The Venerable English College has opened its exhibition Non Angli sed Angeli to the general public, offering an extraordinary opportunity for visitors to see and learn about the oldest British institution outside of England. Father Andrew Headon, Director and Curator of the exhibition, elaborates on the exhibition’s unique angle:

“And so I had the idea that the story of the seminary and the hospice would be told in the context of pilgrimage from England to Rome and mission from Rome back to England.The name of the exhibition, Non Angli sed Angeli—“Not Angles but Angels,” comes from the famous quip by Pope Gregory the Great upon first seeing the Angle slaves in Rome. This experience would later lead him to send Augustine to convert England to Christianity.

“What I wanted to do was to tell a story about the oldest English institution outside England. It’s founded in 1362 as a hospice — a royal hospice — for pilgrims coming from England. It then later became a seminary in 1579 to train priests at a time when it was illegal to be a Catholic priest in England, to train priests to go back to England. And at that time, so they martyred them if they caught them celebrating the sacraments.”

Highlighting the martyrdom of Catholics that ensued in England during the Protestant Reformation, claiming the lives of 44 College seminarians, a feature of the exhibit is a 3 dimensional recreation of Durante Alberti’s Martyrs’ Picture, the altarpiece from the College Church of the Most Holy Trinity and Saint Thomas of Canterbury, which also re-opened after two years of restoration.

“There’s a picture that was painted in 1583, just two years after the martyrdom, after the first student of Ralph Sherwin. The picture depicts the Trinity, and two English martyrs, Thomas of Canterbury and King Edmund, the Saxon King. And the two martyrs are welcoming the students into the picture and through the Flaminian gate back to England and/or paradise.”To see the anamorphosis and the original, as well as experience Tudor England and to make the famous pilgrimage on the Via Francigenia that links England to Rome, all from the comfort of the Eternal City, visit Non Angli sed Angeli, which is open until the end of July 2010, at the Venerable English College in the historical city center.

English Seminary Exhibits History of Martyrs, Persecution

By Father Matthew Gamber

When Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Great Britain later this year, he will be greeted by lords and ladies and dignitaries of all kind, including Queen Elizabeth II and the British prime minister. There was a time, though, in 16th-century England, when a priest arriving from Rome had to disguise himself and sneak onto the island. If he was caught he faced certain death.

The era of English priest-martyrs is prominently featured at Rome’s Venerable English College in an exhibit called, “‘Non Angli sed Angeli’: A Pilgrimage, A Mission.” The title refers to a quip legend says was made by Pope Gregory the Great, “They are not Anglos, but angels,” when he first saw fair-haired English slaves in the marketplace of Rome and began sending missionaries to the British Isles in the 6th century…
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The Church of the English College in Rome

its History, its Restoration

The film will be shown at 18.00 in the crypt, all are welcome to attend.

To inauguarate the addition of a cinema space where this film will be shown in the exhibition ‘Non Angli sed Angeli, a pilgrimage a mission’ the Venerabile English College invites you to a special showing in the crypt of the college. This event will be followed by a tour of the church itself, allowing visitors to see the incredible transformation themselves. 

This short documentary style film made by film maker Theo Eshetu, explores the rich history of the College with a particular focus on its church and its restoration which took place over a period of 3 years and was finally completed in October. With Vice Rector Andrew Headon as guide and narrator, the viewer learns of the importance and rich history of the College.   An indepth look at the restoration process is provided by Franceso China and Antonella Giammuso (church restorers) who explain the  difficulties and diverse techniques used to overcome them.

Programme:

18.00  Introduction by the exhibition director and curator Vice Rector Andrew Headon.

18.10  Showing of the film by Theo Eshetu

The Church of the Venerable English College
its History, its Restoration

19.10 Tour of the College church

Its a story about secret missions, spies and spirituality wrapped up in a new exhibit called A Pilgrimage A Mission in Rome.

It is a deep look at the history of the Venerable English College showcased in its crypt that dates back to the 1330s.

Rev. Andrew Headon
Venerable English College
“I wanted to bring the church into the crypt to tell something of the seminary and of the college. Like its transformation from a hospice to a seminary in 1579. The exhibit illustrates the secret journey of Jesuit priests made from Rome to England during the reformation in the 16th century. The reformation started when King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church and built the Church of England, destroying monasteries and friaries in the process and eventually making it illegal to be a Catholic Priest. But seminaries like the Venerable English College were founded and continued training English priests. Missionaries would then travel back to England to defend their faith, putting their lives at risk. This collection of frescoes tells the story of how many were caught, tortured and martyred.”

from: Romereports.com

The Entrance
The doorway leads the visitor down into the subterranean spaces

Pilgrimage to Rome from England - an introduction
This is the first subterranean space, it is dedicated to the history of pilgrimage in general and introduces the visitor to some of the early English pilgrims. This room also shows the history of the English Hospice established on what is now the via di Monserrato. The book on display dates to 1484 and shows the names of all the pilgrims to visit the Hospice in that year.

