THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE WESTMINSTER ABBEY "/, Jolm Froissari, priest and chaplain. ..treasurer and canon of Chimay and Lille in Flanders, set myself to work at my forge to produce new and 7iotable matter relative to tJie wars between France and England. . . which e.xcellent materials, throiigh the grace of God, I shall work tipofi as long as I live: for the more I labour at it the more it delights me."' WESTMINSTER ABBEY ITS ARCHITECTURE, HISTORY AND MONUMENTS By HELEN MARSHALL PRATT Author of "The Cathedial Churches of England" ILLUSTRATED VOL. I. NEW YORK DUFFIELD & COMPANY 1914 W5 f7-3 COPYKIGHT, 19U By DuFFiELD & Company TO THE MEMORY OP THE BRAVE AND THE FAITHFUL, THE STRONG, THE STEADFAST AND THE TRUE, FROM PALACES OR FROM HALLS OP STATE, FROM CHURCH OR CLOISTER OR FAIR ENGLISH HOME, WHO AT LAST, " THIS PAINFUL LIFE ENDED," HAVE FOUND PEACE- FUL SHELTER WITHIN THE WALLS OF WESTMINSTER ABBEY, I DEDICATE THIS BOOK. TABLES OF CONTENTS VOLUME I. Chapter. Page I. The Founding of the Abbey . . i II. The Saxon Church and the Norman Church of Edward the Confessor 22 III. Henry Ill's Church, the Present Building 52 IV. Completion of the Nave — the Novum Opus 79 V. The Plan 96 VI, The Choir and Sanctuary . . .101 VII. The Transept ...... 136 VIII. The North Transept .... 144 IX. The South Transept, or the Poets' Corner 164 X. The South Transept, continued . 194 XJI. The Ambulatory 222 XII. The Chapel of Edward the Con- fessor 245 XIII. The Tomb and Shrine of Edward the Confessor 268 XIV. Other Tombs in the Confessor's Chapel 287 XV. Chapels of the South Ambulatory 347 XVI. Henry VII's Lady Chapel . . .386 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS VOLUME I Westminster Abbey from the Dean's Yard Frontispiece Facing Page The Tomb of King Sebert 6 The Abbey Church in 1654, with Richard II's Porch — from Hollar's etching ... 16 The Norman Undercroft in the East Cloister . 38 The Abbey Church of Jumieges .... 48 Henry HI^ from the effigy on his Tomb . . 54 Cardinal Langham's Tomb in St. Benedict's Chapel 84 The Choir looking East, arranged for a Corona- tion 106 The Triforium Arcade 108 Abbot Ware's Pavement in the Sanctuary . 108 Tombs of Aveline, Countess of Lancaster, Ay- mer de Valence and Edmund Crouchback . 118 The Transept, arranged for Edward VH's Coronation, with thrones for the King and Queen 140 The North Transept, looking towards the Poets' Corner 146 The Earl of Chatham 156 A Censing Angel in the Transept .... 166 View into the South Transept from the Sanc- tuary 170 Monuments to Shakespeare, Thomson, Camp- bell ; and busts of Burns, Coleridge and Southey 186 Monuments to Spenser, Milton, Jonson, Butler, Grey, Chaucer, Dryden and Longfellow : graves of Browning and Tennyson . . 196 List of Illustrations Facing Page Chaucer's Tomb 204 St. Faith 218 South Ambulatory, St. Nicholas' Chapel and Henry V's Chapel 224 North Ambulatory, Queen Eleanor's Tomb, St. John the Baptist's Chapel and Islip's Chapel 234 Edward the Confessor's Chapel .... 246 Coronation Chair 262 The Tomb of Henry HI 292 The Tomb of Queen Philippa : part of Henry V's Chantry Chapel 310 Reredos of Henry V's Chantry Chapel . . 322 The Tomb of Edward HI 330 Tomb of William de Valence with detail of Shield and Sword Belt 358 The Duchess of Suffolk, Mother of Lady Jane Grey 358 Henry VH's Chapel looking West, with Stalls and Gates 386 Henry VH 390 Fan Tracery 434 Demi-Angels, with Tudor emblems . . . 434 A Bronze Gate 442 Dean Williams 4S8 LIST OF LINE DRAWINGS IN TEXT VOLUME I. Page A Mediaeval Organ 23 Earl's Barton Tower 24 The Norman Church, from the Bayeux Tapestry 29 Plan of the Abbey Church of Jumieges . . 44 Capital from Jumieges 46 Henry III giving directions to his architect . . (>^ Henry HI delivering the relic of the Holy Blood to the Abbot of Westminster . . 74 Conjectural Viev/ of the Abbey Church before the completion of the nave .... 78 Prince Edmund in his cradle 121 Two of the Knights painted on Crouchback's Tomb 123 Plan of Abbey 127 A Spandril in the North Transept . . . 146 Wolf Marks on German swords .... 267 A Capital in St. Benedict's chapel .... 353 A Spandril in St. Edmund's chapel . . . 358 PREFACE He who attempts to write a book on Westminster Abbey, whatever his prepa- ration, must realize, as his printed pages begin to look him in the face, how much he has left undone In this story of the art and history of a thousand English years. My aim in preparing this volume has been to combine the most important and interesting facts concerning the founding, the establishment, and the architectural features of the Abbey as they are under- stood today, and to present the conclu- sions of the most reliable modern archae- ologists, for the convenient use of readers at home and of students of art and ar- chitecture. From the mass of biograph- ical material collected, I have endeav- oured to select the most interesting and vital. In particular, and perhaps distinguish- ing this book from others, I have endeav- oured to comprehend and interpret the con- ditions of the Confessor's residence of thirty years at the Norman Court; the personality of those who directed his Preface studies and influenced his life as revealed in the chronicles of England and of Nor- mandy; the spirit in which he came to the throne of his fathers; and why and how he came to build that wonderful Norman Abbey church of Westminster, the design of which is being studied with profound interest by modern archaeologists. In a similar manner, I have attempted to show the spirit of the life and times of the third Henry and his reasons for building the present church: the story of the completion of the nave under Car- dinal