Westminster Abbey - London, UK
Posted by: Metro2
N 51° 29.977 W 000° 07.732
30U E 699276 N 5709295
Westminster Abbey held the status of a cathedral from 1540 to 1550...and it's change in status may have generated the expression "robbing Peter to pay Paul".
Waymark Code: WMDT08
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 02/20/2012
Views: 62
Westminster Abbey is formally called the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster.
Concerning it's brief status as a Cathedral, Wikipedia informs us:
"In 1535, the abbey's annual income of £2400–2800... during the assessment attendant on the Dissolution of the Monasteries rendered it second in wealth only to Glastonbury Abbey. Henry VIII had assumed direct royal control in 1539 and granted the abbey the status of a cathedral by charter in 1540, simultaneously issuing letters patent establishing the Diocese of Westminster. By granting the abbey cathedral status Henry VIII gained an excuse to spare it from the destruction or dissolution which he inflicted on most English abbeys during this period. Westminster was a cathedral only until 1550. The expression "robbing Peter to pay Paul" may arise from this period when money meant for the abbey, which is dedicated to Saint Peter, was diverted to the treasury of St Paul's Cathedral...
The Abbey was restored to the Benedictines under the Catholic Mary I of England, but they were again ejected under Elizabeth I in 1559. In 1579, Elizabeth re-established Westminster as a "Royal Peculiar"—a church responsible directly to the Sovereign, rather than to a diocesan bishop—and made it the Collegiate Church of St Peter (that is, a church with an attached chapter of canons, headed by a dean)."
Address: Westminster Abbey
Victoria Street
London, England, UK
SW1P 3PA
Religious affiliation: Anglican
Date founded or constructed: Construction began in 1245 and was essentially completed in 1517.
Web site: [Web Link]
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