#barking abbey

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Barking, London; 19.3.2023

[fuzzysparrow]

Valence House – A Place of Discovery

Listed as one of the top 50 best free things to do in London, Valence House is the only surviving Manor House in Dagenham, East London. In medieval times, Dagenham, Barking and Ilford were part of …

Listed as one of the top 50 best free things to do in London, Valence House is the only surviving Manor House in Dagenham, East London. In medieval times, Dagenham, Barking and Ilford were part of the Manor of Barking owned by Barking Abbey. Valence House was one of the smaller manors on the land, rented out to generate income for the Abbey. Now a museum, Valence House provides details about the history of the manor house and surrounding lands. The curators have also travelled back much further to the first settlers, explaining how the area developed into the place it is today.

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Barking, London; 19.3.2023

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Barking Abbey

“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” – Genesis 28:16 Citing from Bishop John Inge’s book A Christian Theology of Place, the Right Reveren…

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I’m an aspiring writer. Please help me out by reading, liking, sharing, reblogging, following my WordPress, etc. Thank you for being wonderful!

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(via Barking Abbey)

[thefreelancehistorywriter]

Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford and Earl of Pembroke

Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford and Earl of Pembroke

Jasper Tudor from a window in Cardiff Castle, Wales. (Photo copyright of Xenophon from Wikimedia Commons)

Like his elder brother Edmund, Jasper is an enigmatic figure. But he played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Tudor dynasty of kings and queens in England. His contribution was to loyally fight for the House of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses and to shepherd his nephew Henry…

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[beoshewulf]

This is a post by Kathryn Maude (King’s College London and University of Swansea). It’s her ‘snapshot’ of what it means to be human (or not) in the Middle Ages and will feature in Karrie Fransman’s artwork for the Medieval Comics project. Follow Kathryn on Twitter @krmaude.

St Ethelburga from a Book of Hours. France, N. or N. W. (Rouen?), c. 1430- c. 1440. British Library, MS Harley 2900, f. 68v. [bl.uk]

Æthelburg (her Old English name) or Ethelburga (the name that she was remembered by after the Norman Conquest) was abbess of the Anglo-Saxon abbey of Barking. Barking Abbey was a double monastery—a house of worship including both monks and nuns—so Abbess Æthelburg ruled over both men and women.

It was after Æthelburg’s death that her miracle-working really started to get going. The nuns of Barking were in disarray because of repeated Viking attacks, and they had to flee to London, leaving the monastery of Barking and Æthelburg’s tomb completely undefended. When the Vikings arrived to pillage the monastery, the power of Æthelburg’s holiness had called wild animals to protect her tomb.

Wolf from the Bestiary of Ann Walsh. England, 15th century. Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. kgl. S. 1633 4º, f. 16v. [bestiary.ca]

Bear from the Bestiary of Ann Walsh. England, 15th century. Kongelige Bibliotek, Gl. kgl. S. 1633 4º, f. 13v. [bestiary.ca]

Lion from Jacob van Maerlant’s Der Naturen Bloeme. Flanders, c. 1350. Koninklijke Bibliotheek, KB, KA 16, f. 60r. [bestiary.ca]

First a huge wolf blocked the main door and leapt on the Vikings. They tried another door but were set upon by a vicious bear. The final door to the church was blocked by a lion, roaring at them. They fell to their knees and prayed, at which the three wild animals became tame, and the Vikings entered the church. Instead of pillaging, the Vikings left enough treasure to feed the nuns for months.

Æthelburg made herself known in other ways too. After the Conquest, Abbess Elfgiva had commenced a controversial building project that involved moving the bodies of the abbey’s founding saints—including Æthelburg—which had been specifically forbidden by Maurice, the local bishop. Abbess Elfgiva was praying by Æthelburg’s tomb one night when she felt the tomb move by itself. It crushed Elfgiva against the wall, so she couldn’t move or breathe. Elfgiva cried out to Æthelburg:

Spare me, my lady! I am overwhelmed, I am crushed. I can scarcely draw breath or gasp because of the force of your pressure.

At this prayer, Æthelburg relents and releases Elfgiva but then appears to her in person as a giant glowing figure. She tells Elfgiva:

Make haste to take us from here and set us in the place you have prepared. This lodging oppresses us; the narrowness of the place binds us tightly; the coarse couch dishonours us.

Elfgiva meekly agrees, and the giant glowing figure of Æthelburg turns into a little girl and jumps into Elfgiva’s arms, to thank her for her support.

For the writings of Bede (673-735) concerning Æthelburg and Barking, see Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Book 4, Chapters 6-10 (available on Fordham University’s Medieval Sourcebook).

Æthelburg (or Ethelburga): saint, abbess, badass This is a post by Kathryn Maude (King’s College London and University of Swansea). It’s her ‘snapshot’ of what it means to be human (or not) in the Middle Ages and will feature in Karrie Fransman’s artwork for…

[annespebbington-blog]

 I found a map of Barking Abbey to share with you all. It reminds me of such fond memories from when I was a nun. It is truly a marvelous place for prayer and contemplation.

Teresa L. Barnes, A Nun’s Life: Barking Abbey in the Late-Medieval and Early Modern Periods (Portland: Portland State University, 2004), 169.