Jewish Toledo - Spain's finest & worst eras

Toledo, capital city of Old Castile, started with the Romans. Jews have lived there at least since the C6th; in 589 CE, Council of Tol­edo pro­hibited Jews from marrying Christ­ians, hold­ing public of­f­ice or own­ing Christian serv­ants. Clearly the Jews suffered greatly under Ch­rist­ian­ity, especially when the 8th Toledo Council created even worse anti­-Semitic leg­islation in 652 CE. The rift between the two commun­ities led the Jews to befriend the new conquerors in the Muslim conquest of Toledo in 715 CE.

Facade of the Synagogue and Sefardi Museum

In 1252 King Alfonso X captured Toledo and declared it Christian again, yet this time he ensured that the Jews were treated as eq­u­als. Many Jews migrated to Toledo and rose to prom­inence, in pol­it­ics and government. Alfonso even named a Jewish physician as his royal appointment.

By mid-C13th, Toledo’s Archbishop grew concerned by the fin­an­cial and political prominence of the Jewish community, so he impos­ed a tax and housing tithe on every adult Jew. This didn’t work, since by 1290 nearly half of the town’s resources was still own­ed by Jews!

The commun­ity leader was the community’s rabbi; in 1305 Tol­edo Jews chose the learned nobleman Asher Ben Jehiel Abulafia (d1328) to lead them. In 1320 Samuel Ha-Levi Abulafia was born, the Abulafias having led the Jewish comm­unity in Castile for decades. Sadly Samuel’s parents died of the plague, and as Samuel was too young to inherit their legacy, he was app­ren­t­iced to the Knight Juan Alfonso instead. Samuel rose quickly in society un­til he found vit­al positions in King Ped­ro I of Castile’s court. Samuel became town Mayor, Treasurer and fin­ally High Judge. It was as Treas­urer when he chose to build a synag­og­ue.

Toledo already had 10 synagogues, including Spain’s largest, but this one was Samuel’s own special house of worship. In 1357 the new synagogue opened, with Samuel Ab­ul­afia leading the prayers. To thank his comm­un­ity, Sam­uel also opened the synagogue as a hub for Jew­ish education. Note that in the C14th, Spain had actually decreed a ban on all new Jew­ish educat­ional institutes and synagogues. How­ev­er Sa­m­­uel’s close rel­at­ion­ship with King Pedro meant it was ok. Was it a royal apology for the persecution that Jews had faced in Toledo in the 1348 Black Death?

Samuel Abulafia ignored the regulations requiring synag­og­ues to be under-decorated and smaller than churches. The lav­ish­ly decorated rect­angular prayer hall had a 12m ceiling where Heb­rew in­sc­riptions ext­ol­led both King Pedro and Samuel Ha-Levi. Arabic inscript­ions and Psalm passages were also on the walls, next to the family coat of arms and fine windows. Over 2nd floor women's gallery,  the arches were layers of low-relief stucco tendrils, round­­­els, scallop shells, geometric interlacing & rows of blind arches.

The façade was built of brick and stone and was unad­orned, in order to draw less public attention. Only the tow­ering roof raised the whole synagogue above nearby structures.

Inside Sefardi Museum

 

This house was an active place of worship for many years, but anti-Semitism reappeared. Samuel Ha-Levi Abulafia set out to pro­tect Jewish rights and freed­oms, but as the rift between the two men grew, King Pedro no longer de­f­ended him. Samuel was arrested on corr­up­tion and tortured to death. De­s­pite grow­ing attacks on Tol­ed­o’s Jewish com­munity, his house and synagogue rem­ain­ed, presumably from self-interest; it would be converted to a church.

By 1492, the Jews were given a final ultimatum: the Catholic monar­chs of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, iss­ued the Alhambra Decree which gave Spanish Jews the choice to 1] con­v­ert to Catholicism, 2] leave Spain voluntarily or 3] be expelled. This Royal Decree showed their belief that the Jews’ presence was a threat to Spain’s relig­ious and cultural identity. The exp­ul­sion marked the end to centur­ies of Jew­ish pres­ence in their beloved Spain, and led to their forced mig­rat­­ion to Europe, North Africa and the Ottoman Empire.

As no Jews remained in Toledo, the synagogue was turned into a ch­urch; Ferd­inand and Isabella donated the building to the Order of Cal­atrava who made it a Benedictine priory. The name El Transito, honour­ing the Virgin Mary’s Assumption, was given to the building as a church. Ironically the name today is still Synag­ogue El Transito. Artist Juan Correa de Viv­ar paint­ed a mural of Mary’s Virgin Transit over the original Je­w­­ish wall engr­avings, but Vivar’s canvases were later moved and preserved.

El Transito remained a church until the Sp­anish War of Independence against Napoleon broke out in 1808. Despite heavy resistance, 10,000+ French troops and horses took up resid­ence in Toledo. The Spanish fought back, and the defens­ive lines of both arm­ies often fell there. The Spanish revolutionaries and fighters needed barr­acks, and the spacious Church of El Transito was perfect.

Beautiful Old Toledo and the Tagus river

Things to do in Toledo

Although other heritage sites were lost in battle, by late in the war the synagogue-church-mil­itary barracks had become a symbol of Spain’s succ­ess and indep­endence. Surprisingly (to me) their mil­itary prowess meant El Transito Church became a National Monument.

In the C19th, Spanish Jewish communities began to slowly re­build. So historians and world heritage staff explored the site, and re­cog­nis­ed how important it had once been for the Jewish comm­un­ity. First they res­tored the holy Torah Ark. 14 latt­ices required fix­ing and the Hebrew inscrip­tions had to be carefully restored, letter by letter. Then work on interior walls and the women’s gallery.