Tudor England and Crossing the Channel
The incredibly detailed floor map - designed and hand drawn by INKLINK Firenze - begins in this room which is dedicated to Tudor England and the Reformation. Among other interesting features, this room holds a prison cell, a priest hole and a ship in the process of crossing the English Channel with pilgrims on their way to Rome.

The Via Francigenia
This long rectangular space represents the pilgrim’s journey from England to Rome along the Via Francigenia. This route is shown on the floor map drawn by INKLINK Firenze, who were also responsible for the 5 pilgrim models we see along the path that ends with a view of St. Peter’s from Monte Mario. This was the pilgrim’s first view of Rome.

The Flaminian Gate
At the end of the via Francigenia we arrive in Rome. Here the floor is now covered with a section of the 1748 plan of Rome by Giovanni Battista Nolli. This plan shows the location of the English Hospice on what is now the Via di Monserrato,  while the wall panels explain the later history of the hospice and the founding of the English College in 1579.

The Crypt
This is the final space we visit before returning along the path from whence we came. This image shows the crypt beneath the College church. Four medallions from the church showing English Saints are arranged on the ancient brick columns and a long panel runs along one wall showing a selection of the frescoes from the Martyrs’ Cycle, the originals of which decorate the tribune of the Church above. A statue of the Holy Trinity by the artist Andrian Melka dominates the central space. This statue is a replica of a Nottingham Alabastor  (a form of sculpture popular from the 14th to the 16th centuries), known as the Black Abbey Trinity, that can be seen at the Black Abbey in Kilkenny, Ireland.

From this World to That which is to come
This video installation by Theo Eshetu shows the journey of two pilgrims or, perhaps, two priests on their journey to Rome or back to England. The beautiful backdrop of the forest and the calming sounds of crickets and the rustling wind give the crypt a calming and meditative feel.

Anamorphosis of the Martyrs’ Picture
Before returning to the surface, this time following in the footsteps of the priests from the College on mission to 16th century England, the visitor will encounter this anamorphosis of the Martyrs’ Picture. Federico Lardera, also responsible for the design and graphics of the exhibition, uses the Trompe l’oeil technique to create a three dimensional image of the Martyrs’ Picture by Durante Alberti (1581). The original work hangs over the altar in the College church. This creation allows the visitor to, quite literally, walk through the Flaminian gate - depicted in the painting with England and/or Paradise, shown in the background.

This map of Europe shows the path of the Via Francigenia, the ancient route followed by pilgrims from England to Rome. This route changed frequently due to poor maintenance, land slides and wars.

Ralph Sherwin 1550-1581

Mission to England in the 16th century

The College’s “Protomartyr” was St Ralph Sherwin. After finishing his studies at the English College in Rome, he left for England. Within four months of landing he was captured, imprisoned, tortured and finally hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 1 December 1581.

After its foundation in 1579, the English College in Rome began sending its students, upon completion of their education, back to England on mission. The mission being that of keeping the Catholic faith alive while the ruling monarch, Elizabeth I and her court, attempted to eradicate it. By the early 1600s the activities of the English College were known to the authorities and all those entering the country, particularly late at night, were thoroughly questioned. To avoid capture, many of the priests arrived disguised as merchants or sailors and ensured they had a good cover story that would stand up under questioning. Many survived in this way, but all too often the priests – tired and weary from their long journey – would let slip some clue as to their true purpose and ended up in prison. Soon the prisons were full of Catholic priests and other recusants:

“We are further to let your honour understand that our gaols do now grow to be over-glutted with recusants”

(The justice of Dover to Francis Walsingham, October 1586)

Early Anglo-Saxon Romipetae ‘Rome-seekers’

A variety of Anglo-Saxon kings, princes and bishops visited Rome. King Caedwalla was possibly one of the first to make the journey from Wessex to Rome in 689. Caedwalla was baptized by Pope Sergius I and died shortly afterwards, he was even buried in St. Peter’s. In 716 Wethburga became the first Englishwoman (that we know of) to have made the pilgrimage to Rome. In the 12th and 13th centuries the Archbishops of Canterbury and York continued the tradition of visiting Rome in person to receive the pallium from the Pope. In fact 14 out of 26 archbishops did this between 1066 and 1294, although some did not survive the journey: Robert Kilwardby – Archbishop of Canterbury from 1273 – 1278, died while travelling to Rome.

In the Middle-ages thousands of pilgrims visited Rome from far and wide. For most of these travellers the journey was a long and difficult one. Pilgrims were preyed on by highway robbers and many would arrive in the city without a penny, having to rely on the charity of the monasteries, convents and hostels established by their countrymen. This service was offered by the English Hospice founded on the Via di Monserrato in 1362 “for the use and comfort of poor Englishmen, sick, needy or wretched”, today the location for the exhibition Non Angli sed Angeli, a pilgrimage, a mission.

The main pilgrimage sites to see in Rome were the Basilicas:
St Peters
St Paul outside the walls
Saint John in the Lateran
St Lawrence outside the walls
St Agnese
SS. Nereo e Achilleo (Saints Nereus and Achilleus)
St. Pancras
Catacombs
During this period, pilgrims would not visit the ancient sites since they were connected to the pagan past and in passing them many would even avert their gaze.