General Notes

House of Lancaster  He had his mother arrest and imprisone
d and her lover executed.  He succeeded his father nominall
y in 1327, but his mother  & Mortimer retained control of t
he Government. He forcibly assumed charge of the Governmen
t in 1330, procuring the execution of Mortimer & removing h
is mother from power. He began his reign by attempting to f
orce his suzerainty on Scotland, winning a victory  at th
e Battle of Halidon Hill, 1333. In 1337 he began the One Hu
ndred Years War by claiming the French throne in right of h
is mother.  During the 1st stage of the War he defeated th
e French at the Battle of Crecy, 1346, he won naval victori
es at Sluys, 1340, &  Winchelsea, 1350, & captured Calais
, 1347, whilst his son, the Black Prince, defeated & captur
ed the French King at the Battle of  Poitiers, 1356. The Wa
r ended temporarily in 1360 with the Treaty of Bretigny, b
y which Edward surrendered his claim to the French throne i
n return for Calais, Aquitaine & Gascony. After the renewa
l of the War in 1369 the French recaptured all the Englis
h dominions in France but Calais, Bordeaux & Bayonne. Marri
ed  24 Jan. 1328 Philippa of Hainault (1314-1369), d. of Wi
lliam III, Count of  Holland, & his wife Joan, d. of Charle
s, Count of Valois (she was also a descendant of Charlemage
) .Died 21 June 1377. Bur.  Westminster Abbey, London. He h
ad issue:
WESTMINSTER ABBEY, LONDON It is hard to imagine Westminste
r at the time of the Conquest, when it occupied an island s
ite amid the marshes that flanked the Thames.  Since Willia
m the Conqueror recieved the English crown here on Christma
s Day 1066, coronations have always been conducted in Westm
inster Abbey. An earlier Saxon monastery was completely des
troye by the Danes during the eighth century.  Wesminster'
s history as a Benedictine house dates to its foundation b
y St. Dunstan in 959, although it was Edward the Confesso
r who established its status as the royal church of englan
d following its consecration on 28 December 1065, just on
e week before his death.  Henry III was largely responsibl
e for building the magnificent abbey church that stands tod
ay, work on which began in 1245, favouring the French Gothi
c style, which placed greater emphasis on height than the p
articular English interpretation that had evolved by then
. Flying buttresses were used as a means of supporting th
e height of French cathedrals, a technique deemed visuall
y ugly by English builders, who preferred to restrict the h
eight and use internal methods of support. Work on the ne
w church advanced rapidly, and it was reopened in 1269.  Al
though much of the nave was not completed until well ove
r a century later, fortnately the architect was content t
o follow the style of his predeccessor, thereby maintainin
g the visual continuity. Westminster Abbey is not merel
y a church of unsurpassed beauty it is also the last restin
g place of English monarchs - from Henry III in 1272 to Geo
rge III in 1820. Without doubt, the abbey's subline archite
ctural achievement is the Henry VII chapel, originally foun
ded byt eh monarch early in the sixteenth century with th
e intention of crating a shrine to Henry VI. This plan neve
r came to fruition and so the masterpiece of royal mason Ro
bert Vertue was adopted by its instigator for himself and h
is queen, Elizabeth. The fan-vaulted ceiling is elaboratel
y decorated with the most complex tracery imaginable, the f
inest example of that art form in England.  Almost ever squ
are ich of the chapel seems to be adorned with some form o
f intricate decoration and, although the overall effect ca
n be almost overwhelming, it remains a quite breathtaking p
iece of work. The royal tomb in the chapel is the work o
f a Florentine contemporary of Michelangelo, sculptor Pietr
o Torrigiano, who was commisssioned to create the most movi
ng, gilt-bronzed effigies of Henry and Elizabeth. However
, kings an