Preparations for the reception of the legate in the city, July, 1519.In the following year (July, 1519) the streets witnessed another scene of gaiety. This time it was a visit of the legate, Cardinal Campeggio, for which the civic authorities made great preparations.1084In[pg 363]the first place the mayor and aldermen, in their gowns and cloaks of scarlet, were ordered to take up their position at 9 o'clock on the morning of Relic Sunday (i.e., the third Sunday after Midsummer Day) at St. Paul's stairs (the stayers wtin poulys). Next to them were to stand the Skinners, then the Mercers and other worshipful crafts in their order, clothed in their last and best livery. In this manner the street was to be lined on either side from the west door of St. Paul's down to Baynard's Castle. Upon the arrival of the lord cardinal and other lords at the Cathedral the mayor and aldermen were to head the procession and seat themselves in the choir to hearTe Deumsung. Bonfires or "pryncypall fyres" were to be lighted at St. Magnus corner, Gracechurch, Leadenhall, the conduit on Cornhill, St. Thomas "of Acres," the Standard and little conduit in Cheap, the Standard in Fleet Street, and in Bishopsgate Street; whilst cresset lights and small fires "made after the manner of Midsummer-night" were to add to the gaiety of the scene. Men-at-arms, well harnessed and apparelled, were to keep certain streets, whilst the aldermen and their constables were to keep watch and ward in their best array of harness. The ambassadors, who were to be lodged in Cornhill, were to be escorted home at night by the aldermen with torches, and to await their commands. There was one other, perhaps not unnecessary, direction to be followed, which was to the effect that if by any chance the strangers should be overcome by the hospitality of the city, or, in the words of the record—"yf eny oversyght be wtmoche drynke of the strangers"—the citizens were to "lett theym alone and no Englishemen to medyle wttheym."[pg 364]The legate lands at Deal, 23 July, 1519.A story told of his passage through the city.The legate landed at Deal on the 23rd July, and by slow stages was conducted with every mark of respect to London. His passage through the city was associated with an episode of a decidedly comic character if we are to believe the chronicler. A story is told1085that the night before Campeggio entered London, Wolsey sent him twelve mules with (empty) coffers, in order to give a semblance of wealth to the legate and his retinue. In Cheapside one of the mules turned restive and upset the chests, out of which tumbled old hose, shoes, bread, meat, and eggs, with "muche vile baggage," at which the street boys cried "See, see my lord legate's treasure!" The story, however, is on good authority deemed more malicious than probable.The contest for the empire, 1519.In January, 1519, the Emperor Maximilian died and left the imperial crown to be contested for by the kings of France and Spain. It eventually fell to the latter, and Charles V of Spain was elected Emperor Charles I, the event being celebrated by a solemn mass andTe Deumat St. Paul's, followed by a banquet at Castle Baynard.1086The emperor's visit to the city, 1522.Both France and Germany were eager to secure the co-operation of Henry. Charles anticipated the meeting which was to take place between Henry and Francis on the famous Field of the Cloth of Gold by coming over in person to England (May, 1519) and having a private conference with his uncle. The young emperor did not visit the city on this occasion; but in 1522, when war had broken out between him and Francis and he was again in England, he was[pg 365]escorted to the city with great honour and handsomely lodged in the palace of Bridewell. Nearly £1,000 was raised to meet the expenses of his reception and of furnishing a body of 100 bowmen for the king's service.1087The king and his guest and ally were met at St. George's Bar in Southwark by John Melborne,1088the mayor, accompanied by the high officers of the city, clothed in gowns of "pewke," each with a chain of gold about his neck.1089A "proposicioun" or address was made by Sir Thomas More, now under-treasurer of England, who was afterwards presented by the City with the sum of £10 towards a velvet gown,1090whilst other speeches made in the course of the procession were composed by Master Lilly,1091of Euphues fame, the first high master of Colet's School.Pestilence and famine, 1519-1522.Between the first and second visits of the emperor the citizens had witnessed some strange sights and had gone through much suffering and privation. The city had scarcely ever been free from sickness, and famine and pestilence had followed one another in quick succession. In September, 1520, the fellowships or civic companies subscribed over £1,000 for the purchase of wheat1092to be stored at the Bridgehouse, where ovens were fitted up.1093Mills for grinding corn already existed in the Thames hard by.1094The following year the plague raged to such an extent[pg 366]that every house attacked was ordered to be marked with St. Antony's cross, "otherwise called the syne of Tav,"1095and citizens were forbidden to attend the fair at Windsor for fear of carrying infection to the court.1096Again a scarcity of corn was feared, and the Bridge-masters were authorised by the Court of Common Council to purchase provisions, the corporation undertaking to give security for the repayment of all monies advanced by the charitably disposed for the purpose of staving off famine.1097Early in 1522 (15 Jan.) died Fitz-James, Bishop of London, carried off with many others by "a great death in London and other places of the realm."1098Execution of the Duke of Buckingham, 1521.The citizens had also in the meanwhile witnessed the arrest and execution of the Duke of Buckingham, son of the duke who figured so prominently before the citizens when the crown was offered to Richard III at Baynard Castle. He was seized one day whilst landing from his barge at the Hay Wharf, on a number of charges all more or less frivolous. His attendants were dismissed to the duke's "Manor of the Rose," in the parish of St. Laurence Pountney1099—on the site of which recently stood Merchant Taylors' School—whilst he himself was conducted to the Tower (16 April, 1521). An indictment was laid against[pg 367]him at the Guildhall before Sir John Brugge, lord mayor, and others (8 May). After a trial at Westminster which lasted some days, he was found guilty of high treason, and condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered, and to suffer such other atrocities as usually accompanied the death of a traitor in those days. The king, however, satisfied with his condemnation, spared him these indignities, and the duke was allowed to meet his death at the block. His corpse was reverently carried from the Tower to the Church of the Austin Friars by six poor members of that Order.1100The duke had other friends in the city besides these poor religious men, who thus requited in the only way they could many acts of kindness done to their Order by Buckingham in his life time, and his death gave rise to much disaffection and seditious language for some time afterwards.1101City loan of £20,000 to assist the king against France, 1522.Before the emperor left England he succeeded in committing Henry to an invasion of France. In order to carry out his object the king needed money, and the City was asked to furnish him with the sum of £100,000.1102Ten days later (26 May) the City agreed to advance £20,000. The livery companies were to be called upon to surrender their plate, and[pg 368]foreigners as well as citizens were to be made to contribute.1103The aldermen to be assessed with the commoners and not to be severed.The question arose whether the aldermen should be jointly assessed with the commoners or by themselves. The mayor and aldermen were willing to contribute the sum of £3,000,1104but this offer the Common Council "nothyng regarded," but sent the common sergeant to talk the matter over with them. After long consultation the mayor and aldermen sent back word that it was more "convenient" that they should be assessed with the commoners and not to be severed.1105In the meantime a hasty valuation had been made by the command of Wolsey of the plate of the livery companies, and of the ready money lying in their halls, the whole value of which was estimated to be £4,000. This, together with the sum of £10,000 which the Court of Aldermen purposed raising among the wealthier class of citizens, was all that the cardinal was given to expect from the City.1106On the 24th May the deputation, which had ridden with all speed after the cardinal in order to make this report, returned to the city and reported to the Court of Aldermen that his grace was in no wise satisfied with the City's offer, and that he expected the City to furnish the king with at least £30,000, of which £10,000 was to be ready within three days.1107The matter was compromised by the City consenting to advance £20,000.In June the Recorder had an interview with Wolsey respecting the security to be given for repayment[pg 369]of the loan. The cardinal refused to allow that certain abbots, abbesses and priors, who had been named, should enter into bond, and the citizens were obliged to be content with the personal securities of the king and Wolsey himself. Touching the plate of the halls, the cardinal wished only to take it in case of absolute necessity, and then only at a fair price. He desired the owners to bring it to the Tower, "there to be coyned and they [i.e., the government] to pay the seyd money that so shalbe coyned." The result of the Recorder's interview was reported to the Court of Aldermen the 17th June.1108A committee had already (2 June) to take an account of the plate brought in and to enter its true weight in a book.1109A further loan of 4,000 marks.Letter of thanks from Wolsey, 3 Sept., 1522.The recent loan of £20,000 had scarcely been raised1110before the citizens found it necessary to make a further advance of 4,000 marks. Their liberality was repaid by a gracious letter from Wolsey himself, in which he promised to see the money repaid in a fortnight,1111and to extend to them his favour. What vexed the citizens more than anything was being compelled to make oath before the cardinal's deputy sitting in the Chapter House of St. Paul's as to the amount each was worth in money, plate, jewels, household goods and merchandise,—a system of inquisition recently introduced.1112The City makes a stand against further loans. Nov., 1522.Others follow its example.As if all this were not enough Wolsey demanded another loan before the end of the year. This was too much even for the patient and open-handed[pg 370]London burgess. The Common Council determined (4 Nov.) to put a stop to these extortionate demands, and resolved that, "As touchyng the Requeste made by my lorde cardynalles grace for appreste or aloone of more money to the kynges grace, they can in no wise agre thereto, but they ar and wilbe well contendid to be examyned uppon their othes yf it shall please his grace so to do."1113The stand thus made by the citizens against illegal exactions gave courage to others. The king's commissioners were forcibly driven out of Kent, and open rebellion was threatened in other counties.1114Appeal to parliament, April, 1523.There was only one course left open to Henry, and that was to summon a parliament. For nearly eight years no parliament had sat. It was now summoned to meet on the 15th April, 1523, not at Westminster, but at the house of the Blackfriars.1115The names of the city's representatives are on record. The aldermen elected one of their body, George Monoux, and with him was associated "according to ancient customs," the city's Recorder, William Shelley; whilst the commons elected John Hewster, a mercer, and William Roche, a draper1116A few days after the election a committee of fourteen members was nominated to consider what matters should be laid before parliament as being for the welfare of the city.1117Sir Thomas More was[pg 371]chosen Speaker. The enormous sum of £800,000 was demanded. Expecting some hesitation on the part of the Commons, Wolsey himself determined to argue with them, and suddenly made his appearance in state. Finding that his speech was received in grim silence, he turned to More for a reply. The Speaker, falling on his knees, declared his inability to make any answer until he had received the instructions of the House, and intimated that perhaps the silence of the Commons was due to the cardinal's presence. Wolsey accordingly departed discomforted.1118His attempt to overawe parliament marks the beginning of his downfall. He still kept well with the city, however, and rendered it several small services.The City and Wolsey, 1523.Emboldened by their recent success the citizens determined to make a stand against other exactions, and when in May, 1523, another demand was made for one hundred bowmen, as in the previous year, they sent their charter to the cardinal and begged that the article touching citizens not being liable to foreign service might remain in force. A similar demand was made in the following November, and again the assistance of Wolsey was called in.1119The City on the other hand had recently conferred a favour on the cardinal by discharging Robert Amadas, his own goldsmith, from serving as alderman when elected in March of this year.1120The king and queen of Denmark in the city.In June the king and queen of Denmark paid a visit to the city and attended mass at St. Paul's,1121[pg 372]when the Court of Aldermen made them a present of two hogsheads of wine, one of white and another of claret, and two "awmes" of Rhenish wine, two fresh salmon, a dozen great pike, four dozen of "torchettes," and eight dozen of "syses."1122England invaded by the Scots. 1523.The joint attack of Henry and the emperor against France in 1523 proved as great a failure as that of 1522. In the midst of the campaign Henry was threatened with danger nearer home. The Scots marched southward, and created such a panic in the city that a solemn procession, in which figured Cuthbert Tunstal, Bishop of London (successor to the unfortunate Fitz-James), the mayor and aldermen, all the king's justices, and all the sergeants-at-law, took place every day for a week.1123After a futile attack upon Wark Castle the invaders withdrew and all danger was over.1124Monoux refuses to accept the mayoralty a second time, Oct., 1523.When the Feast of St. Edward (13 Oct.) came round, George Monoux, alderman and draper, who had already (1514-15) once filled the office of mayor of the city, was re-elected; but refusing to accept the call of his fellow-citizens he was fined £1,000. It was thereupon declared by the Court of Aldermen that anyone who in future should be elected mayor, and refused to take up office, should be mulcted in a like sum.1125Monoux's fine was remitted the following year, and he was discharged from attendance, although keeping his aldermanry, on account of ill health. In return for this favour he made over to the[pg 373]Corporation his brewhouse situate near the Bridgehouse in Southwark.1126The king pledges himself to repay the City loan of £20,000.Before the close of the year (3 Dec., 1523) the king pledged himself by letters patent to repay the loan of £20,000 which the City had advanced for his defence of the realm and maintenance of the wars against France and Scotland.1127Formation of a league against France.The disappointment experienced by Wolsey in not being selected to fill the Papal chair on the death of Adrian VI induced him to take measures for transferring his master's power from the imperial court to the court of France. In the meantime a league was formed between Henry, the emperor, and Charles, Duke of Bourbon, for the conquest and partition of France. During the formation of this league some correspondence between England and the Continent appears to have been lost in a remarkable manner, to judge from the following proclamation,1128made the 10th July, 1524:—Proclamation for the recovery of lost letters, 10 July, 1524."My lorde the maire streitly chargith and commaundith on the king or soveraigne lordis behalf that if any maner of person or persons that have founde a hat with certeyn lettres and other billes and writinges therin enclosed which lettres been directed to orsaid soveraigne lorde from the parties of beyond the see let hym or theym bryng the said hat lettres and writinges unto my said lorde the maire in all the hast possible and they shalbe well rewarded for their labour and that no maner of person kepe the said hat lettres and writinges nor noon of them after this proclamacioun made uppon payn of deth and God save the king."