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79-475: The Eleanor crosses were a series of twelve tall and lavishly decorated stone monuments topped with crosses erected in a line down part of the east of England. King Edward I had them built between 1291 and about 1295 in memory of his beloved wife Eleanor of Castile . The King and Queen had been married for 36 years and she stayed by the King's side through his many travels. While on a royal progress , she died in

158-455: A nomen sacrum . The extensive adoption of the cross as a Christian iconographic symbol arose from the 4th century. However, the cross symbol was already associated with Christians in the 2nd century, as is indicated in the anti-Christian arguments cited in the Octavius of Minucius Felix , chapters IX and XXIX, written at the end of that century or the beginning of the next, and by

237-889: A false ritual murder allegation against the Jewish community of Lincoln, and was revived after the Expulsion of the Jews in 1290. Eleanor had been widely disliked for large-scale buying and selling of Jewish bonds, with the aim of requisitioning the lands and properties of those indebted. It has been suggested that the proximity of the shrine's design to the Eleanor crosses was deliberate, in order to position Edward and Eleanor as protectors of Christians against supposed Jewish criminality. Eleanor's crosses appear to have been intended in part as expressions of royal power; and in part as cenotaphs to encourage prayers for her soul from travellers. On

316-562: A few centuries the emblem of Christ was a headless T-shaped tau cross rather than a Latin cross. There are few extant examples of the cross in 2nd century Christian iconography . It has been argued that Christians were reluctant to use it as it depicts a purposely painful and gruesome method of public execution . A symbol similar to the cross, the staurogram , was used to abbreviate the Greek word for cross in very early New Testament manuscripts such as P66 , P45 and P75 , almost like

395-474: A few hundred yards north of Westminster Abbey. The area subsequently became known as Charing Cross . The cross here was the most expensive of the twelve, built of Purbeck marble from 1291 onwards by Richard of Crundale, the senior royal mason, with the sculptures supplied by Alexander of Abingdon , and some items by Ralph de Chichester. Richard died in the autumn of 1293, and the work was completed by Roger of Crundale, probably his brother. The total recorded cost

474-522: A head during the years leading up to the Civil War. To puritanical reformers, it was identified with Dagon , the ancient god of the Philistines , and was seen as the embodiment of royal and Catholic tradition. At least one riot was fought in its shadow, as opponents of the cross descended upon it to pull it down, and supporters rallied to stop them. After Charles I had fled London to raise an army,

553-413: A lower tier entirely covered with rosette diapering , instead of the arch-and-gable motif with tracery which appears on both the others; and canopied statues surmounted by a slender hexagonal pinnacle. It is possible that the other northern crosses (Lincoln, Grantham and Stamford) were in a similar relatively simple style; and that this reflects either the need to cut back expenditure in the latter stages of

632-465: A single upright torture stake rather than a two-beam cross, arguing that the Greek term stauros indicated a single upright pole. Although early Watch Tower Society publications associated with the Bible Student movement taught that Christ was executed on a cross, it no longer appeared on Watch Tower Society publications after the name Jehovah's witnesses was adopted in 1931, and use of

711-582: A total recorded cost of over £110. It probably became known as Waltham Cross because it stood at the way to Waltham Abbey , across the River Lea in Essex, which was clearly visible from its site. The sculpture was by Alexander of Abingdon , with some items supplied by Robert of Corfe. The cross was located outside the village of Waltham, but as the village grew into a town in the 17th and 18th centuries, it began to suffer damage from passing traffic. In 1721, at

790-540: Is a very fair crosse and large". It stood at Swine Green, St Catherine's , an area just outside the city at the southern end of the High Street , but had disappeared by the early 18th century. The only surviving piece is the lower half of one of the statues, rediscovered in the 19th century and now in the grounds of Lincoln Castle . ( 52°54′37″N 00°38′25″W  /  52.91028°N 0.64028°W  / 52.91028; -0.64028 ) Eleanor's bier spent

869-808: Is assumed that these last three were erected in 1294 or 1295, and that they were certainly finished before the financial crisis of 1297 which brought a halt to royal building works. A number of artists worked on the crosses, as the account rolls show, with a distinction generally drawn between the main structures, made locally under the direction of master masons appointed by the King, and the statues of Eleanor, made of Caen stone , and other sculptural details, brought from London. Master masons included Richard of Crundale, Roger of Crundale (probably Richard's brother), Michael of Canterbury, Richard of Stow, John of Battle and Nicholas Dymenge. Sculptors included Alexander of Abingdon and William of Ireland, both of whom had worked at Westminster Abbey, who were paid £3 6s. 8d. apiece for

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948-399: Is commemorated by a brass plaque on the wall of 157 High Street. (approximately at 51°59′20″N 00°37′10″W  /  51.98889°N 0.61944°W  / 51.98889; -0.61944 ) Eleanor's bier spent the night of 10 December 1290 at Woburn , Bedfordshire . Work on the cross here started in 1292, later than some of the others, and was completed in the spring of 1293. It

1027-677: Is conceivable that the substantial steps of the standing Market Cross comprise stones that originally belonged to the Eleanor Cross. A letter from the 18th-century antiquary William Stukeley (now untraceable) is alleged to have stated that he had one of the lions from Eleanor's coats of arms in his garden. A modern relief stone plaque to Eleanor was installed at the Grantham Guildhall in 2015. ( 52°39′22″N 00°29′37″W  /  52.65611°N 0.49361°W  / 52.65611; -0.49361 ) Eleanor's bier spent

1106-430: Is debated. It is said to have been of a tall elegant design (perhaps similar to that at Geddington). It was described by William Camden in 1607 as minus elegantem ("none of the fairest"), suggesting that it was by this date in a state of decay. It is said to have been demolished in about 1643. In 1735, William Hartley, a man of nearly 80, could remember only the base still standing. Any trace has now vanished. The cross

1185-512: Is likely that it was similar to the Hardingstone and Waltham Crosses, but even more ornate and boasting some Purbeck marble facings. The cross came to be regarded as something of a public hazard, both as a traffic obstruction and because of concerns about fragments of stone falling off; while in the post- Reformation period some of its Catholic imagery aroused resentment, and elements were defaced in 1581, 1599 and 1600–01. Matters came to

1264-485: Is suspended above the altar table and is a focal point of the chancel . In many Baptist churches, a large cross hangs above the baptistry . Although Christians accepted that the cross was the gallows on which Jesus died, they had already begun in the 2nd century to use it as a Christian symbol. During the first three centuries of the Christian era the cross was "a symbol of minor importance" when compared to

1343-479: The Abbey . In 1596, it was described as "verie stately". However, having fallen into decay, and having probably been further damaged during the Civil War, it was eventually demolished in 1701–02, to be replaced by a market cross . This was demolished in turn in 1810, although the town pump it contained survived a little longer. A drinking fountain was erected on the site by philanthropist Isabella Worley in 1874: this

1422-608: The Church formally adopted an image inspired by Thorvaldsen's Christus statue underlain with the Church's name as an official symbol of the faith. In 2014, the Chinese Communist Party , which espouses a doctrine of state atheism , began a program of removing exterior crosses from church buildings "for reasons of safety and beauty." In 2016, 1,500 crosses were removed. In 2020, this campaign resumed, justified by

1501-578: The Earl of Surrey (d. 1240). Another was erected at Reading for Edward I's sister Beatrice (d. 1275). Yet another, almost contemporary with the Eleanor crosses, was erected near Windsor for Edward's mother, Eleanor of Provence (d.1291). The closest precedent for the Eleanor crosses, and almost certainly their model, was the series of nine crosses known as montjoies erected along the funeral route of King Louis IX of France in 1271. These were elaborate structures incorporating sculptural representations of

1580-1113: The East Midlands in November 1290. The crosses, erected in her memory, marked the nightly resting-places along the route taken when her body was transported to Westminster Abbey near London. The crosses stood at Lincoln , Grantham and Stamford , all in Lincolnshire ; Geddington and Hardingstone in Northamptonshire ; Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire ; Woburn and Dunstable in Bedfordshire ; St Albans and Waltham (now Waltham Cross ) in Hertfordshire ; Cheapside in London; and Charing (now Charing Cross ) in Westminster . Three of

1659-703: The Gilbertine priory of St Katherine in the south of the city, or at the priory of the Dominicans. Her viscera , with the exception of her heart, were buried in the Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral on 3 December. Eleanor's other remains were carried to London, a journey of about 180 miles (290 km), that lasted 12 days. Her body was buried in Westminster Abbey , at the feet of her father-in-law King Henry III on 17 December; while her heart

