95-618: Rosslyn Chapel , also known as the Collegiate Chapel of Saint Matthew , is a 15th-century Episcopal chapel located in the village of Roslin in Midlothian , Scotland. The chapel was founded by William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness with a ground-breaking ceremony in 1456. After the Scottish Reformation in 1560, it was largely abandoned but, following a visit by Queen Victoria , it was rededicated in 1862. It
190-573: A Scottish version of the Book of Common Prayer , written by a group of Scottish prelates, most notably the Archbishop of St Andrews , John Spottiswoode , and the Bishop of Ross , John Maxwell , and edited for printing by the Archbishop of Canterbury , William Laud ; it was a combination of Knox's Book of Common Order , which was in use before 1637, and English liturgy in hopes of further unifying
285-442: A "continuing decline in overall numbers", and in almost identical language it was reported in 2018 that the church faced "continuing decline in members and attendance". By the end of 2020 numbers had fallen further to 27,600 (membership) and 19,800 (communicants). No meaningful attendance figures could be produced due to the legal restrictions on church attendance introduced in response to Covid-19 . By 2021 membership had fallen by
380-475: A blindfolded man being led forward with a noose around his neck. The carving has been eroded by time and pollution and is difficult to make out clearly. The chapel was built in the 15th century, and the earliest records of freemasonic lodges date back only to the late 16th and early 17th centuries. A more likely explanation, however, is that the Masonic imagery was added at a later date. This may have taken place in
475-578: A distinct society. However, matters were still complicated by a considerable, though declining, number of Episcopalian incumbents holding parish churches. Moreover, the Jacobitism of the non-jurors provoked a state policy of repression in 1715 and 1745, and fostered the growth of new Hanoverian congregations, using the English Prayer Book (served by clergy who had been ordained by a bishop but amenable to none), who qualified themselves under
570-482: A former moderate Covenanter and Resolutioner , was appointed Archbishop of St Andrews and primate of Scotland in 1661. He was reviled by Covenanters, and his murder in 1679 led to an escalation of hostilities. In 1707 Scotland and England were merged into a single Kingdom of Great Britain . The Scottish Episcopalians Act of 1711 protected the Episcopal Church, which marked its virtual incorporation as
665-516: A further 32% from 2012 levels, to just over 24000. At the close of 2022, the denomination had 278 congregations. The statistics for the denomination, by their dioceses were as follows: In recent decades, the Scottish Episcopal Church has taken a left-of-centre stand on various political issues including economic justice, the ordination of women and "inclusion". A church canon was altered to allow same-sex marriage after it
760-433: A house brick does to a paperback book. If you superimpose the floor plans of Rosslyn Chapel and either Solomon's or Herod's Temple, you will actually find that they are not even remotely similar. Writers admit that the chapel is far smaller than either of the temples. They freely scale the plans up or down in an attempt to fit them together. What they actually find are no significant similarities at all. [...] If you superimpose
855-410: A musical score. The motifs on the boxes somewhat resemble geometric patterns seen in the study of cymatics . The patterns are formed by placing powder upon a flat surface and vibrating the surface at different frequencies. By matching these Chladni patterns with musical notes corresponding to the same frequencies, the father-and-son team of Thomas and Stuart Mitchell produced a tune which Stuart calls
950-656: A procedure involving clergy and laity of the vacant diocese voting at an electoral synod . The church is composed of seven dioceses, each with its own bishop: All sees except Edinburgh (founded by Charles I ) stem from sees of the Catholic Church in Scotland. The bishops of the Episcopal Church are direct successors of the prelates consecrated to Scottish sees at the Restoration. The bishops are addressed Right Reverend . The College of Bishops constitutes
1045-627: A process known as Mission 21 . Canon Alice Mann of the Alban Institute was invited to begin developing a missionary emphasis within the congregations of the church throughout Scotland. This led to the development of the Making Your Church More Inviting programme which has now been completed by many congregations. In addition to working on making churches more inviting, Mission 21 emphasises reaching out to new populations which have previously not been contacted by
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#17327717585171140-636: A process of Protestant reform led, among others, by John Knox . It reformed its doctrines and government, drawing on the principles of John Calvin which Knox had been exposed to while living in Switzerland . In 1560, the Scottish Parliament abolished papal jurisdiction and approved Calvin's Confession of Faith, but did not accept many of the principles laid out in Knox's First Book of Discipline , which argued, among other things, that all of
