observed annually by The Fishmongers’ Company.
The Cloisters, Westminster Abbey.
Photo: 3 October 2013.
Source: Own work.
Author: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas
(Wikimedia Commons)
The recorded origins of the Abbey date to the 960s A.D. or early 970s A.D., when Saint Dunstan and King Edgar installed a Community of Benedictine Monks on the site.[8]
Between 1042 and 1052, King Edward the Confessor began rebuilding Saint Peter’s Abbey to provide himself with a Royal Burial Church. It was the first Church in England built in the Romanesque Style.
The building was completed around 1060 and was Consecrated on 28 December 1065, only a week before Edward’s death on 5 January 1066.[9] A week later, he was buried in the Church; and, nine years later, his wife, Edith, was buried alongside him.[10] His successor, Harold II, was probably Crowned in the Abbey, although the first documented Coronation is that of William the Conqueror, later the same year.[11]
Coat-of-Arms of The Collegiate Church
of Saint Peter at Westminster.
Blazon:
Azure, a Cross Patonce between five Martlets Or; and on a Chief Or a Pale Quarterly of France Modern and England between two Roses Gules Barbed and Seeded Proper.
Date: 16 September 2021.
Source: Own work. Elements from File:Royal Arms of Edward the Confessor.svg, File:Royal Arms of England (1603-1707).svg, File:Tudor Rose.svg
Artist: Fenn-O-maniC
(Wikimedia Commons)
The only extant depiction of Edward’s Abbey, together with the adjacent Palace of Westminster, is in The Bayeux Tapestry.
Some of the lower parts of the Monastic Dormitory, an extension of The South Transept, survive in the Norman Undercroft of The Great School, including a door, said to come from the previous Saxon Abbey.
Increased endowments supported a Community that increased from a dozen Monks in Dunstan’s original Foundation, up to a maximum of about eighty Monks.[12]
The 19th-Century Choir Screen
Photo: 3 October 2013.
Source: Own work.
Author: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Abbot of Westminster often was employed on Royal Service and, in due course, took his place in The House of Lords as of right.
Released from the burdens of spiritual leadership, which passed to the reformed Cluniac Movement after the Mid-10th-Century, and occupied with the administration of great landed properties, some of which lay far from Westminster, “the Benedictines achieved a remarkable degree of identification with the secular life of their times, and particularly with upper-class life”, Barbara Harvey concludes, to the extent that her depiction of daily life provides a wider view of the concerns of the English gentry in the High- and Late-Middle Ages.[13]
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Fanned, Ribbed-Arch, Ceiling and Column,
Chapter House, Westminster Abbey.
Photo: 12 November 2014.
Source: Imported from 500px (archived version)
by the Archive Team. (detail page)
Author: Begnaud
(Wikimedia Commons)
The proximity of the Palace of Westminster did not extend to providing Monks or Abbots with high Royal connections; in social origin, the Benedictines of Westminster were as modest as most of the Order.
The Abbot remained Lord of the Manor of Westminster as a Town of two to three thousand persons grew around it: as a consumer and employer on a grand scale, the Monastery helped fuel the Town economy, and relations with the Town remained unusually cordial, but no enfranchising Charter was issued during The Middle Ages.[14]
The Abbey became the Coronation site of Norman Kings. None were buried there until Henry III, intensely devoted to the cult of Edward the Confessor, rebuilt the Abbey in Anglo-French Gothic Style as a shrine to Venerate King Edward the Confessor and as a suitably Regal setting for Henry’s own tomb, under the highest Gothic Nave in England. Edward the Confessor’s Shrine subsequently played a great part in his Canonisation.[8]
The Abbey became the Coronation site of Norman Kings. None were buried there until Henry III, intensely devoted to the cult of Edward the Confessor, rebuilt the Abbey in Anglo-French Gothic Style as a shrine to Venerate King Edward the Confessor and as a suitably Regal setting for Henry’s own tomb, under the highest Gothic Nave in England. Edward the Confessor’s Shrine subsequently played a great part in his Canonisation.[8]
PART TWO FOLLOWS.
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Fascinating ancient history of the English “Cathedral of cathedrals,” (although it is actually distinct from Westminster Cathedral), thank you, Zephyrinus.
ReplyDeleteSo, Dom Zephyrinus, is it correct that the Anglo-Saxon kings were buried in Westminster Abbey up until ill-fated Harold II, the defeated king of the Battle of Hastings (who is reputed to be buried at Waltham Abbey, in Waltham, Sussex, if that is correct)? -Q by Dante P
Thank You, Dante P. Delighted that you found this Article of interest. There is a dispute as to where King Harold II was buried. Some say Waltham Abbey, Essex, and some say Bosham, Sussex. You are correct in highlighting that Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral are two separate Churches. The former is an Anglican Church (previously, of course, Catholic) and the latter is, in fact, Catholic. Anglo-Saxons Kings were buried in many disparate locations across Britain. In Anglo-Saxon times, there were several distinct Kingdoms in Britain and all had different burial locations and traditions.
DeleteThank you for the clarification, Zephyrinus. - Dante P
ReplyDelete