198-668: Exeter Cathedral , properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter , is an Anglican cathedral , and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter , in the city of Exeter , Devon , in South West England . The present building was complete by about 1400 and has several notable features, including an early set of misericords , an astronomical clock and the longest uninterrupted medieval stone vaulted ceiling in
396-612: A via media ('middle way') between Protestantism as a whole, and Catholicism. The faith of Anglicans is founded in the Scriptures and the Gospels , the traditions of the Apostolic Church, the historical episcopate , the first four ecumenical councils , and the early Church Fathers , especially those active during the five initial centuries of Christianity, according to the quinquasaecularist principle proposed by
594-573: A Breton. Israel and "a certain Frank" drew a board game called " Gospel Dice " for an Irish bishop, Dub Innse, who took it home to Bangor . Æthelstan's court played a crucial role in the origins of the English monastic reform movement. Few prose narrative sources survive from Æthelstan's reign, but it produced an abundance of poetry, much of it Norse-influenced praise of the King in grandiose terms, such as
792-641: A Welsh poet foresaw the day when the British would rise up against their Saxon oppressors and drive them into the sea. According to William of Malmesbury, after the Hereford meeting Æthelstan went on to expel the Cornish from Exeter , fortify its walls, and fix the Cornish boundary at the River Tamar . This account is regarded sceptically by historians, however, as Cornwall had been under English rule since
990-446: A compromise, but as "a positive position, witnessing to the universality of God and God's kingdom working through the fallible, earthly ecclesia Anglicana ". These theologians regard scripture as interpreted through tradition and reason as authoritative in matters concerning salvation. Reason and tradition, indeed, are extant in and presupposed by scripture, thus implying co-operation between God and humanity, God and nature, and between
1188-554: A distinct Christian tradition, with theologies, structures, and forms of worship representing a different kind of middle way, or via media , originally between Lutheranism and Calvinism, and later between Protestantism and Catholicism – a perspective that came to be highly influential in later theories of Anglican identity and expressed in the description of Anglicanism as "catholic and reformed". The degree of distinction between Protestant and Catholic tendencies within Anglicanism
1386-509: A divine order of structures through which God unfolds his continuing work of creation. Hence, for Maurice, the Protestant tradition had maintained the elements of national distinction which were amongst the marks of the true universal church, but which had been lost within contemporary Catholicism in the internationalism of centralised papal authority. Within the coming universal church that Maurice foresaw, national churches would each maintain
1584-577: A division that gave the Anglo-Saxons western Mercia, and eastern Mercia to the Vikings. In the 890s, renewed Viking attacks were successfully fought off by Alfred, assisted by his son (and Æthelstan's father) Edward and Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians . Æthelred ruled English Mercia under Alfred and was married to his daughter Æthelflæd . Alfred died in 899 and was succeeded by Edward. Æthelwold ,
1782-495: A gift, and in his covering letter he wrote: "we know you value relics more than earthly treasure". Æthelstan was also a generous donor of manuscripts and relics to churches and monasteries. His reputation was so great that some monastic scribes later falsely claimed that their institutions had been beneficiaries of his largesse. He was especially devoted to the cult of St. Cuthbert in Chester-le-Street, and his gifts to
1980-476: A great victory. A generation later, the chronicler Æthelweard reported that it was popularly remembered as "the great battle", and it sealed Æthelstan's posthumous reputation as "victorious because of God" (in the words of the homilist Ælfric of Eynsham ). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle abandoned its usual terse style in favour of a heroic poem vaunting the great victory , employing imperial language to present Æthelstan as ruler of an empire of Britain. The site of
2178-559: A high degree of commonality in Anglican liturgical forms and in the doctrinal understandings expressed within those liturgies. He proposes that Anglican identity might rather be found within a shared consistent pattern of prescriptive liturgies, established and maintained through canon law , and embodying both a historic deposit of formal statements of doctrine, and also framing the regular reading and proclamation of scripture. Sykes nevertheless agrees with those heirs of Maurice who emphasise
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#17328018661342376-463: A large scale so late in the year. He seems to have been slow to react, and an old Latin poem preserved by William of Malmesbury accused him of having "languished in sluggish leisure". The allies plundered English territory while Æthelstan took his time gathering a West Saxon and Mercian army. However, Michael Wood praises his caution, arguing that unlike Harold in 1066, he did not allow himself to be provoked into precipitate action. When he marched north,
2574-459: A monarchy invigorated by success and adopting the trappings of a new political order. The style influenced architects of the late tenth-century monastic reformers educated at Æthelstan's court such as Æthelwold and Dunstan, and became a hallmark of the movement. After "Æthelstan A", charters became more simple, but the hermeneutic style returned in the charters of Eadwig and Edgar. The historian W. H. Stevenson commented in 1898: The object of
2772-431: A much wider area, a change probably introduced by Æthelstan to deal with the problems of governing his extended realm. One of the ealdormen, who was also called Æthelstan , governed the eastern Danelaw territory of East Anglia, the largest and wealthiest province of England. He became so powerful that he was later known as Æthelstan Half King. Several of the ealdormen who witnessed charters had Scandinavian names, and while
2970-416: A nuanced view of justification, taking elements from the early Church Fathers , Catholicism , Protestantism , liberal theology , and latitudinarian thought. Arguably, the most influential of the original articles has been Article VI on the "sufficiency of scripture", which says that "Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby,
3168-411: A number of changes, including the decision to adopt a three-storey facade with a triforium more typical of cathedrals than the previous two-storey design. 3-D scanning of the vaults has also revealed numerous changes to the curvatures of the ribs. Notable features of the interior include the misericords, the minstrels' gallery, the astronomical clock and the organ. Notable architectural features of
3366-861: A possibility, as other denominational groups rapidly followed the example of the Anglican Communion in founding their own transnational alliances: the Alliance of Reformed Churches , the Ecumenical Methodist Council , the International Congregational Council , and the Baptist World Alliance . Anglicanism was seen as a middle way, or via media , between two branches of Protestantism, Lutheranism and Reformed Christianity. In their rejection of absolute parliamentary authority,
3564-521: A role in European politics as Æthelstan, and he arranged the marriages of several of his sisters to continental rulers. By the ninth century the many kingdoms of the early Anglo-Saxon period had been consolidated into four: Wessex, Mercia, Northumbria and East Anglia . In the eighth century, Mercia had been the most powerful kingdom in southern England, but in the early ninth, Wessex became dominant under Æthelstan's great-great-grandfather, Egbert . In
3762-451: A scarlet cloak, a belt set with gems, and a sword with a gilded scabbard. Medieval Latin scholar Michael Lapidge and historian Michael Wood see this as designating Æthelstan as a potential heir at a time when the claim of Alfred's nephew, Æthelwold, to the throne represented a threat to the succession of Alfred's direct line, but historian Janet Nelson suggests that it should be seen in the context of conflict between Alfred and Edward in
3960-416: A scribe known to historians as " Æthelstan A ", showing an unprecedented degree of royal control over an important activity. Unlike earlier and later charters, "Æthelstan A" provides full details of the date and place of adoption and an unusually long witness list, providing crucial information for historians. After "Æthelstan A" retired or died, charters reverted to a simpler form, suggesting that they had been
4158-531: A stonemason repairing the statues at the cathedral. She stated that there was no use repairing their noses, since "within a few days shall all lose their heads". There is a memorial to her and another Protestant martyr, Thomas Benet , in the Livery Dole area of Exeter. The memorial was designed by Harry Hems and raised by public subscription in 1909. The tube web spider Segestria florentina , notable for its iridescent shiny green fangs, can be found within
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#17328018661344356-492: A suitable muniment room. In 1820 the library was moved from the Lady Chapel to the chapter house. In the later 19th century two large collections were received by the cathedral, and it was necessary to construct a new building to accommodate the whole library. The collections of Edward Charles Harington and Frederic Charles Cook were together more than twice the size of the existing library, and John Loughborough Pearson
4554-533: A third wife, Eadgifu , probably after putting Ælfflæd aside. Eadgifu also had two sons, the future kings Edmund and Eadred . Edward had several daughters, perhaps as many as nine. Æthelstan's later education was probably at the Mercian court of his aunt and uncle, Æthelflæd and Æthelred, and it is likely the young prince gained his military training in the Mercian campaigns to conquer the Danelaw . According to
4752-513: A time in 925 when his authority had not yet been recognised outside Mercia, was witnessed only by Mercian bishops. In the view of historians David Dumville and Janet Nelson he may have agreed not to marry or have heirs in order to gain acceptance. However, Sarah Foot ascribes his decision to remain unmarried to "a religiously motivated determination on chastity as a way of life". Æthelstan's coronation took place on 4 September 925 at Kingston upon Thames , perhaps due to its symbolic location on
4950-476: A transcript dating from 1304, in 925 Æthelstan gave a charter of privileges to St Oswald's Priory, Gloucester , where his aunt and uncle were buried, "according to a pact of paternal piety which he formerly pledged with Æthelred, ealdorman of the people of the Mercians". When Edward took direct control of Mercia after Æthelflæd's death in 918, Æthelstan may have represented his father's interests there. Edward died at Farndon in northern Mercia on 17 July 924, and
