3-077-942 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Maundy Thursday Royal Gifts at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, 1777, (1890). 'The ancient Royal charities known as the "Royal Maundy" were distributed on Maundy Thursday, April 3, at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall...The origin and history of this ancient charity may be disputable. The word "maundy" has been derived from "maund," a basket, referring to the hand-basket from which the King was accustomed to give alms to the poor; others have suggested that the word is derived from mandatum, the first word of the Latin service for the day before Good Friday. Throughout Christendom, from the very earliest times, Maundy Thursday, or the Day of the Poor, as it was once called, has been associated with almsgiving and the washing of feet...The Sovereigns of England were once in the habit of washing the feet of as many poor persons as they themselves were years of age, and of giving to them as many pence, together with a gown or cloak...Nothing now remains suggestive of a picturesque ceremony but the towels worn by the Lord High Almoner and his assistants, and the bouquets of flowers which they carry as symbols of the herbs used in the washing of feet'. From "Illustrated London News", 1890.