(M738)
The accession of Elizabeth, after the gloomy reign of her sister, was
welcomed by none more joyfully than by the citizens of London, who
continued to commemorate the day with bonfires and general rejoicing long
after the queen had been laid in her grave.(1475) When news was brought of
her sister's death Elizabeth was at Hatfield. Within a week she removed to
London and took up her abode at the Charterhouse. The sheriffs went out to
meet her as far as the boundary of the county of Middlesex, the limit of
their jurisdiction, dressed in coats of velvet, with their chains about
their necks and white rods in their hands. Having first kissed their rods,
they handed them to the queen, who immediately returned them, and the
sheriffs thereupon joined the gentlemen of the cavalcade and rode before
her majesty until they met Sir Thomas Leigh,(1476) the mayor, and his
brethren the aldermen. The sheriffs then fell back and took their places
among the aldermen.(1477) From the Charterhouse she removed after a stay
of a few days to the Tower, amid the blare of trumpets, the singing of
children and the firing of ordnance.
(M739)
The Court of Common Council (21 Nov.) agreed to levy two fifteenths on the
inhabitants of the city for the customary present to be given the new
queen on her passing through the city to her coronation, which was to take
place on the 15th January following, as well as for defraying the costs of
pageants on the occasion.(1478) Committees were appointed to see that the
several conduits, the Standard and Cross in Cheap, and other parts of the
city were seemly trimmed and decked with pageants, fine paintings and rich
cloth of Arras, silver and gold, as at the coronation of Queen Mary, and
better still if it conveniently could be done.(1479) Among those appointed
to devise pageants for the occasion and to act as masters of the ceremony
was Richard Grafton, the printer.(1480) Eight commoners were appointed by
the Court of Aldermen (17 Dec.) to attend upon the chief butler of England
at the cupboard at the coronation banquet.(1481)
(M740)
A curious instance of a strike among painters is recorded at this time.
The painters of the city, we are told, utterly refused to fresh paint and
trim the great conduit in Cheap for the coronation for the sum of twenty
marks. This being the case, the surveyors of the city were instructed to
cause the same to be covered with cloth of Arras having escutcheons of the
queen's Arms finely made and set therein, and the wardens of the Painters'
Company were called upon to render assistance with advice and men for
reasonable remuneration.(1482)
(M741)
The main object which Elizabeth kept before her eyes, from first to last,
was the preservation of peace--peace within the Church and without. Her
natural inclination was towards the more ornate ritual of the Roman
Church, but the necessity she was under of gaining the support of the
Protestants, whom even the fires of Smithfield had failed to suppress,
inspired restraint. All her actions were marked with caution and
deliberation. From the day of her accession religious persecution in its
worst form ceased. Non-conformity was no longer punished by death.
Preachers who took advantage of the lull which followed the Marian
persecution and resumed disputatious sermons, as they did more especially
in the city, were silenced by royal proclamation,(1483) which ordered them
to confine themselves to reading the gospel and epistle for the day, and
the Ten Commandments, in the vulgar tongue, without adding any comment.
They were further ordered to make use of no public prayer, rite or
ceremony other than that already accepted until parliament should ordain
otherwise.
(M742)
Parliament met in January, 1559, and at once acknowledged the queen's
legitimacy and her title to the crown, an acknowledgment which she had
failed to obtain from the Pope. An Act of Uniformity was passed forbidding
the use of any form of public prayer other than that set out in the last
Prayer Book of Edward VI, amended in those particulars which savoured of
ultra-Protestantism. The same parliament also passed an Act of Supremacy,
which dropt the title of supreme head of the Church with reference to the
queen, but still upheld the ancient jurisdiction of the Crown over all
ecclesiastics. Having accomplished this much, parliament was dissolved (8
May).
(M743)
On the following Whitsunday (14 May) Divine Service was conducted in the
city in English according to the Book of Common Prayer.(1484)
Commissioners were appointed in July "to ride about the realm for the
establishing of true religion," four being nominated for the city, whose
duty it was to call before them divers persons of every parish and make
them swear to observe "certain injunctions newly set out in print."(1485)
The election of a new mayor at Michaelmas was followed by the celebration
of a "communion" in the Guildhall Chapel."(1486)
(M744)
The success of Elizabeth's policy was unfortunately marred by the excess
of zeal displayed by the reformers. More especially was this the case in
the city of London. Had the inhabitants bent their energy towards putting
down the disgraceful trafficking that went on within the very walls of
their cathedral church, shutting up gambling houses, and stopping
interludes and plays which made a jest of religion, instead of leaving
such abuses to be corrected by royal proclamation,(1487) their conduct
would have met with universal approbation. Instead of this they again set
to work pulling down roods, smashing up ancient tombs and committing to
the flames vestments and service books--the work of years of artistic
labour(1488)--until the wanton destruction was restricted, if not
altogether stopped, by the queen's orders.(1489)
(M745)
In the meantime the state of affairs with France and Scotland demanded
Elizabeth's attention. The marriage of Mary Stuart with the Dauphin of
France had taken place in April, 1558, and the sudden death of Henry II of
France by an accident at a tournament had soon afterwards raised her and
her husband to the throne. Mary now assumed the arms and style of Queen of
England, and the life-long quarrel between her and Elizabeth was about to
commence. By the end of the year (1559) Mary had collected a sufficient
force at her back to render her mistress of Scotland. In the following
January a French fleet was ready to set sail. Nevertheless Elizabeth
refused to take any active measures to meet the enemy and to prevent them
effecting a landing. On the 6th she caused proclamation to be made for
French subjects to be allowed perfect freedom as in time of peace, but
English vessels were to be held in readiness "untill yt maye appeare to
what ende the greate preparaciouns of Fraunce do entende."(1490) Long
after the appearance of a French fleet off the coast of Scotland, and when
it had been driven to take refuge in Leith harbour, Elizabeth still
declared her intention of keeping, if possible, on friendly terms with
France if only the "insolent titles and claims" of Francis and Mary might
cease and Scotland left in peace.(1491) With the aid of soldiers and
seamen provided by the City(1492) the French were forced to surrender,
and, by a treaty signed at Edinburgh, agreed to leave Scotland and to
acknowledge Elizabeth's right to the English crown.
