Within these precincts stood the Palace of the Savoy. The erection of which was begun by Peter, Ninth Count of Savoy and Earl of Richmond. A.D. 1246 Henry III King of England bestowed the site "in vico qui vocato la straunde" on February 12th 1246 and there was erected a palace the fayrest manner in Europe big enough for a large part of an army.
Here in the Palace of the Savoy, Peter, Count of the Savoy, lodged the many beautiful foreign ladies whom he brought in 1247 from the courts of Europe before marrying them to his wards, a large number of rich young English nobles.
In the Palace of the Savoy lived for many months Simon de Montfort, founder of the House of Commons. This also was the home of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who lived here in princely luxury from 1362 to 1381.
Here, John of Valois, King of France, when brought to England as a captive by the Black Prince after the Battle of Poitiers, was entertained as a prisoner of war, and died on April 8th, 1364. Also in the Palace of the Savoy, Geoffrey Chaucer, first great English poet, came to dine many times with John of Gaunt and here wrote many of his poems.
On part of this site in 1640 was built Worcester House where lived Edward Second Marquess of Worcester. At midnight on the 3rd September, 1660, Anne Hyde daughter of
the Earl of Clarendon was secretly married here to the Duke of York (afterwards James II) whose two daughters, Mary and Anne, became queens of England.
In the Savoy Palace in 1658 by order of Oliver Cromwell, the Confession of Faith was drawn up here. Also, in 1661 Charles II ordered commissioners to assemble for the revision of the Liturgy, was afterwards known as the Savoy Conference.
On the 13th June, 1381, the Palace of the Savoy was burned and destroyed by rebels under the leadership of Wat Tyler. The building of the first section of the new modern Palace of the Savoy was begun in 1889.
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