Langham's legacy, and the progress of the building under Richard II, Henry V and later kings. If I have seemed to overestimate the influence of English Gothic architecture in the church so often called chiefly French, it is because long study of Eng- lish Gothic architecture as seen in Eng- lish cathedrals leads me to place a high value on its splendid original develop- ment. Similarly, I place a high estimate on that latest development which we call Perpendicular Gothic as displayed at Westminster in Henry VII's chapel, In which not a trace of foreign influence ap- pears save in the Renaissance tombs of the founder and his family. The characteristics of the monuments Preface themselves, from the ancient Roman cof- fin and the plain effigies of the early Nor- man abbots to the sculptured glories of the Plantagenet, Tudor and Stuart tombs, have proved a fruitful study for many generations; and the lives of the kings and queens, the poets, statesmen, war- riors and courtiers here represented ap- peal forcibly to the lover of history and romance. But in a volume of limited size, it is obviously impossible to include the entire series of tombs and their occu- pants. The selection of names includes chiefly those of largest note in English history: those whose genius is universally recognized: those in any way linked with American history: and, in the case of monuments or memorials, those of supe- rior beauty, those which bear noted names and those which, from their very incon- gruity or absurdity, represent the taste of the period in which they were erected. The history of Westminster Abbey is almost an epitome of the nation's history and he who will pursue the history of England with the Abbey for a guide, taking up the reigns of the kings from the Confessor onward, or, taking each royal tomb, will trace its story, will find him- self at the close of his study, master of a large portion of English history. Preface My preparation for this work has con- sisted of long continued daily study of the .building itself, the remotest corners of which were rendered accessible through the courtesy of its official guardians: con- stant acquaintance with the church and its precincts as worshipper and visitor, dur- ing years of continuous residence in Lon- don, and the study of many books and ma:nuscripts at the British Museum, where much of this volume was written. Thanks for courtesies received at the Abbey are gratefully tendered to Dean Armitage Robinson: to Rev. R. B. Rack- ham who revealed the beauties of the old Infirmary: to Canon Beeching, now Dean of Norwich: to Bishop Welldon and the late sub-Dean Duckworth: to Sir Fred- erick Bridge whose home in the Eitlington Tower opened cordially and often to an Inquiring guest: to Mrs Murray Smith and Miss Rose Bradley, in memory of their kindness and that of their father the late Dean Bradley, whose affectionate in- terest in the church over which he presided so prosperously for more than twenty years never failed, and who loved to pay a visit to the Abbot's Pew when night shadows were falling, and sometimes In- vited a delighted guest to share his good- night to the old Abbey. Preface To my brother, William O. Pratt, I am much indebted for advice, and for con- stant assistance in proof-reading. To the Superintendent and assistants of the Brit- ish Museum Reading-Room: to Mr. Ed- ward R. Smith, Director of the Avery Architectural Library and to assistants in the New York Public Library where some additional study has been pursued, thanks are due for many courtesies rendered. WESTMINSTER ABBEY VOL. I CHAPTER I THE FOUNDING OF THE ABBEY: WHAT IT HAS BEEN : WHAT IT IS The great brown stone church situated across the street from the Houses of Par- liament is called Westminster Abbey, or, more correctly, Westminster Abbey church, because it was formerly the church of the great Benedictine abbey of St. Peter's at Westminster. It is familiarly known in England as The Abbey. It is not a cathedral — though it once en- joyed that honour for a period of ten years — since it has no bishop and contains no bishop's chair or cathedra: it is not a part of any English diocese: is not subject to the authority of any diocesan governor whatever, whether archbishop, bishop or archdeacon. Even the bishop of London who has his throne at St. Paul's cathedral, has no jurisdiction over the Abbey. The Archbishop of Canterbury has no author- ity here, save on the single occasion of a coronation. Its ecclesiastical head is the dean who has his chapter of canons and an archdeacon. The dean is appointed by Westmnstcr Ahhey the king and to him directly owes his au- thority and to him alone is responsible. He is subject to no outside ecclesiastical jurisdiction whatsoever. The constitution, government and rela- tive position of the Abbey are therefore, peculiar, almost but not quite unique since St. George's, the King's royal chapel at Windsor, is of the same general character though the establishment is much smaller, and each is therefore called, very fittingly, a Royal Peculiar. Having thus defined its position, in a manner, negatively, it is of interest to know what the Abbey stands for today, and what steps have led up to its present con- stitution. Its exceedingly romantic and varied history falls naturally into five sec- tions, Including its existence (i) as a Bene- dictine monastery; (2) as a mitred abbey; (3) as a cathedral church, the seat of a bishop; (4) as a restored monastery under Queen Mary, and (5) as a collegiate church, having unusual privileges and ex- emptions which entitle it to the name Royal Peculiar. The first chapter, Its history as a monas- tery, must Include the story of Its founding. In