Editing Eleanor cross (section)

==Background==

===Procession and burials===
[[File:Eleonora Eduard1.jpg|thumb|[[Eleanor of Castile]], Queen Consort of England 1272–1290]]

Eleanor of Castile died on 28 November 1290 at [[Harby, Nottinghamshire]].<ref>Cockerill 2014, pp. 342–343.</ref> Edward and Eleanor loved each other and much like his father, Edward was very devoted to his wife and remained faithful to her throughout their married lives. He was deeply affected by her death and displayed his grief by erecting twelve so-called Eleanor crosses, one at each place where her funeral [[cortège]] stopped for the night.<ref>{{harvnb|Morris|2009|pages=230–231}}</ref>

Following her death the body of Queen Eleanor was carried to [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]], about {{convert|7|mi|km}} away, where she was embalmed – probably either at the [[Gilbertine]] [[St Katherine's Priory, Lincoln|priory of St Katherine]] in the south of the city, or at the priory of the Dominicans.<ref>Powrie 1990, pp. 32–34.</ref> Her [[Organ (anatomy)|viscera]], with the exception of her heart, were buried in the Angel Choir of [[Lincoln Cathedral]] on 3 December.<ref name="cock344">Cockerill 2014, p. 344.</ref> Eleanor's other remains were carried to London, a journey of about {{convert|180|mi|km}}, that lasted 12 days. Her body was buried in [[Westminster Abbey]], at the feet of her father-in-law King [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] on 17 December; while her heart was buried in the church of the London Dominicans' priory at [[Blackfriars, London|Blackfriars]] (a house that she and Edward had heavily patronised) on 19 December, along with those of her young son [[Alphonso, Earl of Chester]], who had died in 1284, and of [[John de Vesci]], who had died in 1289.<ref>Cockerill 2014, p. 348.</ref>

===Purpose and parallels===
[[File:Hennequin und Herman von) Brüder (Pol Limburg 002.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Illumination from the [[Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry]] ({{circa|1412}}–1416) depicting a cross possibly representing one of the ''montjoies'' of [[Louis IX of France|Louis IX]]<ref name="evans"/>]]
{{see also|market cross|preaching cross}}
Eleanor's crosses appear to have been intended in part as expressions of royal power; and in part as [[cenotaph]]s to encourage [[chantry chapel|prayers for her soul]] from travellers.<ref>''Chronicle of St Albans''.</ref><ref>Colvin 1963, p. 485.</ref><ref>Cockerill 2014, pp. 351–52.</ref> On the pedestal of each was inscribed the phrase ''Orate pro anima'' ("Pray for [her] soul").<ref>Hunter 1842, p. 180.</ref> Eleanor's reputation had been tarnished by her trafficking in Jewish loans and land acquisition in her own lifetime.<ref>{{harvnb|Hillaby|Hillaby|2013|p=13}}, {{harvnb|Davies|2018|pp=72-74}}, {{harvnb|Morris|2009|p=225}}</ref> Favourable mentions in contemporary chronicles do not emerge until the succession of her son.{{sfn|Parsons|1995|pp=216-7}}The Crosses have been an important element in forming her reputation as an idealised Queen, focusing attention on her relationship with Edward.<ref>{{harvnb|Davies|2018|pp=68, 74-79}}</ref>

It was not unknown for [[memorial cross]]es to be constructed in the middle ages, although they were normally isolated instances and relatively simple in design.  A cross in the [[Strand, London|Strand]], just outside the [[City of London]], was said to have been erected by [[William II of England|William II]] in memory of his mother, [[Matilda of Flanders|Queen Matilda]] (d. 1083). [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] erected one at [[Merton, London (parish)|Merton]], Surrey, for his cousin the [[William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey|Earl of Surrey]] (d. 1240). Another was erected at [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]] for Edward I's sister [[Beatrice of England|Beatrice]] (d. 1275). Yet another, almost contemporary with the Eleanor crosses, was erected near [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]] for Edward's mother, [[Eleanor of Provence]] (d.1291).<ref name="colv484_5">Colvin 1963, pp. 484–85.</ref><ref>Parsons 1991, pp. 18, 60.</ref><ref>Parsons 1995, p. 209.</ref>

