Old and New London, A Narrative of its History, its People and its Places. Illustrated with Numerous Engravings from the Most Authentic Sources. vol 3
Thornbury, Walter
1872-78
Chapter XLIX:Westminster Abbey--Its Early History.
Chapter XLIX:Westminster Abbey--Its Early History.
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It has been appositely remarked that whereas the City is the heart, [extra_illustrations.3.394.5] is the head of our great metropolis; while the suburbs in general constitute its limbs and extremities. And this is true in so far as that, while the City is the centre of all commercial transactions, is the residence of the Court and the seat of the Legislature which directs and controls the affairs of the nation. | |
In the chapter of this volume we have endeavoured to set before the reader a general outline of the history and boundaries of the City of , together with some particulars of the foundation of its Abbey. It is stated by historians-and the statement is generally accepted as true--that Melutus, who was ordained Bishop of the East Saxons by St. Augustine, erected cathedral churches; the in London, dedicated to St. Paul; and the other in the island of Thorney, which he dedicated to St. Peter. This latter, which, in fact, was an abbey or minster, was situated to the westward of the City of London, and, according to old annalist, was for that reason called to distinguish it from the Abbey of Grace on , called Maitland, however, proves this to be a mistake, by showing that this city was called in an undated granted by Edward the Confessor, who died in , whilst the Abbey of Grace was not founded till the century; he therefore supposes that the appellation of was given to distinguish it from , in the City of London. | |
of the origin or foundation of this locality, we may here state that we have heard of a startling proposition-namely, that the site of the ancient British city, Lun , or was , and that London as now known was that of the Roman . We can only exclaim, with the poet-
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Froude says that the cathedral is, or rather was in the Middle Ages, the city, and that other institutions grouped themselves around it, and gradually grew up under its shadow. This is certainly true of . In course of time, round the | |
p.395 | monastery were erected a few houses, which at length grew into a small town, called in ancient writings Another cause of its growth was the royal palace which for centuries nestled under the shadow of the noble Abbey; and, consequently, most of the chief nobility, as we have seen in our through the Strand and , erected in its vicinity inns, or town houses, the sites of many of which still retain the names of their former owners. It may be added here that it was probably on account of the contiguity of the royal palace of to the monastery that the king was allowed the privilege of a separate entrance to the church. |
In course of time became a place of some consideration; but it received its most distinguished honours from Henry VIII., who, on the dissolution of the Monastery of St. Peter, converted it into a bishopric, with a dean and prebendaries, and appointed the whole county of Middlesex, except Fulham, which was to remain with the bishopric of London, to be its diocese. On this occasion became a city; for the making of which, according to Lord Chief Justice Coke, nothing more is required than for it to be the seat of episcopal power. It did not, however, as we have shown, long continue to enjoy this distinction, for it never had but bishop, Thomas Thirleby, upon whose translation to Norwich, in , Edward VI. dissolved the new bishopric, and its right to the epithet of city was thereby lost. However, has ever since continued to be considered as a city, and is so styled in our statutes. | |
It is observed with justice by Mr. Wood, in his that Sebert, who founded the Cathedral of St. Paul, within the walls of the City of London, was no less the founder of the Benedictine church and monastery-our Rheims and St. Denis in -outside the same. He apparently rejects the story of St. Peter being the actual founder of the consecrated fabric that arose upon the island of Thorney; but he gives the following legend:-- | |
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The building of the Abbey is, indeed, involved in mists too dense for the sun of antiquarian research to penetrate. The period of its erection, previous to Edward the Confessor's days, will not probably ever be discovered. writes Mr. Allen, in his
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Widmore, who, in writing his history, had access to every species of record belonging to the Abbey, fixed the foundation between the years and , but is unable to say who is the founder. Allen, in his version of the legend of St. Peter and the fisherman who ferried him over the water, adds that some of the monkish writers improved upon the vision of Wulsinus by asserting that Peter rewarded the fisherman assuring him and his fellow-watermen that they should never want fish, For several centuries, it is asserted, this tale was implicitly believed, and during that time the monks of doubtless fared sumptuously on the offerings of the Thames fishermen.
