The Children's Story of Westminster Abbey

by G. E. Troutbeck

The coffin was carried by the King himself, his brother, Richard, Earl of Cornwall, his two sons, Edward and Edmund, together with many of the nobles of the land. Dean Stanley says that this great ceremony must have reminded Henry III of an equally splendid one which he saw at Canterbury Cathedral when he was a boy. This was the “Translation” of the relics of St. Thomas à Becket in 1220, when Henry III walked in the procession. Pandulf, the Papal Legate (who had come to England in King John’s reign), and Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, were there also, to see Becket’s body placed in the shrine prepared for it.

The chapel in which the Confessor’s shrine stands, and in which so many of our Kings and Queens are buried, is raised above the rest of the church by a mound of earth brought from Holy Land. What we now see of the shrine is only the remains of its former splendour. It was adorned at first with mosaic-work, and with many gold and jewelled images. The materials for the decoration were brought from Rome, and the shrine was made by Italian workmen. In Henry VIII’s time the beautiful decorations of the shrine, and the various treasures kept near it, were taken away. The monks were afraid that even the Confessor’s body might be destroyed, so they buried it in another part of the church. When Queen Mary Tudor came to the throne the shrine was set up again, and King Edward’s body was restored to its place. The Queen presented images and jewels for the adornment of the shrine. Under the Commonwealth the ornaments of the shrine were again removed, but the Confessor’s body was not removed or disturbed.

Another interesting story about the Confessor’s shrine must be told here. When James II was crowned, in 1685, one of the “singing men” thought he saw a hole made in the Confessor’s coffin by the fall of some bit of the wooden scaffolding. On going to see, he found that there was a hole, and he could see something shining inside the coffin. He put in his hand, and drew out a gold cross and chain, which he gave to the Dean. The Dean, in his turn, gave this precious cross and chain to the King. James II, seeing that the coffin was so unsafe, had it enclosed in another strong and solid one, and since that time the body has rested in peace. On the north side of the Confessor lies his wife, Queen Editha, the daughter of Earl Godwin. She is usually supposed to have been a sweet and gentle woman, but opinions differ a little on this point. At any rate, she appears to have been very well instructed for those days, and, we are told, very clever with her needle,—a valuable accomplishment for any woman. On the south side of the shrine lies the “Good Queen Maud,” wife of Henry I, and great-niece of Edward the Confessor. As she was a Saxon princess, her marriage with Henry I made the Saxons and Normans much better friends than they had been before. Queen Maud was a very good woman, and very kind to the poor. Neither of these Queens have any monument.

The Confessor’s shrine was always held to be a most important and sacred place, and many precious and beautiful things were placed near it, as if to do it honour. Among these the Stone of Scone was chief. We have already heard how and when it came to Westminster, and why it was so greatly prized. But the Stone of Scone was not alone. The coronet of Llewellyn, the last Welsh Prince of Wales, was taken by Edward I, and hung up in the Confessor’s Chapel by Edward’s little son Alfonso. Every one will remember that Edward II—Edward of Carnarvon, as he was called—was the first Prince of Wales who was the son of an English King.

If we could have visited the Abbey in those old days we should have seen yet another very interesting thing in the Confessor’s Chapel. This was a golden cup containing the heart of Prince Henry d’Almayne, son of Richard Earl of Cornwall, and nephew of Henry III. The story of this heart takes us back both to the Barons’ War and to the Crusades. It also takes us back to the great Italian poet Dante, who writes of Prince Henry’s heart in his famous poem, the Divine Comedy.

The story is as follows. At the Battle of Evesham, in 1265, when Simon de Montfort and the other Barons were fighting against Henry III, Simon de Montfort was slain. It must be remembered that Simon de Montfort had married Eleanor, daughter of King John, and that he was therefore brother-in-law of King Henry III, and of Richard Earl of Cornwall. That is rather an important part of the story.

Some years afterwards, in 1271, there was a great council held at the town of Viterbo, in Italy, for the purpose of electing a new Pope. The King of France, Prince Edward and Prince Edmund of England, and Prince Henry d’Almayne, came there also, on their way home from the Crusade. Guy and Simon, sons of the great Simon de Montfort, were also in Italy, and they, too, went to Viterbo. One day they were all at service in the Church of San Silvestro, when suddenly, just at the most solemn part of the Mass, Guy de Montfort rushed forward and stabbed his cousin, Prince Henry, even while the prince clung to the altar for protection. Not content with killing Prince Henry, Guy de Montfort dragged him out by the hair of the head into the square in front of the church. This was all done in revenge for the death of Simon de Montfort at Evesham. Guy de Montfort escaped, but was afterwards excommunicated. Prince Henry’s body was brought home, and buried in the monastery-church of Hayles in Gloucestershire, where his father also was buried, as being the founder of the monastery. Prince Henry’s heart was put into a golden cup, and brought to the Abbey, where it was placed close to the Confessor’s shrine,—some say, in the hand of a statue.

The shield of Richard Earl of Cornwall is carved on the Abbey walls, in the spandrels of the beautiful arcade which runs round the interior of the whole Church. It will be found in the South Aisle.

In the North Aisle, also in the arcade, is the shield of Simon de Montfort, with its double-tailed lion. When we look at this shield, we remember Simon de Montfort’s great work for his country, and how he helped to form our English Parliament. But his name reminds us of something else that happened in Southern France, and for which we feel sorry. Simon’s father, Count Simon de Montfort, had a great deal to do with the persecution of the Albigenses in 1209–1229, a cruel war which was called the Albigensian Crusade. These terrible religious wars are sad to think of, although, at the same time, it is interesting to find this link between the Abbey and the history of other parts of Europe.

But it is time to come back to Edward the Confessor himself. If we want to learn something about his character, and to understand why the people loved him so much, we cannot do better than study the sculptures on the screen behind the Coronation Chair. This delicately carved stone screen was made about the time of Edward IV, and along the top of it is a row of sculptures representing scenes from the life of the Confessor.