I was just going to say that - when I was watching the coronation, I was thinking "oh, that's old - I wonder what that is" - I had no idea how old it is - incredible.
As a Hermit Nun, lover of books, calligraphy and an Anglophile, this presentation is superb. Many thanks and God reward you for your scholarship and efforts.
I am always happy when you upload your videos, and this one is fantastic. I was fascinated by the St. Augustine Gospels at the Coronation. I had wanted to look for more information, and here you are!!
I am totally in awe at this book. To be that old and still readable, if you can read Latin. So glad it has survived these 1600 odd years and that King Charles saw the heritage in it as used it in his coronation. Totally amazing, really. Thank you for all you do.
It was shock and awe for me when the presenter told me about the book. I am an educator and when i teach Latin influence on English literature, I talk about the story of how Saint Augustine looking at the slave children in Rome.When i saw the book, got goosebumps by looking at a living piece of history ❤
On my sole trip to Britain, I was in Canterbury for the Lambeth Conference. I recall visiting the little church that St. Augustine directed built. I can't recall the name, but it's located on a small hillock. As soon as I passed through the lychgate, I felt an ineffable sense of having passed into a different energy or space - something unordinary and indescribable. The docent there told us that the church had been built from ruins of a Roman shrine, which in turn had been built on the site of a more ancient, indigenous shrine. That notion of a spiritual legacy reaching far back to our origins is brought alive by relics, icons, and artefacts such as this. Thank you for sharing your knowledge so ably and articulately!
Which Lambeth Conference did you attend, out of interest? The most recent one was barely reported, and many of the bishops struggled to get visas. I'm glad you got to visit and have the experience you describe.
Erm. If the Gospels were brought over by St. Augustine in 597, that makes them about 567 years later than Christ's death. Henry VIII was born in 1491. Add 567 years to 1491 and you get to the year 2058. So, there is slightly *less* time between Henry and us than between the Gospels and Christ. I mean, it's certainly close. But we're not quite there yet!
How very interesting. I did wonder what the Gospel Book was and it was not explained on t.v and no mention of the King requesting it. Thanks for sharing. ❤
Another great video! What an astonishing survival of such an ancient treasure. So glad it wasn't thrown on a fire or lost...it is made of parchment, so delicate and easy to destroy. Yet here it is. Just WOW!
Another fascinating video. That set of gospels had been held and read by a staggering number of believers, skeptics, non-believers, proselytes, kings and queens. Extraordinary! Thank you so much for this interesting and important video.
Thank you, these links to the past help define us as a people. It’s fascinating to think about what other historical religious events were also taking place at the same time in the 6th century. That it has survived is a testament to those who have gone before us.
Hi Allan! I too was delighted to see this Gospel on display at the Coronation. I must confess to a certain tingling when I beheld it. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings..."
Thank you again for your very informative presentation. It is a miracle that this very special manuscript has survived given the tumultuous era of the Reformation and dissolution of the abbeys and monasteries during that time.
Anyone else daydream about wondering about the countryside with Dr. B and actually going to see these artifacts and churches. Maybe is it just me🤣🤣🤣🤷🤷🤷
Thank you for talking about this. I noticed the Gospel book of course while watching the coronation, but as you say there was not much explanation of its significance at the time, and I think it caught many by surprise. A moving addition to the ceremonial which does something to make up for the omissions!
I was struck by this manuscript while watching the coronation, and searched for information about it immediately afterwards. I was delighted! Many years ago, I had the opportunity to see the original Lindisfarne Gospels, but I’d never heard about the St. Augustine Gospels before. Thank you for this lovely presentation of the book and its background history!!! ❣️
Afternoon Allan Barton, it's very interesting to listen to the origin of the Book of the Gospels & to hear it's kept in such an immaculate condition. I myself wondered what that Bible was all about, to think it was used @ King Charle'ses Coronation. Its unbelievable to think it dates back to the 6th century. Thats what I love about England, nothing Precious gets distroyed it's preserved so that thousands of years thereafter it can still be used for a coronation❤👏👏
An excellent video, thank you, with terrific images and absorbing explanations. I have visited , many times the city of Canterbury, and walked around the ruins of St Augustine's Abbey, remarkably almost completely overgrown until very recent times, but it still resonates with this important early history. Regarding the Gospel book itself, for anyone interested, Christopher De Hamel, past curator of The Parker Library includes a detailed chapter of the Gospel book in his superb book ' Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts ' Thank you once again, top shelf in every way :)
Wow this is so cool, to see a real relic of English Orthodoxy used by request of the King is wonderful, especially since he also requested the Byzantine chant. It's long been suspected the King is privately Orthodox
Great video. Are you going to look at any other coronation-adjacent topics? Perhaps that silly twentieth century invention called the investiture of the Prince of Wales? Or Scottish coronations?
