Pilgrim tunnel reopened at Canterbury

A 15th century tunnel in Canterbury Cathedral has been cleared and reopened after being used for storage for over 40 years. The tunnel was originally built to lead to the site where Thomas Becket was murdered in 1170, so that pilgrims could visit the site over the centuries without walking through the cathedral and disturbing the monks. Extract from the BBC website article:

The Very Reverend Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury, said the tunnel would give proper access to people in wheelchairs to the Martyrdom – one of the most important parts of the Cathedral.
“The Cathedral has hundreds of steps which can make life difficult for anyone who finds it hard to climb up and down steps,” he said.
“Now it has been cleared and reopened, it also gives tantalising new vistas of two central areas of the Cathedral.”

Thomas Becket was first Chancellor and then Archbishop of Canterbury under King Henry II and the two became good personal friends, which made their dispute, eventually ending in Becket’s murder, even worse. The King expected Becket to be adaptable to his demands, however once made Archbishop, Becket turned more towards the church and was prepared to stand up to the king. Henry wanted to increase the power of the crown by removing the special ecclesiastical courts that existed to give churchmen more lenient sentences when convicted of crimes. Thomas Becket protested and the relationship between the two deteriorated, causing Beckett to flee to France for 6 years. Becket went one step too far when he excommunicated the bishops that had supported the King and this sent Henry into a rage. Some of the King’s knights chased Becket into Canterbury Cathedral and, during a service, hacked him to death with swords, splitting his skull on the steps of the altar.

This primary source text is part of the account of the murder by Edward Grim, a monk who was at the scene.

Then the unconquered martyr seeing the hour at hand which should put an end to this miserable life and give him straightway the crown of immortality promised by the Lord, inclined his neck as one who prays and joining his hands he lifted them up, and commended his cause and that of the Church to God, to St. Mary, and to the blessed martry Denys. Scarce had he said the words than the wicked knight, fearing lest he should be rescued by the people and escape alive, leapt upon him suddenly and wounded this lamb who was sacrificed to God on the head, cutting off the top of the crown which the sacred unction of the chrism had dedicated to God; and by the same blow he wounded the arm of him who tells this. For he, when the others, both monks and clerks, fled, stuck close to the sainted Archbishop and held him in his arms till the one he interposed was almost severed.
Then he received a second blow on the head but still stood firm. At the third blow he fell on his knees and elbows, offering himself a living victim, and saying in a low voice, ‘For the Name of Jesus and the protection of the Church I am ready to embrace death.’
Then the third knight inflicted a terrible wound as he lay, by which the sword was broken against the pavement, and the crown which was large was separated from the head. The fourth knight prevented any from interfering so that the others might freely perpetrate the murder.

The death of Thomas Becket has been seen by Christians ever since as a martyrdom and the King has always received the blame, although it is unclear exactly what was said between Becket and the King and the orders that were given to Beckett’s murderers. Nevertheless, pilgrims ever since have flocked to the famous cathedral to pay their respects to the martyr, eventually causing the construction of the tunnel in the 15th century.

Anglo-Saxon Burhs

Just a little extension on Alfred’s legacy, not so much in terms of the scholarly works he left behind, but in terms of what physical changes he made to the English countryside. These particular architectural achievements are pretty incredible and often overlooked Anglo-Saxon monuments.

Realising the threat of the Vikings and wanting to protect and unite the people of England, he began to construct burhs, which were fortified towns, often built up as hill forts. The hill forts were often built upon existing roman fortifications, but Alfred’s burhs consisted of incredibly high banks and ditches, with the burh at Wallingford reaching 9000 feet. The height and strength of the fortifications made them very effective protection from the Viking attacks and we now know from a document known as the Burghal Hidage that Alfred constructed 30 burhs in Wessex and 3 in Mercia. This shows how thoroughly Alfred protected his remaining kingdom of Wessex, once the rest of England had been taken by the Vikings. The construction of burhs was also continued by Alfred’s successors.

Some burhs display an unusually regular grid pattern of streets and this is what reveals to us that these burhs was built on pre-existing roman forts as grid street layouts were typical of roman settlements. Others were built on new sites, such as the Wallingford and Wareham burhs and do not display this regular street pattern. Little of the Anglo-Saxon settlements remain, but the hill banks and ditches are still visible but often left unnoticed. The town name -bury derives from the burh which shows the fortification has left some legacy, even if not overly physical.

Carisbrooke Castle. Courtesy of English Heritage.

Carisbrooke Castle. Courtesy of Westfield Hotel.

I’ve included a photograph of the burh at Carisbrooke Castle, on the Isle of white, which is thought to have been a fortified site since roman times, and has been continually built up, destroyed and built up over centuries. The current castle was built between the 11th and 15th centuries. The English Heritage link for this castle is here. The castle has a rich history as among other things it was the castle where Charles I was imprisoned for fourteen months before his execution.

There is a good article on Anglo-Saxon burhs at the Britain Express website with a map of the locations of Alfred’s Burhs.

What made Alfred Great?

Due to all the enthusiasm about medieval history, with the BBC’s medieval season on BBC Four, I thought I’d write a little about everybody’s favourite King of England: Alfred the Great, and what exactly was it that made him so great.

Of course, this question can be answered pretty quickly when we think of his most famous achievements, other than burning the cakes, his success in fighting the pagan Vikings, protecting the Kingdom of Wessex and struggling against all odds in battle maintain some of England. However, as a King, Alfred must have been expected to do well in battle and it has to be taken into account that the term ‘great’ was only given to him around the 16th century. Therefore, we mustn’t imagine that he fought one epic battle, saving England, and gaining the love of his people for the rest of time. Alfred had many other achievements that made him not only great, but unique.

