Beautiful Britain | Page 9

he had undergone on the
day before the battle.
And so, through the savage murder of an archbishop and the severe
penance of a king the archiepiscopal capital of England began to
resound all over Europe, and the annual procession of pilgrims
commenced to traverse the hills along the old road from Winchester to
the little Norman city. Not by that way only did the vast crowds reach
Canterbury, for there was scarcely a road that at some period of the
year did not send its contribution to the throng which jostled through
the gates into the narrow streets leading to the monastery gateway.
Year after year wealth poured into the Cathedral coffers, and pilgrims
went away lighter in spirits and in purse, but each carrying with them
the little leaden bottle in which the infinitely diluted blood of the
martyr mixed with water was distributed.
Scarcely two months after Henry's penance the splendid choir of the
Cathedral caught fire, and the townsfolk, in a state between grief and
rage, found themselves unable to stay the progress of the flames until

nearly everything that could burn had vanished. The nave suffered less
than Conrad's splendid choir, and in that less ruined portion of the
building a temporary altar was erected. But for this fire it might have
been possible for the modern pilgrim to see the building as it appeared
during the stirring events just recounted; for, notwithstanding the
wealth of the monastery of Christ Church, it would have probably been
thought desirable to retain the fabric as much as possible as it appeared
in Becket's time. The fire came, however, and the choir was to a great
extent rebuilt, but fortunately the chapels were only slightly affected.
After careful inquiry the monastery decided to employ William of Sens
as architect for the reconstruction, and the excellent work of this clever
Norman craftsman lives to-day in the eastern portion of the cathedral
church. He set to work soon after the fire; but, after four years of labour,
was so much injured by a fall from the scaffolding that he was obliged
to abandon his unfinished work and return to his native Normandy.
Upon an Englishman named William devolved the task of completing
the work.
Either following the Frenchman's plans or adapting them to his own
ideas, he finished the eastern parts of the church as they stand to-day in
the year 1184. To one or both of these architects is due the unusual
device of narrowing the choir to avoid altering the site of the Trinity
Chapel of Becket's time. When the reconstruction of Conrad's Norman
choir began, the Gothic style was just beginning to appear--an incipient
tendency towards a pointed arch here and there which grew into what is
called the Transitional Period; and to this style--in between the
Romanesque semicircular arch, with its accompanying massiveness,
and the first style of Gothic known as Early English, distinguished by
the pointed arch, detached pillars decorating the triforium and
clerestory, and elaborate mouldings and capitals--the choir belongs.
When the whole of the east end of the cathedral was finished, nearly
two centuries elapsed before any further change took place beyond the
beginning of the chapter-house. At the commencement of that period,
however, one of Canterbury's most magnificent scenes of ecclesiastical
pomp occurred in connection with the remains of Becket. The summer

of 1220 saw the completion of the new shrine, and on July 7, the
translation of the saint's remains was accomplished amid scenes of the
most astonishing splendour, described by those who were present as
being without a parallel in the history of England, the crowds including
people from many foreign countries. Money was spent so lavishly on
the entertainment of the innumerable persons of distinction who were
present or took part in the great ceremony that for several years the
finances of the see were unpleasantly reminiscent of the vast
expenditure. Henry III. was present, but he was not old enough to be a
bearer of the great iron-bound chest containing the poor remnants of
Becket's human guise. In the presence of nearly every ecclesiastical
dignitary in the land the remains were placed in the newly finished
shrine all aglow with jewels set in gold and silver.
Throughout the centuries succeeding this crowning glory of Canterbury,
the little walled city saw many great functions apart from the yearly
stream of pilgrims of every grade of society, and the huge doles of food
and drink given away by the two great monasteries and the lesser
houses of the city must have brought together an unwholesome
concourse of the needy.
Every fifty years after the translation of Becket's remains to the great
shrine there was a special festival on July 7, when the people of the
archiepiscopal city would find their resources strained