Tags What is the work of the Holy Spirit
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LUCKDRAGON IMAGINATION JEWELRY DEMONS angels gods of nature rainbow tower library spiral labyrinth legendary heart sacred holy mountain temple station castle dream world LODGE COSMIC REFRACTIONS #LABYRINTHLIBRARY #ENTERSANDMAN #THECURE #LABYRINTHMAGNETS : by Joshua Oakley

LUCKDRAGON IMAGINATION JEWELRY DEMONS angels gods of nature rainbow tower library spiral labyrinth legendary heart sacred holy mountain temple station castle dream world LODGE COSMIC REFRACTIONS #LABYRINTHLIBRARY #ENTERSANDMAN #THECURE #LABYRINTHMAGNETS 💟⚛️️☸️☮️☯️☪️✝️☦️✡️🔯♾️🆔⚕️️‍🌈❤️💛💚💙♈♉♊♋♌♍♎♏♐♑♒⛎⛎♀️♂️⚧️🐦🐬🐋🐉🐢🌎🌍🌏🌠🌌🌙💫✨🌟 #STARLIGHT #FLOWER #LIFE #RAINBOW #CASTLE #TOWER #SPIRAL #GATEWAY #COSMIC #FANTASY #TEMPLE #INN #FRACTAL #MANDALA #SUNFLOWER #IMAGINATION #STATION #LIBRARY #REFUGE #SKY #BLUE #STARLIGHT #SAPPHIRE #WORLD #GARDEN #MULTIVERSAL #ISLAND #EVENING #STAR #SECRET #PALACE #FORTRESS #PORTAL #FOREST #FAIRY #ELF #MYSTICAL #MAGICAL #MYSTERY #AURA #PROTECTION #PRESERVATION #RESTORATION #HEALING #IMMANENCE #ASTRAL #DREAM #DREAMS #DREAMING #MEMORY #STORYTELLING #CONSCIOUSNESS #SPIRIT #CHAKRAS #TRANSCENDENCE #MYSTIC #MYSTICSSKY #HAPPY #KIND #LATTICE #NETWORK #CIRCLE #DRAGON #LIGHT #BUTTERFLY #GUARDIAN #WATER #RIVER #OF #MATRIX #TREE #UNIVERSAL #GATLINBURG #RECORD #STORE #CROSSROADS #BEAR 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All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk by Jelltex

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk.

 

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beasts, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

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All Saints is a large, remarkably good church in one of the sleepy, fat villages along the Cambridgeshire border, the sort of place you cycle through and imagine wistfully that you've won the lottery and could move there. The wide churchyard on both sides is a perfect setting for the church, which rises to heaven out of a perpendicular splendour of aisles, clerestories and battlements. The tower was complete by the 1470s when money was being left for a bell. The earlier chancel steadies the ship, anchoring it to earth quietly, although the tall east window has its spectacular moment too. And you step into a deliciously well-kept interior, full of interest.

One of the most significant medieval survivals here is not easily noticed. This is the range of 15th Century glass, which was reset by the Victorians high in the clerestory. This seems a curious thing to have done, since it defeats the purpose of a clerestory, but if they had not done so then we might have lost it. The glass matches the tracery in the north aisle windows, so that is probably where they came from. There are angels, three Saints and some shields, most of which are heraldic but two show the instruments of the passion and the Holy Trinity. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the shields are 19th century, but the figures are all original late 15th or early 16th century. The Saints are an unidentified Bishop, the hacksaw-wielding St Faith and one of my favourites, St Apollonia. She it was who was invoked by medieval people against toothache.

 

Waling from the nave up into the chancel, the space created by the clearing of clutter makes it at once mysterious and beautiful. Above, the early 16th century waggon roof is Suffolk's best of its kind. Mortlock points out the little angels bearing scrolls, the wheat ears and the vine sprays, and the surviving traces of colour. The low side window on the south side still has its hinges, for here it was that updraught to the rood would have sent the candles flickering in the mystical church of the 14th century. On the south side of the sanctuary is an exquisitely carved arched recess, that doesn't appear to have ever had a door, and may have been a very rare purpose-built Easter sepulchre at the time of the 1330s rebuilding. Opposite is a huge and stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast. It is one of the most significant Decorated moments in Suffolk.

 

On the floor of the chancel there is a tiny, perfect chalice brass, one of only two surviving in Suffolk. The other is at Rendham. Not far away is the indent of another chalice brass - or perhaps it was for the same one, and the brass has been moved for some reason. There are two chalice indents at Westhall, but nowhere else in Suffolk. Chalice brasses were popular memorials for Priests in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and thus were fair game for reformers. Heigham memorials of the late 16th century are on the walls. Back in the south aisle there is a splendid tombchest in Purbeck marble. It has lost its brasses, but the indents show us where they were, as do other indents in the aisle floors. Some heraldic brass shields survive, and show that Heighams were buried here. Brass inscriptions survive in the nave and the chancel, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

 

The 14th century font is a good example of the tracery pattern series that appeared in the decades before the Black Death. They may have been intended to spread ideas at that time of great artistic and intellectual flowering before it was so cruelly snatched away. The cover is 17th Century. At this end of the nave are two good ranges of medieval benches, one, rare in East Anglia, is a group of 14th Century benches with pierced tracery backs. Some of them appear to spell out words, and Mortlock thought one might say Salaman Sayet. The block of benches to the north appears to be 15th Century or possibly early 16th Century. Further north, the early 17th Century benches are simpler, even cruder, and were likely the work of the village carpenter.

 

All rather lovely then. And yet, it hasn't always been that way. All Saints at Gazeley, near Newmarket, was the first church that I visited after an international team of scientists conclusively proved that God did not exist began the first page for this church that I wrote in 2003, in a satirical mood after finding the church locked and at a very low ebb. At a time when congregations were generally falling, I'd been thinking about the future of medieval churches beyond a time when they would have people to use them in the traditional way. I wondered if the buildings might find new uses, or could adapt themselves to changing patterns and emphases in Christianity, or even changing spiritual needs of their parishes. Even if science could somehow prove that God did not exist, I suggested, there were parishes which would rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves, as churches have always done over the two millennia of Christianity. Coming to Gazeley I felt that here was a church which felt as if it had been abandoned. And yet, it seemed to me a church of such significance, such historical and spiritual importance, that its loss would be a disaster. If it had been clean, tidy and open at the time he was visiting, Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Churches would not have been able to resist it. Should the survival of such a treasure store depend upon the existence of God or the continued practice of the Christian faith? Or might there be other reasons to keep this extraordinary building in something like its present integrity?

 

In the first decade of the 21st Century, Gazeley church went on a tremendous journey, from being moribund to being the wonderful church you can visit today. If you want to read the slightly adapted 2006 entry for Gazeley, recounting this journey, you can do so here. Coming back here today always fills me with optimism for what can be achieved. On one occasion I mentioned my experiences of Gazeley church to a Catholic Priest friend of mine, and he said he hoped I knew I'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And perhaps that is so. Certainly, the energy and imagination of the people here have been fired by something. On that occasion I had wanted to find someone to ask about it, to find out how things stood now. But there was no one, and so the building spoke for them.

 

Back outside in the graveyard, the dog daisies clustered and waved their sun-kissed faces in the light breeze. The ancient building must have known many late-May days like this over the centuries, but think of all the changes that it has known inside! The general buffeting of the winds of history still leaves room for local squalls and lightning strikes. All Saints has known these, but for now a blessed calm reigns here. Long may it remain so.

 

Simon Knott, June 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/gazeley.htm
All Saints, Boughton Aluph, Kent by Jelltex

Its beginning to feel a little like Spring.

 

Even if the temperature didn't get above 4 degrees today, the sun did shine, and there was little breeze. And on our travels through the Kent countryside, spring flowers were everywhere to be seen.

 

We got up at half six when the water heater fired up, fed the cats, gave Scully her jab and made coffee.

 

Then to Whitfield for some hunting and gathering. Jools needing a cider restock and then the rest of the stuff we get through each week.

 

At least shopping so early means missing most of the crazies, and we see the same faces each week, though not well enough to speak, maybe the nod of a head.

 

Back home for breakfast of fruit and tea, put the shopping away and ignore the meows for more food.

 

And off out for some gentle churchcrawling. Our first target is perhaps the last substantial Norman church in east Kent I had yet to visit: Great Chart.

 

Great Chart is now a suburb of Ashford, which is spreading westwards towards the Romney Marsh. This means navigating the series of manic roundabouts onto the A28, past Waitrose and out of town, turning off on about the tenth roundabout, and through the village, no new builds here.

 

And on top of the hill is the church, which Google maps assured me would be open at ten. It was twenty five to eleven, so safe as milk?

 

No. It was locked, with no details of keyholders. So I took some exterior shots and we walked back to the car.

 

I had a back up. We were going here anyway, just Jools didn't know.

 

On the other side of Ashford, out in the countryside, and just below the treeline of Kings Wood, at the end of a dead end lane next to a manor house, is Boughton Aluph.

 

I knew it would be locked, but also knew there was details of a keyholder. So, once we arrived, I called the number, was given directions, and off we set to Boughton Leas.

 

Up a six footer up the down, right at a junction, then right at the first cottage, and the old lady was waiting.

 

We reversed out, turned round and went back to the church, parking in the entrance to a field.

 

Beds jammed with Winter Aconites abounded, but i only had eyes for the church, up the steep path and through the old swing gate.

 

There is no path to the Priest's door, just a track of flattened grass. I went down the stops, inserted the key and turned, the door moved, then opened.

 

Inside is a large a airy space, well lit through windows with little stained glass. Entry is via the vestry in the north chapel, so I walk out into the Chancel, ad look back at the large Nave, filled with chairs.

 

The walls are sparsely adorned, with the memorials that are there as listed by Hasted below. Amazing to think of details recorded 220 years ago are still there and recognisable by his description.

 

The church has a new organ, which I am told sounds splendid in the summer when there are regular concerts as part of Stour Valley Music group.

 

Beside the organ I see the wall painting of The Trinity, though it is hard to see it all other than via an oblique view as the organ is in the way.

 

Ancient glass fills the upper traceries of the east window, most in good condition. At the west in, shards and remnants make more of an abstract display.

 

After half an hour I was done, so leave a donation and exit the church, locking the door behind me.

 

We took the key back, then was the question: shall we have lunch out?

 

We shall.

 

But where.

 

I mention the New Flying Horse in Wye, which is three miles away across the Stour and railway. So off we go. At the level crossing we see the new barriers, which replaced the manual gates a couple of years back, then up through the village, past the mad parking near the market, and along a back street to the pub.

 

It was five minutes past opening time.

 

They had a table, and at least three menus. We both chose steakburgers, and so waited and people-watched until the food arrived.

 

It was nothing extraordinary, but that's not what you want in a burger: just cheese, bacon and pickles. And lots of crispy fries.

 

We pay, and leave. Jools had accidentally ordered a pint of cider, so I drove back, back over Wye Down, to Stone Street then to Bridge and onto the A2.

 

Traffic was very light, we got back at two, just in time to watch the end of the lunchtime games and make a brew before taking my place beside Scully on the sofa.

 

Where I then fell asleep for half an hour.

 

Norwich only drew at Hull, a team we put to the sword in the warm autumn sunshine back in September.

 

Bacon butties for supper, then settle down to watch Palace v Everton, and it was the Toffees who win again under their old new manager, David Moyes.

 

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A connoisseur's church built in the thirteenth century by a man called Adulphus to replace a Saxon church. About a hundred years later the church was substantially enlarged under Sir Thomas Aldon, a courtier of Edward III. Stained glass shields of the King and associated Kentish families still survive as part of the fantastic East window where the upper lights actually follow the curve of both the external arch and the arch of the three main lights below. How fine it must have looked when completely glazed in stained glass. The south porch has a rare fireplace - showing that it may have been adapted to cater for pilgrims on their way to the shrine of Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. Of the same date is the fine screen and possibly the floor tiles. In the north transept is a good example of late fifteenth century wall painting. It depicts the Trinity and is set in a series of decorative frames. Regrettably the dove - central to the story as representative of the Holy Spirit - has long disappeared.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Boughton+Aluph

 

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BOUGHTON ALUPH

IS the next parish westward from that of Wye. It is frequently spelt Bocton, and is written in Domesday, Boltune, and has the addition of Aluph to it from one of its antient owners, Alulphus de Bocton, as well as to distinguish it from the other parishes of the same name in this county, and in a will, proved anno 1416, in the Prerogative-office, Canterbury, I find it mentioned by the name of the parish of Boughton Aluph, otherwise called Boughton in the Bushe. There are four boroughs in it, Goatlands, Wilmington, Dane, and Hebbinge.

 

THE PARISH lies about twelve miles distant both from Canterbury and Faversham, and about four from Ashford, the high road from Canterbury to the latter goes along the foot of the hills, near the eastern boundary of the parish, where the soil is chalky; close on the east side of the road is Buckwell-house, great part of which has been some time since pulled down, but there is sufficient remaining, with the offices and walls about it, to shew it was once a seat of some note, and at no great distance on the hill, high above the road, is the church and court-lodge. Above this, still further westward, is much open, rough ground, called the Warren, on a chalky soil, reaching beyond the high Faversham road, the new inclosure in Eastwell park adjoining to it, being within this parish; within the northern boundary of it there is a parcel of woodland, about one hundred acres lying in Kingswood, just above Socombe down; it was formerly part of Barton manor, and was sold off from it by Mr. Breton a few years before he sold that manor to Sir Robert Furnese, bart, by whose daughter Catherine it went in marriage to the earl of Guildford, whose grandson George-Augustus, earl of Guildford, is now possessed of it. By the pales of Eastwell park, at a small distance from the mansion of it, the last mentioned road descends below the hill to low ground, and mostly a gravelly soil; on it is the village, situated round a green, called Boughton lees, the west side only of which is in this parish. At the southern boundary of the parish, on the Ashford road, is the borough and hamlet of Wilmington, the antient mansion of which stood close to the road, it has been long since pulled down. It stood within a moat, which is still very entire, its area containing half an acre of ground; many old foundations have been dug up round about it within memory.

 

There is a fair held on the lees on Midsummer day for toys and pedlary.

 

IN THE TIME of the Saxons this place was in the possession of earl Godwin, who was succeeded in it by his eldest son earl Harold, afterwards king of England, on whose death in the fatal battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror having obtained the crown, seized on all the late king's estates, and gave this of Boughton to Eustance, earl of Bologne, who had followed him over hither, as a reward for his services; and he possessed it in the 15th year of that reign, at the time the survey of Domesday was taken, in which it is thus entered, under the title of Terra Comitis Eustachii, i. e. the land of earl Eustace.

 

In the lath of Wivarlet, in Wihundred, the earl holds Boltune. Earl Goduin held it, and it was taxed at seven sulings, then and now. The arable land is thirty-three carucartes. In demesne there are three, and sixty-seven villeins, with five borders having thirty carucates. There is a church, and seventeen servants, and two mills of seven shillings and two-pence, and twenty-six acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of two hundred hogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth twenty pounds, and afterwards thirty pounds, now forty pounds.

 

Of the earl of Bologne this manor was held by a family who assumed their name from it. Alulphus de Boughton held it in the reign of king John, as appears by the Testa de Nevil, of the honor of Bologne. Stephen de Bocton died possessed of this manor in the 14th year of Edward I. holding it in capite by knight's service; together with its member, Hethenden, in Kent, and Orset, in Essex, both escheats of that honor. Soon after which it passed into the family of Burghersh, and Robert de Burghersh, constable of Dover castle, died possessed of this manor of Bocton Olaus in the 34th year of that reign, whose son Stephen, in the 1st year of Edward II obtained a charter of free-warren in all his demesne lands within it. To him succeeded Bartholomew, lord Bughersh, constable of Dover Castle, lord warden, and chamberlain of the king's household. In the 12th, and in the 16th years of Edward III. he had the charter of free-warren renewed for all his lands. (fn. 1) His son Bartholomew, lord Burghersh, about the 43d year of king Edward III. passed away this manor by sale, with much other land in this county and in Warwickshire, to Sir Walter de Paveley, K.G. who spelt his name both Paveley and Pavalli, and bore for his arms, Azure, a cross story, or, as they are now on the roof of Canterbury cloisters. After the death of whose grandson Walter, in the 4th year of king Richard II. it was found by inquisition, that this manor, with the advowson of the church of Bocton Aluph, descended by the entail of it to Thomas de Aldon, as his next heir, who became accordingly possessed of it, and afterwards alienated it to Sir Thomas Trivet, whose widow Elizabeth died possessed of it in the 12th year of king Henry VI. and was succeeded by Elizabeth, then wife of Edward Nevill, lord Bergavenny, fourth son of Ralph, earl of Westmoreland; as her next heir, and the entitled her husband above-mentioned to the possession of it. After her death he remarried Catherine, daughter of Sir Robert Howard, and died anno 19 Edward IV. being then possessed as tenant by the courtesy of England, of this manor among others of the inheritance of Elizabeth his first wife. His eldest son Sir George Nevill, lord Bergavenny; seems to have sold this manor to Sir Thomas Kempe, of Ollantigh, whose youngest son Thomas, bishop of London, died possessed of it in the 4th year of king Henry VII. leaving his nephew Sir Thomas Kempe his next heir, whose descendant Sir Thomas Kempe, of Ollantigh, about the latter and of queen Elizabeth's reign, alienated it to Finch, of Eastwell, in whose successors, earls of Winchelsea, it descended down to Daniel, earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, who, by will in 1769, devised this manor to George Finch Hatton, esq. of Eastwell, the present owner of it.

 

SEATON is a small manor in this parish, which was held by knight's service in grand sergeantry, to provide one man, called a vautrer, to lead three greyhounds when the king should go into Gascony, until he had worn out a pair of shoes of the price of four-pence, bought at the king's cost; (fn. 2) by which service John de Criol, younger son of Bertram, held it at his death in the 48th year of king Henry III. whose grand-daughter Joane becoming heir to her brother's inheritance, who died s. p. she carried this manor in marriage to Sir Richard de Rokesle, who was found to hold it by the like service, in the 11th year of king Edward II. His eldest daughter and coheir Agnes married Thomas de Poynings, and entitled him to the possession of it. In whose descendants it continued till Alianore, daughter of Richard de Poynings, marrying Henry, lord Percy, eldest son of Henry, earl of Northamberland, he, in her right, became entitled to this manor among her other great inheritance in this county and elsewhere; and in his descendants this manor continued down to Henry, VIII. earl of Northamberland, (fn. 3) who, in the 23d year of Henry VIII. conveyed it to feoffees, who soon afterwards passed it away by sale to Sir Christopher Hales, afterwards knighted, and the king's attorney-general, whose lands were disgavelled by the act of the 31st year of Henry VIII. He died possessed of it in the 33d year of that reign, holding it of the king, as of his castle of Dover, by knight's service. He left three daughters his coheirs, who joined in the sale of it to Sir Thomas Moyle, of Eastwell, and chancellor of the king's court of augmentation, whose daughter and coheir Catherine, carried it in marriage to Sir Thomas Finch, of Eastwell, (fn. 4) in whose descendants, earls of Winchelsea, this manor continued down to Daniel, earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, who dying in 1769, without male issue, gave it, together with his other estates in this county, to his nephew George Finch Hatton, esq. now of Eastwell, the present proprietor of it.

 

BARTON is a manor here, the mansion of which stood on the west side of the Ashford road, in the borough of Socombe, almost opposite to Buckwell, but it has been pulled down some years, and there is now only a barn on the scite of it. It was once part of the possessions of the family of Leyborne, of Leyborne, one of whom, Roger de Leyborne, died possessed of it in the 56th year of king Henry III. and in this name it continued till Juliana de Leyborne, daughter of Thomas, became the sole heir of their possessions, from the greatness of which, she was usually stiled the Infanta of Kent, who, though she had three husbands, all of whom she survived, yet she died s. p. in the 41st year of king Edward III. (fn. 5) Upon which this manor, among the rest of her estates, escheated to the crown, there being no one found who could make claim to her estates, by direct or even by collateral alliance. After which this manor continued in the crown, till king Richard II. vested it in feoffees in trust, towards the endowment of St. Stephen's chapel, at Westminister, which he had in his 22d year completed and made collegiate, and had the year before granted to the dean and canons of this manor, among others, in mortmain. In which situation it continued till the 1st year of king Edward VI. when this college was, with all its possessions, surrendered into the king's hands, who soon afterwards granted this manor to Sir Thomas Moyle, of Eastwell, and he parted with it to his brother Walter Moyle, esq. who afterwards resided at Buckwell, in this parish; and in his descendants, resident at Buckwell, this manor continued, till John Moyle, esq. of Buckwell, leaving Mary his sole daughter and heir, she carried it in marriage to Robert Breton, esq. of the Elmes, near Dover, who died possessed of it in 1708, and his son, Moyle Breton, esq. of Kennington, about the year 1730, sold this manor to Thomas May, afterwards Knight, esq. of Godmersham, whose son Tho. Knight, esq. of Godmersham, dying in 1794, s.p. gave it by will to his widow Mrs. Catherine Knight, but she has since resigned it to Edward Austen, esq. of Godmersham park, who is the present owner of it.

 

BUCKWELL, which was once accounted a manor, is situated at a small distance from Barton last-mentioned, though on the opposite side of the road. It was, in the reign of the Conqueror, part of those estates which were given to William de Arsick, for his assistance in the desence of Dover castle, and made up, with them, the barony of Arsick, being held of it, as one knight's fee, by barony, as of the castle of Dover, to which it owed ward and service. Of him and his heirs this manor was again held by the family of Leyborne, one of whom, Roger de Leyborne, died possessed of it in the 56th year of Henry III. and was succeeded in it by William his son; but when it passed from this name, I have not found; but soon afterwards, the manor of Buckwell, and the mansion of it, seem to have been Separated, and in the possession of different owners; for the manor itself became the property of Robert de Burghersh, constable of Dover castle, and likewise lord warden, whose descendant Bartholomew, lord Burghersh, about the 43d year of king Edward III. conveyed it, with other land in this parish and elsewhere, to Sir Walter de Paveley, one of whose descendants passed it away to Sir Robert Belknap, chief justice of the common pleas, who in the 11th year of that reign was attainted, and banished to Ireland, and though he was afterwards permitted to return in the 20th year of it, yet his attainder still continued, and his lands remained forfeited as before, (fn. 6) and this manor remained in the crown till that king vested it in feoffees in trust, towards the endowment of St. Stephen's chapel, in Westminster, in the possession of the dean and canons, of which it remained till the suppression of that college in the 1st year of king Edward VI. when it came into the hands of the crown, whence it was granted to John Moyle, whose ancestors, resident at the mansion of Buckwell, had likewise been leffees of this manor under the deans and canons for some generations.

 

Mention has been made above, that the mansion of Buckwell had, before the reign of king Edward I. been separated from the manor itself; accordingly I find, that in the 8th year of king Edward III. William de la Hay died possessed of it, and that soon afterwards it became the property of a family who assumed their name from it, being usually called Bekewell. Henry de Bekewell appears by the escheat-rolls to have died possessed of it in the 10th year of that reign, as did his descendant, of the same name, in the 17th year of king Richard II. After this family was extinct here, this seat became the property of Wode, and remained so till the 34th year of Henry VI. and then Robert Wode passed it away by sale to Walter Moyle, ancestor of John Moyle, esq. of this place, who had the grant of the manor of Buckwell from king Edward VI. as be fore-mentioned. The Moyles were descended from Thomas Moyle, of Bodmin, in Cornwall, whose grandson Sir Walter, third son of Henry, was of Eastwell, and purchaser of this estate, as before-mentioned. His eldest son John had several sons, of whom John was father of Ralph Moyle, who died at Eastwell in 1582. Walter was of Buckwell, and ancestor of the Moyles of this place; and Thomas, who was knighted, and was of Eastwell, left two daughters his coheirs, married to Finch and Kempe. They bore for their arms, Gules, a mule passant, within a bordure, argent. There are many memorials of them in both the chancels of this church. (fn. 7) In the descendants of John Moyle, resident at Buckwell, this manor and seat continued till Mary, sole daughter and heir of John Moyle, esq. carried both of them in marriage to Robert Breton, esq. of the Elmes, near Dover, whose son Moyle Breton, esq. of Kennington, about the year 1730, being enabled so to do by an act passed for this purpose, sold them, with other adjoining estates, to Thomas May, afterwards Knight, esq. of Godmersham, and his only son and heir Thomas Knight, esq. of that place, on his death, s. p. in 1794, gave them by will to his widow, Mrs. Catherine Knight, who likewise resigned them to Edward Austen, esq. of Godmersham, the present owner of them.

 

Wilmington, called likewise antiently Wilmingdon, is a manor which lies at the southern part of this parish, on the Ashford road likewise. It gives name to the borough in which it stands, and to the hamlet of houses which stand round about it. Robert de Wilmington held this manor in the reign of Henry III. in grand sergeantry, of the honor of Bolegne, by the service of being the earl's cook, it being then valued at two marcs. His descendant Bertram de Wilmington, died possessed of it in the 12th year of Edward II. when it was found by inquisition, that he held it of the king in capite, by the service of finding for the king one pot-hook for his meat, whenever he should come within the manor of Boughton Aluph. (fn. 8) His descendant, of the same name, died possessed of it in the 6th year of king Henry V. After which it came into the possession of John Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, who was possessed of it in the 2d year of Edward IV. On his death the great inheritance of the Mowbrays came to the descendants of his two sisters and coheirs, and in the division of it John, lord Howard, in right of his mother Margaret, the eldest of them, became entitled to this manor. He was one of the most illustrious noblemen of his time, and having continued faithful to the house of York, he remained no less stedfast to the interest of king Richard III. who created him duke of Norsolk, earl marshal and lord admiral of England. But he did not enjoy these honors long; for he was next year slain in the battle of Bosworth, fighting on the king's behalf, and in the 1st year of Henry VII. he was attainted in parliament, and this manor, among his other possessions, became confiscated to the crown; (fn. 9) whence it was afterwards granted to Moyle, in which name it continued till the beginning of Edward VI.'s reign, when by Catherine, daughter and coheir of Sir Thomas Moyle, of Eastwell, it went in marriage to Sir Thomas Finch, of that parish, who died in 1563, and she remarrying with Nicholas St. Leger, esq. of Beamstone, in Westwell, entitled him to it for her life. She died in 1586, on which it came to her son Sir Moyle Finch, bart. in whose descendants, earl of Winchelsea, it descended down to Daniel, earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, who at his death in 1769, devised it to his nephew George Finch Hatton, esq. now of Eastwell, the present owner of it.

 

But Part Of The Demesne Lands of this manor were sold off, about the year 1713, to the Rev. Hilkiah Bedford, publisher of the bereditary Right of the Crown of England asserted, whose eldest son William Bedford M.D. whose daughter Elizabeth marrying Mr. Claxton, of Shirley, in Surry, has entitled him to the possession of it.

 

ANOTHER PART of this estate, now called Little Wilmington, in the reign of king Henry VI. was in the possession of Richard Sandys, who alienated it to John Barough, who resided at it, and died possessed of it in the 1st year of king Edward IV. One of his descendants, Richard Barrowe, resided here in the reigns of king Elizabeth and James I. and died in the 6th year of the latter, leaving three sons, Robert, Richard, and William, to which last he devised his house and lands in Borden, and from him descended the Barrows of that parish. To Robert Barrow, his eldest son, he devised this estate of Little Wilmington, and in his descendants it continued, till it was at length sold to Knott, and from that name again to Dr. William Egerton, prebendary of Canterbury, who died possessed of it in 1728, leaving two daughters his coheirs, and his widow surviving, upon whose death it came to Jemima, widow of Edward Bridges, esq. of Wotton, one of the above-mentioned coheirs, and William Hammond, esq. of St. Albans, the eldest son of William Hammond, esq. of that place, by Charlotte the other coheir; and upon a division made, this estate was allotted to Mrs. Bridges above-mentioned, now of Canterbury, and she is the present possessor of it.

 

MARDOL MANOR is the last place to be mentioned in this parish, lying on the south side of it. This manor was antiently the patrimony of the Corbies in which it continued till Robert Corbie, in the reign of king Richard II. leaving an only daughter and heir Joane, she carried it, among the rest of her inheritance, to Sir Nicholas Wotton, whose descendant Thomas Wotton, esq. in the reign of queen Elizabeth, passed it away by sale to Sprott, from which name, in the reign of king Charles I. it was alienated to Thomas Finch, earl of Winchelsea, in whose descendants it continued down to Daniel, earl of Winchelsea and Nottingham, who in 1769, gave it by will, with the rest of his estates in this county, to his nephew George Finch Hatton, esq. now the present owner of it.

 

Charities.

MR. JOHN BOUGHTON, vicar, left to this parish by will, in 1642, 30s. per annum to such poor as had great charge of children, aged and incapable to work, to be distributed on the Thursday in Whitsun-week; and to the churchwardens and overseers, 10s. per annum, for a sermon to be preached on that day, to be paid out of house and land on Boughton lees.

 

MR. THOMAS KEEPS left by will in 1780, 20s. per annum to the use of the poor, out of a field in Great Chart, rented at 6l. per annum, the remainder of the rent being left to five other parishes.

 

MR. WILLIAM CROW left by will in 1770, to this parish, the sum of 90l. to be put into the public funds, the amount of the profits of it to be yearly distributed by the owners of Eastwell-place, among such honest and well disposed poor aged men and women, especially widows, as they should consider real objects of charity; but not to persons receiving alms, in relief of the parish.

 

There is an alms-house belonging to this parish, on Boughtonlees, containing six dwellings.

 

The poor constantly relieved are about 15, casually 20.

 

BOUGHTON ALUPH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.

 

The church, which is dedicated to All Saints, is large and handsome, built of slint, with ashlar stone to the doors, windows, and quoins. It consists of three isles and two chancels. The steeple is a large low tower, standing on four pillars in the middle of it. There are five bells in it, and at the south-east corner, adjoining to the tower, is a large square addition, in which is a stone stair-case. Both the chancels did belong to the Buckwell estate; but the family of Breton having buried in both since their sale of it, without Mr. Knight's permission, he refused to repair them, and they are now repaired by Mr. Breton. In the great chancel, within the rails, is a monument for Thomas Austen, esq. obt. 1637. In this and the north chancel are many gravestones of the Moiles and Bretons. In the north chancel is a handsome monument of marble, for Amy, wife of Josias Clerk, gent. of Essex, daughter of John Moyle, esq. of Buckwell, obt. 1631, having the effigies of her lying at full length, and of her three children kneeling at her head and feet, in full proportion, under a canopy. In the middle isle is a memorial for John Mascall, esq. obt. 1769; arms, Two bars, over all, three escutcheons ermine, impaling a saltier, and on it a crescent, for difference; and there are memorials for others likewise of the same family.

 

The church of Boughton Aluph, as has been already mentioned before, was antiently an appendage to the manor, and continued so in the 4th year of Richard II. when Sir Walter Pavely died possessed of the same, and it was found that Sir Thomas de Aldon was his next heir. How long afterwards it continued in his heirs I have not found; but in the reign of Henry VI. the advowson of this rectory was become the property of cardinal John Kempe, archbishop of York, who settled it on his new-founded college of Wye, and in the 29th year of that reign the master and chaplains of it had the king's licence to receive this advowson from the cardinal, and to appropriate the rectory of it to themselves; (fn. 10) and a vicarage was endowed here. In which situation it remained till the suppression of the college, in the 36th year of Henry VIII. when it was surrendered into the king's hands, who that year granted this church, with the presentation of the vicarage of it, among other premises, to Walter Bucler, esq. to hold in capite, with certain provisos for the maintenance of the curates and schoolmaster of Wye; which grant, on his non-performance of these conditions, became forfeited, and king Charles I. in his 2d and 5th years, granted the same premises, with the proviso for the payment of certain stipends to the before-mentioned curate and schoolmaster, to Robert Maxwell, from whose heirs this rectory and advowson was afterwards sold to Moyle, of Buckwell, in which name it continued till Mary, daughter and sole heir of John Moyle, esq. of Buckwell, carried them in marriage to Robert Breton, esq. of the Elmes, near Dover, who died possessed of them in 1708, and his great grandson the Rev. Moyle Breton, of Kennington, is the present owner of the parsonage appropriate of Boughton, with the advowson of the vicarage of this church, who pays twenty pounds per annum from it towards the stipends of the curate and schoolmaster of Wye, as stipulated in Robert Maxwell's patent, the several premises granted in it being now in different hands as has been already more fully mentioned before.

 

It is valued in the king's books at 6l. 5s. the yearly tenths being 12s. 6d. but it is now of the clear yearly certified value (delivered in 1752) of 58l. 6s. 10d.

 

In 1578 here were communicants one hundred and fifty-four; in 1640, one hundred and seventy-seven. It is now worth about eighty pounds per annum. There are twenty three acres of glebe belonging to it.

 

There was a composition in 1305 entered into between the rector of Westwell and Stephen de Wilmington, rector of this church, concerning the tithes of the hamlets of Shotingdon, Chilberton, and Wike.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol7/pp384-398
TANGLED UP IN BLUE / MUSICA ETERNAL I GOT RHYTHM BLIND FAR FROM ME DAY-IN DAY-OUT BLOWIN THE WIND MY GIRLS #RAINBOW #RA #WORLD #BLUE #BUTTERFLY #CASTLE #STATION #LIBRARY #MANDALA #MAGIC #HEALING #ANGEL #DRAGON #GUARDIAN #SPIRIT #IMAGINATION #STAIRWAY #HEA by Joshua Oakley

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St Mary the Virgin, Eastry, Kent by Jelltex

Not so long ago, the main road from Dover to Sandwich passed right through the centre of Easty. Its narrow roads lined with parked cars must have been quite a bottle neck. But now the main road goes round and the cars can park was their owners want.

 

I visited Eastry many years ago, early in the Kent church project. So I am revisiting those first churches to see what I missed now I have a little knowledge of church architecture.

 

We park in the centre on the main road and walk down the dead end street to the church. It looks fine in the spring sunshine, flints glistening. It sits surrounded by gfand houses, most of which are listed.

 

Entrance is via a unique porch in the west end of the church, under the tower, where a porch has been fashioned from carved wood and leaded lights.

 

Upon entering you are greeted by the glory of the church, the chancel arch festooned with panels showing four different designs, but my eye is taken by the two quatrefoil cut outs either side.

 

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Set away from the main street but on one of the earliest sites in the village, flint-built Eastry church has an over restored appearance externally but this gives way to a noteworthy interior. Built in the early thirteenth century by its patrons, Christ Church Canterbury, it was always designed to be a statement of both faith and power. The nave has a clerestory above round piers whilst the east nave wall has a pair of quatrefoils pierced through into the chancel. However this feature pales into insignificance when one sees what stands between them - a square panel containing 35 round paintings in medallions. There are four deigns including the Lily for Our Lady; a dove; Lion; Griffin. They would have formed a backdrop to the Rood which would have been supported on a beam the corbels of which survive below the paintings. On the centre pier of the south aisle is a very rare feature - a beautifully inscribed perpetual calendar or `Dominical Circle` to help find the Dominical letter of the year. Dating from the fourteenth century it divides the calendar into a sequence of 28 years. The reredos is an alabaster structure dating from the Edwardian period - a rather out of place object in a church of this form, but a good piece of work in its own right. On the west wall is a good early 19th century Royal Arms with hatchments on either side and there are many good monuments both ledger slabs and hanging tablets. Of the latter the finest commemorates John Harvey who died in 1794. It shows his ship the Brunswick fighting with all guns blazing with the French ship the Vengeur. John Bacon carved the Elder this detailed piece of work.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Eastry

 

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Above the Chancel Arch, enclosed within a rectangular frame, are rows of seven "medallion" wall paintings; the lower group was discovered in 1857 and the rest in 1903. They remained in a rather dilapidated state until the Canterbury Cathedral Wall Paintings Department brought them back to life.

 

The medallions are evidently of the 13th Century, having been painted while the mortar was still wet. Each medallion contains one of four motifs:

 

The trefoil flower, pictured left, is perhaps a symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary to whom the church is dedicated; or symbolic of Christ.

 

The lion; symbolic of the Resurrection

  

Doves, either singly, or in pairs, represent the Holy Spirit

  

The Griffin represents evil, over which victory is won by the power of the Resurrection and the courage of the Christian.

 

www.ewbchurches.org.uk/eastrychurchhistory.htm

 

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All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk by Jelltex

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk.

 

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beasts, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

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All Saints is a large, remarkably good church in one of the sleepy, fat villages along the Cambridgeshire border, the sort of place you cycle through and imagine wistfully that you've won the lottery and could move there. The wide churchyard on both sides is a perfect setting for the church, which rises to heaven out of a perpendicular splendour of aisles, clerestories and battlements. The tower was complete by the 1470s when money was being left for a bell. The earlier chancel steadies the ship, anchoring it to earth quietly, although the tall east window has its spectacular moment too. And you step into a deliciously well-kept interior, full of interest.

One of the most significant medieval survivals here is not easily noticed. This is the range of 15th Century glass, which was reset by the Victorians high in the clerestory. This seems a curious thing to have done, since it defeats the purpose of a clerestory, but if they had not done so then we might have lost it. The glass matches the tracery in the north aisle windows, so that is probably where they came from. There are angels, three Saints and some shields, most of which are heraldic but two show the instruments of the passion and the Holy Trinity. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the shields are 19th century, but the figures are all original late 15th or early 16th century. The Saints are an unidentified Bishop, the hacksaw-wielding St Faith and one of my favourites, St Apollonia. She it was who was invoked by medieval people against toothache.

 

Waling from the nave up into the chancel, the space created by the clearing of clutter makes it at once mysterious and beautiful. Above, the early 16th century waggon roof is Suffolk's best of its kind. Mortlock points out the little angels bearing scrolls, the wheat ears and the vine sprays, and the surviving traces of colour. The low side window on the south side still has its hinges, for here it was that updraught to the rood would have sent the candles flickering in the mystical church of the 14th century. On the south side of the sanctuary is an exquisitely carved arched recess, that doesn't appear to have ever had a door, and may have been a very rare purpose-built Easter sepulchre at the time of the 1330s rebuilding. Opposite is a huge and stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast. It is one of the most significant Decorated moments in Suffolk.

 

On the floor of the chancel there is a tiny, perfect chalice brass, one of only two surviving in Suffolk. The other is at Rendham. Not far away is the indent of another chalice brass - or perhaps it was for the same one, and the brass has been moved for some reason. There are two chalice indents at Westhall, but nowhere else in Suffolk. Chalice brasses were popular memorials for Priests in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and thus were fair game for reformers. Heigham memorials of the late 16th century are on the walls. Back in the south aisle there is a splendid tombchest in Purbeck marble. It has lost its brasses, but the indents show us where they were, as do other indents in the aisle floors. Some heraldic brass shields survive, and show that Heighams were buried here. Brass inscriptions survive in the nave and the chancel, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

 

The 14th century font is a good example of the tracery pattern series that appeared in the decades before the Black Death. They may have been intended to spread ideas at that time of great artistic and intellectual flowering before it was so cruelly snatched away. The cover is 17th Century. At this end of the nave are two good ranges of medieval benches, one, rare in East Anglia, is a group of 14th Century benches with pierced tracery backs. Some of them appear to spell out words, and Mortlock thought one might say Salaman Sayet. The block of benches to the north appears to be 15th Century or possibly early 16th Century. Further north, the early 17th Century benches are simpler, even cruder, and were likely the work of the village carpenter.

 

All rather lovely then. And yet, it hasn't always been that way. All Saints at Gazeley, near Newmarket, was the first church that I visited after an international team of scientists conclusively proved that God did not exist began the first page for this church that I wrote in 2003, in a satirical mood after finding the church locked and at a very low ebb. At a time when congregations were generally falling, I'd been thinking about the future of medieval churches beyond a time when they would have people to use them in the traditional way. I wondered if the buildings might find new uses, or could adapt themselves to changing patterns and emphases in Christianity, or even changing spiritual needs of their parishes. Even if science could somehow prove that God did not exist, I suggested, there were parishes which would rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves, as churches have always done over the two millennia of Christianity. Coming to Gazeley I felt that here was a church which felt as if it had been abandoned. And yet, it seemed to me a church of such significance, such historical and spiritual importance, that its loss would be a disaster. If it had been clean, tidy and open at the time he was visiting, Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Churches would not have been able to resist it. Should the survival of such a treasure store depend upon the existence of God or the continued practice of the Christian faith? Or might there be other reasons to keep this extraordinary building in something like its present integrity?

 

In the first decade of the 21st Century, Gazeley church went on a tremendous journey, from being moribund to being the wonderful church you can visit today. If you want to read the slightly adapted 2006 entry for Gazeley, recounting this journey, you can do so here. Coming back here today always fills me with optimism for what can be achieved. On one occasion I mentioned my experiences of Gazeley church to a Catholic Priest friend of mine, and he said he hoped I knew I'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And perhaps that is so. Certainly, the energy and imagination of the people here have been fired by something. On that occasion I had wanted to find someone to ask about it, to find out how things stood now. But there was no one, and so the building spoke for them.

 

Back outside in the graveyard, the dog daisies clustered and waved their sun-kissed faces in the light breeze. The ancient building must have known many late-May days like this over the centuries, but think of all the changes that it has known inside! The general buffeting of the winds of history still leaves room for local squalls and lightning strikes. All Saints has known these, but for now a blessed calm reigns here. Long may it remain so.

 

Simon Knott, June 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/gazeley.htm
St Mary the Virgin, Bishopsbourne, Kent by Jelltex

I thought I had visited St Mary years ago. And indeed I had, or stood on the green in front of it, but didn't set foot inside.

 

This I didn't realise until Saturday when I was standing outside it looking at the row of cottages leading to the lych gate, I knew the scene was new to me.

 

The drizzle was still falling, so I could not linger in the churchyard, and scampered along the south side of the building, looking for the porch, but there wasn't one. Instead a simple door near to the chancel gave way when I turned the handle, after stepping over the void that acts as a drain for rainwater falling from the roof.

 

I tried hard to find the lightswitches, as in the gloom of the early afternoon, it was almost dark inside. Even when I found the switches in the south chapel, there seemed to be no power to them, so the church remained in half darkness.

 

What I did see, and was dazzled by, were tiles used to line the lower part of the chancel walls, like a mosaic, creating fantastic patterns.

 

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A mainly thirteenth century church restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott. There is a high window which originally shed light onto the Rood figures (see also Capel le Ferne). Some medieval glass survives in the heads of the windows in the chancel showing angels holding crowns. The west window was designed by Morris and Co in 1874 to commemorate a former Rector, whilst the south chapel has a set of continental glass brought here by the Beckingham family from their house in Essex. Above the nave arcade is a good set of murals including a figure of St Nicholas. The famous Elizabethan theologian Richard Hooker is commemorated in the chancel.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Bishopsbourne

 

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Bishopsbourne is another example of a parish church belonging to the church (the archbishop, in this case), which was totally rebuilt on a large(r) scale in the 13th century (cf. Chartham). The chancel, as rebuilt, was as wide as the nave, and there is no chancel arch (and probably never has been).

The nave and chancel both show at least two phases of work of about the mid to later 13th century, so it seems likely that a rebuilding programme was being carried on in stages during the 2nd half of the 13th century (no sign exists, above-ground, of the earlier church).

Perhaps the earliest visible work are the two pairs of two-light windows on either side of the chancel. They have geometrical tracery and all sit on an internal moulded string course (there is medieval glass at the top of all these windows). This string course rises up in the east wall, and has on it the five-light east window, within trefoiled lancets, which is perhaps slightly later in date. There is also a late 13th century piscina at the east end of the south wall (though with a 19th century back wall). Externally the N.E. and S.E. corners of the chancel have angle buttresses, but these are heavily restored. It is also just possible that there were further geometrical windows further west in the chancel, which were covered/removed when the 15th century additions were made.

In the nave, as John Newman has pointed out, the two slender arcades have slight differences (N. capitals more complex than the S. ones). Also that the nave abaci are undercut, while the chancel string course is not. Originally the south arcade was at least three bays long (ie. longer than the present nave), but on the north this is not so clear. The aisles themselves are very narrow, with shed roofs continuing the slope of the main nave roof (though this shape may only be 15th century when the aisles were remodelled). The only surviving feature of the 13th century in the outer aisle walls (again heavily restored externally in the 19th century) is the north doorway with its niche (called a stoup by some writers, but not necessarily one) immediately to the east. This doorway has slightly projecting pilasters on either side, and the whole was covered by a porch until 1837.

The second main phase of work took place in the later 15th century. First, the whole of the west end of the church was demolished and a new tower was constructed with diagonal buttresses. The tower is of three main stages with the top stage rendered. The whole of the south face is mostly rendered. As this was being built, short walls were erected from the eastern diagonal buttresses to the 13th century arcade (ie. leaving the western ends of the aisles outside). (This is perhaps due to a population decrease in the parish). New west walls (containing two light perpendicular square headed windows) to the shortened aisles were also built, and four new 2-light perpendicular windows were inserted into the outer aisle walls. Along the top of the inside of the aisles walls a new moulded timber stringcourse was made (the roofs were perhaps also remade, but they are hidden beneath plaster in the aisles, and the main nave roof was replaced in 1871). At the west end of the nave the new short north and south walls contain five 3-light windows with perpendicular tracery under a 2-centred arch in their heads. On the upper nave walls, above the arcade, are remains of some fine painted figures on a painted 'ashlar' background. These were perhaps painted after the 15th century rebuilding (a date of around 1462 for the rebuilding is perhaps suggested by the will of William Harte (see below). At the extreme west end of the nave are two areas (N. and S.) of in situ medieval floor tiles. It is just possible that they predate the tower building work. (They must continue eastwards under the pews). There is also a 15th cent. octagonal font bowl (on a 1975 base). The southern chapel (the Bourne Pew after the Reformation) with its diagonal buttresses and 3-light east window is also 15th century but it was very heavily restored in c. 1853 (date over new S. door). It has a separate roof (and plaster ceiling). The rectangular N. addition with a plinth is also 15th century and was perhaps built as a vestry. It had an external door and only a small door into the chancel until the rebuilding of 1865, when a massive new arch was put in to accommodate a new organ (earlier the organ was under the tower arch). At this time also a totally new pitched roof was built over the vestry, perhaps replacing a low pitched 15th century roof. There is a high up window on the north side above the pulpit, with some old glass in it.

A new boiler house was dug under the western half of the vestry (in the 1880s - date on radiator), and its N.W. corner was rebuilt, incorporating a fireplace and chimney. The cut through N. chancel wall (and foundation) can be seen in the boiler room below.

The door into the Rood loft is in the S.E. corner of the nave.

In 1871-2 a major restoration took place under Scott, when the boarded wagon roofs were put in (nave and chancel) and new pews were installed (and choir stalls). The c. 18th century pulpit was remodelled and has its larger tester removed. The west window contains 1874 Morris & Co glass with figures by Burne Jones. There is also much c. 1877 mosaic work on the lower chancel walls and a large Reredos. The chancel floor was also raised.

 

BUILDING MATERIALS (Incl. old plaster, paintings, glass, tiles, etc.):

The main building materials are flintwork with Rag and Caenstone quoins/jambs, etc. However much of this has been removed externally by the heavy 19th century restoration. The nave arcades are of Reigate stone. The 15th century tower has fine large quoins of Kent Rag (Hythe/Folkestone stone with boring mollusc holes), and a few reused pieces of Caen, Reigate and Roman brick.

The south chapel was "partly of brick" in 1846 (Glynne) but this has now gone in the Restoration. There is also some fine early post-medieval glass in the east window of this chapel.

 

(For medieval glass, wall paintings and floor tiles ,see above).

 

(Also 15th century choir stalls, see below). There are also the arms and Cardinals Cap of Cardinal Morton (hence 1494-1500) in the S.W. chancel window.

 

There are now 4 bells (2 J Hatch of 1618; Christopher Hodson 1685 and Robert Mot 1597). The later from St. Mary, Bredman, Canterbury was installed in 1975 (a cracked bell was 'discarded').

 

A late medieval brass (of John and Elizabeth Colwell) lies under the organ - another of 1617 (John Gibon) is under the choir stalls.

 

EXCEPTIONAL MONUMENTS IN CHURCH To Richard Hooker (1633) - originally on N chancel wall and moved to S chancel will c. 1865.

 

Also John Cockman (+1734) - also on N. chancel wall and moved to E. wall of N. aisle c. 1865 (when the organ was put under new vestry arch).

 

Also a fine Purbeck marble (14th century) grave slab under the N.E. corner of the tower.

 

There are also two fine 15th century (c. 1462) stall fronts in the chancel with carved panels and ends (and 'poppy heads'). The added Victorian choir stalls copy them.

 

CHURCHYARD AND ENVIRONS:

Shape: Rectangular

 

Condition: Good

 

Earthworks:

enclosing: drop on N. and W. sides (?Ha-Ha) into Bourne Park adjacent:

 

Building in churchyard or on boundary: Lychgate of 1911

 

HISTORICAL RECORD (where known):

Earliest ref. to church: Domesday Book

 

Evidence of pre-Norman status (DB, DM, TR etc.):

 

Late med. status: Rectory

 

Patron: The Archbishop

 

Other documentary sources: Test. Cant. (E. Kent 1907) 23 mentions 'one piece of that stone on which the Archangel Gabriel descended when he saluted the 'BVM' to the Image of the BVM of the church of Bourne. Towards the work of the Church of Bourne, of the stalls and other reparations, 4 marcs. Wm. Haute (1462). Also 'Beam, now before altar of B. Mary in the church' (1477) and Lights of St. Mary, St. Katherine and St. Nicholas (1484) and light of Holy Cross (1462) and 'The altar of St. Mary and St. Nicholas in the nave' (1476).

 

SURVIVAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL DEPOSITS:

Inside present church: Good - main nave and chancel floor raised in 19th century (earlier levels should be intact beneath (except where burials, etc.).

 

Outside present church: Drainage trench cut round outside of church.

 

Quinquennial inspection (date\architect): October 1987 David Martin

 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL ASSESSMENT:

The church and churchyard: A fine 13th and 15th century church, with an impressive collection of medieval wall paintings, stained glass, floor tiles and pew fronts inside. The 13th century architectural details of the chancel windows and nave arcade are very good. There are, no doubt, the remains of the earlier church beneath.

 

The wider context: One of a group of fine later 13th century rebuildings (cf. Hythe, Chartham, Adisham, etc.)

REFERENCES: Notes by FC Elliston Erwood, Arch. Cant. 62 (1949), 101-3 (+ plan) + S. R. Glynne Notes on the Churches of Kent (1877), 130-1 (He visited in 1846); Hasted IX (1800), 335-7; Newman BOE (N.E. and E Kent) (3rd ed. 1983) 144-5.

 

Guide book: by Miss Alice Castle (1931, rev. 1961, 1969, 1980) - no plan.

 

Plans & drawings: Early 19th century engraving of interior looking W. NW (before restoration).

 

DATES VISITED: 25th November 1991 REPORT BY: Tim Tatton-Brown

 

www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/01/03/BIS.htm

 

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BISHOPSBORNE

LIES the next parish eastward from Bridge, described before, in the hundred of that name. It is called in Domesday, Burnes, that is, borne, from the bourn or stream which rises in it, being the head of the river, called the Lesser Stour; and it had the name of Bishopsborne from its belonging to the archbishop, and to distinguish it from the several other parishes of the same name in this neighbourhood. There is but one borough in this parish, namely, that of Bourne.

 

THIS PARISH lies about five miles eastward from Canterbury, just beyond Bridge, about half a mile from the Dover road, and the entrance of Barham downs in the valley on the left hand, where the church and village, the parsonage, the mansion and grounds of Bourne place, and the seat of Charlton at the opposite boundary, with the high hills behind them, topped with woods, from a most pleasing and luxuriant prospect indeed. In this beautiful valley, in which the Lesser Stour rises, and through which the Nailbourne at times runs, is the village of Bourne-street, consisting of about fifteen houses, and near it the small seat of Ofwalds, belonging to Mr. Beckingham, and now inhabited by his brother the Rev. Mr. Beckingham, and near it the church and court-lodge. On the rise of the hill is the parsonage, an antient building modernized, and much improved by the present rector Dr. Fowell, and from its whiteness a conspicuous object to the road and Barham downs. About a mile distant eastward, in the vale, close to the foot of the hills, is Charlton, in a low and damp situation, especially when the nailbourne runs. On the opposite side of the church westward, stands the ornament of this parish, the noble mansion of Bourne-place, (for several years inhabited by Sir Horace Mann, bart. but now by William Harrison, esq.) with its paddocks, grounds, and plantations, reaching up to the downs, having the bourn, which is the source of the Lesser Stour, which rises here in the front of it, directing its course from hence to Bridge, and so on by Littleborne, Ickham and Wickham, till it joins the Greater Stour river. This valley from this source of the bourn upwards, is dry, except after great rains, or thaws of snow, when the springs of the Nailbourn occasionally over flow at Liminge and Elham, and directing their course through this parish descend into the head of the bourn, and blend their waters with it. From this valley southward the opposite hills rise pretty high to the woodland, called Gosley wood, belonging to Mr. Beckingham, of large extent, and over a poor, barren and stony country, with rough healthy ground interspersed among it, to the valley at the southern boundary of the parish, adjoining to Hardres; near which is the house of Bursted, in a lonely unfrequented situations, hardly known to any one.

 

THE MANOR OF BOURNE, otherwise Bishopsborne, was given by one Aldhun, a man of some eminence in Canterbury, from his office of præfect, or bailiff of that city, (qui in hac regali villa bujus civitatis prafectus suit), (fn. 1) to the monks of Christ-church there, towards the support of their refectory. After which, anno 811, the monks exchanged it, among other estates, with archbishop Wlfred, for the manor of Eastry, and it continued part of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, at the time of taking the survey of Domesday, in which it is thus entered, under the title of the archbishop's lands:

 

In Berham hundred, the archbishop himself holds Burnes in demesne. It was taxed for six sulings. The arable land is fifty carucates. In demesne there are five carucates, and sixty-four villeins, with fifty-three borderers having thirty carucates and an half. There is a church, and two mills of eight shillings and six pence, and twenty acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of fifteen hogs. Of herbage twenty-seven pence. In its whole value, in the time of king Edward the Confessor, and afterwards, it was worth twenty pounds, now thirty pounds.

 

The manor of Bishopsborne appears by the above entry to have been at that time in the archbishop's own hands, and it probably continued so as long as it remained part of his revenues, which was till the 35th year of king Henry VIII. when archbishop Cranmer, by an act specially passed for the purpose, exchanged this manor with the park, grounds and soil of the archbishop in this parish, called Langham park, with Thomas Colepeper, sen. esq. of Bedgbury, who that year alienated it to Sir Anthony Aucher, of Otterden, who gave this manor, with the rest of his possessions in this parish, to his second son Edward. Since which it has continued in the same line of ownership as Bourne-place, as will be more particularly mentioned hereafter, down to Stephen Beckingham, esq. the present owner of it. A court leet and court baron is held for this manor.

 

BOURNE-PLACE, formerly called the manor of Hautsbourne, is an eminent seat in this parish, for the manor has from unity of possession been for many years merged in the paramount manor of Bishopsborne. It was in very early times possessed by a family who took their name from it. Godric de Burnes is mentioned in the very beginning of the survey of Domesday, as the possessor of lands in it. John de Bourne had a grant of free-warren and other liberties for his lands in Bourne and Higham in the 16th year of king Edward I. He left an only daughter Helen, who carried this estate in marriage to John de Shelving, of Shelvingborne, whose grandson, of the same name, died anno 4 Edward III. at which time this manor had acquired from them the name of Shelvington. He left an only daughter and heir Benedicta, who carried it in marriage to Sir Edmund de Haut, of Petham, whose son Nicholas Haut gave to William, his youngest son, this estate of Bishopsborne, where he afterwards resided, and died in 1462, having been knight of the shire and sheriff of this county. From him it descended down to Sir William Haut, of Hautsborne, sheriff in the 16th and 29th year of king Henry VIII. whose son Edmund dying unmarried in his life-time, his two daughters, Elizabeth, married to Thomas Colepeper, esq. of Bedgbury, and Jane, to Sir Thomas Wyatt, of Allington-castle, became his coheirs, and on the division of their estates, this of Hautsborne was allotted to the former, and her hus band Thomas Colepeper, in her right, became possessed of it, and having acquired the manor of Bishopsborne by exchange from the archbishop, anno 35 Henry VIII. immediately afterwards passed away both that and Hautsborne to Sir Anthony Aucher, of Otterden, whose family derived their origin from Ealcher, or Aucher, the first earl of Kent, who had the title of duke likewise, from his being intrusted with the military power of the county. He is eminent in history for his bravery against the Danes, in the year 853. They first settled at Newenden, where more of the early account of them may be seen. He at his death gave them to his second son Edward, who afterwards resided here at Shelvington, alias Hautsborne, as it was then called, whose great-grandson Sir Anthony Aucher was created a baronet in 1666, and resided here. He left surviving two sons Anthony and Hewitt, and two daughters, Elizabeth, afterwards married to John Corbett, esq. of Salop, LL. D. and Hester, to the Rev. Ralph Blomer, D. D. prebendary of Canterbury. He died in 1692, and was succeeded by his eldest son, who dying under age and unmarried, Hewitt his brother succeeded him in title and estate, but he dying likewise unmarried about the year 1726, the title became extinct, but his estates devolved by his will to his elder sister Elizabeth, who entitled her husband Dr. Corbett afterwards to them, and he died possessed of the manor of Bishopsborne, with this seat, which seems then to have been usually called Bourneplace, in 1736, leaving his five daughters his coheirs, viz. Katherine, afterwards married to Stephen Beckingham, esq. Elizabeth, to the Rev. Thomas Denward; Frances, to Sir William Hardres, bart. Antonina, to Ignat. Geohegan, esq. and Margaret-Hannah-Roberta, to William Hougham, esq. of Canterbury, the four latter of whom, with their respective husbands, in 1752, jointed in the sale of their shares in this estate to Stephen Beckingham, esq. above-men tioned, who then became possessed of the whole of it. He married first the daughter of Mr. Cox, by whom he had the present Stephen beckingham, esq. who married Mary, daughter of the late John Sawbridge, esq. of Ollantigh, deceased, by whom he had an only daughter, who married John-George Montague, esq. eldest son of John, lord viscount Hinchingbrooke, since deceased. By his second wife Catherine, daughter of Dr. John Corbet, he had two daughters, Charlotte and Catherine, both married, one to Mr. Dillon and the other to Mr. Gregory; and a son John Charles, in holy orders, and now rector of Upper Hardres. They bear for their arms, Argent, a sess, crenelle, between three escallop shells, sable. He died in 1756, and his son Stephen Beckingham, esq. above-mentioned, now of Hampton-court, is the present owner of the manor of Bishopsborne, and the mansion of Bourneplace.

 

BURSTED is a manor, in the southern part of this parish, obscurely situated in an unfrequented valley, among the woods, next to Hardres. It is in antient deeds written Burghsted, and was formerly the property of a family of the same name, in which it remained till it was at length sold to one of the family of Denne, of Dennehill, in Kingston, and it continued so till Thomas Denne, esq. of that place, in Henry VIII.'s reign, gave it to his son William, whose grandson William, son of Vincent Denne, LL. D. died possessed of it in 1640, and from him it descended down to Mr. Thomas Denne, gent. of Monkton-court, in the Isle of Thanet, who died not many years since, and his widow Mrs. Elizabeth Denne, of Monktoncourt, is the present possessor of it.

 

CHARLTON is a seat, in the eastern part of this parish, which was formerly the estate of a family named Herring, in which it continued till William Herring, anno 3 James I. conveyed it to John Gibbon, gent. the third son of Thomas Gibbon, of Frid, in Bethers den, descended again from those of Rolvenden, and he resided here, and died possessed of it in 1617, as did his son William in 1632, whose heirs passed it away to Sir Anthony Aucher, bart. whose son Sir Hewitt Aucher, bart. in 1726, gave it by will to his sister Elizabeth, and she afterwards carried it in marriage to John Corbett, LL. D. of Salop, who died possessed of it in 1735, leaving his window surviving, after whose death in 1764 it came to her five daughters and coheirs, who, excepting Frances, married to Sir William Hardres, bart. joined with their husbands in the sale of their respective fifth parts of it in 1765, to Francis Hender Foote, clerk, who resided here. Mr. Foote was first a barrister-at-law, and then took orders. He married Catherine, third daughter of Robert Mann, esq. of Linton, by whom he had three sons, John, mentioned below, who is married and has issue; Robert, rector of Boughton Malherb, and vicar of Linton, who married Anne, daughter of Dobbins Yate, esq. of Gloucestershire, and Edward, in the royal navy; and three daughters, of whom two died unmarried, and Catherine, the second, married first Mr. Ross, and secondly Sir Robert Herries, banker, of London. Mr. Foote died possessed of them in 1773, leaving his wife Catherine surviving, who possessed them at her death in 1776, on which they descended to their eldest son John Foote, esq. of Charlton, who in 1784, purchased of the heirs of lady Hardres, deceased, the remaining fifth part, and so became possessed of the whole of it, of which he is the present owner, but Mr. Turner now resides in it.

 

Charities.

MRS. ELIZABETH CORBETT, window, executrix of Sir Hewit Aucher, bart. deceased, in 1749, made over to trustees, for the use and benefit of the poor, a tenement called Bonnetts, and half an acre of land adjoining, in this parish; now occupied by two poor persons, but if rented, of the annual value of 3l.

 

The poor constantly relieved are about eleven, casually seven.

 

THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.

 

¶The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large building, consisting of three isles and three chancels, having a tower steeple at the west end, in which are four bells. This church is a large handsome building, but it is not kept so comely as it ought to be. In the chancel is a monument for Richard Hooker, rector of this parish, who died in 1600; on it is his bust, in his black gown and square cap. A monument for John Cockman, M. D. of Charlton. His widow lies in the vault by him, obt. 1739; arms, Argent, three cocks, gules, impaling Dyke. Memorial for Petronell, wife of Dr. John Fowell, the present rector, second daughter of William Chilwich, esq. of Devonshire, obt. 1766. She lies buried in a vault under the altar. A large stone, twelve feet long, supposed to be over the remains of Mr. Richard Hooker. A memorial on brass for John Gibbon, gent. of this parish, obt. 1617; arms, Gibbon, a lion rampant-guardant, between three escallops, impaling Hamon, of Acrise, quartering Cossington. Memorials for Mrs. Jane Gibbon, his wife, obt. 1625, and for William Gibbon, gent. obt. 1632. A memorial for William Gresham, obt. 1718. In one of the windows are the arms of the see of Canterbury impaling Warham. In the middle isle, in the south wall, above the capital of the pillar, opposite the pulpit, is a recess, in which once stood the image of the Virgin Mary, the patron saint of this church, to which William Hawte, esq. by will anno 1462, among the rest of his relics, gave a piece of the stone on which the archangel Gabriel descended, when he saluted her, for this image to rest its feet upon. On the pavement near this, seemingly over a vault, is a stone with an inscription in brass, for William, eldest son of Sir William Hawt. A memorial for Farnham Aldersey, gent. of this parish, only son of Farnham Aldersey, gent. of Maidstone, obt. 1733. Memorials for several of the Dennes, of this parish. In a window of the south isle, are the arms of Haut, impaling Argent, a lion rampant-guardant, azure. The south chancel is inclosed and made into a handsome pew for the family of Bourne-place, under which is a vault appropriated to them. The window of it eastward is a very handsome one, mostly of modern painted glass; the middle parts filled up with scripture history, and the surrounding compartments with the arms and different marriages impaled of the family of Beckingham. On each side of this window are two ranges of small octagon tablets of black marble, intended for the family of Aucher, and their marriages, but they were not continued. In the church-yard, on the south side, is a vault for the family of Foote, of Charlton, and a tomb for Mrs. Elizabeth Corbett, obt. 1764; arms, Corbett, which were Or, two ravens, sable, within a bordure, gules, bezantee. At the north-east corner of the church-porch are several tombs for the Dennes.

 

The church of Bishopsborne, with the chapel of Barham annexed, was antiently appendant to the manor, and continued so till the exchange made between the archbishop and Thomas Colepeper, in the 35th year of king Henry VIII. out of which the advowson of this rectory was excepted. Since which it has continued parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury to the present time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.

 

This rectory, (including the chapel of Barham annexed to it) is valued in the king's books at 39l. 19s. 2d. and the yearly tenths at 3l. 19s. 11d. In 1588 here were communicants one hundred. In 1640 one hundred and forty-eight, and it was valued, with Barham, at two hundred and fifty pounds per annum.

 

Church of Bishopsborne with the Chapel of Barhan annexed.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol9/pp328-337

 

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Richard Hooker (March 1554 – 3 November 1600) was an English priest in the Church of England and an influential theologian.[2] He was one of the most important English theologians of the sixteenth century.[3] His defence of the role of redeemed reason informed the theology of the seventeenth century Caroline Divines and later provided many members of the Church of England with a theological method which combined the claims of revelation, reason and tradition.[3] Scholars disagree regarding Hooker's relationship with what would later be called "Anglicanism" and the Reformed theological tradition. Traditionally, he has been regarded as the originator of the Anglican via media between Protestantism and Catholicism.[4]:1 However, a growing number of scholars have argued that he should be considered as being in the mainstream Reformed theology of his time and that he only sought to oppose the extremists (Puritans), rather than moving the Church of England away from Protestantism.

