A series of articles that appeared on this blogsite from 2011 to 2017 featuring the fate of the Last Abbot of Glastonbury assembled here as one complete essay to download, print, share.
Showing posts with label Last Abbot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Last Abbot. Show all posts
Tuesday, 15 November 2022
Friday, 15 November 2019
Mystics or Madmen: The Martyrdom of Abbot Whiting
480 years ago today on 15th November 1539 the frail old abbot of Glastonbury Richard Whiting and the abbey treasurers John (Arthur) Thorne and Roger James (Wilfrid), were strapped to sheep hurdles and dragged through the Somerset town and up the Tor to be cruelly butchered by the King's henchmen.
The three men were hanged, drawn and quartered. After being boiled in pitch, the old Abbot's quarters were displayed at Bath, Bridgwater, Ilchester and Wells. What possessed Henry VIII's commissioners to carry out such a brutal act?
Strung up on a gallows on the Tor like a re-enactment of the Crucifixion, Avallonian Geoffrey Ashe has described these peculiar actions as "The Act of Mystics or Madmen".
Richard Whiting: The Last Abbot of Glastonbury
The curious events leading up to the execution of Richard Whiting, the Last Abbot of Glastonbury, on 15 November 1539:
Introduction: The Tudors: Divorce and Dissolution
Part I: The Last Abbot of Glastonbury
Part II: The Execution of Richard Whiting
Part III: The Bones of Richard Whiting
Appendix: The Secret of Glaston
The three men were hanged, drawn and quartered. After being boiled in pitch, the old Abbot's quarters were displayed at Bath, Bridgwater, Ilchester and Wells. What possessed Henry VIII's commissioners to carry out such a brutal act?
Strung up on a gallows on the Tor like a re-enactment of the Crucifixion, Avallonian Geoffrey Ashe has described these peculiar actions as "The Act of Mystics or Madmen".
Richard Whiting: The Last Abbot of Glastonbury
The curious events leading up to the execution of Richard Whiting, the Last Abbot of Glastonbury, on 15 November 1539:
Introduction: The Tudors: Divorce and Dissolution
Part I: The Last Abbot of Glastonbury
Part II: The Execution of Richard Whiting
Part III: The Bones of Richard Whiting
Appendix: The Secret of Glaston
* * *
Friday, 12 July 2019
Glastonbury Pilgrimages 2019
This weekend sees the annual Glastonbury Pilgrimages taking place when pilgrims will process down Glastonbury High Street and gather in the Abbey grounds to celebrate Mass.
The Broken Heart of Glastonbury
During the Late Medieval Period, Glastonbury had become a centre of pilgrimage, with an annual pilgrimage held on the 8th of September, to celebrate the birth of Our Lady. The halcyon days came crashing to an end on 15th November 1539, when the last abbot, Richard Whiting was executed on Glastonbury Tor, the Abbey wrecked and the ancient Shrine of Our Lady of Glastonbury lost.
On 5th December 1926, after an absence of nearly 400 years, the first Roman Catholic Mass was held in a church in Glastonbury since the Dissolution of the Abbey and the cruel murder of its frail old Abbot.
The small temporary Church built in 1926 led to the foundations of a new Church being laid in 1939, dedicated once again to Our Lady as a successor to the ancient Shrine at Glastonbury. This new church, St Mary's, The Shrine of Our Lady, stands just across the road from the ancient Abbey gates.
The first organised mass pilgrimage to Glastonbury was held in 1895 to celebrate the beatification of Abbot Richard Whiting, on the anniversary of his martyrdom when thousands of pilgrims climbed the Tor where Mass was held.
The modern concept of the Glastonbury Pilgrimage started in 1924 and took place after both World Wars and has been an annual event ever since.
This year the Glastonbury Pilgrimage Association Annual Pilgrimage will be held on Saturday 13 July followed by the Clifton Diocese Annual Pilgrimage on Sunday 14 July.
Friday 12 July
The Glastonbury Pilgrimage Association Annual Pilgrimage starts on Friday 12th July in celebration of Mary, Disciple of the Lord when a Vigil Mass will be in the Undercroft of the Lady Chapel at 6.00 pm.
Saturday 13 July
On Saturday 13th July events start at 9.30 am with the Orthodox Liturgy, celebrated in the Undercroft followed by a Solemn Celebrated Mass sung in the Nave of the Abbey Church at 12.00 noon. After lunch at 2.00pm there will be various stations for the Sacrament of Anointing and the Sacrament of Confession will be heard in a suitable venue to be announced. This is followed by the Procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the Abbey for Solemn Benediction in the Nave of the Abbey Church at 3.00pm.
Sunday 14 July
On Sunday 14 July The Clifton Diocese Pilgrimage starts in St Mary's church, the Shrine of Our Lady, at 11.30am.
A procession will be made around the abbey grounds, then out into the High Street and back to the Abbey via the main entrance, in Magdalene Street culminating in Mass in the Abbey grounds at 3.30pm.
