Part 24

“Other English cathedrals are more finely placed, several are richer in ornament, one or two have a more delicately varied outline. None are so stately and so magnificent; and there is hardly a church in Europe that appears so vast as the Minster, viewed from the north.

“The low-pitched roof of the Minster, the solidity of the central tower, the simple and tranquil front of the north transept, give the building an air of masculine and stately repose, and of perfect finish seldom to be found in foreign churches; while the apparent uniformity of style, though the architecture is of three different periods, frees it from the picturesque inconsequence of many English cathedrals. Yet neither inside nor outside does the Minster appear to be the expression of the spiritual aspirations of a people. It represents rather a secular magnificence, the temporal power of a Church that has played a great part in the history of the nation. The archbishops of York have been forced by circumstances to be militant prelates, contending with Canterbury for precedence, leading armies against the Scotch, sometimes even heading rebellions against the king; and in their cathedral they have expressed their ambition and their pride.”--(A. C.-B.)

The visitor who has a short time to visit York Minster will study the west front, the choir, the Chapter-House, and the windows.

“If the beauty in the form of our _flos florum_ is due to its architecture, very much of its beauty in colour depends on the glowing and mellowed tints with which its windows are filled. But it is a large subject to enter upon, for as regards quantity there are no less than one hundred and three windows in the Minster, most of them entirely, and the remainder, only excepting the tracery, filled with real old Mediæval glass. Some of the windows, too, are of great size. The east window, which is entirely filled with old glass, consists of nine lights and measures seventy-eight feet in height, thirty-one feet two inches in width. The two choir transept windows, that in the north transept to St. William, and the south to St. Cuthbert, measure seventy-three feet by sixteen feet. They have both been restored, the latter very recently, but by far the greater part of them is old glass. On each side of the choir, the aisles contain nine windows measuring fourteen feet nine inches by twelve feet, only the tracery lights of which are modern; the same number of windows fill the clerestory above, the greater portions of which are ancient.

“The famous window of the north transept, the Five Sisters, consists of five lights, each measuring fifty-three feet six inches by five feet one inch, and is entirely of old glass. There are six windows in the north and six in the south aisles of the nave, with only a little modern glass in the tracery. The superb Flamboyant window at the west end of the centre aisle measures fifty-six feet three inches by twenty-five feet four inches, and consists, I believe, entirely of old glass, except the faces of the figures. The clerestory windows are studded with ancient shields, but a great part of the glass is, I fancy, modern; those of the vestibule, eight in number, measuring thirty-two feet by eighteen, are of old glass, including the tracery lights. The east window has been clumsily restored by Willement. In the side windows of the transept there is some old glass, and the great rose window over the south entrance still retains much of the old glass; while far overhead in the tower there are some really fine bold designs of late, but genuine, design and execution. Altogether, according to actual measurements, there are 25,531 superficial feet of Mediæval glass in the Minster, i.e., more than half an acre--a possession, we should think, unequalled by any church in England, if not in Christendom.”--(P.-C.)

York, or, to use its older name, Eboracum, had been an important British settlement long before the Romans made it the principal seat of their power in the north between the years 70 and 80 A.D. It continued to be a Roman court until the Emperor Honorius left Britain in 409. Hadrian lived here; Severus and Constantine Chlorus died here; and here Constantine the Great was proclaimed Emperor. Many churches in the vicinity were dedicated to the latter’s mother, St. Helena, the legendary discoverer of the True Cross.

York was therefore the great military post and the great ecclesiastical seat in the north of England.

The question of precedence between York and Canterbury arose as early as the days of St. Augustine. Gregory the Great instructed the latter to appoint twelve bishops, one of whom was to be the Bishop of York, who was to ordain other bishops in the north of England. He was to be subordinate to Augustine; but subsequently precedence should be determined by priority of consecration. This occasioned dissensions for centuries, culminating in the murder of Thomas à Becket (see page 2), which Roger de Pont l’Évêque is said to have instigated. It was this Archbishop of York who, refusing to take a lower seat at the Council of Westminster in 1176, sat himself in the lap of Becket’s successor only to be pulled off and soundly beaten. The question was not finally settled until the time of John of Thorsby (1352-1373), when Innocent VI. determined that the Archbishop of Canterbury should be styled Primate of All England and the Archbishop of York, Primate of England.

The first archbishop was Paulinus, Bishop of Rochester (see page 33), who accompanied Ethelburga, daughter of the King of Kent, when she went to Northumbria to marry King Edwin. Edwin embraced Christianity and was baptised in 627, by Paulinus, in a temporary wooden church on the site of the present glorious York Minster. Immediately afterwards Edwin began to build a stone church in this same place, which he dedicated to St. Peter. This church was repaired by the next archbishop--the great Wilfrid--about 669.

