Canterbury Cathedral

And sure enough, here I am with my second post in one day. The pictures of the cathedral are up and I have to say that the lighting was simply spectacular.

Well, I totally meant to get to the library today, but that's okay because I did type up a bit of my notes. I'm going to continue that after I finish this blog.

Canterbury Cathedral was amazing. The church is light colored stone, but with all the clouds outside, the light inside was beautiful. We started our tour in the quire because they were going to close it soon for choir practice. :) The quire is where the monks went for their daily services and prayers. It's seperated from the rest of the church so the monks could pray in peace. Then we went around to the back of the church as the choir started practice. It was beautiful (not the home choir, because they're on holiday, but a visiting choir) but it made it difficult to hear the tour guide. Not that I was paying as much attention as I should have because I was trying to get pictures. He took us all around the church and showed us the various dead people. (Yes, more dead people. I think it's a requirement for cathedrals. There were a bunch in the Salisbury Catherdral too.) King Henry IV is buried here, opposite the Black Prince. The Black Prince (I don't remember his real name) died before his father, so his son became king upon the death of the old king. However, Henry IV takes advantage of civil unrest to depose, and eventually murder, the Black Prince's son, starting the war of the Roses. Our guide said that Henry IV requested to be buried in Canterbury Cathedral as an apology to the Black Prince for deposing his son.

One of the archbishops is also buried there. He has a two level monument. The top is him in his ceremonial robes, the bottom is just a corpse, the point being to remind everyone that no matter how powerful, you are simply mortal. It was placed across from the archbishop's chair... ten years before he died. That had to be unsettling. We also went and saw where St. Thomas was murdered. Apparently Henry II had ranted and raved about him, because Henry II fought for him to be appointed, and Thomas was supposed to hand over church wealth to Henry, but he didn't, and four of Henry's knights took that as an order to dispatch him. So they came and argued with St. Thomas early in the day, which was when the monks decided he was in physical danger. They had to practically drag St. Thomas into the church, thinking he'd be safe in front of the high altar, but the knights caught them just inside the door and lopped off the top of his head. Not his whole head. Just the top of his head. And then apparently one of the knights stuck is sword in and scattered St. Thomas's brains before declaring 'Yep. He's dead.' It's a story to rival any I heard yesterday at the Tower.

We went down into the tomb and saw a lot of cool stuff, more dead people, plus a chapel that had been bricked up and so preserved the original frescoes. Then we went back to the beginning, where he gave us the history of the church building, starting with St. Augustine, who had the church built, and down through the ages. Some parts of the church, and some of the windows, date back to the 1100's. They have some of the oldest glass in England.

After that we were allowed to wander. I went back into the crypt to light a candle and say a prayer. I feel like I've been going on pilgrimage to some of the these places because they were so important to the Catholic faith, before the Anglican faith even existed. Service was starting, so there was singing even down in the crypt. It was a surreal experience.

Then I headed out into the cloister, the old abbey part of the church, which is important for my next paper. I found the chapter house where the monks conducted business, and then wandered a bit more. I found the garden, and it was really beautiful. There are a bunch of rose bushes, but they'd already finished flowering. It would have been a sight to see while they were all in full bloom. But there were a bunch of other really pretty flowers and I took lots of pictures. I also wandered around that part of the church and found some of the old abbey ruins. I walked almost all the way around the church and finally found myself at the 'front' of the church, which isn't used as an entrance normally.

Then I made my way to the giftshop. I got myself a rosary, because I'd been wanting one from one of the great cathedrals and I found one that was simple, but still beautiful, made of wood. I also got a mug that has a little cartoon of all the kings and queens since William the Conqueror. It's really funny to read their names out loud because there's a point where there's like three Henry's, then three Edward's, then alternating Henry's and Edwards. I also got some stuff for other people. :)

Then I headed home, and ate dinner while putting up pictures. Then I did this. I'm going to try to write up some more of my notes, then I'm headed to bed, because I have class tomorrow. I think I'm going to go to Battle (where the Battle of Hastings ACTUALLY took place) and get some info for my independent study paper. My mom suggested I get a book, so I'm going to go look for one there. I figure they should have a good selection. I'm also planning on going to Hyde park and the three museums nearby over two days. Then depending on how exhausted I am, I might go to Bath on Wednesday.

Kay, time for homework.

Well, having looked, they don't have audio guides at Battle on event days, which tomorrow is. They have a falconry exhibition. Which would be cool, but I think I'd rather have the audio guide. So I think I'll go Tuesday. Maybe I'll go to Brighton tomorrow, which was kind of the original plan, and go to Battle on Tuesday. Though I could do the museums tomorrow and do Battle Tuesday... Hmmm.