| St Mary de Castro, Leicester | |
St Mary de Castro, Leicester
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| Denomination | Church of England |
|---|---|
| Churchmanship | Anglo-Catholic |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Mary de Castro |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Leicester |
| Diocese | Leicester |
| Province | Canterbury |
St Mary de Castro (meaning St Mary of the Castle) is an ancient church in Leicester, England, near to Leicester Castle. Today it acts as a parish church in the Church of England's diocese of Leicester.
It dates its founding to 1107 when Henry I of England took the lands and castle from a rebellious owner and granted them instead to Robert de Beaumont, although some legends say that an Anglo-Saxon church of St Mary had existed before then [1] and Robert merely refurbished it. Whichever, he established it within the castle bailey as a college served by a Dean and 12 Canons (that is, a collegiate church) in honour of the Virgin Mary and All Souls and as a chantry chapel for the souls of him, his family and the first three Norman kings. He endowed this and 4 other churches with £6 of his income and land in or near the city. However, these endowments were all transferred soon after by his heir to his own new foundation of Leicester Abbey, although this was made up for by an annual grant from the Earl of 20 shillings for lamps and by restoring a Dean, six Clerks and a Chaplain to the church, which was by now a parish church too and so supported by tithes and offerings.
It was rebuilt in the 1180s, and has undergone alterations since, including the addition of a spire (1400).
The collegiate nature of the church lasted until the college was disbanded in 1548 by Henry VIII.
It is rumoured that here, around 1366, Geoffrey Chaucer married Philippa (de) Roet (a lady-in-waiting to Edward III's queen, Philippa of Hainault, and a sister of Katherine Swynford who later (ca. 1396) became the third wife of Chaucer's friend and patron, John of Gaunt). King Henry VI was knighted in the church in 1426 when he was an infant (whilst the Parliament of Bats was being held at the Castle).