It’s in our DNA, that shape where one line crosses another at right angles. And the cruciform shape is, it seems, quite critical: for it makes it possible for DNA to effect repair within a cell.
Do we, somewhere in our subconscious make up, know this?
Is that why it is used so often to denote power for good?
It is so typical of mankind to convey upon the cruciform shape such a plethora of muddled messages that they take an age to detangle.
Cruciform was the name given to a knight’s sword, back in the 15th and 16th centuries. If you held it up in bloody battle it formed a cross in the air, some kind of muddled hope on a despairing battlefield.
But the cruciform sword had a hard-edged advantage. The flat cross offered protection to the hand, and trapped the enemy’s blade. Which meant more, I wonder, the hope or the hard steel?
And the people of the eleventh century onwards, in Britain, built their places of worship cruciform. That is, not a square cross, but a spine with an east end to host the altar, the west end to take the font, and two north and south transepts: shorter arms, which might contain side chapels or, prosaically, toilets.
Most important is The Crossing. The place the two lines meet. As time went on and building techniques progressed, men would build elaborate towers or domes, not behind the altar, but here, above the crossroads.
Winchester in England was once a capital, and still retains gravitas. It has its cathedral, but it has a hidden gem too: the Hospital of St Cross.
William the Conqueror was a powerful man, and hid friends found power too. One of his grandsons was called Henry De Blois. In 1129 he was made Bishop of Winchester at the age of 28. He was young, wealthy and powerful.
One day he was taking a walk in the beautiful Itchen Meadows which lie behind the cathedral, and he was accosted by a young peasant girl.
She begged him for help. Civil war had been raging and, she said, her people were starving.
She must have made a persuasive case. De Blois walked on, to find some ramshackle religious buildings. He took the site and transformed it into a sanctuary which would help the poor: not just their souls but their stomachs.
By 1136 it was up and running- not a monastery but something secular. Thirteen of the poorest men were to be brought to live within its walls, not as monks but as ‘ Brothers of St Cross’ – free men. And at its gates, every day, 100 people would be fed.
Its church is cruciform, a sturdy, Norman affair which is a cathedral in microcosm, with metre-thick walls. And up on a pillar in the north aisle stands the cross from which the Hospital gets it name. Only twice in a year can the sunlight shine upon it. They are May 3rd- the day in the calendar when the cross was said to have been invented; and Holy Cross Day, 13th September.
This was no soaring mediaeval religious ray of hope for the next life. This offered hard-edged help, here and now. And it has been doing just that ever since.
But the cruciform is not some archaic historical artefact. Our genes, which use the shape for healing, continue to yearn for concrete echoes in our everyday life. Coventry was bombed during the war: flattened, and lives and livelihoods wiped out. My father watched the glow from his house just outside Hull. It must have seemed like the end of hope.
It was a stonemason who, stumbling through the debris of a thousand years, came upon two charred beams of wood. In the depths of despair, what can a man who works with his hands do? He tied the two beams together in a clumsy cruciform shape. Because, as Lemony Snicket tells today’s children, “There is always hope.”
It was not unfounded. The cathedral was rebuilt and stands thriving again today.
Today, I watched an event which, by the time it is concluded, will bring an estimated £10 million into the country’s coffers. Full of spectacle, the majority of us gawped, if only for history’s sake, at the cars and the dress and the streets lined with well wishers. Even the most cynical must own that the couple at the centre of it all were genuine. And will, in all probability, be a safe pair of hands to hold the country and the institution of the Monarchy for a long time to come.
Hats off to those BBC cameras. Their angles were breathtaking: and none more so than during the first hymn.
The bride and groom had arrived at that very special place, The Crossing. Above, in Westminster Abbey, stands a breathtaking tower. And at the top of the tower was a man with a BBC camera, giving the aerial view to end all views. It was worth a sharp intake of breath.
There, at the crossing, viewers from 108 countries witnessed those familiar cruciform elements: a hope in the face of a world-weary and complex society; and the hard-edged assurance that the man taking his bride could well be a solid, responsible monarch, very much like his grandmother.
Perhaps it’s in his DNA.
Kate Shrewsday 
the camera work was great, but the colours came and went a bit. Pity!
we do like the cross shape, i think it does bring feelings of comfort.
Thanks for the company online today 😉
Nice to compare notes, Sidey 🙂
Hope springs eternal. I thoroughly enjoyed watching today unfold on the telly.
A day of pageantry, a glass of wine, and a decent hat. There are few better combinations…
Wonderful post, Kate.
Will and Kate did seem quite “genuine.” Of course, appearances can be deceiving. If that were not the case, actors would not be nearly as effective at their craft as they sometimes are. 😉
Here’s to a long and happy marriage for them.
