John Stow · Public domain edition · 439 cards · 114 chapters
John Stow’s Survey of London chronicles the city’s streets, buildings, and institutions while preserving historical memory. This deck covers Stow’s life and sources, editorial changes to the Survey, and early accounts of London’s founding and name.
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Chapter 1 · Question
What does the introduction say is the main charm of Stow's Survey for general readers?
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Chapter 1 · Answer
The introduction states that the book's great charm lies in the personal touches revealing changes and incidents from Stow's own experience, such as the boy paying a halfpenny for three pints of milk, and Thomas Cromwell staking out part of Stow's father's garden in Throgmorton Street. This mixture of personal remembrance with careful examination of places gives the book special value.
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Section 14 cards
What does the introduction say is the main charm of Stow's Survey for general readers?
The introduction states that the book's great charm lies in the personal touches revealing changes and incidents from Stow's own experience, such as the boy paying a halfpenny for three pints of milk, and Thomas Cromwell staking out part of Stow's father's garden in Throgmorton Street. This mixture of personal remembrance with careful examination of places gives the book special value.
Chapter 1
What was Stow's first literary work, and what chronicles did he later publish?
Stow's first literary work was the 1561 edition of Chaucer's works; he later helped his friend Speght with notes for Speght's 1597 Chaucer edition. He then published A Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles in 1565, an abridged Summarie in 1566, The Chronicles of England in 1580, and The Annals of England first in 1592, with further editions in 1601 and 1605.
Chapter 1
Why does the introduction say successive editors have injured the unity of Stow's Survey?
The introduction explains that the Survey's fame as the first authority on London's history led successive editors to add their own words, which have often been quoted as if written by Stow himself, even though they refer to occurrences long after his death. The reader today therefore wants the original work as it left Stow's hands, allowing for changed spelling.
Chapter 1
What happened when Stow was brought before authorities over the Alva manifesto?
In early 1569 Stow was brought before the Lord Mayor for possessing a copy of the Spanish Ambassador's manifesto on behalf of the Duke of Alva, but he seems to have cleared himself. The matter also came before the Merchant Taylors' Company. The Queen's Council then had his house searched, and the Bishop of London sent Cecil a catalogue of Stow's allegedly unlawful books, but nothing came of it.
Chapter 1
Section 24 cards
What did James I grant Stow in 1604, and what was the result?
Letters patent dated 8 March 1604 authorised Stow and his deputies to collect the "voluntary contribution and kind gratuities" of the king's subjects. The chapter says this authority brought little money to his wasted coffers, calling it a pitiful reward for a lifetime of well-directed labours.
Chapter 2
How does Howes describe Stow's appearance and habits?
Howes calls him tall and lean, with small crystalline eyes, a pleasant cheerful countenance, good sight and memory, and sober, mild, courteous to any who sought instruction. He retained all his senses to death, always protested he wrote nothing for malice, fear, or favour, and travelled on foot to cathedral churches and chief places to search records.
Chapter 2
Why is Stow commended for printing Fitzstephen's Descriptio?
Stow printed it as an appendix to his Survey; it originally introduced Fitzstephen's Life of Becket. The chapter calls it a remarkable relic, unique as a vivid description of twelfth-century London, though the author probably exaggerates the city's beauties. It is especially valuable for the sports of citizens, including early notice of skating on Moorfields in winter.
Chapter 2
What does the chapter note about 'King Henry the Third' in Fitzstephen?
It clarifies that the Henry III mentioned at the close of Fitzstephen's account is not the king usually known by that name, but Henry, second son of Henry II. This prince was crowned during his father's lifetime but died in 1182, seven years before his father. Matthew Paris also speaks of him as Henry III.
Chapter 2
Section 34 cards
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, who founded London and under what name?
Geoffrey of Monmouth, the Welsh historian, derives London's founding from Brute, lineally descended from the demi-god Aeneas, son of Venus. About the year of the world 2855, and 1108 before Christ, Brute built the city near the river now called Thames and named it Troynovant, or Trenovant. Stow notes that Geoffrey did this for the greater glory of London and emulation of Rome.
Chapter 3
How did King Lud change London, and what was named after him?
Geoffrey of Monmouth notes that King Lud repaired the city and increased it with fair buildings, towers, and walls. He then called it Caire-Lud, meaning Lud's town, after his own name. The strong gate he built in the west part of the city he likewise named Ludgate for his own honour. Lud left two sons, Androgeus and Theomantius, both under age at his death.
Chapter 3
What did Caesar's Commentaries say about British 'towns' before the Romans?
Caesar writes that the Britons call that a town when they have fortified a cumbersome wood with a ditch and rampart, and thither they resort to await their enemies. Stow adds that Strabo, Pomponius Mela, and Dion affirm the Britons had no towns before the Romans arrived, and that Irishmen then called such a place a Fastness.
Chapter 3
Who first named London 'Londinum' and what did he report about it?
Tacitus is the first author to name the city Londinum. He says that in the 62nd year after Christ, although no colony of the Romans, it was most famous for the great multitude of merchants, provision, and intercourse. In that same period, during the notable revolt of the Britons from Nero, London with Verulam and Maldon were ransacked and spoiled.
Chapter 3
Section 44 cards
According to Simeon of Durham, who first walled London and when?
Simeon of Durham reports that Helen, mother of Constantine the Great, was the first to inwall London, about the year of Christ 306. Stow notes that the Britons had no skill in building with stone, which casts doubt on whether Helen's walls were actually of stone.
Chapter 4
Why did the Britons build their first wall of turf instead of stone?
After a Roman legion drove off the Scots and Picts, the Romans advised the Britons to build a wall between the two seas. The Britons, lacking masons, built it of turf rather than stone, and so slenderly that it served little for defence. When the enemy saw the legion had gone home, they invaded again.
Chapter 4
What dimensions and course does Stow give for the Roman-built stone wall?
The Romans built a wall of hard stone from the west sea to the east sea, in the same place where Severus had cast his trench, with the Britons helping as labourers. It was eight feet thick and twelve feet high, running straight east to west, with bulwarks along the south sea-side where their ships lay. This was about the year 434.
Chapter 4
How did London's wall come to be repaired using material from Jewish houses in 1215?
In 1215, the 16th of King John, the barons entered the city by Aldgate, took assurance of the citizens, broke into the Jews' houses and searched their coffers, then repaired the walls and gates with stone taken from the Jews' broken houses. Stow also records later repairs under Henry III and Edward I.
Chapter 4
Section 54 cards
What four waters served London besides the Thames before the Conquest?
The chapter names the river of Wells on the west, Walbrooke running through the midst of the city into the Thames, and a fourth bourn running through Langborne ward in the east. In the west suburbs was also Oldborne, which fell into the river of Wells. These, with the Thames on the south, watered the city until the Conqueror's time and two hundred years after.
Chapter 5
Why did Henry Lacy complain about the water course in 1307?
At the Carlisle parliament of 1307 (35 Edward I), Henry Lacy, earl of Lincoln, complained that the course running under Oldborne and Fleete bridges had once been deep enough for ten or twelve ships at once. It had decayed through filth from tanners, raised wharfs, and especially the new Temple's diversion of water for mills in King John's first year. He asked that the mayor and aldermen view and restore it.
Chapter 5
What happened to Walbrooke's visible course over time?
Walbrooke entered the wall between Bishopsgate and Moorgate and ran south through the city into the Thames, crossed by divers bridges. Records show the prior of Holy Trinity and the prior of St. Mary Spittle owed bridge repairs, and in 1300 the parish of St. Stephen upon Walbrooke was ordered to scour the brook. It was later vaulted over with brick, paved level with the streets, and houses built on it, so its course is now hidden underground.
Chapter 5
What does the chapter say about Clarkes' well and the parish clerks' plays?
Clarkes' well, or Clarkenwell, is curbed square with hard stone near the west end of Clarkenwell church, outside the enclosing wall. The church took its name from the well, and the well from the parish clerks of London, who of old assembled there yearly to play some large history of Holy Scripture. In 1390 they played interludes at Skinners' well for three days before the king, queen, and nobles; in 1409 a play from the creation of the world lasted eight days.
Chapter 5
Section 64 cards
Why was Horsepoole in West Smithfield so named, and what became of it?
It was once a large water where inhabitants of that part of the city watered their horses, hence the name in old records. By Stow's time it was much decayed, its springs stopped up, and the remaining enclosed bottom, brick-walled, was called Smithfield pond.
Chapter 6
Why did Londoners seek water abroad, and who granted the Teyborne supply?
Stow says the city's fresh waters decayed through encroaching buildings and raised grounds while the citizenry greatly increased, forcing them to seek sweet waters abroad. At King Henry III's request, in the 21st year of his reign, Gilbert Sanforde granted the citizens and successors liberty to convey water from Teyborne by lead pipes.
Chapter 6
What did Stow record about the town ditch's original size and later state?
The ditch, begun by Londoners in 1211 and finished 1213 under King John, was made 200 feet broad and passed through the Holy Trinity canons' ground from the Tower to Bishopsgate. Stow laments it was later neglected, narrowed to a filthy channel or stopped up for gardens and houses, and he wishes reformation might be had.
Chapter 6
According to the ferryman legend, how did London Bridge originate?
Stow reports, on the authority of Bartholomew Linsted, last prior of St. Mary Overies, that a ferryman and his wife died leaving the ferry to their daughter Mary. She built a house of Sisters with her parents' goods and ferry profits; it later became a college of priests, who built a timber bridge, later replaced in stone with citizens' aid.
Chapter 6
Section 74 cards
According to Stow, who began the stone London Bridge and when was it finished?
Peter of Cole church, priest and chaplain, began founding the stone bridge about 1176, near the timber bridge but somewhat west. It took thirty-three years; Peter died in 1205 and was buried in the bridge chapel. The bridge was finished in 1209 by the merchants Serle Mercer, William Almaine, and Benedict Botewrite, principal masters of the work.
Chapter 7
What happened on London Bridge in 1212, and how many died?
On 10 July 1212, at night, Southwark and the church of Our Lady of the Canons burned. A great multitude crossed the bridge to quench or watch the fire; the north part was then set alight by the south wind, and the south end also fired, trapping people between flames. Many rushed into ships, which sank. About three thousand persons were destroyed by fire and shipwreck.
Chapter 7
How does Stow describe the finished stone London Bridge's structure?
Stow affirms it is a work very rare: with the drawbridge, twenty arches of squared stone, sixty feet high and thirty feet broad, twenty feet apart, joined with vaults and cellars. Houses stand on both sides, so it seems rather a continual street than a bridge. For defense against the river's assaults it has overseers and officers, namely wardens.
Chapter 7
What earlier disasters and repairs does Stow record for the timber London Bridge?
Stow cites Sweyn in 994, whose men drowned in the Thames for taking no heed of the bridge; Canute's trench in 1016; and a 1136 fire, beginning near London stone, that burnt the timber bridge, afterwards repaired. In 1163 Peter of Cole church newly made it of timber. Stow says he has proved the timber bridge maintained for 215 years before the stone bridge.
Chapter 7
Section 84 cards
According to Stow, who was responsible for maintaining bridges over Walbrooke?
Stow records that in old times every person having lands on either side of Walbrooke was required to cleanse the brook and repair the bridges so far as their lands extended. He adds that in the 11th of Edward III the inhabitants along the brook were forced to pile and wall its sides, and in the 2nd of Edward IV those with ground on either side were ordered to vault and pave it over.
Chapter 8
What happened to the postern by the Tower of London after 1440?
Stow says the south side of this gate was loosened by undermining and weakened, and after two hundred years and more it fell down in 1440, the 18th of Henry VI. It was never rebuilt by the citizens, whose negligence he criticizes; instead a weak wooden building was made there, inhabited by persons of lewd life, often presented but not reformed.
Chapter 8
How did the Londoners repair Aeldgate after entering the city in 1215?
Stow relates that in the civil wars between King John and his barons, the Londoners entered Aeldgate at night and spoiled the friars' houses. Robert Fitzwalter, Geffry Magnavile Earl of Essex, and the Earl of Glocester then repaired the gates and walls using stones from the Jews' broken houses. Aeldgate, then most ruinous and the source of their easy entry, was rebuilt after the Norman manner with Caen stone and Flanders tile.
Chapter 8
What does Stow say about the origin of Bishopsgate's name and purpose?
Stow supposes Bishopsgate was first built by some Bishop of London, though he admits it is unknown when or by whom. He states the first gate was built for ease of passengers traveling east and by north into Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire; before it existed, travelers had to go out at Aeldgate to the Mile's End or through Aeldersgate street and Alder street.
Chapter 8
Section 94 cards
Who was obligated to repair Bishopsgate, and why did the 1551 rebuilding stop?
Edward I's reign found that the Hanse merchants of the Guildhall of the Germans ought of right to repair Bishopsgate; Gerard Marbod and others granted 210 marks sterling and covenanted that they and their successors would repair it. They rebuilt it beautifully in 1479 under Edward IV, but about 1551 their liberties were seized into the king's hand through suit of English merchants, so the new gate was stayed and the old one remained.
Chapter 9
Why was Moregate postern built, and what did later mayors do to the ground there?
Thomas Falconer, mayor about 1415 (third of Henry V), broke the city wall near Coleman Street and built a postern on the moor side where no gate had been, for ease of citizens passing on causeways into the field for recreation. William Hampton re-edified it in 1472, and in 1511 Roger Acheley made dikes and bridges and levelled the ground; Stow notes the moorish ground would still be little the drier even if raised to the battlements.
Chapter 9
What does Stow say about the origin of the name Cripplegate?
Stow cites Abbo Floriacensis, Burchard, and John Lidgate that in 1010, when the Danes spoiled East Anglia, Bishop Alwyne brought King Edmund the Martyr's body to London in at Cripplegate, a place his author says was so called of cripples begging there, and that miracles were wrought as the body entered. He also notes Alfune built St. Giles near the gate, called Porta Contractorum, about 1099.
Chapter 9
Why was Newgate built, and what was its long-standing use?
Stow says Newgate was first erected about Henry I or Stephen because St. Paul's enlarged churchyard and wall crossed the old east-west street, forcing cumbersome detours; the new gate let men and cattle pass directly from Aldegate through West Cheap to points west and north. It served long as a gaol for felons and trespassers, as records from King John's reign show; in 1218 Henry III ordered sheriffs to repair it.
Chapter 9
Section 104 cards
Who conveyed the waste water at the cistern near St. Nicholas's chapel to Newgate and Ludgate, and why?
Thomas Knowles, grocer and sometime mayor of London, conveyed the waste water at the cistern near the common fountain and chapel of St. Nicholas, by the hospital of St. Bartholomew, to the gaols of Newgate and Ludgate for the relief of the prisoners. He did so by license of Reynold, prior of St. Bartholomew's in Smithfield, and of John Wakering, master of the hospital, and his brethren.
Chapter 10
What ordinance did Dame Agnes Forster establish in 1463 for Ludgate prison?
In 1463, the third of Edward IV, Mathew Philip being mayor, a common council at the request of Dame Agnes Forster, widow of Stephen Forster, fishmonger and sometime mayor, established articles for the comfort of poor prisoners. The chief article ordained that her new works enlarging Ludgate prison be taken as part and parcel of the prison, so old and new work be one prison, gaol keeping, and charge for evermore.
Chapter 10
What did the 1382 common council ordinance decide about Ludgate and Newgate prisoners?
The ordinance, confirmed in 1382 under mayor John Northampton by a common council at the Guildhall, ordained that all freemen of the city should be imprisoned in Ludgate for debt, trespasses, accounts, and contempts, while those committed for treasons, felonies, and other criminal offences should go to Newgate. Ludgate had first been made a free prison in 1378, the first of Richard II, Nicholas Brembar being mayor.
Chapter 10
What Hebrew inscription was found in Ludgate's wall when the gate was taken down in 1586?
When Ludgate was taken down in 1586 to be newly built, a stone from one of the Jews' houses was found couched within the wall, engraved in Hebrew characters: 'Haec est statio Rabbi Mosis, filii insignis Rabbi Isaac,' meaning this is the station or ward of Rabbi Moyses, son of the honourable Rabbi Isaac. It had been fixed on a Jewish house front as a sign of residence.
Chapter 10
Section 114 cards
Who does Stow say built the Tower of London, and when?
Stow rejects the common opinion that Julius Caesar founded the Tower, noting Caesar did not stay long enough and Roman writers mention no such buildings. Instead he cites Edmond de Hadenham's register of the Bishops of Rochester, which records that William I (the Conqueror) built the great white square tower about 1078, appointing Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, as principal surveyor, lodged in the house of Edmere, a London burgess.
Chapter 11
What happened to Bridge Gate in 1436 and how was it repaired?
Stow records that in 1436 the gate, with the tower upon it, fell down, and two of the farthest arches southwards fell with it, yet no man perished or was hurt. Wealthy citizens gave large sums toward repair: Robert Large, sometime mayor, gave one hundred marks; Stephen Forster twenty pounds; Sir John Crosbye, alderman, one hundred pounds. Later, in 1471, Kentish mariners under bastard Fauconbridge burned the gate and thirteen houses on the bridge.
Chapter 11
Why does Stow doubt that Belin built Bellinsgate?
Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote that Belin, a British king about four hundred years before Christ, built the gate and named it after himself, his burnt ashes placed in a brass vessel on a stone pinnacle over it. Stow finds this unconvincing, citing Caesar and other Roman writers on cities, walls and gates, and argues the name more likely came from a later owner called Beling or Biling, as Somar's key and Smart's key took names from owners.
Chapter 11
Why did Henry III order London's gates repaired and kept at night in 1258?
Stow states that in 1258, the 42nd year of Henry III's reign, it was appointed that the ports of England should be strongly kept and that the gates of London should be newly repaired and diligently kept in the night, for fear of French deceits. He quotes verses saying the gates of London are closed by night lest French treachery break through the walls.
Chapter 11
Section 124 cards
Why did Henry III build the stone gate and bulwark by the Tower, according to Matthew Paris?
Matthew Paris reports that the citizens feared the works were to their detriment, and the king replied he meant no hurt but would henceforth do as his brother did in building castles. The author then says the citizens were told the wall and bulwarks were built so that any who contended for the city's liberties might be imprisoned, with many lodgings made so prisoners could not speak with one another.
Chapter 12
What happened to Henry III's new wall and bulwarks by the Tower in 1239 and 1247?
Matthew Paris writes that in the next year after 1239 the stone gate and bulwark on the west side of the Tower were shaken as if by an earthquake and fell down; the king had them rebuilt better. Then in 1247 the newly built wall and bulwarks, on which he had spent more than twelve thousand marks, were irrecoverably thrown down again, and the citizens of London were nothing sorry.
Chapter 12
How did lions and other exotic beasts come to be kept at the Tower's Lion Tower?
The author traces the origin to Henry I, who walled a seven-mile park at Woodstock, the first park in England, destroying villages, churches and chapels, and placed there strange beasts brought from far countries, including lions, leopards, linces and porpentines. In 1235 Emperor Frederick sent Henry III three leopards in token of his shield of arms; since then lions and others were kept in part of the bulwark called the Lion Tower, with keepers lodged there.
Chapter 12
What accidents and escapes does the chapter record at the Tower, such as Griffith and Roger Mortimer?
In 1244 Griffith, eldest son of Leoline, Prince of Wales, prisoner in the Tower, made a line of hangings and sheets and lowered himself from the top, but being a very big and fat man the rope broke and he fell and broke his neck. In 1321 Roger Mortimer of Wigmore escaped by giving his keepers a sleepy drink, while his uncle Roger remained and died about five years after.
Chapter 12
Section 133 cards
What was the first gold coinage in England, and who ordered it?
Edward III in 1344, in the 18th year of his reign, commanded florences of gold to be coined in the Tower: a penny worth five shillings and eight pence, a halfpenny worth three shillings and four pence, and a farthing worth twenty pence. Percevall de Port of Lake was master of the coin. Stow states this was the first coinage of gold in the Tower and in England.
Chapter 13
How did Henry I make halfpence and farthings possible?
In the 8th year of his reign, Henry I ordained that the round penny be quartered by the cross, so that it might easily be broken into halfpence and farthings. Stow notes that halfpence and farthings were later made only in the Exchange at London, first appointed by Edward I in his 8th year, and that Edward also coined some few silver groats, which were not usual.
Chapter 13
According to Stow, where does the name 'easterling' come from?
Stow argues the easterling pence took their name from the Easterlings who first made this money in England in the reign of Henry II, just as the gold florin is named for the Florentines who worked it. He rejects late writers' guesses that the name came from a star stamped on the penny's border, a bird called a star or starling, or the town of Strivelin in Scotland.
Chapter 13
Section 144 cards
What did Henry VIII's 1544 base coins look like, and what were they actually made of?
In 1544 Henry VIII caused base coins of twelve, six, four, two pence and a penny to be struck, of the same weight as late sterling and showing good silver outwardly, but inwardly copper. They bore whole or broad faces and stayed current at that rate until Edward VI called them down in 1549, first to nine pence and then to six pence.
Chapter 14
How did England's base money affect old sterling coins and prices, according to Stow?
Stow reports that base money caused old sterling coins to be hoarded up, so that he saw twenty-one shillings current paid for one old angel to gild with. He also states that rents of lands and tenements, along with prices of victuals, were raised far beyond former rates and were hardly brought down since.
Chapter 14
What does Stow conclude about leather money in England?