[pg 374]The king of France made prisoner at Pavia, 24 Feb., 1525.Rejoicing in the city.The news of the defeat and capture of the French king at Pavia (24 Feb., 1525) was hailed by Henry with great delight. The crown of France was now, he thought, within his grasp. On Saturday, the 11th March, a triumph was made in the city to celebrate "the takynge of the Frenche kyng in Bataill by Themporer and his alies."1129Bonfires were lighted at different places, one being in Saint Paul's Churchyard near the house where lay the foreign ambassadors. The Chamberlain was ordered to provide a hogshead of wine at every fire. The city minstrels filled the air with music, and the parish clerks attended with their singing children, who sat about the bonfires and sang ballads and "other delectable and joyfull songs." On the Sunday following the king and queen and officers of state attended aTe Deumat St. Paul's, the legate himself pronouncing the benediction.1130The Amicable Loan, 1525.Henry's first impulse was to take advantage of the French king's misfortune; the cardinal, on the other hand, saw danger in the predominating influence of Charles in Europe, and would gladly have seen his master join hands with Francis against the emperor. He was nevertheless bound to carry out the king's wishes as if they were his own, and money was necessary for the purpose. Instead of resorting to a benevolence—a mode of raising money already declared by parliament to be illegal—he suggested that the people should be asked for what was called an Amicable Loan, on the old feudal ground that the king was about to lead an expedition in person.[pg 375]The citizens were among the first to whom Wolsey made application. Were they of opinion, he asked, that the king should undertake the expedition to France in person? If so, he could not go otherwise than beseemed a prince, and this he could not do without the city's aid. The sum they were asked to subscribe did not, he said, amount to half their substance, which the king might very well have demanded. When it was objected that trade had been bad, Wolsey lost his temper and declared that it was better that some citizens should suffer rather than that the king should be in want, and that if they refused to pay it might "fortune to cost some their heddes."1131At length the citizens agreed to grant the king a sixth part of their substance, which Henry graciously acknowledged by letter (25 April),1132saying that it was not his wish to overburden them, for he valued their prosperity more than ten such realms as France. The letter was read, by Wolsey's express wish, to the Common Council on the 28th, when it was agreed to ask for a fortnight's grace before sending an answer to so important a missive.1133A deputation was forthwith despatched to Hampton Court to solicit the cardinal's mediation, but not being able to obtain an interview they returned, and steps were taken to raise the money required.When the cardinal was informed later on that the alderman of each ward was holding an enquiry as to the means of the inhabitants he affected to be very angry. "They had no right to examine anyone," he said; "I am your commissioner, I will examine you[pg 376]one by one myself." The mayor (Sir William Bailey) thereupon threw himself at the cardinal's feet beseeching him that since it was by Act of Common Council that the aldermen had sat in their respective wards for the purpose of taking the benevolence—a procedure which he now perceived to be against the law—the Act should by the Common Council be revoked. "Well," said Wolsey "I am content," and he then proceeded to ask how much the mayor and aldermen then present were prepared to give. When the mayor incautiously remarked that if he made any promise there and then it might perhaps cost him his life, Wolsey again became furious. What! the mayor's life threatened for obeying the king's orders! He would see to that.In the country the loan met with so much opposition that a rebellion was feared. At length, finding it was impossible to collect the money, Wolsey sent (19 May) for the mayor and aldermen and informed them that the king had given up all thoughts of his expedition to France, and that they were pardoned of all that had been demanded of them.1134A truce between England and France.French ambassadors lodged in the city, 1527.Before many weeks elapsed Wolsey saw with satisfaction a truce made between Henry and the queen regent of France.1135Early in 1526 the French king regained his liberty by virtue of a treaty which he at once repudiated, and war between him and the emperor was renewed, but England remained virtually at peace. In the following year (1527) the cardinal[pg 377]himself paid a visit to the French king and superintended the drawing up of articles for a permanent peace. By September all was settled, and Wolsey returned to England. Ambassadors from France shortly afterwards arrived, and were lodged in the Bishop of London's palace in St. Paul's Churchyard. The City made them valuable presents at the instance of the lord cardinal.1136Troubles over Wythypol's election as alderman, 1527-1528.Wythypol again summoned to take office.Committed to Newgate, 6 Feb., 1528.Again summoned to take office, 22 May.The election of Paul Wythypol,1137a merchant-tailor, as alderman of the Ward of Farringdon Within, in 1527, again brought Henry and the citizens into variance. The king desired Wythypol's discharge, at least for a time. The Court of Aldermen hesitated to accede to the request and consulted Wolsey.1138He recommended them an interview with the king at Greenwich. To Greenwich they accordingly went (24 Feb.) by water, where they arrived in time to give a formal reception to the cardinal, who landed soon afterwards from his barge. After a few words had passed between the cardinal and the municipal officers, the former entered the palace, whilst the latter waited in the king's great chamber till dinner time. When that hour arrived they were bidden to go down to the hall, where the mayor was entertained[pg 378]at the lord steward's mess, and the aldermen received like attention from the comptroller and other officers of state. The city's Counsel who had accompanied the mayor and aldermen were entertained at the table of "master coferer." Dinner over, the company returned to the great chamber, where they were kept waiting till the evening. At length the mayor and aldermen were bidden to the king's presence in his secret chamber. What took place there the writer of the record declares himself unable to say,1139and, although the mayor afterwards made a report of the matter to the court, no particulars are recorded in the City's archives. The practical outcome of the interview appears to have been that Wythypol was left unmolested for a whole twelve-month. When that time had elapsed he was again summoned before the Court of Aldermen either to accept office or take the oath prescribed.1140Refusing both these propositions he was committed to Newgate.1141This took place on the 6th February, 1528. On the 3rd March he appeared in person before the Court of Aldermen and desired a respite from office, or to be allowed to pay a fine. Being asked the amount of fine he was prepared to pay, he offered £40, and at the same time asked to be discharged from office for a period of three years. This offer was declined, and Wythypol was again ordered to take the oath prescribed for his discharge.1142Nearly three months were allowed to elapse before any further steps were taken, when, on the 22nd May, the court[pg 379]again ordered Wythypol to appear at its next meeting, and to take up office, or else take the oath, or pay such fine as should be assessed by the mayor, aldermen and common council.1143It is certain that he did not take office, so the conclusion must be that he availed himself of one or other of the alternatives open to him. John Brown was elected alderman of Farringdon Within shortly afterwards, but he was discharged by the Common Council, and the aldermanry was subsequently filled by John Hardy being translated to it from Aldersgate Ward.1144A great dearth in the city, 1529.In addition to an epidemic of sickness,1145the city was threatened the following year with a famine, notwithstanding the fact that large quantities of grain had been stored up in various parts of the city by order of the municipal authorities. The country had suffered recently by heavy rains, and large tracts of land had been inundated. In anticipation of trouble, a large stock of wheat had been laid in, but when it came to the point of disposing of it, the bakers of the city and the bakers of Stratford-at-Bow declined to take it except at their own price, until compelled by threats and, in some cases, imprisonment.1146
Preparations for the reception of the legate in the city, July, 1519.In the following year (July, 1519) the streets witnessed another scene of gaiety. This time it was a visit of the legate, Cardinal Campeggio, for which the civic authorities made great preparations.1084In[pg 363]the first place the mayor and aldermen, in their gowns and cloaks of scarlet, were ordered to take up their position at 9 o'clock on the morning of Relic Sunday (i.e., the third Sunday after Midsummer Day) at St. Paul's stairs (the stayers wtin poulys). Next to them were to stand the Skinners, then the Mercers and other worshipful crafts in their order, clothed in their last and best livery. In this manner the street was to be lined on either side from the west door of St. Paul's down to Baynard's Castle. Upon the arrival of the lord cardinal and other lords at the Cathedral the mayor and aldermen were to head the procession and seat themselves in the choir to hearTe Deumsung. Bonfires or "pryncypall fyres" were to be lighted at St. Magnus corner, Gracechurch, Leadenhall, the conduit on Cornhill, St. Thomas "of Acres," the Standard and little conduit in Cheap, the Standard in Fleet Street, and in Bishopsgate Street; whilst cresset lights and small fires "made after the manner of Midsummer-night" were to add to the gaiety of the scene. Men-at-arms, well harnessed and apparelled, were to keep certain streets, whilst the aldermen and their constables were to keep watch and ward in their best array of harness. The ambassadors, who were to be lodged in Cornhill, were to be escorted home at night by the aldermen with torches, and to await their commands. There was one other, perhaps not unnecessary, direction to be followed, which was to the effect that if by any chance the strangers should be overcome by the hospitality of the city, or, in the words of the record—"yf eny oversyght be wtmoche drynke of the strangers"—the citizens were to "lett theym alone and no Englishemen to medyle wttheym."[pg 364]The legate lands at Deal, 23 July, 1519.A story told of his passage through the city.The legate landed at Deal on the 23rd July, and by slow stages was conducted with every mark of respect to London. His passage through the city was associated with an episode of a decidedly comic character if we are to believe the chronicler. A story is told1085that the night before Campeggio entered London, Wolsey sent him twelve mules with (empty) coffers, in order to give a semblance of wealth to the legate and his retinue. In Cheapside one of the mules turned restive and upset the chests, out of which tumbled old hose, shoes, bread, meat, and eggs, with "muche vile baggage," at which the street boys cried "See, see my lord legate's treasure!" The story, however, is on good authority deemed more malicious than probable.The contest for the empire, 1519.In January, 1519, the Emperor Maximilian died and left the imperial crown to be contested for by the kings of France and Spain. It eventually fell to the latter, and Charles V of Spain was elected Emperor Charles I, the event being celebrated by a solemn mass andTe Deumat St. Paul's, followed by a banquet at Castle Baynard.1086The emperor's visit to the city, 1522.Both France and Germany were eager to secure the co-operation of Henry. Charles anticipated the meeting which was to take place between Henry and Francis on the famous Field of the Cloth of Gold by coming over in person to England (May, 1519) and having a private conference with his uncle. The young emperor did not visit the city on this occasion; but in 1522, when war had broken out between him and Francis and he was again in England, he was[pg 365]escorted to the city with great honour and handsomely lodged in the palace of Bridewell. Nearly £1,000 was raised to meet the expenses of his reception and of furnishing a body of 100 bowmen for the king's service.1087The king and his guest and ally were met at St. George's Bar in Southwark by John Melborne,1088the mayor, accompanied by the high officers of the city, clothed in gowns of "pewke," each with a chain of gold about his neck.1089A "proposicioun" or address was made by Sir Thomas More, now under-treasurer of England, who was afterwards presented by the City with the sum of £10 towards a velvet gown,1090whilst other speeches made in the course of the procession were composed by Master Lilly,1091of Euphues fame, the first high master of Colet's School.Pestilence and famine, 1519-1522.Between the first and second visits of the emperor the citizens had witnessed some strange sights and had gone through much suffering and privation. The city had scarcely ever been free from sickness, and famine and pestilence had followed one another in quick succession. In September, 1520, the fellowships or civic companies subscribed over £1,000 for the purchase of wheat1092to be stored at the Bridgehouse, where ovens were fitted up.1093Mills for grinding corn already existed in the Thames hard by.1094The following year the plague raged to such an extent[pg 366]that every house attacked was ordered to be marked with St. Antony's cross, "otherwise called the syne of Tav,"1095and citizens were forbidden to attend the fair at Windsor for fear of carrying infection to the court.1096Again a scarcity of corn was feared, and the Bridge-masters were authorised by the Court of Common Council to purchase provisions, the corporation undertaking to give security for the repayment of all monies advanced by the charitably disposed for the purpose of staving off famine.1097Early in 1522 (15 Jan.) died Fitz-James, Bishop of London, carried off with many others by "a great death in London and other places of the realm."1098Execution of the Duke of Buckingham, 1521.The citizens had also in the meanwhile witnessed the arrest and execution of the Duke of Buckingham, son of the duke who figured so prominently before the citizens when the crown was offered to Richard III at Baynard Castle. He was seized one day whilst landing from his barge at the Hay Wharf, on a number of charges all more or less frivolous. His attendants were dismissed to the duke's "Manor of the Rose," in the parish of St. Laurence Pountney1099—on the site of which recently stood Merchant Taylors' School—whilst he himself was conducted to the Tower (16 April, 1521). An indictment was laid against[pg 367]him at the Guildhall before Sir John Brugge, lord mayor, and others (8 May). After a trial at Westminster which lasted some days, he was found guilty of high treason, and condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered, and to suffer such other atrocities as usually accompanied the death of a traitor in those days. The king, however, satisfied with his condemnation, spared him these indignities, and the duke was allowed to meet his death at the block. His corpse was