Earliest Remains of Monks, Who May Have Known King Arthur, Unearthed in England

Ancient Origins

It is conceivable that 5th or early 6th century humans, whose remains were recently excavated at Glastonbury in England, may have known King Arthur or St. Bridget—two towering figures of early British legend. They are the oldest known remains of monks in the British Isles, says a story about the dig in The Guardian. A group doing a community training excavation turned up the remains at Beckery Chapel in Somerset—a medieval chapel that has an earlier foundation of a monastery and a nearby cemetery with 50 to 60 bodies in it, The Guardian states.

An illustration of Beckery Chapel (Somerset Routes)

The monks that were unearthed died around 500 AD, but burials continued into the early 9th century, the article states. From historical and archaeological evidence, experts have tentatively concluded that monks used the site until later in the 9th century, when Vikings attacked Somerset.

Legends say St. Bridget, an important Irish saint with roots in an earlier Celtic goddess, visited the site in 488 AD, after which it became a place of pilgrimage.

“Brigit: In Celtic mythology, goddess of knowledge, fire, the hearth, and poetry. Brigit is a culture goddess, her name being found in various forms throughout Britain as well as the Continent. When the Irish became Christian, Brigit was, according to some scholars, metamorphosed into St. Brigit,” says the Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend.

“St. Bride,” a 1913 painting by John Duncan (Wikimedia Commons)

The community dig turned up two previously unknown bodies and workers took bone samples of seven others for radio carbon testing. The earliest of them, probably a monk, died between 406 and 544 AD.

Archaeologists found the cemetery in the 1960s, but radio carbon dating of ancient material was still unrefined and imprecise. Dr. Richard Brunning, director of the excavations, said the finds were exciting and surprising and added that archaeologists and historians have been waiting for 50 years to answer the question of when these people lived.

 It was in France that monasticism started around or shortly before 400 AD, The Guardian says. It spread to the British Isles bordering the Irish Sea, including western England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. These findings are the earliest evidence of monasticism in the United Kingdom, Dr. Brunning told The Guardian.

“There are various saints’ lives that suggest people might be founding monasteries, but they are vaguely dated and it is uncertain how far you can trust them, because, obviously, it is in their own interests to big up the history of whatever saint they are writing about, and they are usually written several hundred years afterwards,” Dr. Brunning told The Guardian.

Some say St. Bridget and King Arthur, a legendary British ruler who led the defense of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD, visited Beckery Chapel, which the older monastery and cemetery are near.

This South West Heritage Trust photo shows two phases of the chapel, the outer walls having been added later.

Twenty-five local people did the dig, which lasted about two weeks and was overseen by the South West Heritage Trust. Archaeologists will write up the findings for a journal and the site will open for public visits and have interpretation panels. Nearby “Glastonbury Abbey is a big tourist attraction itself, so it just adds to that wider Glastonbury story,” Dr. Brunning said.

John Morland actually first excavated the medieval chapel in the 1880s, and Philip Rahtz continued in the 1960s, but because radio carbon dating was new the exact age of the site was unknown, The Guardian states.

Top Image: This skeleton of a person about 45 years old are the remains of a man who died between 425 and 579 AD, radio carbon dating has shown. Legend says St. Bridget, an Irish saint, visited Beckery Chapel in 488 AD and it became a place of pilgrimage. (South West Heritage Trust photo)

By Mark Miller

Q&A: Where did the monks go after the dissolution of the monasteries?

History Extra

A 15th-century illumination shows monks praying. Some were starved to death when they refused to take Henry VIII’s Oath of Supremacy. (AKG)

Initially, the authorities sought to close smaller communities, meaning those who wished could move to a larger religious house. Once these, too, were marked for closure, those in religious orders had few options.

 

Most commonly they accepted the offer of a pension. This award was generally left to the discretion of the commissioners carrying out the closure rather than being a centrally set sum. The wealth of the monastery would be considered, with those in higher ‘management’ positions, such as an abbot, being offered an increased sum – partly, it has been argued, to entice them to go peacefully. Older members could also receive an increased amount as their chances of future employment were less than the younger members, who could potentially augment their pensions.

