Andreas Christodoulou AR519 Option: Dissertation 2012/13
“What are these fantastic monsters doing in the cloisters under the very eyes of the brothers as they read?. . . What is the meaning of these unclean monkeys, these savage lions, and monstrous creatures? To what purpose are here placed these creatures, half-beast half-man, or these spotted tigers? I see several bodies with one head and several heads with one body. Here is a quadruped with a serpent’s head, there a fish with a quadruped’s head, there again an animal half-horse, half-goat . . . Surely if we do not blush for such absurdities we should at least regret what we have spent on them.” 1
The first sentence of St Bernard of Clairvaux’s (1090 – 1153) diatribe, against the eclectic array of grotesques and gargoyles on display in Christian churches across Western Europe, summarises almost precisely my thoughts after observing the foliate heads, mermaids and gargoyles on display at Canterbury Cathedral (fig 1,2,3). How atmospheric it must have been to have worshipped in such an imposing structure as the cathedral, the house of the lord, straight faced and as respectful as possible, rules which the characters perched in the eaves of the cathedral incongruously ignore, mouths gapping and tongues wagging. How does an edifice such as the cathedral, a monumental tribute from the monotheistic Christians who built it, become so heavily embellished with figures projecting the antithesis of what one would associate with the faith, Pagan beliefs. “When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.” 2
Deuteronomy 18 (9 – 12)
The quote above is one of many bible verses clearly showing strong disdain for Pagans and their practices. The bibles polemics unsurprisingly align with the views of St Bernard, who would have known the verse above and many others like it, making the involution of pagan imagery even more mysterious. From this we know St Bernard must be asking a rhetorical question, for he, unlike us, had the luxury of being able to question one of the many stonemasons working on his church at the time. 3 The sheer number and variety of them, the fastidious approach of the craftsmen and their inclusion throughout Western Europe, in structures soaked in Christian symbolism, all point to a deeper purpose than entertainment. 1
St Bernard of Clairvaux, Apologia ad Guilb. Sancti Theodorici abbat., ch. xi. Patrol., clxxxii., col. 9I6 2008. The Bible: Authorized King James Version (Oxford World's Classics). Edition. Oxford University Press, USA. Location 9358 (kindle version). 3 Ronald Sheridan, 1975. Grotesques and Gargoyles: Paganism in the Mediaeval Church. First Edition Edition. David & Charles. Page 7. 2
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Much of the mystery surrounding these vivid motifs stems from the fact that there are very few contemporary documents to aid in forming a full explanation of the various forms pagan influence has taken. It is difficult to discern how and why pagan imagery materialised later in the structures of the medieval Christian faith, in the form of gargoyles, grotesques and a whole host of other motifs (fig 4). Almost all of what is known about the early pagan cultures is learnt from archaeological finds such as burials or hoards, simply due to the fact that literacy skills were almost non-existent within the early pagan societies of Britain. The scarce few who could read and write used the primitive alphabet of Ogham, and much of what they did record has been lost. 4 Most of what is known of the late Celts has come through the study of ancient classical texts of the Greeks and Romans, which are of course subject to inevitable interpretive bias resulting from natural xenophobia. 5 In order to discern a viable explanation for the apparently continued incorporation of pagan symbolism by the young Christian authority in medieval Britain, one must become acquainted with the politics, religions and attitudes of the era, a clear problem when investigating a relatively niche aspect of the notoriously unreported Dark Ages. For this I turn to the earliest and most trustworthy recording of this period of British history, the work of the Benedictine monk, the Venerable Bede, also known as St Bede. His “Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum” (Ecclesiastical History of the English People completed in 731AD), is widely accepted by historians to be the detailed incunabula of Anglo-Saxon Britain. Although I have no referenced his texts directly, the historical writers I have turned to have all relied heavily upon Bede’s medieval corpus in order to gain a detailed understanding of the period. I will begin with a short but comprehensive overview of the history of the Pagan societies known to have settled in what we now recognise as the British Isles, in the period pre dating Christian influence. Understanding where they originated, their journey into Britain and how they were converted is integral in order to form a logical understanding of their beliefs and consequently, the sculpture and symbolism which would later influence Christian architecture. A case by case analysis of the fruits of paganism within Christian architecture will run alongside the main historical narrative of this investigation, in the form of an image and a summarized annotation of its content. This is to provide the reader with a micro level analysis to accompany the broader over sailing historical context which the main body of the investigation will focus on. This then will be a brief outline of the history of Pagan influence on Christian architecture, In an attempt to understand why the content of the motifs have survived the doctrinal filter of Christianisation, why the contradiction?
