Canterbury Cathedral (Part Two)

Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.

The Warrior Chapel,

South Side, Canterbury Cathedral, 

commemorates the War Dead and is the site of Regimental Colours.

Photo: July 2005.

Source: Flickr

Author: Heather from Atlanta, US

Reviewer: Shizhao.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Norman period

The Cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1067, a year after the Norman Conquest. Rebuilding began in 1070 under the first Norman Archbishop, Lanfranc (1070–1077). He cleared the ruins and reconstructed the Cathedral to a design based closely on that of the Abbey of St. Etienne in Caen, where he had previously been Abbot, using stone brought from France.

The new Church was a cruciform building, with an aisled Nave of nine bays, a pair of Towers at the West end, Transepts with apsidal Chapels, a low Crossing Tower, and a short Choir, ending in three Apses. It was dedicated in 1077.

Following the election of Prior Ernulf, in 1096, Lanfranc's inadequate East end was demolished, and replaced with an Eastern arm, 198 feet long, doubling the length of the Cathedral. It was raised above a large and elaborately decorated Crypt. Ernulf was succeeded as Prior in 1107, by Conrad, who completed the work by 1126. 

The West Front in 1821, showing the Norman North-West Tower

 prior to rebuilding, (coloured engraving).

Canterbury Cathedral, view of the Western Towers, engraved by J. LeKeux, 

after a picture by G. Cattermole, 1821.

The new Choir took the form of a complete Church in itself, with its own Transepts; the East end was semi-circular in plan, with three Chapels opening off an Ambulatory A free-standing Campanile was built on a mound in the Cathedral precinct about 1160.

As with many Romanesque Church buildings, the interior of the Choir was richly embellished. William of Malmesbury wrote: "Nothing like it could be seen in England, either for the light of its glass windows, the gleaming of its marble pavements, or the many-coloured paintings which led the eyes to the panelled Ceiling, above."

Though named after the 6th-Century founding-archbishop, The Chair of St. Augustine may date from the Norman period. Its first recorded use is in 1205.

Cloisters, Canterbury Cathedral.

April 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mattana.

(Wikimedia Commons).

Martyrdom of Thomas Becket

The income from Pilgrims (such as those portrayed in Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales"), who visited Becket's shrine, which was regarded as a place of healing, largely paid for the subsequent rebuilding of the Cathedral and its associated buildings. This revenue included the sale of Pilgrim Badges depicting Becket, his martyrdom, or his shrine.

A pivotal moment in the history of Canterbury Cathedral was the murder of Thomas Becket in the North-West Transept (also known as "the Martyrdom") on Tuesday, 29 December 1170, by knights of King Henry II. 

The king had frequent conflicts with the strong-willed Becket and is said to have exclaimed in frustration, "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?" The knights took it literally and murdered Becket in his own Cathedral. 

Becket was the second of four Archbishops of Canterbury who were murdered (see also Alphege).

The shrine was removed in 1538. King Henry VIII summoned the dead Saint to Court to face charges of Treason. In his absence, he was found guilty, and the treasures of his shrine confiscated, carried away in two coffers and twenty-six carts.

Canterbury Cathedral.

Photo: April 2011.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mattana.
(Wikimedia Commons)

PART THREE FOLLOWS

Peterborough Cathedral (Part Four)

Text and illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
unless otherwise annotated.

Cloisters, Peterborough Cathedral. 

A view across what remains of the cloisters, largely destroyed during the Civil War, with the South side of the Cathedral behind.

Author: Derek Harper
Photo: December 2007.
Taken from Wikimedia Commons.


The Cathedral was vandalised during the English Civil War, in 1643, by Parliamentarian troops. As was common at the time, almost all the stained glass and the Medieval Choir Stalls were destroyed, and the High Altar and reredos were demolished, as were the cloisters and Lady Chapel. All the monuments and memorials of the Cathedral were also damaged or destroyed.

King Henry VIII's wife, Katharine of Aragon, was buried here in 1536, as was Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587.
Mary was later removed to Westminster Abbey.
Author: Dave Hitchborne
Photo: April 2004.
From Wikimedia Commons.

