#pre-reformation

Painted Rood Screen, 1300-15

Anonymous

Oak with polychrome and gilding

Kingston Lacy, Dorset

Historical Objects: The Mary Bell, Stirling

The fifteenth century kirk of the Holy Rude in Stirling, having been the main church of the burgh since the Middle Ages, is packed with interesting historical objects and architectural features. The Mary bell is perhaps less likely to be noticed at first glance, but this is a shame, as it is quite an interesting object in itself. As it is plainly of pre-Reformation date, that would make it interesting enough in itself, though the actual date of its production is unclear- some place it as far back as 1340, others think it was made around 1500, while the safest estimate is probably that it is a fifteenth century piece. It might even have been locally made, and it is inscribed with the Latin phrase “Ave Maria gracia plena dominus tecum benedicta tu inmulieribus et benedictu[s]”, which translates as ‘Hail Mary full of grace, the lord is with thee, blessed among women art thou and blessed’. Its origin is uncertain, though it has been associated with Cambuskenneth Abbey, which was founded by David I in the 1100s and the major abbey near Stirling, being a favourite haunt of James IV and the burial place of his parents James III and Margaret of Denmark. The Abbey, of course, fell into ruin after the Reformation, much of its stone being carted off to build Mar’s Wark, the ruin of which now sits beside the Kirk of the Holy Rude. The old abbey bell may well have found its home next door in the church, and certainly it was still being used in the tower until the 1970s, when it was finally replaced. 

 537Ji-v This volume is Sammelband of five printed books. Four from the early sixteenth century and one printed in the late fifteenth. Basel, Mainz, Oppenheim, Speyer, Straßburg, 1499-1515. Price $ 16,000 Five Chancery Quarto volumes, 20 x 15.5 cm These copies are bound together in early {1550} blind stamped pigskin over wooden boards with the remains of clasps. With the monastic ownership…

John Knox Sex Club - Katie Cruel