Category: Roman

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Ovid abandons the ‘Fasti’ June 30th

OVID 19TH CENTURY ENGRAVING BY j w cOK
OVID 19TH CENTURY ENGRAVING BY J W COOK

If you want to read Ovid’s almanac of the year, the ‘Fasti’, for yourself, this is the translation I am using. Fasti is very valuable because it tells the stories of the main religious and folk festivals of the Roman year. It also tells the story of the Gods and Goddesses behind the festivals,

Fasti is sadly unfinished because Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō was exiled by the Emperor Augustus. The last entry is for 30th June where Ovid writes: ‘put the last touches to my undertaking’. It suggests he knew he was finished, despite only being halfway through the year.

He was exiled to the Black Sea at Tomis where he died ten years later. It is not clear exactly why he was exiled. Ostensibly it was for the immorality of his book ‘The Art of Love’. But that was published almost a decade earlier. So, it seems a strange, delayed, cause for exile.

Was he involved with a plot against Augustus that saw the Emperor’s own daughter exiled? Her lover was Lullus Antonius, son of Mark Antony. Unlike Julia’s other lovers, he was forced to commit suicide.

Sculpture of Julia the Elder, daughter of Augustus, divorced wife of Tiberius Public Domain . Musée Saint-Raymond in Béziers

But this also happened years before Ovid’s exile. Julia’s daughter, Julia the Younger, was herself exiled closer to the time of Ovid’s exile. Her husband, Lucius Aemilius Paullus, was executed for treason. So, might this be the context of his exile? No one knows. Ovid said the reason for his exile was a ‘poem and a mistake’. The nature of that mistake is not recorded, but he said the crime was worse than murder and more harmful than poetry.

Here is one of my favourite Ovid quotations. Here he recommends how the aspiring male should dress for a night out on the town:

Don’t torture your hair, though, with curling-iron: don’t pumice
Your legs into smoothness. Leave that
To Mother Cybele’s votaries, ululating in chorus
With their Phrygian modes. Real men
Shouldn’t primp their good looks …

… Keep pleasantly clean, take exercise, work up an outdoor
Tan; make quite sure that your toga fits
And doesn’t show spots; don’t lace your shoes too tightly,
Or ignore any rusty buckles, or slop
Around in too large a fitting. Don’t let some incompetent barber
Ruin you looks: both hair and beard demand
Expert attention. Keep your nails pared, and dirt-free;
Don’t let those long hairs sprout
In your nostrils, make sure your breath is never offensive.

Avoid the rank male stench
That wrinkles noses. Beyond this is for wanton women –
Or any half-man who wants to attract men.

Ovid, The Art of Love i

The translation is from Green, Peter (Trans) ‘Ovid The Erotic Poems’ Penguin Classics, London 1982‘

Mother Cybele’s votaries were castrati, hence their high-pitched voices. The Cybele, the Mother Goddess, fell in love with Attys, who made her jealous. She made him mad, whereupon he castrated himself and bled to death. The Goddess had him resurrected body and soul. They enjoyed divine bliss ever after. A Cybelian castration device, dredged out of the Thames, can be seen in the Roman Gallery of the British Museum.

photo of Castration Device from the River Thames at London Bridge British Museum Photo kevin flude
British Museum Castration Device from the River Thames at London Bridge Photo: K Flude

The paragraph above is a quotation from In Their Own Words – A Literary Companion To The Origins Of London‘ D A Horizons, 2009.  by Kevin Flude. To buy the Kindle or Paperback version click here.

To read my post on Ovid’s Metamorphosis-crocus-and-saffron/

First Published in 2024 and revised in 2025

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St Columba (St Colmcille) Day June 9th

St Columba st margarets chapel by Graham van der Wielen Edinburgh Lead glass
St Columba Stained Glass window in St Margaret’s Chapel Edinburgh Castle Photo by Graham van der Wielen Wikipedia CC BY 2.0

St Columba, or Colmcille is one of the most important saints for the early transmission of Christianity. He was born in 521 and said to be a descendant of the possibly legendary Irish King Niall of the Nine Hostages. (The Hostages were a token of Niall’s power over Ireland as they came from the five provinces of Ireland. These are Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, Munster, and Meath. The other four hostages represented Scotland, the Saxons, the Britons, and the Franks.)

