Westminster Hall and Westminster Abbey


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An Ard Ri said:
It survived Cromwell and the Puritans and a bomb attack by the organised by the Suffragettes in 1914 ;)
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I didn't know about the suffragettes, I shall read up about that. Thanks:flowers:
 
Goodness, some of them certainly became very extreme. :ohmy: It's a miracle people weren't killed.
 
The history of Westminster Abbey over the past 1000 years and all the changes.

 
That's a very clever animated timeline. A picture paints a thousand words & all that. It really shows how the abbey evolved over time & how the structure had both Gothic & Romanesque parts during the C14th. It must have looked rather jarring.

The bell tower looked like an object of interest rather than beauty I think. Pity it doesn't show us when it was demolished.

It's surprising how late the great west towers are (mid c18th) when the abbey would now be unimaginable without them. By the great Hawksmoor. A brilliant architect often overshadowed by Christopher Wren.
 
The podcast on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is fascinating. Thank you for the link.:flowers:
 
An Ard Ri said:
The Western Towers are simply splendid but my favourite part of the Abbey is the Henry VII Lady Chapel with that stunning fan-vaulted roof.

The only part of the Lady Chapel is the image of Our Lady on the altar I think they could have chosen a nicer Virgin and child.
https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-news/a-podcast-for-candlemas
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The Henry VII Chapel is virtually the last great flowering of English medieval architecture. It is a wondrous building along with the chapel of King's College Cambridge.
 
A look at the splendid tomb effigy of Henry V of England at Westminster Abbey.
The king died near Rouen on August 31st,1422 but he was not buried at the Abbey until the 7th of November that year at the St Edward the Confessor's chapel.

 
What is the figure wearing? Its surprising that he isn't portrayed in armour since he was so famous for his soldiering.
 
Durham said:
What is the figure wearing? Its surprising that he isn't portrayed in armour since he was so famous for his soldiering.
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Looks like a monks robe or perhaps that of a pilgrim?
Interestingly when Henry V's coffin was rediscovered in 1953 it was revealed that his coffin was side by side with that of Richard de Courtenay, Bishop of Norwich. Both men were very close and there were rumours
 
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Yes a pilgrim would make sense. That's how he would see himself I suppose. An armed pilgrim.
 
Durham said:
Yes a pilgrim would make sense. That's how he would see himself I suppose. An armed pilgrim.
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And being entombed in the St Edward the Confessor's chapel.
 
Yes that makes sense too. He was the most revered of all English kings after all.
 
Durham said:
Yes that makes sense too. He was the most revered of all English kings after all.
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It was a popular burial site and contains the burials of Henry III, Edward I, Queen Eleanor of Castile, Edward III, Philippa of Hainault, Richard II, Anne of Bohemia ,King Henry V and Queen Edith of Wessex.
 
A look back at the historic visit by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the Abbey in September 2010.

 
And since May 21st Westminster Abbey is open again

 
Super news!!

Won't it be wonderful to be able visit such places again.?
 
Designing Tudor tombs at Westminster Abbey
The tombs of Henry VII, Elizabeth of York and Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Derby.

 
The Prayer Book of the Lady Margaret Beaufort,Countess of Richmond and Derby which is housed at Westminster Abbey.


 
That was very interesting! And so well made. Very engaging.

Such a pity we can't put a name(s) to the scribe(s). And so lucky that it survived because it was the personal property of Henry viii's grandmother.

Torigiano's tomb is one of the great wonders of the abbey along with the Cosmati pavement. I had no idea about his boyhood falling out with Michelangelo. So many layers of history & art in the abbey. No surprise it forms part of a UNESCO world heritage site.
 
Its simply amazing that the Prayer Book of the Lady Margaret Beaufort,Countess of Richmond and Derby survived the Reformation given all the damage done to English art work, statues, monuments and manuscripts.
 
An Ard Ri said:
Its simply amazing that the Prayer Book of the Lady Margaret Beaufort,Countess of Richmond and Derby survived the Reformation given all the damage done to English art work, statues, monuments and manuscripts.
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I suppose we have to be thankful for what did survive. And there is still much wonderful treasure surviving in English churches & cathedrals. But yes what was lost forever was cataclysmic. A great tragedy.

Of course sometimes we can glimpse that lost world of ancient English Catholicism when some long whitewashed church walls are discovered to be hiding medieval painting. Moments when you can literally touch history.
 
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