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AD MATREM
PREFACE
In preparing this volume for the press I have omitted some of the matter in Life in an Old English Town, which did not seem suitable for this series, and added fresh material likely to be useful to those who wished to identify the historic sites, and see the historic buildings of Coventry. In expanding Chapter XV. in so far as it dealt with the Corpus Christi plays—a task the labours of Dr Hardin Craig have rendered comparatively light—I have been able to add one hitherto unpublished item to the subject of the mediæval dramatic history of Coventry (p. 296), and dispel the idea that the name "S. Crytyan" given to a play acted in 1505 is a misreading for S. Catherine. For permission to publish this item I am indebted to the kindness of Mr William Page, F.S.A., editor of the Victoria County History. Another point remotely bearing upon the pageants is the chronology of royal visits to Coventry (p. 288), which I have endeavoured to clear up as far as I could, Sharp's Dissertation on the Coventry Mysteries, the usual guide in these matters, being extremely faulty in this respect on account of the confusion which prevails in the MS. annals or mayor-lists, on which he depended for dates. Of these extant lists, both in print and in MS., I have given a detailed account (p. 106) in connection with the entry concerning Prince Henry's supposed arrest by Mayor Hornby, a matter which, in view of the Shakespearean interest involved, is more fully treated of here than in my previous book.
My thanks are due to Mr J. Munro and the Early English Text Society for the kind permission to print extracts from Dr Craig's Two Corpus Christi Plays and from my own edition of the Leet Book. To Mr George Sutton, Town Clerk of Coventry, and all the unfailing courteous officials with whom I so constantly came in contact during my work, I must (not for the first time) express my gratitude. My obligations to Messrs Longmans and the Society of Antiquaries for permission to print portions of Chapters XII. and XIII. respectively have been acknowledged in my previous work.
MARY DORMER HARRIS
Leamington, Aug. 7, 1911.
CONTENTS
| [INTRODUCTION] | |
| The Three Spires and Coventry | [1] |
| [CHAPTER I] | |
| Leofric and Godiva | [14] |
| [CHAPTER II] | |
| The Benedictine Monastery | [24] |
| [CHAPTER III] | |
| The Chester Lordship | [37] |
| [CHAPTER IV] | |
| Beginnings of Municipal Government | [45] |
| [CHAPTER V] | |
| Prior's-half and Earl's-half | [56] |
| [CHAPTER VI] | |
| The Seigniory of the Prior and Queen Isabella | [66] |
| [CHAPTER VII] | |
| The Corporation and the Guilds | [73] |
| [CHAPTER VIII] | |
| The Mayor, Bailiffs, and Community | [84] |
| [CHAPTER IX] | |
| Coventry and the Kingdom of England | [95] |
| [CHAPTER X] | |
| The Red and White Rose | [112] |
| [CHAPTER XI] | |
| The Last Struggle of York and Lancaster—theTudors and Stuarts | [135] |
| [CHAPTER XII] | |
| The Lammas Lands | [169] |
| [CHAPTER XIII] | |
| The Companies of the Crafts | [212] |
| [CHAPTER XIV] | |
| Daily Life in the Town—the Merchants and theMarket | [233] |
| [CHAPTER XV] | |
| Daily Life in the Town (continued)—Religion andAmusements of the Townsfolk | [269] |
| [CHAPTER XVI] | |
| Old Coventry at the Present Day | [317] |
| [Index] | [346] |