Carolingian Writing Style

The Carolingian writing style was first established by the Carolingian Empire, an Empire which spanned France, Germany, northern Italy, northern Spain and later Bohemia. It existed and expanded during Charlemagne’s reign (768-814) but did not survive long after his death. During his reign, he established representatives of the state in each region but maintained control and uniformity throughout his empire by holding annual assemblies. He introduced many reforms; most notably in education and religion.

A significant part of Charlemagne’s educative reforms was the introduction of a standardised writing style; the Carolingian style. This was a crucial act both then and now as it is this style which establishes Charlemagne firmly in the history and study of palaeography as it forms the basis of our modern writing style today. Its purpose was twofold; it was designed to make writing easier to read and much quicker to produce. Its initial style can be characterised by the large, rotund characters, vertical ascenders and descenders (often clubbed) and the wide gaps between the words. The latter definitely distinguishes it from the likes of other writing styles at the time when words were often difficult to separate due to their proximity to one another.

There are a substantial number of Anglo-Saxon characters in the Carolingian writing. This is because Charlemagne believed that the Anglo-Saxons held superior literary and literacy skills and so wished to ameliorate the Empire’s literary standing by commissioning certain great scholars to reside in and influence his establishments. For example, it is known that he commissioned Alcuin to visit his own court. This suggests that the presence of Anglo-Saxon characters is due to the influence of Anglo-Saxon scholars.

In the image below, quarto 28 in the Worcester Cathedral Library, the writing style is that of Carolingian miniscule. This scribe has an unsteady hand, however, as one can see that the ascenders and descenders tend to tremble slightly and are not exactly vertical (as encircled on image). This is a quarto from Eusebius’ Historia Ecclesiastica.

Figure 1 Quarto 28, Eusebius' Historia Ecclesiastica. S.X This image is copyright the Dean and Chpater of Worcester Cathedral (U.K.)

This writing style was introduced to England in the mid 10^th century. Potential reasons for its transference from the Continent to England could be due to associations between great libraries of England and the Continent but also the travelling of monks. We know that one monk (and later Bishop of Worcester), Saint Oswald, departed for Fleury monastery, as he was in search of a better monastic life, and returned in 958. There are two early manuscripts which originate from the Continent in Worcester Cathedral Library, one of which is pictured above, and it is likely that they travelled along with Oswald on his return to England. Thus, it is primarily through these two means which the Carolingian style was brought to England, copied by scribes and henceforth, instigated as a popular writing style in the English monasteries and establishments.

Since its establishment in England, the Carolingian writing style underwent some major alterations; most noticeably were the gradation from large to small characters and the reducing spaces between the words. In the two images below one can see these alterations embodied.

Figure 2 Folio 173, Sacramentary. S.XI 1/4 This image is copyright the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral (U.K.)

The differences between the above and below images reveal the transformation of the Anglo-Caroline hand. Figure 2 illustrates a skilled Anglo-Caroline scribing hand, scribed in the first quarter of the 11^th century whereas Figure 3 depicts an English protogothic hand with some features of Anglo-Caroline, dating from the 12^th century. The latter has undergone numerous alterations in its scribing hand; the characters, while equally rounded, are much closer to one another and have been scribed with a thicker nib. Furthermore, there is less space between the words and the lines, rendering the page to have a much more filled visual aspect.

                 

Figure 3 Folio 92, Homilarium. S.XII This image is copyright the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral (U.K.)

Regardless of these alterations, one can see the contingencies this writing style has with the original Carolingian style and also with our modern way of scribing letters; a fundamentally rotund character style and proximity of words. The way we write today is founded upon this style - although we might hope it is in a more legible manner!

Colette Davies

20.12.2012

WILLIAM, DUKE OF HAMILTON (1616-51)

In this week’s blog we look at the life of a brave Scottish soldier from the civil war era buried in Worcester Cathedral. William Hamilton was born on 14^th December 1616. In 1651 he was a senior commander in the Royalist army which fought at the Battle of Worcester, and died of his wounds after the battle.

