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Eleanor cross
The Eleanor crosses were a series of twelve tall and lavishly decorated stone monuments erected in a line down part of the east of England. King Edward I had them built between 1291 and about 1295 in memory of his wife Eleanor of Castile. The King and Queen had been married for 36 years and she stayed by the King's side through his many travels. While on a royal progress, she died in Harby, Nottinghamshire, in November 1290. The crosses, erected in her memory, marked the nightly resting-places along the route taken when her body was transported to Westminster Abbey near the City of London.
Whilst it is commonly accepted that there were crosses atop the monuments, this has never been proven. Theories of this date back to Victorian England, where people embellished stories of the past to make them sound more interesting. A more likely reason for the monuments being called "crosses" was due to their placement, as they were usually placed on crossroads.
The crosses stood at Lincoln, Grantham and Stamford, all in Lincolnshire; Geddington and Hardingstone in Northamptonshire; Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire; Woburn and Dunstable in Bedfordshire; St Albans and Waltham (now Waltham Cross) in Hertfordshire; Cheapside in London; and Charing (now Charing Cross) in Westminster.
Three of the medieval monuments – those at Geddington, Hardingstone and Waltham Cross – survive more or less intact; but the other nine, other than a few fragments, are lost. Some were destroyed during the Reformation and Civil War, due to their Catholic associations. The largest and most ornate of the twelve was at Charing Cross. Several memorials and elaborated reproductions of the crosses have been erected, including the Queen Eleanor Memorial Cross at Charing Cross Station (built 1865), 200 metres (220 yd) northeast – along the Strand roadway – of the original site of the Charing Cross.
Edward I's use of architecture is known for containing an element of propaganda. In her lifetime, Eleanor had been unpopular with the public, particularly for her acquisitiveness regarding land holdings, which had been associated with the abuse of Jewish loans, attracting strong criticism from the church. The series of Crosses played a role in rehabilitating Eleanor's image as an idealised Queen and woman, as well as projecting royal and spiritual power. The Lincoln tomb of a child falsely claimed to be martyred by Jews is widely assumed to form part of the series, positioning Eleanor and Edward as defenders against the recently expelled Jews. The series has architectural parallels, most notably the 1271 montjoies marking the funeral route of King Louis IX of France, which were designed as part of an attempt to promote his canonisation as a saint.
Eleanor of Castile died on 28 November 1290 at Harby, Nottinghamshire. Edward and Eleanor loved each other and much like his father, Edward was very devoted to his wife and remained faithful to her throughout their married lives. He was deeply affected by her death and displayed his grief by erecting twelve so-called Eleanor crosses, one at each place where her funeral cortège stopped for the night.
Following her death the body of Queen Eleanor was carried to Lincoln, about 7 miles (11 km) away, where she was embalmed – probably either at the Gilbertine priory of St Katherine in the south of the city, or at the priory of the Dominicans. Her viscera, with the exception of her heart, were buried in the Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral on 3 December. Eleanor's other remains were carried to London, a journey of about 180 miles (290 km), that lasted 12 days. Her body was buried in Westminster Abbey, at the feet of her father-in-law King Henry III on 17 December; while her heart was buried in the church of the London Dominicans' priory at Blackfriars (a house that she and Edward had heavily patronised) on 19 December, along with the heart of her young son Alphonso, Earl of Chester, who had died in 1284, and that of John de Vesci, who had died in 1289.
Eleanor's crosses appear to have been intended in part as expressions of royal power; and in part as cenotaphs to encourage prayers for her soul from travellers. On the pedestal of each was inscribed the phrase Orate pro anima ("Pray for [her] soul"). Eleanor's reputation had been tarnished by her trafficking in Jewish loans and land acquisition in her own lifetime. Favourable mentions in contemporary chronicles do not emerge until the succession of her son. The Crosses have been an important element in forming her reputation as an idealised Queen, focusing attention on her relationship with Edward.