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1738-576: The royal arms of England and of Castile and León , were recovered in 1838 during reconstruction of the sewer in Cheapside. They are now held by the Museum of London . ( 51°30′26″N 00°07′39″W  /  51.50722°N 0.12750°W  / 51.50722; -0.12750 ) Eleanor's bier spent the final night of its journey, 16 December 1290, in the Royal Mews at Charing, Westminster ,

1817-547: The sign of the cross . The crucifix, a cross upon which an image of Christ is present, is not known to have been used until the 6th century AD. The oldest extant depiction of the execution of Jesus in any medium seems to be the second-century or early third-century relief on a jasper gemstone meant for use as an amulet, which is now in the British Museum in London . It portrays a naked bearded man whose arms are tied at

1896-575: The 1980s, and are now held by the Victoria & Albert Museum . A photograph formerly on the Lowewood Museum website shows one of the original statues in front of a staircase at the library. ( 51°30′51″N 00°05′41″W  /  51.51417°N 0.09472°W  / 51.51417; -0.09472 ) Eleanor's bier reached the City of London on 14 December 1290, and a site for the cross

1975-495: The City. John Stow included a detailed account of the cross and its history in his Survay of London of 1598, updating it in 1603. Although a number of images of the cross and its eventual destruction are known, these all postdate its various refurbishments, and so provide no certain guide to its original appearance. However, the chronicler Walter of Guisborough refers to this and Charing Cross as being fashioned of "marble"; and it

2054-896: The Geddington Cross, is found in his diaries in the Bodleian Library , Oxford. A single small fragment from among Stukeley's finds, a carved Purbeck marble rose, was rediscovered in about 1976, and identified as part of the cross in 1993. Following the closure of Stamford Museum in 2011, this fragment is now displayed in the Discover Stamford area at the town's library. A modern monument was erected in Stamford in 2009 in commemoration of Eleanor: see Replicas and imitations below. ( 52°26′15″N 00°41′07″W  /  52.43750°N 0.68528°W  / 52.43750; -0.68528 ) Eleanor's bier spent

2133-409: The King, and were erected in part to promote his canonisation (a campaign that in 1297 succeeded). Eleanor's crosses never aspired to this last purpose, but in design were even larger and more ornate than the montjoies , being of at least three rather than two tiers. ( 53°12′51″N 00°32′47″W  /  53.21417°N 0.54639°W  / 53.21417; -0.54639 ) Eleanor rested on

2212-693: The Original Name", and he declared: "The Form then of the Cross on which our Saviour suffered was not a simple, but a compounded, Figure, according to the Custom of the Romans , by whose Procurator he was condemned to die. In which there was not only a straight and erected piece of Wood fixed in the Earth, but also a transverse Beam fastened unto that towards the top thereof". Frederick Elworthy claims that for

2291-529: The Town Clerk, described it as "so defaced, that only the Ruins appeare to my eye". It had probably been destroyed by 1659, and certainly by the early 18th century. In 1745, William Stukeley attempted to excavate the remains of the cross, and succeeded in finding its hexagonal base and recovering several fragments of the superstructure. His sketch of the top portion, which seems to have stylistically resembled

2370-470: The centre of a Christian family's home altar as well. Catholics , Orthodox Catholic , Oriental Orthodox , members of the major branches of Christianity with other adherents as Lutheranism and Anglicans , and others often make the Sign of the Cross upon themselves. This was already a common Christian practice in the time of Tertullian . The Feast of the Cross is an important Christian feast. One of

2449-532: The cross and crucifix in the Lutheran Church , which remains an important feature of Lutheran devotion and worship today. Luther wrote: Crux sola est nostra theologia , "The cross alone is our theology." On the other hand, the Great Iconoclasm was a wave of rejecting sacred images among Calvinists of the 16th century. Some localities (such as England) included polemics against using

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2528-468: The cross at Wigmore. Writers during the 19th century indicating a Pagan origin of the cross included Henry Dana Ward , Mourant Brock, and John Denham Parsons . David Williams, writing of medieval images of monsters, says: "The disembodied phallus is also formed into a cross, which, before it became for Christianity the symbol of salvation, was a pagan symbol of fertility." The study, Gods, Heroes & Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain states: "Before

2607-428: The cross by George Vertue from a drawing by Stukeley in its Vetusta Monumenta series in 1721; and another, engraved by James Basire from a drawing by Jacob Schnebbelie , in the same series in 1791. The original statues of Eleanor, which were extremely weathered, were replaced by replicas at the 1950s restoration. The originals were kept for some years at Cheshunt Public Library; but they were removed, possibly in

