Part 38

“When we enter St. Edward’s Chapel, or the Chapel of the Kings (_Capella Regum_), we find ourselves in what may fairly be described as the most important part of the Abbey, alike from the ecclesiastical and historical points of view. The chapel is distinguished from the rest of the church by its superior height above the ground. In the centre is the Confessor’s shrine, around which are the tombs of five Kings and six Queens of England. The entrance is by some wooden steps through a small space between one of the columns and Edward I.’s tomb. The chapel is separated from the sanctuary by a Fifteenth Century screen, which, though much mutilated, is still beautiful. The sculptures deal with the life and visions of the Confessor.”--(C. H.)

The =Confessor’s Shrine=, though mutilated, is the most important monument in the Abbey. The present tomb was finished in 1269 at the instance of King Henry, and was the work of one Peter, a Roman citizen. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries the body of the King was removed and the golden ornaments of the tomb disappeared; but in Queen Mary’s time Abbot Feckenham had the body re-interred, the shrine repaired and the wooden superstructure erected. James II. had the old coffin enclosed in another case. This remains still within the shrine.

On the north side of the shrine is the =Tomb of Henry III.=, of two stages, in the upper one of which the body rests. An effigy in gilt bronze rests on the top. Next is the tomb of =Edward I.= On the other side (east) lies =Eleanor of Castile= (died 1290) in a tomb of Purbeck marble, the sides of which are embellished with trefoiled heads, a fine example of Gothic, probably designed by Torel. Immediately behind the Confessor’s Shrine comes the =Chantry of Henry V.= (where an altar once stood). It is a splendid piece of ornate Perpendicular work, with elaborate sculptured figures representing St. George, St. Denys and the story of the hero’s life--his fights, coronation and court. The effigy is mutilated. Above the tomb hang the monarch’s shield, saddle and helmet, which were carried in his funeral procession.

The next tomb is that of =Queen Philippa of Hainault=, Queen of Edward III., who died in 1369. Next comes =Edward III.= (died 1377) and next that of =Richard II.= and his first wife, =Anne of Bohemia=. Next, =Siebert’s Tomb=, consisting of an arched recess in the wall and supposed to contain the body of the legendary founder of the Abbey. It dates from 1308. Next comes the tomb of =Anne of Cleves=.

In this chapel stand the =Coronation Chairs=. The one on the left was made in the reign of Edward I. to enclose the stone of Scone, supposed to be the stone on which Jacob slept at Beth-el. The chair was once painted and jewelled. The other chair was made for the coronation of William and Mary. Between these hang the sword and shield of state of Edward III., used at his and all other coronations.

The little =Chapel of St. Benedict= is closed to the public. Under an arch is an altar tomb of four children of Henry III. and four of Edward I.

Then comes =St. Edmund’s Chapel=, filled with tombs; then =St. Nicholas’s Chapel=, separated from the ambulatory by an embattled stone screen (Perpendicular), probably erected in the reign of Henry IV. On the other side of the steps leading to Henry VII.’s Chapel is =St. Paul’s Chapel=, corresponding with St. Nicholas’s Chapel. Next we find the =Chapel of St. John Baptist= with the =Chapel of St. Erasmus= forming the entrance. The doorway, dating from the reign of Richard II., is beautiful, a low arch, supported by clustered pillars. Next to this comes =Islip’s Chapel=, screened off and vaulted by Abbot Islip (died 1532), to hold his own tomb. The abbot’s rebus, an eye with a slip of a tree grasped in a hand, or a man slipping from the branch of a tree, occurs frequently inside and outside the chapel. In the upper part of Islip’s chapel are preserved the remarkable collection of wax-works.

“The wax-works of Westminster Abbey have not been seen by many people, but are deservedly famous. At first, it was customary when a king or any other great personage was to be buried, to place on the coffin his effigy formed of boiled leather. When the art of modelling in _cuir bouilli_ was lost, wax was employed for making the image, and wax, notwithstanding its proverbial pliancy, is a very enduring substance. From the north aisle of the apse we ascend a narrow staircase, passing by the way some of the most beautiful sculpture in the Abbey fronting the chapel of Abbot Islip. At a turn in the stair which leads to a kind of upper gallery we are suddenly confronted with the lifelike figure of King Charles II., whose face, as rendered familiar by numerous and contemporary engravings, with its black eyes and swarthy complexion, looks out from behind the glass of a cupboard only a few inches from the spot we have reached. The royal figure is dressed in crimson velvet, now sadly browned, and adorned

with the finest lace of the period. When we have recovered composure and breath, and can look around, we find ourselves in the presence of a series of most interesting and curious portraits. The wooden presses, with glass fronts, are, to judge from the pattern of the hinges, of about the time of the monarch whose effigy was the first to confront us. The rest, taken chronologically, consist of ten figures beginning with Queen Elizabeth and ending with Lord Nelson, but neither of these, the first and last, were really funeral effigies.”--(W. J. L.)