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Though nothing can with certainty be concluded from, these fictions, it may nevertheless be presumed that both the ancient church dedicated to St. Paul in London, and this dedicated to St. Peter in , were among the earliest works of the converts to Christianity in . With their religion the Christians introduced a new manner of building, and Sebert has been generally accredited with having conducted the building of the earliest church on this site, or, at all events, with having completed that part of it which now forms the eastern angle. From Sebert's death up to the time of [extra_illustrations.3.396.1] , the Abbey, it appears, remained a monument of the sacrilegious fury of the times, and suffered greatly from the ravages of the Danes. King Edgar, through the influence of Dunstan, is said to have effected some restoration of the fabric, and to have appropriated it to the order of St. Benedict, establishing there monks, with endowments sufficient for their maintenance. | |
About the middle of the century, Edward the Confessor resolved thoroughly to restore the building, or, as some authors state, to reconstruct it entirely, in the Saxon style. For this purpose large sums of money were given to the monks by the king; and his nobles, like true courtiers, copied his example. The plan of this building was that of a cross, which naturally was the pattern and type for church-building throughout the kingdom. On the completion of the church, Edward determined to have it consecrated in the most solemn and impressive manner, and with that intent summoned all the bishops and nobles in the kingdom to be witnesses of the ceremony, which took place on Holy Innocents' Day (), | |
p.397 | . Edward, in order to ingratiate himself with his clergy, not only confirmed to the monks all former endowments, but granted them a new charter, in which he recited the account of consecration, the ravages of the Danes, and the motives which prompted him to restore the sacred edifice to its former splendour, and endow it with more ample powers and privileges. This charter concluded with solemn imprecations against all who should, in time to come, dare to deface or to demolish any part of the building, or to infringe the rights of the priesthood. Within a few days after the consecration of the new Abbey Church, on the or , Edward the Confessor breathed his |
| last, in the Palace hard by, and was buried before the high altar of the new structure. | |
During the time of Abbot Laurentius, about the year , extensive repairs were made in the out-buildings of the monastery, which had been destroyed by fire. In [extra_illustrations.3.397.3] laid the stone of a chapel, which was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and was called Its site was that whereon now stands Henry VII.'s Chapel. Queen Eleanor, wife of Henry III., was crowned here with much splendour and liberality on the part of the citizens of London, in spite of the discredit and unpopularity of her husband, who not long afterwards granted a large sum towards | |
p.398 | rebuilding the Abbey Church. This, according to Matthew Paris, was in . Speaking of this sovereign, under that date, the old chronicler says -- For this purpose, Henry appropriated a considerable sum to the church, and in
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In , if we may trust the statement of a writer in Neale and Brayley's
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On the , the new church, of which the eastern part, with the choir and transepts, appears to have been at that time completed, was opened for divine service; and on the same day, writes Dart, from the body of Edward the Confessor, was removed with great solemnity
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It is impossible to ascertain how far the building had progressed at the time of Henry's death, in . According to Fabian, the choir was not actually finished till some years later. A short time previous to the rebuilding of the church, Abbot Richard de Crokesley had erected a chapel near the north door, and dedicated it to St. Edmund. This was taken down with the rest by Henry III. Not long afterwards the beautiful mosaic pavement before the high altar was laid; it was the gift of Abbot Ware, who died in , and was buried under it. | |
In the Abbey was considerably damaged by a fire which broke out in the lesser hall in the king's palace adjoining. In the succeeding century great additions were made to the fabric by Abbots Langham and Litlington; the latter, says Widmore, quoting from the records, Abbot Litlington died in the reign of Richard II. It is hardly necessary to add that the Edwardian era was the culminating period of Gothic or pointed architecture. | |
In the right of [extra_illustrations.3.398.1] possessed by the Abbey was for the time violated, and the church itself made the scene of a most atrocious murder. It appears that, during of the campaigns of the Black Prince, esquires, Frank de Haule and John Schakell, had taken prisoner a Spanish (or, according to Pennant, a French) count. He had, however, a powerful friend at court, in the person of John of Gaunt. The English captors refused to part with so valuable a prize; and John of Gaunt at once imprisoned them in the Tower, whence they made their escape, and took refuge at . They were pursued by Sir Allan Boxhull, Constable of the Tower, and Sir Ralph de Ferrers, with armed men. De Haule and Schakell, it is supposed, had fled not merely into the Abbey, but into the choir of the church, while the mass was being celebrated. The deacon had just uttered the words of the Gospel of the day--- --when the clash of arms was heard, and the pursuers, regardless of the time or the place, suddenly burst in upon the serviced Schakell succeeded in escaping, but Haule was intercepted. He fled round the choir twice, with his enemies hacking at him as he ran; and, pierced with wounds, he sank dead at the prior's stall, close by the north side of the entrance of the choir. His servant and of the monks fell with him. He was regarded as a martyr to the injured right of the Abbey, and obtained the honour (at that time unusual) of burial within its walls-the who was laid, so far as we know, in the south transept; to be followed a few years later by Geoffrey Chaucer, who was interred at his feet. A brass effigy and a long epitaph, till within the last century, marked the stone where he lay, and another inscription was engraved on the stone where he fell. The Abbey was shut up for months. Even the sitting of the King's Parliament was suspended, lest its assembly should be polluted by sitting within the desecrated precincts; and the aggressors were excommunicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury. | |
