Today began with a journey throughout the history of Emmanuel College, then far back into the history of England, before finishing with a study of the most famous English playwright of all time. The day started off with a slight adventure, as there was another class in our assigned classroom, causing us to spend a short interlude in the chapel of Emmanuel College. Every college at the University of Cambridge has a chapel, as the colleges were originally meant to serve the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of their students. The physical was taken care of by the dormitories and dining halls, the mental by the tutors and classes, and the spiritual by chapel services.
The chapel at Emmanuel College was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and built around the 1660s. As with other chapels here in Cambridge, the pews are arranged along the walls, unlike most churches in the United States; this is due to the fact that early medieval church services were based around call and response. One unique feature of the Emmanuel College chapel is the silver candlesticks on the altar, given to the college after the English Civil War. When some colleges supported the Royalists and were pillaged by Oliver Cromwell’s troops, their riches were given to colleges that supported the Parliamentarians. As it was founded by a Puritan, Emmanuel escaped the pillaging and received the silver candlesticks from Cromwell as a reward.
Another unique feature of the chapel here at Emmanuel College is the stained glass windows depicting people associated with the college, as well as others, such as St. Augustine. One other portrait is that of William Tindale, who began one of the first translations of the Bible into English and was exiled (and eventually killed) by Henry VIII for it. Each stained glass window is a double portrait, with two men side-by-side; one such portrait is of two bishops closely connected to the English Reformation. John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, refused to swear allegiance to Henry VIII as the head of the Church of England after the break with Rome, and was executed. Thomas Cranmer, on the other hand, was the Archbishop of Canterbury who masterminded the break with the Roman Catholic Church, as well as Henry VIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon. An American connection can also be found in the stained glass windows, as John Harvard, founder of the eponymous college, is depicted.
After learning the history of the college chapel, we proceeded back to our regular classroom, which is in a very modern building with nicer classrooms than any at the University of Tennessee! At long last (in my opinion), we began our journey into the history of England, starting with one of the earliest people to inhabit these shores, the Celts. While there may be few remnants of Celtic culture in the England that we see today, it is necessary to learn about the various Celtic tribes that lived here hundreds, even thousands of years ago. Indeed, in order to understand medieval England, one must first study Anglo-Saxon England; however, to understand Anglo-Saxon England, one must remember that they were preceded by both the Romano-British people, as well as the Celts.
Over time, many misconceptions have developed about the Celts; many people believe that they were barbarians with little society or culture, and that the Celts were native to Ireland. Addressing the latter misconception first, Celts lived throughout Europe, not merely in the British Isles. Indeed, there were Celtic settlements as far east as present-day Turkey. As far as modern historians can pinpoint it, the Celtic homeland is likely Central Europe, centered around the small Austrian town of Hallstatt, in the Salzkammergut. Over time, Celtic tribes spread throughout Europe, reaching Gaul and the British Isles; when the Romans invaded Britain in 44 CE, they found around thirty different Celtic tribes living there.
Moving on the first misconception, that Celts were barbarians with little society or culture, this is simply not true. While they did not have an urban culture like that of the Romans, Celts were not a marauding horde; rather, they were a cattle-raising people. This gave them a mobility denied to an agricultural people, as they would move in search of new grazing areas; because of this mobility, Celtic tribes largely lived in small villages spread throughout the countryside. Furthermore, the available evidence concerning Celtic material culture suggests that they practiced a sophisticated level of metalwork, as Celts invented chain mail, a flexible, protective jacket constructed of thousands of tiny metal links. Moreover, one of the most interesting characteristics of the Celts, in my opinion, is that they were not a patriarchal society, like the Romans. Some tribes had female leaders, the most famous of which is Boudica, and Celtic religion involved female goddesses who were nearly as powerful as the male gods.
On to the final part of my day: the most famous English playwright of all time. obviously, I’m talking about William Shakespeare, author of around 38 plays. Tomorrow we are lucky enough to be able to go to London to see Titus Andronicus at the Globe Theater, something that I am very excited for. While a small part of me still wishes that I could see Hamlet, my personal favorite of Shakespeare’s plays, while in England, being able to go the Globe will be the most amazing experience I have yet had in England. Titus Andronicus is one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known plays, written during his early period (the early 1590s to 1603); it is also his first (and most bloody) tragedy.
Though most of the play involves bloody killings, rape, and much severing of body parts, there are also deeper messages to be found within the excess. One important aspect of Titus Andronicus is the way in which Shakespeare literalizes the figurative. The first major example of this within the play involves the way in which a leader is often referred to as the “head” of a country. In Act 1, scene 1, Marcus Andronicus (brother to the titular Titus) implores Titus to “put a head on headless Rome.” Taken in a figurative sense, this refers to the metaphor mentioned above, that Rome needs a leader such as Titus to direct it; however, taken in a literal sense, this line has bloody implications. Because Titus refuses the throne and enters into a cycle of revenge, his sons will later lose their heads.
Additionally, this literalizing of the figurative takes a blackly comic turn in Act 3, scene 1, when Titus tells Aaron (the play’s main villain) “lend me thy hand, and I will give thee mine.” Figuratively, lending a hand simply means helping someone out; literally, Titus “lends” his hand to Aaron by cutting it off, hoping to save his sons. While I could write more about themes in Titus Andronicus (the pit or the role of literature in the play), I will stop for now and save the rest for tomorrow with my impression of the play itself.
I can’t wait for tomorrow: I finally get to go to London, something that I’ve wanted to do for years! I only hope that it won’t disappoint me (though I don’t think it will). Adventures await!
Making the Past Present 