the dim early days of the Christian cen- turies, there was no one to dispute the pos- session, by the first monks, of the long low The Founding of the Abbey island or gravelly peninsula formed by in- lets and divisions of the river Thames and the Tyburn river, known as Thorn Eye or Isle, on account of its dense thickets of thorn. Here the wild ox and red deer from the neighbouring hills grazed peace- fully and undisturbed in the "terrible place" (as it is called in Offa's charter) which seemed inaccessible to man, and their bones were found in the earth by workmen laying the foundations of the Victoria tower, and later, in 1868, when making excavations in the Broad Sanctu- ary in front of the church, for the under- ground railway. The island lay a little beyond what was then the west gate of London. Here springs of water bubbled up from the earth, and here, attracted no doubt by these springs, by the healthful gravelly soil and by the fishing in the rivers close by, as well as by the natural beauty and seclusion of the place, some early monks founded a small monastery. Early legends tell us that a temple of Apol- lo once stood here and was destroyed by an earthquake in 154 A. D., and that the first monastery was founded by a British king, Lucius, himself a myth, the reputed founder also of Glastonbury, Gloucester and Dover abbeys. From the mass of traditions and legends some little Westminster Abbey grains of truth may be extracted, no doubt, but in general, it is safe to say that almost nothing is certainly known of these early centuries. The earliest historian of the Abbey his- tory is Sulcard, a Norman monk of the Conqueror's time (1066-1087), brought over from the abbey of Bernay by the King. He lived so near to the time of Ed- ward the Confessor's refounding and building at Westminster at a period when all the early traditions of its establishment would naturally be well known and cor- rectly estimated by many, that considerable confidence is placed in his writings. The honour of founding the earliest church on Thorney Isle, Sulcard gives to a wealthy Christian citizen of London whom he does not name: who, with his wife, was inspired and encouraged by King Ethelbert, founder of St. Paul's. Sulcard calls him "a certain citizen" (quidam civium urhis non infimus); but some one in copying Sulcard's manuscript scribbled the name Sehert on the margin, and later it became incorporated with the text, and the Christian citizen, Sebert, and his wife were thereafter named, at least for some time, as the founders of the original Westminster Abbey. Sulcard tells us that they lived to see the building completed The Founding of the Abbey and consecrated, and that when they died they were buried before the high altar. He adds that the church stood neglected from Ethelbert to Offa, whose charter, da- ted 785 (now considered spurious), grants new lands to the monks. The Abbey thus founded was named the Westminster in order to distinguish it from the foundation in the east of Lon- don which we call St. Paul's, and which was the Eastminster. The founding, ac- cording to Sulcard, was in the time of Bishop Mellitus who was consecrated to St. Paul's in 604; thus making the two foundations of nearly the same date, as the monks of St. Peter desired. Ailred, Abbot of Rivaulx, writing the Confessor's life in 1163, attributes the founding to Sebert, king of the East Sax- ons, who died in 616, and his wife, Ethel- goda: Gervase of Canterbury gives the same origin, but adds, "at the entreaty of Mellitus, Bishop of London." Ralph of Diceto also uses the King's name as found- er, and It is true that a tomb called that of King Sebert has always been shown in the Abbey and exists there today: Malmes- bury, using the same tradition, adds that it was founded by the urgent request of St. Peter himself. Says The Liber Regius : "Sebert, the King being baptized by St. Au- Westminster Abhey gustine, in the place where stood a temple dedicated to Apollo, on the west side of London called Thorney, erected a church in honour of God and St. Peter and re- quested of Mellitus, Bishop of London, to dedicate it." All these nearly contemporary chroni- clers of the eleventh and twelfth centuries may be grouped together. But over against these statements must be placed the overwhelming fact that the Venerable Bede (673-735), writing his invaluable Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain in 731, and including in his account of Lon- don every foundation then known, de- scribes St. Paul's, but makes no mention whatever of a church of St. Peter, as he most certainly would have done had such a foundation , existed. Much might be added, but not, I think, to edification, to these various legends and traditions con- cerning the founding of the Abbey. Camden tells us that Canute (1016- 1035), the King, attracted by "the sweet loveliness of the isle," built here a royal palace, and was deeply interested in the monastery the society of whose abbot, Woolnoth, was especially pleasing to him. The island he describes as 14 10 feet long and mo feet wide. It must here be mentioned as a matter H The Founding of the Ahhey of interest, and as adding some support to the story which attributes the founding to an early date, the overthrow of the church to the persecutions under Diocletian, and its refounding as a temple of Apollo, that recent excavations beneath Edward the Confessor's chapel, by Dean Armitage Robinson, disclosed a layer of Roman tiles on the apse foundation, and fragments of a Roman roof-tile having flanged sides.