 

Some members of religious orders chose exile; others offered resistance to the changes. When the Carthusian monks refused to take the Oath of Supremacy, recognising Henry as head of the church, several were hanged, drawn and quartered, while others ‘disappeared’ in prison and were starved to death.

 

It is often forgotten that the suppression of the monasteries included the closure of female religious houses. Frequently, nuns received smaller pensions than the monks despite their reduced chances of finding future employment. 

 

Elizabeth Throckmorton was the abbess of the Poor Clares at Denny in Cambridgeshire. After the closure of the convent, she, like other nuns, returned to her family. At her nephew’s house at Coughton Court in Warwickshire, she and several others lived in an upper room, wore their habits and continued their conventual life.

 

It is, of course, an irony of the Reformation that Martin Luther, as an Augustinian, had been a member of a religious community.

 

Answered by James Kelly, fellow at Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies.

History Trivia - Canterbury monks report explosion on the moon

June 18

 1178 Proposed time of origin of the lunar crater Giordano Bruno - five Canterbury monks reported an explosion on  the moon (only known observation).
 

Beer Before Wine: Research Shows that Spain was a Beer Country First

Ancient Origins

A Colorado State University professor says he wants to write a book on caelia—an ancient Spanish beer that was replaced by wine after the Roman Empire invaded Iberia. He also may collaborate with a brewery or the university’s prominent fermentation program to produce a batch of the old brew, which he calls “beer juice.”
But if you’re curious and you’re visiting Spain, some Spanish breweries have already resurrected the beverage, the origins of which date back at least 5,000 years.
Jonathan Carlyon, professor of languages and culture, has been studying the prehistoric Spanish beverage. His specialty at the university is early Hispanic literary culture. He knows a lot about Spanish history and its people’s reliance on caelia and beer until the Romans began making incursions in Hispania beginning around 218 BC and introduced wine, says a press release from Colorado State.
Some Spanish brewers already make caelia, but Professor Carlyon is considering asking a Fort Smith, Colorado, brewery or the university’s fermentation program to brew up a batch too. Apart from writing a paper or a book about the beverage, he expressed his interest in perhaps providing a class on the drink for the university’s fermentation students.

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“Now beer is worthy of serious academic scholarship,” he is quoted in the press release. “We’re always trying to recruit students to take our courses and get our minor. The Languages, Literatures and Cultures lens can be used in almost any field.”

Colorado State University Professor Jonathan Carlyon with a bottle of caelia from a Spanish microbrewery (CSU photo)

“The name Caelia, derived from the Latin verb for heating, ‘calefacere,’ was inspired by the heat used in the brewing process,” the release stated. “Carlyon has tracked the consumption of Caelia back about 5,000 years, to a time in Spain when women brewed the lightly carbonated drink as part of their daily routine, using a fermentation process similar to the one they used to make bread. ‘It was like a beer juice, compared to the beer made today,’ he says.”
The Roman Empire’s military was unable to conquer the ancient Spanish city of Numancia, between Madrid and Barcelona. Carlyon says before every battle the soldiers of Numancia got drunk on caelia
“contributing to the Romans’ view of them as fierce, wild fighters who successfully held off the invaders until the Romans wearied of the losses and reverted to building a wall around the fortified city in a siege. Finally, the Romans stopped fighting, closed them in and starved them, but it took two years.”

A pitcher from ancient Numancia. ( Ecelan/CC BY SA 4.0 )

The Romans replaced the native beer culture with viniculture, but what goes around comes around. In 1550, when the Spanish began their incursions into the Americas they listed grapevines as a valuable commodity, not hops or barley, CSU says.
“The fact that they chose that reflected the culture of the time. In 1550, it had been more than 1,000 years since beer had been prevalent,” Carlyon said.