 

This sermon from 1585 was one of those that triggered Travers attack and appeal to the Privy Council. Travers accused Hooker of preaching doctrine favourable to the Church of Rome when in fact he had just described their differences emphasising that Rome attributed to works "a power of satisfying God for sin;..." For Hooker, works were a necessary expression of thanksgiving for unmerited justification by a merciful God.[11] Hooker defended his belief in the doctrine of Justification by faith, but argued that even those who did not understand or accept this could be saved by God.

 

Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie is Hooker's best-known work, with the first four books being published in 1594. The fifth was published in 1597, while the final three were published posthumously,[2] and indeed may not all be his own work. Structurally, the work is a carefully worked out reply to the general principles of Puritanism as found in The Admonition and Thomas Cartwright's follow-up writings, more specifically:

 

Scripture alone is the rule that should govern all human conduct;

Scripture prescribes an unalterable form of Church government;

The English Church is corrupted by Roman Catholic orders, rites, etc.;

The law is corrupt in not allowing lay elders;

'There ought not to be in the Church Bishops'.[12]

Of the Lawes has been characterised as "probably the first great work of philosophy and theology to be written in English."[13] The book is far more than a negative rebuttal of the puritan claims: it is (here McAdoo quotes John S. Marshall) 'a continuous and coherent whole presenting a philosophy and theology congenial to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer and the traditional aspects of the Elizabethan Settlement."[14]

 

Quoting C. S. Lewis,[15] Stephen Neill underlines its positive side in the following terms: Hitherto, in England, "controversy had involved only tactics; Hooker added strategy. Long before the close fighting in Book III begins, the puritan position has been rendered desperate by the great flanking movements in Books I and II. . . . Thus the refutation of the enemy comes in the end to seem a very small thing, a by-product."[16]

 

It is a massive work that deals mainly with the proper governance of the churches ("polity"). The Puritans advocated the demotion of clergy and ecclesiasticism. Hooker attempted to work out which methods of organising churches are best.[2] What was at stake behind the theology was the position of the Queen Elizabeth I as the Supreme Governor of the Church. If doctrine were not to be settled by authorities, and if Martin Luther's argument for the priesthood of all believers were to be followed to its extreme with government by the Elect, then having the monarch as the governor of the church was intolerable. On the other side, if the monarch were appointed by God to be the governor of the church, then local parishes going their own ways on doctrine were similarly intolerable.

 

In political philosophy, Hooker is best remembered for his account of law and the origins of government in Book One of the Politie. Drawing heavily on the legal thought of Thomas Aquinas, Hooker distinguishes seven forms of law: eternal law ("that which God hath eternally purposed himself in all his works to observe"), celestial law (God's law for the angels), nature's law (that part of God's eternal law that governs natural objects), the law of reason (dictates of Right Reason that normatively govern human conduct), human positive law (rules made by human lawmakers for the ordering of a civil society), divine law (rules laid down by God that can only be known by special revelation), and ecclesiastical law (rules for the governance of a church). Like Aristotle, whom he frequently quotes, Hooker believes that humans are naturally inclined to live in society. Governments, he claims, are based on both this natural social instinct and on the express or implied consent of the governed.

 

The Laws is remembered not only for its stature as a monumental work of Anglican thought, but also for its influence in the development of theology, political theory, and English prose.

 

Hooker worked largely from Thomas Aquinas, but he adapted scholastic thought in a latitudinarian manner. He argued that church organisation, like political organisation, is one of the "things indifferent" to God. He wrote that minor doctrinal issues were not issues that damned or saved the soul, but rather frameworks surrounding the moral and religious life of the believer. He contended there were good monarchies and bad ones, good democracies and bad ones, and good church hierarchies and bad ones: what mattered was the piety of the people. At the same time, Hooker argued that authority was commanded by the Bible and by the traditions of the early church, but authority was something that had to be based on piety and reason rather than automatic investiture. This was because authority had to be obeyed even if it were wrong and needed to be remedied by right reason and the Holy Spirit. Notably, Hooker affirmed that the power and propriety of bishops need not be in every case absolute.

 

King James I is quoted by Izaak Walton, Hooker's biographer, as saying, "I observe there is in Mr. Hooker no affected language; but a grave, comprehensive, clear manifestation of reason, and that backed with the authority of the Scriptures, the fathers and schoolmen, and with all law both sacred and civil."[17] Hooker's emphasis on Scripture, reason, and tradition considerably influenced the development of Anglicanism, as well as many political philosophers, including John Locke.[2] Locke quotes Hooker numerous times in the Second Treatise of Civil Government and was greatly influenced by Hooker's natural-law ethics and his staunch defence of human reason. As Frederick Copleston notes, Hooker's moderation and civil style of argument were remarkable in the religious atmosphere of his time.[18] In the Church of England he is celebrated with a Lesser Festival on 3 November and the same day is also observed in the Calendars of other parts of the Anglican Communion.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hooker
Ramzan And Islam In India A Land of Peace Hope Humanity by firoze shakir photographerno1

Ramzan is a not just a Holy Month a very peaceful sublime month of Barkat too, for those who are in Iftar selling trade , they get good returns for the noble work they do, perhaps fruits and other items are expensive but the common Muslim man does not complain , he goes about life his roza his Ibadat.

 

And this is what I try to show you , the common Muslim , his family , his wife his mother going about buying the Iftar items , his children also kissed by hope of Ramzan.

 

Whatever your sect Islam does not condemn you , or segregates you , you follow what you have to follw after all we are all children of One God One Holy Prophet One Holy Book and Ahle Bayt..

 

This is how I see the Islam I follow a Islam that pre empts I respect another mans religion too .. and my country that brings all of us together under one shade ..

 

Perhaps I am not a very artistic photographer I shoot Ramzan as I see Ramzan on my soul , as it was during your childhood and my childhood too.

 

Before sectarian strife with its evil fangs penetrated the Soul of Islam..and changed the economics of religious life and peace , hate is created by lust power big bucks ..

 

Islam in India is a million light years away from Syria Afghanistan Pakistan and other Arab countries where even during Ramzan the battle rages and really call me what you want but Muslims do love killing Muslims passionately lustfully.

 

So I shoot an Islam of Peace Sadgi Bhaichara Khulus and Aman..

 

I share this message with you through my Ramzan blogs...

 

And I interlink the soul of my blog with your on Facebook and Twitter ..

 
St. Stephen's Cathedral - Cathedral & Metropolitan Church Of St. Stephen & All Saints - Domkirche St. Stephan, Stephansplatz 3, 1010 Wien, Vienna, Republic Of Austria. by HISTOGRAPHY by DM & DBM.

St. Stephen's Cathedral (actually the cathedral and metropolitan church of St. Stephen and All Saints ) on Vienna's Stephansplatz ( Inner City district ) has been a cathedral church (seat of a cathedral chapter ) since 1365, a cathedral (bishop's seat) since 1469/1479 and the metropolitan church of the Archbishop of Vienna since 1723 . It is also the parish church of the cathedral parish of St. Stephan in downtown Vienna. The Roman Catholic cathedral , which the Viennese call Steffl for short, is considered a landmark of Vienna and is sometimes referred to as the Austrian national shrine . It is named after Saint Stephen , who is considered the first Christian martyr. The second patronage year is All Saints Day.

 

The structure is 109 meters long and 72 meters wide. The cathedral is one of the most important Gothic buildings in Austria . Parts of the late Romanesque previous building from 1230/40 to 1263 are still preserved and form the west facade, flanked by the two heath towers , which are around 65 meters high. St. Stephen's Cathedral has a total of four towers: at 136.4 meters, the south tower is the highest, the north tower was not completed and is only 68 meters high. In the former Austria-Hungary, no church was allowed to be built higher than the south tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral. For example, the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary Conception in Linz was built two meters lower.

 

The south tower is an architectural masterpiece of the time; Despite its remarkable height, the foundation is less than four meters deep. When it was completed, the tower was the tallest free-standing structure in Europe for over 50 years. There are a total of 13 bells in the south tower, eleven of which form the main bell of St. Stephen's Cathedral. The Pummerin , the third largest free-swinging church bell in Europe, has been located in the north tower under a Renaissance tower dome since 1957.

 

The area that was later occupied by St. Stephen's Cathedral was located east of the Roman legionary camp of Vindobona in the area of ​​the canabae legiones , the camp suburb. The camp was surrounded by buildings and streets from the first to the third century, but these were replaced by tombs and burial structures in the third and fourth centuries. Grave discoveries have been made in the area of ​​Stock-im-Eisen-Platz since 1690.

 

The beginnings of the cathedral date back to 1137, from which the Mautern exchange agreement between Margrave Leopold IV of Austria and Bishop Reginmar of Passau has been handed down. Goods and parish rights were exchanged in order to enable the bishop to build a church outside the city at the time, which would be placed under the patronage of St. Stephen , the patron of the Episcopal Church of Passau . The parish rights of the existing St. Peter's Church should fall under the responsibility of the new Viennese pastor. The other churches in Vienna at the time (in addition to the Maria am Gestade church ), the Ruprechtskirche and the Peterskirche , were named after Salzburg saints; The patronage of the church was therefore a political signal. The first church was completed in 1147 and consecrated in the same year around or just before Pentecost (June 8, 1147) by Passau Bishop Reginbert von Hagenau (patronage after the mother church Passau); the first pastor is the Passau cleric Eberger from the bishop's entourage . The church was completely oversized for the city at the time - so there could have been efforts to convert it into an episcopal church at that time. The church is dated to sunrise on December 26, 1137.

 

Lightning struck the south tower in 1149 and caused it to burn out. [8th]

 

From 1230 to 1245 , another late Romanesque building was built under Duke Frederick II the Quarrelsome of Austria, some of which is still preserved on the western facade. It consists of the two Heathen Towers and the Giant's Gate . The origin of both names is not completely clear. The name: Heathen Towers possibly comes from the stones that came from ancient Roman ruins, but possibly also from the two representations of the non-Christian fertility symbols phallus and vulva (pictures below), which crown the two blind columns in the west wall below the towers. The association with minarets comes from a later period. However, the term “pagan” could simply be a synonym for “ancient.” According to legend, the name Giant Gate goes back to a huge mammoth bone suspended above the gate or a giant who helped with its construction; In fact, the name probably goes back to the Middle High German word risen (to sink, to fall) and refers to the funnel shape of the portal. Above the gate was a ducal gallery , similar to Charlemagne's imperial chair in Aachen and the western galleries of the imperial cathedrals.

 

After a fire in 1258, construction was completed under the new sovereign Ottokar II Přemysl and re-consecrated in 1263 under pastor Gerhard. The upper floors of the heathen towers were only built afterwards. The two towers are connected by a late Gothic candle arch , which has the task of supporting the two towers against each other. This medieval renovation measure prevents settlement and shifting in the area of ​​the westwork. The candle arch is usually hidden by the organ, but was visible in 2018 as part of the organ renovation. In 1276 a fire broke out again, which damaged the choir, but did not affect the western facade and the western gallery or the adjoining rooms in the heath towers.

 

The Gothic building period began under the Habsburgs , Dukes of Austria since 1282 . Under the Dukes Albrecht I and Albrecht II of Austria, not only was the fire damage repaired, but an enlarged choir in the Gothic style was built between 1304 and 1340, which is called the Albertine Choir after them . The choir was consecrated on April 23, 1340, and the hall choir was largely completed. After 1340, as the documents on the liturgy, the rood screen and the altars show, the choir could already be used for liturgical activities.

 

The reign of Duke Rudolf IV , called "the founder", was significant for the church: on April 7, 1359 he laid the foundation stone for the south tower and the Gothic extension of the church - one source specifically speaks of the choir, for which there is evidence of a new consecration in 1365. With the intention of upgrading the main church of his residential city, Rudolf - who had claimed the title of "Arch Duke of the Palatinate" since 1358/59 - moved the collegiate monastery he had built in 1358 in the All Saints' Chapel in the Hofburg as a "cathedral chapter" to St. Stephen's Church in 1365 and lent it to it Provost gave him the title “Archchancellor of Austria” and appointed him chancellor (rector) of the new university in Vienna . Since then, the All Saints' Day patronage for the choir has been the cathedral's second patronage. The important collection of relics and the founding of the ducal crypt also go back to Rudolf IV. [10] When Rudolf died unexpectedly in 1365, he was buried in the choir. The construction of the two western nave chapels as well as the two princely portals that are obviously connected to them also go back to Rudolf.

 

Rudolf's most important construction project at St. Stephen's Cathedral was the start of construction on the southern high tower, even if little more than parts of the St. Catherine's Chapel, which was only consecrated in 1391, was completed during the seven years of his rule. [15] The question of who was responsible for the conception and planning of the Gothic building is open. It was not until 1368 that a Magister operum ad St. Stephanum (master builder of St. Stephan) named Seyfried was mentioned for the first time. A significant influence on the planning was attributed in older research to the Dukes' master builder Michael Knab , but his activity as a master builder in Vienna's cathedral can be specifically ruled out.

 

By 1407, the tower substructure had advanced to the height of the church roof, when decisive corrections were made because, as Thomas Ebendorfer reports, “master builders experienced in the art and famous in our day had deviated so much from the original plan in the construction of the said tower that everything, What had been built on it at great expense over several years was, conversely, demolished back to where the first builder left it.” This obviously refers to the former Prague cathedral builder Wenzel Parler , who was the cathedral builder in Vienna from 1403 to 1404. The tower was then completed with modifications in 1433 by Peter and Hans von Prachatitz , [10] with this tower being the tallest tower in Europe at 136 meters until the Strasbourg Cathedral tower was completed in 1439.

 

Immediately after the tower substructure, the construction of the Gothic nave, decorated with rich tracery shapes, began on its south side and was progressed to such an extent by 1430 that the last remnants of the early Gothic nave, which stood in the way of expansion, could be demolished. Under cathedral builder Mathes Helbling , the western part of the north wall was completed by 1440 (inscription on the cornice), after which work began on the construction of the cantilever pillars of the hall church . Under Hans Puchsbaum, the cathedral nave was expanded into a relay hall and the vault was also prepared, although its rich design with arched ribs was only completed under his successor Laurenz Spenning . In the Middle Ages, the only tracery gable of the exterior building was that of Emperor Friedrich III. Referring Friedrich gable was built over the southwest yoke. An inscription tablet from 1474 (now lost) marked the completion date of the church building, although without the north tower, which had just begun. Shortly before, in 1469, Vienna had been elevated to a diocese and thus St. Stephen's Cathedral had been elevated to a cathedral , so that the collegiate foundation founded by Rudolf IV also became a cathedral chapter . During this time, St. Stephen's Cathedral was also used for public speeches to the Viennese community, as was the case with Archduke Albrecht VI. shows.

 

In 1450 Frederick III. the foundation stone for the north tower (previously also incorrectly called the Albertine Tower ) and the foundation of the north tower was built under the cathedral builder Hans Puchsbaum, whereby, on imperial orders, the wine of this vintage, which was classified as inedible, was used as a binding agent. After a long interruption caused by the political tensions between the city and the emperor, it was not until 1467 that construction of the north tower actually began according to new plans under cathedral architect Laurenz Spenning. [20] Of the two alternative tower plans he presented, the first represented a revision of the existing high tower, the second a new plan that was around 20 meters higher, which was also intended to surpass the tower construction projects of the Strasbourg and Ulm Minsters . Under him the portal floor was completed by 1477, under his successor Simon Achleitner the double window floor, under Jörg Kling and Jörg Öchsl the subsequent open floor, until further construction was stopped in 1513 after almost half a century of construction activity. The decision to complete the tower was made in 1523, but was no longer implemented. Continuing to be built at the same pace, the north tower could have been completed around 1560, but the warlike circumstances of the time, which made the renovation of the fortifications necessary, prevented further construction. In 1578, a simple bell storey with a Renaissance hood was placed on the tower stump , which is called Saphoy'sche Haube after the builder Hans Saphoy .

 

From 1511 to 1515, the sculptor and master builder Anton Pilgram took over the management of the construction works , he completed the organ base and, among other things, was involved in the execution of the cathedral pulpit ; the window peep there was traditionally mistaken for his self-portrait . Under Hans Herstorffer , who worked as the cathedral builder from 1637 to 1650, the interior was given a Baroque design in 1647 ; in particular, the high altar by the sculptor Johann Jacob Pock and his brother, the painter Tobias Pock , dates from this period. During the Turkish siege in 1683, the cathedral was damaged by Turkish cannonballs. The large bell (the Pummerin ) was then cast from the besiegers' cannons. In 1713, right at the beginning of the term of office of cathedral builder Johann Carl Trumler , Emperor Charles VI. in the cathedral a vow to found a church when the plague ends. Around three years later, construction of the Karlskirche began.

 

Since the renovations in the 19th century, the imperial eagle of the Austrian Empire has been laid out in colorful tiles on the southern roof of St. Stephen's Cathedral. The breastplate of this eagle contains the monogram of Emperor Franz I. When the roof structure was rebuilt after the fire at the end of the Second World War, the Austrian federal eagle , which, however heraldically , faces the wrong direction, and the Viennese eagle were also added to the north side of the roof Coat of arms attached.

 

Destruction in the Second World War and reconstruction

St. Stephen's Cathedral survived the bombing raids during the Second World War and the fighting in the city without any major damage. However, on April 6th, a bomb penetrated the vault of the south aisle. When a white flag was hoisted from the tower on April 10, 1945, the Wehrmacht captain Gerhard Klinkicht (1915–2000) refused the order of the city commander Sepp Dietrich , to "... initially reduce the cathedral to rubble and ashes with 100 grenades “A memorial plaque on the cathedral commemorates Klinkicht’s refusal to obey orders.

 

On the night of April 12, 1945, the larch wood roof structure and the bell tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral burned down completely. While the story spread for decades afterwards that “ the Russians ” had set the cathedral on fire, and also that there had been German shelling , it is known from eyewitness reports that the fire came from surrounding buildings in which looters had set fire Dom attacked. The previous battles had created holes in the cathedral roof; The flying sparks could reach the roof structure through this and ignite it. The fighting during the Battle of Vienna prevented effective firefighting operations. In addition, the cathedral's two large water pipes were destroyed in an American bombing raid on March 12, 1945. On the night of April 12, 1945, the woman hanging in the north tower fell into the transept. The Wimpassinger cross located there burned.The burning belfry with the pummerin collapsed on the afternoon of April 12th. The bell shattered on the vault opening in the floor of the bell chamber, most of its fragments fell through the opening into the tower hall and smashed the Turks' Liberation Monument there . The Zwölferin or Prince's Bell and the Quarter Pummerin , the two bells in the southern Heidenturm, also crashed. The valuable Walcker organ from 1886 burned after embers from the roof fell into it through an opening in the vault. In the morning hours of April 13th, a 16 m high retaining wall in the roof structure collapsed, destroying several vaults in the central and south choir. The gallery with the choir organ, the imperial box and the valuable Gothic choir stalls were smashed by the rubble and ignited by the burning roof beams. The tomb of Frederick III. remained almost undamaged thanks to being walled in. In November 1947, the vaults of the southern choir that had been preserved until then collapsed.

 

The reconstruction of St. Stephen's Cathedral, which was financed, among other things, by numerous donations from the population (see St. Stephen's Groschen ), began immediately after the end of the war. The steel roof truss was completed in 1950. The ceremonial reopening took place in 1952 with the arrival of the newly cast Pummerin. A memorial plaque commemorates the donations received from all Austrian federal states:

 

“The one that calls you to this house of worship, THE BELL, was donated by the state of Upper Austria , that opens up the cathedral to you, THE GATE, the state of Styria , that carries your step, THE STONE FLOOR, the state of Lower Austria , in which you kneel in prayer, THE BENCH, the country of Vorarlberg , through which the light of heaven shines, THE WINDOWS, the country of Tyrol , which shine in peaceful brightness, THE CHANDELIERS, the country of Carinthia , where you receive the body of the Lord, THE COMMUNION BANK , the Burgenland , in front of which the soul is in devotion, THE TABERNACLE , the state of Salzburg , which protects the holiest place in the country, THE ROOF, donated the city of Vienna in association with many helpful hands.

 

century

Under cathedral priest Anton Faber, St. Stephen's Cathedral was repeatedly staged with artistic installations. In 2020, an oversized purple sweater, Erwin Wurm 's Lenten shawl , and Billi Thanner's illuminated ladder to heaven attracted media attention. In August 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria , Cardinal Schönborn and Vienna Mayor Michael Ludwig inaugurated a vaccination line in the cathedral's Barbara Chapel, which was controversial within the church as Violation of the sacrality of the place of worship was felt.

 

On March 16, 2022, at 2:11 a.m., according to cathedral priest Toni Faber, a hacker attack started the computer-controlled festival bells. After about 20 minutes of ringing at night, he stopped the bells.

 

Exterior

West facade

The west facade contains the oldest visible elements of the cathedral and in this form dates back to the 14th and 15th centuries. [40] Older components from the 13th century (Giant Gate, Heathen Towers, West Gallery) were deliberately integrated into this Gothic western complex. In the 14th century the facade was expanded by adding the chapels behind it. Around 1420, the Gothic central window was broken into the Romanesque west wall, and around the same time the heath towers were connected by a front wall as the top façade. This is bordered by a parapet with tracery, on which gargoyles and three pinnacles with figures below that connect to the front wall are attached ( St. Lawrence , St. Stephen , Archangel Michael ). The current figures are copies from the 1870s, the originals (now in the Vienna Museum ) date from around 1430. The gate hall protrudes slightly and is separated from the central window by a narrow canopy. Otherwise, the facade is flat and only divided by vertical pilaster strips and horizontal cornices, creating five sections vertically. The porch of the giant gate has side window slits for the stairs behind it and rectangular wall niches for figures, which only vaguely follow a symmetry. The corner pilaster strips in the axes of the Heiden towers mark the edges of the previous church, below each of which there is a late Romanesque arched window with richly sculpted reveals. In these axes there are also two cornices with dentil and trefoil friezes, which correspond to the structure behind them (the three basement floors of the Heiden towers).

 

Heathen Towers

The two towers are early Gothic in their current form, the lower floors were built in the 12th century, the upper floors in the 13th century, probably after the fire in 1256. [41] The lower floors behind the facade are square, while the four upper floors are octagonal. They are distinguished from each other by all-round dentil friezes and dwarf arched cornices, which are cranked at the corner templates. On the pyramid helmets with crabs and gable crowns, which have a roof gallery decorated with tracery halfway up, there were originally glazed tiles, just like the roof of the cathedral. At the tops of the Heathen Towers there are depictions of St. Lawrence (with rust, southern Heathen Tower) and St. Stephen (northern Heathen Tower) as the tower crown.

 

South Tower

As the main tower, the south tower is 136.4 meters high and has a square floor plan , which is gradually transformed into an octagon by a sophisticated arrangement of gables. Twelve pinnacle turrets rise below the top . It is open to the public up to a height of 72 meters, where the so-called Türmerstube is located. Climbing the top of the tower is exclusively reserved for employees of the cathedral building authority. To do this, you leave the inside of the tower at a height of around 110 m. From there you can climb an iron ladder on the outside and through the finial to the top.

 

The southern high tower of St. Stephan can be considered one of the most monumental solutions completed in the Middle Ages. It does not connect with the church building (as in the Cologne Cathedral as a two-tower facade , at the Ulm Minster as the West Einturm or at the Milan Cathedral as the crossing tower ) in order to let its building mass culminate in a central tower, but rather is at its side as an additional element attached. The special position of the Vienna Tower is still evident today in the fact that its northern counterpart was only partially completed and therefore does not contribute to the overall appearance of the building, without giving the impression of being unfinished. The top of the tower is now formed by a double cross ( archbishop's cross ) carried by a double -headed eagle . Originally the spire had a crown that represented the sun and moon (representing spiritual and secular power). After the Turkish siege in 1529, citizens of Vienna demanded that these symbols be replaced in 1530 because they were too reminiscent of the Turkish symbols (star and crescent). However, an exchange did not take place until the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (September 14) in 1686.

 

The total duration of the almost seventy-five-year construction period of the tower, which makes changes to the plan likely in the meantime, is determined by the key dates handed down, which include the laying of the foundation stone on July 12, 1359 by Duke Rudolf IV and his wife Catherine of Luxembourg and the placement of the final finial for 1433.

 

In between there was a change in plan, which first led to the introduction of the double window storey and then its reduction. In the first concept, this was raised significantly above the height of the eaves, but was then reduced again to just above the top of the window, so that the wall decoration with pinnacle canopies that had already been carried out for the statues intended here was lost. The entire tower area above the eaves of the church building was built entirely according to Peter von Prachatitz 's concept and did not represent a return to a supposed initial plan. But even here, further plan corrections can still be seen between the individual floor sections , especially in the transition to the helmet area coincide with the traditional change of master from Peter to Hans von Prachatitz.

 

The decisive change in plan between the substructure and the open floors also affected the purpose of the tower as a symbol of community. Started by Rudolf IV and continued by his brothers, the tower was intended to serve exclusively as a commemorative monument to the founder, but when it was taken over by the city at the beginning of the 15th century, it no longer stood for particular interests , but rather for the cohesion of all groups Society under the Habsburg crown . At the same time that the southern high tower of Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral remained unfinished due to the Hussite unrest in Bohemia , a tower with ever-increasing standards was completed in Vienna. The completed tower construction made it clear through its dominant position that Vienna had now taken the place of Prague in architectural terms, but was also ready to take over its function as “the empire's main state”.

 

The south tower had a mechanical chiming clock since the beginning of the 15th century. The south tower has been without a tower clock since 1861 after it was removed without replacement during the tower restoration.

 

From 1534 onwards, a tower keeper at a height of 72 m performed the function of a fire observer. In 1551, eight deer antlers were attached to the south tower in the superstition that they would protect the cathedral from lightning. [8th]

 

1800 to present

From 1810 to 1815, under the court architect Johann Nepomuk Amann, significant repairs were made to the war damage that had occurred under Napoleon in 1809.

  

Vertical

In the years 1839–1842, the top 17 meters of the dilapidated top of the south tower, which leaned towards the north, was removed by Paul Sprenger ; the stone ornaments were attached to an iron core. However, the iron did not prove to be rust-resistant, so many stones broke due to rust cracking. From 1850 onwards, cathedral builder Leopold Ernst used stone dowels cast with cement and “replaced one error with two others”, as the cement drift also led to serious damage. Therefore, the top 40 meters were demolished again in 1861 by Leopold Ernst and rebuilt as faithfully as possible to the original from 1862 to 1864 by Friedrich von Schmidt, who was appointed cathedral builder in 1863, using medieval stone technology. Several phases of this process can be seen in watercolors by Rudolf von Alt .

 

Schmidt led the restoration of the cathedral for decades, with “improving” interventions in the spirit of the neo-Gothic and Viollet-le-Ducs being undertaken (for example in the gable area of ​​the south windows of the cathedral). On August 18, 1864, the emperor 's birthday , as part of the tower renovation, a new cross and an eagle weighing three hundredweight were placed on the completed spire. In 1870, the figures of Rudolf the founder's parents and parents-in-law from around 1365 (thus older than the tower itself), which were on the corner pillars of the south tower, were replaced by copies. The originals are in the Vienna Museum.

 

Since April 2014, the parameters of the lightning striking there have been recorded on the two lightning rods by sensors installed 20 m above the tower room and are to be scientifically evaluated via the Austria-wide ALDIS project.

 

In 2014, a portrait bust of the entrepreneur Carl Manner was installed in the tracery of the west facade of the south tower as a thank you for the decades of support of the cathedral bauhütte . For over 40 years, an employee of the Bauhütte worked at the cathedral in overalls in the company colors at the expense of the Manner company . This bust looks towards the Hernalser Manner factory.

 

The ongoing renovation work on the south tower began in 1997 when a large pinnacle threatened to collapse. This component was approximately 90 m high and weighed approximately 14 t. In the years that followed, the south facade of the cathedral (with the gables) and the west facade of the south tower were also worked on; from 2021 the east side of the tower will be worked on. Since this side is protected from the weather, there are many details from the 14th and 15th centuries on it, and an area with the dark gray paint from the Middle Ages is still there. During the course of the renovation work, steel rods are drilled into heavily stressed areas to absorb the tensile and pressing forces. They are intended to prevent the stone from cracking under the high load; the load is thereby distributed over the entire cross-section of the pillar construction.

 

North Tower

The north tower was intended to complete the external appearance of the cathedral. Construction work on this tower began in 1467 and lasted until 1511. However, it was stopped due to economic difficulties and religious turmoil - Vienna had become a Protestant city around 1520, while the Lower Austrian estates took action against the Protestants and Lutheran services were banned in town houses - and was not continued because of the approaching Turkish threat, so that the north tower remained unfinished.

 

Under Hans Saphoy von Salmansweiler († 1578 in Vienna), who was the cathedral builder of St. Stephan from 1556 to 1578, there were considerations about expanding the stone stump, but these were abandoned. The brothers Hans and Caspar Saphoy built a tower roof in the Renaissance style . It is a small octagonal bell tower, the so-called “Saphoysche” or “ Welsche Haube ”, on the top of which the double-headed eagle of the House of Austria is enthroned, which is why the north tower is also called the “Eagle Tower”. The north tower is 68.3 meters high in total.

 

Legends surrounding the unfinished north tower

There are many stories and legends that try to explain the unfinishedness of the north tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral. The best-known legend says that the builder Puchsbaum was just an assistant to the builder at the time it was built and made a pact with the devil to complete the north tower within a year. In this way, Puchsbaum would fulfill the builder's condition that he be allowed to take his daughter out. However, Puchsbaum was unable to keep his pact with the devil because - due to the naming of his daughter Maria - he was unable to utter the name of the Lord or another saint for a year.

 

Roof

The most striking thing next to the towers is the roof. It rises 37.5 meters above the nave and 25.3 meters above the choir with a length of 110 meters. It is covered with around 250,000 roof tiles, which are arranged in a zigzag pattern in the nave area and were produced in a total of ten colors by the brick kilns in Unterthemenau ( Poštorná ). Each of these tiles weighs 2.5 kg, is nailed to the rafters with two copper nails and is also embedded in mortar.

  

The roof structure of the cathedral in the area of ​​the choir/nave transition with a view towards the gallery

Above the choir on the south side is the coat of arms of the Austrian Empire with the monogram of Emperor Franz I and the year 1831 (re-covering of the roof), on the north side the coat of arms of the city of Vienna and the coat of arms of the Republic of Austria , below with the year 1950 (completion of the roofing after the destruction in WWII).

 

The roof truss is a steel structure weighing around 600 tons, which replaced the larch wood roof truss from the 15th century, which burned down completely in 1945. During its restoration, a concrete ceiling was also installed over the vaults in advance (in 1946 over the nave with the slightly raised central nave and in 1948 over the choir) in order to protect the interior of the cathedral until the roof was completed and to provide a work and storage area for to have the roof rebuilt. This reconstruction, which was carried out largely in the same shape as the original roof, was completed in November 1950.

 

The first delivery of roof tiles took place on April 6, 1949. The cathedral construction management had special transport boxes made for the deliveries, each holding around 540 pieces of tiles. These boxes were lifted by crane directly to the track system in the roof and moved there by hand as required. After a transport accident on November 7, 1949, a rumor arose that a barn roof in Poysdorf had been covered with the remains of the damaged roof tile delivery for St. Stephen's Cathedral. That wasn't right. In 2023 it was confirmed that the tiles on this roof came from the same tile factory, but did not match the dimensions and colors of the cathedral's roof tiles and that the barn roof had already been covered around 1942.

 

In the mid-summer months, in the late afternoon hours, a reflection of the roof can be seen from the vineyards around Grinzing , which is vaguely reminiscent of a female figure and is nicknamed Jausenfee

 

Giant Gate

The main portal, the so-called “Giant Gate”, is located on the west side of the cathedral between the two “Heathen Towers”. It was built between 1230 and 1250 in Romanesque style and was redesigned into a richly structured funnel portal on the occasion of a visit by Emperor Friedrich II (from the House of Staufer , † 1250). Along with the entire westwork, it is one of the oldest and most important parts of the cathedral. The origin of the name is uncertain; it either derives from the fact that a mammoth bone was placed above the gate for a long time, which was viewed as the bone of a giant, or it goes back to the Middle High German word risen (to sink, to fall), which could refer to the funnel shape of the portal. In the outer wall, several stone figures can be seen in small niches, including two lions; a griffin and a seated figure in a strange posture, probably representing a judge, but popularly referred to as the thorn extractor . The portal itself is bordered on each side by seven funnel-shaped columns decorated with winding plant patterns. On the capitals there are figures of apostles and saints, but there are also scenes that are difficult to interpret. Richly structured arches rise above the capitals and surround the tympanum field , on which Christ is depicted as Pantocrator (Christ as ruler of the world) in a mandorla, whose head is surrounded by a cross nimbus , with one of the statue's knees free. The meaning of this symbolism is unclear; it is associated with acceptance ceremonies in construction huts .

 

Singertor

To the right of Riesentor, on the southern side of the cathedral at the beginning of the nave, is the Singertor, which is considered the most important Gothic work of art in the cathedral. It gets its name from the fact that it served as an entrance gate for the choir's singers. At the same time it was also the usual entrance for the men. It was created around 1360 and is arranged in the form of a pointed arch , with figures of apostles in the vestments . The magnificent tympanum shows the life story of Saint Paul . Also significant is the depiction of the founders of the new Gothic building, Duke Rudolf IV of Austria on the right and his wife Catherine of Bohemia on the left in robes, each accompanied by coats of arms. The gate was restored in 2022, with bones from the old St. Stephen's Cemetery found under the floor, and the gates opened. In order not to disturb those praying at the Maria Pötsch Altar, the gate will only be available as a possible escape route. The Singertor room is used for information and sales purposes and remains accessible from the outside. In July 2023, a new glass gate opened up a view of the interior of the Singer Gate. This glass gate was severely damaged in an act of vandalism on August 27, 2023, but has been restored.

 

Outside, right next to the Singertor, there is a Gothic tomb that is believed to be the alleged burial place of the minstrel Neidhart .

 

Bishop's Gate

The Bishop's Gate is located symmetrically to the Singertor to the left of the Giant's Gate at the beginning of the northern side of the nave. Its name reminds us that it served as an entrance gate for the bishops, whose palace is directly opposite. It was also the entrance gate for women. It was constructed around the same time as the Singertor around 1360 and corresponds to it in terms of construction and structure. The tympanum contains depictions from the life story of St. Mary , although in contrast to the male saints in the Singertor, female saints are depicted here in the robes. Here too you can find the statues of the donors, Duke Rudolf IV of Austria on the right and his wife Catherine of Bohemia on the left, which are largely identical to those in the Singertor.

 

At a specialist conference in November 2019, it was announced that the Dombauhütte, in cooperation with the Federal Monuments Office, had removed dirt from a monumental mural in the vestibule of the Bishop's Gate. The large-format wall painting dates from the early 16th century and depicts a winged altar painted on the wall. In the middle part you can see Saint Leopold, who is flanked by Saints Katharina and Margarethe. Images of the imperial coat of arms with the double-headed eagle and the Austrian shield are interpreted as an indication of an imperial connection. The preliminary drawings of the frame were classified as of the highest quality and were seen as an indication of a work by Albrecht Dürer based on various details in the lines, hands, curls, etc. A passage in the Dürer biography by Joachim von Sandrart , according to which Emperor Maximilian is said to have ordered the artist to create a large wall drawing, is seen in a new light against the background of the discovery.

 

The Kolomani Stone is walled up in the Bishop's Gate, part of the stone on which Saint Koloman is said to have been killed. The Bishop's Gate is only accessible from the inside as the cathedral shop is located there.

 

Eagle Gate

This broad Gothic gate, which is sparsely furnished with a crowned statue of the Virgin Mary from the 17th century, is located on the north side of the nave below the north tower, east of the Bishop's Gate. It owes its name to the north tower above it, which was also called the “Eagle Tower” because a double-headed eagle was previously depicted on its dome as a symbol of the House of Austria .

 

A crucifixion picture by Joachim von Sandrart from 1653 has been installed above the exit to the Adlertor since June 2019 . This picture originally belonged to the Passion Altar behind the tomb of Emperor Frederick III. was placed in the Apostles' Choir (right aisle of the cathedral). It is 6.97 × 4.12 m. This altar was dismantled in 1872/73 and the picture was in the north transept in the 1930s. In 1940 it was loaned to the garrison church , and after this church was destroyed by bombs , it hung outside for a few weeks in 1945, damaged, before it was saved, temporarily stored and restored by the then curator of the Schottenstift Robert Mucnjak. From 1957 it was the altarpiece of the parish church in Neulerchenfeld . After this parish was dissolved in 2013, the works of art that did not belong to the parish were removed. Since the picture belongs to the cathedral chapter of St. Stephan, it was returned to them and consideration was given to loaning the picture to the parish church of St. Michael . That didn't happen. The location in the entrance to the Adlerturmhalle is considered to be the optimal place for the picture in the cathedral. In front of the picture, there has been a copy of the Wimpassinger Cross from the Romanesque period, which was burned in 1945, at this point since 1995 .

  

Asylum ring at Adlertor

The asylum ring or the Leo on the left pillar of the Eagle Gate is a very old pulley , deflection pulley or belt pulley that can still be rotated today. By touching the asylum ring, persecuted people could place themselves under the protection of the church . The term Leo refers to Duke Leopold the Glorious , who introduced this form of asylum.

 

Primglöckleintor

This is located - symmetrically to the Adlertor - on the opposite southern side of the nave below the high south tower, is laid out in a very similar way to the Adlertor and is just as sparingly equipped. Only four console figures showing the four evangelists and an angel in the vault of the vestibule have been preserved from the original furnishings. On the middle pillar of the entrance there is a figure of Mary with the baby Jesus, created around 1420. It owes its name to the fact that a bell was once rung here at the first hour, i.e. at Prim .

 

Gable on the nave

Four gables rise above the southwestern part of the nave wall . Its westernmost lies above the wall above the Singertor and is called the Friedrichsgiebel. This gable was the only one that was completed in the 15th century; the other three gables (to the east) were initially only covered with brickwork. They were only supplemented with tracery in 1853–55 under cathedral builder Leopold Ernst in accordance with the state of the art of building technology at the time . The Friedrich gable was also dismantled and rebuilt, so that differences from the other gables are difficult to recognize. However, the cement used at the time introduced sulfur compounds into the limestone, which led to cracks, plastering and blasting . The gables had to be renewed in the 1860s under Friedrich von Schmidt . Further damage later resulted from the fact that the steel roof structure, which was replaced after 1945, did not fit exactly onto the walls. Deviations that were not originally present had to be compensated for; they also led to increased weathering on the gables. The combination of different building materials, brick and stone, also caused damage to the Friedrich gable. In 2015, the Friedrich gable and the gable adjoining it were renewed; the other two eastern gables were scheduled for restoration in 2016. The work on the western half of the south facade was completed, and the black sinter layers on the eastern part of the facade were removed in 2017. This black coating was largely made of gypsum, created from a chemical reaction of sulfur compounds in the air with the building's limestone. However , this process had already slowed down in previous years due to the lower proportion of sulfur compounds in the air ( acid rain ). The work on the eastern part of the south facade and on the west side of the south tower was estimated to take another two years in 2018, which was also due to the fact that a construction elevator had to be available up to the highest scaffolding levels. The work was completed in autumn 2020, and the scaffolding was dismantled at the beginning of 2021. This means that the main view of the cathedral (south side with tower) can be seen again without scaffolding after almost 25 years.

 

With the completion of this renovation work, the original color of the southern facade was traced, which was in various shades of ocher. However, around 1500 their stones were additionally covered with an ocher-colored lime slurry with black and white painted joints, which simulated large stones. On the one hand, this coating was a design tool and, on the other hand, it protected the stones from weathering. Remains of this painting were found under the canopy roof of the Neidhart grave, but there is no thought of replacing it. Further remains of a (dark gray) mud from the early 15th century were found on the east side of the south tower.

 

Capistran pulpit

The Capistran pulpit is a small Gothic pulpit made of sandstone, which is located on the outside corner of the north choir of St. Stephen's Cathedral. It was built between 1430 and 1450, but originally stood on a small hill near today's Churhaus at the “Stephansfreithof”, the cemetery at St. Stephan, and was used for funeral orations and speeches by priests.

 

Her name is reminiscent of the Franciscan John Capistrano , a once famous preacher against a luxurious and depraved lifestyle; He warned of the threat to Christianity posed by the advance of the Ottomans , but was also an inquisitor , military leader and initiated pogroms against Jews . On June 6, 1451, Capistrano arrived in Vienna and gave 32 sermons from this pulpit, which were apparently very well received. In 1453, after the fall of Constantinople , he called for a crusade against the Ottomans in Vienna , then moved with the troops he had collected to the enclosed city of Belgrade and thus contributed significantly to the lifting of its siege and the short-term general repulsion of the Ottoman army in 1456

 

After he was canonized by Pope Alexander VIII (1689-1691) in 1690 and his veneration spread, the pulpit was renovated in 1737, attached to the outside of the cathedral and with the addition of a baroque top - the statue of the saint stands on a fallen one Turks, surmounted by angels in radiant splendor - transformed into a monument.

 

Other features

On the west side you can see the listed signs of the resistance movement O5 , which resisted National Socialism from 1938 to 1945 . Originally they were painted white; when they faded, they were replaced by the engraving.

 

On the left side of the main gate there are two metal bars embedded in the wall, these are the cloth and linen corners . These cubits were once legal measures of length and could be used by every citizen to check the dimensions of goods. In the Middle Ages, craftsmen were threatened with punishment if their products did not have the correct measurements (keyword: Bäckerschupfen ); With the help of the Ellen, the craftsmen were able to protect themselves from punishment and the consumers from possible fraud. To the left above the cubits there is a circular depression in the masonry, which, according to legend, served as a measure of the size of a loaf of bread. In reality, this is simply a sign of wear and tear on a gate fastening, as until the second half of the 19th century the main gate of the cathedral was closed with a rococo grille that could be opened to the outside and was attached to the outer wall with hooks. On the right side of the gate there is a circle of the same size, in which you can see from the metal remains in the center that a hook was attached here.

 

Axle bend

The south wall of the choir is around 70 cm longer than its north wall. The choir swings approximately 1° from the long axis of the nave towards the north. The nave and choir are aligned with different sunrise points. This is not seen as the result of a measurement error, but rather as an intention: the axis of the nave is aligned with the sunrise on St. Stephen's Day (December 26th), while the axis of the choir points to the next Sunday, January 2nd. From the relationship of the building axes and the angle of the deviation, the time of the dimensions and thus the turn of the year 1137/1138 (today's calendar and year count) can be deduced. The (today's) roof ridge does not reflect this small deviation, it is straight across both parts of the building.

 

Longhouse

The four bays in the vault of the nave are square, which is a special feature of St. Stephen's Cathedral. It is assumed that an influence of the previous Romanesque building is still at work here. However, these yokes on the outer wall were reinforced by another intermediate pillar, so they rest on five supports and have ten vault caps.

 

The nave is also not built completely regularly: it becomes about 1.1 m narrower towards the east, and its gable walls are not exactly in line with the walls below. These deviations were one of the technical challenges when building the new steel roof structure after the fire in 1945.

 

Auer and Mannersdorfer stone for St. Stephen's Cathedral

The surviving invoices from the church master's office testify to the enormous Auer and Mannersdorfer stone deliveries for St. Stephan in the years 1404, 1407, 1415–1417, 1420, 1422, 1426, 1427, 1429, 1430 and 1476. According to the calculations, the quantities of stone that were obtained from the quarries between Mannersdorf and Au am Leithagebirge are very large, for example in 1415: 732 pieces, 1416: 629 pieces, 1417: 896 pieces, 1426: 963 loads, 1427: 947 loads and 1430: 761 loads.

 

The stone purchase was carried out by the church master's office under the technical advice and control of the cathedral builder or his representative, the Parlier . In any case, the work in the quarries was under the supervision of the cathedral construction works . Some names of the “Auer Steinbrecher” are known: Michelen Unger von Au, Peter stainprecher von Au and “Mannersdorfer Steinbrecher”: Chrempel, Amman, Niklas, Sallmann, Uchsenpaur, Velib, Hannsen von Menhersdorf (Mannersdorf), Trunkel and von dem Perendorffer . The stones were brought in by horse-drawn cart. The shipments from the Leitha Mountains from Mannersdorf and Au each comprised only one block (“stuk”), for which the price for breaking was constant, but that for freight fluctuated, apparently depending on weight.

 

The complete change to Mannersdorf stone occurred with the construction of the Albertine Choir (1304–1340). Like Auerstein, Mannersdorfer Stein is a fine to medium-grain sand-lime stone. The majority of the wall blocks and all the profiles , including the figure consoles in the choir, are made of it . The conditions are particularly clear in the high tower in the large bell chamber , where the more sophisticated stones and cornerstones and all the finer profiles, window frames , tracery , etc. were reserved for the Mannersdorfer/ Auerstein from the Leitha Mountains. In the nave, cuboids in the walls, as well as the yokes adjoining the Eligius Chapel and, above all, the northern wall pillars are made of “Mannersdorfer”.

 

In contrast, for the Servant Mother of God, it was determined through investigations in the central laboratory of the Federal Monuments Office that sand-lime stone from Atzgersdorf was used for this statue.

 

In addition to the Mannersdorf sandstone, the Mannersdorf algal lime was also used on the old cathedral. There is evidence of some gargoyles , for example on the vestibule of the Singer Gate (1440–1450).

 

Durability of the stones

In 1930, Alois Kieslinger , a geologist at the Vienna University of Technology, commented critically on the question of the durability of natural stone: “The six 'old' churches of Vienna? And how much of it is old? We are currently repairing the twelfth spire [!] at St. Stephen’s.”

 

The restoration work on the cathedral is proceeding according to a long-prepared plan: a restoration cycle lasts around 35 to 40 years. Regardless of this, the building is regularly checked by the stonemasons of the cathedral building works because damage occurs again and again due to rusted iron reinforcements (rust requires more space than iron and can therefore crack the stone).

 

Interior

The church interior of the cathedral has three naves, with two different cross-sections : the nave is a pseudo-basilica , the central nave vault lies almost entirely above the side aisle vaults, so that windowless high nave walls rise above the arcades . The choir, on the other hand, has the cross section of a hall church; the central nave and side aisles are almost the same height. As usual, the main nave is aligned with the main altar, the left aisle has a Marian program, and the right aisle is dedicated to the Apostles .

 

Although the interior acquired its appearance in the Middle Ages, the original artistic and liturgical ensemble from that time is only partially present, as the building was extensively changed again during the Baroque period. The figure of grace of the so-called Servant Mother of God from the period between 1280 and 1320 is an original from that time, the design of which is based on French models. It was extensively restored in 2020 and the original version is now easier to recognize.

 

Almost 90 sculptures, mostly in groups of three, are attached to the pillars of the nave at a height of approx. 8 m. They were commissioned by private donors and are a characteristic feature of the cathedral. The sculptures on the west side were restored around 2020, and in 2021 the most important object in this context was the statue of St. Sebastian next to the organ base on the north wall of the nave. It comes from the school of Niklas Gerhaert , the sculptor of the gravestone of Frederick III. and is considered one of the cathedral's most valuable sculptures.

 

Altars

The first recorded reports about altars come from the time of the choir's consecration by Bishop Albert of Passau on April 23, 1340. The bishop not only consecrated the choir hall and anointed it at the Apostle signs, some of which are still preserved today, but also consecrated six other altars. Three were in the choir and three on the rood screen , the stone partition between the nave (also known as the lay church) and the choir (also known as the clergy church). The main altar was often called the “Vronaltar” in medieval sources because of its proximity to the sacrament house and was on the back wall of the central choir with St. Stephen as its patron. No further information about the main altar has been preserved, except that it was probably a winged altar . An invoice from 1437 shows how the sexton was paid for opening and closing the wings.

 

According to contemporary reports, the old winged altar became worm-eaten at some point and had to be removed. It was transferred to the monastery of St. Agnes on Himmelpfortgasse (hence also known as Himmelpfort Monastery ). This monastery was later abolished under the rule of Emperor Joseph II in the 18th century, at which point the trace of the winged altar was lost.

 

High altar

The cathedral's high altar is an early Baroque masterpiece made of marble and stone. Its structure is similar to a portal and is therefore a Porta-Coelis (sky gate) altar. The topic is the stoning of Saint Stephen, the cathedral's namesake. The altar is crowned by a statue of the Immaculata. It was commissioned by Prince-Bishop Philipp Friedrich Graf Breuner on March 1, 1641, because the Gothic wood-carved winged altar had already been completely eaten away by woodworms.

 

The altar was built by Johann Jacob Pock , who was a master stonemason, sculptor and architect, and by his brother Tobias Pock - who painted the altarpiece - and consecrated on May 19, 1647. The altarpiece, created on an area of ​​28 square meters on tin plates, shows the stoning of Saint Stephen outside the walls of Jerusalem. In the background you can see a crowd in which other saints are depicted, which also refers to the second patronage of the cathedral - the patronage of All Saints.

 

Side altars

There are numerous other altars on the pillars and side aisles. For the cathedral, Tobias Pock later created the altarpiece of the Peter and Paul Altar, which the stonemasons' guild built in 1677 and which has been preserved under the organ base as the second oldest baroque altar in the cathedral .

 

The most important is the Wiener Neustädter Altar from 1447 – a typical Gothic winged altar showing scenes from the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Wiener Neustädter Altar only came to the cathedral in 1883; before that it was in the Neukloster Abbey in Wiener Neustadt . It is therefore not part of the original medieval furnishings of St. Stephen's Cathedral.

 

Under the late Gothic Öchsel canopy is the altar of the miraculous image of Maria Pócs or Pötsch . It is a copy of an Eastern Church icon made in today's Máriapócs (Hungary, then Pötsch ). The image was said to be a miracle of tears and, according to popular belief, it supported the imperial troops in the Turkish wars. It was brought to Vienna in 1697 on the orders of Emperor Leopold I and was originally placed on the high altar. It has been in its current location since 1945. In 2022, the two bishop figures above the altar were cleaned and restored, with the original coloring becoming recognizable again.

 

The Joseph Altar and the Women's Altar are located opposite each other at the eastern end of the nave. The Joseph Altar on the southern pillar was built in 1700. Like the women's altar on the northern side, it is surrounded by an elliptical communion bench . It was built by Matthias Stein(d)l . The saints represent the evangelists: below Matthew and Mark , above Luke and John . The altar is crowned by the depiction of the Annunciation of Mary , with the archangel Gabriel and the Holy Spirit dove . The altarpiece depicting the nurturing father Josef was donated by Ferdinand von Radek and painted on metal plates by the Viennese court painter Anton Schoonjans .

 

Tombs

The tomb of Frederick III is in the south choir. It was created by Niclas Gerhaert van Leyden from 1463 and is one of the most important sculptural works of art of the late Middle Ages. It was made from Adnet marble (an Austrian limestone), which is particularly difficult to work because of its mottled nature. The cover plate of the tomb comes from Master Niclas himself (he died in 1473). It alone weighs over 8 tons and shows a portrait-like depiction of the emperor in coronation regalia, surrounded by his coat of arms and attributes of power. After Master Niclas' death, work on the tomb continued according to his designs and was completed in 1513. The relief depictions on the sides of the tomb were made by Max Velmet and are reminiscent of the emperor's numerous monastery foundations. Michael Tichter created the balustrade with its 54 figures .

 

It was part of the cathedral builder's remit to build the tomb of Emperor Friedrich III every year. to clean in the cathedral. A letter from Matthias Winkler , master builder of St. Stephan's cathedral, dated August 26, 1734:

 

To a highly praiseworthy Imperial Court Chamber

Submissive – most obedient request. Your High Count Excellency and Grace.

The annual 6 fl .

 

Pulpit

Another masterpiece of late Gothic sculpture is the pulpit made of Breitenbrunner sand-lime brick . It was long attributed to Anton Pilgram , but today the design is more closely associated with the workshop of Niclaes Gerhaert van Leyden . The pulpit basket rises from the pulpit base like a stylized flower. On the pulpit are the portraits of the four church fathers , the handrail is populated by frogs and amphibians. In the lower part of the stairs is the window peep - the sculptural self-portrait of an unknown master. For the railing, see number symbolism .

 

Oratorio

Johann Jacob Pock's second major completed work in the cathedral was the Imperial Oratory , begun in 1644 and built on behalf of the City of Vienna. The first payment for the stonemasonry was made on April 16, 1644 with a total cost of 1,100 fl . The chief chamberlain recorded the completion of the work in the account book in March 1646. The city was satisfied with the work and presented Master Pock with a silver-gilt pitcher with an engraved crest because of his hard work .

 

From the canon sacristy you reach the emperor's prayer room via a curved staircase. The steps are made of the hardest imperial stone , from the quarry near the house (“Hausbruch”), the tenant was the imperial court sculptor Pietro Maino Maderno . The oratorio was founded by Emperor Ferdinand III. entered for the first time.

 

Chapels

The cathedral is equipped with several chapels that are important in terms of art history. On the west side of the cathedral there are four chapels that date back to the Gothic expansion under Duke Rudolf IV in the second half of the 14th century and were completed at the beginning of the 15th century. Two are on the northwest (left) and two on the southwest (right) corner of the cathedral, each arranged one above the other.

 

The Prinz Eugen Chapel and the Eligius Chapel are located on the ground floor .

On the first floor above these two chapels there are two more chapels, the St. Valentine's and St. Bartholomew's chapels.

Two important - equally symmetrically arranged - Gothic chapels are located outside the nave, each to the east of the cathedral's two main Gothic towers, the St. Catherine's and St. Barbara's chapels .

Kreuz or Prinz Eugen Chapel

 

The Kreuzkapelle with the Prinz Eugen crypt

The lower chapel, located in the northwest corner of the cathedral, is known by various names. As a Morandus chapel after the patronage, as a cross chapel after the late Gothic cross located there, as a Tirna chapel after the Tirna family who had the chapel built in the 14th century and immortalized their coat of arms three times on the outer front of the chapel, later as a Liechtenstein or Savoy chapel the families who exercised patronage there, or as the Prince Eugene Chapel, after the tomb of the probably most famous Austrian general, Prince Eugene of Savoy -Carignan (* 1663, † 1736). The place of his final resting place was not given to Emperor Charles VI. but to Princess Maria Theresia Anna Felizitas of Liechtenstein , the wife of his nephew Emanuel Thomas Duke of Savoy-Carignan, Count of Soissons . After her husband's early death in 1729, she had the burial place set up for him and other members of the House of Savoy , donated the stone slab embedded in the floor that closes the entrance to the crypt, and the baroque altar with the late Gothic cross above it, created in 1731. In 1754 she commissioned the marble epitaph for her husband and Prince Eugene on the southern side wall of the chapel. The executive artists were Joseph Wurschbauer as a sculptor and goldsmith and Gabriel Steinböck as a stonemason.

 

Eligius Chapel

The lower of the chapels on the southwest corner of the cathedral, which is to the right of the Giant Gate, has two interesting keystones from the 14th century: one shows Christ as the Man of Sorrows, the other Mary with child. There is also the only surviving Gothic winged altar, which was made for the cathedral church itself. This is the Valentine's Altar, which is dedicated to Saint Bishop Valentine and was therefore originally created for the St. Valentine's Chapel in the cathedral. There are also the “House Mother of God” (around 1330) from the abandoned Himmelpfort Monastery and various pillar figures from the 14th century. The chapel is only available to worshipers.

 

Valentine's Chapel

It is located to the left of the Giant Gate directly above the Prinz Eugen Chapel next to the northern Heidenturm and was completed around 1480. It houses the cathedral's important collection of relics , which dates back to Duke Rudolf IV. In the middle of the room is the sarcophagus with the bones of Saint Valentine. During restoration work in November 2012, consecration crosses were discovered in the chapel, as well as a number of scribbles ( graffiti ) that were attached at the same time (in the still wet plaster ) from the days before St. Nicholas Day 1479 (profestum nicolai). The consecration crosses indicate that this chapel was consecrated (or at least its preparation) in 1479; another consecration is documented for 1507. The graffiti show jesters' hats, coats of arms, parts of names and the phrase manus beanorum maculant loca sactorum ( Latin : "The hands of the Beani defile the holy places") and prove that a student initiation ritual , a deposition , took place in the chapel room at this time : The name of the person affected is Jeronymus Kisling, a son of a Viennese trading family, later a city council member and head of the Vienna Fugger factory.

 

Bartholomew's Chapel

The Bartholomew's Chapel, also called the "King's or Duke's Chapel", is a former Michael's Chapel and is located on the southern (right) side of the nave directly above the Eligius Chapel, next to the southern Heidenturm. Its most important pieces of equipment, the so-called “Habsburg windows” with medieval depictions of representatives of the Austrian ruling family, had been in the then newly built Historical Museum of the City of Vienna and the Museum of Applied Arts since 1887 . In 2011, the first of these windows was returned to the cathedral by the city administration, In 2022, the installation of the original windows in the Bartholomew Chapel continued. Special glasses were made to protect the windows and the climatic conditions are constantly monitored; The places where windows have not yet been installed or have been lost are temporarily covered with darkening foil to avoid glare from too much brightness. Worth mentioning are the two Gothic keystones, each of which shows the Archangel Michael , once with the soul scales and once as a dragon slayer .

 

St. Catherine's or baptismal chapel

The St. Catherine's or baptismal chapel, consecrated in 1395, is located on the southern side of the Apostle's nave directly next to the (high) south tower. It was probably named in honor of the wife of Duke Rudolf IV, Catherine of Luxembourg, is octagonal and has a hanging keystone . It also contains the baptismal font , which was completed in 1481. The baptismal font has an octagonal base, above which there is a fourteen-sided baptismal font, the crown is heptagonal. The Seven Sacraments , the Evangelists and scenes from the life of Christ are depicted in lively late Gothic depictions .

 

Opposite the entrance to the chapel are the remains of the Turkish monument.

 

Barbara Chapel

The Barbara Chapel, consecrated in 1447, is located on the northern side outside the nave of the cathedral on the east side of the north tower. It was originally under the patronage of St. Urbanus and has hanging keystones. A reliquary container with ashes from the Auschwitz concentration camp and another with earth from the Mauthausen concentration camp are inserted into the beams of the late Gothic cross there from around 1470, which comes from the parish church in Schönkirchen in Lower Austria . It contains a bust of the blessed martyr Sr. Maria Restituta Kafka , a victim of National Socialism , created by Alfred Hrdlicka .

 

Opposite St. Barbara's Chapel, in the tower hall, is the original of the Lord of Toothaches , a Gothic Man of Sorrows . The Gothic stone figure was originally located outside the cathedral at the front of the central choir. It has been replaced by a copy there since 1960. According to legend, students made fun of him because he looked like he had a toothache, whereupon they were struck with a toothache themselves and had to apologize.

 

Sacristies

The “Upper Sacristy” is located at the eastern end of the cathedral in the north, was expanded in the 17th century and furnished in the first quarter of the 18th century. The room is decorated with frescoes by the impor
Myanmar - Bagan - Buddhist Nuns Collecting Alms - 1bbb by Manfred Sommer

Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni, or simply the Buddha, was a sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in northeastern India sometime between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE.

 

The word Buddha means "awakened one" or "the enlightened one". "Buddha" is also used as a title for the first awakened being in a Yuga era. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (Pali sammāsambuddha, Sanskrit samyaksaṃbuddha) of the present age. Gautama taught a Middle Way between sensual indulgence and the severe asceticism found in the śramaṇa movement common in his region. He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kosala.

 

Gautama is the primary figure in Buddhism and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to him were passed down by oral tradition and first committed to writing about 400 years later.

 

CONTENTS

HISTORICAL SIDDHARTA GAUTAMA

Scholars are hesitant to make unqualified claims about the historical facts of the Buddha's life. Most accept that he lived, taught and founded a monastic order during the Mahajanapada era during the reign of Bimbisara, the ruler of the Magadha empire, and died during the early years of the reign of Ajasattu, who was the successor of Bimbisara, thus making him a younger contemporary of Mahavira, the Jain tirthankara. Apart from the Vedic Brahmins, the Buddha's lifetime coincided with the flourishing of other influential śramaṇa schools of thoughts like Ājīvika, Cārvāka, Jainism, and Ajñana. It was also the age of influential thinkers like Mahavira, Pūraṇa Kassapa, Makkhali Gosāla, Ajita Kesakambalī, Pakudha Kaccāyana, and Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, whose viewpoints the Buddha most certainly must have been acquainted with and influenced by. Indeed, Sariputta and Moggallāna, two of the foremost disciples of the Buddha, were formerly the foremost disciples of Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta, the skeptic. There is also evidence to suggest that the two masters, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta, were indeed historical figures and they most probably taught Buddha two different forms of meditative techniques. While the general sequence of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" is widely accepted, there is less consensus on the veracity of many details contained in traditional biographies.

 

The times of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain. Most historians in the early 20th century dated his lifetime as circa 563 BCE to 483 BCE. More recently his death is dated later, between 411 and 400 BCE, while at a symposium on this question held in 1988, the majority of those who presented definite opinions gave dates within 20 years either side of 400 BCE for the Buddha's death. These alternative chronologies, however, have not yet been accepted by all historians.

 

The evidence of the early texts suggests that Siddhārtha Gautama was born into the Shakya clan, a community that was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the northeastern Indian subcontinent in the 5th century BCE. It was either a small republic, in which case his father was an elected chieftain, or an oligarchy, in which case his father was an oligarch. According to the Buddhist tradition, Gautama was born in Lumbini, nowadays in modern-day Nepal, and raised in the Shakya capital of Kapilavastu, which may have been in either present day Tilaurakot, Nepal or Piprahwa, India. He obtained his enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, gave his first sermon in Sarnath, and died in Kushinagar.

 

No written records about Gautama have been found from his lifetime or some centuries thereafter. One Edict of Asoka, who reigned from circa 269 BCE to 232 BCE, commemorates the Emperor's pilgrimage to the Buddha's birthplace in Lumbini. Another one of his edicts mentions several Dhamma texts, establishing the existence of a written Buddhist tradition at least by the time of the Maurya era and which may be the precursors of the Pāli Canon. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts are the Gandhāran Buddhist texts, reported to have been found in or around Haḍḍa near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan and now preserved in the British Library. They are written in the Gāndhārī language using the Kharosthi script on twenty-seven birch bark manuscripts and date from the first century BCE to the third century CE.

 

TRADITIONAL BIOGRAPHIES

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

The sources for the life of Siddhārtha Gautama are a variety of different, and sometimes conflicting, traditional biographies. These include the Buddhacarita, Lalitavistara Sūtra, Mahāvastu, and the Nidānakathā. Of these, the Buddhacarita is the earliest full biography, an epic poem written by the poet Aśvaghoṣa, and dating around the beginning of the 2nd century CE. The Lalitavistara Sūtra is the next oldest biography, a Mahāyāna/Sarvāstivāda biography dating to the 3rd century CE. The Mahāvastu from the Mahāsāṃghika Lokottaravāda tradition is another major biography, composed incrementally until perhaps the 4th century CE. The Dharmaguptaka biography of the Buddha is the most exhaustive, and is entitled the Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra, and various Chinese translations of this date between the 3rd and 6th century CE. The Nidānakathā is from the Theravada tradition in Sri Lanka and was composed in the 5th century by Buddhaghoṣa.

 

From canonical sources, the Jataka tales, the Mahapadana Sutta (DN 14), and the Achariyabhuta Sutta (MN 123) which include selective accounts that may be older, but are not full biographies. The Jātakas retell previous lives of Gautama as a bodhisattva, and the first collection of these can be dated among the earliest Buddhist texts. The Mahāpadāna Sutta and Achariyabhuta Sutta both recount miraculous events surrounding Gautama's birth, such as the bodhisattva's descent from the Tuṣita Heaven into his mother's womb.

 

NATURE OF TRADITIONAL DEPICTIONS

In the earliest Buddhists texts, the nikāyas and āgamas, the Buddha is not depicted as possessing omniscience (sabbaññu) nor is he depicted as being an eternal transcendent (lokottara) being. According to Bhikkhu Analayo, ideas of the Buddha's omniscience (along with an increasing tendency to deify him and his biography) are found only later, in the Mahayana sutras and later Pali commentaries or texts such as the Mahāvastu. In the Sandaka Sutta, the Buddha's disciple Ananda outlines an argument against the claims of teachers who say they are all knowing while in the Tevijjavacchagotta Sutta the Buddha himself states that he has never made a claim to being omniscient, instead he claimed to have the "higher knowledges" (abhijñā). The earliest biographical material from the Pali Nikayas focuses on the Buddha's life as a śramaṇa, his search for enlightenment under various teachers such as Alara Kalama and his forty five year career as a teacher.

 

Traditional biographies of Gautama generally include numerous miracles, omens, and supernatural events. The character of the Buddha in these traditional biographies is often that of a fully transcendent (Skt. lokottara) and perfected being who is unencumbered by the mundane world. In the Mahāvastu, over the course of many lives, Gautama is said to have developed supra-mundane abilities including: a painless birth conceived without intercourse; no need for sleep, food, medicine, or bathing, although engaging in such "in conformity with the world"; omniscience, and the ability to "suppress karma". Nevertheless, some of the more ordinary details of his life have been gathered from these traditional sources. In modern times there has been an attempt to form a secular understanding of Siddhārtha Gautama's life by omitting the traditional supernatural elements of his early biographies.

 

Andrew Skilton writes that the Buddha was never historically regarded by Buddhist traditions as being merely human:

It is important to stress that, despite modern Theravada teachings to the contrary (often a sop to skeptical Western pupils), he was never seen as being merely human. For instance, he is often described as having the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks or signs of a mahāpuruṣa, "superman"; the Buddha himself denied that he was either a man or a god; and in the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta he states that he could live for an aeon were he asked to do so.The ancient Indians were generally unconcerned with chronologies, being more focused on philosophy. Buddhist texts reflect this tendency, providing a clearer picture of what Gautama may have taught than of the dates of the events in his life. These texts contain descriptions of the culture and daily life of ancient India which can be corroborated from the Jain scriptures, and make the Buddha's time the earliest period in Indian history for which significant accounts exist. British author Karen Armstrong writes that although there is very little information that can be considered historically sound, we can be reasonably confident that Siddhārtha Gautama did exist as a historical figure. Michael Carrithers goes a bit further by stating that the most general outline of "birth, maturity, renunciation, search, awakening and liberation, teaching, death" must be true.

 

BIOGRAPHY

CONCEPTION AND BIRTH

The Buddhist tradition regards Lumbini, in present-day Nepal to be the birthplace of the Buddha. He grew up in Kapilavastu. The exact site of ancient Kapilavastu is unknown. It may have been either Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh, present-day India, or Tilaurakot, present-day Nepal. Both places belonged to the Sakya territory, and are located only 15 miles apart from each other.

 

Gautama was born as a Kshatriya, the son of Śuddhodana, "an elected chief of the Shakya clan", whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime. Gautama was the family name. His mother, Maya (Māyādevī), Suddhodana's wife, was a Koliyan princess. Legend has it that, on the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side, and ten months later Siddhartha was born. As was the Shakya tradition, when his mother Queen Maya became pregnant, she left Kapilvastu for her father's kingdom to give birth. However, her son is said to have been born on the way, at Lumbini, in a garden beneath a sal tree.

 

The day of the Buddha's birth is widely celebrated in Theravada countries as Vesak. Buddha's Birthday is called Buddha Purnima in Nepal and India as he is believed to have been born on a full moon day. Various sources hold that the Buddha's mother died at his birth, a few days or seven days later. The infant was given the name Siddhartha (Pāli: Siddhattha), meaning "he who achieves his aim". During the birth celebrations, the hermit seer Asita journeyed from his mountain abode and announced that the child would either become a great king (chakravartin) or a great sadhu. By traditional account, this occurred after Siddhartha placed his feet in Asita's hair and Asita examined the birthmarks. Suddhodana held a naming ceremony on the fifth day, and invited eight Brahmin scholars to read the future. All gave a dual prediction that the baby would either become a great king or a great holy man. Kondañña, the youngest, and later to be the first arhat other than the Buddha, was reputed to be the only one who unequivocally predicted that Siddhartha would become a Buddha.

 

While later tradition and legend characterized Śuddhodana as a hereditary monarch, the descendant of the Suryavansha (Solar dynasty) of Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka), many scholars think that Śuddhodana was the elected chief of a tribal confederacy.

 

Early texts suggest that Gautama was not familiar with the dominant religious teachings of his time until he left on his religious quest, which is said to have been motivated by existential concern for the human condition. The state of the Shakya clan was not a monarchy, and seems to have been structured either as an oligarchy, or as a form of republic. The more egalitarian gana-sangha form of government, as a political alternative to the strongly hierarchical kingdoms, may have influenced the development of the śramanic Jain and Buddhist sanghas, where monarchies tended toward Vedic Brahmanism.

 

EARLY LIFE AND MARRIAGE

Siddhartha was brought up by his mother's younger sister, Maha Pajapati. By tradition, he is said to have been destined by birth to the life of a prince, and had three palaces (for seasonal occupation) built for him. Although more recent scholarship doubts this status, his father, said to be King Śuddhodana, wishing for his son to be a great king, is said to have shielded him from religious teachings and from knowledge of human suffering.

 

When he reached the age of 16, his father reputedly arranged his marriage to a cousin of the same age named Yaśodharā (Pāli: Yasodharā). According to the traditional account, she gave birth to a son, named Rāhula. Siddhartha is said to have spent 29 years as a prince in Kapilavastu. Although his father ensured that Siddhartha was provided with everything he could want or need, Buddhist scriptures say that the future Buddha felt that material wealth was not life's ultimate goal.

 

RENUNCIATION AND ASCETIC LIFE

At the age of 29, the popular biography continues, Siddhartha left his palace to meet his subjects. Despite his father's efforts to hide from him the sick, aged and suffering, Siddhartha was said to have seen an old man. When his charioteer Channa explained to him that all people grew old, the prince went on further trips beyond the palace. On these he encountered a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. These depressed him, and he initially strove to overcome aging, sickness, and death by living the life of an ascetic.

 

Accompanied by Channa and riding his horse Kanthaka, Gautama quit his palace for the life of a mendicant. It's said that, "the horse's hooves were muffled by the gods" to prevent guards from knowing of his departure.

 

Gautama initially went to Rajagaha and began his ascetic life by begging for alms in the street. After King Bimbisara's men recognised Siddhartha and the king learned of his quest, Bimbisara offered Siddhartha the throne. Siddhartha rejected the offer, but promised to visit his kingdom of Magadha first, upon attaining enlightenment.

 

He left Rajagaha and practised under two hermit teachers of yogic meditation. After mastering the teachings of Alara Kalama (Skr. Ārāḍa Kālāma), he was asked by Kalama to succeed him. However, Gautama felt unsatisfied by the practice, and moved on to become a student of yoga with Udaka Ramaputta (Skr. Udraka Rāmaputra). With him he achieved high levels of meditative consciousness, and was again asked to succeed his teacher. But, once more, he was not satisfied, and again moved on.

 

Siddhartha and a group of five companions led by Kaundinya are then said to have set out to take their austerities even further. They tried to find enlightenment through deprivation of worldly goods, including food, practising self-mortification. After nearly starving himself to death by restricting his food intake to around a leaf or nut per day, he collapsed in a river while bathing and almost drowned. Siddhartha was rescued by a village girl named Sujata and she gave him some payasam (a pudding made from milk and jaggery) after which Siddhartha got back some energy. Siddhartha began to reconsider his path. Then, he remembered a moment in childhood in which he had been watching his father start the season's ploughing. He attained a concentrated and focused state that was blissful and refreshing, the jhāna.

 

AWAKENING

According to the early Buddhist texts, after realizing that meditative dhyana was the right path to awakening, but that extreme asceticism didn't work, Gautama discovered what Buddhists call the Middle Way - a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification, or the Noble Eightfold Path, as was identified and described by the Buddha in his first discourse, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. In a famous incident, after becoming starved and weakened, he is said to have accepted milk and rice pudding from a village girl named Sujata. Such was his emaciated appearance that she wrongly believed him to be a spirit that had granted her a wish.

 

Following this incident, Gautama was famously seated under a pipal tree - now known as the Bodhi tree - in Bodh Gaya, India, when he vowed never to arise until he had found the truth. Kaundinya and four other companions, believing that he had abandoned his search and become undisciplined, left. After a reputed 49 days of meditation, at the age of 35, he is said to have attained Enlightenment. According to some traditions, this occurred in approximately the fifth lunar month, while, according to others, it was in the twelfth month. From that time, Gautama was known to his followers as the Buddha or "Awakened One" ("Buddha" is also sometimes translated as "The Enlightened One").

 

According to Buddhism, at the time of his awakening he realized complete insight into the cause of suffering, and the steps necessary to eliminate it. These discoveries became known as the "Four Noble Truths", which are at the heart of Buddhist teaching. Through mastery of these truths, a state of supreme liberation, or Nirvana, is believed to be possible for any being. The Buddha described Nirvāna as the perfect peace of a mind that's free from ignorance, greed, hatred and other afflictive states, or "defilements" (kilesas). Nirvana is also regarded as the "end of the world", in that no personal identity or boundaries of the mind remain. In such a state, a being is said to possess the Ten Characteristics, belonging to every Buddha.

 

According to a story in the Āyācana Sutta (Samyutta Nikaya VI.1) - a scripture found in the Pāli and other canons - immediately after his awakening, the Buddha debated whether or not he should teach the Dharma to others. He was concerned that humans were so overpowered by ignorance, greed and hatred that they could never recognise the path, which is subtle, deep and hard to grasp. However, in the story, Brahmā Sahampati convinced him, arguing that at least some will understand it. The Buddha relented, and agreed to teach.

 

FORMATION OF THE SANGHA

After his awakening, the Buddha met Taphussa and Bhallika — two merchant brothers from the city of Balkh in what is currently Afghanistan - who became his first lay disciples. It is said that each was given hairs from his head, which are now claimed to be enshrined as relics in the Shwe Dagon Temple in Rangoon, Burma. The Buddha intended to visit Asita, and his former teachers, Alara Kalama and Udaka Ramaputta, to explain his findings, but they had already died.

 

He then travelled to the Deer Park near Varanasi (Benares) in northern India, where he set in motion what Buddhists call the Wheel of Dharma by delivering his first sermon to the five companions with whom he had sought enlightenment. Together with him, they formed the first saṅgha: the company of Buddhist monks.

 

All five become arahants, and within the first two months, with the conversion of Yasa and fifty four of his friends, the number of such arahants is said to have grown to 60. The conversion of three brothers named Kassapa followed, with their reputed 200, 300 and 500 disciples, respectively. This swelled the sangha to more than 1,000.

 

TRAVELS AND TEACHING

For the remaining 45 years of his life, the Buddha is said to have traveled in the Gangetic Plain, in what is now Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and southern Nepal, teaching a diverse range of people: from nobles to servants, murderers such as Angulimala, and cannibals such as Alavaka. Although the Buddha's language remains unknown, it's likely that he taught in one or more of a variety of closely related Middle Indo-Aryan dialects, of which Pali may be a standardization.

 

The sangha traveled through the subcontinent, expounding the dharma. This continued throughout the year, except during the four months of the Vāsanā rainy season when ascetics of all religions rarely traveled. One reason was that it was more difficult to do so without causing harm to animal life. At this time of year, the sangha would retreat to monasteries, public parks or forests, where people would come to them.

 

The first vassana was spent at Varanasi when the sangha was formed. After this, the Buddha kept a promise to travel to Rajagaha, capital of Magadha, to visit King Bimbisara. During this visit, Sariputta and Maudgalyayana were converted by Assaji, one of the first five disciples, after which they were to become the Buddha's two foremost followers. The Buddha spent the next three seasons at Veluvana Bamboo Grove monastery in Rajagaha, capital of Magadha.

 

Upon hearing of his son's awakening, Suddhodana sent, over a period, ten delegations to ask him to return to Kapilavastu. On the first nine occasions, the delegates failed to deliver the message, and instead joined the sangha to become arahants. The tenth delegation, led by Kaludayi, a childhood friend of Gautama's (who also became an arahant), however, delivered the message.

 

Now two years after his awakening, the Buddha agreed to return, and made a two-month journey by foot to Kapilavastu, teaching the dharma as he went. At his return, the royal palace prepared a midday meal, but the sangha was making an alms round in Kapilavastu. Hearing this, Suddhodana approached his son, the Buddha, saying:

 

"Ours is the warrior lineage of Mahamassata, and not a single warrior has gone seeking alms."

 

The Buddha is said to have replied:

 

"That is not the custom of your royal lineage. But it is the custom of my Buddha lineage. Several thousands of Buddhas have gone by seeking alms."

 

Buddhist texts say that Suddhodana invited the sangha into the palace for the meal, followed by a dharma talk. After this he is said to have become a sotapanna. During the visit, many members of the royal family joined the sangha. The Buddha's cousins Ananda and Anuruddha became two of his five chief disciples. At the age of seven, his son Rahula also joined, and became one of his ten chief disciples. His half-brother Nanda also joined and became an arahant.

 

Of the Buddha's disciples, Sariputta, Maudgalyayana, Mahakasyapa, Ananda and Anuruddha are believed to have been the five closest to him. His ten foremost disciples were reputedly completed by the quintet of Upali, Subhoti, Rahula, Mahakaccana and Punna.

 

In the fifth vassana, the Buddha was staying at Mahavana near Vesali when he heard news of the impending death of his father. He is said to have gone to Suddhodana and taught the dharma, after which his father became an arahant.The king's death and cremation was to inspire the creation of an order of nuns. Buddhist texts record that the Buddha was reluctant to ordain women. His foster mother Maha Pajapati, for example, approached him, asking to join the sangha, but he refused. Maha Pajapati, however, was so intent on the path of awakening that she led a group of royal Sakyan and Koliyan ladies, which followed the sangha on a long journey to Rajagaha. In time, after Ananda championed their cause, the Buddha is said to have reconsidered and, five years after the formation of the sangha, agreed to the ordination of women as nuns. He reasoned that males and females had an equal capacity for awakening. But he gave women additional rules (Vinaya) to follow.

 

MAHAPARINIRVANA

According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon reach Parinirvana, or the final deathless state, and abandon his earthly body. After this, the Buddha ate his last meal, which he had received as an offering from a blacksmith named Cunda. Falling violently ill, Buddha instructed his attendant Ānanda to convince Cunda that the meal eaten at his place had nothing to do with his passing and that his meal would be a source of the greatest merit as it provided the last meal for a Buddha. Mettanando and Von Hinüber argue that the Buddha died of mesenteric infarction, a symptom of old age, rather than food poisoning. The precise contents of the Buddha's final meal are not clear, due to variant scriptural traditions and ambiguity over the translation of certain significant terms; the Theravada tradition generally believes that the Buddha was offered some kind of pork, while the Mahayana tradition believes that the Buddha consumed some sort of truffle or other mushroom. These may reflect the different traditional views on Buddhist vegetarianism and the precepts for monks and nuns.

 

Waley suggests that Theravadin's would take suukaramaddava (the contents of the Buddha's last meal), which can translate as pig-soft, to mean soft flesh of a pig. However, he also states that pig-soft could mean "pig's soft-food", that is, after Neumann, a soft food favoured by pigs, assumed to be a truffle. He argues (also after Neumann) that as Pali Buddhism was developed in an area remote to the Buddha's death, the existence of other plants with suukara- (pig) as part of their names and that "(p)lant names tend to be local and dialectical" could easily indicate that suukaramaddava was a type of plant whose local name was unknown to those in the Pali regions. Specifically, local writers knew more about their flora than Theravadin commentator Buddhaghosa who lived hundreds of years and kilometres remote in time and space from the events described. Unaware of an alternate meaning and with no Theravadin prohibition against eating animal flesh, Theravadins would not have questioned the Buddha eating meat and interpreted the term accordingly.

 

Ananda protested the Buddha's decision to enter Parinirvana in the abandoned jungles of Kuśināra (present-day Kushinagar, India) of the Malla kingdom. The Buddha, however, is said to have reminded Ananda how Kushinara was a land once ruled by a righteous wheel-turning king that resounded with joy:

 

44. Kusavati, Ananda, resounded unceasingly day and night with ten sounds - the trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses, the rattling of chariots, the beating of drums and tabours, music and song, cheers, the clapping of hands, and cries of "Eat, drink, and be merry!"

 

The Buddha then asked all the attendant Bhikkhus to clarify any doubts or questions they had. They had none. According to Buddhist scriptures, he then finally entered Parinirvana. The Buddha's final words are reported to have been: "All composite things (Saṅkhāra) are perishable. Strive for your own liberation with diligence" (Pali: 'vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādethā'). His body was cremated and the relics were placed in monuments or stupas, some of which are believed to have survived until the present. For example, The Temple of the Tooth or "Dalada Maligawa" in Sri Lanka is the place where what some believe to be the relic of the right tooth of Buddha is kept at present.

 

According to the Pāli historical chronicles of Sri Lanka, the Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa, the coronation of Emperor Aśoka (Pāli: Asoka) is 218 years after the death of the Buddha. According to two textual records in Chinese (十八部論 and 部執異論), the coronation of Emperor Aśoka is 116 years after the death of the Buddha. Therefore, the time of Buddha's passing is either 486 BCE according to Theravāda record or 383 BCE according to Mahayana record. However, the actual date traditionally accepted as the date of the Buddha's death in Theravāda countries is 544 or 545 BCE, because the reign of Emperor Aśoka was traditionally reckoned to be about 60 years earlier than current estimates. In Burmese Buddhist tradition, the date of the Buddha's death is 13 May 544 BCE. whereas in Thai tradition it is 11 March 545 BCE.

 

At his death, the Buddha is famously believed to have told his disciples to follow no leader. Mahakasyapa was chosen by the sangha to be the chairman of the First Buddhist Council, with the two chief disciples Maudgalyayana and Sariputta having died before the Buddha.

 

While in the Buddha's days he was addressed by the very respected titles Buddha, Shākyamuni, Shākyasimha, Bhante and Bho, he was known after his parinirvana as Arihant, Bhagavā/Bhagavat/Bhagwān, Mahāvira, Jina/Jinendra, Sāstr, Sugata, and most popularly in scriptures as Tathāgata.

 

BUDDHA AND VEDAS

Buddha's teachings deny the authority of the Vedas and consequently [at least atheistic] Buddhism is generally viewed as a nāstika school (heterodox, literally "It is not so") from the perspective of orthodox Hinduism.

 

RELICS

After his death, Buddha's cremation relics were divided amongst 8 royal families and his disciples; centuries later they would be enshrined by King Ashoka into 84,000 stupas. Many supernatural legends surround the history of alleged relics as they accompanied the spread of Buddhism and gave legitimacy to rulers.

 

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

An extensive and colorful physical description of the Buddha has been laid down in scriptures. A kshatriya by birth, he had military training in his upbringing, and by Shakyan tradition was required to pass tests to demonstrate his worthiness as a warrior in order to marry. He had a strong enough body to be noticed by one of the kings and was asked to join his army as a general. He is also believed by Buddhists to have "the 32 Signs of the Great Man".

 

The Brahmin Sonadanda described him as "handsome, good-looking, and pleasing to the eye, with a most beautiful complexion. He has a godlike form and countenance, he is by no means unattractive." (D, I:115)

 

"It is wonderful, truly marvellous, how serene is the good Gotama's appearance, how clear and radiant his complexion, just as the golden jujube in autumn is clear and radiant, just as a palm-tree fruit just loosened from the stalk is clear and radiant, just as an adornment of red gold wrought in a crucible by a skilled goldsmith, deftly beaten and laid on a yellow-cloth shines, blazes and glitters, even so, the good Gotama's senses are calmed, his complexion is clear and radiant." (A, I:181)

 

A disciple named Vakkali, who later became an arahant, was so obsessed by the Buddha's physical presence that the Buddha is said to have felt impelled to tell him to desist, and to have reminded him that he should know the Buddha through the Dhamma and not through physical appearances.

 

Although there are no extant representations of the Buddha in human form until around the 1st century CE (see Buddhist art), descriptions of the physical characteristics of fully enlightened buddhas are attributed to the Buddha in the Digha Nikaya's Lakkhaṇa Sutta (D, I:142). In addition, the Buddha's physical appearance is described by Yasodhara to their son Rahula upon the Buddha's first post-Enlightenment return to his former princely palace in the non-canonical Pali devotional hymn, Narasīha Gāthā ("The Lion of Men").

 

Among the 32 main characteristics it is mentioned that Buddha has blue eyes.

 

NINE VIRTUES

Recollection of nine virtues attributed to the Buddha is a common Buddhist meditation and devotional practice called Buddhānusmṛti. The nine virtues are also among the 40 Buddhist meditation subjects. The nine virtues of the Buddha appear throughout the Tipitaka, and include:

 

- Buddho – Awakened

- Sammasambuddho – Perfectly self-awakened

- Vijja-carana-sampano – Endowed with higher knowledge and ideal conduct.

- Sugato – Well-gone or Well-spoken.

- Lokavidu – Wise in the knowledge of the many worlds.

- Anuttaro Purisa-damma-sarathi – Unexcelled trainer of untrained people.

- Satthadeva-Manussanam – Teacher of gods and humans.

- Bhagavathi – The Blessed one

- Araham – Worthy of homage. An Arahant is "one with taints destroyed, who has lived the holy life, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, reached the true goal, destroyed the fetters of being, and is completely liberated through final knowledge."

 

TEACHINGS

TRACING THE OLDEST TEACHINGS

Information of the oldest teachings may be obtained by analysis of the oldest texts. One method to obtain information on the oldest core of Buddhism is to compare the oldest extant versions of the Theravadin Pali Canon and other texts. The reliability of these sources, and the possibility to draw out a core of oldest teachings, is a matter of dispute. According to Vetter, inconsistencies remain, and other methods must be applied to resolve those inconsistencies.

 

According to Schmithausen, three positions held by scholars of Buddhism can be distinguished:

 

"Stress on the fundamental homogeneity and substantial authenticity of at least a considerable part of the Nikayic materials;"

"Scepticism with regard to the possibility of retrieving the doctrine of earliest Buddhism;"

"Cautious optimism in this respect."

 

DHYANA AND INSIGHT

A core problem in the study of early Buddhism is the relation between dhyana and insight. Schmithausen, in his often-cited article On some Aspects of Descriptions or Theories of 'Liberating Insight' and 'Enlightenment' in Early Buddhism notes that the mention of the four noble truths as constituting "liberating insight", which is attained after mastering the Rupa Jhanas, is a later addition to texts such as Majjhima Nikaya 36

 

CORE TEACHINGS

According to Tilmann Vetter, the core of earliest Buddhism is the practice of dhyāna. Bronkhorst agrees that dhyana was a Buddhist invention, whereas Norman notes that "the Buddha's way to release [...] was by means of meditative practices." Discriminating insight into transiency as a separate path to liberation was a later development.

 

According to the Mahāsaccakasutta, from the fourth jhana the Buddha gained bodhi. Yet, it is not clear what he was awakened to. "Liberating insight" is a later addition to this text, and reflects a later development and understanding in early Buddhism. The mentioning of the four truths as constituting "liberating insight" introduces a logical problem, since the four truths depict a linear path of practice, the knowledge of which is in itself not depicted as being liberating:

 

[T]hey do not teach that one is released by knowing the four noble truths, but by practicing the fourth noble truth, the eightfold path, which culminates in right samadhi.

 

Although "Nibbāna" (Sanskrit: Nirvāna) is the common term for the desired goal of this practice, many other terms can be found throughout the Nikayas, which are not specified.

 

According to Vetter, the description of the Buddhist path may initially have been as simple as the term "the middle way". In time, this short description was elaborated, resulting in the description of the eightfold path.

 

According to both Bronkhorst and Anderson, the four truths became a substitution for prajna, or "liberating insight", in the suttas in those texts where "liberating insight" was preceded by the four jhanas. According to Bronkhorst, the four truths may not have been formulated in earliest Buddhism, and did not serve in earliest Buddhism as a description of "liberating insight". Gotama's teachings may have been personal, "adjusted to the need of each person."

 

The three marks of existence may reflect Upanishadic or other influences. K.R. Norman supposes that these terms were already in use at the Buddha's time, and were familiar to his listeners.

 

The Brahma-vihara was in origin probably a brahmanic term; but its usage may have been common to the Sramana traditions.

  

LATER DEVELOPMENTS

In time, "liberating insight" became an essential feature of the Buddhist tradition. The following teachings, which are commonly seen as essential to Buddhism, are later formulations which form part of the explanatory framework of this "liberating insight":

 

- The Four Noble Truths: that suffering is an ingrained part of existence; that the origin of suffering is craving for sensuality, acquisition of identity, and fear of annihilation; that suffering can be ended; and that following the Noble Eightfold Path is the means to accomplish this;

- The Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration;

- Dependent origination: the mind creates suffering as a natural product of a complex process.

 

OTHER RELIGIONS

Some Hindus regard Gautama as the 9th avatar of Vishnu. The Buddha is also regarded as a prophet by the Ahmadiyya Muslims and a Manifestation of God in the Bahá'í Faith. Some early Chinese Taoist-Buddhists thought the Buddha to be a reincarnation of Lao Tzu.

 

The Christian Saint Josaphat is based on the Buddha. The name comes from the Sanskrit Bodhisattva via Arabic Būdhasaf and Georgian Iodasaph. The only story in which St. Josaphat appears, Barlaam and Josaphat, is based on the life of the Buddha. Josaphat was included in earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology (feast day 27 November) — though not in the Roman Missal — and in the Eastern Orthodox Church liturgical calendar (26 August).

 

Disciples of the Cao Đài religion worship the Buddha as a major religious teacher. His image can be found in both their Holy See and on the home altar. He is revealed during communication with Divine Beings as son of their Supreme Being (God the Father) together with other major religious teachers and founders like Jesus, Laozi, and Confucius.

 

In the ancient Gnostic sect of Manichaeism the Buddha is listed among the prophets who preached the word of God before Mani.

 

WIKIPEDIA
madison wi photos, God was in the house. by RoadshowFanPhotos

Richard Benjamin March 26 at 10:50am

I would like to share with you all what a great night i had worshiping God through music on Friday night at the Rock and Worship Road Show in the coliseum in Madison WI.

First i would like to thank the Rush family for following Gods will and putting on this show and 102.5 for there support and the 7, top 20 christian music list bands, that played.

The excitement in the coliseum for God was like being at a great revival, a Benny Hinn healing service, and a big wedding party, all mixed together.

Let me try to explain.

The concert sold out and over 8,000 people came out to praise and rock out for the Lord and people waited out side for hours to get in. I got to work the doors and help direct the people to where they needed to go and saw the excitement of all to what was about to come.

I'm always impressed with the gifts that God gives to the bands and the Holy Spirit gives them the words and music to write, But what really surprises me is the ability to give a message like a seasoned pastor and that's what they did.

I didn't get to see the whole show but what i did see gave me hope for the next generation.

When Francesca Battistelli came out i saw little girls running up to get pics of her and singing all her music and jumping up and down. I couldn't help but think what a great role model she is for these little girls.

Then David Crowder Band came out with there country sound and the floor of the coliseum went wild. kids from all over came down and formed a conga line and danced all around the floor as everyone else danced and raised there hands to God with praise.

Family Force 5 came out and though i don't know the music and rap isn't my thing, the kids from 7 to 15 went nuts for this music.They did put on a good show and i had to smile at there performance. The kids now a days like this rap music and i was glad to see that they had this band to listen to because the alliterative out there is pure bad.

 

But what really gave me hope the the future is when Mercyme came out, the same kids that where jumping for Family Force 5 are now raising there hands toward heaven and singing there heart out to God in praise and worship. As the Holy Spirit touched me through the songs from Mercyme I couldn't keep the tears back and i look around and saw hundreds of boys and girls with tears running down there faces standing with there hands waving back and fourth, holding hands with there parents, and singing to God with all there hearts. I knew right then God was in the house and the same thing i was feeling, even the 7 year olds where feeling and the pressures of life was just as hard for them as it is for me and how they knew it is God pulling them through as they thanked Him through the words in the music.

I'm so glad i didn't miss this event and i feel sorry for those that didn't make it as it was a intimate time with God and 8,000 others that love Him like i do and to see the next generation strong and with a true heart for God. Music breaks the barriers of languages and generations and we were all one in praising are Lord and King.

Later this week i heard that the local men around town were saying on Friday night, " Benji's out at a concert rock'in with God." Praise the Lord, even those that don't know God where affected by this concert and i was able to share the love of God to these men.

 

Richard Benjamin

Comments,

 

Kallie Cline

Thank you, Richard! I witnessed the same type of worship and enthusiasm at Indy but didn't have the words to articulate myself as well as you did. Praise God!!

Yesterday

 

Doreen A. Lont

Wow...Richard, you really summed up the concert here in Wisconsin....thanks for putting it into words! Absolutely an amazing evening....watching the live feed for tonights concert and wishing it were last Friday night all over again!

 

Richard,

I too was amazed at what I witness Friday. AMEN!!

Thank you for sharing your heart felt experience with me and I have passed this on to the RUSH family.

 

Blessings

Mark
JesusPlus by Don Bantum

Anything we try to add to Jesus and what HE HAS DONE! Actually takes away from Jesus.

 

The reason it's called THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, is because it's Christ Life living in us as his Children who have come to HIM THROUGH FAITH IN "HIS" FINISHED WORK FOR US. Jesus cried out from the cross, 'IT IS FINISHED'! Why you may ask, because it was finished, he did it all and there was NOTHING left for us to do but BELIEVE! Is that complicated? So why do we allow RELIGION to muddy the water, and keep us from ever RESTING IN CHRIST FINISHED WORK FOR US?

 

Satan and the pretend church club of man doesn't want you to know that! Because it gets THEM NOTHING. Which is why they try to keep us focused on ourselves and on them. So we continue to throw money at them, rather than resting in the sufficiency of Christ Jesus. Keeping us from ever having a real relationship with the Living GOD.

 

As long as ANY of our dependence is on ourselves or them, what we are doing or not doing in our sinful flesh, then our dependency can't be on Jesus. So don't fall into the trap and snare the Devil and his minions are setting for YOU. Hoping to substitute a life focused on Christ and him alone for one focused on ourselves and religious activities of men which leads to death.

 

It's also called the EXCHANGED LIFE, for a reason. We exchange all that we are, which is SPIRITUALLY DEAD in trespasses and sin. So we can receive all that HE IS, which is Life, Grace and absolute Perfection. God has made us alive in HIM, through FAITH IN HIM AND WHAT HE HAS DONE. NOT FAITH IN OURSELVES OR ANYTHING WE CAN DO IN AND OF OURSELVES. It's Christ's death for us, His burial which is the proof of His death, and His Resurrected Life on the third day. PERIOD. He was raised so that we too might experience that same Resurrected Life through HIM.

 

THAT'S THE GOSPEL, WHICH MEANS "THE GOOD NEWS" IN THE GREEK LANGUAGE! SO WHEN WE SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST, WE ARE IN FACT SPREADING "GOOD NEWS". BLESSINGS TO ALL WHO WALK BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST AND ALL THAT HE HAS DONE FOR US. YOU ARE LOVED BY GOD MOST HIGH AND HAVE BEEN GIVEN EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR LIFE AND GODLINESS, and I pray that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God, IN "HIM". Where is all this found you may ask? "IN HIM".

 

------------------------ JESUS ✝️ SAVES -------------------------

 

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father in the Lord Jesus Christ, FOREVER! Through Faith in Jesus!

 

10 The thief comes only to STEAL and KILL and DESTROY; I have come that they may have LIFE, and have it to the FULL. (John 10:10)

 

Jesus came to bring spiritual LIFE to the spiritually dead and set the captives FREE! FREE from RELIGION, ERROR and outright LIES, so they might serve THE LIVING GOD! In SPIRIT and in TRUTH!

 

For the best Biblical teaching in the last 2 centuries! Please listen to and down load these FREE audio files that were created with YOU in mind. It's ALL FREE, if you like it, please share it with others. ❤️ ✝️ ❤️

 

archive.org/details/PeopleToPeopleByBobGeorgeFREE-ARCHIVE...

 

www.revealedinchrist.com

 

CLICK THE LETTER "L" TO ENLARGE THE IMAGE.

 

My THANK'S to all those who have taken the time to view, fave, comment or share my photo's with others. I really appreciate it! ❤️

St Mary the Virgin, Eastry, Kent by Jelltex

Not so long ago, the main road from Dover to Sandwich passed right through the centre of Easty. Its narrow roads lined with parked cars must have been quite a bottle neck. But now the main road goes round and the cars can park was their owners want.

 

I visited Eastry many years ago, early in the Kent church project. So I am revisiting those first churches to see what I missed now I have a little knowledge of church architecture.

 

We park in the centre on the main road and walk down the dead end street to the church. It looks fine in the spring sunshine, flints glistening. It sits surrounded by gfand houses, most of which are listed.

 

Entrance is via a unique porch in the west end of the church, under the tower, where a porch has been fashioned from carved wood and leaded lights.

 

Upon entering you are greeted by the glory of the church, the chancel arch festooned with panels showing four different designs, but my eye is taken by the two quatrefoil cut outs either side.

 

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Set away from the main street but on one of the earliest sites in the village, flint-built Eastry church has an over restored appearance externally but this gives way to a noteworthy interior. Built in the early thirteenth century by its patrons, Christ Church Canterbury, it was always designed to be a statement of both faith and power. The nave has a clerestory above round piers whilst the east nave wall has a pair of quatrefoils pierced through into the chancel. However this feature pales into insignificance when one sees what stands between them - a square panel containing 35 round paintings in medallions. There are four deigns including the Lily for Our Lady; a dove; Lion; Griffin. They would have formed a backdrop to the Rood which would have been supported on a beam the corbels of which survive below the paintings. On the centre pier of the south aisle is a very rare feature - a beautifully inscribed perpetual calendar or `Dominical Circle` to help find the Dominical letter of the year. Dating from the fourteenth century it divides the calendar into a sequence of 28 years. The reredos is an alabaster structure dating from the Edwardian period - a rather out of place object in a church of this form, but a good piece of work in its own right. On the west wall is a good early 19th century Royal Arms with hatchments on either side and there are many good monuments both ledger slabs and hanging tablets. Of the latter the finest commemorates John Harvey who died in 1794. It shows his ship the Brunswick fighting with all guns blazing with the French ship the Vengeur. John Bacon carved the Elder this detailed piece of work.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Eastry

 

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Above the Chancel Arch, enclosed within a rectangular frame, are rows of seven "medallion" wall paintings; the lower group was discovered in 1857 and the rest in 1903. They remained in a rather dilapidated state until the Canterbury Cathedral Wall Paintings Department brought them back to life.

 

The medallions are evidently of the 13th Century, having been painted while the mortar was still wet. Each medallion contains one of four motifs:

 

The trefoil flower, pictured left, is perhaps a symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary to whom the church is dedicated; or symbolic of Christ.

 

The lion; symbolic of the Resurrection

  

Doves, either singly, or in pairs, represent the Holy Spirit

  

The Griffin represents evil, over which victory is won by the power of the Resurrection and the courage of the Christian.

 

www.ewbchurches.org.uk/eastrychurchhistory.htm

 

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All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk by Jelltex

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk.

 

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beasts, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

All Saints is a large, remarkably good church in one of the sleepy, fat villages along the Cambridgeshire border, the sort of place you cycle through and imagine wistfully that you've won the lottery and could move there. The wide churchyard on both sides is a perfect setting for the church, which rises to heaven out of a perpendicular splendour of aisles, clerestories and battlements. The tower was complete by the 1470s when money was being left for a bell. The earlier chancel steadies the ship, anchoring it to earth quietly, although the tall east window has its spectacular moment too. And you step into a deliciously well-kept interior, full of interest.

One of the most significant medieval survivals here is not easily noticed. This is the range of 15th Century glass, which was reset by the Victorians high in the clerestory. This seems a curious thing to have done, since it defeats the purpose of a clerestory, but if they had not done so then we might have lost it. The glass matches the tracery in the north aisle windows, so that is probably where they came from. There are angels, three Saints and some shields, most of which are heraldic but two show the instruments of the passion and the Holy Trinity. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the shields are 19th century, but the figures are all original late 15th or early 16th century. The Saints are an unidentified Bishop, the hacksaw-wielding St Faith and one of my favourites, St Apollonia. She it was who was invoked by medieval people against toothache.

 

Waling from the nave up into the chancel, the space created by the clearing of clutter makes it at once mysterious and beautiful. Above, the early 16th century waggon roof is Suffolk's best of its kind. Mortlock points out the little angels bearing scrolls, the wheat ears and the vine sprays, and the surviving traces of colour. The low side window on the south side still has its hinges, for here it was that updraught to the rood would have sent the candles flickering in the mystical church of the 14th century. On the south side of the sanctuary is an exquisitely carved arched recess, that doesn't appear to have ever had a door, and may have been a very rare purpose-built Easter sepulchre at the time of the 1330s rebuilding. Opposite is a huge and stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast. It is one of the most significant Decorated moments in Suffolk.

 

On the floor of the chancel there is a tiny, perfect chalice brass, one of only two surviving in Suffolk. The other is at Rendham. Not far away is the indent of another chalice brass - or perhaps it was for the same one, and the brass has been moved for some reason. There are two chalice indents at Westhall, but nowhere else in Suffolk. Chalice brasses were popular memorials for Priests in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and thus were fair game for reformers. Heigham memorials of the late 16th century are on the walls. Back in the south aisle there is a splendid tombchest in Purbeck marble. It has lost its brasses, but the indents show us where they were, as do other indents in the aisle floors. Some heraldic brass shields survive, and show that Heighams were buried here. Brass inscriptions survive in the nave and the chancel, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

 

The 14th century font is a good example of the tracery pattern series that appeared in the decades before the Black Death. They may have been intended to spread ideas at that time of great artistic and intellectual flowering before it was so cruelly snatched away. The cover is 17th Century. At this end of the nave are two good ranges of medieval benches, one, rare in East Anglia, is a group of 14th Century benches with pierced tracery backs. Some of them appear to spell out words, and Mortlock thought one might say Salaman Sayet. The block of benches to the north appears to be 15th Century or possibly early 16th Century. Further north, the early 17th Century benches are simpler, even cruder, and were likely the work of the village carpenter.

 

All rather lovely then. And yet, it hasn't always been that way. All Saints at Gazeley, near Newmarket, was the first church that I visited after an international team of scientists conclusively proved that God did not exist began the first page for this church that I wrote in 2003, in a satirical mood after finding the church locked and at a very low ebb. At a time when congregations were generally falling, I'd been thinking about the future of medieval churches beyond a time when they would have people to use them in the traditional way. I wondered if the buildings might find new uses, or could adapt themselves to changing patterns and emphases in Christianity, or even changing spiritual needs of their parishes. Even if science could somehow prove that God did not exist, I suggested, there were parishes which would rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves, as churches have always done over the two millennia of Christianity. Coming to Gazeley I felt that here was a church which felt as if it had been abandoned. And yet, it seemed to me a church of such significance, such historical and spiritual importance, that its loss would be a disaster. If it had been clean, tidy and open at the time he was visiting, Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Churches would not have been able to resist it. Should the survival of such a treasure store depend upon the existence of God or the continued practice of the Christian faith? Or might there be other reasons to keep this extraordinary building in something like its present integrity?

 

In the first decade of the 21st Century, Gazeley church went on a tremendous journey, from being moribund to being the wonderful church you can visit today. If you want to read the slightly adapted 2006 entry for Gazeley, recounting this journey, you can do so here. Coming back here today always fills me with optimism for what can be achieved. On one occasion I mentioned my experiences of Gazeley church to a Catholic Priest friend of mine, and he said he hoped I knew I'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And perhaps that is so. Certainly, the energy and imagination of the people here have been fired by something. On that occasion I had wanted to find someone to ask about it, to find out how things stood now. But there was no one, and so the building spoke for them.

 

Back outside in the graveyard, the dog daisies clustered and waved their sun-kissed faces in the light breeze. The ancient building must have known many late-May days like this over the centuries, but think of all the changes that it has known inside! The general buffeting of the winds of history still leaves room for local squalls and lightning strikes. All Saints has known these, but for now a blessed calm reigns here. Long may it remain so.

 

Simon Knott, June 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/gazeley.htm
Bede Cross, Whitburn, Sunderland by Bolckow

From top to bottom; St. Trumberg, St. Benedict Biscop. St. Eggfrith, St. John Sarl Chant, St.Osterwine, St. Sicgfrith, St. Ceolfrith, St. Acca, St. Huatberct, St. Ceoluulf, St.Ecgberct.

 

"Formerly known as: Bede Memorial Cross, Cliff Park Whitburn Road. Memorial cross. 1904. Signed `G.W. Millburn York Sculpt' and `C.C. Hodges, Hexham, inv. et direx.' Granite. Saxon style. Tall tapered shaft. Dedication to Bede and Eadfrith, and extracts from Bede's writing, on W. Interlace pattern and low-relief carved scenes from Bede's life on E. Vine pattern and northern saints, with runic inscription...." Historic England.

 

It is 17ft 5 inches tall.

 

It was unveiled by William Maclagan (1891-1908) Archbishop of York at 12.30 on Tuesday 11th October 1904.

 

It was designed by Charles Clement Hodges and carved by George Walker Milburn of York.

 

Lord Armstrong allowed the project to use stone that was taken from the finest rock in his private quarry at Cragside.

 

"The party was led by the Archbishop of York who robed in ‘Cliffside’, the home of Sir John Priestman, which then stood directly across the road from the monument.

 

The unveiling of the memorial by the Archbishop was greeted with loud cheering from the crowd and the playing of The Last Post by members of the Royal Artillery.

 

The principal guests then all made their way to the Town Hall in Fawcett Street for a celebration lunch (prepared by Mengs) and for speeches.

 

The Archbishop in his speech referred to Sunderland as ‘this great city’.

 

It was a prophetic remark indeed – he obviously knew something that the rest did not." Sunderland Echo.

 

The north face has relief carvings of eleven bishops: Trumbergt; Benedict Biscop; Eggfrith; John; Fosterwinn; Siggfrith; Geolfrith; Agga; Hvaegbergt; Geowulf; Eggbert. A foliate pattern links each head. The cross is carved with a rope tracery design on the arms and boss.

 

"Memorial cross, 1904. Signed “GW Millburn York Sculpt” and “CC Hodges, Hexham inv. et direx”. Granite. Saxon style. Tall tapered shaft. Dedication to Bede and Eadfrith, and extracts from Bede’s writing on west. Interlace pattern and low-relief carved scenes from Bede’s life on east. Vine pattern and northern saints, with runic inscription on north. Vine and inscription on south. Hodges was the excavator of Hexham Abbey. A later inscription records that the cross was removed in 1914 and restored to this site in 1921. LISTED GRADE 2"

 

www.twsitelines.info/SMR/7234

 

The Northumbrian royal dynasty had ended with the death of Osric in 729 AD and the succession of Ceolwulf, the younger brother of the usurper Cenred and the king to whom Bede dedicated his Ecclesiastical History of the English People in 731 AD in which he recorded the death of Osric as the penultimate entry.

“In the year 729, comets appeared; the holy Egbert departed; and Osric died.”

Ceolwulf ruled until 737 AD when he abdicated to become a monk. He was succeeded by Eadbert, brother of Ecgbert, who became the first Archbishop of York in 735 AD. Eadbert ruled, with greater military competence than Ceolwulf, until 758 AD when he also abdicated to enter a religious life at the Abbey on York. Eadbert was engaged in warfare against Mercia and the Pictish kingdoms for much of his reign, and in 740 AD he executed Eanwine, the son of a former king of Northumbria called Eadwulf (ruled 704-5 AD). Eanwine was probably working with the Mercians against Eadbert, who was decisive and brutal against opposition. In 750 AD he faced another claimant to his throne called Offa, and defeated him. Offa fled to Lindisfarne to claim sanctuary. Eadbert did not want to offend the Church by forcibly removing Offa, so he starved him out instead, and imprisoned the Bishop of Hexham who was probably a supporter of Offa. The story of Offa is told by Simeon of Durham:

“During the reign of Eadbert, who (as we have already mentioned) succeeded Ceolwulf, the bishopric of the church of Lindisfame was held by Cynewulf for some considerable length of time, but under many annoyances and misfortunes. One of the royal family, named Offa, in order to escape from the persecutions of his enemies, fled to the body of St. Cuthbert, but having been forcibly dragged away from it, he was wickedly put to death. Hereupon, king Eadbert highly displeased laid hold upon bishop Cynewulf, and commanded him to be imprisoned in Bebbanburch, and in the meantime the bishopric of Lindisfarne was administered by Friothubert, bishop of Hexham, until the king becoming appeased released Cynewulf from his confinement, and permitted him to return to his church.”

Eadbert was also supposedly successful in his international relations, and corresponded with King Pepin of Francia, who sent him costly gifts.

Oswulf was Eadbert’s son, and succeeded his father when he abdicated. However, his hold on the throne was short-lived and he was murdered within a year, by members of his household who were probably related to Eanwine, or as Simeon puts it “wickedly slain by his domestics.”

Æþelwold “Moll” was elected within a couple of weeks to succeed him, although his claim on the throne is not clear and his reign was also disastrous and so the century of turmoil in Northumbria began.

 

12th January is celebrated as the Feast Day of Benedict Biscop.

 

Dictionary of National Biography entry by William Richard Wood Stephens 1885.

 

"BENEDICT BISCOP (628?–690), also called Biscop Baducing (Eddius, Vita Wilfridi c. 3), founder of monasteries at Wearmouth and Jarrow, was an Angle of noble birth (Beda, v. 19, and Vita Abbat. i.), possibly of the royal race of the Lindisfari (Flor. Worc. Mon. Hist. Brit. 631 ). He became a 'minister' or thegn of Oswiu, king of Northumbria, who bestowed land upon him. But in 653, being then about twenty-five, he resolved to abandon the world and set out for Rome. At Canterbury he fell in with Wilfrith, who was about six years younger than himself and desired to visit Rome. The two travelled together as far as Lyons, where Wilfrith tarried, and Benedict went on to Rome. After sojourning some years there he returned to Northumbria, where he strove to introduce the Roman system of ecclesiastical life. About 665 he started on a second visit to Rome. Alchfrith, the son of king Oswiu, wished to accompany him, but was forbidden by his father (Beda, V, Abb. c. 2). After sending some months in Rome, Benedict retired for two years to the monastery of Lerins (an island off the south coast of Gaul), where he became a monk, and then returned to Rome in 667, just when Wighard arrived to be consecrated archbishop of Canterbury. Wighard, however, died very soon, and Theodore of Tarsus was elected and consecrated in his stead March 668. The pope, Vitalian, appointed Benedict to conduct Theodore to Canterbury, which they reached at the end of May 669. Archbishop Theodore made him abbot of St. Peter's in Canterbury, over which he presided for two years, and then made a third visit to Rome for the purpose of buying books, of which he collected a large number, partly in Rome, partly at Vienne. In 672 he returned to England, intending to visit his friend Cenwealh, king of the West Saxons ; but hearing that he was dead, he made for Northumbria, where Ecgfrith, the son of Oswiu, had become king, He set about zealously instructing his countrymen in the learning and religious discipline in which he had himself been trained. Ecgfrith warmly aided him in his work, and gave him seventy hides of land out of his own demesne near the mouth of the river Wear on the north side, where, by Ecgfrith's orders, he began building the monastery of St. Peter's in 674 (Bed. Vit Abbat. c. 3-4). The structure was fashioned in what was called the 'Roman' style, then prevalent throughout Western Europe, being a provincial adaptation of the old classical Roman forms. Benedict himself visited Gaul in order to engage skilled masons and glassmakers, the art of glazing windows being then unknown in England (Bed. Vit, Abb, c. 5). The work was pushed on with such diligence, that within a year from its foundation mass was celebrated within the walls of the church. Having settled the constitution of his house, he paid a fourth visit to Rome in 678, in order to procure more books, besides vessels, vestments, images, and pictures, of which he brought back a large store. He also obtained the services of John, the archchanter of St. Peter's and abbot of St. Martin at Rome, who returned with him to instruct his monks in music and ritual according to the Roman use. But what he deemed most valuable of all was a letter from the pope Agatho, granted with the full consent of king Ecgfrith, exempting his monastery from all external control. The king soon afterwards granted 40 hides of land for the erection of a sister monastery which Benedict established at Jarrow and dedicated to St. Paul. Here he placed seventeen monks in 682 under Ceolfrith as their abbot, who had energetically assisted him from the beginning in founding the other monastery, and had visited Rome. He himself presided over the elder house at Wearmouth, adopting his cousin Eosterwine as a colleague. Having thus settled both monasteries, he visited Rome for the fifth time, and procured a large collection of books, vestments, and pictures for Jarrow. On his return (about 687) he found that king Ecgfrith had been slain in battle (685), and that Eosterwine and a large number of his monks had died of a pestilence. Ceolfrith and the other monks had elected Sigfrith to take the place of Eosterwine. Benedict confirmed their choice, and bought three acres of land on the south side of the Wear from king Aldfrith (successor to Ecgfrith) [q. v.], for which he gave two silk pallia of splendid workmanship which he had brought from Rome ({sc|Beda}}, V. Abb. c. 7, 8). Soon after this Benedict's health broke down, and for the last three years of his life he was paralysed in the lower limbs. Abbot Sigfrith also gradually wasted away from some internal disease. Shortly before his death in 689 he was carried to the bedside of Benedict for a final interview, who then, with the consent of the monks, appointed Ceolfrith abbot of both houses. Benedict's mind, however, continued to be clear and vigorous to the end, and the last days of his life were spent in exhorting the brethren to hold fast to the pure Benedictine rule which he had taught tnhm, having himself visited seventeen continental monusteries; to preserve the large and costly library which he had procured for them with so much pains, and in all future elections of abbots to take care to choose the fittest man without any regard to the claims of kindred or high birth. During his sleepless nights the brethren read the Bible to him in turns, and at the hours of prayer by day and night he continued to join, as well as he was able, in the recitation of the psalms. He died on 12 Jan. 690 as the monks were repeating the 83rd Psalm ('Deus, quis similis erit tibi ?'), in the sixteenth year after the foundation of the first monastery, and (about) the sixty-second year of his age. He was buried in the church of St. Peter at Wearmouth. In the 10th cent., 964, Æthelwold, bishop of Winchester, bought his bones at a great price, and conveved them to his new abbey of Thorney. Benedict was undoubtedly a man of pure and lofty character, animated by the warmest zeal for the promotion of piety and learning, unalloyed, so far as we can see, by the spirit of ambition and self-assertion which are too conspicuous in his friend Wilfrith [see Wilfrith]. He was thus a great benefactor to his own age and country, and all subsequent ages owe him a debt of gratitude for founding the monastery which was the home of the saint and historian, the Venerable Bede.

 

[Bede's H. E. v. 19, and Hist. Abbatum, c. 1-12; Will. of Malmesbury's Great. Pont. iv. § 186; Mabillon's Acta Sanct. O.S.B. sæc. ii. 1000-1012; Boll. Acta Sanct. 1 Jan. 745, 746.]" wiki data
Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavík by Jelltex

It will not come as a surprise to find that it is cold this time of the year here.

 

Cold when the wind blows, and colder when the sun shines. At least in winter.

 

We lay in bed until half seven, then too our time to have showers, get dressed and go down for breakfast, where there was chaos as folks lined up for a free table.

 

Once we go one, we filled with the usual from a cold buffet, and washed down with plenty of coffee.

 

I put on my new walking shoes, fitted the cleats/crampons, picked up the camera and we went out, walking down the main street towards what I thought was the centre.

 

All the while walking into the teeth of a fresh cold wind that was going to get only stronger through the day.

 

My knee is still not happy, but that joins my back and right shoulder making complaints, so I make the best of it, and we walk on.

 

To the harbour where we find lots of work repairing the quayside, so lots of fencing, so we turn back towards the opera house and some shelter from the wind.

 

There was little shelter.

 

I took shots of the modern building, then we turned back, knowing that we had a tail wind at least some of the way, even if the buildings and the way they funnelled the wind made this not always true.

 

Back on the main shopping street, I saw to the right Rainbow Street, and the cathedral at the top, so I set off while Jools went to check on the car.

 

Bright sunshine gave way to heavy snow showers and squally winds, so strong that it ripped the glasses from my face, so after chasing after them, I took shelter inside the building.

 

After taking shots, we braved it back outside, and on the way back to the hotel, kind of mocking us, the sun came out briefly.

 

But the wind was increasing, so instead of going to a café to have lunch, we went back to our room and had fresh brews and the pack of biscuits we brought from England.

 

And then the 100mph rush of the trip meant we were all snoozy, so we went to bed for an hour. Or three.

 

Snow had come down quite hard, but not settled much, so for dinner, we took a slither down to a bar themed on the film, The Big Lebowski for beers n burgers.

 

We got a table with fine views of projection screens, one showing Dazed and Confused, and then The Big Lebowski while the other had the France v Ireland six nations game.

 

The burgers were gooey and greasy, but good, and the beer cold. I also had one of over 20 different white Russians, another homage to the film.

 

Before finally heading back to the room to watch the second half of the game while sipping Irish whiskey and eating peanut butter M&Ms.

 

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Hallgrímskirkja (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈhatl̥ˌkrimsˌcʰɪr̥ca], Church of Hallgrímur) is a Lutheran (Church of Iceland) parish church in Reykjavík, Iceland. At 74.5 metres (244 ft) tall, it is the largest church in Iceland and among the tallest structures in the country.[1] Known for its distinctively curved spire and side wings, it has been described as having become an important symbol for Iceland's national identity since its completion in 1986.[2] The church is named after the Icelandic poet and cleric Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614–1674), author of the Passion Hymns.

 

Situated on the hilltop Skólavörðuholt [ˈskouːlaˌvœrðʏˌhɔl̥t] near the centre of Reykjavík, the church is one of the city's best-known landmarks and is visible throughout the city. State Architect Guðjón Samúelsson's design of the church was commissioned in 1937. He is said to have designed it to resemble the trap rocks, mountains and glaciers of Iceland's landscape,[4][5] in particular its columnar basalt "organ pipe" formations (such as those at Svartifoss).[2] The design is similar in style to the expressionist architecture of Grundtvig's Church of Copenhagen, Denmark, completed in 1940, which has been described as a likely influence, alongside the expressionist Kirche am Hohenzollernplatz in Berlin, Germany (completed in 1933).[2]

 

Architecturally, Hallgrímskirkja consists of three parts: The tower with the distinctly curved side wings which house service facilities, a nave in more traditional architecture, and a sanctuary at the other end of the nave, whose cylindrical shape has been described as evoking Viking war helmets.[2] Hallgrímskirkja also has a 244 ft (74.37 meters) dome.[2]

 

Inside the church you can light a candle for a dead family member for 100 ISK (0,6913 USD).

 

Hallgrímskirkja is best described as a piece of Expressionist architecture because of its tower-like exterior, its rejection of traditional styles and its dynamic design.[6][2] It was heavily influenced by another building, Grundtvigskirken.[2] Like Hallgrímskirkja, Grundtvigskirken, has an organ-like appearance.[2]

 

It took 41 years to build the church:[7] construction started in 1945 and ended in 1986, but the landmark tower was completed long before the whole church was finished. The crypt beneath the choir was consecrated in 1948, the steeple and wings were completed in 1974,[5] and the nave was consecrated in 1986.[1] At the time of construction, the building was criticized as too old-fashioned and as a blend of different architectural styles.[8] The church was originally intended to be less tall, but the leaders of the Church of Iceland wanted a large spire to outshine Landakotskirkja (Landakot's Church), which was the cathedral of the Catholic Church in Iceland.[8]

 

The interior is 1,676 square metres (18,040 sq ft).[citation needed]

 

The church has a carillon of bells at the top, that ring each hour.

 

The church houses two large pipe organs. The first, a Rieger-Kloss organ was installed in 1946.[9] It was moved to the South Wing when it opened and a new organ was built.[9] The next pipe organ was commissioned from Frobenius in 1985.[9] Soon after, in 1988 the church council decided that the Frobenius pipe organ wasn't big enough and commissioned another from the German organ builder Johannes Klais of Bonn.[9] It has electronic action; the pipes are remote from the four manuals and pedal console. There are 102 ranks, 72 stops and 5275 pipes.[1] It is 15 metres (49 ft) tall and weighs 25 metric tons (25 long tons; 28 short tons). Its construction was finished in December 1992.

 

Einar Jónsson donated the statue of Jesus to the church in 1948, which stands right next to the entrance to the nave. Jesus receives the Holy Spirit after being baptized in the Jordan.

 

The church is also used as an observation tower. An observer can take a lift up to the viewing deck and view Reykjavík and the surrounding mountains.[10]

 

The statue of explorer Leif Erikson (c.970 – c.1020) by Alexander Stirling Calder in front of the church predates its construction. It was a gift from the United States in honor of the 1930 Althing Millennial Festival, commemorating the 1000th anniversary of the convening of Iceland's parliament at Þingvellir in 930 AD.[5]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallgr%C3%ADmskirkja
St Mary the Virgin, Bishopsbourne, Kent by Jelltex

I thought I had visited St Mary years ago. And indeed I had, or stood on the green in front of it, but didn't set foot inside.

 

This I didn't realise until Saturday when I was standing outside it looking at the row of cottages leading to the lych gate, I knew the scene was new to me.

 

The drizzle was still falling, so I could not linger in the churchyard, and scampered along the south side of the building, looking for the porch, but there wasn't one. Instead a simple door near to the chancel gave way when I turned the handle, after stepping over the void that acts as a drain for rainwater falling from the roof.

 

I tried hard to find the lightswitches, as in the gloom of the early afternoon, it was almost dark inside. Even when I found the switches in the south chapel, there seemed to be no power to them, so the church remained in half darkness.

 

What I did see, and was dazzled by, were tiles used to line the lower part of the chancel walls, like a mosaic, creating fantastic patterns.

 

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A mainly thirteenth century church restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott. There is a high window which originally shed light onto the Rood figures (see also Capel le Ferne). Some medieval glass survives in the heads of the windows in the chancel showing angels holding crowns. The west window was designed by Morris and Co in 1874 to commemorate a former Rector, whilst the south chapel has a set of continental glass brought here by the Beckingham family from their house in Essex. Above the nave arcade is a good set of murals including a figure of St Nicholas. The famous Elizabethan theologian Richard Hooker is commemorated in the chancel.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Bishopsbourne

 

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Bishopsbourne is another example of a parish church belonging to the church (the archbishop, in this case), which was totally rebuilt on a large(r) scale in the 13th century (cf. Chartham). The chancel, as rebuilt, was as wide as the nave, and there is no chancel arch (and probably never has been).

The nave and chancel both show at least two phases of work of about the mid to later 13th century, so it seems likely that a rebuilding programme was being carried on in stages during the 2nd half of the 13th century (no sign exists, above-ground, of the earlier church).

Perhaps the earliest visible work are the two pairs of two-light windows on either side of the chancel. They have geometrical tracery and all sit on an internal moulded string course (there is medieval glass at the top of all these windows). This string course rises up in the east wall, and has on it the five-light east window, within trefoiled lancets, which is perhaps slightly later in date. There is also a late 13th century piscina at the east end of the south wall (though with a 19th century back wall). Externally the N.E. and S.E. corners of the chancel have angle buttresses, but these are heavily restored. It is also just possible that there were further geometrical windows further west in the chancel, which were covered/removed when the 15th century additions were made.

In the nave, as John Newman has pointed out, the two slender arcades have slight differences (N. capitals more complex than the S. ones). Also that the nave abaci are undercut, while the chancel string course is not. Originally the south arcade was at least three bays long (ie. longer than the present nave), but on the north this is not so clear. The aisles themselves are very narrow, with shed roofs continuing the slope of the main nave roof (though this shape may only be 15th century when the aisles were remodelled). The only surviving feature of the 13th century in the outer aisle walls (again heavily restored externally in the 19th century) is the north doorway with its niche (called a stoup by some writers, but not necessarily one) immediately to the east. This doorway has slightly projecting pilasters on either side, and the whole was covered by a porch until 1837.

The second main phase of work took place in the later 15th century. First, the whole of the west end of the church was demolished and a new tower was constructed with diagonal buttresses. The tower is of three main stages with the top stage rendered. The whole of the south face is mostly rendered. As this was being built, short walls were erected from the eastern diagonal buttresses to the 13th century arcade (ie. leaving the western ends of the aisles outside). (This is perhaps due to a population decrease in the parish). New west walls (containing two light perpendicular square headed windows) to the shortened aisles were also built, and four new 2-light perpendicular windows were inserted into the outer aisle walls. Along the top of the inside of the aisles walls a new moulded timber stringcourse was made (the roofs were perhaps also remade, but they are hidden beneath plaster in the aisles, and the main nave roof was replaced in 1871). At the west end of the nave the new short north and south walls contain five 3-light windows with perpendicular tracery under a 2-centred arch in their heads. On the upper nave walls, above the arcade, are remains of some fine painted figures on a painted 'ashlar' background. These were perhaps painted after the 15th century rebuilding (a date of around 1462 for the rebuilding is perhaps suggested by the will of William Harte (see below). At the extreme west end of the nave are two areas (N. and S.) of in situ medieval floor tiles. It is just possible that they predate the tower building work. (They must continue eastwards under the pews). There is also a 15th cent. octagonal font bowl (on a 1975 base). The southern chapel (the Bourne Pew after the Reformation) with its diagonal buttresses and 3-light east window is also 15th century but it was very heavily restored in c. 1853 (date over new S. door). It has a separate roof (and plaster ceiling). The rectangular N. addition with a plinth is also 15th century and was perhaps built as a vestry. It had an external door and only a small door into the chancel until the rebuilding of 1865, when a massive new arch was put in to accommodate a new organ (earlier the organ was under the tower arch). At this time also a totally new pitched roof was built over the vestry, perhaps replacing a low pitched 15th century roof. There is a high up window on the north side above the pulpit, with some old glass in it.

A new boiler house was dug under the western half of the vestry (in the 1880s - date on radiator), and its N.W. corner was rebuilt, incorporating a fireplace and chimney. The cut through N. chancel wall (and foundation) can be seen in the boiler room below.

The door into the Rood loft is in the S.E. corner of the nave.

In 1871-2 a major restoration took place under Scott, when the boarded wagon roofs were put in (nave and chancel) and new pews were installed (and choir stalls). The c. 18th century pulpit was remodelled and has its larger tester removed. The west window contains 1874 Morris & Co glass with figures by Burne Jones. There is also much c. 1877 mosaic work on the lower chancel walls and a large Reredos. The chancel floor was also raised.

 

BUILDING MATERIALS (Incl. old plaster, paintings, glass, tiles, etc.):

The main building materials are flintwork with Rag and Caenstone quoins/jambs, etc. However much of this has been removed externally by the heavy 19th century restoration. The nave arcades are of Reigate stone. The 15th century tower has fine large quoins of Kent Rag (Hythe/Folkestone stone with boring mollusc holes), and a few reused pieces of Caen, Reigate and Roman brick.

The south chapel was "partly of brick" in 1846 (Glynne) but this has now gone in the Restoration. There is also some fine early post-medieval glass in the east window of this chapel.

 

(For medieval glass, wall paintings and floor tiles ,see above).

 

(Also 15th century choir stalls, see below). There are also the arms and Cardinals Cap of Cardinal Morton (hence 1494-1500) in the S.W. chancel window.

 

There are now 4 bells (2 J Hatch of 1618; Christopher Hodson 1685 and Robert Mot 1597). The later from St. Mary, Bredman, Canterbury was installed in 1975 (a cracked bell was 'discarded').

 

A late medieval brass (of John and Elizabeth Colwell) lies under the organ - another of 1617 (John Gibon) is under the choir stalls.

 

EXCEPTIONAL MONUMENTS IN CHURCH To Richard Hooker (1633) - originally on N chancel wall and moved to S chancel will c. 1865.

 

Also John Cockman (+1734) - also on N. chancel wall and moved to E. wall of N. aisle c. 1865 (when the organ was put under new vestry arch).

 

Also a fine Purbeck marble (14th century) grave slab under the N.E. corner of the tower.

 

There are also two fine 15th century (c. 1462) stall fronts in the chancel with carved panels and ends (and 'poppy heads'). The added Victorian choir stalls copy them.

 

CHURCHYARD AND ENVIRONS:

Shape: Rectangular

 

Condition: Good

 

Earthworks:

enclosing: drop on N. and W. sides (?Ha-Ha) into Bourne Park adjacent:

 

Building in churchyard or on boundary: Lychgate of 1911

 

HISTORICAL RECORD (where known):

Earliest ref. to church: Domesday Book

 

Evidence of pre-Norman status (DB, DM, TR etc.):

 

Late med. status: Rectory

 

Patron: The Archbishop

 

Other documentary sources: Test. Cant. (E. Kent 1907) 23 mentions 'one piece of that stone on which the Archangel Gabriel descended when he saluted the 'BVM' to the Image of the BVM of the church of Bourne. Towards the work of the Church of Bourne, of the stalls and other reparations, 4 marcs. Wm. Haute (1462). Also 'Beam, now before altar of B. Mary in the church' (1477) and Lights of St. Mary, St. Katherine and St. Nicholas (1484) and light of Holy Cross (1462) and 'The altar of St. Mary and St. Nicholas in the nave' (1476).

 

SURVIVAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL DEPOSITS:

Inside present church: Good - main nave and chancel floor raised in 19th century (earlier levels should be intact beneath (except where burials, etc.).

 

Outside present church: Drainage trench cut round outside of church.

 

Quinquennial inspection (date\architect): October 1987 David Martin

 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL ASSESSMENT:

The church and churchyard: A fine 13th and 15th century church, with an impressive collection of medieval wall paintings, stained glass, floor tiles and pew fronts inside. The 13th century architectural details of the chancel windows and nave arcade are very good. There are, no doubt, the remains of the earlier church beneath.

 

The wider context: One of a group of fine later 13th century rebuildings (cf. Hythe, Chartham, Adisham, etc.)

