John Whethamstede Renaissance abbot James Clark 12 July 2018
Interpreting a burial Abbot Location Whethamstede s second tomb South of the church presbytery A simple, single tomb chapel Arrangement An audience Solitary tomb with Martin V, 1423 Three privileges granted Condition Permission for a portable altar in High-status London subject, in advanced old age Deposits Permission to take annual profits from churches 3 bulls of Martin V (1417-31) Dispensation from the Lenten fast Whethamstede s triple qualities: A well-ordered mind; clear-sighted; steadfast A ram, who fed, clothed and defended his own
Rediscovering Whethamstede Only the second abbot to lead the church for four decades The intimate of pontiffs and princes The only abbot to carry the reputation of St Albans on to a European stage The most original mind in the abbey s long tradition of scholarship Rediscovering the look of the church before the Reformation Rediscovering the place of the abbey at the end of the Middle Ages Before Grimthorpe Before the loss of the monastic complex After the Black Death (re)construction After the Norman church Anticlericalism Heresy Threat of dissolution Social and economic change Civil war Continental isolation
Whethamstede in profile Family Landowners, aspiring to gentry Monastic dynasties Lifetime Born c. 1385xc.1390 Died 20 January 1465 Education Grammar school Oxford Tynemouth? Personality Frail Vain Vigorous and persuasive verbally and in writing Appearance Tall Unhandsome Toothless
Whethamstede s transformation of the church A cult church The shrine of St Alban re-decorated Confraternity of St Alban re-invigorated Regular public procession of relics Publication of new miracle claims Provision of new altars Chapel of the Transfiguration Promotion of new cults Scala Coeli
Whethamstede s transformation of the church A communal church The precinct parish Chapel of St Andrew The doctrine of the nave Whethamstede s windows Music of the liturgy Whethamstede s reluctant response to contemporary fashions? The community of the dead Lay burial in church and convent
Whethamstede s transformation of the church An historical church Recording the history of the abbey church Epitaphs Celebrating the sacred history of the St Albans landscape Henry VI pilgrimage, 1458 Writing St Albans into the history of England Whethamstede s Anglia Commissioning John Lydgate s Life of St Alban and St Amphibalus
Whethamstede s defence of the abbey Patrons Royalty The Gloucesters Bedford Beaufort Prelacy Canterbury Cluny Curia Martin V City The profits of a long-term relationship
Whethamstede s defence of the abbey Authority and territory The dependent priories The diocesan: Lincoln Abbey manors London residential and commercial property
Whethamstede s defence of the abbey Culture A purpose-built library at St Albans and Oxford St Albans College, Oxford The production of books by professional and international scribes and artists Networks of scholars and patrons of scholars Oxford Italy Rome Lancastrian Court
Whethamstede and monasticism An attachment to the ancient traditions of monasticism Basil of Caesarea Benedict and Maurus The monastic golden age An acceptance of a new monasticism Relaxation of the requirements of the rule Independence, from bishops from crown from domus
Conclusion: a Renaissance abbot? A Renaissance church? Combining a sense of history with a contemporary spirituality. A Renaissance abbey? Independent of state and the institutional church, a spiritual, social and cultural focus for the people. A monastic republic. But not a new monasticism but an abbot increasing set apart from his monastery.perhaps why Whethamstede was remembered as a ram.