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Proto-cuneiform recording the allocation of beer, probably from southern Iraq, Late Prehistoric period, about 3100-3000 BC ( Takomabibelot/ CC BY 2.0 )

Other academics have been resurrecting ancient libations.
An archaeologist working with a brewery is recreating ancient beers from around the world, including Turkey, Egypt, Italy, Denmark, Honduras and China, Ancient Origins reported in 2015. Alcohol archaeologist Patrick McGovern thinks he may even be able to recreate a drink from Egypt that is 16,000 years old.
Professor McGovern, of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, has been working with Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware. The professor is using modern technology to detect traces of ingredients. In addition, Dogfish Head Brewery has produced beer using African, South American, and Finnish recipes from centuries ago. For a list of the brews, see dogfish.com/ancientales.
It’s not just beer that archaeologists are trying to recreate. Ancient-Origins.net reported in 2013 that Italian archaeologists planted a vineyard near Catania in Sicily with the aim of making wine using techniques from classical Rome described in ancient texts. The team expected its first vintage within four years.
These attempts at drinking the spirits of ancestors go back quite a few years. There is a reference at thekeep.org about a 1996 attempt by Newcastle Breweries in Melbourne to brew an ancient Egyptian beer too.

The Herald-Sun reported that 'Tutankhamon Ale' will be based on sediment from jars found in a brewery housed in the Sun Temple of Nefertiti, and the team involved has gathered enough of the correct raw materials to produce just 1000 bottles of the ale,” Caroline Seawright wrote at thekeep.org. That beer was 5 to 6 percent alcohol and was sold at Harrods for £50 (about $100) a bottle. The profit was to go toward further research into Egyptian beer making.
Featured image: A glass of beer atop old barrels ( public domain ).
By Mark Miller

Researchers Claim Glastonbury Ancient Legends Made Up By Cash-Strapped Monks

Ancient Origins

The famous legends of King Arthur and his round table, among other ancient myths, were stories made up and peddled by enterprising monks at Glastonbury Abbey to make some cash, say researchers. What’s more, these legends muddied modern research into the site by “clouding the judgement” of past experts.
These are the claims being made recently by a team archaeologists from the University of Reading in UK after a four year study.

The ruins of Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset, England. (CC BY 2.0)

As reported by The Guardian the physical history of the site has been reexamined and the conclusions are:

“Those feet, immortalized in William Blake’s poem Jerusalem, never walked on the green and pleasant land of Glastonbury; the oldest church in England was not built there by Christ’s disciples; Joseph of Arimathea’s walking stick does not miraculously flower every Christmas after 2,000 years. And it turns out that the supposed link with King Arthur and his beautiful queen, Guinevere, is false too – invented by 12th-century monks faced with a financial crisis in the wake of a disastrous fire.”

Archaeologists claim the Glastonbury monks clouded the history of the site by deliberately designing renovations after a fire in 1184.  The redesign is said to have employed a purposeful archaic architectural style to generate a mythical feel, supporting popular legends and thereby raising more money from eager pilgrims.
In addition, “Arthur’s supposed grave has been revealed as a cemetery pit containing material dating from between the 11th and 15th centuries, offering no evidential links to the era of the legendary 5th and 6th century leader,” reports Culture24.

The Legendary King Arthur: "And when they came to the sword that the hand held, King Arthur took it up." (Public Domain)

Recent archaeological studies, and reassessment of older projects at the abbey between 1904 and 1979, are now casting doubt on the previous historical assumptions of the site, and the myths surrounding it.

Inside ruins of Glastonbury Abbey. (CC BY-ND 2.0)

History of the Legendary Site

Described as “one of the most romantic religious sites in England,” Glastonbury Abbey, the ruins of a monastery established in 712 AD, is the nexus of many ancient myths and historical events featuring prominent figures, such as legendary King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, the Christian Joseph of Arimathea, and England’s King Henry VIII.
Glastonbury is popularly said to be the resting place of King Arthur, and nearby locations are connected to stories of the Holy Grail. Legend has it that it was founded by the venerated saint Joseph of Arimathea in the first century, and it is believed to be the site of the earliest church in Britain. 12^th century writings connect Joseph with the Holy Grail, with him bringing it to Britain from the Holy Land in Robert de Boron's Joseph d'Arimathie.

