Искусства и ремесла Средневековья

210 A11s and Crafts ш the Middle Ages

working with their o,vn l1a11ds something ,y1·ought in needlewoгk, costly ahd al'tificially, which sl1e inteпded to the honour of Gocl to besto,Y нроn sоше сЬшсl1еs." Katherine of Aragon was sнch а <.levotcd needlewoшan, in fact, that on one occasion Bumct гecords that she stepped out to speak to t,vo ambassadoгs, with а skein of silk аЬонt hег neck, and cxplaiпed that shc had been embroideгiпg with her ladies wheн tl1ey ,verc announced. In an old sonпet she is thus commcшoгated:

" She to the eighth king Henry married was And afterwards divorced, when virtuously, Although а queen, yet she her days dicl равв In working ,vith the needle curioнsly."

Queen Elizabeth was also а clever embroiderer; shr woгked а book-coveг fог Katherine Рап, bearing tlн� initials К. Р., and it is now in the Bodleian LiЬгагу at, Oxford. Ма1·у Queen of Scots was also said to Ье skilful with Ьсr needle; in fact it seems to have been tl1e consolatioн of most qucens in their restгicted existence in those centшies. Dr. Rock consideгs that the " corporal " ,vhich Mary Queen of Scots had bound about her eyes at the time of her execution, was in reality а piece of her 0\\ 1 n needle-,vork, рrоЬаЫу wrought нроn fine linen. Knight, in describlng the scene in his "Picturesqнe Histoгy of England," says: " Thcn tl1e maid Kcnncdy took а handkeгcl1ief cdged ,vitli gold, in which the Eucharist had foгmerly been enclosed, and fastened it