Part 8

DON _Raymond_, last Earl of _Barcelona_, having in the Year 1149. reduced the City of _Tortosa_ from the _Moors_, on the Thirty First following they laid a fresh Siege to it, in hopes to recover it. The Inhabitants were at length reduced to great Streights; they desired Relief of the Earl, but he not being in a Condition to answer their Request, they had Thoughts of a Surrender; which the Women to prevent put on the Apparel of the Men, and by a resolute Salley forced the _Moors_ to raise the Siege. The Gallantry of the Action the Earl acknowledged by granting them several Privileges, and to perpetuate the Memory instituted this Order, somewhat like a Military one, and none were to be admitted, only those brave Women, and the Honour to derive to their Descendants, and assigned them for a Badge a Thing like a _Fryer’s Capouche_, sharp at the Top, after the Form of a Torch, of a Crimson Colour, to be worn upon their Head-Cloaths; that at all publick Meetings the Women should have Precedence of the Men, and should be exempted from all Taxes, and that all the Apparels and Jewels left by their dead Husbands should be theirs.

A more general Ornament of Honour peculiar to the Fair Sex is the _Cordon_, which some will have to be an Order, or Equivalent thereunto. The Institution is attributed to _Anne Britaigne_, Wife to _Charles_ VIII. of _France_, who instead of the Military Belt or Collar, bestowed a Cordon or Lace on several Ladies, admonishing them to live chastly and devoutly, always mindful of the Cords and Bonds of our Saviour, and to engage them to a greater Esteem of it, she surrounded her Escutcheon of Arms with the like Cordon; from which Example the Arms of unmarried Ladies and Gentlewomen are usually adorn’d with them.

CAP. IV.

_Of the Castle, Chapel and College of_ Windsor, _&c._

Having dispatch’d the several Orders of Knighthood, and trac’d them from their proper Fountains, we come now to treat of the most Noble Order of the _Garter_; an Order, that not only grants Merit, and Honourable, and Valiant Exploits at Home, but what Imperial Heads and Persons, fam’d for the Antiquity of their Race, or Gallantry of Actions, have always esteem’d a further Advancement to their Glory therein to be enroll’d. For the better Explanation, it will be necessary to begin with the Description of the Castle, Chapel, and College of _Windsor_. The Place claims no greater Antiquity than of the _Saxons_, named by them _Windleshore_, and, as _Cambden_ conjectures, had the Denomination from the Winding of a Shore thereabouts, as did _Wandsworth_ in _Surry_, heretofore written _Windlesworth_. The first authentick Notice is from the Donation which King _Edward the Confessor_ made thereof to the Monks of _Westminster_, (as the Charter expresses it) _For the Hope of eternal Reward, the Remission of all his Sins, the Sins of his Father, Mother, and all his Ancestors, to the Praise of Almighty_, &c. he grants _Wyndleshore_, with all its Appurtenances, as an Endowment and perpetual Inheritance, to the Use of the _Monks_ there, and at _Westminster_, that served GOD. Those Monks enjoy’d it not long, for King _William the Conqueror_, in the first Year of his Reign, being greatly enamour’d with the pleasant Situation and Commodiousness of the Place, situate so near the _Thames_, and the Wood fit for Game, invited _Eadwin_, the then Abbot, and the _Monks_, to accept in Exchange for it, _Wokendune_ in _Essex_, a Mansion called _Ferings_, with all its Members and Hamlets, together with Fourteen _Sokemen_ and their Lands, and one Freeholder, and Three Houses in _Colchester_, all in _Essex_, since which it has remained in the Crown.

The King being thus possess’d, forthwith built a Castle upon the Hill, which, in _Doomsday Book_, contained half an Hide of Land, and is there noted to be Parcel of the Mannor of [_Clivore_] _Clure_. This Castle King _Henry_ I. rebuilt, and beautified with great Magnificence, and, in the Tenth Year of his Reign, held his _Whitsontide_ there with great State and Splendor. Shortly after, in a Charter of Peace between King _Stephen_ and Duke _Henry_, (King _Henry_ II. afterwards) this Castle was called _Mola de Windesor_, the Fortress of _Windesor_. Within this Castle was King _Edward_ III. born, (commonly called _Edward_ of _Windsor_) and was baptized in the old Chapel; and so great was his Affection to that Place, that he constituted it the Seat of the most noble Order of the _Garter_; and to embellish it the more, he founded the College of the Chapel of St. _George_, and much enlarged, and beautified the Castle.

