St. Magnus' Cathedral, Kirkwall - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

St. Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall dominates the skyline of Kirkwall

Kirkwall

Kirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...

, the main town of Orkney

Orkney Islands

Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...

, a group of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It is the most northerly cathedral in the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

, a fine example of Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...

built for the bishops of Orkney

Bishop of Orkney

The Bishop of Orkney was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Orkney, one of thirteen medieval bishoprics within the territory of modern Scotland. It included both Orkney and Shetland. It was based for almost all of its history at St...

when the islands were ruled by the Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

Earls of Orkney

Earl of Orkney

The Earl of Orkney was originally a Norse jarl ruling Orkney, Shetland and parts of Caithness and Sutherland. The Earls were periodically subject to the kings of Norway for the Northern Isles, and later also to the kings of Alba for those parts of their territory in mainland Scotland . The Earl's...

. It is owned not by the church, but by the burgh of Kirkwall as a result of an act of King James III of Scotland

James III of Scotland

James III was King of Scots from 1460 to 1488. James was an unpopular and ineffective monarch owing to an unwillingness to administer justice fairly, a policy of pursuing alliance with the Kingdom of England, and a disastrous relationship with nearly all his extended family.His reputation as the...

following Orkney's annexation by the Scottish Crown in 1468. It has its own dungeon

Dungeon

A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period...

.

Its construction commenced in 1137 and it was added to over the next three hundred years. The first Bishop was William the Old

William the Old

William the Old [William Senex] was a 12th century prelate who became one of the most famous bishops of Orkney. Although his origins are obscure in detail, William was said to have been a "clerk of Paris". Saga tradition had it that William had been bishop for 66 years when he died in 1168, meaning...

, and the diocese was under the authority of the Archbishop of Nidaros in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. It was for Bishop William that the nearby Bishop's Palace

Bishop's Palace, Kirkwall

The Bishop's Palace, Kirkwall was built at the same time as the adjacent St Magnus Cathedral in the centre of Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland, was being constructed, and housed the cathedral's first bishop, William the Old of the Norwegian Catholic church who took his authority from the Archbishop of...

was built.

Before the Reformation

Scottish Reformation

The Scottish Reformation was Scotland's formal break with the Papacy in 1560, and the events surrounding this. It was part of the wider European Protestant Reformation; and in Scotland's case culminated ecclesiastically in the re-establishment of the church along Reformed lines, and politically in...

, the Cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

was presided over by the Bishop of Orkney

Bishop of Orkney

, whose seat was in Kirkwall

Kirkwall

. Today it is a parish church of the Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

Foundation

The Orkneyinga Saga
Orkneyinga saga
The Orkneyinga saga is a historical narrative of the history of the Orkney Islands, from their capture by the Norwegian king in the ninth century onwards until about 1200...

tells how bloodthirsty intrigue and saintly piety led to the Cathedral's foundation (summarised below). Other accounts tell a similar, though slightly less saintly, tale.

Martyrdom of St. Magnus

St. Magnus

Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney

Saint Magnus, Earl Magnus Erlendsson of Orkney, sometimes known as Magnus the Martyr, was the first Earl of Orkney to bear that name, and ruled from 1108 to about 1115...

had a reputation for piety and gentleness. On a raid led by the King of Norway

Norway

on Anglesey

Anglesey

Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, Magnus refused to fight and stayed on board singing psalms. King Eystein II

Eystein II of Norway

Eystein Haraldsson , born c. 1125 apparently in Scotland, died 1157 in Bohuslän, Norway, was king of Norway from 1142 to 1157. He ruled as co-ruler with his brothers, Inge Haraldsson and Sigurd Munn...

of Norway

Norway

granted him a share of the earldom of Orkney held by his cousin Håkon, and they ruled amicably as joint Earls of Orkney

Earl of Orkney

from 1105 to 1114. Their followers fell out, and the two sides met at a thing (assembly) on Orkney Mainland, ready to do battle. Peace was negotiated and the Earls arranged to meet each other on the small island of Egilsay

Egilsay

Egilsay is one of the Orkney Islands in Scotland, lying east of Rousay. The island is largely farmland and is known for its corncrakes.-St. Magnus Church:...