During the reign of Richard II. the rebuilding of the western part of the church was carried out; and Abbot Esteney, who died in , contributed largely towards finishing it, and made the great west window. Abbot Islip made many additions | |
p.399 | to the fabric, but the nave remained in an unfinished state till the beginning of the last century, when Sir Christopher Wren completed the western towers. |
The stone of the magnificent [extra_illustrations.3.399.2] , at the eastern end of the Abbey Church, was laid in , during the government of Abbot Islip; it was erected on the site of chapels, dedicated respectively to the Virgin Mary and to St. Erasmus, which had been pulled down to make room for the new fabric; and, like its predecessor, when completed, it was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. It was designed by Henry VII. as a burying-place for himself and his successors, and he expressly enjoined in his will that none but those of the blood royal should be inhumed therein. | |
Henry VII. by his will left his funeral to the discretion of his executors, only charging them to avoid As he requests that the chapel should be finished as soon as possible after his decease, if not then completed, and particularly mentions that the windows were to be glazed with stories, images, arms, badges, and cognisances, according to the designs given by him to the prior of St. Bartholomew's-and that the walls, doors, windows, vaults, and statues, within and without, should be adorned with arms and badges--it may be concluded that much remained to be done in the year , as he died within a month after the date of the will. He ordered that his body should be interred before the high altar, with that of his wife, and that the tomb should be made of touchstone, with niches, and statues of his guardian saints in copper gilt, the inscription to be confined merely to name and dates. | |
That his soul might rest in peace, Henry requested masses should be said in the monastery, London and its neighbourhood, for its repose- and all these to be sung in short month after his decease! He likewise directed that a statue of himself, kneeling, feet in height from the knees, should be carved in wood, representing him in armour, with a sword and spurs, and holding the crown of Richard III. won by him at Bosworth Field. The figure was to be plated with fine gold, and the arms of England and France enamelled on it. A tablet of silver gilt supporting it, enamelled with black letters, was to be placed on the shrine of St. Edward, to whom, with St. Mary and Almighty God, he dedicated the statue. He also gave in trust to the abbot and convent to be distributed in charity, and to the finishing of the church. | |
How far Henry's directions regarding his funeral were carried out may be gleaned from Malcolm's account of the ceremony. He says: | |
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On the -, this Abbey was surrendered to Henry VIII. by Abbot Boston and of the monks, and immediately dissolved. Here the king was married to Anne of Cleves, whom he soon afterwards divorced. After its short-lived career as a bishopric, under Dr. Thirleby, during the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI., on the accession of Queen Mary, the monastery was again restored to the order of St. Benedict, which was of the most wealthy, powerful, and learned in England before the Reformation. | |
[extra_illustrations.3.400.1] was the mitred abbey in the kingdom, and its abbot, before the Reformation, had a seat among the peers of Parliament; but it would astonish most readers, even devout Roman Catholics, to learn that at this day there are in existence or gentlemen who style themselves the of , St. Albans, Bury St. Edmunds, and Glastonbury respectively! How amused Dean Stanley must be, while holding in his hands the keys of the Abbey of , , to know that he has a rival who would gladly relieve him of them! | |
Mr. Wood, in his draws the following picture of the Abbey in the days of its glory and pride, in the age of the Plantagenets:-- | |
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The same writer also remarks:
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According to Tanner, Fosbrooke, and other writers on mediaeval monasticism, the habit of the Benedictine monks was a black loose coat, or rather gown, of stuff reaching down to their heels, with a cowl or hood of the same, and a scapulary; and under that another habit of white flannel, equal in size. From the colour of their outer habits the Benedictines were generally known as the Black Monks. | |
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Footnotes: [extra_illustrations.3.394.1] Old View--Abbey, Hall, Street, Palace, etc. [extra_illustrations.3.394.2] Bridge and Abbey [extra_illustrations.3.394.4] Westminster Abbey, 17th century [extra_illustrations.3.394.5] Westminster [] Round of the Abbey [] Wedding at the Abbey [extra_illustrations.3.396.1] Edward the Confessor [] Painting of Edward the Confessor [extra_illustrations.3.397.3] Henry III. [extra_illustrations.3.398.1] sanctuary [] Henry VII.'s Chapel, Interior [extra_illustrations.3.399.2] Chapel of Henry VII. [extra_illustrations.3.400.1] Westminster |