Directly behind the Confessor’s Chapel we come to =Henry VII.’s Chapel=, originally designed to hold the remains of Henry VI., who was buried at Windsor, but the plan was not carried out.

“At the entrance to the chapel we are brought to what Dean Stanley calls a ‘solemn architectural pause.’ Here we may study three distinct architectural periods. ‘First,’ as Mr. Loftie says, ‘there is the early work of Henry III., who, it will be remembered, made a Lady-Chapel here before he recommenced the rebuilding of the Confessor’s church. Secondly, the next pier shows us the work done when the body of Henry V. was brought hither from France in 1422. Lastly, alongside of these two is the first column of the new and gorgeous structure with which Henry VII. replaced the Lady-Chapel of Henry III.’ The dimness of the approach materially enhances the effect of the superb building beyond, and it cannot be doubted that this comparative gloom, so far from being an accident, was deliberately intended. The building of the chapel occupied the first twelve years of the Sixteenth Century. It measures inside 104 feet 6 inches long by 69 feet 10 inches broad, and consists of a nave and aisles of four bays, the nave terminating in five small polygonal chapels, the style throughout being Perpendicular. The entrance is under a large central and two smaller side arches, which have six bronze doors of superb design and splendid workmanship, in which a number of Henry VII.’s devices appear.”--(C. H.)

Washington Irving’s impressions were as follows:

“I stood before the entrance to Henry the Seventh’s Chapel. A flight of steps leads up to it, through a deep and gloomy, but magnificent arch. Great gates of brass, rich and delicately wrought, turn heavily upon their hinges, as if proudly reluctant to admit the feet of common mortals into this most gorgeous of sepulchres.

“On entering, the eye is astonished by the pomp of architecture and the elaborate beauty of sculptured detail. The very walls are wrought into universal ornament, encrusted with tracery and scooped into niches, crowded with the statues of saints and martyrs. Stone seems, by the cunning labour of the chisel, to have been robbed of its weight and density, suspended aloft, as if by magic, and the fretted roof achieved with the wonderful minuteness and airy security of a cobweb.

“Along the sides of the chapel are the lofty stalls of the Knights of the Bath, richly carved of oak, though with the grotesque decorations of Gothic architecture. On the pinnacles of the stalls are affixed the helmets and crests of the knights with their scarfs and swords; and above them are suspended their banners, emblazoned with armorial bearings, and contrasting the splendour of gold and purple and crimson, with the cold grey fretwork of the roof. In the midst of this grand mausoleum stands the sepulchre of its founder,--his effigy, with that of his queen, extended on a sumptuous tomb, and the whole surrounded by a superbly wrought brazen railing.

“There is a sad dreariness in this magnificence; this strange mixture of tombs and trophies; these emblems of living and aspiring ambition, close beside mementoes which show the dust and oblivion in which all must sooner or later terminate.

“Two small aisles on each side of this chapel present a touching instance of the equality of the grave, which brings down the oppressor to a level with the oppressed, and mingles the dust of the bitterest enemies together. In one is the sepulchre of the haughty Elizabeth; in the other is that of her victim, the lovely and unfortunate Mary. Not an hour in the day but some ejaculation of pity is uttered over the fate of the latter, mingled with indignation at her oppressor. The walls of Elizabeth’s sepulchre continually echo with the sighs of sympathy heaved at the grave of her rival.

“A peculiar melancholy reigns over the aisle where Mary lies buried. The light struggles dimly through windows darkened by dust. The greater part of the place is in deep shadow, and the walls are stained and tinted by time and weather. A marble figure of Mary is stretched upon the tomb, round which is an iron railing much corroded, bearing her national emblem--the thistle.”

