At the upper end of Cheapside was the Aldermens station, where the Recorder addressed the Queen in a very elegant oration, and, in the name of the citizens, presented her with a thousand marks in a purse of gold tissue, which her Majesty very gracefully received.
At a small distance, by Cheapside conduit, was a pageant, in which were seated Minerva, Juno, and Venus; before whom stood the god Mercury, who, in their names, presented the Queen a golden apple.
At St. Paul’s gate was a fine pageant, in which sat three ladies richly dressed, with each a chaplet on her head, and a tablet in her hand, containing Latin inscriptions.
At the east end of St. Paul’s cathedral, the Queen was entertained by some of the scholars belonging to St. Paul’s school, with verses in praise of the King and her Majesty, with which she seemed highly delighted.
Thence proceeding to Ludgate, which was finely decorated, her Majesty was entertained with several songs adapted to the occasion, sung in concert by men and boys upon the leads over the gate.
At the end of Shoe lane, in Fleet street, a handsome tower with four turrets was erected upon the conduit, in each of which stood one of the cardinal Virtues, with their several symbols; who, addressing themselves to the Queen, promised they would never leave her, but be always her constant attendants. Within the tower was an excellent concert of music, and the conduit all the while ran with various sorts of wine.
At Temple Bar she was again entertained with songs, sung in concert by a choir of men and boys; and having from thence proceeded to Westminster, she returned the Lord Mayor thanks for his good offices, and those of the citizens that day. Stow’s Annals.
The day after, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Sheriffs, performed their several offices at the coronation; and, in return for the great expence the city had been at upon the above occasion, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and forty of the principal citizens, had the honour of being afterwards invited to the christening of the Princess Elizabeth.
In the year 1551, King Edward VI. gave the city a charter, by which he not only confirmed all its former privileges, but granted the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and citizens, several lands and tenements in Southwark, with the manor thereof, and its appurtenances; the assize of bread, wine, beer, and ale; a fair for three days; and the offices of Coroner, Escheator, and Clerk of the market, which are for ever vested in the Lord Mayor and his successors.
In the beginning of the year 1552, the celebrated company of the Anseatic merchants, called here the merchants of the Steelyard, were dissolved, they having engrossed almost the whole trade of the kingdom; for in the preceding year they exported 40,000 pieces of cloth, while all the English merchants together did not export 1100.