Arthur Rising: Reexamination of Archaeological Finds at Glastonbury Abbey

Last updated on: March 27, 2018 at 7:54 am by David Russell Mosley

Arthur Rising: Reexamination of Archaeological Finds at Glastonbury Abbey 2018-03-27T07:54:01-04:00 David Russell Mosley

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

David Russell Mosley

Description English: Abbey at Glastonbury. A view of the abbey from the opposite side to the other submission and taken in the summer. The tomb in the foreground is reputedly that of Arthur and Quinevere. Taken between 1994 and 1996 Date Unknown date Source From geograph.org.uk Author Pam Brophy (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Holy Week
Holy Tuesday 2018
The Edge of Elfland
Hudson, New Hampshire

Dearest Readers,

First it was Tintagel, now Glastonbury, Arthur seems to be rising up out of the ground of Britain. For those unfamiliar, about two years ago archaeologists discovered the remains of a 5th or 6th century palace on the grounds of Tintagel Castle (13th century ruins in Cornwall). As I noted at the time, this is important news for fans of Arthur since according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose history is usually seen as largely fiction, Tintagel is the place where Arthur was conceived. Well now even more evidence from Arthur’s Britain is emerging.

A team led by the University of Reading have been reexamining archaeological finds from Glastonbury. Glastonbury Abbey is particularly prominent in Arthurian legend and in British legend in general. It is the site of the first church in Britain, according to some, founded by none other than Joseph of Arimathea. This may sound incredible, and may well be, but nevertheless this site has been occupied for some time, certainly before the Saxons settled there. The reexaminations, however, have led to the conclusion that a holy site, whether church, monastery, or something else have existed on these grounds. According to the report at The Conversation:

The excavation records confirm that the site of Glastonbury Abbey was occupied before the foundation of the Anglo-Saxon monastery around AD 700. Near the site of the medieval Lady Chapel, there were traces of a timber hall within the bounds of the early monastic cemetery. A roughly trodden floor contained fragments of late Roman amphorae imported from the eastern Mediterranean, dating back to about 450–550AD.

As the article continues to note none of this evidence, as of yet, proves that the pre-Saxon building was a church or monastery, let alone that it was associated with Joseph of Arimathea. Still, these discoveries––both at Glastonbury and at Tintagel––show us that these stories about Arthur, about Britain in the “Dark Ages” are not simple fabrication. There are truths, realities behind these stories. Perhaps these truths extend beyond architecture and into the myths themselves. This is unlikely to be proven by archaeology, but it is worth investigating. Either way, Arthur appears to me to be rising up out of the ground. And I say, the sooner the better.

Sincerely,
David

Previous Post

March 26, 2018

Saint-Haunted: How St. Cuthbert Found Me

Next Post

April 10, 2018 Ethnicity, DNA, White Supremacy, and the Pro-Life Movement

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Secular Age Advent Apologetics Atheism Beauty Being a Catholic Evangelical Being Catholic Being Deified: Poetry and Fantasy on the Path to God Blogging Book Reviews C. S. Lewis Catholic Imagination Catholic Social Teaching Catholicism Christmas Church Calendar Church Fathers Church Life Community Conferences Cosmology Creation Curdled Words Deification Distributism Easter Economics Education Epiphany Essay Extracts Eucharist Faerie Faeriean Metaphysics Fatherhood Films Folk Liturgy Food and Drink G. K. Chesterton Harry Potter J. R. R. Tolkien Jove King Arthur Language Lent Life Literature and Poetry Liturgy Medieval Theology Music My Publications Mythology On the Edges of Elfland Ordinary Time Ordination Parenthood Parish Patristic Theology Pentecost Politics Prayer Racism Radical Orthodoxy Restoration Movement Sacramental Ontology Saints Science Sex and Sexuality Sophiology Stories The Inklings The Radical Catholic Reimagination of Everything Theologians in the Church Theopoetics Thesis Research Uncategorized University of Nottingham What I'm Reading Writing

Select a Month December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz