IN MEMORIAM 
 BERNARD MOSES 
 
THE HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ANCIENT PALACE 
 
 AND LATE 
 
 HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT 
 
 AT 
 
 WESTMINSTER: 
 
 EMBRACING 
 
 ACCOUNTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL, AND ITS 
 
 CLOISTERS, WESTMINSTER HALL, THE COURT OF REQUESTS, 
 
 THE PAINTED CHAMBER, &C. &C. 
 
 EDWARD WEDLAKE BRAYLEY, AXD JOHN BRITTON, 
 
 FELLOWS OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES, 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 R. W. Billings del. ' s. William* sc. 
 
 SEAL OF ST. STEPHEN'S COLLEGE. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 JOHN WEALE, ARCHITECTURAL LIBRARY, 59, HIGH HOLBORN. 
 
 1836. 
 
" 
 
 :ERNARD MOSES 
 
 J. B. NICHOLS AND SON, 25, PARLIAMENT STREET. 
 
TO THE 
 
 RIGHT HONOURABLE EARL DE GREY, 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS ; 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 TO THE 
 
 VICE-PRESIDENTS, HONORARY SECRETARIES, 
 
 AND 
 
 TO ITS OTHER MEMBERS. 
 
 ESTABLISHED for the purpose of promoting and duly 
 fostering the art and the science of Architecture in Great 
 Britain, the INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS is at once 
 entitled to this public compliment, and to the best wishes, 
 as well as praises, of the Authors of the present volume. 
 Its noble President, in particular, commands these in an 
 eminent degree, for his Lordship has evinced more than 
 common zeal in fostering its infancy, and has shewn a love 
 
 the Art and practice of Achitecture, which cannot fail to 
 connect the name of De Grey with that of the Institute in 
 all its future history, and eventful influence. 
 
 From the days of Sir Christopher Wren, the English archi- 
 tect has never been fairly and fully appreciated, as regards 
 his relative station amongst the artists of his country. In 
 the "Royal Academy of Arts," which is the sole public 
 
 7854$! 
 
IT DEDICATION. 
 
 acknowledged Institution of British Artists, there are only 
 four Architects out of forty members ; thus shewing the 
 slight estimation in which their profession was held at the 
 foundation of the Academy in 1768; and the number has 
 not been increased. Since that time, several attempts have 
 been made to establish societies of Architects, but without 
 sufficient influence to collect and combine, under a regular 
 code of laws, a number of experienced and practical men. 
 You, Gentlemen, have at length accomplished this object ; 
 and by associating property, respectability, and influence, 
 have obtained a " local habitation and a name ; " and being 
 peculiarly fortunate in the selection of your distinguished 
 President, you possess the means of securing honour to 
 yourselves, and conferring lasting benefit on the profession. 
 Deriving instruction from other associations, you will reso- 
 lutely avoid all trivial and personal jealousies all acts and 
 proceedings which may either emanate from private motives 
 and prejudices, or be regarded as arising from undue par- 
 tiality. By legislating and acting on those general principles 
 which are calculated to promote an honourable, liberal, and 
 generous practice in the profession by discountenancing 
 every thing of a contrary kind by inculcating sound and 
 philosophical doctrines through the medium of your Society, 
 and in your respective offices and by shewing to the 
 Public that your own exertions are based on the union of 
 taste, judgment, and probity, you will make the INSTITU- 
 TION an ornament and an honour to the country and to 
 yourselves. 
 
 Many years' intimacy with some of the most eminent 
 
DEDICATION. V 
 
 Architects and Artists of England, and also with their 
 patrons or employers, have afforded the writers of this 
 Address opportunities of knowing the sentiments and con- 
 duct of both classes ; and whilst they have often witnessed 
 high talent and equal integrity in some professors, with 
 liberality and good taste in patrons ; they have also seen 
 instances of incompetency and trickery in one, with mean- 
 ness and ignorance in the other. Your Society is calculated 
 to remove these evils. By promoting that laudable emulation 
 which leads to excellence, and by repressing and discouraging 
 all that is disreputable and unworthy the man of honour, of 
 science, and of taste, you will secure the confidence of the nobi- 
 lity and gentry of the land. The Architecture and Architects 
 of Britain may thus speedily become a theme of praise and 
 admiration to foreigners ; whilst the metropolis, the provincial 
 towns, and the parks of our country may be adorned with 
 
 x 
 
 edifices to vie in beauty of design, appropriateness of adapta- 
 tion, and grandeur of effect, with any of the famed classic 
 buildings of Greece and Italy. 
 
 In consequence of the recent destruction of the Houses 
 of Parliament by fire, opportunity has been afforded of call- 
 ing into competition and exertion the abilities of our Archi- 
 tects. Within the short space of four months, no fewer than 
 ninety-seven sets of Designs have been made for the pro- 
 posed new Houses of the Legislative Bodies. These Designs 
 comprise at least fourteen hundred drawings of large dimen- 
 sions of elaborate detail embracing complicated and exten- 
 sive suites of apartments of varied forms and applications, 
 and of great difficulty and intricacy in combination ; the mere 
 
Yl DEDICATION* 
 
 production therefore of such a mass of drawings, involves a 
 strong proof of the talents and invention of our native Archi- 
 tects. We have cause to believe that the Designs laid before 
 his Majesty's Commissioners, manifest great knowledge of 
 the spirit, forms, and detail of the ecclesiastical and mo- 
 nastic Architecture of the middle ages much skill, and 
 taste in general and particular design and extraordinary 
 talent in drawing. With this testimony, from competent 
 authority, we may reasonably look forward for the carrying 
 into effect the ' Best of these Designs,' whereby the judgment 
 and honour of the Commissioners will be fully recognized 
 the fortunate Artist be acknowledged and rewarded the 
 profession receive an impetus and dignity and office-job- 
 bing and sinister influence have their final overthrow. The 
 consummation of these points cannot but reflect much 
 credit upon your INSTITUTION, of which so many individuals 
 are now competing for that great meed of professional dis- 
 tinction, the erection of the proposed new Houses. 
 
 In addressing this Volume to the " Institute of British 
 Architects," the Authors must assure the Members of the 
 "Architectural Society," that they are fully sensible of the 
 claims of that respectable Association to every consideration 
 from the profession, from amateurs, and from the literati. 
 Both societies have already done much good, and are likely 
 to effect much more; for both have the same laudable 
 objects in view, namely the promotion of Architecture 
 in this Country the extension of the principles of taste, 
 science, and honour among its professors, and the forma- 
 tion of Museums and Libraries for the purpose of in- 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 vn 
 
 structing the junior members, and affording rational 
 amusement and information even to the veterans of the 
 Art. Emulation and competition among educated men, and 
 between two such Societies, will advance the progress of 
 Architectural science; and although a union of the two, 
 with the increased powers which would result from combi- 
 nation and co-operation, might be a desideratum, yet unless 
 it were to be cemented by disinterestedness, and a strict 
 unanimity, it is scarcely to be desired. But whether united, 
 or separated, both Societies have our best wishes for their 
 increasing prosperity and utility for uninterrupted har- 
 mony and for the final establishment of a national Architec- 
 ture, and of a character for its professors which may surpass 
 that of any other Country in the world. 
 
 EDWARD WEDLAKE BRAYLEY, 
 JOHN BRITTON. 
 
 January 20, 1836. 
 
 *** Strictly in accordance with the sentiments and facts above expressed, are 
 the comments of an anonymous, but discriminating, writer in " the Atlas," 
 (January 31, 1836) which are transferred to this volume, as a means of giving 
 them additional publicity, and a permanent record in immediate connection 
 with Architects and architectural subjects. 
 
 " In the year 1835 was founded ' THE INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS: ' 
 it immediately enrolled among its members the greater number of Architects of 
 established reputation in the British Metropolis. It opened an extensive cor- 
 respondence with all foreign Academies and Institutions dedicated to the kin- 
 dred Arts, and it has formed the nucleus of an important museum of professional 
 reference, by the casts, books, models, &c. already in its possession. The 
 
Vlll DEDICATION. 
 
 establishment of this Institution was the more necessary, as, with the exception 
 of the ' Architectural Society, 1 which takes its stand in a position not less 
 honourable or useful, although devoted to the younger members of the profession, 
 there had been no attempt to gather together the architectural genius of the 
 country. The profession was scandalized ancl injured by the favouritism under 
 which all Public works were committed to the select few, instead of being open 
 to public competition. Thus, the character of the country suffered in the eyes 
 of foreigners, and our public buildings became, with few exceptions, a reproach 
 rather than an honour. Architects had long felt the want of a recognized body 
 of professional men who should represent them, assert the character of the 
 profession, and promote a more profound study of the various branches of 
 science connected with the art. We have abundance of talent, and security for 
 ability in the character of our Architects. Acted upon by a more free and 
 popular system, the benefits of the new Institute will develope themselves, and 
 our public monuments become indeed, a test of our national advancement." 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 EVERY ancient edifice, whether of Egyptian, Grecian, or 
 Roman origin and execution whether on the banks of the 
 Nile, the Ilissus, or the Tiber whether its architectural 
 forms be religious, warlike, or domestic, conveys in its 
 varied features certain historic facts and evidence, which 
 cannot fail to awaken the curiosity and laudable enquiries of 
 ardent minds. Nor are the old buildings of Great Britain 
 devoid of interest, or without their due share of historical 
 association and national import. The fortified palaces of her 
 monarchs the castles of her steel-clad barons the spacious 
 and gorgeous monasteries and cathedrals of her monks and 
 prelates and the country-mansions and town-houses of 
 her gentry and merchants, are objects of varied, but com- 
 manding attraction: for they all serve to illustrate the 
 history of Art and of Science ; the customs and condition 
 of our ancestors at different epochs ; the progress of civiliza- 
 tion, and the moral and political advancement of the nation. 
 
 The contents of the ensuing pages will fully exem- 
 plify these remarks : for there is no single edifice, nor 
 compound building, in this country, which involves such 
 a variety of historical, political, and forensic materials, 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 with the eventful changes and vicissitudes to which it has 
 been subjected, as the Ancient Palace of Westminster. 
 
 The destruction, by fire, of the two Houses of Par- 
 liament, and of a large mass of appendant Buildings, in 
 October 1834, gave rise to the present publication. In 
 the progress of its execution, the Authors have ascer- 
 tained and related many facts to shew that the Architects 
 of the olden times, commonly called the 6 dark-ages/ studied 
 at once stability, grandeur, and beauty, in their sacred and 
 regal edifices. These were not merely large in size, and 
 of lasting materials, but were finished in the smaller parts 
 and decorations, with great cost and labour, and often with 
 exquisite adornments. 
 
 The reflections and facts which press on the mind of the 
 historian whilst contemplating matters connected with our 
 modern national edifices and public bodies, excite feelings of 
 regret, and frequently provoke the language of reproof ; for 
 though it has been poetically said that 
 
 " Ten censure wrong for one who writes amiss," 
 
 it is generally admitted that in the execution of our public 
 buildings, from the time immediately subsequent to the 
 erection of St. PauPs Cathedral to that of the modern palace 
 in St. James's Park, there has been lamentable mismanage- 
 ment in such works, at once justifying the censures of criti- 
 cism, and the regret of patriots. 
 
 In the annals of Parliament, as well as in the literary 
 records of the kingdom, the historian meets with perpetual 
 evidences of misapplications of public money of the injudi- 
 cious employment of improper, incompetent persons and of 
 the censures and obloquy applied to such persons after they 
 have enriched themselves from the people's purse, and inflicted 
 a disgrace both on their profession and their country by taste- 
 less and dishonest practices. Instances of these things are 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 too recent and too palpable to require specific notice ; but 
 with such warnings such beacons before him, the prudent 
 statesman will take care to steer a safer and more honest 
 course, between the Charybdis and Scylla of interested, 
 irresponsible directors, and of incompetent professors. 
 
 It is the imperious duty of Government to establish, not 
 merely a better system of management in public buildings 
 after they are erected, than has lately prevailed, but also to 
 ensure their being skilfully and judiciously designed for their 
 destined ends, and executed with all the science and know- 
 ledge which can be obtained. 
 
 As the present age is one of enterprise and great activity, 
 as it professes to give facility to all improvements and 
 reasonable reforms, the public have a right to expect that 
 this spirit will be duly and fully exercised in executing the 
 proposed New Houses of Parliament. The subject is im- 
 portant and national it belongs to the whole kingdom, and 
 the whole kingdom will be interested, and in some measure 
 implicated, in the honour or disgrace which may become cha- 
 racteristic of the new erections. It affords a theme of deep 
 import to the philosopher and historian ; for in reviewing 
 the present commanding state of this country, they cannot 
 fail to compare her with other times as well as with other 
 kingdoms both of the ancient and modern world. 
 
 In the present endeavour to obtain designs for a building, 
 that shall be fully worthy of the great purposes of our 
 NATIONAL LEGISLATURE, Government have proceeded most 
 auspiciously and wisely. By calling the talents and energies 
 of Architects into competition, it may be confidently antici- 
 pated that many skilful and apposite designs will be pro- 
 duced : and it may also be as safely presumed that the Com- 
 missioners named by his Majesty will manifest both discri- 
 
Xll PREFACE. 
 
 mination and judgment in their selection.* Amenable as 
 they are to the unprejudiced dictum of public opinion, they 
 must be fully aware of the delicacy and difficulty of the task 
 imposed on them. However superior one design may be to 
 all the others, and however scrupulous and decisive may be 
 the judges in their choice and report, they will not escape 
 reproach. It is to be hoped that their duties and responsibi- 
 lities will not terminate with their selection and report ; but 
 that they will be invested with further authority and powers. 
 After carefully examining so many designs, and also 
 studying the subject in all its details and architectural capa- 
 bilities,, these Gentlemen will be eminently qualified to advise 
 with the Architect; to suggest and recommend modifications 
 of some parts, and alterations of others ; still however grant- 
 ing to, and enforcing on the Architect,, his professional respon- 
 sibilities^ and allowing him every due latitude of discretion, 
 in order that he may be fairly honoured or blamed for his 
 finished work. 
 
 On too many occasions of public buildings, some meddling 
 and officious person,, in office, has dictated injudicious altera- 
 tions to an Architect's design ; but such things it is hoped 
 will not occur again. On the present occasion one design is 
 to be selected from amongst a series of ninety-seven ; and 
 it may be fairly presumed that amongst so many works of 
 professional taste and skill, the prize will fall on one of com- 
 manding merit. It may also be concluded that the inventor of 
 such design, if an Architect himself, is better qualified to carry 
 into practical effect his own creations, and even to improve 
 them, than any other person possibly can be. 
 
 * The Commissioners are The Honourable SIR EDWARD CUST, The Ho- 
 nourableT.LiDDELL, CHARLES HANBURYTRACY, Esq. M.P., GEORGE VIVIAN, 
 Esq. and SAMUEL ROGERS, Esq. The last gentleman having declined to act, 
 it became the duty of the other four to perform the task. 
 
PREFACE. Xlll 
 
 Since the preceding remarks were written, the Commis- 
 sioners have declared their election of four designs out of the 
 number they had examined, and have made their report to 
 his Majesty, who has signified his approval of their choice, 
 (as recently stated by Lord Duncannon, in the House of 
 Lords,) and the subject has been again referred to the same 
 Committees of the Houses of Lords and Commons, as 
 were named last year. The successful candidates, are, 
 CHARLES BARRY, Esq.* J. C. BUCKLER, Esq. D. HAMIL- 
 TON, Esq. and W. RAILTON, Esq. to each of whom 500 
 is awarded. The other Architects have agreed to make 
 a Public Exhibition of their drawings, and his Majesties 
 Commissioners of Woods and Forests have granted them 
 the use of the rooms in the east wing of the National Gal- 
 lery. An opportunity will thus be afforded for the public 
 to examine and compare the various and numerous designs 
 which have been made for this important mass of public 
 edifices, and the Architects will also be enabled to analyse 
 and contrast their own works with those of their profes- 
 sional brethren. We hail the event and the epoch, as of 
 incalculable importance to the profession, to the public, 
 and to the national character. We are sanguine enough 
 to expect that it will be the first of an annual exhibition 
 of Architectural models, drawings, casts, and engravings, 
 by which the Artists will be enabled to display their re- 
 spective powers and qualifications, the nobility and gentry 
 be better instructed in the arts of architectural composition, 
 and the public mind be much improved in all matters con- 
 nected with this most important branch of the fine arts. 
 As the intended Buildings will be of elaborate detail, compli- 
 cated arrangement, and impressive grandeur, the necessary ex- 
 pense of executing them may possibly raise objections in the 
 
 * The designs of this highly talented architect are recommended to be car^ 
 ried into effect. 
 
XIV PREFACE. 
 
 minds of some economic politicians; but they should remem- 
 ber that our countrymen have long been reproached for their 
 want of ability or liberality to erect magnificent buildings. 
 Whilst the capitals of France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and even 
 America, are distinguished for spacious and splendid edifices, 
 which induce travellers to visit and praise them, the Metro- 
 polis of the British Empire, although unparalleled in extent, 
 wealth, and political relations, has neither a Palace, nor a 
 Senate house, to compete with those of most other capitals. 
 If the designs selected be appropriate in all essential parts, 
 and fully adapted to the wants and conveniences of every 
 official purpose, they ought, also, to be imposing and grand 
 as a whole, and abound with every fascination of architec- 
 tural, sculptural, and pictorial effect. Whilst nearly a mil- 
 lion of money has been injudiciously expended on a palace, 
 which the profound and acute Von Raumer, ( ee Letters on 
 England ") pronounces " in every respect a total failure," 
 surely the Legislature and the Nation cannot reasonably 
 object to such an outlay on a Public building as may mani- 
 fest to the world that we possess at once professional ability 
 and sufficient wealth to vindicate and establish a character 
 for architecture. 
 
 In preparing, and during the progress of the present 
 Volume, much exertion has been used to obtain original 
 materials, as well as to select the most important facts con- 
 nected with the Ancient Palace, from inedited records, 
 and from our older Chroniclers. Divers Manuscripts in 
 that invaluable repository the British Museum, have been 
 sedulously examined, and many circumstances have been now, 
 for the first time, communicated to the public from that source. 
 The especial acknowledgments of the Authors are due to C. 
 P. COOPER, Esq. Secretary to the Record Commission, 
 
PREFACE. XV 
 
 for his liberal permission to consult gratuitously the ancient 
 Records connected with the subject of our work, in the 
 various depositories under his control. Much valuable and 
 interesting information has thereby been obtained, which it 
 would have been otherwise impossible, under the general cir- 
 cumstances of the payment of official fees, transcripts, &c. to 
 have inserted in the present, or indeed in any Publication 
 restricted to a moderate price. 
 
 The Authors have great pleasure, also, in acknowledg- 
 ing and recording their sincere thanks to the following Gen- 
 tlemen, who have rendered to them varied, but valuable 
 assistance. 
 
 The RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD CANTERBURY, Speaker of 
 the House of Commons at the time of the great conflagration. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL SIR BENJAMIN CHARLES STEPHEN- 
 SON, Commissioner of Woods and Forests. 
 
 SIR ROBERT SMIRKE, Architect, who has been employed, 
 since the fire, in rebuilding and fitting up the new Houses, 
 in supplying new buildings, and in recasing and repairing 
 the whole interior of the Hall. 
 
 JOHN RICKMAN, Esq. Clerk Assistant of the House of 
 Commons. 
 
 SIR FRANCIS PALGRAVE, K. H. 
 
 SIR HARRIS NICOLAS, K.C.M.G., K.H. 
 
 SIR THOMAS PHILLIPPS, Bart. 
 
 W. T. PHILIPPS, Esq., THOMAS CHAWNER, Esq. Archi- 
 tect, and HENRY RHODES, Esq. Architect, of the office of 
 Woods and Forests, who very politely and kindly gave the 
 Authors access to an elaborate set of drawings of the Houses 
 of Parliament and their attached buildings, which had been 
 recently made by the two gentlemen last named. These 
 drawings, consisting of Plans and Sections, are peculiarly 
 interesting, as exhibiting careful measurements of all the 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 numerous apartments connected with the two Houses. They 
 are preserved in the office of Woods and Forests. 
 
 L. N. COTTINGHAM, Esq. C. J. RICHARDSON, Esq. and 
 GEORGE BAILEY, Esq. Architects. 
 
 JOHN BAKER, Esq. to whom, among other valuable notes, 
 we are indebted for the communications from which are de- 
 rived the curious memoir of Alice Piers. 
 HENRY COLE, Esq. 
 J. STEVENSON, Esq. 
 J. M. MOFFATT, Esq. 
 
 In the original prospectus of this work, the Authors and 
 
 Publisher engaged to furnish " about 400 pages of letter-press, 
 
 and fortv engravings," for the sum specified : they have 
 
 given, however, nearly one hundred pages and eight prints 
 
 more than was stipulated; thus exceeding their promises, and 
 
 incurring considerable cost beyond their first estimate. Cal- 
 
 culating on an extensive sale, they fixed a low price on the 
 
 volume, and they presume to hope that there are readers 
 
 enough in this class of Literature to secure them against loss. 
 
 Although they have fully redeemed their pledge in regard 
 
 to the promised quantity of letter-press and illustrations, 
 
 the Authors are aware they have failed in one particular, 
 
 namely, the intended completion of their work by a given day. 
 
 But they are under few apprehensions of being subjected to 
 
 blame on that account. Much research was necessary, and 
 
 considerable time has been employed (far beyond what was 
 
 contemplated) in obtaining original information from ancient 
 
 and authentic records ; as well as in selecting from, and 
 
 analysing such prior authorities as it was deemed expedient 
 
 to consult for the due execution of their undertaking. 
 
 The Volume now completed, is submitted with every feel- 
 ing of respect for, and confidence in, the judgment and 
 discrimination of an impartial tribunal THE PUBLIC. 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 THE design of this work is to develope the genuine history 
 of the Palatial and Parliamentary Buildings of Westminster, 
 by a diligent inquiry into their origin, appropriation, and 
 architectural characteristics, and by an earnest endeavour to 
 furnish an insight into the relative states of courtly and 
 national society at different periods. Towards effecting this 
 desirable end, it will be necessary to resort to every available 
 source of authentic record, both manuscript and printed, and 
 to place before the reader such a distinct narrative of essential 
 facts, as may at once to awaken his curiosity, inform his 
 mind, and satisfy his judgment. In the first place, it will be 
 expedient to adduce such evidence, and narrate such par- 
 ticulars, relating to Westminster generally, and its monastery 
 in particular, as may tend to elucidate, or at least to indicate, 
 its original and progressive occupancy as the National seat of 
 Royalty. For this purpose, we shall have occasion to lay 
 before the reader many passages from ancient records, and 
 from the Monastic Chronicles, and these will be given with 
 the most scrupulous attention to names, dates, and refer- 
 ences, as the only specific mode of satisfying the critical 
 antiquary and historian. 
 
ANCIENT PALACE, &c. 
 
 WESTMINSTER. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HISTORICAL NOTICES OF THE RELIGIOUS AND PALATIAL BUILDINGS OF 
 WESTMINSTER, FROM THE PRESUMED ERAS OF THEIR FOUNDATION, 
 UNTIL THE REIGN OF EDWARD THE FIRST. 
 
 ACCORDING to the united testimony of our annalists, the 
 district now named WESTMINSTER was originally called 
 Thorney Island, from its having been " overgrown with 
 thorns, and environed with water." This fact is substantiated 
 by a charter granted in the year 785, by Off a, the Mercian 
 king, wherein the Isle of Thorney is expressly mentioned in 
 conjunction with Westminster,* the latter appellation hav- 
 ing arisen from the new Minster, then supposed to have 
 been built, being situated to the West, either of London or 
 of St. Paul's Minster, or Cathedral. 
 
 * Iccirco ego OJfa, pro amore omnipotentis Dei in memoria seterna, dedi 
 sancto Petro, et plebi Domini degenti in Torneia in loco terribili, quod dicitur 
 at Westmunster, quandam partem terrse, &c. Vide Widmore's " Enquiry." 
 Appendix III. The following passage occurs in " Chronicon R. Cestrensis, 
 sive Polycronicon :" " Quidam ad instigacionem regis Ethelberti construxit 
 ecclesiam beato Petro in occidentali parte urbis Londonie in loco qui Thomeya 
 dicebatur, quod sonat Spinarum Insula, nunc autem dicitur Westmonasterium." 
 
8 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 At what precise time a religious foundation was first 
 established in this dangerous place, " in loco terribili" as 
 it is termed in the more ancient grants, has been a subject of 
 much controversial enquiry but the most accredited writers 
 ascribe its origin to Sebert, king of the East Saxons, " who 
 having embraced Christianity, and being baptized by Mel- 
 litus, bishop of London, immediately (to shew himself a 
 Christian indeed), " built a church to the honour of God and 
 St. Peter, on the west side of the cittie of London ;" some- 
 time previously to the year 616.* Whatever opinion, how- 
 ever, may be : efatertained as to the person of the actual 
 founder, there can be. little doubt of the existence of a small 
 monastery on this spot, in the very early part of the seventh 
 century. 
 
 During the Danish invasions, in the ninth and tenth cen- 
 turies, the church at Westminster suffered much spoliation, 
 and was at length entirely deserted about the year 943. 
 Nearly twenty years afterwards it was restored by King 
 Edgar, at the intercession of the celebrated Dunstan, who, 
 when the buildings had been again rendered habitable, 
 
 * Stow's " Survey of London," p. 377, edit. 1598. The years 604, 605, 
 and 610, have also been assigned as the dates of the foundation of the church at 
 Westminster. Usher, on the authority of Fleta, refers it to a yet earlier 
 period, and assigns to it, even at its origin, those honours which it did not ob- 
 tain until after the conquest. " From the primitive age of the Christian Faith 
 among the Brittains," says the bishop, " that is, from the days of Lucius, their 
 king, who, in the year of grace one hundred and eighty-four, is sayd to have 
 received the Divine Law of Christ, and together with it the baptism of holy re- 
 generation, the place of Westminster was founded and consecrated to the honour 
 of God, and specially deputed for the buriall of kings, and a treasury or repo- 
 sitory of their royall ornaments." Cressy's " Church History," p. 64 b. 
 
 The fabulous story of King Lucius was abstracted by Venerable Bede from the 
 11 Liber Pontificalis," a work which the learned Bishop Lloyd, of Worcester, in 
 the preface to his " Historical Account of Church Government," characterizes 
 as " a Mixen of ill-contrived Forgeries." 
 
CANUTE : EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. A. D. 10171065. 9 
 
 " brought hither twelve monks of the Benedictine Order,"* 
 (probably from Glastonbury), to whom both himself and the 
 King made various grants of landed property, as well as rich 
 presents in gold. 
 
 After the assumption of the English throne by Canute in 
 the year 1017, this monastery appears to have been taken 
 under his especial care, in consequence of the extraordinary 
 interest which he had conceived for the conversation of 
 Wulnoth, its then abbot, who was celebrated for " his great 
 wisdom and fine elocution/' We are farther told, says Wid- 
 more, " that for his sake that prince came frequently to the 
 abbey, and that from his interest at court the monastery was 
 preserved from any molestation in those troublesome times/'f 
 The same author adds, " it being so near the King's Palace, 
 no wonder that the king and his courtiers were acquainted 
 with the church and the abbot, and became benefactors to the 
 place/' 
 
 This allusion to a royal habitation, as existing at West- 
 minster in the reign of King Canute, is somewhat cor- 
 roborated by Norden, who states, but on what authority 
 has not been traced, that " in the time of Edward the 
 Confessor, a palace at Westminster was destroyed by fire, 
 which had been inhabited by Canute about the year 1035.J" 
 A supposed stronger testimony of there having been a royal 
 abode upon this spot, even at an antecedent period to the 
 above, has been deduced from the rescript or buh 1 of Pope 
 
 * Will. Malm. " De Gestis Pontifical." p. 141. 
 f " History of the Church of St. Peter, Westminster," p. 8. 
 \ " Speculum Britannise," Part I., p. 44. Canute or Knoute, as he is called 
 Peter Langtofte's Metrical Chronicle, died in 1036. " Seuenten yere," says 
 that writer, 
 
 " was he kyng horgh conquest & desceit, 
 
 At Westmynstere he ligges in a toumbe purtreit." 
 This, however, is not correct, for Canute was buried at Winchester. 
 
10 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Nicholas II., inserted in what is denominated King Edward's 
 third charter to the abbey at Westminster, granted in 1065. 
 " Because," says the pontiff, " the place where the said 
 church and monastery were built was anciently the seat of 
 kings, et quia antiquitus sedes est therefore, by the autho- 
 rity of God and his holy Apostles, and of this Roman see 
 and our own, We grant, permit, and solidly confirm, that 
 hereafter, for ever, it be the Place of the king's constitution 
 and consecration, the repository of the imperial regalia, and a 
 perpetual habitation of monks," &c.* 
 
 There are, however, several considerations which may induce 
 us to refrain from yielding an entire credence to the opinion 
 that there was a royal palace at Westminster before the reign 
 of the Confessor himself. Edric Streon, through whose re- 
 peated treachery to the Saxon cause, Canute was alone 
 beholden for dominion in England, was as though in 
 retribution for his crimes, beheaded, by command of the 
 monarch he had served, within the royal palace in London, 
 and his body was flung out of a window into the Thames^ an 
 event which could scarcely have occurred at Westminster. 
 Again, the first charter which King Edward granted to 
 Abbot Wulnoth and the monks of Westminster, was tested 
 "in palatio regio" at London, in the year 1045. It may 
 therefore be inferred, that there was no regal habitation at 
 Westminster at that time. In regard to the rescript of 
 Pope Nicholas, we briefly remark that the charter itself, in 
 which it appears, is considered by our best antiquaries as of 
 " very dubious authority."^; 
 
 * Dugdale's " Monasticon," (edition 1817), vol. i. p. 295, from Bibl. 
 Cott. MS. Faust. A. in. fol. 31 b. 
 
 t Will. Malm., p. 73 ; and Matt. West., p. 402. 
 
 J " Monasticon," vol. i. p. 268. See also Dr. Hickes's preface to 
 " Literatura Septentrionalis," pp. 37, 38. 
 
EDWARD THE CONFESSOR'S PALACE AND CHURCH, 1052-1065. H 
 
 The earliest document of a remote age, from which the 
 existence of a palatial residence on this spot may be directly 
 inferred, is a charter given by Edward the Confessor to 
 the abbey of Ramsey. That charter was " made" at West- 
 minster-* and although there is no date attached, we are 
 enabled, from the name of Archbishop Stigand occurring in it, 
 as a subscribing witness, to determine that it could not have 
 been granted before 1 052, in which year that prelate was 
 first promoted to the see of Canterbury. 
 
 About this period, as there is every reason to believe, King 
 Edward was proceeding with his re-construction of St. 
 Peter's Church and Monastery at Westminster; and it may 
 be offered as a reasonable surmise, that he himself erected 
 the PALACE there, from a desire to forward, by his own pre- 
 sence, the efficient progress of the splendid work which he 
 had undertaken. Sulcardus says, " he pressed on the work 
 very earnestly, having appropriated to it a tenth of his 
 entire substance in gold, silver, cattle, and all other pos- 
 sessions." Compared with the former edifice, it was a very 
 magnificent fabric ; and according to Matthew Paris,f it after- 
 wards became an example much followed in the construction 
 of other churches ; its general plan being that of a cross, to 
 which the historian appears to allude, by the words " novo 
 composilionis genere construxerat " the earlier Saxon churches 
 having been built without transepts. 
 
 Edward, on the completion of his church, determined to 
 have it dedicated in the most solemn and impressive man- 
 ner ; and with that intent summoned a General Assembly, 
 
 * " Historia Ramesiensis," cap. cxiii. Gale, XV. Scriptores. 
 
 t This writer, speaking of King Edward, says, " Sepultus est Londini, in 
 ecclesia quarn ipse novo compositionis genere construxerat, a qua post multi 
 ecclesias construentes exemplum adepti, opus illud expensis emulabantur 
 sumptuosis." Historia Major; p. 2, Tiguri, 1589. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 at Westminster, of all the Bishops and great men in the 
 kingdom, to be witnesses of the ceremony, which was ap- 
 pointed to take place on the day of the Holy Innocents 
 (December the 28th), 1065. " About midwinter," says the 
 Saxon Chronicle, u King Edward came to Westminster, and 
 had the minster there consecrated, which he had himself 
 built to the honour of God and St. Peter, and all God's 
 Saints. This church-hallowing was on Childermas Day, 
 and he was buried on Twelfth Day in the same minster." : 
 Whether Edward was present at this consecration is 
 doubtful, as the annalists vary in their relations ; one writer 
 affirming that he was seized with a sudden illness on the 
 night before Christmas Day. which prevented his attendance, 
 and another that he sickened immediately after the cere- 
 mony. Certain it is, that he died either on the fourth or 
 fifth of January, 1066, and was shortly after buried before 
 the high altar in the new church.f 
 
 * This is corroborated by the " Saxon Chronicle," copied by Lambard, and 
 now preserved in the library at Christ-Church, Canterbury. See Lye's Saxon 
 Dictionary (Manning's edition) Appendix. The following is the passage : 
 
 " MLXV. ftnb Gabpeapb cyng com to IDejtmynrtpe to bam mib- 
 pmtpe. j -f mynrtpe j>aep let halgian. pe he pylj: getimbpobe on cilba 
 marra bseg. 3 he ppbjrenb on tpelpan aejren." And King Edward came 
 to Westminster about midwinter, and the minster there which he had himself 
 built, he let be hallowed on Childermas Day ; and he died on the eve of 
 Twelfth Day. 
 
 t Robert of Gloucester states that he died on the 4th of January, 1066, im- 
 mediately after he had related the vision in which the calamities which were to 
 desolate his country had been revealed. 
 
 >o Seym Edward adde by s jtold, he closeile bobe hy s eye, 
 And be verfe day of Janyuere in by s manere gan deye. 
 Al be franchise of Engelonde, & al joye & blysse, 
 Myd hym was vaste ybured, bo me bured hym yuys. 
 And bat me vond sone afterward myd mony deluol cas. 
 At Westrnynstre-a tuelfbe day bys gode man ybured was." 
 Vide Rob. of Gloucester's Chronicle, Hearne's edit, reprint, p. 4.9 
 
MIRACLES OF EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, 1066. 13 
 
 That the palatial buildings at Westminster formed the 
 principal residence of King Edward, may be inferred from 
 the fact of our early chroniclers having assigned the occur- 
 rence of several of his recorded visions to that spot. Those 
 of the drowning of a Danish King who had undertaken to 
 invade England ; of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus ; and 
 finally, of the grievous afflictions which his country would 
 undergo after his own decease, were of this number; and 
 tradition has even identified the chamber where he died, as 
 that which after generations called the Painted Chamber, 
 and by which name it is even yet distinguished.* Robert of 
 Gloucester has introduced the names of Editha, his Queen, 
 her brother Harold, and 
 
 " Roberd, bhat wcurdeyn was of be palays jwys, 
 
 among those persons who attended his death-bed. 
 
 The simplicity and piety of Edward the Confessor, his 
 munificence towards the church, and above all, to use the 
 phraseology of the times, his " abstraction from fleshly de- 
 lights," rendered him a great favourite with the monkish 
 historians, and they have not scrupled to attribute numerous 
 miracles to his sanctity. He was so much in love, they tell 
 us, with retirement and devotional reflection, that being 
 once disturbed at a country seat by the singing of nightin- 
 gales, he prayed that they might no more be heard in that 
 place; which petition, continues the legend, was granted 
 accordingly. Even the time of his death, say these fabulists, 
 was made known to him by the delivery of a ring and mes- 
 
 * In the ceremonial of the marriage of Richard, Duke of York, second son of 
 Edward the Fourth, in the year 1477, the Painted Chamber is spoken of by the 
 appellation of St. Edward's Chamber; and Sir Edward Coke, in his fourth In- 
 stitute, states, that the causes of Parliament were in ancient time shewn in 
 La Chamlre Depeint, or St. Edward's Chamber. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 sage from St. John the Evangelist; and within six years 
 after his decease, according to Ailred and Matthew Paris, the 
 following miracle was performed at his tomb. 
 
 In the time of William the Conqueror, when all English 
 prelates were " sifted to the branne," a Synod was 
 held in the church at Westminster, by Archbishop Lan- 
 franc (anno 1074), to examine, avowedly, into the quali- 
 fications and conduct of the clergy, " yet with the covert 
 design of making room for the new-come Normans," by 
 ejecting such of the Bishops and Abbots as had but little 
 learning and influence. At this Synod, Wulstan Bishop of 
 Worcester was charged with being " a most illiterate and 
 foolish man, and unfit for the station he held ; a very idiot, 
 unacquainted with the French language, and incapable either 
 to instruct the church or counsel the king." His pastoral 
 staff and ring were therefore demanded of him by Lanfranc, 
 in the king's name ; but Wulstan, grasping his staff with an 
 unmoved countenance, made this reply : " I know, my lord 
 archbishop, that I am entirely unfit for, and unworthy so 
 high a station, being undeserving of the honour, and unequal 
 to the task; however, I think it unreasonable that you 
 should demand that staff which I never received from you, 
 yet in some measure I submit to your sentence, and will re- 
 sign it; but consider it just to make that resignation to 
 King Edward, who conferred it on me." Thus ending, he 
 left the synod, and crossing the church to Edward's tomb, 
 said, whilst standing before it,- " Thou knowest, O holy 
 king ! how unwillingly I undertook this office, and even by 
 force, for neither the desire of the prelates, the petition of 
 the monks, nor the voice of the nobility prevailed, till your 
 commands obliged me ; but see ! a new king, new laws ; a 
 new bishop pronounces a new sentence. Thee they accuse 
 of a fault for making me a bishop, and me of assurance for 
 
HAROLD, AND WILLIAM I. 1066. 15 
 
 accepting the charge. Nevertheless, to them I will not, but 
 to thee I resign my staff." Then raising his arm, he placed 
 the staff upon the tomb, which was of stone, and leaving it, 
 went arrayed as a monk, and sat with them in the chapter- 
 house. When this became known in the synod, a mes- 
 senger was sent for the staff, but he found it adhere so firmly 
 to the stone that it could by no means be removed ; nor 
 could either the king or the archbishop himself disengage it 
 from the tomb. Wulstan was then sent for, and the staff 
 readily submitted to his touch ; which being considered as a 
 consummation of the miracle, he was allowed to retain his 
 episcopal dignity. Such implicit credit was given to this 
 story, that, according to the annals of Burton Abbey, King 
 John urged it to Pandulph, the Pope's legate, as a proof of 
 the right of the English kings to nominate bishops.* 
 
 The Saxon Chronicle, under the date 1 066, says, " this 
 year came King Harold from York to Westminster, on the 
 Easter succeeding the midwinter when the king (Edward) 
 died." 
 
 After the decisive victory obtained at Hastings, in the 
 same year, over the brave but unfortunate Harold, William 
 the Norman, on his arrival near London, made it one of his 
 first cares to give thanks for his success at King Edward's 
 tomb, at Westminster ; and, as it would seem from a pas- 
 sage in William of Malmsbury, the " better to ingratiate him- 
 self with the English," by displaying a veneration for the 
 Confessor's memory, he fixed on the new church for the 
 scene of his own coronation, and accordingly, on the Christ- 
 mas Day following, he was crowned by the side of Edward's 
 tomb. At a subsequent period, he caused the remains of his 
 
 * Brayley's " History, &c. of the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster," 
 vol. I. p. 25 : 4to, 1818. 
 
16 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 predecessor to be re-interred within "a curious and more 
 costly tomb of stone." 
 
 In the year 1069, as appears from the " Annals of 
 Waverley," Elfric, abbot of Peterborough, was tried before 
 the king, in curia, at Westminster. This is one of the first 
 notices on record of the holding a law-court on this spot. 
 
 According to Hoveden a Great Council was held at West- 
 minster in 1074; but the Saxon Chronicle states it to have 
 been held in 1076. Another council was held there in 1084. 
 In the following year, as appears from the Saxon Chronicle, 
 the king (William the Conqueror) kept his court at W T est- 
 minster during the festival of Whitsuntide, when he received 
 the homage and oath of fealty from his subjects ; and on that 
 occasion knighted his youngest son, Henry. It has been said, 
 that the Conqueror " enlarged the palace to the north- 
 ward," but this is questionable.* It appears that this 
 sovereign by a charter dated at " Westminster," and now 
 preserved among the archives in the Tower, confirmed 
 to Hugh de Coleham, a grant which had been made to him 
 and his heirs by the abbot (Gilbertus) and convent, of being 
 steward of the abbey at Westminster .f 
 
 In the reign of William Rufus, who, according to Holins- 
 hed, " was proclaimed and crowned at Westminster, on 
 Sunday the 6th of the kalends of October (Sept. 26th) 1087," 
 
 * The assertion was possibly grounded on a surmise in Strype's Stow, viz. 
 " It is not to be doubted but that King William I., as he was crowned there, 
 so he built much at this palace, for he found it far inferior to the building 
 of princely palaces in France." See vol. ii. p. 627, edit. 1753. 
 
 f Rymer's " Foedera," vol. i. pt. 1, p. 2, edit. 1816. In his eighteenth 
 year (anno 1084) the same king, in the presence of all the archbishops, bishops, 
 abbots, justices, earls, and all his barons, in his council at " Westminster," 
 confirmed and signed (with a cross) the dignities and liberties which William, 
 bishop of Durham, granted to the prior and monks of St. Cuthbert. Ibid. p. 3, 
 from archives in the Tower. 
 
WESTMINSTER HALL BUILT BY RUFUS. 
 
 the palatial buildings received a memorable accession by the 
 erection of the Great Hall, of which Matthew Paris thus 
 speaks under the date 1099. ' In the same year, King 
 William, on returning from Normandy into England, held 
 for the first time his court in the New Hall at Westminster. 
 Having entered to inspect it, with a large military retinue, 
 some persons remarked that ' it was too large, and larger 
 than it should have been ;' the king replied, that ' it was not 
 half so large as it should have been, and that it was only a 
 bed-chamber in comparison with the building which he in- 
 tended to make.'* At this court, the king bestowed the 
 bishopric of Durham on his favourite Ranulph Flambard. In 
 the following year Rufus kept the festival of Whitsuntide at 
 Westminster.f 
 
 Fabyan, when speaking of the grievous exactions of Wil- 
 liam Rufus (under the year 1097), says, " the kynge filled 
 the spiritualtie and temporaltie with unreasonable taskys, 
 
 * Matt. Paris, p. 51, edit. 1589- The exact words of Paris are as follow : 
 " Eodem anno, Rex Anglorum Willielmus de Normannia in Angliam rediens, 
 tenuit primo curiam suam apud Westmonasterium in Nova Aula : Quam cum 
 inspecturus cum multa militia introisset, cum alij earn dixissent magnam nimis 
 esse et zequo majorem, dixit Rex earn debitse magnitudinis dimidia parte carere, 
 nee earn esse nisi thalamum ad palatium quod erat facturus." This account is 
 corroborated both by Brompton and Knighton : vide Twysden's " Decem Scrip- 
 tores," p. 995 and p. 2369. The following passage, which appears in Stow's 
 " Chronicle," (4to. 1600) p. 187, has been also attributed to Matthew Paris, as 
 if asserted by him in connection with the foregoing account of the boast- 
 ful declaration of William Rufus, viz. " A diligent searcher might yet finde out 
 the foundation of the Hall which he had proposed to build, stretching from the 
 river of Thames even unto the common highway." On referring carefully, 
 however, to the printed copies of Paris' s history, no such remark has been 
 found ; and the probability is, that it originated either with Stow himself, or 
 with John Hooker, in his enlargement of Holinshed's Chronicles, in 1588. 
 After all, it is very questionable whether there was ever any real ground for the 
 remark thus stated to have been made by Paris. 
 
 t Madox's " Hist, and Antiquities of the Exchequer," vol. I., p. 9. 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 and tributys, the which he spent upon the Towre of London, 
 and the makynge of Westmynster Hall.'' * Whilst the work was 
 in progress, the king went into Normandy, having " moche 
 payne to rule the Normans, for they rebellyd often agayne 
 him." On his return, " when he saw the Hall of Westmyn- 
 ster y l he had caused to be buylded, he was therwith discon- 
 tented y* it was so lytle. Wherfore, as it is rehersed of 
 some wryters, he entended, if he had lyued, to have made a 
 larger, and y fc to have serued for a chaumber." f 
 
 Henry the First held his court at Westminster, at many 
 different times, and the records of his presence there are so 
 numerous, that we may fairly consider it as having been his 
 principal abode. He was crowned at Westminster, according 
 to the Saxon Chronicle, on Sunday, the 5th of August, 1100, 
 after having sworn at the altar " to annul all the unrighteous 
 acts that took place in his brother's time." At the festival 
 of St. Michael, 1102, he held a great Council at Westminster, 
 at which were present " all the chief men of England, both 
 clergy and laity. J In August, 1108, he again held a Court 
 at Westminster, where he filled up so many vacant bishoprics 
 and abbacies, both in England and Normandy, " that there 
 was no man," says the Saxon Chronicle, " who remembered 
 that so many together were ever given away before. " The 
 good Queen Maud, King Henry's consort, who died in this 
 
 * Fabyan's " Chronicles," p. 252, edit. 1811. The writer adds, that after 
 this return of the king from Normandy, " many wonderfull prodygyes and 
 tokens were shewed in Englonde, as y e swelling or rysing of the water of Thamys, 
 in such wyse y l it drowned diuerse townes. Also the deuyll was scene walke in 
 mannys lykenesse, w th dyuerse other thynges whiche I ouer passe." Ibid. 
 Rufus was no favourite with the monkish annalists, and they have contrived to 
 stigmatize his memory far more than his true deserts merited. 
 
 f Vide Fabyan's " Chronicles," ut sup. 
 
 J In the same year, as appears from Eadmer and other annalists, a Synod was 
 held in the abbey church at Westminster, by Archbishop Anselm. 
 
 Saxon " Chronicle," Ingram's translation, p. 330. 
 
STEPHEN HENRY II. 1135-1163. 19 
 
 palace on the kalends of May (May the first) 1118,* was 
 buried in the "old chapter-house" of St. Peter's church; 
 to which, in the time of Lent, she had been accustomed to 
 walk barefoot, in a garment of hair, to perform her devo- 
 tions and wash the feet of the poor. 
 
 In a charter of King Stephen (who was crowned in the 
 abbey church on St. Stephen's Day, 1135), quoted by Ma- 
 dox, his court and palace are said to have been at West- 
 minster.f In the same year, at the festival of Easter, the 
 king held a splendid court and general council within his 
 palatial residence : the archbishops of Canterbury, York, and 
 Rouen were present, together with fifteen bishops (four of 
 them of Normandy), and many of the laity. This monarch 
 is the reputed founder of St. Stephen's Chapel (the late 
 House of Commons), which was so dedicated in honour of 
 the Proto-Martyr. 
 
 Henry the Second was crowned at Westminster, (with 
 Eleanor his consort) on Sunday, December the 19th, 1154; 
 and he having been " blessed as King," was with great 
 splendour placed upon the throne of the realm. J 
 
 In the 9th of this sovereign (anno 1163), as appears from 
 the " Rotulus Cancellarise," the sheriffs of London were 
 allowed, in their account rendered in the Exchequer, the sum 
 of 9. 13s. 9^d. y paid by them for the works of the king's 
 palace of Westminster, and 67$. for " scindula" (shingles) 
 to cover the palace : 105. to Alnod for cleansing the king's 
 houses were also allowed, and 10s. for rushe s. 
 
 There is a passage in Stow which, at the first view, would 
 seem to be immediately connected with the above repairs ; 
 yet, on a full consideration of Fitz-Stephens, to whom Stow 
 
 * Saxon " Chronicle," Ingram's trans, p. 329. 
 
 t " Quoniam Curia et Domus Regise in fundo illo [sc. in Manerio Westmo- 
 nasterii] consistunt." Vide " Formulare Angl." Num. D. 
 + Vide Henry of Huntingdon, anno 1154. 
 
 C 2 
 
^U WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 refers, there is strong reason to believe that Westminster was 
 not the place originally meant. The passage follows : " This pa- 
 lace was repaired about the yeere 1163, by Thomas Becket, 
 Chancellor of England, with exceeding great celerity and speed, 
 which before was ready to have fallen downe."* These 
 words are evidently a deduction from Fitz-Stephen's "Life 
 of St. Thomas a Becket," but as applied to Westminster, they 
 seem erroneous. " Through the industry and counsel of this 
 chancellor" [Becket], says Fitz-Stephen, "the earls and 
 barons assisting, the noble realm of England was renovated 
 as a new spring ; the Holy Church was honoured, and each 
 vacant bishopric or abbey was bestowed, without simony, on 
 an honest person ; the king, by the favour of the King of 
 Kings, prospered in all his affairs; the kingdom of England 
 was enriched, its horn of plenty was filled, the hills were cul- 
 tivated, the valleys abounded in grain, the meadows in cattle, 
 and the downs in sheep. The Chancellor Thomas caused 
 the Palatial seat of the kingdom at London, after its ruin, 
 to be repaired with wonderful celerity, completing such a 
 work between a certain Easter and Whitsuntide. There were 
 so many carpenters and other workmen labouring assiduously, 
 with so much noise and vigour, that when close together one 
 could hardly hear the voice of another. "f 
 
 * " Survey of London," p. 884, edit. 1618. 
 
 f The original passage is as follows : 
 
 " Hujus Cancellarii industria et consilio, annitentibus comitibus et baroni- 
 bus, nobile illud Regnum Anglise, tanquam ver novum renovatur, ecclesia 
 sancta honoratur, vacans episcopatus vel abbatia honestse personse, sine symo- 
 nia, donatur. Rex, favente Rege regum, in omnibus negotiis suis prosperatur ; 
 Anglise regnum ditatur ; pleno replet illud copia cornu ; colles culti sunt, valles 
 habundant frumento, pascuse pecoribus, balantibus ovilia. Cancellarius Tho- 
 mas regni sedem palatium videlicet Lundonise, post ruinam, reparare facit, mira 
 celeritate tantum opus perficiens intra quoddam pascha et pentecosten : tot 
 fabris liguariis et aliis operariis tantee instancise motu et sonitu operantibus, ut 
 vix alter alterum proxime admotum posset audire loquentem." W. Fitz- 
 
HENRY II. HENRY III. 1163-1170. 
 
 Now it cannot reasonably be argued, that the palatial seat 
 here alluded to was at Westminster, when the word London 
 is so expressly introduced. Besides, Fitz-Stephen himself, 
 in the Introduction to his account of Becket (which furnishes 
 a very curious picture of the metropolis in the time of Henry 
 the Second, of whom he was a cotemporary), has specially 
 distinguished the Tower palatine, " arcem palatinam," from 
 the royal palace at Westminster. After speaking of the walls 
 and fortifications of London, he thus proceeds : " On the 
 west again, and on the bank of the river, the Royal Palace 
 exalts its head, and stretches wide, an incomparable struc- 
 ture, furnished with bastions and a breastwork, at the dis- 
 tance of two miles from the city, but united to it, as it were, 
 by a populous suburb."* 
 
 From the above circumstances it may justly be assumed, 
 that the building stated to have been so expeditiously re- 
 paired by the Chancellor Becket, was in London itself, and 
 not on the spot now under review. Hume says, that the 
 custody of the Tower was committed to Becket in the early 
 part of Henry's reign ; and it may therefore be suggested 
 that Fitz-Stephen refers to some part of that edifice rather 
 than to Westminster. 
 
 Henry the eldest son of Henry II., was crowned king in 
 the abbey church, anno 1170, in his father's life- time, his 
 father having previously obtained the assent of a General 
 
 Stephen, vitae Sancti T. Cantuariens. in Bibl. Lansdown. No. 398, fol. 11 b. 
 There is another copy of Fitz-Stephen's Life of St. Thomas a Becket, in the 
 Cottonian Library, Julius A. xi. sm. 4to. in which the above passage occurs 
 also, with a few merely verbal differences, at fol. 1 14 b. 
 
 * Although Fitz-Stephen speaks of Westminster as being united to London 
 by a populous suburb, his words must be received with some limitation ; for it 
 was not until three or four centuries after his days that the Strand was formed 
 into a continued street. The village of Charing was also interposed between 
 the Strand and Westminster. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Assembly of his principal subjects at Windsor. The coro- 
 nation feast was held in the Great Hall at Westminster? 
 and King Henry, the father, " upon that daie, served his 
 sonne at the table as Sewer, bringing up the bore's head 
 with trumpets before it, according to the maner. Where- 
 upon, according to the old adage, 
 
 Immutant mores homines cum dantur honores, 
 
 the young man conceiving a pride in his heart, beheld the 
 standers-by with a more stately countenance than he had 
 wont ; the Archbishop of Yorke, who sat by him, marking 
 his behaviour, turned unto him and said, ' Be glad, my good 
 sonne, there is not another prince in the world that hath such 
 a Sewer at his table/ To this the new king answered, as it 
 were disdainfullie, thus : * Why doost thou marvell at that ? 
 My father, in doing it, thinketh it not more than becommeth 
 him ; he, being borne of princelie bloud onlie on the mother's 
 side, serveth me that am a king borne, having both a king to 
 my father, and a queene to my mother.' Thus the young 
 man, of an evill and perverse nature, was puffed up in pride 
 by his father's unseemlie dooinge.*" 
 
 In Lent, 1176, Henry II.] held a general Council at West- 
 minster, at which many of the spiritual and temporal lords 
 were present, when the king sat to determine contests be- 
 tween Alfonso, king of Castile, and Sancho, king of Navarre, 
 who had agreed to submit their disputes to his decision. f 
 
 Richard I. held a splendid court at Westminster, on Sun- 
 day, the 3d of the nones of September, 1189, when he was 
 crowned in the abbey church, in the presence of the "assem- 
 bled archbishops, bishops, earls, barons, and a great number 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicle," vol. ii. p. 130 ; (from Matt. Paris and Polydore 
 Vergil), edit. 1807. 
 
 t Matt. Paris, " Historia Major." Tiguri, Ki3,9, p. 127. 
 
RICHARD I. 1189-1193. ^ 
 
 of knights." This assembly was unfortunately distinguished 
 on account of a massacre of the Jews. " Whilst the king sat 
 at dinner, some principal men of the Jews came to bring him 
 presents ; but because the Jews were commanded, the day 
 before, not to come to the king's court on the day of his 
 coronation, the common people committed great outrages 
 upon their persons, and the Londoners slew many of the 
 Jews within the city, and burnt the houses of many of them, 
 and of divers other persons. Hereupon, the next day the 
 king caused several of those malefactors to be arrested, and 
 adjudged them to be hanged/'* It should be remarked, that 
 on the preceding day the king had given orders that neither 
 Jews nor women should be present at the solemnity, (e for 
 feare," says Stow, " of enchantments, which were wont to be 
 practised." At the coronation feast, as appears from Hove- 
 den and Diceto, who were eye-witnesses of the ceremony^ 
 the citizens of London officiated as the king's butlers, and 
 those of Winchester served up the viands. 
 
 In Brompton's Chronicle, under the date 1193, it is 
 stated that ' King Richard the First, being at dinner at West- 
 minster, in the Hall which is called the Little Hall, received 
 tidings that King Philip of France had entered Normandy, 
 and besieged Vernoil, whereupon he swore that he would 
 never turn away his face until he had met him and fought 
 with him ; and having directed an opening to be made in the 
 wall (the remains of which, according to the Chronicler, were 
 visible when he wrote), he immediately made his way through 
 it, and proceeded to Portsmouth/ f 
 
 In the "Chronicle of London," edited by Sir Har- 
 ris Nicolas, (from the Harleian MS. No. 565) is this 
 
 * Madox's " History of the Exchequer," (from R. Hoveden), voL i. p. 21. 
 t Brompton's " Chronicle," in Decem Scrip, p. 1259. 
 
*M< WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 passage, under the 8th of Richard I., anno 1197: "In this 
 yere the Kyng came into Engelond, and tok the castell of 
 Notyngham, and disherited John his brother. And the 
 same yere Kyng Richard was crowned ageyne at Westm." * 
 In the 10th year of this sovereign, Ely as the engineer, or ar- 
 chitect, was allowed ten marks by the Sheriffs of London 
 and Middlesex, for the repairs of the King's Houses at West- 
 minster, " by writ of Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 Chief Justicier." f 
 
 It appears from the " Placitorum Abbreviatio," that in the 
 above year also (10th Richard L), a Fine was levied in the 
 King's Court at Westminster. This is remarkable only, 
 from being the first notice of the King's Courts, which 
 occurs on the Placita Rolls.J 
 
 King John was crowned in St. Peter's Church at West- 
 minster, on Ascension Day, May the 27th, 1199, "after the 
 man'er then vsed, with great solemnitie, and no lesse rejoic- 
 ing of all such as were present." Seventeen Archbishops 
 and Bishops attended this ceremony. On the 1 9th of Sep- 
 tember following, a Synod was held at Westminster by Arch- 
 bishop Hubert, " in which diverse constitutions were made 
 and ordeined touching the administration of sacraments, and 
 other ecclesiastical matters/' 
 
 * Matt. Paris and other annalists say, that this second coronation took place 
 at Winchester. 
 
 f " Et Elyse Ingeniatori x marcse ad reparationem Domorum Regis apud 
 Westmonasterium, per breve H. Cantuar. Episcbpi." Madox's " Exchequer," 
 vol. ii. p. 206, from Mag. Rot. 10 R. I. Rot. 12 a, Lond. & Midd. Walpole 
 has erroneously assigned this record to the reign of King John, anno 1209. 
 Vide his "Works," vol. iii. p. 12, note : 4to, 1797. 
 
 J " Placitorum in Domo Cap. West. Asserv. Abbreviatio," p. 9 a. It appears 
 from Hoveden, that an Ecclesiastical Council was held in the ' Chapel of the 
 Infirmary,' 1 Westminster, in 1194, when Earl John, the king's brother and 
 several of his partizans were excommunicated for rebellion. 
 
KING JOHN 1202 THE CLOSE ROLLS. 25 
 
 We now advance to a period in which the documentary 
 memoranda respecting this palatial residence become more 
 specific and accessible chiefly in consequence of the recent 
 publication of " The Close Rolls/'* the originals of which are 
 preserved among the invaluable national archives in the 
 Tower of London. These records include many curious en- 
 tries concerning the " King's Houses" (Domus Regis), as 
 they were then denominated at Westminster. 
 
 The following entries on the Close Rolls give us some 
 information as to the state of the palatial buildings in the 
 time of King John. 
 
 On the 19th of October, 1205 (7th John) ( the sum of 10. 
 was directed to be paid to the king's treasurer, Robert de 
 
 * The Records " intituled ROTULI LITTERARUM CLAUSARUM, or CLOSE 
 ROLLS, are a series of Parchment Rolls, commencing with the sixth year of the 
 reign of King John, anno domini 1204, on which are recorded or enrolled all 
 Mandates, Letters, and Writs of a private nature. They are denominated 
 Close, in contradistinction to another series of Rolls called Patent. The entries 
 registered on the Close Rolls are Letters addressed in the King's name to indi- 
 viduals, for special and particular purposes, and were folded, or closed up, and 
 sealed on the outside with the Great Seal." 
 
 The most antient of the Close Rolls now extant is that of the sixth of King 
 John, anno Domini 1204; and there is reason to believe that the Roll in 
 question is the first of that species of Rolls. It was not then, however, styled a 
 Close Roll, that term being first applied to a Roll of the eighth year of the same 
 king. The custom of recording documents on Rolls of parchment, though 
 of antient date, commenced here after the Norman Conquest ; for during the 
 Anglo-Saxon dynasty transfers of property and legal grants were registered 
 in the " Land-hoc," or in the vacant leaves of Mass-books belonging to 
 churches and monasteries. The exact time when the practice of making regular 
 enrolments was introduced, is uncertain ; but it appears probable that it pre- 
 vailed shortly after the Conquest, and that it was first adopted in the Court of 
 the Exchequer. Vide " Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum in Turri Lond. Asser- 
 vati," edited by Thomas Duffus Hardy, esq. Unfortunately, our references to 
 this very valuable publication must be limited to the eighth year of Henry the 
 Third; the Close Rolls not being yet published beyond that period. 
 
<2vJ WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Leveland, for the repair of the king's houses at Westmin- 
 ster, by the view and testimony of lawful men ; '* and on the 
 12th of July, 1207 (9th John), ' 100 shillings, if need be, were 
 ordered to be paid to the same person to cover (or roof) the 
 said houses.'f In the autumn of the latter year also, ' the 
 barons of the Exchequer were ordered to account with Ro- 
 bert de Leveland for what he had expended for the layings/me 
 sand in the king's houses at Westminster, when the king 
 slept there on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday next before 
 the feast of All Saints.';}; Again, on the 2d of October, 
 1214, c the sheriff of London was commanded to allow the 
 keeper of the king's houses at Westminster to have car- 
 penters for the repair thereof.' On the 3d of January, in the 
 same year, ( the treasurer and chamberlains of the Exchequer 
 were commanded by writ to deliver to the abbot and con- 
 vent of the Holy Cross at Waltham the tin lavatory (" stag- 
 neum lavatorium") which was constructed in the king's 
 house at Westminster in the time of his father, and was 
 afterwards removed.' 
 
 A wardrobe account, preserved in the British Museum, 
 dated the 7th of May, in the 14th of John (anno 1213) 
 states that ' a payment of sixpence was made to Roger Aqua- 
 rius for a bath for the king's use at Westminster, on the 
 eve of the preceding Christmas : || the same account, under 
 the date December 24th, mentions a payment on Christmas 
 eve, by the king, at Westminster, of three marks, for three 
 barrels of honey ; thus proving that King John spent his 
 Christmas at Westminster in both the above years.^f 
 
 On the 2d of October, 1214, (16th of John) f the sheriff 
 
 * " Close Rolls," p. 555. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 87 b. On the same day ' the bailiff of Cheshunt was commanded to 
 allow shingles for the roof to be made in the wood at Cheshunt.' Ibid. 
 : Ibid. p. 95. Ibid. p. 174. 
 
 II Vide Ayscough's "Catalogue," 4573, art. 62. f Ibid. art. (j(>. 
 
KING HENRY III. 1216-1220. 
 
 of London was commanded to allow the keeper of the king's 
 houses at Westminster, to have carpenters for the repair 
 thereof.'* From the very few records, however, which are 
 extant, bearing teste by King John at Westminster,f it may 
 be deduced that this palace was but little inhabited by him 
 during the whole of his reign. 
 
 His eldest son, Henry the Third, was crowned at Glouces- 
 ter, on the 28th of October, 1216, he being then a mere youth 
 of ten years of age. Though despotic in principle, and arbi- 
 trary in rule, the reign of this prince (which was one of the 
 longest recorded in our annals), proved especially propitious 
 to the monastic and palatial edifices congregated upon this 
 spot. Within four years after his accession, viz. on Whitsun- 
 eve, (May the 16th), 1220, he commenced the new buildings 
 of Westminster abbey by laying the first stone of a chapel in 
 honour of the Virgin Mary, J at the east end of the old church, 
 on the spot now occupied by Henry the Seventh's chapel. On 
 the following day, according to Matthew of Westminster, he 
 was re-crowned in the abbey church. These facts are sub- 
 stantiated by an entry on the Close Rolls ; namely, ' By writ, 
 
 * " Close Rolls," p. 174. 
 
 t The only one of his reign, that appears in the " Foedera," is the king's man- 
 date for committing the custody of the church and monastic possessions of 
 Christchurch, Canterbury, to four persons, who are named therein : it is dated 
 January 23d, in the 9th year of his reign, anno 1208. 
 
 + " Sabbatho autem, in vigilia Pentecostes, inceptum est novum opus Ca- 
 pellse Beatse Virginis apud Westmonasterium,*rege Henrico existente, fundatore 
 et primi lapidis in fundamento ponente." Matt. Paris, " Hist. Maj." p. 
 310. edit. 1640. 
 
 He was not, however, although denominated the founder both by Matthew 
 Paris and Matthew of Westminster, the sole contributor to that edifice, since it 
 appears from the [archives of the Dean and Chapter, that many spiritual benefits 
 were granted by the abbot and convent to those who aided the work ; and that 
 various rents and tenements were given by private persons towards its com- 
 pletion. Vide Widmore's " Hist, of Westminster Abbey," p. .57. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 dated on the 19th of November, 5th Henry III., the trea- 
 surer and chamberlains of the Exchequer were commanded to 
 deliver to the prior of Westminster the king's golden spurs, 
 which were made for his use at his first coronation at West- 
 minster, and which he had given towards the new work of 
 the chapel of St. Mary/* At a subsequent time he rebuilt 
 the eastern part of the abbey church in the magnificent style 
 which it still exhibits ; as will be more particularly adverted 
 to hereafter. 
 
 Henry's additions to the Palace must certainly have 
 been of great importance, although (with some little ex- 
 ception) they cannot now be distinctly specified; but the 
 numerous entries which appear in the Close and Liberate 
 Rolls of his reign, in regard to the repairs and decorations of 
 the "king's houses" at Westminster, abundantly shew that the 
 works were continually in progress, and that the royal apart- 
 ments were then fitted up and embellished in a style of 
 greater splendour than had ever before been attained. Though 
 grievous in his exactions, and oppressive in his government, 
 Henry was a great patron of the arts ; and those of the gold- 
 smith, the embroiderer, the painter, and the architect, are 
 presumed to have arisen to a very exalted state of excellence 
 during the period in which he sate upon the throne. f 
 
 * " Close Rolls," p.440,b. 
 
 t Henry the Third's Great seal, of which there is an engraving in the 1st 
 volume of the new edition of Rymer's " Fcedera," was made in the year 1218. 
 In the "Close Rolls," at p. 381, is a writ of Liberate, whereby the treasurer of the 
 exchequer was commanded to reimburse Walter the goldsmith, who made the 
 king's seal, the five marks of silver used in making the same ; he is also to have 
 for the workmanship what will content him ; and, at p. 383, we find that the 
 said Walter, whose surname appears to have been de Ripa, " was content to re- 
 ceive 40s. for the labour he had bestowed on that work." Vide Hardy's Intro- 
 duction to the 1st volume of the Close Rolls. This gentleman computes that the 
 sum paid to Walter for his labour, would amount to , J 31. 10s. of modern English 
 
KING HENRY III. 1 21 7-1 223. 29 
 
 On the 4th of November, 1217 (2d of Henry III.), 'the 
 mayor and sheriffs of London were commanded to pay 100s. 
 out of the farm of that city, for the repair of the king's house 
 at Westminster,' for which allowance was to be made to them 
 at the exchequer.* 
 
 In the same year, on the 2d of December, the ' barons of the 
 exchequer were commanded to make the same daily allow- 
 ance to Margery, the widow of Robert de Leveland, for the 
 custody of the king's houses at Westminster, as her husband 
 had formerly received/ f This entry is very singularly cor- 
 roborated by the Testa de Nevill, which states, that Mar- 
 gery de Keveland, (as there spelt, from an evident mistake in 
 the initial letter), c keeps the king's palace at Westminster by 
 serjeanty, and receives 8d. daily, out of the king's purse.' J 
 
 On the 2d of April, 1218, (2d Hen. III.) the treasurer and 
 chamberlains were directed to pay to Odo, the goldsmith, 
 and the keepers of the king's houses at Westminster, ten 
 marks to repair the quay, and to make other repairs. 
 
 In February, 1219 (3d Hen. III.), five marks were to be 
 paid to the same person to repair the king's bridge and 
 quay; and in April 1221 (5th Hen. III.) Odo, the gold- 
 smith, received ten pounds for the repair of the king's hall 
 and houses at Westminster; and in May, twenty pounds 
 more were paid. Further sums, amounting to fifty pounds 
 and e twenty-five marks,' were also paid to Odo, in that and 
 the following year, for other repairs of the king's houses at 
 this place.|| In April, 1223 (7th Henry III.), twenty pounds 
 
 money. He also judiciously remarks, that " the beauty and elegance of the 
 seal alluded to still excites great admiration, on account of the perfection of 
 which it is a proof the graphic art had attained, in an age which has been called 
 barbarous." 
 
 * " Close Rolls," p. 340. f Ibid. p. 346. % " Testa de Nevill," p. 361. 
 
 " Close Rolls," p. 358. || Ibid. pp. 466 b, 472, 497, 504, 509, 517. 
 
OU WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 were to be paid for repairs of the quay; and in the August 
 following, a further sum of twenty pounds was ordered to be 
 issued to Odo, the goldsmith, c for the construction of a wall 
 at the king's gate at Westminster;' and twenty pounds 
 more f for the repair of the quay, the windows of Westmin- 
 ster Hall, and the performance of other works/* Small sums 
 of fifteen marks and twenty marks respectively, were to be 
 paid for the works of the king's houses here in June and Oc- 
 tober, 1218 ; and on the 25th of April, 1220 (4th Henry III.) 
 thirty pounds were ordered to be expended in repairing the 
 same, prior to his coronation on the ensuing Pentecost. 
 Within a year and a half from that time, other sums 
 amounting to 43. 10s., were directed to be paid for 
 the like purpose. 
 
 From the large total amount of the sums thus expended, 
 compared with the value of money in the present day, it is evi- 
 dent that the works then in progress must have been of con- 
 siderable importance ; and we cannot but conclude that they 
 consisted of new buildings as well as of repairs. This inference 
 is strengthened by other entries of the 6th, 7th, and 8th 
 years of the same reign ; namely, by writ, dated at West_ 
 minster on the 15th of July (6th Hen. III.), 1221, the trea- 
 surer and chamberlains of the Exchequer were commanded 
 to pay to William of Pontefract 33. 6s. 8d. for timber pur- 
 chased for the king's houses on this spot; in September, 
 1223 (7th Henry III.), 30, and in the December following, 
 100s. were also directed to be paid for the works of the 
 king's houses at Westminster. In February 1224, (8th 
 Hen. III.), the Barons of the Exchequer were commanded 
 to allow to the Sheriff of Kent 6. 9s. I0d., which he had 
 expended in the purchase of stone for the building of the 
 
 * "Close Rolls," pp. 389 b, 540, 558. 
 
KING HENRY III. 1224. 31 
 
 king's wall at Westminster. In the October following, twenty 
 pounds more were paid for the works at the king's houses.* 
 
 It is very remarkable that so many of the above payments 
 should have been made to Odo, the goldsmith, a business 
 that of all others has so little connexion with the building 
 profession: he must, however, be rather regarded as the 
 superintendent, or paymaster, of the works, than as an archi- 
 tect. On the 28th of May (5th Henry III.), 1221, the king 
 granted, by writ, to John of Canterbury, his carpenter of his 
 houses at Westminster, in alms, one penny per diem.\ 
 
 That Henry resided here generally in the 6th and 7th years 
 of his reign, is apparent both from the Close Rolls and from 
 other records. On the 21 st of April 1222, (6th Hen. III.), the 
 treasurer and chamberlains of the Exchequer were directed 
 to pay to the king's treasurer Richero de Fonte, 3s. 8d. to 
 purchase rushes for the king's two chambers at Westminster.]; 
 On the first of December in the same year, 3*. 4d. was paid 
 to the same to buy rushes for the king's Great Chamber ; 
 and on the 5th of June, 1223, the sum of 3s. lie?, was di- 
 rected to be paid for rushes for the king's two chambers at 
 Westminster.|| On the 26th of August following, the Trea- 
 surer, &c. were commanded to pay 1 5s. 9d. for rushes for the 
 king's houses against his coming hither on the eve of St. 
 Bartholomew.^! Various writs tested by the king at West- 
 minster about the same period, are also extant.** On the 
 1 9th of November in the same year, the Treasurer, &c. were 
 commanded to pay 200 for the expences incurred by the 
 king at Westminster on the feast of St. Martin in that year, 
 and in removing from London to Guildford.ff 
 
 * " Close Rolls," pp. 465, 563, 578, 586, 628. f Ibid. p. 460. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 493. Ibid. p. 524. || Ibid. p. 550. f Ibid. p. 561. 
 ** Vide " Reports on the Dignity of a Peer,'' app. i. pp. 3 and 4. 
 ft " Close Rolls," p. 522 b. 
 
<3<^ WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 On the 26th of May 1223, (/th Hen. III.), the sheriff of 
 London was commanded, by writ, to convey the timber of 
 the king's gibbet from his houses at Westminster to the elm 
 trees where robbers were accustomed to be hung.* This 
 probably was the " great gibbet" which Stow mentions the 
 king had caused to be made in the preceding summer, after 
 the house of the abbot's bailiff of Westminster (and other 
 buildings) had been razed to the ground by the citizens of 
 London, whose ire had been excited by the treacherous con- 
 duct of the bailiff at a great wrestling match in St. Giles's 
 Fields. f Hubert de Burgh, the Chief Justiciary, took a sum- 
 mary and severe revenge on the citizens, three of whom were 
 hanged, and many had their feet and hands cut off 5 and the 
 king " took of the citizens sixtie pledges, which he sent to 
 divers castles, and he deposed the maior, appointing a keeper 
 over the cittie ;" but, " after heavy threatenings, the citizens 
 were reconciled, paying to the king many thousand marks."! 
 Henry, indeed, appears to have constantly acted on the un- 
 generous principle of increasing the prosperity of Westminster 
 at the expense of the inhabitants of London. 
 
 On the 29th of May, 1223, the Treasurer and Chamber- 
 lains were commanded to pay 150 for the discharge of the 
 expenses incurred when the king was ill at Westminster, in 
 the same year.J 
 
 * " Close Rolls," p. 548. 
 
 f There is a mandate extant, bearing date at St. Alban's, on the 22d of May, 
 4th of Henry III., by which the king ' orders the sheriff of Middlesex to cause 
 to be made, without any delay, in the place where the gallows were formerly 
 erected, namely at the Elms (ad ulmellos), two good gibbets of strong and 
 excellent timber, for hanging robbers and other malefactors ; the cost to be 
 accounted for by the view and testimony of lawful men at the Exchequer.' 
 Hubert de Burgh, ' our Justiciary,' is the subscribing witness. 
 
 : Vide Stow's " Chronicle," p. 269, edit. 1600. "Close Rolls," p. 548. 
 
KING HENRY III. 1225. 
 
 Shortly before the illness thus spoken of, the sheriff of 
 London was commanded to purchase < six casks of Gascon 
 wine, and to deposit the same in the king's cellar at West- 
 minster.'* This order affords a correlative proof of the 
 continued residence of Henry in this palace in the early part 
 of his reign. 
 
 The king kept his Christmas at Westminster in the year 
 1225, at which time he assembled a Great Council, for the 
 purpose of obtaining a subsidy; the improvident grants 
 made in the two preceding reigns having greatly impoverished 
 the crown. On this occasion the Magna Chart 'a , (though with 
 some variations,) which had been granted by King John, 
 and the Chart a de Forest a, were both confirmed. The pro- 
 ceedings of the Council are thus narrated by Matthew 
 Paris : 
 
 ' 1225. King Henry at Christmas held his court at West- 
 minster, at which were present the clergy and people, with 
 the great men of the kingdom. The solemnities being com- 
 pleted, Hubert de Burgh, the king's justiciary, on the part 
 of the king, stated before the archbishops, bishops, earls, 
 barons, and all others, the losses and injuries which the king 
 had suffered in parts beyond the sea, and by which not only 
 the king, but many of the earls and barons also had been 
 disinherited with him. He observed that, in a case where 
 many were interested, the assistance of many was necessary. 
 He requested therefore of all counsel and aid, whereby the 
 lost dignities and rights of the crown of England might be 
 recovered. For the full accomplishment of this, he believed 
 it would satisfy the king if they would give the fifteenth part 
 of the moveable property of the whole kingdom of England, 
 both of the ecclesiastics and of the laity. On this proposi- 
 
 * " Close Rolls," p. 53G. 
 D 
 
<345 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 tion, the archbishops, and the whole assembly of bishops, 
 earls and barons, abbots and priors, having deliberated, gave 
 answer to the king, that they would readily agree to his 
 requisition, if he would concede to them their long-demanded 
 liberties. The king, induced by cupidity of gain, readily 
 assented to what the great men demanded; and charters 
 were immediately written out, sealed with the king's seal, 
 and directed one to each of the counties of England : and to 
 those provinces in which forests were constituted two char- 
 ters were directed, namely one relative to general liberties > 
 and the other to liberties of the forests.'* 
 
 " Thus at this Parliament/' says Holinshed, " were made 
 and confirmed those good lawes and laudable ordinances 
 whiche have bin, from time to time, by the Kyngs and Princes 
 of thys Realme confyrmed, so that a greate parte of the law 
 now in vse dependeth of the same." 
 
 At another Council held at Westminster at the feast of 
 St. Hilary, (January 13th,) and consisting of many bishops, 
 prelates, and crowds of laity " et laicorum turbis" Otho, the 
 Pope's legate, complaining of the poverty of the Holy See, 
 demanded that two prebends from every cathedral in Eng- 
 land, and certain portions of the revenues of each convent, 
 should be assigned to the pope. But the bishops and pre- 
 lates resisted this demand, as interfering with the interests 
 of the king, and, generally, with those of the patrons of 
 ecclesiastical benefices : they further observed that, in the 
 absence of the king (through infirmity), and of the arch- 
 bishops and other prelates, it was impossible for them to 
 grant what was required.f 
 
 * Matt. Paris, " Hist. Major," Tiguri, 1589, p. 311. It appears from the 
 same author, (vide "Additamenta," No. I. Wats's edit. 1640,) that the fif- 
 teenth thus imposed amounted to 59,000/. 
 
 t Matt. Paris, " Hist. Major," p. 316. The king's illness, at this time, is 
 
KING HENRY III-- 1229 1 232. 35 
 
 In 1229, Stephen, the pope's chaplain and nuncio, coming 
 to England to solicit aid for his master to enable him to 
 carry on war against the emperor Frederic, the king sum- 
 moned a Council to meet at Westminster, on the second 
 Sunday after Easter (April 29th), when the "archbishops, 
 bishops, abbots, priors, knights templars and hospitallers, 
 earls, barons, rectors of churches, and tenants in capite," 
 assembled to hear and consider the pope's requisition. The 
 nuncio demanded a tenth of all the movables of the whole 
 clergy and laity of England, Wales, and Ireland; and the 
 king having previously promised, by his procurators at 
 Rome, to pay this tax, said nothing, seeming by his silence 
 to give consent; the earls and barons, and all the laity, how- 
 ever, positively refused to grant the tenths, not choosing to 
 bring their baronies and lay property under obligation to the 
 church ; but the bishops, abbots and priors, and other pre- 
 lates, after three or four days' deliberation, and much mur- 
 muring, were induced, by the dread of excommunication, or 
 an interdict, in case of refusal, to submit to this heavy impo- 
 sition. The tenths were consequently exacted with the ut- 
 most rigour by the nuncio from all ecclesiastical persons, 
 except those who held lands under Ranulph, Earl of Chester, 
 who boldly withstood the demands of the pope's agent.* 
 
 In the nones of March, 1231-2, the king called a Council, 
 or "colloquium" as it is termed by Matthew Paris, at West- 
 minster, of the clergy, great men, &c. " Magnates Anglia, 
 tarn Laid quam Prcelati" from whom he demanded money 
 to discharge his debts, arising from his recent expedition to 
 the continent. The Earl of Chester, in behalf of the earls 
 
 confirmed by other annalists. "This year [1226] the king held his Christ- 
 masse at Winchester, and after comming to Marlebridge [Marlborough] , chanced 
 there to fall sicke, so that he laie in despaire of life for certeine daies togither." 
 Holinshed's " Chronicles," vol. ii. p. 359, edit. 1807. 
 * Matt. Paris, "Hist. Major," p. 349. 
 
 D 2 
 
Ol) WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 and barons, alleged that they had attended the king in his 
 expedition at their own charge, and therefore could not be 
 required to grant him any aid. The prelates, also, declined 
 making any grant, because ' many of the bishops and abbots 
 were abroad ;' and therefore another day was fixed for their 
 meeting.* 
 
 A still more important Council, " colloquium," was held 
 at Westminster on the 9th of October, 1233, about which 
 time the oppressive acts and tyrannical conduct of the king 
 had excited against him a strong confederation of the English 
 barons. l Many who were present/ says the annalist, 
 ' intreated the king to make peace with Richard, Earl Mar- 
 shal, and other barons, whom he had driven to rebellion, 
 and who they said ought not to be condemned without 
 being tried by their peers. Peter de Rupibus, [Bishop of 
 Winchester,] the king's profligate and unpopular minister, in 
 justification of the proceedings adopted against the insur- 
 gent barons, asserted, in reply, ' that there were no peers in 
 England as in the kingdom of France; and therefore the 
 king could have those who offended against the state tried 
 by his justices, who had power to condemn the guilty.' The 
 bishops, alarmed at this daring contempt of their dearest 
 rights as peers of the realm, immediately excommunicated 
 the king's iniquitous counsellors, and particularly the Bishop 
 of Winchester, who declared himself exempt from their 
 
 * Matt. Paris, "Hist. Major," p. 359. Stow, " Annals," p. 274, speaks 
 of the above expedition in these words: " King Henry sayled into Bry- 
 taine, but lost his time to no good, and did nothing but spend great summes 
 of treasure. The earls and barons, also, seeing that Hubert, the justiciar, 
 [who was at that time Henry's chief favourite and counsellor,] would not 
 suffer them to do any thing against the enemies, they made banquets and 
 feasts as they were wont to do in England, and tended nothing but eating & 
 drinking ; but the poorer sorte of men, to maintaine themselves, sold all that 
 they had, and beggared themselves for ever.'' 
 
KING HENRY III. 1234. W 
 
 jurisdiction, and appealed to Rome. Then the bishops ex- 
 communicated all who should prejudice the king against his 
 natural born subjects, or disturb the peace of the realm.* 
 
 Two other Councils were held " before the king" at West- 
 minster, in the early part of the f oil owing year, viz. at the 
 feast of the Purification (February the 2nd), and on the 5th 
 of the ides of April. The first Council was dissolved by the 
 king in consequence of the expostulations of some of the 
 bishops, who, in warning him against evil counsellors, said 
 that c their measures would prove as ruinous to himself as 
 they had been to his father." f At the second Council (at 
 which the earls, barons, and prelates are spoken of as being 
 present), the prelates repeated their censures ; and after 
 descanting on the desolation and imminent dangers of the 
 realm, they threatened both the king and his ministers with 
 excommunication unless he reformed his errors. Henry, on 
 this occasion, was alarmed; and to allay their anger he 
 humbly promised to be governed by their counsel in all 
 things. J 
 
 At Christmas 1234, the king kept a court at Westminster, 
 in presence of very many of his bishops and principal sub- 
 jects, " prcesentibus episcopis et principibus regni quam 
 plurimis;" and ' at that time,' says Matthew Paris, c seven 
 Jews were brought before him who, at Norwich, had stolen 
 a certain boy, and having circumcised him, kept him for a year 
 from the view of Christians, intending to crucify him at the so- 
 lemnity of the Passover/ They ( were convicted/ continues 
 the annalist, * of this deed, and, in the presence of the king ? 
 confessed the truth of the accusation, and therefore were de- 
 tained in prison to await his pleasure, in peril of their lives 
 
 * Matt. Paris, " ffist Major," p. 375. t Ibid. p. 381. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 3 83. 
 
38 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 and limbs.' * This event may be cited in illustration of the 
 fact, that our law courts were in former ages frequently held 
 before the monarch in person ; and the phrase of summons 
 ' in banco regis,' still is c before the king himself/ 
 
 The following characteristic narrative of the circumstances 
 attending the betrothment of Isabella, Henry the Third's 
 sister, to the Emperor Frederic, is given by Matthew 
 Paris : it furnishes an early instance of a royal marriage by 
 proxy. 
 
 c ln February 1235, two ambassadors from the Emperor 
 Frederic arrived at Westminster, to demand in marriage for 
 their master the Princess Isabella, the king's sister. The 
 king summoned a council of the bishops and great men of 
 the kingdom, to consider the proposals of the emperor ; to 
 which, after three days' consultation, an unanimous assent was 
 given. The ambassadors then entreated that they might be 
 permitted to see the princess. The king sent confidential mes- 
 sengers for his sister, to the tower of London, where she was 
 kept in vigilant custody ; and they most respectfully brought 
 the damsel to Westminster, into the presence of her brother. 
 She was in the twenty-first year of her age, exceedingly beau- 
 tiful, in the flower of youthful virginity, becomingly adorned 
 with royal vestments and accomplishments, and thus she 
 was introduced to the imperial envoys. They, when they 
 
 * Matt. Paris, p. 395. It would seem, however, from Fabyan, that the ac- 
 cused (who probably had been induced to confess themselves guilty under some 
 secret promise of being spared), were released without punishment. Vide 
 " Chronicle," p. 320, edit. 1811. In the " Close Rolls " of the 19th of Henry 
 the Third, (anno 1234,) is an entry, bearing teste by the king himself at West- 
 minster on the 20th of November, which appears to have some reference to the 
 vague charge against the Jews, viz. ' The Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk is 
 commanded to make proclamation in the city of Norwich, and in all the good 
 towns of those counties, that no Christian woman shall thenceforth serve the 
 Jews in nursing their young children, or in any other office.' 
 
CORONATION FEAST OF QUEEN ELEANOR, 1236. 39 
 
 had for a while delighted themselves with beholding the 
 virgin, and judged her to be in all things worthy of the im- 
 perial bed, confirmed by oath the emperor's proposal of ma- 
 trimony, presenting to her, on the part of their master, the 
 wedding-ring. And when they had placed it on her finger, 
 they declared her to be empress of the Roman empire, ex- 
 claiming altogether, ' Vivat Imperatrix, vivat ! ' 
 
 ' The emperor, being informed of the acceptance of his pro- 
 posals, sent the Archbishop of Cologne and the Duke of 
 Louvaine, with a noble train, to escort the bride elect to 
 Germany. Previously to the departure of the princess, on 
 the 6th of May, the king held a solemn feast at Westminster, 
 for the Archbishop of Cologne, and the rest of the envoys of 
 the empress; and the next day they all departed, being 
 accompanied to Dartford by the king and a large concourse 
 of earls, barons, and other nobles/ * 
 
 At the commencement of 1236, this Palace became the 
 scene of great festivity, in consequence of the marriage of 
 the King with Eleanor, second daughter of Raymond, Earl 
 of Provence. The nuptials were solemnized at Canterbury on 
 the 14th of January; and on Saturday the 19th, (prior to the 
 Queen's coronation on the next day, in the Abbey Church 
 at Westminster,) their majesties made a public entry into 
 London. Stow says, that to this coronation there " resorted 
 so great a number of ah 1 estates, that the citie of London was 
 scarce able to receive them. The citizens rode to meet the 
 King and Queene, being clothed in long garments, em- 
 broidered about with golde and silke of dyvers colours ; 
 their horses finely trapped in arraie, to the number of 360, 
 everie man bearing golden or silver cups in their hands, and 
 the king's trumpeters before them sounding. The citie was 
 
 * Matt. Paris, " Hist. Major," p. 400. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 adorned with silkes, and in the night with lampes, cressets? 
 and other lights without number; besides manie pageants 
 and strange devices which were shewed." " 
 
 The coronation feast was kept in the Great Hall of this 
 palace ; and it being one of the first, so celebrated, of which 
 any essential particulars have been recorded, we shall here 
 insert a brief account of the various ceremonies, as described 
 by Matthew Paris. 
 
 ' The king came to Westminster on the 1 9th of January ; 
 and the next day, which was Sunday, there was performed a 
 ceremonial surpassing any thing ever before heard of, in 
 which the king carried the crown, and the inauguration of 
 Queen Eleanor was accomplished. The Archbishop of Can- 
 terbury, of special right, performed the office of coronation ; 
 the Bishop of London assisting in the ceremony as deacon, 
 and the other bishops taking place according to their rank. 
 In like manner, all the abbots ; preceded, as of right, by the 
 abbot of St. Alban's ; for as St. Alban was the first Martyr 
 in England, so the abbot of the monastery of St. Alban's 
 should be the first in order and dignity, as the authentical 
 privileges of that church demonstrate. There, also, were the 
 great men who, from ancient custom, and the old law of the 
 kingdom, ought to be present ; together with the citizens of 
 certain cities, who performed offices which of ancient right 
 had been exercised by their predecessors. But why should 
 I tell what was done in the church, reverently ministering 
 unto God ? 
 
 6 At the nuptial feast were assembled such a multitude of 
 the nobility of both sexes, such numbers of the religious, 
 such a vast body of the people, and such a variety of players, 
 c histriones,' that the city of London could scarcely con- 
 
 * Stow's " Annals," p. 278, edit. 1600 ; from Matt. Paris. 
 
GREAT FEAST IN WESTMINSTER HALL, 1236. '* 1 
 
 tain them in her capacious bosom. In the procession, the 
 Earl of Chester bare before the king the sword of St. Edward 
 the Confessor, called curtana, in token of his being^Ear/ of 
 the Palace, * Comes Palatii,' and having authority to re- 
 strain the king, if he should do wrong; as constable of 
 Chester, he kept back the people with his rod, when they 
 pressed too forward. The high marshal of England (the 
 Earl of Pembroke) carried a rod before the king, both in the 
 church and in the hall, making way for the king, and 
 arranging the guests at the royal table. The barons, e cus- 
 todes' of the Cinque Ports, bare a canopy over the king, 
 supported on five spears, though from some contentious 
 scruples they had almost neglected their duty. The Earl of 
 Leicester held water for the king to wash before dinner. 
 The Earl of Warenne officiated as the royal cup-bearer, in 
 lieu of the Earl of Arundel, who was a youth not yet knighted. 
 Master Michael Belet had the office of butler. The Earl of 
 Hereford was marshal of the king's household. William de 
 Beauchamp was almoner. The justiciary of the forests re- 
 moved the dishes from the king's table, though he was at 
 first impeded [by some counter claim]. The citizens of Lon- 
 don poured the wine abundantly into precious cups; the 
 citizens of Winchester had oversight of the kitchen and 
 napery; and others officiated according to their various 
 claims, which were decided salvo jure, so that they might be 
 substantiated on a fitter occasion, and the joy of the nuptial 
 feast not be interrupted by contention. The chanceUor, the 
 chamberlain, the marshal, and the constable, took their seats 
 with reference to their offices ; and all the barons in the order 
 of their creation. The solemnity was resplendent with the 
 clergy and knights, properly placed. But how shall I describe 
 the dainties of the table, and the abundance of divers 
 liquors ; the quantity of game, the variety of fish, the multi- 
 
4i< WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 tude of jesters, and the attention of the waiters ? Whatever 
 the world pours forth of pleasure and glory was there espe- 
 cially displayed.'* According to Fabyan, c royall solemnities 
 and goodly justys ' were also kept during eight days in 
 Tuthill-field ; or as this writer more graphically expresses it, 
 " in the feelde by Westmynster, lying at y e west end of y e 
 church/'f 
 
 Stow, referring to the Tower Records, says that, on the 
 29th of December in the above year, viz. 1236, "Wil- 
 liam de Haverhull, the king's treasurer, was commanded 
 that upon the day of the Circumcision of our Lord (January 
 the 1st), he should cause 6,000 poore people to be fed at 
 London for the state of the king, the queene, and their chil- 
 dren. The weake and aged to bee placed in the great Hall, 
 and in the lesser [Hall] those who were more strong, and in 
 reasonable plight; in the king's chamber the children, and 
 [also] in the queene' s ; and when the king knew the charge 
 he would allow it in the accounts." J 
 
 One of the most remarkable events attending Henry's 
 nuptials, was the enactment of the Statutes, or " Provisions 
 of Merton " as they are styled by historians, in consequence 
 of their having been agreed to at Merton, in Surrey ; where 
 the king held a court on the third day after the queen's coro- 
 nation. It is stated in the introductory clause of those provi- 
 sions, that the king's court was holden before the Archbi- 
 shop of Canterbury, and other his bishops and suffragans, 
 and before the greater part of the earls and barons of 
 England, there being assembled ' for the coronation of the 
 
 * Matt. Paris, " Hist. Major," p. 406. f Fabyan's " Chronicle," p. 329. 
 
 J Survey of London, p. 386. edit. 1598. It may be questioned whether 
 Stow has not been mistaken in assigning the date 1236 to the above-mentioned 
 feast, as. there was no issue from the royal marriage until the year 1239. There 
 is a precept extant relative to a similar feast in 1247-48. 
 
KING HENRY III. 1238. 43 
 
 said king, and Alianore the queen, about which they were all 
 called/* 
 
 About the time of the king's marriage, the rain fell in such 
 vast quantities as to cause a great inundation. ( At the new 
 moon,' says Paris, ' at the festival of St. Scolastica, (February 
 the 10th,) f the tide meeting the torrents from the river, 
 their streams swelled so that fords became impassable ; the 
 banks were overflowed, the bridges were concealed by the 
 floods, the mills with their dams were injured, and the arable 
 land and the meadows were overwhelmed. Among other 
 singular circumstances, the river Thames, transgressing its 
 accustomed limits, flowed into the great Palace at Westmin- 
 ster, and spreading itself, so covered the area that the middle 
 of the Hall might be passed in boats, and persons rode 
 through it on horseback to their chambers. The water 
 bursting into the cellars, could scarcely be drawn out again. 
 Signs, which preceded this tempest, were afterwards con- 
 sidered as prognostics of the mischief. Thunder was heard 
 in the winter, on the festival of St. Damasius, (December 
 the llth,) and on the Wednesday after the Conception of 
 St. Mary, (December the 8th,) a false sun was seen beside 
 the real sun.' f 
 
 * See " Statutes of the Realm," vol. i. p. 2, anno 20 Hen III. edit. 1810. 
 The words are " pro coronatione ip'ius D'ni Regis et Alianore Regine, p' 
 qua omnes vocati fuerunt." 
 
 f Matt. Paris, " Hist. Major," p. 407. The occurrence of great floods, and 
 of strange appearances in the atmosphere, about the same time, are also no- 
 ticed by Matthew of Westminster, and other annalists. In another flood, 
 which occurred on the eve of St. Edmund's Day 1242 (November 21st), occa- 
 sioned by " by a marvellous tempest of thunder and lightening, followed by an 
 exceeding raine," the river Thames rose so high that "all the countrie was 
 drowned for the space of six miles about Lambeth, and none might get into 
 Westminster Hall except they were set on horsebacke." Vide Holinshed's 
 " Chronicles," vol. iii. p. 399; and Matt. Paris, sub eod. anno. 
 
WESTMINSTEB PALACE. 
 
 King Henry spent his Christmas at Winchester in the 
 year 1237; and soon after he summoned, "per scripta re- 
 galia" a Court, or Parliament, of his principal subjects, 
 viz. archbishops, bishops, abbots and priors, earls and 
 barons. On the 20th of January following, at a meeting in 
 the Palace at Westminster, the king, after artfully acknow- 
 ledging his own previous indiscretions, as well as the illegal 
 practices of his alien ministers, promised amendment, and 
 requested a subsidy ; offering beforehand, to submit to the 
 appointment of Commissioners ' who should direct the dis- 
 tribution of the money to the proper purposes of the state/ 
 His insincerity, however, was too well known to admit of a 
 ready acquiescence in his desire. The prelates and barons 
 were indignant at the profligacy with which the best interests 
 of the crown and kingdom had been sacrificed to gratify his 
 foreign favourites ; and it was not until he had engaged to 
 renew and faithfully observe the Great Charter and the 
 Charta de Foresta, that he obtained a subsidy of a thir- 
 tieth of the moveables of the clergy and laity.* Even this 
 was accompanied by the condition, that, in every county 
 throughout the kingdom, four knights should be chosen to 
 collect and deposit the money within some monastery, that 
 it might be restored to its former owners, should the king 
 break his promise.f But conditions were of little avail with 
 Henry : the money, when raised, was seized by his own com- 
 mand, and squandered away with reckless profligacy on his 
 alien favourites. 
 
 * Matt. Paris, " Hist. Major," p. 420. 
 
 f In Rymer's ' Foedera," vol. i. p. 232, edit 1816, is a writ (tested by the 
 king at Westminster) addressed to the Sheriff of Kent, relative to the levying 
 the above aid. The king's assessors were to cause four "de legalioribus homi- 
 nibus de singulis villis " to be summoned, who were on oath to declare the 
 true amount of the assessment. 
 
KING HENRY III. CHANCERY ROLLS, 1229 1239. 45 
 
 The Chancery Rolls of this reign, preserved in the British 
 Museum, include various items relating to the Palace, of 
 the general tenor of which the following are specimens; 
 they appear among the payments made by the sheriffs of 
 London and Middlesex out of the fee-farm of the city. 
 
 In the 13th of Henry III. the citizens render account of 
 60s. lOd. paid to Walter, the chaplain of St. Stephen's 
 chapel at Westminster: to Adam, of the king's chapel, 
 30s. 6d. : and to the heir of Richard de Leveland 10/. 12s. 4d. 
 for the custody of the Houses of Westminster. The same 
 payments are repeated in all the following Rolls to the 21st 
 of the same king; with the additions, in his 16th year, of 
 2 6s. for the conveyance to Northampton of six casks of wine, 
 which were in the custody of John Colemere in the king's 
 cellar at Westminster; and in his 21st year, of 12/. Os. I2d. 
 for conveying 241 casks of wine from London to Westmins- 
 ter, and stowing the same in the king's cellar, there. 
 
 We shall now advert to the very curious information 
 respecting some of the Palatial decorations, which was first 
 communicated to the public by Walpole, in his " Anecdotes 
 of Painting." It furnishes a demonstrative proof that oil- 
 painting was practised in this country nearly two centuries 
 before its presumed discovery by John ab Eyck in 1410. 
 
 In the 12th of Henry III. (anno 1228,) the king ordered 
 his treasurer and chamberlains to pay to a certain painter 
 " cuidam pictori " 205. for painting the great Exchequer 
 chamber* 
 
 In 1236, a mandate was directed to the king's treasurer, 
 requiring him e to have the king's great chamber at West- 
 minster painted of a good green colour, in the manner of a 
 
 * Rot. Claus. 12 Hen. III. m. 8. 
 
46 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 curtain, and in the great gable of the same chamber, near 
 the door, to have painted this motto : 
 
 Ke ne dune ke ne tine, ne pret ke desire : * 
 and also to have the king's little wardrobe painted green like 
 a curtain, so that the king, on his first coming there, may 
 find the above-mentioned chamber and wardrobe painted 
 and ornamented as directed/ f 
 
 In the same year, on the 7th of February, another man- 
 date was addressed to H. de Pateshull, the king's treasurer, 
 ordering him " to have the border at the back of the king's 
 seat in the chapel of St. Stephen, at Westminster, and the 
 border at the back of the queen's seat, in another part of the 
 same chapel, painted of a green colour, both within side and 
 without ; and also to have painted near the queen's seat a 
 crucifix, with Mary and John, opposite to the king's cross 
 near the king's seat.' J 
 
 On the 2d of August, 1237, the king, by writ dated at 
 Westminster, commands his treasurer and chamberlains to 
 pay four pounds eleven shillings to Odo, the goldsmith, 
 'keeper of our works at Westminster, for the making of 
 pictures " ad picturas faciendas " in our chamber there.' 
 
 In the early part of 1238, as appears from Matthew Paris, 
 (sub eodem anno,) Henry held his court at Westminster ; 
 
 * That is, " Qui ne donne ce qu'il tient, ne prend ce qu'il desire;" which 
 accords with the Latin proverb, Qui non dat quod habet, non occipit ille quod 
 optat. We may thus render it in English : He who gives not what he pos- 
 sesses, receives not what he desires. 
 
 f Rot. Claus. 20 Hen. III. m. 12. Dallaway, but surely without warrant 
 from the record, renders the words, " in magno gabulo ejusdem camera? juxta 
 ostium," by ' the great west window above the entrance.' Vide his edition of 
 Walpole's " Anecdotes of Painting," vol. i. p. 6. There were many ' great 
 gables' in ancient houses that were not pierced by windows. 
 
 t Rot. Claus. 20 Hen. III. m. 12. 
 
 Rot. Liberat. 21 Hen. III. m. 5. 
 
PALATIAL DECORATIONS, 1239- 4*7 
 
 where, on the 7th of January, he gave his sister Eleanor, the 
 widow of William, Earl of Pembroke, in marriage to Simon 
 de Montfort (a foreigner), whom he had recently taken into 
 his especial favour, and created Earl of Leicester. Walter, 
 the chaplain of St. Stephen's, performed the marriage cere- 
 mony in the king's little chapel, " in parvula capella regis, 
 quse est in angulo cameree ;" and probably in private, as the 
 king, on being afterwards reproached by his brother Richard 
 for assenting to such a match, defended his conduct by 
 urging ' the necessity of the case, the widow being enceinte. 1 
 
 A very remarkable precept respecting the palatial decora- 
 tions was issued by King Henry in his 23d year (anno 1239), 
 and, from being directly connected with the history of colour- 
 ing in oil, we shall here insert it, both in the words of the 
 original and in a literal translation : 
 
 " Rex thesaurario et camerariis suis salutem. Liberate de 
 thesauro nostro Odoni aurifabro, et Edwardo filio suo, cen- 
 tem et septemdecem solidos et decem denarios, pro oleo, ver- 
 nici, et coloribus emptis, et picturis factis in camera reginee 
 nostrae apud West, ab octavis Sanctee Trinitatis, anno regni 
 nostri xxiii. usque ad festum Sancti Barnabe Apostoli, eodem 
 anno, scilicet per xv dies." * 
 
 ' The king, to his treasurer and chamberlains, greeting. 
 Deliver of our treasure to Odo the goldsmith, and Edward 
 his son, one hundred and seventeen shillings and ten pence, 
 for oil, varnish, and colours bought, and for pictures made 
 in the chamber of our queen at Westminster, from the oc- 
 taves of the Holy Trinity [May the 25th,] in the 23d year of 
 
 * Rot. Claus. 23d Hen. III., as cited by Walpole, in his "Anecdotes of 
 Painting." " There is another mandate," he adds, " of Henry's 25th year, 
 for two windows with pictures in the hall [query, lesser hall ?] and with the 
 motto, Ke ne 'dune, &c. above mentioned, of which I do not know that any 
 of our antiquaries have taken notice." Walpole's " Works," vol. iii. p. 16. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 our reign, to the feast of St. Barnabas the Apostle [June the 
 llth] in the same year, namely for fifteen days/ 
 
 It seems probable that the pictorial embellishments thus 
 noticed had reference to the preparations then making for 
 the queen's accouchement, as her first son, Edward, sur- 
 named, from the place of his birth, of Westminster, was 
 born on the 16th of June, 1239, five days only after the last 
 date mentioned in the record. " Before the birth of this 
 Edward," says Holinshed (sub eod. anno), "there appeared 
 early in the morning, certeine daies together, before the 
 sunne was up, a star of a large compasse, the which with 
 swift course was carried through a long circuit of the air, 
 sometimes shewing as it had borne fire with it, and some- 
 times leaving as it were smoke behind it; so that it was 
 after judged, that the great deeds which were to be atchieved 
 by the same Edward, were by this wonderful constellation 
 foreshewed and signified." 
 
 By another mandate of the same year, issued after the 
 recovery of the queen, the king orders, c that the chamber 
 behind the queen's chapel, and the private chamber of that 
 chamber, be wainscotted, and the aforesaid chamber lined ; 
 and that a list, or border, be made, and well painted with 
 the images of our Lord and angels with incense-pots, scat- 
 tered over the list or border. He also directs that the four 
 Evangelists be painted within the chamber aforesaid; and 
 that a crystal vase be made for the keeping of his relics.' 
 Shortly after, by other precepts, (which also are entered on 
 the Close Rolls,) Hugh de Patteshull, the king's treasurer, 
 was ordered, ' to cause to be made at the upper end of the 
 chapel of St. Stephen, a new, good, and large door ;' and 
 the treasurer and chamberlains of the king's exchequer were 
 commanded ' to provide (among other things) one hundred 
 wax candles to be placed in the chapel of St. Stephen on 
 
KING HENRY III. 1 24 1-1 242. ( J 
 
 that saint's day, (December 26th) ; and one hundred other 
 wax candles for the chapel of St. John, on that saint's day/ 
 (December 27th). 
 
 In 1241, Henry held his court at Westminster, c where he 
 banqueted the great men of his kingdom/ Matthew Paris 
 gives the following account of the proceedings under the 
 above date : ' At the request of Otho, the Pope's legate, 
 whom he especially endeavoured to gratify, the king (girded 
 with the military belt) bestowed the honour of knighthood 
 on the nephew of the legate, whose name was Advocatus, at 
 the same time giving him a pension, or rent, [redditus] of 
 30, which the young man disposed of immediately, know- 
 ing that he should shortly return home with his patron. 
 The same day the king also bestowed knighthood on a cer- 
 tain Provencal, and gave him a valuable pension. These 
 solemnities in the church being finished, the king dined in 
 the greater palace [hall] of Westminster. The legate, whom 
 he had invited to dinner, he placed at the higher part of the 
 table, namely in the royal seat, which is in the centre of the 
 table ; not however without the envious and angry glances of 
 many being directed towards him. The king himself sat on 
 his right hand, and the Archbishop of York on his left, many 
 of the prelates and other great men being seated according 
 to the order of their rank and dignity.' 
 
 Another splendid scene was exhibited here during the 
 continuance of the same festival. ' On the day of St. Ed- 
 ward,' (January the 5th, anno 1241-42,) 'whom the king 
 held in especial honour, he bestowed the honour of knight- 
 hood on Peter of Savoy, the queen's uncle, and fifteen other 
 noble youths, in the church of St. Peter, at Westminster ; 
 and on the morrow, being the day of Epiphany, in his great 
 palace, he feasted most sumptuously an immeasurable multi- 
 tude of guests, on account of this Peter, and to signalize the 
 
 E 
 
W WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 acquisition of his new dignity. The citizens of London also 
 attended at this festival, being summoned by a royal edict, 
 under a penalty of 100 shillings, to join in the rejoicings.' * 
 
 Henry kept his Christmas in the great hall at Westmins- 
 ter in 1241, and shortly afterwards he held a council there? 
 to obtain aid for the expedition which he was then meditat- 
 ing against France. His barons, however, refused compli- 
 ance, and even upbraided him for his wanton dissipation of 
 the settled revenues of the kingdom, as well as for the sums 
 daily exacted from his subjects by unlawful proceedings. 
 He had the like ill success at another meeting held on the 
 1st of February 1242; but, as he was determined not to 
 forego his purpose, he contrived to raise a large sum, by 
 way of gift, loan, and other means, and on the 15th of May 
 he sailed for Poictiers taking with him "thirtie barrels of 
 sterling coine." After an inglorious campaign, and the loss 
 of two battles, he was compelled to purchase a five year's 
 truce at the cost of 5,000. He then retired to Bourdeaux, 
 where he remained until September 1243, lavishing away 
 with reckless improvidence all the treasures which he had 
 caused to be wrung from his oppressed people.f 
 
 Notwithstanding his pecuniary embarrassments, the king, 
 almost immediately on returning from France, commenced 
 the erection of some new buildings at Westminster, the 
 principal of which was a large chamber, that eventually ob- 
 tained the name of the Chamber of the Holy Cross. This 
 must have been a work of considerable importance, as the 
 following extracts from the Close Rolls of the 28th year of 
 Henry's reign will prove, 
 
 * Matt. Paris, " Hist. Major," p. 531. 
 
 f Vide Matthew Paris, and Matthew of Westminster, sub anno 1243. Di- 
 rectly on his return, the king, in order to supply his empty coffers, sought a 
 quarrel with the Jews, who, to appease his seeming wrath, were constrained 
 to submit to a tallage of 50,000 marks. 
 
KING HENRY III. 1244. 51 
 
 In that year, a mandate was directed to the sheriff of 
 Kent, requiring him ' with all possible speed to purchase, 
 and cause to be conveyed to Westminster, 100 barge loads 
 of grey stone ' " 100 navatas grisise petree," c for the works 
 which the king had ordered to be done there ; and that he 
 exert such commendable diligence in obeying the said man- 
 date, that W. de Haverhull, his treasurer, and Edward [of 
 Westminster], to whom the king had entrusted the execution 
 of the before-mentioned works, may not throw upon him the 
 blame, if, contrary to the king's wishes, those works- be 
 deferred/ 
 
 Again, on the 17th of May, 1244, the king commands the 
 treasurer and chamberlains to pay out of his treasury, to 
 Edward of Westminster, 1,949. 13s. 5$d. which he 'had 
 expended in the erection of a new chamber near to our Hall 
 at Westminster, and of our Conduit, and in other works 
 there which we enjoined him to have constructed ' 
 
 By another, and rather singular, precept of the same year, 
 tested by Henry himself, at Clive, on the 19th of July, the 
 king granted to Edward Fitz-Odo, that ' from the aqueduct 
 which the king had constructed to the Great Hall at West- 
 minster, he might have a pipe to his own court at Westmins- 
 ter, of the size of a goose-quill'* 
 
 * Edward Fitz-Odo, who was the director, or master, of the works at West- 
 minster for a very considerable period, was the same person who in other records 
 is called Edward of Westminster. He was the son of Odo, the goldsmith, the 
 director of the king's works in the early part of his reign. On the transfer of 
 the office of fusor, or melter, of the king's exchequer, to this Edward, by John 
 le Fttsor, his uncle, (who had previously held it,) for " twelve marks of silver 
 towards his voyage into the Holy Land," the king confirmed the agreement by a 
 grant signed with his own hand, at Westminster, on the 22d of January, 1240. 
 Vide Madox's " Exchequer," vol. ii. p. 310 ; and Rymer's " Foedera," vol. i. 
 p. 239, edit. 1816. The above grant is noticed both in the "Rot. Claus." and 
 in the " Foedera." 
 
 E 2 
 
, WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 During the progress of the above work, a most sumptuous 
 feast was given by the king, in the Great Hall, on account 
 of the marriage of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, (his brother,) 
 with Cincia of Provence, who was sister both to Henry's 
 own consort and to the Queen of France. This lady had 
 been brought to England by her mother, the Countess of 
 Provence and Narbonne, " a comely, wise, and civil woman," 
 who was received with great honour by the nobles, and " the 
 citie of London was also gorgeously prepared against her 
 coming/' The nuptials were solemnized at Westminster, on 
 St. Clement's day, 1243, (November 23d,) "with great 
 royalty, and companie of noblemen." Matthew Paris, in 
 recording the abundance and magnificence of the entertain- 
 ment, informs us that more than thirty thousand dishes were 
 prepared for the wedding dinner. 
 
 There were two councils, or parliaments, assembled at 
 Westminster in 1244; but Henry was unsuccessful in obtain- 
 ing money from either, his boundless extravagance and 
 tyrannous exactions having highly displeased both the pre- 
 lates and the nobles. He contrived, however, by illegal fines, 
 inflicted for alleged offences on the citizens of London, and 
 by fleecing the Jews, to replenish his treasury with large 
 sums. In the following year, June the 7th, the king issued 
 a writ, tested at Westminster, stating ( that it had been re- 
 solved by the nobles who had spent the feast of Pentecost 
 with him there, to proceed into Wales against David, the 
 son of Llewellin, and his adherents.' * 
 
 Nearly at the same time, viz. in the summer of 1245, 
 Henry commenced his memorable re-building of the Abbey 
 Church at Westminster, in that elegant and lofty style of 
 architecture which still forms its primary character, and 
 
 * Vide "Reports on the Dignity of a Peer," App. 1. p. 11. 
 
KING HENRY III. ABBEY CHURCH REBUILT 1245. 53 
 
 which about that period was adopted m almost all the eccle- 
 siastical buildings throughout Europe. ' The king/ says 
 Matthew Paris, * moved by his devotional regard for St. 
 Edward, commanded that the church of St. Peter at West- 
 minster should be enlarged : and the old walls (with the 
 tower) of the eastern part being overthrown, were con- 
 structed anew and more handsomely, by artificers whom the 
 king at his own cost procured ; the new work being fitted to 
 the residue, or western part/ * 
 
 It appears from a record quoted by Madox from the 
 " Patent Rolls/' that a new exchequer office, with two trea- 
 suries, was established by the king, for the receipt of the 
 money which he appropriated to the rebuilding of the abbey 
 church 5 and that in April 1246, the sum of 2,591, which was 
 due from the widow of a Jew of Oxford, was assigned by 
 him to that use. The document follows : 
 
 ( The king gave and granted unto God and the blessed 
 Edward, and to the Church of Westminster, towards the 
 building of that church, 2591, in which sum Licoricia, who 
 was the wife of David, a Jew of Oxford, was bound to him. 
 And the king wills that this money be paid into the new 
 exchequer, that for the above purpose he has constituted at 
 Westminster, and of which he has appointed the Archdeacon 
 of Westminster and Edward of Westminster treasurers. 
 Witnessed by the King at Windsor, April 22d, 1246.' f 
 
 * Matthew Paris, " Hist. Major," p. 642, edit. 1589. Thomas Wykes (a 
 canon of Osney), who was a contemporary historian with Paris, and whose 
 "Chronicle" has been published in Gale's " Scrip tores," corroborates this 
 statement of the new work having been executed at the king's cost, though 
 without discriminating the parts rebuilt. He says, The king, with the pro- 
 ceeds of his own exchequer, erected the church from the foundations.' " Quam 
 idem rex de propriis fisci regalis exitibus k fundamentis construxerat.*' 
 
 t Vide Madox's " Exchequer," vol. ii. p. 3, note k , from the " Patent Roll" 
 
fr* WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 On the 3d of October, 1 247, (the day of the translation of 
 St. Edward,) a gorgeous scene was exhibited here, on the 
 occasion of King Henry presenting to the abbey church a 
 precious vessel which had been sent to him from the Holy 
 Land, and was attested to inclose some of the genuine blood 
 of our Saviour, which had trickled from his wounds at the 
 Crucifixion. Several weeks before the ceremony, the king 
 summoned his chief subjects to meet him at Westminster, 
 * that they might hear/ says Matthew Paris, c the most joyful 
 news of a holy benefaction recently bestowed on the English 
 from heaven. On the day appointed, the great men assem- 
 bled, and were informed, in reply to their inquiries, that the 
 king had received from the Masters of the Knights Templars 
 and Hospitallers, a beautiful crystalline vase, containing a 
 portion of the blood of our Saviour, which he had shed on the 
 Cross for the salvation of mankind ; the genuineness of the 
 relic being testified under the seals of the Patriarch [Robert] 
 of Jerusalem, and the archbishop, bishops, abbots, and 
 other prelates of the Holy Land ! 
 
 < The king then commanded that all the priests of Lon- 
 don, habited in costly dresses, and bearing standards, crosses, 
 and lighted tapers, should early in the morning on St. Ed- 
 ward's day, reverently meet at St. Paul's. Thither the king 
 himself came, and with the utmost veneration receiving the 
 vase, with the treasure [of Christ's blood] already mentioned, 
 he bore it openly before him, (preceded by the richly-dressed 
 priests,) walking slowly, in a humble garb, and without stop- 
 ping, to the church of Westminster. He held the vase with 
 both hands, keeping his eyes fixed on the vessel, or looking 
 
 of the 30th Hen. III. m. 5. The then Archdeacon of Westminster was Richard 
 de Crokesley, who in the same year became Abbot of Westminster, on the 
 recommendation of the king ; and for whom also Henry procured from Pope 
 Innocent IV. the right of saying mass fully habited in Episcopal vestments. 
 
KING HENRY III. 1248. 
 
 5,5 
 
 up to heaven, whilst proceeding along the dirty and uneven 
 road. But a pall was held over him on four spears, and two 
 persons supported his arms, lest the fatigue should be too 
 great for him. 
 
 ( Near the gate of the Bishop of Durham's hall [in the 
 Strand], he was met by the members of the convent of 
 Westminster, with bishops, abbots, and monks (singing and 
 rejoicing, with tears, in the Holy Spirit), who accompanied 
 the procession to the church, which could scarcely contain 
 the assembled multitude. The king, untired, carried the 
 vase round the palace and the monastery, and then delivered 
 it, as an invaluable present, to the church of St. Peter, and 
 the brethren administering therein to the honour of God/* 
 
 On the same day, and within the church, the king con- 
 ferred the honour of knighthood on his half-brother William 
 de Valence, and several other youthful persons. 
 
 About the end of the same year, whilst Henry himself 
 kept his Christmas at Winchester, a writ was directed to 
 William de Haverhull, his treasurer, and Edward of West- 
 minster, commanding them, among other things, ' to fill the 
 king's Great Hall from Christmas day to the day of the 
 Circumcision (January 1st) with poor people, and feed them 
 there/ f 
 
 On the 9th of February, 1248, the king being involved in 
 great pecuniary distress, in consequence of his indiscreet 
 prodigality, assembled a parliament at Westminster, " where 
 
 * Vide Matt. Paris, " Hist. Major," p. 735, &c. (Wats's edit.) and " Ad- 
 ditamenta," p. 161, where our author has given a particular account of what 
 was then said in support of the genuineness of the gift. The Bishop of Nor- 
 wich celebrated mass, and in his subsequent discourse pronounced the grant 
 (by the assembled bishops) of six years and 140 days' pardon, to all that came to 
 reverence the sacred relic ! Matthew Paris was himself present at the ceremony. 
 
 t "Rot. Claus." 32 Hen. III. 
 
50 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 all the nobilitie of the realme in manner was present," and 
 from whom he solicited a subsidy, " in reliefe of the great 
 charges which he had in divers waies sustained. " This, 
 however, the barons, " who looked," says Holinshed, " for 
 reformation in his dooings," refused to grant; and he was 
 plainly told that " they would not impoverish themselves to 
 enrich strangers, their enemies." Henry promised amend- 
 ment, and adjourned the meeting until the month of July, 
 when, on the parliament re-assembling, and again refusing a 
 supply, he dissolved it in anger. Shortly afterwards he was 
 constrained, for want of money, to dispose of his plate and 
 jewels at a great loss ; and on being informed that the Lon- 
 doners had purchased them, he exclaimed passionately, that 
 " If Octavian's treasures were to be sold, the city of Lon- 
 don would store them up." 
 
 In the same year, on the 23d of September, Henry, by a 
 precept tested by himself at Windsor, ' enjoined Master 
 John de St. Omer to cause the wardrobe of the king's cham- 
 ber at Westminster to be painted, in the same manner as 
 the picture begun in that chamber; and to make a new 
 reading-desk, to be placed in the new chapter-house at West- 
 minster, like that which is in the chapter-house of St, Alban, 
 or more seemly and beautiful, if it can be done ; and also 
 that he provide the colours, timber, and other necessaries 
 for these works, until the returning of the king to London.' 
 For the costs thus incurred, an order for re-payment was 
 afterwards directed to the Abbot of Westminster, Edward 
 Fitz-Odo, and Philip Luvel, the king's treasurer.* 
 
 Henry's animosity to the citizens of London, whom he 
 had ironically reproached with "calling themselves barons, 
 on account of their wealth," was at this time in full activity ; 
 
 * " Rot. Claus." 33 Hen. III. m. 3. 
 