4
BBC. (2009). How the Celts Saved Britain. [Online Video]. 25 May. Available from:http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/x1h6us_xSilverPhinx_/1#video=xfwys0. [Accessed: 07 January 2013]. 5 Miranda Green, 1992. Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art. Reprint Edition. Routledge. Page 1.
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Brief History of Late Paganism and Early Christianity in Medieval Britain
There can be no specific date given for when the Celtic culture moved west from the pagan lands of Europe into what we now know as the British Isles. We do know it happened in waves and it was not a specific group of Celts who settled here. Being Celts meant they shared a language and a Pagan belief system consisting of multiple deities’, responsible for every aspect of their lives with a particular obsession lay upon the natural world, its animals and the cycle of its seasons. 6 The worship of gods of fertility, death and war were central to their lives. They believed they could propitiate these elemental beings through offerings of human and animal sacrifices in hope of reward. 7 These Pagan tribes were the first established cultural civilization of any real number to settle in the British Isles. The waves of migrating Celts would flow deep into the region between 500 – 100 BC (Fig 5), bringing with them deep rooted Pagan beliefs passed down from generation to generation, through word of mouth for over a millennia. 8 The Celts formed no real invasion; they were no more than a series of tribes sharing a common religion and language. The Irish and the Brythonic speaking natives of what we now know as England were very similar, in that they had no real cohesion among the small groups spread across their regions. The next crucial chapter in British history arrives in 43AD with invasion of the legions of Rome. Organised and experienced, the divided native tribes stood no chance against the implacable invasion, spreading rapidly from the south east coast northwards, until the legions were met by the far more organised Pictish hoards, of what we recognise today as Scotland. 9 The Romans ruled the area south of Hadrian’s Wall for over four centuries, it became known to them as Britannia (Fig 6). They brought with them complex laws, literacy, roads and after the Edict of Milan in 313AD, Christianity, which they had the power and organisation to enforce upon the native Pagan tribes. 10 In the fifth century AD the might of Rome began to crumble, leading to a withdrawal of its legions from Britannia. It has been suggested by some Historians that The Anglo Saxons, a group of Germanic and Danish Pagan tribes consisting of the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frissians, were actually 6
Miranda Green, 1992. Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art. Reprint Edition. Routledge. Page 2. Miranda Green, 1992. Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art. Reprint Edition. Routledge. Page 2. 8 Ronald Sheridan, 1975. Grotesques and Gargoyles: Paganism in the Mediaeval Church. First Edition Edition. David & Charles. Page 13. 9 BBC. (2009). How the Celts Saved Britain. [Online Video]. 25 May. Available from:http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/x1h6us_xSilverPhinx_/1#video=xfwys0. [Accessed: 07 January 2013]. 10 Miranda J Green, 1996. Celtic Art (Everyman Art Library). Edition. Cassell. Page 12. 7
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invited by the abandoned Christians of Britannia in the early fifth century to defend them from the Picts, who would try to claim the now undefended southern lands. 11 The warrior based culture of the Anglo-Saxons, made them the perfect mercenaries against the Picts in the north. 12 They would succeed in holding back the Picts but kept the southern lands as payment for doing so (Fig 7). The native Celts, many of whom were now Christianised by Rome, would become enslaved by these Germanic invaders, reverting the ‘national faith’ back to Paganism. Abandoned by Rome and enslaved by the brutal Angles and Saxons, The English as we may now call them (renaming of Britannia to Angleland, or England) would be thrown back into the chaos of pre Roman England. Despite arriving together the varying groups which made up the Anglo-Saxon invasions, the warrior tradition of the Germanic tribes lead to the division of England into separate warring factions. 13 St Patrick – Rebirth of Christian Britain
