Archbishop Parker, a native of Norwich, flourished in this reign, and was a great benefactor to the city. He was born August 6th, 1504, being the son of William Parker, a wealthy citizen. He was educated at the Grammar School here, and in 1520 he was sent to Corpus Christi College, where he took his degrees of B.A., M.A., and D.D., before 1538. The Queen afterwards appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury, and he was very active in persecuting the Puritans here. He was the author of many works which showed much learning. He died on May 17th, 1575, and was buried in Lambeth Chapel. CHAPTER XII. Norwich in the Seventeenth Century. THIS was a very eventful period in the annals of the city. The century opened with storms and inundations in the physical world, heralding commotions in the political world. On April 9th, 1601, a sudden storm of hail and rain passed over the city, whereby the upper part of the Cathedral spire, which had been lately repaired, was beaten down. It fell on the roof of the church, which it broke through, doing great damage to it as well as to the walls of the choir. The spire was split on the south-east side from top to bottom. James I. was proclaimed king on March 24th, 1602; and soon after he was seated on the throne he granted a general pardon to the mayor, sheriffs, and commons of this city, for all past offences. The local occurrences were not very important during this reign of 23 years. There were, however, great disturbances between the citizens and Dutch strangers respecting trade rights and privileges. In 1602, the plague raged with unusual fury in this country. As many as 30,578 persons died in London, and 3076 in Norwich. This visitation was attended with so great a scarcity of food, that wheat sold for ten, rye for six, and barley for five shillings per bushel. In the summer of 1609, the city was again visited by the plague, though but few died of it.