(M746)
In 1561 Mary, who had declined to recognise the treaty of Edinburgh from
the first, returned to Scotland, in spite of Elizabeth's prohibition, and
soon succeeded in drawing over many Protestants to her side. In the
following year an opportunity offered itself to Elizabeth for striking a
blow at her rival--not in Scotland, but in France. A civil war had broken
out between the French Protestants--or Huguenots, as they were called--and
their Catholic fellow-subjects, and Elizabeth promised (Sept., 1562) to
assist the leaders of the Huguenots on condition that Havre--or Newhaven,
as the place was then known--was surrendered to her as security for the
fulfilment of a promise to surrender Calais. The queen (23 July, 1562)
applied by letter to the City of London for a force of 600 men to be held
in readiness to march at a moment's notice. She had determined, the letter
said, to put the sea coast into a "fencible arraye of warre."(1493) The
men were ordered to muster at the Leadenhall on the 18th September.(1494)
The aim and object of the expedition was set out in a "boke" or
proclamation.(1495)
(M747)
In 1563 a peace was patched up, and the Catholics and Huguenots united in
demanding from Elizabeth the restoration of Havre. The queen refused to
surrender the town, and again called upon the City of London to furnish
her with 1,000 men for the purpose of enabling her to secure Havre, and to
compel the French to surrender Calais as promised.(1496) The Court of
Aldermen hesitated to raise so large a force, and sent a deputation of
three of their court to wait upon the lords of the Privy Council the same
afternoon, with a view to having the number reduced to 500 on the ground
that the City had supplied so many soldiers during the past year.(1497)
The deputation having reported to the court the next day (3 July) that the
Privy Council would make no abatement in the number of soldiers to be
furnished, it was agreed to renew the application.(1498) Again the City's
request was refused, and the full number of 1,000 men was apportioned
among the livery companies.(1499) The citizens, jealous as they always
were of the stranger within their gates, availed themselves of a too
literal interpretation of a royal proclamation and seized all the
Frenchmen they could find in the city with all their belongings. They even
went so far as to attack the house of the French ambassador, and would
probably have gone yet further lengths had they not been stopt by
peremptory orders from the queen.(1500)
On the 8th July the City was informed by letter from the queen that the
French had already commenced the siege of Havre, and was asked to have 400
out of the 1,000 men ready to set sail with Lord Clinton by the
16th.(1501) This letter was immediately followed by another from Lord
Clinton summoning every inhabitant of the city "usinge the exercise of eny
kynde of water crafte" before the lord high admiral or his deputy at
Deptford on a certain day.(1502) The Common Hunt, the city's
water-bailiffs, two sergeants-at-mace and two sheriff's officers were
appointed by the Court of Aldermen to "conduct" the city's contingent to
the fleet lying in the Thames.(1503)
(M748)
Before the end of July Havre was lost.(1504) The garrison had been
attacked by a plague, which for more than a twelvemonth had been rampant
in London,(1505) and the Earl of Warwick, the commander of the town, found
himself compelled to accept such terms as he could obtain. The garrison
was allowed to leave with all munitions of war. Whilst proclaiming to her
subjects the surrender of the town--not through any cowardice on the part
of the garrison, but owing to a "plage of infectuous mortall sickness"
inflicted by the Almighty--Elizabeth pleaded for tender care and charity to
be shown to the soldiers on their return, due precaution being taken by
the principal officers of every city, town and parish against the spread
of infection.(1506)
(M749)
The approaching end of the war with France is foreshadowed by an order of
the Court of Aldermen (25 Nov., 1563) touching the re-delivery to the
various civic companies of the "harness" which they severally provided for
the war, and which had been forwarded from Portsmouth and was lying in the
Guildhall Chapel.(1507) Peace was signed on the 13th April, 1564, and on
the 31st July a proclamation was issued for disbanding the navy.(1508)
Throughout the war Elizabeth had been careful to keep on good terms with
Spain, and English vessels found molesting Spanish ships under pretext of
searching for French goods were ordered to be arrested.(1509) An
interruption of commerce with Flanders had been threatened, owing to the
Duchess of Parma having forbidden the importation of English woollen cloth
into the Low Countries for fear of infection from the plague, but
Elizabeth retaliated by closing English ports to all Flemish vessels, and
matters were accommodated.(1510)
(M750)
The period of peace and tranquillity which ensued enabled the citizens to
bestow more attention on their own affairs. Their cathedral stood in
urgent need of repairs. Its steeple had been struck by lightning in 1561,
and 3,000 marks had already been expended on its restoration.(1511) An
application to the City from the lord treasurer in 1565 for a sum of L300
towards roofing one of the aisles of the cathedral came as a surprise to
the Court of Aldermen, who caused enquiries to be made as to the receipt
and delivery of contributions already made, and returned for answer that
the City of London had long ago delivered "all such mony as the sayd cyty
dyd at eny tyme grant or agree to geve or paye towards the sayd work." His
lordship was desired "no further to charge or burden the sayd cytye wth
the payment of any more mony towards the sayd work."(1512) Nevertheless
the City was called upon for a further contribution two years later (June,
1567), when negotiations were entered into between the City, the Bishop of
London and the Dean and Chapter of Saint Paul's, which ended in the
Corporation agreeing to find forty foders of lead for roofing the south
aisle of the cathedral, and lending a sum of L150 to the bishop and the
dean and chapter, on condition the latter granted a further lease to the
City of the manor of Finsbury for a term of 200 years beyond the term yet
unexpired.(1513) Whilst repairs were being carried out in the cathedral
itself, something was also being done outside the building to render the
accommodation for hearing the sermons preached at Paul's Cross more
convenient for the mayor and aldermen and municipal officers. A gutter
which conducted rainwater upon the heads of the lord mayor's suite at
sermon time was removed; the bench on which the civic officials sat was
enlarged for their better convenience, and places erected for the
accommodation of aldermen's wives.(1514)
(M751)
The rapid increase of commerce under the fostering care of Elizabeth
rendered the erection of a Burse or Exchange for the accommodation of
merchants "to treate of their feate of merchandyzes" a pressing necessity.
