Let us briefly
describe this magnificent palace, which had been prepared for the
temporary residence of the English king.
The building was of wood, square in shape, each side being three hundred
and twenty-eight feet long. On every side were oriel-windows and
curiously glazed clerestories, whose mullions and posts were overlaid
with gold. In front of the grand entrance stood an embattled gate-way,
having on each side statues of warriors in martial attitudes. From the
gate to the palace sloped upward a long passage, flanked with images in
bright armor and presenting "sore and terrible countenances." This led
to an embowered landing-place, where, facing the great doors, stood
antique figures girt with olive-branches.
Interiorly the palace halls and chambers were superbly decorated, white
silk forming the ceilings of the passages and galleries, from which
depended silken hangings of various colors and braided cloths, "which
showed like bullions of fine braided gold." Roses set in lozenges, on a
golden ground-work, formed the chamber ceilings. The wall spaces were
decorated with richly carved and gilt panels, while embroidered silk
tapestry hung from the windows and formed the walls of the corridors.
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