KING HENRY III. ST. EDWARD'S FAIR. 1248. $7 
 
 and, as a means of reducing their affluence, he devised the 
 expedient of granting an annual fair to the Abbot of West- 
 minster, to be held at St. Edward's tide (October), during 
 fifteen days ; " and to the end that the same should be 
 more haunted with all manner of people, he commanded by 
 proclamation that all other fairs, as Elie, and such like, 
 holden in that season, should not be kept, nor that any 
 wares should be shewed within the citie of London, either in 
 shop or without ; but that such as would sell should come 
 for that time vnto Westminster : which was done, not with- 
 out great trouble and paines to the citizens, which had not 
 room there but in booths and tents, to their great disquiet- 
 ing and disease for want of necessarie provision, being tur- 
 moiled too pitifullie in mire and dirt, through occasion of 
 raine."* All remonstrances against the injustice of this 
 proceeding were ineffectual, and Henry, instead of attending 
 to their complaints, still further aggrieved the citizens by 
 keeping his Christmas in London, and obliging them to pre- 
 sent him with rich new year's gifts. " Besides this/' says 
 Stow, " the king tooke victuals and wine where any could be 
 found, and paide nothing for it/' Shortly afterwards he 
 constrained the citizens to give him the sum of 2,000 ster- 
 ling, which, according to Dart, (" Westmonasterium/' vol. i. 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicles," vol. ii. p. 416, from Matt. Paris. St. Ed- 
 ward's Fair was first held in the churchyard at Westminster, but it was after- 
 wards removed to Tothill, or Tuthill, (now Tuthill Fields,) as appears from 
 the following entry on the Calendar of the Patent Rolls, (ann. 34 Hen. 
 III. m. i.) viz. " Translatio Per' Abb' Westm' a cemiterio Westm', usque 
 apud le Tothull." Many disputes and legal bickerings arose in that and the 
 following reigns, between the Abbots of Westminster and divers merchants and 
 other persons, in consequence of the extensive privileges claimed under Henry's 
 grant of this fair ; and even the immediate precincts of the king's palace, 
 in respect to trade, appear to have been subjected to the abbot's authority 
 during its continuance. 
 
OO WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 p. 26,) he applied towards carrying on the works of the 
 abbey church. At length, however, the murmurs of the 
 people alarmed the rapacious monarch with a short-lived 
 fear, and the following singular instance of his apparent con- 
 trition is related by Matthew Paris : 
 
 ( By command of the king, the citizens of London assem- 
 bled together before him at Westminster, with all their fami- 
 lies, even to the boys of twelve years old, on the Sunday 
 before the feast of Sts. Perpetua and Felicitas (March 7th 1250), 
 in the greater palace, which is called the Great Hall ; and 
 there was such a crowd of people that the whole court was 
 filled with them. Being met together, the king, humbly, as 
 if about to shed tears, entreated each one of the citizens, with 
 heart and voice to disavow all kind of anger, malevolence, 
 and rancour towards him; for he publicly confessed that 
 frequently he himself, but more frequently his servants, had 
 in many ways injured them, taking away their goods and 
 retaining them, and in various respects encroaching on their 
 rights and liberties, wherefore he besought them to pardon 
 him. The citizens, understanding that nothing further was 
 required of them, consented to all that the king requested ; 
 although no restitution was made of what had been taken 
 from them.' * 
 
 That Henry was still proceeding with the decorations of 
 his palace, will appear from the following records. On the 
 14th of August, 1250, the king by his mandate, tested at 
 Bridgewater, ordered Edward of Westminster ( to cause effi- 
 gies "imagines " of the Apostles to be painted around the 
 walls of St. Stephen's chapel, and on the western side the 
 day of Judgment ; and in like manner to have the figure of 
 the Blessed Virgin Mary painted on a tablet or panel ; so 
 that the whole may be ready at the king's coming.' f 
 
 Matt. Paris, " Hist. Major," p. 748. f " Rot. Claus." 34 Hen. III. m. 7. 
 
KING HENRY III. CHEAT CHAMBER ANTIOCH CHAMBER 1251.59 
 
 Ten days afterwards, by a precept tested at Windsor, 
 Odo the goldsmith was commanded, < without delay, to put 
 aside the picture which was begun to be painted in the king's 
 great chamber at Westminster, beneath the large historical 
 picture of the said chamber, with the scrolls containing the 
 figures and representations of lions, birds, and other beasts, 
 and to paint it green, after the manner of a curtain, or hang- 
 ing, so that the effect of the great history may be kept 
 unimpaired.' * 
 
 In the same year, Godfrey de Liston was ordered 'to buy 
 six hundred luces [or pike], and to let one hundred of them 
 be put into the king's ponds at Westminster, to stock those 
 ponds.' f 
 
 In the year 1251, Edward of Westminster was com- 
 manded, c that the king's Jewry " judaismum " at West- 
 minster,]; and the king's great wine-cellar, should be wains- 
 cotted ; and that the low chamber in the king's garden, and 
 the little tower beyond the chapel there, should be painted, 
 and that in the same chamber a chimney should be made ;' 
 and f We will', says the mandate, 'that the said chamber 
 be called the Antioch Chamber.' 
 
 * " Rot. Claus." 34 Hen. III. m. 7. f Ibid. 
 
 t This Judaism, or Jewry, is supposed by Ballaway to have been an exche- 
 quer or treasury, erected by Henry for receiving the sums levied on the Jews. 
 
 " Rot. Claus." 35 Henry III. m. 10. It seems probable, that the chamber 
 was ordered to be thus named from being painted with representations relating 
 to the siege of Antioch, which city, in the year 1098, had been taken by the 
 Christians in the first crusade. There are several precepts extant, which shew 
 that this subject was frequently chosen by King Henry to adorn his palaces, 
 probably from respect for his heroic uncle, Richard Coeur de Lion. In 
 the Pipe Roll of his 21st year, is a mandate for painting the wainscot of his 
 chamber under his chapel at the palace of Clarendon, in Wiltshire, with the 
 history of Antioch and the single combat of King Richard, " et hystoria An- 
 tiochise in eadem depingenda cum duello Regis Richardi." In his 34th year 
 (as entered in the " Close Rolls," m. 12.) is the king's order (tested at West- 
 
60 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 In February 1252, ("Rot. Claus." 36 Hen. III.) the king 
 ordered Ralph de Dungan, 6 keeper of the king's books " cus- 
 todi librorum regis " to supply Master William the king's 
 painter with colours for painting the queen's little wardrobe, 
 and for repairing the paintings " et emendendam pictu- 
 ram " i n the king's great chamber, and in the queen's 
 chamber.' 
 
 Master William is again mentioned in a precept tested by 
 Henry at Winchester in June 1256, and thus rendered by 
 Mr. Hardy, in his Introduction to the printed volume of the 
 " Close Rolls." * The king, in presence ofVMaster William 
 the painter, a monk of Westminster, lately at Winchester, 
 confirmed and gave orders for a certain picture to be made 
 at Westminster, in the wardrobe where he was accustomed 
 to wash his face, representing the king who was rescued by 
 his dogs from the seditions which were plotted against that 
 king by his subjects; respecting which picture the king 
 addressed other letters to you, Edward of Westminster ; and 
 the king commands Philip Luvel, his treasurer, and the 
 aforesaid Edward of Westminster, to cause the same Master 
 William to have his costs and charges for painting the afore- 
 said picture, without delay ; and when the king shall know 
 the cost, he will give them a writ of liberate therefor.' * 
 
 minster) to R. de Sandford, master of the knights templars, that he deliver to 
 Henry of the Wardrobe, for the queen's use, ' a certain great book, which is 
 in his house at London, written in the French language, in which are contained 
 the Acts of the King of Antioch, and of other Kings ' " in quo continentur 
 Gcsta Regis Antiochise et regum aliorum," &c. This book had been compiled 
 and illuminated by Henry's command; and the use for which it was now 
 wanted appears from a precept on the " Close Rolls " of the following year 
 (m. 11, dated at Winton), which directs that Edward of Westminster cause 
 the history of Antioch to be painted in the king's chamber in the Tower of 
 London, as Thomas Espernir shall say to (or direct) him.' 
 * There are two other entries on the " Close Rolls " of the 44th of Hen. III. 
 
KING HENRY III. WILLIAM THE MONK 1252. 6l 
 
 Notwithstanding the promises of amendment which the 
 king had so recently and publicly made to the citizens of 
 London, he still continued his tyrannical exactions ; and he 
 appears to have assumed the Cross, under the hope of even 
 making religion subservient to his views. In 1252, he again 
 invited all the Londoners to his palace at Westminster, 
 where the Bishops of Worcester and Chichester, by his 
 command, exhorted the people to engage in the intended 
 crusade. Finding the citizens unwilling to attend to this 
 exhortation, Henry himself reproved them virulently for their 
 backwardness, but with little effect, as three persons only 
 were induced to follow his counsel. Being afterwards refused 
 supplies, in a parliament which he had assembled about the 
 middle of October, he compelled the Londoners to present 
 him with 20,000 marks of gold ; and also, says Holinshed, 
 to their " further grief," obliged them to close their shops 
 for fifteen days, and carry their merchandize for sale to ' St. 
 Edward's Fair' at Westminster.* 
 
 which doubtless refer to the above-mentioned Master William, who appears to 
 have been a native of Italy. By the first precept, Edward of Westminster is 
 enjoined that, ' without delay, he shall deliver to brother William (monk of 
 Westminster " pictori regis" colours, and all other necessary things for re- 
 storing the king's paintings at Windsor, accordingly as William the Monk shall 
 instruct the said Edward, on the part of the king.' By the second mandate, 
 the Sheriff of Surrey is required that, ' out of the issues of the said county, he 
 cause the paintings of the king's great hall at Guilford to be repaired, as may 
 be necessary, without delay, &c. and that immediately, the pictures and fron- 
 tispiece " tabulas et fruntellum'' of the altar of the great chapel there, be 
 made, as we have instructed William of Florence, painter.' William the Flo- 
 rentine, ' our painter,' is again mentioned on the Close Roll of the 52d of 
 Henry III. (anno 1268,) which directs that certain works shall be done within 
 the castle of Guilford, for the use of Eleanor the king's daughter-in-law, and 
 of Eleanor the Queen Consort ; and that the Sheriff of Surrey shall pay to the 
 said William * sixpence per day,' for his wages as Master of the Works at 
 Guilford. 
 
 * It has been supposed, and with much appearance of probability, that the 
 
O% WESTMINSTER PALACE 
 
 In the spring of 1253, another parliament was held at 
 Westminster, in which the king, by acknowledging his for- 
 mer irregularities, and promising to observe faithfully the 
 charters of King John, prevailed on the clergy to grant him 
 a tenth of their revenues for three years, and on the barons, 
 three marks for every knight's fee held immediately of the 
 crown. On this occasion the king had offered to submit to 
 excommunication if he should fail to observe his engage- 
 ments; and he therefore, early in May, convened in the 
 Great Hall of Westminster, an assembly of all his magnates, 
 both spiritual and temporal, in order to have the sentence of 
 anathematization solemnly pronounced. 
 
 There was something appalling in the nature of this cere- 
 mony; and the understanding revolts equally against the 
 craft that engendered it, and the debasing superstition by 
 which it was maintained. In the present instance, all the 
 prelates (if not the barons likewise), bore lighted tapers in 
 their hands, but the king excused himself from holding any, 
 saying that ' he was no priest ;' yet to prove the sincerity of 
 his concurrence, he ' would keep his hand upon his breast 
 during the proceedings/ The anathema was pronounced by 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury ; and the curse of heaven was 
 
 determined support which the king gave to this fair, was for the purpose of 
 enabling the Abbot of Westminster the better to carry on the rebuilding of the 
 abbey church, with the proceeds of the duties which were levied on the goods 
 exposed for sale. In 1254, however, according to a document cited by Wid- 
 more, (" Rot. Vascon." 38 Henry III. m. 4.) he gave a more decided proof of 
 his desire to forward the work, by commanding his treasurer and the barons of 
 the exchequer to apply 3,000 marks yearly towards that end. Henry, notwith- 
 standing his multiplied extortions, was frequently in want of money, and Mat- 
 thew Paris, under the years 1250 and 1251, condemns him for not keeping up 
 that kingly hospitality which had been customary at the palace. He likewise 
 censures the king, queen, prince Edward, and the courtiers for taking, or rather 
 exacting, rich presents. Vide " Hist. Major," pp. 752 and 780. 
 
KING HENRY III. ILLEGAL EXACTIONS 1255. 0*3 
 
 invoked against those persons who, in future, should in any 
 respect violate the two charters, (namely Magna Charta and 
 the Charta de Foresta,) which were now confirmed by the 
 king. The tapers were then extinguished, and thrown 
 stinking and smoking upon the ground, and the dire male- 
 diction uttered, that the souls of every one who infringed 
 the charters ' might thus be extinguished, and stink, and 
 smoke in hell/ At the conclusion of the ceremony, the 
 king voluntarily added, " So may God help me, I will invio- 
 lably observe all these things, as I am a man and a Christian, 
 a knight, and a crowned and anointed king !"* Henry was 
 probably sincere at the moment, yet this solemn protestation 
 had but little influence over his subsequent conduct. 
 
 In January 1254, whilst the king was prosecuting the war 
 in Guienne, a parliament was summoned at Westminster by 
 the queen's authority; but, though twice assembled, the 
 barons steadily refused to grant the aid required, and the 
 meeting was dissolved. A similar refusal was given to 
 Henry himself at another parliament, which met in the 
 palace at the feast of St. Edward in 1255, and at which ( al- 
 most all the great men of the kingdom were present.' On 
 this occasion the king is recorded to have ' prolonged the 
 time of the session, day after day, for the space of a month ;' 
 yet all his endeavours to prevail on the assembly to accede to 
 his wishes were ineffectual.! Resort was then had to the 
 old system of illegal exactions, and both the Jews and the 
 citizens of London were grievously oppressed, to gratify the 
 rapacious wants of the sovereign. Eight thousand marks 
 
 * Matt. Paris. " Hist. Major," p. 839. It might have been believed, that 
 an oath thus solemnly pronounced would have been religiously kept ; yet such 
 was the influence of Henry's abandoned favourites, that they very soon pre- 
 vailed on him to get his oath annulled by the authority of the supreme pontiff : 
 after which, he immediately reverted to his former habits. 
 
 f Matt. Paris, " Hist. Major," pp. 884, 5. 
 
WESTiMlNSTER PALACE. 
 
 were extorted from the Jews, under pain of hanging if not 
 speedily paid ; " and when/' says Holinshed, " the king had 
 fleeced them to the quick, he set them to farm unto his bro- 
 ther, Earl Richard, that he might peel off skin and all! " 
 
 It was probably to give a colour of retributive justice to 
 these transactions, that the Jews of Lincoln were now accused 
 of crucifying a youth of eight years of age, " from despite of 
 Christ's religion." On that charge, on the 22d of Novem- 
 ber, in the above year, one hundred and two individuals of 
 this persecuted nation were brought up from Lincoln, and 
 examined in the king's court at Westminster, and thence 
 committed to the Tower. Eighteen of them were afterwards 
 executed for the alleged murder, which is said to have been 
 confessed (upon promise of pardon} by the Jew who was 
 owner of the house wherein the boy was crucified : the 
 others were released, after being kept several months in 
 prison. * 
 
 In the year 1256, says Stow, "King Henry sat in the 
 exchequer of this Hall [Westminster], and there set down 
 order for the appearance of the sheriffs, and bringing-in of 
 their accounts; and there were five marks set on every 
 sheriffs head for a fine, because they had not distrained every 
 person that might spend 15 land by the year, to receive the 
 order of knighthood, according as the same sheriffs were 
 commanded. Also, the mayor, aldermen, and sheriffs of 
 London, being accused of oppression and wrongs done 
 by them, and submitting themselves in this place, before 
 
 * In Rymer's "Foedera," (vol. i. p. 335, edit. 1816,) are two documents 
 from the Tower archives relating to this transaction. They are both tested by 
 the king, and addressed ' Petro le Blund,' Constable of the Tower, command- 
 ing him to set at liberty (by the first) one John, a converted Jew, who had been 
 accused of participating in the murder ; and (by the second) a Jew of London 
 named Benedict fil. Mossei, who had been tried at Westminster for the same 
 crime, but acquitted on the evidence of the mother of Hugh, the murdered boy. 
 
KING HENRY III. 1258. O5 
 
 the King sitting here in judgment upon the matter, they were 
 condemned to pay their fines for their offences committed ; 
 and further, every one of them [was] discharged of assize and 
 ward."* At the end of August, in the same year, Alexan- 
 der III., king of Scotland, and Margaret his consort, (Henry's 
 sister,) became for a short time the king's guests in this 
 palace. 
 
 King Henry kept his Christmas at Westminster in the 
 year 1257, and at the Mid-lent following held a parliament 
 there, which he soon afterwards angrily dissolved, in conse- 
 quence of its refusal to sanction an unjust levy on the reve- 
 nues of the clergy. 
 
 The numerous aggressions and acts of despotism which 
 the king had committed, excited general indignation, and a 
 powerful confederacy against him was formed by the barons, 
 who, at another great Council which met in Westminster 
 Hall, on the 2d of May 1258, assembled in complete armour. 
 On the entrance of the king they put aside their swords, but 
 Henry, alarmed at the unusual appearance, exclaimed, "Am 
 I then a prisoner?" "Not so," replied Roger Bigod (the 
 Earl of Norfolk, and Earl Marshal) ; " but as you, Sir, by 
 your partiality to foreigners, and your own prodigality, have 
 involved the realm in misery, we demand that the authority 
 of the state be delegated to commissioners, who shall 
 have power to correct abuses, and enact salutary laws." 
 A stormy altercation ensued, but Henry found it necessary 
 to submit, and after certain arrangements had been made the 
 meeting was adjourned to Oxford. On the appointed day, 
 June the 1 1 th, the parliament assembled in that city, when 
 the entire government of the kingdom was vested in a 
 Council of twenty-four barons and prelates, who, assisted by 
 
 * Strype's Stow's " London," vol. ii. edit. 1755. 
 F 
 
6C 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 twelve Representatives of the people, or commonalty, were 
 entrusted with the concerns of the intended reformation. 
 To that meeting, though branded by subservient annalists 
 with the opprobrious appellation of the ".Mad Parliament," 
 the authority of the House of Commons, as an integral part 
 of the Legislature, is greatly indebted. 
 
 Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, (who had married 
 the king's sister,) was a principal leader of the associated 
 barons, and the fear and apprehension which his resolute 
 demeanour had excited in the mind of the fickle sovereign, 
 was signally illustrated by an occurrence that took place 
 within a short time after the breaking up of the above parlia- 
 ment ; and the particulars of which have been thus circum- 
 stantially related by Matthew Paris. 
 
 In July 1258, the king leaving his palace to dine, took a 
 boat at Westminster, but when on the Thames the sky grew 
 dark, and such a storm of thunder and lightning and rain 
 came on, that the affrighted monarch, who at all times was 
 alarmed at tempestuous weather, ordered his attendants to 
 put him ashore. The skiff was near the noble palace of the 
 Bishop of Durham, where the Earl of Leicester then resided ; 
 and the earl, on perceiving the king approach, gladly hastened 
 to meet him. Saluting him most respectfully, and consoling 
 him under his alarm in a becoming manner, he said, ' Why 
 should you be afraid, since the tempest is over ? ' To which 
 the king replied, not lightly, but seriously, and with a severe 
 countenance, ( Above measure, I dread thunder and light- 
 ning ; but, by the head of God ! I am in more terror of thee 
 than of all the thunder and lightning in the world.' * 
 
 On the llth of May, 1259, the king by his precept com- 
 manded Master John of Gloucester, his plasterer, and the 
 
 * Matt. Paris, " Hist. Major," p. 944. 
 
KIXG HENRY III. GREAT SEAL. 1260. W 
 
 masters of his works at Westminster, 6 to make five statues of 
 kings carved in freestone, and a pedestal for the image of the 
 Blessed Virgin, and to deliver them, as the king's gift, to the 
 masters of the Avorks of the church of St. Martin, in Lon- 
 don/* In the same year, on the 13th of October, Henry 
 held a court at Westminster at which regulations were made 
 for the due government of the kingdom, in pursuance of the 
 provisions of the Council of Oxford. f Several deeds bearing 
 teste by the king at Westminster, and dated about this time, 
 have been printed in the " Fcedera." 
 
 After the inglorious treaty (in the above year), by which 
 Henry irrevocably ceded to Louis the Ninth, King of France, 
 the countries of Normandy, Anjou, Poitou, Touraine, and 
 Maine, a new Great Seal was made, from the legend of 
 which (enumerating the king's titles) all mention of Nor- 
 mandy and Anjou was omitted. Its first keeper was Henry 
 de Wingham, Bishop of London, who, as recorded in the 
 Patent Rolls, resigned it to the king, in the royal chamber at 
 Westminster, on St. Luke's day (October the 8th) 1260; 
 and the king e forthwith delivered his new seal to Nicholas 
 de Ely, Archdeacon of Ely, as keeper, who thereupon took 
 the oath of office/ &c. The old seal was then broken by the 
 king's command, and the fragments given to be distributed 
 to certain poor people belonging to religious houses, as a 
 benefaction from himself.' J Rishanger, the continuator of 
 Matthew Paris, states that the King of France paid to 
 
 * " Rot. Claus." 43d Hen. III. m. 10. By a former precept, issued in his 
 39th year, Henry had granted to the same John of Gloucester, his plasterer, 
 that ' for the whole term of his life he should be free from all tallage and tolls 
 everywhere throughout the Realm.' " Rot. Claus." 
 
 t "Ann. Mon. Burton," inter Rer. Angl. Scrip. Vet. tome i. p. 427: 
 Oxon. 1684. 
 
 I " Cal. Rot. Patent." p. 31. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 King Henry three hundred thousand pounds Tournois 
 for the above cession;* but it appears from a variety of 
 documents printed in the " Fcedera," that, after much nego- 
 ciation, Henry agreed to take one hundred and thirty-four 
 thousand pounds Tournois for his claim, and on the 14th of 
 May, 1264, he gave a full acquittance for that sum to the 
 French king. 
 
 In the latter part of the year 1260, (as appears from Mat- 
 thew of Westminster,) the king was again visited by Alex- 
 ander King of Scots, and his consort Margaret; and at a 
 royal feast at Westminster, he conferred the honour of knight- 
 hood on fourscore persons. 
 
 From a memorandum in the archives of the abbey church, 
 which has been cited by Widmore, (and described by him as 
 being in the handwriting of the time,) it appears that the 
 total sum expended on the works at Westminster, from their 
 commencement until the Sunday next after Michaelmas, in 
 the 45th of Henry the Third (anno 1261) was 29,345. 19s. 8d.; 
 and that 260 remained due c for the wages of the freestone 
 carvers, &c. and for the freestone and other purchases. 'f 
 Whether this sum included the expenses incurred on the 
 buildings of the Palace, as well as on those of the abbey 
 church, we have no present means of ascertaining. 
 
 Holinshed, under the date 1263, says, "The same year 
 the king's little hall at Westminster, with manie other houses 
 thereunto adioining, was consumed with fire, by negligence 
 of one of the kinges servants." The same event is thus 
 noticed in the " Chronicle of London," edited by Sir Harris 
 Nicolas, from the Harleian MS. before cited: "This yere, 
 after the purification of oure Lady, [February the 2d,] the 
 
 * M. Paris, " Hist. Major," 957. 
 
 f Widraore's " Hist, of St. Peter's Church, Westminster/' Appendix, p. 182. 
 
KING HENRY III. J2C3. O9 
 
 kinges litell halle at Westm', with the chaumbre, were 
 brent." 
 
 From a Latin document given in the " Foedera," it would 
 seem that on this occasion Henry de Sandwich, Bishop elect 
 of London, was written to by the king for a supply of timber 
 to re-instate the destroyed buildings. His reply to the king, 
 which is dated from Longstow, on the llth of the kalends 
 of March in the above year, is curious. After the customary 
 address, the bishop proceeds thus : ' This is to let your 
 Highness know, that having heard of the" burning of your 
 houses at Westminster we were much grieved, fearing that 
 when it should be made known to you, your mind would be 
 disturbed, and your bodily health (which God amend and 
 preserve) would be injured. 
 
 ( As to the timber concerning which your lordship has 
 written to us, know that, as we are" informed by many per- 
 sons worthy of credit, that to say nothing of our parks and 
 preserves, the keepers of the bishopric of London, during 
 the last vacancy, have so destroyed our woods, that towards 
 the repair of our own houses, if it were requisite, we believe 
 that there would be found little, if any, supply. Wherefore, 
 until we shall have ascertained by our steward or bailiff, 
 whether your said keepers have left us any thing with which 
 we may assist you, we dare not promise any thing to your 
 serenity. May the Lord strengthen and preserve your safety 
 for a long time."* 
 
 During the popular commotions about this period, arising 
 from the king's perfidious violation of the statutes of Oxford, 
 considerable damage was done to his brother's property in 
 this vicinity, as appears from Wykes's " Chronicle"; but we 
 have no means of specifying the immediate scene of the 
 
 * " Foedera," vol. i. pt. i. p. 424, edit. 1816. 
 
70 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 devastation. e ln the beginning of Lent 1263,' says the 
 annalist, e there assembled a furious mob of Londoners, who, 
 after ravaging the manor of Islewych (Isleworth), belonging 
 to the King of the Romans, destroyed a fishpond, or lake, 
 which he had made at a great expense \ and, not content with 
 this mischief, they proceeded to the mansion of the king, 
 in the suburbs of London, near Westminster, which they 
 nearly pulled down, scarcely leaving one stone upon another, 
 and taking away all the posts, tiles, and stones that were of 
 any use for the building. They also in their rage devastated 
 the manors of all who adhered to the king, or served him in 
 any capacity, attacking especially the lands of William de 
 Valentia (his half-brother), whom, without reason, they 
 accounted an alien.'* 
 
 After the decisive battle between the forces of the barons, 
 under Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and those of the 
 king himself, at Lewes, in Sussex, on the 14th of May, 1264, 
 a treaty, called the Mise of Lewes, was signed on the field, 
 and it was agreed that the final agreement should be referred 
 to the decision of a Parliament to be assembled at London 
 in the month following. The Parliament met accordingly, 
 about the 24th of June, and besides the barons and prelates, 
 it a consisted, apparently, of knights elected for several shires, 
 as well as of persons summoned by special Writs, but not of 
 Representatives of cities or boroughs.f" 
 
 On the 20th of January, 1265 (49th of Henry III.), another 
 Parliament was assembled at Westminster,*, in obedience to 
 
 * "Chron. Thomse Wykes," inter Hist. Angl. Script, quinque, torn. ii. p. 59. 
 
 f Vide " Reports on the Dignity of a Peer," vol. i. p. 138. In that Parlia- 
 ment it appears " that four Knights, as representatives of each of certain coun- 
 ties, were required to attend, not by writs to the sheriffs, but by writs to the 
 keepers of the peace in those counties ; " yet there is no direct proof that such 
 knights were really present. Ibid, p. 154. 
 
 \ Vide " De Antiquis Legibus," a book in the office of the Town Clerk of 
 
KING HENRY HI. POPULAR REPRESENTATION. 1265. 7^ 
 
 Writs issued in the preceding month. This meeting took 
 place under the immediate influence of the Earl of Leicester, 
 who then held the king in restraint, and it appears that the 
 prelates and barons who were summoned on that occasion, 
 were all, or nearly all, his acknowledged partizans. But, 
 independently of the magnates of the land, we have clear 
 evidence that to this Parliament, knights were summoned as 
 representatives of counties, and citizens and burgesses for 
 cities and boroughs, as w r ell as of four members for each of 
 the cinque ports. For the cities and boroughs two members 
 only were in general summoned, but the city of London was 
 represented by four citizens ; most probably in return for the 
 strenuous support which they had given to the barons. This 
 assembly, therefore, may be regarded as the first Parliament 
 in which the legislative body began to assume its present form, 
 as distinctly connected with a representation of the people. 
 
 On the 14th of March 1265, the king, who was still held 
 under control by the Earl of Leicester, assigned ' the houses 
 which were those of Edward of Westminster [Prince Edward], 
 at Westminster,' to Peter de Montfort, the earl's son, for 
 his own residence.* After the victory at Evesham, however, 
 on the 4th of August in the same year, when the Earl of 
 Leicester was slain and the king freed from captivity, the 
 above grant, and all others which he had made whilst under 
 durance, were declared null and void. 
 
 It is not probable that much work was executed at the 
 Palace during the contentions with the barons, yet in the 
 Close Rolls of this year (49th of Henry III.) there is a man- 
 London. The Parliament assembled in the Great Hall at Westminster, and 
 Prince Edward, and Henry son of the King of the Romans (who had become 
 hostages at the Mise of Lewis), were declared free before all the people, "co- 
 ram omni populo in Magna Aula WestmV Vide " Report on the Dignity of 
 a Peer," vol. i. p. 464. * " Fredera," vol. i. p. 453. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 date directed to the treasurer, requiring him to pay to t\e 
 painters of the king's chamber seven pounds and ten shil- 
 lings, for the pictures made in the said chamber, in the 
 chapel behind his bed/ There is also another precept, 
 tested by the king at Westminster on the 7th of January, in 
 his 51st year (anno 1267), commanding the bailiffs of the 
 city of London ' to pay, out of the fee-farm of the said city, 
 to Master Walter, our painter, the sum of twenty marks, for 
 pictures made in our chamber at Westminster ; and that you 
 by no means omit to do it, und it shall be accounted with 
 you in the Exchequer.' 
 
 About this time the domestic troubles in the kingdom 
 were renewed, and the Tower of London, which had been 
 placed under the authority of Ottoboni, the pope's legate, 
 was besieged by Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, who 
 was then the chief leader of the associated barons. The 
 obligations which the king had conferred on the Abbey at 
 Westminster, were in some degree returned on this occasion, 
 by the loan of 'gold, precious stones, jewels, and other valu- 
 ables,' which had been deposited in the c chest or shrine of 
 the blessed Edward,' and which Henry sold or pledged to 
 certain merchants for large sums of money, in order to raise 
 soldiers in France and Scotland.'* 
 
 About three weeks after Easter, according to Holinshed, 
 the insurgent soldiers, " which laie in London and in South- 
 wark, did much hurt about in the county of Southerie 
 [Surrey], and elsewhere. They also spoyled the towne of 
 
 * The king's acknowledgment of and obligation to return the loan, is entered 
 on the Patent Rolls, and has been printed in the " Foedera," vol. i. part i. p. 472. 
 After quietness had been restored, and the pecuniary affairs of the king become 
 more flourishing, he redeemed the rich jewels which had been pledged, and 
 returned them to the church ;> making other compensation for what had been 
 sold. 
 
KING HENRY III. ST. EDWARD' S SHRINE. 1265. 7^ 
 
 Westminster, and the parish church there ; but the monkes 
 and the goodes belonging to the abbey they touched not, 
 but they made havocke in the king's Palace, drynking up 
 and destroying his wine, they brake the glasse windows, and 
 defaced the buildings most disorderly, uneth [scarcely] for- 
 bearing to set the house on fire." * 
 
 This statement is corroborated by Wykes, who says, that 
 ' the insurgents under the Earl of Gloucester, without con- 
 sideration attacked the king's Palace at Westminster, which 
 disdained comparison with those in divers countries, " quod 
 diversis in regnis comparationem recipere dedignatur," 
 and breaking with clubs and levers the doors and windows, 
 carried them into Southwark, where they constructed a kind 
 of barrier for their defence against assault/ f 
 
 On the 13th of October 126'9, the new abbey church at 
 Westminster^ of which the eastern part, with the choir, to 
 some distance beyond the transept, had now been completed, 
 was first opened for divine service. On this occasion the 
 remains of King Edward the Confessor were removed, with 
 great solemnity, u into ye chapell at y e backe of the hygh 
 aulter, and there layde in a ryche shrine," J which the king 
 had caused to be made for its reception. The vast pomp 
 with which this ceremony was performed, may be appreciated 
 
 * Holinshed's "Chronicle," p. 778: edit. 1577; from Matthew of West- 
 minster. 
 
 t Wykes's " Chronicle," sub anno 1267. 
 
 : Fabyan's " Chronicle," p. 366. 
 
 This shrine, as appears from Matthew Paris (" Hist. Major," p. 553), had 
 been prepared in 1241. The king, says the annalist, ' in this year employed 
 chosen goldsmiths of London to construct a Shrine of the purest gold, adorned 
 with precious stones, in which the reliques of the blessed Edward might repose ; 
 and the work was most skilfully executed at his sole cost. Though the mate- 
 rials were highly valuable, the workmanship far excelled them, according to 
 the poetical phrase, " materiem nuperabat opus.' 1 '' 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 from a passage in Wykes's " Chronicle," which, speaking of 
 Henry the Third, proceeds thus : ' This prince being grieved 
 that the reliques of St. Edward were so poorly enshrined, and 
 not elevated, resolved that so great a luminary should be 
 placed on high as a candlestick to enlighten the church. He 
 therefore, on the third of the ides of October, the day of St. 
 Edward's first translation, summoned the nobility, magis- 
 strates, and burgesses of the realm, to Westminster, to 
 attend this solemn affair. At that time, the chest being 
 taken out of the old shrine, the king and his brother, the 
 King of the Romans, carried it upon their shoulders, in view 
 of the whole church; his son Edward (afterwards king), 
 Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, the Earl Warenne, and the 
 Lord Philip Basset, with as many other nobles as could come 
 near to touch it, supporting it with their hands to the new 
 shrine; which was of gold, adorned with precious stones, 
 and placed in an exalted situation.' According to Matthew 
 of Westminster, the king, with many of his nobles, clothed 
 in white garments, had passed the preceding night in the 
 abbey church, watching and praying, and performing acts of 
 charity. After the ceremony of the translation was over, the 
 king magnificently feasted a great multitude of the assembled 
 company, of all ranks, in his Palace. It is also stated, that 
 he was accustomed for many years to have the two Halls at 
 Westminster filled with poor people, and fed on the day 
 of St. Edward's translation. 
 
 In the year 1269, this Palace became the scene of a very 
 singular occurrence, the particulars of which have been thus 
 related by contemporary annalists. A violent quarrel had 
 taken place between John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, and 
 Sir Alan la Zouche, one of the king's justices, respecting a 
 certain manor. These parties appeared before the judges in 
 Westminster Hall, on the Tuesday after St. John the Baptist's 
 
KING HENRY III. A GROSS ASSAULT. 1269. 7^ 
 
 day, when a personal altercation arose, which was carried on 
 with such indecent violence, that from abusive language they 
 proceeded to blows ; and at length the domestics of the Earl, 
 (who, unknown to his antagonist, were furnished with arms,) 
 drew their swords, and, in defiance of the respect or reve- 
 rence due to the king and queen, (who were then residing in 
 the palace,) as well as of the judges before whom the cause was 
 pending, even in their very presence, and in the presence of 
 the officers of the Chancery, (who were also in the Hall,) 
 made a fierce attack on Alan la Zouche, who fearing they 
 would kill him, fled towards the king's chamber ; but the 
 assailants boldly followed him, and having inflicted on him 
 dangerous wounds, left him half dead; then making their 
 escape from the Palace to the river Thames, they crossed it 
 in a boat, to seek a place of concealment. The king and 
 prince Edward, hearing the lamentations of the wounded 
 knight, were highly displeased, and resolved not to leave 
 such an open act of violence unpunished. Orders were 
 immediately issued that the earl should come into court, to 
 submit himself to the laws and to the justice of the king. 
 But that nobleman, apprehending that he should be com- 
 mitted to prison, refused to obey the royal mandate. Upon 
 this, Prince Edward, with the Archbishop of York, and other 
 nobles, attended by a band of soldiers, went after the earl, 
 who had taken refuse in his castle at Reigate ; where, through 
 the mediation of the Earl of Gloucester, and of Henry, son 
 of the King of Almaine, the culprit nobleman was induced to 
 surrender himself; and on the Sunday after the feast of St. 
 Peter and St. Paul he was brought to court, that he might 
 submit to the law and custom of the realm, and receive the 
 award of justice. It appears that Roger la Zouche, as well as 
 his father Alan, had been wounded by the retainers of the earl, 
 who was sentenced to place himself at the mercy of the king 
 
/O WESTMINSTER PALACK. 
 
 for a fine of 5,000 marks ; that, for the injury done to the 
 knight and his son, he should give them 2,000 marks ; and 
 that the earl himself, accompanied by fifty knights, should 
 proceed on foot from the New Temple at London to West- 
 minster, where they should all make oath that the assault 
 was not committed with premeditated malice, but through a 
 storm of anger suddenly excited. The unfortunate Alan 
 la Zouche was attacked with fever in consequence of the 
 wounds which he had received, and hot weather supervening, 
 his illness increased, and terminated in his death.* 
 
 Soon after this event, Prince Edward, who, under the 
 persuasions of Ottoboni, the legate, had assumed the Cross, 
 at Northampton, in the preceding year, departed for the 
 Holy Land ; and he was still absent from England, when 
 the king his father became seriously ill, and at length died, 
 on the 16th of November 1272. Four days afterwards, the 
 King was interred, with as much solemnity as the time would 
 permit:, in St. Edward's chapel, in the newly-built church at 
 Westminster, where a splendid tomb, adorned with mosaic- 
 work, was erected to his memory by his successor. 
 
 Walpole concludes a somewhat laboured eulogium on this 
 sovereign, in which his love of splendour and the arts is 
 urged by way of counterbalance to his oppressive exactions 
 and profuse expenditure, by the enquiry, " who will own 
 that he had not rather employ Master William and Edward 
 of Westminster to paint the gestes of the Kings of Antioch, 
 than imitate the son in his barbarities in Wales, and usurpa- 
 tions in Scotland ? " 
 
 * Thorn. Wykes's " Chron." inter Hist. Angl. Script, quinque, Oxon. p. 
 91, 2; and Matt. Westmonast. " Flores Historiar.'' Franco/. 1601, p. 399. 
 From the " Patent Roll " it appears also that a safe conduct was granted to 
 the earl, to appear at the king's court at Westminster, July 8, 54 Hen. III. 
 
 (1270). 
 
Wm* Capon del. EDWARD THE FIRST. 5. Williams sc. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HISTORICAL NOTICES OF THE PALACE OF WESTMINSTER, FROM THE 
 ACCESSION OF EDWARD THE FIRST UNTIL THE DEATH OF ED- 
 WARD THE THIRD. 
 
 ON the day after the decease of Henry the Third (namely on 
 November the 17th, 1272) his eldest son Edward was pro- 
 claimed King in the greater Hall at Westminster, as appears 
 from a letter addressed to him by the magnates of the realm, 
 announcing his father's decease and burial.* His regnal year, 
 however, did not commence until after his father's interment 
 on the 20th of that month, when, according to Matthew of 
 Westminster, the barons went to the high altar in the Abbey 
 Church, and swore fealty to him ; after which he was pro- 
 claimed in the New Temple, where the Lords had assembled. 
 
 * " Foedera," vol. i. part i. p. 497. 
 
78 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 A convention of the Clergy and Laity, after the festival of 
 St. Hilary, in 1273, is stated to have taken place at West- 
 minster in consequence of the death of Henry the Third. 
 It appears that this assembly was constituted in the same 
 manner with that summoned in 1265, under the authority of 
 the Earl of Leicester and his partizans; for among those 
 who were present on this occasion, besides the spiritual and 
 temporal nobility, there were " de quolibet Comitatu quatuor 
 milites, et de qualibet civitate quatuor." All present took 
 the oath of fealty to Edward I. Walter de Merton was 
 appointed Chancellor, and ordered to remain at Westmin- 
 ster, as the place for public business " tanquam in loco 
 publico," till the coming of the King, who was then abroad. 
 It was also provided that there should be no Justices 
 Itinerant in the King's absence, but only in the Bench. Two 
 Nuncios from the Pope came to London during the sitting 
 of this Parliament.* 
 
 Before the King's arrival in England, orders had been 
 given to prepare for his coronation at Westminster, and in 
 February 1274, divers warrants were issued by Walter de 
 Merton, the Chancellor, requiring the Sheriffs of different 
 counties to furnish provisions for the consequent feast.f 
 
 * " Annales Ecclesiae Wigorn." in Anglia Sacra, torn. i. p. 499. That West- 
 minster was the principal seat of justice for the whole kingdom in the reign of 
 Edward I. appears, not only from the above account of the Parliament in 
 1273, but also from the following passage in the same annals : " Anno 
 1280. In crastino Epiphanise, recedente Rege a Castro Wintonise versus No- 
 vam Forestam, reversus est Cancellarius ejus Londoniam, ut apud Westmonas- 
 terium, quasi in loco certo, omnes indigentes et Brevia petentes, et jura sua pro- 
 sequentes, remedium invenirent ibidem." Ibid. p. 504. 
 
 t Vide " Foedera," vol. I. part ii. p. 509. The magnificent scale on which 
 the banquet was to be given, may be appreciated by the quantity of provisions 
 that was ordered to be supplied, and which included 440 oxen and cows, 430 
 sheep, 450 pigs, 16 fat boars, 278 flitches of bacon, and 22,460 capons and 
 other poultry. Ibid. 
 
CORONATION OF EDWARD I. 1274. 79 
 
 Some affairs of national importance, however, detaining him 
 on the Continent, the intended celebration was deferred 
 until August, a short time prior to which, as appears from 
 an entry on the Patent Rolls, William of Windsor and 
 Joceres of London, the King's purveyors, were sent through 
 the several counties of England to collect provisions for the 
 feast, and all persons were enjoined to aid and assist them. 
 
 Edward landed at Dover with Eleanor his Queen, on the 
 2nd of August, and their passage through London to the 
 Palace at Westminster was attended by great rejoicings. 
 The exterior of the houses were hung with the richest silks 
 and tapestry, the conduits flowed with the choicest wines, 
 and gold and silver were profusely scattered among the popu- 
 lace by the more affluent citizens. 
 
 On the 19th of August, Edward and his royal consort 
 were crowned in the Abbey Church at Westminster, Alex- 
 ander, King of Scotland, and all the principal nobility of 
 both countries, being present at the ceremony. The proces- 
 sion to the banquet in the great Hall was unusually splendid. 
 Knighton says, ( The King of Scotland was accompanied by 
 one hundred knights on horseback, who as soon as they had 
 dismounted, turned their steeds loose for any one to catch and 
 keep that thought proper. Then came Edmund, Earl of 
 Cornwall, the King's nephew, and the Earls of Gloucester, 
 Pembroke, and Warenne, each having in their company a 
 hundred illustrious knights, wearing their lords' armour; and 
 when they had alighted from their palfreys, they also set 
 them free, that whoever chose might take them unquestioned. 
 And the aqueduct in Chepe [Cheapside] poured forth white 
 wine and red like rain water, for those who would to drink 
 at pleasure.' * 
 
 * Henry de Knyghton " De Eventibus Anglise," inter Decem Scriptores, 
 col. 2461. 
 
80 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 The first Parliament after Edward's Coronation was held 
 at Westminster on the J9th of May 1275 ; and among the 
 returns entered on the " Hundred Rolls " of the same year, 
 in answer to one of the questions contained in the Commis- 
 sion by which the Inquisitions were taken, namely, f What 
 manors hath the King in demesne ? ' the Jury are stated to 
 reply that, 'in the county of Middlesex, the King hath (inter 
 alia) the Palace of Westminster, which was of the ancient 
 demesne of the crown.' * 
 
 From the following translated abstracts from the Wardrobe 
 Accounts entered on the Chancellor's Roll of the 5th year of 
 King Edward, it is obvious that some considerable works 
 must have been in progress at the Palace in the early part 
 of his reign. They are also curious from including the 
 charges for a variety of articles that were then used. It is 
 observable that, in these records, the earlier accounts are 
 the first which are entered ; and the probability is that they 
 were condensed from the more minute specifications of other 
 documents. 
 
 'The account of Giles de Audenard, Keeper of the 
 Tower of London, for the Works at the Tower of Lon- 
 don, at Westminster, and at the King's Mews, from the 
 Sunday next before Christmas in the 5th year of King 
 Edward the First until Easter in the 6th year of the 
 same King/ 
 
 c For timber, boards, and planks for a new " pomellu," f 
 \pomellum, ball, or globe] upon the Great Hall of West- 
 
 * " Rotuli Hundredorum," p. 403. 
 
 |* Pomellus, globulus ; Gallic^ pomme ; de eo dicitur quod formam rotun- 
 dam et sphsericam, ut pomum habet. Pomelli etiam dicuntur globuli ; Gall. 
 boutons, quibus in vestimentis utuntur, Du Gauge. The term appears to denote 
 globular ornaments of any kind. It is applied to ornaments of a royal crown, 
 
KING EDWARD I. PALATIAL REPAIRS, 12/8. 81 
 
 minster, and to amend divers of the King's Courts there, 
 shingles to cover the said houses, and carriage thereof from 
 Kingston by water to Westminster, nails for the said 
 ' pomellu ' and for other things in the said Court, for white- 
 washing the said ' pomellu/ for covering with lead the two 
 new ' pomelF ' [pomellos] of the two great kitchens, for six 
 new wooden ( pomell,' bought for the King's seat in the 
 little Hah 1 , three hundred and one quarter of Reygate stone 
 for the works there, 906 sacks of lime for the same, seven 
 loads (' carratis ') of lead for the old and new gutters of the 
 King's houses there, firewood to melt the said lead, plaster 
 of Paris, bolts, or fastenings (' serruris ') for the doors and 
 windows of the said houses, for tiles, &c. and straw e ad eas- 
 dem domus interclausur' near the King's bed, iron-work for 
 divers windows in the King's chamber, for painting one 
 ( lista ' [border, or margin] in the great Hall, and colours for 
 the same, grafts or cuttings bought for the King's garden, 
 and other minute expenses about the King's houses there, 
 with the wages of masons, carpenters, plumbers, blacksmiths 
 and other workmen employed in the said repairs from St. 
 Innocent's day in the 6th year until the Wednesday before 
 the feast of St. Fabian and St. Sebastian in the same year, 
 
 64 9 2i 
 
 6 For timber, whereof to make the King's Mews, and car- 
 riage of the same from Kingston to the said Mews, as well 
 by land as by water, divers keys for the same, and for repairing 
 
 in the will of James King of Arragon, 1262. Spicileg. D'Acherii, torn. ix. p. 198 ; 
 to balls placed instead of feet to support silver cups, in the statutes of the 
 Cistercians 1203, apud Marten. Anecd. torn. iv. col. 1299: and to ornaments 
 of buildings, " Cuidam plumbario qui plumbavit Pomellos ex parte muris, 
 xx. sol." Comput. ann. 1261, ex Bibl. Reg. " Foedera," t. v. p. 48 and 59- 
 
 " Gloss, ad Script. Med. et Infim. Latin." Auct. C. Dufresne, D. Du Cange. 
 Edit. Nov. a Benedict, e Congr. S. Mauri, t..v. Paris. 1734. col. 632. 
 
 G 
 
O'S WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 the keys of the gerfalcons' bath, for iron rings for the cur- 
 tain of the Mews before the said falcons, and for turfs bought 
 for the herbary of the said falcons, 25 02 
 
 ' The account of the said Giles for the King's Works 
 at Westminster and the King's Mews there, from Mon- 
 day on the morrow of All Saints, in the 4th year of the 
 same King, until the Sunday next after the feast of the 
 Translation of St. Andrew in his 5th year. 
 ( For gross timber, as well oaks as elder, planks and shin- 
 gles for a new chamber for the Queen's use, for the chamber 
 of master Francis, and for a new house for timber and brush- 
 wood, near the chamber of the said master Francis, a new 
 butlery for the Queen's use, a new kitchen for William de 
 Montrevel, and for the repair of other the King's houses 
 there, and for the carriage of the aforesaid timber, 
 
 25 2 7 
 
 e For deal boards bought for the doors and windows of the 
 aforesaid houses, and for certain offices there, and for tables, 
 stands, and other things in the Queen's butlery and kitchen, 
 and for the making thereof, 14 13 4 
 
 ' For sockets ('forceriis ') to hold waxen torches, for two 
 other sockets, for coffers to contain the rolls and tallies of 
 the Exchequer, for iron bought for the use of the King and 
 Queen, and carriage thereof, and for divers keys for the 
 aforesaid houses, and other iron- work for the offices there, 
 
 16 5 6 
 
 'For lead, bought to cover the Queen's Oriel, and to 
 amend the gutters, tin bought to mix with the said lead to 
 cover the said Oriel, and for the amendment of other places 
 there, with firewood to melt the same, and for plaster of 
 Paris, 32 2 
 
 ' For four ship-loads of hard stone of c Bon ' (Bononia, or 
 Boulogne ?) seven hundred and one quarter of Reygate free- 
 
KING EDWARD I. PALATIAL REPAIRS, &C. 12/7. 83 
 
 stone, and for freight and unloading thereof, and for burnt 
 lime, and for plaster of Paris purchased for the aforesaid 
 works, 25 18 9 
 
 ' For tiles to cover the said houses and to repair other the 
 King's houses there, with the carriage of the same, 
 
 680 
 
 ' For a new glass window bought for the Queen's Oriel, 
 and for the repairs of other windows there, 9s. lOd. 
 
 ' For shoots or cuttings of divers plants of vines, willows, 
 &c., and certain other purchases for the garden of the King 
 and Queen there, 118s. 4^, 
 
 e For the wages of masons, carpenters, and other workmen 
 about the aforesaid works during the above time, 77 14 6 
 
 f For boards bought for divers " solar 5 >J (probably floors) 
 and other things of the houses of the chaplain officiating in 
 the chapel of the King's Mews, and for the King's falconers 
 dwelling there ; for keys for the said houses, plaster of Paris, 
 colours to paint the said Mews, and the painting of the same, 
 for an earthen mound (embankment) newly made about the 
 said Mews, and for necessaries for the offices there, 
 
 49 14 11 
 
 e For the wages of masons, carpenters, and others working 
 at the aforesaid Mews, during the time aforesaid, 6 17 11 
 
 In the 6th of Edward I. (anno 1278) the King received 
 the homage of Ralph de Levelaund, the son and heir of Mar- 
 gery, who was the wife of Fulk Peyforer, deceased, who held 
 in capita of the King, by serjeanty, the custody of the Palace 
 of Westminster, and the King's Prison of the Fleet.* 
 
 * " Rot. Orig. Abbreviatio," vol. i. p. 29, edit. 1805. In the 1st year of 
 Edward's reign, the citizens of London were allowed in their account rendered 
 in the Exchequer, the sum of 10 12 2, which had been paid by them to the 
 heirs of Richard Levelaunds for the custody of the King's houses at Westmin- 
 
 G 2 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 The refusal of Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, to come to 
 England to pay his accustomed homage, had highly incensed 
 the English monarch, who, having prepared (e a mighty 
 power," departed from Westminster, in the quindene of 
 Easter 1277* for the purpose of chastising his vassal. On 
 this occasion the Courts of the King's Bench and the Ex- 
 chequer were removed to Shrewsbury, from Michaelmas in 
 the above year until the 1 5th day of St. Hilary following, 
 when they " wer brought ageyn to Westm'." Llewellyn was 
 constrained to submit, and having been received, says the 
 annalist, " with a kisse of peace," he accompanied the King 
 into England, and kept his Christmas with him at West- 
 minster. 
 
 At Michaelmas 1278, a Parliament was held at Westmin- 
 ster, when Alexander the Third, King of Scotland, appeared 
 before Edward in the King's chamber there, ff Et ibidem op- 
 tulit idem Rex Scotiee eidem Regi Anglise devenire hominem 
 suum ligeum, et facere ei homagium suum." The oath of 
 fealty to the sovereign of England was taken in the name of 
 the King of Scotland, by Robert de Bruce, Earl of Carrick, 
 appointed deputy or locum tenens for that purpose, by spe- 
 cial permission of King Edward. " Preedictus Rex Scotiae 
 fidelitatem illam, sic nomine suo et vice sua per prsedictum 
 Robertum juratam et factam, confirmavit et ratificavit." The 
 homage thus paid by the Scottish King for the lands which 
 he held of the King of England, was by the latter, some years 
 afterwards, made one of his pretexts for the invasion of 
 Scotland.* 
 
 ster; and likewise 60*. 8d. paid to Wiiliam the Chaplain, for celebrating Divine 
 Service in the Chapel of St. Stephen at Westminster. Vide " Rot. Cancell." 
 1st Edw. I. 
 
 * " Foedera," vol. I. part ii. p. 563. In Pinkerton's " Iconographia 
 Scotica," there is an ill-executed print of a sitting of Parliament, in which 
 
KING EDWARD I. 1279-1289. 85 
 
 In July 1279, several singular precepts, tested by the King 
 at Westminster, were directed to the sheriffs of different 
 counties, requiring them to search out and imprison all those 
 injurious slanderers, who had spread reports that the King 
 had commanded that 6 no corn should be harvested, nor mea- 
 dows mowed/ as well as with other falsehoods, c which he 
 had never uttered nor imagined, and at which he was justly 
 displeased/ * 
 
 In 1 280, according to Stow, the King " caused his father's 
 sepulture at Westminster to be richly garnished with preci- 
 ous stones of jasper, which he had brought out of France for 
 that purpose." He appears also, to have contributed to the 
 furtherance of the rebuilding of the abbey church, of which it 
 is recorded, that " the new worke to the end of the choir was 
 fully finished in 1285/'f In this year also, at a Parliament 
 held at Westminster, at the feast of Easter, the celebrated 
 Statutes were made, which our historians have denominated 
 the " Additamenta Glocestrite," or the " Second Statutes of 
 Westminster/' J 
 
 On the return of the King from Gascony (in August 1289) 
 where, and in other foreign parts, he had continued upwards 
 of three years, he immediately directed a rigid inquiry into 
 the gross corruption of which his justices had been guilty 
 during his absence beyond sea. Nearly all the judges of his 
 superior Courts at Westminster, together with their officers, 
 were deeply implicated in this and other glaring abuses, and 
 the escheators and justices itinerant had been alike guilty 
 
 King Edward is represented on a throne at the upper end, with Alexander, 
 King of Scotland, on a lower seat on his right hand, and Llewellyn, Prince of 
 Wales, similarly seated on his left hand. It is described as executed from a copy 
 of an ancient limning that was formerly in the College of Arms at London. 
 * " Foedera," p. 575. f Holinshed's " Chronicle," sub eod. anno, 
 
 J See " The Statutes of the Realm," vol. i, p. 71, edit. 1810. 
 
86 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 of " wrongfull iudgements," and " manie hainous crime's." 
 Sir Thomas Weiland or Weyland, Chief Justice of the King's 
 Bench, who was declared guilty of procuration of murder, was 
 banished the kingdom, besides having ah 1 his property " con- 
 fiscate into the King's coffers." Seven or eight other jus- 
 tices were punished by heavy fines and imprisonment in the 
 Tower ; and Adam de Stratton, Chief Baron of the Exche- 
 quer (who appears to have been an ecclesiastic) was deprived 
 of all his temporal possessions, amounting in value to nearly 
 40,000 marks. It appears from Walsingham, that these 
 offences gave the King occasion to oblige the Judges to swear 
 " that for the future they would take neither money nor 
 present of any kind, unless it was a breakfast, which they 
 might accept, provided there was no excess." 
 
 During the sitting of a Parliament at Westminster, in the 
 year 1290, the Prior of the Church of the Holy Trinity of 
 London, and Bogo de Clare (brother to the Earl of Glouces- 
 ter), were attached to answer the King, Peter de Chanet (the 
 king's steward), Walter de Fancourt (the king's marshal), 
 Edmund, Earl of Cornwall (the king's nephew), and the 
 Abbot of Westminster (Walter de Wenlock), of this : that, 
 whereas the said earl, by the king's command, came to his 
 Parliament at London, and was passing through the great 
 Hall of Westminster, towards the king's council (where every 
 one ought to pass lawfully and peaceably, and pursue his 
 business without being liable to receive citations or sum- 
 monses), the said prior, by the procuration of the said Bogo, 
 on the Friday before the feast of the Purification of the 
 Virgin Mary last past (February the 2d), cited the aforesaid 
 earl in the said hall, to appear on a certain day before the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, to answer what should be then 
 objected to him,- to the manifest contempt of the king, and his 
 dishonour, to the amount of 10,000 j and to the injury of 
 
KING EDWARD I. BOGO DE CLARE. 1290. 7 
 
 the liberties of the church of the said abbot (granted by the 
 Court of Rome) ; since the aforesaid place is wholly exempt 
 from the jurisdiction of all archbishops or bishops whom- 
 soever, by the liberties granted to him and his church of 
 Westminster, and to the damage of the said abbot, 1,000; 
 to the injury of the earl, 5,000 ; and to the manifest preju- 
 dice of the office of the aforesaid steward and marshal, since 
 it pertaineth to them, and no other, to make attachments in 
 the king's palace. The aforesaid prior and Bogo de Clare 
 admitted the fact of the citation, but asserted their ignorance 
 of the exemption of the place, and threw themselves on the 
 king's mercy. They were, however, committed to the 
 Tower, this act being regarded as a direct violation of the 
 privileges of Parliament ; but were subsequently admitted to 
 bail. Bogo de Clare was also subjected to pay a fine of 
 1,000 marks to the king, and 1,000 to the earl ; but 
 through the intercession of the Bishop of Durham, and 
 others, the latter fine was reduced to 100.* / 
 
 * Vide " Rot. Parliamentomm," vol. i. p. 17. Prynne, in his " History of 
 King John," &c. (p. 406) has made the following deductions respecting the 
 legal immunities of the king's palace from the above case : " From this record 
 and judgment it is most evident ; first, that the king's royal palace is exempted 
 from all archiepiscopal and episcopal jurisdiction whatsoever ; 2dly, that the 
 serving of a citation therein by any officer of the archbishop, is a high contempt 
 and dishonour to the king, in those who serve, or procure it to be there served, 
 on any person ; deserving a very great fine to the king, and imprisonment in 
 the Tower of London, especially during the king's personal presence there, and 
 in time of Parliament, upon a peer and member of Parliament, and an injury 
 both to the king's steward and marshal ; 3dly, that Westminster Abbey was by 
 the pope's bulls, and our king's charters, exempted from all archiepiscopal ju- 
 risdiction ; 4thly, that the fine and imprisonment imposed on them in this 
 case, was not for any breach of the privilege of Parliament, not here mentioned 
 nor insisted on (as Sir Edward Coke, 4th Instit. p. 2, and Mr. Elsinge, " Man- 
 ner of holding Parliaments," p. 144-5, mistake), but for the contempt, injury, 
 and dishonour, to the king, his palace, privilege, officers, and the court." 
 
88 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Another breach of privilege at Westminster occurred in 
 the early part of the year 1294, when, William de Sadington 
 having been struck in the great hall by Geoffrey de Parche- 
 miner, the latter was fined 20s. and committed to the cus- 
 tody of the marshal.* 
 
 On the 12th of December 1291, the heart of King Henry 
 the Third was delivered by Abbot Wenlock of Westminster, 
 to the Abbess of Font-Everaud, in Normandy, to which 
 foundation it had been promised by that sovereign ; his grand- 
 father Henry II., and his uncle Richard Cceur de Lion, hav- 
 ing been interred there. f His body, however, was suffered 
 to remain in the monastery at Westminster, which he had 
 appointed for his burial-place, by deed, in 1245, when he 
 commenced the rebuilding of the abbey church. 
 
 From the Wardrobe and other accounts which are still 
 extant, in appears that in 1292, and the two following years, 
 many artificers were employed in different works, but parti- 
 cularly in painting r , at the " King's chapel in his Palace at 
 Westminster." These rolls were first mentioned by Mr. 
 Topham in his Memoir on St. Stephen's Chapel, (published 
 by the Society of Antiquaries,) as remaining in the Exche- 
 quer ; but they were afterwards more particularly examined 
 by Mr. Hawkins, when in search of information for Smith's 
 " Antiquities of Westminster." Twelve rolls in all, have been 
 found, which appear to form portions of a series regularly 
 numbered from 1 to 113. The earliest roll commences on 
 April 28th, 1292, and the last concludes with the week 
 after the feast of St. Bartholomew, August 24th, 1294. 
 Generally speaking, each roll contains the accounts of a 
 single week, but in one instance two weeks are included. 
 
 * " Placitorum Abbreviatio," p. 291: edit. 1811. 
 
 f The precept of King Edward for this delivery, has been printed in the 
 " Foedera," vol. I. part ii. p. 758 ; from the archives in the Tower. 
 
WAGES OF ARTIZAXS IN 1293, J 294. 
 
 The highest weekly expenses varied from about 5 to '13. 
 Ninety-four masons were at work in one week, and forty-two 
 in another, together with fifty-five stone-cutters, six carpenters, 
 &c. Whilst the painters (to whom most of the rolls relate) 
 ware employed, the highest weekly charge was 3. 18s. 3d.-, 
 
 e lowest 1. 3s. 8d.: the number of painters, on an average, 
 
 as about twelve or thirteen. 
 
 These rolls furnish interesting information concerning the 
 rate of wages of artificers at the close of the thirteenth cen- 
 tury. We learn that the superior masons, who were engaged 
 in the years 1291 and 1292, had 6d. a day, and that the 
 wages of the others varied from 4d. to 4j d. and 5d. a day ; 
 the weekly wages of the apparitor, or foreman, were 3s. 6d. ; 
 the squarers of stone, and their assistants, were paid from 
 4d. to 5d. a clay. Wages of the principal smith 6d. a day; 
 of carpenters from 4JJ. to 5d. a day; of plumbers 4d. to 
 6d. a day; of tilers 5d. a day. 
 
 The wages of the painters in those years, were as follow. 
 Master Walter, the principal painter, was paid I4d. a day, 
 the others smaller sums, in general from Jd. to 3d. a day- 
 Two individuals, Andrew (Andrea) and Giletto, probably 
 Italians, had conjointly 6s. 8d. for six days, and 8s. in another 
 week for the same time. 
 
 Among the articles charged in these accounts, are several 
 which clearly demonstrate that painting in oil-colours formed 
 a part of the decorations that were then in progress. Oil 
 and cole and varnish, with white and red lead, vermillion and 
 azure, and sinople, are repeatedly mentioned ; together with 
 gold and silver (leaf), of which considerable quantities were 
 used. These articles, as Mr. Hawkins has remarked, " could 
 not have been wanted for mere house painting;" and hence, 
 as well as from the length of time which the artists were 
 employed, he judiciously infers, " that the paintings were not 
 
90 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 even heraldical bearings (e^plusively), but human figures ; 
 either portraits or ideal representations, and historical sub- 
 jects, such as were afterwards painted on the walls when the 
 chapel was rebuilt by Edward the Third." * 
 
 From the prices mentioned in these rolls, it appears that a 
 'pottle of oil' cost bd. or 6d.-, a pound of red lead 2d.; a 
 pound of white lead \\d. or \\d.; a pound of tin 3%d. ; a 
 quartern of azure Is. ; a pound of red varnish 3%d. and 4d. ; 
 a quartern of sinople Is.; a pound of green 5c?.; one hun- 
 dred (probably books) of gold-leaf 3*. 4d. ; one hundred of 
 silver-leaf 6d. ; and a quartern of vermillion (probably of a 
 hundred weight,) 6s. 5d. 
 
 In September 1294, a Parliament was held at Westmins- 
 ter, at which John (Baliol) King of Scotland was present, 
 and wherein it was determined to make war against France, 
 towards the charges of which Baliol consented to grant all 
 the revenues of his paternal estates in England for three 
 years. Soon afterwards, King Edward royally entertained in 
 his Palace, during several days, the ' four noble envoys ' of 
 the King of Arragon, with whom he was secretly negociating 
 for assistance in the proposed war.f 
 
 * Smith's " Antiquities of Westminster," p. 76. It maybe further remarked 
 that Master Walter, the principal painter concerned in these decorations, was 
 almost unquestionably the painter of that name, who executed the pictures 
 in the king's chamber, as before mentioned under the date 1267. At that time 
 he was probably a young man, but in the 20th of Edward I. (anno 1292), he ap- 
 pears to have had a son old enough to assist his father, a " Thomas, son of Master 
 Walter," being mentioned in all the above Rolls relating to painter's works as 
 employed on a rising salary at from 1*. 6d. to 3*. a week. It is observable that 
 the names of the painters are almost invariably distinguished by that of the 
 county or place from which they came ; viz. John of Soningdon, John of Car- 
 lisle, Roger of Winchester, Thomas of Worcester, Roger of Ireland, John of 
 Nottingham, William of Ross, William of Oxford, Godfrey of Norfolk, and 
 others. 
 
 f Matt. Westminster, " Flores Historiorum," p. 421, Franc. 1601. 
 
EDWARD I. PALACE DESTROYED BY FIRE. 1298. 91 
 
 On the 29th of March 1 298 " a vehement fire/' according 
 to Stow, "being kindled in the lesser hall in the King's 
 Palace at Westminster, the flame thereof being driven with the 
 wind fired the monasterie adioining, which, with the Palace, 
 were both consumed." * Stow's authority is Matthew of 
 Westminster, whose words are as follow: "A. Gr. 1298, 
 accedente rege Angliee ad Westmonast. 4 kal. Aprilis, accenso 
 que igne vehementi in minori aula Palatii, flamma tecturam 
 domus attingens, ventoque agitata, Abbatise vicinse sedificia 
 cum Palatio regis devoravit." f 
 
 This account is certainly exaggerated in regard to the 
 monastery of Westminster ; although Flete, following Wal- 
 singham, has stated that the flames e being driven by the 
 wind, devoured the edifices of the neighbouring Abbey;' 
 but this must certainly be restricted to some of the outer 
 buildings eastward of the chapter-house. In respect to the 
 Palace itself, the devastation unquestionably was much 
 greater, since we ascertain from different records, that the 
 King was constrained to remove to the palace of the Arch- 
 bishop of York, at Whitehall, where he continued occasion- 
 ally to reside until his decease. 
 
 In the Wardrobe accounts of the 25th of Edward I., J 
 is an entry to this effect, under the dates April the 3rd 
 and June the 1 8th : ( Paid to John le Coniers, sent by the 
 King [who was then in the North,] to Westminster, to repair 
 the houses and walls of the court of the Archbishop of York 
 there, and to do other works by the King's appointment 
 against the King's coming there, for timber, nails, glass, 
 windows, and other building materials, and for the wages of 
 the workmen, 19 16 11.' 
 
 * Stow's " Chronicle," p. 318. 
 
 t "Flores Hist." p. 421. 
 
 J Vide " Additional MSS." in the British Museum, fol. 196. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE, 
 
 We also learn from the Parliament Rolls of the 28th of 
 Edward I. (anno 1360), that ' the King and his Council as- 
 sembled in the chamber of the dwelling of the Archbishop of 
 York at Westminster, about Easter in that year/ * 
 
 Again, in the wardrobe accounts of the 32nd of Edward I.f 
 (anno 1304), there is this entry: 'Paid to Walter de Clerk- 
 enwell, chaplain, appointed to superintend the construction 
 of two new chambers for the King and Queen, in the palace 
 of the Archbishop of York at Westminster, for building ma- 
 terials, &c. between the 12th of August and the 14th of No- 
 vember, 42 10 2: 
 
 In the year 1302, some very singular proceedings took 
 place in Parliament respecting the claims made by the Abbot 
 of Westminster to certain duties upon all merchants and 
 traders who exposed their goods for sale within the precincts 
 of the King's Palace, during the celebration of St. Edward's 
 fair. The following account of these proceedings is derived 
 from the Parliament Rolls of the 30th of Edward I. The 
 Parliament itself had assembled at Westminster, fifteen days 
 after Michaelmas. 
 
 Walter (de Wenlock) Abbot of Westminster, shewed that 
 by a charter of King Henry III., confirmed by the reigning 
 King, he had a right to hold a fair at Westminster, and during 
 the time of that fair he was entitled to the same privileges 
 that were exercised by the Bishop of Winton at the fair of 
 St. Giles's Hill, Winchester ; and that the said bishop and 
 his predecessors had of right, at the time of the Winchester 
 fair, levied tolls from all merchants bringing goods for sale 
 into the city or suburbs, and that none were allowed to ex- 
 pose goods for sale during the time of the fair except in the 
 
 * " Rot. Parl." vol. i. p. 143. 
 
 f Vide " Additional MSS." ut supra, fol. 20 b. 
 
KING EDWARD I. ABBATIAL PRIVILEGES, 1302. 
 
 place appointed : and the abbot further said, that John de 
 Noer, Michael le Patmer, and other merchants, bringing 
 goods for sale at Westminster, and exposing them in places 
 different from that appointed by the abbot for holding the 
 fair, he had, in virtue of his chartered privilege, seized those 
 goods. The merchants impleaded the abbot and his bailiffs 
 before the steward and marshals of the king's house at West- 
 minster, namely, the residence of the Archbishop of York -, 
 and they, at the complaint of the said merchants, had relieved 
 their property from distraint, to the manifest injury of the 
 church ; wherefore the abbot prays the king and council., 
 after having heard the royal charters and confirmations, on 
 which he grounded his claim, to grant him remedy. It was 
 therefore ordered by the king and council, that Walter de 
 Beauchamp, his steward, should in full council produce the 
 record of the preceding complaint ; which he did accordingly. 
 
 The steward having stated the names of the aggrieved 
 merchants, and the value of the goods seized by the abbot's 
 officers, with his own proceedings, in consequence of the 
 seizure ; and it appearing from the charters produced by the 
 abbot, that he was entitled to the same rights and privileges 
 with respect to the fair at Westminster, as were exercised by 
 the Bishop of Winchester at the fair of St. Giles's Hill; a 
 writ was directed to the sheriff of Hants, requiring him to 
 return an account, on the inquisition of a jury of good men 
 and true, of the extent and importance of the power pos- 
 sessed by the Bishop of Winchester at the fair held near 
 that city. 
 
 The return to this writ being made, it clearly appeared 
 that the rights of the bishop were very considerable ; and 
 that no business could be transacted during the fair of St. 
 Giles's Hill, but at the place appointed, except under pecu- 
 liar restrictions, and that his authority extended not only 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 over the city and suburbs, but to the country around within 
 seven leagues. 
 
 On the receipt of this statement, the king's council de- 
 cided, that though the Abbot of Westminster had seized the 
 property of the merchants in houses within the verge of the 
 palace, as he was only prosecuting his own right, without 
 injury to the king, or those who held those houses of the 
 king in fee, and since his jurisdiction was decided to be 
 similar to that of the Bishop of Winchester, and it plainly 
 appeared by their own admission that the merchants had 
 infringed his regulations as to the place of sale for goods, 
 that therefore the abbot should have return of the goods 
 distrained.* 
 
 In the same Parliament (30th Edw. I.) was presented a 
 petition from Thomas le Marschal and others, tenants of the 
 king's palace, setting forth, that they and their ancestors 
 had never been subject to the jurisdiction of any one but the 
 Bailiff of the Palace, and complaining that at the time of the 
 fair at Westminster, the bailiffs of the abbot had prevented 
 merchants from exercising traffic within the verge of the 
 palace, fining them for disobedience in their own courts, at 
 their pleasure, to the great damage of the tenants aforesaid ; 
 and therefore they begged remedy from the king, alledging 
 that the palace ought to be the freest place in England, " le 
 plus frank leuD'engleterre" The petitioners were told, that 
 if they thought themselves wronged they might apply to the 
 Court of Chancery .f 
 
 In the year 1303, the king's treasury, which was then within 
 the precincts of theabbeyat Westminster,;); was robbed of jewel- 
 
 * " Rot. Parl." vol. i. pp. 150152. 
 f " Rot. Parl." vol. i. p. 155. 
 
 % In Dart's Westmonasterium,'' vol. ii. p. 27, it is affirmed that this Trea- 
 sury " was in the Cloisters." 
 
KING EDWARD I. HIS TREASURY ROBBED, 1303. 7^ 
 
 lery to a very large amount ; but a part of the stolen valuables 
 were afterwards recovered. On the 6th of June, an order 
 was issued by the King, who was then in Scotland, to Ralph 
 de Sandwich and others, to make inquisition concerning this 
 depredation ;* and about a fortnight afterwards, John de Dro- 
 kenesford, keeper of the King's wardrobe, accompanied by 
 those appointed to make the inquiry, entered the treasury, 
 and found the chests and coffers broken open, and much of 
 the treasure gone. The Abbot (Wenlock), with about fifty 
 of his monks, were in consequence committed to the Tower, 
 on the charge of stealing property to the value of lOO,OOO.f 
 Twelve of them were kept two years in prison without trial ; 
 but at length, on Lady day 1305, the King, who had come to 
 the church at Westminster to return thanks for his victory 
 over the Scots, gave orders for their discharge. 
 
 A singular case, having reference to the privileges of the 
 Law Courts at Westminster, has been recorded on the " Pla- 
 cita Roll " of the 34th of Edward I., which is now preserved 
 among the national archives in the Chapter-house at West- 
 minster. The conduct of the king, in respect to his ungra- 
 cious son, which is incidentally mentioned in the record, will 
 forcibly remind the reader of an occurrence in the life of 
 Henry the Fifth, when Prince of Wales, which forms so 
 beautiful a scene in one of Shakespeare's dramas. J 
 
 ' Roger de Heexham complained to the king, that whereas 
 he was the justice appointed to determine a dispute between 
 Mary the wife of William de Brewes [Braose], plaintiff, and 
 William de Brewes, defendant, respecting a sum of 800 
 
 * See " Mem. de Jocalibus a Garderoba R. surreptis," in "Selections from 
 the Miscellaneous Records," recently printed by the Record Commissioners, 
 p. 277, &c. 
 
 f "Foedera," vol. i. p. 959. 
 
 t Vide " The Second Part of King Henry the Fourth," Act v. Scene 2. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 marks which she claimed from him, and that having decided 
 in favour of the former, the said William, immediately after 
 judgment was pronounced, contemptuously approached the 
 bar, and asked the said Roger, in gross and upbraiding lan- 
 guage, if he would defend that judgment ; and he afterwards 
 insulted him in bitter and taunting terms, as he was going 
 through the Exchequer chamber to the king, saying to him, 
 ( Roger, Roger, thou hast now obtained thy will of that thou 
 hast long desired." 
 
 William de Brewes, when arraigned before the King arid 
 his Council for this offence, acknowledged his guilt ; ' and be- 
 cause/ says the record, ' such contempt and disrespect, as 
 well towards the king's ministers as towards the king himself, 
 or his court, are very odious to the king, as of late expressly 
 appeared, when his majesty expelled from his houshold, for 
 nearly half a year, his dearly-beloved son Edward, Prince of 
 Wales, on account of certain improper words which he had 
 addressed to one of his ministers, and suffered him not to 
 enter his presence until he had rendered satisfaction to the 
 said officer for his offence, it was decreed by the king and 
 council that the aforesaid William should proceed, unattired, 
 bare-headed, and holding a torch in his hand, from the 
 King's Bench in Westminster-hall, during full court, to the 
 Exchequer, and there ask pardon from the aforesaid Roger, 
 and make an apology for his trespass.' He was afterwards, 
 for his contempt towards the king and his court, committed 
 to the Tower, there to remain during the king's pleasure. 
 
 King Edward being intent on the subjugation of Scotland, 
 and with a view to augment his forces for an expedition into 
 that country which he was then meditating, caused procla- 
 mation to be made throughout England, in the year 1306, 
 that all those who were heirs to estates held by military 
 tenure, " ut quotquot tenerentur fieri milites succession e 
 
KING EDWARD I. HIS SON KNIGHTED, 1306. 9? 
 
 paterna, et qui haberent unde militarent," should make their 
 appearance at Westminster at the feast of Pentecost, to be 
 admitted ; each to be equipped (except with respect to his 
 horse's trappings,) from the royal wardrobe. Three hundred 
 young men, therefore, the sons of earls, barons, and knights, 
 assembled and received purple, silk, fine linen, and girdles 
 embroidered with gold, according to their respective rank. 
 And because the royal palace, though large, was too confined 
 for such a crowd of persons, they went to the New Temple at 
 London, cutting down fruit trees, levelling walls, and erecting 
 tents and booths, which the young aspirants severally deco- 
 rated with their embroidered vestments : and as many as 
 could take up their quarters there, kept their watch during the 
 night. But the Prince of Wales, by the direction of his 
 father, with the noblest of the young men, kept watch in 
 the church of Westminster. Then, so great was the clang of 
 the trumpets and pipes, and the noise of the acclamations, 
 that the convent could not hear the service of the choir. The 
 following day, the King girded his son with the belt of a 
 knight in his palace, and gave to him the Duchy of Aquitaine. 
 The Prince, being knighted, went to shew himself in his 
 triumph to his associates in military glory. There was then 
 such pressure about the high altar that two knights died, and 
 several fainted away, though each had at least three soldiers 
 to lead and defend him. The Prince therefore proceeded no 
 further, but the crowd being removed from the great altar, he 
 girded his companions. Then there were brought two swans 
 (duo cygni vel olores) before the King, with glorious pomp, 
 adorned with gold nets, and gilded ornaments, a desirable 
 spectacle to beholders. Viewing them, the King vowed to 
 the God of Heaven and the Swans,* that he would go into 
 
 * Matt. West. " Flores Hist." p. 454, 5. The singular ceremonial of mak- 
 ing a vow of arms before the Swan, is also mentioned by Trivet as having taken 
 
 G 
 
US WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Scotland, and dead or alive, avenge the death of John Comyn 
 and the broken faith of the Scots : adjuring the Prince, and 
 the other great men of the land, to give him their promise, 
 that if he should die, his body should be carried before them 
 into Scotland, and that he should not be buried until they 
 had triumphed over the perfidious King and nation. They 
 all gave him assurance that they were prepared either in the 
 King's life, or after his death with the Prince, to go to Scot- 
 land, and fulfil the royal vow. 
 
 By the Statute ofTalliage, which was passed at Westmins- 
 ter in the 34th year of Edward the First, the right of the 
 Commons' Representatives to interfere in the granting of 
 supplies, was distinctly recognized ; for it is provided by that 
 act, " that no talliage, or aid, shall be taken without the 
 assent of the archbishops, bishops, earls, barons, knights, 
 burgesses, and other freemen of the land " the latter, un- 
 questionably, were the e liberi homines ' of the common law. 
 In the following year (April the 5th, 1305) another Parlia- 
 
 place on this occasion. It was one of the usual chivalric observances of this 
 period ; and some have supposed that there is an allusion to it in the poem in 
 old French, on the "Siege of Carlaverock," published by Sir H. Nicolas, the 
 writer styling Sir Robert de Tony as " a Knight of the Swan," " Chevalier a 
 Cygne." This knight, who distinguished himself at Carlaverock, afterwards 
 fell into disgrace with the King, and probably was not present at the ceremony 
 mentioned in the text. Sir H. Nicolas observes that " Although Tony might 
 on a former occasion have made his vows ' before the Swan,' it does not explain 
 why he only of the poet's heroes should have been described as a ' Knight of 
 the Swan.' " It also appears that Sir Robert de Tony assumed the swan as 
 his badge on his seal, and therefore the title given to him may have had refer- 
 ence to his pedigree, as claiming descent, in common with the Beauchamps 
 Earls of Warwick, the Bohuns, and the Staffords, from the "Knight of the 
 Swan," celebrated in the popular romance of that title, and from whom the 
 Counts of Boulogne were said to be lineally descended. See " The Siege of 
 Carlaverock, c. with Memoirs of the Personages commemorated by the Poet." 
 By N. H. Nicolas, Esq. 1828. Notes, p. 369, 370. 
 
KIXG EDWARD I. HIS DECEASE. 1307. 99 
 
 ment was held at Westminster, ' in the house of the arch- 
 bishop of York, where the king then stayed;' and on this 
 occasion letters from the pope, Benedict the Eleventh, were 
 presented by his nuncio.* 
 
 The king had been greatly irritated by the murder of 
 Comyn, (who had sworn to him allegiance, and betrayed to 
 him the design of the Scots to revolt,) and he resolved to be 
 signally revenged on the Scottish nation. With that intent, 
 he summoned all his military vassals to meet him at Carlisle, 
 in July 1306, where he joined them, and in the following 
 January held his last parliament, in which the celebrated 
 ordinance, called the < Statute of Carlisle/ was made against 
 the exactions of ecclesiastical foundations. Edward was ill 
 when he quitted London, and for a considerable time he 
 remained, through weakness, in the neighbourhood of Car- 
 lisle; but finding some improvement in his health, he at 
 length began his march into Scotland, with the determina- 
 tion, according to our annalists, to " destroy that kingdom 
 from sea to sea." His progress, however, was soon checked 
 by the ravages of disease, and he expired at but a short 
 distance from Carlisle, at Burgh on the Sands, on the 7th of 
 
 * " Rot. Parl." vol. i. pp. 178, 179. From the same work (Ibid. p. 143) we 
 learn, that a Council was held, " in Camera Hospitii Archiepiscopi E&oraci, 
 apud WestmV on the Thursday after Palm Sunday,1300. It appears, also, from 
 the same authority, (p. 76,) that in a cause prosecuted before parliament, in the 
 20th of Edward I. (anno 1292,) between the Earls of Hereford and Gloucester, 
 the earls, and some of their manucaptors, made their appearance on a day ap- 
 pointed before the king and his council, in the house of Otho de Grandisson, 
 (who was one of the council,) without the palace of the king at Westminster. 
 Among the archives in the office of the King's Remembrancer of the Exche- 
 quer, there is the fragment of a roll of payments, &c. of the 33d of Edward I. 
 for work done at the house of the Archbishop of York, ' against the coming of 
 the king, in the week in which was the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula,' and for 
 ' a new hall, and other chambers, built there for the king.' 
 
 G2 
 
100 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 July 1307. His strong exasperation against the Scots may 
 be appreciated by his dying commands to his son Edward, 
 whom he enjoined, in the most solemn manner, to prosecute 
 the war, and ec to carry his dead bones along with the army 
 to the very extremity of Scotland/' This command is thus 
 mentioned by Froissart : The king e called his eldest son, 
 and made him swear by the Saints, in the presence of all his 
 barons, that as soon as he should be dead he would have his 
 body boiled in a large cauldron, until the flesh should be 
 separated from the bones; that he would have the flesh 
 buried, and the bones preserved; and that every time the 
 Scots should rebel against him, he would summon his 
 people and carry against them the bones of his father : for 
 he believed most firmly that, as long as his bones should be 
 carried against the Scots, those Scots would never be victo- 
 rious/* 
 
 Edward's injunctions, however strongly they had been 
 urged, had little influence over the depraved mind of his 
 successor. He advanced, indeed, into Scotland ; yet it was 
 no further than to Cumnock, in Ayrshire, and thence, under 
 the pretence of making preparations for his marriage and 
 coronation, he hastily returned into England. In defiance, 
 also, of his father's threatened malediction, he recalled from 
 banishment his profligate favourite, Piers de Gaveston, upon 
 whom he conferred the title of Earl of Cornwall, and lavished 
 on him both estates and treasures; among the former of 
 which was the entire lordship of the Isle of Man. In the 
 intervening time, he caused the embalmed remains of his 
 father to be conveyed, first, to Waltham Holy Cross, and 
 subsequently to the abbey church at Westminster, where the 
 body was finally interred, on the 28th of October 1307, on 
 
 * Vide " Froissart's Chronicles," Johnes' translation, vol. i. p. xxv. 
 
KING EDWARD I. HIS REMAINS EXAMINED. 1/74. 101 
 
 the south side of the chapel of St. Edward the Confessor, 
 where his tomb still remains.* During the entire reign of 
 the deceased monarch, the rebuilding of the abbey church 
 had been proceeded with, and the works had beer completed 
 from the intersection of the choir and transept cO the upper 
 part of the nave. His donations, however, to tjmtV edifice, 
 were but few, and (excepting some estates which he had 
 granted to found the anniversary of his first consort, the 
 much-beloved Eleanor,) they chiefly consisted of the Scottish 
 regalia, which had been brought from the abbey of Scone in 
 1297/1* and of certain relics of saints and martyrs. 
 
 * Edward's successor appears to have held his father's advice and memory in 
 equal disregard ; but succeeding monarchs paid due respect to our English Jus- 
 tinian, and several royal warrants are extant for renewing the cerecloths round 
 his body, in order to ensure the preservation of his remains. The payments 
 for these operations were defrayed from the royal treasury, as may be deduced 
 from the extracts from the Close Rolls printed in Rymer's "Foedera." The 
 earliest order (" De cera renovanda circa corpus Edwardi I. avi llegis) pre- 
 served in that collection, is dated July the 6th, in the 13th of Edward III. (vide 
 " Fosdera," vol. ii. pt. 2. p. 1084;) but that this was not the first occasion on 
 which the envelopments of the body were ordered to be renewed, is evident 
 from the terms used, viz. " Ceram circa corpus renovari faciatis prout hac- 
 tenus fieri consuevit" 
 
 In consequence of the curiosity excited by the above warrants, and by other 
 documents relating to King Edward's interment, inserted in the " Foedera," 
 permission was obtained from the Dean of Westminster to open his tomb, and 
 it was done on the 2d of May 1774, in the presence of about twenty persons, 
 chiefly members of the Society of Antiquaries. Edward's body was found in a 
 coffin of Purbeck stone, within the raised tomb, and above the general pave- 
 ment of the chapel. His remains, which were richly habited, and in a fair 
 state of preservation, had an innermost covering of very fine linen cerecloth, 
 dressed closely to the face and hands, and to every part of the body that was 
 allowed to be examined. An interesting account of the proceedings was after- 
 wards drawn up by Sir Joseph Ayloffe, Bart, and printed in the 3d volume of 
 the " Archseologia." 
 
 t The regalia thus presented, consisted of the Coronation chair, inclosing the 
 celebrated prophetic stone, or palladium of Scotland, called Jacob's Pillow, and 
 
102 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 The reign of Edward the Second commenced very unpro- 
 pitiously for the good of the nation, and its conclusion was 
 not less disastrous to the illfated monarch himself. His 
 favourite Gaveston, who was the son of a gentleman of Gui- 
 eiine, was entrusted with all the authority of the state, and 
 1L its honours were lavished upon profligates and foreigners. 
 Under the corrupt sway of this minion of his vices, the 
 young king " began to hold his nobles in no regard, to set 
 nothing by their instructions, and to take small heed unto 
 the good government of the commonwealth, so that within a 
 while he gave himself to wantonness, passing his time in vo- 
 luptuous pleasure and riotous excess ; and Piers, as though 
 he had sworn to make the king to forget himselfe, and the 
 state to which he was called, furnished his Court with com- 
 panies of jesters, ruffians, flattering parasites, musicians, and 
 other vile and naughtie ribalds, that the king might spend 
 both daies and nights in jesting, plaieing, banketing, and 
 such other filthie and dishonourable exercises." * 
 
 Some interruption was put to these excesses by Edward's 
 marriage with Isabella, the beauteous daughter of Philip le 
 Bel, King of France, who was then only in the 13th year of her 
 age. The nuptial ceremony was celebrated with great mag- 
 nificence at Boulogne, on the 25th of January 1308, in the 
 presence of four kings, three queens, and many other royal 
 and noble personages. f 
 
 the sceptre and the golden crown of the Scottish kings. A distinct historical 
 account of the Prophetic Stone will be found in Brayley's "History, &c. of 
 the Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster," vol. ii. pp. 118 to 136. 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicles," vol. ii. p. 547, edit. 1807. 
 
 f Shortly before his departure for France, divers precepts tested at West- 
 minster were issued by the king to the sheriffs of different counties, requiring 
 them to supply provisions for the approaching coronation festival. That ad- 
 dressed to the Sheriff of Wiltshire bears date on the 4th of January 1308 ; it 
 orders the sheriff to provide 24 live oxen, 24 live porkers, 4 live boars, and 30 
 
CORONATION OF KING EDWARD II. 1308. 103 
 
 On the return of the king from France, the preparations 
 for his Coronation were soon arranged, and the ceremony was 
 performed in the abbey church at Westminster, on the festi- 
 val of St. Mathias (February the 25th) 1308, which in that 
 year was on Quinquagesima Sunday. The most complete 
 account of the solemnity is to be found in an ancient Latin 
 manuscript in the British Museum, and the following curious 
 details are derived from that source.* 
 
 The king was crowned by Henry, Bishop of Winchester, 
 who officiated in place of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who 
 had been called upon to answer to somewhat objected to 
 him on the part of his sovereign ; but prior to the ceremony 
 the king, in order to save the right of the see of Canter- 
 bury "ut jus ecclesiee Cantuarise salveretur" wrote two 
 epistles to Pope Clement [the Fifth], stating that the arch- 
 bishop, in consequence of bodily weakness, was not able to be 
 present at the ensuing coronation, to execute the duty which 
 belonged to his official character. The holy pontiff, in 
 consequence of this application, transmitted a commission, 
 under his own seal, to three of the bishops, that the king 
 might appoint one of them to perform the office of coro- 
 nation. These were the bishops of Winchester, Salisbury, 
 and Chichester ; but as the Bishop of Chichester, being the 
 king's chancellor, had the right of presenting the cup of St. 
 
 very fat bacon hogs, to be sent to Westminster by the quindene of the Purifica- 
 tion of the Virgin. Vide Bibl. Cott. MS. Vespasian, C. xiv. fol. 116. In the 
 preceding year, the king had addressed a mandate to the Seneschal of Gascony 
 and the Constable of Bourdeaux, dated Clipston, September 25, directing 
 them to procure and send to London, by Christmas-tide, 1,000 pipes of good 
 wine, that it might be ready for the approaching coronation ; to be paid for by 
 the Friscobaldi, merchants of Florence, who farmed the revenues of Gascony. 
 See " Foedera," vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 7, edit. 1818. 
 
 * Bibl. Cott. Vitellius, C. XH. fol. 231. A copy of the Coronation Roll 
 of Edward IT. with other documents, has been printed in the new edition of 
 the " Foedera," vol. ii. pt. i. pp. 33 30'. 
 
104 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACK. 
 
 Edward at the coronation, and as the Bishop of Salisbury 
 laboured under corporeal debility, it pleased the king to 
 assign the duty of placing the crown on his head to the 
 Bishop of Winchester. The Archbishop of York, not choos- 
 ing to come without his cross, (probably from some point of 
 etiquette,) was not permitted to share in the solemnities. 
 
 On the morning of the coronation, the king was placed 
 on an elevated seat in the little hall at Westminster, " roba 
 viridi indutus et nigris caligis absque calciamentis calciatus ;" 
 and all the way thence to the abbey church was covered with 
 woollen cloths. Before him were gathered all the earls and 
 knights, and other persons of distinction. In the procession 
 to the church, two golden spurs were borne by Aymer 
 (Earl of Pembroke) the Earl Marshal ; after whom came the 
 Earl of Hereford, bearing the royal sceptre with the cross ; 
 and next followed Henry of Lancaster, son of the Lord 
 Edmund [Crouchback], brother of the late king, who carried 
 the royal staff with a dove on the top. Then followed the 
 Earls of Lancaster, Lincoln, and Warwick, bearing three 
 swords; that called Curtana being carried by the former 
 earl. Next appeared the treasury, on which were the regal 
 vestments ; this was borne by the Earl of Arundel, Thomas 
 de Vere, (son and heir of the Earl of Oxford,) Lord Hugh 
 le Despencer, and Lord Roger de Mortimer, of Wigmore, 
 who were followed by the king's treasurer, carrying the 
 patera of the chalice of King Edward [the Confessor]. Then 
 came the Lord Piers de Gaveston,, Earl of Cornwall, bearing 
 the crown ornamented with precious stones ; and after him 
 came the King himself, who was about to be crowned, over 
 whose head a canopy was supported by the Barons of the 
 Cinque Ports. 
 
 When the king came to the great altar, he laid upon it a 
 pound of gold. He also took the oaths previously to his 
 coronation, in the following form : 
 
KING EDWARD II. HIS CORONATION OATH. 1308. 
 
 Interrogacio Episcopi. "Sire, volez vous graunter et 
 garder, et par vostre serment confermir, au poeple d'Engle- 
 terre, les leys et les coustumes a eux grauntez par les aun- 
 ciens Rois d'Angleterre voz predecessours, droiterels et de- 
 voutez a Dieu, et nomement les leys, les coustumes, et les 
 fraunchises grauntes au clergie et au poeple par le glorious 
 Roy Seint Edward, vostre predecessour ?" 
 
 Responsio Regis. " Je les graunt et promet." 
 
 " Sire, garderez vous a Dieu et a Saint Eglise, et au clergie 
 et au poeple, pais et acord en Dieu entierement solonc vostre 
 poer ? " 
 
 " Je le garderez." 
 
 " Sire, ferez vous paraistre en touz les jugementz ouele et 
 droite justice et descrecion en misericorde et verite a vostre 
 poeple ? " 
 
 " Je le ferez." 
 
 " Sire, graunterez vous a tenir et a garder les leys et les 
 coustumes droitureles, les quoy la comunaute de vostre 
 Reaume aura esleuz, et les defenderez et afforcerez al ho- 
 neur de Dieu a vostre poer?" 
 
 " Je les graunte et promets."* 
 
 After this, the Bishop of Winchester proceeded to the 
 duties of anointing and consecrating the king, according to 
 the Ordinale, which at this solemnity was borne by John de 
 Lenham, a brother of the order of Friars Preachers. When 
 the king's spurs were to be put on, the Lord Charles, bro- 
 ther to the King of France and uncle to the queen, per- 
 formed that office in respect to the right shoe and spur ; 
 but the left shoe was put on by the Earl of Pembroke, and 
 the left spur by the Earl of Cornwall. After these ceremo- 
 nies, the king took the crown from the altar, and delivered it 
 
 * As this is one of the earliest instances in which the terms of the Corona- 
 tion Oath are so particularly recorded, we have followed the precise orthogra- 
 phy of the manuscript. 
 
106 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 into the hands of the bishop, who placed it on the king's 
 head ; and he being thus crowned, was led to a raised throne 
 between the monks' choir and the presbytery of the great 
 altar ; upon which the clergy, with a loud voice, sung Te 
 Deum laudamus. 
 
 These things -having been done, the Lady Isabella, the 
 king's consort, standing in the same place which the king 
 had occupied, was crowned by the Bishop of Winchester, 
 immediately before the commencement of the mass : and 
 when they came to the offertory in the mass, the king de- 
 scended from his seat, and laid upon the great altar one 
 mark of gold, being a portion of that before mentioned^ 
 There also was placed an image of St. John, as a pilgrim, ex- 
 tending his hand to receive the ring from St. Edward ; and 
 of the pound of gold which the king had first brought to the 
 great altar, a part was an image of St. Edward offering the 
 ring to the pilgrim. 
 
 At the conclusion of the mass, the king wearing his 
 crown before the great altar, devoutly received the sacrament 
 in the presence of the bishops and prelates. Then the king, 
 crowned, bearing the sceptre in his right hand, and the royal 
 staff in his left, with all the apparatus of the coronation 
 [regalia], was conducted to his palace; and in a chamber 
 there that apparatus was deposited, to be afterwards returned 
 to the church of Westminster, in which it was kept. When 
 equipped in other apparel, the king went to dine with the 
 prelates, peers, and others, in the great hall, where, on the 
 same day, he bestowed knighthood on the son of his sister 
 the Countess of Gloucester, and many others. At this festival, 
 the Earl of Lancaster, as steward, presented the king's cup, 
 and others served him according to their offices. Dinner 
 being over, the king in his regal habiliments retired to his 
 chamber where all his clothes were deposited except the 
 
KING EDWARD II. BANISHMEXT OF GAVESTON. 1308. 107 
 
 shirt, tunic, breeches, and shoes, (e quee, propter sacram 
 unctionem, super regem tota nocte quousque lavaretur in 
 custumum permanserint/' * 
 
 The barons felt so greatly insulted by Gaveston being suf- 
 fered to appear and walk in the procession immediately 
 before the king, " without regard to the claims of inheritance, 
 or the precedents of former reigns/' that they assembled 
 three days afterwards in the refectory of the monks at West- 
 minster, and in a spirited petition to the king required the 
 immediate banishment of his pampered favourite. Edward 
 engaged to return an answer in the ensuing parliament, (to 
 be held in April,) yet in the interim he continued to lavish 
 both the honours and the treasures of the state upon Gaves- 
 ton, to the extreme, even, of permitting him to wear the 
 crown jewels, and also the crown itself ! This conduct could 
 not be borne : Gaveston was compelled to quit England, 
 and to swear, under the sentence of excommunication, that 
 he would never return. The king accompanied him to Bris- 
 tol, and he sailed from that port ; but, to the great surprize 
 and mortification of the barons, they soon learned that he 
 had landed in Ireland, and assumed the government there by 
 royal appointment. That the king was not without personal 
 fear from the strong indignation which had been thus excited, 
 is evinced by his issuing writs to the sheriffs, tested at West- 
 minster on October the 4th, e prohibiting the holding of tour- 
 
 * It is remarkable that some of the minor charges for this coronation re- 
 mained unsettled, even so late as the loth or 16th year of the king's reign, as 
 appears from the Rolls of Parliament, on which petitions are entered from 
 Richard de Hurst, of London, for the payment of ten shillings for sea coal ; 
 and from Dionise le Lymbrennere [Lime-burner] , of two marks for lime. Both 
 articles are stated to have been furnished to John de Norton, Clerk of the 
 Palace, for the king's coronation. Vide " Rot. Parl." vol. i. pp. 405, 406. At 
 this Coronation, Sir John Bakewell, or Blackwell, was pressed to death by the 
 crowd. 
 
108 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 naments/ and ordering that ' all persons summoned to the 
 parliament about to assemble at Westminster, should appear 
 there without horses or arms, under penalty of body, lands, 
 and goods." * 
 
 During the early part of this reign, as may be deduced 
 from the original accounts still existing in the King's Remem- 
 brancer's Office, some considerable works were in progress 
 at Westminster, but we are unable to ascertain the distinct 
 sums that were expended on the Palace alone, the charges 
 for the Tower and the Mews being blended with them. In 
 Edward's first year, nearly 3,200 was thus laid out, the 
 chief particulars of the expenditure of which will be seen by 
 the following abstracts from the original record : 
 
 ( Account of Nicholas de Tikehulle and John de Norton, 
 Clerks, appointed by Walter Fitz-Reginald, the King's 
 Treasurer, to keep account of the charges for the works 
 at the Palace of Westminster, at the Tower of London, 
 and at the King's Mews, near Westminster; under the 
 survey of William de Staverton, Clerk and Comptroller ; 
 from Aug. 7? 1st Edward II. to Mar. 10 next ensuing, 
 when William de Staverton retired from the office, and 
 from that day to the feast of St. Michael in the following 
 year. 
 
 ' They acknowledge the receipt (at different times) of 
 3,828. 2s. 8d. by writs of " Liberate," or writs from the 
 Treasurer and Chamberlain, for the abovementioned works ; 
 and of 532. 17$. 5%d. received from the King's Wardrobe, 
 by his own hands, and by the hands of various other persons, 
 as mentioned in the receipts delivered in to the Treasury. 
 
 Sum total . . . 4,361. Os. l$d. 
 ( For these sums, they account by money expended for 
 great and small timber, boards, clay, stone of Caen, Rey- 
 
 * Vide " Foedera," vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 59, edit. 1818. 
 
KING EDWARD II. ACCOUNT OF PAYMENTS. 1307. 109 
 
 gate, Boulogne, and Ailesford, lime, chalk, tiles, lead, iron, 
 shingles, plaster [of Paris], pitch, laths, keys, large and small, 
 sand, and other necessary articles bought and provided for 
 the before-mentioned works, namely, from August 7? in the 
 first year of King Edward II., to Michaelmas in that year, 
 as specified in the particulars delivered to the Treasury, 
 1038. 135. 6d. ; for payments for carriage and portage by 
 land and water, 19. lls. \d. ; for the wages of carpenters, 
 sawyers, masons, smiths, glaziers, painters, plasterers, well- 
 sinkers, tilers, torch bearers, and scourers of the halls for 
 the Coronation, and other workmen employed about the said 
 work, 1,966. Js. \\%d.; and for miscellaneous payments 
 by the treasurer and chamberlain, 40. 135. 4d.; and for 
 payments to various persons by order of the keeper of the 
 wardrobe, J. de Benstede, 127- 55. 6%d. 
 
 e Sum total, for the first year, 3191. 12s. 5%d.' 
 
 That far more minute accounts are extant, in respect to 
 the above expenditure, will be evident from the ensuing par- 
 ticulars, which will elucidate the distinct manner in which 
 those accounts were originally kept. 
 
 There is an ancient manuscript, on vellum, in the posses- 
 sion of Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart.* relating to the works 
 that were carried on at Westminster, &c. in the 1st year of 
 Edward the Second's reign, from which the following is a 
 translated abstract of the payments made for one week in 
 August 1307. It commences thus : 
 
 ' The Account of Nicholas de Tykhull, Clerk, of the pay- 
 ments in money made for works at the King's Palace and 
 
 * This manuscript (or ' Compotus ') was purchased by Sir Thomas Phillipps 
 at the second sale of the effects of the late Craven Ord, Esq. (who was the first 
 Secondary in the King's Remembrancer's Office,) in January 1830, for the sum 
 of seventy guineas. There can scarcely be a doubt that it had belonged to the 
 Exchequer. 
 
110 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Mews at Westminster,, and at the Tower of London, as 
 ordered by the Treasurer, on the part of the King ; namely, 
 from the 7th of August, in the first year of the reign of King 
 Edward, son of King Edward, to the 24th of February next 
 ensuing, by the view and testimony of William de Staverton 
 and John de Norton, Comptrollers of those works ; and from 
 
 the same 24th of February, anno 1, to , by the 
 
 view and testimony of the aforesaid John de Norton. 
 
 Payments made for these works, by N. de Tykehull, W. 
 de Staverton, and J. de Norton, Clerks, the 13th of August, 
 for the preceding week, at Westminster. 
 
 To the Master Mason. To Master Richard de Wightham, 
 the mason assigned by the Treasurer to superintend and 
 direct each of the works of building, and to be the 
 master in the same office, in all the foregoing places ; for 
 his wages for the preceding week, receiving the money 
 
 by his own hands Js. 
 
 To the Stonecutters. To William of Abyndone, Adam of 
 Pipringe, William of Banbury, Simon of Banbury, Ro- 
 bert of Tychemerche, John of Berkhamstede, Alexander 
 of Hoghton, Milo of Stachesdene, and John of Coumbe, 
 9 masons employed in cutting large Caen stones 
 "grossas petras de Cadamo" for the said works, as 
 task-work, taking for 100 feet 4s., for 480 feet thus cut, 
 receiving the money by the hands of William of Abyn- 
 done and Adam of Pipringe . . . 19s. 2e?. 
 To the Master Workman. To Master James de Leues- 
 ham, the workman appointed to oversee the several 
 operations of workmanship in all the beforementioned 
 places. Mem. that nothing was paid to him here, but 
 at the Exchequer, by the Chamberlain, by his writ of 
 Liberate. 
 
KING EDWARD II. ACCOUNTS OF PAYMENTS. 1307. HI 
 
 To 1 Workman, 5d. a day. To Alan de Leuesham, work- 
 man, for repairing the hearths or fireplaces [astras] in 
 the structure of the Palace, and doing other things 
 necessary ; for four days and a half, receiving the money 
 by his own hands ...... 22%d. 
 
 To the inferior Labourers 2%d. a day. John de Tyngri^ 
 [and thirty-four other labourers, whose names are men- 
 tioned,] for carrying timber, stones, plaster, boards, &c. 
 from the King's Bridge to the Palace, and for divers 
 other necessary kinds of work, for four days and a 
 half, receiving the money by the hands of William de 
 Laddrede and Nigel de Cornubia, to each llj. 
 
 325. 9JJ. 
 
 To the inferior Labourers 2%d. a day. To Adam Cole- 
 man, and others, in all eleven inferior labourers, for 
 cleansing divers houses and divers places in the Palace, 
 and for carrying filth even to the Thames, receiving the 
 money each by his own hands, for 4 days lOd. 9s. 2d. 
 
 For different purchases, chiefly of small articles, as keys, 
 sieves, latches, and other things, in all . 3s. ll%d. 
 
 For Carriage. To John Wisman, carrier, for the carriage 
 of seven thousand of tiles, from East Smithfield, near 
 the Tower of London, to the Palace, reckoning for the 
 carriage of 1,000, 6d., receiving the money by his own 
 hands, 3s. 6d. Item, to Henry de Schipman, lighter- 
 man, for seven boat-loads of sand, from the Thames, for 
 making mortar, reckoning for a boat-load 6d., receiving 
 the money by his own hands, 3s. 6d. . . Js. 
 
 For Porterage. To Henry Godale, porter, and his asso- 
 ciates, for the porterage and carriage of two barge-loads 
 of Caen freestone, from the King's Bridge to the Palace, 
 receiving the money by his own hands . . I4d. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 For the scaffolds 3d. a day. To William de Leddred 
 and Richard de Blethelan, scaffold-makers, for work 
 done about the scaffolds for the masons, for six days, to 
 
 each \Sd 3s. 
 
 Sum total of the first payments for wages 73 
 Of the purchases . . .0311 
 For carriage and porterage .082 
 
 Total . 4 5 2 * 
 
 From other accounts of Nicholas de Tikehulle and John 
 de Norton, (preserved in the King's Remembrancer's Office,) 
 the following particulars are derived ; viz. In the 2d year of 
 Edward II. there was expended in different works at the 
 Palace, and at the Tower, for materials, 356. 6s. !!<; for 
 carriage and porterage 6s. 2d.; for wages 13 1.46s. le?.; 
 and in various small payments 19. 18s. 8d.-, making a total 
 of 508. 7s. lid. In Edward's 3d year, there were similar 
 charges, amounting to 80. 11s. l%d.; in his 4th year, to 
 98. Is. 8d; and in his 5th year to 53. 14s. 1 l^.f 
 
 Of the principal works executed within the Palace at 
 Westminster, in the early part of this reign, we shall now 
 insert a description from another Roll belonging to the King's 
 Remembrancer's Office, which has been discovered since 
 the foregoing pages were composed, and which includes a 
 variety of curious information that has never before been 
 communicated to the public. The Roll is thus headed : 
 
 * This sum exceeds the true amount by about two shillings, as may be seen 
 on reckoning up the different totals. 
 
 f There is a petition on the Rolls of Parliament the 14th of Edward II. 
 (anno 1315,) from Thomas de Northampton, merchant, for the payment of 
 .34. 10s. due to him for lead furnished to Sir Nicholas de Tykhill and John de 
 Norton, for the overaignes [gutters] of the King's Palace at Westminster ; and 
 for want of which he complains he is kept in poverty. " Rot. Parl." vol. i. 
 p. 378. 
 
KING EDWARD II. REPAIRS OF THE PALACE. 1307-1310. H3 
 
 ' Memorandum of a great part of the Works ordered and 
 executed in the Palace of Westminster, the Tower of 
 London, and the King's Mews, near Westminster, in 
 the time of Edward the son of King Edward, viz. from 
 the beginning of the first until the end of the fourth 
 year of his reign. 
 
 c The Conduit of water coming into the Palace, and into 
 the King's Mews, for the falcons, which in various places 
 was obstructed and injured, and the underground pipes 
 stolen, was completely repaired, and the water returned to 
 its proper course and issues, both at the Palace and at the 
 Mews. 
 
 ' The Little Hall, which was burnt in the time of the 
 king's father, was completely repaired and new raised ; and 
 the walls of the same hall, both within and without, were pro- 
 vided with corbels, " corbellatis" of Caen and Reygate 
 freestone. The gables were heightened and coped, and the 
 walls in many parts strengthened and embattled; and the 
 upper masonry was bound together with large iron ties, with 
 tinned heads,* on account of the great weight and size of the 
 timbers. The floor of the hall was newly planked in the 
 middle, and strengthened below in various parts with great 
 timber. 
 
 6 The Queen's Hall, which was burnt in the time of the 
 late king, was completely repaired and restored in the same 
 manner as the little hall, except that the clamps were not of 
 iron. The flooring of this hall, of whicli the greater portion 
 had been burnt, and the remaining part was weak and de- 
 cayed, was repaired and raised, and ceiled underneath. 
 
 * The houses of those persons having custody of the robes 
 
 * The original words are as follow: " Cu' grossis cavillis ferreis cu' capi- 
 tib' stagnimatis." The words grossis cavillis ferreis evidently allude to what 
 artificers formerly called /torse ties, but which are now known by the appella- 
 tion of dog ties. We may assume that the outer parts of those mentioned above 
 had been tinned to prevent oxidatior. 
 
114 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACK. 
 
 and private equipage of the king, and which had been burnt, 
 were fully repaired and restored. 
 
 ' The Nursery Chambers of the sons and daughters of the 
 [late] king and queen, the " Maydenhalle" with its cham- 
 bers, wardrobe, and other conveniences, " aysiamentis" 
 the various houses and chambers appropriated to the use of 
 the earls and countesses, the barons and baronesses, and 
 also of two of the queen's damsels, [maids of honour,] with 
 divers chambers, wardrobes, galleries, &c., all which had 
 been burnt, were fully repaired and restored. 
 
 The new Gaol, situated at the end of the little hall, to- 
 wards the south, near the Painted Chamber, with a chimney, 
 divers windows, and other necessary conveniences, newly 
 constructed for festivals when the king banquets in the Little 
 Hall, or in the Painted Chamber, various inner-cloisters, 
 ways, and passages, within and towards the houses, and all 
 and singular the houses in the inner-court, "in interiori 
 ballia palacii," of the palace, which were greatly dilapidated 
 and requiring repair, were now fully repaired and amended. 
 
 ' The various chambers about the Little Hall, which were 
 under the direction and appointment of Lord Walter Regi- 
 nald [Reynolds], treasurer, the Lord John de Berwick, and 
 other magnates, and of the surveyors appointed to super- 
 intend the present works, namely, Richerus de Refham, Wil- 
 liam de Leyre, and John le Conuers ; with the wardrobes, 
 chambers, and inner cloisters, "in? claustris" were now 
 altogether newly built. 
 
 c The hall and chambers formerly used by the earls and 
 countesses [in waiting], and now for the deliveries of the 
 keeper of the king's wardrooe, near the chandlery, were 
 fully repaired and restored. 
 
 6 The Palace of the Lord Edmund, the [late] king's bro- 
 ther, all of which, with its halls, chambers, chapel, and 
 
KING EDWARD II. REPAIRS OF THE PALACE, 130/-1310. H^ 
 
 kitchen, (many of which were burnt, and others ruinous, 
 unroofed, and fallen down,) was now entirely restored, re- 
 paired, and fully amended. 
 
 ( All the herbaries, vineries, and gardens, (both within 
 the Palace and the Tower,) were propped or trelliced, turfed, 
 cleaned, and repaired. All the gutters and aqueducts, also, 
 extending from the Thames to the kitchens and wardrobes 
 of the Palace, for carrying off waste water, and which were 
 obstructed and choked up, were now entirely laid open, 
 cleared, and fully amended. 
 
 c All the stew-ponds, " vivariis," of the palace were 
 scoured, cleansed, and repaired, prior to the coronation ; and 
 all the private wardrobes of the king and queen, and other 
 persons of distinction, " magnates," were emptied and 
 cleansed. The chambers of the clerk of the king's privy 
 seal, near the king's bridge on the Thames, and one low 
 chamber under the same, which is for the clerk of the 
 kitchen, together with two chimneys and two wardrobes, were 
 all constructed anew. The dilapidated houses of the king's 
 chaplains and clerks of the chapel, were also new-roofed, 
 supported, and amended. 
 
 c The almonry of the king and queen, which was unroofed 
 and otherwise dilapidated in many parts, was fully repaired, 
 and new roofed. The chambers which are now appropriated 
 to the use of the keeper of the king's wardrobe, were newly 
 made, with their chimneys, wardrobes, and other conve- 
 niences. 
 
 ' The old plumber' s-shop, " plumbaria," for the works 
 of the palace, which was so decayed as to be no longer of 
 use, was in a great measure newly constructed and restored 
 for the new operations, together with a well, " uno puteo," 
 and an earthen chimney. 
 
 * All the houses and chambers for the service of the pri- 
 
 I 2 
 
116 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 vate panterers and butlers of the king and queen, of the 
 tailors, the apothecaries, the water-bearers, the chandlers, 
 &c. were fully repaired, and many of them constructed anew 
 and rebuilt. 
 
 ' The houses near the kitchen, within the court "curia" 
 of the Archbishop of York, for scalding, salting, and the 
 scullery, were newly erected ; together with other houses for 
 the convenience and use of the treasurer and barons of the 
 exchequer, in the palace which the late king, after the com- 
 bustion of his [former] palace, had built at his own cost 
 within the court of the aforesaid archbishop. 
 
 C A storehouse, " una storhus," consisting of divers 
 houses and chambers for the operations above mentioned, 
 was erected within the hostelry of the palace, by the advice 
 and ordination of the treasurer and chamberlain ; and mem. 
 that these houses were first raised near the [south] door of 
 the great hall, for a pantry against the coronation, and after- 
 wards removed by order of the king, because they obstructed 
 the light at the entrance of the great chamber of requests. 
 
 e Of the reparation, emendation, and painting of the Great 
 Hall, against the coronation. The roof, which on either side 
 was dilapidated and decayed, was now in some measure 
 amended; and the great exchequer [chamber] was repaired 
 and amended in like manner. 
 
 6 The king's White Chamber, which extends from the king's 
 green chamber to the queen's bridge on the Thames, toge- 
 ther with other chambers, chimneys, wardrobes, passages, 
 &c. were by the king's own direction distinguished by a 
 diversity of coping. 
 
 ' The Ship called the Margaret of Westminster was repaired 
 and variously amended. The hatches were newly made "hec- 
 chiata de novo" and the forecastle, hindcastle, " hyndcas- 
 tell," and topcastle, were repaired ; and divers conveniences, 
 as pantries, butleries, wardrobes, &c. were constructed within 
 
KING EDWARD II. REPAIRS OF THE PALACE. 1307-1310. J I 7 
 
 the same, " in div'sis inf claustris," by the precept and 
 devise of the king himself. The vessel was afterwards 
 cleansed both within and without, and the two large chests, 
 or armories, were secured with bolts, keys, and other iron 
 apparatus. Mem. This ship, with her boats and barges, was 
 thus cleansed and repaired, because the king had destined 
 her for his voyage to France, to celebrate his nuptials with 
 Isabella, daughter of the King of France ; and then, that the 
 Queen Isabella might come to England in the same ship. 
 
 6 The common bench and the exchequer were ordained to 
 be held in the Abbey of Westminster, whilst the great works 
 [at the palace] were in progress ; and divers houses within 
 the abbey were roofed, repaired, and amended for those pur- 
 poses, by order of the treasurer and barons, on account of 
 the impediments and disturbances occasioned by the works, 
 " p'pf impedimenta et p'turbac'oes op'ac'onu'.'" 
 
 The following particulars relating to the preparations for 
 the coronation of Edward the Second, are entered on the 
 back "in dor so" of the Roll from which the preceding 
 memoranda were derived. 
 
 ' Of the halls constructed within the palace against the 
 coronation of the king, and extending throughout its 
 whole length and breadth, viz. 
 
 4 One long hall was erected of the entire length of the 
 upper wall of the palace, reaching along the Thames, for the 
 judgments and solemnities of the treasurer and barons [of 
 the exchequer], and the great men and councillors. This 
 hall was appropriated for the royal seat on the day of the 
 coronation, and it was therefore ordered, that it should be 
 covered with boards " de sago" and strongly supported at 
 the back along its entire length, on account of the pressure 
 of the people. 
 
 ' Fourteen other halls were afterwards made, extending in. 
 length from that just mentioned, towards the great door of 
 
118 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE 
 
 the palace, approaching as nearly as possible to the door 
 without impeding the entrance and exit of the people and 
 the men at arms. In these halls divers partitions were made 
 for pantries, butleries, dressers, &c. with lattices before the 
 partitions. Three conduits were ordained to be running con- 
 tinually with red and white wine, and with piment,* " pya- 
 mento " in the centre of these halls, that every one might 
 come and drink at pleasure. 
 
 ' Of the providing and storing forms, trestles, and tables 
 against the coronation. Mem. That all the houses and all 
 the halls in the Palace, and many houses within the precincts 
 of the Abbey, were prepared, and, as it were, filled with 
 tables. 
 
 4 Barriers, palisades, lattices, and other defences, were 
 constructed before the door of the great monastery in which 
 the king was crowned, and in the same manner before each of 
 the doors of the palace, and also before various places within 
 and without the palace, which were assigned for pantries, 
 butleries, cooking-rooms, sculleries, larders, and poulteries, 
 and for divers other offices. 
 
 * Forty furnaces were fixed in the palace against the con- 
 clusion of the coronation; and divers ovens were made 
 within it against the coronation, namely, in the bakehouse 
 and saltsary. 
 
 ' Divers breaches were made (and afterwards repaired) in 
 the walls of the palace, for entrances and exits to various 
 offices, namely pantries, butleries, larders, and rooms for 
 poultry, and divers other necessaries provided, which had 
 been lodged and deposited within the cemetery (and near 
 the cemetery) of the monastery, by the palace. Divers lat- 
 tices were also constructed before the said entrances, and 
 closed and interclosed between and about those arrangements. 
 
 * Piment was wine mixed with spice and sweetened with honey. Chaucer, 
 in his Miller's Tale, says, " He sent her piment, methe, and spiced ale." 
 
KING EDWARD II. REPAIRS OF THE PALACE. 130/-1310. U9 
 
 6 Of the regal seat ordained and constructed in the mo- 
 nastery, in the middle of the choir, in which the king and 
 queen were crowned. The platform for the seats was wain- 
 scotted about, and so much elevated that men-at-arms, 
 namely, earls, barons, knights, and other nobles, might ride 
 under the same ; and mem. divers stairs and passages were 
 made for ascending and descending the same/ 
 
 From the following remarks, which are entered on the 
 same Roll, it is evident that the preceding account is only a 
 condensed abstract from a much fuller record, that had been 
 subjected to examination in order to verify its correctness. 
 
 6 First, it is to be noticed that this Roll is called the ac- 
 count of Nicholas de Tikehulle and John de Norton ; and 
 also, that there is no commission, nor brief, under the great 
 or the privy seal, nor of the treasurer ; wherefore the exact 
 time of the commencement of the computation is doubtful. 
 Also, that the old timber from the old houses taken down 
 and rebuilt is not accounted for, nor yet the remaining tim- 
 ber saved from the scaffolds. 
 
 ( The charges made for cleansing and repairing the stews 
 " vivarior'," (fish-ponds) and for fish purchased to feed 
 the pikes " lupor' aq a ticor > ^ (water-wolves) in those 
 stews, and for barrels bought a p' viridi succo," do not appear 
 to pertain to the works of the palace. 
 
 6 Of the iron, steel, glass, and various other articles pur- 
 chased wholesale, where it is said that 1,000 Ibs., or 100 Ibs., 
 of iron, steel, glass, &c. were bought for so much, it is not 
 specified in what houses, or for what doors, windows, or 
 places, those articles were used. 
 
 ( Also, of certain wages reckoned as paid to Nicholas de 
 Leddrede and Richard Bedell, the supervisors for the pur- 
 chase of timber, stone, and other things pertaining to the 
 office of Nicholas de Tikehulle and John de Norton [no 
 
120 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 particulars are given]. The repair of the ship, and the ope- 
 rations connected with it, may also be considered as not per- 
 taining to the works of the palace.' 
 
