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First full-length survey of Reading Abbey, one of the most important ecclesiastical buildings of the Middle Ages. Reading Abbey was built by King Henry I to be a great architectural statement and his own mausoleum, as well as a place of resort and a staging point for royal itineraries for progresses in the west and south-west of England. Fromthe start it was envisaged as a monastic site with a high degree of independence from the church hierarchy; it was granted enormous holdings of land and major religious relics to attract visitors and pilgrims, and no expense wasspared in providing a church comparable in size and splendour with anything else in England. However, in architectural terms, the abbey has, until recently, remained enigmatic, mainly because of the efficiency with which itwas destroyed at the Reformation. Only recently has it become possible to bring together the scattered evidence - antiquarian drawings and historic records along with a new survey of the standing remains - into a coherent picture.This richly illustrated volume provides the first full account of the abbey, from foundation to dissolution, and offers a new virtual reconstruction of the church and its cloister; it also shows how the abbey formed the backdropto many key historical events. Ron Baxter is the Research Director of the Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland.
"A Legend of Reading Abbey" by Charles MacFarlane Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the center of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. Legends have always graced the abbey's halls. Medieval society and culture mix magic and mystery, which flourish in religious settings like this. The tale takes readers back to a time when royalty and Lords were a common part of the culture.
Westminster Abbey is the most complex church in existence. National cathedral, coronation church, royal mausoleum, burial place of poets, resting place of the great and of the Unknown Warrior, former home of parliament, backdrop to the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales—this rich and extraordinary building unites many functions. Westminster Abbey is both an appreciation of an architectural masterpiece and an exploration of the building’s shifting meanings. We hear the voices of those who have described its forms, moods, and ceremonies, from Shakespeare and Voltaire to Dickens and Henry James; we see how rulers have made use of it, from medieval kings to modern prime ministers. In a highly original book, classicist and cultural historian Richard Jenkyns teaches us to look at this microcosm of history with new eyes.
- New edition of this exploration of one of Britain's greatest buildings - A comprehensive, beautifully illustrated survey of Westminster Abbey's art treasures Westminster Abbey has a history stretching back over a thousand years. Founded as a Benedictine monastery in the mid-tenth century, it is the coronation church where monarchs have been crowned amid great splendor since 1066. The present church, begun by Henry III in 1245, is a treasure house of architectural and artistic achievement on which each succeeding century has left its mark. The medieval and Renaissance tombs within the Abbey, though among the most important in Europe, form only a small part of the extraordinary collection of gravestones, memorials and monumental sculpture for which it has long been famous. Ranging from the thirteenth-century shrine of St Edward and the Renaissance splendor of Henry VII's Lady Chapel, to the literary memorials of Poets' Corner and the statues of twentieth-century martyrs on the Abbey's west front, this book describes the stained glass, furniture, sculpture, textiles, wall paintings and many other historic artefacts found within this remarkable church. Contents: Introduction; Edward the Confessor's Chapel; Sacrarium and High Altar; Quire and Crossing; North Transept and Ambulatory; South Ambulatory and Transept; Nave; Lady Chapel; Cloisters; Abbey Precincts.
This is the first modern scholarly biography of Blanche of Castile, whose identity has until now been subsumed in that of her son, the saintly Louis IX. A central figure in the politics of medieval Europe, Blanche was a sophisticated patron of religion and culture. Through Lindy Grant's engaging account, based on a close analysis of Blanche's household accounts and of the social and religious networks on which her power and agency depended, Blanche is revealed as a vibrant and intellectually questioning personality.
The Benedictine abbeys were renowned for containing the finest libraries of medieval England. Among the 120 documents brought together in this volume, there are a significant number of catalogues from major libraries in every century from the 12th to the 16th, including a unique 15th-century index catalogue, recently identified as coming from St Mary's Abbey, York.
Booklist called A Double Death on the Black Isle, “a stunner…with lots of action, lots of atmosphere.” Now the acclaimed mystery series about a newspaper staff in a 1950s Highlands town continues—everything is quiet and quaint until one of their own is murdered. The third lyrical, evocative, and character-driven entry in A.D. Scott's mystery series set in the 1950s in the Scottish Highlands. As a decade of change comes to a close, murder hists close to home in a small Scottish town... On a dark, damp Sunday evening, a man taking a shortcut home sees a hand reaching out in supplication from a bundle of sacks. In an instant he knows something terrifying has happened. In the Highlands in the late 1950s, much of the local newspaper’s success was due to Mrs. Smart, the no-nonsense office manager who kept everything and everyone in line. Her murder leaves her colleagues in shock and the Highland Gazette office in chaos. Joanne Ross, a budding reporter and shamefully separated mother, assumes Mrs. Smart’s duties, but an intriguing stranger provides a distraction not only from the job and the investigation but from everything Joanne believes in. Beneath the Abbey Wall brilliantly evokes a place still torn between the safety of the past and the uncertainty of the future, when rock ’n’ roll and television invaded homes, and a change in attitudes still came slowly for many. As the staff of the Highland Gazette probes the crime, they uncover secrets deeply rooted in the past, and their friend’s murder becomes the perfect fodder for strife and division in the town and between her colleagues.
**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** Veteran style journalist Elizabeth Holmes expands her popular Instagram series, So Many Thoughts, into a nuanced look at the fashion and branding of the four most influential members of the British Royal Family: Queen Elizabeth II; Diana, Princess of Wales; Catherine, The Duchess of Cambridge; and Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex. Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle are global style icons, their every fashion choice chronicled and celebrated. With all eyes on them, the duchesses select clothes that send a message about their values, interests, and priorities. Their thoughtful sartorial strategies follow in the footsteps of Queen Elizabeth II and Diana, Princess of Wales, two towering figures known for using their personal style to great acclaim. With one section devoted to each woman, HRH is a celebration of their stories and their style, pairing hundreds of gorgeous photographs with extensive research. A picture emerges of the British monarchy’s evolution and the power of royal fashion, showing there’s always more than what meets the eye.