"Walter de Beauchamp, of Hammerlegh, laid the salt-cellar and the knives, and, after the banquet was at an end, received them as his fee.
"The Earl Warren served the office of butler in the stead of Hugh de Albini, Earl of Arundel; and under him was Michael Belot, whose right it was, as secondary, to hold the cup well replenished with wine to the Earl of Arundel, to be presented by that nobleman to the king when he might require it. Andrew Benkerel, who served the office of Mayor of London from 1231 to 1237, was at Westminster to serve in the butlery, with the 360 gold and silver cups, because the city of London is held to be the assistant to the chief butler, as the city of Winchester is represented in the same way in the kitchen to assist the high steward.
"The mayor, it seems, claimed Michael Belot's place of standing before the king, but was repulsed by Henry, who decided that the former should serve him.
"After the banquet the earl butler had the king's cup as his fee, and his assistant the earl's robe as his right.
"William de Beauchamp that day served the office of almoner, and had entire jurisdiction relative to the disputes and offences of the poor and lepers: so that, if one leper struck another with a knife, he could adjudge him to be burnt.
"After the banquet was finished, he received, as his right, the silver dish for alms that stood before the king; and he claimed to have one tun of wine in right of alms; and on that day the great chamberlain served the water, as well before as after the banquet—namely, Hugh de Vere, Earl of Oxford; and he received as his right, the basins and the towels wherewith he served. Gilbert, earl marshal, Earl of Strigul, served the office of the marshalsea; and it was his duty to appease tumults in the king's house, to give liveries to them, and to guard the entrances to the king's hall; and he received from every baron who was knighted by the king, and from every earl on that day, a palfrey with a saddle. The head cook of the royal kitchen always, at the coronation, received the steward's robe as his right; and of the aforesaid offices none claimed to themselves the right in the queen's house, except G. de Stamford, who said that he, in right of his predecessors, ought to be chamberlain to the queen and door-keeper of her chamber on that day, which he there obtained; and had, as his right, all the queen's furniture, as belonged to the chamberlain.... And the cloth which hung behind the king at table was claimed on the one side by the door-keepers, and on the other by the scullions, for themselves."
Such were the ceremonies which graced the marriage of Henry and Eleanor of Provence. The king found a party far more difficult to manage than the Holy See, in his barons; for, having summoned a parliament to assemble at the Tower of London, they unanimously refused to attend, alleging as a reason that, surrounded as the king was with foreign and inimical counsellors, they could not with safety trust themselves in so strong and well-garrisoned a fortress.
HENRY III.
This excuse marks not only the great unpopularity of Henry, but the utter contempt into which his character for bad faith had fallen. It was in vain that he alternately threatened and remonstrated—the barons continued firm; and prudence prevailing over his self-will, he was obliged to yield the point, and returning to his palace at Westminster, held the parliament there.