p. 309
CHAPTER XII
THE TEMPLE
CHURCH
THE MONUMENTS OF THE CRUSADERS--The tomb and
effigy of Sir Geoffrey de Magnaville, earl of Essex, and constable of the
Tower--His life and death, and famous exploits--Of William Marshall, earl of
Pembroke, Protector of England--Of the Lord de Ross--Of William and Gilbert
Marshall, earls of Pembroke--Of William Plantagenet, fifth eon of Henry the
Third--The anxious desire manifested by king Henry the Third, queen Eleanor,
and various persons of rank, to be buried in the Temple Church.
"The knights are dust,
And their good swords are rust,
Their souls are with the saints, we trust."
THE mail-clad monumental effigies reposing side
by side on the pavement of "the Round" of the Temple Church, have been
supposed to be monuments of Knights Templars, but this is not the case. The
Templars were always buried in the habit of their order, and are represented
in it on their tombs. This habit was a long white mantle, as before mentioned,
with a red cross over the left breast; it had a short cape and a hood behind,
and fell down to the feet unconfined by any girdle. In a long mantle of this
description, with the cross of the order carved upon it, is represented the
Knight Templar Brother Jean de Dreux, in the church of St. Yvod de Braine in
France, with this inscription, in
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letters of gold, carved upon the
monument--F. JEAN LI TEMPLIER FUIS AU COMTE JEAN DE DREUX. *
Although not monuments of Knight Templars, yet
these interesting cross-legged effigies have strong claims to our attention
upon other grounds. They appear to have been placed in the Temple Church, to
the memory of a class of men termed "Associates of the Temple," who, though
not actually admitted to the holy vows and habit of the order, were yet
received into a species of spiritual connexion with the Templars, curiously
illustrative of the superstition and credulity of the times.
Many piously-inclined persons of rank and
fortune, bred up amid the pleasures and the luxuries of the world, were
anxiously desirous of participating in the spiritual advantages and blessings
believed to be enjoyed by the holy warriors of the Temple, in respect of the
good works done by the fraternity, but could not bring themselves to submit to
the severe discipline and gloomy life of the regularly-professed brethren. For
the purpose of turning the tendencies and peculiar feelings of such persons to
a good account, the Master and Chapter of the Temple assumed the power of
admitting them into a spiritual association and connexion with the order, so
that, without renouncing their pleasures and giving up their secular mode of
life, they might share in the merit of the good works performed by the
brethren. The mode in which this was frequently done is displayed to us by the
following public authentic document, extracted by Ducange from the Royal
Registry of Provence.
"Be it known to all persons present and to
come, that in the year of the incarnation 1209, in the month of December, I,
William D. G., count of Forcalquier, and son of the deceased Gerald, ° being
inspired with the love of God, of my own free will, and
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with hearty desire, dedicate my body and soul
to the Lord, to the most blessed Virgin Mary, and to the house of the chivalry
of the Temple, in manner following. If at any time I determine on taking the
vows of a religious order, I will choose the religion of the Temple, and none
other; but I will not embrace it except in sincerity, of my own free will, and
without constraint. Should I happen to end my days amid the pleasures of the
world, I will be buried in the cemetery of the house of the Temple. I promise,
through love of God, for the repose of my soul, and the souls of my parents,
and of all the dead faithful in Christ, to give to the aforesaid house of the
Temple and to the brethren, at my decease, my own horse, with two other
saddle-horses, all my equipage and armour complete, as well iron as wood, fit
for a knight, and a hundred marks of silver. Moreover, in acknowledgment of
this donation, I promise to give to the aforesaid house of the Temple and to
the brethren, as long as I lead a secular life, a hundred pennies a year at
the feast of the nativity of our Lord; and all the property of the aforesaid
house, wheresoever situate, I take under my safeguard and protection, and will
defend it in accordance with right and justice against all men.
"This donation I have made in the presence of
Brother Peter de Montaigu, Preceptor of Spain; Brother Peter Cadelli,
Preceptor of Provence; and many other brothers of the order.
And we, Brother Peter de Montaigu, Master, with
the advice and consent of the other brothers, receive you, the aforesaid Lord
William, count of Fourcalquier, as a benefactor and brother (in donatum et
confratrem) of our house, and grant you a bountiful participation in all
the good works that are done in the house of the Temple, both here and beyond
sea. Of this our grant are witnesses, of the brethren of the Temple, Brother
William Cadelli, Preceptor of Provence; Brother Bermond, Preceptor
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of Rue; the reverend Brother Chosoardi,
Preceptor of Barles; Brother Jordan de Mison, Preceptor of Embrun; Brother G.
de la Tour, Preceptor of the house of Limaise. Of laymen are witnesses, the
lady countess, the mother of the aforesaid count; Gerald, his brother, &c.
&c." *
William of Asheby in Lincolnshire was admitted
into this species of spiritual confraternity with the Templars, as appears
from the following grant to the order:
"William of Asheby, to all the barons and
vavasors of Lincolnshire, and to all his friends and neighbours, both French
and English, Salvation. Be it known to all present and to come, that since the
knights of the Temple have received me into confraternity with them, and have
taken me under their care and protection, I the said William have, with the
consent of my Brothers Ingram, Gerard, and Jordan, given and granted to God
and the blessed Mary, and to the aforesaid knights of the Temple, all the
residue of my waste and heath land, over and above what I have confirmed to
them by my previous grant . . . &c. &c."
By these curious arrangements with secular
persons, the Templars succeeded in attaching men of rank and influence to
their interests, and in obtaining bountiful alms and donations, both of land
and money. It is probable that the cross-legged monuments in the Temple Church
were erected to the memory of secular warriors who had been admitted amongst
the class of associated brethren of the Temple, and had bequeathed their
bodies to be buried in the Temple cemetery.
During the recent repairs it became necessary
to make an extensive excavation in the Round, and beneath these monumental
effigies were found two enormous stone coffins, together with five
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leaden coffins curiously and beautifully
ornamented with a device resembling the one observable on the old tesselated
pavement of the church; and an arched vault, which had been formed in the
inner circular foundation, supporting the clustered columns and the round
tower. The leaden coffins had been inclosed in small vaults, the walls of
which had perished. The skeletons within them were entire and undisturbed;
they were enveloped in coarse sackcloth, which crumbled to dust on being
touched. One of these skeletons measured six feet four inches in length, and
another six feet two inches! The large stone coffins were of immense thickness
and weight; they had long previously been broken open and turned into
charnel-houses. In the one nearest the south window were found three skulls,
and a variety of bones, amongst which were those of some young person. Upon
the lid, which was composed of Purbeck marble, was a large and
elegantly-shaped cross, beautifully sculptured, and in an excellent state of
preservation. The vault constructed in the solid foundations of the pillars of
the round tower, on the north side of the church, contained the remains of a
skeleton wrapped in sackcloth; the skull and the upper part of it were in a
good state of preservation, but the lower extremities had crumbled to dust.
Neither the number nor the position of the
coffins below corresponded with the figures above, and it is quite clear that
these last have been removed from their original position.
