Another in the occasional series on “London Settings for Shakespeare’s Plays” …
Savoy Palace (Richard II)
The Savoy Palace was built by the Count of Savoie or Savoy, the uncle of Henry III, in 1324. It was later given to Edward I’s younger brother, Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, and passed down from him to Henry, Duke of Lancaster, who accommodated King John of France there after the latter’s defeat at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356, and in turn from him to John of Gaunt in 1361. It was burnt down during the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 (after which John of Gaunt moved to Ely Palace).
Later buildings on the site, evidently re-developed only after having stood derelict for some considerable time, included the Savoy Hospital, founded by a bequest from Henry VII, who died in 1509, and the associated Savoy Chapel. The Savoy Hospital became a military one in 1642, and was used to treat some of the wounded from the Civil War. Parts of it later became a military barracks and prison. Large parts of it were damaged by a fire in 1864, and subsequently demolished, making way for the construction of the Savoy Theatre in 1881 and the Savoy Hotel in 1889.
Only the Savoy Chapel survives.