* "It is evident," writes the dean, "that there must once have been an important Roman building on the site." Coming down to reliable history which must begin with the fact that a monastery probably founded after BedeV^ime, not far from 740, had long existed, in some sort, on this spot, we arrive at the time (1042-6), when Edward the Confessor being absolved from a vow made while he was in exile, to undertake a pilgrimage to Rome, founded or rather refounded here a monastery in the name of St. Peter and built a noble church and ample monastic offices. The church was dedicated in 1065, the first time that a church had been dedicated here by human hands, it was said. But the legend of its consecration by St. Peter himself, must always be told in this con- *Arch(Eologia 62: gc). Westminster Ahheij nection. On the evening before the day appointed for its first consecration in the early seventh century, a fisherman of Lam- beth met on the shore a stranger who of- fered him meet reward if he would ferry him over to the then wild island of Thor- ney. Arriving there, he entered the church, when "Lo! On a sudden, all the pile is bright, Nave, choir and transept glorified with light; While tongues of fire on coign and carving play And Heavenly odors fair. Come streaming with the floods of glory in, And carols float along the happy air, As if the reign of joy did then begin."* Angels and archangels were seen de- scending a ladder let down from heaven and strains of exquisite music ravished the senses of the Lambeth fisherman, the only witness of the miracle. When the stranger returned to the Lam- beth shore, the fisherman asked for his re- ward and was bidden to cast his net in the river, when he brought up a miraculous draught of salmon, "which," said the stranger, "should never fail in Lambeth so long as a tithe of them was offered to the church in Thorney Isle." He bade the fisherman take one to Mellitus the Bishop of London, "and tell him how he had car- ried in his boat the fisher of the Galilean lake and had seen the church consecrated ♦Matthew Arnold. 8 The Founding of the Abbey by St. Peter and all the glorious hierarchy of heaven." Which when Bishop Mellitus heard, he hastened to the church and there found twelve consecration crosses on the walls, the letters of the alphabet written twice on the sanded pavement, and the traces of chrism and the droppings of the angelic tapers. From the year 1065, when Edward the Confessor's church was dedicated, the ab- bot and his monks were comfortably housed and cared for in the great cloister with its dormitory, refectory and kitchens, its chapter house and scriptorium, its or- chards and gardens and vineyard, its mill, granaries, and almonry, its sanctuary of refuge for the distressed, and all that was necessary for the complete equipment of a mediceval monastery. In the midst of all the monastic buildings rose the state- ly Abbey church, the predecessor of that which we see today, for which the monas- tery existed, in which the voice of prayer and anthem and song at its many altars scarcely ceased from earliest dawn to deep- est midnight. This is the first chapter in the Abbey's long history, a chapter in which we have seen that the monastery must have been in existence as early as the eighth century: was refounded early in the reign of Ed- Westminster Abbey ward the Confessor (1042-1066), and furnished with ample and beautiful build- ings. As a monastery it continued like hundreds of others in England, for nearly five hundred years. The second chapter finds the monastery of St. Peter's grown rich and powerful, having possessions in lands all about the vicinity of what we call London today, and ^ r in the then far-away counties: Its granaries ■^ well filled: Its gardens and orchards fruit- ful: Its altars fragrant with much incense: its cloisters Well peopled with monks and novices. Its environment constantly improv- ing as the town Increased In wealth and population. Abbot Lawrence sat in the abbot's chair at Westminster from 11 60 to 1176. He had been a learned monk of St. Albans monastery, and had come thence to West- minster. At least two yeaxS before his coming, St. Albans had been accorded the honours of a mitred abbey and exemption from episcopal jurisdiction In England, ob- tained from the pope. In 1 154, the Pope at Rome was an Englishman, Adrian IV, the only Englishman who ever sat In St. Peter's chair. His father, late In life had become a monk of St. Albans, a privilege once refused the son on account of his lack of education: and on the appeal 10 The Founding of the Abbey of the St. Albans abbot, who went to Rome with two monks (possibly includ- ing the Pope's own father), and by the aid of numerous rich gifts, the Pope had granted St. Albans absolute exemption from diocesan supervision making it sub- ject to Rome alone; and permitted its ab- bots to wear the mitre, ring and sandals of a bishop and to have his crozier as a badge of office. Pope Adrian died in 1158, and on account of some very natural con- tentions in the English church concerning the matter, the St. Albans abbot did not actually wear his mitre until Easter, 1163, and in that same year he occupied the highest seat among the English abbots at the great council of Tours. In 1 163, influenced in some degree no doubt, by the exalted position accorded the neighbouring monastery, Abbot Lawrence made successful efforts to secure the canonization of Edward the Confessor, once rejected at Rome; and twelve years later, in 1175 he also secured from Rome for the abbots of St. Peter's, for- ever, the precious privilege of wearing the episcopal mitre, ring, gloves and sandals, and to bear the crozier, though he himself did not live to use these coveted insignia. This increase of privilege and, to an ex- tent, of power, introduced no essential