Canterbury Cathedral

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Southwest Cathedral

The Canterbury Cathedral (English known as Christ Church Cathedral ), officially The Cathedral of Christ Church in Canterbury , England , with its 75 m high tower, known as the Bell Harry , a masterly monument of Romanesque and Gothic . The cathedral belongs together with the St Augustine's Abbey and St Martin's Church since 1988 for World Heritage of UNESCO .

General

After the establishment of the Anglican Church by Henry VIII. , The Archbishop of Canterbury as Primate of all England whose spiritual leader. He also crowns the English kings. Since it was built, the cathedral has also been an important place of pilgrimage .

history

The murder of Thomas Becket

History of the predecessor churches

Crossing tower of Canterbury Cathedral

In 597 missionaries came to Canterbury from Rome. The Benedictine monk Augustine (not to be confused with the church father of the same name) led the mission successfully and was consecrated bishop. He held this office until his death in 603. A cathedral was built. Remnants of this first cathedral were found during renovation work in 1993 under the floor slabs removed for the installation of underfloor heating , including remains from Roman times. Since that time Canterbury has been the seat of an archbishop. In 950 the building was renewed by Archbishop Bodo . The church burned down shortly after the Norman conquest in 1067. After that, over several centuries, what can be seen today emerged: a very complicated and spacious spatial structure with Romanesque , early Gothic and late Gothic parts. Just a look at the floor plan suggests an inconsistent building history.

It began in 1067 under Lanfrank , a confidante of Wilhelm the Conqueror . At that time the church had only one transept , to which a choir with three apses was attached.

Then came in the years after 1096 under Anselm of Canterbury (1093-1109) a large expansion of the east facility. The former three-apsid choir was replaced by another nave part with its own eastern transept and an adjoining long choir with a gallery and radial chapels, which was raised above a crypt (1110–1130). There were also two west towers and a crossing tower . Initially, Prior Ernulph (1096–1107) was responsible for the extension. It was completed under Prior Conrad 1108–1126; the consecration took place in 1130. The entire crypt with its side wings and the substructure of the two east towers, the ground floor of the enclosing walls of the former choir aisles, the two wings of the east transept with their stair towers connected to the west and the inclined tangential chapels of the gallery have been preserved from this building (Hürlimann, p. 13 ).

According to a monastery plan (see also St. Gallen monastery plan ) from 1165, which described above all the irrigation system of the complex, the Benedictine abbey had a herb garden within the monastery walls.

In 1170 Thomas Becket was murdered in the cathedral . He is considered one of the most famous murders in Western history. After this act, Canterbury became the most famous place of pilgrimage in the country.

In 1174 the choir burned down from 1130. The Gothic in England begins with the new building. The builder of the cathedral of Sens Wilhelm von Sens was brought in from Normandy . The beginning of Gothic architecture in England is generally assumed with this east end of Canterbury Cathedral in 1175, but the actual English Gothic, the Early English , began with the new construction of Wells Cathedral in 1180 and Lincoln Cathedral in 1192.

History of the cathedral

Main nave of the cathedral

From 1175 the new building was carried out by Wilhelm von Sens with stones from Kent (east end).

During his first year in Canterbury, the old choir was demolished. In the second year Wilhelm developed the models for shaping the stones that were transported across the canal from his home country, and he took care of the work equipment (winches etc.). The stones were laboriously and laboriously fetched from France because suitable quarries in southern England were only discovered later. The actual start of construction did not take place until after September 5, 1177. The entire walling up of the Gothic choir took two years. Then a serious accident happened in 1178: Wilhelm fell from scaffolding.

He was succeeded by William the Englishman (1179–1184). Although he continued Wilhelm's plans, he made strange compromises that gave the entire eastern section of Canterbury Cathedral a completely unique appearance. For example, at the site of the old choir closure there is a narrowing of the central nave, which is also slightly sloping. The choir head, the Trinity Chapel , probably shows the first early Gothic forms in England. There are clear similarities to the Cathedral of Sens , where Wilhelm came from (twin columns).

In the north wing of the eastern transept, two rows of Gothic panels were placed in front of the Romanesque wall, reminiscent of triforias. The basic idea behind this construction was probably to keep the Romanesque windows and incorporate them into the new Gothic structure.

