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CANTERBURY FROM THE MEADOWS

The early history of Canterbury is shrouded in mystery. The discovery of Druidical remains clearly points to the practice of religious rites of the Britons prior to the Christian era. It appears also that the Romans found it as a British town of some importance. This theory, laying aside minor considerations, is strengthened by the fact that the Romans called it Durovernum, the derivation of which they borrowed from the British words "dwr" a stream, and "whern" swift, the latter of which was most appropriate to the Stour, on whose banks the city was founded. The Saxons on their arrival called the place "Cantwarabyrig." From this, no doubt, Canterbury owes the origin of its present name. Contrary to the ordinary laws of foundation, there appears to have been no one (locally) covetous of the honour of martyrdom, or possibly worthy, if martyred, of recognition by the Church.

During the Roman occupation of the city, Christianity struggled, probably kept alive by such of the soldiers who had been previously converted in Rome.

Two churches were built in the second century. One of these, in 600, was consecrated by the Bishop of Soissons, and dedicated to St. Martin, for Bertha, a daughter of Charibert, a Christian king of Paris. On her marriage with Ethelbert of Kent, the foremost king of the English, it was stipulated that her religious inclinations should be protected. Through her influence the king became converted. To encourage Christianity, and to set a good example to his subjects, Ethelbert welcomed Augustine and his forty monks, in 597, gave him his palace, which was speedily converted into a priory, and helped him to found an abbey without the city walls, and intended as a sepulture for the Archbishops.

This abbey was dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. As Canterbury was already recognised as the metropolis, or head of the State of Kent, in that their kings had their royal residence there, it was no difficulty for Augustine, as spiritual head, to make it also a Metropolitan See, the more so as, by the investiture of the Pope, he became the first Archbishop.

CANTERBURY CHRISTCHURCH GATEWAY

Pope Gregory's (the Great) scheme in sending Augustine was to divide England into two Provinces, with Metropolitans of equal dignity at London and York, and twelve Suffragans to each. But all that his emissary could effect was to consecrate two bishops, one at Rochester (Kent) and one at Essex. As Christianity took a firmer hold in England, it was generally to Canterbury that the different portions of England applied for missionaries. In this foundation Augustine has been followed by a succession of prelates, who distinguished themselves equally in spiritual and temporal affairs of the State—men, each of whom made a great stir during his life, and whose names even now are enshrined, as it were, in a halo of romance. They represent the intellect of their times; their lives show us the difficulties they encountered in overcoming the crass ignorance of the people on whose behalf they worked, and the risks and dangers and petty tyranny they suffered at the hands of kings, whose chief amusements were disturbing the peace and licentious living. Those who have played the most prominent part in ecclesiastical as well as in lay history are:

Dunstan, who governed with a tight hand the kingdom during the reigns of Edred and Edwy; Stigand, who, for his opposition to William the Conqueror, was deposed from the See to make room for Lanfranc; Lanfranc, whose memory is perpetuated not only through his abilities as scholar, statesman and administrator, but more especially as one who rebuilt the Cathedral and as founder of several religious establishments; the celebrated Thomas à Becket, who, until he became Archbishop, was the great friend of Henry II., and was Chancellor of England. On the acceptance of the Archbishopric, Becket constituted himself as a champion of the rights and claims of the Church, and would brook no interference from Henry in ecclesiastical matters. This naturally created a coolness between the two, which ended in Becket's retiring to France for six years. On Henry's promise to annul the Constitution of Clarendon, in 1170, Becket returned, only a few days after to be murdered in the Cathedral.

Stephen Langton, who was raised to the See by Pope Innocent III., in defiance of King John, during a quarrel he had with the Church; Cranmer, who, for promoting the Reformation, was burnt at the stake in Mary's reign; and Laud, who was beheaded during the Commonwealth of Cromwell for supporting the measures of his sovereign, Charles I.

Augustine did not live to see the completion of his Cathedral. It was dedicated to Our Saviour, and it is even now usually called Christ Church.

During the ravages of the Danes the city suffered greatly, and the Archbishopric became vacant in 1011, through the violent death dealt out to Archbishop Alphage by the Danes.

Canute, after his usurpation of the throne, rebuilt a great part of the city and restored the Cathedral; and the monks were not forgotten, in that the revenue of the port of Sandwich was made over to them for their support. These benefits greatly helped the city to attain great importance, and in Doomsday Book it is entered under the title of "Civitas Cantuariae."

CANTERBURY INTERIOR OF THE NAVE

In 1080 the Cathedral was burnt down, only to be restored with greater splendour, and dedicated to the Holy Trinity, by Archbishop Lanfranc, who rebuilt the monastic edifice, erected the Archbishop's palace, founded and endowed a priory dedicated to St. Gregory, and built the hospitals of St. John and St. Nicholas.

