arrangement of the great church, which provided for the worshippers an
approach to the old Confession--the recess under the high altar. In
these works of Maderno, the workmen employed came upon the forgotten
cemetery of the Vatican, arranged in the first century by Bishop
Anacletus. The “find” was one of extraordinary interest. Torrigio, a
“beneficiato” of the basilica, was present when the discovery of this
most ancient cemetery was made, and has left us an account of what he
saw. Accompanying his description was a plan drawn by Benedetto Drei,
the clerk of Maderno’s works.
Of the rare plan in question, a rough drawing has been preserved, and
has been of the greatest use in elucidating the more detailed and
accurate description of the sacred spot, which description was made a
few years later, _circa_ A.D. 1626, when under Urban VIII (Cardinal
Barberini), Pope from A.D. 1623-1644, it became necessary to strengthen
the foundations of the new mighty bronze Baldachino of Bernini, and
elaborate and careful work was undertaken in this sacred spot.
What was then discovered in the ancient cemetery of Anacletus has been
told us by Ubaldi, a Canon of S. Peter’s. Ubaldi saw with his own
eyes the wonderful things then discovered, and his account is of the
greatest value to the historian of the very early days of Christianity
in Rome. These precious memoranda of Ubaldi were deposited in the
Vatican archives and were only found in quite late days by Palmieri,
one of the keepers of these archives; the well-known scholar Armellini
has since published them.
We will give a few specially interesting particulars from Ubaldi’s
memoranda. The story of these excavations is as follows--
Pope Urban VIII was dissatisfied with the adornment of the high altar,
which he deemed quite unworthy of the conspicuous position it occupied
in the glorious new Church of S. Peter’s; and he entrusted the
decoration to the architect Bernini of Florence. Bernini designed the
great Baldachino or canopy of the altar which we see now.
It was an enormous and striking work. Its great size is imperfectly
grasped by the ordinary visitor. The vastness of S. Peter’s, it
has been well said, dwarfs everything that is in it. This massive
Baldachino or canopy of the high altar is composed of bronze largely
taken from the portico of the Pantheon originally built by Agrippa, the
son-in-law of the Emperor Augustus. It is ninety-five feet in height,
and is computed, with its pillars, to weigh nearly one hundred tons.
To carry this tremendous weight of metal, it was considered necessary
to place the pedestals of the supporting columns upon a solid and firm
foundation, but how to excavate such foundations in the immediate
neighbourhood of the tomb of S. Peter, in the midst of the holy
graves quite recently discovered surrounding the tomb in the ancient
cemetery of Anacletus, for some time seriously perplexed the Pope and
his counsellors, and they long hesitated before commencing the work.
At last it was decided upon, but the excavations were ordered to be
carried out with the utmost care and reverence considering the holy
ground where they were to be made; a guard of priests and ministers of
the Church was deputed to watch every grave as it was disturbed, and
reverently to replace every body and all the dust and ashes which had
to be removed. It was from the memoranda made on the spot by one of
these watching priests, the Canon Ubaldi, that the striking story, some
extracts of which we are about to give, is taken.
* * * * *
A few words descriptive of the spot where the excavations were made
will be useful before we speak of the strange and wonderful “find”
itself.
It must be remembered that the _actual_ vault of the tomb or crypt in
which was the sarcophagus of S. Peter, embedded in the solid masonry
of Constantine, lies deep in the ground beneath the locality of the
excavations.
The “Memoria” of Anacletus was built originally above, on the walls of
the vault of the tomb. Part of the “Memoria” must once have been _above
ground_. Round this “Memoria” Anacletus arranged the little cemetery of
the Vatican Hill. In this cemetery, as close as possible to the walls
of the “Memoria” above the tomb, were the graves dug for the nine or
ten first Bishops of Rome. In other graves in that sacred little God’s
acre were coffins containing the remains of certain of the martyrs and
confessors of the first and second centuries. It is these graves, in
the ancient cemetery round the “Memoria” walls, which were disturbed in
the course of the excavations, and whose sacred contents are described
in the Memoranda of Ubaldi.