In 1184 the apex chapel was vaulted to accommodate a precious shrine with the remains of the canonized Thomas Becket . The room is now called Corona or Becket's Crown . The saints and martyrs of our time are venerated here today. The shrine of St. Thomas was set up here in 1220. Henry VIII had it destroyed in 1538 and its treasures plundered. In 1642 there was devastation here by the Puritans.

Some stained glass windows from the 13th and 14th centuries have been preserved.

From 1378 to 1410 the old Romanesque west nave was rebuilt together with the western transept. It began with Archbishop Simon Sudbury (1375-1381), carried out under Prior Chillenden (1390-1411). The nave is praised in the literature as "one of the noblest, most uniform, most peaceful rooms of the English late Gothic" (Hürlimann, p. 14). The rich stone choir screen dates from the same period. It imitates an older choir screen from 1304 and is therefore stylistically closer to the Decorated Style and not the Perpendicular .

At the same time, the crossing tower was strengthened, namely in the interior with so-called tracery bridges, which were attached halfway up the room on all four sides. The Vierungsturm under Prior Goldstone (1495–1503) received the fan vault inside and the heightened outside. Several names have been given to this striking tower above the western transept: Angel Steeple or Bell Harry.

The perpendicular vault in the nave was completed by 1405.

1396–1420 the cloister with the rectangular chapter house was laid out on the north side of the nave .

The southern west tower was added in the first half of the 15th century, the northern one only in the middle of the 19th century.

The vestibule in the southwest, the Christ Church Gate , was built in 1505.

cathedral

Plan drawing of Canterbury Cathedral
Detail view of a medieval stained glass window in the cathedral

Longhouse

The three-aisled nave in the late Gothic Perpendicular Style was built from 1378 on the foundations of the old Romanesque church building.

The main entrance is at the southwest portal. The cathedral's carillon with 14 bells is housed in the tower above the portal. The north-west tower contains the Great Dunstan bell, which weighs 3.1 t.

In the nave there is a baptismal font from 1639. The pulpit from 1898 is a beautiful wood carving. The organ from 1980 is on the north wall of the nave. The compass rose in the bottom of the ship is a symbol of the Anglican Church. The rose was built into the ship in 1988.

The west windows in the ship are worth seeing. These windows date from the 12th century and show 13 figures from the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Furthermore you can see eight kings from the Middle Ages and above that the twelve apostles.

Western crypt

The western crypt was built in the early 12th century. Here you can still see a wall from the previous church from 1077. The treasury can also be entered from here. In the treasury there is silver and gold dishes.

Eastern crypt

After his death in 1170, the remains of Thomas Becket lay here . From 1220 on, they rested in a shrine in Trinity Chapel until it was destroyed in 1538 by order of Henry VIII . The five-aisled crypt is one of the components that still come from the Romanesque church from the end of the 11th century.

tower

Crossing from within

The 72 m high tower of the cathedral is a crossing tower and bears the name of the large bell Bell Harry . Construction began in 1494 and the work was completed in 1504. The coats of arms of people who contributed to the construction of the tower are depicted in the vault. In particular, Cardinal John Morton and Prior Thomas Goldstone.

Choir

Cathedral choir

After the fire in 1174, the choir was rebuilt in the Gothic style. The monk and chronicler Gervasius reports that a committee of church people met and called together various builders who could not agree on a construction proposal. Ultimately, the Frenchman William von Sens was chosen. He brought influences from the early French Gothic (including the cathedrals of Sens and Saint-Denis ) into his work. But he did not finish the construction (for which parts of the old and fire-ruined choir had to be demolished). In 1178 he fell from scaffolding and was seriously injured. For some time he directed the construction work from his sickbed until he finally returned to France, where he died in 1180. Williams was succeeded by a local named William the Englishman. Under him the choir was completed and the round choir closure Becket's Crown with the Trinity Chapel was built.

Transepts

The cathedral is the first to exhibit the insular peculiarity of the two transepts. The eastern transept was created more by chance during the renovation by Wilhelm von Sens and William the Englishman, as the former choir closure with the three apses was extended to the east, so that the two side apses now formed another transept. The stained glass windows are from the 12th century. They show scenes from the Old and New Testament.

Chapels and tombs

Stained glass window in the chapter house

organ

The organ was built in 1886 by the organ builder Henry Willis , with some pipe material from previous instruments being used. After several changes, the instrument was reorganized in 1980 by the organ builder N. Mander and placed in a new organ case . Another manual was set up on the north wall, which is played from the main work. Today the instrument has 60 registers on three manuals and a pedal .

