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Penryn, Prayer Book Rebellion Memorial, near the site of
Glasney College.
Glasney College was founded at Penryn, Cornwall in 1265 by Bishop Bronescombe and was the centre of ecclesiastical power in Cornwall's Middle Ages and probably the best known and most important of Cornwall's monastic institutions. Much of the building was modelled on the existing Exeter Cathedral. The site at Glasney was at the head of a small creek and as a defence Bishop Bronescombe built three towers, forming one block which acted as a defence both for the college and the town of Penryn. Miracle plays were performed here and across Cornwall in the Cornish language. Only a few Cornish-language plays survive today including several that were composed at Glasney, The Creation of the World, The Passion of our Lord, The Resurrection of our Lord, Bewans Meriasek (The Life of St Meriasek - the patron saint of Camborne).
[edit] Destruction of Glasney
Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries, between 1536 and 1545, signalled the end of the big Cornish priories but as a Chantry Church, Glasney held on until 1548 when it suffered the same fate. The smashing and looting of Cornish colleges such as a Glasney and Crantock brought an end to the formal scholarship that had helped sustain the Cornish language and Cornish cultural identity and played a significant part in fermenting opposition to forthcoming cultural 'reforms' which led to the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549. Apart from being sorely missed centres of indigenous cultural excellence many in Cornwall would have seen these institutions as being a bridge to the Celtic past, back even to the Christianised paganism of their forefathers. When traditional religious processions and pilgrimages were banned in 1548, commissioners were sent out to smash all symbols of Cornish Catholicism. In Cornwall this job fell to William Body, whose desecration of religious shrines angered many and along with other assaults on Cornish legal rights, culture, language and religion, led to his murder on April 5th 1548 at Helston.
[edit] Present site
Today the only surviving remains of Glasney are a portion of wall and an arch. In 1986 the "Friends of Glasney College Society" was established in Penryn by Dr James Whetter, who in his book The History of Glasney College describes the destruction of Glasney as a damaging blow to the history and spirit of the Cornish nation.[1]
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] References
- Vincent, John, The History of Glasney College Church, 1903
[edit] External links
Coordinates: 50.1662° N 5.10193° W