2686-698: The cross in worship. For example, during the 16th century, theologians in the Anglican and Reformed traditions Nicholas Ridley , James Calfhill , and Theodore Beza , rejected practices that they described as cross worship. Considering it a form of idolatry, there was a dispute in 16th century England over the baptismal use of the sign of the cross and even the public use of crosses. There were more active reactions to religious items that were thought as 'relics of Papacy ', as happened for example in September 1641, when Sir Robert Harley pulled down and destroyed

2765-468: The cross symbol was used long before the Christian era in the form of the ancient Egyptian ankh . John Pearson, Bishop of Chester ( c.  1660 ) wrote in his commentary on the Apostles' Creed that the Greek word stauros originally signified "a straight standing Stake, Pale, or Palisador", but that, "when other transverse or prominent parts were added in a perfect Cross, it retained still

2844-401: The cross was officially abandoned in 1936. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that Jesus died on a cross; however, their prophet Gordon B. Hinckley stated that "for us the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living Christ." When asked what was the symbol of his religion, Hinckley replied "the lives of our people must become

2923-658: The destruction of the cross was almost the first order of business for the Parliamentary Committee for the Demolition of Monuments of Superstition and Idolatry, led by Sir Robert Harley , and it was demolished on 2 May 1643. The downfall of the Cheapside Cross is an important episode of iconoclasm in English history. Two Purbeck marble fragments of the original cross, displaying shields bearing

3002-499: The direction of Edward Blore , the Maltese cross was replaced by the picturesque broken shaft which is seen today. Later, less intrusive restorations were undertaken in 1877 and 1986. Further restoration work was completed in 2019. The bottom tier of the monument has carvings of open books. These probably included painted inscriptions of Eleanor's biography and of prayers for her soul to be said by viewers, now lost. John Leland , in

3081-630: The early 1540s, recorded it as "a right goodly crosse, caullid, as I remembre, the Quenes Crosse", although he seems to have associated it with the 1460 Battle of Northampton. It is also referred to by Daniel Defoe in his Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain , in reporting the Great Fire of Northampton in 1675: "... a townsman being at Queen's Cross upon a hill on the south side of the town, about two miles (3.2 km) off, saw

3160-568: The fact that by the early 3rd century the cross had become so closely associated with Christ that Clement of Alexandria , who died between 211 and 216, could without fear of ambiguity use the phrase τὸ κυριακὸν σημεῖον (the Lord's sign) to mean the cross, when he repeated the idea, current as early as the apocryphal Epistle of Barnabas , that the number 318 (in Greek numerals , ΤΙΗ) in Genesis 14:14

3239-575: The fact that some crosses were higher than the Chinese national flag. Caen stone Caen stone ( French : Pierre de Caen ) is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen . The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about 167 million years ago. The stone is homogeneous, and therefore suitable for carving. The stone

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3318-528: The feast of the Triumph of the Cross. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican bishops place a cross (+) before their name when signing a document. The dagger symbol (†) placed after the name of a dead person (often with the date of death) is sometimes taken to be a Christian cross. In many Christian traditions, such as the Methodist Churches , the altar cross sits atop or

3397-412: The fire at one end of the town then newly begun, and that before he could get to the town it was burning at the remotest end, opposite where he first saw it." Celia Fiennes in 1697 describes it as "a Cross, a mile off the town call'd High-Cross – it stands just in the middle of England – its all stone 12 stepps which runs round it, above that is the stone carv'd finely and there are 4 large Nitches about

3476-554: The first night of the journey at the Priory of Saint Katherine without Lincoln and her viscera were buried in Lincoln Cathedral on 3 December 1290. The Lincoln cross was built between 1291 and 1293 by Richard of Stow at a total recorded cost of over £120, with sculptures by William of Ireland (also named as William " Imaginator ", or image-maker). John Leland , in the early 1540s, noted that "a litle without Barre [gate]

3555-481: The fourth century CE, the cross was not widely embraced as a sign of Christianity, symbolizing as it did the gallows of a criminal." This reaction in the Anglican and other Reformed Churches was short-lived and the cross became ubiquitous in these Christian traditions. Jehovah's Witnesses do not use the symbol of the cross in their worship, which they believe constitutes idolatry . They believe that Jesus died on

