
The second eyewitness account: St Albans
A similar state of affairs pertains at the next stop, St Albans, home to one of England’s premier abbeys, and one with close links to the royal court. It was from here that Matthew Paris wrote, with material which often indicates very good sources close to the throne. St Albans was also the town closest to one of Eleanor’s favourite properties, Langley (now Kings Langley), where she had made many improvements to the house and garden, and where the nursery wing of the Court w