Old St. Paul's prior to 1561, with intact spire. The height depicted appears exaggerated compared to later engravings.

Old St. Paul's is a name used to refer to a Gothic Cathedral in the City of London built between 1087 and 1314.^[1] At its greatest, the cathedral was the third longest church in Europe and had the one of the tallest spires. The cathedral was destroyed in the Great Fire of London of 1666 and the current domed St. Paul's Cathedral was subsequentially erected on the site in an English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1020x700, 139 KB)From a Copy, in the possession of Mr. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1020x700, 139 KB)From a Copy, in the possession of Mr. ... See also Gothic art. ... A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Anglican, Catholic and some Lutheran churches, which serves as the central church of a diocese, and thus as a bishops seat. ... The City of London is a geographically-small City within Greater London, England. ... Tallest churches, heights in metres From the Middle Ages until the advent of the skyscraper, Christian churches have been among the tallest buildings in the world. ... Detail of painting from 1666 of the Great Fire of London by an unknown artist, depicting the fire as it would have appeared on the evening of Tuesday, 4 September from a boat in the vicinity of Tower Wharf. ... St Pauls Cathedral is a cathedral on Ludgate Hill, in the City of London in London, and the seat of the Bishop of London. ... Greenwich Hospital: Sir Christopher Wren, 1694. ... Christopher Wren. ...

Construction

Engraving of Old St. Paul's prior to 1561, with intact spire.

The cathedral was the fourth church on the site at Ludgate Hill dedicated to St Paul, and was begun by the Normans following a devastating fire in 1087 (detailed in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) which destroyed much of the city. Work took over 200 years, and a great deal was lost in another fire in 1136. The roof was once more built of wood, which was ultimately to doom the building. The church was consecrated in 1240, but a change of heart led to the commencement of an enlargement programme in 1256. This 'New Work' was completed in 1314 - the cathedral had been consecrated in 1300. It was the third-longest church in Europe.^[2] Excavations in 1878 by Francis Penrose showed it was 585 feet long and 100 feet wide (290 feet across the transepts and crossing), and had one of Europe's tallest spires, at some 489 feet (149 metres). Ludgate Hill is a hill in the City of London, near the old Ludgate, a gate to the City that was taken down, with its attached jail, in 1780. ... Paul of Tarsus (b. ... Norman conquests in red. ... The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals narrating the history of the Anglo-Saxons and their settlement in Great Britain. ... Events Completion of the Saint Denis Basilica in Paris Peter Abelard writes the Historia Calamitatum, detailing his relationship with Heloise People of Novgorod rebel against the hereditary prince Vsevolod and depose him Births Amalric I of Jerusalem William of Newburgh, English historian (died 1198) Deaths November 15 - Margrave Leopold III... Events Batu Khan and the Golden Horde sack the Ruthenian city of Kyiv Births Pope Benedict XI Deaths April 11 - Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, also known as Llywelyn The Great Prince of Gwynedd Monarchs/Presidents Aragon - James I King of Aragon and count of Barcelona (reigned from 1213 to 1276) Castile... Events February 22 - Jubilee of Pope Boniface VIII. March 10 - Wardrobe accounts of King Edward I of Englanddo (aka Edward Longshanks) include a reference to a game called creag being played at the town of Newenden in Kent. ... Full descriptions of the elements of a Gothic floorplan are found at the entry Cathedral diagram. ... Cathedral floor plan (crossing is shaded) A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, refers to the junction of the four arms of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church. ...

Interior

1658 plan of the cathedral

The finished cathedral of the middle ages was renowned for its interior beauty. William Benham wrote in 1902 "It had not a rival in England, perhaps one might say in Europe."^[3] The nave's immense length was particularly notable, with a Norman triforium and vaulted ceiling. The length earned it the nickname "Paul's walk". The stained glass was reputed to be the best in the country, and the east-end Rose window was particularly exquisite. Indeed, in The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer uses the windows as a metaphor in "The Miller's Tale":^[4] Triforium is an architectural term. ... The Lierne vault of the Liebfrauenkirche, Mühlacker 1482. ... Strictly speaking, stained glass is glass that has been painted with silver stain and then fired. ... The rose window in Bristol Cathedral, Bristol, England, at the western end of the nave. ... Canterbury Tales Woodcut 1484 The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in prose, the rest in verse). ... Geoffrey Chaucer (c. ... In language, a metaphor (from the Greek: metapherin rhetorical trope) is defined as a direct comparison between two or more seemingly unrelated subjects and mainly uses is a to join the first subjects. ... The Millers Prologue and Tale is the second of Geoffrey Chaucers Canterbury Tales, told by a drunken miller to quite The Knights Tale. ...

The walls were lined with the tombs of mediæval bishops and nobility. Two Anglo-Saxon kings were buried inside, Sebbi, King of the East Saxons, and Ethelred the Unready. A number of historic figures such as John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and John Beauchamp, 3rd Baron Beauchamp de Somerset had particularly large monuments constructed. The cathedral was also to later contain the tombs of the poet and clergyman John Donne and the Crown minister Nicholas Bacon.^[5] The famous parade helmet found at Sutton Hoo, probably belonging to King Raedwald of East Anglia circa 625. ... Sebbi was the joint king of Essex from 664 to 683 along with his brother Sighere. ... The Kingdom of the East Seaxe (one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the so-called Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy) was founded around 500 AD and covered the territory currently occupied by the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex. ... Ethelred II (c. ... John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (June 24, 1340 – February 3, 1399) was the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. ... John Beauchamp of Hache, Baron Beauchamp de Somerset (died ?1361) was Warden of the Cinque Ports from 1359 to about 1361. ... John Donne (pronounced Dun; 1572 – March 31, 1631) was a Jacobean poet and preacher, representative of the metaphysical poets of the period. ... Sir Nicholas Bacon (1509 - February 20, 1579) was an English politician during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England. ...