Dean Stanley writes:

“It was to be his chantry as well as his tomb, for he was determined not to be behind the Lancastrian princes in devotion; and this unusual anxiety for the sake of a soul not too heavenward in its affections expended itself in the immense apparatus of service which he provided. Almost a second Abbey was needed to contain the new establishment of monks who were to sing in their stalls ‘as long as the world shall endure.’ Almost a second shrine surrounded by its blazing tapers and shining like gold with its glittering bronze, was to contain his remains.

“To the Virgin Mary, to whom the chapel was dedicated, he had a special devotion. Her ‘in all his necessities he had made his continual refuge’; and her figure, accordingly, looks down upon his grave from the east end, between the apostolic patrons of the Abbey, Peter and Paul, with ‘the holy company of heaven--that is to say, angels, archangels, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, evangelists, martyrs, confessors and virgins,’ to ‘whose singular mediation and prayers he also trusted,’ including the royal saints of Britain, St. Edward, St. Edmund, St. Oswald, St. Margaret of Scotland, who stand, as he directed, sculptured tier above tier, on every side of the Chapel; some retained from the ancient Lady-Chapel; the greater part of the work of his own age. Around his tomb stand his ‘accustomed Avours or guardian saints to whom he calls and cries’--St. Michael, St. John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist, St. George, St. Anthony, St. Edward, St. Vincent, St. Anne, St. Mary Magdalene and St. Barbara, each with their peculiar emblems--‘so to aid, succour and defend him, that the ancient and ghostly enemy, nor none other evil or damnable spirit, have no power to invade him, nor with their wickedness to annoy him, but with holy prayers to be intercessors to his Maker and Redeemer.’ These were the adjurations of the last Mediæval King, as the Chapel was the climax of the latest Mediæval architecture.”

“But although the Chapel hangs on tenaciously to the skirts of the ancient Abbey and the ancient Church, yet that solemn architectural pause between the two--which arrests the most careless observer, and renders it a separate structure, a foundation ‘adjoining the Abbey,’ rather than forming part of it--corresponds with marvellous fidelity to the pause and break in English history of which Henry VII.’s reign is the expression. It is the close of the Middle Ages: the apple of Granada in its ornaments shows that the last Crusade was over; its flowing draperies and classical attributes indicate that the Renaissance had already begun. It is the end of the Wars of the Roses combining Henry’s right of conquest with his fragile claim of hereditary descent. On the one hand, it is a glorification of the victory of Bosworth. The angels at the four corners of the tomb, held or hold the likeness of the crown which he won on that famous day. In the stained glass we see the same crown hanging on the green bush in the fields of Leicestershire. On the other hand, like the Chapel of King’s College at Cambridge, it asserts everywhere the memory of the ‘holy Henry’s shade’; the Red Rose of Lancaster appears in every pane of glass: in every corner is the Portcullis--the _Alters securitas_, as he termed it, with an allusion to its own meaning, and the double safeguard of his succession--which he derived through John of Gaunt from the Beaufort Castle in Anjou inherited from Blanche of Navarre by Edmund Crouchback; whilst Edward IV. and Elizabeth of York are commemorated by intertwining these Lancastrian symbols with the Greyhound of Cecilia Neville, wife of Richard, Duke of York, with the Rose in the Sun, which scattered the mist at Barnet, and the Falcon on the Fetterlock, by which the first Duke of York expressed to his descendants that ‘he was locked up from the hope of the kingdom, but advising them to be quiet and silent, as God knoweth what may come to pass.’

“It is also the revival of the ancient Celtic-British

element in the English monarchy, after centuries of eclipse. It is a strange and striking thought, as we mount the steps of Henry VII.’s Chapel, that we enter there a mausoleum of princes, whose boast it was to be descended not from the Confessor or the Conqueror, but from Arthur and Llewellyn; and that roundabout the tomb, side by side with the emblems of the great English Houses, is to be seen the Red Dragon of the last British King Cadwallader--‘the dragon of the great Pendragonship,’ of Wales, thrust forward by the Tudor King in every direction, to supplant the hated White Boar of his departed enemy--the fulfilment, in another sense than the old Welsh bards had dreamt, of their prediction that the progeny of Cadwallader should reign again.”--(A. P. S.)

