Windows in Canterbury Cathedral

WindowsWindowsIn Canterbury Cathedral

Nina Aldin Thune Kunsthistorie.com

In Canterbury CathedralNina Aldin Thune Kunsthistorie.com

The CathedralThe Cathedral

• Abbey of Benedictine monks

• Also the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury

• Site of important Anglo-Saxon church that has recently been excavated

HistoryHistory

In 597 Pope Gregory the Great (the Gregorian Chanter) orders a reluctant Augustine off to England to convert the Brits to Christianity.  Augustine bases himself with a monastic community known by the name of "Saints Peter and Paul" in Canterbury, and quickly persuades King Aethelbert of Kent to become the first of the (Germanic) Anglo-Saxon Kings to be  baptized, which happens on Whitsunday (Pentecost) 597.

HistoryHistory

602: Saint Augustine dedicates the first Canterbury Cathedral.

HistoryHistory

Repaired just before the Norman Conquest of 1066, the cathedral and its city are both largely destroyed by a huge fire in 1067.  Rebuilding, and the English Church in general, are going nowhere under the ineffective Anglo Saxon Archbishop Stigand, and there is general relief when he is deposed in 1070 and replaced by the energetic, intelligent and widely respected Italian Lanfranc (from Pavia), the Abbot who had put the Abbey of Bec in Normandy on the map of Europe.

• Nave and transepts rebuilt by Archbishop Lanfranc (1070-89)

• Choir finished under his successors, Arnulph and Conrad

• Archbishop Thomas Becket murdered here on December 29, 1170

The MurderThe Murder

Thomas BecketThomas Becket

On Tuesday 29 December 1170 was the murder of Thomas Becket in the north-west transept by knights of King Henry II. The king had frequent conflicts with the strong-willed Becket and is said to have exclaimed in frustration, "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?" The knights took it literally and murdered Becket in his own cathedral. Becket was the second of four Archbishops of Canterbury who were murdered.

Thomas BecketThomas Becket

Archbishop Thomas Becket murdered here on December 29, 1170

The murder of Thomas BecketThe murder of Thomas Becket

According to John of Salisbury, the knights sliced off the top of Becket’s skull and spread his brains over the pavement, mixing blood and bone.

TombTomb

Becket's original tomb was in the Crypt of Canterbury Cathedral.The monks buried the archbishop´s body in the crypt that very night and denied public access to the tomb until Easter of the following year

The Cathedral after the murder

The Cathedral after the murder

• Choir destroyed by fire in 1174-rebuilt 1176-84

• Became major English pilgrimage site

• Nave and east transept rebuilt in Perpendicular Gothic style ca. 1365-1400

The Trinity-ChapelThe Trinity-Chapel

• In 1180-84 the old, square-ended, eastern chapel was replaced by the present Trinity chapel, a broad extension with an ambulatory designed to house the shrine of St Thomas Becket.

• 1220, fifty years after his martyrdom, Becket's remains were translated to a new shrine in his honor in the Trinity Chapel of the Cathedral.

WindowsWindows

The windowsThe windows

Of the ten original windows, only seven retain medieval glass and the other three are comprised of replacement glass and plain quarries

The ShrineThe Shrine

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

ShrineShrine

St. Albans Abbey (Cathedral) Hertfordshire

MiraclesMiracles

Thomas BecketThomas Becket

Thomas is the best doctor of the worthy sick

Thomas is the best doctor of the worthy sick

• Miracles at the shrine of St. Thomas were chronicled by two monks, William and Benedict.

• At first, at the time of his martyrdom, the martyr began to glisten with remarkable miracles, restoring sight to the blind, walking to the lame, hearing to the deaf, speech to the mute, and cleansing lepers, restoring paralytics, curing dropsy and all varieties of fatal, incurable disease, even resuscitating the dead. And miraculously exercising power over the demons and all the elements, he extended the touch of this power to unusual and unheard of signs. For instance, people deprived of their eyes and genitalia obtained new members by his merits.

• Reading from left to right, the first panel depicts a blind girl with her eyes closed

• She grasps her father’s hand and shoulder as he leads her through an outdoor setting indicated by a plant-like form twining over their heads

Juliane of Rochester

Juliana of Rochester

• The second scene shows the two pilgrims as they approach Becket’s tomb, represented by the portholes in the side. Arches, a tower, and the tomb symbolize the architecture of the cathedral and imply a religious setting, as does the figure of a monk applying a mixture to the girl’s eyes.

Juliana of Rochester

• The final scene repeats the figures of the father and daughter, once again identified by their clothing, as they give thanks to the saint for the miraculous restoration of Juliana’s sight.

Richard Sunieve

• The first panel shows Richard at work as a herdsman

• He then falls ill and takes to his bed

The Cure of Richard of Sunieve

• He kneels in front of Becket’s tomb and receives a mixture prepared by a monk with a bowl and spoon or mortar and pestle

• The next panel shows Richard cured. He demonstrates the cure to those around him, probably his master and mistress

The Cure of Richard of Sunieve

• The story concludes with Richard at the tomb offering gold coins as thanks

St.Thomas WaterSt.Thomas Water

St.Thomas Water

• After the murder the monks had carefully collected Thomas blood

• The martyr´s blood had been diluted with water

• The blood and water was used as medicin

St.Thomas Water

St.Thomas Water

A father tips up an ampulla filled with

Canterbury water for his son to drink. Window n:II

A father tips up an ampulla filled with

Canterbury water for his son to drink. Window n:II

PilgrimsPilgrims

Pilgrims

• Because of the violent nature of his death, Becket was considered a martyr by the monks at Christ Church and the English people. Word of the murder quickly spread throughout the country, and people began to flock to the cathedral

Pilgrim

• St.Thomas appers to King LouisVII of France in a dream

• LouisVII of France in Canterbury in 1179

Tekst

Thanks!Nina Aldin Thune

Thanks!Nina Aldin Thune