Antony de Bec, bishop of that see in the reign of Edward I. built the town residence of him and his successors, called , in , where, in , was held a most magnificent feast, given by the challengers of England, who had caused to be proclaimed in France, Flanders, Scotland, and Spain. a great and triumphant jousting, to be holden at , for all comers that would undertake them, but both challengers and defendants were English. After the gallant exploits of each day, the challengers rode to , where they kept open household, and feasted the king and queen, (Anne of Cleves,) with her ladies, and all the court, and also the knights and burgesses of the house of commons; and entertained the mayor of London, with all the aldermen, and their wives, at a dinner, &c. The king gave to each of the challengers, and his heirs for ever, in reward of his valour and activity, , and a house to dwell in of yearly revenue, out of the lands pertaining to the hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. The palace had previously been exchanged to king Henry VIII.: and it was afterwards granted by Edward VI. to his sister, princess Elizabeth, as her residence during her life; Mary I. however, who probably considered the gift as sacrilegious, granted it again in reversion to the bishop of Durham.

In the reign of Edward VI. the mint was established in this house, under the management of sir William Sharrington, and the influence of the aspiring Thomas Seymour, lord admiral. Here he proposed to have money enough coined to accomplish his designs on the throne. His practices were detected; and he suffered death. His tool was also condemned; but, sacrificing his master to his own safety, he received a pardon, and was again employed under the administration of John Dudley, earl of.Northumberland. It afterwards became the residence of that ambitious man; who, in , in this palace, caused to be solemnized, with great magnificence, marriages: his son, lord Guildford Dudley, with the amiable Jane Gray; lord Herbert, heir to the earl of Pembroke, with Catherine, the youngest sister of lady Jane, and

In

eight

short months his ambition led the sweet innocent to the nuptial bed, the throne, and the scaffold.

was reckoned of the royal palaces belonging to queen Elizabeth, who gave the use of it to the great sir Walter Raleigh. In the reign of Charles I. the premises came into the possession of Philip, earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, upon payment of per annum to the see of Durham. His son took down the whole, and formed it into tenements and avenues, as it continued till totally demolished to make room for the . Part of the stables was covered by the New Exchange, which was built under the auspices of James I. in . The king, queen, and royal family honoured the opening with their presence, and named it Britain's Burse. It was built on the model of the royal exchange, with cellars, a walk, and a row of shops, filled with milliners, sempstresses, and those of similar occupations; and was a place of fashionable resort. What, however, was intended to rival the royal exchange dwindled into frivolity and ruin, and the site is at present occupied by a range of handsome houses facing .

[] Pennant.

[] A view of this noble mansion is engraved in the plate before noticed, vide ante p. 246.Houses of the Nobility in the Strand: Durham House