Fragmenta Regalia | Page 8

The tomb of Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VII.
In the middle of this chapel is the shrine of St. Edward, the last King of
the Saxons. It is composed of marble in mosaic: round it runs this

inscription in letters of gold:
The venerable king, St. Edward the Confessor, A heroe adorned with
every virtue. He died on the 5th of January, 1065, And mounted into
Heaven. Lift up your hearts.
The third choir, of surprising splendour and elegance, was added to the
east end by Henry VII. for a burying-place for himself and his posterity.
Here is to be seen his magnificent tomb, wrought of brass and marble,
with this epitaph:
Here lies Henry VII. of that name, formerly King of England, son of
Edmund, Earl of Richmond, who, ascending the throne on the twenty-
second day of August, was crowned on the thirtieth of October
following at Westminster, in the year of our Lord 1485. He died on the
twenty-first of April, in the fifty-third year of his age, after a reign of
twenty-two years and eight months wanting a day.
This monument is enclosed with rails of brass, with a long epitaph in
Latin verse.
Under the same tomb lies buried Edward VI., King of England, son of
Henry VIII. by Jane Seymour. He succeeded to his father when he was
but nine years old, and died A.T. 1553, on the 6th of July, in the
sixteenth year of his age, and of his reign the seventh, not without
suspicion of poison.
Mary was proclaimed queen by the people on the 19th of July, and died
in November, 1558, and is buried in some corner of the same choir,
without any inscription.
Queen Elizabeth.
Here lies Queen Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV., sister of King
Edward V., wife of Henry VII., and the glorious mother of Henry VIII.
She died in the Tower of London, on the eleventh of February, A.D.
1502, in the thirty-seventh year of her age.

Between the second and third choirs in the side-chapels, are the tombs
of Sebert, King of the East Saxons, who built this church with stone:
and
Of Margaret of Richmond, mother of Henry VII., grandmother of
Henry VIII.; she gave this monastery to the monks of Winbourne, {3}
who preached and taught grammar all England over, and appointed
salaries to two professors of divinity, one at Oxford, another at
Cambridge, where she founded two colleges to Christ and to John His
disciple. She died A.D. 1463, on the third of the calends of July.
And of Margaret, Countess of Lenox, grandmother of James VI., King
of Scotland.
William of Valance, half-brother of Henry III.
The Earl of Cornwall, brother of Edward III.
Upon another tomb is an honorary inscription for Frances, Duchess of
Suffolk. The sense of it is,
That titles, royal birth, riches, or a large family, are of no avail: That all
are transitory; virtue alone resisting the funeral pile. That this lady was
first married to a duke, then to Stoke, a gentleman; And lastly, by the
grave espoused to CHRIST.
The next is the tomb of Lord Russell, son of the Earl of Bedford, whose
lady composed the following Greek and Latin verses, and had them
engraved on the marble:-
How was I startled at the cruel feast, By death's rude hands in horrid
manner drest; Such grief as sure no hapless woman knew, When thy
pale image lay before my view. Thy father's heir in beauteous form
arrayed Like flowers in spring, and fair, like them to fade; Leaving
behind unhappy wretched me, And all thy little orphan-progeny: Alike
the beauteous face, the comely air, The tongue persuasive, and the
actions fair, Decay: so learning too in time shall waste: But faith, chaste
lovely faith, shall ever last. The once bright glory of his house, the

pride Of all his country, dusty ruins hide: Mourn, hapless orphans;
mourn, once happy wife; For when he died, died all the joys of life.
Pious and just, amidst a large estate, He got at once the name of good
and great. He made no flatt'ring parasite his guest, But asked the good
companions to the feast.
Anne, Countess of Oxford, daughter of William Cecil, Baron Burleigh,
and Lord Treasurer.
Philippa, daughter and co-heiress of John, Lord Mohun of Dunster,
wife of Edward, Duke of York.
Frances, Countess of Sussex, of the ancient family of Sidney.
Thomas Bromley, Chancellor to Queen Elizabeth.
The Earl of Bridgewater, {4} Lord Dawbney, Lord Chamberlain to
Henry VII., and his lady.
And thus much for Westminster.
There are many other churches in this city, but none so remarkable for
the tombs of persons of distinction.
Near to this church is Westminster Hall, where, besides the Sessions of
Parliament, which are often held there, are