The vault itself or crypt of the Tomb of S. Peter which lay deep below
the “Memoria,” was never interfered with.
* * * * *
In this work of excavation necessary for the foundations of the great
Baldachino of Bernini, the workmen employed found themselves at once in
the ancient cemetery of Anacletus.
Among the graves necessary to be touched, they found close to the wall
of the “Memoria,” still _in situ_, coffins of marble made of single
slabs of different sizes. Only one of these slabs seems to have borne
an inscription, and that was the solitary word “LINUS.” This was most
probably a portion of the coffin of the first Bishop who followed S.
Peter--the “Linus” saluted by S. Paul in 2 Tim. iv, 21. These coffins
placed close to the “Memoria” walls were no doubt belonging to the
first Bishops of Rome.
Other coffins were found near, of terra-cotta, containing ashes and
bones charred with fire. “It was evident,” writes Ubaldi, “that all
the earth on these coffins was mixed with ashes and tinged with blood”
(probably the blood of the first martyrs).
These are some among the sacred historical reliquiæ discovered in
digging the first foundation.
* * * * *
In digging for the second foundation, a singularly interesting “find”
is recorded. Ubaldi relates how a very large coffin, made of great
slabs of marble, was uncovered. “Within the coffin were ashes, with
many bones, all adhering together and half burned. These brought to
mind the famous fire in the time of Nero, three years before S. Peter’s
martyrdom, when the Christians, being falsely accused of causing
the fire, ... afforded in the circus of the gardens of Nero, which
were situated just here on the Vatican Hill, the first spectacle of
martyrdom. Some were put to death in various cruel ways, while others
were set on fire, and used as torches in the night.... These were
buried close to the spot where they suffered martyrdom and gave the
first occasion for the religious veneration of this holy spot.... We
therefore revered these holy bones as being the first founders of the
great Basilica, and having put back the coffin, allowed it to remain in
the same place.”
The memorandum on the third foundation contains no detail of any very
special interest.
On the fourth foundation, Ubaldi made the following note: “Almost
at the level of the pavement, there was found a coffin made of fine
and large slabs of marble.... This coffin was placed just as were
the others which were found on the other side ... in such a manner
that they were all directed towards the altar (of the ‘Memoria’ of
Anacletus) like spokes towards the centre of a wheel. Hence it was
evident, with much reason, that the place merited the name of ‘the
Council of Martyrs.’” These bodies surrounded S. Peter.
Apparently we have here the remains of the first Bishops of Rome for
whom Anacletus made special provision when he arranged this earliest
of Christian cemeteries. Their names are _Linus_, the lid of whose
coffin lies apart but still close to the Apostle’s vault or crypt,
_Anacletus_, _Evarestus_, _Sixtus I_, _Telesphorus_, _Hyginus_, _Pius
I_, _Eleutherius_ and _Victor_. Victor was laid here in A.D. 203. After
him no Bishop of Rome was interred in the Cemetery of Anacletus--for by
that date it was quite filled up, and the successors of Bishop Victor
were, with rare exceptions, buried in a chamber appropriated to them
in the Cemetery of S. Callistus in the great Catacomb so named on the
Appian Way.
The other interments in the sacred Vatican Cemetery in the immediate
neighbourhood of the Apostle’s tomb, noticed in the Ubaldi memoranda,
were apparently the remains of martyrs of the first and second
centuries of the Christian era; or, in a few cases, of distinguished
Confessors of the Faith whose names and story are forgotten, but of
whom Prudentius, the well-known Christian poet of the end of the
fourth century, writes in his _Peristephanon_, i. 73--
“O vetustatis silentis obsoleta oblivio
Invidentur ista nobis, fama et ipsa extinguitur.”
On the whole we may sum up as our estimate of the Ubaldi memoranda,
that it is without doubt an invaluable record of what lies beneath the
High Altar and the Western or more sacred part of the great Mother
Church of Christendom.
It is very remarkable that the practice of planning crypts only
prevailed in important churches of _Western_ Christendom. An imitation
of the Crypt of S. Peter at Rome was in these churches of the West
constantly aimed at.