In the early fifth century AD, a young Englishman raised as a Christian in Roman Britannia, was captured and sold into slavery to Pagans in Ireland. The man we now know as St Patrick served as a slave for a pagan master for six years until he escaped, fled back to England, became a Bishop, and astonishingly returned to Ireland on a mission to save the souls of the Pagan Celts. It was the method employed by Patrick and his fellow missionaries still being dispatched by the Vatican, which would lead indirectly to the incorporation of Pagan iconography in Christian architecture. 14 Patrick had the distinct advantage of living in both the ordered, scholarly and Christian land of England under Roman rule and under a Pagan master in Ireland for six years, allowing him to absorb the various languages, cultures and religions prevalent in both realms. When Patrick arrived in Ireland he was hoping to strip the Celts of a faith they had held since the Bronze Age. He would use his knowledge of both cultures to draw similarities between Christianity and Paganism and form a distinctly Celtic form of Christianity, making it far easier for the Celts to absorb the far newer religion. One of the most integral techniques employed by Patrick was to fill the void that would be left by conversion from the multifarious deities of the Pagan faith, with Christian saints, acting as mediators between God and man. 15 The finest example of this would be conveying Jesus of Nazareth as an
11
R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Page 13. R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Page 13. 13 R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Page 14. 14 BBC. (2009). How the Celts Saved Britain. [Online Video]. 25 May. Available from:http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/x1h6us_xSilverPhinx_/1#video=xfwys0. [Accessed: 07 January 2013]. 15 Miranda J Green, 1996. Celtic Art (Everyman Art Library). Edition. Cassell. Page 154. 12
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existing Pagan deity who, according to folklore was a warrior god who would be betrayed, killed and rise again. 16 The Christian faith in Britain had become a hybrid of Paganism and Christianity, with newly converted Christians still being allowed to continue with the celebration of key dates of the Pagan calendar. The sacred water of the Druids (Pagan priestly class) had been translated into the holy water of baptism, and the places of worship used by the Pagans were simply converted into Christian shrines or monasteries. All of this coupled with the missions strong anti-slavery message would have been an attractive proposition to the Pagan Celts, many of whom would have suffered from the effects of slavery, and would have seen Patrick as coming from a powerful and intelligent group of people who were quite obviously favoured by the gods. Evidence for Christian tactical tolerance, in aid of a final goal of conversion of Pagans can be seen in a letter written to Abbot Mellitus from Pope Gregory (Gregory the Great, 540 – 604 AD). The letter starts with instructions to Mellitus to pass on the message of tolerance to St Augustine, the bishop who famously headed the Vatican’s mission in seventh century England, a mission ending in success. The pope explains… “since they have a custom of sacrificing many oxen to demons, let some other solemnity be substituted in its place, such as a day of Dedication or the Festivals of the holy martyrs whose relics are enshrined there. On such occasions they might well construct shelters of boughs for themselves around the churches that were once temples, and celebrate the solemnity with devout feasting. They are no longer to sacrifice beasts to the Devil, but they may kill them for food to the praise of God, and give thanks to the giver of all gifts for the plenty they enjoy. If the people are allowed some worldly pleasures in this way, they will more readily come to desire the joys of the spirit.” 17
This hybrid of religious beliefs would naturally penetrate into the realm of architecture and religious iconography. As Patrick and his fellow Vatican missionaries were laying the foundations of Christianity within Britain they began to build its first monastery complexes. These structures would need to be more than just bases for the mission; they would act as tools of conversion, impressing Pagan visitors with the technological advances inherited from Rome, such as water powered mills, and comforting them with Christian symbols presented in familiar Celtic styles. 18 Probably the earliest example of the fusion between the existing art, tradition and beliefs of the native pagan people, and the symbolism of the new Christian faith in Britain, would be the Celtic cross. According to Miranda Green (expert on Celtic art), it is alleged that Patrick himself was accompanied by crafts people on his mission to Ireland in the early 5th 16
Miranda J Green, 1996. Celtic Art (Everyman Art Library). Edition. Cassell. Page 154. R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Page 16. 18 BBC. (2009). How the Celts Saved Britain. [Online Video]. 25 May. Available from:http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/x1h6us_xSilverPhinx_/1#video=xfwys0. [Accessed: 07 January 2013]. 17
