A MEDIEVAL POTPOURRI

Edward IV 1442-1483 Society of Antiquaries of London

For a king whose reign is otherwise well documented it is curious that the cause of Edward’s death remains a mystery.  It would also appear his death was unexpected.  It seems he was first taken ill at the end of March and despite having access to some of the best medical care available at the time, died around the  9 April  1483 at his Palace of Westminster(1).   According to the Croyland Chronicler Edward had taken to his bed around  ‘Easter‘  –  Easter Sunday being the 30th March  – with his  death being reported to the Mayor and minuted on the 9th April in the Acts of Court of the Mercers Company:

“… Lord Audley and the Lord Berkeley now early this morning by the ascent of the Kings Council sent unto the Mayor for to show and give knowledge that the king is passed out of this present life this last night’

Prior to his sudden death and before growing corpulent things had gone swimmingly well for Edward in the looks and physique department.

Mancini –  ‘He was wont to show himself to those who wished to watch him and he seized any opportunity that the occasion offered of revealing his fine stature more protractedly and more evidently to onlookers however in food and drink he was most immoderate, it was his habit so I have learned,  to take an emetic  for the delight of gorging his stomach once more,  for this reason he had grown fat in the loins’ although  ‘he was a tall man and very fat though not to the point of deformity‘ 

More reported  – ‘ he was of visage lovely,  of body mighty, strong and clean made ‘  later  however  ‘he was of youth greatly given to fleshly wantonness from which health of body in great prosperity and fortune without a special grace hardly refraineth’

After that all went downhill for Edward.  Philippe de Commines sums it up neatly, rather too neatly perhaps

‘and in the flower of his age his excesses reached his kidneys and he died rather suddenly of a stroke‘

Mancini however  attributed his illness to a cold caught while fishing  while the Croyland Chronicler wrote

‘he was affected neither by old age nor by any known kind of disease which would not have seemed easy to cure in a lesser person’

–  in other words the doctors didn’t have a name for the illness that sent Edward to his grave.  How strange.  Rumours abounded of death by poisoning some even going so far as to blame it on a gift of wine from the French king.  Molinet ascribed it as the result of eating a salad after he had become overcome by heat (in April! in England!!)  which caused a chill, others said it was an apoplexy and/or sadness brought  on by the Treaty of Arras. Malaria was also suggested.  Later,  Sir Winston Churchill in his History of the English Speaking Peoples,  would put it down fair and square to debauchery.  But at the end of the day , as Richard E Collins in his excellent treatise  points out most people at the time seemed more  concerned with what happened AFTER Edward’s death, rather than what caused it.

The Old Palace of Westminster where Edward died 9 April 1483.  St Stephens Chapel where Edward’s body lay in repose is shown in the centre of the picture

R E Collins’ entertaining  treatise  on Edward’s death  was included in Secret History the Truth about Richard III and the Princes and from which I have drawn heavily here.   He had a considerable knowledge of medical matters and having done some very thorough research into the death of Edward presented his findings to other medical professionals for their opinions.  They all concluded

‘…that the cause of death which best explained all the known facts was poison, probably by some heavy metal such as arsenic’.

First of all an attempt to solve the mystery  was to run though Edward’s symptoms beginning with the timescale.  Given that the Croyland Chronicler wrote that Edward took to his bed around Easter and since Easter Sunday was on the 30 March

‘We are dealing with a period of around 10-12 days from inception to death.  If peoples behaviour was anything to go by his death came as a surprise to the Court’.

As Edward’s body was laid out naked for viewing,  Collins is able to rule out death caused by violence, there being no traumas/injuries, accidental or deliberate, no puncture wounds, bruises etc.,  Furthermore there were no marks to be seen of specific diseases such as mumps, smallpox, measles, scarlet fever, chicken pox, bubonic plague, typhus, enteric fever.  Other non-infectious conditions that mark the skin are also able to be ruled out such as purpuras (blotches caused by bleeding under the skin) which can be caused by leukaemia, haemophilia, plague and alcoholism.  Thirdly there was not the  ‘wasting’ caused by cancer, unrelated diabetes, septicaemia or starvation caused by malabsorption.

Locket containing lock of Edward’s hair.  Royal Collection Trust

Edward from the Royal Window, Canterbury Cathedral

Anything sudden such as a massive coronary, stroke, pulmonary embolism or a perforated ulcer can be ruled out due to the timescale.  Long drawn out conditions such as ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis and cancer can also be ruled out.

Collins then considers the contemporary sources beginning with Sir Thomas More, who writing 30 years after the event makes no comment on the cause of death save ‘he perceived his natural strength was so sore enfeebled that he despaired all recovery’.  More, as was his wont, wrote a pages long speech delivered on his deathbed.  Collins who had been present at  least on 200 natural deaths had personally never heard a deathbed speech.  However as we know More never lets facts stand in the way of a good story.  The Crowland Chronicler also gave no cause while Vergil wrote that ‘he fell sick of an unknown disease‘.  The only definite accounts actually come from those who were least likely to be in the know such as Mancini and de Commines,  Mancini puts Edward’s death down to a mix of ‘sadness‘ plus a cold he caught while on a fishing trip.  According to Collins this does not add up as the suggestions of Edward dying of grief cannot be taken seriously and as for the chill he would not have been able to indulge in such a frivolity during Holy Week – therefore the latest this trip would have been taken place was the 22 March –  which would mean that Edward hung around in a fever for 10 days without treatment which is also unlikely.  Collins add ‘Mancini is remarkably popular with those who dislike Richard and it is sad to proclaim that their supporter is a speaker of Rubbish‘ – priceless!  De Commines ascribes his death to apoplexy and ‘while it is possible to have a stroke 10 days apart, the second proving fatal, it is quite impossible to believe that no-one expected him to die after the first, but obviously they didn’t’.

Yet another lock of Edward’s hair –  Society of Antiquaries of London

The English chronicler Hall later wrote

‘whether it was with the melancholy and anger that he took with the French king…or were it by any superfluous surfeit to which he was much given, he suddenly fell sick and was with a grevious malady taken, yes so grievously taken, that his vital spirits begun to fail and wax feeble’.

Basically Hall didn’t know how Edward died either.

Collins makes the observation that

‘Medieval physicians had at best a poor understanding of medicine and at worse a ridiculous and dangerous one.  This represented a falling away from the common sense views and practices of the Greeks, which if they could not cure much knew how not to make a patient worse.  In 1483 most medieval practices were designed to do just that – make the patient worse that is – and they succeeded well.  Almost any condition was treated by drawing off a pint of blood or more and administering emetics and laxatives to ‘purge evil humours’.  Such a regime is seldom good for a sick person and will often kill rather than cure by dehydration if you go slowly or by shock if quickly.  Only rarely did they have a treatment that was effective, one case in point is apoplexy where bleeding will reduce the blood on the cerebral vessels…medieval medicine was more often more dangerous than the disease and most people avoided doctors ifthey could.  Despite this medieval doctors were rarely at a loss for a diagnosis and the terms they used are a joy to read – Chrisomes, Frighted, Griping-in-the-Guts (a small town in Gloucestershire?), Head-moult-Shot, Rising of the Lights Lethargy and meagrome‘.

Collins points out it may well be worth be listening to Crowland,  as he may have been present at Westminster at the time and spoken to physicians about the case, when he said that Edward was affected by ‘no known disease‘.

However whatever it was – dead he was – and after his body was washed and left clad only in a loincloth for about 12 hours for the curious to see he was taken to St Stephen’s Chapel to lay in respose for a further 8 days.  After that he was taken to St George’s Chapel Windsor and finally laid to rest in the beautiful tomb that was in the process of being built.(2)

St Georges Chapel, Windsor, final resting place for Edward IV

As to why someone would want to send Edward to an early grave by poisoning, that dear reader is another story.   Anyone who is interested in this theory would do well to read (if they have not already done so) The Maligned King by Annette Carson, who also covers this theory thoroughly in chapter 1.

Footnote: Edward’s early  demise was to prove the death knell of the House of Plantagenet.  Less than  three years later the end came with the death of Edward’s able brother King Richard III brought down by treachery at Bosworth.  For Edward’s death had brought about a great rattling of  a massive skeleton in his closet.  It transpired that his marriage to Elizabeth Wydeville had been a bigamous one – for soon after his accession to the throne he had married  Lady Eleanor Butler neeTalbot, daughter to the great John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury and thus a lady of noble birth.  This set about a great unstoppable and tragic chain of events.  After the death of Edward,  Elizabeth herself after spending many tedious months in sanctuary at Cheyneygates, Westminster, found herself once again elevated to high status as mother to the new Queen, Elizabeth of York.  Unfortunately this happy scenario did not last long before she was sent to retirement in Bermondsey Abbey where  in June 1492 she popped her clogs and was given a cheap funeral in an even cheaper wooden coffin.  It was said she was involved in the erroneously named  ‘Lambert Simnel‘ rebellion which indicates she knew at least one of her sons still lived.

ELIZABETH WYDEVILLE.  Artist Unknown.

Edward’s signature

1. There is some debate about the correct date of death.  John Ashdown-Hill suggests Edward died either Tuesday 1 April or Saturday the 5th April ‘most probably the 5th’.  John Ashdown-Hill The Private Life of Edward IV p209
2. The Death of Kings Clifford Brewer T.D. F.R.C.S p98

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Westminster Abbey –  site of Coronations since 1066.  Photo  @Association of English Cathedrals

A crucial part of coronations in Westminster Abbey is the moment the monarch is crowned with the Crown of St Edward and invested with the royal regalia while seated on what is now commonly known as the  Coronation Chair although the correct name is St Edward’s Chair.  This ancient Chair was named after Edward the Confessor and from the late 13th century until 1996 encompassed the Stone of Scone.

The Chair with the Stone of Scone intact 

In 1296 when  Edward I,  aka Longshanks, returned from Scotland he brought with him the Stone of Scone, also known as the Stone of Destiny,  symbolic of Scotland’s sovereignty,   which he had removed from Scone Abbey, giving it into the care of the Abbott of Westminster Abbey on the 18 June 1297.  Edward, not for nothing known as the Hammer of the Scots, wished to hammer it home in no uncertain terms that from now on it would be English and not Scottish monarchs who would now be crowned whilst sitting on this stone – a large block of Lower Old Red Sandstone.  He gave instructions that a chair should be constructed to house it and thus this wonderful chair was created.  Master Walter of Durham (c.1230-1305) King’s Painter, whose extraordinary skills also included carpentry, was commissioned  to build and decorate the chair for which he was duly paid 100 shillings.

Some of the exquisite original punch decorated gilding depicting birds, acorns and oak leaves  still survives inside the left arm of the chair.   Photo Westminster-Abbey.org.

The border was once decorated with coloured glass.  How it must have shimmered in the glow of hundreds of candles…photo thanks to Stuff About London blog.

Since 1308 every royal derrière has sat on this glorious chair while being crowned except for Edward V, who disappeared before his coronation took place,  Edward VIII whom abdicated and Mary II,  whose coronation being a joint one,  had a special chair built for her use.  St Edward’s chair was made of oak which was gilded, inlaid with glass mosaics and decorated with images of birds, acorns, flowers and foliage some of which have survived up until today.  Up until the 17th century the monarch would sit on the actual stone – with presumably a cushion for comfort? –  until a wooden platform was added .  The four gilt lions were made in 1727 to replace the originals, which themselves,  were not added until the 16th century.

The Stone itself has in recent times undergone several adventures.  It was stolen, or rescued, depending upon which way you look at it,  by four Scottish students from the University of Glasgow  on Christmas Day 1950 – in the process of which they managed to break it in half after it crashed to the floor although, to be fair,  it may have been already been weakened/broken by a bomb placed on the chair by suffragettes in 1914.   After various shenanigans and a tip off,  the Stone, which in the interim had been repaired by a stonemason who thoughtfully left a message inside the Stone while doing so,  was later discovered in April 1951 on the site of the High Altar at Arbroath Abbey.   After being kept in a vault for a time it was eventually returned to Westminster Abbey and replaced in the chair in February 1952.  This was not the end of the Stone’s peregrinations for in July 1996, Prime Minister John Major, announced that it was to be returned to Scotland.  This was duly done and the stone now rests in Edinburgh Castle only to be returned to Westminster Abbey for coronations.

The chair as it is today minus the Stone of Scone.  Note the grilles containing the now  empty quatrefoils.

Originally the lower part of the chair had a grille on all four sides decorated with quatrefoils  each of which had a painted heraldic shield at the centre.  By 1820 all the shields were gone as well as the grille which held the quatrefoils at the front of the chair.  Once these shields had been removed over time the stone itself would become damaged by the gouging out of fragments for souvenirs.    The grille we see today is a replacement. 

The Stone of Scone today.  The damage caused by souvenir hunters gouging out scrapings of dust can clearly be seen.  The areas of damage line up with where the missing heraldic shields once covered the Stone.   Photo Historic Scotland.

A drawing c.1780 showing the grilles surrounding the stone containing the quatrefoils with their heraldic badges intact.  Artist John Carter.  Image Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey. 

This  wonderful and irreplaceable chair has been also been disgracefully abused in comparatively recent times including numerous graffiti mostly carved in the 18th and 19th centuries by the pupils of Westminster School – it’s baffling why some sort of action was not taken by the Abbey authorities to put a stop to  this long-term systematic abuse of the chair  –  one graffito could perhaps be forgiven but on such a large scale? Were they simply allowed to just carry on? – but I digress.    The schoolboys were not alone in carving graffiti on the chair with one visitor  carving  “P. Abbott slept in this chair 5-6 July 1800” (1).

Examples of the 18th and early 19th century graffiti…

The schoolboys from Westminster School were not the only culprits to wreak vandalism on the chair.   Some Bright Spark at the Office of Works thought it was a good idea for hideous dark brown varnish to be applied to the chair in 1887 for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee which, quelle surprise, caused a public outcry.   If this was not depressing enough further damage was caused to the gilding when the varnish was removed.  As mentioned above the Suffragette bomb in 1914 damaged the left land pinnacle of the chair while also damaging the stone.   Further damage occurred when the Scottish Nationals wrenched the stone from the chair in doing so  they smashed the front rail and further weakened the frame (2).   Despite all this wanton vandalisation the chair has still managed to survive intact in all its glory and I’m sure should the shades of our past kings and queens – as well as that of Master Walter –  all who would have seen the chair in pristine condition – ever return to the Abbey, they  would still be able to recognise it and recall the glorious day of their coronations.

Westminster Abbey North Front.  Photographer unknown.

Should you wish to delve further into the chair everything you need to know can be found in this excellent article The Coronation Chair: anatomy of a medieval throne can be found here.

1.  (Westminster-Abbey.org)

2. The Coronation Chair: anatomy of a medieval throne. 

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Here is a link to an interesting map and article on the murder hotspots of medieval London.  Click on a dot and details pop up of that particular murder.

Most of the culprits either just simply disappeared pronto or skedaddled into sanctuary and  frustratingly the outcomes are not shown.  The vast majority of the victims were male,  sadly one a small  child,  John de Burgh, aged 5 years old who died after being ‘cuffed‘ after he stole a small amount of wool which he had hidden under his hat.    One of the more audacious was the murder of the gatekeeper of Newgate Gaol, Nicholas at Mill, who was stabbed to death by two men who broke into Newgate to do so.

Its seems you were quite vulnerable if you were a clerk in holy orders, several of them being bumped off.  Although priests seemed to be susceptible to ending up as murder victims  they could actually give as good as they got with one priest, Alan de Hacford murdering Walter de Anne, the man he shared his lover, Alice de York with,  after finding Walter and Alice sitting together.  For reasons unknown Alice aided and abetted Alan, the pair of them fleeing afterwards.

Loud music then as now could lead to altercations with fatal results.   In May 1324, Thomas Somer,  a minstrel.   incensed Thomas of Lynn, by playing outside his home after dusk.  The householder Thomas chased Somer intending to bash him with a door-bar.  After Thomas caught Somer and struck him, the musician pulled out a knife and fatally injured Thomas.

 

In this picture its the turn of musician to get it…

A few of the culprits were female including a fishmonger stabbed to death by his mistress.  Surprisingly she didn’t batter him to death  with a piece of cod! – joking – while another woman, a prostitute by the name of Agnes ‘Houdy Doudy’ killed another woman, Lucy,  the pregnant wife of Richard de Barstaple, by ‘striking her on the belly with fists and knees’.  Yet another woman, a beggar known as Nicola from Cardiff,  drowned her 3 month old baby,  Alice,  while ‘surreptitiously pretending to wash the child’ in a ditch.

Reasons for people getting murdered varied quite a bit from a suicidal man, John Pentyn,  bashing his would be rescuer over the head  with an iron stave to Roger Styward,  who as a result of throwing eel skins in the street,  received a fatal kicking.  Servants died protecting their masters belongings.  A violent altercation about a horse led to a murder while a planned gang rape ended in complete and utter mayhem.

Royalty was not exempt from the fallout of murder – John Gremet a groom of the kitchen of Queen Philippa – was murdered by another royal servant, Peter Tremenel.

A total of 142 murders are detailed sourced from the Coroners’ Rolls and credit and thanks to Prof Eisner at the Institute of Criminonology, University of Cambridge.   Enjoy!

 

 

 

A King and Queen.   Dated c 1480s – could these paintings be based upon Anne and Richard? The Eton Wall Paintings

Queen Anne Neville died on the 16th March 1485 less than a year after her small son Edward who had died some time in April 1484.  The Croyland Chronicler tells us that she first fell ill shortly after Christmas 1484.

‘In the course of a few days after this, the queen fell extremely sick and her illness was supposed to have been increased still more and more because the King entirely shunned her bed, declaring it was by the advice of his physicians he did so,  Why enlarge?  About the middle of the following month upon the day of the great eclipse, which then took place, Anne, before named departed this life and was buried at Westminster with no less honours than befitted the internment of a queen’ (1).

Thanks to the contemporaneous accounts given by the Croyland Chronicler  and the Acts of Court (2) we have a good insight into the events that followed almost immediately  the death of the Queen i.e.  rumours that Richard, in his eagerness to marry his niece, Elizabeth of York, hastened the death of his wife with the aid of poison.  His denial was  made publically,  ‘in a clear and loud voice‘ in the Great Hall of the Priory of the Knights Hospitaller of St John, Clerkenwell on Wednesday the 30th March 1485.

‘…where as he in the grete Hall there in the presens of many of his lordes & muche other people shewde his grefe and displeasure aforsaid & said it neuer came into his thought or mynde to marry in suche maner wise nor willyng or glad of the dethe of his quene but as sorye & in hert as hevye as man myght be…’ (3).

The Croyland Chronicler,  disapproving of Richard as per usual,  and never missing an opportunity to have a poke,  wrote that he was pushed into making the denial by Sir Richard Ratcliffe and William Catesby adding, rather slyly,  it was not what he really wished himself, although it’s unclear and a mystery how Croyland was privy to these most private thoughts of Richard – but I digress. This is all well documented elsewhere, including the plans afoot for Richard to marry  Joanna of Portugal, the daughter of Alfonso V of Portugal and I shall not go into it here except to comment on those dark, insidious rumours.

The Gate House of the Priory of the Knights Hospitaller of St John at Clerkenwell.

I would have thought, hopefully , that nowadays, the idea that Richard poisoned Anne is now perceived as ridiculous, a complete and utter nonsense.  However, not entirely so.  Indeed Prof Hicks in his biography of Anne declared in a chapter headed ‘Past her Sell By Date‘ that ‘she was unwell, languishing and died, unattended and indeed unregretted by her husband“.   What?  Anne the Queen, daughter of the great Richard Neville aka The Kingmaker – died a lonely death, cruelly neglected by her uncaring husband?   What a cruel outrage.  And where was Richard at that desperately sad time?  One way to find out – check the late Rhoda Edwards wonderful little book – The Itinerary of King Richard III 1483 – 1485(5) And there we have it – the truth of the matter.  From the onset of Anne’s fatal illness, soon after Christmas 1484 to her death on Wednesday 16 March 1485 Richard never left the Palace of Westminster, where she lay dying, except for a total of II days when he was at Windsor.

I would say that there could be no stronger indication than this, that, yes, Richard did love his wife and was loyal to her to the end.  He could have gone elsewhere, made his excuses, got away from it all but he didn’t.  He stayed with her until the day she died – finally leaving Westminster on Thursday 12 April – never to return.  Five months later, he too was dead. And thus ended one of the perhaps most tragic stories of all from those turbulent times.  A young family, child,  mother and father all dead in a space of 18 months along with the hopes and dreams of promising new starts.

Clearly Richard  gave to Anne the loyalty that he was to find so disastrously lacking in others to himself. A sweet, personal reminder  of the closeness of the couple exists in Richard’s expenses, when as Duke of Gloucester, were  included the following items

Anne from the  English version of the Rous Roll in royal robes, wearing  Queen Edith’s crown and carrying an orb and sceptre.  Hands emerging from the clouds proffer her the crowns of Lancaster and York.  British Library.

1. The Crowland Chronicle Continuations 1459-1486 p.175 ed.Pronay and Cox
2. Richard lll The Road to Bosworth, P W Hammond & Anne F Sutton, Acts of Court pp 173-4.
3. The Crowland Chronicle Continuations 1459-1486 p.177. ed.Pronay and Cox.
4. Anne Neville Queen to Richard lll, Michael Hicks, Chaper 7, Past Her Sell by Date, p.212.
5. Itinerary of King Richard lll  1483-1485, pp29, 30, 31, 32, 33.  Rhoda Edwards.
6. Some Expenses of Richard Duke of Gloucester The Ricardian Vol 6 pp 266-269 R Horrox and A F Sutton
7.  Royal Tombs of Medieval England. Mark Duffy p.265

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The arms of Richard III in Crosby Hall 

On June 5th 1483 the Duchess of Gloucester arrived in London and joined her husband at Crosby Place (1).  She had left both her small son and and  home at Middleham to join her husband, who had been staying  until then, with his mother at Baynards Castle,  and on her arrival they would have had much to catch up on covering the drastic events which had taken place since she had last seen Richard.  Much has been written about these events elsewhere and I would like to focus here on the place that would be their  home for a short while, Crosby Place, and the man that built it.

A print of Crosby Hall before the extra floor was added.

Crosby Place was built by Sir John Crosby,  died 1475, in Bishopsgate on land he had leased from Alice Ashfed,  prioress of the Convent of St Helens,  on a 99 year lease for an annual rent of £11.6s.8d, on land previous used for tenements/messuages.

Sir John , a soldier, silk merchant, alderman and MP, came from a staunch Yorkist family and was knighted by Edward IV at the foot of London Bridge (Bridge Foot) on 21 May 1471 after having driven off the  attack  on that bridge by the Bastard of Fauconberg.

He lies with his first wife Agnes. died 1466, in St Helens church, Bishopsgate, where their  splendid effigies, well preserved, he with a  Yorkist collar and Agnes with two dogs at her feet can still be seen,  His second wife , Anne nee Chedworth,  was related to Margaret Chedworth, John Howard Duke of Norfolk’s second wife, Anne’s father being Margaret’s uncle.  At the time of Sir John writing his will,  Margaret, his wife’s cousin was living with them.  Anne his second wife survived him and married John Rogers esquire, which probably accounts for her being buried elsewhere and her effigy not added to the tomb (2)

Sir John Crosby and his first, wife Agnes.  Their effigies  on their tombs, St Helens, Bishopsgate.

 

Sir John Crosby and his first wife, Agnes, drawn by Stothard c1817 British Museum

Sadly, Sir John, who died in 1475 did not live long to enjoy his stunning home which was completed in 1470,  and  described by Stow as ‘built of stone and timber, very large and beautiful and the highest at that time in London’(3)

There is some debate as to whether the house was then either rented to Richard Duke of Gloucester or purchased by him.   Stowe wrote that Richard had ‘lodged’ there although there are others of the vein that Richard had purchased it (4) .  However I am confident enough to say that I go along with Richard only leasing it.   For surely if it had belonged to Richard it would have been taken by Tudor when he usurped the throne and gifted  to either one of his acolytes or his mother who was known for her acquisitiveness. Certainly  Sir John’s will provided unconditionally that his wife,  Anne, should have the lease of Crosby Place for her life.  It would seem that Anne was pregnant at the time of Sir John’s death (see his will) and  that this son, John was  dead by 1476 and dying without issue,  Crosby Place etc., then was left to Sir John’s cousin, Peter Christmas,who also died without issue (5) and thus Crosby Place passed out of the hands of the Crosby family.

Old drawing of the oriel window 

 

The Oriel window in Crosby Hall today.  Modern glass and repainted

 

The Oriel window repainted

In the 17th century it became the home of the East India Company until a disastrous fire in 1672, the first of several,  left only the Great Banqueting Hall and Parlour surviving.  These buildings then slowly declined after that until in 1910 the Hall was saved from demolition  and removed brick by brick to its present location in Chelsea, finally passing into private ownership in 1989.

Returning to the past,  after Anne Neville’s arrival in London , Richard seems to have spent his time between his mother’s house Baynard Castle and Crosby Place, using Crosby Place for meetings.  It has been speculated that it was at Crosby Place that Richard was offered the crown by the Three Estates rather than at Baynard’s Castle.

