St Paul's Churchyard
St Paul's Churchyardis an area immediately aroundSt Paul's Cathedralin theCity of London.Historically it includedSt Paul's CrossandPaternoster Row.It became one of the principal marketplaces in London. St Paul's Cross was an open-air pulpit from which many of the most important statements on the political and religious changes brought by theReformationwere made public during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Only one execution is recorded as taking place in St Paul's Churchyard; that ofHenry Garnet,one of those found guilty of theGunpowder plot.[1]As of 2024 the alley to the north of the cathedral grounds is named St Paul's Churchyard.
Book trade[edit]
With the advent ofprinting,St Paul's Churchyard became the centre of the book trade inEngland(later moving to nearbyPaternoster Row).[2]It was originally dominated by foreignbooksellers.Richard III'sonly parliamentof 1484 passed the act which encouraged them to do business in London. Despite other protectionist measures, the king personally intervened to ensure that printers and booksellers were exempt from these.[3]
The churchyard was also referenced byAlexander Popein a famous passage fromAn Essay on Criticism,lines 622–625, where Pope takes on overly talkative and vacuous literary critics (the 'fools'):[4]
No place so sacred from such fops is barred,
Nor is Paul's church more safe than Paul's churchyard:
Nay, fly to altars; there they'll talk you dead:
For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
References[edit]
- ^"St Paul's: The churchyard".british-history.ac.uk.British History Online.Retrieved27 September2020.
- ^Carlone, Dominic (2016)."Bookselling at Paul's Churchyard".mapoflondon.uvic.ca.University of Vicyoria.Retrieved27 September2020.
- ^Kleineke, Hannes (26 March 2015)."Richard III and the Parliament of 1484".The History of Parliament.Retrieved28 September2020.
- ^Alexander Pope: An Essay on Criticism Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7th edition, Volume 1