reverently carried from the Tower to the Church of the Austin Friars by six poor members of that Order.1100The duke had other friends in the city besides these poor religious men, who thus requited in the only way they could many acts of kindness done to their Order by Buckingham in his life time, and his death gave rise to much disaffection and seditious language for some time afterwards.1101City loan of £20,000 to assist the king against France, 1522.Before the emperor left England he succeeded in committing Henry to an invasion of France. In order to carry out his object the king needed money, and the City was asked to furnish him with the sum of £100,000.1102Ten days later (26 May) the City agreed to advance £20,000. The livery companies were to be called upon to surrender their plate, and[pg 368]foreigners as well as citizens were to be made to contribute.1103The aldermen to be assessed with the commoners and not to be severed.The question arose whether the aldermen should be jointly assessed with the commoners or by themselves. The mayor and aldermen were willing to contribute the sum of £3,000,1104but this offer the Common Council "nothyng regarded," but sent the common sergeant to talk the matter over with them. After long consultation the mayor and aldermen sent back word that it was more "convenient" that they should be assessed with the commoners and not to be severed.1105In the meantime a hasty valuation had been made by the command of Wolsey of the plate of the livery companies, and of the ready money lying in their halls, the whole value of which was estimated to be £4,000. This, together with the sum of £10,000 which the Court of Aldermen purposed raising among the wealthier class of citizens, was all that the cardinal was given to expect from the City.1106On the 24th May the deputation, which had ridden with all speed after the cardinal in order to make this report, returned to the city and reported to the Court of Aldermen that his grace was in no wise satisfied with the City's offer, and that he expected the City to furnish the king with at least £30,000, of which £10,000 was to be ready within three days.1107The matter was compromised by the City consenting to advance £20,000.In June the Recorder had an interview with Wolsey respecting the security to be given for repayment[pg 369]of the loan. The cardinal refused to allow that certain abbots, abbesses and priors, who had been named, should enter into bond, and the citizens were obliged to be content with the personal securities of the king and Wolsey himself. Touching the plate of the halls, the cardinal wished only to take it in case of absolute necessity, and then only at a fair price. He desired the owners to bring it to the Tower, "there to be coyned and they [i.e., the government] to pay the seyd money that so shalbe coyned." The result of the Recorder's interview was reported to the Court of Aldermen the 17th June.1108A committee had already (2 June) to take an account of the plate brought in and to enter its true weight in a book.1109A further loan of 4,000 marks.Letter of thanks from Wolsey, 3 Sept., 1522.The recent loan of £20,000 had scarcely been raised1110before the citizens found it necessary to make a further advance of 4,000 marks. Their liberality was repaid by a gracious letter from Wolsey himself, in which he promised to see the money repaid in a fortnight,1111and to extend to them his favour. What vexed the citizens more than anything was being compelled to make oath before the cardinal's deputy sitting in the Chapter House of St. Paul's as to the amount each was worth in money, plate, jewels, household goods and merchandise,—a system of inquisition recently introduced.1112The City makes a stand against further loans. Nov., 1522.Others follow its example.As if all this were not enough Wolsey demanded another loan before the end of the year. This was too much even for the patient and open-handed[pg 370]London burgess. The Common Council determined (4 Nov.) to put a stop to these extortionate demands, and resolved that, "As touchyng the Requeste made by my lorde cardynalles grace for appreste or aloone of more money to the kynges grace, they can in no wise agre thereto, but they ar and wilbe well contendid to be examyned uppon their othes yf it shall please his grace so to do."1113The stand thus made by the citizens against illegal exactions gave courage to others. The king's commissioners were forcibly driven out of Kent, and open rebellion was threatened in other counties.1114Appeal to parliament, April, 1523.There was only one course left open to Henry, and that was to summon a parliament. For nearly eight years no parliament had sat. It was now summoned to meet on the 15th April, 1523, not at Westminster, but at the house of the Blackfriars.1115The names of the city's representatives are on record. The aldermen elected one of their body, George Monoux, and with him was associated "according to ancient customs," the city's Recorder, William Shelley; whilst the commons elected John Hewster, a mercer, and William Roche, a draper1116A few days after the election a committee of fourteen members was nominated to consider what matters should be laid before parliament as being for the welfare of the city.1117Sir Thomas More was[pg 371]chosen Speaker. The enormous sum of £800,000 was demanded. Expecting some hesitation on the part of the Commons, Wolsey himself determined to argue with them, and suddenly made his appearance in state. Finding that his speech was received in grim silence, he turned to More for a reply. The Speaker, falling on his knees, declared his inability to make any answer until he had received the instructions of the House, and intimated that perhaps the silence of the Commons was due to the cardinal's presence. Wolsey accordingly departed discomforted.1118His attempt to overawe parliament marks the beginning of his downfall. He still kept well with the city, however, and rendered it several small services.The City and Wolsey, 1523.Emboldened by their recent success the citizens determined to make a stand against other exactions, and when in May, 1523, another demand was made for one hundred bowmen, as in the previous year, they sent their charter to the cardinal and begged that the article touching citizens not being liable to foreign service might remain in force. A similar demand was made in the following November, and again the assistance of Wolsey was called in.1119The City on the other hand had recently conferred a favour on the cardinal by discharging Robert Amadas, his own goldsmith, from serving as alderman when elected in March of this year.1120The king and queen of Denmark in the city.In June the king and queen of Denmark paid a visit to the city and attended mass at St. Paul's,1121[pg 372]when the Court of Aldermen made them a present of two hogsheads of wine, one of white and another of claret, and two "awmes" of Rhenish wine, two fresh salmon, a dozen great pike, four dozen of "torchettes," and eight dozen of "syses."1122England invaded by the Scots. 1523.The joint attack of Henry and the emperor against France in 1523 proved as great a failure as that of 1522. In the midst of the campaign Henry was threatened with danger nearer home. The Scots marched southward, and created such a panic in the city that a solemn procession, in which figured Cuthbert Tunstal, Bishop of London (successor to the unfortunate Fitz-James), the mayor and aldermen, all the king's justices, and all the sergeants-at-law, took place every day for a week.1123After a futile attack upon Wark Castle the invaders withdrew and all danger was over.1124Monoux refuses to accept the mayoralty a second time, Oct., 1523.When the Feast of St. Edward (13 Oct.) came round, George Monoux, alderman and draper, who had already (1514-15) once filled the office of mayor of the city, was re-elected; but refusing to accept the call of his fellow-citizens he was fined £1,000. It was thereupon declared by the Court of Aldermen that anyone who in future should be elected mayor, and refused to take up office, should be mulcted in a like sum.1125Monoux's fine was remitted the following year, and he was discharged from attendance, although keeping his aldermanry, on account of ill health. In return for this favour he made over to the[pg 373]Corporation his brewhouse situate near the Bridgehouse in Southwark.1126The king pledges himself to repay the City loan of £20,000.Before the close of the year (3 Dec., 1523) the king pledged himself by letters patent to repay the loan of £20,000 which the City had advanced for his defence of the realm and maintenance of the wars against France and Scotland.1127Formation of a league against France.The disappointment experienced by Wolsey in not being selected to fill the Papal chair on the death of Adrian VI induced him to take measures for transferring his master's power from the imperial court to the court of France. In the meantime a league was formed between Henry, the emperor, and Charles, Duke of Bourbon, for the conquest and partition of France. During the formation of this league some correspondence between England and the Continent appears to have been lost in a remarkable manner, to judge from the following proclamation,1128made the 10th July, 1524:—Proclamation for the recovery of lost letters, 10 July, 1524."My lorde the maire streitly chargith and commaundith on the king or soveraigne lordis behalf that if any maner of person or persons that have founde a hat with certeyn lettres and other billes and writinges therin enclosed which lettres been directed to orsaid soveraigne lorde from the parties of beyond the see let hym or theym bryng the said hat lettres and writinges unto my said lorde the maire in all the hast possible and they shalbe well rewarded for their labour and that no maner of person kepe the said hat lettres and writinges nor noon of them after this proclamacioun made uppon payn of deth and God save the king."[pg 374]The king of France made prisoner at Pavia, 24 Feb., 1525.Rejoicing in the city.The news of the defeat and capture of the French king at Pavia (24 Feb., 1525) was hailed by Henry with great delight. The crown of France was now, he thought, within his grasp. On Saturday, the 11th March, a triumph was made in the city to celebrate "the takynge of the Frenche kyng in Bataill by Themporer and his alies."1129Bonfires were lighted at different places, one being in Saint Paul's Churchyard near the house where lay the foreign ambassadors. The Chamberlain was ordered to provide a hogshead of wine at every fire. The city minstrels filled the air with music, and the parish clerks attended with their singing children, who sat about the bonfires and sang ballads and "other delectable and joyfull songs." On the Sunday following the king and queen and officers of state attended aTe Deumat St. Paul's, the legate himself pronouncing the benediction.1130The Amicable Loan, 1525.Henry's first impulse was to take advantage of the French king's misfortune; the cardinal, on the other hand, saw danger in the predominating influence of Charles in Europe, and would gladly have seen his master join hands with Francis against the emperor. He was nevertheless bound to carry out the king's wishes as if they were his own, and money was necessary for the purpose. Instead of resorting to a benevolence—a mode of raising money already declared by parliament to be illegal—he suggested that the people should be asked for what was called an Amicable Loan, on the old feudal ground that the king was about to lead an expedition in person.[pg 375]The citizens were among the first to whom Wolsey made application. Were they of opinion, he asked, that the king should undertake the expedition to France in person? If so, he could not go otherwise than beseemed a prince, and this he could not do without the city's aid. The sum they were asked to subscribe did not, he said, amount to half their substance, which the king might very well have demanded. When it was objected that trade had been bad, Wolsey lost his temper and declared that it was better that some citizens should suffer rather than that the king should be in want, and that if they refused to pay it might "fortune to cost some their heddes."1131At length the citizens agreed to grant the king a sixth part of their substance, which Henry graciously acknowledged by letter (25 April),1132saying that it was not his wish to overburden them, for he valued their prosperity more than ten such realms as France. The letter was read, by Wolsey's express wish, to the Common Council on the 28th, when it was agreed to ask for a fortnight's grace before sending an answer to so important a missive.1133A deputation was forthwith despatched to Hampton Court to solicit the cardinal's mediation, but not being able to obtain an interview they returned, and steps were taken to raise the money required.When the cardinal was informed later on that the alderman of each ward was holding an enquiry as to the means of the inhabitants he affected to be very angry. "They had no right to examine anyone," he said; "I am your commissioner, I will examine you[pg 376]one by one myself." The mayor (Sir William Bailey) thereupon threw himself at the cardinal's feet beseeching him that since it was by Act of Common Council that the aldermen had sat in their respective wards for the purpose of taking the benevolence—a procedure which he now perceived to be against the law—the Act should by the Common Council be revoked. "Well," said Wolsey "I am content," and he then proceeded to ask how much the mayor and aldermen then present were prepared to give. When the mayor incautiously remarked that if he made any promise there and then it might perhaps cost him his life, Wolsey again became furious. What! the mayor's life threatened for obeying the king's orders! He would see to that.In the country the loan met with so much opposition that a rebellion was feared. At length, finding it was impossible to collect the money, Wolsey sent (19 May) for the mayor and aldermen and informed them that the king had given up all thoughts of his expedition to France, and that they were pardoned of all that had been demanded of them.1134A truce between England and France.French ambassadors lodged in the city, 1527.Before many weeks elapsed Wolsey saw with satisfaction a truce made between Henry and the queen regent of France.1135Early in 1526 the French king regained his liberty by virtue of a treaty which he at once repudiated, and war between him and the emperor was renewed, but England remained virtually at peace. In the following year (1527) the cardinal[pg 377]himself paid a visit to the French king and superintended the drawing up of articles for a permanent peace. By September all was settled, and Wolsey returned to England. Ambassadors from France shortly afterwards arrived, and were lodged in the Bishop of London's palace in St. Paul's Churchyard. The City made them valuable presents at the instance of the lord cardinal.1136Troubles over Wythypol's election as alderman, 1527-1528.Wythypol again summoned to take office.Committed to Newgate, 6 Feb., 1528.Again summoned to take office, 22 May.The election of Paul Wythypol,1137a merchant-tailor, as alderman of the Ward of Farringdon Within, in 1527, again brought Henry and the citizens into variance. The king desired Wythypol's discharge, at least for a time. The Court of Aldermen hesitated to accede to the request and consulted Wolsey.1138He recommended them an interview with the king at Greenwich. To Greenwich they accordingly went (24 Feb.) by water, where they arrived in time to give a formal reception to the cardinal, who landed soon afterwards from his barge. After a few words had passed between the cardinal and the municipal officers, the former entered the palace, whilst the latter waited in the king's great chamber till dinner time. When that hour arrived they were bidden to go down to the hall, where the mayor was entertained[pg 378]at the lord steward's mess, and the aldermen received like attention from the comptroller and other officers of state. The city's Counsel who had accompanied the mayor and