Gone Medieval - The Eleanor Crosses

Episode Date: January 20, 2026

The death in 1290 of Eleanor of Castile, beloved Queen of King Edward I, sparked one of the grandest gestures of royal mourning in English history. Her body was carried on a 200-mile journey from Lincoln to London, commemorated at each of its 12 overnight stops by a monumental cross.Dr. Eleanor Janega visits two of the surviving Eleanor Crosses with Alice Loxton and tells the extraordinary love story between Edward and Eleanor that inspired these monuments.MOREKing Edward I: Hammer of the ScotsListen on AppleListen on SpotifyHow To Be A Medieval Teenager with Alice LoxtonListen on AppleListen on SpotifyGone Medieval is presented by Dr. Eleanor Janega. Edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. You can take part in our listener survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From long-loss Viking ships and kings buried in unexpected places to tales of murder, power, faith, and the lives of ordinary people across medieval Europe and beyond. Join me, Matt Lewis, Dr. Eleanor Jarniger, and some of the world's leading historians as we bring history's most fascinating stories to life, only on history hit. With your subscription, you'll unlock hundreds of hours of exclusive documentaries

with a brand-new release every week exploring everything from the ancient world, to World War II. Just visit historyhit.com forward slash subscribe. Hello, I'm Dr. Eleanorianaga and welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, the podcast that delves into the greatest millennium in human history. We uncover the greatest mysteries, the gobsmacking details, and the latest groundbreaking research from the Vikings to the Normans, from kings to popes, to the Crusades.

we delve into the rebellions, plots, and murders that tell us who we really were. And how we got here. I am standing in front of Charing Cross Station in the technical official center of London. I'm trying to dodge commuters that are pouring off of the trains, and the reason that I'm here risking my life is to take a closer look at a remarkable structure that rises majestically just in front of the station, and this towering 70-foot-tall monument marks the climax of a story that began on a November night in 1290,

when a broken-hearted king resolved to make sure his beloved and newly departed queen would never be forgotten. This is the Eleanor Cross. It's made of honey-colored Portland stone and rich red manfield stone. as well as granite from Scotland. And it's carved in intricate medieval detail, commemorating a queen who died more than 700 years ago.

I kind of have to crane my neck to look up at these serene figures gazing down from their gothic canopies. As I do so, I'm bearing witness to the final chapter of one of history's most extraordinary love stories. Each of these eight crowned figures depicts Eleanor of Castile. She's standing in regally flowing robes with her distinctive circlet, and her hands positioned in gestures of prayer or of blessing. Four of them depict her as a queen holding an orb and scepter,

and the other four give her religious imagery to work with, in one she's holding Westminster Abbey, in another a Bible. And here's what makes this monument incredibly fascinating and very slightly mysterious as well. It's actually a 19th century replica. It was designed by Edward Middleton Berry in 1865. This is the same architect who built the elegant Charing Cross Hotel, which is behind me, as well as the new opera house in Covent Garden. And this monument is what Victorian scholars called a work of reproduction rather than restoration.

The original Eleanor Cross that once stood here was, by all accounts, the grandest and most elaborate of 12 Eleanor crosses that unfurled like a chain of grief across medieval England. This was the final stop in a funeral procession that began in Lincolnshire and ended at Westminster Abbey, a journey that would transform how we remember one of England's most remarkable queens. Because to commemorate his beloved Queen Eleanor, King Edward I had her body carried on a 200-mile journey from Lincoln to London. And to mark the places where her funeral cortege rested, the grieving king commissioned 12 magnificent monuments. More than seven centuries later, the historian Alice Lockstone set herself an epic challenge. To follow in history's footsteps, by walking the entire, 200-mile funeral route on the corresponding dates. Alice recounts her journey in her new book, Eleanor, which uncovers the extraordinary life and formidable character of this lesser-known royal,

revealing her inspiring legacy and the hidden history of Britain. So I'm just going to pop into the underground now, up to St. Pancras International to meet up with Alice. We're going to take the train up to Northamptonshire, where we are going to visit two of the three Eleanor Crossline. that survive in their recognizable original form today. Queen Eleanor of Castile was just 49 years old when she took her final breath on the evening of the 28th of November 1290, in the Monest Manor House of Richard de Weston, near Lincoln. Just months earlier, she and her husband, King Edward I, had been celebrating two joyous occasions.

The marriage of their daughter, Joan of Akra, to the Earl of Gloucester, and the betrothal of their young son Edward to Margaret, Queen of Scotland. But by November, while touring the north of England, Eleanor complained of a slow fever, which may have been malaria or a heart condition that had been plaguing her. When it became clear that Eleanor was gravely ill, the royal tour was abandoned, and the king and queen and their entourage sought refuge at Harby. with local priest William DeKalm and Oliver Sutton the Bishop of Lincoln at her bedside Eleanor succumbed to her illness on the evening of the 28th of November 1290 at the age of 49

Edward who had been devoted to his Spanish bride for 36 years was utterly devastated to lose her You are traveling with a public, with luggage, excuse the lids where a man. All right, we are here at the platform in St. Pancras International. Oh, Alice, hello. Good morning. Good morning. I'm so excited to be here. How are you? Wonderful, thank you.

I'm excited, too. Well, we are here waiting for our train to Wellingboro. And I suppose it's good a place to start as any is to talk about what made you undertake this walk. I mean, this is a pretty intense thing to be doing. It took days upon, days upon days to do this with people who had horses. What made you decide you want to do the same thing? Well, I think it's just one of those extraordinary stories from history, which I was fascinated by it.

I'm fascinated by it in a way that so many people seem to not know what it is. And I suppose it's a forgotten, overlooked story that I wanted to shine a light on. I am so happy that you did, because I think that this is one of our real, true, medieval love stories, there's so few royal love matches that we actually get to see. And here we do get to see it and you can actually walk in the footsteps of the people who took this journey, which is incredible. So when you decided to do this, did you think it was going to be a challenge or was this

more like, oh, this is going to be a nice historical thing to think about? I think I knew it was going to be a challenge, but I was excited. You know, it was quite a lot of walking at some point, 70 miles in the first three days, so big distances. But, you know, it was just so thrilling for me to kind of not just see these medieval monuments, but to be tracing all kinds of history as you walk through the country, you know, from all eras. And I just found that that was enough to keep me going, I think. I think in the process of doing this, do you think that there's anything that helped you kind of shed a new light on this idea, or did you kind of come in and say, oh, been here, done that,

going to learn a lot about Eleanor? Well, I think that there is something to be said for walking. You can do only so much when you're in the archives or when you're in a library or reading some other academics work. But by walking and travelling, I suppose, at the natural human pace, it really does slow you down. And it makes you think about all these things you perhaps never would, which is, for me, it was when you're walking through loads and loads of mud, how on earth did medieval people do it? Or how did they stay dry in wet weather? How did they navigate without, you know, the OS Maps app, which I had, which I don't think was invented then? So I think it really does force you to consider things.

When you're doing it for hour upon hour, that does really kind of sharpen your focus, I think. That's interesting because, I mean, to a certain extent, you are undertaking a little bit of experiential archaeology, right? It's about an action and not so much about a tool. Sure. It's probably when people who are kind of academics become reenactors, right? I think the practical experience combines with reading about it can be very helpful. Well, okay, our train is here show. Get on board then.

Let's jump overboard. Go ahead. The death of a medieval into Corby, approximately 9.30. Service is strictly no smoking. So, 18, east with no way service. The death of a medieval queen, far from her intended burial place, presented enormous logistical and spiritual challenges. In an age without modern preservation techniques,

transporting a royal corpse across hundreds of miles in winter required sophisticated planning and considerable expense. Queen Eleanor's body first had to be moved seven miles to Lincoln, where the crucial process of embalming took place. Compared to the 21st century, medieval embalming practices were crude, but they were increasingly sophisticated by the late 13th century. The process began with evisceration. That's the removal of internal organs, which were the primary source of petrofactive bacteria. Eleanor's viscera were ceremonially buried in the Chapel of St. Mary at Lincoln Cathedral on the 3rd of December 1290. This practice of what we call partable burial allowed the nobility to honor multiple religious institutions and secure prayers from different communities.

The embalming process involved slashing the body and treating it with salt, aromatic oils, and spices. For royalty, the face may be left exposed while it lay in state. requiring especially careful preservation. Eleanor's body was then wrapped in linen soaked in beeswax or lead strips before being placed in a coffin for the arduous journey south. Well, this is one of those typical fairy tale chocolate box English villages. All of the buildings are this gorgeous mix of honey, limestone, and beautiful aged brick. There are multiple thatched cottages.

which I'm obsessed with, they kind of seem to hug at the middle of the square here. And, even better, I see the star in to 17th century public house. I love places like this because I just think about how many people must have used it as a center over the years. And obviously, we've got a gorgeous medieval church, the church of St. Mary Magdalen, which dates back to the 9th century, the 10th century? But really, in the middle of the square here, this is the main event and what we've, come to see. This Eleanor Cross is gorgeous. It's just like a medieval prayer in stone. Okay, Alice, this is enough of me being an excited immigrant about a cute English village.