REFERENCES: Notes by FC Elliston Erwood, Arch. Cant. 62 (1949), 101-3 (+ plan) + S. R. Glynne Notes on the Churches of Kent (1877), 130-1 (He visited in 1846); Hasted IX (1800), 335-7; Newman BOE (N.E. and E Kent) (3rd ed. 1983) 144-5.

 

Guide book: by Miss Alice Castle (1931, rev. 1961, 1969, 1980) - no plan.

 

Plans & drawings: Early 19th century engraving of interior looking W. NW (before restoration).

 

DATES VISITED: 25th November 1991 REPORT BY: Tim Tatton-Brown

 

www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/01/03/BIS.htm

 

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BISHOPSBORNE

LIES the next parish eastward from Bridge, described before, in the hundred of that name. It is called in Domesday, Burnes, that is, borne, from the bourn or stream which rises in it, being the head of the river, called the Lesser Stour; and it had the name of Bishopsborne from its belonging to the archbishop, and to distinguish it from the several other parishes of the same name in this neighbourhood. There is but one borough in this parish, namely, that of Bourne.

 

THIS PARISH lies about five miles eastward from Canterbury, just beyond Bridge, about half a mile from the Dover road, and the entrance of Barham downs in the valley on the left hand, where the church and village, the parsonage, the mansion and grounds of Bourne place, and the seat of Charlton at the opposite boundary, with the high hills behind them, topped with woods, from a most pleasing and luxuriant prospect indeed. In this beautiful valley, in which the Lesser Stour rises, and through which the Nailbourne at times runs, is the village of Bourne-street, consisting of about fifteen houses, and near it the small seat of Ofwalds, belonging to Mr. Beckingham, and now inhabited by his brother the Rev. Mr. Beckingham, and near it the church and court-lodge. On the rise of the hill is the parsonage, an antient building modernized, and much improved by the present rector Dr. Fowell, and from its whiteness a conspicuous object to the road and Barham downs. About a mile distant eastward, in the vale, close to the foot of the hills, is Charlton, in a low and damp situation, especially when the nailbourne runs. On the opposite side of the church westward, stands the ornament of this parish, the noble mansion of Bourne-place, (for several years inhabited by Sir Horace Mann, bart. but now by William Harrison, esq.) with its paddocks, grounds, and plantations, reaching up to the downs, having the bourn, which is the source of the Lesser Stour, which rises here in the front of it, directing its course from hence to Bridge, and so on by Littleborne, Ickham and Wickham, till it joins the Greater Stour river. This valley from this source of the bourn upwards, is dry, except after great rains, or thaws of snow, when the springs of the Nailbourn occasionally over flow at Liminge and Elham, and directing their course through this parish descend into the head of the bourn, and blend their waters with it. From this valley southward the opposite hills rise pretty high to the woodland, called Gosley wood, belonging to Mr. Beckingham, of large extent, and over a poor, barren and stony country, with rough healthy ground interspersed among it, to the valley at the southern boundary of the parish, adjoining to Hardres; near which is the house of Bursted, in a lonely unfrequented situations, hardly known to any one.

 

THE MANOR OF BOURNE, otherwise Bishopsborne, was given by one Aldhun, a man of some eminence in Canterbury, from his office of præfect, or bailiff of that city, (qui in hac regali villa bujus civitatis prafectus suit), (fn. 1) to the monks of Christ-church there, towards the support of their refectory. After which, anno 811, the monks exchanged it, among other estates, with archbishop Wlfred, for the manor of Eastry, and it continued part of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, at the time of taking the survey of Domesday, in which it is thus entered, under the title of the archbishop's lands:

 

In Berham hundred, the archbishop himself holds Burnes in demesne. It was taxed for six sulings. The arable land is fifty carucates. In demesne there are five carucates, and sixty-four villeins, with fifty-three borderers having thirty carucates and an half. There is a church, and two mills of eight shillings and six pence, and twenty acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of fifteen hogs. Of herbage twenty-seven pence. In its whole value, in the time of king Edward the Confessor, and afterwards, it was worth twenty pounds, now thirty pounds.

 

The manor of Bishopsborne appears by the above entry to have been at that time in the archbishop's own hands, and it probably continued so as long as it remained part of his revenues, which was till the 35th year of king Henry VIII. when archbishop Cranmer, by an act specially passed for the purpose, exchanged this manor with the park, grounds and soil of the archbishop in this parish, called Langham park, with Thomas Colepeper, sen. esq. of Bedgbury, who that year alienated it to Sir Anthony Aucher, of Otterden, who gave this manor, with the rest of his possessions in this parish, to his second son Edward. Since which it has continued in the same line of ownership as Bourne-place, as will be more particularly mentioned hereafter, down to Stephen Beckingham, esq. the present owner of it. A court leet and court baron is held for this manor.

 

BOURNE-PLACE, formerly called the manor of Hautsbourne, is an eminent seat in this parish, for the manor has from unity of possession been for many years merged in the paramount manor of Bishopsborne. It was in very early times possessed by a family who took their name from it. Godric de Burnes is mentioned in the very beginning of the survey of Domesday, as the possessor of lands in it. John de Bourne had a grant of free-warren and other liberties for his lands in Bourne and Higham in the 16th year of king Edward I. He left an only daughter Helen, who carried this estate in marriage to John de Shelving, of Shelvingborne, whose grandson, of the same name, died anno 4 Edward III. at which time this manor had acquired from them the name of Shelvington. He left an only daughter and heir Benedicta, who carried it in marriage to Sir Edmund de Haut, of Petham, whose son Nicholas Haut gave to William, his youngest son, this estate of Bishopsborne, where he afterwards resided, and died in 1462, having been knight of the shire and sheriff of this county. From him it descended down to Sir William Haut, of Hautsborne, sheriff in the 16th and 29th year of king Henry VIII. whose son Edmund dying unmarried in his life-time, his two daughters, Elizabeth, married to Thomas Colepeper, esq. of Bedgbury, and Jane, to Sir Thomas Wyatt, of Allington-castle, became his coheirs, and on the division of their estates, this of Hautsborne was allotted to the former, and her hus band Thomas Colepeper, in her right, became possessed of it, and having acquired the manor of Bishopsborne by exchange from the archbishop, anno 35 Henry VIII. immediately afterwards passed away both that and Hautsborne to Sir Anthony Aucher, of Otterden, whose family derived their origin from Ealcher, or Aucher, the first earl of Kent, who had the title of duke likewise, from his being intrusted with the military power of the county. He is eminent in history for his bravery against the Danes, in the year 853. They first settled at Newenden, where more of the early account of them may be seen. He at his death gave them to his second son Edward, who afterwards resided here at Shelvington, alias Hautsborne, as it was then called, whose great-grandson Sir Anthony Aucher was created a baronet in 1666, and resided here. He left surviving two sons Anthony and Hewitt, and two daughters, Elizabeth, afterwards married to John Corbett, esq. of Salop, LL. D. and Hester, to the Rev. Ralph Blomer, D. D. prebendary of Canterbury. He died in 1692, and was succeeded by his eldest son, who dying under age and unmarried, Hewitt his brother succeeded him in title and estate, but he dying likewise unmarried about the year 1726, the title became extinct, but his estates devolved by his will to his elder sister Elizabeth, who entitled her husband Dr. Corbett afterwards to them, and he died possessed of the manor of Bishopsborne, with this seat, which seems then to have been usually called Bourneplace, in 1736, leaving his five daughters his coheirs, viz. Katherine, afterwards married to Stephen Beckingham, esq. Elizabeth, to the Rev. Thomas Denward; Frances, to Sir William Hardres, bart. Antonina, to Ignat. Geohegan, esq. and Margaret-Hannah-Roberta, to William Hougham, esq. of Canterbury, the four latter of whom, with their respective husbands, in 1752, jointed in the sale of their shares in this estate to Stephen Beckingham, esq. above-men tioned, who then became possessed of the whole of it. He married first the daughter of Mr. Cox, by whom he had the present Stephen beckingham, esq. who married Mary, daughter of the late John Sawbridge, esq. of Ollantigh, deceased, by whom he had an only daughter, who married John-George Montague, esq. eldest son of John, lord viscount Hinchingbrooke, since deceased. By his second wife Catherine, daughter of Dr. John Corbet, he had two daughters, Charlotte and Catherine, both married, one to Mr. Dillon and the other to Mr. Gregory; and a son John Charles, in holy orders, and now rector of Upper Hardres. They bear for their arms, Argent, a sess, crenelle, between three escallop shells, sable. He died in 1756, and his son Stephen Beckingham, esq. above-mentioned, now of Hampton-court, is the present owner of the manor of Bishopsborne, and the mansion of Bourneplace.

 

BURSTED is a manor, in the southern part of this parish, obscurely situated in an unfrequented valley, among the woods, next to Hardres. It is in antient deeds written Burghsted, and was formerly the property of a family of the same name, in which it remained till it was at length sold to one of the family of Denne, of Dennehill, in Kingston, and it continued so till Thomas Denne, esq. of that place, in Henry VIII.'s reign, gave it to his son William, whose grandson William, son of Vincent Denne, LL. D. died possessed of it in 1640, and from him it descended down to Mr. Thomas Denne, gent. of Monkton-court, in the Isle of Thanet, who died not many years since, and his widow Mrs. Elizabeth Denne, of Monktoncourt, is the present possessor of it.

 

CHARLTON is a seat, in the eastern part of this parish, which was formerly the estate of a family named Herring, in which it continued till William Herring, anno 3 James I. conveyed it to John Gibbon, gent. the third son of Thomas Gibbon, of Frid, in Bethers den, descended again from those of Rolvenden, and he resided here, and died possessed of it in 1617, as did his son William in 1632, whose heirs passed it away to Sir Anthony Aucher, bart. whose son Sir Hewitt Aucher, bart. in 1726, gave it by will to his sister Elizabeth, and she afterwards carried it in marriage to John Corbett, LL. D. of Salop, who died possessed of it in 1735, leaving his window surviving, after whose death in 1764 it came to her five daughters and coheirs, who, excepting Frances, married to Sir William Hardres, bart. joined with their husbands in the sale of their respective fifth parts of it in 1765, to Francis Hender Foote, clerk, who resided here. Mr. Foote was first a barrister-at-law, and then took orders. He married Catherine, third daughter of Robert Mann, esq. of Linton, by whom he had three sons, John, mentioned below, who is married and has issue; Robert, rector of Boughton Malherb, and vicar of Linton, who married Anne, daughter of Dobbins Yate, esq. of Gloucestershire, and Edward, in the royal navy; and three daughters, of whom two died unmarried, and Catherine, the second, married first Mr. Ross, and secondly Sir Robert Herries, banker, of London. Mr. Foote died possessed of them in 1773, leaving his wife Catherine surviving, who possessed them at her death in 1776, on which they descended to their eldest son John Foote, esq. of Charlton, who in 1784, purchased of the heirs of lady Hardres, deceased, the remaining fifth part, and so became possessed of the whole of it, of which he is the present owner, but Mr. Turner now resides in it.

 

Charities.

MRS. ELIZABETH CORBETT, window, executrix of Sir Hewit Aucher, bart. deceased, in 1749, made over to trustees, for the use and benefit of the poor, a tenement called Bonnetts, and half an acre of land adjoining, in this parish; now occupied by two poor persons, but if rented, of the annual value of 3l.

 

The poor constantly relieved are about eleven, casually seven.

 

THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.

 

¶The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large building, consisting of three isles and three chancels, having a tower steeple at the west end, in which are four bells. This church is a large handsome building, but it is not kept so comely as it ought to be. In the chancel is a monument for Richard Hooker, rector of this parish, who died in 1600; on it is his bust, in his black gown and square cap. A monument for John Cockman, M. D. of Charlton. His widow lies in the vault by him, obt. 1739; arms, Argent, three cocks, gules, impaling Dyke. Memorial for Petronell, wife of Dr. John Fowell, the present rector, second daughter of William Chilwich, esq. of Devonshire, obt. 1766. She lies buried in a vault under the altar. A large stone, twelve feet long, supposed to be over the remains of Mr. Richard Hooker. A memorial on brass for John Gibbon, gent. of this parish, obt. 1617; arms, Gibbon, a lion rampant-guardant, between three escallops, impaling Hamon, of Acrise, quartering Cossington. Memorials for Mrs. Jane Gibbon, his wife, obt. 1625, and for William Gibbon, gent. obt. 1632. A memorial for William Gresham, obt. 1718. In one of the windows are the arms of the see of Canterbury impaling Warham. In the middle isle, in the south wall, above the capital of the pillar, opposite the pulpit, is a recess, in which once stood the image of the Virgin Mary, the patron saint of this church, to which William Hawte, esq. by will anno 1462, among the rest of his relics, gave a piece of the stone on which the archangel Gabriel descended, when he saluted her, for this image to rest its feet upon. On the pavement near this, seemingly over a vault, is a stone with an inscription in brass, for William, eldest son of Sir William Hawt. A memorial for Farnham Aldersey, gent. of this parish, only son of Farnham Aldersey, gent. of Maidstone, obt. 1733. Memorials for several of the Dennes, of this parish. In a window of the south isle, are the arms of Haut, impaling Argent, a lion rampant-guardant, azure. The south chancel is inclosed and made into a handsome pew for the family of Bourne-place, under which is a vault appropriated to them. The window of it eastward is a very handsome one, mostly of modern painted glass; the middle parts filled up with scripture history, and the surrounding compartments with the arms and different marriages impaled of the family of Beckingham. On each side of this window are two ranges of small octagon tablets of black marble, intended for the family of Aucher, and their marriages, but they were not continued. In the church-yard, on the south side, is a vault for the family of Foote, of Charlton, and a tomb for Mrs. Elizabeth Corbett, obt. 1764; arms, Corbett, which were Or, two ravens, sable, within a bordure, gules, bezantee. At the north-east corner of the church-porch are several tombs for the Dennes.

 

The church of Bishopsborne, with the chapel of Barham annexed, was antiently appendant to the manor, and continued so till the exchange made between the archbishop and Thomas Colepeper, in the 35th year of king Henry VIII. out of which the advowson of this rectory was excepted. Since which it has continued parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury to the present time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.

 

This rectory, (including the chapel of Barham annexed to it) is valued in the king's books at 39l. 19s. 2d. and the yearly tenths at 3l. 19s. 11d. In 1588 here were communicants one hundred. In 1640 one hundred and forty-eight, and it was valued, with Barham, at two hundred and fifty pounds per annum.

 

Church of Bishopsborne with the Chapel of Barhan annexed.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol9/pp328-337

 

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Richard Hooker (March 1554 – 3 November 1600) was an English priest in the Church of England and an influential theologian.[2] He was one of the most important English theologians of the sixteenth century.[3] His defence of the role of redeemed reason informed the theology of the seventeenth century Caroline Divines and later provided many members of the Church of England with a theological method which combined the claims of revelation, reason and tradition.[3] Scholars disagree regarding Hooker's relationship with what would later be called "Anglicanism" and the Reformed theological tradition. Traditionally, he has been regarded as the originator of the Anglican via media between Protestantism and Catholicism.[4]:1 However, a growing number of scholars have argued that he should be considered as being in the mainstream Reformed theology of his time and that he only sought to oppose the extremists (Puritans), rather than moving the Church of England away from Protestantism.

 

This sermon from 1585 was one of those that triggered Travers attack and appeal to the Privy Council. Travers accused Hooker of preaching doctrine favourable to the Church of Rome when in fact he had just described their differences emphasising that Rome attributed to works "a power of satisfying God for sin;..." For Hooker, works were a necessary expression of thanksgiving for unmerited justification by a merciful God.[11] Hooker defended his belief in the doctrine of Justification by faith, but argued that even those who did not understand or accept this could be saved by God.

 

Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie is Hooker's best-known work, with the first four books being published in 1594. The fifth was published in 1597, while the final three were published posthumously,[2] and indeed may not all be his own work. Structurally, the work is a carefully worked out reply to the general principles of Puritanism as found in The Admonition and Thomas Cartwright's follow-up writings, more specifically:

 

Scripture alone is the rule that should govern all human conduct;

Scripture prescribes an unalterable form of Church government;

The English Church is corrupted by Roman Catholic orders, rites, etc.;

The law is corrupt in not allowing lay elders;

'There ought not to be in the Church Bishops'.[12]

Of the Lawes has been characterised as "probably the first great work of philosophy and theology to be written in English."[13] The book is far more than a negative rebuttal of the puritan claims: it is (here McAdoo quotes John S. Marshall) 'a continuous and coherent whole presenting a philosophy and theology congenial to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer and the traditional aspects of the Elizabethan Settlement."[14]

 

Quoting C. S. Lewis,[15] Stephen Neill underlines its positive side in the following terms: Hitherto, in England, "controversy had involved only tactics; Hooker added strategy. Long before the close fighting in Book III begins, the puritan position has been rendered desperate by the great flanking movements in Books I and II. . . . Thus the refutation of the enemy comes in the end to seem a very small thing, a by-product."[16]

 

It is a massive work that deals mainly with the proper governance of the churches ("polity"). The Puritans advocated the demotion of clergy and ecclesiasticism. Hooker attempted to work out which methods of organising churches are best.[2] What was at stake behind the theology was the position of the Queen Elizabeth I as the Supreme Governor of the Church. If doctrine were not to be settled by authorities, and if Martin Luther's argument for the priesthood of all believers were to be followed to its extreme with government by the Elect, then having the monarch as the governor of the church was intolerable. On the other side, if the monarch were appointed by God to be the governor of the church, then local parishes going their own ways on doctrine were similarly intolerable.

 

In political philosophy, Hooker is best remembered for his account of law and the origins of government in Book One of the Politie. Drawing heavily on the legal thought of Thomas Aquinas, Hooker distinguishes seven forms of law: eternal law ("that which God hath eternally purposed himself in all his works to observe"), celestial law (God's law for the angels), nature's law (that part of God's eternal law that governs natural objects), the law of reason (dictates of Right Reason that normatively govern human conduct), human positive law (rules made by human lawmakers for the ordering of a civil society), divine law (rules laid down by God that can only be known by special revelation), and ecclesiastical law (rules for the governance of a church). Like Aristotle, whom he frequently quotes, Hooker believes that humans are naturally inclined to live in society. Governments, he claims, are based on both this natural social instinct and on the express or implied consent of the governed.

 

The Laws is remembered not only for its stature as a monumental work of Anglican thought, but also for its influence in the development of theology, political theory, and English prose.

 

Hooker worked largely from Thomas Aquinas, but he adapted scholastic thought in a latitudinarian manner. He argued that church organisation, like political organisation, is one of the "things indifferent" to God. He wrote that minor doctrinal issues were not issues that damned or saved the soul, but rather frameworks surrounding the moral and religious life of the believer. He contended there were good monarchies and bad ones, good democracies and bad ones, and good church hierarchies and bad ones: what mattered was the piety of the people. At the same time, Hooker argued that authority was commanded by the Bible and by the traditions of the early church, but authority was something that had to be based on piety and reason rather than automatic investiture. This was because authority had to be obeyed even if it were wrong and needed to be remedied by right reason and the Holy Spirit. Notably, Hooker affirmed that the power and propriety of bishops need not be in every case absolute.

 

King James I is quoted by Izaak Walton, Hooker's biographer, as saying, "I observe there is in Mr. Hooker no affected language; but a grave, comprehensive, clear manifestation of reason, and that backed with the authority of the Scriptures, the fathers and schoolmen, and with all law both sacred and civil."[17] Hooker's emphasis on Scripture, reason, and tradition considerably influenced the development of Anglicanism, as well as many political philosophers, including John Locke.[2] Locke quotes Hooker numerous times in the Second Treatise of Civil Government and was greatly influenced by Hooker's natural-law ethics and his staunch defence of human reason. As Frederick Copleston notes, Hooker's moderation and civil style of argument were remarkable in the religious atmosphere of his time.[18] In the Church of England he is celebrated with a Lesser Festival on 3 November and the same day is also observed in the Calendars of other parts of the Anglican Communion.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hooker

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk by Jelltex

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk.

 

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beasts, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

All Saints is a large, remarkably good church in one of the sleepy, fat villages along the Cambridgeshire border, the sort of place you cycle through and imagine wistfully that you've won the lottery and could move there. The wide churchyard on both sides is a perfect setting for the church, which rises to heaven out of a perpendicular splendour of aisles, clerestories and battlements. The tower was complete by the 1470s when money was being left for a bell. The earlier chancel steadies the ship, anchoring it to earth quietly, although the tall east window has its spectacular moment too. And you step into a deliciously well-kept interior, full of interest.

One of the most significant medieval survivals here is not easily noticed. This is the range of 15th Century glass, which was reset by the Victorians high in the clerestory. This seems a curious thing to have done, since it defeats the purpose of a clerestory, but if they had not done so then we might have lost it. The glass matches the tracery in the north aisle windows, so that is probably where they came from. There are angels, three Saints and some shields, most of which are heraldic but two show the instruments of the passion and the Holy Trinity. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the shields are 19th century, but the figures are all original late 15th or early 16th century. The Saints are an unidentified Bishop, the hacksaw-wielding St Faith and one of my favourites, St Apollonia. She it was who was invoked by medieval people against toothache.

 

Waling from the nave up into the chancel, the space created by the clearing of clutter makes it at once mysterious and beautiful. Above, the early 16th century waggon roof is Suffolk's best of its kind. Mortlock points out the little angels bearing scrolls, the wheat ears and the vine sprays, and the surviving traces of colour. The low side window on the south side still has its hinges, for here it was that updraught to the rood would have sent the candles flickering in the mystical church of the 14th century. On the south side of the sanctuary is an exquisitely carved arched recess, that doesn't appear to have ever had a door, and may have been a very rare purpose-built Easter sepulchre at the time of the 1330s rebuilding. Opposite is a huge and stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast. It is one of the most significant Decorated moments in Suffolk.

 

On the floor of the chancel there is a tiny, perfect chalice brass, one of only two surviving in Suffolk. The other is at Rendham. Not far away is the indent of another chalice brass - or perhaps it was for the same one, and the brass has been moved for some reason. There are two chalice indents at Westhall, but nowhere else in Suffolk. Chalice brasses were popular memorials for Priests in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and thus were fair game for reformers. Heigham memorials of the late 16th century are on the walls. Back in the south aisle there is a splendid tombchest in Purbeck marble. It has lost its brasses, but the indents show us where they were, as do other indents in the aisle floors. Some heraldic brass shields survive, and show that Heighams were buried here. Brass inscriptions survive in the nave and the chancel, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

 

The 14th century font is a good example of the tracery pattern series that appeared in the decades before the Black Death. They may have been intended to spread ideas at that time of great artistic and intellectual flowering before it was so cruelly snatched away. The cover is 17th Century. At this end of the nave are two good ranges of medieval benches, one, rare in East Anglia, is a group of 14th Century benches with pierced tracery backs. Some of them appear to spell out words, and Mortlock thought one might say Salaman Sayet. The block of benches to the north appears to be 15th Century or possibly early 16th Century. Further north, the early 17th Century benches are simpler, even cruder, and were likely the work of the village carpenter.

 

All rather lovely then. And yet, it hasn't always been that way. All Saints at Gazeley, near Newmarket, was the first church that I visited after an international team of scientists conclusively proved that God did not exist began the first page for this church that I wrote in 2003, in a satirical mood after finding the church locked and at a very low ebb. At a time when congregations were generally falling, I'd been thinking about the future of medieval churches beyond a time when they would have people to use them in the traditional way. I wondered if the buildings might find new uses, or could adapt themselves to changing patterns and emphases in Christianity, or even changing spiritual needs of their parishes. Even if science could somehow prove that God did not exist, I suggested, there were parishes which would rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves, as churches have always done over the two millennia of Christianity. Coming to Gazeley I felt that here was a church which felt as if it had been abandoned. And yet, it seemed to me a church of such significance, such historical and spiritual importance, that its loss would be a disaster. If it had been clean, tidy and open at the time he was visiting, Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Churches would not have been able to resist it. Should the survival of such a treasure store depend upon the existence of God or the continued practice of the Christian faith? Or might there be other reasons to keep this extraordinary building in something like its present integrity?

 

In the first decade of the 21st Century, Gazeley church went on a tremendous journey, from being moribund to being the wonderful church you can visit today. If you want to read the slightly adapted 2006 entry for Gazeley, recounting this journey, you can do so here. Coming back here today always fills me with optimism for what can be achieved. On one occasion I mentioned my experiences of Gazeley church to a Catholic Priest friend of mine, and he said he hoped I knew I'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And perhaps that is so. Certainly, the energy and imagination of the people here have been fired by something. On that occasion I had wanted to find someone to ask about it, to find out how things stood now. But there was no one, and so the building spoke for them.

 

Back outside in the graveyard, the dog daisies clustered and waved their sun-kissed faces in the light breeze. The ancient building must have known many late-May days like this over the centuries, but think of all the changes that it has known inside! The general buffeting of the winds of history still leaves room for local squalls and lightning strikes. All Saints has known these, but for now a blessed calm reigns here. Long may it remain so.

 

Simon Knott, June 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/gazeley.htm
dickmorgansavedbyjesus by Dick Morgan

SIN

You're not here by accident. God loves you, wants you to have a personal relationship with Him and He has a purpose for your life. There is just one thing that separates you from God. That one thing is sin. You may not feel like that statement really applies to you, but consider what the Bible says: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

CHRIST DIED FOR US

That includes you and every one of us! But there is great news for each us, and that includes you. God loves you, wants you to have a personal relationship with Him and He has a purpose for your life. So much so, that Jesus actually took the punishment for our sin as if He Himself were the one who deserved it!! Consider what the Bible says: "God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:8

GOD LOVES YOU!

It might be hard for you to understand but God really DOES love you! More than you can ever imagine! And there's nothing you can do to make him stop! Are you thinking that you should make things right in your life before you come to Jesus? Many people feel that

way, but consider what the Bible says: "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy." Titus 3:5

THE GRACE OF GOD

It is the grace of God that allows us to come to Him - not our efforts to somehow "clean up our life" or "work our way to Heaven." We can't earn it because it is a free gift. Consider

what the Bible says: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians

2:8-9

GOD's GIFT

Think about this for a moment. For you to come to God, your sin must be paid for. God's gift to you is His son, Jesus, who paid that debt for you! Jesus paid the price for our sin (death) by giving His life on Calvary's cross. God brought Jesus back from the dead and

paved the way for us to have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus. Consider what the Bible says: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23

JESUS IS LORD!

All that's left for any of us to do is to accept the gift that Jesus is holding out for you right now. God says that if you believe in His son, Jesus, you can live forever with Him in glory. Consider what the Bible says: "If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and

believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Romans 10:9-10

"For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16

ARE YOU READY?

Are you ready to accept the gift of eternal life that Jesus is offering you right now? If it is your sincere desire to ask Jesus to come into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior, then talk to God from your heart through the Sinner's Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God and that You died for my sin. Please come into my life, to be my

Lord and Savior. I ask you to forgive me for my sin and cleanse me from all that it has done in my life. Fill my life

with your Holy Spirit and help me to live a life that is pleasing to you. Thank-you, Jesus, for saving me!

 

The Bible says: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him and he with me" Revelation 3:20

BE SAVED & BRING JESUS INTO

YOUR LIFE

If you have trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, please let me know. I want to rejoice in what God has done in your life and pray for you. I will help you to grow spiritually and will help you in your journey with the Lord, in any way that I possibly can.

 

God Bless You!

 

dickmorgan@witness4jesus.com

www.witness4jesus.com

 
Barnes - Parish Church Prior to 1928. And the Amazing Randi. by pepandtim

The Postcard

 

A postcard bearing no publisher's name that was posted in Barnes, London SW using a 1d. stamp on Tuesday the 7th. August 1928. It was sent to:

 

Miss E. Barker,

'Stoneygate',

16, Warneford Road,

Oxford.

 

The pencilled message on the divided back of the card was as follows:

 

"36, Cleveland Road,

Barnes,

London SW.

Dear Emmie,

My friend and I are

spending the holiday

with Auntie & having

a lovely time seeing

all the sights that you

know.

Love to all,

Your loving Cousin

Lily."

 

Italy's Emigration Laws

 

So what else happened on the day that Lily posted the card?

 

Well, on the 7th. August 1928, Italy tightened its emigration laws, making it harder for Italians to reunite with relatives living abroad.

 

Wives and sons could still join emigrated husbands and fathers, but only if they were dependent on them. Sisters had to be unmarried in order to join their brothers.

 

James Randi

 

Also on that day, James Randi was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

 

James Randi (born Randall James Hamilton Zwinge) was a Canadian-American stage magician, author and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims.

 

He was the co-founder of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF).

 

Randi began his career as a magician under the stage name The Amazing Randi, and later chose to devote most of his time to investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims, which he collectively called "woo-woo".

 

Randi retired from practising magic at the age of 60, and from his foundation at the age of 87.

 

Although often referred to as a "debunker", Randi said he disliked the term's connotations, and preferred to describe himself as an "investigator".

 

He wrote about paranormal phenomena, skepticism, and the history of magic. He was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, famously exposing fraudulent faith healer Peter Popoff, and was occasionally featured on the television program Penn & Teller: Bullshit!

 

Before Randi's retirement, JREF sponsored the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, which offered a prize of one million US dollars to eligible applicants who could demonstrate evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event under test conditions agreed to by both parties.

 

In 2015, the James Randi Educational Foundation said they will no longer accept applications directly from people claiming to have a paranormal power, but will offer the challenge to anyone who has passed a preliminary test that meets with their approval.

 

James Randi - The Early Years

 

Randi was the son of Marie Alice (née Paradis; 1906-1987) and George Randall Zwinge (1903-1967), an executive at Bell Telephone Company. James was of French, Danish and Austrian descent. He had a younger brother and sister.

 

James took up magic after reading conjuring books while spending 13 months in a body cast following a bicycle accident. He confounded doctors, who predicted that he would never walk again.

 

Randi scored 168 on an IQ test. However he often skipped classes, and at 17, dropped out of high school to perform as a conjurer in a carnival roadshow. He practised as a mentalist in local nightclubs and at Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition, as well as writing for Montreal's tabloid press.

 

As a teenager, James stumbled upon a church where the pastor claimed to read minds. After he re-enacted the trick before the parishioners, the pastor's wife called the police and he spent four hours in a jail cell. This event inspired his career as a scientific skeptic.

 

In his 20's, Randi posed as an astrologer, and to establish that astrologers were merely doing simple tricks, he briefly wrote an astrological column in the Canadian tabloid Midnight under the name "Zo-ran." James simply shuffled up items from newspaper astrology columns and pasted them randomly into his column.

 

In his 30's, Randi worked in the UK, Europe, Philippines and Japan. He witnessed many tricks that were presented as being supernatural. One of his earliest reported experiences was that of seeing an evangelist using a version of the "one-ahead" technique to convince churchgoers of his divine powers.

 

James Randi's Career

 

Although defining himself as a conjuror, Randi began a career as a professional stage magician and escapologist in 1946. He initially presented himself under his real name, Randall Zwinge, which he later dropped in favor of "The Amazing Randi".

 

Early in his career, he performed numerous escape acts from jail cells and safes around the world. On the 7th. February 1956, he appeared live on NBC's Today show, where he remained for 104 minutes in a sealed metal coffin that had been submerged in a hotel swimming pool, breaking what was said to be Harry Houdini's record of 93 minutes, though Randi called attention to the fact that he was much younger than Houdini had been when he established the original record in 1926.

 

James Randi was a frequent guest on the Long John Nebel program on New York City radio station WOR, and did character voices for commercials.  After Nebel left WOR in 1962, Randi was given his time slot, where he hosted The Amazing Randi Show from 1967 to 1968.

 

James's show often had guests who defended paranormal claims, among them Randi's then-friend James W. Moseley. Randi stated that he quit WOR over complaints from the archbishop of New York that Randi had said on-air that "Jesus Christ was a religious nut," a claim that Randi disputed.

 

Randi also hosted numerous television specials, and went on several world tours. As "The Amazing Randi" he appeared regularly on the New York-based children's television series Wonderama from 1959 to 1967.

 

In 1970, he auditioned for a revival of the 1950s children's show The Magic Clown, which showed briefly in Detroit and in Kenya, but was never picked up.

 

In the 2nd. February 1974 issue of the British conjuring magazine Abracadabra, Randi, in defining the community of magicians, stated:

 

"I know of no calling which depends

so much upon mutual trust and faith

as does ours."

 

The December 2003 issue of The Linking Ring, the monthly publication of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, stated:

 

"Perhaps Randi's ethics are what make

him Amazing. The Amazing Randi not

only talks the talk, he walks the walk."

 

During Alice Cooper's 1973–1974 Billion Dollar Babies tour, Randi performed on stage both as a mad dentist and as Cooper's executioner. He also built several of the stage props, including the guillotine.

 

In a 1976 performance for the Canadian TV Special World of Wizards, Randi escaped from a straitjacket while suspended upside-down over Niagara Falls.

 

Randi has been accused of actually using "psychic powers" to perform acts such as spoon bending. At a meeting where Randi was duplicating the performances of Uri Geller, a professor from the University at Buffalo shouted out that Randi was a fraud. Randi replied:

 

"Yes, indeed, I'm a trickster, I'm a

cheat, I'm a charlatan, that's what

I do for a living. Everything I've

done here was by trickery."

 

The professor shouted back:

 

"That's not what I mean. You're a

fraud because you're pretending

to do these things through trickery,

but you're actually using psychic

powers and misleading us by not

admitting it."

 

A similar event involved Senator Claiborne Pell, a confirmed believer in psychic phenomena. When Randi personally demonstrated to Pell that he could reveal—by simple trickery—a concealed drawing that had been secretly made by the senator, Pell refused to believe that it was a trick, saying:

 

"I think Randi may be a psychic

and doesn't realize it."

 

Randi consistently denied having any paranormal powers or abilities.

 

James Randi the Author

 

Randi wrote 10 books, among them Conjuring (1992), a biographical history of prominent magicians. The book is subtitled Being a Definitive History of the Venerable Arts of Sorcery, Prestidigitation, Wizardry, Deception, & Chicanery and of the Mountebanks & Scoundrels Who have Perpetrated these Subterfuges on a Bewildered Public, in short, MAGIC!

 

The book's cover indicates it is by:

 

"James Randi, Esq., A Contrite Rascal

Once Dedicated to these Wicked

Practices but Now Almost Totally

Reformed".

 

The book features the most influential magicians and tells some of their history, often in the context of strange deaths and careers on the road. This work expanded on Randi's book, Houdini, His Life and Art. This illustrated work was published in 1976 and was co-authored with Bert Sugar.

 

Randi's book, The Magic World of the Amazing Randi (1989), was intended as a children's introduction to magic tricks.

 

In addition to his magic books, he wrote several educational works about paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. These include biographies of Uri Geller and Nostradamus, as well as reference material on other major paranormal figures.

 

In 2011, he was working on A Magician in the Laboratory, which recounted his application of skepticism to science.

 

James was a member of the all-male literary banqueting club the Trap Door Spiders, which served as the basis of his friend Isaac Asimov's fictional group of mystery solvers, the Black Widowers.

 

Other books by Randi include Flim-Flam! (1982), The Faith Healers (1987), James Randi, Psychic Investigator (1991), Test Your ESP Potential (1982) and An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural (1995).

 

James Randi the Skeptic

 

Randi was a regular contributor to Skeptic magazine, writing the "'Twas Brillig ..." column, and he also served on its editorial board. He was a frequent contributor to Skeptical Inquirer magazine, published by Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, of which he was also a fellow.

 

Randi gained the international spotlight in 1972 when he publicly challenged the claims of Uri Geller. He accused Geller of being nothing more than a charlatan and a fraud who used standard magic tricks to accomplish his allegedly paranormal feats, and he presented his claims in the book The Truth About Uri Geller (1982).

 

Believing that it was important to get columnists and TV personalities to challenge Geller and others like him, Randi reached out in an attempt to educate them. During this effort, Randi made contact with Johnny Carson, and discovered that:

 

"He was very much on our side.

He wasn't only a comedian ...

he was a great thinker." 

 

According to Randi, when he was on The Tonight Show, Carson broke his usual protocol of not talking with guests before their entrance on stage, but instead would ask what Randi wanted to be emphasized in the interview:

 

"He wanted to be aware

of how he could help me."

 

In 1973, Geller appeared on The Tonight Show, and this appearance is recounted in the Nova documentary "Secrets of the Psychics":

 

"In the documentary, Randi says that Carson "had

been a magician himself and was skeptical" of

Geller's claimed paranormal powers, so before the

date of recording, Randi was asked "to help prevent

any trickery".

Per Randi's advice, the show prepared its own props

without informing Geller, and did not let Geller or his

staff "anywhere near them".

When Geller joined Carson on stage, he appeared

surprised that he was not going to be interviewed,

but instead was expected to display his abilities

using the provided articles.

Geller said "This scares me. I'm surprised because

before this program your producer came and he

read me at least 40 questions you were going to

ask me."

Geller was unable to display any paranormal abilities,

saying "I don't feel strong" and expressing his

displeasure at feeling like he was being "pressed" to

perform by Carson."

 

According to Adam Higginbotham's 7th. November 2014 article in The New York Times:

 

"The result was a legendary immolation, in which

Geller offered up flustered excuses to his host as

his abilities failed him again and again. Geller told

me when I spoke to him in September:

"I sat there for 22 minutes, humiliated. I went back

to my hotel, devastated. I was about to pack up the

next day and go back to Tel Aviv.

I thought, That's it—I'm destroyed."

 

However, this appearance on The Tonight Show, which Carson and Randi had orchestrated to debunk Geller's claimed abilities, backfired. According to Higginbotham:

 

"To Geller's astonishment, he was immediately

booked on The Merv Griffin Show. He was on

his way to becoming a paranormal superstar.

"That Johnny Carson show made Uri Geller,"

Geller said.

To an enthusiastically trusting public, his failure

only made his gifts seem more real: if he were

performing magic tricks, they would surely work

every time."

 

According to Higginbotham, this result caused Randi to realize that much more must be done to stop Geller and those like him. So in 1976, Randi approached Ray Hyman, a psychologist who had observed the tests of Geller's ability at Stanford and thought them slipshod, and suggested they create an organization dedicated to combating pseudoscience.

 

Later that same year, together with Martin Gardner, a Scientific American columnist whose writing had helped hone Hyman's and Randi's skepticism, they formed the Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP).

 

Using donations and sales of their magazine, Skeptical Inquirer, they and secular humanist philosopher Paul Kurtz took seats on the executive board, with Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan joining as founding members. Randi travelled the world on behalf of CSICOP, becoming its public face, and according to Hyman, the face of the skeptical movement.

 

Geller sued Randi and CSICOP for $15 million in 1991 and lost. Geller's suit against CSICOP was thrown out in 1995, and he was ordered to pay $120,000 for filing a frivolous lawsuit. The legal costs Randi incurred used almost all of a $272,000 MacArthur Foundation grant awarded to Randi in 1986 for his work.

 

Randi also dismissed Geller's claims that he was capable of the kind of psychic photography associated with the case of Ted Serios. It is a matter, Randi argued, of trick photography using a simple hand-held optical device.

 

During the period of Geller's legal dispute, CSICOP's leadership, wanting to avoid becoming a target of Geller's litigation, demanded that Randi refrain from commenting on Geller.

 

Randi refused and resigned, though he maintained a respectful relationship with the group, which in 2006 changed its name to the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI). In 2010, Randi was one of 16 new CSI fellows elected by its board.

 

Randi went on to write many articles criticizing beliefs and claims regarding the paranormal. He also demonstrated flaws in studies suggesting the existence of paranormal phenomena; in his Project Alpha hoax, Randi successfully planted two fake psychics in a privately funded psychic research experiment.

 

Randi appeared on numerous TV shows, sometimes to directly debunk the claimed abilities of fellow guests. In a 1981 appearance on That's My Line, Randi appeared opposite claimed psychic James Hydrick, who said that he could move objects with his mind, and appeared to demonstrate this claim on live television by turning a page in a telephone book without touching it.

 

Randi, having determined that Hydrick was surreptitiously blowing on the book, arranged foam packaging peanuts on the table in front of the telephone book for the demonstration. This prevented Hydrick from demonstrating his abilities, which would have been exposed when the blowing moved the packaging. Randi writes that, eventually, Hydrick "confessed everything".

 

Randi first exposed Peter Popoff on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in February 1986. Carson invited Randi onto his show without seeing the evidence he was going to reveal.

 

Carson appeared stunned after Randi showed a brief video segment from one of Popoff's broadcasts showing him calling out a woman in the audience; he then revealed personal information about her that he claimed came from God, and then performed a laying-on-of-hands healing to drive the devil from her body.

 

Randi then replayed the video, but with some of the sound dubbed in that he and his investigating team captured during the event using a radio scanner and recorder. Their scanner had detected the radio frequency Popoff's wife Elizabeth was using backstage to broadcast directions and information to a miniature radio receiver hidden in Popoff's left ear.

 

That information had been gathered by Popoff's assistants, who had handed out "prayer cards" to the audience before the show, instructing them to write down all the information Popoff would need to pray for them.

 

The news coverage generated by Randi's exposé on The Tonight Show led to many TV stations dropping Popoff's show, eventually forcing him into bankruptcy in September 1987. However, the televangelist returned soon after with faith-healing infomercials that reportedly attracted more than $23 million in 2005 from viewers sending in money for promised healing and prosperity.

 

In February 1988, Randi tested the gullibility of the media by perpetrating a hoax of his own. By teaming up with Australia's 60 Minutes program and by releasing a fake press package, he built up publicity for a "Spirit Channeler" named Carlos, who was actually artist José Alvarez, Randi's partner.

 

While performing as Carlos, Alvarez was prompted by Randi using sophisticated radio equipment. According to the 60 Minutes program on the Carlos hoax:

 

"It was claimed that Alvarez would not have had

the audience he did at the Opera House (and the

resulting potential sales therefrom) had the media

coverage been more aggressive (and factual)".

 

Though an analysis by The Skeptic's Tim Mendham concluded that, while the media coverage of Alvarez's appearances was not credulous, the hoax at least showed that they could benefit by being a touch more sceptical.

 

The hoax was exposed on 60 Minutes Australia; "Carlos" and Randi explained how they had pulled it off.

 

In his book The Faith Healers, Randi wrote that his anger and relentlessness arose from compassion for the victims of fraud. Randi was also critical of João de Deus, a.k.a. "John of God", a self-proclaimed psychic surgeon who had received international attention. Randi observed, referring to psychic surgery:

 

"To any experienced conjurer, the

methods by which these seeming

miracles are produced are very

obvious."

 

In 1982, Randi verified the abilities of Arthur Lintgen, a Philadelphia doctor, who was able to identify the classical music recorded on a vinyl LP solely by examining the grooves on the record.

 

However, Lintgen did not claim to have any paranormal ability, merely knowledge of the way that the groove forms patterns on particular recordings.

 

In 1988, John Maddox, editor of the prominent science journal Nature, asked Randi to join the supervision and observation of the homeopathy experiments conducted by Jacques Benveniste's team. Once Randi's stricter protocol for the experiment was in place, the positive results could not be reproduced.

 

Randi stated that Daniel Dunglas Home, who could allegedly play an accordion that was locked in a cage without touching it, was caught cheating on a few occasions, but the incidents were never made public.

 

He also stated that the actual instrument in use was a one-octave mouth organ concealed under Home's large mustache and that other one-octave mouth organs were found in Home's belongings after his death.

 

The fraudulent medium Henry Slade also played an accordion while held with one hand under a table. Slade and Home played the same pieces, and they had at one time lived near each other in the U.S. The magician Chung Ling Soo exposed how Slade had performed the trick.

 

Randi distinguished between pseudoscience and "crackpot science". He regarded most of parapsychology as pseudoscience because of the way in which it is approached and conducted, but nonetheless saw it as a legitimate subject that "should be pursued", and from which real scientific discoveries may develop. Randi regarded crackpot science as "equally wrong" as pseudoscience, but with no scientific pretensions.

 

Despite multiple debunkings, Randi did not like to be called a "debunker", preferring to call himself a "skeptic" or an "investigator":

 

"If you into a situation calling yourself a

debunker, then it is as if you have prejudged

the topic. It's not neutral or scientific, and it

can turn people against you."

 

Skeptics and magicians Penn & Teller credit Randi and his career as a skeptic for their own careers. During an interview, Penn stated that Flim-Flam! was an early influence on him, and said:

 

"If not for Randi there would not be

Penn & Teller as we are today.

Outside of my family, no one is more

important in my life. Randi is everything

to me."

 

At The Amaz!ng Meeting in 2011, the Independent Investigations Group (IIG) organized a tribute to Randi. The group gathered, put on fake white beards, and posed for a large group photo with Randi. At the CSICon in 2017, in the absence of Randi, the IIG organized another group photo with leftover beards from the 2011 photo. After Randi was sent the photo, he replied:

 

"I'm always very touched by any such expression.

This is certainly no exception. You have my sincere

gratitude. I suspect, however that a couple of those

beards were fake. But I'm in a forgiving mood at the

moment. I'm frankly very touched. I'll see you at the

next CSICon. Thank you all."

 

In a 2019 Skeptical Inquirer magazine article, Harriet Hall, a friend of Randi, compares him to the fictional Albus Dumbledore. Hall describes their long white beards, flamboyant clothing, associated with a bird (Dumbledore with a phoenix and Randi with Pegasus). They both are caring and have "immense brainpower" and both "can perform impressive feats of magic". She states that Randi is one of "major inspirations for the skeptical work I do ... He's way better than Dumbledore!"

 

Exploring Psychic Powers ... Live was a two-hour television special aired live on the 7th. June 1989, wherein Randi examined several people claiming psychic powers.

 

Hosted by actor Bill Bixby, the program offered $100,000 (Randi's $10,000 prize plus $90,000 put up by the show's syndicator, LBS Communications, Inc.) to anyone who could demonstrate genuine psychic powers.

 

An astrologer, Joseph Meriwether, claimed that he was able to ascertain a person's astrological sign after talking with them for a few minutes. He was presented with twelve people, one at a time, each with a different astrological sign. They could not tell Meriwether their astrological sign or birth date, nor could they wear anything that would indicate it.

 

After Meriwether talked to them, he had them go and sit in front of the astrological sign that he thought was theirs. By agreement, Meriwether needed to get ten of the 12 correct, to win. He got none correct.

 

The next psychic, Barbara Martin, claimed to be able to read auras around people, claiming that auras were visible at least five inches above each person. She selected ten people from a group of volunteers whom she said had clearly visible auras.

 

On stage were erected ten screens, numbered 1 through 10, just tall enough to hide the volunteer while not hiding their aura. Unseen by Martin, some of the volunteers positioned themselves behind different screens, then she was invited to predict which screens hid volunteers by seeing their aura above. She stated that she saw an aura over all ten screens, but people were behind only four of the screens.

 

A dowser, Forrest Bayes, claimed that he could detect water in a bottle inside a sealed cardboard box. He was shown twenty boxes and asked to indicate which boxes contained a water bottle.

 

He selected eight of the boxes, which he said contained water, but it turned out that only five of the twenty contained water. Of the eight selected boxes, only one was revealed to contain water, and one contained sand.

 

A psychometric psychic, Sharon McLaren-Straz, claimed to be able to receive personal information about the owner of an object by handling the object itself. In order to avoid ambiguous statements, the psychic agreed to be presented with both a watch and a key from each of twelve different people. She was to match keys and watches to their owners.

 

According to prior agreement, she had to match at least nine out of the twelve sets, but she succeeded in only two.

 

Professional crystal healer Valerie Swan attempted to use ESP to identify 250 Zener cards, guessing which of the five symbols was on each one. Random guessing should have resulted in about fifty correct guesses, so it was agreed in advance that Swan had to be right on at least eighty-two cards in order to demonstrate an ability greater than chance. However, she was able to get only fifty predictions correct, which is no better than random guessing.

 

The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF)

 

In 1996, Randi established the James Randi Educational Foundation. Randi and his colleagues publish in JREF's blog, Swift. Topics have included the interesting mathematics of the one-seventh area triangle, a classic geometric puzzle. In his weekly commentary, Randi often gave examples of what he considered the 'nonsense' that he dealt with every day.

 

Beginning in 2003, the JREF annually hosted The Amaz!ng Meeting, a gathering of scientists, skeptics, and atheists. The last meeting was in 2015, coinciding with Randi's retirement from the JREF.

 

James Randi - The Later Years

 

Randi began a series of conferences known as "The Amazing Meeting" (TAM) which quickly became the largest gathering of skeptics in the world, drawing audiences from Asia, Europe, South America, and the UK. It also attracted a large percentage of younger attendees.

 

Randi was regularly featured on many podcasts, including The Skeptics Society's official podcast Skepticality and the Center for Inquiry's official podcast Point of Inquiry.

 

From September 2006 onwards, James contributed to The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast with a column called "Randi Speaks". In addition, The Amazing Show was a podcast in which Randi shared various anecdotes in an interview format.

 

In 2014, Part2Filmworks released An Honest Liar, a feature film documentary. The film focuses on Randi's life, his investigations, and his relationship with longtime partner José Alvarez to whom he was married in 2013. The film was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival, at Toronto's Hot Docs film festival, and at the June 2014 AFI Docs Festival in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., where it won the Audience Award for Best Feature. It also received positive reviews from critics.

 

In December 2014, Randi flew to Australia to take part in “An Evening with James Randi” tour, organized by Think Inc. This tour included a screening of An Honest Liar followed by a "fireside chat" with Randi on stage.

 

In 2017, Randi appeared in animated form on the website Holy Koolaid, in which he discussed the challenge of finding the balance between connecting sincerely with his audience and at the same time tricking/fooling them with an artful ruse, and indicated that this is a balance with which many magicians struggle.

 

The One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge

 

The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) offered a prize of US$1,000,000 to anyone able to demonstrate a supernatural ability under scientific testing criteria agreed to by both sides.

 

Based on the paranormal challenges of John Nevil Maskelyne and Houdini, the foundation began in 1996, when Randi put up $1,000 of his own money payable to anyone who could provide objective proof of the paranormal.

 

The prize money grew to $1,000,000, and had formal published rules. No one progressed past the preliminary test, which was set up with parameters agreed to by both Randi and the applicant. He refused to accept any challengers who might suffer serious injury or death as a result of the testing.

 

On the 1st. April 2007, it was ruled that only persons with an established, nationally recognized media profile and the backing of a reputable academic were allowed to apply for the challenge, in order to avoid wasting JREF resources on frivolous claimants.

 

On Larry King Live, on the 6th. March 2001, Larry King asked claimed medium Sylvia Browne if she would take the challenge, and she agreed. Randi appeared with Browne on Larry King Live six months later, and she again appeared to accept his challenge.

 

However, according to Randi, she ultimately refused to be tested, and the Randi Foundation kept a clock on its website recording the number of weeks since Browne allegedly accepted the challenge without following through, until Browne's death in November 2013.

 

During a subsequent appearance on Larry King Live on the 5th. June 2001, Randi challenged Rosemary Altea, another claimed medium, to undergo testing for the million dollars, but Altea refused to address the question. Instead Altea replied:

 

"I agree with what he says, that there are many,

many people who claim to be spiritual mediums,

they claim to talk to the dead. There are many

people, we all know this. There are cheats and

charlatans everywhere."

 

On the 26th. January 2007, Altea and Randi again appeared on the show, and Altea again refused to answer whether or not she would take the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge.

 

In October 2007, claimed psychic John Edward appeared on Headline Prime, hosted by Glenn Beck. When asked if he would take "the Amazing Randi's" challenge, Edward responded:

 

"It's funny. I was on Larry King Live once, and they

asked me the same question. And I made a joke

then, and I'll say the same thing here: why would I

allow myself to be tested by somebody who's got

an adjective as a surname?"

 

Randi asked British businessman Jim McCormick, the inventor of the bogus ADE 651 bomb detector, to take the challenge in October 2008. Randi called the ADE 651:

 

"A useless quack device which cannot perform

any other function than separating naive persons

from their money. It's a fake, a scam, a swindle,

and a blatant fraud. Prove me wrong and take the

million dollars."

 

There was no response from McCormick. According to Iraqi investigators, the ADE 651, which was corruptly sold to the Baghdad bomb squad, was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of civilians who died as a result of terrorist bombs which were not detected at checkpoints.

 

On the 23rd. April 2013, McCormick was convicted of three counts of fraud at the Old Bailey in London; he was subsequently sentenced to ten years' imprisonment for his part in the ADE 651 scandal, which Randi was the first to expose.

 

Legal Disputes

 

Randi was involved in a variety of legal disputes, but said that:

 

"I have never paid even one dollar

or even one cent to anyone who

ever sued me."

 

However, he said, he had paid out large sums to defend himself in these suits.

 

Uri Geller

 

Randi met magician Uri Geller in the early 1970's, and found Geller to be:

 

"Very charming. Likable, beautiful,

affectionate, genuine, forward-going,

handsome—everything!"

 

However Randi viewed Geller as a con-man, and began a long effort to expose him as a fraud. According to Randi, Geller tried to sue him several times, accusing him of libel.

 

In May 1991, Geller sued Randi and CSICOP for $15 million on a charge of slander, after Randi told the International Herald Tribune that Geller had "tricked even reputable scientists" with stunts that "are the kind that used to be on the back of cereal boxes", referring to the old spoon-bending trick.

 

The court dismissed the case, and Geller had to settle at a cost to him of $120,000, after Randi produced a cereal box which bore instructions on how to do the spoon-bending trick.

 

Geller's lawyer Don Katz was disbarred mid-way into this action, and Geller ended up suing him. After failing to pay by the deadline imposed by the court, Geller was sanctioned an additional $20,000. Geller sued both Randi and CSICOP in the 1980's.

 

CSICOP argued that the organization was not responsible for Randi's statements. The court agreed that including CSICOP was frivolous, and dropped them from the action, leaving Randi to face the action alone, along with the legal costs. Geller was ordered to pay substantial damages, but only to CSICOP.

 

Geller never won against Randi, save for a ruling in a Japanese court that ordered Randi to pay Geller one-third of one per cent of what Geller had requested.

 

This ruling was cancelled, and the matter dropped, when Geller decided to concentrate on another legal matter.

 

Other Legal Cases

 

In 1993, a jury in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore found Randi liable for defaming Eldon Byrd for calling him a child molester in a magazine story, and a "shopping market molester" in a 1988 speech.

 

However, the jury found that Byrd was not entitled to any monetary damages after hearing testimony that he had sexually molested and later married his sister-in-law.

 

Late in 1996, Randi launched a libel suit against a Toronto-area psychic named Earl Gordon Curley. Curley had made multiple objectionable comments about Randi on Usenet.

 

Despite suggesting to Randi on Usenet that Randi should sue - Curley's comments implying that if Randi did not sue, then his allegations must be true - Curley seemed entirely surprised when Randi actually retained Toronto's largest law firm and initiated legal proceedings.

 

The suit was eventually dropped in 1998 when Earl Curley died at the age of 51 of "alcohol toxicity."

 

Allison DuBois, on whose life the television series Medium was based, threatened Randi with legal action for using a photo of her from her website in his 17th. December 2004 commentary without her permission.

 

Randi removed the photo, and subsequently used a caricature of DuBois when mentioning her on his site, beginning with his 23rd. December 2005 commentary.

 

Sniffex, producer of a dowsing bomb detection device, sued Randi and the JREF in 2007 and lost. Sniffex sued Randi for his comments regarding a government test in which the Sniffex device failed. The company was later investigated and charged with fraud.

 

Randi's Political Views

 

Randi was a registered Democrat. In April 2009, he released a statement endorsing the legalization of most illegal drugs.

 

Randi was a believer in Social Darwinist theories, although he denounced the ideologies and movements that formed around the theories in 2013.

 

In 2003, he was one of the signatories of the Humanist Manifesto.

 

Randi's Views on Religion

 

Randi's parents were members of the Anglican Church, but rarely attended services. He attended Sunday school at St. Cuthbert's Church in Toronto a few times as a child, but he independently decided to stop going after receiving no answer to his request for proof of the teachings of the Church.

 

Randi identified himself as an atheist. In his essay "Why I Deny Religion, How Silly and Fantastic It Is, and Why I'm a Dedicated and Vociferous Bright", Randi opined that many accounts in religious texts, including the virgin birth, the miracles of Jesus Christ, and the parting of the Red Sea by Moses, are not believable.

 

Randi refers to the Virgin Mary as:

 

"Impregnated by a ghost of some sort, and as a

result produced a son who could walk on water,

raise the dead, turn water into wine, and multiply

loaves of bread and fishes."

 

He also questions:

 

"How could Adam and Eve have two sons, one of

whom killed the other, and yet managed to populate

the Earth without committing incest".

 

He wrote that, compared to the Bible:

 

"The Wizard of Oz is more

believable. And much more fun."

 

Clarifying his view of atheism, Randi wrote:

 

"I've said it before: there are two sorts of atheists.

One sort claims that there is no deity, the other

claims that there is no evidence that proves the

existence of a deity.

I belong to the latter group, because if I were to

claim that no god exists, I would have to produce

evidence to establish that claim, and I cannot.

Religious persons have by far the easier position;

they say they believe in a deity because that's their

preference, and they've read it in a book.

That's their right."

 

In An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural (1995), Randi examines various spiritual practices skeptically. Of the meditation techniques of Guru Maharaj Ji, he writes:

 

"Only the very naive were convinced

that they had been let in on some sort

of celestial secret."

 

In a discussion with Kendrick Frazier at CSIC on 2016, Randi stated:

 

"I think that a belief in a deity is an unprovable

claim ... and a rather ridiculous claim.

It is an easy way out to explain things to which

we have no answer." 

 

He then summarized his current concern with religious belief as follows:

 

"A belief in a god is one of the most damaging

things that infests humanity at this particular

moment in history."

 

Randi's Personal Life

 

When Randi hosted his own radio show in the 1960's, he lived in a small house in Rumson, New Jersey, that featured a sign on the premises that read: "Randi - Charlatan".

 

In 1987, Randi became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He said that one reason he became an American citizen was an incident while he was on tour with Alice Cooper, during which the Royal Canadian Mounted Police searched the band's lockers during a performance, completely ransacking the room, but finding nothing illegal.

 

In February 2006, Randi underwent coronary artery bypass surgery. The weekly commentary updates to his Web site were made by guests while he was hospitalized. Randi recovered after his surgery and was able to help organize and attend The Amaz!ng Meeting (T.A.M.) in 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada, his annual convention of scientists, magicians, skeptics, atheists and freethinkers.

 

Randi was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in June 2009. He had a series of small tumors removed from his intestines during laparoscopic surgery. He announced the diagnosis a week later at The Amaz!ng Meeting 7, as well as the fact that he was scheduled to begin chemotherapy in the following weeks. He also said at the conference:

 

"One day, I'm gonna die. That's all there is to it.

Hey, it's too bad, but I've got to make room. I'm

using a lot of oxygen and such - I think it's good

use of oxygen myself, but of course, I'm a little

prejudiced on the matter."

 

Randi underwent his final chemotherapy session in December 2009, later saying that his chemotherapy experience was not as unpleasant as he had imagined it might be. In a video posted in April 2010, Randi stated that he had been given a clean bill of health.

 

In a 2010 blog entry, Randi came out as gay, a move he said was inspired by seeing the 2008 biographical drama film Milk.

 

Randi married Venezuelan artist José Alvarez on the 2nd. July 2013 in Washington. Randi, who had recently moved to Florida, met Alvarez in 1986, in a Fort Lauderdale public library. He had left his native country for fear of his life, as he was homosexual. Jose Alvarez was a pseudonym which duplicated the name of an actual person in the United States.

 

The identity confusion caused the real Alvarez some legal and financial difficulties. José was arrested for identity theft and faced deportation. They resided in Plantation, Florida.

 

In the 1993 documentary Secrets of the Psychics, Randi stated:

 

"I've never involved myself in narcotics of any kind;

I don't smoke; I don't drink, because that can easily

just fuzz the edges of my rationality, fuzz the edges

of my reasoning powers, and I want to be as aware

as I possibly can.

That means giving up a lot of fantasies that might be

comforting in some ways, but I'm willing to give that

up in order to live in an actually real world, as close

as I can get to it".

 

In a video released in October 2017, Randi revealed that he had recently suffered a minor stroke, and that he was under medical advice not to travel during his recovery, so would be unable to attend CSICon 2017 in Las Vegas later that month.

 

The Death of James Randi

 

Randi died at his home in Plantation, Florida on the 20th. October 2020, at the age of 92. The James Randi Educational Foundation attributed his death to "age-related causes".

 

The Center for Inquiry said that:

 

"Randi was the public face of skeptical inquiry,

bringing a sense of fun and mischievousness

to a serious mission."

 

Kendrick Frazier said, as part of the statement:

 

"Despite his ferocity in challenging all forms of

nonsense, in person he was a kind and gentle

man."
Spirit Taurus by IM MANIKULZ

Spirit Taurus:

 

Before diving into our detailed study of “language” and the Holy Ghost baptism, first, it would be enough to cover other important things about the Holy Spirit. For starters, who or what is the Holy Spirit?

 

The Holy Spirit is not a “thing” or “it”. The Holy Spirit is a “person”. The Holy Spirit is called the personal pronouns in the New Testament several times. Many scriptures refer to the Holy Spirit “there”, “he”, “his” or “himself” (John 14: 16-17; John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16: 7-8; John 16: 13 -14; Romans 8: 26-27; 1 Cor 24:11). Other texts refer to the Holy Spirit as “I” or “Me” (Acts 10: 19-20; Acts 13: 2; Apocalypse 2: 7; Apocalypse 2:17). The Holy Spirit is given the attributes of the “person” in the Bible. Many documents disclose that the Holy Spirit “speaks” and said that the Spirit “tells” or “tells” (Acts 10: 19-20; Acts 13: 2; Apocalypse 2: 7, 11, 17 and 29; 3 Apocalypse : 6, 13 and 22). Romans 8: 26-27 says that the Holy Spirit “ora” and a “ghost”. 1 Corinthians 00:11 shows that the mind has a “will”. In Ephesians 4:30, we learn that the Holy Spirit are “grieved”. Furthermore, Acts 5: 3-4 says that the Holy Spirit, “log” are. And 1 John 5: 6 tells us that the mind can “testify.”

 

According to the Bible, the Holy Spirit is not just one person; It is a “divine” person. Several New Testament passages show that the Holy Spirit is God. Scripture states that the Holy Spirit is “blasphemed” and only God can be blasphemed (Matthew 12: 31-32; Mark 3:29; Luke 12:10). is listed 18-20 tells us that not only baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son, but also on behalf of the Holy Spirit, and only the “divine” nature in this “Great Commission” of Jesus to his disciples in Matthew 28 Passage. The Bible says that Jesus, the divine Son of God, was “designed”, the Holy Spirit, and that he, the “child” of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1: 18-20) was. If Jesus is the Son of God, and he is the “child” of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit must be God. In a similar manner, in Luke 01:35, reveal the Scripture that the Holy Spirit “came upon” Mary, to produce “saints”, the Son of God, Jesus Christ. And in Acts 5: 3-4, we are told that when Ananias took the Holy Spirit, he lied to “God”.

 

At this point, before the baptism of the Holy Spirit and “languages” to discuss the matter, it would be appropriate to mention a few important things. The Bible is clear that there are three members of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit. The Christian God is a “God” will manifest itself in three separate divine beings. Several writings refer to God through the “plural”, “we” or “our”, pronouns such as Genesis 1:26, Genesis 3:22 ET Genesis 11: 7 and more headings to the three members of the Trinity point the same way, as Matthew 28:19, Luke 03:22, John 14: 16-17, John 15:26 and 2 Corinthians 1:14 pm .. Further, in John 8: 17-18, Jesus refers to the father and himself as two distinct and separate controls. Further, in John 1: 1-2, the Bible says that Jesus was “with” God but that Jesus himself was God; it would require a “plural” God.

 

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is one of many “work” by the Spirit. Other important works of the Holy Spirit are mentioned in this paragraph. He is our Comforter, assistant or advisor (John 14: 16-17). He teaches us and brings things Jesus said again to our remembrance (John 14:26). He testifies of Jesus (Jn 15:26). He convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16: 7-11). He leads us to the truth and tells of “things to come” (John 16:13). It glorifies Jesus (John 04:14). He “lives” in us (Eph 2: 19-22; John 14: 16-17). It “seals” us, which is the deposit, serious or guarantee of our inheritance (Ephesians 1: 13-14; 2 Cor 1:22). the “fruit” of the Spirit in our lives, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5: 22-23) occurs. And he gives us the “gifts of the Spirit” are: the word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, tongues, interpretation of tongues, apostle, teacher “Help”, administrations , evangelists, pastors, ministry, exhortation or encouragement, generosity .

 

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Asceticism[a] is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. by Hughes Songe

"Ascetic" redirects here. For the emphasis of art and beauty, see Aestheticism and Aesthetics.

