Category: Edward The Confessor

Consecration of the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster

28/12/2017

There has been a religious building on or near the site of Westminster Abbey since Saxon times and one even earlier if the legend of the conversion of the Temple of Apollo into a Christian church is to be believed. However, the origins of the building we have come to know have its roots in the time of Edward the Confessor.

It was during his exile in Normandy that Edward vowed to make a pilgrimage to Rome if he should ever take the throne of England. Edward did become king but he soon became concerned that the country would be vulnerable to attack, and this prevented him from fulfilling his vow. Pope Alexander III, however, released him from this promise on the condition that he built an abbey in honour of St. Peter.

Edward was good to his word, he re-endowed and enlarged a small Benedictine monastery on the banks of the River Thames to create his new church, work began in the years between 1042 and 1052.

Edward's church the Collegiate Church of St Peter was consecrated on the 28th December in 1065. Of the construction, a monk of the French Abbey of St Bertin’s wrote:

“Outside the walls of London … stood a monastery dedicated to St Peter, but insignificant in buildings … . … The king , therefore … gave his attention to that place, for it both lay hard by the famous and rich town and also was a delightful spot, … … decided to have his burial place there. Accordingly, he ordered that out of the tithes of all his revenues should be started the building of a noble edifice, worthy of the Prince of the Apostles; so that, after the transient journey of this life, God would look kindly upon him, both for the sake of his goodness and because of the gift of lands and ornaments with which he intended to ennoble the place. And … there was no weighing of the costs, … so long as it proved worthy of … God and St Peter”.

Only one image of the confessor's church exists and this can be seen depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry where we can see a workman placing a weather vane on its roof. King Edward was a deeply religious man, it was for his devotion to God he received his name the Confessor, maybe this is why we can also see the hand of God appearing through the clouds in a gesture of blessing.

As the date of the abbey's consecration approached, Edward's health deteriorated and he was too ill to attend. Only eight days later the king was dead. Edward's church survived until the reign of Henry III when it was demolished and work on the present Westminster Abbey began in 1245.

Henry's Gothic masterpiece was consecrated on 13th October 1269.

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Henry III: The Forgotten King

16/11/2015

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Henry III or Henry of Winchester was the eldest son of King John by his second wife, Isabella of Angouleme, he was born at Winchester on the 1st October 1207.

Henry is said to not have been the most intelligent of kings, he was also seen as"uncomplicated, almost naive man, and a lover of peace," yet all this is hardly mentioned, historians preferring to write about Simon de Monfort who not only stole Henry's crown but also his limelight.

The dissatisfaction of Henry's barons culminated in the Second Barons War in 1263. It was Simon de Monfort who led the rebellion against Henry, and after the Battle of Lewes in 1264 both the king and his son Edward, later Edward I, were captured and it was de Montfort who ruled in his name. Eventually, de Montfort lost the support of many of Henry's disaffected barons, this along with Edward escaping his captors and raising an army was the beginning of the end for de Montfort. After the Battle of Evesham, Simon de Montfort met a grizzly end and Henry regained his throne.

Henry III was the first English king to be crowned as a child. His reign was a long one, he was king of England for fifty-six years, and I feel his time as our countries monarch was one of the most important and significant reigns in our history and as I mentioned earlier, much overlooked.

Henry III improved the educational system in England, he was a lover of art and architecture, and it was Henry who ordered the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey in the Gothic style we see today.

The kings last few years saw his power restored and it was a relatively peaceful one following the signing of the Dictum of Kenilworth. Henry was sensible enough to pass many of de Montfort's ideas and changes to government, and this act was brought into play by the end of October 1266.

Two years later Henry had Edward the Confessors body moved to its new shrine at Westminster Abbey, a clever move on Henry's part that suggests he considered or he hoped others would consider that trouble between him and his barons was over for good, although the death of his brother's son Henry of Almain, who was murdered by the vengeful Guy and Simon de Montfort, the sons of Simon de Montfort in 1271, was a blot on the new peace.

In 1270, Henry became ill, he wrote to Edward, who was on crusade asking him to return. For a time, the king regained his strength, but he continued to worry about the fragility of the peace he had worked hard to obtain, this must have been a contributing factor that led to his death on the 16th of November 1272. In 1290, Henry's body was exhumed, it was noted then that his body was in a very good condition, many thought that this was an indication of his saintly status leading to miracles being reported as occurring at his tomb.

Just as Richard III did in later years, Henry III suffered at the hands of antagonistic chroniclers, disregarding this, what did this man leave behind, what was his legacy?

Under Henry we saw the implementation of Magna Carta, and as mentioned earlier, learning flourished as many men followed in his wake in their pursuit of knowledge. We have marital alliances with the kingdoms of France and Scotland, and we have many magnificent buildings dotted around our fine country thanks to this 13th century monarch.

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Consecration of the Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster

Henry III: The Forgotten King

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