{"id":35,"date":"2014-03-08T14:26:37","date_gmt":"2014-03-08T14:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.history.qmul.ac.uk\/beforethefire\/?p=35"},"modified":"2024-10-02T08:42:53","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T08:42:53","slug":"in-search-of-national-identity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.history.qmul.ac.uk\/beforethefire\/2014\/03\/08\/in-search-of-national-identity\/","title":{"rendered":"In search of national identity"},"content":{"rendered":"

In England, one of the places where national identity can be felt is Westminster.\u00a0 It may not need to be a place and indeed it can be felt through literature, music, artworks, artefacts, landscape or even ideas.\u00a0 But historical importance of Westminster is obvious.\u00a0 There is no remnant of Old St Paul\u2019s Cathedral but a few of the Palace of Whitehall, and therefore along with the Tower, Westminster Abbey is one\u00a0that provides us with some of the surviving, tangible evidence of the legacy of medieval London today.<\/p>\n

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Westminster Abbey seen from the north<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We entered the abbey through the cloister, which is the part older than the church (the abbey began its life as a Benedictine monastery in the tenth century, although its roots are intertwined with legends).\u00a0 Cloistered, undisturbed by the noise, it is an ideal space for meditation not only for monks but also the public.\u00a0 The presence of memorials of the lost lives during the wars\u00a0on the walls testifies\u00a0what kinds of people\u00a0might come to this place.<\/p>\n

The church is remarkable in two points.\u00a0 One is its architectural mastery, and the other is its close association with some of the prominent figures the nation has produced.\u00a0 The church is built in the Gothic style, typical for its high vault and stained glasses. \u00a0An airy, vast space above the nave is enabled\u00a0with the support of flying buttresses on\u00a0both sides of the building.\u00a0 With the light coming in through the glasses and a singing voice of the choir resonating, the space would create an atmosphere similar to the cloister.<\/p>\n

At the heart of the church there rests Edward the Confessor, the founder of the church, surrounded by his successor kings.\u00a0 The high altar is placed at the screen, because Henry VII, the founder of the Lady Chapel, rests in the apse at the east end.\u00a0 The arrangement\u00a0is also because the church \u2013 embracing the tombs of some of the prominent figures\u00a0who contributed to the glory of the nation as well\u00a0\u2013 is no longer exclusive of the general public, who used to have a limited access to the\u00a0altar\u00a0that had been\u00a0placed beyond the screen.<\/p>\n

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At the ‘oldest’ door in use in Britain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Inside the church, it is not to be unnoticed that Mary I and Elizabeth I rest side by side.\u00a0 It\u00a0is symbolic of the\u00a0religious and political reconciliation between different\u00a0denominations Elizabeth endeavoured to achieve, blending Edward VI’s Protestantism and Mary’s Catholicism\u00a0and,\u00a0consequentially, laying out the foundation\u00a0of the Anglican Church.\u00a0 The sight does induce the recollection of such an aspect of the national history.<\/p>\n

Moving to the National Portrait Gallery, we faced\u00a0Tudor monarchs, an archbishop, royal servants, Elizabeth\u2019s entourage, an explorer and others.\u00a0 Their riches are amply displayed, yet in contrast their faces are serious –\u00a0as if they want to tell\u00a0us something (perhaps justification of their acts and decisions).\u00a0 It is surprising to think how we perceive them differently through different media.\u00a0\u00a0In the church, we\u00a0know they are dead and we can feel it.\u00a0\u00a0In\u00a0the\u00a0gallery, we know they are dead but\u00a0their\u00a0semblance\u00a0on panels\u00a0disturbs that belief.\u00a0 Perhaps so long we talk and think about them, they will be remembered continuously.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In England, one of the places where national identity can be felt is Westminster.\u00a0 It may not need to be a place and indeed it can be felt through literature, music, artworks, artefacts, landscape or even ideas.\u00a0 But historical importance of Westminster is obvious.\u00a0 There is no remnant of Old St Paul\u2019s Cathedral but a … Continue reading In search of national identity<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","hentry","category-spring-2014","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.history.qmul.ac.uk\/beforethefire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.history.qmul.ac.uk\/beforethefire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.history.qmul.ac.uk\/beforethefire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.history.qmul.ac.uk\/beforethefire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.history.qmul.ac.uk\/beforethefire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.history.qmul.ac.uk\/beforethefire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.history.qmul.ac.uk\/beforethefire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions\/83"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.history.qmul.ac.uk\/beforethefire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.history.qmul.ac.uk\/beforethefire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.history.qmul.ac.uk\/beforethefire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}