King's College Chapel Cambridge; founded by Henry VI and finished by Henry VIII, incorporating the largest fan vault in the world.
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If you are into stunning architecture, this place fits the bill. It is often quoted that King’s College Chapel “is one of the finest examples of late perpendicular gothic English architecture”. Although begun by Henry VI, as you walk to the entrance, you will see the Tudor stamp and two steps inside, you will be bowled over by, what one of the guides described as, “Tudor Bling”! Look closely at the rood screen and you will see intertwined H and A standing for Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. At the end of this blog you will see some excellent examples of green men, something we always look for in churches and cathedrals.
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What is there to see at Kings College Chapel?
Above; the exterior of the nave. At first glance, you will see magnificent perpendicular windows(explained later) and buttresses holding up the high walls. However, have another look at those buttresses and you will see there is a difference in decoration from one end to the other. The pink arrow shows the buttresses of Henry VI which are plain, having no decoration at all. The yellow arrows point out Henry VIII’s buttresses which have decoration eg A Tudor Rose.
Look just above the door and what do you see? You are left in no doubt that this had something to do with the Tudors.
Above and below; a close up of the arms above the entrance. The features will be explained later.
Above; the first thing you see on entering the chapel. The stonework as well as the window are amazing.
Below; a closeup of the Tudor heraldic badges/coats of arms.
A is the royal arms of Henry VII. He was so desperate to consolidate and raise the power and status of the Tudors that they appear 11 times inside the chapel and 5 times on the outside. Why was he so desperate? His claim to the throne was not strong, he did defeat Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth but he could only claim the throne via his mother, Margaret Beaufort which was not that strong. He had several relatives who had rival claims and some such as Lambert Simnel and Perkins Warbeck, who declared that they were the missing “Princes in the Tower”. Henry had married Elizabeth of York to unite both sides of the warring families in the Wars of the Roses to strengthen his claim and improve Tudor status by arranging a marriage between his son Arthur (note name of legendary king) and the Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon. He was also tough on troublesome nobles and so plastering his arms all over this chapel would serve to enhance Tudor status.
1 is the three Fleur-de-Lys which represents the crown of France. Edward III first used it in his claim to the throne and successive kings followed this claim thereafter. Henry V defeated the French and signed a treaty making his descendants kings of France. Even the very young Henry VI was crowned King of France and so the Tudors added this to their coat of arms.
2 to the right of number 2 are the three leopards of England. Today they are popularly called the “Three Lions” when referring to national sports’ teams but originally they were leopards. One expert states that if the animal is standing on two back legs with its front legs raised it is referred to as a lion rampant but if it is on all four legs with its head turned towards the viewer, it is called a leopard.
3 is a white greyhound from Henry VII’s mother Margaret of Beaufort. From her, the line goes all the way back to King Edward III.(1327-77)
4 The red Welsh Dragon linking Henry VII back to his Welsh origins. He was born in Pembroke Castle on 28th January 1457 and originally called “Harri Tudur”.
5 The Tudor Rose. A combination of the Lancastrian red rose and the Yorkist white rose ie Elizabeth of York’s family. Click here for more information about the Wars of the Roses.
6 This was the heraldic symbol of the Beaufort family with Margaret of Beaufort being Henry’s mother. She played a huge part in Henry’s life, especially his route to the throne. She was never prepared to sit back passively and see her son overlooked for the throne of England and thus the portcullis symbol is regularly seen with anything Tudor.
Gothic architecture was devised to allow in as much light as possible and this chapel certainly meets that goal. It has twelve large windows on each side and one at each end. On the outside there are buttresses which allow for the walls to be high and carry these amazing windows without collapsing. These windows are perpendicular in style which means that the long vertical stonework called mullions dominate the windows and cross the horizontal stonework called transoms, at right angles.
Below; when you turn to the right, this magnificent scene awaits you. You can now appreciate the term, the biggest fan vault in the world!
Above; As seen on the previous photo, there is a choir screen or rood screen facing you as you walk to the other end of the chapel. It is brilliantly carved and has both Henry’s and Anne’s initial on it. H R = Henricus Rex (King) and RA standing for Regina Anna (Queen Anne). Dated 1533-6.
Above:More from Henry VIII. In the middle at the bottom there is the great plate and skirt of a soldier from Imperial Rome. The latest fashion, the Renaissance style, crossing Europe was looking back to elements of the old Roman Empire and hence Henry gets this carved to link him to the grandiose days of Imperial Rome.
Above and below; on the left side of the chapel is an exhibition and here you can see more decorative woodwork. The top photo is a depiction of St George slaying the dragon and the bottom one shows Henry’s and Anne’s initials, this time tied in a love knot.
Walking into the choir, both left and right are amazing carvings. In the middle bottom of this photo is a misericord. This one is not very special but according to the guide book there are several others but unfortunately, I was not able to track them down.
Above; Turning around you get this stunning view.
Above; Looking at one of the doors in this area I noticed this lady, St Catherine, clutching a wheel and in the photo below, on the right hand side of the door, St Margaret with a dragon at her feet.
In the time of Emperor Maximian (Maxentius) 286-305, Catherine had a vision, of the Virgin Mary who went on to persuade her to be a christian. Catherine was martyred at the age of 18 and apparently was a saint who appeared to and consoled, Joan of Arc 1100 years later. Catherine suffered horrific torture and was condemned to death on a spiked wheel and hence, the wheel in the sculpture. However, when she touched it, the wheel shattered and so she ended up being beheaded.
