Edward IV. the same day he was proclaimed, dined at Baynard's Castle, near , and continued there till his army was ready to march in pursuit of the late king. of the and most arbitrary acts of Edward's reign was the causing Walter Walker, an eminent grocer in , to be apprehended and tried for a few harmless words innocently spoken by him; viz. that he would make his son

heir to the Crown,

Soon after, Edward marched his army through Bishopsgate towards the north, in quest of King Henry, who by this time had assembled a mighty army of men; and, both armies meeting at Towton, or Shyryborn, in Yorkshire, after a terrible and desperate engagement which continued hours, with a prodigious slaughter, victory declared in favor of Edward. After Edward had taken care for preserving the peace in the north, he began his march back southward; and in the beginning of June he arrived at his manor of Shene, now Richmond, in Surrey, till all things were got ready for his coronation. On the , his majesty set out from thence to London, and was on the way met at by the mayor and aldermen in their formalities, dressed in scarlet, attended by citizens on horseback, all in green, richly accoutred, by whom he was conducted to the ; from whence, days after, he rode through the city to , and was crowned with very great solemnity at ; on which occasion the public rejoicings in the city were exceedingly great;

and on the next morrowe, hee went crowned in Paul's church of London; and there an angel came down, and censed him; at which time was so great a multitude of people in Paul's, as ever was seene in any daies.

Edward, in the year of his reign, to show his gratitude to the citizens of London for the many great and signal services

The year was distinguished by new commotions, and civil broils, principally originating in the imprudence of Edward, who had grievously offended his late firm adherent, the Earl of Warwick, as well as most of the ancient nobility, by the lavish manner in which he showered down honors, titles, and estates, on the relations of the queen, in almost total neglect of his former partizans. After various events, Edward was at length constrained to fly to Holland: and his queen having left the Tower, and taken sanctuary at , in , that fortress was delivered up to the mayor, (Sir Richard Lee) and the aldermen of London. who immediately released the captive Henry from his confinement, which he had now endured for nearly years: shortly afterwards he was again proclaimed king, and went in procession

crowned

During the distractions of this period, London was in great danger of being ravaged by a body of miscreants under the command of Sir Geoffrey Gates, who plundered the houses of the foreign merchants in Blanch Appleton, now ; and being afterwards strengthened by numerous ruffians from Kent, pillaged ; and recrossing the Thames, carried fire and sword into the eastern skirts of the metropolis. They were afterwards overpowered by some forces under the Duke of Clarence and the Earl of Warwick, by whom many of the ringleaders were ordered to be immediately hanged.

The ascendancy of the Earl of Warwick, who now governed in the king's name, was but of short duration; for Edward having procured aid from his brother-in-law, the Duke of Burgundy, and secretly inclined his own brother, the Duke of Clarence, to favor his attempt, landed in England in , and marching towards the capital with all the expedition which his affairs admitted of, was received into the city with great rejoicings, on the , the mayor and aldermen having previously obtained possession of the Tower in his name.

Edward had but just shewn himself to the Londoners, when he was obliged to put himself at the head of his troops, and march forth to meet the Earl of Warwick, who was advancing with a large army. The hard-fought battle of Barnet was decisive of the struggle: victory declared for Edward, and the earl was slain.

Edward was now restored to his crown and dignity. He posted to London in person to carry the news of this great and decisive victory to his loving citizens himself, by whom he was. received with a joy inexpressible; being freed from their late anxieties, and the danger they would inevitably have been exposed to, if Warwick had obtained the victory. After Edward had returned thanks in for his late success, he re-committed, for life, the most unfortunate king Henry to his old prison in the , who was obliged to ride the city in a long blue velvet gown. But this was not the end of the city's troubles; for, while Edward was obliged to march after and give battle to another army, commanded by Henry's queen, and son, &c. which he routed; and took prisoners the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Somerset, and the Prior of ; Thomas Nevil, natural son of Lord Falconbridge, therefore generally called the Bastard Falconbridge, a person as debauched in his morals as wicked in his practices, who had been a pirate for several years, thought it was then proper time to enrich himself at once; and, in order thereto, landed a considerable number of seamen in Kent; who, being joined by a body of freebooters from all parts, under the specious pretence of restoring the captive King Henry, (by which stratagem the partizans of the house of Lancaster were artfully cajoled to join the bastard) his army

The king being returned to the city from his late expedition against Queen Margaret, he was by the citizens received with the greatest demonstrations of joy; and he knighted the following aldermen for their gallant behaviour in defending the city against the bastard, viz. John Stockton, the mayor, Ralph Verney, John Young, William Taylor, Richard Lee, Matthew Philips, George Ireland, William Stoker, William Hampton, Thomas Stallbroke, John Crosby, and Bartholomew James, aldermen, and Thomas Urswick, recorder. But what chiefly confirmed the peaceable possession of the throne to Edward, was the death of Henry, his competitor; who departed this life, some write naturally, others that he was murdered with a dagger by the hands of the Duke of Gloucester, who succeeded to the crown after Edward IV. The royal corpse was exposed to public view on Ascension-day.

Upon the Monday following, King Edward marched in pursuit of the bastard above-mentioned, who fled before the royal army, as it advanced to Canterbury; and his rebel accomplices deserting him, his majesty seized upon many of them both in Kent and Essex, who, after a fair trial, were executed, and their heads set on London-bridge; where also the head of their leader, the bastard, at length bore them company, having been discovered and taken near Southampton about months after.

