Introduction
In the Reformation, King Henry VIII’s University men told him research had shown that praying for miracles at the shrine of a saint was superstitious nonsense. So he let them smash the shrines, break open the coffins with a sledgehammer, and recover any nice jewellery before the human remains were incinerated.
IN 1537, Henry VIII’s experts Dr Ley, Dr Henley and Dr Blythman travelled to Durham Cathedral to superintend another demolition: the shrine of St Cuthbert.
When the goldsmith – someone had to assay the jewellery – broke open Cuthbert’s coffin, he saw to his astonishment that Cuthbert looked to have been buried only a matter of days. His face showed a fortnight’s growth of beard, his limbs were supple, and his priestly garments were soft and fresh. Yet all had lain there for nearly nine centuries.*
Dr Henley down below was calling impatiently for the bones (and Cuthbert’s sapphire-crowned ring) to be tossed out, but Ley cut him short. ‘If you will not believe me’ said Ley, a little shaken, ‘come up and see him yourself!’ The poor goldsmith noticed he had wounded one of the saint’s legs, and wept.*
After some delay, Bishop Tunstall secured permission to reinter the body in the same spot, marked today by a marble slab inscribed with a single word: Cvthbertvs.*
‘There’ being the coffin, made in 698. The coffin itself had travelled extensively: from Lindisfarne in 875, it went to Chester-le-Street, then Ripon a century later, and finally Durham in about 1020. During this period, it was opened countless times; one Chester monk used comb the saint’s hair.
Apparently, a bruise showed. A contemporary, Archdeacon Harpsfield, tells us that a blow “fell upon the body of the Saint itself, and wounded the leg, and of the wound the flesh soon gave a manifest sign.”
There remains some controversy over whether Tunstall actually did so. The grave was reopened on May 17th, 1827, and all parties agree that it was so clean that nothing had ever decayed there. The Protestant view is that despite the eyewitness testimony the story above is false, and Cuthbert was never incorrupt, his dry bones being reburied by Tunstall. The alternative is that Tunstall did not replace Cuthbert’s incorrupt body in the shrine after all, and that to this day it lies in some unknown spot. Back in the old shrine, some bones (including the remains of several children) together with various relics taken from the original grave were buried under a headstone, name-side down, marked Richardus Heswell monachus.
Précis
In 1337, the systematic plunder of saints’ shrines in the Reformation reached St Cuthbert at Durham. However, on this occasion there were no dusty bones, but a whole body untouched by 850 years of burial. Henry VIII’s officials were unsure what action to take, so the Bishop of Durham decided to reinter rather than destroy the precious remains. (58 / 60 words)
In 1337, the systematic plunder of saints’ shrines in the Reformation reached St Cuthbert at Durham. However, on this occasion there were no dusty bones, but a whole body untouched by 850 years of burial. Henry VIII’s officials were unsure what action to take, so the Bishop of Durham decided to reinter rather than destroy the precious remains.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, besides, despite, just, must, otherwise, ought, since.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 I. See. Shake.
2 If. Sapphire. You.
3 Call. Saint. Word.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
Post Box : Ask Nicholas
Grok : Ask Grok
You are welcome to share your creativity with me, or ask for help with any of the exercises on Clay Lane. Write to me at this address:
See more at Post Box.
If you like what I’m doing here on Clay Lane, from time to time you could buy me a coffee.
Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and there is no need to register.
Related Posts
Cuthbert’s friend comes asking for a priest to attend his dying wife — so long as it isn’t Cuthbert.
Picture: © James Denham, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted December 10 2018
Bede is reminded of another great Christian saint when St Cuthbert shoos some troublesome crows from his barley crop.
Picture: By Vincent van Gogh, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted May 30 2018
