The Saint Thomas Becket Window, Chartres Cathedral[edit]

The Saint Thomas Becket Window is a medieval stained glass window located in the south ambulatory chapel of Chartres Cathedral. The window depicts the process of tanning hides and the life of Saint Thomas Becket.

Trade Windows[edit]

The first trade windows in Chartres Cathedral were put into place between 1205 and 1215. Twenty five different occupations are portrayed in 125 different scenes spread across 42 windows.^[1] To explain the prevalence of trade windows, Anne Harris puts forth the theory that they are a way to integrate the growing economy into the worldview of the Church.^[2] The Saint Thomas Becket Window includes scenes depicting tanners in the act of preparing hides.^[3]

Window Layout[edit]

The window consists of four interrupted circles separated by three rows of quatrefoils and half-quatrefoils. The bottom circle (sections 1-4) contains glass that is not related to the rest of the narrative.^[4] 5-7 contain images of tanners and their trade. The life of the saint begins with Panel 8 and continues through Panel 20, where his martyrdom begins, culminating in the final four panels of the top circle.

Location in Church[edit]

The Saint Thomas Becket Window is located in the south-east ambulatory chapel of Chartres Cathedral, on the epistle side of the chapel. The chapel also contains windows depicting the lives of Saint Remigius, Saint Nicholas, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine.

Description of Contents[edit]

Signature Windows[edit]

The signature panels in the Saint Thomas Becket window depict tanners in the process of tanning animal hides. Tanning is a process in which an animal's skin or hide is transformed into leather. The hair of the hide is removed and it is soaked in a solution of tannin, which is derived from certain types of plant material. This solution removes excess moisture and bonds the proteins in the skin together.^[5]

Panel 5: A tanner immerses a hide into a barrel of tanning solution.^[4]
Panel 6: A tanner sells the hides.^[4]
Panel 7: A tanner removes the hair off the hide with a special knife.^[4]

When many scholars call these "signature panels," they mean that the window is donated by the trade group represented in the window in order to honor their patron saint.^[6] For example, James Bothwell and Gwilym Dodd state that "There is also some evidence of an association between tanners and Thomas Becket as he was the subject of the window given by the tanners of Chartres to their cathedral, but this is the only example that can be found."^[7] However, Jane Williams believes there is doubt as to the relation of the window's subject and the donor. The evidence that may refute this common assumption, according to Williams, is that there are no inscriptions indicating the window's donor or images of the donor offering the window. In addition, multiple trade groups are depicted in separate windows picturing the same saint or one trade group is pictured in many different saint windows. This leads Williams to conclude that there is no decisive evidence whether a certain trade group actually donated a particular window or whether the window donated is actually the patron saint of that particular trade group.^[6]

The Life of St. Thomas Becket[edit]

The portion of the Thomas Becket window devoted to his life spans from panel eight to panel eighteen. This portrayal of Becket is one of a defender of the truth of the Catholic Church and begins with Panel Eight’s depiction of Saint Thomas’s investiture as Archbishop of Canterbury.

Panel 8: Investiture of St. Thomas as Archbishop of Canterbury
Panel 9: Thomas disputing with Henry II
Panel 10: Thomas leaves for France
Panel 11: Thomas meets Pope Alexander III
Panel 12 and 13: Thomas leaves Pontigny Abbey
Panel 14: Thomas meets with Louis VII of France
Panel 15: Thomas plans his return to England
Panel 16: The return of Thomas
Panel 17: King Henry asks the Archbishop of York to crown his son
Panel 18: King Henry refuses to meet with Thomas

As a defender of the Church, this window depicts Becket disputing King Henry immediately after his investiture as archbishop, but many scholars depict the two as being friends prior to their dispute. Henry is thought by many to be the reason Becket was elevated to archbishop. For this reason, many thought Becket would answer to the kings every wish causing him to feel betrayed when opposed by Becket. This window depicts the dramatic relationship between the two men over the span of Becket’s life as Archbishop of Canterbury.^[8]

The Death of St. Thomas Becket[edit]

Duff

References[edit]

^ Williams, Jane W. Bread, Wine, & Money. The University of Chicago Press. pp. Chicago.
^ Harris, Anne F (September 2008). "Stained Glass Window as Thing: Heidegger, the Shoemaker Panels, and the Commercial and Spiritual Economies of Chartres Cathedral in the Thirteenth Century" (PDF). Different Visions: A Journal of New Perspectives on Medieval Art. 1.
^ Whatling, Stuart (2008). "Panel 05 - Signature panel (Tanner treating hides)". The Corpus of Medieval Narrative Art. Retrieved 2/21/2020. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Chartres Cathedral Stained Glass - Bay 18 Key (Life of St Thomas Becket)". www.medievalart.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
^ "Tanning | leather manufacturing". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
^ ^a ^b Williams, Jane Welch (1993). Bread, Wine, & Money: The Windows of the Trades at Chartres Cathedral. The University of Chicago Press. pp. 1–17. ISBN 0-226-89913-6.
^ Bothwell, James; Dodd, Gwilym (2016). Fourteenth Century England. Boydell & Brewer. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-78327-122-1.
^ "BBC - History - British History in depth: Becket, the Church and Henry II". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-03-09.