, each bringing only two ships. Magnus arrived on 16 April 1116 (or 1117) with his two ships, but then Håkon treacherously turned up with eight ships. Magnus was captured and offered to go into exile or prison, but an assembly of chieftains insisted that one earl must die. Håkon's standard bearer refused to execute Magnus, and an angry Håkon made his cook Lifolf kill Magnus by striking him on the head with an axe.

Magnus was buried in the Christchurch at Birsay

Birsay

Birsay is a parish in the north west corner of The Mainland of Orkney, Scotland. Almost all the land in the parish is devoted to agriculture: chiefly grassland used to rear beef cattle...

. The rocky area around his grave miraculously became a green field, and there were numerous reports of miraculous happenings and healings. William the Old, Bishop of Orkney, warned that it was "heresy to go about with such tales", then was struck blind in his Birsay cathedral and subsequently had his sight restored after praying at the grave of Magnus, not long after visiting Norway

Norway

(and perhaps meeting Earl Rögnvald Kolsson).

Earl Rögnvald founds the Cathedral

Gunhild, sister of Magnus, had married Kol, and the king of Norway

Norway

granted their son Rögnvald Kolsson the right to his uncle's earldom in 1129. Earl Rögnvald eventually took a fleet to Orkney, but the islanders resisted and Earl Paul who had succeeded Håkon would not give up control without a fight. Then Earl Rögnvald Kolsson was advised by his father Kol to promise the islanders to "build a stone minster at Kirkwall more magnificent than any in Orkney, that you'll have [it] dedicated to your uncle the holy Earl Magnus and provide it with all the funds it will need to flourish. In addition, his holy relics and the episcopal seat must be moved there [from Birsay

Birsay

Birsay is a parish in the north west corner of The Mainland of Orkney, Scotland. Almost all the land in the parish is devoted to agriculture: chiefly grassland used to rear beef cattle...

]". Meanwhile Rögnvald secretly had Paul kidnapped and shipped away, later to be murdered in Caithness

Caithness

Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...

. Rögnvald duly became Earl of Orkney.

In 1135 Magnus was canonised, with 16 April becoming St. Magnus' day. His remains were moved east to St. Olaf's Kirk in the small settlement known as Kirkjuvágr, meaning "church bay", now Kirkwall

Kirkwall

.

Work on the Cathedral began in 1137, under the direction of Kol. When funds ran short, Kol advised Rögnvald to restore odal

Udal Law

Udal law is a near-defunct Norse derived legal system, which is found in Shetland and Orkney, Scotland and in Manx law at the Isle of Man. It is closely related to Odelsrett....

rights for cash payment. In 1158 while work was still under way, Rögnvald was killed by a Scottish chieftain. His bones were brought to the Cathedral and he was canonised in 1192, though the records of his sainthood are missing. Rögnvald's bones were found and re-interred during work on the building in the 19th century.

The building

The Romanesque

Romanesque architecture

Cathedral begun in 1137 has fine examples of Norman architecture

Norman architecture

About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...

, attributed to English masons who may have worked on Durham Cathedral

Durham Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham is a cathedral in the city of Durham, England, the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Durham. The Bishopric dates from 995, with the present cathedral being founded in AD 1093...

. The masonry uses red sandstone quarried near Kirkwall

Kirkwall

and yellow sandstone from the island of Eday

Eday

Eday is one of the Orkney Islands, which are located to the north of the Scottish mainland in the United Kingdom. Eday is located in the North Isles of Orkney, and is about north of the main island of Orkney Mainland...

, often in alternating courses or in a chequerboard pattern to give a polychrome effect.