In Camden's Britannia, the first edition
of which was published in the 38th of Eliz., A.D. 1586, we are informed that
many noblemen lie buried in the Temple Church, whose effigies are to be seen
cross-legged, among whom were William the father, and William and Gilbert his
sons, earls of Pembroke and marshals of England. *
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[paragraph continues] Stow, in his Survey of
London, the first edition of which was published A.D. 1598, speaks of them as
follows:
"In the round walk (which is the west
part without the quire) there remain monuments of noblemen there buried, to
the number of eleven. Eight of them are images of armed knights;
five lying cross-legged, as men vowed to the Holy Land against the
infidels and unbelieving Jews, the other three straight-legged.
The rest are coped stones, all of gray marble." *
A manuscript history of the Temple in the Inner Temple library, written at the
commencement of the reign of Charles the First, tells us that "the
crossed-legged images or portraitures remain in carved stone in the middle
of the round walke, environed with barres of iron."
And Dugdale, in his Origines Juridiciales, published 1666, thus describes
them: "Within a spacious grate of iron in the midst of the round walk
under the steeple, do lye eight statues in military habits, each of
them having large and deep shields on their left armes, of which five
are cross-legged. There are also three other gravestones lying about five
inches above the level of the ground, on one of which is a large escocheon,
with a lion rampant graven thereon." Such is the
ancient account of these monuments; now, however, six instead of five
cross-legged statues are to be seen, making nine armed knights, whilst
only one coped gravestone remains. The effigies are no longer inclosed
"within a spacious grate of iron," but are divided into two groups environed
by iron railings, and are placed on either side of the entrance to the oblong
portion of the church.
Whatever change was made in their original
position appears
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to have been effected at the time that
the church was so shamefully disfigured by the Protestant lawyers, either in
the year 1682, when it was "thoroughly repaired," or in 1695, when "the
ornamental screen was set up in it;" inasmuch, as we are informed by a
newspaper, called the Flying Post, of the date of the 2nd of January, 1696,
that Roger Gillingham, Esq., treasurer of the Middle Temple, who died on the
29th of December, 1695, ęt. seventy, had the credit of facing the Temple
Church with New Portland stone, and of "marshalling the Knights Templars in
uniform order." *
Stow tells us that "the first of the crossed-legged was William Marshall, the
elder, earl of Pembroke," but the effigy of that nobleman now stands the
second; the additional figure appears to have been placed the first, and seems
to have been brought from the western doorway and laid by the side of the
others.
During the recent restoration of the church, it
was necessary to excavate the earth in every part of the Round, and just
beneath the pavement of the external circular aisle or portico environing the
tower, was found a broken sarcophagus of Purbeck marble, containing a skull
and some bones apparently of very great antiquity; the upper surface of the
sarcophagus was on a level with the ancient pavement; it had no mark or
inscription upon it, and seemed originally to have been decorated with a
monumental effigy.
From two ancient manuscript accounts of the
foundation of Walden Abbey, written by the monks of that great religious
house, we learn that Geoffrey de Magnaville, earl of Essex, the founder of it,
being slain by an arrow, in the year 1144, was taken by the Knights Templars
to the Old Temple, that he was afterwards removed to the cemetery of the New
Temple, and that his body was buried in the portico before the western door of
the
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church. *
The sarcophagus lately found in that position is of Purbeck marble; so also is
the first figure on the south side of the Round, whilst nearly all the others
are of common stone. The tablet whereon it rests had been grooved round the
edges and polished; three sides were perfect, but the fourth had decayed away
to the extent of six or seven inches. The sides of the marble sarcophagus had
also been carefully smoothed and polished. The same thing was not observable
amongst the other sarcophagi and figures. It must, moreover, be mentioned,
that the first figure on the south side had no coffin of any description under
it. We may, therefore, reasonably conclude, that this figure is the monumental
effigy of Geoffrey de Magnaville, earl of Essex. It represents an armed knight
with his legs crossed, in token that he had assumed the cross, and taken a vow
to fight in defence of the christian faith. His body is cased in chain mail,
over which is worn a loose flowing garment confined to the waist by a girdle,
his right arm is placed on his breast, and his left supports a long shield
charged with rays on a diamond ground. On his right side hangs a ponderous
sword of immense length, and his head, which rests on a stone cushion, is
covered with an elegantly-shaped helmet.
Geoffrey de Magnaville, earl of Essex, to whose
memory the above monument appears to have been erected, was one of the most
violent of those "barons bold" who desolated England so fearfully during the
reign of king Stephen. He was the son of that famous soldier, Geoffrey de
Magnaville, who fought so valiantly at
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the battle of Hastings, and was endowed
by the conqueror with one hundred and eighteen lordships in England. From his
father William de Magnaville, and his mother Magaret, daughter and heiress of
the great Eudo Dapifer, Sir Geoffrey inherited an immense estate in England
and in Normandy. On the accession of king Stephen to the throne, he was made
constable of the Tower, and created earl of Essex, and was sent by the king to
the Isle of Ely to put down a rebellion which had been excited there by
Baldwin de Rivers, and Nigel bishop of Ely.
In A.D. 1136, he founded the great abbey
of Walden in Essex, which was consecrated by the bishops of London, Ely, and
Norwich, in the presence of Sir Geoffrey, the lady Roisia his wife, and all
his principal tenants. For some time after the
commencment of the war between Stephen and the empress Matilda for the
succession to the throne, he remained faithful to the former, but after the
fatal result of the bloody battle of Lincoln, in which king Stephen was taken
prisoner, he, in common with most of the other barons, adhered to the party of
Matilda; and that princess, fully sensible of his great power and commanding
influence, left no means untried to attach him permanently to her interests.
She confirmed him in his post of constable of the Tower; granted him the
hereditary shrievalties of several counties, together with large estates and
possessions both in England and in Normandy, and invested him with numerous
and important privileges. On the flight of the empress,
however, and the discomfiture of her party, king Stephen was released from
prison, and an apparent reconciliation took place between him and his powerful
vassal the earl of Essex, but
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shortly afterward the king ventured upon the
bold step of seizing and imprisoning the earl and his father-in-law, Aubrey de
Vere, whilst they were unsuspectingly attending the court at Saint Alban's.
The earl of Essex was compelled to
surrender the Tower of London, and several of his strong castles, as the price
of his freedom; *
but he was no sooner at liberty, than he collected together his vassals and
adherents, and raised the standard of rebellion. He was joined by crowds of
freebooters and needy adventurers, and soon found himself at the head of a
powerful army. He laid waste the royal domains, pillaged the king's servants,
and subsisted his followers upon plunder. He took and sacked the town of
Cambridge, laid waste the surrounding country, and stormed several royal
castles. He was afterwards compelled to retreat for a brief period into the
fens before a superior force led against him by king Stephen in person.
The most frightful excesses are said to
have been committed by this potent earl. He sent spies, we are told, to beg
from door to door, and discover where rich men dwelt, that he might seize them
at night in their beds, throw them into dungeons, and compel the payment of a
heavy ransom for their liberty. He got by water to
Ramsey, and entering the abbey of St. Benedict at morning's dawn, surprised
the monks asleep in their beds after the fatigue of nocturnal offices; he
turned them out of their
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cells, filled the abbey with his
soldiers, and made a fort of the church; he took away all the gold and silver
vessels of the altar, the copes and vestments of the priests and singers
ornamented with precious stones, and all the decorations of the church, and
sold them for money to reward his soldiers. *
The monkish historians of the period speak with horror of these sacrilegious
excesses.
