her husband king William, large enough to hold two hundred knights sitting down to dinner; and which, along with her chair of gold, and golden table twelve feet long and a foot and a-half wide, her brother, our Richard I. got back for his sister from Tancred: "Ipse (Richardus rex) enim a rege Tancredo exigebat—cathedram auream ad opus ejusdem Johannæ de consuetudine reginarum illius regni et ad opus sui ipsius mensam auream de longitudine duodecim pedum, et de latitudine unius pedis et semis et quoddam tentorium de serico magnum adeo quod ducenti milites in eo possint simul manducare."[1]
Among the old copes, dalmatics and chasubles which, one after the other, find their way at last to collections such as this, must the historian seek for what remains of those gorgeous robes worn at some interesting ceremony, or on some stirring occasion, by personages celebrated in our national annals. For example, along with the several gifts bestowed upon the church of Ely, by king Edgar, we find mentioned his mantle of costly purple and gold, of which was made a vestment: "Enimvero chlamydem suam de insigni purpura ad modum loricæ auro undique contextam illuc (ecclesiæ Eliensi) contulit rex Ædgarus."[2] Of a whole set of mass vestments at Windsor made out of the crimson and gold cloth powdered with birds, once the array worn by a royal princess when she was married, we have already spoken.
Queen Philippa gave to Symon, bishop of Ely, the gown she wore at her churching after the birth of her eldest son the Black Prince. The garment was of murrey-coloured velvet, powdered with golden squirrels, and so ample that it furnished forth three copes for choir use: "Contulit sibi (Symoni de Monte Acuto) Domina regina quandam robam preciosam cum omnibus garniamentis de velvet murreo squirrillis aureis pulverizato; qua induta erat in die Purificationis suæ post partum Principis excellentissimi Domini Edwardi filii sui primogeniti. De quibus garniamentis tres capæ efficiuntur," &c.[3] To St. Alban's Abbey was sent by Elizabeth Lady Beauchamp the splendid mantle made of cloth of gold lined with crimson velvet which Henry V. had on as he rode in state on horseback through London, the day before his coronation. Also another gown of green and gold velvet out of both of which vestments were made: "Elizabeth Beauchamp mulier nobilis . . . contulit monasterio S. Albani quandam togam pretiosissimam auro textam duplicatam cum panno de velvetto rubeo resperso cum rosis aureis quæ quondam
