As this blog is not only about my personal experiences of walking the Camino de Santiago but also about it's history and connections with Ireland, I was interested to hear from my friend Branden Bettger, about the Rice Tomb in Waterford
Cathedral, which he has studied academically.
Apparently it is the only surviving medieval tomb in Ireland with an image of St James the Elder on it, where the donor actually went on pilgrimage to Santiago. This makes the tomb of enormous historical and cultural significance for Irish pilgrims and I have asked Branden to tell us more:
Guest
Blog on James Rice and St James
Branden
Bettger
I was recently asked by
Michael to write a guest blog on fifteenth century Irish pilgrimage to
Compostela and the association of pilgrimage with portrayals of St James the
Elder on tombs, for whom Santiago de Compostela is named. I recently completed
an MPhil thesis at University College Cork, Ireland titled ‘Death and Marian
Devotion in Late Medieval Ireland’, in which I explored how the textual and
visual representations of Mary on Irish tombs dating from ca.1400-1527 can be
used to gain a greater understanding of the devotional lives and religious
beliefs of the laity. In my studies, I came across some interesting portrayals
of St James the Elder that display recognition of pilgrimage. One particularly
significant portrayal is that found on the tomb of James Rice in Waterford.
The
tomb of James Rice (d.1488) and
his wife Katherina Brown was originally located in a chantry chapel dedicated to St James the Elder and St Catherine of
Alexandria, which James Rice had constructed in 1482 off the north side of the
medieval Waterford Cathedral, demolished
in 1773. The
tomb is now located in Christ Church Cathedral Waterford, completed in 1779. Upon first sight of the tomb, it is instantly recognizable
as a transi tomb, as
the effigy on the lid of the tomb is that of a decomposed corpse, most likely
representative of James Rice himself.
At the head
end of the tomb, is the image of the Virgin and Child flanked by the figures of
Margaret of Antioch and Catherine of Alexandria, who commonly appeared together in art of
fifteenth-century Europe and can been seen in a similar arrangement on the
fragments of a tomb in the grounds of New Abbey, a Franciscan friary at
Kilcullen, Co. Kildare. The
Rice tomb is surrounded by images of the twelve Apostles on the sides,
identified as follows from the left to right of the spectator. On the south
side, there are the Apostles Matthias, Jude (Judas Thaddeus), Simon, Matthew,
Bartholomew, and Philip. On the north side, there are the Apostles James Minor,
Thomas, John, James Major, Andrew and Peter. At the foot end of the tomb, opposite the Virgin and
Child is a Throne of Grace style image of the Trinity, bordered by Edward the
Confessor and Patrick on either side.
A well-cut
black-letter inscription around the lid of the tomb reads as follows:
‘Here lies
James Rice, formerly a citizen of this city and founder of this chapel, and
Katherina Brown, his wife. You who stand here consider that what I am you will
be, I was what you are, I beg you pray for me that when it is your fate to pass
through the gate of death, our Christ who has come to redeem the lost lest the
redeemed be damned, will have pity.’
‘HIC
JACENT JACOBUS RICE, QUONDAM CIVIS ISTIUS CIVITATIS ET
FUNDATOR
[ISTI]US CAP[ELLE ET KATERINA BROUN UXOR] EJUS
QUISQUIS
ERIS, QUI TRANSIERIS STA PERLE[GENDA] PLORA SUM
QUOD ERIS,
FUI QUOD ES PRO ME PRECOR ORA EST NOSTRA SORTIS
[TRANSIRE]
PE[R OSTEA] MORTIS, NOSTRE CRISTE TE PETIMUS
MISERERE
QUAESUMUS QUI VINISTI REDIMERE PERDITOS, NOLI
DAMNARE
REDEMPTOS.’
James
Rice was mayor of Waterford eleven times between 1467 and 1486, and personally
made two pilgrimages to Compostela during his time as mayor. The first
pilgrimage was in 1473 and the second in 1483. He constructed his tomb in 1482
perhaps in part because of his planned pilgrimage the following year. The
pilgrimage journey from Ireland could be very dangerous and typically involved
a lengthy crossing by ship along with travel on land in areas that could be
wrought with bandits. By constructing his tomb before his second pilgrimage,
James Rice was not only ensuring he would have a respectable place of burial if
he died, but also that he would receive prayer and masses on his behalf before,
during and after his pilgrimage.
