History and Chapel 500

Chapel  
Chapel

Most medieval bishops chose to be buried with much pomp and splendour in their cathedrals and stamped personal emblems over their buildings, but William Elphinstone was simply buried beneath a paving stone at the foot of the chancel step in the Chapel he had so laboriously constructed.

A visitor to the Chapel after his death in 1514 would have seen few traces of the founder of King's College, unless perhaps the lavish stained glass he provided included his coat of arms. Bishop Gavin Dunbar, the third Chancellor of the University, was dismayed to find the remains of his former colleague simply covered by a carpet. After 1519 he commissioned a magnificent marble and bronze Renaissance tomb, using the most up-to-date continental craftsmen and design, worthy of the founder and sited directly over his grave.

If Elphinstone left little trace of himself in the building, he spared no cost to honour his monarch, James IV. The gilded foundation inscription on the west front says the Chapel was begun "through the grace of the most serene, most illustrious and most victorious King James IV". Attached to buttresses above the inscription are finely carved armorials of James and his family.

Inside, the choir stalls are decorated with the Scottish thistle, a crown and the marguerite for James IV's wife Margaret Tudor. The tower with its closed imperial crown, the University's most celebrated landmark, was designed as a daring architectural statement to emphasise the independence and self-contained power of the Scottish king.

Even the choice of name, King's College, which quickly superceded the Chapel dedication to St Mary of the Nativity, testified Elphinstone's personal humility before his king. But undoubtedly Elphinstone hoped that this strong royal identity would stand the fledgling university in good stead during the hard times which he could see ahead.

The golden inscription on the west front states that the Chapel was begun on 2nd April, 1500. A learned cleric, aware of Old Testament exegesis, would associate this day with the building of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, a symbol both of royal wisdom and supreme sanctity. Certain proportions in the Chapel suggest that it was intended to evoke the Temple, but it would require a theologian with Elphinstone's own books to recognise this.

In 1995 King's College celebrated its 500th birthday.   You can still see images and read the reflections written for that occasion at This Noble College.

Taken from : Dr Jane Geddes is a Lecturer in the Department of History of Art, and Editor of King's College Chapel, 1500-2000, published by Northern Universities Press

Chapel Tours with Dr Jane Geddes

Tuesday 1st March at 1.15pm.

Thursday 12th May at 1.15pm.

For both tours, meet in the Chapel.  Enter the Chapel from the quadrangle and the West Door.