The
lower hall, most famous of judicial chambers in Christendom and final
Court of Appeal in all questions of international and ecclesiastical law,
was later in opening.
Among the amenities of the old palace were the spacious and lovely gardens
on the east, with their clipt hedges, avenues of trees, flower-beds and
covered and frescoed walls, all kept fresh and green by channels of water.
John maintained a menagerie of lions and other wild and strange beasts;
stately peacocks swept proudly along the green swards, for the inventory
of 1369 specifies seventeen peacocks, some old and some young, whereof six
were white.
* * * * *
But we have as yet dealt chiefly with the external shell of this mass of
architecture which, tall and mighty, raises its once impregnable walls and
towers against the sky. The beauty of its interior remains briefly to be
touched upon, for the fortress palace had, as Clement left it, some
analogy with the great Moorish palace of the Alhambra in that it stood
outwardly grim and strong, while within it was a shrine of exquisite and
luxurious art.
Pages:
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183