Full Description
This book is the first major investigation of a subject of seminal importance in the study of church history and archaeology. The two stone thrones, at Wells and Durham, the three timber monuments, at Exeter, St Davids and Hereford, and the mid-14th-century bishop's chair at Lincoln, all come under a searching empirical enquiry.The Exeter throne is the largest and most impressive in Europe. It is a distinguished innovatory example of the English Decorated style, with antecedents passing back to the court of Edward I. It exemplifies most of the historical and formal strands that suffuse the entire book- visual appearance, distinctiveness within the building, prestige, construction, stylistic context, finance, and the patronage and personal role of the bishop himself; as well as the subtler issues of the personal and collective politics of bishop and chapter, the monument's liturgical applications, its relationship with the cathedral's relics, its symbolism and what it tells us about the aspirations of the institution within the existing ecclesiastical hierarchy.The thrones also reveal much about the personal circumstances of an individual bishop, and where he stood on the scale of a good diocesan on the one hand, and ambitious politician on the other, as exemplified at Exeter and Durham.The text is by the art historian, Dr Charles Tracy, a seasoned expert on church furniture both in Britain and on the continent of Europe. The chapter on the stone thrones was prepared by Andrew Budge who is currently preparing a Ph.D thesis on 'English Chantry Churches' at Birkbeck College. The polychromy authority, Eddie Sinclair, spent many hours on the scaffold to bring forward her remarkable report on the Exeter throne. Her full report is to be published online.The Exeter throne is also interpreted by the established timber conservation practitioner, Hugh Harrison, and the St Davids throne by the experienced draughtsman, Peter Ferguson. In an age of the CAD, his meticulous measured drawings of the Exeter and St Davids monuments are one of the most remarkable features of book. The architect, Paul Woodfield prepared the drawings for the Lincoln chair.
Contents
AcknowledgementPrefacexx1. Episcopal thrones in the early-medieval church2. The timber episcopal thrones of medieval britainI. Exeter Cathedralii. St Davids Cathedraliii. Hereford Cathedral3. The Lincoln Cathedral bishop's chair4. The medieval stone episcopal thrones at Wells and Durham Cathedrals, by Andrew BudgeAppendix 1. Significant items connected with the manufacture of the Exeter Cathedral bishop's throne (extracted from the fabric accounts of the Exeter Cathedral)Appendix 2. Significant items connected with the manufacture of the Exeter Cathedral choir furnishings by Thomas of Witneys's 'high altar team' et al., 1316-1326. (Representative extracts from the general and high altar accounts of the fabric rolls of the Cathedral)Appendix 3. The construction and assembly of the bishops' thrones at Exeter, St Davids and Hereford Cathedrals, by Hugh HarrisonAppendix 4. The medieval polychromy scheme of the Exeter Cathedral bishop's throne: a summary, by Eddie SinclairAppendix 5. Chudleigh, Norton and the carriage of timber for Exeter's bishop's throne, by John AllanIndex
