Lambeth Palace Library

Today the Church remembers Boniface of Crediton, Bishop, Apostle of Germany, Martyr, who died #OnThisDay in 754. Born in Devon and firstly named Wynfrith, Boniface was renamed by Pope Gregory II when he was appointed missionary bishop to Germania. He was killed by bandits during a mission to convert the peoples of Frisia.
This portrait of Boniface from the Nuremberg Chronicle commemorates the archiepiscopal jurisdiction he held over the German church, bestowed upon him by Pope Gregory III in 732.
[[ZZ]1493.1, fol. 161v]

William Juxon, Archbishop of Canterbury, died #OnThisDay in 1663. Juxon was the first Archbishop of Canterbury appointed after the Restoration of the Monarchy, and quickly set about repairing the damage from the English Civil War to both Lambeth Palace and St Paul's Cathedral.
Juxon succeeded William Laud as Bishop of London prior to being deprived of his see in 1649. He was also a close political adviser to Charles I, who conferred on him the important positions of Lord High... Treasurer of England and First Lord of the Admiralty. Charles chose Juxon to read him the last rites and to stand on the scaffold during his execution. Charles is also reputed to have given Juxon his pair of embroidered gloves just before he died, which are now in our collection (allegedly - as we are not the only place said to have a pair!)
Juxon died after only three years in office as Archbishop of Canterbury. As well as his official portrait, Lambeth Palace also has this very unusual 17th century painting of the Archbishop on his death bed.
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An 'M' made out of dragons seems fitting for #ManuscriptMonday! Or should that be #MonsterMonday?
Outline initial from a 12th-century manuscript commentary on Genesis by Richard of Dumellis, Abbot of Préaux. [MS 62]

Today the Church commemorates Justin, Martyr at Rome, who died c. 165. Born in the Roman province of Judea, Justin studied philosophy and was committed to Platonist thought before his conversion to Christianity. He travelled to Rome to establish a school, but was denounced by the Cynic philosopher Crescens and was beheaded during the reign of Marcus Aurelius.
Although few of Justin's writings have survived from antiquity, Eusebius names and describes them in his 'Ecclesiastical History'. Justin's extant Greek writings were first edited in Paris in 1551 by Robert Estienne. This is the title page of Claudius Morellus's 1615 Paris edition, which includes a Latin translation, notes, emendations, and writings by Justin's followers.
[D65.(J8)[*]]

Today the Church celebrates the Visit of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth. Luke 1:41 (KJV): "And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost".
Pictured is an illumination of the #Visitation in a 15th century Flemish Book of Hours [MS 496]

Today is Ascension Day. Pictured is the Feast of the Ascension in the Chicheley Breviary, with the feet of Christ just visible as he ascends to heaven in a beautifully decorated initial P (the first nocturn of Matins for Ascension, '[P]ost passionem suam per dies quadraginta apparens eis...') [MS 69] #Ascension #AscensionDay

Charles II was restored to the throne #OnThisDay in 1660, his 30th birthday. To celebrate the anniversary of the Restoration of the Monarchy, the 29th May was declared a public holiday (commonly known as Oak Apple Day or Royal Oak Day, abolished in 1859).
The episcopal sees abolished during the Commonwealth period were soon reinstated by King Charles II. With no installed archbishop, Lambeth Palace fared badly during the Civil War; the Great Hall was completely ransacked for... building material by Cromwellian troops, and, in the Palace Chapel, the tomb of Matthew Parker was destroyed and the stained glass window panes smashed.
The first Archbishop of Canterbury elected after the Restoration was William Juxon (Abp. 1660-1663). Juxon commissioned the building of a new Great Hall on the site of the old one, though he sadly did not live to see his project completed.
The owner of this illustrated 1678 Book of Common Prayer was evidently a fan of the 'Merry Monarch', and affectionately hand-coloured his heart-shaped portrait. [H5145.A4 1678]
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Today the Church commemorates Lanfranc, Prior of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, Scholar, who died in 1089.
Born in Pavia, his career took him to Normandy, where he taught at the Cathedral school in Avranches before becoming Prior of the Abbey of Our Lady of Bec in 1045. During his tenure as Prior Lanfranc became a valued advisor to William, Duke of Normandy, later King of England, and effected the reconciliation between William and Pope Leo IX. In 1063 he was appointed Ab...bot and oversaw the construction of the Abbey of Saint-Étienne in Caen, where William would be buried.
In 1067 Lanfranc refused the Archbishopric of Rouen. Three years later, following the deposition of Stigand, he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, and received the pallium from Pope Alexander II in 1071. During his tenure as Archbishop, Canterbury Cathedral was rebuilt and rededicated. Lanfranc also took an active role in politics, overseeing reforms in the English Church and helping to expose the Revolt of the Earls in 1075. His support of William Rufus enabled his accession as William II in 1087. After his death in 1089, Lanfranc was buried in Canterbury Cathedral.
This page commemorating Lanfranc is from MS 20, a martyrology and obit book for the Cathedral Priory of Christ Church, Canterbury, written after 1516.
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Augustine, 'apostle of the English' and the first Archbishop of Canterbury, is considered to have died #OnThisDay in 604/5.
Augustine, prior of the Benedictine monastery of St. Andrew, Rome, was sent to lead a mission to England by Pope Gregory the Great. He was well-received by King Æthelberht of Kent and went on to found the Christian church in southern England. Æthelberht gave Augustine a residence in his capital of Canterbury, and hence it was chosen to establish the epi...scopal see.
The ceremonial enthronement chair of the Archbishop of Canterbury is still known today as the Chair of St Augustine.
This woodcut shows Augustine preaching the gospel to the men of England in the presence of Æthelberht. It accompanies the 8th-century account given by Bede (whose Church feast day was celebrated yesterday), and is printed in Thomas Stapleton's 1565 English translation of Bede's 'Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum', 'The history of the Church of Englande'. [[ZZ]1565.02]
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Today is the Feast day of The Venerable Bede, Monk at Jarrow, Scholar and Historian, who died in 735.
Bede produced a great many writings, of which his most famous, the 'Ecclesiastical History of the English People', gave rise to his reputation as the "Father of English History". He also wrote numerous works of theology and extensive biblical commentaries. Pictured is the opening page of Bede's commentary on Genesis in a 12th-century manuscript. [MS 148]