 There are a few other entries on the same Roll, but as 
 they are of no importance to our present research, we for- 
 bear to record them. 
 
 From various other accounts preserved in the office of the 
 King's Remembrancer, it appears that the following sums 
 were expended on the palatial buildings in materials and 
 wages, from the 5th to the 13th years (inclusive) of the 
 reign of Edward the Second ; namely, in the 5th year, 
 53. 14s. 2%d. ; 6th year, 88. 4s. 3d.; 7th year, 88. 19s. 
 6%d. ; 8th year, non comp.; 9th year, 65. 12.9. 3^.; 10th 
 year, 53. 95. 2d.; llth year, 87. 15s. 4|d.; 12th year, 
 11. 9s. l%d.-, and 13th year, 25. 4s. bd. Of the Roll for 
 the latter year (anno 1319), we shall here insert a translated 
 abstract, as it tends to shew that the restoration of St. Ste- 
 phen's chapel was actually commenced by Edward the Second, 
 although the entire credit of the work has been hitherto 
 awarded to his successor. 
 
 c Michaelmas, 13th year of Edward II. Account of John 
 de Norton, Clerk of Receipts of Money for the Works 
 of the Palace of Westminster, and of the expenditures, 
 by the survey and testimony of John de Vyene, Clerk 
 appointed for that purpose by the Commissioners of the 
 Exchequer, in the 13th year of King Edward the son 
 of King Edward. 
 
 * To John de Radewelle, mason, for work about the arch 
 buttress of Marculf 's chamber, which buttress was weak 
 and defective, and on the point of falling down, through 
 the flowing and inundation of the Thames; and about 
 divers defects existing in the walls of the Painted Cham- 
 ber ; also about various defects near to and in the 
 
KING EDWARD II. REPAIRS OF THE PALACE. 1319. 
 
 gallery and passages of the new chapel of St. Stephen; 
 and likewise about various defects in the foundation 
 of a certain penthouse, near the white chamber towards 
 the Thames ; and about divers other defects in various 
 places within the palace: from Oct. 1st to Nov. 20th,, 
 namely,, for thirty-five working days, receiving the money 
 by his own hands at various times, namely, at the end of 
 each week, for the week, (at sixpence per day) . Ifs. 6d. 
 
 ' To John Est, mason, working about the same ; for twenty- 
 seven working days, receiving the money by his own 
 hands, at various times, namely, at the end of each week, 
 for the week .... . . 13s. 6d. 
 
 < To John le Rok, carpenter, working about a certain pent- 
 house, newly constructed over the stones wrought " en- 
 talliatas " for the chapel of St. Stephen, for the protec- 
 tion of those stones ; and also about a certain penthouse 
 and covering newly made ulf viciu'* of the new chapel 
 of St. Stephen ; and about repairing and amending the roof 
 of the great hall, and cutting shingles for that roof; and 
 about amending a certain gutter in the chamber which is for 
 the use of the king's chaplains and clerks : for forty-two 
 working days (at sixpence per day) computed from the 1st 
 of October aforesaid, receiving the money by his own 
 hands at divers times, &c. . . . . 2 Is. 
 
 6 To Richard de Cruland, carpenter, working about the same, 
 for twenty-three working days, (at five pence per day,) 
 within the same time, receiving the money, &c. . 9s. "Jd. 
 
 * In Papendiek's " Synopsis of Architecture," a vice is stated to be " a spiral 
 geometrical staircase, conducting to the tower or steeple of a church, or to the 
 upper stories of an ancient castellated mansion." The phrase "ultra vicium 
 nove Capelle," will therefore imply, ' beyond (or above, for in the latter sense 
 the word ultra is occasionally used in the record) the staircase of the New 
 Chapel.' 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 ( To John Sewale, carpenter, working about the same, for 
 twenty- three working days, (at five pence per day,) within 
 the same period, receiving the money, &c. . . 9s. 7J. 
 
 ' To William le Bere, carpenter, working about the same, for 
 five working days, (at five pence per day,) within the same 
 period, receiving the money at Westminster . 2s. Id. 
 
 ( To Gilbert de Westminster, plumber, working about the 
 roof of the pantry of the little hall, covering it with lead, 
 and about various defects in the roof of the little hall, and 
 in some of the gutters and roofs within the palace : for 
 thirty-eight days and a half, (at sixpence per day,) within 
 the above time, receiving the money, &c. . . 19s. 3d. 
 
 ' To Semannus de EstweUe, plumber, working about the 
 same, for twenty-four days and a half, (at sixpence per 
 day,) within the same time, receiving, &c. . 12s. 3d. 
 
 ' To Adam de Winchester, plumber, working about the 
 covering, repairing, and amending the roof of the little 
 hall, for eighteen days, (at eightpence per day,) within the 
 same time, receiving, &c. 12s. 
 
 ' To John Valet, plumber, working about the repair and 
 amendment of the roof of the little hall, for six days (at 
 eightpence per day), receiving, &c. . 4s. 
 
 ' To Ralph le Dikere, tiler, working about the covering of 
 the roof of the chapel of St. Stephen, " circa coop'turam 
 comblie capelle S'c'i Steph'i," near the Receipt [of the 
 Exchequer], about the larder, and about various other 
 defects existing in divers places within the palace, for 
 forty-six days, (at five pence per day,) receiving, &c. 195. 2d. 
 
 ( To John le Tuler, tiler, working about that penthouse which 
 is for the lodging of the masons in the hostelry, " in astel- 
 laria" and about that penthouse which is beyond the vice 
 above the slating of the new chapel towards the little hall, 
 about the chandlery, and about various other defects in 
 
KING EDWARD II. REPAIRS OF THE PALACK. 1319. 
 
 different houses within the palace, for seventeen days, (at 
 five pence per day,) within the same time . . *Js. Id. 
 
 ( To Adam Sclow, mason's assistant, for twelve days, within 
 the same time, (at three pence halfpenny per day,) re- 
 ceiving, &c. . 3s. 6d. 
 
 f To John de Pabenham, mason's assistant, for 23 days, 
 within the said time, (at three pence per day,) receiving, 
 &c 5s. 9d. 
 
 ( To John Dust, plumber's assistant, for forty-four days, (at 
 two pence halfpenny per day,) receiving, &c. . 9s. 2d. 
 
 ' To William Golif, tiler's assistant, for forty days, (at two 
 pence halfpenny per day,) receiving, &c. . . 8s. 4d. 
 
 ( To Thomas Prat, tiler's assistant, (for eight days,) at two 
 pence halfpenny per day,) within the said time, re- 
 ceiving, &c 20d. 
 
 ' To John Sheil, tiler's assistant, for seventeen days 3s. 6d. 
 
 6 To Richard Valet, plumber's assistant, for seventeen days, 
 receiving, &c 3s. 6d. 
 
 6 To John de Westwik, carrier, appointed to carry and dis- 
 tribute " tendulas de astellaria" and various other places, 
 even to the roof of the great hall, for the carpenters, for 
 ten days, at two pence halfpenny per day,) receiving 
 &c 2s. Id. 
 
 6 To John Sheil, " torchiator,"* working about various walls 
 in the great stables, and in divers other places within the 
 palace, repairing and amending, for six days, (at three 
 pence halfpenny per day, receiving, &c. . . 2ld. 
 
 6 To John de Kinstebregge, assistant u torchiator" for six 
 days, (at two pence halfpenny per day,) receiving, &c. I5d. 
 
 * Probably plasterer; from the French word torchis, signifying a kind of 
 coarse mortar, composed of clay mixed with straw. 
 
WESTAHNSTEK PALACE. 
 
 < To Peter de Skerbek, for 18 Ib. of tin, bought by him for 
 
 . solder for the plumbers before mentioned, at 2d. per Ib. 3s. 
 
 6 To the same, for one quartern of large wood, for the 
 
 plumber's work . . . . . . 2 1 d. 
 
 e To the same, for one bushel and a half of charcoal, for the 
 
 said plumbers' work 2\d. 
 
 ' To the same, for one quartern of tallow . . . %d. 
 6 To the same Peter de Skyrbek, for 50 blocks of Caen stone, 
 and also for long blocks of Aylesford stone, selected 
 and wrought for the arch buttress of Marculf 's chamber, 
 which buttress stands in the Thames ; and for stone to 
 repair other defects in the wall of the palace, caused by 
 the inundations of the Thames, by him purchased in large 
 quantity, 20s. 4d. ; for portage and carriage of those stones 
 from London to the king's bridge at Westminster, and 
 then from the king's bridge to the palace, to be there 
 wrought; and their carriage again from the palace to the 
 bridge, 2s. Wd. For 2,000 nails for shingles for the great 
 hall, at I6d. per thousand . . . . .2s. Sd. 
 
 6 For 3,000 nails for laths, at lOd. per thousand . 2s. 6d. 
 ' For 200 spike nails, at 4d. per 100 . . . . Sd. 
 
 1 cwt. of lime, from various lime-burners . . 4s. 
 
 60 Ibs. of pitch, bought for making cement, for the 
 
 gutter of Marculf's chamber .... 3*. 
 
 100 of Flanders tiles, to be pulverized for making the 
 same cement ....... \2d. 
 
 3 yellow dishes, bought at different times to make the 
 
 cement in, at 2d. each . . . 6d. 
 
 12 cart-loads of sand, at Id. per load . I2d. 
 
 6 To William Heiward, of Croydon, for 42 feet of timber, 
 
 bought of him .... . 26s. Sd. 
 
 ' To John Robert, of Croydon, for 16 feet of timber, bought 
 of him, and valued altogether . . to. Sd. 
 
KING EDWARD II. REPAIRS OF THE PALACE. 1324 1327. 
 
 ' To Rich. Atte Hurve, for 1 6 feet of timber, bought of him, 
 
 and valued altogether 6s. lid. 
 
 * Mem. This timber was bought to make a penthouse to cover 
 
 and protect the freestone wrought for the chapel of St. 
 
 Stephen ; and for other repairs. 
 < To John Robert, for 1,000 laths, bought of him, for the said 
 
 penthouse 4s. 
 
 6 For one quartern " quartrano" of large wood, for the 
 
 plumbers' work 2 id. 
 
 ' For one bushel of charcoal, bought for the plumbers, for 
 
 soldering [the lead of] various roofs . . . \%d. 
 
 6 For two " bollis " [bowls ?] for the use of the masons and 
 
 tilers 5d. 
 
 ' Amount of this part of the Roll 13. 1 7s. 6d. 
 
 On the back of the Roll is an account of various payments 
 for wages to workmen, amounting in all to 1 1 . 6s. 5%d. 
 
 That the whole of what has been ascertained respecting 
 the works executed at the Palace in Edward the Second's 
 reign, may be brought into connection, we shall here insert 
 an abstract from the Chancellor's Roll of the 1st year of 
 Edward the Third, which is now deposited among the " Ad- 
 ditional Manuscripts" in the British Museum. It includes 
 the following particulars of the operations at Westminster, 
 from the 16'th of November, 1324, to the 16th of March, 
 1327 ; that is, from the 17th year of Edward the Second to 
 the 1 st year of his successor. It commences thus : 
 
 ' The Account of William de Chayllowe,, Surveyor of the 
 King's Works in the Tower of London and Palace of 
 Westminster, of all his receipts, and of the payments 
 and disbursements by him made, as well for the works 
 of the New Chapel within the Palace, as for the repair 
 of other houses within the said Palace and Tower, &c. 
 
126 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 from the 16'th of November, in the 17th year of Ed- 
 ward II., until the feast of St. Michael in the 19th year. 
 
 6 The total amount received for the above-mentioned 
 works, between the 16th of November, in the 17th year, and 
 the feast of St. Michael next following, was 879. 135. 4d. ; 
 whereof was expended at the Palace of Westminster, for 
 timber, boards, laths, &c. for the repair of divers houses 
 there, together with a house of the king's chaplains, and ano- 
 ther house newly built for the queen's butlery and saltsary, 
 16. 17. In ragstone, bought for the same, 22s. Gd. In 
 iron-work, 8. 7* 2d. In glass for the windows, 45s. 1 1 id. 
 For plaster of Paris and wood to burn it, 38s. 8d. For tiles 
 and lime, 9. 6s. 2%d. For repairing the benches and tables 
 in the great hall, and the other houses, against the feast of 
 Pentecost, 44s. 9d. For the wages of masons, carpenters, 
 smiths, and others, 39. 9*. 9fd. The Chapel of the Palace : 
 for timber bought as well at Tonbridge as elsewhere, for the 
 said chapel, 17- 9*- \\%d. For stone, as well of Caen as 
 of ' Ryegate ' and ' Eylesford/ 144. 15s. Jd. For lime, &c. 
 9. 7s. Wd. For iron and steel, 8. 7s. 8d. For coal, 34s. 
 For reeds to cover the stone and timber, 2s. 6d. For the 
 conveyance of materials, 33. Is. 9jd. For the wages of 
 workmen, 329. 19s. 6|rf. 
 
 ( The total amount received for the works, &c. between 
 Michaelmas in the 18th of Edward II., and the Michaelmas 
 in his 19th year, was 1,1 79. 5s. ; whereof was expended for 
 the Palace at Westminster, in timber, 16. 19s. Gd. In tiles, 
 lime, &c. 7. 6s. 8d. In iron work, 14. 4s. lie?. In lead 
 and tin, and for the wages of plumbers, 158. 15s. lOd. In 
 glass, 65s. ?d. And in other ways, as for plaster of Paris, ex- 
 penses of raising timber, wages, &c. a total of 256. 12s. 5%d. 
 
 ' For the Chapel of the palace, with the new alur'. For 
 timber for the new alur' (cloister}, between the king's chatn- 
 
KING EDWARD II. REPAIRS OF THE PALACE. 1 324-1327- 1 ~7 
 
 ber and the said chapel, for stone, as well of Caen as of Rye- 
 gate, for lime, sand, iron, coals, plaster of Paris, carriage of 
 materials, and for wages, in all 376. 5s. %d. 
 
 6 From Michaelmas, in the 19th year of Edward II. to Mi- 
 chaelmas in his 20th year. Palace at Westminster : 
 Expended for timber for the new house between the old 
 Exchequer and the inner gate of the palace, 14. 14s. 5d. 
 For freestone, Caen-stone, Ryegate, and Aylesford stone, 
 19. 6s. %d. ; and for lime, sand, plaster of Paris, iron, tiles, 
 lead, tin, glass, and other necessary materials, and for car- 
 riage, and the wages of workmen, divers other sums, amount- 
 ing, with those just specified, to 206. 1 3s. l%d. For the 
 Chapel: in timber, stone, lime, sand, iron, coal, in lead to 
 cover the new alur' and in carriage of materials, and the 
 wages of workmen, 153. 3s. 4%d. 
 
 6 From Michaelmas, in the 20th year of Edward II. to the 
 16th March, in the 1st year of Edward III. For timber 
 for the new house within the Palace at Westminster, for 
 stone, sand, lime, &c. for carriage, and the wages of work- 
 men, for lead and tin for the houses, and the pipe of the con- 
 duit, for tiles, for timber for the great engine, et magnum inge- 
 nium," and the house newly made under the wall, towards the 
 east, &c. divers sums, amounting to 407. J3s. 3d. 
 
 The following instances (among others) of infringement on 
 the privileges of the Palace, in the reign of Edward the 
 Second, with the awards made in each case, are derived from 
 the Placita and other rolls. 
 
 In the King's second year, Alice, the daughter of Nicholas 
 le Ken, was summoned to answer the complaint of Walter 
 de Bedewynde, the Remembrancer of the Exchequer, who 
 had accused her of reviling him, by calling him ' a thief, se- 
 ducer, and other opprobrious names/ in the great hall at 
 Westminster, and elsewhere within the King's Palace there, 
 
128 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 and which she denied. A jury of the court, and of persons 
 dwelling near the palace,, was consequently impannelled ; 
 and having found that the insult was given " upon the King's 
 Bridge of his palace at Westminster," they awarded damages 
 to the amount of forty pounds. 
 
 In the sixth year of Edward II., a court of the palace for 
 pleas of the Crown " Placita aulae domini Regis de Co- 
 rona" was held at Westminster, before Hugh de Audley, 
 steward and marshal of the king's household, when John de 
 Redinges was arraigned for counterfeiting the king's privy 
 seal ; but he alleged that he had purchased it of Edmund de 
 Malo Lacu, the former steward, (who was also before the 
 court,) for forty talents of gold, and judgment was in con- 
 sequence given against the latter.* 
 
 On the eve of Ascension day, in the 8th of Edward II. 
 (anno 1315,) Thomas de Gerdestan, Archdeacon of Norfolk, 
 and one of his officers, were impleaded before the king and 
 his council, then sitting in parliament at Westminster, for 
 that they, on the eighth of March preceding, the king be- 
 ing then in his palace and holding his parliament,; did cite 
 Joan de Barr, Countess of Warenne, she being then in at- 
 tendance on the queen consort in the chapel of the said 
 palace, to appear in the church of St. Nicholas of Braheden, 
 to make answer to Maud de Nerford, in a cause of divorce 
 between her and John Earl of Warenne. The fact having 
 been proved, the archdeacon and his officer were committed 
 to the Tower.f 
 
 In the same year, on the 14th of May, a writ was ad- 
 dressed to William de Leyre and Richard Abbot, stating that 
 
 * Vide "Additional Manuscripts" in the British Museum, Ayscough's 
 Catalogue, No. 4,486, fo. 52. 
 
 t Vide Ryley's " Placita Parliamentaria, " p. 543 ; and " Cal. Rot. Paten- 
 tiuin," p. 75, 6: edit. 1802. 
 
KING EDWARD II. RETURN OF GAVESTON. 1309. 
 
 the pavement between Temple Bar and the gate of the king's 
 palace at Westminster, was so broken and injured, that it 
 was a great nuisance to those frequenting the court, and very 
 perilous both for horsemen and foot passengers ; and that 
 a petition had been preferred to the king and council, pray- 
 ing them to provide a remedy for the same. The said Wil- 
 liam and Richard were, consequently, commanded to cause 
 the said pavement to be repaired, and to distrain for the ex- 
 pense e pro rata,' upon all persons having houses adjacent to 
 it, between the said Bar and the Palace.* 
 
 Edward II. like other weak monarchs, was governed 
 by unprincipled favourites; and the perpetual troubles, 
 and disastrous termination of his reign, must be attributed 
 to that circumstance. Although he had been compelled 
 to banish Gaveston, as before related, he could not endure 
 the deprivation of his society, and soon made arrangements 
 for his recall. Among other measures, he secretly procured 
 from the court of Rome a dispensation to free his minion 
 from the consequences of his oath of never returning into 
 England ; and Gaveston had no sooner come back, than he 
 received him with open arms, and loaded him with new ho- 
 nours.f But neither Edward nor his favourite were capable 
 of deriving wisdom from past experience. u The reign of 
 dissipation," as Dr. Lingard has remarked, <s was instantly 
 recommenced : the Court became a perpetual scene of feast- 
 ing, dancing, and merriment; and Gaveston, in the posses- 
 sion of his former ascendancy, indulged in his accustomed 
 
 * Vide "Rot. Parl." vol. I. p. 302; and "Additional Manuscripts," in 
 Brit. Museum, No. 4577, art. 92. 
 
 t The infatuation of the king became so extreme, according to Walsingham, 
 that he was heard to say, " if his power was equal to his affection, he would set 
 the crown on Gaveston's head." 
 
130 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 extravagance, and irritated his enemies by his pleasantries 
 and his sarcasms."* 
 
 The insulting conduct of Gaveston, conjoined with the dis- 
 ordered state of public affairs, determined the barons to 
 place the acts of government under a more efficient control ; 
 and an opportunity to effect that purpose was afforded them 
 in a Parliament which met at Westminster, about the end of 
 February, 1309-10, on which occasion, in despite of the 
 royal prohibition, the barons and their retainers assembled 
 in arms. Gaveston had prudently withdrawn ; but the king 
 was constrained to issue his letters patent, dated at West- 
 minster, on the 16th of March, stating that he had granted 
 authority to the earls, barons, and prelates of his kingdom, to 
 nominate certain of their own number and others, to form a 
 committee, which should have power to regulate the royal 
 household, and redress the grievances of the nation. 
 
 The committee appointed under this authority, consisted 
 of seven prelates, eight earls, and six barons, who by the 
 
 * The reckless prodigality with which he proceeded to dissipate, or embezzle, 
 the royal treasures, distinctly appears from the statements of contemporary 
 writers. The Old Chronicle in Peter College, Oxford, (vide Lelandi Collecta- 
 nea, vol. ii. p. 473) states that "Gaveston conveyed the table and trestilles 
 [trestles] of gold from the tresory of Westminstre, and delivered them to one 
 Armoir of Frisconbaude, to be carried to Gascoyn : " and Walter Heming- 
 ford estimates the treasure which he sent abroad at the value of .100,000, be- 
 sides gold and precious stones. Aimeric de Friscobaldi belonged to a mercan- 
 tile company at Florence, and he appears to have acted as banker to the court 
 of Edward II. In a wardrobe account of the fourth year of that monarch, in 
 the British Museum, (vide Cotton. MS. Nero, C. vin. f. 46.) is the specification 
 of a debt of ^3829. 17*. as being owing to this Italian for monies advanced to 
 the king in the months of August and September in that year, and for which 
 Friscobaldi had a bill under the seal of Ingelard de Warle, Keeper of the King's 
 Wardrobe. It appears even, that the customs of England were some time 
 farmed by the Company of the Friscobaldi. 
 
KING EDWARD II. ORDINANCES OF GOVERNMENT. 1311. 131 
 
 name of Ordainers, were immediately sworn faithfully to dis- 
 charge their office. In the first articles which they pre- 
 sented to the king, there was nothing inserted respecting 
 Gaveston; but as he afterwards rejoined the king on his 
 route into Scotland, and was even invested by him with new 
 powers, they proceeded to frame a code of Ordinances, more 
 especially adapted to the circumstances of the state, by 
 which the favourite was adjudged to be for ever banished 
 from the dominions of the English crown, under penalty of 
 death, as being one u who had given bad advice to the king, 
 embezzled the public money, formed an association of men 
 sworn to live and die with him against all others, estranged 
 the affections of the sovereign from his liege subjects, and, 
 for his own purposes, obtained blank charters with the royal 
 seal affixed to them.* 
 
 Among the other important articles of the new Ordinances 
 were those which enjoined, that the king should not leave 
 the kingdom, nor levy war, without the consent of the baron- 
 age in Parliament; that all purveyances, except such as were 
 ancient and lawful, should cease ; and that every one pre- 
 suming to take any other might be pursued with hue and 
 cry, and punished like robbers ; that the new taxes on wool, 
 cloth, and other merchandize should be abolished ; that all 
 the great officers of the crown, the wardens of the cinque 
 ports, &c. should be chosen with the advice and assent of 
 the baronage in Parliament ; and that, to prevent delay in 
 the administration of justice, Parliaments should be holden 
 at least once every year, or twice if need be, and in a conve- 
 
 * Vide " Ordenances faites a Londres, 5 Edw. II. touchant 1'etat de seon 
 houstel et de seon realme: cu' Ordinationibus," &c. Walsingham, "Hist. 
 Anglise," p. 78, edit. 1574; and Rymer's " Foedera," vol. ii. pp. 232, 233. 
 edit. 1818. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 nient place. From the general tenor of the Ordinances, how- 
 ever, it would seem that the authority of the Parliament was 
 at that period supposed to reside in the baronage.* 
 
 At the time appointed for Gaveston's final departure from 
 England^ viz. Nov. 1st, 1311, he and the king separated 
 with tears ; but the latter being unable to live without his 
 favourite, allowed him to return clandestinely into Cornwall, 
 intending to rejoin him when opportunity served. This had 
 no sooner come to the knowledge of the Ordainers, than they 
 caused a mandate to be issued (bearing date on the 28th of 
 November, and tested by Edward himself, at Westminster,) 
 for Gaveston's apprehension ; but he eluded whatever search 
 might have been made for him, and the king joined him at 
 York early in January, 1311-12. The king had previously 
 dissolved the Parliament, and spent his Christmas at West- 
 minster ; which latter fact is substantiated by a Wardrobe ac- 
 count of the fifth year of his reign, now in the British Mu- 
 seum, and from which the following information has been de- 
 rived.f 
 
 ' Paid to the King, for the privy expenses of his chamber at 
 Westminster, by the hands of William de Tholouse, and 
 placed to the account of the said William, by special com- 
 mand of the King . . . . 100 
 * December 24th. -Delivered to the King to play at Dice, on 
 the Eve of the Nativity at Westminster . 100s. 
 <( December 25th. In alms given at the Mass celebrated in 
 the King's presence in the Conventual Church at West- 
 minster ..... 9s. 4d. 
 
 * " The Commons," says Dr. Lingard, " had nothing to do but to present 
 petitions and to grant money." Vide " History of England," vol. ii. p. 
 497, note 14. 
 
 t Vide Cotton. MS. Nero C. vm. folios 50, 53, and 141. 
 
KING EDWARD II. WARDROBE ACCOUNT. 
 
 133 
 
 ( Paid to William le Balance, of Soper's Lane, for cleaning 
 and repairing broken Balances used for weighing money in 
 the King's Wardrobe . . . . 2s. 
 
 ' November 23d. Paid to John Freyr, Panetrarius Regime, 
 for money expended by him for repairing Knives for the 
 Queen's table . . . . . 13e?. 
 
 ' November 26th. Paid to John de Chat, for repairing of 
 tubs (cuvarum) for the Queen's Baths at Westminster. 20d. 
 6 November 29th. In alms given at the Mass celebrated in 
 the Conventual Church at Westminster, for the soul of 
 Queen Eleanor, the King's mother . 4s. lid. 
 
 6 On the same day, in Offerings made by the Queen at the 
 shrine of St. Edward, in the aforesaid Church, and at 
 divers reliques in the said Church . . 14s. 
 
 f December 1st. To Richard Andrewe, for cutting two 
 Cloths to cover the Beds of the Queen's Maidens (Domi- 
 cella] at Westminster . ... 3s. 
 
 ( Paid to William Tonsorius, of London, for cutting ten 
 Cloths of divers colours, for the Queen's person, at West- 
 minster ..... 20s. 
 A few days after Edward had rejoined his favourite 
 at York, a royal proclamation was published there, stating 
 that Gaveston was a true and loyal subject, and had returned 
 into England in obedience to the king's orders ; and in the 
 month following (February 24th), Edward, by a new grant, 
 restored to him all his former estates and honours. Gaves- 
 ton's insolence increased with the return of his prosperity, 
 and he even dared to speak insultingly to the queen. The 
 barons being more aggrieved than ever at his pride and auda- 
 city, formed a new confederation against him, and assembling 
 their retainers in arms, under the pretence of a tournament, 
 proceeded towards the north. The king suspecting their 
 intent, retired to Newcastle, and afterwards to Tynemouth 
 
134 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 and Scarborough. Leaving his favourite in the strong castle 
 at the latter place, for greater security, he then repaired to 
 York, and unfurled the royal banner. Meanwhile, the con- 
 federates besieged Gaveston, and after some negotiations, 
 to which the king was a party, constrained him to surrender, 
 his life being ensured by the terms of the capitulation. But 
 the " Black Dog of Arderne," as Gaveston had nicknamed 
 the Earl of Warwick, had sworn " that he should feel his 
 teeth," and conveying him to Warwick Castle, it was there 
 resolved by the confederate chiefs, that he should be put to 
 death, in conformity with the Ordinances before stated. He 
 was accordingly beheaded on the 19th of June, on Black 
 Lowe Hill, near Warwick. 
 
 This extra-judicial execution most grievously afflicted the 
 king, and he vowed a severe revenge ; but the barons being 
 ever on their guard, he was at length induced to consent to 
 a treaty of reconciliation. Various obstacles, however, and 
 especially a well-founded distrust of the king's sincerity, pre- 
 vented the completion of an agreement until the autumn of 
 1313, when, in a parliament held at Westminster,* an act of 
 general amnesty was passed: particular pardons were also 
 granted by the king to nearly five hundred nobles and other 
 persons who had been engaged in the confederacy against 
 Gaveston. On the 16th of October, before the parliament 
 broke up, Edward appeared seated upon his throne iu West- 
 minster Hall, where, in sight of the assembled people, the 
 
 * On the Close Rolls, 6th of Edw. II. m. 2, are precepts to the sheriffs of 
 Kent, Essex, and Hertford, Surrey and Sussex, Bedford and Bucks, North- 
 ampton, and Oxford and Berks, ordering them to send in certain quantities of 
 wheat, malt, oats, oxen, sheep, and hogs, for the use of the king's household, at 
 Westminster, during the parliament which he had summoned to meet there on 
 the quindene of the nativity of St. John the Baptist. Vide " De Expensis 
 Hospitii Regis in Parliamento." Foedera, vol. ii. p. 218. 
 
KING EDWARD II. RAVAGES OF FAMINE 1314. 135 
 
 barons kneeling submissively, expressed their sorrow at having 
 offended the king, and acknowledged his clemency with thank- 
 fulness.* 
 
 Notwithstanding the accordance which the king and his 
 barons had so lately and so solemnly made, no lasting friend- 
 ship sprang up between them. Thoughts of revenge still 
 rankled in Edward's bosom, and his continual infractions of the 
 Ordinances gave new offence to the nobles who had framed 
 them. The people suffered grievously from these dissensions, 
 and a direful famine, bringing disease and pestilence in its 
 train, swelled the calamities of the nation to the utmost degree 
 of horror. The most loathsome reptiles were used for food, 
 man preyed upon man, and instances are recorded of parents 
 assuaging their hunger on the dead bodies of their own chil- 
 dren ! In the hope of arresting the scourge, a maximum on 
 the price of provisions was fixed by the parliament, which 
 met at Westminster on the 20th of January, 13 14-1 5 ;f but 
 
 * From a letter of Edw. II. to the Pope, dated Westminster, May 16, 1313, 
 it appears that Robert de Cisterne, clerk, was at that time the king's physician. 
 The king expresses the highest confidence in the skill of his medical attendant, 
 " qui (dicit Rex) complexionem nostram, ac corporis nostri statum, prse omni- 
 bus aliis novit diligenter ;" and he applies to the Pope to grant a dispensation 
 to R de Cisterne to hold a prebend in the collegiate church of Wingham, not- 
 withstanding his attendance on the king might prevent his performing his cle- 
 rical duties. Vide " Foedera," vol. ii. p. 215, edit. 1818. 
 
 f From various writs " de Expensis" (tested at Westminster, which are still 
 extant,) it appears that the " knights of the shire" in this parliament were each 
 allowed four shillings per diem, together with their respective charges in coming 
 and returning. The prices fixed on the various articles of provision were as 
 follow: For the best ox not fed with grain, 16*. and no more; but if fed on 
 corn and made fat, 24s. : the best live fat cow, 12*. : a fat hog, of two years old, 
 3*. 4d.i a fat sheep, unshorn, 20d.; but if shorn, I4d.: a fat goose, 3d.: a 
 good and fat capon, 2|d. : a fat hen, 1|<7. : two pullets, l%d. : three pigeons, 
 Id.: twenty eggs, Id. Those persons who refused to sell those things at the 
 above prices, were to forfeit them to the king. -Vide " Foedera," vol. ii. p. 203 : 
 edit. 1818. 
 
136 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 this restriction only increased the scarcity, and the statute 
 was repealed in another parliament that assembled at Lincoln 
 at the beginning of the following year. The price of every 
 article of subsistence rose enormously; and the king, at the 
 suggestion of the citizens of London, suspended the brewe- 
 ries, as a measure " without which, not only the indigent but 
 the middle classes must inevitably have perished through 
 want of food." At times it became difficult to procure bread 
 even for the royal household. 
 
 Walsingham records the following singular occurrence, as 
 having taken place within Westminster Hall, at Whitsuntide 
 1317: "This year the king celebrated the feast of Pentecost 
 in the Great Hall at Westminster, where as he sat in the royal 
 seat at table, in the presence of the great men of his kingdom, 
 there entered a woman adorned with a theatrical dress, sit- 
 ting on a fine horse with corresponding trappings, who, after 
 the manner of players, made a circuit round the tables, and 
 at length ascended the steps to the table of the king, and 
 laid before him a certain letter ; then reining back her steed, 
 and saluting the guests, she retired as she came. The king 
 had the letter opened that he might know its contents, which 
 were as follow : * His lordship the king shows little courtly 
 consideration for his knights, who, in his father's time and 
 in his own, have exposed themselves to various dangers, and 
 have spent or diminished their substance in their service; 
 while others who have not borne the weight of business, 
 [alios qui pondus negocii nondum portaveranf] have been 
 abundantly enriched !' When these things were heard, the 
 guests looking one upon another, wondered at the boldness 
 of the woman, and the porters or door-keepers were blamed 
 for having suffered her to enter ; but they excused them- 
 selves, answering that it was not the custom at the royal 
 palace \domus regi<K~\ in any way to prohibit the entrance of 
 
KING EDWARD II. ALMS BESTOWED. 1325. 
 
 players, [histriones,] especially at solemn festivals. Persons 
 were then sent after the woman, who was easily found, 
 taken, and committed to prison ; and being required to tell 
 why she had acted in such a manner, she truly replied that 
 she had been induced to do it by a certain knight, for a 
 proper reward [mercede condigna]. The knight being sent 
 for, and brought before the king, in reply to inquiries, nothing 
 fearing, boldly confessed himself the author of the letter, and 
 avowed that he had consulted the king's honour in what he 
 had done. Therefore the knight by his constancy rendered 
 himself deserving of the king's favour, with abundant gifts ; 
 and the woman was released from prison/'* 
 
 We learn from the " Originalia" that in the 13th year of 
 Edward II., the king appointed John de Ditton clerk and 
 keeper of his works in the Palace of Westminster, and at the 
 Tower of London. 
 
 It appears from a Wardrobe account of the 1 8th of the same 
 reign, that on the 19th of August, 1325, the king, on his 
 coming to Westminster, bestowed alms on the Friars of the 
 city of London, of the following denominations, for their sup- 
 port for one day, viz : sixty Friars of Mount Carmel, 4d. 
 each ; fifty Friars of the order of St. Augustin ; sixty-four 
 Friars Minors; seventy Friars Preachers; and sixteen Friars 
 of the [Holy] Cross.f 
 
 All the latter years of Edward the Second's reign proved 
 equally calamitous to the nation, as those which had pre- 
 ceded them ; and much blood was spilt, both in the disas- 
 trous wars with Scotland, and in the king's contest with the 
 barons, many of whom perished on the scaffold. The 
 Spencers, father and son, became the king's new favourites ; 
 the son, in particular, who, unwarned by the fate of Gaveston, 
 
 * Walsingham " Hist. Anglise," p. 85. 
 
 t Vide " Proceedings" of the Record Commissioners, p. 177. 
 
138 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 governed the country with the like arrogance, and with a 
 similar usurpation of the royal authority as his ill-fated pre- 
 decessor had done. In the ensuing contention, the confede- 
 rate barons were at first successful; and in a parliament 
 which met at Westminster in August 1321, they intimidated 
 the king, by filling the Great Hall with armed men, into 
 signing a sentence of perpetual banishment against the Spen- 
 cers, under pain of death should they ever return. Thomas, 
 the potent Earl of Lancaster, and cousin to the king, was 
 at the head of this confederacy, and he had also been a prin- 
 cipal in the measures which had been pursued against Gaves- 
 ton ; but in May 1322, by " the downward turn of fickle 
 Fortune's wheel," his own fate was sealed. He had been 
 taken in arms, and being arraigned before King Edward at 
 Pontefract, was told that " it was useless to speak in extenu- 
 ation of his offences," and forthwith condemned to suffer as 
 a traitor. That sentence, however, from his relationship to 
 the king, was changed into decapitation, and he was beheaded 
 on an eminence without the town. Sixteen other knights 
 and nobles were executed about the same time. The Spen- 
 cers were then recalled, and invested with new honours ; and 
 the famous Ordinances were almost wholly abrogated in a 
 parliament assembled at York. 
 
 But the Lancastrian party was not extinct; and the barons, 
 aggrieved and aggravated by the ostentation and misrule of 
 the favourites, formed a new conspiracy; in which, even- 
 tually, the queen and prince Edward, her eldest son, became 
 participators. To narrate the events which followed is the pro- 
 vince of the general historian. It must suffice to state in these 
 pages, that the queen, incensed at her husband's conduct, con- 
 tracted an adulterous intercourse with Roger Mortimer, (a 
 potent baron of the Welsh marches, who had recently escaped 
 from the Tower,) and by his aid, and the assistance of the 
 
KING EDWARD II. HIS ABDICATION. 
 
 139 
 
 forces of the Count de Hainault, and of the people generally, 
 who deserted the cause of their infatuated sovereign, the 
 two Spencers were seized and executed, the king himself 
 being made a prisoner, and consigned to the Earl of Leices- 
 ter's castle of Kenilworth. 
 
 Of the occurrences which shortly followed, Walsingham 
 has given the ensuing account, under the date of 1327 
 
 ef Edward the Second being detained in captivity at Kenil- 
 worth, the queen and her son went to London at Epiphany, 
 and were joyfully received by the people. All the nobility 
 of the kingdom were summoned to meet in parliament on the 
 morrow, when they decided that the king was unworthy of 
 his crown, that he should be deposed, and his eldest son 
 made king in his stead. This being done, the decision was 
 publicly proclaimed in the Great Hall at Westminster ; and 
 all the people consented to it. The Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury and the prelates approving, the former addressed a ser- 
 mon to the people, taking for his text Vox populi, vox Dei. 
 The queen being informed of these proceedings, either was, 
 or pretended to be, very much distressed at the fate of her 
 husband. On which the young prince swore that he would 
 not assume the crown without his father's permission. A 
 deputation was therefore sent to Kenilworth, who returned 
 with the formal abdication of the fallen monarch, and Edward 
 III. was proclaimed king.*" 
 
 * Dr. Lingard, who takes a more unfavourable view of the deposition of the 
 king than most other writers, says that on the day when that measure was pro- 
 posed (January the 8th), in the parliament at Westminster, " the Hall was 
 filled with the most riotous of the citizens of London, whose shouts and menaces 
 were heard in the room occupied by the parliament. Not a voice was raised in 
 the king's favour. His greatest friends thought it a proof of courage to remain 
 silent ; and the young Edward was declared king by acclamation, and presented 
 in that capacity to the approbation of the populace." Vide " Hist, of England," 
 vol. ii. p. 546. 
 
140 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Between the prison of a sovereign and the grave, it has 
 been remarked, the interval is but short. It proved so with 
 the deposed Edward. He was ignominiously conveyed from 
 Kenilworth to Berkeley Castle, where he was most atroci- 
 ously murdered on the 21st of September 1327. His corpse 
 was privately interred in the Abbey Church of St. Peter at 
 Gloucester; where a sumptuous monument was afterwards 
 erected to his memory.* 
 
 The following is a list of the different parliaments which 
 were held at Westminster in the reign of Edward II., with 
 the dates of their commencement. From the writs de ex- 
 pensiSy (which were mostly tested at Westminster,) it appears 
 that the knights of shires were in general paid 4s. per diem 
 each for attendance, in addition to their charges in coming 
 and returning ; at some other times 35. 4d. per diem was the 
 sum paid, and in one instance 2s. 6d. only : f 
 
 * The following remarkable instances of the low diversions of Edward the 
 Second, are derived from a communication made to the " Antiquarian Reper- 
 tory," (vol. ii. p. 406, 407,) by the late Mr. Astle, of some entries from an 
 authentic MS. in old French, relating (inter alia) to the private expenses of 
 that sovereign. 
 
 Paid to the king himself, to play at cross and pile, [tossing up,] by the hands 
 of Richard de Merewith, Receiver of the Treasury, .... 12*7. 
 
 Paid to Henry, the king's barber, for money which he lent to the king to play 
 at cross and pile, 5*. 
 
 Paid to Piers Barrard, usher of the king's chamber, for money which he lent 
 to the king, and which he lost at cross and pile to Mons. Robt. Wattewylle, 8rf. 
 
 Paid to James de St. Alban's, the king's painter, who danced on a table be- 
 fore the king and made him laugh heartily, being a gift by the king's own 
 hands, in aid of him, his wife, and children, . . . . . 50*. 
 
 Paid at the lodge at Walmer, when the king was stag-hunting there, to 
 Morris Ken, of the kitchen, because he rode before the king, and often fell 
 from his horse, at which the king laughed heartily ; a gift by command, 20*. 
 
 t Vide " Palgrave's Parliamentary Writs," vol. ii. division I. Calendar. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ROLL OF HIS CORONATION. 1327- 
 
 March 
 
 . 3, 1308 
 
 April . . . 
 
 25, 1316* 
 
 April . . 
 
 . 27, 1309 
 
 October . . 
 
 6, 1320 
 
 November 
 
 . 12, 1311 
 
 July . . . 
 
 15, 1321 
 
 February 
 
 . 13, 1312 
 
 January . . 
 
 20, 1324 
 
 August . 
 
 . 20, 1312 
 
 February 
 
 23, 1324 
 
 March 
 
 . 18, 1313 
 
 November . 
 
 18, 1325 
 
 July . . 
 
 . 8, 1313 
 
 December . 
 
 26, 1326 
 
 September 
 
 . 23, 1313 
 
 Prorogued 
 
 to 
 
 April . . 
 
 . 21, 1314 
 
 January . . 
 
 7, 1327 
 
 January . 
 
 . 20, 1315 
 
 
 
 The regnal year of Edward the Third commenced on the 
 25th of January 1327 ; on the 28th he received the great seal 
 from the chancellor (Hotham, Bishop of Ely) at Westmin- 
 ster, and re-delivered it to the same person ; and on the fol- 
 lowing Sunday, February the 1st, he was crowned in the 
 neighbouring abbey church; prior to which, writs were 
 addressed to all sheriffs, commanding them to proclaim and 
 preserve the king's peace in their respective jurisdictions. 
 
 Among the Rolls preserved in the Augmentation Office, is 
 one intituled " Contrarotulus Johannis de Feryby Contraro- 
 tulatoris Thomae de Useflete Clerici Magnse Garderobse 
 Regis, per eundem Regem et Concilium deputati, de diversis 
 rebus emptis et expensis circa Coronacionem dicti Dom. 
 Regis Edw. tercii a Conquestu, in Ecclesia beati Petri 
 Westm* et in Palacio ejusd. videlicet primo die Februarii, 
 anno regni sui primo ; ut patet infra.t" 
 
 * This appears to have been a special council, or convention, relating to the 
 perambulations of the forests; and to have continued its sittings on the 2d, 9th, 
 and 2 1st of May. 
 
 f Different dates have been assigned to the coronation-day of Enward III. 
 Fabian and Hollinshed say it was on the day of the Purification of Our Lady, 
 which is February the 2nd, ; and Tindal, in his notes to Rapin, says it was on 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 This record consists of two sections ; the first includes a 
 statement of the articles, (chiefly different kinds of cloth, 
 tapestry, &c.,) and their quantities and prices, used for fitting 
 up the church and hall for the inauguration of the king ; and 
 the second section gives an account of the manner in which 
 the articles were respectively appropriated. 
 
 The articles furnished by different persons include " pan- 
 nus ad aurum," (cloth of gold,) " dyaspretum," (diapered 
 cloth,) " aurifrigium in canabo," (linen worked with gold 
 thread,) " velvettum," " samitellum/' " pannus casatus," 
 "pannus purpureus," "pannus taffetanus/' "cindon" or "sin- 
 don," and " tapetum " (tapestry). The total expense of these 
 articles was 1056. 195. 3d. The cost of the king's corona- 
 tion Gloves was three shillings. 
 
 The second portion of the roll is more interesting, as 
 affording notices of the manner in which the places appointed 
 for the coronation ceremonies were fitted up and ornamented. 
 
 ' For the great Hall of Westminster. 
 
 ' Of cloth of Candlewick-street, for hangings and bancours 
 " ad Dorserium et Bankerium" in the king's great hall 
 at Westminster, on the day of his coronation, in the first 
 year of the king, ... 7 cloths and 12 ells. 
 
 c The same day, of strong cloth for the king's halls, 60 ells. 
 
 ( The same day, to be placed under the king's feet, passing 
 with bare feet from his own station to the church, and 
 from the church to his chamber, returning after the coro- 
 nation, of strong cloth, . . . .15 cloths. 
 
 ' Also, for the floors of the halls', of linen cloth, 300 ells. 
 
 January the 26th. But the above Roll proves it to have been on February the 
 1st, with which, indeed, other records agree. 
 
KING EDWARD III. CORONATION ORNAMENTS. 1327. 14<3 
 
 ' The ornament of the king's Seat [" pulpitulum" J on the day 
 of his Coronation, in the Church of Westminster. 
 
 e For the fitting up and ornament of the seat of King Edward 
 III. on the day of his coronation in the church of West- 
 minster, Feb. 1, in the 1st year of his reign : viz. cloth of 
 gold with diaper-work on silk, cloth of gold on linen, samite, 
 "samitell" velvet, tapestry, with cushions for the cham- 
 ber, (as appears below,) used for the royal seat of Edward 
 III., by the survey and testimony of John de Feriby, ap- 
 pointed clerk for this purpose by the seneschal and trea- 
 surer of the household : for tapestry of different colours 
 to cover the timber- work of the king's seat, 21 tapestries. 
 
 6 The same day, for cloth of gold on silk, to hang around the 
 same seat, on every side, and for ornamenting the bench 
 of the seat, .... 6 cloths and 1 quarter. 
 
 ' The same day, for a veil or curtain to be stretched above 
 over the king's head, sitting on the chair in the royal seat, 
 with cords of cloth of gold and purple linen,, 2 cloths. 
 
 e The same day, for chamber cushions, for the king's feet, 
 sitting in the chair, . . . 5 cushions. 
 
 6 The same day, to hang between the cloths of gold and silk 
 before-mentioned, around the royal seat, at the sides and 
 borders, cloth of gold on linen, . . 22 cloths. 
 
 ( Item, of striped cloth " pannus tartarus radiatus" for 
 the same, , 1 cloth. 
 
 * The same day, of strong lawn, for the same, 6 pieces. 
 
 ( For the ornament of the Rails of the Great Altar, and of the 
 Pavement of the Church, on the Coronation-day. 
 
 ' Item, the same day, for fitting up and ornamenting the rails 
 of the great altar, and the pavement, with cloth of gold and 
 silk diapered, 4 cloths. 
 
144 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 f The same day, for purple velvet for the same, . 1 piece. 
 
 ' The same day, for cloth of silk, pannus tartarinus in 
 
 serico, for the same 1 cloth. 
 
 6 Ornaments of the King's Chamber for his Consecration, with 
 his oblations, and of the regal Chair before the Altar. 
 
 ' Item, the same day, for fitting up and ornamenting the 
 king's chamber, and for covering the king's lesser chair 
 before the altar, with cloth of gold, "pannus ad aurum 
 de Nakr" 2 cloths. 
 
 c The same day, for cloth of gold on silk with diaper work, 
 for the same, 2 cloths. 
 
 ( The same day, for the same, for " samitelP paleaf de 
 Styva" 1 cloth. 
 
 c The same day, for chamber cushions for the king's smaller 
 chair, ..... .3 cushions. 
 
 6 Item, for cushions for the king's chamber, 4 cushions. 
 
 c For silk gloves, for the king, at his coronation, 1 pair. 
 
 * For the oblation of our lord the king, cloth of gold on silk 
 with diaper-work, 1 cloth. 
 
 6 Ornaments of the Chair of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 before the Altar. 
 
 e Item, for fitting up and ornamenting a chair in which the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury sat at the king's coronation, 
 cloth of gold on silk, " pannus ad aurum in serico raf- 
 fato," ....... 1 cloth. 
 
 ' The same day, for two chamber cushions for the same chair. 
 
 ' The same day, for tapestry to put under the chair, 2 pieces. 
 
 ' For covering the Tomb of the late King Edward (I.) on the 
 
 Coronation-day. 
 
 ( The same day, for a covering for the tomb of the Lord Ed- 
 ward, the illustrious grandsire of King Edward III. at the 
 
KING EDWARD III. CORONATION ORNAMENTS. 1327. 
 
 coronation, cloth of gold on silk with diaper-work, sewed 
 together on account of the breadth of the tomb, 2 cloths. 
 
 6 Covers for the Cushions. 
 
 ' Item, of " pannus de Tars" for newly covering 3 cushions 
 of the abbot of Westminster, for the king to place his foot 
 on, descending from the great chair in the royal seat, after 
 being anointed on the day of coronation, . . 1 ell. 
 
 e The Ornaments of the King's Chamber before his taking the 
 order of Knighthood. 
 
 ' Item, for the fitting up and ornamenting the king's chamber, 
 in his Palace at Westminster, on the last day of January ; 
 the night before he received the order of knighthood : viz. 
 with red tapestry, and shields of the king's arms in the 
 corners, 5 pieces. 
 
 * The same day, for cushions of new samite for the king's 
 chapel, 3 cushions. 
 
 ' For cushions of the same, for the chamber, after the king 
 is knighted 6 cushions. 
 
 ' For bancours " bankeriis" for the same chamber, orna- 
 mented with different shields ; viz. 4 red with green bor- 
 ders, 1 green, and 4 murrey and blue . 9 bancours. 
 
 ( Item, for bancours for the chamber before mentioned, orna- 
 mented with tapestry, and shields in the corners with the 
 king's arms, 3 bancours. 
 
 < Ornaments of the Royal Seat, in the great Hall at West- 
 minster) on the Coronation-day. 
 
 Item, for ornaments for the king's seat : viz. cloth of gold 
 
 and Turkey silk, . . 4 cloths, containing 30J ells. 
 
 4 The same day, for the back of the same, to preserve it from 
 
 the humidity of the wall, . . .24 ells of linen. 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 * The same day, for a veil,, on the side of the king's seat, 
 
 cloth of gold on linen, . . . . 12 cloths. 
 
 ' The same day, for 1 piece of velvet, for a veil, with labels, 
 
 hanging before the table of the king; strengthened with 
 
 red and grey lawn, 4 pieces. 
 
 * The same day, to place under the king sitting, 2 pieces of 
 
 velvet, containing 14 ells. 
 
 'The same day, cushions of samite for the same, 3 cushions/ 
 
 Edward the Third was both knighted and crowned on the 
 same day, namely, on Sunday, February the 1st, 1327, he 
 being then but little more than fourteen years of age. The 
 former ceremony was performed (in the palace) by his cousin 
 Henry, Earl of Lancaster; and that of the coronation by 
 Walter Reginald, Archbishop of Canterbury : the oath admi- 
 nistered to him resembled that taken by his father. The 
 subsequent banquet was, as customary, given with much 
 pomp in Westminster Hall. 
 
 Speaking of the commencement of this reign, it is remarked 
 in the " First Report on the Dignity of a Peer/' that " the 
 office of Chief Justiciary had then ceased ; and the Chan- 
 cellor had become the first Law Officer of the Crown. The 
 King's Bench, the Common Pleas, and the Exchequer, had 
 become completely separate Courts, the Presidency of the 
 Chief Justiciar no longer existing ; and the Puisne Judges of 
 the Three Courts were considered all as equal in Degree, 
 taking Rank according to their Antienty as Judges of the 
 Land, the Chiefs of each Court only having Precedence of 
 the Puisne Judges, and taking Rank among themselves; 
 the Chief Justice of the King's Bench first, the Chief Justice 
 of the Common Pleas next, and the Chief Baron of the 
 Exchequer last." The reign began under circumstances 
 
KIN'G EDWARD III. HIS AIAKKIAUU. 1328, 1329. 
 
 which tended to establish and increase the authority of the 
 Lords and Commons assembled in parliament; and during 
 its course the constituent parts of the Legislative Assemblies 
 of the realm appear to have been considered as fixed, nearly 
 as they now stand. 
 
 In a Parliament which assembled at Westminster on St. 
 Brice's-day (November the 13th) 1328, the city of London 
 received from the king a confirmation of all its former liber- 
 ties : he also granted many new privileges to the citizens, 
 including the jurisdiction of the borough of Southwark, and 
 the fee-farm of London, at an annual rent of 300. Shortly 
 after, viz. on the 24th of January 1328-29, the king was 
 married, at York, to Philippa, the youngest daughter of the 
 Count of Hainault and Holland, and the young queen was 
 crowned in the abbey church at Westminster in the April 
 following. " Upon these happy nuptials there was great joy 
 all over England, but especially at Court, where there was 
 nothing but justs and tournaments in the day-time, maskings, 
 revels, and interludes with songs and dances in the evenings, 
 and continual feasting with great magnificence, for three weeks 
 together.* 
 
 There is reason to believe that the works at St. Stephen's 
 Chapel were discontinued for some time after Edward's 
 accession; but the operations were recommenced in the 
 spring of 1330, and continued, with little, if any, interruption 
 until the entire completion of the chapel, about the years 
 1353 or 1354. Numerous Rolls relating to the expenses and 
 progress of the works are yet extant in the king's remem- 
 brancer's office. About thirteen of them were particularly 
 examined by Mr. Hawkins, when he engaged in collecting 
 his materials for Smith's " Antiquities of Westminster;" and 
 several others have been consulted on the present occasion. 
 
 * Barnes's History of Edward III. p. 27. 
 L 2 
 
148 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACK. 
 
 To specify the particular titles of these records would occupy 
 too much of our limited space, but it may be stated, gene- 
 rally, that there are rolls of account of Robert de Hill, 
 " controller of the works of the new chapel of St. Stephen, 
 within the palace," extending from the 4th to the 7th year of 
 Edward III.; of John de Broghton, who was controller from 
 the 7th to the 14th year of that reign, if not longer; and of 
 Robert de Pyppeshull, or Pippeshull, who held the office 
 from the 17th to the 19th year, when he was probably suc- 
 ceeded by Martin de Ixning; whose counter-rolls are extant 
 for the 1 9th, 20th, and 21st of Edward III. This last officer 
 was one of the royal chaplains, and he was presented to a 
 prebend in St. Stephen's Chapel, on April 1st, 1351.* The 
 office of controller was subsequently held by Adam de Ches- 
 trefield, or Chesterfield, for several years, his accounts ex- 
 tending from the 29th to the 43d year of this long reign. 
 De Chestrefield obtained a prebendal stall at St. Stephen's, 
 in May 1369. f These persons appear to have been con- 
 trollers of the accounts in regular succession, during nearly 
 if not quite the whole time that the works of St. Stephen's 
 chapel were carried on in the reign of Edward III. 
 
 The earliest among these accounts are those of Walter de 
 Weston, " clerk of the works at the King's Palace of West- 
 minster, and at the Tower of London/' for several years. 
 He was appointed to that office (as before stated) in the 
 fourth of Edward III. In the twenty-third year of that 
 reign he was chaplain J to the king, who bestowed on him 
 the sixth prebend in St. Stephen's chapel. Peter de Bruges 
 may have succeeded him as " clerk of the works at the pa- 
 
 * Pat. 25 Ed. III. Pt. i. as cited by Newcourt, " Repertorium," vol. i. p. 748. 
 t Newcourt, vol. i. p. 749. 
 J Cal. Rot. Patent, p. 109 a. 
 Newcourt, vol. i. p. 747. 
 
KING EDWARD III. - WORKS OF ST. STEPHEY'8 CHAPEL. 
 
 lace of Westminster/' in the twenty-first of Edward's reign, 
 as Mr. Hawkins mentions a Roll of de Bruges extending 
 from October 15th, 21st Edward III., to August 10th follow- 
 ing;* but there is extant among these records a Roll inti- 
 tuled " Particulee Compoti Walteri de Weston, de operibus 
 R. infra Turrim Lond. annis regni R. Ed. III. post conquest. 
 23S 24<>, & 25." 
 
 Hence it must be inferred that if de Weston was super- 
 seded by de Bruges, as clerk of the works at Westminster, 
 he still continued to superintend those at the Tower : or 
 perhaps de Bruges was only his deputy. Robert de Camp- 
 sale acted as clerk of the works at the palace, and at the 
 Tower, from the twenty-fifth of Edward III. to the twenty- 
 eighth, when he seems to have been succeeded in his office 
 by Thomas de Stapelford, or Stapulford ; for among these 
 Rolls is one indorsed, " Particulae de operibus palacii de 
 Westm' de tempore Rob. de Campsale, solutae per manus 
 Thorn, de Stapulford, anno 28<>." De Stapelford had been 
 previously employed in keeping the accounts relative to 
 other operations connected with the king's works, as we 
 learn from another record, intituled u Particulae compoti T. 
 de Stapelford, clerici, de omnibus receptis, misis, et expensis 
 per ipsum factis, circa prosternationem quercuum in bosco de 
 Beaumeis, ac eciam solutionibus vadior. magistrorum et opera- 
 riorum, anno regni R. Edw. III. 23." He continued in 
 office, at least till the twenty-ninth or thirtieth of Edward 
 III., as appears from another Roll. William de Lambheth 
 was "clerk of the works at the palace and Tower" in the 
 32nd year of this reign ; but in the 35th the office was filled 
 by William de Sleford, whose accounts for that year, for the 
 36th, and 39th, are in the same office. He was one of the 
 king's chaplains, and was a prebendary of St. Stephen's cha- 
 
 * Smith's Antiquities of Westminster, p. 179. 
 
150 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 pel, or college, of which establishment he was made dean, 
 May 17, 1369 * 
 
 The following details of the various operations at St. Ste- 
 phen's chapel, and of the works of the palace generally, have 
 been derived from the above-mentioned records. The inter- 
 esting information which they furnish respecting the value of 
 labour, prices of building materials, and other circumstances 
 connected with former times, will be readily appreciated. 
 
 4TH EDWARD III. 
 
 * 1330. May 27th. To Master Thomas the mason, coming 
 
 first to Westminster, and beginning there upon the new 
 
 Chapel of St. Stephen, e et intrasura super moldas operantij 
 
 for his wages for six days, by order of the Lord Treasurer 
 
 and Council, 6s. 
 ' June 3. To Master Thomas of Canterbury, master mason, 
 
 working et tractanti super trasuram, 6s. 
 'June 5. To John de Sene, merchant of Caen, for 400 
 
 Caen stones, called Gobetts, bought for the new chapel of 
 
 St. Stephen, within the King's Palace at Westminster, 
 
 at 41. per 100, 161. 
 
 To the same, for 300 Caen stones called Quoins, bought for 
 
 the same Chapel, at 12s. 6d. per 100, 11. 17*. 6d. 
 1 June 1 0. To Master Thomas of Canterbury, mason, " ope- 
 
 ranti intrasura, et moldas de novo reparanti," for his 
 
 wages, 6s. 
 'July 15. To Robert le Clerk, &c. three scaffold-makers, for 
 
 erecting a scaffold at the east end of the Chapel, &c. for 
 
 five days, at 3%d. per day, 4s. 4%d. 
 
 To six masons, for five days, at 5%d. per day, 13s. 9d. 
 
 To Walter Peny, marble mason, for six days, at 5|c?. per 
 
 day, 2s. 9d. 
 
 * Newcourt, vol. i. p. 747 ; from the Patent Rolls. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 1330. 
 
 To three marble masons, for five days, at the same rate, 
 
 6s. 10%d. 
 
 To Will, de Benevill, marble mason, for five days, at 4d. 
 
 per day, Is. Sd. 
 
 To Will, le Hare, porter, for five days, at 3d. per day, 
 
 Is. 3d. 
 ' July 23. To the scaffold-makers, for four days, 3*. 6d. 
 
 To Master Thomas of Canterbury, 6s. 
 
 To six masons, for five days, at 5%d per day, 14s. 9d. 
 
 To two masons, for four days, at the same rate, 3s. 8d. 
 
 To Walter Peny, as before, for five days, 2s. 
 
 To three marble masons, for five days, 6s. 
 
 To WiU. de Benevill, as before, Is. 8d. 
 
 To Will, le Hare, porter, for four days, Is. 
 f July 29. To Mich. Dissher, of Wood Street, for twenty-five 
 
 beams of alder tree, for the scaffold at the east end of the 
 
 Chapel, at 2d. each, 4s. 2d. 
 
 To the same, for twenty-four hurdles for the same scaffold, 
 
 at 2d. each, 4s. 
 
 To the same, for 500 thongs to tie the scaffolds, at 4d. per 
 
 100, Is. 8d. 
 
 For porterage and carriage of the beams, &c. from Wood 
 
 Street to the Thames, 8d. 
 
 For boatage of the same to Westminster, 4d. 
 
 To Robert of St. Alban's, for two pounds of wax, for ce- 
 ment, at 6d. per lb., Is. 
 
 To the same, for eight pounds of pitch, at Id. per lb., 
 
 8d. 
 
 To the same, for 100 nails called Spikyng, for the Scaffold, 
 
 10* 
 * Aug. 3. To John de Sellyngale, and John Beckere, masons, 
 
 for laying stones and iron-work in the east gable, for six 
 
 days, at 5%d. per day, 5s. 6d. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 To John Bakere, John of Oxford, and Richard of Fever- 
 sham, masons, for five days, at 5d. per day, 6s. 3d. 
 'Aug. 17. To John de Sellyngale, and John Bekere, for 
 working on the east gable, for six days, as before, 5s. 6d. 
 To John Baker, mason, for six days, at 5d. per day, 2s. 6d. 
 
 STH EDWARD III. 
 ' 1331. March 1. To Rich, de Lynne, and Walt, le Murie, 
 
 layers of stone, for working on the east gable, six days, at 
 
 5%d. per day, 5s. 6d. 
 'March 15. To three layers of stone, for six days' work, 
 
 at the same rate, 8s. 3d. 
 
 To two carpenters, for working six days, at 5d. per day, 5s. 
 
 To two scaffold-makers, for working six days, at 3%d. per 
 
 day, 3s. 6d. 
 
 'April 27. To Thomas Bernak, of Lambeth, for twenty- 
 three large Reygate stones, for the form pieces for the win- 
 dows, at 2s. each, with carriage, &c. 21. 6s. 
 ' June 15. To Thos. Bernak, for fifteen pieces of Reygate 
 
 stone, for mold-pieces for the upper windows, at 2s. each, 
 
 I/. 10s. 
 
 To Thos. Bernak, for nineteen pieces of Reygate stone, for 
 
 the said molds, at 2s. each, \L 18s. 
 ' June 30. To Thos. Bernak, for ten pieces of Reygate stone, 
 
 for the sides of the chapel, at 2s. each, 1 /. 
 * July 6'. To Thos. Bernak, for fourteen pieces of Reygate 
 
 stone, called form-pieces, for the windows, at 2s. each, 
 
 with carriage, &c. I/. 8s. 
 ' July 20. To William of Kent, for one hundred-weight of 
 
 lime, for mortar, for the great window of the east gable, 
 
 3s. 6d. 
 
 To John Shaw, for four cart-loads of sand, for the said 
 
 mortar, 4d. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL 1331- 153- 
 
 ' May 4. To Michael and Richard of Wood Street, for 100 
 
 poles of alder, for the scaffold at the east gable of the new 
 
 chapel, 16s. 
 
 To the same, for twelve large poles for standards for the 
 
 scaffold, at lOd. each, 10s. 
 
 To the same, for twenty-four hurdles for the scaffold, at 
 
 l|d. each, 3s. 6d. 
 
 To the same, for 1000 thongs, as before, 3s. 4d. 
 
 To Gilbert of Wood Street, for two long poles, for stand- 
 ards to the scaffold, at I2d. each, 2s. 
 
 To the same, for six beams of alder, to make centres, 
 
 at 2d. each, Is. 
 
 Cartage and boatage, Is. 6d. 
 ' April 27. To John de Sene, merchant of Caen, for 250 
 
 Caen stones, called Gobetts, for the new chapel, at 41. per 
 
 100, 10/. 
 
 To the same, for 350 of Caen stones, called Quoins, at 
 
 12s. 6d. per 100, 2/. 3s. 9d. 
 
 To Robert of St. Alban's, for one pound of wax, to make 
 
 cement, 6d. 
 
 To the same, for eight pounds of pitch, at Id. per lb., 8d. 
 6 July 20. To Roger of Waltham, for a large cable of hemp 
 
 for drawing up stones by a windlass to the top of the 
 
 chapel, weighing six score great pounds, at Ijd. perlb., 
 
 with porterage and boatage, 17$. 6d. 
 'Aug. 3. To Rob. of St. Alban's, for 3 cwt. of Spanish iron, 
 
 for bars and iron-work at the east gable, at 4s. 8d. per 
 
 cwt. 14s. 
 
 To Walter de Bury, smith, for making the iron into bars, 
 
 at 4s. per cwt. 12s. 
 
 To Tho. Bernak, for four pieces of Reygate stone, at 2s. 
 
 each, 8s. 
 ' Aug. U. To Rob. of St. Alban's, for 2 cwt. of iron, 9s. 4d. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 To W. de Bury, for working the said iron, almost one half 
 
 of which was wasted in the fire, 8s. 
 < Aug. 31 To Rob. of St. Alban's, for 3| cwt. of iron, 15s. 2d. 
 
 To Walter the smith, of Bury, for making the iron into 
 
 bars, almost half being wasted, 13s. 
 6 Sep. 22. To Thos. Bernak, for ten pieces of Reygate stone, 
 
 for form-pieces for the east gable, at 2s. lOd. each, with 
 
 carriage, &c. I/. Ss. 4d. 
 
 To the same, for five pieces of Reygate stone, at the same 
 
 rate, 14s. 2d. 
 6 Sep. 30. To John le Tressh of London, for two oak 
 
 boards for moulds for the masons, at I2d. each, 2s. 
 
 To the same, for three oak boards called Lidholts, for the 
 
 said moulds, at 6d. each, Is. 6d. 
 ( Sep. 28. To Thomas Bernak, for five pieces of Reygate 
 
 stone, for the form-pieces of the east gable, at 2s. lOd. 
 
 each, 14s. 2d. 
 c Nov. 2. To Bartholomew Cisson, for one pound of grease, 
 
 for greasing the pulleys and beams, 2d. 
 6 Nov. 13. To John Walworth, glazier, for three windows of 
 
 white glass, for the chapel of St. Stephen, 7^- 
 ( Dec. 2. To Nicholas Ivory for 2 hundred of reeds, for co- 
 vering the new house for the stone-cutters and workmen, 
 
 at Wd. per hundred, with boatage to Westminster, 6s. 3d. 
 
 To Rich, le Clerk, for 4| hundred of reeds, for the same 
 
 purpose, 3s. 9d. 
 
 To Rob. of St. Alban's, for 2000 nails for laths, at lOd. per 
 
 thousand, Is. 8d. 
 
 To the same, for 1000 of iron nails for an inclosure in the 
 
 above house, ^d. 
 
 To Walter Gautron, for 300 of hert-laths for the said 
 
 house, at 5d. per hundred, Is. 3d. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 1332. \55 
 
 To the same, for 500 beech-laths for the said house, at 
 
 2%d. per hundred, Is. 0%d. 
 ( Dec. 7- To Thos. Bernak, for seventeen form-pieces of 
 
 Reygate stone, for the window in the east gable, at 3s. 
 
 each, ll. 10s. 
 '1332. Jan. 7- To John Bishop, for twelve cart-loads of 
 
 clay, at l%d. per load, Is. 6d. 
 
 To Bartholomew the stone-cutter, for one quarter of char- 
 coal, for cementing the stone, as burnt, 6d. 
 
 To Robert of St. Albany's, for wax and pitch, for cement, 
 
 Is. 2d. 
 
 6TH EDWARD III. 
 ' 1332. Feb. 8. To Tho. Bernak, for ten form-pieces of 
 
 Reygate stone, for the east gable, at 2s. 6d. each, 1 1. 5s. 
 f Feb. 15. To the same, for seventeen form-pieces of stone, 
 'for the gable, at 2s. each, I/. 14s. 
 
 To the same, for five small form-pieces, at lOd. each, 
 
 4s. 2 d. 
 'March 15. To John de Ringwode, for two oak boards, 
 
 for covering two tabernacles at the east end, at 3d. each, 
 
 6d. 
 
 To John de Lincoln, for 100 beech boards to cover the 
 
 soursadel reredos, in the east gable, 6s. 8d. 
 
 To Walter le Best, for two boards to cover the said 
 
 gable, Is. 
 
 To Walter de Bury, smith, for eighteen cramps, to 
 
 strengthen the stones in the gable, Is. 6d. 
 
 To the same, for twelve yoromis [qu. wedges ?], and six 
 
 small hooks, 9d. 
 6 April 19. To Tho. Bernak, for a long and large stone for 
 
 an image, 6s. 
 
 To the same, for seventeen large form-pieces of Reygate 
 
 stone, for the east gable, at 4s. each, 31. 8s. 
 
156 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 * April 26. To the same, for nine pieces of Reygate stone, at 
 3s. each, I/. 7*. 
 
 'May 17. To the same, for nine pieces of Reygate stone, for 
 the east gable, at 4s. each, with carriage, &c. from Rey- 
 gate, II. \6s. 
 
 To the same, for three pieces of stone, at 3s. 6d. each, 
 10s. 6d. 
 
 To Walter de Bury, for an iron bar twelve feet long, weigh- 
 ing three quarters ten pounds, at \%d. per lb., made out 
 of his own iron, to strengthen a marble column, and keep 
 in its place under the great form, 10s. 7%d. 
 
 'June 14. To Walter de Bury, smith, for three gogons of 
 iron, for the gable, at 3d. each, 9d. 
 
 ( July 19. To Michael Dissher, for fifty beams of alder, for 
 the new scaffold at the gable of the front of the new cha- 
 pel, Ss. 
 To the same, for thongs and hurdles for the scaffold, 5s. 2d. 
 
 'July 26. For a half hundred-weight of lime, to make mor- 
 tar for the lower gable in front of the chapel, 2s. 
 
 'Aug. 2. To John de Parys, for plaster of paris, to mend 
 the defects in the great stones of the gable, &c. Ss. 
 
 ' Aug. 9. To Michael of Canterbury, marble-mason, for one 
 boat-load of cartat, with stones called rag, of the weight of 
 ten dolers, to fill up between the walls of the new chapel, 
 Ss. 
 
 To Thomas le Northerne, for half a hundred of beech 
 boards, to cover the stone-masons during their work in 
 the front of the chapel from wind and rain, &c. 4s. 6d. 
 To Tho. Bernak, of Reygate, rokarius, for eight stones for 
 the lower gable of the chapel, at 4s. each, I/. 12s. 
 To the same, for six smaller stones for the stairs (GrezJ 
 of the tower in the south part of the gable, in front of the 
 chapel, \5s. 
 
KINO EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 1332. 157 
 
 'Aug. 16. To the same, for eight stones which were want- 
 ing to close up the lower gable, at Is. 6d. each, 12s. 
 To Tho. Bernak, for two large stones, bought to make two 
 images, 5s. 6d. each, 1 Is. 
 
 ' Aug. 23. To John de Hungerford., carpenter, for working 
 and making timbers for the scaffold to be erected afresh 
 round the towers of the front of the chapel, for six days, 
 at 5d. per day, 2s. 6d. 
 
 To two scaffold-makers, for erecting and tying the scaf- 
 fold, five days at 3%d. each, 2s. lid. 
 
 * Aug. 30. To Walter the smith, for two large staples, and 
 two large hooks, of his own iron, weight eighty pounds, to 
 bear and support two large images in front of the chapel, 
 10s. 
 
 ' Sept. 13 To Master Richard of Reading, for making two 
 images by task-work in gross : viz. for an image of St. Ed- 
 ward, and another of St. John in the likeness of a pilgrim, 
 to be put in front of the gable of the chapel, 3/. 6s. Sd. 
 
 ' Nov. 2. To Walter de Bury, the smith, for making two 
 iron bars called tirauntz, fifteen feet long each, out of 
 seven hundred-weight of iron de Baton, received by order 
 of the treasurer out of the stores in the Tower ; and for 
 work upon the said bars, for the purpose of strengthening 
 and keeping in their places the moynells (mullions of the 
 window) in the east gable, at the rate of 4s. per cwt., 
 three-fourths of the iron being wasted in the fire because of 
 its weakness, I/. Ss. 
 
 ' Nov. 9. To Thomas Clip, for 500 reeds, for covering the 
 walls of the chapel, and the stones and timber, at lie?, per 
 hundred, with boatage, 4s. 'Jd. 
 
 ( Nov. 23. To two workmen covering over the walls of the 
 chapel, at 3d. per day each, 2s. 6d. 
 
 c Dec. 7- To Tho. Bernak, for seventeen form-pieces of 
 
158 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Reygate stone, for the window in the east gable, at 3s. 
 each, 2s. lid. 
 
 7TH EDWARD III. 
 
 ( 1333. March 21. To John de Hungerford, carpenter, for 
 
 two days' work on a penthouse on the gable, where the 
 
 masons began that week to lay the stones on the said 
 
 gable, at 5d. per day, lOd. 
 6 April 1 1 . To two scaffold- makers for erecting a new scaf- 
 
 fold round the tower on the north part of the gable, six 
 
 days' work, at 3%d. per day each, 3s. 6d. 
 6 Sept. 30. To Walter Merye, and Ralph le Hunte, layers 
 
 of stone, for four days' work on the gable and walls of the 
 
 chapel, at 5%d. per day each, 3s. 8d. 
 
 To Tho. Bernak, of Reygate, for twenty-four stones for the 
 
 two towers of the front of the chapel, and to inclose and 
 
 complete the lower gable, ll. 4s. 
 
 To Richard of Talworth, merchant and citizen of London, 
 
 for half a hundred-weight of wood, to melt lead, solder, 
 
 &c. 3s. 
 
 To Walter the smith, for twelve cramps, of his own iron, 
 
 to secure the stones of the gable, Sd. 
 ' Oct. 18. To Robert de Thorney, for 2000 lath-nails, Is. Sd. 
 
 To Michael le Disshere, for 150 beams of alder, at 2d. 
 
 each, ll. 5s. 
 
 To Rob. Mancel, for 1000 beech-laths, at 2%d. per hun- 
 
 dred, 2s. Id. 
 'Oct. 25. To Nicholas Jouri, for 300 reeds, to cover the 
 
 penthouse over the gable, at IQd. per hundred, 2s. 6d. 
 
 BETWEEN 4TH & TTH EDWARD III. 
 
 < 1330 1333. Oct. 21. To Thomas the Plasterer, for work 
 upon the upper vestibule of the new chapel, six days, 3s. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 1333, 1337. 159 
 
 < Aug. 26. To Robert le Lockiere, for a lock to the door of 
 
 the upper vestibule in the new chapel, 6d. 
 'Sep. 25. To the same, for a lock for the lower vestibule, 
 
 Is. 
 
 PROBABLY BETWEEN 7TH AND lOm EDWARD III. 
 
 f 1333 1337. Jan. 9. To Richard de Bramcote and John 
 
 Bekker, masons, working on a door in the west gable, for 
 
 three days, at 4\d. per day each, 35. 6d. 
 ' Jan. 9. To John de Hungerford and John de Tunbridge, 
 
 carpenters, working on the King's Oratory, between St. 
 
 Stephen's Chapel and the Painted Chamber, six days, at 
 
 4d. per day each, 4s. 
 
 To John Nichol, for 10 pieces of timber, for beams and rails 
 
 over the King's Oratory, at 9d. each, Js. 6d. 
 ' Jan. 23. To Tho. de Greenwich, for 400 reeds, to cover 
 
 the gable, oratories, &c., 4s. 
 * March 7- To Peter Bernak, of Reygate, for six stones, for 
 
 the steps of one of the towers of the chapel, at Bd. each, 
 
 with carriage, 45. 
 ' April 11. To Walter, the smith, for 18 new irons, (called 
 
 tyraunts) for the tower of the gable, at 3d. each, 4s. 6d. 
 "'April 18. To Michael le Disser, for half a hundred of 
 
 alder poles, for a new scaffold round two towers of the 
 
 gable of the chapel, at 2d. each, 8s. 4d. 
 
 To Walter, the smith, for twelve iron cramps, (called 
 
 tirauntzj to strengthen the stones of the two towers, at 
 
 3d. each; and six small goromis of iron, at \d. each, 3s. 3d. 
 ( May 30. To Nicholas Gerad, of Lambheth, rokarius, for 
 
 twenty-five Reygate stones, to make steps for the two 
 
 towers near the great gable, at lOd. each, with carriage, 
 
 1 2s. 6d. 
 ' August 22. To Nich. Gerard, for sixteen Reygate stones, 
 
160 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 for the steps of the tower towards the east, at 1 Od. each, 
 with boatage, 13s. 4d. 
 
 ( Sept. 12. To Walter de Bury, the smith, for six large 
 goromis of iron, to strengthen the stones in the tower of 
 of the gable and its pinnacles, 3s, 
 
 ( Sept. 26. To Nich. Garard, for ten Reygate stones, for the 
 tower and gable, at I0d. each, Ss. 4d. 
 
 ( Dec. 12. To John de Lincoln, for 800 beech laths, for 
 covering and preserving two oratories, viz. the King's, be- 
 tween the new chapel and the Painted Chamber, and that 
 in the west gable where the Bell Tower is to be, at 3%d> 
 per 100, 25. 4d. 
 
 To Tho. Clyp, of Greenwich, for 800 reeds, to cover the 
 walls of the gable of the chapel and oratories, at Is. per 
 100, with boatage, IBs. 
 
 To ten masons working on the gables and Bell Tower, for 
 six days, at 4%d. each, I/. 2s. 6d. 
 
 10TH EDWARD III. 
 
 ' 1336. Feb. 19. To William of Kent, for 500 tiles, for 
 the pavement of the King's Chapel, at Is. per 100, 5s. 
 To the same, for 3J cwt. of lime, at 4s. per cwt., 14s. 
 To John de Foxley, for 33 loads of sand, I/. 35. 
 
 * Feb. 26. To Will, of Kent, for 2,000 tiles, for the pave- 
 ment of the King's Chapel, I/. 
 
 To John Robes and Simon Robes, paviours, laying down 
 the tiles for pavement, in the King's Chapel, six days, at 
 5d. per day each, 5s. 
 
 To John of Canterbury, and John of Lynne, two boys, 
 serving the paviours, making mortar, &c., for six days, at 
 3d. per day each, 35. 
 
 15TH EDWARD III. 
 ' 1 341 .April 2. To Tho. Pikard, Tho. of Lincoln, and Will. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 1341. 161 
 
 of Knight sbridge, tilers, working on the building of the 
 
 Marshalsea, and upon the Coppehouse under the King's 
 
 Chapel, for five days, at 5d. per day each, 6s. 3d. 
 f June 30. To Olive le Cook, for 200 nails, for the stairs of 
 
 the vestry of the new chapel, 8d. 
 ( Oct. 21. To John de Glatton, carpenter, working on the 
 
 penthouse of the west gable of the new chapel, six days, at 
 
 5d. per day, 2s. 6d. 
 ' Oct. 24. To Agnes le Disshere, for six pieces of alder 
 
 timber, for a scaffold to the chapel of St. Stephen, near 
 
 the Receipt, to repair and mend the wall on the south side 
 
 with plaster of Paris afresh, at 2d. each, Is. 
 
 To Richard Bacon, for six bushels of white plaster for the 
 
 said wall, at 1 s. 3d. per bushel, 7$- Gd. 
 
 To the same, for three bushels of black plaster, for the 
 
 same wall, 3s. 
 ' Nov. 6. To Richard Bacon, plasterer, working on the wall 
 
 of the south side of the chapel, and on the windows there, 
 
 three days, at 6d. per day, Is. 6d. 
 
 To Richard de Waltham, plasterer, working there three days, 
 
 at 4d. per day, \s. 
 
 Among the Rolls lately found in the King's remembrancer's 
 office,is one intituled "ReceptWalt'deWestori Clic Opac Dfii 
 Reg Palac Westm et Turr London de ann v. vi. vii. viii. 
 ixo. x. xi. xii. xiii. xiiii ." This account specifies the parti- 
 cular sums of money that were, from time to time, advanced 
 from the Exchequer, by the king's treasurer and chamber- 
 lain, to Walter de Weston, (clerk of the works at the Palace 
 and the Tower,) during the first ten years after the re-com- 
 mencement of the architectural operations at St. Stephen's 
 Chapel. The sums stated to have been issued expressly for 
 the buildings at the To\ver, form a comparatively inconsi- 
 
 II 
 
derable portion of the whole : the remainder appears to have 
 been regularly applied to the liquidation of the wages of the 
 workmen at St. Stephen's, accounts of which were delivered 
 into the Treasury, a in rotulo de particulis quern liberavit 
 in Thesaurario." 
 
 The sums accounted for by William de Weston are as 
 follow: In the 5th year of Edward III. 407. ; in the 6th, 
 3427. 12,9. 6V/.; in the 7th, 4787. 19s. Id.-, in the 8th, 3257. 
 5s. 5d.; in the 9th, 1407.; in the l()th, 1907.,, of which 1007. 
 was expended on works at the Tower; in the llth year no 
 sums are mentioned as appropriated to the payment of work- 
 men at St. Stephen's, but sums to the amount of 1457. were 
 expended at the Tower. In the 12th year the whole expen- 
 diture was 1667. 13s. 4d. y out of which two sums of 307. each 
 were laid out on the Tower, and the remainder on works at 
 the palace ; 607. being received from the treasurer and cham- 
 berlain at one time, and 67. 13s. 4^7. at another; and 407. (e in 
 two portions, part being received immediately by Wm. de 
 Weston, and part through the hands of Thomas de Stapel- 
 forde, from Wm. de Vaghan, sheriff of Surrey and Sussex ; 
 and disbursed for certain works in the Palace and Tower, for 
 the repair of defects within the said Palace, and in discharge 
 of the wages of masons working on the aforesaid new chapel, 
 accounts of which are contained in the great Roll for the said 
 year xii." The whole sum in the account for the 13th year 
 is 3697. Ss. Sd., of which 2277. 16s. Id. was expended on the 
 Tower, and 37. on the Mews ; and in the 14th year the whole 
 expenditure was 1687. 12s. 10r7., of which 247. 6s. Sd. only 
 was for the works at the Palace. 
 
 17TH EDWARD III. 
 ' 1343. Jan. 7. To four workmen covering the tabernacles,, 
 
 carrying stones, &c., five days, at 2%d. per clay, 3s. 2d. 
 4 Jan. 20. To John de Ewell, and five other labourers, 6s. 3/7. 
 
KING EDWARD III.-^ ST.. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. - 1345, 1347. 'l6i3 
 
 Feb. 10. To John Rameseye, and five other labourers, 9s. 
 .-* Feb. 17. To the same, 7s- Gd. 
 ' Jan. 30. To John de Glatton, carpenter, working on the 
 
 stairs of the vestry, six days, at 5d. per day, 2s. Gel. 
 ' August 25. To Robert le Lokyer, for mending the iron- 
 
 work of the lower vestry of the Chapel of St. Stephen, id. 
 ' Nov. 4. To Thomas le Cok, for 200 of hert-laths for the 
 
 penthouse of the west gable, Is. 
 
 19TH EDWARD III. 
 
 1 1345. Sept. 30. To Hugh de Donnulton, for two stone 
 form-pieces, for the upper story of the chapel, 3s. 4d. 
 
 c Oct. 29. To Hugh de Donnilton, for three form-pieces, 5s. 
 
 ' Nov. 4. To the same, for six form-pieces, 10s. 
 
 4 Nov. 12. To the same, for eight form-pieces, 13s. 4d. 
 To the same, for fourteen form-pieces, 1 /. 3s. 4d. 
 
 ' Nov. 18. To the same, for six form-pieces, 10s. 
 
 * Nov. 26. To the same, for two form-pieces, 3s. 4d. 
 
 21sT EDWARD III. 
 
 * 1347. March 24. To William Bonet, for sixty plaunch 
 
 boards for the floor over the cieling of the upper chapel, ll. 
 Boatage of the boards, &c. from London to Westminster, 
 
 * May 19. For the wages of forty-one masons, working on 
 
 the chapel, for six days, at 5d. 51. 1 2s. Vd. 
 
 To John Fulbourn, Thomas Seli, with eighteen other car- 
 
 penters, working on the vosura [vaulting ?] of the upper 
 
 chapel, for six days, at 6d. per day, 3/. 
 
 To John Grevill, plumber, with his boy, for three days, at 
 
 i\d. per day, covering the king's closet near the great 
 
 altar of the new chapel, 2s. 9d. 
 
 * June 30. To William Felton, for 100 sounds, for glue for 
 
 the carpenters, Is. 6d. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 To Robert Lenard, for eighty-two stones " stone de Bere" 
 for the works of the king's chapel at Westminster,, 21 1. I Os. 
 
 ' July 14. To Agnes Dishe, for 100 hurdles, to put on the 
 top of the chapel to cover and preserve it, 14s. 
 To the same for seven large hurdles, 2s. 4d. 
 
 * July 21. To William Beynes, for 600 nails, for the ceiling 
 of the chapel, and for the scaffolding, Is. 6d. 
 To John Syward, for 200 sounds, for glue, for the ceiling,, 
 2s. 6d. 
 
 ' Oct. 15. To William Hamele, of Weymouth, for sixty- 
 eight great stones de Bere, for the chapel, III. 
 To John Toft, mason, for working on the chapel 6t super 
 stapulacionem," [probably ( bosting,' or embossing] and 
 carving of stones, six days, at 3.9. per week, 3s. 
 For 100 Estrich boards, for the ceiling of the King's Chapel 
 at Westminster, 15s. 
 
 For the wages of sixteen carpenters, working i( super sta- 
 pulationem" of the timber for the vousura of the upper 
 chapel, for six days, at 6d. per day, 21. 8s. 
 For the wages of two carpenters' apprentices, carving the 
 bosses of the upper chapel, for five days, at 4d. per day, 
 3s. 4d. 
 
 6 Oct. 22. For the wages of twenty-three carpenters, working 
 as well upon the vosura of the chapel, as upon the new 
 house near the Receipt offices of the Exchequer, for six 
 days, at 6d. per day, 31. 9s.' 
 
 25TH EDWARD III. 
 
 ' 135}. March 19. To Wm. Padryngton, for one large 
 stone, bought at Dunstaple, for making an image of St. 
 Stephen, 10s. 
 
 To the same, for two stones, for two images of two Ser- 
 jeants at arms, 10s. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 1351. 
 
 * 1351. May 13. To Wm. Herland, for two pounds of glue, 
 
 bought for the stalls in the chapel, lOd. 
 
 To Wm. Frere, for twelve sondes de greylyny (grayling 
 
 sounds) bought for the same, 8d. 
 
 * June 20. For sixty-one sondUts, bought of Master Andrew 
 
 the smith, for the east window of the chapel, weight 5 libs, 
 at 2d, per lb., 8s. 6d. 
 
 To three tylers, working on the repair of the roof of a 
 chamber for the vicars of the king's chapel, two days, at 
 3d. per day, 2s. 
 
 * July 4. To Master Andrew the smith, for eighteen cramps 
 
 and gorons, bought for les Vuz of the east part of the 
 chapel, weight 30lbs., at 2d. per lb., 5s. 3d. 
 
 c July 1 1 . To the same, for eight bars of iron, bought to 
 strengthen the stones at the top of the east vice of the 
 same chapel, weight 271bs., at 2d. per lb., 4s. 6d. 
 
 f July 18. To Master Andrew the smith, for two circles of 
 iron, for the top of the west tower of the chapel, 13<s. 4d. 
 
 ( July 25. To Wm. Hurle, carpenter, working on the stalls, 
 five days, for his weekly wages, Js. 
 
 To two sawyers, sawing timber for the stalls, five days, 
 at 5d. per day, 4s. 2d. 
 
 To Master Andrew, the smith, for bars, cramps, and son- 
 delets, for the windows of the chapel, weight 5 libs., at 2d. 
 per lb., 8s. 6d. 
 
 To Simon le smyth, for 100 nails, to fasten in the glass, 9d. 
 For one pair of suff' [suffulcra, supporters, or stays ?] 
 bought to mend the work of the finials of the taberna- 
 cles, 5d. 
 
 ' Aug. 1. To Rich. Wilton, " apparil" [or foreman,] of the 
 aforesaid works, working on the stalls, six days, for his 
 weekly wages, 3s. 6d. 
 
166 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 To five carpenters,, at 6d. each per day, and one at 4%d. per 
 
 day, working on the stalls six days,, 1 7s. 3d. 
 
 To Rich. Euer, .for 200 Ryngholt boards, for the scaffold 
 
 of the upper chapel, 3/. 6s. 8d. 
 
 To the same, for 1000 great spikyng, for the planks for the 
 
 stalls of the king's chapel, 5s. 
 
 To Master Andrew the smith, for ninety sondelets of iron, 
 
 for the windows of the upper chapel, weight 198lbs. at 2d. 
 
 per.lb., I/. 13s. 
 
 One quarter of coals, bought to heat the stones for the 
 
 repair of the tabernacles and windows of the upper chapel, 
 }s. 2d. 
 
 To Simon le Smyth, for 200 cloring nails, to keep the glass 
 
 together till it was joined, Is. 6d. 
 c Aug. 8. To Master Andrew the smith, for cramps, bars, 
 
 and sondelets, for the windows, weight 12/J pounds, 
 I/, Is. 2d. 
 
 To Wm. Herland, carpenter, working on the stalls of the 
 upper chapel, five days, 4s. 8d. 
 
 ' Aug. 22. To Rob. Long, Roger South wark, and four other 
 sawyers, sawing timber for the stalls, five days, at 5d. per 
 day, 8s. 4d. 
 
 ' Sept. 12. To W. Hurle and W. Herland, working on the 
 stalls, and on the seneschal's chamber, at the same rate as 
 before, Us. 8d. 
 
 ' Sept. 26. To Wm. de Padryngton, for two images made 
 for the chapel, by agreement made with him by the trea- 
 surer to receive by task work, for each four marks, 51. 6s. 8d. 
 To the same, for making twenty Angels to stand in the 
 tabernacles, by task-work, at 6s. 8d. for each image, 
 61 13s. 4d. 
 
 To the same, for making a certain image, called John le 
 Wayte, of stone found by himself, by task work, M. 6s. SfL 
 
KING KIMVAKD III. ST. STEPII K\'s CHAl'KL. - 1352. I')/ 
 
 To the same, for making three Kings to stand in the taber- 
 
 nacles of the chapel, of the king's stone, by task-work, at 
 
 2l. \3s. 4d. for each image, 8/. 
 
 To the same, for making two images, of two Serjeants at 
 
 arms, of the king's stone, by task-work, at 41. each, 8/. 
 
 To Wm. Wayte, for the repair of the pomells and finials 
 
 of the tabernacles in the chapel, by agreement made with 
 
 him by the treasurer, by task- work, 51. Os. 6d. 
 Oct. J7. To Rich, de Euere, for 150 Ryngolt boards, for 
 
 the stalls of the king's chapel, at I/. 16s. 8d. per 100, 21. 5s. 
 Nov. 14. To Agnes Disshere, for 100 logs of alder, for a 
 
 certain lodge new made, for making the stalls of the 
 
 chapel, I/. 
 1352. --Jan. 9. To the scaffold-maker, for erecting a scaf- 
 
 fold to glaze the windows of the chapel, 2s. '3d. 
 
 To Master Andrew, the smith, for 44 gorons, for the fmials 
 
 above the chapel, 2s. G%d. 
 Jan. 16. To the same, for 32 large gorons 9 for the finials, 
 
 26TH EDWARD III. 
 
 *' Feb. 27. To Ralph Hugyn, John Maydeston, John Beche, 
 Richard de Wicombe, and eight other masons, working on 
 'the pontell and coupis, and on taking down the wall in the 
 upper chapel, where the stalls are to stand, for six days, at 
 5d per day, I/. 13s. 
 
 * March 5. For 1000 tiles for the pavement of the vestry 
 
 of the under chapel, 12.?. 
 
 To Thomas Eliot, for a marble stone, for the altar in the 
 
 vestry, I/. 4s. 
 
 To Adam de St. Alban's, for locks and other furniture, for 
 
 six doors of an almariole, in the vestry, for keeping the 
 
 vestments in, 10s. 
 
 March 5. For a ship-load of chalk, 9*., and for 100 sack.s 
 
168 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 of lime,, 6s. y for repairing the wall behind the stalls of the 
 chapel, 1 5s. 
 
 e March 19. To Ralph de Cambridge, for six finials of taber- 
 nacles for the chapel, 6s. 
 
 c March 26. To the same, for three cusps for the finials of 
 the tabernacles in the east gable, 2s. 
 
 < March 26. To Peter de Estcombe, for a boat-load of chalk, 
 for repairing the Reredos, on the outside of the stalls of 
 the chapel, 7*. Gd. 
 
 ( April 2. To Robert le Lockyere, [the locksmith,] for mend- 
 ing a lock, &c., the whole furniture of the great door of 
 the chapel, and other work, including a plate lock, with 
 one bolt, for the low door leading per le vie [by the winding 
 staircase] into the painted chamber, 5 s. 
 For rushes to strew the chapel against the feast of Easter, 8d. 
 
 ' April 12. To Robert Winchester, mason, for repairing the 
 pinnacles of the tabernacles of the chapel, 2^ days, at 5% 
 per day, Is. l\d. 
 
 ( April 16. To Robert Winton, and three more masons, for 
 working on the pinnacles, six days, at 5%d. per day, 11 s. 
 
 ' April 23. To seven masons working on the door under the 
 prince's chamber, and upon the Reredos, on the north part 
 of the chapel, and upon the squaring of the stones for 
 the walls near the queen's bridge, for five days, at 5d. per 
 day, 145. *ld. 
 
 e May 7. To Master Andrew the smith, for eighty cramps, 
 bought for the wall near the Thames, and for the works above 
 the top of the chapel, weight 1 13lbs. at ld. per Ib. 14s. l^d. 
 
 ' May 21. To the same, for eighty cramps for le vitz of the 
 chapel, weight 43lbs., at l%d. per Ib., 5s. 4%d. 
 Expended on the covering of the chapel, two carrats [that 
 is, 4,368lbs.] of lead. 
 Used in the strengthening of several stones on the top -of 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 1352. 
 
 the chapel, with yorons, and cramps, and lead, six wagers 
 [l,092lbs.] of lead. 
 
 c June 4. To Nicholas Ploket for an ell of linen cloth to 
 wrap up the cup, Is. 
 
 To John Brocher, for one boat-load of chalk, for the Rere- 
 dos, on the outside of the stalls of the upper chapel, 7*. 
 
 * July 2. To John Ponk, for 500 tiles,, for paving the cham- 
 ber and chapel of the king, 6s. 
 
 6 July 9. To Master Andrew the smith, for fifty-two cramps, 
 pro vice australi, at the west part of the chapel, /libs., at 
 2d. perlb., 11*. Wd. 
 
 4 Aug. 13. To John Box, mason, for taking down and repair- 
 ing the vice on the south part of the chapel at the west 
 end, as by agreement, besides his task, 5/. 7*. 10d. 
 To Master Andrew the smith, for twenty-nine staples to 
 strengthen the gutters of the great hall, and forty cramps 
 for the works of the upper chapel, 16s. 9d. 
 
 ( Aug. 27. To John Profit, for sixteen loads of Reygate 
 stone, for the Alura of the upper chapel, at Is. Sd. per 
 load, II. 6s. 8d. 
 
 Carriage of the same, from Reygate to Batrichsey [Batter- 
 sea], 16s., and boatage thence to Westminster, 2s., 18s. 
 
 ' Oct. 3. To Robert Geffrey and three others, for sawing 
 timber for the finials of the stalls of the king's chapel, three 
 days and half, at 5d. per day, 5s. Wd. 
 
 ' Oct. 17. To William Crowe, carpenter, working on the 
 stalls five days, at 3s. 6d. per week, 3s. 6d. 
 For two large gorons for the works of the upper chapel, 
 IL Os. lOd. 
 
 6 Oct. 24. To Master Andrew the smith, for four gorons 
 to secure the upper stones upon the great pinnacles of the 
 chapel, weight 33lbs., 5s. 6d. 
 
 ( Nov. 14. To Master Andrew the smith, for iron-work, 
 2/. Us. 9d. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 The preparations for the ornamental painting and glazing 
 of St. Stephen's Chapel were commenced about 1350, and the 
 works were carried on for several years after that date. The 
 Rolls of account relating to the same, are particularly inte- 
 resting from the many notices they include connected with 
 the history of oil-painting ;^ and it may be remarked here, 
 that they most decidedly invalidate the claim of John van 
 Eyck (as advanced by Vasari) to be considered as the inventor 
 of that art, in 1410. They also furnish us with the names of 
 numerous artists,, (mostly our own countrymen,,) who were 
 engaged in executing the splendid decorations which adorned 
 the Chapel; and of whom Hugh de St. Alban's appears to 
 have been the principal one^ as he is expressly called ( master 
 of the painters,' in a precept which is entered on the Patent 
 Rolls, and has been printed in the (e Foedera." 
 
 That the chief artists were men of distinguished eminence 
 in their profession there can be no doubt ; and to them was 
 entrusted the power both of selecting their assistants and 
 compelling them to serve at ' the king's wages' fad vadia 
 nostra") in the pictorial embellishment of the chapel. The 
 nature of the authority thus delegated^ will be best under- 
 stood from the following translation of a precept tested by 
 the king himself, at Westminster, on the 18th of March, 
 1350: viz. 
 
 c The King to all and singular the sheriffs, mayors, 
 
 bailiffs, officers,, and his other lieges, as well within 
 
 liberties as without, to whom, &c. greeting : 
 
 f Know ye, that we have appointed our beloved Hugh 
 
 de St. Alban's, master of the painters assigned for the 
 
 works to be executed in our Chapel, at our Palace at 
 
 Westminster, to take and choose as many painters and 
 
 other workmen as may be required for performing those 
 
 works, in any places where it may seem expedient, either 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL 1350. 1? 1 
 
 within liberties or without, in the counties of Kent, Mid- 
 dlesex,, Essex, Surrey, and Sussex; and to cause those 
 workmen to come to our Palace aforesaid, there to remain 
 in our service, at our wages, as long as may be necessary. 
 And therefore we command you to be counselling and 
 assisting this Hugh in doing and completing what has 
 been stated, as often and in such manner as the said 
 Hugh may require.'* 
 
 Similar mandates were issued in favour of John Athelard, 
 and Benedict Nightegale, or Nightingale, the former for Lin- 
 colnshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, 
 and Leicestershire ; and the latter for Cambridgeshire, Hun- 
 tingdonshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk. About the same time 
 also, John Geddyng, glazier, received the king's commission 
 to procure glaziers for the works of the chapel, in the coun- 
 ties of Kent and Essex ; for which service, as well as for 
 collecting glass, he was allowed one shilling per day for him- 
 self and his horse.f 
 
 The account Rolls already referred to, of the 25th, 26th, 
 29th, and 31st of Edward the Third, contain much curious 
 information respecting the operations of the painters in those 
 years. They specify the names of the artists, their rates of 
 wages, the sums which they received from time to time, and 
 occasionally, a statement of the kind of work on which they 
 were employed. The wages of the artists varied from five- 
 pence to one shilling per day; except with respect to a person 
 named John Barneby, (employed at St. Stephen's chapel in 
 1 355,) who was paid two shillings per day. The general wages 
 appear to have been from eightpence to tenpenceper day; but 
 
 * Vide " Foedera," " De H. de S. Albano Magistro Pictore, de Pictoribus 
 eligendis pro operationibus in Capitulo in Palatio Regis faciendis," vol. iii, part 
 i. p. 193: edit. 1825. 
 
 t Smith's " Antiquities of Westminster," p. 1.99. 
 
172 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 the assistants engaged in grinding and tempering colours had 
 only fourpence-halfpenny for the same time. From the nu- 
 merous entries on these Rolls, the following passages have 
 been selected as the most interesting, on account of the in- 
 formation they supply concerning the particular decorations 
 on which the painters were employed. 
 
 25TH EDWARD III. 
 
 < 135 1. June 20. To John Elham and Gilbert Pokerig, 
 
 painters, working on the chapel, as well on the tablements 
 as on the priming of the east end of the king's chapel, six 
 days, at \0d. per day each, 10*. 
 
 ' July 4. To Master Hugh de St. Alban's and John de Cotton, 
 painters^ working there on the drawing of several images, 
 [figures,] in the same chapel, four days and a half, at Is. 
 per day each, 9s. 
 
 < July 11. To Master H. de St. Alban's, painter, working 
 
 there on the ordination [grouping, probably?] of the paint- 
 ing several images, two days, at Is. per day, 2s. 
 To John Cotton, painter, working there on the said draw- 
 ing, six days, at Is. per day, 6s. 
 
 * July 25. To H. de St. Alban's, working there on the ordi- 
 
 nation of several images, four days, at Is. per day, 4s. 
 
 < Aug. 8. To H. de St. Alban's, working there on the ordina- 
 
 tion of images to be painted in the same chapel, three days, 
 at Is. per day, 3s. 
 
 f Oct. 3. To H. de St. Alban's and John de Cotton, painting 
 and drawing several images in the same chapel, six days, 
 at Is. per day each, 12s. 
 
 * Oct. 24. To John Elham and Gilbert Pokerig, drawing 
 
 images in the same chapel, five days, at lOd. per day, 
 8s. 4d. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 1352. 
 
 26TH EDWARD III. 
 6 1352. Jan. 30. To John Elham and Gilbert Pokerigh, 
 
 painting several images in the chapel, five days, at lOd. 
 
 each, 8*. 4d. 
 ' Feb. 27. To H. de St. Alban's, working there two days on 
 
 the drawing of images, as before, 2s. 
 6 March 12. To John Elham, Gilbert Pokerigh, and William 
 
 Walsingham, painting the tabernacles and images in the 
 
 chapel, six days, at IQd. per day each, 1 5s. 
 4 March 19. To the same, painting images [figures] on the 
 
 walls of the chapel, six days as before, 1 5s. 
 
 From subsequent entries, it appears that these artists were 
 employed for several months in painting figures on the walls 
 of the chapel, whilst other painters were engaged on similar 
 work at lower wages. 
 ' April 12. To Wm. Heston and two others, laying on the 
 
 gold, as well on the said walls, as on the placing of the 
 
 preynts on the marble columns in the chapel, two days and 
 
 a half, at 5d. per day each, 3s. \%d. 
 ' April 30. To H. de St. Alban's, ordering or designing the 
 
 drawings for the painters, one day, Is. 
 6 May 7- To the same, working on the disposition of the 
 
 painting of the chapel, three days, as before, 3s. 
 
 To Wm. Walsyngham, and Gilbert Pokerich, painting 
 
 angels for the tabernacles, six days, at lOd. per day each, 
 
 \0s. 
 6 May 13. To H. de St. Alban's, disposer (or rather designer) 
 
 of the works of the painters, painting there two days, 2s. 
 6 May 28. To Wm. de Walsyngham, working on the paint- 
 ing of the angels in the chapel, 2^ days at lOd. per day, 
 
 2s. Id. 
 ( July 16. To Edw. Paynell, and three others, laying on gold 
 
 and pryntes in the chapel, six days, at 6d. per day each, 12s. 
 
174 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 ' July 24. To E. Paynel and five others, making pryntes ? and 
 placing them in the same chapel, five days, as before, 15s. 
 
 29TH EDWARD III. 
 
 July 27. To John Barneby, painter, working on the chapel, 
 six days, at 2s. per day, 12s. 
 
 To John Barneby* and William Maynard, painters, work- 
 ing there, six days, at Is. per day each, 12s. 
 Gilb. Pokerich was employed at lOfl?. per day, and others at 
 lower wages, together with those artists, in the latter part of 
 the month of July, and during the whole of August, and part 
 of September. The following is a summary of the wages 
 for painting, paid between the 5th of June, 1357, and the 4th 
 of June, 1358. 
 
 31sT AND 32o EDWARD III. 
 
 ' 1357. For the wages of Hugh the painter, [H. de St. 
 Alban's,] working on the chapel of St. Stephen, for sixteen 
 working days, and two and a half holidays, between Sept. 
 12, and Oct. 4, at Is. per day, 18s. 
 
 To Wm. Maynard, working there seventy-five working 
 days, and seven and a half holidays, between July 10 and 
 Nov. 6, at Is. per day, 4/. 2s. 
 
 To the same, for forty- five working days, and five and a 
 half holidays, between Nov. 6* and Jan. 29, 1358, at lid. 
 per day, 2/. 5s. 1 Od. 
 
 6 1358. To the same, for sixty-four working days, and five 
 and a half holidays, between Jan. 29 and June 4, at Is. 
 per day, 3/. 9s. 
 
 ' 1357. To G. Pokerich, for thirty-two working days, and 
 two and a half holidays, between June 5 and July 17, at 
 Wd. per day, I/. 8s. 4d. 
 
 * This John Barneby must have been a different individual from the person 
 mentioned in the preceding extract, who wrought at 2s. per day ; and most 
 probably, of inferior talents. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 1358. 
 
 * 1358. To Wm. Lincoln, for eighty-four working days, and 
 
 five and a half holidays, between Jan. 29 and June 4, at 
 $cl. per day, 2 1. 19s. 4d. 
 
 To Wm. Somervill, for sixty- four working days, and five 
 and a half holidays, between Jan. 29 and June 4, at 8d. 
 per day, 21. 6s. 
 
 * 1357. To Wm. Heston, for thirty-one working days, and 
 
 two and a half holidays, between June 27 and Aug. 8, at 
 6d. per day, 16s. 6d. 
 
 To John York and Wm. Cambridge, for sixty-two work- 
 ing days, and six and a half holidays, between Oct. 23 
 and Jan. 29, at 4d. per day each, 21. 5s. 4d. 
 
 6 13aS. To the same J. York, for sixty-four working days, 
 and five and a half holidays, between Jan. 29 and June 4, 
 at 4%d. per day, I/. 5s. W%d. 
 
 To the same W. Cambridge, for eighty-three working days 
 and five and a half holidays, between Jan. 29 and June 
 4, at 4%d. per day, I/. 13s. 
 
 ' For the wages of Master Edmund Canon, master stone- 
 cutter, working on the stalls of the king's chapel, from 
 June 5, 31st Edward III., to June 4, 32nd Edward III.,. 
 364 days, at Is. 6d. per day, 27/. 6s.* 
 Among the miscellaneous entries for the same years, the 
 
 following occur, viz. 
 
 6 To John Prophet, for 2 1 8 loads of Reygate stone, for the 
 cloisters ofle Pue, &c. at 3s. per load, 32/. 14s. 
 To Master Andrew, for two ridell, [probably curtains, or 
 cloth screens ?] for the chapel of St. Mary ; and two iron 
 bars for the windows in the chancellary, 12s. 
 To the same, for an iron stand for the image of St. Ste- 
 phen, \l. 6s. 8d. 
 
 * The above particulars have been derived from the abstracts given by Mr* 
 Hawkins, in Smith's " Antiquities of Westminster." Several of the Rolls 
 which that gentleman examined are not at present accessible. 
 
176 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACK. 
 
 To the same, for three pair of ornaments for the stalls. 3s. 
 To Wm. Padrington, for making eleven images for the 
 stalls, at 8s. each image, 41. 8s. 
 
 To the Prior of the church of the Holy Trinity, for forty- 
 four pieces of timber, for the stalls, 10/. 
 To Thomas of St. Batho, glazier, for one window of glass, 
 to go over the chancel, 40 feet, at Is. 2d. per foot, 21. 6s. 8d. 
 To Nicholas le Peutrer, for 16'Olbs. of tin, for leading the 
 window, at 3d. per lb., 21. 
 
 To John Deynes, for twenty-one thousand nails, called tacks, 
 for the stalls, at Is. per thousand, and twenty- two thousand 
 sprig-nails for the same, at ]s. per thousand, 21. 3s. 
 To Thomas Motte, for 40lbs. of glue, for the stalls, at 4d. 
 per lb., 13s. 4d. 
 
 To Thomas Atte Lee, for twenty-five fish sounds, for the 
 same, 2s. 
 
 The windows of St. Stephen's chapel were richly orna- 
 mented with stained or painted glass ; which decorations, as 
 appears from the entries on the Rolls already cited, were in 
 progress at the same time as the other embellishments of the 
 interior of the building. Among the names of the artists 
 employed, are those of John Athelard and John Geddyng, 
 who were unquestionably the same individuals that had been 
 commissioned to collect artists and labourers for the under- 
 taking, as mentioned in a former page. It is expressly stated 
 that the designs were drawn by Master John de Chester, gla- 
 zier, who was the principal artist engaged on this kind of 
 work, at the weekly wages of seven shillings ; but he had 
 several able assistants at the somewhat lower wages of six 
 shillings per week. The ensuing extracts chiefly relate to the 
 purchase of the glass, and to the labour of the artists. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL 1352- 177 
 
 25TH AND 26'TH EDWARD III. 
 
 6 1351. Aug. 15. To William Holmere, for 107 ponder of 
 white glass, bought for the windows of the upper chapel, 
 each hundred containing 24 ponder, and each ponder con- 
 taining five pounds, at 16s. per cwt., 11. Os. 8d. 
 To Thos. de Badekewold, for 110 ponder of glass, at 14s, 
 per hundred, and Id. per ponder, 19$. I0d. 
 ' 1352. Oct. 3. To Peter Bocher (Butcher), for eight 
 pounds of suet, bought for soldering the glass windows, 8d. 
 To Leuen Crawe, for two ponder, and four pounds of blue 
 glass, for the windows, at Is. per ponder, 2s. 3%d. 
 To Henry Staverne, for sixteen ponder of red glass, for 
 the windows of the upper chapel, at 2s. 2d. each ponder, 
 II. 1 4s. Sd. 
 
 "Oct. 10. To Wm. Holmere, for HOlbs. of blue-coloured 
 glass, for the windows of the upper chapel, at 31. 12s. per 
 cwt., 37. 18s. 
 
 Carriage of the same from Candlewick Street, 6d. 
 'Oct. 17. To John Prentis, for ten hundred of white glass, 
 and of various other colours, for the windows of the said 
 chapel, at 18s. per hundred, 9/. 
 
 Carriage and boatage of the same from London to West- 
 minster, Is. 3d. 
 
 6 Oct. 30. To John Alemayne, for 303 ponder of white glass, 
 for the chapel windows, at 12s. per hundred, ll. IJs. 6d. 
 Carriage of the same glass from Chiddyngfold to Westmin- 
 ster, 6s. 
 
 ' Nov. 7. To J. de Alemayne, for 36 ponder of white glass 
 for the chapel windows, at Gd. per ponder, 18s. 
 Carriage of the same glass from Weld to Westminster, 3s. 
 'Nov. 21. To Wm. Holmere, for twenty-six ponder of 
 azure-coloured glass (bought in London,) for glazing the 
 chapel windows, at 3s. each ponder, 31. 18s. 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 WESTMINSTER PAhACE 
 
 ' Dec. 12. To the same, for sixty ponder of white glass, 
 bought at Chiddinfold, for the windows of the chapel, 
 at 6d. per ponder, 1 1. 10s. 
 
 25TH EDWARD III. 
 
 ' 1351. June 20. To Master John de Chester, glazier, 
 working on the drawing of several images for the glass 
 windows of the king's chapel, at ?$. per week, Is. 
 To John Athelard, John Lincoln, Simon Lenne, John 
 Lenton, and Godman de Lenton, five master-glaziers, 
 working there on similar drawings, five days, at Is. per 
 day, I/. 5s. 
 
 To Wm. Walton, Nicholas Dadyngton, John Waltham, 
 John Lord, Wm. Lichesfeld, John Seines, Thomas Jonge, 
 John Geddyng, John Halsted, Robt. Norwich, and Wm. 
 de Lenton, eleven painters on glass, painting glass for the 
 windows of the upper chapel, five days, at Id. per day, 
 I/. 12s. Id. 
 
 To Wm. Ens, and fourteen others, glaziers, working at the 
 chapel, on the cutting and joining of the glass for the win- 
 dows, six days, at 6d. per day, 21. 5s. 
 
 ( June 27. To John Geddyng, for washing the tables for 
 drawing on the glass, 4d. 
 
 To Master J. de Chester, working there on the drawing of 
 images on the said tables, for his week's wages, 7*. 
 To John Athelard, John Lincoln, Simon de Lenn, and 
 John de Lenton, working there on the aforesaid drawings, 
 six days, at Is. per day, I/. 4s. 
 
 To Godman de Lenton, working with them four days, at 
 Is. per day, 4s. 
 
 To Wm. Walton and others, seven glaziers, working on 
 the drawing of the glass for the windows, six days, at Id. 
 per day each, I/. 4s. 6d. 
 
 To Nicholas Dadyngton and four others, glaziers, painting 
 glass, five days, at 7d. per day each, 14s. ?d. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. -STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 1351. 17^ 
 
 To Wm. Ens, and nine others, glaziers, joining glass for 
 
 the windows, six days, at 6d. per day each, I/. 105. 
 
 To four glaziers, working on the aforesaid works five days, 
 
 at 6d. per day each, 10s. 
 
 Accounts of weekly payments to nearly the same artists, 
 are continued on the RoU to November the 28th, in which 
 period occur the following entries. 
 ( July 4. To Simon le Smith, for seven croysours (cross 
 
 irons), to break and work the glass, at l%d. each, 8%d. 
 
 For cepo arietino (mutton suet) bought, and filings, to make 
 
 solder for the glass windows, 6d. 
 e July 1 1 . To Simon le Smyth, for twelve other croisours, 
 
 is. 3d. 
 
 For servicia (cerevisia ? ale, or wort) for washing the tables 
 
 for drawing on the glass, Id. 
 ' Aug. 15. To Master J. de Chester, for drawing the images, 
 
 or figures, for the glass of the windows, 6s. 
 ' Aug. 22. To Master J. de Chester, and six other glaziers, 
 
 working on the drawing of the images for the windows, 
 
 six days, at Is. per day each, 21. 2s. 
 ( Sep. 12. To Master J. de Chester, and J. Athelard, glaziers, 
 
 drawing images for the windows of the chapel, at the week- 
 ly wages of 6s. each, 12s. 
 ' Oct. 3. To Master J. de Chester, J. Athelard, J. Lincoln, 
 
 H. Lichesfeld, Simon de Lenne, and J. de Lenton, six 
 
 master-glaziers, drawing and painting on white tables se- 
 veral drawings for the glass windows of the chapel, five 
 
 days, at Is. per day each, I/. 16s. 
 
 To John Coventry, and thirteen others, glaziers, breaking 
 
 and joining the glass upon the painting tables, five days, at 
 
 6d. per day each, 21. 2s. 
 
 For cervis' (ale, or wort) to wash the painting tables for the 
 
 office of the glaziers, 3d. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Oct. 10. To Master J. de Chester, and five other glaziers, 
 painting on the white tables, for the windows of the chapel, 
 six days, at Is. per day each, IL I6s. 
 
 To John Coventry, and nine other glaziers, laying the glass 
 on the tables and painting it, six days, at 6d. per day each, 
 IL 105. 
 
 To Thomas de Dadyngton and Robert Yerdesle, grinding 
 different colours for the painting of the glass, five days, at 
 4%d. per day, 3s. 9d. 
 
 Many other entries of 11 similar nature to the above, occur 
 both in that and the following year, viz. 1352, 26th of Ed- 
 ward III. On the 3d of August, 1355, (29th of Edward 
 III.,) the sum of 3s. 4d. was paid to a glazier, for a week's 
 labour, in mending the windows of the chapel : and on the 
 10th of the same month, 2s. 9%d. to the same glazier, for five 
 days' work. On the same day, Richard Lackenham was 
 paid 31. 6s. Sd. for a certain image of St. Mary, bought for 
 the under chapel. 
 
 Independently of the above particulars, the Rolls exa- 
 mined by Mr. Hawkins afford considerable information rela- 
 ~ive to the colours, oils, varnishes, and other materials used 
 for the decoration of the walls and windows of this chapel, 
 and the prices charged for them. Large quantities of stained 
 glass of various colours, as blue, red, azure, and white, were 
 used in glazing the windows ; and silver filings, geet [proba- 
 bly jet], and arnement [orpiment, or yellow arsenic], are men- 
 tioned among the materials procured for painting on the 
 glass. The painting of the walls, pillars, and tabernacles was 
 executed in oil colours ; and the following extracts from Rolls 
 for the 25th of Edward III., and some of the succeeding 
 years, will show what were the charges for the articles thus 
 used. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 1351. 
 
 25TH EDWARD III. 
 <1351. June 26. To John Lightgrave, for 600 leaves of 
 
 gold, for painting the tablements (entablatures ?) of the 
 
 chapel, at 5s. per 100, I/. 10s. 
 
 To the same, for twelve leaves of tin, for the liessers [bor- 
 ders] of the said tablements, Is. 
 
 For cole and squirrels' tails for the painting of the chapel, 
 
 3d. 
 e July 1 1 . For nineteen pounds of white lead, for priming, 
 
 at 4d. per pound, 6s. 4d. 
 'July 18. To John Matfrey, for sixty-two pounds of red 
 
 lead, at 5d. per pound, I/. 5s. lOd. 
 
 To Master H. de St. Alban's, for four flagons of painters' 
 
 oil, for the painting of the chapel, 1 6s. 
 
 * July 25. To the same, for two flagons of cole, for the 
 
 painting of the said chapel, 2d. 
 
 To the same, for half a pound of teynt, for the painting of 
 
 the chapel, 2s. 
 
 * Aug. 8. To the same, for a pound and a half of oker, 3d. 
 
 To the same, for two small earthen jars to put the colours 
 
 in, Id. 
 
 For half a pound of cynephe, for the painting of the upper 
 
 chapel, 1 7s. 3d. 
 6 Aug. 15. To Lonyn de Bruges, for six and a half pounds 
 
 of white varnish, at 9d. per pound, 4s. W%d. 
 ( Sep. 5. To Hugh de St. Alban's, for half a pound of red 
 
 lead, Sd. 
 
 To the same, for three pounds of azure, II. 10s. 
 
 For thirty peacocks' and swans' feathers, and squirrels' 
 
 tails, for the painters' pencils, 2%d. 
 
 For one pair of shears, to cut the leaves of tin, 2d. 
 ( Sep. 19. For one pound of hogs' hair, for the painters' 
 
 pencils, Is. 
 
182 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 For nineteen flagons of painters' oil, at 3s. 4d. per flagon, 
 
 3/. 3s. 4d. 
 
 To John Lyghtgrave, for 600 leaves of gold, at 45. 6d. per 
 
 hundred, ll. 7s. 
 
 For half a pound of cotton, for laying on the gold, 1\d. 
 ' Sep. 26. To John Tynbetere, for twelve dozen leaves of 
 
 tin, 125. 
 'Oct. 3. To John Lyghtgrave, for fifty-one pounds of white 
 
 lead, for the painting of the chapel, at 2?d. per pound, 
 
 To the same, for 2350 leaves of gold for the same painting, 
 
 at 45. 6d. per hundred, 51. 5s. 9c?. 
 
 To the same, for three pounds of azure, at 105. per pound, 
 
 ll. 105. 
 
 To the same, for one pound of cynople, ll. 105. 
 
 To the same, for two pounds of vermelon, 35. 4d. 
 ' Oct. 10. For cole, and peacocks' and swans' feathers, for 
 
 the works of the chapel, 2\d. 
 
 To John Lyghtgrave, for fifty-three pounds of white lead, 
 
 at 3d. per pound, 155. 5d. 
 
 To the same, for forty-three pounds of red lead, at 4d. per 
 
 pound, 145. 6d. 
 