1235-419: A selection of patterns on them. It is unknown if these patterns have any particular meaning attached to them. Many people have attempted to find information coded into them, but no interpretation has yet proven conclusive. Unfortunately, many of these 'boxes' are not original, having been replaced in the 19th century after erosion damage. One recent attempt to make sense of the boxes has been to interpret them as
1330-538: A series of politically motivated bombing and arson attacks nationwide as part of their campaign for women's suffrage . Churches were a particular target during the campaign, as it was believed that the Church of England was complicit in reinforcing opposition to women's suffrage. Between 1913 and 1914, 32 churches were attacked nationwide. In the weeks leading up to the attack, there were also bombings at Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral . The Rosslyn Chapel Trust
1425-479: A sovereign they regarded as legitimate (see Jacobitism ). A few prelates, known as college bishops , were consecrated without sees, to preserve the succession rather than to exercise a defined authority. At length the hopelessness of the Stuart cause and the growth of congregations outside the establishment forced the bishops to dissociate canonical jurisdiction from royal prerogative and to reconstitute for themselves
1520-530: A territorial episcopate. The Scottish Book of Common Prayer came into general use at start of the reign of William and Mary . The Scottish Communion Office, compiled by the non-jurors in accordance with primitive models, has had a varying co-ordinate authority, and the modifications of the English liturgy that would be adopted by the American Church were mainly determined by its influence. Among
1615-481: A theological college for the whole of the Scottish Episcopal Church, was founded in 2015. It provides training for both lay ministers and ordained clergy. As an episcopal denomination, the church is governed by bishops, differentiating it from the national Church of Scotland which is presbyterian and governed by elders. However, unlike the Church of England, the bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church are elected in
1710-575: Is Mark Strange , who was elected on 27 June 2017. The Primus does not have any metropolitan jurisdiction—the last to hold such jurisdiction was Archbishop Arthur Rose (of St Andrews) up to his death in 1704. The Primus is addressed Most Reverend . The church is governed by the General Synod . This consists of the House of Bishops, the House of Clergy and the House of Laity. The General Synod makes canon law , administers finance and monitors
1805-578: Is a Christian denomination in Scotland. Scotland's third largest church, the Scottish Episcopal Church has 303 local congregations. It is also an ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion . A continuation of the Church of Scotland as intended by James VI , and as it was from the Restoration of Charles II to the re-establishment of Presbyterianism in Scotland following the Glorious Revolution , it recognises
1900-544: Is an inscription, Forte est vinum fortior est rex fortiores sunt mulieres super omnia vincit veritas : "Wine is strong, a king is stronger, women are stronger still, but truth conquers all" ( 1 Esdras , chapters 3 & 4). The author Henning Klovekorn has proposed that the pillar is representative of one of the roots of the Nordic Yggdrasil tree, prominent in Germanic and Norse mythology . The general form of
1995-422: Is appointed by the bishop, and, on the voidance of the see , summons the diocesan synod, at the instance of the primus, to choose a bishop. Each diocese has one or more (in the case of some united dioceses) cathedrals . The senior priest of a Scottish Episcopal cathedral is styled as provost (as the title of "dean" is given to the senior priest of the diocese as a whole, see above). The only exception in Scotland
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#17327717585172090-536: Is being placed on these orders to work collaboratively within the wider ministry of the whole people of God. In addition to the Scottish Prayer Book of 1929, the church has a number of other liturgies available to it. In recent years, revised Funeral Rites have appeared, along with liturgies for Christian Initiation (e.g. Baptism and Affirmation ) and Marriage . The modern Eucharistic rite (Scottish Liturgy 1982) includes Eucharistic prayers for
2185-546: Is checked by reason. The Scottish Episcopal Church has been involved in Scottish politics . The church was one of the parties involved in the Scottish Constitutional Convention , which laid the groundwork for the creation of the devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999. Canon Kenyon Wright of the Episcopal Church chaired the convention (1989–1999). The church actively supports the work of
2280-672: Is dedicated to Saint Matthew the Evangelist and was founded on a small hill above Roslin Glen as a collegiate church (with between four and six ordained canons and two boy choristers) in the mid-15th century. The chapel was founded by William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness of the Scoto-Norman Sinclair family . Rosslyn Chapel is the third Sinclair place of worship at Roslin, the first being in Roslin Castle and