Can you describe what we can see here at the Gettington Cross? So it's a very elegant monument, I would say. So there's seven steps at the bottom and then it's this quite narrow, triangular stone monument, quite ornately decorated with all kinds of floral designs actually. We have the coat of arms of Eleanor. They're quite small on this one. And then three beautiful statues of Eleanor herself showing her full body. And they've got this quite beautiful drapery on each of them. And I love this because she's looking out over the village from these three different points of view.

And then it tapers to a narrow top. And what is actually missing is that it would have been a cross at the very top, which would have given it even more height. And a big question about these processes, why would they call crosses? because actually they're not in a cross shape, but it perhaps is because of the cross that would have been at the very top, but also it might have been because of the setting. This is, as you can probably hear,

it's got a buzz going past, a place where people are passing through. It is a crossroad. So they're actually quite significant places in terms of their location. On the cross, I can see that we have the arms of Pontio and Sierra Leone as well. How did a woman with this particular lineage

come to marry Edward I. So Eleanor, who is born in 1241, the Castile, there is an arrangement that she will marry Prince Edward of England. This is completely politically arranged. And when she's about 12 or 13 years old, she marries this complete stranger. And luckily for Edward and Eleanor, they actually turn out to be a pretty good team.

They are married for 36 years, and they seem to be very much in love, in a way that other medieval monarchs were not with those kind of arranged marriages. And so when I think about the Eleanor Crosses, I think it's interesting because in 1290, this is the first point for Edward I first as an adult to be without Eleanor.

And so it's quite a jarring thing, I think, for him. If you think about anyone who's gone through that, even today, suddenly it's a big change in his life. I love this story because it is one of the very, very few love matches that we actually have of Royals. And Eleanor becomes pregnant, incredibly young, and they're actually separated, because they're like, guys, come on now. You're not supposed to be doing that.

That's dangerous. And so she kind of gets taken away from Edward for a while. And I find that just so amusing because it's just exactly the opposite of what we tend to think about royals. You know, there's a, none of that, you know, lie back and think of England happening here. Sure. Yeah, I know. And I think this has been really excited for me the story for that very reason, that we have

these insights into a very human side of people in the medieval period. And as you say, it's so difficult in medieval world with so few sources, so few kind of personal diaries that survive that here we are actually just looking at a man who was grieving his wife if you really strip it back from who edward was as king and who eleanor was but actually these are just two figures over 700 years ago who are feeling this very raw human emotion you know it's a story of loss edward's loss of course and eleanor but equally what i notice about eleanor's story is there are so many times that she's giving birth and then these children aren't surviving she gives birth we think 16 times and only six of those survived to adulthood fadden is incredibly traumatic

thing to go through and that in some ways for her was probably the defining kind of experience of her life, the loss of all these children. It's hard for us to kind of come to terms with what loss like this must have meant for medieval people. You know, there's that old myth that they don't care. You know, they're so surrounded by death that it means nothing to them. You see monuments like this and it just shows exactly the opposite. These are real people who are grieving. You know, these crosses, they're also part of this incredible funeral procession, right? Can you tell us a little bit about what that would have looked like. How long does it take to get our body from Lincoln to London in the 13th century?

It's a good question, and it's something that I kind of tried to find answers to by doing it myself. Eleanor dies on 28th November 1290 in this quite random place in a village not far from Lincoln, and it's kind of indicative of how ill she must have been that she couldn't travel those last seven miles. So life ends in this place, which you know, you can go and see staying. It's just this open field. It's just amazing to think about the events that would have happened there. And then they take a body to Linkham. And it's embarned and it's kind of there for a few days.

And they set off on the 4th of December. So they start walking down to Grantham and then Stamford. And they make their way to London. And that is the best part of 200 miles. And we know the days that they were there. And so that's how we can track how long it took and how far they were travelling and everything. When I did the walk, it was about 70 miles in the first three days.

So it was a huge distance. But for the royal household, this would have been a very usual thing to do. You know, they would be travelling all around the country all the time. Eleanor collected a lot of land and a lot of manners. So she was very used to travelling around the country, we think about 20 miles a day. And actually, you know, when I was walking, the more I did it, actually that seemed more feasible.

Yeah. You know, you can kind of get into a routine of those things. We don't really have much record of what the actual kind of procession, that moment looked like. But we know that at some of those places, they were welcomed with great ceremony. So at St. Albans, the people of the Abbey of St. Albans went out to the edge of the town to greet the cortege. And so you can imagine the scene of all these robed figures standing solemnly.

