The arrow fell very conveniently in the
meadows where four rivers ran--the Avon, Bourne, Nadder, and Wylye--and
amongst these the magnificent cathedral of Salisbury was built. The
rivers, which added to the picturesque beauty of the place, were fed by
open canals which ran through the main streets of the city, causing
Salisbury to be named at that time the "English Venice."
Nearly every King and Queen of England, from the time of Henry III, who
granted its first Charter in 1227, had visited Salisbury, and over
twenty of their portraits hung in the Council Chamber. Two Parliaments
were held in Salisbury, one in 1328 and another in 1384; and it was in
the market-place there, that Buckingham had his head cut off in 1483 by
order of his kinsman, Richard III, for promoting an insurrection in the
West of England. Henry VIII visited the city on two occasions, once with
Catherine of Aragon, and again with Anna Boleyn. James I too came to
Salisbury in 1611, and Charles II with his queen in 1665--on both these
occasions to escape the plagues then raging in London. Sir Walter
Raleigh was in the city in 1618, writing his _Apology for the Voyage to
Guiana_, before his last sad visit to London, where he was beheaded.
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