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{{Short description|Crucifix}}
{{For multi|the obsolete units of area and length|Rood (unit)|the surname and other uses|Rood (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Gotland-Lye kyrka 06.jpg|thumb|Hanging rood with no rood screen but with Mary (left) and John as attendant figures{{Clarify|reason=Not clear to which artworks this refers|date=September 2021}} – in [[Lye Church]] on the island of [[Gotland]] in Sweden|alt=]]
[[File:Wechselburg-Lettner.jpg|thumb|Rood screen and rood in the abbey church of [[Wechselburg Abbey|Wechselburg]] in Saxony]]
A '''rood''' or '''rood cross''', sometimes known as a '''triumphal cross''',<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_6p4tE3aDVMC&pg=PA83 ''Gothic Sculpture, 1140-1300''] by Paul Williamson (1998). Retrieved 26 Oct 2014.</ref> is a cross or [[crucifix]], especially the large [[crucifixion of Jesus|crucifix]] set above the entrance to the [[chancel]] of a [[medieval]] church.<ref>Curl, James Stevens (2006). ''Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture'', 2nd ed., OUP, p. 658. {{ISBN|978-0-19-860678-9}}.</ref> Alternatively, it is a large sculpture or painting of the [[crucifixion of Jesus]].
== Derivation ==
''Rood'' is an archaic word for ''pole'', from [[Old English]] {{Lang|ang|rōd}} 'pole', specifically '[[cross]]', from {{Proto|gem|rodo}}, cognate to [[Old Saxon]] {{Lang|asx|rōda}}, [[Old High German]] {{Lang|goh|ruoda}} 'rod'.<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', "Rood"</ref>
''Rood'' was originally the only Old English word for the instrument of [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus Christ]]'s [[crucifixion|death]]. The words {{Lang|ang|crúc}} and in the North {{Lang|ang|cros}} (from either [[Old Irish]] or [[Old Norse]]) appeared by late Old English; ''crucifix'' is first recorded in English in the [[Ancrene Wisse]] of about 1225.<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', "Cross", and "Crucifix"</ref> More precisely, the Rood or [[Holyrood (cross)|Holyrood]] was the [[True Cross]], the specific wooden cross used in Christ's crucifixion. The word remains in use in some names, such as [[Holyrood Palace]] and the [[Anglo-Saxon literature|Old English poem]] ''[[Dream of the Rood|The Dream of the Rood]]''. The phrase "by the rood" was used in [[oath|swearing]], e.g. "No, by the rood, not so" in [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Hamlet]]'' (Act 3, Scene 4).
The alternative term ''triumphal cross'' ({{langx|la|crux triumphalis}}, {{langx|de|Triumphkreuz}}), which is more usual in Europe, signifies the triumph that the resurrected [[Jesus|Jesus Christ]] (''[[Christ]]us'' {{Lang|la|triumphans}}) won over death.<ref>Margarete Luise Goecke-Seischab / Jörg Ohlemacher: ''Kirchen erkunden, Kirchen erschließen'', Ernst Kaufmann, Lahr 1998, p. 232</ref>
== Position ==
[[File:Gotland-Stenkumla-Kirche 09.jpg|thumb|The 800-year-old cross in the [[Stenkumla Church]] on [[Gotland]] shows the origin of the name ''Christus triumphans'': the crucified figure wears a crown and "shoes" of a ruler.|alt=]]
In [[church architecture]] the rood, or rood cross, is a life-sized crucifix displayed on the central axis of a church, normally at the [[chancel]] arch.  The earliest roods hung from the top of the chancel arch (rood arch), or rested on a plain "rood beam" across it, usually at the level of the capitals of the columns. This original arrangement is still found in many churches in Germany and Scandinavia, although many other surviving crosses now hang on walls.
If the choir is separated from the church interior by a [[rood screen]], the rood cross is placed on, or more rarely in front of, the screen.<ref>E.g. in the abbey church of Wechselburg</ref><ref>In England the name "rood screen" indicates that there is a (monumental) cross, even if the original cross has not survived.</ref> Under the rood is usually the altar of the Holy Cross.
