Rivers of Great Britain. The Thames, from Source to Sea.: Descriptive, Historical, PictorialVarious
History
Rivers of Great Britain. The Thames, from Source to Sea.: Descriptive, Historical, Pictorial
Various
Thames River (England) -- Description and travel; Thames Valley (England) -- Description and travel
The St. George's Chapel is an ideal chapel for such a palace-castle
as Windsor. It is at once sumptuous and romantic, picturesque and
full of colour. It is a chapel for kings and knights; especially for
kings who were also knights and warriors. It is also the royal chapel
for the kingly Order of the Garter. The Choir is fitted up with the
stalls of the members of the Order, and above each stall hang banners,
helmets, crests, and swords. The chapel was built by Edward IV., and
was commenced in 1472, the architects being Bishop Beauchamp and Sir
Reginald Bray. All such old ecclesiastical edifices are sacred to the
dead as well as precious to the living. Beneath the feet of those who
worship there to-day rests the dust of kings; of those who, in by-past
times, worshipped also here while they were in the land of the living.
The tomb of the founder, Edward IV., is here; and the chapel covers the
graves of Henry VI., Henry VIII., Jane Seymour, and of Charles I. In
1813 the grave of Charles was opened, and the few who looked upon the
remains of the beheaded king could easily recognise the face and form
of Charles Stuart. Every visitor to Windsor is, however, sure to see
St. George's Chapel; and true it is, of this building, "that things
seen are mightier than things heard." We leave our readers to the
delight of seeing this poetically regal chapel.
John, King of France, taken at Crécy, David II. of Scotland, captured
at Neville's Cross, were prisoners of state at Windsor, and were
probably immured in the King John's tower; but the romance of
imprisonment in the castle centres round two other figures, to which it
seems worth while to devote some little space.
Two romances of chivalry and captivity are intimately connected with
Windsor. One is that of a king, the other that of an earl. The king
is James I. of Scotland, the earl is Surrey. After the murder, by
starvation, of his eldest son, the Duke of Rothsay, Robert III. was
minded to save and to educate his second son, James, by sending the
youth to France. The Scottish ship was captured by English vessels
off Flamborough Head, and the young prince was taken prisoner. This
occurred on the 13th of March, 1405. King Henry said, "his father was
sending him to learn French. By my troth! he might as well have sent
him to me. I am myself an excellent French scholar, and will see to his
instruction."
[Illustration: ST. GEORGE'S CHAPEL, WINDSOR.]
And so began a gentle and generous captivity, which was certainly of
advantage to the poet king. The prince was provided with masters, and
had every luxury and indulgence. James was trained in all arts and
arms, became a scholar and a cavalier, and benefited by contact with
culture and civilisation.
While at Windsor, love came to James in a shape of singular romance and
charm, and he lived actually the adventure which Chaucer had devised
for his Palamon and Arcite. The fair Emilie was doing observance to
May, and so--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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