II Westminster Ahhey change in the general conduct of the es- tablishment, but it was hereafter known as a mitred abbey, and by reason of its in- creasing possessions, and the possession of a saint and a shrine, it became one of the most powerful, a position which was often contested by St. Albans. As a rich and powerful mitred abbey also virtually a royal chapel, since it was within the precincts of the king's pal- ace of Westminster and was closely linked with coronations, parliamentary gather- ings, pageants of many sorts and royal funeral obsequies, St. Peter's continued for nearly four hundred years. Kings came and went between ii 63 and 1539. Henry II and Becket had their fierce strife and the archbishop's murder astounded Christendom; Richard the Lion-hearted went on his crusade; the bad John shuffled through his inglorious reign and sullenly signed the Great Charter: his better son, Henry III splendidly rebuilt the old Nor- man church of the Confessor and here found burial and a noble tomb. The strong first Edward, his weak son, and the greater third Edward filled up the cen- tury between 1272 and 1377, and left not much beside four royal tombs to their memory in the great abbey church. The last and almost the weakest Plantagenet, 12 The Founding of the Ahhey Richard II, the Black Prince's son, assisted well and generously in the completion of the nave building so long as he had power, and left a beautiful tomb for his queen and himself. The House of Lancaster, and its three Henrys, succeeding the Plantagenets, with their French wars, and the long per- iod of the Wars of the Roses, had only incidental connection with the Abbey his- tory, though the fourth Henry died in the Jerusalem Chamber, and Henry V's queen built here a magnificent tomb to his mem- ory. York had its connection with the Abbey in the first queen of its house, Eliza- beth Woodville, and the birth of her son, Edward V within the Abbey precincts where she had sought refuge from the enemies of Edward IV; in the pitiful re- membrance of her two sons, the murdered Princes of the Tower; and in the unmark- ed grave of Richard Ill's unhappy queen in the Sanctuary. With the House of Tu- dor, Westminster again glows with memories of royalty, in the completion of the nave; of Henry VII's magnificent chapel, and of the noble tomb of his queen and himself and of the learned Lady Mar- garet his mother. The second Tudor king begins to write the events in the final history of the Abbey as a monastery. In the last seven years 13 Westmi7ister Abhey of his life, when all that was cruel and unlovely and repulsive had displaced all that was excellent in Henry VIII's char- acter, when, eager for the wealth that had gathered around the noble old Eng- lish monasteries throughout the land, the rich manors, the tithes, the golden shrines of saints with their marvellous store of jewels, he caused the monks to be disper- sed, the establishments dissolved and the wealth to be poured into the king's treas- ure house, he came, in his evil course, to the monastery of St. Peter's and the Con- fessor's shrine. So early as 1536 he had gained possession of some of its lands, of that which we call St. James Park: of the Abbot's manor house of Neate; of the great estate of Covent (Convent) Garden; of Hyde Park and other broad possessions through bargains with the monks which were greatly in his favour. And he had caused the Confessor's shrine to be torn down, the ornaments and the gold and sil- ver plate to be sold, and the jewels to be taken to his coffers. The revenues, even then, amounted to $350,000 in present values. In 1539, he caused the bereft monastery to be dissolved and the twenty- four monks, all that remained, with Abbot Boston at their head, signed the deed sur- rendering their abbey and all its posses- 14 The Founding of the Abbey sions to the king. And thus ended the sec- ond chapter in the history of the establish- ment. The third chapter, from 1540-1550, in- cludes the history of Westminster as a cathedral church. Not a full year had elapsed after its dissolution before the de- spoiled monastery was refounded, not as a monastery, but as the cathedral church of a new diocese, the diocese of Westmins- ter. For ten years it rightfully bore the name cathedral, but the name continued for some time after the dignity had departed. From the loss of its shrine, its chief glory, from the loss of estates and from its di- lapidated and abased condition, it sudden- ly became a new creature — a cathedral like St. Paul's, under the prosaic diocesan direction of a bishop for the first time in nearly four centuries, but a bishop whose throne was in its own church. The new diocese carved out of that of London, included all Middlesex county ex- cept Fulham parish in which the Bishop of London had his palace. Thomas Thirlby, a gentle old man, was appointed its bishop and the abbot's house given him for a pal- ace; also for his use were given the cloister of the monks and a part of the present Dean's Yard. The former abbot was made dean of the new establishment and removed 15 Westminster Abhey from the abbot's house to the Misericord, on the site of what is now called Ashburn- ham House — belonging to the Westmin- ster School. Five of the old monks were made canons; four of the younger monks became minor canons. The record of the new cathedral chapter begins with 1542, but the bishop had been consecrated In 1540, in Henry VIFs new chapel. The fine old tapestries of the Jerusalem Cham- ber, seized by the king, were bought over by the new bishop and the dean. At this time the House of Commons which had held its sessions in the chapter house, re- moved to St. Stephen's chapel