For this Work he appointed several Surveyors, whom he assigned to press Hewers of Stone, Carpenters, and such other Artificers as were thought useful and necessary, as also to provide Stone, Timber, and all other Materials for them. _William de Wyckham_ (who attained to be Bishop of _Winchester_) was one of these Supervisors, and had that Place conferr’d on him by Letters Patent, _October_ 30. _Ed._ III. And a Grant of the same Fee was likewise allowed to _Robert de Bernham_, viz. One Shilling a Day, while he was at _Windsor_, Two Shillings when he went elsewhere about that Affair, and Three Shillings _per_ Week to his Clerk; afterwards he was chief Custos and Surveyor of this Castle, of the Mannors of Old and New _Windsor_, and of other Castles, Mannors, _&c._ belonging to the King, to provide Workmen, and look after the Repairs, and in those Mannors to hold Leets and other Courts, Pleas of Trespass and Misdemeanours.

About the 34th of _Ed._ III. it is presumed the most considerable Enlargement of the Castle was made, seeing there was then great Store of the ablest Diggers and Masons impress’d, by virtue of Writs directed to the several Sheriffs, with Command under 100 _l._ Penalty to send them to _Windsor_ the _Sunday_ after the Feast of St. _George_, to work at the Kings Charge, from whence they were not to depart without _Wyckham_’s License, Security having been first taken by the Sheriffs, and returned into _Chancery_. _London_ found Forty; _Essex_, in conjunction with _Hertford_, Forty; _Wilts_, _Leicester_, with _Worcester_, _Cambridge_, with _Huntington_ Forty, _Kent_, _Gloucester_, _Somerset_, with _Devon_, and _Northampton_, one with another, found also Forty a-piece. And because divers of these Workmen, for Gain and Advantage, clandestinely left _Windsor_ to the Hindrance of the Work, all Persons were forbid to employ or retain them under Forfeiture of all they had, and likewise to arrest those that withdrew themselves from the Work, and commit them to _Newgate_. _A._ 36. _Ed._ III. many of them being swept away by the Pestilence, the like Writs were directed to other Sheriffs, under a Hundred Pound Penalty, to send able Men; whereupon the Counties of _York_ sent Sixty, _Derby_ Twenty Four, _Salop_ Sixty, _Hereford_ Fifty, _Nottingham_ Twenty Four, _Lancaster_ Twenty Four, and _Devon_ Sixty. _A._ 37. _Ed._ III. The noble Edifice was ready for Glazing, and of Twenty Four of that Occupation impress’d for the King’s Service, Twelve were to be employed at _Windsor_. In this Year and the next a great Proficiency was made, and vast Quantities of Stone were amassed, dug out of the Quarries of _Wellesfor_, _Newel_, and _Carby_, and other Places. From the 37th to the 43d, the Building of the Castle was diligently pursued. We find no Addition to this august Pile till his 48th Year, and after that Time nothing more during his Reign, so that it is supposed this Famous Piece for Magnificence and Strength was then chiefly finished, _viz._ the Great Hall of St. _George_, the Lodgings on the East and South side of the Upper Ward, the Keep or Tower in the Middle Ward, the Chapel of St. _George_, the Houses for the Custos and the Canons in the Lower Ward, with the whole Circumference of the Walls, their several Towers and Gates, as in the present Posture they remain.

IN succeeding Times King _Hen._ VII. added that stately Fabrick adjoining to the King’s Lodgings, in the Upper Ward. King _Hen._ VIII. re-edified the great Gate at the Entrance into the Lower Ward. King _Edw._ VI. began, and Queen _Mary_ perfected the Conveying the Water, from _Blackmore-Park_ in _Wingfield_ Parish, into a Fountain of curious Workmanship erected in the Middle Ward, which supplied all the Castle. Queen _Elizabeth_ made a Terrace Work on the North side of the Castle; from whence there is a pleasant Prospect down upon _Eaton-bridge_, the _Thames_, and the adjacent Country. King _Charles_ I. _A. D._ 1636. built the Gate at the East end of the Terrace, which leads into the Park. And lastly, King _Charles_ II. greatly beautified and repair’d the Fabrick, and furnish’d it with a curious Armory; and, in fine, every Thing is so fitly disposed and ordered, that they are worthy of the Notice of every nice and curious Traveller.