Decline

Classical-style West Front by Inigo Jones added between 1630 and 1666

By the 16th century the building was decaying. Under Henry VIII and Edward VI, the Dissolution of the Monasteries and Chantries Acts led to the destruction of interior ornamentation and the cloisters, charnels, crypts, chapels, shrines, chantries and other buildings in the churchyard. Many of these former religious sites in St Paul's Churchyard, having been seized by the crown, were sold as shops and rental properties, especially to printers and booksellers, who were often evangelical Protestants. Buildings that were razed often supplied ready-dressed building material for construction projects, such as the Lord Protector's city palace, Somerset House.^[6] Image File history File links Old_St. ... Image File history File links Old_St. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... For other meanings see Henry VIII (disambiguation). ... Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) became King of England, King of France (in practice only the town and surrounding district of Calais) and Ireland on 28 January 1547, and coronated on 20 February, at just nine years of age. ... The Dissolution of the Monasteries, referred to by Roman Catholic writers as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the formal process during the English Reformation by which King Henry VIII confiscated the property of the monastic institutions in England between 1538 and 1541. ... Chantry is a term for the English establishment of a shrine or chapel on private land where monks or priests would say (or chant) prayers on a fixed schedule, usually for someone who had died. ... Cloister of Saint Trophimus, in Arles, France A cloister (from latin claustrum) is a part of cathedral, monastic and abbey architecture. ... A charnel house (Med. ... Crypt is also a commonly used name of water trumpets, aquatic plants. ... A chapel is a private church, usually small and often attached to a larger institution such as a college, a hospital, a palace, or a prison. ... Eastern Orthodox shrine Buddhist shrine just outside Wat Phnom. ... Chantry is a term for the English establishment of a shrine or chapel on private land where monks or priests would say (or chant) prayers on a fixed schedule, usually for someone who had died. ... The word evangelicalism usually refers to religious practices and traditions which are found in conservative, almost always Protestant Christianity. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... The central courtyard of Somerset House in London. ...

Crowds were drawn to the northeast corner of the Churchyard, St Paul's Cross, where open air preaching took place. It was there in the Cross Yard in 1549 that radical Protestant preachers incited a mob to destroy many of the cathedral's interior decorations. In 1561 the spire was destroyed by lightning and it was not replaced; this event was taken by both Protestants and Catholics as a sign of God's displeasure at the other faction's actions. Queen Elizabeth I of England contributed towards the cost of repairs.^[7] Events July - Ketts Rebellion Francis Xavier arrives in Japan. ... // Events The Edict of Orleans suspends the persecution of the Huguenots. ... Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England, Queen of France (in name only), and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ...

England's first classical architect, Inigo Jones, added the cathedral's west front in the 1630s, but there was much defacement and mistreatment of the building by Parliamentarian forces during the English Civil War, when the old documents and charters were dispersed and destroyed.^[8] Classicism door in Olomouc, The Czech Republic Teatr Wielki in Warsaw Church La Madeleine in Paris Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicist seeks to emulate. ... Inigo Jones, by Sir Anthony van Dyck Inigo Jones (July 15, 1573–June 21, 1652) is regarded as the first significant English architect. ... Events and Trends Thirty Years War in full swing in Europe September 8, 1636 - A vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony establishes Harvard College as the first college founded in the Americas. ... The English Civil War consisted of a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians (known as Roundheads) and Royalists (known as Cavaliers) between 1642 and 1651. ...

The Great Fire

West Front of the Cathedral after the fire, 1666

Old St Paul's was completely gutted in the Great Fire of London of 1666, which completely destroyed the tower, roof and much of the stonework. Samuel Pepys recalls the building in flames in his diary:^[9] Image File history File links Old_St. ... Image File history File links Old_St. ... Detail of painting from 1666 of the Great Fire of London by an unknown artist, depicting the fire as it would have appeared on the evening of Tuesday, 4 September from a boat in the vicinity of Tower Wharf. ... 1666 is often called Annus Mirabilis. ... Samuel Pepys, FRS (23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, famous chiefly for his comprehensive diary. ...

Temporary repairs were made to the building, but while it might have been salvageable, albeit with almost complete reconstruction, a decision was taken to build a new cathedral in a modern style instead, a step which had been contemplated even before the fire. Following the appointment of Sir Christopher Wren, the Surveyor to the King's Works, demolition of the remains of the old cathedral began. Wren initially utilised the then-new technique of using gunpowder to bring down the surviving stone walls. Like many experimental techniques, the use of gunpowder was not easy to control and nearby residents complained about noise and damage. Eventually, Wren resorted to using a battering ram instead. Building work on the new cathedral begin in June 1675.^[10] Sir Christopher Wren, (20 October 1632–25 February 1723) was a 17th century English designer, astronomer, geometrician, and the greatest English architect of his time. ... Smokeless powder Gunpowder, whether black powder or smokeless powder, is a substance that burns very rapidly, releasing gases that act as a propellant in firearms. ... Replica battering ram at Ch teau des Baux, France A battering ram is a weapon used from ancient times. ...

Gallery

References

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. ... Samuel Pepys, FRS (23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, famous chiefly for his comprehensive diary. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

St. Paul's Cathedral

• Official website, with history of Old St. Paul's