St. Columba was sent at an early age to be brought up as a Monk, and went on to set up Monasteries in Ireland at Derry and Durrow. In 563, he left Ireland, possibly because he got involved in a dispute that had a deadly outcome. He went into exile to Scotland and set up the famous Monastery on the island of Iona, Inner Hebrides. This is off the coast of what would one day be called Scotland. At the time, it was under the control of the Kingdom of Dál Riata, which was, Gaelic, nominally Christian, and controlled parts of Ulster and Western Scotland.

From Iona, Columba led the conversion of the Picts to Christianity. The Picts were Britons, speaking a different dialect of Celtic than the Gaels of Ireland and Dál Riata. Their name is said to have been given by the Romans and meant Painted Men. A shared religion, which St Columba brought from Ireland, helped towards the eventual union of the Gaels, the Picts and other British groups into the Kingdom of Alba. Alba is the Gaelic name for Scotland – meaning white, and from which we also get Albion. Alba became Scotland, which is derived from the Roman word for the area which in Latin was “Scotia”. Iona became the traditional burial place of early Scottish Kings such as Macbeth (Mac Bethad mac Findlaích). These Kings were crowned at Scone and buried in Iona. Alba was also able to take territory from the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria, namely, the Scots-speaking areas South of the Firth of Forth. (Scots being a dialect of English). There were also Norse settlers in the Ireland so Scotland was made of a coalition of Gaelic, Brittonic, Norse and English speakers.

St Columba and the Loch Ness Monster

Much of the events of this part of Columba’s life are recorded by St. Adamnan in The Life of Saint Columba. This was written in the 7th Century, much of which is apocryphal. One notable story tells how he came across a group of pagan Picts who were mourning a child killed by a monster in the River Ness. St Columba revived the child. He then sent one of the Brothers to swim across the Loch to fetch a boat. The “water beast” pursued the Monk and was about to attack him when St Columba told the monster to stop. So it did, retreating to the depths of Loch Ness. Thus began the legend of the Loch Ness monster.

St Columba died in 597AD. Iona continued to prosper and in, 634 sent St Aidan from Iona to found the Monastery at Lindisfarne. The island is on the Eastern coast of Britain in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria. This Kingdom of the North Angles, was one of the most powerful at the time and Lindisfarne was instrumental in its conversion. The tradition of evangelism took hold in the British Isles, and it was from here that much of the German-speaking world was converted to Christianity.

This is St Columba’s legacy.

Northumbria’s Contribution to the development of Christianity

There is a developing understanding among scholars that this Irish inspired form of Christianity, fused with the Anglo-Saxon Northumbria took a leading role in ritual, art, scholarship in the Roman Catholic world. Just stop and think about that sentence for a moment. The northern parts of an out of the way set of islands off the edge of Europe took a leading role in the development of Western Christianity. This was highlighted in a recent exhibition of Anglo-Saxon art at the British Library.

British Library with Poster for Anglo-Saxons Kingdoms Exhibition, Photo K Flude
British Library with Poster for Anglo-Saxons Kingdoms Exhibition, Photo K Flude

A look at the Lindisfarne Gospel and the Book of Kells showcases the amazing art of this period. For a real treat, look through this scrollable virtual copy of the Lindisfarne Gospel. (Currently this is unavailable, I suspect since the BL was hacked. So instead, here is a slightly breathless online introductory video of the Gospel.)

The Lindisfarne Gospels

The Book itself has been missing from the displays of the British Library for a couple of years, but was on display in Northumberland in 2022. I’m not sure whether it is yet back on display at the British Library. I think not. You can see the Book of Kells at Trinity College, Dublin or look at their online offering here: Not quite as joyous an experience as the online Lindisfarne but beautiful enough.

Carpet Page from the Lindisfarne Gospel
Carpet Page from the Lindisfarne Gospel Photo Wikiepedia Eadfrith –
Lindisfarne evangeliarium, tapijtbladzijde op f26v, Matteüsevangelie

Click here to read my post on Scone and the emergence of Alba.

Here is a virtual tour of Iona

Here is a 360-degree panoramic photo tour of Lindisfarne Abbey

First Published in 2023, revised, 2024 and improved 2025

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St Augustine & the Origins of Christianity in Britain May 26th, May 27th & May 28th

Stained glass window showing Baptist of King Ethelred of Kent by St Augustine watched by Queen Bertha. In St Martins Church, Canterbury
Stained glass window showing Baptist of King Ethelred of Kent by St Augustine watched by Queen Bertha. In St Martins Church, Canterbury

We have various days to celebrate St Augustine of Canterbury.  These are according to Google;

26 May (Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Catholic Extraordinary Form calendar in Great Britain)

27 May (Catholic Ordinary Form calendar)

28 May (Catholic Extraordinary Form calendar outside Great Britain).

Maybe like the Venerable Bede he died after Dusk! I give the explanation on yesterday’s post on the Venerable Bede.