aldermen were entertained at the table of "master coferer." Dinner over, the company returned to the great chamber, where they were kept waiting till the evening. At length the mayor and aldermen were bidden to the king's presence in his secret chamber. What took place there the writer of the record declares himself unable to say,1139and, although the mayor afterwards made a report of the matter to the court, no particulars are recorded in the City's archives. The practical outcome of the interview appears to have been that Wythypol was left unmolested for a whole twelve-month. When that time had elapsed he was again summoned before the Court of Aldermen either to accept office or take the oath prescribed.1140Refusing both these propositions he was committed to Newgate.1141This took place on the 6th February, 1528. On the 3rd March he appeared in person before the Court of Aldermen and desired a respite from office, or to be allowed to pay a fine. Being asked the amount of fine he was prepared to pay, he offered £40, and at the same time asked to be discharged from office for a period of three years. This offer was declined, and Wythypol was again ordered to take the oath prescribed for his discharge.1142Nearly three months were allowed to elapse before any further steps were taken, when, on the 22nd May, the court[pg 379]again ordered Wythypol to appear at its next meeting, and to take up office, or else take the oath, or pay such fine as should be assessed by the mayor, aldermen and common council.1143It is certain that he did not take office, so the conclusion must be that he availed himself of one or other of the alternatives open to him. John Brown was elected alderman of Farringdon Within shortly afterwards, but he was discharged by the Common Council, and the aldermanry was subsequently filled by John Hardy being translated to it from Aldersgate Ward.1144A great dearth in the city, 1529.In addition to an epidemic of sickness,1145the city was threatened the following year with a famine, notwithstanding the fact that large quantities of grain had been stored up in various parts of the city by order of the municipal authorities. The country had suffered recently by heavy rains, and large tracts of land had been inundated. In anticipation of trouble, a large stock of wheat had been laid in, but when it came to the point of disposing of it, the bakers of the city and the bakers of Stratford-at-Bow declined to take it except at their own price, until compelled by threats and, in some cases, imprisonment.1146
Preparations for the reception of the legate in the city, July, 1519.In the following year (July, 1519) the streets witnessed another scene of gaiety. This time it was a visit of the legate, Cardinal Campeggio, for which the civic authorities made great preparations.1084In[pg 363]the first place the mayor and aldermen, in their gowns and cloaks of scarlet, were ordered to take up their position at 9 o'clock on the morning of Relic Sunday (i.e., the third Sunday after Midsummer Day) at St. Paul's stairs (the stayers wtin poulys). Next to them were to stand the Skinners, then the Mercers and other worshipful crafts in their order, clothed in their last and best livery. In this manner the street was to be lined on either side from the west door of St. Paul's down to Baynard's Castle. Upon the arrival of the lord cardinal and other lords at the Cathedral the mayor and aldermen were to head the procession and seat themselves in the choir to hearTe Deumsung. Bonfires or "pryncypall fyres" were to be lighted at St. Magnus corner, Gracechurch, Leadenhall, the conduit on Cornhill, St. Thomas "of Acres," the Standard and little conduit in Cheap, the Standard in Fleet Street, and in Bishopsgate Street; whilst cresset lights and small fires "made after the manner of Midsummer-night" were to add to the gaiety of the scene. Men-at-arms, well harnessed and apparelled, were to keep certain streets, whilst the aldermen and their constables were to keep watch and ward in their best array of harness. The ambassadors, who were to be lodged in Cornhill, were to be escorted home at night by the aldermen with torches, and to await their commands. There was one other, perhaps not unnecessary, direction to be followed, which was to the effect that if by any chance the strangers should be overcome by the hospitality of the city, or, in the words of the record—"yf eny oversyght be wtmoche drynke of the strangers"—the citizens were to "lett theym alone and no Englishemen to medyle wttheym."[pg 364]The legate lands at Deal, 23 July, 1519.A story told of his passage through the city.The legate landed at Deal on the 23rd July, and by slow stages was conducted with every mark of respect to London. His passage through the city was associated with an episode of a decidedly comic character if we are to believe the chronicler. A story is told1085that the night before Campeggio entered London, Wolsey sent him twelve mules with (empty) coffers, in order to give a semblance of wealth to the legate and his retinue. In Cheapside one of the mules turned restive and upset the chests, out of which tumbled old hose, shoes, bread, meat, and eggs, with "muche vile baggage," at which the street boys cried "See, see my lord legate's treasure!" The story, however, is on good authority deemed more malicious than probable.The contest for the empire, 1519.In January, 1519, the Emperor Maximilian died and left the imperial crown to be contested for by the kings of France and Spain. It eventually fell to the latter, and Charles V of Spain was elected Emperor Charles I, the event being celebrated by a solemn mass andTe Deumat St. Paul's, followed by a banquet at Castle Baynard.1086The emperor's visit to the city, 1522.Both France and Germany were eager to secure the co-operation of Henry. Charles anticipated the meeting which was to take place between Henry and Francis on the famous Field of the Cloth of Gold by coming over in person to England (May, 1519) and having a private conference with his uncle. The young emperor did not visit the city on this occasion; but in 1522, when war had broken out between him and Francis and he was again in England, he was[pg 365]escorted to the city with great honour and handsomely lodged in the palace of Bridewell. Nearly £1,000 was raised to meet the expenses of his reception and of furnishing a body of 100 bowmen for the king's service.1087The king and his guest and ally were met at St. George's Bar in Southwark by John Melborne,1088the mayor, accompanied by the high officers of the city, clothed in gowns of "pewke," each with a chain of gold about his neck.1089A "proposicioun" or address was made by Sir Thomas More, now under-treasurer of England, who was afterwards presented by the City with the sum of £10 towards a velvet gown,1090whilst other speeches made in the course of the procession were composed by Master Lilly,1091of Euphues fame, the first high master of Colet's School.Pestilence and famine, 1519-1522.Between the first and second visits of the emperor the citizens had witnessed some strange sights and had gone through much suffering and privation. The city had scarcely ever been free from sickness, and famine and pestilence had followed one another in quick succession. In September, 1520, the fellowships or civic companies subscribed over £1,000 for the purchase of wheat1092to be stored at the Bridgehouse, where ovens were fitted up.1093Mills for grinding corn already existed in the Thames hard by.1094The following year the plague raged to such an extent[pg 366]that every house attacked was ordered to be marked with St. Antony's cross, "otherwise called the syne of Tav,"1095and citizens were forbidden to attend the fair at Windsor for fear of carrying infection to the court.1096Again a scarcity of corn was feared, and the Bridge-masters were authorised by the Court of Common Council to purchase provisions, the corporation undertaking to give security for the repayment of all monies advanced by the charitably disposed for the purpose of staving off famine.1097Early in 1522 (15 Jan.) died Fitz-James, Bishop of London, carried off with many others by "a great death in London and other places of the realm."1098Execution of the Duke of Buckingham, 1521.The citizens had also in the meanwhile witnessed the arrest and execution of the Duke of Buckingham, son of the duke who figured so prominently before the citizens when the crown was offered to Richard III at Baynard Castle. He was seized one day whilst landing from his barge at the Hay Wharf, on a number of charges all more or less frivolous. His attendants were dismissed to the duke's "Manor of the Rose," in the parish of St. Laurence Pountney1099—on the site of which recently stood Merchant Taylors' School—whilst he himself was conducted to the Tower (16 April, 1521). An indictment was laid against[pg 367]him at the Guildhall before Sir John Brugge, lord mayor, and others (8 May). After a trial at Westminster which lasted some days, he was found guilty of high treason, and condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered, and to suffer such other atrocities as usually accompanied the death of a traitor in those days. The king, however, satisfied with his condemnation, spared him these indignities, and the duke was allowed to meet his death at the block. His corpse was reverently carried from the Tower to the Church of the Austin Friars by six poor members of that Order.1100The duke had other friends in the city besides these poor religious men, who thus requited in the only way they could many acts of kindness done to their Order by Buckingham in his life time, and his death gave rise to much disaffection and seditious language for some time afterwards.1101City loan of £20,000 to assist the king against France, 1522.Before the emperor left England he succeeded in committing Henry to an invasion of France. In order to carry out his object the king needed money, and the City was asked to furnish him with the sum of £100,000.1102Ten days later (26 May) the City agreed to advance £20,000. The livery companies were to be called upon to surrender their plate, and[pg 368]foreigners as well as citizens were to be made to contribute.1103The aldermen to be assessed with the commoners and not to be severed.The question arose whether the aldermen should be jointly assessed with the commoners or by themselves. The mayor and aldermen were willing to contribute the sum of £3,000,1104but this offer the Common Council "nothyng regarded," but sent the common sergeant to talk the matter over with them. After long consultation the mayor and aldermen sent back word that it was more "convenient" that they should be assessed with the commoners and not to be severed.1105In the meantime a hasty valuation had been made by the command of Wolsey of the plate of the livery companies, and of the ready money lying in their halls, the whole value of which was estimated to be £4,000. This, together with the sum of £10,000 which the Court of Aldermen purposed raising among the wealthier class of citizens, was all that the cardinal was given to expect from the City.1106On the 24th May the deputation, which had ridden with all speed after the cardinal in order to make this report, returned to the city and reported to the Court of Aldermen that his grace was in no wise satisfied with the City's offer, and that he expected the City to furnish the king with at least £30,000, of which £10,000 was to be ready within three days.1107The matter was compromised by the City consenting to advance £20,000.In June the Recorder had an interview with Wolsey respecting the security to be given for repayment[pg 369]of the loan. The cardinal refused to allow that certain abbots, abbesses and priors, who had been named, should enter into bond, and the citizens were obliged to be content with the personal securities of the king and Wolsey himself. Touching the plate of the halls, the cardinal wished only to take it in case of absolute necessity, and then only at a fair price. He desired the owners to bring it to the Tower, "there to be coyned and they [i.e., the government] to pay the seyd money that so shalbe coyned." The result of the Recorder's interview was reported to the Court of Aldermen the 17th June.1108A committee had already (2 June) to take an account of the plate brought in and to enter its true weight in a book.1109A further loan of 4,000 marks.Letter of thanks from Wolsey, 3 Sept., 1522.The recent loan of £20,000 had scarcely been raised1110before the citizens found it necessary to make a further advance of 4,000 marks. Their liberality was repaid by a gracious letter from Wolsey himself, in which he promised to see the money repaid in a fortnight,1111and to extend to them his favour. What vexed the citizens more than anything was being compelled to make oath before the cardinal's deputy sitting in the Chapter House of St. Paul's as to the amount each was worth in money, plate, jewels, household goods and merchandise,—a system of inquisition recently introduced.1112The City makes a stand against further loans. Nov., 1522.Others follow its example.As if all this were not enough Wolsey demanded another loan before the end of the year. This was too much even for the patient and open-handed[pg 370]London burgess. The Common Council determined (4 Nov.) to put a stop to these extortionate demands, and resolved that, "As touchyng the Requeste made by my lorde cardynalles grace for appreste or aloone of more money to the kynges grace, they can in no wise agre thereto, but they ar and wilbe well contendid to be examyned uppon their othes yf it shall please his grace so to do."1113The stand thus made by the citizens against illegal exactions gave courage to others. The king's commissioners were forcibly driven out of Kent, and open rebellion was threatened in other counties.1114Appeal to parliament, April, 1523.There was only one course left open to Henry, and that was to summon a parliament. For nearly eight years no parliament had sat. It was now summoned to meet on the 15th April, 1523, not at Westminster, but at the house of the Blackfriars.1115The names of the city's representatives are on record. The aldermen elected one of their body, George Monoux, and with him was associated "according to ancient customs," the city's Recorder, William Shelley; whilst the commons elected John Hewster, a mercer, and William Roche, a draper1116A few days after the election a committee of fourteen members was nominated to consider what matters should be laid before parliament as being for the welfare of the city.1117Sir Thomas More was[pg 371]chosen Speaker. The enormous sum of £800,000 was demanded. Expecting some hesitation on the part of the Commons, Wolsey himself determined to argue with them, and suddenly made his appearance in state. Finding that his speech was received in grim silence, he turned to More for a reply. The Speaker, falling on his knees, declared his inability to make any answer until he had received the instructions of the House, and intimated that perhaps the silence of the Commons was due to the cardinal's presence. Wolsey accordingly departed discomforted.1118His attempt to overawe parliament marks the beginning of his downfall. He still kept well with the city, however, and rendered it several small services.The City and Wolsey, 1523.Emboldened by their recent success the citizens determined to make a stand against other exactions, and when in May, 1523, another demand was made for one hundred bowmen, as in the previous year, they sent their charter to the cardinal and begged that the article touching citizens not being liable to foreign service might remain in force. A similar demand was made in the following November, and again the assistance of Wolsey was called in.1119The City on the other hand had recently conferred a favour on the cardinal by discharging Robert Amadas, his own goldsmith, from serving as alderman when elected in March of this year.1120The king and queen of Denmark in the city.In June the king and queen of Denmark paid a visit to the city and attended mass at St. Paul's,1121[pg 372]when the Court of Aldermen made them a present of two hogsheads of wine, one of white and another of claret, and two "awmes" of Rhenish wine, two fresh salmon, a dozen great pike, four dozen of "torchettes," and eight dozen of "syses."1122England invaded by the Scots. 