The matter had been mooted thirty years before, but little had been done
beyond ascertaining the opinion of merchants as to the most convenient
site.(1515) The project, however, took root in the mind of Sir Richard
Gresham, an alderman of the city, whose business had occasionally carried
him to Antwerp, where he became familiar with the Burse that had been
recently set up there, and in 1537 (the year that he was elected mayor) he
forwarded to Thomas Cromwell, then lord privy seal, a design for a similar
Burse to be erected in London. Finding little or no attention paid to his
communication he again (25 July, 1538) wrote to Cromwell suggesting the
erection of a Burse in Lombard Street--the site favoured by city
merchants--at a cost of L2,000. If the lord privy seal would but bring
pressure to bear upon Sir George Monoux, a brother alderman but a man of
"noe gentyll nature," to part with certain property at cost price, he
(Gresham) would undertake to raise L1,000 towards the building before he
went out of office, and he would himself carry Cromwell's letter to Monoux
and "handle him" as best he could.(1516) This application had the desired
effect. On the 13th August Henry VIII addressed a letter to Monoux
desiring him to dispose of certain tenements about Lombard Street which
were required for the commonweal of merchants of the city, and to come to
terms with Gresham as to the amount to be paid for them. Both parties
having referred the matter to Sir Richard Rich, Chancellor of the Court of
Augmentations of the Crown, as arbitrator, the City agreed to pay a yearly
sum of twenty marks for the houses that were required. Monoux refusing to
accept this sum, another letter was despatched to him from the king urging
him not to stand in the way of a project so useful to merchants and
tending so much to the "beautifitye" of the city. To this second appeal
Monoux gave way, and received the cordial thanks of Henry by letter dated
the 25th November.(1517) Nothing more was done in the matter until it was
taken up many years later by Sir Thomas Gresham, son of Sir Richard.(1518)
Acting, as he did for a long succession of years, as Queen Elizabeth's
agent in Flanders, Sir Thomas spent much of his time in Antwerp.(1519)
When he was not there himself he employed a factor in the person of
Richard Clough to conduct his affairs. In 1561 this Richard Clough, in a
letter addressed to his principal from Antwerp (31 Dec.),(1520) expressed
much astonishment at the City of London being so far behind continental
towns:--"Consideryng what a sittey London ys, and that in so many yeres
they have nott founde the menes to make a bourse! but must walke in the
raine, when ytt raineth, more lyker pedlers then marchants; and in thys
countrie, and all other, there is no kynde of pepell that have occasion to
meete, butt they have a plase meete for that pourpose." Indeed, Clough got
quite excited over the thought that London, of all cities in the world,
possessed no decent accommodation for merchants transacting their everyday
business, and declared his readiness to build "so fere a bourse in London
as the grett bourse is in Andwarpe" and that "withhoutt molestyng of any
man more than he shulld be well dysposyd to geve."
It was not long before Gresham made up his mind that London should have a
Burse, and in May, 1563, the Court of Aldermen deputed Lionel Duckett, who
was also a mercer, to sound Gresham as to "his benevolence towards the
makyng of a burse."(1521) But however desirous Gresham might be to
prosecute the work, he was prevented from doing so by stress of business.
Commercial difficulties arose between England and the Low Countries owing
to the proclamation of the Duchess of Parma. Up to the year 1564 Gresham
was forced to make Antwerp his place of abode, and could only occasionally
visit London; since that time, however, his business allowed him to look
upon London as his permanent residence, and he only crossed over to
Antwerp when special circumstances rendered it necessary. An additional
reason for the delay in carrying out Gresham's project may perhaps be
found in the fact that, during his absence on the queen's business in
1563, Elizabeth had, with her usual parsimony, cut down Gresham's
allowance of twenty shillings a day for "his diets." Gresham complained
bitterly of this abridgment of his income in a letter to Secretary Cecil,
and also in another letter couched in more guarded terms to the queen
herself.(1522) In both letters he set out the sum total of the money
(L830,000) which he had negotiated for the queen, and referred to his
having broken a leg in her majesty's service and to his declining years.
Whatever may have been the cause of the delay, it was not until the 4th
January, 1565, that a definite offer was made by Gresham to erect a
"comely burse" at his own cost and charge, provided the City would furnish
a suitable site. This offer was accepted.(1523)
(M752)
Difficulties at once presented themselves in finding a site. It was
originally proposed to obtain from the Merchant Taylors' Company a plot of
land between Lombard Street and Cornhill, but the company refused to part
with the property and a new site had to be chosen.(1524) No sooner was
this done, and a place selected to the north of Cornhill, than a
difficulty arose between the City and the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury
as to the terms of purchase.(1525) This having been successfully overcome
and the site purchased, the next step was to invite subscriptions, not
only from members of the livery companies, but from merchant adventurers
beyond the sea.(1526) Such a liberal response was made to this
invitation(1527) that on the 7th June, 1566, Sir Thomas Gresham was able
to lay the first stone of the new building, a deed of trust between the
City and Gresham having previously (14 May) been executed.(1528)
(M753)
It is curious to note the strong foreign element in connection with the
building of Gresham's Burse. The architect as well as the design of the
building came from abroad. The clerk of the works (Henryk)(1529) and most
of the workmen were foreigners, Gresham having obtained special permission
from the Court of Aldermen for their employment.(1530) Most of the
material for structural as well as ornamental purposes (saving 100,000
bricks provided by the City)(1531) came from abroad, and to this day the
Royal Exchange is paved with small blocks of Turkish hone-stones believed
to have been imported in Gresham's day, and to have been relaid after the
several fires of 1666 and 1838. It was the employment of these strangers
which probably gave rise to an order of the Court of Aldermen (19 June,
1567) that an officer should be appointed to attend at the Burse daily
"for a competent season," to see that no "misorder" be done to any of the
artificers or other workmen there employed, and to commit to ward any that
he should find so-doing.(1532)
(M754)
By the 22nd December, 1568, the Burse was so far complete as to allow of
merchants holding their meetings within its walls, but it was not until
the 23rd January, 1571, that the queen herself visited it in state and
caused it thenceforth to be called the Royal Exchange. Her statue which
graced the building bore testimony to the care and interest she always
displayed in fostering commercial enterprise.
