m the hand of le Bret, it
severed the crown of the archbishop's head, and the murderer's sword was
shivered into two pieces. Then the assassins left the church, ransacked
the palace, and plundered its treasures, and, lastly, rode off on horses
from the stables, in which Becket had to the last taken especial pride.

Such is the brief outline of the events of this remarkable tragedy, for
a fuller account of which we must refer our readers to the excellent
description in Stanley's "Memorials of Canterbury." As we have already
said, the present transept has been entirely rebuilt; although not damaged
by the fire, it was reconstructed by Prior Chillenden at the time when he
erected the present nave. It is even doubtful whether the present pavement
is the same as that which was trodden by Becket and his murderers. A small
square stone is still shown in the floor of the transept, as marking the
exact spot on which the archbishop fell; it is said to have been inserted
in place of the original piece which was taken out and sent to Rome, but
there is little or no authority for this statement. On the other hand, we
read that Benedict, when he became Abbot of Peterborough, in order to
supply his new cathedral with relics, in which it was sadly deficient,
came back to Canterbury and carried off the stones which had been
sprinkled with St. Thomas's blood, and made therewith two altars for
Peterborough.

In this transept an altar was erected, called the Altar of the Martyrdom,
or the Altar of the Sword's Point (_altare ad punctum ensis_), from the
fact that upon it was laid the broken fragment of le Bret's sword, which
had been left on the pavement. Also, a portion of the martyr's brains were
kept under a piece of rock crystal, and a special official, called the
Custos Martyrii, was appointed to guard these relics.

The chief window in this chapel was presented by Edward IV.; in it we can
still see the figures of himself and his queen and his two daughters, and
the two young princes who were murdered in the Tower. It originally
contained representations of "seven glorious appearances" of the Virgin,
and Becket himself in the centre, but all this portion was destroyed by
Blue Dick, the Puritan zealot. The west window was the gift of the Rev.
Robert Moore, sometime Canon of Canterbury; it is an elaborate piece of
work depicting Becket's martyrdom and scenes in his life.

Here also we see the very beautiful and interesting monument to