The History and Antiquities of London, Westminster, Southwark, and Parts Adjacent, vol. 3
Allen, Thomas
1827
The Cross.
It was erected in , of stone, and was of the affectionate tokens of Edward I. towards his queen Eleanor, built where her body rested on its way to interment in . It had originally the statue of the queen, and in all respects resembled that at Northampton; at length falling to decay, it was rebuilt with the addition of a conduit or water spout, in , by John Hutherby, mayor, assisted by several of the most opulent citizens. This cross, which is engraved in this work, was ornamented with various images, such as that of the resurrection, of the virgin, of Edward the Confessor, and the like. At every public entry it was new | |
577 | gilt; All the magnificent processions took this road. After the reformation, the images gave much offence; the goddess Diana was substituted instead of the Virgin, after the latter had been frequently mutilated. says Stow, Elizabeth disapproved of those attacks on the remnants of the old religion, and offered a large reward for the discovery of the offenders. She thought that a plain cross, the mark of the religion of the country, ought not to be the occasion of any scandal; so directed that should be placed on the summit, and gilt. |
In , the parliament voted the taking down of all crosses, and the demolishing all popish paintings, &c.
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The standard was situated a short distance eastward of the cross. The time of its foundation is unknown; it appears to have been very ruinous in , at which time Henry VI. granted a licence for the repairing of it, together with the conduit. The standard was a place at which executions and other acts of justice were frequently performed. | |
Nearly opposite the cross, at the north east corner of , was situated the Nag's Head tavern, celebrated as the fictitious scene of the consecration of the Protestant bishops, at the accession of Elizabeth in . says Mr. Pennant,
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Among the various appendages to the old cathedral church of St. Paul, was the celebrated | |
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which stood in the north part of the church yard, and was used for various purposes, as well secular as profane. Stow observes that its was to him but he continues, About years afterwards the same monarch caused the bull of Pope Urban IV. granting absolution to himself and others, from their oaths to maintain the articles made in the parliament of Oxford, in , to be read here. From these and other events, it would seem that the cross was the general place for holding assemblies of the people at this early period; whether for matter of political import, or of ecclesiastieal reference. | |
In the year , Ralph de Baldock, then dean of , anathematized, or cursed at all those who had sacrilegiously violated the church of St. Martin in the Fields, &c. In the next century, the ancient cross was destroyed or dilapidated, by a tempest; yet though several bishops of London, and in particular, William Courteney, and Robert de Braybrooke, collected considerable sums for re-building it, by offering indulgences to all contributors, it was not re-erected till about , when it was by bishop Thomas Kempe, This form was an hexagon pulpit of timber, covered with lead, elevated upon a flight of stone steps, and surmounted by a large cross: and thus it stood till the year , | |
579 | when, in pursuance of an order of parliament, it was demolished by the willing hands of the lord mayor, sir Isaac Pennington, who died a prisoner in the Tower. |
At this cross the Jane Shore did penance, by order of the duke of Gloucester; and here, too, the celebrated Dr. Shaw broached the project of Richard to ascend the throne, though with fatal consequence to his own reputation and life. From this cross, likewise, the marriage contract between James the of Scotland, and Margaret, daughter of Henry VII. was publicly announced, in ; when was sung, bonfires set a blazing, and hogsheads of Gascoigne wine given to the populace, Here likewise the English, or Tindal's translation of the Bible, was publicly burnt, by order of bishop Stokesley; and many are the examples of bearing the faggot, and making public recantations of their faith, of persons of both religions, at this place ; the last who appeared was a seminary priest, who, in , made his recantation. Previously to this, sir Thomas Newman, priest, bore the faggot here, on the singular occasion
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In a manuscript in the , are the following particulars relating to the promulgation of the made on the , at Cross.