Women's gallery on the first floor

Arturo Mélida y Alinari was head architect of the project, focusing on the old roof and outside walls. Before WW1 it was gifted to the commun­ity as a Museum of Sephardi Culture & His­t­ory. A deb­ate arose over whether to also restore the church feat­ures, and eventually they decided to pay homage to the church years. Thus the choir stage and other Christian features were returned to their former glory. Lastly some new features were added to the site eg a large Jewish library and a new Centre for Hebrew Studies.

Main prayer hall in the old synagogue

facing the Holy Arc with velvet curtain and Torah scrolls

The Sefardí Museum was created in 1964, located in the key medieval Hispanic-Jewish building in Spain. Now called the Nat­ional Museum of Hispanic-Jewish Art, the museum opened to the pub­lic, the rooms occ­upying the old ar­chive of the mil­itary ord­ers. The exh­ibition dis­plays Jewish cult­ure in Spain, from before the tragic expul­sion to the development of the Sephardic communities across the world. Many thanks to Mia Amran, and to my daughters-in-law whose parents came from Sephardi Damascus and Alexandria.

Intricately patterned wooden ceiling and stucco decoration

 Location of Toledo in Spain

Credit for the images: Sinagoga El Transito

a dream city for tourists: Palermo

 

A 2023 survey by Travel + Leisure invited readers to vote on the world’s most beautiful cities. Clearly the answer differed for everyone, but see their non-exhaustive list of the world’s 25 most beautiful cities. I chose Palermo.

transport from Southern Italy to Sicily

On Sicily's Nth coast the sunny city is a dream for archit­ect­ure fans, right on the Mediterranean's cross roads. Palermo shows a striking mix of architectural styles, after centuries of conquest & differing cultural influences, a rich history of local civilisations. It changed from a Carthaginian stronghold to a Roman province, reaching its cultural peak in Arab rule (831–1072) and then Christian Norman conquerors, creating the unique Arab-Norman architectural style seen now.

Palermo has many fine museums, Sicily's Regional Gallery being housed in a stunning C15th Gothic-Catalan palace and containing iconic works of medieval and Renaissance art. Separately Palermo noted that a Goddess Artemis fragment be­l­ong­­ing to the Parthenon’s east­ern frieze on loan from Sic­ily’s Archaeol­og­ical Museum will remain in Ath­ens. And the Vatican will return Marble fragments from the Vatican Museums, with papal donations

Royal Norman Palace of the Kings of Sicily created in C12th, had the beautiful Palatine Chapel in its 2nd floor. Inside the chapel is decorated with beautiful golden mosaics, and the ceiling is very different from any other Christian church. Carved wood in an Islamic style. Tickets to the Norman Palace include entry to Palatine Chapel, Royal Apartments, Royal Gardens and special exhibitions. 

Palermo Cathedral, built 1185, was built on a Byzantine Church. See the architectural styles that reflect the long history of additions & renovations to the cathedral. In a chapel, right of the altar, lies St Rosalie, patron saint of Palermo. And see the tomb of Blessed Father Puglisi, Mafia-killed. Entry to the cathedral is free except for a visit to the rooftop for great views over the city and to the royal tombs.

The Arab-Norman architectural style features unique blends of Islamic domes & Byzantine mosaics. Palace of the Normans is a striking gold-stone example of the Arab-Norman style and home to Sicily's regional parliament,  a C9th palace representing one of Europe's most ancient royal residences. And the Palatine Chapel, completed in 1142 is one of Europe's great artistic treasures with stunning Byzantine mosaics covering the walls and ceiling.

Built from 1875-97, Teatro Massimo is the largest Opera House in Italy and 3rd largest and most celebrated after Paris & Vienna Operas. Tea­t­ro Mass­imo’s copper dome is c250’ over the piazza bel­ow. From the roof­top, see the city’s terracotta skyline in the early evening.

Quattro Canti Square/Piazza Vigliena is the centre of Palermo’s historic quarter, lined with 4 Baroque buildings. Tourists can see beautiful opera performances in the square, a famous Baroque intersection that beautifully divides the historic city into 4 distinct quarters. It is an architectural marvel of squares, with baroque beauty & intricate details. Each corner is a masterpiece, with the baroque statues representing the Four Seasons. 

C16th nude sculptures at the Piazza Pretoria

 

Near Quattro Canti is Praetorian Fountain, built in Florence in C16th. When the owner lost money, he sold the fountain to the City. The fountain was broken into hundreds of pieces and shipped to Palermo to be reassembled. Because of the totally nude statues, and a convent looking out onto the fountain, it was called the Square of Shame. 

teatro massimo

Norman Palace

Palatine Chapel

Porta Nuova/New Gate next to the Norman palace was built when Holy Roman Emperor Charles V came to the Kingdom of Sicily in 1536 and crossed the arched entrance to Palermo. To honour the event, New Gate was completed in 1584, later destroyed by fire and then rebuilt more elaborately by the City Senate as the triumphal arched gateway leading to the oldest street, Cassaro.

Porta Nuova 

Like Rome's Church of the Capuchin Monks, where there are bodies & bones arranged into art, the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo opened 1599, to avoid throwing all the dead brothers into a mass grave. Originally only Capuchin friars were entombed in the catacombs, but in C17th & 18ths, it was a way for people to show their wealth and power. There are 2000+ mummified bodies in the catacombs now, dating to C16th-early C20th. Men were embalmed and put on display in their clothes, remarkably well preserved, as are their intact hair and skin. There's NO photography in this eerie historical site. 

Capuchin catacombs

The World of Sicily

Ballaro Market is the one of the oldest street-markets in Italy & Palermo’s largest. Fish, meat, fruit & vegetables are available, complete with plenty of street food stalls. Loud and crowded, the stall holders can be very vocal advertising their produce and the atmosphere in the passionate street-life surrounds its historical outdoor markets like Arabic souks. il Capo Market is smaller and quieter than Ballaro, primarily a fish market and also has plenty of street foodstalls. The best time to visit is in the morning since many stalls close after lunch. la Vucciria Market Square in Sicilian means chaos, an apt description for this small square with its fish restaurants and food trucks. 

Gorgeous coffee shops in the small lanes

A train runs from Naples to Sicily then drives onto the ferry, by day or on overnight sleepers. Or fly to Falcone-Borsellino Airport from several European cities or get a connecting flight via Rome. If driving to Sicily by car, vehicle ferries travel from different mainland ports to Messina, Sicily’s primary transit hub.

Summer is peak season but winter is the best time to visit when the mild weather is great for walking around the city. All the attractions are open, and there are smaller crowds! The only issue might be the fewer daylight hours in winter. Near the Norman Palace, relax in the Gardens of the Villa Bonnano with palms and citrus trees, offering relief from the city’s action. And Mondello Beach is just a short distance from the city centre, an iconic coastline with pure water and stunning Mediterranean views. Although Palermo was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015, and since I've only spent one day there, I gratefully thank Nigel and Sue Adventures.

The best Art History texts to read

ARTNEWS ass­emb­led a list of 11 must-haves books that cover art history, from class­ical antiquity to now. Art history is a flexible discipline, subject to revisions as things change. Below I have included the books I know and found excellent.

Gombrich

The Story of Art

1. Penelope & Davies et al, Janson’s History of Art For 60+ years, Horst Janson’s large book was the key text for first Art History courses, promising a wide overview of painting, sc­ulpture and architecture from earliest history on. For the most part, only women artists were criticised. $250.

But a 2006 revision largely wrote Janson out of his own book, though the title remained. Works cited as masterpieces eg James Whistler Whis­t­ler’s Mother (1871) were ignored, while  ignored arts (photo-graphy, decorative arts) were added. As were female artists. And it replaced Janson’s focus on the male artist as genius with a more comprehensive reading that considers race, class and gender. Though this most recent edition (2013) is now old, it remains useful.

2. Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss et al, Art Since 1900 Compiled by contributors associated with October, the art-critical quarterly known for its dense writing, Art Since 1900 was published in 2005 as a corrective to st­and­ard art histories, while being aimed at a broad­er readership. Now published as a 2-volume set, the book retains Oc­t­ober’s thorny attit­ude; it is sceptical of the notion that art em­bodies indiv­idual ex­p­res­sions that transcend time. So the book does­n’t follow the develop­ment of modernism, anti-modern­ism and post-modernism through movements or artists. Rather it treats C20th art to a textual deconstruction with short essays tied to cultural or hist­oric­al events for each year 1900-2003, starting with the publication of Sig­mund Freud’s Interpret­ation of Dreams. $160

3. Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists.  Vasari (1511-74)’s biographies of the Italian Renaissance’s key players introduced the concept of art history we know. Many of his subjects were his near contempor­aries, making the text a primary source for studying the era that ushered in art’s Western tradition. First published in 1550, Lives covers the period bracketed by Cimabue (1240–1302) and Mich­elangelo (1475–1564) and is prefaced with a gen­eral treatise on ar­chitecture, sculpture and painting. Later historians faulted Vas­ari for being too focused on Florence’s and Rome’s artists, though the book was enlarged in 1568 to include Venetian artists like Tit­ian. But while Lives didn’t look beyond Italy, its influence sp­read rap­idly in Europe, the first translation being in the Dutch Republic (1604).

Janson's History of Art: The Western Tradition

by Davies & Hofrichter, 2015

5. HH Arnason, History of Modern Art (1968) It has 650+ daunting pages, but ever since its appearance it has served as the essential account of C20th art. The book begins with C19th Paris when artists like Manet, Monet, Gaugin, Van Gogh, Seurat and Cezanne created the first modernism. It contin­ues by recounting the major move­ments: Cubism, Dada, Bauhaus, Surr­ealism, Abstract Express­ionism and Pop Art that impacted the past 100 years of painting, scul­pture and architecture. Using good illust­rations and clear lang­uage, read the story of a rev­olutionary era that trans­formed our thinking about the world and art’s place in it. History of Modern Art is often updated.

6.  Ernest Gombrich The Story of Art, 1950 He noted there was real­ly no such thing as Art; there were only artists. Thus he set the tone of what has become one of art history’s most pop­ular works. Avoiding sweeping discussions of movements, Gombrich focused on individual works of art and the figures behind them. Ex­cept for a few divers­ions into ancient and tribal art, this invar­iab­ly meant Western, male paint­ers. Still Gombrich took a re­mark­able stance for an art historian by maintaining that art his­tory can obscure, as well as clarify the experience of art by relaying inf­or­m­ation unnecessary to the act of seeing. Linking artists as diverse as Raphael and Cez­anne across time, Gombrich insists that they all faced similar chal­lenges in their work. Their intentions matter.

7. Phaidon eds, The Art Book Smart and lavishly produced, this directory of artists across history is valuable. Ranging from the Middle Ages on, the book features 500 artists, each given a lush treatment: a full-colour reproduction of a key work printed with breath-taking det­ail. Each entry has a brief text with a clear career over­view of the artist. Since the artists are pres­ented alphabet­ic­ally, meet unexpected juxtapositions of eras and styles eg one pairing C17th Dutch painter Hendrick ter Brugghen and contemporary Frenchman Daniel Buren. Though The Art Book loves painting, it also covers sculpture, photo­gr­aphy & installations.