The year will ever be memorable in the annals of the metropolis, from the introduction of the art of printing, by William Caxton, citizen and mercer, who practised it in this country under the patronage of Earl Rivers and the Abbot of , and within the walls of .

There being at this time only pair of stocks in London, (and those at the market from which it received its name, now the site of the mansion-house,) for the punishing of vagrants; Sir William Hampton, the mayor, caused stocks to be erected in every ward, for the more effectual punishment of strollers.

In , it was ordained, that the sheriffs of London and Middlesex should each have serjeants, and every his yeoman; and also clerks, viz. a secondary, a clerk of the papers, and others, besides the under-sheriff's clerks.

Sir William Hampton, knight of the bath, Lord Mayor of London, did his endeavours this year to clear the city and liberties of disorderly women; for which purpose he gave the notorious bawds and whores corporal punishment, and ordered them to be led through the chief streets, and exposed in a most shameful manner.

King Edward having entered into an alliance with the Duke of Burgundy for the recovery of his rights in France, he called a parliament to enable him to put the same in execution, by carrying on a vigorous war against that nation. But the parliament years before having granted a of all the revenues and profits of the kingdom, besides the sum of ; which, together with the great depredations committed in the late civil war, whereby the country was almost entirely ruined; they found themselves not in a condition to grant a new subsidy at that time, other than by making an ordinance for the more effectual and speedy raising of the above-mentioned supply, which Rapin erroneously calls a subsidy granted in this session.

The king, for the above reasons, not judging it proper to urge them to a compliance with his demands, contrived a new method for supplying his necessities (hitherto unknown) under the specious appellation of a benevolence; to which end, he caused lists secretly to be made of all the rich and most opulent of his subjects, whom he prevailed upon, either by public entreaties or private menaces,

By these great contributions, together with those from the country,

Edward was enabled to raise an army of men, which he transported to Calais; but, by the ill performance of the Duke of Burgundy and perfidious dealings of the Constable St. Paul, Edward found it necessary, without striking a stroke, to make peace with Lewis, the French, king, more to the. advantage of his courtiers than to his own honor; though on his return with his army to London, he was met at Blackheath by the Lord Mayor and aldermen in scarlet robes, attended by of the most eminent citizens on horseback, clothed in murrey, and richly accoutred; by whom he was conducted through the city to , in a very pompous manner.

In the above-mentioned sessions of parliament, a great house in the parish of Alhallows the Great, in , anciently known by the appellation of , (at present the Steelyard) was confirmed to the Hanseatic merchants and their successors for ever, together with the other tenements thereunto belonging, they paying annually for the same to the mayor and citizens of London, , and some petty rents to others.

By another act of common council made at this time, the masters, wardens, and liveries of city corporations were empowered to assist as electors at all future elections of mayor and sheriffs of London, &c. Since which time, the said magistrates have been chosen by the lord mayor, aldermen, common-councilmen, and liverymen.

In the year , the mayor, Sir Ralph Joceline, by the consent of the bench and common council, came to a resolution to repair the city walls with brick, made of earth, dug, tempered, and burnt in ; and ordained, that in every parish church, on every Sunday, every parishioner, should pay towards the charge of the said repairs ; and, for an example unto other companies, prevailed with his own Company of Drapers to build as much of the said wall as reached from the church of Alhallows within the said wall unto Bishopsgate; who were imitated, in some measure, by other companies. And likewise, Richard Rawson, of the sheriffs in , gave, by his will, large legacies to the prisons,

In , the citizens purchased charters of the king the for the sum of (part of . which Edward acknowledged himself indebted to them), by which they received permission to purchase lands in mortmain to the value of per annum; and the other for (being part also of the said sum), by which they obtained the privileges of package, portage, garbling of spices, &c. guaging, wine-drawing, and other privileges.

In , a very great pestilence raged in London, which begun about the end of September in the preceding year, and lasted to the beginning of November in this year sweeping away an incredible numble of people. During this calamity, Sir Bartholomew James, the mayor, being at his devotion before St. Erkenwald's shrine in , Robert Byfield, of the sheriffs, kneeled down hard by him, in like manner to perform his devotion to the said saint. But, whether the mayor thought himself thereby affected in his devotion, or in his honour is not certain: however, he highly resented this proceeding of the sheriff, and with some warmth asked him,

how he could be guilty of such an indignity towards him?

This year also gives a notable example of a punishment inflicted on robbers of churches, who were hanged on , and their bodies burnt to ashes, with the gibbet, as they hung.

In the year , England being invaded by the Scots, King Edward raised an army of men, for the support of which he applied to the city of London for a loan; where, in a consultation of the citizens, it was resolved to advance him the sum of . For the rating and levying of which, a commission was chosen out of each ward; who, together

In , the citizens of London, by their many great and faithful services, had so endeared themselves to the king, that he appointed a great hunting match in Waltham forest, for the entertainment of William Harcot, alias Haryat, a draper, the mayor, the aldermen, and many of the chief citizens; where, after the chase was over, wherein were killed a great number of deer, (both red and fallow) they were elegantly entertained in a beautiful and stately arbour, erected for that purpose. And in the month of August following his majesty, in great regard to the said mayor, who by his great trade with foreign countries increased the royal customs very largely, and other things that had given great contentment, sent harts, bucks, and a tun of wine, for the entertainment of the lady mayoress, and the wives of the aldermen and principal citizens; wherewith they sumptuously regaled themselves in Draper's Hall.