  

Pursuing enlightenment, Buddha first practiced severe asceticism before recommending a moderated Middle Way.[1] In Christianity, Francis of Assisi and his followers practiced extreme acts of asceticism.[2]

Asceticism[a] is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals.[3] Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their practices or continue to be part of their society, but typically adopt a frugal lifestyle, characterised by the renunciation of material possessions and physical pleasures, and also spend time fasting while concentrating on the practice of religion or reflection upon spiritual matters,[4] which is thought by some to allow the practitioner's core of consciousness to expand and connect with the infinite universal consciousness.[5] Some individuals have also attempted an ascetic lifestyle to free themselves from addictions to things such as alcohol, tobacco, drugs, entertainment, sex, food, etc.[6]

 

Asceticism has been historically observed in many religious and philosophic traditions, including Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Pythagoreanism and contemporary practices continue amongst some religious followers.[6]

 

Practitioners abandon sensual pleasures and lead an abstinent lifestyle, in the pursuit of redemption,[7] salvation, or spirituality.[8] Many ascetics believe the action of purifying the body helps to purify the soul, and thus obtain a greater connection with the Divine or find inner peace. This may take the form of rituals, the renunciation of pleasure, or self-mortification. However, ascetics maintain that self-imposed constraints bring them greater freedom in various areas of their lives, such as increased clarity of thought and the ability to resist potentially destructive temptations. Asceticism is seen in the ancient theologies as a journey towards spiritual transformation, where the simple is sufficient, the bliss is within, the frugal is plenty.[4] Inversely, several ancient religious traditions, such as Zoroastrianism, Ancient Egyptian religion,[9] and the Dionysian Mysteries, vamachara, and the modern Western occult left-hand path traditions, openly reject ascetic practices and either focus on various types of hedonism or on the importance of family life, both rejecting celibacy.[citation needed]

 

Etymology and meaning

The adjective "ascetic" derives from the ancient Greek term áskēsis, which means "training" or "exercise".[10] The original usage did not refer to self-denial, but to the physical training required for athletic events.[3] Its usage later extended to rigorous practices used in many major religious traditions, in varying degrees, to attain redemption and higher spirituality.[11]

 

Dom Cuthbert Butler classified asceticism into natural and unnatural forms:[12]

 

"Natural asceticism" involves a lifestyle which reduces material aspects of life to the utmost simplicity and to a minimum. This may include minimal, simple clothing, sleeping on a floor or in caves, and eating a simple, minimal amount of food.[12] Natural asceticism, state Wimbush and Valantasis, does not include maiming the body or harsher austerities that make the body suffer.[12]

"Unnatural asceticism", in contrast, covers practices that go further, and involves body mortification, punishing one's own flesh, and habitual self-infliction of pain, such as by sleeping on a bed of nails.[12]

Religions

Self-discipline and abstinence in some form and degree are parts of religious practice within many religious and spiritual traditions. Ascetic lifestyle is associated particularly with monks, nuns, and fakirs in Abrahamic religions, and bhikkhus, munis, sannyasis, vairagis, goswamis, and yogis in Indian religions.[13][14]

 

Abrahamic religions

Bahá'í Faith

Further information: Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion and Prayer in the Baháʼí Faith

In the Baháʼí Faith, according to Shoghi Effendi, the maintenance of a high standard of moral conduct is neither to be associated or confused with any form of extreme asceticism, nor of excessive and bigoted puritanism. The religious standard set by Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Baháʼí Faith, seeks under no circumstances to deny anyone the legitimate right and privilege to derive the fullest advantage and benefit from the manifold joys, beauties, and pleasures with which the world has been so plentifully enriched by God, which Baháʼís regard as an all-loving creator.[15]: 44 

 

Christianity

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Further information: Ascetical theology, Christian monasticism, Christian mysticism, and Christian meditation

Notable Christian authors of Late Antiquity such as Origen, St Jerome, John Chrysostom, and Augustine of Hippo, interpreted meanings of the Biblical texts within a highly asceticized religious environment.[16] Scriptural examples of asceticism could be found in the lives of John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, the twelve apostles, and Paul the Apostle.[16] The Dead Sea Scrolls revealed ascetic practices of the ancient Jewish sect of Essenes who took vows of abstinence to prepare for a holy war. An emphasis on an ascetic religious life was evident in both early Christian writings (see: Philokalia) and practices (see: Hesychasm). Other Christian practitioners of asceticism include saints such as Paul the Hermit, Simeon Stylites, David of Wales, John of Damascus, and Francis of Assisi.[16]

 

According to Richard Finn, much of early Christian asceticism has been traced to Judaism, but not to traditions within Greek asceticism.[4] Some of the ascetic thoughts in Christianity nevertheless, Finn states, have roots in Greek moral thought.[4] Virtuous living is not possible when an individual is craving bodily pleasures with desire and passion. Morality is not seen in the ancient theology as a balancing act between right and wrong, but a form of spiritual transformation, where the simple is sufficient, the bliss is within, the frugal is plenty.[4]

  

Coptic icon of St. Anthony the Great, father of Christian monasticism and early anchorite. The Coptic inscription reads 'Ⲡⲓⲛⲓϣϯ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ⲁⲛⲧⲱⲛⲓ' ("the Great Father Anthony").

The deserts of the Middle East were at one time inhabited by thousands of male and female Christian ascetics, hermits and anchorites,[17] including St. Anthony the Great (otherwise known as St. Anthony of the Desert), St. Mary of Egypt, and St. Simeon Stylites, collectively known as the Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers. In 963 an association of monasteries called Lavra was formed on Mount Athos, in Eastern Orthodox tradition.[18] This became the most important center of orthodox Christian ascetic groups in the centuries that followed.[18] In the modern era, Mount Athos and Meteora have remained a significant center.[19]

 

Sexual abstinence such as those of the Encratites sect of Christians was only one aspect of ascetic renunciation, and both natural and unnatural asceticism have been part of Christian asceticism. The natural ascetic practices have included simple living, begging,[20] fasting and ethical practices such as humility, compassion, meditation, patience and prayer.[21] Evidence of extreme asceticism in Christianity appear in second century texts and thereafter, in both Eastern & Western Christian traditions, such as the practice of chaining the body to rocks, eating only grass,[22] praying seated on a pillar in the elements for decades such as by the monk Simeon Stylites,[23] solitary confinement inside a cell, abandoning personal hygiene and adopting lifestyle of a beast, self-inflicted pain and voluntary suffering.[20][24] Such ascetic practices were linked to the Christian concepts of sin and redemption.[25][26]

 

Evagrius Ponticus: monastic teaching

Main article: Evagrius Ponticus

Further information: Origen and Clement of Alexandria

Evagrius Ponticus, also called Evagrius the Solitary (345–399 CE), was a highly educated monastic teacher who produced a large theological body of work,[27] mainly ascetic, including the Gnostikos (Ancient Greek: γνωστικός, gnōstikos, "learned", from γνῶσις, gnōsis, "knowledge"), also known as The Gnostic: To the One Made Worthy of Gnosis. The Gnostikos is the second volume of a trilogy containing the Praktikos, intended for young monks to achieve apatheia, i.e., "a state of calm which is the prerequisite for love and knowledge",[27] in order to purify their intellect and make it impassible, to reveal the truth hidden in every being. The third book, Kephalaia Gnostika, was meant for meditation by advanced monks. Those writings made him one of the most recognized ascetic teachers and scriptural interpreters of his time,[27] which include Clement of Alexandria and Origen.

 

The ascetic literature of early Christianity was influenced by pre-Christian Greek philosophical traditions, especially Plato and Aristotle, looking for the perfect spiritual way of life.[28] According to Clement of Alexandria, philosophy and Scriptures can be seen as "double expressions of one pattern of knowledge".[27] According to Evagrius, "body and the soul are there to help the intellect and not to hinder it".[29]

 

Islam

Main article: Sufism

Further information: Dervish, Fakir, and Zhikr

The Arabic term for "asceticism" is zuhd.[30] The Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers practiced asceticism.[31] However, contemporary mainstream Islam has not had a tradition of asceticism, but its Sufi groups[32] have cherished their own ascetic tradition for several centuries.[33][34][35] Islamic literary sources and historians report that during the early Muslim conquests of the Middle East and North Africa (7th–10th centuries), some of the Muslim warriors guarding the frontier settlements were also ascetics;[36][37] numerous historical accounts also report of some Christian monks that apostatized from Christianity, converted to Islam, and joined the jihad,[37] as well as of several Muslim warriors that repudiated Islam, converted to Christianity, and became Christian monks.[37][38] Monasticism is forbidden in Islam.[36][37][39] Scholars in the field of Islamic studies have argued that asceticism (zuhd) served as a precursor to the later doctrinal formations of Sufis that began to emerge in the tenth century[33] through the works of individuals such as al-Junayd, al-Qushayrī, al-Sarrāj, al-Hujwīrī and others.[40][41]

  

A Sufi Muslim ascetic (fakir) in Bengal during the 1860s

Sufism emerged and grew as a mystical,[33] somewhat hidden tradition in the mainstream Sunni and Shia denominations of Islam,[33] state Eric Hanson and Karen Armstrong, likely in reaction to "the growing worldliness of Umayyad and Abbasid societies".[42] Acceptance of asceticism emerged in Sufism slowly because it was contrary to the sunnah, states Nile Green, and early Sufis condemned "ascetic practices as unnecessary public displays of what amounted to false piety".[43] The ascetic Sufis were hunted and persecuted both by Sunni and Shia rulers, in various centuries.[44][45] Sufis were highly influential and greatly successful in spreading Islam between the 10th and 19th centuries,[33] particularly to the furthest outposts of the Muslim world in the Middle East and North Africa, the Balkans and Caucasus, the Indian subcontinent, and finally Central, Eastern and Southeast Asia.[33] Some scholars have argued that Sufi Muslim ascetics and mystics played a decisive role in converting the Turkic peoples to Islam between the 10th and 12th centuries and Mongol invaders in Persia during the 13th and 14th centuries, mainly because of the similarities between the extreme, ascetic Sufis (fakirs and dervishes) and the Shamans of the traditional Turco-Mongol religion.[46][47]

 

Sufism was adopted and then grew particularly in the frontier areas of Islamic states,[33][46] where the asceticism of its fakirs and dervishes appealed to populations already used to the monastic traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and medieval Christianity.[42][48][49] Ascetic practices of Sufi fakirs have included celibacy, fasting, and self-mortification.[50][51] Sufi ascetics also participated in mobilizing Muslim warriors for holy wars, helping travelers, dispensing blessings through their perceived magical powers, and in helping settle disputes.[52] Ritual ascetic practices, such as self-flagellation (Tatbir), have been practiced by Shia Muslims annually at the Mourning of Muharram.[53]

 

Judaism

Main article: Asceticism in Judaism

Further information: Jewish mysticism

 

Chassidei Ashkenaz were a Jewish mystical and ascetic movement in medieval Germany.

Asceticism has not been a dominant theme within Judaism, but minor to significant ascetic traditions have been a part of Jewish spirituality.[54] The history of Jewish asceticism is traceable to first millennium BCE era with the references of the Nazirite (or Nazorean, Nazarene, Naziruta, Nazir), whose rules of practice are found in Book of Numbers 6:1–21.[55] The ascetic practices included not cutting the hair, abstaining from eating meat or grapes, abstention from wine, or fasting and hermit style living conditions for a period of time.[55] Literary evidence suggests that this tradition continued for a long time, well into the common era, and both Jewish men and women could follow the ascetic path, with examples such as the ascetic practices for fourteen years by Queen Helena of Adiabene, and by Miriam of Tadmor.[55][56] After the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile and the Mosaic institution was done away with, a different form of asceticism arose when Antiochus IV Epiphanes threatened the Jewish religion in 167 BCE. The Essene tradition of the second Temple period is described as one of the movements within historic Jewish asceticism between second century BCE and first century CE.[57]

 

Ascetic Jewish sects existed in ancient and medieval era times,[58] most notably the Essenes. According to Allan Nadler, two most significant examples of medieval Jewish asceticism have been Havoth ha-Levavoth and Hasidei Ashkenaz.[54] Pious self-deprivation was a part of the dualism and mysticism in these ascetic groups. This voluntary separation from the world was called Perishuth, and the Jewish society widely accepted this tradition in late medieval era.[54] Extreme forms of ascetic practices have been opposed or controversial in the Hasidic movement.[59]

 

The Ashkenazi Hasidim (Hebrew: חסידי אשכנז, romanized: Chassidei Ashkenaz) were a Jewish mystical, ascetic movement in the German Rhineland whose practices are documented in the texts of the 12th and 13th centuries.[60] Peter Meister states that this Jewish asceticism emerged in the tenth century, grew much wider with prevalence in southern Europe and the Middle East through the Jewish pietistic movement.[61] According to Shimon Shokek, these ascetic practices were the result of an influence of medieval Christianity on Ashkenazi Hasidism. The Jewish faithful of this Hasidic tradition practiced the punishment of body, self-torture by starvation, sitting in the open in freezing snow, or in the sun with fleas in summer, all with the goal of purifying the soul and turning one's attention away from the body unto the soul.[60]

 

Another significant school of Jewish asceticism appeared in the 16th century led from Safed.[62] These mystics engaged in radical material abstentions and self-mortification with the belief that this helps them transcend the created material world, reach and exist in the mystical spiritual world. A studied example of this group was Hayyim ben Joseph Vital, and their rules of ascetic lifestyle (Hanhagoth) are documented.[54][63]

 

Indian religions

Asceticism is found in both non-theistic and theistic traditions within Indian religions. The origins of the practice are ancient, and a heritage shared by major Indian religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. They are referred by many names such as Sadhu, Pravrajita, Bhikshu, Yati etc.[64]

 

Asceticism in Indian religions includes a spectrum of diverse practices, ranging from the mild self-discipline, self-imposed poverty and simple living typical of Buddhism and Hinduism,[65][66] to more severe austerities and self-mortification practices of monks in Jainism and now extinct Ajivikas in the pursuit of salvation.[67] Some ascetics live as hermits relying on whatever food they can find in the forests, then sleep and meditate in caves; others travel from one holy site to another while sustaining their body by begging for food; yet others live in monasteries as monks or nuns.[68] Some ascetics live like priests and preachers, other ascetics are armed and militant,[68] to resist any persecution—a phenomenon that emerged after the arrival of Islam in India.[69][70] Self-torture is relatively uncommon practice but one that attracts public attention. In Indian traditions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, self-mortification is typically criticized.[68] However, Indian mythologies also describe numerous ascetic gods or demons who pursued harsh austerities for decades or centuries that helped each gain special powers.[71]

 

Buddhism

 

The Buddha as an ascetic. Gandhara, 2nd–3rd century CE. British Museum

The historical Siddhartha Gautama adopted an extreme ascetic life in search of enlightenment.[72] However, after enlightenment he rejected extreme asceticism in favor of a more moderated version, the "Middle Way."[73]

 

According to Hajime Nakamura and other scholars, some early Buddhist texts suggest that asceticism was a part of Buddhist practice in its early days.[73][74] Further, in practice, records from about the start of the common era through the 19th century suggest that asceticism has been a part of Buddhism, both in Theravada and Mahayana traditions.

 

Theravada

See also: Dhutanga

Textual evidence suggests that ascetic practices were a part of the Buddhist tradition in Sri Lanka by the third century BC, and this tradition continued through the medieval era in parallel to sangha style monastic tradition.[75]

 

In the Theravada tradition of Thailand, medieval texts report of ascetic monks who wander and dwell in the forest or crematory alone, do austere practices, and these came to be known as Thudong.[76][77] Ascetic Buddhist monks have been and continue to be found in Myanmar, and as in Thailand, they are known to pursue their own version of Buddhism, resisting the hierarchical institutionalized sangha structure of monasteries in Buddhism.[78]

 

Mahayana

In the Mahayana tradition asceticism with esoteric and mystical meanings became an accepted practice, such as in the Tendai and Shingon schools of Japanese Buddhism.[75] These Japanese practices included penance, austerities, ablutions under a waterfall, and rituals to purify oneself.[75] Japanese records from the 12th century record stories of monks undertaking severe asceticism, while records suggest that 19th century Nichiren Buddhist monks woke up at midnight or 2:00 am daily, and performed ascetic water purification rituals under cold waterfalls.[75] Other practices include the extreme ascetic practices of eating only pine needles, resins, seeds and ultimately self-mummification, while alive, or Sokushinbutsu (miira) in Japan.[79][80][81]

 

In Chinese Buddhism self-mummification ascetic practices were less common but recorded in the Ch'an (Zen Buddhism) tradition there.[82] More ancient Chinese Buddhist asceticism, somewhat similar to Sokushinbutsu are also known, such as the public self-immolation (self-cremation, as shaoshen 燒身 or zifen 自焚)[83] practice, aimed at abandoning the impermanent body.[note 1] The earliest-documented ascetic Buddhist monk biography is of Fayu (法羽) in 396 CE, followed by more than fifty documented cases in the centuries that followed including that of monk Daodu (道度).[86][87] This was considered as evidence of a renunciant bodhisattva, and may have been inspired by the Jataka tales wherein the Buddha in his earlier lives immolates himself to assist other living beings,[88] or by the Bhaiṣajyaguruvaiḍūryaprabhārāja-related teachings in the Lotus Sutra.[89] Historical records suggest that the self-immolation practices were observed by nuns in Chinese Buddhism as well.[90]

 

The Chinese Buddhist asceticism practices, states James Benn, were not an adaptation or import of Indian ascetic practices, but an invention of Chinese Buddhists, based on their unique interpretations of Saddharmapuṇḍarīka or Lotus Sūtra.[91] It may be an adoption of more ancient pre-Buddhist Chinese practices,[92][93] or from Taoism.[90] It is unclear if self-immolation was limited primarily to Chinese asceticism tradition, and strong evidence of it being a part of a large scale, comprehensive ascetic program among Chinese Buddhists is lacking.[85]

 

Hinduism

See also: Tapas (Sanskrit), Sannyasa, and Ataptatanu

 

A female ascetic of the Vaishnavism tradition, 19th century India

Renunciation from the worldly life, and a pursuit of spiritual life either as a part of monastic community or a hermit, has been a historic tradition of Hinduism since ancient times. The renunciation tradition is called Sannyasa, and this is not the same as asceticism—which typically connotes severe self-denial and self-mortification. Sannyasa often involved a simple life, one with minimal or no material possessions, study, meditation and ethical living. Those who undertook this lifestyle were called Sannyasi, Sadhu, Yati,[94] Bhiksu, Pravrajita/Pravrajitā[95] and Parivrajaka in Hindu texts.[96] The term with a meaning closer to asceticism in Hindu texts is Tapas, but it too spans a spectrum of meanings ranging from inner heat, to self-mortification and penance with austerities, to meditation and self-discipline.[66][97][98]

 

Asceticism-like practices are hinted in the Vedas, but these hymns have been variously interpreted as referring to early Yogis and loner renouncers. One such mention is in the Kesin hymn of the Rigveda, where Keśins ("long-haired" ascetics) and Munis ("silent ones") are described.[99][100] These Kesins of the Vedic era, are described as follows by Karel Werner:[101]

 

The Keśin does not live a normal life of convention. His hair and beard grow longer, he spends long periods of time in absorption, musing and meditating and therefore he is called "sage" (muni). They wear clothes made of yellow rags fluttering in the wind, or perhaps more likely, they go naked, clad only in the yellow dust of the Indian soil. But their personalities are not bound to earth, for they follow the path of the mysterious wind when the gods enter them. He is someone lost in thoughts: he is miles away.

 

— Karel Werner (1977), "Yoga and the Ṛg Veda: An Interpretation of the Keśin Hymn"[101]

The Vedic and Upanishadic texts of Hinduism, states Mariasusai Dhavamony, do not discuss self-inflicted pain, but do discuss self-restraint and self-control.[102] The monastic tradition of Hinduism is evidenced in first millennium BCE, particularly in its Advaita Vedanta tradition. This is evidenced by the oldest Sannyasa Upanishads, because all of them have a strong Advaita Vedanta outlook.[103] Most of the Sannyasa Upanishads present a Yoga and nondualism (Advaita) Vedanta philosophy.[104][105] The 12th-century Shatyayaniya Upanishad is a significant exception, which presents qualified dualistic and Vaishnavism (Vishishtadvaita Vedanta) philosophy.[105][106] These texts mention a simple, ethical lifestyle but do not mention self-torture or body mortification. For example:

 

These are the vows a Sannyasi must keep:

 

Abstention from injuring living beings, truthfulness, abstention from appropriating the property of others, abstention from sex, liberality (kindness, gentleness) are the major vows. There are five minor vows: abstention from anger, obedience towards the guru, avoidance of rashness, cleanliness, and purity in eating. He should beg (for food) without annoying others, any food he gets he must compassionately share a portion with other living beings, sprinkling the remainder with water he should eat it as if it were a medicine.

 

— Baudhayana Dharmasūtra, II.10.18.1–10[107]

Similarly, the Nirvana Upanishad asserts that the Hindu ascetic should hold, according to Patrick Olivelle, that "the sky is his belief, his knowledge is of the absolute, union is his initiation, compassion alone is his pastime, bliss is his garland, the cave of solitude is his fellowship", and so on, as he proceeds in his effort to gain self-knowledge (or soul-knowledge) and its identity with the Hindu metaphysical concept of Brahman.[108] Other behavioral characteristics of the Sannyasi include: ahimsa (non-violence), akrodha (not become angry even if you are abused by others),[109] disarmament (no weapons), chastity, bachelorhood (no marriage), avyati (non-desirous), amati (poverty), self-restraint, truthfulness, sarvabhutahita (kindness to all creatures), asteya (non-stealing), aparigraha (non-acceptance of gifts, non-possessiveness) and shaucha (purity of body speech and mind).[110][111]

 

The 11th century literary work Yatidharmasamuccaya is a Vaishnava text that summarizes ascetic practices in Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism.[112] In Hindu traditions, as with other Indian religions, both men and women have historically participated in a diverse spectrum of ascetic practices.[8]

 

Jainism

Main article: Jain monasticism

Asceticism in one of its most intense forms can be found in one of the oldest religions, Jainism. Ascetic life may include nakedness symbolizing non-possession of even clothes, fasting, body mortification, penance and other austerities, in order to burn away past karma and stop producing new karma, both of which are believed in Jainism to be essential for reaching siddha and moksha (liberation from rebirths, salvation).[113][114][115] In Jainism, the ultimate goal of life is to achieve the liberation of soul from endless cycle of rebirths (moksha from samsara), which requires ethical living and asceticism. Most of the austerities and ascetic practices can be traced back to Vardhaman Mahavira, the twenty-fourth "fordmaker" or Tirthankara who practiced 12 years of asceticism before reaching enlightenment.[116][117]

 

Jain texts such as Tattvartha Sutra and Uttaradhyayana Sutra discuss ascetic austerities to great lengths and formulations. Six outer and six inner practices are most common, and oft repeated in later Jain texts.[118] According to John Cort, outer austerities include complete fasting, eating limited amounts, eating restricted items, abstaining from tasty foods, mortifying the flesh and guarding the flesh (avoiding anything that is a source of temptation).[119] Inner austerities include expiation, confession, respecting and assisting mendicants, studying, meditation and ignoring bodily wants in order to abandon the body.[119]

 

The Jain text of Kalpa Sūtra describes Mahavira's asceticism in detail, whose life is a source of guidance on most of the ascetic practices in Jainism:[120]

 

The Venerable Ascetic Mahavira for a year and a month wore clothes; after that time he walked about naked, and accepted the alms in the hollow of his hand. For more than twelve years the Venerable Ascetic Mahivira neglected his body and abandoned the care of it; he with equanimity bore, underwent, and suffered all pleasant or unpleasant occurrences arising from divine powers, men, or animals.

 

— Kalpa Sutra 117

Both Mahavira and his ancient Jaina followers are described in Jainism texts as practicing body mortification and being abused by animals as well as people, but never retaliating and never initiating harm or injury (ahimsa) to any other being.[121] With such ascetic practices, he burnt off his past Karma, gained spiritual knowledge, and became a Jina.[121] These austere practices are part of the monastic path in Jainism.[122] The practice of body mortification is called kaya klesha in Jainism and is found in verse 9.19 of the Tattvartha Sutra by Umaswati, the most authoritative oldest surviving Jaina philosophical text.[123][124]

 

Monastic practice

 

Five Mahavratas of Jain ascetics

In Jain monastic practice, the monks and nuns take ascetic vows, after renouncing all relations and possessions. The vows include a complete commitment to nonviolence (Ahimsa). They travel from city to city, often crossing forests and deserts, and always barefoot. Jain ascetics do not stay in a single place for more than two months to prevent attachment to any place.[125][126] However, during the four months of monsoon (rainy season) known as chaturmaas, they stay at a single place to avoid killing life forms that thrive during the rains.[127] Jain monks and nuns practice complete celibacy. They do not touch or share a sitting platform with a person of the opposite sex.[citation needed]

 

Jain ascetics follow a strict vegetarian diet without root vegetables. Prof. Pushpendra K. Jain explains:

 

Clearly enough, to procure such vegetables and fruits, one must pull out the plant from the root, thus destroying the entire plant, and with it all the other micro organisms around the root. Fresh fruits and vegetables should be plucked only when ripe and ready to fall off, or ideally after they have fallen off the plant. In case they are plucked from the plants, only as much as required should be procured and consumed without waste.[128]

 

The monks of Shvetambara sub-tradition within Jainism do not cook food but solicit alms from householders. Digambara monks have only a single meal a day.[129] Neither group will beg for food, but a Jain ascetic may accept a meal from a householder, provided that the latter is pure of mind and body and offers the food of his own volition and in the prescribed manner. During such an encounter, the monk remains standing and eats only a measured amount. A routine feature of Jain asceticism are fasting periods, where adherents abstain from consuming food, and sometimes water, only during daylight hours, for up to 30 days. Some monks avoid (or limit) medicine and/or hospitalization out of disregard for the physical body.[128]

 

Śvētāmbara monks and nuns wear only unstitched white robes (an upper and lower garment), and own one bowl they use for eating and collecting alms. Male Digambara sect monks do not wear any clothes, carry nothing with them except a soft broom made of shed peacock feathers (pinchi) to gently remove any insect or living creature in their way or bowl, and they eat with their hands.[129] They sleep on the floor without blankets, and sit on wooden platforms. Other austerities include meditation in seated or standing posture near riverbanks in the cold wind, or meditation atop hills and mountains, especially at noon when the sun is at its fiercest.[130] Such austerities are undertaken according to the physical and mental limits of the individual ascetic.

 

When death is imminent from an advanced age or terminal disease, many Jain ascetics take a final vow of Santhara or Sallekhana, a fast to peaceful and detached death, by first reducing intake of and then ultimately abandoning all medicines, food, and water.[131] Scholars state that this ascetic practice is not a suicide, but a form of natural death, done without passion or turmoil or suddenness, and because it is done without active violence to the body.[131]

 

Sikhism

While Sikhism treats lust as a vice, it has at the same time unmistakingly pointed out that man must share the moral responsibility by leading the life of a householder. What is important is to be God-centred. According to Sikhism, ascetics are certainly not on the right path.[132] When Guru Nanak visited Gorakhmata, he discussed the true meaning of asceticism with some yogis:[133]

 

Asceticism doesn't lie in ascetic robes, or in walking staff, nor in the ashes. Asceticism doesn't lie in the earring, nor in the shaven head, nor blowing a conch. Asceticism lies in remaining pure amidst impurities. Asceticism doesn't lie in mere words; He is an ascetic who treats everyone alike. Asceticism doesn't lie in visiting burial places, It lies not in wandering about, nor in bathing at places of pilgrimage. Asceticism is to remain pure amidst impurities.

 

— Guru Nanak[133]

Other religions

Inca religion

In Inca religion of medieval South America, asceticism was practiced.[134] The high priests of the Inca people lived an ascetic life, which included fasting, chastity and eating simple food.[135] The Jesuit records report Christian missionaries encountering ascetic Inca hermits in the Andean mountains.[136]

 

Taoism

Historical evidence suggest that the monastic tradition in Taoism practiced asceticism, and the most common ascetic practices included fasting, complete sexual abstinence, self-imposed poverty, sleep deprivation, and secluding oneself in the wilderness.[137][138] More extreme and unnatural ascetic Taoist practices have included public self-drowning and self-cremation.[139] The goal of these spectrum of practices, like other religions, was to reach the divine and get past the mortal body.[140] According to Stephen Eskildsen, asceticism continues to be a part of modern Taoism.[141][142]

 

Zoroastrianism

In Zoroastrianism, active participation in life through good thoughts, good words and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep the chaos at bay. This active participation is a central element in Zoroaster's concept of free will. In the Avesta, the sacred scriptures of Zoroastrianism, fasting and mortification are forbidden.[143]

 

Sociological and psychological views

Early 20th century German sociologist Max Weber made a distinction between innerweltliche and ausserweltliche asceticism, which means (roughly) "inside the world" and "outside the world", respectively. Talcott Parsons translated these as "worldly" and "otherworldly"—however, some translators use "inner-worldly", and this is more in line with inner world explorations of mysticism, a common purpose of asceticism. "Inner- or Other-worldly" asceticism is practised by people who withdraw from the world to live an ascetic life (this includes monks who live communally in monasteries, as well as hermits who live alone). "Worldly" asceticism refers to people who live ascetic lives but do not withdraw from the world:

 

Wealth is thus bad ethically only in so far as it is a temptation to idleness and sinful enjoyment of life, and its acquisition is bad only when it is with the purpose of later living merrily and without care.

 

— Max Weber[144], The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

Weber claimed this distinction originated in the Protestant Reformation, but later became secularized, so the concept can be applied to both religious and secular ascetics.[145]

 

The 20th century American psychological theorist David McClelland suggested worldly asceticism is specifically targeting worldly pleasures that "distract" people from their calling and may accept worldly pleasures that are not distracting. As an example, he pointed out Quakers have historically objected to bright-coloured clothing, but wealthy Quakers often made their drab clothing out of expensive materials. The color was considered distracting, but the materials were not. Amish groups use similar criteria to make decisions about which modern technologies to use and which to avoid.[146]

 

Nietzsche's and Epicurus's view

 

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In the third essay ("What Do Ascetic Ideals Mean?")[147] from his 1887 book On the Genealogy of Morals, Friedrich Nietzsche[148] discusses what he terms the "ascetic ideal" and its role in the formulation of morality along with the history of the will. In the essay, Nietzsche describes how such a paradoxical action as asceticism might serve the interests of life: through asceticism one can overcome one's desire to perish from pain and despair and attain mastery over oneself. In this way one can express both ressentiment and the will to power. Nietzsche describes the morality of the ascetic priest as characterized by Christianity as one where, finding oneself in pain or despair and desiring to perish from it, the will to live causes one to place oneself in a state of hibernation and denial of the material world in order to minimize that pain and thus preserve life, a technique which Nietzsche locates at the very origin of secular science as well as of religion. He associated the "ascetic ideal" with Christian decadence.[149][150][151]

 

Asceticism is not always life-denying or pleasure-denying. Some ascetic practices have actually been carried out as disciplines of pleasure. Epicurus taught a philosophy of pleasure, but he also engaged in ascetic practices like fasting. This may have been done in the service of testing the limits of nature, of desires, of pleasure, and of his own body. In the eighth of his Principal Doctrines, Epicurus says that we sometimes choose pains if greater pleasures ensue from them, or avoid pleasures if greater pains ensue, and in the "autarchy" portion of his Letter to Menoeceus, he teaches that living frugally can help us to better enjoy luxuries when we have them.

 

See also

Ascetics (category)

Aesthetism

Altruism

Anatta

Anti-consumerism

Arthur Schopenhauer

Cenobite

Ctistae

Cynicism

Desert Fathers

Desert Mothers

Egoism

Epicureanism

Flagellant

Gustave Flaubert

Hermitage

Lent

Mellified man

Minimalism

Monasticism

Nazirite

Paradox of hedonism

Ramadan

Rechabites

Simple living

Siddha

Stoicism

Straight edge

Temperance (virtue)

Notes

/əˈsɛtɪsɪzəm/; from Ancient Greek ἄσκησις (áskēsis) 'exercise, training'

Alternate practices included cutting off a part of one's body.[84][85]

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asceticism
Nuala At Work Again (Holy Trinity Church, Boar Lane, Leeds) by James W Bell (Good Honest Iago) - Leeds

Relics and Regeneration

4th August-14th August

 

A three part exhibition at Holy Trinity Church combining a video installation by Victoria Lucas, photographs by Andy Graham and material provided by Trinity Leeds (developers) illustrating what will be our future legacy.

In this transitional phase, moments caught between nostalgia and anticipation the

layers are peeled away and the church comes sharply into focus. Relics and

re-generation explores the role of the church within this new context; a historic relic or a

living, breathing community of artists and worshippers, injecting spirit into the heart of

a land of shopportunity?

  
All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk by Jelltex

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk.

 

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beasts, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

All Saints is a large, remarkably good church in one of the sleepy, fat villages along the Cambridgeshire border, the sort of place you cycle through and imagine wistfully that you've won the lottery and could move there. The wide churchyard on both sides is a perfect setting for the church, which rises to heaven out of a perpendicular splendour of aisles, clerestories and battlements. The tower was complete by the 1470s when money was being left for a bell. The earlier chancel steadies the ship, anchoring it to earth quietly, although the tall east window has its spectacular moment too. And you step into a deliciously well-kept interior, full of interest.

One of the most significant medieval survivals here is not easily noticed. This is the range of 15th Century glass, which was reset by the Victorians high in the clerestory. This seems a curious thing to have done, since it defeats the purpose of a clerestory, but if they had not done so then we might have lost it. The glass matches the tracery in the north aisle windows, so that is probably where they came from. There are angels, three Saints and some shields, most of which are heraldic but two show the instruments of the passion and the Holy Trinity. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the shields are 19th century, but the figures are all original late 15th or early 16th century. The Saints are an unidentified Bishop, the hacksaw-wielding St Faith and one of my favourites, St Apollonia. She it was who was invoked by medieval people against toothache.

 

Waling from the nave up into the chancel, the space created by the clearing of clutter makes it at once mysterious and beautiful. Above, the early 16th century waggon roof is Suffolk's best of its kind. Mortlock points out the little angels bearing scrolls, the wheat ears and the vine sprays, and the surviving traces of colour. The low side window on the south side still has its hinges, for here it was that updraught to the rood would have sent the candles flickering in the mystical church of the 14th century. On the south side of the sanctuary is an exquisitely carved arched recess, that doesn't appear to have ever had a door, and may have been a very rare purpose-built Easter sepulchre at the time of the 1330s rebuilding. Opposite is a huge and stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast. It is one of the most significant Decorated moments in Suffolk.

 

On the floor of the chancel there is a tiny, perfect chalice brass, one of only two surviving in Suffolk. The other is at Rendham. Not far away is the indent of another chalice brass - or perhaps it was for the same one, and the brass has been moved for some reason. There are two chalice indents at Westhall, but nowhere else in Suffolk. Chalice brasses were popular memorials for Priests in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and thus were fair game for reformers. Heigham memorials of the late 16th century are on the walls. Back in the south aisle there is a splendid tombchest in Purbeck marble. It has lost its brasses, but the indents show us where they were, as do other indents in the aisle floors. Some heraldic brass shields survive, and show that Heighams were buried here. Brass inscriptions survive in the nave and the chancel, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

 

The 14th century font is a good example of the tracery pattern series that appeared in the decades before the Black Death. They may have been intended to spread ideas at that time of great artistic and intellectual flowering before it was so cruelly snatched away. The cover is 17th Century. At this end of the nave are two good ranges of medieval benches, one, rare in East Anglia, is a group of 14th Century benches with pierced tracery backs. Some of them appear to spell out words, and Mortlock thought one might say Salaman Sayet. The block of benches to the north appears to be 15th Century or possibly early 16th Century. Further north, the early 17th Century benches are simpler, even cruder, and were likely the work of the village carpenter.

 

All rather lovely then. And yet, it hasn't always been that way. All Saints at Gazeley, near Newmarket, was the first church that I visited after an international team of scientists conclusively proved that God did not exist began the first page for this church that I wrote in 2003, in a satirical mood after finding the church locked and at a very low ebb. At a time when congregations were generally falling, I'd been thinking about the future of medieval churches beyond a time when they would have people to use them in the traditional way. I wondered if the buildings might find new uses, or could adapt themselves to changing patterns and emphases in Christianity, or even changing spiritual needs of their parishes. Even if science could somehow prove that God did not exist, I suggested, there were parishes which would rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves, as churches have always done over the two millennia of Christianity. Coming to Gazeley I felt that here was a church which felt as if it had been abandoned. And yet, it seemed to me a church of such significance, such historical and spiritual importance, that its loss would be a disaster. If it had been clean, tidy and open at the time he was visiting, Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Churches would not have been able to resist it. Should the survival of such a treasure store depend upon the existence of God or the continued practice of the Christian faith? Or might there be other reasons to keep this extraordinary building in something like its present integrity?

 

In the first decade of the 21st Century, Gazeley church went on a tremendous journey, from being moribund to being the wonderful church you can visit today. If you want to read the slightly adapted 2006 entry for Gazeley, recounting this journey, you can do so here. Coming back here today always fills me with optimism for what can be achieved. On one occasion I mentioned my experiences of Gazeley church to a Catholic Priest friend of mine, and he said he hoped I knew I'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And perhaps that is so. Certainly, the energy and imagination of the people here have been fired by something. On that occasion I had wanted to find someone to ask about it, to find out how things stood now. But there was no one, and so the building spoke for them.

 

Back outside in the graveyard, the dog daisies clustered and waved their sun-kissed faces in the light breeze. The ancient building must have known many late-May days like this over the centuries, but think of all the changes that it has known inside! The general buffeting of the winds of history still leaves room for local squalls and lightning strikes. All Saints has known these, but for now a blessed calm reigns here. Long may it remain so.

 

Simon Knott, June 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/gazeley.htm
Twelve Bronze Seahorse Heads By John Robert Murray McCheyne, The Carillon Tower, Newcastle Civic Centre, Barras Bridge, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, England. by HISTOGRAPHY by DM & DBM.

www.creativetourist.com/venue/newcastle-civic-centre/

 

Newcastle’s Civic Centre – the city’s modernist governmental hub and symbol of post-war idealism.

 

In the centre of Newcastle, twelve bronze seahorse heads sit proudly above a brilliant copper green tower. These semi-equine forms are a signal to visitors; they lead to the heart of the city’s history and spirit.

 

As one of the few surviving examples of 1960s architecture in Newcastle, the Civic Centre crystallizes the cultural and social ambition of that era. Built during the hopeful post-war regeneration of Britain, it’s clear that the architecture was driven by idealistic values as well as aesthetics. A huge budget gave G W Kenyon, the city’s architect, the resources to capture Newcastle’s cultural identity through a new modernist lens. The use of Portland stone, also chosen for Buckingham Palace and St Paul’s Cathedral, is an indication of the statement that Kenyon wanted to make in a city full of sandstone and brick; one of the original stones selected by Wren for St Paul’s is inset into the southern wall.

 

Combining a twenty-five bell carillon on the top of an office block, an elliptical council chamber on stilts and a courtyard, the Civic Centre was unlike any other building in Newcastle in the 1960s and remains unique to this day. As well as being visually striking, there is also a strong sense of social inclusiveness. For example, the tranquil courtyard, officially named “The Garth”, invites the public into the heart of the building via two specially commissioned David Wynne sculptures; a huge Bronze River God and five Scandinavian swans. On a sunny day, the friendliness of the Civic Centre is evident as the grounds fill up with picnicking families, teenaged skateboarders and even a few rabbits.

 

Civic Centre was unlike any other building in Newcastle in the 1960s and remains unique to this day

 

Long before the Newcastle-Gateshead “City of Culture” bid in 2002, the Civic Centre was already championing the arts and this translated into a playful approach to motifs and symbolism. The seahorses, which are borrowed from Newcastle’s coat of arms, act as a reminder of the city’s seaport history. They are everywhere – appearing in various forms including crystal chandeliers and carpets. A large tapestry in the Banquet Hall, designed by John Piper, mimics the shapes and colours found in Northumberland. More subtly, clean Scandinavian lines and walls of Norwegian Otta slate acknowledge Newcastle’s previous cultural and economic links with Norway (which may soon continue; there are regular rumours that the direct ferry between Bergen and Newcastle will be re-established).

 

Like the city and its inhabitants, the Civic Centre is welcoming, striking and full of stories. Formal tours of the Civic Centre can be arranged and are free for groups with fewer than five people. There’s no better introduction to Newcastle.

 

Barras BridgeNewcastle upon TyneNE1 7RS

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcastle_upon_Tyne

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Newcastle_upon_Tyne

 

Newcastle upon Tyne, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located on the River Tyne's northern bank opposite Gateshead to the south. It is the most populous settlement in the Tyneside conurbation and North East England.

 

Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius. The settlement became known as Monkchester before taking on the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose. It was one of the world's largest ship building and repair centres during the industrial revolution. Newcastle is historically part of the county of Northumberland but was governed as a county corporate after 1400. In 1974, Newcastle became part of Tyne and Wear. Since 2018, the city council has been part of the North of Tyne Combined Authority.

 

The history of Newcastle upon Tyne dates back almost 2,000 years, during which it has been controlled by the Romans, the Angles and the Norsemen amongst others. Newcastle upon Tyne was originally known by its Roman name Pons Aelius. The name "Newcastle" has been used since the Norman conquest of England. Due to its prime location on the River Tyne, the town developed greatly during the Middle Ages and it was to play a major role in the Industrial Revolution, being granted city status in 1882. Today, the city is a major retail, commercial and cultural centre.

 

The history of Newcastle dates from AD 122, when the Romans built the first bridge to cross the River Tyne at that point. The bridge was called Pons Aelius or 'Bridge of Aelius', Aelius being the family name of Roman Emperor Hadrian,[1] who was responsible for the Roman wall built across northern England along the Tyne–Solway gap. Hadrian's Wall ran through present-day Newcastle, with stretches of wall and turrets visible along the West Road, and at a temple in Benwell. Traces of a milecastle were found on Westgate Road, midway between Clayton Street and Grainger Street, and it is likely that the course of the wall corresponded to present-day Westgate Road. The course of the wall can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort at Wallsend, with the fort of Arbeia down-river at the mouth of the Tyne, on the south bank in what is now South Shields. The Tyne was then a wider, shallower river at this point and it is thought that the bridge was probably about 700 feet (210 m) long, made of wood and supported on stone piers. It is probable that it was sited near the current Swing Bridge, due to the fact that Roman artefacts were found there during the building of the latter bridge. Hadrian himself probably visited the site in 122. A shrine was set up on the completed bridge in 123 by the 6th Legion, with two altars to Neptune and Oceanus respectively. The two altars were subsequently found in the river and are on display in the Great North Museum in Newcastle.

 

The Romans built a stone-walled fort in 150 to protect the river crossing which was at the foot of the Tyne Gorge, and this took the name of the bridge so that the whole settlement was known as Pons Aelius. The fort was situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the new bridge, on the site of the present Castle Keep. Pons Aelius is last mentioned in 400, in a Roman document listing all of the Roman military outposts. It is likely that nestling in the shadow of the fort would have been a small vicus, or village. Unfortunately, no buildings have been detected; only a few pieces of flagging. It is clear that there was a Roman cemetery near Clavering Place, behind the Central station, as a number of Roman coffins and sarcophagi have been unearthed there.

 

Despite the presence of the bridge, the settlement of Pons Aelius was not particularly important among the northern Roman settlements. The most important stations were those on the highway of Dere Street running from Eboracum (York) through Corstopitum (Corbridge) and to the lands north of the Wall. Corstopitum, being a major arsenal and supply centre, was much larger and more populous than Pons Aelius.

 

The Angles arrived in the North-East of England in about 500 and may have landed on the Tyne. There is no evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement on or near the site of Pons Aelius during the Anglo-Saxon age. The bridge probably survived and there may well have been a small village at the northern end, but no evidence survives. At that time the region was dominated by two kingdoms, Bernicia, north of the Tees and ruled from Bamburgh, and Deira, south of the Tees and ruled from York. Bernicia and Deira combined to form the kingdom of Northanhymbra (Northumbria) early in the 7th century. There were three local kings who held the title of Bretwalda – 'Lord of Britain', Edwin of Deira (627–632), Oswald of Bernicia (633–641) and Oswy of Northumbria (641–658). The 7th century became known as the 'Golden Age of Northumbria', when the area was a beacon of culture and learning in Europe. The greatness of this period was based on its generally Christian culture and resulted in the Lindisfarne Gospels amongst other treasures. The Tyne valley was dotted with monasteries, with those at Monkwearmouth, Hexham and Jarrow being the most famous. Bede, who was based at Jarrow, wrote of a royal estate, known as Ad Murum, 'at the Wall', 12 miles (19 km) from the sea. It is thought that this estate may have been in what is now Newcastle. At some unknown time, the site of Newcastle came to be known as Monkchester. The reason for this title is unknown, as we are unaware of any specific monasteries at the site, and Bede made no reference to it. In 875 Halfdan Ragnarsson, the Danish Viking conqueror of York, led an army that attacked and pillaged various monasteries in the area, and it is thought that Monkchester was also pillaged at this time. Little more was heard of it until the coming of the Normans.

 

After the arrival of William the Conqueror in England in 1066, the whole of England was quickly subjected to Norman rule. However, in Northumbria there was great resistance to the Normans, and in 1069 the newly appointed Norman Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Comines and 700 of his men were killed by the local population at Durham. The Northumbrians then marched on York, but William was able to suppress the uprising. That same year, a second uprising occurred when a Danish fleet landed in the Humber. The Northumbrians again attacked York and destroyed the garrison there. William was again able to suppress the uprising, but this time he took revenge. He laid waste to the whole of the Midlands and the land from York to the Tees. In 1080, Walcher, the Norman bishop of Durham and his followers were brutally murdered at Gateshead. This time Odo, bishop of Bayeux, William's half brother, devastated the land between the Tees and the Tweed. This was known as the 'Harrying of the North'. This devastation is reflected in the Domesday Book. The destruction had such an effect that the North remained poor and backward at least until Tudor times and perhaps until the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle suffered in this respect with the rest of the North.

 

In 1080 William sent his eldest son, Robert Curthose, north to defend the kingdom against the Scots. After his campaign, he moved to Monkchester and began the building of a 'New Castle'. This was of the "motte-and-bailey" type of construction, a wooden tower on top of an earthen mound (motte), surrounded by a moat and wooden stockade (bailey). It was this castle that gave Newcastle its name. In 1095 the Earl of Northumbria, Robert de Mowbray, rose up against the king, William Rufus, and Rufus sent an army north to recapture the castle. From then on the castle became crown property and was an important base from which the king could control the northern barons. The Northumbrian earldom was abolished and a Sheriff of Northumberland was appointed to administer the region. In 1091 the parish church of St Nicholas was consecrated on the site of the present Anglican cathedral, close by the bailey of the new castle. The church is believed to have been a wooden building on stone footings.

 

Not a trace of the tower or mound of the motte and bailey castle remains now. Henry II replaced it with a rectangular stone keep, which was built between 1172 and 1177 at a cost of £1,444. A stone bailey, in the form of a triangle, replaced the previous wooden one. The great outer gateway to the castle, called 'the Black Gate', was built later, between 1247 and 1250, in the reign of Henry III. There were at that time no town walls and when attacked by the Scots, the townspeople had to crowd into the bailey for safety. It is probable that the new castle acted as a magnet for local merchants because of the safety it provided. This in turn would help to expand trade in the town. At this time wool, skins and lead were being exported, whilst alum, pepper and ginger were being imported from France and Flanders.

 

Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress, the centre for assembled armies. The Border war against Scotland lasted intermittently for several centuries – possibly the longest border war ever waged. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, David 1st of Scotland and his son were granted Cumbria and Northumberland respectively, so that for a period from 1139 to 1157, Newcastle was effectively in Scottish hands. It is believed that during this period, King David may have built the church of St Andrew and the Benedictine nunnery in Newcastle. However, King Stephen's successor, Henry II was strong enough to take back the Earldom of Northumbria from Malcolm IV.

 

The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle, in 1174, after being captured at the Battle of Alnwick. Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town and Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century.

 

Around 1200, stone-faced, clay-filled jetties were starting to project into the river, an indication that trade was increasing in Newcastle. As the Roman roads continued to deteriorate, sea travel was gaining in importance. By 1275 Newcastle was the sixth largest wool exporting port in England. The principal exports at this time were wool, timber, coal, millstones, dairy produce, fish, salt and hides. Much of the developing trade was with the Baltic countries and Germany. Most of the Newcastle merchants were situated near the river, below the Castle. The earliest known charter was dated 1175 in the reign of Henry II, giving the townspeople some control over their town. In 1216 King John granted Newcastle a mayor and also allowed the formation of guilds (known as Mysteries). These were cartels formed within different trades, which restricted trade to guild members. There were initially twelve guilds. Coal was being exported from Newcastle by 1250, and by 1350 the burgesses received a royal licence to export coal. This licence to export coal was jealously guarded by the Newcastle burgesses, and they tried to prevent any one else on the Tyne from exporting coal except through Newcastle. The burgesses similarly tried to prevent fish from being sold anywhere else on the Tyne except Newcastle. This led to conflicts with Gateshead and South Shields.

 

In 1265, the town was granted permission to impose a 'Wall Tax' or Murage, to pay for the construction of a fortified wall to enclose the town and protect it from Scottish invaders. The town walls were not completed until early in the 14th century. They were two miles (3 km) long, 9 feet (2.7 m) thick and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. They had six main gates, as well as some smaller gates, and had 17 towers. The land within the walls was divided almost equally by the Lort Burn, which flowed southwards and joined the Tyne to the east of the Castle. The town began to expand north of the Castle and west of the Lort Burn with various markets being set up within the walls.

 

In 1400 Henry IV granted a new charter, creating a County corporate which separated the town, but not the Castle, from the county of Northumberland and recognised it as a "county of itself" with a right to have a sheriff of its own. The burgesses were now allowed to choose six aldermen who, with the mayor would be justices of the peace. The mayor and sheriff were allowed to hold borough courts in the Guildhall.

 

During the Middle Ages a number of religious houses were established within the walls: the first of these was the Benedictine nunnery of St Bartholomew founded in 1086 near the present-day Nun Street. Both David I of Scotland and Henry I of England were benefactors of the religious house. Nothing of the nunnery remains now.

 

The friary of Blackfriars, Newcastle (Dominican) was established in 1239. These were also known as the Preaching Friars or Shod Friars, because they wore sandals, as opposed to other orders. The friary was situated in the present-day Friars Street. In 1280 the order was granted royal permission to make a postern in the town walls to communicate with their gardens outside the walls. On 19 June 1334, Edward Balliol, claimant to be King of Scotland, did homage to King Edward III, on behalf of the kingdom of Scotland, in the church of the friary. Much of the original buildings of the friary still exist, mainly because, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries the friary of Blackfriars was rented out by the corporation to nine of the local trade guilds.

 

The friary of Whitefriars (Carmelite) was established in 1262. The order was originally housed on the Wall Knoll in Pandon, but in 1307 it took over the buildings of another order, which went out of existence, the Friars of the Sac. The land, which had originally been given by Robert the Bruce, was situated in the present-day Hanover Square, behind the Central station. Nothing of the friary remains now.

 

The friary of Austinfriars (Augustinian) was established in 1290. The friary was on the site where the Holy Jesus Hospital was built in 1682. The friary was traditionally the lodging place of English kings whenever they visited or passed through Newcastle. In 1503 Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII of England, stayed two days at the friary on her way to join her new husband James IV of Scotland.

 

The friary of Greyfriars (Franciscans) was established in 1274. The friary was in the present-day area between Pilgrim Street, Grey Street, Market Street and High Chare. Nothing of the original buildings remains.

 

The friary of the Order of the Holy Trinity, also known as the Trinitarians, was established in 1360. The order devoted a third of its income to buying back captives of the Saracens, during the Crusades. Their house was on the Wall Knoll, in Pandon, to the east of the city, but within the walls. Wall Knoll had previously been occupied by the White Friars until they moved to new premises in 1307.

 

All of the above religious houses were closed in about 1540, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.

 

An important street running through Newcastle at the time was Pilgrim Street, running northwards inside the walls and leading to the Pilgrim Gate on the north wall. The street still exists today as arguably Newcastle's main shopping street.

 

The Scottish border wars continued for much of the 16th century, so that during that time, Newcastle was often threatened with invasion by the Scots, but also remained important as a border stronghold against them.

 

During the Reformation begun by Henry VIII in 1536, the five Newcastle friaries and the single nunnery were dissolved and the land was sold to the Corporation and to rich merchants. At this time there were fewer than 60 inmates of the religious houses in Newcastle. The convent of Blackfriars was leased to nine craft guilds to be used as their headquarters. This probably explains why it is the only one of the religious houses whose building survives to the present day. The priories at Tynemouth and Durham were also dissolved, thus ending the long-running rivalry between Newcastle and the church for control of trade on the Tyne. A little later, the property of the nunnery of St Bartholomew and of Grey Friars were bought by Robert Anderson, who had the buildings demolished to build his grand Newe House (also known as Anderson Place).

 

With the gradual decline of the Scottish border wars the town walls were allowed to decline as well as the castle. By 1547, about 10,000 people were living in Newcastle. At the beginning of the 16th century exports of wool from Newcastle were more than twice the value of exports of coal, but during the century coal exports continued to increase.

 

Under Edward VI, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annexe Gateshead as its suburb. The main reason for this was to allow the Newcastle Hostmen, who controlled the export of Tyne coal, to get their hands on the Gateshead coal mines, previously controlled by the Bishop of Durham. However, when Mary I came to power, Dudley met his downfall and the decision was reversed. The Reformation allowed private access to coal mines previously owned by Tynemouth and Durham priories and as a result coal exports increase dramatically, from 15,000 tons in 1500 to 35,000 tons in 1565, and to 400,000 tons in 1625.

 

The plague visited Newcastle four times during the 16th century, in 1579 when 2,000 people died, in 1589 when 1700 died, in 1595 and finally in 1597.

 

In 1600 Elizabeth I granted Newcastle a charter for an exclusive body of electors, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses. The charter also gave the Hostmen exclusive rights to load coal at any point on the Tyne. The Hostmen developed as an exclusive group within the Merchant Adventurers who had been incorporated by a charter in 1547.

 

In 1636 there was a serious outbreak of bubonic plague in Newcastle. There had been several previous outbreaks of the disease over the years, but this was the most serious. It is thought to have arrived from the Netherlands via ships that were trading between the Tyne and that country. It first appeared in the lower part of the town near the docks but gradually spread to all parts of the town. As the disease gained hold the authorities took measures to control it by boarding up any properties that contained infected persons, meaning that whole families were locked up together with the infected family members. Other infected persons were put in huts outside the town walls and left to die. Plague pits were dug next to the town's four churches and outside the town walls to receive the bodies in mass burials. Over the course of the outbreak 5,631 deaths were recorded out of an estimated population of 12,000, a death rate of 47%.

 

In 1637 Charles I tried to raise money by doubling the 'voluntary' tax on coal in return for allowing the Newcastle Hostmen to regulate production and fix prices. This caused outrage amongst the London importers and the East Anglian shippers. Both groups decided to boycott Tyne coal and as a result forced Charles to reverse his decision in 1638.

 

In 1640 during the Second Bishops' War, the Scots successfully invaded Newcastle. The occupying army demanded £850 per day from the Corporation to billet the Scottish troops. Trade from the Tyne ground to a halt during the occupation. The Scots left in 1641 after receiving a Parliamentary pardon and a £4,000,000 loan from the town.

 

In 1642 the English Civil War began. King Charles realised the value of the Tyne coal trade and therefore garrisoned Newcastle. A Royalist was appointed as governor. At that time, Newcastle and King's Lynn were the only important seaports to support the crown. In 1644 Parliament blockaded the Tyne to prevent the king from receiving revenue from the Tyne coal trade. Coal exports fell from 450,000 to 3,000 tons and London suffered a hard winter without fuel. Parliament encouraged the coal trade from the Wear to try to replace that lost from Newcastle but that was not enough to make up for the lost Tyneside tonnage.

 

In 1644 the Scots crossed the border. Newcastle strengthened its defences in preparation. The Scottish army, with 40,000 troops, besieged Newcastle for three months until the garrison of 1,500 surrendered. During the siege, the Scots bombarded the walls with their artillery, situated in Gateshead and Castle Leazes. The Scottish commander threatened to destroy the steeple of St Nicholas's Church by gunfire if the mayor, Sir John Marley, did not surrender the town. The mayor responded by placing Scottish prisoners that they had captured in the steeple, so saving it from destruction. The town walls were finally breached by a combination of artillery and sapping. In gratitude for this defence, Charles gave Newcastle the motto 'Fortiter Defendit Triumphans' to be added to its coat of arms. The Scottish army occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years. The coal taxes had to pay for the Scottish occupation. In 1645 Charles surrendered to the Scots and was imprisoned in Newcastle for nine months. After the Civil War the coal trade on the Tyne soon picked up and exceeded its pre-war levels.

 

A new Guildhall was completed on the Sandhill next to the river in 1655, replacing an earlier facility damaged by fire in 1639, and became the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council. In 1681 the Hospital of the Holy Jesus was built partly on the site of the Austin Friars. The Guildhall and Holy Jesus Hospital still exist.

 

Charles II tried to impose a charter on Newcastle to give the king the right to appoint the mayor, sheriff, recorder and town clerk. Charles died before the charter came into effect. In 1685, James II tried to replace Corporation members with named Catholics. However, James' mandate was suspended in 1689 after the Glorious Revolution welcoming William of Orange. In 1689, after the fall of James II, the people of Newcastle tore down his bronze equestrian statue in Sandhill and tossed it into the Tyne. The bronze was later used to make bells for All Saints Church.

 

In 1689 the Lort Burn was covered over. At this time it was an open sewer. The channel followed by the Lort Burn became the present day Dean Street. At that time, the centre of Newcastle was still the Sandhill area, with many merchants living along the Close or on the Side. The path of the main road through Newcastle ran from the single Tyne bridge, through Sandhill to the Side, a narrow street which climbed steeply on the north-east side of the castle hill until it reached the higher ground alongside St Nicholas' Church. As Newcastle developed, the Side became lined with buildings with projecting upper stories, so that the main street through Newcastle was a narrow, congested, steep thoroughfare.

 

In 1701 the Keelmen's Hospital was built in the Sandgate area of the city, using funds provided by the keelmen. The building still stands today.

 

In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793, with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages predated the London Library by half a century.

 

In 1715, during the Jacobite rising in favour of the Old Pretender, an army of Jacobite supporters marched on Newcastle. Many of the Northumbrian gentry joined the rebels. The citizens prepared for its arrival by arresting Jacobite supporters and accepting 700 extra recruits into the local militia. The gates of the city were closed against the rebels. This proved enough to delay an attack until reinforcements arrived forcing the rebel army to move across to the west coast. The rebels finally surrendered at Preston.

 

In 1745, during a second Jacobite rising in favour of the Young Pretender, a Scottish army crossed the border led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once again Newcastle prepared by arresting Jacobite supporters and inducting 800 volunteers into the local militia. The town walls were strengthened, most of the gates were blocked up and some 200 cannon were deployed. 20,000 regulars were billeted on the Town Moor. These preparations were enough to force the rebel army to travel south via the west coast. They were eventually defeated at Culloden in 1746.

 

Newcastle's actions during the 1715 rising in resisting the rebels and declaring for George I, in contrast to the rest of the region, is the most likely source of the nickname 'Geordie', applied to people from Tyneside, or more accurately Newcastle. Another theory, however, is that the name 'Geordie' came from the inventor of the Geordie lamp, George Stephenson. It was a type of safety lamp used in mining, but was not invented until 1815. Apparently the term 'German Geordie' was in common use during the 18th century.

 

The city's first hospital, Newcastle Infirmary opened in 1753; it was funded by public subscription. A lying-in hospital was established in Newcastle in 1760. The city's first public hospital for mentally ill patients, Wardens Close Lunatic Hospital was opened in October 1767.

 

In 1771 a flood swept away much of the bridge at Newcastle. The bridge had been built in 1250 and repaired after a flood in 1339. The bridge supported various houses and three towers and an old chapel. A blue stone was placed in the middle of the bridge to mark the boundary between Newcastle and the Palatinate of Durham. A temporary wooden bridge had to be built, and this remained in use until 1781, when a new stone bridge was completed. The new bridge consisted of nine arches. In 1801, because of the pressure of traffic, the bridge had to be widened.

 

A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806. The facilities at the Castle for holding assizes, which had been condemned for their inconvenience and unhealthiness, were replaced when the Moot Hall opened in August 1812.

 

Present-day Newcastle owes much of its architecture to the work of the builder Richard Grainger, aided by architects John Dobson, Thomas Oliver, John and Benjamin Green and others. In 1834 Grainger won a competition to produce a new plan for central Newcastle. He put this plan into effect using the above architects as well as architects employed in his own office. Grainger and Oliver had already built Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and Leazes Place between 1829 and 1834. Grainger and Dobson had also built the Royal Arcade at the foot of Pilgrim Street between 1830 and 1832. The most ambitious project covered 12 acres 12 acres (49,000 m2) in central Newcastle, on the site of Newe House (also called Anderson Place). Grainger built three new thoroughfares, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street with many connecting streets, as well as the Central Exchange and the Grainger Market. John Wardle and George Walker, working in Grainger's office, designed Clayton Street, Grainger Street and most of Grey Street. Dobson designed the Grainger Market and much of the east side of Grey Street. John and Benjamin Green designed the Theatre Royal at the top of Grey Street, where Grainger placed the column of Grey's Monument as a focus for the whole scheme. Grey Street is considered to be one of the finest streets in the country, with its elegant curve. Unfortunately most of old Eldon Square was demolished in the 1960s in the name of progress. The Royal Arcade met a similar fate

 

In 1849 a new bridge was built across the river at Newcastle. This was the High Level Bridge, designed by Robert Stephenson, and slightly up river from the existing bridge. The bridge was designed to carry road and rail traffic across the Tyne Gorge on two decks with rail traffic on the upper deck and road traffic on the lower. The new bridge meant that traffic could pass through Newcastle without having to negotiate the steep, narrow Side, as had been necessary for centuries. The bridge was opened by Queen Victoria, who one year later opened the new Central Station, designed by John Dobson. Trains were now able to cross the river, directly into the centre of Newcastle and carry on up to Scotland. The Army Riding School was also completed in 1849.

 

In 1854 a large fire started on the Gateshead quayside and an explosion caused it to spread across the river to the Newcastle quayside. A huge conflagration amongst the narrow alleys, or 'chares', destroyed the homes of 800 families as well as many business premises. The narrow alleys that had been destroyed were replaced by streets containing blocks of modern offices.

 

In 1863 the Town Hall in St Nicholas Square replaced the Guildhall as the meeting place of Newcastle Town Council.

 

In 1876 the low level bridge was replaced by a new bridge known as the Swing Bridge, so called because the bridge was able to swing horizontally on a central axis and allow ships to pass on either side. This meant that for the first time sizeable ships could pass up-river beyond Newcastle. The bridge was built and paid for by William Armstrong, a local arms manufacturer, who needed to have warships access his Elswick arms factory to fit armaments to them. The Swing Bridge's rotating mechanism is adapted from the cannon mounts developed in Armstrong's arms works. In 1882 the Elswick works began to build ships as well as to arm them. The Barrack Road drill hall was completed in 1890.

 

In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. Newcastle's development as a major city owed most to its central role in the production and export of coal. The phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" was first recorded in 1538; it proverbially denotes bringing a particular commodity to a place that has more than enough of it already.

 

Innovation in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the following:

George Stephenson developed a miner's safety lamp at the same time that Humphry Davy developed a rival design. The lamp made possible the opening up of ever deeper mines to provide the coal that powered the industrial revolution.

George and his son Robert Stephenson were hugely influential figures in the development of the early railways. George developed Blücher, a locomotive working at Killingworth colliery in 1814, whilst Robert was instrumental in the design of Rocket, a revolutionary design that was the forerunner of modern locomotives. Both men were involved in planning and building railway lines, all over this country and abroad.

Joseph Swan demonstrated a working electric light bulb about a year before Thomas Edison did the same in the USA. This led to a dispute as to who had actually invented the light bulb. Eventually the two rivals agreed to form a mutual company between them, the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company, known as Ediswan.

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine, for marine use and for power generation. He used Turbinia, a small, turbine-powered ship, to demonstrate the speed that a steam turbine could generate. Turbinia literally ran rings around the British Fleet at a review at Spithead in 1897.

William Armstrong invented a hydraulic crane that was installed in dockyards up and down the country. He then began to design light, accurate field guns for the British army. These were a vast improvement on the existing guns that were then in use.

 

The following major industries developed in Newcastle or its surrounding area:

A small glass industry existed in Newcastle from the mid-15th century. In 1615 restrictions were put on the use of wood for manufacturing glass. It was found that glass could be manufactured using the local coal, and so a glassmaking industry grew up on Tyneside. Huguenot glassmakers came over from France as refugees from persecution and set up glasshouses in the Skinnerburn area of Newcastle. Eventually, glass production moved to the Ouseburn area of Newcastle. In 1684 the Dagnia family, Sephardic Jewish emigrants from Altare, arrived in Newcastle from Stourbridge and established glasshouses along the Close, to manufacture high quality flint glass. The glass manufacturers used sand ballast from the boats arriving in the river as the main raw material. The glassware was then exported in collier brigs. The period from 1730 to 1785 was the highpoint of Newcastle glass manufacture, when the local glassmakers produced the 'Newcastle Light Baluster'. The glassmaking industry still exists in the west end of the city with local Artist and Glassmaker Jane Charles carrying on over four hundred years of hot glass blowing in Newcastle upon Tyne.