5148-597: Is dismissed by most historians. Edwin might have fled England after an unsuccessful rebellion against his brother's rule, and his death may have put an end to Winchester's opposition. Edward the Elder had conquered the Danish territories in east Mercia and East Anglia with the assistance of Æthelflæd and her husband Æthelred, but when Edward died the Danish king Sihtric still ruled the Viking Kingdom of York (formerly
5346-502: Is known about Ecgwynn, and she is not named in any contemporary source. Medieval chroniclers gave varying descriptions of her rank: one described her as an ignoble consort of inferior birth, while others described her birth as noble. Modern historians also disagree about her status. Simon Keynes and Richard Abels believe that leading figures in Wessex were unwilling to accept Æthelstan as king in 924 partly because his mother had been Edward
5544-731: Is known as the English Reformation , in the course of which it acquired a number of characteristics that would subsequently become recognised as constituting its distinctive "Anglican" identity. With the Elizabethan Settlement of 1559, the Protestant identity of the English and Irish churches was affirmed by means of parliamentary legislation which mandated allegiance and loyalty to the English Crown in all their members. The Elizabethan church began to develop distinct religious traditions, assimilating some of
5742-508: Is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation." This article has informed Anglican biblical exegesis and hermeneutics since earliest times. Anglicans look for authority in their "standard divines" (see below). Historically, the most influential of these – apart from Cranmer – has been the 16th-century cleric and theologian Richard Hooker , who after 1660
5940-445: Is now only chimed. The South Tower contains the second heaviest peal of 12 bells hung for change ringing in the world, with a tenor weighing 72 long cwt 2 qr 2 lb (8,122 lb or 3,684 kg). They are second only to Liverpool Cathedral in weight. There are also two semitone bells in addition to the peal of 12. As of 5 December 2020: A full listing of monuments and transcription of inscriptions in
6138-595: Is primarily a treatise on church-state relations, but it deals comprehensively with issues of biblical interpretation , soteriology , ethics, and sanctification . Throughout the work, Hooker makes clear that theology involves prayer and is concerned with ultimate issues and that theology is relevant to the social mission of the church. Athelstan of England Æthelstan or Athelstan ( / ˈ æ θ əl s t æ n / ; Old English : Æðelstān [ˈæðelstɑːn] ; Old Norse : Aðalsteinn ; lit. ' noble stone ' ; c. 894 – 27 October 939)
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6336-590: Is routinely a matter of debate both within specific Anglican churches and the Anglican Communion. The Book of Common Prayer is unique to Anglicanism, the collection of services in one prayer book used for centuries. The book is acknowledged as a principal tie that binds the Anglican Communion as a liturgical tradition. After the American Revolution , Anglican congregations in the United States and British North America (which would later form
6534-528: Is still considered authoritative to this day. In so far as Anglicans derived their identity from both parliamentary legislation and ecclesiastical tradition, a crisis of identity could result wherever secular and religious loyalties came into conflict – and such a crisis indeed occurred in 1776 with the United States Declaration of Independence , most of whose signatories were, at least nominally, Anglican. For these American patriots, even
6732-461: Is the gulf dividing its exalted aspirations from his spasmodic impact." In his view, "The legislative activity of Æthelstan's reign has rightly been dubbed 'feverish' ... But the extant results are, frankly, a mess. In the view of Simon Keynes, however, "Without any doubt the most impressive aspect of King Æthelstan's government is the vitality of his law-making", which shows him driving his officials to do their duties and insisting on respect for
6930-475: Is used to describe the people, institutions, churches, liturgical traditions, and theological concepts developed by the Church of England. As a noun, an Anglican is a church member in the Anglican Communion. The word is also used by followers of separated groups that have left the communion or have been founded separately from it. The word originally referred only to the teachings and rites of Christians throughout
7128-537: The 1552 prayer book with the conservative "Catholic" 1549 prayer book into the 1559 Book of Common Prayer . From then on, Protestantism was in a "state of arrested development", regardless of the attempts to detach the Church of England from its "idiosyncratic anchorage in the medieval past" by various groups which tried to push it towards a more Reformed theology and governance in the years 1560–1660. Although two important constitutive elements of what later would emerge as Anglicanism were present in 1559 – scripture,
7326-605: The Acts of Union of 1800 , had been reconstituted as the United Church of England and Ireland (a union which was dissolved in 1871). The propriety of this legislation was bitterly contested by the Oxford Movement (Tractarians), who in response developed a vision of Anglicanism as religious tradition deriving ultimately from the ecumenical councils of the patristic church. Those within the Church of England opposed to
7524-643: The Apostles' Creed as the baptismal symbol and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith . Anglicans believe the catholic and apostolic faith is revealed in Holy Scripture and the ecumenical creeds (Apostles', Nicene and Athanasian) and interpret these in light of the Christian tradition of the historic church, scholarship, reason, and experience. Anglicans celebrate
7722-462: The Battle of Tettenhall . Æthelred died in 911 and was succeeded as ruler of Mercia by his widow Æthelflæd. Over the next decade, Edward and Æthelflæd conquered Viking Mercia and East Anglia. Æthelflæd died in 918 and was briefly succeeded by her daughter Ælfwynn , but in the same year Edward deposed her and took direct control of Mercia. When Edward died in 924, he controlled all of England south of
7920-576: The Bodleian Library at Oxford. In 1657 under the Commonwealth the cathedral was deprived of several of its ancillary buildings, including the reading room of 1412–13. Some books were lost but a large part of them were saved due to the efforts of Dr Robert Vilvaine, who had them transferred to St John's Hospital. At a later date he provided funds to convert the Lady chapel into a library, and
8118-680: The Celticist Heinrich Zimmer, writes that the distinction between sub-Roman and post-Roman Insular Christianity, also known as Celtic Christianity, began to become apparent around AD 475, with the Celtic churches allowing married clergy, observing Lent and Easter according to their own calendar, and having a different tonsure ; moreover, like the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriental Orthodox churches,
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8316-500: The Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888. In the latter decades of the 20th century, Maurice's theory, and the various strands of Anglican thought that derived from it, have been criticised by Stephen Sykes , who argues that the terms Protestant and Catholic as used in these approaches are synthetic constructs denoting ecclesiastic identities unacceptable to those to whom the labels are applied. Hence,
8514-585: The Dissolution of the Monasteries , but not as much as it would have done had it been a monastic foundation. Further damage was done during the Civil War , when the cloisters were destroyed. Following the restoration of Charles II , a new pipe organ was built in the cathedral by John Loosemore . Charles II's sister Henrietta Anne of England was baptised here in 1644. In 1650 an independent church
8712-651: The Humber . The Viking king Sihtric ruled the Kingdom of York in southern Northumbria, but Ealdred maintained Anglo-Saxon rule in at least part of the former kingdom of Bernicia from his base in Bamburgh in northern Northumbria. Constantine II ruled Scotland, apart from the southwest, which was the British Kingdom of Strathclyde . Wales was divided into a number of small kingdoms, including Deheubarth in
8910-511: The Lutheran Book of Concord . For them, the earliest Anglican theological documents are its prayer books, which they see as the products of profound theological reflection, compromise, and synthesis. They emphasise the Book of Common Prayer as a key expression of Anglican doctrine. The principle of looking to the prayer books as a guide to the parameters of belief and practice is called by
9108-533: The Old English meaning of his name, "noble stone". Lapidge and Wood see the poem as a commemoration of Alfred's ceremony by one of his leading scholars, John the Old Saxon . In Michael Wood's view, the poem confirms the truth of William of Malmesbury's account of the ceremony. Wood also suggests that Æthelstan may have been the first English king to be groomed from childhood as an intellectual, and that John
9306-606: The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital (1,300 volumes, 1965). The most decorated manuscript in the library is a psalter (MS 3508) probably written for the Church of St Helen at Worcester in the early 13th century. The earliest printed book now in the library is represented by only a single leaf: this is Cicero 's De officiis ( Mainz : Fust and Schoeffer , 1465–66). Both of the cathedral's towers contain bells. The North Tower contains an 80- hundredweight (4.1-tonne) bourdon bell, called Peter. Peter used to swing but it
9504-480: The Second World War , Exeter was one of the targets of a German air offensive against British cities of cultural and historical importance, which became known as the " Baedeker Blitz ". On 4 May 1942 an early-morning air raid took place over Exeter . The cathedral sustained a direct hit by a large high-explosive bomb on the chapel of St James, completely demolishing it. The muniment room above, three bays of
9702-682: The See of Rome . In Kent , Augustine persuaded the Anglo-Saxon king " Æthelberht and his people to accept Christianity". Augustine, on two occasions, "met in conference with members of the Celtic episcopacy, but no understanding was reached between them". Eventually, the "Christian Church of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria convened the Synod of Whitby in 663/664 to decide whether to follow Celtic or Roman usages". This meeting, with King Oswiu as
9900-534: The Tractarians , especially John Henry Newman , looked back to the writings of 17th-century Anglican divines, finding in these texts the idea of the English church as a via media between the Protestant and Catholic traditions. This view was associated – especially in the writings of Edward Bouverie Pusey – with the theory of Anglicanism as one of three " branches " (alongside the Catholic Church and
