The country bore with the king for nearly twenty years. Then the Parliament assembled at Westminster asserted itself. The king, all were agreed, had shown himself unfit to rule; he had violated his coronation oath, he had oppressed his people, and had lost Scotland. It was only right, therefore, that he should be deposed6, and his son, a boy of great promise, be chosen in his stead. Out of that great assembly only four voices were raised for the king, and a deputation was sent to him telling him what his Parliament had resolved to do. To his honour, the young Prince Edward refused to accept the crown unless with his father's consent, but Edward II., "clad in a plain black gown," submitted without a word to the decree of the assembly, and listened unmoved as they told him how they "rendered and gave back to him, once king of England, their homage7 and fealty8, counting him henceforth as a private person, without any manner of royal dignity."
So Edward III. was crowned on the 29th of January 1327, and the shield with the sword of state, Scottish trophies9 of his grandfather's which were carried before him, are the identical shield and sword which exist to-day.
Only fourteen years old when he was crowned king, young Edward had already impressed all those who came in contact with him. Men saw in him a worthy10 successor of Edward I., whose great qualities stood out in shining contrast after the second Edward's disastrous11 reign. He was strong, he was brave; he, like his grandfather, passionately12 loved justice and passionately loved England. Nothing could have been more unfortunate than his boyhood or his early education. For neither his father nor his mother could he feel the smallest respect, and the influences about the Court were of the worst. A weaker character would have been swamped by circumstances, and would have sunk to the level of its surroundings; Edward fought his way through, and came out triumphantly13 on the other side. When he was sixteen he married Philippa of Hainault, and a year later a son was born to them. The delight of the nation was intense; Edward was deeply touched at the signs of affection everywhere shown to him by his subjects, and he resolved all the more earnestly, with the growing strength of his young manhood, to be a king indeed, to rule his people justly, to lead them wisely, to live up to the great things expected of him. England in those days was a young nation, just beginning to feel its power, rejoicing in its strength and its freedom, ready for action, for adventure, for enterprise, and Edward represented in the highest degree all these enthusiasms and aspirations14. He was able to lead; he grasped the spirit of his people; king and nation were at one in their aims, so that into the years which followed were crowded great deeds and great victories, victories made all the more honourable15 by the chivalrous16 conduct of the conquerors17.
I should like to linger over the stories of Edward and his men-at-arms, the knights18, the hobblers, and the archers19, who won such fame for England on foreign battle-fields, but that would be to wander far away from Westminster, so we must leave Crecy, Calais, and Poitiers, and come back to the Abbey and the Monastery20, this little world of itself, where life went on in its own way, regardless of wars in Scotland and France.
As usual, there were several disputes in progress, and one between the Abbot and the king's treasurer21 ended in a lawsuit22 which lasted both beyond the Abbot's and treasurer's time. The quarrel was as to who had the right to visit the Hospital of St. James, a hospital founded and endowed by some citizens of London for fourteen leprous maids, on the ground where now St. James's Palace stands. No fewer than six chaplains were attached to this hospital, to perform divine service for the afflicted23 fourteen lepers, and as the building stood within the parish, the Abbot declared that these chaplains were under his authority. To this the king's treasurer would not agree, and hence the dispute. Apparently24 at last the verdict was given in favour of the Abbot, but the original Abbot and treasurer being dead, and the new Abbot being indolent, while the new treasurer was grasping, it ended in an actual victory for the latter.
Another quarrel centred round the little chapel25 of St. Stephen's, which had been founded by Edward I. within the Palace at Westminster, and so liberally endowed by Edward III. that it possessed26 its own dean and canons.
In this chapel masses were said daily for past and present kings, while altogether nearly forty priests were attached to the foundation, all of whom lived in the Palace. Quite naturally the Abbot of Westminster was not well pleased at this rich foundation within a stone's throw of his Abbey, and insisted that it should be placed under his jurisdiction27, a claim which was warmly supported by the Pope. But in this "the people of St. Stephen's," who had the Court on their side, did not acquiesce28; and at last the king, who was not greatly interested in these matters, proposed a compromise, which was accepted. The Abbot was to have the right of appointing the dean, and was to be paid a yearly sum of money as a tribute to his authority; while, on the other hand, the dean and canons were to order their own services and control their own affairs.