 

In 1823 George Stephenson and his son Robert established the world's first locomotive factory near Forth Street in Newcastle. Here they built locomotives for the Stockton and Darlington Railway and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, as well as many others. It was here that the famous locomotive Rocket was designed and manufactured in preparation for the Rainhill Trials. Apart from building locomotives for the British market, the Newcastle works also produced locomotives for Europe and America. The Forth Street works continued to build locomotives until 1960.

 

In 1296 a wooden, 135 ft (41 m) long galley was constructed at the mouth of the Lort Burn in Newcastle, as part of a twenty-ship order from the king. The ship cost £205, and is the earliest record of shipbuilding in Newcastle. However the rise of the Tyne as a shipbuilding area was due to the need for collier brigs for the coal export trade. These wooden sailing ships were usually built locally, establishing local expertise in building ships. As ships changed from wood to steel, and from sail to steam, the local shipbuilding industry changed to build the new ships. Although shipbuilding was carried out up and down both sides of the river, the two main areas for building ships in Newcastle were Elswick, to the west, and Walker, to the east. By 1800 Tyneside was the third largest producer of ships in Britain. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, lack of modernisation and competition from abroad gradually caused the local industry to decline and die.

 

In 1847 William Armstrong established a huge factory in Elswick, west of Newcastle. This was initially used to produce hydraulic cranes but subsequently began also to produce guns for both the army and the navy. After the Swing Bridge was built in 1876 allowing ships to pass up river, warships could have their armaments fitted alongside the Elswick works. Armstrong's company took over its industrial rival, Joseph Whitworth of Manchester in 1897.

 

Charles Algernon Parsons invented the steam turbine and, in 1889, founded his own company C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton, Newcastle to make steam turbines. Shortly after this, he realised that steam turbines could be used to propel ships and, in 1897, he founded a second company, Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company in Wallsend. It is there that he designed and manufactured Turbinia. Parsons turbines were initially used in warships but soon came to be used in merchant and passenger vessels, including the liner Mauretania which held the blue riband for the Atlantic crossing until 1929. Parsons' company in Heaton began to make turbo-generators for power stations and supplied power stations all over the world. The Heaton works, reduced in size, remains as part of the Siemens AG industrial giant.

 

In 1762 the Maling pottery was founded in Sunderland by French Huguenots, but transferred to Newcastle in 1817. A factory was built in the Ouseburn area of the city. The factory was rebuilt twice, finally occupying a 14-acre (57,000 m2) site that was claimed to be the biggest pottery in the world and which had its own railway station. The pottery pioneered use of machines in making potteries as opposed to hand production. In the 1890s the company went up-market and employed in-house designers. The period up to the Second World War was the most profitable with a constant stream of new designs being introduced. However, after the war, production gradually declined and the company closed in 1963.

 

Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835: the reformed municipal borough included the parishes of Byker, Elswick, Heaton, Jesmond, Newcastle All Saints, Newcastle St Andrew, Newcastle St John, Newcastle St Nicholas, and Westgate. The urban districts of Benwell and Fenham and Walker were added in 1904. In 1935, Newcastle gained Kenton and parts of the parishes of West Brunton, East Denton, Fawdon, Longbenton. The most recent expansion in Newcastle's boundaries took place under the Local Government Act 1972 on 1 April 1974, when Newcastle became a metropolitan borough, also including the urban districts of Gosforth and Newburn, and the parishes of Brunswick, Dinnington, Hazlerigg, North Gosforth and Woolsington from the Castle Ward Rural District, and the village of Westerhope.

 

Meanwhile Northumberland County Council was formed under the Local Government Act 1888 and benefited from a dedicated meeting place when County Hall was completed in the Castle Garth area of Newcastle in 1910. Following the Local Government Act 1972 County Hall relocated to Morpeth in April 1981.

 

In 1925 work began on a new high-level road bridge to span the Tyne Gorge between Newcastle and Gateshead. The capacity of the existing High-Level Bridge and Swing Bridge were being strained to the limit, and an additional bridge had been discussed for a long time. The contract was awarded to the Dorman Long Company and the bridge was finally opened by King George V in 1928. The road deck was 84 feet (26 m) above the river and was supported by a 531 feet (162 m) steel arch. The new Tyne Bridge quickly became a symbol for Newcastle and Tyneside, and remains so today.

 

During the Second World War, Newcastle was largely spared the horrors inflicted upon other British cities bombed during the Blitz. Although the armaments factories and shipyards along the River Tyne were targeted by the Luftwaffe, they largely escaped unscathed. Manors goods yard and railway terminal, to the east of the city centre, and the suburbs of Jesmond and Heaton suffered bombing during 1941. There were 141 deaths and 587 injuries, a relatively small figure compared to the casualties in other industrial centres of Britain.

 

In 1963 the city gained its own university, the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, by act of parliament. A School of Medicine and Surgery had been established in Newcastle in 1834. This eventually developed into a college of medicine attached to Durham University. A college of physical science was also founded and became Armstrong College in 1904. In 1934 the two colleges merged to become King's College, Durham. This remained as part of Durham University until the new university was created in 1963. In 1992 the city gained its second university when Newcastle Polytechnic was granted university status as Northumbria University.

 

Newcastle City Council moved to the new Newcastle Civic Centre in 1968.

 

As heavy industries declined in the second half of the 20th century, large sections of the city centre were demolished along with many areas of slum housing. The leading political figure in the city during the 1960s was T. Dan Smith who oversaw a massive building programme of highrise housing estates and authorised the demolition of a quarter of the Georgian Grainger Town to make way for Eldon Square Shopping Centre. Smith's control in Newcastle collapsed when it was exposed that he had used public contracts to advantage himself and his business associates and for a time Newcastle became a byword for civic corruption as depicted in the films Get Carter and Stormy Monday and in the television series Our Friends in the North. However, much of the historic Grainger Town area survived and was, for the most part, fully restored in the late 1990s. Northumberland Street, initially the A1, was gradually closed to traffic from the 1970s and completely pedestrianised by 1998.

 

In 1978 a new rapid transport system, the Metro, was built, linking the Tyneside area. The system opened in August 1980. A new bridge was built to carry the Metro across the river between Gateshead and Newcastle. This was the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, commonly known as the Metro Bridge. Eventually the Metro system was extended to reach Newcastle Airport in 1991, and in 2002 the Metro system was extended to the nearby city of Sunderland.

 

As the 20th century progressed, trade on the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides gradually declined, until by the 1980s both sides of the river were looking rather derelict. Shipping company offices had closed along with offices of firms related to shipping. There were also derelict warehouses lining the riverbank. Local government produced a master plan to re-develop the Newcastle quayside and this was begun in the 1990s. New offices, restaurants, bars and residential accommodation were built and the area has changed in the space of a few years into a vibrant area, partially returning the focus of Newcastle to the riverside, where it was in medieval times.

 

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge, a foot and cycle bridge, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 413 feet (126 m) long, was completed in 2001. The road deck is in the form of a curve and is supported by a steel arch. To allow ships to pass, the whole structure, both arch and road-deck, rotates on huge bearings at either end so that the road deck is lifted. The bridge can be said to open and shut like a human eye. It is an important addition to the re-developed quayside area, providing a vital link between the Newcastle and Gateshead quaysides.

 

Today the city is a vibrant centre for office and retail employment, but just a short distance away there are impoverished inner-city housing estates, in areas originally built to provide affordable housing for employees of the shipyards and other heavy industries that lined the River Tyne. In the 2010s Newcastle City Council began implementing plans to regenerate these depressed areas, such as those along the Ouseburn Valley.
All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk by Jelltex

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk.

 

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beasts, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

All Saints is a large, remarkably good church in one of the sleepy, fat villages along the Cambridgeshire border, the sort of place you cycle through and imagine wistfully that you've won the lottery and could move there. The wide churchyard on both sides is a perfect setting for the church, which rises to heaven out of a perpendicular splendour of aisles, clerestories and battlements. The tower was complete by the 1470s when money was being left for a bell. The earlier chancel steadies the ship, anchoring it to earth quietly, although the tall east window has its spectacular moment too. And you step into a deliciously well-kept interior, full of interest.

One of the most significant medieval survivals here is not easily noticed. This is the range of 15th Century glass, which was reset by the Victorians high in the clerestory. This seems a curious thing to have done, since it defeats the purpose of a clerestory, but if they had not done so then we might have lost it. The glass matches the tracery in the north aisle windows, so that is probably where they came from. There are angels, three Saints and some shields, most of which are heraldic but two show the instruments of the passion and the Holy Trinity. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the shields are 19th century, but the figures are all original late 15th or early 16th century. The Saints are an unidentified Bishop, the hacksaw-wielding St Faith and one of my favourites, St Apollonia. She it was who was invoked by medieval people against toothache.

 

Waling from the nave up into the chancel, the space created by the clearing of clutter makes it at once mysterious and beautiful. Above, the early 16th century waggon roof is Suffolk's best of its kind. Mortlock points out the little angels bearing scrolls, the wheat ears and the vine sprays, and the surviving traces of colour. The low side window on the south side still has its hinges, for here it was that updraught to the rood would have sent the candles flickering in the mystical church of the 14th century. On the south side of the sanctuary is an exquisitely carved arched recess, that doesn't appear to have ever had a door, and may have been a very rare purpose-built Easter sepulchre at the time of the 1330s rebuilding. Opposite is a huge and stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast. It is one of the most significant Decorated moments in Suffolk.

 

On the floor of the chancel there is a tiny, perfect chalice brass, one of only two surviving in Suffolk. The other is at Rendham. Not far away is the indent of another chalice brass - or perhaps it was for the same one, and the brass has been moved for some reason. There are two chalice indents at Westhall, but nowhere else in Suffolk. Chalice brasses were popular memorials for Priests in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and thus were fair game for reformers. Heigham memorials of the late 16th century are on the walls. Back in the south aisle there is a splendid tombchest in Purbeck marble. It has lost its brasses, but the indents show us where they were, as do other indents in the aisle floors. Some heraldic brass shields survive, and show that Heighams were buried here. Brass inscriptions survive in the nave and the chancel, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

 

The 14th century font is a good example of the tracery pattern series that appeared in the decades before the Black Death. They may have been intended to spread ideas at that time of great artistic and intellectual flowering before it was so cruelly snatched away. The cover is 17th Century. At this end of the nave are two good ranges of medieval benches, one, rare in East Anglia, is a group of 14th Century benches with pierced tracery backs. Some of them appear to spell out words, and Mortlock thought one might say Salaman Sayet. The block of benches to the north appears to be 15th Century or possibly early 16th Century. Further north, the early 17th Century benches are simpler, even cruder, and were likely the work of the village carpenter.

 

All rather lovely then. And yet, it hasn't always been that way. All Saints at Gazeley, near Newmarket, was the first church that I visited after an international team of scientists conclusively proved that God did not exist began the first page for this church that I wrote in 2003, in a satirical mood after finding the church locked and at a very low ebb. At a time when congregations were generally falling, I'd been thinking about the future of medieval churches beyond a time when they would have people to use them in the traditional way. I wondered if the buildings might find new uses, or could adapt themselves to changing patterns and emphases in Christianity, or even changing spiritual needs of their parishes. Even if science could somehow prove that God did not exist, I suggested, there were parishes which would rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves, as churches have always done over the two millennia of Christianity. Coming to Gazeley I felt that here was a church which felt as if it had been abandoned. And yet, it seemed to me a church of such significance, such historical and spiritual importance, that its loss would be a disaster. If it had been clean, tidy and open at the time he was visiting, Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Churches would not have been able to resist it. Should the survival of such a treasure store depend upon the existence of God or the continued practice of the Christian faith? Or might there be other reasons to keep this extraordinary building in something like its present integrity?

 

In the first decade of the 21st Century, Gazeley church went on a tremendous journey, from being moribund to being the wonderful church you can visit today. If you want to read the slightly adapted 2006 entry for Gazeley, recounting this journey, you can do so here. Coming back here today always fills me with optimism for what can be achieved. On one occasion I mentioned my experiences of Gazeley church to a Catholic Priest friend of mine, and he said he hoped I knew I'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And perhaps that is so. Certainly, the energy and imagination of the people here have been fired by something. On that occasion I had wanted to find someone to ask about it, to find out how things stood now. But there was no one, and so the building spoke for them.

 

Back outside in the graveyard, the dog daisies clustered and waved their sun-kissed faces in the light breeze. The ancient building must have known many late-May days like this over the centuries, but think of all the changes that it has known inside! The general buffeting of the winds of history still leaves room for local squalls and lightning strikes. All Saints has known these, but for now a blessed calm reigns here. Long may it remain so.

 

Simon Knott, June 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/gazeley.htm
All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk by Jelltex

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk.

 

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beats, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

All Saints is a large, remarkably good church in one of the sleepy, fat villages along the Cambridgeshire border, the sort of place you cycle through and imagine wistfully that you've won the lottery and could move there. The wide churchyard on both sides is a perfect setting for the church, which rises to heaven out of a perpendicular splendour of aisles, clerestories and battlements. The tower was complete by the 1470s when money was being left for a bell. The earlier chancel steadies the ship, anchoring it to earth quietly, although the tall east window has its spectacular moment too. And you step into a deliciously well-kept interior, full of interest.

One of the most significant medieval survivals here is not easily noticed. This is the range of 15th Century glass, which was reset by the Victorians high in the clerestory. This seems a curious thing to have done, since it defeats the purpose of a clerestory, but if they had not done so then we might have lost it. The glass matches the tracery in the north aisle windows, so that is probably where they came from. There are angels, three Saints and some shields, most of which are heraldic but two show the instruments of the passion and the Holy Trinity. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the shields are 19th century, but the figures are all original late 15th or early 16th century. The Saints are an unidentified Bishop, the hacksaw-wielding St Faith and one of my favourites, St Apollonia. She it was who was invoked by medieval people against toothache.

 

Waling from the nave up into the chancel, the space created by the clearing of clutter makes it at once mysterious and beautiful. Above, the early 16th century waggon roof is Suffolk's best of its kind. Mortlock points out the little angels bearing scrolls, the wheat ears and the vine sprays, and the surviving traces of colour. The low side window on the south side still has its hinges, for here it was that updraught to the rood would have sent the candles flickering in the mystical church of the 14th century. On the south side of the sanctuary is an exquisitely carved arched recess, that doesn't appear to have ever had a door, and may have been a very rare purpose-built Easter sepulchre at the time of the 1330s rebuilding. Opposite is a huge and stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast. It is one of the most significant Decorated moments in Suffolk.

 

On the floor of the chancel there is a tiny, perfect chalice brass, one of only two surviving in Suffolk. The other is at Rendham. Not far away is the indent of another chalice brass - or perhaps it was for the same one, and the brass has been moved for some reason. There are two chalice indents at Westhall, but nowhere else in Suffolk. Chalice brasses were popular memorials for Priests in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and thus were fair game for reformers. Heigham memorials of the late 16th century are on the walls. Back in the south aisle there is a splendid tombchest in Purbeck marble. It has lost its brasses, but the indents show us where they were, as do other indents in the aisle floors. Some heraldic brass shields survive, and show that Heighams were buried here. Brass inscriptions survive in the nave and the chancel, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

 

The 14th century font is a good example of the tracery pattern series that appeared in the decades before the Black Death. They may have been intended to spread ideas at that time of great artistic and intellectual flowering before it was so cruelly snatched away. The cover is 17th Century. At this end of the nave are two good ranges of medieval benches, one, rare in East Anglia, is a group of 14th Century benches with pierced tracery backs. Some of them appear to spell out words, and Mortlock thought one might say Salaman Sayet. The block of benches to the north appears to be 15th Century or possibly early 16th Century. Further north, the early 17th Century benches are simpler, even cruder, and were likely the work of the village carpenter.

 

All rather lovely then. And yet, it hasn't always been that way. All Saints at Gazeley, near Newmarket, was the first church that I visited after an international team of scientists conclusively proved that God did not exist began the first page for this church that I wrote in 2003, in a satirical mood after finding the church locked and at a very low ebb. At a time when congregations were generally falling, I'd been thinking about the future of medieval churches beyond a time when they would have people to use them in the traditional way. I wondered if the buildings might find new uses, or could adapt themselves to changing patterns and emphases in Christianity, or even changing spiritual needs of their parishes. Even if science could somehow prove that God did not exist, I suggested, there were parishes which would rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves, as churches have always done over the two millennia of Christianity. Coming to Gazeley I felt that here was a church which felt as if it had been abandoned. And yet, it seemed to me a church of such significance, such historical and spiritual importance, that its loss would be a disaster. If it had been clean, tidy and open at the time he was visiting, Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Churches would not have been able to resist it. Should the survival of such a treasure store depend upon the existence of God or the continued practice of the Christian faith? Or might there be other reasons to keep this extraordinary building in something like its present integrity?

 

In the first decade of the 21st Century, Gazeley church went on a tremendous journey, from being moribund to being the wonderful church you can visit today. If you want to read the slightly adapted 2006 entry for Gazeley, recounting this journey, you can do so here. Coming back here today always fills me with optimism for what can be achieved. On one occasion I mentioned my experiences of Gazeley church to a Catholic Priest friend of mine, and he said he hoped I knew I'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And perhaps that is so. Certainly, the energy and imagination of the people here have been fired by something. On that occasion I had wanted to find someone to ask about it, to find out how things stood now. But there was no one, and so the building spoke for them.

 

Back outside in the graveyard, the dog daisies clustered and waved their sun-kissed faces in the light breeze. The ancient building must have known many late-May days like this over the centuries, but think of all the changes that it has known inside! The general buffeting of the winds of history still leaves room for local squalls and lightning strikes. All Saints has known these, but for now a blessed calm reigns here. Long may it remain so.

 

Simon Knott, June 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/gazeley.htm
What’s the Origin of Eastern Lightning? by Tom Lee

en.easternlightning.org/about-us/eastern-lightning-come-f...

  

We are now in the last days, the prophecies of the Lord’s return have basically been fulfilled, and thousands upon thousands of pious believers are fervently hoping for the Lord Jesus’ return. At the same time, however, Eastern Lightning has openly given testimony that the Lord Jesus has already returned—that is, Almighty God, the incarnation of the last days—and that He has already done His work of judgment beginning with God’s house. The emergence of Eastern Lightning has shaken the whole religious world as well as all those who sincerely believe in God and thirst for the truth. Through seeking and investigating the words and work of Almighty God, many people confirm that Almighty God is the returned Lord Jesus, and one after another they come before Almighty God . This has thrown pastors and elders of the religious world as well as the CCP government into a panic; they collude together to suppress and outlaw Eastern Lightning, fabricating many rumors and savagely condemning and vilifying Eastern Lightning as heresy. They do all they can to obstruct and harass sincere believers who want to seek and investigate the appearance and work of Almighty God in the last days. The historical tragedy of the Jewish religious world allying itself with the Roman government to cruelly oppress the Lord Jesus is being played out again. Opinions vary as to whether or not Eastern Lightning is the return of the Lord Jesus, and whether or not it is God’s work; some people follow along with the pastors and elders of the religious world in their denial and condemnation, but there are also some who believe Eastern Lightning is related to the Lord Jesus’ prophecy in the Bible that says, “For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:27), and that it is connected to the coming of the Son of man in the last days. So what really is the origin of Eastern Lightning? Is it God’s work, and what kind of mysteries does it hold?

All who understand God’s work know that God’s work is ever new and unceasing in its onward progression. For example, in the Age of Law God worked through the Spirit and issued the laws that would guide man’s lives on earth. Then, in the Age of Grace, God was incarnated and appeared as the Son of man to do His work, healing the sick and casting out demons, performing many miraculous deeds and expressing the way of “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). He was then nailed upon the cross and completed His work to redeem all mankind. But people don’t know God’s work, and on top of that have an arrogant satanic nature, and are all very self-righteous, rigid and stubborn. They also cling to notions and imaginings, to the point where they even become sick of the truth and hate the truth. This is why every time God performs a new work, He must suffer the wild blasphemy, persecution and condemnation of the religious world and the ruling powers. Those who spread and testify to God’s new work can also be slapped with all manner of charges and disparaging terms, as well as being persecuted. This fact is recorded in the New Testament: In order to save mankind from the danger of being punished for breaking laws they couldn’t keep, God was incarnated in the image of the Lord Jesus and began the work of redemption in the Age of Grace. When the Lord Jesus was performing His work in Judea, He performed many miraculous deeds, healed the sick and cast out demons, bestowed on man an abundance of grace and expressed many truths. This is sufficient to prove that the Lord Jesus was God Himself and that He was the Messiah the Israelites had so longed for. However, the Jewish chief priests, scribes and Pharisees stubbornly clung to religious notions and simply refused to believe that Jesus was the Messiah they had longed for for so long. On the contrary, they scoured the Bible for things to use against Jesus, they slandered, judged and condemned the Lord Jesus’ work as heresy (see Acts 24:14) and Jesus Himself as the “ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes” (see Acts 24:5). They deceived and incited the Jewish people to condemn the Lord Jesus, and allied themselves with the Roman government to crucify Him. This is why the entire Jewish nation offended God’s disposition and suffered unprecedented destruction. It is evident that something that is condemned and resisted by the religious world and those in power is not necessarily wrong, that it is highly probable that it comes from God and is God’s work. Therefore, when investigating whether or not something is the work of God, one cannot make this judgment based on whether or not the religious world and those in power acknowledge or accept it. We can see from all the works done in the Age of Law and the Age of Grace that, to determine whether something is or is not the work of God, it mainly depends on whether what is expressed by that way is or is not the truth, whether or not it is something urgently needed by mankind at the present moment, and whether or not it is the work of the Holy Spirit. Only in this way can it be discerned whether or not it is the work of God in its essence—this is most crucial.

 

Mankind’s corruption is growing deeper and deeper in the last days. Man is entirely under the control of their satanic, corrupt nature, often committing sins involuntarily, all living lives of sinning by day and confessing by night—they are living in unbearable pain. Mankind is becoming more and more distant from God, and their hope for attaining salvation is becoming more and more remote. In order to save man from this never-ending predicament of sinning and confessing, confessing and sinning, and so they can thoroughly cast off their satanic, corrupt dispositions as well as the constraints and fetters of sin so that they are cleansed and attain God’s salvation, God has once again become flesh to express the truth and judge corrupt mankind, and He performs a new stage of work to utterly purify and save mankind. This time, God was incarnated in the East of the world—in China—appearing and performing His work. He has brought the Age of Grace to a close and begun the Age of Kingdom, He has brought higher, more abundant truths than ever before, He has unveiled the mysteries of all of God’s works since the creation of the world, and He has bestowed upon man all the truths to cleanse and save them. Those who accept the work of Almighty God in the last days have come to understand many truths from the words expressed by Almighty God, they have clearly seen that Almighty God who expresses the truth in the last days is truly the returned Lord Jesus, they have gained clear knowledge of their own corrupt nature and the root cause of their sins, they have found the path to resolve their satanic and corrupt dispositions, and their hearts are bright and clear. By experiencing the judgment, chastisement, trials and refinement of God’s words, their life dispositions are constantly changing, they see the hope of salvation, and they have true knowledge of God’s good and holy essence as well as His righteous and inviolable disposition. They have a more practical understanding and knowledge of what God has and is, such as His almightiness, wisdom and authority, and they can all perceive that their belief in God is no longer empty or vague, but instead is becoming more and more real. They truly experience God as so dear and lovely, thus giving rise to a God-fearing heart. They have developed true obedience and consideration for God, and they all clearly appreciate that Almighty God’s work of judgment in the last days can indeed purify and save man. In the last days, the time of Almighty God’s work of judgment and purification is short and it moves very quickly, like a bolt of lightning. In just over two short decades, God’s gospel of the kingdom has spread throughout the Chinese mainland and has made a group of overcomers, and now the gospel is rapidly expanding to all nations, to all corners of the world. This precisely fulfills the Lord Jesus’ prophecy: “For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:27). Nevertheless, the pastors and elders of the religious world stubbornly cling to religious notions and, faced with God’s new work that is at odds with man’s notions, not only do they not seek or investigate it, but they brandish the Bible and hunt for mistakes which they can use against God, recklessly judging and condemning Almighty God’s work in the last days, and vilifying The Church of Almighty God as the “Eastern Lightning sect” and as heresy. Their actions and deeds are cut from the same cloth as those of the Jewish chief priests, scribes and Pharisees when they condemned the Lord Jesus. That they can defy and attack God’s work in the last days so, and obstruct people from looking into and following God’s footsteps and obeying God’s work, does that not truly make them modern-day Pharisees who defy and condemn Christ? Is the essence of their actions not hating the truth and blaspheming against the Holy Spirit? The savage condemnation of Almighty God’s appearance and work by the leaders of the religious world also completely fulfills the Lord Jesus’ words when He prophesied His return: “For as the lightning, that lightens out of the one part under heaven, shines to the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in His day. But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation” (Luke 17:24–25).

  

Image Source:The Church of Almighty God

 

From：Eastern Lightning

 

Terms of Use: <a href="https://en.easternlightning.org/disclaimer.html"

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk by Jelltex

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk.

 

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beasts, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

All Saints is a large, remarkably good church in one of the sleepy, fat villages along the Cambridgeshire border, the sort of place you cycle through and imagine wistfully that you've won the lottery and could move there. The wide churchyard on both sides is a perfect setting for the church, which rises to heaven out of a perpendicular splendour of aisles, clerestories and battlements. The tower was complete by the 1470s when money was being left for a bell. The earlier chancel steadies the ship, anchoring it to earth quietly, although the tall east window has its spectacular moment too. And you step into a deliciously well-kept interior, full of interest.

One of the most significant medieval survivals here is not easily noticed. This is the range of 15th Century glass, which was reset by the Victorians high in the clerestory. This seems a curious thing to have done, since it defeats the purpose of a clerestory, but if they had not done so then we might have lost it. The glass matches the tracery in the north aisle windows, so that is probably where they came from. There are angels, three Saints and some shields, most of which are heraldic but two show the instruments of the passion and the Holy Trinity. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the shields are 19th century, but the figures are all original late 15th or early 16th century. The Saints are an unidentified Bishop, the hacksaw-wielding St Faith and one of my favourites, St Apollonia. She it was who was invoked by medieval people against toothache.

 

Waling from the nave up into the chancel, the space created by the clearing of clutter makes it at once mysterious and beautiful. Above, the early 16th century waggon roof is Suffolk's best of its kind. Mortlock points out the little angels bearing scrolls, the wheat ears and the vine sprays, and the surviving traces of colour. The low side window on the south side still has its hinges, for here it was that updraught to the rood would have sent the candles flickering in the mystical church of the 14th century. On the south side of the sanctuary is an exquisitely carved arched recess, that doesn't appear to have ever had a door, and may have been a very rare purpose-built Easter sepulchre at the time of the 1330s rebuilding. Opposite is a huge and stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast. It is one of the most significant Decorated moments in Suffolk.

 

On the floor of the chancel there is a tiny, perfect chalice brass, one of only two surviving in Suffolk. The other is at Rendham. Not far away is the indent of another chalice brass - or perhaps it was for the same one, and the brass has been moved for some reason. There are two chalice indents at Westhall, but nowhere else in Suffolk. Chalice brasses were popular memorials for Priests in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and thus were fair game for reformers. Heigham memorials of the late 16th century are on the walls. Back in the south aisle there is a splendid tombchest in Purbeck marble. It has lost its brasses, but the indents show us where they were, as do other indents in the aisle floors. Some heraldic brass shields survive, and show that Heighams were buried here. Brass inscriptions survive in the nave and the chancel, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

 

The 14th century font is a good example of the tracery pattern series that appeared in the decades before the Black Death. They may have been intended to spread ideas at that time of great artistic and intellectual flowering before it was so cruelly snatched away. The cover is 17th Century. At this end of the nave are two good ranges of medieval benches, one, rare in East Anglia, is a group of 14th Century benches with pierced tracery backs. Some of them appear to spell out words, and Mortlock thought one might say Salaman Sayet. The block of benches to the north appears to be 15th Century or possibly early 16th Century. Further north, the early 17th Century benches are simpler, even cruder, and were likely the work of the village carpenter.

 

All rather lovely then. And yet, it hasn't always been that way. All Saints at Gazeley, near Newmarket, was the first church that I visited after an international team of scientists conclusively proved that God did not exist began the first page for this church that I wrote in 2003, in a satirical mood after finding the church locked and at a very low ebb. At a time when congregations were generally falling, I'd been thinking about the future of medieval churches beyond a time when they would have people to use them in the traditional way. I wondered if the buildings might find new uses, or could adapt themselves to changing patterns and emphases in Christianity, or even changing spiritual needs of their parishes. Even if science could somehow prove that God did not exist, I suggested, there were parishes which would rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves, as churches have always done over the two millennia of Christianity. Coming to Gazeley I felt that here was a church which felt as if it had been abandoned. And yet, it seemed to me a church of such significance, such historical and spiritual importance, that its loss would be a disaster. If it had been clean, tidy and open at the time he was visiting, Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Churches would not have been able to resist it. Should the survival of such a treasure store depend upon the existence of God or the continued practice of the Christian faith? Or might there be other reasons to keep this extraordinary building in something like its present integrity?

 

In the first decade of the 21st Century, Gazeley church went on a tremendous journey, from being moribund to being the wonderful church you can visit today. If you want to read the slightly adapted 2006 entry for Gazeley, recounting this journey, you can do so here. Coming back here today always fills me with optimism for what can be achieved. On one occasion I mentioned my experiences of Gazeley church to a Catholic Priest friend of mine, and he said he hoped I knew I'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And perhaps that is so. Certainly, the energy and imagination of the people here have been fired by something. On that occasion I had wanted to find someone to ask about it, to find out how things stood now. But there was no one, and so the building spoke for them.

 

Back outside in the graveyard, the dog daisies clustered and waved their sun-kissed faces in the light breeze. The ancient building must have known many late-May days like this over the centuries, but think of all the changes that it has known inside! The general buffeting of the winds of history still leaves room for local squalls and lightning strikes. All Saints has known these, but for now a blessed calm reigns here. Long may it remain so.

 

Simon Knott, June 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/gazeley.htm
All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk by Jelltex

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk.

 

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beasts, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

All Saints is a large, remarkably good church in one of the sleepy, fat villages along the Cambridgeshire border, the sort of place you cycle through and imagine wistfully that you've won the lottery and could move there. The wide churchyard on both sides is a perfect setting for the church, which rises to heaven out of a perpendicular splendour of aisles, clerestories and battlements. The tower was complete by the 1470s when money was being left for a bell. The earlier chancel steadies the ship, anchoring it to earth quietly, although the tall east window has its spectacular moment too. And you step into a deliciously well-kept interior, full of interest.

One of the most significant medieval survivals here is not easily noticed. This is the range of 15th Century glass, which was reset by the Victorians high in the clerestory. This seems a curious thing to have done, since it defeats the purpose of a clerestory, but if they had not done so then we might have lost it. The glass matches the tracery in the north aisle windows, so that is probably where they came from. There are angels, three Saints and some shields, most of which are heraldic but two show the instruments of the passion and the Holy Trinity. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the shields are 19th century, but the figures are all original late 15th or early 16th century. The Saints are an unidentified Bishop, the hacksaw-wielding St Faith and one of my favourites, St Apollonia. She it was who was invoked by medieval people against toothache.

 

Waling from the nave up into the chancel, the space created by the clearing of clutter makes it at once mysterious and beautiful. Above, the early 16th century waggon roof is Suffolk's best of its kind. Mortlock points out the little angels bearing scrolls, the wheat ears and the vine sprays, and the surviving traces of colour. The low side window on the south side still has its hinges, for here it was that updraught to the rood would have sent the candles flickering in the mystical church of the 14th century. On the south side of the sanctuary is an exquisitely carved arched recess, that doesn't appear to have ever had a door, and may have been a very rare purpose-built Easter sepulchre at the time of the 1330s rebuilding. Opposite is a huge and stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast. It is one of the most significant Decorated moments in Suffolk.

 

On the floor of the chancel there is a tiny, perfect chalice brass, one of only two surviving in Suffolk. The other is at Rendham. Not far away is the indent of another chalice brass - or perhaps it was for the same one, and the brass has been moved for some reason. There are two chalice indents at Westhall, but nowhere else in Suffolk. Chalice brasses were popular memorials for Priests in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and thus were fair game for reformers. Heigham memorials of the late 16th century are on the walls. Back in the south aisle there is a splendid tombchest in Purbeck marble. It has lost its brasses, but the indents show us where they were, as do other indents in the aisle floors. Some heraldic brass shields survive, and show that Heighams were buried here. Brass inscriptions survive in the nave and the chancel, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

 

The 14th century font is a good example of the tracery pattern series that appeared in the decades before the Black Death. They may have been intended to spread ideas at that time of great artistic and intellectual flowering before it was so cruelly snatched away. The cover is 17th Century. At this end of the nave are two good ranges of medieval benches, one, rare in East Anglia, is a group of 14th Century benches with pierced tracery backs. Some of them appear to spell out words, and Mortlock thought one might say Salaman Sayet. The block of benches to the north appears to be 15th Century or possibly early 16th Century. Further north, the early 17th Century benches are simpler, even cruder, and were likely the work of the village carpenter.

 

All rather lovely then. And yet, it hasn't always been that way. All Saints at Gazeley, near Newmarket, was the first church that I visited after an international team of scientists conclusively proved that God did not exist began the first page for this church that I wrote in 2003, in a satirical mood after finding the church locked and at a very low ebb. At a time when congregations were generally falling, I'd been thinking about the future of medieval churches beyond a time when they would have people to use them in the traditional way. I wondered if the buildings might find new uses, or could adapt themselves to changing patterns and emphases in Christianity, or even changing spiritual needs of their parishes. Even if science could somehow prove that God did not exist, I suggested, there were parishes which would rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves, as churches have always done over the two millennia of Christianity. Coming to Gazeley I felt that here was a church which felt as if it had been abandoned. And yet, it seemed to me a church of such significance, such historical and spiritual importance, that its loss would be a disaster. If it had been clean, tidy and open at the time he was visiting, Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Churches would not have been able to resist it. Should the survival of such a treasure store depend upon the existence of God or the continued practice of the Christian faith? Or might there be other reasons to keep this extraordinary building in something like its present integrity?

 

In the first decade of the 21st Century, Gazeley church went on a tremendous journey, from being moribund to being the wonderful church you can visit today. If you want to read the slightly adapted 2006 entry for Gazeley, recounting this journey, you can do so here. Coming back here today always fills me with optimism for what can be achieved. On one occasion I mentioned my experiences of Gazeley church to a Catholic Priest friend of mine, and he said he hoped I knew I'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And perhaps that is so. Certainly, the energy and imagination of the people here have been fired by something. On that occasion I had wanted to find someone to ask about it, to find out how things stood now. But there was no one, and so the building spoke for them.

 

Back outside in the graveyard, the dog daisies clustered and waved their sun-kissed faces in the light breeze. The ancient building must have known many late-May days like this over the centuries, but think of all the changes that it has known inside! The general buffeting of the winds of history still leaves room for local squalls and lightning strikes. All Saints has known these, but for now a blessed calm reigns here. Long may it remain so.

 

Simon Knott, June 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/gazeley.htm
Genest Le Colimacon 1576pc Secret Mystery Group Project 8hrs Stage 1 DSC07453 by dajavous

Genest stack cut three puzzles for a group project - this is my first progress report. Bob finished in August and Mike in late December. It took me about two and a half hours to lay out the pieces and this is after 8hrs of assembly work.

 

The 1576pc puzzle will measure 60 x 46.5cm when complete. When I started all I knew about the image was that it was a period painting and religious - but not Bosch or the Temptation of St Anthony. Spreading the pieces out I thought there was only one figure, a woman, and possibly a dragon, plus lots of wooden frame. I remember getting a little panicky - what have I done - about 20minutes in!

 

Working through the most colourful tray I spotted another face - so a two-person image, probably an Annunciation. I also spotted an old man (who turned out to be God in the sky - instead of the usual Dove representing the Holy Spirit). There is also a small woman and a dog. Rather worryingly I appear to have five hands!
MYSHEEP by Don Bantum

The whole time I went to church as a youth. Never had I heard that Jesus was in fact, GOD! You'd think that bit of information would be vastly important to people claiming to be presenting truth to their audience?

 

That Fact had to be revealed to me by the Holy Spirit himself, much like many other facts the so-called clergy seemed to have no knowledge of whatsoever. I mean, God tells us this in the scripture, why is that left out of the sermons?

 

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It's the trinity of the God head. God has a name, it's Jesus. Is that not important? No, what's important is filling buildings to capacity so they can collect and offering of forced tithes and offerings to keep the clergy in the lap of luxury. And they also don't want us to know that there is NO TITHING under the New Covenant in the blood of Jesus. Because tithing was for the sole purpose of supporting the Levitical Priesthood. Because the Levite's weren't allowed to own anything, or work to support themselves or their families out side serving the Lord both day and night. So all they had was what the rest of the Israelites gave them in offerings. Another little fact left out of the sermons.

 

People today are also not told that the way churches, religious clubs and entertainment centers are made up is in no way representative of what the Church was originally. We aren't told that the Roman Emperor Constantine I, in the third century made the Christian Religion the State religion, forcing people into buildings they called church. It wasn't an option, you either went or suffered the consequences. Some times that could be death. But that's all man's idea, has NOTHING to do with God. Does anybody care? Not much it would seem. Why, because it is so much easier to extract money from people when they are all gathered together in a holding pen.

 

Originally Churches were in homes where families worshipped God, and were actual Christians, children of God. They met daily from house to house to hear the Apostle teaching, fellowship and prayer. That's how the gospel was spread. Christianity was a personal one, one on one with the God that created the Universe. But we've come to this herd mentality today because of the traditions of men, thinking the only way to worship God is by having giant buildings where people are herded into by the thousands, and robbed of the truth, and robbed of whatever income God has given them to support not a building of hierarchy "clergy elite" depleted of the truth, creating wonderful religious stories to keep those in attendance as ignorant about God as they were when they arrived.

 

The only biggies in the Church were it's original hand picked disciples and apostles by Jesus himself. They alone where the church fathers, they actually penned the Bible or an amanuensis of an Apostle, such as St. Luke. But when St. John died, the cannon was closed and there is no more Apostles to be heard from. No further information to he had. It's all in God's word, the Holy Bible. And I'm not sure why anybody would want to get there information second hand from somebody who went to a seminary being brainwashed into some particular denomination of men, with their distorted view of what it means to be a Christian. When you can get it first hand, from the Holy Scripture being taught by the Holy Spirit that Lives in a believer. God said that "HE" would lead us into ALL truth, not some self-serving guru of men, which wouldn't really tell you the truth if he actually knew what it was? Because if he was telling you TRUTH he would be destroying your need of Him.

 

Jesus came to set the captives Free from all Religious trappings of men. Jesus himself wants a personal relationship with YOU! He doesn't want YOU to have a middleman, that serves to insulate YOU from HIM. Because they want you to support them rest of their lives while they twist the word of God to keep you dependent on them rather than the GOD who lives in you? Does that make any sense to you?

 

Jesus wants his Children dependent on Him and Him alone. Why do you suppose He went to all the trouble to have his words, written down so you could KNOW what TRUTH IS, not guess. But if Jesus doesn't live in you, through the power of the Holy Spirit of God, you won't be able to understand what is written, because it is all Spiritually Discerned. GOD wants to lead YOU into ALL TRUTH, through a personal relationship with the one who created the universe and everything in it, including us. So I have to wonder, why would anybody in their right mind want a middle man that is only there to pick your pockets and rob you of the truth that can set you free?

 

If you can't understand the scripture, that's okay because it is extremely easy to fix. All you have to do is come to real Faith in Jesus Christ and his Gospel, which is as stated in 1 Corinthians 15 through St. Paul the Apostle. Which reads,

 

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of FIRST importance: that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS according to the Scriptures, 4 that HE WAS BURIED, that HE WAS RAISED ON THE THIRD DAY according to the Scriptures, (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

 

That's the gospel that has the power to save, which is Life to the Spiritually dead, IF you really believe it and put your faith in the fact that YOU ARE FORGIVEN, you don't get forgiven, we were all born forgiven, because Jesus didn't die yesterday or tomorrow. That takes real Faith in Jesus actual work for YOU and I, not something YOU or I can do in the energy of our own flesh. When that occurs, we pass from Death unto Life Everlasting and the Holy Spirit from God comes to live in us, and Lives HIS LIFE IN AND THROUGH US.

 

At that point, with the help of the Sprit from God who lives in you, He it is that will lead YOU into ALL truth and nothing will be hidden from you. So you don't need to hire a guru to explain truth away for you, so he can keep you coming back for more of what he himself is devoid of, as a general rule. Which is Jesus!

 

So I say, come to Jesus, he wants to control you through his LOVE FOR YOU, and he doesn't want you're money, he has no need of money. In fact he has given you the money you have so you can take care of you and you're families needs. Jesus wants YOU! Because He LOVES "YOU" and Gave himself for you, so that he could LIVE HIS LIFE IN AND THROUGH YOU. That's the Christian Life, in a nut shell. Remember, YOU ARE LOVED BY GOD. There's NOBODY JESUS LOVES MORE THAN "YOU". YOU HAVE NO NEED FOR ANYBODY TO PRAY FOR YOU. Because if you Love Jesus, he lives in you and there is NOTHING about you He doesn't know, and you don't need to get hold of somebody that YOU THINK is closer to GOD than YOU ARE and has God's ear, because if God lives in YOU, YOU CAN'T GET ANY CLOSER THAN THAT! AND HE LOVES YOU PERFECTLY, AND WANTS NOTHING BUT THE VERY BEST FOR YOU, AND YOU CAN TRUST "HIM"! Man, not so much, better stick with Jesus. Amen? YOU ARE LOVED, BELIEVE IT! GOD BLESS YOU AS YOU LEARN TO TRUST IN HIM. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

 

------------------------ JESUS ✝️ SAVES -------------------------

 

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father in the Lord Jesus Christ, FOREVER! Through Faith in Jesus!

 

10 The thief comes only to STEAL and KILL and DESTROY; I have come that they may have LIFE, and have it to the FULL. (John 10:10)

 

Jesus came to bring spiritual LIFE to the spiritually dead and set the captives FREE! FREE from RELIGION, ERROR and outright LIES, so they might serve THE LIVING GOD! In SPIRIT and in TRUTH!

 

For the best Biblical teaching in the last 2 centuries! Please listen to and down load these FREE audio files that were created with YOU in mind. It's ALL FREE, if you like it, please share it with others. ❤️ ✝️ ❤️

 

archive.org/details/PeopleToPeopleByBobGeorgeFREE-ARCHIVE...

 

www.revealedinchrist.com

 

CLICK THE LETTER "L" TO ENLARGE THE IMAGE.

 

My THANK'S to all those who have taken the time to view, fave, comment or share my photo's with others. I really appreciate it! ❤️

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk by Jelltex

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk.

 

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beasts, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

All Saints is a large, remarkably good church in one of the sleepy, fat villages along the Cambridgeshire border, the sort of place you cycle through and imagine wistfully that you've won the lottery and could move there. The wide churchyard on both sides is a perfect setting for the church, which rises to heaven out of a perpendicular splendour of aisles, clerestories and battlements. The tower was complete by the 1470s when money was being left for a bell. The earlier chancel steadies the ship, anchoring it to earth quietly, although the tall east window has its spectacular moment too. And you step into a deliciously well-kept interior, full of interest.

One of the most significant medieval survivals here is not easily noticed. This is the range of 15th Century glass, which was reset by the Victorians high in the clerestory. This seems a curious thing to have done, since it defeats the purpose of a clerestory, but if they had not done so then we might have lost it. The glass matches the tracery in the north aisle windows, so that is probably where they came from. There are angels, three Saints and some shields, most of which are heraldic but two show the instruments of the passion and the Holy Trinity. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the shields are 19th century, but the figures are all original late 15th or early 16th century. The Saints are an unidentified Bishop, the hacksaw-wielding St Faith and one of my favourites, St Apollonia. She it was who was invoked by medieval people against toothache.

 

Waling from the nave up into the chancel, the space created by the clearing of clutter makes it at once mysterious and beautiful. Above, the early 16th century waggon roof is Suffolk's best of its kind. Mortlock points out the little angels bearing scrolls, the wheat ears and the vine sprays, and the surviving traces of colour. The low side window on the south side still has its hinges, for here it was that updraught to the rood would have sent the candles flickering in the mystical church of the 14th century. On the south side of the sanctuary is an exquisitely carved arched recess, that doesn't appear to have ever had a door, and may have been a very rare purpose-built Easter sepulchre at the time of the 1330s rebuilding. Opposite is a huge and stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast. It is one of the most significant Decorated moments in Suffolk.

 

On the floor of the chancel there is a tiny, perfect chalice brass, one of only two surviving in Suffolk. The other is at Rendham. Not far away is the indent of another chalice brass - or perhaps it was for the same one, and the brass has been moved for some reason. There are two chalice indents at Westhall, but nowhere else in Suffolk. Chalice brasses were popular memorials for Priests in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and thus were fair game for reformers. Heigham memorials of the late 16th century are on the walls. Back in the south aisle there is a splendid tombchest in Purbeck marble. It has lost its brasses, but the indents show us where they were, as do other indents in the aisle floors. Some heraldic brass shields survive, and show that Heighams were buried here. Brass inscriptions survive in the nave and the chancel, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

 

The 14th century font is a good example of the tracery pattern series that appeared in the decades before the Black Death. They may have been intended to spread ideas at that time of great artistic and intellectual flowering before it was so cruelly snatched away. The cover is 17th Century. At this end of the nave are two good ranges of medieval benches, one, rare in East Anglia, is a group of 14th Century benches with pierced tracery backs. Some of them appear to spell out words, and Mortlock thought one might say Salaman Sayet. The block of benches to the north appears to be 15th Century or possibly early 16th Century. Further north, the early 17th Century benches are simpler, even cruder, and were likely the work of the village carpenter.

 

All rather lovely then. And yet, it hasn't always been that way. All Saints at Gazeley, near Newmarket, was the first church that I visited after an international team of scientists conclusively proved that God did not exist began the first page for this church that I wrote in 2003, in a satirical mood after finding the church locked and at a very low ebb. At a time when congregations were generally falling, I'd been thinking about the future of medieval churches beyond a time when they would have people to use them in the traditional way. I wondered if the buildings might find new uses, or could adapt themselves to changing patterns and emphases in Christianity, or even changing spiritual needs of their parishes. Even if science could somehow prove that God did not exist, I suggested, there were parishes which would rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves, as churches have always done over the two millennia of Christianity. Coming to Gazeley I felt that here was a church which felt as if it had been abandoned. And yet, it seemed to me a church of such significance, such historical and spiritual importance, that its loss would be a disaster. If it had been clean, tidy and open at the time he was visiting, Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Churches would not have been able to resist it. Should the survival of such a treasure store depend upon the existence of God or the continued practice of the Christian faith? Or might there be other reasons to keep this extraordinary building in something like its present integrity?

 

In the first decade of the 21st Century, Gazeley church went on a tremendous journey, from being moribund to being the wonderful church you can visit today. If you want to read the slightly adapted 2006 entry for Gazeley, recounting this journey, you can do so here. Coming back here today always fills me with optimism for what can be achieved. On one occasion I mentioned my experiences of Gazeley church to a Catholic Priest friend of mine, and he said he hoped I knew I'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And perhaps that is so. Certainly, the energy and imagination of the people here have been fired by something. On that occasion I had wanted to find someone to ask about it, to find out how things stood now. But there was no one, and so the building spoke for them.

 

Back outside in the graveyard, the dog daisies clustered and waved their sun-kissed faces in the light breeze. The ancient building must have known many late-May days like this over the centuries, but think of all the changes that it has known inside! The general buffeting of the winds of history still leaves room for local squalls and lightning strikes. All Saints has known these, but for now a blessed calm reigns here. Long may it remain so.

 

Simon Knott, June 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/gazeley.htm
Day 309 ~ "At the ragged edges of pain, did I catch the smallest glimpse of the holy?" by tumbledbones

Not in a great head space and am very tired from work, but I absolutely had to get outside for a short walk. I don't know whether it helped my mood, but I'm glad I listened to what my body and spirit needed.

 

I like how the sunbeam is cleaving my head.

 

Tonight is hot chocolate + AA meeting night, then Mom's homemade soup and a Gonzaga basketball game. Four big comforting hurrahs for pissy mooded me.

 

Make that five: now I'm going to lay down and read Vita Sackville-West's biography Vita for the hundredth time.
Canterbury Cathedral by Jelltex

In 2018, a Flickrfriend noticed I was posting shots near to where she lived in New York. Short story is that the next day we met up for beers and a chat.

 

Fast forward five years and Diane is back visiting the UK and she was coming to Canterbury, did I want to meet and show her round?

 

Yes.

 

Yes, I do.

 

With just the one car, and Canterbury being a car-unfriendly city built still on a medieval road plan, it is easier to travel by public transport. So, at half seven, Jools dropped me off at Dover Priory so I could catch the train to Canterbury East, through the overgrown remains of the Kent coalfield at Shepherdswell and Snowdon, and detrain at Canterbury.

 

It was a dull, damp morning, with a strong wind blowing, but the forecast suggested little rain, but the wind would ensure that what rain there was, would be thrown in our faces, or at our back, with some force.

 

It is a poorly marked path into the city centre, but thanks to the nearby Castle, St Mildrids and Dane John Park, I guessed, correctly, that I walked straight ahead, once having crossed the small park which seems to be where St Mary in Castro once stood, the centre would be about ten minutes away.

 

I had eaten just an orange before leaving home, having decided I should have breakfast out, so it was that I walked to, and into The Saffron Café, where I ordered a large breakfast a a pot of tea, then people watched as I waited for the bangers and rashers to be cooked.

 

When it arrived, it was very good indeed, not greasy, and just what I had planned breakfast to be.

 

Once eaten and paid, I walk to the Buttercross, where the time was a minute before nine, and the Cathedral would soon be open.

 

No one else around, so I became the first paying visitor of the day, and went round taking some shots (I only had the nifty fifty with me, but my main target was the Chapterhouse and Crypt.

 

Both were open, though photography not allowed in the Crypt, though I did take a couple of shots of what I wanted to see here, the two columns rescued from the old Saxon church at Recilver, which was pulled down by its parishioners who believed, thanks to the then vicar's mother, that it was imperilled by the encroaching sea.

 

200 years later and Reculver Towers still stand, and the footprint of the church is still safe from the sea.

 

My only concern as to see wheich of the dozens of columns down in the Crypt, all holding the cathedral above it, up, where the ones I wanted to see. That was answered by two oversized columns, which were labelled as such. I took my shots and went in search of the Chapterhouse, which somehow I had missed on previous visits too.

 

This was open, and empty, but the stunning ceiling and stined glass windows would require a return visit with the big lens, but no matter as the entrance ticket allows for unlimited revisits for 12 months.

 

I walk back outside after an hour, and get a message from Diane that she was delayed with ticket problems, so I had time on my hands before her new arrival time of ten past midday came.

 

So, I went for a haircut, saving me a job on Sunday, though not as good as the guys in Folkestone, it'll last until I return from Denmark in two weeks or maybe more.

 

I had forgotten to pring my allergy spray, so went in search of a branch of Boots, got the spray, then went to Waterstones for a copy of Stuart Maconie's new book, not for today, but for my trip to Denmark, something to read when dining alone.....

 

That found and bought, it was now time to walk to the station and meet Diane, and maybe even read the first chapter of the book too.

 

I reached the station with a quarter of an hour to spare, so I sat down to begin to read, when a group of four young adults sat behind, began playing music, smoking and to start being annoying. And then a man came to me and asked if I was local, and if so did I know where the job centre was?

 

I didn't, but one of the young men behind me chirped up and explained by turning left on the main road and following the road along would bring him to the job centre.

 

Never judge a book by the cover, Ian.

 

Diane's train came in, and after negotiating the lift up from the platform, along the walkway and down the lift the other side, ten more minutes had gone by, but she came out.

 

We hugged and I had to explain that the Cathedral had more steps than I remember, but we could go and see where we could get into and see.

 

So, first up was a walk back into the city, past the Westgate, over broth branches of the Stour, stopping to look at the ditching stool and then through to Palace Street to see Number 8, and further along to the old King's School Book Shop with its wonky door and all odd angles.

 

Diane got her shots, and on the way back we paused for a drink at the Bell and Crown, where a "typical" English beer was requested. After chatting with a guy at the bar, I decided on a Leffe, as I had bought her a Belgian beer in NYC when we last met.

 

I took the beer outside where we drank and talked more.

 

A check of the time revelled it to be after two, so we drank up and walked to the Cathedral. I had my ticket from the morning, Diane bought hers, and we made our way to the side door so she could see and take shots from the Nave.

 

To get to the Quire we had to go back out and walk all the way round past the Chancel, ruins of other buildings and to where there was a passageway to the School, the other way lead to a small barely marked lift, which took us up to the Quire, where the majesty of the Cathedral.

 

It really is rather magnificent, even if on her buggy we could not get to see the tomb of The Black Prince.

 

Sunlight falling through the stained glass was also wonderful, and we both took shots, but time was getting away.

 

Before I left for home, we looked for a place to eat, couldn't find a pasty shop, but we did find a chippy. So eating a battered sausage and well salted and vinegared chips we ate and talked so more.

 

And so it was time to part, I took her back to High Street, and she went off to West Station, while I walked back to East.

 

Thankfully I had walked it this morning, so found it no trouble, but the way was poorly marked and I could have easily got lost.

 

On the platform, there was a train in ten minutes, which would get me back to Priory station by twenty past five, just in time for Jools to pick me up on her way home.

 

Which would have been perfect had it not been for roadworks and traffic lights. I walked up Folkestone Road along the line of cars waiting at the lights until I found Jools, got in and once through the lights, back up Jubilee Way to home.

 

I quickly rustled up Carbonara, plating it up in less than 20 minutes. I checked my phone, 21,500 steps, which the health app seemed to approve of.

 

And to end the perfect day, Norwich were on telly, but playing Leicester who took their chances and we didn't. City lost 2-0.

 

Oh well.

 

A fine day, all in all

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

History of the cathedral

THE ORIGIN of a Christian church on the scite of the present cathedral, is supposed to have taken place as early as the Roman empire in Britain, for the use of the antient faithful and believing soldiers of their garrison here; and that Augustine found such a one standing here, adjoining to king Ethelbert's palace, which was included in the king's gift to him.

 

This supposition is founded on the records of the priory of Christ-church, (fn. 1) concurring with the common opinion of almost all our historians, who tell us of a church in Canterbury, which Augustine found standing in the east part of the city, which he had of king Ethelbert's gift, which after his consecration at Arles, in France, he commended by special dedication to the patronage of our blessed Saviour. (fn. 2)

 

According to others, the foundations only of an old church formerly built by the believing Romans, were left here, on which Augustine erected that, which he afterwards dedicated to out Saviour; (fn. 3) and indeed it is not probable that king Ethelbert should have suffered the unsightly ruins of a Christian church, which, being a Pagan, must have been very obnoxious to him, so close to his palace, and supposing these ruins had been here, would he not have suffered them to be repaired, rather than have obliged his Christian queen to travel daily to such a distance as St. Martin's church, or St. Pancrace's chapel, for the performance of her devotions.

 

Some indeed have conjectured that the church found by St. Augustine, in the east part of the city, was that of St.Martin, truly so situated; and urge in favor of it, that there have not been at any time any remains of British or Roman bricks discovered scattered in or about this church of our Saviour, those infallible, as Mr. Somner stiles them, signs of antiquity, and so generally found in buildings, which have been erected on, or close to the spot where more antient ones have stood. But to proceed, king Ethelbert's donation to Augustine was made in the year 596, who immediately afterwards went over to France, and was consecrated a bishop at Arles, and after his return, as soon as he had sufficiently finished a church here, whether built out of ruins or anew, it matters not, he exercised his episcopal function in the dedication of it, says the register of Christ-church, to the honor of Christ our Saviour; whence it afterwards obtained the name of Christ-church. (fn. 4)

 

From the time of Augustine for the space of upwards of three hundred years, there is not found in any printed or manuscript chronicle, the least mention of the fabric of this church, so that it is probable nothing befell it worthy of being recorded; however it should be mentioned, that during that period the revenues of it were much increased, for in the leiger books of it there are registered more than fifty donations of manors, lands, &c. so large and bountiful, as became the munificence of kings and nobles to confer. (fn. 5)

 

It is supposed, especially as we find no mention made of any thing to the contrary, that the fabric of this church for two hundred years after Augustine's time, met with no considerable molestations; but afterwards, the frequent invasions of the Danes involved both the civil and ecclesiastical state of this country in continual troubles and dangers; in the confusion of which, this church appears to have run into a state of decay; for when Odo was promoted to the archbishopric, in the year 938, the roof of it was in a ruinous condition; age had impaired it, and neglect had made it extremely dangerous; the walls of it were of an uneven height, according as it had been more or less decayed, and the roof of the church seemed ready to fall down on the heads of those underneath. All this the archbishop undertook to repair, and then covered the whole church with lead; to finish which, it took three years, as Osbern tells us, in the life of Odo; (fn. 6) and further, that there was not to be found a church of so large a size, capable of containing so great a multitude of people, and thus, perhaps, it continued without any material change happening to it, till the year 1011; a dismal and fatal year to this church and city; a time of unspeakable confusion and calamities; for in the month of September that year, the Danes, after a siege of twenty days, entered this city by force, burnt the houses, made a lamentable slaughter of the inhabitants, rifled this church, and then set it on fire, insomuch, that the lead with which archbishop Odo had covered it, being melted, ran down on those who were underneath. The sull story of this calamity is given by Osbern, in the life of archbishop Odo, an abridgement of which the reader will find below. (fn. 7)

 

The church now lay in ruins, without a roof, the bare walls only standing, and in this desolate condition it remained as long as the fury of the Danes prevailed, who after they had burnt the church, carried away archbishop Alphage with them, kept him in prison seven months, and then put him to death, in the year 1012, the year after which Living, or Livingus, succeeded him as archbishop, though it was rather in his calamities than in his seat of dignity, for he too was chained up by the Danes in a loathsome dungeon for seven months, before he was set free, but he so sensibly felt the deplorable state of this country, which he foresaw was every day growing worse and worse, that by a voluntary exile, he withdrew himself out of the nation, to find some solitary retirement, where he might bewail those desolations of his country, to which he was not able to bring any relief, but by his continual prayers. (fn. 8) He just outlived this storm, returned into England, and before he died saw peace and quientness restored to this land by king Canute, who gaining to himself the sole sovereignty over the nation, made it his first business to repair the injuries which had been done to the churches and monasteries in this kingdom, by his father's and his own wars. (fn. 9)

 

As for this church, archbishop Ægelnoth, who presided over it from the year 1020 to the year 1038, began and finished the repair, or rather the rebuilding of it, assisted in it by the royal munificence of the king, (fn. 10) who in 1023 presented his crown of gold to this church, and restored to it the port of Sandwich, with its liberties. (fn. 11) Notwithstanding this, in less than forty years afterwards, when Lanfranc soon after the Norman conquest came to the see, he found this church reduced almost to nothing by fire, and dilapidations; for Eadmer says, it had been consumed by a third conflagration, prior to the year of his advancement to it, in which fire almost all the antient records of the privileges of it had perished. (fn. 12)

 

The same writer has given us a description of this old church, as it was before Lanfranc came to the see; by which we learn, that at the east end there was an altar adjoining to the wall of the church, of rough unhewn stone, cemented with mortar, erected by archbishop Odo, for a repository of the body of Wilfrid, archbishop of York, which Odo had translated from Rippon hither, giving it here the highest place; at a convenient distance from this, westward, there was another altar, dedicated to Christ our Saviour, at which divine service was daily celebrated. In this altar was inclosed the head of St. Swithin, with many other relics, which archbishop Alphage brought with him from Winchester. Passing from this altar westward, many steps led down to the choir and nave, which were both even, or upon the same level. At the bottom of the steps, there was a passage into the undercroft, under all the east part of the church. (fn. 13) At the east end of which, was an altar, in which was inclosed, according to old tradition, the head of St. Furseus. From hence by a winding passage, at the west end of it, was the tomb of St. Dunstan, (fn. 14) but separated from the undercroft by a strong stone wall; over the tomb was erected a monument, pyramid wife, and at the head of it an altar, (fn. 15) for the mattin service. Between these steps, or passage into the undercroft and the nave, was the choir, (fn. 16) which was separated from the nave by a fair and decent partition, to keep off the crowds of people that usually were in the body of the church, so that the singing of the chanters in the choir might not be disturbed. About the middle of the length of the nave, were two towers or steeples, built without the walls; one on the south, and the other on the north side. In the former was the altar of St. Gregory, where was an entrance into the church by the south door, and where law controversies and pleas concerning secular matters were exercised. (fn. 17) In the latter, or north tower, was a passage for the monks into the church, from the monastery; here were the cloysters, where the novices were instructed in their religious rules and offices, and where the monks conversed together. In this tower was the altar of St. Martin. At the west end of the church was a chapel, dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary, to which there was an ascent by steps, and at the east end of it an altar, dedicated to her, in which was inclosed the head of St. Astroburta the Virgin; and at the western part of it was the archbishop's pontifical chair, made of large stones, compacted together with mortar; a fair piece of work, and placed at a convenient distance from the altar, close to the wall of the church. (fn. 18)

 

To return now to archbishop Lanfranc, who was sent for from Normandy in 1073, being the fourth year of the Conqueror's reign, to fill this see, a time, when a man of a noble spirit, equal to the laborious task he was to undertake, was wanting especially for this church; and that he was such, the several great works which were performed by him, were incontestable proofs, as well as of his great and generous mind. At the first sight of the ruinous condition of this church, says the historian, the archbishop was struck with astonishment, and almost despaired of seeing that and the monastery re edified; but his care and perseverance raised both in all its parts anew, and that in a novel and more magnificent kind and form of structure, than had been hardly in any place before made use of in this kingdom, which made it a precedent and pattern to succeeding structures of this kind; (fn. 19) and new monasteries and churches were built after the example of it; for it should be observed, that before the coming of the Normans most of the churches and monasteries in this kingdom were of wood; (all the monasteries in my realm, says king Edgar, in his charter to the abbey of Malmesbury, dated anno 974, to the outward sight are nothing but worm-eaten and rotten timber and boards) but after the Norman conquest, such timber fabrics grew out of use, and gave place to stone buildings raised upon arches; a form of structure introduced into general use by that nation, and in these parts surnished with stone from Caen, in Normandy. (fn. 20) After this fashion archbishop Lanfranc rebuilt the whole church from the foundation, with the palace and monastery, the wall which encompassed the court, and all the offices belonging to the monastery within the wall, finishing the whole nearly within the compass of seven years; (fn. 21) besides which, he furnished the church with ornaments and rich vestments; after which, the whole being perfected, he altered the name of it, by a dedication of it to the Holy Trinity; whereas, before it was called the church of our Saviour, or Christ-church, and from the above time it bore (as by Domesday book appears) the name of the church of the Holy Trinity; this new church being built on the same spot on which the antient one stood, though on a far different model.

 

After Lanfranc's death, archbishop Anselm succeeded in the year 1093, to the see of Canterbury, and must be esteemed a principal benefactor to this church; for though his time was perplexed with a continued series of troubles, of which both banishment and poverty made no small part, which in a great measure prevented him from bestowing that cost on his church, which he would otherwise have done, yet it was through his patronage and protection, and through his care and persuasions, that the fabric of it, begun and perfected by his predecessor, became enlarged and rose to still greater splendor. (fn. 22)

 

In order to carry this forward, upon the vacancy of the priory, he constituted Ernulph and Conrad, the first in 1104, the latter in 1108, priors of this church; to whose care, being men of generous and noble minds, and of singular skill in these matters, he, during his troubles, not only committed the management of this work, but of all his other concerns during his absence.

