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Oldest example of written English discovered in church
Telegraph ^ | 01 Mar 2010 | Telegraph

Posted on 03/02/2010 6:23:06 AM PST by Palter

What is believed to be the first ever example of English in a British church has been discovered.

It was written half a millennia ago and its message was serious enough to be painted carefully on the wall of England's finest cathedral.

But now it seems no one can quite decipher exactly what the inscription on the wall of Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire actually says.

It was hidden for 350 years behind a monument to a local aristocrat who was 'martyred' in the English Civil War for his support of King Charles I but rediscovered in January by astonished conservators.

And baffled experts have resorted to asking members of the public with a keen eye for deciphering puzzles to have a look at the text, and a computer-enhanced version, to see if they can help out.

Tim Tatton Brown, the cathedral's consultant archaeologist, explained: "The Cathedral's conservators quite unexpectedly found some beautifully written English text behind the Henry Hyde Monument on the cathedral's south aisle wall when the monument was temporarily removed as part of the on-going schedule of work.

"I had originally surmised the text date from the 16th century, bearing in mind that the monument was erected soon after 1660. However, our researchers now suggest it was written a century earlier and therefore pre-dates the Reformation.

"My colleague Dr John Crook has made a comprehensive detailed photographic record of the script and subsequently enhanced the letter forms on his computer," he added.


The writing was carefully painted onto a wall at Salisbury Cathedral

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: church; english; godsgravesglyphs; language
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To: Vigilanteman

I thought from your link he lived to be 157 years old... in fact, it seems, you performed a typo.

Just in case no one else pointed it out.


41 posted on 03/02/2010 11:10:39 AM PST by Ro_Thunder ("Other than ending SLAVERY, FASCISM, NAZISM and COMMUNISM, war has never solved anything")
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To: Palter

Heck, I can’t even decipher some of the English in the article.

“....... scholars were executed for translating the bible into English at that tune.”

??


42 posted on 03/02/2010 11:43:37 AM PST by EggsAckley ( There's an Ethiopian in the fuel supply!)
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To: decimon

Oh! I just got it.

“Here I sit, broken hearted, ..........”


43 posted on 03/02/2010 11:46:07 AM PST by EggsAckley ( There's an Ethiopian in the fuel supply!)
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To: EggsAckley
“Here I sit, broken hearted, ..........”

"...sold my soul and now departed."

"He who espies this scribe of wit..."

44 posted on 03/02/2010 11:55:51 AM PST by decimon
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To: Palter; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 240B; 24Karet; ...

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Thanks Palter.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

·Dogpile · Archaeologica · LiveScience · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
· Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google ·
· The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·


45 posted on 03/02/2010 3:58:23 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Freedom is Priceless.)
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To: SunkenCiv

A Podcast from their website that discusses the new text...
http://www.salisburycathedral.co.uk/news.inthenews.php?id=101

Will have to listen to it myself later.


46 posted on 03/02/2010 4:08:18 PM PST by JerseyHighlander
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To: SunkenCiv

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Salisbury-United-Kingdom/Salisbury-Cathedral/295140376781#!/album.php?aid=155389&id=295140376781


47 posted on 03/02/2010 4:12:38 PM PST by JerseyHighlander
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To: EggsAckley; Palter
After the death of Bloody Mary, the Geneva Bible began circulating in Britain and was being printed in England and Scotland by the 1570’s.
48 posted on 03/02/2010 4:20:29 PM PST by colorado tanker
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To: rahbert
Salisbury is a Catholic cathedral is it not?

Salisbury was built in the 13th and 14th Centuries, long before the Reformation. It is, of course, Church of England today.

Constable's Salisbury Cathedral:


49 posted on 03/02/2010 4:28:43 PM PST by colorado tanker
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To: Palter

“He who writes upon these walls...”


50 posted on 03/02/2010 4:50:47 PM PST by Fresh Wind ("...a whip of political correctness strangles their voice"-Vaclav Klaus on GW skeptics)
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To: outpostinmass2
A British Church at the time would only have Latin writings.

Clever

51 posted on 03/02/2010 4:54:27 PM PST by Alistair Stratford IV (Keep calm and carry on)
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To: Palter

If the professor wants help reading it, why did he have his computer use such a funny font? 8-<];-’)


52 posted on 03/02/2010 5:08:44 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (If God didn't want a One Worlder hanging from every tree, He wouldn't have created rope)
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