Vasari,

Lives of the Artists

8. Richard Shone and Jean-Paul Stonard eds., Books that Shaped Art History: From Gombrich & Greenberg to Alpers & Krauss While an art history book about art history books is self-referential, this compilation of essays covering C20th milestones is a reminder of how closely de­velopments in art are tied to changes. Linking a wide-ranging group of leading sch­olars & curators, The Books that Shaped Art History examines 12 volumes that introduced critical con­cepts understand, starting with Relig­ious Art in C13th France by Émile Mâle in 1898. An early study of medieval art, Mâle’s book was one of the first to use icon­ography to unlock the mean­ing of images. Heinrich Wölfflin’s Princ­iples of Art History (1915) form­ulated the now common method of comparing artworks on style. The Books that Shaped Art History looks closely at how writing has shaped art and vice versa. 

**

To read the books I was not familiar with, go to ARTnews September 7, 2023:

Mary Beard and John Henderson, Classical Art: From Greece to Rome; 

Sharon F Patton, African-American Art; 

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood eds, Art in Theory 1900–2000; and 

Whitney Chadwick, Women, Art and Society)

Pope Benedict IX: young, often enthroned.

Theophyl­ac­t­us of Tusculum (c1020–c1056) became the youngest pope ever as Pope Benedict IX. The date of his birth was uncer­t­ain but his first papacy DID start in 1032. Benedict was great-grandson of Marozia, a powerful Roman polit­ician who ?was mist­ress of Pope Sergius III. Via Mar­ozia, Sergius possibly sired Pope John IX. Several of Mar­ozia's descendants became popes, and Ben­edict's immediate predecessors were his loved unc­les Popes Bened­ict VIII and John XIX.  His father was Holy Roman Emperor Alberic. This was arguably the most power­ful Italian family, enabling the family to control the papacy for a century! 

                                          

Pope Benedict IX, c1030 

Hulton Archive

The Catholic Encyclopaedia said Benedict was c20 years old when he became pontiff. But the closest source to the pope himself was the monk-historian Rod­ulfus Glaber (985-1047). He was a critic of Benedict, but still he was one of the few contemp­or­ary sources available. He said the pope was 12 in 1032, the time of his accession! As did med­ieval scholar F Donald Logan, who wrote about Benedict IX in A History of the Church in the Middle Ages.

In terms of theology and activities of the Church, he was entirely orthodox. But Benedict was accused of sodomy, best­ial­ity and homo­sexuality; he was said to have held orgies inside Lat­eran Palace. Clois­tered monk St Peter Dam­ian was horrified and wrote a treat­ise ag­ain­st all sex, especially homosex­ual­ity. Damian’s Book of Gom­orrah said it had been ramp­ant within the Catholic Church for centuries.

Benedict was also accused by Bishop Benno of Piacenza of many ad­ul­t­eries and murders. As did Pope Victor III in his Book of Dial­og­ues. But Benedict came up with one sin that no one before or since has repl­icated: selling the papacy!

The first trouble came in 1036 when political oppon­ents tried to murder Bene­dict in St Peter's Basilica Rome during mass. But Ger­man Emp­eror Conrad II restored him to power before long, and Benedict stay­ed in Rome until 1045. In those years, he continued to steal and murd­er; fed up with him, the people of Rome again drove him out.

When Ben­edict IX was ousted, his enemies replaced him with the Bishop of Sabina, Pope Sylvester III. But it took only 2 months for Bened­ict IX to re-invade Rome with force, depose Sylvester and re­turn to pow­er again. Amaz­ing­ly Bened­ict allowed Sylvester to return safely to his old bishopric in Sabina, but Sylvester was later declared an anti-pope.

Benedict IX enjoyed his second papacy for c2 months, and then abdic­ated because godfather arch­priest John Gratian gave him money. Bened­ict IX had really wanted to marry his cousin and decided he would finan­ce his new life by selling his pontificate to Gratian. But she rejected Benedict.

Benedict's tomb in the monastery, died at 35.
All That's Interesting

Grat­ian made a better pope than his god­son. After sealing the deal, Gratian became Pope Greg­ory VI in 1045. This deal annoyed Syl­vester III who promptly sought to reinstate his own papacy. Gregory had bank­rupt­ed the church in buying out Benedict, so he couldn’t fight off a new claimant. His papacy lasted as long as Sylv­ester's, but this time it took longer for Benedict to return to power, as planned.

Rome’s clergy broke into 3 factions, each supporting 1 claimant (Pope Gregory, Benedict, Pope Sy­l­vester). So Henry III King of Germany & Burgundy invaded Rome to intervene. He met the candid­ates near Rome in Dec 1046. King Henry wanted to resolve the crisis, so that the legit­im­ate new pope could quickly crown him as Holy Roman Emperor.

So the Emperor opened Sutri Council in Dec 1046 to dismiss all 3 of them. Syl­vester tried to fight for his claim so he received life imprisonment. Pope Gregory admitted he was in above his skill-level and resign­ed. Even though Benedict was assured of the support of the libert­ine fact­ion, the young man didn’t show up for the pro­c­eedings and was deposed. So King Henry's selected Bishop Sugier of Bam­berg to become Pope Clement II at Christmas 1046. In return Clement quickly crowned King Henry III as Holy Roman Emperor.

Pope Clement II died mysteriously in Oct 1047, af­ter serving only 11 months as Pope. So Benedict seized the Lateran Palace in Nov 1047, and again installed him­self on the papal throne. But Benedict was driven away by Henry III's German troops in July 1048 who installed Pope Damasus II (July-Aug 1048) instead. Damasus died a month later from ?malaria.

