Geology Shop provides some interesting details of an earthquake that struck England on May 21, 1382, and made its way into the history books by an unusual coincidence:
Various contemporary chronicles reported effects in England, such as severe shaking of trees, houses, churches, towers and castles, and panic among the population. The accounts of the archdiocese of Canterbury and papers attributed to Archbishop Courtenay describe the repairs needed after the earthquake. Significant damage was caused to St Augustine's Abbey and to Christ Church (collapse of the belfry, damage to the presbytery, priory and cloister). All Saints, to the west of Canterbury, needed repairs to the choir and strengthening to the (up to 1 metre thick) walls. The treasury accounts of the manors of Hollingbourne and Loose similarly record the costs for various repairs. At Saltwood a prisoner was able to escape in the confusion caused by the earthquake.
In London a sitting of Parliament and a trial of heretics at Blackheath were interrupted by the earthquake. Damage to St Paul's Cathedral, repaired in 1387, was attributed mainly to the 'terrible earthquake'.
The "trial of heretics" was actually a synod, later known as the Earthquake Synod, which had been convened to determine which of John Wycliffe's teachings were to be condemned. Archbishop of Canterbury William Courtnay presided:
About 2 p.m., just as the synod had reached the point of declaring which of the 24 articles were heresies, their meeting place shook. Screams from town showed that London was in a panic. An earthquake had struck! The center of the quake was nearby. Steeples toppled, buildings fell down, and large waves rolled up the Thames River, overturning ships. The bell tower of Canterbury Cathedral tumbled down.
The terrified clergymen fled the building. Their consciences told them that the earthquake was a warning from God. But Archbishop Courtnay ordered them back to their seats. The earthquake was a natural phenomenon, he assured them, the result of noxious vapors--vapors which would lose their force once they burst out of the earth. (This is what Aristotle taught.) Wycliffe's teachings were similar vapors, he said. Expel them from the church and its convulsions also would end. The council accepted Courtnay's ; explanation and condemned ten of Wycliffe's teachings as heresy and said fourteen others were at least doubtful.
Wycliffe's followers and the common people, however, insisted the earthquake came from God as a judgment on the council. "They may have condemned Wycliffe," they said, "but God has condemned them!" The council became known as the "Earthquake Synod."
Note: some sources date this earthquake as May 19 rather than 21. The illustration depicts Wycliffe commissioning his preachers, called the Lollards.
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