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Fit for a King? The Architecture of the Beauchamp Chapel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2016

Extract

One of the two wealthiest men of his generation in England, Richard Beauchamp, thirteenth Earl of Warwick, served under three Lancastrian kings: he had been tutor to the young Henry VI, ambassador to the Council of Constance, variously Captain of Calais and of Rouen, and he had, of course, fought in the service of the kings of England in France. In 1437 he was made Lieutenant-General and Governor of France and Normandy, leaving for France in August of that year and it was during this trip, two years later, that he died, in 1439, in Rouen, aged fifty-eight. He had made a good first marriage in 1397 to Elizabeth, only daughter and heir of Thomas Berkeley, followed by an excellent second in 1423, to Isabel, daughter of the Earl of Gloucester and eventually sole heir to the Despencer fortune, and also widow of Richard’s cousin and namesake the Earl of Worcester (who had died in 1422).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain 2004

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References

Notes

1 Earl Richard’s revenues in 1432–33 were equalled only by those of the Duke of York: Hicks, M. A., ‘The Beauchamp Trust 1439-87’, Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, LIV, No. 130 (November 1981), p. 137 Google Scholar.

2 Dugdale, W., The Antiquities of Warwickshire, 1, (London, 1730), p. 408 Google Scholar. For Richard Beauchamp see Cocayne, G. E. C., The Complete Peerage, 12, part II (London, 1959), pp. 378-82Google Scholar; and more recently Brindley, D., Richard Beauchamp: Medieval England’s Greatest Knight (Stroud, 2001)Google Scholar; and Payne, A., ‘The Beauchamps and the Nevilles’, in Marks, R. and Williamson, P. (eds), Gothic: Art for England 1400-1547 (London, 2003), pp. 219-21Google Scholar.

3 Cocayne, Complete Peerage, pp. 381-82.

4 See Dugdale, , Warwickshire, I, p. 409 Google Scholar; and Hicks, ‘The Beauchamp Trust’, p. 139.

5 Dugdale, , Warwickshire, 1, p. 411 Google Scholar.

6 For the full text of the will, see Hearne, T., Historia vitae et regni Ricardi II (Oxford, 1729), p. 241 Google Scholar.

7 For example, see Marks and Williamson, Gothic, p. 220; Dugdale, , Warwickshire, 1, p. 445 Google Scholar; and Lindley, P., ‘Una Grande Opera al mio Re: Gilt-Bronze effigies in England from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance’, Journal of the British Archaeological Association, CXLIII (1990), p. 120 Google Scholar.

8 See Dugdale, , Warwickshire, 1, p. 379 Google Scholar; and Page, W., A History of the County of Warwick, VCH, 11 (London, 1908), p. 124 Google Scholar.

9 William Mauduit died without issue and the Earldom was therefore transferred to the son of his sister Isabel (sole heir to William) who had married William de Beauchamp of Elmley, County Worcester. See Dugdale, , Warwickshire, 1, p. 368 Google Scholar; and Cocayne, Complete Peerage, p. 368.

10 The right to elect the Dean and Chapter existed by 1286 or before: Styles, D., ‘Ministers’ Accounts of the Collegiate Church of St Mary Warwick 1432-85’, Dugdale Society, XXVI (1969), p. xxv Google Scholar.

11 England in the 14th century, Proceedings of the Harlaxton symposium (Woodbridge, 1986), p. 161.

12 For proposed end dates, see Dugdale, Warwickshire, p. 401; and Stephens, W. B., A History of the County of Warwick, VCH, VIII (London, 1969), p. 525 Google Scholar.

13 Cocayne, Complete Peerage, p. 378; and Dugdale, Warwickshire, p. 403.

14 See, for example, Dugdale, Warwickshire, p. 438.

15 For example, Dugdale, Warwickshire; Nichols, J. G., Description of the Church of St Mary, Warwick and of the Beauchamp Chapel (London, 1838)Google Scholar; and Gough, R., Description of the Beauchamp Chapel adjoining to the Church of St Mary at Warwick and the Monuments of the Earls of Warwick (London, 1809)Google Scholar.

