Richard II. on his accession came in great pomp hither, and never
again alive. But his body was shown in the cathedral by his victorious
successor, Henry IV., who had a few days before buried his father,
John of Gaunt, there, who died at Ely House, Holborn, February 3rd,
1399, and whose tomb was one of the finest in the cathedral, as
sumptuous as those of his father, Edward III., at Westminster, and his
son, Henry IV., at Canterbury.
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the youngest son of Henry IV., was
appointed guardian of his infant nephew, Henry VI., on his father's
death; but partly though the intrigues and squabbles of the royal
family, partly by his own mismanagement, he lost the confidence of the
nation. His wife, Jacqueline, had been persuaded by a sorcerer that
her husband would be king, and she joined him in acts of witchcraft
in order to bring this about. She was condemned (October, 1441) to do
penance by walking three successive days in a white sheet and carrying
a lighted taper, starting each day from St. Paul's and visiting
certain churches. Her husband, says the chronicler Grafton, "took all
patiently and said little." Still retaining some power in the Council,
he lived until 1447, when he died and was buried at St. Albans. He was
an unprincipled man, but a generous patron of letters and a persecutor
of Lollards; and hence, in after years, he got the name of "the good
Duke Humphrey," which was hardly a greater delusion than that which
afterwards identified the tomb of Sir John Beauchamp in St. Paul's as
Duke Humphrey's. But the strange error was accepted, and the aisle in
which the said tomb lay was commonly known as "Duke Humphrey's Walk,"
and it was a favourite resort of insolvent debtors and beggars, who
loitered about it dinnerless and in hope of alms. And thus arose
the phrase of "Dining with Duke Humphrey," _i.e._, going without; a
phrase, it will be seen, founded on a strange blunder. The real grave
is on the south side of the shrine of St. Alban's.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account