== History ==
Numerous near life-size crucifixes survive from the [[Romanesque art|Romanesque]] period or earlier, with the [[Gero Cross]] in [[Cologne Cathedral]] (AD 965–970) and the [[Volto Santo of Lucca]] the best known. The prototype may have been one known to have been set up in [[Charlemagne]]'s [[Palatine Chapel in Aachen]], apparently in gold foil worked over a wooden core in the manner of the [[Golden Madonna of Essen]],<ref>Schiller, 141–146</ref> though figureless jeweled gold crosses are recorded in similar positions in [[Hagia Sophia]] in [[Constantinople]] in the 5th century. Many figures in precious metal are recorded in [[Anglo-Saxon art|Anglo-Saxon]] monastic records, though none now survive.  Notables sometimes gave their crowns ([[Cnut the Great]] at [[Winchester Cathedral]]), necklaces ([[Lady Godiva]] to the Virgin accompanying the rood at [[Evesham Abbey]]), or swords ([[Tovi the Proud]], [[Waltham Abbey (abbey)|Waltham Abbey]]) to decorate them.<ref>Dodwell, 210–215</ref>  The original location and support for the surviving figures is often unclear but a number of northern European churches preserve the original setting in full – they are known as a ''{{lang|de|Triumphkreuz}}'' in German, from the "triumphal arch" (or "chancel arch") of Early Christian architecture.  As in later examples the [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Virgin]] and [[John the Apostle|Saint John]] often flank the cross, and [[cherubim]] and other figures are sometimes seen.  A gilt rood in the 10th-century [[Mainz Cathedral]] was only placed on a beam on special [[feast day]]s.<ref>Schiller, 140</ref>
== Components ==
[[File:France Albi jube cathedrale.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Rood cross on the [[rood screen]] at [[Albi Cathedral]] in southern France]]
=== Image of Christ ===
In the [[Romanesque art|Romanesque]] era the crucified Christ was presented as ruler and judge. Instead of a crown of thorns he wears a crown or a [[halo (religious iconography)|halo]]; on his feet he wears "shoes" as a sign of the ruler. He is victorious over death. His feet are parallel to each other on the wooden support ("four-nail type") and not one on top of the other.<ref>Torsten Droste: Romanische Kunst in Frankreich, DuMont Kunstreiseführer, Cologne, 1992(2), pp. 32f</ref> The [[perizoma (loincloth)]] is highly stylized and falls in vertical folds.
In the transition to the [[Gothic art|Gothic]] style, the triumphant Christ becomes a suffering Christ, the pitiful Man of Sorrows. Instead of the ruler's crown, he wears the [[crown of thorns]], his feet are placed one above the other and are pierced with a single nail. His facial expression and posture express his pain. The wounds of the body are often dramatically portrayed. The loincloth is no longer so clearly stylized. The attendant figures Mary and John show signs of grief.<ref>Formen der Kunst. Teil II. Die Kunst im Mittelalter, bearbeitet von Wilhelm Drixelius, Verlag M. Lurz, Munich, o.J. p. 71 and p. 88</ref>
=== Attendant figures ===
A triumphal cross may be surrounded by a group of people. These people may include Mary and John, the "beloved disciple" (based on [[John's Gospel]] – {{Bibleverse|John|19:25-27|NIV}}, {{Bibleverse|Matthew|27:25f|NIV}}, {{Bibleverse|Mark|15;40f|NIV}} and {{Bibleverse|Luke|23:49|NIV}}), but also apostles, angels and the benefactor.
* The triumphal cross of [[Öja Church]] in [[Öja, Gotland|Öja]] on [[Gotland]] stands on a transverse beam beneath the triumphal arch and is flanked by two people: Mary and John.
* The triumphal cross in the [[Wechselburg Abbey|abbey church of Wechselburg]] stands in an elevated position on the rood screen and also has the same pair of attendant figures.
* The [[Schwerin Cathedral#Triumphal cross|triumphal cross in Schwerin Cathedral]] is also flanked by Mary and John. At the end of the cross' beam the evangelist's symbols may be seen.
