London and the Kingdom Volume I Part 32

CHAPTER XVI.

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The death of Edward VI took place on the 6th July, 1553, although it was not generally known until two days afterwards. By his father's will the Princess Mary became heiress to the throne. Northumberland was aware of this. He was equally aware that if Mary succeeded to her brother's crown matters might go hard with him. He therefore persuaded Edward to follow the precedent set by his father and re-settle the succession to the crown by will. He succeeded moreover in getting the late king to name as his successor the Lady Jane Grey, grand-daughter of Mary d.u.c.h.ess of Suffolk, the younger sister of Henry VIII, and he took the further precaution of marrying her to his own son, Lord Guildford Dudley. It was in vain that the judges and law officers of the Crown pointed out that the Act of Parliament which authorised Henry to dispose of the crown by will, in the case of his children dying without heirs, did not apply to Edward.

Councillors and judges, and even Cranmer himself, were forced to signify their a.s.sent by subscribing to the will, which was dated (21 June) a fortnight only before Edward's death.

Northumberland well knew the advantage to be got by securing the co-operation of the city in prosecuting his scheme, so he persuaded the mayor (Sir George Barnes), a number of aldermen (including Sir John Gresham, Sir Andrew Judd, Thomas Offley and Sir Richard Dobbs), and several of the leading merchants of the city to append their signatures to the will.(1362) The king had been already dead two days before Northumberland sent for them to Greenwich and acquainted them of the fact, exhorting them at the same time to sign the doc.u.ment.(1363)

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On the 10th July the Lady Jane was brought from Richmond and lodged in the Tower, and that same evening was proclaimed queen at the Cross in Chepe.

The mayor took no part in the ceremony, and only one of the sheriffs (William Gerard or Garrard) attended the heralds. If Northumberland thought that the citizens would favour Lady Jane merely because she was a Protestant he was mistaken. The proclamation was received with undisguised coldness, and "few or none said G.o.d save her."(1364) Nor was it better received by the country at large. The eastern counties rose and in a few days Mary was at the head of 30,000 men. No time was to be lost, and Northumberland at once set out from London to meet her. As he pa.s.sed through the city he noticed that none wished him "G.o.d speed."

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No sooner was his back turned than the lords of the council, seeing how matters were going, and eager to throw off the yoke which the duke had placed on their necks, determined upon proclaiming Mary queen. It was necessary, however, that the City should first be informed of their intention, and that, too, without creating too much attention. One of their number therefore took the opportunity of the mayor riding abroad on Wednesday, the 19th July, to accost him privately and bid him and the sheriffs, and such of the aldermen as he could get together at short notice, to meet the lords of the council within an hour at the Earl of Pembroke's place at Castle Baynard. The mayor hurried back, sent for the Recorder and some of the aldermen, and with them proceeded to the place appointed, where they found the council a.s.sembled. They were informed of the intention of the lords, and the mayor was bidden to accompany them to Cheapside for the purpose of proclaiming Queen Mary. Their object soon got wind; a crowd followed them to Cheapside, and when the proclamation was made there was such a throwing up of caps and such cries of "G.o.d save Queen Mary" that nothing else could be heard. The civic authorities, as well as the lords of the council, thereupon proceeded to St. Paul's to hear a _Te Deum_; after which the lords withdrew from the city, leaving orders, however, for Queen Mary to be proclaimed in other parts of the city according to custom. The next day (20 July) they returned and dined with the mayor, sitting in council, after dinner, until four o'clock in the afternoon, whilst the church bells rang all day long.(1365)

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As soon as Northumberland heard of the turn affairs had taken, he caused Mary to be proclaimed at Cambridge, where he happened to be quartered, "castinge up his capp after as if he had bene joyfull of it." His simulated enthusiasm, however, availed him nothing, and orders were issued for his arrest. Special precautions were taken to avoid disturbance on the day (25 July) that he pa.s.sed through the city on his way to the Tower, every householder in the several wards through which he and his fellow prisoners were to pa.s.s being instructed to hold himself in readiness within doors with a clean halberd, and a bill or "pollox" for such service as the alderman might appoint.(1366) No disturbance took place, the populace contenting itself with cursing the duke and calling him traitor, and making him take off his hat as he pa.s.sed through Bishopsgate and continue his journey bareheaded.(1367)