Stow says that although many people have fondly talked of leather money, he finds no such matter in England. He does read that King John of France, taken prisoner by Edward the Black Prince at Poictiers, paid a ransom of three million florences, reducing the realm to poverty so that years later they used leather money with a little silver stud or nail in the middle.
Chapter 14
What happened to William Foxley, the Tower potmaker, in 1546?
On Tuesday in Easter week 1546, William Foxley, potmaker for the Mint in the Tower, fell asleep and could not be woken by pricking, cramping, or burning for fourteen days and fifteen nights or more. The king's physicians and learned men, and the king himself, examined him; he woke as if he had slept one night, lived over forty years, and died in 1587.
Chapter 14
Section 154 cards
Why did discord arise between King John and his barons around 1213?
The chapter states that discord arose because King John unlawfully loved Matilda the Fair, daughter of Robert Fitzwater, but could not obtain her, and her father would not consent. Along with other like causes, this led to war through the whole realm. The barons were received into London and greatly damaged the king, who eventually banished Fitzwater and had his castle Baynard and other houses spoiled.
Chapter 15
How did Robert Fitzwater regain King John's favour in 1214?
During a truce between England and France, an English knight challenged the French side to joust. Fitzwater, on the French part, ferried over and unhorsed the challenger at the first course. King John, watching, swore 'By God's tooth' that he were a king indeed who had such a knight. Fitzwater's friends revealed his identity, and the next day he was sent for, restored to favour, and peace was concluded.
Chapter 15
What rights did Robert Fitzwalter hold in London in time of war?
As chief bannerer of London by fee of the chastilarie, he came as the twentieth man of arms to St. Paul's great west door with his banner displayed. The mayor, aldermen, and sheriffs came out on foot with the banner of St. Paul, and Fitzwalter saluted the mayor and received the banner. He then bore it on foot, received a horse worth twenty pounds and twenty pounds sterling, and led the host under St. Paul's banner to Aldgate.
Chapter 15
What happened at Baynard's Castle regarding the Earl of March in 1460?
The Earls of March and Warwick entered London and were joyously received by the citizens. On 3 March, the earl mustered his people in St. John's field, where articles against King Henry were proclaimed and the people cried that Henry was not worthy to reign and chose the Earl of March as king. The earl was lodged at Baynard's Castle when the captains brought him report of his election.
Chapter 15
Section 164 cards
How did Richard, Duke of Gloucester, come to take the title of the realm?
According to Stow, after Edward IV died leaving two infant sons, Edward and Richard, Richard Duke of Gloucester was elected by the nobles and commons in the Guildhall of London and took the title of the realm at Baynard's Castle, as recorded by Sir Thomas More and set down in Stow's Annals.
Chapter 16
What did Henry VII do to Baynard's Castle around 1501?
In about 1501, the 16th year of his reign, Henry VII repaired or rather newly built the house, not embattled or strongly fortified castle-like, but far more beautiful and commodious for entertaining any prince or great estate. Stow records later lodgings there, including ambassadors and the king of Castile.
Chapter 16
How was Lady Mary proclaimed queen in July 1553, and where did the council assemble?
On 19 July 1553 the council, partly moved by the right of Lady Mary's cause and partly because most of the realm favored her, changed from Lady Jane and assembled at Baynard's Castle. There they communed with the Earls of Pembroke and Shrewsbury and Sir John Mason, sent for the lord mayor, and rode into Cheap where Garter King at Arms proclaimed Mary queen.
Chapter 16
What was the Barbican tower originally used for, and what happened to it?
The Barbican, or Burhkenning, on high ground northwest of the city, was in old times a watch-tower from which one could view the whole city southward and into Kent, Sussex, and Surrey. Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, repaired and built such towers while the barons held the city against Henry III, but after reconciliation in 1267 he had them pulled down and ditches filled.
Chapter 16
Section 174 cards
According to Fitzstephen, what schools existed in London under Stephen and Henry II?
Fitzstephen says London had three principal churches with famous schools, held either by privilege and ancient dignity or by favour of notable doctors in philosophy, plus other inferior schools. On festival days masters met in churches where scholars disputed logically, some offering enthymemes, others perfect syllogisms, some for show and others to find truth; boys of different schools capped verses and contended over grammar.
Chapter 17
What did Henry VI do about London grammar schools in his reign?
Stow records that Henry VI, in the 24th year of his reign, by patent appointed grammar schools in London besides St. Paul's: at St. Martin's le Grand, St. Mary le Bow in Cheap, St. Dunstan's in the west, and St. Anthony's. The next year, 1447, he ordained by parliament that four more grammar schools be erected, in St. Andrew's in Oldborne, Allhallowes the Great in Thames street, St. Peter's upon Cornhill, and St. Thomas of Acons hospital in West Cheap.
Chapter 17
What annual schoolboy disputation did Stow witness at St. Bartholomew's?
Stow says he himself in his youth yearly saw, on the eve of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, scholars of divers grammar schools repair to the churchyard of St. Bartholomew priory in Smithfield. On a bank boarded about under a tree, one scholar opposed and answered until overcome by a better scholar, who took his place; the best opposers won rewards. Stow observed this made good schoolmasters and scholars prepare diligently.
Chapter 17
What did Sir Thomas Gresham's will provide for public lectures in London?
Stow says Sir Thomas Gresham, by will made in 1579, gave the Royal Exchange and its buildings, one moiety to the mayor and commonalty of London and the other to the mercers. The city was to fund four readers in divinity, astronomy, music, and geometry at fifty pounds each; the mercers three readers in civil law, physic, and rhetoric at fifty pounds each. Confirmed by parliament, it took effect after Lady Anne Gresham's death in 1596.
Chapter 17
Section 184 cards
How many houses of law students existed in Stow's day, and how were they divided?
Stow records fourteen houses in all: nine within the liberties of the city and five in the suburbs. The nine within include the two Serjeants' inns, the Inner and Middle Temple (houses of court), and five houses of Chancery in Oldborne and Fleet Street. The five without include Gray's inn and Lincoln's inn (houses of court) plus Clement's, New, and Lion's inns of Chancery near Temple bar.
Chapter 18
What was the path from inn of Chancery to utter barrister?
Students at inns of Chancery learned the first elements of law and performed exercises called Boltas Mootes and putting of cases. They were then admitted to one of the four inns of court, where they spent about seven years attending readings, meetings, and boltings. Approved for honest conversation, they were selected by the benchers or by the present reader's privilege and called to the degree of utter barrister.
Chapter 18
How were readers and sergeants chosen from the benchers and barristers?
Each year two benchers from every inn of court were chosen as readers, reading in Lent and at the beginning of August. Inns of Chancery also chose a reader from each inn of court — an utter barrister of ten or twelve years' standing. Utter barristers of fourteen or fifteen years' continuance could be elected to the bench, become single then double readers, and be named apprentices at the law, from whom sergeants and judges were ordinarily filled.
Chapter 18
What did Fitzstephen name as the only plagues of London, and what did he praise?
Fitzstephen says the only plagues of London are immoderate quaffing among the foolish sort and frequent casualties by fire. He praises the city's customs: frequenting churches, serving God, keeping holy days, giving alms, entertaining strangers, solemnising marriages, furnishing banquets, and burying the dead. He also describes Cook's row by the river, where rich and poor could buy roast, sod, or fried food at any hour.
Chapter 18
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What two plagues of London does Fitzstephen name, and how does Stow update them?
Fitzstephen names immoderate quaffing among fools and frequent casualties by fire. Stow says drinking continues or has increased, though limited among the poor by necessity since ale and beer are scarce and wine too costly. For fire, he notes houses were timber and thatch until 1189, when Mayor Henry Fitzalwine ordered stone building to a certain height and slate or baked tile roofs.
Chapter 19
What did Andrew Bokerell grant the merchants of Amiens, Nele, and Corby in 1236?
In 1236, with Mayor Andrew Bokerell and by assent of principal citizens, those merchants purchased letters sealed with the city's common seal allowing them to harbour their woad in the city. In return they were to give the mayor fifty marks sterling yearly, and that same year they gave one hundred pounds toward conveying water from Tyborn to the city.
Chapter 19
How does Stow describe the coachman and drayman, and which old rules go unobserved?
Stow says the coachman rides behind the horse tails, lashes them, and looks not behind him, while the drayman sits and sleeps on his dray and lets his horse lead him home. He notes city law forbids shod carts except for reasonable cause such as the prince's service, and requires the fore horse of every carriage to be led by hand, but these good orders are not observed.
Chapter 19
What does Stow say about the introduction of coaches and side-saddles to England?
Stow says coaches were not known of old in the island; only chariots or whirlicotes were used, and only by princes or great estates. He reads that Richard II, threatened by Kentish rebels, rode to Mile End with his sick mother in a whirlicote. The next year Richard married Anne of Bohemia, who first brought riding on side-saddles, after which whirlicotes were forsaken except at coronations; coaches later came from Germany and became common.
Chapter 19
Section 204 cards
What did an inquisition find Hugh Spencer the elder possessed across various shires?
The inquisition found Spencer held fifty-nine manors, twenty-eight thousand sheep, one thousand oxen and steers, one thousand two hundred kine with calves, forty mares with colts, one hundred and sixty drawing horses, two thousand hogs, three hundred bullocks, forty tuns of wine, six hundred bacons, eighty carcasses of Martilmasse beef, six hundred muttons in larder, ten tuns of cider, plus armour, plate, jewels and ready money worth better than £10,000, thirty-six sacks of wool, and a library of books.
Chapter 20
How did Richard Nevill, Earl of Warwick, provision his London house in Henry VI's reign?
Warwick came with six hundred men all in red jackets embroidered with ragged staves before and behind, and lodged in Warwick Lane. The author records that six oxen were often eaten at a breakfast in his house, every tavern was full of his meat, and anyone acquainted there could take as much sodden and roast meat as he could prick and carry on a long dagger.
Chapter 20
What charitable giving did Robert Winchelsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, perform around 1293?
Besides daily fragments from his house, Winchelsey gave every Friday and Sunday to every beggar at his gate a loaf sufficient for that day, usually to five thousand in time of dearth and otherwise four thousand at least. On great festival days he gave one hundred and fifty pence to as many poor people, sent daily meat, bread and drink to the aged or sick, and sent meat, money and apparel to those he thought needed it.
Chapter 20
What did Henry III command regarding poor children at Windsor after Epiphany?
Henry III ordered Hugh Gifford and William Browne to feed in the great hall at Windsor, at a good fire, all the poor and needy children that could be found, on the Friday after Epiphany. The king's own children were to be weighed and measured, and their weight and measure distributed for their good estates.
Chapter 20
Section 214 cards
According to Fitzstephen, what sports did London schoolboys engage in on Shrove Tuesday?
Fitzstephen says that on Shrove Tuesday schoolboys brought game cocks to their master and spent the forenoon cock-fighting; after dinner the youths went into the fields to play at the ball. He frames this as beginning with children's sports, since all have been children.
Chapter 21
How did the Easter water jousting contest work, and what happened to a rider who failed?
A shield was hung on a pole midstream; a boat without oars drifted with the tide, carrying a young man who charged the shield with his lance. Breaking the lance without falling was deemed worthy; if he struck the shield without breaking the lance, he fell into the water, and two boats on either side recovered him while crowds watched and laughed.
Chapter 21
What happened in 1253 when royal servants joined the citizens' quinten game?
The youthful citizens set up a quinten game with a peacock as prize. Certain of the king's servants, the court then at Westminster, came as if in spite and gave reproachful names to the Londoners, called barons by ancient privilege. The Londoners, unable to bear it, beat them shrewdly, and on complaint the king fined the citizens a thousand marks.
Chapter 21
What does Stow say about the suppression of open pastimes in his youth, and what did he fear resulted?
Stow says the youths used to practice wasters and bucklers at their masters' doors after evening prayer, and maidens danced for garlands in the streets. He states these open pastimes in his youth were now suppressed, and he fears worse practices within doors as a result. The author argues this, contrasting it with continued bull and bear baiting.
Chapter 21
Section 224 cards
Who kept lords of misrule, and for what period did their rule last?
The king's house had a lord of misrule wherever he lodged, and every nobleman of honour or worship, spiritual or temporal, had one. The mayor of London and each sheriff had their own, competing to make the rarest pastimes. Their rule began on Allhallows Eve and continued until the morrow after the Feast of the Purification, called Candlemas day.
Chapter 22
What happened to the great shaft in Cornhill, and why?
The great shaft was a principal May-pole in Cornhill before the parish church of St. Andrew, therefore called Undershaft. The author says that because of an insurrection of youths against aliens on May-day 1517, the 9th of Henry VIII., the great Mayings and May-games made by the city's governors have not been so freely used as before.
Chapter 22
What did Henry III command in 1253 regarding watches and robbery?
Henry III commanded watches to be kept in cities and borough towns for better observing of peace and quietness among his people. By advice of them of Savoy, he also ordained that if a man was robbed or harmed by a thief, the official chiefly responsible for that place should competently restore the loss. The author notes this Savoy custom was thought harder to observe here.
Chapter 22
What were the June and July bonfires, and how did the author explain the name?
On vigils of festival days and the evenings of those days after sunset, bonfires were made in the streets, with every man contributing wood or labour. Wealthier people set out tables with sweet bread and drink, inviting neighbours and passengers. The author says they were called bonfires for the good amity among neighbours reconciled there, and for the virtue a great fire has to purge infection of the air.
Chapter 22
Section 234 cards
Why did Henry VIII forbid the Midsummer marching watch in 1539?
After the citizens staged a great muster at Mile's End on 8 May 1539, appearing in bright harness and white silk to some fifteen thousand men, King Henry considered the great charges the citizens had borne for that unusual muster and forbade the marching watch for that year. Once laid down, it was not raised again until 1548, under Mayor Sir John Gresham.
Chapter 23
How did John Stow describe the decline of archery among London citizens?
Stow laments that the ancient daily exercises in the long bow were almost clean left off and forsaken. He attributes this to the closing in of common grounds, so that archers, lacking room to shoot abroad, crept into bowling alleys and ordinary dicing houses nearer home, where they had room enough to hazard their money at unlawful games.
Chapter 23
What did the 1585 book dedicated to Lord Mayor Pullison argue about the marching watch?
The book, drawn by a grave citizen and dedicated to Sir Thomas Pullison and the aldermen, set out the order of a marching watch and commended it for peacetime use. The author argues it set artificers to work, charged only rich men while helping poor men, and kept old soldiers, trumpeters, drummers, fifes, and ensign-bearers in use, so armour and weapons stayed ready for any need.
Chapter 23
What charitable and civic works does Stow credit to London's citizens and mayors?
Stow lists many: an ancient hospital of St. James in the fields for leprous women; Walter Brune's St. Mary Spittle, which held nine score furnished beds at its surrender; Simon Fitzmary's Bethlem; William Elsing's spittle for a hundred poor blind men; and John Lofken's Magdalen's hospital at Kingston. Henry Wallice built the Tun as a prison for night-walkers and the Stocks market, with profits to London Bridge.
Chapter 23
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What did Adam Bamme do to relieve the city during a great dearth?
Adam Bamme, goldsmith and mayor in 1391, procured corn from parts beyond the seas in such abundance that it sufficed to serve the city and the countries near adjoining. To further this work he took two thousand marks out of the orphans' chest in the Guildhall to buy the corn, and each alderman laid out twenty pounds for the same purpose.
Chapter 24
What charitable works did Richard Whittington's executors fund with his goods?
Richard Whittington, mercer and three times mayor, began the grey friars' library in 1421 at a charge of four hundred pounds. His executors founded and built Whittington college with alms houses for thirteen poor men and divinity lectures to be read there forever; they repaired St. Bartholomew's hospital in Smithfield, bore charges for glazing and paving the Guildhall and half the cost of its library, and built the west gate of London, old Newgate.
Chapter 24
What did John Collet establish at Paul's churchyard in 1512?
John Collet, a citizen of London by birth, dean of Paul's and doctor of divinity, erected one free school in Paul's churchyard in 1512 for three hundred and fifty-three poor men's children to be taught free. He appointed a master, a surmaster, and a chaplain with sufficient stipends to endure forever, and committed oversight to the mercers because his father Henry Collet was a mercer and mayor; he endowed the mercers with lands worth one hundred and twenty pounds yearly or better.
Chapter 24
What did John Carpenter, town-clerk, provide for the city?
John Carpenter, town-clerk of London in the reign of Henry V, caused with great expense a monument of Death leading all estates, with the speeches of Death and answer of every state, to be curiously painted upon board about the north cloister of Paul's; that cloister was pulled down in 1549. He also gave tenements to the city for finding and bringing up four poor men's children with meat, drink, apparel, and learning at the schools and universities until they be preferred, then others in their places forever.
Chapter 24
Section 254 cards
What did John Fuller's 1592 testament provide for poor prisoners in London?
John Fuller, a judge in the sheriffs' court, directed by his 1592 testament that his messuages, lands, and tenements in the parishes of St. Benet and St. Peter by Powle's wharf be held by feoffees in trust, with all yearly profits forever disbursed to relieve and discharge poor prisoners in the Hole or the two penny wards of the two compters in London, in equal portions to each compter, provided no prisoner receive more than twenty-six shillings and eight pence at any one time.
Chapter 25
What did Avise Gibson found at Radclyffe, and who was left to govern it?
Avise Gibson, wife of Nicholas Gibson, grocer and sheriff in 1539, with her husband's license founded a free school at Radclyffe near London for sixty poor men's children, appointing a schoolmaster and usher with fifty pounds. She also built alms houses for fourteen poor aged persons, each receiving six shillings and eight pence quarterly forever. She left the government of both to the Coopers in London.
Chapter 25
How does Stow say citizens should handle charitable bequests, and why?
The author argues that citizens should make their own hands their executors and their eyes their overseers, because bequests left in trust to executors were often hardly or never performed. He cites the proverb that women be forgetful, children unkind, and executors covetous, taking what they find, and notes one merchant-taylor who, considering this proverb, established yearly payments to twelve poor aged merchant-taylors instead of trusting executors.
Chapter 25
How was London divided from north to south in old times, and what was the stream called?
The city was divided from north to south not by a highway but by a fair brook of sweet water running from the north fields through the wall and midst of the city into the Thames, a division still maintained. It was called Walbrooke, named for running through and from the wall of the city, not for Galus, a Roman captain supposedly slain by Asclepiodatus and thrown therein, as some fabled.
Chapter 25
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How did Walbrooke change from an open stream to a hidden channel?
The author explains that Walbrooke was once bridged over in various places for horses and men. Encroachment on its banks narrowed the channel and other nuisances were done to it, so by common consent it was arched over with brick and paved with stone level with the ground. It is now mostly built upon, so the eye cannot discern it and common people hardly know its trace.
Chapter 26
How did the number of London wards grow from twenty-four to twenty-six?
Fitzstephen records the city divided into wards; before and during Henry III there were twenty-four, thirteen east of Walbrooke and eleven west. In 1393, 17 Richard II, Faringdon ward was divided by act of parliament into Faringdon within and without, making twelve west and twenty-five total. In 1550 the citizens purchased Southwark's liberties and made it a ward, giving thirteen east, twelve west, one south, twenty-six total.
Chapter 26
How did Portsoken ward's governance change after the priory's surrender?
The prior of Holy Trinity, seised of the land and soke of Knighten Guild, was admitted as one of London's aldermen, sitting in court and riding with the mayor in scarlet or other livery until 1531. That year the priory was surrendered to Henry VIII, who gave it to Sir Thomas Audley, who pulled down the church. Since the dissolution, Portsoken has been governed by a temporal alderman elected by the citizens like other wards.
Chapter 26
Section 274 cards
Why was the New Abbey near East Smithfield founded by Edward III?
The author recounts that during the pestilence of 1348, John Corey obtained a toft near East Smithfield for burials, walled it, and a chapel was built. Edward III, who had vowed at sea to build a monastery if saved from drowning, then founded a Cistercian monastery there. It was surrendered in 1539 and later replaced by a victual storehouse and biscuit ovens for the queen's ships.
Chapter 27
What replaced the Minories nunnery after its surrender, and what was its value?
The abbey of nuns of St. Clare, called the Minories, was founded by Edmond, Earl of Lancaster, brother to Edward III, in 1293. It was valued at £418 8s. 5d. yearly and surrendered by Dame Elizabeth Salvage, the last abbess, to Henry VIII in 1539. In its place were built storehouses for armour and habiliments of war, with workhouses, and a small parish church called St. Trinities.
Chapter 27
How does Stow describe the decline of Hog lane and the city ditch?
Stow recalls that within forty years Hog lane had fair hedge rows of elm, bridges, and stiles giving citizens access to pleasant fields for walking and shooting. It was then made a continual building of garden-houses and cottages, with fields turned to garden-plots and bowling alleys. Likewise the old open ditch, once deep enough to drown horses and men, was inclosed, its banks let out, and filled so the wall was hidden.
Chapter 27
What charitable arrangement existed for the bed-rid poor on the street near Houndes ditch?
Stow remembers that devout citizens, especially on Fridays, walked that street to give alms to poor bed-rid people lying in windows open to the street, with clean linen and beads displayed to show they could only pray. Small two-story cottages with garden-plots were built for them by a prior of the Holy Trinity. Later, gunfounders surnamed Owens and others built there, and the poor were displaced by houses occupied by brokers and sellers of old apparel.
Chapter 27
Section 284 cards
What was Tower Hill used for by the city, and what dispute arose over it?
