But we must not take leave of the old monastic buildings and life without saying a few words about the Sanctuary, which played an important part in the Abbey history, and even in the history of England. It has already been told how Queen Elizabeth Woodville “took Sanctuary,” as they said in those days, and how Edward V was born while she was at Westminster. The Abbey, like many other great religious houses, had the right of Sanctuary. That is to say, people who took refuge there could not be carried off to prison, or injured in any way. It was considered an awful thing to kill any one who was in Sanctuary. In the rough and cruel times of the Middle Ages it was perhaps a good thing for people to have such a refuge, and no doubt many helpless and innocent persons were then saved from violence and injustice. But, as might be expected, many bad people used to fly into Sanctuary, and as time went on this became a great abuse. Queen Elizabeth took away some of the privileges of Sanctuary, and in James I’s reign it was done away with altogether. The actual Sanctuary Tower, which was a square Norman fortress, stood very much where Westminster Hospital now stands. Close to this tower there was a belfry, where some famous bells used to hang. Near the Sanctuary Tower was the old Gatehouse, or prison, of the monastery. It was in this Gatehouse that Sir Walter Raleigh spent the last night of his life, and other well-known people were imprisoned there, such as John Hampden, and Richard Lovelace, the Cavalier poet. CHAPTER XII SOME OF THE ABBOTS “_It is no small thing to dwell in monasteries, or in a congregation, and to live there without complaint, and to persevere faithfully even unto death._” (_The Imitation of Christ._) The name of Abbot Edwyn, who was the first Abbot to rule over the Confessor’s newly founded monastery, leads us on to think of some few others among the Abbots who played a part in English history. We may begin by mentioning the name of Abbot Gilbert Crispin, a Norman, who was Abbot during the time of the Norman Kings, from 1085 to 1117. He had been a monk at the famous monastery of Bec in Normandy, and was a pupil of St. Anselm and of Lanfranc. Crispin was a learned man, and ruled the Abbey during a stormy time in English history. William Rufus seems to have had a great regard for him, and for the love he bore him he was kinder to the Westminster monks than to many others. It was while Crispin was Abbot that the Confessor’s tomb was first opened. In his time, too, Henry I’s marriage with the Saxon princess, Matilda, took place, and on the same day, 11th November 1100, Matilda’s Coronation by Archbishop Anselm.