The pall which covered his head was cut beneath the chin and the long beard was seen. Miracles were said to have taken place at the tomb and it became a place of sanctuary in the time of Abbot Crispin died On 13th October St Edward's body was transferred to a Shrine specially prepared for it.
At this time the famous ring was taken off his finger and deposited with the Abbey relics. All the relics unfortunately disappeared at the dissolution of the monastery in They had been kept to the east of the Shrine until the Chantry for Henry V was built and then they were in a cupboard or aumbry adjoining Henry III's tomb. This was finished in and on 13 October Henry and his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall and his two sons bore the coffin on their shoulders in a solemn procession.
Sick persons made pilgrimages to the Shrine and knelt in the recesses to pray for healing. Round the verge was an inscription formed by blue glass set in gold mosaic. Traces of letters under the plaster can still be seen. A cult of St Edward had grown up and people regarded him as the patron saint of England.
The Saint's coffin was quite possibly laid on the same spot and covered by the wooden canopy. Mary I, who brought back the Benedictine monks to Westminster for a short period, moved the coffin back to its place in the hastily re-assembled Shrine and gave new jewels to replace the stolen ones.
This was in place by 19th April as recorded in Henry Machyn's diary. Abbot Feckenham added the cornice to the stone base. The decorated tiered wooden canopy above the stone shrine probably dates from about and is a very early example of Renaissance woodwork in England. It was heavily restored in the late s. The Confessor's wooden coffin still lies in a cavity in the top part of the Purbeck marble structure. The Shrine later lost Mary's new jewels and images. The Shrine is regarded as the centre of the Abbey and five kings and four queens lie buried in his Chapel.
On the western side of the Chapel is a stone screen dating from the mid 15th century. This now hides the Chapel from general view behind the High Altar. This depicts fourteen scenes of events, real and legendary, in the life of the Confessor - oath of fealty to Queen Emma by nobles in the name of her unborn son, Edward's birth, his coronation, the devil dancing on the Danegeld, a thief trying to steal treasure from the king's bedchamber, Christ appearing to Edward at Mass, vision of the shipwreck of the King of Denmark, Edward at table with Earl Godwin and his sons when he prophesied the future feud between the sons, vision of the Seven Sleepers, St John the Evangelist disguised as a pilgrim asking alms of the king and receiving a ring, blind men cured by washing in the king's water, St John giving ring to pilgrims in the Holy Land to return to Edward and foretelling the king's death, pilgrims giving the ring to Edward and the dedication of a church assumed to be the Abbey.
The original altar was at the west end of the Shrine as this area lacks the original Cosmati work paving beneath. It had been conjectured for many years that the altar here was the Cosmati work tomb now set in a recess in the south ambulatory. But that has been proved to have been a tomb for two royal children and not an altar.
The present altar against the west end was erected at the time of the coronation in and was designed by J. The silver candlesticks, of 17th century Italian work, were the gift of the Duke later King George VI and Duchess of York to commemorate their marriage at the Abbey in The tall silver standard candlesticks were given in by the Order of Crusaders.
The crucifix, designed by K. Redfern, was the gift of the Misses Bull in A hanging lamp to the east of the Shrine was presented in by the Reverend Ivan Young. An icon of the saint was dedicated on 13th October However he died in , leaving no heir.
Edward had the strongest claim to the throne and his religious reputation made him acceptable to both Saxon and Danish settlers in England. He managed the country well, ending the Danegeld and living within the income of his royal estates instead of drawing taxes. He was known to listen to complaints and dispense justice fairly. This tradition carried on for nearly years. However the Norman influence on his life made his Saxon subjects uneasy.
Eventually Edward agreed to a political marriage with Edith, daughter of Earl Godwin of Wessex, as long as she accepted that he kept his vow of chastity. Godwin was highly ambitious, at one point his rebellion against Edward led to exile for his whole family, including Edith.
Eventually however, to maintain stability in the country, Edward was forced to reinstate them. While in Normandy Edward had vowed to make a pilgrimage to St. However, leaving England for that length of time would have destabilised the country, the Pope therefore requested that Edward build a new abbey to St. Edward and the Godwines were pretty much of one mind in most of the action they took, not necessarily at the very end of the reign which has coloured perception to some extent, nor in — but through those 15 years in between, they got on pretty well.
He had had a son, also confusingly called Edward, who had gone into exile in Hungary. And Edward the Exile, in terms of bloodline succession, was the equivalent to the next one in line for the throne if King Edward had no children. So when it became clear that Edward and his wife Edith would have no children, they sent a mission to Hungary to bring back Edward the Exile.
After some toing and froing, Edward the Exile did return to England, having been absent for 40 years. He probably spoke little or no English, but they brought him back in He died almost immediately, but his son Edgar survived him.
And there are some good indications that Edward regarded Edgar, his great nephew, as his heir and adopted him as his son. David Musgrove is content director of the HistoryExtra. Sign in. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience.
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