16 Charwin, P. B., ‘The Decoration of the Beauchamp Chapel, Warwick, with special reference to the sculptures’, Archaeologia, LXXVII (1928), p. 313 Google Scholar. Chatwin also published in the same year the following: ‘Recent Discoveries in the Beauchamp Chapel Warwick’, Birmingham Archaeological Society, LIII (1928), pp. 145-57; and ‘Some Notes of the Painted Windows of the Beauchamp Chapel Warwick’, Birmingham Archaeological Society, LIII (1928), pp. 158-66.

17 See Hearne, Historia vitae, p. 241; or Dugdale, Warwickshire, p. 412.

18 Salzman, L. F., Building in England down to 1540. A Documentary History (Oxford, 1952), pp. 506-07Google Scholar. It is not necessarily the case that all such figures are dealing with like for like circumstances, and it should be noted that this sum included all wages, but seems to have excluded materials, whereas the Beauchamp Chapel sum includes both for the Chapel and for the tomb.

19 Harvey, J. H., The Perpendicular Style (London, 1978), p. 148 Google Scholar; based on T. F. Hobson’s study of the accounts this cost included that of the chancel building, the roof, the glazing and the pavement.

20 R. Marks, ‘Entumbid Right Princely: the Beauchamp Chapel at Warwick and the Politics of Interment’, inaugural lecture York University (1996), forthcoming.

21 The figure £2,481 4s. 7d. is quoted by Dugdale, Warwickshire, p. 445. It appears to be taken from the base of the list of accounts for the chapel, see further below. Styles, ‘Minister’s Accounts’, p. lii, however, suggests that the figure is £2,783 19s. 2d.

22 R. Marks, ‘Entumbid Right Princely: the Beauchamp Chapel at Warwick and the Politics of Interment’, inaugural lecture York University (1996), forthcoming. Also Marks, and Williamson, , Gothic, catalogue entry 89, p. 226 Google Scholar.

23 Marks, R, Stained Glass in England during the Middle Ages (London, 1993), p. 190 Google Scholar; also see White, G., ‘The iconography of the stained glass of the Beauchamp Chapel, St Mary’s Warwick’, journal of Stained Glass, XIX, no. 1 (1989-90), p. 136 Google Scholar.

24 For copies of the contracts, see Dugdale, Warwickshire, pp. 445-47; or Myers, A. (ed.), English Historical Documents 1327-1481 (London, 1969), pp. 1161-65Google Scholar.

25 Marks, R. and Williamson, P., Gothic, catalogue entry 87, p. 224 Google Scholar. For further information on the commissioning of the effigy, see P. Lindley, ‘Una Grande Opera al mio Re’, pp. 120-23.

26 Calendar of Patent Rolls H VI1436-41 (London, 1971), p. 429.

27 Stephens, , Warwick, VCH, III, p. 525 Google Scholar, refers to the possible presence on this site of part of the deanery, and this appears to be a not uncommon perception; however, Styles, ‘Ministers’ Accounts’, p. 11, note 1, refers to the presence of a two-storey sacristy to the south of the choir, and on p. xli she makes a specific reference to the need to move the sacristy in order to make room for the new Lady Chapel. Part of the confusion may have arisen because Beauchamp had made provision for the reconstruction of the deanery and the college, and this work took place between 1455 and 1463, for which also see Styles, ‘Minister’s Accounts’, pp. xxxvi and 56; and Hicks ‘Beauchamp Trust’, p. 140, and some may have conflated this project with the construction of his chapel. However, the reconstruction of the Deanery and College surely relates directly to two other events: one is, of course, the enlargement of the College by Beauchamp and this might easily account for his bequest for College buildings; the other is the series of thirty statutes issued by Bishop Bourchier in 1441 in response to an earlier visitation. The statutes had been undergoing revision since Thomas Beauchamp’s intervention in 1367, and the 1441 statutes confirmed and supplemented these setting out strict rules for the obligatory residence of the Dean and Canons, for example. The rebuilding of collegiate accommodation in response to newly revised and stringent statutes on residency is not unique. Note also that in 1455 Richard Neville granted land for the enlargement of the Deanery and College. I am particularly grateful to Charles Fonge for discussing the statutes with me and for drawing my attention to the 1455 reference. For further information and a more detailed discussion of the evolution of the statutes, see chapter 2 of C. Fonge, The Cartulary of St Mary’s Collegiate Church, Warwick, Studies in History of Medieval Religion, forthcoming. The Deanery and Vicars’ College were probably in the south-east corner of the churchyard, not far from the Beauchamp Chapel with the canons’ cemetery in between.

