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Painted Chamber, which has endured to our time, was then existing, and formed one of the StateChambers of the Palace.
At a later period 1477, the ceremonial of the marriage of Richard, Duke of York, son of Edward IV. ,is said to have taken place in this chamber, which is styled Saint Edward’s Chamber, and manysubsequent historical references are constantly made to it: amongst others we may cite, that Edward Coke , in his fourth institute, says, that the causes of Parliament were in ancient time shewed in the‘ Chamhre depeint,’ or Saint Edward’s Chamber.
Mr. Smith, in his very excellent work, the “ Antiquities of Westminster,” from which we shall borrowlargely in our progress, has been at much pains to trace out the history of the Painted Chamber; and hetells us that it was not until lately that the appellation ‘ Painted’ was accounted for, when, on removingthe tapestry, paintings, containing a multitude of large figures, and representing battles, were discoveredon its walls.
Neither written evidence, nor tradition, exist as to the period when these were done, nor was thereany reason from anything that was generally known, to suppose that there ever had been any suchpaintings until the disclosure above-mentioned. They were certainly as old as 1322, and probably older,for in a Manuscript Itinerary of Simon Simeon and Hugo the Illuminator, in the year 1322, now in theLibrary of Bennet College, Cambridge, and mentioned by Mr. Gray in a letter 25th Eeb., 1768, to LordOrford (then Mr. Walpole), a passage occurs, of which this is the translation: “ At the other end of“ London City is a monastery of Black Monks, named Westminster, in which all the Kings of England are“ constantly and in common buried; and to the same Monastery almost immediately joined that“ famous palace of the King, in which is that well known Chamber (ilia vulgata camera) on whose walls“ all the histories of the wars of the whole Bible are painted beyond description (ineffabiliter) and the“ most complete and perfect inscriptions in French , to the great admiration of the beholders, and with the“ greatest regal magnificence.” We shall have occasion again to refer to these paintings, as connected withan important era in the annals of the fine arts, indeed no other than the origin of oil painting; hut forthe sake of following up the details of the Palace in proper order, we return to the events immediatelysubsequent to the death of Edward the Confessor .
His successor Harold reigned hut for a very short space, which was wholly occupied in militarypreparations and defensive warfare. He fell, and the Conqueror William reigned in his stead, whowas more intent on despoiling monasteries than maintaining them. In 1074, a period of his reignwhen all English prelates “ were sifted to the branne,” a synod was held in the church at Westminsterby Archbishop Lanfranc , to examine, according to the avowed object, as to the qualification and conductof the clergy, “ yet with the covert design of making room for the newly arrived Normans, ” by ejectingsuch of the Bishops and Abbots as had hut little learning and less influence. At this synod Wulstan,Bishop of Winchester, was charged with being “ a most illiterate and foolish man, and unfit for the“ station he held; a very idiot, unacquainted with the French language, and incapable either to instruct the“ Church, or counsel the King.” His pastoral staff and ring were therefore demanded of him by Lanfranc