Royal History @ Charing Cross
February 2nd, 2010 | 
Author: It may be particularly central, but I tend to avoid charing Cross Tube station. It seems more greyish, more depressing than any of the others… Although I read cineast do prefer it when they need a “modern” station in the background!
I took a different entrance than I usually do and suddenly found this black and white mural. Quite a long one – a hundred meters, inspired by medieval design.
This scene was drawn by David Gentleman to commemorate Eleanor de Castille’s (Edward I’s wife) funeral trip.
What interest? Wait – it’s quite an atypic last journey…
Edward I had business to do in Nottinghamshire. His spouse followed, though at a slower rater as she was feverish. She will not reach th final destination, dying a little before Lincoln. The King arrives in time to listen to her death wishes. He’s heartbroken – 36 years of marriage – she was only 13 when they wedded – 16 children and one of the happiest royal marriages in the British History…
The Queen wanted to lay in Westminster Abbey. 145 miles from there – we are in 1290 and the roads are not so good. She is therefor embalmed for the journey. That implies evisceration… her organs will be buried in Lincoln’s cathedral (and are still there to this day).
The trip back will take 12 days. Inspired by the French King Louis IX’s funeral procession (the only French king to have been cannonised, by the way), he decides to have a cross put up each time they stop for the night – a symbol of his grief and a hope that traveller’s will pray for Eleanor’s soul. Time is short, it will first be a wooden cross, replaced in the following years by sculpted stone ones. All of them must follow three steps: the lower base must show the late queen’s coats of arms, the middle level have statues of Eleanor then finish by a column topped by a cross.
Out of them all (Lincoln, Grantham, Stamford, Geddington, Northampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St Albans, Waltham, Westcheap, Charing), only three survived. Note that the last one was in Charing… which name transformed in time in Charing Cross… Unfortunately, it was destroyed during the Civil War, and replaced by an equastrian statue of Charles I (considered as the true center of London). A more intricate copy was built during the Victorian times, just in front of the actual Charing Cross railway station, a street from there.
Following her wishes, her body rests in Westminster Abbey… and her heart in the Blackfriars priory.
And you thought it was just a silly mural, eh?
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ooooooh… Well I learned something today… Though this whole “let’s embalm my wife” is a bit yuuuuuuuuck!
I had no idea what the cross was in Charing Cross, London’s tube stations are so much more interesting than Paris’!
Ah, knew you would just love this one!
This came as i’m getting to know a little more about Louis IX through Vault of the bones and it seemed like pieces of a puzzle being put together (although I failed to get Mathieu as excited as I was).
Embalming was quite common at the time, from what I understand – byt the time everyone had paid their respect, etc, better to keep a, er… good appearance.
I wonder what we could find about Paris stations though, if we started digging? The history of Les Halles is as morbid, when you think about it?
Sympa l’histoire comme ça. Merci.
Apres avoir hai les cours d’histoire barbant, longue liste de dates et noms interminables… Je me suis mise ici – comme Bibsa – aux romans historiques que je devore. Si l’on m’avait mis ce genre de livres entre les mains a l’epoque, je serais drolement fortiche! L’histoire en s’amusant, quel atout extra…