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Reading Abbey, Berkshire, South-Central England, British Isles [Map]

Reading Abbey, Berkshire is in Reading, Berkshire [Map], Abbeys in England.

1136 Death of King Henry I

1359 Double Royal Wedding

1449 Warwick "Kingmaker" Becomes Earl of Warwick

Death of King Henry I

On 3rd January 1136 King Henry I "Beauclerc" England was buried at Reading Abbey, Berkshire [Map]. The Archbishop of Canterbury William of Corbeil (age 66), Bishop of Winchester Henry of Blois (age 38), Bishop Roger of Sailsbury and Edwar,d Abbot of Reading, were present at the burial, where masses were sung, rich offerings made and alms were distributed to the poor of Reading. The dead king's effigy was displayed on a hearse, and his body was buried in a tomb before the abbey church's High Altar, while King Stephen (age 42) sat enthroned watching the rituals. The abbey church and the ground immediately outside became a desirable location for other royals and nobles to be buried.

Chronicle of Henry of Huntingdon 1135. [3rd January 1136]. At last, the royal remains were brought over to England, and interred, within twelve days of Christmas, in the abbey at Reading [Map], which King Henry had founded and richly endowed. There, King Stephen, after holding his court at London during Christmas, came to meet the body of his uncle, and William, archbishop of Canterbury, with many earls and great men, buried King Henry with the honours due to so great a prince.

Flowers of History by Roger of Wendover 1135. [3rd January 1136]. The corpse of the king lay a long time above ground at Rouen, where his entrails, brain, and eyes are buried; the rest of his body, cut with knives and seasoned with salt to destroy the offensive smell, which was great, and annoyed all who came near it, was wrapped in a bull's skin; and the physician who was engaged for a large sum of money to open his head with a hatchet, and extract the brain after it was already too much corrupted, notwithstanding that the head was wrapped up in several napkins, was poisoned by the noisome smell, and thus the money which he received was fatal to him; he was the last of king Henry's victims, for he had killed many before. The royal body was conveyed from thence to Caen, where it was placed in the church before the tomb of his father, who also reposes there. Immediately, a bloody and frightful liquor began to ooze through the bull's skin, which the attendants caught in basins, to the great horror of the beholders. At length the king's corpse was brought to England, and buried with royal pomp on his birth-day [3rd January 1136?], at Reading [Map], in the church which he had himself founded. The archbishops, bishops, and nobles of the kingdom were present at the ceremony.

On 23rd April 1151 Adeliza of Louvain Queen Consort England (age 48) died. She was buried at Reading Abbey, Berkshire [Map].

In April 1156 William Plantagenet IX Count Poitiers (age 2) died at Wallingford Castle [Map]. He was buried at Reading Abbey, Berkshire [Map] at the feet of his great-grandfather King Henry I "Beauclerc" England.

On 1st July 1175 Reginald de Dunstanville Fitzroy 1st Earl Cornwall (age 65) died at Chertsey, Surrey. He was buried at Reading Abbey, Berkshire [Map]. Earl Cornwall extinct. His son appears to have predeceaseed him by months.

In 1227 Hugh Mortimer died in a tournament. He was buried at Wigmore Abbey [Map]; his viscera were buried at Reading Abbey, Berkshire [Map]. His widow Eleanor Braose became a nun at Iffley.

On 22nd September 1232 John Cornwall died at Marlow, Buckinghamshire. He was buried at Reading Abbey, Berkshire [Map].

After 13th March 1271 Henry "Almain" Cornwall (deceased) was buried at Reading Abbey, Berkshire [Map].

Double Royal Wedding

On 19th May 1359, or thereabouts, a double-royal wedding celebration took place at Reading Abbey, Berkshire [Map] whereby two children of King Edward III of England (age 46) were married:

John of Gaunt 1st Duke Lancaster (age 19) and Blanche Duchess of Lancaster (age 17) were married. She by marriage Countess Richmond. She the daughter of Henry of Grosmont 1st Duke Lancaster (age 49) and Isabel Beaumont Duchess Lancaster (age 39). He the son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault Queen Consort England (age 44). They were half second cousin once removed. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King Henry III of England.

John Hastings 2nd Earl Pembroke (age 11) and Margaret Plantagenet Countess of Pembroke (age 12) were married. At the time John Hastings 2nd Earl Pembroke was a ward of King Edward III of England who would enjoy the benefit of the substantial revenue of the Earldom of Pembroke until John came of age nine years later in 1368. She died two or so years later probably of plague. She the daughter of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault Queen Consort England. He the son of Laurence Hastings 1st Earl Pembroke and Agnes Mortimer Countess of Pembroke (age 42). They were half fourth cousins. He a great x 5 grandson of King John of England.

On 24th August 1369 Edmund Mortimer 3rd Earl March, Earl of Ulster (age 17) and Philippa Plantagenet Countess March 2nd Countess Ulster (age 14) were married at Reading Abbey, Berkshire [Map]. She by marriage Countess March. He by marriage Earl of Ulster. She the daughter of Lionel of Antwerp 1st Duke of Clarence and Elizabeth Burgh Duchess of Clarence. He the son of Roger Mortimer 2nd Earl March and Philippa Montagu Countess March (age 37). They were fourth cousins. She a granddaughter of King Edward III of England.

On 29th November 1416 Constance York Countess Gloucester (age 42) died at Reading Abbey, Berkshire [Map].

Warwick "Kingmaker" Becomes Earl of Warwick

On 3rd June 1449 Anne Beauchamp 15th Countess Warwick (age 5) died at Ewelme, Oxfordshire aged four whilst in the care of Alice Chaucer Duchess Suffolk (age 45). She was buried at Reading Abbey, Berkshire [Map]. Baron Burghesh abeyant between her three-half aunts and her full aunt Anne Beauchamp 16th Countess Warwick (age 22). It isn't clear why the barony was not subject to the same legal dispute that the Earldom of Warwick was subject to - see following.

After a prolonged legal dispute between her three half-aunts, Margaret Beauchamp Countess Shrewsbury and Waterford (age 45), Eleanor Beauchamp Duchess Somerset (age 40), Elizabeth Beauchamp Baroness Latimer (age 32) and her full aunt Anne Beauchamp 16th Countess Warwick, the courts decided her full aunt Anne Beauchamp should succeed. Anne Beauchamp succeeded 16th Countess Warwick. Her husband Richard Neville (age 20) by marriage Earl Warwick; the first step on his journey to becoming Kingmaker.

The decision of the court was not subscribed to by Edmund Beaufort Earl Somerset (age 43) who was married to Anne's half-sister Eleanor; he wanted his share of the considerable Beauchamp inheritance.