page_title: William Cragh
section_title: Resurrection
hierarchical_section_title: William Cragh / Resurrection
caption_attribution_description: Hereford Cathedral, England. This is Thomas Cantilupe's tomb, according to this page. From Fisher, A. Hugh, The Cathedral Church of Hereford, London, 1898, p.37[1]: "The North Transept. Passing through the north arch of the tower we come into some of the most interesting parts of the Cathedral. The transept beyond was entirely rebuilt for the reception of the shrine of Bishop Cantilupe, when his body was removed from the Lady Chapel in 1287, after the miracles reported at his tomb had already largely increased the revenues of the Cathedral. The unusual shape of the arches and the fine and effective windows of this transept render it one of the most distinguished English specimens of the style".
context_page_description: William Cragh, was a medieval Welsh warrior and supporter of Rhys ap Maredudd, lord of the lands of Ystrad Tywi, in his rebellion against King Edward I of England. Captured in 1290 by the son of William de Briouze, the Cambro-Norman Lord of Gower, he was tried and found guilty of having killed thirteen men. Cragh was executed just outside Swansea within sight of de Briouze's Swansea Castle, twice, as the gallows collapsed during his first hanging. Lady Mary de Briouze decided for reasons unknown to intercede on Cragh's behalf, and prayed to the deceased Bishop of Hereford, Thomas de Cantilupe, requesting him to ask God to bring Cragh back from the dead. Cragh began to show signs of life the day after his execution, and over the subsequent few weeks made a full recovery, living for at least another eighteen years.
  The main primary source for Cragh's story is the record of the investigation into the canonisation of Thomas de Cantilupe, which is held in the Vatican Library. Cragh's resurrection was one of thirty-eight miracles presented to the papal commissioners who in 1307 were charged with examining the evidence for Cantilupe's saintliness.
context_section_description: Historian Robert Bartlett has commented that "one of the largest uncertainties in the whole story of the death and resurrection of William Cragh is why Lady Mary [de Briouze] interceded for him", but intercede she did. John of Baggeham, when questioned about her motivation 18 years after the event, could only reply that "Lady Mary had sought the body of this William, he did not know why". Before the execution she had asked her husband to spare the two condemned men, but he refused. Then on hearing that Trahaern ap Hywel was dead, and believing Cragh was still alive, she once again asked that he be handed over to her, but de Briouze delayed until he was convinced that Cragh was also dead. Then "he granted him [Cragh] to the said lady, such as he was, and ordered him to be taken down from the gallows". Lady Mary had "a special devotion" to Thomas de Cantilupe, the deceased Bishop of Hereford, and in her own words, upon hearing of Cragh's death, "on bended knee, she asked Saint Thomas de Cantilupe to ask God to restore life to William Cragh".
  Cantilupe had died in Italy on 25 August 1282; his flesh was buried in that country after having been boiled from his bones, which were taken back to England. Cantilupe's tomb at Hereford Cathedral soon became the centre of a "pilgrim cult", and miracles began to be attributed to him. Lady Mary sent one of her ladies-in-waiting to measure Cragh's body with a length of thread, which implied a promise to offer to the saint a candle the length of the person on whose behalf the saint was being asked to intercede should the intercession be successful, a common practice during the medieval period.
  Cragh's recovery began the day after his hanging, but it was some time – one witness said 15 days – before he was able to stand unaided. That he did not recover more quickly cast doubt on the validity of the miracle, as miracles were supposed to be immediate, but "partial miracles" could be explained by the "lukewarm faith of those who had made the vow". Once sufficiently recovered, Cragh was summoned to appear at Swansea Castle, before Lord and Lady Briouze. The chaplain, William of Codineston, was also present. Cragh explained, "with great fear and apprehension" according to the chaplain, that as he was being taken to the gallows he prayed to Thomas de Cantilupe to save him. His fear resulted from his concern that he might be executed again, and he had good reason to be worried. Although those who survived were usually pardoned, it was not unknown for them to be hanged again. Between the time of his hanging and his appearance at the castle Cragh may have convinced himself that he had been saved by Cantilupe, or he may simply have decided it would be prudent for him to go along with the story for his own safety. Cragh went on to claim that as he was hanging from the gallows a bishop dressed all in white appeared, and saved him either by supporting his feet or by replacing his tongue in his mouth.
  Once he was sufficiently recovered Cragh undertook a pilgrimage to Hereford, accompanied by Lord and Lady Briouze, to thank Cantilupe for restoring his life. He walked barefoot on the three-day trip, wearing the rope he had been hanged with around his neck. The rope was left at Cantilupe's shrine, after which Cragh said that he would make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, although there is some doubt as to whether he subsequently even left Wales. Jussi Hanska has suggested that Cragh may have invented the pilgrimage story to escape from his companions.
caption: Thomas de Cantilupe's tomb in Hereford Cathedral
exif: {"Image Make": "Minolta Co., Ltd.", "Image Model": "DiMAGE A1", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Paint Shop Pro Photo 11.20", "Image DateTime": "2008:01:03 17:37:56", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "410", "Image XPTitle": "[69, 0, 102, 0, 102, 0, 105, 0, 103, 0, 121, 0, 44, 0, 32, 0, 72, 0, 101, 0, ... ]", "Image XPSubject": "[69, 0, 102, 0, 102, 0, 105, 0, 103, 0, 121, 0, 44, 0, 32, 0, 72, 0, 101, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1126", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7988", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/6", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2004:10:28 09:29:27", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2004:10:28 09:29:27", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "-3/10", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "2949/256", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[1000, 600, 200, 120]", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1200", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "900", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "\u0001\u0001\u0002\u0004", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[3, 0, 0, 0]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "984", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "44", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "Low gain up", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3"}