Some say that St. Patrick introduced the Celtic Cross in an attempt to convert pagan kings to Christianity. The Celtic Cross comes in many forms. Some are plain, while others are quite ornate.
However, the ornate ones are decorated with insular art, also known as Hiberno-Saxon art. Sometimes the Celtic Cross is put on a tall base to make it look more like a traditional Christian Cross. In medieval times it was used as a public monument, and if marking a holy site, they had longer stems and were called Irish high crosses.
Deciphering what the Celtic Cross means is not as simple as describing its looks. There are varying stories to consider. It emerged somewhere in Europe. That much we can verify. Public veneration of the cross on Good Friday became increasingly common outside of the Holy Land, and this ritual was observed in Rome in the eighth century.
During the medieval period, the crucified Christ was commonly portrayed as a serene figure. The representation tended to change over the centuries, to Christ as a tortured, twisted victim. During the Reformation, Protestant churches rejected the use of the crucifix. They claimed the crucifix had become the object of idolatrous Catholic veneration, and used other versions of a plain cross instead.
But even before that, the cross was used in a divisive way. During the High Middle Ages, the cross became connected with a series of religious wars waged from Christian Europe to liberate the Holy Land from the grasp of Muslim rulers. Those who chose to go and fight would wear a special garment , marked with a cross, over their daily clothes.
Of all the Crusades, only the first one in the late 11th century really accomplished its objective. Privacy Copyright. Skip to main content. Abstract The cross is the most widely recognized symbol of Christianity. Theology syllabuses have had their own concerns. The buildings and artefacts prompted by the faith might find a crevice in either. The literary imagery might be considered in the context of vernacular or Latin literature.
It is not easy to do this without being selective. The first section of the book takes as its theme the theology of the cross. These certainly had their imitators. Vernacular versions also abounded. The Passion imagery of this period and this part of Europe gets its first, welcome, thorough and detailed published study.
It is here, perhaps, that the book makes its most original contribution. The development of imagery of the cross in altar and processional crosses, and in manuscript illustration is explored.
A chapter is given to the narrative depictions of the Passion and crucifixion in manuscript illumination, with a close-up examination of the picture-cycles in three manuscripts. Part III looks at pilgrimage and relics, and some developing contemporary theories of the immanence of the holiness in things.
There is evidence of the growing enthusiasm for relics of the Passion. It is not easy to approach these well-worked issues freshly, but in large measure this book succeeds well in its ambitious venture.
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