In the pal- ace of Westminster, and thereafter, and for a long period, the chapter house, fitted up with walnscotted cupboards, was used for a record room. Henry VIII died In 1547, and Edward VI his young son, reigned In his stead, through his uncle, the Protector Somerset. Many were the changes made In the Abbey by this ardent Puritan Protector. It was said that he proposed to demolish the ab- bey church and buildings, and In order to appease him, twenty-two tons of good Caen stone from the refectory, lately des- troyed by the dean, and other buildings were given the Protector to be used in the erection of the original Somerset House 16 The Founding of the Ahbey In the Strand. The Dean's Yard and other lands belonging to the abbot, with fourteen manors, were also given this powerful re- gent, "in the hope that he would be good and gracious to them" and spare the beau- tiful abbey church. During the short reign of Edward VI, the Roman Rite, at first adapted by in- serting a new, section, in the English lan- guage, for the ritual preparation of com- municants was translated into English and simplified; and in 1550, by order of the King and council, an 'attempt was made to do away with the rich vestments, altar cloths and the beautiful illuminated missals. A little later, the stall and pul- pit cloths and the altar plate of gold and silver that remained were seized and de- stroyed. In 1550, the bishopric of Westminster was suppressed and has never been re- vived. Thirlby passed on to Norwich. The young king Edward VI died in 1553, and the Roman Catholic Queen Mary, his sister, the only child of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon came to the throne. But the bishopric and the cathedral dig- nity had already gone from Westminster for three years. The fourth chapter of the Abbey's hls- ^ lory as an establlshmen*- Is the shortest. 17 Westminster Abbey During the five years of Mary's reign (1553-1558), the old monastic rule and establishment were revived: the resident clergy dismissed; the Roman mass was now restored by Queen Mary and was celebrated for the first time m many years, in November, 1554, in the presence of Mary and Philip. Later, in the same month, in the stately old West- minster Hall, occurred "the solemn recon- ciliation of the English church and nation with the see of Rome," so enthusias- tically received at the time, but of brief duration. John Howman, of Worcester- shire, a ruddy, round-faced affable man from the Forest of Feckenham, the Queen's confessor, was made abbot over thirteen monks, and Dec. 6, 1555, went in solemn procession to the old Abbey In the midst of a great company and was con- secrated to his high oflice. The zealous and faithful queen, whose revenues were not large, endeavoured to restore the Confessor's shrine and sent her personal jewels to adorn it, but it had been too seriously mutilated for successful re- storation. The Confessor's body was dis- interred from its place of concealment and the Queen caused a solemn procession "with goodly singing and censing," to be made through the cloister with the holy 18 The Founding of the Abhey relics, and they were reverently deposited in the old shrine. This was in April, 1557. In August of the following year, Anne of Cleves, the repudiated wife of Henry VIII, died, and by Mary's order her funeral was cele- brated in the Abbey with much pomp, the bishop and Feckenham in his mitre attend- ing. Three months later, Queen Mary died, and her burial service was the last ever conducted in the Abbey according to the Roman ritual. The story of the restored monastery concludes with the life of Queen Mary. The monks and their abbot de- parted, never to return, so far as we can see. When the powerful Queen Elizabeth, Mary's sister, the cbi.ld of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII came to the throne in 1558, the monastery was displaced, as has been said; all the stone altars of the church were destroyed and the estabhsh- ment, the furnishing and vestments col- lected with such reverent care and devotion by the late queen vanished from the place. The establishment was now once more and finally refounded with the title The Collegiate Church of St. Peter at West- minster, which is its official title today, the charter being dated in 1560.* For nearly *A curious discovery has recently been made by 19 Westmimter Ahbey a year after the dissolution there was neither dean nor abbot at Westminster. The new official staff in this fifth chap- ter of the Abbey history included a dean and twelve prebendaries: and the English prayer book was revised: the altars in Henry VIFs chapel torn down and their stones heaped upon Queen Mary's grave in the north aisle. The services which were now inaugurated, however, differed little, in their frequency and seasons, from those of the monastic establishment, the prebends rising for morning service at six o'clock. The Westminster School, having early and intimate connection with the monastery and church for centuries, was now, in 1560 founded or more properly refounded, and a part of the monks' dormitory was adapted for a school-room. In 1563, the queen rode in state to a service with ser- mon at the Abbey, entering at the north transept door, going out by way of the south transept to open her second Parlia- ment in the Painted Chamber of the old palace across the way. Many vicissitudes but no radical some members of the chapter at Westminster, from which it appears that these charters were never signed by the Queen, though she had intended to sign them. This may give rise to interesting devel- opments. 