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Eleanor cross
The Eleanor crosses were a series of twelve tall and lavishly decorated stone monuments erected in a line down part of the east of England. King Edward I had them built between 1291 and about 1295 in memory of his wife Eleanor of Castile. The King and Queen had been married for 36 years and she stayed by the King's side through his many travels. While on a royal progress, she died in Harby, Nottinghamshire, in November 1290. The crosses, erected in her memory, marked the nightly resting-places along the route taken when her body was transported to Westminster Abbey near the City of London.
Whilst it is commonly accepted that there were crosses atop the monuments, this has never been proven. Theories of this date back to Victorian England, where people embellished stories of the past to make them sound more interesting. A more likely reason for the monuments being called "crosses" was due to their placement, as they were usually placed on crossroads.
The crosses stood at Lincoln, Grantham and Stamford, all in Lincolnshire; Geddington and Hardingstone in Northamptonshire; Stony Stratford in Buckinghamshire; Woburn and Dunstable in Bedfordshire; St Albans and Waltham (now Waltham Cross) in Hertfordshire; Cheapside in London; and Charing (now Charing Cross) in Westminster.
Three of the medieval monuments – those at Geddington, Hardingstone and Waltham Cross – survive more or less intact; but the other nine, other than a few fragments, are lost. Some were destroyed during the Reformation and Civil War, due to their Catholic associations. The largest and most ornate of the twelve was at Charing Cross. Several memorials and elaborated reproductions of the crosses have been erected, including the Queen Eleanor Memorial Cross at Charing Cross Station (built 1865), 200 metres (220 yd) northeast – along the Strand roadway – of the original site of the Charing Cross.
Edward I's use of architecture is known for containing an element of propaganda. In her lifetime, Eleanor had been unpopular with the public, particularly for her acquisitiveness regarding land holdings, which had been associated with the abuse of Jewish loans, attracting strong criticism from the church. The series of Crosses played a role in rehabilitating Eleanor's image as an idealised Queen and woman, as well as projecting royal and spiritual power. The Lincoln tomb of a child falsely claimed to be martyred by Jews is widely assumed to form part of the series, positioning Eleanor and Edward as defenders against the recently expelled Jews. The series has architectural parallels, most notably the 1271 montjoies marking the funeral route of King Louis IX of France, which were designed as part of an attempt to promote his canonisation as a saint.
Eleanor of Castile died on 28 November 1290 at Harby, Nottinghamshire. Edward and Eleanor loved each other and much like his father, Edward was very devoted to his wife and remained faithful to her throughout their married lives. He was deeply affected by her death and displayed his grief by erecting twelve so-called Eleanor crosses, one at each place where her funeral cortège stopped for the night.
Following her death the body of Queen Eleanor was carried to Lincoln, about 7 miles (11 km) away, where she was embalmed – probably either at the Gilbertine priory of St Katherine in the south of the city, or at the priory of the Dominicans. Her viscera, with the exception of her heart, were buried in the Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral on 3 December. Eleanor's other remains were carried to London, a journey of about 180 miles (290 km), that lasted 12 days. Her body was buried in Westminster Abbey, at the feet of her father-in-law King Henry III on 17 December; while her heart was buried in the church of the London Dominicans' priory at Blackfriars (a house that she and Edward had heavily patronised) on 19 December, along with the heart of her young son Alphonso, Earl of Chester, who had died in 1284, and that of John de Vesci, who had died in 1289.
Eleanor's crosses appear to have been intended in part as expressions of royal power; and in part as cenotaphs to encourage prayers for her soul from travellers. On the pedestal of each was inscribed the phrase Orate pro anima ("Pray for [her] soul"). Eleanor's reputation had been tarnished by her trafficking in Jewish loans and land acquisition in her own lifetime. Favourable mentions in contemporary chronicles do not emerge until the succession of her son. The Crosses have been an important element in forming her reputation as an idealised Queen, focusing attention on her relationship with Edward.
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