As completed during the 12th century, the original Cathedral had three aisle

Aisle

An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...

d bays to the chancel

Chancel

In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...

with the bay at the east end shorter, and apse

Apse

In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...

d in a similar way to the original apse at Durham

Durham

Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

, a transept with single east chapel, and eight bays to the nave

Nave

In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...

as at Durham

Durham

Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

and Dunfermline Abbey

Dunfermline Abbey

Dunfermline Abbey is as a Church of Scotland Parish Church located in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. In 2002 the congregation had 806 members. The minister is the Reverend Alastair Jessamine...

. When the Cathedral was ready for consecration the relics of St. Magnus were enshrined in it. In 1917 a hidden cavity in a column was found, containing a box with bones including a skull showing a wound consistent with a blow from an axe. The original Cathedral comprises the choir of today's church.

In the late twelfth and early 13th century the building was extended to the east with vaulting throughout, and in the late 14th century the present lower front was joined to the rest of the building. These later elements introduced the Gothic style

Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

with pointed arches.

In 1468, when Orkney was annexed for Scotland by King James III

James III of Scotland

, St. Magnus Cathedral came under the control of the Archbishop of St. Andrews and the Bishops of Aberdeen and Orkney were subsequently of Scots rather than Scandinavian origin. Most notable amongst them was Bishop Robert Reid

Robert Reid (bishop)

Robert Reid was abbot of Kinloss, commendator-prior of Beauly, and bishop of Orkney. He was one of the greatest of the bishops of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Scotland, and his legacy was the founding of the University of Edinburgh....

, who presided at St. Magnus from 1541 to 1558.

The Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

in 1560 had a less dramatic effect on St. Magnus Cathedral than in some other parts of Scotland, but the church had a narrow escape in 1614. Government forces suppressing a rebellion, had besieged and destroyed Kirkwall Castle

Kirkwall Castle

Kirkwall Castle, also known as King's Castle, was located in Kirkwall, the main settlement in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. Built in the 14th century, it was deliberately destroyed in 1614. The last ruins were cleared in the 19th century...

and intended to destroy St. Magnus Cathedral after rebels had hidden inside. The Bishop of the day intervened to prevent them for carrying out this plan.

Major work was undertaken on the Cathedral in the early 20th century; this included replacing the dumpy slated pyramid atop the tower with a taller spire clothed in copper sheeting. As a result today's Cathedral looks much more as it did until its original spire was struck by lightning in the late 17th century. Restoration and renovation work on the building continues, with increased urgency since it was discovered in the 1970s that the west end of the Cathedral was in danger of collapsing away from the remainder of the structure. Other work has progressed further, and to celebrate its 850th anniversary in 1987 Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

unveiled a magnificent new west window. St. Magnus is the only wholly mediaeval Scottish Cathedral, and one of the best-preserved buildings of the era in Britain.

Visiting the cathedral

St. Magnus Cathedral is a fascinating place to visit. The great age of much of its structure means it has smaller windows than those found in more modern churches. The tall narrow nave gives the illusion of much greater size than is actually the case.

Visitors can gain greater appreciation of the intricacies, the open spaces and the height of the Cathedral by joining guided group tours of the tower and upper parts of the building. This involves the negotiation of some very tight and confined spiral stone staircases but also gives excellent views: both within the Cathedral itself and, from the tower, out over the islands.

The cathedral contains memorials to many prominent Orcadians

Orcadians

Orcadians, who reside primarily in Orkney, are the descendants of Iron Age Picts, Norwegian Vikings and Scots. Because Orkney is a trading hub Orcadians are found all over the world....

including explorers William Balfour Baikie

William Balfour Baikie

William Balfour Baikie was a Scottish explorer, naturalist and philologist.-Biography:Baikie was born at Kirkwall, Orkney, eldest son of Captain John Baikie, R.N. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, and, on obtaining his M.D. degree, joined the Royal Navy in 1848...

and Dr John Rae (explorer)

John Rae (explorer)

John Rae was a Scottish doctor who explored Northern Canada, surveyed parts of the Northwest Passage and reported the fate of the Franklin Expedition....