* In [[St. Mary's Church, Osnabrück|St. Mary's Church in Osnabrück]] there are only the empty stone pedestals of the attendant figures.
* The triumphal cross above the screen in Halberstadt Cathedral is not flanked by Mary and John, but by two angels.
* On the supporting beam of the [[Lübeck Cathedral#Triumphal cross|triumphal cross in Lübeck Cathedral]] there is also a bishop, presumably the benefactor of the cross.
=== Rood screens ===
[[Rood screen]]s developed in the 13th century as wooden or stone [[Rood screen|screens]], usually separating the [[chancel]] or [[Choir (architecture)|choir]] from the [[nave]], upon which the rood now stood. The screen may be elaborately carved and was often richly painted and [[gilding|gilded]]. Rood screens were found in Christian churches in most parts of Europe by the end of the Middle Ages, though in Catholic countries the great majority were gradually removed after the [[Council of Trent]], and most were removed or drastically cut down in areas controlled by [[Calvinist]]s and [[Anglicans]]. The best medieval examples are now mostly in the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] countries such as Germany and Scandinavia, where they were often left undisturbed in country churches.
Rood screens are the Western equivalent of the [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine]] [[templon]] beam, which developed into the [[Eastern Orthodox]] [[iconostasis]]. Some rood screens incorporate a rood loft, a narrow [[balcony|gallery]] or just flat walkway which could be used to clean or decorate the rood or cover it up in [[Lent]], or in larger examples used by singers or musicians. An alternative type of screen is the [[Pulpitum]], as seen in [[Exeter Cathedral]], which is near the main altar of the church.
The rood provided a focus for worship, most especially in [[Holy Week]] when worship was highly elaborate. During [[Lent]] the rood was veiled; on [[Palm Sunday]] it was revealed before the procession of palms, and the congregation knelt before it. The whole [[Passion of Christ|Passion]] story would then be read from the rood loft, at the foot of the [[crucifix]], by three ministers.
Few original medieval rood crosses have survived in churches of the United Kingdom.<ref>Duffy, 1992, page not cited</ref> Most were deliberately destroyed as acts of [[Iconoclasm#Reformation iconoclasm|iconoclasm]] during the [[English Reformation]] and the [[English Civil War]], when many rood screens were also removed. Today, in many British churches, the "rood stair" that gave access to the gallery is often the only remaining sign of the former rood screen and rood loft.
In the 19th century, under the influence of the [[Oxford Movement]], roods and screens were again added to many Anglican churches.
== Representative examples ==
<gallery>
File:Mg-k_d1102279_Linde-Triumphkruzifix.jpg|Cross from [[Linde Church]] on [[Gotland]] (today in the [[Swedish History Museum]]) also displays the symbol of a ruler, demonstrating the origin of the name.
File:Triumphkreuz2.jpg|Triumphal cross of Notke in [[Lübeck Cathedral]]
File:Bad Doberan - Kreuz im Bad Doberaner Münster (Christusseite).jpg|Triumphal cross (Christ's side) in [[Doberan Minster]]
File:Soest130811hohnekirscheib.jpg|The "plate cross" (''Scheibenkreuz'') in St. Mary's (''Hohnekirche'') in [[Soest, Germany|Soest]] (around 1200)
File:Merzig StPeter Chor.jpg|[[Forked cross]] in [[St. Peter's Church, Merzig|St. Peter's]] at [[Merzig]]
Kaysersberg SteCroix29.JPG|Triumphal cross in the [[Église Sainte-Croix, Kaysersberg|Holy Cross Church]] in [[Kaysersberg]] (late 15th-century)
</gallery>
=== Germany ===
* the [[Gero Cross]] in [[Cologne Cathedral]]
* the [[Ottonian Cross]] in [[St. Peter und Alexander (Aschaffenburg)|Kollegiatskirche St. Peter und Alexander]], Aschaffenburg
* the Helmstedt Cross in the treasure chamber of [[Werden Abbey]]
* the triumphal cross in [[Lübeck Cathedral]] from the workshop of [[Bernt Notke]], 1477, height 17 m
* in [[St. Catherine's Church, Lübeck]], around 1450
