Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume II.djvu/240

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thus possessed of Kenilworth-Castle, Henry granted it in 1267 to Edmund his younger son, afterwards made Earl of Leicester and Lancaster; whose suc- cessors held it till the Earl of Lancaster's rebellion in the reign of Edward II. in which being unsuc- cessful, he was taken, executed, and his estates confiscated to the crown. Edward III. however, restored the castle and other demesnes to Henry brother of the last possessor, from whom it came to [ohn of Gaunt, by marrying a daughter of the Earl of Leicester and Lancaster. After adding to and adorning the castle, this powerful noble left it on his death to Henry of Bolingbroke, afterwards Henry IV. which again vested it in the crown.

Having descended regularly through the suc- ceeding monarchs to Elizabeth, she granted it to her favourite Robert Dudley, afterwards created Earl of Leicester. Great additions were also made by this nobleman to Kenilworth-Castle, who like- wise had an opportunity of testifying his sense of the value of this rich gift her Majesty had bestowed upon him, by giving her a most sumptuous enter- tainment on the very spot, that lasted seventeen days. The nature of the elegant amusements of that time may be learned from the following slight sketch of the pageantry and mummery exhibited on the occasion:

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