2375-463: Is impossible, given the fact that (according to Cooper) the third degree of Freemasonry was invented c.1720 - almost 300 years after Rosslyn Chapel was founded. The claim that the layout of Rosslyn Chapel echoes that of Solomon's Temple has been analysed by Mark Oxbrow and Ian Robertson in their book, Rosslyn and the Grail : Rosslyn Chapel bears no more resemblance to Solomon's or Herod's Temple than
2470-502: Is led by a Primus, who is elected from the seven Bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church from among their number to serve as a ‘ primus inter pares ’ or ‘first among equals’ as the Senior Bishop. The current primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church is Mark Strange , elected in 2017. In terms of official membership, Episcopalians constitute well under 1 per cent of the population of Scotland, making them considerably smaller than
2565-416: Is open to speculation whether or not the chapel was intended to be built in its current layout. Its architecture is considered to be among the finest in Scotland. Construction of the chapel began on 20 September 1456, although it has often been recorded as 1446. The confusion over the building date comes from the chapel's receiving its founding charter to build a collegiate chapel in 1446 from Rome. Although
2660-697: Is the Cathedral of the Isles on the island of Great Cumbrae which has been led by a member of the clergy styled as Precentor . Diocesan deans and cathedral provosts are both addressed as Very Reverend . The Scottish Episcopal Church is mainly in the High Church (or Anglo-Catholic ) tradition. It embraces three orders of ministry: deacon, priest (referred to in the Scottish Prayer Book as presbyter) and bishop. Increasingly, an emphasis
2755-641: Is well established. Andrew Kemp noted that 'the entire plan of this Chapel corresponds to a large extent with the choir of Glasgow Cathedral' as far back as 1877 in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries. Many alternative history writers are well aware of this but fail to mention it in their books. As to a possible connection between the St. Clairs and the Knights Templar, the family testified against
2850-614: The Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the already increasingly uncooperative English Parliament into likewise declaring war on the king in the English Civil War . As a result of the weakness of the king, Presbyterian Covenanters were able to become the de facto government in Scotland until disagreement between the Scottish and English Parliaments over how to run Britain in terms of both civil and religious governance after
2945-712: The Kintyre peninsula, near Southend . However, being still in sight of his native land he moved further north along the west coast of Scotland. He was granted land on the island of Iona off the Isle of Mull which became the centre of his evangelising mission to the Picts . However, there is a sense in which he did not leave his native people, as the Irish Gaels had been colonising the west coast of Scotland for some time. The Scottish Catholic Church would continue to grow in
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3040-647: The Knights Templar or Freemasonry beginning in the 1980s. This part of its history was referenced in the DC Comics storyline Batman: Scottish Connection , in which the hero Batman becomes caught up in an old vendetta between two Scottish clans during a visit to Scotland, this mystery including the discovery of an ancient treasure trove hidden in Rosslyn. The topic entered mainstream pop culture with Dan Brown 's The Da Vinci Code (2003), reinforced by
3135-620: The Knights Templar Seal . William Sinclair 3rd Earl of Orkney, Baron of Roslin and 1st Earl of Caithness, claimed by novelists to be a hereditary Grand Master of the Scottish stonemasons, built Rosslyn Chapel. A later William Sinclair of Roslin became the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland and, subsequently, several other members of the Sinclair family have held this position. Robert L. D. Cooper, curator of
3230-867: The National Heritage Memorial Fund , established in 1980. The current body was established as the "Heritage Lottery Fund" in 1994. It was re-branded as the National Lottery Heritage Fund in January 2019. The fund's income comes from the National Lottery , which was managed until 2024 by Camelot Group . Its objectives are "to conserve the UK's diverse heritage, to encourage people to be involved in heritage and to widen access and learning". As of 2019, it had awarded £7.9 billion to 43,000 projects. In 2006,
3325-608: The Parliament of Scotland pass the Black Acts , appointing two bishops and administering the Church of Scotland under direct royal control. This met vigorous opposition and he was forced to concede that the General Assembly should continue to run the church. Calvinists who disliked the more ceremonious style of liturgy were opposed by an Episcopalian faction. After ascending to the English throne in 1603 James stopped
3420-626: The Rosslyn Motet . There are more than 110 carvings of " Green Men " in and around the chapel. Green Men are carvings of human faces with greenery all around them, often growing out of their mouths. They are found in all areas of the chapel, with one example in the Lady chapel, between the two middle altars of the east wall. Other carvings represent plants, including depictions of wheat, strawberries or lilies. The authors Robert Lomas and Christopher Knight have hypothesised that some carvings in