With three older brothers as heirs to their father, King Æthelwulf of Wessex’s throne, being King certainly couldn’t have been at the forefront of Alfred’s mind and this perhaps gave him opportunity in life to pursue other interests, that may have led to his future ‘greatness’. He was, however, anointed by Pope Leo IV as a boy and many take this to be a representation of his future accession to the throne. Although this was very unlikely due to Alfred’s not even being heir to the throne at this point, it can possibly be thought of as recognition of great things to come. This aspect of Alfred’s life is still disputed. In terms of warfare, Alfred was somewhat successful and fought beside his brother Ethelred and then later as King against the Vikings. He suffered many defeats, but did succeed in protecting the Kingdom of Wessex as the last English Kingdom, while the east of England was occupied by the Viking force.

Alfred’s unique achievements as king were more concerned with scholarship and the communication of knowledge to the people of Wessex. He began to study Latin works when he was 38 and in improving his own education, he felt the need to spread this to others in the kingdom. He believed that it was necessary for his bishops and others in power to improve their knowledge and reading skills, as recognised by historian Barbara Yorke:

From his reading, Alfred seems to have gained a much clearer idea of his own responsibilities as a Christian ruler, and to have felt that others in his kingdom who were also in positions of responsibility would benefit similarly if they got down to study.

For this reason, Alfred began to translate Latin texts into English, with the help of any scholars he could gather from around England and Europe. Again, as commented upon by Yorke, ‘Alfred did much to launch English as a language of learning’ and this was certainly true as it was the first time that Old English was used in intellectual documents and this extended its influence on the rest of England. The Wessex from of Old English became the standard form, spreading throughout the island and Alfred’s efforts have also given us the incredible historical resource, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

Alfred was the first King to recognise the importance of scholarship as well as warfare in extending the influence of a Kingdom, especially when that Kingdom is surrounded by an occupying enemy force. The famous Alfred Jewel with the Old English inscription, ‘Alfred had me made’ is suggested to have been used as an æstel, a pointer stick used to help people learn to read and if this is true, it says a lot about the importance Alfred placed on the education of his bishops and others in authority.

Although eh description, ‘great’ is usually attributed to Alfred’s military achievements, which were incredibly important, what separated him from all other Kings of the period was his enthusiasm for knowledge and the expansion of the culture and influence of Wessex, through education and the translation of Latin texts into English. In terms of the greater view of English history, surely these actions were what made Alfred truly great.

I haven’t really touched on the numerous battles that shaped the Kingdom during Alfred’s reign which are incredibly significant and if you want more discussion of these battles and Alfred himself, listen to this great programme in the BBC radio 4, In Our Time Archives: Alfred and The Battle of Edington.

Shouldn’t children find history at home?

I recently came across a great article on The Observer website by historian Tristram Hunt, talking about the lack of knowledge of British history among British children and arguing that:

The news that only one-third of Britons can recognise the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral will come as no surprise to anyone who has visited a classroom recently. As this summer’s sky-rocketing GCSE results will no doubt confirm, this is the cleverest generation ever. But the awkward truth is that within our education system, there lurks a crippling ignorance of British history and our cultural heritage. And part of the problem is the accelerating trend for school trips abroad.

… But is it really a good use of resources for 15-year-olds to fly to the American south (as EF Tours hopes they will) ‘to trace the steps of Dr Martin Luther King’ along the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, when they know so little of our own history of political struggle? As Geoffrey Robertson QC deftly puts it in his new introduction to The Levellers: The Putney Debates: ‘We allow our children to leave school at 16 knowing nothing of this period. They study the rise and fall of Hitler and the rise and rise of the United States; the struggle of civil rights takes place, in their curriculum, in Little Rock and Mississippi, never at Naseby or Putney.’

And I must say I completely agree with him. Not only children, who do have the excuse of being young, but also many adults seem often unaware of the most fascinating aspects of the history of this country. Not long ago, I was speaking to two girls, both under the age of 12 and I was, as I seem to do to everyone I know, trying to make them comprehend how fascinating history was. I started explaining how the Romans built huge bath houses in Britain, which I’d visited and found fascinating and they just didn’t believe me! They seemed to think I was making it up! I also tried the technique of explaining how they were standing in the same place where people in the Edwardian era stood (in a house built around 1910) and how incredible that was. But I received the comeback that actually the floorboards had been replaced since then so I was wrong.

I know I am digressing from a discussion of people’s ignorance of British history, but it does highlight a seeming lack of interest. I live in London and am even now still slowly realising the immense wealth of history there is here, and so to some extent I do consider myself as knowing a lot less about my own history than I should, and most children simply aren’t taught about the history of their local area at all. The only British history I remember being taught at primary school was the Tudors, along with the Egyptians and the Romans, and this style of teaching I think makes history seem very remote, especially to children to whom the 1960s can seem just as distant as the 1500s.

To really get a grasp of the history of your own country, you need to experience where and how people lived and that means visiting some out of the vast numbers of historic monuments we’re blessed with here in Britain. If children don’t have a reasonable understanding of the chronology and experiences of the history of Britain, then how can they possibly be expected to understand the events of the Russian revolution or the Wall Street Crash? Let’s get kids back to the wonders of the cathedrals and castles of home!

Welcome

This is the first notice pinned up on our Lovely Old Tree. I set up this blog to discuss British History from any period and I plan to post my thoughts on history news, interesting articles, exhibitions, websites, programmes and anything else…

I’d just like to make it known that I’m not a qualified historian, I’m just someone fascinated by the topic; so if you know more than I do by all means correct any mistakes I make - I’ll be really grateful. This blog is probably aimed at people with an interest in British history who’d like to find out more.

I’ll try to post as often as possible, so keep reading and enjoy!