In the East, in the near as in the far-East, this “vogue” of planning
crypts beneath the churches, _never_ was introduced; for the veneration
of S. Peter in the Eastern divisions of Christianity never attained
to the popularity we notice in the West. In the East, other Saints,
especially S. Mary, the Virgin Mother of the Lord, were revered with a
special reverence. This is very marked in Constantinople and in other
important centres of Eastern Christianity.
THE CLOISTER
In a great monastic establishment such as Gloucester, the most
important and interesting portion of the buildings surrounding the
church, belonging to the religious community, was undoubtedly _the
Cloister_.
The history of the origin and development of the Cloister is full of
interest. In the years (fourth and fifth centuries) which immediately
followed the ratification of the peace of the Church under Constantine
the Great, in the more important churches, built often after the
Basilican model, it was usual to arrange for a court or open space in
front of the principal entrance.
This open court, which corresponded to the Roman atrium, was for the
most part surrounded by a portico, or covered walk termed “triporticus”
or “quadriporticus,” according as the portico consisted of three or
four sides. This court was in the earlier days put to various uses.
In it were often gathered the Catechumens, those not yet formally
received into the congregation who worshipped within the church itself.
Here also were wont to assemble penitents who for some grave offence
had been excluded from the society of believers, but who sought
readmission. Now and again it was used for the interment of the more
distinguished Christians associated with the congregation worshipping
in the adjoining Basilica. Hence came the name by which this outer
court was sometimes known--“Paradisus”--whence was derived the
mediæval term of “Parvis,” which in later times was often attached to
the “square or place” lying under the shadow of the chief entrance to
the church, as for instance in Paris, “The Parvis Nôtre Dame.”
In the centre or side of this court or atrium, usually was found a
well. The Holy Water stoup always found near the entrance of Roman
Catholic churches is a “memory” of this atrium well.
In the Cloister Garth, which with the Cloister itself was the immediate
successor of this atrium, with rare exceptions, such a well is almost
always to be found. To give an example, in the Gloucester Cloister
Garth, which is carefully preserved, the old well is still in existence.
As time went on, the original purposes for which this fore-court or
atrium was intended existed no longer. The conditions of the Christian
society became largely modified, the Catechumen class in many cases
almost entirely disappeared, Church discipline became relaxed, the
number of penitents shut out from worship in the church became very
small--only notorious sinners were excluded.
As a place, too, for public interments, save in rare instances, the
portico was disused. In many cases, especially in cities, the large
space in front of the church was urgently needed for houses, while on
the other hand, new arrangements became necessary for the monastic life
which grew up round the ancient churches and abbeys. The Canons and
other persons connected with the service of cathedrals and the more
important churches, required accommodation.
To meet these new requirements, the outer court--the Atrium or
Portico--was removed from its original position in front of the church
to a quieter and more secluded place at the side of the cathedral
or abbey; and under the well-known mediæval name of Cloister, the
“Claustrum,” or enclosed space, this old portico or atrium reappeared,
and at once assumed an important, even an indispensable place, among
the mediæval abbatial or cathedral buildings.
At first the “Cloister” was little more than a cluster or block of
buildings, erected round an enclosed spot immediately under the great
house of prayer--mostly buildings designed as the dwelling-place of the
Canons and of the minor officials engaged in the services of the church.
The modern term “close” is derived directly from this usage. In very
early times a school, where various kinds of learning, profane as well
as sacred, existed in connection with the abbey or cathedral, found a
home in this cluster of dwellings.
This in England was the case of York in the seventh and eighth
centuries; in Canterbury in the days of Theodore and Hadrian; in
Winchester in the time of Ethelwolf, in the latter part of the tenth
century.
It was, however, in the Western Monasteries after the great revival
inaugurated by the important religious House of the Benedictines of
Cluny in the tenth century, that the “Cloister” of the Middle Ages
attained to its supreme importance. It served many purposes. It was
the heart of the community. It was the place where the dwellers in the
religious House spent many hours of their quiet life in meditation,
in literary work, in teaching. It was there that the novices were
often instructed. In the Cloister, too, the copyists of manuscripts
plied their various crafts, many simply copying the more ancient and
often perishable MSS. in their beautiful and careful handwriting, and
thus preserving accurate copies of what the world already possessed
of books. How few of the old treasures of literature would have been
handed down to the printing presses of the sixteenth century had not
this useful work gone on in these quiet cloisters? Certain of the
monks, too, were occupied in original research, and in composing and
arranging monastic and historical records.
