ABSTRACT
This thesis examines the stained glass windows in the ambulatory of Trinity Chapel at Canterbury Cathedral, known as the Miracle Windows, and presents the argument that they function as a type of visual miracle collection, one that parallels the textual accounts of the miracles posthumously performed by St. Thomas Becket. Case studies of these visualized miracle stories will show that the narrative structure deemphasizes the figure of the saint, relying instead on the individual who is the recipient of cure. This new narratological approach differentiates the visual miracle collection from the textual Miracula, effectively eliminating the notion that the stained glass served as an illustration to the text and, instead, suggesting that it served as an additional “text.” The narrative structure also distinguishes the Becket series from the other stained glass adorning Canterbury, both biblical and hagiographical. Finally, because the narratives in the Miracle Windows privilege the individual, I suggest that these windows should be considered in the context of the cultural development termed the “Discovery of the Self,” and will relate the imagery to twelfth- and thirteenth-century texts associated with this genre.