And Edward and the royal households being welcomed with great reverence. And then every night her body was kept with great vigil in the kind of holy places that were there. And so, you know, it's a tricky story because in lots of ways there is not much evidence to what actually happened. But we can piece a lot together by knowing the kind of habits. and the ways they tend to do things. So do you think that this is a particular journey these stops? Is this something that is planned? Do these places have any meaning for Eleanor or is this just necessity?

It's like, that's the 20 miles. Yep, so we're going to stop there. Well, they tended to stop in important towns. So Stanford and Grantham and Northampton were important towns. And they're on the roads down to London. So these are old Roman roads often, which actually is interesting because I actually couldn't quite follow the route, because these are still in used today.

They tend to be A-roads, or major roads. A roads or major roads which you just couldn't walk on. So in some cases, I actually ended up walking a bit further. But Gettington's such is enormous compared to the houses around it. And it's striking to visitors today, perhaps, you know, why was this a location? But actually, in the medieval period, in the 13th century, this was quite a major place. There was a big hunting lodge here that the Royals would have used. So Eleanor would have been here.

And weirdly, after the 13th century, it kind of dropped out of use. you could suppose that perhaps Edward found it too painful to come back here but it certainly dropped out of use and we know that because they were given permission to have market and then that was kind of attracted so it hasn't really grown much since that period which is a strange thing but you know of course that often means that these places are really beautiful to live in you know it's a really lovely place and full of history I mean just think if you can possibly imagine for a moment that Eleanor's body was brought through here it was actually here

and the royal household were here and all of the people of Gettington would have greeted it and seen it out of their windows and seen them pass over that bridge that you can still pass over today you know i just think that's pretty amazing i think it's interesting in the in the course of Gettington because you know yeah Gettington is this important royal locale because of the hunting lodge and everything and then you have this big important royal event you have the cortege come through and you're like ah the Gettington will be on the map forever it's sort of the opposite it's kind of like the elnorthosis is like the last royal thing Definitely. But to add to that, this is the finest surviving of all of them. And they say that in terms of the fact that it's got the most kind of original structure, I think,

even though there are three that survive today. I mean, it's just extraordinary. I mean, what do you think? This is the first time I've ever seen it. This is the first time I've ever seen it. And this has been a kind of bucket list thing for me to see. And it's really exciting because I am surprised by how good the carving still is. Like, it's in really good neck. You can still see the floral designs on it. Eleanor still has all of her traperies looking incredibly fine. I'm kind of trying to use all of my medievalist powers to put paint on it and think about what it would have looked like in all of its colors. But I'm really interested in this one in particular because it's got its own water supply,

which is a weird thing about all of the Eleanor crosses. So it's got a kind of conduit house, I suppose you would call it, in the corner there. So this is an interesting thing because it goes from just being something beautiful. to having a practical use for the town? I think that's lovely. Well, and when you're here, you know, this is still very much the heart of the village. When I was here and doing the walk,

we were sitting on the steps, and I sat there for quite a long time just to watch what was unfolding. And this is really a spot which is used by people all time. So, you know, it was about 3pm on one day, and all of these children were rushing out from primary school and playing on the steps. People would sit here.

It's just opposite of the pub and have a drink on the steps. We've had tractors going through, we've had buses, we've had a walking group. It's very much used, I think, by people today. And just extraordinary to think, again, of all the people that would have seen this and sat on those steps over the years. You mentioned this already, but this is one of only three surviving crosses. What happened to the other ones? Like, you know, what's going on with everyone else?

Yes, well, this is what's so interesting. You know, these are not monuments which have been forgotten and ignored. these have been potent symbols of Catholicism or royalism over the centuries. So much so that many of them were pulled down and destroyed in the Civil War in quite a violent way. Charing Cross, which is the final of the Eleanor Crosses, was destroyed by the Parliamentarians in the Civil War and actually caused all sorts of navigational problems. There was a rhyme that went around, undone, undone, the lawyers cry, they ramble up and down. They know not the way to Westminster.

now Charing Cross is down. These were important symbols, but also major navigational points. You know, if you were approaching London at that point, Charing Cross would have been a massive monument. It was outside the city walls. And if you think, well, all the people who travel to London for hundreds of years, that would have been the first thing they say. So if you were talking to a medieval travel, you'd be like,

well, you know you'll get there because you're going to see the Westminster and then you'll see this big monument, that's the Eleanor Cross, and then you're basically there. So it would have been very familiar to lots of people. All right, well, I don't want to leave this gorgeous village. I want to settle into the star for the rest of the afternoon. But we are going to go about 22 miles from here. A little bit faster than you did last time, Alice.

