 Mae'r ffordd yw rhaid o'i wneud i'w cwestiynau i fynd i glyfu ar gwych ar gŷn am ymddangoddiad o'r myfyddwch yma, am eu dweud ymydd cysylltiad Torfifathau ar gyfer unrhywm. Ac neb yn fawr i gweithio chi'n gwirgyn dangos eich symg i fynd yn ysgrifennu ar gyfer hyn o'r modd. Ond mae'n hefyd! Ben ydych chi'n hynny, mae'n rhaid safod â'r ysgrifennu eraill, gyda'u bathol yr hynodau hesidigion yn elwyr angen. 500 yw'r yw'r yw'r hyn sydd y bethol Abbey yn ymddangos i'r ysgol, a'r allan o'r hyn sydd yn gweithio a'r ystafell yn 1066, sy'n symud o'r bwysig o'r sallfyniadau. Ysgol yw'r ysgol yw'r hynny'n ymddangos i'r llwyffydd yma, mae'r ysgol yn ymddangos i'r ysgol ymddangos i'r ysgol. Mae'r ymddangos o'r llwyffydd o'r sgol, rhan oed o'r monastri yn elwindi Gweithreithio 15th. Mae'n ddiddorol o unrhyw o 30 oes o iddyn ni i'w gwneud y hynny o'r Llywodraeth Merieddfa Llywodraeth. Ond yna, os yna, mae'r bath o'r hyn sydd yw'r cymdeithasol yn gweithio'r cymdeithasol. Mae'n rhaid i ni i fynd i'n gweithio'r Llywodraeth holl, ac yn ddiddorol o'r cymdeithio'r Llywodraeth. While transcribing the inventory and identifying the 140 or so relics it lists has been a fascinating and dare I say enjoyable experience and at the very least it's greatly enhanced my understanding of the medieval cult of saints and their relics. But work in the inventory has been much more than an antiquarium to you and standing at this podium how can I say but there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. The inventory is an incredibly valuable source for the study of battle abbey. As I'll explain it's possible to determine how the abbey obtained at least some of the relics in the inventory, evidence of battle's enduring relationship with the conqueror and his successors well into the 13th century. It provides some gleanings about the art and architecture of the monastery, riches destroyed at the Reformation. Most importantly of all it significantly adds to our understanding of the spiritual life of the monastery, most obviously the cult of saints relics there, but also the religious identity of the community at battle. The abbey's liturgy, pilgrimage to and from the monastery and battle's relationship with the wide English indeed European church. These are all subjects of great scholarly interest indeed I hope to eventually publish my research on the inventory and appropriately learned journal, but I also think they have the potential to enhance the visitor experience and understanding of battle. And the religious life of the monastery will be a major theme in a new museum opening on the site in the spring of next year and I do hope my talk here today acts as a stimulus for you to visit. Now, the inventory is now in the Huntington library in San Marino California where so many of the abbey's manuscripts are now cared for. Since the middle ages it's been bound with six other works all of a historical nature. Indeed it was common for relics lists to be placed with historical works as they helped very much construct the self identity of religious communities. The inventory covers four pages or two folios and the battle provenance is explicit. At the top you've got an ex libris inscription and this shows that the inventory entered the abbey's library in the mid 15th century recording as it does. There was a book of the monastery of battle donated by Abbot John Newton. Now he was elected in 1463 dying in 1490. The inscription is accompanied by the press mark I N which you can see there. This is found in other surviving manuscripts from the monastery which were likewise donated by Newton. The inventory opens in translation with these are the names of the saints whose relics are contained here at the battle. Before his election to the abbey Newton served as the monastery's seller and it appears that the inventory was actually compiled somewhat earlier by a predecessor. That was Thomas Bird who occupied the office between 1436 and 38 and his signature is very faint there at the end. The inventory is in Latin and it's written in a neat black letter gothic book hand. Each page as you can see has two columns and each is ruled with 26 lines. There are two large decorative initials at the beginning you can see there and you can see also I hope that there's further rulings down each of the columns of the addition of other catch letters but these were never added. The inventory follows at least in the first two thirds a standard hierarchical arrangement found in almost all medieval saints at relics inventories. It starts with the relics of Christ followed by those of the Virgin, the Archangel Michael, John the Baptist, the apostles, the martyrs, the confessors and the virgins. However the convention breaks down around about here and after that the arrangement becomes much less predictable. The final 46 or so relics approximately a third of the total don't follow any discernible order and the significance of that I'll get to later. We have quite an array and a variety of relics. They include the relics of Christ as I've said, of his life on earth and of his passion, portions of the cross on which he was crucified, the true cross, part of his tomb, the Holy Sepulchre, the marble table where he dined with his mother and disciples and the wood of his manger. There are portions of the clothing of the Virgin and various other saints. We have the hair and beards of some saints including Peter and Paul and there are also assorted body parts, the finger of Saint Lawrence, the third century Roman martyr, the arm of Saint Wilfrum, who was Archbishop of St in Northern France in the 7th century, the jaw and 13 teeth of some Bridget Abbas of Kildare who died in 525, I could go on. And we have the dust of the flesh of various saints as well, adding to this various bits of holy ground. They include fragments of the rock into which the cross was fixed on Calvary, the ground upon which Christ, the Virgin, St Michael, John the Baptist and some other saints stood. And there are a large number of relics which just begin with der meaning of. That's to say a non-specific relic or even a contact relic. It was believed that some of the sanctity associated with relics could be transferred by me in touch and indeed I am wearing such a contact relic. In 2004 there was a trip from the Courtauld to Arkham where there was a major exhibition and it coincided with a major pilgrimage to Arkham Cathedral, which has an incredible array of relics. So in a piece of experimental archaeology I took off my wedding ring and out handed to an attendant who touched it to the reliquary containing the swaddling clothes of Christ. So there we are, a contact relic of the swaddling clothes of Christ. Now many of the relics I'm going to discuss were found in other medieval English lists, but there are some especially rare or interesting relics which I'll get to presently. But first of all what are relics? Well they provided and to many still do physical tangible reminders of Christ and his saints. For the Catholic faithful they were and are an aged salvation, believed to offer protection or even to be endowed with magical powers. And the cult of relics goes right back to early Christian times. This was a time of periodic persecution for the church. Followers of Christ did give their lives for their faith and by the late second century the remains of these martyrs were being collected, preserved and venerated. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, died for his faith in around 160. You can see him depicted here in this wonderful mosaic and revened it into the sixth century. Eusebius, the fourth century church historian, records that Polycarp's companions took up his bones which were more valuable than precious stones and finer than refined gold and laid them in a suitable place. In the following centuries the cult of relics gained in importance from the late 8th century.