The story of Coventry

by Mary Dormer Harris

It was a common practice to bequeath house property to provide funds for the continual commemoration of the testator's death and prayers for his soul's peace. Thus in 1492 Richard Clyff, late parson of S. George, London, bequeathed to the church of Holy Trinity, Coventry, a tenement in Well Street "to the entent ... that the Wardeyns of the same Church, for the tyme beinge yerely, for evermore, observe and kepe within the same Church, in the vigyll of Saynt Alphege, placebo, and dirige over nyght, by ii well-dysposyd prestys, there to be said devoutly without note; and on the morowe after, ayther of the same prestys to say messe of Requiem for the soules of John Cliff, and Margarete hys wyff, hys ffader and moder, hys own Soule, all hys ffrendys Saulys, and all Crystyan Saulys." Other features of the obit were the distribution of alms to the poor, and the feast which followed the service. Thus on the day whereon Robert Burnell's obit was kept 4s. was given to the poor, and 3s. 10d. expended in bread and ale.[608]

When a craftsman died, the whole company of his brethren were present at his burial, which, if he were a noteworthy citizen, would take place with much solemnity at the Greyfriars' or one of the parish churches.[609] Funeral masses were invariably said in the cathedral, the offerings remaining to the use of S. Mary's minster and convent; the candles also that had burnt about the coffins[610] were left in the cathedral after the dead had been borne away to their graves. Whether the people of Coventry disliked this practice we cannot tell, but it brought the convent into collision with the Greyfriars, who, as an active and popular body within the town, were rather disposed to call the authority of the monks in question. The matter of the funeral candles and offerings touched the former very nearly, for their chapel was a favourite burial place; and in 1446 Friar John Bredon threw down his glove. We would fain know if brother John were a mere busybody or a born reformer; perhaps he belongs rather to the latter than the former class, as he also appears, it seems, as a champion of the poorer folk against the deceiving victuallers.[611] Be this as it may, he was a man of great influence with the citizens, and, together with the prior, had helped on a former occasion to still the religious excitement which had followed on the preaching of Grace, the hermit. The enmity between the friars and the convent was at last the cause of his overthrow. Concerning this matter of the candles, the friar was so moved to bitterness that he openly preached and affirmed "in the parish churches of this same citee ... that alle maner offerynges owen to be yeven alonely to theyme that mynistren the Sacraments to the parisshens," and bade the people give these candles to the parish churches; "permytting my selfe," he says, "to defende theyme that so did." Moreover, the friar declared "that in Englond was not so bonde a Citee as this Citee of Coventry is, in keping and observyng the said custome"; and in bills which he set up on the church doors he "promysed to delyver the pepull of this same Citee from the thraldom of Pharao." The prior of S. Mary was not to be daunted by this audacious front, and petitioned the King against Friar Bredon. In due time sentence was pronounced, and a form of recantation arrived prescribed by parliament. In presence of the Forty-eight[612] the friar was compelled to admit that the custom he had inveighed against "is a custom commendable, and so owyng to be kept and observed to encrese of mede, by pleasure made to Almighty God, who graunte to you and me to lif in this world aftir juste lawes and lawful customs vertuously, soo that we may deserve to rejoyse (enjoy) hevenly recompense everlastyngly."[613] After which recantation he was banished the city.

The citizens were as thorough and systematic in their pastimes as in their prayers, and all sorts of amusements of a vigorous character, wherein they gladly indulged, were rarely discouraged by the corporation. The practice of archery was looked on as part of every man's necessary training, and crafts were ordered to keep butts in good repair, so that all members of their fellowships could keep their hands well in use.[614] Bull-baiting, a favourite sport, gave its name to the Bull-ring hard by Trinity church;[615] but the traces of "le cokfyting place"[616] and of the bowling-green near the Charter-house[617] have been lost.

