Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/647

CROSS G13 different parts of England, and some are of very early date ; the Irish crosses, also, are eminently curious and Fig. 10. Fig. 11. FlGS. 10-12. Finial Crosses. Fig. 12. interesting. Upright architectural crosses of memorial, erected with a view to their being expressly associated with sepulchral commemoration, may be considered to form a distinct ckss. Such are the beautiful and justly famous Eleanor crosses, originally nine in number, at Lincoln, Nor thampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St Alban s, Waltham, and Cheap and Charing in London. From the accounts of the executors of Queen Eleanor it appears that the whole of these crosses, designed to mark the places where the funeral procession of the first Edward s first consort halted for rest, were executed and erected between 1291 and 1294. The cross at Geddington, generally considered one of the "Eleanor" series, is not recorded in the roll ; and of the nine therein specified two only now are standing, those at Northampton and Waltham. Monumental crosses upon stone coffin lids or sepulchral slabs, which in England first appear at the close of the llth century, and from that period gradually become general, are executed either in low relief or by incised lines ; in some instances the two methods of treatment are com bined. Occasionally repeated in the same example, the cross sign, exhibiting a truly wonderful variety of design, at first appears alone, the shaft or stem almost always con siderably elongated, and often enriched with sprouting foliage or some other ornamentation. Fig. 1 3, from Strad- sett church, Norfolk, and fig. 14, from Bosbury, Here- Fig. 13. Fig. 14. FIGS. 13 and 14. Monumental Crosses. fordshire, are characteristic examples of enriched monu mental crosses. When the elongated shaft of a cross on a slab rises from two or more steps at its base, it is said to be a Calvary cross. After a while, a brief inscription is found to have been added. Then the further addition appears to have been introduced of some device or figure, which might symbolize the profession, occupation, rank, or office of the person commemorated, such as a pastoral staff for a prelate, a chalice for a priest, a sword for a knight, a trumpet for a trumpeter, a bell for a bell-founder, a hammer and pincers with a sword for an armourer, a horse-shoe and hammer for a smith, <tc. In a few instances, a knightly sword placed erect in the centre of a slab either acts as the shaft of a cross, or with its cruciform guard to the hilt the figure of the weapon itself becomes the cross symbol. There are also occasionally found early monumental stones, upon which both a cross and the head or bust and the feet of a human figure are so treated as to form a single composition. Kneeling figures, again, are sometimes introduced either at the foot of a monumental cross, or on each side of the shaft of such a cross ; and full length figures, and sometimes half figures, in other examples appear placed within the expanded floriated heads of monumental crosses. (See Walter s and Boutell s Monumental brasses ; Boutell s Christian Monu ments ; and Cutts s Manual of Sepulchral Slabs.) In the heraldry of the Middle Ages the cross, its form and enrichment treated in many ways, as a charge is second to none in rank and estimation (see HERALDRY). The English cross of St George is a plain red cross set erect on a white ground ; the Scottish cross of St Andrew is a plain diagonal white cross on a blue ground ; and the Irish cross of St Patrick is a plain diagonal red cross on a white ground. The " Tan " cross, which occasionally is found in English heraldry, is blazoned as in fig. 7. Another form of cross, shown in fig. 8, bears the name of " Fylfot," and is one of the most singular, as it is one of the most ancient, of the many forms and modifications of this symbol. Considered by some writers to be composed of four Greek capital " Gammas " conjoined, this mystic figure, which was in high favour with early secret societies, sometimes was called " Gammadion." In the mythology of the North, again, it was held to symbolize " Mjolnir," the formidable cross-formed hammer of Thor, and is accordingly known by the third title of " Thor s hammer." It occurs in both Scandinavian and Roman relics ; and it was in frequent use as a decorative device in the Middle Ages, especially as a mark upon bells. On the monument of Bishop Bronescomb, 1281, in Exeter Cathedral, the fylfot has its limbs alternately yellow and red. Initial crosses were placed in the Middle Ages at the commencement of inscriptions, and occupied a similar position in written documents of all kinds. The initial cross of the inscrip tion to Abbot Thomas Delamere, upon, his brass at St Alban s (13GO), is an interesting example, since it is formed of a delicate erect cross floriated at its extremities, which surmounts a lolder diagonal cross, or cross saltire, the armorial ensign of the abbey of St Alban. Knightly crosses. The cross worn, as distinctive of their order, by the Knights Templars, was a red cross of eight points (fig. 9) upon white. The cross of the Knights Hospitallers, or Knights of St John, was of similar form, but white FIG. 15. Cross of and worn on a black ground ; from the the Dannebrog. years 1278 and 1289, however, when engaged with military duties, the Knights of St John wore a plain straight white cross upon red. (For the crosses of the monastic orders, see COSTUME, p. 463). The cross of the Danish order of the Dannebrog (fig. 15), a white cross surmount ing a red one, with the royal crown, the cipher of reigning

sovereign, and the motto " For God and the King," is a