Even after one of the shortest pap­ac­ies in history, Benedict IX did NOT go for a fourth papal term. Rather Benedict retired to a monastery near Rome where he repented and soon died, at only c36 years old. Emperor Henry III quickly returned to Rome and made Leo IX pope (1049-54), the man who ruled for 6 years and brought stability to the pap­acy. 

Emperor Henry III at the Synod of Sutri, 
rejecting all three contenders for pope. 
Hulton Archive 

Conclusion 
What a story! Benedict’s father got the Papal chair for him in Oct 1032. Benedict had three terms as pope: 1] from his election to his expul­sion for Sylvester III (Oct 1032–Sept 1044); 2] from his return to his sel­ling the papacy to Gregory VI (Apr–May 1045); and 3] from his return post-Clement II to Damasus II (Nov 1047–July 1048)'s start. He ruled during a tumultuous church era with 7 diff­erent, rapid papacies, the only man to have been Pope more than once.

NB the close subordination of pope to German emperor in mid C11th. In fact the ful­filment of the emperor’s supreme duty was to watch over the welfare of the ch­urch; the emperor was the agent of St Peter on earth. Thus 962-1046 saw the empire at its zenith and the papacy much weaker.

Thank you to Luciano Anastasi for The Tale of Benedict IX: A Papacy for Sale.

Tower of London: palace, execution, tours

After defeating the last Saxon king of England Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror/William I of England would con­trol his new kingdom. He distributed the conquered lands to his fav­our­ite nobles, a useful practice from wars in Norm­andy. They built motte-and-bailey forts and soldiers built a wooden tower to house the battal­ion, its weapons, horses, food and val­uables. The bar­r­acks could become a refuge, if the outer defences were breached. Around the hill, Norman soldiers built an enclosure for a well, rais­ing crops, feeding livestock and holding weap­ons. 

Upper photo: Tower of London

Lower photo: entrance through the Byward Towers

defended by the moat and draw­bridge

Post-Hastings William I wanted to stake his claim to Saxon lands and to control hostile subjects. Clergy­man Gundulf (1024–1108), who des­ig­ned castles & ch­ur­ches in France, became Bishop of Roch­ester in 1077 and was asked to design the new fort­ress-castle. In 1078, William ordered building the White Tower of London, a 90’ high square tower with tapering walls, soaring up over Lon­don. The 1st floor had liv­ing quarters, soldiers’ ref­ec­t­ory, dormitory and Roman­esque Chapel of St John. The 2nd floor’s rooms were for the con­stable/Tower’s comm­ander: a great hall, ch­apel gall­ery, meet­ing room and living-rooms. And there was a cellar.

The Tower took 20 years to build, only finished when William II had a stone wall built around the Tower. Then Gun­d­ulf began a stone curtain-wall enclosing land between the Tower and riv­er. Under Henry III (r1216-72) and Edward I (r1272-1307), the Tow­er reached today’s basic design: the central White Tower surround­ed by two curtain walls with their 20 towers. The main C13th entrance was via two cyl­ind­rical Byward Towers and defended by the moat and draw­bridge.

Two of the Tower’s early prisoners of state were King John the Good of France, taken in Battle of Poitiers in 1356; Char­les Duke of Orléans, captured at Agincourt in 1415.

When King Edward IV died in 1483, Richard Duke of Glouc­ester became lord protector of his son Edward V. Glouc­ester put Ed­ward and his young brother Richard Duke of York in the Tower, awaiting Edward V’s coronation. But spurred on by Glouc­es­ter, Parl­iam­ent made the 2 princes illegitimate, confirming Glouc­ester as King Richard III. Were the young Princes in the Tower mur­d­ered in the Tower in mid 1483?

Inmates wrote of torture in Bell Tower records and torture objects used in 1500s & 1600s are in the Royal Arm­ouries.

By the 1500s Henry VII abandoned his Tower Palace home after losing his firstborn son. His most lasting contribution was founding the Tower Yeo­men of the Guard, direct ancestors of today’s Yeoman Warders/beefeaters.

Yeomen of the Guard

guarded the tower interior, including the crown jewels

Then the site became a notorious prison, the Tower’s most famous prisoners being gaoled by nasty King Henry VIII. When Henry sought to divorce Cather­ine of Aragon and split from the Cath­olic Church, Thomas More wouldn’t accept the king as supreme head of the Church of England. More was gaoled in the Tower, convicted of treason and executed.

2 of Henry’s wives went to the Tower. Anne Boleyn gave him one daug­h­t­er (later Elizabeth I) but no sons, so Anne was arrested for treason & executed in 1536. Henry’s 5th wife, Catherine Howard, was arrested & executed for adultery.

Inevitably the Catholics and Protestants battled on. Young King Ed­ward VI, who’d been raised a Prot­es­tant, created his Device for the Succ­es­sion (1553), dis­inheriting his Catholic half-sister Mary and his Prot­estant half-sister Elizabeth. Instead his crown passed through his aunt’s line to her Prot­estant granddaughter Jane Grey. But noone told Jane & only 3 days after Edward’s death in 1553 she became became queen anyhow. Queen Jane quickly lost the support of her entire Privy Council; in 1553 the Catholic Mary was formally declared by Parl­iament as the next mon­ar­ch. And although Queen Mary rel­uc­t­antly signed Jane’s death warrant, Jane’s trial and execution quickly followed.

 (ex Queen) Jane Grey was executed, 1553

Historic UK

Queen Mary’s fears about usurpers continued. She gaoled her half sister, Princess Elizabeth-whom Mary believed had masterminded the plots. So in 1554, 20-year-old Eliz­a­b­eth was also kept under house arrest in the Tower, living as mum Anne Boleyn had. Still, finding no evidence of treason, Mary moved Elizabeth from the Tower to house-arrest elsewhere.

