The Cathedral Church of Oxford: A description of its fabric and a brief history of the Episcopal seeDearmer, Percy
History
The Cathedral Church of Oxford: A description of its fabric and a brief history of the Episcopal see
Dearmer, Percy
Christ Church Cathedral (Oxford, England)
"These practices and privileges not unnaturally seemed to the zealous
Reformers of those times to call for summary interference. The old
superstitions, which certainly gave rise to many abuses, must, they
thought, be abated at once; nothing but strong measures would avail to
withdraw the minds of the people, nurtured as they were in absolute belief
in these superstitions, from belief in them. Accordingly, we cannot be
surprised to find that this famous shrine was doomed to destruction,
and was actually destroyed. When this happened it is not easy to
determine,--probably in the time of Henry VIII. The fragments were used
either at the time, or not long afterwards, to form part of the walls
of a common well; and there we found them. The reliques of the Saint,
however, were rescued by some zealous votaries, and carefully preserved
in hope of better times. Meantime Catherine (the wife of Peter Martyr,
a foreign Protestant theologian of high repute, who had been appointed
Regius Professor of Theology here) died, and was buried near the place
lately occupied by the shrine. Over her grave sermons were preached,
contrasting the pious zeal of the German Protestant with the superstitious
practices that had tarnished the simplicity of the Saxon Saint. Then
came another change. The Roman Church under Mary Tudor recovered a brief
supremacy. The body of Peter Martyr's wife was (one regrets to learn),
by order of Cardinal Pole, contemptuously cast out of the church, and
the remains of St. Frideswide, preserved, as I have said, by the piety
of her devotees, were restored to their former resting-place. But it
does not appear that any attempt was made to restore the shrine. Party
zeal still prevailed. Angry contests continued between the adherents of
the two parties even after the accession of Elizabeth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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