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century. 19 This proposition is entirely believable given the enormity of Patrick’s task (which he completed) and the power of the symbol in a Celtic world of illiteracy, if this is true, they most certainly began their work with the creation of the Celtic cross. The Carved cross at Moone (Fig 11) in County Kildare, Ireland, is believed to date back to the 8th century and is of superlative quality and condition, it is by no means the earliest example. Observing the artefact, we see immediately the fusion of Pagan and Christian symbolism in the form of a vertically oriented stone monument. It is a clear evolution of the age old Pagan standing stones which pre date Christian influence by millennia. Archaeologists are unable to agree on the purpose of the original stones, but given the spread of this method of worship globally (Egypt, Iran, South America), they seem to be linked with the early human and therefore pagan obsession with the cycle of the seasons and worship of the sun. These key aspects of the Pagan belief system were allowed to flow through into early Irish Christian ecclesiastical sculpture as an aid to conversion. The incorporation of the spoked wheel, the symbol of the Romano-Celtic sun god Taranis (Fig 12), into the cross motif is another clear and successful attempt to fuse existing Pagan beliefs with those of the Christian faith. 20 Finally, in a poetic fusion of old and new, the Pagan obsession with the sun and its path governed the placement of the primitively carved Christian bible stories which adorn the crosses. As the sun rises in the east, it illuminates a carved image of Christ in a robe arms outstretched, also on the east side, a charming depiction Daniel in the lion’s den. 21 On the refulgent south side, with little space to work with and crude tools at his expense, the artist symbolically depicts the feeding of the five thousand through the display of two fish and five loaves of bread (Fig 14). 22 On the west, as the sun sets, the narrative is brought to a close by the presentation of the twelve apostles (Fig 15) whose mission it was to spread the Gospel and higher up on this face we see the crucifixion. From this synthesis of the suns daily chronology and that of the story of Christ, we are given a further insight into the structure of the early Christian faith which allowed Pagan sculpture to penetrate into its art and architecture. The Significance of the Symbolism of the Head and its Effect on Christian Ornament
Perhaps the most obvious and recognisable form Pagan influence has taken is that of the infamous grotesques and gargoyles adorning some of the most historical and spiritual structures of Europe, which have become symbols of the Romanesque and Gothic styles. If we examine the earliest examples of these sculptures we see a common theme arising, the heads of animals, humans and mythical beasts. 19
Miranda J Green, 1996. Celtic Art (Everyman Art Library). Edition. Cassell. Page 156. R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Page 311. 21 R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Page 312. 22 R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Page 312. 20
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The traditional head form of most Romanesque sculpture is an echo of Pagan beliefs predating the period by centuries, the provenance of which lay in the Celtic religious belief in the power and symbolism of the human head. This sanguinary belief was recorded by classical writers, who inform us of a complex system of head hunting and sacrificial ritual involving the removed head of enemies as a symbol of dominion. 23 They explain how the barbarians (as they knew them), would display the heads of fallen victims over the entrance to temples and homes as status symbols and to ward off evil spirits, for they believed the head was imbued with every divine power. 24 By far the finest surviving example of this can be seen in the ruins of an Iron Age Celtic shrine in Roquepertuse (Fig 16), France, founded around the sixth century BC it would have been typical in composition to smaller shrines across Celtic Europe. 25 Here we can see holes have been carved out of the columns and frieze of the Portico, so that the heads of fallen foes can be inset, perhaps in thanks for military success, or in hope of the gods eliciting further martial favours to the warring tribes of the Celtic world. These can be seen as the seeds from which the eclectic mix of figurative motifs in Romanesque and Gothic architecture have grown, as a form of ornament and symbolism starting around the fifth century. It was the cult of the head which naturally led to the incorporation of stone versions imbued with the same symbolism as the real, into pagan art and subsequently its incorporation into Christian ecclesiastical architecture, post fourth century. 