I Choir Organ C – a 3
1. Stopped diapason 8th'
2. Dulciana 8th'
3. Principal 4 ′
4th Chimney Flute 4 ′
5. Block flood 2 ′
6th Nazard 2 23
7th Tierce 1 35
8th. Larigot 1 13
9. Mixture IV
Tremulant
10. Cremona 8th'
11. tuba 8th'
12. Tuba Clarion 4 ′
II Great Organ C – a 3
13. Double Open Diapason 16 ′
14th Open Diapason I 8th'
15th Open Diapason II 8th'
16. Stop diapason 8th'
17th Claribel Flute 8th'
18th Principal 4 ′
19th Flûte Harmonique 4 ′
20th Twelfth 2 23
21st Fifteenth 2 ′
22nd Piccolo 2 ′
23. Mixture IV
24. Fittings IV
25th Trombones 16 ′
26th Trumpet 8th'
27. Clarion 4 ′


II Nave Organ C – a 3
28. Open diapason 8th'
29 Stop diapason 8th'
30th Octave 4 ′
31. Great Octave 2 ′
32. Mixture IV
III Swell Organ C – a 3
33. Double diapason 16 ′
34. Open diapason 8th'
35. Lovely covered 8th'
36. Salicional 8th'
37. Vox Angelica 8th'
38. Principal 4 ′
39. Open flute 4 ′
40. Flageolet 2 ′
41. Mixture III
42. Sharp Mixture V
43. Skin boy 8th'
Tremulant
44. Double trumpet 16 ′
45. Trumpet 8th'
46. Clarion 4 ′
Pedal C – f 1
47. Open diapason 16 ′
48. Violone 16 ′
49. Bourdon 16 ′
50. Octave 8th'
51. Flood 8th'
52. Great Octave 4 ′
53. Open flute 4 ′
54. Mixture IV
55. Contra trumpet 32 ′
56. Ophicleide 16 ′
57. Fagotto 16 ′
58. trombone 8th'
59. Clarion 4 ′


Nave Organ Pedal C – a 3
60. Sub bass 16 ′
  • Coupling: I / II, III / I, III / II, I / P, II / P, III / P

Special events

The events of Thomas Becket , an archbishop who was murdered by four knights of King Henry II in the cathedral in 1170 and who was venerated as a martyr shortly after his death, are closely connected to the history of the city and the cathedral . A flourishing cult of relics developed around Becket and he was canonized as early as 1173.

literature

  • Alain Erlande-Brandenburg : Gothic Art. Herder, Freiburg-Basel-Vienna 1984. Color plate 73
  • Nikolaus Pevsner: European architecture from the beginning to the present. Munich 3rd edition 1973, p. 81
  • Peter Sager: South England. Cologne [1977] 8th edition 1985. (DuMont Art Travel Guide), pp. 21,24, Figs. 2–8,150, color plates 1-3
  • Werner Schäfke : English cathedrals. A journey through the highlights of English architecture from 1066 to the present day. Cologne 1983. (DuMont Art Travel Guide), p. 36, fig. 1–8; Color plate 11,13-14,16,18
  • John Shirley: Canterbury Cathedral. London 1972 (senior official church leader)
  • Wim Swaan: The great cathedrals. Cologne 1969, p. 174, ill. 196, 199-205
  • Harry Batsford, Charles Fry: The Cathedrals of England , 7th Edition, BT Batsford Ltd., London 1948

Web links

Commons : Canterbury Cathedral  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Everything, everywhere .
  2. whc.unesco.org .
  3. ^ Harry Batsford, Charles Fry: The Cathedrals of England , p. 14
  4. Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 19, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Multi-concrete: Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, England @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.multibeton.de
  5. ^ Carmélia Opsomer-Halleux: The medieval garden and its role in medicine. In: Elisabeth B. MacDougall (Ed.): Medieval gardens. Dumbarton Oak, Washington, DC 1986 (= Dumbarton Oaks Colloquium on the history of landscape architecture. Volume 9), p. 96.
  6. Madeline Harrison Caviness: The windows of Christ Church Cathedral, Canterbury. Oxford University Press, London 1981 (= Corpus vitrearum medii aevi. Great Britain. Volume 2).
  7. More information about the organ

Coordinates: 51 ° 16 ′ 46 ″  N , 1 ° 5 ′ 4 ″  E