The Choir of The Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew, Peterborough.
Author: Dave Hitchborne
Photo: April 2004.
From Wikimedia Commons.

Some of the damage was repaired during the 17th- and 18th-Centuries. In 1883, extensive restoration work began, with the interior pillars, the Choir and the West Front being completely rebuilt under the supervision of John Loughborough Pearson, and new hand-carved Choir Stalls, Cathedra (Bishop's Throne), Choir Pulpit and the marble pavement and High Altar being added. A stepped level of battlements was removed from the Central Tower, reducing its height, slightly.

In the early evening of 22 November 2001, the Cathedral was hit by a fire, thought to have been started deliberately amongst plastic chairs stored in the North Choir Aisle. Fortunately, the fire was spotted by one of the vergers, allowing a swift response by emergency services.

Peterborough Cathedral: Looking from the Nave to the High Altar.
Author: Dave Hitchborne
Photo: April 2004.
From Wikimedia Commons.

The High Altar.
Author: Dave Hitchborne
Photo: April 2004.
From Wikimedia Commons.

The timing was particularly unfortunate, as a complete restoration of the painted wooden ceiling was nearing completion. The oily smoke given off by the plastic chairs was particularly damaging, coating much of the building with a sticky black layer. 

Fan vaulting in the ambulatory at Peterborough Cathedral.
Author: NotFromUtrecht
Photo: March 2010.
From Wikimedia Commons.

The seat of the fire was close to the organ and the combination of direct damage from the fire, and the water used to extinguish it, necessitated a full-scale rebuild of the instrument, putting it out of action for several years.

An extensive programme of repairs to the West Front began in July 2006 and has cost in excess of half a million pounds. This work is concentrated around the statues located in niches, which have been so badly affected by years of pollution and weathering that, in some cases, they have only stayed intact thanks to iron bars inserted through them from the head to the body. This enabled people to "sponsor" a stone.

THIS CONCLUDES THE ARTICLE ON PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL

Peterborough Cathedral (Part Three)

Text and illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia
unless otherwise annotated.

Henry VIII, after Hans Holbein the Younger, 

Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

King Henry VIII ordered the Dissolution of the Monasteries,

which ended the life of Peterborough Abbey 

and instigated the life of Peterborough Cathedral.

Monastic life

From the Mid-12th-Century monk, Hugh Candidus, we have a detailed record of the contents of the Abbey's reliquaries , which included two pieces of swaddling clothes which wrapped the baby Jesus, pieces of Jesus' manger, a part of the five loaves which fed the 5,000, a piece of the raiment of St Mary, a piece of Aaron's rod, and relics of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew - to whom the church is dedicated.

Most famous, however, was the supposed arm of St Oswald, which disappeared from its chapel, probably during the Reformation, despite a watch-tower having been built for monks to guard its reliquary, and various contact relics of Thomas Becket, brought from Canterbury in a special reliquary by its Prior, Benedict (who had witnessed Becket's assassination), when he was 'promoted' to Abbot of Peterborough.

All of these created an aura of great importance around what is today Peterborough Cathedral, making it at the zenith of its wealth, just before the Reformation, the sixth largest monastery in England in terms of income, with 120 monks and departments including an Almoner, an Infirmarian, a Sacristan and a Cellarer.

Signature of King Henry VIII.

Harbinger of doom for many Abbeys and Monasteries.

Tudor

In 1541, following Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, the relics were lost, but the Church survived by not being sold off and, instead, being selected as the Cathedral of the new Diocese of Peterborough. This may have been related to the fact that Henry's former queen, Katherine of Aragon, had been buried there in 1536.

Her grave can still be seen and is nowadays honoured by visitors and often decorated with flowers and pomegranates (her symbol). It carries the legend "Katharine, Queen of England", a title she was denied at the time of her death.

In 1587, the body of Mary, Queen of Scots, was also buried here after her execution at nearby Fotheringhay Castle, but it was later removed to Westminster Abbey on the orders of her son, King James I of England.

Coat of Arms of King Henry VIII

Author: Sodacan

August 2010

From Wikimedia Commons

PART FOUR FOLLOWS