* in [[Halberstadt Cathedral]]
* in [[Wechselburg Abbey]], Holy Cross [[basilica]]
* in [[Naumburg Cathedral]]
* in [[Doberan Minster]]
* in [[Schwerin Cathedral]] (from [[St. Mary's Church, Wismar|St. Mary's, Wismar]])
* in [[Osnabrück]] in [[St. Mary's, Osnabrück|St. Mary's]] and in [[St. Peter's Cathedral, Osnabrück|St. Peter's Cathedral]]
* in [[Alfeld (Leine)]] in St. Nicholas' Church, around 1250
* in [[Dinslaken]], [http://www.katholische-kirche-dinslaken.de/sankt-vincentius/ St. Vincent] around 1310
=== Sweden ===
* On [[Gotland]] in several of the medieval churches, including [[Alskog Church|Alskog]], [[Alva Church|Alva]], [[Bro Church, Gotland|Bro]], Fide, [[Fröjel Church|Fröjel]], [[Grötlingbo Church|Grötlingbo]], Hamra, [[Hemse Church|Hemse]], [[Klinte Church|Klinte]], [[Lye Church|Lye]], [[Öja Church|Öja]], Rute, Stenkumla and [[Stenkyrka Church|Stenkyrka]]. The one at Öja is particularly lavish.
=== Finland ===
* Hauho church, [[Hauho]], [[Hämeenlinna]]
* Kumlinge church, [[Kumlinge]], [[Åland]]
=== United Kingdom ===
* [[Church of the Annunciation, Marble Arch]], [[London]]
* [[St Augustine's, Kilburn]], London
* [[St Gabriel's, Warwick Square]], London
* [[Grosvenor Chapel]], [[Mayfair]], London
* [[St Mary-le-Bow]], London
* [[St Matthew's Church, Sheffield]]
* [[Peterborough Cathedral]]
* [[Blisland#Churches and schools|Church of St Protus and St Hyacinth, Blisland]]
==== Charlton-on-Otmoor Garland ====
[[File:Charlton-on-Otmoor StMary GarlandedRood.JPG|thumb|The Charlton-on-Otmoor rood in 2011]]
A unique rood exists at [[Charlton-on-Otmoor#Church of England|St Mary's parish church, Charlton-on-Otmoor]], near [[Oxford]], England, where a large wooden cross, solidly covered in greenery stands on the early 16th-century rood screen (said by Sherwood and [[Nikolaus Pevsner|Pevsner]] to be the finest in [[Oxfordshire]]).<ref name=Pevsner>Sherwood & Pevsner, 1974, page 530</ref> The cross is redecorated twice a year, on 1 May and 19 September (the [[Patron saint|patronal festival]], calculated according to the [[Julian Calendar]]), when children from the local primary school, carrying small crosses decorated with flowers, bring a long, flower-decorated, rope-like garland. The cross is dressed or redecorated with locally obtained [[Buxus|box]] foliage. The rope-like garland is hung across the rood screen during the "May Garland Service".<ref name=Hole>Hole, 1978, pages 113–114</ref>
An engraving from 1822/1823 (Dunkin) shows the dressed rood cross as a more open, foliage-covered framework, similar to certain types of [[corn dolly]], with a smaller attendant figure of similar appearance. [[Folklorist]]s have commented on the garland crosses' resemblance to human figures, and noted that they replaced statues of [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|St Mary]] and [[Saint James the Great]] which had stood on the rood screen until they were destroyed during the Reformation. Until the 1850s, the larger garland cross was carried in a [[May Day]] procession, accompanied by [[morris dance]]rs, to the former [[Order of Saint Benedict|Benedictine]] [[Horton-cum-Studley|Studley]] [[priory]] (as the statue of St Mary had been, until the Reformation). Meanwhile, the women of the village used to carry the smaller garland cross through Charlton,<ref name=Hole/> though it seems that this ceased some time between 1823 and 1840, when an illustration in [[John Henry Parker (writer)|J.H. Parker's]] ''A Glossary of Terms Used in Grecian, Roman, Italian, and Gothic Architecture'' shows only one garland cross, centrally positioned on the rood screen.<ref>Parker, 1840, page not cited</ref>
<gallery widths="200px" heights="170px">
File:CharltonGarlands1823.jpg|Two corn-dolly-like garlands formerly stood in the rood loft, as illustrated in 1823.{{citation needed|date=May 2011}}
File:Charlton on Otmoor Garland and Roodscreen from Parker's Glossary of Architecture 1840.jpg|The single garland in the rood loft at [[Charlton-on-Otmoor]], illustrated by [[John Henry Parker (writer)|J.H. Parker]] in 1840.