3515-847: The Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office in Edinburgh and the Society, Religion and Technology Project . Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund , formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund ( HLF ), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. The fund's predecessor bodies were the National Land Fund , established in 1946, and
3610-603: The archbishop of Canterbury of the Church of England as president of the Anglican Instruments of Communion , but without jurisdiction in Scotland per se . Additionally, while the British monarch holds the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England, in Scotland the monarch maintains private links to both the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the Scottish Episcopal Church. The church
3705-412: The " English Kirk ", but this can cause offence. This is probably in part due to the fact that it is, nonetheless, a union of the non-juring Episcopalians with the " qualified congregations " who worshipped according to the liturgy of the Church of England. It is also sometimes known as the " Laird's Kirk " because of its historical associations with the landed aristocracy of Scotland whose membership of
3800-490: The "maize" and "aloe" were stylised wooden patterns, only coincidentally looking like real plants. The chapel has been a burial place for several generations of the Sinclairs; a crypt was once accessible from a descending stair at the rear of the chapel. This crypt has been sealed shut for many years, which may explain the recurrent legends that it is merely a front to a more extensive subterranean vault containing (variously)
3895-569: The (Anglican) Church of England and the (Presbyterian) Church of Scotland. When the revised Book of Common Prayer was used for the first time during worship on 23 July 1637 in St Giles' Edinburgh, it sparked a riot which was so representative of the strength of popular feeling in Scotland that it indirectly precipitated the Bishops' Wars and this successful challenge of royal authority helped encourage many unhappy Irish Catholics into partaking in
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3990-581: The 1689 refusal of the Scottish bishops to swear allegiance to William of Orange whilst James VII lived and had not abdicated, the Presbyterian polity was finally re-established in the Church of Scotland. However, the Comprehension Act of 1690 allowed Episcopalian incumbents, upon taking the Oath of Allegiance , to retain their benefices, though excluding them from any share in the government of
4085-549: The 1860s when James St Clair-Erskine, 3rd Earl of Rosslyn instructed Edinburgh architect David Bryce , a known Freemason, to undertake restoration work on areas of the church including many of the carvings. Alternative histories involving Rosslyn Chapel and the Sinclairs have been published by Andrew Sinclair and Tim Wallace-Murphy arguing links with the Knights Templar and the supposed descendants of Jesus Christ . The books in particular by Tim Wallace-Murphy and Marilyn Hopkins Rex Deus: The True Mystery of Rennes-le-Château and
4180-401: The 18th century, involving the master mason in charge of the stonework in the chapel and his young apprentice mason. According to the legend, the master mason did not believe that the apprentice could perform the complicated task of carving the column without seeing the original which formed the inspiration for the design. The master mason travelled to see the original himself, but upon his return
4275-691: The Apprentice Pillar is a physical reference to the Entered Apprentice degree of Scottish Freemasonry logically led to the conclusion that the other two pillars (in line south to north with the so-called Apprentice Pillar) represented the Fellow of Craft degree (middle pillar) and the Master Mason's degree (north pillar). This association of three pillars in the east part of Rosslyn Chapel with the three degrees of Scottish Freemasonry
4370-466: The Church of Scotland or Catholic Church in Scotland. The membership of the church in 2023 was 23,503, of which 16,605 were communicant members. The attendance at Sunday worship, as counted on Sunday next before Advent was 8,815. This compares with the figures from six years previously, in 2017, where church membership had been 30,909, of whom 22,073 were communicant members, and there was a Sunday worship attendance of 12,149. The Scottish Episcopal Church
4465-480: The Church of Scotland without a further declaration of Presbyterian principles. Many " non-jurors " also succeeded for a time in retaining the use of the parish churches. The excluded Scottish bishops were slow to organise the Episcopalian remnant under a jurisdiction independent of the state, regarding the then arrangements as provisional, and looking forward to a reconstituted national Episcopal Church under
4560-425: The Church of Scotland. In 2012 the church had 310 parishes with an adult membership of 34,916 and communicant numbers some 10,000 fewer at 24,650. As with other churches in Scotland, attendance has declined over recent years: the overall figures reflect rises in some dioceses and decline in others, but amount to an overall fall in attendance of 15 per cent between 2007 and 2012. The church's 2016 annual report noted
