Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 4.djvu/262

 242 KOTICES OF ANCIENT ORNAMENTS ornamented with metal ; in later times it was customary that it should be of stone, for the sake of greater stability, as also in conformity with certain symbolical proprieties. The relics of martyrs were usually enclosed within it : the stone was properly to be of one undivided piece, firmly fixed upon a suitable stand or suhstrcdorium of wood or metal ^. In the curious list of sacred ornaments presented to the church of Exeter by Bishop Leofric, who removed the see thither from Crediton, A.D. 1050, is mentioned an altar of bone, described in the Anglo-Saxon original as " gebonede altar," doubtless of the portable kind ^. The letters of Ivo, bishop of Chartres, towards the close of the eleventh century, as also those of St. Anselm, supply some curious evidence in regard to the super-altar. It was required that its dimensions should be sufficient to receive the chalice and the consecrated host'; in some instances it was of very moderate size, such as the altar of St. Cuthbert, which appears by the representation which Mr. Raine has given, to have measured about 6 in. by 5 in. An altar of small dimensions, preserved in the monastery of St. Laurence at Liege, is described by Dom Martene as formed of green stone, measuring 2 in. by 3 in., with an inscription upon brass recording its dedication, A.D. 1137, by Rodulf, bishop of Liege, and this distich : Hie datur ipse Jesus animarum potus et esus, Hec tibi sit cara, cui caro fit, crucis ara"^. In later times it was ordained at the Council of Milan that the length of the portable altar should be at least 20 in. by 16 in. in width. Dom Martene has given several ancient forms or ordines for the consecration of the tahiila or lapis itlnerarius, shewing that relics were usually enclosed in a cavity termed sepulcrum, but according to the custom of some churches no relics were required. The benediction was ac- companied by ceremonies similar to those customary in the consecration of fixed altars, and five crosses were traced either K Charles the Bald presented to the of York IMinster. — Men. Angl., vol. iii. church of St. Denis, accordino; to tlie p. 171'. ancient inventories of that monastery, a '' Moii. Angl., torn. i. p. 222. Orig. ed. portable altar of porphyry, of square form, > " Snpcraltaria nimis stricta non ha- enclosed in gold, standing upon four feet, beant, super que celebr.ttur, s_^d compe- and containing relics. — Martene. It was tenter ampla." — Concil. Sarisb., A.D. very untisual to form such an altar with 1217. feet, as liable to render it insecure. There ^ De Antiqu. Kit., lib. ii. c. 17. w;;S, however, such an altar in the trcasurv