Sisters of Boxley, panel 1

Window: nIII (Miracle Window: Pilgrimage and Healing)
Panel: 23b
In the first panel, we see the two sisters on pilgrimage, both walking with the aid of crutches. The older sister in front looks back at her younger sister with a look of tender concern. In all three panels devoted to their story, the older sister wears a white dress while the younger’s is pinky-brown.

According to Benedict’s account, the sisters went on pilgrimage to a cross at Newington, Kent, where many people had been healed by Becket. The glaziers transposed their miracle to Canterbury, not picturing Newington or its cross at all. In the second panel, the older sister is asleep and having a vision of the saint. Her crutches are propped on a column behind her, and one of her legs is stretched out to illustrate how Becket straightened it and cured her during her sleep. Becket holds a crozier and looks down on the older sister with compassion.

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Inscription

Visible in the panel
  • InscriptionNate sorte pari, peregre veniunt medicari
  • TranslationBorn with the same lot, they come on pilgrimage to be cured

Panel details

  • CVMA identificationnIII.23b

Source text

Benedict of Peterborough, Miracles of St Thomas Becket

book III, chapter 77

Two girls, the daughters of Godbold of Boxley, were brought to that place. From their cradles, they had carried themselves about by crutches rather than their own feet. Both importuned the martyr for their health, and the older was seized by sleep.The saint visited and spoke with her in her dreams, and she was promised and granted health.

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