The Investiture of the Prince of Wales was revived not invented in the twentieth century. It was made into a bigger public event in 1911 rather than a ceremony in Parliament or similar context. It is not “silly” but a traditional “feudal” ( if we can still use that term ) ceremony.
I believe that this volume was produced at Canterbury to be reverenced by Archbishop Runcie and Pope John Paul I (if my memory serves me well). In my view, especially as the new King wishes to serve all faith, it is important that this book/relic/volume (call it what you will) be produced at all future coronations
@@allanbarton indeed all those Abbey buildings and their contents...Britain, probably amongst the most extraordinary repository of Christianity in the world up to the 16th century.
You can imagine how pissed off Augustine must have been when the Pope banished him to that far away place. Of course, the story is told from a different point of view nowadays.
@@allanbarton He was given a church by the Frankish Queen of Ethelbert... apparently still standing from Late Roman Times. Anglo Saxons did not live in mud huts. as you should know. and a Palace was able to accommodate many.
@@mavisemberson8737 thank you, it was a jokey comment, in response to Albert. Though it is interesting that you say that about mud huts, the Angles and Saxons did like to live in timber dwellings. In many cities, such as Lincoln for example, the Angles and Saxon lived in timber dwellings among the great ruins of Roman buildings, they didn't use them, except as a quarry for stone to build churches.
My goodness King Charles is proving to have a large cultural hinterland. That this gospel book should be present alongside the Stone of Scone and the New Cross of Wales is making a real effort. I suppose something from Ireland would have been a political nightmare. Could you suggest a hypothetical something??
The Church was One. The centre was still Constantinople . That is, orthodox in all senses of the term. Rome was favoured by the Franks.. see Charlemagne
A characteristically sympathetic discussion. But with a bit of uncharacteristic mis-selling: the special status of the Augustine gospels depends on them being not Anglo-Saxon, but Roman. And the status is special, and numinous even to the irreligious: to see, even more handle, the book is to have immediate physical access to one of the more important series of events in English cultural history. That thrill gives some continuing sense to the general cult of relics.
How is it an 'Anglo-Saxon' manuscript if it was probably made in a scriptorium at Rome? Isn't it related to the Ashburnham Pentateuch, which is also associated with a Roman/Italian workshop?
I think that is hair-splitting given I do say where it was made in the video. It might have been nice to put in the thumbnail 'The Gospel Book from the Roman/Italian workshop at the Coronation' but that is rather wordy and not very attention grabbing given the video is about the context in which the book was first used!!!
@@allanbarton The fact that you mention that in the video is why the title of the video was odd to me. The images are emblematic of the Papacy attempting to spread Mediterranean artistic influence (I believe).
Wow!! That Anglo Saxon Gospel book is in VERY good condition considering its age!! I'm so glad it still exists!! 💗❤👍
A national treasure and an astonishing survival!
@@allanbarton I wonder how they've managed to conserve it for all these years!!
I was just going to say that - when I was watching the coronation, I was thinking "oh, that's old - I wonder what that is" - I had no idea how old it is - incredible.
As a Hermit Nun, lover of books, calligraphy and an Anglophile, this presentation is superb. Many thanks and God reward you for your scholarship and efforts.
The artistry and craftsmanship involved in creating the book is amazing. An absolute jewel.
It's amazing the difference that can be made by one person in the right place at the right time.
If that Bible could speak…Thank you for this very interesting piece of biblical history!!
My pleasure, thanks for watching 😊
It does speak
I was fascinated when I saw this at the Coronation. It is so old yet so well preserved. Thank you for all the background you've provided.
SO grateful this priceless manuscript was rescued!
I am always happy when you upload your videos, and this one is fantastic. I was fascinated by the St. Augustine Gospels at the Coronation. I had wanted to look for more information, and here you are!!
Happy to oblige 😊
I am totally in awe at this book. To be that old and still readable, if you can read Latin. So glad it has survived these 1600 odd years and that King Charles saw the heritage in it as used it in his coronation. Totally amazing, really. Thank you for all you do.
Get such a warm feeling when I hear your intro music. Thank you for all your videos
My pleasure! Thanks for watching 😊
It was shock and awe for me when the presenter told me about the book. I am an educator and when i teach Latin influence on English literature, I talk about the story of how Saint Augustine looking at the slave children in Rome.When i saw the book, got goosebumps by looking at a living piece of history ❤
On my sole trip to Britain, I was in Canterbury for the Lambeth Conference. I recall visiting the little church that St. Augustine directed built. I can't recall the name, but it's located on a small hillock. As soon as I passed through the lychgate, I felt an ineffable sense of having passed into a different energy or space - something unordinary and indescribable. The docent there told us that the church had been built from ruins of a Roman shrine, which in turn had been built on the site of a more ancient, indigenous shrine. That notion of a spiritual legacy reaching far back to our origins is brought alive by relics, icons, and artefacts such as this. Thank you for sharing your knowledge so ably and articulately!