4655-591: The Digital Skills for Heritage Fund, a £3.5m fund for grants to support digital volunteering in the heritage sector, launched in November 2021. The chair of the trustees is appointed by the Prime Minister ; René Olivieri served as interim chair from January 2020 following Sir Peter Luff 's retirement at the end of 2019. Dr Simon Thurley CBE , former Chief Executive of English Heritage , became
4750-536: The Dynasty of Jesus (2000) and Custodians of Truth: The Continuance of Rex Deus (2005) have focused on the hypothetical Jesus bloodline with the Sinclairs and Rosslyn Chapel. On the ABC documentary Jesus, Mary and Da Vinci , aired on 3 November 2003, Niven Sinclair hinted that the descendants of Jesus Christ existed within the Sinclair families. These alternative histories are relatively modern - not dating back before
4845-465: The Episcopal Church in the United States owes as much of its origins to the Scottish Episcopal Church as to the Church of England. The Theological College was founded in 1810, incorporated with Trinity College, Glenalmond , in 1848, and re-established at Edinburgh in 1876. Theological training is now provided by the various dioceses and is supervised by Scottish Episcopal Institute (formerly,
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#17327717585174940-642: The General Assembly from meeting, increased the number of Scottish bishops and in 1618 held a General Assembly in Perth ; this gathering adopted Five Articles of Episcopalian practices. Many Scottish church leaders, and their congregations, responded to the Five Articles with boycotts and disdain. James's son Charles I was crowned in Holyrood Abbey , Edinburgh , in 1633 with full Anglican rites. Subsequently, in 1637, Charles attempted to introduce
5035-462: The Grand Lodge of Scotland Museum and Library, in 2003 published a 12th edition of the 1892 Illustrated Guide to Rosslyn Chapel with the intention of countering the "nonsense published about Rosslyn Chapel over the last 15 years or so". Cooper in 2006 also published Rosslyn Hoax? in which he actively debunks this type of speculation at length and in great detail. An example is the comparison of
5130-531: The National Lottery Heritage Fund launched the Parks for People program with the aim to revitalize historic parks and cemeteries. From 2006 to 2021, the Fund had granted £254 million to 135 projects. In January 2019 it simplified its funding schemes under one banner – National Lottery Grants for Heritage – with awards from £3,000 to £5 million. Funding requests for projects over £5 million will be considered as part of two time-limited national competitions to be held in 2020–21 and 2022–23. Its funding routes include
5225-483: The Rosslyn Chapel trust for "cashing in" on the popularity of The Da Vinci Code , against better knowledge. In the financial year of 2013–14, Rosslyn Chapel recorded 144,823 visitors, the highest number since 2007–08, when (at the height of popular interest induced by The Da Vinci Code ), the number of visitors was close to 159,000. The current owner is Peter St Clair-Erskine, 7th Earl of Rosslyn . The original plans for Rosslyn have never been found or recorded, so it
5320-451: The Rosslyn myth of the Apprentice Pillar with that of the allegorical references to Hiram Abiff in Masonic ritual, and in the process he debunks any similarities between the two. A minute comparison between the Rosslyn Myth and the Masonic allegory can be found in a detailed tabular form in The Rosslyn Hoax? Cooper further debunks other claims of a connection between carvings within Rosslyn Chapel and Scottish Freemasonry. The suggestion that
5415-410: The Scottish Episcopal Church to hold both primate and metropolitan titles was Arthur Rose, Archbishop of St Andrews, up to his death in 1704. The last bishop to exercise metropolitan authority was Alexander Rose, Bishop of Edinburgh, up to his death in 1720. In terms of official membership, Episcopalians constitute well under 1 per cent of the population of Scotland, making them considerably smaller than
5510-460: The Templars when that Order was put on trial in Edinburgh in 1309. Historian Dr. Louise Yeoman, along with other medieval scholars, says the Knights Templar connection is false, and points out that Rosslyn Chapel was built by William Sinclair so that Mass could be said for the souls of his family. It is also claimed that other carvings in the chapel reflect Masonic imagery, such as the way that hands are placed in various figures. One carving may show
5605-439: The Theological Institute of the Scottish Episcopal Church). In 1900 the church had 356 congregations, with a total membership of 124,335 and 324 working clergy. Membership did not grow in the following decades as it was believed it would. In 1989 there were approximately 200 stipendiary and 80 non-stipendiary clergy. Membership was 65,000, with 31,000 communicants. In 1995, the Scottish Episcopal Church began working through
5700-416: The act of 1711. This act was further modified in 1746 and 1748 to exclude clergy ordained in Scotland. These causes reduced the Episcopalians who, by 1689, had been a large section of the population to a minority, save in a few corners of the west and north-east of Scotland. Their official recognition of George III , on the death of Charles Edward Stuart in 1788, removed the chief bar to progress. In 1792
