mametupa:Westminster Abbey and sanctuaryQueen Elizabeth was eight months pregnant and must have been

mametupa:Westminster Abbey and sanctuaryQueen Elizabeth was eight months pregnant and must have been `almost desperate of all comfort’ to have come to a place like St Peter’s Sanctuary in Westminster Abbey. The sanctuary building was situated in the north-west corner of the Abbey precincts, at the end of St Margaret’s churchyard, where Westminster Guildhall now stands. It had been built in the eleventh century by King Edward the Confessor, and was constructed of thick stone walls strong enough to withstand a siege; they were demolished only with difficulty in 1750, by which time the practice of claiming sanctuary had long fallen into disuse. One stout oak door led into ä cruciform-shaped interior consisting of two chapels, one above the other. Debtors used the upper level, common felons the Tower. Since the seventh century, anyone fleeing justice, oppression or the hostility of those in power could claim the right of sanctuary in a consecrated place, for there was a strong belief that holy ground was inviolable, and that anyone forcibly removing someone from sanctuary was guilty of sacrilege. Violation of the protection of sanc­tuary was punishable by excommunication.The right of sanctuary was originally confined to churches, but later its limits were extended to church precincts, and sometimes even to a larger surrounding area. By Norman times there were two kinds of sanctuary in England: a general right of sanctuary conferred on every church, and a peculiar one granted by royal charter. General sanctuaries afforded forty days’ protection only to those guilty of felonies. A convicted felon who sought sanctuary was afforded protection for thirty to forty days, after which, subject to certain severe conditions, he had to leave the kingdom within a specified time and take an oath not to return without the King’s leave. Peculiars gave immunity for life, even to those accused of high or petty treason. The latter was enjoyed by at least twenty-two churches, including Westminster Abbey, which was the foremost sanctuary in England. Elizabeth was to spend, in total, more than a year of her life here.The sanctuary was almost deserted when Elizabeth Wydeville (Woodville) arrived with her three daughters and her mother. She placed them and herself in the charge and protection of Thomas Milling, the Abbot of Westminster. A kindly, hospitable man, he would not hear of them lodging in the common sanctuary building, where they would rub shoulders with murderers and thieves; instead, he insisted they stay as his guests in his house, Cheyneygates, by the West Door of the Abbey, placing the three best rooms at their disposal and providing the Queen with several items ‘for her comfort’.Parts of medieval Cheyneygates survive today, notably two splendid rooms over the entrance to the cloisters to show that the Queen and her daughters were luxuriously housed while in sanctuary — and the sumptuous Jerusalem Chamber, the Abbot’s principal apartment, then hung with rich tapestries, which was one of the rooms assigned to Elizabeth Wydeville. All date from the fourteenth century, making Cheyneygates the oldest surviving medieval house in London. The rest of the house, which now comprises the Deanery, has been rebuilt. The stone fireplace in the Jerusalem Chamber is Tudor, with a later over mantel, but the original ceiling displays Richard II’s crowned initial. The panelling is nineteenth century. Henry IV, first sovereign of the House of Lancaster, had died in this room in 1413. Now it was to serve as the Queen’s great chamber; she also had use of the Abbot’s great hall with its minstrels’ gallery, a privy chamber, which was probably used as a bedchamber, and the courtyard, which would afford Elizabeth and her sisters their only means of enjoying fresh air for some months to come. Had they but known it, they were effectively prisoners in a gilded cage, for their mother dared not leave — and with good reason.The photo is of one restored room at Cheyneygates, the former house of the Abbot of Westminster, where Queen Elizabeth stayed while in sanctuary. The drawing is a sketch of the sanctuary building as it used to be.Sources:Elizabeth of York, Alison Weirhttp://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/westminstersanctuary.htmhttp://ihbconline.co.uk/events_files/Cheyneygates_information_leaflet.pdf -- source link

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