St Augustine brought Christianity to England, leading the mission sent by Pope Gregory to Canterbury in 597AD. He was the Abbot of a Monastery in Rome before the Pope sent him to convert the Angles. I tell the story of the mission in my post: March-12th-St-Gregory-Punster-Extraordinary/.

Augustine is the patron saint of England and the Anglican Communion. But he is not the person who brought Christianity to Britain. To England, maybe.  Britain. No.

The Romans brought Christianity to Englands green and pleasant lands. I summarise the evidence in my post on St Lucius, who is claimed to have brought Christianity to Britain. Less controversially. Britain’s first martyr was St. Albans, who I will post about in June. However, some modern scholars doubt St Albans existence.

But there is good reason to think Christianity was strong in Roman Britain, particularly in towns. There is, also, some evidence of non-Christian religious centres surviving in the countryside. The Roman word for non-Christians, pagans comes from the Latin word paganus, which meant someone who lived in the country.

After the Romans, the Christian Church continued to thrive, with a host of Saints in Cornwall, and Wales. The first substantial eye-witness account of post-Roman Britain, dated to the early 5th Century, is by the Catholic Bishop Germanus. This shows a battle for souls in Britain not between Christians and Pagans, but between Catholics and other Christians. The Catholics targeted these as heretics. I talk about this in my post about St Germanus here.

The next insight comes from the conversion of the Irish to Christianity later in the 5th Century. St Patrick’s account gives an eyewitness view. What is interesting is that St Patrick’s family were living in a town where aspects of Roman life continued. After being kidnapped by Irish raiders, St Patrick went on to lead the conversion of the Irish. But he was helped by St Bridget and Palladius.  See my post on St Patrick here, St Bridget here.

St Augustine & the British Church

I don’t think Augustine comes over with any sense of personality or charisma.  But Welsh history shows him to be an unsympathetic, hierarchical character.

The relationship between the British Church and the incoming Roman Catholic hierarchy was strained. Meetings were held between the British Church and St Augustine. To prepare for this the British arranged a Synod in the old Roman town of Chester.  Here 7 British Bishops and others prepared for their response to St Augustine’s insistence on the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church. One of the contentious issues was the ‘computus’ for deciding the date of Easter. Another was the style of the monks’ tonsure! But it was a major step for the British Churches to align themselves with a foreign ecclesiastical structure.

The delegates were advised by a wise hermit to arrive late at the planned meeting with St Augustine. Then they were to see how he reacted.  If he got up and welcomed them, then he was a fit leader to follow. If he acted imperiously, he was not a man of God.  St Augustine failed the test, the meeting was a failure. St Augustine cursed the British which is said to have lead to a military campaign against them by the Anglo-Saxons.  The British lost the subsequent battle of Chester.  It was said that 1200 monks from the nearby monastery of Bangor-in-Dee were slaughtered. 

The battle severed the connections between the British Kingdoms in Cumbria and Scotland from the Kingdoms in Wales and made it very unlikely that the British would ever regain control of Britain from the English.

Bangor-on-Dee is a few miles from Chester and one of the most important British Monasteries.  Among the clerics trained there are said to be Pelagius, who created the Pelagian Heresy which Germanus was sent to crush; Gildas the first ‘historian’ of the Saxon incursion. And St Tudno, who gave his name to Llandidno.

The two churches were finally reconciled at the Synod of Whitby.  For more about the calculations for Easter and the Synod of Whitby look at my post here.

First written on 27/28th May 2025

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St Pancras May 12th

Ruins of St Pancras, Canterbury Photo: K Flude (note the reused Roman Bricks.)

Pancras means ‘all-powerful’ in Greek. St Pancras was a 14 year old who refused to give up his Christian Faith during the persecution of Christians by the Emperor Diocletian. He was beheaded on the Via Aurelia, traditionally, on 12 May 303 AD. His youth makes him the Patron Saint of children, but he is also the patron saint of jobs and health. He is ‘invoked’ against cramps, false witnesses, headaches, and perjury. His body was buried in the Catacombs, but his head is kept in a reliquary in the Church of Saint Pancras in Rome, where he was buried.

Ice Saints

He is also one of the Ice Saints.  These are saints with feast days from May 11th to May 14th.  They are: St. Mamertus, St. Pancras, and St. Servatius (and in some countries, Saint Boniface of Tarsus – Wikipedia). They represent a belief that there was often a cold snap in early May.  Although modern statistics disprove this, it is however true that a late frost can cause havoc with crops.  So  the Ice Saints help persuade farmers to delay sowing.