5795-453: The assets of the old church should pass to the new. The 1560 Reformation Settlement was not ratified by the crown for some years, and the question of church government also remained largely unresolved. In 1572 the acts of 1560 were finally approved by the young James VI , but under pressure from many of the nobles the Concordat of Leith also allowed the crown to appoint bishops with the church's approval. John Knox himself had no clear views on
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#17327717585175890-421: The centuries that followed, and in the 11th century Saint Margaret of Scotland (Queen Consort of Malcolm III of Scotland ) strengthened the church's ties with the Holy See , as did successive monarchs such as Margaret's son, David , who invited several religious orders to establish monasteries . The Scottish Reformation was formalised in 1560, when the Church of Scotland broke with the Church of Rome during
5985-399: The chapel represent ears of new world corn or maize , a plant which was unknown in Europe at the time of the chapel's construction. In their book they discuss meeting with the wife of botanist Adrian Dyer, and that Dyer's wife told him that Dyer agreed that the image thought to be maize was accurate. In fact, Dyer found only one identifiable plant among the botanical carvings and suggested that
6080-403: The church and also to give it a chance to dry out properly. Three human skeletons were found during the restoration. Major stonework repairs were completed by the end of 2011. The last major scaffolding was removed in August 2010. A new visitor centre opened in July 2011. The chapel's stained-glass windows and organ were fully restored. New lighting and heating were installed. The expected cost of
6175-401: The church exceeded that of other denominations. In the mid 1800s it was recorded that three quarters of the "landed proprietors of Scotland" were Episcopalians. Catholic Saint Ninian conducted the first Christian mission to what is now southern Scotland. In 563 AD, Saint Columba travelled to Scotland with twelve companions, where according to legend he first landed at the southern tip of
6270-420: The church. As Mission 21 has developed, changing patterns of ministry have become part of its remit. In 1633 Charles I remodelled Holyrood Abbey as a Chapel Royal , and held his coronation there with full Episcopalian rites. In this year he also founded the See of Edinburgh and appointed William Forbes as first Bishop of Edinburgh in the following year. He also appointed John Guthrie, Bishop of Moray as
6365-456: The clergy of post-Revolution days the most eminent are Bishop John Sage , a well-known patristic scholar; Bishop Rattray , liturgiologist; John Skinner , of Longside, author of Tullochgorum ; Bishop Gleig , editor of the 3rd edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica ; Dean Ramsay , author of Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character ; Bishop A. P. Forbes ; G. H. Forbes , liturgiologist; and Bishop Charles Wordsworth . Bishop James Sharp ,
6460-597: The early 1990s. The precursor to these Rosslyn theories is the 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (retitled Holy Blood, Holy Grail in the United States) by Michael Baigent , Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln that introduced the theory of the Jesus bloodline in relation to the Priory of Sion hoax - the main protagonist of which was Pierre Plantard , who for a time adopted the name Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair. Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church ( Scots : Scots Episcopal Kirk ; Scottish Gaelic : Eaglais Easbaigeach na h-Alba )
6555-410: The east end of the chapel are named, from north to south: the Master Pillar, the Journeyman Pillar and, most famously, the Apprentice Pillar. One of the more notable architectural features of the chapel is the "Apprentice Pillar, or "Prentice Pillar". Originally called the "Prince's Pillar" (in the 1778 document An Account of the Chapel of Roslin ) the name morphed over time due to a legend dating from
6650-447: The episcopal synod, the supreme court of appeal. This synod elects from among its own members a presiding Bishop who has the title of Primus (the title originates from the Latin phrase Primus inter pares – 'First among equals'). The Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church , the presiding bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church, is elected by the episcopal synod from among its members. His duties are: The incumbent
6745-436: The first, and last, Episcopalian Royal Almoner of Scotland . The Abbey was lost to its protestant congregation as part of the events of the Glorious Revolution and eventually ruined. The Lord Bishop of Edinburgh and Anglican congregation were also evicted from St Giles' Cathedral following the Prayer Book riots in 1637. The office of Royal Almoner was made largely honorific then effectively secular, and by 1835 had merged into
6840-516: The floor plans of Rosslyn Chapel and the East Quire of Glasgow Cathedral you will find a startling match: the four walls of both buildings fit precisely. The East Quire of Glasgow is larger than Rosslyn, but the designs of these two medieval Scottish buildings are virtually identical. They both have the same number of windows and the same number of pillars in the same configuration. [...] The similarity between Rosslyn Chapel and Glasgow's East Quire