"He dared," says William, the monk of
Newburgh, who lived in the reign of king Stephen, "to make that celebrated and
holy place a robber's cave, and to turn the sanctuary of the Lord into an
abode of the devil. He infested all the neighbouring provinces with frequent
incursions, and at length, emboldened by constant success, he alarmed and
harassed king Stephen himself by his daring attacks. He thus, indeed, raged
madly, and it seemed as if the Lord slept and cared no longer for human
affairs, or rather his own, that is to say, ecclesiastical affairs, so that
the pious labourers in Christ's vineyard exclaimed, 'Arise, O God, maintain
thine own cause . . . . how long shall the adversary do this dishonour, how
long shall the enemy blaspheme thy name?' But God, willing to make his power
known, as the apostle saith, endured with much 'long-suffering the vessels of
wrath fitted to destruction,' and at last smote his enemies in their hinder
parts. It was discovered indeed, a short time before the destruction of this
impious man, as we have learned from the true relation of many witnesses, that
the walls of the church sweated pure blood,--a terrible manifestation, as it
afterwards appeared, of the enormity of the crime, and of the speedy judgement
of God upon the sinners."
p. 320
For this sacrilege and impiety Sir
Geoffrey was excommunicated, but, deriding the spiritual thunders, he went and
laid siege to the royal castle at Burwell. After a successful attack which
brought him to the foot of the rampart, he took off his helmet, it being
summer-time and the weather hot, that he might breathe more freely, when a
foot soldier belonging to the garrison shot an arrow from a loophole in the
castle wall, and gave him a slight wound on the head; "which slight wound,"
says our worthy monk of Newburgh, "although at first treated with derision,
after a few days destroyed him, so that that most ferocious man, never having
been absolved from the bond of the ecclesiastical curse, went to hell." *
Peter de Langtoft thus speaks of these evil
doings of the earl of Essex, in his curious poetic chronicle.
"The abbey of Rameseie bi nyght he robbed it
The tresore bare aweie with hand thei myght on hit.
Abbot, and prior, and monk, thei did outchace,
Of holy kirke a toure to theft thei mad it place.
Roberd the Marmion, the same wayes did he,
He robbed thorgh treson the kirk of Couentre.
Here now of their scheme, what chance befelle,
The story sais the same soth as the gospelle:
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Geffrey of Maundeuile to fele wrouh he wouh, *
The deuelle gald him his while with an arrowe him slouh.
The gode bishop of Chestre cursed this ilk Geffrey,
The lif out of his entre in cursing went away.
Arnulf his sonne was taken ale thefe, and brouht in bond,
Before the kyng forsaken, and exiled out of his lond."
The monks of Walden tell us, that as the
earl lay wounded on his sick couch, and felt the hand of death pressing heavy
upon him, he bitterly repented of his evil deeds, and sought, but in vain, for
ecclesiastical assistance. At last some Knights Templars came to him, and
finding him humble and contrite, praying earnestly to God, and making what
satisfaction he could for his past offences, they put on him the habit of
their religion marked with the red cross. After he had expired, they carried
the dead body with them to the Old Temple at London; but as the earl had died
excommunicated, they durst not give him christian burial in consecrated
ground, and they accordingly soldered him up in lead, and hung him on a
crooked tree in their orchard. Some years afterwards,
through the exertions and at the expense of William, whom the earl had made
prior of Walden Abbey, his absolution was obtained from pope Alexander the
Third, so that his body was permitted to be received amongst Christians, and
the divine offices to be celebrated for him. The prior accordingly endeavoured
to take down the corpse and carry it to Walden; but the Templars, being
informed of his design, buried
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it in their own cemetery at the New
Temple, in the portico before the western door of the
church.
Pope Alexander, from whom the absolution was
obtained, was elected to the pontifical chair in September, 1159, and died in
1181. It was this pontiff who, who by the bull omne datum optimum,
promulgated in the year 1162, conceded to the Templars the privilege of having
their own cemeteries free from the interference of the regular clergy. The
land whereon the convent of the New Temple was erected, was purchased soon
after the publication of the above bull, and a cemetery was doubtless
consecrated there for the brethren long before the completion of the church.
To this cemetery the body of the earl was removed after the absolution had
been obtained, and when the church was consecrated by the patriarch, (A.D.
1185,) it was finally buried in the portico before the west door.
The monks of Walden tell us that the
above earl of Essex was a religious man, endowed with many virtues.
He was married to the famous Roisia de Vere, of the family of the earls of
Oxford, who in her old age led an ascetic life, and constructed for herself an
extraordinary subterranean cell or oratory, which was curiously discovered
towards the close of the last century. He had issue by
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this illustrious lady four sons, Ernulph,
Geoffrey, William, and Robert. Ernulph was exiled as the accomplice of the
father in his evil deeds, and Geoffrey succeded to the title and the estates.
The second of the cross-legged figures on the
south side, in the Round of the Temple Church, is the monumental effigy of
WILLIAM MARSHALL, EARL OF
PEMBROKE,
[paragraph continues] Earl Marshall, and
Protector of England, during the minority of king Henry the Third, and one of
the greatest of the warriors and statesmen who shine in English history.
Matthew Paris describes his burial in the Temple Church in the year 1119, and
in Camden's time, (A.D. 1586,) the inscription upon his monument was legible.
"In altero horum tumulo," says Camden, "literis fugientibus legi, Comes
Pembrochię, et in latere, Miles eram Martis, Mars multos vicerat armis."
Although no longer, ("the first of the cross-legged,") as described by Stow,
A.D. 1598, yet tradition has always, since the days of Roger Gillingham, who
moved these figures, pointed it out as "the monument of the protector," and
the lion rampant, still plainly risible upon the shield, was the armorial
bearing of the Marshalls.
This interesting monumental effigy is carved in
a common kind of stone, called by the masons fire-stone. It represents an
armed warrior clothed from head to foot in chain mail; he is in the act of
sheathing a sword which hangs on his left side; his legs are crossed, and his
feet, which are armed with spurs, rest on a lion couchant. Over his
armour is worn a loose garment, confined to the waist by a girdle, and from
his left arm hangs suspended a
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shield, having a lion rampant engraved thereon.
The greater part of the sword has been broken away and lost, which has given
rise to the supposition that he is sheathing a dagger. The head is defended by
a round helmet, and rests on a stone pillow.
The family of the Marshalls derived their name
from the hereditary office of earl marshall, which they held under the crown.
The above William Marshall was the son
and heir of John Marshall, earl of Strigul, and was the faithful and constant
supporter of the royal house of Plantagenet. When the young prince Henry,
eldest son of king Henry the Second, was on his deathbed at the castle of
Martel near Turenne, he gave to him, as his best friend, his cross to carry to
Jerusalem. *
On the return of William Marshall from the holy city, he was present at the
coronation of Richard Cur de Lion, and bore on that occasion the royal
sceptre of gold surmounted by a cross. King Richard the same year gave him in
marriage Isabel de Clare, the only child and heiress of Richard de Clare, earl
of Pembroke, surnamed Strongbow, and granted him with this illustrious lady
the earldom of Pembroke. The year following (A.D. 1190)
he became one of the sureties for the performance by king Richard of his part
of the treaty entered into with the king of France for the accomplishment of
the crusade to the Holy Land, and on the departure of king Richard for the far
East he was appointed by that monarch one of the council for the government of
the kingdom during his absence.
