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BELL'S CATHEDRAL SERIES
EDITED BY
GLEESON WHITE AND EDWARD F. STRANGE

CANTERBURY.

THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF
CANTERBURY
A DESCRIPTION OF ITS FABRIC
AND A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE
ARCHIEPISCOPAL SEE
BY HARTLEY WITHERS. B.A.

LONDON GEORGE BELL & SONS 1897

First Edition December, 1896.
Second Edition, Revised, ¦with many Additional
Illustrations, May, 1897.

GENERAL PREFACE.
This series of monographs has been planned to supply visitors
to the great English Cathedrals with accurate and well illus
trated guide books at a popular price. The aim of each writer
has been to produce a work compiled with sufficient knowledge
and scholarship to be of value to the student of archseology
and history, and yet not too technical in language for the use
of an ordinary visitor or tourist.
To specify all the authorities which have been made use of
in each case would be difficult and tedious in this place. But
amongst the general sources of information which have been
almost invariably found useful are : — firstly, the great county
histories, the value of which, especially in questions of
genealogy and local records, is generally recognized ; secondly,
the numerous papers by experts which appear from time to
time in the transactions of the antiquarian and archsological
societies ; thirdly, the important documents made accessible in
the series issued by the Master of the Rolls ; fourthly, the well •
known works of Britton and Willis on the English Cathedrals ;
and, lastly, the very excellent series of Handbooks to the
Cathedrals, originated by the late Mr. John Murray, to which
the reader may in most cases be referred for fuller detail,
especially in reference to the histories of the respective sees.
Gleeson White.
E. F. Strange.
Editors ofthe Series.

PREFACE.
Among authorities consulted in the preparation of this volume,
the author desires to name specially Prof Willis's "Architec
tural History of Canterbury Cathedral" (1845), Dean Stanley's
"Historical Memorials of Canterbury'' (Murray, 1855, and
fifth edition, 1868), " Canterbury," by the Rev. R. C. Jenkins
(18S0), and the excellent section devoted to Canterbury in
Murray's " Handbooks to the Enghsh Cathedrals, Southern
Division," wherein Mr. Richard John King brought together so
much valuable matter, to which reference has been made too
often to be acknowledged in each instance. For permission
to use this the publishers have to thank Mr. John Murray.
For the reproduction of the drawings of the various parts of
the Cathedral, and the arms on the title page, by Mr. Walter
Tallent Owen, the editors are greatly indebted to the artist,
from whose volume, " Bits of Canterbury Cathedral," pub
lished by W. T. Comstock, New York, 1891, they have been
taken. Others are taken from Charles Wild's " Specimens of
Mediseval Architecture," and from Carter's " Ancient Sculpture
and Paintings."
The illustrations from photographs in this volume have been
reproduced from the originals by Messrs. Carl Norman and Co.
H.W.

CONTENTS.

Chapter I. — History of the BuilJing
Chapter II. — Exterior and Precincts :
The Angel or Bell Tower
The Monastery
Christchurch Gate
Ruins of the Infirmary
The Treasury ....
The Lavatory Tower
The Chapter House .
Ttie Library ....
The Deanery ....
The Green Court

page 3

24 32353«38
4042 44
44 48

Chapter III.— Interior :
The Nave
The Central Tower .
The Western Screen
The Choir
The Altar
The Choir
The Choir Stalls
South-East Transept
South-West Choir Aisle
St. Anselm's Tower and Chapel
The Watching Chamber
Trinity Chapel .
Tomb of the Black Prince
Becket's Crown
.St. Andrew's Tower
North-East Transept
Chapel ofthe Martyrdom
The Dean's Chapel .
South-West Transept
St. Michael's Chapel
The Main Crypt
The Eastern Crypt .
Chapter IV. — The History ofthe See

5255 56 57
61 64
65 6769 69 727275
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ILLUSTRATIONS.

The Cathedral from the South
The Cathedral from the North
Plan of Canterbury Cathedral. (Circa 1165)
Arms of Canterbury
The Cloisters .
\'iew on the Stour
The Central Tower, " Bell Harry "
Detail of St. Anselm's Tower
The Christchurch Gate
The South-West Porch of the Cathedral
Cloisters of the Monks' Infirmary
Ruins of the Monks' Infirmary .
The Baptistery Tower
Turret of South-West Transept
The Cloisters .
Norman Staircase in the Close .
Details of the Norman Staircase in the Close
Details of Ornament ... . .
Old Painting, " The Murder of St. Thomas 4 Becket'
The Shrine of St. Thomas a Becket (from the Cottonian MS.
Capitals of Columns in the Eastern Apse .
The Choir — looking East
Do. before Restoration
A Miserere in the Choir . . . .
Some Mosaics from the Floor of Trinity Chapel
The Black Prince's Tomb
Shield, Coat, etc. , of the Black Prince
West Gate
Trinity Chapel, looking into Corona, " Becket's Crown'
Chair of St. Augustine
Transept of ' ' The Martyrdom "
Part of South- Western Transept
The Crypt
Do. St. Gabriel's Chapel
Do. Cardinal Morton's Monument . loi
Plans of Cathedral at three periods Face 1 30

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THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE NORTH (FKOM A PHOTOGRAPH BV CARL NORMAN AND CO.).
CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL.
CHAPTER I.
THE HISTORY OF THE BUILDING.
More than four hundred years passed by between the begin
ning of the building of this cathedral by Archbishop Lanfranc
(1070-1089) and its completion, by the addition of the great
central tower, at the end of the fifteenth century. But before
tracing the history of the construction of the present well-
known fabric, a few words will not be out of place concerning
the church which preceded it on the same site. A British or
Roman church, said to have been built by a certain mythical
King Lucius, was given to St. Augustine by Ethelbert in
A.D. 597. It was designed, broadly speaking, on the plan of
the old Basilica of St. Peter at Rome, but as to the latest date
of any alterations, which may or may not have been made by
Augustine and his immediate successors, we have no accurate
information. It is, however, definitely stated that Archbishop
Odo, who held the see from a,d. 942-959, raised the walls and
rebuilt the roof. In the course of these alterations the church
was roofless for three years, and we are told that no rain fell
within the precincts during this time. In a.d. ioii Canterbury
was pillaged by the Danes, who carried off Archbishop Alphege
to Greenwich, butchered the monks, and did much damage
to the church. The building was, however, restored by Canute,
who made further atonement by hanging up his crown within
its walls, and bringing back the body of Alphege, who had been
martyred by the Danes. In the year 1067 the storms of the
Norman Conquest overwhelmed St. Augustine's church, which
was completely destroyed by fire, together with many royal deeds
of privilege and papal bulls, and other valuable documents.
A description of the church thus destroyed is given by
Prof Willis, who quotes all the ancient writers who mention
it. The chief authority is Eadmer, who was a boy at the
monastery school when the Saxon church was pulled down, and
was afterwards a monk and "singer" in the cathedral. It is
he who tells us that it was arranged in some parts in imitation

2 Caiiterbiiry Cathedral.
of the church of St. Peter at Rome. Odo had translated the
body of Wilfrid, Archbishop of York, from Ripon to Canterbury,
and had " worthily placed it in a more lofty receptacle, to use
his own words, that is to say, in the great Altar which was con
structed of rough stones and mortar, close to the wall at the
eastern part of the presbytery. Afterwards another altar was
placed at a convenient distance before the aforesaid altar. . . .
In this altar the blessed Elphege had solemnly deposited
the head of St. Swithin . . . and also many relics of other
saints. To reach these altars, a certain crypt which the Romans
call a Confessionary had to be ascended by means of several
steps from the choir of the singers. This crypt was fabricated
beneath in the likeness of the confessionary of St. Peter, the
vault of which was raised so high that the part above could only
be reached by many steps." The resting-place of St. Dunstan
was " separated from the crypt itself by a strong wall, for that
most holy father was interred before the aforesaid steps at a
great depth in the ground, and at the head of the saint stood
the matutinal altar. Thence the choir of the singers was
extended westward into the body of the church. ... In the
next place, beyond the middle of the length of the body
there were two towers which projected beyond the aisles of
the church. The south tower had an altar in the midst of it,
which was dedicated in honour of the blessed Pope Gregory.
. . Opposite to this tower and on the north, the other tower
was built in honour of the blessed Martin, and had about it
cloisters for the use of the monks. . . . The extremity of
the church was adorned by the oratory of Mary. ... At its
eastern part, there was an altar consecrated to the worship of
that Lady. . . . When the priest performed the Divine mys
teries at this altar he had his face turned to the east. .
Behind him, to the west, was the pontifical chair constructed
with handsome workmanship, and of large stones and cement,
and far removed from the Lord's table, being contiguous to
the wall of the church which embraced the entire area of the
building. Lanfranc, the first Norman archbishop, was granted the see
in 1070. He quickly set about the task of building himself a
cathedral. Making no attempt to restore the old fabric, he
even destroyed what was left of the monastic building, 'and
built up an entirely new church and monastery. Seven years

The History of the Building. 3
sufficed to complete his cathedral, which stood on the same
ground as the earlier fane. His work, however, was not long
left undisturbed. It had not stood for twenty years before the
east end of the church was pulled down during the Archi
episcopate of Anselm, and rebuilt in a much more splendid
style by Ernulph, the prior of the monastery. Conrad, who
succeeded Ernulph as prior, finished the choir, decorating it
with great magnificence, and, in the course of his reconstruc
tion, nearly doubling the area of the building. Thus com
pleted anew, the cathedral was dedicated by Archbishop
William in a.d. 1130. At this notable ceremony the kings of
England and Scotland both assisted, as well as all the English
bishops. Forty years later this church was the scene of
Thomas a Becket's murder (a.d. 1170), and it was in Conrad's
choir that the monks watched over his body during the night
after his death.
Eadmer also gives some description of the church raised by
Lanfranc. The new archbishop, "filled with consternation"
when he found that " the church of the Saviour which he
undertakes to rule was reduced to almost nothing by fire and
ruin," proceeded to "set about to destroy it utterly, and erect a
more noble one. And in the space of seven years he raised
this new church from the very foundations and rendered it
nearly perfect. . . . Archbishop Anselm, who succeeded
Lanfranc, appointed Ernulf to be prior. . . . Having taken
down the eastern part of the church which Lanfranc had
built, he erected it so much more magnificently, that nothing
like it could be seen in England, either for the brilliancy of
its glass windows, the beauty of its marble pavement, or the
many coloured pictures which led the wondering eyes to the
very summit of the ceiling." It was this part of the church,
however, that was completed by Ernulf's successor, Conrad,
and afterwards known as Conrad's choir. It appears that
Anselm " allowed the monks to manage their own affairs, and
gave them for priors Ernulf, and then Conrad, both monks of
their own monastery. And thus it happened that, in addition
to the general prosperity and good order of their property,
which resulted from this freedom, they were enabled to enlarge
their church by all that part which stretches from the great
tower to the east ; which work Anselm himself provided for,"
naving " granted to the said church the revenues of his town of

4 Cattterbury Cathedral.
Peckham, for seven years, the whole of which were expended
upon the new work." Prof Willis, unable to account for the
haste with which the east end of Lanfranc's church was pulled
down, assumes that the monks "did not think their church
large enough for the importance of their monastery," and more
over wanted shrine-room for the display of reUcs. The main
body of Lanfranc's church was left standing, and is described
as follows by Gervase. " The tower, raised upon great pillars,
is placed in the midst of the church, like the centre in the
middle of a circle. It had on its apex a gilt cherub. On the
west of the tower is the nave of the church, supported on
either side upon eight pillars. Two lofty towers with gilded
pinnacles terminate this nave or aula. A gilded corona hangs
in the midst of the church. A screen with a loft {jptdpitum)
separated in a manner the aforesaid tower from the nave, and
had in the middle and on the side towards the nave, the altar of
the holy cross. Above the pdpitum and placed across the
church, was the beam, which sustained a great cross, two
cherubim, and the images of St. Mary and St. John the Apostle.
. . . The great tower had a cross from each side, to wit, a south
cross and a north cross, each of which had in the midst a
strong pillar ; this pillar sustained a vault which proceeded from
the walls on three of its sides," etc. Prof Willis considers
that as far as these parts of the building are concerned, the
present fabric stands exactly on the site of Lanfranc's. " In
the existing building," he says, " it happens that the nave and
transepts have been transformed into the Perpendicular style
of the fourteenth century, and the central tower carried up to
about double its original altitude in the same style. Never
theless indications may be detected that these changed parts
stand upon the old foundations of Lanfranc."
The building, however, was not destined to remain long
intact. In a.d. ii 74 the whole of Conrad's choir was destroyed
by a fire, which was described fully by Gervase, a monk who
witnessed it. He gives an extraordinary account of the rage
and grief of the people at the sight of the burning cathedral.
The work of rebuilding was immediately set on foot. In Sep
tember, 1 1 74, one William of Sens, undertook the task, and
wrought thereat until T178, when he was disabled by an un
fortunate fall from a scaffolding, and had to give up his charge
and return to France. Another William, an Englishman this

EXf LE.SIAE CaJlNdralu nPBXJBUP'S SawtctiramCjHVaBiab,xtBoH.lu afaBADWIKo Mcnmiui.:

PLAN OF CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL, ABOUT A.D. 1165.
From a Norman drawing inserted in the Great Psalter of Eadwin, in
the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. First published in Vetusta
Monumenta (Society of Antiquaries, 1755). For full description and a
plan ofthe waterworks see Arckisologia Cantiana, Vol. VII., 1868.

FcLce p. 4.

The History of the Building. 5
time, took up the direction of the work, and under his super
vision the choir and eastern portion of the church were
finished in a.d. 1184. Further alterations were made under
Prior Chillenden at the end of the fourteenth century.
Lanfranc's nave was pulled down, and a new nave and
transepts were constructed, leaving but little of the original
building set up by the first Norman archbishop. Finally, about
a.d. 1495, the cathedral was completed by the addition of the
great central tower.
During the four centuries which passed during the con
struction and reconstruction of the fabric, considerable changes
had manifested themselves in the science and art of architec
ture. Hence it is that Canterbury Cathedral is a history,
written in solid stone, of architectural progress, illustrating in
itself almost all the various kinds of the style commonly called
Pointed. Of these the earliest form of Gothic and Perpen
dicular chiefly predominate. The shape and arrangement of
the building was doubtless largely influenced by the extra
ordinary number of precious relics which it contained, and
which had to be properly displayed and fittingly enshrined.
Augustine's church had possessed the bodies of St. Blaize and
St. Wilfrid, brought respectively from Rome and from Ripon ;
of St. Dunstan, St. Alphege, and St. Ouen, as well as the
heads of St. Swithin and St. Furseus, and the arm of St. Bar
tholomew. These were all carefully removed and placed, each
in separate altars and chapels, in Lanfranc's new cathedral.
Here their number was added to by the acquisition of new
relics and sacred treasures as time went on, and finally Canter
bury enshrined its chiefest glory, the hallowed body of St.
Thomas a Becket, who was martyred within its walls.
Since, owing to an almost incredible act of royal vindictive-
ness in a.d. 1538, Becket's glorious shrine belongs only to the
history of the past, some account of its splendours will not be
out of place in this part of our account of the cathedral. It
stood on the site of the ancient chapel of the Trinity, which
was burnt down along with Conrad's choir in the destructive
fire of a.d. II 7 4. It was in this chapel that Thomas a Becket
had first solemnized mass after becoming archbishop. For
this reason, as we may fairly suppose, this position was chosen
to enshrine the martyr's bones, after the rebuilding of the
injured portion of the fabric. Though the shrine itself has

6 Canterbtiry Cathedral
been ruthlessly destro' ed, a mosaic pavement, similar to that
which may be seen round the tomb of Edward the Confessor
in Westminster Abbey, marks the exact spot on which it stood.
The mosaic is of the kind with which the floors of the Roman
basilicas were generally adorned, and contains signs of the
zodiacs and emblems of virtues and vices. This paveraent
was directly in front of the west side of the shrine. On each
side of the site is a deep mark in the pavement running
towards the east. This indentation was certainly worn in the
soft, pinkish marble by the knees of generations of pilgrims,
who prostrated themselves here while the treasures were dis
played to their gaze. In the roof above there is fixed a
crescent carved out of some foreign wood, which has proved
deeply puzzling to antiquaries. A suggestion, which hardly
seems very plausible, connects this mysterious crescent with
the fact that Becket was closely related, as patron, with the
Hospital of St. John at Acre. It was beheved that his prayers
had once repulsed the Saracens from the walls of the fortress,
and he received the title of St. Thomas Acreusis. Near this
crescent a number of iron staples were to be seen at one time,
and it is likely that a trophy ofsome sort depended from them.
The Watching Tower was set high upon the Tower of St.
Anselm, on the south side of the shrine. It contained a fire
place, so that the watchman might keep hiraself warm during
the winter nights, and from a gallery between the pillars he
commanded a view of the sacred spot and its treasures. A
troop of fierce ban-dogs shared the task of guarding the shrine
from theft. How necessary such precautions were is shown
by the fact that such a spot had to be guarded not only frora
common robbers in search of rich booty, but also frora holy
men, who were quite unscrupulous in their desire to possess
themselves and their own churches of sacred relics. Within
the first six years after Becket's death we read of two striking
instances of the lengths to which distinguished churchmen
were carried by what Dean Stanley calls " the first frenzy of
desire for the relics of St. Thomas." Benedict, a monk of
Christ Church, and "probably the most distinguished of his
body," was created Abbot of Peterburgh in a.d. 1176. Dis
appointed to find that his cathedral was very poor in the
matter of relics he returned to Canterbury, " took away with
him the flagstones immediately surrounding the sacred spot,

The History of the Building. 7
with which he formed two altars in the conventual church of
his new appointment, besides two vases of blood and parts of
Becket's clothing." Still more striking and characteristic of
the prevalent passion for relics is the story of Roger, who was
keeper of the " Altars of the Martyrdom," or " Custos
Martyrii." The brothers of St. Augustine's Abbey were so
eager to obtain a share in the glory which their great rival, the
neighbouring cathedral, had won from the circumstances of
Becket's martyrdom within its walls, that they actually offered
Roger no less a reward than the position of abbot in their own
institution, on condition that he should purloin for them some
part of the remains of the martyr's skull. And not only did
Roger, though he had been specially selected from amongst
the monks of Christ Church to watch over this very treasure,
agree to their conditions, and after duly carrying out this piece
of sacrilegious burglary become Abbot of St. Augustine's ; but
the chroniclers of the abbey were not ashamed to boast of
this transaction as an instance of cleverness and well-applied
zeal. The translation of Becket's remains from the tomb to his
shrine took place a.d. 1220, fifty years after his martyrdom.
The young Henry IIL, who had just laid the foundation ofthe
new abbey at Westminster, assisted at the ceremony. The
primate then ruling at Canterbury was the great Stephen
Langton, who had won renown both as a scholar and a states
man. He had carried out the division of the Bible into
chapters, as it is now arranged, and had won a decisive victory
for English liberty by forcing King John to sign the Great
Charter. He was now advanced in years, and had recently
assisted at the coronation of King Henry at Westminster.
The translation was carried out with imposing ceremony.
The scene must have been one of surpassing splendour ; never
had such an assemblage been gathered together in England.
Robert of Gloucester relates that not only Canterbury but the
surrounding countryside was full to overflowing :
" Of bishops and abbots, priors and parsons,
Of earls, and of barons, and of many knights thereto ;
Of Serjeants, and of squires, and of husbandmen enow,
And of simple men eke ofthe land — so thick thither drew."
The archbishop had given notice two years before, proclaiming
the day of the solemnity throughout Europe as well as England :

8 Canterbury Cathedral.
the episcopal manors had been bidden to furnish provisions for
the huge concourse, not only in the cathedral city, but along all
the roads by which it was approached. Hay and provisions
were given to all who asked it between London and Canter
bury ; at the gates of the city and in the four licensed cellars
tuns of wine were set up, that all who thirsted might drink
freely, and wine ran in the street channels on the day of the
festival. During the night before the ceremony the primate,
together with the Bishop of Salisbury and all the members of
the brotherhood, who were headed by Walter the Prior,
solemnly, with psalms and hymns, entered the crypt in which
the martyr's body lay, and removed the stones which covered
the tomb. Four priests, specially conspicuous for their piety,
were selected to take out the relics, which were then placed in
a strong coffer studded with iron nails and fastened with iron
hasps. Next day a procession was formed, headed by the young
king, Henry III. After him came Pandulf, the Italian Bishop
of Norwich and Papal Nuncio, and Langton the archbishop,
with whom was the Archbishop of Rheims, Primate of France.
The great Hubert de Burgh, Lord High Justiciary, together
with four other barons, completed the company, which was
selected to bear the chest to its resting-place. When this
had been duly deposited, a solemn mass was celebrated by the
French archbishop. The anniversary of this great festival was
commemorated as the Feast of the Translation of the Blessed
St. Thomas, until it was suppressed by a royal injunction of
Henry VIII. in 1536.
A picture of the shrine itself is preserved among the Cot
tonian MSS., and a representation ofit also exists in one ofthe
stained windows of the cathedral. At the end of it the altar of
the Saint had its place ; the lower part of its walls were of stone,
and against thera the lame and diseased pilgrims used to rub
their bodies, hoping to be cured of their afflictions. The
shrine itself was supported on marble arches, and remained
concealed under a wooden covering, doubtless intended to
enhance the effect produced by the sudden revelation of the
glories beneath it ; for when the pilgrims were duly assembled
on their knees round the shrine, the cover was suddenly raised
at a given signal, and though such a device may appear slightly
theatrical in these days, it is easy to imagine how the devotees

The History of the Building. 9
of the middle ages must have been thrilled at the sight of this
hallowed tomb, and all the bravery of gold and precious stones
which the piety of that day had heaped upon it. The beauties
of the shrine were pointed out by the prior, who named the
giver of the several jewels. Many of these were of enormous
value, especially a huge carbuncle, as large as an egg, which
had been off'ered to the memory of St. Thomas by Louis VII.
of France, who visited the shrine in a.d. 1179, after having
thrice seen the Saint in a vision. A curious legend, thoroughly
in keeping with the mystic halo of miraculous power which
surrounds the martyred archbishop's fame, relates that the
French king could not make up his mind to part with this in
valuable gem, which was called the " Regale of France ; " but
when he visited the tomb, the stone, so runs the story, leapt
forth from the ring in which it was set, and fixed itself of its
own will firmly in the wall of the shrine, thus baffling the un
willing monarch's half-heartedness. Louis also presented a
gold cup, and gave the monks a hundred measures, medii, of
wine, to be delivered annually at Poissy, also ordaining that
they should be exempt from " toll, tax, and tallage " when
journeying in his realm. He hiraself was made a member of
the brotherhood, after duly spending a night in prayer at the
tomb. It is said that, " because he was very fearful of the
water," the French king received a promise from the Saint that
neither he nor any other that crossed over frora Dover to
Whitsand, should suffer any manner of loss or shipwreck. We
are told that Louis's piety was afterwards rewarded by the
miraculous recovery, through St. Thomas's intercession, of his
son from a dangerous illness. Louis was the first of a series of
royal pilgrims to the shrine. Richard the Lion Heart, set free
from durance in Austria, walked thither from Sandwich to
return thanks to God and St. Thomas. After him all the
English kings and all the Continental potentates who visited
the shores of Britain, paid due homage, and doubtless made
due offering, at the shrine of the sainted archbishop. The
crown of Scotland was presented in a.d. 1299 by Edward
Longshanks, and Henry V. gave thanks here after his victory
over the French at -A.gincourt. Emperors, both of the east and
west, humbled themselves before the relics of the famous
English martyr. Henry VIII. and the Emperor Charles V.
came together at Whitsuntide, a.d. 1520, in more than royal

IO Canterbury Cathedral.
splendour, and with a great retinue of English and Spanish
noblemen, and worshipped at the shrine which had then
reached the zenith of its glory.
But though the stately stories of these royal progresses to the
tomb of the martyred archbishop strike the imagination vividly,
yet the picture presented by Chaucer's " Canterbury Tales " is
in reality much more impressive. For we find there all
ranks of society alike making the pilgrimage — the knight, the
yeoman, the prioress, the monk, the friar, the merchant, the
scholar from Oxford, the lawyer, the squire, the tradesman,
the cook, the shipman, the physician, the clothier from Bath,
the priest, the miller, the reeve, the manciple, the seller of
indulgences, and, lastly, the poet himself — all these various
sorts and conditions of men and women we find journey
ing down to Canterbury in a sort of motley caravan. Foreign
pilgrims also came to the sacred shrine in great numbers.
A curious record, preserved in a Latin translation, of the
journey of a Bohemian noble, Leo von Rotzmital, who visited
England in 1446, gives a quaint description of Canterbury
and its approaches. " Sailing up the Channel," the narrator
writes, " as we drew near to England we saw lofty moun
tains full of chalk. These mountains seem from a distance
to be clad with snows. On them lies a citadel, built by
devils, 'a Cacodannonibus extructa,' so stoutly fortified that its
peer could not be found in any province of Christendom.
Passing by these mountains and citadel we put in at the city of
Sandwich {Sandvicuni). . . . But at nothing did I marvel more
greatly than at the sailors climbing up the masts and foretelling
the distance, and approach cf the winds, and which sails
should be set and which furled. Among them I saw one
sailor so ninible that scarce could any man be compared with
hira." Journeying on to Canterbury, our pilgrim proceeds :
I' There we saw the tomb and head of the martyr. The tomb
is of pure gold, and embellished with jewels, and so enriched
with splendid offerings that I know not its peer. Among
other precious things upon it is beholden the carbuncle jewel,
which is wont to shine by night, half a hen's egg in size. For
that tomb has been lavishly enriched by many kings, princes,
wealthy traders, and other righteous men."
Such was Canterbury Cathedral in the middle ages, the re
sort of emperors, kings, and all classes of humble folk, English

The History of the Building. 1 1
and foreign. It was in the spring chiefly, as Chaucer tells us,
that " Whanne that April with his showres sote
The droughte of lilarch hath perced to the rote.
And bathed every veine in swiche licour,
Of whiche vertue engendred is the flour ;
When Zephyrus eke with his sote brethe
Enspired hath in every holt and hethe
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Plath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
And smale foules maken melodie
That slepen alle night with open eye,
So priketh hem nature in hir corages ;
Than longen folk to gon on pilgrimages
And palmeres for to seken strange strondes
To serve hauves couthe in sondry londes ;
And specially from every shires ende
Of Englelonde, to Canterbury they wende
The holy blissful martyr for to seke,
That hem hath holpen when that they were sekc'
The miracles performed by the bones of the blessed martyr
are stated by contemporary writers to have been extraordinarily
numerous. We have it on the authority of Gervase that two
volumes full of these marvels were preserved at Canterbury,
and in those days a volume meant a tome of formidable
dimensions ; but scarcely any record of these most interesting
occurrences has been preserved. At the time of Henry VIIL's
quarrel with the dead archbishop — of which more anon — the
name of St. Thomas and all account of his deeds was erased
from every book that the strictest investigation could lay hands
on. So thoroughly was this spiteful edict carried out that the
records of the greatest of English saints are astonishingly
meagre. A letter, however, has been preserved, written about
A.D. 1390 by Richard II. to congratulate the then archbishop,
William Courtenay, on a fresh miracle performed by St.
Thomas: " Litera doniini Regis g}-aciosa missa domino archi-
episcopo, regraciando sibi de novo miracuio Sancti Thome Martiris
sibi denunciato." The letter refers, in its quaint Norman-
French, to the good influence that will be exercised by such a
manifestation, as a practical argument against the " various
enemies of our faith and belief" — noz foie et creaunce ount plou-
sours enemys. These were the Lollards, and the pious king
says that he hopes and believes that they will be brought back

12 Canterbury Cathedral.
to the right path by the effect of this miracle, which seems to
have been worked to heal a distinguished foreigner — en une
persone estraunge.
Another document (dated a.d. 1455) preserves the story of
the miraculous cure of a young Scotsman, from Aberdeen,
Allexander Stephani fdius in Scocia, de Aberdyn oppido natus.
Alexander was lame, pedibus contractus, from his birth, we are
told that after twenty-four years of pain and discomfort —
vigintiquatuor annis penaliter laborabat — he made a pilgrimage
to Canterbury, and there " the sainted Thomas, the divine
clemency aiding hira, on the second day of the month of May
did straightway restore his legs and feet, bases et plantas, to the
same Alexander."
Other miracles performed by the saint are pictured in the
painted windows of Trinity Chapel, of which we shall treat
fully later on. The fame of the martyr spread through the
whole of Christendom. Stanley tells us that " there is pro
bably no country in Europe which does not exhibit traces of
Becket. A tooth of his is preserved in the church of San
Thomaso Cantuariense at Verona, part of an arm in a convent
at Florence, and another part in the church of St. Waldetrude
at Mons ; in Fuller's time both arms were displayed in the
English convent at Lisbon ; while Bourbourg preserves his
chalice, Douay his hair shirt, and St. Omer his mitre. The
cathedral of Sens contains his vestraents and an ancient altar
at which he said mass. His story is pictured in the painted
windows at Chartres, and Sens, and St. Omer, and his figure is
to be seen in the church of Monreale at Palermo."
In England almost every county contained a church or con
vent dedicated to St. Thomas. Most notable of these was the
abbey of Aberbrothock, raised, within seven years after the
martyrdom, to the memory of the saint by William the Lion,
king of Scotland. WiUiam had been defeated by the English
forces on the very day on which Henry II. had done penance at
the tomb, and made his peace with the saint, and attributing his
misfortunes to the miraculous influence of St. Thomas, endea
voured to propitiate him by the dedication of this magnificent
abbey. A mutilated iraage of the saint has been preserved
among the ruins of the monastery. This is perhaps the most
notable of the gifts to St. Thomas. The volurae of the offer
ings which were poured into the Canterbury coffers by grateful

Tlie History of the Building. 1 3
invalids who had been cured of their ailments, and by others
who, like the Scotch king, were anxious to propitiate the power
of the saint, must have been enormous. We know that at the
beginning of the sixteenth century the yearly offerings, though
their sums had already greatly diminished, were worth about
;£4,ooo, according to the present value of money.
The story of the fall of the shrine and the overthrow of the
power of the martyr is so remarkable and was so impUcitly
believed at the time, that it cannot be passed over in spite of the
doubts which modern criticism casts on its authenticity. It is
said that in AprU, a.d. 1538, a writ of summons was issued in
the name of King Henry VIII. against Thomas Becket, some
time Archbishop of Canterbury, accusing him of treason, con
tumacy, and rebellion. This document was read before the
martyr's tomb, and thirty days were allowed for his answer to
the summons. As the defendant did not appear, the suit was
formally tried at Westminster. The Attorney General held a
brief for Henry II., and the deceased defendant was repre
sented by an advocate named by Henry VIII. Needless to
relate, judgment was given in favour of Henry II. , and the con
demned Archbishop was ordered to have his bones burnt and
all his gorgeous offerings escheated to the Crown. The first
part of the sentence was remitted and Becket's body was
buried, but he was deprived of the title of Saint, his images
were destroyed throughout the kingdom, and his name was
erased from all books. The shrine was destroyed, and the
gold and jewels thereof were taken away in twenty-six carts.
Henry VIIL himself wore the Regale of France in a ring on his
thumb. Improbable as the story of Becket's trial may seem,
such a procedure was strictly in accordance with the forms of
the Roman Catholic Church, of which Henry still at that time
professed himself a meraber • moreover it is not without
authentic parallels in history : exactly the same measures
of reprisal had been taken against Wycliffe at Lutterworth ;
and Queen Mary shortly afterwards acted in a similar manner
towards Bucer and Fagius at Cambridge.
The last recorded pilgrim to the shrine of St. Thomas was
Madame de Montreuil, a great French dame who had been
waiting on Mary of Guise, in Scotland. She visited Canterbury
in August, A.D. 1538, and we are told that she was taken to see
the wonders of the place and marveUed at all the riches thereof.