In England, we have a saving ‘never cast  a clout while may is out’.  Which suggest you keep a coat at hand while the May flowers (Hawthorn) are still out, as it can be cold even in May. For more on the Folklore of Hawthorn -see my post here.

St Pancras in England

St Pancras, Old Church, London (Photo: Kevin Flude)

Pope Gregory is said to have given St Augustine relics from St Pancras when his mission came to Kent in 597AD. They built a church dedicated to St Pancras. The ruins still survive in the grounds of what is now St Augustine’s, Canterbury (see picture at tope of post).

This story is partly responsible for the claims that St Pancras Old Church, in Camden (pictured above) is a very old foundation. The idea being that there was a late Roman place of worship here. But there is very little solid evidence for this. It is also argued that, if it isn’t late Roman, then it dates to just after 604AD. This is when St Mellitus, sent by St Augustine, established St Pauls Cathedral. It is suggested that he also founded St Pancras Church. St Pancras’ Church was a Prebend of St Pauls Cathedral (a Prebend provides the stipend (pay) to support a Canon of a Cathedral). But this is not evidence it was established as early as the Cathedral was, and there really isn’t any other credible evidence for a 604 date.

When the Church was restored, the architects said it was mostly Tudor work with traces of Norman architecture. However, the suggested finding of a Roman tile or two, reused in the fabric, is used as evidence to keep the legend going.

If you read the Wikipedia page, you will see evidence of two strands to the contributions. One is playing down the legends of its early foundation. The other trying to keep hold of its place as among the ‘earliest sites of Christian worship’. Read the wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Pancras_Old_Church to make up your own mind.

It is a lovely Church, on an impressive site, with links to Thomas Hardy, and Sir John Soane whose tomb is the design inspiration for the iconic Red Telephone Box.

The End of Hardy’s tree

Headaches

As Patron Saint of Headaches, St Pancras Day is a good day to make worms come out of your head. Or so say the Fairfax Household Book of the 17th/18th Century as quoted in Charles Kightly’s ‘The Perpetual Almanac’:

‘To make a worm come out of the head. Take, in May, the marrow of a bull or cow, and put it warm into the ear, and the worm will come forth for sweetness of the marrow.’

Generally, willowbark was used for headaches. We know this would have worked as the bark contains salicin, which is converted by the body into salicylic acid. This is a precursor to aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). But it is not as effective.

First Published in 2024, revised 2025

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Floralia. Old Goats and an extraordinary Elephant April 28th

Flora (Floralia festival named after her) on a gold aureus of 43–39 BC Wikipedia photot by АНО Международный нумизматический клуб

This post got forgotten because April 28th was unexpectedly St George’s Day.  But it’s still relevant as the Roman festival of Floralia continued to May 15th.

On the 28th of April began the Floralia.  It continued to the Kalends (15th) of May. According to Ovid in the ‘Fasti’ Book IV, the Romans celebrated Flora, the Goddess of Spring.  The Floralia celebrated flowering, blossoming, budding, planting and fertility.

Flora was one of the 15 Roman Deities offered a state-financed Priest. Her home in Rome, was on the lower slopes of the Aventine Hill near the Circus Maximus.

The Circus Maximus is the large long arena in the middle of Rome. Model Musee Arte et Histoire, Brussels, photo Kevin Flude

Celebrations began with theatrical performances, at the end of which the audience were pelted with beans and lupins. Then there were competitive games, and spectacles. The latter, in the reign of Galba, including a tight-rope walking animal. A monkey you might guess but no, it was a tight-rope walking elephant!

The Year of the Four Emperors

Incidentally, Galba only survived for 7 months as Emperor.  A little longer than our Liz Truss’s 44 days. But then she was not murdered by a rampaging mob at the end of her reign. It was the year known to history as the year of the 4 Emperors. (great description by Tacitus here:)

Spectacles and Battles

Juvenal records that prostitutes were included in the celebration of Floralia by dancing naked, and fighting in mock gladiatorial battles. There is a raging debate about the existence of female gladiators. A burial in Southwark has been said to be one such.  To hear what Natalie Haynes has to say on the subject look here🙂

Fauns, Satyrs, Goats and Hares

Hares and goats were released as part of the ceremonies. These animals were both considered to be very fertile and have a ‘salacious’ reputation! (Satyrs or Fawns were, famously, obsessed with sex and were half man half goat. A man can still be referred to, normally behind his back, as an ‘old goat’). Fauns were Roman, Satyrs Greek. The one half man half goat, the other half man half horse. It all got a little mixed up and fauns became very similar to satyrs.

