The absence of space at Windsor continued to prove problematic, with James' English and Scottish retinues often quarrelling over rooms.[135]
Charles I was a connoisseur of art, and paid greater attention to the aesthetic aspects of Windsor Castle than his predecessors.[136] Dell Vostro 3450 CPU Fan Charles had the castle completely surveyed by a team including Inigo Jones in 1629, but little of the recommended work was carried out.[130] Nonetheless, Charles employed Nicholas Stoneto improve the chapel gallery in the Mannerist style and to construct a gateway in the North Terrace.[130] SONY Vaio VGN-CR23/N CPU FanChristian van Vianen, a noted Dutch goldsmith, was employed to produce a baroque gold service for the St George's Chapel altar. In the final years of peace, Charles demolished the fountain in the Upper Ward, intending to replace it with a classical statue.[137]
In 1642 the English Civil War broke out, dividing the country into the Royalist supporters of Charles, and the Parliamentarians. HP Pavilion dv6-3043tx CPU Fan In the aftermath of the battle of Edgehill in October, Parliament became concerned that Charles might advance on London.[138] John Venn took control of Windsor Castle with twelve companies of foot soldiers to protect the route along the Thames river, becoming the governor of the castle for the duration of the war.[138] HP Pavilion dv6-3163eo CPU Fan The contents of St George's Chapel were both valuable and, to many Parliamentary forces, inappropriately high church in style.[138] Looting began immediately: Edward IV's bejewelled coat of mail was stolen; the chapel's organs, windows and books destroyed; the Lady Chapel was emptied of valuables, HP Pavilion dv7-1003eo CPU Fanincluding the component parts of Henry VIII's unfinished tomb.[139] By the end of the war, some 3580 oz (101 kg) of gold and silver plate had been looted.[138]
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, a prominent Royalist general, attempted to relieve Windsor Castle that November.[138Dell Vostro 3450 CPU Fan ] Rupert's small force of cavalry was able to take the town of Windsor, but was unable to overcome the walls at Windsor Castle – in due course, Rupert was forced to retreat.[140] Over the winter of 1642–3, Windsor Castle was converted into the headquarters for the Earl of Essex, a senior Parliamentary general.[140] HP Pavilion dv7-3067nr CPU Fan The Horseshoe Cloister was taken over as a prison for captured Royalists, and the resident canons were expelled from the castle.[140] The Lady Chapel was turned into a magazine.[141] Looting by the underpaid garrison continued to be a problem; 500 royal deer were killed across the Windsor Great Park during the winter, and fences were burned as firewood.[140] SONY Vaio VGN-CR23/N CPU Fan In 1647 Charles, then a prisoner of Parliament, was brought to the castle for a period under arrest, before being moved to Hampton Court.[140] In 1648 there was a Royalist plan, never enacted, to seize Windsor Castle.[142] The Parliamentary Army Council moved into Windsor in November and decided to try Charles for treason.[142] HP Pavilion dv7-1129wm CPU FanCharles was held at Windsor again for the last three weeks of his reign; after his execution in January 1649, his body was taken back to Windsor that night through a snowstorm, to be interred without ceremony in the vault beneath St George's Chapel.
The Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 saw the first period of significant change to Windsor Castle for many years. HP Pavilion G72-b15EV CPU Fan The civil war and the years of theInterregnum had caused extensive damage to the royal palaces in England.[144] At the same time the shifting "functional requirements, patterns of movement, modes of transport, aesthetic taste and standards of comfort" amongst royal circles was changing the qualities being sought in a successful palace.[144] Compaq Presario CQ60-417DX CPU FanWindsor was the only royal palace to be successfully fully modernised by Charles II in the Restoration years.During the Interregnum, however, squatters had occupied Windsor Castle. As a result, the "King's house was a wreck; the fanatic, the pilferer, and the squatter, having been at work ... Paupers had squatted in many of the towers and cabinets". HP Pavilion dv7-3080eg CPU Fan
Shortly after returning to England, Charles appointed Prince Rupert, one of his few surviving close relatives, to be the Constable of Windsor Castle in 1668.[146] Rupert immediately began to reorder the castle's defences, repairing the Round Tower and reconstructing the real tennis court.[ HP Pavilion dv9233ca CPU Fan Charles attempted to restock Windsor Great Park with deer brought over from Germany, but the herds never recovered their pre-war size.[140] Rupert created apartments for himself in the Round Tower, decorated with an "extraordinary" number of weapons and armour, with his inner chambers "hung with tapisserie, curious and effeminate pictures".HP Envy 14-1195la CPU Fan Charles was heavily influenced by the works of Louis XIV of France, imitating French design at his palace at Winchester and the Royal Hospital at Chelsea.[149] At Windsor, Charles created "the most extravagantly Baroque interiors ever executed in England".[149] HP Pavilion dv6-2115sf CPU Fan Much of the building work was paid for out of increased royal revenues from Ireland during the 1670s.[150] French court etiquette at the time required a substantial number of enfiladed rooms in order to satisfy court protocol; the demand for space forced May to expand out into the North Terrace, rebuilding and widening it in the process.[151] HP Pavilion dv7-3067nr CPU Fan This new building was called the Star Building, because Charles II placed a huge gilt Garter star on the side of it.[151] May took down and rebuilt the walls of Edward III's hall and chapel, incorporating larger windows but retaining the height and dimensions of the medieval building.[151] HP Pavilion dv7-1129wm CPU Fan Although Windsor Castle was now big enough to hold the entire court, it was not built with chambers for the King's Council, as would be found in Whitehall.[152] Instead Charles took advantage of the good road links emerging around Windsor to hold his council meetings at Hampton Court when he was staying at the castle.[152] HP Pavilion G72-b15EV CPU Fan The result became an "exemplar" for royal buildings for the next twenty-five years.[153] The result of May's work showed a medievalist leaning; although sometimes criticised for its "dullness", May's reconstruction was both sympathetic to the existing castle and a deliberate attempt to create a slightly austere 17th-century version of a "neo-Norman" castle.[154] HP Pavilion dv6-2140se CPU Fan
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