The king died at , .

Upon the demise of Edward the , his eldest son Edward, a prince of years of age, should have succeeded him. But, upon his accession to the crown, Richard Duke of Gloucester, his perfidious uncle, seized upon his person at Stoney-Stratford, as he was returning from Ludlow, in Shropshire, to London. Upon the news whereof the whole city was in the greatest commotion; and many of the nobility taking arms, were joined by a vast number of citizens, for their mutual defence, till they knew what Gloucester intended by seizing the king's person. However, the Lord Hastings, a man in great favour with the citizens, being sent into the city to assure them that the king was not in the least danger, and that the Earl of Rivers, Lord Grey, and the knights that were apprehended with him, were arrested for certain conspiracies formed against the Duke of Gloucester and Buckingham, which would soon be made to appear in a legal way; and to represent to the citizens, that their taking arms in such a riotous and seditious manner would prove of dangerous consequence to themselves, if they did not speedily lay them down, and return to their several habitations, and not take upon them to censure the proceedings of their superiors, (who intended nothing more than the public good) lest they themselves should be deemed the only enemies of the nation, violators of the public tranquillity, and obstructors of the king's coronation, which the duke and other lords were coming to London to celebrate; this speech had so good an effect upon the citizens, that they immediately dispersed and returned to their respective habitations.

The king, on his way to London, was on the met at Hornsey Park (now Highgate) by Edmund Shaw, the mayor,

behold their prince and sovereign.

The arts of the duke,

who bare him in open sight so reverently to the prince, with al semblance of lowliness,

That the Lord Hastings and several other persons had conspired

More's Life of Edward V.

this footnote has no corresponding marker in the text

and contrived together suddenly to kill him and the Duke of Buckingham that day in council, for what cause or what design he could not guess, and had not yet time to search it out, because he had no certain knowledge of the intended treason before

ten

o'clock of the same day; so that he had enough to do to stand upon his own guard, and provide for his own defence; which, though they had both done in an indecent manner, by putting on such filthy armour, yet, necessity obliging them to it, they were forced to take what was next at hand. That God had wonderfully protected them from the danger, he hoped, now the Lord Hastings was dead, against whom, though there might seem to be something of cruelty used in so sudden an execution, without any legal trial and hearing; yet, there appearing to the king and the lords of his council many reasons to believe, that if he had been kept in prison, his accomplices would have made a formidable insurrection in the country to rescue him, and his guilt being very evident, they judged it best to inflict the deserved punishment of his crimes upon him immediately, that the peace of the nation might not be in danger. This is the real truth of the business, and we have therefore called you hither to inform you of it, that you may, as you see cause, satisfy the people of the justice of the Lord Hastings' sufferings; which, though we are no ways obliged to do, yet, out of our care to please them, we have condescended to it, and we require you thus to report it.

This speech they seemingly approved of, by declaring their readiness to obey his commands, as if in reality they had believed every word he said to be truth. However, they tacitly concluded that what he had said to extenuate the murder, by unjustly aspersing the deceased, were detestable falsehoods. Gloucester soon after perceiving that the above stratagem had not the desired effect, sent into the city a herald at arms, to make proclamation in all public places of the same, to the following effect:

That the Lord Hastings, with divers other wicked conspirators, had traiterously contrived the same day to have slain the Protector and the Duke of Buckingham sitting in council, with a purpose and design to take upon him the government of the king and kingdom, and rule all things at his pleasure, hoping that, when they were dead, they should meet no opposition in their designs; and in how miserable a condition this nation had been if God had left them in his hands, appeared from the former actions of the said Lord, who, being so ill a man, could not make a good governor; for he it was, that by his ill advice enticed the king's father to many things much redounding to his dishonour, and the universal damage and detriment of the realm, leading him into debauchery by his exemplary wickedness, and procuring lewd and ungracious persons to gratify his lusts, and particularly Shore's wife, who was

one

of his secret council in this treason; by which lewd living, the said king not only shortened his days, but also was forced to oppress and tax his

people, that he might have sufficient to gratify his expenses; and since the death of the said king, he hath lived in a continual incontinency with the said Shore's wife,

Maitland, i. 212.

and lay nightly with her, and particularly the very night before his death; so that it was no marvel if his ungracious life brought him to as unhappy a death, which he was put to by the special command of the king's highness, and of his honorable and faithful council, both for his own demerits, being so openly taken in his intended treason; and also, lest any delay of his execution might have encouraged other mischievous persons, who were engaged in the conspiracy with him, to make an insurrection for his deliverance; which, being wisely foreseen, and as effectually prevented, was the only means, under God's providence, to preserve the whole realm in peace and quietness.

This attempt had no better success than the former; for the citizens, reflecting on the great length of the proclamation, the elegancy of its composition, and the beautiful manner of its being engrossed on parchment, and yet published within hours after Hastings' execution, concluded that his death was predetermined, and that the proclamation had been prepared before his execution; therefore, were confirmed in opinion that he had not fair play.

Every engine was now employed to engage the city in the Protector's conspiracy; and with this intent, Sir Edmund Shaw, the Mayor of London, was made a privy counsellor; by which means, the exertions of his brother, Dr. Shaw, a celebrated and much followed preacher, were secured in favour of the intended usurpation; and it was determined

that he should

first

break the matter in a sermon at Paule's Crosse, in which he should, by the authorities of his preaching, incline the people to the Protector's ghostly purpose.

