was buried in the Church of the Whitefriars. The son was
baptized in St. Paul's, and directed in his will, "If I die in London
I desire that my body may be buried in St. Paul's, near to the font
wherein I was baptized."
At the sixth bay came "the Little North Door," and it was answerable,
as till lately was a similar door at St. Alban's Abbey, for much of
the desecration of the church which went on. There was a notice on it
that anybody bringing in burden or basket must pay a penny into the
box at hand. Between the columns of the tenth bay was the Chantry of
Bishop Kempe (1450-1489). It was the finest in the cathedral, built by
Royal licence. He did much for the beautifying of the cathedral, and
rebuilt Paul's Cross, as we have said already. He seems to have kept
clear of the fierce struggles of the Wars of the Roses, for he saw
rival kings in succession ostentatiously worshipping in St. Paul's,
and did not lose the friendship of any of them. So far as one can
judge, he honestly felt that he was not called upon to become a
partisan of any, and this fact was recognised.
It was Edward IV. who gave him licence to erect his chantry. "For
the singular reverence which he bore to God and to the blessed and
glorious Virgin Mary, as also to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and
to St. Erkenwald and Ethelbert, those devout confessors, he granted
license to Thomas Kempe, Bishop of London, for the founding of a
chantry of one priest, who should be the Bishop of London's confessor
in this cathedral, for the time being, to celebrate divine service
daily at the altar of the Holy Trinity in the body thereof, towards
the north side, for the good estate of the said King and Queen
Elizabeth, his Consort; as also of the said Bishop, during their
lives in this world, and for the health of their souls after their
departures hence, and moreover for the souls of the said King's
progenitors; the parents and benefactors of the said bishop and all
the faithful deceased; and to unite it to the office of confessor in
this church for ever, and likewise to grant thereunto one messuage,
one dovehouse, 140 acres of land, six acres of meadow, with eight
acres of wood, called _Grays_, and 10_s._ rent with the appurtenances,
lying in _Great Clacton_ in the county of _Essex_; as also another
messuage, twenty acres of land, two acres of meadow and two acres of
wood, with the appurtenances in the same town, and two acres of land
lying in _Chigwell_, tog
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