GERVASE ON THE BURNING AND REPAIR, &c.

39 that of the other. The south cross was employed to carry the organ upon the vault. Above and beneath the vault was an apsem (H), extended towards the east. In the lower part was the altar of St. Michael, in the upper part the altar of All Saints. Before the altar of St. Michael to the south was buried Archbishop Feologilda (1). On the north the

arrangement described in the text. In
our own country good specimens re-
main in the transepts of Winchester,
and in those of Ely. The latter is
erected upon more pillars and set
closer to the wall than usual. (Vide
Cotman's Normandy, p. 5; Britton
and Winkles' Winchester, &c.
The place of these columns is marked G
in the plan.

The position I have given them corresponds to that of the similar columns in St. Stephen's at Caen; a church which, as I shall presently shew, is the same as the present in its plan and dimensions.

m The Latin word which I have constantly rendered apse is porticus. This word has various meanings, and has thus given rise to much confusion in the translation of architectural descriptions. In its classical sense it is a covered walk with an open colonnade at the side, whence it passed to the aisles of a church, and to the porch of entrance. In the present description, wherever Gervase inserts a porticus I find an apse in the building, and as the latter was one of the senses in which

the word in question was employed, I
have uniformly so translated it. In the
glossary of Elfric (p. 78) we find AB-
SIDA, rinebealt cleofa vel poptic, that is,
a round chapel or porticus. And Somner
renders the Saxon word Poptice by "
por-
ticus, absis, a porch, the circling or em-
bowing of an arch or vault."

LIST OF THE ALTARS IN FIG. 3.
NAVE AND TRANSEPTS.

CRYPT.

The Virgin Mary.

S. Nicholas.
S. Mary Magdalen.

i

holy virgin Si

S. Andrew..

Innocents.

S. Audoen.

S. Paulinus. S. Katherine. (S. Gabriel.)

This list shews that Gervase has accounted for the places of all those archbishops which were buried in Christ Church, for the only missing numbers in the order of succession are (13) Jambert, who was buried at St. Augustine's, (23) Elsin, who died abroad, and (32, 33) Robert and Stigand, who were both ejected from their offices. The following numbers refer to the burialplaces of other persons. Siburgis, at 2; S. Wilfrid of York, at 19; andQueen Ediva, at or near o, in the south transept.

burgis (2), who for her sanctity was buried in the church by

St. Dunstan.

Between this apse and the choir the space is divided into two, that is, for the few steps (K) by which the crypt is gained, and for the many steps (Z) by which the upper parts of the church are reached. The north cross similarly had two apses (M). In the upper one is the altar of St. Blasius, in the lower that of St. Benedict. In this lower one, to the right of the entrance, was buried Archbishop William (3), who with great glory dedicated the church of Christ which I am describing. He also founded the church of St. Martin for monks of Dover. To the left lies the predecessor of William, Archbishop Radulf (4), who, although discreet in wisdom and of renowned eloquence, yet did Pope Calixtus prefer before him Thurstan, archbishop of York, and Hugo, abbot of St. Augustine. In the same apse, before the altar on the right, lies Archbishop Egelnoth (5), and to the left Vulfelm (6). Behind the altar to the right Adelm (7), to the left Chelnoth (8). And thus is the aforesaid apse graced. Between this apse and the choir the space is divided into two, that is, for the steps (N) which descend to the crypt, and for the steps (O) which serve those who ascend to the eastern parts of the church.

Between this space and the aforesaid apse is a solid wall (P), before which that glorious companion of martyrs, and guest of the Apostles, the holy Thomas, fell in the body by the swords of raging men, but transmitted his unconquered soul to heaven to be straightway crowned with the glory and honour of the eternal kingdom. This place of martyrdom is opposite to the

steps which he had ascended, confronted his enemies, and after exchanging words of defiance with them, most minutely recorded by the historian, was struck and fell, exclaiming, "To God and S. Mary, to S. Denys and the patron saints of the church, I commend myself and the cause of the church*." Diceto adds that his body lay on the pavement to the right of the altar of St. Benedict (M), which is also quite consistent with the statement in our text, that he fell in

door of the cloister (Q) by which those four notaries of the devil entered that they might stamp the seal of the genuine prerogative of the martyr between the anvil and hammer, that is, that they might adorn the head of St. Thomas, prostrate between the pavement and their swords, with the stamp of the Most High, the chaplet of martyrdom ".

