Medieval England – There and Back Again

A Jewish Person Walks into a Church

When people travel, everyone has a different perception of their ideal trip. For example, when people travel abroad, some people enjoy seeing the must-see sights while others enjoy seeing the less known sights away from the crowds. While I enjoy traveling to the less known sights to see how locals live, my experience at Westminster Abbey was truly remarkable. When I walked into Westminster Abbey I realized how important of a building I was walking into due to the carvings over the entrance, the towers standing high above neighboring buildings, and details carved into the stone towers.

Walking into Westminster Abbey is an experience like no other. When I walked into Westminster Abbey I was amazed by the history that surrounded me; from the tombs of Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, and a few monarchs to the coronation chair. It was incredible to be standing in the building that events such as royal weddings and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Along with the history of Westminster Abbey, the architecture throughout the church is breathtaking. In the Quire, the woodwork on the benches paired with the gold above the benches and the column makes the visitor appreciate what this building means historically and religiously to England. As a Jewish person walking into a church such as Westminster Abbey, I do not get moved spiritually, however the altar in Westminster Abbey was beautiful. From the gold covered sculptures to the last supper, to the gold carvings the altar at Westminster Abbey is something that will make someone appreciate the Catholicism despite the religion one practices.

Jeremy Dzigas

From Page to Streets

Before venturing to England and exploring for myself all the wonders that it held, all my knowledge of England came from other people. I’d see England through the eyes of famous authors, or through films or TV shows set in England. In fact, as far back as I can remember, most of the connections I could make to the world outside of my home were through a screen or a page.

I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to explore on my own. I remember wondering what it would look like, to see the second star on the right from the top of Big Ben like in Peter Pan, or walk down Baker Street with characters like Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, or see places like the Globe Theater.

Fortunately, I was able to do all of these things. Well, almost all of them. Unfortunately Big Ben was under construction (and I don’t think that people would actually be able to stand on the clock’s hands like in animated movies like Disney’s Peter Pan, or The Great Mouse Detective). But, I was able to see Peter Pan, and Holmes’s apartment, and Shakespeare’s Globe.

While these are just a handful of places I was able to explore, they were the places that meant so much to me. Places that I had connected to so vividly as I’d grown up, I was able to explore and experience for myself and not rely on film or literature to take me there. I could talk about other places too; like how the streets of York made me feel like I was wandering through time, able to see things both modern and old fashioned, and how standing in Westminster Abbey was surreal because it doesn’t hit you that you could literally be standing on top of the grave of someone like Charles Dickens, Isaac Newton, or Charles Dickens until you see their name on the floor.

Places like these make me feel small in the world. All the history and significance of these places and the people who had been there before me, it really made me think about everything I saw differently. Now I’ve seen everything through the eyes of famous authors and actors, but also through my own eyes.

History is not just our past, it is also interpretation, and this trip was a test of my ability to do so. I saw many pieces of art and architecture which I learned can potentially be a good way to explain the past.

During the trip, I went to the British Museum in London, a colossal building with exhibits from around the world. To go through the entire museum would probably take an entire day or two (it took me two). I saw the exhibit on Assyrian walls. The reliefs (sculptures that are engraved on a solid background) were interesting. However, I am early in my academics, so I have picked the Assyrian exhibit because the only thing I know of them is that they were an ancient militaristic civilization.

First, what is it? These reliefs seem to depict humanoid creatures; the one to the right seems to be a pegasus with the head of a man, notice how long and extravagant his beard and the hair on the back of his head is. The one to the left depicts a man with the head of an eagle, he wears a robe and his hair is either straightened and down resting on his shoulders, or he is wearing a headdress, either way, there seem to be bits of jewelry on it. The eagle-man also has two pairs of wings, they’re feathers but one pair shoots downwards towards the lower half of his body, like a butterfly. He wears a necklace and two identical bracelets, and in each hand, he holds an item. Each of these things symbolizes something, however, what it requires research, which is delving deeper into the historical method. From just the looks of them, these reliefs depict religious figures, but the fact that man is depicted as both man and the animal must symbolize something, possibly spiritual or religious.

Continuing on, I saw two reliefs, the left (below) is going out on a lion hunt, and the right is the return from a lion hunt. The simple fact that lion hunts are depicted proves their significance, what I cannot answer without research is why. The left depicts a lot of netting and supplies, this suggests that lion hunting was planned, not just impromptu. In the picture to the right, it looks like there were much more men and equipment used in hunting than just netting and horses. Some hold spears and shields or arrows and a bow, most of them are holding the lions. It must have been a considerable feat, each lion is held by five to six men.

Now to bring it all together. The two religious reliefs and the lion hunt reliefs are similar in a few ways. Look at the faces of the hunters and then of the Pegasus and the eagle-man. All their eyes have no pupils, and each face looks the same. Each of the hunters does not have a beard, but they do have hair going down the back of their neck; however, it is not as extravagant as the Pegasus’. Also, at least in the reliefs seen in the museum, none depicted females, only males. The size of the beard must be important because it is the only difference between the people depicted in each of the reliefs (including the ones not shown in the pictures above).

Of course, interpretation only goes so far. What is depicted in our past can suggest many things but I cannot conclude an argument based simply on these images without other sources. The Assyrians could have depicted lion hunting because it was an adrenaline-inducing activity with many purposes; maybe it was to express their masculinity, after all, there are only males depicted. It could be simply to obtain food, or they could even have done it just for the thrill.

