Chapter I: 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plays--a task the labours of Dr Hardin Craig have rendered comparatively light--I have been able to add one hitherto unpublished item to the subject of the mediæval dramatic history of Coventry (p. 296), and dispel the idea that the name "S. Crytyan" given to a play acted in 1505 is a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
PAGE

_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--the Tudors 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 the Market_ 233

CHAPTER XV

_Daily Life in the Town (continued)--Religion and Amusements of the Townsfolk_ 269