And now we will begin a more detailed survey:

“We now enter Henry VII.’s Chapel, the most perfect example of the Perpendicular style at its best in the country. At the entrance are beautiful bronze doors covered with designs symbolical of the titles of the Royal founder. It is impossible to describe in words the richness and beauty of the interior of this noble chapel. The vault is very beautiful with fan-tracery. The banners of the Knights of the Order of the Bath hang over their stalls. The _misereres_ are wonderfully carved, and are worthy of close examination. The black marble tomb of the founder is considered to be the best example of the Renaissance style in England. It was fashioned by Torregiano. Very numerous monuments are found here. The tombs of Mary Queen of Scots and of Queen Elizabeth have especial interest. Oliver Cromwell’s body once lay in the most eastern chapel, but the Royalists at the Restoration wrought vengeance on his corpse, and on that of other regicides, and did not suffer them to remain in these hallowed precincts.”--(P. H. D.)

The tombs that attract the most attention are those of =Queen Elizabeth= and =Mary, Queen of Scots=. Queen Elizabeth’s, erected by James I., consists of a canopy supported on ten Corinthian pillars, under which the effigy of the queen lies on a slab borne by lions. Mary I. rests in the same tomb. Mary Stuart’s tomb bears an effigy. At her feet is the crowned lion of Scotland. Her body was removed from Peterborough (see page 331) by James I.

From the east walk of the Cloisters, finished in 1345, we enter the =Chapter-House=, dating from 1350. It is octagonal and is noted for its fine tracery. The House of Commons used to meet here (before 1340). The speaker sat in the abbot’s seat.

“The Chapter-House is visited by comparatively few of the myriads who come to the Abbey; but those who know what to look for may well linger for some time in this deeply interesting building. The splendour and loveliness of the entrance to it show the important place which it held in the general estimation; the stones under the left arcade of the vestibule are still deeply worn by the feet of generations of monks, as they walked two and two to their weekly assemblies. The vaulting and its bosses are quaint and rich. The quaint entrance door itself, bleared and ruined as it now is, was once rich with gold and scarlet.

“Entering the Chapter-House we see at a glance an octagon of the noblest proportions, of which the roof is supported by a slender and graceful pillar of polished Purbeck, thirty-five feet high, ‘surrounded by eight subordinate shafts, attached to it by three moulded bands.’ The painted windows were placed there as a memorial to Dean Stanley. One was given by the Queen, and one by Americans. In the central light at the summit of each is represented the greatest man of each century--the Venerable Bede, St. Anselm, Roger Bacon, Chaucer, Caxton and Shakespeare. In the window over the door is Queen Victoria. The central band of the windows represents many of the great historical events connected with the Abbey.”--(F. W. F.)

“The Chapel of the Pyx is approached from the East Cloister Walk by a massive door with seven locks. It is beneath the old dormitory and occupies two bays of the Confessor’s building, and, historically considered, is perhaps the most interesting portion of the Abbey buildings. The pyx is a box containing the standard pieces of gold and silver coin of the realm which were used for testing the accuracy of the currency. It has now been removed to the Mint, where the trial of the pyx takes place.”--(C. H.)

The =Cloisters= with their arches, beautiful tracery and ancient memorials are strangely impressive, particularly as they are situated in the midst of London’s roar; yet here there is quiet.

The most famous part of the =Deanery= is the =Jerusalem Chamber= projecting just beyond the south-west tower. It probably was so called on account of the tapestry representing the history of Jerusalem that adorned it. Henry IV. died in it in 1413, according to the prophecy that he should die in Jerusalem. (See _Henry IV._, Part II., Act IV., Scene 4.) In this room the Assembly of Divines met in 1643; and the Revisers of the Old and New Testaments of late years. A small room with carved panelling, built by Abbot Islip, leading from it, is known as the =Jericho Parlour=.

INDEX

Abbey of St. Werburgh, 215.

Abbot’s Cloister, 171.

Abbot’s Pew, 431.

Abbots of St. Albans, 360-361.

Aisles, Five, 71.

Aldred, 152, 153.

Alfred, King, 46, 47, 49.

Alleyn, Edward, 424.

Altar:--Canterbury, 16; Chester, 219; of the Martyrdom, 3; St. Paul’s, 409; of the Sword’s Point, 3; of the Virgin, 4.

Ambulatories:--Exeter, 102; Gloucester, 162.

Amen Corner, 398.