14 Canterbury Cathedral.
and said " that if she had not seen it, aU the men in the world
could never 'a made her befieve it." Though she would not kiss
the head of St. Thomas, the Prior " did send her a present of
coneys, capons, chickens, with divers fruits — plenty — insomuch
that she said, ' What shall we do with so many capons ? Let the
Lord Prior come, and eat, and help us to eat them tomorrow
at dinner ' and so thanked him heartily for the said present."
Such was the history of Becket's shrine. We have dwelt on
it at sorae length because it is no exaggeration to say that the
in the Middle Ages Canterbury Cathedral owed its European
fame and enormous riches to the fact that it contained the
shrine within its walls, and because the story of the influence
of the Saint and the rairacles that he worked, and the millions
of pilgrims who flocked frora the whole civiUzed world to do
homage to him, throws a brighter and more vivid Ught on the lives
and thoughts and beliefs of mediseval men than many volumes
stuffed with historical research. No visitor to Canterbury can
appreciate what he sees, unless he realizes to some extent the
glamour which overhung the resting place of St. Thomas in the
days of Geoffrey Chaucer. We have no certain knowledge as
to whether the other shrines and relics which enriched the
cathedral were destroyed along with those of St. Thomas.
Dunstan and Elphege at least can hardly have escaped, and it
is probable that most of the monuments and reUcs perished at
the time of the Reformation. We know that in a.d. 1541,
Cranmer deplored the slight effect which had been wrought by
the royal orders for the destruction of the bones and images of
supposed saints. And that he forthwith received letters from
the king, enjoining him to cause " due search to be made in
his cathedral churches, and if any shrine, covering of shrine,
table, monument of miracles, or other pilgrimage, do there con
tinue, to cause it to be taken away, so as there remain no
memory of it." This order probably brought about the destruc
tion of the tombs and monuments of the early archbishops,
most of whom had been officially canonised, or been at least
enroUed in the popular calendar, and were accordingly doomed
to have their resting-places desecrated. We know that about
this time the tomb of Winchelsey was destroyed, because he
was adored by the people as a reputed saint.
Any monuments that may have escaped royal vandalism at
the Reformation period, feU before the even more effective

The History of the Building. 1 5
fanaticism of the Puritans, who seem to have exercised their
iconoclastic energies with especial zeal and vigour at Canterbury.
Just before their time Archbishop Laud spent a good deal of
trouble and money on the adornment of the high altar. A
letter to him from the Dean, dated July Sth, a.d. 1634, is quoted
by Prynne, " We have obeyed your Grace's direction in pulling
down the exorbitant seates within our Quire whereby the church
is very much beautified. . . . Lastly wee most humbly beseech
your Grace to take notice that many and most necessary have
beene the occasions of extraordianry expences this yeare for
ornaments, etc." And another Puritan scribe teUs us that "At
the east end of the cathedral they have placed an Altar as they
call it dressed after the Romish fashion, for which altar they
have lately provided a most idolatrous costly glory cloth or
back cloth."
These embellishments were not destined to remain long
undisturbed. In a.d. 1642, the Puritan troopers hewed the
altar-rails to pieces and then " threw the Altar over and over
down the three Altar steps, and left it lying with the heels up
wards." This was only the beginning : we read that during the
time of the Great Rebellion, " the newly erected font was
pulled down, the inscriptions, figures, and coats of arms,
engraven upon brass, were torn off from the ancient monu
ments, and whatsoever there was of beauty or decency in the
holy place, was despoiled."
A manuscript, compiled in 1662, and preserved in the
Chapter library, gives a more minute account of this work of
destruction. " The windows were generally battered and
broken down ; the whole roof, with that of the steeples, the
chapter-house and cloister, externally impaired and ruined
both in . timber- work and lead; water-tanks, pipes, and much
other lead cut off; the choir stripped and robbed of her fair and
goodly hangings ; the organ and organ-loft, communion-table,
and the best and chiefest of the furniture, with the rail before
it, and the screen of tabernacle work richly overlaid with gold
behind it ; goodly monuments shamefully abused, defaced, and
rifled of brasses, iron grates, and bars."
The ringleader in this work of destruction was a fanatic
named Richard Culmer, commonly known as Blue Dick. A
paper preserved in the Chapter library, in the writing of Somner,
the great antiquarian scholar, describes the state in which the

1 6 Canterbury Cathedral.
fabric of the cathedral was left, at the time of the Restoration
of King Charles IL, in 1660. " So little," says this document,
" had the fury of the late reformers left remaining of it besides
the bare walles and roofe, and these, partly through neglect, and
partly by the daily assaults and batteries of the disaffected, so
shattered, ruinated, and defaced, as it was not more unser
viceable in the way of a cathedral than justly scandalous to
aU who delight to serve God in the beauty of HoUnes." Most
of the windows had been broken, " the church's guardians, her
faire and strong gates, turned off the hooks and burned." The
buildings and houses of the clergy had been pulled down or
greatly damaged ; and lastly, " the goodly oaks in our common
gardens, of good value in themselves, and in their time very
beneficial to our church by their shelter, quite eradicated and
set to sale." This last touch is interesting, as showing that the
reforming zeal of the Puritans was not always altogether dis
interested. After the Restoration some attempt was made to render the
cathedral once more a fitting place of worship, and the sum of
;^io,ooo was devoted to repairs and other public and pious
uses. A screen was put up in the same position as the former
one, and the altar was placed in front. But, in a.d. 1729, this
screen no longer suited the taste of the period, and a sum of
_;^5oo, bequeathed by one ofthe prebendaries, was devoted to
the erection of a screen in the Corinthian style, designed by a
certain Mr. Burrough, afterwards Master of Caius College,
Cambridge. A Uttle before this time the old stalls, which had
survived the Puritan period were replaced : a writer describes
them, in the early half of the seventeenth century, as standing
in two rows, an upper and lower, on each side, with the arch
bishop's wood throne above them on the south side. This
chair he mentions as " sometime richly guilt, and otherwise
well set forth, but now nothing specious through age and late
neglect. It is a close seat, made after the old fashion of such
stalls, called thence faldistoria ; only in this they differ, that
they were moveable, this is fixt."
Thus wrote Somner in a d. 1640 : the dilapidated throne of
which he speaks was replaced, in a.d. 1704, by a splendid
throne with a tall Corinthian canopy, and decorated with
carving by Grinling Gibbons, the gift of Archbishop Tenison,
who also set up new stalls. At the same time Queen Mary the

The History of the Building. 1 7
Second presented new and magnificent furniture for the allar,
throne, staUs of the chief clergy, and pulpit. Since then many
alterations have been made. The old altar and screen have
been removed, and a new reredos set up, copied from the
screen work of the Lady Chapel in the crypt ; and Archbishop
Tenison's throne has given place to a lofty stone canopy. In
1834 owing to its tottering condition the north-west tower of
the nave had to be pulled down. It was rebuilt on an entirely
different plan by Mr. George Austin, who, with his son, also
conducted a good deal of repairing and other work in the
cathedral and the buildings connected with it. A good deal of
the external stonework had to be renewed, but the work was
carried out judiciously, and only where it was absolutely neces
sary. On the west side of the south transept a turret has been
pulled down and set up again stone by stone. The crypt has
been cleared out and restored, and its windows have been
reopened. The least satisfactory evidences of the modern
hand are the stained glass windows, which have been put up in
the nave and transepts of the cathedral. The Puritan trooper
had wrought 'navoc in the ancient glass, smashing it wherever
a pike-thrust could reach ; and modern piety has been almost
as ruthless in erecting windows which are quite incredibly:
hideous. In September, 1872, Canterbury was once more damaged by
fire, just about seven hundred years after the memorable con
flagration described by Gervase. On this occasion, however,'
the damage did not go beyond the outer roof of the Trinity
Chapel. The fire broke out at about half-past ten in the
morning, and was luckily discovered before it had made much
progress, by two plumbers who were at work in the south
gutter. According to the " Builder " of that month, "a peculiar
whirring noise " caused them to look inside the roof, and they
found three of main roof-timbers blazing. " The best conjec
ture seems to be that the dry twigs, straw, and similar debris,
carried into the roof by birds, and which it has been the
custom to clear at intervals out of the vault pockets, had caught
fire from a spark that had in some way passed through the root
covering, perhaps under a sheet raised a little at the bottom by
the wind." Assistance was quickly summoned, and " by half-
past twelve the whole was seen to be extinguished. At four
o'clock the authorities held the evening service, so as not to
c

1 8 Canterbury Cathedral.
break a continuity of custom extending over centuries ; and in
the smoke-filled choir, the whole of the Chapter in residence,
in the proper Psalm (xviu.), found expression for the sense of
victory over a conquered enemy."
Thus little harm was done, but it must have been an exciting
crisis while it lasted. " The bosses {of the vaulting], pierced
with cradle-holes, happened to be well-placed for the passage
of the liquid lead dripping on the back of the vault from the
blazing roof," which poured down on to the pavement below,
on the very spot which Becket's shrine had once occupied.
" Through the holes further westward water came, sufficient to
float over the surfaces of the polished Purbeck marble floor
and the steps of the altar, and alarmed the well-intentioned
assistants into removing the altar, tearing up the altar-rails,
etc., etc. The relics of the Black Prince, attached to a beam
(over his tomb) at the level of the caps of the piers on the
south side of Trinity Chapel, were all taken down and placed
away in safety. The eastern end of the church is said to have
been filled with steam from water rushing through with, and
falling on, the molten lead on the floor ; and, in time, by every
opening, wood-smoke reached the inside ofthe building, filling
all down to the west of the nave with a blue haze." The
scene in the building is said to have been one of extraordinary
beauty, but most lovers of architecture would probably prefer
to view the fabric with its own loveliness, unenhanced by
numerous streams of molten lead pouring down from the
roof Since that date Canterbury Cathedral has been happy in the
possession of no history, and we pass on, therefore, to the
examination in detail of its exterior.

THE CLOISTERS.

CHAPTER n.
EXTERIOR AND PRECINCTS — THE MONASTERY.
The external beauties of Canterbury Cathedral can best be
\iewed in their entirety from a distance. The old town has
nestled in close under the walls of the church that dominates
it, preventing anything like a complete view of the bmlding
from the immediate precincts. But Canterbury is girt with a
ring of hUls, from which we may enjoy a strikingly beautiful
view of the ancient city, lying asleep in the rich, peaceful vaUey
of the Stour, and the mighty cathedral towering over the red-
tiled roofs of the town, and looking, as a rustic remarked as he
gazed down upon it " like a hen brooding over her chickens."
Erasmus must have been struck by some such aspect of the
cathedral, for he says, " It rears its crest {erigit se) with so
great majesty to the sky, that it inspires a feeling of awe even
in those who look at it from afar." Such a view may well be
got from the hills of Harbledown, a village about two miles
from Canterbury, containing in itself many objects of anti
quarian and aesthetic interest. It stands on the road by which
Chaucer's pilgrims wended their way to the shrine of St.
Thomas, and it is almost certainly referred to in the lines in
which the poet speaks of "A little town
Whicli that ycleped is Bob Up and Down
Under the Blee in Canterbury way."
The name Harbledown is derived by local philologists from
Bob up and Down, and the hilly nature of the country fully
justifies the title. Here stands Lanfranc's Lazar-house, "so
picturesque even now in its decay, and in spite of modern
alterations which have swept away aU but the ivy-clad chapel

22

Canterbury Cathedral.

of Lanfranc." In this hospital a shoe of St. Thomas was pre
served which pilgrims were expected to kiss as they passed by ;
and in an old chest the modern visitor may still behold a rude
money-box with a sUt in the lid, into which the great Erasmus
is said to have dropped a coin when he visited Canterbury at
the tirae when St. Thomas's glory was just beginning to wane.
Behind the hospital is an ancient weU caUed "the Black
Prince's Well." The Black Prince, as is well known, passed

VIEW ON THE STOUR.

through Canterbury on his way from Sandwich to London,
whither he was escorting his royal prisoner. King John ot
France, whora he had captured at the battle of Poitiers,
A.D. 1357. We need not doubt that he halted at Harbledown
to salute the martyr's shoe, and he may have washed in the
water of the well, which was henceforward called by his name.
Another tradition relates that he had water brought to him
from this well when he lay sick, ten years later, in the arch
bishop's palace at Canterbury.

Exterior and Precincts — the Monastery. 23
Another good view may be had from the crest on which
stands St. Martin's Church, which was formerly believed to be
the oldest in England, so ancient that its origin was connected
with the mythical King Lucius. Modern research has decided
that it is of later date, but there is no doubt that on the spot
on which it now stands, Bertha, the wife of Ethelbert— who was
ruUng when Augustine landed with his monks — had a little
chapel, as Bede relates, " in the east of the city," where she
worshipped, before her husband's conversion, with her chaplain,
Luidhard, a French priest. Dean Stanley has described this
view in a fine passage :
" Let any one sit on the hill of the little church of St.
Martin, and look on the view which is there spread before his
eyes. Immediately below are the towers of the great abbey of St.
Augustine, where Christian learning and civilization first struck
loot in the Anglo-Saxon race ; and within which, now, after a
lapse of many centuries, a new institution has arisen, intended
to carry far and wide to countries of which Gregory and
Augustine never heard, the blessings which they gave to us.
Carry your view on — and there rises high above all the magni
ficent pile of our cathedral, equal in splendour and state to any,
the noblest temple or church, that Augustine could have seen
in ancient Rorae, rising on the very ground which derives
its consecration from him. And still more than the grandeur
of the outward building that rose from the little church of
Augustine, and the little palace of Ethelbert, have been the
institutions of all kinds, of which these were the earliest cradle.
From the first English Christian city — from Kent, the first
English Christian kingdom — has, by degrees, arisen the whole
constitution of Church and State in England which now binds
together the whole British Empire. And from the Christianity
here established in England has flowed, by direct consequence,
first, the Christianity of Germany — then after a long interval,
of North America, and lastly, we may trust in time, of all India
and all Australasia. The view from St. Martin's Church is,
indeed, one of the most inspiriting that can be found in the
world ; there is none to which I would more willingly take any
one who doubted whether a small beginning could lead to a
great and lasting good — none which carries us more vividly
back into the past, or raore hopefully forward to the future."
In the town itself, the best point of vantage from which the

24 Cauterbury Cathedral.
visitor can get a good view of the cathedral is the summit of
the Dane John, a lofty mound crowned by an obelisk ; from
this height we look across at the roof and towers of the
cathedral rising above thickly clustering trees : from here also
there is a fine view over the beautiful valley of the Stour in the
direction of Thanington and Chartham.
In the immediate precincts, a delightful picture is presentefl
from the Green Court, which was once the main outer court of
the monastery. Here are noble trees and beautifully kept
turf, at once in perfect harmony and agreeable contrast with
the rugged waUs of the weather-beaten cathedral : the quiet
soft colouring of the ancient buildings and that look of cloistered
seclusion only to be found in the peaceful nooks of cathedral
cities are seen here at their very best.
The chief glory of the exterior of Canterbury Cathedral is
the central Angel or Bell Tower. This is one ofthe most
perfect structures that Gothic architecture, inspired by the
loftiest purpose that ever stimulated the work of any art, has
produced. It was completed by Prior Selling, who held office
in 1472, and has been variously called the Bell Harry Tower
from the mighty Dunstan bell, weighing three tons and three
hundredweight, and the Angel Tower from the gilded figure of
an angel poised on one of the pinnacles, which has long ago
disappeared. The tower itself is of two stages, with two two-
light windows in each stage ; the windows are transomed in
each face, and the lower tier is canopied; each angle is rounded
off with an octagonal turret and the whole structure is a
marvellous example of architectural harmony, and in every way
a work of transcendent beauty. The two buttressing arches
and the ornamental braces which support it were added at the
end of the fifteenth century by Prior Goldstone, to whom the
building of the whole tower is apparently attributed in the
following quaint passage from a mediaeval authority : " He
by the influence and help of those honourable men. Cardinal
John Morton and Prior William Sellyng, erected and magni
ficently completed that lofty tower commonly called Angyll
Stepyll in the midst of the church, between the choir and the
nave — vaulted with a most beautiful vault, and with exceUent
and artistic workmanship in every part sculptured and gilt,
with ample windows glazed and ironed. He also with great
care and industry annexed to the columns which support the

"BELL HARRY, THE CENTRAL TOWER.

Exterior and Precincts — the Monastery. 27
same tower two arches or vaults of stone work, curiously
carved, and four smaller ones, to assist in sustaining the
said tower" ("Ang. Sac." i. 147, translated by Professor
Willis). The western froi.t of the cathedral is flanked by two
towers of great beauty ; a point in which Mediaeval architecture
has risen above that of all other ages is the skiU which it dis
plays in the use of towers of different heights, breaking the dull
straight line of the roof and carrying the eye gradually up to
the loftiest point of the building. Canterbury presents an
excellent example of the beauty of this subordination of lower
towers to the chief; we invite the visitor, when looking at the
exterior, to compare it mentally, on the one hand, with the
dull severity of the roof line of a Greek temple, and on the
other, to take a fair example of modern so-called Gothic, with
the ugly straight line of the Houses of Parliament, as seen from
the Lambeth Embankment, broken only by the two stark and
stiff erections at each end. The two towers at the west end of
Canterbury were not always uniform. At the northern corner
an old Norman tower formerly uplifted a leaden spire one
hundred feet high. This rather anomalous arrangement must
have had a decidedly lopsided effect, and it is probable that
the appearance of the cathedral was changed very much for
the better when the spire, which had been taken down in 1705,
was replaced by Mr. Austin in 1840, by a tower uniform with
the southernmost tower, caUed the Chicele or Oxford steeple :
this tower was completed by Prior Goldstone, who, during his
tenure of office from 1449-68, also built the Lady Chapel.
On its south side stands the porch, with a remarkable central
niche, which formerly contained a representation of Becket's
martyrdom. The figures of the Archbishop's assassins now no
longer remain ; but their place has been filled up with figures
of various worthies who have lived under the shadow of the
cathedral. Dean Alford suggested, about 1863, that the many
vacant niches should be peopled in this manner, and since
then the work has proceeded steadily. The western towers
are built each of six stages : each ofthe two upper tiers contains
two two-light windows, while below there is a large four-light
window uniform with thewindows ofthe aisles. The base tier
is ornamented with rich panelling. The parapet is battlemented
and the angles are finished with fine double pinnacles. At the
west end there is a large window of seven lights, with three

28 Canterbury Cathedral.
transoms. The gable contains a window of very curious
shape, filled with intricate tracery. The space above the aisle
windows is ornamented with quatrefoiled squares, and the
clerestory is pierced by windows of three lights. In the main
transept there is a fine perpendicular window of eight lights ;
the choir, or south-east transept, has a Norman front, with
arcades, and a large round window; also an arcaded west
turret surmounted by a short spire. Beyond this, the line is
again broken by the projection of St. Anselm's so-called Tower ;
this chapel hardly merits such a title, unless we adopt the
theory that it, and the corresponding building on the north
side, were at one time a good deal more lofty, but lost their
upper portions at the time of the great fire. The end of the
cathedral has a rather untidy appearance, owing to the fact that
the exterior of the corona was never completed. On the
northern side the building is so closely interwoven with the
cloister and monastic buildings that it can only be considered
in conjunction with them. The length ofthe cathedral is 514
feet, the height of the central tower 235 feet, and that of the
western towers 130 feet.
The chief interest of ancient buildings to the ordinary
observer, as apart from the architectural specialist, is the fact
that they are after aU the most authentic documents in our
possession from which we can gain any insight into the lives and
modes of thought of our ancestors. To tell us how ordinary
men lived and busied themselves is beneath the dignity of
history. As Carlyle says : " The thing I want to see is not
Redbook Lists, and Court Calendars, and Parliaraentary
Registers, but the Life of Man in England : what men did,
thought, suffered, enjoyed; ..... Mournful, in truth, is it
to behold what the business ' called History ' in these so
enlightened and illuminated times, stiU continues to be. Can
you gather from it, read tiU your eyes go out, any dimmest
shadow of an answer to that great question : How men lived
and had their being ; were it but economically, as, what wages
they got, and what they bought with these ? Unhappily they
cannot  History, as it stands all bound up in gilt
volumes, is but a shade more instructive than the wooden
volumes of a backgammon-board." Most of us have felt, at
one time or another, the truth of these words, though it is only
fair to add that the fault lies not so much at the door of the

Exterior and Precincts — the Monastery. 29
modern historian as of our ancestors themselves, who were too
busy with fighting and revelling to leave any but the most
meagre account of their own lives behind them ; so that
" Redbook Lists and Parliamentary Registers " are all that the
veracious chronicler, who will not let his iraagination run riot,
can find to put before us. But happily, in the wildest days of
the Middle Ages, there were found some peace-loving souls
who preferred to drone away their lives in quiet meditation
behind the walls of the great monasteries, undisturbed by the
clash of swords. Some outlet had to be found for their innate
energies and their intense religious enthusiasm ; missionary
zeal had not yet been invented, and the writing of books would
have seemed to them a waste of good parchment, for in their
eyes the Scriptures and the Aristotelian writings supplied all
the food that the most voracious inteUect could crave for. So
they applied all their genius — and it is probable that the flower
of the European race, as far as intelligence and culture are
concerned, was gathered in those days into the Church — and
all the ecstatic fervour of their religious devotion, the strength
of which men of these latter days can hardly realize, to the
construction of beautiful buildings for the worship of God.
They have written a history in stone, from which a thoughtful
student can supply much that is left out by the dry-as-dust
annalists, for it is not only the history, but the actual result
and expression, of the lives of the most gifted men of the
Middle Ages.
If we would read this history aright it is necessary that we
should look at it as far as possible, as it was originally pub
lished. If the old binding has been torn off, and the volume
hedged in by a crowd of modern literature, we must try to put
these aside and consider the book as it was first issued ; in
other words, to drop metaphor altogether, in considering a
building like Canterbury Cathedral, we must forget the busy
little country town, with its crowded streets and noisy railway
stations, though, from one point of view, the contrast that they
present is agreeable and valuable, and try to conceive the
church as it once stood, the centre of a harmonious group of
monastic buildings.
The founder of the monastic system in the West was the
famous Benedict of Nursia, who had adapted the strict code
of St. Basil, mitigating its severity, and making it more in

30 Canterbury Cathedral.
accordance with the climate, manners, and general circum
stances of Western peoples. His code was described by
Gregory the Great as " excellent in its discretion, lucid in its
expression — discretione prcecipuam sermone luculentat?i. He
founded the monasteries of Montecassino and Subiaco in the
beginning of the sixth century. In the ninth and tenth cen
turies — the worst period of the Dark Ages — corruption and
laxity pervaded society in general, and the Benedictine monas
teries especially. At the end of this deplorable epoch many
efforts were made in the direction of reform. Gregory the
Great himself was a member of the Benedictine brotherhood ;
so also was Augustine, who founded the great monastery of
Christ Church. The venerable Bede relates that " when
Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, assumed the
episcopal throne in that royal city, he recovered therein, by
the king's assistance, a church which, as he was told, had been
constructed by the original labour of Roman believers. This
church he consecrated in the name of the Saviour, our God
and Lord Jesus Christ, and there he established an habitation
for himself and all his successors." This was the Basilica-
Church, mentioned in an earlier part of this work, an imita
tion of the original BasiUca of St. Peter at Rome. Augustine's
monastery was handsomely endowed. A large stretch of
country was given to the monks, and they were the first who
brought the soil into cultivation, and built churches and
preached in them. " The monks," says Bede, " were the
principal of those who came to the work of preaching." In
the city itself there were thirty-two " mansurae " or mansions,
held by the clergy, rendering 35^-. a year, and a mill worth 53-.
per annum. Augustine's monastery lived andprospered — though,
as we shall see, it did not escape the general corruption of the
eighth and ninth centuries — until the time of the Norman
invasion. In 1067 a fire destroyed the Saxon cathedral and
the greater part ofthe monastic buUdings. But the year 1070
marks an epoch in the history of the monastery, for it was
then that WUliam the Conqueror having deposed Stigand, the
Saxon Primate, invited Lanfranc, the Abbot of Caen, to accept
the vacant see. He " being overcome by the will of God as
much as by the apostolic authority, passed over into England,
and, not forgetful of the object for which he had come, directed
all his endeavours to the correction of the manners of his

