Beldam, The Royston Cave, Web section 4

Explanation of the sculptures, continued

{36} We now return to the entrance, and take the groups in succession to the left.

The figures on this side of the Cave, are, for some distance, nearly effaced. Not far from the entrance are two deep recesses, probably, at first, intended for sepulchral uses, but subsequently devoted to some purpose of the Christian oratory. The first figure that can be traced, is that of a person holding a ball, or globe, in his right hand; on the meaning of which we offer no conjecture.

X.—QUEEN ELEANOR.

The next is the half-length figure of a royal lady in a cloister or cell, which forms part of an ecclesiastical edifice, of Anglo-Norman or Early English architecture. The lady wears a crown, but has the air of being a prisoner; and probably represents Queen Eleanor, the wife of Henry II., who, in consequence of her intrigues and violence, was imprisoned by her husband for many years, and only liberated on the accession of her son, Richard I., Cœur de Lion. Parkin, however, supposes this figure to represent St. Katharine in prison. Our reason for differing from him will presently appear.

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XI.—THE SHRINE OF ST. JOHN BAPTIST AND ST. THOMAS A BECKET.

Next to the royal prisoner, and only separated from her by a royal standard, and a figure, which probably represents the standard bearer, is the shrine of the two patron saints of the Priory Church, St. John Baptist and St. Thomas à Becket. Above the Shrine—which is a tablet sunk in the wall, and over the head of the Baptist, is a crucifix. St. John is represented as a venerable personage, bare-headed, and wearing a forked beard; of which this is the only instance in the Cave, except that of the Saviour, at the high altar. The figure is of three-quarters’ length, the legs being merely scratched into the chalk, and possibly intended to appear as standing in the water. He wears a short tunic, and holds in his left hand, towards the figure of St. Thomas, a crown, surmounted by three drooping tendrils, probably indicating the palm and crown of martyrdom. St. Thomas is represented as a prelate of high degree, clothed in full canonicals, and wearing a lofty conical cap, or mitre. He holds in his right hand a globe, surmounted by a cross, and in his left a staff crosier. An altar, marked with a cross, is cut into the space between these two saintly personages.

Stukeley supposes them to represent the Cardinal Octavian, as legate from the Pope, and Hugh de Nunant, King Henry’s chaplain, on a mission for the purpose of crowning his son John, King of Ireland. Another construction is, that the bearded man represents the Grand Master of the Hospitallers, bearing the royal standard and Regalia of Jerusalem, attended by Heraclius the Patriarch; both these dignitaries having been deputed in the year 1185, to make a tender of the sovereignty of the Holy Land to Henry II., on condition of his hastening to its rescue from the {38} Saracens. There seems some probability in this explanation. But on the whole we agree with Parkin, that it represents the Shrine of the two patron saints of the Priory; a confirmation of which is found in its historical connexion with the figures that follow, and likewise in the position of the cavity or niche beneath, which has certainly been used as a piscina.

XII.—KING HENRY II.

The formidable personage immediately beyond the Shrine is evidently the hero of the Cave. He is presumed to be Henry II., the reigning monarch of the time. He wears a low-crowned helmet; and a tabard girt about the waist, marked with a large cross on the breast, and a smaller one on either side. He holds a drawn sword in his right hand. Above him appears an array of troops; and further on are two other bodies of troops, headed by a prelate in a martial vest, and wearing a peculiar kind of mitre; who seems to be offering an address, from behind a battlement or a pulpit. The person of the King, as well as those of St. John and of St. Thomas, has been painted red. Beneath them, a fish of singular form is scratched into the wall. And in the space between the King and the military bishop, on the other side, there are two cavities or niches, which were probably used as piscinae to the shrines of the saints further on.

The whole of this series—from the imprisoned Queen Eleanor, to the effigy of King William of Scotland, with the exception of certain genealogical figures near the military bishop, hereafter to be described,—appears to form a consecutive story, and to commemorate a remarkable event in the reign of King Henry, interesting alike to the clergy and the people of England, and peculiarly flattering to one of the patron saints of the Priory.

