Reading Abbey

Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in Reading, Berkshire, founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors and successors". Image File history File links Reading Abbey in the centre of Reading in England. ... Image File history File links Reading Abbey in the centre of Reading in England. ... Rocky landscape with ruins, by Nicolaes Berchem, ca. ... An abbey (from the Latin abbatia, which is derived from the Syriac abba, father), is a Christian monastery or convent, under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serve as the spiritual father or mother of the community. ... St Marys Church and market Reading is a town and unitary authority in Berkshire in England, at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, halfway between London and Oxford. ... For other places named Berkshire, see: Berkshire (disambiguation) Berkshire (IPA: or  ; sometimes abbreviated to Berks) is a county in the south of England, to the west of London and also bordering on Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Greater London, Surrey, Wiltshire and Hampshire. ... Henry I (c. ... Events Concordat of Worms condemns Pierre Abélards writings on the Holy Trinity. ... William I ( 1028 – September 9, 1087), was King of England from 1066 to 1087. ... William II (called Rufus, perhaps because of his red-faced appearance) (c. ... Edith of Scotland, (c. ...

History

Reading Abbey and the River Kennet

Following its royal foundation, the abbey was established by a party of monks from the French abbey of Cluny, together with monks from the Cluniac priory of St Pancras at Lewes in Sussex. According to the twelfth century chronicler William of Malmesbury, the abbey was built on a gravel spur "between the rivers Kennet and Thames, on a spot calculated for the reception of almost all who might have occasion to travel to the more populous cities of England". The adjacent rivers provided convenient transport, and the abbey established wharves on the River Kennet. The Kennet also provided power for the abbey water mills, most of which were established on the Holy Brook, a channel of the Kennet of uncertain origin. Image File history File links Reading Abbey and the River Kennet in the centre of Reading in England. ... Image File history File links Reading Abbey and the River Kennet in the centre of Reading in England. ... A Roman Catholic monk A monk is a person who practices monasticism, adopting a strict religious and ascetic lifestyle, usually in community with others following the same path. ... Cluny nowadays The town of Cluny or Clugny lies in the modern-day département of Saône-et-Loire in the région of France, near Mâcon. ... Location within the British Isles. ... Sussex as a traditional county. ... William of Malmesbury (c. ... A wharf (plural wharfs, or (especially in American English) wharves, collectively wharfing or wharfage) is a fixed platform, commonly on pilings, roughly parallel to and alongside navigable water, where ships are loaded and unloaded. ... The Kennet is a river in the south east of England, and a tributary of the River Thames. ... A watermill is a machine constructed by connecting a water wheel to a pair of millstones. ... The Holy Brook is a six mile long channel of the River Kennet in the vicinity of the English town of Reading. ...

When Henry I died in France in 1135 his body was returned to Reading, and was buried in the front of the altar of the then incomplete abbey. Other royal persons buried in the abbey include parts of Empress Matilda, William of Poitiers, and Constance of York, among others. Events January - Byland Abbey founded Stephen of Blois succeeds King Henry I. Empress Maud, daughter of Henry I and widow of Henry V opposed Stephen and claims the throne as her own Owain Gwynedd of Wales defeats the Normans at Crug Mawr. ... Picture of an altar from the Meyer Encyclopaedia An altar, (Hebrew mizbeah, from a word meaning to slay) is any structure on which sacrifices known as the korbanot as well as incense offerings are offered for religious purposes. ... Empress Matilda (February 1102 – September 10, 1167) is the title by which Matilda, daughter and dispossessed heir of King Henry I of England and his wife Matilda of Scotland (herself daughter of Malcolm III Canmore and St. ... William (August 17, 1153-1156) was the first child of Henry Plantagenet (later Henry II of England) and Eleanor of Aquitaine, strangely born on the same day that his fathers rival Eustace IV of Boulogne died. ... Constance of York (c. ...

Because of its royal patronage, the abbey was one of the pilgrimage centres of medieval England, and one of its richest and most important religious houses, with possessions as far away as Herefordshire and Scotland. The abbey also held over 230 relics including the hand of St James. A shriveled human hand was found in the ruins during demolition work in 1786 and is now in St Peter's Church, Marlow. The song Sumer is icumen in, which was first written down in the abbey about 1240, is the earliest known four part harmony from Britain. The original document is held in the British Library. A pilgrimage is a term primarily used in religion and spirituality of a long journey or search of great moral significance. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Herefordshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. ... Scotland (Alba in Scottish Gaelic) is a country in northwest Europe and a constituent nation of the United Kingdom. ... The word relic comes from the Latin reliquiae (remains) and there are many pre-Christian instances of some bone or other part of the corpse, or some intimately associated object, carefully preserved with an air of veneration as a tangible memorial. ... For people and places called Saint James, see the diambiguation page. ... 1786 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Marlow is the name of several places around the world: Little Marlow, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom Marlow, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom Marlow, Germany Marlow, New Hampshire, USA Marlow, Oklahoma, USA Marlow Heights, Maryland, USA It is also the surname of Christopher Marlow and Philip Marlowe. ... Sumer Is Icumen In is a traditional English round, and possibly the oldest such example of counterpoint in existence. ... 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... British Library main building, London The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is the worlds largest research library, holding over 150 million items and adding some 3 million every year. ...

The abbey was largely destroyed in 1538 during Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries. The last abbot, Hugh Cook Faringdon, was subsequently tried and convicted of high treason and hung, drawn and quartered in front of the Abbey Church. After this, the buildings of the abbey were extensively robbed, with lead, glass and facing stones removed for reuse elsewhere. Events Treaty of Nagyvarad. ... Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) from 22 April 1509 until his death. ... The Dissolution of the Monasteries (referred to by Roman Catholic writers as the Suppression of the Monasteries) was the formal process, taking place between 1536 and 1540, by which King Henry VIII confiscated the property of the Roman Catholic monastic institutions in England and took them to himself, as the... Hugh Cook Faringdon (also known as Hugh Faringdon or Hugh Cook of Faringdon) was appointed Abbot of Reading Abbey in 1520, on the death of Abbot Thomas Worcester. ... Under English, and later British law, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Sovereign. ... Drawing and quartering was part of the penalty anciently ordained in England for treason. ...

Remains

View from the site of the monks dormitory looking towards the chapter house

The inner rubble cores of the walls of the major buildings of the abbey still stand, and in recent years have been conserved and stabilised. These are now freely accessible to the public as part of the Forbury Gardens, a city centre park, and are the scene for various outdoor performances in summer. Image File history File links Reading Abbey in the centre of Reading in England. ... Image File history File links Reading Abbey in the centre of Reading in England. ...

The inner gateway of the abbey survives intact, albeit heavily 'restored' in the Victorian era, and now stands adjoining the Reading crown court and a large commercial office building, overlooking Forbury Gardens. Similarly the abbey's hospitium survives, and after various uses has now been incorporated into a recent office development. Role Her Majestys Crown Court is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Supreme Court of Judicature in England and Wales. ...

The abbey school, Reading School, (which was founded in 1125) institutionally survives as a state grammar school. Reading School is a grammar school in the town of Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom. ... Events May 23 - Lothar of Saxony becomes Holy Roman Emperor on the death of Henry V. War ends between Toulouse and Provence. ... A grammar school is a type of school found in some English-speaking countries. ...

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: Reading Abbey
• Friends of Reading Abbey

Sources

• The staff of the Trust for Wessex Archeology and Reading Museum and Art Gallery (1983). Reading Abbey Rediscovered, a summary of the Abbey's history and recent archaeological excavations. Trust for Wessex Archeology. No ISBN known.