The Cathedral Church of Canterbury [2nd ed.]: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Archiepiscopal SeeWithers, Hartley
History
The Cathedral Church of Canterbury [2nd ed.]: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Archiepiscopal See
Withers, Hartley
Canterbury Cathedral
On the north side of the Trinity Chapel, immediately opposite the tomb of
the Black Prince, is that of King Henry IV., who died in 1413, and his
second consort, Joan of Navarre, who followed him in 1437. This king had
made liberal offerings towards the rebuilding of the nave of the
cathedral, and it has been conjectured that one of the figures on the
organ-screen represents him: his will ordered that he should be laid to
rest in the church at Canterbury, and here accordingly he was buried on
the Trinity Sunday after his death. The tomb, with its rich canopy, is a
beautiful piece of work, and the figures of the king and queen are
probably faithful representations. A curious story was circulated by the
Yorkists, to the effect that Henry was never buried here, but that his
body was thrown into the water between Gravesend and Barking, during the
voyage of the funeral _cortege_ to Faversham, and that only an empty
coffin was laid in the Trinity Chapel. That this point might be cleared
up, the tomb was opened in 1832 in the presence of the Dean, and there the
king was found in perfect preservation, and bearing a close resemblance to
the effigy on the monument--"the nose elevated, the beard thick and
matted, and of a deep russet colour, and the jaws perfect, with all the
teeth in them, except one foretooth."
In the wall of the north aisle, just opposite the king's tomb, is a small
chapel, built according to the directions contained in his will "that ther
be a chauntre perpetuall with twey prestis for to sing and prey for my
soul." The roof shows the first piece of fan-vaulting admitted into the
cathedral. On the eastern wall an account is scratched of the cost of a
reredos which once stood here, but has been entirely destroyed: it tells
us that the cost of "ye middil image was xix^s 11^d." This chapel was
doubtless used at one time as a storehouse of sacred relics. Two recesses
in the west wall have lately been chosen to receive certain archiepiscopal
vestments which were discovered in a tomb on the south side of Trinity
Chapel, which was long believed to be that of Archbishop Theobald.
To the east of Henry IV.'s monument is the tomb of Dean Wotton, adorned
with his kneeling figure. He was the first Dean of Canterbury after the
reorganization by Henry VIII. Opposite to him is an unsightly brick
erection which was once intended as a temporary covering for the remains
of Odo Coligny, Cardinal of Chatillon and brother of Admiral Coligny, who
was one of the victims of the massacre of St. Bartholomew. The Cardinal
fled from France in 1568, on account of his leanings towards the tenets of
the Huguenots, and was welcomed by Queen Elizabeth. It is believed that
he died from the effects of a poisoned apple given to him by a servant. It
seems curious that the French Huguenots who settled in Canterbury never
provided him with a more fitting monument.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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