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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 January 2023
The funeral of Henry V took place in Westminster Abbey on 7 November 1422. Its 600th anniversary offers a timely opportunity to recall this event, all the more so because vestiges of it still remain in the Abbey. Until 1972, a saddle, helm and shield considered to be linked to Henry’s funeral were displayed above the king’s chantry chapel. Subsequently exhibited in the Undercroft Museum, they were moved in 2018 to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries in the Triforium. Together, the three items are commonly known as the ‘funeral achievements’ of Henry V. A sword has also found its way into consideration as part of this assemblage (frontispiece).
Visitors to the Abbey can also admire the tomb of the king, albeit with a partially restored effigy, beneath his chantry chapel in the eastern part of the ambulatory. The quire screen of 1831 prevents today’s visitor from seeing Henry’s chantry chapel from the west door of the Abbey but, once through this screen, the two front turrets and the upper stages of the chapel are visible above the High Altar and reredos of 1867. The will which Henry made just before he departed for France in 1415, on the campaign which culminated in his great victory at Agincourt, provided a clear statement of his intentions in terms of both tomb and chapel: in terms of the chosen location, we see not only a deliberate linking to previous royal burials, including the shrine of Edward the Confessor, but also a desire for publicly visible liturgical practice.
We bequeath our body to be buried in the church of the Blessed Peter at Westminster amongst the tombs of the kings, in the place in which are now contained the relics of the saints, where we wish a high place to be constructed above our body, with an ascending staircase at one side of our tomb and a descending staircase at the other, above which tomb we wish the said relics to be gathered together in an appropriate location … We wish the said altar above our tomb to be constructed in such a way that the priests celebrating there can be seen by the people in order that their fervent devotion may be kindled and God in his creation glorified more often.
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