3634-512: The goldsmith William Torell . Her heart burial at the Blackfriars was marked by another elaborate monument, but probably not with a life-sized effigy. The Blackfriars monument was lost following the priory's dissolution in 1538. The Lincoln monument was destroyed in the 17th century, but was replaced in 1891 with a reconstruction, not on the site of the original. The Westminster Abbey monument survives. The twelve crosses were erected to mark

3713-594: The instigation of William Stukeley and at the expense of the Society of Antiquaries , two oak bollards were erected "to secure Waltham Cross from injury by carriages". The bollards were subsequently removed by the turnpike commissioners , and in 1757 Stukeley arranged for a protective brick plinth to be erected instead, at the expense of Lord Monson . The cross is still standing, but has been restored on several occasions, in 1832–1834 , 1885–1892, 1950–1953, and 1989–90. The Society of Antiquaries published an engraving of

3792-403: The late second or early third century, most likely in conventional Christian contexts". The Jewish Encyclopedia says: The cross as a Christian symbol or "seal" came into use at least as early as the second century (see "Apost. Const." iii. 17; Epistle of Barnabas, xi.-xii.; Justin, "Apologia," i. 55–60; "Dial. cum Tryph." 85–97); and the marking of a cross upon the forehead and the chest

3871-687: The medieval monuments – those at Geddington, Hardingstone and Waltham Cross – survive more or less intact; but the other nine, other than a few fragments, are lost. The largest and most ornate of the twelve was the Charing Cross. Several memorials and elaborated reproductions of the crosses have been erected, including the Queen Eleanor Memorial Cross at Charing Cross Station (built 1865). Eleanor of Castile died on 28 November 1290 at Harby, Nottinghamshire . Edward and Eleanor loved each other and much like his father, Edward

3950-525: The middle, in each is the statue of some queen at length which encompasses it with other carvings as garnish, and so it rises less and less to the top like a tower or Piramidy." An engraving of the Hardingstone cross (drawn by Jacob Schnebbelie and engraved by James Basire ) was published by the Society of Antiquaries in its Vetusta Monumenta series in 1791. (plaque at 52°03′32″N 00°51′24″W  /  52.05889°N 0.85667°W  / 52.05889; -0.85667 ) Eleanor's bier spent

4029-410: The night of 11 December 1290 at Dunstable , Bedfordshire . It rested first in the market place, before being carried into Dunstable Priory church, where the canons prayed in an overnight vigil . The cross was built between 1291 and 1293 by John of Battle at a total recorded cost of over £100. Some of the sculpture was supplied by Ralph of Chichester. It is thought to have been located in the middle of

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4108-602: The night of 12 December 1290 at St Albans , Hertfordshire . The cross here was built between 1291 and 1293 by John of Battle at a total recorded cost of over £100, with some of the sculpture supplied by Ralph of Chichester. It was erected at the south end of the Market Place, and for many years stood in front of the fifteenth-century Clock Tower in the High Street, opposite the Waxhouse Gateway entrance to

4187-569: The night of 4 December 1290 in Grantham , Lincolnshire . The master mason for the cross here is not known: it was probably constructed in 1294 or 1295. It stood at the upper end of the High Street. It was pulled down during the Civil War , but in February 1647 Grantham Corporation ordered that any stones that could be traced should be recovered for public use. No part is known to survive, but it

4266-653: The night of 5 December 1290, and possibly also that of 6 December, in Stamford, Lincolnshire . The master mason for the cross here is not known: it was probably constructed in 1294 or 1295. There is conflicting evidence about its precise location, but it is now generally agreed that it stood just outside the town on the Great North Road (modern Casterton Road, the B1081), in what is today the Foxdale area. The cross

4345-440: The night of 8 December 1290, and perhaps also that of 7 December, at Hardingstone , on the outskirts of Northampton . The cross here was constructed between 1291 and 1292 by John of Battle, at a total recorded cost of over £100. William of Ireland and Ralph of Chichester carved the statues. A causeway leading from the town to the cross was constructed by Robert son of Henry. The cross is still standing, close to Delapré Abbey , on

4424-540: The night of 9 December 1290 at Stony Stratford , Buckinghamshire . The cross here was built between 1291 and 1293 by John of Battle at a total recorded cost of over £100. The supplier of the statues is uncertain, but some smaller carvings were provided by Ralph of Chichester. The cross stood at the lower end of the town, towards the River Ouse , on Watling Street (now the High Street), although its exact location

