Effigy of Eleanor, Queen of Edward the First. ELEANOR, Queen of Edward the First, was the daughter of Ferdinand the Third, King of Castile, and only child of his second wife^a, Joan, daughter and heiress of John Earl of Ponthieu. She was married to him at Bures, in Spain, in 1254, and accompanied him to the Holy Land, where she is said to have preserved his life by sucking the poison out of a wound inflicted on him by the hand of an assassin. She bore him four sons and nine daughters, and died in attending him on an expedition towards Scotland, 27th November, 1290, at the house of Richard Weston, at Herdby, or Harby [Map], in the parish of North Clifton on the Trent, five miles from Lincoln. Her bowels were buried^a in Lincoln Cathedral [Map], and her body was conveyed for interment to the Abbey Church at Westminster. At every stage where it rested the King ordered a Cross to be placed. Fifteen are enumerated as having been erected in consequence. One at Herdby, whence the procession set out; and in the chapel of which place Edward also founded a chantry for her soul. The others at Lincoln, Newark [Map], Grantham [Map], Leicester [Map], Stamford [Map], Geddington [Map], Northampton, Stony Stratford [Map], Woburn, Dunstable [Map], St. Albans, Waltham, Cheapside (London), and at the village of Charing [Map], near the Minster where she was to be entombed. Herdby, Leicester, Woburn, and Cheap, are omitted by some authorities. These Crosses were adorned with statues of the Queen. Those at Geddington, Northampton, and Waltham are extant at this day. In gothic niches in the upper part have been female figures, very similar in style to that on her tomb; on the lower, shields charged with arms of England, Castile and León Arms, and Ponthieu Arms. Edward caused a monument to be erected to her memory near that of his father in the Confessor's Chapel, in Westminster Abbey, on which is placed her recumbent image of copper; and round the verge of the tomb the following inscription, in uncial letters:

ICY GYST ALIANOR IADIS REYNE DE ANGLETERRE, FEMME AL RE EDEWERD FtZ LE RE. OVNTIF DEL ALME DE LI DEV PVR SA PITE EYT MERCI. AMEN.

Sandford informs us that on a tablet of wood, hanging near her monument by an iron chain, were the following verses in Latin:

Nobilis Hispani jacet hie soror inclita regis, [A Spanish noblewoman lies here, the sister of a famous king]

Eximii consors Aleanora thori, [A great companion of Aleanora ?]

Edwardi primi Wallorum principis uxor, [The wife of Edward the First, Prince of Wales]

Cui pater Henricus tertius Anglus erat; [His father, Henry the Third, was an Englishman]

Hanc illi uxorem gnato petit; online princeps [He asks her to marry him; ? leader]

Legati munus suscipit ipse bono: [He himself undertakes the office of ambassador in good faith]Alphonso fratri placuit felix Hymeneus;

Germanam Edwardo nec sine dote dedit, [Not given to Edward without a dowry]

Dos preciara fuit nec tali indigna marito, [The gift was precious and not unworthy of such a husband]

Pontivo princeps munere dives erat; [? was rich in the role of prince]

Feminaconsilio prudens, pia, proie beata, [A prudent, pious, blessed woman]

Auxit amicitiis, auxit honore virum: [Who increased friendships, increasing the honor of his husband]

Disce niori. [Learn more]

Note a. In a tomb bearing her effigy of brass gilt, similar to that in Westminster Abbey, but destroyed in the Civil wars. On it was the following inscription:

HIC * SVNT * SEPVLTA * VICERA * ALIANORE * QVONDAM * REGINE * VXORIS * REGIS * EDVARDI * FILII * REGIS * HENRICI * CVIVS * ANIME * PROPICTETVR * DEVS * AMEN * PATER * NOSTER *

[Here in this sepulchre are buried the viscera of Queen Eleanor wife of King Edward I son of King Henry whose soul we give to God Amen Our Father]

After 20 May 1475. St Mary's Church, Ewelme [Map]. Monument to Alice Chaucer Duchess Suffolk (deceased). Wrist Garter. The effigy was, apparently, viewed to determine how a lady should wear the garter at the re-commencement of Lady of the Garter appointments in 1901 after a gap of several hundred years. A particularly fine Cadaver Underneath the chest on which Alice's effigy lies. Full-length in a shroud. Chest with Angels with Rounded Wings holding Shields.