1523.The joint attack of Henry and the emperor against France in 1523 proved as great a failure as that of 1522. In the midst of the campaign Henry was threatened with danger nearer home. The Scots marched southward, and created such a panic in the city that a solemn procession, in which figured Cuthbert Tunstal, Bishop of London (successor to the unfortunate Fitz-James), the mayor and aldermen, all the king's justices, and all the sergeants-at-law, took place every day for a week.1123After a futile attack upon Wark Castle the invaders withdrew and all danger was over.1124Monoux refuses to accept the mayoralty a second time, Oct., 1523.When the Feast of St. Edward (13 Oct.) came round, George Monoux, alderman and draper, who had already (1514-15) once filled the office of mayor of the city, was re-elected; but refusing to accept the call of his fellow-citizens he was fined £1,000. It was thereupon declared by the Court of Aldermen that anyone who in future should be elected mayor, and refused to take up office, should be mulcted in a like sum.1125Monoux's fine was remitted the following year, and he was discharged from attendance, although keeping his aldermanry, on account of ill health. In return for this favour he made over to the[pg 373]Corporation his brewhouse situate near the Bridgehouse in Southwark.1126The king pledges himself to repay the City loan of £20,000.Before the close of the year (3 Dec., 1523) the king pledged himself by letters patent to repay the loan of £20,000 which the City had advanced for his defence of the realm and maintenance of the wars against France and Scotland.1127Formation of a league against France.The disappointment experienced by Wolsey in not being selected to fill the Papal chair on the death of Adrian VI induced him to take measures for transferring his master's power from the imperial court to the court of France. In the meantime a league was formed between Henry, the emperor, and Charles, Duke of Bourbon, for the conquest and partition of France. During the formation of this league some correspondence between England and the Continent appears to have been lost in a remarkable manner, to judge from the following proclamation,1128made the 10th July, 1524:—Proclamation for the recovery of lost letters, 10 July, 1524."My lorde the maire streitly chargith and commaundith on the king or soveraigne lordis behalf that if any maner of person or persons that have founde a hat with certeyn lettres and other billes and writinges therin enclosed which lettres been directed to orsaid soveraigne lorde from the parties of beyond the see let hym or theym bryng the said hat lettres and writinges unto my said lorde the maire in all the hast possible and they shalbe well rewarded for their labour and that no maner of person kepe the said hat lettres and writinges nor noon of them after this proclamacioun made uppon payn of deth and God save the king."[pg 374]The king of France made prisoner at Pavia, 24 Feb., 1525.Rejoicing in the city.The news of the defeat and capture of the French king at Pavia (24 Feb., 1525) was hailed by Henry with great delight. The crown of France was now, he thought, within his grasp. On Saturday, the 11th March, a triumph was made in the city to celebrate "the takynge of the Frenche kyng in Bataill by Themporer and his alies."1129Bonfires were lighted at different places, one being in Saint Paul's Churchyard near the house where lay the foreign ambassadors. The Chamberlain was ordered to provide a hogshead of wine at every fire. The city minstrels filled the air with music, and the parish clerks attended with their singing children, who sat about the bonfires and sang ballads and "other delectable and joyfull songs." On the Sunday following the king and queen and officers of state attended aTe Deumat St. Paul's, the legate himself pronouncing the benediction.1130The Amicable Loan, 1525.Henry's first impulse was to take advantage of the French king's misfortune; the cardinal, on the other hand, saw danger in the predominating influence of Charles in Europe, and would gladly have seen his master join hands with Francis against the emperor. He was nevertheless bound to carry out the king's wishes as if they were his own, and money was necessary for the purpose. Instead of resorting to a benevolence—a mode of raising money already declared by parliament to be illegal—he suggested that the people should be asked for what was called an Amicable Loan, on the old feudal ground that the king was about to lead an expedition in person.[pg 375]The citizens were among the first to whom Wolsey made application. Were they of opinion, he asked, that the king should undertake the expedition to France in person? If so, he could not go otherwise than beseemed a prince, and this he could not do without the city's aid. The sum they were asked to subscribe did not, he said, amount to half their substance, which the king might very well have demanded. When it was objected that trade had been bad, Wolsey lost his temper and declared that it was better that some citizens should suffer rather than that the king should be in want, and that if they refused to pay it might "fortune to cost some their heddes."1131At length the citizens agreed to grant the king a sixth part of their substance, which Henry graciously acknowledged by letter (25 April),1132saying that it was not his wish to overburden them, for he valued their prosperity more than ten such realms as France. The letter was read, by Wolsey's express wish, to the Common Council on the 28th, when it was agreed to ask for a fortnight's grace before sending an answer to so important a missive.1133A deputation was forthwith despatched to Hampton Court to solicit the cardinal's mediation, but not being able to obtain an interview they returned, and steps were taken to raise the money required.When the cardinal was informed later on that the alderman of each ward was holding an enquiry as to the means of the inhabitants he affected to be very angry. "They had no right to examine anyone," he said; "I am your commissioner, I will examine you[pg 376]one by one myself." The mayor (Sir William Bailey) thereupon threw himself at the cardinal's feet beseeching him that since it was by Act of Common Council that the aldermen had sat in their respective wards for the purpose of taking the benevolence—a procedure which he now perceived to be against the law—the Act should by the Common Council be revoked. "Well," said Wolsey "I am content," and he then proceeded to ask how much the mayor and aldermen then present were prepared to give. When the mayor incautiously remarked that if he made any promise there and then it might perhaps cost him his life, Wolsey again became furious. What! the mayor's life threatened for obeying the king's orders! He would see to that.In the country the loan met with so much opposition that a rebellion was feared. At length, finding it was impossible to collect the money, Wolsey sent (19 May) for the mayor and aldermen and informed them that the king had given up all thoughts of his expedition to France, and that they were pardoned of all that had been demanded of them.1134A truce between England and France.French ambassadors lodged in the city, 1527.Before many weeks elapsed Wolsey saw with satisfaction a truce made between Henry and the queen regent of France.1135Early in 1526 the French king regained his liberty by virtue of a treaty which he at once repudiated, and war between him and the emperor was renewed, but England remained virtually at peace. In the following year (1527) the cardinal[pg 377]himself paid a visit to the French king and superintended the drawing up of articles for a permanent peace. By September all was settled, and Wolsey returned to England. Ambassadors from France shortly afterwards arrived, and were lodged in the Bishop of London's palace in St. Paul's Churchyard. The City made them valuable presents at the instance of the lord cardinal.1136Troubles over Wythypol's election as alderman, 1527-1528.Wythypol again summoned to take office.Committed to Newgate, 6 Feb., 1528.Again summoned to take office, 22 May.The election of Paul Wythypol,1137a merchant-tailor, as alderman of the Ward of Farringdon Within, in 1527, again brought Henry and the citizens into variance. The king desired Wythypol's discharge, at least for a time. The Court of Aldermen hesitated to accede to the request and consulted Wolsey.1138He recommended them an interview with the king at Greenwich. To Greenwich they accordingly went (24 Feb.) by water, where they arrived in time to give a formal reception to the cardinal, who landed soon afterwards from his barge. After a few words had passed between the cardinal and the municipal officers, the former entered the palace, whilst the latter waited in the king's great chamber till dinner time. When that hour arrived they were bidden to go down to the hall, where the mayor was entertained[pg 378]at the lord steward's mess, and the aldermen received like attention from the comptroller and other officers of state. The city's Counsel who had accompanied the mayor and aldermen were entertained at the table of "master coferer." Dinner over, the company returned to the great chamber, where they were kept waiting till the evening. At length the mayor and aldermen were bidden to the king's presence in his secret chamber. What took place there the writer of the record declares himself unable to say,1139and, although the mayor afterwards made a report of the matter to the court, no particulars are recorded in the City's archives. The practical outcome of the interview appears to have been that Wythypol was left unmolested for a whole twelve-month. When that time had elapsed he was again summoned before the Court of Aldermen either to accept office or take the oath prescribed.1140Refusing both these propositions he was committed to Newgate.1141This took place on the 6th February, 1528. On the 3rd March he appeared in person before the Court of Aldermen and desired a respite from office, or to be allowed to pay a fine. Being asked the amount of fine he was prepared to pay, he offered £40, and at the same time asked to be discharged from office for a period of three years. This offer was declined, and Wythypol was again ordered to take the oath prescribed for his discharge.1142Nearly three months were allowed to elapse before any further steps were taken, when, on the 22nd May, the court[pg 379]again ordered Wythypol to appear at its next meeting, and to take up office, or else take the oath, or pay such fine as should be assessed by the mayor, aldermen and common council.1143It is certain that he did not take office, so the conclusion must be that he availed himself of one or other of the alternatives open to him. John Brown was elected alderman of Farringdon Within shortly afterwards, but he was discharged by the Common Council, and the aldermanry was subsequently filled by John Hardy being translated to it from Aldersgate Ward.1144A great dearth in the city, 1529.In addition to an epidemic of sickness,1145the city was threatened the following year with a famine, notwithstanding the fact that large quantities of grain had been stored up in various parts of the city by order of the municipal authorities. The country had suffered recently by heavy rains, and large tracts of land had been inundated. In anticipation of trouble, a large stock of wheat had been laid in, but when it came to the point of disposing of it, the bakers of the city and the bakers of Stratford-at-Bow declined to take it except at their own price, until compelled by threats and, in some cases, imprisonment.1146
Preparations for the reception of the legate in the city, July, 1519.In the following year (July, 1519) the streets witnessed another scene of gaiety. This time it was a visit of the legate, Cardinal Campeggio, for which the civic authorities made great preparations.1084In[pg 363]the first place the mayor and aldermen, in their gowns and cloaks of scarlet, were ordered to take up their position at 9 o'clock on the morning of Relic Sunday (i.e., the third Sunday after Midsummer Day) at St. Paul's stairs (the stayers wtin poulys). Next to them were to stand the Skinners, then the Mercers and other worshipful crafts in their order, clothed in their last and best livery. In this manner the street was to be lined on either side from the west door of St. Paul's down to Baynard's Castle. Upon the arrival of the lord cardinal and other lords at the Cathedral the mayor and aldermen were to head the procession and seat themselves in the choir to hearTe Deumsung. Bonfires or "pryncypall fyres" were to be lighted at St. Magnus corner, Gracechurch, Leadenhall, the conduit on Cornhill, St. Thomas "of Acres," the Standard and little conduit in Cheap, the Standard in Fleet Street, and in Bishopsgate Street; whilst cresset lights and small fires "made after the manner of Midsummer-night" were to add to the gaiety of the scene. Men-at-arms, well harnessed and apparelled, were to keep certain streets, whilst the aldermen and their constables were to keep watch and ward in their best array of harness. The ambassadors, who were to be lodged in Cornhill, were to be escorted home at night by the aldermen with torches, and to await their commands. There was one other, perhaps not unnecessary, direction to be followed, which was to the effect that if by any chance the strangers should be overcome by the hospitality of the city, or, in the words of the record—"yf eny oversyght be wtmoche drynke of the strangers"—the citizens were to "lett theym alone and no Englishemen to medyle wttheym."