QUEEN OF ENGLAND
AND THE
MONUMENTS ERECTED IN HER MEMORY.
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TRADITION for over six hundred years has conferred the title of the
“Good Queen Eleanor” on the Consort of Edward I, and does not fail to
repeat the tale of one of the most beautiful episodes in the domestic
annals of the mediæval English court; but the force of this tradition
has, without doubt, been greatly strengthened by the existence of the
remarkable series of monuments erected by King Edward to perpetuate the
memory of the Queen.
The story of the “Regina bonæ memoriæ” may be of interest to those who
read these pages, not only because the Cross erected at Charing was the
finest of the memorial crosses, but because the artistic conception and
much of the excellent craftsmanship lavished on these beautiful
monuments had their origin in the district of London specially
associated with the work of Charing Cross Hospital.
It will first of all be needful to recall something of the life and
character of a Queen who made so powerful an impression on her people.
That her influence must have been remarkable is sufficiently indicated
by the fact that the crosses partook of the nature of shrines. They were
built on consecrated ground and were intended to claim the prayers of
the wayfarer. This great demand on the devotion of her people, which
might readily have given the impression of being forced or exaggerated,
was clearly held to be entirely fitting.