CAMDEN elegantly describes its Situation in Prose in this manner: _From an Hill_ (says he) _that rises with a gentle Ascent, it enjoyeth a most delightful Prospect round about; foreright, in the Front, it overlooketh a Vale, lying out far and wide, garnished with Corn Fields, flourishing with Meadows, deck’d with Groves on either side, and watered with the most mild and calm River_ Thames. _Behind it arise Hills every where, neither rough nor over high, attired, as it were with Woods, and even dedicated, as one would say, by Nature, to hunting Game._

And thus _Denham’s_ Muse pourtrays it:

Windesor, #the next (where# Mars #with# Venus #dwells, Beauty with Strength) above the Valley swells Into my Eye, and doth it self present With such an easy and unforc’d ascent, That no stupendious Precipice denies Access, no horror turns away our Eyes; But such a Rise as doth at once invite A Pleasure, and a reverence from our sight. Thy mighty Masters Emblem, in whose face Sat Meekness heightned with Majestick Grace; Such seems thy gentle height, made only proud To be the Basis of that pompous Load. Than which a nobler weight no Mountain bears But Atlas only that supports the Spheres.#

This Castle is under the Government of a Constable, so call’d in the Reign of King _John_, and has bore that Denomination ever since: The Office is of great Antiquity, Honour and Power, but of small Revenue, for it is partly Military and Civil; as Military he commands the Castle and any Garrison placed therein, and is obliged to defend it against all Enemies whatsoever; all the Prisoners brought hither are committed to his Charge, and is answerable for all that is in the Castle to the King, under whom he is Commander, as a Civil Officer. He is Judge of a Court of Record held there by Prescription, for determining, by way of Common Law, all Pleas between Party and Party, arising within the Precincts of the Forest of _Windsor_, and Liberties thereof, which compriseth many Towns; and all legal Processes issue out in his Name. He is allowed a Deputy learned in the Law, who is called the Steward of the Court of Record, and is Keeper of the Constable’s Seal of Office. This Officer supplies the Constable’s Place as a Judge of the Court of _Common Pleas_, from whose Judgment the Appeal is by Writ of Error returnable in the _King’s-Bench_, or _Common Pleas_ at _Westminster_. The Constable is likewise Forester and Warden of the Forest of _Windsor_, which is an 120 Miles in compass. He hath under him one or more Lieutenants at his Pleasure, and may imprison any Trespasser in Vert and Venison Convict, having a Prison in the Castle for that Purpose, named the _Coalhole_. He hath the Freedom of using the Sports of the Forest, which is granted to no Person without his or the King’s License, and signs all Warrants to kill Deer, (except what the King signs) and is to fell Timber and Wood.

HE that was _Chastelain_ (the _French_ Word for Constable) in _William the Conqueror_’s Reign was _Walter Fitz Other_, from whom the Family of the Barons of _Windsor_ are descended, and the Earls of _Plimouth_, bearing the Surname of _Windsor_, _Temp. Car._ II. Prince _Rupert_ was Constable.

WE come next to the Chapel of St. _George_, which is situate in the Lower Ward or Court of this Castle, and so named by King _Edw._ III. shortly after he had founded the College mention’d in the next Section; he having pulled down the old Chapel erected there by King _Henry_ I. and dedicated to King _Edward the Confessor_, to raise a more stately Structure in its stead; to bring which Matter to Perfection, in the 24th Year of his Reign, _John de Spoulee_ had the Office of Master of the Stone-Hewers, and had Power to provide Masons, and other Artificers, to whose Care they were entrusted. In _Anno_ 25. _Ed._ I. _John de Dorchester_, Sub-Constable of the Castle, was appointed to keep a Controul upon all the Provisions bought for the Works of the Chapel, as well as on the Payments, and all other Affairs relating thereunto. To this Fabrick he erected several Houses adjoining, for the Custos and Canons to reside in; and afterwards King _Hen._ IV. gave them the void Place in the Castle call’d the _Woodhall_, nigh the great Hall, for building of Houses and Apartments for the Vicars, Clerks, and Choristers, and the other Ministers, assigned for the Service of the Chapel; but King _Edw._ IV. observing the Walls and Foundation of the Chapel sapped and consumed, and esteeming the Fabrick not stately or spacious enough, designed another more noble and excellent in its Room: In order to it _Richard Beauchamp_, Bishop of _Salisbury_, was constituted Master and Surveyor of the Work, who had Power from the King to remove all Impediments, demolished divers of the Officiary Houses, and other irregular Piles and decay’d Walls, and dug up their Foundations, particularly those ancient Buildings on the East side of the Chapel, which extended unto the Walls on the North side of the Castle, where the Towers, _viz._ _Clurey_’s Tower, and _Le Amenery_’s Tower, and _Barney_’s Tower, were situated; as also on the South side of the Chapel, unto the Belfry there, exclusively; the Materials whereof he might bestow upon any Buildings in the Castle, as he thought convenient. How well the Bishop discharged this Office, appears from the Preamble of his Patent, whereby that King conferred on him the Chancellorship of the _Garter_, in which is set forth, _That out of meer Love towards the Order, he had given himself the Leisure daily to attend the Advancement and Progress of this goodly Fabrick_.

