Coffin of St. Cuthbert

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Representation of Christ

The coffin of St. Cuthbert was an oak coffin probably from the 7th century in England . The coffin is the only surviving example of early medieval Anglo-Saxon wood engraving . The body of St. Cuthbert had been interred in the coffin since around 698/720 . In 1104 a manuscript of the Gospel of John was found in it, the oldest preserved bound book in Europe. The coffin also contained the only surviving liturgical vestments of Anglo-Saxon origin and other sacred objects. In 1827 the coffin was dismantled and the body reburied. In 1939 it was reconstructed and reassembled. Parts can be seen today in Durham Cathedral .

description

A representation of Christ was engraved on the coffin, as well as the earliest iconographic representation of Mary with the child outside Rome, two archangels, and on the side walls the twelve apostles and five angels. In addition, inscriptions in runic and Latin script were engraved. The coffin contained a manuscript of the Gospel of John , two liturgical vestments, which are the oldest and only surviving vestments in England prior to 1066, a transportable altar , a gilded pectoral cross and an ivory comb.

history

After his death in 678, Cuthbert was buried in a stone sarcophagus in Lindisfarne Monastery. Around 698 he was reburied, probably in the oak coffin. In 875, monks from Lindisfarne fled Viking raids with their coffins . In it they had placed the head of St. Oswald and the bones of several other monks. 995 was founded with the coffin Durham . Since then he has stood in the local cathedral. In 1104 the coffin was opened. The corpse was still not decomposed,

In 1827 the body was reburied and the coffin cut into about 6000 parts. In 1939 Ernst Kitzinger from the British Museum in London put it back together.

  • Pectoral (pectoral cross) on Durham coat of arms

  • Box around the coffin

literature

  • JM Cronyn, CV Horie: The Anglo-Saxon Coffin: Further Investigations. In: Gerald Bonner, David Rollason, Clare Stancliffe (Eds.): St. Cuthbert, his Cult and his Community to AD 1200 . Boydell & Brewer , Woodbridge 1989, ISBN 0-85115-610-X .
  • RI Page: St Cuthbert. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Volume 26, Walter de Gruyter, 2004, ISBN 3-11-017734-X . (google books)

Remarks

  1. ↑ In some later iconographic representations, Cuthbert is therefore shown with the head of St. Oswald in his hand.
  2. ^ British Library