(M755)
On the door of a staircase leading up to a "pawne" or covered walk on the
south side of the building there had been set up the arms and crest of
Gresham himself, which some evilly disposed person took it into his head
to deface. A proclamation made by the mayor (16 Feb., 1569) for the
apprehension of the culprit does not appear from the city's records to
have proved successful.(1533) Some years later (21 March, 1577) the mayor
had occasion to issue another proclamation for the discovery of persons
who had defaced and pulled away "certen peces of timber fixed to thendes
and comers of the seates"(1534) in the Royal Exchange, with what result we
know not.
(M756)
In 1574 the Court of Aldermen appointed a committee to confer with Gresham
touching the "assurance" of the Royal Exchange.(1535) The connection
between the new Burse and insurance is remarkable. The principle of
insurance policies had been introduced into the city by the Lombards as
early as the thirteenth century,(1536) and a Lombard Street policy became
a familiar term.(1537) When the Lombard Street merchants quitted their old
premises for the more commodious Exchange they carried thither their
insurance business with them, and a part of the new building was devoted
exclusively to this branch of commerce. A grant of letters patent which
Elizabeth made to Richard Candler for the making of policies and
registering of assurances within the city was objected to by the Court of
Aldermen, as being contrary to the liberties of the City, and a deputation
was appointed to wait upon the lords of the Privy Council to have it
revoked.(1538) This was early in 1575. A year later we find Candler making
answer to a bill of fees drawn up by certain aldermen and citizens of
London, respecting his office.(1539)
In order to put an end to the frequent disputes which arose in the Royal
Exchange among merchants on matters of insurance, the Court of Aldermen
appointed two of their number to consider the difficulty and to report
thereon. They made their report to the court on the 29th January,
1577.(1540) They had, in accordance with the oft-repeated desire expressed
to previous lord mayors by the lords of the Privy Council, consulted with
their brethren the aldermen, as well as with merchants of the city, both
Englishmen and foreigners, and had drawn up orders agreeable to those that
had hitherto been used in Lombard Street, to which all countries had been
accustomed to submit. The orders, however, not yet being completed, the
Court of Aldermen decided upon appointing arbitrators from year to year to
deal with all matters of insurance, and so relieve the lords of the Privy
Council of the trouble which they had hitherto experienced on that score
at a time when they had weightier matters to attend to. The arbitrators
were to receive one penny in the pound amongst them in all cases, whether
the claim were for whole losses, part,(1541) or averages. Their decision
was to bind both assurer and assured, and they were to sit twice a week
(Monday and Thursday) "in the offyce howse of assurances" in the Royal
Exchange. They were to be attended by the "register of assurances," whose
business it was to summon witnesses. A poor-box was to be provided, to
which the party assured, on judgment, should contribute twelve pence.
(M757)
On Sundays and holy days the Exchange was enlivened during a portion of
the year with the music of the city waits, who were ordered by the Court
of Aldermen (April, 1572) to play on their instruments as they had
hitherto been accustomed at the Royal Exchange, from seven o'clock till
eight o'clock in the evening up to the Feast of Pentecost, after which
they were to commence playing at eight p.m., and "to hold on" till nine
p.m. up to Michaelmas.(1542) There is another circumstance connected with
the same building that deserves a passing notice, which is that football
used to be played within its walls, a game forbidden in 1576 to be played
any longer either there or in any of the city's wards.(1543)
(M758)
The citizens of London are indebted to Sir Thomas Gresham for something
more than their Royal Exchange. By will dated 5th July, 1575, proved and
enrolled in the Court of Husting,(1544) Gresham disposed of the reversion
of the Royal Exchange and of his mansion-house in the parish of St. Helen,
Bishopsgate, after the decease of his wife, to the mayor and corporation
of the city and to the wardens and commonalty of the Mercers' Company in
equal moieties in trust (_inter alia_) for the maintenance of seven
lectures on the several subjects of Divinity, Astronomy, Music, Geometry,
Law, Physic and Rhetoric. In 1596 these two corporate bodies came into
possession of the property, and in the following year drew up ordinances
for the regulation of the various lectures. According to the terms of
Gresham's will the lectures were delivered at Gresham House. When Gresham
House, which escaped the Fire of London, became dilapidated, the City and
the Company on more than one occasion petitioned Parliament for leave to
pull it down and to erect another building on its site. The proposal,
however, was not entertained, but in the year 1767 an Act was passed
vesting Gresham House in the Crown for the purpose of an Excise Office,
and providing for the payment by the Crown to the City and Company of a
perpetual annuity of L500 per annum. For some time the lectures ceased to
be delivered for lack of accommodation. When they were next delivered it
was at the City of London School, where they continued until Gresham
College was erected in Basinghall Street.(1545)
(M759)
In the meantime Protestantism had been gaining ground in England as well
as on the continent. Many who in the evil days of the Marian persecution
had sought refuge in Switzerland and Germany had returned to England as
soon as they were assured of safety under Elizabeth, and had introduced
into the country the religious tenets of Calvin they had learnt abroad.