10098-610: The historic episcopate , the Book of Common Prayer , the teachings of the First Four Ecumenical Councils as the yardstick of catholicity, the teaching of the Church Fathers and Catholic bishops, and informed reason – neither the laypeople nor the clergy perceived themselves as Anglicans at the beginning of Elizabeth I's reign, as there was no such identity. Neither does the term via media appear until
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#173280186613410296-464: The "three-legged stool" of scripture , reason , and tradition is often incorrectly attributed to Hooker. Rather, Hooker's description is a hierarchy of authority, with scripture as foundational and reason and tradition as vitally important, but secondary, authorities. Finally, the extension of Anglicanism into non-English cultures, the growing diversity of prayer books, and the increasing interest in ecumenical dialogue have led to further reflection on
10494-413: The 1627 to describe a church which refused to identify itself definitely as Catholic or Protestant, or as both, "and had decided in the end that this is virtue rather than a handicap". Historical studies on the period 1560–1660 written before the late 1960s tended to project the predominant conformist spirituality and doctrine of the 1660s on the ecclesiastical situation one hundred years before, and there
10692-401: The 16th-century Reformed Thirty-Nine Articles form the basis of doctrine. The Thirty-Nine Articles played a significant role in Anglican doctrine and practice. Following the passing of the 1604 canons, all Anglican clergy had to formally subscribe to the articles. Today, however, the articles are no longer binding, but are seen as a historical document which has played a significant role in
10890-592: The 1830s, the Church of England in Canada became independent from the Church of England in those North American colonies which had remained under British control and to which many Loyalist churchmen had migrated. Reluctantly, legislation was passed in the British Parliament (the Consecration of Bishops Abroad Act 1786) to allow bishops to be consecrated for an American church outside of allegiance to
11088-477: The 890s, and might reflect an intention to divide the realm between his son and his grandson after his death. Historian Martin Ryan goes further, suggesting that at the end of his life Alfred may have favoured Æthelstan rather than Edward as his successor. An acrostic poem praising prince "Adalstan", and prophesying a great future for him, has been interpreted by Lapidge as referring to the young Æthelstan, punning on
11286-473: The Anglican churches and those whose works are frequently anthologised . The corpus produced by Anglican divines is diverse. What they have in common is a commitment to the faith as conveyed by scripture and the Book of Common Prayer , thus regarding prayer and theology in a manner akin to that of the Apostolic Fathers . On the whole, Anglican divines view the via media of Anglicanism not as
11484-533: The Anglo-Saxon peoples, and in effect overlord of Britain. His successes inaugurated what John Maddicott , in his history of the origins of the English Parliament, calls the imperial phase of English kingship between about 925 and 975, when rulers from Wales and Scotland attended the assemblies of English kings and witnessed their charters. Æthelstan tried to reconcile the aristocracy in his new territory of Northumbria to his rule. He lavished gifts on
11682-471: The Anglo-Saxon period, both socially and politically. Churchmen attended royal feasts as well as meetings of the Royal Council. During Æthelstan's reign these relations became even closer, especially as the archbishopric of Canterbury had come under West Saxon jurisdiction since Edward the Elder annexed Mercia, and Æthelstan's conquests brought the northern church under the control of a southern king for
11880-859: The Asia-Pacific. In the 19th century, the term Anglicanism was coined to describe the common religious tradition of these churches and also that of the Scottish Episcopal Church , which, though originating earlier within the Church of Scotland , had come to be recognised as sharing this common identity. The word Anglican originates in Anglicana ecclesia libera sit , a phrase from Magna Carta dated 15 June 1215, meaning 'the English Church shall be free'. Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans . As an adjective, Anglican
12078-475: The British Crown (since no dioceses had ever been established in the former American colonies). Both in the United States and in Canada, the new Anglican churches developed novel models of self-government, collective decision-making, and self-supported financing; that would be consistent with separation of religious and secular identities. In the following century, two further factors acted to accelerate
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#173280186613412276-528: The Brunanburh poem. Sarah Foot even makes a case that Beowulf may have been composed in Æthelstan's circle. Æthelstan's court was the centre of a revival of the elaborate hermeneutic style of later Latin writers, influenced by the West Saxon scholar Aldhelm ( c. 639 – 709), and by early tenth-century French monasticism. Foreign scholars at Æthelstan's court such as Israel
12474-663: The Canadian and American models. However, the case of John Colenso , Bishop of Natal , reinstated in 1865 by the English Judicial Committee of the Privy Council over the heads of the Church in South Africa, demonstrated acutely that the extension of episcopacy had to be accompanied by a recognised Anglican ecclesiology of ecclesiastical authority, distinct from secular power. Consequently, at
12672-434: The Catholic Church does not regard itself as a party or strand within the universal church – but rather identifies itself as the universal church. Moreover, Sykes criticises the proposition, implicit in theories of via media , that there is no distinctive body of Anglican doctrines, other than those of the universal church; accusing this of being an excuse not to undertake systematic doctrine at all. Contrariwise, Sykes notes
12870-416: The Celtic churches operated independently of the Pope's authority, as a result of their isolated development in the British Isles. In what is known as the Gregorian mission , Pope Gregory I sent Augustine of Canterbury to the British Isles in AD 596, with the purpose of evangelising the pagans there (who were largely Anglo-Saxons ), as well as to reconcile the Celtic churches in the British Isles to
13068-524: The Church." After Roman troops withdrew from Britain , the "absence of Roman military and governmental influence and overall decline of Roman imperial political power enabled Britain and the surrounding isles to develop distinctively from the rest of the West. A new culture emerged around the Irish Sea among the Celtic peoples with Celtic Christianity at its core. What resulted was a form of Christianity distinct from Rome in many traditions and practices." The historian Charles Thomas , in addition to
13266-432: The Confessor ) and other precious documents from the library had been removed in anticipation of such an attack. The precious effigy of Walter Branscombe had been protected by sand bags. In July 2023, The Methodist Recorder reported that the cathedral chapter signed a sharing agreement between it and Mint Methodist Exeter for shared use of the Lady Chapel. The Norman cathedral construction began in 1112, presumably at
13464-409: The Elder's concubine. However, Barbara Yorke and Sarah Foot argue that allegations that Æthelstan was illegitimate were a product of the dispute over the succession, and that there is no reason to doubt that she was Edward's legitimate wife. She may have been related to St Dunstan . William of Malmesbury wrote that Alfred the Great honoured his young grandson with a ceremony in which he gave him
13662-413: The Elder's younger brother, Æthelweard . The battle was reported in the Annals of Ulster : A great, lamentable and horrible battle was cruelly fought between the Saxons and the Northmen, in which several thousands of Northmen, who are uncounted, fell, but their king Amlaib [Olaf], escaped with a few followers. A large number of Saxons fell on the other side, but Æthelstan, king of the Saxons, enjoyed
13860-441: The English Established Church , there is no need for a description; it is simply the Church of England, though the word Protestant is used in many legal acts specifying the succession to the Crown and qualifications for office. When the Union with Ireland Act created the United Church of England and Ireland, it is specified that it shall be one "Protestant Episcopal Church", thereby distinguishing its form of church government from
14058-553: The English bishop Lancelot Andrewes and the Lutheran dissident Georg Calixtus . Anglicans understand the Old and New Testaments as "containing all things necessary for salvation" and as being the rule and ultimate standard of faith. Reason and tradition are seen as valuable means to interpret scripture (a position first formulated in detail by Richard Hooker ), but there is no full mutual agreement among Anglicans about exactly how scripture, reason, and tradition interact (or ought to interact) with each other. Anglicans understand
14256-477: The Grammarian were practitioners. The style was characterised by long, convoluted sentences and a predilection for rare words and neologisms. The "Æthelstan A" charters were written in hermeneutic Latin. In the view of Simon Keynes it is no coincidence that they first appear immediately after the king had for the first time united England under his rule, and they show a high level of intellectual attainment and
14454-560: The Latin name lex orandi, lex credendi ("the law of prayer is the law of belief"). Within the prayer books are the fundamentals of Anglican doctrine: the Apostles' and Nicene creeds, the Athanasian Creed (now rarely used), the scriptures (via the lectionary), the sacraments, daily prayer, the catechism , and apostolic succession in the context of the historic threefold ministry. For some low-church and evangelical Anglicans,
14652-484: The Orthodox Churches) historically arising out of the common tradition of the earliest ecumenical councils . Newman himself subsequently rejected his theory of the via media , as essentially historicist and static and hence unable to accommodate any dynamic development within the church. Nevertheless, the aspiration to ground Anglican identity in the writings of the 17th-century divines and in faithfulness to
14850-714: The Prayer Book is still acknowledged as one of the ties that bind Anglicans together. According to legend, the founding of Christianity in Britain is commonly attributed to Joseph of Arimathea and is commemorated at Glastonbury Abbey . Many of the early Church Fathers wrote of the presence of Christianity in Roman Britain , with Tertullian stating "those parts of Britain into which the Roman arms had never penetrated were become subject to Christ". Saint Alban , who