The city always kept a large timber scaffold and gallows on Tower Hill for executing traitors or transgressors delivered out of the Tower to the sheriffs of London. In the fifth year of Edward IV, the king's officers set up a gallows there at their own charge; the mayor and aldermen complained, and the king replied that Tower Hill was of the city's liberty and issued a proclamation denying the erection was by his command or a precedent against the city's franchises.
Chapter 28
What happened to the chapel and college at Allhallows Barking?
A fair chapel stood on the north side of the churchyard, founded by Richard I, confirmed and augmented by Edward I, and licensed by Edward IV so his cousin John, Earl of Worcester, could found a brotherhood there, endowed with the priory of Totingbecke and other properties. Richard III rebuilt and founded a college of priests in it. Chapel and college were suppressed and pulled down in 1548, 2nd of Edward VI; the ground became a garden-plot until Sir William Winter built a store-house there.
Chapter 28
Who were the 'galley men' of Mincheon lane and what coin did they use?
Strangers born of Genoa and those parts dwelt in Mincheon lane; they were commonly called galley men, as men who came up in galleys bringing wines and other merchandise, landed at Galley key in Thames street. They had a silver coin among themselves, halfpence of Genoa called Galley halfpence, forbidden in the 13th of Henry IV and again by parliament in the 4th of Henry V, with penalties of a thief's punishment for bringing them in and a hundred shillings for paying them.
Chapter 28
What did Jack Cade do at the house of Griste, and what did Sir John Champneis build?
At the west end of Tower street stood a fair house belonging to one Griste, who dwelt there in 1449; Jack Cade, captain of the Kentish rebels, was feasted there and, after dining, robbed his host of everything worth carrying away. Next was a house built by Angell Dune, later possessed by Sir John Champneis, alderman and mayor, who built there a high brick tower—the first the author ever heard of in a private man's house—but was punished with blindness some years before his death.
Chapter 28
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Why are there two Church lanes in Tower Street, and where do they lead?
Both lanes are named Church lanes because one runs down by the east end of St. Dunstan's church and the other by the west end. They meet on the south side of the church and churchyard, join into one, and run down to Thames Street as St. Dunstan's Hill. A further lane, Fowle lane, turns west from the west lane toward St. Marie Hill and lies mostly in Tower Street ward.
Chapter 29
What was Wool wharf built for, and what did the king grant John Churchman?
In the 6th of Richard II, John Churchman, grocer, newly built a house on the key called Wool wharf in Tower Street ward, parish of Allhallows Barking, to serve for tronage, or weighing of wools in the port of London. The king granted that during John's life the tronage be kept there, with easements for balances, weights, and a counting place for officers, and that the king pay him forty shillings yearly at St. Michael and Easter.
Chapter 29
What does Stow think of the great stone building near Galley key, and what do the common people say?
Stow notes the ruins of large stone buildings over against Galley key, Wool key, and the Custom house, whose builders are forgotten. The common people say Julius Caesar built them, as also the Tower, but Stow prefers another opinion: that it was lodging for the princes of Wales when they came to the city, hence the name Petty Wales, comparing Scotland and Britain street.
Chapter 29
How was the hall in Petty Wales built, and what does Stow conclude from its condition?
Stow says the hall's builders seem to have been shipwrights, not house carpenters: principal posts of main timber fixed deep in the ground without a groundsell, boarded close round with boards about an inch thick, each ledging over the other as in a ship, nailed with rough and clench nails, and the roof like a galley with the keel turned upwards. Seeing no worm or rottenness in board or timber, Stow judges it of no great antiquity.
Chapter 29
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Who founded the priory of the Holy Trinity, and what did she give it?
Queen Matilda, wife of Henry I, founded the priory of the Holy Trinity (Christ's Church) just inside Aldgate. She gave it the plot of Aldgate and its soke with all customs, plus twenty-five pounds of blankes from the city of Exeter, and arranged for the Dean and Chapter of Waltham to be compensated with a mill. Norman became its first prior in 1108.
Chapter 30
How did the priory of Christ's Church come to be surrendered to Henry VIII?
Henry VIII, intending to reward Sir Thomas Audley, sent for the prior, praised his hospitality, and promised him preferment. The prior then surrendered the whole priory to the king in July 1531, the 23rd year of Henry's reign. The canons were sent to other houses of the same order, and Henry gave the priory to Audley, newly knighted and later lord chancellor.
Chapter 30
Why is St. Andrew's church called 'Undershaft'?
St. Andrew Undershaft takes its name from a tall May-pole, or shaft, set up each May-day morning in the street before the church's south side, taller than the steeple. It was not raised again after the 'evil May-day' insurrection of 1517; it lay on iron hooks over doors in Shaft Alley for thirty-two years until, after a sermon, it was sawed apart and burned.
Chapter 30
What did Sir Thomas Audley do with the priory church after acquiring it?
Audley offered the great priory church with its ring of nine bells to the parishioners of St. Katherine Christ church in exchange for their small parish church, but they refused, fearing later consequences. He then offered the church to anyone who would demolish and remove it, but no one would. He finally bore the cost of demolition himself; most stones broke, and hard stone sold cheaply for paving.
Chapter 30
Section 313 cards
What did the bailiff say to Sir Stephen that led to his execution?
The bailiff recounted that Sir Stephen asked him, 'What news in the country?' He answered, 'Heavy news,' and explained that many men were up in Essex, but thanks be to God all was in good quiet about them. He swore this was all. Upon these words, Sir Stephen left the city to avoid reproach and was never heard of again. The author, John Stow, heard the prisoner's words because the execution took place on the pavement of his door.
Chapter 31
What was the Papey and who did it serve?
The Papey was a proper house in Aldgate ward that housed a fraternity or brotherhood of St. Charity and St. John Evangelist, founded in 1430 by William Oliver, William Barnabie, and John Stafford, chaplains in London. It served poor impotent priests (called 'papes' in some languages), with a master, two wardens, chaplains, and other brethren and sisters. Brethren who became lame or fell into poverty were relieved with chambers, bread, drink, and coal, and an old man and his wife served them. It was suppressed under Edward VI.
Chapter 31
What did Sir John Milborne found in Woodroffe lane?
Sir John Milborne, draper and sometime mayor, founded in 1521 certain proper alms houses, fourteen in number, built of brick and timber, adjoining the friars' church in Woodroffe lane towards Tower hill. He placed thirteen aged poor men and their wives, if they had wives, with rent-free dwellings and 2s. 4d. monthly forever; one had the gate house and 4s. monthly. He also appointed thirteen penny loaves weekly to two parishes and yearly loads of coal, securing the gift with twenty-three tenements and eighteen garden-plots.
Chapter 31
Section 324 cards
What was the manor of Blanch Apleton granted to foreign craftsmen in 3 Edward IV?
The chapter records that in the third year of Edward IV, all basket-makers, wire-drawers, and other foreigners were permitted to have shops in the manor of Blanch Apleton, and not elsewhere within the city or its suburbs. The manor stood at the north-east corner of Mart lane, and belonged to Sir Thomas Roos of Hamelake in the 7th of Richard II.
Chapter 32
Who built Leaden hall's granary, and what did his will require of the drapers?
The author records that Simon Eyre, an upholsterer turned draper, built the granary of squared stone in 1419. By his testament he gave three thousand marks to the drapers on condition they establish a master, five priests, six clerks, and two choristers to sing daily service in his chapel, plus grammar, writing, and song masters. The author says he could never learn whether this was performed.
Chapter 32
What happened to John Mutas's house on Evil May Day 1517?
The Green gate house passed by Henry VIII to John Mutas, a Picarde, who harboured many Frenchmen who calendered worsteds and acted contrary to the citizens' franchises. On Evil May Day in 1517, apprentices and others spoiled his house, and would have struck off Mutas's head had they found him. His son Sir Peter Mutas later sold the house to David Woodroffe.
Chapter 32
What did Richard Wethell build, and what happened to him afterward?
Richard Wethell, merchant-tailor, built a fair house with a high tower on the site of Lord Sowche's messuage — the second such tower, and first of timber, that the author learned was built to overlook neighbours in the city. The author says Wethell was soon so tormented by gout in his hands and legs that he could neither feed himself nor climb his tower.
Chapter 32
Section 334 cards
Who founded the Trinity fraternity in the chapel, and under what license?
In 1466, by license obtained of King Edward IV. in the sixth year of his reign, a fraternity of the Trinity of sixty priests, besides other brethren and sisters, was founded in the chapel by William Rouse, John Risbie, and Thomas Ashby, priests. Some of the sixty priests celebrated Divine service there every market-day forenoon for market-people who came to prayer, and all met once yearly for solemn service and procession.
Chapter 33
What did the 1503 commons' request ask regarding foreign merchants and Leaden Hall?
The commons requested that all Frenchmen bringing canvas, linen cloth and other wares, and all foreigners bringing wolsteds, sayes, staimus, coverings, nails, iron work, lead or other wares, bring them to the open market of Leaden Hall and nowhere else, on pain of forfeiture. Wares were to be shown three days a week—Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday—and the common beam kept there at reasonable rent to the chamber.
Chapter 33
How did Mayor Roger Achley respond to the 1512 wheat scarcity?
When Roger Achley became mayor in 1512, the third of Henry VIII., fewer than one hundred quarters of wheat were found in all the city garners. The scarcity caused such a press around the Stratford bread carts that men nearly destroyed one another for money's worth. The mayor soon made such provision of wheat that London and Stratford bakers were forced to take up more than they wished; he stored the rest in Leaden Hall and other garners, and kept the market diligently.
Chapter 33
Why did the 1519 petition oppose letting Leaden Hall to farm?
The petitioners argued Leaden Hall was the most convenient place to assemble the commons to suppress misruled people, and the proper store for the city's artillery, guns and armour, and timber for repairs. It was also the fitting site for triumphs, for doles to the poor, and for market people to stand dry in wet weather, per the founder's will. Letting it to another body politic might cause discord, so it should stay in the city's hands.
Chapter 33
Section 341 cards
How does Stow argue St. Augustine Papey belonged to Lime Street ward?
Stow cites a London chamber lease describing ground near London wall in Lime Street ward, tenants who bore scot and lot and office there, and a Guildhall-enrolled grant of 1464 (6 Edward IV) to the Papey fraternity naming the chapel as in Lime Street ward. He says Sir Thomas Offley dropped his challenge after seeing a Holy Trinity priory ledger, but Sir Rowland Heyward yielded to Bishopsgate's 1579 claim without reason shown.
Chapter 34
Section 354 cards
Who founded the hospital of St. Mary of Bethelem and in what year?
Simon Fitz Mary, one of the sheriffs of London, founded it in 1246, intending it as a priory of canons with brethren and sisters. King Edward III later granted a protection to the brethren, Miliciæ beatæ Mariæ de Bethlem, in the 14th year of his reign. It served as a hospital for distracted people, and in 1546 the mayor and commonalty purchased the patronage while Henry VIII gave the hospital to the city.
Chapter 35
What was Fisher's Folly and why was it mockingly named?
It was a very large and beautiful house with gardens of pleasure and bowling alleys, built by Jasper Fisher, a goldsmith and former clerk of the chancery. Because it was so large and sumptuous for a man of no greater calling, possessions, or wealth—and who was indebted to many—it was mockingly called Fisher's Folly, and a rhyme was made about it alongside Kirkebyes Castell and others.
Chapter 35
What did digging in Spittle field around 1576 reveal about Roman burial customs?
Breaking up the field for clay to make brick uncovered many earthen pots, called urnæ, full of ashes and burnt bones of men—Romans who had inhabited there. Each pot held a piece of copper money inscribed with the reigning emperor, such as Claudius, Vespasian, Nero, Antoninus Pius, or Trajan. Stow explains the Romans burned their dead, placed the ashes in urns, and buried them with ceremonies in a field near their city.
Chapter 35
What Easter preaching custom does Stow describe at St. Mary Spittle and Paul's Cross?
Stow notes a long-standing custom: on Good Friday afternoon a learned man preached at Paul's Cross on Christ's Passion, and on Easter Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday others preached at the Spittle on the Resurrection. On Low Sunday another at Paul's Cross reviewed those four sermons, then gave his own. The mayor and aldermen attended in violets on Good Friday and scarlets in the holidays.
Chapter 35
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What happened to the parish clerks' hall after their brotherhood was suppressed under Edward VI?
The hall and buildings were granted to Sir Robert Chester of Cambridgeshire. When the parish clerks sued in Queen Mary's reign and seemed likely to win, Chester pulled down the hall and sold the timber, stone, and lead, ending the suit. The almshouses remained in the queen's hands, occupied by people who could make the best friends.
Chapter 36
Who founded St. Helen's priory, and what became of it after surrender?
William Basing, dean of Paul's, was the first founder and was buried there; William Basing, a sheriff of London in Edward II's second year, was held also to be a founder or helper. Valued at £314 2s. 6d., the priory was surrendered 25 November in the 30th of Henry VIII. The partition between nuns' and parish church was taken down, leaving a fair parish church lacking the steeple Sir Thomas Gresham promised.
Chapter 36
How did Sir John Crosby acquire the site and what were the terms?
Alice Ashfed, prioress of St. Helen's, and the convent let certain tenements to Crosby for ninety-nine years, from 1466 to 1565, at an annual rent of £11 6s. 8d. He built Crosby Place of stone and timber, very large and beautiful and the highest in London at that time. He was sheriff and alderman in 1470, knighted by Edward IV in 1471, and died in 1475.
Chapter 36
Who lodged at Crosby Place, and what later uses did the house see?
Richard, Duke of Gloucester and lord protector, afterward Richard III, was lodged there. Later residents included Anthonie Bonvice, a rich Italian merchant, then Germain Cioll, then William Bond, alderman, who added a turret on top. Divers ambassadors lodged there, including Henry Ramelius, chancellor of Denmark, in 1586. Sir John Spencer, alderman, lately purchased it, made great reparations, kept his mayoralty there, and built a large warehouse nearby.
Chapter 36
Section 374 cards
What happened to the footway that once ran through the garden near Allhallows?
The chapter states that a fair footway once led through the garden (then in divers parts, now united) from the west end of the Augustine friars church north toward Moregate, with gates at either end locked every night. The way was later taken into the gardens and the gates closed up with stone, forcing people to go about by St. Peter's church and the east end of the Friars church to London wall and Moregate.
Chapter 37
How was the west end of the Augustine Friars church used after 1550, and what did the Marquis of Winchester do with the rest?
The west end, enclosed from the steeple and choir, was granted in 1550 to the Dutch nation in London as their preaching place. The steeple, choir, and side aisles were reserved for household uses such as stowage of corn and coal. The author reports that Powlet's son and heir, Marquis of Winchester, sold the buried noblemen's monuments, paving-stone, and other fittings for one hundred pounds and made stabling for horses, replacing lead roofs with tile to his disadvantage.
Chapter 37
What did Sir Thomas Cromwell do to neighboring gardens to enlarge his house's grounds, and how does Stow respond?
Stow recounts from personal knowledge that Cromwell, having built a large house in Throgmorton street, had the pales of adjoining gardens taken down and twenty-two feet measured into the north of every man's ground, then a trench cast and a high brick wall built. Stow's father's house was loosed and rolled twenty-two feet into his garden without warning, and he still paid his whole rent of 6s. 6d. for the half left. Stow notes that the sudden rising of some men causes them to forget themselves.
Chapter 37
What did John Churchman give to the tailors' company for St. Martin Oteswich, and what was built with it?
By license of Henry IV in the 6th year of his reign, John Churchman gave, for William and John Oteswich, the advowson of St. Martin Oteswich plus four messuages and seventeen shops with appurtenances to the master and wardens of tailors and linen-armourers, keepers of the guild of St. John Baptist, in perpetual alms for the poor brethren and sisters. The master and wardens then built seven almshouses in a square court at the west end of the church, placing seven alms men with their wives if they had wives.
Chapter 37
Section 384 cards
What did Edward I confirm for the Tailors and Linen-armourers guild in his 28th year?
Edward I confirmed the guild of Tailors and Linen-armourers by that name and gave the brethren authority each year at Midsummer to hold a feast and choose a governor or master with wardens. In 1300, on the feast of St. John Baptist's nativity, they chose Henry de Ryall as their pilgrim (then the title for the company's master), and the four wardens were called purveyors of alms.
Chapter 38
How and why did Henry VII change the tailors' guild?
Henry VII, himself a brother of the guild (as were Richard III, Edward IV, Henry V, Henry IV, and Richard II), noted that members had long been great merchants trading woollen cloth in gross and by retail throughout England and chiefly in London. He therefore changed, transferred, and translated the guild, incorporating it as the Master and Wardens of the Merchant-tailors of the fraternity of St. John Baptist in the city of London.
Chapter 38
What was the origin of the 'Anthonie pig' proverb?
Market officers seized starved or unwholesome pigs and slit their ears. A proctor of St. Anthonie's tied a bell on one and let it feed on dunghills; no one would harm it, and anyone who fed it was followed by the whining pig, giving rise to the saying one will follow another and whine like an Anthonie pig. If the pig grew fat, the proctor took it for the hospital.
Chapter 38
What did Johnson the schoolmaster do to St. Anthonie's hospital?
Johnson, a schoolmaster of the famous free school there, became a prebend of Windsor and gradually spoiled the hospital: he first dissolved the choir and conveyed away the plate and ornaments, then the bells, and lastly put out the almsmen from their houses, appointing them twelve pence a week each — which the author says he hears was never performed. The houses were let out for rent and the church became a preaching place for the French nation.
Chapter 38
Section 394 cards
Why was the Cornhill ward so named, and what was its market originally for?
It was named after a corn market held there 'time out of mind.' The upper or east part of the ward, also partly in Lime Street ward, served as a market place especially for corn, and later for all kinds of victuals. Records show that in 1522 the rippers of Rie and other places sold fresh fish in Leaden hall market upon Cornhill, but foreign butchers were not admitted to sell flesh there until 1533.
Chapter 39
What did the 1533 act fixing meat prices require, and what did Stow say it caused?
It was enacted that butchers should sell beef at not above a halfpenny the pound and mutton at a halfpenny half-farthing. Stow says the act, devised for the great commodity of the realm as then thought, proved far otherwise: many men thought it raised prices, because graziers knew or supposed the weight of their beasts and raised their price accordingly, so the butcher could gain only by raising his.
Chapter 39
What was the Tun upon Cornhill originally built for, and what did it become in 1401?
Henry Walles, mayor of London, first built it of stone in 1282 as a prison for night-walkers and other suspicious persons; it was called the Tun because it was built somewhat in the fashion of a tun standing on one end. In 1401 the prison house was made a cistern for sweet water conveyed by lead pipes from Tiborne, and was from thenceforth called the Conduit upon Cornhill.
Chapter 39
How was the chantry priest who was found with John Atwod's wife punished?
The priest was conveyed through the high street and markets on three market days with a paper on his head stating his trespass: first riding in a carry, then on a horse with his face to the tail, then led between two, with basins rung and proclamations made at every turning, including before Atwod's stall and his church door. He lost his chantry of twenty nobles a year and was banished the city for ever.
Chapter 39
Section 404 cards
Why did Sir Martin Bowes's plan to enlarge Cornhill conduit fail?
Bowes, mayor in 1546, intended to add a west end to the conduit's cistern, mirroring Robert Drope's earlier east end. But when the pillory and cage were removed, workers found the ground planked and the old well worn out of memory. They revived and restored the well (later made a pump), moved the pillory slightly west, and the enlargement work ceased.
Chapter 40
How was the Royal Exchange built and financed in 1566-1567?
Citizens bought over eighty households on Cornhill and behind it for more than £3,532, then sold them for £478 to persons who would demolish and remove them; the city leveled the plot. Possession was given to Sir Thomas Gresham to build a burse at his own charges. He laid the first stone on 7 June, and by November 1567 it was covered with slate and soon finished.
Chapter 40
Why does Stow reject the claim that a Cornhill stone house was a Jew's house?
Stow says some called the stone house a church, others a Jew's house, 'as though none but Jews had dwelt in stone houses.' He calls that opinion unwarranted, arguing stone building arose from a decree in the 1st year of Richard I, when Henry Fitz Alewine was mayor, requiring stone construction to prevent fire and night thieves, since earlier timber houses were covered with reed or straw.
Chapter 40
What does Stow report about the sixth bell 'Rus' at St. Michael's?
The bell was given by John Whitwell, Isabel his wife, and William Rus about 1430, after the steeple begun in 1421 was finished with five bells. Named 'Rus,' it was rung by one man nightly at eight and for knells for 160 years. Of late it was rung by four or five at once, broke three times, and was recast within ten years at a cost of over one hundred marks.
Chapter 40
Section 414 cards
What did Robert Drope give to the parish of his burial?
Robert Drope, mayor, buried 1485 on the north side of the choir under a grey marble tomb, gave twenty pounds to poor maids' marriages of that parish, ten pounds to the poor of that ward, three hundred shirts and smocks, and one hundred gowns of broad cloth. Despite this liberality, his tomb was later pulled down and no monument of him remains.
Chapter 41
What happened to John Tolus's gift to the church?
John Tolus, alderman, buried 1548, gave a tenement in the parish of St. Michael, lately purchased of Alvery Randalph of Badlesmeere in Kent, to the parson and churchwardens and their successors forever, toward reparation of the church and relief of the poor. But the parish never received it nor heard of it for forty years, concealed by G. Barne and other executors; the parishioners, though informed, made no claim.
Chapter 41
Who built the pulpit cross in the churchyard and what became of it?