26 Of the hundreds of key figures and symbols of the Pagan faith which had slowly grown over time to include certain Roman deities, it was only a select few which made their way into Christian art and architecture. Only the deepest held beliefs and those which aligned, or could be made to align with the Christian belief system, would find their way into the art and architecture of the new religion, presented almost exclusively as carved heads. The Pagan habit of exaggerating the size of the head was also emulated. One of the earliest surviving, in-situ examples of Pagan sculpture adorning Christian ecclesiastical architecture can be seen on one of only three Anglo-Saxon churches remaining in Britain, St John’s church in the small village of Escomb, County Durham. This modest structure, constructed around the early eighth century has survived due to a sensitive nineteenth century restoration and primarily as a result of its very secluded location. In the centre of its south wall can be seen what is probably the earliest surviving Anglo-Saxon sun dial, along with, more importantly for us, figurative decoration taking the form of a serpent and what is clearly the head of an animal or beast (Fig 17) which has been understandably 23
Miranda Green, 1992. Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art. Reprint Edition. Routledge. Page 211. Ronald Sheridan, 1975. Grotesques and Gargoyles: Paganism in the Mediaeval Church. First Edition Edition. David & Charles. Page 15. 25 Miranda Green, 1992. Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art. Reprint Edition. Routledge. Page 109. 26 Ronald Sheridan, 1975. Grotesques and Gargoyles: Paganism in the Mediaeval Church. First Edition Edition. David & Charles. Page 15. 24
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weathered over its 1200 year history. The snake was a pagan symbol of the god Cernunnos (Fig 18) whose figurative image, which included horns, would be translated into the Christian devil in ecclesiastical sculpture. The surviving sculptures adorning Escomb are likely to be original but it was not unheard of for medieval masons to recycle pagan artefacts which they have found on the site of an earlier shrine or sanctuary. 27 Heads, figures and even altars have been incorporated possibly as good luck charms or through superstition. 28 The figures at Escomb were creatures embodied with symbolic meaning which would have been understood by Christian Anglo-Saxons using the church, taking from them much the same understanding as their Pagan forebears did. There is somewhat of an expansive visual vocabulary of symbolism in which various symbols of strength, such as antlers and the depiction of large genitals as a sign of fertility could be interchanged and applied to depictions of deities as human figures or their assigned cult creature, creating composite deities. 29 This Pagan practice is what led to the range of Christian sculpture involving creatures accompanied by and composed of parts of other beasts (fig 19). The primary delivery method of all this symbolism would arrive most prominently in the Romanesque and specifically Gothic period, peaking in the 12th and 13th centuries, dragged in by the Norman cavalry not long after the events that took place at Hastings in 1066. The Normans, the Stealthy Spread of Pagan Symbolism “What we owed to the Normans was not the introduction of continental refinement, but the impulse of vital energy backed by the spoils of the conquered race� 30
Arthur Gardner, expert on medieval sculpture. The Normans showed an extraordinary vigour to outdo the existing humble Anglo-Saxon churches of England. At the time of the Conquest, the native Anglo Saxon church had developed little from the Germanic long houses from which they had originally evolved, and were deemed undeserving of the title of house of God by the new Norman rulers. 31 William II (William I of England), had just made himself one of the most powerful rulers in Europe and was determined to assert his status as King of England. The widespread structural organization brought by William had not been seen in England since Roman rule, over 500 years earlier. Intelligent strategic moves such as the creation of the Domesday 27
Ronald Sheridan, 1975. Grotesques and Gargoyles: Paganism in the Mediaeval Church. First Edition Edition. David & Charles. Page 16. 28 Ronald Sheridan, 1975. Grotesques and Gargoyles: Paganism in the Mediaeval Church. First Edition Edition. David & Charles. Page 16. 29 Ronald Sheridan, 1975. Grotesques and Gargoyles: Paganism in the Mediaeval Church. First Edition Edition. David & Charles. Page 16. 30 Arthur Gardner, 2011. English Medieval Sculpture. 2 Edition. Cambridge University Press. Page 52. 31 R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Page 30.