Detail of the South Side of the Monument to Alice Chaucer Duchess Suffolk.

1 Roet Arms impaled Chaucer Modern Arms. Alice's paternal grandparents.

2 De La Pole Arms impaled Stafford Arms. Her third husbands parents Michael de la Pole 2nd Earl Suffolk and Katherine Stafford Countess Suffolk.

3 Montacute and Monthermer Arms impaled Francis? Possibly Alice's second husband's parents John Montagu 3rd Earl Salisbury and Maud Francis Countess of Salisbury.

4 De La Pole Arms quartered Chaucer Modern Arms.

5 Roet Arms quartered Chaucer Modern Arms.

6 Chaucer Modern Arms.

7 De La Pole Arms.

8 De La Pole Arms impaled England Henry IV Arms signifying Alice's son John's (age 32) marriage to Elizabeth of York (age 31) sister of King Edward IV of England (age 33).

Detail of the North Side of the monument to Alice Chaucer Duchess Suffolk. Arms from left to right ...

1 De La Pole Arms quartered Chaucer Modern Arms impaled Unknown.

2 De La Pole Arms impaled Chaucer Modern Arms. Her third husband William "Jackanapes" de la Pole 1st Duke of Suffolk.

3 De La Pole Arms quarted Chaucer Modern Arms. Alice's son John de la Pole 2nd Duke of Suffolk by her second husband William "Jackanapes" de la Pole 1st Duke of Suffolk.

4 Chaucer Modern Arms.

5 Montacute and Monthermer Arms quartering impaled Chaucer. Alice's second husband Thomas Montagu 1st Count Perche 4th Earl Salisbury.

6 Roet Arms. Alice's paternal grandmother Philippa Roet.

7 England Henry IV Arms impaling Roet Arms probably signifying John of Gaunt 1st Duke Lancaster and Katherine Roet Duchess Lancaster, Katherine being the sister of Alice's paternal grandmother Philippa Roet who married Geoffrey Chaucer.

8 Roet Arms impaling Chaucer Modern Arms. Her paternal grandparents Geoffrey Chaucer and Philippa Roet.

Katherine Stafford Countess Suffolk: Around 1376 she was born to Hugh Stafford 2nd Earl Stafford and Philippa Beauchamp Countess Stafford. She a great x 3 granddaughter of King Edward I of England. Before 1394 Michael de la Pole 2nd Earl Suffolk and she were married. She by marriage Countess Suffolk. She the daughter of Hugh Stafford 2nd Earl Stafford and Philippa Beauchamp Countess Stafford. He the son of Michael de la Pole 1st Earl Suffolk and Katherine Wingfield Countess Suffolk. She a great x 3 granddaughter of King Edward I of England. On 08 Apr 1419 Katherine Stafford Countess Suffolk died.

Philippa Roet: Around 1346 she was born to Giles "Payne" Roet. Before 1367 Geoffrey Chaucer and she were married at St Mary de Castro Leicester, Leicestershire. Excerpta Historica Page 152. Philippa, his eldest daughter, is stated to have been the maid of honour to Philippa Queen of Edward the Third who by the name of "Philippa Pycard" obtained a grant of one hundred shillings per annum on the 20th January 1370, and married Geoffrey Chaucer, to whom, in consequence, it is supposed, of this connexion, the Duke of Lancaster granted the Castle of Dodington. Of John of Gaunt's connexion with Chaucer, however, no proof has been found; and the circumstance of the lady assigned to him for his wife being styled "Philippa Pycard," instead of Roelt, renders the assertion, that she was the sister of the Duchess of Lancaster, extremely doubtful. Around 1387 Philippa Roet died.