 To the same, for three pounds of white lead, 15. 
 
 To the same, for 2650 leaves of gold, for the paintings of 
 
 the chapel, at 45. per hundred, 51. 6s. 
 'Oct. 17. To Wm. de Hamelamsted, for 1 cwt. 2qrs. 2lbs. 
 
 of tin for the king's works there, at ll. 2s. per cwt., 
 
 ll. 135. 5d. 
 < Nov. 7. To Wm. Alemand, for 900 leaves of gold for the 
 
 paintings of the chapel, at 45. per hundred, 1 1. 1 65. 
 ( Nov. 14. To the same, for 700 leaves of gold, for the 
 
 painting of the tabernacles of the chapel, 1 /. 85. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 1352. 183 
 
 To Margaret Piebaker, for half a pound of cynopre, for the 
 painting of the chapel, 10s. 
 
 To Master H. de St. Alban's, for two pounds of cynopre 
 from Montpellier, at Ss. per pound, 16s. 
 To the same, for fifty-two pounds of white varnish, at Sd. 
 per pound, H. 14s. Sd. 
 
 ' Nov. 2 1 . To John Matfray, for two pounds of azure, at 
 7s. per pound, 14s. 
 
 To George Cosyn, for two pounds of vermelon for the 
 same, at Is. Sd. per pound, 3s. 4d. 
 ' Dec. 5. To John Lyghtgrave, for three pounds of vermelon, 
 
 at 2s. per pound, 6s. 
 
 1352. ' Jan. 2. To John Lambard, for two quatern' of royal 
 paper for the painter's patrons [patterns], Is. Sd. 
 For one pair of scales to weigh the different painters' 
 colours, Is. 
 
 ( Jan. 9. John Tynbeter, for six dozen and eight leaves of 
 tin for the pryntes [stamps?] for the painting of the same 
 chapel, 6s. Sd. 
 
 26TH EDWARD III. 
 ' Feb. 6. To John Tynbeter, for six dozen leaves of tin, to 
 
 make the pryntes for the painting of the chapel, 6s. 
 ' Feb. 13. To John Lyghtgrave, for 136lbs. of white varnish, 
 at 4d. per lb., 2l. Us. 
 
 To the same, for 18lbs. of red varnish, at 4d. per lb., 6s. 
 For seventy peacocks' and swans' feathers, to make pencils 
 for the painters, 2d. 
 
 6 Feb. 27. For squirrels 5 tails, for making the painters' pen- 
 cils, Id. 
 
 ( March 19. To John Matfray, for 4lbs. of oker, for priming 
 of the walls of the chapel, Sd. 
 
 To the same, for 2lb. of brim [brown], for the same, 6d. 
 1 March 19. To Thomas Drayton, for eight flagons of pain- 
 
184 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 ter's oil, for the painting of the chapel, at 2s. 6d. per 
 
 flagon, II. 
 1 March 26. -To Gilbert Pokerig, for two flagons of cole, 2d. 
 
 To the same, for two earthen pots, to heat the cole, \d. 
 e April 16. To John Matfray, for 2lbs. of vert de grece, 
 
 25. 4d. 
 ' April 22. To John Lyghtgrave and William Allemant, for 
 
 400 leaves of silver, at 8d. per 100, 2s. 8d. 
 
 To the same, for 2100 leaves of gold, for the painting of 
 
 the same chapel, at 4s. per 100, 47. 8s. 
 ' April 30. To Gilbert Pockerieh, for swans' and peacocks' 
 
 feathers, for the pencils of the painters, 2d. 
 
 For thread, &c. to bind the brushes and pencils of the 
 
 painters., Id. 
 1 June 4. To Simon de Lenne, for ip>. of hogs' bristles for 
 
 the painters* brushes, Is. 
 
 To Gilbert Pockerich, for 153 peacocks' and swans' fea- 
 thers, for the pencils of the painters, 3d. 
 f June 18. To John Tynbetre, for |lb. of teynt, for the 
 
 painting of the angels, Is. 8d. 
 ' June 25. To John Lyghtgrave, for lOlbs. of weak azure, 
 
 for the painting of the chapel, at 5s. per lb., 21. 10s. 
 
 To Gilbert Pockerig, for one flagon of cole, and for " stupis^ 
 
 [stamps ?] for printing the painting with impressions, 2d. 
 ' Aug. 13. To John Lyghtgrave, for 300 leaves of silver, for 
 
 the painting of a certain window to counterfeit glass, at 8d. 
 
 per 100, 2s. 
 
 To the same, for 2lbs. of viridisgrece, for the same, Is. 8d. 
 
 To the same, for Slbs. of vermelloni, for the same, 6s. 
 
 For cole for the same, Id. 
 ' Aug. 27. To Nicholas Chaunser, for fifteen ells of canvas, 
 
 to cover the images of the kings to be painted, 6s. 8d. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 1355,1363. 185 
 
 ' Sept. 3. To George Cosyn, for one quatern' of royal paper, 
 to make the painters' patrons [patterns], lOd. 
 
 29TH EDWARD III. 
 
 < 1355. July 27. To John Matfray, for 2lbs. of white lead, 
 
 for the paintings of the chapel, Is. 4d. 
 
 6 Aug. 17. To John Lightgrave, for |lb. of sinopre, II. 10s. 6d. 
 ' Sept. 21. To John Matfray, for Silbs. of white lead, Is. 
 
 31ST EDWARD III. 
 
 < 1357. To John Lyghtgrave, for 2300 leaves of gold, for the 
 
 paintings in the chapel, from June 5, 3 1st of Edward III., 
 
 to June 4, in the following year, 41. 12s. 
 
 To Master Hugh, for four flagons of oil, for the same, at 
 
 Is. I ld. per flagon, /* Gd. 
 
 To Wm. Maynard, for 4lb. and J of sinopre, for the same, 
 
 in gross, l?s. 2d. 
 
 To the same, for 2lbs. of verdigris, at Is. per Ib. ; and l^lb. 
 
 of vermillion, at 2s. Id. per Ib., 5s. l^d. 
 
 To the same, for 6'4-lbs. of white lead, at 6d. per Ib., 3s. 3d. 
 
 There is a curious entry on the Patent Rolls of the 37th 
 of Edward III., (anno 1363,) tested by the king himself, at 
 Westminster, on the 4th of June, which shews that the de- 
 corations of St. Stephen's chapel were not completed at that 
 time ; and also supplies an example of the arbitrary precepts 
 that were not unfrequently issued by the king to procure 
 workmen. In this instance, the painters of the city of Lon- 
 on were to be impressed into the king's service, and retained 
 in it, as long as might be requisite, at his own wages : the 
 precept may be thus translated, viz. 
 
186 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 ' The King to all and singular the Sheriffs,, &c., greet- 
 ing: 
 
 ' Know ye, that we have appointed our beloved William 
 de Walsyngham to take so many Painters in our City of 
 London (the fee of the Church excepted,) as may be 
 sufficient for our works in St. Stephen's chapel, within 
 our Palace of Westminster, and to bring them to our 
 Palace aforesaid, for our works, at our wages, there to 
 remain as long as may be requisite : and [given him 
 authority] to arrest all who shall oppose or prove re- 
 bellious in this matter, and commit them to our prisons, 
 until we shall have otherwise ordered their punishment. 
 And therefore we command you that you be assisting 
 the said William, in executing and fulfilling all things 
 before mentioned with your aid and counsel, as often 
 and in the manner in which by the said William on our 
 account you may be required/ * 
 
 Some very considerable works were in progress at Westmin- 
 ster in the years 1365 and 1366, as we have ascertained from 
 a Roll in the King's Remembrancer's office, thus intituled, 
 namely, " Particular Compoti" &c. e Particulars of the Ac- 
 count of William de Sleford, clerk and supervisor of the 
 King's Works at his Palace at Westminster, of all receipts, 
 disbursements, and expenses of the said William, from the 
 28th of September, in the 39th year [of Edward III.] to the 
 27th of September ensuing, being for one whole year.' 
 
 The receipts for the ' Michaelmas ' half year amounted to 
 688/. 10s. 9%d., the greater part of which was derived from 
 the royal treasury ; but about fifty pounds was taken in pay- 
 ment from Robert de Morton, for seven carrats, four wagers, 
 
 * See " Foedera," Hague Edit., Vol. in., Pt. 2, p. 796. 
 
KING EDWARD III. NEW TOWER AND CLOCK TOWER. 1365. 
 
 and eleven claves of lead*. The amount of the ' Easter' 
 half year was 9221. 2s. Id.; making a total of 1610/. 12s. lOjcL, 
 nearly the whole of which was expended within the year. 
 The nature of the works which were then in progress, as well 
 as the prices of materials and labour, will be seen from the 
 following extracts. 
 
 39TH AND 40TH EDWARD III. 
 
 1365. ( Payments. To John Wytcliff, for 22 dol. [blocks?] 
 of Bere-stone, (with freitage,) bought " pro tabulamentis et 
 gargol," entablatures and gargols (or gargles*) of the 
 New Tower at the end of the king's garden, and for the 
 entablature of a clock-tower, " pro quod' orolog'" within 
 the palace, at 8s. 6d. per dol., III. Is. 
 To John Donat, for sixteen dol. of Caen stone, (with freit- 
 age,) for the same works, at 6s. Sd. per dol., 51. Ss. 6d. 
 To Philip Profit, John Longeland, and Stephen Pratte, for 
 469 " carrats" of Reygate stone, bought for doors and win- 
 dows, and for boatage of the same to the above tower, and 
 carriage from Reygate to Battersey, price per " carrat" 3s. 
 701 Is. 
 
 To William Gretyng, Simon atte Hall, Maurice Yong, and 
 William atte Barr, for S107i feet of stone called ashlar, 
 bought at Maid stone for the aforesaid dial- tower, &c., 
 price Sd. per foot, 101/. 6s. W%d. 
 
 To the same persons, for 5675 feet of stone called "urnell" 
 bought for the same works, at 8s. per 100 feet, 22/. 14s. 
 
 * These terms denote certain weights : a carrot is equal to twelve wagers ; 
 one wager to twenty -six claves ; and one clavis to seven pounds. 
 
 f Gargles or gargols, are the jets, or water-spouts, which in old buildings fre- 
 quently protrude from cornices and other projections, and are sculptured to re- 
 present dragons' and serpents' heads, heads of demons, and others of grotesque 
 or hideous aspect. 
 
188 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 To the same William, &c., for sixty-four boat-loads of 
 rag-stone, for the same works, at 7$. per load, 221. Ss. 
 To Thomas Chamberlayne, for two smaller boat-loads of 
 rag-stone, at 5s. per load, 105. 
 
 To Robert Gladwyn, Richard Mersshmane, Adam Sengle, 
 and William Shorham, for eight boat-loads of rag-stone, 
 for the same works, with freitage from Maidstone to West- 
 minster, at I/. 7s. per load, 101. 16s.' 
 
 There are several other entries of a similar description, to 
 the amount of 2SI. 19s. 
 
 ' To John Morden, for 240 stones of Reygate, for the work 
 called "sherches," bought for a certain stair-case, [" pro 
 quadam vice"] in the aforesaid tower near the king's gar- 
 den, at 4d. per piece, 41. 
 
 To the same John, for fifteen stones of Reygate, for the 
 work called " nowells" [newells], bought for the same stair- 
 case, in gross, 21. 
 
 To William Gretyng, for fifty corbels of Maidstone stone, 
 for the aforesaid clock-tower, at lie?, each, 21. 5s. Id. 
 To Robert Parys, for two stones called gressosf bought to 
 sharpen the masons' instruments, price 6s. each, 12s. 
 To Robert Wheler, for 15,500 plain tiles, bought to cover 
 the house within the palace, price per 1000 6s., 47. 13s. 
 To Roger Sudbury, for 1000 plain tiles, bought for the 
 same, 65. Sd. 
 
 To John Tyler, for 4000 plain tiles, bought for the same, 
 price per 1000 6s., I/. 4s. 
 
 To Nicholas Donat, for 500 Flanders tiles, bought for a 
 certain chimney there made, 2s. 
 
 * According to Du Cange, " Gressius," or " Gressus," signifies a flint or 
 paving stone. In the record, it is obviously used to designate hard smooth 
 stones, like those which are converted into oil-stones for carpenters and other 
 artificers. 
 
KING EDWARD III. NEW TOWER, CLOCK TOWER, &C. 1365-6. 189 
 
 To Henry Yeveley, for 7000 Flanders tiles, bought for the 
 pavement of the courts and other works, at 6s. 8d. per 1000, 
 21. 6s. 8d. 
 
 To the same, for six ee mouncell" of plaster of Paris, bought 
 for plastering the courts of the above tower near the 
 king's garden, price " per mouncell" 12s., 31. 12s. 
 To Alan Plasterer, for twelve bushels of white plaster, 
 burnt, bought for the walls of the chambers of the same 
 tower, at Is. per bushel, 12s. 
 
 To the same, for fifty-one bushels of black plaster, bought 
 for the areas [floors ?] of the same chambers, at 8d. per 
 bushel, II. 14s. 
 
 To John Goshenne and John Wylteshire, for eight boat- 
 loads of chalk, for the said clock-tower, at 9s. per load, 
 31. 12s. 
 
 To Robert Maundevill and John Colman, for seventeen 
 boat-loads of chalk, bought for the same, at 8s. per load, 
 61. 16s. 
 
 To Roger Hardell, John Papelwyk, Olive Goldyng, John 
 Duet, and Roger Duet, for 5450 cals, bought for making 
 mortar for the aforesaid tower and other works, at 7*. per 
 100, 19/. Is. 6d. 
 
 To the same Roger, &c. for 6650 cals, bought for the 
 same works, at 6s. per 100, 19/. 19s. 
 
 To the same, for 5150 cals, bought for the same works, 
 at 5s. 6d. per 100, 14/. 3s. 3d. 
 
 To the same, for 6600 cals, bought for the same works, at 
 5s. per 100, 16/. 10s. 
 
 To Stephen Chese, for 450 cart-loads of coarse sand, 
 bought for making mortar, at 3s. 4d. for 100 loads, 15s. 
 To William Farnaham, for eight cart-loads of clay, for 
 mending the floor of a building called the Weigh-house, 
 2s. 6d. 
 
190 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 ' Timber. To John Bythewod, for fifty-seven cart-loads of 
 timber, bought at Reygate, for works at the King's Palace 
 at Westminster, and at the Tower of London, price per 
 cart-load, 2s. 6d., 7/. 2s. 6d. 
 
 To William Kirketon and Robert Paris, for 150 boards 
 called Ryngholt, price per 100 21. 105., 31. 15s. 
 To the same, for 600 boards called waynscot, price per 
 100 H., 61. 
 
 To Thomas Fant, for 1000 hert-laths from Croydon, bought 
 in London, at lie?, per 100, 9s. 2d. 
 
 To Thomas Carpenter, of Kyngeston, for 1000 hert-laths, 
 5s. Gd. 
 
 To the same, for 5200 hert-laths, at 5s. per 1000, I/. 6s. 
 To William Gretyng, for 100 great laths, "empt* pro cen- 
 dulacione magnse aulse Westm'," 6s. 
 
 To Robert atte Pytte, for 800 sap-laths, price per 100 5d., 
 3s. 4d. 
 
 To William Kyng, for fifty boards, bought for the masons 
 to make centring, price per foot 4d. } 16s. 8d. 
 To the same, for fourteen plaunch boards, bought for the 
 same, 7*. 3d. 
 
 To William Sunning and John Rudyan, for 355 scaffold 
 logs, at 3d. per foot, 41. 8s. 9d. 
 
 To William Segstane, for 150 crates or hurdles [" crat"], 
 bought to make the scaffolds, at 4d. per foot, 21. 13s. 4d. 
 To William Kyng, for 5450 thongs [scortic'], bought for 
 the same,, at *Jd. per 100, M. Us. 9d. 
 To the same, for ten bundles of warroks, for the same, at 
 2d. per bundle, 2s. Id. 
 
 To William Joynor, for one small fine table, or slab, bought 
 for the king's table, "pro una parva tabula subtili, empt. 
 pro mensa Regis," 6s. 8d. 
 
KING EDWARD III. MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 1365-6. 191 
 
 To John Dunstaple, " pro una tabula cum tristalP, empt. 
 pro mensa Regis," 105. 
 
 To Nicholas Porter, for three wine-casks, at Is. 8d. each, 5s. 
 To John Clopton, for five wine-casks, and one pipe, empty, 
 bought " pro cendul' inde fac'," to make shingles, price per 
 cask, Is. 6d., pipe, 9d., 8s. 3d. 
 
 To Thomas Chamberlayn, for 5500 shingles, bought at 
 Croydon, at 13*. 4d. per 1000, 31. 13s. 4d. 
 To John atte Wode, for 36,000 tile-pegs [" cavill tegui"], 
 Q.t 3d. per 1000, 6s. 
 
 Nails. [" Clav' cum cerur'."] To John Deynes, for 4400 
 nails with tinned heads, bought for the new doors, at Wd. 
 per 100, II. 16s. 8d. 
 
 To the same, for 4500 nails with tinned heads, for the 
 windows, at 8d. per 100, I/. 10s. 
 
 To the same John and William Sunnyng, for 5300 spy- 
 kyngs, bought for the scaffolds and other works, at 8d. per 
 100, II. 15s. 4d. 
 
 To Richard Lenard, for 11,500 spykyngs, for the same 
 work, at 5s. 6d. per 1000, 31. 3s. 3d. 
 
 To the same, for 4,500 nails, called dornails, at 4d. per 
 100, 15s. 
 
 To the same and John Deyns, for 7,000 black window 
 nails, for the same work, at 2s. 6d. per 1000, 17s. 6d. 
 To Richard Lenard, for 8,500 shingle nails, bought for the 
 roof of the great Hall and the King's Treasury [" in 
 grosso"], 19s. 4d. 
 
 To John Deyns, for 1,400 selyng nails, at 2s. Id. per 1,000, 
 2s. lid. 
 
 To the same, for 500 small selyng nails, at 2d. per 100, lOd. 
 To the same, for 14,000 rove nails, for the lathing, at Is. 4d. 
 per 1,000, 18s. 8d. 
 
192 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 To the same, for 1 1,000 tyrauns ? [" traun',"] for the same, 
 at Is. per 1,000, 11s. 
 
 To the same John and Richard, for 14,000 sprigs, for the 
 same, at lOd. per 1,000, Us. 8d. 
 
 To the same Richard, for 1 1,000 tyrauns, at 1 Id. per 1,000, 
 105. Id. 
 
 6 Iron-work. [Ferr. ct cerar*.] To Master Stephen Smith, 
 " pro una cerur' cu' 2 clav', 1 par' garnettor'* 2 ligatur' 
 ad 4 bolt' et 160 clav' gross, rivat. et omnib. staimatis," 
 bought for a certain door newly made in the King's garden 
 " in grosso," 3/. 3*. 4d. 
 
 To the same, " pro garnett'* et viroii." of iron tinned, for 
 a certain house called Tent, " cum rege cariand. pro tempore 
 venacionis," 9s. 
 
 To the same, for three great iron bars and ten lesser bars, 
 for the windows of the chamber of the before-mentioned 
 tower, near the king's garden, weight 2,9411bs., 27/. 8s. 2d. 
 To the same, for 260 nails, bought to repair the bridge of 
 the [wool-] staple and palace" pro emendatione pont' 
 stapuke et palac'," - weight 79^1bs., at 2d per lb., 13s. 3d. 
 To the same Master Stephen, for one great iron stay bar, 
 two pair of " vertivell' ad gumphis, ten sondel. laches, and 
 catches, and iron wedges," bought for a certain window in 
 the Great Hall, weight 153lbs., at 2d. per lb., I/. 7s. 6d. 
 To the same, ee pro 2 cass' ferr."f for the glazing of the same 
 window, six pair of garnetts " pro prsedict. armorial, 
 infra prsedictam capellam," and two iron plates for two 
 doors in the King's Treasury in Westminster Abbey, 14s. 4d. 
 To John Halfmark, for eighteen stokloks, bought for the 
 
 * A " pair of gernets" " for the window of the priests' chamber," is men- 
 tioned by Mr. Hawkins, from a Roll of the 26th Edw. III. " Antiquities of 
 Westm." p. 206. 
 
 f Casaa probably signifies the iron frame, or casement of a window. 
 
KIXG EDWARD III MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 1365-6'. 
 
 various doors of the aforesaid tower, and other houses 
 within the palace of Westminster, at I s. 3d. each, 1 L 2s. 6d. 
 To the same, for six great plate locks with keys, bought for 
 a certain {( armariol," in the King's chapel, 5s. lOd. 
 To the same, for six clykette-loks with keys, bought for 
 divers doors, 5 s. 2d. 
 
 To the same, for mending an old lock, and making a new 
 key for the same, 7*. $\d- 
 
 e Lead, Glass, and Tin. To Robert Morton, for nine carrats 
 four wagers and four claves of lead, bought for the afore- 
 said works, price per carrat 61. 13s. 4d., 621. 9s. 5d. 
 To John Brampton, for ninety-seven feet of white glass, 
 wrought with flowers and bordered with the King's arms, 
 for the window of the aforesaid tower, at I s. Id. per foot, 
 51. 5s. Id. 
 
 To the same, for forty-two feet of white glass, bought for 
 the windows of the hall, and other houses at the same 
 place, at Is. per foot, 21. 2s. 
 
 To Robert Peutrer, for 54lbs. of tin, bought to make solder, 
 13*. 4d. 
 
 To Robert Ryder, for " 1 morteys eris, empt. pro femo- 
 rar. parvse aulse," weight 71bs., at 4d. per lb., 2s. 4d. 
 To Richard Glover, for 500 reeds or canes, at I6d. per 100, 
 6s. Sd. 
 
 To John Grafton, for one dozen of parchment, bought for 
 the clerks' and controller's accounts, 4s. 
 To the same, for two quaterns of paper and two bags, 
 bought for the same accounts, Is. 9d. 
 
 To Robert attePytte, for 300 fish-sounds, for the carpenters, 
 at 2s. 3d. per 100, 6s. 9d. 
 
 To the same, for straw, bought of Richard Rook and 
 William Ussheborne, for making a certain wall at the mill, 
 18s. Sd. 
 
194 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 To Thomas Freman, for 380lbs. of ochre, bought for a cer- 
 tain cloister, at l%d. per Ib., 21. Is. Gd. 
 
 To the same, for 24lbs. of verdigris, bought for the same, 
 
 and for the chambers of the aforesaid tower, at Sd. per Ib, 
 
 16s. 
 
 To the same, for two flagons of oil, for the same works, at 
 
 25. 6d. per flagon, 5s. 
 
 To the same, for cole, powder, chalk, " oil' et aliis instru- 
 ment." 35. 5d. 
 
 To William Wynchester, for resin and wax, bought to make 
 
 cement for the masons, 25. 
 
 To Robert atte Pytte, for one cord " pro Wyron/' for a 
 
 windlass, 9d. 
 
 To Robert Rop, for one great cord, bought for a certain 
 
 engine, weight 42lbs. at Ifd. per Ib., 65. \d. 
 
 To John Asshehurst, for 3j cwt. of " talwod," bought for 
 
 the plumbers' work, at 6*5. 8^. per cwt., I/. 35. 4d. 
 
 To the same, for three hundred of fagots, bought for the 
 
 same, at 35. 6d. per hundred, 105. 6d. 
 Necessaries. To Ralph Gybbe, for 120 " trayeis ligneis/' 
 
 [probably hand-barrows] bought for carrying stone and 
 
 mortar, price Sd. each, \l. 105. 
 
 To Robert atte Pytte, for four " boll" [bowls], bought for 
 
 making mortar, price 3d. each, 15. 
 
 To the same, for four sieves, bought for sifting mortar, 
 
 at 4d. each, 15. 4d. 
 
 To Alexander Couper, for four buckets, bought to carry 
 
 water, at 6d. each, 25. 
 Freightage, Carriage, and Boatage. To Richard Mersshe- 
 
 man, Adam Sengle, Hugh Duet, and John Elys, for the 
 
 freightage of thirty-four boat-loads of stone, viz. ashler, 
 
 " urneli," and rag, (bought of the aforesaid William Gret- 
 
 ing, Simon atte Hall, Maurice Yong, and William atte 
 
KING EDWARD III. MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 1365-6. 
 
 Barre,) from Maidstone to Westminster, at 205. per boat- 
 load, 341. 
 
 To William Steven., William Scantylon, Matthew Water- 
 gate, and Richard atte Vyne, for the freightage of thirty- 
 eight boat-loads of the same stone, at 18s. per boat-load, 
 341. 4s. 
 
 To John Gold, John Fox, and Robert Maundevyl, for the 
 freightage of eighteen boat-loads of the same stone, at 17$- 
 per load, 151. 6s. 
 
 To John Asshelyn, for the freightage of four boat-loads of 
 the same stone, at 16s. per load, 31. 4s. 
 To John Fynche, for the boatage of twenty-one boat-loads 
 of the same Reygate stone, from Battersey to Westminster, 
 at Is. per load, I/. Is. 
 
 To Philip Strotter, of Kyngeston, for the boatage of 10,000 
 tiles and three pieces of timber from London to Westmins- 
 ter, 6s. 8d. 
 
 To Thomas Chamberlayn, for the carriage of 5,500 shingles 
 from Croydon to Lambeth, 6s. Hd. 
 
 To Richard Joye, for the boatage of the same from Lambeth 
 to Westminster, \s. 
 
 For the boatage of J 0,000 plain tiles, (bought of Robert 
 Wheler, of W T andsworth,) to Westminster, 3s. 4d. 
 And for the carriage of fifty-seven cart loads of timber, 
 bought of John Bythewode, of Reygate, to Croydon, and 
 from Croydon to Lambeth, 101. 
 
 To John Podenhale and Robert Podenhale, for the boatage 
 of fifty-six pieces of the same timber, from Lambeth to 
 Westminster, with two " shouts," 1 U. Sd, 
 To Robert Holman, for the boatage of 160 hurdles, bought 
 of William Segstane, from Deptford to Westminster, at 
 two trips, 5s. 4d. 
 
 To Henry Clerc, for the carriage of one bed for the King 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE, 
 
 " unius lecti regis," from Windsor to Westminster, 
 2s. Sd. 
 
 For the carriage of timber, boards, scaffold logs, and other 
 necessaries, from London to Westminster, 1 /. 
 
 Total amount for things purchased, 6J31. 9s. 3d. 
 
 6 Payments for Wages. 
 ( Masons. To Henry de Yeveley, mason, director of the 
 
 works, for his wages, from Sept. 28, an. 39, to Sept. 27, 
 
 in the following year, viz. for 364 days, at \s. per day, 
 181. 4s. 
 
 To William Winchester, mason, and (( apparator operan- 
 
 tium," director of the masons' work, for the same time, 
 
 at 6d. per day, 91. 2s. 
 
 Many other masons were employed during the same period, 
 some at 6d. and others at 5d. per day, on works at the 
 tower, near the King's garden, and at the hall. The total 
 amount of the masons' wages was I22l. 14s. 4d. 
 4 Carpenters. To Master William Herland, master carpenter, 
 or his wages for the above time, at Is. per day, 18/. 4s. 
 
 To Hugh Herland, carpenter, and " apparator operantium, 
 
 et ordinator operis carpent." for the same period, at Sd. 
 
 per day, 12L 2s. 
 
 With these a considerable number of carpenters were em- 
 ployed on the above works, during the same time, at wages 
 varying from 6d. to 3d. per day. Carpenters' wages in all, 
 721. 5s. l%d. 
 
 Two sawyers only appear to have been employed in sawing 
 timber for these works, in the summer at 5%d., and in the 
 winter at 5d. per day : the amount of their wages for the 
 whole time they were engaged in the year was 2 1. 9s. Sd. 
 
 A few plumbers were employed at 'Jd, and 6d. per day : 
 their wages for the whole time being 31. Ss. 6%d. 
 
KING EDWARD III. MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 1365-6. 197 
 
 Eight glaziers were employed in mending windows., for 
 eight days, at Id. per day ; and another glazier for twenty- 
 nine days, at 5d. per day: wages in all, 16s. 9d. 
 
 Several plasterers were employed, at from 4d. to *Jd. per 
 day; two lath-renders, at 5d. and 4%d. per day; one tiler 
 at 6d. and another at 5d. per day : their wages in all 
 amounted to 31. Is. I0d. 
 
 6 To one " arundinarius" (reed-coverer or thatcher), working 
 on two dove-houses, at the Mews, and two lodges for the 
 masons, ll days, at 5d. per day, 4s. 9%d. 
 To one " daubator" (working on the repair of the walls of 
 divers houses,) six days, at 4d. per day, 2s. 
 To several others, for the same kind of work, from 5d, to 
 to 3d. per day: in all ll. 5s. 
 
 To one iv all-builder, working on a certain wall near the mill, 
 3 1 days, at 4d. per day ; and to another working forty-four 
 days, at 3%d. per day, was paid ll. 3s. 5%d. 
 To twenty-one " fossatores" (diggers or excavators), work- 
 ing on the digging of a certain ditch round the tower near 
 the King's garden, nine days, and two others working ten 
 days and half, all at 4d. per day, 31. 10s. 
 To labourers of various descriptions was paid 50/. Os. 2d. \ 
 and to carriers or carters, working at lOd. per day, 24L 
 2s. 6d. 
 
 Total amount of wages, 2*51. 2s. 2%d. 
 Several masons, tilers, &c. were paid for task, or job-work, 
 in all98/. 3s. 4d. 
 
 One gardener working in the King's garden, at 6d. per day, 
 received 2s. 6d. ; and another at 4d. per day, 2s.; and Ro- 
 bert Gardener, for various seeds, rods, cuttings or offsets, 
 and turf, with carriage of the same, received 3/. 11s. lOd. 
 e Payments by Warrant. To Richard de Armis, pro expensis 
 factis pro minatoribus operant. in eccles. S*. Martini in 
 
198 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 campis et eorum instrumentor. empt. per precept, regis, 
 
 31. 12s. 2d* 
 
 To William de Ussheborne, for provisions bought for the 
 
 cocks, hens, and other poultry, belonging to the king, in 
 
 his custody, 13s. 4d. 
 
 To John Brettewyl, for providing the king's linen [napery], 
 
 viz. napkins, towels, and hutches, during the time of this 
 
 account,!/. 3s. lOd. 
 
 To Alan Prest, for mats bought for the king's chamber, 
 
 \l. 13s. 4d. 
 
 Amount of the above, 7^ 2s* &d. 
 
 ' Payments to Officers. William de Sleford, clerk of the 
 works, 181. 4s. 
 
 Adam de Chesterfeld, controller, 9/. 2s. 
 Thomas Chamberlayn, pro visor, 61. IGs. 
 Robert atte Pytte, surveyor of the labourers and keeper of 
 the tools, 51. 4s. 
 
 Amount paid to officers, 38/. 11s. 4d. 
 
 We must now return to the early part of Edward the Third's 
 reign, for the purpose of inserting the particulars of an 
 ' Account of William de Kelleseye, clerk of the works at the 
 Palace of Westminster and the Tower of London,' &c. which 
 is entered on the Chancellor's Roll of the 2d year of that 
 monarch, and preserved in the British Museum. Wm. de 
 Kelleseye was appointed, on the 3d of January, 1329, at ' the 
 same wages and fees which had been received by William de 
 
 * An idea appears to have been entertained about this time, that a consider- 
 able quantity of treasure was concealed somewhere within the precincts of St. 
 Martin's Church. In the 31st of Edward III. (anno 1357) the king granted the 
 sum of three halfpence a day for life, to Richard de Banewell, a carpenter, who 
 had been disabled during the repairs at Westminster. Vide " Cal. Rot. Patent." 
 page 166 a. 
 
KING EDWARD III. MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 1329. 1 ^i ) 
 
 Chaillou, his predecessor;' and he was invested with office by 
 Richard de Pembroke, the controller, three days afterwards. 
 The account commences on the 6th of January in the above 
 year, and is continued to the 2d day of August following. 
 During that time, the sums received by Wm. de Kelleseye, 
 from the treasurer and chamberlain, amounted to 401. 13s. 4d. 
 The expenditure for the works at the Palace " miste infra 
 palatium" was as follows : 
 
 ( For sixty-one pieces of large and small timber, bought at 
 different prices, for the repair of the great bridge of the 
 said palace ; and for an inclosure " quodam interclauso" 
 before the door of the King's lower chapel, newly con- 
 structed, 101s. 4d. 
 
 For 3,300 shingles " cindul," bought for the covering 
 " pro co-operatura domus scaccarii," of the Exchequer- 
 house, 30s. 9rd. 
 
 For 6',000 shingle-nails, for the same, 7$. 6d. 
 For 30 estrich-boards, bought for making an inclosure and 
 two windows opposite the door of the aforesaid chapel, 
 &c., 5s. 
 
 For 300 board-nails, for the same, *Jd. 
 For two " vertineft," with two " gumphis" [hinges and 
 latches?], for hanging the door of the inclosure, 8d. 
 For 100 sprig-nails for the same works, 4d. 
 For two cords [cables ?] bought for drawing and raising the 
 old and new timber, for a certain ram for driving piles in 
 the water, for the greater security of the bridge before- 
 mentioned, 4s. }Qd. 
 
 For a piece of " seliskyn," bought for the same ram, to be 
 suspended by iron hooks, to facilitate the raising and falling 
 of the ram ; aud for other articles, for the same purpose, 
 6s. 2d. 
 
 For the hiring " in conductione/' of one " shoute" and 
 other boats, to assist in the repair of the bridge, 21 s. 2d. 
 
200 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 For the wages of the carpenters working on the repair of 
 the bridge, making the inclosure, and covering the Exche- 
 quer-house, 7^ 15e?. 
 
 For the wages of labourers and porters, 57*. 3d. 
 For the wages of sawyers, 9s. 
 
 For the wages of pargiters " muratores/' working on the 
 making of a wall e muri lutei" round the lodge in which 
 the carpenters and other workmen were at work, with 
 straw for the said wall, 4s. 2d. 
 
 For 1000 tiles, for the covering of the Queen's bottle-house 
 in the palace " pro co-opertura domus botell. dominae 
 reginse, in palacio," 4s. 
 
 For four cart-loads of sand, for mortar, &c. 4d. 
 For 25 sacks of lime, for mortar, 2s. 6d. 
 For 2,000 trestle-pins " treshelpynnes/' bought for the 
 same house, 2d. 
 
 For 200 laths for the same, I4d. 
 For 1,000 lath-nails, lOd. 
 
 For the wages of tilers, covering the said house, 13*. 4d. 
 For three wagers and 16lbs. of new lead, (the wager con- 
 tains 26lbs. by the great pound,) bought to cover the top 
 " cresta," of the house of the treasury, 31*. 4d< 
 For 200 lead-nails, for the same work, 4d. 
 For the wages of the plumbers, melting the old lead and 
 laying it, together with the new lead, on the top of the 
 house of the treasury, and elsewhere within the Palace, 
 5s. lljd. 
 
 For portage and carriage of timber, lead, &c., 11*. 3d. 
 For timber to support the vines in the King's garden 
 " in maeremium pro vineis supponendis, in herbar. R." 
 
 184 
 
 Amount 23/. 2s. lid. 
 
 ' Expenses at the Tower, . . 4*. 5d. 
 
 231. 7*. 4d. 
 
KING EDWARD III. TREASONS OF MORTIMER. 1330. 
 
 6 Wages, or salary, of Win. de Kelleseye, clerk of the works, 
 from Jan 6, 2d Edw. III. to the 2d of August following, 
 at \2d. per day, 101. 8s. 
 
 s Ditto of Rich, de Pembroke, controller, for the same time, 
 at 6d. per day, 51. 4s. 
 
 In the Parliament that assembled at Westminster, in No- 
 vember, 1330 (4th Edw. III.), took place the remarkable pro- 
 ceedings against Roger de Mortimer, the overbearing and 
 ambitious favourite of the Queen Dowager; who had been 
 arrested at Nottingham, with the sanction of the young King, 
 and was then a prisoner of state. He was charged with 
 having superseded the authority of the Council appointed 
 at the Parliament held immediately after the coronation, to 
 assist and advise his majesty, and having surrounded him by 
 his own creatures, displacing the officers of the royal house- 
 hold to make room for them ; with having caused the late 
 King to be put to death ; with appearing in arms with hi& 
 retainers at the previous parliament at Salisbury, in contra- 
 vention of an order under the Great Seal which he had him- 
 self procured to be issued, in order to prevent other peers 
 from securing themselves against his hostile attacks; with 
 exciting the King to harsh measures against the Earl of Lan- 
 caster, and other nobles ; with having inveigled the late Earl 
 of Kent into a conspiracy which caused his destruction ; with 
 obtaining grants of castles and demesnes belonging to the 
 crown, embezzling the King's treasure, and oppressing the 
 people with various exactions. 
 
 For these and other treasons, among which Fabian includes, 
 " that he was more secret with Quene Isabel, the kynges 
 mother, than was to Goddes pleasure or the kynges honoure," 
 Mortimer was adjudged by the earls, barons, and peers, 
 (judges of parliament.) with the assent of the King, to be drawn 
 
202 
 
 W E S T M I N S T K H PA L A C E . 
 
 and hanged (( treyne et pendu ;" which sentence the Earl 
 Marshal was directed to put into execution ; and the criminal 
 accordingly suffered on the Thursday following the opening 
 of parliament (Nov. 29), at the place called a the Elms."* 
 His punishment,, how greatly soever it was deserved, was 
 scarcely less illegal than the acts of which he was accused, 
 since he was never fairly put on his trial, nor heard at all in 
 his own defence, but condemned by the peers, for crimes not 
 proved by evidence, but stated to be notoriously known to 
 them and the people.f 
 
 In the same parliament was put upon his trial Thomas de 
 Berkeley, knight, charged as an accomplice, or accessory in 
 the murder of the late King, which was perpetrated in his 
 castle of Berkeley. The accused pleaded illness and absence 
 from the castle when the assassination took place ; and his 
 assertion of innocence and ignorance of the designs of the 
 assassins being accredited by the twelve knights, who were 
 his jurors, he was ultimately acquitted, though committed 
 for a while to the seneschal of the king's house. J 
 
 The animosities which had been excited in the kingdom, 
 and especially among the nobility, by the misgovernment of 
 Edward the Second and his favourites, and the subsequent 
 tyranny and rapine of Roger Mortimer, supported by the 
 faction of the Queen Dowager, did not immediately subside 
 after the fall of that powerful baron. The young King, with 
 
 * There were three places called " the Elms," in former times, viz. the Elms in 
 Smithfield, the Elms at St. Giles's, and the Elms at Tyburn ; and they were all 
 places of execution at different periods. Holinshed states that Mortimer suf- 
 fered at the Elms, " now Tiborne." Vide " Chronicles," vol. ii. p. 599. 
 
 f " Rolls of Parliament," vol. ii. p. 52, 53. The sentence of Mortimer was 
 declared erroneousand annulled, and Roger, his grandson, was restored to his title 
 and estates, in the parliament which met at Westminster in the 28th of Edward 
 III. Idem, vol. ii. p. 255, 256. 
 
 I Idem, p. 57 and 62. 
 
iING EDWARD III. OUTRAGE IN PARLIAMENT. 1332. 203 
 
 KING 
 
 a spirit worthy of a great prince, exerted all bis influence and 
 authority to preserve the public peace; and among other 
 measures devised for that end, he especially prohibited the 
 bearing of arms during his parliamentary Councils. Thus, on 
 the holding of a Parliament at Westminster, in April 1332, a 
 proclamation was issued strictly forbidding all men, of what- 
 soever condition or estate, on pain of extreme forfeiture to 
 the King, " sur peyne de forfaiture de quant qu'ii pourra 
 forfaire (levers le Roi," from wearing any hacquetons, breast- 
 plates, swords, long knives, or any other dangerous weapon, 
 either in the city or suburbs of London, or in any place be- 
 tween the city and the Palace of Westminster, or within the 
 Palace itself; except those persons whom the King had 
 deputed to keep the peace, and the King's servants : but the 
 earls and barons were permitted to wear their swords in any 
 other place than in the King's presence, and at the council.* 
 Though this ordinance may have prevented the angry 
 nobles from disturbing the tranquillity of the metropolis by 
 the riotous brawls and outrages of their armed retainers, it 
 had but little effect in restraining their own turbulence ; a 
 remarkable instance of which occurred in this very Parlia- 
 ment^ In the arguing of a long-standing case of dispute 
 between Sir John Grey, of Rotherfield, and Sir William de la 
 Zouche, of Ashby, before the King himself, in the council 
 chamber, both parties used violent language, and at length 
 Sir John Grey became so greatly irritated that he Jaid his 
 hand upon his dagger, and partly drew it from its sheath. 
 For this disrespect to their sovereign, the two knights were 
 arrested ; and whilst Sir William was held to bail, his oppo- 
 nent was committed to the custody of Sir William Clinton. 
 The King requested the advice of the assembled peers on this 
 affair, and their decision was, that they considered Sir William 
 
 * " Rot. Parl." vol. ii. p. GA. 
 
204 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 de la Zouche free from blame, but that Sir John Grey ought 
 to be kept in prison during his majesty's pleasure ; adding, 
 however, an appeal to the royal clemency on behalf of the 
 offender.* 
 
 In a Parliament held at Westminster, on Michaelmas-day 
 1334 (8th of Edward III.), the King expressed his intention 
 of accompanying Philip de Valois, king of France, on a cru- 
 sade to the Holy Land; but he was afterwards obliged to 
 abandon that design, through the occurrence of the Scottish 
 and French wars. The following incidental notices of the 
 King^s presence at Westminster at the above period, are de- 
 rived from an Account Roll (vide Cotton MSS. Nero C. viii. 
 fol. 208) in the British Museum. c Sept. 21st.: In offerings 
 made by the king at the mass celebrated in his presence on 
 the anniversary of the king, his father, in the conventual 
 church of Westminster, 6s. 3d. Sept. 23d. : In alms given 
 to friars of divers mendicant orders in the city of London, 
 meeting the king in procession on his coming to Westmins- 
 ter, in all, 61. 10s. Sept. 25th.: In offerings made by the 
 king at the shrine of St. Edward, in the price of an ouch\ of 
 
 * Ibid. p. 66. This appeal was not immediately successful, the King declaring 
 that he would consider of it; or, in the words of the record, " De laquele 
 grace le roi repondi qu'il se voleit aviser." 
 
 f According to Du Cange, the words an ouch have been substituted for a nouch, 
 which is the true reading ; in a similar way to the corruption of an adder from a 
 nadder. In Exodus, chap, xxviii. ver. 11, (as well as in other parts of that and 
 the xxxixth chapter,) the term ouches appears to be used for the setting in which 
 precious stones were held ; as thus" Engrave the two [onyx] stones, with the 
 names of the children of Israel thou shalt make them be set in ouches of gold." 
 These were used to fasten the ends of the golden chains upon the shoulder-pieces 
 of the ephod of Aaron ; and may consequently be regarded as broaches, or fibulae. 
 Most probably it was a jewel of that description which the king presented at the 
 shrine of St. Edward. Nouches are mentioned in the catalogue of the royal 
 jewels, in the Wardrobe Account of the 28th year of Edward I., printed from a 
 
KING EDAVARD III. THE CROSS " GNEYTH." 133/. 
 
 gold, [set] with divers stones, I OOs.; and at divers reliques in 
 the same church, 7*. ; and in the price of a cloth of gold, 
 diapered, which was placed over the body of Master Hugh 
 le Sans, who died on the 12th of September, 24s.: in all 61. 
 Us.' In the same MS. (fol. 212), under the date of May the 
 3d, 10th of Edward III., this entry occurs: ' In offerings 
 made by the king at the cross " Gneyth" * in his Chapel within 
 the Palace at Westminster, on the feast of the Invention of 
 the Holy Cross, 5s.' In the following year, also (fol. 213 b.), 
 ' offerings were made by the king, at the shrine of St. Ed- 
 ward, in the abbey church of Westminster/ 
 
 In a Parliament held at Westminster, in March 1337 (Hth 
 of Edward III.), the king, who was then preparing to assert 
 his claim to the crown of France, raised his eldest son 
 Prince Edward, (afterwards the Black Prince,) to the digni- 
 ties of Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Chester.f This was 
 
 MS. in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries. Thus, " una nouchea auri 
 parva cum Camahuto fusco ;" and another of a more curious description is thus 
 noticed: " vn&nouchia auri cum imaginibus Regis et Regine de armis Franc 1 
 cum petraria diversa, precii 130 TuronV Vide pp. 345 and 353. Ouches 
 were, in former times, frequently bequeathed by will, as may be ascertained from 
 Nicolas's " Testamenta Vetusta." 
 
 * Some very curious particulars relating to the Crux de Gneyth are inserted in 
 the glossary to the " Liber Garderobse," of the 28th ofEdward I. It is reputed 
 to have contained a part of the true Cross of our Saviour, and was obtained from 
 the Welsh at Aberconway, by Edward the First, in the year 1283. That king 
 carried this holy relic with him in his progresses and Scottish wars ; and it is 
 mentioned in the Inventory taken of his jewels after his decease, at Burgh-on- 
 Sands, in 1307 ; which has been printed in the Minutes of the Commissioners 
 on Public Records. It was subsequently deposited in St. George's Chapel at 
 Windsor ; to which, apparently, it had been given by Edward III. 
 
 f Cornwall had been previously an earldom, held by John of Eltham, the 
 king's younger brother, who died at St. John's Town, now Perth, in Scotland, 
 in October 1336. 
 
206 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 the first instance of the creation of a duke in England : the 
 investiture of the young prince, who was only in the 7th year 
 of his age, was performed by girding him with a sword. At 
 the same time six earls were created by the king ; and on 
 the same day twenty persons of noble birth had the degree 
 of knighthood conferred upon them by the prince, in virtue 
 of his possession of the palatinate of Chester. The royal 
 Palace became a scene of great splendour during the conse- 
 quent solemnities and banquetings ; of which an incidental 
 notice occurs in the Account Roll already quoted (vide p. 204), 
 namely, c To Sir John Sturmy, knt. " hostiar" [doorkeeper] 
 of the king's hall, as a gift from the king in lieu of divers 
 cloths of gold placed over the king's head in his hall, at dif- 
 ferent times this year, viz. on the 16th of March, on which 
 day the king held his great hall at Westminster, and Edward 
 his eldest son was made Duke of Cornwall, &c. 74s.' The 
 patent of the prince's creation bears date on the 17th of 
 March.* 
 
 About the end of November in the same year, two cardi- 
 nals came to this country as ambassadors from the Pope, 
 Benedict XII., whose object was to avert, if possible, the 
 threatened hostilities between England and France. These 
 mediatorial envoys were Peter de Hispania, Cardinal Priest 
 
 * See Barnes's " History of Edward III." pp. 45 and 112, from Dugdale and 
 Ashmole. About six years after his investiture as Duke of Cornwall, and 
 during the session of another Parliament which met at Westminster on the 28th 
 of April 1343, the youthful Edward was advanced to the yet higher dignity of 
 Prince of Wales. In the charter of his creation, which is dated May 12th (17th 
 of Edward III.), and still preserved among the records of the Exchequer, it is 
 stated, that by this deed he was appointed to preside over and govern the Princi- 
 pality ; with which dignity he was invested by the presentation of a wreath, or 
 coronet, a ring of gold, and a verge or rod of silver. Valuable estates and 
 revenues were at the same time bestowed on the prince, to enable him to sup- 
 port his accumulated honours with becoming splendour and munificence. 
 
KING EDWARD III. EMBASSY FROM ROME 133/. 207 
 
 of St. Praxedes, and Bertrand de Montfleury (or de Monte 
 Florentio), Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria de Aquiro. They 
 experienced a most honourable reception; the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, the Bishops of Worcester, Ely,, Chichester, and 
 Coventry, and the Corporation of London, going to Shooter's- 
 hill, to meet them on their way from Dover ; and the young 
 Prince Edward,, the Earl of Warenne, and many other noble 
 persons, advancing to receive them a mile without the city. 
 The king himself met them at the door of the lesser hall of his 
 palace at Westminster, and conducted them into the Painted 
 chamber, where they unfolded the purpose of their embassy; 
 and the English Sovereign agreed to a truce until the assem- 
 bling of the next Parliament on the morrow after Candlemas 
 day.* 
 
 Though the ostensible object of the pope's agents was to 
 maintain peace and concord between the rival sovereigns, 
 they were also deputed by the pontiff to support and extend, 
 if possible, his influence over the clergy and people of 
 England, and to augment the revenues and emoluments 
 accruing to the church or rather the court of Rome, from this 
 part of Christendom. The cardinals remained here, the 
 guests of King Edward, until the 21st of March, when they 
 embarked at Dover, for the Continent, having " cost the 
 Church of England fifty marks per diem all the time of their 
 stay here." f The attempts of the Pope's agents to fleece the 
 people of England were repeatedly resumed during this reign, 
 and their exactions were so oppressive as to call forth the 
 remonstrances of both the King and the Parliament. J 
 
 * Anon. Hist. Edw. III. ad fiuem Hist. Walt. Heminford, ed. a Hearne ; 
 Oxon. 1731. Vol. ii. p. 413. 
 
 f Barnes, " Hist. Edw. III." p 120. 
 
 J See " Foedera," vol. ii. pp. 4 and 152, Hague edit. ; and " Rot. Parl." 
 vol. ii. p. 228. 
 
08 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 After the meeting of Parliament,, on the 3d of February, 
 1337-8, King Edward consented to prolong the truce till 
 Midsummer ; but, on the French monarch refusing to ratify 
 the conditional agreement for that purpose, he vigorously 
 continued his preparations for war ; obtaining large supplies 
 from Parliament, forming alliances with continental states, 
 and publicly asserting his claim to the French crown.* He 
 also assumed the arms and style of King of France (quarter- 
 ing the French lilies with the English lions), which he caused 
 to be inscribed on the new great seal, made by his direction, 
 on his return from Flanders in February 1339-40; and on 
 the 1st of March, in the presence of the chamberlain, the 
 keeper of the privy seal, and the seneschal of his household, 
 he delivered the said seal to Sir John de St. Paul, in the 
 Cage Chamber at Westminster " in palatio suo apud West- 
 
 * Edward derived his claim to the kingdom of France, from Isabel his mother, 
 the daughter of Philip the Fourth of France. The style adopted on the new seal 
 was, Edwardvs Dei Gratia Rex Francie et Anglic et Dominvs Hibernice." In 
 the above Parliament an application was made by Richard de Bettoyne, who, 
 when mayor of London in 1327, had officiated as butler at the king's coronation, 
 praying a remedy against the Exchequer Court, from which an estreat had been 
 issued against his goods and chattels for the sum of 89. 4s. 6d., as a fee for 
 the articles which he had then received in right of his office. His petition states, 
 ' that he attended the coronation (as other mayors of London had done at former 
 coronations), accompanied by 360 valets, all in one livery, and each carrying a 
 cup of white silver; that the fee appertaining to that duty "le fee q'appendoit 
 a eel jorne," was a cup of gold, with the cover thereof, and an ewer of gold 
 enamelled ; and that the same had been delivered to him by Robert de Wode- 
 house, with the assent of the Earl of Lancaster and other great men " et d'au- 
 tres grantz," of the king's council.' It was ordered, ' that search be made 
 among the Rolls and Remembrances of the Exchequer in respect to the above 
 application, and if it be found that the mayors of London have been accustomed 
 to receive such fee at former coronations, it should be allowed to the aforesaid 
 Richard, and the demand made upon him quashed.' See " Rot. Parl." vol. ii. 
 p. 96. 
 
KING EDWARD III. GREAT SEAL. 1340. 209 
 
 monasterium, videlicet, in quadam camera ibidem vocata la 
 Cage Chaumbre.^* 
 
 Several changes in the keepership of the Great Seal took 
 place about this period, in the records concerning which the 
 names of different apartments within the Palace are men- 
 tioned. On the Friday after the feast of St. Mark (April 
 28th) 1340, the above John de St. Paul, who was then 
 keeper of the rolls in Chancery, took the Great Seal (in- 
 closed in a purse sealed with his own seal) by the King's di- 
 rection, to the White Chamber at Westminster (" la Blaunche 
 Chaumbre super aquam Thamesis in Palatio suo Westmonaste- 
 riensi/'), and there delivered it to his Majesty in the presence 
 of the Earl of Arundel and others. The King himself then 
 carried the seal into a small chamber on the south side of 
 " la Blaunche Chaumbre," and gave it to John (Strat- 
 ford) Archbishop of Canterbury, who had twice or thrice 
 before been keeper of the seal, and whom he again appointed 
 Chancellor. The Archbishop, having taken the customary 
 oath to execute the duties of his office with fidelity, departed 
 with the Great Seal to his Palace at Lambeth. In the June 
 following, however, on the " King giving him an angry 
 check for that he was apt to be timorous without reason,'* 
 he resigned his trust, under the plea of ill-health and inabi- 
 lity to discharge the duties which devolved on him.f The 
 
 * " Foedera," vol.ii. pt. 2, pp. 1115; ed. nov. The Cage chamber was probably 
 an Aviary. Besides the ' king's Cage chamber,' there are mentioned in diffe- 
 rent records relating to the Palace, a Penthouse,' and an ' Enclosure towards 
 the King's Kitchen Garden,' under the Cage Chamber ; ' Chambers near the 
 Cage Chamber ;' and a ' Sottricer' (possibly a sub -terrace), ' between the King's 
 Cage chamber and the Queen's chamber.' 
 
 f See Barnes's " Hist of Edward III." p. 181. Edward being on board his 
 fleet, in the harbour of Orwell, on the coast of Sussex, and about to sail to 
 Flanders, took umbrage at the Archbishop repairing thither in order to ad- 
 vise him " not to adventure to cross the sea," on account of the strength of 
 
 P 
 
210 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 King then ordered that the seal thus surrendered by the 
 Archbishop should be broken,, and that a new seal should be 
 made, and placed in the hands of John de St. Paul, as locum 
 tenens of Robert Stratford, Bishop of Chichester (the brother 
 of the Archbishop), who was appointed to succeed him. 
 Soon afterwards, on the 1 2th of July, the new Great Seal 
 was delivered to the Bishop of Chichester, in the Painted 
 Chamber (" camera depictd"} at Westminster, and he carried 
 it thence to his t( Hospitium," in Chancery-lane.* 
 
 About the end of November the King returned suddenly 
 from France in great dudgeon, in consequence of having been 
 foiled in reducing Tournay (which he had besieged upwards 
 of nine weeks), and also constrained to make a truce with 
 the French monarch. He attributed his ill success to the 
 failure of supplies from England, and almost immediately 
 after his arrival he imprisoned many of the chief officers of 
 the kingdom, judges as well as others, on the charge of 
 embezzling or withholding the subsidies which had been 
 voted to him by Parliament.f He had been compelled in- 
 deed, as was strongly expressed in the royal letters written 
 at Westminster, during his subsequent dispute with the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury (John Stratford), to " plunge him- 
 self into the devouring gulf of usury," in order to provide 
 sustenance for his army, and pay off his foreign auxiliaries. 
 
 the fleet which the French had assembled to oppose his passage. The King, 
 however, persisted in his enterprise, and after one of the most sanguinary en- 
 gagements that ever was fought upon the ocean, and of upwards of nine hours 
 continuance, he totally defeated the enemy. Full 30,000 men, on both sides, 
 are reported to have perished in the battle. 
 
 * " Foedera," vol. ii. pt. 2. p. 1129. The Bishop's Hospitium, or Inn (as 
 his Palace was then called), stood on the west side of Chancery-lane, on the site 
 of the present Chichester-rents and its neighbouring courts. 
 
 f Some idea of the mode in which the kingdom was fleeced for carrying on 
 the French wars at this period, may be formed from the general particulars 
 given in Barnes's " History of Edward III." pp. 197, 198. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ARCHBISHOP STRATFORD^ CASE. 1341. 21 1 
 
 It had been chiefly through the importunities and under 
 the advice of the Archbishop, that Edward had been induced 
 to enforce his claim to the French crown, and he was now 
 extremely indignant at the apparent desertion of the Arch- 
 bishop, who, to avoid the effects of the King's anger, 
 withdrew to Canterbury, and, entrenching himself under the 
 privileges of the church, refused to answer for his conduct 
 unless in full Parliament. For a while he openly defied the 
 King's power, and even proceeded to promulgate sentences 
 of excommunication and monition (in his own cathedral), 
 " with the dreadful ceremony of bell, book and candle, the 
 bells ringing dolefully, and the candles being suddenly ex- 
 tinguished with a stench," against all such as should disturb 
 the peace of the kingdom, violate the liberties of the church, 
 or prefer false accusations against an Archbishop or any 
 other Bishop of his province ; and he commanded all his 
 suffragans to publish the same.* 
 
 Although the King was greatly irritated at the Archbishop's 
 contumacy, he thought it expedient to summon a Parliament, 
 which met at Westminster on the 9th of April, 1341 ; and 
 the Archbishop, in order to be present, " came secretly to 
 London, and repaired to the Bishops of London and Chi- 
 chester, by whom he was conveyed to the King's Palace, 
 where the Parliament sat, with a great company of clergy- 
 men and soldiers."f But he was forbidden entrance, in the 
 King's name, until he had promised to return an answer in 
 the Exchequer, to the charges which had been urged against 
 him. Some delay occurred in the proceedings, and he was 
 again forbidden to enter Parliament by the Captain of the 
 King's Guard (Sir William Atte-wood) ; on which he took 
 his cross into his own hands and solemnly protested, " that 
 
 * Vide Barnes's " Edward III." p. 214. f Idem, p. 232. 
 
 p 2 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 he would not stir from that place till the King gave him leave 
 to come into Parliament, or a sufficient reason why he 
 should not."* Whilst thus occupied, he was reviled by the 
 bystanders, " as a traitor who had deceived the King and 
 betrayed the realm.'* He replied with vehemence, " The 
 curse of Almighty God and of his Blessed Mother, and of 
 St. Thomas, and mine also, be upon the heads of those who 
 inform the King so, Amen, Amen/' This singular scene was 
 terminated by the interposition of some of the nobles, who 
 prevailed on the King to admit the Archbishop into the 
 Parliament; where his case was eventually referred to the 
 decision of twelve peers, viz. four bishops, four earls, and 
 four barons. No judgment was, however, given ; for " on 
 the 19th of April, being a Thursday, the King came into St. 
 Edward's Chamber, commonly called the Painted Chamber, 
 before whom, in sight of all the Lords and Commons, the 
 Archbishop humbled himself, and required his gracious 
 pardon; which, upon the whole Parliament's general suit 
 and entreaty, his Majesty granted." Shortly afterwards, 
 " without any more accusation or answer, the King, of his 
 own accord, declared him legally purged and excused, and 
 ever after held him more dear than before/' f 
 
 Pardons under the Great Seal were sometimes granted 
 by Edward the Third, to offenders against the laws, by his 
 own personal authority, without the concurrence of his 
 acknowledged ministers; of which the following are in- 
 stances. In 1342, on the 16th of May, Sir Robert Parnyng, 
 the Chancellor, delivered the seal to the King, by his special 
 command, " in quadam earner^ sua infra palatium West- 
 monasteriensi super aquam situata;" and the King, opening 
 
 * Barnes's " Edward III." p. 233. 
 
 f Ibid. See also " Anglia Sacra," vol. i. p. 33, &c. 
 
KING EDWARD III. PAPAL USURPATIONS. 1343. 213 
 
 the purse in which it was contained, gave the seal to Henry 
 of Lancaster, Earl of Derby, and William Bohun, Earl of 
 Northampton, who immediately affixed it to divers charters 
 of pardon to persons accused of homicide, in order to stop 
 proceedings against them ; but those charters were not, as 
 customary, formally enrolled. The seal was then returned 
 to the Chancellor, to be kept by him as before.* In the 
 following year, on Michaelmas day, a similar scene took 
 place (most probably in the same apartment, the official 
 words being, "in nova camera sua WestmonasterieKsi super 
 aquam situata"), the Great Seal being surrendered to the 
 King by John de Thoresby and John de St. Paul, its keepers, 
 and given, by his direction, to Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl 
 of Warwick, who sealed with it five charters of pardon for 
 alleged felonies. The King then gave the seal to Robert de 
 Sadyngton, who took the oath of office as Chancellor, in the 
 royal presence.f 
 
 The tyranny and oppression to which the people of Eng- 
 land were exposed, from the manner in w T hich the authority 
 of the Pope was exerted in favour of foreign ecclesiastics 
 who resorted to this country in the reign of Edward the 
 Third, provoked the repeated remonstrances of the King and 
 Parliament. In an assembly of the latter at Westminster, in 
 April 1343, the Commons complained to his Majesty that 
 the realm was impoverished through the usurpations and ex- 
 actions of the emissaries of the court of Rome ; and the King 
 promised his aid and influence in support of any reasonable 
 measures they might adopt to check this growing evil. In con- 
 sequence of this, the temporal Peers and the members of the 
 House of Commons addressed a letter to Pope Clement VI., 
 
 * " Foedera," voL iii part ii p. 11S4, from the Close Rolls, 
 f Id. p. 1236. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 complaining, " that divers reservations, provisions, and 
 collations, by his apostolic predecessors of the church of 
 Rome, and by the most holy father himself, had been granted 
 (and now more largely than heretofore,) unto divers persons, 
 as well strangers and of other nations, as to some who are 
 our professed enemies, and who have little or no understand- 
 ing, at all, of our language, and of the conditions and customs 
 of those of whom they have the government and cure." 
 After stating the evils arising from these abuses, they inform 
 his Holiness, that they " neither can nor ought any longer 
 to suffer or endure them ; " and therefore entreat him, with- 
 out delay, to provide a remedy, correction, and amendment 
 of the enormities specified."* 
 
 This spirited remonstrance of the English Nobles and 
 Commons, dated Westminster, May 18, 1343, was delivered 
 to the Pope, at Avignon, by Sir John de Shoreditch, their 
 agent or envoy, who is characterised by Barnes, as "a 
 man of great gravity and deep knowledge of the law.'* 
 Answers were returned in letters from the Pope both to the 
 King and to his counsellors, which were by no means satisfac- 
 tory ; and King Edward not only reiterated the complaints 
 of the Parliament, in an epistle to Pope Clement, from West- 
 minster, September 10, 1343, but also proceeded to forbid 
 the practice of collations and provisions in his realm, on 
 pain of imprisonment and death.f 
 
 By a writ of liberate, tested by the King at Westminster, 
 on the 10th of October, 1345, the sum of sixpence per day 
 for life was granted to Coursus de Gangeland, apothecary, of 
 London, for attending him in his illness during an expedition 
 into Scotland in that year. Another grant (under the Privy 
 
 * Barnes's " Hist. Edward III." pp. 273, 274. 
 
 f " Foedera," vol. ii. p. 1223, 1233, new edit.: " Rot. Parl." v. ii. pp. 141, 
 145; Holinshed's " Chronicle," v.ii.pp. 0'26, 627. 
 
KING EDWARD III. TOURNAMENT AT WESTMINSTER. 1348. 
 
 Seal), also tested by the King at Westminster, was made on 
 the 22d of February, 1346, of ten pounds yearly, to Isolde 
 Neweman, the nurse of John of Gaunt, Edward's fourth son.* 
 
 Several important documents were tested by the King, in 
 his Palace at Westminster, in the early part of the year 1348; 
 among which, on February the 14th, was a writ of summons 
 to Edward (Baliol) King of Scotland, to attend a Parliament 
 thereat in the following Lentf During the Easter holidays 
 in 1348, King Edward held a grand Tournnment at West- 
 minster, where William Earl Douglas, and Sir William 
 Douglas, called the Knight of Liddesdale, (who had been 
 prisoners in England since the battle of Nevill's-Cross, in 
 1346,) were permitted to display their skill in jousting ; and 
 they distinguished themselves so much by their knightly 
 bearing and courage, that the King was induced to allow 
 them to return home, after binding them by oath not to take 
 up arms against England. J 
 
 A dreadful plague, or pestilence, devastated England and 
 other countries in the years 1348 and 1349, and raged with 
 peculiar violence in London, Westminster, and the neigh- 
 bouring places. In consequence of this calamity the Parlia- 
 ment, which had been summoned to meet at Westminster 
 
 * " Foedera," vol. iii. part 1. p. 61, and p. 70. It was not unusual to provide 
 for those who had been nurses to the children of the sovereign, as maybe seen 
 from the Close and Patent Rolls of different reigns. 
 
 f Vide " Foedera," idem, p. 153. 
 
 J Barnes's " Hist. Edward III." p. 419. A more magnificent festival of 
 the same description was celebrated about the same time at Windsor Castle, 
 in honour of the Institution of the Order of the Garter. The Chapel Royal of 
 St. George, at Windsor, now founded in connexion with this Order, was en- 
 dowed with various estates and benefices, by charter, dated at Westminster, 
 August 6, 1348. Id. p. 442, where a translation of the charter is given : it has 
 likewise been published by Ashmole, from the Patent Rolls, in his " History of 
 the Order of the Garter." 
 
216 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 on the Monday after the feast of St. Hilary, 1349, was pro- 
 rogued to the quindene of Easter following ; but the pesti- 
 lence still continuing, so as to render the assemblage of the 
 Peers and Commons highly hazardous, a further prorogation 
 (by writ dated at Westminster on the 10th of March,) took 
 place for an indeterminate period. In August or September 
 the plague ceased, after the metropolis had been exposed to 
 its ravages about twelve months. Fifty thousand persons 
 who died at this time are said to have been buried on the site 
 of the Charterhouse, which was then purchased by Sir Wal- 
 ter Manny, and constituted a public cemetery, in connection 
 with which was founded a Carthusian monastery.* 
 
 The victories obtained by Edward the Third in his wars 
 against the Kings of France and Scotland, and the high 
 reputation he had acquired among the European princes by 
 his talents and policy, occasioned his being chosen as um- 
 pire, or president, of a court of chivalry, before which was 
 decided a dispute between two foreign knights of great dis- 
 tinction. In the war which was carried on at this period 
 between the Christians and Mahometans in Asia, where the 
 King of Armenia, assisted by the Cypriotes and the Rho- 
 dians, defended his dominions against the invasion of the 
 Sultan of Babylon, these knights held important commands. 
 One of them, named John de Visconti, was related to Hugh, 
 
 * In a proclamation dated at Westminster on December the 1st, 1349, " De 
 non permittendo, causa pestilentiae, fugientes transire ad partes exteras:" 
 addressed to the magistrates of all the English ports, it is stated that no incon- 
 siderable portion of the people of England had died of this pestilence. In 
 another proclamation dated at the same place, on the 18th of June, 1350, 
 relative to the increase of wages and prices of goods, the said increase is attri- 
 buted to the death, from the late pestilence, of a great part of the people, 
 especially labourers and servants. Vide " Foedera," vol. iii. part i. pp. 191 
 199. 
 
KING EDWARD III. TRIAL BY BATTLE. 1350. 
 
 King of Cyprus, and the other, called Thomas de la Marche, 
 was a natural son of the late King of France, Philip de Va- 
 lois. The latter was accused by Visconti of various crimes 
 and treasons, in that he had entered into a conspiracy to 
 betray the King of Sicily, in whose service he was engaged ; 
 and that he had forged certain letters, and been guilty of 
 perjury. All this De la Marche flatly denied, as false and 
 scandalous, and challenged the appellant to single combat. 
 Both parties, by the advice of their comrades, agreed to refer 
 their dispute to the King of England, " as the most worthy 
 and honourable Prince in all Christendom.'' These knights 
 came to England in the beginning of September, 1350 ; and 
 presented to King Edward letters from the Kings of Armenia 
 and Cyprus, and other Princes and Captains who commanded 
 in the war with the Infidels, containing a statement of the 
 charges alleged and the replication, and entreating that he 
 would grant them the Trial by Battle in his royal presence. 
 The King consented, and the usual formalities having taken 
 place, he " set them a day, namely, the 4th of October, 
 being the Monday after St. Michael, wherein to decide their 
 quarrel in close field, within the Lists, at his Palace of West- 
 minster."* 
 
 On the day appointed the combatants made their appear- 
 ance in the lists, armed at all points, on horseback ; the 
 King, the Prince of Wales, many of the nobility, and a vast 
 number of people being present. Then the customary 
 oaths having been administered to them, and other pre- 
 liminaries adjusted, they made ready to begin the combat. 
 And immediately Sir John, throwing aside his lance and 
 shield, leaped from his horse ; which the other observing, 
 alighted also, and they bravely waged the contest on foot. 
 
 * Barnes's " Hist. Edward III." . 4o3. 
 
218 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 In the first struggle Sir John was thrown down, but he in- 
 stantly sprung up,, and renewed the battle ; fighting bravely 
 till he again sunk down beneath the blows of his opponent, 
 who was about to terminate the combat by putting him to 
 death. But the King taking compassion on the fallen knight, 
 and yielding to the requests of his nobles, determined to save 
 his life, and commanded Sir Thomas to pursue his advantage 
 no further. The latter, who had received no injury, was 
 then proclaimed conqueror, adjudged free from the charges 
 brought against him, and, agreeably to the compact made 
 before the engagement, the vanquished knight was delivered 
 up to him as his prisoner. 
 
 Such are the circumstances of this judicial combat, as 
 described in a state paper, (f De Duello inter T. de la 
 Marche, bastardum Francise nuncupatum, et Johannem Vis- 
 count;"* drawn up probably by the King's direction, to be 
 transmitted to foreign courts. Stow, who has been followed 
 by Barnes in his account of this affair, notices a circumstance 
 not mentioned in the record, to which the French knight may 
 have been indebted for his success. " After that they had 
 runne at the tilte,f and fought on foote, as they were striuing 
 together on the ground, with certaine prickes both short and 
 sharpe, then called gadlings, being closed in the ioyntes of his 
 right gauntlet, the said Thomas stroke the said John in the 
 face, and sore wounded him ; but, on the other side, John 
 had no such short kinde of weapon wherewith he might 
 hurt Thomas' face, and therefore cryed out aloude most 
 horribly, whereupon by the King's commaundement the corn- 
 bate was ended, and the victorie adiudged to Thomas, who 
 
 * " Foedera," vol. iii. part 1. p. 205, ed. nov. 1825. 
 
 f This is a mistake ; there was no tilting, the combatants fighting on foot. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ARCHIEPISCOPAI, CONTROVERSY. 1351. 
 
 gaue the said John, being thus overcome, to the Prince 
 of Wales for a captiue, and offered vppe his owne armour 
 to Sainte George, in St. Paul's Church, at London, with 
 great deuotion."* 
 
 No Parliament had been held during the years 1349 and 
 
 1350, on account of the pestilence; but in the beginning of 
 
 1351, the King issued writs for the assembling of the Peers 
 and Commons at Westminster in the ensuing month of 
 February. The commission for authorising the King's son 
 Lionel to open the Parliament, was read, " en la Chaumbre 
 Blaunche pres de la Chaumbre Peynte." f During the con- 
 sequent session, " the old controversie between the Arch- 
 bishops of Canterbury and York, concerning the bearing 
 of their Crosiers, began to be renewed with the usual heat ; 
 but at last was wholly referred to the King's hearing, who 
 set down this final rule to be observed for the future, viz. 
 " That the Archbishop of York might bear his Cross in the 
 other's presence, saving the pre-eminence to Canterbury; 
 but that in token of subjection, every Archbishop of York, 
 at his entrance into that bishoprick, should offer an image of 
 gold to the value of forty pounds at the shrine of Thomas of 
 Canterbury. The same image to be sent by some knight, 
 or Doctor of the law, within the space of two months after 
 his inthronization.";}; 
 
 In another Parliament, held in January, 1351-1352, it 
 was proposed in the opening speech of the Chief Justice, 
 that a deputation of the Commons, of twenty-four or thirty 
 persons, should attend the King in the Painted Chamber, 
 " Chaumbre de Peinte," to have explained to them the occa- 
 
 * Stow's " Chronicle," Ed. 1600, p. 392. 
 
 t " Rot. Parl." xxv Edw. III. vol. ii. p. 225. 
 
 t Barnes's " Hist. Edward III." p. 456. 
 
220 
 
 WESTMINSTER PA LACK. 
 
 sion of the Parliament being summoned, whilst the remain- 
 der of the Commons should withdraw to the Chapter-house 
 of Westminster, " se trehissent el Chapitre de Westm'r," 
 and there await the return of their companions. The Com- 
 mons refused to agree to this arrangement ; but two days 
 after the whole body attended Prince Lionel, " et les autres 
 grantz," in the White Chamber, where their advice was re- 
 quested as to what was proper to be done in respect to the 
 contest with France.* 
 
 In 1352, King Edward kept the festival of Whitsuntide 
 at Westminster, where he splendidly entertained his princi- 
 pal nobles, and those French and Scottish Lords and Captains 
 of distinction who were then prisoners of war in England. 
 The honour of knighthood was on that occasion bestowed 
 on the younger brother of Richard Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arun- 
 del, and three hundred more young gentlemen ; and Charles 
 de Blois, one of the competitors for the Duchy of Bretagne, 
 who had been a captive in England about four years, obtained 
 permission to go to France to raise money for his ransom. 
 
 Among the records belonging to the King's Remem- 
 brancer's Office, is a wardrobe account of John de Bukyng- 
 ham, for the 27th year of Edward the Third (anno 1353), of 
 which the following details of the expenses at the Palace for 
 two days in the month of June, are given as a specimen. 
 
 ' Wednesday, June 5. Charges of the steward's office, 
 255. *j\d. ; butlery, 41. 2s. 4d. ; wardrobe charges, 555. S%d. ; 
 cookery, *Jl. 195. 7J^- ; scullery charges, 17*. Ojd. ; salt pro- 
 visions, 2s. 7%d. -j pro aula, nichil ; expenses of the stable, 
 104s. \l\d. ; servants* wages, 57$. 3d. ; alms, 45. Sum 
 total, 25/. 95. 2d. 
 
 6 Thursday, June 6. Charges of the steward's office, 
 
 * See " Rot, Parl." vol. ii. p. 236, '237. 
 
KING EDWARD III. ROYAL HOUSEHOLD. 1348. 
 
 445. 2id.-, butlery, 261. 3s. \%d.; wardrobe charges, 247. 
 135. 6^.; cookery, 39/. 185. IQd. ; scullery, 121. 6s. 2d. ; salt 
 provisions, 405. lOd. ; hall, 185. O^d. ; chamber, 225. S^d. ; 
 expenses of the stable, 1035. Of^.; servants' wages, 505.; 
 alms, 45. Sum total, 117/. 45. 5%d. 
 
 ' On this day [sc. June 6], the Dukes of Lancaster and 
 Bretagne, the Bishop of Winchester, Lord J. de Clermont, 
 and other French noblemen, were entertained by the King 
 at Westminster.'* 
 
 * Some idea concerning the manner in which the royal Household was 
 constituted and maintained in the reign of Edward III. may be formed from 
 the following extracts from an account of the "Expenses necessary of offi- 
 cers, and other chardges, concerning the howsholde of the Prince of noble 
 memorie Edward the Third," from the 21st of April in the 18th year of his 
 reign, to the 24th of November in the 21st year (that is, from 1345 to 1348) ; 
 when Walter "Wentwage was treasurer of the household. 
 
 " The King's Clarices. The comptroller of the houshold, coferer, almoyner, 
 clarke of the pantrey and butery, clarke of the spicery, clarke marshall, phisi- 
 tian, two clarkes of the wardrobe, three clarkes of the privie scale, the receiver 
 of the Kinges chamber, and four other clarkes : every man at two shillinge s 
 by the daye. Also 6 chaplens, three of the chappell, the other 3 clarkes of the 
 spicery, th' other clarke of the kytchen, th' other clarke almoyner, and 11 other 
 clarkes, every man at I2d. the daye, and amongst them all." 
 
 Among the "Officers and mynysteres of the Howse, with their retinewe," 
 were a marshall of the hall, 2 ushers of the hall, 1 usher of the chamber, 6 
 sewers of the hall, 2 herbergers, 1 sergaunte of the pantry, 3 of the buttery, 3 
 of the achatry, 1 of the chandery, 1 of the bakehowse, 1 of the ewery, 3 porters, 
 1 of the salsery, 1 of the larder, 3 herbengeres, 1 of the poultry, 2 ferewrs, 
 [farriers?] ; three master cokes, the Queue's buttler, 2 potycaryes, 1 taylor, 2 
 officers of armory, 3 armourers, 1 surveior of the dresser, 1 waferer, 1 standard 
 berer of the wardrobe, 27 archeres on horse, 9 yeomen of theKinge's chamber, 
 79 yeomen of the offices, and 17 messingers. Under the designation of" myn- 
 strelles," are included 5 trompettes, 1 citoler, 5 pipers, 1 taberett, 2 clarions, 1 
 makerer, 1 fideler, 3 waytes, 3 archers on horse and 3 on foot. There were also 
 no fewer than three hundred and forty-six artificers and workmen belonging to 
 the household at the above period, namely, 24 massons, 138 carpinters, 1 
 couper, 13 smythes, 57 ingyners, 24 pavillioners, 60 marynorp, 7 armorers, 6 
 
222 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 In 1353, the road from London to Westminster had be- 
 come so dangerous for the transit of passengers or carriage 
 of goods, as to demand the interference of government. A 
 mandate was therefore directed in the name of the King and 
 the Council (dated Westminster, November 20), to John de 
 Bedeford, of London, appointing him Commissioner for the 
 paving of the road in question. This instrument recites, 
 that the highway leading from the gate called Temple-bar, 
 London, to the door of Westminster Abbey, by the frequent 
 passage of carts, horses, merchandize, and provisions^ to the 
 staple at Westminster, ever since its establishment, had become 
 so deep and muddy, and the pavement ff pavagium" so 
 much injured and broken, that unless soon repaired, great perils 
 must be incurred by the passage both of men and of carriages. 
 In order to remedy this evil therefore, it was ordained that 
 the foot pavement adjoining to the houses on the line of the 
 road, should be newly laid at the expense of the owners of 
 the nearest houses ; and that money should be levied by tolls 
 on goods sold at the staple, to defray the charge of paving 
 the road between the kennels on each side, and of construct- 
 ing a Bridge at the Palace of Westminster for the conve- 
 nience and advantage of the merchants trading at the staple.* 
 An important ordinance relating to the staple was promul- 
 gated in " a great Council," at Westminster, held in Sep- 
 tember 1354.f 
 
 Among the most memorable events of this reign may be 
 reckoned the arrival in England of John, King of France, 
 
 artellers, 6 gonners. Besides these, this ancient record specifies, as members 
 of the King's household, 90 " sergeants at armes with theire retenew," and 
 206 " esquiers of howshold with theire retenew; " which included 60 archers 
 on horse and 21 archers onfoote. VideHarleian MS. No. 782, pp. 62 71. 
 
 * " Fosdera," vol. iii. part 1. p. 269 : new edit. 
 
 f "Rot. Parl." pp. 246253. 
 
KING EDWARD III. JOHN,, KING OF FRANCE. 135/. 
 
 (after he had been taken prisoner at the battle of Poictiers, 
 on the 19th of September, 1356), and his entertainment at 
 Westminster in the following May. King Edward receiving 
 information that his son, the Black Prince, accompanied by 
 his royal captive, had landed in England and was approaching 
 the metropolis, issued orders for Sir Henry Picard, the Mayor 
 of London,* to prepare the city pageants, and make arrange- 
 ments for the reception of the French monarch with a full 
 display of ceremonial honours. The Prince and his train 
 reached London on the Wednesday before Whitsuntide 
 (May the 24th) ; and at Southwark he was met by above a 
 thousand of the principal citizens on horseback. " King 
 John being clothed in royal apparel, was mounted on a 
 cream-coloured charger, with splendid trappings, in token of 
 sovereignty, and to be more remarkable; the generous 
 Prince of Wales riding by his side on a little black hobby, 
 as one that industriously avoided all suspicion of a triumph."f 
 They took their way over London bridge towards Westminster, 
 and in all the streets through which the procession passed, 
 the citizens displayed to public view their richest property ; 
 arches were thrown across the streets, adorned with tapestry, 
 plate, and glittering armour. But (as appears from Knyghton,) 
 " they especially boasted of their warlike furniture, and ex- 
 posed that day in their shops, windows, and balconies, such 
 an incredible quantity of bows and arrows, shields, helmets, 
 corslets, breast and back plates, coats of mail, gauntlets, 
 vambraces, swords, spears, battle-axes, harness for horses, 
 and other armour both offensive and defensive, that the like 
 
 * This was the Magistrate who, in the year 1363, had the honour to banquet 
 four Kings at his own table, in the Vintry ; namely, Edward III. King John, 
 David King of Scots, and the King of Cyprus, together with Edward the Black 
 Prince, and a large company of nobles and other distinguished persons. 
 f Barnes's " Hist. Edward III." p. 526. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 had never been seen in memory of man before."* The con- 
 course of people that assembled to witness this rare and in- 
 teresting spectacle was so great, that the cavalcade continued 
 from three o'clock in the morning till high noon, about which 
 time it reached Westminster Hall, where King Edward was 
 seated on his throne, surrounded by his prelates and barons. 
 When the French King entered, he descended from the regal 
 seat, embraced him with tokens of respectful attention, and 
 leading him to partake of a magnificent banquet, entertained 
 him in his Palace for some time as his own guest. The cap- 
 tive monarch was afterwards lodged in the Palace of Savoy, f 
 in the Strand, which was then the property of Henry Duke 
 of Lancaster. 
 
 About Midsummer in the same year, King Edward gave 
 audience at Westminster to three Cardinals (who had come 
 to England with a train of 230 horse), two of whom were 
 deputed by Pope Innocent the Vlth to negociate a peace 
 between England and France, and the third to complain 
 against the continuance of the siege of Rennes, in infraction 
 of a late treaty. These envoys, being introduced to the 
 King, as, according to Knyghton, f he sat in great and 
 terrible majesty on his throne/ made their salute ' in a kind 
 
 * Barnes's " Hist. Edward III." p. 526. 
 
 f An affecting anecdote relating to King John has been told by Polydore 
 Vergil, as occurring during his residence at the Savoy. "Whilst there, he was 
 frequently visited by King Edward himself, as well as by the Queen and other 
 members of the royal family, who were anxious to mitigate his chagrin and 
 divert his mind from regretful contemplations. Seeing their endeavours fail, 
 and that the princely diversions with which he was entertained had little effect 
 upon his sorrow, Edward and his son, with much friendliness, requested him 
 to lay aside his melancholy, and derive consolation from more cheerful thoughts. 
 He answered in the words of the Psalmist, with a mournful smile, " Quo- 
 modo cantabimus canticum in terra aliena?" How shall we sing in a strange 
 land ? Vide " Angl. Hist." L. xix. p. 382. 
 
KING EDWARD III. TREATY WITH FRANCE. 1360. 
 
 of adoration;' but as the Pope's embassy was not em- 
 powered to treat on any point directly connected with the 
 claim of the English monarch to the crown of France, 
 Edward would agree to a truce only, until midsummer day 
 1359.* 
 
 King Edward kept his Christmas at Westminster in the 
 year 1358, and had for his guests at the banquet-table the 
 captive King of France and David King of Scotland ; the 
 latter having come to England to offer his service in the 
 French wars, as well as to propose a treaty of commerce 
 with the English nation. 
 
 In October, 1359, the King again invaded France with a 
 vast armament, and during several months despoiled and 
 ravaged that unhappy country with merciless severity. At 
 length, about the end of April, 1360, an awful and appalling 
 storm, which fell on the English army when encamped in 
 the open field near Chartres, made such a strong impres- 
 sion upon Edward's mind as to the instability of all earthly 
 greatness, that he agreed to a solemn treaty for the final 
 adjustment of his claims to the French throne.f By this 
 
 * This 'work of peace-making ' was so chargeable, that Knyghton says, ' the 
 Cardinals had of the clergy of England 4d. in the mark, as well of spirituals as 
 of temporals.' They had even the insolence to demand the annuity of 1000 
 marks which King John had promised to the see of Rome when he resumed his 
 crown from the hands of the legate Pandulph, but which no sovereign after Hen. 
 III., had ever paid. The King, with a determination worthy of an Englishman, 
 replied, that as he " held his kingdom freely and without subjection to any 
 one but God alone, he would never pay tribute to any mortal whatsoever." 
 Talleyrand, Cardinal de Perigort, one of the envoys sent by the Pope on this 
 occasion, was an ancestor of the famous Prince Talleyrand of modern times, 
 the late ambassador from Louis Philippe, King of the French, to this country. 
 
 t During the tempest, in which " it seemed as if the whole fabrick of Na- 
 ture was falling to pieces," the cold was so excessive, and the hailstones of 
 such a prodigious size, that upwards of 6000 horses and nearly 1000 soldiers 
 perished on the field. Barnes's " Hist. Edward III." p. 583. 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 famous agreement, which has been called both the Treaty of 
 Renunciation) from its respective clauses, and of Bretigny^iiQio. 
 the village where it was signed, King Edward relinquished 
 all claims to the crown of France, on condition (inter alia,) 
 that various provinces in that kingdom should be ceded to 
 him in full sovereignty; and that 3,000,000 of crowns of gold 
 (equal to 500,000/.), should be paid by France in yearly 
 instalments of 400,000 crowns each. The treaty was signed 
 on the 8th of May; and, within a fortnight afterwards, King 
 John, in an interview with the English monarch, " in the 
 chapel of the Palace at Westminster/' consented to ratify 
 and confirm it, preparatory to his own liberation agreeably 
 to the treaty.* He was finally set at liberty at Calais on the 
 16'th of the following October. 
 
 In January, 1361, a Parliament was held at Westminster, 
 in which all the circumstances and conditions of the late 
 Treaty underwent full discussion, and both Houses expressed 
 their entire satisfaction at the agreements which the King 
 had formed. Upon this the mass in honour of the Holy 
 Trinity was celebrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 
 the abbey church of Westminster ; and, after mass, the 
 King and his sons, standing up in presence of the French 
 hostages, " torches being lighted, and crosses held over the 
 eucharist and missal," witnessed the ceremony of all the 
 English Peers who were present, making oath " upon the 
 sacred body of our Lord (super sacro sanctum corpus Do- 
 minicum)," to keep the peace and concord which had been 
 agreed on by the two Kings.f On the same day, at West- 
 minster, certain French Lords also swore to observe the 
 
 * Vide DuChesne, " Histoire d'Angleterre," &c. p. 692, ed. 3, 1641. 
 t Edward himself had previously taken the sacrament to keep the treaty, in 
 concurrence with the King of France, on restoring him to freedom at Calais. 
 
KING EDWARD III. A JUBILEE KEPT. 1362. 
 
 terms of the late treaty ; and thus, says the annalist, " was 
 peace restored between the two kingdoms."* 
 
 On the 16'th of April, 1361, divers precepts tested by the 
 King at Westminster, were directed to the Sheriffs and 
 Justices, commanding them to arrest all such artificers as 
 had deserted the King's service in 1 search of better wages, 
 and subjecting their employers to forfeiture of their pro- 
 perty.f 
 
 In 1362, the King, by his charters of creation and ex- 
 planation (dated at Westminster on the 19th of July, 
 bestowed the principality of Aquitaine on his eldest son, 
 Edward the Black Prince ; to be held, in lieu of all service, 
 by the annual payment of an ounce of gold at the Palace of 
 Westminster.^ The ceremonies of investiture and homage 
 were performed in the Palace on the same day. 
 
 On the 13th of October following, a Parliament was com- 
 menced at Westminster, which continued its sittings until 
 the festival of St. Brice (November the 13th), which being 
 the King's natal day, and that on which he had completed 
 the 50th year of his age, he now kept as a Jubilee. On this 
 occasion his three sons, viz. Lionel of Antwerp (who was 
 then in Ireland), John of Gaunt, and Edmund of Langley, 
 were advanced, in full Parliament, to the respective dignities 
 of Duke of Clarence, Duke of Lancaster, and Earl of Cam- 
 bridge ; the King himself girding on the swords of the two 
 latter Princes with his own hands. He also, according to 
 Holinshed, (( shewed himselfe more gratious to his people, 
 granting pardon to offenders, and revoking outlawes." In 
 this Parliament a very important improvement was effected 
 
 * Contin. Adam Murimuth, pp. 113, 114. Oxon. 1722. 
 f Vide " Foedera," vol. iii. part ii. pp. 613, 614 ; edit. 1830. 
 J A well-executed engraved copy of the principal charter has been given in 
 the " Foedera," vol. iii. part ii. Edward's attached Great Seal is very beautiful. 
 
 Q2 
 
228 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 in the administration of the laws, by the statute which 
 directed that legal proceedings should be conducted in future 
 in the English language, instead of the French, which had 
 been used in our courts of law since the reign of the Norman 
 William.* 
 
 A Parliament was held at Westminster in May, 1366, in 
 which the continual exactions of the Papal See became the 
 subject of much discussion, and particularly the renewed 
 claim by the Pope, Urban the Vth, to the annual tribute 
 of 1,000 marks which King John had been ignominiously 
 compelled to assign for the restitution of his crown by Pan- 
 dulph. It had been threatened to cite the King to the court 
 of Rome, for the purpose of enforcing the demand; and 
 Edward now requested the advice of his Parliament as to 
 the course he should pursue should the citation issue. 
 The prelates requested to delay their answer until the 
 next day; but they then, for themselves, and conjointly 
 with the temporal Peers and the Commons, declared, " that 
 neither King John, nor any other sovereign, could reduce 
 the realm to such subjection, without the assent of Parlia- 
 ment, which had not been given ; and that should the Pope, 
 either by process or otherwise, attempt to enforce the same, 
 the King and all his subjects should oppose and resist it to 
 the utmost of their power .f During this Parliament the 
 
 * " Rot. ParL" vol. ii. p. 273. Fabyan says, " Aboute this tyme was an 
 ordenaunce and statute made, that sergeautes and prentyses of the lawe shulde 
 plede theyr plees in thyr moder tonge; but that stode but a shorte whyle."- 
 " Chronicles," p. 476, 1811, 4to. 
 
 f " Rot. Parl." vol. ii. p. 290. Barnes states (referring for his authority to 
 " MS. Vet. Angl. in Bibl. C. C. C. Cantab, c. 232."), that the King " was so 
 moved at the insolence of the thing, that over and above, he caused it now to 
 be ordained, that from that time forward St. Peter's pence should not be paid;" 
 which had been first granted to the See of Rome by Ina King of the West 
 Saxons, about the year 675, in consideration of an English school to be con- 
 
KING EDWARD III. NEW SEALS MADE. 1364. 
 
 prelates and barons sat in the White Chamber, and the 
 Commons in the Painted Chamber. 
 
 It is stated in the " Anglia Sacra/' (vol. i. p. 120,) that 
 Simon Langham, who had been promoted to the See of 
 Canterbury in 1 366, was admitted by the King to the tem- 
 poralities of that See, at the Palace of Westminster, on No- 
 vember the 5th, having received the pall, in St. Stephen's 
 chapel, on the previous day. 
 
 The conditions of peace stipulated between England and 
 France, by the treaty of Bretigny, were but imperfectly ful- 
 filled on either side, particularly after the death of King 
 John, which took place on the 8th of April, 1364, at the 
 Savoy Palace, which had been assigned for his residence 
 on his return to England in the beginning of that year ; and 
 from whence, according to Froissart, " he went as often as 
 he pleased, privately by water, to visit King Edward at his 
 Palace of Westminster." At length, in 1369, the two nations 
 were again involved in war ; and Edward resumed the title 
 of King of France, by the consent and advice of his Parlia- 
 ment, which had assembled at Westminster in the octaves 
 of the Trinity. A new Great Seal, Privy Seal, and various 
 other official seals were then ordered to be made forthwith, 
 and thenceforth used in the respective offices from the llth 
 of June next ensuing.* 
 
 Scarcely had the war been recommenced than the King expe- 
 rienced a heavy loss in the decease of Philippa, his consort, who 
 
 tinued at Rome for ever. " Hist. Edward III." p. 670. Fabyan, who mentions 
 the same fact, of the abolition of the payment of " Peter penyes by Edward 
 the Third, adds, " but how so at that dayes was than by the Kyng forbodyn, 
 yet neverthelesse at this present tyme and season they be gaderyd in sondry 
 shyres of Englande." Vide " Chronicles," p. 477 ; edit. 1811. 
 
 * " Foedera," vol. iii. part ii. p. 868. See also " Rot. Parl." vol. ii. p. 460, 
 and Sir Harris Nicolas's " Chronology of History," p. 300. 
 
230 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 died at Windsor, on the 15th of August, 1369; and agree- 
 ably to her last request, was buried in the Abbey church at 
 Westminster ; near the spot which Edward, about ten years 
 previously, had chosen for the place of his own sepulchre, 
 in the chapel of St. Edward the Confessor.* 
 
 During the subsequent years of Edward's reign his former 
 wonted success in war almost entirely deserted him, and 
 from the many untoward events which rapidly succeeded 
 each other, a great part of his continental possessions was 
 wrested from his dominion. The lingering illness of the Black 
 Prince, who had quitted his foreign Principality, and with a 
 vain hope that his native air would restore his health, had 
 returned to England in January 137l,t and the defection 
 of his continental allies, were of the most essential detriment 
 to his affairs. When no longer surrounded by the splendours 
 of victory, the murmurs of his people at the grievous imposts 
 to which they were still subjected became loud and deep ; and 
 every additional subsidy that was granted by Parliament, 
 was wrung from them most grudgingly. 
 
 One of the last acts of Edward's public life (if that phrase 
 be admissible,) was to prepare a vast armament, both of 
 ships and men, for a new invasion of France, and retrieving 
 his recent losses in that country. For this purpose, taking 
 the command in person, he embarked at Sandwich on the 
 30th of August, 1372 ; but the winds were adverse to his 
 expedition, and after vainly stemming the seas during several 
 weeks, he was compelled to abandon his enterprize and 
 return to England. 
 
 * Vide MS. Vet. Angl. in Bibl. C. C. C. Cantab, c. 230; as quoted in Barnes's 
 " Hist. Edward III." p. 564. 
 
 f Losing all hopes of recovery, the Prince finally surrendered the Principality 
 of Aquitaine to his father, on the 5th of October, 1372. See ' ' Foedera," vol. hi. 
 part 2, p. 974. 
 
KING EDWARD III. - STAR CHAMBER - 1372. 
 
 The following particulars relating to a transfer of the Great 
 Seal shortly before the King sailed, are derived from a me- 
 morandum entered on the Close Rolls, and thence copied 
 into the f( Fcedera." It is the earliest document that has 
 occurred to us in which the Star Chamber at Westminster is 
 expressly mentioned ; but there is not any authority for sup- 
 posing that the court of Star Chamber existed at that 
 period. 
 
 " Sir Robert de Thorp, the Chancellor, lying on his death- 
 bed, in a state of extreme weakness, at the hostel of Robert, 
 Bishop of Sarum, in Fleet-street, in the suburbs of London, 
 on the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, namely, June 29, 1372, 
 perceiving himself to be no longer able to attend to the 
 duties of his office, caused the Great Seal of our Lord the 
 King, which was inclosed, as usual, in a purse, to be secured 
 by the seals of John Knyvet, the King's Chief Justice, and 
 Richard de Ravensere and William de Burstall, clerks of 
 Chancery. The Chancellor dying about one hour before 
 midnight, the Great Seal was the next day taken to West- 
 minster, and delivered to the Lords William de Latymer, 
 the Chamberlain ; Richard le Scrop, the Treasurer ; and Ni- 
 cholas de Carreu, keeper of the Privy Seal; in the Star 
 Chamber, " in camera stellata," of our Lord the King, be- 
 fore three o'clock. The seals of those officers being then 
 affixed to the purse which contained the Great Seal, it was 
 left in the custody of the Treasurer. The King, who was at 
 Henley, received the Great Seal from the Treasurer, on 
 the 5th July, and appointed Sir John Knyvet, Knt. to the 
 vacant office of Chancellor ; who, having had the seal deli- 
 vered to him (after taking the accustomed oath in the King's 
 private chapel, at Henley), on the ensuing day, in the court 
 of Chancery, in the Great Hall at Westminster, opened the 
 
232 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 purse containing the seal, and therewith sealed writs, char- 
 ters, and letters patent."* 
 
 Considerable dissensions on state affairs, partly arising 
 from the declining state of his health, marked the latter 
 years of the King's life. Fabyan, speaking of the 50th of 
 Edward's reign, says, " In this year a great murmur and 
 grudge beganne to sprynge agayne certayne persones as 
 were about y e kynge, as the lorde Latimer thenne the kynges 
 great chamberleyne, and other, by whose synystre counsayll 
 the kinge in his age was myslad, and his treasoure my sp ended 
 to his great dishonour, and all his trewe subiects great hyn 
 deraunce/'f The Commons, at this period, assumed and 
 obtained more power than heretofore, in consequence of the 
 frequent levies on the public purse which they had been 
 called upon to tolerate ; and on their petition, in the Parlia- 
 ment which met at Westminster in April, 1376, an Ordi- 
 nance was made, enjoining that certain bishops, earls, and 
 barons, to the number of ten or twelve, should constitute a 
 Council of state to assist the King ; so that no affairs of 
 public interest should be transacted without their concur- 
 rence. They also complained in strong terms of the miscon- 
 duct of Alice Ferrers, asserting that she was too familiar with 
 the King, and that she and her accomplices had caused many 
 evils to the realm. 
 
 This beautiful woman had been one of the damsels, or 
 maids of honour, to Queen Philippa, and was now, in the 
 evening of his days, and when his infirmities had almost 
 reduced him to a state of dotage, become the object of Ed- 
 ward's love ; and to her honour, in the chivalric spirit of the 
 age, he held a splendid Tournament in Smithfield, in the 
 
 * " Foedera," vol. iii. part 2, p. 951 ; edit. 1830. 
 t Fabyan's " Chronicles," p. 486 ; edit. 1811. 
 
KING 
 
 EDWARD III. THE LADY OF THE SUN. 1374. 233 
 
 year 1374. On that occasion, under the romantic appellation 
 of the Lady of the Sun, she appeared in gorgeous apparel, 
 seated by the King's side in a triumphal chariot, accompanied 
 by many ladies of rank and noble birth, each leading a mounted 
 Knight by his horse's bridle. The procession^ which set 
 out from the Tower, was attended by the principal nobility 
 richly accoutred ; and many gallant feats of arms were per- 
 formed by the Knights who entered the lists, which were 
 kept open during seven succeeding days.* 
 
 * ALICE FERRERS was either the daughter or the grand-daughter (but most 
 probably the latter), of Sir Richard de Ferrers, who was several times 
 Sheriff of Essex, and who died in the year 1335. He had been frequently 
 employed by Edward the Second, both in military and in diplomatic affairs, 
 and it was, possibly, through interest derived from these services that Alice owed 
 her appointment as one of the Ladies of the Chamber to Philippa, the consort 
 of Edward the Third, and her consequent introduction to the King. Although 
 no specific allusion to the fact has been made by any contemporary historian, 
 there is strong cause to believe that a personal intimacy had taken place be- 
 tween herself and her royal master, anterior to the Queen's decease ; for in the 
 43d of Edward III. (anno 1368), she obtained a grant of the manor of Ar- 
 dington, in Berkshire, which had belonged to Mary, late Countess Marshal, 
 the King's aunt (" Cal. Rot. Patent." p. 183); and in the same and the follow- 
 ing year, numerous other gifts were made to her, by the King, of manors, lands, 
 &c. in various parts of the kingdom. It was not, however, until after the death 
 of Philippa, that her unbounded influence over the King became generally 
 known. Grant after grant was then made to her with lavish prodigality ; and 
 at length, on the 8th of August, 1373, her doting paramour, unmindful, or 
 regardless, of the respect that was due to the memory and virtues of his late 
 consort, conferred on his favourite all the jewels, goods, and chattels which 
 had belonged to the Queen, and been in the possession of Euphemia, the widow 
 of Sir Walter de Heselarton. It was in the following year that Edward so 
 triumphantly exhibited his mistress to the public gaze, as the Lady of the Sun. 
 
 It was about this period also that the strong interest which Alice took in the 
 affairs of Sir William de Windsor (who, in April, 1375, was re -appointed Lieu- 
 tenant of Ireland, by her influence with the sovereign), and in other political 
 transactions of the day, became particularly obnoxious to the King's ministers, 
 and especially so to the Duke of Lancaster. Reports highly prejudicial to her 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Alice has been represented by historians as a woman of 
 high ambition, but little principle ; and there is little doubt 
 of her having influenced the King (who, as Fabyan remarks, 
 " had long time misused her for his concubine/') to her own 
 
 integrity, were spread abroad ; and in the Good Parliament, as it was styled 
 (though somewhat problematically as to its real merits), which met at West- 
 minster in May, 1376, the Commons, in answer to the King's request of a 
 subsidy, said, ' they were aware that the moneys which they had so frequently 
 advanced, as well as the royal treasure itself, were evily and improperly con- 
 verted to nefarious purposes, by those who surrounded the King's person.' 
 (" Rot. Parl." vol. ii. p. 323.) At the same time, to use the language of Wal- 
 singham (" Hist." p. 195) ' They grievously complained of a most abandoned 
 woman who was too familiar with the King, and of many enormities committed 
 by her and her abettors ; alleging that she, overstepping the boundaries of 
 womanhood, and regardless of her sex and frailty, sometimes sat by the King's 
 Justices, and at other times by the Doctors in the Ecclesiastical courts, persuad- 
 ing and dissuading in defence of matters, and requesting things contrary to law 
 and equity, which greatly redounded to the dishonour of the King both at home 
 and abroad ; and concluded by praying that she might be wholly removed from 
 him.' This statement is corroborated by the writer of the " Chronicle of 
 Kirkstall." (Cott. MS. Dom. A. xn. fo. 125, who adds, that ' the proceedings 
 against Alice were instigated by the [Black] Prince.' 
 
 Although the demand for the dismissal of Alice is not recorded on the Rolls 
 of Parliament, there can be little doubt of the fact, as an Ordinance was passed 
 (" Rot. Parl." vol. ii. p. 329, No. 45,) setting forth, that ' complaint had been 
 made to the King, that certain women had pursued divers causes and quarrels 
 in the King's courts by way of maintenance, and in order to receive part of the 
 sums recovered, which conduct being displeasing to the King, all women, and 
 especially Alice Ferrers, are forbidden to do the like in future, under penalty, as 
 to the said Alice, both of the forfeiture of her property, and of banishment from 
 the realm sur peine de quan q' la dite Alice purra forfaire, et d'estre bannitz' 
 hors du roialme." 
 
 These proceedings occasioned a temporary separation between the King and 
 his mistress, but shortly afterwards she rejoined him, whilst he was lying ill at 
 Haveryng atte Bower, in Essex ; and during the remainder of his life continued 
 to exert her influence over his enfeebled mind on various important affairs of 
 state, to the great umbrage of his council ; and particularly in obtaining the 
 restoration of Bishop Wickham to the See of Winchester, of which the tempo- 
 
KING EDWARD III. CONDUCT OF ALICE FERRERS. 1377. 
 
 advantage; as other females, similarly situated, have been 
 known to do even in more recent times. In consequence, 
 however, of the interposition above stated, it was ordained 
 by the Parliament, that e no woman should thenceforth 
 
 alities were returned to that prelate on the 18th of June, 1377, three days 
 only before the King's decease, by a precept tested at Westminster in the King's 
 name. (" Foedera," vol. iii. part 2, p. 1079.) 
 
 It was for her alleged misconduct to her royal master in his dying hours that 
 the character of Alice incurred the most opprobrium ; although it is probable 
 that the stated circumstances were much exaggerated. Walsingham, who 
 appears to have been strongly prejudiced against her, says, ' During the King's 
 last illness, that shameless harlot, Alice Ferrers, continually spake to him of 
 those pleasures to which he was most attached, neither alluding herself to the 
 welfare of his soul, nor permitting others to do so, and continually assuring 
 him that he would recover ; until perceiving his voice to fail, his eyes become 
 dim, and the natural warmth leave his body, the infamous jade took his rings 
 from his fingers and departed.' Stow (" Chronicle," p. 438, edit. 1600), who 
 has enlarged upon this statement, remarks in addition, that " The King being 
 thus at the point of death, was left not only of her the said Alice Piers, but 
 of other the Knights and Esquires who hadde serued him, allured more with his 
 gifts than his love." It was to these circumstances of Edward's last hours 
 that Gray so finely alluded in his poem of the Bard : 
 
 " Mighty victor, mighty Lord! 
 
 Low on his fun'ral couch he lies, 
 No pitying heart, no eye, afford 
 A tear to grace his obsequies." 
 
 In respect to the base crime of stealing the rings from the person of the 
 dying monarch, we may, in charity, adopt the opinion of Sir Robert Cotton, 
 who, after stating that " the record against the said Dame proveth no such 
 heinous matter against her," farther says, " her mishap was, that she was 
 friendly to many, but all were not so to her." There can be no doubt, how- 
 ever, that strong suspicions were entertained of some of the crown jewels 
 having been surreptitiously removed ; for immediately after the accession of 
 Richard the Second, Commissioners were appointed to make an inventory of 
 the jewels whereof the late King was possessed at the time of his death, and 
 to administer an oath to such persons as should be suspected of having any of 
 them in their possession, under penalty of the forfeiture of all their goods and 
 chattels in case of a false return. (" Rot Patent." 1 Rich. II. p. iii. m. 6.) 
 
236 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 present any matter in the King's courts for maintenance or 
 lucre ; and especially Alice Ferrers, under penalty, as to the 
 said Alice, of forfeiting all her property, and being banished 
 from the realm/ 
 
 Although Alice Ferrers was not specially named in the commission, it was 
 evidently aimed against her ; for on the 20th of November, in the same year 
 (anno 1377), a writ was addressed to the Sheriffs of London (" Rot. Claus." 
 1 Rich. II. m. 19), commanding them to make proclamation, warning (or 
 rather inviting), ' all persons having any suit, or claim, to make against the 
 said Alice, for any extortions, oppressions, injuries, grievances, or excesses, by 
 her committed against the King, or his people, to prefer their petitions to 
 Parliament before the ensuing Saturday, when, by permission of God, justice 
 should be done them.' 
 
 On the 22d of the month following, Alice was summoned to attend the 
 Prelates and Lords in the Parliament then sitting ; and Sir Richard le Scrop, 
 the steward of the King's household, having been commanded so to do, re- 
 hearsed in her presence the Ordinance made in the preceding year against female 
 pursuers : and then informed her, that in the opinion of the Lords she had 
 incurred the penalty therein stated, inasmuch as she had been the means of 
 recalling the appointment of Sir Nicholas Dagworth (whom the Council had 
 ordered to proceed to Ireland, to make enquiry into the conduct there of Sir 
 William de Windsor) , and also of procuring the restitution of the property of 
 Richard Lyons, a merchant of London, which had been declared forfeited to the 
 crown for numerous extortions, &c. committed by him whilst farming the 
 customs and subsidies that had been granted to the late King. 
 
 On Alice denying the truth of the above charges, divers witnesses were ex- 
 amined to substantiate them ; and, eventually, it was decreed by Parliament, 
 that the before-mentioned Ordinance should be carried into full effect, and that 
 the said Alice should be banished from the kingdom ; and that not only ' all 
 the lands, goods, and tenements in her own possession, but also all those vested 
 in feoffees, or otherwise settled, whereof she enjoyed the profits, should be 
 forfeited to the crown ; ' but a clause was inserted to prevent this ' especial 
 award' from being adopted as a precedent in any other case, on account of its 
 enormity. (" Rot. Parl." vol. iii. pp. 1214.) 
 
 How considerably Alice Perrers had profited by her intercourse with King 
 Edward, may be surmised from a survey which was taken of her property imme- 
 diately after the pronouncing of the above judgment ; and from which it appears 
 
KING EDWARD III. DEATH OF THE BLACK PRINCE. 1376. 237 
 
 On Trinity Sunday 1376,, (June the 8th), Edward the 
 Black Prince, being utterly exhausted by the long and lin- 
 gering illness which he had undergone, yielded up his breath 
 in his father's great chamber, at Westminster. He was 
 
 that she was seized of manors, lands and tenements at that time in no fewer 
 than seventeen different counties. (Escheats, 1 Rich. II. No. 30.) But the 
 rancour with which the proceedings against her were now carried on, may he 
 evinced by a writ addressed to the Sheriffs of London on the Ib'th of January, 
 13778, commanding them to deliver to the keeper of the King's great ward- 
 robe, " a tester made of red baudekin, and a coverlet of the same suit, worth 
 8/. ; three curtains of red taffeta, worth 20s. ; an image of the Virgin Mary in 
 a tabernacle, worth 100s. ; several chests, and a picture set with christals, 
 worth 4*., which had belonged to Alice Ferrers, lately convicted." (Additional 
 MSS. Brit. Mus. 4591, art. 49. from " Rot. Claus." 1 Rich. II. m. 16.) 
 
 Although thus degraded and persecuted by the court party, Alice had still a 
 natural and powerful protector in Sir William de Windsor, to whom she had 
 been married immediately after the decease of the late King, if not prior to that 
 event, for there are circumstances which render the latter supposition probable. 
 In the Parliament convened at Gloucester in October, 1378, Sir William, con- 
 jointly with his wife, presented a petition, stating, that in the judgment recently 
 pronounced against her, there were many errors, and praying that the same 
 might be examined, and ' right and reason done, according to the law of the 
 land.' The King's serjeant argued, that as Alice Ferrers had been banished 
 by an Ordinance of Parliament which had not been revoked, she could not 
 enter the realm without the express permission of the King. 'The petitioners 
 consequently prayed, that ' for the sake of God, and in aid of charity,' they 
 might be heard by attorney, which was permitted. The chief error in the 
 judgment appears to have been, that Alice was therein described as an unmarried 
 woman, ' whereas she then was, and had been for a long time before, the wife 
 of the aforesaid William de Windsor.' (" Rot. Parl." vol. iii. pp. 40, 41.) 
 
 What proceedings took place on these petitions has not been ascertained ; 
 but in the third year of Richard II., the King, in consideration of the good 
 services of Sir William de Windsor, and of his having agreed to serve under the 
 Earl of Buckingham, in France, with 100 men at arms, raised at his own cost 
 restored to him and Alice his wife, " divers manors, lands, and tenements 
 which had formerly belonged to the said Alice." (" Cal. Rot. Patent." p. 202 b.) 
 But the grant proving insufficient to place them in full possession of the pro- 
 perty, Sir William, about two years afterwards, complained to the Parliament 
 then sitting (5th of Rich. II.), that " although he had performed the stipulated 
 
238 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 buried in the Cathedral at Canterbury, agreeably to the 
 directions of his will, which bears date at Westminster on 
 the day preceding his decease. Both Stow and Dr. Lingard 
 have erroneously stated, that the Prince died at Canterbury. 
 His body, which was embalmed, and lay in state at West- 
 service, he could not obtain the profit of the restored lands, by reason of 
 previous gifts made to other persons. (" Rot. Parl." vol. iii. p. 130. No. 14.) 
 In that and the two following years (" Dugdale's Baronage," x.), Sir William 
 was summoned to Parliament as Baron Windsor. He died in September, 1384, 
 sine prole, leaving, according to the Escheat Rolls of the same year, three 
 sisters, his coheiresses ; but his will, which was a nuncupative one, mentions 
 only his five nephews. (" Testamenta Vetusta," p. 116.) 
 
 Alice, now Lady Windsor, lived in comparative obscurity during her widow- 
 hood, but in the year 13S3 (17th of Richard II.), she preferred a petition to the 
 King in Parliament, stating, that her forfeited possessions had been restored to 
 Sir William and herself, but that ' instead of the grant having been made con- 
 jointly to them and their heirs, as was intended, such grant was, by the fraudu- 
 lent device of some who were no friends to her, made to the said William and 
 his heirs, whereby she herself and her heirs had been disinherited.' She there- 
 fore ' prayed relief,' and that her lands and tenements should be restored to 
 her agreeably to the original decision ; adding, ' most renowned Lord, the wise 
 men of the law say, that of good right and true conscience, such restoration 
 ought to be made ; the said Alice and her friends having sustained all the 
 charges of the 100 men at arms, the said William having had nothing of his 
 own, neither goods or money.' (" Rot. Parl." vol. iii. p. 327, No. 12.) 
 
 Another petition was presented to the same Parliament from Joan, the 
 daughter of Alice Perrers, complaining, that * whereas King Edward III. had 
 given the profit of the marriage of the Earl of Norfolk for her aid and advance- 
 ment, the same after the King's decease came into the hands of Sir William de 
 Windsor and of her mother, by the former of whom it was sold to the Countess 
 of Norfolk for 200 marks ; and that when the said William went abroad, he 
 directed those who had the management of his estates to pay her the said sum ; 
 that after his decease all his lands and goods were seized by John Windsor [who 
 appears to have been a bastard nephew of Sir William de Windsor] , whom she 
 had sued; but that Thomas Colrede, the Under-Sheriff of London, and others, 
 had made alterations in the record, to her great loss and prejudice, and the 
 abatement of her suit ; and she therefore prays, that the goods of the said John, 
 and of those who had committed such fraud, should be assigned to her, con- 
 
KING EDWARD III. WILL OF ALICE FERRERS, 1400. 
 
 minster, was not conveyed to Canterbury until Michaelmas, 
 " that so it might be interred with the greater solemnity, in 
 the presence of the Parliament, as both Houses had de- 
 sired/'* 
 
 The ensuing Parliament, which met at Westminster on 
 
 formably to the opinion of the learned in the law.' (" Rot. Parl." p. 327, 328.) 
 
 The former of these petitions was referred to the Judges. How they decided 
 does not appear, but it is evident from the will of Lady Windsor, which was 
 made at Upminster, on the 15th of August 1400, (1st of Henry IV.), that 
 she had not then recovered possession of her estates. By that instrument she 
 bequeathed the manor of Gaynes, in Upminster, to " Joan, her younger 
 daughter;" and says, " to Jane and Joane, my daughters, all my other manors 
 and advowsons which John Wyndsore, or others have by his consent usurped ; 
 the which I desire my heirs and executors to recover and see them parted be- 
 tween my daughters, for that I say, on the pain of my soul, he hath no right 
 therein nor never had. (" Testamenta Vetusta," p. 153 ; from Harl. MSS. 6148.) 
 
 After a perusal of the preceding facts, no one can reasonably deny but that 
 Alice Ferrers was the undoubted mistress of Edward the Third ; and though 
 Barnes and other writers have endeavoured to vindicate her tarnished reputation 
 from obloquy, by advancing the fact of her marriage with so " noble a Baron" as 
 Sir William Windsor, such marriage, instead of proving her innocence, 
 proves only his worthlessness. Her intercourse with the King could not have 
 been unknown to him, but he probably considered that her influence over her 
 royal keeper, was of more advantage to his fortunes than of disparagement to his 
 fame. 
 
 That Alice had no lawful surviving issue (if any) by Lord Windsor, is evident 
 from the fact recorded in the Escheats and other records, of his three sisters 
 being his coheirs. It becomes then an inquiry somewhat curious, as to who 
 was the father of the two daughters mentioned in Lady Windsor's will. They 
 do not appear to have been ever designated otherwise than as the daughters of 
 Alice Ferrers; and were therefore, in every probability, born before her mar- 
 riage with Sir William de Windsor ; and were consequently illegitimate. Can 
 it be, that they were the unacknowledged offspring of her royal paramour ? One 
 of them at least, was known to the King, and, as we have seen from her petition 
 (given above) , was partly provided for by him. No charge of an improper 
 intercourse with any person except the King, was ever brought against Alice 
 Ferrers ; and the suggested hypothesis seems to be the only plausible one which 
 an inquirer can adopt. 
 
 * Barnes's " Hist. Edward III." p. 883. 
 
240 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 the 27th of January,, 1377 5 was opened in the presence of 
 Prince Richard of Bourdeaux (eldest surviving son of the 
 Black Prince), who had been created Prince of Wales, Duke 
 of Cornwall, and Earl of Chester, at Haveryng atte Bower, 
 in Essex, on the 20th of the preceding November, and who 
 now presided as locum tenens for the King, under a royal 
 commission, dated at the same place.* This appears to be 
 the first Parliament in which the existence of a Speaker of 
 the Commons' House is distinctly alluded to, in authentic 
 records ; but instead of that officer being named Sir Peter 
 de le Mare, as stated by Walsingham, we learn that it was 
 Sir Thomas de Hungerford, " qui avoit les paroles par les 
 Communes a" Engleterre en c'est Parlement"^ Several 
 Ordinances enacted in the prior Parliament, were reversed 
 in this, and it seems probable that divers others would have 
 been rescinded but for the sudden dissolution of the as- 
 sembly on the 23d of February, J in consequence, as it 
 would seem, of the tumults which had been excited in Lon- 
 don from the determined protection given by the Duke of 
 Lancaster to the celebrated Wicliffe, when cited to answer 
 for his heresies before the Bishops in St. Paul's. A Poll tax 
 of twopence upon every person, male or female, passing the 
 age of fourteen years (beggars only excepted), was by this 
 Parliament ordered to be levied upon the people. 
 
 The dissensions between the Duke and the citizens had 
 not wholly subsided when the King, worn out by a long 
 illness, died at his palace of Shene, near Richmond, on the 
 
 * " Rot. Parl." vol. ii. p. 361. f Idem. p. 374. 
 
 % Among the bills expressly ordered by the King to be laid before Parlia- 
 ment, but which were stopped by the dissolution, was one for the revocation of 
 the Ordinance against Alice Ferrers, (see pp. 234, 235) who was described as 
 having been ' prejudged on untrue suggestion, and without due process of 
 law.' (Vide ' Rot. Parl.' Id. No. 89.) 
 
KiXG EDWARD III. HIS DECEASE AT SHENE. 1377- 
 
 21st of June, 1377 According to Walsingham, he was de- 
 serted in his last moments alike by mistress, courtiers, and 
 servants; his only consolation being afforded by a poor 
 priest, who drawing near his bed, and presenting a crucifix, 
 exhorted him to remember his Saviour, and request pardon 
 for his sins. The dying monarch kissed the feet of the cru- 
 cifix, with tears, and faintly articulating the name of " Jesus/* 
 expired. He was buried a few weeks afterwards in the 
 Abbey church at Westminster ; where he is represented by 
 a statue of gilt-metal, lying cumbent upon a grey marble 
 tomb.* 
 
 Almost every Parliament from the 28th of Edward III., 
 to the end of his reign (as appears from the original Rolls), 
 was opened in the Painted Chamber, " en le Chaumbre de 
 Peinte;" but the general place of assembly for the Peers, 
 ( a et autres Grantz,") and great men, was the White Chamber. 
 The Commons occasionally held their sittings in the Painted 
 Chamber, but in the last two Parliaments of this reign it is 
 expressly stated, that they were directed to withdraw to their 
 ancient place in the Chapter House of Westminster, " a lour 
 ancienne place en la maison du Chapitre de FAbbeye de 
 Westm."f The consideration of Petitions was usually re- 
 ferred to Committees of about twenty persons (more or less), 
 composed of the chief officers of the crown, viz. the Chan- 
 cellor, Treasurer, Seneschal, and Chamberlain, with certain 
 
 * By his win, dated October the 7th, 1376, King Edward bequeathed to 
 Prince Richard, his grandson, " a complete bed, with all its furniture, contain- 
 ing his whole arms of France and England, remaining at his Palace at West- 
 minster ; together with four other beds which used to be made in four lower 
 chambers of the said Palace, with their furniture ; two suits of furniture for his 
 hall, one being magnificent and noble, but the other light and thin, and fit for 
 carriage; and two entire suits of furniture for his Chapel." Vide Nichols's 
 " Collection" of Royal Wills. 
 
 t " Rot. Parl." vol.ii. pp. 322 ; 366. 
 