From the year 1189 to 1205 he was sheriff of
Lincolnshire, and was after that sheriff of Sussex, and held that office
during
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the whole of king Richard's reign. He
attended Cur de Lion in his expedition to Normandy, and on the death of that
monarch by the hand of Bertram, the cross-bow-man, before the walls of Castle
Chaluz, he was sent over to England to keep the peace of the kingdom until the
arrival of king John. In conjunction with Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, he
caused the freemen of England, both of the cities and boroughs, and most of
the earls, barons, and free tenants, to swear fealty to John.
On the arrival of the latter in England
he was constituted sheriff of Gloucestershire and of Sussex, and was shortly
afterwards sent into Normandy at the head of a large body of forces. He
commanded in the famous battle fought A.D. 1202 before the fortress of
Mirabel, in which the unfortunate prince Arthur and his lovely sister Eleanor,
"the pearl of Brittany," were taken prisoners, together with the earl of
March, most of the nobility of Poictou and Anjou, and two hundred French
knights, who were ignominiously put into fetters, and sent away in carts to
Normandy. This battle was followed, as is well known, by the mysterious death
of prince Arthur, who is said to have been murdered by king John himself,
whilst the beautiful Eleanor, nicknamed La Bret, who, after the death
of her brother, was the next heiress to the crown of England, was confined in
close custody in Bristol Castle, where she remained a prisoner for life. At
the head of four thousand infantry and three thousand cavalry, the earl
Marshall attempted to relieve the fortress of Chateau Gaillard, which was
besieged by Philip king of France, but failed in consequence of the
non-arrival of seventy flat-bottomed vessels, whose progress up the river
Seine had been retarded by a strong contrary wind. For
his fidelity and services to the crown he was rewarded with numerous manors,
lands, and castles, both in England and in
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[paragraph continues] Normandy, with the whole
province of Leinster in Ireland, and he was made governor of the castles of
Caermerden, Cardigan, and Coher.
In the year 1204 he was sent ambassador to
Paris, and on his return he continued to be the constant and faithful
attendant of the English monarch. He was one of the witnesses to the surrender
by king John at Temple Ewell of his crown and kingdom to the pope, and when
the barons war broke out he was the constant mediator and negotiator between
the king and his rebellious subjects, enjoying the confidence and respect of
both parties. When the armed barons came to the Temple, where king John
resided, to demand the liberties and laws of king Edward, he became surety for
the performance of the king's promise to satisfy their demands. He was
afterwards deputed to inquire what these laws and liberties were, and after
having received at Stamford the written demands of the barons, he urged the
king to satisfy them. Failing in this, he returned to Stamford to explain the
king's denial, and the barons war then broke out. He afterwards accompanied
king John to the Tower, and when the barons entered London he was sent to
announce the submission of the king to their desires. Shortly afterwards he
attended king John to Runnymede, in company with Brother Americ, the Master of
the Temple, and at the earnest request of these two exalted personages, king
John was at last induced to sign MAGNA CHARTA.
On the death of that monarch, in the
midst of a civil war and a foreign invasion, he assembled the loyal bishops
and barons of the land at Gloucester, and by his eloquence, talents, and
address, secured the throne for king John's son, the young prince Henry.
p. 327
[paragraph continues] The greater part of England
was at that time in the possession of prince Louis, the dauphin of France, who
had landed with a French army at Sandwich, and was supported by the late
king's rebellious barons in a claim to the throne. Pembroke was chosen
guardian and protector of the young king and of the kingdom, and exerted
himself with great zeal and success in driving out the French, and in bringing
back the English to their antient allegiance. *
He offered pardon in the king's name to the disaffected barons for their past
offences. He confirmed, in the name of the youthful sovereign, MAGNA CHARTA
and the CHARTA FORESTĘ; and as the great seal had been lost by king John,
together with all his treasure, in the washes of Lincolnshire, the deeds of
confirmation were sealed with the seal of the earl marshall. He also extended
the benefit of Magna Charta to Ireland, and commanded all the sheriffs to read
it publicly at the county courts, and enforce its observance in every
particular. Having thus exerted himself to remove the just complaints of the
disaffected, he levied a considerable army, and having left the young king at
Bristol, he proceeded to lay siege to the castle of Mountsorel in
Leicestershire, which was in the possession of the French.
Prince Louis had, in the mean time, despatched
an army of twenty thousand men, officered by six hundred knights, from London
against the northern counties. These mercenaries
p. 328
stormed various strong castles, despoiled the
towns, villages, and religious houses, and laid waste the open country. The
protector concentrated all his forces at Newarke, and on Whit-monday, A.D.
1217, he marched at their head, accompanied by his eldest son and the young
king, to raise the siege of Lincoln Castle. On arriving at Stow he halted his
army, and leaving the youthful monarch and the royal family at that place
under the protection of a strong guard, he proceeded with the remainder of his
forces to Lincoln. On Saturday in Whitsun week (A.D. 1217) he gained a
complete victory over the disaffected English and their French allies, and
gave a deathblow to the hopes and prospects of the dauphin. Four earls, eleven
barons, and four hundred knights, were taken prisoners, besides common
soldiers innumerable. The earl of Perch, a Frenchman, was slain whilst
manfully defending himself in a churchyard, having previously had his horse
killed under him. The rebel force lost all their baggage, provisions,
treasure, and the spoil which they had accumulated from the plunder of the
northern provinces, among which were many valuable gold and silver vessels
torn from the churches and the monasteries.
As soon as the fate of the day was
decided, the protector rode back to the young king at Stow, and was the first
to communicate the happy intelligence of his victory. *
He then marched upon London, where prince Louis and his adherents had
fortified themselves, and leaving a corps of observation in the neighbourhood
of the metropolis, he proceeded to take possession of all the eastern
counties. Having received intelligence of the concentration of a French fleet
at Calais to make a descent upon the English coast, he armed the ships of the
Cinque Ports, and, intercepting the French vessels, he gained a brilliant
victory over a
p. 329
much superior naval force of the enemy. *
By his valour and military talents he speedily reduced the French prince to
the necessity of suing for peace. On the 11th of September a personal
interview took place between the latter and the protector at Staines near
London, and it was agreed that the prince and all the French forces should
immediately evacuate the country.
Having thus rescued England from the danger of
a foreign yoke, and having established tranquillity throughout the country,
and secured the young king Henry in the peaceable and undisputed possession of
the throne, he died (A.D. 1219) at Caversham, leaving behind him, says Matthew
Paris, such a reputation as few could compare with. His dead body was, in the
first instance, conveyed to the abbey at Reading, where it was received by the
monks in solemn procession. It was placed in the choir of the church, and high
mass was celebrated with vast pomp. On the following day it was brought to
Westminster Abbey, where high mass was again performed; and from thence it was
borne in state to the Temple Church, where it was solemnly interred on
Ascension-day, A.D. 1219. Matthew Paris tells us that the following epitaph
was composed to the memory of the above distinguished nobleman:--
"Sum quem Saturnum sibi sensit Hibernia,
solem
Anglia, Mercurium Normannia, Gallia Martem."
