Christianity and its material culture

By aias98
  • Period: 201 to 600

    The cult of saints began

    "The bones of martyrs were believed to provide evidence of God’s power at work in the world, producing miracles and spectacles of the effectiveness of faith." ~ Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christianity/Relics-and-saints
  • 325

    Council of Nicea meets in Rome to form the Nicene Creed (doctrine of Christianity)

    Church leaders are all brought together from across the Roman Empire by Christian Emperor Constantine (the first Roman Emperor to convert from paganism - the Gods - to Christianity or one God)
  • Period: 596 to 1001

    Early Christianity

  • 597

    St Augustine brought Christianity to Britain

    He was sent from Rome as a missionary by Pope Gregory and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury
  • 597

    Canterbury Cathedral is built

  • 1005

    Malcom II ascends to the Scottish throne

  • 1034

    Duncan I becomes King of Scots

  • 1040

    Macbeth ascends to throne after defeating Duncan. Becomes first scot king to pilgrimage to Rome

  • 1045

    St Margaret of Scotland is born

  • Jul 16, 1054

    Eastern Empire and Church becomes Orthodox and separates from Catholic West

  • 1057

    Malcolm III ascends to throne after killing Macbeth

  • Period: 1058 to 1093

    Malcolm and Margaret's reign

  • 1060

    Duncan II born to Malcolm and Margaret

  • 1068

    Margaret, an English princess, arrives in Dunfermline after her father loses the Battle of Hastings

  • 1070

    Margaret and Malcolm marry

  • 1072

    Dunfermline Abbey is founded by Margaret and she invites Benedictine monks from Canterbury over

  • 1084

    David I born

    "The youngest son of Malcolm III and St. Margaret. A modernising king, responsible for transforming his kingdom largely by continuing the work of Anglicisation begun by his mother. He seems to have spent as much time in England as he did in Scotland" https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Kings-Queens-of-Scotland/
  • 1093

    Margaret and Malcolm die and are buried at the Abbey

  • Nov 16, 1093

    St Margaret dies

  • 1107

    Edgar (their son) is buried at Dunfermline

  • Period: 1107 to 1124

    Alexander I (M and m son) reign

  • Period: 1124 to 1153

    David I (son of M and M) reign

  • 1126

    Alexander I Construction work to raise the towers on the Nave. Window above put in.

    Done
  • 1150

    David I raises the church to Abbey status. Became a colony for 13 Benedictine monks from Canterbury

  • 1153

    David is buried at Dunfermline

  • 1162

    Thomas Becket becomes Archbishop

  • Dec 29, 1170

    Thomas Becket's murder at Canterbury Cathedral

    King Henry II was frustrated because Becket's allegiance had changed from the King to the Pope. His words of frustration were overhead and misunderstood by four knights who took them as an order to dispose of Becket
  • Dec 29, 1170

    Becket's first relic is formed and a paralytic woman is reported to be cured

    • After his death, some cloth soaking up B's blood was kept and instantly regarded as a powerful relic
    • Reports of B's blood healing a paralytic woman started to circulate and draw attention to the cathedral cue pilgrimage
  • 1171

    Becket's tomb in the Crypt is made open to the public to visit

    • Reports of miracles surrounding his tomb (which effectively was a powerful relic) started to circulate and attract people to come pilgrimage
    • Placed in a foramina tomb... Figure 3 This was basically a tomb made of stone that visitors could put their head in to see / feel close to Becket without being able to take a piece of him with them lol
    • Lots of free access to the tomb
    • People leaving gifts, donations and votive offerings... crutches as a symbol of cures.
  • 1173

    Becket gains official saint status

  • Jul 7, 1220

    Becket's tomb and brand new shrine is moved from the underground Crypt to Trinity Chapel

    • Brilliant gold and bright coloured tomb that was bejewelled
    • More accessible in some ways but heavily guarded with a metal grille
  • Jul 7, 1220

    Access to Becket's golden reliquary was limited

  • Jul 7, 1220

    Miracle windows displaying all the alleged miracles between 1170 and 1220

  • 1250

    Margaret's shrine is canonised

  • 1274

    Robert the Bruce born

  • 1286

    Alexander is buried

  • 1304

    A lot of D.A was burned

  • Period: 1306 to 1329

    Reign of Robert the Bruce

  • 1314

    Becket's skull relic was encased in a gold, jewelled reliquary

  • Jun 24, 1314

    Robert the Bruce secures Scottish independence at the Battle of Bannockburn

  • 1329

    RTB dies and is buried in the Abbey. His heart was taken to Melrose Abbey

  • 1350

    Fig 5 and 6 Pilgrimage Badges from Canterbury

  • 1450

    North porch added to medieval Nave

  • Nov 10, 1483

    Martin Luther is born

  • Jun 28, 1491

    Henry VIII is born

  • 1500

    Figure 2 - Last Judgement painting

    Representing ideas of purgatory and repentance... the material culture used to make Christian beliefs tangible, physical and an incentive to carry out indulgences
  • Jun 11, 1509

    Henry marries Catherine of Aragon

  • Nov 24, 1514

    John Knox is born

  • Oct 31, 1517

    Martin Luther nails his anti-Catholic thesis to the Church door, becoming a catalyst for protest and reform all across Europe

    He criticises the Catholic Church for "not acting in accordance with the teachings of the New Testament"
  • Period: Oct 31, 1517 to

    The Reformation Period

  • 1520

    A Treatise on Good Work is published

    Luther criticises the material culture of religion stating that "salvation lay in faith in Jesus, not in 'good works' that could be done without faith to try to 'buy' salvation" p319 OU book. The idea that "the material culture of pilgrimage, and the grandeur of many church interiors, were distractions away from the serious business of working towards one's own salvation" p320
  • 1533

    Henry VIII starts to challenge the Pope's authority

    Because he wants to divorce Catherine of Aragon for Anne bae-lyn but Catholic religion does not permit it. The pope refuses
  • 1533

    Henry divorce COA

  • 1534

    England breaks from Roman Cath church and Henry becomes the Supreme Head of the Church of England

    Parliament's passage of the Act of Supremacy in 1534 confirmed the break between the church and state. Henry effectively turned Britain into a theocracy
  • Dec 8, 1542

    Mary Queen of Scots born

  • 1560

    Scottish Reformation - Scotland became Protestant with a Presbyterian / Calvinist slant

  • 1560

    FROM MONKS TO MINISTERS - David Fergusson becomes first Presbyterian Minister of d.a

  • Charles I born at Dunfermline

  • Episcopacy Restored in Scotland by Proclamation and by Act of Parliament.

    Episcopacy = gov of a church run by bishops (a senior member of the Christian clergy)

  • RESTORATION OF PRESBYTERIAN GOVERNMENT IN THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND