The History of London Part 21

~La Roch.e.l.le~: a seaport in France on the Atlantic, some distance north of Bordeaux.

~Saintes~: a French town about thirty-eight miles from La Roch.e.l.le.

~St. Thomas Becket~, the murdered Archbishop of Canterbury, who was canonised, that is, named a saint after his death.

~t.i.tular~: giving his name to the bridge.

~crypt~: an underground or lower room used as a chapel or burying-place.

16. LONDON BRIDGE. PART II.

~King Edward I~: 1272-1307 A.D.

~haberdashers~: dealers in 'small wares' such as cotton, tape, needles, and pins.

~Hans Holbein~: a celebrated German painter who came to live in England and was introduced to Henry VIII.

~marine painters~: artists who excel in painting boats, ships, and sea scenes. (Latin _mare_, the sea.)

~'shooting' the bridge~: pa.s.sing through the arches in a boat.

~Queen Henrietta~ was the queen of Charles I. of England. After the Civil War she withdrew to France, where she died in 1669.

~Rubens~: a very celebrated Flemish painter, born in 1577, died at Antwerp in 1640.

~Sir Thomas Wyatt~ headed a rebellion in Kent, which was provoked by Mary's marriage with Philip of Spain and the restoration of Roman Catholicism. He was about to cross London Bridge, but finding this impossible crossed the Thames at Kingston. The rising was a failure, and Wyatt was executed, 1554.

~Sir William Wallace~: a brave Scotch gentleman who led the Scotch against Edward I., who was trying to deprive Scotland of its independence. Wallace was finally taken and executed as a traitor at Tyburn, 1305.

~Jack Cade~ headed a rebellion in Kent in 1450 through dissatisfaction with the government of Henry VI.: 30,000 rebels gathered on Blackheath, but the movement ended in failure and Cade was slain.

~Sir Thomas More~: the good and learned chancellor of Henry VIII., and author of a famous book called 'Utopia.' He was executed as a traitor in 1535.

~St. Thomas-on-the-Bridge~: that is, Thomas Becket, to whom the bridge was dedicated.

~pageant~: a splendid show or procession.

~ex-apprentice~: one who has been once an apprentice.

17. THE TOWER OF LONDON. PART I.

~Dominate~: to lord over, to overawe, to be master of. (Latin _dominus_, a master, lord.)

~Crusade~: an expedition under the banner of the _Cross_ to recover the Holy Land from the Turks. Richard I. went on the third Crusade in 1191.

~antiquaries~: people who study ancient things.

~mediaeval~: made during the middle ages; the period, roughly speaking, between the time of the Romans and the reign of Henry VII. (400-1485).

~lieutenant~: an officer in command of the Tower.

~keep~: the strongest part of a fortress or castle.

~insignia~: the badges of any office.

~menagerie~: a collection of wild animals.

~Queen Anne Boleyn~, to marry whom, Henry VIII. divorced Catherine of Aragon. She was the mother of Queen Elizabeth.

~Lady Jane Grey~ was proclaimed Queen by the Duke of Northumberland on the death of Edward VI., but the attempt to prevent Mary's accession was a failure, and Lady Jane Grey was executed in 1554.

~Guy Fawkes~: a conspirator who tried to blow up the King and Parliament in 1605.

~The unfortunate princes~ were Edward V., son of Edward IV., and the rightful king, and Richard Duke of York, his younger brother, murdered in the Tower by the usurper Richard III., 1483.

18. THE TOWER OF LONDON. PART II.

~Allegiance~: the duty due from a subject to his liege the sovereign.

~Lord Hastings~ was executed by order of the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III., in 1483 for supporting the side of Edward V.

and his relations.

~ordnance~: artillery, cannon, big guns.

~antipast~: aftertaste.

~clerk~: a clergyman, a scholar, because in early times all learning was confined to the clergy.

19. THE PILGRIMS.

~ague~: a fever coming on at intervals, with fits of shivering.

~isolation~: living away from outside communication, a lonely position like that of men on an _island_ cut off from the rest of the world.

~Flemings~: the people of Flanders, a district now comprising parts of Belgium, South Holland, and North France.

~Walsingham~: a place in the north of Norfolk, where was a famous shrine.

~Glas...o...b..ry~: a small town near Wells, in Somersetshire.

~Compostella~: a place in Spain where is the shrine of St. James, the patron saint of Spain.

~Chaucer~: the great early English poet, born in London 1328, died 1400.

~expiation~: making amends for, atonement.