To read about the myths of hare see my post march-28th-as-mad-as-a-march-hare/

Written in 2023 revised April 2024, 2025

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Roodmas, the True Cross and the Coronation May 3rd

Rodmas – Rood screen in St. Helen’s church, Ranworth, Norfolk by Maria CC BY-SA 3.0

Rood is another word for the Cross. Parish Churches used to have a Rood Screen separating the holy Choir from the more secular Nave. This screen was topped with a statue of the Crucified Jesus nailed to a Rood. Sp Roodmas, is the festival of the Holy Cross.

Roodmas is celebrated on May 3rd and September 14th, although the Church of England aligned has itself with the Catholic Church’s main celebration on September 14th.

Roodmas and the True Cross

The two dates of Roodmas reflects that it commemorates two events:

The first was the discovery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem in September 14th 326 by Queen Helena.  She was the wife of Constantius Chlorus, Augustus and mother of Constantine the Great. In Jerusalem, Queen Helena found the Cross with the nails, and the crown of thorns.

How did she know she had found the true cross? She placed the timber in contact with a deathly sick woman who was revived by it. So, they thought it was the touch of the True Cross. She had most of the Cross sent back to Constantinople in the care of her son, Constantine the Great.

The part of the Holy Cross that was left behind in Jerusalem was taken by the Persians.  But it was recovered by the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius in May 3rd 628 in a peace treaty.

See my post on September 14th here.

Shivered into fragments

Over the years, the Cross was shivered into ever smaller pieces. Fragments were sent to Emperors, Kings, Queens, Dukes, Counts, Popes, Bishops, Abbots, and Abbesses. They swapped relics with each other. The fragments were cased in beautiful reliquaries. And were venerated for those of faith and helped those who could be helped by healing by faith.

King Charles III and the True Cross

cutting from the Shropshire News article on the True Cross and the Coronation
Shropshire News article on the True Cross and the Coronation

The Shropshire News reported that two pieces of the True Cross were given to Charles III by the Pope! They have been put into a cross called the Welsh Cross. This was part of the Coronation Procession. The King gave the Cross (I assume with the pieces of the Holy Cross) to the Church in Wales. Let the Shropshire News tell the story:

Shropshire News article on the True Cross and the Coronation
Part 2 Shropshire News article on the True Cross and the Coronation

This is quite extraordinarily medieval, and fits in with the news that we were encouraged to take an oath of allegiance to the new King.

I, (Insert full name), do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/royals/swearing-allegiance-king-charles-its-29861318

It is a clear reminder that we are subjects not citizens and news, as a nation, we still set store by superstitions.

The Duke of Buckingham and the True Cross

The Duke of Buckingham had a piece in his collection, which he kept at York House in the early 17th Century. How he got it, I don’t know. But I think he must have acquired it from the aftermath of the destruction of the Reformation. John Tradescant, who looked after the Duke’s collection until Buckingham was murdered, had a piece of the True Cross. Tradecant created Britain’s first Museum, Tradescant’s Ark. Again, I suspect (without any evidence) that he got the fragments from Buckingham. Did he acquire it after the murder? Or shiver off a timber fragment hoping no one would notice?

Guild of the Holy Cross Stratford

The Chapel that Shakespeare’s Father controlled as Bailiff of Stratford on Avon, was dedicated to the Legend of the True Cross, to find out more read my post on September 14th here:

First Written on May 3rd 2023, revised May 3rd 2024, and 2025

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St Mellitus Day And the Birth of the Chocolate Digestive April 24th

St Mellitus (Source: from saint-mellitus-of-canterbury-died-624

St Mellitus was the first Bishop of London (AD604) and the third Archbishop of Canterbury. But was he really? No, he was the first Bishop of London of the English Church. There were many before him. We know there were bishops of London from Britannia during the Roman period. And, according to John Stow, London’s first history. there were also post-Roman bishops. That line of Bishops ended, in 584 AD, when the 14th Bishop, Theanus, fled London. He headed for Wales to escape the Anglo-Saxon threat. However, even Stow was uncertain whether the list was genuine.

I tell this story in my post on St Lucius.