André, Major John (tomb), 431.

Andrews, Bishop (tomb), 422.

Angel Choir, 285, 289, 298-300, 307, 309.

Angel Tower (Canterbury), 9, 10, 11, 13, 30.

Angel Windows (Salisbury), 88.

Anne of Bohemia (tomb), 435.

Anne of Cleves (tomb), 435.

Anselm, 12; burial-place of, 25.

Aquablanca, Thomas, 174, 177, 180.

Arcade, Winchester, 60.

Archbishop of Canterbury, 2, 263.

Archbishop of York, 263, 265.

Arches, Inverted (Wells), 110, 116.

Arundel, Earl, and Maud (tomb), 72.

Arundel Tower, 9, 11.

Athelstan, 90.

Atholl, Countess (tomb), 30.

Austen, Jane (brass), 54.

Aveline of Lancaster (tomb), 433.

Ave Maria Lane, 398.

Ball-flower, 143, 159, 163, 175.

Ball and Cross, St. Paul’s, 403.

Baptistry Tower, 430.

Bath Abbey, 134-139.

Bayeux Tapestry, 425.

Beauchamp, James de (effigy), 198.

Beauchamp, John (tomb), 192.

Beaufort, Cardinal, 53, 59, 417, 418.

Beaufort, Jane, 417, 421.

Beaumont, Francis, 424, 433.

Becket, Thomas à, 2, 3, 10, 18, 19, 249, 262.

Becket’s Crown, 19, 23-24.

Beckington, Bishop, 108, 110, 119.

Beckington (tomb), 129.

Bede, Venerable, grave of, 242-243.

Belfry Tower, 430.

Bell Harry Tower, 11, 30.

Bell Tower, 380.

Bell:--Dunstan (Canterbury), 11; (Rochester), 36; Great Peter, 268; Peter, 98; Tom of Lincoln, 310-311; Tom of Oxford, 375.

Bells:--Canterbury, 36; Exeter, 92; Gloucester, 152; Lincoln, 310-311; Oxford, 375, 380; Peterborough, 321; St. Albans, 369; St. Saviour’s, 418; Winchester, 65; York, 268.

Bell Ringer’s Gallery, 238.

Ben Jonson, 431.

Berkeley, Maurice (tomb), 145.

Birde, William, 134-135.

Bishop’s Cloisters (Hereford), 175.

Bishops’ Gardens (Norwich), 303, 357.

Bishop’s Eye (Lincoln), 305, 308.

Bishop’s Palace (Wells), 132, 133.

Bishop’s Throne:--Chester, 219; Exeter, 99, 100-101; Hereford, 183; Lincoln, 297; Ripon, 258.

Bitton, Bishop, 90.

Black Prince (tomb), 9, 20-21.

Blois, William de (effigy), 198.

Blue Dick, 9, 13, 27.

Bohun, Joanne de, 185.

Booth, Bishop (effigy), 176.

Booth (tomb), 176.

Borough, The, 415.

Bouchier, Cardinal, 16.

Bowet, Archbishop (tomb), 274.

Boy Bishop, 82-83.

Boys, Dean (tomb), 27.

Brantingham, 91, 100.

Bridport, Giles de (tomb), 86-87.

Brithnoth, 335.

Bristol, 140-150.

Bronescomb, Bishop, 91, 102.

Bronescomb (tomb), 103.

Browne’s Gate, 108.

Bruce, Robert, 227.

Bubwith, Bishop, 110.

Bubwith Tower, 113, 114, 118.

Burne-Jones, Windows by, 88, 380, 382, 384, 386, 388, 391.

Butler, Bishop (tomb), 149.

Butler Tower, 140.

Bytton, St. William (tomb), 129.

Campanile, 69.

Canon Alley, 398.

Cantelupe, Walter de (effigy), 198.

Canterbury, 1-32.

Carileph, 244.

Carlisle, 227-232.

Carving:--Carlisle, 228; Exeter, 95, 96; Lincoln, 285, 295-296; Wells, 117-118, 120-122, 130; Worcester, 196-197; York, 280; Southwell, 317-318.

Cathedral Pool, 201, 203.

Celia, John de, 363, 364.

Cemetery, 5.

Cemetery Gate, 38.

Censing Angels, 432.

Cerdic, 46.

Chain-Gate, 102, 112, 113, 124.