The
chantry chapel in which the Rice tomb was constructed, was essentially a
private room dedicated for prayer to the Trinity and saints on behalf of James
Rice, Katherina Brown, and their other family members. The display of Apostles
and/or other saints on tomb surrounds rather than standard weepers, as in France
and England, was a unique feature of Irish tombs during the fifteenth and early
sixteenth centuries, and could have been practiced in Ireland as early as the fourteenth
century. The use of the Apostles on the sides of tombs in place of other saints
or weepers was not common anywhere else in northern continental Europe or
Britain until the sixteenth century.
The figures
portrayed on the sides of the tomb functioned in part as symbolic intercessors
that guided the viewer in the direction of their prayers for James Rice and his
family. For example, the Apostles were associated with the Apostles’ Creed
prayer, and in some legends were said to have each contributed a verse to the prayer
in the same order as displayed on the Rice tomb, with the exception of Paul
when read in reverse order. The medieval order of the Apostles is as follows:
Peter, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon,
Thaddeus, and Matthias. In essence, the images and the inscription on the tomb
functioned like a three-dimensional prayer book that could be circumnavigated
by the viewer.
The image
of St James the Elder on the side of the tomb likely held special significance
to James Rice, not only because St James was his namesake but also because he
named his chapel after St James and felt compelled to travel to Compostela
twice. Unfortunately, the image of St James is one of the most badly damaged on
the tomb. During the late 15th and early 16th centuries,
St James was commonly portrayed with a cockleshell and pouch, which if there is
no longer clearly visible. However, his recognizable staff is still clearly
visible. The hat is another common feature of representations of St James, but
the hat on this figure is not as flamboyant as some other portrayals. It is
possible that some of the wear seen on the image could be the result of
devotion displayed toward to the image through touching the figure during
prayer, a practice that can still be seen in some churches today.
Christ
Church Cathedral in Waterford is very much worth a visit to see this incredible
tomb alone, which is a fine example of how the beliefs and experiences of an
individual lay person were portrayed on a tomb that has been preserved for well
over 500 years. While in Waterford, don’t miss the Medieval Museum. It holds
some incredibly amazing and unique artifacts from the late medieval Ireland.
Why not plan your own pilgrimage to Waterford soon?
For
additional information see:
Hunt, John, Irish Medieval Figure Sculpture:
1200-1600: A Study of Irish Tombs with
Notes on Costume and Armour, 2 vols. (Dublin, 1974).
McEneaney, Eamonn, A History of Waterford and Its
Mayors: From the 12th Century to
the 20th Century (Waterford, 1995).
McEneaney, Eamonn, ‘Politics and the Art of Devotion
in Late Fifteenth-Century
Waterford’, in Rachel Moss, Colmán Ó Clabaigh and
Salvador Ryan (eds), Art and
Devotion in Late Medieval Ireland (Dublin, 2006).
McEneaney, Eamonn, ‘The Art of Devotion’, Irish Arts
Review 21 (2004), 112-115.
McEneaney, Eamonn, ‘The Waterford Madonna Lactans’,
Irish Arts Review 25 (2008),
144.
McEneaney, Eamonn and Rosemary Ryan (eds), Waterford
Treasures (Waterford,
2004).
Moss, Rachel, ‘Permanent Expressions of Piety: The
Secular and the Sacred in Later
Medieval Stone Sculpture’, in Rachel Moss, Colmán Ó
Clabaigh and Salvador Ryan
(eds), Art and Devotion in Late Medieval Ireland
(Dublin, 2006).
Ó Riain-Raedel, Dagmar, ‘The Irish Medieval Pilgrimage
to Santiago de Compostela’,
History Ireland 6 (1998), 17-21.
Rae, Edwin C., ‘The Rice Monument in Waterford
Cathedral’, Proceedings of the Royal
Irish Academy 69 (1970), 1-14.
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