In 1161 the city became almost extinct through fire, and at several subsequent periods it suffered severely from the same cause.

In 1170 the great event which stirred the kingdom, and which conveniently marks the starting-point of the disastrous half of Henry II.'s reign, was the great means of replenishing the treasury of the Cathedral. In that year Becket was murdered as he was ascending the steps leading from the nave into the choir. His name was subsequently canonised. His shrine was visited from far and near by every rank of pilgrim, who seldom left without depositing first some substantial token of their reverence for the saint. Four years after the murder popular feeling was as great as ever, so that it was probably to propitiate the people, as much as to ask for Divine intercession in his troublous affairs, that Henry II. performed a pilgrimage to the shrine and submitted himself to be scourged by the monks.

Another source of great importance to the Cathedral was the institution of the Jubilee by the Pope. It commemorated every fifty years the death of Becket, and till the last one, celebrated in 1520, attracted an immense number of pilgrims, who gave a great impetus to trade in the city. The number and richness of their offerings were incredible.

The dissolution of the priory of Christ Church was gradually effected; the festivals in honour of the martyr were one by one abolished; his shrine was stripped of its gorgeous ornaments, and the bones of the saint were burnt to ashes and scattered to the winds.

A part of the monastery of St. Augustine was converted into a royal palace by Henry VIII. In this palace Queen Elizabeth held her court for a short time. During her reign there was an influx of Walloons, who, persecuted for their religious tenets, had fled from the Netherlands and settled in Canterbury.

They introduced the weaving of silk and stuffs. To them Queen Elizabeth allotted the crypt under the Cathedral as their place of worship, where the service is still performed in French to their descendants.

In this Cathedral was solemnised the marriage of Charles I. with Henrietta Maria of France, in 1625. During the war between Charles I. and Cromwell the Cathedral was wantonly mutilated and defaced by the followers of Cromwell, who converted the sacred edifice into stables for his horses. At the Restoration, Charles II., on his return from France, held his court in the royal palace at Canterbury for three days. This monarch, in 1676, granted a charter of incorporation to the refugee silk-weavers settled in the city. These refugees, a few years after, were considerably increased by French artisans, who came over consequent on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.

To those admirers of form and beauty the wonderful architecture of the present Cathedral must satisfy their every craving. To students the study of this colossal building must be a work of love, encouragement, and continued interest. Rebuilt soon after the Conquest by Archbishop Lanfranc, and worthily enlarged and enriched by his several successors, the Cathedral is a crowning work of grandeur and magnificence, exhibiting, in its highest perfection, every specimen of architecture, from the earliest Norman to the latest English. In form it is that of a double cross. Where the nave and the western transepts intersect, there springs up a lofty and elegant tower in the Later English style, with a spired parapet and pinnacles, with octagonal turrets at the angles, terminating in minarets. In the west end are two massive towers, of which the north-west is Norman, and the south-west is similar in character, though embattled, and little inferior to the central tower.

Perhaps the most noteworthy portions of this Cathedral, though it is hardly possible to make a distinction, are the Chapel of Henry IV., with its beautiful fan tracery depending from the roof; the small but beautiful Lady Chapel, which is separated from the eastern side of the transept by the interposition of a finely carved stone screen; and in that part of the Cathedral, called Becket's Crown, is the Chapel of the Holy Trinity, famous as the site of the gorgeous Shrine of St. Thomas à Becket. In "Becket's Crown" a softened light steals through the painted window. The interest in this window lies in the fact that most of the glass shown is ancient, and it is the fifth of the twelve windows in the Trinity Chapel which suffered severely at the hands of the Puritans in 1642.

CANTERBURY THE NORMAN STAIRWAY

What remained of the ancient glass was replaced, as far as possible in the original position, by the late Mr. George Austen, subsequently to 1853.

These windows represent the miracles of St. Thomas à Becket between the years 1220 and 1240.

Between the western towers there is a narrow entrance spanned over by a sharply pointed arch, enriched with deeply recessed mouldings. Above this are canopied niches, over which is a lofty window of six lights with richly stained glass.

The south-west porch constitutes the principal entrance, and is highly enriched with niches of elegant design. It belongs to a late period of English architecture. The roof is most elaborately groined, and shields are attached at the intersections of the ribs. In the same period of Late English must be included the fine nave and the western transepts. A gorgeous effect is given by the richly groined roof supported by eight lofty piers, which divide it off on each side from the aisles. From the eastern part numerous avenues lead to the many chapels in different parts of the interior, and give a truly magnificent effect. All these chapels deserve the closest study, like the rest of the building, to thoroughly appreciate the subtlety of design, and the marvellous skill of the architect.