[pg 364]The legate lands at Deal, 23 July, 1519.A story told of his passage through the city.The legate landed at Deal on the 23rd July, and by slow stages was conducted with every mark of respect to London. His passage through the city was associated with an episode of a decidedly comic character if we are to believe the chronicler. A story is told1085that the night before Campeggio entered London, Wolsey sent him twelve mules with (empty) coffers, in order to give a semblance of wealth to the legate and his retinue. In Cheapside one of the mules turned restive and upset the chests, out of which tumbled old hose, shoes, bread, meat, and eggs, with "muche vile baggage," at which the street boys cried "See, see my lord legate's treasure!" The story, however, is on good authority deemed more malicious than probable.The contest for the empire, 1519.In January, 1519, the Emperor Maximilian died and left the imperial crown to be contested for by the kings of France and Spain. It eventually fell to the latter, and Charles V of Spain was elected Emperor Charles I, the event being celebrated by a solemn mass andTe Deumat St. Paul's, followed by a banquet at Castle Baynard.1086The emperor's visit to the city, 1522.Both France and Germany were eager to secure the co-operation of Henry. Charles anticipated the meeting which was to take place between Henry and Francis on the famous Field of the Cloth of Gold by coming over in person to England (May, 1519) and having a private conference with his uncle. The young emperor did not visit the city on this occasion; but in 1522, when war had broken out between him and Francis and he was again in England, he was[pg 365]escorted to the city with great honour and handsomely lodged in the palace of Bridewell. Nearly £1,000 was raised to meet the expenses of his reception and of furnishing a body of 100 bowmen for the king's service.1087The king and his guest and ally were met at St. George's Bar in Southwark by John Melborne,1088the mayor, accompanied by the high officers of the city, clothed in gowns of "pewke," each with a chain of gold about his neck.1089A "proposicioun" or address was made by Sir Thomas More, now under-treasurer of England, who was afterwards presented by the City with the sum of £10 towards a velvet gown,1090whilst other speeches made in the course of the procession were composed by Master Lilly,1091of Euphues fame, the first high master of Colet's School.Pestilence and famine, 1519-1522.Between the first and second visits of the emperor the citizens had witnessed some strange sights and had gone through much suffering and privation. The city had scarcely ever been free from sickness, and famine and pestilence had followed one another in quick succession. In September, 1520, the fellowships or civic companies subscribed over £1,000 for the purchase of wheat1092to be stored at the Bridgehouse, where ovens were fitted up.1093Mills for grinding corn already existed in the Thames hard by.1094The following year the plague raged to such an extent[pg 366]that every house attacked was ordered to be marked with St. Antony's cross, "otherwise called the syne of Tav,"1095and citizens were forbidden to attend the fair at Windsor for fear of carrying infection to the court.1096Again a scarcity of corn was feared, and the Bridge-masters were authorised by the Court of Common Council to purchase provisions, the corporation undertaking to give security for the repayment of all monies advanced by the charitably disposed for the purpose of staving off famine.1097Early in 1522 (15 Jan.) died Fitz-James, Bishop of London, carried off with many others by "a great death in London and other places of the realm."1098Execution of the Duke of Buckingham, 1521.The citizens had also in the meanwhile witnessed the arrest and execution of the Duke of Buckingham, son of the duke who figured so prominently before the citizens when the crown was offered to Richard III at Baynard Castle. He was seized one day whilst landing from his barge at the Hay Wharf, on a number of charges all more or less frivolous. His attendants were dismissed to the duke's "Manor of the Rose," in the parish of St. Laurence Pountney1099—on the site of which recently stood Merchant Taylors' School—whilst he himself was conducted to the Tower (16 April, 1521). An indictment was laid against[pg 367]him at the Guildhall before Sir John Brugge, lord mayor, and others (8 May). After a trial at Westminster which lasted some days, he was found guilty of high treason, and condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered, and to suffer such other atrocities as usually accompanied the death of a traitor in those days. The king, however, satisfied with his condemnation, spared him these indignities, and the duke was allowed to meet his death at the block. His corpse was reverently carried from the Tower to the Church of the Austin Friars by six poor members of that Order.1100The duke had other friends in the city besides these poor religious men, who thus requited in the only way they could many acts of kindness done to their Order by Buckingham in his life time, and his death gave rise to much disaffection and seditious language for some time afterwards.1101City loan of £20,000 to assist the king against France, 1522.Before the emperor left England he succeeded in committing Henry to an invasion of France. In order to carry out his object the king needed money, and the City was asked to furnish him with the sum of £100,000.1102Ten days later (26 May) the City agreed to advance £20,000. The livery companies were to be called upon to surrender their plate, and[pg 368]foreigners as well as citizens were to be made to contribute.1103The aldermen to be assessed with the commoners and not to be severed.The question arose whether the aldermen should be jointly assessed with the commoners or by themselves. The mayor and aldermen were willing to contribute the sum of £3,000,1104but this offer the Common Council "nothyng regarded," but sent the common sergeant to talk the matter over with them. After long consultation the mayor and aldermen sent back word that it was more "convenient" that they should be assessed with the commoners and not to be severed.1105In the meantime a hasty valuation had been made by the command of Wolsey of the plate of the livery companies, and of the ready money lying in their halls, the whole value of which was estimated to be £4,000. This, together with the sum of £10,000 which the Court of Aldermen purposed raising among the wealthier class of citizens, was all that the cardinal was given to expect from the City.1106On the 24th May the deputation, which had ridden with all speed after the cardinal in order to make this report, returned to the city and reported to the Court of Aldermen that his grace was in no wise satisfied with the City's offer, and that he expected the City to furnish the king with at least £30,000, of which £10,000 was to be ready within three days.1107The matter was compromised by the City consenting to advance £20,000.In June the Recorder had an interview with Wolsey respecting the security to be given for repayment[pg 369]of the loan. The cardinal refused to allow that certain abbots, abbesses and priors, who had been named, should enter into bond, and the citizens were obliged to be content with the personal securities of the king and Wolsey himself. Touching the plate of the halls, the cardinal wished only to take it in case of absolute necessity, and then only at a fair price. He desired the owners to bring it to the Tower, "there to be coyned and they [i.e., the government] to pay the seyd money that so shalbe coyned." The result of the Recorder's interview was reported to the Court of Aldermen the 17th June.1108A committee had already (2 June) to take an account of the plate brought in and to enter its true weight in a book.1109A further loan of 4,000 marks.Letter of thanks from Wolsey, 3 Sept., 1522.The recent loan of £20,000 had scarcely been raised1110before the citizens found it necessary to make a further advance of 4,000 marks. Their liberality was repaid by a gracious letter from Wolsey himself, in which he promised to see the money repaid in a fortnight,1111and to extend to them his favour. What vexed the citizens more than anything was being compelled to make oath before the cardinal's deputy sitting in the Chapter House of St. Paul's as to the amount each was worth in money, plate, jewels, household goods and merchandise,—a system of inquisition recently introduced.1112The City makes a stand against further loans. Nov., 1522.Others follow its example.As if all this were not enough Wolsey demanded another loan before the end of the year. This was too much even for the patient and open-handed[pg 370]London burgess. The Common Council determined (4 Nov.) to put a stop to these extortionate demands, and resolved that, "As touchyng the Requeste made by my lorde cardynalles grace for appreste or aloone of more money to the kynges grace, they can in no wise agre thereto, but they ar and wilbe well contendid to be examyned uppon their othes yf it shall please his grace so to do."1113The stand thus made by the citizens against illegal exactions gave courage to others. The king's commissioners were forcibly driven out of Kent, and open rebellion was threatened in other counties.1114Appeal to parliament, April, 1523.There was only one course left open to Henry, and that was to summon a parliament. For nearly eight years no parliament had sat. It was now summoned to meet on the 15th April, 1523, not at Westminster, but at the house of the Blackfriars.1115The names of the city's representatives are on record. The aldermen elected one of their body, George Monoux, and with him was associated "according to ancient customs," the city's Recorder, William Shelley; whilst the commons elected John Hewster, a mercer, and William Roche, a draper1116A few days after the election a committee of fourteen members was nominated to consider what matters should be laid before parliament as being for the welfare of the city.1117Sir Thomas More was[pg 371]chosen Speaker. The enormous sum of £800,000 was demanded. Expecting some hesitation on the part of the Commons, Wolsey himself determined to argue with them, and suddenly made his appearance in state. Finding that his speech was received in grim silence, he turned to More for a reply. The Speaker, falling on his knees, declared his inability to make any answer until he had received the instructions of the House, and intimated that perhaps the silence of the Commons was due to the cardinal's presence. Wolsey accordingly departed discomforted.1118His attempt to overawe parliament marks the beginning of his downfall. He still kept well with the city, however, and rendered it several small services.The City and Wolsey, 1523.Emboldened by their recent success the citizens determined to make a stand against other exactions, and when in May, 1523, another demand was made for one hundred bowmen, as in the previous year, they sent their charter to the cardinal and begged that the article touching citizens not being liable to foreign service might remain in force. A similar demand was made in the following November, and again the assistance of Wolsey was called in.1119The City on the other hand had recently conferred a favour on the cardinal by discharging Robert Amadas, his own goldsmith, from serving as alderman when elected in March of this year.1120The king and queen of Denmark in the city.In June the king and queen of Denmark paid a visit to the city and attended mass at St. Paul's,1121[pg 372]when the Court of Aldermen made them a present of two hogsheads of wine, one of white and another of claret, and two "awmes" of Rhenish wine, two fresh salmon, a dozen great pike, four dozen of "torchettes," and eight dozen of "syses."1122England invaded by the Scots. 1523.The joint attack of Henry and the emperor against France in 1523 proved as great a failure as that of 1522. In the midst of the campaign Henry was threatened with danger nearer home. The Scots marched southward, and created such a panic in the city that a solemn procession, in which figured Cuthbert Tunstal, Bishop of London (successor to the unfortunate Fitz-James), the mayor and aldermen, all the king's justices, and all the sergeants-at-law, took place every day for a week.1123After a futile attack upon Wark Castle the invaders withdrew and all danger was over.1124Monoux refuses to accept the mayoralty a second time, Oct., 1523.When the Feast of St. Edward (13 Oct.) came round, George Monoux, alderman and draper, who had already (1514-15) once filled the office of mayor of the city, was re-elected; but refusing to accept the call of his fellow-citizens he was fined £1,000. It was thereupon declared by the Court of Aldermen that anyone who in future should be elected mayor, and refused to take up office, should be mulcted in a like sum.1125Monoux's fine was remitted the following year, and he was discharged from attendance, although keeping his aldermanry, on account of ill health. In return for this favour he made over to the[pg 373]Corporation his brewhouse situate near the Bridgehouse in Southwark.1126The king pledges himself to repay the City loan of £20,000.Before the close of the year (3 Dec., 1523) the king pledged himself by letters patent to repay the loan of £20,000 which the City had advanced for his defence of the realm and maintenance of the wars against France and Scotland.1127Formation of a league against France.The disappointment experienced by Wolsey in not being selected to fill the Papal chair on the death of Adrian VI induced him to take measures for transferring his master's power from the imperial court to the court of France. In the meantime a league was formed between Henry, the emperor, and Charles, Duke of Bourbon, for the conquest and partition of France. During the formation of this league some correspondence between England and the Continent appears to have been lost in a remarkable manner, to judge from the following proclamation,1128made the 10th July, 1524:—Proclamation for the recovery of lost letters, 10 July, 1524."My lorde the maire streitly chargith and commaundith on the king or soveraigne lordis behalf that if any maner of person or persons that have founde a hat with certeyn lettres and other billes and writinges therin enclosed which lettres been directed to orsaid soveraigne lorde from the parties of beyond the see let hym or theym bryng the said hat lettres and writinges unto my said lorde the maire in all the hast possible and they shalbe well rewarded for their labour and that no maner of person kepe the said hat lettres and writinges nor noon of them after this proclamacioun made uppon payn of deth and God save the king."[pg 374]The king of France made prisoner at Pavia, 24 Feb., 1525.Rejoicing in the city.The news of the defeat and capture of the French king at Pavia (24 Feb., 1525) was hailed by Henry with great delight. The crown of France was now, he thought, within his grasp. On Saturday, the 11th March, a triumph was made in the city to celebrate "the takynge of the Frenche kyng in Bataill by Themporer and his alies."1129Bonfires were lighted at different places, one being in Saint Paul's Churchyard near the house where lay the foreign ambassadors. The Chamberlain was ordered to provide a hogshead of wine at every fire. The city minstrels filled the air with music, and the parish clerks attended with their singing children, who sat about the bonfires and sang ballads and "other delectable and joyfull songs." On the Sunday following the king and queen and officers of state attended aTe Deumat St. Paul's, the legate himself pronouncing the benediction.1130The Amicable Loan, 1525.Henry's first impulse was to take advantage of the French king's misfortune; the cardinal, on the other hand, saw danger in the predominating influence of Charles in Europe, and would gladly have seen his master join hands with Francis against the emperor. He was nevertheless bound to carry out the king's wishes as if they were his own, and money was necessary for the purpose. Instead of resorting to a benevolence—a mode of raising money already declared by parliament to be illegal—he suggested that the people should be asked for what was called an Amicable Loan, on the old feudal ground that the king was about to lead an expedition in person.