15048-594: The Presbyterian polity that prevails in the Church of Scotland . The word Episcopal ("of or pertaining to bishops") is preferred in the title of the Episcopal Church (the province of the Anglican Communion covering the United States) and the Scottish Episcopal Church , though the full name of the former is The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America . Elsewhere, however,
15246-613: The Tractarians, and to their revived ritual practices, introduced a stream of bills in parliament aimed to control innovations in worship. This only made the dilemma more acute, with consequent continual litigation in the secular and ecclesiastical courts. Over the same period, Anglican churches engaged vigorously in Christian missions , resulting in the creation, by the end of the century, of over ninety colonial bishoprics, which gradually coalesced into new self-governing churches on
15444-449: The UK. They have supporters. The minstrels' gallery in the nave dates to around 1360 and is unique in English cathedrals. Its front is decorated with 12 carved and painted angels playing medieval musical instruments, including the cittern , bagpipe , hautboy , crwth , harp , trumpet , organ , guitar , tambourine and cymbals , with two others which are uncertain. Since the above list
15642-562: The Viking part of Ireland, and he promptly launched a bid for the former Norse kingdom of York. Individually Olaf and Constantine were too weak to oppose Æthelstan, but together they could hope to challenge the dominance of Wessex. In the autumn they joined with the Strathclyde Britons under Owain to invade England. Medieval campaigning was normally conducted in the summer, and Æthelstan could hardly have expected an invasion on such
15840-528: The Vikings in 919. He made a confraternity agreement with the clergy of Dol Cathedral in Brittany, who were then in exile in central France, and they sent him the relics of Breton saints, apparently hoping for his patronage. The contacts resulted in a surge in interest in England for commemorating Breton saints. One of the most notable scholars at Æthelstan's court was Israel the Grammarian , who may have been
16038-466: The Welsh did not join him, and they did not fight on either side. The two sides met at the Battle of Brunanburh , resulting in an overwhelming victory for Æthelstan, supported by his young half-brother, the future King Edmund. Olaf escaped back to Dublin with the remnant of his forces, while Constantine lost a son. The English also suffered heavy losses, including two of Æthelstan's cousins, sons of Edward
16236-499: The abbey's annalist, Folcuin—who wrongly believed that Edwin had been king — thought he had fled England "driven by some disturbance in his kingdom". Folcuin stated that Æthelstan sent alms to the abbey for his dead brother and received monks from the abbey graciously when they came to England, although Folcuin did not realise that Æthelstan died before the monks made the journey in 944. The twelfth century chronicler Symeon of Durham said that Æthelstan ordered Edwin to be drowned, but this
16434-456: The advice of Wulfhelm and his bishops. The first asserts the importance of paying tithes to the church. The second enforces the duty of charity on Æthelstan's reeves, specifying the amount to be given to the poor and requiring reeves to free one penal slave annually. His religious outlook is shown in a wider sacralisation of the law in his reign. The later codes show his concern with threats to social order, especially robbery, which he regarded as
16632-483: The aisle and two flying buttresses were also destroyed in the blast. The medieval wooden screen opposite the chapel was smashed into many pieces by the blast, but it has been reconstructed and restored. Many of the cathedral's most important artefacts, such as the ancient glass (including the great east window), the misericords, the bishop's throne, the Exeter Book, the ancient charters (of King Athelstan and Edward
16830-697: The apostolic church, apostolic succession ("historic episcopate"), and the writings of the Church Fathers , as well as historically, the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion and The Books of Homilies . Anglicanism forms a branch of Western Christianity , having definitively declared its independence from the Holy See at the time of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement . Many of the Anglican formularies of
17028-454: The approval of the king, but they were treated as guidelines which could be adapted and added to at the local level, rather than a fixed canon of regulations, and customary oral law was also important in the Anglo-Saxon period. More legal texts survive from Æthelstan's reign than from any other tenth-century English king. The earliest appear to be his tithe edict and the "Ordinance on Charities". Four legal codes were adopted at Royal Councils in
17226-701: The basis for the modern country of Canada) were each reconstituted into autonomous churches with their own bishops and self-governing structures; these were known as the American Episcopal Church and the Church of England in the Dominion of Canada . Through the expansion of the British Empire and the activity of Christian missions , this model was adopted as the model for many newly formed churches, especially in Africa, Australasia , and
17424-661: The battle is uncertain, however, and over thirty sites have been suggested, with Bromborough on the Wirral the most favoured among historians. Historians disagree over the significance of the battle. Alex Woolf describes it as a " pyrrhic victory " for Æthelstan: the campaign seems to have ended in a stalemate, his power appears to have declined, and after he died Olaf acceded to the kingdom of Northumbria without resistance. Alfred Smyth describes it as "the greatest battle in Anglo-Saxon history", but he also states that its consequences beyond Æthelstan's reign have been overstated. In
17622-709: The books in his library The library began during the episcopate of Leofric (1050–1072) who presented the cathedral with 66 books, only one of which remains in the library: this is the Exeter Book (Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501) of Anglo-Saxon poetry. 16 others have survived and are in the British Library , the Bodleian Library or Cambridge University Library . A 10th-century manuscript of Hrabanus Maurus 's De Computo and Isidore of Seville 's De Natura Rerum may have belonged to Leofric also but
17820-427: The books were brought back. By 1752 it is thought the collection had grown considerably to some 5,000 volumes, to a large extent by benefactions. In 1761 Charles Lyttelton , Dean of Exeter, describes it as having over 6,000 books and some good manuscripts. He describes the work which has been done to repair and list the contents of the manuscripts. At the same time the muniments and records had been cleaned and moved to
18018-479: The border between Wessex and Mercia. He was crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Athelm , who probably designed or organised a new ordo (religious order of service) in which the king wore a crown for the first time instead of a helmet. The new ordo was influenced by West Frankish liturgy and in turn became one of the sources of the medieval French ordo . Opposition seems to have continued even after
18216-614: The building was already recognised as outmoded, and it was rebuilt in the Decorated Gothic style, following the example of Salisbury . However, much of the Norman building was kept, including the two massive square towers and part of the walls. It was constructed entirely of local stone, including Purbeck Marble . The new cathedral was complete by about 1400, apart from the addition of the chapter house and chantry chapels . Like most English cathedrals, Exeter suffered during
18414-855: The cathedral is contained in: Hewett, John William , Remarks on the Monumental Brasses and Certain Decorative Remains in the Cathedral Church of St Peter, Exeter, to which is Appended a Complete Monumentarium , published in Transactions of the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society , Volume 3, Exeter, 1846–1849, pp. 90–138 [1] Persons buried within the cathedral include the following: One 19th-century author claimed that an 11th-century missal asserted that King Æthelstan ,
18612-555: The cathedral's books made in 1506 shows that the library furnished some 90 years earlier had 11 desks for books and records over 530 titles, of which more than a third are service books. In 1566 the Dean and Chapter presented to Matthew Parker , Archbishop of Canterbury , a manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Gospels which had been given by Leofric; in 1602, 81 manuscripts from the library were presented to Sir Thomas Bodley for
18810-485: The change was mostly political, done in order to allow for the annulment of Henry VIII's marriage, the English Church under Henry VIII continued to maintain Catholic doctrines and liturgical celebrations of the sacraments despite its separation from Rome. With little exception, Henry VIII allowed no changes during his lifetime. Under King Edward VI (1547–1553), however, the church in England first began to undergo what
19008-404: The church was complete to the first two bays of the nave, where a design change in the vaults is visible. During Master Thomas of Witney's time the east cloister walk was begun (1318–25) and the nave, west front and north cloister walk were probably completed (c.1328–42). That the present west front is on the same site as the Norman predecessor is indicated by the narrowing of the nave bays towards
19206-442: The circulation and production of books, of the shattered ecclesiastical culture". He was renowned in his own day for his piety and promotion of sacred learning. His interest in education, and his reputation as a collector of books and relics, attracted a cosmopolitan group of ecclesiastical scholars to his court, particularly Bretons and Irish. Æthelstan gave extensive aid to Breton clergy who had fled Brittany following its conquest by
19404-400: The community there included Bede 's Lives of Cuthbert. He commissioned it especially to present to Chester-le Street, and out of all manuscripts he gave to a religious foundation which survive, it is the only one which was wholly written in England during his reign. It has a portrait of Æthelstan presenting the book to Cuthbert, the earliest surviving manuscript portrait of an English king. In
19602-424: The compilers of these charters was to express their meaning by the use of the greatest possible number of words and by the choice of the most grandiloquent, bombastic words they could find. Every sentence is so overloaded by the heaping up of unnecessary words that the meaning is almost buried out of sight. The invocation with its appended clauses, opening with pompous and partly alliterative words, will proceed amongst
19800-573: The coronation or witness any of Æthelstan's known charters until 928. After that, he witnessed fairly regularly until his resignation in 931 but was listed in a lower position than he was entitled to by his seniority. In 933 Edwin was drowned in a shipwreck in the North Sea. His cousin, Adelolf, Count of Boulogne , took his body for burial at the Abbey of Saint Bertin in Saint-Omer . According to