Sir John Rudstone, mayor, caused the pulpit cross to be built in his lifetime, enlarged the churchyard with ground bought from the next parish, and raised houses to lodge choir men who assisted daily sung service. He died 1531 and was buried in a vault under the pulpit cross, appointing sermons there, not now performed; his tomb before the cross was later removed.
Chapter 41
Why is the ward called Langborne and Fennie about?
Langborne ward is named for a long bourne of sweet water that once broke out into Fenchurch street and ran down to the west end of St. Mary Woolnoth's church, then south to the Thames, giving the name Share borne lane. Fenne church street took its name from a fenny or moorish ground made by that bourne; the ward is so called in the Guildhall, though others say it came from fœnum, hay sold there.
Chapter 41
Section 424 cards
Who were the benefactors of St. Dionys Backchurch, and what did each contribute?
John Bugge, esquire, was a great benefactor, his arms and crest carved in the choir stonework where he was buried. John Darby, alderman, added a fair aisle or chapel on the south side and was buried there about 1466, giving his dwelling-house and others to the church. The Lady Wich, widow of Hugh Wich, was buried there and gave lands for sermons.
Chapter 42
Why does Allhallows Grasse church in Lombard street bear the name 'Grasse'?
Stow writes that he read the name in evidences of record, and explains it because the grass market went down that way when the street was far broader than it now is, the street having been narrowed by encroachments.
Chapter 42
Why does the steeple of Allhallows Grasse church have only one bell?
The bells were bought but never brought thither because old Warner, draper of that parish, died and his son Marke Warner would not perform what his father had begun and appointed. So the fair steeple has but one bell, as friars were wont to use.
Chapter 42
What charitable gift did John Costin, girdler, leave to the poor of Stane church parish?
John Costin, girdler, a great benefactor who died in 1244, gave out of certain tenements to the poor of that parish a hundred quarters of charcoals yearly for ever. Stow notes his name remains painted in the church roof, remarking that had it been set in brass it would have been fetched down.
Chapter 42
Section 434 cards
What goods were commonly landed at Billingsgate in Stow's time?
Stow describes Billingsgate as a large water-gate, port, or harborough for ships and boats arriving with fish, both fresh and salt, shell-fishes, salt, oranges, onions, and other fruits and roots, wheat, rye, and grain of divers sorts, for service of the city and adjoining parts of the realm. He notes it was then more frequented than in older times, when the Queen's hithe was used.
Chapter 43
What customs did ships pay at Billingsgate under Edward III?
Stow records that every great ship landing there paid two-pence for standage, every little ship with orelockes a penny, and the lesser boat called a Battle a halfpenny. Of two quarters of corn measured the king had one farthing, of a combe of corn a penny, of every weight going out of the city a halfpenny, and of every tun of ale going overseas by merchant strangers four-pence, franchises excepted.
Chapter 43
What did John Rainwell's bequest provide for London?
Stow says Rainwell gave a stone house as a revestrie to St. Buttolph's church, plus lands and tenements to the commonalty. The mayor and chamberlain were to discharge inhabitants of Billingsgate, Downegate, and Aldgate wards from any fifteenth granted by parliament, and pay the Exchequer ten pounds yearly for the sheriffs' farm of Southwark, freeing all men of the realm from toll at the bridge gates. Surplus funded city granaries and clearing the Thames.
Chapter 43
What did a presentment reveal about strangers in Billingsgate ward?
Stow cites a presentment showing fifty-one households of strangers in Billingsgate ward, thirty of them in St. Buttolph's parish, occupying the chief houses and paying twenty pounds a year for a house lately let for four marks. It notes that within thirty years before there were only three Netherlanders in the whole ward, and that poor relief in the parish fell from twenty-seven pounds yearly to eleven because strangers would not contribute.
Chapter 43
Section 444 cards
Why was Rother lane commonly called Pudding lane?
The author explains that butchers of Eastcheap kept their scalding house for hogs there, and their puddings along with other filth of beasts were voided down that way to their dung boats on the Thames. The lane stretched from Thames street to Little East Cheape and was chiefly inhabited by basket-makers, turners, and butchers, all within Billinsgate ward.
Chapter 44
What customs were charged at Grass church market under Edward III?
Stow records from a book of customs that every foreign cart laden with corn or malt paid one halfpenny, a cart of cheese two-pence, and a mixed cart two-pence if cheese outweighed corn but a halfpenny if corn outweighed cheese. Two horses laden with corn or malt yielded the bailiff one farthing; Temple and St. Martin le Grand carts paid a farthing, and the hospital of St. John of Jerusalem paid nothing for its own goods.
Chapter 44
How were the stock-fishmongers and salt-fishmongers united?
Stow states the two companies, once separate with six halls between them, were united in 1536, the 28th of Henry VIII, into a single hall in the house given by Sir John Cornwall, Lord Fanhope, in the parish of St. Michael in Crooked lane during the reign of Henry VI. He also notes the fishmongers were ignorant of their antiquities and could not explain their amity with the goldsmiths.
Chapter 44
What did Stow say about Walworth and Jack Straw?
Stow calls Sir William Walworth the glory of the fishmongers' company, but argues that the claim he slew Jack Straw is a mere fable, since Straw was taken after the rebels were overthrown and beheaded by judgment of the mayor. Stow says Straw's confession at the gallows is extant in his Annals, which also record Walworth's act against the principal rebel Wat Tyler.
Chapter 44
Section 454 cards
What did Eastcheape's cooks offer that taverns did not, according to Stow?
Stow says Eastcheape was a flesh market of butchers on both sides, once mixed with cooks selling ready-dressed victuals. Of old, friends wanting to be merry went not to taverns but to the cooks, calling for meat they liked, always found ready dressed at a reasonable rate. He cites Lidgate's song 'London Lickepennie' as proof cooks cried hot ribs, pies, and other victuals there.
Chapter 45
How does Stow correct the claim that Walworth slew Jack Straw?
Stow reports Walworth arrested Wat Tyler, striking his head, and Tyler was wounded by the mayor and by John Cavendish, then beheaded in Smithfield. Stow says Jack Straw was afterward taken, adjudged by the mayor, and executed in Smithfield. He calls writing 'Jack Straw' instead of 'Wat Tilar' on Walworth's renewed epitaph a great error, following a fabulous book.
Chapter 45
Why does Stow reject the story that Richard II added the dagger to London's arms?
Stow says it is a common opinion that Richard II rewarded Walworth by adding a sword or dagger to the city's arms, which were argent, a plain cross gules. Stow says he read no such record, but the contrary: in Richard II's 4th year, under Mayor Walworth, a new mayoralty seal was agreed on, showing the city arms with lions and sergeants of arms. The old seal was broken; the new one, still in use, shows the cross and sword of St. Paul, not Walworth's dagger.
Chapter 45
What happened after Walworth arrested Wat Tyler, according to Stow?
Stow says the king commanded the mayor to put a bascinet on his head, intending to knight him. Walworth protested he was but a merchant living by merchandise, yet the king struck him on the neck with a sword and knighted him, plus three other citizens that day: John Philpot, Nicholas Brember, and Robert Launde. The king gave the mayor one hundred pounds land yearly and each other forty pounds, to them and their heirs.
Chapter 45
Section 464 cards
What does Stow conclude about the origin of London Stone?
Stow says no record survives of why or when London Stone was set up, though it clearly predates the Conquest: a Gospel book given to Christ Church, Canterbury, by King Ethelstane notes London rents lying near it. He rejects the ideas that it marked the city's middle (it is nearer the Thames than the wall) or served for debt payments, and argues men took their name from the stone, not the reverse.
Chapter 46
How did the Stocks Market get its name and begin?
About 1282 Mayor Henry Wales built houses to maintain London Bridge on a vacant spot near Woole church where a pair of stocks for punishing offenders had stood; the building took the name and was appointed a market for fish and flesh. In 1322 Mayor Hamond Chickwell decreed that none sell fish or flesh outside appointed markets, including the Stocks, on penalty of forfeiting goods, then loss of freedom.
Chapter 46
What happened in 1560 near St. Michael's church, per Stow?
On 5 July 1560, a gun fired in the house of Adrian Arten, a Dutchman, broke out and set fire to a firkin and barrel of gunpowder. Four houses were blown up and divers others badly shattered; eleven men and women were slain, and sixteen were so hurt and bruised that they hardly escaped with life.
Chapter 46
What was St. Laurence Poultney's college and what became of it?
Thomas Cole added a chapel of Jesus for a master and chaplain; then Mayor John Poultney made the chapel and parish church a college of Jesus and Corpus Christi for a master and seven chaplains, confirmed by Edward III in the 20th year of his reign, whence the name St. Laurence Poultney. Valued at £79 17s. 11d., it was surrendered in the reign of Edward VI.
Chapter 46
Section 474 cards
Why was the church of St. Mary Wool church so named?
Stow says it was named for a beam placed in the churchyard, called Wool church haw, after the tronage or weighing of wool done there. He cites a French chapter in London's customs from Edward II's reign, 'Les Customes de Wolchurch Haw,' setting out payment for each parcel of wool weighed. The weighing continued there until the 6th of Richard II, when John Churchman built the Customhouse on Wool key.
Chapter 47
What conditions and payments surrounded the rebuilding of St. Mary Wool church?
Stow says the church was lately new built by license granted in the 20th of Henry VI, on condition it stand fifteen feet from the Stocks market to spare the market's light. The parson was to receive four marks yearly for tithe of the Stocks, paid by the masters of the Bridge house by decree of the 2nd of Henry VII. John Winyar, grocer and mayor 1504, helped greatly and gave two silver basons and twenty pounds.
Chapter 47
Who funded and built the new church of St. Stephen on Walbrooke?
Robert Chichley, mayor in 1428 (6th of Henry VI), gave a plot 208.5 feet by 66 feet for the new church and churchyard, buying the Grocers' ground for 200 marks though it had been let at 26 marks yearly. He laid the first stone, gave 100 pounds, bore the timber work on the procession way, and laid the lead at his own cost. Whittingham laid the third stone; the church was finished in 1439.
Chapter 47
What does Stow record about the Skinners' fraternity and its procession?
Stow says the Skinners were incorporated by Edward III in the 1st of his reign and had two Corpus Christi brotherhoods, at St. Mary Spittle and St. Mary Bethlem without Bishopsgate, which Richard II in his 18th year granted them to unite. Royal founders and brethren included six kings, nine dukes, two earls, and one lord. Each Corpus Christi day afternoon a procession crossed the city's principal streets with over one hundred wax torches and above two hundred clerks and priests singing.
Chapter 47
Section 483 cards
What privileges did Henry III grant the German merchants in 1259, and who requested it?
Henry III granted that all merchants of the Guildhall of the Germans (Guilda Aula Theutonicorum) with a house in London should be maintained throughout the realm with the freedoms and liberties they had enjoyed under the king and his predecessors. The grant was made at the request of the king's brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, king of Germany. Edward I later renewed and confirmed his father's charter.
Chapter 48
What did Parliament ordain about importing foreign grain, and at what prices did the ban apply?
Because Hanse merchants brought such abundance of corn that husbandry occupiers complained when English corn was cheap, Parliament ordained that no person should bring wheat, rye, or barley grown outside the realm into England by way of merchandise when wheat did not exceed 6s. 8d. the quarter, rye 4s., and barley 3s., on forfeiture of one half to the king and the other half to the seizor.
Chapter 48
What happened to the Steelyard merchants' liberty in 1551, and what earlier hall arrangement did they hold?
In 1551, the 5th of Edward VI, through complaint of the English merchants, the liberty of the Steelyard merchants was seized into the king's hands and so remained. Earlier, in the 15th of Edward IV, it was confirmed by Parliament that the merchants of the Guildhall Teutonicorum should hold the Steel house forever, yielding the mayor and commonalty an annual rent of £70 3s. 4d.
Chapter 48
Section 494 cards
Who received Cold Harbrough by Richard III's letters patent in 1485?
Richard III granted the messuage called Cold Harbrough, in the parish of All Saints the Little, to John Writh (alias Garter), principal king of arms, and to the king's heralds and pursuivants of arms and their successors forever, dated at Westminster 2 March in his first regnal year, without fine or fee. Stow notes he has not read how the heralds later departed from it.
Chapter 49
How did the Vintry get its name and what happened there under Edward I?
Vintry ward is named for vintners and the vintry, the Thames bank where Bordeaux merchants craned wines from lighters and sold them within forty days. In Edward I's 28th year they complained they could not sell wines paying poundage nor hire cellars; the king's writ to the mayor and sheriffs, dated at Carlisle, redressed it. Later large houses with wine vaults replaced the old cooks' row.
Chapter 49
What did John Rainwell do to corrupt sweet wines in Henry VI's 6th year?
When word reached John Rainwell, mayor of London, that the Lombards were corrupting their sweet wines, he ordered the heads of the butts and other vessels broken in open streets in divers places of the city, to the number of one hundred and fifty. The liquor ran through the city like a stream of rain water before all the people, giving off a most loathsome savour.
Chapter 49
What did Sir John Stodie give the Vintners, and what was built there?
Sir John Stodie, vintner and mayor in 1357, gave Stodie's lane (formerly Spittle lane) with the whole quadrant where Vintners' hall now stands, plus surrounding tenements, to the Vintners. The Vintners built themselves a fair hall and thirteen almshouses for thirteen poor people, kept of charity rent free.
Chapter 49
Section 504 cards
Who founded the college and almshouse at St. Michael Paternoster church, and under what license?
Richard Whitington, a mercer and four times mayor, founded the college of St. Spirit and St. Mary with a master, four fellows, clerks, chorists, and an almshouse called God's house for thirteen poor men. The license was granted by King Henry IV in the 11th year of his reign, and the foundation was later confirmed by Henry VI and by parliament in the 10th of Henry VI.
Chapter 50
What happened to Richard Whitington's body after his first burial?
Whitington was buried three times in St. Michael's church. First by his executors under a fair monument; then in Edward VI's reign the parson, thinking great riches were buried with him, broke the monument and stripped the body of its leaden sheet, reburying it a second time; in Queen Mary's reign parishioners were forced to take him up, wrap him in lead again, and bury him a third time.
Chapter 50
What was the Tower Royall used for in Richard II's reign and later?
In Richard II's reign it was called the Queen's Wardrobe, where the king's mother lodged during the rebels' uprising. Stow notes kings of England were lodged there, citing a 1386 charter granted there to the King of Armonie. Later it was neglected, turned into stabling for the king's horses, and let out to divers men as tenements.
Chapter 50
How were the Cutlers' three sorts of workmen organized and united?
The company was anciently divided into three arts: bladers or smiths forging blades, makers of hafts and garnishers of blades, and sheathmakers for swords, daggers, and knives. In the 10th of Henry IV certain ordinances were made between the bladers and other cutlers, and in the 4th of Henry VI all three companies were drawn into one fraternity or brotherhood called the Cutlers.
Chapter 50
Section 514 cards
How did William of Ipres come to hold and then lose his English lands?
William of Ipres kept Robert, Earl of Gloucester, prisoner at Rochester until King Stephen was captured and the two were exchanged. William gave Edredes hithe (Queen's hithe) to the Holy Trinity canons and founded Boxley Abbey in Kent. In the first year of Henry II, fearing the new king, he fled England with the other Flemings, but Stow says he was soon recalled and restored to the king's favour and his old possessions.
Chapter 51
How did John of Gaunt escape the Londoners in 1377?
In 1377, the 51st of Edward III, London citizens sought to destroy John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, and Henry Percy, believing they were at the Savoy. The duke was actually dining at John of Ipres's inn. A knight warned him at the gate; the duke leapt from his oysters, hurt both legs on the form, could not drink the wine offered for haste, and fled with Percy by a back gate and boat to Kennington.
Chapter 51
Who rebuilt St. Martin in the Vintry, and what arms remain there?
St. Martin in the Vintry, sometimes called St. Martin de Beremand, was newly built about 1399 by the executors of Mathew Columbars, a stranger born, a Bordeaux merchant of Gascon and French wines. His arms remain in the east window: three columbins between a chevron. Sir Raph Austrie, fishmonger, later new-roofed the church with timber, covered it with lead, and glazed it; he died in 1494 and was buried there with his two wives.
Chapter 51
Why is St. James's church called 'at Garlick hithe'?
Stow says the church of St. James is called at Garlick hithe, or Garlicke hive, because of old time garlick was usually sold on the bank of the Thames near the church. Richard Rothing, a sheriff in 1326, is said to be its new builder and lies buried there. Among the monuments is Richard Lions, a wine merchant and lapidary, beheaded in Cheape by Wat Tyler and other rebels in 1381.
Chapter 51
Section 524 cards
Why was St. Mary Bow church so named, and what earlier structure shared the name?
The church, built in the reign of William the Conqueror, was the first in the city raised on arches of stone, so it was called New Marie church, or St. Marie de Arcubus (Le Bow), in West Cheaping. Stow compares it to Stratford bridge, the first built with stone arches by Queen Matilde, wife of Henry I, which was called Stratford le Bow; both names, he says, remain to this day.
Chapter 52
What happened to William Fitz Osbert in 1196 at Bow church?
Fitz Osbert, described by Stow as a seditious tailor, seized the steeple of Bow and fortified it with munitions and victuals. It was assaulted and he was forced out by fire and smoke, though not without bloodshed. Condemned by the judges, he was drawn by the heels to the Elms in Smithfield and hanged with nine companions; Stow calls him a deceiver, secret murderer, and false accuser of his elder brother.
Chapter 52
What was the fate of Laurence Ducket in 1284, and how was the truth revealed?
Laurence Ducket, a goldsmith who had wounded Ralph Crepin, fled into Bow church; friends of Ralph entered at night and slew him in the steeple, hanging him by the window to seem a suicide. He was buried in a ditch outside the city, and the church was interdicted with doors and windows stopped with thorns. A boy who had hidden with him revealed the truth; several men were attainted, a woman named Alice was burnt, and about sixteen men were drawn and hanged. Laurence was then honorably buried in the churchyard.
Chapter 52
What was the origin of the nightly nine o'clock ringing of Bow bell?
In 1469 a common council ordained that the Bow bell be rung nightly at nine o'clock. John Donne, mercer, by his testament dated 1472, gave two tenements in Hosier lane to the parson and churchwardens to maintain the bell and its ringing. Apprentices and others in Cheape, finding it rung somewhat late, made a rhyme against the clerk, who replied in verse promising it would be rung at their will.
Chapter 52
Section 534 cards
What happened to the grammar school in St. Mary Bow parish after it decayed?
The school had been established by command of King Henry VI and kept in a house prepared in the churchyard. After it decayed, as others about the city did, the school-house was let out for rent in the reign of Henry VIII for four shillings a year, a cellar for two shillings, and two vaults under the church for fifteen shillings both.
Chapter 53
Why was the stone building called Seldam built beside St. Mary Bow?
The author records that King Edward III caused this sild or shed to be strongly built of stone for himself, the queen, and other estates to stand in and behold joustings and other shows. It stood on the north side toward West Cheape and greatly darkened the church, stopping up all windows and doors on that side. In 1410 Henry IV confirmed it to three mercers as New Seldam, called Crounsilde or Tamersilde.
Chapter 53
How did Henry VIII observe the Midsummer watch in 1510, according to Stow?
On St. John's even at night in 1510, Henry VIII came to the place then called the King's Head in Cheape dressed in the livery of a yeoman of the guard, with a halbert on his shoulder, and beheld the watch, departing privily when it was done, known only to whom he pleased. On St. Peter's night following, he and the queen came royally riding and beheld the watch with their nobles.
Chapter 53
What happened to Buckle the grocer while pulling down Cernet's Tower?
The stone tower at Buckles bury, granted by Edward III to his college of St. Stephen at Westminster, was later taken down by one Buckle, a grocer, who meant to build a timber frame in its place. Greedily labouring to pull down the old tower, part of it fell on him and so sorely bruised him that his life was shortened; another who married his widow finished the new frame.
Chapter 53
Section 544 cards
What did Edward Hall write, and where was he buried?
Edward Hall was a gentleman of Grey's Inn, common sergeant of London, and under-sheriff. He wrote the large chronicles covering the period from Richard II until the end of Henry VIII, and was buried in the church of St. Mildred in the Poultrie, according to Stow.
Chapter 54
How did the Grocers' company originate and when were they incorporated?
The company was of old time called Pepperers. By the assent of Stephen Abunden, mayor, the Pepperers in Soper's lane were admitted to sell spices and wares that grocers now sell, keeping the old name until they moved to Bucklesbury. They were first incorporated by the name of Grocers in 1345, electing Richard Oswin and Laurence Haliwell as custos or guardian.
Chapter 54
What does Thomas Tusser's epitaph say about him?
The epitaph states that Thomas Tusser, 'clad in earth,' lies there, having once made the 'Poyntes of Husbandrie.' It urges readers to learn from him that when all is done we sleep and turn to dust, yet through Christ they hope to go to heaven, and that whoever reads his books shall find his faith was so.
Chapter 54
What executions does Stow record at the Standard in Cheape?
Stow lists several: in 1293 three men had their right hands smitten off for rescuing a prisoner; in 1326 Walter Stapleton, Bishop of Exeter and treasurer to Edward II, was beheaded (though Stow notes this was by Paul's gate); in 1351 two fishmongers were beheaded; in 1381 Wat Tyler beheaded Richard Lions and others; in 1450 Jack Cade beheaded Lord Say; and in 1461 John Davy had his hand struck off.
Chapter 54
Section 554 cards
Why did Edward I erect a stone cross in West Cheape in 1290?