Elizabeth found herself confronted not only by Catholics but by Puritans.
As she felt herself seated more strongly on the throne she determined to
enforce more strictly than hitherto the Act of Uniformity. In 1565 the
London clergy were ordered to wear the surplice and to conform in other
particulars. Between thirty and forty of them--and those the most
intelligent and active of them--refused and resigned their cures. Their
congregations supported them, and thus a large body of good Protestants
were driven into opposition. But there all action against them ceased. It
was otherwise with the Protestants on the continent, where a determination
arrived at in the same year that Elizabeth enforced the Act of Uniformity,
to suppress heresy, led to the most horrible persecution, and drove many
of the inhabitants to seek refuge in England.
(M760)
Of the hundreds of foreigners who sought this country, driven from France
or Spain by religious persecution,(1546) none was more hospitably received
than the brother of the great Coligny, the Cardinal Chastillon. The Bishop
of London having excused himself entertaining the cardinal at Fulham, his
eminence was lodged and hospitably treated for a whole week by Gresham.
During his visit he paid a visit, Huguenot as he was, to the French Church
established in the city, where his co-religionists were allowed to worship
without fear of molestation. He further paid his host the compliment of
visiting the Exchange, then approaching completion. At the end of the week
he removed to Sion House, where accommodation had been found for
him.(1547)
(M761)
The influx of refugees from the continent was far from being an unmixed
blessing. Whilst some settled peacefully down and taught the London
artizan the art of silk-weaving, others betook themselves to the river's
side, where they defied the civic authorities.(1548) A fresh return was
ordered to be made of their number.(1549) It became necessary to forbid
aliens remaining in the city more than a day and a night; they might
reside in other places if they liked, but not in the city of London.(1550)
Mortality increased so much that a committee hud to be appointed (March,
1569) "to peruse about the cytie where apte and convenient places maye be
had and founde for the buryall of the deade in tyme of plage and other
tymes of gret deathe," and to report thereon to the Court of
Aldermen.(1551) An acre of ground, more or less, near Bethlem Hospital was
subsequently prepared as a cemetery by the civic authorities,(1552) whilst
a friend of the mayor agreed under certain conditions to enclose it with a
wall, erect a pulpit and make other improvements at his own cost.(1553)
(M762)
In the course of time the persecuted Netherlanders took heart of grace,
encouraged by the gallant conduct of the Prince of Orange, their leader,
no less than by the active assistance and sympathy of their brethren in
England, who were continually passing to and fro with munitions of war, in
spite of proclamations to the contrary.(1554) "Whilst Elizabeth dribbled
out her secret aid to the Prince of Orange the London traders sent him
half-a-million from their own purses, a sum equal to a year's revenue of
the Crown."(1555)
(M763) (M764)
The decline of Antwerp which followed Alva's administration marks the
foundation of London's supremacy in the world of commerce. Hitherto the
queen had been accustomed through Gresham, her factor, to raise what money
she required by loans from merchants abroad. Merchant strangers were well
content to lend her money at ten or twelve per cent., seeing that the City
of London was as often as not called upon to give bonds for repayment by
way of collateral security.(1556) When that door was closed to her she
turned to her own subjects, the Company of Merchant Adventurers, to whom
she had shown considerable favour. Her first application to this company
for a loan was, to her great surprise, refused. The matter was afterwards
accommodated through the intervention of Sir Thomas Gresham; and as the
confidence of the city merchants increased, loans were afterwards
frequently negotiated between them and the Crown, much to the convenience
of one party and to the advantage of the other.(1557)
(M765)
As another means of raising money Elizabeth had resort to a lottery--the
first public lottery ever held in London, although the game called "The
Lott" was not unknown in the city in the reign of Henry VIII.(1558) The
lottery was advertised in 1567 as being a very rich lottery general,
without any blanks, containing a number of good prizes of ready-money,
plate and divers sorts of merchandise, the same having been valued by
expert and skilful men. The lottery was, as we should say at the present
day, "under the immediate patronage" of the queen herself, and the
proceeds, after deducting expenses, were to be devoted to the repair of
harbours and other public works conducive to strengthening the realm.
