heraldryofyorkmi01custuoft

ROYAL HERALDRY. 373
upon his own head, because no priest would even read mass. He returned
soon after, leaving Richard Fellingher as governor of the country, which
soon fell into a state of anarchy.
The shield at the foot of plate 8, argent a cross potent between seven
cross crosslets or, contains the arms adopted when, contrary to the advice
of the bishops, after the storming of Jerusalem, 1099, it became the capital
of a Christian kingdom which lasted to 1
244, and Godfrey de Bouillon was
elected the first king. And, apart from their historical, they have this
heraldic interest, viz., that this is the only recognized instance of metal
being emblazoned upon metal. They are, doubtless, inscribed on this
window to represent the double regal dignity of Frederick being King of
Jerusalem as well as Emperor of Germany. In 1230, he forced the
Pope to free him from the excommunication; and in 1234 negotiations
were entered upon for a marriage between Isabella and himself. Pope
Gregory IX. entirely promoted the union, not only by a bull, but also
by a letter which he wrote to the French king, assuring him that the
alliance would not be injurious to the interests of France, and early in the
following year the necessary arrangements were satisfactorily completed.
The union between Frederick and Isabella was neither very long
nor very happy, though
it
began most brilliantly. The fair bride* was
richly dowered by her brother Henry III. with 30,000 marks of silver, over
and above plate, jewels, horns, and other things, according to what it was
suitable for such a lady to possess and such a lord to receive, including
fourteen dresses, three of silken cloth of gold ; fur capes, two beds hung
with Genoese cloth of gold, plate and jewelry, and the complete furniture
of a private chapel.
The Archbishop of Cologne, with the Duke of Brabant and Louvain,
came to England to receive her. Her suite included a chaplain, clerk,
physician, and a complete set of servants, with a goodly train of noble
matrons and damsels well exercised in all that pertained to their several
departments, to attend and minister to her wants in regal fashion. Her
journey was indeed a royal progress. Both at Antwerp and Cologne she
received quite an ovation, and on reaching Worms was married in the
Cathedral, July 2oth, with great splendour, by the Archbishop of Mayence.
Four kings, eleven dukes, thirty earls and marquises, besides ecclesiastical
dignitaries, being present, and, a month after, a splendid festival took place
at Mayence. But there, all her English attendants were dismissed, and
she, a girl of twenty-one, was left alone with a husband past forty, who
had already been married twice before, in a country of strangers.
Frederick was a man of courage, energy, and high intellectual
capacity, a poet, musician, and said to be the most learned prince of his
A 3
* Green's Princesses of England.