 R 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Peers, spiritual and temporal, and a few Knights ; those for 
 English petitions meeting in the Chamberlain's room, near 
 the Painted Chamber, and those for foreign ones assembling 
 in Marcolf's chamber, which was on the borders of the 
 river.* 
 
 List of Parliaments summoned to be held at Westminster 
 
 in the reign of Edw. III. 
 
 February 3, ... 1327f January 14, ... 1339 
 
 This Parliament was pro- 
 rogued, and a new writ 
 issued, for 
 February 3, . . 
 October 13, .. 
 
 Monday after St.Katherine's 
 day (Nov. 25,) . . 1330J 
 
 Monday on the morrow of 
 the Quindene of Easter, 
 (April 16,) . . .1331 
 
 September 30, . .1331 
 
 Monday after the feast of 
 St. Gregory the Pope, 
 (March 12,) . . 1332 
 
 September 9, . . 1332 
 
 Monday after the exaltation 
 of the Cross, (Septem- 
 ber 14,) . . . .1334 
 
 Monday after Midlent Sun- 
 day (May 27,) . . 1335 
 
 Monday, on the feast of St. 
 Hilary (January 13,) 1336 
 
 Friday before Michaelmas 
 day 1337 
 
 February 3, . . . 1338 
 
 . . . 1339 
 . . . 1339 
 January 20, ... 1340 
 Wednesday March 29, 1340 
 Wednesday after the Trans- 
 lation of St. Thomas the 
 Martyr (July 7,) . 1340 
 Monday April 24, . 1341 
 Wednesday after the feast 
 of St. Edward the Con- 
 fessor (October 13,) 1341 1| 
 Monday April 29 . 1343 
 Monday June 7 1344 
 Monday after the Nativity 
 of the Virgin Mary (Sep- 
 tember 8,) ... 1346 
 January 14, . . .1348 
 
 * Vide account Roll of the 13th of Edward II. before cited, p. 120. 
 
 f This Parliament was summoned by writs of the 20th of Edward II. 
 
 J It was customary, in former ages, to summon Parliaments on, or proximate 
 to, some particular festival, or Saint's day ; the day of the month not being 
 mentioned in the summons. 
 
 Barnes says, this Parliament was held on April the 27th, being the Monday 
 after the feast of St. George. 
 
 II This probably was only a Council of State, or Colloguiam. See Barnes, p. 235. 
 
KING EDWARD III. LIST OF PARLIAMENTS. 
 
 243 
 
 Monday March 31, . 1348 
 Monday after the feast of St. 
 
 Hilary (Jan. 13), . 1349* 
 February 9, . . . 1351 
 Friday in the feast of St. 
 Hilary (Jan. 13,) . 1352 
 August 16, . . . .1352 
 September 23, . . 1353 
 Monday after the feast of St. 
 Mark (April 25,) . 1354 
 November 12, ... 1355 
 Monday after Easter Week 
 viz. April 17, . . 1357 
 Monday after the Purifica- 
 tion of the Virgin Mary 
 (Feb. 2,) .... 1358 
 Friday the morrow after 
 Ascension Day ( May 
 
 14,) 1360 
 
 Sunday before the Conver- 
 sion of St. Paul (January 
 
 25,) 1361f 
 
 October 13, ... 1362 
 October 6, ... 1363 
 January 20, ... 1365 
 
 May 4 1366 
 
 May 1, .... 1368 
 June 3, .... 1369 
 February 24, ... 1371 
 June 8, .... 1371 
 October 13, . . .1372 
 This Parliament was pro- 
 rogued to the morrow 
 of All Souls' day, No- 
 vember 3. 
 
 November 21, . . . 1373 
 February 12, . . .1376 
 This Parliament was pro- 
 rogued to Monday after 
 the feast of St. George 
 (April 23,) 
 
 January 27, ... 1377 
 
 * This Parliament was prorogued on account of the plague, until the 
 quindene of Easter, but the pestilence still continuing, it was wholly superseded 
 by a writ tested at Westminster on the 10th of March. 
 
 t It is recorded, that among the summonses to this Parliament (35th Edward 
 TIL), there is one writ, " De admittendo fide dignos ad Colloquiam ; " and 
 among the Earls and Barons is returned Marie, Countesse de Norff. ; Alianor, 
 Countesse de Ormond ; Philippa, Countesse de March ; Agnes, Coun- 
 tesse de Pembrook ; and Katherine, Countesse de Atholl. Vide " Of the Anti- 
 quity of the Parliaments in England," by Joseph Holland, p. 47, ed. 1685. 
 In the preceding year also, (34th Edw. III.) there had been writs tested at Wyn- 
 ton on the 5th of April, issued to divers Earls and Barons, to the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, to several Bishops and Abbots, and to four Abbesses, requiring 
 their attendance at Westminster on the morrow of the Trinity, for the purpose of 
 treating of an aid for the making of the King's eldest son a knight, &c. It does 
 not appear, however, that any Ladies ever actually took their seats in Parliament 
 by virtue of these summonses, although numerous instances are on record of both 
 knights and esquires having sat in the House of Lords in right of their wives. 
 See " Retrospective Review," vol. x. ; Privileges of Women, pp. 88-112. 
 
 K 2 
 
244 
 
 WEST SI INSTEK PALACE. 
 
 The following Memoranda relating to various appoint- 
 ments and operations connected with the Palace^in ^the 
 reign of Edward the Third, and not hitherto noticed, have 
 been collected, principally, from the printed abstracts of 
 the " Originalia " and " Patent Rolls : " 
 
 1st Edward III. William de Chaillou (misspelt Charlhou in the abstract) 
 was appointed Clerk of the King's Works at the Tower of London and Palace 
 of Westminster. " Rot. Orig. Abbrev." vol. ii. p. 5, Rot. 8. The same per- 
 son had been Surveyor of the Works in the latter part of the preceding reign. 
 
 1st Edw. III. In the same year, and on the same Roll, another entry occurs, 
 stating, that Richard de Kenebrok (probably a misreading for Pembrok), was 
 appointed to the same situation ; but there is doubtless some error in this, as 
 the Chancellor's Roll of the 2nd of Edw. III. (now in the British Museum), 
 renders it apparent that William de Kelleseye succeeded William de Chaillou 
 as Clerk of the Works at the Palace and Tower, and that Richard de Pembrok, 
 who had been Keeper (Custos) of the said Works, was then the Controller. 
 
 2nd Edw. III. Robert de Pippeshull was appointed Surveyor of the King's 
 Works at the Palace and Tower for life. " Rot. Orig. Abbrev." Id. p. 23, 
 Rol. 18. He was afterwards Controller of the same works. Vide ante, p. 148. 
 
 2nd Edw. III. William de Kelleseye was appointed Clerk of the same 
 Works during pleasure. " Rot. Orig. Abbrev." vol. ii. p. 24, Rot. 21." 
 
 3rd Edw. III. John de Feriby was appointed to the same office for life. 
 Id. p. 31, Rot. 1G. In a Roll of the 1st of this reign before quoted (see 
 p. 141) John de Feryby is called Controller. 
 
 4th Edw. III. William de Weston was appointed Clerk of the Works at 
 the Palace and Tower. " Cal. Rot. Patent." p. 108, m. 11." In the 6th of 
 the same reign, an order was directed to him as " Gustos Operacionum" of the 
 said Works, to deliver four carratee of lead in his custody to William de Clyn- 
 ton, Constable of the Castle of Dovor. " Rot Orig. Abbrev." vol. ii. p. 71, 
 Rot. 30. In the 10th of the same reign, a mandate was directed to the Sheriffs 
 of London, requiring them to pay 50/. to the said William de Weston out of 
 the city ferm, towards the charges of the Works at the Palace of Westminster. 
 The Sheriffs of Surrey and Sussex were also commanded at the same time to 
 pay Weston 20/. for the same Works. " Id. p. Ill, Rot. 35." 
 
 llth Edw. III. The King granted the office of Gardener at the Palace of 
 Westminster and Tower of London to John Sanderwyke, his valet, " valecto 
 suo," during pleasure.--" Cal. Rot. Patent." p. 12.9, m. 23. 
 
KING EDWARD III. OFFICIAL APPOINTMENTS. 5ZHfcJ 
 
 19th Edw. III. James des Armes was constituted Keeper of the King's 
 Gardens at Westminster and at the Tower for life, in the place of John de 
 Sanderwyk, deceased " Rot. Grig. Abbrev." p. 175, Rot. 17. 
 
 23rd Edw. III. The King granted to Thomas Schenche the Wardship of the 
 Heir of John Schenche, the late Keeper of the Palace of Westminster, and of 
 the Fleet Prison, which the said John held in capite, &c. " Id. p. 202, 
 Rot 26." In the 29th of the same reign, the Wardship of the same Heir 
 was granted to John Bray, the door-keeper of the King's Exchequer. Id. 
 p. 237, Rot. 7. 
 
 24th Edw. III. John de Alkeshull was appointed to procure stone, wood, 
 charcoal, timber, lead, glass, iron, tiles, and other necessaries for the King's 
 Works at the Palace of Westminster, Tower of London, and Castle of Wind- 
 sor. Id. p. 211, Rot. 23. 
 
 24th Edw. III. Robert de Esshyng was appointed to procure workmen to 
 raise stone in the quarries of Abbotsbury and Wynesbach in Dorsetshire, and 
 Bere in Devonshire, for the works at the King's Palace at Westminster. Ibid. 
 25th Edw. III. John de Bampton and John de Geddyng were appointed 
 to procure sufficient glass for the King's Chapel (within his Palace at West- 
 minster), wherever the same should be found, at the King's expense, to be 
 received and paid for at the Exchequer at Westminster ; and also to provide as 
 many glaziers and other workmen (artificers) as might be necessary for the 
 aforesaid chapel, c. with power to arrest and commit any person who should 
 obstruct or resist the execution of this mandate. Id. p. 217, Rot. 19. 
 
 25th Edw. III. John de Alkeshull was again appointed to procure timber, 
 stone, and tiles for the king's works in the Palace at Westminster, Castle at 
 Windsor, and town of Calais, " ac buscam p' stupis R. in d'co pallacio 
 Westm'," together with glass and lead for the same palace, and carriage for 
 all things so provided. Id. p. 218, Rot. 21. 
 
 29th Edw. III. John de Alkeshull and William le Frenche were appointed 
 to procure timber, stone, tiles, and other necessaries for the King's works at 
 Westminster, Windsor, and Calais. Id. p. 238, Rot. 17. 
 
 30th Edw. III. William de Lambhith was appointed Surveyor of the Works 
 at the Tower of London and Palace of Westminster. " Cal. Rot. Patent." 
 p. 166, m. 20 ; also ante, p. 149- 
 
 33rd Edw. III. John de Alkeshull was again appointed to procure timber, 
 stone, iron, lead, tiles, and other necessaries for the Tower of London, Palace 
 at Westminster, and Castle of Windsor, &c. " Rot. Orig. Abbrev." vol. ii. 
 p. 255, Rot. 16. 
 
 35th Edw. III. William de Sleford was appointed Surveyor of the Works 
 in the Tower of London anil Palace of Westminster. " Cr.l. Rot. Patent." 
 
246 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 p. 174, m. 20. In an account Roll of the 39th of Edw. III., he is called 
 Clerk and Supervisor of the King's Works at Westminster. Vide ante, p. 186. 
 
 36th Edw. III. John Souch [Schenche ? see before 23d Edw. III.] holds 
 of the King in chief, the custody of the Palace of Westminster and of the 
 Fleet Prison. " CaL Rot. Patent." p. 175, m. 15. 
 
 43d Edw. III. Richard Sutton, the King's valet, " valectus regis," was 
 appointed Keeper of the King's Private Palace at Westminster for life, in fee, 
 &c. Id. p. 185, m. 11. The Private Palace was on the south-west side of 
 Old Palace Yard, near the present Parliament Office. 
 
 46th Edw. III. In a memorandum of this year, relative to an order of 
 council sent to Richard de Pembrugg, Knt. Lieutenant of Ireland (and suc- 
 cessor of William de Windsor in that office), complaint is made of disobe- 
 dience to the King's Letters Patent of the 26th of January in the same year, 
 which had been drawn up in the " Oule-chaumbre" in the King's Private 
 Palace at Westminster." " Rot. Orig. Abbrev." vol. ii. p. 319, Rot. 1. 
 
R. W. Bill-in ys del. VAULT, EAST END OF PAINTED CHAMBER. S. William* sc. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 HISTORICAL NOTICES OF THE PALACE AT WESTMINSTER FROM THE 
 ACCESSION OF RICHARD THE SECOND UNTIL THE DECEASE OF 
 HENRY THE EIGHTH. 
 
 RICHARD the Second succeeded to the throne in accord- 
 ance with the settlement made in full Parliament at West- 
 minster in 1372, shortly before the departure of his father 
 and grandfather on their unsuccessful expedition to France 
 in the month of September in that year.* His age, at the 
 time of his accession, was about ten years and six months; 
 and some fears had been entertained that his uncle, John of 
 Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, would dispute his right to the 
 crown. This apprehension occasioned the citizens of Lon 
 
 * Barnes's "History of Edward III." p. R44. 
 
248 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 don, on the 20th of June 1377 5 to send a deputation to 
 Prince Richard at Kennington, (where the Princes of Wales 
 had formerly a palace) to declare to him (c their ready good 
 will to accept him for their lawfull king and governour, imme- 
 diatlie after it should please God to call to his mercie his 
 grandfather, being now past hope of recouerie of health."* 
 Happily, however, there was no real foundation for their 
 alarm ; and the young King whilst yet at Shene, to which 
 place he had proceeded on the death of Edward, effected an 
 accommodation of all differences between the Duke and the 
 Londoners. f A Council was then summoned to make 
 arrangements for the Coronation, and the claims of John of 
 Gaunt, as Earl of Leicester, to officiate as Seneschal or High 
 Steward of England at the approaching solemnity ; as Duke 
 of Lancaster, to bear in procession, by himself or his 
 deputy, the principal sword called Curtana ; and as Earl of 
 Lincoln, to carve the meat at the King's table, being ad- 
 mitted, the Duke, in his character of Seneschal, held a 
 Court of Claims J to adjust a the similar pretensions of the 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicles," vol. ii. p. 712. 
 
 t On the 22d of June 1377, which was the day after Edward's decease, in the 
 evening, (" hora vesperarum,") the Great Seal was delivered, by its then deputy 
 keeper, into the hands of the young King in his chamber at Shene, in the 
 presence of Simon [Sudbury] , Archbishop of Canterbury ; Henry [Wakefield] , 
 Bishop of Worcester ; John, King of Castile and Leon, and Duke of Lancas- 
 ter ; and other magnates.' It was then received from the King by the Duke 
 of Lancaster, and by him consigned to the keeping of Sir Nicholas Bond, of 
 the King's Chamber. Four days afterwards it was re-delivered to Adam [de 
 Houghton], Bishop of St. David's, the then Chancellor (who had just returned 
 from beyond seas) , in the principal Chamber of the Palace at Kennington ; and 
 was by him carried to his hostel or inn near Fleet-street, where (in his Chapel) 
 he on the same day affixed the said seal to divers Letters Patent respecting state 
 offices " Rot. Claus." 1st Rich. II. m. 46. 
 
 I This Court assembled in the White Hall within the Palace at Westminster, 
 near the Rayal Chapel ; " in Alfca Aula Regii Palacii Westmonasterii, prope 
 
KING RICHARD II. HIS CORONATION. J377- 24<9 
 
 nobility and gentry, who, according to the modes of the 
 feudal system, demanded in right of their fiefs to perform 
 different menial services on the ensuing occasion/' 
 
 The subsequent proceedings were conducted with extreme 
 magnificence. The King came from Shene to the Tower of 
 London, where he remained a short time until the prepara- 
 tions were completed. On St. Swithin's day (July the 15th) 
 as appears from the Close Rolls, ' after dinner, the nobility 
 and knights, the Mayor, Sheriffs, and Aldermen, with many 
 of the Citizens of London, as well as a great number of 
 other horsemen, becomingly decorated, having assembled in 
 an open space near the Tower/ the King issued forth clad 
 in white garments, accompanied (en suite} by a e great mul- 
 titude of the princes, nobles, knights, and esquires, pre- 
 ceded by Serjeants and men-at-arms.'* " Sir Simon Burlie 
 bare the sword before him, and Sir Nicholas Bonde led the 
 King's horse by the bridle, on foot. The noise of trum- 
 pets and other instruments was marvellous, so that this 
 seemed a day of joy and mirth, a day that had beene long 
 looked for, because it was hoped that now the quiet orders 
 and good lawes of the land, which thorough the sloathful- 
 nesse of the aged King deceassed, and couetousnesse of 
 those that ruled about him, had beene long banished, should 
 now be renewed and brought againe in vse. 
 
 "The citie was adorned in all sorts most richlie. The 
 
 Capellam Regalem." Vide " Rot. Claus." 1st Rich. II. m. 45. Arthur Tay- 
 lor says, " This Coronation is remarkable as affording us the first record of 
 the proceedings of the Court of Claims, which was at this time holden on the 
 Thursday before the festival ; and of the ritual used on this occasion (the 
 Liber Regalis) , we have also a more perfect copy than hath been left in any 
 other reign." Vide " Glory of Regality," p. 256. The " Liber Regalis " 
 is now preserved among the archives of the Dean and Chapter at Westminster. 
 * " De Processu et Formalitatibus ad Coronationem Regis." Claus. 1st, 
 R. 2, m. 44, " Foedera," torn. iii. pars iii. p. 63. Hag. Com. 
 
250 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 water conduits ran with wine for the space of three houres 
 togither. In the vpper end of Cheape was a certeine castell 
 made with foure towers, out of the which castell, on two 
 sides of it, there ran foorth wine abundantlie. In the towers 
 were placed foure beautifull virgins, of stature and age like 
 to the King, apparelled in white vestures, in euerie tower 
 one, the which blew in the King's face, at his approching 
 neere to them, leaves of gold ; and as he approched also, 
 they threw on him and his horsse florens of gold counter- 
 feit. When he was come before the castell, they tooke cups 
 of gold, and filling them with wine at the spouts of the cas- 
 tell, presented the same to the King and to his Nobles. On 
 the top of the castell, betwixt the foure towers, stood a 
 golden angell, holding a crowne in his hands, which was so 
 contriued, that when the King came, he bowed downe and 
 offered to him the crowne. But to speake of all the pageantes 
 and shewes which the citizens had caused to be made and 
 set foorth in honour of their new King, it were super- 
 fluous; euerie one in their quarters striuing to surmount 
 other, and so with great triumphing of citizens, and ioy of 
 the lords and noblemen, he was conueied vnto his Palace 
 at Westminster, where he rested for that night/'* 
 
 In the Close Rolls it is farther stated, ' that the King, 
 arriving at Westminster with the Princes, Nobles, and many 
 others of his lieges, entered the Great Hall of the Palace, 
 and going up to the high marble table, " ad altam mensam 
 marmoream," which stood in it, he asked for .wine, which 
 being brought he drank of it, as did others standing around 
 him. The King then retired with the Princes and his family 
 to his chamber, where he supped royally [more regio\, and 
 having bathed becomingly, he retired to rest. 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicles," vol. ii. p. 713, ed. 1807, from Thos. Walsingham. 
 
KING RICHARD II. HIS CORONATION. 1377. 
 
 e In the morning the King arose, and having heard mass, 
 he was clothed in the purest vestments, and wearing slippers 
 or buskins, fe caligis tantummodo calciatus/' only on his 
 feet ; he quitted his room and descended into the Great Hall, 
 with a full attendance of Princes and Nobles. There came 
 to meet him the Archbishop of Canterbury [Simon Sudbury] 
 and other prelates in pontifical habits, and the clergy of the 
 realm in silken copes, with a great concourse of people at 
 the high table in the Hall. Then the King, sitting in his 
 royal seat, the prelates and clergy arranged the procession* 
 In the mean time William de Latymer, as Almoner, assisted 
 by his deputies, covered the pavement from the Hall to the 
 regal seat " pulpitum" in the church of St. Peter, with red- 
 striped cloths, on which the King and the great personages 
 "magnates" before-mentioned were to walk to the church. 
 c And the King being brought forward, there preceded 
 him the Lord Duke [of Lancaster], bearing in his own right 
 the principal sword; Edmund, Earl of March, with the 
 second sword and spurs, which he carried in behalf of the 
 Earl of Pembroke [a minor] ; the Earl of Warwick with the 
 third sword in his own right; Edmund, Earl of Cambridge, 
 bearing one royal baton; and Thomas of Woodstock the 
 other, by the King's order ; each staff being surmounted by 
 the figure of a dove. They were preceded by the Bishop of 
 St. David's, Chancellor of England, holding in his hands a 
 sanctified cup, or chalice, of great value ; before him, the 
 Bishop of Worcester, Treasurer of England, bearing a patin; 
 and many other prelates and others of the clergy walked 
 before them : behind the King, came the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, and the Bishops of London and Winton. And 
 thus all, the personages just mentioned, went in procession 
 to the church, where, on the King prostrating himself before 
 the high altar, the Archbishop bestowed on him his benedic- 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 tion. After which the prelates and great men raised him up 
 and led him to a seat "pulpitum" prepared for the purpose 
 in an elevated situation in the church, and placed him in the 
 royal chair, honourably decorated, where he might be beheld 
 by all the people then present. And the Barons of the 
 Cinque Ports held over the King a square awning, or canopy, 
 of purple silk, supported on four silvered staves, ornamented 
 with bells of silver gilt, four bells being attached to each 
 stave. 
 
 e The King thus sitting in the chair, there came before 
 him at his command, Richard, Earl of Arundel, holding in 
 his hands the noble regal crown ; and, in the same manner 
 came William, Earl of Suffolk, who held the royal sceptre, at 
 the summit of which was a cross. The Earl of Suffolk also 
 brought a valuable robe, and William, Earl of Salisbury 
 another garment, with which the Lord the King was then 
 arrayed. And the holy sacrament having been administered 
 to the King by the Archbishop, he confirmed by oath his 
 promise to keep and preserve the laws and customs granted 
 to the people of the realm of England of old, by the Kings 
 his progenitors (just princes and devoted to God) ; and more 
 especially the laws, customs, and liberties bestowed on the 
 clergy and people by the most glorious and sanctified King 
 Edward [the Confessor]. And to preserve to God and the 
 Holy Church, the Clergy and the People, peace and con- 
 cord to the utmost of his power; and to cause to be 
 done, in all his judgments, right and justice in mercy arid 
 truth ; and also to hold and keep up the just laws and cus- 
 toms of the church, and to maintain and cause to be ob- 
 served to the honour of God, those laws which the people 
 should justly and reasonably appoint. 
 
 6 The Archbishop then turning to the four sides of the 
 platform, stated to all the people what the King had pro- 
 
KING RICHARD II. HIS CORONATION. 1377- 
 
 mised and sworn, inquiring of the people if they would have 
 him for their King and Liege Lord, and as such render him 
 due obedience, and they consented with one voice. Then 
 the Archbishop began with a loud voice, to chant the hymn, 
 ' Veni Creator Spiritus,' which being finished, and the pre- 
 late having prayed over the King, and a solemn litany having 
 been sung, at which the clergy assisted, the vestments with 
 which the King had been first arrayed were cut open, and he 
 was anointed with holy oil and chrism in various parts of 
 his body, according to usage, by the hands of the Arch- 
 bishop ; and then going to the step of his throne, he was 
 immediately crowned ; and being invested with the royal 
 sword called Cur tana, the sceptre, the ring, the spurs, and 
 other regal ornaments, the great men and lords standing 
 around, lifted up the Lord the King, and placed him in the 
 throne. The prelates and clergy next sung the Psalm, Te 
 Deum laudamus ; and going up to the great altar, celebrated 
 high mass, in the midst of which, the King descending from 
 his seat went to the steps of the altar, and having offered a 
 mark of gold, returned to his seat again. While the eccle- 
 siastics were employed in solemnizing the mass, divers lords 
 and great men paid their homage and fealty to our Lord the 
 King. The mass being concluded, the King, with a great 
 concourse of prelates, great men and nobles, proceeded from 
 the church to his Palace, and passing through the midst of 
 the Great Hall the King went to his private chamber. 
 
 f After the King had rested himself, he descended into the 
 Great Hall, and having washed his hands, sat down in the 
 royal seat at the high table, where sat with him many of the 
 prelates on either hand. On the right side of the Hall, the 
 Barons of the Cinque Ports occupied the first table; the 
 Clerks of the Chancery the second; and at the inferior 
 tables on that side were the King's Judges, the Barons of 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 the Exchequer, and others. On the left side of the Hall were 
 tables for the Sheriffs, Recorder, Aldermen, and many of the 
 Citizens of London. In the middle were tables filled by 
 distinguished men of the Commons of the Kingdom. And 
 when all were seated, before the King's dinner was served, 
 he bestowed the title of Earl of Buckingham on his beloved 
 uncle Thomas of Woodstock ; that of Earl of Northumber- 
 land on Henry de Percy ; that of Earl of Nottingham on 
 John de Mowbray; and that of Earl of Huntingdon on 
 Guiscard D'Angle ; and he gave the honour of knighthood 
 to Edward, son of the Earl of Cambridge, and other young 
 gentlemen. All these Earls and Knights bestowed their 
 bounty largely, in acknowledgment of the royal munificence. 
 
 During the continuance of the entertainment, the Lord 
 Steward, the Constable, and the Earl Marshal, with certain 
 Knights deputed by them, rode about the Hall on noble 
 coursers to preserve peace and order among the people. All 
 that time the Earl of Derby stood at the King's right hand, 
 holding the principal sword drawn from its scabbard. The 
 Earl of Stafford performed the office of chief carver. Din- 
 ner being finished, the King arose and went to his chamber, 
 with the prelates, great men, and nobles before-mentioned. 
 Then the great men, Knights, and Lords passed the re- 
 mainder of the day until supper time in shews, dances, and 
 solemn minstrelsy; and having supped, the King and the 
 others retired to rest, fatigued with their exertions in the 
 ceremonies of this magnificent festival.'* 
 
 Walsingham notices many particulars of this coronation, 
 but avoids to describe the splendour and profusion of the 
 
 * Vide " Foedera," ut supra. In an annexed Memorandum, it is stated 
 that the Duke of Lancaster delivered in the above particulars of the Coronation 
 "isturn Processum" into the King's Chancery, in order that the same might 
 be duly enrolled. Ib. p. 64. 
 
KING RICHARD II. HIS CORONATION. 1377. 255 
 
 banquet, ( lest his veracity should be disputed/ He has, how- 
 ever, mentioned one circumstance of a strikingly picturesque 
 character which accompanied the feast, namely : c In the 
 midst of the Palace, a hollow marble pillar was set up, upon 
 steps, and on the top was placed a large gilt eagle, from un- 
 der the feet of which, through the four sides of the capital, 
 divers kinds of wine came gushing forth throughout the day j 
 no one being forbidden to partake of the same, were he ever 
 so poor, or abject/ * 
 
 Another circumstance, of a somewhat remarkable kind, is 
 mentioned by Walsingham as occurring at this coronation. 
 Sir John Dymmok, who claimed to be the King's Champion 
 in right of Margaret de Ludlow, his wife, and of his posses- 
 sion of the manor of Scrivelsby, in Lincolnshire, (to which the 
 said office is attached) having furnished himself according to 
 the tenure, e with the best suit of armour, save one, and the 
 best steed, save one, from the King's armoury and stable, he 
 proceeded on horseback, with two attendants, (the one bearing 
 his spear, and the other his shield) to the Abbey gates, there 
 to await the ending of the mass. But the Lord Marshal, the 
 Lord Seneschal, and the Lord Constable, with Sir Thomas 
 Percy, (the Lord Marshal's brother,) being all mounted 
 on their great horses, went to the knight, and told him 
 that he should not have come so soon, but when the King 
 was at dinner; wherefore, he had better retire, and lay- 
 
 * Walsingham, " Hist. Brev." p. 197. There are clivers Manuscripts respect- 
 ing Richard the Second's Coronation, in the Harleian and Cottonian Libraries in 
 the British Musuem. The claims made on behalf of the Mayor and Citizens of 
 London were, ' for the Mayor to serve the King in the Hall at dinner (and after- 
 wards in the royal chamber) with wine and spices, in a golden cup belonging to 
 the King ; and for the Citizens to serve in the Buttery, helping the Chief Butler 
 both at the dinner-table in the Hall, and after dinner, in the Chamber of the 
 Estates, &c.' Vide Harl. MSS. No. 1309. 
 
2,56 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 ng aside his weighty armour, rest himself until the proper 
 time : " sed quod usque ad praiidium Regis differet adven- 
 tum suum ; quapropter monuit ut rediret, et, deposito tanto 
 onere armorurn, quiesceret ad illud tempus." The knight 
 complied with this admonition, and withdrew. * 
 
 Within a few days after the coronation, the Duke of Lan- 
 caster appeared before the King in council, and expressed his 
 intention of retiring from the government; such a step having 
 been rendered expedient by the strong jealousies which had 
 been excited against him in regard to the succession ; and 
 still more so, perhaps, from his patronage of the person and 
 doctrines of the reformer Wicliffe. His brothers, Edmund of 
 Langley and Thomas of Woodstock, withdrew also from state 
 affairs about the same time. A Council of Regency was then 
 appointed to assist the young King, whose first Parliament 
 met at Westminster on the 13th of October 1377. In this 
 
 * The cause of the knight's seeming irregularity on this occasion, is suggested 
 by Mr. Taylor to have arisen from it having anciently been the practice of the 
 Champion " to ride in the Procession as well as in the Hall, and to proclaim 
 his challenge, ' devant tout le monde,' in both places (" Glory of Regality," 
 p. 31G) ; and we find, that in this very instance the Champion had claimed to 
 ride in the procession on the coronation day " le dit Johan doit venir le jour 
 de son coronement et chivacher devant le Roi al procession." " Rot. Claus." 
 Rich. II. m. 45. It is remarkable, that the fees appertaining to the Champion 
 remained unsettled until after the 4th year of this sovereign, when Dame Mar- 
 garet Dymmok, who was then a widow, petitioned the King that the perquisites 
 of the said office, " cestassavoir le melliour destrer ove trappure 't le mel- 
 liour armure du Roy forsprisun," or an allowance for the same " ou pour 
 eulx resonable regarde," should be delivered to her, in right of her late hus- 
 band ; who, in pursuance of his claim, and of other charges at the corona- 
 tion, was more than 200 marks in debt at the time of his decease.' The King 
 directed his Council to treat with the petitioner, and accord to her what was 
 reasonable. " Bibl. Cotton." Vesp. C. xiv. p. 119. See also Sir H. Nicolas's 
 Proceedings, &c. of the Privy Council." vol. i. Mr. Taylor has inadvertently 
 assigned this petition to the reign of Henry IV. See " Glory of Regality," p. 137. 
 
KING RICHARD II. VIOLATION OF SANCTUARY. 1378. ^57 
 
 assembly, the prosecution against Alice Ferrers was revived, 
 and sentence of banishment and confiscation was pronounced 
 against her. 
 
 In August 1378, the right of sanctuary possessed by the Ab- 
 bey of Westminster, was for the first time violated ; and the 
 Church itself became the scene of two most atrocious murders, 
 which were committed under the following circumstances. 
 At the famous battle of Najara, in Spain, fought between 
 Edward the Black Prince, and the bastard Don Henry, 
 on the 3rd of April 1367:, the Count of Denia, a Castilian 
 nobleman, was made prisoner by Frank de Haule, or Haulay, 
 and John Shakle, esquires to Sir John Chandos, who convey- 
 ed him to England as their lawful captive. Frank de Haule, 
 when dying, bequeathed his share of the prize to his son Ro- 
 bert, who, conjointly with Shakle, permitted the Count to 
 return to Castile to procure means to defray his ransom 
 He died, however, before this could be effected, and his son 
 and heir " who remained in gage for the monie" was, for se- 
 veral years, still kept in durance by the two esquires. At 
 length, early in the new reign, the duke of Lancaster, who, in 
 right of Constantia his wife, had laid claim to the crown of 
 Castile, demanded the young Count from his keepers; and on 
 their refusing compliance he caused them to be committed to 
 the Tower. Soon afterwards, escaping from prison, they took 
 sanctuary in the Abbey Church at Westminster; but it 
 having been determined to seize them by force, Sir Ralph de 
 Ferrers, one of the Council, and Sir Alan Boxhull, Constable 
 of the Tower, with a retinue of fifty persons in armour, enter- 
 ed the Church for that purpose, just at the time of the cele- 
 bration of high mass. Shakle was prevailed on to submit with- 
 out resistance, but Robert de Haule "would not surfer them 
 to come within his reach, and perceyuing they meant to take 
 him by force, he drew out a falcheon, or short sword, which 
 
258 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 he had girt to him, and therewith layde so freely about him, 
 trauersing twice round about the monkes quier, that til they 
 had beset him on cache syde, they coulde doe him no hurt, 
 but at length, when they hadde got him at that advauntage, 
 one of them clove hys head to the very braynes, and an other 
 thrust him through the body behinde with a sworde, and so 
 they murthered him amongst them. They slew also one of 
 the monkes that woulde haue hadde them to haue saved the 
 Esquires life." * 
 
 This sacrilegious violation of a consecrated sanctuary occa- 
 sioned a vast outcry among all ranks of people ; and the Ab- 
 bey Church, as profaned by the shedding of blood, was kept 
 shut up about four months. Sentence of excommunication 
 was also pronounced by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and 
 five of his suffragan bishops, against all who had been con- 
 cerned in the murder, either as principals or abettors, except 
 the Duke of Lancaster, whose near relationship to the King, 
 and possibly some apprehension of his vengeance, was the 
 cause of his being especially exempted by name. His influ- 
 ence, indeed, was sufficiently powerful to secure the murder- 
 ers from suffering in person, as they highly deserved; but Sir 
 Ralph de Ferrers and Sir Alan Boxhull, the two principals, cove- 
 nanted to give 200 to the Abbot of Westminster, by way of 
 penance. Sometime afterwards, Shakle was set at liberty, he 
 having compounded with the King to receive 500 marks, in 
 ready money, and lands of the annual value of 100 marks, for 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicles," (from Walsingham) p. 1011, edit. 1577. Adam 
 Murimuth, a contemporary historian, (the continuator of Matthew of Westmins- 
 ter) says, that Haule was killed before the stall of the Prior, and that the other 
 person slain, was one of the Clerks or Vicars choral of the Church ; but in the 
 Petition presented to the Parliament at Gloucester, from the Abbot and Convent 
 of Westminster, in consequence of these acts of atrocity, the latter victim is called 
 " un s'geant [sergeant] du meisme Esglise." See " Rot. Parl." vol. iii. p. 50. 
 
KING RICHARD II. A JUDICIAL COMBAT. 1380. 259 
 
 the ransom of his captive. It then became known that the 
 young Count, who had been hitherto in concealment, "was the 
 verie groome that had serued Schakell, all the tyme of 
 hys trouble and would neuor vtter himselfe what hee was 
 before that time, hauing serued hym as an hyred seruante 
 all that while in prison, and out of prison, and in daunger 
 of life when his other maister was murthered." * 
 
 From the great excitement in the metropolis occasioned by 
 these events, it was determined that the next Parliament 
 should meet at Gloucester instead of Westminster, and it 
 consequently assembled in St. Peter's Abbey in that City, in 
 the October following. During the session a strong petition 
 was presented from the Abbot (Litlington) and Convent of 
 Westminster, complaining of the recent violation of their 
 sanctuary; and in the ensuing Parliament, which met at 
 Westminster on the 25th of April 1379, it was ordained that 
 "the privileges and immunities of the Abbey of Westminster 
 should remain whole and inviolate/' but with the proviso 
 that the lands and goods of such persons as took sanctuary 
 to defraud their creditors, should be liable to seizure in dis- 
 charge of their debts, f 
 
 In the Lists at Westminster, before the King's Palace, on 
 the 7th of June, 1380, a judicial Combat took place between 
 Sir John Annesley, Knt. and Thomas Katrington or Caterton, 
 Esq. ; the latter of whom had been accused by the knight of 
 treason, in having betrayed and delivered up to the French, for 
 a sum of money, the Castle of St. Sauveur le Vicomte, in the 
 territory of Cotentin, in Normandy, of which he was then 
 governor. 
 
 This fortress and the lordship annexed to it, had been given 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicles," p. 1014. f Ibid, vol.ii. p 722, edit. 107. 
 
 s 2 
 
260 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE, 
 
 by Edward III. to the celebrated warrior Sir John Chandos, 
 one of whose nieces and co-heiresses Sir John Annesley had 
 married, and in her right the lordship of St. Sauveur would 
 have become his property had it not been surrendered by the 
 defendant. 
 
 On the 8th of March, the appellant Annesley made his ap- 
 pearance in the Court of the Constable of England, at West- 
 minster, before Lord Fitz-Walter, sitting as Deputy Consta- 
 ble for the Earl of Buckingham ; and there, in set terms, 
 he accused Katrington of the treasonable surrender of the 
 Castle of St. Sauveur, and of having sold it to the French, to 
 the great injury of our Lord the King, and to the loss and 
 disherison of the said appellant, who offered to justify by duel 
 with the defendant the charge he had made against him, and 
 threw down his gauntlet in the court, in token of defiance. 
 The accused asserted his innocence of the alleged treachery 
 and corruption, and accepted the challenge with the accustom- 
 ed formalities : both parties then gave surety for the prosecu- 
 tion of the contest, according to law. Two days afterwards 
 they appeared again in the same court, before the Earl of 
 Buckingham himself, and the accusation and answer having 
 been recited, and the sureties renewed, the Constable order- 
 ed them to attend at Windsor, on the morrow of St. George's 
 Day, when a time and place for the trial at arms should be 
 assigned them. * 
 
 " Herevpon," says Holinshed, " was the day and place 
 appointed, and all things prouided readie, with lists railed 
 and made so substantiate, as if the same should haue en- 
 dured for euer. The concourse of people that came to Lon- 
 don to see this tried, was thought to exceed that of the King's 
 
 * " Foedera," torn. iii. pars, 3. p. 96. Hag. Com. 
 
KING RICHARD II. A JUDICIAL COMBAT. 1380. 
 
 coronation,, so desirous men were to behold a sight so strange 
 and vnaccustomed. * On the morning of the day fixed upon, 
 (June the 7th) the King, the Lords, and many others, assembled 
 at the place where the lists were set up, on the pavement in 
 front of the palace. The knight, " armed and mounted on 
 a faire courser, seemelie trapped," came forward as appellant, 
 to await the appearance of the defendant ; and shortly after, 
 the latter was summoned in the ensuing terms: "Thomas 
 Katrington, defendant, come and appeare to saue the 
 action, for which Sir John Anneslie, knight and appellant, 
 hath publikelie and by writing appealed thee;" Thus thrice 
 the herald made proclamation, and at the third call, the de- 
 fendant entered, " riding on a courser trapped with traps im- 
 broidered with his armes. At his approching to the lists he 
 alighted from his horsse, lest, according to the law of armes, 
 the Constable should have challenged the horsse, if he had 
 entered within the lists : but his shifting nothing availed him, 
 for the horsse, after his maister was alighted beside him, ran 
 vp & downe by the railes, now thrusting his head ouer, and 
 now both head & breast ; so that the Earle of Buckingham, 
 because he was High Constable of England, claimed the horsse 
 afterwards, swearing that he would haue so much of him as 
 had appeared ouer the railes, and so the horsse was adiudged 
 vnto him." 
 
 As soon as the esquire was come within the lists, the Earl 
 Marshal and the Constable produced the indenture which 
 had been made and sealed by the parties before them, and 
 the articles were read in the hearing of the assembly. Ka- 
 trington, "whose conscience was thought not to be cleare, 
 but rather guiltie, and therefore seemed full of troublesome 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicles," vol. ii. p. 727 : edit. 1807. 
 
262 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 and grudging passions, as an offender alreadie conuinced," 
 began to make exceptions to the terms to which he had sub- 
 scribed. The Duke of Lancaster, however, who had formerly 
 patronized him, being exasperated at this manifest prevarica- 
 tion, swore that if he did not accept the conditions of the com- 
 bat, according to the law of arms, and the terms of the inden- 
 ture made by his own consent, he should be held guilty of the 
 alleged treason, and forthwith executed. This declaration gave 
 great satisfaction to the people, who had apprehended that the 
 Duke might be disposed to protect the defendant. The latter 
 now summoning all his courage, declared that he durst fight 
 with the knight not only on the point in question, but on all 
 others whatsoever: "for he trusted more to his strength 
 of bodie, and favour of his freends, than to the cause which he 
 had taken upon him to defend. He was in deed a mightie man 
 of stature, whereas the knight among those that were of a 
 meane stature was one of the least. Freends to the esquire, 
 in whom he had great affiance to be borne out through their 
 assistance, were the Lords Latimer and Basset, with others." 
 
 Before they began the combat, both the appellant and the de- 
 fendant respectively made oath of the truth of the cause for 
 which either fought, and disclaimed having had recourse to 
 magical arts or charms for protection against the foe. Then 
 having devoutly offered up prayers, they began the battle ; 
 in the first onset with spears, then with swords, and lastly 
 with daggers. The fight was obstinately contested, but after 
 it had continued a long time, the knight disarmed his adver- 
 sary and overthrew him ; and endeavouring to cast himself 
 upon him, he fell himself, being blinded by the perspiration, 
 which obstructed his view through the vizor of his helmet. 
 
 Thus he fell beside the prostrate esquire, who perceiving 
 that he had missed his aim, seized the opportunity, and threw 
 
KING RICHARD II. A JUDICIAL COMBAT. 1380. 
 
 263 
 
 himself on his antagonist. While they were struggling on 
 the ground in this situation, the King, apprehending that the 
 knight would be overcome, and probably prepossessed in his 
 favour, gave orders that the combatants should be parted, 
 which was done accordingly, in opposition to the intreaties of 
 Annesley, who declared himself confident of victory. When 
 they were raised up, it appeared that the esquire was unable 
 to stand without support, and he was placed in a chair, to see 
 whether he would recover his strength. The knight, mean- 
 time, walked without any assistance to the place where the 
 King sat, and besought him and his nobles that the contest 
 might be renewed, and that he might be laid on the ground 
 with the esquire above him, as before they were parted. 
 This, at his urgent petition was granted ; but it soon appear- 
 ed that his adversary was utterly disabled, for he fainted, and 
 fell from his seat, so that it was expected he would have died 
 on the spot. By the use of proper means, however, his senses 
 were restored, and his armour was taken off, as being obvious- 
 ly vanquished. " After a little time the esquier began to 
 come to himselfe, and lifting vp his eies began to hold vp his 
 head, and to cast a ghostlie looke on euerie one about him ; 
 which when it was reported to the knight, he commeth to 
 him armed as he was (for he had put off no piece since the 
 beginning of the fight) and speaking to him, called him traitor, 
 and false periured man, asking of him if he durst trie the bat- 
 tell with him againe : but the esquier hauing neither sense nor 
 spirit whereby to make answer, proclamation was made that 
 the battell was ended, and euerie one might go to his lodg- 
 ing."* The unfortunate culprit, thus convicted by the issue of 
 the combat, became delirious, and on the next day, "he 
 yeelded vp the ghost," and was afterwards hanged at Tyburn. 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicles," vol. ii. p. 726729. Fabyan states that this 
 Combat took place in 1383, but that he is in error, is proved by different entries 
 in the " Foedera," under the year 1380. 
 
264 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 On the 26th of January 1380, the Chancellor Sir Richard 
 le Scrop delivered up the Great Seal to the King in the 
 Privy Chamber of his private palace at Westminster, "in 
 quadam Secreta Camera Dom. Regis infra Privatum Pala- 
 tium Westm./' in the presence of the Archbishops of Can- 
 terbury and York, the Bishop of Exeter, the Duke of Lan- 
 caster, and other magnates. Two days afterwards the King 
 appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury (Simon Sudbury) 
 Chancellor, and giving him the seal, the prelate on the fol- 
 lowing day took it into the Court of Chancery in the Great 
 Hall at Westminster, where he affixed it to divers writs, 
 charters, and letters patent.* 
 
 About this time the necessities of the crown became so 
 great, in consequence both of the profuse extravagance of 
 the court, and of the vast expenses of the foreign wars in 
 the present and preceding reigns, that extraordinary mea- 
 sures were resorted to for obtaining supplies. The multi- 
 plied exactions by which the people had already been op- 
 pressed, had excited a general spirit of discontent; and the 
 Commons' House, as it increased in power, and obtained a 
 fuller knowledge of the many immunities from taxation en- 
 joyed by the clergy and upper ranks of society, grew daily 
 more and more tenacious of granting subsidies. Unhappily, 
 however, in the Parliament which was held in St. Andrew's 
 Priory, at Northampton, in November 1380, the Commons 
 were induced to grant a Poll tax of three groats on all the 
 aity, males and females, above the age of fifteen years (men- 
 dicants excepted) ; but it was ordained that the more wealthy 
 
 * "Foedera," torn. 3. pars. iii. p. 91, Hag. Com. After the murder of Arch- 
 bishop Sudbury, in Wat Tyler's rebellion, the celebrated William Courtenay 
 was appointed Chancellor, and the Great Seal was delivered to him on Novem- 
 ber the 30th, 1381, by the King in " la Redechaum&re" of the Private Palace 
 at Westminster. Id. pars 3, p. 131. 
 
KING RICHARD II. WAT TYLER'S INSURRECTION. 1381. 
 
 persons should assist the poorer classes, no farther, however, 
 than for each individual to pay sixty groats for himself and his 
 wife, whilst the poor man should not pay less than one 
 groat for himself and his wife.* This tax, having been 
 farmed out to a band of rapacious courtiers, who were 
 desirous, as Stow remarks, " to enrich themselves with 
 other mennes goods," was exacted with great rigour from 
 the people, and in consequence of the indecent and brutal 
 conduct of some of the tax-gatherers, it became, in the fol- 
 lowing year, the immediate cause of one of the most dan- 
 gerous Insurrections that ever threatened to overthrow the 
 British monarchy. 
 
 The Insurrection commenced about the middle of June 
 1381 ; and the rebels, under Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, and 
 others of similar appellation, advancing to the metropolis, 
 committed the greatest devastations there, burning and de- 
 stroying houses and public buildings, and slaying the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury (Simon Sudbury), Sir Robert Hales, 
 the Lord Treasurer, and many other persons. During the 
 time that the insurgents held possession of London (which 
 was upwards of a week), the King resided both at the Tower 
 and in its vicinity, at the house called the Wardrobe. Among 
 the outrages committed by the insurgents, it is recorded that 
 they went to Westminster and broke open the Exchequer, 
 destroyed the books and records, violated the Sanctuary, 
 and murdered one of the King's officers, whom they found 
 clinging to the shrine of St. Edward the Confessor in the 
 Abbey Church, f u The same day/' says Stow, u after din- 
 ner, about two of the clocke, the King went from the Ward- 
 robe called the Royall, in London, toward Westminster 
 
 * " Rot. Parl." 4. Rich. II. vol. iii. p. 90. 
 
 t This was John Inworth, Marshal of the Marshalsey, who was dragged into 
 Cheapside, and there beheaded. 
 
266 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 attended on by the number of 200 persons to visit Saint 
 Edward's shrine, and to see if the Commons had done any 
 mischiefe there. The Abbot and Convent of that Abbey, 
 with the Chanons and Vicars of Saint Stephen's ChappelL 
 met him in rich copes with procession, and led him by the 
 charnell-house into the abbey, then to the church, and so to 
 the high altar, where hee deuoutely prayed and offered. 
 After which he spake with the Anchore [Anchoret], to whom 
 hee confessed himselfe; then hee went to the Chapell 
 called Our Lady in the Pewe, where he made his prayers." 
 Froissart thus mentions this last act of devotion : " There 
 is a statue of Our Lady in a small Chapel, that has many vir- 
 tues and performs great miracles, in which the Kings of 
 England have much faith. The King having paid his devo- 
 tions and made his offerings to this shrine, mounted his 
 horse about nine o'clock, as did the barons who were with 
 him."* Immediately after this visit to Westminster, fol- 
 lowed the King's interview with Wat Tyler in Smithfield ; 
 and the violent assassination of that haughty rebel through 
 the resolute interference of William Walworth, Mayor of 
 London, who was afterwards knighted for his services to the 
 King on this and other occasions. f 
 
 During the sitting of Parliament at Westminster in Novem- 
 ber 1381, the public business was interrupted by the feud 
 that had taken place between the Duke of Lancaster and 
 the Earl of Northumberland, both of whom had brought to 
 the metropolis great numbers of their armed retainers, and 
 
 * See Holinshed's "Chronicles," vol. ii. p. 739; Stow's "Chronicle," 
 p. 459 ; andFroissart's " Chronicles," Johnes's Trans. 8vo, vol. v. p. 356. 
 
 f Philpot, and two other citizens also received the same honour. Godwin 
 remarks, that " this seems to be the first instance in which the insignia of 
 chivalry were thus diverted from their original appropriation." See " Life of 
 Geoffrey Chaucer," vol. iii. p. 206. 
 
KING RICHARD II. MARRIED TO ANNE OF BOHEMIA. 1382. 
 
 " contrary to the ancient usage of the realm," wore armour 
 themselves in the Parliament-house. The King at length 
 interfered to settle their dispute, " to the end that some good 
 might be done in that Parlement." But little, however, had 
 been effected, when news arrived that the Princess Anne of 
 Bohemia (sister of the Emperor Wenceslaus), with whom 
 King Richard had made a treaty of marriage, had reached 
 Calais on her way to England ; upon which the Parliament 
 was prorogued till after Christmas. 
 
 Holinshed gives the following account of the reception of 
 the bride elect; and of the subsequent matrimonial cere- 
 mony which took place at Westminster. (( Such as should 
 receiue hir at Douer repaired thither, where at hir landing a 
 maruellous and right strange woonder happened, for she was 
 no sooner out of hir ship, and got to land in safetie with all 
 hir companie, but that foorthwith the water was so troubled 
 and shaken as the like thing had not to any man's remem- 
 brance euer beene heard of, so that the ship in which the 
 appointed queene came ouer was terribly rent in peeces, and 
 the residue so beaten one against an other, that they were 
 scattered here and there after a woonderful manner. Before 
 hir comming to the citie of London, she was met on Black- 
 heath by the maior and citizens of London in most honor- 
 able wise, and so with great triumph conueied to Westmins- 
 ter, where (on the 14th of January 1382) all the nobilitie 
 of the realme being assembled, she was ioined in marriage to 
 the King; and shortly after (Jan. 22d) crowned Queene by the 
 Archbishop of Canturburie, with all the glorie and honor 
 that might be deuised. There were also holden for the more 
 honour of the said marriage, solemne Justes for certeine 
 daies togither, in which, as well the Englishmen as the new 
 Queene's countriemen shewed proofe of their manhood and 
 valiancie, whereby praise and commendation of knightlie 
 
268 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 prowesse was atchiued, not without damage of both par- 
 ties."* According to Froissart, " the marriage was solem- 
 nized in the Chapel of the Palace of Westminster, the 
 twentieth day after Christmas. " f 
 
 On the re-assembling of Parliament after the King's mar- 
 riage, one of the members., a distinguished nobleman, died 
 very suddenly. Stow thus records the event : " William 
 Vfford, Earle of Suffolke, in this Parliament being elected 
 by the knights of the shires to pronounce on their behalfes 
 the businesse of the realme, the very day and houre in which 
 he should have executed the businesse he had taken in hand, 
 as he was going vp the staires that ledde into the chamber 
 where all the nobilitie of the realme sate, he sodainly fell 
 downe, and among his men's hands that were about to holde 
 him, he yielded vp the ghost, although being very merry, 
 and feeling no euill a little before, as euen at that instant he 
 had entred Westminster Hall ; of whose sodaine death not 
 only all the nobles of the realme were greatly amazed, but 
 all the meaner sort, for in all his life-time he had shewed 
 himselfe amiable to all meri/'J 
 
 * Holinshed's, " Chronicles," vol. ii. p. 753. 
 
 f "Chronicles," Johnes's Trans. 8vo, vol. vi. p. 33. Fabyan most errone- 
 ously represents the Princess as having arrived at Westminster on May the 8th, 
 and says she was married shortly after General pardons were granted at the inter- 
 cession of Queen Anne to all offenders except some who had been concerned in 
 the late daring rebellion. A proclamation was first issued, tested at Westminster, 
 December 13, 1381, "ad requisitionem Annse futurae consortis Regis concessa;" 
 the exceptions to this act of grace including the men of Canterbury, Cambridge, 
 Bridgewater, St. Edmundsbury, Beverley, and Scarborough. On the 14th of 
 February 1382, another proclamation was published, confirming the former, and 
 extending its provisions of mercy to the men of the city of Canterbury. 
 " Foedera," torn iii. pars 3, pp. 131 and 134. Hag. Com. 
 
 J " Chronicles," p. 471. The Earl was one of the Triers of Petitions from 
 the Commons of Gascony and other foreign dominions of the Crown in the 
 Parliaments at Westminster in 1380 and 1381. See "Rot. Parl." vol. iii. p. 98. 
 
KING RICHARD II. A TRIAL BY BATTLE. 1384. 
 
 In November 1384, during the sitting of Parliament at 
 Westminster, a Trial by battle took place in the lists there, 
 in the presence of the King and Queen, the Duke of Lan- 
 caster, and many other nobles. The appellant was an 
 Esquire of Navarre, named Mortileto de Vilenos, who 
 brought a charge of treason against John Welsh, or Wallis, 
 Esq. of Grimsby, as occurring at Cherburgh, in which gar- 
 rison the latter had held a command. They fought on St. 
 Andrew's day, when, according to Knyghton, the Navar- 
 rois was killed on the field, ' and presentlie drawne, hanged, 
 and headed;' but others state, that Mortileto being vanquished, 
 acknowledged he had accused the defendant unjustly, through 
 displeasure at an injury done to him by the said Welsh, in 
 abusing the Navarrois' wife whilst in command at Cherburgh. 
 On this confession the King adjudged him to be drawn to 
 the place of execution, and hanged ; " although the Queene 
 and many others did make earnest intercession to have his 
 life saved." Welsh, on the contrary, was made a knight, 
 and enriched with many gifts, " as well of the Kings and 
 the Dukes bestowing, as also of other great men and peeres 
 of the realme."* 
 
 The frequent contests between Richard the Second, under 
 the influence of his favourite Robert de Vere and others, and 
 the Princes of the blood and great Barons, headed by the 
 
 * Vide Holinshed's "Chronicles," vol. ii. p. 764; and Stow's " Chro- 
 nicles," p. 477. That these judicial combats were not unfrequent in that 
 age may be corroborated by the following extract from the Chancellor's Roll of 
 the llth of Richard the Second, (now in the British Museum) of 'Payments made 
 by the Sheriffs of London,' viz. " Et in duobus duellis arraiandis apud Smyth - 
 feld, inter Laur. Teuder probatorem, et Nich. Slebuch defendentem : et inter 
 eundem probatorem', et Johan. Middelton defendentem, 28*. per Bill, de partic. 
 Et ejusd. Vic. pro vadia prefati Laur. Teuder. probatoris, in prisona de New- 
 gate detenti, a primo die Marcii anno 11 usque 4 m diem Junii prox. sequent 
 per 96 dies utroq. die comput. 8s. vid' per diem Irf." 
 
270 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Duke of Gloucester (Thomas of Woodstock), the King's 
 uncle, which ultimately proved so disastrous to both parties, 
 were for a short time suspended by the result of certain pro- 
 ceedings which occurred in the Palace of Westminster in 
 November 1387. In the preceding year, the King had been 
 obliged to submit to the appointment of a Council of State, 
 invested with a power of control over every department of the 
 government ; so that his own authority was in a great degree 
 superseded, and his favourites were disgraced. The commis- 
 sion was to continue in force twelve months, and the King 
 took various steps to secure the resumption of his authority 
 at the termination of that time, as well as to revenge himself 
 on those by whom he had been constrained to submit to the 
 obnoxious ordinances. But his counsels were betrayed by 
 Sir Roger Fulthorpe, one of the judges, to the Earl of Kent, 
 and by him made known to the Duke of Gloucester. 
 
 The confederated Barons being thus apprised of their dan- 
 ger, " gathered their power togither, determining (at the ap- 
 proaching interview) to talke with the King with their armour 
 vpon their backes, for their more sure tie/' * 
 
 They therefore assembled in arms with their retainers, in 
 Hornsey Park, and having prudently avoided the snares 
 which had been laid for them, (including an ambush at the 
 Mews near Charing Cross) they "proceeded to Westminster, 
 with a strong power of men about them. The King, when he 
 heard they were come, apparelled himselfe in his kinglie 
 robes, and with his scepter in hand came into the Great Hall 
 at Westminster. The Lords, as soone as they had sight of 
 him, made to him their humble obeisance, & went foorth till 
 they came to the nether steps going vp to the Kings seat of 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicles," vol ii. p. 786. 
 
KING RICHARD II. HIS CONFERENCE WITH THE LORDS. 
 
 state, where they made their second obeisance ; & then the 
 King gave them countenance to come neerer to him, & they 
 so did,, kneeling downe before him, & foorthwith he rose from 
 his place, and louinglie welcoming them, tooke each of them 
 by the hand, and that doone sate him downe againe." * 
 
 The Bishop of Ely then demanded of the Lords, on the 
 King's behalf, 6 wherefore they had assembled in arms at 
 Hornsey ;' and was answered (after some general professions 
 of loyalty) that the Lords had thus assembled for the profit 
 both of the King and of the realm, and especially to remove 
 his traitorous counsellors, Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland; 
 Alexander Nevil, Archbishop of York ; Michael de la Pole, 
 Earl of Suffolk ; Robert Tresilian, "that false justice ; " and 
 Nicholas Brembre, "that disloyall knight of London; "and 
 throwing their gauntlets upon the floor, they offered severally 
 to prove their charges against those men by battle. The King 
 interposed, and forbidding this mode of trial, promised that 
 he would summon a Parliament early in the following year, in 
 which justice should be done ; in the mean time taking both 
 the accusers and the accused into his protection, and thus 
 obliging them to keep the peace. He then reproached the 
 Lords with their presumption in taking arms, exclaiming 
 " Have I not armed men sufficient to have beaten you down, 
 compassed about like deer in a toil, if I would ? Truly, in 
 this behalf, I make no more account of you than of the vilest 
 scullion in my kitchen." After this petulant sally, however, 
 he assumed an air of courtesy, and graciously raising the 
 Duke of Gloucester and other lords who had continued kneel- 
 ing before him, he invited them into another apartment of 
 the Palace, where they partook of refreshment together. 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicles," vol. ii. p. 787. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Notwithstanding this seeming concord, the still-continued 
 excesses of the King's confidants, and his own duplicity, again 
 induced the Lords, about " Christmas-tide/' to proceed to 
 London in hostile array, and under the precise threat, "with- 
 out fail to choose another King," if Richard declined the in- 
 terview which he had promised, they obtained a conference 
 with him in his Palace at Westminster; the result was, 
 that the King submitted, unconditionally, to the measures 
 which it was proposed to adopt for the expulsion from Court 
 and severe punishment of his obnoxious ministers and fa- 
 vourites.* 
 
 The Parliament, which had been summoned in conformity 
 with the King's engagement, met at Westminster on the 3rd 
 of February, 1388, and sat, with the exception of a short in- 
 terval, until the 13th of June. The firmness and vigour 
 with which the lords appellants and their adherents prose- 
 cuted their scheme of reform, and the extraordinary measures 
 they adopted, caused this assembly to be termed the wonder- 
 working Parliament. On the first day of the session, the 
 King's judges (with the sole exception of Sir William Skip- 
 
 * Among the persons adjudged deserving of expulsion from the Court, were 
 Nevil, Archbishop of York; Fordham, Bishop of Durham ; Rushbroke, Bishop of 
 Chichester, the King's confessor ; Lord Zouche, of Haringworth ; Lord Burrell; 
 Lord Beaumont ; and Aubrey de Vere, Baldwin de Bereford, Richard Adder- 
 bury, John Worth, Thomas Clifford, and John Lovell, knts.; together with 
 " certaine ladies who were thought to doo much harme about the King." The 
 following persons were committed to prison : Sir Simon Burley ; William Elm- 
 ham ; John Beauchamp of Holt, steward of the King's Household ; Sir John 
 Salisbury ; Sir Thomas Trivet ; Sir James Berners ; Sir Nicholas Dagworth, and 
 Sir Nicholas Brember, who had been Mayor of London in 1384, 5, and 6 ; to- 
 gether with three of the royal chaplains, "and Nicholas Selake, deane of the 
 King's chappell, whose word miyfit doo much in the court." 
 
KING RICHARD II. HIS FAVOURITES PUNISHED. 1 387. 
 
 with,) were arrested, as they were sitting in their places on 
 the bench; and these dignitaries, who had prostituted the 
 authority of the judicial station to gratify a weak monarch 
 and his rapacious courtiers, were arraigned as criminals at the 
 bar of national justice. The Duke of Ireland, the Earl of 
 Suffolk, and the Archbishop of York, who were among the 
 more prominent objects of this retributive prosecution, 
 had evaded personal punishment by voluntary expatriation ; 
 but Brembre and Tresilian were put to death, the former 
 being beheaded, and the latter hanged at Tyburn. Several 
 others were punished capitally, and the rest by forfeiture and 
 banishment.* The ascendancy which the Lords had now ob- 
 tained was for a time submitted to by Richard with seeming 
 content; and he diverted his chagrin by a recurrence to 
 those amusements in which magnificence and pageantry were 
 pretty equally blended, and to which he continued attached 
 during his whole life. 
 
 Among the entries on the Chancellor's Roll (before cited) 
 of the 1 1th of Richard the Second, of payments made by the 
 Sheriffs of London, (Hugh Fastolff and William Venour) 
 from Michaelmas 1387 to the same festival in the ensuing 
 year, are the following items : To the heirs of Richard Leve- 
 land, " pro Custodia Domus apud Westm." 101. 12*. 2d. 
 To the Chaplain, for celebrating Divine Service in the Chapel 
 at Westminster 3/. 10s. For Oil for the Queen's Lamps, 
 I/. 10s. 5d. 
 
 Although Richard had acquiesced in the deprivation of 
 power, and submitted for awhile with apparent calmness to 
 the tutelage of his uncle the Duke of Gloucester, he at length 
 determined to resume his sovereign state and prerogative ; 
 
 * See Holinshed's" Chronicles," vol. ii. pp. 792796; Stow's "Chronicles," 
 pp. 485 488 ; and " Rot. Parl." vol. iii. p. 237. 
 
 T 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 and according to Knyghton, it was at a Council held at West- 
 minster, on the 3rd of May 1389, that he announced his reso- 
 lution to take the reins of government into his own hands. 
 Addressing himself to the Duke of Gloucester, he requested 
 to know his own age. f Your Highness/ replied the Duke, 
 c is in your twenty-second year/ 'Then/ returned the King, 6 1 
 am of years sufficient to govern my own house and family, 
 and also my kingdom. Every person at the age of twenty- 
 one is held capable of managing his own affairs ; and where- 
 fore should I be deprived of a privilege that may be claimed 
 by the meanest subject of the realm. I have, as ye know, 
 been long ruled by tutors, and restrained from doing any- 
 thing of the least importance without their permission ; but 
 I am determined that they shall meddle no further with mat- 
 ters pertaining to my government, and after the manner of an 
 heir come to lawful age, I will call to my council those whom 
 I think proper, and dismiss from it others, at my own plea- 
 sure/ He followed up his declaration by demanding the 
 Great Seal from the Chancellor (Thomas Arundel, Archbishop 
 of York,) and it having been delivered to him, he placed it 
 in his bosom, and quitted his Council. Returning in a short 
 time, he took the keys of the Exchequer from the Bishop of 
 Hereford, chose a new treasurer, re-modelled the Council, ap- 
 pointed new judges, and removing the Earl of Arundel, gave 
 the "admiralty of the sea/' to his uterine brother the Earl 
 of Huntingdon who was the youngest son of Richard's 
 mother by her second husband, Thomas, Lord Holland. 
 
 These singular transactions, as appears from a memoran- 
 dum entered on the Close Rolls,* took place in Marcolfs 
 Chamber, within the Palace ; and in the same apartment on 
 the following day, May the 4th, he gave the seal to the cele- 
 
 * " Rot. Claus." 12th Rich. II. m. 5. d. 
 
KING RICHARD II. GEOFFREY CHAUCER. 1389. 
 
 brated William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester (who had 
 before been Chancellor in the reign of Edward the Third,) in 
 the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury ; the Bishops 
 of Hereford, Exeter, and Salisbury; Edmund, Duke of York, 
 and other peers and great men.* On the following day, 
 divers grants, writs, and letters patent were sealed by the 
 Chancellor, in his Court in the Great Hall. 
 
 On the 13th of July 1389, (13th Rich. II.) by writ tested 
 by the King at Windsor, the celebrated poet Geoffrey Chau- 
 cer was appointed Clerk of the Works at the Palace of West- 
 minster, the Tower of London, and the Mews near Charing 
 Cross ee Charyng-crouch/' and at various other castles and 
 manors, during pleasure, at the wages of two shillings per 
 day. f It seems probable, that this office was granted to 
 
 * Rot. Claus 12th Rich. II. m. 5 d. 
 
 f " Rot. Patent," 13th Rich. II. p. 1, m. 30. Chaucer had been introduced 
 to court in the reign of Edward the Third, and is supposed by Godwin to have 
 been placed near the person of John of Gaunt, Edward's third son, as his poeti- 
 cal preceptor. He appears to have been held in much favour by the King, and 
 wau employed in various secret negociations beyond sea. In June 1367, the 
 King, by his writ of privy seal, tested at Queenborough Castle, granted him a 
 pension of 20 marks for his good services as groom or valet " valettus nos- 
 ter." In another record, quoted by his biographer Speght, as entered on the 
 "Pellis Exituum Scaccarii " of the 45th of Edward the Third, he is called 
 " valettus hospitii." In 1370, Chaucer, after a lingering courtship of ten 
 years, was married to a lady who had been one of the domicellce, or maids of 
 honour, to Queen Philippa. In 1374, King Edward granted him a pitcher of 
 wine, " unampycher vini " to be delivered to him daily by the King's but- 
 ler, or his locum tenens, in the port of London. Being appointed the King's 
 " Scutifer," or Shield-bearer in 1375, the wardship was assigned to him under 
 that appellation, of Edmund Stapelgate, who was a co-claimant with the Earl of 
 Arundel for the right of officiating as chief butler at the Coronation of Richard 
 the Second. In February and April 1377, he had the royal protection to pro- 
 ceed beyond sea on the King's secret business. After a reverse of fortune, and 
 an imprisonment of nearly three years for endeavouring (in conjunction with 
 others) to effect some popular reforms in the City of London, he was released 
 
 T 2 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Chaucer more with the view of providing him with a salary 
 under the crown, than from any skill which he possessed in 
 architectural science ; yet in the following year, and exactly 
 on that day twelvemonth upon which his appointment had 
 been signed, he received the royal mandate to proceed to the 
 restoration of the Collegiate Chapel of St. George, at Wind- 
 sor ; which is described as being in a state of ruin. By ano- 
 ther precept (tested, like the latter one, at Westminster, on 
 the same day) William Hanney, the then Controller of the 
 works at the Palace of Westminster, &c. was directed to 
 verify the accounts of the said Geoffrey, for the repairs of the 
 said Chapel, in order that the same should be discharged at 
 the King's Exchequer.* In January 1391, Chaucer appoint- 
 ed a deputy clerk of the works, but he was himself super- 
 seded a few months afterwards by John Gedney, who following 
 his predecessor's example, appointed a deputy on the 16th of 
 September in the same year, and who continued in office 
 during the 15th and 16th years of Richard II. f 
 
 The excessive fondness of the King for show and pageantry, 
 and the vast expenses of his household, where profusion 
 
 from confinement ; and soon afterwards, as stated above, he was appointed 
 Clerk of the King's Works at Westminster, &c. Other grants were made to 
 him in the same reign, and among them was that of having delivered to him 
 annually, in December, a tun of wine " unum dolium vini," by the hands of 
 the King's chief butler, or his deputy, in the port of London. On Christmas 
 eve 1399, (1st of Henry IV.) although he was then seventy-one years of age, 
 he completed an agreement for a lease for fifty-three years, of a tenement and 
 its appurtenances within the garden of St. Mary's Chapel at Westminster (on 
 the site of which Henry the Vllth's Chapel now stands) at the rent of 53*. 4d. 
 per annum. He died on the 25th of October 1400, most probably in the house 
 which he had so recently taken, and was interred in the south transept of the 
 Abbey Church, where a monument was erected for him in the latter part of the 
 reign of Edward VI. 
 
 * " Rot. Patent." 14th Rich. II. p. 1. m. 33. 
 
 fldem,' 15th. Rich. II. p. 1. m. 24. 
 
KING RICHARD II. CHARTERS OF LONDON SEIZED. 1392- 
 
 and profligacy were blended in riotous association, occasion- 
 ed frequent and arbitrary demands upon the people for the 
 means necessary to maintain such a long-continued course of 
 extravagance. This was especially the case in 1392, when, 
 on the refusal of the citizens of London to grant a loan of 
 1,0001 to the self-willed and irascible monarch, (as well as from 
 the additional offence of assailing and wounding a Lombard 
 merchant who had proffered to lend him that sum,) the 
 Mayor and Sheriffs were committed to prison, the franchises 
 of the corporation were annulled, and the city was subjected 
 to the sole government of a Gustos, or warden, appointed by 
 the King ; the Courts of Justice were removed from West- 
 minster, to York and Nottingham; and numerous modes of 
 intimidation were employed to compel the Londoners to pur- 
 chase the restoration of their chartered rights : and not 
 unsuccessfully, for "the end of these things was a money 
 matter." After much intercession, and the subsequent 
 payment of 10,000/, "collected of the commons in great 
 bittern esse of mind," (besides the exaction of many valuable 
 presents), the Citizens obtained a full restitution of their 
 ancient privileges. On this o ccasion, and as though it were 
 to signalize the triumph of the sovereign over his aggrieved 
 people, the King and his royal consort, with a splendid cor- 
 tege were conducted through the City in grand procession 
 to the Palace at Westminster;* where, shortly afterwards, 
 
 * On his progress from Shene, the King was met at Wandsworth by four hun- 
 dred of the principal citizens on horseback, clothed in a uniform livery ; and at 
 St. George's Church, Southwark, the procession was joined by Robert Braybroke, 
 Bishop of London, (who had been a strong intercessor in favour of the citi- 
 zens), and all the city clergy. At London Bridge, the King was presented 
 " with two faire white steedes, trapped with cloth of golde, parted of red and 
 white, hanged full of silver bells." The streets, as he passed on, were flanked 
 with the city companies in their respective liveries, who saluted him with loyal 
 acclamations. The conduit in Chepe poured forth red and white wine ; and at 
 
278 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 the King was presented by f the mayor and his brethren' with 
 two gilt basins, each containing 1,000 nobles of gold, and an 
 altar table of silver gilt, "and therein imagery graven and en- 
 amelyd moste curyously, of the story of Seynte Edwarde," 
 of the value of 1,000 marks^ for which the King u 'gave 
 vnto them many comfortable wordys." * 
 
 the Standard was erected a sumptuous stage, upon which were divers per- 
 sonages in rich apparel, among whom was a child, "angel like," who set a very 
 costly " crowne of golde, garnysshyd with stone and perle, vpoii the kynge's 
 hede as he passyd by." Many other presents of great value, including a golden 
 tablet of the Trinity, worth 800/. and another tablet of St. Anne (given to the 
 Queen because of her special devotion to that Saint, whose name she bore), 
 were made to the King and his consort on their onward progress to Westmins- 
 ter, where in the Great Hall, " the King sitting in his seat roiall, and all the 
 people standing before him," the citizens were greeted with thanks on the 
 King's behalf, for the great honour and princely presents which they had be- 
 stowed upon him, and every man was then enjoined to return to his business 
 and affairs. See Stow's "Chronicles," p. 493; Holinshed's "Chronicles," 
 vol. ii. p. 819 ; and Fabyan's " Chronicles," p. 537. 
 
 * Fabyan states, that the above gift was soon afterwards offered by the King 
 at the shrine of St. Edward in the Abbey Church at Westminster, " where 
 yet," he continues, " it standys at this daye ; " but the latter words were 
 omitted in the edition of his " Chronicles" published in 1542. From different 
 records printed in the " Foedera," from the Patent Rolls of the 15th and 16th 
 years of Richard II. it would seem that the liberties of the City were seized into 
 the King's hands in the spring of 1392 ; that on the supplication of the Queen 
 consort and others, the citizens obtained their full pardon on the 19th of Sep- 
 tember following, and that the King's acquittance, or receipt, for the sum of 
 10,OOOJ. by which the city was finally exonerated from all payment of farther 
 demands, was tested at Westminster on the 28th of February 1393. The pro- 
 cession described above took place, according to Stow, on the 29th of August 
 in the preceding year. So extraordinary was the gratitude conceived by the 
 citizens for the services rendered to them by Bishop Braybroke, in averting by 
 his intercession the farther effusions of the King's wrath, that not only the 
 Mayor and Aldermen, but also " all the craftys of the cytie in theyr lyuereys" 
 were accustomed to visit the Bishop's tomb in St. Paul's Cathedral at nine 
 different times of the year, until the period of the Reformation, and there say 
 ' Deprofundis ' for his soul and the souls of all Christian people. 
 
KING RICHARD II. HIS SECOND MARRIAGE. 1396. 
 
 The death of the Queen, Anne of Bohemia, at the Palace 
 of Shene, on the 7th of June 1394, affected the King 
 severely ; and in the extravagance of his grief, he passion- 
 ately cursed the place of her decease, and commanded the 
 buildings to be destroyed. On the 3rd of August following, 
 the funeral of his consort was solemnised with great pomp 
 in the Abbey Church at Westminster.* "Violent sorrows," 
 says the adage, "are seldom lasting;" so it proved with 
 Richard, for in little more than a twelvemonth after this 
 bereavement, he despatched ambassadors to negociate for 
 him a second marriage with Isabella, the eldest daughter 
 of Charles the Vlth, King of France ; and his nuptials with 
 that princess were celebrated in the Church of Saint Nicho- 
 las at Calais, on October the 31st 1396. f Early in Novem- 
 ber, the King returned to England with his young bride 
 (who was then only in the eighth year of her age,) and on 
 the 14th of the same month, he brought her to the Palace 
 at Westminster, "with all the honour that might be devised,'* 
 but " there went such a multitude to see her, that nine 
 persons were crowded to death upon London Bridge." She 
 was crowned in the Abbey Church, on the 7th of January 
 following. 
 
 The King's accustomed extravagance, with the expenses 
 
 * " Foeclera," torn. iii. pars iv. p, 98, edit. 1740. The contracts made in 
 1395, for the erection of a tomb in the Abbey Church, to the memory of 
 Richard and Queen Anne, will be found in the same volume, pp. 105, 106. 
 
 f On the occasion of this marriage, which was ostensibly promoted with a 
 view of effecting a durable peace between the two crowns, the Kings of England 
 and France entertained each other with great magnificence in sumptuous pavi- 
 lions erected on the verge of their respective territories between Ardres and 
 Cal; is ; the most costly presents were interchanged by the two monarchs, and 
 rich gifts were made by them to each other's suites. Vide Fabyan's " Chro- 
 nicles," p. 540: Ellis's edit, and Froissart's " Chronicles," vol. xi. chap.xl. 
 Johnes's translation. 
 
280 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 of his late marriage, having entirely exhausted the contents 
 of his exchequer, although a very considerable aid had been 
 granted by the Parliament which met at Westminster about a 
 fortnight after the Queen's coronation, he devised new and 
 extraordinary modes of extortion to replenish his coffers. 
 Among these, was the compelling the most affluent of his 
 subjects to set their seals to blank charters,, which were 
 afterwards filled up with whatsoever sums he thought proper 
 to exact.* Yet scarcely any treasure, however immense, 
 could suffice for his profuse expenditure. His Palace was 
 the scene of the utmost prodigality, as well as of licentious- 
 ness ; and his household servitors were more numerous than 
 were ever retained either before or since by an English King, f 
 He had now entered on a career of open and unrestrained 
 despotism ; and oppression, treachery, and murder followed 
 
 * It appears from the " Fcedera," that the forced loans which the King 
 obtained from the City in its corporate capacity, in this year, amounted to 
 10,000 marks; and in 1398, he exacted a yet larger sum from individual citizens 
 by means of the blank grants above noticed. These grants were called ' Ray- 
 gemans ; ' and they were subsequently burnt at the Standard in Chepe, and other 
 public places, in pursuance of an order of Parliament. 
 
 f* Hardyng, in his rhyming " Chronicle," pp. 346, 347, furnishes a curious 
 picture of the multitudinous and profligate character of Richard's household ; 
 and his relation is corroborated by some proceedings of the first Parliament 
 held in 1397, when the Commons, on the suggestion of Sir Thomas Haxey, 
 a clergyman, recommended, that ' the great and excessive charge of the King's 
 household " 1' Hostel du Roy" should be amended, and the multitude 
 reduced " amenusez" of the bishops (who had lordships), and ladies with 
 their servants " leur meignee" who lived in.the King's house, and at his cost.' 
 (" Rot. Parl." vol. iii. p. 339, No. 14.) The King was so greatly irritated by this 
 interference with his pleasures, that within a week afterwards, so uncontroll- 
 ably despotic was his authority, he caused Haxey to be condemned to suffer 
 death as a traitor, by an ex post facto law. The intercession of the prelates, 
 however, saved the poor criminal from immediate death, and he was finally par- 
 doned on the 27th of May. Idem. Appendix, pp. 407, 408. The information 
 given us by Hardyng is as follows : 
 
KING RICHARD II. HIS VINDICTIVE TREACHERY. 1397. 
 
 in his train. His recent alliance with the royal family of 
 France, as Dr. Lingard has remarked, " encouraged Richard 
 to execute a scheme of vengeance, which he had long cherish- 
 ed within his own breast ; " and one of his first victims was 
 his uncle the Duke of Gloucester, who had incensed him by 
 the spirit and frequency of his admonitions.* Having by the 
 basest dissimulation, prevailed on the Duke to quit his castle 
 at Fleshy, in his own company, he caused him to be arrested 
 by surprise, and conveyed to Calais, where shortly afterwards, 
 
 " Truly I herd Robert Ireliffe say, 
 
 ClerJce of the grene cloth, that to the household 
 
 Came every daye, for moost partie alwaye, 
 Ten thousand folke by his mess is tould, 
 That folowed the hous, aye, as thei would ; 
 
 And in the kechin three hundred servitours, 
 
 And in eche office many occupiours. 
 
 " And ladies faire with their gentilwomen, 
 Chamberers also and lavenders, 
 
 Three hundred of them were occupied then : 
 Ther was greate pride among the officers, 
 And of al menne far passyng their compeers, 
 
 Of riche araye, and muche more costious 
 
 Than was before or sith, and more precious. 
 
 ' ' Greate lechery and fornicacion 
 
 Was in that house, and also greate advoutree, 
 Of paramours was greate consolacion 
 Of eche degre, well more of prelacie 
 Then of the temporall er of the chivalrie. 
 Greate tax, ay, the King tooke through all the lond, 
 For whiche the Commons hym hated, both free and bond." 
 
 * One of the more immediate causes of Richard's vengeance, as appears from 
 Fabyan, was a very singular and reproachful conversation which took place 
 between him and the Duke in the royal Palace, respecting the delivering up of 
 Brest to the Duke of Bretagne. The Duke of Gloucester was led to the sub- 
 ject by the conduct of some of the returned soldiers at " a sumptuose feest" 
 in the Great Hall. Vide " Chronicles," p. 541. 
 
282 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 on the 8th of September 1397> he was put to death by the 
 King's order, by being smothered between two feather beds.* 
 Similar treachery to that employed in alluring the Duke of 
 Gloucester to his destruction, was practised against the Earls 
 of Arundel and Warwick, who, together with John Lord Cob- 
 ham,, and Sir John Cheney, were seized and committed to 
 the Tower. As it was known that they had all been concern- 
 ed in the proceedings against Richard's favourites in the 10th 
 and 1 1th years of his reign, their arrest occasioned a great ex- 
 citement among the people ; and the King, in order to tran- 
 quillize it, issued a proclamation, falsely stating (in sub- 
 stance) that f the prisoners were not charged in respect to any 
 former offences, but for far more recent transgressions, and 
 that they would be tried for treasonable designs in the next 
 Parliament ; ' which had been summoned to meet at West- 
 minster, after the octaves of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary^ 
 and of the entire devotion of which to his own vindictive pur- 
 poses he was already assured, f 
 
 Still farther to ensure the execution of his designs, the King 
 6 ordered all the lords of his own party to attend in arms, ac- 
 companied by archers ; and he also formed a body-guard of 
 Cheshire men in whom he placed entire confidence.*:): On 
 
 * This appears, from the confession of one of the assassins who was sworn 
 to its tmth in the house of the Constable of England, in the Inner Palace of 
 Westminster." Rot. Parl." voL iii. p. 452. 
 
 f By removing all such sheriffs, magistrates, and public officers as were 
 conceived to be inimical to his tyranny, and replacing them with his own imme- 
 diate partizans, Richard had procured the return to this Parliament of whatso- 
 ever knights and burgesses could be depended on for their subserviency to his 
 own views. This is the earliest instance upon record of a completely packed 
 House of Commons (but the example was not forgotten in after ages), and the 
 atrocity of its proceedings were in full accordance with what might readily have 
 been foreseen in an assembly thus illegally constituted. 
 
 J Otterbourne, " Chronica Reg. Angl." p. 191, ed. a Hearne, Oxon. 1732. 
 Hardyng, in his " Chronicle," p. 346, speaking of the same circumstance, says, 
 
KING RICHARD II. HIS MERCILESS PARLIAMENT. 1397. 
 
 proceeding from Northampton to Westminster to open the 
 Parliament, he was accompanied by a most formidable force, 
 composed of the knights and esquires who wore his livery and 
 badge of the White Hart. The session commenced on the 17th 
 of September ; but the Great Hall being then under repair, 
 (as will be more particularly shewn in our description of that 
 edifice) the Parliament was held in " a large House which 
 Richard had caused to be builded for that purpose in the 
 middest of the Palace Court, betwixt the Clocke tower and 
 the gate of the Great Hall : this house was very large and 
 long, made of tymber, covered with tyle, open on both the 
 sides, and at both the endes, that all men might see and heare 
 what was both sayde and done. The King's archers (in num- 
 ber 4,000 Cheshire men) compassed the house about with 
 their bowes bent, and arrowes nocked in their hands, always 
 readie to shoote : they had bouch of Court, (to wit, meate and 
 drinke) and great wages of sixpence by the day." * Some 
 additional information is afforded by Otterbourne, who says 
 that, c as the captive noblemen were to be tried in this 
 Parliament on charges of treason, the king for the accom- 
 
 " Then he had, eche daye 
 
 Twoo hundred menne of Chesshyre wher he laye, 
 To watche hym aye. 
 
 He trusted none of all his region, 
 But Chesshire menne for his proteccion. 
 Wherever he rode, with arowes and bowes bent, 
 Thei were with hym, aye, redy at his entent." 
 
 Walsingham says, " Interea Rex sibi metuens, convocavit ad tutelam sui cor- 
 poris multos malefactores de Com. Cestrise, qui noctium vigilias dierumq. ser- 
 varent et dividerent circa ilium." " Script. Angl. et Norm." p. 354. The 
 attachment of the Cheshire men may be accounted for, by the King having 
 advanced the Earldom of Cheshire into a Principality. 
 * Stow's " Survay of London," p. 471, 4to, 1603. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 modation of \ihe parties interested in these proceedings, 
 caused a spacious building " domus " to be erected " in pa- 
 latio Westmonasterii," in which a lofty throne was prepared 
 for himself; and for all the states of the realm,, a large space : 
 for the appellants a space was specially allotted on one side ; 
 and; on the other side, a place was assigned to the accused, 
 that they might answer to the charges against them/ Apart 
 also, were stationed the knights of Parliament, " que non fu- 
 erunt electi per comitatem [communitatem] ut mos exegit, 
 sed per regiam voluntatem."* 
 
 The consequent proceedings of this assembly were among 
 the most extraordinary ever recorded in our annals, and they 
 decidedly prove how entirely, at this juncture, the authority 
 of the crown had superseded every principle of the constitu- 
 tion. Both the Commission of Regency and the Statute con- 
 firming it, (which had been passed in the 10th year of this 
 reign) were revoked ; together with all pardons, general and 
 particular, which had been granted to the Barons associated 
 in establishing that Commission, in the Parliament which the 
 King, as it was now stated c had been compelled " par co 
 hercion et compulsion" to hold at Westminster in his 1 1th 
 year.f Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury was sentenced un- 
 heard to perpetual banishment, his temporalities being de- 
 clared forfeited; his brother, the Earl of Arundel, was ad- 
 judged guilty of high treason, and in a few hours after, be- 
 headed on Tower hill, without even the semblance of a trial ; 
 and the Earl of Warwick, was banished for life to the Isle of 
 Man ; his life being spared in consideration of his age and 
 of his having pleaded guilty, but he was ordered to be 
 imprisoned in the Castle there. 
 
 Among the unprecedented acts of this Parliament, was the 
 
 * " Chron. Reg. Angl." p. 191. f " Rot. Parl." vol. iii. pp. 349, 350. 
 
KING RICARD II. FUTILITY OP VAIN OATHS. 1397. 285 
 
 merciless endeavour to give a perpetual stability to its Ordi- 
 nances, by subjecting every person, of whatsoever rank or 
 degree, to all the penalties of high treason, who should in any 
 manner, or at any time, reverse, annul, or in any degree alter, 
 any of the statutes, settlements, and judgments, to be now 
 made and determined ; and on the last day of the session, the 
 peers, both spiritual and temporal, severally took oath at the 
 altar before the shrine of St. Edward, in the Abbey Church, 
 to obey this ordinance. There also, the members of the 
 Commons' house, at the request of the King, with a loud 
 voice, and extending their right arms in token of affirmation, 
 engaged to keep the same oath. To render these proceedings 
 still more binding, the assembly then congregated at the high 
 altar of the Church, where the Archbishops of Canterbury and 
 York, enjoined every one within their respective provinces, 
 to observe the laws thus solemnly promulgated, under pain of 
 the greater excommunication.* How strange, and how little 
 to the credit of human foresight is the fact, that within little 
 more than two years afterwards, almost every measure thus 
 religiously sworn to be kept unaltered, was either abrogated 
 or unscrupulously violated ! 
 
 On the 26th of September, the King being seated in full 
 Parliament, crowned, and bearing the royal sceptre in his hand, 
 advanced several of his peers to greater dignities, (the in- 
 vestiture, in each instance, being performed by the King him- 
 self) : namely, Henry de Bolinbroke (son of John of Gaunt) 
 Earl of Derby, was created Duke of Hereford; Edward, Earl 
 of Rutland, and Constable of England, was made Duke of 
 Aumarle ; Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent, Duke of Surrey ; 
 
 * "Rot. Parl." vol. iii. pp. 352 356. The Pope's Bulls t reatening 
 " grievous censures and curses against all such as did by anie means go about 
 to breake and violate the said statutes," were aftewards obtained by the King 
 to strengthen the proceedings of this Parliament. Holinshed's "Chroni- 
 cles," vol. ii. p. 844. 
 
286 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon, Duke of Exeter; Thomas 
 Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham, (who had been a chief instru- 
 ment in the late atrocities) Duke of Norfolk ; John Beaufort, 
 Earl of Somerset, and Constable of Dover Castle, Marquis of 
 Dorset ; Thomas, Lord le Despenser, Earl of Gloucester ; 
 Ralph de Nevill, Earl of Westminster ; Thomas de Percy, 
 Earl of Worcester ; and William le Scrop, Earl of Wiltshire ; 
 Margaret Mareschal, Countess of Norfolk (though absent) 
 was on the same day created Duchess of Norfolk. The Par- 
 liament was then prorogued to Shrewsbury, to be there 
 holden on the quindisme of St. Hilary, * or 27th of the fol- 
 lowing January, 
 
 Prior to the re-assembling of the three estates, a circum- 
 stance occurred which, in its consequences, had an almost 
 immediate effect in altering the succession to the crown, and 
 eventually of producing the long-continued and sanguinary 
 wars between the rival Houses of York and Lancaster. In 
 an accidental conversation between the newly-made Dukes of 
 Hereford and Norfolk, the latter stated that it was the King's 
 intention to destroy them both (as soon as opportunity 
 served), together with the several other nobles who had been 
 instrumental in controlling his power in former years. For 
 his own security, the Duke of Hereford divulged this inform- 
 ation to the King and Council, but as Norfolk solemnly denied 
 the charge, and accused the Duke of Hereford as a traitor 
 for making it, the controversy was referred to the decision of 
 the High Court of Chivalry. For this purpose, the barons, 
 
 * On a certain day, during the sitting at Westminster, as appears from Stow, 
 " licence being had to depart, a great sturre was made, as is vsed, whereupon 
 the King's Archers, in number foure thousand compassed the Parliament house, 
 thinking there had beene in the house some broyle or fighting, with their bowes 
 bent, and drawing, ready to shoote, to the terror of all that were there ; but 
 the King herewith comming, pacified them." Stow's " Chronicles," p. 510. 
 
KING RICHARD II. THE EFFECTS OF HIS TYRANNY. 1399. 287 
 
 bannerets, and knights of England, were summoned to meet 
 at Windsor in the ensuing month of April; and their award 
 was, that the two noble disputants should join issue in 
 Wager of Battle, to be fought at such time and place as the 
 King should determine. After some irresolution on the 
 part of the latter, Coventry was fixed upon for the scene of 
 combat ; and on the appointed day, September the 1 Gth, the 
 rival Dukes entered the lists fully armed, on horseback, in 
 the presence of the King and an immense multitude of spec- 
 tators ; the whole nation taking a strong interest in these 
 proceedings. To the surprise of every one, however, the 
 King threw down his warder at the instant when the knights 
 were about to commence the conflict ; on the pretext of 
 saving his own blood from disgrace, ( both combatants 
 being related to him,) and preventing future discord between 
 their families. After some consultation on the field with his 
 immediate adherents, the despotic sovereign passed sentence 
 of banishment for ten years on the Duke of Hereford, and 
 banishment for life on the Duke of Norfolk ; but the sen- 
 tence on the former was afterwards lowered to six years. 
 
 These disgraceful transactions increased the general dis- 
 content which Richard's conduct had already excited in 
 every part of the kingdom, and conjoined with his subse- 
 quent acts of extortion and tyranny, so effectually under* 
 mined his power, that an opportunity was soon found to 
 hurl him from his throne. An insurrection broke out in 
 Ireland, and the King, with imprudent security, resolving to 
 quell it in person, departed thither with the chief part of 
 his forces. In his absence, the disaffected gathering strength, 
 invited the banished Duke of Hereford, (who had now in- 
 deed, by the death of his father, 
 
 " Old John of Gaunt, time-honoured Lancaster," 
 
 become Duke of Lancaster) to head them; and that noble 
 
288 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 man landing at Ravenspur, in Yorkshire, with only eighty 
 men, was received so cordially, that within a few days 
 his army was increased to 60,000 strong. The Duke marched 
 to London, and was received by the citizens with loud accla- 
 mations of joy ; and so successful were his measures, that 
 within eight weeks afterwards the King was brought a cap- 
 tive to the Tower, where on the 29th of September 1 399, he 
 made a formal renunciation of the royal authority ; adding, 
 that if it were in his power to name his successor, he should 
 choose ' his Cousin of Lancaster/ who was present, and 
 upon whose finger, in confirmation of this desire, he placed 
 his signet ring, which he had taken from his own finger for 
 the purpose.* 
 
 On the following day (September the 30th), the Parlia- 
 ment which had been summoned in Richard's name, by writs 
 issued at Chester on the 19th of August, assembled in the 
 Great Hall at Westminster, " which they had hung and 
 trimmed sumptuously, and had caused to be set vp a royall 
 chaire, in purpose to choose a newe king, neere to the which 
 the prelates were sat, and on the other side sate the Lords,, 
 and after, the Commons in order." f The Duke of Lancas- 
 ter was seated in his proper place, but the assembly was 
 without any president, the royal seat being necessarily 
 vacant. As a preliminary act, the renunciation of Richard 
 was read aloud by the Archbishop of York; after which 'the 
 Archbishop oi Canterbury demanded of the States and Peo- 
 ple then present, whether, for their own interest and the 
 welfare of the realm, they would admit the cession so made? 5 
 and this being answered in the affirmative, amidst reiterated 
 shouts of approbation, a final sentence of deposition was 
 solemnly pronounced against the late king. 
 
 These proceedings made way for the claim of the Duke of 
 
 * " Rot. Par!." vol. iii. pp. 416, 417- f Stow's " Chronicles," p. 522. 
 
KING HENRY IV. ELECTION OF THE NEW KING. 1399. 
 
 Lancaster, who after a moment of anxious suspense, rising 
 from his seat, and with much solemnity, making the sign of 
 the Cross on his forehead and breast, asserted his right 
 to the crown in the following terms : " In the name of Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost, I Henry of Lancaster challenge this 
 realm of England, and the Crown, with all the members and 
 appurtenances ; as that I am descended by right line of the 
 blood, coming from the good lord King Henry III. ; and 
 through the right that God, of his grace, hath sent me, with 
 help of my kin and of my friends to recover it; the which 
 realm was in point to be undone for default of governance 
 and undoing of the good laws." * 
 
 The validity of this claim being at once admitted by 
 the assembly, Henry produced in confirmation, the signet 
 ring which had been delivered to him by the deposed 
 sovereign, and was forthwith led to the throne by the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury. Having spent a few minutes in 
 silent prayer, kneeling upon the steps, he was placed in the 
 royal seat by the two Archbishops. When the acclamations 
 of the people had subsided, the primate shortly addressed 
 the assembly on the advancing prosperity of the nation, and 
 the new-made King briefly returned thanks to all present 
 for their decision. He then made various appointments in 
 the state and household, and afterwards received the oaths 
 of the new officers : the business of this eventful day was 
 concluded by a Proclamation, that a new Parliament would 
 be held, at the same place, on the Monday next following 
 (October 6th) ; and that on St. Edward's Anniversary, 
 being that day week, the Coronation would be solemnized. 
 Henry then retired in state to the royal apartments within 
 the Palace, and this important assembly, by which one 
 
 * " Rot. Tarl." vol. ill. pp. 422, 423. 
 U 
 
290 VVEST-MIXSTKK PALACK. 
 
 monarch had been deposed and another chosen, was finally 
 dissolved on the same day that had given it existence. 
 
 Parliaments held at Westminster in the reign of Richard II. 
 
 October 13, ... 1377 October 1, .... 1386 
 
 April 25, .... 1379 Februarys,, . . . 1388 
 
 Monday after the feast of January 17^ . .1390 
 
 St. Hilary (Jan. 13,) 1380 November 12, . . 1390 
 
 November 4, . . . 1381 Novembers,, . . . 1391 
 
 This Parliament was origin- The Quindene of St. Hilary 
 
 ally summoned to meet on (Jan. 27,) . 1394 
 
 the Monday after the Exalt- January 27, . . . 1395 
 
 ation of the Cross ; but it January 22, . . . 1397 
 
 was prorogued to Nov. 4. Monday after the Exaltation 
 
 May 7, 1382 of the Cross, (Septem- 
 
 October 6, .... 1382 ber 14,) .... 1397 
 February 23, . . . 1383 This Parliament was adjourn- 
 October 26, . . . 1383 ed to Shrewsbury, January 
 November 12, . . 1384 27, 1398. 
 Friday after St. Luke's day, September 30, . . 1399 
 (Oct. 18,) . . . .1385 
 
 Previously to the Coronation of Henry IV., a Court of 
 Claims was held in the White Hall at Westminster, by 
 Thomas, the King's second son, (a youth of five years of 
 age) who had been appointed Seneschal, and was assisted 
 in the duties of his office by Thomas Percy, Earl of Worces- 
 ter. On this occasion, Henry Percy, Earl of Northumber- 
 land, advanced the new claim of carrying on the left side of 
 the King, in the coronation procession, a naked sword, called 
 the Lancaster Sword, being the same with which the latter 
 had been girded when he landed at Ravenspur, " in parti- 
 bus Holderness/' ' the Isle of Man having been recently 
 granted by the King to the Earl and his heirs, to hold in 
 
KING HENRY IV. HIS CORONATION. 1399. 
 
 perpetuity, by such service, to the crown/ The claim was of 
 course allowed ; although it is somewhat remarkable, that 
 the grant of the Isle of Man to the Earl was not signed 
 until the sixth day after the coronation, but it was then 
 tested by the King at Westminster. * 
 
 On Saturday October the 1 1 th, the King for the purposes 
 of the approaching ceremony, went to the Tower, where after 
 the celebration of mass on the_ next morning, he advanced 
 forty-six esquires and gentlemen, (who, as Froissart says, 
 (( had watched their arms during that night,")t to the rank of 
 Knights of the Bath, his three sons being among them. On 
 the same day he proceeded to Westminster escorted by a caval- 
 cade of 6',000 horse; including his own immediate attendants, 
 and the City companies,in their respective liveries. The streets 
 were decorated with tapestries and other rich hangings, 
 and in Cheap side and the line of the procession, were nine 
 fountains continually flowing with white and red wine; inde- 
 pendently of another fountain in the Palace court, giving 
 issue to similar liquids fk from various mouths." 
 
 On the following day, the King having e confessed himself/ 
 Froissart quaintly remarks 'as he had good need to do,' and 
 heard three masses, c as was his wont/ proceeded to the 
 Abbey Church, the dukes, earls, and barons, who attended 
 him, 'wearing long scarlet robes, with mantles trimmed with 
 ermine and large hoods of the same/ whilst ' all the knights 
 
 * Vide "Foedera," torn. iii. pars iv. pp. 164, 165. Of the other claims 
 made at this time, a full account will be found in Holinshed's " Chronicles," 
 vol. iii. pp. 1 3: edit. 1808. 
 
 f "Chronicles," vol. xii. p. 160, Johnes's translation. Froissart further states, 
 "that each esquire had his chamber and bath ; and that the King, after their 
 creation, presented the knights ' with long green coats having straight sleeves 
 jined with minever, after the manner of prelates ; and, attached to the left 
 shoulder, a double cord of white silk, with white tufts hanging down.." 
 
 u 2 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 and squires had uniform cloaks of scarlet lined with mine- 
 ver.' The King was crowned by Thomas Arundel, Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, (who having accompanied him to 
 England, had been restored to his See, *) who was assisted 
 in his performance of the ceremonies by the Archbishop of 
 York, and ten other prelates. The oil used in anointing the 
 King was contained in a small vial, inclosed in a golden eagk' 
 to which a legend was attached, scarcely less wonderful than 
 that connected with la Sainte Ampoulle used in the corona- 
 tion of the Kings of France, f It was said to have been 
 delivered to St. Thomas a Becket by the Virgin Mary, (whilst 
 the Archbishop was in banishment at Sens,) with an as- 
 surance of tf the happiest effects upon those sovereigns who 
 should be anointed with it, and who would become true 
 champions of the Church.' After a long concealment in the 
 Church of St. Gregory, at Poictiers, this miraculous gift was 
 discovered by revelation to a certain holy man, and by him 
 conveyed to England in the reign of Edward the Third, and 
 presented to John of Gaunt, whose brother the Black Prince 
 ordered it to be deposited in a strong chest in the Tower ; 
 where it had remained unused, until the present occasion. J 
 At the subsequent banquet in the Great Hall, according to 
 Froissart, the two Archbishops and seventeen Bishops sat 
 with the King at his table; but Fabyan mentions only the 
 two primates and seven other prelates. The champion, Sir 
 
 * Archbishop Arundel had originally received the pall in St. Stephen's Chapel, 
 within the Palace, on the 10th of February, 1396. 
 
 f The Holy Oil of the French Kings is reported to have been brought in a vial 
 from Heaven by a celestial dove at the coronation of Clovis of France, about 
 the end of the 5th Century ; and to have remained ever since undiminished, 
 notwithstanding its constant use at the inaugurations of the French sovereigns. 
 
 + MSS f Cotton. Faust. B. ix. No. 2, fol. 240 ; and Walsingham, in init. 
 Henry IV, 
 
KING HENRY IV. HIS CORONATION FEAST. 1399. 
 
 Thomas Dymmok, (who officiated in right of Margaret his 
 mother,) entered at the second course, armed cap-a-pie, 
 mounted upon a goodly steed, barbed, with crimson housings' 
 and his challenge was proclaimed by a herald, in the usual 
 manner, in different parts of the Hall; with many more 
 observances, which, as Fabyan remarks, "were longe to 
 rehearse." The following particulars of the Coronation 
 feast are derived from a Manuscript in the British Mu- 
 seum. * 
 
 Convivium D'ni Henr. Regis quarti, in Coronacione sua, apud 
 
 Westmon. 
 
 Le Premier Cours. 
 
 Braun en Peverarde [459]; f Viande Ryal [455]; Teste 
 de Senglere enarmez Boar's Head enarmed; Graund chare ; % 
 Synguettys Cygnets ? ; Capoun de haut grece ; Fesaunte 
 Pheasant; Heroun Heron; Crustade Lumbarde; Sto- 
 rieoun Sturgeon ; graunt luc ; A Sotelte Subtelty. \\ 
 
 * Vide Bibl. Cotton. &c. 
 
 t The numbers inclosed between brackets refer to the pages of a Treatise on 
 "Ancient Cookery," published from a MS. in the Library of the Royal Society, 
 at the expense of the Society of Antiquaries, 4to 1790 : in which the particular 
 composition of the dishes mentioned is given at length. 
 
 J " Grete fleshe " (chair) is the name of one of the dishes in a bill of fare for 
 a royal feast in the reign of Richard II. Vide " Antiquarian Repertory," vol. 
 i. p. 78 ; from a MS. in the Harl. Lib. No. 4016. 
 
 In the MS. just quoted, occur "i Capon of hie grece," and "viiiDussen 
 other Capons." 
 
 || The Sotylties mentioned by Fabyan, as garnishing the royal table at the 
 Coronation feast of Henry the Sixth, were those of St. Edward and St. Lewis, 
 armed, holding a figure of the King "atwene them ; " the Emperor Sigismund 
 and Henry the Vth, with the King " knelynge to fore theym ; " and "our 
 Lady, syttynge with her Childe in her lappe," holding a crown, with St. George 
 and St. Denis, kneeling, and presenting to her the young King : a " baladc," or 
 rather verse, of eight lines, was attached to each device. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Le ii Cours. 
 
 Venyson en Furmenty Venison in Frumenty ; Gely 
 Jelly; Porcelle farce enforce Young Pigs stuffed ; Pekokkys, 
 Peacocks [439]; Cranys Cranes; Venysoun Paste Veni- 
 son Pasty ; Touyng Tongue; Byttore Bitterns; PuH en- 
 dore Fowls Gilded; Graunt Tartez Large Tarts; Braun 
 fryez Rashers of Ham or Brawn ; Leche Lumbarde [472] ; 
 A Sotelte. 
 
 Le Hi cours. 
 
 Blaundesorye [429 454] ; Quyncys in comfyte Quinces 
 in confection; Egretez Young Eagles; Curlewys Curlews ; 
 Pertryche Partriges ; Pyconys Pigeons ; Quailys Quails; 
 Snytys Snipes; Smal byrdys Small Birds; Rabettys 
 Rabbits; Pome dorres [472]; Braun blanke leche White 
 Brawn sliced; Eyrenn engele Eggs in Jelly [471] ; Fry- 
 tourys Fritters ; Doucettys Sweetmeats ; Pety pernaunt ; 
 Pottys of lylye :' A Sotelte. 
 
 The Parliament re-assembled in the Great Hall on the day 
 after the coronation, and immediately abrogated all the vin- 
 dictive and illegal statutes and ordinances which King Richard 
 had taken such extraordinary pains to render immutable. 
 A particular enactment was also made to invalidate the ob- 
 noxious Bulls which at his request, and for the same pur- 
 pose, had been issued by Pope Boniface the Xlth; wherein 
 it was expressly declared that, "the Kingdom of England was 
 independent of all foreign power, and particularly of the 
 Court of Rome, and that the Pope had no right to interfere 
 in the civil government of the realm."* On the same day, in 
 ful Parliament, Prince Henry was created Prince of Wales, 
 Duke of Cornwall, and Earl of Chester; the Lords and Com- 
 
 * Rapin's " Hist, of England," vol. ii. p. 485. fol. edit. 1732. 
 
KING HENRY IV. DISSENTIONS IN PARLIAMENT. 1399. 
 
 mons having previously, and severally, given their assent to 
 such creation, and also engaged to receive the Prince as the 
 rightful heir to the crown and kingdom. * Soon afterwards 
 the Prince was made Duke of Aquitain, and Duke of Lan- 
 caster ; and the Duchy of Lancaster was then entirely sepa- 
 rated from the crown of England, and conferred upon the 
 Prince and his heirs for ever, being Dukes of Lancaster, with 
 all its liberties and franchises, f In the same Parliament, 
 the deposed king was sentenced to perpetual imprisonment, 
 in secret and secure custody ; the only dissentient voice being 
 that of Thomas Merks, bishop of Carlisle, who, for this inter- 
 ference in behalf of his ill-fated master, was forthwith arrest- 
 ed, and conveyed a prisoner to St. Alban's Abbey. 
 
 In the same session, (on October the 29th) one of the most 
 extraordinary scenes occurred that ever took place in our 
 national councils, and in which the angry discussions, accu- 
 sations, and recriminations among the barons and knights, 
 were altogether unprecedented. The Duke of Aumerle was 
 accused of being a principal counsellor of the arbitrary 
 measures of King Richard, and especially in advising the 
 putting to death the Duke of Gloucester. The Duke of Sur- 
 rey replied in his defence, and was himself accused by Lord 
 Morley of treason both to the deposed and the present king. 
 The opprobious terms of liar and traitor were bandied about 
 by both parties, until at length, the excitement became so 
 strong, that upwards of twenty gauntlets were thrown upon 
 the floor of the hall, as pledges of challenge and defence, in 
 respect to these recriminatory accusations. It required all 
 the address of King Henry to allay the storm ; and as his 
 
 * " Rot. Parl." vol. iii. p. 426. The king himself performed the ceremony of 
 investiture, by placing a circlet of gold upon the head of the young Prince, a ring 
 of gold upon his finger, and a golden verge in his hand. 
 
 flbid. pp. 427, 4-V,. 
 
296 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 own power was not yet consolidated, he judged it prudent to 
 employ a temporizing policy; in consequence of which those 
 nobles who had been the most obviously implicated in the 
 tyrannical measures of the late reign, were subjected to no 
 further punishment than the forfeiture of those titles and 
 estates with which their guilty subserviency had been reward- 
 ed. Hence the Dukes of Aumerle, Surrey, and Exeter, the 
 Marquis of Dorset, and the Earl of Gloucester, each de- 
 scended a step in the peerage, and were restrained to the use 
 of their previous appellations. * Within a short time after, 
 however, several of the lords appellants entered into a con- 
 spiracy against the new King, and early in January 1400, 
 they attempted to surprise him in the Castle of Windsor. 
 But the plot had been discovered, and Henry was already in 
 London, where he had issued writs for the apprehension of 
 the rebellious lords as traitors, and was employed in levying 
 troops to proceed against them. Shortly after, the Earls of 
 Kent and Salisbury were seized and beheaded at Cirencester : 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicle," vol. iii. p. 7. " Rot. Parl." vol. iii. p. 449-52. 
 In the -same Parliament, several useful statutes were enacted to prevent the re- 
 currence of those vindictive proceedings which had twice disgraced the last, and, 
 from the temper of the lords, threatened to disgrace the present reign. One sta- 
 tute confined the guilt of treason to the offences enumerated hi the celebrated act 
 of Edward III ; another abolished appeals of treason in Parliament, and sent the 
 accuser to the established courts of law ; a third declared that the authority of 
 Parliament should never more be delegated to a Committee of lords and com- 
 mons ; and a fourth forbade, under the heaviest penalties, any person, except 
 the King, to give liveries to his retainers. These badges had long been one of 
 the principal expedients by which the great lords were enabled to increase their 
 power, and to maintain their quarrels. Whoever wore the livery, was bound in 
 honour to espouse the cause of the donor ; and it was worn not only by those 
 who received fees, or were engaged in actual services, but by as many as were 
 willing to accept it as an honour, or in token of friendship, or with a view to future 
 emolument. Vide Lingard's " History of England," vol. iii. p. 277 : and "Rot. 
 Parl." ut supra. 
 
KING HENKY IV. DEATH OF RICHARD II. 1400. 
 
 the lords Lumley and Despencer met with a similar fate at 
 Bristol ; and the Earl of Huntingdon was put to death by the 
 tenants of the late murdered Duke of Gloucester, at Fleshy in 
 Essex. This insurrection, in which the deposed King had 
 been re-proclaimed at different places in the line of march of 
 the conspirators, appears to have sealed the doom of that ill- 
 fated sovereign ; and before the end of January, it was known 
 that Richard had expired in the castle of Pontefract, in York- 
 shire j but whether his death was occasioned by premedi- 
 tated violence, or by voluntary starvation, has not been as- 
 certained even to the present day.* 
 
 The King was exceedingly anxious that a knowledge of 
 Richard's decease should be generally promulgated, and for 
 that purpose, according to the " Chronicle of Dunstable," 
 "he lette sere him in a lynnen clothe, save his visage? 
 which " was left opyn that men myght see and knowe his 
 personne," and had him brought to London, where he was 
 exposed to public view during three days, in St. Paul's 
 Cathedral. He was at first interred in the Church of the 
 Friars Preachers at Langley in Hertfordshire; but Henry 
 the Fifth, shortly after his coronation, caused his remains to be 
 conveyed to the Abbey Church of Westminster, and deposited 
 there within the tomb of Queen Anne, his first consort, f 
 
 * See Lord Dover's " Dissertation on the manner and period of the death of 
 Richard II.," (with additional remarks by the Editor,) in Brayley's " Graphic 
 and Historical Illustrator," pp. 17-22. William de Colchester, Abbot of West, 
 minster, is said to have been deeply implicated in the plot against Henry the 
 IVth, and to have aided the discontented barons to concert their treason in 
 " a secret chamber" within his own house. See the respective Chronicles 
 of Hall and Holinshed. 
 
 f Vide Brayley's History of Westminster Abbey, vol. ii. pp. 104-112. By 
 the Will of Richard II., which bears date at the Palace of Westminster, 16th 
 April 1399, about nine months before his decease, the monarch directs, that all 
 his crowns, drinking vessels, cups, ewers, and golden vessels, and all other 
 
298 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 King Henry, having lost his first wife, who was the 
 daughter of Bohun, Earl of Hereford, was again married on 
 the 7th of February, 1403, in the Cathedral of Winchester, to 
 the Princess Joan de Navarre, widow of John, Duke of Bre- 
 tagne. On the 24th of the same month, she was " receyved 
 with great honour into the cytie of London, and so by the 
 mayre and cytezyns conveyed vnto Westmynster; where, 
 vpon the morowe folowynge, she was crowned quene of 
 Englande, with great honoure and solmepnyte.* 
 
 In the Parliament which assembled at Westminster, in 
 February 1410, the Commons displayed a strong disposition 
 to lessen the revenue and curtail the power and influence of 
 the ecclesiastics. They presented a bill to the King, autho- 
 rizing the seizure of the temporalities of the church, alleging 
 that the money thus obtained would be sufficient for the sup- 
 port of ( fifteen earls, fifteen hundred knights, six thousand 
 two hundred esquires, and one hundred alms-houses for the 
 necessitous poor, besides affording a surplus of twenty thou- 
 sand pounds a year for the royal treasury.' These reforming 
 senators also required that clerks convicted should not be 
 committed to the bishops' prisons, but be liable to the same 
 
 jewels of gold whatsoever, together with all his vestments, and the entire fur- 
 niture belonging to the Chapel of his house, with all his beds, and hangings of 
 Arras ' Vestes de Aras* should remain to his successor, provided he conform- 
 ed to his Will, and permitted his executors to act freely and fully.' Nichols's 
 " Royal and Noble Wills," p. 194. 
 
 * Fabyan's " Chronicles," p. 570. That writer, however, refers the arrival 
 and marriage of the new Queen to the month of September, though erroneously, 
 as appears by Holinshed's " Chron." vol. iii. p. 21 ; and Carte's " Hist, of 
 England," vol. ii. p. 653. In the "Foedera," (Hague Edit. torn. iv. pars. i,p. 75,) 
 is a paper relative to the appropriation of a tower in the Royal Palace : " Nova 
 Turris ad introitum magni Ostii magnae Aulse nostrse infra Palatium nostrum 
 Westm." to the use and service of the Queen (Joan.) Dated Westm. Dec. 
 10, 1404. 
 
KING HENRY IV. INTERVIEW BETWEEN THE KING AM) PRINCE. ~99 
 
 custody as other malefactors ; and they demanded the repeal, 
 or mitigation, of the enactments in force against reputed 
 heretics, or Lollards. But the King, who, in the beginning of 
 his reign had assented to the severe laws against those 
 seceders from the Established Church, in order to conciliate 
 the clergy, and obtain their support to his assumption of 
 the royal power, was not disposed to sanction this spoliation 
 of his clerical and monastic friends, and refused to entertain 
 the measures proposed by the Commons.* 
 
 In the year 1412, the Palace of Westminster was the 
 scene of a singular interview between Henry the Fourth and 
 the Prince of Wales ; the latter of whom both history and 
 tradition concur in representing as a gay and dissipated 
 young man, though of high talent, ingenuous, and spirited. 
 In the thoughtless moments of conviviality some imprudent 
 and disrespectful expressions had been used by the Prince 
 in regard to his father, which admitted of a malevolent inter- 
 pretation, and it was artfully insinuated to the King by some 
 court slanderers, that he ought to guard against the designs 
 
 of an aspiring and unprincipled youth, who had a retinue 
 
 i 
 
 * Walsingham, p. 379 ; and Fabyan, p. 375. The bill of the Commons was 
 delivered, as was then usual, in the form of a Petition to the King ; but, after 
 its rejection, the Clergy appear to have interfered to prevent any notice of the 
 obnoxious bill from being entered on the Rolls of Parliament, which, therefore, 
 present no trace of any such measure having been in contemplation ; except, 
 possibly, the following memorandum. " Item, Saturday, February 8, the Com- 
 mons came before the King and the Lords in Parliament, and among other 
 things prayed our Lord the King that they might receive back a Petition which 
 they had delivered to him in Parliament, touching the statute lately made about 
 the Lollards, and which Petition had not been made an enactment. To this, the 
 King answered, that, at their request, he would of his especial grace, see that 
 they should on this occasion have the said Petition given up to them, but that 
 such delivery must not be considered as an example to be followed in time 
 to come." " Rot. Parl." vol. iii. p. 623. 
 
300 
 
 WE8TAIINSTER PALACE. 
 
 more numerous than his own, and had uttered language 
 inconsistent with his duty as a son and subject. Henry was 
 alarmed at this intelligence, and the mistrust and jealousy 
 which he consequently began to entertain, produced such a 
 degree of coolness in his behaviour towards the Prince, that 
 the latter determined to clear himself from suspicion by a 
 solemn appeal both to the justice and the affections of his 
 estranged parent. 
 
 With this intent, and accompanied by a numerous body of 
 his personal friends, who had been especially summoned for 
 the occasion, he went to the Palace on the festival of St. 
 Peter and Paul (June the 29th), apparelled " in a gown of 
 blue satin, or damask, made full of eyletts, or holes, and at 
 every eylett the needle whereby it was made hanging still by 
 the thread of silk; and about his arm he wore a dog's 
 collar, set full of SS [esses] of gold, and the tirretts of the 
 same also of fine gold/'* Leaving all his followers in the 
 Great Hall, in which (by his previous order) " not one of his 
 companie durst once advance himselfe farther than the fire 
 in the same Hall, notwithstanding they were earnestlie 
 requested by the lords to come higher,-}-" he proceeded to 
 his father's apartments, attended only by some household 
 officers. The King, who was at that time "greevouslie 
 diseased/' caused himself to be borne in a chair into the 
 privy chamber, where, " in the presence of three or four 
 persons, in whom 'he had much confidence, " he sternly com- 
 manded his son to disclose the cause of his visit. 
 
 Kneeling reverently at his feet, the Prince averred his 
 entire innocence of the evil designs imputed to him, and 
 
 * Vide " Harl. MSS.' 1 No. 35, fol. 5. From a passage in Elmham's " Life 
 of Henry the Vth," it appears that tirrets meant turretts, or small towers, 
 f Holinshed's " Chronicle," vol. iii. p. 54. 
 
KING HENRY IV. RECONCILIATION WITH THE PRINCE. 1412.301 
 
 then, delivering his dagger to the King, he declared that he 
 wished not to live under his displeasure. "I have this 
 dale/' he continued, " made my selfe readie by confession 
 and receving of the sacrament ; and I beseech you, most re- 
 doubted lord and deare father, for the honour of God, to 
 ease your heart of all such suspicion as you haue of me, and 
 to dispatch me heere before your knees, with this same 
 dagger ; and in thus ridding me out of life, and your selfe 
 from all suspicion, here, in the presence of these lords, and 
 before God at the daie of the generall iudgement, I faith- 
 fullie protest clearlie to forgiue you." 
 
