ST. ALPHAGE
There is a picture of the attack on Canterbury, of the driving of the Archbishop on board the ship, and of the final scene at Greenwich, in the third triforium window from the west on the north side of the choir of the Cathedral. The pictures are in three circular medallions; they are remarkable for the beauty of the scroll-work on its ruby ground, and viewed from a little distance a warm rich light floods the space they occupy. They are part of the most beautiful windows in the Cathedral and are of about the year 1200. They were probably formerly in the two triforium windows of St. Anselm's Church, inserted by William of Sens after the fire of 1174, situated over the place for the Easter sepulchre, where the chained Bible now is, where they formed three pictures of a group of six and looked on to the shrine and altar of the martyr whose dust still probably lies beneath its site.
Miracles began early—at Greenwich, a dry log of wood which had been sprinkled with the blood of the martyr, after one night became green again and put forth branches and leaves. At this sight the Infidels became alarmed and after kissing the sacred corpse, permitted it to be carried to London where it was honourably buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.
After the payment of the above-mentioned tribute a convention was made—all the Danes who were in the kingdom were to live peaceably with the English everywhere and both nations should have, as it were, "one heart and one soul." This was confirmed by hostages and oaths given and taken on both sides, after which the Danish King, Sweyn, returned to his own country and persecution ceased in England for a while.
It is recorded by Gervase that the Cathedral has suffered thrice by fire; first when the blessed martyr Alphage was captured by the Danes, and received the crown of martyrdom; secondly in 1067 when Lanfranc, Abbot of Caen, took the rule of the Church of Canterbury, and thirdly in the days of Archbishop Richard and Prior Odo in 1174, four years after the martyrdom of St. Thomas Becket.
We have described the first of these events and shall deal later with the second which brought the Saxon Church to an end, It is now necessary to attempt to discover the amount of damage done by the fire of 1011.
The extract from Osbern, given above, told us how the roof had been
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