But we'll check out the other Eleanor Cross in Hardingston. And that's just kind of like on the outskirts of Northampton, right? All right. Into the car with us. It's going to get dark. Okay, so we're in Northampton now. A lot of quite big rows. We've just passed the Queen Eleanor.

interchange, which is the enormous rounderpath. And we've also got on the side of the road this enormous wooded area. And this is the remains of what was Delapri Abbey. So it's known as Delapay Park today. And this would have been around during the 13th century. And Eleanor's body was actually kept here overnight at Delapry Abbey. When the cortege passed through, and you can see on the side of the road here is the very next Eleanor Cross.

a cross. Oh, this one's big. Maybe I just think it's bigger because it's around trees, but that is something that's imposing. It's quite chunky. Yeah. I think all these crosses have different personality. The one in Gettington is quite kind of belletic almost. It would be a ballerina if it was a person. It's quite elegant and tall and slim and slender. But this one's much more chunky. I feel like the stone is a little bit brighter. On the other hand, too, but then again, maybe I'm just reading it against some kind of soft. trees. Is that like when you saw it originally? Well it's quite a bleak backdrop here in some ways, this kind of very bare trees. And when I was here last year, it was really pouring with rain.

But we were all full of joy because you kind of arrived and the day has been completed. So it's a nice thing to end up seeing. So here we are now at Hardingstone on the outskirts of Northampton. And this really feels like a spot where the medieval and contemporary worlds are colliding. The Eleanor Cross here rises from a small island of grass beside the A508 London Road. It's one of the main routes leading south from Northampton. Traffic is rushing past in both directions. There's lorries, cars, and vans. It's, you know, creating a really incongruous soundtrack to this 700-year-old monument.

Across the road, I can see modern brick homes that form part of the village of Hardingstone. Their windows are looking out onto this ancient cross. And not far behind me, accessible via paths through the parkland, lies Delaprae Abbey. This is the former Cluniac Nunnery, where Queen Eleanor's body rested overnight on the 7th or 8th of December 1290. The abbey sits within about 550 acres of parkland and garden. It's now a public park with its lakes, wood, and even a golf course. Standing here, it's almost impossible to picture what the area must have been like more than 700 years ago. Then, this would have been a prominent roadside location on the main route south to London, at the edge of Delapet Abbey's grounds.

The funeral procession would have arrived here in solemn grandeur, with Eleanor's coffin carried to rest in the Abbey, while Edward I retreated to nearby Northampton Castle, which is now. buried beneath the modern railway station. A causeway was specifically constructed by Robert, the son of Henry, to connect the town to this cross. Today, leafless trees frame the monument and a paved footpath has allowed us to approach and contemplate the survivor of England's great medieval past.

This is a lovely side of the road you've taken me to. Why is it that Eleanor's body is resting at Deliolome? So where we're standing is on the edge of this enormous woodland area, which was originally the site of the Abbey of St Mary de la Pré, so that means in the meadow. And this was established in the 12th century in 1145 and they had a huge amount of land. And it's thought that this is probably the most likely place that Eleanor's body was brought, especially because of course the cross was built here. We've got the second of the great Eleanor crosses,

which survive from medieval periods. You know, as you say, it's definitely chunkier than the last one that we saw. But it's also, you know, it's not a triangular one like last one. We got a lot more Eleanor's on display, it looks like. Yeah, so this one is hexagonal in form, which is the main difference probably, which means it's much wider.

We're probably looking at two or three meters wide, the actual cross structure, and then expanding quite far out for the steps below of which we have nine steps so it's quite elevated from its surroundings and indeed the actual situation of it is quite elevated from the road beside it so we're quite high up compared to the surroundings on one side we've got this long wall with the forest and the woodland behind it on the other side this large road and some houses so it's quite residential this area in many ways and there's a bus stop nearby but yes as you say it's this

hexagonal shape more elaborate than the previous one more substantial but again we have these common features which you see on all the crosses which are the coat of arms of Eleanor and these statues of Eleanor looking out but another interesting detail on this one is that it's covered in graffiti which is quite fun but also that we've got these books on the sides now why were they there perhaps it was because Eleanor was a great collector of books and was a fan of Romanticy in terms of King Arthur and all of those stories but also maybe this is where prayers were painted on perhaps And that leads us the question of why were these crosses built?

