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Logo by Mr. Dazeley (Courtesy of Mr. Dazeley, to whom we are very grateful) The foundresses of the society in front of Trinity College, Cambridge, which is now the patron of St.Andrew’s Chesterton. In 1217 the English sovereign Henry III presented cardinal Guala Bicchieri from Vercelli with the church and livings of Chesterton. Vercelli was thus the Rector of St.Andrew’s for over two centuries and used part of the revenues from its English property to found the Sant’Andrea’s Basilica. Founded in 2005 on the basis of the rediscovery of the figure and deeds of Guala Bicchieri promoted by the exhibition “Scrinium Cardinalis” (mounted by Vercelli City Council), “Chesterton” is a voluntary, non-profit making cultural association. It aims at organising events which, drawing on the ancient relationships between Vercelli and England (in particular Chesterton, Cambridge and Ely) , may set up new human and cultural links and spread Vercelli’s traditions, arts and cultural life amongst English people. The association, moreover, aims at promoting historical research and studies whose main purpose is to save our past and deepen people’s knowledge of a very interesting and peculiar chapter of Italian and English histories. An Ancient Friendship between Vercelli and England The relationship between Cambridge, Chesterton Ely and Vercelli belongs to a distant past. In 1216 England was in chaos. King John Lackland and the rebel barons were at war with one another and the French prince Louis VIII, supported by the Scots and Welsh, was ready to seize the crown and expel the Platagenets from their kingdom. Pope Innocent III sent to England a wise and reliable papal legate, Guala Bicchieri from Vercelli. Acting on behalf of the Pope, Guala immediately became one of the most influential men in England, together with the sovereign and William Marshal. He was able to support the crown and pacify the kingdom. He also appears to have played a leading role in the defeats inflicted by the English royalist army upon the French invaders. Moreover, on his death-bed, King John appointed Guala among his executors and chosen him as one of the tutors for the young heir, Henry III, who was only nine years old. Guala was a wise advisor and a faithful tutor for the new king, so in 1217 Henry III presented him with the Church and living of St.Andrew’s Chesterton, which were the king’s token of gratitude for Guala’s efforts in saving the kingdom. Guala presented the nascent Sant’Andrea’s in Vercelli with his Chesterton property and thus it came about that from 1217, for over two centuries, St.Andrew’s Chesterton was administered by vicars appointed by Vercelli and that part of the money coming from Chesterton was used to build the magnificent Sant’Andrea’s Basilica, which is the symbol and glory of Vercelli. Even if it was administered by a foreign Rector, Chesterton continued to belong to the Diocese of Ely. When Guala landed on the island, on 20th May 1216, he had to face a complicated election dispute over the election to the bishopric see of Ely. Robert of York and Geoffrey de Burgh were among the main candidates. On 25th October 1217 Pope Honorius III remitted the case to Guala, the archbishop of York and bishop Richard Poer, ordering them to settle the dispute. No final agreement was reached during Guala’s time as papal legate in the country and it seems that the cardinal continued to consider Robert of York as the bishop-elect of Ely. It has been suggested that it was in exchange for this that Robert of York confirmed St. Andrew’s Chesterton to Guala’s abbey in Vercelli and granted various churches within the Diocese of Ely to some of the cardinal’s familiars. Although the Italian canons probably found Chesterton a source of difficulty, Vercelli was the Rector of St. Andrew’s Chesterton from 1217 to 1440, when King Henry VI seized the advowson from Guala’s abbey and gave it to King’s Hall Cambridge (later Trinity College). Henry VI’s decision, however, was confirmed only in 1444 by a commission appointed by Pope Eugenius IV. After 1444 the relationships between Chesterton and Vercelli began to fade. In subsequent reigns Vercelli made several efforts to obtain restitution of Guala’s English property: the last attempt was made between 1557 and 1558, when the Duke of Savoy appealed to Queen Mary Tudor: being closely connected to the Duke by family ties, Mary would surely have been willing to take the Duke’s appeal into due account, but unfortunately she died on 17th November 1558. Under her heir, Queen Elizabeth I, the Duke’s appeal was not given consideration and under the subsequent sovereigns the negotiations were never resumed. Nowadays, the church and property of St. Andrew’s Chesterton still belong to Trinity College, who in the late 1960s used the land they had inherited from Sant’Andrea’s via King’s Hall to build the Cambridge Science Park, which after Felixstowe Docks is the College’s second biggest source of income .Thus, after nearly 800 years, the property that once belonged to Vercelli is still providing an income for a corporate body and still is a valuable piece in that complex jigsaw which is the history of the relationships between Vercelli and Cambridge. As time went by, a thick layer of dust came to hide the accounts of the canons from Vercelli who had been in contact with St. Andrew’s Church, most of the ancient documents which had belonged to the church were lost or destroyed and the city of Vercelli slowly forgot the important links with the English property. But as it happens with all great characters, one day the story of the papal legate slipped out of the pages of a book and was found by a man who wanted to read it again and, having read it, was enraptured by it. That was the beginning of the so-called “Annum Cardinalis” – 2005 – during which a lot of events were organised in Vercelli to rediscover and revive the figure and deeds of cardinal Guala Bicchieri. The leading event was the return to Vercelli of one of the most important items belonging to Guala Bicchieri, his travelling box. An exhibition was mounted at the Capitular Museum by the City Council. Thousands of people visited it and admired not only the travelling box but also other valuable jewels which had belonged to the wealthy and refined papal legate. Alongside with the exhibition, the City Council organised a series of lectures on the cardinal. Some of the most important historians came to Vercelli and even Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who used to be our bishop between 1991 and 1995 and who at present is the Secretary of State of the Vatican gave a lecture on Guala. Reviving the interest in Guala also meant remembering St. Andrew’s Chesterton. As a result of this Vercelli invited Dr. James Gardom, the Vicar of St. Andrew’s Chesterton, to visit the city and the exhibition. James Gardom accepted the invitation with enthusiasm and arrived at Vercelli on 30th April 2005. His visit offered the local people the opportunity to listen to the story of St. Andrew’s Chesterton and discover some important aspects of today’s Chesterton. After that first visit, the old bond of friendship between Vercelli and Chesterton was set up again and other visits were paid. A group of people from Vercelli flew to Cambridge in September 2005 to celebrate the revival of the old bond and the birth of a new cultural and religious link with the local community. On the occasion of that journey, the group visited Ely Cathedral, listened to the Choir and was so struck by the talent of the choristers that immediately decided to invite them to Vercelli. That first experience marked the beginning of our friendship with Ely and its magnificent Cathedral.
Manuscript preserved at the Capitular Library of Vercelli Anno 1217. die 8. Novembris. Robertus Elyensis Ecclesiae Electus concedit intuitu Dei, et ob reverentiam D. Gualae Cardinalis et Apostolici Legati, Ecclesiae S.Andreae Vercellensis, in puram elemosynam ad proprios usus Ecclesiam S. Andreae Cetretunen. , quam D.Rex Henricus de consensu totius sui Consilii eidem Ecclesiae donaverat. Sorry, this section of the website is still under construction.
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