How to Visit the English Cathedrals

by Esther Singleton

“And, lastly, carved about the tomb, is the long inscription, selected by himself before his death, in Norman French, and still the language of the court, written, as he begged, clearly and plainly, that all might read it. Its purport is to contrast his former splendour and vigour and beauty with the wasted body which is now all that is left.”—(A. P. S.)

The Black Prince’s effigy of brass was once entirely gilt. Round the tomb are escutcheons of arms, and on the canopy there is a representation of the Holy Trinity with emblems of the Evangelists at the corners.

At the foot of the Black Prince’s Tomb is the monument of Archbishop Courtenay (1381-1396), the great opponent of the Wycliffites; and directly opposite is the Tomb of Henry IV. and his Queen, Joan of Navarre, whose effigies lie under a most elaborate and beautiful canopy.

“In spite of some damage they remain the most interesting representations, not only of the costume of the time, but also, we cannot doubt, of the actual features of the persons. When the tomb was opened some time ago the features of the king were seen for a moment and corresponded closely with the representation on the tomb. The figures at the foot of the Queen, known in heraldry as genets, and to the ordinary person perhaps as weasels, appear also in the canopy combined with eagles and the motto ‘Soverayne and Atemperance.’ The defaced painting on wood at the foot of the tomb represented the Martyrdom of St. Thomas.”—(F. and R.)

Adjoining this tomb is the Chapel of Henry IV.’s Chantry, built, as directed in the will of King Henry, who died in 1413, “a chauntrie perpetual with twey prestis for to sing and pray for my soul.” It contains the first example in Canterbury of the “fan-vaulting,” so splendidly represented in the Dean’s Chapel.

The windows here and in the Corona should be studied.

“They are of the Thirteenth Century, and among the finest of this date in Europe, excelling in many respects those of Bourges, Troyes and Chartres; ‘for excellence of drawing, harmony of colouring and purity of design they are justly considered unequalled. The skill with which the minute figures are represented, cannot even at this day be surpassed’ (Stanley). Remark especially the great value given to the brilliant colours by the profusion of white and neutral tints. The scrolls and borders surrounding the medallions are also of beauty.

“The three windows remaining in the aisles surrounding the Trinity Chapel are entirely devoted, as were all the rest, to the miracles of Becket, which commenced immediately on the death of the great martyr. The miracles represented in the medallions are of various characters. The Lucerna Angliæ, a true St. Thomas of Kandelberg, as the Germans called him, restores sight to the blind. Loss of smell is recovered at the shrine of this Arbor Aromatica. Frequently he assists sailors, the rude crews of the Cinque Ports in his own immediate neighbourhood. At the Norway fishing his figure came gliding over the seas in the dusk, and descended, burning like fire, to the imperilled ships of the Crusaders. In the window toward the east, on the north of the Shrine, is represented a remarkable series of miracles, occurring in the household of a knight named Jordan, son of Eisulf, whose son is restored to life by the water from St. Thomas’s well, which, mixed with his blood, was always carried off by the pilgrims. The father vows an offering to the martyr before Mid-Lent. This is neglected; the whole household again suffer, and the son dies once more. The knight and his wife, both sick, drag themselves to Canterbury, perform their vow and the son is finally restored. On a medallion in one of the windows on the north side is a representation of Becket’s Shrine, with the martyr issuing from it in full pontificals to say Mass at the altar.”—(R. J. K.)

At the extreme east end, just behind Trinity Chapel, is the circular apse called Becket’s Crown, or the Corona. On the north side lies Cardinal Pole, Bloody Mary’s cousin, who died the day after she did.

“The great lightness and beauty of the Corona, the extreme east end of the Cathedral, are remarkable. It is English William’s work. When Archbishop Anselm was at Rome in the early part of his episcopate and attending a council in the Lateran, a question arose as to his proper place, since no Archbishop of Canterbury had as yet been present at a Roman council. Pope Pascal II. decided it by assigning to the ‘alterius orbis papa,’ a seat in the ‘corona,’ the most honourable position. It is possible that this fact may have led the architects, on the rebuilding of the choir, to make the addition of an eastern apse, or corona, which did not exist in the earlier church. In it were the shrines of Archbishop Odo and Wilfrid of York, and a golden reliquary in the form of a head, containing some relic of Becket, perhaps the severed scalp. By a confusion of its proper name with this relic the eastern apse came to be generally known as Becket’s Crown. On the north side is the tomb of Cardinal Pole, Queen Mary’s Archbishop (1556-1558) and the last Archbishop buried at Canterbury. His royal blood gave him a title to so distinguished a place of sepulture.”—(R. J. K.)