Further Information:
Glastonbury Pilgrimage Association Annual Pilgrimage
Clifton Diocese Annual Glastonbury Pilgrimage
The Shrine of Our Lady of Glastonbury
The Broken Heart of Glastonbury
During the Late Medieval Period, Glastonbury had become a centre of pilgrimage, with an annual pilgrimage held on the 8th of September, to celebrate the birth of Our Lady. The halcyon days came crashing to an end on 15th November 1539, when the last abbot, Richard Whiting was executed on Glastonbury Tor, the Abbey wrecked and the ancient Shrine of Our Lady of Glastonbury lost.
On 5th December 1926, after an absence of nearly 400 years, the first Roman Catholic Mass was held in a church in Glastonbury since the Dissolution of the Abbey and the cruel murder of its frail old Abbot.
The small temporary Church built in 1926 led to the foundations of a new Church being laid in 1939, dedicated once again to Our Lady as a successor to the ancient Shrine at Glastonbury. This new church, St Mary's, The Shrine of Our Lady, stands just across the road from the ancient Abbey gates.
The first organised mass pilgrimage to Glastonbury was held in 1895 to celebrate the beatification of Abbot Richard Whiting, on the anniversary of his martyrdom when thousands of pilgrims climbed the Tor where Mass was held.
The modern concept of the Glastonbury Pilgrimage started in 1924 and took place after both World Wars and has been an annual event ever since.
This year the Glastonbury Pilgrimage Association Annual Pilgrimage will be held on Saturday 13 July followed by the Clifton Diocese Annual Pilgrimage on Sunday 14 July.
Friday 12 July
The Glastonbury Pilgrimage Association Annual Pilgrimage starts on Friday 12th July in celebration of Mary, Disciple of the Lord when a Vigil Mass will be in the Undercroft of the Lady Chapel at 6.00 pm.
Saturday 13 July
On Saturday 13th July events start at 9.30 am with the Orthodox Liturgy, celebrated in the Undercroft followed by a Solemn Celebrated Mass sung in the Nave of the Abbey Church at 12.00 noon. After lunch at 2.00pm there will be various stations for the Sacrament of Anointing and the Sacrament of Confession will be heard in a suitable venue to be announced. This is followed by the Procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the Abbey for Solemn Benediction in the Nave of the Abbey Church at 3.00pm.
Sunday 14 July
On Sunday 14 July The Clifton Diocese Pilgrimage starts in St Mary's church, the Shrine of Our Lady, at 11.30am.
A procession will be made around the abbey grounds, then out into the High Street and back to the Abbey via the main entrance, in Magdalene Street culminating in Mass in the Abbey grounds at 3.30pm.
Further Information:
Glastonbury Pilgrimage Association Annual Pilgrimage
Clifton Diocese Annual Glastonbury Pilgrimage
The Shrine of Our Lady of Glastonbury
* * *
Tuesday, 14 November 2017
The Life and Death of Richard Whiting
1461 – Richard Whiting born at at Wrington, Somerset.
1483 - Whiting graduated with an MA at the University of Cambridge.
1500 – Whiting ordained as deacon.
1501 – Whiting ordained as priest.
1525 - following the death of Richard Beere, Abbot of Glastonbury, Whiting is elected Abbot by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey.
1534 - Whiting signs his assent to the Act of Supremacy. The King's commissioner Richard Layton is sent to examine Whiting and the Abbey. Layton reports all in good order, but suspends the abbot's jurisdiction over the town of Glastonbury.
1535 - Suppression of Religious Houses Act brought about the dissolution of the lesser
monasteries.
1536 - The First Suppression Act (1536) and the Second Suppression Act (1539) results in the disbandment of over 800 religious houses in England and Wales in the period 1536-1541 in which the Crown confiscated their assets during the legal process known as the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
1539 - by January, Glastonbury was the only monastery left in Somerset. On 19th September, Royal Commissioners Richard Layton, Thomas Moyle, and Richard Pollard arrive at Glastonbury without warning. The Commissioners discover a book condemning Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. They also claim to discover evidence that Whiting concealed a number of precious objects. Abbot Whiting is sent to the Tower of London for further questioning.
The commissioners write to Thomas Cromwell claiming that they had now come to the knowledge of "divers (many) and sundry treasons committed by the Abbot of Glastonbury". Pollard escorts Whiting back to Somerset, reaching Wells on 14th November.
At Wells, we are told, a trial of some sort takes place, and Whiting is found guilty of treason. Next day, Saturday, 15th November, Whiting is taken to Glastonbury with two of his monks, Dom John Thorne and Dom Roger James. On the outskirts of the town, the frail old Abbot is fastened to a sheep hurdle and dragged by horses to the top of The Tor overlooking the Abbey. The three men are hanged, drawn and quartered. Abbot Whiting's head is fixed over the Abbey gate and his limbs exposed at Wells, Bath, Ilchester and Bridgewater.
1895 – 13th May, Richard Whiting beatified by Pope Leo XIII.
Remembrance
At 10 am on Wednesday, 15th November 2017 there will be a short remembrance of Glastonbury’s Last Abbot, Blessed Richard Whiting in St. Patrick’s Chapel, Glastonbury Abbey, where there will be a brief talk on the life and work of Abbot Whiting at the abbey. Normal entrance fees apply.
Recent research suggests that Richard Whiting, and his companions John Thorne and Roger James, were actually murdered on Friday 14th November 1539.
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