Bastard slips shall never take deep root,

that Edward's children were illegitimate, and that the proper heir to the crown was the Lord Protector,

very sure undoubted image, and plain express likeness of his noble father.

But, lest this should not weigh with the citizens, Shaw received from the abandoned Protector the most detestable, wicked and infamous command, that can be shewn in history, which was to accuse his own mother of adultery; whereby it would appear, that neither the late king, nor the late Duke of Clarence, brothers to Gloucester, had any right to the crown, and consequently none of their descendants; whereby at blow were cut off the king, his brother, and the Earl of Warwick, son to the Duke of Clarence; and, in order to confirm the Duchess of York their mother's incontinence, the preacher declared, that it was well known to divers persons acquainted with her intrigues with some persons of her husband's court, whom the brothers exactly resembled; therefore, they were not to look for true heirs of the Duke of York, e their in the children of the late king, or in those of the Duke of Clarence: and raising his voice, he said,

But my Lord Protector, that noble prince, the pattern of all virtue and heroic actions, carries in his air, in his mien, and in his soul, the perfect image of his illustrious father the great Duke. of York.

This attempt proving unsuccessful, and not having had the desired effect, orders were sent to the mayor to convene the aldermen, common-council, and principal citizens in ; to whom repaired the Duke of Buckingham

of nature marvellously well spoken,

Gentlemen,---Out of the zeal and sincere affection we have for your persons and interests, we are come to acquaint you with a matter of high importance, equally pleasing to God and profitable to the commonwealth, and to none more than to you, the citizens of this great and honorable city; for the very thing which we believe you have a long while wanted and wished for, what you would have purchased at any rate, and gone far to fetch, we are come hither to bring you, without any labour, trouble, cost, or peril to you; and what can this be but your own safety, the peace of your wives and daughters, the security of your goods and estates, which were all in danger till now. Who of you could call what he had his own? There were so many snares laid to deceive you, so many fines and forfeitures, taxes and impositions, of which there was no end, and often no necessity; or, if there was, it was occasioned by riots and unreasonable waste, rather than a just and lawful charge for defence or honour of the state. Your best citizens were plundered, and their wealth squandered by profuse favourites. Fifteenths and the usual subsidies would not do, but under the plausible name of Benevolence, your goods were taken from you by the commissioners against your will; as if by that name was understood that every man should pay, not what he pleased, but what the king would have him; who never was moderate in his demands, always exorbitant, turning forfeitures into fines, fines into ransoms, small offences into misprision of treason, and misprision into treason itself. We need not give you examples of it; Burdet's case will never be forgot, who, for a word spoken in haste, was cruelly beheaded. Did not Judge Markham resign his office, rather than join with his brethren in passing that illegal sentence on that honest man? Were you not all witnesses of the barbarous treatment of one of your own body, the worshipful alderman Cook, met with? And your own selves know too well, how many instances of this kind I might name among you.

King Edward gaining the crown by conquest, all that were any ways related to those that were his enemies, lay under the charge of treason. Thus, half of the kingdom became at once traitors, for half of the kingdom were either friends to King Henry, or relations or friends to some that were so. Though open war with invaders is terrible and destructive to a nation, yet civil dissentions are much more fatal, and to be dreaded; with which his reign was more disturbed than the reigns of all his predecessors. But he is dead and gone, and God forgive his soul! It cost the people more blood and treasure to get the crown for this, than it had done to conquer France twice. Half of the nobility of the realm lost their lives or estates in his quarrel; and when the dispute was over, the peace that followed was not much safer than the war; every rich and landed man was in danger; for whom could he trust that distrusted his own brother? whom spare, that killed his own brother? or who could perfectly love him, whom his own brother could not love? We shall, in honor to the memory of one that was our sovereign, forbear to mention who were the persons on which he was so lavish of his favours; only it is well known, that those that deserved them most had the least of them. Was not Shore's wife his chief minister? Was there not more court made to her than all the lords of England, except those that were the strumpet's favorites? who, poor woman! was herself chaste and of good reputation, till he deluded her to his lust, and tempted her from her husband, an honest substantial young man, whom you all know. Indeed, I am ashamed to say it, the king's appetite in that point was insatiable and intolerable; no woman could escape him; young or old, rich or poor, wife or virgin, all fell victims to his lust; by which means the most honourable houses were defiled, and the most honest families were corrupted.