PULPIT, HOLY TRINITY CHURCH

Bear-baiting was highly popular likewise, and frequent gifts to Sir Fulk Greville's bearward[618] form a feature in the chamberlains' accounts in the early days of Elizabeth. Like all the great Queen's subjects the men of Coventry delighted in theatrical representations, and now that the local religious drama was dead, their appreciation of the strolling players' art caused constant inroads to be made on the public purse. The wardens were frequently called upon for payments, such as "to the Earle of Darbyes players vs.," "to the lord Chamberlain's players xs.,"[619] items which accord ill with the payments for sermons at this time.[620] In the end the sermons gained the day, and it would be hard to find in the Midlands—save Banbury—a more staunchly Puritan town than Coventry under the Stuarts.

In the sixteenth century the corporation appear to have become disquieted at the reckless lives and illicit amusements of those over whom they ruled. A new era was about to dawn, wherein mediæval barriers would be broken down; and it seems as if the discreet and worthy burghers were afraid of the lawlessness and unrest which had entered into the spirit of society, and which in itself was the sign of coming change. Orders directed against gaming,[621] or intercourse, especially on the part of apprentices, with women of evil fame had always been a feature of the regulations passed by the leet; but as time goes on the mention of "unlawful games" becomes more and more frequent. As early as 1510 the aldermen of the several wards were charged to make search "for all them that keep misrule," who on being discovered were to be committed to ward, or, if they persisted in their evil ways, to be banished the city.[622] In 1516 this command was followed up by a fresh ordinance enjoining them to make inquiry for vagabonds, "as well women as men," suspected alehouses, "blynde ynnes," unlawful games, and the like.[623] But the evil appeared to increase as the century advanced, and in 1548 a complaint of leet reveals a state of things which has quite a modern look, so little change has human nature and human habit undergone these three hundred and fifty years. Many, we learn, passed their time drinking in taverns, and "playnge at the cardes and tables,[624] and spende all that they can gett prodigally upon theym selfes to the highe displeasure of God and theyre owne ympovershyng, whereas," the worthy men of the leet were of opinion, "if it were spente at home in theyre owne houses theyre wiffes and childerne shulde have part therof."[625] It was forthwith decreed that any of these prodigals, whether "labourer, journeyman, or apprentice," if discovered resorting to any alehouse on a work day should be imprisoned for a day and night.

In those days, as in our own time, the lower classes had the keenest appreciation of all that appertained to sport, and the loafer loved to roam the country lanes with a dog at his heels. Long time since the prior had complained how the citizens hunted and hawked in his warren, and in the sixteenth century the corporation were hard put to it to keep this passion within the bounds prescribed by the statutes of the realm. People, we hear in the eighteenth year of Henry VIII., who did not possess the necessary qualification, a 40s. freehold, presumed to keep birds and dogs, whereby idleness "is greatly encreased"; henceforward they were forbidden to keep hawk, hound, greyhound, or ferret, or to presume to hunt with the same under a heavy penalty.[626]

Other practices in which the citizens indulged were looked upon with an unfavourable eye by the rulers of the town, brawling being expressly forbidden. No one was allowed to carry defensive weapons through the streets, and hosts were charged to bid their stranger guests leave their swords behind them, when they had occasion to leave the hostels wherein they had taken lodging.[627] The penalty for smiting "with a knife drawyn" was half a mark, unless the smiter were "himself defendant." "No man of craft," another order runs, "bear no bills, nor gysarnes, nor great staves," upon pain of forfeiture of the same weapons. Those who were driving cattle to market could, however, carry a small staff in their hands.[628] These orders did not suffice by any means to abolish brawls, and sometimes lords, knights and squires, the "mighty" men of the country round, fought out their ancient family quarrels among the dwellings of the burgher folk;[629] at others the citizens had their own grievances to urge against one or other of these mighty men, and drew sword upon him and his retainers. In these cases there would be, most likely, death or shedding of blood, while in disputes arising among the citizens themselves merely blows and beatings would be given on either side, but with such violence that combatants were afterwards often spoken of as "in despair of their lives" from the injuries they had received.