 

Probably archbishop Anselm, on being recalled from banishment on king Henry's accession to the throne, had pulled down that part of the church built by Lanfranc, from the great tower in the middle of it to the east end, intending to rebuild it upon a still larger and more magnificent plan; when being borne down by the king's displeasure, he intrusted prior Ernulph with the work, who raised up the building with such splendor, says Malmesbury, that the like was not to be seen in all England; (fn. 23) but the short time Ernulph continued in this office did not permit him to see his undertaking finished. (fn. 24) This was left to his successor Conrad, who, as the obituary of Christ church informs us, by his great industry, magnificently perfected the choir, which his predecessor had left unfinished, (fn. 25) adorning it with curious pictures, and enriching it with many precious ornaments. (fn. 26)

 

This great undertaking was not entirely compleated at the death of archbishop Anselm, which happened in 1109, anno 9 Henry I. nor indeed for the space of five years afterwards, during which the see of Canterbury continued vacant; when being finished, in honour of its builder, and on account of its more than ordinary beauty, it gained the name of the glorious choir of Conrad. (fn. 27)

 

After the see of Canterbury had continued thus vacant for five years, Ralph, or as some call him, Rodulph, bishop of Rochester, was translated to it in the year 1114, at whose coming to it, the church was dedicated anew to the Holy Trinity, the name which had been before given to it by Lanfranc. (fn. 28) The only particular description we have of this church when thus finished, is from Gervas, the monk of this monastery, and that proves imperfect, as to the choir of Lanfranc, which had been taken down soon after his death; (fn. 29) the following is his account of the nave, or western part of it below the choir, being that which had been erected by archbishop Lanfranc, as has been before mentioned. From him we learn, that the west end, where the chapel of the Virgin Mary stood before, was now adorned with two stately towers, on the top of which were gilded pinnacles. The nave or body was supported by eight pair of pillars. At the east end of the nave, on the north side, was an oratory, dedicated in honor to the blessed Virgin, in lieu, I suppose, of the chapel, that had in the former church been dedicated to her at the west end. Between the nave and the choir there was built a great tower or steeple, as it were in the centre of the whole fabric; (fn. 30) under this tower was erected the altar of the Holy Cross; over a partition, which separated this tower from the nave, a beam was laid across from one side to the other of the church; upon the middle of this beam was fixed a great cross, between the images of the Virgin Mary and St. John, and between two cherubims. The pinnacle on the top of this tower, was a gilded cherub, and hence it was called the angel steeple; a name it is frequently called by at this day. (fn. 31)

 

This great tower had on each side a cross isle, called the north and south wings, which were uniform, of the same model and dimensions; each of them had a strong pillar in the middle for a support to the roof, and each of them had two doors or passages, by which an entrance was open to the east parts of the church. At one of these doors there was a descent by a few steps into the undercroft; at the other, there was an ascent by many steps into the upper parts of the church, that is, the choir, and the isles on each side of it. Near every one of these doors or passages, an altar was erected; at the upper door in the south wing, there was an altar in honour of All Saints; and at the lower door there was one of St. Michael; and before this altar on the south side was buried archbishop Fleologild; and on the north side, the holy Virgin Siburgis, whom St. Dunstan highly admired for her sanctity. In the north isle, by the upper door, was the altar of St. Blaze; and by the lower door, that of St. Benedict. In this wing had been interred four archbishops, Adelm and Ceolnoth, behind the altar, and Egelnoth and Wlfelm before it. At the entrance into this wing, Rodulph and his successor William Corboil, both archbishops, were buried. (fn. 32)

 

Hence, he continues, we go up by some steps into the great tower, and before us there is a door and steps leading down into the south wing, and on the right hand a pair of folding doors, with stairs going down into the nave of the church; but without turning to any of these, let us ascend eastward, till by several more steps we come to the west end of Conrad's choir; being now at the entrance of the choir, Gervas tells us, that he neither saw the choir built by Lanfranc, nor found it described by any one; that Eadmer had made mention of it, without giving any account of it, as he had done of the old church, the reason of which appears to be, that Lanfranc's choir did not long survive its founder, being pulled down as before-mentioned, by archbishop Anselm; so that it could not stand more than twenty years; therefore the want of a particular description of it will appear no great defect in the history of this church, especially as the deficiency is here supplied by Gervas's full relation of the new choir of Conrad, built instead of it; of which, whoever desires to know the whole architecture and model observed in the fabric, the order, number, height and form of the pillars and windows, may know the whole of it from him. The roof of it, he tells us, (fn. 33) was beautified with curious paintings representing heaven; (fn. 34) in several respects it was agreeable to the present choir, the stalls were large and framed of carved wood. In the middle of it, there hung a gilded crown, on which were placed four and twenty tapers of wax. From the choir an ascent of three steps led to the presbiterium, or place for the presbiters; here, he says, it would be proper to stop a little and take notice of the high altar, which was dedicated to the name of CHRIST. It was placed between two other altars, the one of St. Dunstan, the other of St. Alphage; at the east corners of the high altar were fixed two pillars of wood, beautified with silver and gold; upon these pillars was placed a beam, adorned with gold, which reached across the church, upon it there were placed the glory, (fn. 35) the images of St. Dunstan and St. Alphage, and seven chests or coffers overlaid with gold, full of the relics of many saints. Between those pillars was a cross gilded all over, and upon the upper beam of the cross were set sixty bright crystals.

 

Beyond this, by an ascent of eight steps towards the east, behind the altar, was the archiepiscopal throne, which Gervas calls the patriarchal chair, made of one stone; in this chair, according to the custom of the church, the archbishop used to sit, upon principal festivals, in his pontifical ornaments, whilst the solemn offices of religion were celebrated, until the consecration of the host, when he came down to the high altar, and there performed the solemnity of consecration. Still further, eastward, behind the patriarchal chair, (fn. 36) was a chapel in the front of the whole church, in which was an altar, dedicated to the Holy Trinity; behind which were laid the bones of two archbishops, Odo of Canterbury, and Wilfrid of York; by this chapel on the south side near the wall of the church, was laid the body of archbishop Lanfranc, and on the north side, the body of archbishop Theobald. Here it is to be observed, that under the whole east part of the church, from the angel steeple, there was an undercrost or crypt, (fn. 37) in which were several altars, chapels and sepulchres; under the chapel of the Trinity before-mentioned, were two altars, on the south side, the altar of St. Augustine, the apostle of the English nation, by which archbishop Athelred was interred. On the north side was the altar of St. John Baptist, by which was laid the body of archbishop Eadsin; under the high altar was the chapel and altar of the blessed Virgin Mary, to whom the whole undercroft was dedicated.

 

To return now, he continues, to the place where the bresbyterium and choir meet, where on each side there was a cross isle (as was to be seen in his time) which might be called the upper south and north wings; on the east side of each of these wings were two half circular recesses or nooks in the wall, arched over after the form of porticoes. Each of them had an altar, and there was the like number of altars under them in the crost. In the north wing, the north portico had the altar of St. Martin, by which were interred the bodies of two archbishops, Wlfred on the right, and Living on the left hand; under it in the croft, was the altar of St. Mary Magdalen. The other portico in this wing, had the altar of St. Stephen, and by it were buried two archbishops, Athelard on the left hand, and Cuthbert on the right; in the croft under it, was the altar of St. Nicholas. In the south wing, the north portico had the altar of St. John the Evangelist, and by it the bodies of Æthelgar and Aluric, archbishops, were laid. In the croft under it was the altar of St. Paulinus, by which the body of archbishop Siricius was interred. In the south portico was the altar of St. Gregory, by which were laid the corps of the two archbishops Bregwin and Plegmund. In the croft under it was the altar of St. Owen, archbishop of Roan, and underneath in the croft, not far from it the altar of St. Catherine.

 

Passing from these cross isles eastward there were two towers, one on the north, the other on the south side of the church. In the tower on the north side was the altar of St. Andrew, which gave name to the tower; under it, in the croft, was the altar of the Holy Innocents; the tower on the south side had the altar of St. Peter and St. Paul, behind which the body of St. Anselm was interred, which afterwards gave name both to the altar and tower (fn. 38) (now called St. Anselm's). The wings or isles on each side of the choir had nothing in particular to be taken notice of.— Thus far Gervas, from whose description we in particular learn, where several of the bodies of the old archbishops were deposited, and probably the ashes of some of them remain in the same places to this day.

 

As this building, deservedly called the glorious choir of Conrad, was a magnificent work, so the undertaking of it at that time will appear almost beyond example, especially when the several circumstances of it are considered; but that it was carried forward at the archbishop's cost, exceeds all belief. It was in the discouraging reign of king William Rufus, a prince notorious in the records of history, for all manner of sacrilegious rapine, that archbishop Anselm was promoted to this see; when he found the lands and revenues of this church so miserably wasted and spoiled, that there was hardly enough left for his bare subsistence; who, in the first years that he sat in the archiepiscopal chair, struggled with poverty, wants and continual vexations through the king's displeasure, (fn. 39) and whose three next years were spent in banishment, during all which time he borrowed money for his present maintenance; who being called home by king Henry I. at his coming to the crown, laboured to pay the debts he had contracted during the time of his banishment, and instead of enjoying that tranquility and ease he hoped for, was, within two years afterwards, again sent into banishment upon a fresh displeasure conceived against him by the king, who then seized upon all the revenues of the archbishopric, (fn. 40) which he retained in his own hands for no less than four years.

 

Under these hard circumstances, it would have been surprizing indeed, that the archbishop should have been able to carry on so great a work, and yet we are told it, as a truth, by the testimonies of history; but this must surely be understood with the interpretation of his having been the patron, protector and encourager, rather than the builder of this work, which he entrusted to the care and management of the priors Ernulph and Conrad, and sanctioned their employing, as Lanfranc had done before, the revenues and stock of the church to this use. (fn. 41)

 

In this state as above-mentioned, without any thing material happening to it, this church continued till about the year 1130, anno 30 Henry I. when it seems to have suffered some damage by a fire; (fn. 42) but how much, there is no record left to inform us; however it could not be of any great account, for it was sufficiently repaired, and that mostly at the cost of archbishop Corboil, who then sat in the chair of this see, (fn. 43) before the 4th of May that year, on which day, being Rogation Sunday, the bishops performed the dedication of it with great splendor and magnificence, such, says Gervas, col. 1664, as had not been heard of since the dedication of the temple of Solomon; the king, the queen, David, king of Scots, all the archbishops, and the nobility of both kingdoms being present at it, when this church's former name was restored again, being henceforward commonly called Christ-church. (fn. 44)

 

Among the manuscripts of Trinity college library, in Cambridge, in a very curious triple psalter of St. Jerome, in Latin, written by the monk Eadwyn, whose picture is at the beginning of it, is a plan or drawing made by him, being an attempt towards a representation of this church and monastery, as they stood between the years 1130 and 1174; which makes it probable, that he was one of the monks of it, and the more so, as the drawing has not any kind of relation to the plalter or sacred hymns contained in the manuscript.

 

His plan, if so it may be called, for it is neither such, nor an upright, nor a prospect, and yet something of all together; but notwithstanding this rudeness of the draftsman, it shews very plain that it was intended for this church and priory, and gives us a very clear knowledge, more than we have been able to learn from any description we have besides, of what both were at the above period of time. (fn. 45)

 

Forty-four years after this dedication, on the 5th of September, anno 1174, being the 20th year of king Henry II.'s reign, a fire happened, which consumed great part of this stately edifice, namely, the whole choir, from the angel steeple to the east end of the church, together with the prior's lodgings, the chapel of the Virgin Mary, the infirmary, and some other offices belonging to the monastery; but the angel steeple, the lower cross isles, and the nave appear to have received no material injury from the flames. (fn. 46) The narrative of this accident is told by Gervas, the monk of Canterbury, so often quoted before, who was an eye witness of this calamity, as follows:

 

Three small houses in the city near the old gate of the monastery took fire by accident, a strong south wind carried the flakes of fire to the top of the church, and lodged them between the joints of the lead, driving them to the timbers under it; this kindled a fire there, which was not discerned till the melted lead gave a free passage for the flames to appear above the church, and the wind gaining by this means a further power of increasing them, drove them inwardly, insomuch that the danger became immediately past all possibility of relief. The timber of the roof being all of it on fire, fell down into the choir, where the stalls of the manks, made of large pieces of carved wood, afforded plenty of fuel to the flames, and great part of the stone work, through the vehement heat of the fire, was so weakened, as to be brought to irreparable ruin, and besides the fabric itself, the many rich ornaments in the church were devoured by the flames.

 

The choir being thus laid in ashes, the monks removed from amidst the ruins, the bodies of the two saints, whom they called patrons of the church, the archbishops Dunstan and Alphage, and deposited them by the altar of the great cross, in the nave of the church; (fn. 47) and from this time they celebrated the daily religious offices in the oratory of the blessed Virgin Mary in the nave, and continued to do so for more than five years, when the choir being re edified, they returned to it again. (fn. 48)

 

Upon this destruction of the church, the prior and convent, without any delay, consulted on the most speedy and effectual method of rebuilding it, resolving to finish it in such a manner, as should surpass all the former choirs of it, as well in beauty as size and magnificence. To effect this, they sent for the most skilful architects that could be found either in France or England. These surveyed the walls and pillars, which remained standing, but they found great part of them so weakened by the fire, that they could no ways be built upon with any safety; and it was accordingly resolved, that such of them should be taken down; a whole year was spent in doing this, and in providing materials for the new building, for which they sent abroad for the best stone that could be procured; Gervas has given a large account, (fn. 49) how far this work advanced year by year; what methods and rules of architecture were observed, and other particulars relating to the rebuilding of this church; all which the curious reader may consult at his leisure; it will be sufficient to observe here, that the new building was larger in height and length, and more beautiful in every respect, than the choir of Conrad; for the roof was considerably advanced above what it was before, and was arched over with stone; whereas before it was composed of timber and boards. The capitals of the pillars were now beautified with different sculptures of carvework; whereas, they were before plain, and six pillars more were added than there were before. The former choir had but one triforium, or inner gallery, but now there were two made round it, and one in each side isle and three in the cross isles; before, there were no marble pillars, but such were now added to it in abundance. In forwarding this great work, the monks had spent eight years, when they could proceed no further for want of money; but a fresh supply coming in from the offerings at St. Thomas's tomb, so much more than was necessary for perfecting the repair they were engaged in, as encouraged them to set about a more grand design, which was to pull down the eastern extremity of the church, with the small chapel of the Holy Trinity adjoining to it, and to erect upon a stately undercroft, a most magnificent one instead of it, equally lofty with the roof of the church, and making a part of it, which the former one did not, except by a door into it; but this new chapel, which was dedicated likewise to the Holy Trinity, was not finished till some time after the rest of the church; at the east end of this chapel another handsome one, though small, was afterwards erected at the extremity of the whole building, since called Becket's crown, on purpose for an altar and the reception of some part of his relics; (fn. 50) further mention of which will be made hereafter.

 

The eastern parts of this church, as Mr. Gostling observes, have the appearance of much greater antiquity than what is generally allowed to them; and indeed if we examine the outside walls and the cross wings on each side of the choir, it will appear, that the whole of them was not rebuilt at the time the choir was, and that great part of them was suffered to remain, though altered, added to, and adapted as far as could be, to the new building erected at that time; the traces of several circular windows and other openings, which were then stopped up, removed, or altered, still appearing on the walls both of the isles and the cross wings, through the white-wash with which they are covered; and on the south side of the south isle, the vaulting of the roof as well as the triforium, which could not be contrived so as to be adjusted to the places of the upper windows, plainly shew it. To which may be added, that the base or foot of one of the westernmost large pillars of the choir on the north side, is strengthened with a strong iron band round it, by which it should seem to have been one of those pillars which had been weakened by the fire, but was judged of sufficient firmness, with this precaution, to remain for the use of the new fabric.

 

The outside of this part of the church is a corroborating proof of what has been mentioned above, as well in the method, as in the ornaments of the building.— The outside of it towards the south, from St. Michael's chapel eastward, is adorned with a range of small pillars, about six inches diameter, and about three feet high, some with santastic shasts and capitals, others with plain ones; these support little arches, which intersect each other; and this chain or girdle of pillars is continued round the small tower, the eastern cross isle and the chapel of St. Anselm, to the buildings added in honour of the Holy Trinity, and St. Thomas Becket, where they leave off. The casing of St. Michael's chapel has none of them, but the chapel of the Virgin Mary, answering to it on the north side of the church, not being fitted to the wall, shews some of them behind it; which seems as if they had been continued before, quite round the eastern parts of the church.

 

These pillars, which rise from about the level of the pavement, within the walls above them, are remarkably plain and bare of ornaments; but the tower above mentioned and its opposite, as soon as they rise clear of the building, are enriched with stories of this colonade, one above another, up to the platform from whence their spires rise; and the remains of the two larger towers eastward, called St. Anselm's, and that answering to it on the north side of the church, called St. Andrew's are decorated much after the same manner, as high as they remain at present.

 

At the time of the before-mentioned fire, which so fatally destroyed the upper part of this church, the undercrost, with the vaulting over it, seems to have remained entire, and unhurt by it.

 

The vaulting of the undercrost, on which the floor of the choir and eastern parts of the church is raised, is supported by pillars, whose capitals are as various and fantastical as those of the smaller ones described before, and so are their shafts, some being round, others canted, twisted, or carved, so that hardly any two of them are alike, except such as are quite plain.

 

These, I suppose, may be concluded to be of the same age, and if buildings in the same stile may be conjectured to be so from thence, the antiquity of this part of the church may be judged, though historians have left us in the dark in relation to it.

 

In Leland's Collectanea, there is an account and description of a vault under the chancel of the antient church of St. Peter, in Oxford, called Grymbald's crypt, being allowed by all, to have been built by him; (fn. 51) Grymbald was one of those great and accomplished men, whom king Alfred invited into England about the year 885, to assist him in restoring Christianity, learning and the liberal arts. (fn. 52) Those who compare the vaults or undercrost of the church of Canterbury, with the description and prints given of Grymbald's crypt, (fn. 53) will easily perceive, that two buildings could hardly have been erected more strongly resembling each other, except that this at Canterbury is larger, and more pro fusely decorated with variety of fancied ornaments, the shafts of several of the pillars here being twisted, or otherwise varied, and many of the captials exactly in the same grotesque taste as those in Grymbald's crypt. (fn. 54) Hence it may be supposed, that those whom archbishop Lanfranc employed as architects and designers of his building at Canterbury, took their model of it, at least of this part of it, from that crypt, and this undercrost now remaining is the same, as was originally built by him, as far eastward, as to that part which begins under the chapel of the Holy Trinity, where it appears to be of a later date, erected at the same time as the chapel. The part built by Lanfranc continues at this time as firm and entire, as it was at the very building of it, though upwards of seven hundred years old. (fn. 55)

 

But to return to the new building; though the church was not compleatly finished till the end of the year 1184, yet it was so far advanced towards it, that, in 1180, on April 19, being Easter eve, (fn. 56) the archbishop, prior and monks entered the new choir, with a solemn procession, singing Te Deum, for their happy return to it. Three days before which they had privately, by night, carried the bodies of St. Dunstan and St. Alphage to the places prepared for them near the high altar. The body likewise of queen Edive (which after the fire had been removed from the north cross isle, where it lay before, under a stately gilded shrine) to the altar of the great cross, was taken up, carried into the vestry, and thence to the altar of St. Martin, where it was placed under the coffin of archbishop Livinge. In the month of July following the altar of the Holy Trinity was demolished, and the bodies of those archbishops, which had been laid in that part of the church, were removed to other places. Odo's body was laid under St. Dunstan's and Wilfrid's under St. Alphage's; Lanfranc's was deposited nigh the altar of St. Martin, and Theobald's at that of the blessed Virgin, in the nave of the church, (fn. 57) under a marble tomb; and soon afterwards the two archbishops, on the right and left hand of archbishop Becket in the undercrost, were taken up and placed under the altar of St. Mary there. (fn. 58)

 

After a warning so terrible, as had lately been given, it seemed most necessary to provide against the danger of fire for the time to come; the flames, which had so lately destroyed a considerable part of the church and monastery, were caused by some small houses, which had taken fire at a small distance from the church.— There still remained some other houses near it, which belonged to the abbot and convent of St. Augustine; for these the monks of Christ-church created, by an exchange, which could not be effected till the king interposed, and by his royal authority, in a manner, compelled the abbot and convent to a composition for this purpose, which was dated in the year 1177, that was three years after the late fire of this church. (fn. 59)

 

These houses were immediately pulled down, and it proved a providential and an effectual means of preserving the church from the like calamity; for in the year 1180, on May 22, this new choir, being not then compleated, though it had been used the month be fore, as has been already mentioned, there happened a fire in the city, which burnt down many houses, and the flames bent their course towards the church, which was again in great danger; but the houses near it being taken away, the fire was stopped, and the church escaped being burnt again. (fn. 60)

 

Although there is no mention of a new dedication of the church at this time, yet the change made in the name of it has been thought by some to imply a formal solemnity of this kind, as it appears to have been from henceforth usually called the church of St. Thomas the Martyr, and to have continued so for above 350 years afterwards.

 

New names to churches, it is true. have been usually attended by formal consecrations of them; and had there been any such solemnity here, undoubtedly the same would not have passed by unnoticed by every historian, the circumstance of it must have been notorious, and the magnificence equal at least to the other dedications of this church, which have been constantly mentioned by them; but here was no need of any such ceremony, for although the general voice then burst forth to honour this church with the name of St. Thomas, the universal object of praise and adoration, then stiled the glorious martyr, yet it reached no further, for the name it had received at the former dedication, notwithstanding this common appellation of it, still remained in reality, and it still retained invariably in all records and writings, the name of Christ church only, as appears by many such remaining among the archives of the dean and chapter; and though on the seal of this church, which was changed about this time; the counter side of it had a representation of Becket's martyrdom, yet on the front of it was continued that of the church, and round it an inscription with the former name of Christ church; which seal remained in force till the dissolution of the priory.

 

It may not be improper to mention here some transactions, worthy of observation, relating to this favorite saint, which passed from the time of his being murdered, to that of his translation to the splendid shrine prepared for his relics.

 

Archbishop Thomas Becket was barbarously murdered in this church on Dec. 29, 1170, being the 16th year of king Henry II. and his body was privately buried towards the east end of the undercrost. The monks tell us, that about the Easter following, miracles began to be wrought by him, first at his tomb, then in the undercrost, and in every part of the whole fabric of the church; afterwards throughout England, and lastly, throughout the rest of the world. (fn. 61) The same of these miracles procured him the honour of a formal canonization from pope Alexander III. whose bull for that purpose is dated March 13, in the year 1172. (fn. 62) This declaration of the pope was soon known in all places, and the reports of his miracles were every where sounded abroad. (fn. 63)

 

Hereupon crowds of zealots, led on by a phrenzy of devotion, hastened to kneel at his tomb. In 1177, Philip, earl of Flanders, came hither for that purpose, when king Henry met and had a conference with him at Canterbury. (fn. 64) In June 1178, king Henry returning from Normandy, visited the sepulchre of this new saint; and in July following, William, archbishop of Rhemes, came from France, with a large retinue, to perform his vows to St. Thomas of Canterbury, where the king met him and received him honourably. In the year 1179, Lewis, king of France, came into England; before which neither he nor any of his predecessors had ever set foot in this kingdom. (fn. 65) He landed at Dover, where king Henry waited his arrival, and on August 23, the two kings came to Canterbury, with a great train of nobility of both nations, and were received with due honour and great joy, by the archbishop, with his com-provincial bishops, and the prior and the whole convent. (fn. 66)

 

King Lewis came in the manner and habit of a pilgrim, and was conducted to the tomb of St. Thomas by a solemn procession; he there offered his cup of gold and a royal precious stone, (fn. 67) and gave the convent a yearly rent for ever, of a hundred muids of wine, to be paid by himself and his successors; which grant was confirmed by his royal charter, under his seal, and delivered next day to the convent; (fn. 68) after he had staid here two, (fn. 69) or as others say, three days, (fn. 70) during which the oblations of gold and silver made were so great, that the relation of them almost exceeded credibility. (fn. 71) In 1181, king Henry, in his return from Normandy, again paid his devotions at this tomb. These visits were the early fruits of the adoration of the new sainted martyr, and these royal examples of kings and great persons were followed by multitudes, who crowded to present with full hands their oblations at his tomb.— Hence the convent was enabled to carry forward the building of the new choir, and they applied all this vast income to the fabric of the church, as the present case instantly required, for which they had the leave and consent of the archbishop, confirmed by the bulls of several succeeding popes. (fn. 72)

 

¶From the liberal oblations of these royal and noble personages at the tomb of St. Thomas, the expences of rebuilding the choir appear to have been in a great measure supplied, nor did their devotion and offerings to the new saint, after it was compleated, any ways abate, but, on the contrary, they daily increased; for in the year 1184, Philip, archbishop of Cologne, and Philip, earl of Flanders, came together to pay their vows at this tomb, and were met here by king Henry, who gave them an invitation to London. (fn. 73) In 1194, John, archbishop of Lions; in the year afterwards, John, archbishop of York; and in the year 1199, king John, performed their devotions at the foot of this tomb. (fn. 74) King Richard I. likewise, on his release from captivity in Germany, landing on the 30th of March at Sandwich, proceeded from thence, as an humble stranger on foot, towards Canterbury, to return his grateful thanks to God and St. Thomas for his release. (fn. 75) All these by name, with many nobles and multitudes of others, of all sorts and descriptions, visited the saint with humble adoration and rich oblations, whilst his body lay in the undercrost. In the mean time the chapel and altar at the upper part of the east end of the church, which had been formerly consecrated to the Holy Trinity, were demolished, and again prepared with great splendor, for the reception of this saint, who being now placed there, implanted his name not only on the chapel and altar, but on the whole church, which was from thenceforth known only by that of the church of St. Thomas the martyr.

  

On July 7, anno 1220, the remains of St. Thomas were translated from his tomb to his new shrine, with the greatest solemnity and rejoicings. Pandulph, the pope's legate, the archbishops of Canterbury and Rheims, and many bishops and abbots, carried the coffin on their shoulders, and placed it on the new shrine, and the king graced these solemnities with his royal presence. (fn. 76) The archbishop of Canterbury provided forage along all the road, between London and Canterbury, for the horses of all such as should come to them, and he caused several pipes and conduits to run with wine in different parts of the city. This, with the other expences arising during the time, was so great, that he left a debt on the see, which archbishop Boniface, his fourth successor in it, was hardly enabled to discharge.

 

¶The saint being now placed in his new repository, became the vain object of adoration to the deluded people, and afterwards numbers of licences were granted to strangers by the king, to visit this shrine. (fn. 77) The titles of glorious, of saint and martyr, were among those given to him; (fn. 78) such veneration had all people for his relics, that the religious of several cathedral churches and monasteries, used all their endeavours to obtain some of them, and thought themselves happy and rich in the possession of the smallest portion of them. (fn. 79) Besides this, there were erected and dedicated to his honour, many churches, chapels, altars and hospitals in different places, both in this kingdom and abroad. (fn. 80) Thus this saint, even whilst he lay in his obscure tomb in the undercroft, brought such large and constant supplies of money, as enabled the monks to finish this beautiful choir, and the eastern parts of the church; and when he was translated to the most exalted and honourable place in it, a still larger abundance of gain filled their coffers, which continued as a plentiful supply to them, from year to year, to the time of the reformation, and the final abolition of the priory itself.

 

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol11/pp306-383
Only He Who Experiences the Work of God Truly Believes in God by x ming

What Is Faith In God | God's Word Only He Who Experiences the Work of God Truly Believes in God "

Introduction

Almighty God says, "When Jesus came into the world of man, He brought the Age of Grace and ended the Age of Law. During the last days, God once more became flesh, and when He became flesh this time, He ended the Age of Grace and brought the Age of Kingdom. All those who accept the second incarnation of God will be led into the Age of Kingdom, and be able to personally accept the guidance of God. Though Jesus did much work among man, He only completed the redemption of all mankind and became man’s sin offering, and did not rid man of all his corrupt disposition. Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to take on the sins of man as the sin offering, but also required God to do greater work to completely rid man of his disposition, which has been corrupted by Satan. And so, after man was forgiven his sins, God has returned to flesh to lead man into the new age, and begun the work of chastisement and judgment, and this work has brought man into a higher realm. All those who submit under His dominion shall enjoy higher truth and receive greater blessings. They shall truly live in the light, and shall gain the truth, the way, and the life."

 

recommenda to you: plan of salvation

 
All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk by Jelltex

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk.

 

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beats, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

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All Saints is a large, remarkably good church in one of the sleepy, fat villages along the Cambridgeshire border, the sort of place you cycle through and imagine wistfully that you've won the lottery and could move there. The wide churchyard on both sides is a perfect setting for the church, which rises to heaven out of a perpendicular splendour of aisles, clerestories and battlements. The tower was complete by the 1470s when money was being left for a bell. The earlier chancel steadies the ship, anchoring it to earth quietly, although the tall east window has its spectacular moment too. And you step into a deliciously well-kept interior, full of interest.

One of the most significant medieval survivals here is not easily noticed. This is the range of 15th Century glass, which was reset by the Victorians high in the clerestory. This seems a curious thing to have done, since it defeats the purpose of a clerestory, but if they had not done so then we might have lost it. The glass matches the tracery in the north aisle windows, so that is probably where they came from. There are angels, three Saints and some shields, most of which are heraldic but two show the instruments of the passion and the Holy Trinity. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the shields are 19th century, but the figures are all original late 15th or early 16th century. The Saints are an unidentified Bishop, the hacksaw-wielding St Faith and one of my favourites, St Apollonia. She it was who was invoked by medieval people against toothache.

 

Waling from the nave up into the chancel, the space created by the clearing of clutter makes it at once mysterious and beautiful. Above, the early 16th century waggon roof is Suffolk's best of its kind. Mortlock points out the little angels bearing scrolls, the wheat ears and the vine sprays, and the surviving traces of colour. The low side window on the south side still has its hinges, for here it was that updraught to the rood would have sent the candles flickering in the mystical church of the 14th century. On the south side of the sanctuary is an exquisitely carved arched recess, that doesn't appear to have ever had a door, and may have been a very rare purpose-built Easter sepulchre at the time of the 1330s rebuilding. Opposite is a huge and stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast. It is one of the most significant Decorated moments in Suffolk.

 

On the floor of the chancel there is a tiny, perfect chalice brass, one of only two surviving in Suffolk. The other is at Rendham. Not far away is the indent of another chalice brass - or perhaps it was for the same one, and the brass has been moved for some reason. There are two chalice indents at Westhall, but nowhere else in Suffolk. Chalice brasses were popular memorials for Priests in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and thus were fair game for reformers. Heigham memorials of the late 16th century are on the walls. Back in the south aisle there is a splendid tombchest in Purbeck marble. It has lost its brasses, but the indents show us where they were, as do other indents in the aisle floors. Some heraldic brass shields survive, and show that Heighams were buried here. Brass inscriptions survive in the nave and the chancel, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

 

The 14th century font is a good example of the tracery pattern series that appeared in the decades before the Black Death. They may have been intended to spread ideas at that time of great artistic and intellectual flowering before it was so cruelly snatched away. The cover is 17th Century. At this end of the nave are two good ranges of medieval benches, one, rare in East Anglia, is a group of 14th Century benches with pierced tracery backs. Some of them appear to spell out words, and Mortlock thought one might say Salaman Sayet. The block of benches to the north appears to be 15th Century or possibly early 16th Century. Further north, the early 17th Century benches are simpler, even cruder, and were likely the work of the village carpenter.

 

All rather lovely then. And yet, it hasn't always been that way. All Saints at Gazeley, near Newmarket, was the first church that I visited after an international team of scientists conclusively proved that God did not exist began the first page for this church that I wrote in 2003, in a satirical mood after finding the church locked and at a very low ebb. At a time when congregations were generally falling, I'd been thinking about the future of medieval churches beyond a time when they would have people to use them in the traditional way. I wondered if the buildings might find new uses, or could adapt themselves to changing patterns and emphases in Christianity, or even changing spiritual needs of their parishes. Even if science could somehow prove that God did not exist, I suggested, there were parishes which would rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves, as churches have always done over the two millennia of Christianity. Coming to Gazeley I felt that here was a church which felt as if it had been abandoned. And yet, it seemed to me a church of such significance, such historical and spiritual importance, that its loss would be a disaster. If it had been clean, tidy and open at the time he was visiting, Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Churches would not have been able to resist it. Should the survival of such a treasure store depend upon the existence of God or the continued practice of the Christian faith? Or might there be other reasons to keep this extraordinary building in something like its present integrity?

 

In the first decade of the 21st Century, Gazeley church went on a tremendous journey, from being moribund to being the wonderful church you can visit today. If you want to read the slightly adapted 2006 entry for Gazeley, recounting this journey, you can do so here. Coming back here today always fills me with optimism for what can be achieved. On one occasion I mentioned my experiences of Gazeley church to a Catholic Priest friend of mine, and he said he hoped I knew I'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And perhaps that is so. Certainly, the energy and imagination of the people here have been fired by something. On that occasion I had wanted to find someone to ask about it, to find out how things stood now. But there was no one, and so the building spoke for them.

 

Back outside in the graveyard, the dog daisies clustered and waved their sun-kissed faces in the light breeze. The ancient building must have known many late-May days like this over the centuries, but think of all the changes that it has known inside! The general buffeting of the winds of history still leaves room for local squalls and lightning strikes. All Saints has known these, but for now a blessed calm reigns here. Long may it remain so.

 

Simon Knott, June 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/gazeley.htm
St Mary the Virgin, Eastry, Kent by Jelltex

Not so long ago, the main road from Dover to Sandwich passed right through the centre of Easty. Its narrow roads lined with parked cars must have been quite a bottle neck. But now the main road goes round and the cars can park was their owners want.

 

I visited Eastry many years ago, early in the Kent church project. So I am revisiting those first churches to see what I missed now I have a little knowledge of church architecture.

 

We park in the centre on the main road and walk down the dead end street to the church. It looks fine in the spring sunshine, flints glistening. It sits surrounded by gfand houses, most of which are listed.

 

Entrance is via a unique porch in the west end of the church, under the tower, where a porch has been fashioned from carved wood and leaded lights.

 

Upon entering you are greeted by the glory of the church, the chancel arch festooned with panels showing four different designs, but my eye is taken by the two quatrefoil cut outs either side.

 

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Set away from the main street but on one of the earliest sites in the village, flint-built Eastry church has an over restored appearance externally but this gives way to a noteworthy interior. Built in the early thirteenth century by its patrons, Christ Church Canterbury, it was always designed to be a statement of both faith and power. The nave has a clerestory above round piers whilst the east nave wall has a pair of quatrefoils pierced through into the chancel. However this feature pales into insignificance when one sees what stands between them - a square panel containing 35 round paintings in medallions. There are four deigns including the Lily for Our Lady; a dove; Lion; Griffin. They would have formed a backdrop to the Rood which would have been supported on a beam the corbels of which survive below the paintings. On the centre pier of the south aisle is a very rare feature - a beautifully inscribed perpetual calendar or `Dominical Circle` to help find the Dominical letter of the year. Dating from the fourteenth century it divides the calendar into a sequence of 28 years. The reredos is an alabaster structure dating from the Edwardian period - a rather out of place object in a church of this form, but a good piece of work in its own right. On the west wall is a good early 19th century Royal Arms with hatchments on either side and there are many good monuments both ledger slabs and hanging tablets. Of the latter the finest commemorates John Harvey who died in 1794. It shows his ship the Brunswick fighting with all guns blazing with the French ship the Vengeur. John Bacon carved the Elder this detailed piece of work.

 

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Eastry

 

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Above the Chancel Arch, enclosed within a rectangular frame, are rows of seven "medallion" wall paintings; the lower group was discovered in 1857 and the rest in 1903. They remained in a rather dilapidated state until the Canterbury Cathedral Wall Paintings Department brought them back to life.

 

The medallions are evidently of the 13th Century, having been painted while the mortar was still wet. Each medallion contains one of four motifs:

 

The trefoil flower, pictured left, is perhaps a symbol of the Blessed Virgin Mary to whom the church is dedicated; or symbolic of Christ.

 

The lion; symbolic of the Resurrection

  

Doves, either singly, or in pairs, represent the Holy Spirit

  

The Griffin represents evil, over which victory is won by the power of the Resurrection and the courage of the Christian.

 

www.ewbchurches.org.uk/eastrychurchhistory.htm

 

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The Representative of Humanity. The striving of the individual human being for balance by Hughes Songe

The Representative of Humanity between Lucifer and Ahriman is a wooden sculpture more than 8 m high designed by Rudolf Steiner and created together with the sculptor Edith Maryon for the first Goetheanum in Dornach. It was to be placed in the small domed room, the stage room of the first Goetheanum. When the Goetheanum burned down on New Year's Eve 1922/23, the sculpture had not yet been completed and was therefore spared from the fire.

  

Contents

1The striving of the individual human being for balance

2Connection with the Easter Imagination

3Christ as the Representative of Humanity between the Adversary Powers

4The World Humour

5The artistic work on the group of figures

6Literature

The striving of the individual human being for balance

„The people of the present day have a great need to place Christ in the midst of Ahriman and Lucifer. Christ-power must permeate us. But as human beings we must always seek the balance between that which, in a certain sense, mystically and enthusiastically wants to rise above us, and that which wants to pull us down to the earth in a materialistic, rational, philistine and difficult way. And if we endeavour to seek this balance, then alone can we find the Christ.“ (Lit.:GA 195, p. 40)

 

„I would like to say, I explain it to almost everyone of whom I only believe that he can have some understanding, to everyone who comes before the well-known wooden group in Dornach: "Christ in the middle as representative of humanity, Ahriman and Lucifer on either side", that the human being as we have him before us can really only be imagined by imagining everything about him as a state of equilibrium. On the one side is the supersensible, on the other the sub-sensible. The human being actually always represents only the state of equilibrium between the supersensible and the sub-sensible.“ (Lit.:GA 324a, p. 152)

 

„Until the middle of the 15th century, the single, individual human being did not come into consideration as he has since that time. Since that time, what is most essential in the human being is the striving to be individuality, the striving to unite individual personality forces, to find, as it were, a centre in oneself [...]

 

Through this, however, something becomes particularly important for man in this time, which began in the middle of the 15th century and will only end towards the fourth millennium. With this, something occurs that is of very special importance for this time. For you see, something vague is expressed when one has to say: Every human being strives for his own particular individuality. The group spirit, even if it comprises only smaller groups, is something much more tangible than that which each individual strives for out of the primal source of his individuality. Hence it is that it becomes especially important for this man of the newer times to understand what may be called the balance between the opposite poles: To seek a balance between the opposite poles.

 

The one wants to go beyond the head, so to speak. Everything that leads man to be a dreamer, a fantasist, a maniac, that fills him with indefinite mystical impulses towards some indefinite infinite, yes, that fills him even if he is a pantheist or a theist or something like that, which is so often the case today, that is the one pole. The other pole is that of sobriety, of dryness, trivially speaking, but not unrealistically speaking in relation to the spirit of the present, truly not unrealistically speaking: the pole of philistrosity, the pole of philistinism, the pole which draws us down to earth into materialism. These two poles of force are in the human being, and between them the human being stands, it has to seek the balance. In how many ways can one seek balance? [...]

 

In an infinite number of ways you can seek balance. This corresponds to the infinitely many ways of being an individual human being. That is why it is so essential for the present human being to realise that his being consists in the search for balance between the opposite poles. And the indeterminacy of the search for balance is precisely that indeterminacy of which I spoke to you earlier [...]

 

We are mentally healthy when we find the balance between the rapturously fantastic and the dryly philistine. We are physically healthy when we can live in balance between the fever and the sclerosis, the ossification. And this can happen in an infinite number of ways, in which individuality can live.

 

That is the way in which man, especially in modern times, must feel the old Apollo saying "Know thyself". But "know thyself" not in some abstraction: "Know thyself in the striving for balance." That is why we have to set up in the east of the building that which can make man feel this striving for balance. And this is to be represented in the sculptural wooden group mentioned yesterday, which has as its central figure the figure of Christ, the figure of Christ, which has been attempted to be shaped in such a way that one can imagine it: This is how the Christ really walked in the man Jesus of Nazareth at the beginning of our era in Palestine. The conventional images of the bearded Christ are actually creations of the 5th and 6th centuries, and they are truly not in any way, if I may use the expression, true to the portrait. That is what has been attempted: to create a Christ who is true to the portrait, who is at the same time supposed to be the representative of the searching human being, the human being who strives for balance. (It is drawn).

 

The Representative of Humanity between Lucifer and Ahriman; Plate 17 from GA 194, p 187

You will then see two figures at this group: Here the falling Lucifer, here the ascending Lucifer. Here below, in a certain sense connected with Lucifer, an Ahrimanic figure, and here a second Ahrimanic figure. The representative of humanity is placed between the ahrimanic figure: the philistine, the sober-dry-materialistic; and the luciferic figure: the rapturous, fantastic. The Ahriman figure: all that leads man to petrification, to sclerosis; the Lucifer figure: representation of all that leads man feverishly beyond the measure of that health which he can bear.“ (Lit.:GA 194, p. 183ff)

 

Connection with the Easter Imagination

 

Easter Imagination - Christ between Lucifer and Ahriman

→ Main article: Easter Imagination

The Easter Imagination, which Rudolf Steiner gave, describes how the image of the Christ forms out of the earthly-cosmic events, who stands between the adversary powers of Lucifer and Ahriman and keeps both in balance. In the statue of the representative of humanity between Lucifer and Ahriman, essential parts of this Easter imagination find their artistic-sculptural representation.

 

„In the middle of this group will stand a figure like, I would like to say, the representative of the highest humanity that could unfold on Earth. Therefore one will also be able to feel this figure of the highest human being in the development of the earth as the Christ. It will be the special task to shape this Christ figure in such a way that one will be able to see how this earthly body, in every expression, in everything about it, is spiritualised by that which has moved in from cosmic, from spiritual heights as the Christ. Through the raising of the left arm of the Christ figure, it happens that this descending entity breaks its wings. But it must not look as if the Christ were breaking the wings of this entity (Lucifer), but the whole must be artistically designed in such a way that, as the Christ raises his arm, it is already evident from the whole movement of his hand that he actually has only infinite compassion for this entity. This being, however, cannot bear what flows up through the arm and the hand; one would like to clothe its feeling in the words: I cannot bear that such purity should shine up upon me.

 

And on the other side the rock will be hollowed out. In this hollow is also a figure that has wings. The figure in the cave is literally clinging to the cave, you see it in chains, you see it working down there to hollow out the earth. Christ has his right hand turned downwards. Christ himself has infinite compassion for Ahriman. But Ahriman cannot bear it, he writhes in pain through that which radiates through the hand of Christ. And what radiates there causes the gold veins that are down in the rock cave to wind like cords around Ahriman's body and bind him.“ (Lit.:GA 159, p. 248ff)

 

Christ as the Representative of Humanity between the Adversary Powers

The group of figures in the large wooden sculpture shows Christ striding between two Lucifer figures and two Ahriman figures, which belong together in pairs. One pair of the Lucifer and Ahriman figures is active inside the human being, the other is active outside in nature or in the cosmos, as is also shown in the Easter imagination. At the top left, above the figure of Lucifer, a strongly asymmetrically shaped elemental being grows out of the rock out of inner artistic necessity, looking over the rock with a certain humour - the world humour.

 

„The whole building is arranged, as I said, from west to east, so that the axis of symmetry passes between the columns, from west to east, and it intersects the small cylinder, i.e. the stage space, at its boundary in the east. There, towards the east, between the sixth column on the right and the sixth column on the left, is a sculptural group. This, in turn, is supposed to artistically represent, I would like to say, the most intimate part of our spiritual-scientific world view. It is to represent what must necessarily be integrated into the human spiritual view of the present and into the future. Humanity must learn to understand that everything that is important for the shaping of the world and for human life runs into these three currents: so to speak, the normal spiritual current into which man is woven, then the Luciferic current and the Ahrimanic current. Divine evolution, Luciferic evolution and Ahrimanic evolution are woven into everything, both into the foundations of the physical and into the revelations of spiritual events. This, however, is not to be expressed symbolically, but artistically, in our pictorial group. A wooden group. An idea has arisen which I believe I have grasped as a thought, but the reason for which has not yet become clear to me even in its occult underpinnings; occult research in the future will probably reveal this. But it seems to be absolutely true that all ancient motifs can be better represented in stone or metal, and all Christian motifs - and ours is a Christian motif in the eminent sense - better in wood. I cannot help saying that I have always felt it necessary to rethink the group in St Peter's in Rome, Michelangelo's Pieta, in wood; for then, I believe, it would represent what it is supposed to represent; just as I have had to rethink other Christian groups that I found in stone in wood. There is certainly something at the bottom of this; I have not yet found the reasons. So our group had to be conceived and executed in wood.

 

The main figure is a kind of representative of humanity, an entity that is supposed to represent man in his divine revelation. I am satisfied if someone who looks at this figure has the sensation: it is a representation of the Christ Jesus. But even this seemed inartistic to me if I had based it on the impulse: I want to make a Christ Jesus. I wanted to depict what is there. What the person experiences then, whether it is a Christ Jesus, must first be the consequence. I would be quite happy if everyone experienced that. But that is not the artistic idea of depicting a Christ Jesus. The artistic idea rests purely in the artistic form, in the design; the other is a novellistic or programmatic idea of depicting a Christ Jesus. The artistic lives in the form, at least if it is a pictorial. - A main figure, the whole group is eight and a half metres high, stands somewhat elevated, behind it rocks, under it rocks. At the bottom of the rock, which is hollowing out a little, an Ahriman figure is growing out of it. It is inside a rock cave, half lying down, with its head up. The main figure stands on this somewhat hollowed out rock. Above the Ahriman figure and to the left of the observer is a second Ahriman growing out of the rock, so that the Ahriman figure is repeated. Above the Ahriman figure, again to the left of the observer, is a Lucifer figure. A kind of artistic connection has been created between the Lucifer and the Ahriman below. A little above, above the main figure, to the right of the viewer, there is also a Lucifer figure. Lucifer is therefore also present twice. This other Lucifer is broken in himself, falls through being broken in himself. The right hand of the central figure points downwards, the left hand upwards. This left hand pointing upwards points to the breaking point of Lucifer; there he breaks in two and falls. The right hand and the right arm of the central figure point towards the lower Ahriman and bring him to despair. The whole thing is conceived in such a way - I hope that one will be able to feel it - that this central figure is not in any way aggressive; but in the gesture I have indicated, there is only love in it. But neither Lucifer nor Ahriman can stand this love. The Christ does not fight against Ahriman, but radiates love; but Lucifer and Ahriman cannot let love come near them. Through the proximity of love, one, Ahriman, feels despair, being consumed within himself, and Lucifer falls. So in them, in Lucifer and Ahriman, lies what is expressed in their gestures.

 

Of course, the figures were not easy to create for the reason that one has to create spiritual things - partly spiritual in the case of the main figure, but purely spiritual in the case of Lucifer and Ahriman - and in sculpture it is most difficult to form the spiritual. However, an attempt was made to achieve what was necessary, especially for our aims: to dissolve the form, although it had to remain artistic form, entirely into gesture, entirely into mien. Man is actually only capable of using gesture and mien in a very limited sense. Lucifer and Ahriman are entirely gesture and entirely mien. Spirit forms do not have a finished form, there is no finished spirit form. If you want to shape the spirit, you are in the same position as if you wanted to shape lightning. The form a spirit has at one moment is different from the form it has at the next moment. You have to take that into account. If, however, you wanted to hold on to a spirit's form for one moment, just as you would a resting form, then you would get nothing out of it, you would only have a frozen form. So in such a case one must completely reproduce the gesture. So in the case of Lucifer and Ahriman, the gesture is completely reproduced, and this had to be attempted to some extent also for the middle figure, which is of course a physical figure: the Christ Jesus.

 

Now I would like to show you a few pictures which can give you a small idea of this main group, as best they can. The first is the head of Ahriman, in the form in which it first appeared to me: a human being - think of the threefold division of the human being into head, trunk and extremities - who is entirely head, who is therefore also the instrument of the most perfect cleverness, understanding and cunning. This is to be expressed in the figure of Ahriman. The head of Ahriman, as you see it here, is properly spirit, if I may use the paradoxical expression; but you know how a paradox often comes out when one characterises spiritually. He is indeed after the model, true to spirit, artistically true to nature. Ahriman had to "sit" for that to be brought about.

 

The next is Lucifer, as he appears from the viewer on the left side. In order to understand Lucifer, you must think in a very strange way of what appears as the spirit form of Lucifer. Think of that which is most Ahrimanic in man away from the human form, that is, the head away, but instead think of the ears and the auricles, the outer ear, considerably enlarged, naturally spiritualised and formed into wings and shaped into an organ, but the organ wrapped around its body, the laryngeal wings also enlarged; so that head, wings, ears form one organ together. And the wings, the principal organ, is that which results for the figure of Lucifer. Lucifer is an enlarged larynx, a larynx which becomes the whole form, out of which then develops, through a kind of wing, a connection to the ear, so that one has to imagine: Lucifer is such a form, which receives the music of the spheres, takes it into this ear-wing organism; and without the individuality speaking, the universe, the music of the spheres itself, again expresses itself through the same organ, which is transformed forward into the larynx, thus is another metamorphosis of the human form: larynx-ear-wing organ. Therefore the head is only indicated. With Ahriman you will find, if you will once see the figure in the Dornach building: What you can think of as a figure has been brought out. But what comes out of Lucifer as a head - although you cannot well imagine that it would be the same with yourself as with Lucifer - is something that is beautiful to the highest degree. The Ahrimanic, then, is the intelligent, clever, but ugly thing in the world; the Luciferic is the beautiful thing in the world. Everything in the world contains both the ahrimanic and the luciferic. Youth and childhood are more luciferic, old age more ahrimanic; the past is more ahrimanic, the future more luciferic in its impulses; women more luciferic, men more ahrimanic; everything contains these two currents. The elemental being above Lucifer - the "world humour".

 

The being above Lucifer arose as one that grows out of the rock as an elemental being. We had finished the group we had discussed, and when it was freed from its framework, something quite strange appeared: namely, that, as Miss Waller felt, the centre of gravity of the group lay - for the sake of the view, of course - too far to the right and something had to be created to balance it. This is how we were told by Karma. Now it was a question of not just putting up a lump of rock, but of pursuing the sculptural idea further. This is how this being came into being, which, as it were, grows out of the rock as an elemental being. You will notice one thing about this being, even if it is only expressed in hints: you will see how an asymmetry must immediately take effect as soon as spiritual figures come into consideration. This is expressed in the physical only to a very limited extent: our left eye is different from our right and so on; it is the same with the ear and nose. But as soon as one enters the spiritual realm, the etheric body has a decidedly asymmetrical effect. The left side of the etheric body is quite different from the right; this comes out immediately when you want to form spiritual figures. You can walk around this being, and you will have a different view from every point below. But you will see that the asymmetry works as something necessary, because it is the expression of the gesture with which this being looks over the rock with a certain humour and looks down on the group below. This looking down over the rock with humour has a good reason. It is not at all right to want to rise into the higher worlds with mere sentimentality. If one wants to work one's way up to the higher worlds, one must not do it with mere sentimentality. This sentimentality always smacks of egoism. You will see that often, when the highest spiritual connections are to be discussed, I mix into the contemplation something which is not intended to bring out of the mood, but only to drive away the egoistic sentimentality of the mood. Only then will people truly rise to the spiritual when they do not want to grasp it with egoistic sentimentality, but can enter this spiritual realm in purity of soul, which can never be without humour.

 

Then the head of the central figure in profile, as it emerged with necessity. The head had to be made somewhat asymmetrical because this figure was intended to show that not only the movements of the right hand, the left hand, the right arm and so on reflect the interior of the soul, but because in such a being living entirely in the soul, as is the Christ Jesus, this also takes up the formation of the forehead, for example, and the whole of the rest of the figure, much more than can be the case with the gesture of a human being. We have tried it out, although it does not correspond to reality, that if you put the picture upside down in the apparatus, you have a completely different view just because it is the other way round. The impression is different. But you will only see how this is conceived asymmetrically, artistically, in the finished head of the central figure. - One may well say that in the elaboration of such a thing all artistic questions really come into consideration; the smallest artistic question is always connected with some far-reaching whole. Here, for example, the treatment of the surface came into particular consideration. Life must be generated especially through the surface. The surface simply bent, and the bending bent again: this special treatment of the surface, the double bending of the surface, how this brings life out of the surface itself, you only see when you work through these things. And so you will see that what we wanted lies not only in what is depicted, but also in a certain artistic treatment of the matter. It was not necessary to reach the ahrimanic, the luciferic and again the human in a novellistic way, by mere reproduction, but it was necessary to get it into the fingertips, to get it into the shaping of the surface, it was necessary to get it completely into the artistic shaping. And that expansion which man receives by extending his perception into the spiritual, it also extends on the other side into the artistic.

 

So this group stands below in the east in the stage area. Above it arches the smaller dome, and this again is painted, as I have indicated. Above this group, there is another attempt to paint the same motif. There is the Christ, above Lucifer and Ahriman, and the attempt is made to express through the colours what should be represented through art. It is precisely through the diversity of treatment that one will see how purely out of the means of art the things had to be brought.“ (Lit.:GA 181, p. 312ff)

 

The World Humour

→ Main article: World humour

 

The world humour on the statue of the Representative of Humanity

The World Humour is a figure that sits at the very top of the monumental wooden sculpture of the Representative of Humanity and, as an elemental being, grows with inner artistic necessity out of the rocky outcrop depicted here (Lit.:GA 181, p. 316f).

 

The artistic work on the group of figures

In preparation for the group of figures, several models about 50cm in size were first created and finally also a model on a scale of 1:1, which is still preserved today, made of lime powder, beeswax and plasticine. Edith Maryon prepared the wooden framework and the materials for the construction of the model. The plasticine was prepared according to Rudolf Steiner's instructions and kneaded by hand. This material was chosen because it remains elastically mouldable for a long time and so Rudolf Steiner could continue to work on the model again and again despite his long and frequent absences from Dornach.

 

Literature

Judith von Halle, John Wilkes: Die Holzplastik des Goetheanum - «Der Menschheitsrepräsentant zwischen Luzifer und Ahriman», Vlg. am Goetheanum, Dornach 2008

Judith von Halle: «Das Christliche aus dem Holze herausschlagen...» - Rudolf Steiner, Edith Maryon und die Christus-Plastik, Vlg. am Goetheanum, Dornach 2007

Rudolf Steiner: Das Geheimnis des Todes. Wesen und Bedeutung Mitteleuropas und die europäischen Volksgeister, GA 159 (1980) English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

Rudolf Steiner: Erdensterben und Weltenleben. Anthroposophische Lebensgaben. Bewußtseins-Notwendigkeiten für Gegenwart und Zukunft, GA 181 (1991), Sechzehnter Vortrag, Berlin, 3. Juli 1918 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

Rudolf Steiner: Die Sendung Michaels, GA 194 (1994), ISBN 3-7274-1940-7 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

Rudolf Steiner: Weltsilvester und Neujahrsgedanken, GA 195 (1986), ISBN 3-7274-1950-4 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

Rudolf Steiner: Die vierte Dimension, GA 324a (1995), ISBN 3-7274-3245-4 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

 

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.

Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.

Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books

A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works

Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.

Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold

steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)

Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.

  

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1915-05-18-GA159

introduction to the lecture:

 

In 1914, Rudolf Steiner had begun a scaled-down model of the Christ sculpture that was later to be installed in the Goetheanum.. As the work on the sculpture itself began, he frequently explained its significance in his lectures.

 

One of Rudolf Steiner's lecture tours, May 6 through May 18, 1915, took him to Vienna, Prague and Linz. In all three cities he stressed that the Christ figure in the sculptured group would have to be portrayed as a being in equipoise between the polar forces of Lucifer and Ahriman and that this being was symbol of, and model for, man's own existence here on earth. The Linz lecture, which is here translated, presents the group in a world-historical context and relates the significance of the Lucifer-Christ-Ahriman configuration to the events surrounding World War I. Steiner sees a parallel between Christ's central, but equalizing position and Central Europe's mission in World War I. He implies that Germany's and Austria's militarism and political intransigence alone did not lead to war against the world powers in the East (Russia) and the West (France, England and, since 1917, the United States). According to Steiner, World War I was the earthly expression of a struggle between luciferic forces in the East and ahrimanic forces in the West, and it was Central Europe's destiny to mediate between these forces.

 

quote

 

Some day when the building in Dornach that is dedicated to the spiritual sciences is completed, it will contain, in a significant spot, a sculpture dominated by three figures. In the center of this group a figure will tower as if it were the manifestation of what I would call the most sublime human principle ever to unfold on earth. Hence, one will be able to experience this representation of the highest human principle in the evolution of the earth-the Christ, who in the course of this evolution lived three years in the body of Jesus of Nazareth. A special task in the portrayal of this Christ figure will be to make two ideas visible. Firstly, it will be important to show how the being that we are concerned with dwells in a human body. Secondly, it must also become apparent how this human body, in every facial expression and in every gesture reflects a magnificent degree of spiritual refinement, which descended with the Christ from cosmic and spiritual heights into this body in its thirtieth year. Then there will be the remaining two figures of the group, one to the left and the other to the right of the Christ figure, if that is the proper name for the figure that I have just sketched. This Christ figure is placed in such a way that it seems to be standing in front of a rock that towers noticeably at His left side, with its peak extending over His head. On top of the rock there will be another figure, winged but with his wings broken, who for this reason begins to fall into the abyss. One feature in the Christ figure that must be worked out with special artistic care is the manner in which he raises his left arm, for it is precisely this gesture that precipitates the breaking of the wings. It must not appear, however, as if the Christ Himself were breaking the wings of this being. Rather, the interaction of the two figures must be portrayed artistically to show how the Christ, by the very motion of raising his hand, is expressing his infinite compassion for this being. Yet this being cannot bear the energy flowing upward through arm and hand, an energy that is evidenced by indentations that the fingers of the extended hand seem to leave in the rock itself. When this being comes into proximity with the Christ being, he feels something that may be expressed in the words: I cannot bear the radiation of such purity upon me.

 

This feeling dominates so essentially as to break this upper beings wings and cause his imminent plunge into the abyss. To make this visible will be a particularly important artistic task and you will see how the meaning of this interaction could easily be misunderstood. Imagine, for example, an artistic portrayal of the Christ suggesting that merely by raising His hand He would radiate such power onto the being that his wings would be broken, forcing the plunge into the abyss. In that case it would be the Christ Himself who irradiated this being, as it were, with hatred, and thereby caused his descent. Such an impression must under no circumstances be conveyed. Rather, the being must be portrayed as having caused his own fall, for what is to be shown plunging downward, with broken wings, is Lucifer.

 

Now let us consider the other side of the group, toward the right of the Christ figure. There, the rock will have a ledge and, therefore, will be concave underneath. In this depression there will be another winged figure, who with his arm-like organs turns toward the ledge above. You have to visualize this as follows. To the right is the depression in the rock and in it stands this winged figure with wings entirely different from the figure on top of the rock. The wings of the figure on top of the rock resemble those of an eagle, whereas the figure in the depression has bat-like wings. This figure virtually buries himself in the cave, working in shackles, ever busy undermining the earthly realm.

 

The Christ figure in the middle has his right hand directed downward and the left one upward. Again, it will be an important artistic task not to show the Christ as wanting to shackle this figure; rather, he has infinite compassion for this being, which is Ahriman. Ahriman cannot bear this compassion and he writhes with pain from what the hand of the Christ exudes. This radiance from Christ's hand causes the golden veins down in the rock depression to wind around Ahriman's body like strong cords and shackle him. What is happening to Lucifer is his own doing; the same is true with Ahriman. This concept is going to take form as a sculpture that will be set up in a significant place in the new building. Above the sculptured group we will attempt to express the same motif through the medium of painting, but then the concept must be expressed differently. To summarize, the group of three figures: Christ, Lucifer and Ahriman will stand at the bottom as a sculpture, and above, the same motif will appear as a painting.

 

We are injecting this configuration of a relationship between Christ, Lucifer and Ahriman into our Dornach building because the science of the spirit reveals to us in a certain way that the next task regarding the comprehension of the Christ impulse will be to make man finally understand how the three forces of Christ, Lucifer and Ahriman are related in this world. To this day there has been much talk about Christianity and the Christ impulse, but man has not yet gained a clear understanding of what the Christ impulse has brought into the world as the result of the Mystery of Golgotha. Certainly, it is generally admitted that there is a Lucifer or an Ahriman, but in so doing, it is made to appear that from these two one must flee, as if one wished to say, “I want nothing to do with Lucifer and Ahriman!” — In yesterday's public lecture <1 I described the way in which the divine-spiritual forces can be found. If these forces did not want to have anything to do with Lucifer and Ahriman, either, the world could not exist. One does not gain the proper relationship to Lucifer and Ahriman by saying, “Lucifer, I flee from you! Ahriman, I flee from you!” Rather, everything that man has to strive for as a result of the Christ impulse must be seen as similar to the equilibrious state of a pendulum. In the center, the pendulum is in perfect balance, but it must oscillate to one side or the other. The same applies to man's development here on earth. Man must oscillate to the one side according to the luciferic principle and to the other according to the principle of Ahriman, but he must maintain his equilibrium through the cultivation of Paul's declaration, “Not I, but Christ in me.”

 

1915-06-13-GA159

It is quite indifferent what name we give to this central figure, but we may see in it the representative of Man on earth, man's representative in the highest meaning of the word. And if we see the ideal of humanity in that human being who for three years bore within him the Christ, then we may also see the Christ in this central figure of our plastic group.

 

Yet we should not simply face the statue with the thought: “That is meant to be the Christ”, for this would be wrong.

 

Instead, we should experience everything in an artistic way, that is to say, we should not interpret things symbolically from outside, but everything should result from what the forms themselves reveal.

 

1919-12-13-GA194

It is in this sense that modern man must come to understand, through his feeling, the ancient Apollo-saying: “Know thou thyself.” But “Know thou thyself” not in some abstract way; “Know thou thyself in the struggle for balance.”

 

Therefore we have to set up at the east end of the building what is intended to cause the human being to feel this struggle for balance. That is to be represented in the plastic wood group mentioned yesterday, with the Christ-Form as the central figure — the Christ-Form which we have tried to fashion in such a way that one may imagine: It was really thus that the Christ went about in Palestine at the beginning of our era in the man Jesus of Nazareth.

 

The conventional pictures of the bearded Christ are actually only creations of the fifth or sixth century, and they are really not in any way true portraits, if I may use the expression. That has been attempted here: to produce a true portrait of Christ, Who is to be at the same time the Representative of the seeking human being, the human being striving for balance.

 

You will see then in this group two figures: here the falling Lucifer, here the upward-striving Lucifer; here below, connected with Lucifer, as it were, an Ahrimanic form, and here a second Ahrimanic form. The Representative of Humanity is placed between the Ahrimanic form — the philistine, the insipid, the aridly materialistic — and the Lucifer-form — the ecstatic, the fantastic; between the Ahriman-figure — all that leads to petrifaction, to sclerosis — and the Lucifer-figure — the representation of all that leads man feverishly out beyond the limit of what his health can endure.

 

After we have placed in the center, as it were, the Gothic cathedral, which encloses no image, but either the relics of saints or even the Holy Grail — that is, something no longer directly connected with beings living on earth — then we come back again, I might say, to the idea of the building as enclosing something, but now enclosing the being of man in his struggle for balance.

 

If destiny permits it, and this building can some day be completed, he who sits within it will have directly before him, while he is looking upon the Being who gives meaning to the earth evolution, something which suggests to him to say: the Christ-Being. But this is to be felt in an artistic way. It must not be merely reasoned about speculatively as being the Christ, but it must be felt. The whole is artistically conceived, and what comes to artistic expression in the forms is the most important part. But it is nevertheless intended to suggest to the human being through feeling — I might say to the exclusion of the intellect, which is to be merely the ladder to feeling — that he is to look toward the east of the building and be able to say: “That art thou.” But now, not an abstract definition of man, for balance can be effected in innumerable ways. Not an image of a god is enclosed, for it is true for Christians also that they are to make no image of a God — not an image of a god is enclosed, but that is enclosed which has developed of the qualities of the human group-soul into the individual force-entity of each separate human being. And the working and weaving of the individual impulse is taken into account in these forms. —

 

1932-10 - In Memory of Rudolf Steiner, An Essay By Marie Steiner

In lectures during 1912 a description of the Christ figure was given to us in artistic and picturesque intensity, at a time when even the thought of the possibility of its plastic realisation had not yet been conceived. What we can now look at in a work of art, was conjured up before us by the power of the words:

 

“Yes, this outward plastic representation of the Christ — how He should be pictured outwardly is a question which has still to be solved.”

 

Many feelings will have to flow through human souls before there can be added something new to the many attempts already made in the course of the ages, an attempt which will show in some measure what the Christ is, as the supersensible Impulse which is making itself one with this earthly development. Not even the first beginnings of such a representation of the Christ are to be found in what has been accomplished up till now. For there must appear, embodied in the growing outward form, the organic forces of the impulses of Wonder, of Compassion, and of Conscience gathered there.

 

The Christ-countenance must be so living that its very expression will say: Here in this representation, all that makes man an earth-man, all that has to do with sense desire, has been overcome by the Spirit shining through — by what has spiritualised this face. There must be sublime strength in the face, brought out by causing everything that one can think of as the highest unfolding of conscience to manifest itself in the peculiar form of the chin and mouth ; a mouth, it must be — when one stands before it, when the painter or the sculptor wishes to form it — which gives one the feeling that it is not there to eat with but for the purpose of expressing all that has ever been cultivated in humanity as morality and conscience; and that the whole bony system, the teeth, and the lower jaw, give expression to the same. All this will come to expression in such a countenance. There will be so mighty a force in the form of the lower part of the face that it streams forth, renders and tears to pieces the whole remaining human body, till this in time will become a new form and thereby certain ether forces will be overcome. Thus it will be quite impossible to give to the Christ, who reveals a mouth like this a bodily form in any way similar to that of the physical man of today.

 

On the other hand, one will have to give Him eyes out of which there will speak an almighty compassion, such as alone is capable of seeing inner Being and not eyes which are there to receive impressions, but rather in order to go out, with the whole soul into the joys and sufferings of others.