FROM this Erection of K. _Ed._ IV. arose the elegant and beauteous Structure now standing, enlarged in Length at least an Hundred Fathom (tho’ it did not arrive to its Perfection until the Reign of King _Henry_ VIII.) together with the Dean and Canons Houses on the North side of the Chapel, and those of the Petty Canons raised at the West End, in form of a Fetter-lock (one of King _Edward_ the IVth’s Badges) and so vulgarly call’d. _Temp. Henry_ VII. Sir _Reginald Bray_, Knight of the _Garter_, became a liberal Benefactor, finishing the Body of the Chapel, and rearing the Middle Chapel on the South thereof, which still retains his Name, and where his Body lies interred, as is manifest by his Arms, Badges, _&c._ cut in Stone, and by his last Will. _Anno_ 21. _Hen._ VII. _John Hylmer_ and _William Vertue_, Free Masons, undertook the Vaulting the Roof of the Choir (a curious Piece of Architecture) for 700 _l._ and finish’d it by _Christmas_, 1508. _Anno_ 8 _Henry_ VIII. the Rood Loft, and Lanthorn, were erected, with the Contributions raised by the Knights Companions. Near to the East end of this Chapel, was a little Fabrick of Free-Stone, raised by Cardinal _Wolsey_, call’d the _Tomb House_, in the Middle whereof he designed to erect a Monument for King _Henry_ VIII. and had almost finished it before he died; but this was demolished, 1646. by command of the _Long Parliament_; and all the Copper Figures, exceedingly enriched by Art, carry’d thence. This Place King _Charles_ I. intended to enlarge, for the Interment of his own Royal Body, and those of his Successors; but those villainous Times drawn on, they with much ado afforded him but a mean obscure Place near the first high Place in the Choir of this Chapel, in the same Vault where the Bodies of King _Henry_ VIII. and his last Queen yet remain.

IN this Chapel, besides many of the Knights Companions, repose the Body of King _Hen._ VI. removed from _Chertsey_ Abbey in _Surrey_, deposited under the Uppermost Arch at the South side of the Altar, without any Monument or Inscription, and likewise that of King _Edw._ IV. under a large Stone of Tuch, raised within the opposite Arch, at the North side of the Altar, but without Inscription, having on the outside of his Grave a Range of Steel gilt, to inclose it from the North Isles, cut excellent well in Church-work.

OVER this Arch hung this King’s Coat of Mail, cover’d over with Crimson Velvet, and thereon the Arms of _England_ and _France_ quarter’d and richly embroider’d with Pearl and Gold, interwoven with divers Rubies; which Trophy had remain’d over his Monument ever since his Interment, till plunder’d by Captain _Fogg_, 1642. who at the same time sacrilegiously robb’d the Chapel of all its Altar-Plate.

WITHIN this Chapel were several Chantries endow’d with Lands and other Revenues, for Chaplains and Priests to sing Masses for the Souls of their Founder’s Kindred.

_William_ of _Wickham_, Bishop of _Winchester_, in 3 _Hen._ IV. gave Two Hundred Marks to the Dean and Chapter, to buy Twenty Marks _per Annum_ to maintain one Chaplain.

18 _Ed._ IV. The Feoffees of _Richard_, Duke of _Glocester_, gave the Mannors of _Bentfieldbury_ in _Essex_, _Knapton_ in _Norfolk_, and _Chetlesworth_ in _Suffolk_, for a daily Mass.

22 _Ed._ IV. Sir _Thomas St. Leger_ founded a Chantry of Two Priests, who were to officiate in the middle Chapel on the North Side of the Church; and the said King, by his Will, ordain’d Two Priests to serve at his Tomb, with an Exhibition of Twenty Marks yearly a-piece.

