Eltham Palace was given to Edward II in 1305 by the Bishop of Durham, and used as a royal residence in the 14-16th cent. According to one account the incident  that inspired Edward III&#x27;s foundation of the Order of the Garter took place here. As the favourite palace of Henry IV it played host to the only Byzantine emperor ever to visit England. The young Henry VIII also grew up here; it was here that he met and impressed the scholar Erasmus in 1499 introduced by Thomas More.