Windsor Castle [77]
to impress carpenters and masons. Chaucer did not retain his appointment more than twenty months, and was succeeded by John Gedney.
It was at Windsor that Henry the Fourth, scarcely assured of the crown he had seized, received intelligence of a conspiracy against his life from the traitorous Aumerle, who purchased his own safety at the expense of his confederates. The timely warning enabled the king to baffle the design. It was in Windsor also that the children of Mortimer, Earl of March, the rightful successor to the throne, were detained as hostages for their father. Liberated by the Countess-dowager of Gloucester, who contrived to open their prison door with false keys, the youthful captives escaped to the marshes of Wales, where, however, they were overtaken by the emissaries of Henry, and brought back to their former place of confinement
A few years later another illustrious prisoner was brought to Windsor-- namely, Prince James, the son of King Robert the Third, and afterwards James the First of Scotland. This prince remained a captive for upwards of eighteen years; not being released till 1424, in the second of Henry the Sixth, by the Duke of Bedford, then regent. James's captivity, and his love for Jane of Beaufort, daughter of the Duke of Somerset, and granddaughter to John of Gaunt, to whom he was united, have breathed a charm over the Round Tower, where he was confined; and his memory, like that of the chivalrous and poetical Surrey, whom he resembled in character and accomplishments, will be ever associated with it.
In the "King's Quair," the royal poet has left an exquisite picture of a garden nook, contrived within the dry moat of the dungeon.
" Now was there made, fast by the tower's wall, A garden faire, and in the corners set An arbour green with wandis long and small Railed about, and so with leaves beset Was all the place, and hawthorn hedges knet, That lyf was none, walking there forbye, That might within scarce any wight espy. So thick the branches and the leave's green Beshaded all the alleys that there were. And midst of every harbour might be seen The sharpe, green, sweet juniper, Growing so fair with branches here and there, That as it seemed to a lyf without The boughs did spread the arbour all about."
And he thus describes the first appearance of the lovely Jane, and the effect produced upon him by her charms:
"And therewith cast I down mine eye again, Where as I saw walking under the tower, Full secretly, new comyn her to plain, The fairest and the freshest younge flower That e'er I saw, methought, before that hour; For which sudden abate, anon did start The blood of all my body to my heart."
Henry the Fifth occasionally kept his court at Windsor, and in 1416 entertained with great magnificence the Emperor Sigismund, who brought with him an invaluable relic--the heart of Saint George--which he bestowed upon the chapter. The emperor was at the same time invested with the Order.
In 1421 the unfortunate Henry the Sixth was born within the castle, and in 1484 he was interred within it.
III. Comprising the Fourth Epoch in the History of the Castle--And showing how Saint George's Chapel was rebuilt by King Edward the Fourth.
Finding the foundation and walls of Saint George's Chapel much dilapidated and decayed, Edward the Fourth resolved to pull down the pile, and build a larger and statelier structure in its place. With this view, he constituted Richard Beauchamp, Bishop of Salisbury, surveyor of the works, from whose designs arose the present beautiful edifice. To enable the bishop to accomplish the work, power was given him to remove all obstructions, and to enlarge the space by the demolition of the three buildings then commonly called Clure's Tower, Berner's Tower, and the Almoner's Tower.
The zeal and assiduity with which Beauchamp prosecuted his task is adverted to in the patent of his appointment to the office of chancellor of the Garter, the preamble whereof recites, "that out of mere love towards the Order, he had given himself the leisure
It was at Windsor that Henry the Fourth, scarcely assured of the crown he had seized, received intelligence of a conspiracy against his life from the traitorous Aumerle, who purchased his own safety at the expense of his confederates. The timely warning enabled the king to baffle the design. It was in Windsor also that the children of Mortimer, Earl of March, the rightful successor to the throne, were detained as hostages for their father. Liberated by the Countess-dowager of Gloucester, who contrived to open their prison door with false keys, the youthful captives escaped to the marshes of Wales, where, however, they were overtaken by the emissaries of Henry, and brought back to their former place of confinement
A few years later another illustrious prisoner was brought to Windsor-- namely, Prince James, the son of King Robert the Third, and afterwards James the First of Scotland. This prince remained a captive for upwards of eighteen years; not being released till 1424, in the second of Henry the Sixth, by the Duke of Bedford, then regent. James's captivity, and his love for Jane of Beaufort, daughter of the Duke of Somerset, and granddaughter to John of Gaunt, to whom he was united, have breathed a charm over the Round Tower, where he was confined; and his memory, like that of the chivalrous and poetical Surrey, whom he resembled in character and accomplishments, will be ever associated with it.
In the "King's Quair," the royal poet has left an exquisite picture of a garden nook, contrived within the dry moat of the dungeon.
" Now was there made, fast by the tower's wall, A garden faire, and in the corners set An arbour green with wandis long and small Railed about, and so with leaves beset Was all the place, and hawthorn hedges knet, That lyf was none, walking there forbye, That might within scarce any wight espy. So thick the branches and the leave's green Beshaded all the alleys that there were. And midst of every harbour might be seen The sharpe, green, sweet juniper, Growing so fair with branches here and there, That as it seemed to a lyf without The boughs did spread the arbour all about."
And he thus describes the first appearance of the lovely Jane, and the effect produced upon him by her charms:
"And therewith cast I down mine eye again, Where as I saw walking under the tower, Full secretly, new comyn her to plain, The fairest and the freshest younge flower That e'er I saw, methought, before that hour; For which sudden abate, anon did start The blood of all my body to my heart."
Henry the Fifth occasionally kept his court at Windsor, and in 1416 entertained with great magnificence the Emperor Sigismund, who brought with him an invaluable relic--the heart of Saint George--which he bestowed upon the chapter. The emperor was at the same time invested with the Order.
In 1421 the unfortunate Henry the Sixth was born within the castle, and in 1484 he was interred within it.
III. Comprising the Fourth Epoch in the History of the Castle--And showing how Saint George's Chapel was rebuilt by King Edward the Fourth.
Finding the foundation and walls of Saint George's Chapel much dilapidated and decayed, Edward the Fourth resolved to pull down the pile, and build a larger and statelier structure in its place. With this view, he constituted Richard Beauchamp, Bishop of Salisbury, surveyor of the works, from whose designs arose the present beautiful edifice. To enable the bishop to accomplish the work, power was given him to remove all obstructions, and to enlarge the space by the demolition of the three buildings then commonly called Clure's Tower, Berner's Tower, and the Almoner's Tower.
The zeal and assiduity with which Beauchamp prosecuted his task is adverted to in the patent of his appointment to the office of chancellor of the Garter, the preamble whereof recites, "that out of mere love towards the Order, he had given himself the leisure