This he, with some of our best modern authorities, shews to be Cliffe-at-Hoo. He adduces, also, auxiliary evidence in the records of these convocations, to prove that the places designated "Cealchythe" and " "Acle," are now represented by "Chalk," and "Oakley," near Higham. The importance of these meetings, which were witenagemóts, or parliaments, as well as ecclesiastical synods, is shewn in the late J. M. Kemble's Saxons in England, vol. ii., p. 241, et seq. He cites numerous instances, extending, as regards these localities, from the seventh to the tenth century; but this accomplished scholar did not perceive, like Mr. Kerslake, their claims to a Kentish site. Under the guidance of the Rev. H. R. Lloyd,* we examined the church of Cliffe and its environs, but failed to find any ruins of buildings assignable to the times of the great Councils. The foundation of the long wall, on the north of the church, appears to be of the same date as that edifice, and both contain broken gravestones used as building materials; but they are not, perhaps, above a century or two anterior. *To Mr. Lloyd we are also indebted for introduction to his interesting Rectory, a well-preserved building of the thirteenth century, and for a hospitable entertainment there. THE TOMB OF BECKET. From the narrative of Gervase, we learn that in 1174, after passing the Innocents' Chapel, a pilgrim walking around the apse of Ernulf's crypt would have found, eastward of it, a rectangular Chapel containing two altars. It stood beneath the original Trinity Chapel of Conrad's choir. This easternmost chapel, of Ernulf's crypt, had a central column, which divided it into two vaulted alleys. At the east end of the little northern alley stood the altar of St. John the Baptist; and in the corresponding part of the southern alley was St. Augustine's altar. Two Saxon Archbishops had been interred in this chapel; Eadsy against the north wall, Ethelred beside the south wall. On the day after Archbishop Becket's murder, in 1170, his body was brought down to this remotest chapel of the crypt, and was interred in a new stone coffin which stood at the base of the central column, on its eastern side, towards the altars. Thenceforward, this spot, east of the apse in Ernulf's crypt, became a centre of attraction for myriads of pilgrims from all parts of Christendom. By the erection of English William's lofty eastern crypt, in 1179-81, the architectural surroundings of the tomb were somewhat changed. Nevertheless, the tomb itself (which was boarded over during the alterations) remained as before, and continued during 50 years to be the central object of interest for crowds of Canterbury pilgrims, between A.D. 1170 and 1220. After the translation of Becket's body, in A.D. 1220, to a shrine above, in Trinity Chapel, east of the choir, the crypt lost its greatest attraction. Nevertheless, the original " tomb of St. Thomas," in the crypt, continued to be visited by large numbers of pilgrims, until the period of the Reformation. The interment of Becket in this remotest chapel of the crypt was attended with peculiar circumstances. During the night of Tuesday, December the 28th, 1170, his body reposed before the high altar in the choir of Conrad, which was destroyed by fire four years later. Early on the following morning, the monks heard of the warning words uttered by Robert de Broc. Edward Grim* has recorded their import, as being somewhat to this effect: "Remove him out of the way as quickly as may be; hide his body in the ground where it may never be known, that all remembrance of one who so opposed his king may disappear from the earth. Do this, or his body shall be torn asunder by horses, and be thrown into the dung pit, to be devoured by dogs and swine." Assisted and advised by Richard, Prior of Dover (afterwards Archbishop) and by the Abbot of Boxley, the monks hastily removed the body to the crypt, and buried it, says FitzStephen,† without any mass or service, in the new coffin of stone already mentioned. That such a stone coffin should have been standing unoccupied, in the remotest chapel of Ernulf's crypt, is a remarkable circumstance, but Herbert of Herbert of Boshamt Bosham and William FitzStephens both vouch for the fact. During the following twelve months the whole church. was desolate; no service was performed at its altars; the bells were not rung; daily services for the monks were held in the Chapter House. Nevertheless, miracles were said to have commenced as soon as Becket's body was interred in the crypt. The doors of the crypt were kept bolted and barred for more than three months, yet, says Benedict (who became Prior of Christ Church, Canterbury), a few select persons were secretly admitted from time to time. At the expiration of three months, the doors of the crypt were opened; and the sick were admitted to visit Becket's