 Affected by his words and manner, the King hastily cast 
 away the dagger, and embracing his son, with tears, assured 
 him, on his honour, that he would never again give cre- 
 dence to any reports to his disadvantage. On the Prince 
 urging for the punishment of his calumniators, Henry consi- 
 derately replied, that he " must tarrie a parliament/ 5 as such 
 offenders should be left to the judgment of their peers. The 
 Prince was then dismissed " with great loue and signes of 
 fatherlie affection."* 
 
 * Holinshed's "Chronicle," ib. Sharon Turner, in his " History of England" 
 (vol. ii. p. 282, 4to), alluding to the above interview between Henry the IVth 
 and his son, says, " It is difficult to credit the strange scene usually annexed to 
 this event, because there seems no reason for the prince's uncouth dress, nor in 
 his presenting his father with a dagger to kill him, which he was sure his parent 
 would not do ; and still less, in coming for such a purpose with a large company 
 of noblemen, or for chusing the time of his father's sickness to agitate him 
 with such a conference." Yet, as the description of the Prince's apparel and 
 other circumstances of his visit to the Palace, are derived from Elmham's trans- 
 lation of Titus Livius, the historian of Henry the Vth, (the MS. already 
 referred to in the British Museum,) who in this instance had his information 
 from the Earl of Ormond, one of the persons present at the interview, the 
 account seems sufficiently authenticated. That the Prince had a meaning in 
 the choice of his peculiar habit, as well us in respect to the ornament on his 
 
302 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Shakspeare has given celebrity to another memorable 
 interview between King Henry and the Prince of Wales,* 
 which occurred in this Palace but a short time before the 
 death of the King. The latter had been long subject to epi- 
 leptic fits, and these, conjoined with a leprous affection, were 
 the apparent cause of his death. One day, whilst he was 
 lying in a lethargic fit, the Prince entered his chamber, and 
 supposing him to be dead, he took away the royal diadem, 
 which had been " set on a pillowe at the beddes heade.^f 
 On recovering his senses, the King enquired for his crown, 
 and being informed that the Prince had taken it, he ordered 
 him to be recalled to his presence, and then demanded 
 why he had committed an act so ungracious. " Sire/' said 
 the Prince, ee to mine and all men's judgments you seemed 
 dead in this world ; wherefore I, as your next and apparent 
 
 arm, there can hardly be a question. The gown, with needles hanging at the 
 oilet holes, whimsical as it may seem, was an academic garb, worn, however, 
 probably,) but on extraordinary occasions, by the scholars of Queen's college. 
 Oxford, (where Prince Henry had studied) in honour of their founder, Robert 
 Eglesfield, Chaplain to Queen Philippa : the gown forming a sort of pun, or 
 rebus, on his name Aiguilles, (in French, Needles,) in a. field, typified by the 
 cloth covered with oilet-holes. It might be intended to denote that he wished 
 to be esteemed as dutiful a son as when under academical tuition. The dog's 
 collar on his arm was also, apparently, intended as a token of fidelity and devo- 
 tion to his father's service. The whole was entirely accordant with the taste of 
 the age, when the nobles and princes distributed emblematic badges to their de- 
 pendents ; and when their festal tables were adorned with " sotelte"s " and mot- 
 toed ornaments. 
 
 * Vide his play of " King Henry IV. Part ii. act iv. scene iv. The poet, 
 in his dramatic dialogue, seems to have blended the main circumstances of both 
 interviews. 
 
 f Hall's " Chronicle," p. 45, edit. 1809. Monstrelet says, "the crown was 
 placed on a cushion by the bedside ;" his account of the conversation between 
 the Prince and his father varies also in some particulars from that given by Hall. 
 See his " Chronicles," vol. iii. p. 138, 8vo, Johnes's translation. 
 
KING HENRY IV. DECEASE OF THE KING. 1413. 
 
 heir, took the crown as mine own,, and not as yours." " Well, 
 fair son/' said the King, with a deep sigh, " what right I had 
 to it, and how I enjoyed it, God knoweth." " My liege/ 
 returned the Prince, " if you die King, I will have the gar- 
 land, and trust to keep it by the sword, as you have done, 
 against all mine enemies." The King faintly replied, " Well, 
 do as you think best ; I leave all things to God, and pray 
 him to have mercy on me/' 
 
 Henry was seized with his last fit when worshipping at the 
 shrine of St. Edward in the Abbey Church, on the 20th of 
 March, 1413. Whilst he was still senseless, he was carried 
 into the Jerusalem Chamber, in the Abbot's House. On 
 recovering his speech he sent for the Prince of Wales, and, 
 after giving him some excellent advice in respect to his 
 future government, he recommended himself to his Creator, 
 and expired. His remains were interred in the Cathedral at 
 Canterbury. 
 
 List of Parliaments held at Westminster in the reign of 
 Henry the Fourth. 
 
 October 6, ... 1399 on the dav fter its as- 
 
 This was the same Parlia- sembling, writs were is- 
 
 ment which had been sued in the name of 
 
 summoned by writs Henry, appointing it to 
 
 tested the 29th of Au- meet on the 6th of Oc- 
 
 gust, in the name of tober. 
 
 Richard II., to meet on January 20, . . .1401* 
 
 Michaelmas day ; but, This Parliament had been 
 
 * In the " First Report of the Lords Commissioners on the Dignity of a 
 Peer," (p. 358, Div xii.) it is observed that the " First entry on the Rolls of the 
 Parliament of the 2d of Henry IVth speaks only of the Commons." " It pur- 
 ports," says the Committee, " that on Thursday, in the octaves of St. Hilary, 
 the day on which the Parliament had been summoned to meet, the Knights of 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 summoned to meet at 
 York, on the Wednesday 
 before All Saints' day 
 1400; but it was pro- 
 rogued to Westminster,, 
 by writ tested October 
 the 3d, 2d Henry IV. 
 Monday before the Feast of 
 the Purification, (Febru- 
 ary 2,) .... 1402 
 September 30, . . 1402 
 This Parliament had been 
 summoned for Septem- 
 ber 15, but was pro- 
 rogued, by writ, to the 
 30th of that month. 
 January 14, ... 1404 
 This Parliament was sum- 
 moned to meet at Co- 
 
 ventry on the 3d of 
 December 1403, and 
 was afterwards pro- 
 rogued to Westminster. 
 
 March 1, .... 1406 
 This Parliament had been 
 originally summoned to 
 meet at Coventry, and 
 was thence adjourned 
 to Gloucester, and, 
 lastly, to Westminster, 
 
 January 27, ... 1410 
 
 By the original summons 
 
 this Parliament had 
 
 been directed to meet 
 
 at Bristol. 
 
 November 3, . . . 1411 
 
 February 3, ... 1413 
 
 Counties, Citizens of Cities, and Burgesses of Boroughs, were proclaimed by 
 their names in the King's Chancery in Westminster Hall, in the presence of the 
 Chancellor and Steward of the King's Household ; and on their appearance, the 
 Parliament was adjourned to the Friday following, when it was regularly opened 
 in the King's presence. In the Speech of the Chief Justice, by the King's 
 Command, on opening the Parliament, the Commons were ordered to proceed 
 to election of their common Speaker, and to present him, come le manere est,' 
 on the next day ; which was done ; and the whole of the Proceedings in this 
 Parliament bear a nearer resemblance than those of former Parliaments to the 
 proceedings at the present time. The general Form of the Constitution of the 
 Legislative Assemblies of the Kingdom may, therefore, be considered as having 
 then become nearly settled ; the Lords, Spiritual and Temporal, being clearly 
 acknowledged as a separate Body, having distinct Powers and Jurisdictions ; 
 and the Commons being also acknowledged as a separate Body, having their 
 distinct Powers and Privileges ; though all forming, with the King, one Legis- 
 lative Assembly." The whole of this 12th Division of the "Report," which 
 includes the period of time from the commencement of the reign of Henry the 
 Fourth until the Union of Great Britain and Ireland, is well deserving the 
 attentive perusal of professional enquirers. 
 
KING HENRY V. HIS CORONATION. 1413. OUt5 
 
 Henry the Fifth was crowned at Westminster, with the 
 usual solemnities, on the 9th of April (Passion Sunday), 
 1413; which, according to Holinshed, "was a sore ruggie 
 and tempestuous day, with wind, snow, and sleet, that men 
 greatlie maruelled thereat, making diuerse interpretations 
 what the same might signified The contemporary histo- 
 rian, Thomas of Elmham, has given a florid description of 
 circumstances attending this festival, including the creation 
 of knights, the procession to Westminster, and the banquet 
 at the palace.* 
 
 On the return of the King from France, after the famous 
 battle of Agincourt, which had been fought and won on the 
 25th of October, 1415, his whole journey from Dover to 
 Eltham (where he "rested hym a season"), and thence to 
 Westminster, was a triumphal procession. ".I might de- 
 clare vnto you," says Hall, the Chronicler, " if I would bee 
 tedious and prolixe, how the Mayre of London and the 
 Senate apparelled in oriet grayned scarlet, how iij. c. com-? 
 oners clad in beautiful murrey, wel mounted and gorgeously 
 horsed, with riche collers and greate chaynes, met the kyng 
 at Blackhethe, reioysyng at his victorious returne. How the 
 clergie of London with riche crosses, supteous copes, and 
 massy cesers, received hym at S. Thomas of Wateryng, with 
 solepne procession, laudyng and praisyng God for the high 
 honor and victory to hym geuen and graunted : but all these 
 thynges I omit."t 
 
 * Vide " Vita et Gesta Hen. V." edit. Tho. Hearne, cap. xii. The same 
 writer, in his translation of the History of Henry V., by Titus Livius, informs 
 us that, by the assent of the Parliament, three days after the death of his father, 
 and previously to his own coronation, "all the estates and gentlemen of the 
 Realme offered to doe fealtie to him; w ch " says the historian, "was never 
 after, nor before now, found to be made (offered) to any Prince of England 
 before his coronation." See MS. Harl. No. 35, fol. 10 b. 
 
 t " Chronicle," p. 29, edit. 1809. The helmet, or rather casque, which the 
 
 X 
 
306 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 In the following year, the English court was honoured 
 with a visit from the German Emperor Sigismund, on whose 
 arrival, the King, with a great train of knights and nobles, 
 proceeded to Blackheath, on the 7th of May, 1416, to meet 
 the illustrious guest ; and conducted him through London to 
 Westminster, (where "he lodgyd him in his owne palays,") 
 with great triumph ; on which occasion jousts, tournaments, 
 and other martial exercises were celebrated. Albert, Duke 
 of Holland, also at this time visited the King ; and both 
 those princes were created Knights of the Garter. The 
 object of the Emperor's journey to this country was the ter- 
 mination of the war with France; but his endeavours to 
 effect an accommodation were unsuccessful. The King then 
 determined to undertake a new expedition to the Continent, 
 previously to which, in a Parliament at Westminster, John, 
 Duke of Bedford, was appointed Regent or Governor of the 
 Realm of England, during the King's absence, in conse- 
 quence of his carrying on war against the French nation. 
 
 A slight insight is afforded us of the customs of the royal 
 household at this time, by a statement given in the " Fcedera," 
 (torn. iv. part ii. p. 155), from a Wardrobe Account of the 
 4th year of Henry the Vth, relative to the supply of scarlet 
 and other coloured cloths, ermine, minever, and various other 
 articles to compose winter and summer dresses for William, 
 the King's Fool, and his servant. The dresses included 
 tabard coats (" Goun Tabard pro se et Servienti suo ") and 
 divers other garments, as a capuchin, slippers, a doublet, a 
 robe, and other articles.* 
 
 King wore in the conflict, and which is said to have twice saved his life, 
 when struck by the battle-axe, is yet preserved in Henry's monumental chapel 
 in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 * Precepts, tested by the King at Westminster, on December the 6th, 1416, 
 
KING HENRY V. CORONATION OF QUEEN KATHERINE. 1421, 307 
 
 On his return from France in 1421, King Henry and his 
 newly-married Queen, Katherine, the daughter of Charles 
 the VI., landed at Dover, on the morrow after Candlemas- 
 day, February the 3rd, and going to Eltham, proceeded 
 thence through London to Westminster. ee Meruel it is to 
 write," says Hall, " but more meruel it was to se, with what 
 ioy, what triumphe, what solace, and what reioysing he was 
 receiued of all his subiectes, but in especiall of the Lodoners, 
 which for tediousnesse I ouer passe." 
 
 The coronation of the Queen was solemnized in the Abbey 
 Church, at Westminster, on the 24th of February, on which 
 occasion e( she was conveighed on fote betwene ii bishops 
 vnder a riche canapie from the greate halle to S. Peters 
 Churche, and there she was anointed & crowned with al y e 
 ceremonies to so great an estate aperteinying or requisite. 
 After which solempnitie ended, she was again with great pope 
 [pomp] conveighed into Westminster hall & ther set in y e 
 throne at the fable of marble at the vpper end of the hall." * 
 Fabyan has given a particular description of the consequent 
 banquet. At the right hand of the Queen, sat the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Winchester after- 
 wards Cardinal, and on the left, the King of Scots, ee in his as- 
 tate, y e whiche was seruyd with coueryd messe lyke vnto the 
 forenamed bysshops, but after theym." Near him sat the 
 
 were directed to the Sheriffs, ordering all persons who held any crown jewels in 
 pledge, to make their appearance before the Barons of the Exchequer, at West- 
 minster, as soon as possible, with the jewels, and their accounts, that they might 
 be paid, and the pledges be restored. See "Fcedera," torn. iv. pt. ii. p. 186. In 
 the same volume, p. 181, is a Writ of Privy Seal, also tested by the King, at 
 Westminster, on the 6th of the preceeding month, acknowledging the re-delivery 
 of a gold enamelled collar, called " pusan," (elsewhere "pysane") which had 
 been pledged to the Mayor and Corporation of London. 
 * Hall's " Chronicle," p. 105 : edit. 1809. 
 
 x 2 
 
308 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Duchess of York and Countess of Huntingdon ; the Earl of 
 March,, holding a sceptre, knelt on the right side of her Ma- 
 jesty, and the Earl Marshal on the left. The Countess sat 
 under the table, at the right foot; and the Countess Marshal at 
 the left. The Duke of Gloucester, who "was that daye ouer- 
 loker," (says Fabyan,) stood bare-headed before the Queen. 
 The duties of other officers were performed by various 
 noblemen, either in their own right, or as the deputies of 
 those to whom they belonged. The Earl of Worcester, in 
 place of the Earl Marshal, rode about the Hall on a great 
 courser, and with the aid of a multitude with typped stauys," 
 kept order. The Barons of the Cinque Ports, the Lord 
 Mayor and Aldermen of London, the Bishops, and a great 
 number of the nobility of both sexes were present on this 
 festive occasion.* 
 
 * Fabyan's " Chronicles," p. 586 : edit. 1811. Queen Katherine's corona- 
 tion feast presented this peculiarity, that it was all of Fish , doubtless, on ac- 
 count of it being then the season of Lent. The different courses and dishes are 
 minutely specified by the Chronicler, who states that the first course exhibited " a 
 sotyltie called a pellycan syttyng on his nest with her byrdes, and an image of 
 seynt Katheryne holdyng a booke, and disputynge with the doctours, holdynge 
 a reason in her right hade, sayinge, " madame le royne," & the pellican as an 
 answere, (Ce est la sigrne, Et du roy, pur tenir ioy, Et a tout sa gent, Elle mete 
 sa entent.J Among the dishes of the second course are mentioned " Breme of 
 the see, Leche damask w* the kynges worde or prouerbe flourysshed, vne 
 sanz plus," and " Flampeyn flourysshed with a scochchon royall, therein thre 
 crownes of golde plantyd with floure delyce and floures of camemyll wrought of 
 eonfeccyons, and a sotyltie named a panter, w l an image of seynt Katheryn, 
 with a whele in her hande, and a rolle with a reason in that other hande, say- 
 inge, (La royne ma file, In ceste He, par bonne reson, aues renoun.} 
 
 The third course, besides carp, turbot, trench, and perch, included, " Por- 
 pies rostyd," and " Menuys fryed ; " which must have formed a striking con- 
 trast, if the former signifies Porpoise, and the latter Minnows. There was also 
 " A march payne garnysshed with diuerss fygures of aungellys, amonge the 
 whiche was set an image of seynt Katheryne holdynge this reson, (II est escrit, 
 
KING HENRY V. - HIS DEATH AND FUNERAL. 
 
 
 Notwithstanding the ratification of the Treaty of Troyes, 
 so glorious to England, and the recent union between King 
 Henry and the daughter of the French monarch, the Dau- 
 phin of France and his adherents still continued the war, and 
 with so much success, that Henry found it necessary to pro- 
 ceed to the scene of contest, with a large reinforcement, in the 
 summer of 1421. In his military operations he again tri- 
 umphed ; but a secret malady, which had been long under- 
 mining his constitution, at length subjected him to the bon- 
 dage of the still-greater conqueror, Death.* He expired at 
 the Bois de Vincennes, near Paris, on the 31st of August, 
 1422. His obsequies were celebrated with extreme magnifi- 
 cence in the Cathedrals of Paris and Rouen ; and again in 
 England, at St. PauPs and Westminster Abbey; at which 
 latter place his remains were finally deposited, near the 
 Shrine of St. Edward the Confessor, in the royal chapel, 
 where a singular, but very elegant monumental chapel was 
 subsequently erected over his tomb, f 
 
 pur voir et dit, per marriage pur cest guerre ne dure.) And lastly a sotyltie 
 named a tigre la'kynge in a mirrour, and a ma' syttyne on horse backe, clene 
 armyd, holding i' his armys a tiger whelpe, w* this reason, (Par force sanz reson ie 
 ay pryse ceste beste,) and with his one handemakynge a countenaunce of throw- 
 ynge of mirrours at the great tigre ; the whiche held this reason, (Gile the mir- 
 rour mafene distour.") 
 
 * His primary disorder appears to have been a pleurisy ; which in consequence 
 of fatigue, arising from forced marches, terminated in a violent fever and flux. 
 
 f Several documents concerning the funeral and tomb of Henry the Fifth, have 
 been printed in the " Foedera." Among other circumstances they acquaint us 
 with the name of John Arderne, " Clerico Operationum Regis." Vide torn. iv. 
 pars iv. p. 81 b. On the 6th of February, 1427, ,200 was ordered to be paid, 
 under a writ of Privy Seal, to the said Arderne, for expenses incurred by him 
 in repairs at the Tower of London and Palace at Westminster. Vide Bibl. Cot- 
 ton. Cleopatra, F. iv. f. 29. 
 
310 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Parliaments held at Westminster in the reiyn of Henry V. 
 
 May 15, . . . . 1413 tested by John, Duke of 
 
 Monday after the octave of Bedford, Guardian of the 
 
 of St. Martin, . . 1414 Realm during the king's 
 
 Monday after All Saints absence in France. 
 
 Day, .... 1415 March 16, ... 1416 
 
 This Parliament was October 19, . . . 1416 
 
 summoned for Monday November 16, . . 1417 
 
 after the feast of St December 2, . . . 1420 
 
 Luke, but was after- May 2, 1421 
 
 wards prorogued by writ, December 1, ... 1421 
 
 Almost immediately after advices had been received of the 
 decease of the late king, a Council of Spiritual and Temporal 
 peers assembled at Westminster to devise the measures ne- 
 cessary to secure the throne to his only son Henry, who was 
 an infant scarcely nine months old. On the 28th of Sep- 
 tember, the Great Seal was delivered into the hands of the 
 young king at Windsor (his birth place) by Thomas Langley, 
 Bishop of Durham, the then Chancellor, and was transferred 
 through the hands of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the 
 king's uncle, to Simon Gaunstede, keeper of the rolls ; who, 
 on the day following, sealed with it divers letters patent, &c. 
 in the Star Chamber at Westminster.* Writs, also, for the 
 assembling of a Parliament at Westminster on the llth of 
 November, were issued on the same day, and on the 20th of 
 that month, " in pleno Parliamento," the Seal was re-deli- 
 vered to the same Duke, and by him given to Nicholas 
 Dixon, treasurer, now made chancellor. 
 
 * See " Foedera," torn iv. pars iv. p. 80. In the Lords 1st " Report on the 
 Dignity of a Peer," p. 368, it is stated erroneously, that the Seal was " taken 
 back by the Bishop of Durham," from the infant king. 
 
KING HENRY VI. APPLICATIONS FOR BOOKS. 1424. 311 
 
 Early in 1424, a Petition was addressed by the' Countess 
 of Westmorland to the Duke of Gloucester,, Protector of the 
 Realm,, and the Lords of the Council,, praying them to issue 
 a mandate to Robert Rolleston, Clerk of the King's Ward- 
 robe, ordering him to deliver up to the Countess a Book, 
 containing the " Chronicles of Jerusalem" and the (e Voyage 
 of Godfrey de Bologne," which was then in his custody, and 
 which she had previously lent to the late king, Henry the 
 Fifth. From a memorandum on the back of the petition, it 
 appears, that at a Council held at Westminster on the 1st of 
 February, in the same year, a warrant under the privy seal, 
 was addressed to the keeper of the wardrobe, for the formal 
 delivery of the book in question. A similar application was 
 also made by the prior of Christ-church, Canterbury, for a 
 large book, containing the "Works of St. Gregory the Pope" 
 which had been bequeathed to the Convent by Archbishop 
 Thomas Arundel, and which having been intrusted to the 
 late king for his inspection, had got into the hands of the 
 prior of the Carthusians at Shene. In consequence of this 
 petition, the Lords of the Council granted a warrant com- 
 manding the Prior of Shene to deliver up the book, as 
 prayed.* 
 
 * " Foedera," torn iv. pars iv. p. 105. Notwithstanding it may appear from the 
 above that Henry the Vth was partial to literature, there is not a single book men- 
 tioned in the long and interesting list of his personal and private property, which 
 is given in the fourth volume of the ' Rolls of Parliament,' and occupies nearly 
 twenty-eight folio pages ; viz. from p. 214 to 241. The appreciated value of 
 the property was 18,404, 4*. IQd. It must be noticed, however, that in May, 
 1425, (3rd of Henry VI.) John Burnham, the librarian of the late King, 
 obtained an Order of Council for placing on record the acknowledgment of 
 the Lord Treasurer, and the Lords Cromwell and Scrope, of his having deliver- 
 ed all the Books which were in his custody, into the hands of John Depeden, by 
 the King's command. Vide " Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Coun- 
 cil," (edited by Sir Harris Nicolas; vol. iii. p. 168. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 In a Parliament held at Westminster, about Easter 
 1425, the young King was personally introduced. He is 
 said to have been brought through the City, riding on a noble 
 charger, " with great triumph ; n and it is added " the child 
 was iudged of all men, not only to haue the very ymage, y e 
 liuely portrature, and louely countenaunce of his noble parent 
 and famous father, but also like to succeed, and be his heire 
 in all morall vertues, marcial policies, and princely feates, as 
 he was vndoubted inheritor to his realmes, seigniories & do- 
 minions/'* The fallibility of popular judgment is abundant- 
 ly exemplified in the sequel of the reign of this unfortunate 
 prince, who, though he was the cause of great public ca- 
 lamities, was, it must be acknowledged, more ( sinned against 
 than sinning/ 
 
 The following items are derived from an account, dated 
 at Westminster, and printed in the " Foedera," of moneys 
 due to John Merston, keeper of the royal jewels, for pay- 
 ments made by the King's order, and by the advice of the Lord 
 de Tiptoft, Seneschal of the Household, and the Lady Alice 
 Boutiller [Butler] the King's governess, from Christmas 
 1428, to the 4th of February, in the following year. 
 
 ' Item, Given, by order of the King, to the heralds, for lar- 
 gess, at the feast of Christmas, .... 1 OOs. 
 
 ' Also, to the Minstrels, for their "reward, " pur lour Re- 
 gard," ........ 665. 8tf. 
 
 ( To Jack Travel and his Companions, for performing divers 
 plays and interludes during the festival of Christmas, be- 
 fore our Lord the King, ..... 4/. 
 
 ' To others, Jews of Abingdon, performing interludes at the 
 said festival, ....... 20*. 
 
 * Hall's " Chronicle," p. 127. edit. 1809. 
 
KING HENRY VI. HIS CORONATION. 1429. 313 
 
 ' Item, Paid for the King's offering, on St. Edward's 
 
 day, 6s. 8d. 
 
 ( Item, Given to two men of Waltham Abbey, who brought 
 two horses to convey the females of the King's family from 
 Eltham to Hertford, in a chaise, " une Chaise" 6s. Sd. 
 'To Robert Atkynsone, for carrying the King's portable 
 organs, on foot, at different times, from Windsor to Eltham, 
 and from Eltham to Hertford, . . . 6s. Sd. 
 f Item, Paid for the King's offering to our Lady, on Candle- 
 mas day, 33s. 4d. 
 
 6 For chanting a requiem for the Duke of Lancaster, the 4th 
 
 of February, 6s. Sd.*- 
 
 On the sixth of November 1429, the young King "beynge 
 vpon the age of ix years," was crowned in the Abbey 
 Church, at Westminster, by Archbishop Chicheley ; " at 
 which coronation," says Hall, (e to reherse the costly faire, 
 the delicate meate, the plesaunte wines, the nombre of 
 courses, the sortes of dishes, the labors of officers, the multi- 
 tude of people, the estates of Lordes, the beauties of Ladies, 
 the riches of apparell, the curious devices, the solempne ban- 
 quets, it would aske a long time, and weary you/'f Thirty- 
 six gentlemen were made Knights of the Bath to grace the 
 ceremony ; and all the prelates went in the procession " ber- 
 ynge eche of them a relyck of dyuerse sayntes." J About 
 
 * " Foedera," torn. iv. parsiv. p. 132-133. It appears from the " Proceed- 
 ings, &c. of the Privy Council/' (vol. Hi. p. 143.) that on the 21st of February, 
 1424, the above-named Lady Butler had license in the King's name from 
 the Council, ' to reasonably chastise the King' who had recently entered ' into 
 the 3rd year of his age,' from time to time, as the case might require, with- 
 out her being afterwards molested or injured on account of such correction. 
 
 f "Chronicles," p. 153. Fabyan has given a list of the dishes which com- 
 posed the coronation feast : they were diversified by divers sotylties. 
 
 % Taylor's " Glory of Regality," p. 262 ; in which work are extracts relating 
 to this coronation, from a MS. in the Cottonian Library. The Ampulla Bene- 
 
314 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 two years afterwards,, (on December the 7th,, 1431), Henry 
 was crowned King of France, by his uncle Beaufort, Bishop 
 of Winchester, in the Church of Notre Dame, at Paris. 
 
 It appears from the Patent Rolls, that in the 1 6th of 
 Henry the Vlth (1438) John Golding was made chief car- 
 penter, and disposer and surveyor of the King's works in 
 the Palace of Westminster, and at the Tower of London, 
 with a yearly fee of 20; and that in his 23rd year, 
 John Whattley was appointed to the same offices. 
 
 The proceedings against the Duchess of Gloucester (Eleanor 
 Cobham) in 1441, on the charge of having practised necro- 
 mantic rites, in conjunction with other persons, in order to 
 procure the death of the King, took place in St. Stephen's 
 Chapel, where she was examined before the Archbishops of 
 Canterbury and York, the Cardinal Bishop of Winchester, 
 and other prelates. Being convicted, she was sentenced to a 
 severe public penance, and banishment for life to the Isle of 
 Man; but was afterwards imprisoned in the castles at Chester 
 and Kenilworth. One of the alleged accomplices of the 
 Duchess was Thomas Southwell, a priest, and canon of St. 
 Stephen's, who died in the Tower, on the night before his 
 proposed arraignment. Roger Bolynbroke, Ck a priest and 
 great astronomer," and Margery Jourdemain, or Gardemaine. 
 whom Stow calls " a witch of Eye, besides Westminster," 
 were also implicated with the Duchess in the charge of ne- 
 cromancy, and suffered death : the former being hanged and 
 quartered at Tyburn, and the latter burnt in Smithfield. 
 These proceedings are thought to have been fomented by the 
 base arts of Cardinal Beaufort, in order the more effectually 
 
 dicta, mentioned in a former page, was also used on this occasion, as appears 
 from a warrant for the delivery of the same to John Merston, Keeper of the 
 King's Jewels, directed to the Treasurer and Chamberlain of the Exchequer. 
 Vide " Fosdera" torn. iv. pars iv. p. 151. 
 
KING HENRY VI. MARRIES MARGARET OF ANJOU. 1444. 315 
 
 to destroy the influence of the Duke of Gloucester, who was 
 strongly inimical to ecclesiastical injustice. 
 
 In the spring of 1444, an inglorious truce was concluded 
 with France, for two years ; after which, a treaty of marriage 
 was negociated by William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, 
 between the English Sovereign and Margaret of Anjou, the 
 daughter of Rene (titular king of Sicily and Jerusalem), and 
 niece to the French Queen, The nuptials were first cele- 
 brated by proxy at Tours, in France, in the month of No- 
 vember, but the affianced bride did not arrive in England 
 until the April following, when she was personally united to 
 Henry, at South wick, in Hampshire. The shows and pageants 
 which were exhibited on her entry into the metropolis, were 
 66 marvellous costly and sumptuous," and she was " brought 
 vnto Westmynster w h great tryumphe." On the 30th of 
 May, she was crowned Queen, in the Abbey Church, " with 
 all the solemnitie therto appertaining; " and, on this occa- 
 sion there were "continual justes" for three days, within the 
 Sanctuary at Westminster.* 
 
 We learn from the " Proceedings of the Privy Council/' 
 that in the January preceding the Queen's arrival, a Petition 
 was presented to the King from his "poure chapelyn," Wil- 
 liam Clebe, Clerk of the Works, requesting that a good 
 assignment of 1,000 might be made to him, for the new 
 
 * The only issue of this marriage was the ill-fated Prince Edward, who was 
 born in the Palace at Westminster on the 13th of October, 1453. " His 
 mother," says Holinshed, " sustained not a little slander and obloquie of the 
 common people," who had such an opinion of the King, that they " sticked 
 not to saie, that this was not his sonne, with manie slanderous words, greatlie 
 sounding to the Queen's dishonour: much part perchance vntrulie." This 
 prince, who seems to have displayed more of the lofty spirit of his mother, than 
 of the patient forbearance that marked his father's character, was slain at the 
 battle of Tewkesburv, m 1471. 
 
316 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 works which the Council had directed to be made at Eltham 
 and Shene (the particulars of which are specified), and (C at 
 Westm. [viz.] the Grete Chamboure for your graciouse 
 persone and the Quenes logging, with the Parlement Cham- 
 bre and Peynted Chambre, with reformation of your Con- 
 dwyts there, and ordinance for the scaffold to be made in 
 Westm. Chirche for the estate of the Coronation." As a 
 cause for this request, (which appears to have been granted,) 
 the Petitioner states, that he had lately made at the Tower 
 a kitchen, with all its necessary offices, and a new draw- 
 bridge "draght brygge" and "as yit receyved never in 
 money xld. " 
 
 In February 1447 5 the direful tragedy which had been com- 
 menced by the imprisonment of the Duchess Eleanor, and 
 the deaths of her associates, was consummated by the murder 
 of the Duke of Gloucester, who was arrested by the partizans 
 of the Queen and her faction, whilst attending a Parliament 
 at St. Edmund's-bury, and was found "dead in his bed," 
 about a fortnight afterwards, although he had been seen safe 
 and well on the preceding evening.* His death, however, 
 
 * Hall says, that " all indifferent persons well knew that he died of no na- 
 tural death, but of some violent force ; some judging him to have been stran- 
 gled." &c, "and others, that he was stifled between two feather beds." See 
 " Chronicle," p. 209, edit. 1809. 
 
 In the " Foedera" is printed a grant from Henry the Vlth, tested at West- 
 minster, July the 25th, 1447, to Robert Bolley, Serjeant of the Ewery, and 
 Alexander Donour, Valet of the Ewery, of the Barbers' Shops, " Shopas Bar- 
 bitonsorum," at the gates of the King's house, to hold and occupy them, from 
 July the 5th, 23rd Hen. Vlth, during the lives of the grantees, or of the survivor 
 of them ; with all the profits and advantages thereto pertaining : and also Fees 
 from the Knights of the Bath, at their creation, namely, from each Knight 
 24 ells of linen cloth, which shall be about the bath ; with one carpet [tapet] 3 
 yards in length, of red worsted ; and 20*. for shaving each knight thus created : 
 from each Baron, or his [equal] peer 40*. as his fee for shaving; from each 
 
KING HENRY VI, IMPRISONMENT OF SUFFOLK. 1447. 317 
 
 produced eventually far different events than what its con- 
 trivers had foreseen ; for it proved the ruin of the House of 
 Lancaster, and prepared the way for the House of York to 
 ascend the throne. 
 
 It appears from the Patent Rolls of the same year, (25th 
 Henry VI.) that Suffolk, who was now a Marquis, was con- 
 strained ' to defend himself, before the nobles and magnates 
 of the realm/ in the King's Chamber, at Westminster, for ce- 
 ding the provinces of Anjou and Maine, "the keys of Nor- 
 mandy," to the French crown, when negociating the union 
 of Margaret of Anjou with his own sovereign.* On that 
 occasion, Suffolk was exonerated from all blame ; but he was 
 not so fortunate when other proceedings were instituted 
 against him in the Parliament which sat at Westminster in 
 1450. In the early part of that year, among other delin- 
 quencies, he was accused of misprison of treason, and com- 
 mitted to the Tower of London, but afterwards, on the 9th 
 of March, "that he myght be the more redyer and nere to 
 come to his answer, the Kyng commytted hym to ward in a 
 Toure within the Paleys at Westm/'f As the Commons re- 
 fused to grant any supplies, until justice had been obtained 
 against Suffolk, it became the policy of the Court to satisfy 
 them without endangering the life of the accused minister, 
 who, pro testing his innocence in the strongest terms, waived his 
 right of peerage, and submitted himself wholly to the King's 
 " rule and governaunce." This policy, however, availed but 
 
 Earl, or his peer, 100s. as his fee ; and from each Duke, or his peer, 101. as his 
 fee. Tom. v. pars i. p. 180 ; from Patent Rolls, 25 Hen. VI. p. 2. m. 5. 
 
 * See " Cal. Rot. Patent." p. 290. The King delivered a protest in favour of 
 Suffolk, and a proclamation was afterwards issued, declaring him to have acted 
 the part of a true and faithful servant, and imposing silence on his accusers, on 
 pain of the loss of their offices and of the royal indignation. " Foedera," torn. 
 v. pars i. p. 177. 
 
 t See " Rot. Parl." vol. v. p 182. 
 
318 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 little, for on the 17th of March, the King commanded all his 
 Lords, both Spiritual and Temporal "thene beyng in 
 Towne/' to attend him " into his Inneth Chambre, with a Ga- 
 vill wyndowe over a Cloyster, within his Paleys of Westm ' ;" 
 and then sending for Suffolk, sentenced him to banishment 
 from his dominions for the next five years from the first 
 of May.* 
 
 The notorious imbecility of the King, and the mal-adminis- 
 tration of the Queen and her favourites, were powerful agents 
 in fomenting the ambitious designs of the Duke of York 
 (Richard Plantagenet), who, by the maternal line, was sprung 
 from Lionel, the third son of Edward the Third ; and pater- 
 nally, from Edmund of Langley, the fifth son of that 
 monarch. The insurrection of Jack Cade, in the summer of 
 1450, under the assumed name of Mortimer, and during 
 which the Court were obliged to quit Westminster and 
 retire to Kenilworth, had already been the means of ascer- 
 taining that the Yorkists stood high in public estimation. 
 At length the contending barons had recourse to the sword, 
 and in May 1455, the first battle between the partizans of 
 the rival Houses was fought at St. Alban's, where, after a 
 dreadful slaughter of the King's friends, the royal army was 
 entirely routed, and Henry himself (who had been long ill, 
 and was then "in great disease and heavinesse/') t being 
 
 * See " Rot. Parl." vol. v. p. 182. On proceeding to cross the channel at 
 the end of April, the disgraced nobleman was intercepted by his enemies, and 
 after a mock trial, his head was severed from his body by a rusty sword. 
 
 f In the " Foedera" are several grants to medical practitioners employed 
 about the King ; and other papers, some of which appear to bear reference to the 
 malady with which this unfortunate prince was repeatedly afflicted during his 
 long reign. John Faceby, the King's Physician, petitioned his highness that he 
 might have a grant under the Privy Seal, ordering the keeper of the wardrobe to 
 deliver to him, as a Christmas gift, 5 ells of "Drap de Greine," and other arti- 
 
KING HENRY VI. HIS MENTAL ALIENATIONS. 1454. 319 
 
 made prisoner by the Duke of York, and the Earls of War- 
 wick and Salisbury, was carried to London. 
 
 cles of dress, such as were bestowed on the royal chaplains. This petition is 
 dated on the last day of February, 1444 ; and as it was followed by another on 
 the 17th of March, it is probable that the first did not meet with immediate at- 
 tention. Shortly after, Master Johh Faceby obtained a rent-charge for life, of 
 WO a-year, from the customs of the port of London ; and in August 1458, the 
 King by a deed, dated at Westminster, granted him the reversion of an annuity 
 of 50 marks. 
 
 In 1454 was issued a writ of Privy Seal, in the name of the King, directed to 
 John Arundell, John Faceby, and William Hatclyf, Physicians, and Robert 
 Wareyn and John Marchall, Surgeons, stating that they had been appointed with 
 the advice and consent of the Council, to attend on the King ; and giving them 
 absolute authority as to the regulation of his diet and regimen, and as to the ad- 
 ministration of all sorts of medicaments, internal or external ; and requiring all 
 and singular the King's lieges to obey and assist his medical attendants, in their 
 proceedings for the restoration of the King's health. The King was probably 
 labouring under one of his fits of mental alienation at the date of this document, 
 viz. April 6, 1454 ; and it may be considered as a warrant, authorizing the me- 
 dical men to adopt such measures as they might deem requisite, independent of 
 the consent of the royal patient. 
 
 William Hatclyf, one of the physicians mentioned in the preceding writ, 
 received for his services a grant of the custody of the King's lake or pond 
 " custodiam Stagni nostri, sive Aquae de Fosse," with all the profits arising 
 from it, during pleasure ; together with 6d. a day, from the fee farm of the 
 county of York, in addition to an annual pension from the Treasury of 40 
 a-year, which he had previously enjoyed. 
 
 The continued illness or relapse of King Henry seems to have given occasion 
 for calling in a fresh practitioner, in June, 1455. On the 5th of that month, a 
 letter in the King's name, under the Privy Seal, was addressed to " Maistre Gil- 
 bert Kemer, Dean of Salisbury," in the following terms : "For as moche as we 
 be occupied and laboured, as ye knowe wel, with Sickness and Infirmities, of the 
 whiche to be delivered and cured, by the grace of our Lord, as needeth the 
 Helpe, Entendance, and Laboure of suche expert, notable, and proved Men in 
 the Crafte of Medicines as ye be, in whom among alle other, oure affection and 
 desire right especially is sette. We desire, wille, and hertily pray you that ye 
 be with us at our Castell of Wyndesore, the twelfth day of this Moneth, and en- 
 tende upon oure Persone, for the cause abovesaid, and that ye faille not, as oure 
 
320 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Ill the ensuing Parliament,, which assembled at Westmins- 
 ter on the 9th of July, divers important changes were effected 
 in the executive departments of the State. The late Duke of 
 Gloucester was now declared a true Prince, both to the King 
 and to the realm ; the Duke of York was made Protector of 
 the kingdom; the Earl of Salisbury Chancellor; and the 
 Earl of Warwick (afterwards known in our annals by the 
 appellation of ' the King-maker') Captain of Calais, with the 
 virtual command of the army and navy.* On the 13th of 
 November following, a Great Council was assembled at 
 Westminster, in which Ordinances and Appointments were 
 established for the King's Household. The avowed inten- 
 
 singular Trust is in you, and as ye desire and tender of oure Helthe and Wel- 
 fare." 
 
 In 1456, a license, under the authority of Parliament, was granted to the John 
 Faceby already mentioned, in conjunction with John Kirkeby and John Rayny, 
 "in Scientiis Naturalibus eruditissimi," to prepare a. wonder -working medicine, 
 which besides other high-sounding appellations had those of the Philosophers' 
 Stone, and the Elixir of Life. This preparation, it is alleged, would not only 
 cure all curable diseases, prolong life beyond its natural term in the fullest enjoy- 
 ment of all corporeal and mental faculties, and display other sanative virtues, 
 but also prove useful to the commonwealth by effecting the transformation of 
 base metals into silver and gold. The permission of the government was re- 
 quired in this and other cases, to authorize the labours of the adepts, because 
 there was a statute in force (passed in the reign of Henry the IVth) condemning 
 the multipliers of the precious metals. As one of the persons who obtained this 
 licence was a royal physician, it maybe supposed that the preparation of the 
 elixir was undertaken for the restoration of the King's health ; but the pro- 
 ject of transmuting metals had already been entertained in this reign, as 
 early as the year 1444, when, on July the 6th, a Patent Charter by Henry, at 
 Westminster, was granted to one John Cobbe, stating that he asserted a know- 
 ledge of philosophical processes for turning the imperfect metals into gold and 
 silver, and declaring that it should be lawful for him to exercise his art, without 
 molestation. 
 
 * Vide " Foedera," torn. v. pars ii. pp. 54-55; and " Rot. Parl." vol. v. p. 
 284, &c. 
 
KING HENRY VI. A FALSE CONCORD. 1458. 
 
 tion of the Councellors was to reduce the superfluous num- 
 ber of the attendants and domestics at Court, and lessen the 
 expenditure as needless and extravagant; but, doubtless, 
 they had in view the further object of displacing from their 
 offices about the King, such of his servants as were inimical 
 to the designs of the Duke of York. Hall, in reference to 
 the proceedings of the Parliament, says, " Firste, they amo_ 
 ued from the priue counsaill all suche persones as the^kyng 
 loued, or the quene fauored, puttyng in their places men of 
 their secte and confederacie, & changyng officers throughout 
 the realme at their will and disposicipn/'* 
 
 In the year 1458, a temporary reconciliation was effected 
 between the opposing factions of King Henry and the Duke 
 of York, which was ratified by an ordinance under the Great 
 Seal, dated at Westminster on the 24th of March. The 
 prospect of a continuing concord among the great men of 
 the kingdom, which this public treaty seemed to afford, was 
 the cause of much joy among the people ; and the inhabi- 
 tants of the metropolis witnessed with pleasure a procession 
 to the Cathedral church of St. Paul, in which the rival princes 
 and nobles, in token of renewed amity, walked in pairs, each 
 one proceeding arm in arm with a chief of the hostile party, 
 6( and, behind the King, the Duke of Yorke and the Queene 
 with great familiaritie in appeerance leading hand in hand."f 
 This fair prospect, however, was soon clouded, and those 
 who had so recently been reconciled, again assumed the cha- 
 
 * " Chronicle, " p. 233. A list of the persons composing the royal household^ 
 after this reform, is contained in a manuscript in the Cottonian Library, from 
 which it has been published by the Society of Antiquaries, in 1790, under the 
 title of " Ordinances of the Household of Henry VI. in the 33rd year of his 
 Reign." 
 
 f Holinshed's " Chronicle," vol.iii.p. 249. Vide etiam Pol. Virgil. "Angl. 
 Hist." p. 50b\ 
 
 Y 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 racter of inveterate and avowed enemies. The immediate 
 cause of the revival of hostilities, was an insidious attack on 
 the retainers of the Earl of Warwick by the king's,, or rather, 
 the queen's servants, while that nobleman was in attendance 
 at a Council held at Westminster. Not long after the recon- 
 ciliation, says Holinshed, " of pretensed purpose, (as it was 
 thought,) * a fraie was made vpon a yeoman of the earle of 
 Warwicks, by one of the kings seruants, in the which the 
 assailant was sore hurt, but the carles man fled. Hearevpon 
 the kings menial seruants, seeing their fellow hurt and the 
 offender escaped, assembled togither and watched the earle, 
 when he returned from the councell chamber toward his 
 barge, and suddenly set on him, the yeomen with swords, 
 the blacke gardwith spits and fierforks. After long fight, 
 and manie of the earls men maimed and hurt, by helpe of 
 his freends he gat a wherrie, and so escaped to London. The 
 queene advertised hereof, incontinentlie commanded that he 
 should be apprehended and committed to the Tower, where 
 (if he had beene taken) he had shortlie ended his daies." f 
 
 After the defeat of the Queen's army, near Northampton, 
 in July 1460, by Edward, Earl of March, the eldest son of 
 the Duke of York, the King was again made a captive, and 
 compelled to give the sanction of his authority to such 
 measures as the victors proposed. Among these was the 
 assembling of a Parliament at Westminster on the 10th of 
 October, which afforded to the Duke of York an oppor- 
 tunity of challenging his rights to the crown, and his beha- 
 viour on that occasion was not a little remarkable. He had re- 
 
 * Polyd. Virgil says, it is not certain whether the fray was commenced through 
 accident or treacherous design. " Subita turba, casu ne astu non satis constat, 
 facta est." " Angl. Hist." u. a. 
 
 t Holinshed's " Chronicles," vol. iii. p. 249, 250. 
 
KING HENRY VI. DUKE OF YORK*S CONDUCT. 1460. 323 
 
 ceived information of the victory gained by his friends, while 
 in Ireland, where he resided as Lord Deputy, and he imme- 
 diately returned to England to avail himself of the advantage- 
 ous position in which the sudden turn of affairs had placed 
 him. He made his public entrance into London on the 
 Friday before the feast of St. Edward the Confessor, with 
 trumpets sounding, and having a naked sword borne before 
 him, accompanied by a great train of men-at-arms, and a 
 multitude of his adherents and retainers. " At his comming 
 to Westminster he entred the Palace, and passing foorth di- 
 rectlie through the great Hall, staied not till he came to the 
 chamber where the king and lords vsed to sit in the parlia- 
 ment time, comonlie called the vpper house, or chamber of 
 the peeres, and being there entred, stept vp vnto the throne 
 roiall, and there laieng his hand vpon the cloth of estate, 
 seemed as if he meant to take possession of that which was 
 his right (for he held his hand so vpon that cloth a good 
 pretie while) and after withdrawing his hand, turned his face 
 towards the people, beholding their preassing togither, and 
 marking what countenance they made. Whilest he thus 
 stood and beheld the people, supposing they reioiced to see 
 his presence, the Archbishop of Canterburie (Thomas Bour- 
 cher) came to him, & after due salutations, asked him if he 
 would come and see the King. With which demand he 
 seeming to take disdain, answered breefelie. and in few words 
 thus : ' I remember not that I know anie within this realme, 
 but that it beseemeth him rather to come and see my person, 
 than I to go and see his/ The archbishop hearing his an- 
 swer, went back to the king, and declared what answer he 
 had received of the duke's owne mouth. After the arch- 
 bishop was departed to the king that laie in the queenes 
 lodging, the duke also departed, and went to the most prin- 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 cipall lodging that the king had within all his palace, break- 
 ing vp the lockes and doores, and so lodged himselfe therein, 
 more like to a king than a duke, continuing in the same 
 lodging for a time, to the great indignation of manie that 
 could not in aniewise like of such presumptuous attempts 
 made by the duke to thrust himselfe in possession of the 
 crowne, and to depose king Henrie, who had reigned ouer 
 them so long a time."* 
 
 Whilst the Parliament still continued sitting, the claims of 
 the Duke of York to the throne, which he now openly 
 challenged in right of his descent from Edward the Third, 
 became the subject of close investigation, and after several 
 
 * Holinshed's "Chronicles," vol. iii. pp. 261 , 262. According to Hall, the Duke 
 of York now stated his right to the crown in a speech of considerable length. 
 But Holinshed remarks, that Whethamstede, Abbot of St. Alban's, who may 
 be supposed to have been present as a parliamentary mitred baron, and who wrote 
 a history of those times, takes no notice of the delivery of any such oration, the 
 authenticity of which therefore may be deemed somewhat questionable. It is 
 probable that the substance of this declaration, (whether it was ever spoken in 
 parliament or not,) was published as a manifesto on the part of Richard of York, 
 to make known to the people the grounds of his pretensions to the throne. 
 
 Hall says, " When the duke had thus ended his oracion, the lordes sat still like 
 Images grauen in the wall, or domme Gods, neither whisperyng nor spekyng, 
 as though their mouths had been sowed vp. The duke perceiuing none aun- 
 swer to be made to his declared purpose, not well content with their so'ber si- 
 lence and taciturnitie, aduised them well to digest and pondre the effect of his 
 oracion and saiyng ; and so neither fully displeesed nor all pleased, departed to 
 his lodgyng in the Kynges palace ; " the Chronicler adds, " While he was thus 
 declaryng hys title in the chambre of peres, there happened a straunge 
 chaunce in the very same tyme, emongest the co'mons in the nether house, then 
 there assembled : for a Croune whiche did hang in the middell of the same, to 
 garnishe a branche to sett lights vpon, without touche of any creture, or rigor 
 of wynd, sodainly fell doune ; and at the same tyme also fell doune the Croune 
 whiche stode on the top of the Castle of Douer ; as a signe and prognostication, 
 that the Croune of the Realme should be diuided and changed from one line to 
 
 another." Hall's " Chronicle," p. 248. 
 
KING HENRY VI. RIVAL VICTORIES. 1460. 
 
 debates, his title to the crown was admitted by the Lords ; 
 but, in order to reconcile the opposing interests of the rival 
 Houses, a compromise was effected between their respective 
 partizans, by which it was agreed, that the king should re- 
 tain the royal honours for the remainder of his life, and that 
 the Duke (and his heirs) should succeed to the throne on his 
 decease. This agreement was sanctioned by the Parliament, 
 and Henry was constrained to give the royal assent to the 
 bill, although his only son was disinherited by its provi- 
 sions.* 
 
 When these proceedings were communicated to Queen 
 Margaret (who was then absent from the metropolis) she 
 was highly incensed, and immediately began to raise an 
 army in the north, for the purpose of annulling the award. 
 Her first efforts were successful; and the Duke of York, by 
 whom the Queen's forces had been imprudently attacked 
 with far inferior numbers, was slain at Wakefield, in York- 
 shire, on the 30th of December, and his head, encircled by 
 a paper diadem, in derision of his claims, was placed, by the 
 Queen's order, over one of the gates of York city. She then 
 advanced towards London, and having defeated the Earl of 
 Warwick near St. Alban's, released the King from thraldom : 
 but the activity and gallant bearing of Edward Earl of 
 March, (who had recently obtained a decisive victory over 
 the royalists at Mortimer's Cross,) and his rapid advance to 
 the capital, impelled her to retreat. 
 
 The Earl was received by the Londoners with every demon- 
 stration of joy, and on a review of his forces, in St. John's 
 Fields, Clerkenwell, an appeal was made to the assembled 
 multitude, as to whether " they would have him for their 
 King." The people shouted " Yea, yea ; " and this ex- 
 
 * See "Rot. Parl." vol. v. pp. 375-383. 
 
326 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 pression of the popular feeling being admitted as legitimate 
 at a great Council of prelates, nobility, and magistrates, held 
 at Baynard's Castle on the ensuing day, it was resolved that 
 ' King Henry, by joining the Queen's army, had violated his 
 agreement, and forfeited the crown to the Earl of March, the 
 heir of Richard late Duke of York.' "On the morrowe," 
 (March the 4th, 1461,) the Earl was conducted in great state 
 to St. Paul's, and thence to Westminster Hall, "where, being 
 set in the King's seate, with St. Edward's scepter in his 
 hand," the rights of his family were publicly stated, and he 
 was again saluted as King by the surrounding crowd. The 
 Earl next proceeded to the Abbey Church, where he offered 
 as King, at the altar of St. Edward in the royal chapel ; and 
 having received the homage of all the nobles there present, 
 he was recognised as the lawful sovereign of the realm, and 
 solemnly proclaimed as such in different parts of the city, on 
 the following day. But he had still to contend for empire 
 with the sword, for Henry's Queen, and his nephew the 
 Duke of Somerset (Henry Beaufort), had assembled an army 
 of 60,000 men, under the Lancastrian banners, and held the 
 northern counties in subjection. This vast force was utterly 
 discomfited by the Earl of Warwick and the young King, 
 at the battle of Towton, in Yorkshire, which was fought on 
 the 29th of March (Palm Sunday), and nearly half its num- 
 bers perished on the field.* Edward returned to London in 
 June, and on the 29th of that month he was crowned " with 
 grete triumphe and honor/' in the Abbey Church at West- 
 minster. Fabyan says, " In the moneth of July followynge, 
 at y e stadarde in Chepe, the hande of a seruante of the 
 kynges, callyd John Dauy, was stryken off, for that he hadde 
 stryken a man within the palays of Westmynster." 
 
 * In a confidential letter sent by Edward to his mother (Cicely duchess of 
 York), he informs her that the heralds, employed to number the dead bodies, 
 
KING HENRY VI. PARLIAMENTS IN HIS REIGN. 1460. 
 
 Parliaments held at Westminster in the reign of Henry VI. 
 
 Monday before the Feast of 
 St. Martin, (November 
 
 11) 1422 
 
 October 20, . . . 1423 
 April 30, .... 1425 
 October 13, ... 1427 
 October 14, ... 1428 
 By writ tested at West- 
 minster on the 3rd of 
 August, this Parlia- 
 ment had been first 
 summoned for Septem- 
 ber the 22nd. 
 
 January 12, . . . 1431 
 May 12, .... 1432 
 
 July 8, 1433 
 
 October 10, . . . 1435 
 January 21, . , . 1436 
 This Parliament was ori- 
 ginally summoned to 
 meet at Canterbury, but 
 by a new writ it was 
 
 transferred to Westmins- 
 ter. 
 
 November 12, . . 1439 
 This Parliament was pro- 
 rogued to Reading. 
 January 25, ... 1442 
 February 25, ... 1445 
 February 12, . . . 1449 
 November 6, ... 1449 
 This Parliament was ad- 
 journed to the Black- 
 friars, London, on ac- 
 count of the Plague, and 
 after re-assembling at 
 Westminster on the 22nd 
 of January 1450, it was 
 eventually prorogued to 
 Leicester. 
 November 6, ... 1450 
 
 July 9, 1455 
 
 October 7, . . . 1460 
 
 Edward the IVth deviated from the usual practice of his 
 royal predecessors, in marrying one of his own subjects, the 
 Lady Elizabeth, widow of Sir John Grey of Groby, who had 
 lost his life in fighting for the House of Lancaster. The 
 marriage was solemnized in private ; but the coronation of 
 
 returned the Lancastrians alone at twenty-eight thousand. See " Fenn's (Pas- 
 ton) Letters," vol. i. p. 217. 
 
-WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 the new queen was celebrated at Westminster, with all the 
 ceremonies usual on such occasions, May 26, 1465.* 
 
 This marriage embroiled the king with some of his most 
 distinguished friends and supporters, including the great Earl 
 of Warwick, and his own brother the Duke of Clarence, who 
 became jealous of the honours which were continually lavish- 
 ed on the relations of the Queen, and after various acts of 
 insubordination, proceeded so far in their discontent as to 
 place the King himself "in straite warde"\ This was in the 
 summer of 1469, but a temporary reconciliation with the 
 offended nobles restored Edward to his liberty. In the fol- 
 lowing year, a yet stronger conspiracy was formed against 
 him, and he was compelled to flee the kingdom, whilst his 
 queen took sanctuary in the Abbey at Westminster.! King 
 Henry was then released from the Tower, and restored for a 
 few months to a nominal sovereignty. But Edward returned, 
 collected an army, and by the decisive victories of Barnet 
 and Tewkesbury, in the former of which the Earl of War- 
 wick was slain, and in the latter, Queen Margaret made pri- 
 soner, and her son killed, secured undisputed possession of 
 the throne. He re-entered London on the 21st of May 
 
 * In the same year, Henry, the deposed sovereign, being made prisoner in 
 Lancashire, was paraded through London on horseback, " with his legs bounde 
 to the styrrops," and confined in the Tower, 
 
 f See the attainder of the Duke of Clarence in " Rot. Parl." vol. vi. p. 191. 
 
 J There is a memorandum in the " Fcedera," of the delivery of the 
 Great Seal to the King, by the Bishop of Bath and Wells (Robert Stillington) on 
 the 6th of March, 1470, "in quadamjoa/ra Capella juxta interiorem Cameram 
 jpsius Dom. R. juxta le Windynge Steyre infra Palatium suum Westm." &c. 
 Vide torn. v. pars ii. p. 173. In the same Collection (pars iii. p. 59) is a mandate 
 tested by the King, at Westminster, on the 27th of February 1475, directing Tho- 
 mas Vaughan, " armigero pro corpore nostro," and others, to arrest Gold- 
 smiths for the King's service. 
 
KING EDWARD IV. MARRIAGE IN ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. -I 477-^9 
 
 1471 ; and on the following day, the unfortunate King 
 Henry perished in the Tower : but whether from grief, (as 
 reported at the time,) or by the hand of violence, has not been 
 authenticated. 
 
 About six weeks afterwards, (July the 3rd) the king cre_ 
 ated his eldest son Edward, Prince of Wales, Duke of Corn- 
 wall, and Earl of Chester, in the Parliament Chamber at 
 Westminster, in presence of the Archbishops of Canterbury . 
 and York, eight other prelates, the Dukes of Clarence and 
 Gloucester, (the King's brothers,) and many of the principal 
 nobility and knights ; all of whom swore fealty to the . 
 Prince, as " the verey and undoubted heyre" to the King, 
 " and to the Corones and Reames [realms] of England and of 
 France, and Lordship of Ireland: 5 * * an oath, alas! how 
 fearfully violated. 
 
 On the 15th of January 1477> the Lady Anne Mowbray, 
 daughter and heiress of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, was mar- 
 ried to Richard Duke of York, in St. Stephen's Chapel, in 
 presence of the King and Queen, the Prince of Wales, Cicely 
 the King's mother, and the ladies Elizabeth, Mary, and Ci- 
 cely, the King's daughters. The Chapel was richly hung 
 with drapery on this occasion, and the royal company, after 
 the performance of mass at the high altar, were splendidly 
 banqueted in St. Edward's [or the Painted] Chamber, f 
 
 Holinshed informs us, that King Edward kept the festival 
 of Christmas, with great state, in 1482, at Eltham, where 
 there was a dailie attendance of more than two thousand per- 
 sons. He adds " The same yeare," [i. e. O. S.] " on Can- 
 dlemas day, he with his queene went in procession from saint 
 Stephans chappell into Westminster hall, accompanied with 
 the earle of Angus, the lord Greie, & sir James Liddall, am- 
 bassadors from Scotland. And at his proceeding out of his 
 
 * " Foedera," torn, v.pars iii>s p. 5. f Sandford's" Genealogical Hist." p. 394. 
 
330 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 chamber he made sir John Wood, vnder-treasuror of Eng- 
 land, & sir William Catesbie one of the iustices of the 
 comon plees, knights." 
 
 The death of this Sovereign took place at the Palace of 
 Westminster, on the 9th of April 1483. His remains, when 
 inclosed in a coffin, were brought into St. Stephen's Chapel, 
 (where three masses were sung,) and there deposited during 
 eight days ; after which they were carried into the Abbey 
 Church at Westminster, and thence conveyed to Windsor, 
 where they were finally interred in the royal Chapel. 
 
 All the Parliaments summoned in the reign of Edward the 
 IVth, were directed to assemble at Westminster, except one, 
 ordained to be holden at York, on February the 5th, 1463, 
 but which was ultimately ordered by proclamation, to sit at 
 Westminster on the 29th of April following ; and another, 
 which after being summoned to meet at York on September 
 the 22nd 1469, was superseded by a writ dated on the 7th 
 of that month. With the exception of the Parliament sum- 
 moned to meet at Oxford by Charles the First, whilst the 
 Long Parliament was sitting at Westminster ; of two sessions 
 which took place by prorogation, at Oxford, in June 1625, 
 and in October 1665, on account of the direful ravages of the 
 Plague in London in those years ; and of another session at 
 Oxford, in March 1681, our Parliaments, ever since the above 
 reign, have always been held at Westminster. 
 
 The reign of Edward the Vth extended only from the time 
 of his father's decease, to the 26th of June in the same year, 
 when he was superseded by his uncle Richard, (Duke of 
 Gloucester,) who by a series of hypocritical and murderous 
 acts, and the basest intrigues, contrived to usurp the throne 
 from its rightful possessor chiefly on the plea of the bas- 
 tardy of his brother's issue. Prior to this, however, orders 
 had been issued for the coronation of his nephew ; who, at 
 different times, in the months of May and June, was resident 
 
I 
 
 KING RICHARD III. HIS ORATION AT WESTMINSTER. 1483. 
 
 in this Palace, as appears from the several documents, tested 
 by himself at Westminster, which have been printed in the 
 " Foedera."* 
 
 On the day after that on which he had been proclaimed 
 King, Richard the Illrd proceeded in great state to West- 
 minster Hall, with a numerous train of attendants, <e and 
 there, when he had placed himselfe in the Court of the 
 King's Bench, [on " the marble seat," as some writers state] 
 he declared to the audience, that he would take upon him 
 the crowne in that place there, where the king himselfe sitteth 
 and ministreth the law, because he considered that it was the 
 chief est dutie of a king to minister the lawes. Then with as 
 pleasant an oration as he could, he went about to win vnto 
 him the nobles, the merchants, the artificers, and in conclu- 
 sion all kind of men, but especiallie the lawieres of this 
 realme. And finallie to the intent that no man should hate 
 him for feare, and that his deceitfull clemencie might get him 
 the good will of the people, when he had declared the dis- 
 commodities of discord & the comodities of concord & vnitie, 
 he made an open proclamation, that he did put out of his 
 mind all enmities, and that he there did openlie pardon all 
 offenses committed against him. And to the intent that he 
 might shew a proofe thereof, he commanded that one Fog, 
 whom he had long deadlie hated, should be brought then be- 
 fore him, who being brought out of the sanctuarie (for 
 thither he had fled for feare of him) in the sight of the peo- 
 ple he tooke him by the hand. Which thing the common 
 people reioiced at and praised, but wise men tooke it for a 
 vanitie."f 
 
 * The latest of those instruments, is an appointment of Purveyors for the 
 royal household, bearing date on the 17th of June 1483. See " Foedera," torn. 
 T. pars iii. p. 132. 
 
 t Holinshed's " Chronicles," vol. iii. p. 397. See also Fabyan, p. 669. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 The coronation of Richard, and Anne his consort (the 
 daughter of the king-making Earl of Warwick), was solemni- 
 zed in the abbey church at Westminster on July 6, 1483. 
 Holinshed remarks, that, " the solemnitie was furnished, for 
 the most part, with the selfe same prouision that was ap- 
 pointed for the coronation of his nephue; " which had been 
 arranged to take place about six weeks prior to that date.* 
 
 In the description of this ceremonial, given in an Har- 
 leian MS., it is stated that after the trumpets and clarions, 
 the Serjeant at arms, and the heralds bearing the king's heraldic 
 insignia, came "the Crosse w l a ryall procession; fyrst Prests 
 w t grey Amyses and then Abotts and Bushopes w* meters on 
 ther hedds & crosers in there hands, and the Bushope of 
 Rochest' bare the crosse before the Cardinall [Abp. Bour- 
 chier] . And then comyng th' Erl of Northumberland barynge 
 the poyntles sworde before the king naked. The Lord 
 
 * Holinshed's statement is corroborated by the wardrobe account of Peter 
 Courteys, keeper of the king's wardrobe in 1483, which, so far as relates to the 
 provisions for the coronation, has been published in the first volume of the 
 " Antiquarian Repertory." Among the entries of articles of dress and orna- 
 ment provided for various persons who were present at the coronation of 
 Richard the Illrd, is one headed " The deliveree of Divers stuff delivered for the 
 use of Lorde Edward, Son of the late Kyng Edwarde the Fourthe, and of his 
 Henxemen." It includes coloured velvet, cloth of gold, damask, satin, &c. for 
 an ornamented dress, such as the prince might have worn at his own coronation, 
 had it been permitted to have been celebrated. It is therefore most probable 
 that the articles in question had been procured before the young king was super- 
 seded. Walpole, in his " Historic Doubts," has indeed alleged the contents of 
 this wardrobe account as evidence that Prince Edward walked, or was expected 
 to walk at his uncle's coronation ; but if any proof were wanting that these arti- 
 cles were intended for his own coronation, it might be drawn from the circum- 
 stance of provision being made (according to the Wardrobe Account), not only 
 for preparing a splendid dress for the Prince, but also for dresses for his 
 Henxemen, whose attendance would not have been required^had he been present 
 in any other character than that of sovereign. 
 
KING RICHARD III. HIS CORONATION PROCESSION. 1483. 333 
 
 Stanley bare the masse [mace] before the kinge. Th' Erl of 
 Kent bare the second sworde poynted on the right hand of the 
 kinge. The Lord Lovell bare the iij sworde on the left hand 
 the king naked. Then comyng the Duke of Suff: beringe 
 the king's scepter. Th 5 Erl of Lyncolne bare the crosse w l 
 the balle. Th' Erl of Surrey bare the iiij th sworde w*in 
 the scabbard before the Kinge upright. Then comyng the 
 Duke of Norff: beringe the King's Crowne betwyx his 
 hands. And then foloinge o r Soveraigne Lorde KINGE 
 RYCH d the iij de and over his hed a clothe of estate borne w* 
 the v. ports, and on eche syde of the kynge going a Bushope, 
 the Bushope of Bathe and the Bushope of Durram, and so 
 the King goinge in his robes of purple velvet. Then comyn 
 the Duke of Bokingh'm bering the king's trayne wt a whyt 
 staff in his hande. And then, comyng before the Quene 
 both Erls and Barrens. Th' Erl of Huntyngton bare the 
 quene's scepter, the Vicount Lyle the rod w* y e dove upon. 
 Th' Erie of Wylshyre bare the quene's Crowne. Then 
 comynge o r Soveraigne Lady the Quene^ & over her hed a 
 clothe of estate, and of every corner of the cloth a balle of 
 golde, & on her hed a cyrklet of golde w l many precyous 
 stones sett therein, & on every syde the quene going a Bus- 
 hope, the Bushope of Excaster and the Bushope of Nor- 
 wyche, and our Lady of Rychemond bare the quenes trayne. 
 And our Lady of Suff: going in her estate by her selffe 
 alone, and on her hed a cyrclet of Golde.* Then after her 
 comyng the Doches of Norff: w*- other ladyes to the num- 
 ber of xx tie . Then after them comyng knights and squiers 
 w* many typstaves."f 
 
 * Katherine duchess of Suffolk was the sister of King Richard. At the 
 
 feast after the coronation, she was " served her estate be [by] her selffe alone." 
 
 t Vide " Excerpta Historica," p. 380 ; from Harl. MS. N 
 
334, 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 In recounting the formalities of the coronation, the writer 
 of the MS. says that, the king and queen having quitted their 
 seats of estate and advanced to the high altar, while the 
 priests and clerks were "synging laten and prycksonge," 
 their majesties " put of ther robes and there stood all nakyd 
 from the medall upwards, and anone the Bushope anoynted 
 bothe the Kyng and the Quyne. And when this was done, 
 the Kyng and Quyne changed ther robes into clothe of golde, 
 and then the Cardenall crowned them both w' great solemp- 
 netye, and the organs went full shortly [sweetly ?] " But the 
 former part of this statement must surely be understood with 
 some reservation : probably Holinshed's narrative is here more 
 accurate, who says " after diuerse songs solemnelie soong, 
 they both ascended to the high altar, and were shifted from 
 their robes, and had diuerse places open from the middle 
 vpward, in which places they were anointed."* 
 
 In his notice of the coronation feast, the MS. writer men- 
 tions the first course as being served " on dyshe of gold and an 
 other of sylver all covered ; " and adds, " and me Lord Awde- 
 
 "Chronicle," v. iii. p. 399. Lists of the Dukes, Earls, Barons, and 
 Knights, who were present at this Coronation, are to be found in the Chronicles 
 of Graf ton and Holinshed, and in the MS. in the Harleian Library, and in another 
 belonging to the College of Arms. Holiushed, who refers to Grafton as his 
 authority, mentions " Edward, prince of Wales, the king's onelie son," as having 
 attended at his father's coronation : but this is unquestionably an error, for that 
 prince is not mentioned in the list of nobles and knights who were present at 
 the solemnity, printed in the " Excerpta Historica," from the Harleian and 
 Heralds' College MSS ; neither had he the title of Prince of Wales until more 
 than a month after the king's coronation at Westminster ; nor does it appear 
 from the wardrobe account above quoted, that any coronation robes or orna- 
 ments were provided for him, as they must have been, had his presence been an- 
 ticipated. But though the king's son was absent, his nephews, the Earl of 
 Warwick (son of George duke of Clarence), the Duke of Suffolk, and 
 the Earl of Lincoln, were all three in attendance, the two latter being among 
 the bearers of parts of the Regalia. 
 
KING RICHARD III. HIS CORONATION FEAST. 1483. 335 
 
 ley Kerver to the kyng all the dynner-time, and me Lord 
 Scroop of Upsall, Cupberer. And so me Lord Lovell stand- 
 ing before the Kynge all the dynner-tyme, and two squyers 
 
 lying under the bord at the kyng's fete." " And then 
 
 came in the second cowerse, and at the said cowerse, came 
 rydyng into the hall S r Robt Dymoke the Kyng's Champion, 
 and his horse trapyd w* whyt sylke & red, & hym selff in 
 whyt harnesse, and the Heraulds of Armes standyng upon a 
 stage among all the co 'pany ; then came rydynge up before 
 the Kyng his champion, and there he declared before 
 all the people, yf there be any man will say ageyrist kyng 
 Rychard the iij why he shoulde not p 'tende the crowne, and 
 anon all the people were in peace awhyle. And when he had 
 all seyd, anon all the hall cryed Kyng Rychard all w' one voyce. 
 And when this was done, anon on of the Lords brought unto 
 this champion a cope full of red wyne cov'd, and so he toke 
 the cope and uncov'd hym and dranke thereof, and when he 
 had done, anon he casts owte the wyne and cov'd the cope 
 agayne & made his obesans to the Kynge and turned his 
 horsse abowt and rode through the hall w l the cope in his 
 ryght hand, and that he had for his labor." The third course 
 we are told "was so late that there myght no servyce be 
 served savyng wafers and ipocrace." Lights were then 
 brought, the king and queen quitted the festal apartment, 
 and the company dispersed. 
 
 No sooner had Richard accepted the sovereignty, than, ac- 
 cording to Fabyan, the young King Edward, and his brother 
 the Duke of York (e were put vnder sure kepynge within the 
 Tower, in suche wyse that they never came abrode after."* 
 
 * " Chronicles," p. 670. In the Harl. MS. No. 433, (fol. 57 b.) is an entry 
 of a writ of Privy Seal, directed to John Hayes, commanding him, ' to content 
 John Lomplorn, of London, grocer ; Thomas Carter, wax-chandler ; John 
 Short, bocher [butcher] , and othre of London forsaid, the som'e of 200, for 
 vitaill spended in the house of Edward the Vth, pretending to be king.' 
 
336 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Whatever may have been the real fate of those Princes 
 for there is some reason to believe, that the story of their 
 having been smothered in the Tower at the instigation of 
 their ambitious uncle, was a calumny invented by the Lan- 
 castrians for sinister purposes the report of their having 
 been murdered made a strong impression against King 
 Richard, and greatly tended to strengthen the conspiracy 
 that shortly afterwards hurled him from his throne. 
 
 The King kept his Christmas at Westminster, in great 
 state, in the year 1484 ; prior to which, he had prevailed on 
 the Queen Dowager to quit the sanctuary for the court, to- 
 gether with her five daughters, whom he had solemnly sworn 
 to protect, and advance in marriage. During the festival, on 
 Twelfth Day, he wore the crown at a royal banquet, at which 
 his nieces were present ; but it was remarked with surprise, 
 that Elizabeth, the eldest, was dressed in robes exactly simi- 
 lar in form and colour to those of the Queen Consort. This 
 was construed into a charge against the King, that he was 
 even then meditating either the death or divorce of the part- 
 ner of his bed and throne. The decease of the Glueen, early 
 in the following March, gave additional strength to these 
 suspicions, yet there is no valid proof that Richard had any 
 guilty participation in that event. The Queen was interred 
 in the Abbey Church at Westminster, with all the honours 
 appropriate to her station.* 
 
 Divers notices of this Palace, connected with the time of 
 Richard the Illrd, occur in the very curious Harleian Manu- 
 script, numbered 433 ; which is said to have once belonged to 
 the great Lord Burleigh, but more recently was the property of 
 
 * Early in his reign, King Richard confirmed to the ' Anker csse of Westmins- 
 ter,' an annuity of six marks, * to be taken yearly, during her life, of the issues, 
 prouffits, and revenues of Notingham.' See Harl. MS. No. 433, fol. 41. 
 
KING RICHARD III. PLACES IN THE PALACE. 1484. 337 
 
 Strype, the historian. Thomas Hunt was appointed Clerk of 
 the King's works, for life, in the early part of that reign ; * 
 and Robert Mannynge had the office of (6 Purveyor of al 
 workemen and of stufe/' for the said works,, " within the 
 Palais of Westmynstre & the Toure of Londone," for the 
 same terme, at the wages of ten pence a day, payable from 
 the fee-farm of the town of Portsmouth."t Richard Scope- 
 ham, " yoeman of the corone," was made keeper of " the 
 Toure nigh unto th' Exchequer; " J and various tenements, 
 &c. within the Palace, were granted to James Frys, or Friis, 
 (elsewhere called Frise, the King's Physician,) " for terme of 
 his life, without any accompt, or other thing." The places 
 mentioned in the grant are "a ten't that Thomas Stoklade 
 
 had to farme, of Henry the vj th ," "the logge [lodge] be- 
 
 tweene the Rounde Toure & the lytell wat r conduct, which 
 
 John Gurney late had," " a house which John Prudde 
 
 late had/' " a house under the Receipt of the Eschequer, 
 
 conteyning in length xlvi fote, w th a litel house called the 
 Pycherhouse, conteyning in length x fote & in brede vij fote, 
 which John Randolf, squier, late had, and a house w th in 
 Westmynstre Hall, in a Towre vnder a house called Quene 
 Margrettes Counsaill house." At that time, Sir John Cates- 
 by, whose family name the often-quoted distich, 
 
 " Catesby the rat, and Lovel the dog, 
 Rule all England under a hog," 
 
 has rendered so notorious, "was keeper of the Palace of 
 Westminster, the Fleet prison," &c. as appears from a writ 
 of Privy Seal, to "allow the Sherriffs of London the payment 
 of their fee" for his salary. || The office of keeping the 
 
 * Harl. MS. No. 433, fol. 35 b. f Idem, fol. .->?,. 1 Idem, fol. 57. 
 Idem, fol. 64. || Idem, fol. 79- 
 
 z 
 
338 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 King's Private Palace, was granted for life, to Robert Apul- 
 by, with the wages of vj d a day, and xiii s . iiij d . yearly for a 
 gown : he had also the " keeping of the bedds & clothes 
 there/* and " viij d by the day for himself & for a groome vn- 
 der him," for that office; the whole payable "of th' issues of 
 the fee farme of Suth tn ." * 
 
 In December 1484, (2nd of Richard III.) a royal Commis- 
 sion was directed to Thomas Danyell (probably the crown 
 surveyor), requiring him to seize and take in the king's name, 
 in any place within the realm, as many bricklayers, masons, 
 and other workmen, as were thought necessary for "the hasty 
 expedicion of our worke w th in our Tower of London and our 
 palais of Westm." t In the following March, an order was 
 issued to Thos. Tirrel, Keeper of the Park of Wilgolet, in 
 Essex, commanding him to suffer no one to purloin, or carry 
 away from the said park, any timber, boards, laths, shingles, or 
 any other stuff, " ordained for the works at Westminster and 
 other places, but suffer such as they should send thither, to 
 fell and carry away as much stuff as they shall think behoveful 
 for the said work." Shortly after, (on the 12th of April,) 
 William Marquelowe had licence to proceed into France and 
 Normandy, to purchase Caen stone, plaster of Paris, and glass 
 for the king's works ; and on the 29th of April, a Commis- 
 sion (tested at Westminster) was issued to Edmond Grave- 
 ley, Serjeant Carpenter, directing him to take whatsoever 
 carpenters and sawyers were (( thought by him necessary for 
 the hasty spede of the King's works in the Toure of London 
 & Westm r ; and also to take, cutte, fell, hewe, and carry al 
 maner of tymbre as weele okes, elmes, as other tymbre nede- 
 ful for the said workes, making resonable contentac'on as it 
 appertaineth." 
 
 * Harl. MS, No. 433, fol. 85 b. f Idem. fol. 217 b. 
 
KING HENRY 
 
 VII. HIS SUCCESS AND CORONATION. 1485. 339 
 
 Whether the works which were thus hastily proceeded 
 with; were for the purposes of defence, or of courtly splen- 
 dour, has not been ascertained; and the only building 
 at Westminster known to have been erected by King 
 Richard the Illrd, was a stone gateway, which stood at the 
 north-western extremity of the Palace demesne, almost di- 
 rectly facing the gate of the Abbey Sanctuary. 
 
 King Richard was slain in the battle of Bosworth Field, 
 on the 22d of August, 1485, after contending for his throne 
 and life in the most gallant manner. He was, in fact, be- 
 trayed by his followers ; and the Lord Stanley, who had been 
 a principal cause of his defeat, consummated his treason by 
 placing the crown which Richard had worn in the battle, 
 and which had been found full of dents on the field, upon 
 the head of the Earl of Richmond (Henry Tudor), whom the 
 assembled army immediately saluted as King. The Earl's 
 right to the throne, although contrary to the due order of suc- 
 cession, was admitted by the Parliament which met on the 7th 
 of November following, and opened its session " in camera 
 com'uniter dicta crucis" within the Palace at Westminster.* 
 Prior, however, to this recognition, the Earl had been 
 crowned King " with all ceremonyes accustomed," in the 
 Abbey Church (October the 30th), by the title of Henry the 
 Vllth, the Cardinal Bourchier being the principal officiating 
 prelate : Henry was the third monarch whom he had con- 
 secrated. On the same day, the King instituted a body- 
 guard of fifty archers to attend on himself and his successors 
 for ever; hence the origin of the present Yeomen of the 
 Crown. 
 
 * Vide " Rot. Parl." vol. vi. p. 267. By the father's side, Henry was de- 
 scended from Owen Tudor, and the dowager Queen Katherine, relict of King 
 Henry the Vth ; and by the maternal line, from John Beaufort, Earl of Somer- 
 set, the natural son of John of Gaunt by Katherine Swynford. 
 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACK. 
 
 On the 18th of January, I486, the King's marriage with 
 Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward the IVth, by which the 
 claims of the rival Houses of York and Lancaster were 
 united, was solemnized at Westminster, amidst the rejoicings 
 of every class of people; yet Henry, who was extremely 
 jealous lest it should be thought that his right to the throne 
 was, in any wise, derived from the Yorkists, deferred the 
 Coronation of his Queen for nearly two years ; but, at length, 
 that ceremony was performed on the 25th of November, 
 1487, with extraordinary splendour. On the second day 
 preceding, the Queen came from Greenwich by water, royally 
 attended, and among the barges of the City Companies which 
 accompanied the procession, was (e in especial, a barge called 
 the Batchelors' barge, garnished and apparelled passing all 
 other; wherein was ordeynid a great redde dragon, spowting 
 flames of fyer into the Thames, and many gentlemanlie pa- 
 giaunts, well and curiously devised to do her highness sporte 
 and pleasoure with." On entering the Tower, (e the King's 
 highnes welcomed her in such manner and forme as was to all 
 estates and others there being present, a very good sight, and 
 right joyous and comfortable to beholde." On the following 
 day she proceeded to Westminster, " and in diuers places of 
 the citie were ordeynid singing children, some arayed like 
 angelles, and others like virgins, to sing sweete songes as her 
 grace passed by." On the morrow (the day of the Corona- 
 tion), the Queen " came forth of Westminster Hall, from 
 the which place to the pulpit in Westminster church, she 
 went upon newe baye clothe ; but, more pitie, there was so 
 moche people inordinately pressing to cut the bay-clothe 
 that the Queen went vpon, that certin persones in the 
 presse were slain, and the order of the ladies following the 
 Queene was broken and distroubled." 
 
 On returning to the Great Hall after the Coronation (which 
 
KFNG HENRYVII. CORONATION OF HIS QUEEN. 1487. 
 
 had been performed by Archbishop Morton), the Queen pre- 
 sided at the banquet table ; a " goodlie stage," out of a win- 
 dow on the left side of the Hall, having been raised for " the 
 King and my Ladie his mother, privilie and at their pleasure 
 to see that noble feast and service." Various productions of 
 ancient cookery, as " feisaunt royall, swan with chawdron, 
 capons of high greece, and pike in latymer sawse," were 
 among the dishes served at the royal board. The " Queen's 
 mynstrells, and after them the mynstrells of other estates,' 5 
 played at intervals; and the heralds cryed largesse three 
 times, on proclaiming the Queen Vtitles. On the conclusion 
 of the feast, her highness was served with fruit and wafers, 
 and with ipocras, by the Mayor of London. She " then 
 departed with God's blessing, and to the rejoicing of many a 
 trew Englishman's hart." * 
 
 Fabyan relates that in 1495, "the daye that y e mayre toke 
 hys charge, in y e afternone came thorough the cytye, Henry 
 duke of Yorke [afterwards Henry VIII.], a chylde about iiii 
 yeres of age, towarde Westmynster, rydynge uppon a courser, 
 with many goodly gentlemen to conuey him. And upon the 
 ix daye of Nouember folowyng was holden a goodly iustyse 
 within the paleys of Westmynster, whereof were chalen- 
 geours syr Wyllia' de la Pool, then duke of Suffolk, th' erle 
 of Essex, syr Robert Curson, and John Pechy, esquyre." f 
 
 The growing discontent which Henry's harsh government 
 had excited among the people, was favourable to conspiracy ; 
 
 * Vide Ives's " Select Papers relating to English Antiquities," 4to, 1773. 
 We learn from the " Foedera," (torn. v. pt. iii. p. 181,) that in the same year 
 as this coronation, Bernardo Andrea was constituted Poet Laureat hy letters 
 patent of Henry VII., tested at Westminster on the 27th of November. 
 
 t This tournament is noticed by Fabyan as if it had been held previously to 
 the execution of Sir William Stanley, which, however, occurred in the early 
 part of 1495 ; so that the date of the justing at Westminster should probably be 
 149-J, instead of 1495. See " Chronicles," p. 685, edit. 1811. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 and two claimants to the throne appeared at different 
 periods,, in the persons of Lambert Simnel and Perkin War- 
 beck. Simnel had been taught to personate the young Earl 
 of Warwick (who had been many years a prisoner), but his 
 adherents were totally defeated at Stoke, in Nottinghamshire, 
 and himself made a captive. He was afterwards pardoned, 
 and became a scullion in the King's kitchen ; but subse- 
 quently attained the rank of a falconer. Warbeck's attempt 
 was more formidable : he was the reputed offspring of a 
 renegado Jew, of Tournay, who, in the course of some busi- 
 ness at London, became known to Edward the IVth, and 
 prevailed on him to stand godfather to his son. Hence " it was 
 by some believed, that Edward, among his amorous adven- 
 tures, had a secret commerce with Warbeck's wife; and thence 
 people accounted for that resemblance which was afterwards 
 remarked between young Perkin and that monarch." * Pro- 
 fessing himself to be Richard, Duke of York, the youngest son 
 of Edward the IVth (whom the Duke of Gloucester is sup- 
 posed to have had murdered in the Tower), and having been 
 acknowledged by the Duchess of Burgundy (Edward's 
 sister) as her nephew, he obtained many partizans ; but the 
 result of an unsuccessful attempt to obtain possession of 
 Exeter, in September 1498, constrained him to submit to 
 Henry's clemency. Having been brought to London in a 
 sort of mock triumph, he was for some time detained under 
 the custody of keepers at Westminster, when, finding means 
 to escape, he fled to the sea-side, in hopes of being enabled 
 to quit the country. But the coasts were guarded, and in 
 despair the unhappy youth sought shelter in the Priory of 
 Shene ; where receiving, through the mediation of the Prior, 
 
 * Hume's " History of England," vol. iii. p. 356, from Lord Bacon's His- 
 tory of Henry VII. 
 
KING HENRY VII. MARRIAGE OF PRINCE ARTHUR. 1501. 343 
 
 a promise from the King that his life should be spared, he 
 again surrendered himself a prisoner. 
 
 " Incontinentlie after was Perkin brought to the court 
 againe at Westminster, and was one day set fettered in a paire 
 of stocks before the doore of Westminster Hall, and there 
 stood a whole day, not without innumerable reproaches, 
 mocks, and scornings. And the next daie he was caried 
 through London, and set upon a like scaffold in Cheape, by 
 the standard, with like ginnes and stocks as he occupied the 
 daie before, and there stood all daie, and read openlie his 
 owne confession [of imposture], written with his own 
 hand/'* 
 
 Prince Arthur, the eldest son of Henry the Vllth, was 
 married in November, 1501, to the Princess Katherine of 
 Arragon. The matrimonial ceremonies were celebrated at 
 St. Paul's, with great pomp ; and the Prince and Princess 
 for a short time afterwards resided at the Palace of the 
 Bishop of London. Thence the King and Queen, " with the 
 new wedded spouses, went from Baynardes Castell by water 
 to Westmynster, on whome the Mayre and comminaltie of 
 London, in barges garnished with standards, streamers, and 
 penons of their deuice, gave their attendaunce. And there 
 in the Paleys were suche marciall feates, suche valiaunt iustes, 
 suche vygorous turneys, suche fierce fight at the barreyers, 
 as before that tyme was of no man had in remembraunce. 
 Of thys royall triumphe lord Edwarde, duke of Buckyngham, 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicle," vol. iii. p. 521. V. et Polyd. Virgil. " Angl. 
 Hist." p. 608, edit. 1546. Perkin Warbeck was afterwards imprisoned in the 
 Tower ; but in the following year he again engaged in an abortive attempt to 
 free himself from captivity, together with the Earl of Warwick, who had been 
 kept in such rigorous confinement that it has been said, " He knew not a 
 goose from a capon." For this attempt, Henry caused Warbeck to be hanged 
 at Tyburn, on the 23d of November, 1499 ; and the Earl of Warwick was be- 
 headed on Tower-hill, on the fifth day afterwards. 
 
344 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 was chiefe chalengeour, and lord Thomas Grey, Marques 
 Dorcet, was chiefe defendoure ; which wyth their aydes and 
 compaygnions, bare thaim selfes so valyauntly that they 
 obteyned great laude and honoure, bothe of the Spanyardes 
 [by whom the Princess Katherine had been accompanied to 
 England] and of their countrymen." * 
 
 Prince Arthur died at Ludlow about five months after his 
 nuptials; and the King, being unwilling to restore the 
 dowry of his widow, caused that Princess to be contracted 
 to Henry, his second son; whom, on the 18th of February, 
 1503, he created Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester, and Duke 
 of Cornwall, with great ceremony, at the Palace of West- 
 minster.f 
 
 Henry the Vllth died in his Palace at Richmond, in Surrey, 
 on the 21st of April, 1509. His remains, after lying in 
 great state during nine days, were conveyed with extraordi- 
 nary pomp to Westminster, and interred there in the mag- 
 nificent Chapel which he had himself built at the east end 
 of the Abbey Church. His consort, Elizabeth, who died 
 on the llth of February, 1502-3, had been buried in the 
 same place ; and a very beautiful tomb was subsequently 
 erected to their memory from the designs of Torregiano.J 
 
 * Hall's " Chronicle/' p. 494. 
 
 f This creation is said to have been for some time delayed, in consequence 
 of an apprehension that the young widow, Katherine, was in the state of 
 pregnancy. 
 
 t Henry's Chapel (together with all the principal tombs which it now con- 
 tains) has been faithfully and excellently represented by the numerous Archi- 
 tectural illustrations engraved from the drawingsof Mr. NEALE, in that splendid 
 publication the ''History and Antiquities of the Abbey Church of St. Peter, 
 Westminster ; " a work of which he was the origin and proprietor, and wherein 
 his superior taste and talents in graphic delineations are admirably displayed. 
 In the same work, is a very curious account of the manner in which Henry's 
 funeral was conducted, extracted from a manuscript in the British Museum : 
 
KING HEMRY VIII. HIS MARRIAGE AND CORONATION. 1509. 
 
 The accession of King Henry the Vlllth, was hailed 
 with much joy by the people; and his first acts were 
 very popular. In June, 1509, his marriage with the Princess 
 Katherine, his brother's widow (a dispensation having been 
 obtained from the Pope), was solemnized at Greenwich, and 
 on the 24th of the same month their Majesties were crowned 
 at Westminster with extraordinary pomp. On this occasion 
 they went in procession from the Tower ; the King, most 
 splendidly apparelled, being mounted upon a goodly courser 
 (in trappings of golden damask, purfled with ermine), and 
 the Queen borne in a litter by two white palfreys, " trapped 
 in white cloth of gold ; " her person arrayed in white satin, 
 embroidered, her hair of great length hanging loosely down 
 her back, and on her head a coronal set with many rich 
 orient stones. 
 
 On " the morrowe folowyng, being Sondaie, and also Mid- 
 summer daie, this noble Prince with his Queen, at time 
 convenient," under canopies borne by the Barons of the 
 Cinque Ports, a went from the Palaice to Westminster 
 Abbey upon clothe called vulgarly cloth of ray, the which 
 clothe was cut and spoyled by the rude and common people 
 immediately after their repair into the Abbey ; where, ac- 
 cording to the sacred observaunce and auncient custome, his 
 Grace with the Queen were annoynted and crowned by the 
 Archbisshop of Canterbury (William Warham) ; other pre- 
 lates of the realme being there present, and the nobilitie 
 with a great multitude of commons of the same." * 
 
 detailed accounts of the King's obsequies are also given in the respective 
 Chronicles of Hall and Holinshed. 
 
 * Hall's "Chronicle," p. 509. The characteristic account given by this 
 annalist of the splendid banquet in the Great Hall, and of the challenge to 
 fight to " W utterance," any person who should contend against the King's 
 right to the throne, by the champion, " Sir Robert Dimmock," are deserving 
 
346 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Diffuse descriptions are given in the chronicles of Hall 
 and Holinshed, of the dresses and decorations of the per- 
 formers in the splendid pageants which formed the chief 
 amusement of the English court in the early part of the new 
 reign ; and of which we shall here introduce some particulars. 
 
 After keeping the festival of Christmas at Richmond, in 
 1509, " the King, with the Queen and all their train/' re- 
 turned about the end of January to the Palace of West- 
 minster. " And on a tyme beyng there," according to 
 Hall, " his Grace, the erles of Essex, Wilshire, and other 
 noble menne, to the nombre of twelue, came sodainly in a 
 mornyng into the Quern's chambre, all appareled in short 
 
 of attention. The chronicler states, that for the more honour and enno- 
 bling of this " triumphaunt Coronacion," there were prepared " bothe 
 justes and turneis to be dooen in the Palaice of Westminster, ' where, for the 
 King's grace and the Queen, was framed a fair house, covered with tapestry 
 and hanged with rich cloths of arras ; and in the said Palace was made a curious 
 fountain, and ouer it a castle ; on the top thereof a great crown imperial, all 
 the embatteling with roses and pomegranates gilded ; and under and about the 
 said castle a curious vine, the leaves and grapes thereof gilded with fine gold ; 
 the walls of the castle were coloured with white and green lozenges, and in 
 every lozenge was either a rose, or a pomegranate, or a shief of arrowes, or else 
 an H and K gilded with fine gold, with certain arches or turrets gilded, to 
 support the said castle ; and the targets of the arms of the defendants appointed 
 for the justes thereupon sumptuously set. And out of several places of the 
 same castle, on the several days of the Coronation, Justs, and Turney, out of 
 the mouths of certain beasts, or gargels, did run red, white, and claret wine." 
 " Chronicle," p. 510. Arthur Taylor has remarked, that the solemnities of this 
 " triumphaunt coronacion" were followed by "justs and turnies" worthy of that 
 golden age of pageants. See " Glory of Regality, " p. 283. 
 
 In the Cottonian Library is a copy of the Coronation oath of Henry the 
 VHIth, with interlineations in his own handwriting. A fac simile of this cu- 
 rious document has been published by Sir Henry Ellis, who remarks that " one 
 part especially indicates that Henry looked to something like supremacy in the 
 Church of England at the very outset of his reign." Vide Ellis's " Original 
 Letters, '\Second Series, vol. i. p. 176. 
 
KING HENRY VIII. PAGEANTS AT WESTMINSTER. 1510. 347 
 
 cotes of Kentishe Kendal, with hodes on their heddes, and 
 hosen of the same, every one of them his bowe and arrowes, 
 and a sworde and bucklar, like out-lawes or Robyn Hodes 
 men, whereof the Quene, the ladies, and all other there,, were 
 abashed, as well for the straunge sight, as also for their 
 sodain commyng; and after certain daunces and pastime 
 made thei departed. On Shrove Sunday the same yere, the 
 Kyng prepared a goodly banket, in the Parliament Chambre 
 at Westminster, for all the Ambassadours which then were 
 here out of diuerse realmes and countries. The banket 
 beyng ready, the Kyng, leadyng the Quene, entered into the 
 Chambre ; then the ladies, the Ambassadours, and other 
 noble menne Mowed in ordre. The Kyng caused the Quene 
 to kepe the estate, and then satte the Ambassadours and 
 ladies, as they were marshalled by the Kyng, who would 
 not sit, but walked from place to place, making chere to the 
 Quene and the straungers; sodainly the Kyng was gone. 
 Shortly after, his Grace, with the Erie of Essex, came in 
 appareled after Turkey fasshion, in long robes of bawdkin 
 powdered with gold, hattes on their heddes of crimosyn 
 veluet, with greate rolles of gold, girded with two swordes 
 called cimiteries hangyng by great bawderikes of gold. Next 
 came the lorde Henry, Erie of Wilshire, and the lorde Fitz- 
 water, in twoo long gounes of yelowe satin trauersed with 
 white satin, and in euery bend of white was a bend of crim- 
 osen satin, after the fashid of Russia, or Ruslande, with 
 furred hattes of greye on their hedes, either of them hauyng 
 an hatchet in their handes and bootes with pykes turned vp. 
 And after them came syr Edward Haward, then Admyral, 
 and with him syr Thomas Parre, in doublettes of crimosin 
 veluet, voyded lowe on the backe and before to the cannell 
 bone, lased on the breastes with chaynes of siluer, and ouer 
 that shorte clokes of crimosyn satyne, and on their heades 
 
348 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 hattes after the dauncers fashion,, with fessauntes feathers in 
 theim : they were appareyled after the fashion of Prusia or 
 Spruce. The torchbearers were appareyled in crymosyn 
 satyne and grene, lyke Moreskoes, their faces blacke. And 
 the Kyng brought in a mommerye. After that the Quene, 
 the lordes, and ladyes, such as would, had played, the sayd 
 mommers departed, and put of the same apparel, and sone 
 after entered into the chamber in their vsual apparell. And 
 so the Kyng made great chere to the Quene, ladyes, and 
 Ambassadours. The supper or banket ended, and the tables 
 auoyded, the Kyng beeyng in communicacion with the Am- 
 bassadores, the Quene with the ladies toke their places in 
 their degrees. Then began the dausyng, and every man 
 toke muche hede to them that daused." Other rich changes 
 of dresses and amusements followed,, but in the end, " after 
 that the Kynges grace and the ladies had daunsed a certayne 
 tyme, they departed euery one to his lodgyng." * 
 
 On new year's day, 1510-11, the Queen was delivered of 
 a son, whose birth gave occasion for extraordinary rejoicings. 
 After the usual public thanksgivings for the recovery of her 
 Highness, the court removed from Richmond, the place of 
 her confinement, to Westminster, where preparations were 
 made for the celebration of solemn " justs 5 ' in honour of the 
 Queen. Henry, himself, entered the lists, having three 
 companions ("aides"), all distinguished by fanciful names 
 derived from old stories of romance and chivalry. The King 
 was called Cure loial, and his aides were William (Courtenay) 
 Earl of Devonshire, styled Bon voloir ; Sir Thomas Knevet, 
 Bon espoir ; and Sir Edward Nevil, Valiant desire ; " whose 
 names were set vpon a goodlie table, and the table hanged 
 in a tree curiouslie wrought: and they were called, Les 
 quater Chevaliers de la Forest Salaigne : these foure to run at 
 
 * Hall's " Chronicle," p. 513-14. 
 
KING HENRY VIII. PAGEANTS AT WESTMINSTER. 1511.349 
 
 the tilt against all comers, with other certein articles com- 
 prised in the said table. 5 ' 
 
 The exhibition took place on the 13th of February. A 
 part of the Palace was fitted up for the King and Queen, 
 hung round on the inside with cloth of gold, and the exterior 
 adorned with rich cloth of arras. The Queen and the ladies 
 having taken their seats in this temporary theatre, a Pageant 
 was brought in representing forest scenery, rocks, hills, and 
 dales, ornamented with trees, green turf, and flowers, artifi- 
 cially made of velvet, damask, silk, and satin ; and in the 
 forest stood six foresters, appropriately habited, having be- 
 side them a great number of spears. In the midst " was a 
 castell standing, made of gold, and before the castell gate 
 sat a gentleman freshlie apparelled, making a garland of 
 roses for the prise. This forrest was drawen, as it were, by 
 strength of two great beasts, a lion and an antelop; the 
 lion florished all ouer with damaske gold, the antelop was 
 wrought all ouer with siluer of damaske, his beames or 
 homes and tuskes of gold.'' These beasts were harnessed 
 to the pageant with great chains of gold ; and they were led 
 by persons in dresses of green silk, like Sylvans, or wild men 
 of the woods. When the pageant came before the Queen it 
 stopped, the foresters sounded their horns, the machine 
 opened on all sides, and forth issued four knights on horse- 
 back, armed at all points, with nodding plumes on their 
 helmets and magnificently accoutred. " On the other part, 
 with great noise as well of trumpets as of drums, entered 
 into the field the erle of Essex and Lord Thomas Howard, 
 with manie other cleane armed : " " and so the iusts began 
 and endured all that daie." * 
 
 * See Ellis's " Original Letters," Second Series, vol. i. p. 180 183, for a copy 
 of the challenge of the four Knights at the justs held in honour of the birth of 
 a Prince, in 1510-11 ; appended to which are the names of the Knights 
 defendants. 
 
350 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 The following day these martial sports were renewed,, and 
 the King himself appeared on horse-back " vnder a pauilion 
 of cloth of gold and purple veluet embrodered, and powdered 
 with [the letters] H and K, of fine gold, the compasse of 
 the pauilion aboue embroidered richlie and valansed with flat 
 gold, beaten in wire, with an imperiall crowne in the top of 
 fine gold ; his bases and trappers of cloth of gold, fretted 
 with damaske gold, the trapper pendant to the taile."* The 
 King was accompanied by his three aids, and attended by 
 one hundred and sixty-eight gentlemen and yeomen on foot. 
 Among the opposing Knights (whose garniture and trap- 
 pings shone with correspondent splendour) was the Earl 
 of Wiltshire, Sir Charles Brandon, Sir Thomas Bulleyn, the 
 Marquess Dorset, Sir Giles Capel, and young Henry Guild- 
 ford, <c and thus began the justs, which was valiantlie 
 atchieved by the King and his aids, among whom his grace 
 atteined the prise." After " euensong," the ambassadors 
 supped with the King, " and had a great banket;" at the 
 conclusion of which, " his grace, with the Queen, lords, 
 and ladies came into the White Hall, which was hanged 
 richlie, and scaffolded and railed on all parts." Here, after 
 an ce enterlude" by the gentlemen of the chapel, and divers 
 songs, the King conferred the honour of knighthood on the 
 celebrated Irish chieftain, O'Neal. The dancing then began, 
 and after a while another sumptuous pageant was brought 
 in upon wheels, from which " out of an arbour of gold in a 
 garden of pleasure," there alighted (in couples) six ladies 
 most gorgeously apparelled, and six lords (one of whom was 
 
 * For an account of a curious and valuable Roll in the archives of the Col- 
 lege of Arms, ornamented with illuminations representing the King going in 
 procession to this tournament, see Dallaway's " Inquiries on Heraldry," p. 
 178. Mr. Dallaway appears to have been mistaken with regard to the scene 
 of the tournament. Ibid. p. 180. 
 
KING HENRY VIII. FIRE AT THE PALACE. 1512. 351 
 
 the King, " in rich garments of purple satin, full of posies, 
 &c/' And then the minstrels, which were disguised, also 
 dansed, and the lords and ladies dansed, that it was a plea- 
 sure to behold: and so this triumph ended with mirth 
 and gladnes/'* 
 
 During the sitting of Parliament in the early part of 1512, 
 a judicial execution took place in the Palace; of which Ho- 
 linshed has recorded the foUowing particulars. A person 
 named Newbolt, a yeoman of the royal guard, " whom the 
 King highly favoured, slewe wilfully a servant of my lord 
 Willoughbies" within the palace, for which offence the King 
 commanded that a new gallows should be set up on the spot 
 where the outrage had been committed; and the criminal 
 was there hanged, the body remaining suspended two days ; 
 " a notable example of iustice, whereby the King verified 
 the report that was commonlie noised abroad of him ; name- 
 lie, that he could not abide the shedding of man's bloud, 
 much lesse wilfull murther." Unfortunately for his sub- 
 jects and his own family, this disinclination for bloodshed 
 on the part of the King was succeeded by feelings of an 
 opposite nature ; and more persons suffered by the hand of 
 the executioner during his reign than perhaps in any similar 
 period of our history. 
 
 Stow says, fe a great part of this Palace at Westminster 
 was once again burnt in the year 1512, the 4th of Henry the 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicle," vol. iii. pp. 558561, edit. 1808. The people 
 who were admitted as spectators at these costly exhibitions, behaved with strange 
 indecorum ; and on this occasion, finding that the gold ornaments of the 
 dresses and decorations were to be given away, they attacked the knights and 
 ladies, tore their rich dresses, and appropriated the spoils to their own advan- 
 tage ; so that the royal guards were obliged to interfere in defence of the com- 
 pany. The infant Prince, whose birth gave origin to all this display, died within 
 nine days after it had taken place. 
 
352 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Eighth ; since which time it has not been re-edified : only 
 the Great Hall, with the offices near adjoining, are kept in 
 good repairs,, and it serveth, as before it did, for feasts at 
 coronations, arraignments of great persons charged with 
 treasons, keeping of the courts of justice, &c. ; but the 
 Princes have been lodged in other places about the city, as 
 at Baynard's Castle, at Bridewell, and Whitehall (sometimes 
 called York Place), and sometimes at St. James's/'* From 
 that period the Palace of Westminster, becoming less asso- 
 ciated than before with the personal and domestic history of 
 our sovereigns, loses much of its interest ; although many 
 important affairs have been since transacted within its 
 precincts. 
 
 The first of May, in 1517, has been distinguished in our 
 annals by the name of Evil May day, in consequence of a 
 serious commotion which then took place within the city, 
 which the magistrates had found difficult to quell, and which 
 arose from the discontent excited in the public mind by 
 the encouragement given to foreign traders. When the 
 tumult was suppressed, between four and five hundred 
 persons were taken into custody, and " ten paire of gallowes" 
 were set up upon wheels in different parts of the city ; but 
 this seems to have been done in terror em merely, for only 
 one man suffered, a broker, named John Lincoln, who had 
 been the original instigator of the attack on foreigners. 
 Several of his associates who had been drawn at the same time 
 to the place of execution, with ropes round their necks, were 
 respited, and remanded to prison. 
 
 It appears that mercy was extended to these misguided 
 persons' at the prayer of three Queens, Katherine the Queen 
 of England, and her sisters-in-law Margaret and Mary the 
 
 * Strype's Stow's " London," vol. ii. p. 628, edit. 1755. 
 
KIN'G HENRY VIII. EVIL MAY DAY. 1517. 3,53 
 
 Dowagers of Scotland and France, then at the English 
 court ; which ladies, according to Stow, " long time on their 
 knees before the King, had begged their pardon, which, by 
 persuasion of the Cardinall Wolsey (without whose counsell 
 he woulde doe nothing), the King granted vnto them/ 5 
 
 Whether the credit of procuring this act of royal clemency 
 be due to the solicitations of Henry's female relatives, or to 
 the advice of his confidential minister, it may be presumed 
 that the scene which followed was planned by the latter, who 
 thought this a favourable opportunity for impressing on the 
 citizens of London a deep sense of the King's goodness in 
 
 pardoning their delinquency. "On the thirteenth of 
 
 Maie the King came to Westminster-hall., and with him the 
 Lorde Cardinall, the Dukes of Norfolke and Suffolke, the 
 Earles of Shrewsbury, Essex, Wiltshire, and Surrey, with 
 many lordes and other of the kings counsaill; the Maior of 
 London, Aldermen, and other cheife Citizens were there in 
 their best liueries by nine of the clocke in the morning. 
 Then came in the prisoners, bound in ropes in a ranke one 
 after another in their shirtes, and euerie one had a halter 
 about his necke, being in number 400 men and 1 1 women. 
 W r hen they were thus come before the kings presence, the 
 Cardinall laid sore to the Maior and Aldermen their negli- 
 gence, and to the prisoners he declared how iustly they had 
 deserued death. Then all the prisoners togither cried to the 
 king for mercie, and therewith the Lords besought his Grace 
 of pardon, at whose request the King pardoned them all. The 
 general pardon being pronounced, all the prisoners showted at 
 once, and cast their halters towards the roofe of the halL 
 The prisoners dismissed, the gallowses were taken downe, 
 and the Citizens tooke more heede to their seruants." * 
 
 * Stow's " Chronicle," p. 851. 
 2 A 
 
354 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Both a Parliament and a great Council of state were held at 
 Westminster in 1529., to assist the King in his projects to 
 obtain a divorce from his Queen, Katherine of Arragon, 
 "The king continually studying on this matter, called a 
 counsaill of the chief of his nobles to begin at Westminster 
 on the first daie of October next ensuing, and also somoned 
 a Parliamet, to begin the third day of November then imme- 
 diately folowyng, & declared that the same counsaill should 
 deuise diuerse actes necessary and nedeful to be passed at 
 the saied Parliament, for reformacion of certain exaccions 
 done by the clergie to the lay people." Cardinal Wolsey, 
 who had long been the King's favourite and prime minister, 
 now began to feel the decline of his master's partiality, and 
 he embraced the opportunity afforded him by this assembly 
 to endeavour to conciliate the feelings of those nobles whom 
 his pride and insolence had formerly rendered enemies. But 
 Wolsey's efforts failed: a writ of Premunire was issued against 
 him, his property was confiscated to the King's use, and, in 
 the following year, the humbled favourite died in disgrace and 
 penury. 
 
 Prior to this, however, about the middle of October, Wol- 
 sey had been ordered to deliver up the Great Seal, and retire 
 to Asher, (now Esher,) in Surrey ; which he had scarcely 
 done, than the King took possession of York Place, (the ar- 
 chiepiscopal Palace of the see of York,) in which the Cardi- 
 nal had long dwelt, in almost more than princely splendour. 
 Whilst he yet "lay at Asher," the imperious sovereign 
 required from him a full and entire recognition of his own 
 right, and that of his successors, to York Place. AVolsey 
 was in no condition to dispute the mandate, and therefore 
 gave the recognizance, demanded ; * yet not without stating 
 
 * In this singular instrument, which is printed in the " Collections'* appended 
 by Fiddes to his " Life of Cardinal Wolsey, "and which was recorded in the King's 
 
KING HENRY VJII. HIS NEW PALACE. 1536. 355 
 
 that it was neither just nor conscientious to require from him 
 the surrender of the patrimony of his See. Hall says, "the 
 Chapiter of the Cathedral Church of Yorke, by their writing, 
 confirmed the same feofTment, and then the King changed 
 the name, and called it the Kinges manor of Westminster, 
 and no more Yorke Place." 
 
 Having thus secured the inheritance of this demesne to 
 the crown, the King immediately began to enlarge and im- 
 prove it, by erecting additional buildings, and connecting 
 them with the adjoining park of St. James ; where also, 
 about the same time, he built a new Palace, on the site of 
 the ancient Hospital dedicated to that Saint. Among the im- 
 provements at York Place, were a new Gallery, (brought from 
 Asher,) a spacious room for entertainments, an elegant gate- 
 way (designed by Holbein,) across the main street, and a 
 sumptuous gallery which overlooked the Tilt-yard, and 
 formed the line of communication with St James's Park. 
 He also formed a tennis court, cock-pit, and bowling alleys ; 
 for he was fond of those diversions, as well as of tilts and 
 tournaments, and the more athletic exercises. 
 
 The time of the completion of King Henry's buildings at 
 York Place and St. James's, can be tolerably well ascertain- 
 ed by an Act of Parliament which was passed in the summer of 
 1536, (28th Hen. VIII. chap. xii.) for the annexation of those es- 
 tates to the ancient Palace of Westminster. After reciting that 
 the old Palace was then, and had been long time "in utter ruine 
 and decaye/' the act states, that the King had lately obtained 
 and purchased one great mansion place and house, sometime 
 
 Bench and Chancery Courts, at Westminster, respectively, on the 7th and llth 
 days of February 1530, York Place is stated to consist of one messuage, two 
 gardens, and three acres of land, with appurtenances, in the Town of West- 
 minster. 
 
 2 A 2 
 
356 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 parcell of the inheritance of the Archbishopric of York, 
 " not moche distaunt from the same auncieiit Paleys/' and 
 that upon the soil and ground thereunto adjoining, his High- 
 ness (e moste sumptuously and curiously hath buylded and 
 edified many and distinct beautifull, costely, and plesaunt 
 Lodgynges, Buyldyngs, and Mansions/' and also "made 
 a Parke thereunto, walled and envyroned with brick and 
 stone/' and therein devised and ordained many and singular 
 commodious things, pleasures, and other necessaries, most 
 apt and convenient to appertain only to so noble a Prince, 
 for his pastime and solace, " Be if therefore enacted," Sec. that 
 all the said soil, ground, mansion, and buildings, together 
 with the said Park, &c. and also the soil of the said ancient 
 Palace, shall be the King's whole Palace at Westminster, 
 and henceforth, be reputed and called the King's Palace at 
 Westminster, for ever ; and that the same Palace shall include 
 all the street or way leading from Charing Cross to the Sanctu- 
 ary gate at Westminster, and also all the houses, buildings, 
 lands, and tenements, on both sides of the said street, unto 
 Westminster Hall, from the Thames on the east part to the 
 Park wall on the west part, and enjoy all the like preroga- 
 tives, liberties, pre-eminences, jurisdictions, and privileges, as 
 appertained to the King's Ancient Palace, which latter from 
 henceforth shall be deemed and reputed as a member and 
 parcel only of the new Palace made by this Act.* 
 
 At what time the new Palace obtained the name of White- 
 hall is uncertain ; but it does not appear that such appella- 
 
 * Vide " Statutes of the Realm," vol. iii. p. 668. By a Schedule annexed to 
 f he Act, it was provided that William Babyngton, the Keeper of the old Palace, 
 Chis heirs and assigns,) should still enjoy the office of Keeper of the Palace at 
 Westminster, with all its profits and advantages, in as large and ample man- 
 ner us before. 
 
KING HENRY VIII. ANNE BOLEYN's CORONATION. 1533. 
 
 tion was in general use until Queen Elizabeth's reign. When 
 Sir Thomas More resigned the Great Seal to King Henry in 
 May 1532, it still bore the name of " Yorke Place ; " * but 
 that a building there was then called ( the White Hall,' (possi- 
 bly erected by Wolsey,) is evident from a memorandum in 
 the Close Rolls, which records the delivery of the new Great 
 Seal, on the 6th of September, in the same year, to Sir Tho- 
 mas Audley, which was done " prsefato Rege tune apud Le 
 Whitehall prope Palatium suum Westmonasteriense in Le 
 Bankit Chamber ibidem existente."f 
 
 On the 25th of January 1533, King Henry was privately mar- 
 ried to the Lady Anne Boleyn in his own closet, (as Stow calls 
 it,) in the new Palace ; and when she was crowned, on the 1 st 
 of June following, she was " somewhat bigge with chylde." 
 The ceremony was performed in the Abbey Church, at West- 
 minster, by Archbishop Cranmer. She alone, of the Queens 
 of Henry the Eighth, was thus honoured by an independent 
 inauguration, her predecessor Katherine of Arragon having 
 gone through the ceremony at the same time with the King 
 himself, whereas on the latter occasion he was necessarily 
 only a spectator. Hall and Holinshed have described at 
 great length the pageants and solemnities which were dis- 
 played ; and which were strikingly characteristic of the strong 
 passion for gorgeous yet incongruous Pageantry which was 
 then entertained both by the sovereign and the people. J 
 
 The ceremonies in Westminster Abbey, and the subse- 
 quent entertainment in the Hall, were conducted on the most 
 magnificent scale ; as if the King was determined to do all 
 
 * " Foedera ," torn. vi. pars ii. p. 171. t Idem, p. 173. 
 
 J Hall's " Chronicle, " pp. 798-805. Holinshed's " Chronicles," vol. iii. pp. 
 779-782. See also Stow' s "Chronicle," pp. 947-957 ; but the accounts of 
 both the latter annalists, are little more than repetitions from Hall. 
 
358 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 possible honour to one who was then the object of his pas- 
 sionate attachment, but whom he afterwards abandoned to 
 contempt, infamy, and judicial punishment, on apparently 
 inconclusive evidence of conjugal infidelity. During the 
 banquet the King with divers ambassadors stood, to behold 
 the service, in " a little closet/' made on the right hand "out 
 of the Cloyster of St. Stephens." * 
 
 On the 9th of July, 1534, Lord Dacre, of the North, was 
 arraigned of high treason, in Westminster Hall, before the 
 Peers ; the Duke of Norfolk presiding as high steward of 
 England. " Beyng brought to the barre with the axe of the 
 Tower before him, after his inditement red, he not only im- 
 proued [disproved] the sayd inditement, as false and malicious- 
 ly deuised against him, and answered euery part and matter 
 therin contained, but also so manly, wittily, and directly 
 confuted his accusers, whiche there were readie to auouch 
 their accusacions, that to their great shames, & to his great 
 honor, he was found that day by his peres not giltie, whiche 
 vndoubtedly the commons excedyngly ioyed and reioysed of, 
 insomuche as there was in the hall at those woordes, ' not 
 giltie/ the greatest shoute and crye of ioy that the like no 
 man liuyng may remembre that euer he heard." t 
 
 In the Parliament which commenced its session at West- 
 minster, on the 3rd of November 1534, the important Sta- 
 tute was passed by which all Papal authority in Ecclesiastical 
 affairs, was, as it is stated by Hall, "vtterly abholished 
 out of this realme, GOD be euerlastyngly praysed there- 
 
 * Hall's " Chronicle," p. 804, 5. 
 
 t Idem, p. 815. Dr. Lingard, remarking on " the facility with which during 
 this reign, state prisoners were convicted, adds that Lord Dacre, or Dacres, was 
 the only one within his recollection who was acquitted." " Hist, of England," 
 vol. iv. p, 487. 
 
KING HENRY VIII. DECEASE OF THE KING. 1547. 
 
 fore."* The supremacy of the English Church was at the 
 same time transferred to the King; and for their conscien- 
 tious denial of that authority, those illustrious victims John 
 Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, and Sir Thomas More, the late 
 Chancellor, were in the following summer condemned at 
 Westminster for high treason; and being shortly after- 
 wards decapitated on Tower hill, their heads were fixed in 
 terror em upon London Bridge. 
 
 A procession from Greenwich to Westminster, immedi- 
 ately after the nuptials of Henry the VHIth and Anne of 
 Cleves is thus noticed by Holinshed. "The fourth of Februarie 
 (1540) the king and she remoued to Westminster by water, 
 on whom the Lord Maior & his brethren, with twelue of the 
 cheefe companies of the citie, all in barges gorgeously gar- 
 nished with baners, penons, and targets, richlie couered, and 
 furnished with instruments sweetly sounding, gaue their at- 
 tendance : and by the waie, all the ships shot off; and 
 likewise from the tower, a great peal of ordnance went off 
 lustilie." 
 
 During the latter part of this reign, the King's will was 
 the law. Hence the promoters of Reformation, and its op- 
 posers, were adjudged to the same flames ; the blood of the 
 Protestant and of the Catholic was shed upon the same block ; 
 and Henry, whilst vehemently contending against the Pope's 
 infallibility, supported his own with vindictive bigotry. He 
 died on the night of the 29th of January 1 547, and was 
 buried in the Royal'Chapel at Windsor. 
 
 * Hall's " Chronicle," p. 817. 
 
R. W, Billings del. > s '. iniliaau AT. 
 
 CELL IN STAIR-CASE TURRET, S. E. CORNER, PAINTED CHAMBER. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HISTORICAL NOTICES OF THE PALACE^ AT WESTMINSTER, 
 FROM THE ACCESSION OF EDWARD THE SIXTH TO THE 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT BY FIRE 
 ON THE 16TH OF OCTOBER, 1834. 
 
 EDWARD the Vlth was crowned in the Abbey Church at 
 Westminster, by Archbishop Cranmer, on Shrove Sunday, 
 
KING EDWARD VI. ST. STEPHEN^ CHAPEL. 1548. 
 
 (February the 20th, *) 1547 ; but the solemnities were 
 shortened on account of " the tender age " of the King, f 
 Prior to the coronation, as appears by Edward's own ( Journal, 9 
 he went into Westminster Hall, " and it was asked the 
 people, e whether they would have him to be their King ? ' " 
 and they " answered, Yea, yea.' 5 After the feast, the young 
 sovereign dubbed fifty-five Knights of the Carpet ; % and on 
 the morrow, there were holden " royall justes against all 
 comers." 
 
 An important change in the destination of St. Stephen's 
 Chapel took place in the early part of this reign ; the whole 
 of the collegiate foundation attached to it having become 
 vested in the crown, in pursuance of the statute for the sup- 
 pression of free Chapels, &c. in the year 1548. The site and 
 other buildings of the College were mostly granted to Sir 
 Ralph Fane, (as will be more particularly shewn hereafter,) 
 but the Chapel itself was especially reserved to be appropri- 
 ated for the accommodation of the Commons when assem- 
 bled in Parliament. Since that period it has been always 
 
 * Holinshed says, ("Chronicles," vol. iii. p. 866.) the coronation was solem- 
 nized on " the 25th of February," but that he was in error is evinced by several 
 documents printed in the " Foedera," torn. vi. pars iii. pp. 149, 150 ; as well 
 as by other authorities. A very curious representation of Edward's progress 
 through the City on the day before the coronation, has been published by the 
 Society of Antiquaries. It was engraved from an old picture formerly at Cow- 
 dray House, in Sussex, but unfortunately destroyed by fire with that building, 
 in 1793. 
 
 t See "The Order for the Coronation" (ex Libro Concilii) in the Col- 
 lection of Records annexed to Burnet's *' History of the Reformation." It is 
 singularly expressed in one part of these directions, that the King, having made 
 his prayer and offering, shall then "fall groveling before the altar," and the 
 Archbishop say over him the collect Deus humiliicm, &c. 
 
 + Strype has given their names in his " Ecclesiastical Memorials," (pp. 327- 
 329) from a MS. in the College of Arms. 
 
362 
 
 -WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 used for the sittings of the Commons' House, when sum- 
 moned to meet at Westminster. 
 