You of this renowned city suffered most; you who deserved most from him for your readiness to serve the house of York with your lives and fortunes; which tho' he ill requited, there is one of that house, who, by God's grace shall reward you better. I shall not enlarge on this subject. You have heard it from one whom you will hearken to more, as you ought to do; for I am not so vain as to think what I can say will have so great authority with you, as the words of a preacher; a man so wise and so pious, that he would not utter a thing in the pulpit, especially, which he did not firmly believe it was his duty to declare. You remember, I doubt not, how he set forth the last Sunday the right of the most excellent Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, to the crown of this realm; for, as he proved to you, the children of King Edward IV. were never lawfully begotten, the king leaving his lawful wife, the Lady Lucy, to contract an illegal marriage with the queen. My noble lord the protector's reverence to the duchess his mother, will not permit me to say any thing further concerning what the worthy doctor alleged of her familiarity with others besides her own husband, for fear of offending the Duke of Gloucester her son; tho', for these causes, the crown of England is devolved to the most excellent Prince the Lord Protector, as the only lawfully begotten son of the right noble Duke of York. This, and the consideration of his many high qualities, has prevailed with the lords and commons of England, of the northern counties especially, who have declared they will not have a bastard reign over them, to petition that high and mighty prince to take on him the sovereign power, for the good of the realm, to which he has so rightful and lawful a title. We have reason to fear he will not grant our request, being a prince whose wisdom foresees the labour, both of mind and body, that attends the supreme dignity; which is not a place for a child, as that wise man observed, who said, Ve regno cujus rex puer est (Woe is to that realm that hath a child for their king). Wherefore, we have reason to bless God, that the prince, whose right it is to reign over us, is of so ripe age, so great wisdom and experience, who, though he is unwilling to take the government upon himself, yet the petition of the lords and gentlemen will meet with the more favourable reception, if you, the worshipful citizens of the metropolis of the kingdom, will join with us in our request, which, for your own welfare, we doubt not but you will. However, I heartily entreat you to do it for the common good of the people of England, whom you will oblige by causing so good a king, and his majesty, by shewing early your ready dispositions to his election; in which, my most dear friends, I require you, in the name of myself and these lords, to shew us plainly your minds and intentions.

The oration being finished, the duke expected to have heard the assembly cry out, God save King Richard ; but all remaining silent, as if struck with horror at the injustice and absurdity of the proposal, the duke, being greatly amazed, took aside the mayor, with others of the conspirators, and whispering, asked them, how it came the citizens were so silent? The mayor replied, perhaps they don't understand you. This occasioned the duke to recite his speech with some variation, yet with such a graceful energy of eloquence, that it was not possible for any man to have said more in behalf of so bad a cause. However, the assembly continued as before. Whereupon the mayor acquainted the duke, that the citizens were not accustomed to hear any other orator but their recorder, and therefore imagined their silence was owing to that. He then ordered Fitz-Williams, the recorder, to speak to the citizens upon the aforesaid subject; which he, with great reluctance, did, by repeating the heads of the duke's speech, without the least addition. But this having no greater effect upon the auditory than the former, it occasioned the duke to whisper to the mayor, that the citizens were amazingly obstinate; and, turning to the audience, he further added:

Dear friends, we came to acquaint you with a thing which we needed not have done, had it not been for the affection we bear you. The lords and commons could have determined the matter without you, but would gladly have you join with us, which is for your honour and profit, tho' you do not see it, or consider it. We require you therefore to give your answer

one

way or another, whether you are willing, as the lords are, to have the most excellent prince the Lord Protector to be your king, or not?

Upon this the assembly began to murmur; and at last divers of the protector and duke's servants, together with some apprentices, and the rabble who crowded into the hall, cried out, King Richard, King Richard! and, as a demonstration of their joy, threw up their hats in the air. The duke, perceiving from what quarter the noise came, laid hold of the opportunity, as if the acclamation had been general; and said,

'Tis a goodly and joyful cry, to hear every man with

one

voice agree to it, and nobody say no. Since therefore, dear friends, we see you are all, as

one

man, inclined to have this noble prince to be your king, we shall report the matter so effectually to him, that we doubt not it will be much for your advantage. We require you to attend us to

morrow, with our joint petition to his grace, as has been already agreed on between us.

Then the duke and the lords withdrew, and left the assembly to break up with woeful hearts and weeping eyes; for the concealing of which, they hurried home to vent their grief in private, to prevent the dangerous consequence a public lamentation would have been attended with.

The day after the above-mentioned mock election, the aldermen, and

maior, with all the chief commoner of the cities, in their best manner apparelled,

where the protector lay,

toke possession of the throne in the gret hal,

with as pleasant an oration as he could,

His coronation was solemnized on the of the ensuing month, July; and, as appears from the coronation-roll, it was once intended, that the

Lord Edward, son of the late King Edward IV. and his attendants,

As soon as Richard accepted the sovereignty, the prince, or, of right, King Edward V. with his brother, the Duke of York, were put under surer kepyng in the Towre, in such wyse that they never came abrode after.

The

30

. of December was a great fire in Leadenhall in London, where through was burnt much housing, and all the stocks for guns, and other like provisions belonging the city.

to press into his service all necessary workmen to expedite the repairs of the

Tower of London

.

Richard was slain in the battle of Bosworth Field, on the ; and his crown having been found in the field by a soldier, was placed by the Lord Stanley on the head of the Earl of Richmond, who immediately assumed the regal state, by the title of Henry the , and had his claim subsequently ratified by the parliament. He entered London days afterwards, having been met on his way by the

maior, magistrates, and citie companies, with great pompe,

was conveyed through the citie to

St. Paul's Church

, where he offered his

three

standards,

went to the bishop's palace, and soiourned a season.

being strong and hardy persons,

covering,

with a pretence of grandeur and majesty, a precaution which he apparently believed necessary in the present juncture.