[pg 375]The citizens were among the first to whom Wolsey made application. Were they of opinion, he asked, that the king should undertake the expedition to France in person? If so, he could not go otherwise than beseemed a prince, and this he could not do without the city's aid. The sum they were asked to subscribe did not, he said, amount to half their substance, which the king might very well have demanded. When it was objected that trade had been bad, Wolsey lost his temper and declared that it was better that some citizens should suffer rather than that the king should be in want, and that if they refused to pay it might "fortune to cost some their heddes."1131At length the citizens agreed to grant the king a sixth part of their substance, which Henry graciously acknowledged by letter (25 April),1132saying that it was not his wish to overburden them, for he valued their prosperity more than ten such realms as France. The letter was read, by Wolsey's express wish, to the Common Council on the 28th, when it was agreed to ask for a fortnight's grace before sending an answer to so important a missive.1133A deputation was forthwith despatched to Hampton Court to solicit the cardinal's mediation, but not being able to obtain an interview they returned, and steps were taken to raise the money required.When the cardinal was informed later on that the alderman of each ward was holding an enquiry as to the means of the inhabitants he affected to be very angry. "They had no right to examine anyone," he said; "I am your commissioner, I will examine you[pg 376]one by one myself." The mayor (Sir William Bailey) thereupon threw himself at the cardinal's feet beseeching him that since it was by Act of Common Council that the aldermen had sat in their respective wards for the purpose of taking the benevolence—a procedure which he now perceived to be against the law—the Act should by the Common Council be revoked. "Well," said Wolsey "I am content," and he then proceeded to ask how much the mayor and aldermen then present were prepared to give. When the mayor incautiously remarked that if he made any promise there and then it might perhaps cost him his life, Wolsey again became furious. What! the mayor's life threatened for obeying the king's orders! He would see to that.In the country the loan met with so much opposition that a rebellion was feared. At length, finding it was impossible to collect the money, Wolsey sent (19 May) for the mayor and aldermen and informed them that the king had given up all thoughts of his expedition to France, and that they were pardoned of all that had been demanded of them.1134A truce between England and France.French ambassadors lodged in the city, 1527.Before many weeks elapsed Wolsey saw with satisfaction a truce made between Henry and the queen regent of France.1135Early in 1526 the French king regained his liberty by virtue of a treaty which he at once repudiated, and war between him and the emperor was renewed, but England remained virtually at peace. In the following year (1527) the cardinal[pg 377]himself paid a visit to the French king and superintended the drawing up of articles for a permanent peace. By September all was settled, and Wolsey returned to England. Ambassadors from France shortly afterwards arrived, and were lodged in the Bishop of London's palace in St. Paul's Churchyard. The City made them valuable presents at the instance of the lord cardinal.1136Troubles over Wythypol's election as alderman, 1527-1528.Wythypol again summoned to take office.Committed to Newgate, 6 Feb., 1528.Again summoned to take office, 22 May.The election of Paul Wythypol,1137a merchant-tailor, as alderman of the Ward of Farringdon Within, in 1527, again brought Henry and the citizens into variance. The king desired Wythypol's discharge, at least for a time. The Court of Aldermen hesitated to accede to the request and consulted Wolsey.1138He recommended them an interview with the king at Greenwich. To Greenwich they accordingly went (24 Feb.) by water, where they arrived in time to give a formal reception to the cardinal, who landed soon afterwards from his barge. After a few words had passed between the cardinal and the municipal officers, the former entered the palace, whilst the latter waited in the king's great chamber till dinner time. When that hour arrived they were bidden to go down to the hall, where the mayor was entertained[pg 378]at the lord steward's mess, and the aldermen received like attention from the comptroller and other officers of state. The city's Counsel who had accompanied the mayor and aldermen were entertained at the table of "master coferer." Dinner over, the company returned to the great chamber, where they were kept waiting till the evening. At length the mayor and aldermen were bidden to the king's presence in his secret chamber. What took place there the writer of the record declares himself unable to say,1139and, although the mayor afterwards made a report of the matter to the court, no particulars are recorded in the City's archives. The practical outcome of the interview appears to have been that Wythypol was left unmolested for a whole twelve-month. When that time had elapsed he was again summoned before the Court of Aldermen either to accept office or take the oath prescribed.1140Refusing both these propositions he was committed to Newgate.1141This took place on the 6th February, 1528. On the 3rd March he appeared in person before the Court of Aldermen and desired a respite from office, or to be allowed to pay a fine. Being asked the amount of fine he was prepared to pay, he offered £40, and at the same time asked to be discharged from office for a period of three years. This offer was declined, and Wythypol was again ordered to take the oath prescribed for his discharge.1142Nearly three months were allowed to elapse before any further steps were taken, when, on the 22nd May, the court[pg 379]again ordered Wythypol to appear at its next meeting, and to take up office, or else take the oath, or pay such fine as should be assessed by the mayor, aldermen and common council.1143It is certain that he did not take office, so the conclusion must be that he availed himself of one or other of the alternatives open to him. John Brown was elected alderman of Farringdon Within shortly afterwards, but he was discharged by the Common Council, and the aldermanry was subsequently filled by John Hardy being translated to it from Aldersgate Ward.1144A great dearth in the city, 1529.In addition to an epidemic of sickness,1145the city was threatened the following year with a famine, notwithstanding the fact that large quantities of grain had been stored up in various parts of the city by order of the municipal authorities. The country had suffered recently by heavy rains, and large tracts of land had been inundated. In anticipation of trouble, a large stock of wheat had been laid in, but when it came to the point of disposing of it, the bakers of the city and the bakers of Stratford-at-Bow declined to take it except at their own price, until compelled by threats and, in some cases, imprisonment.1146
Preparations for the reception of the legate in the city, July, 1519.
Preparations for the reception of the legate in the city, July, 1519.
In the following year (July, 1519) the streets witnessed another scene of gaiety. This time it was a visit of the legate, Cardinal Campeggio, for which the civic authorities made great preparations.1084In[pg 363]the first place the mayor and aldermen, in their gowns and cloaks of scarlet, were ordered to take up their position at 9 o'clock on the morning of Relic Sunday (i.e., the third Sunday after Midsummer Day) at St. Paul's stairs (the stayers wtin poulys). Next to them were to stand the Skinners, then the Mercers and other worshipful crafts in their order, clothed in their last and best livery. In this manner the street was to be lined on either side from the west door of St. Paul's down to Baynard's Castle. Upon the arrival of the lord cardinal and other lords at the Cathedral the mayor and aldermen were to head the procession and seat themselves in the choir to hearTe Deumsung. Bonfires or "pryncypall fyres" were to be lighted at St. Magnus corner, Gracechurch, Leadenhall, the conduit on Cornhill, St. Thomas "of Acres," the Standard and little conduit in Cheap, the Standard in Fleet Street, and in Bishopsgate Street; whilst cresset lights and small fires "made after the manner of Midsummer-night" were to add to the gaiety of the scene. Men-at-arms, well harnessed and apparelled, were to keep certain streets, whilst the aldermen and their constables were to keep watch and ward in their best array of harness. The ambassadors, who were to be lodged in Cornhill, were to be escorted home at night by the aldermen with torches, and to await their commands. There was one other, perhaps not unnecessary, direction to be followed, which was to the effect that if by any chance the strangers should be overcome by the hospitality of the city, or, in the words of the record—"yf eny oversyght be wtmoche drynke of the strangers"—the citizens were to "lett theym alone and no Englishemen to medyle wttheym."
The legate lands at Deal, 23 July, 1519.
The legate lands at Deal, 23 July, 1519.
A story told of his passage through the city.
A story told of his passage through the city.
The legate landed at Deal on the 23rd July, and by slow stages was conducted with every mark of respect to London. His passage through the city was associated with an episode of a decidedly comic character if we are to believe the chronicler. A story is told1085that the night before Campeggio entered London, Wolsey sent him twelve mules with (empty) coffers, in order to give a semblance of wealth to the legate and his retinue. In Cheapside one of the mules turned restive and upset the chests, out of which tumbled old hose, shoes, bread, meat, and eggs, with "muche vile baggage," at which the street boys cried "See, see my lord legate's treasure!" The story, however, is on good authority deemed more malicious than probable.
The contest for the empire, 1519.
The contest for the empire, 1519.
In January, 1519, the Emperor Maximilian died and left the imperial crown to be contested for by the kings of France and Spain. It eventually fell to the latter, and Charles V of Spain was elected Emperor Charles I, the event being celebrated by a solemn mass andTe Deumat St. Paul's, followed by a banquet at Castle Baynard.1086
The emperor's visit to the city, 1522.
The emperor's visit to the city, 1522.
Both France and Germany were eager to secure the co-operation of Henry. Charles anticipated the meeting which was to take place between Henry and Francis on the famous Field of the Cloth of Gold by coming over in person to England (May, 1519) and having a private conference with his uncle. The young emperor did not visit the city on this occasion; but in 1522, when war had broken out between him and Francis and he was again in England, he was[pg 365]escorted to the city with great honour and handsomely lodged in the palace of Bridewell. Nearly £1,000 was raised to meet the expenses of his reception and of furnishing a body of 100 bowmen for the king's service.1087
The king and his guest and ally were met at St. George's Bar in Southwark by John Melborne,1088the mayor, accompanied by the high officers of the city, clothed in gowns of "pewke," each with a chain of gold about his neck.1089A "proposicioun" or address was made by Sir Thomas More, now under-treasurer of England, who was afterwards presented by the City with the sum of £10 towards a velvet gown,1090whilst other speeches made in the course of the procession were composed by Master Lilly,1091of Euphues fame, the first high master of Colet's School.
Pestilence and famine, 1519-1522.
Pestilence and famine, 1519-1522.
Between the first and second visits of the emperor the citizens had witnessed some strange sights and had gone through much suffering and privation. The city had scarcely ever been free from sickness, and famine and pestilence had followed one another in quick succession. In September, 1520, the fellowships or civic companies subscribed over £1,000 for the purchase of wheat1092to be stored at the Bridgehouse, where ovens were fitted up.1093Mills for grinding corn already existed in the Thames hard by.1094The following year the plague raged to such an extent[pg 366]that every house attacked was ordered to be marked with St. Antony's cross, "otherwise called the syne of Tav,"1095and citizens were forbidden to attend the fair at Windsor for fear of carrying infection to the court.1096
Again a scarcity of corn was feared, and the Bridge-masters were authorised by the Court of Common Council to purchase provisions, the corporation undertaking to give security for the repayment of all monies advanced by the charitably disposed for the purpose of staving off famine.1097Early in 1522 (15 Jan.) died Fitz-James, Bishop of London, carried off with many others by "a great death in London and other places of the realm."1098
Execution of the Duke of Buckingham, 1521.
Execution of the Duke of Buckingham, 1521.
The citizens had also in the meanwhile witnessed the arrest and execution of the Duke of Buckingham, son of the duke who figured so prominently before the citizens when the crown was offered to Richard III at Baynard Castle. He was seized one day whilst landing from his barge at the Hay Wharf, on a number of charges all more or less frivolous. His attendants were dismissed to the duke's "Manor of the Rose," in the parish of St. Laurence Pountney1099—on the site of which recently stood Merchant Taylors' School—whilst he himself was conducted to the Tower (16 April, 1521). An indictment was laid against[pg 367]him at the Guildhall before Sir John Brugge, lord mayor, and others (8 May). After a trial at Westminster which lasted some days, he was found guilty of high treason, and condemned to be hanged, drawn and quartered, and to suffer such other atrocities as usually accompanied the death of a traitor in those days. The king, however, satisfied with his condemnation, spared him these indignities, and the duke was allowed to meet his death at the block. His corpse was reverently carried from the Tower to the Church of the Austin Friars by six poor members of that Order.1100
The duke had other friends in the city besides these poor religious men, who thus requited in the only way they could many acts of kindness done to their Order by Buckingham in his life time, and his death gave rise to much disaffection and seditious language for some time afterwards.1101
City loan of £20,000 to assist the king against France, 1522.
City loan of £20,000 to assist the king against France, 1522.
Before the emperor left England he succeeded in committing Henry to an invasion of France. In order to carry out his object the king needed money, and the City was asked to furnish him with the sum of £100,000.1102Ten days later (26 May) the City agreed to advance £20,000. The livery companies were to be called upon to surrender their plate, and[pg 368]foreigners as well as citizens were to be made to contribute.1103
The aldermen to be assessed with the commoners and not to be severed.
The aldermen to be assessed with the commoners and not to be severed.
The question arose whether the aldermen should be jointly assessed with the commoners or by themselves. The mayor and aldermen were willing to contribute the sum of £3,000,1104but this offer the Common Council "nothyng regarded," but sent the common sergeant to talk the matter over with them. After long consultation the mayor and aldermen sent back word that it was more "convenient" that they should be assessed with the commoners and not to be severed.1105
In the meantime a hasty valuation had been made by the command of Wolsey of the plate of the livery companies, and of the ready money lying in their halls, the whole value of which was estimated to be £4,000. This, together with the sum of £10,000 which the Court of Aldermen purposed raising among the wealthier class of citizens, was all that the cardinal was given to expect from the City.1106On the 24th May the deputation, which had ridden with all speed after the cardinal in order to make this report, returned to the city and reported to the Court of Aldermen that his grace was in no wise satisfied with the City's offer, and that he expected the City to furnish the king with at least £30,000, of which £10,000 was to be ready within three days.1107The matter was compromised by the City consenting to advance £20,000.
In June the Recorder had an interview with Wolsey respecting the security to be given for repayment[pg 369]of the loan. The cardinal refused to allow that certain abbots, abbesses and priors, who had been named, should enter into bond, and the citizens were obliged to be content with the personal securities of the king and Wolsey himself. Touching the plate of the halls, the cardinal wished only to take it in case of absolute necessity, and then only at a fair price. He desired the owners to bring it to the Tower, "there to be coyned and they [i.e., the government] to pay the seyd money that so shalbe coyned." The result of the Recorder's interview was reported to the Court of Aldermen the 17th June.1108A committee had already (2 June) to take an account of the plate brought in and to enter its true weight in a book.1109
A further loan of 4,000 marks.
A further loan of 4,000 marks.
Letter of thanks from Wolsey, 3 Sept., 1522.
Letter of thanks from Wolsey, 3 Sept., 1522.
The recent loan of £20,000 had scarcely been raised1110before the citizens found it necessary to make a further advance of 4,000 marks. Their liberality was repaid by a gracious letter from Wolsey himself, in which he promised to see the money repaid in a fortnight,1111and to extend to them his favour. What vexed the citizens more than anything was being compelled to make oath before the cardinal's deputy sitting in the Chapter House of St. Paul's as to the amount each was worth in money, plate, jewels, household goods and merchandise,—a system of inquisition recently introduced.1112
The City makes a stand against further loans. Nov., 1522.