28 Hick, ‘The Beauchamp Trust’, p. 140. Rody died in 1458 and Throckmorton in 1445: Hugford saw the chapel through to completion along with Berkswell, but they died in 1469 and 1470 respectively (note that Hicks says Berkswell died in 1469, whereas Fonge, quoting the Register of Bishop Carpenter, states that he had died by 11 March 1470, see Fonge, Cartulary, forthcoming), leaving the completion of the Trust’s accounts and the translation of the earl’s body to Thomas Hugford’s successor, the younger Thomas Hugford, who became sole executor, for which see Hicks, ‘The Beauchamp Trust’, p. 140.

29 Calendar of Patent Rolls Henry VI1436-41 (London, 1971), p. 574. The reason for the issue of a royal patent for this purpose appears to be as a result of the need to arrange for the money to be paid out of the chancery as the new earl, Richard Beauchamp’s son, Henry, was still a minor and therefore the estate was at that time in the king’s hands; see Chatwin, ‘Recent Discoveries’, p. 146.

30 The accounts for the building of the Beauchamp Chapel are printed in Nichols, J. G., Description of the Church of St Mary, Warwick and of the Beauchamp Chapel (London, 1838), pp. 3336 Google Scholar.

31 Hicks, ‘The Beauchamp Trust’, p. 140.

32 Myers, English Historical Documents, pp. 1162-63.

33 Myers, English Historical Documents, p. 1161.

34 Nichols, Description of the Church of St Mary, Warwick, p. 35.

35 Nichols, Description of the Church of St Mary, Warwick, p. 35; and Harvey, J. H., English Medieval Architects. A Biographical Dictionary down to 1550, revd edn (Gloucester, 1984), p. 200 Google Scholar. Harvey refers to him as John Massingham III.

36 Myers, English Historical Documents, p. 1163.

37 Myers, English Historical Documents, p. 1165.

38 Nichols, Description of the Church of St Mary, Warwick, p. 36; and Dugdale, Warwickshire, p. 446.

39 See Hicks, ‘The Beauchamp Trust’, for details of the extended process of completing the earl’s wishes, the delays in conveyancing the land, much of which was related to the building at the college, and other places named in his will for chantries, at Elmley and at Tewkesbury, for example. Hicks suggests that ‘until religious provisions of the Trust were complete it could not be wound up and the estates could not devolve on the heirs’ (p. 144); he goes on to suggest that Hugford prolonged the Trust in the interests of the heirs of Anne Neville. Note that his only son Henry had died in 1445 aged twenty-two, leaving his sister as sole heir, that is Anne, who married Richard Neville. Neville retained those men serving as executors in his own service: Marks and Williamson, Gothic, p. 220.

40 He requested that his body be laid in a clean chest afore the altar on the right side of his father: See Hearne, Historia vitae, p. 241. It seems likely that up until the construction of the Beauchamp Chapel a Lady Chapel had existed in the south transept for the daily celebration of the Mass of the Virgin: Styles, ‘Minister’s Accounts’, p. xliii.

41 Dugdale, Warwickshire, p. 446; and Hicks, ‘The Beauchamp Trust’, p. 141.

42 Styles, ‘Minister’s Accounts’, p. 1 note 2: he was a senior bailiff between March 1437 and October 1440.

43 Chatwin, ‘Recent Discoveries’, p. 146.

44 Chatwin, ‘Recent Discoveries’, p. 146.

45 Harvey, English Medieval Architects, pp. 359 and 361.

46 For Lynne, see Harvey, English Medieval Architects, p. 192. For the reference to the appointment of Lynne, see Westminster Abbey Muniments 16,046, transcribed by Robinson, A., ‘Correspondence of Bishop Oliver King and Sir Reginald Bray’, Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society Proceedings, 60, part II (1914), pp. 110 Google Scholar.

47 Ross, C., ‘The Estates and Finances of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick’, Dugdale Occasional Papers, 12 (1956), pp. 56 Google Scholar.

