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The Fools Church: Rahere and the Church of St Bartholomew
There comes a time say, after a few centuries when a place is allowed to revel in stories about itself, how it came to be and what it stands for. The church of Saint Bartholomew the Great in Londons West Smithfield is one such an example.
To begin with, the story of the founding of Saint Bartholomew the Great is one that has all the hallmarks of good folklore an unlikely hero, a vision, and a dangerous journey.
The tale begins in 1120, when the court of Henry I was thrown into mourning by the death of William Adelin, heir to the crown, in a shipwreck off Harfleur. Amongst the members of Henrys court at this time was a young cleric named Rahere. A document from 1115 in the archives of St Pauls Cathedral describes him as a Canon. Much is made of Raheres charismatic and flattering nature in the presence of royalty, the sort to place a pillow under every elbow as one 19th century text puts it.
Sensing the sombre mood at court, Rahere decided that now was the time to make a grand pilgrimage to Rome. While Rahere managed to make it to the Eternal City, he came down with a major illness, thought to be malaria. At deaths door, he claimed to have had a vision of Saint Bartholomew, patron saint of doctors and healers, who directed him to build a hospital for the treatment of the poor and needy upon his return to London....cont...
http://folklorethursday.com/regional-folklore/fools-church-rahere-church-st-bartholomew/#sthash.zmDIBoFb.xvVzhMEx.dpbs
Squinch
(50,989 posts)John1956PA
(2,655 posts)From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Ship :
Me.
(35,454 posts)In general, I like ghost tales because of the whole 'heaven and earth Horatio' thing and Yeats who was a firm believer in ghosts.