Mary died in 1558 and Elizabeth took the throne. The new queen still used the Tower to hold enemies of the crown; from Walter Raleigh to Guy Fawkes, infamous prisoners and deaths at the Tower maintained its notorious reputation. Even Samuel Pepys was ac­cus­ed of complic­ity in the Popish Plot, selling naval secrets to France and piracy. He was imprisoned there in 1679 and eventual­ly disch­arged, but was later re-gaoled for plotting to restore exiled King James.

The Tower also stored chancery records, relating to diplomatic corr­es­­p­on­dence and government­ decisions, plus pr­operty ownership docu­m­ents and tax­at­ion. The Records Office was in the Wake­field Tower, the largest in the Tower of London complex, where it remained un­til 1858. Only then did the Public Records Office move to Chancery Lane.

Now the blood has been cleaned up, the Tower is London’s most famous tourist site. Admire the Crown Jewels, including the coron­ation reg­a­lia worn at a new monarch’s investiture, and the cerem­on­ial regalia worn at the State Op­ening of Parliament. St Edward’s Crown is a C17th replace­ment for Saxon King Edward the Confessor’s crown.

Crown jewels

British Heritage

  

Vikings' North Exhibition in York !!

As the premier museum in North England for ancient objects, The Yorkshire Museum in York is displaying the Viking North Exhibition from July 2025-July 2027. In partnership with the British Museum it explores the world of the Vikings and the North’s Power Base from 800-1066 AD. Dr Adam Parker, Curator of Archaeology York Museums Trust wrote: “Viking North is a story of geopolitical change & clash of cultures. When the Viking Great Army arrived in North England in 866 AD, everything changed. Anglo-Saxon kings were defeated, new territories and allegiances rose and fell, new identities were forged and new connections made. The true story is brought alive by the emergent research into these temporary towns in the late C9th as these settlers expanded their geographical locations and made England home. 

Yorkshire Museum

Little Vikings

Based on new archaeological research and new technology, the exhibition combines objects from Yorkshire Museum’s own collection, the Vale of York hoard and specially loaned national and regional items eg objects from Viking Army Camp at Aldwark Nth Yorkshire. Many of these items in gold and silver are valuable and prestigious, showing the power, wealth and skills of the Vikings who lived in Nth England.

York helmet, c760

Yorkshire Museum

The York Helmet is an impressive star in the Viking North Exhibition, possibly the best-preserved early medieval helmet in Britain. This iron cap with brass edging and a chain mail neckguard, beautifully decorated with tiny animals, displays how these helmets were made, used and stored. Latin across the two bands reads: “In the name of our Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God; and to all we say Amen. Christ.”  The helmet was a great status symbol for the owner, Oshere, a nobleman and a ?member of the Northumbrian royal family, the most powerful dynasty in England then.

The Ormside Bowl was discovered in 1823 in St James’ Churchyard in Great Ormside Cumbria, just where a Viking warrior grave was also discovered decades later. Was the bowl looted from York by the Viking warrior and then buried with him in his grave alongside his sword & shield boss? This gilded silver and bronze with glass bowl was the ?finest piece of silver work, with remarkable craftsmanship, surviving from Anglo-Saxon England.

The 2 shells are intricately decorated and fused, making a unique luxury item. It would have been treasured by its original owner for its beauty, quality and value. It is decorated with vine scrolls in the outer design, being a common Christian theme. This suggests that the delicate outer shell started life as a religious vessel. It was owned used by monks for religious services in a Northumbrian monastery, likely looted by Viking raiders, or given to them in tribute. A religious object could be adapted by Vikings as a drinking vessel (850-900). When an inner bowl was added, it was used at celebrations with friends.

The inner bowl was made later made from gilt-bronze and riveted with studs of blue glass and silver with an internal bowl and 16 circular pieces of glass in a ring of cloisons-partitions. The base plate of the internal bowl and features five further rivets, of which the central is missing.

Ormside Bowl, c775

Esmeralda's Cumbrian History

 

The bowl is a double-shelled cup made from 2 pieces joined with dome-headed rivets and beaded collars. The bowl’s interlaced cruciform surface is decorated with a chased repousse technique.  The gilding on the bowl was added after the other decoration. The inner bowl could have been made in York where a matching blue-glass stud was found.

Bird and vine decorations

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The original outer shell was made of gilt-silver decorated with Anglo-Saxon style interlaced creatures in Continental vines. Note plants, fruit, animals and birds in decoration. The outer bowl decoration was done using the chase repousse method where the design was hit from the reverse side, creating it in relief outside of bowl. The rim had a strip of ungilded silver although this has now mostly been lost. This strip was first attached using some clips in the shape of animal heads. The frontal gaze of some creatures was a familiar occurrence in carvings of this type, with both naturalistic & grotesque decorations.

After seeing Christians wearing crosses around their necks, Vikings wore pendants in the shape of Thor’s hammer from their own pagan beliefs. And other religious symbolism. A collection of late C10th-mid C11th stone crossheads is currently on display in the monks’ dormitory at Durham Cathedral, found and reused at building materials or found during excavation of the 1891 Norman Chapter House (so note that Durham borders Yorkshire but is separate). The scenes depicted include the Baptism & Crucifixion of Christ, and an ordination scene.

memorial cross, found in 2nd century foundations

Durham Cathedral

 

Dr Parker, Viking North is telling new stories about the Vikings 

BBC

Thanks to Esmeralda's Cumbrian History & Folklore; I recommend reading her posts.

