The Cathedrals of Great Britain: Their History and ArchitectureDitchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)
History
The Cathedrals of Great Britain: Their History and Architecture
Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson)
Cathedrals -- Great Britain; Church architecture -- Great Britain
In 1258 a poor man's son, one Walter Bronescombe, though not in
priests' orders, was elected bishop, and set to work to rebuild his
Cathedral, his labours being continued by his successor. The Lady
Chapel with adjoining chapels was partly built by this bishop. His
successor, Bishop Quivil, the foe of the Franciscans (1280-1291),
finished it, and erected the north and south transepts. The choir,
nave, porches and west front were built by Bishops Stapledon
(1308-1326) and Grandisson (1327-1369). Stapledon was a great
statesman, and in the troubles of the second Edward's reign took the
side of the king against the queen and Mortimer, and was murdered by
the citizens of London in Cheapside. Grandisson was also a mighty
prelate who refused to allow the Archbishop of Canterbury to visit his
Cathedral as his ecclesiastical superior. He, with a band of armed
men, met the intruding archbishop at the west door and forbade him to
enter, and an armed conflict was with difficulty averted. These
mediæval bishops were very powerful. They usually built a strong wall
with gates around the precincts of the Cathedral, and ruled their
clergy, their servants and dependants quite independently of any
external control. The conflicts between the clergy and the townsfolk
were very numerous, and the struggle severe in nearly all our cities
and monastic towns.
When Queen Elizabeth came to the throne, "visitors" were appointed to
examine churches and to remove all that savoured of "superstition."
Their zeal outran their discretion, and much mischief was wrought in
Exeter and elsewhere by their iconoclastic violence. Strange events
took place during the Commonwealth period. The Cathedral was divided
into two portions by a brick wall, and in one called "West Peter's" an
independent preacher thundered forth his declamation, while in the
other, "East Peter's," a Presbyterian divine conducted his form of
service. Happily the Restoration put an end to these curious
proceedings, and the wall was taken down, and the Church of England
service renewed.
We will now examine the west front erected at the close of the
fourteenth century. The screen is very remarkable and beautiful, and
has three rows of figures of saints and kings and warriors. In the
first row appear angels; the second has figures of kings and knights,
and the third saints, and figures of Athelstan and Edward the
Confessor stand above them. Some of the ancient figures have crumbled
away and been replaced by modern sculptures. Bishop Brantyngham was
the builder of this screen, who lived in the time of Richard II., and
the crowns and armour represented on the figures belong to that
period. The figures in the lower row, beginning on the left, are:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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