20 The Founding of the Abbey changes have occurred in the establish- ment of the Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Westminster, since the days of its refounding by Queen Elizabeth. It stands today as a collegiate church, with the proud distinction of a Royal Peculiar, un- der the direct patronage of the reigning sovereign and is still exempt from all epis- copal jurisdiction. The dean is still its chief officer, lives in the old home of the abbots in the cloister, and is responsible only to the sovereign who appoints him. The chapter meets in the Jerusalem Cham- ber. Each of the five chapters of its his- tory, so briefly sketched here, might easily be expanded to fill a volume of no inconsiderable size. Indeed, the sub- ject is well nigh inexhaustible since nearly all the important changes in the English Church and State have touched, at some point, on our Abbey's history. If no direct material changes in fabric or gov- ernment are to be recorded of any parti- cular period, we are certain to find in some aisle or chapel, the tombs of those whose names were vitally important to the nation at that time, and it may be said truthfully that the history of the Abbey, since the Confessor's time, is almost an epitome of English history. 21 CHAPTER II THE SAXON CHURCH — THE NORMAN CHURCH OF ED- WARD THE CONFESSOR "How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts" The story of the building of the West- minster abbey church carries us far back in English history into the dark, forgotten days of the Saxon monastery, probably founded, as we have seen, about the year 740. The earliest church of this Saxon monastery was presumably simple and un- pretending: its monks lived in log huts, we are told, and the church structure could hardly have been luxurious. It would be as rich in equipment, in furnishings, vest- ments and decorations as was possible at the period since the tradition that the best was to be devoted to the church was no less forceful then than at a later period In ecclesiastical history. But all that is to be said concerning this church lies wholly within the domain of tradition and legend. The later Saxon church which Edward the Confessor found standing here in 1042, when he was made king of Eng- 22 The Saxon Church land, is also little known to us. It was evidently of considerable size since it con- tained a famous organ so large that A MEDI.^VAL CHURCH ORGAN seventy strong men were required to keep its bellows in action, "miilto et sudore ma- dentes," and a contemporary poem de- scribes its vigourous action.* That the church was in a fair state of repair at this time is evident, since a part was left standing to be used by the monks while the new Norman church was in prog- ress. There was also a second Saxon church here, St. Margaret's, on the site of the present cloister, which the Confessor caused to be pulled down and another erected in its stead near the north transept, later rebuilt as we see it today. While nothing is known of the particu- lar Saxon church which preceded West- *"Et rugiat plcno capsa referta sinu. Solo quadragintas quae sustinet ordine musas." 23 Westminster Ahhey minster Abbey, the land was rich in other Saxon churches, very many portions of which remain today and exhibit strong ma- sonry, noble towers, well-built and stately, as at Earl's Barton: good ornament, as the balusters at St. Albans, at Jarrow and *:"a EARL S BARTON TOWER — SAXON Monks' Wearmouth; and dignified if not ample proportions. In Norfolk alone, there were 243 churches, so early as 1086 and in Suffolk, 364, a large number of which must have been built in the Saxon manner. The Norman church of Edward the Confessor (1050-1065), which preceded 24 The Sawon Church the present Early English structure was a stately, imposing stone building, scarcely less splendid (at least in proportion and design), than the present Abbey, and en- tirely unlike any heretofore existing in England. As the first Norman church in the country, it marked a new era in the history of ecclesiastical architecture and at- tracted attention and imitation throughout the land.* And while the architecture of this early period compared with the richly ornamented structures of the later Nor- man appears plain and almost rude, yet to erect a large stone church and the build- ings necessary to a monastic establishment, on a new design, and within fifteen years, was a notable and hitherto unparalleled achievement in the history of English architecture. The history of the building by the last Saxon and, in a very real sense (since his mother was Norman and he was reared in Normandy) — the first Norman king, reads like a chronicle of a mediaeval ro- mance. And in order to comprehend what Westminster Abbey stands for to- day, and by what steps it has attained its *Matthew of! Paris writes of "the church which the King constructed in the new manner of composi- tion from which many of those afterwards con- structing churches taking example, had imitated it in costly expenditure." 25 Westminster Abbey present state, we should know something more than the mere facts of its inception and completion: something more than how the stones were laid, the arches reared, the columns carved and the aisles vaulted. Something should be learned of the foun- der's personality and history, his friends, his education, his environment, his ideals. In a contemporary life of Edward the Confessor, Harleian Mss., we read that "The devout king destined to God that place, both for that it was near unto the famous and wealthy city of London and also had a pleasant situation amongst fruit- ful fields lying round about it, with the principal river running hard by, bringing in from all parts of the world, great var- iety of wares and merchandise of all sorts to the city adjoining; but chiefly for the love of the Chief Apostle, whom he rever- enced with a special and singular affec- tion." The name of Edward the Confessor is indissolubly connected with Westminster Abbey, for not only did he build and re- establish the ravaged monastery and sup- ply the monks with noble buildings, but his tomb and shrine, and the story of his canonization, miracles and translation have served for centuries to keep his memory fresh in the minds of English people, and indeed, of Christendom. 