6935-669: The king was defeated led to another war and Scotland's conquest by the Covenanters' erstwhile allies the English Parliament's New Model Army . Following the Restoration of the monarch in 1660, the government of Charles II reimposed episcopacy, and required all clergymen to swear allegiance to the king and bishops and renounce the Covenants, or be prevented from preaching in church. Up to a third, at least 270, of
7030-461: The ministry refused, mostly in the south-west of Scotland, and numerous ministers also took to preaching in the open fields in conventicles across the south of Scotland, often attracting thousands of worshippers. This was forcibly repressed by the government, in actions later dubbed The Killing Time . The conflict continued under King James VII of Scotland (also James II of England) until the Glorious Revolution led to his removal from power. With
7125-577: The mummified head of Jesus Christ , the Holy Grail , the treasure of the Templars , or the original crown jewels of Scotland. In 1837, when the 2nd Earl of Rosslyn died, his wish was to be buried in the original vault. Exhaustive searches over the period of a week were made, but no entrance to the original vault was found and he was buried beside his wife in the Lady Chapel. The pinnacles on
7220-642: The office of bishop, preferring to see them renamed as "superintendents"; but in response to the new Concordat a Presbyterian party emerged headed by Andrew Melville , the author of the Second Book of Discipline . The Scottish Episcopal Church began as a distinct church in 1582, when the Church of Scotland rejected episcopal government (by bishops) and adopted a presbyterian government by elders as well as reformed theology . Scottish monarchs made repeated efforts to introduce bishops and two ecclesiastical traditions competed. In 1584, James VI of Scotland had
7315-474: The original building was to be cruciform , it was never completed. Only the choir was constructed, with the retro-chapel, otherwise called the Lady chapel , built on the much earlier crypt (Lower Chapel) believed to form part of an earlier castle. The foundations of the unbuilt nave and transepts stretching to a distance of 90 feet were recorded in the 19th century. Construction of the planned nave and transepts
7410-624: The penal laws were repealed, but clerical disabilities were only finally removed in 1864. The Qualified Chapels were gradually absorbed in the early 19th century. After the independence of the Thirteen Colonies , the Scottish Episcopal Church also took the step of consecrating Samuel Seabury at Aberdeen in 1784. He became the first bishop of the American Episcopal Church after being refused consecration by Church of England clergy. In this way, it can be said that
7505-644: The pillar has been related to a type described by the French architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc as a "bunch of sausages." A full-size plaster cast of the Apprentice Pillar and the adjacent bay of the chapel was made in 1871, and is in the Cast Courts of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Among Rosslyn's many intricate carvings are a sequence of 213 cubes or "boxes" protruding from pillars and arches with
7600-614: The responsibilities of the King's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer . The current headquarters (the Scottish Episcopal Church General Synod Office) of the Scottish Episcopal Church is Forbes House, number 21 Grosvenor Crescent in the West End of Edinburgh . The primus does not have any metropolitan jurisdiction. Metropolitan responsibilities are held by the diocesan bishops. The last head of
7695-510: The restoration work is around £13 million, with about £3.7 million being spent on the Visitor Centre. Funding has come from various sources including Heritage Lottery Fund , Historic Scotland and the environmental body, WREN. Actor Tom Hanks also made a donation. Photography and video have been forbidden in the chapel since 2008. The chapel sells commercially produced photos in its shop. In 2006, historian Louise Yeoman criticised
7790-420: The rooftop have been subject to interest during renovation work in 2010. Nesting jackdaws had made the pinnacles unstable and as such had to be dismantled brick by brick revealing the existence of a chamber specifically made by the stonemasons to harbour bees. The hive, now abandoned, has been sent to local bee keepers to identify. The chapel became the subject of speculation regarding its supposed connection with
7885-608: The second (whose crumbling buttresses can still be seen today) in what is now Roslin Cemetery. Sinclair founded the college to celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours throughout the day and night, and also to celebrate Catholic Masses for all the faithful departed, including the deceased members of the Sinclair family. During this period, the rich heritage of plainsong (a single melodic line) or polyphony (vocal harmony) were used to enrich