I mean, were they built in Eleanor's memory to encourage people to say prayers for her? But again, you know, the very top of it hasn't survived. It's been knocked off at some point. And so we don't have the cross shape. But this memorial actually, in very recent years, faced all kinds of structural problems. And it was almost at risk of falling down in many ways. And so there's just been a big campaign to restore it to its former glory. So it's actually in pretty good condition.

And as part of the book, I actually did a course with Alan Nicolthwaite, who was one of the stone masons, who actually worked on this exact cross. So I had a go as kind of recreating some parts of this, which is quite tricky. Oh, I bet. I'm really struck by this one as being a bit more architectural than the last one that we saw. You know, it's really got a lot of gabling going on in the spire and things. It looks like a series of mini churches, almost. Now, this cross, granted, where we're here to think about Eleanor, maybe pray for Eleanor, all these wonderful things.

But this particular cross also sees some pretty interesting historical action involving other English queens, doesn't it? People might be surprised that this amazing medieval cross is here, and that's probably because we are in what seems to be quite a modern location, you know, this enormous roundabout just beside us, the Queen Eleanor Interchange. But also, in most people's minds, I think Northampton is not perceived as a great medieval city. But actually it was a hugely important location in the medieval period.

And a lot of quite dramatic events happened here over the years. There have been two battles of Northampton, one of which was in 1460, and it's often said that people use this Eleanor Cross as a viewing platform to kind of see what was going on. It's also been said that executions have happened on this site, which is less inspiring. But of course, when this cross was originally built, it was in somewhere called Harding Stone, which is essentially a separate part to what was originally Northampton. Of course, it's all kind of blurred together today. But this would have actually been on the outside of the city.

But we do have some records of what the cross was like over the years. So in the 1540s, a man called John Layland recorded that he passed a right goodly cross called, as I remember, the Queen's Cross. So obviously not really that aware of the history. Another record is Daniel Defoe, and he wrote about it in 1675. And he described the Queen's Cross upon a hill on the south side of the town. about two miles off. So of course, that really locates it again that it's quite far outside

of what was originally Northampton. And in 1697, Celia Fines, who was this great travel writer, she wrote a book called Through England on a side saddle, described that it was about a mile off the town and was known as the High Cross. She described it as having the statue

of some queen. Some queen. So she doesn't know really who the queen is. You know, Eleanor isn't a figure that's massively well known today. True. But equally, that's been the case for hundreds of years.

Well, see, this is what happens when you forget your heraldry, because she still have all of her symbols on the side, and it should be patently obvious if you're a medieval person, but when you're modern, it's sort of like, I don't know. Well, okay, well, can we talk a little bit about what this would have cost? Because these are pretty substantial monuments even now. Like, what do we think in terms of the outlay that Edward was putting into these? What's interesting about the crosses?

And I think this is really interesting to think about when we consider modern memorials, like that of Elizabeth's, second who died three years ago and we still haven't really got anything built but you know the medieval nana crosses went up very quickly within five years they were all built which i think is pretty impressive and shows that they had good kind of organisational skills and they were pretty substantial monuments and quite expensive so we have a number for this one that's over a hundred pounds which is an extraordinary and they get more elaborate and more expensive as they get further along the route so the ones in london at cheap side and charing cross would have been far more

expensive than this one. Can you equate that for us? A hundred pounds in the 13th century? 100 pounds in the 13th century. So that is, you know, a skilled craftsman in the 13th century. You're making maybe in a month like three pounds. So let's just keep that in mind. Yeah. So it's not nothing. You know, that is a real substantial sum. And it's something that would actually be a big contribution to the local economy. That's another thing. If you're paying Masons that much, you know, it's going to go a long way. Now, you mentioned this before, that this is a new kind of idea and fashion

in England. We're not used to seeing memorials like this. Where did Edward get the idea? Like, is he that artsy? He's like, guys, I'm pioneering a new way of memorializing my wife. Well, it's not strictly the first time that something like this has happened.

There was an example in France. They called them the Montchois. And it marked the route of Louis, the ninth of France. and that was about 20 years earlier, 12, 70 to 71. Having said that, they were not as elaborate and kind of excessive. I mean, they're really excessive these monuments. We're so used to monuments today. You know, we see monuments all the time,

we see statues and we see incredible buildings. But this would have been the most extraordinary thing for a medieval person to see being built in their local town and it not serving the purpose of being, say, a cathedral or a grand castle or grand palace. You know, it was following an example. And I suppose it's quite interesting to think about Edwards. being what we think probably a competitive man,

you know, giving the instruction, you know, build what the French did, but make it much bigger and better. Well, I think it's a really interesting point too, because, you know, when they're doing it for Louis, that's like, make this man a saint. This is a specific kind of form of propaganda to encourage his canonization. And Edwards doing something really different here.