9 _Hen._ VII. There was another Chantry Priest assign’d for _Thomas Pasche_ and _William Hermer_, &c. who was to perform his Office at the Altar on the North Side the new Church.

13 _Hen._ VII. _Margaret_, Countess of _Richmond_, founded a Chantry for Four Chaplains, to celebrate Mass in the East Part of the new Work of the Chapel.

18 _Hen._ VII. _William_, Lord _Hastings_, founded a Chantry for One Priest, on the North Side of the Choir, about the middle whereof this Lord lies.

21 _Hen._ VII. _Charles Somerset_, Lord _Herbert_, (afterwards Earl of _Worcester_) left a Secular Priest for a daily Mass, _&c._ to be said in the South Chapel dedicated to the Virgin _Mary_, where he lies interr’d. Both these Lords have built Appartments adjoyning for their Chantry Priests, now to be seen and distinguish’d by their Arms, garter’d and cut in Stone over their several Doors.

TO these we shall add the Foundation of the new Commons, erected over against the North Door of the Body of St. _George_’s Chapel, by _James Denton_ one of the Canons, _Anno_ 11 _Hen._ VIII. for the Lodging and Dieting such of the Chantry Priests, Choristers and stipendiary Priests, who had before no certain Place where to hold Commons in, which he furnish’d with all proper Utensils, the Charge amounting to 489 _l._ 7 _s._ 1 _d._ in lieu of which the Choristers were to say certain Prayers when they enter’d the Chapel, commemorate his Death, and pray for his and the Souls of all the Faithful departed.

IN this Chapel of St. _George_ there were heretofore several Anniversaries or Obits held and celebrated, which we pass over. And as it was usual for some of the military Profession to spend the Remains of their Lives in pious Speculations, for their King and Country, and the Salvation of their own Souls, Permission was allow’d to the well-dispos’d _Knights of the Garter_, who retir’d from the Noise and Bustle of the World, to make their Abode there; yet so as to maintain themselves out of their own Revenues. King _Henry_ VIII. ordain’d that the Sovereign should assign them convenient Appartments within the Castle; and the like Favour he granted to other Knights, tho’ not of the Order; but the Lodgings to be such as the Sovereign and Knights Companions should decree: However, we do not find the Knights Companions made use of the Benefit, but only for their better Accommodation at the grand Feast of the Order, _&c._ A Motion was made, 14 _Car._ I. that they might have Lodgings assign’d them in the great Court, which they offer’d to repair at their own Charge, since all the Officers had Conveniencies in the Castle, but the Knights Companions none, which the King did not dissent to, provided it be without Exclusion of the great Officers of State.

§ 3. WITHIN the Chapel of the Castle, erected by King _Henry_ I. was founded a College for Eight Canons, to be maintain’d by an annual Pension out of the Exchequer. King _Edw._ II. founded here a Chantry for Four Chaplains and Two Clerks; as likewise a Chapel in the Park of _Windsor_, under the same Regulation, for Four more Chaplains, whom King _Edw._ III. remov’d and joyn’d to those before settled in the Chapel of the Castle, and built Habitations for their better Accommodation, on the South Side thereof.

THE Foundation we treated of here was confirm’d by Letters Patent, dated at _Westminster_, _Aug._ 6. 22 _Edw._ III. three Quarters of a Year before he erected _The Order of the Garter_, when he laid the Foundation of the ancient Chapel a-fresh, in honour of God, the Virgin _Mary_, St. _George_ and St. _Edward the Confessor_; and ordain’d, that to King _Henry_’s Eight Canons there should be annex’d One Custos, Fifteen more Canons, and Twenty Four Alms-Knights, together with other Ministers, all under the Power of the Custos, and these to be supported out of the Revenues wherewith this Chapel should be endow’d: Upon which Pope _Clement_ VI. 1351. by his Bull directed to the Arch-bishop of _Canterbury_ and Bishop of _Winchester_, approved in part the King’s Intention.

THE next Year the Statutes and Ordinances of the College commenc’d, by Virtue of the Pope’s Authority, the King’s Command, and Consent of the Bishop of _Salisbury_, in whose Diocess the Chapel is situate. By which Statutes, _Winchester_ (one of the Pope’s Delegates) instituted a College, within the Precincts of the Chapel of St. _George_, consisting of one Custos, Twelve Secular Canons, Thirteen Priests or Vicars, Four Clerks, Six Choristers, and Twenty Six Alms-Knights, besides other Officers.

DEAN.