The City makes a stand against further loans. Nov., 1522.
Others follow its example.
Others follow its example.
As if all this were not enough Wolsey demanded another loan before the end of the year. This was too much even for the patient and open-handed[pg 370]London burgess. The Common Council determined (4 Nov.) to put a stop to these extortionate demands, and resolved that, "As touchyng the Requeste made by my lorde cardynalles grace for appreste or aloone of more money to the kynges grace, they can in no wise agre thereto, but they ar and wilbe well contendid to be examyned uppon their othes yf it shall please his grace so to do."1113The stand thus made by the citizens against illegal exactions gave courage to others. The king's commissioners were forcibly driven out of Kent, and open rebellion was threatened in other counties.1114
Appeal to parliament, April, 1523.
Appeal to parliament, April, 1523.
There was only one course left open to Henry, and that was to summon a parliament. For nearly eight years no parliament had sat. It was now summoned to meet on the 15th April, 1523, not at Westminster, but at the house of the Blackfriars.1115The names of the city's representatives are on record. The aldermen elected one of their body, George Monoux, and with him was associated "according to ancient customs," the city's Recorder, William Shelley; whilst the commons elected John Hewster, a mercer, and William Roche, a draper1116
A few days after the election a committee of fourteen members was nominated to consider what matters should be laid before parliament as being for the welfare of the city.1117Sir Thomas More was[pg 371]chosen Speaker. The enormous sum of £800,000 was demanded. Expecting some hesitation on the part of the Commons, Wolsey himself determined to argue with them, and suddenly made his appearance in state. Finding that his speech was received in grim silence, he turned to More for a reply. The Speaker, falling on his knees, declared his inability to make any answer until he had received the instructions of the House, and intimated that perhaps the silence of the Commons was due to the cardinal's presence. Wolsey accordingly departed discomforted.1118His attempt to overawe parliament marks the beginning of his downfall. He still kept well with the city, however, and rendered it several small services.
The City and Wolsey, 1523.
The City and Wolsey, 1523.
Emboldened by their recent success the citizens determined to make a stand against other exactions, and when in May, 1523, another demand was made for one hundred bowmen, as in the previous year, they sent their charter to the cardinal and begged that the article touching citizens not being liable to foreign service might remain in force. A similar demand was made in the following November, and again the assistance of Wolsey was called in.1119The City on the other hand had recently conferred a favour on the cardinal by discharging Robert Amadas, his own goldsmith, from serving as alderman when elected in March of this year.1120
The king and queen of Denmark in the city.
The king and queen of Denmark in the city.
In June the king and queen of Denmark paid a visit to the city and attended mass at St. Paul's,1121[pg 372]when the Court of Aldermen made them a present of two hogsheads of wine, one of white and another of claret, and two "awmes" of Rhenish wine, two fresh salmon, a dozen great pike, four dozen of "torchettes," and eight dozen of "syses."1122
England invaded by the Scots. 1523.
England invaded by the Scots. 1523.
The joint attack of Henry and the emperor against France in 1523 proved as great a failure as that of 1522. In the midst of the campaign Henry was threatened with danger nearer home. The Scots marched southward, and created such a panic in the city that a solemn procession, in which figured Cuthbert Tunstal, Bishop of London (successor to the unfortunate Fitz-James), the mayor and aldermen, all the king's justices, and all the sergeants-at-law, took place every day for a week.1123After a futile attack upon Wark Castle the invaders withdrew and all danger was over.1124
Monoux refuses to accept the mayoralty a second time, Oct., 1523.
Monoux refuses to accept the mayoralty a second time, Oct., 1523.
When the Feast of St. Edward (13 Oct.) came round, George Monoux, alderman and draper, who had already (1514-15) once filled the office of mayor of the city, was re-elected; but refusing to accept the call of his fellow-citizens he was fined £1,000. It was thereupon declared by the Court of Aldermen that anyone who in future should be elected mayor, and refused to take up office, should be mulcted in a like sum.1125Monoux's fine was remitted the following year, and he was discharged from attendance, although keeping his aldermanry, on account of ill health. In return for this favour he made over to the[pg 373]Corporation his brewhouse situate near the Bridgehouse in Southwark.1126
The king pledges himself to repay the City loan of £20,000.
The king pledges himself to repay the City loan of £20,000.
Before the close of the year (3 Dec., 1523) the king pledged himself by letters patent to repay the loan of £20,000 which the City had advanced for his defence of the realm and maintenance of the wars against France and Scotland.1127
Formation of a league against France.
Formation of a league against France.
The disappointment experienced by Wolsey in not being selected to fill the Papal chair on the death of Adrian VI induced him to take measures for transferring his master's power from the imperial court to the court of France. In the meantime a league was formed between Henry, the emperor, and Charles, Duke of Bourbon, for the conquest and partition of France. During the formation of this league some correspondence between England and the Continent appears to have been lost in a remarkable manner, to judge from the following proclamation,1128made the 10th July, 1524:—
Proclamation for the recovery of lost letters, 10 July, 1524.
Proclamation for the recovery of lost letters, 10 July, 1524.
"My lorde the maire streitly chargith and commaundith on the king or soveraigne lordis behalf that if any maner of person or persons that have founde a hat with certeyn lettres and other billes and writinges therin enclosed which lettres been directed to orsaid soveraigne lorde from the parties of beyond the see let hym or theym bryng the said hat lettres and writinges unto my said lorde the maire in all the hast possible and they shalbe well rewarded for their labour and that no maner of person kepe the said hat lettres and writinges nor noon of them after this proclamacioun made uppon payn of deth and God save the king."
The king of France made prisoner at Pavia, 24 Feb., 1525.
The king of France made prisoner at Pavia, 24 Feb., 1525.
Rejoicing in the city.
Rejoicing in the city.
The news of the defeat and capture of the French king at Pavia (24 Feb., 1525) was hailed by Henry with great delight. The crown of France was now, he thought, within his grasp. On Saturday, the 11th March, a triumph was made in the city to celebrate "the takynge of the Frenche kyng in Bataill by Themporer and his alies."1129Bonfires were lighted at different places, one being in Saint Paul's Churchyard near the house where lay the foreign ambassadors. The Chamberlain was ordered to provide a hogshead of wine at every fire. The city minstrels filled the air with music, and the parish clerks attended with their singing children, who sat about the bonfires and sang ballads and "other delectable and joyfull songs." On the Sunday following the king and queen and officers of state attended aTe Deumat St. Paul's, the legate himself pronouncing the benediction.1130
The Amicable Loan, 1525.
The Amicable Loan, 1525.
Henry's first impulse was to take advantage of the French king's misfortune; the cardinal, on the other hand, saw danger in the predominating influence of Charles in Europe, and would gladly have seen his master join hands with Francis against the emperor. He was nevertheless bound to carry out the king's wishes as if they were his own, and money was necessary for the purpose. Instead of resorting to a benevolence—a mode of raising money already declared by parliament to be illegal—he suggested that the people should be asked for what was called an Amicable Loan, on the old feudal ground that the king was about to lead an expedition in person.[pg 375]The citizens were among the first to whom Wolsey made application. Were they of opinion, he asked, that the king should undertake the expedition to France in person? If so, he could not go otherwise than beseemed a prince, and this he could not do without the city's aid. The sum they were asked to subscribe did not, he said, amount to half their substance, which the king might very well have demanded. When it was objected that trade had been bad, Wolsey lost his temper and declared that it was better that some citizens should suffer rather than that the king should be in want, and that if they refused to pay it might "fortune to cost some their heddes."1131At length the citizens agreed to grant the king a sixth part of their substance, which Henry graciously acknowledged by letter (25 April),1132saying that it was not his wish to overburden them, for he valued their prosperity more than ten such realms as France. The letter was read, by Wolsey's express wish, to the Common Council on the 28th, when it was agreed to ask for a fortnight's grace before sending an answer to so important a missive.1133A deputation was forthwith despatched to Hampton Court to solicit the cardinal's mediation, but not being able to obtain an interview they returned, and steps were taken to raise the money required.
When the cardinal was informed later on that the alderman of each ward was holding an enquiry as to the means of the inhabitants he affected to be very angry. "They had no right to examine anyone," he said; "I am your commissioner, I will examine you[pg 376]one by one myself." The mayor (Sir William Bailey) thereupon threw himself at the cardinal's feet beseeching him that since it was by Act of Common Council that the aldermen had sat in their respective wards for the purpose of taking the benevolence—a procedure which he now perceived to be against the law—the Act should by the Common Council be revoked. "Well," said Wolsey "I am content," and he then proceeded to ask how much the mayor and aldermen then present were prepared to give. When the mayor incautiously remarked that if he made any promise there and then it might perhaps cost him his life, Wolsey again became furious. What! the mayor's life threatened for obeying the king's orders! He would see to that.
In the country the loan met with so much opposition that a rebellion was feared. At length, finding it was impossible to collect the money, Wolsey sent (19 May) for the mayor and aldermen and informed them that the king had given up all thoughts of his expedition to France, and that they were pardoned of all that had been demanded of them.1134
A truce between England and France.
A truce between England and France.
French ambassadors lodged in the city, 1527.
French ambassadors lodged in the city, 1527.
Before many weeks elapsed Wolsey saw with satisfaction a truce made between Henry and the queen regent of France.1135Early in 1526 the French king regained his liberty by virtue of a treaty which he at once repudiated, and war between him and the emperor was renewed, but England remained virtually at peace. In the following year (1527) the cardinal[pg 377]himself paid a visit to the French king and superintended the drawing up of articles for a permanent peace. By September all was settled, and Wolsey returned to England. Ambassadors from France shortly afterwards arrived, and were lodged in the Bishop of London's palace in St. Paul's Churchyard. The City made them valuable presents at the instance of the lord cardinal.1136
Troubles over Wythypol's election as alderman, 1527-1528.
Troubles over Wythypol's election as alderman, 1527-1528.
Wythypol again summoned to take office.
Wythypol again summoned to take office.
Committed to Newgate, 6 Feb., 1528.
Committed to Newgate, 6 Feb., 1528.
Again summoned to take office, 22 May.
Again summoned to take office, 22 May.
The election of Paul Wythypol,1137a merchant-tailor, as alderman of the Ward of Farringdon Within, in 1527, again brought Henry and the citizens into variance. The king desired Wythypol's discharge, at least for a time. The Court of Aldermen hesitated to accede to the request and consulted Wolsey.1138He recommended them an interview with the king at Greenwich. To Greenwich they accordingly went (24 Feb.) by water, where they arrived in time to give a formal reception to the cardinal, who landed soon afterwards from his barge. After a few words had passed between the cardinal and the municipal officers, the former entered the palace, whilst the latter waited in the king's great chamber till dinner time. When that hour arrived they were bidden to go down to the hall, where the mayor was entertained[pg 378]at the lord steward's mess, and the aldermen received like attention from the comptroller and other officers of state. The city's Counsel who had accompanied the mayor and aldermen were entertained at the table of "master coferer." Dinner over, the company returned to the great chamber, where they were kept waiting till the evening. At length the mayor and aldermen were bidden to the king's presence in his secret chamber. What took place there the writer of the record declares himself unable to say,1139and, although the mayor afterwards made a report of the matter to the court, no particulars are recorded in the City's archives. The practical outcome of the interview appears to have been that Wythypol was left unmolested for a whole twelve-month. When that time had elapsed he was again summoned before the Court of Aldermen either to accept office or take the oath prescribed.1140Refusing both these propositions he was committed to Newgate.1141This took place on the 6th February, 1528. On the 3rd March he appeared in person before the Court of Aldermen and desired a respite from office, or to be allowed to pay a fine. Being asked the amount of fine he was prepared to pay, he offered £40, and at the same time asked to be discharged from office for a period of three years. This offer was declined, and Wythypol was again ordered to take the oath prescribed for his discharge.1142Nearly three months were allowed to elapse before any further steps were taken, when, on the 22nd May, the court[pg 379]again ordered Wythypol to appear at its next meeting, and to take up office, or else take the oath, or pay such fine as should be assessed by the mayor, aldermen and common council.1143It is certain that he did not take office, so the conclusion must be that he availed himself of one or other of the alternatives open to him. John Brown was elected alderman of Farringdon Within shortly afterwards, but he was discharged by the Common Council, and the aldermanry was subsequently filled by John Hardy being translated to it from Aldersgate Ward.1144
A great dearth in the city, 1529.
A great dearth in the city, 1529.
In addition to an epidemic of sickness,1145the city was threatened the following year with a famine, notwithstanding the fact that large quantities of grain had been stored up in various parts of the city by order of the municipal authorities. The country had suffered recently by heavy rains, and large tracts of land had been inundated. In anticipation of trouble, a large stock of wheat had been laid in, but when it came to the point of disposing of it, the bakers of the city and the bakers of Stratford-at-Bow declined to take it except at their own price, until compelled by threats and, in some cases, imprisonment.1146