Edward I erected the cross in memory of Queen Elianor, his wife, who died at Hardeby near Lincoln. Her body was carried to Westminster, and at every place where it rested the king had a stately stone cross raised, bearing the queen's image and arms—at Grantham, Woborne, Northampton, Stony Stratford, Dunstable, St. Albones, Waltham, West Cheape, and Charing.
Chapter 55
How was the West Cheape cross rebuilt and paid for in the 1440s–1480s?
John Hatherly, mayor, obtained license from Henry VI in 1441 to re-edify the decayed cross more beautifully, and to take two hundred fodder of lead from certain conduits and a common garnery. It was curiously wrought at the charges of divers citizens; John Fisher, mercer, gave six hundred marks. It was begun in 1484 and finished in 1486, the second of Henry VII.
Chapter 55
What happened to the images on the West Cheape cross in 1581 and shortly after 1600?
In 1581, on the night of 21 June, the lowest images—of Christ's resurrection, the Virgin Mary, King Edward the Confessor and such like—were broken and defaced. A proclamation offered forty crowns for revealing the doers, but nothing came to light. About twelve nights after the timber cross was re-erected around 1600, Our Lady's image was again defaced, her crown and almost her head plucked off.
Chapter 55
What happened at the Cheape tournament of 1331 when the ladies' scaffold collapsed?
In 1331, the 21st of September, Edward III held a three-day tournament in Cheape between Sopar's lane and the great cross, the pavement covered with sand. A wooden scaffold like a tower was erected for Queen Philippa and many ladies; its higher frame broke, dropping them down and grievously hurting the knights beneath. The queen on her knees pacified the king and council, saving the carpenters from punishment.
Chapter 55
Section 564 cards
Why does Stow say Honey Lane got its name?
Stow says Honey Lane was so called not for any sweetness, since it is very narrow and somewhat dark, but rather for the frequent washing and sweeping done to keep it clean. In it stood the small parish church of Alhallows in Honey lane, which he says had no monuments worth noting; John Norman, draper and mayor in 1453, was buried there.
Chapter 56
What did Robert Fabian record about the building of Guildhall?
Stow cites Robert Fabian that Guildhall was begun anew in 1411, the 12th of Henry IV, by Thomas Knoles, then mayor, and his brethren the aldermen. It was made from a little cottage into a large and great house as it then stood. The companies gave large benevolences, offences were pardoned for sums of money, and extraordinary fees, fines and amercements were employed for seven years, continued three more.
Chapter 56
What happened to the Guildhall library's books under Edward VI?
Stow says the fair library adjoining the chapel was furnished with books pertaining to the Guildhall and college. In the reign of Edward VI, Edward, Duke of Somerset, lord protector, sent for them with a promise of restoration; men carried three loads away, but they were never returned. The library was built by executors of Richard Whittington and by William Burie, whose arms and initials W. and B. appear in the stonework; it was later lofted through and made a storehouse for clothes.
Chapter 56
What does Stow report seeing in St Laurence church in the Jury?
Stow says that more than seventy years earlier he himself saw in this church the shank-bone of a man, as it was taken, and a tooth of very great bigness, hung up for show in iron chains on a stone pillar. The tooth, about the size of a man's fist, was long since removed; the shank-bone, twenty-five inches long, remained fastened to a timber post, notable for thickness, hardness and strength. He rejects the fables of some late writers about its origin.
Chapter 56
Section 573 cards
What trades dominated Lothbury street, and why was it nicknamed 'Lothberie'?
The street was mostly occupied by founders who cast candlesticks, chafing-dishes, spice mortars, and similar copper or laton works, then smoothed them by turning with the foot rather than the wheel. Stow says this scraping made a loathsome noise to passers-by unaccustomed to it, who disdainfully called the street 'Lothberie.'
Chapter 57
What happened to London's Jews under Richard I at his coronation?
Richard I forbade Jews and women from attending his coronation for fear of enchantments. Many Jews who assembled to present the king a gift were attacked; one was struck by a Christian, and unruly people beat them, burned them in their houses, or slew them as they came out. Jews at Norwich, St. Edmondsbury, Lincoln, Stamford, and Lynn were also robbed and spoiled.
Chapter 57
What did King John do to the Jews in his 11th year, and why?
King John commanded all Jews, men and women, to be imprisoned and grievously punished because he wanted their money. Many gave all they had and promised more; at least one eye was plucked out from each. One man endured a tooth pulled daily for seven days before paying ten thousand marks to stop further extraction. The king spoiled the Jews of sixty-six thousand marks.
Chapter 57
Section 584 cards
What did Henry III do with the synagogue London Jews built in his 16th year?
The Jews of London built a synagogue in the 16th year of Henry III, but the king commanded it be dedicated to Our Blessed Lady. He then gave it to the brethren of St. Anthony of Vienna, and it was called St. Anthony's hospital. Henry also founded a church and house for converted Jews in New Street by the Temple, where a great number of converts soon gathered.
Chapter 58
Under Edward I, what happened to England's Jews in his 19th year?
In the 19th year of Edward I, the king banished all Jews from England, giving them only enough to bear their charges until they were out of his realm. The number expelled was 15,060 persons. The king sold their houses for a mighty mass of money, though the commons had already granted him a fifteenth of all their goods to banish them.
Chapter 58
What was the large ancient stone building in the Old Jewry, and who kept it?
From St. Olave's church to Ironmongers' Lane stood one large ancient stone building, made in place of Jews' houses, whose origin and builder Stow could not learn. Henry VI, in his 16th year, gave the office of porter or keeper to John Stent for life, calling it his principal palace in the Old Jewry. In Stow's youth it was called the old Wardrobe.
Chapter 58
What does Stow say about St. Stephen's church in Coleman street?
Stow writes that St. Stephen's church was sometime a synagogue of the Jews, then a parish church, then a chapel to St. Olave's in the Jury until the 7th of Edward IV, when it was incorporated a parish church. Its monuments are defaced, though Stow finds benefactors buried there, including William Crayhag, who founded a chantry in Edward II's reign.
Chapter 58
Section 594 cards
What did Henry II's charter grant the weavers of London, and what yearly payment did it require?
The charter granted the weavers of London their guild with all freedoms and customs held in the time of Henry I, so that none but guild members could practice their craft in London or Southwark. In return they were to yield yearly two marks of gold at the feast of St. Michael, and anyone doing them wrong faced a penalty of ten pounds.
Chapter 59
What penalty did Henry II's patent decree for cloth made of Spanish wool mixed with English wool?
The patent confirmed the weavers' guild and their correction of woollen cloth, and among its articles decreed that if any man made cloth of Spanish wool mixed with English wool, the portgrave or principal magistrate of London ought to burn it.
Chapter 59
Why does Stow reject the claim that Bakewell hall was once a temple or Jewish synagogue?
The author argues it lacked any round form or other likeness of such a building, and unlike churches built east and west, it was built north and south in the form of a nobleman's house. He concludes it likely belonged to the Bassing family, called Bassings haugh or hall, since their arms (a gyronny of twelve points, gold and azure) were painted throughout.
Chapter 59
What did Richard II grant in the 20th year of his reign concerning Bakewell hall?
For fifty pounds paid into the hanaper by the mayor and commonalty, the king granted licence to John Frosh, William Parker, and Stephen Spilman, citizens and mercers, to give and assign the messuage called Bakewell hall, a garden, and other property in the parishes of St. Michael Bassings haugh and St. Laurence to the mayor and commonalty for ever.
Chapter 59
Section 604 cards
What was the origin of the name Aldermanbury street, according to Stow?
Stow says the street took its name from "Alderman's burie," meaning a court, kept there—the bery or court later called the Guildhall. He dismisses other tales as fables. The old court hall stood on the east side of the street; the mayor and aldermen held courts there until the new Guildhall, begun in 1411 and finished over twenty years later, replaced it.
Chapter 60
What did William Elsing found in Gay spur lane, and what became of it?
In 1329 William Elsing began an hospital for the support of one hundred blind men on the site of a decayed nuns' house. It was later called a priory or hospital of St. Mary the Virgin, founded in 1332 for canons regular, with Elsing as first prior. Valued at £193 15s. 5d., it was surrendered on 11 May in the 22nd year of Henry VIII.
Chapter 60
What does Stow say about the large shank-bone in St. Mary Aldermanbury's cloister?
A shank-bone said to be a man's hangs in the cloister, measuring twenty-eight and a half inches of assise—three and a half inches longer than the one at St. Lawrence in the Jury, though lighter and spongy. Stow doubts the reports that it came from Paul's charnel-house or cloister, noting stationer Reyne Wolfe, who arranged carriage of those bones, never mentioned such a bone.
Chapter 60
What happened to the church and buildings of St. Mary's hospital after the surrender?
Stow records that the monuments in the church were defaced. The principal north aisle was pulled down and four houses built in its place; the rest, from the steeple up, became the parish church of St. Alphage, while the old parish church by Cripplesgate was demolished and its plot made a carpenter's yard with saw-pits. The hospital became a dwelling-house, the churchyard a garden, and the poor's lodgings stabling for horses.
Chapter 60
Section 614 cards
What happened to the king's jewels in the 1541 fire at Sir John Williams's house?
A great fire began in the gallery on Christmas Eve about seven o'clock and burned the whole house, with flames seen across the city and hardly quenched. Many of the king's jewels were burnt, and more were said to be embezzled.
Chapter 61
Why does Stow suggest Wood street was so named?
Stow says he does not know the reason. He notes that under Richard I houses were decreed to be built of stone for defence against fire, used for two hundred years or more, but later timber replaced stone to win ground. Since no stone house was known there, he suggests it was all timber and so called Wood street, or else named for some builder or owner.
Chapter 61
How did the head of James IV of Scotland come to be buried at St. Michael's, Wood street?
After Flodden the king's body was found, enclosed in lead, and brought to London and then Shene monastery. After that house's dissolution under Edward VI, Stow saw the lead-wrapped body cast into a waste room. Workmen hewed off the head for sport; Launcelot Young, the queen's glazier, kept it for its sweetness, then had the sexton bury it among bones from the charnel.
Chapter 61
What did Sir Ambrose Nicholas found in Monkswell street, and on what terms?
He founded twelve almshouses for twelve poor and aged people, housed rent free. Each received seven pence a week, and once a year five sacks of charcoal and a quarter of a hundred fagots, by his gift for ever. Stow notes Nicholas was a salter and mayor in 1575.
Chapter 61
Section 624 cards
Who founded the fraternity of Our Lady, Corpus Christi, and St. Giles in this church?
John Belancer founded the fraternity, or brotherhood, of Our Blessed Lady, Corpus Christi, and St. Giles in this church, in the 35th year of the reign of Edward III. The chapter describes it as existing 'of old time' before Stow's account.
Chapter 62
Who paid for the water conduit from Highbery, and who castellated it?
John Middleton, one of the executors of Sir William Eastfield, brought the water conduit in lead pipes from Highbery at Eastfield's expense. The inhabitants adjoining castellated it at their own cost and charges about the year 1483.
Chapter 62
What did Richard Whitington provide for water in this area?
Richard Whitington, sometime mayor, paid for a bosse of clear water in the churchyard wall, similar to that of Bilinsgate; it was later turned into an evil pump and decayed. He also funded, through his executors, the coping and stone arching of a pool's spring near the parsonage, filled up in Henry VI's reign.
Chapter 62
What happened to the Jews' Garden in Red Cross street after the Jews' banishment?
The plot was the only place appointed in England for Jews to bury their dead until 1177, when after long suit to king and parliament at Oxford they were allowed a special burial place in every quarter where they dwelt. It remained theirs until their final banishment, then became garden plots and summer-houses for pleasure.
Chapter 62
Section 634 cards
What did Stow say about Bartholomew Read's supposed feast at Goldsmiths' hall?
The author argues the story is incredible and impossible: the hall was small, and the claimed guests numbered over a hundred persons of great estate. The dishes, a paled park with trees and beasts of venery, and other details would hardly fit Westminster hall, so Stow declines to repeat the tale.
Chapter 63
What did the 1442 dispute between St. Martin's le Grand and the city concern?
Five men rescued a Newgate prisoner and took sanctuary at St. Martin's church. The sheriffs forcibly removed them to Newgate, and the dean and chapter complained to the king. The city's counsel, including John Carpenter, argued the church had no such immunity. The chancellor ultimately returned the men to St. Martin's to abide freely.
Chapter 63
What happened to St. Martin's le Grand college after its surrender?
The college was surrendered to King Edward VI in 1548, the second year of his reign. The college church was pulled down, and a large wine tavern was built in its east part. Many other houses were built throughout the precinct, let at high prices to strangers born and others claiming the old canons' privileges.
Chapter 63
What did Stow record about the founding and suppression of St. Buttolph's brotherhood?
A brotherhood of St. Fabian and Sebastian was founded there in 1377 and confirmed by Henry IV. Henry VI later licensed Dame Joan Astley, his former nurse, and others to found a perpetual fraternity with a master and two custoses. It was endowed with over thirty pounds yearly and was suppressed by Edward VI.
Chapter 63
Section 642 cards
How did the aldermanry pass from Ralph le Fevre to William Farindon?
Thomas de Arderne granted the aldermanry between Ludgate and Newgate to Ralph le Fevre for a yearly rent of one clove or slip of gilliflowers at Easter, plus twenty marks paid beforehand as a gersum. John le Fevre, Ralph's son and heir, then granted it to William Farindon, goldsmith, in the 7th of Edward I, 1279.
Chapter 64
What did John Sha and Thomas Wood contribute to St. Peter's church?
John Sha, goldsmith and mayor, who died in 1508, appointed by his testament that the church and steeple be newly built of his goods with a flat roof. The chapter adds that Thomas Wood, goldsmith and sheriff in 1491, is accounted principal benefactor because the roof of the middle aisle is supported by images of woodmen.
Chapter 64
Section 654 cards
Who founded the Barber-Chirurgeons' corporation, and under what saints' names?
Thomas Morestede, sheriff of London in 1436 and surgeon to Henry IV, V and VI, began the suit; Jaques Fries and William Hobbs continued it for twenty years. Edward IV in his second year and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, became founders of the corporation in the name of St. Cosme and St. Damiane. The first assembly of the craft was Roger Strippe, W. Hobbs, T. Goddard and Richard Kent.
Chapter 65
How did the hermitage of St. James become Monks' Well Street, and who later bought it?
The hermitage, or chapel of St. James in the wall near Cripplegate, belonged to the abbey of Garadon, which found two Cistercian monks there as chaplains. The street took its name from these monks and a well pertaining to them. In Edward VI's reign William Lambe, gentleman of the king's chapel and cloth-worker, purchased it; he died in 1577 and gave it to the clothworkers of London.
Chapter 65
What happened to St. Nicholas' Shambles church under Henry VIII?
The church of St. Nicholas, from which the flesh-market took its name, was given by Henry VIII to the mayor and commonalty of the city toward maintaining a new parish church in the dissolved Grey Friars church. So St. Nicholas' was dissolved and pulled down, and many fair houses were built in a court with a well where the church had stood.
Chapter 65
What did Henry VIII grant the city for Christ's Church, and how were its clergy paid?
By agreement of 1546-38 Henry VIII gave the Grey Friars church and buildings, St. Bartholomew's hospital, and the parishes of St. Nicholas and St. Ewin, made one parish church called Christ's church. The vicar of Christ's church received £26 13s 4d yearly, the vicar of St. Bartholomew £13 6s 8d, the Newgate visitor £10, and five priests £8 each.
Chapter 65
Section 663 cards
Who founded the new church of St. Paul's, and when?
The chapter names Lady Margaret, daughter to Philip, king of France and wife to Edward I, as foundress of this new church, with the date 1317 given for her. Her monument is listed first among the defaced monuments in the choir, before those of Isabel, queen and wife to Edward II, and others buried there.
Chapter 66
Why was St. Paul's rebuilt on stone arches after 1087?
The chapter says the church was burnt in 1087 along with most of the city, in a fire that began at the west gate and consumed the east gate. Bishop Mauricius began a new church built upon arches or vaults of stone for defence of fire, a manner of work before unknown in this nation and then brought in by the French, with stone fetched from Caen in Normandy.
Chapter 66
What did Henry III prohibit regarding the exchange of silver?
The chapter states Henry III, in the sixth year of his reign, wrote to the Scabines and men of Ipre that he and his council had prohibited anyone, English or other, from making change of plate or other mass of silver except only at his Exchange at London or at Canterbury. Andrew Buckerell then held the Exchange of England to farm and was mayor of London.
Chapter 66
Section 674 cards
Who enclosed St Paul's churchyard with a stone wall, and what did Henry I grant him?
Richard Beamor (De Belmeis), who succeeded Mauricius as bishop, enclosed the churchyard with a strong stone wall and gates, buying up the streets and lanes where lay people had lived. King Henry I granted him as much of the castle moat on the Thames side as needed for the south wall, and enough for a wall on the north side. Beamor died in 1127.
Chapter 67
Why did Edward II allow the churchyard wall to be finished, and what did citizens claim?
Edward II, in the 10th year of his reign, granted that the churchyard be walled where it was lacking, because of murders and robberies committed there. The citizens claimed the east side for their folkemotes, with the great steeple's bell as their common bell, and the west side for assembling with the lord of Baynard's Castle to view armour. The dispute went to justices in the Tower, but Stow finds no recorded judgment.
Chapter 67
What happened to St Paul's steeple in the 1444 lightning fire?
On 1 February 1444, about two in the afternoon, lightning fired the steeple in the midst of the shaft or spire, on the west and south sides. Many well-disposed people quenched it to appearance with vinegar, and everyone went home praising God. But between eight and nine that night the fire burst out more fervently, doing much hurt to lead and timber, until the mayor and people thoroughly quenched it.
Chapter 67
What was the Dance of Paul's, and what became of it in 1549?
Around the cloister on the north side, in Pardon churchyard, was painted the Dance of Machabray, or Dance of Death, commonly called the Dance of Paul's, like that at St Innocent's cloister in Paris. Its verses were translated from French by John Lidgate, monk of Bury, painted at the request and expense of Jenkin Carpenter under Henry VI. In 1549, by command of the Duke of Somerset, the chapel, cloister, Dance, tombs and monuments were pulled down, leaving only bare ground.
Chapter 67
Section 684 cards
Who founded St Paul's School, when, and for how many children?
John Collet, doctor of divinity and dean of Paul's, newly built and endowed Paul's School in 1512 for one hundred and fifty-three poor men's children to be taught free. He appointed a master, an usher, and a chaplain with large stipends, and committed oversight to the mercers of London because his father Henry Collet was a mercer and sometime mayor.
Chapter 68
How was the Jesus' bell-house destroyed under Henry VIII?
The great clochier with four bells called Jesus' bells, its timber spire and image of St. Paul, was pulled down by Sir Miles Partridge in Henry VIII's reign. Common speech said he wagered a hundred pounds at dice against it and won the clochier and bells from the king, then had the bells broken as they hung. He was later executed on Tower Hill under Edward VI.
Chapter 68
What did Henry III command at Paul's Cross in 1259?
The author reads that in 1259 Henry III commanded a general assembly at Paul's Cross, where he personally ordered the mayor that the next day every stripling of twelve years or upward should be sworn before the alderman to be true to the king and his heirs, kings of England. The author says the cross's antiquity is unknown to him.
Chapter 68
What did Sir William Baud grant the dean and chapter of Paul's in 1274?
Sir William Baud granted that, in return for twenty-two acres in Westley, Essex, enclosed into his park of Curingham, he would forever give a good doe at the Conversion of St. Paul and a good buck at the Commemoration of St. Paul, offered on the high altar and spent among resident canons. The doe came by one man, who got nothing; the buck by all his men, who got twelve pence.
Chapter 68
Section 694 cards
What did John Wenlocke's 1477 will provide for Lady Shrewsbury's monument?
Wenlocke's will appointed that one hundred pounds should be spent on a monument over the Lady of Shrewsbury, buried before the image of Jesus. He named Sir Humfrey Talbot as supervisor. Talbot's own 1492 will directed a stone with his mother's portraiture and arms, but lack of room and light led to a painted image of Jesus over the chapel door instead, with Margaret kneeling in her mantle of arms and her progeny.
Chapter 69
Why was Paternoster Row so named, and what trades dwelt there?
The street was called Pater Noster row because stationers or text writers lived there, writing and selling all sorts of books then in use, such as A B C, the Pater Noster, Ave, Creed and Graces. Turners of beads also dwelt there, called Pater Noster makers, as a record of Robert Nikke in Henry IV's reign shows. Nearby Ave Mary lane and Creede lane took their names from similar text writers and bead makers.
Chapter 69
What was the Black Parliament of 1524 and where did it meet?
A parliament began at the Black Friers on 15 April 1524, where a subsidy of eight hundred thousand pounds was demanded, at four shillings in the pound, but only two shillings was granted on goods or lands worth twenty pounds a year and upward, paid over two years. It was adjourned to Westminster and ended in the king's palace on 14 August at nine at night, hence called the Black parliament.
Chapter 69
What happened to the Black Friers' church and its parish of St. Anne?
The Black Friers' church, valued at £104 15s. 5d., was surrendered on 12 November in the 30th year of Henry VIII. The parish of St. Anne within its precinct was pulled down with the church by Sir Thomas Carden, who under Queen Mary was forced to allow the inhabitants a lodging chamber above a stair. That chamber fell down in 1597 and was rebuilt by collection, dedicated 11 December.
