Five bays farther on is Edington's chantry, but
without effigy, as also are those of Fox and Langton. Of the seven
chantries those of Fox and Beaufort are usually considered the most
beautiful.
The proud Cardinal Beaufort, founder of the "Almshouse of Noble Poverty"
at St. Cross, is represented by Shakespeare as dying in despair:
"Lord Cardinal, if thou think'st on Heaven's bliss
Hold up thy hand: make signal of thy hope.
He dies, and makes no sign!"
Dean Kitchin writes: "One cannot look at his effigy, as it lies in his
stately chantry, without noting the powerful and selfish characteristics
of his face, and especially the nose, large, curved, and money-loving.
The sums Beaufort had at his disposal were so large that he was the
Rothschild of his day. More than once he lent his royal masters enough
money to carry them through their expeditions."
The mortuary chests are certainly among the most interesting things
possessed by any English cathedral. They are supposed to contain the
bones of Kings Eadulph, Kinegils, Kenulf, Egbert, Canute, Rufus, Edmund,
Edred, Queen Emma, and Bishops Wina and Alwyn.
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