Besides the prizes, of which a long list is set out in the city's records,
there were to be three "welcomes" or bonuses given to the first three
winners of lots. The first person to whom a lot should happen to fall was
to have for "welcome" a piece of silver-gilt plate of the value of L50,
and the second and third fortunate drawers were to have respectively, in
addition to their prizes, a piece of gilt plate of the value of L20. The
prizes, the chief of which amounted to L5,000 sterling, although the
winner was to receive only L3,000 in cash, the rest being taken out in
plate and tapestry,(1559) were exhibited in Cheapside at the sign of the
Queen's Arms, the house of Antony Derick, goldsmith to Elizabeth and
engraver to the Mint in this and the preceding reign.(1560) The mayor and
aldermen agreed to put into the lottery thirty "billes or lottes" at the
least under one posy, viz.:--_God preserve the Cytye of London quod M and
A._ Any profit that might arise from the lots was to be equally divided
between them.(1561)
The livery companies of the city were also invited to subscribe to the
lottery as well as the Company of Merchant Adventurers.(1562) On the 4th
August the livery of the Merchant Taylors' Company were summoned to their
hall to declare the amount each individual was ready to venture--"all under
our posy in the name of this Common Hall," the posy subsequently
determined upon being the following:--
"One byrde in hande is worthe two in the woode,
Yff wee have the greate lott it will do us good."(1563)
The "reading" of the lottery was postponed till the 10th January,
1569.(1564) It took place at the west door of St. Paul's, commencing on
the 11th day of that month, and continued day and night until the 6th May
following.(1565) It was reported at the time that Elizabeth withdrew a
large sum of the prize-money for her own use previous to the drawing of
the lots, and this report, whether well founded or not, created no little
disgust among the subscribers.(1566)
(M766) (M767)
Before the close of 1568 Alva had severed the last links connecting
England with the Low Countries by suddenly seizing and imprisoning all
English merchants found at Antwerp on the ground that certain Spanish
treasure-ships had been detained in England. Such conduct on his part was
characterized by Elizabeth as "verie straunge and hertofore in no tyme
used betwixt the Crowne of England and the House of Burgondye wt owt some
manner of former conferrence proceedyng and intelligence had of the myndes
and intentions of the prynces themselves on both sides," and she forthwith
issued a proclamation for the seizure of Spanish vessels and merchants
found in English ports by way of reprisal.(1567) She was careful to show
that any former detention of Spanish vessels served as a mere pretence for
Alva's conduct. Certain Spanish vessels of small tonnage, called "zabras,"
had, it was true, entered English harbours in the west country, and the
bullion and merchandise had been discharged on English soil; but all this
had been done in order to prevent the ships and cargo falling into the
hands of the French ships which threatened them. Some of the treasure had
been even "borrowed"; but this was not contrary to the honorable usage of
princes in their own dominions. The Spanish ambassador had called upon her
majesty to ask that the vessels and cargo might be given up, "pretending
the monye to appertaine to the king his maister," which her majesty had
declared her willingness to assent to as soon as she should have had
communication from the west country. The ambassador, who was asked to
return in four or five days to receive the ships and treasure, had failed
to appear, and her surprise was great to find that orders had been given
for the arrest of her subjects at Antwerp on the very day (29 Oct.) that
the Spanish ambassador was with her majesty. Such was the account of the
matter as given in the queen's proclamation to the citizens of London. But
there are other and contradictory accounts. Whoever may have been the
rightful owner of the treasure, which in all probability was on its way to
Flanders for payment of Alva's soldiers,(1568) the opportunity of dealing
a blow to Spain and at the same time of replenishing the Exchequer at home
afforded by the presence of the ships in English waters was thought too
good to be lost.
(M768)
On the 5th January the mayor received orders from Sir Nicholas Bacon to
seize all Flemings' goods to the queen's use, inasmuch as it was quite
possible that what had taken place in Flanders had been done without the
King of Spain's commission. The following day the mayor informed the
council that he had arrested the bodies and goods of certain merchant
strangers in the city.(1569) Throughout the greater part of the month
frequent letters passed between the city, the merchant adventurers, the
merchants of the staple and the lords of the council concerning Alva's
proceedings and measures to be taken by way of reprisal. The citizens
showed themselves very anxious to devise measures of retaliation and to
avail themselves to the utmost of the opportunity afforded them of
avenging themselves of their foreign rivals, as the following memorial
signed by the mayor and nine of the principal merchants of the city
proves:--(1570)
"First, we doe thinck it very needfull and necessary that wth all possible
speed the bodies, shipps and goodes of all the subiects of the said king
be had under arrest, and their bodies to be sequestred from their houses,
comptinghouses, books, warehouses and goods; and they themselves to be
committed unto severall and sure custodie and keeping. And that alsoe
comission may be granted to sage persons to enquire and trie out all
coulorable transports and contracts don since the XXth of December last by
any of the subiects of the said king or by any other nation. And that a
proclamation be made by the queene's mates aucthorite forthwth for the
avoiding of collorable bargaines, transports and contracts hereafter to be
made."
Thomas Rowe(1571) (he had not yet received the honour of knighthood), who
was mayor at the time, happened to be a connection by marriage of Sir
Thomas Gresham, having married Mary, the eldest daughter of Sir John
Gresham, of Titsey, Sir Thomas's uncle. It was owing to this connection
that the mayor received information of Alva's arbitrary proceedings before
the news reached the ears of Secretary Cecil; for Gresham's factor at
Antwerp, Richard Clough, had lost no time in despatching a special
messenger to his master, who, immediately after hearing the news, broke in
upon the mayor's slumbers at twelve o'clock on the night of the 3rd
January in order to communicate the same to him. The next morning the
mayor wrote to Sir William Cecil informing him of what had occurred and
how under the circumstances he (the mayor) had taken upon himself to stay
the despatch of letters abroad for a while.(1572)
(M769)
Towards the end of January, 1569, the Duke of Alva sent over an agent,
Monsieur D'Assoleville, to demand the restitution of the treasure. The
mayor deputed John Gresham and another to escort the envoy from Gravesend
to London, where he was lodged at Crosby Place, at that time the mansion
house of William Bond, alderman of Candlewick Street Ward.(1573) At first
he demanded an audience with the queen herself, but was fain to be content
with a reference to her council.(1574) The treasure in the meantime had
been removed to London for greater security.(1575) Negotiations proving
