The Children's Story of Westminster AbbeyTroutbeck, G. E. (Georgina E.)
History
The Children's Story of Westminster Abbey
Troutbeck, G. E. (Georgina E.)
Westminster Abbey
Before passing on to the later descendants of Henry III, we must speak
of two very interesting tombs which recall some important things in
English history. These are, first, the tomb of William de Valence, in
St. Edmund’s Chapel; and secondly, the tomb of his son Aymer, which
stands in the Sacrarium, between the tombs of Edmund and Aveline of
Lancaster.
It will be remembered that Henry III’s mother, Isabella of Angoulême,
married again after King John’s death. She married the Count of La
Marche and Poitiers, who belonged to the Lusignan family,—a family which
was very well known in Europe, some of them being Kings of Cyprus and
Jerusalem. The children of Isabella and the Count de la Marche came over
to England, and the English people greatly disliked their insolence and
greediness, complaining that Henry III gave too many titles and too much
money to his French relations. William de Valence was the fourth son of
the Count de la Marche, and was the most disliked of all Henry’s
half-brothers. He was created Earl of Pembroke. He took an active part
in the Barons’ War, and was finally sent on the expedition into Gascony
with his nephew, Edmund Crouchback. Like Edmund, he died at Bayonne in
1296. His tomb is of French workmanship, and there are still some
remains of the famous Limoges enamel which decorated it.
Aymer de Valence, William’s son, succeeded his father as Earl of
Pembroke. He fought bravely in the Scottish wars, and was at the Battle
of Bannockburn in 1314. He was much blamed for his cruelty in having
Nigel Bruce hanged at the Castle of Kentire. Aymer died in France in
1324, very suddenly, and many people thought it was a punishment for
taking part in the condemnation and death of Thomas Earl of Lancaster,
son of Edmund Crouchback, who was revered as a saint. Aymer’s tomb is
celebrated for its beauty. It is very like Edmund Crouchback’s, with its
pinnacled canopy and niches for statues. Aymer is represented on the
canopy in full armour and riding his war-horse.
The three tombs of Edmund Crouchback, Aymer de Valence, and Aveline of
Lancaster are among the most beautiful in the Abbey, and are thought by
some people to be all three the work of one artist.
King Edward II, Edward of Carnarvon, as he was called from his
birthplace in Wales, is not buried in the Abbey, but at Gloucester, that
town being near Berkeley Castle, where he was murdered.
We are specially reminded of King Edward III in the Abbey, for not only
is he buried there, but the great sword and shield of state which were
carried before him during his wars with France are placed in the
Confessor’s Chapel, close to the Coronation Chair. This sword and shield
make us think of those famous Battles of Crécy and Poitiers, where
Edward III and the Black Prince fought.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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