The Synod of Arles

In 314 a Church Council or Synod was called at Arles, in France. Amongst those attending were three bishops from Britain, (and a Deacon and a presbyter) :

  • Eborius “de civitate Eboracensi” – from the city of Eboracum (York);
  • Restitutus “de civitate Londenensi” – from the city of Londinium (London);
  • Adelfius “de civitate Colonia Londenensium” – that is, from the “colonia of the people of London”.

(Wikipedia)

The fact that two came from London suggests to some a mistake. Adelfus, perhaps, was either from Lincoln or Colchester which were Colonies. The Synod was called by the Emperor Constantine. Amongst its acts were to order that Easter should be held at the same time throughout the Empire. (See also my post on the Synod of Whitby which fixed the date of Easter in Britain as late as 684). They also banned Races, and Games. and excommunicated all actors and charioteers. (Synod_of_Arles). But it gives us our first certain facts about the origins of Christianity in Britain.

The Augustinian Mission and Mellitus

St Mellitus Burial Place, St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury. Photo K. Flude

In 597, the Augustinian Mission came to Kent. Mellitus was sent by Pope Gregory to join St Augustine’s mission in 601AD,. He was then sent to London to set up St Pauls and become its bishop (604). But he was kicked out in 618AD when King Sæberht of Essex died and was replaced by a pagan son. Mellitus went into exile in Gaul but came back to become the third Archbishop of Canterbury. He was buried in St Augustine’s Abbey in Canterbury. He is known as St Mellitus of Canterbury. London reverted to paganism until 654AD when St Cedd became its next Bishop.

I tell the story of the Augustinian misson in my post here

St Gregory.  Punster Extraordinary March 12th

St Mellitus had gout so is the go-to Saint for sufferers of gout.

Also on this day

1925 – McVitie’s Chocolate Digestive was created. There were made in Stockport and in Harlesden, London. I have moored my narrowboat outside the factory and been kept awake by the churning of chocolate in vast vats. Or so I imagine. News stories suggest that the Digestive was meant to be eaten with the chocolate on the bottom side. This is one of the most ridiculous things I have heard! But you can read this page for the facts. And this one for more on the history of the Chocolate Digestive.

First published in April 2025

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Anglo-Saxon Easter

Lullingstone Mosaic representing Spring
Easter – Lullingstone Roman Mosaic representing Spring

Easter is a Germanic name, and, the only evidence for its derivation comes from the Venerable Bede. He was the first English Historian and a notable scholar. He says the pagan name for April was derived from the Goddess Eostra. The German name for Easter is Ostern probably with a similar derivation. But this is all the evidence there is for the Goddess, despite many claims for the deep history of Easter traditions.

Easter, Estry and Canterbury

Philip A. Shaw has proposed that the name of Eastry in Kent might derive from a local goddess, called Eostra. The influence of Canterbury in the early Church in England and Germany led to the adoption of this local cult name in these two countries. Otherwise, the name for Easter in Europe derives from Pascha which comes from the Hebrew Passover and Latin. In French it’s Pâques, in Italian Pasqua, Spanish Pascua; Dutch Pasen, Swedish Påsk; Norwegian Påske and so on.

The Church’s Choice for the Date of Easter

The timing of Easter is the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. I have already explained that Spring was the time the Church set for the Creation, the Crucifixion and other key points in the Christian Calendar. See my post the-beginning-of-the-universe-as-we-know-it-birthday-of-adam-lilith-eve-conception-of-jesus-start-of-the-year.

Eleanor Parker in her lovely book ‘Winter in the World’ gives a lyrical insight into how the dates were chosen. They held the belief that God would only choose the perfect time for the Creation and the events of Easter. The Creation began with the birth of the Sun and the Moon. So it was fixed to the Equinox, when the days were of equal length, and the fruits of the earth were stirring into life. But Holy Week also needed to be in harmony with the Moon. Therefore it was tied, like Passover, to the first full moon after the Equinox, which is also when the events take place in the Gospels.

The quotations Parker uses from early English religious writing and poetry shows a profound interest in nature and the universe. It is a very appealing viewpoint. It seems to me that this is something the Church, lost in later times, and replaced with fixation with dogma and ‘worship’ of the Holy Trinity.

At the time, fixing the date of Easter was very controversial as the Celtic Church in Britain had a different calendar to the Roman Catholic Church. Easter fell on a different day. The King of Northumberland, for example, celebrated Easter on a different day to that of his wife. Oswiu was exiled to Ireland where he was influenced by Celtic Christianity. His wife, Eanflæd, from Northumberland, had been baptised by the Roman Catholic missionary, Paulinus.