Saint Margaret of Antioch is also known as Saint Marina the Great Martyr. Brought up in modern day Turkey, she became a Christian but when Olybrius, the Roman governor of the area, asked her to renounce her religion and accept his proposal of marriage, she refused. Olybrius reacted by having her tortured and one such torture was being swallowed by the Devil in the form of a dragon. Fortunately, this failed because the cross she was carrying irritated the Dragon’s insides to the extent that she was able to escape. She too, ended up being decapitated.
Above; windows 2,3 and 4, facing you as you enter the chapel. On the bottom right of the left hand window (number 2), is shown the marriage of theVirgin Mary to Joseph. In the middle window at the bottom left, is shown the “annunciation” ie when the Archangel Gabriel tells Mary that she will give birth to Christ, the “Son of God”. On the right hand side of this window is shown the birth of Christ. A detailed photo of the window on the right can be seen below.
Above; On the left hand side Jesus is being circumsised and on the right hand side, Jesus is being visited by the Magi (aka three wise men or kings).
Above is a close up of the bottom half of window 9. At the bottom right you can see Jesus on a donkey entering Jerusalem.
Above is the bottom half of window 9 and on the left hand side you can see a depiction of “The Last Supper”.
Above; On the right hand side of window 11, Jesus is depicted chained and bound, listening to the priests who are making a series of accusations to Herod.
Above; On the right hand side of this window is a man who is about to whip Jesus who has been tied to a red column and had most of his clothes removed.
Above; is the spectacular East Window ( number 13) showing Christ being crucified on the cross. On the bottom right hand side you can see Christ carrying his cross and on the top left hand side he is being nailed to the cross! In the middle is the crucifixion. The window comprises of 700 square feet of Tudor glass. It was created for Henry VIII in his later years and right at the top there are various Tudor badges and the letters K and H, with K standing for Katherine Howard, his second to last wife.
Below; Is a close up of the top of the window. The Yellow arrow points at the K and the pink arrow points at the H.
Above; Medieval stained glass showing a wolf or fox capturing a goose.
Below; St Blaise, the patron saint of wool combers and people suffering from ear, nose and throat illnesses. The poor man was hit by iron combs, (used for combing out wool for spinning) and eventually had his head removed! He has churches devoted to him across Europe and even in India.
Above; a weird looking bat.
Above; experts suggest that this could be Emperor Charlemagne. One piece of evidence that they refer to is the double-headed eagle just below his chin.
Above; an early 16th century triptych showing scenes from the early life of Jesus Christ. On the left he is visited by the shepherds and in the middle he is visited by the Magi (three kings or wisemen). On the right he is seen fleeing after Herod’s order to kill all baby boys and an Angel telling Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt! (The massacre of the innocents)
Above; when visiting churches, chapels and cathedrals, I always have to search for a “Green Man” and this one was hard to find. He is outside, high up on the right hand tower at the west end. (I had to use my 500 mm lens to get this photo).
Below; in the entrance to the college ie not to the chapel, there are four wonderful green men to see.
2. Who was responsible for creating the chapel at kings College, Cambridge?
Henry VI founded the college in 1441and laid the first stone for the chapel on 25th July 1446, the Feast of St James the Apostle. It has gone on to be described as “one of the finest examples of Perpendicular Gothic English architecture” by John Saltmarsh, with the world’s largest fan vault. Henry was very devout and had a major role in the planning of the chapel. He also founded Eton college with Kings College only accepting students from Eton for the first 400 years of its existence. Initially, Henry had planned to cater for 12 students, the number of the apostles but this was soon revised to 70, the same number as the evangelists chosen by Jesus. During his reign, the Wars of the Roses broke out (1455) but Henry continued to finance the construction of his college and its chapel. In 1461, Henry was defeated and captured by the “Yorkists” but regained the throne only to lose it once more to the Yorkist, Edward IV. In 1471, Henry “mysteriously” died in the Tower of London no doubt on the orders of Edward but the foundations for the chapel had been laid and detailed instructions left for the chapel’s completion. Under Edward IV, little building was carried out but his successor, Richard III, tried to get construction underway again and at his death in 1485, five bays at the eastern end were at full height with an oak and lead roof and could now be used.
When the first Tudor monarch, Henry VII acceded to the throne in 1485, completing the chapel was not high on his priority list and so little work was carried out. His priority was establish his rule and consolidates power. His claim to the throne was not strong and thus he had to deal with rival claimants, some of whom were imposters eg Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck. However, by 1506, on visiting the chapel, Henry decided to finance its completion. He was heavily influenced to do so by his powerful mother, Margaret Beaufort and by the notion that such a splendid building would enhance his status as king. This would also link him to Henry VI, who was now gaining a reputation for miracles although he never became a saint. In 1508, building began once more and in his will of 1509, Henry VII left sufficient finances to complete construction.
Under Henry VIII, the shell of the church was finished by 1512 with a full length roof which left him the fan vault to construct, the large windows to glaze and the beautiful wooden “Choir Screen” or “Rood Screen” to create. Henry VI had left instructions for one to be built and Henry VIII now built one in the early Renaissance style with his and Queen Anne Boleyn’s initials, for all to see between 1532-6. Gothic architecture is all about a high roof and large magnificent windows and Kings’ College chapel fits into that design with twelve large windows on each side and one at each end. With the exception of the more modern west window, all the windows were glazed by Flemish glaziers, the top craftsmen in Europe, between 1515-1531. Henry VIII loved creating beautiful architecture and this can be added to his impressive list. He had to have nothing but the best.
Essential information.
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