Antonio V. Incardona

A Solitary Moment in the Cloisters of Canterbury Cathedral

By day nine of our excursion ‘across the pond,’ my mind, feet, (and liver) were feeling the exhausting effects of several early mornings, long days, and short nights spent exploring a beautiful country which was not my own. However, I was still beyond excited to see Canterbury Cathedral and hear Dr. Leonie Hicks speak to us about it’s longstanding history.

The part of that day, and perhaps of the whole trip, which stands out most strikingly in my memory was not of the cathedral itself (as beautiful as it was). When we were given free time to explore the church, I decided to wander outside the nave door in search of the cloisters and the archive library labeled on the map we were given. What I found was a massive open air hallway which opened up on the left to a perfectly picturesque herb garden.

The enclosure was truly something out of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. Little square plots of parsley, rosemary, thyme, lavender, catnip, and my personal favorite; succulents were scattered about the green space. Each bed was planted around a clump of stone ruin from some long-fallen architectural feature. The area was closed in on the sides adjacent to and opposite from the church by weathered stone walls made up of stout chipped columns and crumbling stone archways. Creeping vines and mossy greenery sprawled down between the uneven stone masonry from the tops of the shrubbery-covered walls. The juxtaposition of nature’s growth over the aged architecture reminded me of J.M.W. Turner’s charming paintings of Tintern Abbey. The thing I will remember most about this sweet solitary moment spent in the cloisters of Canterbury Cathedral is the smell of fresh dew-covered herbs drifting freely around me in the cool, quiet morning air.

-Charlotte Rosvold

The Most Beautiful Game in the World

Watching twenty-two men kick a ball around the pitch was most definitely the best part of my trip to England. Football has always been a huge part of who I am, so naturally the first thing I had planned to do during my trip across the pond was attend a match at Wembley Stadium.

Walking into the the stadium was surreal, the energy was uncanny and I could feel my heart racing with excitement. After my first step past the doors to where the pitch was, my jaw dropped- the view was absolutely incredible. The crisp fresh air, green grass on the pitch, bright fire truck red seats, and the sun shining across it all. It was as though I had just stepped foot into my wildest dream, and I did not have to wake up.

By kickoff, the stadium was packed with loud and rowdy fans decked out in either Tottenham Hotspurs or AFC Wimbledon apparel. From the first touch of the ball, fans were chanting, singing and cheering with a strong sense of passion and pride. Although I could not understand most of what the crowds were chanting, the atmosphere had captivated me and made me feel like a part of the whole. Goals in the second half only intensified the animated group of followers. I bounced out of my seat as quickly as the ball hit the net, seeing Harry Kane score in person is something that will be engrained in my memory for the rest of my life. This was a place that I did not want to leave, a place where I felt as right at home.

Don’t worry Wembley, I’ll be back soon to enjoy the most beautiful game in the world.

Audree Gilchrest

Violence and the Tower of London

Despite its emphasis on relatively safe Britishisms like the crown jewels, the Tower of London’s dark atmosphere and history of death impacted in some very strange ways. I cannot recall ever having been anywhere with such a violent history, so it was surprising that its torturous and murderous past were acknowledged so openly and documented in the tower’s displays. It is especially unexpected, since the Tower of London is a tourist attraction and is therefore motivated to be accessible to the widest possible variety of people (as opposed to just the morbid niche to which I am subscribed).

The open and frank discussion of the World War I executions at the tower, particularly as it relates to the apparent lack of evidence for those convicted, was direct in a way that I found unsettling. The fact that the exact spot of execution was revealed in the written materials and was visible to anyone exploring the monument surprised me, as I cannot remember any parallel experience of this nature within the States. This lack of an American analog could simply be my lack of life experience, or it could be representative of a discrepancy in the way that the British and the United States view the violent patches of their history. From a purely observational perspective, there seems to be a larger tolerance for violent content internationally, as modern American cinema is comparatively tamer than some of its European and Asian in its portrayals violence (for example, there are no American equivalents of Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible, Lars von Trier’s Antichrist, Tom Six’s Human Centipede Trilogy, Srdjan Spasojevic’s A Serbian Film, or any of Takashi Miike’s films). Although I don’t have a conclusive answer, I found myself wondering if there was a genuine unwillingness to confront violence in America (both in terms of fictional content and factual stories), particularly as it relates to the founding of the country and the colonial era.

While my lack of closure on this internal thread was frustrating, this aspect of the tower was not the most introspective part of the day. Instead, I found the preserved inscriptions from prisoners to be captivating. I was shocked to find that these etchings in the walls were usually quite simple, operating more as records of occupancy than the last words of men and women about to be executed. Nevertheless, the sparsity of verbiage was still impactful, especially since some of the occupants’ fates are presently unknown to historians. In this way, there was a certain mystery to some of the carvings. The historical uses of the space mandated a reverence that we had previously only experienced in cathedrals. People gestured to various carvings and the accompanying explanations. They quietly muttered to one another, but there seemed to be a certain uneasiness in allowing this part of the tower to go without acknowledgement through the momentary breaking of traditional speech and behavioral patterns. I was moved by the stories of those imprisoned in the tower, even though many of the wall etchings that I read were primarily short phrases, dates, and names with little significance to most non-historians.

Brian Thornton

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