1) Richard III Paul Murray Kendall p207

2) The Merchant Classes of Medieval London 1300-1500 p336 Sylvia Thrupp, (1948)

3) A Survey Of London John Stowe p160 Sylvia Thrupp

4)  Memorials of the Wars of the Roses W E Hampton p120

5) Crosby Hall, a Chapter in the History of London Charles W F Goss 1907

William Shakespeare @Abdul Rahim

One, or two,  of these  may come in useful the next time you find yourself lost for words…….

“Villain, I have done thy mother”

(Really rude and should only be used in the event you don’t mind your lights being punched out..)

Titus Andronicus (Act 4, Scene 2)

“You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian! I’ll tickle your catastrophe!”

(A good chance of getting arrested for this one….)

Henry IV Part 2 (Act 2, Scene 1)

“Thou leathern-jerkin, crystal-button, knot-pated, agatering, puke-stocking, caddis-garter, smooth-tongue, Spanish pouch!”

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4)

“Thou art as fat as butter.”

(Oh dear…..)

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4)

. “There’s no more faith in thee than in a stewed prune.”

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 3, Scene 3)

“Peace, ye fat guts!”

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 2)

(Short and to the point..one of my favourites..)

“His wit’s as thick as a Tewkesbury mustard.”

Henry IV Part 2 (Act 2, Scene 4)

“Away, you three-inch fool! “

(A bit below the belt !)

The Taming of the Shrew (Act 3, Scene 3)

“Thou art a boil, a plague sore”

King Lear (Act 2, Scene 2)

“That trunk of humours, that bolting-hutch of beastliness, that swollen parcel of dropsies, that huge bombard of sack, that stuffed cloak-bag of guts, that roasted Manningtree ox with pudding in his belly, that reverend vice, that grey Iniquity, that father ruffian, that vanity in years?”

Henry IV Part 1 (Act 2, Scene 4)

“Where got’st thou that goose look?”

Macbeth, Act 5, scene 3

“You Banbury cheese!”

The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 1, scene 1

“You whoreson cullionly barber-monger!

(Handy for when your unhappy with your haircut)

King Lear, Act 2, scene 2

“Sweep on, you fat and greasy citizens!”

As you Like it,,

“No longer from head to foot than from hip to hip. She is spherical, like a globe. I could find out countries in her.”  

(Ouch!)

The Comedy of errors..

“I scorn you, scurvy companion. “

Henry IV, Part 2

“I desire we may be better strangers…”

(How to win friends and influence people….)

As you Like it..

“You are now sailed into the north of my lady’s opinion, where you will hang like an icicle on a Dutchman’s beard”

Twelfth Night, Act 3, Scene 2

“I am sick when I do look on thee.”

(A handy one after what seems like a lifetime in lockdown…)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Act 2, Scene 1

“Thou clay-brained guts, thou knotty-pated fool, thou whoreson obscene greasy tallow-catch!”

Henry IV Part 1 Act 2, scene 4

“Thou sodden-witted lord! Thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows”

Troilus and Cressida  Act 2, Scene 1

“He has not so much brain as ear-wax”

Troilus and Cressida Act 5, Scene 2

“Away, you mouldy rogue, away!”

Henry IV, Part 2, Act 1

“Her face is not worth sunburning ..”

(A tad bit harsh this one…)

Henry V Act 5 Scene 2

“Thou art a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy worsted-stocking knave; a lily-liver’d, action-taking, whoreson, glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pandar, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch…”

(A bit of a mouthful this one..not a good idea if you get your words muddled when annoyed..)

King Lear, Act 2, Scene 2

Of course, conversely,  it may prove prudent  in some circumstances ,  to heed some of the great man’s advice … “Give thy thoughts no tongue!”

William’s statue in Southwark Cathedral.  Note the details of the Cathedral and the Globe Theatre behind him.  Henry McCarthy 1912.  

Shakespeare’s Monument, Holy Trinity Church, Stratford upon Avon

Many thanks to William Shakespeare, playwright and poet and good egg…

Westminster Hall venue of the King Richard III and Queen Anne Neville’s Coronation Feast.

Queen Anne and King Richard from the Rous Roll.  Anne is wearing the Crown of Queen Edith and Richard wears the Crown of St Edward. 

And so dear reader, on the 6 July 1483 Richard and Anne were crowned in a double coronation in Westminster Abbey.  This was the first double coronation since that of Edward II and Isabella of France on the  25th February 1308.   We do not know for sure but let us hope the sun shone for them that day – it was July  after all.  Proceeding slowly back to the Great Hall of the Palace of Westminster from whence they had started out, the newly crowned couple  ‘toke their chambres‘ and at four o’clock after a short  rest Richard and Anne returned to the Great Hall and were seated, the Queen on the king’s left hand side,  at the marble table on the great dais at the southern end.

Westminster Hall looking towards the area where the dais and the kings table stood.

The massive hammer beam roof seen from the dais looking northwards towards the doors.

The north end of the hall and the entrance from a 19th century painting

In the interim while they were resting in their ‘chambres‘   John Howard,  newly created Duke of Norfolk to right a shabby act of Edward IV’s administration, had ridden his  horse, which was ‘traped in clothe of gold down to the grounde‘,  through the great doors and so he rode about ‘voiding the people saving only the kinges servants and the Duke of Buckingham‘  – as you do.  Following on from this all the guests sat down in their allotted  places at four long bordes (tables) stretching the length of the hall which must have been a bit of a nightmare for those whose job it was to guide everyone to their correct seats.    All had gone well and now was time for the feasting to begin interrupted only by the Kinges Champion, Sir Robert Dimmoke,  who wearing white harness,  came into the hall mounted on his horse which was ‘traped in white silke and redde downe to the grounde‘ declaring if there were any man in the hall ‘that will saye the contrary why that King Richarde shulde not pretend and have the crowne‘  he should say so now.  After drinking ‘a cope wythe wine coverid‘ Sir Robert left the hall the way he had arrived, on horseback and clutching the ‘cope‘ which was payment for his ‘labor‘(1).   Buckingham wisely kept his mouth shut that day and thus survived if only for a short while.

And thus the feasting continued, the king being served on gold plate, the queen on gilt.