26 The Saxon Church In order to comprehend the full mean- ing, one might almost say the mystery of Westminster Abbey, we must retrace our steps to the year 1002. In that troubled period of English history, when the Danes were harrying the land, burning, pillaging, slaughtering. King Ethelred the Unready, son of the peaceful Edgar, having again and again bought off the fierce foe whom he lacked power to conquer, endeavoured to strengthen himself by an alliance with the powerful Dukes of Normandy, and won in marriage the beautiful Emma, sis- ter of the reigning Duke, Richard the Good, and in 1004, Queen Emma gave birth to the Prince, who ever after his canonization in 1163, was known as Ed- ward the Confessor. By this linking of England with Normandy, the road was first opened to the English territory, a road which William the Conqueror, grand- son of Richard the Good, travelled with conspicuous success about a half century later.* In 10 1 3, when Edward was but nine years old, the country being still harassed and nearly conquered by the Danes, King Ethelred sent his queen and their two sons, *It must be stated, however, that so early as the fourth century emigrants from Wales had come to Brittany and that there was frequent intercourse between the churches of England and those of Brit- tany during the fifth and sixth centuries. 27 Westminster Abhey Edward and Alfred, to the Norman court, to the kindly protection and guardianship of the queen's brother, Duke Richard. Four years later, in 1017, soon after the death of Ethelred, Queen Emma married King Canute and returned to England: but her sons remained in Normandy. Alfred, invited to visit England in 1036, was cruelly murdered at the instigation of Earl Godwin: Edward, in 1042, after nearly thirty years of Norman life, was sum- moned to England as' its king. To this long period of his life in Normandy, and not to the brief space of his early life in England, we must look for those influences which formed his character. At his uncle's court in Rouen, far from being in; painful exile, he was a favoured guest and his education provided for in the most liberal manner. He seems to have been sent early to the noble abbey of Jumieges on the Seine, not far from Rouen, of which the Norman dukes had ever been generous patrons, renowned for centuries, for its schools of learning. While the wealthy Norman nobles could find no choicer place for the education of their sons, the poor were also received here and generously cared for.* Here, *At Jumieges, "the ancient sanctuary of religion and learning," it was the custom to pray especially for those who had given books to the monastic library. 2S The Sanson Church in the society of learned monks who were devoted with singular affection to their beautiful monastery, young Edward, at an impressionable age, received that conven- tual training which so powerfully in- fluenced his after life and developed those qualities which fitted him rather for the cloister than for the throne. In a French THE NORMAN CHURCH FROM THE BAYEAUX TAPESTRY (The hand of God indicates to the funeral procession whicb follows, the place where the Confessor is to be buried) poem of the period* he tells us that his life was greatly influenced by a monk of remarkable piety. Theodoric of Mathon- ville was at this time, in charge of the novices at Jumieges. Vitalis describes him with enthusiasm as well-versed in Scripture, zealous in forming the character of the novices, deservedly beloved by his superiors and all the convent, and records that his sweet voice, his courteous manners, *Roman de Ron. 29 Westminster Ahhey his vigils and fastings deeply Impressed the community and that "both by words and works he pointed out the way of true religion to those over whom he was set in the school of Christ." And It may v/ell have been this Theodoric to whom the Confessor was so deeply indebted.* In order to understand the Confessor's passion for the church, It is necessary, also, to understand the religious sentiment which prevailed in Normandy at this period. Rollo the Viking with his wild horde had swept down over the north land of that which we today call France, to pillage and destroy, a little more than a century before Edward came to Nor- mandy. He was soon after converted and baptized, and straightway began to re- pair the many injuries which he had In- *It is a curious and interesting story recorded by Norman chroniclers that at this abbey of Jumieges Edward first received the idea of giving the English kingdom, if he should ever receive it, to the Dukes of Normandy. Tablets on the abbey w^alls recited at length the praises of Richard and other Norman nobles who had contributed munificently to the build- ing and support of the monastery: and it is said that these were constantly impressed on the English prince's mind by the monks and aroused in him a feeling of deep gratitude to those who had so gen- erously cared for him, in court and cloister, during his years of exile, so that it seemed to him almost his first duty to bequeath the English throne to the young William, who was sixteen years of age when Edward came to his throne. 30 The 8a