Editing Henry IV of England (section)

==== Burial ====
[[File:Canterbury Cathedral 26.jpg|thumb|left|Henry IV and Joan of Navarre, detail of their effigies in [[Canterbury Cathedral]]]]
[[File:King Henry IV from NPG (2).jpg|thumb|upright|16th century imaginary painting of Henry IV, [[National Portrait Gallery, London]]]]

Despite the example set by most of his recent predecessors, Henry and his second wife, [[Joan of Navarre, Queen of England|Joan]], were not buried at Westminster Abbey but at [[Canterbury Cathedral]], on the north side of [[Trinity Chapel]] and directly adjacent to the shrine of [[Thomas Becket|St Thomas Becket]]. Becket's cult was then still thriving, as evidenced in the monastic accounts and in literary works such as ''[[The Canterbury Tales]]'', and Henry seemed particularly devoted to it, or at least keen to be associated with it. The reasons for his interment in Canterbury are debatable, but it is highly likely that Henry deliberately associated himself with the martyr saint for reasons of political expediency, namely, the legitimisation of his dynasty after seizing the throne from [[Richard II of England|Richard II]].{{Sfn|Wilson|1990|pages=181–190}} Significantly, at his coronation, he was anointed with holy oil that had reportedly been given to Becket by the Virgin Mary shortly before his death in 1170;<ref>{{Cite book |last=Walsingham |first=Thomas |title=The St Albans Chronicle: The Chronica Maiora of Thomas Walsingham |publisher=Clarendon Press |editor-last=Taylor |editor-first=John |volume=II, 1394–1422 |location=Oxford |page=237 |translator-last=Taylor |translator-first=John |author-link=Thomas Walsingham |display-editors=et al.}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Pope John XXII to King Edward II of England, 2 June 1318 |date=1901 |work=English Coronation Records |pages=73–75 |editor-last=Legg |editor-first=L.G.W. |place=London |publisher=Archibald Constable & Co. |oclc=2140947 |ol=24187986M |editor-link=Leopold George Wickham Legg}}</ref> this oil was placed inside a distinct eagle-shaped container of gold. According to one version of the tale, the oil had then passed to Henry's maternal grandfather, Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster.{{Sfn|Walsingham|pp=237–241}}

Proof of Henry's deliberate connection to Becket lies partially in the structure of the tomb itself. The wooden panel at the western end of his tomb bears a painting of the martyrdom of Becket, and the tester, or wooden canopy, above the tomb is painted with Henry's personal motto, 'Soverayne', alternated by crowned golden eagles. Likewise, the three large coats of arms that dominate the tester painting are surrounded by collars of SS, a golden eagle enclosed in each tiret.{{Sfn|Wilson|1990|pages=186–189}} The presence of such eagle motifs points directly to Henry's coronation oil and his ideological association with Becket. Sometime after Henry's death, an imposing tomb was built for him and his queen, probably commissioned and paid for by Queen Joan herself.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Christopher |chapter=X. The Medieval Monuments |date=1995 |title=A History of Canterbury Cathedral |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor-last=Collinson |editor-first=Patrick |editor-link=Patrick Collinson |pages=451–510 |display-editors=et al. |isbn=9780198200512 |ol=1080250M}}</ref> Atop the tomb chest lie detailed [[alabaster#Gypsum alabaster|alabaster]] effigies of Henry and Joan, crowned and dressed in their ceremonial robes. Henry's body was evidently well embalmed, as an exhumation in 1832 established, allowing historians to state with reasonable certainty that the effigies do represent accurate portraiture.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Woodruff |first1=C. Eveleigh |title=Memorials of the Cathedral and Priory of Christ in Canterbury |last2=Danks |first2=William |date=1912 |publisher=E.P. Dutton & Co. |location=New York |pages=192–194 |author-link2=William Danks}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Antiquary |date=10 May 1902 |title=Exhumation of Henry IV |journal=[[Notes and Queries]] |series=9th series |volume=9 |issue=228 |page=369 |doi=10.1093/nq/s9-IX.228.369c}}</ref>