Exterior and Precincts — the Monastery. 3 r
people, and settling the state of the Church. And first he
laboured to renew the church of Canterbury .... and built
also necessary offices for the use of the monks ; and (which is
very remarkable) he caused to be brought over the sea in swift
sailing vessels squared stones from Caen in order to build
with. He also built a house for his own dweUing near the
church, and surrounded all these buildings with a vast and
lofty waU." Also "he duly arranged all that was necessary
for the table and clothing of the monks," and " many lands
which had been taken away he brought back into the property
of the Church and restored to it twenty-five manors." He also
added one hundred to the original number of the monks, and
drew up a new system of discipline to correct the laxity which
was rife when he entered on the primacy. He tells Anselm in
a letter that " the land in which he is, is daily shaken with so
many and so great tribulations, is stained with so raany adult
eries and other impurities, that no order of men consults for the
benefit of his soul, or even desires to hear the salutary doctrine
of God for his increase in holiness." Perhaps the most
interesting feature of his reconstruction of the " regula," or rule
for the monks' discipline, was his enactment with regard to
the library and the studies of the brethren. In the first week
in Lent, the monks had to bring back and place in the Chapter
House the books which had been provided for their instruc
tion during the previous year. Those who had not duly per
formed the yearly portion of reading prostrated themselves,
confessing their fault and asking pardon. A fresh distribution
was then made, and the brethren retired, each furnished with
a year's literary task. Apparently no examination was held,
no test applied to discover whether the last year's instruction
had been digested and assimilated. It was assumed that any
thing Uke a perfunctory performance of the aUotted task was
out of the question.
Another important alteration introduced by Lanfranc was
his inauguration of the system under which the monastery was
in immediate charge, no longer of the archbishop, but of a
prior. Henceforward the primate stood forth as the head of
the Church, rather than as merely the chief of her most ancient
foundation. We have dwelt at some length on the subject of the monas
tery at Canterbury, because, as we have said, it is impossible

32

Canterbury Cathedral.

to learn the lesson of the cathedral truly, unless we regard the
fabric in its original setting, surrounded by monastic build
ings ; and it is impossible to interest ourselves in the monastic
buildings without knowing something of the institution which
they housed.
The buildings which contained a great monastery like that
of Canterbury were necessarily very extensive. Chief among
them was the chapter house, which generally adjoined the
principal cloister, bounded by the nave of the church and one
of the transepts. Then there were the buildings necessary for

DETAIL OF ST. ANSELIIS TOWER.
the actual housing and daily living of the monks — the dormi
tory, refectory, kitchen, buttery, and other indispensable offices.
Another highly important building, usually standing eastward
of the church, was the infirmary or hospital for sick brethren,
with its chapel duly attached. Further, the rules of Bene
dictine monasteries always enjoined the strict observance of
the duty of hospitality, and some part of the buildings was
invariably set aside for the due entertainment of strangers of
various ranks. Visitors of distinction were entertained in
special rooms which generally were attached to the house of
the prior or abbot : guests of a lower order were lodged hard

THE CHRISTCHURCH GATE (kROM A PHOTOGEAIII BY CARL NORMAN AND CO).
D

Exterior and Precincts — tlie Monastery. 35
by the hall of the cellarer; while poor pilgrims and chance
wanderers who craved a night's shelter were bestowed, as a
rule, near the main gate of the monastery. Lastly, it must not
be forgotten that a well-endowed monastery was always the
steward of a great estate, so that many storehouses and farm-
buildings — barns, granaries, bakehouse, etc. — were a necessary
part of the institution. Extensive stabling was also required
to shelter the horses of illustrious visitors and their suites :
Moreover, the clergy themselves were often greatly addicted
to the chase, and we know that the pious St. Thomas found
time to cultivate a taste for horseflesh, which was remarkable
even in those days when all men who wanted to move at all
were bound to ride. The knights who murdered him thought
it worth whUe to pillage his stable after accomplishing their
errand. The centre round which all these manifold buildings and
offices were ranged was, of course, the cathedral. Wherever
available space and the nature of the ground permitted it, the
cloister and chief buildings were placed under the shelter of
the church on its southern side, as may be seen, for instance,
at Westminster, where the cloisters, chapter house, deanery,
refectory (now the College Hall), etc., are all gathered on the
south side of the Abbey. At Canterbury, however, the builders
were not able to follow the usual practice, owing to the fact
that they were hemmed in closely by the houses of the city on
the south side, so that we find that the space between the
north side of the cathedral and the city waU, all of which
belonged to the monks, was the site of the monastic buildings.
The whole group formed by the cathedral and the subsidiary
buildings was girt by a massive wall, which was restored and
made more effective as a defence by Lanfranc. It is probable
that some of the remains of this wall, which still survive, may
be considered as dating from his time. The chief gate, both
in ancient and modern days, is Prior Goldstone's Gate, usually
known as Christ Church Gate, an exceedingly good example
of the later Perpendicular style. A contemporary inscription
tells us that it was built in 15 17. It stands at the end of
Mercery Lane, a lofty building with towers at its corners, and
two storeys above the archway. In front there is a central
niche, in which an image of our Saviour originaUy stood, while
below a row of shields, much battered and weather-beaten.

36

Canterbury Cathedral.

display armorial bearings, doubtless those of pious contri
butors to the cost of the building. An early work of Turner's
has preserved the corner pinnacles which once decorated
the top of the gate; these were removed some thirty years
ago. Entering the precincts through this gateway we find our
selves in what was the outer cemetery, in which members of the
laity were allowed to be buried. The inner cemetery, reserved
as a resting-place for the brethren themselves, was formerly

THE SOUTH-WEST PORCH OF THE CATHEDRAL.

divided from the outer by a wall which extended from St.
Anselm's chapel. A Norman door, which was at one time
part of this wall, has now been put into a wall at the east end
of the monks' burying ground. This space is now caUed " The
Oaks." A bell tower, campanile, doubtless used for tolling the
passing bell, once stood on a mound in the cemetery, close to
the dividing wall. The houses on the south side of this space
are of no great antiquity or interest, and the site on which
they stand did not 'become part of the monastery grounds-
before a comparatively late period. But if we skirt the east

MmiMWW

ml 0ii

CLOISTERS OF THE MONKS INFIR:MAKV.

38 Canterbury Cathedral.
end of the cathedral we come to the space formerly known
as the "Homors," a word supposed to be a corruption of
Ormeaux, a French word, meaning elms.^ Here stood the
buUding in which guests of rank and distinction were enter
tained ; and the great hall, with its kitchen and offices, is still
preserved in a house in the north-east corner of the inclosure,
now the residence of one of the prebendaries. The original
building was one of great importance in a monastery like
Canterbury, which was so often visited, as has already been
shown, by royal pilgrims. It is said to have been rebuilt from
top to bottom by Prior Chillenden, and the nature of the
architecture, as far as it can be traced, is not in any way at
variance with this statement. The hall, as it originaUy stood,
was pierced with oriel windows rising to the roof, and at its
western end a walled-off portion was divided into two storeys,
the lower one containing the kitchens, while the upper one
was either a distinct roora separated frora the hall, or it may
have been a gallery opening upon it.
To the west of this house we find the ruins of the In
firmary, which contained a long hall with aisles, and a chapel
at the east end. The hall was used as the hospital, and the
aisles were sometimes divided into separate compartments ; the
chapel was really part of the hall, with only a screen inter
vening, so that the sick brethren could take part in the services.
This infirmary survived until the Reformation period, but not
without undergoing alterations. Before the fifteenth century
the south aisle was devoted to the use of the sub-prior, and
the chancel at the east end of the chapel was partially restored
about the middle of the fourteenth century. A large east
window was put in with three-Ught windows on each side. In
the north wall there is a curious opening, through which, per
haps, sufferers from infectious diseases were allowed to assist
at the services. On the southern side, the whole row of the
pillars and arches of the chapel, and some traces of a clerestory,
StUl remain. On the waU are some traces of paintings, which
are too faded to be deciphered. Such of the piUars and arches
of the hall as still survive are strongly coloured by the great
fire of 1 1 74, in which Prior Conrad's choir was destroyed.
Westward of the infirmary, and connected with St. Andrew's
tower, stands a strikingly beautiful building, which was once
the "Vestiarium, or Treasury : it consists of two storeys,
_ 'Though it is also derived from one Dr. Omerus, who lived on the spot
m the thirteenth century.

RUINS OF THE MONKS INFIRiMAR\.

Face i>. 38.

THE BAPTISTERY TOWER.

40 Canterbury Cathedral.
of which the lower is open on fhe east and west, while the upper
contained the treasury chamber, a finely proportioned room,
decorated with an arcade of intersecting arches.
An archway leads us from the infirmary into what is called
the Dark Entry, whence a passage leads to the Prior's Gate
and onward into the Prior's Court, more commonly known as
the Green Court: this passage was the eastern boundary of
the infirmary cloister. Over it Prior de Estria raised the
scaccarium, or checker-building, the counting-house of the
monastery. Turning back towards the infirmary entrance we come to
the Lavatory Tower, which stands out from the west end of
the sub-structure of the Prior's Chapel. The chapel itself was
pulled down at the close of the seventeenth century, and a
brick-built library was erected on its site. The lavatory tower
is now more commonly caUed the baptistery, but this name
gives a false impression, and only came into use because the
buUding now contains a font, given to the cathedral by Bishop
Warner. The lower part of the tower is late Norman in style,
and was built in the latter half of the twelfth century, when
the monastery was supplied with a system of works by which
water was drawn from some distant springs, which still supply
the cathedral and precincts. The water was distributed from
this tower to the various buUdings. The original designs of
the engineer are preserved at Trinity College, Cambridge. The
upper part of the tower was rebuilt by Prior Chillenden.
From the lavatory tower a covered passage leads into the
great cloister, which can also be approached from a door in
the north-west transept. The cloister, though it stands upon
the space covered by that built by Lanfranc, is largely the
work of the indefatigable Prior Chillenden. It shows traces
of many architectural periods. The east walk contains a door,
leading into the transept, embellished with a triple arcade of
early English ; under the central arch of the arcade is the
doorway itself, a later addition in Perpendicular. There is
also a Norman doorway which once communicated with the
monks' dormitory : after the Reformation it was waUed up, but
in 1813 the plaster which concealed it was taken away, and
since then it has been carefuUy restored. The rest of the
work in this part of the cloister is chiefly Perpendicular. The
north walk is adorned with an Early English arcade, against

TURRET OF SOUTH-WEST TRANSEPT

42 Canterbury Cathedral.
which the shafts which support Chillenden's vaulting work are
placed with rather unsatisfactory effect. Towards the western
end of this walk is the door of the refectory.
The cellarer's quarters were outside the west walk, and they
were connected with the cloister by a doorway at the north
west corner : opposite this entrance was a door leading to the
archbishop's palace, and through this Becket made his way
towards the cathedral when his murderers were in pursuit of
him. The great dormitory of the monks was built along the east
walk of the cloister, extending some way beyond it. It was
pulled down in 1547, but the substructure was left standing,
and some private houses were erected upon it. These were
removed in the middle of the last century, and a good deal of
the substructure remained until 1867, w'nen the vaulting which
survived was pulled down to make way for the new library,
which was erected on the dormitory site. Some of the piUars
on which the vault of the substructure rested are preserved in
a garden in the precincts ; and a fragment of the upper part of
the dormitory building, which escaped the demolition in 1547,
may be seen in the gable of the new library. The substructure
was a fine building, 148 feet by 78 feet ; the vaulting was, as
described by Professor Willis, " of the earliest kind ; con
structed of light tufa, having no transverse ribs, and retaining
the impressions of the rough, boarded centring upon which
they had been formed." A second minor dormitory ran east
ward from the larger one, while outside this was the third
dormitory, fronting the Green Court. Some portion of the
vaults of this building is still preserved in the garden before
the lavatory tower.
The Chapter House lies eastward of the waU of the
cloister, on the site of the original Norman building, which was
rather less extensive. The present structure is oblong in shape,
measuring 90 feet by 35 feet. The roof consists of a " barrel
vault" and was built by Prior Chillenden, along with the
whole of the upper storey at the end of the fourteenth century.
The windows, high and four-lighted, are also his work ; those
at the east and west ends exceed in size all those of the
cathedral, having seven lights. The lower storey was built by
Prior de Estria about a century before the work was completed
by Chillenden. De Estria also erected the choir-screen in the

THE CLOISTERS.

44 Canterbury Cathedral.
cathedral, which will be described in its proper place. The
walls of the chapter house are embeUished with an arcade of
trefoiled arches, surmounted by a cornice. At the east end
stands a throne with a splendid canopy. This building was at
one time, after the Reformation, used as a sermon house, but
the inconvenience caused by moving the congregation from the
choir, where service was held, across to the chapter house
to hear the discourse, was so great that the practice was
not long continued. It has been restored, and its opening by
H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, jNIay 29th, 1897, is announced
just as this edition goes to press.
The Library covers a portion of the site of the monks'
dormitory. Stored within it is a fine collection of books, some
of which are exceedingly rare. The most valuable specimens — -
among which are some highly interesting bibles and prayer-
books — are jealously guarded in a separate apartment called
the study. The most interesting document in the collection of
charters and other papers connected with the foundation is
the charter of Edred, probably written by Dunstan propriis
digitorum articulis ; this room also contains an ancient picture
of Queen Edgiva painted on wood, with an inscription below
enlarging on the beauties of her character and her munificence
towards the monastery.
In the garden before the lavatory tower, to the west of the
prior's gateway, two columns are preserved which once were
part of the ancient church at Reculver — formerly Regulbium,
whither Ethelbert retired after making over his palace in
Canterbury to Augustine. These columns were brought to
Canterbury after the destruction, nearly a hundred years ago,
of the church to which they belonged. After lying neglected
for some time they were placed in their present position by Mr.
Sheppard, who bestowed so much care on aU the "antiquities"
connected with the cathedral. These columns are believed by
experts to be undoubted relics of Roman work : they are of
circular form with Ionic capitals. A curious ropework decora
tion on the bases is said to be characteristically Roman,
occurs on a monument outside the Porta Maggiore at Rome.
The Deanery is a very much revised version of what once
was the " New Lodging," a building set up for the entertain
ment of strangers by Prior Goldstone at the beginning of the
sixteenth century. Is'^icholas Wotton, the first Dean, chose this

NORMAN STAIRCASE IX THE CLOSE (FROM A PHOTOGRAI'lI BY CARL NORMAN ANI) CO.).

DETAILS OF THE NORMAN STAIRCASE IK THE CLOSr.

Exterior.

47

mansion for his abode, but since his day the building has been
very materially altered.
The main gate of the Green Court is noticeable as a choice
specimen of Norman work ; on its northern side formerly stood
the Aula Nova which was built in the twelfth century ; the
modern buildings which house the King's School have sup
planted the hall itself, but the splendid staircase, a perfect
example of Norman style and quite unrivalled in England,
is luckily preserved, and ranks among the chief glories of
Canterbury. The site of the archbishop's palace is commemorated by the
name of the street — Palace Street — in which a ruined archway,
all that remains of the building, may stiU be seen. This man
sion, in which so many royal and imperial guests had been en
tertained with " solemne dauncing " and other good cheer,
was piUaged and destroyed by the Puritans; since then the
archbishops have had no official house in their cathedral
city.

DETAILS OF ORNAMENT.

CHAPTER IIL
INTERIOR.
Dean Stanley tells us that in the days of our Saxon fore
fathers and for sorae tirae after, "all disputes throughout the
whole kingdom that could not be legally referred to the king's
court or to the hundreds or counties " were heard and judged
on in the south porch of Canterbury Cathedral. This was
always the principal entrance, and was known in early days as
the " Suthdure " by which name it is often mentioned in "the
law books of the ancient kings." Through this door we enter
the nave of the cathedral ; this part of the building was erected
towards the end of the fourteenth century ; Lanfranc's nave
seems to have fallen into an unsafe and ruinous state, so much
so that in December, 1378, Sudbury, who was then archbishop,
" issued a mandate addressed to all ecclesiastical persons in his
diocese enjoining them to solicit subscriptions for rebuilding the
nave of the church, 'propter ipsius notoriam et a'identcm
ruinam ' and granting forty days' indulgence to all contri
butors." Archbishop Courtenay gave a thousand marks and
more for the building fund, and Archbishop Arundeli gave
a similar contribution, as well as the five bells which were
known as the "Arundeli ryng." We are told also that " King
Henry the 4th helped to build up a good part of the Body of
the Chirch." The immediate direction of the work was in the
hands of Prior ChUlenden, already frequently mentioned ; his
epitaph, quoted by Professor Willis, states that " Here lieth
Thomas Chyllindene formerly Prior of this Church, Decretorum
Doctor egregius, who caused the nave of this Church and di\ers
other buildings to be made anew. Who after nobly ruling
as prior of this Church for twenty years twenty five weeks and
five days, at length on the day of the assumption of the Blessed
E

5o Canterbury Cathedral.
Virgin Mary closed his last day. In the year of the Lord
141 1." It is not certain that Chillenden actually designed the
buildings which were erected under his care, with which
his name is connected. For we know that work which was
conceived and executed by humble monks was ascribed as
a matter of course to the head of the monastery, under whose
auspices and sanction it was carried out. Matthew Paris
records that a new oaken roof, well covered with lead, was built
for the aisles and tower of St. Alban's by Michael of Thyden-
hanger, monk and camerarius ; but he adds that " these works
must be ascribed to the abbot, out of respect for his office, for
he who sanctions the performance of a thing by his authority,
is really the person who does the thing." Prior Chillenden be
came prior in 1390, and seems at any rate to have devoted a
considerable amount of zeal to the work of renovating the ruined
portions of the church.
The new Nave replaced the original building of Lanfranc.
Professor WilUs says : "The whole of Lanfranc's piers, and all
that rested on them, appear to have been utterly demohshed,
nothing remaining but the plinth of the side-aisle walls. . . .
The style [of Chillenden's new work] is a light Perpendicular,
and the arrangement of the parts has a considerable resem
blance to that of the nave of Winchester, although the latter is
of a much bolder character. AVinchester nave was going on at
the same time with Canterbury nave, and a similar uncertainty
exists about the exact commencement. In both, a Norman
nave was to be transformed ; but at Winchester the original
piers were either clothed with new ashlaring, or the old ash
laring was wrought into new forms and mouldings where
possible ; while in Canterbury the piers were altogether rebuilt.
Hence the piers of Winchester are much more massive. The
side-aisles of Canterbury are higher in proportion, the tracery
of the side windows different, but those of the clerestory are
almost identical in pattern, although they differ in the manage
ment of the mouldings. Both have ' heme ' vaults [i.e., vaults
in which short transverse ribs or 'liernes' are mixed with the
ribs that 'branch from the vaulting capitals], and in both the
triforium is obtained by prolonging the clerestory windows
downward, and making panels ofthe lower lights, which panels
have a plain opening cut through them, by which the triforium
space communicates with the passage over the roof ofthe side-

THE MURDER OF ST. THOMAS A BECKET.
(Restoration, by T. Carter, of a painting on board hung on a column
near the tomb of Henry IV.).

THE SHRINE OF ST. THOMAS A BECKET.
(Specially reproduced from a drawing among the Cottonian MSS.
Brit. Mus.)

Interior. 53
aisles." Chillenden, then, setting to work with the thorough
ness that marks his handiwork throughout, rebuilt the nave
from top to bottom, leaving nothing of Lanfranc's original
structure save the "plinth of the side-aisle walls," which still
remains. The resemblance between the naves of Canterbury
and Winchester, pointed out by Professor Willis, will at once
strike a close observer, though the greater boldness of character
shown in the Winchester architecture is by no means the only
point of difference. The most obvious feature in the Canter
bury nave — a point which renders its arrangement unique
among the cathedrals both of England and the Continent — is
the curious manner in which the choir is raised aloft above
the level of the floor ; this is owing to the fact that it stands
immediately above the crypt ; the flight of steps which is there
fore necessarily placed between the choir and the nave adds
considerably to the general effect of our first view of the in
terior. On the other hand, the raising ofthe choir is probably
to some extent responsible for the great height of tbe nave in
comparison with its length, a point which spoUs its effective
ness when we view it from end to end. Stanley, in describing
the entrance of the pilgrims into the cathedral, points out how
different a scene must have met their eyes. " The external
aspect of the cathedral itself," he says, " with the exception of
the numerous statues which then filled its now vacant niches,
must have been much what it is now. Not so its interior.
Bright colours on the roof, on the windows, on the monuments ;
hangings suspended from the rods which may stUl be seen
running from piUar to pillar; chapels, and altars, and chantries
intercepting the view, where now all is clear, must have
rendered it so different, that at first we should hardly recognize
it to be the same building." The pilgrims on entering were
met bya monk, who sprinkled their heads with holy water from
a " sprengel," and, owing to the crowd of devout visitors, they
generally had to wait some time before they could proceed
towards a view of the shrine. Chaucer relates that the
" pardoner, and the miller, and other lewd sots," whUed away
the time with staring at the painted windows which then
adorned the nave, and wondering what they were supposed to
represent :
" ' He beareth a ball-staff,' quoth the one, ' and also a rake's end ; '
' Thou failest, ' quoth the miller, ' thou hast not well thy mind ;

CAPITALS OF COLUMNS IN THE EASTERN APSE.

Interior. 5 5
It is a spear, if thou canst see, with a prick set before.
To push adown his enemy, and through the shoulder bore. ' "
None of these windows now remain entire, though the west
window has been put together out of fragments of the ancient
glass. The latter-day pilgrims will do well to look as little as
possible at the hideous glass which the Philistinism of modern
piety has inserted, during the last half-century, in the windows
of the clerestory and the nave. Its obtrusive unpleasantness
make one wish that "Blue Dick" and his Puritan troopers
might once more be let loose, under judicious direction, for
half an hour on the cathedral. When Erasmus visited Canter
bury, the nave contained nothing but some books chained to
the piUars, among them the " Gospel of Nicodemus " — printed
by Wynkyn de Worde in 1509 — and the " tomb of some person
unknown." The last words must refer either to the chapel in
the south wall, which was built by Lady Joan Brenchley in
1447, and removed in 1787, or to the monument of Archbishop
William Wittlesey, who died in 1374, and was interred in the
south side of the nave in a marble torab with a brass, now de
stroyed. At present the south aisle contains a monument, in
alabaster, to Dr. Broughton, sometime Bishop of Sydney, who
was educated in the King's School, under the shadow of the
cathedral. The figure is recumbent, and the base of the
monument, which is by Lough, is decorated with the arras of
the six Australian sees. In the north aisle we find monuments
to Orlando Gibbons, Charles I.'s organist ; Adrian Saravia,
prebendary of Canterbury, and the friend of Hooker, the author
of the "Ecclesiastical Polity ;" Sir John Boys, who founded a
hospital for the poor outside the north gate of the town, and
died in 1614 ; Dean Lyall, who died in 1857 ; and Archbishop
Sumner, who died in 1862. These last two monuments are by
PhUlips and H. Weekes, R.A., respectively.
The Central Tower. — In the nave the whole of Lanfranc's
work was destroyed, but in the central tower, which we will
next examine, the original supporting piers were left standing,
though they were covered over by Prior Chillenden with work
more in keeping with the style in which he had renewed the
nave. " Of the tower piers," says Willis, " the western are
probably mere casings of the original, and the eastern certainly
appendages to the original. . . . Of course I have no evidence
to show how much of Lanfranc's piers was allowed to remain

5 6 Canterbury Cathedral.
in the heart of the work. The interior faces ofthe tower waUs-
appear to have been brought forward by a lining so as to in
crease their thickness and the strength of the piers, with a view
to the erection of a lofty tower, which however was not carried
above the roof until another century had nearly elapsed." It
was Prior Goldstone the second who, about 1500, carried up
ward the central tower, which Chillenden seems to have left
level with the roof of the cathedral. " With the countenance
and help " of Cardinal John Morton and Prior William Sellyng
he " magnificently completed that lofty tower commonly called
Angyll Stepyll in the middle of the church. The vaulting of
the tower is his work — tesiudine pulcherrima concameratam con-
summavit — and he also added the buttressing arches — " with
great care and industry he annexed to the columns which
support the same tower two arches or vaults of stonework,
curiously carved, and four smaller ones, to assist in sustaining
the said tower." The addition of these buttressing arches, not
altogether happy in its artistic effect, was probably rendered
necessary by some signs of weakness shown by the piers of the
tower, for the north-west pier, which was not so substantially
reinforced as the others, now shows a considerable bend in an
eastward direction. The "two arches or vaults of stonework"
were inserted under the western and southern tower arches.
" The eastern arch having stronger piers did not require this
precaution, and the northern, which opened upon the ' Mar
tyrium,' seems to have been left free, out of reverence to the
altar of the martyrdom, and accordingly to have suffered the
dislocation just mentioned." The four smaller arches con
nected the two western tower-piers with the nearest nave-pier
and the wall of the transept. The buttressing arches are
strongly built, and are adorned with curious bands of reticu
lated work. The central western arch occupies the place of
the rood-loft, and it is probable that until the Reformation
the great rood was placed over it. The rebus of Prior Thomas
Goldstone — a shield with three gold stones — is carved upon
these arches.
The 'Western Screen, which separates the nave from
the choir, is now more commonly known as the organ-screen :
it is a highly elaborate and beautiful piece of work, and the
carvings which decorate it are well worthy of examination. In
the lower niches there are six crowned figures : one holding a

Interior. 57
church is believed to be Ethelbert, while it has been assumed
that the figure on the extreme right represents Richard II. :
probably Henry IV., who, as has been already mentioned,
" helped to build a good part of the body of the Church " has
a place of honour here, but no certainty on this matter is
possible. The thirteen mitred niches which encircle the arch
once contained figures of Christ and the twelve Apostles, but
these were destroyed by the Puritans. The exact date of
this outward screen is uncertain, but it was set up at some time
during the fifteenth century. "A little examination," says
Willis, "of its central archway will detect the junction of this
new work with the stone enclosure of the choir." In fact, this
archway is considerably higher than that of De Estria which,
still remains behind it. The apex of this arch reaches but a
little above the capitals of the new arch, and the flat space, or
tympanum, thus left between the two, is filled with Perpen
dicular tracery.
The Choir. — " In the year of grace one thousand one
hundred and seventy-four, by the just but occult judgment of
God, the Church of Christ at Canterbury was consumed by fire,
in the forty-fourth year from its dedication, that glorious choir, to
wit, which had been so magnificently completed by the care
and industry of Prior Conrad" ("Gervase," translated by
Willis). The work of rebuilding was immediately begun by
William, the architect of Sens. At the beginning of the fifth
year of his work, he was, by a fall from the height ofthe capitals
ofthe upper vault, "rendered helpless alike to himself and for
the work, but no other person than hiraself was in the least
injured. Against the master only was the vengeance of God or
spite of the devil directed." He was succeeded in his charge
by one " William by name, English by nation, small in body,
but in workmanship of many kinds acute and honest." Now
in the sixth year from the fire, we read that the monks were
"seized with a violent longing to prepare the choir, so that
they might enter it at the coming Easter. And the raaster,
perceiving their desires, set hiraself manfully to work, to satisfy
the wishes of the convent. He constructed, with all diligence,
the wall which encloses the choir and presbytery. He carefully
prepared a resting-place for St. Dunstan and St. Elfege. The
choir thus hardly corapleted even with the greatest labour and
diligence, the monks were resolved to enter on Easter Eve with