19998-566: The coronation. According to William of Malmesbury, an otherwise unknown nobleman called Alfred plotted to blind Æthelstan on account of his supposed illegitimacy, although it is unknown whether he aimed to make himself king or was acting on behalf of Edwin, Ælfweard's younger brother. Blinding would have been a sufficient disability to render Æthelstan ineligible for kingship without incurring the odium attached to murder. Tensions between Æthelstan and Winchester seem to have continued for some years. The Bishop of Winchester , Frithestan , did not attend
20196-478: The country (the others are in Liverpool Cathedral and London's St Paul's Cathedral ), housed in the minstrels' gallery , along with a chorus of diapason pipes . In January 2013 an extensive refurbishment began on the organ, undertaken by Harrison & Harrison. The work consisted of an overhaul and a re-design of the internal layout of the soundboards and ranks of the organ pipes. In October 2014
20394-610: The decennial Lambeth Conference , chairs the meeting of primates , and is the president of the Anglican Consultative Council . Some churches that are not part of the Anglican Communion or recognised by it also call themselves Anglican, including those that are within the Continuing Anglican movement and Anglican realignment . Anglicans base their Christian faith on the Bible , traditions of
20592-474: The development of a distinct Anglican identity. From 1828 and 1829, Dissenters and Catholics could be elected to the House of Commons , which consequently ceased to be a body drawn purely from the established churches of Scotland, England, and Ireland; but which nevertheless, over the following ten years, engaged in extensive reforming legislation affecting the interests of the English and Irish churches; which, by
20790-572: The dominant influence in Britain as in all of western Europe, Anglican Christianity has continued to have a distinctive quality because of its Celtic heritage." The Church in England remained united with Rome until the English Parliament, though the Act of Supremacy (1534) declared King Henry VIII to be the Supreme Head of the Church of England to fulfill the "English desire to be independent from continental Europe religiously and politically." As
20988-594: The earliest record of it is in an inventory of 1327. The inventory was compiled by the Sub-Dean, William de Braileghe, and 230 titles were listed. Service books were not included and a note at the end mentions many other books in French, English and Latin which were then considered worthless. In 1412–13 a new lectrinum was fitted out for the books by two carpenters working for 40 weeks. Those books in need of repair were repaired and some were fitted with chains. A catalogue of
21186-639: The early 930s at Grateley in Hampshire, Exeter, Faversham in Kent, and Thunderfield in Surrey. Local legal texts survive from London and Kent, and one concerning the 'Dunsæte' on the Welsh border probably also dates to Æthelstan's reign. In the view of the historian of English law Patrick Wormald , the laws must have been written by Wulfhelm , who succeeded Athelm as Archbishop of Canterbury in 926. Other historians see Wulfhelm's role as less important, giving
21384-428: The east end and was consecrated in 1133, by which date the choir, transept and first two bays of the nave were probably complete. As detailed above, remains of the Norman building can be seen in the massive transept towers . By 1160 the nave and west front were complete, and a cloister and chapter house were added between 1180 and 1244. During the 1270s, a new project began to replace the entire east end, starting with
21582-462: The east end chapels. This work is documented by a very extensive series of fabric rolls. Work advanced slowly, with the retrochoir, presbytery and choir being built in the 1290s. The original choir elevation had two storeys, but was later modified to three, presumably after the arrival of Master Roger in 1297. Master Thomas of Witney was engaged in 1316 to design the choir furnishings, then became master mason and stayed at Exeter until 1342. By 1328
21780-415: The end of the ninth century, was also written in the vernacular, and he expected his ealdormen to learn it. His code was strongly influenced by Carolingian law going back to Charlemagne in such areas as treason, peace-keeping, organisation of the hundreds and judicial ordeal . It remained in force throughout the tenth century, and Æthelstan's codes were built on this foundation. Legal codes required
21978-417: The enlargement of the kingdom under Edward the Elder gave way to large bodies attended by bishops, ealdormen, thegns , magnates from distant areas, and independent rulers who had submitted to his authority. Frank Stenton sees Æthelstan's councils as "national assemblies", which did much to break down the provincialism that was a barrier to the unification of England. John Maddicott goes further, seeing them as
22176-524: The ensuing events are unclear. Ælfweard, Edward's eldest son by Ælfflæd, had ranked above Æthelstan in attesting a charter in 901, and Edward may have intended Ælfweard to be his successor as king, either of Wessex only or of the whole kingdom. If Edward had intended his realms to be divided after his death, his deposition of Ælfwynn in Mercia in 918 may have been intended to prepare the way for Æthelstan's succession as king of Mercia. When Edward died, Æthelstan
22374-523: The extent, either of my wishes, or of the provisions laid down at Grateley, and my councillors say that I have suffered this too long." In desperation the Council tried a different strategy, offering an amnesty to thieves if they paid compensation to their victims. The problem of powerful families protecting criminal relatives was to be solved by expelling them to other parts of the realm. This strategy did not last long, and at Thunderfield Æthelstan returned to
22572-570: The final decision maker, "led to the acceptance of Roman usage elsewhere in England and brought the English Church into close contact with the Continent". As a result of assuming Roman usages, the Celtic Church surrendered its independence, and, from this point on, the Church in England "was no longer purely Celtic, but became Anglo-Roman-Celtic". The theologian Christopher L. Webber writes that "Although "the Roman form of Christianity became
22770-453: The first time. Æthelstan appointed members of his own circle to bishoprics in Wessex, possibly to counter the influence of the Bishop of Winchester, Frithestan. One of the king's mass-priests (priests employed to say Mass in his household), Ælfheah , became Bishop of Wells , while another, Beornstan , succeeded Frithestan as Bishop of Winchester. Beornstan was succeeded by another member of
22968-526: The fleet raided Caithness , then probably part of the Norse kingdom of Orkney. No battles are recorded during the campaign, and chronicles do not record its outcome. By September, however, he was back in the south of England at Buckingham , where Constantine witnessed a charter as subregulus , thus acknowledging Æthelstan's overlordship. In 935 a charter was attested by Constantine, Owain of Strathclyde, Hywel Dda, Idwal Foel, and Morgan ap Owain. At Christmas of
23166-448: The forms of Anglican services were in doubt, since the Prayer Book rites of Matins , Evensong , and Holy Communion all included specific prayers for the British royal family. Consequently, the conclusion of the War of Independence eventually resulted in the creation of two new Anglican churches, the Episcopal Church in the United States in those states that had achieved independence; and in
23364-417: The future. Maurice saw the Protestant and Catholic strands within the Church of England as contrary but complementary, both maintaining elements of the true church, but incomplete without the other; such that a true catholic and evangelical church might come into being by a union of opposites. Central to Maurice's perspective was his belief that the collective elements of family, nation, and church represented
23562-405: The great East Window (1390–92). The architecture of Exeter Cathedral at first appears remarkably harmonious with the continuous run of tierceron vaults extending from west to east. Although the bays are irregular in size, the plan is throughout based on a division into ninths. There is also a wonderful array of tracery designs in the clerestorey windows. More detailed analysis nevertheless reveals
23760-455: The hard line, softened by raising the minimum age for the death penalty to fifteen "because he thought it too cruel to kill so many young people and for such small crimes as he understood to be the case everywhere". His reign saw the first introduction of the system of tithing , sworn groups of ten or more men who were jointly responsible for peacekeeping (later known as frankpledge ). Sarah Foot commented that tithing and oath-taking to deal with
23958-573: The head of the list of laity (apart from the kings of Scotland and Strathclyde), showing that their position was regarded as superior to that of the other great men present. The alliance produced peace between Wales and England, and within Wales, lasting throughout Æthelstan's reign, though some Welsh resented the status of their rulers as under-kings, as well as the high level of tribute imposed upon them. In Armes Prydein Vawr (The Great Prophecy of Britain),
24156-488: The historic episcopate . Within the Anglican tradition, "divines" are clergy of the Church of England whose theological writings have been considered standards for faith, doctrine, worship, and spirituality, and whose influence has permeated the Anglican Communion in varying degrees through the years. While there is no authoritative list of these Anglican divines, there are some whose names would likely be found on most lists – those who are commemorated in lesser feasts of
24354-423: The incompleteness of Anglicanism as a positive feature, and quotes with qualified approval the words of Michael Ramsey : For while the Anglican church is vindicated by its place in history, with a strikingly balanced witness to Gospel and Church and sound learning, its greater vindication lies in its pointing through its own history to something of which it is a fragment. Its credentials are its incompleteness, with
24552-466: The innumerable benefits obtained through the passion of Christ; the breaking of the bread, the blessing of the cup, and the partaking of the body and blood of Christ as instituted at the Last Supper . The consecrated bread and wine, which are considered by Anglican formularies to be the true body and blood of Christ in a spiritual manner and as outward symbols of an inner grace given by Christ which to
24750-473: The instigation of the bishops of Canada and South Africa, the first Lambeth Conference was called in 1867; to be followed by further conferences in 1878 and 1888, and thereafter at ten-year intervals. The various papers and declarations of successive Lambeth Conferences have served to frame the continued Anglican debate on identity, especially as relating to the possibility of ecumenical discussion with other churches. This ecumenical aspiration became much more of