Joseph of Arimathea by Pietro Perugino. (Public Domain)

Ruins of Glastonbury Abbey church, Somerset, England. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Other tales say that the church was built by Jesus himself to honor his mother, Mary.
One widespread story involving the “holy thorn” has originated from the area. In that legend, on the spot where Joseph of Arimathea came to Glastonbury, he pierced the earth with his staff (in some versions made from the wood of the crucifixion cross), and a hawthorn tree sprouted there.
This, the “Glastonbury Thorn” stood on Wearyall Hill and was said to bloom twice a year (unlike other hawthorn trees which bloom only once a year). It was said to bloom every Christmas day for 2,000 years (until vandals cut it down in 2010, causing much grief and outrage, local and international). Hawthorn trees have been propagated by grafting in and around Glastonbury many times in order to preserve it.

A Glastonbury Thorn at Glatonbury Abbey, 1984. This tree died in 1991 and was removed in 1992. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The site suffered a devastating fire in 1184. It was rebuilt, and had become one of the richest and most influential monasteries in England by the 14^th century.
This power did not go unchallenged long. The Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII dismantled the church, taking their money and land. Richard Whiting, the last abbot of the Glastonbury Abbey was viciously killed by hanging, then drawn and quartered as a traitor to the crown at Glastonbury Tor in 1539.

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Researchers Allegedly Bewitched

Citing a lack of physical evidence to prove the historical legends, the team of 31 specialists led by Roberta Gilchrist, professor of archaeology at the University of Reading and now a trustee of Glastonbury, “found that generations of her predecessors working at the abbey were so bewitched by the legends that they either suppressed or misinterpreted evidence that did not fit,” reports The Guardian.

Site of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere's purported original tomb beneath the high altar. Archaeologists now say it was filled with material dating from between the 11th and 15th centuries. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The archaeologists uncovered several surprising finds, including: a previously unknown prehistoric settlement of Romans and Saxons, predating the earliest monastery; A glass-working complex which has been radiocarbon dated to approximately 700 AD, making it the earliest evidence for glass-working in Saxon England; and it was found wine was imported from the continent to the site at an even earlier date, as shown by ceramic fragments.

Archaeological finds from Glastonbury Abbey. Credit: University of Reading

Perhaps more to legend than ‘made up’ stories

However, there are those that believe that ancient legends might have been retellings of actual historical figures and events. Author and researcher Ralph Ellis writes,

“Arthurian history is traditionally set in the fifth or sixth centuries, the era of the Dark Ages. This is a period in British history that is not simply ‘dark’ because of an economic and social collapse following the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire, it is also ‘dark’ because it lacks any historical records. This makes it difficult to decipher what was happening in this era, and it is this lacuna in British history that has enabled the life of King Arthur to remain enigmatic and semi-legendary for so long. Had Arthur been a king of the fourth or ninth centuries, we could easily have determined if these legends were fact or fiction, but Arthur has managed to slip into a historical crevasse where there are many known unknowns and several unknown unknowns.”    

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This raises the idea that the chronicles of King Arthur and other legends during the Dark Ages may not be untrue simply because they cannot be proven through pottery sherds or skeletal remains. It may be possible that the ancient scribes poorly documented a real king or man, or an ancient history, either purposefully or accidentally, and these stories endured. Could modern interpretations of legends now be clouding the ancient past?