One general plan, with occasional modifications, seems usually to
have been adopted in the great Cloisters of the Western Church on the
Continent as in England. In the Cloisters were doors leading to the
principal chambers and offices connected with the every-day life of a
monastic community, such as the Refectory where the monks dined, the
dormitory where they slept, during those few hours allotted to them for
rest, the Chapter House where they met daily, and consulted together
on the business public and private of their House, and on their varied
Mission work outside. Other doors in the Cloister led to the Infirmary,
where the sick and the aged monks received the tenderest care and
attention; to the Abbot or Prior’s special lodgings, to smaller
cloisters, sometimes termed a slype (the derivation of this word is
unknown), leading into outer courts and separate buildings; such as
the guest-chambers, kitchens and store rooms, into the Cemetery of the
religious House, into the garden. Two large doors besides, as a rule,
opened from the Cloister alleys directly into the church.
In the centre of the Cloister invariably was a small garden--the garth;
sometimes simply turfed, sometimes bright with flowers and shaded
with trees. In it as a rule the well above referred to was found. The
windows of the Cloister walls were, in some cases, especially in the
later Middle Ages, wholly or in part, glazed, sometimes with rich
stained glass.
Very frequently, in the more wealthy monastic foundations, and also
in the case of some cathedrals, the Cloister was richly adorned with
sculpture, and in some instances ornamented with colour.
Occasionally costly marbles were used for the pillars and their
capitals; indeed, no portion of the sacred building itself received
greater attention than did many of these mediæval Cloisters.
As examples of specially beautiful and costly Cloister work, we
would cite the well-known Cloisters of S. Paul, outside the walls of
Rome, and S. John Lateran. In Sicily the vast and splendid Cloisters
of Monreale are noteworthy. In France, the Cloister alleys of the
Cathedral of Rouen, S. Trophimus of Arles, the Abbey of Moissac
(Tarn-et-Garonne), the Abbey of Montmajeure (near Arles), Mont S.
Michel (Normandy), the Cathedrals of Toul, Soissons, and many others,
might be instanced. In England the beautiful cloisters of Westminster
Abbey are well known. Norwich, too, possesses a notable example.
But the most famous by far in England are the Cloisters of Gloucester.
In some respects they are the most beautiful in Northern Europe,
none possessing a roof comparable in richness and in general effect;
the glory of the fan-tracery of the Gloucester roof gives a special
character to the whole of this admirably preserved and perfect Cloister.
So costly and elaborate indeed were the decorations often lavished on
this most important part of the monastic buildings of the Middle Ages,
that the wonderful display of art in the adornment of the Cloister now
and again seems to have excited hostile criticism. As early as in the
thirteenth century, we read in the curious poem of Rutebeuf, a writer
who was welcome at the Court of S. Louis of France, a bitter note of
disapprobation of the splendour and magnificence of these costly works
of art which so frequently adorned the Cloisters of the monks in his
day and time.
“These monks”--he writes--“who possessed nothing”--these men who “fors
l’aumosne n’avoient rien”--yet adorned their austere home with--
“ymages li monstrent bien fètes
bien entaillies et portrêtes
mult orent cousté, ce li semble.”
Then after an elaborate description, the poet adds, that these things--
“ne font pas la religion
mes la bone composition.”
And yet in spite of the stern criticism of the austere poet of the
Court of S. Louis, that precursor of our English Wyclif and of the
Puritans of a yet later time, few will be found now, even among the
sternest critics of mediæval religion, who would dare to find fault
with the tender and graceful fancies with which the monastic orders
adorned the scenes of their solitary life-work, a work which, according
to their light, was wholly dedicated to God.
