CHAPTER XI.

Norwich in the Sixteenth Century.

AT the commencement of this century most of the houses in the city were built of wood with thatched roofs. This accounts for the number of fires which broke out at different times, and which, in 1507 and 1509, reduced a large portion of the city to ashes, no fewer than 718 houses being consumed in the latter year. These conflagrations induced the corporation, in 1509, to issue an order that no newly-erected buildings in the city should be covered with thatch, but this injunction not extending to those previously erected, some few still retain this dangerous covering.

In 1501, John Rightwise, then mayor, began building the cross in the Market Place, and finished it in 1503. It was a commodious and handsome pile, but falling into decay, it was sold by the Tonnage Committee in 1732 for £125, and soon afterwards it was taken down. About 1506, St. Andrew’s Church was built, near the site of the old church of St. Christopher.

Henry VIII. began his reign on April 22nd, 1509, when the city was in a state of great distraction, on account of the terrible fires which caused much destruction of property. In that year a great part of the cathedral, with its vestry, and all the ornaments and books were destroyed by a fire, which broke out on St. Thomas’ night. In 1515, the Lady Mary, sister to the king, and her consort the Duke of Suffolk, visited the city on their return from France, and were nobly entertained. Henry VIII., while he continued a papist, burned the reformers; and when in a fit of anger he disowned the pope and assumed the English tiara, he was no less zealous against both Papist and Puritan, who would not bind their consciences to his royal decrees. During the prelacy of Richard Nykke or Nix, the bigotted bishop of Norwich, several church reformers were burnt here and at other places.

In 1517, Cardinal Wolsey visited the city to mediate between the citizens and the monks, but their disputes were not finally settled till 1524, when the jurisdiction of the convent was ascertained and separated from that of the corporation until 1538, when they were converted into a dean and chapter.

On March 2nd, 1520, Queen Catherine and Cardinal Wolsey visited the city, and all the city companies went to meet the queen “in Puke and Dirke Tawney Liveries,” and the city presented her with 100 marks.

In 1522, in consequence of the many vexatious suits in the Sheriff’s Court for words and trifling debts, it was agreed that four aldermen be named, one out of each of the great wards, to sit in person, or by deputies, every Wednesday, from eight till nine in the morning, to adjust all debts under two shillings, and all actions on words, for the ease and peace of the city. This institution was of great benefit, and in some measure answered the purpose of the old Court of Conscience.

In 1524, on September 2nd, through the mediation of Cardinal Wolsey, a composition and final agreement was sealed between the prior and the city at the Guildhall, by which the city resigned all jurisdiction within the walls of the priory, the whole site thereof being hereby acknowledged to be part of the County of Norfolk and in the Hundred of Blofield; and the church gave up all right of jurisdiction in every place without their walls and within the walls of the city; so that now, Tombland, with the fairs kept thereon, and all things belonging to those fairs—and Holmstrete, Spytelond, and Ratten Row, with their letes—were adjudged to belong to the city, and to be part of the county thereof. The prior and convent and their successors were also exempted from all tolls, customs, and exactions whatever, by land or water in the whole city, or county of the city and its liberties, for goods or chattels bought or sold for the use of the prior and convent, their households, or families.

In 1525 the king granted the city another charter, confirmed likewise by parliament, in which the late composition and agreement between the city and prior was fully recited and established, and new privileges were granted.

In 1530 the king was declared supreme head of the church of England; and was acknowledged so by act of parliament in 1535. In the latter year an act was passed for recontinuing liberties in the crown, by which all cities, boroughs, and towns corporate, had their liberties and privileges fully confirmed.

BILNEY’S MARTYRDOM.

A short account of the martyrdom of Thomas Bilney, in 1531, may serve to illustrate the persecuting spirit of the age. He had renounced the tenets of the Church of Rome, and was condemned on the following passages extracted from two sermons which he had preached in 1527, at Ipswich.

“Our Saviour Christ is our Mediator between us and the Father; what need have we therefore for any remedy from saints? It is a great injury to the blood of Christ to make such petitions, and blasphemeth our Saviour.”

“Man is so imperfect by himself, that he can in no wise merit by his own deeds.”