58 Canterbury Cathedral.
the ' new fire,' " that is, the paschal candle which was lit on
Easter Eve and burnt until Ascension Day. The kindhng of
this light was carried out in a very ceremonious, manner as
enjoined in Lanfranc's statutes. Afire was made in the cloister
and duly consecrated, and the monks, having lit a taper at this
fire carried it on the end of a staff in solemn procession, singing
psalms and hymns and burning incense, and lit the paschal
candle in the choir with it.
Thus was the new choir completed, in the sixth year after the
burning of Conrad's. This part of the cathedral wUl be pecu
liarly interesting to the architectural student, owing to the
curious mixture of styles, which enables him to compare the
Norman and Early English characteristics side by side. A
striking feature in the aspect of the building, as seen from the
choir, is the remarkable inward bend with which the walls turn
towards one another at the end of the cathedral. The choir
itself is peculiar in the matter of length (i8o feet — the longest
in any English church), and the lowness of the vaulting. The
pillars, with their pier-arches and the clerestory wall above are
said by WiUis to be without doubt the work of William of Sens :
but the whole question as to where the French William left
off and his English namesake began is extremely uncertain, as
there can be no doubt that WiUiam of Sens had fully planned
out the work which he was destined never to complete, and it
is more than probable that his successor worked largely upon
his plans. We are on safer ground when we assert that the
new choir was altogether different from the building which it
replaced. The style was much more ornate and considerably
lighter : the characteristics of the work of the Williams are rich
mouldings, varied and elaborately carved capitals on the pillars,
and the introduction of gracefully slender shafts of Purbeck
marble. Gervase, in pointing out the differences between the
works before and after the fire, mentions that " the old capitals
were plain, the new ones most artistically sculptured. The old
arches and everything else either plain or sculptured with an
axe and not with a chisel, but in the new work first rate sculp
ture abounded everywhere. In the old work no marble shafts,
in the new innumerable ones. Plain vaults instead of ribbed
behind the choir." "Sculptured with an axe," reads rather
curiously, but Professor WiUis points out that " the axe is not
quite so rude a weapon in the hands of a mason as it might

Interior. 6 1
appear at first sight. The French masons use it to the present
day with great dexterity in carving." The mouldings used by
Ernulf were extremely simple, and were decorated with a
"peculiar and shallow class of notched ornament, of which
many examples exist in other buildings of the period ; while
the mouldings of William of Sens " exhibit much variety, but
are most remarkable for the profusion of billet-work, zigzag and
dogtooth, that are lavished upon them." The first two methods
of ornamentation are Norman, the last an Early English charac
teristic. This mixture is not confined to the details of deco
ration but may be observed also in the indiscriminate employ
ment of round and pointed arches. This feature, as Willis
remarks, " may have arisen either from the indifference of the
artist as to the mixture of forms or else frora deliberate con
trivance, for as he was corapelled, from the nature of his work,
to retain round-headed arcades, windows, and arches, in the
side-aisles, and yet was accustomed to and desirous of employing
pointed arches in his new buUding, he might discreetly mix
some round-headed arches with them, in order to make the
contrast less offensive by causing the mixture of forms to per
vade the whole composition, as if an intentional principle."
Whatever the motive, this daring mixture renders the study
of the architectural features of our cathedral peculiarly interest
ing. In the triforium we find a semicircular outer arch circum
scribing two inner pointed ones. The clerestory arch is pointed,
while some of the transverse ribs of the great vault are pointed
and some round.
The inward bend of the walls at the end of the choir was
necessitated by the fact that the towers of St. Anselm and St.
Andrew had survived the great fire of 1174. Naturally the
pious builders did not wish to pull down these relics of the
former church, so that a certain amount of contraction had to be
effected in order that these towers should form part of the new
plan. This arrangement also fitted in with the determination
to build a chapel of the martyred St. Thomas at the end of the
church, on the site of the former Trinity Chapel. For the
Trinity Chapel had been much narrower than the new choir,
but this contraction enabled the rebuilders to preserve its
¦dimensions. The Altar, when the choir was at first completed by William,
•stood entirely alone, and without a reredos ; behind it the arch-

62 Canterbury Cathedral.
bishop's chair was originally placed, but this was afterwards
transferred to the corona. The remarkable height at which
the altar was set up is due to the fact that it is placed over the
new crypt, which is a good deal higher than the older, or
western crypt. Before the Reformation the high altar was
richly embellished with all kinds of precious and sacred orna
ments and vessels : whUe beneath it, in a vault, were stored a
priceless collection of gold and sOver vessels : such of these as
escaped the rapacity of Henry VIII. were destroyed by the
bigotry of the Puritan zealots : the latter made havoc of the
reredos which had been erected behind the high altar, probably
during the fourteenth century, and also a " most idolatrous
costly glory cloth," the gift of Archbishop Laud. The reredos
was replaced by a Corinthian screen, which was of elaborate
design, but must have been strangely out of keeping with its
surroundings; it was removed about 1870, to make way for
the present reredos which was designed in the style of the
screen work in the Lady Chapel in the crypt, but which can
not be commended as an object of beauty. The altar coverings
which are now in use were presented to the cathedral by Queen
Mary, the wife of WiUiam III., when she visited Canterbury.
A chalice, given by the Earl of Arundel in 1636, is among the
communion-plate. In his account of the building of the new
choir, Gervase tells us that "the Master carefully prepared a
resting-place for St. Dunstan and St. Elfege — the co-exiles of
the monks." When the choir was ready, "Prior Alan, taking
with him nine ofthe brethren of the Church in whom he could
trust, went by night to the tombs of the saints, so that he
might not be incommoded by a crowd, and having locked the
doors ofthe church, he commanded the stone-work that inclosed
them to be taken down. The monks and the servants of the
Church, in obedience to the Prior's commands, took the struc
ture to pieces, opened the stone coffins of the saints, and bore
their relics to the vestiarium. Then, having removed the cloths
in which they had been wrapped, and which were half-consumed
from age and rottenness, they covered them with other and more
handsome palls, and bound them with linen bands. They bore
the saints, thus prepared, to their altars, and deposited them in
wooden chests, covered within and without with lead : which
chests, thus lead-covered, and strongly bound with iron, were
inclosed in stone-work that was consolidated with melted

THE CHOIR BEFORE RESTORATION.

Face p. 62.

Interior. 63
lead." This translation was thus carried out by Prior Alan on
the night before the formal re-entry into the choir : the rest of
the monks, who had not assisted at the ceremony, were highly
incensed by the prior's action, for they had intended that the
translation of the fathers should have been performed with
great and devout solemnity. They even went so far as to cite
the prior and the trusty monks who had assisted him before the
Archbishop, and it was only by the intervention of the latter,
and other men of authority, and "after due apology and re
pentance," that harmony was restored in the convent.
The bones of St. Dunstan were long a cause of contention
between the churches of Canterbury and Glastonbury. The
monks of Glastonbury considered that they had a prior claim
on the relics ofthe sainted archbishop, and stoutly contended
that his body had been conveyed to their own sanctuary after
the sack of Canterbury by the Danes ; and they used to exhibit
a coffin as containing Dunstan's remains. But early in the
fourteenth century they went so far as to set up a gorgeous
shrine in which they placed, with much pomp and circumstance,
the supposed relics. Archbishop Warham, who then ruled at
Canterbury, accordingly rephed by causing the shrine in our
cathedral to be opened, and was able to declare triumphantly
that he had found therein the remains of a human body, in the
costume of an archbishop, with a plate of lead on his breast,
inscribed with the words " Sanctus Dunstanus." In the course
of the subsequent correspondence which passed between the
two monasteries, the Abbot of Glastonbury, after trying to
argue that perhaps part only of the saint's relics had been con
veyed to his church, at last frankly confesses " the people had
believed in the genuineness of their saint for so long, that he is
afraid to tell them the truth." This shrine of St. Dunstan
stood on the south of the high altar, and was erected after the
manner of a tomb : though the shrine itself perished at the
time of the Reformation, there still remains, on the south wall
of the choir, between the monuments of Archbishops Stratford
and Sudbury, some very fine open diaper-work, in what is
known as the Decorated style, which once formed part of the
ornamentation of St. Dunstan's altar. The shrine of St.
Elfege, or Alphege, who was archbishop at the time of the
sacking of Canterbury by the Danes, and was murdered by
them, has been altogether destroyed.

64 Canterbury Cathedral.
The Choir Screen, a solid structure of stone weknow tobe the
work of Prior de Estria, i.e., of Eastry in Kent, who was elected
in 1285, and died in 1331. According to the Obituary record,
he " fairly decorated the choir of the church with most beautiful
stone-work cunningly carved." In his Register there is an
entry which evidently refers to the same work : " Anno
1304-5. Reparation ofthe whole choir with three new doors
and a new screen {pulpito). The three doors referred to are the
north and south entrances and the western one. It has already
been pointed out that the present western screen is a later
addition. Professor Willis, whose great work on the Archi
tectural History of Canterbury Cathedral should be studied by
aU who wish to examine the details of the building more closely
than is allowed by the scope of this work, describes De Estria's
screen as follows : " The lateral portions of this wall of enclo
sure are in excellent order. In the western part of the choir,
namely, between the eastern transepts and the organ-screen,
this waU is built so that its inner face nearly ranges with the
inner faces of the pillars ; but eastward of the transepts it is
built between the pillars. The north doorway remains perfect.
The present south doorway, which is in a much later style, is
manifestly a subsequent insertion. This enclosure consists of
a solid wall, seven feet nine inches in height from the paveraent
of the side-aisles. It has a stone-bench towards the side-aisles,
and above that a base, of the age of William of Sens.; so that it
is clear that the work of De Estria belongs to the upper part
only ofthe enclosure, which consists of deUcate and elaborately
worked tracery, surmounted by an embattled crest. . . The
entire work is particularly valuable on account of its well-
estabHshed date, combined with its great beauty and singularity."
A portion of the choir-pavement, lying between the two
transepts, is interesting as being undoubtedly part of the
original flooring of Conrad's choir, and probably the only
fragment of it that was left undisturbed after the great fire
which destroyed " that glorious choir which had been so mag
nificently completed by the care and industry of Prior Conrad.
This part of the pavement consists of large slabs of a peculiar
"stone, or veined marble of a delicate brown colour. When
parts of this are taken up for repair or alteration, it is usual to
find lead which has run between the joints of the slabs and
spread on each side below, and which is with great reason sup-

lutCVi

6s

posed to be the effect of the fire of 1174, which melted the
lead of the roof, and caused it to run down between the paving
stones in this manner." It is said that when the choir was
filled with pews in 1706, and it was necessary to remove part
of the pavement, the men engaged on the work picked up
enough of this lead to make two large gluepots.
The original wooden stalls of the choir were described by
the writer of a book published in 1640. He relates that there
were two rows on each side, an upper and a lower, and that
above the stalls on the south side stood the archbishop's wooden
chair, " sometime richly guilt, and otherwise richly set forth,
but now nothing specious through age and late neglect." Per
haps the battered and shabby condition of this part of the
cathedral furniture accounts for its having survived the Puritan

A MISERERE IN THE CHOIR.
period ; it is at least certain that it remained untouched until
1704, when the refurnishing of the choir was begun by Arch
bishop Tenison ; he himself presented a wainscoted throne with
lofty Corinthian canopy adorned with carving by Gibbons,
while the altar, the pulpit, and the stalls for the dean and
vice-dean were provided with rich fittings by Queen Mary II.
The tracery of the screen was hidden by a lining of wainscoting,
which was put before it. This arrangement lasted little more
than a century. In the time of Archbishop Howley, who held
office from 1828 to 1S48, the wainscoting which concealed the
screen was taken away, and Archbishop Tenison's throne has
made way for a lofty canopy of tabernacle work. Some carved
work, which has been ascribed to Gibbons, still remains before
the eastern front of the screen, between the choir and tlie
nave. F

66 Canterbury Cathedral.
The position of the organ has been frequently shifted. In
Conrad's choir it was placed upon the vault of the south tran
sept ; afterwards it was set up upon a large corbel of stone,
over the arch of St. Michael in the same transept. This corbel
has now been removed ; subsequently it was placed between
two piUars on the north side of the choir, and, later on, it was
again transferred to a position over the west door of the choir,
the usual place for the organ in cathedral churches ; finally it
has been " ingeniously deposited out of sight in the triforium
of the south aisle of the choir ; a low pedestal with its keys
stands in the choir itself, so as to place the organist close to
the singers, as he ought to be, and the communication between
the keys and the organ is effected by trackers passing under
the pavement of the side aisles, and conducted up to the
triforium, through a trunk let into the south wall." This
arrangement not only secures the retirement from view of the
organ, which, with its tedious rows of straight and unsightly
pipes, is generaUy more or less an eyesore in cathedrals, but is
said to have caused a great improvement in the effect of its
music. The present organ, which was built by Samuel Green,
is believed to have been used at the Handel Festival in West
minster Abbey in 1784. It was enlarged by Hill in 1842, and
entirely reconstructed in 1886. In this connection we may
mention that Archbishop Theodore first introduced the eccle
siastical chant in Canterbury Cathedral.
The tombs in the choir are all occupied by famous arch
bishops and cardinals. On the south side, hard by the site of
the shrine of St. Dunstan, is the tomb of Simon of Sudbury,
who was archbishop from 1375 to 1381. He built the west
gate of the city, and a great part of the town walls ; in con
sideration of these benefits the mayor and aldermen used at
one time to make an annual procession to his resting-place and
offer prayers for his soul. Outside Canterbury his acts were
not regarded with so much gratitude, for he was the inventor,
or reviver, of the poll tax, and was in consequence beheaded
on Tower Hill by Wat Tyler and his followers. Stanley re
lates that " not raany years ago, when this torab was accidentally
opened, the body was seen within, wrapped in cere-cloth, a
leaden ball occupying the vacant place of the head." Sudbury
is also famous as having spoken against the "superstitious"
pilgrimages to St. Thomas' shrine, and his violent death was

Interior. 67
accordingly attributed to the avenging power of the incensed
saint. 'Westward of his monuraent stands that of Archbishop
Stratford (1333- 1348), who was Grand Justiciary to Edward III.
dunng his absence in Flanders, and won farae by his struggle
with the king. Between this tomb and the archbishop's throne
lies Cardinal Kemp (1452-1454), who was present at Agincourt
in the camp of Henry V. ; his tomb is surmounted by a re
markable wooden canopy. Opposite, on the north side, is the
very interesting monument of -A.rchbishop Henry Chichele
(1414-1443). Shakespeare tells us that he was the instigator of
Henry V.'s war with France, and it is supposed that out of
remorse for this act he built, during his lifetime, the curious
tomb which now conceals his bones ; it is kept in repair by
All Souls' College, which was founded by the penitent arch
bishop that its feUows might pray for the souls of all who had
perished during the war ; the effigy, in full canonicals, with its
head supported by angels, and with two monks holding open
books, kneeling at its feet, lies on the upper slab ; and under
neath is a ghastly figure in a winding-sheet, supposed to repre
sent the archbishop after death ; the diminutive figures which
originally filled the niches were destroyed by the Puritans, but
have been to some extent replaced. The gaudy colours of the
tomb enable one to form some idea of the appearance of the
churches in the Middle Ages, when they were bedizened with
painted images, hangings, and frescoes : to judge from this
specimen the effect must have been distinctly tawdry. Further
east we find the monument of Archbishop Howley ; he was
chiefly remarkable as having crowned Queen Victoria and
married her to the Prince Consort, and his monument is
noticeable as being the first erected to an archbishop, in the
cathedral, since the Reformation ; he himself lies at Addington.
Beyond is a fine tomb well worthy of examination, crowned by
an elaborate canopy which shows traces of rough usage at the
hands of the restoring enthusiasts, who surrounded the choir
with classical wainscoting after the Restoration. It is the
monument of Archbishop Bourchier, a staunch supporter of
the House of York ; he was primate for thirty-two years, from
1454 to i486, and crowned Edward IV., Richard IIL, and
Henry VII. The "Bourchier knot" is among the decorations
which enrich the canopy of his tomb.
The South-east 'Transept — According to the present

68 Canterbury Cathedral.
cus(:om of the Canterbury vergers, the visitor is led from the
choir to the south-east transept. " In the choir of Ernulf,"
says Willis, " the transepts were cut off from the body by the
continuity of the pier-arches and the wall above, and each
transept was therefore a separate room with a flat ceiling. . . .
But in the new design of William the transepts were opened
to the central portion, and the triforium and clerestory of the
choir were turned at right angles to their courses, and thus
formed the side walls of the transepts. . . . The entire interior
of the eastern transept has been most skilfully converted from
Ernulfian architecture to Willelmian (if I may be allowed the
phrase for the nonce). It was necessary that the triforium and
clerestory of the new design should be carried along the walls of
these transepts, which were before the fire probably ornamented
by a continuation of those of Ernulf. But the respective level
of these essential members were so different in the old and new
works that the only parts of them that could be retained were
the windows of the old clerestory, which falls just above the
new triforium tablet, and accordingly these old windows may
still be seen in the triforia of the transepts, surmounted by the
new pointed clerestory windows. But the whole of the arcade
work and mouldings in the interior of these transepts belongs
to William of Sens, with the sole exception of the lower
windows. Even the arches which open from the east wall of
these transepts to the apses have been changed for pointed
arches, the piers of which have a singularly elegant base."
In the two apses of this transept altars to St. Gregory and St.
John once stood, and here were shrines of four Saxon primates.
There is a window in the south wall erected to the memory of
Dean Alford ; below it is the spot on which the tomb of Arch
bishop Winchelsea (1294-1313) was placed. He was famous
for his contest with Edward I. concerning clerical subsidies,
and for having secured from the king the confirmation of
the charter. He was more practically endeared to the people
by the generosity of his almsgiving — it is said that he distri
buted two thousand loaves among the poor every Sunday and
Thursday when corn was dear, and three thousand when it was
cheap. His tomb was heaped with offerings like the shrine of
a saint, but the Pope refused to confirm the popular enthusiasm
by canonizing the archbishop ; the fact, however, that it had
been so reverenced was enough to qualify it for destruction

Interior. 69
in the days of Henry VIII. This transept is used at present
as a chapel for the King's School, a direct continuation of
the monastery school, at which Archbishops Winchelsea and
Kemp were both educated. It contains the Corinthian throne
which was set up in the choir early in the last century.
The South-west Choir Aisle. — At the corner of this
aisle we may notice the arcade which shows the combination
of the Norman rounded arch and double zigzag ornamentation
with the pointed arch and dogtooth tracery of William. Here
also are two tombs, which have given rise to a good deal
of speculation. The more easterly one used to be regarded as
the monument of Hubert Walter, who was chancellor to
Richard Coeur de Lion and followed him and Archbishop
Baldwin to Palestine, and, on the death of the latter, was made
primate in the camp at Acre : it is thought more probable,
however, in the light of recent research, that he is buried in the
Trinity Chapel. The other tomb used to be the resting place
of Archbishop Reynolds, the favourite of Edward II. , but
it also affords food for discussion, as there is no trace of
the "pall" — a Y-shaped strip of lamb's wool marked with
crosses, a special mark of metropolitan dignity which was sent
to each primate by the Pope — on the vestments of the effigy.
Hence conjecture doubts whether these torabs are tenanted by
archbishops at all, and inclines to the theory that they contain
the bones of two of the Priors, perhaps of d'Estria. From this
point we can notice the ingenious apparatus connected with the
organ. St. Anselm's Tower and Chapel. — Proceeding east
ward, towards the Trinity Chapel, we pause to examine the
chapel or tower of St. Anselm, which corresponds to that of St.
Andrew on the north side of the cathedral. Both these chapels
probably at one time were much more lofty, as they are de
scribed as "lofty towers " by Gervase ; it was in order to bring
them into the church, when it was reconstructed after the fire,
that the eastward contraction, which presents such a curious
effect as seen from the choir, was found necessary. They are
now, as Willis points out, " only of the same height as the
clerestory ofthe Norman Church, to which they formed append
ages, and consequently they rose above the side-aisles of that
church as much as the clerestory did. The external faces of
the inward walls of these towers are now inclosed under the

"JO Canterbury Cathedral.
roof of William's triforium, and it may be seen that they were
once exposed to the weather." The arches in St. Anselm's
tower were originally set up by Ernulf, but there is reason to
believe that they were rebuUt after the great conflagration.
"The arch of communication," says WiUis, "is a round arch,
at first sight plainly of the Ernulfian period, having plaited-
work capitals and mouldings with shallow hollows. A similar
arch opens on the eastern side of the tower into its apse. But
a close examination will shew that both these arches have
undergone alteration. ... I am inclined to believe that both
these arches were reset and reduced in space after the fire, pro
bably to increase their strength and that of their piers, on
account of the loss of abutment, when the circular wall of the
choir-apse was removed." The alterations that were made in
these arches were probably not important, and did not extend
beyond the re-modelling of the mouldings on the side of the
arch towards the choir-aisle ; for we may notice that above both
the arches we can still trace the notched decoration which is
peculiar to Ernulf s work. This chapel was originally dedicated
to St. Peter and St. Paul, and a very interesting relic of this
saintly patronage has lately been discovered. Apparently, in
order to strengthen the building, two of the three windows in
the chapel were blocked up, and a buttress was built across a
chord of the apse, in the early part of the thirteenth century.
In the course of the restoration of the tower which was recently
carried out, this buttress was taken away, and its removal laid
bare a fresco painting, representing St. Paul and the viper at
Melita. This piece of decoration, as need hardly be said, must
have been put in before the construction of the buttress which
has concealed and preserved it for nearly seven centuries ; it is
conjectured, with a good deal of reason, that a simUar present-
nent of St. Paul was painted at the same time on the opposite
\rall, but as it had no buttress to protect it, it has been alto
gether effaced. A copy of the fresco of St. Paul has been
placed in the cathedral library. The altar of SS. Peter and
Paul stood at the east end, and behind it was the tomb of the
celebrated Archbishop Anselm, by whose name the chapel is
now coraraonly called. A very interesting feature of this tower is
a large and elaborate five-light window of the Decorated period.
It replaced the original south window of the chapel, and was
inserted by Prior d'Estria in 1336; it is remarkable as being

Interior. 7 1
one of the few instances of Decorated architecture in the
cathedral, and also because of the detailed account that has been
preserved of its erection and cost. The passage in the archives
runs as follows: — " Memorandum, that in the year 1336, there
was made a new window in Christ Church, Canterbury, that is
to say, in the chapel of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul,
upon which there were expended the following sums : £ ^. d.
" Imprimis, for the workmanship, or labour of the
masons  ...21179
Item, for the breaking down of the waU, where the
window now is  ..0169
 for lime and gravel  100
 • for 20 cwt. of iron bought for said window .440
 for the labour of the smiths  3 5 4
 for Caen stone bought for same  500
 for glass and the labour of the glaziers . . . 6 13 4

Total . . . 42 17 2."
On the heads of the lights of this window were pendent
bosses, like those of the door in the choir-screen, which, as has
been said, was also the work of Prior de Estria. These bosses
and the stones from which they were suspended, have altogether
disappeared, otherwise the internal tracery of the window is in
good preservation. " The outside, however, is in a very
bad condition for the purpose of the antiquarian ; for,
apparently on account of the decayed state of its surface, the
tracery has undergone the process of splitting, naraely, the
whole of the outer part has been faced down to the glass, and
fresh worked in Portland stone ; Portland stone muUions, or
menials as they are more properly called, have also been
supplied. And as this repair was executed at a period when
this class of architecture was ill understood, the mouldings
were very badly wrought, which, with the unfortunate colour
and surface of the Portland stone, has given the window a
most ungenuine air. However, the interior is as good as ever
it was, and it is on account of its date, as weU as for its beauty,
a most valuable example " (Willis).
The insertion of the window in question probably had the
effect of weakening the walls of the chapel ; at any rate they

72 Canterbury Cathedral.
show signs of a tendency to settle. Beneath it is the tomb of
Archbishop Bradwardine, a great scholar and divine, whose
primacy only lasted three months. Opposite to him lies Simon
de Mepeham — archbishop from 1328 to 1333 — whose tomb
forms the screen of the chapel. It is a black marble monu
ment well worthy of examination, with a double arcade and a
richly decorated canopy ; the ornamentation has been greatly
damaged, but the shattered reraains show traces of beautiful
work. Mepeham's short primacy was brought to an untimely
end by the contumacy of Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter, who
refused to allo\v him to enter Exeter Cathedral, actually guard
ing the west door with an armed force. The pope sided with
the recalcitrant bishop, and Mepeham died, according to
Fuller, of a broken heart in consequence ofthis humiliation.
The Watching Chamber. — Above the Chapel of St.
Anselm is a small room, which is reached by a staircase from
the north-west corner. A window in it commands a view into
the cathedral, and from this circumstance it has been inferred
that a watcher was stationed here at night to protect the price
less treasures of St. Thomas's shrine from pillage by marauders.
Some doubt has been thrown on this assumption, since the site
of the shrine is not fully seen from the window, but the room
is still generally known as the AVatching Chamber. Probably
the shrine was much more efficiently guarded than by the pre
sence of a solitary monk in a chamber, from which even if he
could see thieves he certainly could not arrest them ; for we
know that "on the occasion of fires the shrine was additionaUy
guarded by a troop of fierce ban-dogs " (Stanley). It is also
said that King John of France was imprisoned in this chamber
during his stay at Canterbury, but this is most unlikely, seeing
that he was treated by the Black Prince more as a sovereign
than as a captive.
Trinity Chapel. — Passing further east, we ascend the flight
of steps, deeply worn by innuraerable pilgrims, and enter the
precincts of the Trinity Chapel. All this part of the cathedral,
from the choir-screen to the corona, was rebuilt from the
ground, specially with a view to its receiving the shrine of
St. Thomas. It is stiU, however, called by the name of
the Trinity Chapel, which previously occupied this site, and
was burnt down by the fire which destroyed Conrad's choir.
In this chapel Thomas a Becket celebrated his first mass after

Interior.