An engraving from the cathedral collection

If you visit Worcester today you will find a memorial that was erected to the Duke in September 1913, in addition to his existing gravestone near the High Altar. During his short life, William was initially part of the Royalist cause but in 1642 he was sent to Scotland to assist his brother in attempting to prevent the Scots from favouring the Parliamentarians in the war. They failed and on their return to Oxford, they were thrown into prison. William escaped and decided to return to Scotland and change sides. He became one of the Scottish commissioners appointed to treat with the king in prison. The commissioners failed to persuade the king to establish Presbyterianism is England, but William was horrified to see the king then handed over to the English. He called this: “the Judas-like sale of the King for pieces of silver.” He converted back to being a Royalist. After the execution of Charles I, he went into exile. His brother James was tried and sentenced to death on the scaffold, some two months after the king.  James’ title passed to William.

The memorial brass placed in the cathedral in 1913

As Duke of Hamilton, William returned to England with Charles II and fought in the battle of Worcester in 1651. He showed great courage, but was wounded as he led his regiment against Cromwell’s infantry and died at the Commandery a few days later.

The gravestone of the Duke of Hamilton

 

In the cathedral library there is also what is thought to be the tip of a standard that was found in the Victorian era near the duke’s coffin. The archive also holds a Victorian sketch of the lead coffin in which the Duke’s body was placed.

The tip of a standard found near the body

All images are by Mr. Chris Guy and are reproduced by permission of the Dean and Chapter of Worcester cathedral (U.K.)

Mary Somers

Bishop Henry Parry and Virginia

This week brings you an unusual connection between a Jacobean Bishop of Worcester, the colony of Virginia and some books in the collection. Henry Parry was Bishop between 1610 and 1616. He was present at the death of Queen Elizabeth I, and as her chaplain he gained the important confirmation from her that she died as a Protestant.

Henry Parry's monument in Worcester Cathedral. Image is reproduced by permission of the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral.

In Anthony Wood’s Athenae Oxonienses (1691), Parry was described as being the son of Henry Parry, and grandson of William Parry of Wormbridge, Herefordshire. Bishop Parry was born in Wiltshire on 20^th December 1561. He became a scholar of Corpus Christi College, Oxford on 13^th November 1576. He was made a probationer on 23^rd April 1586, and gained his MA. He later read Greek at the same College.

King James I was greatly impressed by Parry’s preaching skills. In 1606 the King of Denmark, who was visiting King James, gave Parry a ring as a reward for the quality of his sermon. Later, as Bishop of Worcester, Parry paid for a pulpit in the cathedral. He wrote at least two books and translated two more, and generously gave a sum of money to the University of Oxford. It was in 1612 that Bishop Parry invested £13 6s 8d in a company set up to support the establishment of the colony of Virginia. 

In the cathedral library, are a set of books by a Church of England clergyman, Samuel Purchas. Purchas compiled Hakluytus Posthumus or Purchas His Pilgrimes: Contayning a History of the World, in Sea voyages, & lande-travells, by Englishmen & others...etc (1625). This work combines research of fellow clergyman Richard Hakluyt and that of his own on exploration around the world. It includes an early map of Virginia first engraved in 1606, as well as some accounts of life in the early seventeenth century colonies including Virginia.

Map of Virginia 1606. The  image is reproduced by permission of the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral

In book nine, chapter fifteen is the list of provisions recommended for every person who would be going to live in Virginia. These included enough food to sustain a man for a year- eight bushels of meal, two bushels of pease, two bushels of oatmeal, a gallon of aqua vitae, a gallon of oil, and two gallons of vinegar, as well as clothing, and weapons. The weapons required were light armour, a five or five and a half foot musket, sword, sword belt, bandolier, twenty pounds of gunpowder, and sixty pounds of shot or lead for bullets. 

A family of six were required to bring with them axes, hand saws, whip-saws, hammers, shovels, spades, augers, hatchets, nails, pickaxes, various other tools and kitchen utensils. These books were published after Parry’s death, but perhaps as an investor he had access to some of the early accounts of life in Virginia.

New France, New Scotland, New Foundland, and New England c.1625. The image is reproduced by permission of the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral. 

Parry died of a stroke on 12^th December 1616 at the Bishop’s Palace in Worcester, and was buried in the North Quire transept. His monument was later moved to the south nave aisle together with a plaque. Another plaque to him is in the St. George’s chapel placed there in 1872 by a descendant.

The brass monument to Bishop Parry. The images are reproduced by permission of the Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral.

The Mystery Plays and English

From the 4^th-6^th December of this year in the run up to Christmas the cathedral shall see the arrival of the Mystery Plays cycle from Gloucester Cathedral. This week, we include a guest blog from English Literature student Katy Ikin who has studied the plays in conjunction with the development of literary and linguistic English. The developing history of the liturgical Mystery Plays has a great span of around five hundred years. During this time, from the tenth to sixteenth century, the English language, literature and drama have undergone huge change.

In the 900s when the Anglo Saxons inhabited our island, Old English was spoken amongst the masses. Despite its popularity in oral tradition, works of writing such as the plays would have been written and performed in Latin as this was the learned language of the church. As a consequence of the invasion of William of Normandy in 1066, French succeeded Latin in play scripts followed eventually by early modern English.

This manuscript is an example which demonstrates the simultaneous usage of Old English with Latin. English was always the dominant oral language, as Latin was for professional documents and so there are very few examples of Old English scripture in existence.

The Plays’ height of popularity was between the 14th-15^th centuries during the middle ages. There were four main types of Drama of this time, these being Folk Plays, Mystery Plays, Morality Plays and The Interludes. All were influential towards the later comedies and tragedies of the Renaissance but none more so than the Mystery Plays. The plays started as a visual telling of the Christian story. As the plays would have primarily been performed in Latin and French, languages which many people did not understand, aesthetic importance was paramount in aiding the congregations understanding of the stories. Their escalation was from small musical services into full-scale dramatised performances that became customary for guilds to present during the Christmas and Easter periods.

Chaucer's work of middle English- The Canterbury Tales from an eighteenth century copy in the cathedral library.

During the medieval period, the plays were transcribed in Early Modern and Modern English. Since the recent revival of the plays of the past couple of decades, this has remained mostly unchanged. The same actions and rhythms of the original texts have been reworked only slightly in order to bring the ancient texts into modern English. The plays engage with majestic themes of the bible as well as comedy and tragedy, which in conjunction with rich live musical accompaniment, create a multidimensional performance that appeals to all audiences, old and new.

More about the Mystery Plays and the features of their development is displayed in the Cathedral. This display can be seen in the south nave aisle for the next couple of months.

By Katy Ikin.

The Gods of Rome

This week we have a look at the Ancient Romans. They were depicted by Father Bernard de Montfaucon in his books, which can be seen in Worcester Cathedral library. More specifically, we look at who the Romans worshiped and how they went about it. Like many cultures before and after them, the Romans worshiped a Pantheon of gods rather than a single entity. This Roman Pantheon is most closely related to the previous Greek Pantheon which was adapted and influenced by their new culture. This caused some gods to change their names, others to gain or lose their connections to certain areas of influence and still more were created for areas where no god previously existed (they even created a goddess for door hinges called Cardea).

This engraving is a representation of ten major gods or goddesses. From B. de Montfaucon  Antiquity- explained and represented in sculptures (1721-25). Image is copyright Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral.

The Romans did not pray as we do today but instead sacrificed various livestock and burnt the most flavour-filled parts in tribute. They would also offer up the first cup of wine and the best parts of each meal in the same way. This was collectively known as supplication. A Roman citizen would make a supplication several times a day while a soldier would make additional sacrifices before and after all battles in hope or thanks for protection.

There were fourteen major gods and goddesses, thirteen of whom presided in the palace of the gods on mount Olympus while the fourteenth ruled over the dead in the Underworld. They are as follows; Jupiter the King of the gods and god of the sky, Juno the Queen of the gods and the goddess of marriage and family, Neptune the god of the sea and earthquakes, Mars the god of war, Apollo the god of the sun and culture (meaning everything from medicine to music), Mercury the god of thieves and roads, Bacchus the god of wine and madness, Minerva the goddess of weaving and handicrafts, Diana the goddess of maidens, hunting and the moon, Ceres the goddess of farming and harvest, Vulcan the God of fire and forging, Vesta the goddess of home and the hearth, Venus the goddess of love and Pluto the god of the Underworld and wealth. There are also a great many more ‘minor’ gods and goddesses like Somnus the god of sleep and Janus the god of beginnings and endings, and finally there are the few heroes whom the people came to refer to as gods like Hercules and Adonis.

