and after death was renowned for some miracles. For this reason Henry VII took care to refer to the Roman Pontiff that he might be added to the number of the Saints."
There can be little doubt as to the reputation for sanctity which the murdered King possessed in the popular mind from the first. It will be necessary to speak more at length of the cultus and devotion generally accorded to him. Here it will be useful to take only one or two examples: At York Minster, as early as 1473, there already had been placed a statue of the King on the choir screen; and this was still there in 1516, in spite of the prohibition of the King and the Archbishop. The editor of the Fabric Rolls of York Minster,[1] in recording this fact, says: " Though not canonized he [King Henry VI] was certainly regarded as a saint by many of his adherents. His many virtues, his gentleness of character, and his many misfortunes endeared him to a great portion of his subjects. Dean Alexander, who erected the statue, knew him well, having been his private secretary."
It is of course obvious that such a manifestation of popular devotion must have been
- ↑ Surtees Soc, vol. xxxv, p. 79.