 One of the principal events which took place at West- 
 minster in Edward's reign, was the trial in the Great Hall, 
 of the Protector Somerset, in December 1552. He was 
 arraigned both for treason and felony, yet " the peers did 
 acquit him of the treason, but found him giltie of the felonie/' 
 "The people in the Hall," Stow says," supposing he had 
 beene cleerely quit when they sawe the axe of the Tower put 
 downe, made such a shrike, casting up their caps, &c. that 
 their crie was heard to the Long Acre, beyond Charing 
 Crossed The Duke was beheaded on the 22nd of February, 
 in the following year. Edward the Sixth died on the 6th of 
 July, 1553, and was interred in the Abbey Church at West- 
 minster on the 18th of the ensuing month. He was suc- 
 ceeded by the ill-fated Lady Jane Grey ; whom Noailles, 
 the then ambassador from the French King, represents to 
 have been crowned, yet that fact has not been ascertained by 
 our own historians. She was the first female sovereign of this 
 kingdom, but after a short-lived sway of thirteen days, was 
 obliged to yield the throne to Mary, the eldest sister of the 
 late king, whose more legitimate claims were supported by 
 the general body of the people. Mary's coronation took 
 place on the 1st of October, in the above year. On that 
 day, she proceeded by water from Whitehall, (( to the olde 
 Palace, and there remained till about eleven of the clocke, 
 and then went on foote upon blue cloth, being railed on 
 either side, vnto Saint Peter's Church, where shee was 
 solemnelie crowned and anointed by the Bishop of Winches- 
 ter [Gardiner] ; which coronation and other ceremonies and 
 solemnities, then used according to the olde custome, was 
 not fully ended till it was nigh foure of the clocke that she 
 
QUEEN MARY. HER IMAGINARY PREGNANCY. 1554. 3G3 
 
 returned from the Church, before whom was then borne 
 three swords sheathed, and one naked. The great service 
 that day done in Westminster Hall, at dinner, by divers 
 noble men, would aske long time to write. The Lord Maior 
 of London and twelve citizens kept the high cupboard of 
 plate as butlers, and the Queene gave to the Maior for his 
 fee a cup of golde with a couer waying seven teene ounces."* 
 The nuptials of Queen Mary with Philip of Spain were 
 solemnized at Winchester in July 1554 ; and on the 12th of 
 August the royal pair came through London to Whitehall, 
 amidst an ostentatious display of foreign and domestic 
 wealth. On the 12th of November following, they rode to- 
 gether to open the Parliament at Westminster, having two 
 swords and two caps of maintenance borne before them. By 
 that assembly, which held two or three of its latter meetings 
 "in the Great Chamber at the White Hall, for that the 
 Queene by reason of sicknesse was not able to go abrode," the 
 English Church was again subjected to Papal domination, f 
 
 * Stow's " Chronicle," p. 1042. The account given by the same writer, of the 
 Queen's gorgeous procession from the Tower to Whitehall, on the preceding day, 
 is deserving of perusal. 
 
 t Holinshed's " Chronicles," vol. iv. p. 65. Strype in his " Ecclesiastical 
 Memorials," (vol. iii. p. 204) under the date of Nov. 27th 1554, mentions the 
 following singular exhibition as then taking place. " This day did the King and 
 Queen, and the Lords of Parliament, sit at the court at Whitehall, in the cham- 
 ber of Presence : where the Queen [Mary] sat highest, richly apparelled, and 
 her Belly laid out, that all men might see that she was with child. At this Par- 
 liament, it was said, labour was made to have the King crowned : and some 
 thought that the Queen, for that cause, did lay out her belly the more. On the 
 right hand of the Queen sat the King, and on the other hand of him the Cardi- 
 nal [Pole], with his cap on his head." Cardinal Pole harangued the Members 
 of the Parliament, persuading them to be reconciled to the Church of Rome, and 
 offering the Pope's benediction and absolution, which they accepted ; and re- 
 assembling the next day, they all kneeled down to receive it, except one 
 
364 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE 
 
 On the last day of September 1555,, " by occasion of great 
 winde and raine that had fallen, were such fluds that on that 
 morning the Palace at Westminster, and Westminster Hall, 
 was overflowen with water unto the stair foote going to the 
 Chauncerie and King's Bench, so that when the Lord Mayor 
 of London should come to present the Sherifes to the Barons 
 of the Exchequer, all Westminster Hall was full of water : 
 and by report there that morning, a wherrie-man rowed with 
 his boat over Westminster Bridge into the Palace Court, 
 and so through the Staple Gate, and all the Wooll staple 
 into the Kinges street.* 
 
 After the decease of Queen Mary, on the 1 7th of Novem- 
 ber 1558, her half-sister, Elizabeth, was, by the concurrence 
 of the Lords and Commons, who were then sitting in Par- 
 liament at Westminster, raised to the vacant throne. The 
 alterations which were almost immediately made in the ser- 
 vices of the Church, under her directions, were considered 
 by the Catholic Bishops as so indicative of her hostility to 
 their mode of worship, that they all refused to assist in the 
 solemnities of her Coronation. At length, Oglethorpe, 
 Bishop of Carlisle, was prevailed on to officiate, and Eliza- 
 beth was crowned in the Abbey Church by that prelate, on 
 the 15th of January 1559; the ceremonies being performed 
 according to the ancient rites. " She dined," says Holin- 
 
 individual, Sir Ralph Bagnal, who refused his consent to this submission, 
 and said, " he was sworn to the contrary to King Henry VIII., which was a 
 worthy Prince, and laboured twenty-five years before he could abolish him [the 
 Pope] . And to say I will agree to it, I will not." Notwithstanding the display 
 made by the Queen, and that public thanksgivings were ma.de on the occasion, 
 it appears that her supposed pregnancy arose from dropsical affections. 
 
 * Stow's " Chronicle," p. 1061. The Westminster Bridge mentioned in this 
 extract, was an erection, or stage, of timber, supported on piles, and extend - 
 ing many yards from the shore into the river, for the conveniency of landing at 
 the old Palace. 
 
QUEEN ELIZABETH. CONFERENCE ON RELIGION. 1559. 
 
 shed, " in Westminster Hall, which was richlie hoong, and 
 euverie thing ordered in such roiall manner as to such a regall 
 and most solemn feast appertained;" and, after the accus- 
 tomed services and challenge by Sir Edward Dimmock, the 
 champion, the festal ceremonies " tooke end with great joy 
 and contentation to all beholders." * 
 
 Whilst Elizabeth's first Parliament, which met on the 25th 
 of January, in the same year, was engaged in promoting a 
 reformation in ecclesiastical affairs, a Conference was ap- 
 pointed by the Queen to be held in Westminster Abbey, on 
 three of the principal points in dispute between Catholics 
 and Protestants, viz. " the performance of divine worship in 
 an unknown tongue ; " " the power of particular churches 
 to alter rites and ceremonies ; " and " the propitiatory sacri- 
 fice of the mass." On each side, the arguments were to 
 have been managed by nine Doctors; but after the first 
 proposition had been entered into, the Catholic divines 
 refused to suffer their reasons to be committed to writing, 
 although such a course of proceeding had been previously 
 agreed to. The Conference therefore was broken up, and all 
 the assembly dismissed, except the Bishops of Winchester 
 and Lincoln (White and Watson), who were committed 
 to the Tower for contempt, in giving such a pernicious ex- 
 ample of " disorders, stubbornesse, and self-will." Shortly 
 afterwards, the Parliament finally abrogated the authority of 
 
 * Holinshed's " Chronicles," vol. iv. p. 176. The Queen's progress from the 
 Tower, on the preceding day, is described with great minuteness in the same 
 work, and at great length. A great variety of rich Pageantry, with numerous 
 devices, and several poetical orations, spoken by children, greeted her passage 
 through the city ; and at Temple Bar " were the two images of Gogmagog the 
 Albion, and Corineus the Briton, two giants big in stature, furnished accord- 
 inglie, which held in their hands aboue the gate a table, wherein was written, 
 in Latine verses, the effect of all the pageants which the citie before Lad 
 erected." Ibid. pp. 158 176. 
 
366 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 the See of Rome, and restored the Supremacy of the Church 
 to the English Crown. 
 
 In February 1579, such an abundance of snow fell in 
 London that it covered the streets to the depth of between 
 two and three feet; but after a few days a thaw ensued, 
 " with continuall rain," Stow says, " a long time after, which 
 caused such high floods that the marshes and low grounds 
 being drowned for a time, the water rose so high in West- 
 minster Hall, that, after the fall thereof, some fishes were 
 found there to remaine."* On the 6th of April, in the fol- 
 lowing year, according to the same annalist, a severe shock of 
 an earthquake was experienced in the metropolis, and many 
 churches and houses were much shattered by it, as well as 
 several persons killed and hurt. During its continuance, 
 which did not exceed a minute, " the great clocke bell in 
 the Palace at Westminster, stroke of itself against the ham- 
 mer with shaking, and divers clocks and bells in the city and 
 elsewhere did the like.*' f 
 
 Divers trials for high treason took place in Westminster 
 Hall during the long-extended reign of Queen Elizabeth; 
 the most memorable of which were those of the Earls of 
 Essex and Southampton, on the 19th of February 1601. 
 They were both condemned, but the former alone suffered 
 the punishment of death ; he was beheaded in the Tower on 
 the sixth day after his trial. 
 
 Elizabeth died at Richmond on the 24th of March 1603 ; 
 and was buried in Henry the Vllth's Chapel, at Westminster, 
 on the 28th of the month following, near the same spot 
 where Queen Mary had been inhumed. Her funeral was 
 exceedingly magnificent; upwards of 1600 persons (exclu- 
 sive of surrounding crowds) attending the ceremony. % 
 
 * Stow's " Chronicle," pp. 1160. f Ibid, p. 11G3. 
 
 J A sumptuous monument of the Corinthian order was afterwards raised to 
 
KING JAMES I. CROWNED AT WESTMINSTER. 1 G04. 3()/ 
 
 By the artifices of Cecil, the state Secretary, the reversion 
 to the throne had been secured to James the Vlth of Scot- 
 land, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Lord Darnley ; 
 and he was proclaimed King of England on the day of Eli- 
 zabeth's decease.* His right to the crown was afterwards 
 recognized by the Parliament which met at Westminster on 
 the 19th of March, 1604. Prior to this, however, (on the 
 26th of the preceding July,) both King James and Anne of 
 Denmark, his consort, had been crowned in the Abbey 
 Church by Archbishop Whitgift; but that ceremony was 
 hastily performed, and without parade, the people having 
 been forbidden to congregate, on account of the plague which 
 was then raging in a dreadful manner.f Though but few 
 persons had been summoned to attend, the Coronation feast 
 was, as usual, held in the Great Hall, and the Lord Mayor, 
 and principal citizens of London, executed their customary 
 service as chief butlers. 
 
 In 1605, the Parliament House became connected with one 
 of the most extraordinary events in English history, an 
 event, indeed, hardly to be paralleled, in atrocious design, in 
 the annals of any country ancient or modern. This was 
 
 her honour in the north aisle of Henry's Chapel. It includes an altar tomb, on 
 which is a recumbent statue of the Queen, finely executed in white marble. 
 
 * King James made his public entry into London on the 7th of May, 1603 ; 
 and it is remarkable that on the twelfth day afterwards, he granted a license 
 under the Privy Seal, tested by himself at Westminster, to Laurence Fletcher, 
 William Shakespeare, and others, " Freely to use and exercise the art and 
 faculty of playing Comedies, Tragedies, Histories, Enterludes, Morals, Pastor- 
 alls, Stage-plaies, and such others, like as theie have alreadie studied or here- 
 after shall use or studie," either at the Globe Theatre, in Surrey, or elsewhere, 
 " within anie Toun Halls or Moote Halls, or other convenient places," through- 
 out his dominions. See " Foedera," torn. vii. pars ii. p. 71. 
 
 t Vide " Foedera," torn. vii. pars ii. p. 79, for the King's proclamation to 
 restrain the people from assembling at his coronation. 
 
368 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 the conspiracy usually termed the GUNPOWDER PLOT, a 
 scheme for destroying the King,, Lords, and Commons when 
 assembled in Parliament, by blowing up the building with 
 gunpowder laid in the vaults beneath the House of Lords. 
 This most sanguinary project seems to have been the result 
 of the desperation and despair to which the Catholics were 
 reduced by the unrelenting severity of the government under 
 Elizabeth, and the disappointment of their hopes of redress 
 after the accession of James the 1st. These feelings were ge- 
 neral among the professors of the ancient faith ; yet the great 
 body of that class of the King's subjects remained peace- 
 able, and seemed disposed to submit to oppression in silence, 
 rather than incur the hazard of greater evils which might 
 arise from resistance and rebellion. But there were among 
 the English Catholics a few hot-headed zealots, whom per- 
 secution had rendered furious, and with them originated this 
 detestable conspiracy. 
 
 According to the evidence adduced by the agents of Go- 
 vernment, the first contriver of this dark scheme of ven- 
 geance was Robert Catesby, Esq., of Ashby St. Legers, in 
 Northamptonshire ; said to have been a lineal descendant of 
 Sir Wm. Catesby, the favourite and minister of Richard the 
 Third, who was taken prisoner at the battle of Bosworth field, 
 and afterwards executed. Catesby, the conspirator, had for- 
 saken the faith of his ancestors, and led a profligate life in 
 his youth, so that he had seriously injured both his fortune 
 and his character. He had been engaged in the rising of the 
 Earl of Essex against Elizabeth ; and narrowly escaped capi- 
 tal punishment, not without paying a heavy fine. Repenting 
 of his religious apostasy, he exchanged the character of a 
 reprobate for that of a zealot, and endeavoured to atone 
 for his past errors by engaging in this most perilous under- 
 taking ; conceiving that it would be serviceable to the Church 
 
KING JAMES I. GUNPOWDER-TREASON PLOT. 1604-5. 369 
 
 from which he had antecedently seceded. Horrible as the 
 contrivance was by which he sought to attain his object, it 
 was probably not an entirely original conception, since the 
 idea might have been derived from similar schemes of secret 
 revenge, which had not long before this period been 
 attempted at Antwerp, to destroy the Duke of Parma, and 
 at the Hague, to blow up the Council of Holland, Whether 
 Catesby's project was thus suggested, or was the fruit of his 
 own invention, he did not long confine it within his own 
 bosom, but sought to obtain the confederates requisite for so 
 daring an attempt, among those who, like himself, had been 
 persecuted for their adherence to the Catholic faith, and 
 whom he therefore expected to find imbued with the same 
 fierce spirit of retributive vengeance as that by which he was 
 himself animated. Thomas Winter is said to have been the 
 first who shared his confidence. He was a gentleman by 
 birth, and a soldier by profession, who had travelled and 
 served abroad, and obtained acquaintance in foreign courts. 
 On the first mention of the design to him by Catesby, he 
 instantly objected to the portentous hazard of the scheme, 
 and the scandal in which its failure would involve the pro- 
 fessors of their mutual faith ; yet it seems that his caution 
 was readily overpowered by his personal friendship for the 
 projector of the plot, and the specious arguments which he 
 brought forward to recommend its adoption. John Wright, 
 Thomas Percy, and Robert Keyes, were successively made 
 associates in the undertaking. To quiet the scruples of some 
 or all of those persons, the arch-conspirator availed him- 
 self of the sanction of the Church, giving them to understand 
 that Father Garnet, the chief of the Jesuits in England, had 
 been consulted on the subject, and had declared the scheme 
 to be justifiable, as producing good out of evil. How far 
 Catesby imposed on his friends, or on his casuistical coun- 
 
 2 B 
 
370 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 seller, will always remain a question of much uncertainty. 
 Garnet, who was one of the victims of this horrible project, 
 always declared that he had no knowledge whatever of the 
 conspiracy, except the information he received under the seal 
 of confession ; and that, instead of sanctioning the proceed- 
 ing by his authority, he employed his influence to defeat the 
 project, most strongly recommending that it should be 
 dropped : but these assertions are of doubtful validity. 
 
 With the persons above mentioned were now associated 
 Guido Fawkes, a soldier of fortune, who had been in the 
 service of the King of Spain ; and Thomas Bates, Catesby's 
 servant, a Catholic and a sufferer for religion. All these 
 men bound themselves by the strongest oaths, with the so- 
 lemnity of the Eucharist, to exert themselves to the utmost 
 to carry their project into execution, to observe the most 
 profound secrecy, and not to communicate the design to 
 any one without the concurrence of the whole party. The 
 grand outlines of the project having been developed by the 
 contriver, and the objections of his companions satisfied or 
 silenced, by the real or pretended concurrence of Garnet and 
 other Jesuits, a consultation was held as to the arrangement 
 of the details of the undertaking. 
 
 Thomas Percy was a relative of the Earl of Northumber- 
 land, by whose means he had been admitted into the Band 
 of Gentlemen Pensioners, which circumstance afforded him 
 a ready access to court. It was decided that Percy should 
 hire a house as near as possible to the Parliament House, so 
 that a mine might be constructed from one to the other ; and, 
 in pursuance of this resolution, a dwelling was procured that 
 seemed well adapted for the purpose. It was taken in the 
 name of Percy, and tenanted by Fawkes (who called himself 
 John Johnson), under the character of his servant. Another 
 house was obtained on the opposite side of the Thames, at 
 
KING JAMES I. GUNPOWDER -TREASON PLOT. 1C04-5. 
 
 Lambeth, which was occupied by Keyes ; and there the con- 
 spirators gradually laid in a stock of gunpowder. 
 
 After these preliminary arrangements the plotters separated 
 for a few months. About the llth of December, 1604, they 
 met again and commenced their operations; all of them, 
 except Keyes, who remained at Lambeth, having entered the 
 house at Westminster late at night. They had provided 
 themselves with the tools requisite for making an excavation, 
 and had also brought with them supplies of hard eggs, baked 
 meats and pasties^ wine and beer, sufficient to last them 
 twenty days, that they might not create suspicion by going 
 abroad for food. By way of resource in the last extremity, 
 they had likewise provided arms and ammunition, that they 
 might be enabled to defend themselves against hostile attacks 
 should the plot be discovered. In the garden attached to 
 Percy's dwelling was an old building, raised against the wall 
 of the Parliament House, and within that building the con- 
 spirators began to open the mine. They divided each day 
 into two portions, devoting sixteen hours to labour and the 
 remainder to repose; and arranging their several tasks in 
 such a manner, that while one rested the other three con- 
 tinued to work, in the day-time at the mine, and in the night 
 removing the rubbish and concealing it under the soil of the 
 garden. Fawkes meanwhile kept watch round the house, in 
 which he alone was seen, giving notice, by some private sig- 
 nals, to his accomplices to abstain from working when any 
 one approached the spot, lest the noise should betray them. 
 They had continued their labour for a fortnight, when Fawkes 
 informed them that the Parliament had been prorogued from 
 the 7th of February to the 3rd of October following. They 
 then separated to spend the Christmas holidays at their own 
 homes, warily engaging to suspend all intercourse with each 
 other, either by letter or message. 
 
 2 B 2 
 
37 ~ WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 During the recess, Catesby had gained two new associates, 
 Christopher Wright and Robert Winter ; and on the meeting 
 of the whole party in town they renewed their undertaking. 
 They had before found the work so much heavier than they 
 anticipated, that they had been obliged to summon Robert 
 Keyes from Lambeth to assist them ; but, notwithstanding 
 his aid, the difficulties that opposed their progress seemed 
 almost insurmountable. The influx of water from the 
 Thames, at a certain depth, rendered it impossible to carry 
 the mine beneath the foundation-wall of the Parliament 
 House, and its thickness, amounting to nine feet, and its 
 solid construction of large stones, rendered its perforation a 
 most toilsome task to persons unaccustomed to manual 
 labour. Animated with zeal, still they persevered, until one 
 day they were alarmed by a very unusual rushing noise, 
 which seemed to' proceed from above the spot where they 
 were working. Fawkes was despatched to make inquiries, 
 and on his return he acquainted them that there was a 
 vaulted cellar under the House of Lords, which had been 
 used as a repository for coals, which were then on sale, and 
 the noise they had heard was caused by shovelling and re- 
 moving the coals. He further ascertained that the cellar 
 would be to let as soon as it was empty. This circumstance 
 at once determined the conspirators to abandon the mine, 
 and make the cellar the scene of their nefarious operations. 
 Fawkes, therefore, hired the cellar in the name of his master ; 
 and having purchased the remaining coal, as he alleged for a 
 supply of winter fuel, he was enabled to obtain immediate 
 possession of the place. Into this vault were transferred 
 about twenty barrels of gunpowder, which had been stored 
 at Lambeth; and into the barrels, or hampers rather, in which 
 they had been packed, were thrown large stones, iron bars, 
 and the working instruments that had been used in the mine, 
 
KING JAMES I. GUNPOWDER TREASON PLOT. 1604-5. 
 
 with intent, as Fawkes afterwards declared, " to make the 
 breach the greater." The whole was covered with faggots 
 and billets of wood; and to add to the deception, a quantity 
 of old lumber and empty bottles was placed in the cellar. 
 These preparations was completed by May, 1605 ; and the 
 conspirators then carefully closed the cellar, having made 
 such arrangements as would enable them, at any time, to 
 ascertain whether it had been entered during their absence. 
 They then quitted London, to meet again in September, a 
 few days before the expected opening of Parliament. At the 
 appointed time they came together, and shortly after it was 
 announced that a fresh prorogation of Parliament would take 
 place, from October to the ensuing 5th of November. 
 " This disappointment alarmed the conspirators ; it was 
 possible that their project had been discovered ; and, tc 
 ascertain the fact, Winter * was employed to attend in the 
 Parliament House, and to watch the countenances and 
 actions of the Commissioners during the ceremony of 
 prorogation. He observed that they betrayed no sign of 
 suspicion or uneasiness ; that they walked and conversed 
 in apparent security on the very surface of the volcano pre- 
 pared for their destruction. Hence it was inferred that they 
 must be still ignorant of its existence." f These repeated 
 delays, however, contributed greatly to the frustration of the 
 plot Catesby, the prime mover of the undertaking, and the 
 only rich man amongst the conspirators, began to perceive 
 the necessity of engaging fresh associates who would be able 
 to furnish pecuniary aid, or otherwise yield important assist- 
 
 * Thomas Winter was a retainer of Lord Mounteagle, who was one of the 
 Commissioners, and thus the former obtained admission to witness the proro- 
 gation without any difficulty. See Jardine's " Criminal Trials," (Library of 
 Entertaining Knowledge,) vol. ii. p. 38 ; which contains the best account of the 
 Gunpowder Plot ever published. 
 
 f Lingard's " Hist, of England," 4to. vol. vi.p. 43. 
 
374* WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 ance. With these views he prevailed on Ambrose Rookwood, 
 of Coldham Hall, in Suffolk, Sir Everard Digby, of Drystoke, 
 in Rutlandshire, and Francis Tresham, of Rushton, in 
 Northamptonshire, three Catholic gentlemen of considerable 
 property, to join him. In addition to the funds promised 
 by those persons, Percy, who was steward to the Duke of 
 Northumberland, engaged to give up about 4,000/., (of 
 rents,) which were in his hands belonging to that nobleman. 
 Catesby had another task to perform previously to the 
 execution of his project, in which he found greater difficulties 
 than in securing pecuniary supplies. He was called upon 
 to suggest proper means for giving warning to such Catholic 
 Peers, or others, who might be expected to attend in Par- 
 liament, and whom it would be desirable to save from 
 destruction. Each of the conspirators perhaps had some 
 friend or relative for whose safety he was anxious to provide. 
 Catesby himself, reckless of the waste of human life, would 
 willingly have sacrificed all who stood in his way to the 
 success of his favourite scheme of vengeance and retribution; 
 but he was obliged to listen to the remonstrances of his 
 comrades, who, not satisfied with his vague assurances that 
 he would contrive means to ensure the safety of the Catholic 
 Lords, determined each one to adopt his own method 
 of giving effectual warning to those for whom he felt parti- 
 cularly interested. Hence originated the famous Monitory 
 letter to Lord Mouiiteagle, which led to the discovery and 
 frustration of the plot. 
 
 About ten days before the time appointed for the meeting 
 of Parliament, Lord Mounteagle (the son of Lord Morley), 
 a Catholic Peer, received a letter in an unknown and some- 
 what obscure hand, which in ambiguous yet forcible terms ad- 
 monished him to absent himself from Parliament (( on account 
 of a great, yet hidden, danger to which he would otherwise 
 
KING JAMES I. GUNPOWDER-TREASON PLOT. 1604-5. 
 
 be exposed." " Think not slightly of this advertisement/' 
 said the writer, " but retire yourself into your country, where 
 you may expect the event in safety ; for though there be 
 no appearance of any stir, yet I say they shall receive a 
 terrible blow this Parliament, yet they shall not see who hurts 
 them." * This letter came to hand while Lord Mounteagle 
 was sitting at supper, and next morning he laid the myste- 
 rious paper before the Secretary of State (Cecil, Earl of Salis- 
 bury), who, having previously received obscure intimations of 
 a Catholic plot, thought proper to communicate the circum- 
 stances to the Privy Council. No public measures, how- 
 ever, were adopted for further investigation until the King 
 returned to London from Royston, where he had been taking 
 the diversion of hunting. 
 
 James arrived in London on the 31st of October, and 
 according to a once accredited report, he immediately divined 
 the nature of the plot from the passage in the warning letter, 
 which threatened the Parliament with destruction from the 
 blow of an invisible enemy; but it is more probable that 
 the fact was suggested to him by Lord Salisbury. It was 
 determined forthwith, that ec a very secret and exact search 
 should be made in the Parliament House, and all other 
 rooms and lodgings near adjoining." Yet to prevent any 
 needless alarm, as well as to avoid " giving suspicion unto 
 the workers of this mischievous mystery/' it was thought 
 advisable to postpone the investigation of the premises until 
 the eve of the day on which the Parliament was to meet ; 
 and that it should then be made by the Lord Chamberlain 
 (the Earl of Suffolk), whose duty it was to ascertain that the 
 
 * See " Archseologia," vol. xii. p. 200, for an engraved fac-simile of the above 
 letter, which is now preserved in the Parliament Office, together with numerous 
 other important documents relating to the discovery of the plot, and trials of 
 the offenders. There is scarcely a doubt of the letter having.been concerted by 
 Tresham, but by whom written is unknown. Tresham died in the Tower. 
 
376 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 requisite preparations had been made for the opening of the 
 session. Towards evening on Monday, the 4th of Novem- 
 ber, the Chamberlain visited the Parliament House, accom- 
 panied by Lord Mounteagle, at his own request. They first 
 went into the Parliament Chamber, and after remaining there 
 some time,, they proceeded to examine the vaults and cellars 
 beneath, for the alleged purpose of recovering some old hang- 
 ings that were said to be missing. Entering the cellar under 
 the Peers' Chamber, they remarked the great store of fag- 
 gots, billets, and coals, there collected together; and on 
 inquiring of Wynnyard, the keeper of the wardrobe, who 
 was in attendance, to what use he had put those lower rooms, 
 he informed them that the cellar had been let to Thomas 
 Percy, and that the fuel which they saw there was probably 
 for that gentleman's winter consumption. Fawkes was in 
 the cellar, and his appearance naturally attracted the atten- 
 tion of the Earl, who asked who he was, and was told, in 
 reply, that he was " a servant of Percy's, and keeper of that 
 place for him/' The party then retired, without any further 
 search, to report what had been observed to the King. 
 
 The conduct of the conspirators at this juncture strik- 
 ingly exemplified the truth of the adage, " Quos Deus vult 
 perdere prius dementat." Fawkes, " though he saw and 
 heard all that passed, was so fixed on his ruthless purpose 
 that he resolved to remain to the last moment ; and having 
 acquainted Percy with the circumstance of the visit to the 
 cellar, he returned to his post, with a determination to fire 
 the mine on the first appearance of danger, and perish in the 
 company of his enemies.'* 
 
 When the Lord Chamberlain had made his report to the 
 Council, stating that the store of coals and wood which they 
 had seen was beyond all proportion to the wants of a person 
 who resided so little in the house as Percy did, and that the 
 
KING JAMES I. GUNPOWDER-TREASON PLOT. 1604-5. 
 
 man in the cellar looked like " a very tall and desperate 
 fellow/' it was determined by the King, with the concur- 
 rence of several of the Privy Council, that the cellar should 
 that night be more closely and carefully examined. For that 
 purpose, they employed Sir Thomas Knevet, a magistrate of 
 Westminster (a gentleman of the Privy Chamber), who was 
 authorised to make a complete search of all the houses and 
 cellars in the vicinity, under colour of looking for " certaine 
 robes and other furniture of the Kinges, lately stolen out of 
 the wardrobe." 
 
 Shortly before midnight,* or according to another account, 
 about two in the morniiig,t of the 5th of November, the day 
 for opening the session of Parliament, the magistrate, ac- 
 companied by a sufficient number of assistants, repaired 
 secretly and suddenly to the house. As they reached the 
 entrance Fawkes was stepping out from the door, having, as 
 he afterwards admitted, just completed his preparations for 
 firing the train ; he was seized at once, dressed and booted 
 as for a journey ; and being searched, three matches were 
 found in his pockets, with a tinder-box, a piece of touch- 
 wood, and a watch which Percy had bought the day before, 
 " to try conclusions for the long or short burning of the 
 touchwood, which he had prepared to give fier to the trayne 
 of powder/' In a corner, behind the door, was a dark Ian- 
 thorn containing a light. Meanwhile, search was made by 
 removing the billets and coals, under which were discovered 
 two hogsheads and thirty-two barrels of gunpowder. All 
 this afforded ample evidence of the existence of a most 
 nefarious and sanguinary plot against the Government, and 
 of the privity and consequent guilt of the prisoner, Fawkes. 
 It is no wonder, therefore, that on being interrogated, he 
 
 * Jardine's " Criminal Trials," vol. ii. p. 76. 
 t Lingard's " Hist." vol. vi. p. 53. 
 
378 
 
 WESTMINSERR PALACE. 
 
 avowed his purpose to " have destroyed the King and Lords," 
 if he had not been thus detected and prevented ; but when 
 he added that, if a he had been within the cellar when they 
 met with him, he would instantly have fired the train/' and 
 thus involved himself with his captors in the common ruin, it 
 shews that he was actuated by a species of daring fanaticism 
 closely bordering on insanity. 
 
 By four o'clock in the morning some of the Council 
 assembled in the King's bed-chamber, where Fawkes, being 
 brought before them, displayed the most undaunted firmness, 
 freely admitting his own share in the dark project, but re- 
 fusing to give any clue to the discovery of his associates. 
 He declared, that he only repented the deed was not done, 
 and said that " God would have concealed it, but the devil 
 was the discoverer." Repeated examinations, to which he 
 was subjected in the course of the day, failed to extract from 
 him the names of his accomplices. He was then committed 
 to the Tower ; and there can be no doubt but he was exposed 
 to the rack, which wrung from him a full confession of the 
 conspiracy. His testimony, however, could only confirm 
 the guilt of his chief confederates, who, as soon as they 
 heard of his apprehension, fled from London into Warwick- 
 shire, where they appeared openly in arms, and excited the 
 people to rebellion. They were joined by Sir Everard Dig- 
 by, and a few other persons only with whom they had pre- 
 viously consulted on measures for an insurrection. It was a 
 part of their scheme, if the plot had succeeded, to have seized 
 the young Princess Elizabeth (afterwards titular Queen of 
 Bohemia), who was residing at the seat of Lord Harington, 
 near Coventry, and to have established a government in her 
 name. But they were now in no condition to prosecute their 
 designs, and were obliged to consult their own safety. They 
 mustered no more than fourscore, including servants ; and 
 
KING JAMES I. GUNPOWDER-TREASON PLOT. 1604-5. 379 
 
 after hastily traversing Warwickshire and Worcestershire, 
 followed by the Sheriffs of those counties, they resolved to 
 make a stand at Holbeach, on the borders of Staffordshire, 
 the residence of Stephen Littleton) one of their associates. 
 
 On the fourth morning after the discovery of the plot, 
 while they were making preparations to resist the assault of 
 the civil power, the accidental explosion of some damp 
 powder which had been carelessly set before the fire to dry, 
 disconcerted their measures. Catesby, and some of his prin- 
 cipal confederates, were severely burnt, and in the confusion 
 that ensued the majority of their followers seized the oppor- 
 tunity to effect their escape. Within an hour after, the house 
 was surrounded, and Sir Richard Walsh summoned them to 
 surrender ; but they disdained to comply, determined to seek 
 death at the hands of their pursuers rather than fall by the 
 public executioner. With this view Catesby, Percy, and 
 the two Wrights, armed with their swords only, exposed 
 themselves in the court, where Catesby was killed on the spot, 
 and the others mortally wounded, by the fire of their oppo- 
 nents. Thomas Winter, John Grant, and Rookwood, who 
 were also wounded, were then taken prisoners, with some 
 other persons of meaner rank. Sir Everard Digby, Robert 
 Winter, and Stephen Littleton, who had quitted the party 
 previously, as well as Robert Keyes, who had not joined 
 the rest at Holbeach, were subsequently captured. Catesby 
 and Percy, who might be looked upon as the chiefs of the 
 conspiracy, having fallen in the assault, their heads were 
 cut off, and set upon the ends of the Parliament House. 
 Their associates, who had been taken alive, were conveyed 
 to London, and committed to the Tower. 
 
 On the 2 7th of January, 1606, Sir Everard Digby, Thomas 
 Winter, Robert Winter, Guido Fawkes, John Grant, Am- 
 brose Rookwood, Robert Keyes, and Thomas Bates, were 
 
380 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 conveyed in a boat upon the Thames from the Tower to 
 Westminster Hall, to be tried before a special Commission. 
 All of them, except Sir Everard Digby, were then indicted for 
 high treason, and pleaded. Not Guilty. This plea was not 
 designed by the culprits as an assertion of their innocence ; 
 but they were opposed to some of the allegations contained 
 in the indictment, and on that score objected to it. The evi- 
 dence against them was therefore proceeded with, and being 
 found conclusive, the jury, of course, returned a verdict of 
 Guilty. Sir Everard Digby was then put on his trial, before 
 the same Commissioners, but on a separate indictment, to 
 which he pleaded Guilty ; contenting himself with making 
 a faint attempt to extenuate his crime in an address to his 
 judges. The Lord Chief Justice Popham, one of the Com- 
 missioners, pronounced the sentence of high treason on all 
 the prisoners, and the court broke up. 
 
 On the 30th of the same month Digby, R. Winter, Grant, 
 and Bates, underwent the punishment of traitors, accom- 
 panied with all its disgusting horrors, near the west end of 
 St. Paul's Cathedral; and, on the day following, Guido 
 Fawkes, Thomas Winter, Ambrose Rookwood, and Robert 
 Keyes, were in like manner drawen, hanged, and quartered in 
 the Old Palace Yard, at Westminster. Their mangled bodies 
 were afterwards exposed on the gates of the city, and their 
 heads were set on poles upon London Bridge. The fortitude 
 which they, in general, exhibited, and especially Fawkes, 
 was worthy of a better cause. Garnet, the Provincial of the 
 Jesuits, was tried in March, and being condemned for mis- 
 prision of treason, he was executed in St. PauFs church- 
 yard on the 3rd of May. Several others suffered the due 
 punishment of their guilt about the same time, in different 
 parts of the country ; but Father Green way, another Jesuit, 
 who had been implicated, escaped from his confinement and 
 
KING JAMES I. MASQUE AT COURT. 1610. 
 
 reached the Continent in safety. A statute was afterwards 
 passed by the Parliament, ordering that the ANNIVERSARY 
 of the discovery should be kept in perpetual remembrance 
 by a distinct service in all the Churches of the Establishment. 
 
 On the 4th of June, 1610, King James created his eldest 
 son, Henry, Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, in full 
 Parliament, in " the Great White Chamber" of the Old 
 Palace at Westminster. On this occasion the King made 
 twenty-five Knights of the Bath, and the whole attendant 
 proceedings were conducted with great magnificence. A 
 " most rich and glorious masque of ladies" was exhibited at 
 Whitehall ; a splendid tournament was held in the Tilt-yard 
 attached to that Palace ; and " novell triumphs and pas- 
 times, with a sea-fight and radient fire-works," were dis- 
 played upon the river Thames, " over against the court." * 
 
 In May, 1616, Carr, Earl of Somerset (the King's late 
 favourite), and his infamous Countess, were separately tried 
 in Westminster Hall, under a special commission directed 
 to the Lord Chancellor Ellesmere, for the murder (by poison) 
 of Sir Thomas Overbury. Though condemned to die, after 
 successive reprieves and several years' imprisonment, the 
 King eventually pardoned them. He refused, however, to 
 extend the like mercy to the brave Sir Walter Raleigh ; who, 
 to the everlasting dishonour of the " royal pedant/' was be- 
 headed in Old Palace Yard, on the 29th of October 1618, 
 for the presumed crime of high treason, of which he had been 
 declared guilty, at Winchester, in 1603, on the unsupported 
 testimony of the Lord Cobham. 
 
 * For the patent of Prince Henry's creation, see " Foedera," torn. vii. pars ii. 
 p. 168. Henry died on the 6th of November, 1612. His younger brother, 
 Charles, was not made Prince of Wales until four years afterwards, the patent 
 of his creation (tested by the King at Westminister) bearing date on the 4th of 
 November, 1616. Ibid. p. 216. 
 
382 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 In October 1617, the King, by his own Ordinance under 
 the Great Seal, appointed two " Reporters of the law," who, 
 in accordance with " auncient custom," were to attend the 
 Courts at Westminster, and compendiously, yet truly, re- 
 port " the judgments and resolutions which there shall 
 passe from time to time." The principal case was to be 
 distinguished from the by-cases, and the point upon which 
 any case was ruled, to be clearly stated.* 
 
 King James, dying at Theobalds on the 27th of March, 
 1625, was buried in Henry the Seventh's Chapel on the 
 7th of May. His successor, Charles the First, was crowned 
 in the Abbey Church, on the 2nd of February 1626, with 
 the accustomed ceremonies, by Archbishop Abbot; on 
 which occasion the King was clothed in white satin. The 
 
 * Vide " Foedera," torn. vii. pars iii. p. 19. In the same volume, pars iii. 
 p. 85, is a very curious Patent (tested by the King, at Westminster, July 17th, 
 1618), from which it maybe reasonably inferred that attempts were then making 
 to navigate by Steam, as well as to apply its agency to other useful purposes. 
 We know that the Marquess of Worcester, in the following reign, was engaged 
 in experiments on that element ; and although in the record before us there is 
 no direct allusion to its employment, yet, from the effects stated to be produced, 
 we can hardly imagine that any other power could have successfully accom- 
 plished the objects mentioned in the Patent. By that instrument David Ram- 
 sey, one of the Pages of the Bedchamber, and Thomas Wildgosse, gent, were 
 licensed for thirty-one years, to have the sole making and using of certain 
 engines, -devices, instruments, and inventions, by them " devised, found out, 
 and brought to perfection," for ploughing grounds without horse or oxen, and 
 to enrich and make them more fertile ; to raise water for well- watering cities, 
 towns, &c. at less charge than before ; and to make boats for the carriage of 
 burthens and passengers, run upon the water as swift in calms, and more safe 
 in storms, than boats full sailed in great winds ; " such engines, instruments, 
 and devices not having heretofore been known," Sec. Could David Ramsey, 
 the patentee, be any relation to his namesake, the " watchmaker and horologer 
 to James I." whom Sir Walter Scott has introduced in that pleasant novel, 
 " The Fortunes of Nigel ? " 
 
KING CHARLES I. CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR 1640. 383 
 
 festivals in the Great Hall were conducted in the usual 
 manner.* 
 
 The dissensions between the Monarch and the Parliament, 
 which had commenced in the late reign, in consequence of 
 the arbitrary attempts made to subject the laws and liberties 
 of the nation to the illimitable extension of the prerogatives 
 of the crown, became in the time of King Charles the me- 
 lancholy cause of a direful Civil war 5 and for a long series 
 of years, the e( two Houses,' but especially the Commons, 
 were occupied in the most important transactions in which 
 it was possible for man to be engaged. For the details, 
 however, of those proceedings, we must necessarily refer the 
 reader to the Parliamentary Journals, and to the historians of 
 the age, as our limits will not admit of any thing more than 
 a general notice. 
 
 The spirited opposition to the despotic measures of Go- 
 vernment, shewn by the first three Parliaments held at 
 Westminster in the new reign, had occasioned them all to 
 be dissolved, in anger, by the King; who, in April 1629, 
 issued a Proclamation, declaring, u that he should call it 
 presumption in any to prescribe to him the time for calling 
 a Parliament.'^ After governing the state, however, full 
 eleven years by his own authority (during which period 
 almost every kind of arbitrary exaction had been inflicted on 
 the people), the exigencies of the public service compelled 
 him to have recourse to the measure he so greatly depre- 
 cated. Another Parliament was therefore assembled on the 
 
 * A brief account of the solemnities of this Coronation is given in Rush- 
 worth's " Historical Collections," vol. i. pp. 199 201. 
 
 f Lord Clarendon states, that this announcement was " commonly understood 
 to inhibit all men to speak of another Parliament ;" and Weldon observes, 
 that " it was said the king made a vow never to call any more." Vide " Hist. 
 Rebellion," vol. i. p. 104, 8vo.; and " Court of King Charles," p. 194. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 13th of April, 1640; but the Commons requiring, as a con- 
 dition to the granting supplies, that the national grievances 
 should be first redressed, the King again determined on a 
 dissolution, which took place on the 5th of May. The 
 emergencies of the times proving too powerful for all the 
 sagacity that Charles and his councillors could exercise, 
 writs were issued for a new Parliament, which accordingly 
 met at Westminster, on the 3d of November in the same year. 
 To that assembly, since known by the appellation of the 
 Long Parliament, the nation is indebted for the determined 
 stand which was then made against the encroachments of 
 the crown, and which constitutes such a memorable epoch in 
 the British annals. , 
 
 Among its early proceedings was the impeachment of 
 Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Stafford, one of the chief mi- 
 nisters of the crown, for high treason. Clarendon says, 
 " On Monday, the twenty-second of March (1640-1), he 
 was brought to the bar of Westminster Hall, the Lords 
 sitting in the middle of the Hall in their robes ; and the 
 Commoners, and some strangers of quality, with the Scot- 
 tish Commissioners, and the Committee of Ireland, on 
 either side ; there being a close box made at one end, at a 
 very convenient distance for hearing, in which the King and 
 Queen sate untaken notice of; his Majesty, out of kind- 
 ness and curiosity, desiring to hear all that could be al- 
 leged." * The trial lasted until the 17th of April, when the 
 Commons, being apprehensive that the Earl would escape 
 through the influence of the King with the Peers, passed a 
 Bill of attainder against Stafford, and sent it up to the 
 Lords. This produced a conference between the two 
 Houses, at which the King was present, and (( he did pas- 
 
 * " Hist. Rebellion," vol. i. p. 337 ; edit. 1807- 
 
KING CHARLES I. CONTENTIONS WITH PARLIAMENT. 1642. 385 
 
 sionately desire of them/' says Whitelocke, " not to proceed 
 severely against the Earl." * This interference proved use- 
 less; the bill was passed by the Lords, and on the 12th of 
 May, the ill-fated Strafford was beheaded on Tower HiU/'f 
 
 The attempts to save the Earl had been accompanied 
 with rumours of an intended dissolution of Parliament ; to 
 prevent this, a bill was brought into the Commons, and 
 quickly hurried through both Houses, by which the King 
 was prevented dissolving them without their own consent; 
 and the royal assent was given to the bill by the same Com- 
 mission that signed the attainder against Strafford. The 
 Parliament immediately proceeded to assume the entire 
 direction of the state. The obnoxious Star-Chamber and 
 High-Commission Courts were abolished; the patents for 
 monopolies were abrogated ; the bill for triennial Parliaments 
 was passed ; and divers other statutes were made for secur- 
 ing the rights and liberties of the people. New jealousies, 
 however, soon arose, through the conduct of the ministers, 
 and other causes ; and the prevailing animosities were much 
 aggravated by an intemperate 'Protestation ' which was pre- 
 sented by twelve Bishops to the Lords, and which the 
 Commons described as containing " matters of dangerous 
 consequence, extending to the deep intrenching upon the 
 fundamental privileges and being of Parliament/' 
 
 During those contentions, the King, on the 4th of January, 
 1642, made his ill-advised and rash attempt to seize the 
 Lord Kimbolton, with five other members of the Commons' 
 House, viz. Sir Arthur Haselrigge, Pym, Hampden, Holies, 
 and Stroud ; whom, by his Attorney- General, Sir Edward 
 Herbert, he had accused, on the preceding day, of high 
 treason. The King went to the House in person, " guarded," 
 
 * " Memorials," p. 43. 
 
 t After the Restoration the attainder against the Earl was reversed. 
 
 2 c 
 
386 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 says Whitelocke, " with his pensioners, and followed by 
 about two hundred courtiers, and soldiers of fortune, most 
 of them armed with swords and pistols."* Leaving his 
 guard at the door, he entered the House, and seating himself 
 in the Speaker's chair, he looked around, but not seeing any 
 of the accused Members, he asked the Speaker " whether he 
 saw any of them, and where they were?" The Speaker 
 (Lenthall), with admirable presence of mind, dropping on 
 his knee, answered, " May it please your Majesty, I have 
 neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak in this place, but as 
 the House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am 
 here/'t The King, being thus disappointed, quitted the 
 House amidst the cry of "Privilege! Privilege!" 
 
 Affairs were now fast advancing to a crisis ; and the King 
 " on the evening of a stormy day" (August the 22d), set up 
 his standard at Nottingham ; and there, after it was ce on the 
 same night, blown down by a very strong and unruly wind," 
 it was again raised the unhallowed ensign of a direful civil 
 war. The events which followed belong to general history : 
 it must suffice here to say, that the regal power was over- 
 thrown ; that Charles was made a prisoner ; and that all the 
 chief functions of the state were usurped by the same army 
 which had achieved the triumph of the popular cause. 
 
 It having been determined, by the General Council of the 
 army, to bring the King to trial, the Commons, on the 6th 
 of January, 1649, passed an Ordinance for that purpose, a 
 special provision being inserted, ee in case the King should 
 refuse to plead to the charge against him." On the 8th, 
 the High Court of Justice assembled in the Painted Chamber ; 
 and all the preliminary arrangements having been completed^ 
 the Court proceeded, on the 20th, to Westminster Hall ? 
 
 * Whitelocke's " Memorials," p. 50. f Idem. 
 
KING CHARLES I. HIS DECAPITATION AT WHITEHALL 1649. 387 
 
 which had been properly fitted up for the trial. The King, 
 who had been removed from Windsor Castle to St. James's, 
 and thence to Sir Robert Cotton's house (within the pre- 
 cincts of the old Palace, and adjacent to the House of Lords), 
 was now placed at the bar ; but on his refusing to acknowledge 
 the legal jurisdiction of the Court during that and the two 
 following days, the Court adjourned to the Painted Chamber, 
 and proceeded to hear witnesses against him on the charge 
 of " traitorously levying war against the People." On the 
 27th the Court resumed its sittings in the Great Hall, and 
 the King being again brought up, he was sentenced to be 
 put to death by the severing of his head from his body, as " a 
 tyrant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy."* Three days 
 after (on January the 30th), this sentence was fully executed 
 on a scaffold erected in the open space fronting the Banquet- 
 ting-house at Whitehall ; the King submitting to his fate 
 with exemplary fortitude, f 
 
 Measures were now taken to settle the kingdom in a 
 Commonwealth ; the House of Peers ~was declared dangerous 
 and useless, the Kingly office was abolished, and a Council 
 of State, consisting of thirty-eight persons, was appointed to 
 administer the laws. Still, however, the Long Parliament 
 continued its sittings, until, at length, on the 20th of April, 
 1653, the Captain-General of the Commonwealth, Oliver 
 Cromwell, by one of those daring acts which nothing but an 
 imperious necessity can justify, dissolved it by military 
 
 * Howell's " State Trials," vol. i. p. 1037. 
 
 t Much discussion had arisen, at various times, respecting the actual place 
 of interment of this unfortunate sovereign ; but eventually all doubts were 
 removed, by the discovery of his remains in the vault of King Henry the 
 Eighth, in St. George's Chapel, at Windsor, under the middle of the choir. See 
 " Essays and Orations," &c. by Sir Henry Halford ; in his annexed " Account 
 of the opening the Coffin of King Charles the First," April 13th, 1813. 
 
 2 c 2 
 
388 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 force.* In the December following, Cromwell was sworn 
 into the office of Lord Protector, in the Chancery Court, at 
 Westminster; and (having been foiled in his subsequent 
 endeavours to obtain the crown,,) he was solemnly inaugu- 
 rated under the above title, in Westminster Hall, on the 
 26th of June, 1657, with a magnificence nearly equal to a 
 coronation.f After a disturbed government of about a year 
 and three quarters, Cromwell died at Whitehall, on the 3rd 
 of September, 1658 ; and was interred, with more than regal 
 pomp, in Henry the Seventh's Chapel, at Westminster. J 
 
 * For a minute detail of this extraordinary act, see " Beauties of England," 
 vol. vii. " Huntingdonshire," pp. 423* 427*. There is a fine print of Oliver 
 Cromwell dissolving the Long Parliament, engraved by Hall, from a painting 
 by the late Benjamin West. 
 
 f* On this occasion, upon an elevated platform, at the south end of the Hall, 
 was placed for Cromwell, " under a prince-like canopy of state," the ancient 
 Coronation chair, which had been brought for the purpose, from Westminster 
 Abbey. Before it was a table " covered with pink -coloured velvet of Genoa, 
 fringed with fringe of gold," and on it were the Bible, sword, and sceptre of 
 the Commonwealth, with pens, ink, &c. At some distance, on each side, were 
 seats built scaffold-wise, like a theatrum," for the Members of Parliament ; 
 whose Speaker, Sir Thomas Widdrington, had a chair beside the table; " the 
 Aldermen of London, and the like," had places below. The procession into 
 the Hall commenced from the " Council-room adjoining to the Lords' House ;" 
 and his Highness, the Protector, was immediately preceded by the Lord Mayor 
 (Tichborn,) of London, bearing the city sword. The ceremonies of the Instal- 
 lation, together with the oath taken by Cromwell, are given in " Prestwich's 
 Respublica," pp. 323, 4to, 1787. 
 
 1 The funeral obsequies of the Protector were not solemnized until the 23rd 
 of November, but his remains had been privately interred on the previous 26th 
 of September. His effigy, made of wood and covered with wax to resemble 
 life, was for several weeks exposed to public view, lying on a bed of state, in 
 Somerset House. Upwards of 60,000/. was expended in the solemnities of the 
 funeral; a particular account of which is inserted in " Prestwich's Respublica," 
 pp. 173 203. Although deposited in the mausoleum of royalty, Cromwell's 
 ashes were not permitted to mingle with the dust of sovereigns ; for after the 
 Restoration, to the everlasting disgrace of all concerned, his mouldering corse 
 
KING CHARLES II. PROCLAIMED AT WESTMINSTER. 1660. 389 
 
 On the abdication of Richard Cromwell (who had suc- 
 ceeded his father in the Protectorate)., a deep sense of the 
 distractions which had so long and grievously afflicted the 
 nation, excited a strong desire among many people for the 
 restoration of monarchy ; but a very large class was still o )- 
 posed to it, unless accompanied by those concessions which 
 would ensure the rights of the subject from future violation. 
 At length, by the sinister intrigues of General Monck, and 
 without obtaining those efficient guarantees for good govern- 
 ment which the circumstances required, Prince Charles, the 
 eldest son of the decapitated sovereign, was recalled from 
 his forced expatriation; and, on the 8th of May, 1660, he 
 was solemnly proclaimed King, at " Westminster Hall gate" 
 by the title of Charles the Second ; " the Lords and Com- 
 mons standing bare by the Heralds, whilst the proclamation 
 was made." The new King, making his public entry into 
 London on the 29th of May, was received with extraordinary 
 triumph ; and on St. George's day (April the 23rd), in the 
 following year, he was crowned at Westminster with great 
 
 was taken up, and being ignominiously dragged to Tyburn, was there exposed 
 upon the gallows ; together with the bodies of Ireton and Bradshaw, whose 
 graves had also been sacrilegiously violated. The dire malignancy of those who 
 could thus descend to glut their resentment upon the dead, was coloured by a 
 resolution of both Houses of Parliament, passed on the 8th of December, 1660 ; 
 which ordered, " That the carcases of Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, John 
 Bradshaw, and Thomas Pride, whether buried in Westminster Abbey or else- 
 where, be, with all expedition, taken up, and drawn upon a hurdle to Tyburn, and 
 there hanged up in their coffins for some time ; and after that buried under the 
 said gallows." When the carcases of the Protector and his two friends had hung 
 an entire day, they were taken down, and the heads having been cut off, were 
 set upon poles on the south end of Westminster Hall, where that of Crom- 
 well remained full twenty years ; the trunks were thrown into a hole dug be- 
 neath the gallows. John Lewis, the mason who opened the vaults in the Abbey 
 Church, and disinterred the bodies, received " fiveteen shillings" for his noxious 
 labour. Pride's remains do not appear' to have been found. 
 
390 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 magnificence ; the consequent festivities being, as customary, 
 celebrated in the Great Hall. The eighth of May 1661, be- 
 came noted from the meeting of Charles's "Pensionary Par- 
 liament" which, by its protracted duration (nearly eighteen 
 years), was far more deserving of the appellation of the Long 
 Parliament than that of the Commonwealth had been. 
 Under an order of this Assembly, the " Solemn League and 
 Covenant" which had been devised to strengthen the popular 
 cause in 1643, was burnt by the common hangman, in Cheap- 
 side, on the 22d of May ; and six days afterwards, the acts 
 for the trial of King Charles the First, the abolishing of the 
 House of Peers, the establishing a Commonwealth, the re- 
 nunciation of the Stuarts, and the security of the Protector's 
 person, were similarly destroyed in the middle of Westmins- 
 ter Hall, whilst the Courts were there sitting. This Par- 
 liament (by which many enactments had been made, essen- 
 tially detrimental to popular freedom,) was dissolved by 
 proclamation on the 25th of January, 1679, in consequence 
 of its increasing opposition to the measures pursued by the 
 King and his brother, the Duke of York, for re-introducing 
 popery. 
 
 Charles the Second died at Whitehall, on the 6th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1685, having previously received the sacrament of the 
 mass and extreme unction. After embalmment, his body was 
 privately conveyed, by water, to the " Prince's Lodgings," in 
 the Old Palace, at Westminster, where it remained until the 
 14th, when it was carried through the House of Lords into 
 the Painted Chamber ; and thence, on the same night, into 
 Henry the Seventh's Chapel, the place of its final interment. 
 
 James the Second, with Mary D'Este (his second consort), 
 was crowned by Archbishop Sancroft, on St. George's 
 day, 1685. Sandford states, that the ceremonies were per- 
 formed with great solemnity j and that " a most sumptuous 
 and magnificent dinner was provided for their Majesties and 
 
KING JAMES II. TRIAL OF THE SEVEN BISHOPS. 1688. 391 
 
 " the royal cavalcade/' in Westminster Hall, against their 
 return from the Abbey Church.* 
 
 During the arbitrary attempts made by this monarch to 
 reduce the country to an abject state of religious and political 
 bondage,, Westminster Hall became the scene of the memor- 
 able trial of the Seven Bishops, viz. Bancroft, Archbishop of 
 Canterbury ; Lloyd, Bishop of St. Asaph ; Turner, Bishop 
 of Ely; Lake, Bishop of Chichester; Kenn, Bishop of 
 Bath and Wells ; White, Bishop of Peterborough ; and Tre- 
 lawny, Bishop of Bristol ; who were indicted for a seditious 
 libel, in consequence of having stated the cause, in a Peti- 
 tion to the King, of their refusal to promulgate, in their 
 respective dioceses, the fe Declaration for liberty of Con- 
 science," which had been issued by his command. The trial 
 took place on the 29th of June, 1688 : the Judges were not 
 unanimous in their charge to the Jury ; but the latter, after 
 deliberating the whole night, pronounced the prelates, " Not 
 Guilty ! " The acclamations of the crowd at this decision 
 were loud and incessant ; and the whole metropolis rever- 
 berated the deafening shouts of applause which were raised 
 by the multitude within and without the Hall. 
 
 The disaffection which James's conduct had before ex- 
 cited was much increased by this prosecution, and within a few 
 months afterwards the union against him became so strong, 
 and the national cause, (aided by William, Prince of Orange, 
 who, in November, 1677> had espoused the Princess Mary, 
 
 * " Genealogical History," p. 658, fol. 1707. A splendid work, describing 
 all the ceremonies of the above Coronation, " illustrated with sculptures," was 
 also published by the same author, by command of King James, who had himself 
 presided at the Council Board when the prior arrangements were made. The 
 form and order then determined on, became the general precedent for succeed- 
 ing Coronations. Sandford's volume is intituled, " The History of the Coro- 
 nation of King James II. and Queen Mary," fol. 1687. Some of the plates 
 are very curious. 
 
392 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 the King's eldest daughter,) so triumphant, that the Glorious 
 Revolution of 1688 was effected; and towards the end of 
 December, in that year, the fear-struck sovereign abandoned 
 his kingdom, never to return. 
 
 The consequent proceedings were of the utmost import- 
 ance in setting the high and dignified example of a British 
 legislature expelling a race of monarchs from the succession, 
 for their daring infringements on the laws and liberties of 
 the country. In the Convention Parliament, which assembled 
 at Westminster on the 22nd of January, 1689, it was first 
 
 resolved, that the abdication of James had rendered the 
 
 .1 * 
 
 throne vacant ; and, eventually, that the Prince and Princess 
 of Orange should be declared te King and Queen" of the 
 British dominions. Accordingly, on the 13th of February, 
 after the Lords and Commons had presented to them a 
 "Declaration," in the Banquetting House, at Whitehall, 
 they were proclaimed with the accustomed ceremonies ; and, 
 on the 1 1th of April, solemnly crowned in the Abbey Church 
 at Westminster, by the Bishop of London (Henry Comp- 
 ton), under the titles of William the Third and Mary the 
 Second, " with all the circumstances of royalty ; each 
 part of that glorious ceremony being performed with extra- 
 ordinary grandeur and magnificence." * 
 
 In pursuance of the " Act of Settlement," the Princess 
 Anne (second daughter to King James, and wife to Prince 
 George of Denmark), succeeded to the throne on the decease 
 of King William, in March, 1 702 ; and she was crowned, in 
 
 * Sandford's " Genealogical History," p. 687, edit. 1707. Queen Mary 
 died of the small-pox on the 28th of February, 1695 ; and was buried in Henry 
 the Seventh's Chapel, on the 5th of March, in the -vault where Charles the 
 Second had been deposited. King William survived until the 8th of March, 
 1702 ; and on the 12th of April ensuing, he was interred in the same vault with 
 his late Queen. There, also, the remains of Queen Anne were subsequently 
 deposited. 
 
QUEEN ANNE. UNION WITH SCOTLAND. 1/06. 3Q3 
 
 the Abbey Church, by Archbishop Tenison, on St. 
 George's day, in that year. Most of the processional pre- 
 parations (as in the three prior coronations) were made in 
 the Old Palace ; and the Painted Chamber, House of Peers, 
 Court of Requests, Court of Wards, and Great Hall, are all 
 mentioned by name in the account of the proceedings given 
 in the "Genealogical History/' At the dinner, Prince 
 George, the Queen's consort, sat at her right hand, but 
 under the same canopy. The champion on that occasion 
 was Charles Dymocke, Esq. 
 
 Among the most memorable proceedings of Parliament in 
 this reign, was the passing of the " Act of Union with Scot- 
 land ; " the terms of which had been finally settled in the year 
 1706, by the English and Scotch Commissioners (thirty-two 
 of each nation), in the Council Chamber at the Cockpit, 
 Whitehall. By that measure, Scotland was authorised to 
 return sixteen representative Peers to the House of Lords, 
 and forty-five members to the House of Commons ; thus in- 
 creasing the total number of the latter to 513, but its own 
 Parliament was abolished for ever. In consequence of this 
 augmentation, the interior of the Lower House was newly 
 fitted up, under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren, the 
 Queen's Surveyor-General. * 
 
 * The following notice of the internal appearance of the House of Commons, 
 almost immediately subsequent to the alterations made by Sir Christopher, 
 occurs in Hatton's "New View of London," published in 1708. "The 
 Commons' House is a little to the northward from the Lords', somewhat nearer 
 the Hall ; a commodious building, accommodated with several ranks of seats, 
 covered with green [cloth, baize ?] and matted under foot, for 513 gentlemen, 
 of which number this honourable, learned, and judicious assembly consists, 
 the like in all these respects perhaps no where to be paralleled. On three sides 
 of this House are beautiful wainscot galleries, sustained by canteleevers, enrich- 
 ed with fruit and other carved curiosities." 
 
39* 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 In the year 1710, the metropolis was greatly convulsed 
 through the impeachment of Dr. Sacheverel for preaching 
 two Sermons which the House of Commons voted to be 
 "malicious, scandalous, and seditious libels/' He was brought 
 to trial before the Peers in Westminster Hall on the 27th of 
 February; and on the 23rd of March, after much altercation, 
 was declared guilty by a majority of seventeen voices : but 
 his sentence, being merely that e he should not preach for 
 three years/ was celebrated by the people as a victory. 
 
 On the demise of Queen Anne, (August the 1st 17 14,) 
 George Lewis, Electoral Prince of Brunswick-Lunenburgh, 
 succeeded to the British Throne (in pursuance of the ( Act 
 of Settlement ') and on the 20th of October following, he was 
 crowned with great magnificence at Westminster, by the 
 title of George the First : no fewer than seventeen Arch- 
 bishops and Bishops, and about one hundred and fifty Peers, 
 were present on this occasion. In his reign, the ministry, 
 taking advantage of the unsettled state of the country conse- 
 quent on the Scottish Rebellion of 1715, caused one of the 
 strongest bulwarks of popular freedom which the wisdom of 
 the nation had ever devised, to be destroyed, by abrogating 
 the Act for Triennial Parliaments, and substituting that for 
 Septennial ones ; a measure which received the royal assent 
 on the 7th of May 1716. About three months before this, 
 the Earls of Derwentwater, Nithisdale, and Carnwath, with 
 the Lords Widdrington, Kenmure, and Nairn, (who were im- 
 peached in the same Parliament which thus violated the con- 
 stitution by passing the Septennial Act,) received sentence 
 of death in the Court that had been erected for their trial in 
 Westminster Hall; and soon afterwards (February the 24th) 
 the Earl of Derwentwater and Viscount Kenmure were be- 
 headed on Tower Hill. Another memorable trial was com- 
 menced in the same place in June I7l7j> in presence of the 
 
KING GEORGE II, HIS CORONATION SOLEMNIZED. 1727. 3Q5 
 
 King himself, viz. that of Robert,, Earl of Oxford; but a 
 dispute between the Lords and the Commons, on the very 
 first day, respecting the manner of procedure, led to the 
 liberation of the Earl, the Commons refusing to act under 
 the dictation of the Peers. 
 
 The coronation of George the Second, together with 
 that of his royal consort Caroline, was solemnized in the 
 Abbey Church at Westminster on the llth of October 1727; 
 the principal officiating prelate was Archbishop Wake. The 
 accompanying ceremonies, as well as the festivities in the 
 Great Hall, were conducted on the same principles of reli- 
 gious formality, processional etiquette, and regal splendour 
 as those which had distinguished preceding coronations. 
 
 An intention of erecting a new building for " The Recep- 
 tion of Parliament/' (the old Houses " being in a very 
 ruinous condition,") was entertained by government in the 
 year 1739; and the architects at the Office of Works at 
 Whitehall, (including the celebrated Kent,) were directed by 
 the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury to prepare de- 
 signs and estimates for that purpose. These directions were 
 executed, and a very excellent series of designs was pre- 
 pared, which received the approbation of the Lords Com- 
 missioners and Mr. Speaker Onslow ; yet it does not appear 
 that any subsequent measures were taken to accomplish the 
 work : the estimated expense of the building amounted to 
 167,067* 
 
 * The whole of the designs are now in the possession of L. N. (Nottingham, 
 Esq. whose successful renovations at Rochester and Oxford, and at Armagh in 
 Ireland, have conferred such distinguished celebrity on his professional talents,, 
 and correct knowledge of our ancient architecture. He describes the arrange- 
 ment of the plans as " truly admirable ;" every convenience for such an august 
 establishment being provided. Old Palace Yard was intended to be greatly 
 enlarged ; the new buildings to present a grand fagade next the Thames, ajid 
 the splendid Chapel of St. Stephen to be retained. 
 
396 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 On July the 28th 1746, the Earls of Kilmarnock and Cro- 
 martie, and Lord Balmerino, were brought to trial in West- 
 minster Hall for high treason, in being engaged in the Scot- 
 tish Rebellion of the preceding year: on the third day 
 after, they were sentenced to die ; and Kilmarnock and Bal- 
 merino were in consequence beheaded on Tower Hill on the 
 18th of August, but the Earl of Cromartie was pardoned. 
 In March 1747? Simon Lord Lovat was also adjudged guilty in 
 Westminster Hall of the same crime, he having been impli- 
 cated with the former Lords ; he was decapitated on Tower 
 Hill on the 7th of the month following. Another trial of 
 great interest took place in the Great Hall in April 17^0, 
 namely, that of Lawrence Earl Ferrers ; who, after a trial 
 of three days, was convicted of the murder of Mr. Johnson, 
 his steward ; and he was hanged at Tyburn, pursuant to 
 his sentence, on the ensuing 5th of May. 
 
 George the Second died at Kensington on the 25th of 
 October 17^0; arid his body, having been brought into the 
 Prince's chamber in the Old Palace, was thence conveyed, in 
 procession, to the place of its final deposition in Henry the 
 Seventh's Chapel. His grandson and successor, George the 
 Third, was crowned in the Abbey Church on the 22d of 
 September 1761, together with his Queen, Charlotte of 
 Mecklenburg Strelitz, to whom he had been married on 
 the 8th instant. Both the nuptial ceremony, and that of the 
 coronation, were solemnized by Archbishop Seeker; and 
 great magnificence was displayed on the latter occasion, as 
 well in the Abbey Church as in the festive proceedings 
 within the Great Hall*. 
 
 * For full particulars of the Coronation arrangements and ceremonies, see 
 " Annual Register " for 1761, pp. 215-242. An amusing account of the same event 
 is given in Lord Orford's "Works," vol. v. p. 83. The internal appearance of the 
 House of Commons about the time of the accession of the new King, has been 
 
KIN'G GEORGE III. DEATH OF THE EARL OF CHATHAM 17/3. 397 
 
 An affecting event occurred in the House of Lords on the 
 7th of April 1778, when the Great Earl of Chatham (who 
 had come down to the House in a state of considerable de- 
 bility from ill health), addressed the Peers in an energetic 
 harangue against the measures in contemplation for granting 
 independence to America. The Duke of Richmond opposed 
 his arguments with some asperity in manner, though not in 
 language ; and the Earl, as if excited by indignation, attempt- 
 ing to rise to reply, fell back in a convulsive fit, and was 
 carried into an adjoining chamber. Here medical assistance 
 being obtained, he was so far recovered as to admit of 
 removal to his villa at Hayes, in Kent, where he died on the 
 llth of May following. On the 7th and 8th of June, his 
 remains lay in state in the Painted Chamber; and on the 
 next day they were interred with much solemnity in the 
 north aisle of the Abbey Church, where a most splendid 
 monument was afterwards erected for him at the expense 
 of his admiring country"*. 
 
 Associations for the reform of Parliament, and obtaining 
 
 thus described : " It is at present a spacious room, wainscotted up to the ceil- 
 ing, accommodated with galleries, supported by slender iron pillars, adorned with 
 Corinthian capitals and sconces. From the middle of the ceiling hangs a 
 handsome branch or lustre. At the upper end, the Speaker is placed upon a 
 raised seat, ornamented behind with Corinthian columns, and the King's arms 
 carved and placed on a pediment. Before him is a table, at which the clerk and 
 his assistants sit near him, on each hand, just below the chair ; and on each side, 
 as well below as in the galleries, the members are placed promiscuously. The 
 Speaker and clerks always wear gowns in the House ; but no other members 
 wear robes, except the four representatives of the City of London, who, the 
 first day of every new Parliament, are dressed in scarlet gowns, and sit all 
 together on the right hand of the chair next the Speaker." Vide Entick's 
 ' London and its Environs described," vol. ii. p. 166. 
 
 * A large and well-composed picture of the fall of the Earl in the House of 
 Lords (including portraits of many noblemen then present) was painted by Mr. 
 Copley, the father of the ex-chancellor Lord Lyndhurst. 
 
398 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 " a more equal representation of the people in the House of 
 Commons," and rendering it independent of the aristocracy, 
 began to be very general throughout the nation about the 
 years 1779 an( i 1780; but, unfortunately, the efforts of the 
 country were paralysed by the occurrence of the riots in 
 London during the month of June in the latter year. The 
 presenting of a Petition against the Catholics from the " Pro- 
 testant Association/' as it was called ; and at the head of 
 which was Lord George Gordon^ (younger brother of the 
 Duke of Gordon) gave rise,, on the 2d of June^ to the con- 
 gregation of an immense multitude of people, and all the 
 avenues to both Houses of Parliament were entirely filled 
 by the crowd. Many Peers (as well spiritual as temporal), 
 and divers Members of the Commons, were insulted by the 
 mob, and obliged, to escape personal injury, to place blue 
 cockades in their hats, and join in the then popular cry of 
 " No Popery/' The rabble attempted even to force open the 
 doors of both Houses whilst the members were in debate, 
 but they were happily foiled ; and further outrage was pre- 
 vented by the arrival of the Guards. 
 
 Great devastations were committed by the mob during 
 that and the three following days on the Romish chapels 
 and private dwellings of the Catholics ; and on Tuesday, the 
 6th of June, which had been appointed for taking the Peti- 
 tion into consideration, every avenue to the Parliament 
 Houses was again thronged by a riotous multitude, notwith- 
 standing that all the military in London were on duty. 
 Amidst these alarming appearances the House of Commons 
 displayed both firmness and decision. On the principle 
 that c no act of theirs could be legal whilst the House was 
 under apprehensions from the daring spirit of the peo- 
 ple/ they Resolved " that to obstruct and insult the Mem- 
 bers, whilst coming to or going from the House, and to 
 
KING GEORGE III. GREAT RIOTS IN LONDON. 1780. ^99 
 
 endeavour by force to compel them to declare themselves in 
 favour of or against any proposition then depending, was a 
 gross breach of the privileges of the House/ 5 * and then 
 adjourned. From that time until the Thursday following, 
 the Metropolis was in a state of the utmost consternation. 
 Newgate was set on fire, and its inmates liberated to join the 
 mob ; the other public prisons were partially destroyed,, and 
 the prisoners released. Many houses were gutted, as the 
 phrase was, of all their contents, which were burnt in large 
 fires in the streets; and divers others (including that of 
 Lord Mansfield, in Bloomsbury Square), together with 
 the King's Bench and Fleet prisons, were set on fire and 
 destroyed. Contributions, even in the day-time, were extorted 
 from the fear-struck householders; uproar, confusion, and 
 dismay reigned every where around, and on the Wednesday 
 night six-and-thirty fires were to be seen blazing at one time 
 in the Metropolis and Southwark. Orders were now issued, 
 by the authority of the King in Council, that the " utmost 
 force of the military should be exerted to repress the pro- 
 ceedings of the rioters ;"f and these directions were so 
 effectually obeyed, that the disturbances were entirely quelled 
 on the Thursday evening. Between three and four hundred 
 persons were either killed, or mortally wounded, by the 
 troops ; and about fifty others suffered by the hands of the 
 common executioner. Lord George Gordon, who was ac- 
 cused as the author of the riots, and committed to the 
 Tower, was arraigned of High treason in the Court of King's 
 Bench on the 5th of February 1781; but the Jury acquitted 
 him on the ground that his conduct had not been such as to 
 warrant the charge. 
 
 * Vide " Journals of the House of Commons," vol. xxxvii. p. 902. 
 f Idem, p. 904. 
 
4/JO 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 On the 12th of February 1788, the long-protracted trial 
 of Warren Hastings,, Esq., who had been impeached by the 
 House of Commons for high crimes and misdemeanours, 
 alleged to have been committed by him whilst Governor- 
 General of India, was commenced in a Court erected for the 
 purpose in Westminster Hall. After a trial of seven years 
 and two months' duration, (a circumstance unparalleled in the 
 annals of judicature) he was declared f Not Guilty' on the 
 23d of April 1795. 
 
 During the revolutionary war with republican France, 
 which commenced in February 1794, and was terminated by 
 the Treaty of Amiens in March 1802; and that against the 
 power of Bonaparte, which was declared in May 1803 ; 
 many momentous transactions occurred in the British Par- 
 liament : but as the sources of information on these mea- 
 sures are so easily accessible, it is unnecessary for us parti- 
 cularly to advert to them. We must except, however, that 
 great measure, the UNION with Ireland; which, although 
 carried in the Sister State by the grossest corruption and 
 bribery, was fraught with the most beneficial consequences 
 to both countries, as the course of public events is now 
 rapidly developing. 
 
 By this important Act, (which had been agreed to in the 
 respective Parliaments of England arid Ireland, in the sum- 
 mer of 1800; and which, having received the royal assent on 
 the 22d of July in that year, came into full operation on the 
 1st of January 1801,) one hundred representatives from Ire- 
 land were admitted into the English House of Commons 
 (thus increasing its Members to 613), and twenty-eight 
 representative Irish Peers (exclusive of four Bishops), into 
 the House of Lords. It was declared, that in future the 
 denomination of Parliament should be " The Parliament of 
 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland;" and 
 
KINO UEORGK III. NEW HOUSE OF LORDS. 1800. 
 
 that the style and titles of the Sovereign, when expressed in 
 Latin, should thenceforth be as follows : (e GEORGIUS TER- 
 TIUS, Dei Gratia Britanniarum Rex, Fidei Defensor." 
 
 In consequence of the intended augmentation of its Mem- 
 bers, it became necessary to enlarge the interior of the House 
 of Commons, for the greater convenience of the assembly ; 
 and the execution of the work was intrusted to the late 
 James Wyatt, Esq. architect, who had been appointed " Sur- 
 veyor or Comptroller of his Majesty's Office of Works" on 
 the 16th of March 1796, with an annual salary of 500.* 
 The operations were commenced in August 1800; and on 
 the removal of the wainscot panelling, which is supposed to 
 have been put up by Sir Christopher Wren, about the period 
 of the Union with Scotland, in Queen Anne's reign, those 
 unexpected discoveries were made of the original and splen- 
 did decorations of St. Stephen's Chapel, which excited such 
 great admiration at the time, and gave origin to Mr. Smith's 
 interesting work on the (( Antiquities of Westminster/' 
 As additional accommodation also was required for the Peers, 
 it was arranged that the then House of Lords (which occu- 
 pied the site of the present Royal Gallery) should be aban- 
 doned, and a new House constructed within the old Court 
 of Requests (or the White-Hall., as it had been previously 
 termed), which was far more capacious than the former cham- 
 ber, as well as more convenient, from being nearly adjacent 
 to the House of Commons. The new work was executed 
 under Mr. Wyatt's direction; and the Lords continued to 
 
 * By an Act passed in 1782, the principal officers of the then ' Board of 
 Works' were suppressed, and a new < Office of Works ' constituted on the 10th 
 of October in that year. The first Surveyor or Comptroller on that establish- 
 ment was Sir William Chambers, with an annual salary of ^500, and .10 for 
 stationery. Vide " Report from the Commissioners on the Office of Works," 
 1813. 
 
 2 D 
 
402 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 hold their sittings in the building so fitted up, until the late 
 conflagration. 
 
 A most extraordinary assassination was committed in the 
 Lobby of the House of Commons on the llth of May 1811 ; 
 when the Right Hon. Spencer Percival, the Chancellor of 
 the Exchequer and Prime Minister, was shot by a person 
 named John Bellingham. This unfortunate criminal had 
 resided in Russia., as a merchant, where his prospects were 
 blighted by false accusations and a long imprisonment) 
 for which he could obtain no redress; a circumstance 
 which he mainly attributed to the neglect of Lord Levi- 
 son Gower, the English Ambassador at the Court of St. 
 Petersburgh. On returning home, he appealed to various 
 officers of government for compensation, but without success; 
 and under the bitter feelings of disappointment, he encou- 
 raged the delusive conviction that he had a right to revenge 
 his injuries on the person of Lord Gower, or of some other 
 of the ministers by whom his memorials had been disre- 
 garded. With this view, about four o'clock on the above 
 afternoon, he placed himself in the recess of the doorway 
 within the lobby ; and on the entrance of Mr. Percival, a 
 few minutes afterwards, he discharged a small pistol at that 
 gentleman, who, after uttering a faint exclamation, staggered 
 forwards a few paces, and fell. Being immediately carried 
 into the room of the Speaker's Secretary, it was found that 
 the wound, which had taken place in the lower part of the 
 left breast, was mortal, and his life became extinct in about 
 ten or twelve minutes afterwards. Great alarm was excited in 
 both houses by this event, which was at first thought to be 
 the out-break of a treasonable conspiracy, the nation having 
 been for some time extremely discontented at the proceed- 
 ings of government. On the same night, Bellingham was 
 conveyed to Newgate ; on the Friday following, he was tried 
 
KING GEORGE IV. TRIAL OF QUEEN CAROLINE. 1820. 403 
 
 and convicted for the murder at the Old Bailey, (the sessions 
 being then in progress) ; and on the ensuing Monday, he was 
 hanged before the prison door, pursuant to his sentence. 
 Mr. Percival was buried at Charlton, in Kent; but a fine 
 monument of white marble by R. Westmacott, Esq. R.A. has 
 been erected to his memory in the north aisle of West- 
 minster Abbey church. 
 
 On account of the long-continued and hopeless insanity 
 of the King, it was determined by Parliament that a Regent 
 should be appointed in the person of his eldest son, George, 
 Prince of Wales, who accordingly entered into his high 
 office on the 25th of October 1810. After the decease of 
 his father, on the 29th of January 1820, the Prince Regent 
 succeeded to the throne, but his coronation was delayed a 
 considerable time by the events connected with the arrival 
 from Italy of his consort, Caroline of Brunswick, from whom 
 he had lived separate many years, but who had recently re- 
 turned to England for the purpose of claiming her rights 
 as Queen. Shortly after her arrival, proceedings were insti- 
 tuted against her in the House of Lords, for an alleged adul- 
 terous intercourse with an Italian, named Bergami (her 
 chamberlain), whilst resident abroad ; and on the 5th of July 
 a " Bill of Pains and Penalties " was presented against her 
 Majesty by the Ministers, for the purpose of dissolving her 
 marriage with the King, and depriving her of all preroga- 
 tives and privileges as Queen Consort. During the inves- 
 tigation (or trial) which ensued, and which commenced on 
 the 17th of August, her Majesty, who protested her inno- 
 cence in the strongest terms, was frequently present ; and on 
 every occasion, when going down to the House, was loudly 
 cheered by the assembled multitude which thronged the 
 streets and gave credit to her asseverations. At length, 
 
 2 D2 
 
401. 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 on the 10th of November, this unparalleled proceeding was 
 terminated by the postponement of the Bill " for six 
 months/' which was tantamount to its rejection ; the third 
 reading having been carried only by a majority of nine (the 
 votes being 108 to 99) that being the exact number of the 
 ministers of the crown who conducted the investigation. 
 
 It had been originally settled that the coronation of 
 George the Fourth should be solemnized on the first of 
 August 1820, and a Court of Claims was appointed to 
 assemble in the Painted Chamber on the preceding 18th of 
 May, it being the royal intention that the proceedings should 
 be conducted with unusual magnificence.* Whilst the Court 
 was yet sitting, the proceedings against the Queen, as before 
 stated, occasioned the coronation to be postponed, and it did 
 not take place until the 19th of July 1821. The arrange- 
 ments, both in the Great Hall and in the Abbey Church, 
 were on a scale of unprecedented grandeur. Before the day 
 arrived, however, for the performance of the ceremony, a 
 memorial was presented to his e Majesty in Council' from 
 the Queen Consort, claiming her right to be crowned, and 
 praying that the ceremony might be celebrated on the day 
 appointed for his Majesty's coronation. After hearing coun- 
 sel both for and against this claim, during several days, the 
 Privy Council decided "that the Queens Consort of this 
 realm are not entitled of right to be crowned at any time," 
 
 * The claims made to particular services, generally speaking, were such as 
 were customary, and were therefore allowed ; but some few of a novel descrip- 
 tion, which seem to have been advanced for experiment sake, were dismissed. 
 Among the claimants was the Rev. Thomas Dymoke, the lord of the manor of 
 Scrivelsby, who, being in orders, was incapitated to perform the office of Cham- 
 pion ; and he, in consequence, petitioned that his son, a minor, but who had 
 recently entered into his twentieth year, might become his deputy; this request, 
 aftar some consideration, and with his Majesty's assent, was eventually allowed. 
 
KING GEORGE IV. HIS SPLENDID CORONATION. 1821. 405 
 
 and therefore that her Majesty was not entitled to the pri- 
 vilege specified in her memorial.* 
 
 On the night previous to the coronation, the King re- 
 posed on a couch in the tapestry-room of the Speaker's offi- 
 cial residence in the Old Palace ; and on the following morn- 
 ing, about eleven o'clock, the royal cavalcade proceeded by a 
 raised platform (covered by an awning) from Westminster 
 Hall to the Abbey Church (which presented a most splendid 
 and gorgeous scene), where the King was crowned by the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, (C. M. Sutton) with the accustomed 
 ceremonies. The ensuing festivities in the Great Hall were of 
 the most costly description ; and the manner in which the 
 building was fitted up for the reception and entertainment of 
 the vast multitude assembled there, was unprecedented for its 
 convenience and extent. At the south end immediately 
 under the great window was his Majesty's throne and table, 
 upon a raised platform of three grades. Double galleries 
 for spectators were raised along the sides of the Hall, below 
 which, in the area, were long ranges of dining tables ; and 
 at the north entrance was a triumphal arch. The Champion 
 was attended by the Duke of Wellington, as High Constable 
 of England, and the Marquis of Anglesea, as Lord High 
 Steward ; both those noblemen were mounted upon their 
 own chargers. The expense to the country of this Corona- 
 tion, was about l50,000.f 
 
 * Some attempts were afterwards made by the Queen to secure a recognised 
 seat in the Abbey Church, in order to be present at the Coronation, but she was 
 disappointed in all ; and unhappily, on her last effort to obtain admission by de- 
 manding entrance as Queen (at the door-way in Poet's Corner) being frustrated 
 by general orders given to a common door-keeper, the disappointment had a fatal 
 influence on her health ; which had already suffered from the peculiar measures 
 adopted against her. She died on the following 7th of August. 
 
 f As our limits will not admit of any additional particulars of this august 
 ceremonial, we must refer our readers for other details to Huish's " History of 
 the Coronation of George the Fourth ; " and to Whitaker's splendid work on 
 
406 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Under the auspices of the new King, during the years 
 1822-26; some very considerable and enriched additions were 
 made to the parliamentary buildings on the south and south- 
 west sides, from the designs of Mr. (now Sir John) Soane, 
 who also superintended the work. These were principally in 
 the Grecian style of architecture, and consisted of a new 
 royal entrance to the House of Lords, the 6 Scala Regia,' 
 or King's Staircase, the Royal Gallery, the Lords' Library, 
 and various committee rooms, offices, &c. for the use of 
 Parliament. During the progress of the new work, the 
 Old Prince's Chamber, or Robing Room, the Old House 
 of Lords, and some other remains of the ancient Palace, 
 were pulled down.* 
 
 Very different, in regard to splendour and festivity, was 
 the Coronation of his present Majesty, William the Fourth, 
 from that of his brother and predecessor, whom he suc- 
 ceeded on the throne on the 26th of June 1830; it was, 
 however, the more gratifying to the nation, as it proved the 
 desire of the King to avoid superfluous expenditure. On 
 this occasion, September the 8th 1831, his Majesty and his 
 consort Adelaide proceeded in carriages, attended by a 
 grand cavalcade of the chief officers of state, nobility, &c. 
 from St. James's Palace to the Abbey Church at West- 
 minster, where they were both crowned, with the usual 
 solemnities, by the Archbishop of Canterbury (William 
 
 the same gorgeous ceremony. A jocular, yet not uninteresting account of this 
 coronation, has been given also by Gait, in his " Steam Boat." 
 
 * Some account of the new buildings, illustrated with prints, was published 
 by Sir J. Soane, in his " Designs for Public and Private Buildings," 1828. 
 The new entrance and Scala Regia is said to have originated with his late 
 Majesty, whose taste for shewy and expensive architectural works, led him to 
 consider the old entrance to the House of Lords as mean and insignificant, 
 altogether unworthy of forming the passage for a British monarch to his offi- 
 cial station at the head of a national legislature. 
 
KING WILLIAM IV. REFORM OF PARLIAMENT. 1832. 407 
 
 Howley). On this occasion the banquetting and the accus- 
 tomed challenge in the Great Hall were entirely dispen 
 with, the general proceedings having been arranged on a 
 scale of great economy.* 
 
 During the summer of 1832, after a political contest of 
 unexampled duration in Parliament, the friends of Constitu- 
 tional liberty achieved the most important victory over the 
 illegal influence of the Oligarchy that had ever been ob- 
 tained, by the passing of the three Acts for " the Amend- 
 ment of the Representation of the People of England and 
 Wales," {: Scotland," and " Ireland ; " to which the royal 
 assent was given respectively on the 7th of June, the 17th of 
 July, and the 7th of August. These invaluable measures of 
 Reform were accomplished under the administration of Earl 
 Grey, to whom, next to the KING himself, (whose decisive 
 conduct, in dissolving the Parliament of 1831, at a most cri- 
 tical period, merits the lasting gratitude of the nation;) 
 and to his patriotic coadjutors, the country is indebted for 
 its preservation from the threatening dangers of a civil war. 
 By the above Acts, the rights of election was placed on a 
 more extended basis than before ; many " rotten boroughs " 
 were remorselessly swept away, and others " shorn 5 ' of their 
 dishonourable beams ; the privilege of a Parliamentary re- 
 presentation was conferred on many new places in proportion 
 to the extent of their population and property ; and many 
 other changes were made, tending to improve the character 
 and independence of the House of Commons, and to free it 
 from all exterior influence but that of the PEOPLE, from 
 whom it immediately emanates. 
 
 * For a particular account of this Coronation (chiefly extracted from the 
 " Observer" newspaper) see " Gentleman's Magazine," part ii. 1831. In the 
 same volume is also a circumstantial account of the coronation of Richard the 
 Second, from a MS. in the British Museum. 
 
108 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 The first Parliament of the United Kingdom that was 
 summoned after the passing of the Reform Acts, assembled 
 at Westminster on the 29th of January 1833 ;* and during 
 the Session, which continued until the 29th of August, 
 many important statutes were enacted, particularly those for 
 the " Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Colonies, " 
 the " better Government of the East Indies," the " Regula- 
 tion of the Trade to China and India/' and the " Renewal 
 of the Bank Charter." The chief measures of the following 
 session, which commenced on the 4th of February 1834, and 
 was prorogued on the 15th of August, were the Acts "for 
 Establishing a New Criminal Court in the Metropolis and 
 its Environs," the " Amendment of the Poor Laws," and 
 the "Alteration and Amendment of the Laws relating to 
 the Church Temporalities of Ireland." 
 
 We have now approached the time when both Houses of 
 Parliament (except the bare walls) together with many ad- 
 jacent offices, were wholly destroyed by an accidental fire, 
 which broke out in the House of Lords, near Black Rod's 
 box, on the evening of the 16th of October 1834. The 
 wind blew briskly from the south-west, but became more 
 
 * At the present time, and through the enactments of the Reform Acts, 
 the House of Commons consists of 658 members, who are returned as fol- 
 lows : 
 English County Members 143"") Scotch County Members 30 
 
 I") Scotch Cc 
 
 I > 471 Citi* 
 
 [} Irish Cou 
 
 Universities - 4 V 471 Cities and Boroughs 23 * 53 
 
 Cities and Boroughs 324 ) Irish County Members 64"^ 
 
 Welsh County Members 15^ University - - 2 > 105 
 
 Cities and Boroughs 14 | 29 Cities and Boroughs 39 J 
 
 The House of Lords consisted in 1835, of 427 Peers, viz. 
 
 Princes of the blood royal (all Dukes) 3 Barons - - - - 184 
 
 Other Dukes - . - - 21 Peers of Scotland - - 16 
 
 Marquesses 19 Peers of Ireland - - 28 
 
 Earls - 109 English and Welsh Bishops 26 
 
 Viscounts - - , - 17 Irish Bishops 4 
 
KING WILLIAM IV. BURNING OF THE HOUSES. 1 834. 409 
 
 southerly as the night advanced ; the moon was near the full 
 and shone with radiance ; but occasionally vast masses of 
 cumulus clouds floated high and bright across the skies, and 
 as the fitful glare of the flames increased, were illumined in 
 a remarkably impressive manner, which gave great interest 
 to the busy scene that was passing below. 
 
 From an examination of several days' continuance, which 
 took place before the Lords of the Privy Council shortly 
 after this event, it appears that the fire was first discovered 
 by the wife of a door-keeper named Mullencamp, who, seeing 
 the glittering of a light under one of the doors, suspected the 
 cause, and immediately communicated it to Mrs. Wright, 
 the deputy house-keeper, by the exclamation, " Oh, good 
 God, the House of Lords is on fire!" This was at six 
 o'clock ; but, although several persons employed about the 
 building were quickly drawn together by this alarm, and 
 from a chimney being observed to be " very much on fire/' 
 by Mr. Richard Weobley, Clerk of the Works in the De- 
 partment of Woods and Forests, no effectual resistance 
 could be opposed to the progress of the flames for a consi- 
 derable time, in consequence of the rapidity with which 
 they spread through the numerous passages, lobbies, stair- 
 cases, &c. which had been constructed at various periods, for 
 the convenience of a ready communication between the two 
 Houses, and their appertaining Committee Rooms and 
 Offices.* 
 
 * The insecure manner in which these multifarious adjuncts were constructed 
 and fitted up, had been thus adverted to, in 1828, by Sir John Soane in his 
 " Designs for Public Buildings " (already cited), and the passage is remarkable 
 from supplying a kind of prophetic intimation as to the actual consequence in 
 case of fire. " In the year 1800, the Court of Requests was made into a House 
 f Lords ; and the old buildings of a slight character, several stories in height, 
 surrounding that substantial structure, were converted into accommodations for 
 
410 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 The conflagration was heightened by the strength of the 
 wind; and in a few hours, notwithstanding all the aid which 
 could be furnished by fire-engines and firemen, by working 
 parties of soldiers and labourers, and by the assistance of 
 the police, as well as from the voluntary services of many 
 other persons, including both noblemen and gentlemen 
 (Members of Parliament), the Houses of the Lords and 
 Commons and the Painted Chamber were consumed to the 
 bare walls; whilst the more fragile buildings immediately 
 surrounding them were altogether destroyed.* That part of 
 the official residence of the Speaker of the House of Com- 
 mons, which was connected with St. Stephen's Chapel, with 
 some portion of the cloisters, was also considerably damaged; 
 but happily, the magnificent Great Hall was preserved from 
 
 the officers of the House of Lords, and for the necessary communications. 
 The exterior of these old buildings, forming the front of the House of Lords, 
 as well as the interior, is constructed chiefly with timber covered with plaster. 
 In such an extensive "assemblage of combustible materials, should a fire hap- 
 pen, what would become of the Painted Chamber, the House of Commons, 
 and Westminster Hall ? Where would the progress of the fire be arrested ? 
 The want of security from fire, the narrow, gloomy, and unhealthy passages, 
 and the insufficiency of the accommodations in this building, are important 
 objects which call loudly for revision and speedy amendment." 
 
 * By referring to the Ground Plan, plate II. a correct idea may be formed of 
 the extent of the fire, a dotted line having been carried round the area of the build- 
 ings which were either wholly or partially destroyed. The great mass of build- 
 ings erected by Mr. Soane, and which may be described as forming the southern 
 side of the Parliamentary edifices, were, comparatively, but little injured ; the 
 direction of the wind having been favourable to their safety. To the same 
 cause we may attribute the preservation of the Law Courts and Augmentation 
 Office on the western side of the Great Hall, and even of the Hall itself; for, 
 had the immense volumes of flame and flakes of fire which proceeded from the 
 interior of the two Houses, been wafted towards the vast timber roof of that 
 immense pile, it must have been inevitably destroyed, with every building imme- 
 diately connected with it. 
 
KING WILLIAM IV. APPEARANCE OF THE FIRE. 1834. 4-11 
 
 the flames uninjured, although fearful apprehensions had 
 been entertained for its safety during a considerable part of 
 the night. 
 
 An immense multitude of spectators assembled at West- 
 minster to witness the ravages of the fire, the lurid glare of 
 which was distinctly visible for many miles around the me- 
 tropolis. Even the river Thames, in the vicinity of the spot, 
 was covered with boats and barges full of persons whom 
 curiosity had attracted to the scene ; and the reflections of 
 the wavering flames upon the water, on the neighbouring 
 shores, and on the many thousands thus congregated, com- 
 posed a spectacle most strikingly picturesque and impressive. 
 In Old Palace Yard the progress of the fire exhibited a 
 Tableau Vivant of not inferior interest. There, and in the 
 adjacent avenues, the three regiments of guards, and some 
 troops of horse were on duty, as well as strong bodies of the 
 police, yet the united authority of all these could hardly 
 restrain the unthinking crowd from rushing into the imme- 
 diate vicinity of the fire, and thus impeding the exertions 
 of those who were eagerly striving to arrest its progress. 
 Whilst the range of building fronting the House of Lords 
 was burning, the strong glittering of the flames on Henry 
 the Seventh's Chapel and the Abbey Church, on the adjacent 
 buildings, and on the working parties, fire-engines, and sol- 
 diers in the open space below, formed a scene of great ani- 
 mation and beauty; nor could any consideration as to its 
 melancholy cause, detract from the interest thus excited. 
 It was not until between two and three o'clock on the follow- 
 ing morning, that the fire was sufficiently subdued to remove 
 apprehensions of further danger. 
 
 On the ensuing day, the following Report was made from 
 the Office of Woods as to the extent of the injury arising 
 from this disaster : 
 
412 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 " House of Peers. The House, Robing-rooms, Com- 
 mittee-rooms in the west front, and the rooms of the resi- 
 dent officers, as far as the octagon tower at the south end of 
 the building, totally destroyed. 
 
 " The Painted Chamber, totally destroyed. 
 
 (e The north end of the Royal Gallery, abutting on the 
 Painted Chamber, destroyed from the door leading into the 
 Painted Chamber, as far as the first compartment of co- 
 lumns. 
 
 " The Library and the adjoining rooms, which are now 
 undergoing alterations, as well as the Parliament offices, and 
 the offices of the Lord Great Chamberlain, together with 
 the Committee-rooms, Housekeeper's apartments, &c. in 
 this part of the building, are saved. 
 
 fe House of Commons. The House, Libraries, Committee- 
 rooms, Housekeeper's apartments, &c. are totally destroyed 
 (excepting the Committee rooms, Nos. 11, 12, 13, and 14, 
 which are capable of being repaired). 
 
 " The Official residence of Mr. Ley, Clerk of the House ; 
 this building is totally destroyed. 
 
 " The Official residence of the Speaker. The State Din- 
 ing-room, under the House of Commons, is much damaged, 
 but capable of restoration. All the rooms from the Oriel 
 window to the south side of the House of Commons, are 
 destroyed. The Levee-rooms, and other parts of the build- 
 ing, together with the public galleries, and part of the clois- 
 ters, very much damaged. 
 
 " The Courts of Law. These buildings will require some 
 restoration. The furniture generally of these buildings has 
 sustained considerable damage.* 
 
 * During the fire, much furniture and other property, together with 
 numerous records, books, &c. from the Augmentation and other Offices, was 
 removed into St. Margaret's Church, on the opposite side of the street. Many 
 
KING WILLIAM IV. ORIGIN OF THE FIRE. 1834. 413 
 
 *' Westminster Hall. No damage has been done to this 
 building. 
 
 " Furniture. The furniture,, fixtures, and fittings to both 
 the Houses of Lords and Commons, with the Committee- 
 rooms belonging thereto, are with few exceptions destroyed. 
 
 " The strictest inquiry is in progress as to the cause of 
 this calamity ; but there is not the slightest reason to sup 
 pose that it has arisen from any other than accidental 
 causes. 
 
 " Office of Woods, 17th October 1834." 
 
 In the course of the lengthened inquiry which took place 
 before the Privy Council, no positive evidence transpired 
 which could by any means justify the presumption that the 
 fire was owing to criminal design ; although, in the first in- 
 stance, many vague suspicions were entertained that it had 
 been caused by political incendiaries. * But abundant proof 
 was obtained of gross carelessness and inattention on the 
 part of some of the labourers employed by the Board of 
 Works, to which the unfortunate accident may with the 
 utmost probability be ascribed. It appears that orders had 
 
 records were hastily thrown from the windows, and, in consequence, consider- 
 able loss and damage occurred ; but generally speaking, the destruction of 
 records and other valuable state papers, was much less than might have been 
 apprehended. 
 
 * Among the strange and improbable stones circulated in support of such 
 a notion, was that of Mr. Cooper, a London tradesman engaged in the iron trade, 
 who having gone down to Dudley in Worcestershire, on the day in the evening 
 of which the fire happened, had heard, as he alleged, a report of the circum- 
 stance at Dudley (119 miles from London) about three hours after the fire broke 
 out. But from an examination of that gentleman and several other persons 
 before the Privy Council, the most probable conclusion that can be drawn is, 
 that he laboured under some strange misconception with respect to the time 
 when the news in question first reached Dudley ; and that it was not actually 
 known in that town until the Friday morning, when the intelligence was com- 
 municated by means of an entry on the way-bill of a mail-coach. 
 
414 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 been issued, by the proper authorities, for destroying a quan- 
 tity of wooden tallies * belonging to the Exchequer, in con- 
 sequence of which the Clerk of the Works (Mr. Weobley) 
 directed two men to burn a parcel of those dry sticks, 
 amounting to about two cart-loads, in the furnaces, or stoves, 
 connected with the flues which passed beneath the flooring, 
 and gave warmth to the House of Lords. These men com- 
 menced their work at half past six o'clock on Thursday 
 morning, and continued it until nearly five o'clock in the 
 afternoon, when, having consumed the quantity of wood 
 stated above, they quitted the premises. Notwithstanding 
 the allegations of these persons relative to the precautions 
 they took to avoid danger, there cannot be a doubt but that 
 they fed the stoves with the dry tallies in too rapid a manner, 
 and so as to make the iron pipes and flues red hot. By this 
 imprudence the interior of the House, which from the pre- 
 vious heating must have been rendered as combustible as 
 touchwood, became rapidly ignited as soon as the fire had 
 once penetrated through the floor. The most gross negli- 
 gence was also displayed by the deputy-housekeeper (as may 
 
 * These Tallies were notched sticks, used until the month of October 1826, 
 in keeping the public accounts of the Treasury, Formerly, when money was 
 paid into the Exchequer, and until the old method was abolished by Act of Par- 
 liament in the above year, it was the practice to mark the sum on one side of a 
 bazel or ashen wand, by cutting notches in it ; which, according to their size, 
 direction, &c. were understood to denote so many thousands, hundreds, or sin- 
 gle pounds, and smaller indentations denoted shillings and pence. When one 
 side of the square tally had been thus marked it was split or divided longitu 
 dinally by the proper officer, so that both divisions retained precisely the same 
 number and kind of notches : one portion was called ike foil, and the other, the 
 counterfoil, the two together constituting a tally ; though that term seems also 
 to have been applied to either part separately. The last persons who were Tel- 
 lers C l Tattlers ') of the Exchequer, were Lord Guildford and Mr. Burgoyne, 
 who surrendered their patent under the provisions of the Act alluded to, of 
 the y_ear 1826. 
 
KING WILLIAM IV. PRESUMED ORIGIN OF THE FIRE. 1834. 415 
 
 be inferred from the examination before the Lords of the 
 Council), in not acquainting the official authorities with the 
 alarming manner in which the heat and fumes had pervaded 
 the House during the whole day, and particularly when the 
 thermometer kept there was noticed to be as high as sixty 
 degrees.* 
 
 * Vide <l Report of the Lords of the Council respecting the Destruction by 
 Fire of the Houses of Parliament." At about half past four o'clock, an 
 almost suffocating heat near Black Rod's box, where the flues came up, was 
 noticed by two gentlemen who went to see the House of Lords, attended by 
 Mrs. Wright ; and one of them gave evidence, that he felt the heat through his 
 boots ; and that the smoke was so great he could neither see the throne from 
 the bar, nor distinguish above a foot square of the tapestry, even when near 
 to it. Idem. pp. 42, 43. 
 
Wm. Capon, del. N. W/tittocJf, se. 
 
 ANCIENT CAPITAL. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE ANCIENT PALACE, AND 
 ITS APPENDANT BUILDINGS; INCLUDING ST. EDWARD^S, 
 OR THE PAINTED CHAMBER; ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL 
 AND ITS CLOISTERS ; THE LATE HOUSES OF PARLIA- 
 MENT ; THE GREAT HALL; THE STAR CHAMBER, &C. 
 &C. TOGETHER WITH ANNEXED EXPLANATORY RE- 
 FERENCES TO THE ILLUSTRATIVE ENGRAVINGS. 
 
 r JTHE Anglo-Saxon origin of the ancient Palace of West- 
 minster has been established by the facts recorded in the 
 first Chapter of this Work ; and distinct notices also have 
 
GENERAL ACCOUNT OT THE ANCIENT PALACE. 41*7 
 
 been given of the annexation of many new buildings to the 
 original Palace by different monarchs, from the time of St. 
 Edward the Confessor to that of King Richard the Second. 
 From the lapse of ages, the devastations of fire, and still 
 more, perhaps, from the numerous alterations made in suc- 
 ceeding reigns, to adapt those erections to the various pur- 
 poses of religion, business, and festivity, the style and cha- 
 racter of the original architecture has in most instances been 
 defaced by subsequent works; and it has become very diffi- 
 cult to recognise the extent and primary features of the 
 earlier buildings. 
 
 An ample plot of ground was included in the immediate 
 demesne of the Old Palace; this may be described as 
 bounded on the east by the river Thames, on the north by 
 the Woolstaple, now Bridge Street, on the west by the pre- 
 cincts of St. Margaret's Church and those of Westminster Ab- 
 bey, behind Abingdon Street, and on the south by the line of 
 the present College Street, where, in former times there ran 
 a small stream, afterwards called the Great Ditch (now a 
 sewer), on the outer side of the exterior wall of the Palace 
 garden. Within this space there were anciently either two 
 or three divisions, having distinct gateways and entrances. 
 What appears to have been called, in old records, sometimes 
 the Private Palace, and at others the Lesser Palace of the 
 King, stood on the western side of the inclosed demesne, 
 between the present Abingdon Street and the wall of the 
 College Garden, but which, in Edward the Third's reign, 
 formed the garden of the Abbey Infirmary.* It was proba- 
 
 * Widmore states (" Hist, of Westminster Abbey," p. 231), from the ' Niger 
 Quaternus,' preserved among the archives of the Dean and Chapter at West- 
 minster, that Edward the Third, in the 51st year of his reign, gave licence to 
 the Abbot and Convent of Westminster to purchase lands, &c. to the yearly 
 value of forty pounds, notwithstanding the statute of mortmain, " in consi- 
 
 2 E 
 
418 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 bly the destruction of the buildings of that Lesser Palace by 
 fire, which occasioned the removal of Henry the Eighth to 
 Whitehall, as stated in the preceding chapter : of what de- 
 scription they were, or by whom erected, no particulars have 
 been obtained. 
 
 Not any doubt can be entertained but that all the State 
 Offices of the Old Palace, the Festive Halls, the Royal Chapel, 
 and indeed all the principal apartments of our Sovereigns, 
 were congregated on the eastern side of the Palace demesne, 
 on the spot where we find so many and such important re- 
 mains ; * and which apparently is still destined to become 
 the site of a Parliamentary Edifice of a far superior architec- 
 tural character to any that has ever yet been erected there. 
 
 Reverting to the more ancient buildings, we may state 
 that ST. EDWARD'S, or the PAINTED CHAMBER, was one of 
 the apartments of the Old Palace which owed its origin to 
 the pious Prince whose name it has borne for centuries ; but 
 which, after it had been enlarged and newly adorned by Henry 
 the Third, occasionally assumed another appellation, de- 
 rived from the quality and profuseness of its embellishments. 
 Before the late fire, this apartment had two floors (one of 
 which was tesselated and the other boarded) supported on 
 vast joists of chesnut timber, which were propped up by 
 middle walls, purposely erected to sustain them. Its 
 
 deration of a great part of a certain Tower in the corner of the Private Palace 
 towards the south," et kcec licentia concessa est pro magna parte cujusdam 
 Turris in angulo Palatii Privati versus austrum.' This Tower is yet standing, 
 and is now called the Parliament Office, from its appropriation to the keeping 
 of State Records. It is of a square form, with an octagonal staircase turret 
 annexed ; and is probably of the age of William Rufus. After it came into 
 the possession of King Edward III., it was designated The Jewel House; in 
 Henry the Eighth's reign it was used as a Royal Wardrobe. See MS. Bibl. 
 Harl. No. 1419. 
 
 * Vide " Ground Plan," Plate n. 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE PAINTED CHAMBER. 
 
 length was eighty feet six inches, its width twenty-six feet, 
 and its height from the upper floor thirty-one feet ; the ceil- 
 ing, which was curiously designed, was of Henry the Third's 
 time, and embellished with gilded and painted tracery, in- 
 cluding small wainscot paterae variously ornamented. Among 
 the paintings on the walls and window jambs, and which had 
 been entirely forgotten until the removal of some old tapes- 
 try in 1800, were representations of the battles of the Mac- 
 cabees ; the Seven Brethren ; St. John, habited as a Pil- 
 grim, presenting a ring to King Edward the Confessor ; the 
 canonization of King Edward, with seraphim, &c. ; and 
 numerous black-letter inscriptions, chiefly of texts from 
 Scripture.* 
 
 * These paintings are noticed in the Manuscript Itinerary of Simon Simeon, 
 and Hugo the Illuminator, in the year 1322 ; which is now preserved in the Li- 
 brary of Bene't College, Cambridge. Those persons were Franciscan friars, who 
 came from Ireland, and journeyed through London on their way to Jerusalem. 
 After slightly noticing the Monastery at Westminster, they say, with some 
 exaggeration (in Latin) ' and to the same monastery is almost immediately 
 joined that most famous Palace of the King, in which is that well-known Cham- 
 ber, on whose walls all the Histories of the Wars of the whole Bible are 
 painted beyond description, inejfabiliter depictee with most complete and 
 perfect inscriptions in French, to the admiration of the beholders, and with 
 the greatest regal magnificence.' Engraved representations of some particular 
 remains of these embellishments (the drawings for which were exhibited in the 
 meeting-room of the Society of Antiquaries, in the beginning of 1835), 
 coloured, &c. like the originals, will shortly be published. 
 
 Among the records in the office of the King's Remembrancer of the Exche- 
 quer, is a Roll of the 20th year of Edward the First (anno 1292) headed, "p'ma 
 op'ac'o picture," or first work of Painting, which contains an account of the 
 disbursements made by Master Walter, the Painter, for the emendation of the 
 pictures in the King's Great Chamber, as the Painted Chamber was then 
 called. White lead at 2d. per Ib. is mentioned ; three quarts of oil at 9d. ; a 
 measure of green ' viridi, 1 (verdegris) at \M. ; another of vermillion at *2%d. ; 
 sinople 2%d. ; varnish, 1 Ib. at 4d. ; ochre, plaster, thread, and skin 2rf. ; and 
 tools 3$d. ; the total expense for materials was 3.9. The wages of Master 
 
 2 E 2 
 
420 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Formerly, the walls of this Chamber, to above half their 
 height, were hung with some very curious old tapestry, 
 chiefly representing the Siege of Troy, but this was taken 
 down in the year 1800;* it had been probably suspended 
 here in the time of Charles the Second. Previously to the 
 late conflagration, the Painted Chamber was used as the 
 place of conference between the Lords and the Commons ; 
 but since that event, it has been conveniently fitted up by 
 Sir Robert Smirke as a temporary House of Lords, on which 
 occasion it was found necessary to heighten the walls by 
 about one third; the apartment was then covered by a 
 boarded ceiling and a slated roof. Its internal appearance, 
 during the first Sessions held here in 1835, is shewn in the 
 accompanying view, Plate xxxvin. ; but considerable altera- 
 tions have since been made. In this room, in former times, 
 the opening of new Parliaments took place ; and the War- 
 rant for the execution of Charles the First was signed in 
 it by his judges. 
 
 Extending nearly at a right angle from the east end of the 
 above apartment was the OJLD HOUSE OF LORDS (the an- 
 cient Parliament Chamber], which there is reason to believe 
 had been rebuilt by King Henry the Second, on the old 
 
 Walter, for seven days at l%d. per day was 7*. ; of Alex, de Wyndsor and Rich, 
 de Bridiz his assistants, for five days each, at 6d. a day, was 5s. ; and of Rich, 
 de Stokwell, 6d. for one day. In this record, therefore, which has never been 
 previously cited, we have another proof of the very early practice of oil colour- 
 ing in this country. It is a curious fact, that the Roll itself commences with 
 the same date as that which begins the account of the foundation of St, Ste- 
 phen's Chapel, viz. April the 28th, 20th of Edw. I. 
 
 * Sandford, in his " Coronation of James II." thus enumerates these 
 tapestries, viz. " Five pieces of the Siege of Troy, and one piece of Gardens 
 and Fountains." After their removal in 1800, these hangings were thrown 
 into a low closet or cellar, where they remained some years. About 1820, 
 they were sold to the late Charles Yarnold, Esq. of Great St. Helen's, 
 for 10. 
 
OLD HOUSE OF LORDS AND PRINCE S CHAMBER. 
 
 foundations of Edward the Confessor's reign. On the splay 
 jambs of the windows numerous figures were painted, one 
 of which was a representation of the first-named monarch in 
 his robes.* The walls of this building were nearly seven 
 feet in thickness ; and the vaults beknv, which bore the 
 appellation of Guy Faivkes's cellar, were of a very strong and 
 massive character. Piers of brick-work (possibly of Charles 
 the Second's time), had been raised to strengthen the ceiling, 
 and sustain the weight of the Parliament floor above ; toge- 
 ther with strong rafters of oak, supported by twelve octa- 
 gonal posts of the same material,, standing on stone plinths. 
 This building, as already stated, was pulled down about the 
 year 1823, prior to the erection of the Royal Gallery. It 
 was then ascertained^ that the Vaults had been the ancient 
 Kitchen of the Old Palace ; and near the south end, the ori- 
 ginal buttery hatch was discovered^ together with an adjoin- 
 ing ambry, or cupboard. 
 
 The PRINCE'S CHAMBER, or Old Robing Room, (which 
 was demolished with the above) adjoined to the south side of 
 the Old House of Lords. Its foundations appeared to have 
 been of the Confessor's time ; but the superstructure, from 
 the style of its lancet windows, &c. was generally assigned 
 to the reign of Henry the Third. Single figures were painted 
 on the jambs of the windows, and round the upper part of 
 the Chamber had been oil paintings of angels, holding 
 crowns. Several capitals (whence groinings sprung) were 
 also found, which had been richly gilt and painted (blue and 
 red) in oil colours; two of them, exhibiting the busts of 
 
 * A curious drawing of this figure, taken by the late Mr. Capon on its 
 re-discoveiy in 1823, (shortly before the building was pulled down) is now in the 
 possession of John Bowyer Nichols, Esq. Two very careful drawings, by the 
 same accurate topographical artist, of the vaults called Guy Fawkes's cellar, 
 (with other sketches, &c. of the old Palace) are also in the possession of Mr. 
 Nichols. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Edward the First, and Eleanor his Queen, were carved in 
 Riegate stone, and coloured to resemble life : the hair and 
 crowns were gilt.* It was from the vaults under this apart- 
 ment that the Gunpowder conspirators obtained their easy 
 access to those beneath the Old House of Lords, where they 
 stored up their ammunition. Over the door- way between the 
 vaults was a curiously-formed impost, carrying a segment 
 arch, and at some height above that was a semi-circular arch, 
 but the intervening space was filled up solid. 
 
 The OLD COURT OF REQUESTS, which was recently the 
 House of Lords, and since the fire has been fitted up as a 
 temporary House of Commons, is of majestic size : its entire 
 length from north to south being 120 feet, its breadth 38 feet, 
 and its height proportionate. It obtained the above appella- 
 tion in consequence of the sittings held there by the Masters 
 of Requests ; officers who were authorized to receive Peti- 
 tions of the subjects for justice, or favour, from the King.f 
 This building is of very ancient foundation, and if not the 
 original Great Hall of the Confessor's Palace, as was sup- 
 posed by the late Mr. Capon,J it must have been erected in 
 a very early period of the Norman dynasty. This may be 
 decidedly inferred from the bold zigzag ornamental mouldings 
 which surrounded the three windows at the south end, and 
 are represented in Plate v., as they appeared immediately 
 after the fire. The apartment in which the Lords assembled 
 did not occupy the whole of the interior, some part of the 
 
 * The bust of Edward I., with its rich architectural accompaniments, is 
 shewn in the vignette to Chapter II. (p. 77), which was executed from a drawing 
 by the late Mr. Capon. 
 
 t For an account of the constitution of the Court of Requests, see Strype's 
 Stow, vol. ii.-p. 630, edit. 1755. 
 
 J Vide his Plan of the Ancient Palace of'Westminster in " Vetusta Monu- 
 mcnta," vol. v. 
 
COURT OF REQUESTS AND ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 
 
 northern portion having been formed into a lobby,, commu- 
 nicating with that of the House of Commons. Independ- 
 ently of the new Throne which had been made for George 
 the Fourth, and was a splendid ornament, this room was 
 adorned with the very interesting Tapestry hangings which 
 represented the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, and 
 had been inclosed in large frames of brown stained wood.* 
 The interior of this building, as newly fitted up for the use 
 of the House of Commons, is represented in Plate xxxix. 
 
 This edifice is supposed to have been the original White- 
 hall of the old Palace ; although Stow expressly applies that 
 name to the "great Chamber 5 ' in which the Court of Wards 
 and Liveries was formerly held, and the site of which was 
 recently occupied by the Committee-rooms, &c. marked 
 I. J. J. in the Ground plan, Plate u. It immediately ad- 
 joined to the south end of Westminster Hall.f 
 
 ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL, which is reputed to have been 
 founded by King Stephen, was unquestionably rebuilt by Ed- 
 ward the First ; as the numerous Rolls relating to it, which are 
 still extant in the office of the King's Remembrancer, abund- 
 antly prove. Divers particulars from those records have been 
 given in the second Chapter of the present volume ; but we 
 shall here insert some additional information from another 
 
 * This Tapestry, which was wholly destroyed by the fire, was of Dutch work- 
 manship, it having been woven, according to Sandrart, by Francis Spiering, 
 from the designs of Henry Cornelius Vroom, a painter of eminence at Haer- 
 lem, in Holland. It had been bespoken by Lord Howard of Effingham, the 
 Lord High Admiral of the English Fleet which engaged the Armada, and was 
 sold by him to James the First. It consisted, originally, of ten compartments, 
 forming separate pictures, each of which was surrounded by a wrought border, 
 including the portraits of the officers who held commands in the English Fleet. 
 Fortunately, engravings from these hangings were made by Mr. John Pine, and 
 published in 1739, with illustrations from charters, medals, &c. The White 
 Chamber is mentioned in a record of the 41st of Edward III. 
 
 t See Strype's Stow's "London," vol. il p. 630, edit. 1755. 
 
424 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Roll of the same reign, of which we have obtained a copy 
 since that portion of our work was published. 
 
 This Roll is of great interest, as it distinctly relates to 
 the laying the foundation of the Chapel in 1292, and is the 
 first Roll of a series relating to the work, which had been ori- 
 ginally numbered from 1 to 118, but many of which have been 
 lost. It commences thus, " Pimus. In honore dei be Marie 
 virg et be Steph Incip/' &c.* ' First, In honour of God, of 
 St. Mary the Virgin, and of St. Stephen, commences the 
 Roll of Expenses and Disbursements made relative to the 
 foundation of the King's Chapel in the Palace at Westmins- 
 ter, by the hands of Master Michael, of Canterbury, mason ; 
 namely, from Monday next after the feast of St. Mark the 
 Evangelist, April 28, in the 20th year of the reign of King 
 Edward, the son of King Henry.' 
 
 The two first entries record the purchase of two ship 
 loads of chalk, ' bought for the foundation of the said Chapel 
 by the said Master Michael and John le Conuers/ at 2s. per 
 load. The next items are, for 4 cwt. of burnt lime, at 3s. 
 per cwt.; two loads of ashes at Is. 3d.; one barge load of 
 foreign stone 6s. 6d. ; a barge load of sand at 6d. ; and 1 00 
 cart loads at %d per load. Then follows a payment to John 
 de Erceling of 4. 6s. 8d. for a ship load of Boulogne stone; 
 three loads of sand, e bought for mortar,' at 6d. per load; 
 a ship load of Boulogne stone, bought of Bonectus de Bo- 
 nonia, at 4. 135. 4d. ; and two cwt. of burnt lime at 6s. 
 bought of Roger de Grenehuth [Green-hythe?]. 
 
 Several of the ensuing items relate to the purchase of 
 timber, &c. to make a lodge or shed e for Master Michael 
 and his masons ;' and 6s. was expended for iron and the mak- 
 ing of six pick-axes at 12d. each, e to break stones for the 
 
 * The indorsement is, " Primus Rotulus," &c. The ' First Roll of Works 
 first executed for the Chapel of St. Stephen in the Palace at Westminster.' 
 
FOUNDATION ROLL OF ST. STEPHEN S CHAPEL. 
 
 425 
 
 walls.' The total charge for articles purchased during the week, 
 amounted to 13. 4s. 5d. ; and forty shiUings was paid for 
 wages. Two carpenters, named Robert le Hackre and Alan 
 de Clutisdale, were paid 5d. a day wages ; and forty-seven 
 persons had from 2^d. to 3d. a-day (chiefly the lower sum) 
 e for working at the foundations of the Chapel, making mor- 
 tar, and various other operations/ 
 
 It is evident from the above account, that this edifice was 
 raised on a concrete basis, and how judiciously and substan- 
 tially that was made is demonstrated by the excellent state of 
 preservation in which the Crypt, or under chapel, still remains; 
 notwithstanding the ravages of the two disastrous fires 
 which, at different times, have destroyed the superstructure. 
 The bold simplicity of that chapel, as well as its general cor- 
 respondence with other buildings of the age, leave no doubt 
 on the mind of the architectural antiquary, of its having 
 been executed in the time of our first Edward.* 
 
 Whether the rebuilding of the Upper Chapel (after its 
 destruction in the "vehement fire" of 1298), was com- 
 menced by that monarch, or by his immediate successor, has 
 not been ascertained; but that the work had been exten- 
 sively proceeded with in the reign of Edward the Second, is 
 evident from the account Rolls of John de Norton and Wil- 
 
 * The following account Roll relating to the fabrication of a Banner of St. 
 Edward, for the King's Chapel, in theSlst year of Edward I., has been copied 
 from the original. ' Rotulus de Emptionibus ad opera Capellae Regis apud 
 Westminst. in Septimana in qua fuit festum S. Petri ad Vincula: An. R. xxi. 
 
 ' Custus B mnerii. 
 