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In the year , that unfortunate victim of priestcraft and intolerance, Elizabeth Barton, commonly denominated the Holy Maid of Kent, was with her accomplices, exposed upon a scaffold at Cross, whilst their confession was publicly read from it, previous to their execution at Tyburn; and in the year , , the famous Rood of Grace, or crucifix, from Boxley, in Kent, was shewn openly at the cross, by the enlightened bishop Fisher, and its artful construction, by which its supposed miraculous motions had been effected, fully explained to the people, after which it was consigned to the flames on the spot. | |
When the opposition of the see of Rome to the divorce of the from queen Catherine, had determined that monarch to abrogate the Pope's authority, an order of the king in council was issued, commanding, among other things, that from such as should preach at Paule's Crosse, should that neither the Pope, nor any of his predecessors, were any thing more than simple bishops of Rome, and had no more real authority within this realm than any other foreign bishop; the paramount jurisdiction which they claimed, being only usurped and
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On the accession of queen Mary, the orations pronounced from the pulpit cross vacillated in favour of the ancient regimen, and that princess appointed several of her best divines to preach here in furtherance of her design to restore the papal supremacy. Several tumults were the consequence, and attempts were made, by some over-zealous reformists, to assassinate the preacher, whilst in the midst of his discourse, yet, on both occasions, the weapon was propelled with an erring aim. | |
The reign of queen Elizabeth was in like manner ushered in by the appointment of able men to preach from this cross, but on the very opposite tenets of the reformation, and of the rejection of papal authority. Dr. Bill, the queen's almoner, commenced these discourses on the ; and was followed by Horn, Jewel, Sandys and many others, who soon afterwards were promoted to the highest dignities of our church. Here also, by the royal command, a sermon of thanksgiving was preached, after the signal discomfiture of the invincible armada. Another sermon preached at | |
581 | this cross, and was for the ungenerous purpose of stigmatising the memory of the unfortunate earl of Essex, as if, says the earl of Clarendon, who alludes to this circumstance, there had been some sparks of indignation in the queen, that were unquenched even with his blood. |
In the library of the Society of Antiquaries, is an old painting on folding boards, which, about years ago, was purchased for , out of the rectory house, at Lamborne, in Berkshire, and was of the means employed by Mr. Farley to promote his great object of exciting king James to repair the cathedral. In compartment the king was introduced to . On a , the cathedral was represented without a spire, with rooks flying over it: against the north wall of the nave, a gallery, containing the king, queen, and prince, with , &c. on pannels beneath. In another gallery to the left of the royal family, sat a group of bishops, lords, ladies, &c. above it were choristers, and below it was inscribed, The mayor and aldermen of London were depicted in a gallery; person bowing, He answers the d of Chronicles, chap. . At the west door, a coffer, inscribed, The houses raised against the building are shewn with smoaking chimneys; a label adds,
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In another compartment the church is represented repaired, and the houses removed, with a gallery adorned by the arms of England, London, and the sees of Canterbury and London. Other inscriptions, besides those above-mentioned, appear on different parts of the picture. | |
The last sermon, attended by sovereign presence, at cross, was that preached by bishop King, before James the ; yet religious discourses continued to be delivered here, down to the time of the civil wars, as is apparent from the journals of the house of commons, under the date of , when an order of parliament was made, that the lord mayor, and court of aldermen, for the time being, should thenceforth nominate and | |
582 | appoint &c. and that all sums of money accustomed to be paid should be discharged as usual. Before this order the preachers had in general been appointed by the bishop of London. |
It is evident from various prints of the that the greater part of the congregation sate in the open air, but the king and his train, and the lord mayor and aldermen, had covered galleries. | |
The preachers, who were occasionally called from the University, or other distant places, to lecture here, were mostly entertained from contributions and funds, under the controul of the lord mayor and aldermen. A kind of inn, called was kept by the appointment of the church, for the reception of such preachers; and, at period, they were each allowed for a sermon, but those allowances were afterwards reduced to for a sermon, and days board and lodging at the The funds for their support are said to have accumulated to the then considerable sum of besides annual rent charges to the amount of . | |
Within the precincts of the old cathedral, which appears to have been inclosed with a wall, by permission of Edward the , with gates to shut at night, in order to exclude the entrance of profligate and disorderly people, by whom almost every sort of crime had been committed here, under shelter of the darkness, stood | |
Footnotes: [] Vide ante, p. 433, from a painting of the time representing the procession of Edward VI. to his coronation. [] Pennant, 4to. 423. [] Sur. of Lond. Edit. 1598, p. 268. [] Stow's Lond. p. 268, [] Stow's Lond. p. 268. [] Howe's Stow's Ann p. 484. [] Pennant's Lond. p. 330. [] Vitellius, B. IV. Cott. Lib. [] Weever's Fun. Mon p. 92 edit. 1631. [] The bishop of London was also ordered, at his peril, to suffer none other to preach there, but such as would preach and set forth the same. Ibid. From this pulpit, likewise, the death-bed gift of the tyrant to the city of London, of the church of the Grey-Friars, St. Bartholomew's hospital, &c. with lands to the value of 500 marks, yearly, for relieving of the poore people, was announced by the bishop of Rochester, Henry Holbetch.Howe's Stow's Sur. p. 592. [] Strype's Ann. vol. i. p. 133; and Penn. Lond. p. 331. [] See ante, p, 301. [] Mal. Lond. Red. vol. in. p 76, and Gents Mag. vol. i. p 180. |
