Henry VI., when only nine months old, was proclaimed king on August 31st, 1422, and in his reign a general persecution of the Lollards broke out in this diocese. The Lollards were men who earnestly desired the reformation of the church, and they were followers of that great and good man John Wickliffe, but they were called Lollards as a name of infamy. They were so zealous for the truth that they chose rather to suffer grievous torments and death than forsake their faith. On this account about 120 persons were persecuted for their profession of the pure gospel of Christ.
On June 6th, 1448, the king paid a royal visit to the city, and among other preparations the gates were decorated, and the King’s arms, and the arms of St. George, were painted and raised on six of the gates. In 1449, his Majesty paid another visit, after a sojourn with the Earl of Suffolk at Costessey. The king entered Norwich by St. Benedict’s Gate, which was especially ornamented for the occasion. These peaceable entries, with the picturesque pomp of a royal procession, always pleased the loyal citizens.
In 1452, it being rumoured that Edward earl of March, son to the duke of York, was advancing towards London, the queen, much terrified thereat, tried to make as many friends as she could, and for that purpose came to this city, when, in full assembly, the Commons resolved to advance 100 marks as a loan to the king; and the aldermen at the same time presented the queen with 60 marks, to which the Commons added 40 more, so that the king had now 200 marks of the city. The citizens then obtained a new charter, dated March 17th, and consented to in full parliament. It contained a restitution of all liberties, a general pardon of all past offences, and a confirmation of all former charters.
In 1460, during the contest between the houses of York and Lancaster, the mayor and aldermen raised forty armed men and the Commons eighty, and appointed Wm. Rookwood, Esq., their captain, with whom they agreed for six weeks’ pay, at six-pence a day for each soldier, and sent them to the assistance of the king, who wrote them a letter of thanks, with a request that they would maintain the soldiers for one month longer, which was readily complied with. In 1474, the king visited the city, and was presented with a sum of money by way of benevolence; but in the following year the city had to pay £80 6s. 11d. for the forces employed in France.
In July 1469, Elizabeth Woodville, the queen of Edward IV., visited Norwich and remained here several days. Her majesty, with a great retinue, entered the city through “Westwyk Gate,” which was decorated for the occasion. John Parnell was brought from Ipswich to exercise his skill in ornamentation; and under his superintendence, a stage covered with red-and-green worsted was erected, adorned with figures of angels, escutcheons, and banners of the royal lady and the king, with a profusion of crowns, roses, fleur-de-lys, &c. Gilbert Spurling exhibited a fragment of the salutation of Mary and Elizabeth, which required from him a speech in explanation.
In 1486, being the 1st Henry VII., on the rebellion of Lambert Simnel, who assumed the name of Edward Plantagenet, the king, expecting an invasion of the eastern parts of his kingdom, made a progress through Norfolk and Suffolk to confirm the inhabitants in their loyalty, and spent his Christmas at Norwich, when the city made him a handsome present. Hence he went a pilgrimage to Walsingham, so famous for its pretended miracles, where he made his vows; and after he returned victorious, he sent his banner to be offered there as an acknowledgment of his prayers having been heard.
The monastic institutions of this city might claim the honour of having some learned men connected with them in the 15th century. Thomas Brinton, or Brampton, a monk of Norwich, attained to such an eminence in the schools of England that his fame was spread abroad, and he was sent for by the pope to Rome. He often preached before the pope in Latin, and being first made his penitentiary was afterwards raised to the see of Rochester. His sermons preached before the pope were published, with some others. John Stow, who flourished in 1440, was a Benedictine monk of the monastery of St. Saviour, in Norwich, and doctor of divinity of Oxford. It appears, by his works, that he was at the council of Basil. His works were The Acts of the Council at Basil; various Collections; and Solemn Disputations, &c. John Mear, a monk of Norwich, and D.D. of Oxford, was a person of subtle art for explaining difficulties. He was divinity reader at several monasteries, and the author of several works, which have all been lost.
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.