71

his installation as archbishop, and his remains were laid for
some time in the crypt below it. This portion of the building
was -all carried out under the direction of English William.
Gervase relates that when WUliam of Sens, after his accident,
" perceiving that he derived no benefit from the physicians, re
turned to his horae in France," his successor, English AVilliam
"laid the foundation for the enlargement of the church at the
eastern part, because a chapel of St. Thomas was to be built
there; for this was the place assigned to him; naraely the
Chapel ofthe Holy Trinity, where he celebrated his first mass —

SOME MOSAICS FROM THE FLOOR OF TRINITY CHAPEL.
where he was wont to prostrate himself with tears and prayers,
under whose crypt for so many years he was buHed, where God
for his merits had performed so many miracles, where poor and
rich, kings and princes, had worshipped him, and whence the
sound of his praises had gone out into all lands." As to the
extent to which the second AViUiam was guided by the plans
of his predecessor we have no means of judging accurately.
Certainly the general outline of this part of the building must
have been arranged by AA'illiam of Sens, for the contraction
of the choir, in order to preserve the width of the ancient
Trinity Chapel had been carried out up to the clerestory before
his retirement. Willis deals with the subject at some length :

74 Canterbury Cathedral.
"Whether," he says, "we are to attribute to the French artist
the lofty elevation of the pavement of the new chapel, by
which also so handsome a crypt is obtained below, must
remain doubtful. The bases of his columns, as well as those of
the shafts against the wall are hidden and smothered by the
platform at the top of these steps and by the side steps that lead
to Becket's chapel. This looks like an evidence of a change
of plan, and induces me to believe that the lofty crypt below
may be considered as the unfettered composition of the Eng
lish architect. . . . The Trinity Chapel of the Englishman
is under the influence of the French work of which it is a
continuation, and accordingly the same mouldings are em
ployed throughout, and the triforium and clerestory are con
tinued at the same level; but the greater level ofthe pavement
wholly alters the proportion of the piers to their arches, and
gives a new and original, and at the same time a very elegant
character to this part of the church compared with the work of
the Frenchman, of which, at first sight, it seems to be a mere
continuation. The triforium also ofthis Trinity Chapel differs
from that of the choir, in that its four pointed arches instead of
being, like them, included under two circular ones, are set in
the form of an arcade of four arches, of two orders of mouldings
each. The mouldings are the same as in the choir, but
the effect of their arrangement is richer. Also in the clerestory
two windows are placed over each pier-arch, instead of the
single window of the choir. The mixture of the two forms of
arches is still carried on, for although the semicircular arch
is banished from the triforium, it is adopted for the pier-
arches. " However, in the side-aisles of the Trinity chapel, and in the
corona, our English William appears to have freed himself
almost as completely from the shackles of imitation, as was
l)ossible. In the side-aisles the mouldings of the ribs still
reraain the same, but their management in connection with the
side walls, and the combination of their slender shafts with
those of the twin lancet windows, here for the first time intro
duced into the building, is very happy. Slender shafts of
marble are employed in profusion by William of Sens, and
Gervase expressly includes them in his list of characteristic
novelties. But here we find them either deta.ched from the
piers, or combined with them in such a manner as to give

Interior. 7 5
a much greater lightness and elegance of effect than in the
work of the previous architect. This lightness of style is
carried still farther in the corona, where the slender shafts are
carried round the walls, and made principal supports to the
pier-arches, over which is placed a light triforium and a
clerestory ; and it must be remarked that all the arches in
this part of the buUding are of a single order of mouldings,
instead ot two orders as in the pier-arches and triforium of the
choir." So much for the architectural details of the Trinity Chapel.
To the ordinary visitor its interest lies rather in the fact that it
contained Becket's shrine, and that we here see thc curious old
windows portraying the sainted Archbishop's miracles, and
what is, perhaps, most important of all to many, the tomb
of Edward the Black Prince. This monument is the first
feature that we notice as we enter by the south-west gate of the
chapel ; it stands between the two first pillars, and by the side
of the site of the shrine. By the Prince's will he had left
directions that he should be buried in the crypt, where he had
already founded a chantry, at the time of his marriage with the
" Fair Maid of Kent " in 1363. But for some unknown reason,
probably in order that the dead hero's bones might be placed
in the most sacred spot possible — he was laid to rest by the
side of the martyr, then in the zenith of his sanctity. One of
the most romantic figures in English history is that of Edward
the Black Prince, who " fought the French " as no Briton,
except perhaps Nelson, has fought thera since ; he was sixteen
years old when he commanded the English army in person at
the battle of Cressy, and was wounded in the thickest of that
most sanguinary fray : ten years later, facing an army of 60,000
men with a mere 8,000 behind him, he inflicted a still
more severe defeat on the French at Poitiers, and captured
their King, whom he took with him to Canterbury on his
triumphant return to London. In all our list of national
heroes there is not one who upheld the prowess of the English
arms more gallantly than this mighty warriorwho was cutoff while
still in the flower of his years, leaving England to the miseries
of sedition and civil war. His tomb is one of the most impres
sive of such monuments. The gilding and bright colours have
almost entirely disappeared, but the striking effect ofthe effigy
is probably only enhanced by the solemn sombreness of its pre-

¦jQ Canterbury Cathedral.
sent appearance. It is a figure clad in full armour, spurred
and helmeted, as the Prince had ordained by his will._ The
head rests on the helm-t and the hands are joined in the
attitude of prayer. The face, which is undoubtedly a portrait,
is stern and masterful. " There you can see his fine face with
the Plantagenet features, the flat cheeks, and the well-chiseUed
nose, to be traced, perhaps, in the effigy of his father in West
minster Abbey, and his grandfather in Gloucester Cathedral."
The tomb itself is worthy to support the figure and guard the
ashes ofthe Black Prince. Carved on its side clearly, that all
might read it, is the inscription which he had himself chosen ;
it is in Norman French, which was stiU the language spoken by
the English Court, and in the sarae spirit which moved the de
signer of Archbishop Chichele's tomb to portray the living man
and the mouldering skeleton, this epitaph contrasts the glories
of the Prince's life — his wealth, beauty, and power— with the
decay and corruption of the grave. It is distinctly pagan
in thought, and reminds one strongly of the laments of
the dead Homeric heroes as they wail for the joys of life and
strength and lordship. Stanley states that it is "borrowed,
with a few variations, frora the anonymous French translation
of the ' Clericalis Disciplina ' of Petrus Alphonsus composed
between the years 1106 and mo." But it is strangely un
christian in sentiment as a few lines will show —
" Tiel come tu es, je autiel fu, tu seras tiel come je su,
De la mort ne pensay je niie, tant come j'avoy la vie.
En terre avoy grand richesse, dont je y fys grand noblesse,
Terre, mesons, et grand tresor, draps, cliivalx, argent et or.
Mesore su je povres et cheitifs, perfond en la terre gys.
Ma grand beaute est tout alee, ma char est tout gastee
Moult est estroite ma meson, en moy n3 si verite non,
Et si ore me veissez, je ne quide pas que vous deeisez
Que j'eusse onges hom este, si su je ore de tout changee."
Below this inscription are ranged coats-of-arms, bearing the
ostrich feathers and the motto Ich Diene ("I serve"), which,
according to time-honoured but unauthenticated tradition, the
prince won frora the blind King of Bohemia, who was led into
the thick of the fighting at Cressy, and died on the field.
Welsh archajologists, however, maintain that these words are
Celtic, and mean "behold the man;" their theory suggests
that this was the phrase used by Edward I. when he presented

THE BLACK PRINCE'S TOMB (FROM A PHOTGGRArH EY CARL NORMAN AND CO.).

Interior.

79

his firstborn son to the AA^'elsh people as their prince, and that
the words thus became the motto of the princes of AVales. This
is a rather far-fetched piece of reasoning, and one would cer
tainly prefer to accept the more picturesque tradition which
connects the phrase with the glories of Cressy. The other
word found on these escutcheons — Houmont — is still more
puzzling. We know that the Black Prince was wont to sign
himself Houmont, Ich Diene. Stanley explains the combination
gracefully, but not very convincingly. "If, as seems most
likely, they are German words, they exactly express what we
have seen'so often in his life, the union of ' Hoch muth,' that
is high spirit, with 'Ich Dien,' I serve. They bring before us
the very scene itself after the battle of Poitiers, where, after
having vanquished the whole French nation, he stood behind
the captive king, and served him like an attendant."
The tomb is surmounted by a canopy on which is painted
an interesting representation of the Trinity. The work is a
good deal faded, but still worthy of notice ; the absence of the
figure of the dove is curious, but is not unparalleled in such
designs. At the corners are symbols of the four evangelists.
The Holy Trinity — on whose feast-day he died — was held in
peculiar veneration by the Black Prince. The ordinance of
the chantry founded by him in the crypt contains the phrase.
Ad honorem Sancte Trinitatis quam peculiari devocione semper
colimus. A curious metal badge, preserved in the British
Museum, is stamped with the figure of the prince kneeling
before the Almighty and our Saviour, whose representation is
almost identical with the design on the canopy over the tomb ;
here also the figure of the dove is absent. Round the canopy
and in the pillars we can still see the hooks which upheld the
black tapestry, bordered with crimson and embroidered with
cygnes avec tHes de dames, which was hung, as ordained by his
will, round the prince's tomb and Becket's shrine.
Lastly, above the canopy, on a cross-beam between two
pillars, are suspended the brazen gauntlets, the helmet, the
wooden shield with its moulded leather covering, the velvet
coat emblazoned with the arms of England and France, and
the empty sheath. The gauntlets were once embellished with
little figures of lions on the knuckles ; these have been detached
by " collectors," vandals almost as ruthless as Blue Dick and
his troopers, and without their excuse of mistaken religious

8o

Canterbury Cathedral.

zeal. The helmet still has its original lining of leather, showing
that it was actuaUy worn. The sword which fitted the now
empty sheath is said to have been taken away by Oliver
CromweU ; it appeared in Manchester at the beginning of this
century under circumstances so curious, that we may be ex
cused for quoting the following letter from Canon Wray, given
in Stanley's Appendix on the Black Prince's will. " The sword.

SHIELD, COAT, ETC., OF THE BLACK PRINCE.
or supposed sword, of the Black Prince, which Oliver CromweU
is said to have carried away, I have seen and many times have
had in my hands. There lived in Manchester, when I first
came here, a Mr. Thomas Barritt, a saddler by trade ; he was
a great antiquarian, and had collected together helmets, coats
of mail, horns, etc., and many coins. But what he valued
most of all was a sword : the blade about two feet long, and
on the blade was let in, in letters of gold, ' Edwardus Wallie

Interior. 8 1
Princeps.' , . . He was in possession ofthis sword a.d. 1794.
He told me he purchased many of the ancient relics of a
pedlar, who travelled through the country selling earthenware,
and I think he said he got this sword frora this pedlar. AVhen
Barritt died, in 1820, his curiosities were sold by his widow at
a raffle, but I believe this sword was not araongst the articles
so disposed of. It had probably been disposed of beforehand,
but to whom I never knew ; yet I think it not unlikely that it
is still in the neighbourhood. The sword was a little curved.

WEST GATE.

scimitar-like, rather thick, broad blade, and had every appear
ance of being the Black Prince's sword." Truly a most re
markable story. This historic blade, which may have hewn
down the French ranks at Poitiers, is disposed of by an
itinerant crockery vender to an antiquarian saddler; on his
death is, or is not, " sold at a raffle " and — vanishes I
These arms that hang over the prince's tomb are all that are
left of two distinct suits, one for war, and one for use in the
joust and the ceremonials of peace, which were, according to
directions given in the will, carried in the funeral procession
G

82 Canterbury Cathedral.
through the West Gate and along the High Street to the
cathedral. The pieces which remain aU belong to the suit
worn in actual warfare.
The centre of the chapel looks curiously blank, being left
so by the thoroughness with which all trace of Becket's shrine
was renioved by the reforming zeal and insatiable rapacity of
Henry VIII. and his minions. The effect of the bare stone
pavement presents an impressive contrast to the vanished
glories of the shrine blazing with gold and jewels, as we read
of it. (For a description of the shrine and its history, see
Chapter I.) The exact place on which it stood is plainly
shown by the marks worn in the stones by the knees of genera
tions of pilgrims as they knelt before it, whOe the prior, with
his white wand, pointed out the choicest of its treasures. To
the west, between the altar-screen — the unhappy effect of which
is painfully conspicuous from this point — and the site of the
shrine, there is some very interesting mosaic pavement, con
taining the signs of the zodiac, and emblems of virtue and vice,
an example of the Opus 'Alexandrinum, which appears in the
floors of most of the Roman basilicas. A similar piece of
mosaic work may be seen round the shrine of Edward the
Confessor at Westminster. Above the eastern end of the
shrine a gilded crescent was fixed in the roof, which stUl
remains ; the origin and meaning of this emblem have been
disputed with considerable heat, and many ingenious conjec
tures have been framed to account for its presence here. One
theory regards it as an allusion to the tradition according to
which Becket's mother was a Saracen. But this legend is
believed to be comparatively modern, and, as Mr. George
Austin points out, " even if the legend of Becket's mother had
obtained credence at that early period, it may be observed
that in the painted windows around no reference is made to
the subject, though evidently capable of so much pictorial
effect." Another solution would connect the crescent with
the worship of the Virgin Mary, who is often pictured as
standing on the moon (comp. Rev. xii. i). Supporters of this
theory lay stress on the fact that the Trinity Chapel at Can
terbury occupies the extreme east end of the church, which is
generally the site of the Lady Chapel, and that therefore the
presence of this emblem — if it can be connected with the Virgin
— would be peculiarly appropriate here. Mr. Austin pro-

Interior. 83
pounded the explanation which is now most generally accepted.
¦' AA'hen the groined roof," he says, " was relieved of the long-
accumulated coats of whitewash and repaired, the crescent was
taken down and regilt. It was found to be made of a foreign
wood, somewhat like in grain to the eastern wood known by
the name of iron-wood. It had been fastened to the groining
by a large nail of very singular shape, with a large square head,
apparently of foreign manufacture." He comes to the con
clusion that the crescent is one of a number of trophies which
he supposes to have once decorated this part of the cathedral,
and he is led to his conclusion by the fact that " more than
one fresco painting of encounters with the Eastern infidels
forraerly ornamented the walls (the last traces of which were
removed during the restoration of the cathedral under Dean
Percy, afterwards Bishop of Carlisle), and in one of which the
green crescent flag of the enemy seems borne away by the
EngUsh archers. Might not these frescoes have depicted the
fights in which these trophies were won?" Also, in the hollows
of the groining which radiate from the crescent, there were a
number of slight iron staples, which Mr. Austin, having shown
that they cannot have supported either hanging lamps or the
covering of the shrine, believes to have upheld fiags, horse
tails, etc, which formed the trophy of which the gilded crescent
was the centre. AA'e know that Becket received the title of
St. Thomas Acrensis owing to his close connection with the
knights of the Hospital of St. John at Acre. But none of
these explanations seem very convincing, and the history and
significance of the crescent in the roof seem likely to remain a
mystery. Before we turn from Becket and his shrine to the other
monuments in the Trinity Chapel, we must call the attention
of our readers to the stained windows which depict the miracles
of the sainted martyr. The chapel was at one time entirely
surrounded with glass of this sort, but only a portion has sur
vived the ravages of the Puritans. " Of these windows," says
Austin, " unfortunately but three remain, but they are sufficient
to attest their rare beauty ; and for excellence of drawing, har
mony of colouring, and purity of design, are justly considered
unequalled. The skill with which the minute figures are repre
sented cannot even at this day be surpassed ; it is extraordinary
to see how every feeling of joy or sorrow, pain and enjoyment.

84 Canterbury Cathedral.
is expressed both in feature and position. But in nothing is
the superiority of these windov/s shown mote than the beautiful
scrolls and borders which surmount the windows, and grace-
fuUy connect the groups of medallions." Most of these windows
probably contained representations of Becket, and so were
doomed to destruction by the decree of Henry VIIL, in which
" his Grace straitly chargeth and commandeth, that henceforth
the said Thomas Becket shaU not be esteeraed, named, reputed,
nor called a saint, but Bishop Becket, and that his images and
pictures throughout thc whole realm shall be put down and
avoided out of all churches and chapels, and other places ; and
that from henceforth the days used to be festivals in his name
shall not be observed, nor the service, office, antiphonies,
collects and prayers in his name read, but rased and put out of
all books." This proclamation was rigorously carried out
though the stained windows which come within its terms have,
in some cases, escaped destruction. For instance there remains
a window in the south transept of Christ Church Cathedral,
Oxford, representing the martyrdom of Becket, but it is
interesting to note that even here the archbishop's head was
removed from the glass. Three of the windovs's of the Trinity
Chapel have survived, and fragments of others are scattered
over the glass of the building. They are entirely devoted to
depicting the miracles of the martyr, which began immediately
after his death and reception — according to a vision of Benedict
— in a place between the apostles and the martyrs, above even
St. Stephen.
The window towards the east on the north side of the shrine
is divided into geometrical fi.gures, each figure composed of a
group of fine medallions; every group tells the story of a
miracle, or series of miracles, performed by the influence of the
saint. The lower group portrays the story of a chUd who wns
drowned in the Medway, and afterwards restored to life by the
efficacy of the saint's blood mixed with water. The first
medallion shows the boy falling into the streara, while his
companions pelt the frogs in the reeds by the river side ; the
next shows the corapanions relating the story of the accident
to the boy's parents, and in the third we see the grief-stricken
parents watching their son's corpse being drawn out of the
river. " The landscape in these medallions is exceedingly well
rendered ; the trees are depicted with great grace " (Austin).

Interior. 85
Unfortunately the medallions which complete this story have
been destroyed. The next group depicts the quaint story ol a
succession of miracles which were wrought in the family of a
knight called Jordan, son of Eisull. His ten year old boy died,
and the knight, who had been an intimate friend of Becket in
his lifetime, resolved to try to restore his son with water mixed
with the saint's blood. At the third draught, as Benedict tells
the story, the dead boy " opened one eye, and said, ' Why are
you weeping, father? W^hy are you crying, lady ? The blessed
martyr, Thomas, has restored me to you I ' At evening he sat
up, ate, talked, and was restored." But the father forgot the
vow which he made in the first moment of joy at his son's
recovery, namely, that he would offer four silver pieces at the
martyr's shrine before Mid Lent. And once more all the
household was stricken with sickness, and the eldest son died.
Then the parents, though sore smitten themselves, dragged
themselves to Canterbury and perform.ed their vow. The
whole of tliis story with other details for which we have no
space may be accurately traced on this unique window. The
most striking is the central medallion of the group in which t'ne
vengeance of the saint is shown forth. In the middle of a large
room we see a bier on which lies the dead son ; the father and
mother, overcome with despair, stand at the head and feet of
the body. Behind the bier are several figures, which, from
their " unusually violent attitudes expressive of grief," Mr.
.\ustin considered to be professional mourners. Above, unseen
by the group below, the figure of St. Thomas, clad in full
episcopal robes, holding a sword in his right hand, and pointing
to the corpse with his left, is seen appearing through the ceil
ing. " The expression," says Austin, " of the various figures
in the above compartments, both in gesture and feature, is
rendered with great skill. In the execution of this story, the
points which, doubtless, the artists of the monastery were
chiefly anxious to impress upon the minds of the devotees who
thronged to the shrine are prominently brought out : the extreme
danger of delaying the performance of a vow, under whatever
circumstances made, the expiation sternly required by the saint,
and the satisfaction with which the martyr viewed money
offerings made at the shrine."
One ofthe other groups is noteworthy as proving that severe
penances were sometimes perfonned before the shrine. One

86 Canterbury Cathedral.
medaUion shows a woman prostrating herself before a priest at
the altar, whUe two men stand near, holding formidable-looking
rods. The next picture represents the two men vigorously
flagellating the woraan with the rods ; whUe, in the third, one
of the men is stiU beating the woman, who now lies fainting on
the ground, while the other is addressing the priest, who sits
hard by composedly reading his book. The other two windows
contain representations of the healings effected by the saint,
which seem to have been of a very varied character, to judge
from the catalogue with which Benedict sums them up.
"What position,' he asks, "in the Church, what sex or age,
what rank or order is there, which could not find something
beneficial to itself [aliqiud sibi utile\ in this treasure-house of
ours ? Here the light of truth is furnished to schismatics, con
fidence to tiraid pastors, health to the sick, and pardon to the
deserving penitent \_pcenitentibus venia ejus meritis, the last two
words probably implying an offering]. The blind see, the
lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise
again, the dumb speak, the poor have the gospel preached tO'
them, the paralytic recover, the dropsical lose their swellings
{(ietumescunt hydropici\ the mad are restored to sense, the
epileptic are cured, the fever-stricken escape, and, to sum up,
omnimoda curatur infirmitas."
The last of the.se windows to which we must call the special
attention of our readers is one on the north side, representing a
vision which Benedict tells us that he saw himself The martyr
is seen coming forth from his shrine in full pontifical robes, and
making his way towards the altar as if to celebrate mass. This
window is noticeable as containing the only representation that
now exists of the shrine itself — for the picture in the Cottonian
MSS. evidently shows us, not the shrine, but its outer sheU, or
covering. "The medallion," says Austin, "is the more interest
ing, from being an undoubted work of the thirteenth century ;.
and having been designed for a position immediately opposite
to and within a few yards of the shrine itself, and occupying
the place of honour in the largest and most important window,
without doubt represents the main features of the shrine
faithfully." On the north side of the Trinity Chapel, immediately oppo
site the tomb of the Black Prince, is that of King Henry IV.,
who died in 1413, and his second consort, Joan of Navarre,

Interior. 87
who followed him in 1437. This king had made liberal offer
ings towards the rebuilding of the nave of the cathedral, and it
has been conjectured that one of the figures on the organ-
screen represents him : his wUl ordered that he should be laid
to rest in the church at Canterbury, and here accordingly he was
buried on the Trinity Sunday after his death. The tomb, with
its rich canopy, is a beautiful piece of work, and the figures of
the king and queen are probably faithful representations. A
curious story was circulated by the Yorkists, to the effect that
Henry was never buried here, but that his body was thrown
into the water between Gravesend and Barking, during the
voyage of the funeral cortege to Faversham, and that only an
empty coffin was laid in the Trinity Chapel. That this point
might be cleared up, the tomb was opened in 1832 in the
presence of the Dean, and there the king was found in perfect
preservation, and bearing a close resemblance to the effigy on
the monument — " the nose elevated, the beard thick and
matted, and of a deep russet colour, and the jaws perfect, with
all the teeth in them, except one foretooth."
In the wall of the north aisle, just opposite the king's tomb,
is a small chapel, built according to the directions contained in
his will " that ther be a chauntre perpetuall with twey prestis
for to sing and prey for my soul." The roof shows the first piece
of fan-vaulting admitted into the cathedral. On the eastern
wall an account is scratched of the cost of a reredos which
once stood here, but has been entirely destroyed : it tells us
that the cost of "ye middil image was xix^ 11''." This chapel
was doubtless used at one time as a storehouse of sacred relics.
Two recesses in the west wall have lately been chosen to
receive certain archiepiscopal vestments which were discovered
in a tomb on the south side of Trinity Chapel, which was
long believed to be that of Archbishop Theobald.
To the east of Henry IV.'s monument is the tomb of Dean
VVotton, adorned with his kneeling figure. He was the first
Dean of Canterbury after the reorganization by Henry VIIL
Opposite to him is an unsightly brick erection which was once
intended as a temporary covering for the remains of Odo
Coligny, Cardinal of Chatillon and brother of Admiral
Coligny, who was one of the victims of the massacre of St.
Bartholomew. The Cardinal fled from France in 1568, on
account of his leanings towards the tenets of the Huguenots,

8S Canterbury Cathedral.
and was welcomed by Queen Elizabeth. It is believed that he
died from the effects of a poisoned apple given to him by a
servant. It seems curious that the French Huguenots who
settled in Canterbury never provided him with a more fitting
monument. Between this tomb and that of the Black Prince is the
monument of Archbishop Courtenay, who was primate from
1 38 1 to 1396, and was celebrated for his severity towards
AVycliffe and his followers. He was a large contributor to the
fund for the re-building of the nave, which perhaps accounts
for the distinguished position of his tomb ; the fact also that he
was executor to the Black Prince may be responsible for his
being buried at his feet. It is not, however, certain that his
body actually lies here, though the ledger book ofthe cathedral
states that he was buried within the walls of the church. It is
known, however, that he died at Maidstone, and that he ordered
in his will that his remains should rest there, and a slab in the
pavement of All Saints', Maidstone, shows traces of a brass
representing the figure of an archbishop, whence it has been
concluded that Courtenay was in fact buried there, and that
his monument in Canterbury is only a cenotaph.
Becket's Crown. — The circular apse at the extreme east
end ofthe church is known as Becket's Crown. The name has
caused a good deal of discussion. The theory once generally
received was to the eftect that the portion of Becket's skull
which was cut away by Richard le Breton was preserved here
as a relic of special sanctity. We know that the Black Prince
bequeathed, by his will, tapestry hangings for the High Altar
and for three others, viz., " I'autier la ou Mons'r Saint Thomas
gist — I'autier la ou la teste est — I'autier la ou la poynte de
I'espie est." The first and last are evidently the altars at the
shrine and in the Chapel of the Martyrdom, and it has been
contended that the altar "where the head is" was the altar of
which traces may stiU be seen in the pavement of the corona,
or Becket's Crown. Against this notion we must place the
authority of Erasmus, whose words plainly show that the
martyr's head was displayed in the crypt : hinc digressi subimus
cryptoporticum : illic primum exhibetur calvaria martyris per
forata (the martyr's pierced tonsure) .- reliqua tecta sunt argento,
summa cranii pars niida paiet osculo^ While Willis considers
that the term corona was a common one for an apse at the

Interior.

89

end of a church, citing " Ducange's Glossary," which defines
" Corona Ecclesise " as Pars templi choro postica, quod ea pais
fere desinat in circulum ; " at all events," he concludes, " it was a
general term and not peculiar to Christ Church, Canterbury.
The notion that this round chapel was called Becket's Crown,
because part of his skull was preserved here as a relic, appears
wholly untenable. There is at least no doubt that a relic of
some sort was preserved here, because we know from a record
of the offerings — Oblaciones S. Thomae — during ten years in
the first half of the thirteenth century, that the richest gifts were
made at the shrine and in the corona. And we know that

CHAIR OF ST. AUGUSTINE.
the spot was one of peculiar sanctity from the fact that the
shrines of St. Odo and St. Wilfrid were finally transferred
thither. Corpus S. Odonis in feretro, ad coronam versus austruni.
Corpus S. Wilfridi in feretro ad coronam versus aquilonem.
On the north side of the corona is the tomb of Cardinal Pole,
the last Archbishop of Canterbury who acknowledged the supre
macy of the Pope. He held office from 1556 to 1558, and died
the day after Queen Mary. Here stands also the patriarchal
chair, made out of three pieces of Purbeck marble. It is called
St. Augustine's chair, and is said to be the throne on which the
old kings of Kent were crowned; according to the tradition,
Ethelbert, on being converted, gave the chair to Augustine,
from whom it has descended to the Archbishops of Canterbury.

go Canterbury Cathedral.
It is needless to say that this eminently attractive legend has
been attacked and overthrown by modern criticism. It is
pointed out that the original archiepiscopal throne was of one
piece only, and that Purbeck marble did not come into use
until sorae time after Augustine's death. From its shape it is
conjectured that the chair dates from the end of the twelfth
century or the beginning of the thirteenth, and that it may have
been constructed for the ceremony of the translation of St.
Thomas' relics. It is in this chair, and not in the archiepiscopal
throne in the choir, that the archbishops are still enthroned.
From the corona we have a view of the full length of the
cathedral, which measures 514 feet, and is one of the longest
of English cathedrals. Ofthe windows in Becket's Crown, the
centre one is ancient, while the rest are modern and afford a
most instructive contrast.
St. Andrew's Tower, or Chapel. — Leaving the Trinity
Chapel, and descending the steps, we find on our right the
door of St. Andrew's Chapel which is now used as a vestry.
Formerly, it was the sacristy, a place from which the pilgrims
of humble rank were excluded, but where those of wealth and
high station were allowed to gaze at a great array of silken
vestraents and golden candlesticks, and also the Martyr's pear-
wood pastoral staff with its black horn crook, and his cloak
and bloodstained kerchief Here also was a chest " cased with
black leather, and opened with the utmost reverence on bended
knees, containing scraps and rags of linen with which (the story
must be told throughout) the saint wiped his forehead and
blew his nose" (Stanley). Erasmus describes this exhibition
with a touch of scorn. " Fragmenta linieorum lacera plerumqiie
macci vestigium servantia. His, ut aiebant, vir pius extergebat
sudorem e facie," etc. The walls of this chapel show many
traces of fresco decoration : the pattern seems to have consisted
of a clustering vine tree spread over the roof. In the north
wall is a Norman chamber which originally served as the
Treasury ; the door is stiU secured by three locks, the keys of
which were held by different officials. St. Andrew's Chapel is
part of Ernulf's work, and the peculiar ornamentation which
marks his hand may be noticed over the arch of the apse which
terminates it.
The North-East Transept. Passing along the choir
aisle, we see the old Bible desk, holding the Bible which was

Interior. 9 1
originally placed there, and was restored to this position by the
late Bishop Parry. Next we enter the north-east transept,
which in its architectural features is practically a repetition of
the south-east transept, with which we have already dealt. The
monument to Archbishop Tait, designed by Boehm, is well
worthy of its surroundings. Above it, in the north wall, about
ten feet from the ground, we may notice three slits in the wall.
These are what are called hagioscopes. On the other side of
the wall was a recess connected with the Prior's Chapel.
Through these hagioscopes — or " holy spy-holes " — the prior
could see mass being celebrated at the high altar and at the
altars below in the transept, without entering the cathedral.
These transeptal altars are in the Chapels of St. Martin and St.
Stephen which occupy two apses in the eastern wall. St. Martin
is represented in a medallion of ancient glass preserved in the
modern window, as dividing his coat with a beggar. Scratched
on the walls are the names " Lanfrancus " and " Ediva Regina;"
the bodies of Lanfranc and Queen Ediva were removed to this
transept after the fire. Lanfranc originally lay in the old
Trinity Chapel, and when this building was levelled to the
ground, he was " carried to the vestiarium in his leaden cover
ing, and there deposited until the community should decide
what should be done with so great a Father." Apparently the
heavy sheet of lead was removed, for Gervase goes on to say
that "Lanfranc having remained untouched for sixty-nine
years, his very bones were consumed with rottenness, and nearly
all reduced to powder. The length of time, the damp vest
ments, the natural frigidity of lead, and above all the fraUty of
the human structure, had conspired to produce this corruption.
But the larger bones, with the remaining dust, were collected in
a leaden coffer, and deposited at the altar of St. Martin."
Queen Ediva, as we learn from the same authority, " who before
the fire reposed under a gilt^d. feretrum in nearly the middle of
the south cross, was now deposited at the altar of St. Martin,
under \hs feretrum of Living," an archbishop who died in 1020.
Ediva, the wife of Edward the Elder, and a generous benefac
tress to the cathedral, died about 960.
From an early list of the subjects represented in the
windows of the cathedral, it appears that the north windows
of the north-east transept depicted the Parable of the Sower.
The ancient glass, however, has been displaced, and a good

92 Cantej'bury Cathedral.
deal of it has been moved to the windows of the north choir
aisle, between the transept and the Chapel of the Martyrdom,
which are of great beauty, and should be examined carefully.
In the transept itself are windows in memory of Dean Stanley,
Dr. Spry, and Canon Cheshyre.
On the wall of the choir aisle, close to the transept, we can
trace the remains of a fresco representing the conversion of St.
Hubert. Further on, there hangs a picture, by Cross, which is
uitended to represent the murder of Becket. As a work of art
It is not without merit, but its detaUs are entirely inaccurate.
The North-AA/est Transept, or Chapel of the
Martyrdom. — The actual site ofthe tragedy which rendered
Becket and his cathedral faraous throughout Christendom was
the North-west Transept, or as it was more commonly called
the Chapel of the Martyrdom. Hardly any pcrtion, however,
of this structure as it stands actuaUy witnessed the murder. In
the tirae of Becket the transept was of two storeys, divided by
a vault, which was upheld by a single pillar. The upper parti
tion was dedicated to St. Blaise, and the lower to St. Benedict.
In the west wall, as now, was a door which opened into the
cloister. The story of Becket and his quarrel with Henry II. wUl be
dealt with in the next chapter. But before exaraining the spot
on which he was assassinated it is perhaps fitting to recall the
events which immediately preceded his death, Henry's wrathful
exclamation, which stirred the four knights to set out on their
bloodthirsty mission, is well known. AVhatever we may think
of the methods employed by these warriors — Fitzurse, de More-
ville, de Tracy, and le Bret were their names — we must at
least concede that they were gifted with undaunted courage.
To slay an anointed archbishop in his own cathedral was to do
a deed from which the boldest might well shrink, in the days
when excommunication was held to be a living reality, and the
Church was believed to hold the power of eternal blessing or
damnation in her hand. These men — who were all closely at
tached to the king's person, and were sometimes described as his
'¦ cubicularii," or Grooms of the Bedchamber — arrived at the
gate of the archbishop's palace in the afternoon of Tuesday,
December 29th, 1170. With a curious want of directness
they seem to have left their swords outside, and entered- and
had a storray interview with Becket ; enraged by his unyielding

THE MARTYRDOM, NORTH-WEST TRANSEPT.