4503-485: The night of either 6 or 7 December 1290, or possibly both, in Geddington , Northamptonshire . The master mason for the cross here is not known: it was probably constructed in 1294 or 1295. It was recorded by William Camden in 1607; and still stands in the centre of the village, the best-preserved of the three survivors. It is unique among the three in having a triangular plan, and a taller and more slender profile with

4582-538: The only meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship." Prophet Howard W. Hunter encouraged Latter-day Saints "to look to the temple of the Lord as the great symbol of your membership." Images of LDS temples and the Angel Moroni (who is found in statue on most temples) are commonly used to symbolize the faith of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints . In April 2020, under President Russell M. Nelson ,

4661-498: The pedestal of each was inscribed the phrase Orate pro anima ("Pray for [her] soul"). It was not unknown for memorial crosses to be constructed in the middle ages, although they were normally isolated instances and relatively simple in design. A cross in the Strand , near London, was said to have been erected by William II in memory of his mother, Queen Matilda (d. 1083). Henry III erected one at Merton , Surrey, for his cousin

4740-468: The places where Eleanor's funeral procession had stopped overnight. Their construction is documented in the executors' account rolls, which survive from 1291 to March 1294, but not thereafter. By the end of that period, the crosses at Lincoln, Hardingstone, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St Albans and Waltham were complete or nearly so, and those at Cheapside and Charing in progress; but those at Grantham, Stamford and Geddington apparently not yet begun. It

4819-556: The power of the cross[.] In Christianity, communicants of the Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches are expected to wear a cross necklace at all times; these are ordinarily given to believers at their baptism . Many Christians, such as those in the tradition of the Church of the East , continue the practice of hanging a Christian cross in their homes, often on the east wall . Crosses or crucifixes are often

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4898-539: The project for financial reasons, or a decision taken at the planning stage to make the crosses progressively larger and more ornate as the sequence proceeded south. An engraving of the Geddington cross (drawn by Jacob Schnebbelie and engraved by James Basire ) was published by the Society of Antiquaries in its Vetusta Monumenta series in 1791. It was "discreetly" restored in 1892. ( 52°13′02″N 00°53′50″W  /  52.21722°N 0.89722°W  / 52.21722; -0.89722 ) Eleanor's bier spent

4977-404: The prominence given to it later, but by the second century it was closely associated with Christians, to the point where Christians were mocked as "adorers of the gibbet" ( crucis religiosi ), an accusation countered by Tertullian . and it was already a tradition for Christians to trace repeatedly on their foreheads the sign of the cross. Martin Luther at the time of the Reformation retained

5056-409: The side of the A508 leading out of Northampton, and just north of the junction with the A45 . The King stayed nearby at Northampton Castle . The monument is octagonal in shape and set on steps; the present steps are replacements. It is built in three tiers, and originally had a crowning terminal, presumably a cross. The terminal appears to have gone by 1460: there is mention of a "headless cross" at

5135-425: The site from which Thomas Bourchier , Archbishop of Canterbury, watched Margaret of Anjou 's flight following the Battle of Northampton . The monument was restored in 1713, to mark the Peace of Utrecht and the end of the War of the Spanish Succession , and this work included the fitting of a new terminal in the form of a Maltese cross . Further repairs were undertaken in 1762. At a later restoration in 1840, under

5214-436: The statues; and Ralph of Chichester. The tomb of Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln was rebuilt around the same time, probably by the same crafstmen and designers as the Eleanor crosses. It featured the royal arms , and decoration commemorating Eleanor. David Stocker believes that the shrine "displays such close acquaintance with the Eleanor crosses that it has to be considered alongside them." The cult of Little St Hugh venerated

5293-584: The town, probably in the market place, and was reported by William Camden as still standing in 1586. It is said to have been demolished in 1643 by troops under the Earl of Essex . No part survives, although some of the foundations are reported to have been discovered during roadworks at the beginning of the 20th century. The Eleanor's Cross Shopping Precinct in High Street North contains a modern statue of Eleanor, erected in 1985. ( 51°45′04″N 00°20′26″W  /  51.75111°N 0.34056°W  / 51.75111; -0.34056 ) Eleanor's bier spent

5372-462: The twelve Great Feasts in Orthodox Catholicism is the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14, which commemorates the consecration of the basilica on the site where the original cross of Jesus was reportedly discovered in 326 by Helena of Constantinople , mother of Constantine the Great . The Catholic Church celebrates the feast on the same day and under the same name ( In Exaltatione Sanctae Crucis ), though in English it has been called

