The Children's Story of Westminster Abbey

by G. E. Troutbeck

In the church were many of the Saxon people of London, and mixed with them were a number of Normans. Outside, the Norman horsemen kept guard. When the people began to acclaim the King in the usual English fashion, the Norman soldiers did not understand what was going on, and thought it was a riot. Being afraid of what might happen, they set fire to some of the thatched buildings near the Abbey. The crowd rushed out in alarm, leaving William alone in the church, with the bishops and other clergy. A terrible tumult followed, and even the Conqueror trembled. The rest of the Coronation was hurriedly finished, Archbishop Aldred making William promise to defend the Saxons before he would put the crown on his head.

The Conqueror, like the Saxon Kings before him and the Norman Kings after him, used to appear in church on the great festivals wearing his crown.

From this time onward the Coronations always took place in Westminster Abbey. All the Regalia were kept in the Treasury at Westminster until the time of Henry VIII, and some of them until the time of the Commonwealth. It was part of the duty of the Abbot of Westminster to instruct and prepare the King for his Coronation. Further, it was settled by Lanfranc, the first Norman Archbishop of Canterbury, that the Archbishop of Canterbury, and not the Archbishop of York, was to have the right to crown the King.

The next Coronation of special interest is that of Henry III, the King who built the present Abbey Church. When Henry succeeded to the throne in 1216, after the sad and unfortunate reign of his father, King John, London was in the hands of the Dauphin of France, Prince Louis. Henry, therefore, could not be crowned at Westminster, and was first crowned at Gloucester, by the Bishop of Winchester, not with the crown, but with a chaplet or garland. It will be remembered that King John’s baggage and treasures, with the Regalia, had been swept away by the tide as he was crossing the Wash.

[W. Rice, F.R.P.S.
NORTH AMBULATORY, WITH TOMBS OF HENRY III. AND EDWARD I.

It was not until Whitsunday 1220 that Henry was solemnly crowned in the Abbey by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury. He was the last King to be crowned in the Confessor’s Norman Church. The day before his Coronation he had laid the foundation-stone of the Lady Chapel, that beautiful chapel which once stood where Henry VII’s Chapel now stands.

Edward I was in the Holy Land when his father died, and therefore was not crowned until the year 1274, when he and his beloved Queen, Eleanor of Castile, were crowned together,—the first King and Queen who had been jointly crowned. At this Coronation five hundred great horses, which had been ridden by the princes and nobles, were let loose among the crowd for any one to catch who could.

The Coronation of Edward I brings two very interesting things to our mind. These two things are, first, that Edward I was the King who brought the Stone of Scone from Scotland to England; and secondly, that it was he who ordered the present Coronation Chair to be made. This Coronation Chair, which was made in 1307 to contain the Stone of Scone, is perhaps the most precious thing in all the Abbey, excepting the Confessor’s shrine.

Some beautiful old stories are told about the Stone of Scone. One of these stories says that it was the Stone on which Jacob laid his head in Bethel when he had the wonderful vision of angels ascending and descending on the ladder which reached from earth to heaven. The sons of Jacob are said to have taken this sacred stone with them into Egypt, whence it was carried in after years to Spain, and then to Ireland, where it was used at the coronations of the Irish Kings. It was placed on the sacred hill of Tara, and was called “Lia Fail,” or the “Stone of Destiny.” If a true King sat upon it to be crowned, the stone made a noise like thunder, but if the King elect was only a pretender the Stone was silent. One story tells us that the Stone was carried across from Ireland to Scotland about 330 B.C., by Fergus, the founder of the Scottish monarchy, and that it was placed, first at Dunstaffnage, and then at Iona. In A.D. 850 it was brought by Kenneth II to Scone, where it was enclosed in a wooden chair, as it now is at Westminster. The Kings of Scotland, from Malcolm IV to John Baliol, sat on the Stone to be crowned. Edward I himself is said to have been crowned King of Scotland on the Sacred Stone of Scone after he had defeated John Baliol at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296. Whether this was so or not, Edward I carried off the Stone and the Scottish Regalia to Westminster, and placed them near the Confessor’s shrine.