All true, Nancy. But the consensus here is that the body language today was in marked contrast to the wedding of William’s father to his mother. We may conclude Buckingham Palace’s PR machine is far slicker now than it was then. Let us see if history supports today’s gut reaction.
I agree. I noticed a world of difference in the two ceremonies.
Kate and Will seem well suited for one another ~ relaxed in each other’s company. They know each other far better than Charles knew Diana (or she, he).
The wedding was beautiful, and this is a beautiful post. Thank you.
The day has been beautiful 🙂 although it was the middle of the night for you, wasn’t it? Glad the wedding made it worthwhile…
The videography was amazing. I am now convinced that Spiderman has gone to work as a cameraman for the BBC. And say what you will about us owls; [ahem] we were quite awake and ready to see the whole event, promptly at 3 a.m., PST.
😉
And, although we’ll always love Diana for her beauty and her “common touch,” I must admit that Kate looked lovely in the extreme. Fingers crossed the new princess will be as good and kind as her husband’s mother. And I hope that she and her prince “live happily ever after.”
Absolutely, Deborah 🙂 All our wishes go with them. It has been a heartening day.
This post and the Night Before are wonderful, Kate. I am just catching up and loved them both.
I was up at by 4 am to see the pomp and circumstance, and, of course. the wedding, loving every second of it. A lovely, lovely bride was Kate and her handsome prince, whom we all love, even here across the pond, are wished the very best. Tom, who couldn’t believe I was up at 4 am (with a fever and cough, no less – nothing stops me) and watched a bit, but, sitting down later, really perked up when out came the newlyweds in the Austin Healy. Ah, men and their toys.
It was a lovely event, Penny….I have to tell you that Phil, too, loved the car; but he was inordinately preoccupied by the identity of the two nuns with grimly sensible shoes just yards from Will and Kate:-D
No one knows who they are. I’m on the case….
Thank goodness!! Those two “gray birds” were the topic of hot discussion today at my hairdresser’s. I thought it might be a shout out to all of the R.C. subjects, despite the CoE location? (Although there are some Anglican nuns, or so I’ve heard…) The results of your investigation are anxiously awaited.
I have a call in with Westminster Abbey Press Office, but it’s a bank holiday and they’re all asleep…i expect they’ll wake up on Tuesday…probably Anglican nuns. They hid the RC bishop behind a flower arrangement.
I noticed the two as well, Kate. Were they nuns or Anglican clergy? I was curious and worried the one next to Prince William was going to swat him at one point as he looked like he was going to nod off.
Anything is possible,Penny 😀 as soon as I have anything I’ll get back to you!
Here we go: this is as far as the nationals have got: (not much!!) try here
I just watched the recap a bit ago…I must say I wish I were a younger girl for I fell for Prince Harry, bless him for his smile and ability to crack up at the alter. As for your fabulous post…why were you not ‘live’ with this wonderful intro as they were waiting for the event? A fabulous post and piece on history! hmmm… why didn’t we talk about the cross when I studied genetics….
You might have known cruciform DNA as the Holliday Junction…a wonderful form happening under our noses.Or even in them…
Great blog, Kate.
You, I am sure, know that the old ruined cathedral is used as the entrance garden of the new.
The charred cross is still there, and if you look upon the cross full on, just above the cross, and on the wall behind, are the words “Father Forgive”
Love Dad
Cheers Dad 🙂
I must be honest, when I saw that overhead view my first thought was, ‘I hope he doesn’t drop it.’ A flat bridal couple would not make for good tv.
LOL It would not be in line with current health and safety expectations, thats for certain!
Yes, Kate, I’ve learned fairly late in life that ‘there’s always hope’. That aerial view was breathtaking and vertigo-inducing all at once – just marvellous. Another fascinating post from you 🙂
Cheers BB. Glad you caught that shot too…
Much Better Half had tears brought to her eyes by this post. She recalls our stroll across the Water Meadows from Winchester (one of our favourite places in the world) to the Hospital.
Oh, I do so hope Wheeljam and Katty manage to sustain the fairy tale. It won’t be easy. The Press is like a grumpy old cat, purring one minute and lashing out with claws extended the next.
Isn’t it? Not averse to a high-speed chase either. I think the Royals have got better at dealing with the Press’s moods over the last two decades, but they will never be a pushover. A very bad-mannered bunch, even if I am a very minor one of them….
Lovely post, Kate, and what a phenomenal event! Full of hope, I agree. We were also taken with the couple and the camera work – still enjoying some replays 🙂
It bears watching many times, doesn’t it, Naomi? And the pictures continue as the couple decide they are staying in the UK this week…