Tomb, on the 2nd of April, 1171. Through the entrance still used by us; beneath the same vaulted roofs, and between the same piers and pillars that our eyes now behold in Ernulf's crypt, did the expectant throng of devotees flock, with emotion and * Vita Sci. Thome, § 87. + FitzStephen, Vita S. Thome, § 153. Fitz Stephen's Vita Sci. Thome, § 153. Benedict De Mirac. S. Thome, lib i. cap. 30, alias lib ii. cap. 6. Quarto nonas Aprilis, feria sexta Paschalis hebdomadæ......... agitation such as we can hardly realize, to the Tomb of Becket, on that April morning seven long centuries ago. Miracles were said to be wrought, not only at the tomb itself, but throughout the whole crypt. The space so obscure, solemn, and depressing, in its present aspect, was, to eager pilgrims, radiant with marvellous powers, and bright with unlimited hope. The sick, the paralysed, the dumb, the deaf, were said to have received here such miraculous relief, that nothing was deemed too difficult for St. Thomas. The foes of Becket, irritated by the increasing reputation for miraculous powers ascribed to his tomb, again threatened to come and carry off his body by force. So definite became their plans, or threats, that on a certain night the monks, in utmost fear and terror, removed the body from its marble tomb, placed it within a wooden chest, and hid it in some spot behind the altar of "Our Lady in the Undercroft."* Benedict, who mentions this fact, declares that a sick man, who could scarcely walk, coming next day to Becket's tomb, was drawn backward by a mysterious, but uncontrollable influence, until he came to the Altar of Our Lady, behind which the body was hidden. There, after prostrating himself in adoration, says Benedict, he involuntarily commenced a series of alternate leaps and prostrations, which would have taxed the utmost strength and agility of a robust man!† Such were the stories, that were commonly believed at the time; and scores of them have been embalmed in the pages of monastic writers. When Becket's body was again replaced in its coffin, the monks erected around it strong walls, formed of great stones firmly compacted with mortar, lead, and iron. Two windowlike apertures were left, in each of the four walls; and through them pilgrims, by inserting their heads, might kiss the sarcophagus. These apertures are represented, in some coloured windows of the choir, as being of oval shape. Over the top of the enclosing walls a huge stone was placed. It *Benedict, i., 50, alias, ii., 26. † Ibid. i., 51; alias, ii., 27. Arched, window-like apertures are to be seen, left open for similar purposes, on the tomb of Archbishop Meopham in St. Anselm's chapel, and through a tomb in the south chancel of Newington Church, near Sittingbourne. was so arranged that, between this top stone and the lid of the sarcophagus, a concave structure* intervened, affording a hollow space about twelve inches deep. Into this shallow space some pilgrims managed to creep, through one of the windows; expecting to reap greater benefit from close contact with the coffin itself. One of the representations of the tomb, depicted on a window in the choir, has been engraved for the Rev. W. J. Loftie, in the 33rd volume of the Archaological Journal, page 1. Meanwhile, on the day of St. Thomas the Apostle, Dec. 21st, 1171, Divine service had been recommenced in the cathedral, with a solemn reconciliatory celebration by Bartholomew, Bishop of Exeter, in the presence of a large assemblage of prelates and nobles. Becket's enemies, the Bishop of Salisbury, and the Archbishop of York, being convinced of their errors, came in deep penitence to his tomb, and passed each of them a night beside it fasting, here, in the crypt; the former earlier than September, 1172,† the latter soon after. The murdered archbishop was canonized about two years and a quarter after his death; the Papal Bull of Canonization being dated March 13th, 1172-3. In the following year occurred the memorable penance of King Henry II. On Friday, the 12th of July, 1174, he walked, barefooted and meanly-clad, from St. Dunstan's church, at the entrance of Canterbury, to the Cathedral, and entered the crypt with every sign of deep contrition and humiliation. Traversing the long vaulted alleys, which we still traverse; surrounded by prelates and nobles, abbots and monks, Henry proceeded to the tomb of Becket. Placing his head within one of the apertures in the wall of the tomb, he permitted each of the eighty monks of Christ Church to smite his bared back, three times, with a scourge; and from each bishop and abbot present he endured five strokes. Remaining in the crypt, he spent the night beside the tomb, fasting, watching, and praying. The chroniclers * Benedict, i., 53, alias ii., 29. MS. Lansdowne, quoted in Canon J. C. Robertson's Materials for the Life of Becket, iv., 176. |