dral. With it are the helmet and gauntlets he wore and the shield
he carried. The coat is of a red and blue velvet, now sadly faded,
applied to a calico background and closely quilted. It is too
elaborate to have been made to wear under his armour, and was
probably worn during state functions where armour was not required,
although it was then customary to wear thickly padded and quilted
coats and hoods in order to ease the weight of the heavy and
unyielding coats of mail.

Much of the best needlework in England at this early period was for
the church. Neither labour nor expense was spared to make the
magnificent decorations used in the old cathedrals. Aside from the
linens, silks, and velvets used in this construction, much gold and
silver bullion was wrought into the elaborate altar hangings, altar
fronts, and ecclesiastical vestments. In their ornamentation applied
work was freely used, especially on the large hangings draped over the
altar.

It was during the earliest period that the Latin name _opus consutum_
was commonly used to designate patchwork. Chain stitch also was much
used on early English embroidery; to such an extent that it is now of
great service as an identification mark to fix the dates of medieval
needlework. Chain stitch was dignified by the Latin name _opus
anglicanum_. Only the most elaborate and richest of embroideries have
been preserved; the reason being that much of the work was done with
silver and gold threads which were in reality fine wires of these
precious metals. Being exceedingly costly, they were given unusual
care, many being kept with the royal plate and jewels. One specimen
made in 905 by Aelfled, the queen of Edward, the Elder, is now
treasured in Durham Cathedral. It is described as being "of almost
solid gold thread, so exquisitely embroidered that it resembles a fine
illuminated manuscript," and is indescribably beautiful. In many
instances the fabrics of these old embroideries have partly fallen
away, leaving only frail fragments of the original material held
together by the lasting threads of gold and silver.

The great amount of precious metals used in making the richest
garments and hangings sometimes made them objects to be desired by
avaricious invaders. In an inventory of the contents of Cardinal
Wolsey's great palace at Hampton Court there are mentioned, among many
other rare specimens of needlework of that period, "230 bed hangings
of English embroidery." None of