For he was, says he, always the tamer of the
mischievous Irish, the honour and glory of the English, the negotiator of
Normandy,
p. 330
in which he transacted many affairs, and a
warlike and invincible soldier in France.
The inscription upon his tomb was, in Camden's
time, almost illegible, as before mentioned, and the only verse that could be
read was,
"Miles eram Martis Mars multos vicerat armis."
All the historians of the period speak in the
highest terms of the earl of Pembroke as a warrior and a statesman, and concur
in giving him a noble character. Shakspeare, consequently, in his play of King
John, represents him as the eloquent intercessor in behalf of the unfortunate
prince Arthur.
Surrounded by the nobles, he thus addresses the
king on his throne--
"PEMBROKE. I (as one that am the tongue of
these,
To sound the purposes of all their hearts,)
Both for myself and them, (but, chief of all,
Your safety, for the which myself and them
Bend their best studies,) heartily request
The enfranchisement of Arthur; whose restraint
Doth move the murmuring lips of discontent
To break into this dangerous argument,--
If, what in rest you have, in right you hold,
Why then your fears, (which, as they say, attend
The steps of wrong,) should move you to mew up
Your tender kinsman, and to choke his days
With barbarous ignorance, and deny his youth
The rich advantage of good exercise?
That the time's enemies may not have this
To grace occasions, let it be our suit
That you have bid us ask his liberty;
Which for our goods we do no further ask,
Than whereupon our weal, on you depending.
Counts it your weal, he have his liberty."
p. 331
Afterwards, when he is shown the dead body of
the unhappy prince, he exclaims--
"O death, made proud with pure and princely
beauty!
The earth had not a hole to hide this deed.
. . . . . .
All murders past do stand excused in this;
And this, so sole, and so unmatchable,
Shall give a holiness, a purity,
To the yet unbegotten sin of times,
And prove a deadly bloodshed but a jest,
Exampled by this heinous spectacle."
This illustrious nobleman was a great
benefactor to the Templars. He granted them the advowsons of the churches of
Spenes, Castelan-Embyan, together with eighty acres of land in Eschirmanhir. *
By the side of the earl of Pembroke, towards
the northern windows of the Round of the Temple Church, reposes a youthful
warrior, clothed in armour of chain mail; he has a long buckler on his left
arm, and his hands are pressed together in supplication upon his breast. This
is the monumental effigy of ROBERT LORD DE ROS, and is the most elegant and
interesting in appearance of all the cross-legged figures in the Temple
Church. The head is uncovered, and the countenance, which is youthful, has a
remarkably pleasing expression, and is graced with long and flowing locks of
curling hair. On the left side of the figure is a ponderous sword, and the
armour of the legs has a ridge or seam up the front, which is continued over
the knee, and forms a kind of garter below the knee. The feet are trampling on
a lion, and the legs are crossed in token that the warrior was one of those
military enthusiasts who so strangely mingled religion and romance,
p. 332
[paragraph continues] "whose exploits form the
connecting link between fact and fiction, between history and the fairy tale."
It has generally been thought that this interesting figure is intended to
represent a genuine Knight Templar clothed in the habit of his order, and the
loose garment or surcoat thrown over the ring-armour, and confined to the
waist by a girdle, has been described as " a flowing mantle with a kind of
cowl." This supposed cowl is nothing more than a fold of the chain mail,
which has been covered with a thick coating of paint. The mantle is the common
surcoat worn by the secular warriors of the day, and is not the habit of the
Temple. Moreover, the long curling hair manifests that the warrior whom it
represents could not have been a Templar, as the brethren of the Temple were
required to cut their hair close, and they wore long beards.
In an antient genealogical account of the
Ros family, *
written at the commencement of the reign of Henry the Eighth, A.D. 1513, two
centuries after the abolition of the order of the Temple, it is stated that
Robert Lord de Ros became a Templar, and was buried at London. The writer must
have been mistakened, as that nobleman remained in possession of his estates
up to the day of his death, and his eldest son, after his decease, had livery
of his lands, and paid his fine to the king in the usual way, which would not
have been the case if the Lord de Ros had entered into the order of the
Temple. He was doubtless an associate or honorary member of the fraternity,
and the circumstance of his being buried in the Temple Church probably gave
rise to the mistake. The shield of his monumental effigy is charged with three
water bougets, the armorial ensigns of his family, similar to those observable
in the north aisle of Westminster Abbey.
Robert Lord de Ros, in consequence of the death
of his father
p. 333
in the prime of life, succeeded to his
estates at the early age of thirteen, and in the second year of the reign of
Richard Cur de Lion, (A.. D. 1190,) he paid a fine of one thousand marks,
(£666, 13s. 4d.,) to the king for livery of his lands. In the
eighth year of the same king, he was charged with the custody of Hugh de
Chaumont, an illustrious French prisoner of war, and was commanded to keep
him safe as his own life. He, however, devolved the duty upon his
servant, William de Spiney, who, being bribed, suffered the Frenchman to
escape from the Castle of Bonville, in consequence whereof the Lord de Ros was
compelled by king Richard to pay eight hundred pounds, the ransom of the
prisoner, and William de Spiney was executed.
On the accession of king John to the throne,
the Lord de Ros was in high favour at court, and received by grant from that
monarch the barony of his ancestor, Walter lEspec. He was sent into Scotland
with letters of safe conduct to the king of Scots, to enable that monarch to
proceed to England to do homage, and during his stay in Scotland he fell in
love with Isabella, the beautiful daughter of the Scottish king, and demanded
and obtained her hand in marriage. He attended her royal father on his journey
into England to do homage to king John, and was present at the interview
between the two monarchs on the bill near Lincoln, when the king of Scotland
swore fealty on the cross of Hubert archbishop of Canterbury, in the presence
of the nobility of both kingdoms, and a vast concourse of spectators. From
his sovereign the Lord de Ros obtained various privileges and immunities, and
in the year 1213 he was made sheriff of Cumberland. He was at first faithful
to king John, but, in common with the best and bravest of the nobles of the
land, he afterwards shook off his allegiance, raised the standard
p. 334
of rebellion, and was amongst the
foremost of those bold patriots who obtained MAGNA CHARTA. He was chosen one
of the twenty-five conservators of the public liberties, and engaged to compel
John to observe the great charter. *
Upon the death of that monarch he was induced to adhere to the infant prince
Henry, through the influence and persuasions of the earl of Pembroke, the
Protector, and he received from the youthful monarch
various marks of the royal favour. He died in the eleventh year of the reign
of the young king Henry the Third, (A.D. 1227,) and was buried in the Temple
Church.
The above Lord de Ros was a great
benefactor to the Templars. He granted them the manor of Ribstane, and the
advowson of the church; the ville of Walesford, and all his windmills at that
place; the ville of Hulsyngore, with the wood and windmill there; also all his
land at Cattail, and various tenements in Conyngstreate, York.
