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172 YORK.
written for Englishmen who were ignorant of the
Latin tongue.
The Minster of York owes much to Thoresby.
The state of its fabric when his episcopate commenced
was as follows :— " The choir and its crypts were of
enriched Norman, the work of Archbishop Roger.
The central tower had the Norman piers of Archbishop
Thomas, and above them the Early English
campanile of Johannes Romanus the elder. Perhaps
the Norman tower piers were clothed with Early
English masonry. The transepts and the nave were
the same that now remain ; but the western towers of
the nave rose no higher than the roof The next
work which was undertaken was to replace the choir
of Archbishop Roger by an eastern building on the
same scale of magnificence as the nave."^ In 1361 a
resolution was passed by the Archbishop and the
Chapter declaring that every church ought to have its
different parts consistently decorated, and that the
choir, which is destined for the offering of the sacrifice,
should be more especially ornamented. The absence
of a fitting place wherein the daily celebration of the
mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary could take place,
was also adverted to, and it was agreed to begin such
a choir, and that the old choir, which, compared with
the beauty of the nave, seems rude, should be taken
down piecemeal, as it may seem expedient, and used
for the completion of the new choir. It was agreed
also that a decayed hall at Sherburn should be taken
' Professor ^Yill^s' " Archilccliual History of York Cathedral,"
p. 30. (Pub. Arcli.i:ol. Institute.)