Edward the Confessor's Funeral, 1066 (litho)

Edward the Confessor's Funeral, 1066. The Abbey built by Edward the Confessor was the first cross-shaped church in England, and upon it the King spent one-tenth of the nation's property. Before the building was completed Edward's health failed, and on 5 January 1066, he died. The body of the King, borne in state on a bier carried by eight of his liege men, was laid before the high altar in the new Minster, which was lit by flaring torches. Boys swinging censers, and priests bearing candles accompanied the procession through the church. Masses were said for the dead King's soul for three hundred days, and alms were distributed at his tomb. Illustration for one a set of cards on Historical London, issued by Hignett's Cigarettes in 1926.