Priests, singing men, choristers, a verger, and more staffed the chapels in the Palace of Westminster in the 200 years between the mid-fourteenth century and mid-fifteenth century. “These men, who belonged to the royal college of St Stephen the Protomartyr, knew their role was to pray daily for the royal family, the dead who asked to be commemorated in the chapel, and for the kingdom of England as a whole” (1). With this information, Biggs not only justifies the importance of her study but reminds us of the multidimensional use of space in the Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey, and St. Margaret's Church complex of buildings (see map, x). Therefore, this study not only focuses on an institution but it also deals with ritual definitions of space. As stated in the preface, “The chapel offered a vantage point to observe displays of kingly legitimation, collaborations between the kings and the Church, and the audiences who thronged to Westminster to seek access to governance” (xi). Thus, beneath the research on wall paintings, library, and court actions lies another fundamental theme of this book: the performance and representation of late medieval English kingship. The models of monarchy evolve from the more militaristic form of kingship of Edward III, to a more performative/visual one of Richard II, to a corporate one expressed in the fifteenth century, and finally ending with Henry VIII. St. Stephen's provided a space to legitimize monarchs and dynasties while its liturgical celebrations influenced the culture of the court (102, 138–39, 212). As the author states, “St Stephen's served as a venue for royally sponsored events within the English Church and as a liminal space where the Church and the Crown could collaborate” (99). Other collaborations, or negotiations, could occur there as well, between king and government, between king and family members (even a treason trial against the king's aunt in 1441), and so on.

This impressive study, which originated as the author's PhD dissertation at the University of York, demonstrates how the history of one institution, albeit an important one situated at the Palace of Westminster, might illuminate a great deal about religion, kingship, politics, and culture. Biggs explains basic information in a fashion that will prove beneficial to the novice reader, but this never becomes distracting for those more informed about the topic. Thus, we learn at the outset the differences delineating priest, canon, and dean. Citing numerous recent publications, Biggs explores the range of colleges in medieval England and their function: largely to augment the quality of prayers (2–3). From its foundation under Edward III (August 6, 1348) until its dissolution under Edward VI (1548), the college and chapel served important functions for the church, the royal family, and the government. Yet these relationships and the functioning of St. Stephen's College transformed over the years (25).

The five chapters run chronologically. Chapter 1 covers the period 1348 to 1394, the era of formation, “to define its purpose” (27) and to delineate the operational boundary issues between St. Stephen's, which Edward III apparently wished to function as a royal free chapel (but it was referred to as capella regis, [30]), and the abbey. Chapter 2 focuses on the reign of Richard II, which shows the king's interest in the chapel after he attained the age of majority in 1381 as he “visually and institutionally added his version of kingship” (71), but his finances often floundered. Yet it was under Richard that the college's precinct evolved from the broader sense of being coterminous with the palace (the apparent vision of Edward III) to become more limited. Clergy moved to housing on Canon Row, and St. Stephen's was located along the waterfront with an impressive new gateway and entryway. Chapter 3 deals with St. Stephen's during the Lancastrian and Yorkist era, 1399–1484. Not only did the canons of St. Stephen's navigate the changes in government successfully but the college maintained its place and status (97). As Biggs observes, the fifteenth-century kings patronized the chapel “not just because of their personal religious interests, but because of the college's role in projecting and disseminating an ideal of royal piety and ecclesiastically sponsored legitimacy, which fulfilled expectations of what a royal chapel should be to the king's household and to visitors” (99). Chapter 4 covers the period 1471 to 1536 and looks at operational transitions between the succession of Edward IV, when Biggs argues for “a stronger emphasis on the importance of looking outwards to an imagined audience of the king's subjects and visitors from overseas” (140), and 1536, when Henry VIII made Whitehall his main London palace and the function of Westminster Palace transformed. Lastly, chapter 5 examines the era of the Henrician Reformation, 1527–1548, and the operations of St. Stephen's during an era of theological and liturgical transformation and confusion. The Chantries Act of 1547 confiscated the college's endowed properties, and Biggs tells us that “St Stephen's is called ‘the late college’” in the London and Middlesex Chantry Certificate (202). It was done.

The space changed yet again in the reign of Edward VI when the chapel became a place to debate issues that concerned the king, the law, the country, and sometimes the church—until its destruction by fire in 1834. As the final paragraph states: “When the House of Commons came to St Stephen's c. 1550, they were not inheriting a Catholic Chapel, deconsecrated by their own Act of 1547. Rather, they were inheriting a chapel with a long tradition of royal piety and royal support for the Church in England” (216).

This admirable book essentially concerns itself with the rise and end of a late medieval royal chapel/college and the associated changes in English kingship. It benefits from significant archival research and the author's command of a wide range of secondary literature.