Durham Cathedral - Part C - The Venerable Bede...and giveaway reminder.

Tomb of the Venerable Bede 672 AD - 735 AD.

in the Galilee Chapel of Durham Cathedral

From Durham World Heritage site, re. the Galilee Chapel, which contains Bede's tomb:

"Built in the 1170s, [the Galilee Chapel] was originally planned as an extension to the eastern end of the Cathedral, which was always full of pilgrims and therefore cramped. However, due to a change in the level of the bedrock from the rest of the Cathedral, the walls kept on cracking during the construction and all attempts to build it at the eastern end of the Church seemed to fail. This was taken as a sign of divine intervention, and it was built in its current location at the western end of the Cathedral instead."

Bede: Living At The Monastery at Jarrow

St. Paul's Church, Jarrow

Home of the Venerable Bede

 18 miles NNE of Durham

If you zoom in on the map, you will be able to see where this is in relation to Durham.
Durham is just a half hour by train from York (York Minster),
York is just 2 hours by train from London.
SO worth the trip! 

If you click on the 'Satellite Imagery' square on the lower left
and then zoom in, you will be able to see the ruins of the monastery.

From Justus.Anglican.org

"Bede was a monk at the English monastery of Wearmouth and Jarrow, in Northumbria. From the age of seven, he spent all his life at that monastery except for a few brief visits to nearby sites. He says of himself: 'I have devoted my energies to a study of the Scriptures, observing monastic discipline, and singing the daily services in church; study, teaching, and writing have always been my delight.'"

Just to place this on the timeline of your mind, Bede was 15 years old when St. Cuthbert died, and lived 48 years beyond the time of St. Cuthbert (last week's post).  He became a deacon at 19, a priest at 29, and after his ordination wrote commentaries on the Scriptures, as well as writings on geography, arithmetic, and astronomy. He wrote two accounts of the life of St. Cuthbert, one in prose and one in verse, along with his Ecclesiastical History of the English People. 

From Britannica.com

 "In 731/732 Bede completed his Historia ecclesiastica. Divided into five books, it recorded events in Britain from the raids by Julius Caesar (55–54 bc) to the arrival in Kent (ad 597) of St. Augustine. For his sources he claimed the authority of ancient letters, the “traditions of our forefathers,” and his own knowledge of contemporary events...It remains an indispensable source for some of the facts and much of the feel of early Anglo-Saxon history."

Benedict, founder and abbot of Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory was responsible for its extensive library, resources used by Bede. During Benedict's travels to Rome, he acquired volumes that he brought back to the monastery. I can't help having visions of him dragging that carry-on through Heathrow.

When Bede died, he was buried at Jarrow, but in 1022 his bones were buried alongside St. Cuthbert's relics at Durham Cathedral until they were moved into the Galilee Chapel in the 14th century. 

Galilee Chapel: Slender Columns, Zigzag Arches

Hammerbeam ceiling

Just-barely-visible remains of 13th or14th century fresco paintings

(see next photo also)

Whitewashed during the Reformation,

the whitewash was scraped off during the Victorian Era,

taking much of the paint with it.

The pictures depict Christian martyrs

Beautiful zigzag on arches,

very different from arches in the main cathedral 
(See last Friday's post)

Okay, this is all I can tell you about Bede, and I hope most of it is true.

***

Happily moving on from the Venerable Bede, we have a birthday at our house today, and it's not mine:

He's still a pretty cute kid!

***

Last Day to Enter my Natural Soap Giveaway!

Ends tonight at 10 PM.

Winners will be announced on Saturday morning.
Enter Giveaway on YESTERDAY'S POST

Have a great weekend, everyone!  

Check back tomorrow for giveaway winners.

Next Friday I promise to get out of the cathedral...for a while.