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On the evening of the 3rd August Queen Mary made her first entry into the city, accompanied by her sister Elizabeth. She had come from Newhall, in Ess.e.x, where a few days before she had been presented with the sum of 500 in gold by a deputation of the Court of Aldermen accompanied by the Recorder.(1368) On the 2nd August it was decided that the lord mayor and his brethren should ride out the next afternoon to meet her majesty at the Bars without Aldgate, and taking their places appointed by the herald-of-arms, should accompany the royal procession.(1369) The reception which the new queen met with in the city must have been gratifying. The mayor, on approaching her, handed to her the civic sword, which was given to the Earl of Arundel to carry before her. The mayor himself bore the mace. By express permission of the Court of Aldermen a number of Florentine and other merchant strangers were allowed to attend on horseback, and to erect a pageant at Leadenhall.(1370) The whole length of the streets through which the queen had to pa.s.s on her way to the Tower had been lavishly decorated, and was lined with members of the various civic companies in their livery gowns. Nothing was omitted that could please the eye or ear.(1371)

A touching scene took place as Mary was about to enter the Tower. The widow of the Duke of Somerset, to whose policy as protector Mary had offered a steady opposition, met the queen at the Tower gate, and in company with the Duke of Norfolk, Stephen Gardiner and others, who had been confined in the Tower in the late reign, knelt down and saluted her.

Mary, in a charitable mood, kissed each of them, claimed them as her own prisoners, and shortly afterwards granted them their liberty.(1372)

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A week later (10 Aug.) the remains of the late king were carried from Whitehall to Westminster and laid in Henry the Seventh's Chapel, the service being conducted wholly in English, the communion taking the place of the ma.s.s, and the priests being vested in a surplice only, in accordance with the provisions of the Book of Common Prayer. For a short time after Mary's accession it was thought that she would be content if the Church were restored to the position it was in at the time when Henry VIII died. It was not long before the new queen shewed this opinion to be erroneous. The Prayer Book of King Edward VI was set aside, the high altars that had been removed were restored, and ma.s.s was restored. Ridley was sent to the Tower and Bonner brought out from the Marshalsea and reinstated in the bishophric of London. Gardiner, who had been deprived of his see of Winchester and kept prisoner in the Tower, not only recovered his freedom and his see, but was made the queen's chancellor. On the other hand, Cranmer and "Mr. Latimer" were sent to the Tower.

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The change that was being wrought caused some little disturbance in the city. When Doctor Bourne, who had been put up by the queen to preach at Paul's Cross one Sunday in August, began to pray for the dead, and to refer to Bonner's late imprisonment, one of his hearers threw a knife at him whilst others called the preacher a liar. The queen was so angry at this that she sent for the mayor and aldermen and told them plainly that she would deprive the city of its liberties if they could not better preserve peace and good order within its walls.(1373)

A few days later she issued a proclamation in which, whilst making no secret of her wish that everyone would conform to the religion "which all men knew she had of long tyme observed, and ment, G.o.d willing, to contynue the same," she deprecated men calling each other heretic or papist, but willed that everyone should follow the religion he thought best until further orders were taken.(1374) The mayor in the meantime had also issued his precept against any sermon or lecture being read other than the Divine Service appointed until the queen's further pleasure should be made known.(1375)

Lest any disturbance should arise on the following Sunday (20 Aug.), when Bishop Gardiner's chaplain was to preach at Paul's Cross, the queen sent the captain of the guard with 200 men, who surrounded the pulpit, halberd in hand. The mayor, too, had ordered the livery companies to be present "to herken yf any leude or sedicious persons made any rumors"-a precaution which much pleased the queen.(1376)

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When Michaelmas-day (the day on which the election of the new mayor for the ensuing year was to take place) came round, the choice of the citizens fell upon Sir Thomas White.(1377) In accordance with the new order of things, the election was preceded by the celebration of ma.s.s in the Guildhall Chapel as of old.

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The day after the election of the new mayor the queen pa.s.sed through the city from the Tower to Whitehall for her coronation. The streets presented their usual gay appearance on this occasion, and the queen was made the recipient of the "accustomed" gift of 1,000 marks on behalf of the city.(1378) On the day of the coronation (1 Oct.) the daily service at St.

Paul's had to be suspended because all the priests not under censure for Protestantism or for having married were summoned to a.s.sist at Westminster.(1379)

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When Mary appeared before her first parliament(1380) she found her subjects in many points opposed to her. They were willing to restore the wors.h.i.+p and practice of the Church as they existed before the death of Henry VIII, but they showed a determination neither to submit to Rome nor to restore to the Church the property of which it had been deprived. They knew, moreover, of her anxious wish to marry Philip, son of the emperor Charles V, and yet did not hesitate to present to her a pet.i.tion against a foreign marriage. It was a bold step for parliament to take in those days, and showed that it was determined to win back its ancient rights and no longer to be the tool of the crown. Mary was not one likely to yield in a matter on which she had once set her heart. Rather than take its advice she dissolved parliament. The result was an insurrection.