“The coming of Christ was long prophesied before, and desired by the prophets; but John Baptist, being more than a prophet, did not only prophesy, but with his finger shewed Him, saying, ‘_Behold the Lamb of God_, _which taketh away the sins of the world_.’ Then, if this was the very Lamb which John did demonstrate, that taketh away the sins of the world, what injury is it to our Saviour Christ, that to be buried in St. Francis’ cowl should remit four parts of penance? What is then left to our Saviour Christ, which taketh away the sins of the world? This I will justify to be a great blasphemy to the blood of Christ.”

“It is great folly to go on pilgrimages; and preachers in times past have been antichrists; and now it hath pleased God somewhat to shew forth their falsehoods and errors.”

“The miracles done at Walsingham, Canterbury, and Ipswich, were done by the devil through the sufferance of God, to blind the poor people; and the Pope hath not the keys that St. Peter had, except he followeth Peter in his living.”

“Christian people should set up no lights before images of saints, for saints in heaven need no lights, and images have no eyes to see; and, therefore, as Ezechias destroyed the brazen serpent that Moses made by the commandment of God, even so should the kings and princes of these times destroy and burn the images of saints set up in churches.”

It was further deposed against Bilney, that he was notoriously suspected to be a heretic, and that in his sermons he had exhorted the people to put away their gods of silver and gold, and to desist from offering to them either candle, wax, money, or any other thing; and that in rehearsing the litany he said, “pray you only to God and no saints;” and when he came to that part, Sancta Maria, &c., or, O Saint Mary pray for us, he called out, “stop there.”

These and many other articles of the like nature being proved, he was exhorted to recant and abjure them; and upon his refusing to do so, the Bishop of London, having pulled off his cap, and made the sign of the cross on his forehead and breast, pronounced the following sentence:—

“I, by the counsel and consent of my brethren here present, do pronounce thee, Thomas Bilney, who has been accused of divers articles, to be convicted of heresy; and for the rest of the sentence we will deliberate till to-morrow.”

The next day Bilney was again asked whether he would recant and return to the unity of the church; when he desired a day or two for consideration and to consult his friends. In fear of a dreadful death at the expiration of the time, he subscribed his abjuration; and being absolved, he had the following penance enjoined him; to bear a faggot at the procession at St. Paul’s, bareheaded, and to stand before the preacher during the sermon there, and to remain in prison till he should be released by Cardinal Wolsey. When in prison, the reflection on what he had done drove Bilney almost to despair, and he suffered all the agonies of remorse for more than twelve months.

At length he resolved to seal that truth which he had so shamefully abjured, with his blood. For this purpose he travelled to Norwich, and on his way to the city he openly preached those doctrines for which he had been condemned; and being apprehended, was confined in one of the cells under the Guildhall. On August 19th, he was taken to Lollards’ pit, outside of Bishopsgate, and burnt there in the presence of a crowd of horrified spectators.

This and many other instances may serve to show the persecuting spirit of a church which had arrogated to itself a dominion over the consciences of men, and dared to propagate a religion of fear as the religion of Christ. After the Reformation, which had now begun, the same persecuting spirit was manifested by the Church of England; and many suffered here for their nonconformity to the Establishment. Several other martyrs were burnt in Norwich during the same reign, and in 1539, one William Leyton, a monk of Eye, in Suffolk, was burnt here, for speaking against a certain idol which used to be carried about in procession at Eye; and for asserting that the sacrament ought to be administered in both kinds.

In the same year peace and amity were settled between the church and the city on a much more stable foundation than had been previously effected, by an arrangement as to jurisdictions of the authorities.

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In 1534 an act was passed for rebuilding those parts of the city which were laid waste by the late fires; by which it was enacted that if the owners of such void grounds should, by the space of two years after proclamation made by the mayor for all persons to rebuild or enclose their grounds, neglect to rebuild on such ground, or sufficiently enclose the same with mortar and stone, then it should be lawful for the mayor, etc., to enter on such vacant grounds, and hold and retain them to their own use and their successors’ use for ever, discharged of all rents and outgoings whatsoever, provided that, within two years after such entry made, they either rebuild or enclose them as aforesaid.

DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES.

If, in giving an account of the state of society in the middle ages, we were to omit from our enumeration of causes the vast influence of the clergy of the church of Rome, we should present a very imperfect view of the subject. The priests dominated over the minds of men for many centuries, and their influence either for good or evil pervaded all classes of society. This influence caused the erection of monasteries, nunneries, priories, and friaries, nineteen in number, in Norwich before the 16th century. Monastic institutions were originally beneficial to society. In the dark ages, they preserved learning to some extent, and were houses of refuge for the destitute. No doubt there were many good self-denying men and women amongst the monks and nuns, who did some service to the poor who then abounded in the land. But in time the monasteries sunk for the most part into dissolute confraternities; stupid and sleepy, where not vicious; and banded together against the liberties of the nation; and there were constant broils between the monks and the citizens in Norwich.

The king having entirely renounced the authority of the church of Rome, and assumed the title of Head of the Church of England, caused a very strict inquiry to be instituted into the state of all monastic institutions. This inquiry resulted in their suppression, more for the gratification of the monarch’s avarice than from his desire to benefit his subjects; and most of the monks in Norwich and Norfolk, as well as in other parts of England, were sent adrift with small pensions. The king, indeed—in revenge for being excommunicated by the pope—suppressed 1148 monasteries in England, whose revenues amounted to £183,707 yearly. He either seized the property for himself or divided it amongst his favourites, and the Duke of Norfolk obtained a great part of it in Norwich. The dissolution of those ancient institutions caused a great deal of poverty; the priests were driven out homeless over the land, and the poor had no houses of refuge and no means of relief.

In 1538, Thomas Cromwell, lord privy seal, the king’s vicegerent, sent injunctions to all bishops and curates, charging them to take care that an English bible of the largest size be placed open in each parish church, for every one to have recourse to. The open bible was generally read in this city and elsewhere, and this, no doubt, promoted the reformation of religion. In spite of the tyranny of kings, the domination of priests, and the superstition of the people, the Reformation still advanced, and the national mind was emancipated by degrees from ancient thraldom.

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In 1545, one Rogers, of Norfolk, was condemned and suffered martyrdom, for opposing the six articles of an act passed for abolishing diversity of opinions in religion. This act inflicted the penalty of death upon those—1st, who by word or writing denied transubstantiation; 2nd, who maintained that communion in both kinds was necessary; 3rd, or asserted that it was lawful for priests to marry; 4th, or that vows of chastity might be broken; 5th, or that private masses are profitable; 6th, or that auricular confession is not necessary to salvation.

The king died on the 28th January, 1546; and his exequies were celebrated here with great pomp, as appears from the chamberlain’s account; though what good he ever did for the city it would be hard to say. He was a king who spared no man in his anger and no woman in his lust. In his reign, 72,000 persons were hung for political offences or for the crime of poverty as a warning to others. The “Merry England” of those days was in fact a terrible country to live in. Men were beaten, scourged, branded with hot irons, and killed without mercy or limit.

Edward VI. was proclaimed king on January 28th, 1546; and on February 25th, his coronation was celebrated with much pomp in Norwich, where great rejoicings took place. Six large guns were fired on Tombland; the populace were treated with plenty of beer; and bonfires were lighted in several of the streets. There was a grand procession with a pageant, in which the king was represented by an effigy of king Solomon.

On March 8th, 1546, Edward VI., and the executors of his deceased father, granted to the mayor, sheriffs, citizens, and commonalty, the hospital of St. Giles’ in this city, now called the Old Men’s hospital, with all the revenues belonging thereto for the maintenance of poor people dwelling therein, all which the late king had promised to give them at the request of the citizens, a short time before his death.

Norwich has always been noted for its civic feasts and good cheer; and Bale, writing at this time (1549), in his “Continuation of Leland’s Antiquities,” says:—

“Oh, cytie of England, whose glory standeth more in belly chere than in the searche of wisdome godlye, how cometh it that neither you nor yet your ydell masmongers have regarded this most worthy commodytie of your countrye? I mean the conservacyon of your antiquyties, and of the worthy labours of your learned men. I thynke the renowne of such a notable act would have much longer endured than of all your belly banquettes and table triumphes, either yet of your newly purchased hawles, to keep St. George’s feast in.”

And again he says:—

“I have been also at Norwyche, our second cytie of name, and there all the library monuments are turned to the use of their grossers, candelmakers, sope sellers, &c.”

Small credit is here given to the city for the patronage and promotion of intellectual pursuits.

KETT’S REBELLION.

In 1549 the city was the scene of an insurrection resembling that of the Jacquerie in France, and the War of the Peasants in Germany. The facts of this local rebellion were simple enough. The poor people objected to the enclosure of waste lands, in the neighbourhood of Attleborough and Wymondham, by the nobility and gentry, who had been put in possession of the abbey lands, which had been previously appropriated for the use of the poor, who still considered that they had a right of commonage on the waste lands and open pastures. The rebellion commenced at Eccles, Wilby, Attleborough, and the neighbouring villages, the inhabitants of which were enraged at Mr. John Green, lord of the manor of Wilby, who had enclosed that part of the common belonging to his manor, which had from time immemorial been open to the adjoining commons of Hargham and Attleborough, and in which the people had enjoyed all rights of intercommoning with each other. The people continued quiet till Wymondham fair, on July 7th, when they collected in large numbers. The leaders of the movement, accompanied by a large number of others, went to Morley, about a mile from Wymondham, and laid open the new enclosures; and on returning to Wymondham, they destroyed all the fences by which the commons and wastes were enclosed. John Flowerdew, of Hethersett, incensed at the destruction of his fences, gave forty pence to a number of the country people to throw down the fences of Robert Kett, alias Knight, whose pasture lay near Wymondham Fairstead. They carried out his wishes to the full, and on the following morning returned to Hethersett, where, at Kett’s instigation, they laid open other enclosures of Flowerdew’s. After this, the rioters appointed Robert Kett and his brother William, a butcher, to be their captains, and the movement soon assumed the form of an organized rebellion. The numbers of the rebels quickly increased, and marching on Mousehold Heath, they took possession of the mansion of the Earl of Surrey; and thence proceeded to lay siege to the city. They held courts of justice under a large tree, called the “Oak of Reformation:” and having augmented their numbers to 16,000 from the citizens, and strongly fortified their camp, they summoned the city to surrender. For months they maintained hostilities, and the country round was pillaged and laid waste, until at length they gained an entrance to the city, and took the mayor and several councillors prisoners to their camp. A strong force was thereupon sent down for the defence of the city, under the Marquis of Northampton, and a regular battle was fought at the base of the hill on St. Martin’s Palace Plain. In this engagement Lord Sheffield was slain; and the rebels, having forced the Marquis to retreat, plundered the city, and set fire to it in many parts. In short, all attempts to quell this violent insurrection were ineffectual, till a large army, which had been raised to proceed against the Scots, was ordered to march to the relief of Norwich, under the command of the Earl of Warwick, who arrived under the city walls on the 23rd of August. On the following day, after making an ineffectual offer of pardon to the insurgents, on the condition that they should lay down their arms, the king’s troops commenced their attack; and having made several breaches in the walls, and forced open some of the gates, they soon entered the city, and took possession of the Market Place. In the midst of this scene of blood, the king’s ammunition carriages, having entered apart from the main body of the army, were captured by the enemy, but were soon retaken by a detachment from the Market Place. A large body of the rebels still remaining in the city now made a lodgement on Tombland, and through their superior local knowledge, greatly annoyed the soldiers by posting small parties at the angles of the different streets leading to the Market. The Earl of Warwick, however, brought out his whole force to scour the city, and the rebels, after setting fire to their camp, were obliged to quit their post on the hill and retreat to Dussyn’s Dale, on Mousehold, resolving to finish the business by a general engagement in the valley.

On August 27th, being re-enforced by a newly-arrived detachment of troops, the Earl marched out of the city to attack the rebels, to whom he again offered pardon, provided they would quietly lay down their arms; but, confident in their numbers, they refused to capitulate. A bloody conflict ensued, but the rebels, being unaccustomed to the discharge of artillery, were soon in confusion. Of this the Light Horse took advantage, and advancing to the charge, drove the rebels from the field and pursued them with great slaughter. Over 3000 were killed, and about 300 of the ringleaders were afterwards executed. The gates of the city suffered much damage during this insurrection. The rebels set Bishop’s gate on fire, with some of the houses in the street, and those belonging to the Great Hospital. Pockthorpe, Magdalen, St. Augustine, Coslany, and Ber Street gates, shared the same fate. When the disturbances ceased, the repair of the city generally was commenced, and especially of the gates. Outside Magdalen Gates a gallows was erected, at which place and at the cross in the Market Place 300 rebels were executed. Two, styled prophets, were hanged, drawn, and quartered, their heads being placed on the towers, and their quarters on the gates.

Robert and William Kett were tried in London for high treason and rebellion, and convicted. On November 29th, they were delivered to Sir Edmund Windham, High Sheriff of the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, to receive punishment. Robert was conveyed to Norwich, and being brought to the foot of the castle, was drawn up to a gibbet erected at the top, and there left hanging alive till he died by famine; and his body, being entirely wasted, at length fell down. A similar sentence was executed upon William, who was suspended alive upon the top of Wymondham steeple. This fearful rebellion having been thus brought to an end, the citizens, after the departure of the kings troops, began to repair the damages to the walls and gates. Unhappily, however, their trials were not yet over, for the late disastrous occurrences were followed by such a scarcity and dearness of provisions, that the corporation issued an edict, requiring all the wealthier inhabitants to find corn for their own households elsewhere, so that their poorer neighbours might have the exclusive benefit of the city markets.

QUEEN MARY.

The Princess Mary was proclaimed here on July 18th, 1553, and was the first English Queen in her own right, and the people of Norwich and Norfolk rushed to her standard, impelled by the memory of Kett’s rebellion. The queen was a bigoted Roman Catholic, and in her reign popery was revived in its worst form, associated with all the atrocities of the most sanguinary persecution. Protestants were gathered like fuel for burning; and as for the Puritans, no fate could be too severe for them.

In March, 1556, William Carman, of Hingham, was burnt in Lollards’ pit, outside of Bishop’s Gate. He was charged with being an obstinate heretic, and actually having in his possession a bible, a testament, and three psalters in the English tongue.

On July 13th, of the same year, Simon Miller, merchant of Lynn, and Elizabeth Cooper, a pewterer’s wife, of the parish of St. Andrew, were burnt together in Lollards’ pit. On August 5th, Richard Crashfield, of Wymondham, Thomas Carman, William Seaman, and Thomas Hudson, were burnt for heresy in the same place.

On July 10th, 1557, Richard Yolman, a devout old minister, seventy years of age, was burnt for heresy. He had been curate to that learned and pious martyr, Mr. Taylor, of Hadleigh.

As if a judgment had come on the country for such atrocities, the quartan ague and a new sickness soon afterwards raged so violently, that it was said that “fire, sword, and pestilence,” had swept away a third part of the men of England; and it is recorded that ten of the Norwich aldermen fell victims to the latter scourge.

During this short reign, the city was afflicted by the presence of those merciless persecutors, Bishop Hopton and Chancellor Dunnings, at whose instigation several martyrs to the reformed religion were burnt here in 1557 and 1558. Happily the career of this bigoted, blood-thirsty, priest-ridden queen, was cut short, and a new and brighter era dawned upon the nation.

THE REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.

This queen ascended the throne on Nov. 7th, 1558, and was proclaimed here on the 17th of the same month. She was a zealous promoter of the Reformation. The form of worship used in the churches was similar to that in the time of Edward VI.; but the protestants were almost as intolerant in this reign as the Romanists had been before, though they claimed the right of private judgment; and the principle of toleration was not recognised for centuries by any church, or sect, or party.

In 1561, on the Guild day, the Duke of Norfolk, and the Earls of Northumberland and Huntingdon, with many other nobility and gentry, dined with the Mayor, William Mingay, Esq., in St. Andrew’s Hall, which could scarcely contain the company and their retinue. The entertainment is said to have been very magnificent, and the expense of the feast amounted to 32s. 9d.

In 1565, the prosperity of the city, which had begun to decline, was again revived by the settling here of 330 Flemings and Walloons, who had fled from the Netherlands, from the rigid persecution under the sanguinary Duke of Alva. In 1570, by the fostering encouragement of Queen Elizabeth, the number of these foreign settlers had increased to 3925, and by the introduction of bombazine, and other manufactures, they contributed much to the wealth and prosperity of Norwich.

During the long reign of Elizabeth, numerous conspiracies were formed for the re-establishment of Popery, and in 1570, John Throgmorton, Thomas Brooke, and G. Redman, were hanged and quartered here for having joined in these traitorous enterprises. In 1572, the Duke of Norfolk and several other noblemen were attainted and beheaded for similar offences, at London, York, and other places. The Duke not only espoused the cause of Mary, Queen of Scots, but even offered to marry that Roman Catholic Princess.

In 1574, a rumour was spread of invasion by the so-called invincible Armada. Norwich, towards the general defence, exhibited on its muster roll 2120 able men, of whom 400 were armed; the total number enrolled in the whole county of Norfolk, being at the same time, 6120 able men, of whom 3630 were armed. Happily there was no occasion for their services, the Armada being destroyed by a storm at sea.

Queen Elizabeth made a progress through Suffolk and Norfolk, from the 16th to the 22nd August, 1578. She came on horseback from Ipswich to Norwich, though she had several coaches in her train; and she lodged in the Bishop’s Palace. For several days she was entertained by splendid pageantries, principally allusive to the trade and manufactures of the city. Whilst here she dined publicly in the North Alley of the Cathedral Cloister, and often went a hunting on horseback, and to witness wrestling and shooting on Mousehold heath. The city records contain full details of the pageantries on the occasion of the royal visit. In no other city was the Queen received with greater cordiality and pageantry than in Norwich. The corporation, the inhabitants, the clergy, with the nobility and gentry of the county, contributed largely to afford the royal lady as pleasant and costly a reception as should be pleasing to her as a spectacle, and demonstrative of exuberant loyalty. This joy was soon turned into mourning; for, says a record known as the _Norwich Roll_, “The trains of Her Majesty’s carriage being many of them infected, left the plague behind them, which afterwards increased and contynued, as it raged about a year and three quarters.” Nearly 5000 fell victims to this dreadful malady.

In 1578, Matthew Hamond, of Hethersett, wheelwright, a heretic and blasphemer, being convicted of reviling the queen and of denying the authority of the Scriptures, the Godhead, the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the existence of the Holy Ghost, was set in the pillory on May 13th, and both his ears were nailed. Afterwards, on May 20th, he was burnt in the castle ditch. In 1587 and 1588 Francis Knight and Peter Cole, of Ipswich, were burnt in the same place for their deistical sentiments.

The Reformation was not only stayed, but thrown backward by this arbitrary, despotic queen. Though she was well disposed to reformation in the abstract, yet the fear of popish influence and a jealousy for her ecclesiastical authority over the church, made her act in the spirit of the worst excesses of popery. She persecuted all who disputed her authority in religious matters. In vain did the exiles return, hoping for peace and “freedom to worship God.” The expulsion of a multitude of clergy, who refused to conform to many impositions, and the many hardships suffered by the puritans, especially in Norfolk and Suffolk, evinced that no concession was to be expected from her. Her great idol was perfect uniformity. To enforce it, she passed many laws, which made nonconformity worse than felony, and she treated the Puritan as a rebel against all authority, both human and divine. A beautiful “Memorial” of the ministers of Norfolk is still preserved in vindication of their loyalty, and in advocacy of greater liberty of conscience. The result of it, however, was that seven or eight of them were suspended in Norwich. But instead of this being the means of stopping the progress of Puritanism, the sincere inquirers after truth were incited by such harsh measures to fresh investigations, and more emboldened to declare their views.

In 1582, on a second return made of the strangers settled here, they were found to be 1128 men; 1358 women; 815 children, strangers born; 1378 children, English born; in all 4679. The whole population was about 15,000, and the citizens continued to return burgesses to parliament from time to time, but not so frequently as in former reigns. During this reign William Kemp, a comic actor of high reputation, and greatly applauded for his buffoonery, danced a morris dance all the way from London to Norwich in nine days, and was accompanied by crowds of people as he passed on from town to town. When he arrived in Norwich he was very kindly treated by the citizens, who turned out to meet him in large numbers.

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NORWICH PAGEANTS were celebrated during the middle ages, and occupy a large space in the records of the corporation. Books of the several companies relating to the pageants have been lost except that of St. George, but some additional information has come to light on the subject. A series of extracts were made early in the last century from the Grocers’ book, showing the proceedings and expenditure of that company in regard to their pageants from 1534 to 1570, and also the versions of the plays in 1533 and in 1563. All the plays of that period were called mysteries or miracle plays, and were founded on bible history. The play was performed in a carriage called a “House of Waynscott, painted and builded on a cart with fowre whelys.” Painted cloths were hung about it, and it was drawn by four horses, “having head stalls of brode inkle with knoppes and tassels.” The vehicle had a square top with a large vane in the midst, and one for the end, and a large number of smaller ones. The company was evidently unable to afford the cost of four horses in 1534; only one was hired, and four men attended on the pageant with “Lewers.” One of the plays was called “Paradyse,” and was performed by the Grocers and Raffmen. It begins much in the same manner as the Coventry play, with God the Father relating the planting of the garden of Eden, the creation of man and placing him there, and God’s intention to create woman. The other characters are Lucifer, Adam, and Eve, who exhibit the incidents related in Genesis. Of the good taste or propriety of these entertainments any observation is needless. They formed a remarkable feature in the life of the middle ages, and show the childishness of the people. The dialogues in all these plays are puerile doggerel.

EMINENT CITIZENS OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

_Dr. Legge_.

Few of the citizens of Norwich could make any pretensions as to birth, whatever they might say about their birth-place. Among the natives of this city of obscure parentage may be mentioned Thomas Legge, LL.D., who was educated in Trinity College, where he was fellow, as also at Jesus College, till he was chosen by Dr. Kaye as second master of Kaye’s College. He was Dean of the Arches, one of the Masters of Chancery, twice Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, and thirty-four years Master of Kaye’s College. Justus Lipsius eulogised him as a very excellent antiquary, and as an oracle of learning. He was a great benefactor to this college, bequeathing £600 for the building of the east part thereof, besides several lesser liberalities. Thomas Bacon, the fifteenth Master of Gonville Hall, had done great damage to it, and left it in debt; but Dr. Legge and his two successors repaired all losses, acting not so much like the masters as the stewards of the house. Dr. Legge was the author of two tragedies, namely, “The Destruction of Jerusalem,” and “The Life of King Richard III.,” which last was performed before Queen Elizabeth, with great applause, in St. John’s College Hall. The doctor died July 12th, 1607, leaving the college his heir, and he was buried in it, so that he left his native city only the barren honour of his name.

_John Kaye_.

John Kaye, or as he is sometimes called, Caius, was born at Norwich in 1510, and studied in Gonville Hall, Cambridge, from which he removed to travel abroad. He took his degree of M.D. in the University of Padua. In the reign of Edward VI. he was appointed principal physician at court, a place which he enjoyed under both the Queens Mary and Elizabeth. The College of Physicians of London elected him one of their Fellows, and he presided over that body several years. Being very rich and desirous to promote learning, he procured a charter from Queen Elizabeth dated 1565, to turn Gonville Hall into a College; and he endowed it with the greater part of his estate. He lived as an ornament to his profession till July, 1573, when he died, aged 63, at Cambridge. He wrote the “Antiquities of Cambridge,” an excellent book; and he presented it to James I. as he passed through his college. The King said, “Give me rather _Caius de Canibus_,” a work of his as much admired, but hard to be got. He was master of his college for some time, but in his old age he resigned that office to Dr. Legge, a fellow commoner in his college, and a native of Norwich.

_Archbishop Parker_.

Archbishop Parker, a native of Norwich, flourished in this reign, and was a great benefactor to the city. He was born August 6th, 1504, being the son of William Parker, a wealthy citizen. He was educated at the Grammar School here, and in 1520 he was sent to Corpus Christi College, where he took his degrees of B.A., M.A., and D.D., before 1538. The Queen afterwards appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury, and he was very active in persecuting the Puritans here. He was the author of many works which showed much learning. He died on May 17th, 1575, and was buried in Lambeth Chapel.