24948-447: The interior include the multiribbed ceiling and the compound piers in the nave arcade. The 18-metre-high (59 ft) bishop's throne in the choir was made from Devon oak between 1312 and 1316; the nearby choir stalls were made by George Gilbert Scott in the 1870s. The Great East Window contains much 14th-century glass, and there are over 400 ceiling bosses, one of which depicts the murder of Thomas Becket . The bosses can be seen at
25146-588: The international Anglican Communion , which forms the third-largest Christian communion in the world, after the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church , and the world's largest Protestant communion. These provinces are in full communion with the See of Canterbury and thus with the archbishop of Canterbury , whom the communion refers to as its primus inter pares ( Latin , 'first among equals'). The archbishop calls
25344-509: The king's wise men that was useful and profitable to him". Oda , a future Archbishop of Canterbury, was also close to Æthelstan, who appointed him Bishop of Ramsbury . Oda may have been present at the battle of Brunanburh. Æthelstan was a noted collector of relics, and while this was a common practice at the time, he was marked out by the scale of his collection and the refinement of its contents. The abbot of Saint Samson in Dol sent him some as
25542-400: The last century, there are also places where practices and beliefs resonate more closely with the evangelical movements of the 1730s (see Sydney Anglicanism ). For high-church Anglicans, doctrine is neither established by a magisterium , nor derived from the theology of an eponymous founder (such as Calvinism ), nor summed up in a confession of faith beyond the ecumenical creeds , such as
25740-514: The law, but also demonstrates the difficulty he had in controlling a troublesome people. Keynes sees the Grateley code as "an impressive piece of legislation" showing the king's determination to maintain social order. In the 970s, Æthelstan's nephew, King Edgar , reformed the monetary system to give Anglo-Saxon England the most advanced currency in Europe, with a good quality silver coinage, which
25938-520: The lay officials worked closely with their diocesan bishop and local abbots, who also attended the king's royal councils. As the first king of all the Anglo-Saxon peoples, Æthelstan needed effective means to govern his extended realm. Building on the foundations of his predecessors, he created the most centralised government that England had yet seen. Previously, some charters had been produced by royal priests and others by members of religious houses, but between 928 and 935 they were produced exclusively by
26136-448: The localities they came from cannot be identified, they were almost certainly the successors of the earls who led Danish armies in the time of Edward the Elder, and who were retained by Æthelstan as his representatives in local government. Beneath the ealdormen, reeves—royal officials who were noble local landowners—were in charge of a town or royal estate. The authority of church and state was not separated in early medieval societies, and
26334-418: The main credit to Æthelstan himself, although the significance placed on the ordeal as an ecclesiastical ritual shows the increased influence of the church. Nicholas Brooks sees the role of the bishops as marking an important stage in the increasing involvement of the church in the making and enforcement of law. The two earliest codes were concerned with clerical matters, and Æthelstan stated that he acted on
26532-509: The marriage alliance, and German names start to appear in English documents, while Cenwald kept up the contacts he had made by subsequent correspondence, helping the transmission of continental ideas about reformed monasticism to England. Æthelstan built on his grandfather's efforts to revive ecclesiastical scholarship, which had fallen to a low state in the second half of the ninth century. John Blair described Æthelstan's achievement as "a determined reconstruction, visible to us especially through
26730-556: The meeting at Eamont Æthelstan summoned the Welsh kings to Hereford, where he imposed a heavy annual tribute and fixed the border between England and Wales in the Hereford area at the River Wye. The dominant figure in Wales was Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, described by the historian of early medieval Wales Thomas Charles-Edwards as "the firmest ally of the 'emperors of Britain' among all the kings of his day". Welsh kings attended Æthelstan's court between 928 and 935 and witnessed charters at
26928-486: The mid-16th century correspond closely to those of historical Protestantism . These reforms were understood by one of those most responsible for them, Thomas Cranmer , the archbishop of Canterbury , and others as navigating a middle way between two of the emerging Protestant traditions, namely Lutheranism and Calvinism . In the first half of the 17th century, the Church of England and the associated Church of Ireland were presented by some Anglican divines as comprising
27126-407: The mid-19th century revived and extended doctrinal, liturgical, and pastoral practices similar to those of Roman Catholicism. This extends beyond the ceremony of high church services to even more theologically significant territory, such as sacramental theology (see Anglican sacraments ). While Anglo-Catholic practices, particularly liturgical ones, have become more common within the tradition over
27324-465: The mid-ninth century. Thomas Charles-Edwards describes it as "an improbable story", while historian John Reuben Davies sees it as the suppression of a British revolt and the confinement of the Cornish beyond the Tamar. Æthelstan emphasised his control by establishing a new Cornish see and appointing its first bishop , but Cornwall kept its own culture and language. Æthelstan became the first king of all
27522-526: The middle of the century, England came under increasing attack from Viking raids, culminating in invasion by the Great Heathen Army in 865. By 878, the Vikings had overrun East Anglia, Northumbria, and Mercia, and nearly conquered Wessex. The West Saxons fought back under Alfred the Great, and achieved a decisive victory at the Battle of Edington . Alfred and the Viking leader Guthrum agreed on
27720-499: The minsters of Beverley , Chester-le-Street and York , emphasising his Christianity. He also purchased the vast territory of Amounderness in Lancashire, and gave it to the Archbishop of York , his most important lieutenant in the region. But he remained a resented outsider, and the northern British kingdoms preferred to ally with the pagan Norse of Dublin. In contrast to his strong control over southern Britain, his position in
27918-475: The moon and its phase (using a rotating black shield to indicate the moon's phase). The upper dial, added in 1760, shows the minutes. The Latin phrase Pereunt et imputantur , a favourite motto for clocks and sundials , was written by the Latin poet Martial . It is usually translated as "they perish and are reckoned to our account", referring to the hours that we spend, wisely or not. The original clockwork mechanism, much modified, repaired, and neglected until it
28116-480: The more well-known and articulate Puritan movement and the Durham House Party, and the exact extent of continental Calvinism among the English elite and among the ordinary churchgoers from the 1560s to the 1620s are subjects of current and ongoing debate. In 1662, under King Charles II , a revised Book of Common Prayer was produced, which was acceptable to high churchmen as well as some Puritans and
28314-426: The most important manifestation of social breakdown. The first of these later codes, issued at Grateley, prescribed harsh penalties, including the death penalty for anyone over twelve years old caught in the act of stealing goods worth more than eight pence. This apparently had little effect, as Æthelstan admitted in the Exeter code: "I King Æthelstan, declare that I have learned that the public peace has not been kept to
28512-495: The north was far more tenuous. In 934 Æthelstan invaded Scotland. His reasons are unclear, and historians give alternative explanations. The death of his half-brother Edwin in 933 might have finally removed factions in Wessex opposed to his rule. Guthfrith, the Norse king of Dublin who had briefly ruled Northumbria, died in 934; any resulting insecurity among the Danes would have given Æthelstan an opportunity to stamp his authority on
28710-408: The north. Whereas Æthelstan was the first English king to achieve lordship over northern Britain, he inherited his authority over the Welsh kings from his father and aunt. In the 910s Gwent acknowledged the lordship of Wessex, and Deheubarth and Gwynedd accepted that of Æthelflæd; following Edward's takeover of Mercia, they transferred their allegiance to him. According to William of Malmesbury, after
28908-940: The north. An entry in the Annals of Clonmacnoise , recording the death in 934 of a ruler who was possibly Ealdred of Bamburgh , suggests another possible explanation, a dispute between Æthelstan and Constantine over control of Bamburgh. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle briefly recorded the expedition without explanation, but the twelfth-century chronicler John of Worcester stated that Constantine had broken his treaty with Æthelstan. Æthelstan set out on his campaign in May 934, accompanied by four Welsh kings: Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Idwal Foel of Gwynedd, Morgan ap Owain of Gwent, and Tewdwr ap Griffri of Brycheiniog. His retinue also included eighteen bishops and thirteen earls, six of whom were Danes from eastern England. By late June or early July he had reached Chester-le-Street , where he made generous gifts to
29106-755: The outer walls. The walls are made of calcareous stone, which decays from acidic pollution, to form cracks and crevices which the spider and other invertebrates inhabit. Exeter Cathedral Choir is composed of 38 Choristers (boys and girls) along with Choral Scholars and Lay Vicars. There is also a voluntary choir, the St Peter's singers, dating back to 1881. Recorded names of organists at Exeter go back to Matthew Godwin, 1586. Notable organists at Exeter Cathedral include Victorian composer Samuel Sebastian Wesley , grandson of Methodist founder and hymn-writer Charles Wesley , educator Ernest Bullock , and conductor Thomas Armstrong . The current Director of Music, Timothy Noon,
29304-485: The parameters of Anglican identity. Many Anglicans look to the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888 as the sine qua non of communal identity. In brief, the quadrilateral's four points are the scriptures as containing all things necessary to salvation; the creeds (specifically, the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds) as the sufficient statement of Christian faith; the dominical sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion ; and
29502-502: The peak of the vaulted ceiling, joining the ribs together. Because there is no centre tower, Exeter Cathedral has the longest uninterrupted medieval vaulted ceiling in the world, at about 96 m (315 ft). The fifty misericords are the earliest complete set in the United Kingdom. They date from two periods: 1220–1230 and 1250–1260. Amongst other things, they depict the earliest known wooden representation of an elephant in