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Book, allowed the king to generate a vast fortune through taxation. 32 Much of this wealth was used by the pious king to atone the self-inflicted religious penance, for the battles fought to conquer the English. 33 The Kings atonement took the form of a sharp and explosive period of ecclesiastical construction, which would cause efflorescence in the field of sculptural ornament on a scale never before witnessed in England. In his book, Architecture and Sculpture in Early Britain, R.T.Stoll comments on the Normans rapid investment stating, “All their great abbeys and cathedrals were built within barely two generations – a phenomenon unique to the Romanesque period”. 34 It is this rapid investment, fuelled by the pious and hegemonic attitude of the invading Normans, to which we can accredit the widespread exploration and introduction of Pagan symbolism into common Christian motifs. As can be discerned from the quote above, The Normans did not bring a rich history of ornament with them, in fact Norman architecture in the 11th century was less ornate than the moderate level of ornamental activity already taking place in England. 35 The masons who were ordered to decorate William’s ecclesiastical monuments had very few precedents on which to do so, and therefore turned naturally to the aforementioned ornament adorning native churches, ornament of pagan origin and influence. 36 Thus the door was opened for masons to source influence where ever they could. Despite becoming almost completely Christianised by the date of the Normans arrival, The Pagan tradition of storytelling had not yet left the English, and much of the previous Pagan religion was enjoyed as myth, legend, and for many a genuine superstitious belief in stories of giants and dragons which ran alongside their Christian faith. Later waves of Norman construction, starting in the 12th century, led to a more expansive range of ornament with previous motifs growing in intricacy and quality with the skills and knowledge of the now second and third generation stone masons. 37 The echoes of Christian tolerance of Pagan tradition, from the missions of Patrick and Augustine had still not left the Isles, and helped to establish a clear vocabulary and architectural style.
32
R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Page 29. R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Page 30. 34 R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Page 30. 35 Arthur Gardner, 2011. English Medieval Sculpture. 2 Edition. Cambridge University Press. Page 52 36 Arthur Gardner, 2011. English Medieval Sculpture. 2 Edition. Cambridge University Press. Page 52 37 R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Page 31. 33
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The Physiologus and the Bestiaries The Medieval bestiaries are a collection of charmingly illustrated stories explaining the behaviour of both mythical and real creatures, from which Christian teachings are discerned. 38 The bestiaries stem from an original text known as the Physiologus, or “Natural Philosopher” a Greek text believed to have been written by a Christian in second century Egypt. 39 Since its 5th century translation into Latin, the number of stories and the multiplicity of their beasts had grown considerably to accommodate a whole range of Pagan beasts such as the basilisk, the phoenix and the unicorn, all of which were allocated stories, therefore linking an image of the creature, in the mind of a medieval Christian, to a moral or lesson about the ways of God, Man and the Devil. The story of the phoenix is one of particular beauty and significance. There was said to be only one phoenix in the world and it lived in India. In some versions of the bestiaries the phoenix was said to have created its own funeral pyre (Fig 20), lacing it with frankincense and Myrrh and lighting the flames itself. Three days later the beast would become resurrected, a clear link with the chronology of Christ’s resurrection story. 40 Over time this would essentially negate the original Pagan symbolism of a phoenix or basilisk and rewrite them into symbols embodying the lessons of a Christian God. Subsequently the illustrations in the books were used as precedents for the previously mentioned Norman masons who had very little existing ornament to inspire them. In Anslem’s crypt, beneath the main body of the Cathedral in Canterbury, some of the finest surviving examples of Romanesque ornament in Western Europe can be found carved into the thick set capitals of its marching columns. 41 They are a set, illustrating the lusts and passions of mankind through carvings, which according to R.T.Stoll in his book, Architecture and Sculpture in Early Britain, are believed to be inspired by the illustrations of the illuminated manuscripts and bestiaries produced by the cities very own scriptorium. 42 The content of the motifs reflect the mystery of their surroundings. According to Stoll, on one of the capitals we find the exhibitionist Sheela-na-gig (Fig 21), the Celtic goddess of fertility from Ireland, a vulgar motif repeated in churches and cathedrals all over Britain, in which the goddess spreads her legs and parts her Vulva. Crude symbolism is typical of pagan art, 38