Which Lambeth Conference did you attend, out of interest? The most recent one was barely reported, and many of the bishops struggled to get visas. I'm glad you got to visit and have the experience you describe.
That was incredible to see. The colors are so vibrant after all this time.
Absolutely fascinating. To think there is slightly less time between Christ and creation of this book than between us and Henry VIII life.
Erm. If the Gospels were brought over by St. Augustine in 597, that makes them about 567 years later than Christ's death.
Henry VIII was born in 1491. Add 567 years to 1491 and you get to the year 2058.
So, there is slightly *less* time between Henry and us than between the Gospels and Christ. I mean, it's certainly close. But we're not quite there yet!
How very interesting. I did wonder what the Gospel Book was and it was not explained on t.v and no mention of the King requesting it. Thanks for sharing. ❤
It was mentioned on the GB news online commentary , though. on RUclips It had an historian commenting so I stayed with it.
Thanks Matthew Parker. Innumerable treasures from the Anglo-Saxon era were lost in Henry VIII's sack of the monasteries.
Fascinating, especially as I am a (retired) librarian from Canterbury!
Thank you for this incredible insight to early Christian history in Britain.
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!
Another great video! What an astonishing survival of such an ancient treasure. So glad it wasn't thrown on a fire or lost...it is made of parchment, so delicate and easy to destroy. Yet here it is. Just WOW!
It is an amazing survival! Glad you enjoyed the video 😊
What a treasure! I had no idea what I saw at the coronation until you told us here. An excellent and instructive video, Dr. Barton!
As a book historian, I appreciate your completeness. Thank you. And Matthew Parker is to be lauded forever.
Simply amazing that book has seen so much and is truly precious. I think it was a very nice addition to the coronation
Thank you, you have partially answered my question regarding how Christianity came to the British isles..
Thank you so much for this fascinating video. I do appreciate your reverent approach to religious matters.
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching!
Another fascinating video. That set of gospels had been held and read by a staggering number of believers, skeptics, non-believers, proselytes, kings and queens. Extraordinary! Thank you so much for this interesting and important video.
Your video is illuminating ! So much detail. Allan this does throw light Onan aspect of the Coronation for me. I rejoice in your specialist knowledge.
Glad you enjoyed the video, thanks for watching!
Thank you, these links to the past help define us as a people. It’s fascinating to think about what other historical religious events were also taking place at the same time in the 6th century. That it has survived is a testament to those who have gone before us.
Hi Allan! I too was delighted to see this Gospel on display at the Coronation. I must confess to a certain tingling when I beheld it.
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings..."
Thank you again for your very informative presentation. It is a miracle that this very special manuscript has survived given the tumultuous era of the Reformation and dissolution of the abbeys and monasteries during that time.
Anyone else daydream about wondering about the countryside with Dr. B and actually going to see these artifacts and churches. Maybe is it just me🤣🤣🤣🤷🤷🤷
Thank you for talking about this. I noticed the Gospel book of course while watching the coronation, but as you say there was not much explanation of its significance at the time, and I think it caught many by surprise. A moving addition to the ceremonial which does something to make up for the omissions!
I was struck by this manuscript while watching the coronation, and searched for information about it immediately afterwards. I was delighted! Many years ago, I had the opportunity to see the original Lindisfarne Gospels, but I’d never heard about the St. Augustine Gospels before. Thank you for this lovely presentation of the book and its background history!!! ❣️
Afternoon Allan Barton, it's very interesting to listen to the origin of the Book of the Gospels & to hear it's kept in such an immaculate condition. I myself wondered what that Bible was all about, to think it was used @ King Charle'ses Coronation. Its unbelievable to think it dates back to the 6th century. Thats what I love about England, nothing Precious gets distroyed it's preserved so that thousands of years thereafter it can still be used for a coronation❤👏👏
My heavens what history! Loved hearing about the background of this bible after seeing it used in the coronation. Thank you!
Thank you for explaining this book and it’s history! I was hoping you would do a video on this ever since I saw it’s use in the coronation.
Superb comment as usual. I really enjoy these videos.
An excellent video, thank you, with terrific images and absorbing explanations. I have visited , many times the city of Canterbury, and walked around the ruins of St Augustine's Abbey, remarkably almost completely overgrown until very recent times, but it still resonates with this important early history.
Regarding the Gospel book itself, for anyone interested, Christopher De Hamel, past curator of The Parker Library includes a detailed chapter of the Gospel book in his superb book ' Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts '
Thank you once again, top shelf in every way :)
Interesting and excellent as usual. I was enthralled by the book the minute I saw it being carried in the Abbey.