Face p. 92.

Interior. 93
firmness, they went back for their weapons, and in the mean
time the archbishop was hurried by the terrified monks through
the cloister and into the cathedral, where the \-esper service
was being held. The knights quickly forced their way after
him, and the monks locked and banicaded the cloister door.
But Becket, who bore himself heroically through the whole
scene, insisted that the door should be thrown open, exclaim
ing that " the church must not be turned into a castle." Then
all the monks but three fled in terror. Those who stayed
urged Becket to hide himself in the crj'pt or in the Chapel of
St. Blaise above. But he would not hear of concealment, but
preferred to make his way to the choir that he might die at his
post by the high altar. As he went up the steps towards the
choir the knights rushed into the transept, calling for " the
archbishop, the traitor to the king," and Becket turned and
came down, and confronted them by the pillar of the chapel.
Clad in his white rochet, with a cloak and hood over his
shoulders, he faced his murderers, who were now girt in mail
from head to foot. They tried to seize him and drag him out
of the sacred precinct, but he put his back against the pillar
and hurled Tracy full-length on the pavement. Then com
mending his cause and the cause of the Church " to God, to
St. Denys, the martyr of France, to St. -\lfege, and to the
saints of the Church," he fell under the blows of the knights'
swords. The last stroke was from the hand of le Bret, it
severed the crown of the archbishop's head, and the murderer's
sword was shivered into two pieces. Then the assassins left
the church, ransacked the palace, and plundered its treasures.
and, lastly, rode oft" on horses from the stables, in which
Becket had to the last taken especial pride.
Such is the brief outline of the events of this remarkable
tragedy, for a fuller account of which we must refer our readers
to the excellent description in Stanley's " Memorials of Canter
bury." As we have already said, the present transept has been
entirely rebuilt ; although not damaged by the fire, it was re
constructed by Prior Chillenden at the time when he erected
the present nave. It is even doubtful whether the present
pavement is the same as that which was trodden by Becket
and his murderers. A small square stone is still sho\^-n in the
floor of the transept, as marking the exact spot on which the
archbishop feU ; it is said to have been inserted in place of the

94 Canterbury Cathedral.
original piece which was taken out and sent to Rome, but there
is little or no authority for this statement. On the other hand,
we read that Benedict, when he became Abbot of Peterborough,
in order to supply his new cathedral with relics, in which it was
sadly deficient, came back to Canterbury and carried off the
stones which had been sprinkled with St. Thomas's blood, and
made therewith two altars for Peterborough.
In this transept an altar was erected, called the Altar of the
Martyrdom, or the Altar of the Sword's Point {altare ad punctum
ensis), from the fact that upon it was laid tlie broken fragment
of le Bret's sword, which had been left on the pavement. Also,
a portion of the martyr's brains were kept under a piece of rock
crystal, and a special official, called the Custos Martyrii, was
appointed to guard these relics.
The chief window in this chapel was presentedby Edward IV.;
in it we can still see the figures of himself and his queen and
his two daughters, and the two young princes who were
murdered in the Tower. It originally contained representa
tions of " seven glorious appearances " ofthe Virgin, and Becket
himself in the centre, but all this portion was destroyed by
Blue Dick, the Puritan zealot. The west window was the gift
of the Rev. Robert I\Ioore, sometime Canon of Canterbury ; it
is an elaborate piece of work depicting Becket's martyrdom and
scenes in his life.
Here also we see the very beautiful and interesting monu
ment to Archbishop Peckham (1279-1292), the oldest Canter
bury monument which survives in its entirety; even it has
been encroached upon by the commonplace erection adjoining
it, which commemorates AVarham who was archbishop from
1503 to 1532, and was the friend of Erasmus.
The Dean's Chapel. — Eastward of the north-west tran
sept is the chapel which was formerly known as the Lady
Chapel, but has latterly been named the Dean's Chapel from
the nuraber of deans whose monuments have been placed here.
It stands on the site of the Chapel of St. Benedict, and was
built by Prior Goldstone, who dedicated it to the Blessed
A'irgin in 1460. The usual place for the Lady Chapel in
cathedrals is, of course, at the extreme east end ; but at Canter
bury the situation was occupied by the shrine of St. Thomas.
The principal altar to the Virgin in our cathedral was that in
the crypt, in the " Chapel of Our Lady Undercroft." The

PART OF SOUTH-WESTERN TRANSEPT.

Face p, 94

Interior. 95
vault of the Dean's Chapel is noticeable. It is a fan vault, of
the style developed to so great perfection in the Tudor period,
as shown in Henry VII.'s Chapel at Westminster, and in the
roof of the staircase leading to the dining-hall of Christ Church,
Oxford. The architecture of this chapel is Perpendicular in
style, and its delicate decoration should be carefully noticed ;
the screen which separates it from the Martyrdom Transept is
also worthy of close attention. The monuments here are
interesting rather than beautiful. Dean Fotherby is com
memorated by a hideous erection bristling with skuUs. Dean
Boys is represented as he died, sitting araong his books in
his library ; it is curious that the books are all apparently
turned with the backs of the covers towards the wall, and the
edges of the leaves outwards. Here also is the monument of
Dean Turner, the faithful follower of Charles I.
The South-'West Transept. — Crossing the cathedral
through the passage under the choir steps, we find ourselves in
the south-west transept, which, together with the nave and the
north-west transept, was rebuilt by Prior Chillenden. In the
pavement we see memorial stones to canons and other departed
worthies. Among them is the tombstone of Meric Casaubon,
Archbishop Laud's prebendary, and son of Isaac Casaubon, the
famous scholar.
St, Michael's, or the 'Warrior's Chapel. — Eastward
of the south-west transept is a small chapel, generally known as
that of St, Michael. In position and size it closely corresponds
with the Dean's Chapel on the north side of the church. In
general style there is also some resemblance, but the vaulting
of the roof is quite different ; it is described by Professor AVillis
as " as a complex lierne vault of an unusual pattern, but
resembling that of the north transept of Gloucester Cathedral,
which dates from 1367 to 1372." The exact date and the
name of the builder of this chapel are aUke uncertain, but
it probably replaced the old Chapel of St. Michael at some
tirae towards the end of the fourteenth century, and WUlis
comes to the conclusion that it is most probable that its
erection may be ascribed to Prior Chillenden, and that " it
formed part of the general scheme for the transformation of the
western part ofthe church."
A curious effect is presented by the tomb of Stephen Langton,
who was archbishop from 1207 to 1228, and is faraous as

96 Canterbury Catliedral.
having compeUed King John to sign the Great Charter, and
also as having divided the Bible into chapters. His tomb,
shaped like a stone coffin, is half in the chapel and half under
the eastern wall, and Professor AVillis considers that it was
originally outside the wall, in the churchyard ; " and thus the
new wall, when the chapel was rebuilt and enlarged in the
fourteenth century, was made to stride over the coffin by means
of an arch." The reverence in which Langton's memory was
held is attested by the fact that his remains must have lain
under the altar of the chapel, a most unusual position except in
the case of celebrated saints. In the middle of the chapel is a
very beautiful and interesting monument erected by Margaret
Holland, who died in 1437, to the meraory of her two husbands
and herself. The monument is of alabaster and marble, and
represents the lady reposing with her first spouse, John Beau
fort, Earl of Somerset, and son of John of Gaunt, on her left,
and Thomas, Duke of Clarence, her second husband, on her
right. The latter was the second son of Henry IV., and, so,
nephew of John of Somerset the first husband ; he was kiUed
at the battle of Bauge in 1421. Leland thinks that this chapel
was buUt expressly for the reception of this tomb: "This
chapel be hkelihood was made new for the Honor of Erie John
of Somerset," but it is probably of rather earlier date than
would be aUowed by this theory. The figures of Margaret and
her two lords are very fine and are interesting examples of
fifteenth century costurae. As such they may be contrasted
with the effigy of Lady Thornhurst, who exhibits aU the beauty
of an Elizabethan ruff. Sir Thomas Thornhurst, whose monu
ment is hard by, was killed in the ill-fated expedition to the
Isle of Rhe. In the corner of the chapel is the bust of
Sir George Rooke, Vice-Admiral, who led the assault on
Gibraltar by which it was first captured. And the title of
" Warrior's " Chapel is further justified by the presence here of
tattered standards, memorials of dead comrades, left by the
famous Kentish regiment, " the Buffs."
The Main Crypt, — Returning through the passage under
the steps that lead up to the choir, we turn to the right into the
crypt which originally supported Conrad's "glorious choir."
On the wall as we enter we may notice some diaper- work orna
mentation, interesting frora the fact that a similar decoration
may be traced on the wall of the chapter house at Rochester

Interior.

97

for Ernulf who built the westward crypt, was afterwards made
Bishop of Rochester. AVillis tells us that there are five crypts
in England under the eastern parts of cathedrals, namely, at
Canterbury, Winchester, Gloucester, Rochester, and Worcester,

THE CRYPT.

and that they were all founded before 1085. "After this they
were discontinued except as a continuation of former ones, as
in Canterbury and Rochester." This crypt of Ernulf's replaced
the earlier one set up by Lanfranc ; WiUis thinks it not impos
sible that the whole of the pic-shafts may have been taken
H

98 Canterbury Cailiedi'al.
frora the earlier crypt. " The capitals of the columns are
either plain blocks or sculptured with Norman enrichments.
Some of them, however, are in an unfinished state." He
describes minutely one of the capitals on the south-west side.
"Ofthe four sides of the block two are quite plain. One has
the ornament roughed out, or " bosted " as the, workmen call
it, that is, the pattern has been traced *iipon the block, and the
spaces between the figures roughly sunk down with square
edges preparatory to the completion. On the fourth side, the
pattern is quite finished. This proves that the carving was
executed after the stones were set in their places, and probably
the whole of these capitals would eventually have been so orna
mented had not the fire and its results brought in a new school
of carving in the rich foliated capitals, which caused this
merely superficial method of decoration to be neglected and
abandoned. In the same way some of the shafts are roughly
fl'.ited in various fashions. The plain ones would probably
have all gradually had the sarae ornaraent given to them, had
not the same reasons interfered." The crypt then stands as it
was left by Ernulf except that some of the piers were afterwards
strengthened and one new pillar was inserted in the aisle
by WilUam of Sens, in order to fit in with the new arrangement
of the pillars in the choir which he was then rebuUding. It is
therefore, of course, the oldest part of the church, and remains
a most beautiful and interesting relic of Norman work in spite
of the hot water pipe apparatus which now disfigures it, and its
general air of unkempt untidiness. There are signs, however,
that in this respect there is likely to be sorae improveraent.
The floor is being lowered to its original level by the removal
of about a foot of accumulated dirt which had been heaping
itself up for the last eight hundred years and had at last
entirely smothered the bases of the columns, and it is even
whispered that the part now cut off and used as the French
church, may be opened out and restored to its original position
as part of the main crypt.
.\ccording to Gervase, the whole of the crypt was dedicated
to the Virgin Mar}'. Here stood the Chapel of Our Lady
Undercroft, surrounded by Perpendicular stone-work screens,
from which the altar-screen in the choir above was imitated.
-The shrine of the Virgin was exceedingly rich and was only
shown to privileged worshippers : traces of decoration may still

Interior. 99
be seen in the vault above. It was at the back of this shrine
that Becket was laid between the time of his murder and his
translation to the resting-place in the Trinity Chapel.
In the main crypt we may notice the monument of Isabel,
Countess of Athol, who died in 1292; she was heiress of
ChUham Castle, near Canterbury, and grand-daughter of King
John. She was twice married, her second husband being
Alexander, brother of John Baliol, King of Scotland. The
monument of Lady Mohun of Dunster is in the south screen
of the Chapel of Our Lady. She was ancestress of the present
Earl of Derby, and founded a perpetual chantry. Lastly, here
is the tomb of Cardinal Archbishop Morton, the friend of Sir
Thomas ^lore, and the faithful servant of the House of Lan
caster ; it was he who brought about the union of the Red and
AVhite Roses by arranging the marriage of Henry of Richmond
with Elizabeth of York. As Henry VII.'s Chancellor he made
great exactions under the euphonious title of '¦ Benevolences,"
and propounded the famous dilemma known as '' ISIorton's
Fork," by which he argued that those who lived lavishly must
obviously have something to spare for the king's service, while
those who fared soberly must be grown rich on their savings,
and so were equally fair game to the royal plunderer. He lies
in the south-west corner of the crypt, and his monument, which
has suffered considerably at the hands of the Puritans, bears
the Tudor portcullis and the archbishop's rebus, a hawk or
mort standing on a tun.
In the south-east corner, under Anselm's Tower, is a chapel
generally known as that of St. John, sometimes as that of
St. Gabriel. It has been divided into two compartments by a
wall. There are sorae very interesting paintings on the roof,
representing Our Lord in the centre of the angelic host, the
Adoration of the Magi, and a figure of St. John ; this work is
believed to be of the thirteenth century. The central pillar of
this chapel, with the curved fluting in the column and the
quaintly grotesque devices of the figures carved on the capital,
is well worthy of close examination. The grate that we see
here was erected by the French Protestants, large numbers of
whom fled to England during the persecution which was insti
tuted against their sect in 1561. They were welcomed by
Queen Elizabeth, and allowed to settle in Canterbun-, where
the cathedral crypt was made over to them to use as a weaving

IOO

Canterbury Cathedral.

factory. It is possible that the ridges in the floor of St. John's
Chapel are marks left by their looms, but more evident trace
of their occupation is afforded by the inscriptions in French
painted on the pUlars and arches of the main crypt, and again
by the custom which still survives of holding a French service
in the south aisle of the crypt ; this part has been walled off
especially as a place of worship for the descendants of the
French exiles, and here service is still held in the French
tongue. It is no doubt a very interesting survival, but has

ST. GAB I-' I ELS CHAPEL,

lost its meaning owing to the fact that there is no French-
speaking community now in Canterbury, though many French
names are noticeable about the city. The congregation is
generally very small, and altogether, the most conservative
among us cannot help wondering whether it is worth while,
for the sake of an interesting but quite meaningless survival,
to spoil the symmetry of the crypt by allowing the south aisle
to remain walled off; especially as this part has to be entered
through a special door in the outside wall of the cathedral, and
the key is kept by a special sexton who is somewhat difficult

Interior. loi
to find. Visitors, however, wUl be repaid for any extra trouble
in gaining an entrance, by the beauty and historic interest of
the Black Prince's chantry, which he founded in 1363 to com
memorate his marriage with his cousin Joan, the " Fair Maid
of Kent." Here, according to the prince's ordinance, two
priests were to pray for his soul, in his lifetime and after ; the
situation of the two altars, at which the priests prayed, can still
be traced. On the vaulting we see the arms of the prince, and
of his father, and what seems to be the face of his wife. In
return for the pennission to institute this chantry, the prince
left to the monastery of Canterbury an estate which still belongs
to the Chapter, the manor of Fawkes' Hall. This was a piece
of land in South Lambeth, which had been granted by King
John to a baron called Fawkes. His name still survives in the
word " Vauxhall,"
The Eastern Crypt. — The eastern portion of the crypt,
under the Trinity Chapel and the corona, is a good deal more
lofty than Ernulf's building. We noticed the ascent from the
choir and presbytery to the Trinity Chapel, and it i.s, of course,
this greater elevation of the cathedral floor at the east end
which accounts for the greater height of the eastern crypt.
The effect, both above and below, is exceedingly happy. "The
most striking thing about the interior of the cathedral is the
manner in which it rises — "church piled upon church " — from
the nave to the corona, and this characteristic enabled William
the Englishman to build a crypt below which has none of the
cramped squatness which generally mars the effect of such
buildings, " The lofty crypt below," says Willis, " may be
considered the unfettered composition of the English architect.
Its style and its details are wholly different from those of
William of Sens. The work, from its position and office, is of
a massive and bold character, but its unusual loftiness prevents
it from assuming the nature of a crypt, . , . There is one
detail of this crypt which differs especially from the work
above. The abacus of each of the piers, as well as that of
each central shaft, is round ; but in the whole of the choir the
abacuses are either square, or square with the corners cut
off" It was in the smaUer eastern crypt, which formerly occupied
the site of AVilliam's building which we are now examining,
that Becket was hastily buried after his assassination, when his

I02

Canterbury Catliedral.

murderers were still threatening to corae and drag his body
out, " hang it on a gibbet, tear it with horses, cut it into pieces,
or throw it in sorae pond to be devoured by swine or birds of
prey," And from that time untU the translation of the relics
in 1220, this was the most sacred spot in the cathedral, and it
was known, down to Reformation times, as " Becket's tomb,"
Hither came the earliest pUgrims in the first rush of enthusiasm
for the newly-canonized martyr. And here Henry II, per
formed that penance, which is one of the most striking
exainples of the Church's power presented by history. We
are told that he placed his head and shoulder in the tomb, and
there received five strokes from each bishop and abbot who
was present, and three frora each of the eighty monks. After
this castigation he spent the night in the crypt, fasting and
barefooted. His penitence and piety were rewarded by the
victory gained at Richmond, on that very day, by his forces
over AVUliam the Lion of Scotland, who was taken prisoner,
and afterwards, recognizing the power of the saint, founded
the abbey of Aberbrothwick to Saint Thomas of Canterbury.

NORMAN HI.Xr.E IN THE CATHEDRAL.

CHAPTER IV.
THE HISTORY OF THE SEE.
The history of the See of Canterbury may be said to have
begun with the coming of Augustine, for there can be no doubt
that it is owing to its being the settling-place of the first
messengers ofthe gospel in Saxon England that Canterbury has
been the metropolis ofthe English Church. Pope Gregory, with
his usual thoroughness, sent to Augustine, soon after his
arrival here, an elaborate scheme for the division of our island
into sees, which were to be gradually developed as Christianity
spread. According to his arrangement, there were to be two
archbishops, one at London and one at York. But we cannot
regret that this scheme was not carried out, as an archiepiscopal
see is much more picturesquely framed by the hills which en
circle Canterbury than it could have been by the dingy vastness
of the political and social capital.
Augustine reached England in 597, and found that his
path had been made easy by the fact that Bertha, wife of
Ethelbert, King of Kent, was a Christian. He soon effected
the conversion of the king himself, and his labours were so
rapidly successful that at Christmas, 597, no less than ten
thousand Saxons were baptized at the mouth of the Medway.
The archiepiscopal pall, and a papal BuU, creating Augustine
first English archbishop, were duly sent from Rome, and the
royal palace in Canter'oury, with an old church — Roman or
British — close by, were handed over to him by Ethelbert. The
first archbishop died in 605, and was buried, according to the
old Roman custom, by the side of the high road which had
brought him to Canterbury. A few years later, however, his
remains were transferred to the Abbey of SS. Peter and Paul,
which had then just been completed.

104 Canterbury Cathedral.
Augustine was succeeded by one of the monks who had
originally come with him from Rome, The new archbishop's
name was Lawrence ; he had been already consecrated by
Augustine in his lifetime. This unusual measure was thought
to be necessary, as the Church had hardly yet established itself
in a strong position. Indeed, so weak was its hold over its
rapidly acquired converts, that when Ethelbert's son, who suc
ceeded his father in 6i6, backslid into the path of heathendom,
the great majority of the people followed the royal example,
and Lawrence, together with the Bishops of London and
Rochester, prepared to leave England altogether, as a country
hopelessly abandoned to paganism. However, the archbishop
determined to raake one more attempt to maintain his position,
and succeeded in terrifying the king, by a pretended miracle,
into becoming a Christian. He then recaUed the two bishops
who had already crossed to France, and on his death, in 619,
was succeeded by the Bishop of London, Mellitus. Mellitus
only held the Primacy till 624, when his place was fiUed by
Justin, who also had a brief archiepiscopal life, being suc
ceeded in 627 by Honorius. This archbishop held the see
for twenty-six years, till 653, and it was not until 655 that his
successor was appointed.
So far the archbishops had all been foreigners who had
come over either with Augustine or with the second company
of missionaries who were despatched by Gregory soon after
Ethelbert's conversion. In 655, however, a native Englishman,
named Frithona, was consecrated by the Saxon Bishop of
Rochester, and adopted the name of Deus Dedit. He ruled
at Canterbury till 664, and after his death the see remained
vacant for four years, probably owing to the plague which was
then wasting all Europe, and caused the death of Wighard, a
Saxon, who had started for Rome to receive his consecration
there. But in 668, Theodore, a native of Tarsus in CeciUa,
was appointed, and was welcomed by the raembers of the torn
and divided English Church. He devoted all his energy to
centraUzing and consolidating the power of the archbishop,
which had been hitherto largely nominal. He journeyed all
over England, correcting the prevalent laxity of discipline and
establishing the control of the metropolitan authority. He
went so far as to interfere with the Archbishopric of York, and
with the help of the king atterapted to divide it into three sees.

