The Parochial History of Cornwall, Volume 2 (of 4)
History
The Parochial History of Cornwall, Volume 2 (of 4)
Cornwall (England : County) -- History; Geology -- England -- Cornwall (County)
calculated, to shew the triumph of faith over the impulses of sense,
and to shew that triumph more conspicuously, by the association of
monks and nuns in monastic vicinity to each other. “This little
fortress,” as Mr. Hals has told us before, “comprehendeth sufficient
rooms and lodgings for the Captain, or Governor, and his soldiers to
reside in,” which I have supposed above “to have been the original
habitations of the nuns and their Abbess; to which adjoining are
several other houses, or cells, heretofore pertaining to the monks
that dwell here, all admirable for their strength, buildings, and
contrivance,” and all probably therefore contemporary or nearly so.
P. 180. (_f_) This account of St. Michael’s Mount is in a strain of
intelligence and judiciousness much superior to the general tenor of
Mr. Hals’s writings. To it I wish to add some useful notices, in
accompaniment of some that I have given before.
Upon the very crown and summit of this pyramidal hill, stands proudly
eminent the church, stretching from east to west, and having a tower
in the middle. It was built by Edward the Confessor, who was the first
to consecrate the Mount to religion, and erected the church on the
little plain at the top of it. Having done this, and erected
habitations for the clergy attending it, he gave them, by charter
still existing in recital, the whole of the Mount, and many lands
beside. “Ego Edwardus, Dei gracia Anglorum Rex, dare volans pretium
redemptionis animæ meæ vel parentum meorum, sub consensu et testimonio
bonorum virorum, tradidi Sancto Michaeli Archangelo, in usum fratrum
Deo servientium in eodem loco, Sanctum Michaelem,” the church, “qui
est juxta mare.” He also gives them “totam terram de Venefire;” and
proceeds “portum addere qui vocatur Ruminella.” Romney, in Kent. Then
came Robert Earl of Mortaigne, the falsely reputed founder, merely to
associate this church with another of the same appellation in
Normandy, and to enlarge its endowments. In a new charter, equally as
the old without a date, he, “habens in bello Sancti Michaelis
vexillum,” says, “do et concedo Montem Sancti Michaelis de Cornubiâ
Deo et monachis ecclesiæ Sancti Michaelis de Periculo Maris
servientibus, cum dimidiâ terræ hidâ.” But, as he adds, “postea autem
ut certissime comperi, Beati Michaelis meritis monachorumque
suffragiis michi a Deo ex propriâ conjuge mea filio concesso, auxi
donum ipsi beato militiæ celestis principi, dedi et dono in Amaneth
(Quere, where?) tres acras terræ, Travalaboth videlicet, Lismanoch,
Trequaners, Carmailoc,” &c. 2. And, finally, comes the Bishop of
Exeter, in a charter dated expressly 1085, to free “ecclesiam Beati
Michaelis Archangeli de Cornubiâ,” from all episcopal jurisdiction. 3.
Thus erected and thus privileged, the church remained till the day of
William of Worcester, and he thus notes the dimensions of it:
“Memorandum, longitudo ecclesiæ Montis Sancti Michaelis continet 30
steppys, latitudo continet 12 steppys.” 4.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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