CHAPTER III. 
The Chapter House Windows.—Edward I. 
Whitt Glass with Naturalistic Foliage alternating with coloured 
subject panels. Heraldry. 
Windows, five lights with three circles above—White Diapered Glass 
and Coloured Subjects—Natural Foliage introduced, also Heraldry 
—Seven tall windows: i, St. Catherine; 2, St. Thomas of Can¬ 
terbury; 3, Jesus; 4, (restored) Jesus; 5, St. Peter; 6, St. Paul; 
7, Various Saints, figure and canopy introduced, Tracery —Shields 
of Plantagenet—Castile and Leon—France—Lancaster—Cornwall 
—John of Eltham—Baliol—Clare—Vere—Clifford—FitzAlan of 
Bedale — Greystock — Warren — Roos — Marshall Beauchamp - 
Bulmer— Montfort—Lacy—Tateshall— Percy— Meynell— Neville 
—Vesci—Blancminster. 
It has Jjeen already indicated that the “ Five Sisters ’’ consists 
of five windows separated from each other by clustered shafts. 
Mullions divide those in the Chapter House, and each window 
consists of five lights. The two outer ones are under an arch 
enclosing a cinquefoil, with the central light rising to three nine- 
foiled circles—two and one—the whole enclosed under one arch. 
The “ Five Sisters ” consists throughout of a brownish-green 
grisaille, and has a diaper of foliage conventionally treated. The 
windows in the Chapter House have alternately white grisaille 
(figs. 11, 13, 15, 20) 1 and medallions of coloured subjects. In 
this arrangement the white panels help to compensate for any 
diminished light through the coloured glass, and thus the object of 
a window—to let in light—is maintained. Up to this period floral 
ornament had been designed, but with the advent of the reign of 
Edward I., “Nature Study’' became fashionable. Popular plants 
were copied on to the glass. The results, however, were no mere 
copy. On the white glass, the stems, foliage, and fruit of nature, 
as the maple, thorn, ivy, strawberry, oak, and the hop were closely 
imitated, and amidst geometrical figures were arranged in beauti¬ 
ful patterns, renewing their energy and making them seem full of 
vitality. An Edwardian window does not show all its beauty at 
1 For coloured illustrations see Browne’s “York Minster,” pis. lxxix., lxxxiii., 
lxxxv., lxxxviii. and xcn. 