Tlie History of tlie See. 105
He was, moreover, an enthusiastic scholar, and first diffused
the study of Greek in England. He had brought a copy of
Homer with him, and is said to have established a school of
Greek in Canterbury. He died in 690, and after his death
there was no archbishop for three years. In 693, one
Brethwald, an English monk, some time Abbot of Reculver,
was appointed to the see. The Saxon Church shows that it
had benefited by Theodore's rigorous dis-ciphne, in that it was
henceforth able to supply its own archbishops; it had now
securely established itself all over the country, and the last
home of paganism, which, curiously enough, held its own
longest in Sussex, had been finally converted in Theodore's
time. Brethwald ruled tUl 731, and was followed by Tatwin
(731-7.34) and Nothelm (734-740). In 740 Cuthbert be
came archbishop. He seems to have been an interesting
personage with a good deal of zeal for reform ; he is recorded
to have assembled a synod at Cliff to discuss measures for the
improvement of the lives and behaviour both of clergy and
laity. Probably at his instigation the synod ordained that the
Lord's Prayer and the Creed should be taught in the vulgar
tongue ; he was the first archbishop buried in the cathedral.
He was succeeded by Bregwin, who held the see frorn 759
to 765. He was an exception among the series of English
primates, being of German origin. During the rule of the next
archbishop, Jaenbert, an atterapt was made to transfer the
primacy from Canterbury. Offa, the King of Mercia, had
established himself in a position of commanding power, and
wishing that the seat of the chief ecclesiastical authority should
be within his own dorainion, obtained a BuU frora Pope
Adrian I. by which an Archbishop of Lichfield was created,
with a larger see than that of Canterbury. Jaenbert seems to
have acquiesced, though doubtless most unwiUingly, in this
arrangement, but in spite of the central situation of Lichfield,
the traditional claims of Canterbury were too strong, and
Adulf was the first and last Archbishop of Lichfield. Athelard,
who succeeded Jaenbert in 790, had the primacy restored to
him. The Northmen began their raids on the English coasts
at this time, and their ravages probably continued through the
days of his successors, 'Wulfred, Feologild, Ceolnoth,
and Ethelred (805-889),
In 889 the learned Plegmund, formerly tutor of Alfred,

io6 Canterbury Cathedral.
was by his quondam pupil's influence made -\rchbishop of
Canterbur)'. It was during his time that the sees of AA'ells for
Somerset and Crediton for Devonshire were established.
Athelm (914-923)
"Wulfhelm (923-942).
Odo (942-959), called "the severe," was born a pagan Dane
of East .\nglia, but having been received into a noble Saxon
family, was duly baptized into the faith. He was appointed
to the AA'iltshire bishopric by Athelstane, and combined in
his person the characters of the warlike Dane and the Christian
churchman. Like his successor Dunstan, Odo made his chief
objects in life the maintenance of the Church's supremacy and
the reformation of the married clerg}-. He bore his arch
bishopric with much pomp and dignity through the reigns of
Edmund, Edred, and Edwy. He was responsible for Dunstan's
conduct on the occasion of King Edwy's coronation, though it
is not known how far he sanctioned the cruelties subsequently
practised on Elgiva. Odo reconstructed and enlarged the
cathedral. His immediate successor was Elsi, Bishop of AA'inchester,
but this archbishop died while on his way to Rome to receive
his pall from the Pope,
Dunstan (960-988), the next archbishop, continued Odo's
crusade against the married clergy, which he conducted relent
lessly. Ill many cases the secular clergy were turned out of
their livings to make room for members ofthe regular monkish
orders. Even with these harsh measures and the employment
of miracles the archbishop does not seem to have succeeded
in enforcing celibacy among the clergy. Dunstan was born in
Somersetshire of noble parents, and educated at the x^bbey of
Glastonbury. He became abbot of that place, and Bishop of
AA'orcester and London. .\t the coronation of Edwy he in
truded himself into the king's presence, and was afterwards
obliged to retire to Ghent. He held the See of Canterbury
for twenty-seven years, and on his death was buried in the
cathedral, where countless miracles are said to have been
worked at his tomb.
Ethelgar (988-989).
Siricius (990-994).
Alfric (995-1005).
Alphege (1005-1012), Prior of Glastonbury, migrated thence

The History of the See. 107
to Bath, where he founded the great abbey, afterwards united
to the See of AVells. After holding the See of AVinchester for
twenty-two years, he was translated to Canterbury. When in
ion Canterbury was sacked by the Danes, he was carried off
a prisoner, and on his refusal to ransom himself, was bar
barously murdered by his captors. His body was ransomed
by the people of London and buried at .St. Paul's Cathedral,
whence it was removed to Canterbury by Canute. Sub-se-
quently, in the time of Lanfranc, he was canonized.
Living (1013-1020) also suffered much from the Danes,
who from this time continued their incursions until the reign of
Canute. Egelnoth (1020- 1038) is described as the first dean of
the Canterbury canons who seem to have acquired an ascend
ancy over the monks ever since the massacre of the latter
by the Danes in loii. He restored the cathedral after the
damages inflicted by the invaders.
Eadsi (1038-1050).
Robert of Jumieges (1051-1052J was one of the many
Normans who were brought over into England by King Edward
the Confessor ; he took an active part in the king's quarrel with
the great Earl Godwin, and in the reaction which followed
against the Normans retired to Jumieges, where he remained
till his death.
Stigand (1052-1070), Bishop of Winchester, held this see
conjointly with that of Canterbury. He was remarkable for his
avarice. His espousal of the cause of Edgar the Atheling led
the Conqueror to regard him with suspicion. AA'illiam took
the archbishop with him when he returned into Normandy, and
eventually dispossessed him, along with some other bishops and
abbots, at a synod held at AVinchester in the year 1070. Stigand
was imprisoned at Winchester, where he eventually died, resist
ing to the last the attempts made by the king to eUcit information
as to the whereabouts of the vast treasures which he had ac
cumulated and hidden.
Lanfranc (1070-1089) was the first Norman Archbishop
of Canterbury. He was born at Pavia, and educated at the
monastery of Bee, in Normandy, then the most remarkable seat
of learning existing in Europe. His conspicuous abilities raised
him to the position of prior of the monastery. He was subse
quently abbot ofthe new monastery which William of Norraandy

io8 Canterbury Cathedral.
founded at Caen, and on the deposition of Stigand was called
over by that king to complete the subjection and reform ofthe
Anglo-Saxon Church, which task he undertook with much zeal
and not a little high-handed procedure. He assisted the king
in the removal of the Saxon bishops and the substitution of
Normans in their places, as also in the reformation of the great
English monasteries which appear to have fallen into considerable
disorder. Lanfranc's character was reraarkable for its firmness,
and brought him into frequent collision with the imperious
temper of his royal master. On one occasion Lanfranc insisted
on the restoration of twenty-five manors which belonged to the
archiepiscopal see, and which had been appropriated by Odo,
Bishop of Bayeux, WiUiam's half-brother. WUUam, however,
continued to honour his able servant, and during the king's
absence in Normandy, Lanfranc held the office of chief justiciary
and vice-regent within the realm, and maintained his inde
pendent attitude against all the world, refusing to go to Rorae
at the summons of the pope. Lanfranc crowned "William II.,
and as long as he lived did much to moderate that monarch's
rapacious attacks on the wealth of the Church. He rebmlt
the cathedral which had fallen into ruin, and founded the
great monastery of Christ Church. He was the author of a
celebrated treatise in refutation of the doctrine of Berengarius
of Tours, on the subject of the Real Presence, and was present
at the council held in Rome by Leo IX., in which Berengarius
was conderaned. He lies buried in the nave of his cathedral,
but the exact spot is not known.
Anselm (1093-1109) was born at Aosta, and studied under
Lanfranc at Bee, when he succeeded him as Prior of the
Convent, and subsequently became abbot. He visited England
on the invitation of Hugh the Fat, Earl of Chester, and whfle
there was called in by the king and made Archbishop of Can
terbury. Rufus had kept the see vacant, and appropriated the
revenues of this and many other Church properties, and was
only induced by the fear of impending death to appoint Anselm
to the see. Anselm was with difficulty persuaded to accept the
post, but frora that hour posed as the firm champion of the
rights of the Church, and the opponent and denouncer of the
king's exactions and the general imraorality of the times. He
refused to receive his pall at the hands of the king, but even
tuaUy agreed to take it himself from the high altar of the

The History of the See. 109
cathedral at Canterbury. Though deserted by his bishops he
held his own against the king untU an accusation of faUing in
his duty to supply troops for the king's Welsh expedition drove
him into exile and he made his way to Rome, when his learning
created much sensation and was enlisted against the errors of the
GreekChurch on the subject ofthe procession of thelHoly Ghost.
On his accession to the throne, Henry I,, as part of his reversal
of his brother's ecclesiastical policy recalled Anselm from banish
ment and filled up the vacant see. But Anselm remained firm
on the subject of the rights of the church in the matter of the in
vestiture ofthe clergy, and refused to consecrate the bishops who
had received their investiture from the king, or to do homage or
swear fealty to Henry. The king, on his side, was determined to
uphold the rights of the crown and the matter was referred to
the pope, i.\nselm had to visit Rome in person, and meeting
with but lukewarm support from the pope agreed at last to a
compromise, at Bee, in 1106, by which the king surrendered the
symbols of the ring and crozier, while retaining his right to the
oaths of fealty and homage, Anselm returned to England and
spent the last two years of his life in comparative repose : he
died at Canterbury, and was buried near Lanfranc, but his
remains were afterwards removed to the tower that bears his
name. After his death the see was again vacant for five years,
and was managed by Ralf, Bishop of Rochester, who was how
ever made archbishop later; he was a disciple of Lanfranc, but
as an archbishop was unimportant.
AA/'illiamde Corbeuil (11 23-1 136) was the first archbishop
who received the title of Papal Legate. He crowned King
Stephen after solemnly swearing to support the cause of Matilda,
and is said to have died of remorse for his conduct in the
matter. He completed the restoration of the cathedral and
dedicated it with much pomp and display,
Theobald (1139-1161), the next archbishop, had been
Abbot of Bee, and was a Benedictine. His importance as
archbishop was much overshadowed by Henry of Blois, Bishop
of Winchester, and brother of King Stephen. The pope granted
him the title of "Legatus natus," which was retained by his
successors until the Reformation. The life of this prelate was
one of varying fortunes, and he was twice in exUe. He eventually,
along with Henry of Blois, took an important part in the final
¦compromise which was effected between the factions of Stephen

1 1 o Canterbury Cathedral.
and Matilda. On his death the see remained vacant for more
than a year. •¦
Thomas Becket (1162-1170) was the son of a London
merchant, and was educated araong the Augustinian canons of
Merton, in Surrey. He came under the patronage of Arch
bishop Theobald whom he accompanied when the latter visited
Rome. AVhUe still only a deacon Becket received many
ecclesiastical benefices, including the Archdeaconry of Canter
bury. About 1 155 he was appointed Chancellor, through the
influence of Theobald, and thenceforward, until he became
archbishop enjoyed the most intimate friendship and confidence
of King Henry II. His magnificence and authority during this
period of his career exceeded that of the most powerful nobles,
and created much sensation in France whither he was dispatched
to demand the hand of the Princess Margaret for the king's
infant son. When offered the Archbishopric of Canterbury he
is said to have warned the king that his acceptance of the
office would entail his devotion to God and his order in prefer
ence to the interests of the king. He was however persuaded
to accept the primacy, and after being duly ordained priest was
consecrated archbishop by Henry of Blois, the Bishop of
AVinchester. From this moment onwards the entire character and attitude
of Becket was changed. He gave up his old pomp and mag
nificence and devoted himself to monastic severity and works
of charity : he furthermore insisted on resigning his temporal
offices, including that of chanceUor, and engaged on his lifelong
struggle with the king on the subject of the privUeges of the
clergy. Since the separation of the bishops from the secular courts
by the Conqueror, a gross systera of abuse had arisen under
which all persons who could read and write could claim ex
emption from the jurisdiction of the ordinary secular courts,
and insist on being tried only before their own ecclesiastical
tribunal. The spiritual courts could inflict no corporal punish
ment, and the result was that many guilty persons escaped
punishinent at their hands, and the benefit of clergy came to
mean a practical licence to commit crimes. This was naturally
in radical opposition to the judicial policy of Henry IL, and
raatters were brought to a climax by the scandalous case of
Philip Brois, a murderer, whom Becket rescued from the king's

The History of the See. 1 1 1
justice and condemned to a totally inadequate sentence. The
king determined to clear the question of all doubt, and to this
end drew up the famous constitutions of Clarendon in which
the clergy was subjected equally with the laity to the common
l.iws ofthe land. The archbishop took the oath, but refused
to sign the constitution, as he insisted on the immunity of the
clergy from all secular jurisdiction. On retiring from the
council he sought and obtained absolution from his oath at the
hands of the pope — Alexander III. — who. insecure in his own
position, and unable to dispense with the friendship of the
King of England, maintained a vacillating attitude in the
quarrel between Becket and Henr}-. The king now beu.in a
systematic persecution of the archbishop. He was pressed with
v.arious charges, and finally was ordered to account for the
moneys which he had received from the vacant See of Can
terbury and other ecclesiastical properties in his capacitv as
Chancellor. There seems sniall reason to doubt that the charge
was an unjust one, and was merely employed by the king as
an instrument of oflence against his political adversary. The
archbishop came before the council in all the pomp and panopl}-
of his office, and bearing his own cross, as he had been deserted
by most of his bishops, .-^fter an exciting scene he escaped
before any definite judgment was pronounced, and took refuge
in France, where he was hospitably and honourably received b}-
King Louis ATI. Here he continued his struggle with the
King of England. Henry seized upon the revenues of the Sec
of Canterbury, and banished all Becket's kinsmen, dependants,
and friends. Becket replied b}- solemnly denouncing the con
stitution of Ci-irendon, and excommunicating all who should
enforce them. After further contentions and fruitless negotiations
Henr}-is3ued a proclamation withdrawing his subjects' obedience
to the archbishop, enforced by an oath from all freemen. This
oath manv of the bishops refused to take. The pope, under
temporar}- pressure from Becket's enemies, authorized the
-\rchbishop of York to crown the \oung prince Henry : and
the supremacy of the See of Canterbury over .all England, being
thus called in question, became thenceforward one ofthe prin
cipal subjects of dispute between Becket and die king. The
action of the king was unpopular, and Henr.-. seeing that he
had gone too far consented to enter on some sort of recon
ciliation with Becket, who ventured to return to England. In

112 Canterbury Cathedral.
spite of the manifest danger in which he found himself, Becket,
on his return to England, continued his high-handed policy,
excommunicating the Archbishop of York and others of his
enemies. On hearing of this conduct Henry's fury got the
better of him, and his famous exclamation led to the departure
of the four knights to Canterbury. They demanded the ira
raediate removal of the excommunication. Becket was hurried
into the cathedral by the monks and murdered at the altar.
On his death he was immediately canonized, and many
miracles occurred at his torab. Henry himself was ordered to
do penance for his death. The fame of his shrine brought
countless pUgrims to Canterbury, which was thus for the first
time raised to a position of importance throughout the whole
of Europe.
Richard (ii 74-1184), Prior of Dover, was the next arch
bishop : he had been present at Becket's murder and helped to
convey his body to the crypt. He was somewhat indifferent to
spiritual matters, and was chiefly occupied in supporting the
supremacy of the See of Canterbury over that of York, a question
which led to at least one scene of unseemly disturbance in
which the Archbishop of York nearly lost his life. One result
of the quarrel was the conferring of the title of " Primate of
England," and " Primate of all England," on the Archbishops
of York and Canterbury respectively, by the pope.
Baldwin (i 185-1 igo) was the first monk of the Cistercian
order who held the See of Canterbury. He came into collision
with the Benedictine monks with whom the election to the
primacy had always rested, and whom he attempted in vain
to deprive of that privilege in favour of a body of canons
at Lambeth, which he purchased for the see. He accompanied
Richard Coeur de Lion to the Holy Land, and died in camp
before Acre,
Reginald Fitz Jocelyn, Bishop of Bath and WeUs, was
next elected, but died before receiving the pall,
Hubert 'Walter (i 193-1205) was born at West Derham,
in Norfolk, and educated by Ranuiph de Glanville : he was
made Bishop of Sahsbury, and accompanied Richard I, to
the Holy Land. AVhen archbishop he held the office of
Justiciary, but was removed from the latter by a Papal Bull
since it compelled him to judge " causes of blood." He became
chancellor, and conducted the duties of his high offices in

The History of the See. 113
an admirable manner. The laws enacted under Richard I.
are said to have been drawn up by him, and he completed the
house of regular canons at Lambeth, He was buried in his
own cathedral where his effigy still remains.
After some disputes on the subject of election, the Pope,
Innocent HI., was appealed to and decided in favour of
Stephen Langton (1207-1228) who was an Englishman
of spotless character and profound theological learning : he
was consecrated at Peterborough by Innocent III. The " fury of
King John knew no bounds," he drove the monks of Canter
bury to Flanders, and refused to allow Langton to set foot in
England. The result of this conduct was the publication of
the celebrated Interdict, followed soon after by the personal
excommunication of the king and the absolution of his subjects
from their oath of allegiance by the pope. Philip of France
was ordered to depose the English king, whose crown was de
clared forfeited. Hard pressed by his enemies, and having
alienated his people from his cause. King John was driven to
humiliating submission : he promised to receive Langton and
to restore the Church property, and finally, formally resigned his
crown into the hands of Pandulph, the Papal Legate, Arch
bishop Langton was received with honour, and King John
threw himself at his feet and reconciled himself with the Church.
He also ordered a great council to meet at St, Albans to settle
finally the restitution of the church property. Here, however,
he was met by an open declaration of the complaints of all
classes, Langton, though elevated to the priraacy, entirely
through the influence of the pope, proved hiraself a staunch
Englishman, and posed as the champion of national liberty
against the claims of both pope and king. It was he who pro
duced to the malcontents the Coronation Charter of Henry I.,
which the barons accepted as a declaration of the views and
demands of their party. He was at the head of the barons in
their struggle with the king, and his name appears as that of the
first witness to the famous Magna Charta, John at once
applied to the pope, and obtained from him the abrogation of
the charter and a papal order to Langton to excommunicate
the king's enemies. This he refused to do. John overran the
country with foreign mercenaries, and his cruelties eventually
resulted in the barons summoning Louis of France to their
assistance, Langton was suraraoned to Rorae to attend the

114 Canterbury Cathedral.
Lateran Council, and was detained there until the deaths of
Innocent III. and King John, after which he was permitted to
return to his see and passed the remainder of his life in com
parative tranquillity, siding strongly with the national party under
Hubert de Burgh. He presided at the translation of Becket's
remains from the crypt to Trinity Chapel ; he rebuilt much of
the archiepiscopal palace at Canterbury and he lies buried in
his own cathedral. He was the first who divided the Bible into
chapters. Richard de 'Wethershed (1229-1231), Chancellor of
Lincoln, was next appointed, but died on his way back from
Italy. After three more elections by the monks which were all
set aside by the pope, Honorius III., the monks consented to
accept Edmund Rich (1234-1240), treasurer of Salisbury; he
was the son of a merchant of Abingdon, and was educated at
Oxford University, He had a great reputation for learning
and piety. He came into disfavour with the king by his
opposition to the marriage of his sister Eleanor to Simon de
Montfort. His sympathies were all on the side of the national
party : he procured the downfall of Des Roches and main
tained the struggle against the foreign favourites and papal
exactions for which the reign of Henry III. is notorious. At
length he retired to the Cistercian Abbey at Pontigny, which
had formerly sheltered Becket and Langton, in despair at the
condition of England and of her Church. It was during his
time that the great movements of the Dominican and Franciscan
friars reached England and though the archbishop never
actuaUy joined their ranks, he was doubtless much influenced
by their teaching and example, and was himself an itinerant
preacher after leaving Oxford. He was canonized six years
after his death. He was succeeded by
Boniface of Savoy (1241-1270), one ofthe king's uncles,
whose violence and warlike bearing made hira a strange con
trast to his predecessor. His term of office was one long history
of papal exactions from the English clergy, and of the tyranny
of foreigners, creatures of Henry IIL, over the rights of the
nation. The revenues of the See of Canterbury and the enormous
sums wrung from the clergy were squandered on foreign wars,
and the archbishop himself resided abroad, Boniface took
a leading part in the spoliation of the Enghsh Church :

The History of tlie See. Ii 5
he was one of the king's councU at the so-called "Mad
Parliament," Robert Kilwardby (1273-1278) was nominated by the
pope, after a fruitless election of their subprior by the monks.
He was a very learned Dominican, educated at Oxford and
Paris. John Peckam (1279-1292) was, like his predecessoi,
nominated by the pope after an education at Oxford and Paris ;
he also was a Franciscan, He was at first a staunch supporter
of King Edward I., whom he accompanied to Wales. It is
to be regretted that he supported the king in his cruelties to
the conquered AVelsh and in the expulsion of the Jews. He
firmly defended the privileges of his see against first, the Arch
bishop of York, and secondly, the king. It was in his time (1279)
that the famous Statute of Mortmain was passed. The exactions
of the papacy had been considerably lessened, and the Church
was beginning to recover its wealth and national character,
Peckam died at Mortlake, and was buried in the transept of
the martyrdom at Canterbury, where his tomb and effigy still
remain. Robert 'Winchelsea (1292-1313) was next nominated,
king and clergy being unanimous on this occasion, and
at once proceeded to Rome, where he remained some time
before returning to England. Meanwhile, Edward I. had
demanded the enormous subsidy of one half their annual
revenue from the clergy. AA'inchelsea is said to have been
responsible for the celebrated Bull Clericis laicis issued by
Boniface VIII. in defence of the property of the Church. On
his return home the archbishop continued to lead the clergy
in their opposition to the king's demands, and paid the penalty
in the seizure of his whole estate for the king's use. He retired
with a single chaplain to a country parsonage, discharged the
humble duties of a priest, and lived on the alms of his flocks.
When the war broke out Edward sought to propitiate the clergy
by restoring the archbishop to his barony, and summoning
him to a parliament at Westminster, where the clergy aban
doned their own ground of ecclesiastical immunity from taxa
tion and took shelter under the liberties of the realm, thus
identifying themselves with the popular cause in their opposi
tion to the exactions of the king. On his return from Flanders
Edward accused AA'inchelsea of conspiring against him in his

II 6 Canterbury Cathedral.
absence, and the archbishop was again deprived of all his pos
sessions, and, after many privations, escaped to France. •
On the accession of Edward II, he was recalled and restored
to his honour, but subsequently became again the centre of
revolution, and hiraself excommunicated the king's favourite,
Gaveston, He nevertheless continued undisturbed in the dis
charge of his office until his death. During his prosperous
years Winchelsea was famous for his charities and liberality.
After his death he was regarded as a saint, and his shrine in
the south-east transept was reraoved by the commissioners of
Henry VIII. at the same time as that of Saint Thomas a
Becket. 'Walter Reynolds (1313-1327) was appointed by the
pope at the request of the king, who had set aside an
election of the monks. He was tutor and subsequently
Chancellor to Edward II. After Gaveston's death he became
Keeper of the Great Seal. He obtained many bulls of privilege
from Rome. In spite of the favour he had received frora
Edward II. he deserted him in his troubles. His tomb remains
in the south aisle of the choir.
Simon Mepeham (1328-1333) was elected by the monks
and consecrated at Avignon. He was opposed in his visita
tion by Grandisson, the powerful Bishop of Exeter, who refused
him admission to his cathedral by force. He was unsupported
by the pope, and is said to have died of a broken heart in
consequence. His tomb forms the screen of St. Anselm's
Chapel. John Stratford (1333-1348) was appointed bythe pope
at the request of Edward III. He was educated at Merton
College, Oxford, and became Archdeacon of Lincoln and
Bishop of Winchester. He was made Lord Treasurer by
Edward II. , to whose cause he remained faithful during the
short-lived triumph of Isabella and the desertion of the arch
bishop, Edward III, made him Lord Chancellor, in which
office he was succeeded by his own brother, Robert. Stratford
had endeavoured to dissuade the king from entering on the
French war, and the king, hard pressed for money, had the
archbishop arraigned for high treason. Stratford fled from
Lambeth to Canterbury, where he excommunicated his ac
cusers. He subsequently returned to London and sheltered
himself, not under his ecclesiastical immunity, but under his

The Histbry of the See. 1 1 7
privUeges of parliament as a member of the House of Peers, a
significant landmark in the history of the English Church.
The quarrel between the king and the archbishop was amicably
settled. Stratford held exalted opinions on the subject of clerical
suoeriority, and his arraignment, without the support of the
pope, was a decisive blow against the power of the Church.
In his time, also, a layman was for the first time appointed
to the office of ChanceUor, and Edward III. wrote a letter to
the pope protesting against the frequent papal nominations
to vacant English sees, which was followed up by the Statute
of Provisors in 1350. Stratford died at Mayfield in Sussex,
and was buried in his own cathedral, where his monument
still remains.
Thomas Bradwardine (1349) was consecrated after
election by the monks of Christ Church after the death of
John Ufford, the king's nominee, who died of the Black Death
before consecration. Bradwardine had been the king's con
fessor. He was educated at Merton College, and was one of
the best geometers of his time, besides being the author of an
important tract against Pelagianisra.
Simon Islip (1349-1366), the king's secretary, built most
of the palace at Mayfield, and completed that at Maidstone.
He founded and endowed Canterbury Hall, now forming one
of the quadrangles of Christ Church, Oxford, in which he en
deavoured to bring together the monastic and secular priests.
Simon Langham (1366-1368) had been Bishop of Ely,
Treasurer of England, and Lord Chancellor, and also Prior
and Abbot of AVestminster. On being appointed a cardinal by
the Pope Urban V., he resigned his archbishopric, the tem
poral powers and revenues of which had been seized by the
king, and died at Avignon.
William Whittlesea (1368-1374), a nephew of Islip,
was translated from Worcester.
Simon of Sudbury (1375-1381) was Chancellor of Salis
bury and Bishop of London, whence he was transferred to
Canterbury. As chanceUor he proposed the famous poll tax,
which supplied the motive for Wat Tyler's rebellion, and, as
archbishop, caused to be imprisoned the priest, John Ball.
He was captured in the tower, and beheaded during AVat
Tyler's rebellion ; his body was eventually removed to Canter-

1 1 S Canterbury Cathedral.
bury, and buried in the south aisle of the choir. He buflt
the west gate at Canterbury, and a great part of the city
walls. William Courtenay (i 381-1396) was, like his prede
cessor, translated from the See of London. In a synod he
condemned twenty-four articles in the writing of VVycUffe, who
was unjustly held responsible for the recent rebelUon. Much
persecution of Wycliffe's followers ensued. Courtenay suc
ceeded in establishing his right to visit his province, although
opposed by the Bishops of Exeter and Salisbury. His monu
ment adjoins that of the Black Prince,
Thomas Arundel (1396-1414) was translated from the
See of York. He was involved in the conspiracy for which his
brother, the Earl of Arundel, was executed, and was himself
exUed, He was restored after Bolingbroke's success, and
received the abdication of Richard II. In 1400 the statute
De haeretico comburendo was enacted, and Arundel began to
put it in force against the Lollards, He conderaned Sawtree,
the first English Protestant rnartyr, to be burnt, and took a
prominent part in the attack upon Sir John Oldcastle. In
the parliament of 1407 he defended the clergy against the
attempts ofthe Commons to shift the burden of taxation upon
the wealth of the Church.
Henry Chichele (1414-1443) was educated at New Col
lege, Oxford. He became successively Archdeacon of Dorset
and of Salisbury, and Bishop of St. David's. He supported
Henry V. in his unjust claim to the ciown of France, and
promised large subsidies from the Church for its support.
There is no doubt that this was a successful attempt at diverting
the popular attention from threatened atterapts on the wealth
of the Church. He was reproached by the Pope Martin V.
with lack of zeal in the interests of the papacy in not pro
curing the reversal of the statutes of provisors and of prae
munire by which, amongst others, the papal power was held in
check in England. Among his foundations are the colleges of
St. Bernard (afterwards St. John's), and All Souls, at Oxford,
and a library at Canterbury for the raonks of Christ Church.
In his old age he was stricken with remorse for his sin in
instigating the French war, and applied to the pope for per
mission to resign his see. Before a reply was received the
archbishop died, after holding the see for nearly thirty years, a

The History of the See. 1 19
longer time than any of his predecessors. His tomb, con
structed by himself during his lifetirae, is in the north aisle of
the choir, and is kept in repair by the FeUows of All Souls.
John Stafford (1443.1452), Bi.shop of Bath and Wells,
was nominated by the pope with the king's consent on the
recommendation of Chichele. He ajso held the office of
chancellor for ten years, but was undistinguished in either
office. He lies in the south aisle of the choir.
John Kemp (1452-1454), Archbishop of York, succeeded.
He was educated at Merton College, and was Archdeacon of
Durham and Bishop of Rochester, Chichester, and London.
He died at an advanced age, after a very brief primacy, and
was buried in the north choir aisle.
Thomas Bourchier (1454-1486), Bishop of Ely, was next
elected by the monks. He was a great-grandson of Edward III.
He was educated at Oxford, of which university he became
chancellor ; he subsequently held the sees of Worcester and
Ely. His lot fell upon difficult times, and he endeavoured
to maintain a position of neutrality in the struggle between the
two Roses, and at last effected their union by perforraing the
marriage of Henry VII. with Elizabeth of York. He died
soon after, and his tomb remains at Canterbury. He was
bishop for fifty-one years, out of which he held the primacy
for thirty-two years. He actively encouraged education, and
helped to introduce printing into this country.
John Morton (1486-1500) was, like his predecessor, trans
lated from Ely. He was educated at Balliol College, Richg,rd
of Gloucester, after making vain overtures to him, renioved
him from his office and committed him to the Tower, and
afterwards to Brecknock Castle, whence he escaped and joined
the Earl of Richmond on the Continent. After Bosworth he
was recalled, and on Bourchier's death was raade archbishop.
In 1493 he obtained a cardinal's hat. In 1487 he was raade
Lord Chancellor, and continued for thirteen years, untU his
death, in this office and in the confidence of the king, whom
he assisted in his system for controlling the great feudal barons
and in the exaction of " benevolence." His famous dilemma
propounded to the merchants was known as " Morton's fork."
It was he who prevailed upon the Pope to canonize Archbishop
Anselm. His tomb, constructed during his lifetime, may be
seen in the crypt of his cathedral.