 

Moreover, this Christ will have a forehead which one could not imagine as harbouring thoughts on sense impressions of earth. It will be a brow that projects somewhat over the eyes, vaulting over that part of the brain; yet, at the same time, it will not be a “thinker's brow” that ponders over what already exists, but rather Wonder will have to express itself from this brow that projects above the eyes and gently arches back over the head, thus expressing what may be called Wonder over the Mysteries of the World. That must be a head such as man cannot meet with in physical humanity.

 

Every portrayal of the Christ should really be something like the Ideal of the Christ-figure. And the feeling which aspires towards this ideal whenever in the course of evolution man struggles to achieve it — in so far as humanity strives artistically to present this Highest Ideal, through the help of Spiritual Science, must there be this feeling: You may not look to something which already exists, if you wish to portray “the Christ”; rather, you must cause to become a power, active in yourself to permeate your whole being, everything that you can achieve through spiritual absorption in the spiritual course of the world, through the three momentous impulses — Wonder, Compassion, and Conscience.

 

on this description, see also: Christ Module 19 - experiencing the Christ#1912-05-08-GA143

 

anthroposophy.eu/Representative_of_humanity
Holy Man of East Saxons (Essex) by Christopher Strickland

In a niche just outside the front door of All Saints Church in Maldon is a statue of Saint Cedd, who served as the Bishop of London from . It was Cedd that was called upon by Oswiu and King Sigeberht to re-convert the East saxons and strengthen Christianity in the East Saxon kingdom.. He did missionary work and made some conversions. His predecessor Mellitus had earlier been driven out by King Sigeberht. When Saint Cedd came to Essex, he founded a monastery beside the abandoned Roman fort of Othona within the old walls of the Anglo-Saxon fort Ithancester in 653, which survives as the restored chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall, one of the oldest churches in Britain. From there, he continued the evangelisation of Essex. The old chapel is a popular attraction for pilgrims and tourists, and is the oldest Christain church building in Essex. One can still see the original Romanesque arches in two of the chapel walls.

He is depicted in sculpture here with a Crozier(ornamental shepherd staff symbolising a spiritual shelpherd who keeps their flock) in his left hand, and a bound book of scripture (symbolic of the permanent and binding importance of the Bible as Gods word) in his right hand. He is sitting upon a "Cathedra" (Bishops official seat or chair) with his name on the plinth below. The church where a Bishops Cathedra was placed became known as a cathedral.

Cedd was an Anglo-Saxon monk and bishop from Northumbria. He was an evangelist of the Middle Angles and East Saxons in England and a significant participant in the Synod of Whitby, a meeting which resolved important differences within the Church in England. He is venerated by Anglican, Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians.

What I found interesting about this moment, is that behind the sitting figure of Cedd ( to the right of his staff) is a solid white Dove nesting upon his left shoulder. I found this to be striking and very symbolic. It reminded me of the biblical story of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. He came to the river where John was baptising many, and asked to be baptised by John, who relectantly but humbly obeyed.... at the moment Christ arose from the water the Holy Spirit descended from heaven in the form of a dove which alit upon his shoulder. That is why I took this photo, and posted it here.
Age of Enlightenment...Dissemination of ideas...The word "public" implies the highest level of inclusivity. "truly enlightened public" with "the blind and noisy multitude."Cross-class influences occurred by Hughes Songe

Implications in the arts

Because of the focus on reason over superstition, the Enlightenment cultivated the arts.[181] Emphasis on learning, art, and music became more widespread, especially with the growing middle class. Areas of study such as literature, philosophy, science, and the fine arts increasingly explored subject matter to which the general public, in addition to the previously more segregated professionals and patrons, could relate.[182]

  

George Frideric Handel

As musicians depended more on public support, public concerts became increasingly popular and helped supplement performers' and composers' incomes. The concerts also helped them to reach a wider audience. Handel, for example, epitomized this with his highly public musical activities in London. He gained considerable fame there with performances of his operas and oratorios. The music of Haydn and Mozart, with their Viennese Classical styles, are usually regarded as being the most in line with the Enlightenment ideals.[183]

 

The desire to explore, record, and systematize knowledge had a meaningful impact on music publications. Rousseau's Dictionnaire de musique (published 1767 in Geneva and 1768 in Paris) was a leading text in the late 18th century.[183] This widely available dictionary gave short definitions of words like genius and taste and was clearly influenced by the Enlightenment movement. Another text influenced by Enlightenment values was Charles Burney's A General History of Music: From the Earliest Ages to the Present Period (1776), which was a historical survey and an attempt to rationalize elements in music systematically over time.[184] Recently, musicologists have shown renewed interest in the ideas and consequences of the Enlightenment. For example, Rose Rosengard Subotnik's Deconstructive Variations (subtitled Music and Reason in Western Society) compares Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (1791) using the Enlightenment and Romantic perspectives and concludes that the work is "an ideal musical representation of the Enlightenment."[184]

 

As the economy and the middle class expanded, there was an increasing number of amateur musicians. One manifestation of this involved women, who became more involved with music on a social level. Women were already engaged in professional roles as singers and increased their presence in the amateur performers' scene, especially with keyboard music.[185] Music publishers began to print music that amateurs could understand and play. The majority of the works that were published were for keyboard, voice and keyboard, and chamber ensemble.[185] After these initial genres were popularized, from the mid-century on, amateur groups sang choral music, which then became a new trend for publishers to capitalize on. The increasing study of the fine arts, as well as access to amateur-friendly published works, led to more people becoming interested in reading and discussing music. Music magazines, reviews, and critical works which suited amateurs as well as connoisseurs began to surface.[

Art

The art produced during the Enlightenment focused on a search for morality that was absent from the art in previous eras.[citation needed] At the same time, the Classical art of Greece and Rome became interesting to people again, since archaeological teams discovered Pompeii and Herculaneum. People took inspiration from it and revived classical art into neo-classical art. This can especially be seen in early American art and architecture, which featured arches, goddesses, and other classical architectural designs.

Society and culture

 

A medal minted during the reign of Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, commemorating his grant of religious liberty to Jews and Protestants in Hungary—another important reform of Joseph II was the abolition of serfdom.

In contrast to the intellectual historiographical approach of the Enlightenment, which examines the various currents or discourses of intellectual thought within the European context during the 17th and 18th centuries, the cultural (or social) approach examines the changes that occurred in European society and culture. This approach studies the process of changing sociabilities and cultural practices during the Enlightenment.

 

One of the primary elements of the culture of the Enlightenment was the rise of the public sphere, a "realm of communication marked by new arenas of debate, more open and accessible forms of urban public space and sociability, and an explosion of print culture," in the late 17th century and 18th century.[171] Elements of the public sphere included that it was egalitarian, that it discussed the domain of "common concern," and that argument was founded on reason.[172] Habermas uses the term "common concern" to describe those areas of political/social knowledge and discussion that were previously the exclusive territory of the state and religious authorities, now open to critical examination by the public sphere. The values of this bourgeois public sphere included holding reason to be supreme, considering everything to be open to criticism (the public sphere is critical), and the opposition of secrecy of all sorts.[173]

  

German explorer Alexander von Humboldt showed his disgust for slavery and often criticized the colonial policies—he always acted out of a deeply humanistic conviction, borne by the ideas of the Enlightenment.[174]

The creation of the public sphere has been associated with two long-term historical trends: the rise of the modern nation state and the rise of capitalism. The modern nation state in its consolidation of public power created by counterpoint a private realm of society independent of the state, which allowed for the public sphere. Capitalism also increased society's autonomy and self-awareness, as well as an increasing need for the exchange of information. As the nascent public sphere expanded, it embraced a large variety of institutions, and the most commonly cited were coffee houses and cafés, salons and the literary public sphere, figuratively localized in the Republic of Letters.[175] In France, the creation of the public sphere was helped by the aristocracy's move from the king's palace at Versailles to Paris in about 1720, since their rich spending stimulated the trade in luxuries and artistic creations, especially fine paintings.[176]

 

The context for the rise of the public sphere was the economic and social change commonly associated with the Industrial Revolution: "Economic expansion, increasing urbanization, rising population and improving communications in comparison to the stagnation of the previous century."[177] Rising efficiency in production techniques and communication lowered the prices of consumer goods and increased the amount and variety of goods available to consumers (including the literature essential to the public sphere). Meanwhile, the colonial experience (most European states had colonial empires in the 18th century) began to expose European society to extremely heterogeneous cultures, leading to the breaking down of "barriers between cultural systems, religious divides, gender differences and geographical areas."[178]

 

The word "public" implies the highest level of inclusivity—the public sphere by definition should be open to all. However, this sphere was only public to relative degrees. Enlightenment thinkers frequently contrasted their conception of the "public" with that of the people: Condorcet contrasted "opinion" with populace, Marmontel "the opinion of men of letters" with "the opinion of the multitude" and d'Alembert the "truly enlightened public" with "the blind and noisy multitude."[179] Additionally, most institutions of the public sphere excluded both women and the lower classes.[180] Cross-class influences occurred through noble and lower class participation in areas such as the coffeehouses and the Masonic lodges.

  

Masonic lodges

 

Masonic initiation ceremony

Historians have debated the extent to which the secret network of Freemasonry was a main factor in the Enlightenment.[262] Leaders of the Enlightenment included Freemasons such as Diderot, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Lessing, Pope,[263] Horace Walpole, Sir Robert Walpole, Mozart, Goethe, Frederick the Great, Benjamin Franklin[264] and George Washington.[265] Norman Davies said Freemasonry was a powerful force on behalf of liberalism in Europe from about 1700 to the twentieth century. It expanded during the Enlightenment, reaching practically every country in Europe. It was especially attractive to powerful aristocrats and politicians as well as intellectuals, artists, and political activists.[266]

 

During the Enlightenment, Freemasons comprised an international network of like-minded men, often meeting in secret in ritualistic programs at their lodges. They promoted the ideals of the Enlightenment and helped diffuse these values across Britain, France, and other places. Freemasonry as a systematic creed with its own myths, values, and rituals originated in Scotland c. 1600 and spread to England and then across the Continent in the 18th century. They fostered new codes of conduct—including a communal understanding of liberty and equality inherited from guild sociability—"liberty, fraternity, and equality."[267] Scottish soldiers and Jacobite Scots brought to the Continent ideals of fraternity, which reflected not the local system of Scottish customs, but the institutions and ideals originating in the English Revolution against royal absolutism.[268] Freemasonry was particularly prevalent in France—by 1789, there were perhaps as many as 100,000 French Masons, making Freemasonry the most popular of all Enlightenment associations.[269] The Freemasons displayed a passion for secrecy and created new degrees and ceremonies. Similar societies, partially imitating Freemasonry, emerged in France, Germany, Sweden, and Russia. One example was the Illuminati, founded in Bavaria in 1776, which was copied after the Freemasons, but was never part of the movement. The name itself translates to "enlightened," chosen to reflect their original intent to promote the values of the movement. The Illuminati was an overtly political group, which most Masonic lodges decidedly were not.[270]

 

Masonic lodges created a private model for public affairs. They "reconstituted the polity and established a constitutional form of self-government, complete with constitutions and laws, elections, and representatives." In other words, the micro-society set up within the lodges constituted a normative model for society as a whole. This was especially true on the continent: when the first lodges began to appear in the 1730s, their embodiment of British values was often seen as threatening by state authorities. For example, the Parisian lodge that met in the mid 1720s was composed of English Jacobite exiles.[271] Furthermore, freemasons across Europe explicitly linked themselves to the Enlightenment as a whole. For example, in French lodges the line "As the means to be enlightened I search for the enlightened" was a part of their initiation rites. British lodges assigned themselves the duty to "initiate the unenlightened." This did not necessarily link lodges to the irreligious, but neither did this exclude them from the occasional heresy. In fact, many lodges praised the Grand Architect, the masonic terminology for the deistic divine being who created a scientifically ordered universe.[272]

 

German historian Reinhart Koselleck claimed: "On the Continent there were two social structures that left a decisive imprint on the Age of Enlightenment: the Republic of Letters and the Masonic lodges."[273] Scottish professor Thomas Munck argues that "although the Masons did promote international and cross-social contacts which were essentially non-religious and broadly in agreement with enlightened values, they can hardly be described as a major radical or reformist network in their own right."[274] Many of the Masons values seemed to greatly appeal to Enlightenment values and thinkers. Diderot discusses the link between Freemason ideals and the enlightenment in D'Alembert's Dream, exploring masonry as a way of spreading enlightenment beliefs.[275] Historian Margaret Jacob stresses the importance of the Masons in indirectly inspiring enlightened political thought.On the negative side, Daniel Roche contests claims that Masonry promoted egalitarianism and he argues the lodges only attracted men of similar social backgrounds. The presence of noble women in the French "lodges of adoption" that formed in the 1780s was largely due to the close ties shared between these lodges and aristocratic society.

 

The major opponent of Freemasonry was the Catholic Church so in countries with a large Catholic element, such as France, Italy, Spain, and Mexico, much of the ferocity of the political battles involve the confrontation between what Davies calls the reactionary Church and enlightened Freemasonry. Even in France, Masons did not act as a group. American historians, while noting that Benjamin Franklin and George Washington were indeed active Masons, have downplayed the importance of Freemasonry in causing the American Revolution because the Masonic order was non-political and included both Patriots and their enemy the Loyalists.

 

Dissemination of ideas

The philosophes spent a great deal of energy disseminating their ideas among educated men and women in cosmopolitan cities. They used many venues, some of them quite new.

  

French philosopher Pierre Bayle

Republic of Letters

The term "Republic of Letters" was coined in 1664 by Pierre Bayle in his journal Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres. Towards the end of the 18th century, the editor of Histoire de la République des Lettres en France, a literary survey, described the Republic of Letters as being:

 

In the midst of all the governments that decide the fate of men; in the bosom of so many states, the majority of them despotic ... there exists a certain realm which holds sway only over the mind ... that we honor with the name Republic, because it preserves a measure of independence, and because it is almost its essence to be free. It is the realm of talent and of thought.[186]

 

The Republic of Letters was the sum of a number of Enlightenment ideals: an egalitarian realm governed by knowledge that could act across political boundaries and rival state power.[186] It was a forum that supported "free public examination of questions regarding religion or legislation."[187] Kant considered written communication essential to his conception of the public sphere; once everyone was a part of the "reading public," then society could be said to be enlightened.[188] The people who participated in the Republic of Letters, such as Diderot and Voltaire, are frequently known today as important Enlightenment figures. Indeed, the men who wrote Diderot's Encyclopédie arguably formed a microcosm of the larger "republic."[189]

  

Front page of The Gentleman's Magazine, January 1731

Many women played an essential part in the French Enlightenment because of the role they played as salonnières in Parisian salons, as the contrast to the male philosophes. The salon was the principal social institution of the republic[190] and "became the civil working spaces of the project of Enlightenment." Women, as salonnières, were "the legitimate governors of [the] potentially unruly discourse" that took place within.[191] While women were marginalized in the public culture of the Old Regime, the French Revolution destroyed the old cultural and economic restraints of patronage and corporatism (guilds), opening French society to female participation, particularly in the literary sphere.[192]

 

In France, the established men of letters (gens de lettres) had fused with the elites (les grands) of French society by the mid-18th century. This led to the creation of an oppositional literary sphere, Grub Street, the domain of a "multitude of versifiers and would-be authors."[193] These men came to London to become authors only to discover that the literary market could not support large numbers of writers, who in any case were very poorly remunerated by the publishing-bookselling guilds.[194]

 

The writers of Grub Street, the Grub Street Hacks, were left feeling bitter about the relative success of the men of letters[195] and found an outlet for their literature which was typified by the libelle. Written mostly in the form of pamphlets, the libelles "slandered the court, the Church, the aristocracy, the academies, the salons, everything elevated and respectable, including the monarchy itself."[196] Le Gazetier cuirassé by Charles Théveneau de Morande was a prototype of the genre. It was Grub Street literature that was most read by the public during the Enlightenment.[197] According to Darnton, more importantly the Grub Street hacks inherited the "revolutionary spirit" once displayed by the philosophes and paved the way for the French Revolution by desacralizing figures of political, moral, and religious authority in France.[198]

 

Book industry

 

ESTC data 1477–1799 by decade given with a regional differentiation

The increased consumption of reading materials of all sorts was one of the key features of the "social" Enlightenment. Developments in the Industrial Revolution allowed consumer goods to be produced in greater quantities at lower prices, encouraging the spread of books, pamphlets, newspapers, and journals – "media of the transmission of ideas and attitudes." Commercial development likewise increased the demand for information, along with rising populations and increased urbanisation.[199] However, demand for reading material extended outside of the realm of the commercial and outside the realm of the upper and middle classes, as evidenced by the bibliothèque bleue. Literacy rates are difficult to gauge, but in France the rates doubled over the course of the 18th century.[200] Reflecting the decreasing influence of religion, the number of books about science and art published in Paris doubled from 1720 to 1780, while the number of books about religion dropped to just one-tenth of the total.[26]

 

Reading underwent serious changes in the 18th century. In particular, Rolf Engelsing has argued for the existence of a reading revolution. Until 1750, reading was done intensively: people tended to own a small number of books and read them repeatedly, often to small audience. After 1750, people began to read "extensively," finding as many books as they could, increasingly reading them alone.[201] This is supported by increasing literacy rates, particularly among women.[202]

 

The vast majority of the reading public could not afford to own a private library, and while most of the state-run "universal libraries" set up in the 17th and 18th centuries were open to the public, they were not the only sources of reading material. On one end of the spectrum was the bibliothèque bleue, a collection of cheaply produced books published in Troyes, France. Intended for a largely rural and semi-literate audience these books included almanacs, retellings of medieval romances and condensed versions of popular novels, among other things. While some historians have argued against the Enlightenment's penetration into the lower classes, the bibliothèque bleue represents at least a desire to participate in Enlightenment sociability.[203] Moving up the classes, a variety of institutions offered readers access to material without needing to buy anything. Libraries that lent out their material for a small price started to appear, and occasionally bookstores would offer a small lending library to their patrons. Coffee houses commonly offered books, journals, and sometimes even popular novels to their customers. Tatler and The Spectator, two influential periodicals sold from 1709 to 1714, were closely associated with coffee house culture in London, being both read and produced in various establishments in the city.[204] This is an example of the triple or even quadruple function of the coffee house: reading material was often obtained, read, discussed, and even produced on the premises.[205]

  

Denis Diderot is best known as the editor of the Encyclopédie.

It is difficult to determine what people actually read during the Enlightenment. For example, examining the catalogs of private libraries gives an image skewed in favor of the classes wealthy enough to afford libraries and also ignores censored works unlikely to be publicly acknowledged. For this reason, a study of publishing would be much more fruitful for discerning reading habits.[206] Across continental Europe, but in France especially, booksellers and publishers had to negotiate censorship laws of varying strictness. For example, the Encyclopédie narrowly escaped seizure and had to be saved by Malesherbes, the man in charge of the French censor. Indeed, many publishing companies were conveniently located outside France so as to avoid overzealous French censors. They would smuggle their merchandise across the border, where it would then be transported to clandestine booksellers or small-time peddlers.[207] The records of clandestine booksellers may give a better representation of what literate Frenchmen might have truly read, since their clandestine nature provided a less restrictive product choice.[208] In one case, political books were the most popular category, primarily libels and pamphlets. Readers were more interested in sensationalist stories about criminals and political corruption than they were in political theory itself. The second most popular category, "general works" (those books "that did not have a dominant motif and that contained something to offend almost everyone in authority"), demonstrated a high demand for generally low-brow subversive literature. However, these works never became part of literary canon and are largely forgotten today as a result.[208]

 

A healthy, legal publishing industry existed throughout Europe, although established publishers and book sellers occasionally ran afoul of the law. For example, the Encyclopédie, condemned by both the King and Clement XII, nevertheless found its way into print with the help of the aforementioned Malesherbes and creative use of French censorship law.[209] However, many works were sold without running into any legal trouble at all. Borrowing records from libraries in England, Germany, and North America indicate that more than 70% of books borrowed were novels. Less than 1% of the books were of a religious nature, indicating the general trend of declining religiosity.[186]

 

Natural history

 

Georges Buffon is best remembered for his Histoire naturelle, a 44 volume encyclopedia describing everything known about the natural world.

A genre that greatly rose in importance was that of scientific literature. Natural history in particular became increasingly popular among the upper classes. Works of natural history include René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur's Histoire naturelle des insectes and Jacques Gautier d'Agoty's La Myologie complète, ou description de tous les muscles du corps humain (1746). Outside Ancien Régime France, natural history was an important part of medicine and industry, encompassing the fields of botany, zoology, meteorology, hydrology, and mineralogy. Students in Enlightenment universities and academies were taught these subjects to prepare them for careers as diverse as medicine and theology. As shown by Matthew Daniel Eddy, natural history in this context was a very middle class pursuit and operated as a fertile trading zone for the interdisciplinary exchange of diverse scientific ideas.[210]

 

The target audience of natural history was French upper class, evidenced more by the specific discourse of the genre than by the generally high prices of its works. Naturalists catered to upper class desire for erudition: many texts had an explicit instructive purpose. However, natural history was often a political affair. As Emma Spary writes, the classifications used by naturalists "slipped between the natural world and the social ... to establish not only the expertise of the naturalists over the natural, but also the dominance of the natural over the social."[211] The idea of taste (le goût) was a social indicator: to truly be able to categorize nature, one had to have the proper taste, an ability of discretion shared by all members of the upper class. In this way, natural history spread many of the scientific developments of the time but also provided a new source of legitimacy for the dominant class.[212] From this basis, naturalists could then develop their own social ideals based on their scientific works.[213]

 

Scientific and literary journals

 

Journal des sçavans was the earliest academic journal published in Europe.

The first scientific and literary journals were established during the Enlightenment. The first journal, the Parisian Journal des sçavans, appeared in 1665. However, it was not until 1682 that periodicals began to be more widely produced. French and Latin were the dominant languages of publication, but there was also a steady demand for material in German and Dutch. There was generally low demand for English publications on the continent, which was echoed by England's similar lack of desire for French works. Languages commanding less of an international market—such as Danish, Spanish, and Portuguese—found journal success more difficult, and a more international language was used instead. French slowly took over Latin's status as the lingua franca of learned circles. This in turn gave precedence to the publishing industry in Holland, where the vast majority of these French language periodicals were produced.[214]

 

Jonathan Israel called the journals the most influential cultural innovation of European intellectual culture.[215] They shifted the attention of the "cultivated public" away from established authorities to novelty and innovation, and instead promoted the Enlightened ideals of toleration and intellectual objectivity. Being a source of knowledge derived from science and reason, they were an implicit critique of existing notions of universal truth monopolized by monarchies, parliaments, and religious authorities. They also advanced Christian Enlightenment that upheld "the legitimacy of God-ordained authority"—the Bible—in which there had to be agreement between the biblical and natural theories.[216]

 

Encyclopedias and dictionaries

 

First page of the Encyclopédie, published between 1751 and 1766

Although the existence of dictionaries and encyclopedias spanned into ancient times, the texts changed from defining words in a long running list to far more detailed discussions of those words in 18th-century encyclopedic dictionaries.[217] The works were part of an Enlightenment movement to systematize knowledge and provide education to a wider audience than the elite. As the 18th century progressed, the content of encyclopedias also changed according to readers' tastes. Volumes tended to focus more strongly on secular affairs, particularly science and technology, rather than matters of theology.

 

Along with secular matters, readers also favoured an alphabetical ordering scheme over cumbersome works arranged along thematic lines.[218] Commenting on alphabetization, the historian Charles Porset has said that "as the zero degree of taxonomy, alphabetical order authorizes all reading strategies; in this respect it could be considered an emblem of the Enlightenment." For Porset, the avoidance of thematic and hierarchical systems thus allows free interpretation of the works and becomes an example of egalitarianism.[219] Encyclopedias and dictionaries also became more popular during the Age of Enlightenment as the number of educated consumers who could afford such texts began to multiply.[217] In the latter half of the 18th century, the number of dictionaries and encyclopedias published by decade increased from 63 between 1760 and 1769 to approximately 148 in the decade proceeding the French Revolution.[220] Along with growth in numbers, dictionaries and encyclopedias also grew in length, often having multiple print runs that sometimes included in supplemented editions.[218]

 

The first technical dictionary was drafted by John Harris and entitled Lexicon Technicum: Or, An Universal English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences. Harris' book avoids theological and biographical entries and instead concentrates on science and technology. Published in 1704, the Lexicon Technicum was the first book to be written in English that took a methodical approach to describing mathematics and commercial arithmetic along with the physical sciences and navigation. Other technical dictionaries followed Harris' model, including Ephraim Chambers' Cyclopaedia (1728), which included five editions and is a substantially larger work than Harris'. The folio edition of the work even included foldout engravings. The Cyclopaedia emphasized Newtonian theories, Lockean philosophy and contained thorough examinations of technologies, such as engraving, brewing, and dyeing.

  

"Figurative system of human knowledge," the structure that the Encyclopédie organised knowledge into – it had three main branches: memory, reason, and imagination.

In Germany, practical reference works intended for the uneducated majority became popular in the 18th century. The Marperger Curieuses Natur-, Kunst-, Berg-, Gewerk- und Handlungs-Lexicon (1712) explained terms that usefully described the trades and scientific and commercial education. Jablonksi Allgemeines Lexicon (1721) was better known than the Handlungs-Lexicon and underscored technical subjects rather than scientific theory. For example, over five columns of text were dedicated to wine while geometry and logic were allocated only twenty-two and seventeen lines, respectively. The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1771) was modelled along the same lines as the German lexicons.[221]

 

However, the prime example of reference works that systematized scientific knowledge in the Age of Enlightenment were universal encyclopedias rather than technical dictionaries. It was the goal of universal encyclopedias to record all human knowledge in a comprehensive reference work.[222] The most well-known of these works is Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. The work, which began publication in 1751, was composed of 35 volumes and over 71,000 separate entries. A great number of the entries were dedicated to describing the sciences and crafts in detail and provided intellectuals across Europe with a high-quality survey of human knowledge. In d'Alembert's Preliminary Discourse to the Encyclopedia of Diderot, the work's goal to record the extent of human knowledge in the arts and sciences is outlined:

 

As an Encyclopédie, it is to set forth as well as possible the order and connection of the parts of human knowledge. As a Reasoned Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Trades, it is to contain the general principles that form the basis of each science and each art, liberal or mechanical, and the most essential facts that make up the body and substance of each.[223]

 

The massive work was arranged according to a "tree of knowledge." The tree reflected the marked division between the arts and sciences, which was largely a result of the rise of empiricism. Both areas of knowledge were united by philosophy, or the trunk of the tree of knowledge. The Enlightenment's desacrilization of religion was pronounced in the tree's design, particularly where theology accounted for a peripheral branch, with black magic as a close neighbour.[224] As the Encyclopédie gained popularity, it was published in quarto and octavo editions after 1777. The quarto and octavo editions were much less expensive than previous editions, making the Encyclopédie more accessible to the non-elite. Robert Darnton estimates that there were approximately 25,000 copies of the Encyclopédie in circulation throughout France and Europe before the French Revolution.[225] The extensive yet affordable encyclopedia came to represent the transmission of Enlightenment and scientific education to an expanding audience.[226]

 

Popularization of science

One of the most important developments that the Enlightenment era brought to the discipline of science was its popularization. An increasingly literate population seeking knowledge and education in both the arts and the sciences drove the expansion of print culture and the dissemination of scientific learning. The new literate population was precipitated by a high rise in the availability of food; this enabled many people to rise out of poverty, and instead of paying more for food, they had money for education.[227] Popularization was generally part of an overarching Enlightenment ideal that endeavoured "to make information available to the greatest number of people."[228] As public interest in natural philosophy grew during the 18th century, public lecture courses and the publication of popular texts opened up new roads to money and fame for amateurs and scientists who remained on the periphery of universities and academies.[229] More formal works included explanations of scientific theories for individuals lacking the educational background to comprehend the original scientific text. Newton's celebrated Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica was published in Latin and remained inaccessible to readers without education in the classics until Enlightenment writers began to translate and analyze the text in the vernacular.

  

A portrait of Bernard de Fontenelle

The first significant work that expressed scientific theory and knowledge expressly for the laity, in the vernacular and with the entertainment of readers in mind, was Bernard de Fontenelle's Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds (1686). The book was produced specifically for women with an interest in scientific writing and inspired a variety of similar works.[230] These popular works were written in a discursive style, which was laid out much more clearly for the reader than the complicated articles, treatises, and books published by the academies and scientists. Charles Leadbetter's Astronomy (1727) was advertised as "a Work entirely New" that would include "short and easie [sic] Rules and Astronomical Tables."[231]

 

The first French introduction to Newtonianism and the Principia was Eléments de la philosophie de Newton, published by Voltaire in 1738.[232] Émilie du Châtelet's translation of the Principia, published after her death in 1756, also helped to spread Newton's theories beyond scientific academies and the university.[233] Writing for a growing female audience, Francesco Algarotti published Il Newtonianism per le dame, which was a tremendously popular work and was translated from Italian into English by Elizabeth Carter. A similar introduction to Newtonianism for women was produced by Henry Pemberton. His A View of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy was published by subscription. Extant records of subscribers show that women from a wide range of social standings purchased the book, indicating the growing number of scientifically inclined female readers among the middling class.[234] During the Enlightenment, women also began producing popular scientific works. Sarah Trimmer wrote a successful natural history textbook for children titled The Easy Introduction to the Knowledge of Nature (1782), which was published for many years in eleven editions.[235]

 

Schools and universities

Main article: Education in the Age of Enlightenment

Most work on the Enlightenment emphasizes the ideals discussed by intellectuals, rather than the actual state of education at the time. Leading educational theorists like England's John Locke and Switzerland's Jean Jacques Rousseau both emphasized the importance of shaping young minds early. By the late Enlightenment, there was a rising demand for a more universal approach to education, particularly after the American Revolution and the French Revolution.

 

The predominant educational psychology from the 1750s onward, especially in northern European countries, was associationism: the notion that the mind associates or dissociates ideas through repeated routines. In addition to being conducive to Enlightenment ideologies of liberty, self-determination, and personal responsibility, it offered a practical theory of the mind that allowed teachers to transform longstanding forms of print and manuscript culture into effective graphic tools of learning for the lower and middle orders of society.[236] Children were taught to memorize facts through oral and graphic methods that originated during the Renaissance.[237]

 

Many of the leading universities associated with Enlightenment progressive principles were located in northern Europe, with the most renowned being the universities of Leiden, Göttingen, Halle, Montpellier, Uppsala, and Edinburgh. These universities, especially Edinburgh, produced professors whose ideas had a significant impact on Britain's North American colonies and later the American Republic. Within the natural sciences, Edinburgh's medical school also led the way in chemistry, anatomy, and pharmacology.[210] In other parts of Europe, the universities and schools of France and most of Europe were bastions of traditionalism and were not hospitable to the Enlightenment. In France, the major exception was the medical university at Montpellier.[238]

 

Learned academies

 

Louis XIV visiting the Académie des sciences in 1671: "It is widely accepted that 'modern science' arose in the Europe of the 17th century, introducing a new understanding of the natural world"—Peter Barrett[239]

 

Antoine Lavoisier conducting an experiment related to combustion generated by amplified sun light

The history of Academies in France during the Enlightenment begins with the Academy of Science, founded in 1635 in Paris. It was closely tied to the French state, acting as an extension of a government seriously lacking in scientists. It helped promote and organize new disciplines and it trained new scientists. It also contributed to the enhancement of scientists' social status, considering them to be the "most useful of all citizens." Academies demonstrate the rising interest in science along with its increasing secularization, as evidenced by the small number of clerics who were members (13%).[240] The presence of the French academies in the public sphere cannot be attributed to their membership, as although the majority of their members were bourgeois, the exclusive institution was only open to elite Parisian scholars. They perceived themselves as "interpreters of the sciences for the people." For example, it was with this in mind that academicians took it upon themselves to disprove the popular pseudo-science of mesmerism.[241]

 

The strongest contribution of the French Academies to the public sphere comes from the concours académiques (roughly translated as "academic contests") they sponsored throughout France. These academic contests were perhaps the most public of any institution during the Enlightenment.[242] The practice of contests dated back to the Middle Ages and was revived in the mid-17th century. The subject matter had previously been generally religious and/or monarchical, featuring essays, poetry, and painting. However, by roughly 1725 this subject matter had radically expanded and diversified, including "royal propaganda, philosophical battles, and critical ruminations on the social and political institutions of the Old Regime." Topics of public controversy were also discussed such as the theories of Newton and Descartes, the slave trade, women's education, and justice in France.[243] More importantly, the contests were open to all, and the enforced anonymity of each submission guaranteed that neither gender nor social rank would determine the judging. Indeed, although the "vast majority" of participants belonged to the wealthier strata of society ("the liberal arts, the clergy, the judiciary and the medical profession"), there were some cases of the popular classes submitting essays and even winning.[244] Similarly, a significant number of women participated—and won—the competitions. Of a total of 2,300 prize competitions offered in France, women won 49—perhaps a small number by modern standards but very significant in an age in which most women did not have any academic training. Indeed, the majority of the winning entries were for poetry competitions, a genre commonly stressed in women's education.[245]

 

In England, the Royal Society of London played a significant role in the public sphere and the spread of Enlightenment ideas. It was founded by a group of independent scientists and given a royal charter in 1662.[246] The society played a large role in spreading Robert Boyle's experimental philosophy around Europe and acted as a clearinghouse for intellectual correspondence and exchange.[247] Boyle was "a founder of the experimental world in which scientists now live and operate" and his method based knowledge on experimentation, which had to be witnessed to provide proper empirical legitimacy. This is where the Royal Society came into play: witnessing had to be a "collective act" and the Royal Society's assembly rooms were ideal locations for relatively public demonstrations.[248] However, not just any witness was considered to be credible: "Oxford professors were accounted more reliable witnesses than Oxfordshire peasants." Two factors were taken into account: a witness's knowledge in the area and a witness's "moral constitution." In other words, only civil society were considered for Boyle's public.Coffeehouses were especially important to the spread of knowledge during the Enlightenment because they created a unique environment in which people from many different walks of life gathered and shared ideas. They were frequently criticized by nobles who feared the possibility of an environment in which class and its accompanying titles and privileges were disregarded. Such an environment was especially intimidating to monarchs who derived much of their power from the disparity between classes of people. If the different classes joined together under the influence of Enlightenment thinking, they might recognize the all-encompassing oppression and abuses of their monarchs and because of the numbers of their members might be able to successfully revolt. Monarchs also resented the idea of their subjects convening as one to discuss political matters, especially matters of foreign affairs. Rulers thought political affairs were their business only, a result of their divine right to rule.[250]

 

Coffeeshops became homes away from home for many who sought to engage in discourse with their neighbors and discuss intriguing and thought-provoking matters, from philosophy to politics. Coffeehouses were essential to the Enlightenment, for they were centers of free-thinking and self-discovery. Although many coffeehouse patrons were scholars, many were not. Coffeehouses attracted a diverse set of people, including the educated wealthy and bourgeois as well as the lower classes. Patrons, being doctors, lawyers, merchants, represented almost all classes, so the coffeeshop environment sparked fear in those who wanted to preserve class distinction. One of the most popular critiques of the coffeehouse said that it "allowed promiscuous association among people from different rungs of the social ladder, from the artisan to the aristocrat" and was therefore compared to Noah's Ark, receiving all types of animals, clean and unclean.[251] This unique culture served as a catalyst for journalism, when Joseph Addison and Richard Steele recognized its potential as an audience. Together, Steele and Addison published The Spectator (1711), a daily publication which aimed, through fictional narrator Mr. Spectator, to both entertain and provoke discussion on serious philosophical matters.

 

The first English coffeehouse opened in Oxford in 1650. Brian Cowan said that Oxford coffeehouses developed into "penny universities," offering a locus of learning that was less formal than at structured institutions. These penny universities occupied a significant position in Oxford academic life, as they were frequented by those consequently referred to as the virtuosi, who conducted their research on some of the premises. According to Cowan, "the coffeehouse was a place for like-minded scholars to congregate, to read, as well as learn from and to debate with each other, but was emphatically not a university institution, and the discourse there was of a far different order than any university tutorial."[252]

 

The Café Procope was established in Paris in 1686, and by the 1720s there were around 400 cafés in the city. The Café Procope in particular became a center of Enlightenment, welcoming such celebrities as Voltaire and Rousseau. The Café Procope was where Diderot and D'Alembert decided to create the Encyclopédie. [253] The cafés were one of the various "nerve centers" for bruits publics, public noise or rumour. These bruits were allegedly a much better source of information than were the actual newspapers available at the time.[254]

 

Debating societies

Main article: London Debating Societies

The debating societies are an example of the public sphere during the Enlightenment.[255] Their origins include:

 

Clubs of fifty or more men who, at the beginning of the 18th century, met in pubs to discuss religious issues and affairs of state.

Mooting clubs, set up by law students to practice rhetoric.

Spouting clubs, established to help actors train for theatrical roles.

John Henley's Oratory, which mixed outrageous sermons with even more absurd questions, like "Whether Scotland be anywhere in the world?"[256]

In the late 1770s, popular debating societies began to move into more "genteel" rooms, a change which helped establish a new standard of sociability.[257] The backdrop to these developments was "an explosion of interest in the theory and practice of public elocution." The debating societies were commercial enterprises that responded to this demand, sometimes very successfully. Some societies welcomed from 800 to 1,200 spectators per night.[258]

 

The debating societies discussed an extremely wide range of topics. Before the Enlightenment, most intellectual debates revolved around "confessional"—that is, Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) or Anglican issues, debated primarily to establish which bloc of faith ought to have the "monopoly of truth and a God-given title to authority." [259] After Enlightenment, everything that previously had been rooted in tradition was questioned, and often replaced by new concepts. After the second half of the 17th century and during the 18th century, a "general process of rationalization and secularization set in" and confessional disputes were reduced to a secondary status in favor of the "escalating contest between faith and incredulity." [259]

 

In addition to debates on religion, societies discussed issues such as politics and the role of women. However, the critical subject matter of these debates did not necessarily translate into opposition to the government; the results of the debate quite frequently upheld the status quo. [260] From a historical standpoint, one of the most important features of the debating society was their openness to the public, as women attended and even participated in almost every debating society, which were likewise open to all classes providing they could pay the entrance fee. Once inside, spectators were able to participate in a largely egalitarian form of sociability that helped spread Enlightenment ideas.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment
All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk by Jelltex

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk.

 

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beasts, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

All Saints is a large, remarkably good church in one of the sleepy, fat villages along the Cambridgeshire border, the sort of place you cycle through and imagine wistfully that you've won the lottery and could move there. The wide churchyard on both sides is a perfect setting for the church, which rises to heaven out of a perpendicular splendour of aisles, clerestories and battlements. The tower was complete by the 1470s when money was being left for a bell. The earlier chancel steadies the ship, anchoring it to earth quietly, although the tall east window has its spectacular moment too. And you step into a deliciously well-kept interior, full of interest.

One of the most significant medieval survivals here is not easily noticed. This is the range of 15th Century glass, which was reset by the Victorians high in the clerestory. This seems a curious thing to have done, since it defeats the purpose of a clerestory, but if they had not done so then we might have lost it. The glass matches the tracery in the north aisle windows, so that is probably where they came from. There are angels, three Saints and some shields, most of which are heraldic but two show the instruments of the passion and the Holy Trinity. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the shields are 19th century, but the figures are all original late 15th or early 16th century. The Saints are an unidentified Bishop, the hacksaw-wielding St Faith and one of my favourites, St Apollonia. She it was who was invoked by medieval people against toothache.

 

Waling from the nave up into the chancel, the space created by the clearing of clutter makes it at once mysterious and beautiful. Above, the early 16th century waggon roof is Suffolk's best of its kind. Mortlock points out the little angels bearing scrolls, the wheat ears and the vine sprays, and the surviving traces of colour. The low side window on the south side still has its hinges, for here it was that updraught to the rood would have sent the candles flickering in the mystical church of the 14th century. On the south side of the sanctuary is an exquisitely carved arched recess, that doesn't appear to have ever had a door, and may have been a very rare purpose-built Easter sepulchre at the time of the 1330s rebuilding. Opposite is a huge and stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast. It is one of the most significant Decorated moments in Suffolk.

 

On the floor of the chancel there is a tiny, perfect chalice brass, one of only two surviving in Suffolk. The other is at Rendham. Not far away is the indent of another chalice brass - or perhaps it was for the same one, and the brass has been moved for some reason. There are two chalice indents at Westhall, but nowhere else in Suffolk. Chalice brasses were popular memorials for Priests in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and thus were fair game for reformers. Heigham memorials of the late 16th century are on the walls. Back in the south aisle there is a splendid tombchest in Purbeck marble. It has lost its brasses, but the indents show us where they were, as do other indents in the aisle floors. Some heraldic brass shields survive, and show that Heighams were buried here. Brass inscriptions survive in the nave and the chancel, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

 

The 14th century font is a good example of the tracery pattern series that appeared in the decades before the Black Death. They may have been intended to spread ideas at that time of great artistic and intellectual flowering before it was so cruelly snatched away. The cover is 17th Century. At this end of the nave are two good ranges of medieval benches, one, rare in East Anglia, is a group of 14th Century benches with pierced tracery backs. Some of them appear to spell out words, and Mortlock thought one might say Salaman Sayet. The block of benches to the north appears to be 15th Century or possibly early 16th Century. Further north, the early 17th Century benches are simpler, even cruder, and were likely the work of the village carpenter.

 

All rather lovely then. And yet, it hasn't always been that way. All Saints at Gazeley, near Newmarket, was the first church that I visited after an international team of scientists conclusively proved that God did not exist began the first page for this church that I wrote in 2003, in a satirical mood after finding the church locked and at a very low ebb. At a time when congregations were generally falling, I'd been thinking about the future of medieval churches beyond a time when they would have people to use them in the traditional way. I wondered if the buildings might find new uses, or could adapt themselves to changing patterns and emphases in Christianity, or even changing spiritual needs of their parishes. Even if science could somehow prove that God did not exist, I suggested, there were parishes which would rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves, as churches have always done over the two millennia of Christianity. Coming to Gazeley I felt that here was a church which felt as if it had been abandoned. And yet, it seemed to me a church of such significance, such historical and spiritual importance, that its loss would be a disaster. If it had been clean, tidy and open at the time he was visiting, Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Churches would not have been able to resist it. Should the survival of such a treasure store depend upon the existence of God or the continued practice of the Christian faith? Or might there be other reasons to keep this extraordinary building in something like its present integrity?

 

In the first decade of the 21st Century, Gazeley church went on a tremendous journey, from being moribund to being the wonderful church you can visit today. If you want to read the slightly adapted 2006 entry for Gazeley, recounting this journey, you can do so here. Coming back here today always fills me with optimism for what can be achieved. On one occasion I mentioned my experiences of Gazeley church to a Catholic Priest friend of mine, and he said he hoped I knew I'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And perhaps that is so. Certainly, the energy and imagination of the people here have been fired by something. On that occasion I had wanted to find someone to ask about it, to find out how things stood now. But there was no one, and so the building spoke for them.

 

Back outside in the graveyard, the dog daisies clustered and waved their sun-kissed faces in the light breeze. The ancient building must have known many late-May days like this over the centuries, but think of all the changes that it has known inside! The general buffeting of the winds of history still leaves room for local squalls and lightning strikes. All Saints has known these, but for now a blessed calm reigns here. Long may it remain so.

 

Simon Knott, June 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/gazeley.htm
Matthew 24:3-14 by Holy Spirit Guidance Artwork

New King James Version (NKJV)

 

The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age

 

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

  

Romans 8:28

 

New King James Version (NKJV)

 

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

   
All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk by Jelltex

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk.

 

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beats, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

All Saints is a large, remarkably good church in one of the sleepy, fat villages along the Cambridgeshire border, the sort of place you cycle through and imagine wistfully that you've won the lottery and could move there. The wide churchyard on both sides is a perfect setting for the church, which rises to heaven out of a perpendicular splendour of aisles, clerestories and battlements. The tower was complete by the 1470s when money was being left for a bell. The earlier chancel steadies the ship, anchoring it to earth quietly, although the tall east window has its spectacular moment too. And you step into a deliciously well-kept interior, full of interest.

One of the most significant medieval survivals here is not easily noticed. This is the range of 15th Century glass, which was reset by the Victorians high in the clerestory. This seems a curious thing to have done, since it defeats the purpose of a clerestory, but if they had not done so then we might have lost it. The glass matches the tracery in the north aisle windows, so that is probably where they came from. There are angels, three Saints and some shields, most of which are heraldic but two show the instruments of the passion and the Holy Trinity. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the shields are 19th century, but the figures are all original late 15th or early 16th century. The Saints are an unidentified Bishop, the hacksaw-wielding St Faith and one of my favourites, St Apollonia. She it was who was invoked by medieval people against toothache.

 

Waling from the nave up into the chancel, the space created by the clearing of clutter makes it at once mysterious and beautiful. Above, the early 16th century waggon roof is Suffolk's best of its kind. Mortlock points out the little angels bearing scrolls, the wheat ears and the vine sprays, and the surviving traces of colour. The low side window on the south side still has its hinges, for here it was that updraught to the rood would have sent the candles flickering in the mystical church of the 14th century. On the south side of the sanctuary is an exquisitely carved arched recess, that doesn't appear to have ever had a door, and may have been a very rare purpose-built Easter sepulchre at the time of the 1330s rebuilding. Opposite is a huge and stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast. It is one of the most significant Decorated moments in Suffolk.

 

On the floor of the chancel there is a tiny, perfect chalice brass, one of only two surviving in Suffolk. The other is at Rendham. Not far away is the indent of another chalice brass - or perhaps it was for the same one, and the brass has been moved for some reason. There are two chalice indents at Westhall, but nowhere else in Suffolk. Chalice brasses were popular memorials for Priests in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and thus were fair game for reformers. Heigham memorials of the late 16th century are on the walls. Back in the south aisle there is a splendid tombchest in Purbeck marble. It has lost its brasses, but the indents show us where they were, as do other indents in the aisle floors. Some heraldic brass shields survive, and show that Heighams were buried here. Brass inscriptions survive in the nave and the chancel, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

 

The 14th century font is a good example of the tracery pattern series that appeared in the decades before the Black Death. They may have been intended to spread ideas at that time of great artistic and intellectual flowering before it was so cruelly snatched away. The cover is 17th Century. At this end of the nave are two good ranges of medieval benches, one, rare in East Anglia, is a group of 14th Century benches with pierced tracery backs. Some of them appear to spell out words, and Mortlock thought one might say Salaman Sayet. The block of benches to the north appears to be 15th Century or possibly early 16th Century. Further north, the early 17th Century benches are simpler, even cruder, and were likely the work of the village carpenter.

 

All rather lovely then. And yet, it hasn't always been that way. All Saints at Gazeley, near Newmarket, was the first church that I visited after an international team of scientists conclusively proved that God did not exist began the first page for this church that I wrote in 2003, in a satirical mood after finding the church locked and at a very low ebb. At a time when congregations were generally falling, I'd been thinking about the future of medieval churches beyond a time when they would have people to use them in the traditional way. I wondered if the buildings might find new uses, or could adapt themselves to changing patterns and emphases in Christianity, or even changing spiritual needs of their parishes. Even if science could somehow prove that God did not exist, I suggested, there were parishes which would rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves, as churches have always done over the two millennia of Christianity. Coming to Gazeley I felt that here was a church which felt as if it had been abandoned. And yet, it seemed to me a church of such significance, such historical and spiritual importance, that its loss would be a disaster. If it had been clean, tidy and open at the time he was visiting, Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Churches would not have been able to resist it. Should the survival of such a treasure store depend upon the existence of God or the continued practice of the Christian faith? Or might there be other reasons to keep this extraordinary building in something like its present integrity?

 

In the first decade of the 21st Century, Gazeley church went on a tremendous journey, from being moribund to being the wonderful church you can visit today. If you want to read the slightly adapted 2006 entry for Gazeley, recounting this journey, you can do so here. Coming back here today always fills me with optimism for what can be achieved. On one occasion I mentioned my experiences of Gazeley church to a Catholic Priest friend of mine, and he said he hoped I knew I'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And perhaps that is so. Certainly, the energy and imagination of the people here have been fired by something. On that occasion I had wanted to find someone to ask about it, to find out how things stood now. But there was no one, and so the building spoke for them.

 

Back outside in the graveyard, the dog daisies clustered and waved their sun-kissed faces in the light breeze. The ancient building must have known many late-May days like this over the centuries, but think of all the changes that it has known inside! The general buffeting of the winds of history still leaves room for local squalls and lightning strikes. All Saints has known these, but for now a blessed calm reigns here. Long may it remain so.

 

Simon Knott, June 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/gazeley.htm
לב מלא שבח 'תפילת עמו של אלוהים' (סרטון מוסיקלי רשמי) by אורנה ליאה

he.kingdomsalvation.org/videos/the-prayer-of-god-people-m...

 

לב מלא שבח 'תפילת עמו של אלוהים' (סרטון מוסיקלי רשמי)

 

אנשי אלוהים נאספים בפני כס מלכותו, תפילות רבות בלבבותיהם.

 

אלוהים מברך את אלה ששבים אליו; כולם חיים באור.

 

התפללו שרוח הקודש תאיר את דברי אלוהים כדי שנכיר את מלוא רצונו.

 

מי ייתן וכל האנשים יוקירו את דברי אלוהים ויבקשו להכיר את אלוהים.

 

מי ייתן ואלוהים יעניק לנו עוד מחסדו, כדי שטבענו ישתנה.

 

מי ייתן ואלוהים יביא אותנו לידי שלמות, כדי שנהיה עמו בעצה אחת.

 

מי ייתן ואלוהים יקנה לנו משמעת, כדי שנוכל למלא את חובותינו כלפיו.

 

מי ייתן ומדי יום רוח הקודש תכוון אותנו להטיף ולהעיד לאלוהים.

 

מי ייתן וכל האנשים ידעו להבחין בין טוב לרע וליישם את האמת.

 

מי ייתן ואלוהים יעניש עושי רע ושכנסייתו תתנהל ללא מפרע.

 

מי ייתן וכל האנשים יציעו לאלוהים אהבה כנה, נעימה ומתוקה ביותר.

 

מי ייתן ואלוהים יסיר כל מכשול, כדי שנוכל להעניק לו את כול כולנו.

 

מי ייתן ואלוהים ידאג שלבבותינו ימשיכו לאהוב את אלוהים, מבלי לעזוב אותו.

 

מי ייתן ואלה שגורלם נגזר מראש בידי אלוהים ישובו אל נוכחותו.

 

מי ייתן וכל האנשים ישירו בשבחו של אלוהים המהולל.

 

מי ייתן ואלוהים יהיה עם עמו, ויישמרנו חיים באהבתו.

 

מתוך 'עקבו אחר השה ושירו שירים חדשים'

  

Image Source: כנסיית האל הכול יכול

  

Terms of Use: he.kingdomsalvation.org/disclaimer.html

 
Spiritual Devotion by Joe More

www.holyspiritspeaks.org/on-quieting-your-heart-before-go...

 

Pondering the words of God and praying over the words of God at the same time as eating and drinking the actual words of God—this is the first step to being at peace before God. If you can be truly at peace before God, then the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit will be with you.

All spiritual life is achieved by relying on being quiet before God. In praying you must be quiet before God before you can be moved by the Holy Spirit. By being quiet before God when you eat and drink God’s words you can be enlightened and illuminated and be able to achieve truly understanding God’s words. In your usual meditation and fellowship, and when you are drawing close to God with your heart, only when you are quiet before God can you have genuine closeness to God, genuine understanding of God’s love and God’s work, and true thoughtfulness toward God’s intentions. The more you are usually able to be quiet before God the more you can be illuminated, and the more you are able to understand your own corrupt disposition, what you lack, what you should enter, what function you should serve, and where you have defects. All these are achieved by relying on being quiet before God. If you truly reach some depth in being quiet before God, you can touch some mysteries in the spirit, touch on what God at present wants to do on you, touch on deeper understanding of God’s words, and touch on the essence of God’s words, on the substance of God’s words, on the being of God’s words, and you can see the path of practice more thoroughly and more accurately. If you cannot be quiet in your spirit to a certain depth, you will just be somewhat moved by the Holy Spirit, inside you will feel strength, and some enjoyment and peace, but you will not touch anything deeper. I have said before, if one does not use all their strength, it will be difficult for them to hear My voice or see My face. This refers to achieving depth in being quiet before God, not to external effort. A person who can truly be quiet before God is able to free themselves from all worldly ties and can achieve being occupied by God. All people who are unable to be quiet before God are assuredly dissolute and unrestrained. All who are able to be quiet before God are people who are pious before God, people who yearn for God. It is only people who are quiet before God who pay attention to life, pay attention to fellowship in spirit, who thirst for God’s words, and who pursue the truth. All those who pay no attention to being quiet before God, who do not practice being quiet before God are vain people who are completely attached to the world, who are without life; even if they say they believe in God they are just paying lip-service. Those God ultimately perfects and completes are people who can be quiet before God. Therefore, people who are quiet before God are people graced with great blessings. People who during the day take little time to eat and drink God’s words, who are completely preoccupied with external affairs, and do not pay attention to life entry are all hypocrites with no prospect of developing in the future. It is those who can be quiet before God and genuinely commune with God who are God’s people.

 

from "On Quieting Your Heart Before God"
All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk by Jelltex

All Saints, Gazeley, Suffolk.

 

There was never any doubt I would go to Rob's funeral. Rob was born just two weeks before me, and in our many meetings, we found we had so much in common.

 

A drive to Ipswich should be something like only two and a half hours, but with the Dartford Crossing that could balloon to four or more.

 

My choice was to leave early, soon after Jools left for work, or wait to near nine once rush hour was over. If I was up early, I'd leave early, I said.

 

Which is what happened.

 

So, after coffee and Jools leaving, I loaded my camera stuff in the car, not bothering to program in a destination, as I knew the route to Suffolk so well.

 

Checking the internet I found the M2 was closed, so that meant taking the M20, which I like as it runs beside HS2, although over the years, vegetation growth now hides most of it, and with Eurostar cutting services due to Brexit, you're lucky to see a train on the line now.

 

I had a phone loaded with podcasts, so time flew by, even if travelling through the endless roadworks at 50mph seemed to take forever.

 

Dartford was jammed. But we inched forward, until as the bridge came in sight, traffic moved smoothly, and I followed the traffic down into the east bore of the tunnel.

 

Another glorious morning for travel, the sun shone from a clear blue sky, even if traffic was heavy, but I had time, so not pressing on like I usually do, making the drive a pleasant one.

 

Up through Essex, where most other traffic turned off at Stanstead, then up to the A11 junction, with it being not yet nine, I had several hours to fill before the ceremony.

 

I stopped at Cambridge services for breakfast, then programmed the first church in: Gazeley, which is just in Suffolk on the border with Cambridgeshire.

 

I took the next junction off, took two further turnings brought be to the village, which is divided by one of the widest village streets I have ever seen.

 

It was five past nine: would the church be open?

 

I parked on the opposite side of the road, grabbed my bag and camera, limped over, passing a warden putting new notices in the parish notice board. We exchange good mornings, and I walk to the porch.

 

The inner door was unlocked, and the heavy door swung after turning the metal ring handle.

 

I had made a list of four churches from Simon's list of the top 60 Suffolk churches, picking those on or near my route to Ipswich and which piqued my interest.

 

Here, it was the reset mediaeval glass.

 

Needless to say, I had the church to myself, the centuries hanging heavy inside as sunlight flooded in filling the Chancel with warm golden light.

 

Windows had several devotional dials carved in the surrounding stone, and a huge and "stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast" which caught my eye.

 

A display in the Chancel was of the decoration of the wooden roof above where panels contained carved beasts, some actual and some mythical.

 

I photographed them all.

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

All Saints is a large, remarkably good church in one of the sleepy, fat villages along the Cambridgeshire border, the sort of place you cycle through and imagine wistfully that you've won the lottery and could move there. The wide churchyard on both sides is a perfect setting for the church, which rises to heaven out of a perpendicular splendour of aisles, clerestories and battlements. The tower was complete by the 1470s when money was being left for a bell. The earlier chancel steadies the ship, anchoring it to earth quietly, although the tall east window has its spectacular moment too. And you step into a deliciously well-kept interior, full of interest.

One of the most significant medieval survivals here is not easily noticed. This is the range of 15th Century glass, which was reset by the Victorians high in the clerestory. This seems a curious thing to have done, since it defeats the purpose of a clerestory, but if they had not done so then we might have lost it. The glass matches the tracery in the north aisle windows, so that is probably where they came from. There are angels, three Saints and some shields, most of which are heraldic but two show the instruments of the passion and the Holy Trinity. I would not be surprised to learn that some of the shields are 19th century, but the figures are all original late 15th or early 16th century. The Saints are an unidentified Bishop, the hacksaw-wielding St Faith and one of my favourites, St Apollonia. She it was who was invoked by medieval people against toothache.

 

Waling from the nave up into the chancel, the space created by the clearing of clutter makes it at once mysterious and beautiful. Above, the early 16th century waggon roof is Suffolk's best of its kind. Mortlock points out the little angels bearing scrolls, the wheat ears and the vine sprays, and the surviving traces of colour. The low side window on the south side still has its hinges, for here it was that updraught to the rood would have sent the candles flickering in the mystical church of the 14th century. On the south side of the sanctuary is an exquisitely carved arched recess, that doesn't appear to have ever had a door, and may have been a very rare purpose-built Easter sepulchre at the time of the 1330s rebuilding. Opposite is a huge and stunningly beautiful piscina, and beside it are sedilia that end in an arm rest carved in the shape of a beast. It is one of the most significant Decorated moments in Suffolk.

 

On the floor of the chancel there is a tiny, perfect chalice brass, one of only two surviving in Suffolk. The other is at Rendham. Not far away is the indent of another chalice brass - or perhaps it was for the same one, and the brass has been moved for some reason. There are two chalice indents at Westhall, but nowhere else in Suffolk. Chalice brasses were popular memorials for Priests in the 15th and early 16th centuries, and thus were fair game for reformers. Heigham memorials of the late 16th century are on the walls. Back in the south aisle there is a splendid tombchest in Purbeck marble. It has lost its brasses, but the indents show us where they were, as do other indents in the aisle floors. Some heraldic brass shields survive, and show that Heighams were buried here. Brass inscriptions survive in the nave and the chancel, dating from the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

 

The 14th century font is a good example of the tracery pattern series that appeared in the decades before the Black Death. They may have been intended to spread ideas at that time of great artistic and intellectual flowering before it was so cruelly snatched away. The cover is 17th Century. At this end of the nave are two good ranges of medieval benches, one, rare in East Anglia, is a group of 14th Century benches with pierced tracery backs. Some of them appear to spell out words, and Mortlock thought one might say Salaman Sayet. The block of benches to the north appears to be 15th Century or possibly early 16th Century. Further north, the early 17th Century benches are simpler, even cruder, and were likely the work of the village carpenter.

 

All rather lovely then. And yet, it hasn't always been that way. All Saints at Gazeley, near Newmarket, was the first church that I visited after an international team of scientists conclusively proved that God did not exist began the first page for this church that I wrote in 2003, in a satirical mood after finding the church locked and at a very low ebb. At a time when congregations were generally falling, I'd been thinking about the future of medieval churches beyond a time when they would have people to use them in the traditional way. I wondered if the buildings might find new uses, or could adapt themselves to changing patterns and emphases in Christianity, or even changing spiritual needs of their parishes. Even if science could somehow prove that God did not exist, I suggested, there were parishes which would rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves, as churches have always done over the two millennia of Christianity. Coming to Gazeley I felt that here was a church which felt as if it had been abandoned. And yet, it seemed to me a church of such significance, such historical and spiritual importance, that its loss would be a disaster. If it had been clean, tidy and open at the time he was visiting, Simon Jenkins England's Thousand Best Churches would not have been able to resist it. Should the survival of such a treasure store depend upon the existence of God or the continued practice of the Christian faith? Or might there be other reasons to keep this extraordinary building in something like its present integrity?

 

In the first decade of the 21st Century, Gazeley church went on a tremendous journey, from being moribund to being the wonderful church you can visit today. If you want to read the slightly adapted 2006 entry for Gazeley, recounting this journey, you can do so here. Coming back here today always fills me with optimism for what can be achieved. On one occasion I mentioned my experiences of Gazeley church to a Catholic Priest friend of mine, and he said he hoped I knew I'd seen the power of the Holy Spirit at work. And perhaps that is so. Certainly, the energy and imagination of the people here have been fired by something. On that occasion I had wanted to find someone to ask about it, to find out how things stood now. But there was no one, and so the building spoke for them.

 

Back outside in the graveyard, the dog daisies clustered and waved their sun-kissed faces in the light breeze. The ancient building must have known many late-May days like this over the centuries, but think of all the changes that it has known inside! The general buffeting of the winds of history still leaves room for local squalls and lightning strikes. All Saints has known these, but for now a blessed calm reigns here. Long may it remain so.

 

Simon Knott, June 2019

 

www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/gazeley.htm
Matthew 16:26 by Holy Spirit Guidance Artwork

New King James Version (NKJV)

 

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

 

Romans 8:28

 

New King James Version (NKJV)

 

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

   
Why is Armageddon necessary? by Kiara₩ (Jasmine Kiara Snow)

Armageddon is to clean all vile & wicked things ruining the earth & opposing God as the rightful & Eternal King of heaven & earth: “Great and wonderful are your works, Jehovah God, the Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways, King of eternity." (The Bible) God's Sovereignty for His name to be sanctified on the Day of Armageddon is by means of His Shepherd King, His only begotten Son Christ Jesus; God's own chosen millennium King will rule one thousand literal years, beginning the Day of Armageddon.

 

God's King the resurrected Christ Jesus is the righteous Warrior King. He rides on the day of God's divine & righteous war with his angelic armies of angels (spirit sons) & his heavenly bride-class. Christ's bride is of the little flock they have been resurrected into celestial spirit beings from the first resurrection; as holy kings & priests they are to rule in God's Kingdom Government in heaven with Christ: "And I saw, and, look! the Lamb standing upon the Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads." Revelation 14:1. Do you know the name of Jesus Christ's Father? The bible answers: “I am Jehovah. That is my name; and to no one else shall I give my own glory, neither my praise to graven images." Isaiah 42:8.

 

It was forewarned that all would be held accountable. The world of ungodly ones is brought to their end on God’s fear & inspiring Day; these being the things written and prophesied. The later descendants of offenders have been divinely given the choice to choose life if it is life they want. It has been written, they, the later descendants of offenders; do not want life from the Sovereign and Rightful Ruler; they, themselves, have hated the true God of Heaven as well as His divine knowledge & His Word alive. The ones, prophesied to be destroyed at Armageddon are known as the wicked. They are the haters of God's divine wisdom, His Christ, the Kingdom of heaven and His people. God's truth does not reside in the wicked one, says the bible.

  

And by their scornful unwillingness to repent they, the wicked, chose death over life for themselves. They are symbolically looked upon as goats. These ones are prophesied to receive a cutting off of their life-force extinguished as a flame to a candle. Jesus Christ said by dive warning to the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees: “You say, ‘If we were in the days of our forefathers, we would not be sharers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ Therefore you are bearing witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Well then, fill up the measure of your forefathers.” Matthew 23: 29-32. This prophecy is making a specific and strong point. The conclusion of this matter is spoken by the Discreet Slave class: Despite their pretensions, by their course of action such ones [the later descendants of offenders] demonstrated their approval of the wrong deeds of their forefathers and proved that they themselves continued to be among ‘those hating Jehovah.’ If you wish ~:`) read from your Bibles; Exodus 20:5; Matthew 23: 33-36; Jonah 15:23, 24.

 

Armageddon is a selective war by God. Armageddon's purpose is to cleanse the earth of the ones ruining it, removing the world of ungodly ones not wanting to know God. Prophecy foretells only the meek and mild are to inherit Earth. God’s people are prophesied to be the new society of the new earth as they are becoming spiritually & morally cleansed. God is a spirit & requires His people to worship Him in spirit & in truth. We need to take in knowledge of the bible if we are to learn about God's requirements in how He is to be worshiped correctly. God requires people to worship Him in spirit and truth as His Word is truth.

 

"Jehovah is not slow respecting his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with YOU because he does not desire any to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance. . . .By their fruits YOU will recognize them. Never do people gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? Likewise every good tree produces fine fruit, but every rotten tree produces worthless fruit; . ..The Bible itself says: “All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man [or woman] of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.” Peter 3:9; Matthew 7:16-17;2 Timothy 3:16, 17.

 

The man-slayer, Satan, the Devil, ruler of this dark world has already been judged this is what will take place on the Great & fear Inspiring day: "And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven with the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he seized the dragon, the original serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he hurled him into the abyss and shut [it] and sealed [it] over him, that he might not mislead the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After these things he must be let loose for a little while." Revelation 20: 1-3. Who do you think this pertains to: "an angel coming down out of heaven with the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand." ? Jesus Christ is the Angel with the chain to chain the Devil. It is so important to take in God's accurate knowledge so that one is not fooled by the foolishness of the wisdom of the world & its false prophets. God's Word is lifesaving to those who take it in by studying the bible as a whole. And it is important to remain in the healthful teachings of the holy scriptures. John 17:3: " This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ."

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