29700-600: The previous century, had brought together a great collection of holy relics at Exeter Cathedral; sending out emissaries at great expense to the continent to acquire them. Amongst these items were said to be a little of "the bush in which the Lord spoke to Moses ", and a "bit of the candle which the angel of the Lord lit in Christ's tomb". According to the semi-legendary tale, the Protestant martyr Agnes Prest , during her brief time of liberty in Exeter before her execution in 1557, met
29898-455: The problem of theft had its origin in Frankia: "But the equation of theft with disloyalty to Æthelstan's person appears peculiar to him. His preoccupation with theft—tough on theft, tough on the causes of theft—finds no direct parallel in other kings' codes." Historians differ widely regarding Æthelstan's legislation. Patrick Wormald's verdict was harsh: "The hallmark of Æthelstan's law-making
30096-494: The repentant convey forgiveness and cleansing from sin. While many Anglicans celebrate the Eucharist in similar ways to the predominant Latin Catholic tradition, a considerable degree of liturgical freedom is permitted, and worship styles range from simple to elaborate. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), the collection of services which worshippers in most Anglican churches have used for centuries. It
30294-505: The royal household, also called Ælfheah . Two of the leading figures in the later tenth-century Benedictine monastic reform in Edgar's reign, Dunstan and Æthelwold , served in early life at Æthelstan's court and were ordained as priests by Ælfheah of Winchester at the king's request. According to Æthelwold's biographer, Wulfstan , "Æthelwold spent a long period in the royal palace in the king's inseparable companionship and learned much from
30492-515: The sacred and secular. Faith is thus regarded as incarnational and authority as dispersed. Amongst the early Anglican divines of the 16th and 17th centuries, the names of Thomas Cranmer , John Jewel , Matthew Parker , Richard Hooker , Lancelot Andrewes , and Jeremy Taylor predominate. The influential character of Hooker's Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity cannot be overestimated. Published in 1593 and subsequently, Hooker's eight-volume work
30690-580: The same year Owain of Strathclyde was once more at Æthelstan's court along with the Welsh kings, but Constantine was not. His return to England less than two years later would be in very different circumstances. In 934 Olaf Guthfrithson succeeded his father Guthfrith as the Norse King of Dublin. The alliance between the Norse and the Scots was cemented by the marriage of Olaf to Constantine's daughter. By August 937 Olaf had defeated his rivals for control of
30888-575: The shaping of Anglican identity. The degree to which each of the articles has remained influential varies. On the doctrine of justification , for example, there is a wide range of beliefs within the Anglican Communion, with some Anglo-Catholics arguing for a faith with good works and the sacraments. At the same time, however, some evangelical Anglicans ascribe to the Reformed emphasis on sola fide ("faith alone") in their doctrine of justification (see Sydney Anglicanism ). Still other Anglicans adopt
31086-416: The six signs of catholicity: baptism, Eucharist, the creeds, Scripture, an episcopal ministry, and a fixed liturgy (which could take a variety of forms in accordance with divinely ordained distinctions in national characteristics). This vision of a becoming universal church as a congregation of autonomous national churches proved highly congenial in Anglican circles; and Maurice's six signs were adapted to form
31284-582: The son of Æthelred , King Alfred's older brother and predecessor as king, made a bid for power, but was killed at the Battle of the Holme in 902. Little is known of warfare between the English and the Danes over the next few years, but in 909, Edward sent a West Saxon and Mercian army to ravage Northumbria. The following year the Northumbrian Danes attacked Mercia, but suffered a decisive defeat at
31482-476: The south, including London and Kent, but not northern Wessex or other regions. Early in Æthelstan's reign, different styles of coin were issued in each region, but after he conquered York and received the submission of the other British kings, he issued a new coinage, known as the "circumscription cross" type. This advertised his newly exalted status with the inscription, "Rex Totius Britanniae". Examples were minted in Wessex, York, and English Mercia (in Mercia bearing
31680-446: The southern Northumbrian kingdom of Deira ). In January 926, Æthelstan arranged for his only full sister to marry Sihtric. The two kings agreed not to invade each other's territories or to support each other's enemies. The following year Sihtric died, and Æthelstan seized the chance to invade. Guthfrith , a cousin of Sihtric, led a fleet from Dublin to try to take the throne, but Æthelstan easily prevailed. He captured York and received
31878-464: The southwest, Gwent in the southeast, Brycheiniog immediately north of Gwent, and Gwynedd in the north. According to the Anglo-Norman historian William of Malmesbury , Æthelstan was thirty years old when he came to the throne in 924, which would mean that he was born around 894. He was the oldest son of Edward the Elder. He was Edward's only son by his first consort, Ecgwynn . Very little
32076-473: The start of centralised assemblies that had a defined role in English government, and Æthelstan as "the true if unwitting founder of the English parliament". The Anglo-Saxons were the first people in northern Europe to write administrative documents in the vernacular, and law codes in Old English go back to Æthelberht of Kent at the beginning of the seventh century. The law code of Alfred the Great, from
32274-668: The submission of the Danish people. According to a southern chronicler, he "succeeded to the kingdom of the Northumbrians", and it is uncertain whether he had to fight Guthfrith. Southern kings had never ruled the north, and his usurpation was met with outrage by the Northumbrians, who had always resisted southern control. However, at Eamont , near Penrith , on 12 July 927, King Constantine II of Alba , King Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Ealdred of Bamburgh, and King Owain of Strathclyde (or Morgan ap Owain of Gwent) accepted Æthelstan's overlordship. His triumph led to seven years of peace in
32472-409: The tension and the travail of its soul. It is clumsy and untidy, it baffles neatness and logic. For it is not sent to commend itself as 'the best type of Christianity,' but by its very brokenness to point to the universal Church wherein all have died. The distinction between Reformed and Catholic, and the coherence of the two, is a matter of debate within the Anglican Communion. The Oxford Movement of
32670-418: The term Anglican Church came to be preferred as it distinguished these churches from others that maintain an episcopal polity . In its structures, theology, and forms of worship, Anglicanism emerged as a distinct Christian tradition representing a middle ground between Lutheran and Reformed varieties of Protestantism ; after the Oxford Movement , Anglicanism has often been characterized as representing
32868-427: The theology of Reformed churches with the services in the Book of Common Prayer (which drew extensively on the Sarum Rite native to England), under the leadership and organisation of a continuing episcopate. Over the years, these traditions themselves came to command adherence and loyalty. The Elizabethan Settlement stopped the radical Protestant tendencies under Edward VI by combining the more radical elements of
33066-425: The threat they posed to social order. His legal reforms built on those of his grandfather, Alfred the Great . Æthelstan was one of the most pious West Saxon kings, and was known for collecting relics and founding churches. His household was the centre of English learning during his reign, and it laid the foundation for the Benedictine monastic reform later in the century. No other West Saxon king played as important
33264-489: The title "Rex Saxorum"), but not in East Anglia or the Danelaw. In the early 930s a new coinage was issued, the "crowned bust" type, with the king shown for the first time wearing a crown with three stalks. This was eventually issued in all regions apart from Mercia, which issued coins without a ruler portrait, suggesting, in Sarah Foot's view, that any Mercian affection for a West Saxon king brought up among them quickly declined. Church and state maintained close relations in
33462-431: The tomb of St Cuthbert, including a stole and maniple (ecclesiastical garments) originally commissioned by his step-mother Ælfflæd as a gift to Bishop Frithestan of Winchester. The invasion was launched by land and sea. According to Symeon of Durham, his land forces ravaged as far as Dunnottar in north-east Scotland, the furthest north that any English army had reached since Ecgfrith 's disastrous invasion in 685, while
33660-404: The town (and dedicated to Saint Mary and Saint Peter) was used by Leofric as his seat. In 1107 William Warelwast was appointed to the see, and this was the catalyst for the building of a new cathedral in the Norman style. Its official foundation was in 1133, during Warelwast's time, but it took many more years to complete. Following the appointment of Walter Bronescombe as bishop in 1258,
33858-411: The traditional sacraments, with special emphasis being given to the Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Lord's Supper, or the Mass . The Eucharist is central to worship for most Anglicans as a communal offering of prayer and praise in which the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ are proclaimed through prayer, reading of the Bible, singing, giving God thanks over the bread and wine for
34056-400: The traditions of the Church Fathers reflects a continuing theme of Anglican ecclesiology, most recently in the writings of Henry Robert McAdoo . The Tractarian formulation of the theory of the via media between Protestantism and Catholicism was essentially a party platform, and not acceptable to Anglicans outside the confines of the Oxford Movement . However, this theory of the via media
34254-402: The view of Janet Nelson, his "rituals of largesse and devotion at sites of supernatural power ... enhanced royal authority and underpinned a newly united imperial realm". Æthelstan had a reputation for founding churches, although it is unclear how justified this is. According to late and dubious sources, these churches included minsters at Milton Abbas in Dorset and Muchelney in Somerset. In
34452-424: The view of Sarah Foot, on the other hand, it would be difficult to exaggerate the battle's importance: if the Anglo-Saxons had been defeated, their hegemony over the whole mainland of Britain would have disintegrated. Anglo-Saxon kings ruled through ealdormen , who had the highest lay status under the king. In ninth-century Wessex they each ruled a single shire, but by the middle of the tenth they had authority over
