II.1.5
AISLES
The apse with the altar of St. Peter would not have been
readily accessible to visiting pilgrims and noblemen; on the
contrary, those who entered the Church at the two extreme
corners of the aisles found their progress blocked in the
nave by the choir of St. Peter, and in each of the aisles by
four altars, forcing them into a narrow passageway along
the arcades, through which they could move eastward to
gain access to the sanctuary in the crypt of the Church. The
altars of the aisles are located at intervals of 40 feet and are
carefully aligned with every second pair of nave columns.
Each of these altars is surmounted by a cross, shown in
horizontal projection. Each altar is enclosed by its own
chancel barrier that extends laterally toward the walls of
the church, thus dividing the floor space of the outer two-thirds
of the aisles into separate stations for worship.
The altars of the northern aisle, as we move west to east,
are dedicated as follows: the first one, jointly to SS. Lucia
and Cecilia (altar s̄c̄ cie & cecilie); the second, to the Holy
Innocents (altare scōr̄r̄ innocent); the third, to St. Martin
(altare sci martini); the fourth, to St. Stephen (altare s̄c̄
stephani mar̄). The dedications of the corresponding altars
in the southern aisle are: the first one, jointly to SS. Agatha
and Agnes (altare sctar agtae & agnet);[25]
the second, to St.
Sebastian (altare sci sebastiani); the third, to St. Mauritius
(altare sci maricii); and the fourth, to St. Lawrence (altare
sancti laurenci). The names of these saints are written in
the barely legible pale-brown ink used by the second
scribe. The choice for the patrocinium of these altars, if
Father Iso Müller is correct,[26]
was influenced by the layout
of the altars in the Abbey Church of St.-Riquier, and in
certain cases, where parallels with St.-Riquier cannot be
drawn, by the existence in the monastery of St. Gall of
relics not available elsewhere.