The following dishes were served after a ‘harold of armes proclaymyng the feast

Potage: Frumentie with venison and bruett Tuskayne

Viand comford riall Mamory riall Bief and Moton Fesaunt in Trayn’ Cignett rost Crane rost Capons of Halte grece in lymony Heronshew rost Gret carpe of venyson rost Grett luce in eger doulce Leche solace Fretor Robert riall Gret Flampaye riall Custard Edward plante A solitie A Cours Gely partied with a divice Viand blanc in barre Pecokes in his hakell and trapper Roo reversed in purpill Runers rost Betorr rost Partriche rost Pomes birt Scotwhlpes rost Rollettes of venison farced Gret Carpe and breme in foile Leche frument riall planted Frettour rosette and jasmine Tart burbonet bake Venison bake A sotiltie A cours Blaundsorr Nosewis in compost Venyson rost Telle in barre Langettes de lyre Pety chek in bolyen Egrettes rost Rabettes souker rost Quailes rost Briddes brauncher rost Freshe sturgeon with fennell Creves de ew doulche Leche viole and canell Frittour crispe Rosettes florished Oranges bake Quynces bake A sotilty For the lords and the ladyes in thall the same day att dyner Vyand riall Bief and multon Grene ges rost Capon rost Lardes de veale Pike in erblad Leche siper Fretor covert Custard riall A sotiltie A cours Viande blanc in barre Crane and heronshew Kidd endorred and lambe Roo reversed Chek in bolien Rabettes rost Sturgeon and crevz du doulce Leche caniell Close tart indorred Crismatories and oranges bake A sotelty For the commons Frumenty with venyson Bief and multon Capon Rost Bief rost Leche canell Custard

And so, in the summer evening,  the banquet  broke up by torch light,  having  taken so long, apparently because Richard talked a lot,  the third course was never served.   It was  the end of an unforgettable day and as the guests departed ‘wher yt lyked them best‘   they would have noticed the conduit in Westminster Yard that had been filled with a tun of red wine.  Perfect!  I  do wonder though  if anyone spared a  thought for the poor souls left to do the washing up!

I am greatly indebted to Anne Sutton and  Peter Hammond for the above information  I have gleaned from their marvellous book: The Coronation of Richard III – the Extant Documents.  A shortened version of the details of the Coronation can also be found in Richard III  The Road to Bosworth by the same authors.  

1. Sir Richard Dymmok also received crimson damask and spurs.  He  served in his family’s hereditary role as the sovereigns champion at Richard III, Henry VII and Henry VIII coronations.  Anne Sutton and Peter Hammond The Coronation of Richard III – the extant documents p.337.

19th century painting of the Henry VII Chapel by an unknown artist.  The entrance to the area where the urn stands is to the left of the tomb of Henry VII

Some thoughts on the mysterious bones contained in the urn in the Henry VII chapel in Westminster Abbey thought by some to be those of the ‘missing princes’ :

Helen Maurer, in her wonderful article, Whodunnit: The Suspects in the Case  mentioned in the notes :

‘As for why the bones should have been discovered more or less where More said they would be, might it be profitable, if only in the interest of leaving no stone unturned, to forget about Richard, Henry and the late 15th century for the moment and concentrate upon  Charles II and the political pressures and perceived necessities of the 1670s.  Any takers?’

Maurer then went on to discuss this theory more deeply in her articles Bones in the Tower – Part 2 (1).

CHARLES II ‘THE MERRY MONARCH’.  Artist John Michael Wright, c.1660-1665.  National Portrait Gallery.

On reading the article, which was printed in the ‘Ricardian’ in March 1991, pp 2-22, I was intrigued by this theory which seems plausible and makes much more sense than the  ludicrous story given out by More.     A brief summary is given of Charles‘ reign and the problems he encountered at the time including ‘an abiding public mistrust and rejection of  anything that smacked of absolutism’, religious intolerance, a Parliament who controlled Charles’ pursestrings and a general mistrust of each other….’

As Maurer further points out:

‘As adjunct to these general observations it must be remembered that Charles was the son of a despised and executed monarch.  Experience made him wary.  Unable to  foresee the future, he could only know that tenure of the throne came without guarantees.  It should surprise no one that Charles became a master of dissimulation….with an overriding concern to preserve what he could of royal power, while ensuring the succession'(2).

It would seem that perhaps the ‘Merry Monarch‘ was not so merry after all!

The infamous urn – Westminster Abbey.

Having found this theory plausible and taking a look into Samuel Pepys Diary  – who of course wrote in great detail about those times being in the thick of things  – imagine my delight, and surprise,  when I came across  the entry dated the 25 March  1663 describing how that day Pepys was present in the chapel of  Whitehall Palace  – when the King was also  present –   when he heard a sermon by Dr Critton (Creighton).  Dr Critton –

 ‘told the king and ladies, plainly speaking of death and of skulls, how there is no difference, that nobody could tell that of the great Marius or Alexander from a pyoneer, nor, for all the pain the ladies take with their faces, he that should look into a charnel house should not distinguish which was Cleopatra’s or fair Rosamund’s or  Jane Shores (3).

Was this when the idea was first planted in Charles’ head – as well as the heads of those who were present at the time?   And later in 1674 was the ‘idea’ remembered when building work was being undertaken at the Tower of London and a staircase was being demolished and when an opportunity arose to get some bones and plant them.   Bones would have been obtainable with ease considering the numerous  charnel houses and plague pits that abounded at that time.     Furthermore the ‘discovery‘ of the bones was reported to Charles by Sir Thomas Critcheley, Master of the Ordnance , someone he was on friendly terms with and with whom he played tennis.  Maurer goes on to say ‘No doubt Critcheley’s report was verified by Charles’ chief surgeon Knight’.   Well, well, well – the plot thickens as they say.  But this also leads to the question why? 

In summary Maurer wrote:

‘Assessments of Charles’ character and of the situation in 1674 makes it high probable that the decision to commemorate these bones did not stem entirely from Charles’ mercy, as eventually inscribed upon the urn.  The inurnment was a political act, fraught with a political message for Charles’ own time.  This view is strongly supported by the manner in which it was accomplished.  The carelessness with which the remains were interred along with the bones of other animals, including chicken and fish and 3 rusty nails is striking evidence that the chief concern at the time was not reverent burial but the political statement made by a display of the urn.  It did not matter whose bones were placed in it, or whether they were all the same bones found in 1674 or even human bones, so long as something was put in it to be visibly commemorated’.

Samuel Pepys.  Artist John Hayles.  Pepys was Secretary to the Admiralty under King Charles, MP, Diarist and a personal friend to James duke of York, later James II.

