The monks were the best
artists. A jewel, now in the museum at Oxford, undoubtedly made by
command of, and worn by Alfred the Great, is an existing witness of the
height to which the art was carried. Curious reliquaries, finely wrought
and set with precious stones, were usually styled throughout Europe,
Opera Anglica."
Howel tells us, "In the education of their children, the Anglo-Saxons
only sought to render them dauntless and apt for the two most important
occupations of their future lives--war and the chase. It was a usual
trial of a child's courage, to place him on the sloping roof of a
building, and if, without screaming or terror, he held fast, he was
styled a _stout-herce_, or brave boy."
Fitz-Stephen says, "Thomas a Becket lived in such splendour, that besides
having silver bits to his horses, he had such numerous guests at his
banquets, that he was obliged to have rooms covered with clean hay or
straw, in winter, and green boughs or rushes in summer, every day, lest
his guests, not finding seats at his tables, should soil their gay
clothes by sitting on the floor.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25