The pillar (G) which stood in the midst of this cross, as well as the vault which rested on it, were taken down in prccess of time out of respect for the martyr, that the altar, elevated on the place of the martyrdom, might be seen from a greater distance. Around and at the height of the aforesaid vault a passage was constructed from which pallia and curtains might be suspended. From the cross to the tower, and from the tower to the choir many steps (R S) ascended. There was a descent (7) from the tower into the south cross by a new entrance (U). Also a descent from the tower to the nave through two doors (DD.) Thus much for the church of Lanfranc. Now let us describe the choir, lest the memory thereof be utterly lost.

4. Of the Choir of Conrad.

I have described, as shortly as I might, the church constructed by Archbishop Lanfranc; that is, the nave, crosses, towers, and their appurtenances. Still the actual sight of them will explain them as much more rapidly as it will effectually.

front of the wall (P). Matthew Paris, and others, in more general terms relate that he was slain before the altar of St. Benedict. Our text goes on to mention an altar raised on the "locus martyrii," that is, against the wall P, and the demolition of the pillar G, and the vault above it. And the flat wall is to this day preserved, for the masonry of the fifteenth century, which clothes every other part of the transept, does not intrude itself here, but is cut off many feet above. Erasmus was shewn in this transept, "an altar of wood, consecrated to the Virgin, small and only worth seeing as a monument of antiquity, reproving by its simplicity the luxury of

G

his time. There the pious man was said to have bad farewell to the Virgin when at the point of death, and there they kept as a relic the point of the sword with which he was struck." Gervase says it broke upon the pavement. This therefore was the altar at P.

P I have translated this characteristic rhapsody as closely as I was able.

When this vault was destroyed the chapel of St. Blaise must have lost its convenient access. Accordingly the body of the Saint was removed, for in a list of relics in Prior Henry de Estrias's register (MSS. Cott. Galba E. iv. f. 122) we find, "Corpus S. Blasii in feretro retro magnum altare." See chap. vi. below.

You must know however, good reader, that I never saw the choir of Lanfranc, neither have I been able to meet with

any description of it. Edmer, indeed, describes the old

church, which before the time of Lanfranc was constructed after the Roman manner. Also he mentions, but does not describe, the work of Lanfranc which succeeded this old church, and the choir of Conrad constructed in the time of St. Anselm. Now, therefore, that this choir of Conrad, so gloriously completed, has been in our own days miserably consumed by fire; my poor and simple pen shall attempt its description, lest the memory of so great a man and so noble a work be utterly lost. And although my purpose is not to describe the mere arrangement of stones, yet it is impossible clearly to shew the places of the Saints and of their repose, which are in various parts of the church, without first describing the building itself in which they were arranged, under the inspection and with the assistance of their historian Edmer. Let us begin therefore with the aforesaid great tower, which, as already explained, is placed in the midst of the whole church, and proceed eastward. The eastern pillars of the tower projected as a solid wall, and were formed each into a round semi-pillar (W). Hence in line and order were nine pillars on each side of the choir, nearly equidistant from each other; after these six in a circuit were arranged circularly, that is, from the ninth on the south side to the ninth on the north, of which the two extreme ones were united by the same one arch. Upon these pillars, as well those in the straight line as those in the circuit, arches were turned from pillar to pillar; above these the solid wall was set with small blank windows. This wall, (on either side,) bounding the choir, met the corresponding one at the head of the church in that circuit of pillars". Above the wall

S

t

r Gervase was at Canterbury in 1170, the year of Becket's murder, and the choir of Lanfranc was pulled down about seventy years before. In this time it seems that all tradition of its arrangement had vanished.

with Roman numerals.

Also numbered in the plan. The architectural arrangements of the arches, galleries, and windows, will be fully discussed in the next chapter.

u The end of the church where the

s Numbered in the plan in order, high Altar stood, was commonly termed