Archbishop Thomas Cranmer ruled that the marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon was null and void #OnThisDay in 1533.
This copy of Thomas Abell's 'Invicta veritas', a work defending the legitimacy of the marriage, was Henry's personal copy and includes his own annotations, crossings-out and underlinings. His irate note in Latin on the title page ('Fundament[um] huius libri omnino vanum') essentially means "rubbish"! [[ZZ]1532.4.01]

Ordered into the Reading Room yesterday was an illustrated 1542 edition of the works of Chaucer, printed in London by Richard Grafton, the King's Printer. Pictured is the opening of the Knight's Tale accompanied by a woodcut illustration and metalcut decorated initial. The book was part of the collection of Archbishop Whitgift (d.1605), whose arms are gilt-tooled on the binding. [[ZZ]1542.1] #WoodcutWednesday

Today the Church of England remembers Helena, Protector of the Holy Places, d. 330. Helena, a Roman Empress, was the mother of the future Emperor Constantine the Great and reputed to have discovered Christ's cross.
This engraving of Helena and the True Cross comes from Ecclesiae Anglicanae trophaea siue Sanctorum (Rome, 1584). [Sion G55/C31]

Today is the Feast of Alcuin of York, Deacon and Abbot of Tours, who died in 804.
Alcuin was an English clergyman, scholar, teacher and poet from York, Northumbria, born around 735. At the request of Charlemagne, Alcuin spent time at the Carolingian court and became renowned as a leading teacher and a scholar. He produced numerous treaties of theology and hagiography, didactic works including grammars and rhetorics, Latin poetry, and hundreds of letters.
Later 9th-century copies of Alcuin's letters to Charlemagne are preserved in a composite manuscript in our collection. This manuscript was recently on display at the British Library's spectacular 'Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms: Art, Word, War' exhibition. [MS 218]

Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, celebrated for his work in restoring monastic life and reforming the English Church, died #OnThisDay in 988 AD. He was also an important statesman as a key adviser to the kings of Wessex.
Dunstan's saints' cult was the most popular in England until that of Thomas Becket (martyred in 1170). Popular legends told of his encounters with the devil, including holding the devil by the nose with his red-hot blacksmith's tongs (Dunstan was said to have been a master artistic craftsman and metalworker).
These legends are alluded to here in this 16th century oil painting of Dunstan with a little devil above his crosier, from the collections of Lambeth Palace.

If you haven't been able to attend the Lambeth Palace Garden Open Days, here's your chance to see inside the Palace grounds in the evening! The gardens will be open this Monday 20th May, 5.30-8pm, as part of the National Garden Scheme. Entry is just £6 and you can enjoy the evening with a glass of wine (or soft drink) and the sounds of a jazz quartet! What better way to end a working Monday? https://www.ngs.org.uk/find-a-garden/gard en/2418/

Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, died #OnThisDay in 1575. An influential theologian, Parker was one of the main architects of the Thirty-nine Articles of Anglican doctrine, part of the Book of Common Prayer.
He was also a bibliophile and collected many now-priceless medieval (particularly Anglo-Saxon) manuscripts, and had his own personal binding workshop here at Lambeth Palace. The manuscripts that passed through Parker's hands are often identifiable due to his hab...it of annotating them in red crayon.
Parker is is the only Archbishop of Canterbury to be buried in Lambeth Palace Chapel. A contemporary portrait (complete with book in hand) hangs on the walls of the Palace.
We recently posted a blog about the Parker texts in our collection and his interest in Old English, which can be found here: https://lambethpalacelibrary.wordpress.co m/…/archbishop-pa…/
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View of Lambeth Palace and Westminster Bridge in 1799, depicted in an aquatint by C. Rosenberg. [Prints 048/005] #ThrowbackThursday