fruitless the agent returned to Antwerp, "having succeeded in obtaining
from Elizabeth nothing beyond the assurance that she was ready to
surrender the treasure when his master promised indemnity to all her
subjects in the Low Countries, and agreed solemnly to ratify the ancient
treaty of alliance between the Crown of England and the House of
Burgundy."(1576)
(M770)
That such a large amount of treasure should be lying idle did not commend
itself to the mind of so astute a financier as Sir Thomas Gresham. He
accordingly suggested to Sir William Cecil by letter (14 Aug., 1569) that
the queen should cause it to be minted into her own coin, and thereby make
a profit of L3,000 or L4,000. As for repayment, her majesty could effect
it by way of exchange, to her great profit, or give bonds for a year or
more to the merchants who owned the money, and who, in Gresham's opinion,
would willingly accede to such proposal.(1577) Bold as this suggestion
was, it appears, nevertheless, to have been carried into execution.(1578)
(M771)
The hardships already experienced by Spanish merchants from stoppage of
commercial intercourse with England must have been materially increased
the following year by an order of the Court of Aldermen (11 July, 1570) to
the effect that all matters and suits brought by merchant strangers,
subjects of the King of Spain, in any of the Queen's Majesty's Courts
within the city of London for the recovery of a debt should be stayed, and
no manner of arrest or attachment allowed until further notice, unless the
stranger suing were a denizen or a member of the Church.(1579)
(M772) (M773) (M774)
By proclamation made the last day of June, 1570, English merchants who had
suffered loss by Alva's proceedings were desired to make a return of such
loss to the officers of one or other of the cities or towns of London,
Southampton, Bristol, Chester, Newcastle, Hull or Ipswich, as they should
find it most convenient,(1580) and on the 20th July following every
Englishman into whose hands any goods belonging to Spanish subjects might
have come was ordered to make a certificate under his hand and seal into
the Court of the Admiralty, in the city of London, for her majesty to take
further order thereon as should be thought meet.(1581) Negotiations, which
had been renewed for mutual restitution, again broke down, for when the
terms on which restitution was to be effected were to be reduced to
writing, or, in the language of the record, "_put into mundum_,"(1582) the
Spanish commissioners were found to have no authority to arrange matters,
whilst at the same time they wished to introduce clauses and conditions
which Elizabeth could in no wise accept. Seeing that she was being played
with, and knowing that much of the goods of English merchants seized in
Spain and the Netherlands had already been sold, the queen determined to
put up for sale the Spanish merchandise which for three years had been in
English hands. Proclamation to this effect was made the 14th January,
1572.(1583) The queen showed every desire to treat the Spanish merchants
with consideration. The sale was entrusted to Spanish subjects, who, upon
their oath, were to make sale of all the ships, goods, wares and
merchandise arrested, to the utmost advantage they could; and Spanish
owners were allowed, either by themselves, their factor or attorney,
freely to enter the realm within thirty days after the date of the
proclamation to attend the sale, provided they made no attempt against her
majesty or the peace of the country and departed immediately the sale was
over. This proclamation, coupled with the hopelessness of Alva's case and
the manifestation of discontent displayed by his own ruined merchants, led
to articles being drawn up (25 Mar.) between Elizabeth and the King of
Spain for an adjustment of their respective claims. Sir Thomas Gresham had
previously (4 Feb.) been directed by letter from Lord Burghley and Sir
Walter Mildmay to deliver up certain bonds of the Governor and Company of
Merchant Adventurers to be cancelled now that the whole matter was to be
referred to arbitration.(1584)
(M775)
To add to the queen's difficulties, Mary, who had been deposed from the
throne of Scotland and had sought shelter in England, was importuning her
for assistance for the recovery of her lost crown. Whilst Elizabeth
hesitated either to replace her rival in power or to set her at liberty,
the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland endeavoured to carry out a
scheme for marrying Mary to the Duke of Norfolk and forcing Elizabeth to
acknowledge her as successor to the crown of England. The Duke of Norfolk
obeyed the queen's summons to attend the court, and was committed to the
Tower (Oct., 1569).(1585) The earls refused to obey the summons, and rose
in insurrection. On the 24th November they were proclaimed traitors.(1586)
Troops were sent against them, but they cowardly left their supporters to
their own fate and fled to Scotland. The rebellion, fruitless as it proved
to be, caused no little excitement in the city.
(M776)
The same day that the earls were proclaimed traitors the Mayor of London
issued his precept to the several aldermen, enjoining them to take steps
for safe-guarding the city and taking into custody all rogues, masterless
men and vagabonds.(1587) On the following day another precept was issued
to the several livery companies for providing a certain number of
soldiers, "well and sufficientlie furnyshed wth a jerkyn and a paire of
gally sloppes of broad clothe, collor watchet, one calyver wth flaske and
tuchebox, a moryan, a sworde and a dagger."(1588) The soldiers were to be
ready to serve her majesty at an hour's warning. The Chamberlain received
orders to amend the several gates of the city and the portcullises
belonging to them, as well as to repair the city's guns and put them in
readiness, and lay in a stock of powder and shot to serve as occasion
should require.(1589) By the 12th December all fear of immediate danger
had passed away, and the livery companies were ordered to receive back the
armour and weapons supplied to the soldiers and to keep them in their
hall. The men were to be dismissed to their several industries, but still
to hold themselves in readiness for service at an hour's warning if
occasion should require them. A week later the soldiers were dismissed to
their houses, those who had no house being allowed sixpence a day until
called upon for active service.(1590)
(M777)
Although the rising in the north had failed, the Catholics were not
without hope. They were encouraged by the issue of a Papal Bull
excommunicating Elizabeth and absolving her subjects from their
allegiance. This Bull was affixed to the door of the Bishop of London's
palace by a man named John Felton. The queen was alarmed. She believed
that the long-threatened union against her of the Catholic powers had at
length been effected. Felton was seized and tried at the Guildhall. He was
found guilty, and paid the penalty of his rashness by being hanged, drawn
and quartered.(1591) His exemplary punishment failed, however, to put a
stop to Catholic intrigues against Elizabeth.
(M778)
The defeat of the Turkish fleet at Lepanto by Don John of Austria (7 Oct.,
1571) was commemorated two days later in London by a thanksgiving service
at St. Paul's,(1592) which was attended by the mayor, Sir William
Allen,(1593) the aldermen and members of the companies in their liveries.