, writers Eric Linklater

Eric Linklater

Eric Robert Russell Linklater was a British writer, known for more than 20 novels, as well as short stories, travel writing and autobiography, and military history.-Life:...

, George Mackay Brown

George Mackay Brown

George Mackay Brown , was a Scottish poet, author and dramatist, whose work has a distinctly Orcadian character...

and Edwin Muir

Edwin Muir

Edwin Muir was an Orcadian poet, novelist and translator born on a farm in Deerness on the Orkney Islands. He was remembered for his deeply felt and vivid poetry in plain language with few stylistic preoccupations....

, artist Stanley Cursiter

Stanley Cursiter

Stanley Cursiter, CBE was a Scottish artist who played an important role in introducing Post-Impressionism and Futurism to Scotland.- Biography :...

and psychiatrist Sir Thomas Clouston

Thomas Clouston

Sir Thomas Smith Clouston was a Scottish psychiatrist.Clouston was born in the Birsay parish of Orkney, and educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and the University of Edinburgh. Clouston qualified M.D. with a thesis on the nervous system of the lobster, supervised by John Goodsir...

The Bishop's Palace

At the same time as the original cathedral was being constructed, the Bishop's Palace

Bishop's Palace, Kirkwall

was built nearby for William the Old

William the Old

, with a large rectangular hall above vaulted store rooms. King Haakon IV of Norway

Haakon IV of Norway

Haakon Haakonarson , also called Haakon the Old, was king of Norway from 1217 to 1263. Under his rule, medieval Norway reached its peak....

, overwintering after his defeat at the Battle of Largs

Battle of Largs

The Battle of Largs was an engagement fought between the armies of Norway and Scotland near the present-day town of Largs in North Ayrshire on the Firth of Clyde in Scotland on 2 October 1263. It was the most important military engagement of the Scottish-Norwegian War. The Norwegian forces were...

, died here in December 1263, marking the end of Norse rule over the Outer Hebrides

Outer Hebrides

The Outer Hebrides also known as the Western Isles and the Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The islands are geographically contiguous with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland...

. The King was buried in St. Magnus Cathedral until the weather was good enough to return his remains to Bergen.

The palace fell into ruins, then after 1540 was restored by Bishop Robert Reid

Robert Reid (bishop)

who added a round tower, the "Moosie Toor". He presided at St. Magnus from 1541 to 1558 and, incidentally, also founded Edinburgh University. The ruins of the Bishop's and adjoining Earl's Palace are open to the public (see Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland

Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland.-Role:As its website states:...

The Cathedral dungeon

Uniquely in Britain, the Cathedral has a dungeon or holding pen built between the south wall of the choir and the south transept chapel. It is known as Marwick's Hole, but the source of this name and the time of its origin are unknown. A source claims it dates from the mid-16th century, the time of Bishop Robert Reid. Originally the Hall of Justice above the prison had a chute to slide prisoners down, the aperture then being closed leaving the occupant in total darkness with no way to escape. After the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

the chute was blocked, and an opening formed into the Cathedral at high level through a former window. Clergy sat in the chapel, then sent the prisoner round into the choir and up a ladder to the opening leading into the cell. In the 17th century, Jane Forsyth, accused of witchcraft and sentenced to be burned at the stake, was rescued from the dungeon at night by her lover and the two escaped to remote exile in the city of Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

The Earl's Palace

Opposite the Bishop's Palace, the ruins of the Earl's Palace

Earl's Palace, Kirkwall

The ruins of the Earl's Palace, Kirkwall lie near St Magnus Cathedral in the centre of Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland. Built by Patrick Stewart, 2nd Earl of Orkney. It was begun in 1607 and built largely by forced labour...

give a reminder of the cruel reign of the Stewart Earls of Orkney during the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Foundation

Martyrdom of St. Magnus

Earl Rögnvald founds the Cathedral

The building

Visiting the cathedral

The Bishop's Palace

The Cathedral dungeon

The Earl's Palace

See also

External links