medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear All
Many thanks for a fascinating discussion about consecration.
Thinking about the possibility of the Salisbury brass consecration, this
would seem to imply that the crosses were inlaid with brass crosses off
site (or at the very least that the stones weren't in position). This in
turn raises the question as to whether they marked the INTENTION to
consecrate - presumably when they were laid as foundation - ie the crosses
were put on before consecration had taken place.
This raises further questions - when were consecration crosses put on
altars etc? If after consecration, would the fact of a mason chiselling
out the crosses have any implications theologically - ie marking a
consecrated object. What would happen if the altar slab broke or was
damaged by the chiselling? If the crosses were put on before consecration,
again this would should intent, rather than actual consecration, so the
possibility arises that it was never consecrated (a scenario could be
imagined during the Black Death where a priest died before consecration had
taken place and new priest took the altar to be consecrated.)
Chris Daniell
>At one point Tim Tatton-Brown had a theory about the consecration crosses
>at Salisbury Cathedral having been laid as foundation stones - I don't
>know if he still thinks that. (The point is that the brass crosses could
>only be set in the stones while they were horizontal, they can't be fixed
>with the stones in their present vertical position. So the stones
>themselves must have been set in position before the walls above them were
>built.)
>John Briggs
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|