Ann Payne, 1990. Medieval Beasts Hb. 1St Edition. The British Library Publishing Division. Page 9. Ann Payne, 1990. Medieval Beasts Hb. 1St Edition. The British Library Publishing Division. Page 9. 40 Ann Payne, 1990. Medieval Beasts Hb. 1St Edition. The British Library Publishing Division. Page 70. 41 R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Page 280. 42 R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Page 280. 39
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although it allowed the artist to effectively communicate their message in an almost completely illiterate culture. On other capitals we can observe a naked she-devil riding a griffin (Fig 22) and entertaining carvings of various animals playing musical instruments (Fig 23). I must disagree, in part, with Stoll’s belief that the capitals were inspired by the bestiaries and illuminated manuscripts of Medieval England. Although the griffins, serpents and phoenix motifs on the capitals are all present in either the margins of illuminated manuscripts or many of the medieval bestiaries, I have been unable to find any reference of Sheela-na-gig or she-devils in any Latin or Greek bestiary. These motifs may have come from the pagan motifs of earlier Anglo-Saxon churches. Another possibility is that Stoll has mistakenly taken the she-devils on the capitals in Anselm’s crypt to be Sheela-na-gig, I have found it hard to draw similarities between the other common stone depictions of Sheela-nagig of the period (Fig 24) with the carving in Canterbury (Fig 21). Conclusion In this investigation I have attempted to cover over two millennia of British ecclesiastical history. We began with the movement of Celtic tribes into the British Isles 500 years before the birth of Christ. The next key phase arrived in 43AD with the invasion of the legions of Rome who loosely installed Christianity into England by the 4th century, later withdrawing as the empire crumbled. The significance of this period on our investigation is the understanding that Christianity had absorbed from Rome some of its finest attributes and characteristics. Organisation, Technology and an ordered hierarchical system would enable the new faith to live on after the fall of its surrogate. The most important aspect of its inheritance though, was that of tolerance. The conclusion we can draw is one of fusion through “tactical tolerance”. By making concessions in the religious code laid out in the Gospels, men such as Saints Patrick and Augustine managed to plant the flag of Catholicism into the far western corner of Europe (5th century AD). Due to the necessary strategy deployed, the deep rooted Pagan customs, some with influence dating as far back as the mid second millennia, were merged with the younger faith to form a new Anglo-Christianity, from which the Pagan folklore and art of medieval Celts, Angles and Saxons were allowed to bleed through into the art and architecture of a new Christian age. Despite the conclusions drawn above, conversion cannot be seen as the singular cause of the eclectic array of pagan influence on display in Gothic and Romanesque structures. I believe the cartoon nature of the gargoyles, grotesques and mythical creatures, and the way in which they defied the stereotypical idea of church behaviour, would have entertained the medieval congregations in much the same way they continue to do so today. Many Christians had grown up hearing the stories within the popular medieval bestiaries, stories
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of the phoenix “gleaming like fine gold� and griffins, composed of the lion and eagle, kings of land and air. Observing physical representations of images previously confined to their imagination would have been a delight, and helped to ensure church attendance, an aim which we now know was integral to the superficial philanthropy of William the first. The aims and subsequent building activity of the early kings of England littered British architecture with icons of Pagan deities, whose symbolism re-written, now served a new God.
