In October 1307 the body of the 68-year old Edward I was brought from Waltham and taken on a cart to Westminster Abbey for burial. Anthony Bec, Bishop of Durham presided over the funeral ceremony, after which the king was interred in St Edward's Chapel near the body of his father, Henry III. The king had died at Burgh Upon Sands in Cumberland that July, after falling ill with dysentery while on military campaign towards Scotland.
Edward is perhaps most famous (or infamous) for his wars against Wales and Scotland, earning him the nickname Hammer of the Scots. He is the king who seized the Stone of Scone in 1296 and delivered it to England as a symbol of his 'victory' over the nation. The stone, on which the kings of Scotland were crowned, was then positioned in a compartment underneath the throne in Westminster Abbey, with each monarch following Edward crowned above it. Edward also worked to limit the power of the church, but authorised new work to be carried out on the abbey where he was later to be buried. His tomb can be seen today, although it is extremely fragile and a sign tells visitors that it is kept away from the general public and is unsuitable for general sightseeing. You can, however, see it from the ground as you walk around the abbey.
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| Tomb of Edward I, Westminster Abbey, London, 2024. |
The tomb commemorating the king was made out of Purbeck marble, and in the eighteenth century was seen to have 'a grating of strong iron work', and a 'small bust of an elderly man with a long visage'. The inscription on the tomb is recorded as 'Edward's Primus Scotorum Malleus', referring to his 'hammer of the Scots' nickname.
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| Edward I from "The Popular History of England". - The British Library, United Kingdom - Public Domain. |
In 1774, permission was given for Edward's tomb to be opened, and a lecture was given at the Society of Antiquaries in the May of that year. The transcript of the lecture, which is preserved in a 40-page document of the time, reveals much about not only Edward's burial but also what happened to his body many years after his death. The men opened the tomb and found the coffin - measuring six feet and seven inches - raised up on the base with rubble so that the lid of the tomb could be closed. Edward's coffin was two feet seven inches wide, and each side of the marble was three inches thick. Those present noticed that the coffin was stained with a yellow paint or varnish.
Prising open the coffin, they saw the medieval king 'wrapped up within a large square mantle, of strong, coarse and thick linen cloth'. It was a pale brown colour and wax was seen on the side touching the body. Edward's head and face was covered with a cloth of crimson sarcenet, although was significantly worn and perished from time. Underneath, Edward had been buried 'richly habited, adorned with ensigns of royalty and almost entire'. The body was in good condition, and the king's face, hands and finger joints were all visible. An 'unusual fall, or cavity' was noticed on the bridge of Edward's nose, and no trace of any beard remained on the royal chin.
A piece of material was laid over the king's body which had been sewn with fake jewels, representing amethyst, ruby and sapphire. Traces of metalwork could also be seen made from gold and gilt, along with small white beads that the men present thought were pearls, but then decided that they were fake, as they were all exactly the same size and shape. The 'royal mantle', or cloak was made of crimson satin and fastened on the king's left shoulder with a 'fibula of metal gilt with gold, and composed of two joints pinned together by a moveable acus, and resembling a cross garnet hinge'. It was four inches in length, with intricate decoration and contained red and blue glass decorations along with fake pearls.
Edward was buried with a covering of cloth of gold, which remained in 1774, and although no gloves on his hands survived, there was some evidence that he had been buried wearing them - on the back of each hand metalwork could be seen, suggesting the decoration had survived but the gloves had long since perished. In the right hand and resting on the king's right shoulder rested a sceptre with a cross, made out of copper gilt, measuring two feet six inches in length. In the left hand had been laid the rod or sceptre with the dove, which rested over his left shoulder, the top of it level with his ear. Someone had rested a crown with trefoils around the top of it on Edward's head after death, although those present sniffed that it was 'of inferior workmanship'. A ring was found among the king's clothing, supposed to have slipped off his finger after burial. Kings were often buried in ceremonial clothing, their bodies put on view to show that they had died before their successor could safely take the throne. This was even more important in the case of a throne seized from a living king. Later, the body of Richard III was put on public view in Leicester so that there could be no doubts of Henry VII's right to the crown.
Interestingly, the investigation showed that Edward towered over his contemporaries, and would have stood at around six feet two inches in height. His nickname of 'Edward Longshanks' then, seems to have been given to him accurately. The Georgian scientists even went so far as to measure the king's leg bones to ascertain if he simply had longer than usual legs, but it was concluded that they were in proportion to his body.
Attempts were made to preserve Edward's body after his burial. Edward III and Henry IV issued commands for the tomb to be opened and the wax around his body replenished. The people who saw the corpse in 1774 saw that this had been repeatedly carried out, from the wax cloth that was laid over the body and holes placed in the coffin and later filled in, presumably to have assisted in its opening. The author of the lecture suggested that the body was preserved because of Edward's wish, on his deathbed, that his body be carried with the English army until Scotland was conquered. He then adds that this was unlikely, as soon after his death the Bishop of Chester conveyed Edward's body to Waltham Abbey until funeral preparations were made. For whatever reason Edward's body was regularly recovered with wax, the Georgians were grateful, as it ensured his body had been well-preserved for their viewing more than 450 years later. The men were careful not to disturb the king, and in the presence of the Dean of Westminster Abbey, 'the tomb [was] secured beyond a possibility of ever being opened again'.
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