7980-430: The singing of the liturgy. Sinclair provided an endowment to pay for the support of the priests and choristers in perpetuity. After the Scottish Reformation in 1560, Catholic worship in the chapel was brought to an end. The chapel's altars were destroyed in 1592. In 1842 the chapel, then in a ruined and overgrown state, was visited by Queen Victoria , who expressed a desire that it should be preserved. Restoration work
8075-470: The subsequent film of the same name (2006). Numerous books were published after 2003 to cater to the popular interest in supposed connections between Rosslyn Chapel, Freemasonry, the Templars and the Holy Grail generated by Brown's novel. The chapel, built 150 years after the dissolution of the Knights Templar, supposedly has many Templar symbols, such as the "Two riders on a single horse" that appear on
8170-633: The various seasons in the Liturgical Year and is commonly known as "The Blue Book", a reference to the colour of its covers. A further Eucharistic prayer is provided in the Marriage liturgy. This balance of scripture, tradition and reason is traced to the work of Richard Hooker , a sixteenth-century apologist. In Hooker's model, scripture is the primary means of arriving at doctrine and things stated plainly in scripture are accepted as true. Issues that are ambiguous are determined by tradition, which
8265-587: The work of the boards and committees of the Church. Most decisions are arrived at by a simple majority of members of the General Synod voting together. More complex legislation, such as changes to the Code of Canons requires each of the Houses to agree and to vote in favour by a two-thirds majority. Each diocese has its synod of the clergy and laity. Its dean (similar to an archdeacon in the Church of England)
8360-428: Was abandoned. The Lower Chapel (also known as the crypt or sacristy ) should not be confused with the burial vaults that lie underneath Rosslyn Chapel. The chapel stands on fourteen pillars, which form an arcade of twelve pointed arches on three sides of the nave. At the east end, a fourteenth pillar between the penultimate pair form a three-pillared division between the nave and the Lady chapel. The three pillars at
8455-648: Was appointed Bishop of the theologically traditionalist Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney by the other bishops, rather than elected as usual. This drew protests, which the primus attacked as "subversion", and Dyer was consecrated in March 2018. A number of clergy subsequently resigned, and in January 2019 the Westhill Community Church in Aberdeen voted to leave the SEC. The Scottish Episcopal Institute ,
8550-562: Was carried out in 1862 by David Bryce on behalf of James Alexander, 3rd Earl of Rosslyn . The chapel was rededicated on 22 April 1862, and from this time, Sunday services were once again held, now under the jurisdiction of the Scottish Episcopal Church . The chapel was the subject of a terrorist attack on 11 July 1914, when a bomb exploded inside the building. This was as part of the suffragette bombing and arson campaign of 1912–1914, in which suffragettes carried out
8645-404: Was enraged to find that the upstart apprentice had completed the column by himself. In a fit of jealous anger, the master mason took his mallet and struck the apprentice on the head, killing him. The legend concludes that as punishment for his crime, the master mason's face was carved into the opposite corner to forever gaze upon his apprentice's pillar. On the architrave joining the pillar there
8740-402: Was established in 1995, with the purpose of overseeing its conservation and its opening as a sightseeing destination. The chapel underwent an extensive programme of conservation between 1997 and 2013. This included work to the roof, the stone, the carvings, the stained glass and the organ. A steel canopy was erected over the chapel roof for fourteen years. This was to prevent further rain damage to
8835-474: Was formally approved by the General Synod in June 2017, despite the protests of some, including the representatives of the conservative Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney . Following the vote, a number of individual congregations have begun to leave the church, although they have been obliged to leave their buildings and funds behind them. In November 2017 a high-profile female supporter of same-sex marriage, Anne Dyer
8930-560: Was previously called the Episcopal Church in Scotland . Although not incorporated until 1712, the Scottish Episcopal Church traces its origins including but extending beyond the Reformation and sees itself in continuity with the church established by Ninian , Columba , Kentigern , and other Celtic saints. The Church of Scotland claims the same continuity. The church is sometimes pejoratively referred to in Scotland as
9025-658: Was the target of a bombing in 1914 during the suffragette bombing and arson campaign . The interior contains some fine carvings which many historians have sought to interpret. Since the late 1980s, the chapel has been the subject of speculative theories concerning a connection with the Knights Templar and the Holy Grail , and Freemasonry . It was prominently featured in this role in Dan Brown 's bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code (2003) and its 2006 film adaptation . Medieval historians say these accounts have no basis in fact. Rosslyn Chapel remains privately owned. The chapel
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