ADEEIZA OF LOUVAINE.

In the Duke of Norfolk's researches into precedents and the various ceremonies lelating to Coronation.* of English Sovereigns he has come upon very curious things indeed. One of the queerest relates to an ancestress of his own, Adeliza of Louvaine, the wife of Henry I, with whom she was crowned in 1121. After the King* death she married William of the Strong Hand, bringing to him her Royal dower of Arundel Castle, whereupon he assumed the title of Earl of Arundel. which has 6een borne by their descendants down to the present day. Queen Adeliza was a verj beautiful woman. " The Fair Maid of Brabant " was the title by which she was known, and Henry, although exactly thrice her age— she was 17, he 51 — was violently in love with her. He had been married before, his first wife being Matilda of Scotland, daughter of Malcolm Canmore and his Saxon Queen Margaret. He had al»o been crowned befoie, but nevertheless he iiLM>ted on sharing the ceremony Tun nut the Crmvn of England on the brow of h>- bride. This second Coionation of Henry's was, as we have said, a veiy queer affair indeed. He brought Adeliza "to England in the autumn, and wished to marry her at once, and to 'be crowned next day ; but ihe wedding was delayed for weeks owing to a fierce dispute between the Arcbbisho]) of Canterbury and Roger le Poer. Bishop of Salisbury, a.s to which of them had" the right to officiate. The fortress of Windsor was in the diocese of Salisbury, and Rotrer was a great favourite of Henry's : so the King himself wished Roger to be the man. Hut the archbishop was furious-. He called an Ecclesiastical Council, which determined that '• whenever the King iva>. within hiiealm of England he was \he parishioner of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and of none other." Accordingly, the marriage wh« performed by the archbishop — who was a totter inar old man of 80 years, half dead v> it,li paralysis. But though he had <-airitd the point about the weJdinir, Hemy leiei mined to have his own way about the Coronation The hour of that ceremony was fixed fur noon. The King sent for Roger !e Poer .tt 8 in tlie morning ; despatched mes sengers to his nobles ,md io e\ervb<>d\ concerned ; hurried to tha Abbey with In* young Queen, and was duly crowned. But the archbishop got wind of the trick, and arrived on the scene jr.-t two minuteaftptwflid-. He stalked as steinlv a.s h:.infiimitie* wou'd allow him up to the*! hione. and demanded to know who had put the ciown on ihe Kind's he id' Hemy. who had a wholesome hoi 101 of piie.-tly disple.c-ure. said neixou^ly that if the ceremom had been niL-gnlai n could be done over aejjn Wheieupon. one an dent chioniclei is<.eit*, the choleric o'tl Piinuite, lifting his C io-ur. "struck the di,idem from the Rt.wl he;-d with a smart blow. But K.idni<r. a writei almost as ancient, say- thr ;u clibi-hop "Looktd the crown by it- '•ti.ip. and so turned it off fiom the King." Oert.nnly the aichbi>-hop got it off somehow, tlrji: 1. -placed ;t in due foim. and with wli.it ha co.isidei.d

due authority ; .after which he proceeded to crown Queen Adeliza. A veiy unique Coronation indeed! For fifteen years Adehza of Louvaine was Queen Consort of England ; and although Henry loved her to the day of Ins death those fifteen yeais must have been miserable enough. ' It must have been a del;ghtful change for Adeliza when, after Heniy's depth, she married the Knight of the Strong Hand, who was one of the most gallant and chivalrous gentlemen in Europe. "His father had been Chief Cupbearer to the Duchy of Normandy, and William the Conqueror appointed him to the like office in England. The present Duke of Norfolk, Lord of Arundel, can, as his lineal descendant, claim the cup out of which the Sovereign drinks at the Coionation banquet to the welfare of his loving subjects. Two ducal peers of England have in their veins the blood of Queen Adeliza : the Duke of Norfolk, her lineal descendant, and the Duke of Northumberland, the descendant of Ler brother Joscelin of Louvaine. The name Adeliza i« borne to-day by the lister of the present Duke of Norfolk. Lady Adeliza FitzAlan Howard ; and by his aunt. Lady Adeliza Manners, widow of a son of the fifth Duke of Rutland.