Weever has evidently misapplied the inscription
seen on the antient monument of Brother Constance Hover, the visitor-general
of the order of the Temple, to the above nobleman.
As regards the remaining monumental effigies in
the Temple Church, it appears utterly impossible at this distance of time to
identify them, as there are no armorial bearings on their shields, or aught
that can give us a clue to their history. There can be no doubt but that two
of the figures are intended to represent William Marshall, junior, and Gilbert
Marshall, both earls of Pembroke, and sons of the Protector. Matthew Paris
tells us that these noblemen were buried by the side of their father in the
Temple Church, and their identification would consequently
p. 335
have been easy but for the unfortunate removal
of the figures from their original situations by the immortal Roger
Gillingham.
Next to the Lord de Ros reposes a stern
warrior, with both his arms crossed on his breast. He has a plain wreath
around his head, and his shield, which has no armorial bearings, is slung on
his left arm. By the side of this figure is a coaped stone, which formed the
lid of an antient sarcophagus. The ridges upon it represent a cross, the top
of which terminates in a trefoil, whilst the foot rests on the head of a lamb.
From the middle of the shaft of the cross issue two fleurets or leaves. As the
lamb was the emblem of the order of the Temple, it is probable that the
sarcophagus to which this coaped stone belonged, contained the dead body
either of one of the Masters, or of one of the visitors-general of the
Templars.
Of the figures in the northernmost group of
monumental effigies in the Temple Church, only two are cross-legged. The first
figure on the south side of the row, which is straight-legged, holds a drawn
sword in its right hand pointed towards the ground; the feet are supported by
a leopard, and the cushion under the head is adorned with sculptured foliage
and flowers. The third figure has the sword suspended on the right side, and
the hands are joined in a devotional attitude upon the breast. The fourth has
a spirited appearance. It represents a cross-legged warrior in the act of
drawing a sword, whilst he is at the same time trampling a dragon under his
feet, It is emblematical of the religious soldier conquering the enemies of
the christian church. The next and last monumental effigy, which likewise has
its legs crossed, is similar in dress and appearance to the others; the right
arm reposes on the breast, and the left hand rests on the sword. These two
last figures, which correspond in character, costume, and appearance, may
perhaps be the monumental
p. 336
effigies of William and Gilbert Marshall, the
two sons of the Protector.
WILLIAM MARSHALL, commonly called THE
YOUNGER, was one of the bold and patriotic barons who compelled king John to
sign MAGNA CHARTA. He was appointed one of the twenty-five conservators of the
public liberties, and was one of the chief leaders and promoters of the
barons war, being a party to the covenant for holding the city and Tower of
London. On the death of king John, his father the
Protector brought him over to the cause of the young king Henry, the rightful
heir to the throne, whom he served with zeal and fidelity. He was a gallant
soldier, and greatly distinguished himself in a campaign in Wales. He
overthrew Prince Llewellyn in battle with the loss of eight thousand men, and
laid waste the dominions of that prince with fire and sword.
For these services he had scutage of all his tenants in twenty counties in
England! He was made governor of the castles of Cardigan and Carmarthen,
and received various marks of royal favour. In the fourteenth year of the
reign of king Henry the Third, he was made captain-general of the king's
forces in Brittany, and, whilst absent in that country, a war broke out in
Ireland, whereupon he was sent to that kingdom with a considerable army to
restore tranquillity. He married Eleanor, the daughter of king John by the
beautiful Isabella of Angoulźme, and he was consequently the brother-in-law of
the young king Henry the Third. He died without issue, A.D. 1231, (15 Hen.
III.,) and on the 14th of April he was buried in the Temple Church at London,
by the side of his father the Protector. He was greatly beloved by king Henry
the Third,
p. 337
who attended his funeral, and Matthew
Paris tells us, that when the king saw the dead body covered with the mournful
pall, he heaved a deep sigh, and was greatly affected.
The manors, castles, estates, and
possessions of this powerful nobleman in England, Wales, Ireland, and
Normandy, were immense. He gave extensive forest lands to the monks of
Tinterne in Wales; he founded the monastery of Friars preachers in Dublin, and
to the Templars he gave the church of Westone with all its appurtenances, and
granted and confirmed to them the borough of Baudac, the estate of Langenache,
with various lands, windmills, and villeins of the soil.
GILBERT MARSHALL, EARL OF PEMBROKE, brother to
the above, and third son of the Protector, succeeded to the earldom and the
vast estates of his ancestors on the melancholy murder in Ireland of his
gallant brother Richard, "the flower of the chivalry of that time," (A.D.
1234.) The year after his accession to the title he married Margaret, the
daughter of the king of Scotland, who is described by Matthew Paris as "a most
elegant girl," and received with her a splendid dowry. In the year 1236 he
assumed the cross, and joined the king's brother, the earl of Cornwall, in the
promotion of a Crusade to the Holy Land.
Matthew Paris gives a long account of an absurd
quarrel which broke out between this earl of Pembroke and king Henry
p. 338
the Third, when the latter was eating his
Christmas dinner at Winchester, in the year 1239.
At a great meeting of Crusaders at
Northampton, he took a solemn oath upon the high altar of the church of All
Saints to proceed without delay to Palestine to fight against the enemies of
the cross; but his intentions were frustrated by the hand of death. At a
tournament held at Ware, A.D. 1241, he was thrown from his horse, and died a
few hours afterwards at the monastery at Hertford. His entrails were buried in
the church of the Virgin at that place, but his body was brought up to London,
accompanied by all his family, and was interred in the Temple Church by the
side of his father and eldest brother.
The above Gilbert Marshall granted to the
Templars the church of Weston, the borough of Baldok, lands and houses at
Roydon, and the wood of Langnoke.
All the five sons of the elder Marshall, the
Protector, died without issue in the reign of Henry the Third, and the family
became extinct. They followed one another to the grave in regular succession,
so that each attained for a brief period to the dignity of the earldom, and to
the hereditary office of EARL MARSHALL.
Matthew Paris accounts for the melancholy
extinction of this noble and illustrious family in the following manner.
He tells us that the elder Marshall, the
Protector, during a campaign in Ireland, seized the lands of the reverend
bishop of
p. 339
[paragraph continues] Fernes, and kept possession
of them in spite of a sentence of excommunication which was pronounced against
him. After the Protector had gone the way of all flesh, and had been buried in
the Temple Church, the reverend bishop came to London, and mentioned the
circumstance to the king, telling him that the earl of Pembroke had certainly
died excommunicated. The king was much troubled and alarmed at this
intelligence, and besought the bishop to go to the earl's tomb and absolve him
from the bond of excommunication, promising the bishop that he would endeavour
to procure him ample satisfaction. So anxious, indeed, was king Henry for the
safety of the soul of his quondam guardian, that he accompanied the bishop in
person to the Temple Church; and Matthew Paris declares that the bishop,
standing by the tomb in the presence of the king, and in the hearing of many
bystanders, pronounced these words: O William, who lyest here interred, and
held fast by the chain of excommunication, if those lands which thou hast
unjustly taken away from my church be rendered back to me by the king, or by
your heir, or by any of your family, and if due satisfaction be made for the
loss and injury I have sustained, I grant you absolution; but if not, I
confirm my previous sentence, so that, enveloped in your sins, you stand for
evermore condemned to hell!"