When Thomas of Bayeux, the first Norman archbishop, arrived in 1070, he found the Cathedral in ruins, owing to the Danish invasion and to the wars of the Conqueror; and, if William of Malmsbury may be believed, Thomas began the church from its foundations and also finished it.

Roger de Pont l’Évêque (1154-1181) rebuilt the choir.

About this time York acquired its patron saint, William Fitzherbert, great-grandson of the Conqueror, who became Bishop of York in 1143. Expelled from office in 1147, he was restored in 1153. On his return he performed a miracle and died almost immediately afterwards, so suddenly, in fact, that he was thought to have been poisoned out of the holy chalice. The monks buried him in the Cathedral. His tomb attracted pilgrims because of the marvellous cures. St. William was canonised in 1284; and in that year his relics were translated from the nave to the choir. Edward I. and Queen Eleanor were present and gave jewels to the shrine, which was placed at the eastern end of the nave under a huge canopy. St. William’s head was preserved in a silver reliquary.

There is now no Norman work visible in York Minster except in the crypt and in parts of the nave and tower. In 1200, however, the nave, choir, towers, and transepts were Norman. About 1230 it was decided to rebuild the transepts on a big scale. Walter de Grey (1216-1265) began the south transept (Early English); and he lies there under an arch, in a splendid tomb. John Romeyn, treasurer of York, built the north transept and also an Early English tower to replace the Early Norman tower. His son, John Romeyn, also archbishop from 1286 to 1296, began the new nave.

John of Thorsby (1352-1373) began the present choir in 1361. The work was started at the extreme east end. Thorsby was a Yorkshireman, who

“had the further development of the glories of the Minster thoroughly at heart. At once he sacrificed his palace at Sherburn to provide materials for an appropriate Lady-Chapel, gave successive munificent donations of £100 at each of the great festivals of the Christian year, and called on clergy and laity alike to submit cheerfully to stringent self-denial to supply the funds.

“During his tenure of office of twenty-three years the Lady-Chapel was completed, a chaste and dignified specimen of early Perpendicular style, into which the Decorated gradually blended after the year 1360, and unique in its glorious east window, seventy-eight feet high and thirty-three feet wide, still the largest painted window in the world, enriched with its double mullions, which give such strength and lightness to its graceful proportions, and with its elaborate glass executed by Thornton of Coventry, at the beginning of the following century. But Roger’s choir, which was still standing, must now have looked sadly dwarfed between the lofty Lady-Chapel and the tower and transepts.”--(P.-C.)

Edward I. made York his capital during the war with Scotland, to the expense of which the archbishop and clergy gave one-fifth of their income. Parliament assembled there in 1318. The archbishops were great politicians and intriguers, now plotting against the king and now supporting him; great military leaders, sometimes defeated, like Melton at Myton-on-Swale, where he led 10,000 men against the Scots, or victorious, like William La Zouche (1342-1352) at Neville’s Cross near Durham; and nearly always great builders and benefactors of the Cathedral. Richard Scrope’s rebellion is famous. Lord Chancellor of England and Bishop of Lichfield before he became Bishop of York in 1398, Scrope was advanced by Richard II. In 1405 he headed a rebellion and was captured. The Chief Justice refused to try him. He was taken to his own palace at Bishopthorpe, condemned to death and beheaded near York in 1405. Buried in the Minster, thousands flocked to his tomb in the north-choir-aisle. Naturally enough the king who had murdered him tried to check the stream of offerings; but Scrope’s tomb became more popular than that of St. William. Scrope was a Yorkshireman, the son of Lord Scrope, of Masham, and the Scropes had a chantry in the chapel of St. Stephen, now destroyed.

The great central tower was erected in 1400-1423 and the church was re-consecrated on July 3, 1472; and so, at the close of the Fifteenth Century, York Minster existed as we see it: save for two fires (1829 and 1840) and a judicious repairing and restoration in 1871, the great Minster has not been changed.

When Henry VIII. disestablished the monasteries there were many outbreaks in York, and the famous “Pilgrimage of Grace” (1536) was much excited by the seizure of St. William’s head, still a beloved relic of the Cathedral. Lee, then archbishop, was taken by the rebels and forced to support them. Before this, however, Thomas Wolsey had been arrested at Cawood. Though Archbishop (1514-1530), it is said that he was never at York.