The Art world and its mighty teaching power would indeed be poorer if
some of the men who built and adorned these fair homes of prayer and
study, had not, among the many crafts which they cultivated with such
untiring zeal and conspicuous success, devoted themselves especially
to architecture and its many exquisite developments, outside as well
as inside the walls of their church--architecture which in their
skilful hands became in their day and time one of the most effective
instruments of popular education.
* * * * *
In our days, too, we must never forget that few indeed would have been
the remains of the great writers and teachers of Greece and Rome, had
it not been for the patient industry of the monks working in their
silent Cloister alleys.
It must be remembered that there was no printing press, no scribes
save these monks, to hand down the priceless literary treasures of a
bygone age. It was their patient industry alone which preserved for us
the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, and the precious words of
men who had talked with the Apostles and the pupils of the Apostles,
of teachers such as Clement and Irenæus, Origen and Tertullian,
Cyprian, Augustine and Jerome. Most of the writings of that long line
of illustrious fathers and doctors of the Catholic Church of the
first Christian centuries would have been lost irretrievably, had
not generation after generation of monkish scholar-scribes toiled
unweariedly in their still and often deadly cold Monastic Cloisters.
We who live in the restless evening (is it the evening?) of the world,
enjoy the fruits of their labours, and gaze with pathetic interest on
the comparatively few undisturbed remains of these once famous homes
of learning where so much good and useful work was done. In the quiet
beautiful Gloucester Cloister we possess one of these precious relics
of that almost forgotten past, to which we owe so much--one of the most
perfect that exists in England, perhaps in the whole of Northern Europe.
* * * * *
In such a Cloister as that of Gloucester, some idea can be gathered
of the conditions under which the monk-scribes carried on their work
of transcribing and editing--a work which, as we have shown, has been
of such inestimable value to us. The Cloister architecture might have
been, not unfrequently was, a marvel of grace and beauty, but it was
utterly devoid of what in modern phraseology is termed “comfort.” There
they ever toiled amidst the circumstances of an austere self-denying
life. The cold in England and in other countries of Northern Europe,
so rich in Monasteries of the first rank, was very severely felt in
these cloister-carrels or recesses such as we see in Gloucester. They
often wrote with straw heaped round their legs to protect them from
the effects of the searching damp and cold, although in the later
mediæval period glazing seems to have been somewhat largely introduced
with the view of rendering more tolerable the condition of these
toilers for God. In the books they transcribed and preserved for us,
and adorned with such rare art and skill, we occasionally light upon
silent pathetic testimonies to the hardships endured by these tireless
scholar-scribes. Montalembert in his _Monks of the West_, (Vol. VI,
Book XVIII, chap. iv), gives us some of these curious and interesting
reflections of long-forgotten monk-scribes. We will quote two or three
specimens of these Cloister notes.
“Nauta rudis pelagi ut saevis ereptus ab undis
In portum veniens, pectora laeta tenet;
Sic scriptor fessus, calamum sub calce laboris
Deponens, habeat pectora laeta quidem.”
This was found at the end of a Gospel Book of the eleventh century.
The Monk Louis of Wissobrun wrote at the end of the copy he had made of
S. Jerome’s Commentary on Daniel--
“Sedibus externis hic librum quem mode cernis
_Dum scripsit, friguit_, et quod cum lumine solis
Scribere non potuit, perfecit lumine noctis:
Sis Deus istorum merces condigna laborum.”
In a Latin MS. of the Carlovingian epoch, a scribe named Garimbert
wrote at the end of his book--
“Sicut navigantibus dulcis est portus, ita scriptori novissimus
versus.”
Cassiodorus thus quaintly but touchingly writes of the true aim of the
vast work of transcription carried on by the dwellers in these still
and silent cloisters--
“What a glorious labour is that which enables us to preach to men by
the hands as well as by the voice, to use our fingers in place of our
tongues, to place ourselves in relation with the rest of the world,
_without breaking silence_, and to combat with pen and ink the lawless
suggestions of the devil! for each word of Holy Scripture written by
the scholar-monk is a wound given to Satan ... a reed shaped into a
pen, as it glides over the page and traces the divine word there,
repairs, as it were, the wrong done by that other reed with which, on
the day of the Passion, the devil caused the head of the Lord to be
struck.”
* * * * *