An Abbey in Avalon

These are the ruins of the medieval Benedictine Abbey in Glastonbury in south-western England. Most of the remains visible today are gothic but the monastery was an important religious and industrial centre already in the Anglo-Saxon period. It was one of the wealthiest Anglo-Saxon religious houses in England and analysis of some of the pieces of stained glass recovered by archeologists from the site indicate that it was the earliest, Anglo-Saxon production centre of stained glass. Sadly, none of the windows is preserved but the surviving fragments indicate that they were produced using advanced techniques transferred from continental Europe.

In the 12^th C. however, the monastery faced a serious crisis, a disastrous fire destroyed large parts of the abbey church and the monks could not afford to renovate it properly. In an attempt to attract more funding and donations, they popularized a story that during their works attempting to rebuilt the church they accidentally discovered the tomb of legendary king Arthur! During that time, Glastonbury abbey was located on an island and soon popular stories began to associate Glastonbury with legendary Avalon so that new pilgrims and donors, including English monarchs, felt obliged to support the monastery financially. The stream of pilgrims and donations returned and the church was rebuilt in a lavish, gothic style. The medieval legend of King Arthur being buried in Glastonbury survives to this day and still attracts visitors and enthusiasts of Arthurian legends as well as a broad range of admirers of ‘Celtic’ and ‘Druidic’ stories or beliefs. So, half a millennium after monks were expelled from Glastonbury, the town still profits from their 12^th C. ideas and propaganda.