34650-456: The view of historian John Blair, the reputation is probably well-founded, but "these waters are muddied by Æthelstan's almost folkloric reputation as a founder, which made him a favourite hero of later origin-myths". However, while he was a generous donor to monasteries, he did not give land for new ones or attempt to revive the ones in the north and east destroyed by Viking attacks. He also sought to build ties with continental churches. Cenwald
34848-400: The west of England. Others are at Wells , Ottery St Mary , and Wimborne Minster . The main, lower, dial is the oldest part of the clock, dating from 1484. The fleur-de-lys -tipped hand indicates the hour (and the position of the sun in the sky) on a 24-hour analogue dial . The numbering consists of two sets of Roman numerals I to XII. The silver ball and inner dial shows both the age of
35046-441: The west, squeezed to meet an existing feature. The image screen across the west facade and the chantry chapel of Bishop Grandisson located within the west front were probably designed by William Joy , who succeeded Witney as master mason in 1342 but seems to have died in 1347, possibly from the Black Death. From 1377 to 1414 the east, south and west cloister walks were finished by Master Robert Lesyngham, who probably also designed
35244-503: The work of an individual, rather than the development of a formal writing office. A key mechanism of government was the king's council ( witan in Old English). Anglo-Saxon kings did not have a fixed capital city. Their courts were peripatetic, and their councils were held at varying locations around their realms. Æthelstan stayed mainly in Wessex, however, and controlled outlying areas by summoning leading figures to his councils. The small and intimate meetings that had been adequate until
35442-680: The work was completed and the organ was reassembled, save for the final voicing and tuning of the new instrument. Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy , and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation , in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the largest branches of Christianity , with around 110 million adherents worldwide as of 2001 . Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans ; they are also called Episcopalians in some countries. The majority of Anglicans are members of national or regional ecclesiastical provinces of
35640-422: The world in communion with the see of Canterbury but has come to sometimes be extended to any church following those traditions rather than actual membership in the Anglican Communion. Although the term Anglican is found referring to the Church of England as far back as the 16th century, its use did not become general until the latter half of the 19th century. In British parliamentary legislation referring to
35838-440: The world. The site where Exeter Cathedral was constructed was home to Roman buildings. A legionary fortress was constructed between 50–75 AD. A Roman bathhouse was discovered in 1971. The founding of the cathedral at Exeter , dedicated to Saint Peter , dates from 1050, when the seat of the bishop of Devon and Cornwall was transferred from Crediton because of a fear of sea-raids. A Saxon minster already existing within
36036-410: Was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn . Modern historians regard him as the first King of England and one of the "greatest Anglo-Saxon kings". He never married and had no children; he was succeeded by his half-brother, Edmund I . When Edward died in July 924, Æthelstan
36234-479: Was a royal priest before his appointment as Bishop of Worcester , and in 929 he accompanied two of Æthelstan's half-sisters to the Saxon court so that the future Holy Roman Emperor , Otto , could choose one of them as his wife. Cenwald went on to make a tour of German monasteries, giving lavish gifts on Æthelstan's behalf and receiving in return promises that the monks would pray for the king and others close to him in perpetuity. England and Saxony became closer after
36432-493: Was accepted by the Mercians as king. His half-brother Ælfweard may have been recognised as king in Wessex , but died within three weeks of their father's death. Æthelstan encountered resistance in Wessex for several months, and was not crowned until September 925. In 927, he conquered the last remaining Viking kingdom, York , making him the first Anglo-Saxon ruler of the whole of England. In 934, he invaded Scotland and forced Constantine II to submit to him. Æthelstan's rule
36630-515: Was also a tendency to take polemically binary partitions of reality claimed by contestants studied (such as the dichotomies Protestant-"Popish" or " Laudian "-"Puritan") at face value. Since the late 1960s, these interpretations have been criticised. Studies on the subject written during the last forty-five years have, however, not reached any consensus on how to interpret this period in English church history. The extent to which one or several positions concerning doctrine and spirituality existed alongside
36828-471: Was apparently with him in Mercia, while Ælfweard was in Wessex. Mercia acknowledged Æthelstan as king, and Wessex may have chosen Ælfweard. However, Ælfweard outlived his father by only sixteen days. Even after Ælfweard's death there seems to have been opposition to Æthelstan in Wessex, particularly in Winchester, where Ælfweard was buried. At first Æthelstan behaved as a Mercian king. A charter relating to land in Derbyshire, which appears to have been issued at
37026-475: Was appointed in 2016. The Cathedral organ stands on the ornate medieval screen, preserving the old classical distinction between quire and nave . The first organ was built by John Loosemore in 1665. There was a radical rebuild by Henry Willis in 1891, and again by Harrison & Harrison in 1931. The largest pipes, the lower octave of the 32′ Contra Violone, stand just inside the south transept . The organ has one of only three trompette militaire stops in
37224-522: Was called common prayer originally because it was intended for use in all Church of England churches, which had previously followed differing local liturgies. The term was kept when the church became international because all Anglicans used to share in its use around the world. In 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer was compiled by Thomas Cranmer , the then archbishop of Canterbury . While it has since undergone many revisions and Anglican churches in different countries have developed other service books,
37422-434: Was compiled in 1921, research among musicologists has revised how some of the instruments are called in modern times. Using revised names, the list should now read from left to right gittern , bagpipe, shawm , vielle , harp, jew's harp , trumpet, organ, citole , recorder , tambourine, cymbals. The Exeter Cathedral Astronomical Clock is one of the group of famous 14th- to 16th-century astronomical clocks to be found in
37620-457: Was executed in AD 209, is the first Christian martyr in the British Isles. For this reason he is venerated as the British protomartyr . The historian Heinrich Zimmer writes that "Just as Britain was a part of the Roman Empire, so the British Church formed (during the fourth century) a branch of the Catholic Church of the West; and during the whole of that century, from the Council of Arles (316) onward, took part in all proceedings concerning
37818-406: Was increasingly portrayed as the founding father of Anglicanism. Hooker's description of Anglican authority as being derived primarily from scripture, informed by reason (the intellect and the experience of God) and tradition (the practices and beliefs of the historical church), has influenced Anglican self-identity and doctrinal reflection perhaps more powerfully than any other formula. The analogy of
38016-417: Was meeting in the cathedral and this small church caused upset when the minister "excommunicated" Susanna Parr . During the Victorian era , some refurbishment was carried out by George Gilbert Scott . As a boy, the composer Matthew Locke was trained in the choir of Exeter Cathedral, under Edward Gibbons , the brother of Orlando Gibbons . His name can be found scribed into the stone organ screen. During
38214-471: Was probably his tutor. However, Sarah Foot argues that the acrostic poem makes better sense if it is dated to the beginning of Æthelstan's reign. Edward married his second wife, Ælfflæd , at about the time of his father's death, probably because Ecgwynn had died, although she may have been put aside. The new marriage weakened Æthelstan's position, as his step-mother naturally favoured the interests of her own sons, Ælfweard and Edwin . By 920 Edward had taken
38412-491: Was replaced in the early 20th century, can be seen on the floor below. The door below the clock has a round hole near its base. This was cut in the early 17th century to allow entry for the bishop's cat to deter vermin that were attracted to the animal fat used to lubricate the clock mechanism. Si quis illum inde abstulerit eterne subiaceat maledictioni. Fiat. Fiat. (If any one removes this he shall be eternally cursed. So be it! So be it!) Curse written by Leofric on some of
38610-757: Was resented by the Scots and Vikings, and in 937 they invaded England. Æthelstan defeated them at the Battle of Brunanburh , a victory that gave him great prestige both in the British Isles and on the Continent. After his death in 939, the Vikings seized back control of York, and it was not finally reconquered until 954. Æthelstan centralised government; he increased control over the production of charters and summoned leading figures from distant areas to his councils. These meetings were also attended by rulers from outside his territory, especially Welsh kings, who thus acknowledged his overlordship. More legal texts survive from his reign than from any other tenth-century English king. They show his concern about widespread robberies and
38808-418: Was reworked in the ecclesiological writings of Frederick Denison Maurice , in a more dynamic form that became widely influential. Both Maurice and Newman saw the Church of England of their day as sorely deficient in faith; but whereas Newman had looked back to a distant past when the light of faith might have appeared to burn brighter, Maurice looked forward to the possibility of a brighter revelation of faith in
39006-404: Was the architect of the new building on the site of the old cloister. During the 20th century the greater part of the library was transferred to rooms in the Bishop's Palace, while the remainder was kept in Pearson's cloister library. Today, there is a good collection of early medical books, part of which came in 1948 from the Exeter Medical Library (founded 1814), and part on permanent loan from
39204-407: Was uniform and abundant. In Æthelstan's time, however, it was far less developed, and minting was still organised regionally long after Æthelstan unified the country. The Grately code included a provision that there was to be only one coinage across the king's dominion. However, this is in a section that appears to be copied from a code of his father, and the list of towns with mints is confined to
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