CHAPTER VI GREENWICH PALACE

Greenwich Palace.

Greenwich was the sea palace of the English monarchs. It stood upon the edge of the broad and tidal River Thames, which was salt to the taste at the time when the Tudor monarchs gazed over its sparkling waters. [pg 28] From their palace windows Henry VIII. and his illustrious daughter Elizabeth watched the busy vessels passing down to the sea, laden with wool and other merchandise, to return filled with silks, and spices, and precious metals; and looked with proud satisfaction at their ships of war lying anchored close at hand at Deptford. Warships had appeared at Greenwich very early in its history, when it was a mere fishing village sheltered beneath the green slope of Blackheath. The Danes had arrived in 1009, flying their raven flag, seeking tribute money from Ethelred the ill-advised. During one of their visits, these ruthless Norsemen murdered Alphege, the Archbishop of Canterbury, by aiming beef bones, so it is said, at the good man's head.

It was from their sea palace, too, that the royal rulers watched the departure and return of two famous explorers. On a certain day in May, 1553, Sir Hugh Willoughby sailed from Deptford with his small expedition to search for a North-East passage to China. Young King Edward, already in the last stages of his wasting illness, was brought to the window to see the ships depart with their brave commander on board, who was destined never to return, being found frozen to death in his cabin in the Arctic ice. Crowds gathered along the shore, the nobles and courtiers thronged the palace windows as the ships sailed by, discharging their guns in a final salute, so that the surrounding hills echoed. Twenty-seven years later, a small weather-beaten vessel, The Golden Hind, came to anchor at Deptford after a momentous voyage round the world, in which battle and tempest had been braved, and little known lands visited. Its dauntless commander shortly after was honoured by a visit from his sovereign [pg 29] lady, Queen Elizabeth, who, forgiving his irregular deeds because of their success, knighted him upon his own deck, causing him to arise as Sir Francis Drake.

Though pre-eminently associated with the Tudor monarchs who loved their healthy royal home, which felt the sea breezes coming up the river, Greenwich had been a royal possession for many years. Henry IV. dated his will from his manor of Greenwich, while his son, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, was the real founder of the palace. Gaining permission from his nephew, Henry VI., for whom he had acted as regent during his minority, he erected a stone manor-house, calling it Placentia. Disasters fell thick upon "good Duke Humphrey," as he has been called. His wife Eleanor was accused of witchcraft, and after penance in the streets of London, was imprisoned for the remainder of her life, while he himself, falling under the displeasure of the haughty Margaret of Anjou, was arrested for high treason, dying suddenly a few days later under suspicion of poison. When it reverted to the crown, both Henry VI. and Edward IV. lived at Placentia, and Henry VII. wooed and won his Yorkist bride there, but it is to Henry VIII. that Greenwich owes its fame.

Born at Greenwich in 1491, baptized in the former parish church in a silver font "well padded with soft linen," Henry VIII. spent much of his time at his birthplace. He rebuilt the palace, erecting an unfortified dwelling, the sovereigns no longer requiring to dwell within a castle. His two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, were born in the palace, their royal father, though disappointed at the non-arrival of a Prince, ordering all reverence to be paid to the infant Princesses. Queen Katharine of Aragon spent some happy years at Greenwich [pg 30] before Henry was led away by the charms of Anne Boleyn. Henry at that time seems to have been full of buoyant life and good-humour, enjoying the rough and tumble of tournaments in the park, riding out in the early morning of the First of May to bring in the blossom, and rollicking in the dances and pageants of the time. It was at one of the tournaments that Henry last saw Anne Boleyn, who was acting the part of the Queen of Beauty. Taking offence at her behaviour, the headstrong King got up suddenly and set off for London, never again seeing his unfortunate wife, who was arrested the following day and carried to the Tower.

After the time of James I., who, with his Queen, much delighted in its situation, the palace fell gradually into decay, so that Charles II. pulled it all down and started to rebuild a new one. He never lived in it, for only one wing—that which now faces the building devoted to the Museum—was ever erected, the scheme of the palace being rejected for quite another purpose. The gentle, kindly heart of Queen Mary, the beloved wife of William III., was so moved by the suffering of the wounded sailors after the Battle of La Hogue, that she determined that the neglected palace should be furnished as a hospital for those seamen "who had protected the public safety." Sir Christopher Wren furnished the design, and King William, private donors, and Parliamentary grants supplied the endowment of the hospital, whose first stone was laid on June 30, 1696. For over a century and a half invalided sailors were sheltered within the hospital, which was closed in 1869, pensions being then bestowed instead of residence. The buildings are now used as a college for naval officers.

Greenwich still retains a sea-faring aspect; on a bright [pg 31] day the river, full of laden barges and busy little tugs, still sparkles, while "the noblest of European hospitals" remains as "a memorial of the virtues of the good Queen Mary, of the love and sorrow of William, and of the great victory of La Hogue."