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In the meanwhile the aged Cranmer and the youthful Lady Jane Grey-she "that wolde a been qwene"-her husband and two of her husband's brothers had been brought to trial at the Guildhall (13 Nov). The axe was borne before them on their way from the Tower, as if in antic.i.p.ation of the verdict. The Lady Jane is described as clad in a black gown, with velvet cap and black hood, having a black velvet book hanging at her girdle, whilst she carried another in her hand.(1381) Each of the accused pleaded guilty, and sentence of death was pa.s.sed; its execution was, however, delayed owing to the outbreak known as Wyatt's Rebellion.

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The ostensible cause of the rebellion was the queen's determination at all hazards to marry Philip, whose amba.s.sadors arrived at the opening of the new year (1554). The civic authorities had been warned to treat them handsomely, a warning which was scarcely necessary, for the citizens have never allowed political differences to interfere with their hospitality; and accordingly one of the amba.s.sadors was lodged at Durham Place, near Charing Cross, another at the Duke of Suffolk's house hard by, whilst a third shared apartments with the chancellor "Nigro" (Philip Negri) in Sir Richard Sackville's house at the conduit in Fleet Street. To each and all of the guests the City sent presents of wax, torches, flour and every kind of meat, game and poultry.(1382) Formal announcement of the intended match was made by the chancellor on the 14th January, but it was received with every sign of discontent and misgiving, "yea and therat allmost eche man was abashed, loking daylie for worse mattiers to growe shortly after."(1383) The following day (15 Jan.)-the day on which the rebellion under Wyatt broke out in Kent, to be followed by risings in Devons.h.i.+re and Norfolk-the mayor and aldermen were summoned to court and ordered to bring with them forty of the chief commoners of the city, when the lord chancellor informed them of the queen's intention, and exhorted them as obedient subjects to accept her grace's pleasure and to remain content and quiet. He warned them, at the same time, to see that the queen's wishes respecting religious services in the city were strictly carried out, on pain of incurring her high indignation.(1384)

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Steps were taken for putting the city into a proper state of defence. The civic companies were ordered to set watches as on similar critical occasions, and no gunpowder, weapons or other munitions of war were allowed to be sent out of the city. Chains were set up at the bridge-foot and at the corner of New Fish Street. The borough of Southwark was called upon to provide eighty tall and able men, well harnessed and weaponed, for the safeguard of the queen's person and of the city,(1385) whilst the livery companies at a few hours' notice furnished a force of 500 men to be speedily despatched by water to Gravesend.(1386)

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Whatever faults Queen Mary had, she was by no means deficient in courage.

On the same day (1 Feb.) that Wyatt appeared with his forces at Southwark, she came to the Guildhall(1387) and there addressed a spirited harangue to the a.s.sembled citizens.(1388) She plainly told them that her proposed marriage was but a Spanish cloak to cover the real purpose of the rebellion, which was aimed against her religion. She was their queen, and they had sworn allegiance to her; they surely would not allow her to fall into the hands of so vile a traitor as Wyatt was. As for her marriage, it had been arranged with the full knowledge of the lords of the council, as one of expediency for the realm. Pa.s.sion had no part in the matter. She had hitherto, she thanked G.o.d, lived a virgin, and doubted not she could, if necessary, live so still. At the close of her speech, which, we are told, was delivered in a loud voice so that all might hear, she bade the citizens to pluck up heart and not to fear the rebels any more than she did. She then quitted the hall and went up into the aldermen's council chamber and there refreshed herself, after which she rode through Bucklersbury to the Vintry, where she took barge to Westminster.

In the meantime the Spanish amba.s.sadors had taken fright at Wyatt's approach and had "sped themselves awaie by water, and that with all hast."(1389) Many inhabitants of the city had also deserted their fellow burgesses at this critical time, and their names were submitted to the Court of Aldermen for subsequent enquiry.(1390) They were, according to Foxe, afraid of being entrapped by the queen and perhaps put to death.