Easter and the Synod of Whitby

Oswiu, became King of Northumberland and ‘Bretwalda’ (ruler of all Britain), and encouraged a reconciliation. This culminated at the Synod of Whitby (664AD), between the two churches. The Celtic Church finally agreed to follow the Catholic calendar and other controversial customs. The Abbess at Whitby during the Synod was Hilda of Whitby. The Celtic position was defended by Bishop Colmán and the Roman position by St Wilfred. Bishop Colmán resigned his position as Bishop of Lindisfarne, returned to Iona and then set up a monastery back in Ireland. Wilfrid studied at Lindisfarne, Canterbury, France and Roman. After her husband’s death, Queen Eanflaed became Abbess of Whitby,

The antagonism between the two churches went back to the time of St Augustine in the early 7th Century. In a meeting between St Augustine and Celtic churchmen, St Augustine was judged to have been arrogant, unwilling to listen. So agreement was not reached. Some time afterwards the Anglo-Saxons attacked the Celts at the Battle of Chester in which hundreds of monks from the Abbey at Bangor were slaughtered.

Days off at Easter & Rituals

King Alfred’s law code gave labourers the week before and after Easter off work, making it the main holiday of the year. Ælfric of Eynsham gives a powerful commentary on the rituals of the Church over Easter. They were full of drama and participation, including Palm leaf processions on Palm Sunday, feet washing and giving offerings to the poor on Maundy Thursday. Then followed three ‘silent days’ with no preaching but rituals and services aiming to encourage empathy for the ordeal of Jesus. This included the nighttime service of Tenebrae. All lights were extinguished in the Church while the choir sang ‘Lord Have Mercy’. The darkness represented the despair that covered the world after Jesus’ death. Good Friday was the day for the adoration of the Cross in which a Cross would be decorated with treasures and symbolised turning a disaster into a triumph.

It seemed to me that I saw a wondrous tree
Lifted up into the air, wrapped in light,
brightest of beams. All that beacon was
covered with gold; gems stood
beautiful at the surface of the earth,….

The Dream of the Rood quoted in Eleanor Parker’s ‘Winter in the World’

The Harrowing of Hell

The days before Easter Sunday are known as the ‘Harrowing of Hell’. This was a very popular theme in the medieval period (featuring in Piers Plowman for example). Jesus went down to hell to free those, like John the Baptist, who had been trapped because the world had no saviour until the first Easter. The name ‘Harrowing’ comes from ‘Old English word hergian ‘to harry, pillage, plunder’ which underpins the way the event is depicted as a military raid on Hell. The ‘Clerk of Oxford’ Blog provides more information on the Harrowing of Hell on this page,

The Clerk of Oxford Blog is written by Eleanor Parker. She started in 2008, whilst an undergraduate student at Oxford. The blog won the 2015 Longman-History Today award for Digital History‘.

The above is but a very poor précis of Eleanor Parker’s use of Anglo-saxon poetry and literature to bring Easter to life. So if you are interested to know more or would like to have a different viewpoint on the Anglo-Saxons please get a copy of her book.

First Published in 2023 and republished in 2025

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Murder of St Alphage April 19th 1012

St Alphage. Church Tower on right, City Wall to left. Photo K Flude

I first came across St Alphage when I was working at the Museum of London. The Museum was built on the High Walk at London Wall. The raised Courbusian Walkway looked down on a ruin of a Gothic Church Tower, almost destroyed during the Blitz. This was St Alphage, a Church dedicated to the Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury. (Alphage is also spelt Alphege or Alfege).

On the other side of the Walkway was the old graveyard of the Church. This preserved one of the very best sections of the old London Wall. Special because on one side its huge height was displayed. On the other, the only crenelated bit of the City Wall. And the only surviving part of the Wall dating to the War of the Roses.

St Alphage Roman and Medieval Wall
St Alphage Roman and Medieval Wall
The Crenelated Red Brick Section dates to 1477, during the War of the Roses
The Crennelated Red Brick Section dates to 1477, during the War of the Roses
St Alphage Wall explained in an information plaque.
St Alphage Wall explained on an information plaque.

In the 1980’s fellow Museum of London Archaeologist, Paul Herbert and I set up a Guided Walks company (Citisights of London) . Our walks started from outside the Museum of London, and so St Alphage formed a big part of our success. It led to a life giving Guided Walks and tours. So, St Alphage, thank you!

A Citisights Day Tour of the 1980s

St Alphage Elsyng Spittle St Mary ?

