The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
If we set aside social and economic institutions like the family and work, cathedrals (along with bishops and dioceses) are the oldest organisations to function in England, with records of continuous activity going back to about the year 600. Nicholas Orme is...
On Tuesday afternoon, 29 December 1170, Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, was hustled by his staff from his palace into his cathedral. There had been an angry exchange between him and four knights from the court of Henry II in France. Frustrated by the presence...
Nicholas Orme, many congratulations on your new book, The History of England's Cathedrals. How does one define a cathedral? A cathedral is the church of a bishop and is the chief church of the area that he rules: the diocese. Important ceremonies are held in it, like...