When York was besieged by the Parliamentarians in 1644, Fairfax restrained his soldiers to some degree, which explains why so much of the ancient glass is left. Thomas Mace’s description of the siege, however, shows how little respect the army really had for the Minster:

“The enemy was very near and fierce upon them, especially on that side of the city where the church stood; and had planted their great guns mischievously against the church; with which constantly in prayer’s time, they would not fail to make their hellish disturbance by shooting against and battering the church; insomuch that sometimes a cannon bullet has come in at the windows and bounced about from pillar to pillar (even like some furious fiend or evil spirit) backwards and forwards and all manner of sideways, as it has happened to meet with square or round opposition amongst the pillars.”

On February 2, 1829, Jonathan Martin, brother of the painter, John Martin, hid himself behind the tomb of Archbishop Greenfield, in the north transept during evening service; and after the church had been closed, set fire to the choir. The stalls, organ, and vault were destroyed and much of the stone-work was damaged. Restorations were started in 1832. Another fire occurred in 1840 in the south-west tower, occasioned by some workmen who were repairing the clock in the south-west tower. The wooden vault of the nave and the tower and bells were damaged. In 1871 some of the side walls were rebuilt.

Every one is familiar with the =West Front= of York; but the traveller who looks upon it for the first time is, nevertheless, overwhelmed.

“The West Front is more architecturally perfect as a composition in its details than that of any other English Cathedral, and is unquestionably the best cathedral façade in this country. The lower part, with the entrances and lower windows, belongs to the Early Decorated period. Above the windows the work is Late Decorated and the towers above the roof Perpendicular. Numerous niches cover the surface. It is doubtful whether they ever contained statues. The principal entrance is divided by a clustered pier, and above it is a circle filled with cusped tracery. Over the whole doorway is a deeply-recessed arch, and over that a gable with niches, one of which contains the statue of an archbishop, supposed to be John le Romeyn, who began the nave in 1291, and other niches have figures of a Percy and a Vavasour, who gave the wood and stone for the building. The favourite ballflower ornament of the Decorated style is seen on the gable, and the mouldings in the arches have figures representing the history of Adam and Eve. Above the entrance is a large eight-light window, pronounced by many to be too large even for York Minster, containing very elaborate and beautiful tracery, and over it is a pointed gable. On each side of the west window are buttresses covered with panelling and niches. The noble towers rising on each side of the west front, have buttresses similarly adorned, and each three windows, and over the second an open battlement forms a walk along the whole front. The towers have battlements and pinnacles. The south-west tower (1433-1457) was injured by fire in 1840; and the north tower (1470-1474) has the largest bell in the kingdom, Great Peter, which cost £2,000 in 1845 and weighs ten tons.”--(P. H. D.)

The twin-towers rise to a height of two hundred feet and are ornamented with windows, battlements, and pinnacles.

The =Central Tower= at the crossing of the transepts, built in 1410-1433, Perpendicular, is also two hundred feet high. It is the largest in England, and is considered not only one of the triumphs of Fifteenth Century architects, but one of the finest towers in the world. Much of it is supposed to be the work of Walter Skirlawe, Bishop of Durham, and its resemblance to the central tower of Durham Cathedral justifies the assumption. It has never been finished.

“The central tower rises a single story above the ridge of the roof and is open inside to the top. But for small gables on the buttresses, it is quite plain up to the level of the roof ridge. Above this it contains two long and narrow Perpendicular windows on each side, of three lights each, with a transom. These windows are ornamented ogee gables, and between them are three niches, one above the other, with canopies. The external buttresses are split up with vertical mouldings and ornamented with niches and panelling. The tower is crowned with a battlement. Horizontal string-courses with gargoyles divide the buttresses at intervals. There are no pinnacles on these buttresses, and they appear never to have been finished. It is possible that it was intended to set another story on the top of the present one, but this is merely conjecture.

“The English architects of the Fifteenth Century, if they were inferior to earlier builders in invention and vigour, were at any rate supreme in the management of towers. Their wonderful sense of proportion, their habitual use of vertical lines, and the character of their windows helped them to build what are perhaps the finest towers in Europe, and the central tower of York Minster

is one of the finest of all. Even the absence of pinnacles, if it is an accident, seems to be a lucky accident, and gives this tower an unrivalled dignity and an air of restraint suitable to the character of the whole cathedral.”--(A. C.-B.)

We enter the Cathedral by the south door of the =South Transept= and are introduced to what is considered one of the most superb architectural views in the world. The enormous width of the church and length of the transepts and the tremendous lantern produce almost the effect of St. Paul’s or St. Peter’s. Neither the east nor the west end is visible, for we are looking right across the arms of the crossing straight to the north end of the transept, where the =Five Sisters= display their jewels.