About this period the Sweating Sickness, an epidemical distemper of a very singular nature, raged with great violence in London, where, says Stow,

it began the

twenty-first of September

.

a wonderful number died,

On the , the king's marriage with Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward the , by which the claims of the rival houses of York and Lancaster were united, was

In , Henry borrowed of the citizens, to enable him to furnish aid to the Duke of Bretagne, who was then at war with the French king; and this sum was the more cheerfully advanced, inasmuch as a loan of , which the king had required from the city soon after his accession, had been duly paid at the appointed time. This mode of obtaining money, however, was insufficient to supply the king's wants; and about the year , making a pretext of the war with France, he exacted great sums from his subjects in the way of benevolence, publishing, says Stow,

that he who gave most should be judged to be his most loving friend; and he that gave little to be esteemed according to his gift.

The growing discontent which Henry's harsh government had excited among the people, was favorable to conspiracy; and about , a new claimant to the throne appeared, in whom the pages of history have denominated Perkin Warbeck, but who styled himself Richard, Duke of York, youngest son of Edward the . Whatever may be the fact as to the identity of Warbeck with the youth whom Richard is supposed to have had murdered in the Tower, the king found himself compelled to exert all his activity to avoid the threatened danger. The old Duchess of Burgundy had acknowledged Warbeck as her nephew, and many of the nobility covertly supported him: among others, was Sir William Stanley, the king's chamberlain, who, notwithstanding all the previous services which his family had rendered to Henry, was beheaded on , in ; though all that was proved against him was, his saying, that

if he certainly knew that the young man was the undoubted sonne and heire of King Edward the

Fourth

, he would never fight nor bear armour against him.

About this period, the insatiable avarice of the king led him to

The remarkable instance of this kind was the case of Sir William Capel, an alderman of London, who, upon sundry penal laws, was condemned in a fine of ; but, by the powerful intercession of his friends, it was mitigated to . Yet, notwithstanding this severe and cruel usage, Empson, the infamous minister, intended to have made another attack on Sir Willlam for himself, had not his master died in the interim.

The great plenty of corn this year lowered wheat to the quarter; and white herrings were sold at the barrel.

The wicked and detestable crime of perjury having at this time greatly prevailed among the London juries, to the great dishonour of the city, it was therefore by parliament enacted, that for the future, no person or persons be impannelled or sworn into any jury or inquest in any of the city courts, unless he be worth ; and if the cause to be tried amount to that sum, then no person shall be admitted as a juror worth less than ; and every person so qualified, refusing to serve as a juryman, for the default to forfeit , the , and every after to double the sum for the use of the city.

And when upon trial it shall be found that a petty jury have brought in an unjust verdict, then every member of the same to forfeit , or more, according to the discretion of the court of lord mayor and aldermen; and also each person so offending to suffer months imprisonment, or less, at the discretion of the said mayor and aldermen, without bail or mainprize, and for ever after to be rendered incapable of serving in any jury.

And if upon enquiry it be found, that any juror has taken money as a bribe, or other reward, or promise of reward, to favour either plaintiff or defendant in the cause to be tried by him, then, and in every such case, the person so offending, to forfeit and pay to the party by him thus injured, times the value of such sum or reward by him taken, and also to suffer imprisonment as already mentioned, and besides, to be disabled from ever serving in that capacity; and that every person or persons guilty of bribing any juror, shall likewise forfeit times the value given, and suffer imprisonment as aforesaid.

In the latter end of , in a great council held at , was granted to the king for his defence against the Scots, or to enable Henry to repel the Scottish invasion, in favor of Perkin Warbeck, the sum of and in November was granted to the king a present by the city of ; and. on

The king having entered into a league for the defence of Italy, the pope, as an evidence of his gratitude, sent, by his nuncio, as a present to Henry, a consecrated sword and a cap of maintenance; for whose magnificent reception, his majesty commanded the mayor and aldermen of this city to receive him at the bridge foot; on which occasion, the streets through which the cavalcade passed were richly embellished, and lined by the several companies in their formalities.

There was now such a dearth of corn, that wheat was sold at the quarter.

The impostor Perkin receiving advice of the king's advance towards him, was thereby so intimidated, he retired to Taunton, and thence fled for sanctuary to Beaulieu Abbey in the New Forest. He soon, however, submitted to the king, and was conducted in triumph through London to the Tower. Through an unsuccessful attempt to escape, he was afterwards exposed a whole day in the stocks in the at , and on the next day at the Cross, in , from whence he was reconveyed to the Tower. In the following year, he again engaged in an abortive attempt to free himself from captivity, together with the young Earl of Warwick, who had been years a prisoner: for this Henry caused him to be hanged at Tyburn,

In , the kingdom was visited by a dreadful plague; to avoid the ravages of which, the king and his court, after removing to various places, sailed to Calais. The number of persons carried off in the metropolis and its vicinity amounted to about .

On the , the king kept a

roiall

Turney

and

Justs

,

On the in the same year, says Stow, (speaking of Catherine of Spain)

the said Lady Princess, accompanied with many lords and ladies, came riding from the Archbishop's inne of Canterbury, at Lambeth, into Southwarke, and so to London-bridge, where was ordered a costly pageant of Saint Katherine, and S. Vsula, with many virgins; from thence shee rode to Grace-streete, where was ordained a second pageant; from thence to the conduit in Cornhil, where was another pageant. The great conduite in Cheape ran with Gascoyne wine, and was furnished with musick. Against Soperlane end was the fourth pageant. At the standard in Cheape was ordeined the fift pageant. At Pauls gate was the sixt pageant: by the which the princess rode through Paul's church-yarde unto the bishop of Londons pallace, where shee and hir people were lodged.