Amazing video, very enlightening 👏🏻👏🏼👏🏽🇬🇧🏴🏴🏴
This is just what I was looking for. Thanks
Very happy to oblige 😊
Thanks for discussing the bible. Very interesting.
Fascinating. Thank you! 😊👍
Amazing video, thank you,Allan
I would love to have an annotated copy of this beautiful gospel.
Wow this is so cool, to see a real relic of English Orthodoxy used by request of the King is wonderful, especially since he also requested the Byzantine chant. It's long been suspected the King is privately Orthodox
Thank you
Amazing information...its hard believe the history that surrounds this.. absolutely incredible. Thanks so much fir you dedication!
Thank you for your videos. Very informative
Great video. Are you going to look at any other coronation-adjacent topics? Perhaps that silly twentieth century invention called the investiture of the Prince of Wales? Or Scottish coronations?
The Investiture of the Prince of Wales was revived not invented in the twentieth century. It was made into a bigger public event in 1911 rather than a ceremony in Parliament or similar context. It is not “silly” but a traditional “feudal” ( if we can still use that term ) ceremony.
Excellent as usual.
So this flamboyant gentleman is the master of The Corpus Christie Cambridge? I enjoyed and admired the way he carried out his duties!
Such beautiful script.
I believe that this volume was produced at Canterbury to be reverenced by Archbishop Runcie and Pope John Paul I (if my memory serves me well). In my view, especially as the new King wishes to serve all faith, it is important that this book/relic/volume (call it what you will) be produced at all future coronations
I thought wow when they brought that out to the King
Me too, such an amazing object.
Very interesting. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This gives just a tiny slice of the treasures of Christianity that existed in Britain prior to the destruction of the reformation.
It is heartbreaking to think about it.
@@allanbarton indeed all those Abbey buildings and their contents...Britain, probably amongst the most extraordinary repository of Christianity in the world up to the 16th century.
woohoo was hoping you would make a vid after seeing them whip this out!
You can imagine how pissed off Augustine must have been when the Pope banished him to that far away place. Of course, the story is told from a different point of view nowadays.
A nice warm monastery in Rome, or a mud hut in Kent - not an enviable assignment.
@@allanbarton He was given a church by the Frankish Queen of Ethelbert... apparently still standing from Late Roman Times. Anglo Saxons did not live in mud huts. as you should know. and a Palace was able to accommodate many.
@@mavisemberson8737 thank you, it was a jokey comment, in response to Albert. Though it is interesting that you say that about mud huts, the Angles and Saxons did like to live in timber dwellings. In many cities, such as Lincoln for example, the Angles and Saxon lived in timber dwellings among the great ruins of Roman buildings, they didn't use them, except as a quarry for stone to build churches.
What a wonderful survivor of Orthodox England prior to the Schism!
What is the music you use for your theme? If it’s part of an album, I would like to buy it.
Very nice content
Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it!
My goodness King Charles is proving to have a large cultural hinterland.
That this gospel book should be present alongside the Stone of Scone and the New Cross of Wales is making a real effort.
I suppose something from Ireland would have been a political nightmare. Could you suggest a hypothetical something??
Another example of our Catholic past
The Church was One. The centre was still Constantinople . That is, orthodox in all senses of the term. Rome was favoured by the Franks.. see Charlemagne
@@mavisemberson8737 😂
A characteristically sympathetic discussion. But with a bit of uncharacteristic mis-selling: the special status of the Augustine gospels depends on them being not Anglo-Saxon, but Roman.
And the status is special, and numinous even to the irreligious: to see, even more handle, the book is to have immediate physical access to one of the more important series of events in English cultural history. That thrill gives some continuing sense to the general cult of relics.
St Gregory the Great probably held this book in his hands!
Almost certainly - it gives you goosebumps just thinking about it.
I had no idea this book survived. Is that a bullet hole in the text opposite the painting of Luke?
The work of some munching insect, who thought the book was a nice snack.
How is it an 'Anglo-Saxon' manuscript if it was probably made in a scriptorium at Rome? Isn't it related to the Ashburnham Pentateuch, which is also associated with a Roman/Italian workshop?
I think that is hair-splitting given I do say where it was made in the video. It might have been nice to put in the thumbnail 'The Gospel Book from the Roman/Italian workshop at the Coronation' but that is rather wordy and not very attention grabbing given the video is about the context in which the book was first used!!!
@@allanbarton The fact that you mention that in the video is why the title of the video was odd to me. The images are emblematic of the Papacy attempting to spread Mediterranean artistic influence (I believe).
@@edmundryder7507 absolutely, and ultimately after the synod of Whitby the papacy won.
@@allanbarton Rome vs. Iona, 1/0. The funnier tonsure wins!
I would hate to be Henry VIII at his judgement.