You know, I think he loved his wife very much, but I don't think he was going around saying she was saint material. So even if it's kind of like the same vernacular, it's towards a really different end. It's a lot more personal, I guess. And it's interesting that it never really picked up. It's not an example that anyone else seemed to follow to the same extent. I mean, the normal thing to do would be to build a chancery chapel

or build a beautiful effigy or a beautiful tomb, that sort of thing. But to do this, I don't think we really have any other examples similar in English history, at least. But what is interesting is that there are 12 of them. And it reminded me as I was walking of the monument. to Princess Diana, one of which is a walk around the parks in London. They call it the Diana Memorial Walk. And this is a series of plaques on the floor, which have a kind of beautiful rose symbol.

And obviously these circular plaques are not impressive in their own right, but you have to kind of complete the journey to complete the memorial. So you, as a mourner, are part of the monument itself. And it doesn't exist without you. And I do wonder with this, I mean, we look at these as individual monuments. But was this a route that Edward was intending to create a kind of, let's call it a pilgrimage route, if you like, because it starts at Lincoln, which had a great cathedral and many shrines, and it takes you through St. Albans, and then it ends at Westminster Abbey, where

Eleanor is buried next to the shrine of Edward the confessor and other kings at that point. So would this have been something where they had imagined or hoped that people would go on this journey down this major road towards London and end up near Eleanor's tomb or at Ellen's tomb and all of it to be paying respects to her and moving her soul through purgatory and that sort of thing.

And so that's something that I wondered as I walked because I started the walk thinking I was just retracing this journey that Edward had made to take Eleanor's body down to London in a very kind of practical way. But actually, what if I was doing a walk that he had intended many, many people to do

following him? You know, everyone's guesses as good as mine really. Can you tell me a little bit of, bit about the last part of the journey. You know, so Eleanor's remains go from St. Albans, then they go to Waltham Abbey, and then finally they end up in London, and her funeral takes place on the 17th of December. What does that bit look like? Because surely we're kind of like building to kind of a crescendo or something. They don't go directly on the route down to London. They actually take a kind of left turn and go across to Waltham Cross. Was that perhaps

to pay their respects at the Abbey there. That seems a likely reason. But Edward departs from the Quartet, goes ahead to London, maybe is sorting out, organising affairs of state or sorting out the funeral. And then they come through to London and eventually, on the 17th December, she is buried at Westminster Abbey.

But what's quite interesting is this gives us an insight into the embalming process. And I found that such an interesting thing. How an hour could you even do embalming? Would it even work? But it indicates that they didn't make a direct route to London. Right. So her body must.

must have been in quite a good condition at that point. I talked to a funeral director today and I just asked him, I was like, would this work to put herbs inside a body? Would that keep it fresh for that time? Which is quite a wrong time. You know, she dies on the 28th of November. We're talking about the 17th of December. So I think that's on the edge.

But he said that you have to remember that it was December. It was very, very cold. So that actually probably would have preserved her. And the indication that they spent a few days in London and didn't rush to bury her suggest that it must have worked. Maybe even the farmers knew what they're doing. so well done there. So they would have taken her body to Westwood's Abbey and it would have been an incredibly ornate ceremony, I suppose. Vigils were held. Of course, the effigy that we now see today

was not in place. It would have taken a bit of time to put that together and so that was a common thing in medieval period, of course, that they would have a temporary tomb until they were put into their final elaborate effigy that would last the centuries. Another thing to think about is Eleanor probably was aware that she wouldn't have been buried in London. So this journey, this cortege, might have been something she was totally expecting. You know, she was someone who travelled around all the time. She was on Crusades. And the idea that she wouldn't be buried in London was very, very likely.

So it's very reasonable that they might have even discussed the journey or discussed what would have happened if Edward had died abroad or afar and how that would all be managed. So although it's quite an extraordinary journey that we think these people made from Lincoln to London, it was very much part of the plan, I think. Of course, today there isn't much evidence of the Eleanor crosses because both the London ones in Cheapside, so that's just next to St. Paul's Cathedral and Charing Cross,

so today's Trafalgar Square were pulled down. But there are kind of glimpses of it. And outside Trafalgar Square, there is a plaque on the ground which marks the site of the original Charing Cross. Now, this was the location where, after it was pulled down, to kind of overcome the destruction of this royal... symbol, they actually executed the regicides of Charles I. And to hammer home the point, they erected a statue of Charles I himself and the equestrian statue which stands there today.

