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)
"In consequence, the Queen, soon after her accession, ordered Parker,
Archbishop of Canterbury, and Grindal, Bishop of London, to look into
this and other matters in dispute between the adherents of the Roman
Church and those of the Reformed Faith; and these eminent ecclesiastics
commissioned the authorities of this House to remove the scandal that
had been caused by the inhuman treatment of Catherine Martyr's body. The
matter was conducted by James Calfhill, lately appointed to a stall in
this church, and then acting as sub-dean. In a letter to Bishop Grindal
he gives an account of the ceremony that took place. He was resolved, if
we may judge from his action, not to give a triumph to either party. On
Jan. 11th, 1561, O.S., the bones of the Protestant Catherine and the
Catholic St. Frideswide were put together, so intermingled that they
could not be distinguished, and then placed together in the same tomb.
This solution of the difficulty could not have been displeasing to the
great Queen, who had been consistently endeavouring rather to win over
her opponents by conciliation than to crush them by persecution. We may
well suppose that she approved of the act of our Dean and Chapter. Death
is the great reconciler; enmities should, at all events, be buried with
the dead."
Calfhill, the sub-dean, wrote two epigrams on the burial of Catherine
Martyr with St. Frideswide. The first ends thus: _Ergo facessant hinc
rabida impietas, inde superstitio_; the other thus: _Nunc coeant pietas
atque superstitio_. Perhaps these apparently contradictory sentiments
led Isaac Disraeli (in his account of this curious transaction, which
he selects in his "Amenities of Literature" as an illustration of the
mutability of time) to remark that Calfhill "seems to have been at once a
Catholic and a Reformer." Sanders the Jesuit was indignant at the "impious
epithet," which he says was added, _hic jacet religio cum superstitione_;
"although," says old Fuller, "the words being capable of a favourable
sense on his side, he need not have been so angry."
The exact spot where the bones of The Lady now rest is supposed to be
marked by a brass on the floor of the Lady Chapel, lately placed there by
Canon Bright. But we can only be certain that, somewhere in this part of
the church, "the married nun and the virgin saint," to use Froude's words,
"were buried together, and the dust of the two still remains under the
pavement inextricably blended."
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