The closest precedent for the Eleanor crosses, and almost certainly their model, was the series of nine crosses known as ''montjoies'' erected along the funeral route of King [[Louis IX of France]] in 1271. These were elaborate structures incorporating sculptural representations of the King, and were erected in part to promote his [[canonisation]] (a campaign that in 1297 succeeded). Eleanor's crosses never aspired to this last purpose, but in design were even larger and more ornate than the ''montjoies'', being of at least three rather than two tiers.<ref name="evans">{{harvnb|Evans|1949|pages=13–16}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Robert |last=Branner |author-link=Robert Branner |chapter=The Montjoies of Saint Louis |editor1-first=Douglas |editor1-last=Fraser |editor2-first=Howard |editor2-last=Hibbard |editor2-link=Howard Hibbard |editor3-first=Milton J. |editor3-last=Lewine |title=Essays in the History of Architecture presented to Rudolf Wittkower |location=London |publisher=Phaidon |year=1967  }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=John |last=Zukowsky |title=Montjoies and Eleanor Crosses reconsidered |journal=[[Gesta (journal)|Gesta]] |volume=13 |issue=1 |year=1974 |pages=39–44 |doi=10.2307/766698 |jstor=766698 |s2cid=193389410 }}</ref><ref name="colv484_5"/><ref>Cockerill 2014, p. 351.</ref>

Eleanor has subsequently been an unclear and contested figure in English history.<ref>Holinshed, Raphael, ''Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland''; quoted in {{harvnb|Griffin|2009|p=52}}</ref> Since her death, she has been portrayed in both positive and negative lights, with romantic and aggressive portrayals, focusing on her relationship with Edward or her role as a Spanish, foreign monarch.<ref>{{harvnb|Griffin|2015|p=204}}, {{harvnb|Cockerill|2014}}, {{harvnb|Griffin|2009|pp=53–57}}</ref>

===Commemoration===
====Tomb monuments====
Both the burial of Eleanor's body at Westminster and her visceral burial at Lincoln were subsequently marked by ornate [[effigial monument]]s, both with similar life-sized gilt bronze effigies cast by the goldsmith [[William Torell]].<ref>Colvin 1963, pp. 481–82.</ref><ref>Alexander and Binski 1987, pp. 364–66.</ref> Her heart burial at the Blackfriars was marked by another elaborate monument, but probably not with a life-sized effigy.<ref name="colv482_3">Colvin 1963, pp. 482–83.</ref><ref>Hunter 1842, pp. 186–87.</ref><ref name="gall79_80">Galloway 1914, pp. 79–80.</ref><ref>Cockerill 2014, pp. 350–351.</ref> The Blackfriars monument was lost following the priory's [[dissolution of the monasteries|dissolution]] in 1538.<ref name="colv482_3"/><ref name="gall79_80"/> The Lincoln monument was destroyed in the 17th century, but was replaced in 1891 with a reconstruction, not on the site of the original.<ref>{{cite book |first=A. F. |last=Kendrick |title=The Cathedral Church of Lincoln: a history and description of its fabric and a list of the bishops |location=London |publisher=G. Bell and Sons |year=1917 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cathedralchurcho00kend/page/130 130]–31 |url=https://archive.org/details/cathedralchurcho00kend }}</ref><ref>Parsons 1995, p. 208.</ref><ref>Galloway 1914, pp. 68–69 (gives the erroneous date of 1901).</ref> The Westminster Abbey monument survives.