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In response to the queen's speech the citizens at once set to work to raise a force of 1,000 men for the defence of the city, the mayor and aldermen each in his own ward taking a muster. So busy was everyone on Candlemas-day (2 Feb.) that the civic authorities omitted to attend the afternoon service at St. Paul's, and the mayor's serving-men waited upon him at dinner ready harnessed.(1391) Even the lawyers at Westminster "pleaded in harness."(1392)

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The defensive precautions taken by the mayor and aldermen were sufficient to prevent Wyatt making good his entry into the city by Southwark and London Bridge. Foiled in this direction he sought to approach the city from another side, but had to march as far as Kingston before he could cross the Thames. Many of his followers in the meantime deserted him.(1393) Nevertheless he continued to make his way, with but little opposition, to Ludgate, which, contrary to his expectation, he found shut in his face. He had been recognised by a tailor of Watling Street, who seeing the force approaching cried, "I know that theys be Wyettes ancienttes," and forthwith closed the gate.(1394) That Wyatt had supporters in the city may be gathered from the half-hearted opposition that he met with in Southwark, as well as from the fact that many of the soldiers raised in the city and neighbourhood deserted to Wyatt at the outset of the rebellion.(1395) Wyatt himself exhibited no little disappointment at finding Ludgate closed against him instead of the aid which he evidently had expected. "I have kept touch" said he, as he turned his back on the city.(1396) He had scarcely reached Temple Bar before he was overcome by a superior force and yielded himself a prisoner. After a short stay at Whitehall he was removed to the Tower.

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The failure of the revolt was fatal to Lady Jane Grey, and she was beheaded within the Tower (12 Feb.) almost at the same time that her husband was being executed outside on Tower Hill. By the strange irony of fortune, it fell to the lot of Thomas Offley to perform the duties of sheriff at Dudley's execution, although he had himself been one of the supporters of the Lady Jane in her claim to the crown. For the next few days the city presented a sad spectacle; whichever way one turned there was to be seen a gibbet with its wretched burden, whilst the city's gates bristled with human heads.(1397) Wyatt himself was one of the last to suffer, being brought to the block on Tower Hill on the 11th April. His head and a portion of his body, after being exposed on gallows, were taken away by his friends for decent burial.(1398)

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On the 17th February proclamation was made for all strangers to leave the realm, on the ground that they sowed the seeds of their "malycyouse doctryne and lewde conversacioun" among the queen's good subjects;(1399) and this had been followed in the city by precepts to each alderman to call before him all the householders of his ward, both rich and poor, on Wednesday the 7th March, at six o'clock in the morning, and strictly charge them that they, their wives, their children and servants behave themselves in all things and more especially in matters of religion, following the example of the queen herself. All offenders were to be reported forthwith.(1400)

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A report having got abroad in the city that the lords of the council had endeavoured to extract a confession from Wyatt implicating the Princess Elizabeth in the late rebellion, the mayor was ordered by Bishop Gardiner to bring up the originator of the rumour before the Star Chamber. When Sir Thomas White appeared with the culprit, one Richard Cut by name, a servant to a grocer in the city, he was soundly rated by Gardiner for not having himself punished the offender, and when he replied that the party was there present for the Star Chamber to deal with according to its pleasure, was again rebuked:-"My lord, take heed to your charge, the Citie of London is a whirlepoole and a sinke of evill rumors, there they be bred, and from thence spred into all parts of the realme."(1401) Cut paid the penalty for his love of gossip by being made to stand two days in the pillory and by the loss of his ears.(1402)

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The suppression of the revolt left Mary at liberty to carry out her matrimonial design. But before accomplis.h.i.+ng this she was determined to place such a garrison in or near London as should prevent similar outbreaks in future. For this purpose she applied to the citizens for a sum of 6,000 marks. Thus called upon to supply a rod for their own backs, the citizens demurred. They at first proposed to offer the sum of 1,000 marks, or at the most 1,000; they afterwards agreed to contribute double the first mentioned sum,(1403) and this was accepted. The money was raised by contributions from the different livery companies, the Merchant Taylors, the Mercers, the Grocers, the Drapers, the Fishmongers, the Goldsmiths, and the Haberdashers being called upon to subscribe the sum of 100 respectively, whilst the rest of the companies paid sums varying from 80 to forty s.h.i.+llings.(1404) No sooner had the citizens satisfied the queen in this respect than they were called upon to send 200 soldiers to Gillingham, in Kent, there to be embarked for foreign service under the Lord Admiral. The City again demurred, and asked to be excused the necessity of forwarding the men beyond Billingsgate or the Tower Wharf and also of providing them with accoutrements. It was to no purpose, both men and accoutrements had to be found.(1405) On the 10th April the chamberlain received orders to see that the city's artillery was in readiness and to increase the store of gunpowder.(1406) Wyatt was to be executed the next day, and these orders were probably given in antic.i.p.ation of a disturbance.