A conspiracy against Henry IV. came to a head at Windsor, when the
Duke of Exeter seized and searched the castle. Henry, however, had had
timely warning, and had fled. "He rode to London and made him strong
to ride on his enemies," and crushed the rebellion. The Castle during
this reign held two unfortunate young prisoners, the Earl of March,
whose only fault was his descent from an elder son of Edward III.,
Henry himself being descended from a younger branch; the other was one
of the most unfortunate of the hapless house of Stuart, James Stuart.
The king, his father, had sent him to France to complete his education.
Henry, however, fearful of an alliance between France and Scotland,
seized the Prince's vessel, and sent James to Windsor, declaring
jocularly that England possessed good French teachers. Henry kept his
word, and the young prince received a good education. He seems in every
respect to have been treated as suited his rank, and was allowed plenty
of freedom, sharing in all the festivities of the court. From his tower
window he beheld and fell in love with the fair Joanna Beaufort, the
king's niece, whom he eventually married. His return to Scotland marked
the beginning of a sad and gloomy reign, and he was assassinated by his
unruly nobles in 1437, to whom he had made himself odious by trying to
curb their power.
In 1416, the Emperor Sigismund was present at the feast of St. George,
bringing as an offering the heart of St. George, which remained in the
chapel till the Reformation.
Whilst Henry V. was besieging Meaux he heard of the birth of his
son. "But when he heard reported the places of his nativity, were it
that he, warned by some prophesie, or had some fore-knowledge, or
else judged himself of his son's fortune, he said unto the Lord Fitz
Hugh, his trusty chamberlain, these words, 'My lord, I, Henry, born
at Monmouth, shall small time reign and much get, and Henry, born at
Windsor, shall long reign and all lose; but as God will, so be it.'"
Although this unfortunate Henry of Windsor spent all his early years at
his birthplace, the Castle fell into a very neglected condition. On his
marriage with Margaret of Anjou, some necessary repairs were made for
her reception, and during his illness, in 1453, Henry lived here.
Edward IV. was the first monarch interred at Windsor, where his little
daughter Mary and his son George of Clarence, supposed to have been
drowned in a cask of wine, had been buried before him. In 1484, the
remains of Henry VI. were removed from Chertsey Abbey, and interred
beside those of his rival. In 1789 some workmen came across the lead
coffin of Edward IV. On opening it the entire skeleton was found,
measuring 6 feet 3-1/2 inches in length. A lock of brown hair taken
from the coffin is in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. A bone of the leg
was publicly sold by auction with the museum of a private collector a
few years ago. It was understood at the time that the dishonoured relic
was taken back to Windsor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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