Now, within the church of Saint Paule, to wit, from the west gate of it unto the vppermost gresse or step at the going in of the quier, was made a pale of tymber and boordes to go upon, from the said west dore unto the forenamed gresse, of the height of six foote from the ground, or more; and fore anenst the place where the commissaries court is kept within the said church, was ordeined a standing like unto a mountain with steps on euery side; which was covered ouer with red wusted, and in likewise was all the railes: against which mountain vpon the north side, within the foresaid place of the commissaries court, was ordeined a standing for the king, and such other as liked him to haue: and on the south side, almost for against the king's standing, was ordained a scaffold, whereupon stood the maior and his brethren.

Then vpon the 14. of Nouember being sonday, vpon the aboue named mountain, was prince Arthur, about the age of 15 yeeres, and the lady Katherine about the age of 18. yeers, both clad in white sattine, married by the Archbishop of Caunterbury, assisted by 19. bishops and abbots mitered. And the king, the queene, the king's mother, stood in the place afore named, where they heard and beheld the solemnization: which being finished, the said archbishop and bishops tooke their way from the mountain, vpon the said pase covered vnder foote with blew rey-cloth vnto the quire, and so to the high altar, whom followed the spouse and spouses, she lady Cicile, sister to the queen, bearing hir traine, after hir followed 100. ladies and gentlewomen, in right costly apparel, then the maior in a gowne of crimson velvet, and his brethren in scarlet, with the sword borne before the maior, and sate in the quire the masse while, the archbishop of Yorke sate in the deanes place, and offered as cheefe, and after him the Duke of Buckingham, &c. Wonderfull it was to behold the riches of apparel worne that day, with the poisant chaines of gold: of which, two were specially d, to wit, Sir T. Brandon, knight, master of the king's horse, which that day ware a chaine valued at 1,400. pound: and the other William de Riuers, esquire, master of the kings haukes, whose chaine was valued at a thousand pound: many mo were of 200. 300. and so foorth; these were not d for the length, but for the greatness of the links. Also the Duke of Buckingham ware a gowne wrought of needle work, and set upon cloth of tissue, furred with sables, the which gowne was valued at 1500. pound. And Sir Nicholas Vause, knight, ware a gowne of purple veluet, pight with peeces of gold, so thicke and massy, that it was valued in gold, besides the silke and furre, a thousand pound; which chaines and garments were valued by goldsmithes of best skill, and them that wrought them. The masse being finished, the princess was led by Henry, Duke of Yorke, and a legate of Spaine, by the foresaid pace into the palace going before hir men of honor, to the number of 160. with gentlemen and other. There came vnto the maior Sir Richard Crofts, steward of the princes house, which brought him and his brethren the aldermen into the great hall, and at a table upon the west side of the hall, caused them to be set to dinner, where honorably were they served with 12. dishes to a messe at the first course, 15. the second course, and 18. dishes the third course. In this hall was a cupboord of flue stages height, being triangled, the which was set with plate valued 1200. pound, the which was neuer mooued at that day; and in the vtter chamber where the princesse dined, was a cupboord of gold plate, garnished with stone and pearle, valued aboue 20000. pound. The Tuesday following the king and queene being all this season at Bainards castell, came vnto Paules, and heard there masse, and then accompanied with many nobles, went into the palace, and there dined with the princess. This day Sir Nicholas Vause ware a collar of Esses, which weyed, as the goldsmiths that made it reported, 800 pound of nobles. And the same day at afternoon, the said princes were conveyed with manie lordes and ladies unto Paules Wharffe, where the said estates took their barges, and were rowed to Westminster, upon whom the choir attended, with the aldermen and fellowship in barges, garnished with banners and other devises, musike, &c.

In the same year, Sir John Shaw, the mayor, by a contribution from the several companies of the city, caused to be erected the kitchens and other offices at ; by the convenience of which, he entertained his brethren, the aldermen and principal citizens, at a very magnificent banquet in the said hall; which entertainments were formerly given at that of the Grocers'. The said mayor also caused his brethren the aldermen, to accompany him on horseback to the water side, to take barge to .

On the , the espousals of the Princess Margaret, by proxy, with James IV. of Scotland being published at Saint Paul's Cross, in London, it occasioned an incredible joy among the citizens, by making of bonfires, ringing of bells, and every thing else that contribute to the public rejoicings; for, by this match, the citizens apprehended that all causes of difference would be removed from between the nations, and a happy translation restored; whereby all dreadful and destructive wars for the future would be happily prevented, to the great advantage of both kingdoms.

The Taylors' Company in this same year purchased a charter of the king, by which they thenceforwards obtained the style of Merchant Taylors of the city of London.

The citizens, in the year , granted to the king for confirmation of their liberties; whereof they paid in hand, and covenanted to pay the other in the course of years; which is particularly levelled against the encroachments upon the liberties, franchises, and customs of the citizens by foreigners, in buying and selling, and concerning the qualifications of brokers, &c. in the same form as that of Edward III. dated , in the year of his reign, and that of I Richard II. confirmed by parliament, and is dated on the , in the year of his reign.