The restitution was never made, and the
indignant bishop pronounced this further curse, in the words of the Psalmist:
"His name shall be rooted out in one generation, and his sons shall be
deprived of the blessing, INCREASE AND MULTIPLY; some of them shall die a
miserable death; their inheritance shall be scattered; and this thou, O king,
shall behold in thy lifetime, yea, in the days of thy flourishing youth."
Matthew Paris dwells with great solemnity on the remarkable fulfilment of this
dreadful prophecy, and declares that when the oblong portion of the Temple
Church was consecrated, the body of the Protector
p. 340
was found entire, sewed up in a bull's
hide, but in a state of putridity, and disgusting in appearance. *
It will be observed that the dates of the
burial of the above nobleman, as mentioned by Matthew Paris and other
authorities, are as follow:--William Marshall the elder, A.D. 1219; Lord de
Ros, A.D. 1227; William Marshall the younger, A.D. 1231; all before the
consecration of the oblong portion of the church. Gilbert Marshall, on the
other hand, was buried A.D. 1241, the year after that ceremony had taken
place. Those, therefore, who suppose that the monumental effigies of the
Marshall originally stood in the eastern part of the building, are mistaken.
Amongst the many distinguished persons
interred in the Temple Church is WILLIAM PLANTAGENET, the fifth son of Henry
the Third, who died A.D. 1256, under age. The greatest
desire was manifested by all classes of persons to be buried in the cemetery
of the Templars.
King Henry the Third provided for his own
interment in the Temple by a formal instrument couched in the following pious
and reverential terms:--
"To all faithful Christians to whom these
presents shall come, Henry by the grace of God king of England, lord of
Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, salvation. Be it
known to all of you, that we, being of sound mind and free judgment, and
desiring with pious forethought to extend our regards beyond the passing
events of this life, and to
p. 341
determine the place of our sepulture,
have, on account of the love we bear to the order and to the brethren of the
chivalry of the Temple, given and granted, after this life's journey has drawn
to a close, and we have gone the way of all flesh, our body to God and the
blessed Virgin Mary, and to the house of the chivalry of the Temple at London,
to be there buried, expecting and hoping that through our Lord and Saviour it
will greatly contribute to the salvation of our soul . . . . . . We desire
that our body, when we have departed this life, may be carried to the
aforesaid house of the chivalry of the Temple, and be there decently buried as
above mentioned. . . . . As witness the venerable father R., bishop of
Hereford, &c. Given by the hand of the venerable father Edmund, bishop of
Chichester, our chancellor, at Gloucester, the 27th of July, in the nineteenth
year of our reign." *
Queen Eleanor also provided in a similar
manner for her interment in the Temple Church, the formal instrument being
expressed to be made with the consent and approbation of her lord, Henry the
illustrious king of England, who had lent a willing ear to her prayers upon
the subject. These sepulchral arrangements, however,
were afterwards altered, and the king by his will directed his body to be
buried as follows:--"I will that my body be buried in the church of the
blessed Edward at Westminster, there being no impediment, having formerly
appointed my body to be buried in the New Temple."
Footnotes
310 Monumens de la monarchie Franēoise, par
Montfaucon, tom. ii. p. ]84, plate p. 185. Hist. de la Maison de Dreux, p.
86, 276.
312 Ducange. Gloss. tom. iii. p. 16, 17;
ed. 1678, verb. Oblati.
312 Peck. MS. vol. iv. p. 67.
313 Plurimique nobiles apud eos humati
fuerunt, quorum imagines visuntur in hoc Templo, tibiis in crucem transversis
(sic enim sepulti fuerunt quotquot illo sęculo nomina bello sacro dedissent,
vel qui ut tunc temporis sunt locuti crucem suscepissent.)
p. 314
E quibus fuerunt Guilielmus Pater, Guilielmus et Gilbertus ejus filii, omnes
marescalli Anglię, comitesque Pembrochię.--Camden's Britannia, p. 375.
314 Stow's Survey.
314 MS. Inner Temple Library, No. 17. fol. 402.
314 Origines Juridiciales, p. 173.
315 Nicholls Leicestershire, vol. iii.
p. 960.
316 "In porticu ante ostium ecclesię
occidentale." The word porticus, which means "a walking place environed with
pillars," exactly corresponds with the external circular walk surrounding the
round tower of the church.
316 Some surprise has been expressed that the
effigies of women should be found in this curious position. It must be
recollected, that women frequently fought in the field during the Crusades,
and were highly applauded for so doing.
317 Hoveden apud rer. Anglican script.
post Bedam, p. 488. Dugdale's Baronage, vol. i. p. 201. Lel. Coll. vol.
i. 864.
317 Monast. Angl., vol. i. p. 444 to
464.
317 Dugd. Bar., vol. i. p. 202.
Selden, tit. hon. p. 647.
318 Triveti annales apud Hall, p. 12,
13, ad ann. 1143. Guill. Neubr. lib. i. cap. ii. p.44. ad ann. 1143.
Hoveden, p. 488, Hist. Minor. Matt. Par. in bib. reg. apud S. Jacobum.
318 Henry Huntingdon, lib. viii. Rer.
Anglicar. script. post Bedam, p. 393. Chron. Gervasii, apud script. R.
col. 1360. Radulph de Diceto, ib. col. 508. Vir autem late magnanimus,
velut equus validus et infręnus, maneria, villas, cętereque, proprietatem
regiam contingentes, invasit, igni combussit, &c. &c. MS. in Bibl. Arund.,
A.D. 1647, a. 43. cap. ix., now in the Library of the Royal Society.
Annales Dunstaple apud Hearne, tom, i. p. 25.
319 Vasa autem altaris aurea et argentes Deo
sacrata, capas etiam cantorum lapidibus preciosis ac opere mirifico contextas,
casulas cum albis et cęteris ecclesiastici decoris ornamentis rapuit, &c. MS.
ut sup. Gest. reg. Steph. p. 693, 964.
319 De vitā sceleratā et condigno
interitu Gaufridi de Magnavilla.--Guill. Neubr. lib. i.
p. 320
cap. xi. p. 44 to 46. Henry of Huntingdon, who lived in king Stephen's reign,
[and kept up a correspondence with the abbot of Ramsay, thus speaks of this
wonderful phenomenon, of which he declares himself an eye-witness. Dum autem
ecclesia illa pro castello teneretur, ebullivit sanguis a parietibus ecclesię
et claustri adjacentis, indignationem divinam manifestans; sceleratorum
exterminationem denuntians, quod quidem multi viderant, et ego ipse quidem
meis oculis inspexi! Script. post Bedam. lib. viii. p. 393, ed.
1601, Francfort. Hoveden, who wrote shortly after, has copied this account.
Annales, ib. p. 488.
320 Guill. Neubr, ut supr. p. 45, 46.
Chron. Gervasii, apud X. script. col. 1360. Annal. S. Augustin.
Trivet ad ann. 1144, p. 14. Chron. Brampton, col. 1033.
Hoveden, ut supr. p. 488.