But the plaque of the Eleanor Crosses are still there. And on this very spot where this kind of symbol of royalism that has evolved in all sorts of different ways over the ages, all measurements to London are still measured. So if you put into Google Maps, take me to London, it will take you to the site of the Eleanor Cross. So that really gives you a sense of quite how sensual it was. was and still is today, even though it doesn't stand in its original form. And of course, nearby, you can see a Victorian interpretation of the original cross, which stands in the forecourt of the railway station. And that gives you a pretty good idea. You know, it's not dissimilar from the monument we're looking at now. And the Victorians gave these crosses a new

lease of life, because Gilbert Scott, who was based near Northampton, he was responsible for the Oxford Martyrs Memorial, which is quite similar again in style. And again, it's a remember these figures from centuries before and there was this phase of people building crosses for their loved ones, for lost wives. Well, the Albert Memorial opposite the Royal Albert Hall, they actually said that they're inspired by the Eleanor Crosses because of course these are great monuments to a queen consort, Albert was another consort and so it's all in the same vein. Well, I'll tell you what, you know, you're standing in the presence of a monument to love

and that's what we get with the Albert memorials as well. well. You know, it's an extravagant memorial, even now, to Edwards Queen. It's an absolutely a real architectural jewel. I mean, yeah, okay, I'm standing next to a modern motorway, for sure. But if passing motorists look up, you can kind of think about it. Is this about, you know, guilt or is this the last part of a medieval love story? But either way, I mean, we're standing on the side of a road in Northamptonshire, and Edwards got his way, you know, he's succeeded in his purpose. Eleanor is not going to be

unknown or forgotten. Traffic can pass by all it wants, but I'm still hanging out on the side of the road, drooling over it. And that was a big lesson that I took away from doing this walk, was that you can walk through 200 miles of England, a random cross section and the amount of history you can

find, even in the most surprising locations, really shines through. And this is an example, you know, here we are on this enormous road and this exquisites exceptional and totally wonderful medieval monument that has stood on this site for over 700 years. It's just extraordinary. I guess I'm going to probably head back to London at this point, but thank you so much for joining me today. But I guess a big question. I know the authors love to get asked this right after they've finished with the book. What are you doing next?

Do you've got another big historic journey coming up? Well, I have actually really loved writing about history by going on a long walk, you know. And I think it really kind of brings it to life for people because, of course, anybody can do that. It's basically playing the part of a visitor. And that's been really fun for me. So the next book I'm working on will be a kind of journey through Britain, really just trying to get people out there looking at these sites themselves and discovering what could be found on their doorstep. I absolutely love that. But of course, History Hit subscribers can also check out your film, The Eleanor Cross's England's Greatest Love Story. On History hit, which I'm really excited about myself.

So, my day is ending as it began back here in front of Charing Cross Station. And the Eleanor Cross here was by far the most elaborate and expensive of all 12 monuments, as benefited its location as the final stop before Westminster Abbey. It stood in what was then the small village of Charing, positioned near the entrance to the Royal Muse attached to Westminster Palace. This magnificent structure survived for over three and a half centuries until 1647, when an act of parliament ordered its destruction as part of the Puritan campaign against royal and religious imagery. Thanks a lot, Puritans. The site was later occupied in 1675 by the equestrian statue of Charles I by Hubert Lissure, which still stands today and marks the traditional center of London.

So next time you're passing by Charing Cross Station, just spare a moment to recall McKing's grief and the extraordinary nature of his marriage to Eleanor of Castile. From Lincoln Cathedral where her visceral lies buried to Westminster Abbey where her magnificent tomb stands beside Edwards, Eleanor's memory was preserved in stone and story. Eleanor Crosses represent more than mere monuments. They embody medieval concepts of love, loss, memory, and the relationship between both earthly power and spiritual devotion. They remind us that behind the grand narratives of medieval politics,

there's human relationships of profound depth and genuine emotion. Sometimes it's the greatest expressions, of royal power, where we also see the most personal declarations of human love. My thanks to Alice Lockstone and to you for listening to Gone Medieval from History Hit. Remember, you can enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original TV documentaries, including Alice's film on the Eleanor Crosses by signing up at historyhit.com forward slash subscription. You can follow Gone Medieval on Spotify, where you can leave us comments and suggestions,

or wherever you get your podcasts. And tell all your friends and family that you've gone medieval. Until next time.