Ferrara - what a cultured city

The first official document on Ferrara in Nth Italy was published by Lombard King Astolfo in 753 AD. Late in their era, Ferrara was ruled by the Church in 774 & became a fief of the Canossa family; under the Grand Countess Matilda of Canossa it reached its peak. The city was successively occupied by Tedaldo di Canossa (988), Countess Matilda of Tuscany (1101) and Frederick I Barbarossa (1158), while its internal C12th history was that of the conflict between rival families. The Cathedral of San Giorgio was consecrated in 1185, after the independent commune emerged.

 

Cathedral

The Este family didn’t assume absolute power until 1242 when the city was becoming a growing medieval centre with its own laws and its own mint. It was only under the Estes was it to become an internationally known capital with great value for arts, economics, ideology & religion. The court flourished and for 2 centuries equalled Florence and Venice, or great European courts in France or Spain.

Estense Castle

Estense Castle & moat, built 1385 by the Estes, remained their bastion until 1598. Urban planning schemes were created in 14th-C16th, making Ferrara the first Renaissance city to be developed using a complex urban plan. Thus the network of streets and walls were linked with palaces, churches and gardens, a scheme that gave precedence to a united urban layout. Ferrara, an archbishopric, gained other impressive churches: San Francesco, Corpus Domini, Santa Maria in Vado and San Cristoforo

City walls

In Ferrara

The last Duke had no legitimate descendants, so the dynasty became extinct in 1597 and the Church took over. Ferrara became the seat of a powerful princip-ality and cultural centre but declined both commercially and politically under the Papacy. Revolutionary uprisings came much later.

Palazzo del Comune/Town Hall 1245 and Palazzo della Ragione/Court 1325 are medieval structures, safe once medieval walls could hold growth. Plans were extensively restored, and the uni founded in 1391 is now housed in a later building whose library holds valuable manuscripts, including works by the poets L Ariosto & T Tasso.

From 1400-1600 Ferrara was home to prominent people in literature and the arts. Its historic centre is the perfect example of the ideal city from a humanist view. Each step offers the magic air of a glorious, preserved past: the Este dynasty for 3 centuries, transformed a rural centre into a masterpiece. This town was hospitable, environmentally aware and sustainable present. Artists Michelangelo, Piero della Francesca, Mantegna attended the Este Court and worked there. With great support from artists, the Estes created the first studiolo, their art collection becoming a model for both the Medici family and Papacy. 

The major treasure is the series of palaces of the later 15th-C16th. These palazzi include Diamanti, housing a municipal art gallery; Schifanoia Civic Museum; and Ludovico il Moro National Archaeological Museum with objects from an ancient Etruscan port. Piero della Francesca, Jacopo Bellini and Andrea Mantegna decorated the palaces of the House of Este. Neighbourhoods were built from 1492 by Biagio Rossetti. This project’s completion marked modern town-planning and influenced its development.

 Archaeological Museum

 Trip Advisor

National Museum of Ferrara School, 

amazing art donated by the Estes

Trip Advisor

Emilia-Romagna comprises Ferrara’s urban centre and agricultural lands into the large, ancient Po River Valley. The city extended to defensive walls that had enclosed the historic urban centre of C12th Ferrara. From 14th-C16th, the ruling Estes did extensive land recovery & building projects. Distinctive Renaissance changes made included: drainage of huge swamplands, establishment of estates, creation of new waterways and streets a la the urban development plans and building noble residences. Ducal residences were the political sign of glory, designed to widely mirror the image of the Court. In the key Renaissance years, the Este’s brilliant court drew star artists, poets and scholars of humanism.

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narrow cobbled streets and artisan workshops

Winalist

In time the encircling medieval walls were extended to accommodate urban growth, and today the walls still encircle the city. The Municipality has identified the whole of the historic city inside the walls as an area of cultural interest and protection that’s been there since 1975.

The creation of coordinated management between urban & rural spaces led to effective control of the area and infrastructure development, more awareness of heritage values and the definition of policies for the adaptive re-use of historic properties that were damaged. Note the cooperation of public institutions at different levels of government: national, regional, provincial and municipal. It’s protected under national cultural heritage legislation: Legislative Decree.

One end of Piazza Trento e Trieste

Wiki

The Medieval built piazza is the perfect spot for sunset cocktails. With grand historic buildings behind, an impressive cathedral and one of Italy’s oldest universities, it’s long been the central city’s heart. Linked by rail with Bologna, Padua, Venice, Ravenna and Comacchio, Ferrara is the centre of a flourishing agricultural area.

Ferrara was involved in WWI with many workers, motivated by the promise of new arable land at the end of the conflict. Massive losses prevented this and the betrayal led to a wide adherence to Fascism. After WW2 there was a great expansion of industrial activity and the creation of a large industrial zone. The city’s principal products are chemicals, sugar, alcohol, shoes and hemp.

Ferrara’s cultural treasures were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1995 and expanded in 1999 beyond the walls. There was damage from the 2012 earth quakes to the city walls, Estense Castle, medieval cathedral and other historic buildings. 

Ferrara is a vibrant city (pop:131,200) rich in art exhibitions & a top concert season. Thanks to World Heritage Convention

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Smithfield Meat Market London. Keep!!

Thanks to Ted Geier for the amazing history of Smithfield Market, London. The first written record of a weekly live stock market was 1174. Thomas Becket’s clerk described the area as a smooth field where there was a weekly sale of fine cows horses, swine and huge oxen. Animals were walked to Smithfield, were fattened up and sold. The slaughtering would then take place inside the City walls, at Newgate Shambles or Eastcheap, but in the 1300s the slaughter of animals moved to Smithfield, next to the River Fleet. A 1327 charter issued by Edward II made Smithfield London’s oldest meat market.