This chapel of St. Stephen's was very beautiful, more beautiful, we are told, than St. George's Chapel at Windsor. But no traces remain of it or of its cloisters30 and its chantry except the crypt. In the reign of Henry VIII. Westminster Palace was seriously destroyed by fire, and the chapel was then altered, turned from its original use, and given over to the House of Commons as their Parliament House, another link, you see, between the Palace, the Church, and the People.
In the year 1349 the Black Death, that most terrible plague, swept over England, killing31 nearly one half of the people; fifty thousand of its victims were buried in London, and the Abbey was not spared, for the Abbot and twenty-six of the monks32 caught it and died. They were buried in one grave in the south cloister29, covered by a large stone, which you will easily find, although it has a wrong name, that of Gervase de Blois, carved upon it; and that vast stone, says Dean Stanley, "is the footmark left in the Abbey by the greatest plague which ever swept over Europe."
Abbot Bircheston, who thus died, had not been very satisfactory. "It is well of this place that he continued no longer," says the chronicler severely34; "for he ran the house into a great deal of debt, being himself extravagant35 and his relations being wasteful36 people." His successor was that remarkable37 man Simon Langham, the only Abbot of Westminster who ever became Archbishop of Canterbury, and he did such great things for the monastery that he won for himself the name of the second founder39. Not only did he pay off the debts of his predecessors41, but he managed with great prudence42 all the estates and revenues under his care, saved large sums of money by his frugality43, and, perhaps most difficult task of all, brought the house once more into excellent discipline. This is what Plete, himself a monk33 at Westminster, has to say of Abbot Langham: "He rectified44 many abuses which had crept in, truly a service as it is most useful to any place, so commonly is it the most difficult also; and accordingly it cost him a great deal of study, pains, and resolution to effect it, as having many ill tempers to deal with, some being indolent, others odd and particular, some extravagant, and others perverse45."
While he was Archbishop, and afterwards when made a cardinal46 and living abroad, he never forgot the Abbey where he had been educated and where he had laid the foundation of his great career, but left to it a sum equal to ￡200,000 to be spent on building, and desired that he should be buried there. So you will find his tomb of marble and alabaster47 in the little chapel of St. Benedict at the entrance to the south ambulatory, the first monument of any importance set up to the memory of a bishop38 or abbot.
He was followed by the Prior, Nicholas Litlington, "a stirring person, very useful to the monastery," whose mind was set on improving the buildings. This was an easy task enough, thanks to the legacy48 of Langham and the good favour in which he stood with king and queen. So at once he set to work, the monastery being the object of his care. He built the south and west cloisters, setting his initials on the roof; the Abbot's Palace, the College Hall, the Jerusalem Chamber49, houses for the bailiff, the cellarer, the infirmaries, and the sacrist, a malt-house and a water-mill; and besides this he presented the Abbey with much valuable plate and many rich vestments.
"But," remarks an old writer severely, "as he was enabled to do all this with the money left by his predecessor40 Langham, he should have put some memorial of the Cardinal upon the buildings. Instead, he has his own arms and the initial letters of his name on the keystone of the cloister arches."
The Abbot's house built by Litlington is the present Deanery; but the College Hall, once the Abbot's refectory, now the dining-hall of the Westminster scholars, and the Jerusalem Chamber, the room into which the Abbot's guests used to pass when they had dined, are open to the public at certain hours, and you must not forget them when you are walking through the cloisters. The Jerusalem Chamber has been restored since the days of Litlington, though the fine roof and the actual building stand now as then. The glass in one of the windows, however, is very old, as is the wonderful stone reredos, which once must have been part of the high altar. In the dining-hall you must notice the gallery at the one end in which the minstrels used to perform, and the fine pointed50 windows; for as the Norman architecture had given way to the Early English, and the Early English had developed into the beautiful Decorated style, so now another change was taking place, of which Litlington's building is an early example, and the Perpendicular51 style, which was entirely52 English, was creeping in.
While Litlington was abbot, another royal funeral took place in the Confessor's Chapel, for in 1369, "that moost gentyll, moost lyberall, and moost courtesse fayre lady, Phillipp of Heynault, died."