====Form and content of the crosses====
The twelve crosses were erected to mark the places where Eleanor's funeral procession had stopped overnight.<ref>Botfield and Turner 1841.</ref> They take three part form, with the royal arms in the lower part, and statues of Eleanor above. In these, her crowned head is bowed, and she holds a sceptre. Her posture draws on [[Marian devotions|Marian]] imagery to suggest grace and submission, and the imagery echoes that of her tombs.{{sfn|Davies|2018|pp=74-75}} According to historian Paul Binski, their "elaborate display" conveys power as part of an authoritarian project; her statues' gaze should be interpreted as active, gazing out from a protected height onto her territory.{{sfn|Binski|1996|p=110}} They had a function that was both spiritual and temporal, binding localities with the source of power on earth, at Westminster.{{sfn|Davies|2018|p=85}}

=====Construction of the crosses=====
Their construction is documented in the executors' account rolls, which survive from 1291 to March 1294, but not thereafter.<ref>Botfield and Turner 1841.</ref> By the end of that period, the crosses at Lincoln, Hardingstone, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St Albans and Waltham were complete or nearly so, and those at Cheapside and Charing in progress; but those at Grantham, Stamford and Geddington apparently not yet begun. It is assumed that these last three were erected in 1294 or 1295, and that they were certainly finished before the financial crisis of 1297 which brought a halt to royal building works.<ref name="colv483_4">Colvin 1963, pp. 483–4.</ref> A number of artists worked on the crosses, as the account rolls show, with a distinction generally drawn between the main structures, made locally under the direction of master masons appointed by the King, and the statues of Eleanor, made of [[Caen stone]], and other sculptural details, brought from London. Master masons included Richard of Crundale, Roger of Crundale (probably Richard's brother), Michael of Canterbury, Richard of Stow, John of Battle and Nicholas Dymenge.<ref name="colv483_4"/> Sculptors included [[Alexander of Abingdon]] and William of Ireland, both of whom had worked at Westminster Abbey, who were paid £3 6s. 8d. apiece for the statues; and Ralph of Chichester.<ref>Hastings 1955, pp. 20–21.</ref><ref>Powrie 1990, p. 65.</ref><ref name="Cockerill 2014, p. 357">Cockerill 2014, p. 357.</ref><ref>Liversidge 1989.</ref>

====Shrine of Little St Hugh====
{{see also|Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln#Veneration}}
[[File:Drawing of the Shrine of Little St Hugh, Lincoln Cathedral, William Dugdale, 1641 crop.png|thumb|upright=0.6|right|Drawing of the Shrine of Little St Hugh, Lincoln Cathedral, William Dugdale, 1641]]
The tomb of [[Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln]] was rebuilt around the same time, probably by the same crafstmen and designers as the Eleanor crosses. It featured the [[Coat of arms of England|royal arms]], and decoration commemorating Eleanor.<ref name="David Stocker, 1986">Stocker 1986.</ref><ref name="Stacey, 2001">Stacey 2001.</ref> David Stocker believes that the shrine "displays such close acquaintance with the Eleanor crosses that it has to be considered alongside them."<ref>Stocker, 1986; quoted in Hillaby & Hillaby 2013, p. 329.</ref>

The cult of Little St Hugh venerated a false [[blood libel|ritual murder]] allegation against the Jewish community of Lincoln, and was revived after the [[Edict of Expulsion|Expulsion of the Jews]] in 1290. Eleanor had been widely disliked for large-scale purchase of Jewish bonds, with the aim of requisitioning the lands and properties of those indebted.<ref>Hillaby & Hillaby 2013, p. 658</ref>  It has been suggested that the proximity of the shrine's design to the Eleanor crosses was deliberate, in order to position Edward and Eleanor as protectors of Christians against supposed Jewish criminality.<ref name="David Stocker, 1986"/><ref name="Stacey, 2001"/><ref>Hillaby 1994, pp. 90–98</ref> According to historian Joe Hillaby, the crosses and tomb amounted to a "propaganda coup".{{sfn|Hillaby|1994|pp=94-98}}