The Bussio Life

CANTERBURY

The cathedral is 512ft long and the first archbishop was St. Augustine. Augustine was originally a missionary to the Anglo-Saxon people recruited by Pope Gregory the Great.  The Cathedral follows a form of many cathedrals during that time; it contains a nave, transept, and apse, along with long isles of arches and flying buttresses.  Under the cathedral’s main hallways is a crypt; the largest of it’s kind in England.

Two people we learned about that were buried there was Edward, Prince of Wales, commonly known as the ‘Black Prince’ and ‘King Henry IV’.  The black prince’s tomb had something written around the edges, it read, “such as thou art, so once was I. As I am now, so shalt thou be.” The first time he was referred to as the ‘Black Prince’ was first recorded 200 years after his death, he was never referred to that while he was alive. He was friends with Thomas of Becket and that is a reason why he wished to be buried in the Cathedral.

There were several styles of architecture in the Cathedral. Gothic style arches, (pointed at the top), Roman arches(more rounded,  parallel gothic ceilings (vaulted), and very gothic decorations.  We were also told how to tell medieval stained glass from modern stained glass. Medieval glass is thicker and when the sun shins through it you can’t see the reelection of the colors on the ground below. However, modern glass is thin and transparent, even with colors, and when the sun shines through it the reflections of colors can easily be seen on the ground below.