King Arthur's knights, gathered at the Round Table, see a vision of the Holy Grail. (Public Domain)

The ancient myths that have resonated through time will not be so easily vanquished, if the continuing popularity of Glastonbury Abbey is any judge. And while researchers might point to the empty burial site of the mythical King Arthur as an absence of evidence, more important perhaps are the insights that come from the social history of the period gleaned from these legends.
The findings of the researchers are reportedly going to be added “gently” to the new Glastonbury guidebook so as to remain sensitive to legend.
According to the University of Reading, the main thrust now at the site is to inform future interpretation and development of the Abbey: “Glastonbury Abbey: archaeology, legend and public engagement aims to improve visitors' understanding of spatial layout, chronological development and archaeological evidence, while also exploring the Arthur and Arimathea legendary connections.”
Gilchrist explained, “We are not in the business of destroying people’s beliefs. A thousand years of beliefs and legends are part of the intangible history of this remarkable place.”
Featured Image: Glastonbury Abbey. (Flickr/CC BY 2.0)
By: Liz Leafloor   

Ancient Monastery Recreates Beer Based on Historic Recipe by British Soldiers

Ancient Origins

The Strahov Monastery in Prague, Czech Republic, has created a popular new beer based on a historic recipe. The Times of India report that they call it the Sv Norbert India Pale Ale and it is based on a recipe that British soldiers brewed for their travels to India when it was under British rule.
Brewing beer is not a new area for the ancient Strahov Monastery. The monastery was founded in 1142 by King Vladislav II. It started production in its brewery in the 1400s. The current location of the Strahov Monastic Brewery is the site chosen by Abbot Kaspar Questenberg in 1628. In the beginning, the Strahov brewery only produced the necessary amount for the monks and the deputies of the monastery, now it is one of the most popular breweries for tourists and locals in Prague.

The Strahov monastery, Prague, Czech Republic (Wikimedia Commons)

Monastic breweries were a common practice during the middle ages (5^th – 15^th Century). Monks and nuns were expected to live by their own labor and not accept charity (The Rule of Saint Benedict, and monasteries were known to be safe places for travelers in search of food and shelter. Thus, brewing beer and wine also served as a source of finances for monasteries such as Strahov.

A Monk Cellarer tasting wine from a barrel, Li Livres dou Santé, (13th Century manuscript), France (Wikimedia Commons)

The Sv Norbert India Pale Ale is a beer that the Strahov Monastic Brewery created based off of a recipe thought to have been lost. In 2009 they began production of the India Pale Ale, however it was not well-received in the early years. The manager of the Strahov Monastic Brewery, Marek Kocvera, explained the history of the India Pale Ale to The Times of India: "We revived the recipe in this monastery and started first serving it in 2009. However because of its strong flavour it did take a few years for people to grow a taste for it."

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The India Pale Ale is a strong-tasting beer with a 6-7% alcohol content due to the large quantity of hops it contains. "This beer was originally prepared for long distance transport, so it should stay in good conditions during the journey from England to India... Hops contain natural antibacterial matters and they help to preserve beer," Kocvera told The Times of India.
The hops also makes the Sv Norbert India Pale Ale bitter and aromatic. The aroma of the beer has been described as  very fruity and despite its strength it is believed to be a refreshing beer. The distinctive taste has made it a popular seller today, Kocvera has reported:
"Since last year, we are experiencing a big boom in its sale. We produce about 60,000 litres of India Pale Ale per year - so around 160 litres per day on average. In most days, the daily quantity finishes by late noon itself."
In the end, the historic British soldier's recipe has received an enthusiastic response from the public and continues the historic success of monastic breweries.
Featured Image: Piwo pijacy mnisi (Beer Drinking Monks), Olaf Simony Jensen (Wikimedia Commons)
By Alicia McDermott

Monks' Secret: Asbestos Lurking Beneath Byzantine Wall Paintings

UCLA archaeologist Ioanna Kakoulli examines a painting in the monastery under UV light.

