When Michaelmas-day (the day on which the election of the new mayor for the ensuing year was to take place) came round, the choice of the citizens fell upon Sir Thomas White.[1377] In accordance with the new order of things, the election was preceded by the celebration of mass in the Guildhall Chapel as of old.
The queen's coronation, 1 Oct.
The day after the election of the new mayor the queen passed through the city from the Tower to Whitehall for her coronation. The streets presented their usual gay appearance on this occasion, and the queen was made the recipient of the[pg 460] "accustomed" gift of 1,000 marks on behalf of the city.[1378] On the day of the coronation (1 Oct.) the daily service at St. Paul's had to be suspended because all the priests not under censure for Protestantism or for having married were summoned to assist at Westminster.[1379]
Mary's first parliament, Oct.-Nov., 1553.
When Mary appeared before her first parliament[1380] she found her subjects in many points opposed to her. They were willing to restore the worship and practice of the Church as they existed before the death of Henry VIII, but they showed a determination neither to submit to Rome nor to restore to the Church the property of which it had been deprived. They knew, moreover, of her anxious wish to marry Philip, son of the emperor Charles V, and yet did not hesitate to present to her a petition against a foreign marriage. It was a bold step for parliament to take in those days, and showed that it was determined to win back its ancient rights and no longer to be the tool of the crown. Mary was not one likely to yield in a matter on which she had once set her heart. Rather than take its advice she dissolved parliament. The result was an insurrection.
Trial at the Guildhall of Lady Jane Grey, Cranmer and others, Nov., 1553.
In the meanwhile the aged Cranmer and the youthful Lady Jane Grey—she "that wolde a been qwene"—her husband and two of her husband's brothers had been brought to trial at the Guildhall[pg 461] (13 Nov). The axe was borne before them on their way from the Tower, as if in anticipation of the verdict. The Lady Jane is described as clad in a black gown, with velvet cap and black hood, having a black velvet book hanging at her girdle, whilst she carried another in her hand.[1381] Each of the accused pleaded guilty, and sentence of death was passed; its execution was, however, delayed owing to the outbreak known as Wyatt's Rebellion.
Outbreak of Wyatt's Rebellion. Jan., 1554.
The ostensible cause of the rebellion was the queen's determination at all hazards to marry Philip, whose ambassadors arrived at the opening of the new year (1554). The civic authorities had been warned to treat them handsomely, a warning which was scarcely necessary, for the citizens have never allowed political differences to interfere with their hospitality; and accordingly one of the ambassadors was lodged at Durham Place, near Charing Cross, another at the Duke of Suffolk's house hard by, whilst a third shared apartments with the chancellor "Nigro" (Philip Negri) in Sir Richard Sackville's house at the conduit in Fleet Street. To each and all of the guests the City sent presents of wax, torches, flour and every kind of meat, game and poultry.[1382] Formal announcement of the intended match was made by the chancellor on the 14th January, but it was received with every sign of discontent and misgiving, "yea and therat allmost eche man was[pg 462] abashed, loking daylie for worse mattiers to growe shortly after."[1383] The following day (15 Jan.)—the day on which the rebellion under Wyatt broke out in Kent, to be followed by risings in Devonshire and Norfolk—the mayor and aldermen were summoned to court and ordered to bring with them forty of the chief commoners of the city, when the lord chancellor informed them of the queen's intention, and exhorted them as obedient subjects to accept her grace's pleasure and to remain content and quiet. He warned them, at the same time, to see that the queen's wishes respecting religious services in the city were strictly carried out, on pain of incurring her high indignation.[1384]
The city put into a state of defence.