The archduke Philip, in right of his consort, having succeeded to the crown of Castile, set out with his queen from Flanders with a considerable fleet on his way thither; but meeting in the channel with a dreadful storm, was forced into Weymouth; from whence he came by land to Windsor, to pay his respects to King Henry, who from thence brought him to London to see his capital city; where they were entertained by the mayor and citizens with a pomp and magnificence proper for the accommodation of such illustrious guests. King Henry, being apprehensive of his approaching end, was seized with a remorse of conscience for his many, great, and grievous exactions; wherefore he attempted to bribe heaven with the spoils of his subjects, and to purchase favour of the Almighty, by making, as he vainly imagined, an atonement for his past crimes, by hastening the construction, and endowing various religious foundations with much greater alms than usual; and, at

Thomas Knesworth, who had been mayor years before, and Richard Shoare and Roger Grove, his sheriffs, were accused for abuses committed in their offices; for which they were dragged to the Marshalsea, and confined without any legal process, till they redeemed themselves with the payment of Also Christopher Haws, an alderman of London, was secured for some imaginary crime; but, being a timorous man, soon died of an excess of grief.

About the end of April died the Lord Mayor, Sir William Browne, mercer, and was succeeded by Sir Lawrence Aylemer; who, in the year following, was imprisoned by Henry's rapacious ministers, in order to extort a sum of money for his liberty; but the death of the king, which soon after happened, delivered him and many others from their troubles and apprehensions.

Henry, once more willing to honor the city of London, sent the mayor a letter, wherein he acquainted him with his having concluded a match between Charles, Prince of Castile (afterwards the great emperor Charles V.) and the Princess Mary, his youngest daughter. On which occasion, he commanded him to make all the public demonstrations of joy imaginable: expressing himself with all the signs of an unfeigned joy, by saying, that

now he had built a wall of brass about his kingdom, by having for his sons-in-law the King of Scotland, and a Prince of Castile and Burgundy.

Yet, nevertheless, his rapacious and infamous ministers, Empson and Dudley, continued their grievous extortions and oppressions of the people with the utmost rigor, by a prosecution of Sir William Capel, some time mayor of London, for a neglect in not discovering and prosecuting some false coiners; for which pretended crime, he was amerced in But, being a bold man, he would not submit to such vile and arbitrary proceedings, and instead of paying his fine, highly reflected on those iniquitous ministers, the authors of his troubles; for which he was committed to the Compter, and then to the , where he continued a prisoner during the king's life.

The odium excited by these acts the king sought to remove by an ostentatious display of charity, to which his apprehensions of the chances of another world unquestionably contributed. He endowed several religious foundations, gave considerable sums to the poor, &c. Still so excessive were the treasures he had amassed, that, on his decease, in , as appears from Lord Bacon's history of this prince, he left to the value of in money, plate, and jewels, locked up in secret vaults beneath his favorite palace of East Sheen, near Richmond.

[] The first purports, all goods dropped by thieves and fugitive felons, when pursued, and goods lost when an owner cannot be found. The second implying all tame beasts strayed into a foreign lordship, which, not being reclaimed by the owner within a year and a day after their being legally cried in the neighboring market towns, they become the property of the lord of the manor wherein they were found. And the third signifies all hidden money, which, by the civil law, is given to the finder, but by the law of England is annexed to the crown; wherefore, the king disposes of it by grant at pleasure.

[] Hall. Chron.

[] In the eleventh volume of the Foedera, p. 712, is a record of the expence of Henry's maintenance in the Tower, with the daily allowance for ten persons waiting on him for fourteen days, amounting in the whole only to 4l. 5s., the expence of his own diet for three days cost but three shillings and ten-pence. In another record, on the same page, are the expenses of his funeral, which amounted but to £ 33. 6s. 8d., in which sum are included the fees of a priest, charges for linen cloth of Holland, and spices; fees to the torch-bearers who attended the corpse to St. Paul's, and thence to Chertsey; money paid to two soldiers of Calais, who watched the corpse, and for the hire of barges from London to Chertsey; and 8l. 12s. 3d. distributed in charity to different religious orders.

[] Fabian p. 455

[] Cot. Abrid. Rec.

[] From the second charter, it appears that the office of chief butler of England had been granted to Earl Rivers, and that he claimed also the right of nominating a coroner for the city; but this latter office was now confirmed to the mayor and commonalty.

[] Fabian.

[] Fabian. p. 461.

[] Moore's Life Edw. V.

[] As Jane Shore was thus openly accused, the Protector, to save appearances, had her examined before the council, on charges of sorcery, &c. brought against her by himself; yet she escaped condemnation, but that she was naught of her body; he caused the Bishop of London to put hir to open penance, going before the Crosse in procession upon a Sunday, with a taper in hir hand. In which she went in countenance and pace demure so womanly, and albeit she were out of all array, save hir kirtle only, yet went she so faire and lovely, namely, while the wondering of the people cast a comely rud in hir cheekes (of which she before had most misse) that hir great shame was hir much praise among those that were more amorous of hir body than curious of hir soul. And many good folke also that hated her living, and glad were to see sinne corrected, yet pitied they more hir penance, than rejoiced therein, when they considered that the Protector procured it more of a corrupt intent than any virtuous purpose. --Stow's Ann. p. 744.

[] Maitland, i. 212.

[] Brayley's London, i. 229.

[] Stow's Ann. . 776.

[] Stow's Ann. p. 784.

[] Hist. of Eng. i. p. 651.

[] Brayley's Lond. i. 230.

[] Stow's Ann. p. 791.

[] Ibid. p. 796.

[] Maitland i. 219.

[] Brayley's London, i, 233.

[] Maitland, i. 219.

[] Stow's Ann. p. 803.