Battle Abbey
| Benedictine Abbey Battle | |
|---|---|
| Location: | United Kingdom of England |
| Patronage : | |
| Founding year: | 1070 |
| Year of dissolution / annulment: |
1538 |
| Mother Monastery: | Marmoutier Monastery |
| Daughter monasteries: | |
Battle Abbey (full name: St. Martin's Abbey of the Place of Battle ) is a now partially destroyed former monastery complex in the small town of Battle in East Sussex , England , about 8 km from Hastings . The monastery was built on the order of William the Conqueror (1027 / 28-1087) on the spot where the Battle of Hastings took place on October 14, 1066 , to commemorate the people who had lost their lives in the battle. The small town of Battle gradually developed around the monastery.
Parts of the former abbey building have housed a school since 1922. The former monastery church has been completely destroyed; only the foundation walls of the apse can be seen in the ground. The site is now used as an (open-air) museum for the battle of Hastings. Every year on the anniversary of the battle, reenactment groups from all over Europe re- enact the battle. 2016 is the year of the Norman conquest of England in particular in this place. The facilities of the Battle Abbey and the battlefield are now administered by the English Heritage . The exhibition in the information center, together with the audio commentary and information boards in the area, provides extensive information on the battle and the 950-year history of the area. It is designed so that all three media work together and complement each other. Admission is charged for the visit. Members (including temporary members) of the English Heritage receive free access and an audio guide.
founding
In 1070 Pope Alexander II ordered the Normans to repent for the large numbers of people they killed in the conquest of England . Then King William the Conqueror ordered the construction of an abbey at the site of the Battle of Hastings to commemorate their victims. The altar should be on the spot where King Harald II fell. Construction began in 1070, but was not completed long after Wilhelm's death.
Founding legend
According to legend, however, Wilhelm is said to have vowed on the eve of the battle that he would found a monastery in the event of victory. A monk named William the smith from the Benedictines - Monastery Marmoutier at Tours will hear this and after his coronation in Wilhelm Westminster have remembered. Wilhelm stood by his vow and instructed the monk to carry it out. He traveled to Marmoutier, returned with four friars, and planned a building a little west of the place assigned to him, as there was no water at the site of the battle. Wilhelm was indignant about this and ordered construction to be carried out on the designated site; with God's help he would take care of his monastery so that there would be more wine there than water in the other monasteries in England. To the objection that there were no suitable building blocks there, he replied that he would have stone brought from Caen . That didn't happen because a quarry was found nearby.
history
The abbey was generously endowed with lands and goods and released from supervision by bishops and royal officials ( exemption ). However, construction was not so advanced until 1076 that an abbot could be appointed. Robert Blancard, one of the four monks chosen by William the Blacksmith, was designated but died before he could get to Battle. Thereupon Gauzbert von Marmoutier was sent to England and ordained as the first abbot of "St Martin at the place of battle" ("St. Martin's of the place of battle").
The monastery church was completed under Abbot Gauzbert and consecrated in 1094, during the reign of Wilhelm's son Wilhelm Rufus , by St. Anselm , Archbishop of Canterbury , in the presence of the king. Gauzbert also had the dormitories built. Gauzbert's successor, Abbot Henry, built the stone gate tower that later became part of the gatehouse complex built during the Hundred Years War for better protection. Under the fourth abbot, Walter de Luci, the cloister was renewed, of which only remnants remain today. The first attempt to lift the exemption also fell during his term of office: the Bishop of Chichester turned to the Pope, the Abbot to King Stephen , but the dispute was only decided in favor of the abbey under Stephen's successor, Henry II .
During the reign of Heinrich's son Johann Ohneland , who allowed the monastery to elect its abbot against payment of a substantial sum, Battle Abbey lost much of its royal patronage . As early as 1233 there was a renewed contestation of the monastic exemption when Bishop Ralph de Neville of Chichester with Pope Gregory IX. Claimed the supervision of the abbey. Once again it was possible to maintain independence. The 13th century saw extensive structural renovations and extensions, including the abbot's new residence, in the style of the so-called Early English Gothic .
In the 14th century, the abbey was threatened by multiple incursions by French armies in Sussex and Kent in the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). Therefore, the mighty gatehouse with its battlements and battlements was built between 1338 and 1339 . The heads of Wilhelm, smiling victoriously, and Haralds, anxiously looking for reinforcements, are shown in the doorway. The abbey also organized the defense of the Pevensey and Romney area and led a military contingent to repel French marauders at Winchelsea . The plague epidemic that struck England from 1348-1350 also raged in Battle Abbey, and the number of monks never returned to the early 14th century.
Suspension and destruction
The monastery, at the time still one of the wealthiest in England with an annual income of 800 pounds, was closed and largely destroyed in 1538 during the dissolution of the English monasteries (1538–1541) at the time of Henry VIII . Heinrich gave it and his property to Sir Anthony Browne. He had the church, the chapter house and the cloister torn down or misused as a quarry and the abbot's house converted into a country residence.
Later use
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Sir Thomas Webster (1677–1751) bought the property in 1715 and his descendants owned it until 1858. Then it was sold to Lord Harry Vane, later the Duke of Cleveland. After the death of his widow in 1901, the Webster family bought it again. In 1922 the facility was converted into a private boarding school for girls, the Battle Abbey School, where Canadian troops were quartered during World War II . The heirs of the last Baronet, Webster, sold Battle Abbey to the British government in 1976 with a generous donation from American patrons , and the facility is now under the administration of the state English Heritage Commission, but has continued to be used by the school since the merger co-educational with Glengorse and Hydneye School in 1989 . In 1995 it was merged with the Charters Ancaster School. Visitors are usually not allowed. During the summer holidays, parts of the former abbey can be visited, where weddings can be celebrated (for a fee).
Current condition
Only remains of the foundation wall of the abbey church remain in the ground. The place where the altar once stood and thus marked the place where King Harald fell is marked by a commemorative plaque on the floor. The ruin and the surrounding battlefield are popular destinations for visitors.
The annual highlight is the weekend closest to October 14th, when a re-enactment of the battle is performed. In 2006, around 2000 amateur actors took part, cheered on by 25,000 paying viewers.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 50 ° 55 ′ 6 ″ N , 0 ° 28 ′ 55 ″ E