In the evening of the same day bonfires were lighted in the streets of the
city by precept of the mayor.(1594) The immediate effect of the victory
was the release of a large number of captives (variously estimated at
12,000 and 14,000)(1595) from Turkish slavery, for whose redemption the
citizens were constantly being called upon to subscribe.(1596)
(M779)
Whilst the Low Countries were winning their way to freedom from the
Spanish yoke, and France was suffering the horrors of Saint Bartholomew's
day (24 Aug., 1572), England remained tranquil, and the city merchant had
little cause to complain, except, it might be, on account of the number of
strangers who rivalled him in his business.(1597) For the better
preservation of peace members of the French and the Dutch churches were
ordered (28 Sept.) not to leave their houses after 9 o'clock at
night.(1598)
(M780)
So long as the Spanish king turned a deaf ear to the exhortations of the
Pope, and refused to make a descent upon England, Elizabeth was able to
cope with Catholicism at home by peaceful measures. But the time was
approaching when she could no longer refuse to give practical assistance
to her struggling co-religionists on the continent. The Netherlands had
for some time past been preparing for open revolt against the barbarous
government of Alva. In 1572 a party seized Brill, and thus laid the
foundation of the Dutch Republic. It wanted but the active adhesion of
Elizabeth to enable the French to drive the Spaniards out of the country,
but this the queen was as yet unwilling to give. Two years later (1574)
she offered her services to effect an understanding between Spain and the
Netherlands, but her mediation proved futile. Both in 1572 and 1574 there
are signs of military preparations having taken place in the city. In the
first mentioned year Elizabeth held a review of the city troops in
Greenwich Park.(1599) In 1574 the city was called upon to furnish 400
soldiers for the queen's service, and steps were taken to allot to the
livery companies their quota of men or money in view of future
calls.(1600) A store of gunpowder was also laid up.(1601)
(M781)
If one thing more than another was calculated to precipitate a rupture
between England and Spain it was the action of English seamen, who roved
the seas and indirectly rendered assistance to the Netherlanders by
plundering Spanish vessels, in spite of all proclamations to the
contrary.(1602) The Londoner was not behind-hand in this predatory
warfare.
(M782) (M783)
In June, 1575, the queen borrowed a sum of L30,000 from the citizens on
security.(1603) The money was subscribed by the wealthier class of
citizens, and a moiety of the loan was repaid in little more than a
twelvemonth.(1604) Whatever may have been her faults, Elizabeth honestly
paid her debts, and when she discovered in 1577 that money which she had
repaid to certain officials had not reached the hands of the original
creditor, she forthwith issued a proclamation commanding all such
creditors to send in their claims in writing to the chief officer of her
majesty's household.(1605) It is difficult to dissociate altogether this
proclamation from the removal of George Heton from the office of
Chamberlain of the City three months afterwards.(1606)
(M784)
In February, 1578, the City was called upon to provide 2,000 arquebusiers.
Refusal was useless, although an attempt was made to get the number
reduced to 500. The mayor had scarcely issued his precept to the aldermen
to raise the men before he received another order for 2,000 to be trained
as directed in handling and using their weapons and kept in readiness for
future service.(1607) One hundred and fifty men were ordered (12 June) to
be ready at an hour's notice for foreign service.(1608) Strangers and
foreigners were not exempt.(1609) Some of the city companies were slow in
paying their quota of expenses of fitting out the men, and pressure had to
be brought to bear on them by the Court of Aldermen.(1610)
(M785) (M786) (M787)
In the following year Casimir, Count Palatine of the Rhine, paid a visit
to England to answer a charge brought against him by the English envoy in
Holland, of having used forces against the Netherlanders which had been
despatched from these shores for their support. On the evening of
Thursday, the 22nd January, 1579, the Count landed at the Tower, where he
was received by a party of noblemen and others, among whom we may
conjecture was the Mayor of London and representatives of the city.(1611)
Thence he was conducted by the light of cressets to Gresham's house, in
Bishopsgate Street, where he was received with music and lodged and
feasted by the worthy owner for three days. The honour thus shown to
Gresham is only one more proof of the esteem and respect in which he was
universally held by all parties, and, "in truth," as his biographer justly
remarks,(1612) "his great experience, his long and familiar intercourse
with men of all grades and professions, from princes and nobles--with whom
... he was on as intimate a footing as the impassable barrier of rank will
permit--to the lowliest of his own dependants, the knowledge of men and
manners which he must have derived from foreign travel, and his
acquaintance with all the languages of civilised Europe, must have
rendered him, towards the close of his life especially, as favourable a
specimen as could have been selected of the English gentleman of that
day." Casimir's reception was one of the last acts of public service
performed by Gresham, for before the close of the year he had died (21
Nov.). On Sunday (25 Jan.) the Count was conducted to Westminster for an
interview with the queen, after which lodgings were assigned to him in
Somerset House. The court of Common Council had already (23 Jan.) voted
"Duke Cassimerus" a gratification "in moneye or anye other thinge" to the
value of 500 marks.(1613) His visit was one round of feasting, hunting and
sight-seeing; one day dining with the lord mayor, another with the
merchants of the Steelyard; one day hunting at Hampton Court, and another
day witnessing athletic sports at Westminster. That the Count succeeded in
clearing his character may be surmised from the fact of his receiving the
Order of the Garter before his departure.(1614)
(M788)
In the following year the plague, which had been very virulent towards the
end of 1577, and from which the city was seldom entirely free, appeared at
Rye (June, 1580). A twelvemonth later it was raging in London, but as the
weather grew colder its virulence abated, allowing of the resumption of
the lord mayor's feast. The respite was short. In the spring of 1582 it
was again rife in the city, increasing in fatality during the hot season
and continuing until the winter of 1583.(1615) Business was often at a
standstill, the law courts had to be removed to the country, and the
sittings of the London Husting suspended.(1616)
St. Paul's Churchyard, which served as the burial ground to no less than
twenty-three city parishes, became overcrowded and greatly added to the
insanitary condition of the city by its shallow graves. The mayor informed
the lords of the council of this state of affairs by letter (15 May,
1582), in which he says that scarcely any grave was then made without
exposing corpses, and that the heat of the crowds standing over the
shallow graves caused noxious exhalations. It was currently reported at
the time that the gravediggers were the cause of the shallow graves "as
being desirous to have the infection spred that they might gaine by
burieng."(1617)