{39} The circumstance was as follows:—

In the year a.d. 1175, great dissensions arose between King Henry and his sons, who were encouraged in their rebellion by their mother, Queen Eleanor. The Queen, in consequence, was placed in confinement, and continued a prisoner, as we have already stated, for most of the remainder of her husband’s life. Henry’s sons being supported by the Kings of France and of Scotland, and by other powerful chieftains, King Henry prepared for war, and resolved to combat his enemies, both at home and abroad. While still lingering in Normandy, William the Lion of Scotland made an incursion into the northern counties, where he committed great ravages; when Geoffrey, bishop elect of Lincoln, and afterwards Archbishop of York, a natural son of King Henry by the fair Rosamond, putting himself at the head of a body of troops, arrested the progress of the invaders. Henry now found it high time to return to England; and immediately after his arrival hastened to the shrine of St. Thomas à Becket, already become the favourite saint of England. Here he performed a most severe penance; and having received absolution for the supposed murder of Becket, he proceeded to London. On the very day on which his peace had been thus made with the martyred saint, namely, the twelfth of July, the Scottish King, resting in security at Alnwick, and amusing himself with his companions at a tilting match, was suddenly surprised by a body of English knights, and, after a vigorous resistance, was thrown from his horse and made prisoner. The news of this capture filled Henry, and all the loyal part of the nation, with joy, as it entirely broke up the hostile confederacy against him.

On the tenth of August of the following year, being St. Laurence’s day,—which is indicated by the figure of the saint just above him,—King William did homage for his {40} crown to the English monarch, and the Scottish prelates at the same time acknowledged the supremacy of the English Church. The latter event must have been very acceptable to the whole of the English clergy, but especially to the monks of Royston, who were under the patronage of the saint to whose miraculous assistance this extraordinary success was ascribed.

We may remark, that these groups have been differently construed by Stukeley and Parkin. The latter, against all probability, maintains that the frightened monarch represents the Emperor Decius, in whose reign he places the martyrdom of St. Laurence; concluding as strangely, that the military bishop represents Pope Sextus, a contemporary saint. Stukeley, on the other hand, concludes that Louis VII. of France is the monarch intended; and supposes that this figure commemorates his precipitate retreat on St. Laurence’s day, from the siege of Verneuil. The recent discovery of the initials on the breast of the figure, seems, however, to settle this question.

XIII.—RICHARD CŒUR DE LION AND QUEEN BERENGARIA.

Returning to the group, beneath the figure of St. Katharine and the High Altar, we perceive two royal personages represented on a smaller scale than the effigies above them. As they trench upon the tablet of the High Altar, we may conclude that they are of a somewhat later date. The King stands clad in complete armour, wearing his crown, and resting his right hand on a large kite-shaped shield, marked with a fanciful device. The Queen, who is only of three-quarters’ length, appears on the, other side of the shield. A crown is placed above her head, but scarcely seems to touch it, and a veil descends from her head-dress, {40} on either side, down to her shoulders. She wears an elegant stomacher, adorned with a collar and a brooch; and her whole costume resembles the style and fashion of royal ladies of the twelfth century. Ranging on the same side with the King, is the small crucifix already alluded to, exhibiting the same scene as the altar above; and beneath it is the holy sepulchre, represented by a Norman arch, in the interior of which is carved, in single line, a small heart, and a large heart in double lines, (a heart of hearts,) emblematic of intense devotion; while beneath them is a hand engraved with a heart, indicative of dedication to some special service.

We can scarcely doubt, that these figures and symbols import a vow to take the cross.

They may either represent King Henry II., who took the vow, though he never went to the crusade; in which case the lady will he Queen Eleanor; whose disgrace and imprisonment, however, make this supposition less likely. Or, far more probably, King Richard I., Cœur de Lion, the most distinguished crusader of his age; and Queen Berengaria, whom he married, and caused to be crowned on his way to the Holy Land. But this lady was never crowned in England, and after her husband’s death, her rights as Queen Dowager were for some time denied by her brother-in-law, King John; a circumstance which may possibly account for the peculiar position of the crown above noticed. This group being placed immediately below the effigy of St. Katharine and the high altar, may be likewise intended to commemorate the date of the agreement made between King Richard and Philip of France, which was in November, 1189, and contained a condition to unite their forces for the crusade on the following Easter-day.