The Church was previously a monastic settlement called Elsyng Spittle (aka St Mary within Cripplegate). The Augustinian Canons looked after 100 blind men. It was refounded by Williain Elsing, and dissolved by Henry VIII in 1536. The Church was kept for a Parish Church. But the Puritans were not keen on dedications to St Mary. So, they renamed it after a London based Christian Martyr.

It remained a Parish Church until damaged in an air raid in World War One. (possibly on 8th September 1916 in a Zeppelin Raid – but I am speculating). The Church was partly demolished in 1923, leaving the Tower. The lower part of the Medieval Tower survived bombing in the Blitz. At 12.15 am on 25th Aug 1940, the first bombs on the City of London fell nearby in Fore Street. But the tower was hit in 1940. It was listed Grade 1 in 1950. Kept by the rebuilding of London Wall, and the Barbican area. Then substantially benefitting from a remodelling of the area in an excellent scheme of 2022.

St Ælfheah of Canterbury and Greenwich

StAlfege Greewich - Doyle own work Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0
StAlfege Greewich – Doyle own work Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

St Ælfheah was captured during a Viking attack on Canterbury. The Viking hoard relocated to Greenwich where they tried to negotiate a fat ransom for him. He was one of the richest men in the Kingdom. This is what the Anglo Saxon Chronicle says:

.. the raiding-army became much stirred up against the bishop, because he did not want to offer them any money, and forbade that anything might be granted in return for him. Also they were very drunk, because there was wine brought from the south. Then they seized the bishop, led him to their “hustings” on the Saturday in the octave of Easter, and then pelted him there with bones and the heads of cattle; and one of them struck him on the head with the butt of an axe, so that with the blow he sank down and his holy blood fell on the earth, and sent forth his holy soul to God’s kingdom.

St Alfege Greenwich, which is now a lovely Hawksmoor Church is said to be on the site of St Ælfheah‘s death.

St Alphage’s body was taken to St Pauls Cathedral where it was venerated. His remains were removed in suspicious circumstances by soldiers of King Cnut who translated the Saint’s bones to Greenwich. It is suggested King Cnut was punishing London for their opposition to him.

The Minotaur by Michael Ayrton

Also, part of the experience of visiting St Alphage from the High Walk was the statue of the Minotaur. I first came across this phallic Bull in the Postman’s Park and am very fond of it. Then it disappeared and reappeared on the High Walk. Now it is on the ground level near in the garden of St Alphage.

I understand that Michael Ayrton wanted to make a point about the destruction of London. He felt that the developers were more destructive than the Luftwaffe. They were like a Bull in a China Shop! So he created this statue of a very vigorous Bull representing the Minotaur. It is a very unusual work of art in that it sports a fully erect penis. Art History is full of naked women, but the male organ is largely left to pornography. For more about Ayrton follow this link.

The Minotaur in its present position
The Minotaur on the High Walk

First Written on April 19th 2025

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The Month of Love Roman Months April 15th

Roman Months, and April the Month of Love – Table from Wikipedia

I have spoken about the Roman Calendar in previous posts. Today, I’m concentrating on the Months.

The Romans wrote about a ‘legendary’ calendar, set up by Romulus when he founded Rome. It consisted of 10 months of 30 and 31 days followed by a winter period not divided into months. This allowed them to extend the year so that it fitted into the Celestial cycle. The year began in March, suitable names were given to March, April, May and June.

April was Aphrodite’s month.  The goddess of love and beauty.  Hence the month of love.  It is also National Couple Appreciation Month!

Having given names to June the Romans gave up and the next 6 months were given numbers as in the diagram above.

The Calendar was not well regulated and the months eventually began to lose their integration with the seasons, and needed reform.

photo of november calendar
Photo by Manasvita S on Unsplash

The Calendar was reformed several times. January and February were added by the legendary Numa Pompilius about 713 BC replacing the monthless winter period. But, Julius Caesar undertook the major reform in 46BC. This was the so-called ‘Year of Confusion’. This first year was 445 days long. This is how far out of sync the Calendar had got. The Julian Calendar realigned the calendar to the seasons.

The Year began on January 1st, with 365 days, 12 months and a 4 year leap year cycle. This held sway until the 16th Century when a further reform was ordered by Pope Gregory as the year is not exactly 365.25 days long. It was not adopted in the UK until the 18th Century when we lost 11 days to align ourselves with Europe.

My walk which I usually give at New Year called ‘Ring in the New Year’ deals with issue of calendars through the ages.

More on the Ides and the Kalendes of the month here

First published in November 2022.  Republished April 2025