Fragmenta Regalia | Page 6

where he was born, fourth son of Edward the
Third, King of England, and created by his father Earl of Richmond. He
was thrice married; first to Blanche, daughter and heiress of Henry
Duke of Lancaster; by her he received an immense inheritance, and
became not only Duke of Lancaster, but Earl of Leicester, Lincoln, and
Derby, of whose race are descended many emperors, kings, princes,
and nobles. His second wife was Constance, who is here buried,

daughter and heiress of Peter, King of Castile and Leon, in whose right
he most justly {2} took the style of King of Castile and Leon. She
brought him one only daughter, Catherine, of whom, by Henry, are
descended the Kings of Spain. His third wife was Catherine, of a
knight's family, a woman of great beauty, by whom he had a numerous
progeny; from which is descended, by the mother's side, Henry the
Seventh, the most prudent King of England, by whose most happy
marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Edward the Fourth, of the line of
York, the two royal lines of Lancaster and York are united, to the most
desired tranquillity of England.
The most illustrious prince, John, surnamed Plantagenet, King of
Castile and Leon, Duke of Lancaster, Earl of Richmond, Leicester, and
Derby, Lieutenant of Aquitain, High Steward of England, died in the
twenty-first year of Richard II., A.D. 1398.
A little farther, almost at the entrance of the choir, in a certain recess,
are two small stone chests, one of which is thus inscribed:
Here lies Seba, King of the East Saxons, who was converted to the faith
by St. Erkenwald, Bishop of London, A.D. 677.
On the other:
Here lies Ethelred, King of the Angles, son of King Edgar,
On whom St. Dustan is said to have denounced vengeance, on his
coronation day, in the following words:- "Inasmuch as thou hast
aspired to the throne by the death of thy brother, against whose blood
the English, along with thy infamous mother, conspired, the sword
shall not pass from thy house! but rage all the days of thy life, afflicting
all thy generation, till thy kingdom shall be translated to another, whose
manner and language the people under thee knoweth not. Nor shall thy
sin be done away till after long chastisement, nor the sin of thy mother,
nor the sin of those men who assisted in thy wicked council."
All which came to pass as predicted by the saint; for after being
worsted and put to flight by Sueno King of the Danes, and his son

Canute, and at last closely besieged in London, he died miserably A.D.
1017, after he had reigned thirty-six years in great difficulties.
There is besides in the middle of the church a tomb made of brass, of
some Bishop of London, named William, who was in favour with
Edward, King of England, and afterwards made counsellor to King
William. He was bishop sixteen years, and died A.D. 1077. Near this is
the following inscription:
Virtue survives the funeral. To the memory of Thomas Linacre, an
eminent physician, John Caius placed this monument.
On the lower part of it is this inscription in gold letters:
Thomas Linacre, physician to King Henry VIII., a man learned in the
Greek and Latin languages, and particularly skilful in physick, by
which he restored many from a state of languishment and despair to life.
He translated with extraordinary eloquence many of Galen's works into
Latin; and published, a little before his death, at the request of his
friends, a very valuable book on the correct structure of the Latin
tongue. He founded in perpetuity in favour of students in physick, two
public lectures at Oxford, and one at Cambridge. In this city he brought
about, by his own industry, the establishing of a College of Physicians,
of which he was elected the first president. He was a detester of all
fraud and deceit, and faithful in his friendships; equally dear to men of
all ranks: he went into orders a few years before his death, and quitted
this life full of years, and much lamented, A.D. 1524, on the 29th of
October.
There are many tombs in this church, but without any inscriptions. It
has a very fine organ, which, at evening prayer, accompanied with
other instruments, is delightful.
In the suburb to the west, joined to the city by a continual row of
palaces belonging to the chief nobility, of a mile in length, and lying on
the side next the Thames, is the small town of Westminster; originally
called Thorney, from its thorn bushes, but now Westminster, from its
aspect and its monastery. The church is remarkable for the coronation

and burial of the Kings of England. Upon this spot is said formerly to
have stood a temple