Sanctuary knocker

Last updated
Sanctuary knocker on Durham Cathedral The Sanctuary knocker, Durham Cathedral - geograph.org.uk - 1759573.jpg
Sanctuary knocker on Durham Cathedral

A sanctuary knocker is an ornamental knocker on the door of a cathedral or church. Under medieval English common law, these instruments supposedly afforded the right of asylum to anybody who touched them. Examples of sanctuary knockers can be found in Durham Cathedral, St. Nicholas church in Gloucester and the Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon. [1] By 1623, the laws permitting church sanctuary had been overturned by parliament. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrines to the Virgin Mary</span> Typically Catholic shrines

A shrine to the Virgin Mary is a shrine marking an apparition or other miracle ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary, or a site on which is centered a historically strong Marian devotion. Such locales are often the destination of pilgrimages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanctuary</span> Sacred place

A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a safe place for people, such as a political sanctuary; and non-human sanctuary, such as an animal or plant sanctuary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Basil's Cathedral</span> Cathedral in Moscow, Russia

The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed, commonly known as Saint Basil's Cathedral, is an Orthodox church in Red Square of Moscow, and is one of the most popular cultural symbols of Russia. The building, now a museum, is officially known as the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat, or Pokrovsky Cathedral. It was built from 1555 to 1561 on orders from Ivan the Terrible and commemorates the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan. It was the city's tallest building until the completion of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in 1600.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Pro-Cathedral</span> Church in Dublin, Ireland

St Mary's Church, known also as St Mary's Pro-Cathedral or simply the Pro-Cathedral, the Chapel in Marlborough Street or the Pro, is a pro-cathedral and is the episcopal seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apse</span> Semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome

In architecture, an apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an exedra. In Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic Christian church architecture, the term is applied to a semi-circular or polygonal termination of the main building at the liturgical east end, regardless of the shape of the roof, which may be flat, sloping, domed, or hemispherical. Smaller apses are found elsewhere, especially in shrines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transept</span> Architectural element

A transept is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the edifice. In churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building within the Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architectural traditions. Each half of a transept is known as a semitransept.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chancel</span> Area around the altar of a Christian church

In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary, at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Door knocker</span>

A door knocker is an item of door furniture that allows people outside a house or other dwelling or building to alert those inside to their presence. A door knocker has a part fixed to the door, and a part which is attached to the door by a hinge, and may be lifted and used to strike a plate fitted to the door, or the door itself, making a noise. The struck plate, if present, would be supplied and fitted with the knocker. Door knockers are often ornate, but may be no more than a simple fitting with a metal bob, or ring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Patrick's Old Cathedral</span> Catholic parish church in Manhattan, New York

The Basilica of Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral, sometimes shortened to St. Patrick's Old Cathedral or simply Old St. Patrick's, is a Catholic parish church, basilica, and the former cathedral of the Archdiocese of New York, located in the Nolita neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. Built between 1809 and 1815 and designed by Joseph-François Mangin in the Gothic Revival style, it was the seat of the archdiocese until the current St. Patrick's Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan opened in 1879. Liturgies are celebrated in English, Spanish, and Chinese. The church is at 260–264 Mulberry Street between Prince and Houston Streets, with the primary entrance on Mott Street. Old St. Patrick parish merged with Most Precious Blood parish, and the two churches share priests and administrative staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Right of asylum</span> Juridical concept in which someone persecuted by their country may take refuge in another

The right of asylum is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another entity which in medieval times could offer sanctuary. This right was recognized by the Ancient Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Hebrews, from whom it was adopted into Western tradition. René Descartes fled to the Netherlands, Voltaire to England, and Thomas Hobbes to France, because each state offered protection to persecuted foreigners.

Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon Church in United Kingdom

The Collegiate Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon, is a Grade I listed parish church of the Church of England in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. It is often known simply as Holy Trinity Church or as Shakespeare's Church, due to its fame as the place of baptism, marriage and burial of William Shakespeare. More than 200,000 tourists visit the church each year.

Choir (architecture) Area of a church or cathedral

A choir, also sometimes called quire, is the area of a church or cathedral that provides seating for the clergy and church choir. It is in the western part of the chancel, between the nave and the sanctuary, which houses the altar and Church tabernacle. In larger medieval churches it contained choir-stalls, seating aligned with the side of the church, so at right-angles to the seating for the congregation in the nave. Smaller medieval churches may not have a choir in the architectural sense at all, and they are often lacking in churches built by all denominations after the Protestant Reformation, though the Gothic Revival revived them as a distinct feature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of San Fernando (San Antonio)</span> Church in Texas, United States

San Fernando Cathedral also called the Cathedral of Our Lady of Candelaria and Guadalupe is a cathedral of the Roman Catholic Church located in downtown San Antonio, Texas, United States, facing the city's Main Plaza. It is the mother church of the Archdiocese of San Antonio and the seat of its archbishop. Its dome serves as the city of San Antonio's cultural and geographical center. The cathedral is also known as the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria y Guadalupe and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is notable as one of the oldest cathedrals in the United States.

The Durham Rite is a historical fusion of the Roman Rite and the Gallican Rite in the English bishopric of Durham.

Knocker and knockers may refer to:

Saint John the Baptist Cathedral (Fresno, California) Church in California, United States

Saint John the Baptist Cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno, located at 2814 Mariposa Street, in Fresno, California. The parish was established in 1882. In 1878, Catholic settlers in the area recognized the need for a church and began to raise funds. The Central Pacific Railroad donated two lots and Bishop Francisco Mora y Borrell of the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles purchased two adjacent lots. Construction on the sanctuary began early in 1880 and the structure was completed in November. Bishop Mora dedicated the church to St. John the Baptist on May 21, 1882. It was a brick structure with a 90 ft (27 m) steeple and served the five Catholic families in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne</span> Church in County Cork, Ireland

The Cathedral of Saint Mary and Saint Anne, also known as Saint Mary's Cathedral, The North Cathedral or The North Chapel, is a Roman Catholic cathedral located at the top of Shandon Street in Cork, Ireland. It is the seat of the Bishop of Cork and Ross, and the mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cork and Ross. Its name derived from the fact that it encompassed the ecclesiastical parish of St. Mary and the civil parish of St. Anne.

St Pauls Cathedral, Sale

St Paul's Cathedral, Sale is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Gippsland in Australia. The cathedral building, built in 1884 to a design by Nathaniel Billing, is a double storey building with a rectangular footprint and is constructed of red brick and slate roofing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary's Cathedral, Cape Town</span> Church in Cape Town, South Africa

The St. Mary's Cathedral more formally known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Flight into Egypt, is the cathedral and mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Town, located in the City Bowl of Cape Town, South Africa. in South Africa. It lies in Stalpein directly opposite the Houses of Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Peter and Paul's Old Cathedral</span> Church in New South Wales, Australia

St Peter and Paul's Old Cathedral is a heritage-listed former Catholic cathedral and now parish church at 42 Verner Street, Goulburn, Goulburn Mulwaree Council, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Andrea Stombuco and Charles Spadacini and built from 1871 to 1890 by C. J. O'Brien and Wilkie Bros. It is also known as St. Peter and Paul's Former Cathedral and St Peter and Paul's Catholic Cathedral; Saints Peter and Paul's Catholic Cathedral. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 20 April 2009.

References

  1. Mason, Charlotte (December 1904 – May 1905). "Sanctuary". The Windsor Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly for Men and Women . Ward, Lock & Co., Limited. 21: 127.
  2. Cox, J. C. (1911). "The Sanctuaries and Sanctuary Seekers of Yorkshire". The Archaeological Journal. 68: 299.