5451-452: The wrists by short strips to the transom of a T-shaped cross. An inscription in Greek on the obverse contains an invocation of the redeeming crucified Christ. On the reverse a later inscription by a different hand combines magical formulae with Christian terms. The catalogue of a 2007 exhibition says: "The appearance of the Crucifixion on a gem of such an early date suggests that pictures of the subject (now lost) may have been widespread even in

5530-418: Was built by John of Battle, at a total recorded cost of over £100. As at Stony Stratford, the supplier of the statues is uncertain, but some of the carvings were provided by Ralph of Chichester. No part of the cross survives. Its precise location, and its fate, are unknown. ( 51°53′10″N 00°31′16″W  /  51.88611°N 0.52111°W  / 51.88611; -0.52111 ) Eleanor's bier spent

5609-475: Was buried in the church of the London Dominicans' priory at Blackfriars (a house that she and Edward had heavily patronised) on 19 December, along with those of her young son Alphonso, Earl of Chester , who had died in 1284, and of John de Vesci , who had died in 1289. Both the burial of Eleanor's body at Westminster and her visceral burial at Lincoln were subsequently marked by ornate effigial monuments , both with similar life-sized gilt bronze effigies cast by

5688-525: Was first used for building in the Gallo-Roman period with production from open cast quarries restarting in the 11th century. Shipped to England, Canterbury Cathedral , Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London were all partially built from Caen stone. Underground mining developed in the 19th century, but the stone trade declined in the 20th century eventually ceasing in the 1960s. Excavation restarted in

5767-462: Was in decay by the early 17th century, and in 1621 the town council ordered some restoration work, although it is unknown whether this was carried out. Richard Symonds reported in 1645: "In the hill before ye come into the towne, stands a lofty large crosse built by Edward III [ sic ], in memory of Elianor his queene, whose corps rested there coming from the North." In 1646 Richard Butcher,

5846-460: Was interpreted as a foreshadowing (a "type" ) of the cross (T, an upright with crossbar, standing for 300) and of Jesus (ΙΗ, the first two letters of his name ΙΗΣΟΥΣ , standing for 18). His contemporary Tertullian rejected the accusation of Christians being "adorers of the gibbet" ( crucis religiosi ). In his book De Corona , written in 204, Tertullian tells how it was already a tradition for Christians to trace repeatedly on their foreheads

5925-496: Was over £700. Christian cross The basic forms of the cross are the Latin cross with unequal arms and the Greek cross with equal arms; there are numerous variants , partly with confessional significance—such as the tau cross , the double-barred cross , triple-barred cross , and cross-and-crosslets —and many heraldic variants , such as the cross potent , cross pattée , and cross moline , cross fleury . A version of

6004-521: Was regarded as a talisman against the powers of demons (Tertullian, "De Corona," iii.; Cyprian, "Testimonies," xi. 21–22; Lactantius, "Divinæ Institutiones," iv. 27, and elsewhere). Accordingly the Christian Fathers had to defend themselves, as early as the second century, against the charge of being worshipers of the cross, as may be learned from Tertullian, "Apologia," xii., xvii., and Minucius Felix, "Octavius," xxix. Christians used to swear by

6083-516: Was relocated to Victoria Square nearby in the late 20th century. A late 19th-century ceramic plaque on the Clock Tower commemorates the Eleanor cross. ( 51°41′09″N 00°01′59″W  /  51.68583°N 0.03306°W  / 51.68583; -0.03306 ) Eleanor's bier spent the night of 13 December 1290 in the parish of Cheshunt , Hertfordshire . The cross here was built in about 1291 by Roger of Crundale and Nicholas Dymenge at

6162-561: Was selected in Westcheap (now Cheapside ). Her heart was buried in the Blackfriars priory on 19 December. The Cheapside cross was built from 1291 onwards by Michael of Canterbury at a total recorded cost of £226 13s. 4d. Under a licence granted by Henry VI in 1441, the cross was extensively restored or rebuilt in 1484–86. It was subsequently regilded several times in the 16th century on the occasion of coronations and royal visits to

6241-415: Was very devoted to his wife and remained faithful to her throughout their married lives. He was deeply affected by her death and displayed his grief by erecting twelve so-called Eleanor crosses, one at each place where her funeral cortège stopped for the night. Following her death the body of Queen Eleanor was carried to Lincoln , about 7 miles (11 km) away, where she was embalmed – probably either at

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