I20 Canterbury Cathedral.
Henry Dean (1501-1503) was translated from SaUsbury;
he held the Great Seal, with the title of Lord Keeper, after
the death of Morton.
'William Warham (1503-1532) was born 0/ a good
Hampshire family, and educated at Winchester and New
College. He was sent to Burgundy on a mission to protest
against the support of Perkin Warbeck by the Duchess
Margaret. He held the offices of Lord Keeper, Lord Chan
cellor, Master of the RoUs, and Bishop of London. He
crowned King Henry VIIL, and protested from the first
against his marriage with Catherine. He was a great rival of
Wolsey, and retired from the court until the fall of the cardinal.
In the disputes of the time he embraced the side of the old
religion, and gave some countenance to EUzabeth Barton, the
Nun of Kent. The last part of his life was devoted to the
cares of his diocese and to letters, which he cultivated dili
gently. He was a personal friend of Erasmus, whom he induced
to visit England. His tomb remains in the Transept of the
Martyrdom. Thomas Cranmer (1533-1556) may be considered the
first Protestant archbishop. From the first he would only
accept the archbishopric as coming from the king without
intervention of the pope. He was born of a good famUy in
Nottinghamshire, and was educated at Cambridge, where he
became fellow of Jesus. He was first brought to the king's
notice by his suggestion that the question of Catherine's
divorce might be settled without reference to the pope. The
king set him to write on the subject, and he was rewarded
with the Archdeaconry of Taunton. In 1530 he accompanied
the Earl of Wiltshire to the papal court, and was there offered
preferment by the pope. He married the niece of Osiander,
who had himself written on the subject of the divorce. On
Warhara's death he succeeded hira in the primacy, and returned
to England, As archbishop, Cranmer pronounced the divorce
against Catherine and crowned Anne Boleyn, and was sponsor
to the Princess EUzabeth, whom he baptized. After Anne
Boleyn's trial he pronounced her marriage void, and acted
as her confessor in the Tower, Throughout his primacy
Cranmer actively supported the reforming party. In 1539
he was one ofthe coraraissioners for inspecting into the matter
of religion. In 1545 he was accused of heresy by the opposite

The History of the See. 121
party led by Gardiner, and would have fallen but tor the
support of the king, who befriended Cranmer throughout his
life, and sent for him to attend his death-bed. Great changes
had occurred at Canterbury. Becket's shrine had been de
stroyed, and a dean and twelve canons were established in
place of the old monastery of Christ Church, which was dis
solved. Under Henry's will Cranmer was appointed one oi
the Regents of the Kingdom and Executors of the Will, and it
was he who crowned Edward VI. who, like Elizabeth, was his
godchUd. Throughout the reign of Edward, Cranmer earnestly
supported the cause of the Reformation. The Six Articles
were repealed and the first Book of Common Prayer was issued
On the death-bed of Edward, Cranmer signed the king's will,
in which he appointed Lady Jane Grey his successor. On
the accession of Queen Mary he was at once ordered to
appear before the council and within a month was committed
to the Tower. In November, 1553, he was pronounced guilty
of high treason, but was pardoned on this count, and it was
decided to proceed against him as a heretic. In 1554 he
was sent to Oxford, with Latimer and Ridley, where he remained
two years in prison and was condemned as a heretic by two
successive commissions. After the death of Latimer and
Ridley, Cranmer was degraded and deprived. It was after this
that, in the hopes of saving his life, he made his famous re
cantation. He was brought into St, Mary's, and in his address
to the people withdrew his recantation and declared that his
right hand which had signed it should be the first to burn.
He was hurried to the place of execution opposite Balliol
College, and, when the pyre was lighted, held his right hand in
the flames till it was consumed, and died, calling on the Lord
Jesus to receive his spirit,
Reginald Pole (1556-1558) a near connection of Henry
VIII. then succeeded. He was born in Worcestershire and
was educated by the Carthusians at Shene and at Magdalen
College, Oxford, He was early advanced to the Deanery of
Exeter and other preferments. On leaving Oxford he visited
the universities of France and Italy and returned to England
in 1525, Henry attempted in vain to secure Pole's support on
the divorce question, and on the appearance of his book, " Pro
Unitate Ecclesiastica," he was sent for by the king, and when
he refused to come, an act of attainder was passed against him.

122 Canterbury Cathedral.
In 1537 Pole was induced to accept a cardinal's hat. It is
said that he was most unwilling to do so on the ground that he
contemplated marrying the Princess Mary and seating hiraself
on the English throne. He took an active part in proraoting
the Pilgrimage of Grace and the second rising in 1541. He
remained in Italy until the deiih of Edward VL On tne
accession of Mary he returned to England as papal legate after
the (juestion of his marriage with Mary had been again discussed
and set aside through the influence ofthe Emperor Charles V.
On Cranmer's execution Pole was consecrated Archbishop of
Canterbury. As legate he absolved the Parliament and made
a soleran tntry into London. For the next three years Pile
was in sole raanageraent of the ecclesiastical affairs of England,
and was consenting to the persecutions which disgraced the
reign of Mary. He was at one time deprived of his legatine
authority by Pope Paul IV. who had wished forthe elevation of
Gardiner to the primacy. The archbishop subraitt-^d to the
pope and was again appointed legate shortly before his death
which occurred about the same time as that of Mary. He was
buried in the corona at Canterbury, where his tomb yet remains.
He was the last Archbishop of Canterbury to be buried in his
own cathedral, until the recent interment of Dr. Benson,
Matthew Parker (1559-1575) was born of an old Norfolk
family and educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,
Wolsey invited him to become a fellow of Christ Church, his
new foundation at Oxford, but this he declined. After various
other offices he was appointed to the Deanery of Lincoln by
Edward VI. On the accession of Mary he was deprived of
all his offices as a married priest, and lived privately until
the accession of Elizabeth, who made him archbishop. He
was duly elected by the new Chapter of Canterbury, and
held his post during a most difficult time with marvellous tact
and judgraent. Religious toleration for its own sake was an
idea yet unknown, but Parker directed that great caution
should be observed in adrainistering the oath of supremacy to
those of the clergy who still favoured the old religion. It is
much to his credit that he managed to preserve such good
relations with the queen in face of Elizabeth's prejudice
against the raarriage of the clergy. He was an enlightened
patron of learning, and did rauch to encourage all branches
of art.

The History of the See. 123
Edmund Grindall (1576-1583) was born at St. Bees and
educated at Cambridge, where he became Master of Pembroke
Hall. He was Chaplain to Edward VI. During the troubles
of Mary's reign he lived in Germany, and on Elizabeth's
acce.-s.on becarae the first Protestant Bishop of London.
Thence he was removed to York and in 1575 was appointed as
archbishop. He was inclined to view the Puritans with more
leniency than his predecessor and always refused to forbid the
prophesyings, or meetings of the clergy for discussing the
meaning of scripture, which Elizabeth disliked so much, and
was in consequence deprived of his jurisdiction. He went
blind before his death and was buried at Croydon.
John Whitgift (1583-1604; was born at Great Grimsby and
educated at Cambridge, vvhere John Bradford was his tutor :
he became one of Elizabeth's chaplains and Master of Pembroke
HaU and of Trinity. He wrote an answer to Cartwright's
" Admonition " and was preferred to the Deanery of Lincoln
and Bishopric of AVorcester. After Grindall's death he was
translated to Canterbury. From this date his severity towards
the Puritans increased. He insisted that every minister of the
Church should subscribe to three points : the queen's supre
macy, the Common Prayer, and the Thirty-nine Articles, and
enforced his principle with much vigour, contrary to the
advice of the more enlightened Lord Burleigh. The severity
of these measures called into existence the "Martin Marprelate''
libels and produced much dissatisfaction and suffering araong
the more Puritanical clergy, which was by no means lessened
by the accession of James, who, on his way to London rejected
a petition signed by more than one thousand Puritan ministers.
AVhitgift was buried at Croydon where he founded a school
and hospital.
Richard Bancroft (1604-1610) was born near Manchester
and educated at Jesus College, Oxford. He became one of
Elizabeth's chaplains, and Bishop of London, whence he was
translated to Canterbury. He was even more severe than his
predecessor against the Puritans, and was a most stern champion
of conformity. He advocated the king's absolute power be
yond the law and attempted to establish episcopacy in Scotland.
He died at Lambeth and was buried in the parish church
there. George Abbot (1610-1633) was born at Guildford and

124 Cartterbury Cathedral.
educated at Balliol CoUege, He assisted in estabUshing union
between the Scotch and English Churches and was rewarded
with the Bishopric of Lichfield and Coventry, Thence he was
translated to London, and on the death of Bancroft was ap
pointed to the priraacy. In contrast to his predecessor he
connived at some irregularities of discipline in the Puritanical
clergy. At the same time he was a zealous Calvinist and hater
of popery, and disapproved of those who preached up the
arbitrary power of the king. These latter views rendered him
unpopular with the courtiers and the party cf Laud. The
accidental death of a keeper at the hands of the archbishop
was utilized against him by his enemies and he was with
difficulty restored to his archiepiscopal functions. On refusing
to licence a sermon by Dr, Sibthorpe, asserting the king's
light to tax his subjects without their consent, he was obliged to
retire to his palace of Ford, near Canterbury. He assisted at
the coronation of Charles I., but never managed to win the favour
of that monarch. He died at Croydon, and was buried at
Guildford, where his tomb and effigy stUl remain.
'William Laud (1633-1645) was born at Reading, and
educated at St. John's College, Oxford. At the university he
soon becarae conspicuous for his hatred of the Puritans and
his devotion to High Church doctrines. He became President
of St. John's in spite of the opposition of Archbishop Abbot.
He became successively one of the royal chaplains. Dean of
Gloucester, Bishop of St. Davids, Bath and Wells, and London.
He acted as Dean of Westminster at Charles I.'s coronation.
He was made Dean of the Chapel Royal, Chancellor of Oxford,
and a Privy Councillor of Scotland. On Abbot's death he was
elevated to the primacy, and is said to have refused the offer
of a cardinal's hat. As archbishop he was responsible for the
general Church persecution which produced his own unpopu
larity and downfall, and was one of the main causes of the
Civil War. Prosecutions for non-conformity were enforced with
the utmost severity. The courts of Star Chamber and High
Commission were brought to bear on the Puritans, and Laud
becarae universally detested. The superiority of the king over
the law was openly preached, and the Irish and Scotch Puritans
were alienated by the severity of the measures taken against
them. On the common idea of popular government, the
Puritans were driven into coalition and identification with the

The History of the See. 125
national party, while the king, court, bishops, and judges re
presented the High Church movement and the doctrine of the
king's absolute authority. In 1639 the palace at Lambeth was
attacked, but the archbishop was removed to Whitehall and
escaped for the time. In 1640, however, he was impeached
for high treason, and confined in the Tower. Various charges
were brought against him and fines inflicted, and his property
vvas seized and sold or destroyed for the use of the common
wealth. The charge of high treason could not be legally estab
lished, and a bill of attainder was passed against him in 1645.
He was eventually beheaded on Tower HUl, at the age of
seventy-one years ; his remains were interred at Barking, but
subsequently removed to the chapel of St. John's College at
Oxford, His conduct has been diff'erently judged by his friends
and enemies. He buUt the greater part of the inner quadrangle
of St, John's, and presented a large collection of iraportant
manuscripts to the university. In his time the archiepiscopal
palace at Canterbury was ruined by the Puritans, and on the
Restoration an Act was passed dispensing the archbishops from
restoring it. From this time they have had no official residence
in Canterbury,
William Juxon (1660-1663) '^^^^ born at Chichester, and
educated, like his predecessor, at St, John's CoUege, Oxford,
where he attracted the attention of Laud. He became succes
sively President of St. John's, Dean of Worcester, Bishop of
Hereford, and Bishop of London. He also became Lord
Treasurer, a post which had been held by no churchman since
the days of Henry VIL, and was the last instance of any of the
great offices of State being filled by an ecclesiastic. He attended
Charles I, on the occasion of his execution. On the Restora-
tipn he became Archbishop of Canterbury, and died three
years afterwards. He lies in the chapel of St, John's College.
Gilbert Sheldon (1663-1677) was educated at Oxford,
and became Fellow and Warden of All Souls' College. He was
a strong supporter of the king during the Civil AVar, He was de
prived of his wardenship and imprisoned by the Parliamentarian
commissioners when they visited Oxford, He retired to Derby
shire until the Restoration, when he was restored to his warden-
ship ; he was made Dean of the Chapel Royal, and succeeded
Juxon in the See of London. In 1661 he assisted at the dis
cussion of the liturgy between the Presbyterian and Episcopal

126 Canterbury Cathedral.
divines known as the Savoy Conference, In 1663 he succeeded
Juxon in the primacy, and in 1667 was elected ChanceUor of
Oxford. He buflt the Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford, which
building is an early work of Sir Christopher AVren's. He
offended the court party by his open disapproval of the king's
morals, and retired in 1669 to his palace at Croydon, where he
spent most of the remainder of his life. He was buried at
the parish church at Croydon, where his torab and effigy still
remain. William Sancroft (1678-1691) was born at Fresingfield,
in Suffolk, and educated at St. Edmundsbury and at Cam
bridge, where he becarae Fellow of Emmanuel College. He
was deprived of his fellowship in 1649, and retired to the
Continent, where he remained until the restoration of Charles
II. He then returned to England, and subsequently became
Master of Eraraanuel College, and Dean of York, and of
St. Paul's, and Archdeacon of Canterbury, and was raised to
the primacy by Charles IL, whose death-bed he attended.
In the reign of James he was at the head of the seven bishops
who presented the famous petition against the Declaration of
Indulgence, for which they were committed to the Tower,
tried, and acquitted amidst iramense popular excitement. After
James's flight, Sancroft acted as the head of the council of
peers who took upon themselves the administration of the
government of the country. His plan was to retain Jaraes
nominally on the throne, while placing the reins of government
in the hands of a regent. He refused to take the oath of
allegiance to AVilliam and Mary, considering himself bound by
his former oath to James II. He was accordingly suspended
and deprived, and when ejected by law from Lambeth he re
tired to his small ancestral property at Fresingfield, where he
died and was buried,
John Tillotson (1691-1694) was born of Puritan parents
at Sowerby, in Yorkshire, and was educated at Cambridge.
During the Protectorate he had followed the teachings of the
Presbyterians, but on the Restoration he submitted to the Act
of Uniformity. He held among other posts those of Preacher
at Lincoln's Inn and Dean of Canterbury, and enjoyed the in
timate confidence of William and Mary. On the deprivation
of Sancroft he was reluctantly induced to accept the primacy,
which he was destined to hold only for some three years. He

The History of the See. 127
died at Lambeth after this short term of office, and was buried
in the Church of St, Lawrence, Jewry. As a theologian Tillot
son was remarkable for his latitudinarianism, and he was one
of the finest preachers who have ever lived.
Thomas Tenison was born at Cottenham, in Cambridge
shire, and educated at Cambridge. His fame as a preacher
procured him the Archdeaconry of London and the Bishopric of
Lincoln, in which diocese he did admirable work. He died at
Lambeth, and lies buried in the parish church there.
William 'Wake (1716-1737) was educated at Christ
Church, Oxford, and became Dean of Exeter and Bishop of
Lincoln. He was gifted with great learning, and took an active
part in the controversy with Atterbury on the subject of the
rights of convocation.
John Potter (1737-1747) was the son of a linendraper at
AVakefield, in Yorkshire, and was educated at University
College, Oxford, becoming Fellow of Lincoln and afterwards
Bishop of Oxford. He was a learned divine and writer. Like
his predecessor he was buried in the parish church at Croydon.
Thomas Herring (1747-1757) and
Matthew^ Hutton (1757-1758) were both translated to
Canterbury from York.
Thomas Seeker (1758-1768) was born of dissenting
parents near Newark. At the instance of Butler, afterwards
the famous Bishop of Durham, he joined the Church of
England and abandoned the study of medicine, and took holy
orders. He held many posts in succession, including the
Bishoprics of Bristol and Oxford. He died and was buried at
Lambeth, where his portrait, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, still
remains. Frederick Cornwallis (1768-1783) was the seventh son of
Charles, 4th Lord Cornwallis. He was consecrated Bishop
of Lichfield and Coventry in 1750, and in 1766 became Dean
of St. Paul's. On October 6th, 1768, he was enthroned Arch
bishop of Canterbury. In Hasted's " Kent" we find him com
mended highly for having abolished that "disagreeable dis
tinction of his chaplains dining at a separate table." More
renowned for his affabUity and courteous behaviour than for
learning, he entertained at times with semi-regal state ; but
once fell into some disfavour because " his lady was in the
habit of holding routs on Sundays."

128 Canterbury Cathedr'al.
John Moore (1783-1805) became Dean of Canterbury in
1771. He was consecrated Bishop of Bangor in 1775, and
thence translated to the archiepiscopal see in 1783. Although
a promoter of Sunday-schools and foreign missions, he did not
escape reproach for paying undue regard to the interests of his
family. It has been well said that during his tenure of office
and that of his immediate successor, the sinecures and plu
ralities held by the highest clergy were worthy of the mediseval
period. Charles Manners-Sutton (1805-1828) was grandson of
John, 3rd Duke of Rutland. In 1791 he was made Dean of
Peterborough, and Bishop of Norwich in 1792. In 1794 he
was appointed Dean of Windsor, and became Archbishop of
Canterbury in 1805 owing to Court influence, which out
weighed the hostUity of Pitt, who wished to appoint his own
nominee. As a prelate he was distinguished for many virtues
and qualities befitting his office. He was president at the
foundation of the National Society, and worked strenuously
to advance the cause of education which it represents. AVhile
he held the primacy a fund which had been accumulated from
the sale of Croydon Palace was applied to the purchase of
Addington, where he lies buried.
'William Howley (1828-1848) was tutor to the Prince of
Orange (afterwards WUliam II. of Holland) then successively
Regius Professor of Divinity of Oxford, Bishop of London,
1813, and archbishop 1823. He played a prominent part
in politics and state ceremonials and marked the transition
between the new regime, and the old princely days of the
archbishoprics. John Bird Sumner (1848-1862) was brother of Dr. C.
Sumner, Bishop of Winchester. In 1823 he was appointed
Bishop of Chester, and in 1848 was promoted to the See of
Canterbury. He published a large number of works, and by
his activity and simplicity of life is " remembered everywhere
as realizing that ideal of the Apostolic ministry which he had
traced in his earliest and most popular work." ^
Charles Thomas Longley (1862-1868) was the son of
a Recorder of Rochester. In 1836 he was consecrated the first
bishop ofthe newly founded See of Ripon, translated to Durham
¦^ Diocesan Histories : " Canterbury," by R. C. Jenkins, M.A. 1880.

The History of the See. 129
in 1856, became Archbishop of York in i860, and in 1862 was
transferred to Canterbury. Perhaps the most memorable in
cidents in a memorable career are the Pan-Anglican Synod
held at Lambeth in 1867, and his establishment of the Diocesan
Society for Church Building.
Archibald Campbell Tait (1868-1882) was son of Crau
furd Tait, Esq., a Scots attorney. He succeeded Arnold
as Master of Rugby in 1842, and became Dean of Carlisle in
1850. He presided over the Pan-AngUcan Synod in 1867, and
in 1868 succeeded to the archbishopric. "Memorials of
Catherine and Craufurd Tait " is a book so well known that
even the barest sketch of his career here would be superfluous.
Edward 'White Benson (1882-1896), son of Edward
White Benson, Esq., of Birmingham Heath, was a master of
Rugby. He was Head Master of WeUington from 1858 to
1872, Prebendary and Chancellor of Lincoln in 1872, was con
secrated the first bishop of the newly created See of Truro in
1877, and translated to Canterbury in 1883. He was buried in
the Cathedral on October 16th, 1896, in a secluded corner of
the north aisle, immediately under the north-west tower, the
first archbishop who was interred in the cathedral of the metro
politan see since Reginald Pole in 1558.
Frederick Temple (1896- ), the present archbishop,
is son of the late Major Octavius Temple. He was Head
Master of Rugby, 1858 to 1869, consecrated the sixty-first
Bishop of Exeter in 1869, translated to London in 1885, and
to Canterbury in 1896. His share in the famous "Essays and
Reviews," and the manv active works he has instituted, are too
well known to need comment.

CHlSWICK PRESS :^CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.

Plans of
CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL,
At Different Periods.

REFERENCES TO FIG. 2.
.Altars.
E. Holy Cross.
F. St. Mary the Virgin.
H. St. iWichael's (below).
All Saints (above).
M. St. Benedict (below).
St. Blaise (above).
X. High Altar.

Fig. 2. The Cathedral in 1774. The
lighter shading shows the conjectural
termination of Lanfranc's church (from
Willis).

Fig. I. Plan of Saxon Cathedral
(from Willis).

"=ff r

REFERENCES TO FIG. 3.
EXTERIOR.
A. West Door.
B. South Door.
CC. Nave.
D. South Aisle.
E. North Aisle.
G. Tower, N.W.
H. Tower, S.W.
J. Transept, S.W.
K. Martyrdom, or
Transept, N.W.
L. Central Tower.
M. Choir.
N. South Aisle.
o. North Aisle.
p. Transept, S.E.
Q. Transept, N.E.
E. Presbytery.
F. Altar.
T. Trinity Chapel.
u. Aisle ditto.
\v. Corona.
X. Anselm's Tower.
V. Vestry.
z. Treasury.

Fig. 3. Plan of Canterbury Cathedral at the present time.

19.

23-24.2S-
26.27.
28. 29.3S-
38. 39-

Doorway to Cloister.
,, to Warrior's Chapel.
, , to Dean's Chapel.
,, to Crypt.
,, to Cloister.
Warham's Mt.
Peckham's Mt.
Staircase.Lady Holland's Mt.
12 and 13. Stairs.
Walter's Mt.
Reynold's Mt.
Kemp's Mt.
Stratford's Mt.
Sudbury's Mt.
Mepeham's Mt.
Black Prince's Mt.
Courtney's Mt.
Chatillon's Mt.
Theobald's Mt.
Pole's Mt.
Dean Wotton's Mt.
Henry IV.'s Mt.
Henry IV.'s Chantry.
Bourchier's Mt.
Chichele's Mt.
Stairs to Crypt.
Library.
Chapter-House. Cloister Square.

Bell's Cathedral Series.
EDITED BY
GLEESON WHITE and E. F. STRANGE.
In specially designed cloth cover, croivn Zvo, is. 6d. each.
Now Ready.
-CANTERBURY, By Hartley Withers, 2nd Edition, revised.
36 Illustrations,
SALISBURY, By Gleeson White, 2nd Edition, revised,
50 Illustrations,
CHESTER. By Charles Hiatt. 24 Illustrations.
ROCHESTER. By G. H. Palmer, B.A. 38 Illustrations.
OXFORD. By Rev. Percy Dearmer, M.A. 34 Illustrations.
EXETER. By Percy Addleshaw, B.A. 35 Illustrations.
-WINCHESTER. By P. W. Sergeant. 5° Illustrations,
LICHFIELD. By A, B. Clifton, 42 Illustrations,
NORWICH, By C. H, B, Quennell, 38 Illustrations.
PETERBOROUGH. By Rev. W. D. Sweeting. 51 Illustrations.
HEREFORD. By A. Hugh Fisher, A.R.E. 34 Illustrations.
LINCOLN. By A. F. Kendrick, B.A. 46 Illustrations.
WELLS. By Rev. Percy Dearmer, M.A. 43 Illustrations.
-SOUTHWELL. By Rev. Arthur Dimock, M.A. 37 Illustrations.
„ GLOUCESTER. By H. J. L. J, MassiI, M.A,
In the Press.
' DURHAM. By J. E. Bvgate. | ¦TORK. By A. Glutton Brock.

"ST. DAVID'S. By Philip Robson.
'%\N. By T. D. Atkinson, A.R.I.B.A.
'VifORCESTER. By E. F. Stk.inge.

Prepa^tig. r /-.TTT,

CHICHESTER. By H. C. Coelette,
A.R.I.B.A.
WESTMINSTER. By Charles Hiatt.
ST. ALBANS. RIPON. ST. PAUL'S. By Rev. Arthur
Dimock, M.A.
CARLISLE. By C. K. Eley. BRISTOL.
Uniform with, above Series, now Ready.
ST. MARTIN'S CHURCH, CANTERBURY. By the Rev. Canon Routledge.
BEVERLEY MINSTER. By Charles Hiatt.
Opinions of the Press.
"For the purpose at which they aim they are admirably done, and
there are few visitants to any of our noble shrines who will not enjoy their
visit the better for being furnished with one of these delightful books,
which can be slipped into the pocket and carried with ease, and is yet
distinct and legible. ... A volume such as that on Canterbury is exactly
what we want, and on our next visit we hope to have it with us. It is
thoroughly helpful, and the views of the fair city and its noble cathedral
are beautiful. Both volumes, moreover, will serve more than a temporary
purpose, and are trustworthy as well as delightful." — Notes and Queries.
"We have so frequently in these columns urged the want of cheap,
well -illustrated, and well-written handbooks to our cathedrals, to take
the place of the out-of-date publications of local booksellers, that we are
glad to hear that they have been taken in hand by Messrs George Bell
& Sons." — St. Jameses Gazette.
"Visitors to the cathedral cities of England must often have felt the
need of some work dealing with the history and antiquities of the city
itself, and the architecture and associations of the cathedral, more portable
than the elaborate monographs which have been devoted to some of them,
more scholarly and satisfying than the average local guide-book, and more
copious than the section devoted to them in the general guide-book of the

county or district. Such a legitimate need the ' Cathedral Series ' now
being issued by Messrs George Bell & Sons, under the editorship of Mr
Gleeson White and Mr E, F, Strange, seems well calculated to supply.
The volumes are handy in size, moderate in price, well- illustrated, and
written in a scholarly spirit. The history of cathedral and city is in
telligently set forth and accompanied by a descriptive survey of the
building in all its detail. The illustrations are copious and well selected,
and the series bids fair to become an indispensable companion to the
cathedral tourist in England," — Times.
"They are nicely produced in good type, on good paper, and contain
numerous illustrations, are well written, and very cheap. We should
imagine architects and students of architecture will be sure to buy the
series as they appear, for they contain in brief much valuable information. "
— British Architect.
" Half the charm of this little book on Canterbury springs from the
writer's recognition of the historical association of so majestic a building
with the fortunes, destinies, and habits of the English people, , , , One
admirable feature of the book is its artistic illustrations. They are
both lavish and satisfactory — even when regarded with critical eyes." —
Speaier. "There is likely to be a large demand for these attractive handbooks."
— Globe." Bell's ' Cathedral Series,' so admirably edited, is more than a descrip
tion of the various English cathedrals. It will be a valuable historical
record, and a work of much service also to the architect. The illustrations
are well selected, and in many cases not mere bald architectural drawings
but reproductions of exquisite stone fancies, touched in their treatment by
¦ fancy and guided by art." — Star.
" Each of them contains exactly that amount of information which the
intelligent visitor, who is not a specialist, will wish to have. The dis
position of the various parts is judiciously proportioned, and the style is
very readable. The illustrations supply a further important feature ; they
are both numerous and good. A series which cannot fail to be welcomed
by all who are interested in the ecclesiastical buildings of England." —
Glasgow Herald.
"Those who, either for purposes of professional study or for a cultured
recreation, find it expedient to ' do ' the English cathedrals will welcome
the beginning of Bell's ' Cathedral Series.' This set of books is an
attempt to consult, raore closely, and in greater detail than the usual
guide-books do, the needs of visitors to the cathedral towns. The series
cannot but prove markedly successful. In each book a business-like
description is given of the fabric of the church to which the volume
relates, and an interesting history of the relative diocese. The books are
plentifully illustrated, and are thus made attractive as well as instructive.
They cannot but prove welcome to all classes of readers interested either
in English Church history or in ecclesiastical architecture. " — Scotsman.
"A set of little books which may be described as very usefiil, very
pretty, and very cheap .... and alike in the letterpress, the illustra
tions, and the remarkably choice binding, they are ideal guides." —
Liverpool Daily Post.
"¦fhey have nothing in common with the almost invariably wretched
local guides save portability, and their only competitors in the quality and
quantity of their contents are very expensive and mostly rare works, each
of a size that suggests a packing-case rather than a coat-pocket. The
' Cathedral Series ' are important compilations concerning history, archi
tecture, and biography, and quite popular enough for such as take any
sincere interest in their subjects." — Sketch.
LONDON: GEORGE BELL AND SONS.

3 9002 08854 1249

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