As stated above, these two windows had originally coats of arms in them, and a reproduction of the arms appears in the tracery of the windows, No. 1 having those of the dean and chapter in 1803, and No. 9 those of the bishops of the diocese from Bishop Hacket to that date.
The glass in the other seven windows--the Herkenrode glass--was purchased in 1802 by Sir Brooke Boothby, who discovered it in Belgium, where it had been hidden for protection from the French. It had been taken from the dissolved Abbey of Herkenrode, near Liege. There were three hundred and forty pieces, each about twenty-two inches square, and some of them are marked with dates between 1530 and 1540. Sir Brooke is said to have given two hundred pounds for it; but it has since been valued at fifteen thousand pounds. He, however, most generously sold it to the dean and chapter for the modest sum he had paid for it. It turned out that there was enough to fill the seven windows it now occupies in the Lady Chapel. Some portions have been used in other windows of the cathedral, which have been already described.
There is a considerable difference in appearance between this glass and that in the other two windows. The subjects depicted in the latter are very distinct, while in the former they are more confused, and it must be said that the Herkenrode glass is much faded. Still, the whole of it is very beautiful, and if it does not satisfy those who crave after the Mediæval stained glass, it is certainly some of the finest glass of the kind to be found in England. The designs have been conjectured to be by Lambert Lombard, the first, and one of the most famous, of the Italianised Flemish School of the sixteenth century; and the other glass belongs to the same period.
[Illustration: BRACKETS IN THE LADY CHAPEL.]
The abbey at Herkenrode was founded in 1182, and belonged to the Cistercian Order. It became noted for the miracles performed there; from which reason, no doubt, it acquired great wealth, and increased so much in size that it was almost like a small town. All the nuns were of noble family. A history of the abbey was published in 1744, and a copy was presented to the cathedral library by Sir Brooke Boothby. The book contains a view of the abbey buildings, in the centre of which is seen the church. In the third window of the Lady Chapel is a similar picture of the church. Windows Nos. 2 and 3 contain portraits of founders and benefactors of the abbey, with their patron saints. The other five windows, Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7 show scenes in the life of Christ.