321 Grew mad with much anger.
321 Peter Langtoft's Chronicle, vol. i. 123, by
Robert of Brunne, translated from a MS. in the Inner Temple Library, Oxon.
1725.
321 In pomrio suo veteris, scilicet Templi
apud London, canali inclusum plumbeo, in arbore torvā suspenderant. Antient
MS. de fundatione cęnobii Sancti Jacobi de Waldena, fol. 43, a. cap. ix.
no. 51, in the Library of the Royal Society.
322 Cumque Prior ille, corpus defunctum
deponere, et secum Waldenam transferre satageret, Templarii caute premeditati,
statim illud tollentes, in cimiterio Novi Templi ignobili satis tradiderunt
sepulturę.--Ib.
322 A.D. MCLXIIII, sexto kal. Octobris, obiit
Galfridus de Mandeuil, comes Essexię, fundator primus hujus monasterii de
Walden, cujus corpus jacet Londoniis humatum, apud Temple-bar in porticu
ante ostium ecclesię occidentale. MS. in the library of the Royal Society,
marked No. 29, entitled Liber de fundatione Sancti Jacobi Apostoli de
Waldenā. Cotton, MS. Vesp. E. vi. fol. 25.
322 Hoveden speaks of him as a man of the
highest probity, but irreligious. Erat autem summę probitatis, sed summę in
Deum obstinationis, magnę in mundanis diligentię, magnę in Deum negligentię.
Hoveden ut supra.
322 It was a recess, hewn out of the
chalk, of a bell shape and exactly circular, thirty feet high and seventy feet
in diameter. The sides of this curious retreat were adorned
p. 323
with imagery in basso relievo of crucifixes, saints, martyrs, and historical
pieces, which the pious and eccentric lady is supposed to have cut for her
entertainment.--See the extraordinary account of the discovery, in 1742, of
the Lady Roisia's Cave at Royston, published by Dr. Stukeley.
Cambridge, 1795.
323 Camden's Britannia, ed. 1600, p.
375.
324 Tradidit Willielmo Marescallo, familiari
suo, crucem seam Jerosolymam deferendam. Hoveden ad ann. 1183, apud rer.
Anglic. script. post Bedam, p. 620.
324 Chron. Joan Brompton, apud X.
script. col. 1158. Hoveden, p. 655, 666.
324 Selden's Tit. of Honour, p. 677.
324 Hoveden, p. 659, 660. Radulf de
Diceto, apud X. script. p. 659.
325 Matt. Par., p. 196. Hoveden,
p. 792. Dugdale Baronage, tom. i. p. 601.
325 Trivet, p. 144. Gul. Britt,
lib. vii. Ann. Waverley, p. 168.
326 Matt. Par., p. 237.
326 Matt. Par., p. 253-256, ad ann.
1215.
326 See his eloquent address to the bishops and
barons in behalf of the young king.--Hemingford, lib. iii. cap. 1. p.
562, apud Gale XV, script.
327 Matt. Par., p. 289, ad ann. 1216.
Acta Rymeri, tom. i. p. 216.
327 Hemingford, p. 565, 568. "These
liberties, distinctly reduced to writing, we send to you our faithful
subjects, sealed with the seal of our faithful William Marshall, earl of
Pembroke, the guardian of us and our kingdom, because we have not as yet any
seal." Acta Rymeri, tom. i. part 1. p. 146, ed. 1816. Thomson,
on Magna Charta, p. 117, 130. All the charters and letters patent were sealed
with the seal of the earl marshall, "Rectoris nostri et regni, eo quod
nondum sigillum habuimus. Acta Rymeri, tom. i. p. 224, ed. 1704.
328 Matt. Par., p. 292-296.
329 Matthew Paris bears witness to the great
superiority of the English sailors over the French even in those days.--Ibid.,
p. 298. Trivet, p. 167-169.
329 Acta Rymeri, tom. i. p. 219, 221,
223.
329 Dugd. Baronage, tom. i. p. 602, A.D.
1219. Willielmus senior, mareschallus regis et rector regni, diem clausit
extremum, et Londini apud Novum Templum honorifice tumulatur, scilicet in
ecclesiā, in Ascensionis die videlicet xvii. calendas Aprilis.--Matt. Par.
p. 304. Ann. Dunstaple, ad ann. 1319. Ann. Waverley.
330 Miles strenuissimus et per universum orbem
nominatissimus.--Chron. T. Wikes apud Gale, script. XV. p. 39.
331 Monast. Angl., p. 833, 834, 837,
843.
332 MS. Bib. Cotton. Vitellius, F. 4.
Monast. Angl., tom. i. p. 728, ed. 1655.
333 Matt. Par., p. 182. ad ann. 1196.
333 Hoveden apud rer. Anglicar. script.
post Bedam, p. 811.
334 Matt. Par. p. 254, 262. Lel.
col. vol. i. p. 362.
334 Acta Rymeri, tom. i. p. 224, ad ann.
1217.
334 Dugd. Baronage, vol. i. p. 545, 546.
334 Monast. Angl., vol. vi. part ii. p.
838, 842.
336 Matt. Par. p. 254, 256. Lel.
col. vol. i. p. 841.
336 Matt. Par. p. 317, ad ann. 1223.
336 Matt. Par. p. 366. Ann. Dunst.
p. 99. 134, 150.
337 Eodem tempore, A.D. 1237, mense Aprili,
Willielmus, Marescallus comes Pembrochię, in militiā vir strenuus, in dolorem
multorum, diem clausit extremum, et Londoniis apud Novum Templum sepultus est,
juxta patrem suum, XVII calend. Maii. Rex autem qui eum indissolubiliter
dilexit, cum hęc audivit, et cum vidisset, corpus defuncti pallā coopertum, ex
alto trahens suspiria, ait, Heu, heu, mihi! nonne adhuc penitus vindicatus est
sanguis beati Thomę Martyris.--Matt. Par. p. 368.
337 Dugd. Monast Angl. ut sup. p. 820.
337 Margaretam puellam elegantissimam
matrimonio sibi copulaverat.--Matt. Par., p. 432, 404.
338 Matt. Par. p. 483.
338 Ib. p. 431, 483, 516, 524.
338 In crastino autem delatum est corpus
Londinum, fratre ipsius pręvio, cum tota sua familia comitante, juxta patrem
suum et fratrem tumulandum.--Ib. p. 565. ad ann. 1241.
338 Dugd. Monast. Angl., p. 833.
340 Paucis ante evolutis annis, post mortem
omnium suorum filiorum, videlicet, quando dedicata est ecclesia Novi Templi,
inventum est corpus sępedicti comitis quod erat insutum corio taurino,
integrum, putridum tamen et prout videri potuit detestabile."--Matt. Par.
p. 688. Surely this must be an interpolation by some wag. The last of the
Pembroke; died A.D. 1245, whilst, according to Matthew Paris's own showing,
the eastern part of the church was consecrated A.D. 1240, p. 526.
340 Mill's Catalogues, p. 145. Speed,
p. 551. Sandford's Genealogies, p. 92, 93, 2nd edition.
341 Ex Registr. Hosp. S. Joh. Jerus. in Angliā,
in Bib. Cotton. fol. 25 a.
341 Ib.
341 Nicolas, Testamenta Vetusta, p. 6.