The =Lantern= is very lofty--180 feet from the floor--each transept is four bays long--223 feet from north to south--and 93 feet wide. To the top of the roof they measure 99 feet.

“The transepts, therefore, are unusually prominent, even for an English cathedral, and they have many other unusual features. Taken in conjunction with the lantern, they produce an effect to be found in no other Gothic church in the world. In England there are none so wide and so lofty. In France there are interiors even loftier, but in France the transepts are seldom a prominent feature of the design. Often they do not project beyond the outer wall of the aisles of the nave, and oftener still there is no central tower large enough to allow of a lantern at all. It is a great piece of good fortune, also, that the five vast lancets of the north transept end, known as the Five Sisters, still keep their beautiful original glass. If we look at these windows and consider how utterly ineffective they would be if they were glazed with plain glass, we can understand how little remains of the original beauty of the interior of Salisbury.

“The Five Sisters are, no doubt, the largest lancet windows in England, and it was a bold idea to fill almost the whole of that great front with them, but the boldness was entirely justified by the result.

“The glass in the Five Sisters is Early English of the simplest and most beautiful design. The colour, an almost uniform scheme of greyish green, is a curious contrast to the vivid blues and yellows of the period which preceded it, and examples of which may be seen in the choir of Canterbury. The pattern is an elaborate but restrained arrangement of the foliage of the _Planta Benedicta_ (herb benet). The plain border surrounding the Early English glass was inserted in 1715. At the foot of the central light is a panel of Norman glass, the subject of which is either the dream of Jacob, or Daniel in the lions’ den.”--(A. C.-B.)

The glass in the lancets above the Five Sisters is modern.

In the eastern aisle of the south transept (Early English) the =Tomb of Walter de Grey= (died 1255), shows an effigy in full canonicals. The right hand is raised in blessing, the left grasps a crozier, and the feet crush a dragon. The columns at the sides are ornamented with leaves at equal distances. On either side of the gable over the Archbishop’s head an angel stands. The canopy is supported by nine pillars. In the eastern aisle of the north transept we stop to look at the tomb of =Archbishop Greenfield= (died 1315). This is decorated with an ornamented canopy.

A rich and elaborate =Rood Screen= separates the choir from the crossing. It dates from 1475-1505 and is composed of a central doorway and fifteen canopied niches containing statues of English kings from William the Conqueror to Henry VI. The latter is the only modern one. Above these are angels by Bernasconi. The central arch is surmounted with an ogee moulding decorated with foliage and a niche, on either side of which is an angel with a censer. The capitals of the shafts are carved; and rosettes and rows of foliage appear between the shafts. The canopies are very ornate. It is interesting to compare this screen with the one at Exeter.

The =Choir=, including the retro-choir, consists of nine bays--the largest and loftiest choir in England and one of the most beautiful. It was begun in 1361 at the east end and completed in 1405. It has been described as an “interesting example of a Perpendicular building carried out on the lines of an earlier Decorated design.”

“The choir itself is like an enormous college chapel. The aisles exist, but play no part in the design, which still culminates in the splendid blaze of glass from the eastern transepts and the great east window, and once culminated on the still more splendid blaze of the altar.

“The retro-choir, far too short and wide to be judged as an avenue of stone, is still more dependent for its effect on its glass. As most of that glass luckily remains, it is a miracle of airy splendour; one may see from it what were the objects, and how great the success of the much-maligned Perpendicular architects at their best.

“To sum up, then, this choir has not the delicate and spiritual beauty of the choirs of Lincoln or Ely. That is never found even in the finest work of Perpendicular architects; but for stateliness and magnificence it has not a rival in England. These qualities may be best appreciated standing midway between the two transepts and in front of the altar. From that point glittering screens of glass and soaring shafts of stone are to be seen on all sides; the whole effect is one of triumphant light and space and colour, not to be surpassed by the splendours even of Moorish or Italian architecture.”--(A. C.-B.)

The magnificent Perpendicular stalls perished in the fire of 1829, so did the Perpendicular altar-screen. The present stalls and screen are reproductions of these. The reredos of terra-cotta and wood is modern.

The vault of the choir is of wood, an imitation of the vault destroyed by fire in 1829. The windows of the clerestory are Perpendicular and contain five lights.

“The glass in the choir is almost wholly Perpendicular. As in the nave, it is very fragmentary and disordered. The change in the character of the design will be easily noticed. The Perpendicular glass is not so clear and delicate in colour, and the architectural and other patterns are less pronounced. This glass, regarded simply as decorative, is perhaps superior to that in the nave.