If this is indeed what happened and whether Pepys himself had a hand in it – he was indeed on very friendly terms with Charles’ brother James duke of York, visiting him at the duke’s home on numerous  occasions according to his diary – is a matter of speculation.  Did someone recall the old sermon preached on that day in 1663 suggestive, basically, that the bones of royal children would be non discernible from the bones of a beggars children?  And was it used to demonstrate to the people that this fate is one that can easily befall disposed monarchs – and was this something to be desired?  Frustratingly Pepys stopped writing his Diary in 1669 and the bones not being ‘discovered’ until 1674 he made no entry pertaining to it.  It also begs the further question, if this speculation was correct, would he have ever written about it anyway?   However Pepys wrote his diary in shorthand and possibly he never intended it to come into the public domain.  But it remains a tantalising thought that if only Pepys had continued with his diaries for just a while longer one of the most enduring mysteries of all time may never have arisen.

James II as painted by Lely.  James was a personal friend to Samuel Pepys.  His reign was also troubled resulting in him being replaced by his daughter Mary.  

1.Whodunit The Suspects in the Case Helen Maurer note 30.

2.  Bones in the Tower Part 2 Helen Maurer Ricardian p10

3.  Pepys Diary Chapter 4 March 25 1663

Reconstruction of a Medieval Painting from St Stephens Chapel. Possibly Queen Philippa with her daughter.  Ernest William Tristram c.1927.   Worked from original drawings made by the antiquarian Richard Smirke 1800-1811 before the fire of 1834. Society of Antiquities.   Parliamentary Art Collection

St Stephen’s was the medieval royal chapel of the Kings and Queens of England and part of the old Palace of Westminster.  What a jewel in England’s crown and what a loss.  Destroyed by a fire in 1834 that also destroyed what was left of the old palace, which had already lost its royal apartments in a fire in the 1530s.  King Stephen is said to have built the original chapel, first mentioned in the reign of King John 1199-1216, with Edward lst beginning a major refurbishment in 1292.  The architect was Michael of Canterbury who also designed the beautiful Eleanor Crosses.   On two levels the rebuild took over 70 years to complete which seems to have been because of the ebb and flow of the finances of the first three Edwards.     The top level was for the use of the Royal Family and a door south of the altar  lead to the royal apartments.  It must have been a sight to behold…with it ceiling painted in azure and  thousands of stars of gold.  The lower chapel,  darker because it was slightly below ground level,   was known as St Mary Undercroft,  and after being used for numerous purposes over the centuries , including some say Cromwell stabling his horses there,  has  managed to survive to this very day and  back to its original use, that of a chapel.

Kings and queens who happened to die while residing in Westminster Palace were taken to the chapel to lie in repose.  Among those to lie there before their burial, usually in the Abbey, was the ‘seemly, amiable and beauteous’ Queen Anne Neville, daughter of Warwick the Kingmaker and consort to King Richard III (1).  On a happier note St Stephen’s may also have been where their wedding took place.  Several royal weddings did take place there for certain including that of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia and also Edward IV’s youngest son Richard of Shrewsbury and Anne Mowbray.   Anne was only 4 years old at the time, the groom being even younger at 3, and Richard Duke of Gloucester led Anne by the hand into the chapel.

The chapel was dissolved at the Reformation in the time of Edward VI and thereafter it became the first permanent home of the House of Commons.  Certain abuses of the Chapel begun from then on including the removal of the beautiful soaring upper celestery by Wren.  The final fire took hold at around 6 pm. on the evening of 16th October 1834.  The final destruction by  fire  begun with  the burning of two cartloads of wooden tally ‘Exchequer’ sticks which caused  a furnace  to overheat.

Upon Westminster Hall.  George Scharf.   The intrepid Mr Scharf made this painting over four days after climbing on to Westminster Hall’s roof for a better view of the destruction of the chapel and palace.. 

Warnings of the danger of fire had been ignored by a ‘senile housekeeper and a careless Clerk to the Works’  leading to the Prime Minister to declare the disaster was one of the ‘greatest instances of stupidity on record’.  During the course of the conflagration medieval paintings and decorations that had been hidden over the centuries were once again revealed and gawping crowds flocked to see them.

Wooden tally or Exchequer sticks. The burning of two cartloads of these caused a chimney to overheat which led to the destruction of Westminster Palace including St Stephen’s hall.

We are very fortunate that 30 years prior to the disaster life sized copies were made of the most important medieval paintings,  which would have been to the east of the chapel where the alter was,   while the chapel was being renovated by an antiquarian Richard Smirke.  The art historian and conservator, Ernest William Tristram (1881-1952) meticulously reconstructed Smirke’s drawing in a collection of 20 paintings.  The British Museum now holds fragments from the paintings and decorations salvaged from the fire and from them can be gleaned an impression of the quality and beauty of the lost works.

The new building, now called St Stephen’s Hall, was rebuilt in Neo Gothic style on the footprint of the old Chapel carefully adhering to the same measurements, 95ft long and 30 ft wide.  Brass studs now mark where the Speaker’s Chair which in turn  would have marked the place where the high  alter once stood.

King Edward’s Sons.  Reconstruction of medieval wall painting St Stephen’s Chapel.  Ernest William Tristram.  Worked from the original drawings by Richard Smirke.  

King Edward and St George.  Ernest William Tristram.  Reproduction of medieval wall painting from St Stephen’s Chapel.  From the original drawing by Richard Smirke.  

Some of the 17 fragments of wall paintings salvaged from the fire and now in the British Museum.  All came from the east end of the north wall.

 

The smaller chapel on the lower level.  Known as St Mary Undercroft.  Survived the fire and is once again in use as a chapel. Watercolour by George Belton Moore.  

Another watercolour by George Belton Moore picturing a demolition of a doorway next to St Stephens.  Ive been unable to ascertain where this doorway was situated.    

The Ruined St Stephen’s from the East prior to demolition.   Parliamentary Art Collection.

I am indebted to Sir Roy Strong’s book Lost Treasures of Britain for some of the above information.

1. Rous Roll.  

COWGATE NORWICH, DAVID HODGSON c.1860.  WHITEFRIARS STOOD ON THE EASTERN SIDE BETWEEN THE CHURCH OF ST JAMES POCKTHORPE (SEEN ABOVE) AND THE RIVER A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY..NORWICH MUSEUM

On 30 June 1468, died Lady Eleanor Butler née Talbot.   Eleanor came from an illustrious family.  Her father was the great John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, her mother Margaret Beauchamp’s father was Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick.  Richard Neville Earl of Warwick, later known as ‘The Kingmaker’,  was her uncle by marriage.   Eleanor’s sister, Elizabeth, was to become the Duchess of Norfolk and the mother of Anne Mowbray, child bride to Richard of Shrewsbury, duke of York.  Eleanor was a childless widow, her husband, Sir Thomas Butler, heir to Ralph Butler, Lord Sudeley, having died around 1459 possibly of injuries sustained at the battle of Blore Heath (1)

It would seem that the young widow caught the eye of the even younger warrior king Edward IV, who fresh from leading the Yorkists to victory  at Towton and the overthrow of Henry VI,  found himself swiftly propelled onto the throne of England.  No doubt he was giddy with success because quite soon after having met Eleanor he married her in secret, an amazingly stupid action, and one which would come back to haunt him, as well as his bigamous wife Elizabeth Wydville, with all the subsequent and tragic  repercussions for his family.  See Titulus Regius for more information.  The relationship between Edward and Eleanor was doomed to be one of short duration,  the reasons for this being lost in time.  Much has been written on this subject and I would like to focus here on the Carmelite Friary known as Whitefriars, Norwich, where Eleanor was later to be buried.

