The Cathedral Church of York - Bell's Cathedrals: A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief - History of the Archi-Episcopal See

A. (Arthur) Clutton-Brock

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• Publié par: chuen
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 53
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 10 Mo

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Project Gutenberg's The Cathedral Church of York, by A. Clutton-Brock This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: The Cathedral Church of York Bell's Cathedrals: A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Archi-Episcopal See Author: A. Clutton-Brock Release Date: October 1, 2006 [EBook #19420] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF YORK *** Produced by Jonathan Ingram, David Cortesi and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net York Minster, the West Front and Nave. THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF YORK A DESCRIPTION OF ITS FABRIC AND A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ARCHI-EPISCOPAL SEE BY A. CLUTTON-BROCK WITH FORTY-ONE ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON GEORGE BELL & SONS 1899 W.H. WHITE AND CO. LTD. RIVERSIDE PRESS, EDINBURGH GENERAL PREFACE Table of Contents This series of monographs has been planned to supply visitors to the great English Cathedrals with accurate and well illustrated 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 Archaeology 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:—(1) the great county histories, the value of which, especially in questions of genealogy and local records, is generally recognised; (2) the numerous papers by experts which appear from time to time in the Transactions of the Antiquarian and Archaeological Societies; (3) the important documents made accessible in the series issued by the Master of the Rolls; (4) the well-known works of Britton and Willis on the English Cathedrals; and (5) 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. EDWARD F. STRANGE. AUTHOR'S PREFACE I have usually followed Professor Willis in his account of the Minster, and my obligations to his excellent works are general and continuous. Professor Willis made careful and extensive observations of the Crypt and other parts of the Minster during the restoration, which gave him opportunities for investigation now impossible. He also brought to these observations a learning and sagacity probably greater than those of any other writer on English Gothic Architecture, and his little book remains the standard work on the history of the Minster. I regret that I have been unable to agree with several of the theories of that most enthusiastic and diligent writer, Mr John Browne, or even to discuss them as I should have liked; but his books must always be of great value to every one interested in the history of York. I am also indebted to Canon Raine's excellent works and compilations; to Mr Winston for his remarks on the glass in the Minster; and to Professor Freeman for his interesting criticisms of the fabric generally. A.C.-B. CONTENTS CHAPTER I.—History of the See and City CHAPTER II.—History of the Building CHAPTER III.—Description of the Exterior The West Front The North Transept The Chapter-House The Choir The South Transept The Central Tower CHAPTER IV.—Description of the Interior The Nave The Transepts The Chapter-House The Choir The Crypt The Record Room Monuments Stained Glass CHAPTER V.—The Archbishops 3 30 47 48 56 60 61 63 67 68 68 80 93 98 120 123 125 133 140 ILLUSTRATIONS York Minster, the West Front and Nave Arms of the See The Minster and Bootham Bar, from Exhibition Square St Mary's Abbey Bootham Bar Walmgate Bar Micklegate Bar The Shambles The Minster (from an Old Print) The West Front (1810) The East End (from Britton) The West Front—Main Entrance The Exterior, from the South-East The Exterior, from the North Bay of Choir—Exterior South Transept—Porch Seal of St Mary's Abbey Frontispiece Title Page 2 9 15 19, 24 25 29 35 39 43 49 53 57 62 65 67 The Nave The Nave—South Aisle South Transept—Triforium and Clerestory Chapter-House—Entrance and Sedilia The Choir Screen The Choir, looking East Bay of Choir—Interior The Choir, looking West Compartment of Ancient Choir Stalls Compartment of Altar Screen The Choir in 1810 The Virgin and Child (a Carving behind the Altar) The Crypt Capitals in Crypt Effigy of Manley Effigy of Archbishop de Grey Monument of William of Hatfield Monument of Archbishop Bowet The East Window Effigy of Archbishop Savage Tomb of Archbishop Savage PLAN OF MINSTER 69 77 91 97 100 101 103 107 110 111 115 119 121 122, 123 125 128 129 132 138 151 152 157 The Minster and Bootham Bar, from Exhibition Square. Table CHAPTER I HISTORY OF THE SEE AND CITY At York the city did not grow up round the cathedral as at Ely or Lincoln, for York, like Rome or Athens, is an immemorial—a prehistoric—city; though like them it has legends of its foundation. Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose knowledge of Britain before the Roman occupation is not shared by our modern historians, gives the following account of its beginning:—"Ebraucus, son of Mempricius, the third king from Brute, did build a city north of Humber, which from his own name, he called Kaer Ebrauc—that is, the City of Ebraucus—about the time that David ruled in Judea." Thus, by tradition, as both Romulus and Ebraucus were descended from Priam, Rome and York are sister cities; and York is the older of the two. One can understand the eagerness of Drake, the historian of York, to believe the story. According to him the verity of Geoffrey's history has been excellently well vindicated, but in Drake's time romance was preferred to evidence almost as easily as in Geoffrey's, and he gives us no facts to support his belief, for the very good reason that he has none to give. Abandoning, therefore, the account of Geoffrey of Monmouth, we are reduced to these facts and surmises. Before the Roman invasion the valley of the Ouse was in the hands of a tribe called the Brigantes, who probably had a settlement on or near the site of the present city of York. Tools of flint and bronze and vessels of clay have been found in the neighbourhood. The Brigantes, no doubt, waged intermittent war upon the neighbouring tribes, and on the wolds surrounding the city are to be found barrows and traces of fortifications to which they retired from time to time for safety. The position of York would make it a favourable one for a settlement. It stands at the head of a fertile and pleasant valley and on the banks of a tidal river. Possibly there were tribal settlements on the eastern wolds in the neighbourhood in earlier and still more barbarous times, before the Brigantes found it safe to make a permanent home in the valley, but this is all conjecture. It is not until the Roman conquest of Britain that York enters into history. The Brigantes were subdued between the years 70 and 80 A.D. by Patilius Cerealis and Agricola. The Romans called the city by the name of Eburacum. The derivation is not known. It has been suggested that it was taken from the river Ure, a tributary of the Ouse, but variations of the word are common in the Roman Empire, as, for example, Eburobriga, Eburodunum, and the Eburovices. These are probably all derived from some common Celtic word. In process of time, perhaps in the reign of the Emperor Severus—that is to say, about the beginning of the third century A.D.—the name was changed to Eboracum: from this was derived the later British name Caer Eabhroig or Ebrauc. The Anglo-Saxon name was Eoferwic, corrupted by the Danes into Jorvik or Yorvik, which by an easy change was developed into the modern name of York. In the York Museum is preserved a monument to a standardbearer of the 9th legion, which is probably of the period of Agricola, and it is likely that Eburacum became the headquarters of the Roman army in the north soon after the conquest. It became the chief military town in the island; for, whereas the southern tribes were soon subdued, those in the north were long rebellious, and it was natural that the chief centre for troops should be established in the more disturbed parts of Britain. Close to York was the town of Isurium (Aldborough), where remains of pavements have been discovered, and of Contents [Pg 3] [Pg 4] where it is probable that the wealthier citizens of York had their homes. Eburacum was fortified in or before the reign of Trajan, and was connected by a system of roads with other important Roman towns. The Roman Camp lay on the east side of the river, on or near the site of the present minster. One of its corner towers and fragments of the wall still remain, and parts of the city gates have been discovered. The camp at first covered about seventy acres of ground; it was afterwards enlarged on the south. The modern streets of Petergate and Stonegate represent the roads which passed through this camp, and Bootham Bar is on the site of one of the gates. Remains of Roman pavement have been discovered below Stonegate. The city itself spread westward over the river, and fragments of houses and tesselated pavements have been discovered. In 1841 remains of public baths were found; and there are many signs that there was a large population on this side of the river. In 1854 there was found near the southern gate of the camp a tablet dedicated to Trajan, and commemorating the conclusion of some work done by the 9th legion in the year 108-9. This work was perhaps the palace of the emperors. Near the south gate also was a Christian Church of St. Crux.