Glasney College

Glasney College

Glasney College was founded at Penryn, Cornwall in 1265 by Bishop Bronescombe and was the centre of ecclesiastical power in Cornwall's Middle Ages and probably the best known and most important of Cornwall's monastic institutions. Much of the building was modelled on the existing Exeter Cathedral. The site at Glasney was at the head of a small creek and as a defence Bishop Bronescombe built three towers, forming one block which acted as a defence both for the college and the town of Penryn. Miracle plays were performed here and across Cornwall in the Cornish language. Only a few Cornish-language plays survive today including several that were composed at Glasney, the Ordinalia: "The Creation of the World", "The Passion of our Lord", "The Resurrection of our Lord"; "Bewans Meriasek" (The Life of St Meriasek - the patron saint of Camborne).

Destruction of Glasney

Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries, between 1536 and 1545, signalled the end of the big Cornish priories but as a Chantry Church, Glasney held on until 1548 when it suffered the same fate. The smashing and looting of Cornish colleges such as a Glasney and Crantock brought an end to the formal scholarship that had helped sustain the Cornish language and Cornish cultural identity and played a significant part in fermenting opposition to forthcoming cultural 'reforms' which led to the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549. Apart from being sorely missed centres of indigenous cultural excellence many in Cornwall would have seen these institutions as being a bridge to the Celtic past, back even to the Christianised paganism of their forefathers. When traditional religious processions and pilgrimages were banned in 1548, commissioners were sent out to smash all symbols of Cornish Catholicism. In Cornwall this job fell to William Body, whose desecration of religious shrines angered many and along with other assaults on Cornish legal rights, culture, language and religion, led to his murder on 5 April 1548 at Helston.

Present site

Today the only surviving remains of Glasney are a portion of wall and an arch. In 1986 the "Friends of Glasney College Society" was established in Penryn by Dr James Whetter, who in his book "The History of Glasney College" describes the destruction of Glasney as a damaging blow to the history and spirit of the Cornish nation. [ [http://www.connexions.co.uk/glasney The History of Glasney College - 1988 by James Whetter] ]

Footnotes

References

* Vincent, John, "The History of Glasney College Church", 1903

External links

* [http://homepage.mac.com/philipdavis/English%20sites/4513.html The Gatehouse article on Glasney College]
* [http://www.connexions.co.uk/glasney/index.htm History Of Glasney College]
* [http://homepages.tesco.net/~k.wasley/Glasney.htm History of Glasney College]
* [http://www.theroselandinstitute.co.uk/index.html Glasney at the Roseland Institute]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Prayer Book Rebellion — Date 1549 Location Cornwall, Devon Result Victory for Edwardian forces, rebellion suppressed, execution of rebel commanders …   Wikipedia

  • Penryn, Cornwall — Infobox UK place country = England map type= Cornwall official name= Penryn latitude= 50.16894 longitude= 5.10729 civil parish= Penryn population = 6,227 (Census 2001) [ [http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3 b …   Wikipedia

  • List of destroyed libraries, archives and museums — This is a list of destroyed libraries (and some associated archives and museums) that have been deliberately or accidentally destroyed or badly damaged. Sometimes libraries are purposely destroyed as a form of cultural cleansing. Other times they …   Wikipedia

  • Culture of Cornwall — Entrance at Truro Cathedral has welcome sign in several languages, including Cornish …   Wikipedia

  • Christianity in Cornwall — Remains of St Piran s Old Church, Perranzabuloe …   Wikipedia

  • English medium education — An English medium education system is one that uses English as the primary medium of instruction. A medium of instruction is the language that is used in teaching. The language used may or may not be the official language of the territory. Most… …   Wikipedia

  • List of topics related to Cornwall — This is a list of topics related to Cornwall, United Kingdom. The contains a more comprehensive selection of Cornish articles.Architecture*Royal Albert Bridge *Tamar Bridge * *Cornwall Railway viaducts *Tate St Ives *Eden Project *Jamaica Inn… …   Wikipedia

  • Institute of Cornish Studies — Infobox University name=Institute of Cornish Studies, University of Exeter motto= mottoeng= established=1970 type=Public calendar = Semester endowment = president= director= Philip Payton city=Falmouth state=Cornwall country=UK undergrad=… …   Wikipedia

  • Cornish language — For the Anglo Cornish accent and dialect, see Anglo Cornish. Cornish Kernowek, Kernewek Pronunciation [kərˈnuːək] Spoken in …   Wikipedia

  • History of Cornwall — Boscawen Un stone circle looking north Ruin of Cornish tin mine …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”