Whitefriars had been founded in 1256 by Philip de Cowgate, son of Warin, a Norwich merchant who settled lands there upon William de Calthorpe ‘upon condition that the brethren of Mount Carmel should enter and dwell there without any molestation for ever and serve God therein‘.  Sadly much later Henry VIII was to have other ideas.  However returning to Philip de Cowgate.  Following the death of his wife,  the ageing Philip  ‘took upon him the Carmelite habit and entered the house of his own foundation‘ dying there in 1283.  The building of Whitefriars was completed about  1382 and so begun its long and interesting journey through history.  The notable persons being buried there are too numerous to mention as are the many benefactors but the various highs and lows make interesting reading.  Notable incidents include:

1272, 29 June:  ‘On the feast of St Peter and Paul in the early morning when the monks rise to say the first psalms, there was an earthquake.  The tower of Trinity church fell….’

Further problems for the friary occurred later on that year –

1272, 11 August   ‘….the citizens of the city attacked the monastery and burnt a large part of the building’

1450  John Kenninghale built a ‘spacious new library’

1452 A group of people begun to cause disturbances in the neighbourhood:

‘Item xl of the same felechep came rydyng to Norwich jakked and salettyd with bowys and arwys, byllys, gleves , un Maundy Thursday, and that day aftyr none when service was doo, they, in like wise arrayid, wold have brake up the Whyte Freris dores, where seying that they came to here evensong, howbeit, they made her avant in town they shuld have sum men owt of town’. However ’the Mayer and alderman with gret multitude of peple assembled and thereupon the seyd felischep departid’.  (Paston Letters, ii, 268)

1468, July – Lady Eleanor Butler, née Talbot,  daughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury and sister to the Duchess of Norfolk, born c.1436 died 30 June 1468 was buried in the friary.

1479 – ‘The great pestelence in Norwich’

1480 – ‘The great earthquake upon St Thomas nyght in the moneth of July’  Calendar of Charters and Rolls preserved in the Bodleian Library, ed. William H. Turner, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1878)

1485 – King Richard III confirmed all the houses, lands and privileges of the Carmelites.  Could this be connected to the burial of Eleanor – his sister in law – in that place?

1488/9 – ‘In the langable rental of the fourth of Henry the seventh, these friars are charged two-pence half-penny for divers tenements which they had purchased’.

1538, 2I September – The duke of Norfolk wrote to Thomas Cromwell ‘intended yesterday to have ridden to Norwich to take surrender of the Grey Friars, but was ill and so sent his son of Surrey and others of his council who have taken the surrender and left the Dukes servants in charge.  Thinks the other two friars should be enjoined to make no more waste.  The Black Friars have sold their greatest bell’.

1538 September – ‘The house of friars (Whitefriars) have no substance of lead save only some of them have small gutters’

1538 7 October –  Letter from the Duke of Norfolk to Thomas Cromwell – ‘The White and Black Friars of Norwich presented a bill, enclosed, for Norfolk to take the surrender of their houses, saying the alms of the country was so little they could no longer live.   Promised ‘by this day sevennight’ to let them know the kings pleasure: begs to know what to do and what to give them.  They are very poor wretches and he gave the worst of the Grey Friars 20s for a raiment, it was a pity these should have less’(2)

The Friary was finally dissolved in 1542 and its lease granted to Richard Andrews and Leonard Chamberlain.  Shortly after which the land was then divided into many different ownerships.  The rest is history….

But back to the present – in 1904 foundations were discovered and in 1920 six pieces of window tracery were found and built into a wall at Factory Yard.  These unfortunately were  cleared away and lost  when Jarrolds, the printers,  extended their works.  Thanks to the intrepid George Plunkett who took photographs of old Norwich between 1930- 2006 we can see this tracery before it disappeared forever.Whitefriars Cowgate Factory Yard tracery.  Photographed in 1937 by George Plunkett.

Mr Plunkett also took photos of the now famous Gothic arch as it was in 1961 after it had recently been opened out.  Sadly he reported that ‘a dilapidated flint wall adjoining the bridge was taken down as not worth preserving – a modern tablet identified it as having once belonged to the anchorage attached to the friary’ (3).

The flint wall before demolition – photograph by George Plunkett c1939

Whitefriars Cowgate friary doorway west side uncovered in 1961.  Stood adjacent to the anchorage.  Photograph by George Plunkett

Whitefriars Cowgate friary doorway East side 1988.  Photograph by George Plunkett.

Up to date views of the friary doorway.  With many thanks to Dave Barlow for permission to use his beautiful photos….

All that remains above ground on the site of the the once magnificent Whitefriars – photos courtesy of Dave Barlow

However….

THE ARMINGHALL ARCH

An important Whitefriars relic, no longer in its original position, survived and went on to become known as the Arminghall Arch.  This 14th century arch has experienced a number of moves since it was taken down during the Dissolution.  It was first of all erected at Arminghall Old Hall. There it remained until the Hall was also demolished.  It was then acquired by Russell Colman who transferred it to his grounds at Crown Point.  From there it has now finally been installed at Norwich Magistrates Court, just across the bridge from its original position.  It was through this arch that the funeral cortege of Lady Eleanor would have passed in 1468.

‘ARMINGHALL OLD ARCH’ 14th century arch removed from Whitefriars at the time of the Dissolution. Now in Norwich Magistrates Court. 

Such is progress……

For those who wish to delver further into Lady Eleanor’s story the late John Ashdown-Hill’s Eleanor the Secret Queen – the Woman who put Richard III on the Throne is recommended.

l) The Secret Queen, Eleanor Talbot p74 John Ashdown Hill

2) The Medieval Carmelite Priory at Norwich, A Chronology Richard Copsey, O. Carm.

3) George Plunkett’s website, particularly this map.