ght being filled with glass of Wykeham's period, while little of Fox's
glass seems to be in its original position. To Fox also may be
attributed part of the aisle windows north and south of the choir, and
some canopies in the side windows of the choir clerestory. Some late
glass, much mutilated, may be seen in the east window of the Lady
Chapel. Warner says of the two large windows, that "the great east
window is remarkable for the beauty of its painted glass, which contains
the portraits of saints, and of some bishops of this see; it is whole
and entire, the west window is magnificent, but much inferior to this."
[Illustration: ONE OF THE MORTUARY CHESTS IN THE CHOIR SCREEN
(see "Mortuary Chests" in Chapter III).
(From a Drawing by Reginald Blomfield in his "History of Renaissance
Architecture in England." Bell, 1897.)]
CHAPTER IV
HISTORY OF THE SEE
The West Saxon kingdom, of which S. Birinus became the first bishop,
included the counties of Surrey, Berkshire, Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset,
Devon, and Somerset. When Birinus was consecrated by the Bishop of
Milan, he was not assigned any exact territorial jurisdiction, as was
only natural, seeing that he was a missionary to a little-known land. He
met, however, with a rapid success, and in 635 performed the baptism of
Cynegils, king of the West Saxons, on the day of his marriage to the
daughter of the Northumbrian king. The town of Dorchester on the borders
of Mercia was immediately assigned to Birinus as a bishop's seat. But
when Aegelberht had succeeded him, the next king, Cenwalh, made a
division of the kingdom into two distinct dioceses of Dorchester and
Winchester, the new creation being assigned in 661 to Wina; who,
however, succeeded to the whole of the original diocese, as Aegelberht
appears to have left England in disgust. Eleutherius, Wina's successor,
continued to hold the still united offices at Dorchester, and it was not
until Hedda became bishop, about 679 A.D., that Winchester was really
made the seat of a diocese. Even Hedda continued to rule all from
Winchester, and not before his death was a permanent division of sees
carried out. Winchester retained Surrey, Sussex, and the Southampton
district; while the other counties were assigned to Sherborne--Dorchester,
which belonged more properly to Mercia, having been taken away, as there
was no longer the same need of an inland centre to the see, with four
bishops now in Mercia. Sussex was also
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