 ' Magistro Roberto Aur' [Goldsmith ?] et socio suo, ad fabricandum Bannerii 
 S. Edwardi: a postremo die mensis Junii usque ad festum S. Petri ad Vincula, 
 per 48 dies operabiles, cap. pro se et socio suo, per singulos dies I2d. 48*. 
 
 ' Eidem, pro Vino ad deaurandum, 6d. 
 
 ' In 3 Florenis Aureis empt. 8*. 
 
 ' In Argento vivo, ad id. 22 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 liam de Chayllowe, of which abstracts have been given in a 
 preceding Chapter.* 
 
 In another account Roll of the 19th of Edward II., (anno 
 1325 or 1326,) of payments made by Robert de Pippeshull, 
 Comptroller, are stated the weekly expenses for felling tim- 
 ber in the forest of Tonbridge, for the 'King's Chapel at 
 Westminster, and the King's Chamber in the Tower of Lon- 
 don/ In the 1st week, commencing on Monday October 
 the 2 1st, John Atte Lake, carpenter, was employed at the 
 above labour at the wages of 5?d. a day ; and seven other 
 carpenters at 5d. a day; and Robert Rowe, mariner, was 
 paid 6s. 8d. for the freight, in one barge, of forty pieces of 
 timber, and carriage of the same from " Nwehuth " to 
 Westminster. Additional carpenters were employed in the 
 following week, at similar wages, and their work was conti- 
 nued for some time. 
 
 After the deposition of Edward the Second, the operations 
 appear to have been discontinued until the spring of 1330, 
 at which time they were recommenced by Edward the 
 Third; and they were afterwards progressively carried on 
 until the final completion of the internal decorations of the 
 Chapel, about the year 1363 or 1364.f That the architec- 
 tural works, however, had been finished several years pre- 
 viously, is evident from the letters patent, or royal charter, by 
 which St. Stephen's was constituted a Collegiate establish- 
 ment, and which bears date on the 6th of August in the 22d 
 year (anno 1348) of King Edward the Third. 
 
 * Vide ante, pp. 120-127. 
 
 f The letters patent of Edward III., addressed to the Sheriffs, Mayors, &c. 
 stating, that ' he had assigned William de Walsyngham to impress as many 
 Painters in the City of London as would be sufficient for the King's operations 
 in St. Stephen's Chapel,' were dated at Westminster on June the 4th, 37th of 
 Edw. III., (vide Patent Roll of that year, part i. m. 10), and is therefore cor- 
 respondent to 1363. For numerous interesting particulars relating to the pro- 
 gress of the building, from divers records, see before from p. 147 to 186. 
 
ENDOWMENTS MADE TO ST. STEPHEN S COLLEGE. 
 
 This instrument states, that the King, at his own ex- 
 pense, had caused to be perfected, " nostris sumptibus regiis 
 fecimus consummari," within the Palace of Westminster, 
 an elegant Chapel which had been nobly commenced by his 
 progenitors in honour of the blessed Stephen the Proto- 
 martyr; and that for the honour of Almighty God, of the 
 blessed Virgin, and of the said martyr, he ordained and con- 
 stituted it collegiate, for an establishment of a Dean, twelve se- 
 cular Canons, and the same number of Vicars, with other requi- 
 site ministers, to celebrate religious services for the benefit of 
 the King, and of his progenitors and successors for ever ; that 
 he endowed the Dean and Canons with his great 'hospicium' 
 house, or hostel, in Lombard Street, within the City of Lon- 
 don ; with the patronage and advowsons of the Churches of 
 Dewsbury and Wakefield, in the county of York ; and also 
 with so much money out of his treasury, as, together with the 
 profits from the house and churches, would amount to the 
 sum of 500 a year, until he should provide them with lands 
 or revenue to that annual amount.* 
 
 Repeated additions were made to the original endowments 
 of this establishment by the same monarch, who has been 
 generally regarded (from that cause possibly) as the royal 
 founder of this Chapel ; although, as his own charter testi- 
 fies, it had been ' nobly commenced' by his predecessors. 
 The vast sums, however, which he must have lavished on 
 the architectural and decorative works of this once pre-emi- 
 nently splendid edifice, as well as the great value of his 
 grants to the College, would seem fully to justify the honour 
 so attributed to this generous Prince. Among his other 
 valuable gifts to the Dean and Canons, he granted to them 
 on the 1st of January 1353, ' a plot of ground below his 
 
 * Carta Reg. Edw. III. de Fundatione. Dugdale's " Monasticon," vol. vi. 
 p. 1350. 
 
428 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 Palace towards the north, extending in length between the 
 walls of St. Stephen's Chapel, and the e RecepteJ or Cham- 
 ber of Receipts of his Exchequer ; and in breadth, from the 
 wall of the Great Hall at Westminster to the Thames, 
 wherein to build a Cloister and other houses necessary for 
 the said Chapel, &c. he also exempted them from the pay- 
 ment of all taxes, and gave them the right of free ingress 
 and egress through the Great Hall all the day time.'* 
 
 Divers other grants were made by Edward the Third to 
 this Chapel ; and among them, in May 1358, was that of the 
 King's Tower at ( Bokelesbury,' called Seutes-tour ; and in 
 
 * Carta R. Edw. III. de ampliore Dotatione Capellse. Dugdale's " Monas- 
 ticon," vol. vi. p. 1351. The munificence displayed by Edward the Third in 
 his benefactions to the Dean and Brethren of the Royal Chapel of St. Stephen, 
 appears to have excited strong feelings of displeasure in the minds of the Ab- 
 bots of Westminster ; and while Nicholas Litlington held that office in the lat- 
 ter part of King Edward's reign, those feelings became manifested by an 
 attempt on the part of the Abbot to assert his superiority over the collegiate 
 establishment. In July 1377, William de Colchester, afterwards Abbot of West- 
 minster, was appointed by the convent to prosecute their claim, which was 
 founded on their asserted right of supreme ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the 
 entire parish of St. Margaret, in which St. Stephen's Chapel was considered to 
 be situated. The cause was transferred to the Court of Rome, and a decision 
 was obtained in favour of the Abbot, purporting that St. Stephen's was, equally 
 with all other chapels within the parish of St. Margaret, subject to his jurisdic- 
 tion. Nicholas Slake was then connected with the Royal Chapel, and as he 
 was in great favour with the King and the Courtiers generally, it may be readily 
 supposed that he would be strongly supported in refusing to yield obedience to 
 the Pope's determination of the cause against his brethren. Hence the suit was 
 protracted, neither party choosing to give way ; and it was not until 1394 that a 
 compromise was effected, through the interposition of the then King Richard 
 the Second, and other persons of importance in the State. By the composition 
 thus entered into it was agreed, that the Chapel of St. Stephen, the Chapel of 
 St. Mary under it, a little Chapel on the south side, then used as a Chapter- 
 house, and the Chapel de la Pewe, should be exempt both from the parish and 
 the abbey ; but the right to institute and install the Deans there was reserved 
 to the Abbot. Vide Widmore's " History of Westminster Abbey," p. 103, 104. 
 
ESTABLISHMENT BELONGING TO ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 
 
 October 1369, of an Hospicium, or House, called Le Reole, in 
 the City of London, together with their respective appur- 
 tenances. Philippa, his Queen, was likewise a benefactress 
 to this foundation ; and Richard the Second completed the 
 full endowment of the College, by investing it with various 
 manors in Kent, as directed by his grandfather in his will.* 
 In a record in the Pell Office of the 9th of Richard the 
 Second, the following curious entry occurs : ' To the Boy 
 Bishop in the King's Free Chapel within the Palace at 
 Westminster, of the King's alms, 20s/ 
 
 From the Deed of Compromise mentioned in a previous 
 note, effected between the members of St. Stephen's College 
 and the Abbot of Westminster in August 1394, we learn that 
 the Collegiate buildings were then occupied by thirty-eight 
 persons, ' serving God in the Chapel of St. Stephen,' namely, 
 a Dean, twelve Canons secular, thirteen Vicars, four Clerks, 
 six Choristers, and two Servitors, a Verger, and a Keeper of 
 the Chapel de la Pewe. It also notices a small Chapel, con- 
 tiguous to the Chapel of St. Stephen on the south, then 
 being used as a Chapter House ; and states, that a Cloister 
 and Chapter House were intended to be erected anew on a 
 
 * Stow says, (" London," Strype's edit. 1755, p. 632) that Edward the 
 Third also built for the use of his Chapel, " at some distance west in the Little 
 Sanctuary, a strong Clochard of stone covered with lead, and placed therein 
 three great hells, since usually rung at coronations, triumphs, funerals of 
 princes, and their obits:" of those bells he adds, "men fabled that their 
 ringing sowred all the drink in the town." The clochard or tower, here men- 
 tioned, and which stood near the spot now occupied by the new Guildhall of 
 Westminster, was, however, of much earlier date than the above reign, and was 
 the belfry of the Abbey Church, as may be ascertained from Widmore's " Hist, 
 of West. Abbey," p. 11 ; and Dr. Stukeley's communication to the"" Archse- 
 logia, vol. i. p. 39. Edward's bell-tower was the massive building adjoining to 
 the Great Hall, on the east side, in the Speaker's court, and the walls of which 
 were heightened in the 1 8th year of Richard the Second, when the Hall itself 
 
430 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 plot of ground lying between St. Stephen's Chapel and the 
 Receipt Offices of the Exchequer, 280 feet 10^ inches in 
 length, and 95|- feet and 2 inches in breadth. 
 
 Prior to the suppression of this with other free Chapels, by 
 a statute of the 1st Edward VI., (anno 1547) the Cloisters 
 had been rebuilt by Dr. John Chambers (Physician to Henry 
 the Eighth), who had been promoted to the Deanery in 1526* ; 
 and was the last person who held that office.* Stow in- 
 
 was undergoing a similar elevation. See Smith's " Antiquities of Westminster," 
 pp. 89-92 ; and 206. Numerous benefactions were made to the Dean and 
 Canons of St. Stephen's College in subsequent times, full particulars of which 
 have been given by Mr. Hawkins in the same work, pp. 100-125. 
 
 * The following List of the Deans of St. Stephen's Chapel has been drawn 
 up from the most valid authorities, but as our present limits will not admit of 
 the annexation of the latter, we insert the names only : 
 
 Thomas Cross, the first Dean, was appointed August 20, 1348. 
 
 Michael de Northburgh, or Northbrook, app. Feb. 25, 1351. 
 
 Thomas de Keynes, or Kaynes, app. Nov. 26, 1355. 
 
 Thomas Rowse, or Rous, app. June 20, 1367. 
 
 William de Sleford, app. May 17, 1369. 
 
 Thomas Lynton was Dean Aug. 4, 1377, as appears from a mandate (printed 
 in the " Foedera)" from Rich. II., of that date. 
 
 William de Sleford appears to have been restored to his office, unless there 
 was a second Dean so called, as that name is attached (as Dean of St. Stephen's) 
 to two deeds respectively dated in 1383 and 1394. 
 
 Nicholas Slake, or Selake, was Dean in 1399. 
 
 Richard Prentys, appointed, probably, in 1403. 
 
 Nicholas Slake was re-appointed, and held the office in 1410 and 1411. 
 
 Edmund Lacy was Dean in 1414. 
 
 John Prentys is mentioned as Dean in several deeds respectively bearing 
 date from 1418 to 1443. 
 
 William Walesby was Dean in 1452. 
 
 Robert Kyrkeham was Dean about 1460. 
 
 John Alcockapp. Aug. 29, 1461, and made Bishop of Rochester in 1471. 
 
 Peter Courtenay was Dean in 1473, and became Bishop of Exeter in 1478. 
 
 Henry Sharp occurs as Dean in November 1478. 
 
 William Smyth was Dean before 1492, in which year he was promoted to the 
 See of Lichfield and Coventry. 
 
CLOISTERS OF ST. STEPHEN S CHAPEL. 
 
 431 
 
 forms us, that these Cloisters, of e( curious workmanship/' 
 were erected at "the charges of 11,000 marks/' From 
 discoveries recently made, there can be little doubt but that 
 a portion of the more ancient Cloisters of Richard the 
 Second's time was adapted to, and incorporated in, the new 
 work of Dr. Chambers. The Cloisters first built, about 
 1356", were on the south side of the Chapel, on the spot 
 recently called Cotton Garden.* The annual revenues of St. 
 Stephen's College, at the time of its suppression, were 
 valued at 1085. 10s. 5d.f 
 
 On the 22d of July, in the fourth of Edward the Sixth, 
 (anno 1550) a charter was granted by that sovereign to Sir 
 Ralph Fane, Knt. bestowing on him the site and buildings 
 of the dissolved College of St. Stephen for his sendees at 
 Musselburgh in the expedition against the Scots, and for the 
 ransom of the Earl of Huntley, whom he had taken pri- 
 soner, and surrendered to the King. It recites, that with 
 
 Edmund Martyne was Dean in 1498. 
 
 John Forster held the office in 1509. 
 
 John Chambre, or Chambers, the last Dean, was appointed in 1526. 
 
 In the list of Deans given by Mr. Hawkins (vide " Antiquities of West- 
 minster") all the above names are inserted except that of Thomas Lynton > 
 but he includes those of John Boor, Richard Kyngeston, Robert Stillington, 
 (who was Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1461), William Dudley, William At- 
 water, Thomas Hobbes, and John Vecy, or Voysey. Those persons, however, 
 although styled Deans of the King's Chapel, do not appear to have been Deans 
 of St. Stephen's, but of some other Royal Chapel. 
 
 * Sir Robert Cotton had a house (and garden) abutting against the Painted 
 Chamber; and it was there that his invaluable collection of MSS., now in the 
 British Museum, was originally stored. ' 
 
 f Dugdale's " Monasticon," vol. vi. p. 1349. According to Browne Willis 
 (vide " Hist, of Abbies," vol. ii. p. 135) independently of annuity charges 
 amounting to .39, there wa* paid in pensions in 1553, out of the revenues of 
 the late College of St. Stephen to its former prebendaries, canons, vicars, &c. 
 divers sums forming an aggregate of 201. Os. lOd. yearly. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 the advice of his Council, the King had given to Sir R. Fane 
 all the buildings and site of the recently-dissolved College 
 or Free Chapel of St. Stephen at Westminster, with all the 
 tenements, chambers, gardens, orchards, lands, heredita- 
 ments, &c. within the following limits : namely, all that tract 
 or parcel of land which was bounded by Westminster Bridge 
 towards the north; the river Thames to the east, the Queen's 
 Bridge to the south, the house called " the Lords* Parlia- 
 ment House " towards the south-west ; the Whitehall and 
 the buildings called the Court of Augmentation of the Re- 
 venues of the Crown, and Westminster Hall, towards the 
 west ; and the Receipt of the Exchequer to the north. And 
 the grant also includes the whole entrance " le entre " to 
 the said College, together with a bridge adjacent lying under 
 the " gallary " leading to the Star-chamber, together with all 
 the houses, lands, hereditaments, &c. on either side of the 
 said entrance, situated between the Palace of Westminster 
 on the north, the Receipt of the Exchequer on the west, and 
 the river Thames on the east, reserving only the upper part 
 of the Church or Chapel of the said College (above the 
 vault or Lower Chapel), which the King had already given 
 and assigned for the House of Parliament, and in which 
 Parliaments were to be held.' The premises were to be held 
 in free soccage as of the royal manor of East Greenwich.* 
 
 * See " Additional MSS." in the British Museum, No. 6176, fol. 22, copied 
 from the original deed in the Augmentation Office. From a memorandum an- 
 nexed, it appears that the property thus granted, was valued at 13. 6s. %d. per 
 annum on the 10th of April 1552. It had been then re-granted to Sir John 
 Gate, or Gates, K.G. and his heirs. In the reign of Elizabeth, it reverted to 
 the Crown, and her Majesty appropriated the premises for the residence of the 
 Auditor and Tellers of the Exchequer. 
 
 In the Augmentation Office is an account Roll of ' the Collector of the Rents 
 of all Chantries, Free Chapels, &c. in the county of Middlesex, which had 
 come into the possession of the crown by an Act passed in the first year of the 
 
ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL, INTERIOR. 433 
 
 All recollection of the original sumptuous decorations of 
 this Chapel, had been lost from the era of its appropriation 
 to the sittings of the House of Commons, until it became 
 necessary to enlarge the interior in 1800, in consequence of 
 the Union with Ireland. It was then discovered that all 
 the internal walls had been gorgeously enriched with paint- 
 ing, gilding, and sculpture ; that the elegant tracery of the 
 windows had been highly adorned with stained and painted 
 glass; and, in fact, that every portion of the interior had 
 been most splendidly embellished. Among the paintings 
 on the walls were represented, in numerous compartments, 
 the Histories of Jonah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Job, Tobit, Ju- 
 dith, Susanna, and of Bell and the Dragon ; the Ascension 
 of Christ, and the Miracles and Martyrdom of the Apos- 
 
 reign of Edward the Sixth. It contains a specification of the annual rents 
 of a considerable number of tenements, or houses, gardens, &c. (together with 
 the names of the tenants) , which had belonged to ' the College of St. Stephen 
 in the City of Westminster.' The highest rent which occurs for a single tene- 
 ment was jfe7. 3*. 4rf. ; another was held at 6 ; and two others at 100*. each. 
 The others were let at various rents downward from that sum, to the small 
 amounts of 16*. 8d. and 3*. 4d. Altogether about ninety tenements are 
 noticed, and the total rental is stated at the sum of ~2. 14$. Id. annually. 
 
 One tenement, called " the Cheker," was held by John Twallowe at the 
 rent of 100*. ; and divers tenements and rooms in " Cheker Aley" were held 
 separately by eleven persons, at rents decreasing from 10*. to 3*. 4d. A tene- 
 ment in " Ky nyesstreete, } ' was rented at 54*. ; divers others in " saynte Ste- 
 vens Aley," were rented, separately, by nine persons, viz. one at 54*. 4d. and 
 eight at 16*. 8rf. each ; a tenement in " Longe Staple " was let at 56*. Sd. ; 
 another called " the Bull " was held at 20*. ; a certain house called " a Dove- 
 howse " was rented at 6*. 8rf. ; a tenement opposite " the Palace of Westmins- 
 ter " at 33*. 4d. ; and a tenement called "the Clockehowse" in the tenure and 
 occupation of Minione Palmer, widow, was rented at ,6. There was also a fee 
 farm rent, paid from the City of London (by the Sheriffs) of 60*. lOd. per 
 a nnum. The above are all the entries in the account which specify anything as 
 to the situation or description of the houses. 
 
 2 F 
 
43 A 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 ties. In the illuminations of the windows were exhibited 
 the stories of Adam and Eve, of Noah and his Family, 
 of Abraham, Joseph, and the Israelites, and of the life of 
 our Saviour from his baptism to his death and crucifixion. 
 Many single figures of angels and of armed knights, to- 
 gether with the figures of Edward the Third and his family, 
 and numerous heraldic shields of his nobility, were com- 
 prised also among the decorations of this superb and costly 
 edifice.* The jewels, vestments, hangings, and other fur- 
 niture of the Chapel, all corresponded in richness to its 
 other embellishments. 
 
 Near St. Stephen's Chapel, and, most probably, on the 
 south side, but the precise spot has not been ascertained, 
 was the small Chapel of St. Mary de la Pewe, or Our Lady 
 of the Pew, of which frequent mention is made in records 
 relating to the Old Palace. It was in this Chapel that 
 Richard the Second made his offerings to the Virgin, pre- 
 viously to meeting the insurgents under Wat Tyler in 
 Smithfield, in 1381 ; and many rich gifts were accustomed 
 
 * For more minute details of the architecture and decorations of this Chapel 
 the reader will refer to the " Plans, Elevations, and Sections of St. Stephen's 
 Chapel," published by the Society of Antiquaries in 1795, from the drawings 
 and measurements of the late Mr. John Carter ; and the " Additional Plates," 
 of the same Society, published in April 1807, from the delineations of Mr. 
 Richard Smirke ; to Smith's " Antiquities of Westminster," which particu- 
 larly relates to St. Stephen's Chapel, published in June 1807 ; to Mr. Carter's 
 " Ancient Architecture of England," vol. ii. 1811 ; " and to Mr. Adam Lee's 
 " Description" of his " Cosmoramic Views" of this Palace and Chapel, 
 which were publicly exhibited about the year 1831. Of the pictures and 
 statues within the Chapel, Mr. Smith gives the following summary : " Forty- 
 six painted figures of angels, five feet high ; twenty youths about three feet 
 high, painted on the same level with the angels ; thirty-two knights painted 
 also, exclusive of those at the west end ; twenty youths, similar to those by the 
 angels, painted on the same level as the knights ; twelve statues of stone, at 
 least six feet high, on brackets or piers round the Chapel." 
 
CHAPEL DE LA PEWE. WESTMINSTER HALL. 43-5 
 
 to be made at the altar of Our Lady in this little edifice. * 
 In January 1411, the sum of five shillings was appro- 
 priated by deed under a bequest of John Ware, late a canon 
 of St. Stephen's, to maintain a daily light in a silver lamp, 
 before the image of " St. Mary the Virgin in Pewa* 
 In another deed, dated in 1443, it is styled the Oratory, 
 called Le Petve, belonging to the College or Chapel of St. 
 Stephen. Stow says, that on the 1 4th of February 1452, 
 *" by negligence of a scholar appointed to put forth the lights 
 of this Chapel, the Image of Our Lady, richly decked with 
 jewels, precious stones, pearls, and rings, more than any 
 jeweller could judge the price (for so saith my author, John 
 Pigot) was, with all this apparel, ornaments, and Chapel 
 itself, burnt ; but since again re-edified by Anthony, Earl 
 Rivers."" f That nobleman by his will, dated in June 1483, 
 bequeathed his heart to be buried in this Chapel ; but his 
 decapitation at Pontefract in the same year, and the conse- 
 quent troubles of his family, prevented his wishes being 
 accomplished. At what time the Chapel was finally de- 
 stroyed does not appear. 
 
 WESTMINSTER HALL. Originally built by King William 
 Rufus, strengthened and enlarged by Richard the Second, 
 new fronted and repaired early in the reign of George the 
 Fourth, and internally renovated, in respect to its stone 
 work, within the last two years, this magnificent struc- 
 ture forms one of the most imposing objects in the British 
 Metropolis ; and whether considered in respect to its na- 
 tional associations, or to the skill and science displayed in 
 
 * From the frequent attestation of miracles, reported to have "been wrought 
 here, the Chapel became a place of great devotion ; and many indulgence* 
 were granted to those worshipping our Lady at this altar. 
 
 f Vide Strype's Stow's " London," vol. ii. p. 633, edit. 1755. 
 
 2 F 2 
 
436 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 its construction, it is alike interesting to the historian, the 
 architect, and the antiquary. 
 
 From the time of its erection by Rufus, between the years 
 1097 and 1099, it does not appear that any extensive repara- 
 tions were made in the Great Hall prior to the reign of 
 Richard the Second. That occasional repairs were effected 
 there can be no doubt, as such are mentioned in the records 
 already quoted of Edward the Second's time ; * and in the 
 introduction to the recently-published " Issue Roll " of 
 Thomas de Brantingham, it is stated (p. xxxii), that among 
 the ancient documents in the Pell Office, there are accounts 
 of payments being made in the 1st year of Edward the 
 First " To Stephen, the King's Painter, for ' whitewashing 
 and decorating the King's Great Hall at Westminster; ' and 
 to Rich. Wolward, Keeper of the King's House at West- 
 minster, 1 mark to repair the King's Vineyard there/ f 
 
 * In a Wardrobe account of the llth year (anno 1317) of Edward the Se- 
 cond, (extracts from which were read before the Society of Antiquaries in the 
 spring of 1835), the following items occur, viz. 
 
 * To Gilbert de Wynston, for a great wooden table bought by him for the 
 King's table in the Great Hall of the Palace of Westminster, in the month of 
 December in this year, \. 13*. 4d. 
 
 4 To Thomas de Stebenhith [Stepney] , mercer, of London, for a great hang- 
 ing ' dorsorium ' of wool, wrought with figures of the King and Earls upon 
 it, bought of him for the King's service, in his Hall, on solemn festivals in 
 December, 30. 
 
 ' To Thomas de Berlay, for money paid by him for making and sewing of a 
 border of green cloth round the said hanging, for saving the same from being 
 damaged in fixing it up, Westminster, 5th of January, 6*. 3d. ; and mem. 
 that the said hanging was delivered to Dom' Ralph de Stok, to keep in his cus- 
 tody, on the same day.' 
 
 f In his third year, Edward the First directed his treasurer to ' pay to Mas- 
 ter Robert de Beverley, Keeper of our Works at Westminster and the Tower, 
 .1100 for the works in our Church and Palace at Westminster, made therein 
 against the coronation, viz. for grey freestone, 24. 13s. 3d. ; for timber 
 
WESTMINSTER HALL, REBUILT BV RICHARD II. 
 
 The earliest authentic record known to be extant respecting 
 the renovation of this edifice by Richard the Second, are the 
 Letters Patent of that King, dated the 2 1 st of January in 
 the 17th of his reign (anno 1394), and addressed to John 
 Godmerstone, clerk, appointing him f to repair the Great 
 Hall within the Palace of Westminster, to take masons, 
 carpenters, and other workmen, and set them to the said 
 repairs ; and also to take such stone as should be necessary 
 for the work ; and to sell to the King's use the old materials 
 of the Hall, together with a certain old bridge over the 
 Thames, &c.* In the following year, as appears from an 
 indenture in old French (dated the 18th of March in the 18th 
 of Richard II.) preserved in the Pell Office, Richard Wash- 
 bourn and John S waive (Swallow), masons, were engaged to 
 heighten the entire walls of the Hall to the extent of two 
 feet of assize, with Reigate ashlar, and Caen stones, ( Pere 
 de Marre ' (sea-borne stone) where necessary, according to 
 the purport of a form and model devised by Master Henry 
 Zeneley, and delivered to the said masons by Watkin Wai- 
 boards, &c. 108*. 6$d. with stipends to the carpenters, painters, plasterers, 
 stonemasons, and other workmen.' Vide " Issue Roll," of Thos. de Brant- 
 ingham, &c. Introduction, by Mr. Frederick Devon, p. xxxiii. 
 
 * Vide " Rot. Patent. " in Turri, 17th Rich. II. part i. mem. 3. This record 
 (which has been hitherto unquoted) proves the error of Stow in stating, that the 
 Great Hall was "begun to be repaired in 1397," the work having been nearly 
 three years in progress at that time. Richard the Second, he continues, 
 " caused the walls, windows, and roof to be taken down and new made, with 
 a stately porch, and divers lodgings of a marvellous work, and with great costs, 
 all which he levied on strangers banished or flying out of their countries, who 
 obtained license to remain in this land by the King's charters, which they pur- 
 chased with great sums of money John Boterell being Clerk of the Works." 
 Strype's Stow's " London," vol. ii. p. 627. Stow vas mistaken also in saying, 
 that ' the walls were taken down,' which was not the fact, as they were cased 
 over with new ashlar work. 
 
138 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE 
 
 don, his warden :* they were also properly to secure the 
 upper course of the said work, " par lynel " (bats and cramp 
 irons?); receiving payment for their labour at the rate of 
 12d. per foot, lineal measure. They were likewise to con- 
 struct, and securely fix in the inner walls, twenty-six ( souses' 
 (under-props), or sustaining corbels, of Caen stone ; and to 
 carve every corbel in conformity to a pattern shewn to 
 them by the treasurer ; for each of these corbel supports, 
 so wrought, and certain connecting facings of Reigate stone, 
 they were to be paid 20*. Every necessary for the said 
 works, namely, * stone, lime^ sand, scaffolding, engines/ &c. 
 was to be supplied at the King's expense (together with 
 lodgings herbergage* for the masons and their companions), 
 except manual labour and c the instruments [tools] used by 
 the masons in their art/ A moiety of the work was to be 
 completed by the ensuing feast of St. John the Baptist ; and 
 the other moiety by Candlemas-day, (February the 2d) m 
 the following year.f 
 
 There can be no doubt but that the twenty- six corbel 
 ( souses ' (thirteen on each side) were introduced for the better 
 support of the immense timber-framed roof which surmounts 
 and spans over the vast area of this building, and which forms, 
 one of the noblest examples of scientific construction in 
 carpentry that exists in any part of the world, it having no 
 pearing whatsoever, except at the extremities of the great 
 ribs, which abut against the side walls, and rest upon the 
 above corbels. ;[ It was requisite, however, that other con- 
 
 * Henry Zeneley, or r as he is called in other records, Yeveley and Yevele, 
 was one of the masons employed in 1395 to construct the tomb of Richard II. 
 and Anne of Bohemia, his first consort, in the Abbey Church at Westminster. 
 
 t See Rymer's " Foedera," torn. iii. pars iv. p. 105, edit. 1740. 
 
 J In a small tract descriptive of " Westminster Hall," published a few years 
 ago by Mr. J. Rickman, that gentleman remarks, that " the difficulty of ex. 
 
WESTMINSTER HALL, REBUILT BY RICHARD II. 439 
 
 trivances should be adopted to resist the .weight and lateral 
 thrust of the new roof; the original walls of William Rufus, 
 (which had been chiefly formed of rubble and grout-work) 
 were therefore strengthened by an external casing of stone, 
 one foot seven inches in thickness ; and divers arched or 
 flying buttresses, viz. six on the western and three on the 
 eastern side, of considerable height and solidity, were also 
 erected as abutments.* 
 
 The northern front of the Great Hall, with its embattled 
 flanking towers and magnificent porch, was an addition made 
 to the original entrance by Richard the Second ; except, pos- 
 sibly, the upper part of the eastern tower, which appears not 
 to have been finished until the succeeding reign. But the 
 Hall itself was completed before Christmas 1398;f and 
 that festival was kept within it, by the King, in a " most 
 royal " manner, " with every day iustings and running at 
 the tilt ; whereunto resorted such a number of people that 
 there was every day spent xxvi or xxviii oxen, and three 
 
 plaining in what manner such a spaa of roof could have been supported before 
 the flying buttresses were erected, was done away [during the renovation of the 
 north front about 1820] by the development of an ancient triple door- way at 
 the northern entrance, indicating that the Hall was originally divided by pillars 
 of wood or stone, so as to form a nave and side aisles in the manner of a large 
 church." We have no proof, however, of such pillars having ever stood there. 
 
 * That no more than three arch buttresses were erected against the eastern 
 wall, doubtless arose from there being previously, on that side, the massive 
 belfry tower (already spoken of) and the old buildings constituting the ' Re- 
 ceipt Offices ' of the Exchequer, which formed abutments sufficiently substan- 
 tial for the purpose of the Architect, whose profound and practical knowledge 
 of geometry in the construction of the Hall roof is still the theme of such 
 strong admiration among the professors of the art. 
 
 f Stow says 1399; but it must be recollected that our annalist, with some of 
 the older chroniclers, commenced the year with the feast of the Nativity. King 
 Richard was deposed in September 1399 ; and on the Christmas of that year he 
 was a prisoner in Pontefract Castle. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 hundred sheep, besides fowle without number. Also the 
 King caused a garmente for himself to be made of gold, 
 siluer, and precious stones to the value of 3000 markes/' 
 
 Partial repairs of this edifice, accompanied by minor alter- 
 ations (as the opening a new door-way below the great win- 
 dow at the south end, in 1680,* &c.) were made in different 
 reigns, prior to the restoration of the entrance front, (ex- 
 cept its regal statuary), with Bath stone in the years 1819-20. 
 This work was very skilfully accomplished under the direc- 
 tion of the late Mr. Thomas Gayfere, mason, who was like- 
 wise the chief artificer employed in the beautiful renovation 
 of King Henry the Seventh's Chapel, between the years 
 1809 and 1822. When the new front was in progress, an 
 additional tier of windows was inserted in the slope of the 
 roof on each side of the Hall, and the lantern upon the roof 
 was renewed and glazed.f 
 
 * This door-way, which was originally made for the convenience of the Lords 
 in proceeding into the Hall to attend the trial of Lord Viscount Stafford, 
 was afterwards connected with the passage communicating with the staircase of 
 the House of Commons. It is thus mentioned in the " State Trials,"" All 
 things being in readiness, and a large door-place broken through the upper end 
 of Westminster Hall into that room which was heretofore the ' Court of Wards,* 
 their Lordships passed from their ' House ' first into the Painted Chamber, 
 then through that called the Court of Requests ; thence, turning on the left 
 hand, into that called the Court of Wards, they entered at the door so broke 
 down as aforesaid, into Westminster Hall, and passed through a long Gallery 
 placed between the King's Bench and Chancery Courts into this new erected 
 Court " for the trial of the Earl. Howell, vol. iii. p. 102. 
 
 f The new lantern is of cast iron ; but the florid style in which it is designed 
 does not accord with the simplicity of the highly-pitched roof of the building. 
 By glazing it, also, every indication was destroyed of its original purpose, as an 
 aperture for the emission of smoke, when, in the usual mode of our old Baro- 
 nial and Collegiate Halls, a large wood fire was made on a circular stone- 
 hearth beneath, with a hollow surrounding it for the reception of the embers, 
 Such a hearth is still in use in the College diuing-hall at Westminster. 
 
WESTMINSTER HALL, REPAIRED IN 1835-36. 441 
 
 Whilst the Hall continued closed during the year of sus- 
 pense, prior to the coronation of George the Fourth, the 
 opportunity was judiciously seized for a thorough repair of 
 the timber roof. At that time, forty loads of well-seasoned 
 oak, obtained from old ships broken up in Portsmouth dock- 
 yard, were used in renewing decayed parts, and in uniformly 
 completing the roof at the north end, where it had been 
 originally left unfinished : the entire roof is of oak. 
 
 Shortly before the occurrence of the late fire, it had been 
 determined to renovate the whole internal stone-work of 
 the Hall ; and this has been most effectually and skilfully 
 executed under the direction of Sir Robert Smirke. The old 
 facings of the walls were cut away, and their place is supplied 
 by a beautiful ashlaring of Huddlestone stone, six inches in 
 thickness.* The siirmounting cornice and corbels, with all 
 the armorial devices and sculptures connected with them, 
 have been renewed, in exact correspondence with the original 
 work. The great south window, with the elegant niches to 
 the right and left, f and all the lower windows on the east 
 and west sides, have likewise been completely restored. The 
 floor also, (the ground having been lowered about twelve 
 inches) has been entirely new-paved with York landings, in 
 uniform lines ; each stone being nearly two feet square. 
 
 On the western side of the Hall are seven large door-ways 
 
 * This stone has been obtained from a quarry on the estate of R. O. Gas- 
 coyne, Esq. at Parlington, near Leeds ; which appears to have been wrought 
 two centuries ago, and was recently brought into fresh notice by the opening 
 made on account of the Leeds and Selby Railway. 
 
 f " At y e upper end of Westminster Hall are y e figures of Edw. y e Confessor, 
 W m y e conquerour, W m Rufus, Hen. y e 1 st , &King Stephen, w th crouns on their 
 heads ; and on either side of y e great gate of y e Hall are y e rest down to Rich d 
 y, cnd^ vW h wa s ye founder as is evident by y e device, w ch is a hart round y e verge 
 of y e wall & y c arms carved held by angels." Vide Harleian MS. No. 5900: 
 written, probably, in the time of Charles II. 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 communicating with the new Law Courts of Westminster ; 
 which were designed by Mr. Soane (now Sir John) and 
 built under his direction between the years 1820 and 1825. 
 These Courts were erected upon the site of the old Exche- 
 quer Court, and divers offices, &c. : their relative situations 
 and comparative extent, may be ascertained from the Ground 
 Plan, Plate n. 
 
 On the eastern side of New Palace Yard, near the bank 
 of the Thames, stood various old buildings and offices for- 
 merly belonging to the Exchequer ; and adjoining to them, 
 northward, was an arched Gateway, apparently of Henry 
 the Third's time, which communicated with a boarded pas- 
 sage and stairs leading to the water. At different times, 
 since 1807^ the whole of this range of building has been 
 pulled down ; the last remaining part, which included the 
 offices where the trials of the pix, and the printing of Ex- 
 chequer bills, were recently carried on, was destroyed early 
 in the year 1836. There was also an apartment in the same 
 edifice, in which that despotic tribunal the STAB CHAMBER 
 COURT, held its sittings during the most obnoxious period 
 of its career; namely, from the end of Queen Elizabeth's 
 reign, until the final abolition of the Court by Parliament, in 
 1 64 1 . This, however, could not have been the " Chambre des 
 Estoilles," or " Camera Stettata" in which the Court ori- 
 ginally sat, and from which it received its designation * ; for 
 the building itself was evidently of the Elizabethan age, and 
 
 * The Star Chamber Court is supposed to have obtained its name 
 from the roof or ceiling of the Chamber, in which its judges originally sat, 
 having been decorated with gilded stars. Vide Archseologia, vol. viii. p. 404. 
 In the same work, vol. xxv. pp. 342-393, is a very interesting Dissertation on 
 the origin, functions, jurisdiction and practice, of the Court of Star Chamber, 
 by John Bruce, Esq. F.S.A. It may be inferred from various records, that the 
 old Star Chamber Court occupied the same site, or nearly so, as the late build- 
 ings. 
 
STAR CHAMBER, AND CLOCK TOWER. 
 
 443 
 
 the date 1602, with the initials E. R. separated by an open 
 rose on a star, was carved over one of the doorways. An 
 interior view of this latter Star Chamber) as it appeared 
 shortly before its demolition, is shewn in Plate xx. The 
 ceiling was of oak, and had been very curiously devised in 
 moulded compartments, ornamented with roses, pomegra- 
 nates, portcullises, and fleurs-des-lys : it had also been gilt 
 and diversely coloured. 
 
 On the northern side of New Palace Yard, directly fronting 
 the entrance porch of the Great Hall, on a spot now hidden 
 by the houses on the terrace, stood a once famous Clock 
 Tower, which had been erected (and "furnished with a Clock,") 
 in the reign of King Edward the First, with a fine of 800 
 marks that had been levied on Sir Ralph de Hengham, Chief 
 Justice of the King's Bench, for altering a Record although, 
 as we learn from Coke's " Institutes," it was done out of 
 mere compassion for a poor man. The keepers of this Clock 
 Tower, Clock-house, or Great Clock, as it is variously termed, 
 were appointed by the Sovereign ; and the wages, as appears 
 from divers writs of appointment now extant, were 6d. a day, 
 payable at the Exchequer. Stow says, there was a Fountain 
 near the Tower, which at coronations and great triumphs was 
 " made to run with wine out of divers spouts." * The Tower 
 was puUed down about the year 1707? by order of Queen 
 Anne; and its Bell, which had been called Great Tom of 
 Westminster, was bought for St. Paul's Cathedral ; but it was 
 afterwards re-cast (with additional metal,) in consequence of 
 
 * In Hollar's print of New Palace Yard, published in 1647, the Clock Tower 
 and the Fountain are both shewn : the situation of the former is also indicated 
 by a dial in front of a house on the present terrace, having the motto from 
 Virgil, "Discite Justitiam moniti," which probably had been inscribed on the 
 old Tower, in allusion to the cause of its origin. 
 
444 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 being cracked in passing through Temple Bar, where it was 
 thrown from the carriage on which it had been placed. 
 
 Of the several entrance GATES to the Old Palace, that 
 erected by King Richard the Third is the only one of which 
 we have any description ; and although it may be inferred 
 from the records cited before, (vide pp. 337, 338) that other 
 buildings were either raised or repaired at Westminster by 
 the above sovereign, no document has been found by which 
 such an inference can be verified.* " On the west side/ 7 
 Stow says, of the Palace Court, "is a very fair gate, begun by 
 Richard III, in the year 1484, and was by him built a great 
 height, and many fair lodgings in it, but left unfinished, and 
 is called the High Tower, at Westminster."t Strype has 
 given some particulars respecting the eight wards of St. 
 Margaret's Parish, from which it appears that in Elizabeth's 
 reign this structure was known as "the Queen's Majesty's 
 Gate, in King Street.' 5 ! Maitland describes it, as " a very 
 beautiful and stately edifice, called High-Gate, situate at the 
 east end of Union Street/' but " having occasioned," he 
 remarks, " great obstructions to the Members of Parliament 
 in their passage to and from their respective houses, it was 
 taken down in the year 1 ?06/' 
 
 In June 180?, when the taverns and other houses in Union 
 Street were demolished, in order to enlarge the thoroughfare, it 
 was found that a remnant of the Gate had been left standing, 
 and had been wrought into a partition wall between the Mitre 
 and Horn Taverns. On the labourers proceeding to take it 
 
 * John Rous, praising Richard the Third for his architectural works, men- 
 tions Westminster as one of the places where he raised or improved buildings : 
 " Erat iste Rex Ricardus in sedificiis laudandus, ut Westmonasterii, & c . 
 multisque aliis locis, ut ad oculum manifesto evidet." 
 
 t Strype's Stow's " London," vol. ii. p. 634. 
 
 I Idem, p. 635. 
 
 " History of London," vol. ii, p. 1341 : edit. 1772. 
 
GATEWAY OF RICHARD III. ANCIENT CAPITAL. 445 
 
 down, the late Mr. Capon, who was always most sedulously at- 
 tentive to the preservation of whatever was curious in ancient 
 art, observed that on one of the stones, which had been 
 built up in the substance of the old wall, some remarkable 
 sculpture was apparent. This stone he had carefully re- 
 moved, and on freeing it from dirt and rubbish, it proved to 
 be the very extraordinary CAPITAL which is represented in 
 Plate xxxv., and in the three wood-cuts attached to the pre- 
 sent Chapter. 
 
 Wm. Capon, del. N. Wkittocik, se. 
 
 ANCIENT CAPITAL. 
 
 It is very evident that this Capital must have been exe- 
 cuted to commemorate the bestowal of some valuable grant or 
 confirmation, by King William Rufus, on Gislebertus, Abbot 
 of Westminster. In all probability, therefore, it had formed 
 part of a building within the Abbey, on which it had 
 been deemed expedient thus to record the gift of Rufus ; 
 but which having been afterwards destroyed, the materials 
 
446 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 were worked up into the gateway of King Richard the 
 Third's time.* 
 
 Wm. Capon, del. N. Wfdttocfi, sc. 
 
 ANCIENT CAPITAL. 
 
 * The value of a confirmatory charter, from such a rapacious grasper of 
 Church property as Rufus, must have been well known to the monks of West- 
 minster; and hence we may account for the origin of the sculptures and in- 
 scribed legend on this unique Capital. It appears from the Chartulary of West- 
 minster, now in the British Museum, that Rufus confirmed to the monks the 
 Church of Niwekerke in London, which they possessed by the gift of Alward ; 
 the lands which they possessed by the gift of King Edward, and those which he 
 himself had bestowed, &c., also the lands, and privileges, which they held in Lon- 
 don ; and lastly, the privileges, of the Churches of ' Rotelande.' Vide MS. Cott. 
 Faustina A. in. f. 64, 65. In the wood-cut, at the head of this Chapter, the 
 King is represented sitting under a kind of trefoil -headed arch, (an approxima- 
 tion to the Pointed style) and holding with upraised arms a long roll, or charter ; 
 on one side is the Abbot, distinguished by his crosier ; and on the other, an at- 
 tendant monk. In the second wood-cut, the Abbot is seen bearing the charter 
 in his left hand ; on each side is a monk, one of whom appears to be reading 
 and considering the extended Roll. In the third compartment, the Abbot is 
 represented returning thanks ; before him is a reading-desk, on which are the 
 open Scriptures, with the words Ego sum on the dexter page. Mr. Capon sold 
 the Capital to Sir Gregory Page Turner, Bart, for one hundred guineas. 
 
ARRANGED LIST 
 
 ENGRAVINGS, 
 
 WITH DESCRIPTIVE NOTICES OF THE BUILDINGS THET REPRESENT, AND 
 REFERENCES ^TO PARTICULAR PARTS ; ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES AND 
 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 
 
 THE Palace and Collegiate buildings are referred to in 
 the following order: 1. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL, and its 
 Crypt, Cloisters, and Appendages. 2. THE PAINTED CHAM- 
 BER. 3. THE OLD COURT OP REQUESTS, lately the House 
 of Lords. 4. THE GREAT HALL. 5. THE STAR CHAM- 
 BER. 6. ANCIENT CAPITAL AND CEILING. J, 8. THE 
 NEW HOUSES OF LORDS AND COMMONS as fitted up in 
 1834-5. 
 
 A general GROUND PLAN of the entire site of the Palace 
 and Parliamentary buildings, forms the subject of PLATE II. ; 
 and shews the relative positions, arrangements, sizes, &c. of 
 the numerous offices and apartments connected with the two 
 Houses of Parliament and the Law Courts, as they appeared 
 previous to the fire in October 1834. A brief notice of this 
 plan, with references to its details, will furnish the stranger 
 with much useful information. The oldest parts, marked 
 darker in colour than the rest, are, A.A. The Great Hall, 
 
448 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 B. The Old Court of Requests, afterwards the House o* 
 Lords, and made the House of Commons since the fire: (1. 
 The King's Robing Room. 2. Lobby. 3. Stairs. 4. Lord 
 Chancellor's Room.) C. The Painted Chamber, fitted up for 
 the House of Lords in 1834-5. D. St. Stephen's Chapel, late 
 the House of Commons. E.E. The Cloister, attached to the 
 same. F.F.F. The Speaker's House, with its official appendages, 
 being part of the collegiate buildings. G. Part of the offices 
 of the Exchequer. H. Houses of John Rickman, Esq. 
 Clerk Assistant of the House of Commons, and Wm. Godwin, 
 Esq. Author of the " Life of Chaucer/ 5 &c. I.I. Stairs to 
 the House of Commons. J.J. Committee Rooms. K.K. 
 The Judges' Entrances to the respective Law Courts, which 
 are numbered on the Plan in the following order: 1. Court 
 of King's Bench, 2. Court of Equity. 3. Court of Exchequer, 
 4. Court of Common Pleas, 5. Vice Chancellor's Court, 6. High 
 Court of Chancery. J. Lord Chancellor's retiring room. 8. 
 Judges' retiring room. 9. Attendants' waiting room. 10. 
 Barons' retiring room. 11 .Bail Court. 12. The Lord Chancel- 
 lor's entrance. L.L. Grand Inquest Jury Rooms. L.* Library 
 of the Masters in Chancery. M.M. Committee Rooms to the 
 House of Lords. N.N. Arcade to the House of Lords. O. 
 The King's Entrance Porch. P. Entrance to the King's Stair- 
 case, which is at Q. R.R. The Royal Gallery. S. Library of 
 the House of Lords. T. T. T. Parliament Offices. U. Library 
 of the House of Commons. V. House of the Clerk of the 
 House of Commons. W. Long Gallery. * * Open Courts. 
 
 1st. ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL,, AND ITS CLOISTERS. 
 
 THE form, proportions, and architectural features of these 
 once splendid buildings are illustrated and characterised in 
 the accompanying engravings, or at least so much of them as 
 
CRYPT OF ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 449 
 
 could be ascertained immediately after the fire. References 
 to, with brief descriptive remarks on the different parts and 
 details of the prints, will enable the reader to understand the 
 whole design of the Chapel, its sub-divisions, and its appen- 
 dages. To render this account clear, it will be proper to 
 point out, first, the basement story, or Crypt ; next, the 
 Chapel ; and afterwards, the Cloisters. 
 
 The CRYPT, SUB-CHAPEL, or BASEMENT STORY, is 
 shewn in the following Engravings. PL. xxvi., a Ground 
 Plan of the northern half; PL. xxv., a Section, shewing the 
 northern side of the same internally ; PL. v., half of one 
 severy,or compartment, internally, and externally, with its Sec- 
 tion ; PL. xviu.. Elevation, Section, Plans, &c. of the half of 
 a window, shewing its mullions and tracery, both in plan and 
 elevation, also the ribs of the vaulting, with measurements : 
 (these details are chiefly given on the authority of the late 
 Mr. J. Carter). PL. in. is a view of the western end, looking 
 S. West. The measurements and details of this once noble 
 Crypt, or sub-chapel, are defined by the scales on PLATES 
 xxiv., xxv., and xxvi. Its original height has been much 
 reduced by the accumulation of rubbish &c. as intimated in 
 PLATE xxv., at B.B. where the ground is shewn to reach 
 nearly to the capitals of the clustered columns. The base, as 
 well as the footing of the wall, is from four to six feet 
 lower than shewn in this section. The clustered columns, 
 east of B, with bases and capitals running much above those to 
 the west, were probably executed when the superincumbent 
 part was fittedup as a dining room for the Speaker, and wherein 
 he gave his state dinners. The three compartments A.A.A. 
 were occupied by this room. Its original height was about 15 
 feet, length 52 feet, and breadth 32 feet. As indicated in PL. 
 xxvi,. the Crypt had side windows at g.g-g.g; on the opposite 
 side, were most probably others, with two or three at the east 
 
 2 G 
 
450 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 end: there were door- ways in the north, south, and west walls. 
 The Buttresses at J. K. are of modern erection: those attached 
 to the north and south walls are of great projection, shewing 
 that they were intended to support lofty thin walls, and a 
 weighty roof. The north-western entrance is very curious, 
 as shewn in PL. xix., where the ribs with their boldly-relieved 
 bosses, the pannelling over the door-way, and a distant part 
 of the Crypt are all displayed. Another passage from the 
 Crypt, communicating with the vestibule of the upper Chapel, 
 of very singular design and adaptation, is shewn in PL. xvi. 
 The architectural antiquary will not fail to notice the manner 
 of supporting two archivolts, and the bold and enriched rib- 
 work and bosses between the unequally- pointed arches, 
 which spring from brackets in the side walls. This view is 
 from the landing of the stairs at C, looking towards e in PL. 
 xxvi. Strength, solidity, fine proportions, and skilful exe- 
 cution, are the characteristics of this basement chapel. 
 
 As shewn in the Ground Plan of the Hall and its surround- 
 ing buildings, (?L. u.) ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL is connected 
 with, and cuts into the south-eastern angle wall of the Hall, 
 from which the architect has taken away a large mass of the 
 old work, in order to obtain room for his stairs and vestibule 
 to the Chapel. This Chapel, as appears from many documents 
 in this volume, was a most splendid edifice. Preceding, in re- 
 spect to time, the other royal chapels of St. George, Windsor ; 
 King's College, Cambridge; Eton; and Henry the Seventh, 
 at Westminster, it was smaller in dimensions than either 
 of those structures; but, as immediately attached to the 
 regal Palace, it was particularly gorgeous in its paintings, 
 gilding, and ornamental furniture, and also extremely 
 beautiful in its architectural design. Its original interior 
 dimensions are not easily ascertained ; but it is presumed to 
 have been 86 feet in length ; 38 feet in width, and 44 feet in 
 
ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL, INTERIOR. 
 
 height.* As shewn in the engravings, every part of the walls 
 was adorned with architectural ornaments, insulated and 
 attached columns, with enriched capitals and bases, tracery 
 with panels, niches, friezes, and string-courses. Its windows 
 were likewise adorned with the finest stained glass that could 
 be procured ; and it may be fairly inferred that the flooring 
 and ceiling were finished in corresponding styles of richness. 
 Nor can we doubt that the stalls, altar, screens, and other 
 furniture were equally elaborate and sumptuous. It will not 
 require much exertion of imagination to fancy the effect of 
 such a gorgeous Chapel in its finished state, devoted to the 
 shewy and ostentatious ceremonies of the Roman Catholic 
 
 * These measurements are given on the authority of the late Mr. John 
 Carter, who made an elaborate set of drawings of the Chapel, about the year 
 1791, for the Society of Antiquaries of London, from which fourteen plates were 
 engraved for, and published by that Society in 1795. In 181 1, fourteen other en- 
 gravings were published from drawings by Richard Smirke and Dixon. Mr. 
 Carter furnished descriptive accounts of the building, whilst Captain Topham, 
 and Sir Henry Englefield wrote historical particulars of the same. At the time 
 of making those drawings, many parts of the Chapel were perfect, or traceable, 
 which were then and soon afterwards destroyed, to adapt the apartment for the 
 business of Parliament. In other delineations of the architecture of the chapel, 
 published by Mr. Carter, in his work on " The Ancient Architecture of 
 England," he indicated his opinion of the original design and details of the win- 
 dows, the inner roof, and of some other parts. These are shewn in PLATES i., and 
 VI., in which the tracery in the spandrels of the windows, and that of the cor- 
 nice and frieze, both internally and externally, and the pinnacle on the buttress, 
 are from Mr. Carter's drawings. Respecting the genuineness of those restorations, 
 a difference of opinion prevails, and particularly as to the tracery of the windows, 
 and the form, construction, and details of the roof. It does not appear that Mr. 
 Carter had any clear authority for those restorations, and therefore represented 
 them according to his knowledge of the architecture of that age. Few persons 
 were better qualified by extensive study and acquaintance with the details of our 
 ecclesiastical antiquities, to suggest such alterations than Mr Carter ; but his 
 enthusiasm and theories often misled his judgment. He thus apologizes for in- 
 troducing into his engravings " many restorations, that some idea may be enter- 
 tained of its original finishings. If the attempt is found bordering on presump- 
 
 2 G 2 
 
45Q WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 worship. Either under the influence of a mid-day sun, pour- 
 ing many coloured rays across the choir, or when illumined 
 at night by numerous large waxen lights about the altar, 
 the scene must have been superlatively impressive and fasci- 
 nating. Of the form, position, and ornaments of the ori- 
 ginal inner roof, or vaulted ceiling, there is much difference 
 of opinion amongst architectural antiquaries : some contend 
 that it was of stone, adorned with tracery ; whilst others 
 assert that it was formed of timber arranged in many panels, 
 and enriched with colouring, painting and gilding. One or two 
 architects insist that it had a clerestory, above the pre- 
 
 tion, let it, at the same time, be considered, that no one decoration of this sort 
 is set forth as positive evidence, but displayed with an humble wish to do honour 
 to our antiquities, while others are so ardent in their zeal to violate and destroy 
 them." In another place, he shews that he had just cause to complain of being 
 denied access to measure parts of the chapel and make sketches, in the year 
 1800, when Mr. James Wyatt was making many alterations in the Houses of 
 Parliament. " From the great difficulty attending the making sketches of 
 the lines of the chapel during the year 1791, they being in general covered with 
 modern wainscotting, benches, and conveniences the most indecorous, it will not 
 be wondered at if some inaccuracies are discernible by those who, in 1800, 
 having found favour with men in office, had the good fortune (the walls being 
 at that time cleared of every disfigurement) to obtain permission to view and 
 study from them ; I, being held unworthy of benefiting by such short-lived op- 
 portunity, was denied all access."* In the Gentleman's Magazine for August 
 1800, he gives full scope to his feelings, both in reprobation of the heedless and 
 wanton mutilations of the Chapel, and other parts of the palace, and in panegy- 
 ric of the wondrous beauties of the former. " I solemnly declare," he says, "cor- 
 recting my opinion by years of experience in the study of our ancient architec- 
 ture, that this Chapel, before the sacrilegious days of the 16th century, must have 
 been the first of all the architectural works of the land, where sublimity of de- 
 sign, grandeur of arrangement, richness of ornaments where sculpture, paint- 
 ing, and gilding, dazzled the eyes of vision, to receive an emanation of those 
 realms of light which await the blessed. No common praise is now my theme ; 
 had I the eternal- catching comprehension of the inspired Milton, I could but 
 faintly tell the wonders of this place." 
 
 * " The Ancient Architecture of England," part ii. p. 10. 
 
ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL, INTERIOR. 453 
 
 sent finishing cornice, and that, consequently, it must have 
 been very lofty. On these conflicting opinions, it would be 
 useless to occupy much space or time by argument ; but we 
 may venture to express our own conviction, resulting from a 
 careful examination of this Chapel at different times within 
 the last thirty years, and of many other royal and monastic 
 chapels in England ; from all which, as well as from the 
 height, length, and width of that of St. Stephen, we cannot 
 but infer that it never had a clerestory ; nor is it probable that 
 it was vaulted with stone. 
 
 As intimated by the Ground plan in PL. xxvi., this Chapel 
 consisted of five divisions, or compartments, having a large 
 and lofty window, between two piers, in each. Beneath these 
 windows, and extending around the Chapel, was a series of 
 arcades, or niches with canopies. These rested on an orna- 
 mented plinth, part of which formed a stone seat. In the 
 spandrels of the niches were numerous shields containing 
 armorial bearings, and the wall of the niches was decorated 
 with paintings, representing drapery, figures of saints, 
 knights, and scriptural subjects. Between the arcade and 
 the sills of the windows, was an enriched frieze ; whilst 
 another of nearly similar design extended along the upper 
 part of the Chapel. The continuity of this frieze, from one end 
 to the other of the building, without any appearance of bracket, 
 or support for the springers of a groined roof, is the chief 
 reason for the opinions of those who think that there was a 
 clerestory to the Chapel. The style of decoration, both inter- 
 nally and externally, of one half of a compartment, is shewn 
 in PL.VI ., on which plate is also displayed a section of the 
 wall of the Crypt, and of the Chapel, with a lateral elevation 
 of a buttress. Of the eastern and western ends of the 
 Chapel, it is difficult to speak with certainty. The former 
 had a large and lofty window, but its tracer} 7 and mullions 
 
454 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 have been so greatly mutilated by the various alterations 
 made to the building, as to excite much doubt in regard to 
 its original details. The western end is still more an ob- 
 ject of ambiguity : in almost every large chapel and monastic 
 church^ this was the prominent, and most attractive external 
 object, and from being made the principal entrance to the 
 sacred fane, it was usually adorned with a profusion of archi- 
 tectural and sculptural detail. But the design of St. 
 Stephen's Chapel, in this respect, is dissimilar to any other 
 monastic English building. Having its floor much above the 
 level of the ground, and raised upon an arched apartment 
 beneath, it was approached by a flight of steps from the west, 
 arranged in a sort of vestibule between the south end of the 
 Great Hall, and the north end of the White-Hall, lately the 
 House of Lords. Part of this vestibule is shewn in PL. 
 xxix., on the right hand of which, on the platform of the 
 steps, is the double door- way to the Chapel ; whilst the other 
 beautiful door-way communicated by stairs with the cloister. 
 Facing this, at the southern side of the vestibule was a cor- 
 responding door-way, shewing that there were communi- 
 cations to the Chapel from the Lesser Hall (as it was some- 
 times called) ; from the cloister ; and from the ground 
 floor, (see PL. xxvi. a.) The screen at the top of the stairs 
 was very beautiful, as may be inferred from the plan, eleva- 
 tion, and section of one compartment represented in PL. xi. 
 The exterior features of the Chapel, but in a ruinous 
 condition, are displayed in PLATES vi. xii. xxv. xxvin. 
 and xxx. PLATE vi. shews the form and projection of one of 
 the buttresses, with half of its face ; also the spandrel to 
 the window, the corbel table, and a very beautiful parapet. 
 There is an ornamental band under the window, ranging 
 with the set-off in the buttress. Beneath this band is 
 panelling, with ogee crocketed archivolt mouldings spring- 
 ing from the exterior moulding of the crypt window. PL. 
 
CLOISTERS AND ORATORIES DESECRATED. 
 
 455 
 
 xu. is a view of the Chapel after the fire, from the S. E., in 
 which are shewn four divisions of the south side, the turrets 
 at the east end, and part of what is supposed to have 
 been a cloister on this side. PL. xxv. is a view of the Cloister 
 court, taken immediately after the fire, when the area was 
 filled with water, and when the ruins were occasionally en- 
 veloped in clouds of smoke. This view represents the south 
 and western sides of the Cloister, with its two stories of 
 windows, the double Oratory on the western side, one of the 
 buttresses, with part of the roof of the Hall, and fragments of 
 the northern wall of the Chapel. However melancholy and 
 deplorable the scene of ruin after the late destructive fire, it is 
 scarcely less to be regretted than the wanton and reckless 
 alterations formerly made by an Architect, and by officers of 
 Government, in the Chapel and Cloister now under review. 
 Whilst the latter was partly fitted up for the appendages of a 
 kitchen, for servants' offices, and the most menial purposes, 
 the area was occupied by a large shed-like kitchen ; part of 
 the exquisite lower Oratory was converted into a scullery; 
 and chimneys, sinks, and closets were cut into, or patched up 
 against its florid windows and tracery. The upper Cloister 
 was divided into numerous small apartments and offices, and 
 even the vast abutments of the Great Hall, were cut into, or 
 hacked away, without the least regard either to the stability 
 of the edifice, or to its architectural character. The beauti- 
 ful ornaments, paintings, and minute sculpturings of the 
 Chapel itself were ruthlessly defaced, or broken to pieces to 
 give place to modern wainscotting, ceilings, windows, pas- 
 sages, stairs, &c. ; whilst chimneys and fire-places were 
 worked into, or affixed to the buttresses and walls. To shew 
 the total disregard of all style and architectural character, we 
 need only refer to the view of the East Front (PL, xxvni.) 
 which serves to exemply the taste that was displayed about 
 
456 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 the year 1 800, when numerous and very expensive alterations 
 and additions were made to these once splendid and sacred 
 buildings. An interior view of this end, shewing its miserable 
 style of patch-work^ is given in PL. xxvn., which also exhibits 
 the ruinous state of the walls and windows after the fire. As 
 intimated in this Plate, the great east window was partly filled 
 up with brick-work., three small semi-circular headed windows 
 were inserted, a doorway was cut through the wall, at the 
 place of the altar, holes or passages were cut through the 
 angular octagonal turrets, and instead of the collegiate apart- 
 ments, with their appropriate door-ways, windows, fire-places, 
 &c., the insipid plastered walls, with squared holes for 
 windows, were made for the Speaker's official residence. At 
 the time of the fire, this house was spacious and replete 
 with conveniences ; and it is but justice to the late occupant, 
 to admit that he manifested great anxiety to preserve all the 
 fine and beautiful parts of the cloister, crypt, &c. which were 
 left when he obtained possession, from further injury and 
 defacement. 
 
 The CLOISTER, that unique and once splendid part of the 
 college, is very amply illustrated in the accompanying en- 
 gravings, of which no fewer than fifteen are appropriated to 
 display its many beauties. The Gi*ound plan, PL. xxm.,and the 
 Ground plan of the whole of the buildings, serve to point 
 out the position and arrangement of this Cloister. It consist- 
 ed of two stories, and had two Oratories, or private chapels, 
 connected with the lower and upper walls of the western 
 cloister. The ground plan of the former is given in PL. xvn., 
 and also to a larger scale in PL. xxxi. ; whilst its architectural 
 features are shewn in PLS.XXIII. and xxxn. The western end, 
 or entrance, from the cloister, is engraved in PL. xxn., A. which 
 also shews an elevation of the exterior of the east end. No. 3, 
 a section of the side walls and vaulted roof, C. D. ; the screen 
 
ORATORIES, CLOISTERS, AND SEAL OF ST. STEPHEN'S. 45*7 
 
 between the upper Oratory and Cloister, B. and an elevation 
 of the window and panelling of that Cloister. A longitudi- 
 nal section of these chapels is shewn in PL. xxxn., with 
 their junction with the two stories of the Cloisters. Two of 
 the beautiful niches in the upper Oratory, with their ele- 
 gant brackets and canopies, are delineated in the engraved Title 
 page, PL. i. The two Statues in the same plate, are from 
 niches in Westminster Hall. As indicated in the Plan, PL. 
 xvii. in the Views of the lower Cloister, PLS. xxxiv. and 
 xxxvi and in those of PLS. xxi. xxxn. and xxxiii., the 
 whole vaulted roof is covered with fan-like tracery, at the in- 
 tersections of which are several very finely- sculptured bosses. 
 This tracery and some of those bosses are engraven in PLS. 
 xxn. xxxi. and xxxn., and their appearance, in perspec- 
 tive, is shewn in PLS. xxxiv., and xxxvi. A view of the 
 upper Cloister, in its deplorable state of ruin, immediately 
 after the fire, occupies PL. xxx., in which part of a flying but- 
 tress to the Hall is displayed, blackened by the fire. This 
 part was occupied by several small chambers, divided by lath 
 and plaster partitions, and rising to the roof of the Hall. 
 The other engravings of details of the Cloister, need only to 
 be examined by the architectural antiquary to be under- 
 stood and applied to their respective situations. 
 
 The wood-cut Vignette on the Title-page, includes a re- 
 presentation of one of the Collegiate Seal of St. Stephen's, 
 which is ornamented with niches and statues. The figures in 
 the upper compartments are those of the Madonna, crowned, 
 with her Infant; and St Katharine : those beneath, were evi- 
 dently intended for St. Stephen, bearing in his right hand a 
 church, and in his left, a basket of stones, as indicative of 
 his martyrdom ; and the members of the College, who 
 kneeling to him in prayer. At the bottom are the royal 
 arms of France and England, as quartered by King Edward 
 
458 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 the Third; and round the verge is this inscription: S. 
 COM'E DECANI & COLLEGII CAPELLE S'c'i STEPH'I WEST- 
 MONASTERII. The back ground indicates a portion of one 
 of the ornamental curtains originally painted on the interior 
 walls of the Chapel. 
 
 THE PAINTED CHAMBER, in plan, and in connection with 
 the other buildings, is pointed out in PL. 11., and its ruined 
 condition internally is delineated in PLS. xiv. and xv., (which 
 latter should be marked looking west), whilst part of its 
 exterior character is marked in PL. xn. Its remarkable 
 newel stair-case, at the south-east angle, is shewn in PL. xin. ; 
 and a small cell, or closet, which is at the bottom of that 
 stair-case, will be seen represented in page 360. The Vault, 
 or cellar, beneath this chamber, is represented by the wood- 
 cut inserted on page 247- 
 
 Attached to the western end of the Painted Chamber, and 
 branching from it to the north, is the ancient apartment, which 
 has successively been called the Lesser Hall, the White Hall, 
 the Court of Requests, the House of Lords, and now (1836) 
 the House of Commons. That it constituted a part of the Norman 
 Palace may be inferred from the forms, sizes, and dressings of 
 the three windows which are represented in PL. v., and were 
 fully displayed after the fire. These perforated the southern 
 wall, and it is probable that there were other windows 
 in the other walls ; but so many alterations have been made in 
 the whole building at different times, that most of its ancient 
 character has been destroyed. Its western wall, with a bold 
 (modern) block-cornice, and several apertures for windows, 
 door- ways, &c. is shewn in PL. xxxvii. Parallel to this 
 wall, and projecting into Old Palace-yard, a series of apart- 
 ments was erected about the year 1800, and which being 
 raised in a hasty manner, and according to the irresponsible 
 system of the time, was so badly executed, that many alter- 
 
WESTMINSTER HALL DESCRIBED. 
 
 459 
 
 ations and repairs were afterwards required to be made. 
 Nothing can more clearly shew the slight nature of these 
 buildings than is exhibited by the above print, from which it 
 appears that nearly the whole walls were laid prostrate by the 
 fire, whilst those of the adjoining substantial edifice, defied 
 the raging flames, as already they had twice or thrice done 
 in former ages. So also the thinner walls of St. Stephen's 
 Chapel have not only resisted the flames, but have braved the 
 storms of two winters, after being pronounced by some 
 architects f unsafe and dangerous ! ' 
 
 The GREAT HALL of Westminster justly ranks amongst 
 the superior examples of old English Architecture, and in its 
 present state of restoration and improvement, it forms one 
 of the most noble apartments in Europe. Its length, (inter- 
 nally) from north to south, is nearly 240 feet, and its breadth, 
 from east to west, 68 feet ; the extreme height to the cen- 
 tral apex is about 92 feet. Of the geometric skill displayed 
 in the construction of the timber-framed roof of this edifice, 
 we have already spoken. It is a master-piece in the art of 
 carpentry, and well deserves the attentive consideration 
 of every scientific builder.* By referring to the Ground 
 Plan, PL ii., and to the three other engravings numbered 
 viii., ix., and x., a correct idea may be obtained of the posi- 
 
 * In a recent Lecture on the subject of Roofs, delivered at the Society of 
 Arts by Mr. Rofe, jun. a scientific engineer of London, that gentleman made 
 the following remarks : " The principle of the construction of these roofs is 
 founded on that property of the triangle, that whilst the lengths of the sides 
 remain the same, the angles are unchangeable, and in this case all the pieces (of 
 timber) are arranged to form the sides of triangles, and thus all the joints are 
 rendered fixed and unmoveable. Thus, what would at first sight have the 
 appearance of being a weight upon the roof, is, in fact, its strength and safety. 
 Our ancestors did not attempt to conceal these roofs with a ceiling ; but, justly 
 proud of their ingenuity in construction, exposed the whole to view, carved 
 and ornamented on all the more prominent parts. ' ' 
 
460 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 tion and extent of this vast pile,, of its relative connexion 
 with the Parliamentary and Legal Offices,, and of its prin- 
 cipal features when considered architecturally. In the 
 Ground Plan is shewn the general form of the two northern 
 towers, the recessed portal and chief entrance, the doorways 
 to the different Law Courts, &c. and the situations of the 
 several buttresses which support the roof. In Plate vin., a 
 compartment of the interior, on the east side, is delineated 
 as it appeared during the late repairs, and after one of the 
 original Norman semi-circular arches, of the time of Rufus, 
 had been uncovered. Divers others, of corresponding form 
 and character, and on the same plane, were also discovered 
 whilst the work was in progress ; and divers fragments of 
 Norman capitals, &c. were found to have been wrought up 
 into the walls when heightened by King Richard the Second. 
 These discoveries are of the greater interest, as almost 
 every vestige of the Norman architecture had been oblite- 
 rated, or hidden, by the alterations made here by the last- 
 mentioned sovereign. The enriched string-course, or rather 
 cornice, that goes round the interior, with its corbel brackets, 
 from which spring the great timbers of the roof, is partly 
 shewn in the same Plate, together with two of the pointed 
 windows of Richard's age. The sculptured arms on the 
 corbels are those of France and England, quarterly, and of 
 St. Edward the Confessor, as borne by Richard the Second ; 
 whose favourite badge, viz. the White Hart, lodged, du- 
 cally gorged and chained, and his crest of a Lion guardant 
 crowned, standing on a chapeau and helmet, are also sculp- 
 tured, in alternate succession, on the cornice. Indica- 
 tions of Norman windows were also observable at the south 
 end, on each side the great window ; as may be perceived 
 from the novel delineation forming Plate x., which was 
 sketched from a window near the south-east angle. This 
 
WESTMINSTER HALL DESCRIBED. 
 
 461 
 
 view exhibits the general design and details of the massive 
 roof, the tracery of the southern window, (with the enrich- 
 ed niches on the west side,) and the door- way beneath it, as 
 they appeared in 1835, two of the windows on the western 
 side, and a modern door-way, leading to the corridor con- 
 nected with the Law Courts.* 
 
 Plate ix. represents a portion of the north-eastern exterior 
 of the Great Hall, with some adjoining buildings formerly 
 belonging to the Receipt of the Exchequer, as taken from 
 the opposite side of St. Stephen's Court, or enclosed area, in 
 front of the late official residence of the Speaker, f In this 
 view is seen one of the great buttresses of King Richard the 
 Second's time, and likewise one of the flat Norman but- 
 tresses of the Rufus age, together with indications of a Nor- 
 man string-course extending along the wall, nearly in a line 
 
 * In February 1836, Mr. Sidney Smirke communicated to the Society of 
 Antiquaries some information respecting the walls, flooring, &c. of the Hall, as 
 ascertained during the late repairs. In the course of his observations it was 
 stated, in reference to the opinion entertained by some architects, of there 
 having been two rows of columns in the Norman time, extending through the 
 entire length of the original Hall, that there are two apartments in Italy, with- 
 out columns, of rather larger dimensions than this at Westminster. 
 
 t We must refer for more particular details of the Great Hall to Britton and 
 Pugin's " Illustrations of the Public Buildings of London :" which includes a 
 ground-plan, and section of this edifice ; an interior view ; and an elevation 
 and plan of the northern front and entrance porch ; together with a copious 
 essay, by Mr. Britton, historical and descriptive. Three large and elaborate 
 Prints, comprehending an elevation, section, and details of the Hall have like- 
 wise been published by Mr. L. N. Cottingham. The " Plans, Elevations, Sec- 
 tions, Details, and Views" of Henry the Seventh's Chapel, with " the History 
 of its Foundation," &c. in two volumes, folio, by the same skilful architect, 
 rank with the best publications of the kind in this country. Since the late fire, 
 Mr. Cottingham has executed a very beautiful MODEL of the exterior of St. 
 Stephen's Chapel, as in a perfect state ; and he is now employed on a similar 
 restoration of the interior of that most interesting and unique specimen of 
 English Architecture. 
 
462 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 with the present window sills. Three of Richard's windows, 
 and several of those inserted in the slope of the roof in George 
 the Fourth's reign, with the upper part of the north-eastern 
 tower, are also comprehended in the same engraving. 
 
 Before the erection of the present Law Courts, the Courts 
 of King's Bench and Chancery occupied a considerable 
 space at the upper or south end of the Great Hall ; but they 
 were separated from each other by a flight of steps and a 
 passage communicating with a landing-place leading to the 
 House of Commons. During the first fifty years of the last 
 century, there was also a range of counters, book-cases, &c. 
 on each side of the Hall, for the use of Book and Print- 
 sellers, Mathematical Instrument Makers, Sempstresses, 
 Haberdashers, and other trades-people, who were permitted 
 to carry on their respective occupations within its spacious 
 area.* 
 
 The ancient Court of Exchequer, which had probably been 
 founded as early as Henry the Third's reign, but was greatly 
 altered in the time of Queen Elizabeth, (and the site of 
 which is now occupied by the Bail Court, &c.) was 74 feet in 
 length and 45 feet in width. Adjoining to it, southwards, 
 was the Little Exchequer Court ; which had, also, the tradi- 
 tional name of Queen Elizabeth's Chamber. The lower 
 apartments, beneath each of those Courts, had been for a 
 long time appropriated to the storing of records ; and seve- 
 ral smaller offices, westward, (all which have been destroyed,) 
 were used for similar purposes. 
 
 * For an account and copy of a curious Print, (after a delineation by Grave- 
 lot,) of the interior of the Hall, as it appeared in the year 1730, whilst fitted 
 up for the above purposes, see Brayley's " Londiniana," vol. i. pp. 209-211. 
 The Print has the title of " Westminster Hall in Term Time." It exhibits, on 
 the western side, the Side Bar, at which certain formal motions were accus- 
 tomed to be made ; and, although the practice is now different, the phrase ' Side 
 Bar Motions,' is still used professionally. 
 
STAR CHAMBER, AND ANCIENT CAPITAL 
 
 403 
 
 In additional reference to the Court of Star Chamber, of 
 which some particulars have been detailed in connexion with 
 Plate xx., it may be remarked, that the appellation e Starre 
 Chamber ' is given to a long range of building near the banks 
 of the Thames, at Westminster, in the curious Bird's-eye 
 Plan of London, attributed to Ralph Aggas, and supposed 
 to have been delineated about the year 1570.* The site 
 marked is evidently the same as was occupied by the build- 
 ings recently destroyed. In the same Plan, the Clock Tower 
 and Fountain in New Palace Yard are shewn, and also seve- 
 ral of the Palace Gates. 
 
 The ancient Capital representing the grant of King William 
 Rufus to Abbot Gislebertus, of which the three existing 
 sculptures are delineated in Plate xxxv., is 13| inches in 
 height, 12 inches square at the top, and (decreasing coni- 
 cally) about 9 inches in diameter at the bottom. All its 
 faces were originally sculptured, and the inscription was 
 doubtless continued round the abacus, but when found it 
 was evident that one side had been partly cut away to make 
 the stone lie flush in the wall; some human feet, however, 
 and the lower parts of the including pillars, were still left. 
 
 On the same Plate with the Capital is shewn one of the 
 compartments of an oaken Ceiling, which was delineated 
 by the late Mr. Capon from a room in the ancient Palace, 
 adjacent to the Prince's Chamber. 
 
 For the temporary accommodation of the Members of 
 the Two Houses of Parliament, after the fire, directions 
 were given by Government that the late " House of Lords," 
 (or old Court of Requests) should be new roofed, and pro- 
 perly repaired and fitted up for the Commons to assem- 
 
 * In the reign of Henry the Sixth, the King's Council frequently assembled 
 in the Star Chamber. Vide " Proceedings," &c. " of the Privy Council," 
 vol. iii. preface, by Sir H. Nicolas. 
 
464 
 
 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 ble in, and that the old "Painted Chamber" should be simi- 
 larly treated for the use of the Lords. For this work, as 
 well as to provide the necessary apartments and conve- 
 niences for the business of both Houses, Sir Robert Smirke 
 was employed as architect, and Messrs. S. Baker and Son 
 as builders. With that extraordinary celerity which a few 
 builders in the metropolis only can command, the works 
 were commenced early in November 1834, and fully 
 adapted for the opening of the Parliament on the 19th of the 
 following February. The accompanying views of the two 
 Houses thus internally rebuilt and adapted to their respec- 
 tive purposes, viz. Plates xxxvin., and xxxix., will render 
 description unnecessary; and the more particularly so, as 
 further alterations were made in both interiors immediately 
 after the close of the Session. Additional lobbies, and 
 other temporary buildings were also constructed for the 
 better accommodation of both Houses during the course 
 of the year 1835. The sum expended in these various 
 works has been stated to be upwards of 40,000. 
 
'MUSTS TEE. , 
 
 PARTS OF S* STEPHEN'S CHAPEL &-. CLOISTER 
 WE S TMIN S TEE. = 
 
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LIST 
 
 FORTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS, 
 
 CLASSED AND ARRANGED UNDER THE NAMES OF THE BUILDINGS REPRE- 
 SENTED WHICH ARE FULLY DESCRIBED, AND THE PRINTS MORE PAR- 
 TICULARLY NOTICED IN SUBSEQUENT PAGES, FROM 416 TO 464. 
 
 No. Plate. Page. 
 
 1. Ground Plan of the Parliamentary Build- 
 
 ings, Ancient Palace, and adjoining 
 
 Law Courts ii 447 
 
 ST. STEPHEN'S CHAPEL. 
 
 2. Plans of half of the Crypt, and half of the 
 
 Chapel ; xxvi 449 
 
 3. CRYPT. View of the West End . . iii 424,449 
 
 4. Entrance to, from the Cloister . xix 
 
 5. Half of one Window, Elevation, 
 
 Section, Plan, &c. .... xviii 
 
 6. Section of, and of Chapel, xxv 
 
 7. CHAPEL. Exterior. View of East End xxviii 
 
 8. 
 9. 
 
 Ditto South Side xii 
 
 Ditto Elevation of half 
 
 of one compartment, with Section, and 
 
 buttress vi 
 
 2 H 
 
 450 
 
 449 
 449 
 455 
 454 
 
 453 
 
WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 No. Plate. Page 
 
 10. CHAPEL. Interior. View of Vestibule, 
 
 or Western Entrance .... xxix 454 
 
 11. Elevation, Section and plan of 
 
 part of Screen xi 454 
 
 12. View of, looking East in ruins xxvii 456 
 
 13. Stairs from, to Cloister . xvi 454 
 
 14. Elevation of part of the interior, 
 
 in the engraved Title page ... i 433 
 
 15. Capital and Mouldings of interior, 
 
 Wood-cut, 77 
 
 16. Seal of St. Stephen's College, 
 
 and painting on the walls Wood-cut, 
 
 Title page 433,45? 
 
 17. CLOISTER. Plan of, with buttresses of 
 
 Chapel and Hall xvii 456 
 
 18. Exterior View of, after fire . xxv 457 
 
 19. Interior View of part of the 
 
 Upper Cloister, after fire . . xxx 457 
 
 20. South Walk, looking East . xxxvi 457 
 
 21. at N. W. angle . xxxvi 45? 
 
 22. Elevations, Sections, &c. 
 
 Compartment of Ceiling, N. and S. sides xxii 456 
 
 23. Two compartments at S. E. 
 
 angle, &c xxxiii 456 
 
 24. Plan of half of one window 
 
 Spandrel, &c. ..... xxv 456 
 
 25. Spandrel, capital, base, panel- 
 ing, &c xxi 456 
 
 26. Panelling Section of wall, 
 
 under window, &c xxiii 456 
 
 27. ORATORY, Ground Plan of, with part 
 
 of Cloister . xxxi 456 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 46? 
 
 Plate. Page. 
 457 
 
 No. 
 
 28. ORATORY. Longitudinal Section of the 
 
 two Oratories, and two stories of Cloister xxxii 
 
 29. . Elevation of the West end, of 
 
 East end, &c xxii 45? 
 
 30. View of the Lower, . . . xxiii 456 
 
 Niches in the Upper See 
 
 engraved Title. .... i 45? 
 
 COURT OF REQUESTS, LATE HOUSE OF LORDS, 
 
 3 1 . View of three windows in S. end . , v 422 
 
 32. the Western Wall, in ruins . xxxvii 458 
 
 33. Eastern Wall part of the Long 
 
 Gallery, in ruins xxxiii 456 
 
 PAINTED CHAMBER. 
 
 34. View of the interior, looking West . . xv 41 8, 45 8 
 
 35. - Ditto Ditto East . . xiv418,458 
 
 36. Stair case .... xiii 458 
 
 37. Vault Wood-cut., p. 247. 458 
 
 38. a Cell at the bottom of Stair- 
 case. Wood-cut, p. 360. . . . 458 
 
 WESTMINSTER HALL. 
 
 39. View of part of the Interior, at S. W. 
 
 angle x 435 
 
 441, 457 
 
 40. compartment on E. side near 
 
 S. end ...... viii 457 
 
 41. Buttress, &c. E. side . . ix 439,460 
 
 2 H 2 
 
468 WESTMINSTER PALACE. 
 
 No Plate. Page. 
 
 ANCIENT CAPITAL AND CEILING. 
 
 42, Views of three sides of a Capital, and 
 
 part of a Ceiling .... xxxv 444, 
 
 446, 463 
 
 & 
 
 44. \Wood-cuts of Capital .... 445,445-6 
 
 55. 
 
 STAR CHAMBER, AND HOUSES OF LORDS AND COMMONS. 
 
 46. View of Interior of a Room called the 
 
 Star Chamber . . . xx 443,462 
 
 47. of the House of Lords, 
 
 as fitted up 1835 . xxxviii 464 
 
 48. of the House of Com- 
 mons, as fitted up 1835. . . xxxix 433 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abbey Church, Westminster, foundation 
 of, first monastery there, 8 ; recon- 
 structed by Edward the Confessor, 11 ; 
 consecrated, 1065, 12 ; rebuilt by 
 Henry III. 52 ; re-opened for divine 
 service, 1269, 73 ; additions by Ed- 
 ward I. 85 ; its right of sanctuary 
 violated by murder, 257. 
 
 Abbot of Westminster, his privileges, 
 57, 86, 93. 
 
 Almonry of the King and Queen, re- 
 paired, 115. 
 
 Anne of Bohemia married to Richard 
 II. at Westminster, 267 ; her death 
 and burial at Westminster, 279. 
 
 Anne, (Queen of Richard III.), her co- 
 ronation, 332 ; her suspected murder, 
 336. 
 
 Anne, Queen, her coronation, 392 ; and 
 burial, 393. 
 
 Antioch Chamber, in the palace, 1251, 
 59. 
 
 Architects' Institute, dedication to, iii. 
 
 Architectural Society, notice of, vi. 
 
 Arthur, Prince, (son of Henry VII.) 
 his marriage at Westminster, 343. 
 
 Baynard's Castle, a royal residence, 352. 
 Bell Tower, works at, 9th Edward III. 
 
 160 ; some account of, 429, note. 
 Bellingham, John, shoots the right hon. 
 
 Spencer Perceval in the lobby of 
 
 the House of Commons, 402 ; exe- 
 cuted, 403. 
 Berkeley, Thomas de, acquitted of the 
 
 murder of Edward II. 202. 
 Beverley, Robert de, keeper of works, 
 
 436, note. 
 Bishops, protestation of twelve, to the 
 
 House of Lords, 385 ; trial of seven, 
 
 391. 
 Boleyn, Anne, married to Henry VIII., 
 
 and crowned at Westminster, 357. 
 Books delivered to their owners by writ, 
 
 1424, 311. 
 
 Bosworth Field, Battle of, 339. 
 Boy Bishop, one at St. Stephen's, 429. 
 
 Bridewell, used as a royal residence, 
 352. 
 
 Bridge, the King's, Westminster, pay- 
 ments relating to, 29, 124, 199. 
 
 Bruce, John, Esq. his account of the 
 Star Chamber Court, 442, note. 
 
 Cade's insurrection, 318. 
 
 Cage Chamber, the, at the Palace, Privy 
 Seal delivered in, 208. 
 
 Capital, ancient, a very curious one dis- 
 covered by the late Mr. Capon, 445 ; 
 described, 446, 463. 
 
 Carter, Mr. John, his drawings of St. 
 Stephen's Chapel, 451, note. 
 
 Carlisle, Thomas Merkes, Bishop of, 
 imprisoned, 295. 
 
 Carlisle, " statute of," enacted by Ed- 
 ward I. 99. 
 
 Caroline, George IV. 's Queen, her trial, 
 
 403 ; refusal to crown her as Queen, 
 
 404 ; her decease, 405, note. 
 Chamber, Painted, (see Painted Cham- 
 ber.) 
 
 -, Star, (see Star Chamber.) 
 
 , Exchequer, (see Exchequer 
 
 Chamber.) 
 
 -, of the Holy Cross, built by 
 
 Henry III. 50. 
 , Marculf s, 
 
 (see Marculf 's 
 Chamber.) 
 
 Chambers, Sir William, made surveyor 
 of works, 401. 
 
 Champion, the King's, at the corona- 
 tion of Richard II. 255. 
 
 , at that of Henry IV. 293. 
 
 , Richard III. 335. 
 
 . Henry VIII. 345, note. 
 
 Chancellor, Lord, his rank in 1327, 
 146. 
 
 Chantry Chapels, in St. Stephen's 
 Cloister, described, represented in 
 Plates xxii. xxiii. xxv. xxxi. xxxii. 
 
 Chapel, the King's Little, Westminster 
 Palace, temp. Henry III. 45, 47. 
 
 , the Queen's, Westminster Pa- 
 lace, temp. Henry III. 48. 
 
4?0 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Chapel, St John's, Westminster Palace, 
 temp. Henry III. 4.9. 
 
 , de la Pewe, 434. 
 
 , St. Stephen's, vide St. Ste- 
 phen's Chapel. 
 
 Chapter House, Westminster, Queen 
 Maude buried in, 19; used as the 
 House of Commons, 241, 
 Charles I., his coronation at Westmins- 
 ter, 382: he differs with the Par- 
 liament, 383 ; his attempt to ar- 
 rest six members of the House of 
 Commons, 385 ; his standard erected 
 at Nottingham, 386; his trial, ib.; 
 execution, 387 ; disinterment of his 
 remains, ib. note. 
 
 II. his restoration, 389 ; his 
 
 death and funeral, 390. 
 Chatham, Earl of, his mortal seizure, in 
 
 the House of Lords, 397. 
 Chaucer, Geoffrey, appointed clerk of 
 
 the works, 275. 
 Chayllowe, W. de, surveyor of works, 
 
 125. 
 Church of St. Martin's, London, Henry 
 
 III/ s gift to, 67. 
 
 Claims, court of, at the coronation of 
 Richard II. 248. 
 
 , Henry IV. 290. 
 
 , George IV. 404. 
 
 Clock Tower, in the Palace, 187 ; ditto 
 and Fountain, in New Palace Yard, 
 443,463. 
 
 Cloister, St, Stephen's, payments for 
 materials, 18; Edward II. 126; de- 
 scribed, 455, 457 ; represented in 
 Plates xvi. xvii. xix. xxi. xxii. xxiii. 
 xxv. xxx. xxxiii. xxxiv. xxxv. xxxvi. 
 Close Rolls described, 25. 
 Closet, the King's, Whitehall, Anne 
 
 Boleyn married in, 357. 
 Commons, House of, St. Stephen's Cha- 
 pel occupied as, 361 ; its appearance 
 in 1708 described, 393 ; its appear- 
 ance in 1761, 397, note; its destruc- 
 tion by fire in October, 1834, 410 ; as 
 fitted up in 1835, 433 ; noticed, 464 ; 
 represented Plate xxxix. 
 Commonwealth, settled under Cromwell, 
 as Captain-general, 387 ; as Lord 
 Protector, 388. 
 Conduit of water, for Palace, 51, 113, 
 
 337. 
 Conference on religion, in Westminster 
 
 Abbey, 365. 
 
 Coronations celebrated at Westminster, 
 with the ceremonies: of Harold, 15; 
 William the Conqueror, ib. ; William 
 II. 16; Henry I. 18; Stephen, 19; 
 Henry II. ib.; the son of Henry II. 
 21 ; Richard I, 22 ; John, 24 ; Henry 
 
 III. 27 ; Eleanor, his Queen, 39 ; Ed- 
 ward I. and Eleanor, his Queen, 79 ; 
 Edward II. 104; Isabella, his Queen, 
 106 ; Edward III. 141 ; Philippa, 
 his Queen, 147 ; Richard II. 250 ; 
 Henry IV. 291; Henry V. 305; 
 Katherine, his Queen, 307 ; Henry 
 VI. 313 ; Margaret of Anjou, his 
 Queen, 315 ; Edward IV. 326 ; 
 Richard III. 332 ; Anne, his Queen, 
 ib. ; Henry VII. 339 ; Elizabeth, his 
 Queen, 340; Henry VIII. 345 ; Ka- 
 therine of Arragon, ib. ; Anne Boleyn 
 357 ; Edward VI. 360 ; Mary, 362 ; 
 Elizabeth, 364; James I. 367; 
 Charles I. 382; Charles II. 389; 
 James II. 390 ; William and Mary, 
 392 ; Queen Anne, 393 ; George I. 
 394; George 11.395; George III. 
 396 ; George IV. 404 ; William IV. 
 406. 
 
 Coronation of Edward I. expenses of, 
 436, note. 
 
 Coronation Oath of Edward II. 105. 
 
 of Richard II. 252. 
 
 of Henry VIII. 346. 
 
 " Counsaill House, Queen Margrette's," 
 
 in the Palace, 337. 
 Cromwell, (Oliver,) his inauguration, 
 
 388, note ; his death and funeral, ib. 
 
 desecration of his remains, 389, note. 
 Crown Jewels, redeemed from pledge, 
 
 for the coronation of Henry Vth's 
 
 Queen, 307, note. 
 Crypt of St. Stephen's Chapel, described, 
 
 449 ; represented in Plates iii. xviiL 
 
 xix. xxv. xxvi. 
 
 Dacre, Lord, acquittal of, 358. 
 Deans of St. Stephen's, 430, note. 
 
 Earthquake, at Westminster, 366. 
 
 Edward the Confessor, Abbey Church 
 built by, 11 ; burial of, 12 ; visions 
 of, and legends relating to, 13 ; a mi- 
 racle at his tomb, 13 ; his remains 
 translated by Henry III. 73. 
 
 Edward I. his birth at Westminster, 
 48 ; crowned in the Abbey Church, 
 79 ; resides at the Archbishop of York's 
 Palace, Whitehall, 91 ; his treasury 
 robbed, 95 ; joins his army at Car- 
 lisle, 99 ; his death and funeral at 
 Westminster, 100 ; his tomb opened 
 in 1774, 101 ; rebuilds St. Stephen's 
 Chapel, 423, 425. 
 
 Edward II. knighted at Westminster, 
 97 ; favours Gaveston, 102, 107, 129, 
 133 ; his marriage and coronation, 
 103, 104, 118; words of the oath, 
 105 ; is petitioned against Gaveston, 
 
INDEX 
 
 471 
 
 107 ; commences the restoration of 
 St. Stephen's Chapel, 120; his house- 
 hold committee, 130 ; reproved by a 
 woman in the Great Hall, 136; takes 
 the Spencers into favour, 137 ; impri- 
 soned, and abdicates, 139 ; murdered 
 at Berkeley Castle, 140 ; his low di- 
 versions, ib. Parliaments at West- 
 minster, in his reign, 141. 
 
 Edward III., his coronation, 141, 142, 
 146 ; is married to Philippa, 147 ; 
 completes the restoration of St. Ste- 
 phen's Chapel, ib.; prohibits the 
 bearing of arms in Parliament, 203 ; 
 receives the Pope's agents at West- 
 minster, 207 ; pardons criminals, 212; 
 expences and officers of his house- 
 hold, 221 ; receives the captive King 
 of France in the Hall, 224 ; makes a 
 treaty with France, 226 ; jubilee on 
 attaining his 50th year, 227 ; resists 
 the exactions of the Pope, 225 ; his 
 last hours and death, 235, 240 ; his 
 burial at Westminster, 241 ; Parlia- 
 ments held at Westminster in his 
 reign, 242 ; particulars of his founda- 
 tion of St. Stephen's College, 423. 
 
 Edward, the Black Prince, created Duke 
 of Cornwall, and Prince of Wales, 205, 
 206, note ; captures the King of 
 France, 223 ; created Prince of Aqui- 
 tain, 227 ; dies at Westminster, 237. 
 
 Edward, Prince, son of Henry VI. born 
 at Westminster. 315 ; killed after the 
 battle of Tewkesbury, 328. 
 
 Edward IV. takes Henry VI. prisoner, 
 322 ; is accepted by the people as 
 king, 325 ; married to Lady Elizabeth 
 Grey, 327 ; his death at Westminster, 
 330 ; Parliaments at Westminster 
 during his reign, 330. 
 
 Edward V. created Prince of Wales, 
 329 ; superseded by his uncle, Rich- 
 ard III. 330 ; imprisoned in the 
 Tower, 335 ; his fate doubtful, 336. 
 
 Edward VI. ; his coronation, 360 ; his 
 death, and burial at Westminster, 362. 
 
 Eleanor, Queen of Henry III. crowned 
 39. 
 
 of Edward I. crowned, 
 
 79. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, crowned, 364 ; her 
 death and burial, 366. 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen of Henry VII., her 
 marriage and coronation, 340 ; burial 
 at Westminster, 344. 
 
 Elms, the, three places of execution so 
 called, 202. 
 
 Essex, Earl of, tried for high treason, 366. 
 
 Exchequer Chamber, the Great, painted 
 iu 1228, 45. 
 
 Exchequer Buildings, 442, and Courts, 
 
 462. 
 Execution at the Palace, Westminster, 
 
 for murder, 351. 
 
 Fair, granted to the Abbot of West- 
 minsi;cr, 57 ; dispute arising there- 
 from, 92. 
 
 Famine, its effects, 1314, 135. 
 
 Floods at Westminster, 43, 364, 366. 
 
 Fool, the King's, and his servant, 
 clothed, 1416, 306. 
 
 Gallery in the Great Hall, at the coro- 
 nation of Henry VII. 's Queen, 341, 
 used at the coronation of Anne Bo- 
 leyn, 358. 
 
 Gaol, of the Palace, repaired, 114. 
 
 Gaveston, Piers de, favourite of Ed- 
 ward II. quits England, but returns, 
 107; his rapacity, 130, 131 ; a com- 
 mittee of nobles against him , 130 ; 
 surrenders, and is beheaded, 134. 
 
 Gates of the old Palace, 444. 
 
 Gayfere, Mr. Thomas, a skilful mason, 
 440. 
 
 George I. his accession and coronation, 
 394. 
 
 George II. his coronation, 395 ; his 
 death and interment, 396. 
 
 George III. his coronation, 396. 
 
 George IV. his coronation, 404, 405. 
 
 Gibbet, the King's, removed from West- 
 minster, by Henry III. 32. 
 
 Gislebertus, Abbot of Westminster, grant 
 made to him by King William Rufus, 
 445. 
 
 Glass for St. Stephen's Chapel, pay- 
 ments for, 154. 
 
 Gloucester, Eleanor Cobham, Duchess 
 of, banished for necromancy, 314. 
 
 Gloucester, Duke of, murdered at St. 
 Edmunds-bury, 316. 
 
 " Gneyth," the Cross, some account of, 
 205. 
 
 Gordon, Lord George, heads the Pro- 
 testant association, 398 ; his trial at 
 Westminster, in 1781, 399. 
 
 Great Tom of Westminster, a bell so 
 called, 443. 
 
 Gunpowder Treason Plot, account 06 
 and execution of the conspirators, 
 368381. 
 
 Hall, Great, of Westminster, built by 
 Rufus, about 1099, 17 ; coronation 
 feast of Henry- II. 's son in, 22 ; inun- 
 dated by the Thames, 43, 364, 366 ; 
 Feasts given by Henry III. 49, 52, 55, 
 
 74 ; Sir Alan la Zouche wounded in, 
 
 75 ; Edward I. proclaimed in, 77 ; 
 
472 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 breach of privilege in, 88 ; repaired, 
 painted, &c. 1 16 ; Edward II. reproved 
 by a woman in, 136 ; the King of 
 France received by Edward III. in, 
 224 ; Richard II. meets the barons 
 in, 270; Parliaments held in, 288, 
 294; gallery erected at the coronation 
 of Henry Vllth's Queen, 341 ; 
 described, 435 441, 459 462; re- 
 presented in Plates i. ii. viii. ix. x. 
 Hall, the Little, occupied by Richard I. 
 23'; consumed by fire, 68 ; repaired in 
 consequence, 113. 
 
 , the Queen's, repaired after the 
 
 fire, 113. 
 
 , the White, at Westminster, fes- 
 tivities in, 350. 
 Harold, King, crowned at Westminster, 
 
 15. 
 Hearths, baronial and collegiate, noticed, 
 
 440. 
 Hengham, Sir Ralph de, fined for alter- 
 
 ing a record, 443. 
 Henry I. crowned, and held courts at 
 
 Westminster, 18. 
 Henry II. crowned at Westminster, 19, 
 
 held councils at Westminster, 22. 
 Henry, son of Henry II. crowned at 
 
 Westminster, 21. 
 
 Henry III. builds a chapel at West- 
 minster, 27 ; his great seal, 28, note ; 
 crowned, 27 ; Magna Charta con- 
 firmed by him at Westminster, 33 ; 
 holds councils there, 33 36, 37, 46 ; 
 married in Westminster Abbey, 39 ; 
 rebuilds the Abbey Church, 52 ; pre- 
 sents the pretended blood of Christ to 
 the Monastery, 54 ; oppresses the 
 citizens of London, 57, 61 ; makes 
 concessions to them, 44, 58 ; his con- 
 tentions with the barons, 36, 70, 72 ; 
 his burial in the Abbey Church, 76 ; 
 his heart sent to Normandy, 88. 
 Henry IV. created Duke of Hereford, 
 285 ; his dispute with Mowbray, 286; 
 his banishment and return to Eng- 
 land, 287 ; his claim to the throne 
 allowed, 289 ; his coronation, 291 ; 
 his death at Westminster, 303 ; list 
 of Parliaments at Westminster during 
 his reign, 303. 
 Henry V. created Prince of Wales, 294 ; 
 his interviews with his father at the Pa- 
 lace, dramatized by Shakspeare, 300 
 302 ; crowned, 305 ; his return from 
 the battle of Agincourt, 305 ; visitec 
 by the German Emperor, 306 ; his 
 death and burial at Westminster, 309 
 Parliaments at Westminster during 
 his reign, 310 ; his helmet preservec 
 in the Abbey Church, 305, note. 
 
 Henry VI. crowned, 313, 314 ; married 
 to Margaret of Anjou, 315 ; his men- 
 tal imbecility, 318, note; made pri- 
 soner at St. Alban's, 318 ; grants 
 to his physicians, 318, note; again 
 made captive, 322 ; compromises with 
 the Duke of York, 325 ; deposed by 
 the Earl of March, 326 ; Parliaments 
 at Westminster during his reign, 327; 
 his imprisonment and death in the 
 Tower, 328, 329. 
 
 Henry VII. gains the battle of Bosworth 
 Field, and is crowned, 339 ; married, 
 340 ; his death and burial at West- 
 minster, 344 ; his chapel renovated, 
 440. 
 
 Henry VIII. created Prince of W T ales, 
 344; married at Greenwich, and 
 crowned at Westminster, 345 ; takes 
 possession of Whitehall, 354 ; mar- 
 riage with Anne Boleyn, 357 ; aboli- 
 tion of Papal authority, 358 ; his ar- 
 bitrary proceedings, and death, 359. 
 
 Holy Oil, used at coronations, legend 
 connected with, 292. 
 
 Hugh de St. Alban's, "master of the 
 Painters," at St. Stephen's Ch. 170. 
 
 Hunt, Thos. Clerk of Works, 337- 
 
 Isabella, Queen of Edward II. crowned 
 at Westminster, 106. 
 
 Isabella, sister of Henry III. betrothed 
 at Westminster, 38. 
 
 James I. crowned, 367 ; his death, and 
 burial in Henry Vllth's Chapel, 382. 
 
 James II. his coronation, 390; his abdi- 
 cation, 392. 
 
 Jewry, or Judaismum, an office at the 
 Palace, erected by Henry III. 59, 
 note. 
 
 Jews executed at the coronation of 
 Richard I. 23 ; oppressed and per- 
 secuted by Henry III. 37, 63, 64. 
 
 John, King, his coronation and resi- 
 dence at Westminster, 24, 26. 
 
 John, King of France, brought prisoner 
 to Westminster, 223 ; anecdote of, 
 when in the Savoy, 224, note ; set at 
 liberty, 226 ; returns and dies at the 
 Savoy, 229. 
 
 Judges of the Law Courts, their relative 
 rank established, 146; convicted of 
 misdemeanours, 85 ; arrested and ex- 
 ecuted, 273. 
 
 Katherine, Queen of Henry V. corona- 
 tion of, 307. 
 
 Katherine of Arragon, married to Prince 
 Arthur, 343 ; married to Henry VIII. 
 and crowned at Westminster, 345 ; 
 divorced by the king, 354. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 473 
 
 King's Table, (Edward II.) at West- 
 minster, 436, note. 
 
 Law Courts, first notice of,* at West- 
 minster, 16 ; King's Courts, at West- 
 minster, first mentioned, 24 ; held be- 
 fore Henry III. in person, 38 ; Henry 
 III. sits in the Exchequer, 1256, 64 ; 
 Courts of King's Bench and Exche- 
 quer, removed to Shrewsbury, 1277, 
 84 ; judges convicted and punished 
 for misdemeanours, 85 ; privileges of 
 the judges, 95 ; held in the Abbey 
 Church during the Works at the Pa- 
 lace, 117; rank of judges determined, 
 146 ; proceedings to be conducted in 
 English, 228 ; reporters appointed by 
 James I. 382 ; noticed, 442. 
 
 , plans of, Plate ii. 
 
 Liveries, worn by the retainers of the 
 nobles, 296 ; abolition of such prac- 
 tice, ib. 
 London, citizens of, oppressed by Henry 
 
 III. 57, 61 ; by Richard III. 275. 
 Lords, House of, destroyed by fire, 
 1834, 409 ; account of, 420 ; fitted up 
 in 1835, 464 ; views of, Plates v. 
 xxxvii. xxxviii. 
 Lucius, fabulous history of, 8. 
 
 Marche, Thos. de la, defeats de Vis- 
 conti, at Westminster, 217. 
 
 Marculf's Chamber, at the Palace, re- 
 paired, 124, a singular scene in, 274. 
 
 Margaret of Anjou, Queen of Henry 
 VI. her coronation at Westminster, 
 315 ; defends the rights of her son, 
 322, 325, 326 ; taken prisoner at 
 Tewkesbury, 328. 
 
 " Margaret of Westminster," a ship, so 
 called, repaired by Edward II. 116. 
 
 Mary, Queen, her coronation, 362 ; 
 married to Philip of Spain, 363 ; her 
 imaginary pregnancy, 363, note ; her 
 death, 364. 
 
 Materials, for the works at Westminster, 
 prices of, 81, 90, 124, J50, 424; 
 warrants to procure, 338. 
 
 May-day, Evil, the 1st of May, 1517, 
 so called on account of a commotion 
 in the city, 352 ; the prisoners par- 
 doned, 353. 
 
 Maydenhalle, at the Palace, rebuilt 
 after its destruction by fire, 114. 
 
 "Merton," Provisions of, enacted by 
 Henry III. 42. 
 
 Mews, the King's, Westminster, works 
 at, 81. 
 
 Montfort, Simon de, his marriage, 47 ; 
 heads the barons against the king, 66, 
 70 ; slain at Leicester, 71. 
 
 Mortimer, Roger de, joins the Queen 
 Dowager, against Edward II. 138 ; 
 his execution at " the Elms," 201. 
 
 Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk, his dispute 
 with Bolingbroke, 286 ; his banish- 
 ment, 287. 
 
 Offa, grant of Thorney Island, by, 7. 
 
 Officers, Surveyors, &c. of the works at 
 Westminster, 31, 51,60,66, 108, 120, 
 148, 244, 337, 401, 406. 424, 431, 
 437. 
 
 of the royal household, pay- 
 
 ments and grants to, 29, 221. 
 
 Oil Painting, practised in England be- 
 fore the time of Jan. Van Eyck, 47, 
 170 ; at St. Stephen's Chapel, temp. 
 Edward III. 170, 185, 419, 433. 
 
 Oratory, the King's, works at, 159 ; in 
 the cloisters, account of, 455 ; views 
 of, Plates, xvii. xxii. xxiii. xxv. xxx. 
 xxxi. xxxii. 
 
 Ordinances of the barons, temp. Ed- 
 ward II. 131. 
 
 Overbury, Sir Thomas, the Earl and 
 Countess of Somerset condemned for 
 his murder, but pardoned, 381. 
 
 Our Lady, rich image of, burned, 435. 
 
 Pageants, temp. Henry VIII. 346. 
 
 Painted Chamber, the, Edward the Con- 
 fessor said to have died in, 13 ; re- 
 pairs of its walls, 120 ; described, 
 418, 420, 458, 463 ; views of, Plates, 
 ii. xii. xiii. xiv. xv. 
 
 Painters, wages of, at St. Stephen's 
 Chapel, 89,171. 
 
 Palace at Westminster, first mentioned 
 1017, 9 ; erected by Edward the Con- 
 fessor, 11 ; works at, and additions 
 to, and payments for same : by 
 Henry II. 19 ; by Richard I. 24 ; by 
 King John, 25 ; by Henry III. 28, 
 31,45,56,59,68; by Edward I. 80 ; 
 by Edward II. 108, 112, 117, 120, 
 125; by Edward III. 187, 201 ; by 
 Henry VI. 316 ; grants to the keepers 
 of, 29, 45, 83, 273, 356 ; partly de- 
 stroyed by fire, 1263, 68, 91 ; da- 
 maged by the insurgents, 73 ; privilege 
 from arrest within the, 86, 128 ; trials 
 by battle, in the lists, 217, 260, 
 269 ; expenses and officers of Edward 
 Ill.'s household, 221 ; household ex- 
 penses, temp. Henry VI. 312; inter- 
 views between Henry IV. and the 
 Prince of Wales, 300 ; officers of the 
 works, 1484, 337 ; pageants in the 
 reign of Henry VIII. 346 ; judicial ex- 
 ecution at, 351 ; its destruction by 
 
474 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 fire, and abandonment as a royal re- 
 sidence, 352, 353 ; remains of de- 
 scribed, 416464. 
 Palace, Lesser, at Westminster, 407. 
 Park, St. James's, connected with 
 
 Whitehall by Henry VIII. 355. 
 Parliaments, in Westminster Hall, temp. 
 Henry III. 55, 65, 70; Commons 
 joined with the barons, 1258, 65 ; 
 began to assume their present form, 
 1265, 71 ; right of the Commons to 
 grant supplies, 98 ; to be held twice 
 a year, 131 ; authority, in 1311, 
 resides in the baronage, 132 ; allow- 
 ance to knights of the shires, 140 ; 
 bearing of arms in, prohibited, 203 ; 
 Speaker of the House of Commons 
 first noticed, 1377, 240 ; women sum- 
 moned to Parliament, 243 ; a packed 
 House of Commons procured by 
 Richard II. 282; its proceedings, 
 284 ; holden at Whitehall, 99 ; at 
 Shrewsbury, 286 ; in the Great Hall, 
 Westminster, 65, 288, 294; in the 
 Painted Chamber, 241 ; the Commons 
 meet in the White Chamber, 220 ; in 
 the Painted Chamber, 241 ; in the 
 Abbey Chapter House, ib. ; in St. 
 Stephen's Chapel, 361 ; the Peers 
 meet in the White Chamber, 220 ; list 
 of those held at Westminster during 
 the reigns of Edward II. 141 ; Edward 
 III. 242 ; Richard II. 290 ; Henry IV. 
 303 ; Henry V. 310 ; Henry VI. 327 ; 
 Edward IV. 330 ; uniformly held at 
 Westminster since 1483, 330 ; Charles 
 I. opposition to, 383 ; the long Par- 
 liament meets at Westminster, 384 ; 
 its proceedings, ib. ; Parliaments 
 made triennial, 385 ; septennial, 394 ; 
 designs for a new House of, Parlia- 
 ment, anno 1739, 395 ; Houses of, en- 
 larged, &c. 401, 406; destroyed by 
 fire, anno 1834, 409, 415 ; tempo- 
 rary Houses, 463. 
 
 Parliament, Houses of, how constituted, 
 and number of members, 408. 
 
 , Reform of, 407. 
 
 Perceval, Right Hon. Spencer, assassi- 
 nated by Bellingham, 402. 
 Parliamentary Buildings, &c. Ground 
 
 Plan of, described, 447. 
 Ferrers, Alice, mistress of Edward III. 
 memoir of, 233, note ; proceedings 
 against her, 235, 257. 
 Philippa, Queen of Edward III. crown- 
 ed at Westminster, 147 ; buried at 
 Westminster, 230. 
 
 Plague, London and Westminster de- 
 vastated by, 215. 
 
 Poll Tax, imposed by Parliament, 265 ; 
 insurrection in consequence, 266. 
 
 Popes, exactions of, 34, 207, 225, 228. 
 Privileges of the Palace, 87 ; breaches 
 
 of, 86, 88, 128. 
 
 Protestant Association, in 1780, 398. 
 " Pycherhouse," in the Palace, 337. 
 
 Raleigh, Sir Walter, beheaded in Old 
 Palace Yard, 381. 
 
 Regalia, Scottish, presented to the 
 Abbey Church at Westminster, 101. 
 
 Reporters of the law, appointed by 
 James I. 382. 
 
 Requests, Court of, plan of, plate ii. 
 described, 401,458, 463 ; represented 
 in Plates v. xxxvii. xxxviii. 
 
 Richard I. crowned at Westminster, 22. 
 
 Richard II. crowned, 250 ; interview 
 with Wat Tyler, 266; married at 
 Westminster, 267 ; meets the barons 
 in the great Hall, 270 ; assumes the 
 government, 274 ; his second mar- 
 riage celebrated, 279 ; his profligacy, 
 and exactions, 280, 282, 284 ; pro- 
 cures a packed House of Commons, 
 282 ; enlarges Westminster Hall, and 
 keeps his Christmas there, in 1398, 
 437 439 ; imprisoned in the Tower 
 and deposed, 288 ; Parliaments at 
 Westminster during his reign, 290 ; 
 his death in Pontefract Castle, and 
 burial, 297. 
 
 Richard III. married to the Lady Anne 
 Mowbray, 329 ; usurps his nephew's 
 throne, 330 : his coronation at West- 
 minster, 332 ; gateway erected at 
 Westminster by him, 339, 444 ; his 
 death in Bosworth Field, 339. 
 Riot in London, in June, 1780. 398. 
 Roofs, timber-framed, Mr. Rofe's opi- 
 nion on, 459, note. 
 
 Rufus, King William, his grants to the 
 Abbot of Westminster, 446, note. 
 
 Sachever,;!, Dr. his trial, 394. 
 
 Seal, Great, beauty of Henry III.'s, 28, 
 
 note ; a new one made, 67 ; several 
 
 transfers of, in 1340, 209. 
 Seal of St. Stephen's College, engraved 
 
 in title page ; noticed 457. 
 Shakspeare, Theatrical License granted 
 
 by James I. to, 367. 
 Simnel's conspiracy, defeated, 342. 
 Smirke, sir Robert, repairs Westminster 
 
 Hall, &c. 441. 
 
 Soane, Sir John, erects the Royal en- 
 trance to the House of Lords, &c. 406 ; 
 
 his remarks on the insecurity of the 
 
 buildings, 409 ; erects the Law courts, 
 
 442 
 Somerset, the Protector, tried in the 
 
 Great Hall, 362. 
 Southampton, Earl of, tried in the Great 
 
 Hall, and beheaded in the Tower, 366 
 
INDEX. 
 
 475 
 
 Speaker of the House of Commons, first 
 mentioned, 1337, 240. 
 
 Speaker's House, 449 ; 456. 
 
 Spencers, the, favourites of Edward II. 
 137 ; executed by the barons, 139. 
 
 St. Alban's, Battle at, Henry VI. made 
 prisoner, 318. 
 
 Stafford,Lord Viscount, his trial noticed, 
 440, note. 
 
 Star Chamber, mentioned in 1372, 231 ; 
 in 1550, 432 ; account of, 442; view 
 of, Plate xx. 
 
 Star Chamber, and High Commission 
 Courts abolished, 385. 
 
 Steam, presumed early attempts to na- 
 vigate by, 382, note. 
 
 Stephen, King, crowned and held courts 
 at Westminster, 19 ; the reputed 
 founder of St. Stephen's Chapel, ib. 
 
 St. Stephen's Chapel : King Stephen, 
 its reputed founder. 19 ; payment to 
 chaplain of, 13 Henry III. 45 ; works 
 at, 23 Henry III. 48 ; rebuilt by Ed- 
 ward I. 58, 88, 424 ; its restoration 
 commenced by Edward II. 120 ; com- 
 pleted by Edward III. 147 ; parti- 
 culars of works at, 150, 186 ; pay- 
 ments for same, 161 ; used for the 
 Commons House after the dissolution, 
 361 ; its general history, and curious 
 particulars concerning, 423 434 ; its 
 BoyBishop, 429; described, 449 458; 
 represented with its appendages, in 
 plates i. ii. iii. vi. xi. xii. xvi. xvii. 
 xviii. xix. xxi. xxii. xxii. xxiii. xxiii. 
 xxv. xxv. xxvi. xxvii. xxviii. xxix. 
 xxx. xxxi. xxxii. xxxiii. xxxiv. xxxv. 
 xxx vi. 
 Stephen, the King's Painter, (Edward 
 
 I.) 436. 
 
 St. Stephen's College, establishment of, 
 429 ; its revenues, &c. 432, 433 ; its 
 seal described, 457. 
 Stew-ponds, of the Palace 115, 119. 
 Strafford, Earl of, tried for high treason 
 by the Long Parliament, 384 ; exe- 
 cuted on Tower Hill, 385. 
 Stratford, John de, Archbishop of Can- 
 terbury, accused of treason by Ed- 
 ward III. 211 ; pardoned, 212. 
 Street Pavement, between Temple Bar 
 and Westminster, ordered to be re- 
 paired, 129, 222. 
 
 Surrey, John de Warenne, Earl of, 
 fined for a riot in the Great Hall, 76. 
 
 Talleyrand, Prince, his ancestor an am- 
 bassador from the Pope, 225, note. 
 
 Tallies, described, 414, note. 
 
 Tapestry of the Spanish Armada burned, 
 423 ; described, ib. note. 
 
 Tournaments, at Westminster, 215, 267, 
 341, 343, 345 note, 349, 361, 381. 
 
 Tower of London, the, repaired by Wil- 
 liam II. 18 ; temp. Henry II. 211; 
 besieged by the barons, 1265, 72 ; 
 works, temp. Edward I. 80 ; Edward 
 II. 108, 125 ; Edward III. 161. 
 
 Trials, by battle, 217, 260, 269. 
 
 Trials at Westminster, of the Seven Bi- 
 shops, 391 ; of the Bail of Derwent- 
 water, 394; of the Scottish Jacobite 
 Peers, 396 ; of Earl Ferrers, ib. ; of 
 Lord George Gordon, 399 ; of War- 
 ren Hastings, 400. 
 
 Tykehull, Nicholas de, Clerk of Works, 
 1089. 
 
 Tyler, Wat, his insurrection, 265 ; his 
 assassination in Smithfield, 266. 
 
 Visconti, John de^ defeated in the lists 
 
 at Westminster, 217. 
 Vineries, of the Palace, 115. 
 Vineyard, the King's, (Edward I.) 436. 
 
 Union, Scottish, 393 ; Irish, 400. 
 
 Wages of artizans, and prices of mate- 
 rials, 13th and 14th centuries, 89, 
 110, 121, 150, 201 424; of Painters 
 at St. Stephen's Chapel, 171 ; of 
 Carpenters, &c. 424. 
 
 Walworth, Lord Mayor, assassinates 
 Wat Tyler, 266. 
 
 Warbeck, Perkin, his conspiracy and 
 execution, 342, 343. 
 
 Wardrobe, the King's, at Westminster, 
 painted, temp. Henry III. 46. 56, 60. 
 
 Wardrobe Account, of Edward II. 
 1311, 132. 
 
 Weigh House, at the Palace, repaired, 
 189. 
 
 Westminster, called Thorney Island, 7 ; 
 origin of present name, ib. ; founda- 
 tion of first monastery at, 8 ; Law 
 Court at, first notice of, 16 ; courts 
 held there by Henry I. 18 ; a chapel 
 built at by Henry III. 27 ; a fair grant- 
 ed by Henry III. to the Abbot, 57 ; 
 works at the King's Mews, 81 ; plan 
 of the buildings at, Plate ii. described, 
 447. 
 
 Westminster Hall, see Hall, Great. 
 
 "White Chamber, the Great," addi- 
 tions to, by Edward II. 116 ; Henry, 
 son of James I. created Prince of 
 Wales in, 381. 
 
 Whitehall, Archbishop of York's Palace 
 at, repaired for the reception of Ed-- 
 ward I. 91, 92 ; a council held in, 
 92 ; possessed and enlarged by Henry 
 VIII. 354, 355 ; established as the 
 royal Palace, 356. 
 
 William the Conqueror, crowned at 
 Westminster, 15. 
 
476 
 
 INDEX 
 
 William Rufus, crowned at Westmister, 
 16 ; builds the Great Hall, 17. 
 
 William and Mary ; their election and 
 coronation, 392 ; deaths, ib. note. 
 
 William IV. his economical coronation, 
 408 ; and patriotic conduct in the re- 
 form crisis, 407. 
 
 Windows, of St. Stephen's Chapel, co- 
 loured glass for, 177. 
 
 Wolsey, Cardinal, his influence with 
 the King, 353, 354 ; his disgrace and 
 death, 354. 
 
 Women, summoned to Parliament, 243. 
 
 Wool Staple, of the Palace repaired. 192. 
 364. 
 
 Workmen, impressed into the King's 
 service, 170, 186, 227, 338. 
 
 Wyatt, Sir James, made surveyor of 
 works, 401. 
 
 Yeomen of the Guard, instituted by 
 Henry VII. 339. 
 
 York, Archbishop of, empowered to 
 bear a Crosier in the presence of the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, 219. 
 
 York, Richard, Duke of, his claim to 
 the Crown, 318; takes Henry VI. 
 prisoner at St. Alban's, 319; made 
 Protector of the realm, 320 ; lays 
 claim to the throne in Westminster 
 Palace, 323 ; Slain at Wakefield, 325. 
 
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