of the Princess Matilda for the Emperor Henry V., to whom the royal maiden, then but five years of age, was solemnly betrothed by proxy, no small disparity in age obtaining between the noble pair, for her illustrious suitor had seen no less than forty summers. In the reign of the first Henry, scenes of regal festivity and splendour within the walls of the castle were not unfrequent. Here, on the 29th of January, 1121, he was united to his second queen, Adelaide, daughter of Godfrey of Louvain.

"The coronation of this lady," says Speed, 66 was appointed to be celebrated by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, the infirmity of palsy so troubling Ralph, Archbishop of Canterbury, that himself could not perform it; yet, because Roger was not appointed by him, he forbad his employment; and the king wearing his crown, saith the monk of Chester, this testy old man could hardly be entreated by the lords to withhold his hands from striking the same from the king's head. Of such spirits then were those spiritual prelates, and jealousy to lose their pompous pre-eminence of honour.'

At the Whitsuntide festival, in the year 1127, held at Windsor, David of Scotland and the English barons swore fealty to the Empress Maude.

The castle of Henry I. differed but little in point of extent from that part which now forms the middle and lower wards. The king's house occupied the upper ward, and the hall formed a portion of a line of buildings separating the two courts, and defended on the lower side by a ditch. A few architectural fragments, in the Norman style, brought to light from the *Speed's "History of Great Britain," p. 459.

excavations made in the castle-yard during the late improvements under Sir Jeffry Wyatville, are, perhaps, the only existing relics of the palatial buildings of the twelfth century at Windsor, and might probably belong to a chapel which then formed part of the castle, and which is supposed to have covered part of the site of the military knights' houses. This chapel was dedicated to Edward the Confessor, and had an establishment of eight secular priests..

In the reign of Stephen, Windsor was considered the most important fortress in the kingdom, next to the Tower of London; and in the treaty of peace between him and Duke Henry, afterwards Henry II., it is mentioned as "Mota de Windesor." In the year 1170, the latter held a parliament in the castle, when William of Scotland and his brother David visited the monarch to present their congratulations on his return from Brittany. Five years afterwards, a treaty of peace was concluded on the same spot between Henry and Roderic O'Connor, King of Connaught, by which the coast of Ireland, from Dublin to Waterford, was ceded to the English monarch. In the same reign, expenses were incurred in repairing or improving the royal buildings, of which there are several curious entries in the records of that period. In the nineteenth year of Henry II.'s reign, the expenditure on the castle was estimated at £73 7s. 6d.; and in following years different sums are mentioned as paid by Master Geoffry, who, from the frequent occurrence of his name, seems to have been master of the works. Among the appendages to the royal palace at that time was a vineyard, and the expense of the vintage is specified in the annual charges relating to Windsor.

In the reign of Richard I., Windsor was involved in the troubles of the period. It was twice besieged and taken. Hugh de Pudsey, the martial Bishop of Durham, occupied it, as regent, during the absence of the chivalrous monarch, but was compelled to surrender it to Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, a brother prelate, of similar warlike propensities. He retained it for awhile, and then delivered it to the Earl of Arundel, who, in his turn, yielded it up into the hands of Prince John. It was subsequently besieged and taken by the barons who remained faithful to the interest of their absent sovereign.

The annals of Windsor bear testimony to the worthless character of the next sovereign. It is recorded that John imprisoned in the old castle of Windsor the Lord of Bramber and his wife and children, and starved them to death, because, when the imperious monarch sent for the baron's eldest son to be his page, the mother heroically exclaimed, that she would not surrender her children to a king who had murdered his nephew. Within the walls of Windsor Castle the same monarch afterwards sought security, during his perilous struggle with the barons; and thither he repaired, after the charter of England's freedom had been extorted from him on the neighbouring plain of Runnymede, to brood over plans of revenge, and to lament, with the fury of a maniac, over the concessions he had been forced to make. Attempting again to invade the rights of his subjects, he was once more assailed by his powerful barons, who invested the castle, but were obliged by the garrison to raise the siege.

Henry III., a munificent patron of architecture, soon after his accession to the throne made very considerable additions to

the castle. In the eighth year of his reign, it appears, from existing records, that the sheriffs of London were commanded to deliver one hundred of fir to Master Thomas, for the purpose of making doors and windows, an order which probably relates to some new and stately edifice.

In the twenty-third year of the same reign an order was given to the bailiffs of Windsor to paint the queen's chamber, to line or plaster the chamber of the prince, to make a private room contiguous, to put iron bars in the windows, and to form a floor in the turret of the gate, so as to divide it into two stories, and to cover it with lead; entries which, though trivial in themselves, become interesting as indications of the state of domestic architecture at that early age.

In the twenty-fourth year, Walter de Burgh was commanded to make a certain apartment for the king's use in the Castle of Windsor, near the wall of the said castle, sixty feet in length and twenty-eight feet wide; and another apartment for the queen's use, which shall be contiguous to the king's, and under the same roof; and a chapel, seventy feet long and twenty-eight feet wide, along the same wall, so that a sufficient space shall be left between the aforesaid apartments and the said chapel to make a grass-plot. Respecting the royal habitation, nothing further can be ascertained than the dimensions. Of the chapel there are other notices, which prove it to have had the appendages of a galilee, or porch, a cloister, and a bell-tower. three years the walls of the chapel were ready for the roof, and a pressing order was addressed to the Archbishop of York to see the works completed. The roof is described as a lofty wooden

In

one, after the manner of that which was then being built at Lichfield; and directions are given that it should be lined and painted, so as to appear like stone; and, also, that it should be covered with lead. The same order directs a bell-tower to be erected in front of the chapel, to be built of stone, and of a size to hold three or four bells. Four gilt images are also to be provided, and placed where the king had previously determined. The cloisters seem to have been partially completed about this time, but some portion was not carried up to the roof until five years later, when six carrates of lead for covering it are mentioned, to be provided by the sheriffs of London. An order was also given to inclose the space from the door of the great hall to the galilee with a wall, ten feet high, with a small door near the wardrobe; and, also, to make a wooden barrier round the galilee, to prevent horses from approaching it.

re

"Many entries and particulars," observes Mr. Britton, specting towers, a new kitchen, an oriel, a private chapel, an oratory, accommodation for the queen, colours, boards, laths, lead, crenellation of towers, and walls; a salting-house, and other offices; a wardrobe for the queen's clothes, and a chamber for nurses, are specified in the items of accounts and works for this reign. A fountain, a conduit, a drawbridge, iron chains, a portcullis, a lavatory, a barbican, and many other domestic essentials, as well as military objects, were made and provided."*

To entertain the poor at certain seasons was deemed in those times no mean virtue; and in the twenty-fourth year of this reign an order was given to the bailiffs to fill the great hall of the * "Architectural Illustrations of Windsor Castle."-By Britton.