Cathedrals -- England; England -- Description and travel
In the Chapter House is preserved an important manuscript, including the
famous book of Saxon poetry presented by Leofric on his accession to the
See of Exeter. It is called the "Exeter Book," and is the life of St.
Guthlac, by Cynewulf, who was an early English writer. Born somewhere
between 720 and 730 at Northumbria, Cynewulf was a wandering bard by
profession. Late in life he suffered a religious crisis, and devoted his
remaining years to religious poetry. An early work of his is a series of
ninety-four Riddles.
It is an example of the effects of Latin influence, which in the end
revolutionised the style of Old English literature as a whole. Cynewulf
appears to have been a prolific writer. Besides the Riddles, the "Crist"
(dealing with the three advents of Christ), the lives of St. Juliana and
St. Elene, and the "Fates of the Apostles" are ascribed to him, as well
as "The Descent into Hell," "Felix," and the lives of St. Andreas and
St. Guthlac. A valuable treasure is that in the possession of Exeter.
Many such precious relics are to be found distributed among the various
ecclesiastical buildings in England, known only to antiquarians and
people with interest akin to theirs. The quaint, picturesque old coffee
tavern, with its bow windows of square-leaded panes, ends curiously at
the top with a moulded outline so reminiscent of many houses in Belgium.
The tombs are mostly to the memory of bishops who each in his own time
maintained the dignity of the See. Of those natives who came to the
front through sheer ability may be enumerated the following: Josephus
Iscanus, or Joseph of Exeter, a distinguished Latin poet of the twelfth
century; his contemporary, Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury; John
Hooker, author of "A History of Exeter in the Sixteenth Century"; Sir
Thomas Bodley, who founded the magnificent Bodleian Library at Oxford;
Matthew Lock, a seventeenth-century musical composer of note; and many
others.
Amongst many notable institutions is the Grammar School, which dates
from the reign of Henry VIII.
The manufactures are few. The woollen trade, at one time only surpassed
by Leeds, has now entirely departed from Exeter. If it were not for its
glorious minster and the river Exe, up which vessels of three hundred
tons' burden can come up right to the city's quay, Exeter would have
long ago sunk to mere insignificance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account