By Joseph Castro, Live Science Contributor


Hundreds of years before asbestos became ubiquitous in the construction industry, Byzantine monks used the fibrous material in plaster coatings underlying their wall paintings during the late 1100s, new research shows.
Asbestos is a type of natural, rock-forming mineral known for its ability to separate into long, flexible fibers. It has long been thought that asbestos fibers, which are corrosion- and combustion-resistant, were first integrated into such things as plaster, finish coatings and floors after the Industrial Revolution.
But while investigating the 12th-century paintings in the Byzantine monastery Enkleistra of St. Neophytos in Cyprus, UCLA researchers discovered the magnesium silicate mineral, chrysotile (white asbestos), in the finish coating of the plaster underneath a portion of a wall painting. The chrysotile provided a smooth layer with a mirrorlike surface for the painting. [See Photos of the Byzantine Monastery and 12th-Century Paintings]

"[The monks] probably wanted to give more shine and different properties to this layer," said UCLA archaeological scientist Ioanna Kakoulli, lead author of the new study, published online last month in the Journal of Archaeological Science. "It definitely wasn't a casual decision — they must have understood the properties of the material."
A long history of use
Though all six asbestos minerals are now known to be carcinogenic, people have taken advantage of the fibrous materials' unique properties for millennia. About 4,500 years ago, artisans mixed asbestos minerals with clay to produce stronger pottery. And 2,000 years ago, asbestos fibers were woven into textiles to make fireproof napkins (that were "washed" by tossing them into fire), or to make a special fabric that could separate human ashes from funeral pyre material during cremations, Kakoulli said. "It was considered to have magical powers," she told Live Science.
In the late 19th century, people used asbestos in industrial products — including cements, wall plasters, joint (drywall) compounds, fire-retardant coatings and roofing, among other things — to increase their durability, insulation and weathering protection.
Given this history, Kakoulli and her colleagues weren't expecting to find asbestos on the walls of Enkleistra of St. Neophytos. They initially set out to see if there was any change in the materials used to create the monastery's numerous wall paintings over time.
"We wanted to see how the technological part of making these paintings follows or reveals anything of what we see in their iconography and style," Kakoulli said.
The researchers analyzed some of the paintings on site using various techniques, including infrared, ultraviolet and X-ray fluorescence imaging. They also collected micro-samples of the paintings and further analyzed their molecular and elemental makeup with powerful scanning electron microscopes and other methods.
A surprising find
One of the paintings they inspected depicted the "Enthroned Christ" holding a book with a red frame. When they analyzed the red frame, they found an asbestos-rich layer that was applied as a finish coating between a red paint layer and a plaster layer made up mostly of plant fibers. "So far, we've only found it in relation to those red pigments," Kakoulli said.

They found an asbestos-rich layer in the painting "Enthroned Christ," which would've been applied as a finish coating between a red paint layer and a plaster layer made up mostly of plant fibers.
Credit: Ioanna Kakoulli, UCLA

View full size image

Interestingly, the main deposits of asbestos in Cyprus come from a high-elevation area approximately 38 miles (60 km) from the monastery, which is near the coast. This location suggests the monks may have been involved in a kind of interregional trade for the asbestos.
The discovery raises many questions, such as why the asbestos was used in this context (and only for the red frame in the painting). It's also curious why the fibrous material apparently wasn't used again in coatings until the 19th century. [Image Gallery: Stunning Byzantine Mosaic]
The scientists are now searching for answers. They plan to return to Cyprus to characterize more of the paintings at Enkleistra of St. Neophytos. Kakoulli also hopes to revisit other wall paintings she's previously studied in Cyprus, to see if they also contained asbestos.
"I have a feeling that it's something that can be easily missed," Kakoulli said. "This was quite an accidental discovery."
http://www.livescience.com/44514-byzantine-monks-used-asbestos-beneath-artwork.html

History Trivia - Pope Leo X issues a papal bull against slavery.

January 14

 973 Ekkehard I, monk of St Gallen, distinguished as a poet (Vita Waltharii manu fortis), died.

1131 King Valdemar I of Denmark was born. In addition to winning independence from the Holy Roman Empire, he also gained the approval of the church for the dynastic rule of his family, the Valdemars.

1236 Henry III of England married Eleonora of Provence.

1501 Martin Luther (age 17) entered the University of Erfurt (founded in 1379, it was the first university in modern day Germany, and for some time was the largest university in the country).

1514 Pope Leo X issued a papal bull against slavery.