</gallery>
==See also==
* [[Altar rails|Chancel rails]]
* ''[[The Dream of the Rood]]''
* [[Holy Rood Church (disambiguation)]]
* [[Iconostasis]]
* ''[[Legend of the Rood]]''
==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}
==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last=Dodwell |first=C.R. |title=Anglo-Saxon Art, A New Perspective |url=https://archive.org/details/anglosaxonartnew00dodw |url-access=registration |orig-year=1982 |year=1985 |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] / [[Cornell University Press]] |isbn=0-7190-0926-X }}
*{{cite book |last=Duffy |first=Eamon |author-link=Eamon Duffy |title=The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England, 1400-1580 |year=1992 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=0-300-06076-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/strippingofaltar00duff }}
*{{cite book |last=Hole |first=Christina |title=A Dictionary of British Folk Customs |year=1978 |publisher=[[Panther Books|Granada Publishing Ltd]] / [[Paladin Press]] |isbn=0-586-08293-X |pages=113–114}}
*{{cite book |last=Parker |first=J.H. |author-link=John Henry Parker (writer) |title=A Glossary of Terms Used in Grecian, Roman, Italian, and Gothic Architecture |url=https://archive.org/details/glossaryoftermsu02park_0 |year=1840 |location=Oxford }}
*{{cite book |last1=Sherwood |first1=Jennifer |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |author-link2=Nikolaus Pevsner |series=[[Pevsner Architectural Guides#Buildings of England|The Buildings of England]] |title=Oxfordshire |year=1974 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=0-14-071045-0 |page=530}}
*{{cite book |last=Schiller |first=G. |title=Iconography of Christian Art |volume=II |year=1972 |publisher=Lund Humphries |isbn=0-85331-324-5 |pages=not stated; figures 471–75}}
*{{cite book |last1=Simpson |first1=Jacqueline |last2=Roud |first2=Steve |title=A Dictionary of English Folklore |year=2000 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=0-19-210019-X |url=http://www.highbeam.com/ref/doc0.asp?DOCID=1O71:CharltononOtmoorGarland&num=4&ctrlInfo=Round18%3AMode18c%3AREFSR%3AResult}}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
{{refend}}
==Further reading==
*Manuela Beer: ''Triumphkreuze des Mittelalters. Ein Beitrag zu Typus und Genese im 12. und 13. Jahrhundert. Mit einem Katalog der erhaltenen Denkmäler'' ("Rood Crosses of the Middle Ages. An Article on the Typology and Genesis in the 12th and 13th Centuries. With a catalogue of surviving monuments"). Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg, 2005, {{ISBN|3-7954-1755-4}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20141111041831/http://www.kirchengucker.de/2007/04/07/der-erloeser-am-kreuz-das-kruzifix/ ''Der Erlöser am Kreuz: Das Kruzifix''] ("The Saviour on the Cross: the Crucifix"), rescissions in the portrayal of the Crucifix or Rood Cross.
==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{wikt}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.acny.org.uk/album.php?V=283 |title=St. Mary's, Charlton-on-Otmoor |author=Archbishops' Council |work=A Church Near You |publisher=[[Church of England]] |access-date=4 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218070940/http://www.acny.org.uk/album.php?V=283 |archive-date=18 December 2007 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}
*{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13181a.htm |title=Rood |encyclopedia=[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]}}
{{Christian crosses}}
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