48 Hearne, Historia vitae, p. 241; or Dugdale, Warwickshire, p. 411.

49 Dugdale, Warwickshire, p. 402.

50 Harvey, English Medieval Architects, p. 206.

51 Harvey, J. H. (ed.), William Worcestre Itineraries (Oxford, 1969), p. 219 Google Scholar.

52 Harvey, English Medieval Architects, pp. 315 and 206.

53 Chatwin, ‘Recent Discoveries’, pp. 150-51. He states that no trace of the medieval reredos was found behind the plaster.

54 Morris, R. K. and Shoesmith, R., Tewkesbury Abbey, History, Art and Architecture (Logaston, 2003), p. 173 Google Scholar.

55 At which date it was consecrated: Wilson, C., ‘The Medieval Monuments’, in A History of Canterbury Cathedral, ed. by Collinson, Patrick, Ramsey, Nigel and Sparks, Margaret (Oxford, 1995), p. 502 Google Scholar.

56 Woodman, F., The Architectural History of Canterbury Cathedral (London, 1981), p. 170 Google Scholar.

57 Marks, and Williamson, , Gothic, catalogue entry 228, p. 353 Google Scholar.

58 Alexander, J. and Binski, R, Age of Chivalry: Art in Plantagenet England 1200-1400 (London, 1987), catalogue entry 498, p. 417 Google Scholar.

59 Morris, R. K., ‘The Architecture of the Earls of Warwick in the Fourteenth Century’, in England in the 14th century, Proceedings of the Harlaxton symposium (Woodbridge, 1986), pp. 161-72Google Scholar.

60 Heard, K., ‘Death and representation in the fifteenth century: the Wilcote chantry chapel at North Leigh’, Journal of the British Archaeological Association, CLIV (2001), pp. 134-49CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

61 See Monckton, L., ‘Late Gothic Architecture in the South West’ (unpublished PhD, University of Warwick, 1999), 1, pp. 126-30Google Scholar.

62 Hastings, J. M., St Stephen’s Chapel (London, 1955)Google Scholar; and Alexander, and Binski, , Age of Chivalry, catalogue entries 324 and 325, pp. 337-39Google Scholar.

63 Alexander, and Binski, , Age of Chivalry, catalogue entries 324 and 325, pp. 337-39Google Scholar.

64 Harvey, English Medieval Architects, p. 336; and Marks, and Williamson, , Gothic, catalogue entry 246, p. 367 Google Scholar.

65 Harvey, English Medieval Architects, p. 92.

66 Marks, and Williamson, , Gothic, catalogue entry 246, p. 367 Google Scholar.

67 Morris and Shoesmith, Tewkesbury Abbey, pp. 149-50.

68 Morris and Shoesmith, Tewkesbury Abbey, pp. 149-50.

69 Morris and Shoesmith, Tewkesbury Abbey, p. 128; and see Fig. 10.22 on p. 129.

70 Harvey, J. H., ‘The Building of Wells Cathedral II: 1307-1508’, in Wells Cathedral, A History, ed. by Colchester, L. S. (Somerset, 1982), p. 85 Google Scholar.

71 For the dating of Ottery, see Dalton, J. N., The Collegiate Church of Ottery St Mary (Cambridge, 1917)Google Scholar.

72 Monckton, , ‘Late Gothic Architecture’, 1, pp. 106-44Google Scholar.

73 Monckton, , ‘Late Gothic Architecture’, 11, fig. 5.9 and for context, 1, pp. 154-57Google Scholar.

74 Harvey, ‘The Building of Wells Cathedral II’, p. 93.

75 Colchester, L. S., Wells Cathedral, New Bells Guide (London, 1987), p. 162 Google Scholar.

76 Monckton, , ‘Late Gothic Architecture’, 1, pp. 106-44Google Scholar.

77 Morris, R. K., ‘Gothic Architectural Stonework’, in AElfric’s Abbey: Excavations at Eynsham Abbey, Oxfordshire, 1989-92, ed. by Hardy, A., Dodd, A. and Keevil, G. D. (Oxford, 2003), p. 230 Google Scholar.

78 Harvey, J. H., The Perpendicular Style (London, 1978), p. 162 Google Scholar.

79 Harvey, The Perpendicular Style, p. 162.

80 Cocke, T. and Kidson, P., Salisbury Cathedral: Perspectives on the Architectural History, RCHME (London, 1993), p. 14 Google Scholar.

81 Harvey, English Medieval Architects, p. 200.

82 White, ‘Iconography of the Stained Glass of the Beauchamp Chapel’, p. 136.