CHAPTER I.

THE HISTORY OF THE CATHEDRAL.


Any attempt to write the history of a cathedral requires that the
subject shall be approached with two leading ideas in view. One of
these has reference to the history of a Church; the other to the story
of a building. The two aspects are clearly to be distinguished, but
their mutual relation may be better appreciated when we realise how
intimately they are bound together.

Ecclesiastical history, or "ecclesiology," and architectural history,
or "archaeology," do not exist apart; for the needs of Christian
liturgy indicated what arrangement was required in those buildings
that were peculiarly dedicated to the use of the Church; hence we
have, in the mere building itself, to consider the condition of
ecclesiastical and architectural growth displayed by its character
during each stage of its development, and this development, this
character, is to be discovered as well in the plan and structure of
the fabric, with its decorative details, as in the record that
documents and traditions have preserved. But we need to remember that
one see, one building, represents a link in one long continuing chain,
and in doing this we naturally look back as well as forward to observe
the relation of either to the past and to the present. Such an
attitude as this requires that we refer to that period when the