This is how a writer living at the time quaintly53 describes the sad event: "There fell in England a heavy case and a comon, righte pyteouse for the King, his children and all his realme. For the good Queen of England fell sicke, the which sickenesse contynewed on her so longe, that there was no remedye but deathe. And the good lady whenne she this knewe and perceyved, desyred to speke with the Kynge, her husbande. And she sayde, 'Sir, we have in peace, ioye, and great prosperyte, used all our time toguyer. Sir, nowe I pray you at our departyng, that ye will grant me my desyres.... I requyre you, that it may please you to take none other sepulture whensoever it shall please God to call you out of this transytorie lyfe, but besyde me in Westmynster.'
"The Kynge all weepynge sayde, 'Madam, I graunt all your desyre.' Then the good ladye made on her the sign of the Cross, and anone after she yielded up her spiryte, the which I beleeve surely the Holy Angels receyved with great ioy up to Heven, for, in all her lyfe, she dyd neyther in thought nor dede, thynge whereby to lose her soule, so farr as any creature coulde knowe."
Her tomb was ordered to be made of "neat black marble, with her image thereon in polished alabaster, and round the pedestal, sweetly carved niches54, with images therein." But what makes this monument specially55 interesting is that the figure of Queen Philippa is really a likeness56 and not a beautiful fancy picture, so that as you look at that kind, motherly face you can quite easily picture to yourself the queen who pleaded for the lives of the citizens of Calais, and of whom it was said at her death, "She had done many good deeds in her lyfe; having succoured so many knyghts and comforted ladyes and damosels."
Eight years later, King Edward was laid beside her, all the glory of his life having passed from him with her.
"In his time, England had seemed to shine in her meridian57; learning was encouraged; gallantry, and that the most honourable, was practised; the subjects were beloved; the king was honoured at home and feared abroad." But after Philippa's death strength of mind and body alike failed him; his favourite son, the Black Prince, had died; his other sons neglected him, his courtiers robbed him, and when the end came, there was only a poor priest by his bedside, who pressed the crucifix to his lips and caught his last dying word—Jesus.
His funeral, however, was magnificent; he was carried through London with his face uncovered, followed by his children and by the nobles and prelates of England, and afterwards a fine tomb was set up to him with figures of his twelve children kneeling around.
But it was only round the tomb and in the sculptor's fancy that those strong, high-spirited sons of Edward and Philippa knelt in one accord, for from them arose the quarrels and strife58 which later on brought to England the greatest calamity59 which can come to any nation—a civil war in its midst.
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1
reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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piers
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| n.水上平台( pier的名词复数 )；（常设有娱乐场所的）突堤；柱子；墙墩 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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deposed
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| v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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fealty
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| n.忠贞，忠节 | |
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trophies
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| n.（为竞赛获胜者颁发的）奖品( trophy的名词复数 )；奖杯；（尤指狩猎或战争中获得的）纪念品；（用于比赛或赛跑名称）奖 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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archers
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| n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 ) | |
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monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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treasurer
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| n.司库，财务主管 | |
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lawsuit
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| n.诉讼，控诉 | |
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afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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jurisdiction
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| n.司法权，审判权，管辖权，控制权 | |
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acquiesce
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| vi.默许，顺从，同意 | |
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cloister
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| n.修道院；v.隐退，使与世隔绝 | |
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cloisters
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| n.（学院、修道院、教堂等建筑的）走廊( cloister的名词复数 )；回廊；修道院的生活；隐居v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的第三人称单数 ) | |
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31
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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wasteful
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| adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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predecessor
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| n.前辈，前任 | |
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predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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42
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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frugality
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| n.节约，节俭 | |
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44
rectified
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| [医]矫正的，调整的 | |
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perverse
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| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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46
cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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47
alabaster
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| adj.雪白的；n.雪花石膏；条纹大理石 | |
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48
legacy
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| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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49
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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50
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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51
perpendicular
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| adj.垂直的，直立的；n.垂直线，垂直的位置 | |
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52
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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53
quaintly
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| adv.古怪离奇地 | |
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54
niches
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| 壁龛( niche的名词复数 )； 合适的位置[工作等]； （产品的）商机； 生态位（一个生物所占据的生境的最小单位） | |
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55
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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56
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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meridian
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| adj.子午线的；全盛期的 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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