This is a montage of many different minor gods and goddesses. B. de Montfaucon, Antiquity- explained and represented in sculptures (1721-25). Image is copyright Dean and Chapter of Worcester Cathedral. 

Some of the gods were worshiped and praised for their relation to success at war or the Emperor, namely Mars and Jupiter, however some were only worshiped out of fear for what they would do to you, mostly Pluto and Neptune who controlled the afterlife and earthquakes respectively. Some of the gods were blamed for the various inexplicable deaths at the time, such as plagues, sunstroke and other assorted illnesses, so needless to say the Romans continued to supplicate themselves to the gods so they would not unleash these horrors upon them. They might even ask them to be unleashed upon their enemies.

As might be expected the Romans found other ways to show their faith too, mainly by immortalizing the gods in the form of pottery, paintings and statues as well as in their literature, both written and in songs or poems. It is from these things that we have learnt of Roman culture and their gods even today.

by Nick Robinson

Worcester Cathedral and the home front

No city in England managed to fully escape the impacts of the Second World War, however, Worcester and its Cathedral experienced these to a lesser extent, as it was bombed only a handful of times during the war, resulting in several casualties, but very little destruction. However, it was affected in many other ways which are often overlooked when considering life on the home front.

            As a wartime inhabitant of Worcester, if you happened to be walking past the cathedral on 6^th June 1940, you would have been confronted with the sight of the Cathedral’s wrought-iron railings being removed to fuel the country’s war machine. Although the removal of gates, railings and other sources of scrap metal was a common occurrence up and down the country, it was nevertheless a controversial decision to sell the railings (for £44 9s 0d) which had originally surrounded the Old St Michaels graveyard.

5th January 1943: The colours being laid up at Worcester Cathedral. Note the War Memorial and lack of railings in the background. 

            As with all cities and towns across the country, there was the urgent necessity to prepare for the real possibility of German bombing. One preparation was the decision on the location for an air-raid shelter - The crypt was at first proposed; however this was soon disregarded as the potential problem of those sheltering being crushed by falling masonry presented a substantial drawback. The site for the shelter was eventually decided to be under College Hall.

            Further preparations were made to preserve the Cathedral and its collections. This included £25 to be spent on protecting the Cathedral’s manuscripts, and new insurance was taken out for objects such as the organ, bells and furniture. Additionally, particular stained glass windows were removed and stored for safe keeping, and on 8^th September 1941, blackout coverings were fixed to the outside of the windows of St John’s Chapel and the Chapter house, which were the main places used for Holy Communion during the war.

Rogation Day 1941: Blackout precautions were needed for services during the war.

            Although the Cathedral itself remained undamaged, due to a combination of precautions and luck, it was by no means left unchanged by the war. The tower, for example, which for centuries has formed part of Worcester’s unique skyline, had its fair share of alterations. It was decided upon as Worcester’s primary observation post to be used to sight and shoot down German bombers, approaching the city. The tower was also the site of Worcester’s air raid siren, to warn civilians of an impending attack.

However, despite the disruption caused by the war to civilians in big ways and also in smaller ways, the stoical attitude of the British during the Second World War was true of Worcester and it’s Cathedral. At Worcester, as in many years previous, an illuminated Christmas tree was placed in the north transept. In December 1941, it was asked that any gifts or donations for the Worcester branch of Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen’s Families Association be placed below the tree. 



by Carys Aldous-Hughes

A great English theologian called John Wyclif

In the last few weeks the cathedral blog has taken you to eighteenth century Berlin with an English traveller, visited the medieval monastic infirmary and looked at medieval doctors' contracts, and told the story of some beautiful choral music from the reign of Charles I.

This week, we include a guest post from work experience student Matthias Hans all about John Wyclif who was a forefather in the eventual development of Protestant Christianity. This was Matthias Hans' final project  for the cathedral library over the summer. If you want to read his study about John Wyclif follow this link.

This photograph shows the bones of John Wyclif being dug up, burnt, and the ashes thrown into the river by the Church authorities who disagreed with what Wyclif wrote! The image is from one of the Cathedral's copies of Foxe's Book of Martyrs. This work is the story of Protestant Christianity upto the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and about those men and women who died in the struggle for their beliefs.