The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-04
FUNERALS OF ROYALTY
Records Of the 0bsequies of Eng
lish Kings and Queens.
The Earliest Found i'm Geofrey's
Chronicle - All Traces of Certain
Monarcbs' Tombs Lost - BurinIs
Took Place at Night Until 1887
Pomp of Past Mourning Pageants.

of British sovereigns makes interestin
the records of other royal funerals. TIL
earliest record of royal burial in thi
country is contained in Godfrey" Q
'SMonmouths' Chronicle" 1t tells ho'
"BeIyn, sometime king OF this land. build
ed a haven with a gate over the sam
within the city of Troynevant, or London
which place is now called Belingsgate, il
the toppe whereof was sett a vessel o
brasse, in the which were put the ashe
of his bodye''
OF the English Kings and Queens sine,
the Norman conquest the burial places ar,
all well known But in the case of some
of them-for example, Henry 1. Stephe1
and Richard III, buried respectively in
Reading, Faversham and Leicester Abbeys
all traces of their tombs, together with
the lordly fanes which enshrined them,
have long since disappeared. OF the fun
eral rites with which their bodies were
consigned TO the grave little or no record
survives, though they were doubtless in
tered with all the pomp and circumstance
of the Church Of Rome.
One of the earliest royal funerals of
which we have any detailed account is
that of Henry II, who was buried at Fon-
teorand, near Anjou, in 1lS9. Hollinshed
tells us that those that were about him
appIyd thyr market so busily in aittching
and filching ewaye those things that lay
readie for them that the Kings corpse lay
naked a long time tyll chylde covered
the neither parties of his bodie with a
cloke''
The body of Henry VI who was deposed
in 1851 and died ten years later. was con-
yeyed with "bylles and gleaves" to ST.
to Chestsey, whence it was taken to
Windsor.
Edward " lay in state at Westminster
where masses and dirg5s were sung over
him the whole psalter said by the chapel
g. e.. by the kings choristers). and the
body watched by night by mobiles and
others of his servants. The body was
conveyed to Windsor with great funeral
honor and heaviness Of his people" and
there buried with all the pride of hersidry
and pomp Of the Church. April II. 14S3.
1t would be bold man who would try
to tell again the story of Edward V, the
unhappy lad who at the age of thirteen
was murdered in the Tower of London.
His body was placed under a great heap
of stones" at the foot of the Tower. and
Richard III his uncle and murderer,
reigned in his stead. Two years later, in
14S5. Richard after the battle of Bos-
an animal" behind pursuivsnt of rms,
called Blanche Senglier,' his head and
arms lying on either side of the horse,
and all covered with blood and mire. He
was buried in the Abbey at Leicester, but
as already said, no trace of his tomb
remains.
Burial of Henry VIII.
Henry VIII, died January 2s, 1547. and
WIS buried al Windsor, February 16, with
great sole.nnity. after lying in state at
Whitehall.
"on the 14th, about 10 in the morning,
the Kings body set forward toward Wind
SCR in a stately chariot, his efigies lying
upon the coffin with the true imperial
crown on the head. and under it a night
cap OF black satin, set full of precious
stones the sceptre in the right hand,
the bali in the left drawn by eight
great horses. trapped with black and
adorned with escutcheons On each
OF which rode a child Of honor carrying a
bannerol OF the Kings arms.
Thus with an exceeding great train of
four miles in length the body was con-
Quoted to Syon, where 1t was received at
the church door by the Bishops Of Lon
don. Bristol. and Gloucester. who perform
ed ''Dirige' that night
THE next morning, about six of the
n.
cts. the whole company 1.-THE Marquis OF
Dorset being chief mournerJ proceeded for
Windsor. and brought the corpse to the
Castle College gate. about enc Of the
clock. The Bishops of Winchester, Lon
don, and Ely, in their pontihcals. with
the Sub-Dean Of the Kings Chapel and
the singing men and the Dean OF Windsor,
with the Csnors and the whole chcir. re-
ceived the corpse, and after censing and
aVrr =
the church. and brought into a
hearse. made in the midst of the choir.
under which was provided a goodIy vault
to bury the corpse in.
"Wednesday being the 10th of February.
about four of the clock began the Cum
munion of the Trinity, performed by the
Sub-Dean OF Windsor and the Su5-Dean
of the Kings Chapel, where an Offering of
geld was made by the chief mourners;
after which sixteen strong Yeo-
men Of the Guard took the coffin, and with
five strong linen towels, which they had
for their fees. let it into the vault (near
unto the body of Queen Jane Seymour, his
third wife,; then the Lord Chamberlain.
the Lord Great Master, Mr.. Treasurer,
Mr.. Comptroller. and the Sergeant Por-
ter. breaking their white slaves upon
their heads in three parts. as did likewise
all the gentlemen ushers, Threw them into
the grave, when Garter assisted ty the
Bishops Of Canterbury and Durham de-
clared the State and the name Of the
most godly Prince their master, King Ed
ward VI. Thus the funeral ending the
trumpet sounded in the rood loft, and the
company departed
Edward VI who died in 1853. was buried
in Henry Wis Chapel in Westminster
Abbey with the rites of the Reformed
Church. This was the last public func-
tion performed by Archbishop Cranmer,
who in the following reign was burned at
the stake. Machyn, the funeral furnisher
and robe maker OF the time, recoros the
young Kings funeral thus:
''The viii day OF August was bered The
nobull Kyng Edward the vi; and at VS.
burying was the grettest none made for
hym of Us deth as ever was hard or sene.
all sorts OF pepull Weeping and la
mentyng.''
Funeral of Queen Mary
The same quaint chrnnicIer records the |
funeral of Queen Mary, the last English |
sovereign to be buried with the soIemni- ,
ties Of the Roman Church. She died No |
vember II, 1858. Machyn's account of her
funeral runs thus:
The xiii day of December the corps OF /
the late Queen was brought from St.
James IN charitt with the pyctur Of i'm
ages Ike her person adorned with crimson
'eIFett and her crown on her he'd, her
septur IN her hand, and mony goodIy
rynges on her fingers. Then cam a erett
compene of moFncrs e and then
her household servants two and two to-
Rether IN black gowns the harolds rytiyng
TO and fro and then came the
corse, with her pyctur lying over her
"a 10 h4 iaf |