St Barts Hospital opened in 1123, the world’s oldest hospital. Just next door to the market, it was an important resource (and NB St Bartholomew was the patron saint of butchers). And Smithfield was a popular with the public in the medieval period for football, wrestling, archery, jousting & executions. The Elms at Smithfield is London’s oldest execution site; William Braveheart Wallace being hanged in 1305; Wat Tyler, leader of 1381 Peasant Revolt, was beheaded there; and where hundreds of Protestants were burnt at the stake for Queen Mary I in 1555-8. So the City’s bloody past was largely state-imposed! Tyburn Tree was the infamous gallows spot, now called Marble Arch.

Jones designed a dead meat building to house all services under one roof

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Animals trotted to the site from the Midlands in the medieval era; by C16th, cattle and sheep drovers linked Wales and Scotland to Smithfield. As the city’s population grew over time, the market also grew. 2,000,000 sheep and 200,000 cows were annually taken to Smithfield by mid C19th, causing horrid noise, unsanitary & congested, filth over flowing into the surrounding lanes.

The livestock market was later seen as unsuitable in this location and in 1852, the Smithfield Market Removal Act was passed, prompting the live cattle market to be relocated to Islington. 3 years later, the Bartholomew Fair was closed for good. Having brought cloth trading and all manner of revelry to Smithfield since 1133, it became a threat to public order! A growing criticism brought Smithfield into contempt for all its noise and stink, especially when London’s under-ground transit system was extended to Farringdon in 1863!

Smithfield was home to ancient professional guilds. Worshipful Co. of Butchers was based at Bartholomew Close since starting in c975, its members often heavily involved in City politics, including opposing the Removal Act of 1852. The Butchers was the only old trade organisation to remain active; other Livery Companies lived on as charities.

And Smithfield has a central place in the history of animal welfare law. The Cruel Treatment of Cattle Act of 1822 aimed to prevent the cruel treatment of cattle. Often cited as the first piece of animal rights legislation in the world, it arose partly from animal abuse at Smithfield. Father Arthur Broome, who co-founded the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-RSPCA 200 years ago, personally paid for market inspectors to monitor animal abuse.

The name Smithfield came from Smooth Field, the smooth grassy fields that once lay on the banks of the River Fleet. It was one of London’s lost rivers, that still flows underground beneath Farringdon Road. Note Charles Dickens described it thus: the ground was covered nearly ankle-deep with filth and mire; and a thick steam perpetually rising from the reeking bodies of the cattle, and mingling with the fog, which seemed to rest upon the chimney-tops, hung heavily above. Countrymen, butchers and drovers, mingled in a dense mass: drovers whistling, dogs barking, beasts bellowing, and hawkers shouting loudly.

Meat shops

The Conversation

Later Smithfield had no live animals so a state-of-the art New Market Building was needed. Horace Jones, City of London’s Architect and Surveyor, was commissioned to design it in 1866, and later he went on to design Billingsgate Market building, Leadenhall Market and then notably Tower Bridge. Billingsgate fish market, marked for closure in the same Corporation vote, will also stay.

Horace Jones' designed a wonderful entrance 

Building Design

The Victorian market he designed was functional AND beautiful, with its intricate and colourful design. The East and West market buildings were designed, opening in 1868. The design was state-of-the-art, using a lot of cast iron and glass to keep the market cool, crucial for meat and to maintain cleanliness. And revolutionary in that it was built over the first underground railway-line.

Metropolitan freight trains delivered meat into Jones’ huge basement of brick arches and iron girders. The meat was brought up to ground level for sale via hydraulic lift, or spiral ramp outside. It sits over a cross-section of 3 railway lines, one from the Chatham & Dover Railway, and one heading Eastwards. The impressive ramp leads down to the underground carpark below the rotunda. A Poultry Market structure followed in 1875 (and rebuilt post-fire in 1958) and the General Market building in 1883.

Meat rationing era which ended in 1954

Conversation

Smithfield Market was closed in WW2. The Government did not want crowds in buildings that were easily recognisable from the air. The decentralisation of meat stores ended to Smithfield’s trading and in 1942, the Poultry Market was damaged by a German bomb. In 1954 rationing on meat was lifted and Smithfield Market was back to normal. Meat then came from Australia, N.Zealand, Africa and Sth America, brought by rail via unloading bays underneath the building. The great displays of carcasses and the grand cast iron structure of Horace Jones’ building were restored. Lots of the businesses were still family run, often for generations. Visit the whole-sale meat market by day and admire the beautiful Victorian architecture. Or visit at 6.30am, at the end of the market’s very busy night activities.

In 2024 City of London Corporation voted to withdraw financial support for Smithfield Market, inspiring a petition to Protect Our Heritage and declarations in the British press that the soul of London will be butchered. At stake, defenders say, is a living legacy of meat trade that began there 1,000+ years ago, and the site of a rich seam of British history. But the market’s history was always one of change, involving shifts in justice, taste, hygiene and civic order.

The oldest meat and fish markets in London, now 850 years old, face permanent closure in 2028. Smithfield meat market, near St Paul's Cathedral, and Billingsgate fish market in Canary Wharf, are to be closed after the City of London Corporation voted to withdraw support. Work has already begun, turning this site into a new cultural and commercial hub, including the new permanent galleries of London Museum. Some of the disused buildings in the complex are already being restored.

Smithfield meat market’s Christmas Eve auction

ianvisits

The Christmas Eve sell-off dates back pre-refrigeration days when customers would buy as close to Christmas as possible. Meat dealers also needed to sell off everything before the Christmas shutdown. Enthusiastic customers can still pick up a fantastic financial deal each Christmas Eve.