Chapter 69
Section 703 cards
Why was the church of St. Michael ad Bladum so called?
It was called "ad Bladum" (at the corn) because a corn market once stood in that place, stretching west to the shambles. Stow notes the name was corruptly rendered "at the querne." The church was rebuilt about the reign of Edward III, and Thomas Newton, its first parson, was buried in the choir in 1461.
Chapter 70
How did the butchers' stallboards in Mountgodard street become houses?
Stall boards were of old set up by butchers to show and sell flesh meat. Over them they first built sheds to keep off weather, then encroached little by little until stallboards and sheds became fair houses meet for the principal shambles. Stow says the street was named Mountgodard of the tippling houses, the goddards mounting from tap to table to mouth, sometimes over the head.
Chapter 70
What did excavation at Bread street corner in 1595 reveal?
Thomas Tomlinson, causing a vault to be dug in the high street of Cheape, found at fifteen feet deep a fair pavement like that above ground, and a tree sawed into five steps to step over a brook running west toward Walbrooke. Two great trees lay along the brook's edge, firm timber as when they fell; forced ground continued about seventeen feet deep, showing how much the ground there had been raised.
Chapter 70
Section 714 cards
Why was the compter in Bread Street moved to Wood Street in 1555?
The keeper Richard Husband mistreated prisoners for his own profit, lodging thieves and prostitutes for four pence a night so they escaped outside searches. Juries found prisoners badly used, and he was indicted in 1552 but escaped punishment. Because the Bread Street house was his own by lease, he could not be removed, so the prisoners were relocated to a new compter in Wood Street in 1555.
Chapter 71
What happened to Allhallows Bread Street spire in 1559, and what was done after?
On 5 September 1559, about midday, a great tempest of lightning with a terrible thunderclap struck the stone spire nine or ten feet below the top. A falling stone killed a dog and knocked over a man playing with it. The spire was barely damaged, yet it was shortly afterward taken down to save the cost of repairs.
Chapter 71
What does Stow argue about the name Gerrard's Hall and the giant's pole?
The author argues the name is a corruption of Gisor's Hall, held by the Gisors family from the 13th century onward. He notes the arched doors are too small for a giant, and suggests the pole was a May-pole set up in summer and decked with holly and ivy in the hall at Christmas, while the ladder served for decking it and the roof.
Chapter 71
How did the fishmongers' stalls in Old Fish Street grow into tall houses?
The row of small houses in the middle of Knightrider Street began as movable boards or stalls set out on market days to display fish. The fishmongers obtained license to set up sheds, which grew into shops and gradually into tall houses three or four stories high, now called Fish Street. Walter Turke, fishmonger and mayor in 1349, had two shops there.
Chapter 71
Section 723 cards
What did Edward IV's 4th-year ordinance decree about shoe and boot beaks?
It ordained and proclaimed that beaks of shoes and boots should not pass the length of two inches, on pain of cursing by the clergy and, by parliament, payment of twenty shillings for every pair. Stow ties the earlier fashion for piked shoes tied to the knees with silken laces to the example of Anne of Bohemia, wife of Richard II.
Chapter 72
How does Stow explain the names of St. Nicholas Cold Abbey?
Stow says the church was called of many Golden Abbey, of some Gold Abbey or Cold Bey, and so appears in the most ancient writings, as standing in a cold place, like Cold harbour and such like. He notes the ground about it was raised, so men must descend into the body of the church, and that the steeple and south aisle were later building.
Chapter 72
What does Stow record about the church of the Holy Trinity in Knightriders' Street?
Stow calls it a small parish church, very old and in danger of down falling. Collections were made for its repair but will not stretch far enough, so it leaneth upon props or stilts. He lists monuments including John Brian, alderman under Henry V, and Thomas Rishby and Alice his wife within the chancel.
Chapter 72
Section 734 cards
What was St. Mary Mounthaunt originally built to serve?
The chapter states it was first built as a chapel for the house of the Mounthaunts and for tenements belonging to it. It is described as a very small church, with the Bishop of Hereford as patron. Monuments there include John Glocester, alderman in 1345, who gave Salt wharf for two chantries, and John Skip, Bishop of Hereford, who sat twelve years and was buried in the church.
Chapter 73
How did Queen hithe get its name, according to Stow?
Stow traces it to one named Edred, so it was first called Edred's hithe. It later came to King Stephen, who confirmed it by charter to William De Ypre, who granted it to the priory of Holy Trinity Aldgate. It returned to the king's hands by unknown means and pertained to the queen, hence Ripa reginæ, the Queen's bank or Queen's hithe.
Chapter 73
What did Henry III do to enforce trade at Queen hithe?
Henry III commanded the constables of the Tower to arrest Cinque Ports ships on the Thames and compel them to bring their corn only to Queen's hithe. He later charged the constable to distrain all fish offered for sale anywhere in the city except at Queen hithe. A later order amerced foreign ships laden with fish that arrived elsewhere at forty shillings, though London citizens' ships could arrive where owners chose.
Chapter 73
What did the 1302 inquiry find about measuring charges at Queen hithe?
It was found by oath that bakers, brewers, and others buying corn at Queen hithe paid for measuring, portage, and carriage: one halfpenny farthing per quarter to West Cheap, St. Anthonie's, Horshew bridge, and Woolsey street; one penny to Fleet bridge, Newgate, Cripplegate, Bircheovers lane, Eastcheap, and Billingsgate. The meter was to have eight master-porters, each with three porters, one horse, and seven sacks.
Chapter 73
Section 744 cards
What did John Cooke of Gloucester give to London in 1525, and what did he receive?
Cooke gave the mayor and commonalty a great barge with two corn mills placed on the Thames within the city's liberty, plus all timber, boards, stones, and iron for repairing it. In reward the mayor paid him fifty pounds at once and fifty pounds yearly for life; if he died before his wife Johan, she was to receive forty marks yearly for life.
Chapter 74
What was built within the gate of the old stone house near Broken wharf in 1594–95?
A large, tall house called an engine, built by Bevis Bulmar, gentleman, for conveying and forcing Thames water to serve the middle and west parts of the city. The ancient great hall of the messuage still stood and belonged to a great brewhouse for beer. The house itself belonged to the city of London.
Chapter 74
According to Stow, why is Puddle wharf so named?
Stow says horses used to water there, and the ground was defiled by their trampling and made puddle; he adds it was also named after one Puddle dwelling there. He gives both explanations rather than choosing one. The wharf was a watergate into the Thames, near a great brewhouse.
Chapter 74
What did King John grant in the first year of his reign regarding the Fleet?
King John granted a place in the Fleet near Baynard's castle to make a mill, with the whole course of water of the Fleet to serve that mill. Stow notes this mill or mills belonged to the Templars of the New Temple. He also records a 1247 grant of ten shillings yearly rent near the Templars' mill of Fleet.
Chapter 74
Section 754 cards
Why was London's wall near Ludgate rerouted, and how?
The chapter notes that the wall originally ran straight south from Ludgate to the Thames, but for the building of the Blackfriars church it was by commandment taken down. A new wall was made running straight west from Ludgate to Fleet bridge, and then along the water of Fleet to the river of Thames.
Chapter 75
What complaint about the Fleet was raised in 1307, and what was granted?
In 1307, the 35th year of Edward I, in a parliament at Carlisle, Henry Lacie, Earl of Lincoln, complained of annoyances (noyances) done to the water of the Fleet. Thereupon it was granted that the mill in question should be removed and destroyed.
Chapter 75
Why did Queen Mary grant Derby House to the heralds in 1555?
Queen Mary granted Derby House, in the parishes of St Benet and St Peter, to the kings of arms, heralds and pursuivants, and their successors, so they might dwell together at their liking and meet to confer and agree for the good government of their faculty, and so their records might be more safely kept. Dated 18 July 1555.
Chapter 75
What happened to St Paul's west gates in the storms of 1565 and 1589?
On 24 December 1565, a tempest of wind from the west blew open the great west gates of St Paul's, breaking or greatly bending the bars, bolts and locks of iron. On 5 January 1589, a like south-west tempest broke the lesser west gate next to the bishop's palace, bolts, bars and locks, so that it was blown over.
Chapter 75
Section 764 cards
What happened at Peter College in 1549, before the Stationers' hall was built there?
In the year 1549, on the 4th of January, five men were slain by the fall of earth upon them while digging for a well at Peter College. The Stationers' hall was later built on that site in place of the college.
Chapter 76
When and why was Faringdon Ward divided into Within and Without?
Faringdon Without was originally part of Faringdon Within. It was divided and made into two wards in the 17th year of Richard II, taking the names Faringdon infra and Faringdon extra. It is the farthest west ward of the city and the twenty-fifth ward of London, lying outside the walls.
Chapter 76
Who founded St. Bartholomew's hospital and church, and in what year?
The fair parish church and large hospital of St. Bartholomew were founded by Rahere, the first prior of St. Bartholomew's nearby, in the year 1102. Alfune, who had built St. Giles without Cripplegate, became the first hospitaller or proctor for the poor, begging charity for their relief.
Chapter 76
What did John Shirley collect, and what does his epitaph record about his life?
John Shirley, esquire, was a great traveller who collected the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, John Lidgate, and other learned writers, writing them in sundry volumes for posterity. His brass shows him and his wife as pilgrims; his epitaph records twelve children, eight sons and four daughters, and his death in 1456 at age ninety.
Chapter 76
Section 774 cards
Who founded the priory of St. Bartholomew, and where was it built?
Rahere, described as a pleasant-witted gentleman and the king's minstrel, founded the priory about 1102. He built it on part of the morish ground that had served as a common laystall for filth voided from the city. He placed canons there, became their first prior, and served until his death, being buried in a fair monument later renewed by Prior Bolton.
Chapter 77
What happened when Archbishop Boniface visited St. Bartholomew's priory?
According to Matthew Paris, Boniface was received in solemn procession but said he came to visit, not for honour. The canons replied that having a learned bishop, they should not be visited by another in contempt of him. Boniface struck the subprior, rent his cope, and thrust him against a pillar; the canons pulled him down, his men beat them, and the king refused them redress.
Chapter 77
What did Edward Hall claim about Prior Bolton and Harrow on the Hill, and how does Stow respond?
Hall wrote that Bolton, fearing prognostications of floods in 1524, built a house on Harrow on the Hill and provisioned it for two months. Stow says this was not so, as he was credibly informed. He states Bolton was also parson of Harrow, made small repairs to the parsonage-house, and built nothing more there than a dove-house.
Chapter 77
How did Smithfield change from its old uses, and what events were once held there?
Stow laments that encroachments left only a small portion for horse and cattle markets and for military exercises. He records royal jousts there: in 1357 with the Kings of England, France, and Scotland present; in 1362 over five days in May; Alice Perrers riding as Lady of the Sun in Edward III's 48th year; and tournaments under Richard II described by Froissart.
Chapter 77
Section 784 cards
What happened to the Earl of Mare after jousting the Earl of Notingham in 1393?
The Earl of Mare was cast both horse and man and broke two of his ribs in the fall. He was conveyed out of Smithfield toward Scotland but died on the way at York. The joust did not run the full challenge.
Chapter 78
How did the 1442 combat between Sir Philip la Beaufe and John Ansley end?
Ansley cast his spear, which the knight avoided; Ansley then struck many axe blows, made the knight drop his axe, and broke his uniber three times. As Ansley was about to strike with his dagger, the king cried hold. The king then made Ansley a knight.
Chapter 78
What did the king do in the 1430 Smithfield battle between John Upton and John Downe?
John Upton, a notary of Feversham in Kent, accused John Downe and his associates of imagining the king's death on his coronation day. After they had fought a long time, the king took up the matter and forgave both parties.
Chapter 78
How did the 1467 combat between the Bastard of Burgoine and Lord Scales conclude?
They jousted with spears, then tourneyed on horseback, then fought on foot with pole-axes. When Scales's pole-axe entered the Bastard's helm, the king cast down his warder and the marshal severed them. The king judged that the Bastard had relinquished his challenge.
Chapter 78
Section 794 cards
What did Stow record about the 1531 serjeants' feast at Ely House?
Eleven serjeants were made in 1531, 23rd of Henry VIII, and held their feast at Ely House for five days, Friday 10 November through Tuesday. On Monday, the principal day, King Henry and Queen Katherine dined there in two separate chambers, foreign ambassadors in a third, and the Mayor, judges, barons of the exchequer, and aldermen were seated in the hall.
Chapter 79
How does Stow describe the scale and cost of the 1531 feast's provisions?
Stow calls the preparation of fish, flesh, and victuals almost incredible and says it wanted little of a feast at a coronation. He lists quantities and prices to show the change of prices: 24 great beefs at 26s 8d each, 100 fat muttons at 2s 10d, 91 pigs at 6d, 340 dozen larks at 5d the dozen, among other items.
Chapter 79
What does Stow say about the origin of the name Old Bailey?
Stow admits he has not read how the street took its name, but thinks it likely rose from some court of old time kept there. He finds that in 1356, 34th of Edward III, the tenement and ground upon Houndes ditch between Ludgate and Newgate was appointed to John Cambridge, fishmonger and Chamberlain of London, suggesting the chamberlains kept their courts there.
Chapter 79
What does Stow record about William Eastfield's conduit and the Fleet Street water supply?
Stow says William Eastfield, sometime mayor, founded a fair water-conduit against the south end of Shoe lane. The city held a conduit head with springs in Paddington, water conveyed by lead pipes toward London to Teyborne, lying six years or more. In 1453 Eastfield's executors got licence to convey the waters into the city for the common weal: the poor to drink, the rich to dress their meats. The Fleet Street standard was finished in 1471.
Chapter 79
Section 804 cards
Why did Fleet Street inhabitants build the standard cistern and tower in 1478?
The inhabitants of Fleet Street obtained licence from the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty in 1478 to build two cisterns at their own charges, one at the standard and one at Fleet Bridge, to receive waste water. They built the standard cistern and topped it with a stone tower garnished with images of St. Christopher, angels below, and bells that chimed an appointed hymn by an engine at various hours.
Chapter 80
How did the house of the converted Jews become the Rolls in Chancery Lane?
Henry III founded the house for converted Jews in 1233 on a forfeited Jew's house, building a fair church. Converts were baptized, instructed, and maintained under a learned Christian governor. After the Jews were banished from England in 1290 the converts dwindled, and in 1377 the house was annexed by patent to William Burstall, keeper of the Rolls of Chancery, becoming the Rolls.
Chapter 80
How did Bridewell pass from royal lodging to house of correction?
Bridewell was anciently a king's house; Henry VIII rebuilt it for Emperor Charles V's 1522 visit and lodged there himself. In 1553 Edward VI gave it to the city as a workhouse for the poor and idle, with seven hundred marks of land and Savoy furnishings, confirmed by charter. In 1555 the mayor and aldermen took possession, confirmed by Queen Mary.
Chapter 80
What did Stow observe under Fleet Street's pavement in 1595?
When labourers broke up the pavement from Chancery Lane end toward St. Dunstan's and dug four feet deep, Stow observed a second pavement of hard stone, more sufficient and harder to break than the first. Beneath it in the made ground were timber piles driven thick and almost close together, black as pitch or coal, many rotten as earth, which Stow says proves the ground there was a marsh or full of springs.
Chapter 80
Section 814 cards
Who founded the New Temple in London, and when was it dedicated?
The New Temple was founded by the Knights Templars in England during the reign of Henry II. It was dedicated to God and the blessed Lady by Heraclius, Patriarch of the church called the Holy Resurrection in Jerusalem, in the year of Christ 1185. It was called "New" because the Templars previously had their Temple in Oldborne.
Chapter 81
How did the Knights Templars begin around 1118?
Certain noble horsemen, religiously bent, bound themselves by vow before the Patriarch of Jerusalem to serve Christ as regular canons in chastity and obedience, renouncing their own wills. The first were Hugh Paganus and Geffrey de S. Andromare. Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, gave them a dwelling by the Temple, and their first profession was to safeguard pilgrims and keep highways from thieves.
Chapter 81
What happened to the Templars in England in 1308–1310?
In 1308 all the Templars in England, as in other parts of Christendom, were apprehended and committed to divers prisons. In 1310 a provincial council was held at London against them on charges of heresy and other articles. They denied all except one or two, yet confessed they could not fully purge themselves, and were condemned to perpetual penance in several monasteries, where they behaved modestly.
Chapter 81
How did the New Temple pass to the students of common law?
After the Templars' suppression, Edward II granted the New Temple to Aimer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, in 1313. A council at Vienna in 1324 gave Templar lands to the Knights Hospitalers of St. John. Edward III granted the Temple to those knights, who in his eighteenth year leased it for ten pounds yearly to the students of the common laws of England, dividing it into the Inner and Middle Temple.
Chapter 81
Section 824 cards
How was the Temple church's clergy supported, and by whose revenues?
The Temple church had a master, four stipendiary priests, and a clerk. Their stipends for ministering Divine service were allowed out of the possessions and revenues of the late hospital and house of St. John's of Jerusalem in England, as it had been in the reign of Edward VI.
Chapter 82
What did the 1546 proclamation by Henry VIII's command do to the Southwark stews?
In 1546, the 37th of Henry VIII, the row of stews in Southwark was put down by the king's commandment, proclaimed by sound of trumpet, no more to be privileged and used as a common brothel. The inhabitants were instead to keep good and honest rule as in other places of the realm.
Chapter 82
What rules governed the Southwark stew-houses under the old privileges?
Among the orders: no stew-holder could keep a single woman against her will who would leave her sin, receive a woman of religion or any man's wife, or keep a woman with the perilous infirmity of burning. Chamber rent was capped at fourteen pence weekly, doors closed on holidays, and constables and bailiffs searched weekly.
Chapter 82
What happened to St. Margaret on the hill and the other Southwark parish churches?
Southwark had six parish churches, of which five remained. St. Margaret on the hill was put down and became a court for justice. St. Mary Magdalen's parish church became St. Mary Overy, later called St. Saviour, serving both Mary Magdalen and St. Margaret. St. Thomas, St. George, St. Olave, and St. Mary Magdalen by Bermondsey abbey remained.
Chapter 82
Section 834 cards
Who built the body of St. Mary Overie's church, and when?
William Gifford, bishop of Winchester, is noted by some as having built the body of the church in the year 1106, the 7th year of Henry I. The canons first entered the church then, with Algodus as the first prior.
Chapter 83
What happened to the priory church after it burned around 1207?
The canons founded a hospital near their priory and celebrated there until the priory was repaired. By consent of Peter de la Roch, bishop of Winchester, the hospital was moved in 1228 to land of Anicius, archdeacon of Surrey, where water was more plentiful and air more wholesome, and was dedicated to St. Thomas.
Chapter 83
How does Stow describe John Gower's tomb and the three books depicted on it?
Gower lies under a stone tomb with his stone image: auburn hair curling to his shoulders, a forked beard, a chaplet of four roses, a purple damasked habit, and a collar of esses gold. Under his head are three books: Speculum Meditantis in French, Vox Clamantis in Latin, and Confessio Amantis in English, the last being printed.
Chapter 83
What became of the priory after its surrender to Henry VIII in 1539?
The priory was surrendered to Henry VIII on 27 October 1539, valued at £624 6s. 6d. yearly. About Christmas following, the inhabitants of the borough purchased the church, with Bishop Stephen Gardner's help, making it a parish church uniting St. Mary Magdalen and St. Margaret on the hill into one parish of St. Saviour.
Chapter 83
Section 844 cards
What was the Tabard inn's sign, and who made it famous?
The Tabard took its name from the tabard, a sleeveless coat, whole before, open on both sides, with a square collar and winged shoulders—a stately garment once worn by noblemen, with arms embroidered on it so each man might be known. Stow says these are now worn only by heralds. Geoffrey Chaucer, "the most famous poet of England," praised the inn in his verses about pilgrims riding to Canterbury.
Chapter 84
Who refounded St. Thomas's hospital in 1215, and what became of it under Henry VIII?
Richard, prior of Bermondsey, founded the hospital in 1213 as the Almerie, a house of alms for converts and poor children. Peter de Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester, refounded it more fully in 1215 for canons regular. The visitors valued it in 1538 at £266 17s 6d, and it was surrendered to Henry VIII in the 30th year of his reign.
Chapter 84
How did St. Thomas's hospital come to be used for the poor under Edward VI?
In 1552 the citizens of London bought the suppressed hospital and began repairs in July; by November sick and poor people were taken in. In 1553 Edward VI granted the city his house of Bridewell and 700 marks of Savoy rents toward a workhouse for the poor and idle, and for St. Thomas's. His charter of 26 June confirmed the gift and willed the house be called the King's hospital in Southwark.
Chapter 84
What was the Bridgehouse, and what did Sir John Throstone contribute to it?
The Bridgehouse was a storehouse on the Thames bank for stone, timber, and whatever pertained to building or repairing London bridge, with garners for grain and ten ovens—six large, four half-sized—to bake bread corn for relief of poor citizens. Sir John Throstone, knight, once an embroiderer then a goldsmith and sheriff in 1516, gave £200 by his testament toward making these ovens, which his executors performed.
Chapter 84
Section 854 cards
Who founded the hospital of St. Katherine near the Tower of London?
Stow states that the hospital of St. Katherine, by the Tower of London, was founded by Matilda the queen, wife to King Stephen, as he had earlier shown in Portsoken ward. The chapter mentions this as the first building to the east by the Tower before describing the growth of Wapping and Radcliffe.
Chapter 85
What did Edward VI grant the mayor and commonalty of Southwark in 1550, and for what sum?
For six hundred forty-seven pounds two shillings and one penny paid into his court of augmentations, Edward VI granted the mayor and commonalty all his lands and tenements in Southwark, plus the manor of Southwark and lands late of the Archbishop of Canterbury, excepting Southwark place, its gardens, the park, and the Antilope. For five hundred marks more he granted waifs, strays, treasure trove, felons' goods, and a three-day fair.
Chapter 85
How does Stow describe the condition of the common field beyond Whitechapel church?
Stow complains that the common field, once the beauty of the city on that side, is encroached upon by filthy cottages, inclosures, and laystalls, despite proclamations and acts of parliament to the contrary. He says it barely leaves a highway for carriages and cattle, and offers no pleasant or wholesome way for people to walk, calling it a blemish to so famous a city.
Chapter 85
What was the fee-firm Southwark owed the exchequer after Edward I granted it to London's citizens?
Stow records that upon petition by the citizens of London to Edward I in his first year, the borough was granted to them for ever by parliament, yielding into the exchequer the fee-firm of ten pounds by the year. Edward III confirmed the grant and licensed a toll for paving the borough with stone; Henry IV and Edward IV also confirmed it.
Chapter 85
Section 864 cards
Why was the church of St. Mary Matfellon said to have gotten that name?
According to Stow, a Breton servant murdered a widow of the parish about 1428, then claimed sanctuary at St. George in Southwark and abjured the realm. When constables brought him back through the parish, the wives pelted him with street filth and killed him despite the constables' resistance. Stow notes the parish was said to have purchased the name Matfellon from this, but he finds it recorded as Villa beatæ Mariæ de Matfellon in the 21st of Richard II.
Chapter 86
What happened to the row of poor tenants' houses after the hospital's suppression?
The prior of St. Mary Spittle had built a row of small houses with gardens for poor decayed people, each tenant paying one penny yearly at Christmas and dining with the prior on Christmas day. After the suppression, lacking repairs, the houses decayed and the row was called Rotten row. They were sold to Russell, a draper, who rebuilt and let them at high rent with large fines, and the row was renamed Russell's row in his honor.
Chapter 86
How was the Moor Field gradually drained and made firm ground?
Stow traces it in stages: in 1415 Mayor Thomas Fawconer broke the city wall and built Moorgate, cleansing ditches so the fen dried somewhat; in 1477 Mayor Ralph Joceline dug the moor for clay to make bricks, worsening it; in 1512 Mayor Roger Archley cast dikes with arched bridges; and in 1527 Sir Thomas Semor made sluices to carry the waters over the Town ditch into Walbrooke and the Thames, making it main and hard ground.
Chapter 86
What did Londoners do when towns about London inclosed the common fields?
Stow cites Edward Hall: inhabitants of towns such as Iseldon, Hoxton, and Shoreditch had inclosed the common fields with hedges and ditches, so citizens could not shoot or walk there without losing bows or being arrested. A great number assembled, a turner in a fool's coat cried 'Shovels and spades!' through the city, and the hedges were cast down and ditches filled. The king's council heard the mayor's explanation, dissimuled the matter, and the crowd went home without further harm.
Chapter 86
Section 874 cards
What did Sir Walter Manny found at the site of the Charterhouse, and when?
In 1371 Sir Walter Manny founded a house of Carthusian monks called the Salutation, with one monk as prior, giving them thirteen acres and a rod of land with the chapel and houses built there. He had earlier, in 1349, purchased and had consecrated that ground for burials during the great pestilence.
Chapter 87
What did Ralph Stratford, bishop of London, do in 1348?
During the great pestilence, when churchyards could not hold the dead, Ralph Stratford, bishop of London, bought a piece of ground called No Man's Land in 1348, enclosed it with a brick wall, dedicated it for burial, and built a chapel there. It later became a garden retaining the name Pardon churchyard.
Chapter 87
Why was Grub Street's character changing, according to the author?
The author says Grub Street was in late years inhabited mostly by bowyers, fletchers, bow-string makers, and similar occupations, but was then little occupied, because archery was giving place to numerous bowling-alleys and dicing-houses, which he says increased everywhere and were too much frequented.
Chapter 87
What was the Pardon churchyard used for in Stow's time?
The three acres called Pardon churchyard, purchased and dedicated by Ralph Stratford, served for burying those who desperately ended their lives or were executed for felonies. They were fetched in a covered black cart with a white cross and a bell, called the friary cart, which belonged to St. John's and had the privilege of sanctuary.
Chapter 87
Section 884 cards
Who founded the priory of St. John of Jerusalem in England, and when?
The chapter states the priory was founded about the year of Christ 1100 by Jorden Briset, baron, and Muriell his wife, near Clarkes well besides West Smithfield. Jorden had first founded the priory of nuns at Clarkes well, then bought ten acres of land from them, giving them in exchange ten acres in his lordship of Welling hall in Kent.
Chapter 88
What was the profession and habit of the knights of St. John?
Besides their daily service of God, their profession was to defend Christians against pagans and fight for the church. Their habit was a black upper garment with a white cross on the fore part. They were so esteemed that when the Templars were dissolved, parliament granted their lands to these knights, who later recovered Rhodes and then removed to Malta in 1523.
Chapter 88
What happened to the priory church under Edward VI?
The church and house were preserved as a store-house for the king's toils and tents throughout Henry VIII's reign. But in the 3rd of Edward VI, the body and side aisles with the great bell tower — described as a curious piece of workmanship, graven, gilt, and enamelled — was undermined and blown up with gunpowder, and the stone used to build the lord protector's house at the Strand.
Chapter 88
How was the priory of Clarkenwell founded and what was it worth at suppression?
It was founded about 1100 by Jorden Briset, son of Ralph, son of Brian Briset, who gave Robert a priest fourteen acres near Clarkes well to build a house of religious persons, founded to the honour of God and the assumption of our lady, with black nuns placed therein. It was valued at two hundred sixty-two pounds nine shillings yearly and surrendered the 31st of Henry VIII.
Chapter 88
Section 894 cards
Who founded the hospital of St. Giles in the Fields, and when?
The chapter states that St. Giles in the Fields was an hospital founded by Matilda, queen and wife to Henry I, about the year 1117. It stood without the bar and was described in a record of Edward III as founded without the bar of the Old Temple of London and the house of converts. It was founded as a cell to Burton Lazar of Jerusalem.
Chapter 89
What was the origin of the name Whitehall according to Stow?
Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, gave the friars his place at Westminster; they sold it to Walter Grey, archbishop of York, who left it to his successors as their London house, so it was called York Place. In 1529 Henry VIII took it from Cardinal Wolsey and gave it the name Whitehall.
Chapter 89
What happened to the Preaching Friars' first London house by Oldborne?
The friars first settled without the wall by Oldborne near the old Temple. In 1276 the mayor and barons granted Archbishop Robert Kilwarbie two lanes by Baynard's Castle and the tower of Mountfichet to destroy; he built the new church with the tower's leftover stones, and the friars moved there. Edward I then gave the old house to Henry Lacy, earl of Lincoln.
Chapter 89
What was given to prisoners passing St. Giles on the way to Tyburn?
Stow records that prisoners conveyed from the city of London towards Teyborne, there to be executed for treasons, felonies, or other trespasses, were presented at this hospital with a great bowl of ale, to drink at their pleasure, as their last refreshing in this life.
Chapter 89
Section 904 cards
What did Edward, duke of Somerset, do in 1549 to the Strand properties?
By command of Edward, duke of Somerset, uncle to Edward VI and lord protector, the parish of St. Mary at Strand, Strand inn, Strand bridge with its lane, the bishop of Chester's inn, the bishop of Worcester's inn, and all adjoining tenements were pulled down and leveled in 1549. In their place he built the large house called Somerset House.
Chapter 90
What happened to the Savoy when Kentish and Essex rebels burned it in 1381?
The rebels set fire to the Savoy, then proclaimed that none should keep anything on pain of losing his head, but must break gold and silver plate into pieces and throw them into the Thames, and bruise precious stones in mortars. One companion was burned for trying to keep a goodly piece of plate. Gunpowder barrels thrown into the fire blew up the hall.
Chapter 90
How did the Savoy become a hospital, and what happened to it under Edward VI?
Henry VII refounded and rebuilt the Savoy as an hospital of St. John Baptist about 1509, endowing lands to relieve a hundred poor people. Valued at £529 15s yearly, it was suppressed on 10 June in the 7th of Edward VI; its beds and furniture plus 700 marks of land yearly went to the citizens of London with Bridewell.
Chapter 90
Why is the parish church of St. Clement Danes said to bear that name?
Stow says it was so called because Harold, a Danish king, and other Danes were buried there. Harold, whom Canutus had by a concubine, reigned three years and was buried at Westminster; Hardicanutus later had the body dug up and thrown into the Thames, where a fisherman recovered it and buried it in this churchyard.
Chapter 90
Section 914 cards
How did Durham House come to be built, and by whom?
The chapter states Durham House was built by Thomas Hatfield, bishop of Durham, who was made bishop of that see in 1545 and sat there thirty-six years. It stood on the south side of the street in the liberties of Westminster, beginning at Ivy bridge. The chapter also records that in 1540 the May-day challengers rode to Durham House, kept open household, and feasted the king, queen, and court.
Chapter 91
Why is the Mewse near Charing Cross so called, and how did its use change?
It was named for the king's falcons kept there by the king's falconer, an office of great account, as a record of Richard II's first year shows Sir Simon Burley made master of the king's falcons at the Mewse. After the king's stabling at Lomsbery burned in 1534 (28th of Henry VIII), the Mewse was newly built and prepared for the king's horses under Edward VI and Queen Mary.
Chapter 91
What happened to the hospital of St. James before Henry VIII built St. James's manor?
The chapter says the hospital of St. James, founded by citizens of London before any man's memory for fourteen leprous sisters living chastely in divine service, later gained eight brethren and lands, confirmed by Edward I, who granted a fair on St. James's eve and following days in his 18th year. It was surrendered to Henry VIII in his 23rd year; the sisters received pensions for life, and the king built a manor and brick-walled park there.
Chapter 91
What did Edward III decree about wool and silver, and what did the Westminster staple yield?
The chapter records that Edward III in his 17th year decreed no silver be carried out of the realm on pain of death, and that whoever transported wool must bring back four nobles of silver bullion per sack. In his 27th year the staple was moved from Bruges to various English, Welsh, and Irish towns including Westminster, said to bring the king £1,102 yearly more than predecessors received.
Chapter 91
Section 924 cards
What did Edward III ordain regarding the staple of wool in his 37th year?
In the 37th year of Edward III, the staple of wool was ordained to be kept at Callis despite the king's oath and other great estates. Twenty-six of England's best and wealthiest merchants became farmers of the town and staple for three years, each providing six men of arms and four archers at the king's cost. Two mayors were appointed, one for the town and one for the staple.
Chapter 92
Why did citizens complain in the 50th year of Edward III about the staple?
In a London parliament, it was complained that the staple of wool had been removed from Callis to various English towns, contrary to statute. The exchange there was estimated at eight thousand pounds yearly, and citizens and merchants had arranged matters so the king spent nothing on soldiers or town defense, whereas now he spent eight thousand pounds a year.
Chapter 92
Who founded the monastery at Westminster, and why was the site called Thorney?
The monastery was founded and built by Sebert, king of the East Saxons, upon the persuasion of Ethelbert, king of Kent, after Sebert embraced Christianity and was baptized by Melitus, bishop of London. He built a church to God and St. Peter on the west side of London, in a place overgrown with thorns and surrounded by water, which the Saxons called Thorney, now called Westminster.
Chapter 92
What did Henry VII do with Henry III's Lady chapel and the White Rose tavern?
About 1502, Henry VII caused the chapel of our Lady, built by Henry III, along with a tavern called the White Rose nearby, to be taken down. On the plot, the first stone of the new chapel was laid on January 24 by Abbot Islip and others, with the date and year engraved on the stone. The building charges amounted to fourteen thousand pounds.
Chapter 92
Section 934 cards
What sanctuary privileges did Westminster Church hold, and who granted them?
The church, churchyard, and close held sanctuary: no prince or other person could lawfully take anyone who fled there for any cause. The privilege was first granted by Sebert, king of the East Saxons, increased by Edgar, king of the West Saxons, and renewed and confirmed by Edward the Confessor, whose charter promises refuge-seekers life, liberty, and limbs.
Chapter 93
What did William Rufus say when told his new hall at Westminster was too great?
According to Roger of Wendover and Matthew Paris, William Rufus, feasting in his newly built hall, replied that it was not big enough by half and was but a bed-chamber compared to what he meant to make. Some said the hall measured 270 feet long and 74 feet broad.
Chapter 93
Where was Chaucer buried, and who raised his monument?
Chaucer, called the most famous poet of England, was buried in the cloister in 1400. Nicholas Brigham, gentleman, later raised a monument for him in the south cross aisle of the church. Stow notes his works were printed by Caxton, increased by William Thinne, and corrected and increased through Stow's own labours, then published by Thomas Speght in 1597.
Chapter 93
How did Henry III's 1236 Christmas charity feed the poor at Westminster?
William de Haverhull, the king's treasurer, was commanded to feed six thousand poor people at Westminster on the day of the Circumcision for the state of the king, queen, and their children. The weak and aged were placed in the great hall and lesser hall, the strong in the king's chamber, and the children in the queen's; the king would allow the charge in the accounts.
Chapter 93
Section 944 cards
What happened to the Thames at Westminster in 1236 and 1242?
The chapter records that in 1236 the Thames overflowed its banks, turning the marshes near Woolwich into a sea and drowning many inhabitants; at Westminster men rowed wherries in the great hall and had to ride to their chambers. In 1242 the Thames overflowed near Lambhithe, drowning houses and fields for six miles, and men took their horses in the great hall because water ran over all.
Chapter 94
What did Henry III do in 1256 at the Exchequer of the hall?
Henry III sat in the exchequer of the hall and set down orders for sheriffs to appear and bring in their accounts. Each sheriff was fined five marks because they had not distrained every person able to spend fifteen pounds of land a year to receive knighthood, as commanded. The mayor, aldermen, and sheriffs of London, accused of oppression, submitted before the king and were condemned to pay fines, and each was discharged of assise and ward.
Chapter 94
How did Richard II rebuild and use the great hall in 1397–1398?
Richard II began repairing the hall in 1397, taking down walls, windows, and roof and making them new, with a stately porch and lodgings, funded by money from banished strangers who bought licenses to stay. Finished in 1398, he kept a royal Christmas there with daily jousts; the author says twenty-eight or twenty-six oxen and three hundred sheep were spent daily, his gown was worth three thousand marks, and ten thousand people came to meat each day.
Chapter 94
Where were the courts of law established and what were the four terms?
In 1224, under Henry III, it was agreed that a standing place be appointed in the great hall at Westminster, where three judgment seats were ordained: Common Pleas at the entry on the right, King's Bench at the upper right, and the chancellor's court on the left. Pleading times were four terms yearly: Hillary (23 January to 12 February), Easter (seventeen days after Easter to four days after Ascension), Trinity (six or seven days after Trinity Sunday to the Wednesday fortnight after), and Michaelmas (9 October to 28 November).
Chapter 94
Section 954 cards
Who collected fines and amerciaments from the said courts, and where was he answerable?
The sheriff of the shire gathered fines or amerciaments extracted from the said courts, along with arrears of accounts for customs, taxes, subsidies, and similar matters, and was answerable for them in the Exchequer. By contrast, ordinary rents of patrimonial lands, and most commonly taxes, customs, and subsidies, had particular receivers and collectors who answered into the Exchequer.
Chapter 95
Why is the Star chamber so called, and what business was heard there?
The author says the place is called the Star chamber because its roof was decked with the likeness of gilt stars. There plaints were heard of riots, routs, and other misdemeanors; if found by the king's council, the offender was censured by the persons sitting, who spoke one after another, and he was both fined and commanded to prison.
Chapter 95
What did Edward III do for St. Stephen's chapel in 1347?
The chapel was newly built with far more curious workmanship by King Edward III in 1347 for thirty-eight persons: a dean, twelve secular canons, thirteen vicars, four clerks, five choristers, and two servitors (a verger and a keeper of the chapel). He endowed it with lands worth five hundred pounds yearly and built them housing near the Thames.
Chapter 95
What did the bells' inscriptions claim, and what did weighing them reveal?
Men fabuled that ringing the bells soured all the drink in town, and the biggest bell bore verses claiming King Edward made it thirty thousand and three, and that weighing it would find more. But when taken down, all three together weighed not twenty thousand. The author contrasts a Rouen bell whose inscription likewise boasts of thirty-five and thirty-six thousand.
Chapter 95
Section 964 cards
According to Stow, who first preached the Christian faith in Britain and when?
Stow writes that the Christian faith was first preached in Britain (then called Britaine) by Joseph of Arimathea and his brethren, disciples of Christ, in the time of Aruiragus, then governor under the Roman emperor. He later notes that King Lucius sent ambassadors to Eleutherius, bishop of Rome, requesting teachers of the faith.
Chapter 96
Why does Stow doubt the list of London archbishops from Joceline of Furnes?
Stow records a bishop of London named Restitutus who attended the second council at Arles in 326 under Constantine, subscribing as bishop of the city of London. Since Restitutus did not style himself archbishop, Stow says this makes the archbishop list doubtful or rather overthrows that opinion, leaving its credit to learned judgment.
Chapter 96
How did Miletus become bishop of London and what churches were built?
In 604 Augustine consecrated Miletus and Justus, appointing Miletus to preach to the East Saxons whose chief city was London. King Sebert, nephew of Ethelbert, was converted by Miletus's preaching. Ethelbert built St. Paul's church in London, where Miletus began as bishop in 619 and sat five years. Sebert also built Westminster.
Chapter 96
What does Stow report about the church of St. Peter upon Cornhill?
Stow says a table remains in the parish church of St. Peter upon Cornhill stating that Lucius founded it as an archbishop's see and metropolitan church of his kingdom, enduring four hundred years until Augustine the monk came from Rome in the Saxons' reign. Stow notes the archbishops' names come only from Joceline of Furnes.
Chapter 96
Section 974 cards
Who was the first bishop of London in Stow's list, and what offices did he hold before Canterbury?
Dunstan, abbot of Glastonberie, became bishop of Worcester and then bishop of London before being translated to Canterbury in 960. The chapter presents him as the earliest entry in this succession of London bishops, noting his earlier abbacy and his move through Worcester to London.
Chapter 97
What did Bishop William obtain from William the Conqueror for London?
William, a Norman chaplain to Edward the Confessor, was made bishop of London in 1051, sat seventeen years, and died in 1070. The chapter says he obtained from William the Conqueror the charter of liberties for the city of London, as Stow set down in his Summary and as appears by William's epitaph in Paul's church.
Chapter 97
What did Bishop Maurice do after the 1086 fire, and how long was he bishop?
In Maurice's time, in 1086, the church of St. Paul was burnt along with most of the city. The chapter says Maurice therefore laid the foundation of a new large church, and that he sat twenty-two years and died in 1107, according to Paris.
Chapter 97
How did Bishop Roger Niger respond to the usurers of London?
The chapter says Roger Niger admonished the usurers of his time to leave such enormities and do penance. When they laughed him to scorn and threatened him, he generally excommunicated and accursed all such, and commanded that such usurers depart farther from the city of London, which had hitherto been ignorant of that mischief, lest his diocese be infected.
Chapter 97
Section 984 cards
Who was elected Bishop of London in 1550 and what did he grant to King Edward VI?
Nicholas Ridley, bishop of Rochester, was elected bishop of London and installed in St. Paul's on 12 April 1550. By a deed dated the twelfth day after Christmas in the fourth year of Edward VI, he gave the king the manors of Branketrie and Southminster, the patronage of Cogshall in Essex, the manors of Stebunheth and Hackney in Middlesex, and the marsh of Stebunheth, with lands and the advowson of Cogshall vicarage.
Chapter 98
What happened to Edmund Boner's bishopric under Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth?
Boner was elected to London in 1539 while ambassador abroad. On 1 September 1549 he preached at Paul's cross; charged before Edward VI's council by William Latimer and John Hooper, he was sent to the Marshalsey on the 20th and deprived. Queen Mary restored him on 5 August 1553; Queen Elizabeth deposed him in July 1559, and he died in the Marshalsey in 1569, buried at midnight in St. George's churchyard.
Chapter 98
How did Richard Fitz James's tomb and chapel at St. Paul's meet their end?
Fitz James died in 1521 and was buried beneath the north-west pillar of the steeple in St. Paul's, under a fair marble tomb, over which a fair timber chapel with stairs was built. The chapel was burned by fire from the steeple in 1561, and the tomb was taken down.
Chapter 98
What did Stow say about the size and composition of the London diocese?
Stow writes that the diocese contains the city of London, all of Middlesex and Essex, and part of Hertfordshire. Its bishops have as assistants at St. Paul's a dean, chaunter, chancellor, treasurer, five archdeacons (London, Middlesex, Essex, Colchester, and St. Alban's), and thirty prebendaries, plus a college of twelve petty canons, six vicars choral, and choristers for the choir.
Chapter 98
Section 994 cards
How many parish churches does Stow count in London's wards and Southwark?
Stow states that in the twenty-six wards of London and the borough of Southwark there are parish churches to the number of one hundred and fourteen. Adding nine suburban churches, two in Westminster, and St. Paul's Cathedral and the collegiate church of St. Peter at Westminster, he totals one hundred and twenty-three parish churches.
Chapter 99
What did Edward III order regarding lepers in London in his 20th year?
Stow records that Edward III commanded the mayor and sheriffs to proclaim in every ward that all leprous persons inhabiting the city and suburbs should leave within fifteen days. No one was to shelter them on pain of forfeiting his house. Lepers were to be removed to outlying places in the fields, away from sound people, whereupon lazar-houses were built some distance outside the city.
Chapter 99
Which hospitals does Stow say were NOT suppressed and remained in force?
Stow notes that St. Katherine's by the Tower, founded by Matilde, wife of King Stephen, was not suppressed but remained in force as before. The Savoy hospital, founded by Henry VII and suppressed by Edward VI, was newly founded, endowed, and furnished again by Queen Mary and so remained. God's house poor men still received their allowance from the mercers despite suppression.
Chapter 99
What did the 1200 synod at Westminster decree about lepers' churches and tithes?
Stow reports that a provincial synod at Westminster under Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, in 1200, decreed according to the Lateran council that when enough lepers assembled to build a church and churchyard and have their own priest, they should be permitted to do so without contradiction, provided they did not injure old churches. It was further decreed they need not pay tithes of their gardens or increase of cattle.
Chapter 99
Section 1004 cards
According to Robert Fabian, what happened to the book of London's old laws and customs?
Fabian says the old governors' laws and customs were recorded in a book called Dooms' day, written in Saxon. When the laws changed, and because the book was small, defaced, and hard to read, it was less valued, so it was embezzled and lost. Stow notes he still recovered information from other old registers and records.
Chapter 100
What liberties did William the Conqueror's charter grant to the bishop, portgrave, and burgesses of London?
The charter, in Saxon and corrected into English, greets Bishop William, Godfrey the portgrave, and all burgesses, French and English. It grants that they be law-worthy as in King Edward's days, that each child be his father's heir, and that no man do them wrong.
Chapter 100
What did the citizens of London obtain in the first year of Richard I regarding their governance?
They obtained to be governed by two bailiffs, also called sheriffs in ancient deeds, who used the same office of shrivewicke for which the city paid a fee farm of three hundred pounds yearly since Henry I. They also obtained a mayor as principal governor and lieutenant of the city.
Chapter 100
Who was London's first mayor, and how long did he serve?
Henry Fitz Alwin Fitz Liefstane, a goldsmith, was appointed by King Richard I and served from the 1st of Richard I until the 15th of King John, over twenty-four years. The first bailiffs, Henry Cornhill and Richard Reynere, entered office at Michaelmas 1189.
Chapter 100
Section 1014 cards
What privilege did the king grant regarding the mayor and the barons of the exchequer in 1250?
The king granted that the mayor should be presented to the barons of the exchequer, and that they should admit him. This is recorded under the year 1250, the 35th year, when Humfrey Bat and William Fitz Richard were sheriffs and John Norman was mayor.
Chapter 101
What happened to London's liberties in 1252, and why?
The liberties of the city were seized, and the mayor was charged that he had not looked to the assise of bread. This occurred in 1252, the 37th year, when William Durham and Thomas Wimborne were sheriffs and John Tolason, draper, was mayor.
Chapter 101
What defensive measure did citizens take in 1263, and what happened to it in 1265?
In 1263 the citizens of London fortified the city with iron chains drawn across their streets. In 1265 the chains and posts in London were plucked up, the mayor and principal citizens were committed to ward, and Othon, constable of the tower, was made custos of the city.
Chapter 101
What did Edward III grant London regarding war and the city's liberties?
Edward III granted that the mayor should be justice for gaol delivery at Newgate, that citizens should not be constrained to go out of London to any war, and that the city's liberties and franchises should never again for any cause be taken into the king's hands. He also granted by letters patents dated 6 March that no escheater should be in the city but the mayor.
Chapter 101
Section 1024 cards
What did Walter Nele give lands for, and what was his trade?
Walter Nele was a bladesmith who gave lands to the repairing of the high ways about London. He served as sheriff in 1337, the 11th year, alongside Nicholas Crane, with Henry Darcy as mayor. The chapter records this gift as his notable contribution to the city.
Chapter 102
What rule did Adam Francis procure regarding known whores' head attire?
In 1352, mayor Adam Francis, a mercer, procured an act of parliament that no known whore should wear any hood or attire on her head except red or striped cloth of divers colours. The chapter notes he was also one of the founders of the college in Guildhall chapel, Henry Fowke being the other.
Chapter 102
What did Henry Barton ordain about winter lights in London?
Henry Barton, a skinner who was mayor in 1416, ordained that lanthorns with lights be hanged out on the winter evening between Hallontide and Candlemasse. The chapter records this as his ordinance during his mayoralty, alongside other mayors' civic works such as building churches and founding colleges.
Chapter 102
How did William Sevenoke become free of the grocers' company?
William Sevenoke, son of William Rumsched of Sevenoke in Kent, was bound apprentice to Hugh de Bois, citizen and ferrer of London. When his term expired in 1394, he alleged his master had used the trade of a grocer rather than a ferrer, and required to be made free of the grocers' company, which was granted. He later founded a free school and alms houses in Sevenoke.
Chapter 102
Section 1034 cards
What did Simon Eyre build in London, and for what purpose?
The chapter states that Simon Eyre, mayor in 1445, built the Leaden hall in London to serve as a common garner (granary) for the city. The entry appears among the yearly lists of sheriffs and mayors, noting his mayoralty in the 24th year of Henry VI's reign.
Chapter 103
How did John Norman change the way mayors traveled to Westminster?
According to the chapter, John Norman, mayor in 1453, was the first mayor to be rowed to Westminster by water. Before his time, mayors rode on horseback to Westminster. The entry presents this as a notable innovation in mayoral practice.
Chapter 103
What did Philip Malpas leave to the poor at his death?
The chapter records that Philip Malpas gave one hundred and twenty pounds to poor prisoners. For five years annually he provided four hundred and three shirts and smocks, forty pairs of sheets, and one hundred and fifty gowns of frieze to the poor, one hundred marks to poor maids' marriages, one hundred marks to highways, and six shillings and eight pence to each of five hundred poor people in London.
Chapter 103
What happened in 1484 regarding London's sheriffs and mayors?
The chapter states that in 1484 there were three sheriffs and three mayors, a situation caused by the sweating sickness. Thomas Hill, one of those mayors, by his testament appointed the water-conduit in Grasse street to be built.
Chapter 103
Section 1044 cards
What did Sir William Capell, mayor in 1503, order placed in every ward?
Sir William Capell, draper, made knight by Henry VII, caused a cage to be set in every ward of London for the punishment of vagabonds. The chapter records this as his notable act as mayor in the year 1503, the 19th year of the mayoral list, alongside sheriffs Christopher Hawes, Robert Wats, and Thomas Granger.
Chapter 104
What rule about mayoral terms was decreed in 1529?
In 1529, the 21st year listed, it was decreed that no man should be mayor of London more than one year. The mayor that year was Sir Raph Dodmer, mercer, with sheriffs Michael Dormer and Walter Champion. The chapter notes that from the time of Sir James Yarford (1519) onward, mayors were for the most part knighted by courtesy of the kings.
Chapter 104
What did Henry Keble contribute to Aldermary church?
Henry Keble, grocer, mayor in 1510 with sheriffs John Milborne and John Rest, gave one thousand pounds toward the new building of his parish church of Aldermary. The chapter records this gift as his principal act, listed among the charitable and civic works of the mayors of that period.
Chapter 104
Why did Stow leave his planned chapters unfinished?
Stow says he had thought to write more at large about the city's governors, but forbore because James Dalton, a citizen born, promised such a labour. Dalton died without finishing it — which Stow calls a common fault to promise more than to perform — and Stow, hearing of no other taker, was minded to add chapters but was visited with sickness that kept him from his study.
Chapter 104
Section 1053 cards
How did the selection of sheriffs change over time, according to Stow?
Stow says sheriffs were of old chosen out of the commonalty, and often never became aldermen, just as many aldermen were never sheriffs yet rose to mayor. But of late, by occasion, sheriffs have been made aldermen before or presently after election. He cites Nicholas Faringdon, never sheriff yet four times mayor, reproving the bye word that a man will be mayor before he is sheriff.
Chapter 105
What livery did men receive for contributing to the mayor's benevolence?
Clerks of companies inquired who would take the mayor's livery; the money was a benevolence of at least twenty shillings, put in a purse with the givers' names and delivered to the mayor by the first of December. Each giver then received four yards of broad cloth, striped athwart in different colours, to make a 'ray gown' — the livery of the mayor and sheriffs, differing in colours.
Chapter 105
Which company first obtained a guild or brotherhood in London, and which came next?
Stow says the first company he reads of as a guild, brotherhood, or fraternity in the city were the weavers, whose guild was confirmed by Henry II. The next was the fraternity of St. John Baptist, called of tailors and linen-armourers, which King Edward I in the 28th year of his reign confirmed by that name, granting the brethren authority yearly to choose a governor or master with wardens.
Chapter 105
Section 1064 cards
According to Stow, when did square bonnets begin to be worn in England?
The author argues that the use of square bonnets worn by noblemen, gentlemen, citizens, and others began in England under Henry VII and in his time. He says he can find no counterfeit or other proof of their use at any earlier date, though he notes John Welles, mayor under Henry VI, wore a hat in time of triumph that differed from later hats.
Chapter 106
What did London's citizens wear to meet Henry VII in 1485, and why?
In 1485, the first year of Henry VII, the mayor, aldermen, sheriffs, and commonalty were all clothed in violet, described by Stow as a mourning colour. They met the king at Shoreditch and conveyed him to St Paul's church, where he offered his banners.
Chapter 106
How does the Discourse explain the origin and purpose of cities?
The Discourse derives city names from Latin, Greek, and Saxon roots, then cites Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero to argue cities were instituted for utility and the good life. It says men gathered in cities learn justice, obey superiors, receive doctrine more fitly, and that the liberal sciences and manual arts flourish only in peopled towns.
Chapter 106
What benefits does the Discourse claim cities bring to a realm?
The Discourse lists commodities of cities: men are drawn from barbarous ferity to mildness, humanity, and justice; God's doctrine is more fitly delivered where people assemble often; inhabitants are better ordered and instructed; good behaviour is called urbanitas because found in cities; and wealth, called the subsidy of war and ornament of peace, increases chiefly in towns for prince and people.
Chapter 106
Section 1073 cards
According to Stow, why is London's position on the Thames superior to Trent or Severn?
The author argues the Thames reaches furthest inland and is most navigable, letting London sit near the middle of the course. This gives it easier provision of necessaries than towns on Trent or Severn, and lets it share its traffic with the rest of the realm. It also opens on France and Flanders, close enough for intelligence yet far enough from sudden danger.
Chapter 107
What did the alderman say when told Queen Mary planned to move parliament and term to Oxford?
He asked whether she also meant to divert the Thames from London. Told no, he replied that by God's grace London would do well enough whatever became of the term and parliament. Stow adds that as a young scholar at Oxford he saw preparations made, and heard the common voice that hay provision could not serve ten days.
Chapter 107
What martial services does Stow list to show London's defense of the realm?
He notes Danish sieges by Sweyne and Canutus that were repulsed, Earl Goodwin resisted by the citizens, and Maude's flight at Winchester through Londoners and Kentishmen. He adds William Walworth rescuing Richard II and killing Wat Tiler, Jack Cade resisted until his company dispersed, and Fauconbridge repulsed and chased to Stratford.
Chapter 107
Section 1084 cards
What did Stow argue about London's size and its risk of sedition?
The author argues London's population is very large, exceeding Hippodamus's ten thousand, but that it is not so great as populous. He claims the city breeds no fear of sedition because its people consist not of extremes but of a mediocrity of wealth, with most citizens neither too rich nor too poor, citing Aristotle that great cities are freer from sedition because mediocrity dominates there.
Chapter 108
According to Stow, what two causes explain English rebellions, and why is London less prone to them?
The author argues English rebellions stem from ambition and covetousness. Ambition reigns in high and noble persons seeking popularity, but in London office is a burden and men shun the mayoralty, with no strong faction. Covetousness possesses the needy and unthrifty, who bear little sway because most of the multitude has competent wealth and is bent to honest labour.
Chapter 108
How did London's municipal government change from the Conqueror to Edward III?
Stow says William the Conqueror found a portreeve, Godfrey, appointed by the prince rather than chosen by citizens. Richard I, needing money for his Holy Land expedition, let Londoners purchase the right to choose two bailiffs yearly; King John changed these into a mayor and two sheriffs; Henry III added aldermen, first yearly eligible, later made perpetual magistrates and justices of the peace by Edward III.
Chapter 108
What does Stow conclude about London's government relative to the rest of the realm?
The author argues London is, in respect of the whole realm, but a citizen and no city, a subject and no free estate, governed by the same law as the rest of the realm in criminal and civil causes, a few customs excepted. It sends two burgesses and two knights to parliament, pays subsidy without exemption, and differs from the realm not in substance but in ceremony, in names and choice of officers and in guilds.
Chapter 108
Section 1094 cards
Why does Stow argue London's common treasure cannot be large?
The author argues London's public revenue barely covers maintaining the bridge and conduits and paying officers and servants; toll only covers the fee farm paid to the prince, fines for default of appearance are never levied, and profits of the courts go to particular men. He adds that the city cannot meet extraordinary charges without general contribution, and that chief officers who became bankrupt departed without relief.
Chapter 109
Where does London's public armour and munition remain kept?
The public armour and munition remain in the halls of the companies, as throughout the whole realm, for a great part in the parish churches. Stow notes it is not kept together except in obedience to the law commanding it, and therefore, if it threatened danger to the estate, another law could take it away and commit it to a safer armoury.
Chapter 109
What does Stow say about the balance of exports and imports?
Since England has no gold or silver mines, Stow argues treasure must come from trade. Following Cato's counsel that a father of a family should be a seller, not a buyer, if more commodities in value are carried overseas than brought in, the realm receives the overplus in money; if imports exceed exports, the realm pays the difference in ready money and loses by that ill husbandry.
Chapter 109
How does Stow answer the charge that London drains other towns?
Stow concedes navigation has decayed in many port towns and flourishes chiefly at London, but attributes this partly to the fall of the Staple, partly to the impairing of havens, and partly to the dissolution of religious houses. For retailers and craftsmen, he says it is no marvel they leave country towns, since the court now abides mostly at or near London, drawing gentlemen who then buy there.
Chapter 109
Section 1104 cards
According to Stow, what four heads explain why princes fined London or seized its liberties?
Stow reduces the causes to four heads: citizens aiding or arming with those who warred on the prince; making tumult and breaking the common peace at home; misbehaving in government and justice; and, to speak plainly, princes taking hold of small matters and coining good sums of money from them.
Chapter 110
Which three kings does Stow name as the only heavy lords to London?
Stow names King Henry III, King Edward II, and King Richard II as the three only kings in the whole catalogue who were heavy lords to London. He argues London never led the dance in their troubles but ever followed the pipe of the nobility, being a friend and fautor but never the first motive of intestine war.
Chapter 110
What does Stow say about the seizure of London's liberties as punishment?
Stow lists seizures of liberties for a false judgment against a widow, Margaret Viel, in 1246; two seizures in one year, 1258, for false packing in money collections; and a seizure by King Edward I in 1285 for bakers taking bribes. He says this seizing and resuming of liberties, once the only ordinary punishment, was at length mitigated by statutes of Edward III and Henry IV.
Chapter 110
How does FitzStephen describe London's climate, religion, and churches?
FitzStephen says London's temperate climate softens men's minds, not to licentiousness but to kindness and generosity. He notes St Paul's episcopal see, formerly metropolitan and thought it may be so again, and counts thirteen larger conventual churches plus one hundred and thirty-six lesser parochial ones in London and the suburbs.
Chapter 110
Section 1112 cards
What does Stow claim about London's population under King Stephen?
Stow reports that in the wars under King Stephen, London sent out to a muster twenty thousand armed horsemen esteemed fit for war, and sixty thousand infantry. He presents this as evidence that the city is ennobled by her men and filled with a multitude of inhabitants.
Chapter 111
What are the only inconveniences of London that Stow names?
Stow says the only inconveniences of London are the immoderate drinking of foolish persons and the frequent fires. He otherwise praises the city's approved customs—attending churches, keeping festivals, giving alms, receiving strangers, contracting marriages, and arranging funerals—and notes that bishops, abbots, and great men are in a manner citizens and freemen of London.
Chapter 111
Section 1124 cards
What winter sport on the frozen marsh is described, and what risks does it carry?
When the great north marsh freezes, young men crowd onto the ice: some slide, some sit on large ice pieces and are dragged by companions, and experts bind animal shinbones under their feet and use iron-shod poles to move as fast as a bird or crossbow bolt. Two skaters may charge each other from opposite sides and strike with poles; one or both fall, sometimes with broken limbs or heads laid bare to the skull.
Chapter 112
How is the Easter water game at the target conducted, and how does a rider win?
A target is fixed to a tree trunk in the middle of the river. A young man stands in the prow of a boat driven by oars and current and strikes the target with his lance. If he breaks the lance and keeps his position unmoved, he gains his point; if the lance is not shivered, he is tumbled into the river. Two boats wait to pick up the striker when he surfaces.
Chapter 112
What summer and winter sports does the chapter list for young men and maidens?
In summer the young men practice leaping, archery, wrestling, stone-throwing, slinging javelins beyond a mark, and fighting with bucklers, while maidens dance under the risen moon. Almost every winter holyday before dinner, foaming boars and huge-tusked hogs intended for bacon fight for their lives, or fat bulls and immense boars are baited with dogs.
Chapter 112
What hunting rights and royal or religious figures does the chapter claim for London?
The citizens have the right of hunting in Middlesex, Hertfordshire, all the Chilterns, and Kent as far as the river Cray. The chapter says London produced Constantine, who gave Rome and the empire's insignia to God, St. Peter, and Pope Sylvester, held the pope's stirrup, and built Byzantium; it also names Empress Matilda, King Henry III, and St. Thomas the archbishop.
Chapter 112
Section 1134 cards
What does Stow's Survey list regarding London's schools and houses of learning?
The index entry "Schools, and other houses of learning, 66 ff." indicates Stow devotes a section to London's schools and educational houses beginning at page 66. Related entries include grammar schools such as St. Paul's school, St. Anthony's Grammar school, and St. Dunstan's Grammar School, plus the Inns of Court and Chancery listed under "Houses of Students in the Common Law."
Chapter 113
Which Inns of Court and houses of law does the index list?
The index lists "Houses of Students in the Common Law, 70 ff." and names the Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Gray's inn, Lincoln's inn, New inn, Lion's inn, Furnival's inn, Scrop's inn, Sergeants' inn, and Sargeants' inn, mostly at page 71. It also lists Legat's inn at page 62.
Chapter 113
What City gates and wall features does the index record?
The index lists "Gates in the wall of the City, 27" and "London, Wall of, 7, 326." Named gates and posterns include Ludgate (27, 28, 36), Newgate (33), Moorgate (27), the Postern (27, 44), Moregate Postern (31, 32), Oyster gate (40), and Porta Contractorum, also called Criplesgate (32).
Chapter 113
Which livery company halls and company entries appear in this section?
The index lists halls including Fruiterers' hall (217), Girdlers' hall (256), Goldsmiths' hall (273), Grocers' hall (235), Haberdashers' hall (260, 267), Innholders' hall (207), Joiners' hall (208), Masons' hall (255), Merchant Tailors' hall (163), Pewterers' hall (180), Plumbers' hall (217), Saddlers' hall (281), Salters' hall (310), Shoemakers' hall (314), and Skinners' hall (206). It also lists Goldsmiths' company at page 12.
Chapter 113
Section 1144 cards
What does the transcriber's note say about footnote 51?
The transcriber's note states that footnote 51 is referenced twice in the text. This note appears among the end matter of the volume, alongside remarks on superscript notation and printing corrections, and it flags the double reference as something the reader should be aware of rather than an error that was changed.
Chapter 114
How does the transcriber treat inconsistent spellings in the text?
The transcriber lists many inconsistent spellings that the book includes, such as Aeldresgate and Ældresgate, Bridwell and Bridewell, and Walbrook and Walbrooke. These variants are recorded rather than standardized, and the note also says many instances of inconsistent punctuation have not been changed, so the text preserves the original's irregularities.
Chapter 114
What kinds of printing errors were corrected according to the note?
The note lists corrected printing errors by page, including 'Glibert' changed to 'Gilbert' on p. 17, 'Enchange' changed to 'Exchange' on p. 173, and 'partiarch' changed to 'patriarch' on p. 355. It also records punctuation fixes, such as 'so called.' changed to 'so called,' on p. 243.
Chapter 114
What does the note say about possible printing errors it did not change?
The note separately lists possible printing errors that were left unchanged, such as 'reparing' on p. 11, 'where thither' on p. 62, and 'Three needle street' on p. 158. It also notes that a cross-reference to Marke lane points to a non-existent entry, showing the transcriber distinguished corrections from preserved oddities.
Chapter 114
Source and licence
Text used: Project Gutenberg eBook #42959 (Public domain in the United States). Generated from the full text; cards paraphrase the source.
Version: Public domain edition. Retrieved 2026-11-02. Cards reviewed 2026-11-02.
These cards paraphrase the text for study. They are not a substitute for reading the book, and they do not reproduce long passages.
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