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XIV.—GENEALOGICAL FIGURES.

We now come to the long line of smaller figures, male and female, which extends below the principal groups, from the small crucifix to the effigy of St. Christopher. The personal identification of this series is altogether out of the question; but we may reasonably conclude, with Stukeley, that it represents for the most part, the principal patrons, visitors, and benefactors of the oratory, whose obits were not improbably celebrated in this place. And as many of these must certainly have been members of the noble houses, successively lords of the manor of Newsells, and other personages specially mentioned in early deeds and charters, as benefactors to the Priory, we may naturally conclude, that among them may be found representatives of the Magnaville, Rochester, Scales, Clare, Bassingbourne, Argentein, and other illustrious families of the age and neighbourhood.

This series consists of some fourteen or fifteen personages, more or less distinctly preserved.

The first figure, of which only the upper part is seen, is in close contact with the disputed shield marked with the initials H K, and if we might venture to suppose it an addition of a later period, we should infer from the historical fact of King Henry V. having specially confirmed the deeds and charters of the Royston Priory, that the good monks of the fifteenth century have here evinced their gratitude, by placing the gallant monarch and his Queen Katharine on the list of their chief benefactors, and under the special protection of the patron saint of the oratory.

The next figure is a half-length. It seems of an older type, and wears the helmet of a crusader. A youthful figure, nearly effaced, rests upon his shoulder. It is not {43} impossible that this person may represent Geoffrey de Magnaville, the husband of Lady Rosia.

Then follow three male figures, the second wearing a round casque, or cap, and marked with a cross on his breast; then two females, in square head-dresses, the first of whom may be Lady Rosia herself; then, again, three males, the two first having hearts engraved on their breasts; the last having a cross, and a hand engraved with a heart over the right shoulder; the first and the last also wearing the helmet of a Crusader. The peculiar attributes of the last figure make it probable that William de Magnaville, the favourite son of Lady Rosia, is here intended.

Next come two females again, in square head-dresses, one of whom is marked on the bosom with a cross; and these are followed by several figures which are no longer intelligible.

The whole series appears in irregular line. The perfect figures stand erect, with arms a-kimbo, perhaps to denote that they were living personages; and the crosses and hearts, which many of them wear in common with most of the saints and martyrs in the Cave, probably indicate that those who are so represented, had either taken the vow, or were devoted to a religious life.

The following names, extracted from the earliest charters of the Priory, may enable the reader to make his own selection of the worthies for whom these portraits were possibly intended, though it is not denied that there may be some later interpolations among them:

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And last, not least, as being members of the first noble family, lords in capite of the manor of Newsells,

XV.—THE PEDIGREE.

It remains only to allude to certain figures between the effigy of the military bishop, and that of King William of Scotland, erroneously supposed by Stukeley to be a crucifix, but which, on closer inspection, appears rather to be a genealogical succession. Their crowded position in this spot, as well as their subject, may certainly raise a presumption of their being a subsequent addition. The figures of this group represent a line of three descents, one below the other, a female at the top, then a male, and a full-length female at the bottom. Whatever be their date, they certainly resemble both in form and costume, the ladies on the other side of the Cave. On the podium or bench, {45} immediately beneath them, is engraved a sepulchral slab of two sides, on one of which is the figure of a man, and on the other that of a woman. By the side of the genealogical stem there is also a family picture in miniature of three youths, who probably represent the children of the surviving lady. We may conclude that the whole gives us the pedigree of this lady, and the interment of an ancestral pair, whose obits were most likely celebrated on this spot. And as marks of other figures are dimly seen on the podium just by, as well as near the altar of St. Thomas à Becket, it seems probable, that in these cases also, obits were performed in the Cave.