Andreas Christodoulou AR519 Option: Dissertation 2012/13
Bibliography -
Nikolaus Pevsner, 2009. Outline of European Architecture. 2nd Revised edition Edition. Thames & Hudson. Richard Marks, 2004. Image and Devotion in Late Medieval England. Sutton Publishing. R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Ronald Sheridan, 1975. Grotesques and Gargoyles: Paganism in the Mediaeval Church. First Edition Edition. David & Charles. Margaret Gallyon, 1973. The Early Church in Eastern Europe. The Lavenham Press Limited. William Anderson, 1998. Green Man. Edition. Compass Books. Miranda Green, 1993. The Gods of the Celts (Illustrated History Paperback Series). Edition. Sutton Publishing. Richard Deacon, 2001. Image and Idol: Medieval Sculpture. Edition 1. Tate Gallery Publishing. R. P. C. Hanson, 1965. St Patrick, A British Missionary Bishop. Hawthornes of Nottingham Limited. 2008. The Bible: Authorized King James Version (Oxford World's Classics). Edition. Oxford University Press, USA. Miranda Green, 1992. Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art. Reprint Edition. Routledge. Miranda J Green, 1996. Celtic Art (Everyman Art Library). Edition. Cassell. Arthur Gardner, 2011. English Medieval Sculpture. 2 Edition. Cambridge University Press. Ann Payne, 1990. Medieval Beasts Hb. 1St Edition Edition. The British Library Publishing Division. Willene B. Clark, 2013. A Medieval Book of Beasts: The Second-Family Bestiary. Commentary, Art, Text and Translation.. Edition. Boydell Press. Janetta Rebold Benton, 1997. Holy Terrors: Gargoyles on Medieval Buildings. 1st Edition. Abbeville Press.
Andreas Christodoulou AR519 Option: Dissertation 2012/13
Images Figure 1 – Own Image Figure 2 - Ronald Sheridan, 1975. Grotesques and Gargoyles: Paganism in the Mediaeval Church. First Edition Edition. David & Charles. Figure 3 – Own Image Figure 4 - Topfoto, (2012), Guerrilla mask: a green man roof boss in Norwich Cathedral, Norfolk. [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.aeonmagazine.com/living-together/paulkingsnorth-green-man/ [Accessed 03 March 13]. Figure 5 – Own Image Figure 6 – Own Image Figure 7 – Own Image Figure 8 – Own Image Figure 9 – Own Image Figure 10 – All three images, Ronald Sheridan, 1975. Grotesques and Gargoyles: Paganism in the Mediaeval Church. First Edition Edition. David & Charles. Figure 11 - Miranda J Green, 1996. Celtic Art (Everyman Art Library). Edition. Cassell. Figure 12 - Miranda J Green, 1996. Celtic Art (Everyman Art Library). Edition. Cassell. Figure 13 – Med Gull, (2012), Daniel in the Lions Den, Moone High Cross, Ireland [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wilsonjim/4945636050/ [Accessed 03 March 13]. Figure 14 – Med Gull, (2012), Moone High Cross, Ireland [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wilsonjim/4945637222/in/photostream/ [Accessed 03 March 13]. Figure 15 - R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Figure 16 – Ronald Sheridan, 1975. Grotesques and Gargoyles: Paganism in the Mediaeval Church. First Edition Edition. David & Charles Figure 17 – Tina Negus, (2012), Escomb sundial and corbel [ONLINE]. Available at: http://farm1.staticflickr.com/210/509166697_bb036e7bf7_z.jpg?zz=1 [Accessed 03 March 13]. Figure 18 – Ronald Sheridan, 1975. Grotesques and Gargoyles: Paganism in the Mediaeval Church. First Edition Edition. David & Charles Figure 19 – Ronald Sheridan, 1975. Grotesques and Gargoyles: Paganism in the Mediaeval Church. First Edition Edition. David & Charles Figure 20 – Willene B. Clark, 2013. A Medieval Book of Beasts: The Second-Family Bestiary.
Commentary, Art, Text and Translation.. Edition. Boydell Press. Figure 21 – R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Figure 22 – R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Figure 23 – R. T. Stoll, 1966. Architecture and Sculpture in Early England. Thames and Hudson. Figure 24 - Ronald Sheridan, 1975. Grotesques and Gargoyles: Paganism in the Mediaeval Church. First Edition Edition. David & Charles.