London and Its Environs Described, vol. 4 (of 6): Containing an Account of Whatever is Most Remarkable for Grandeur, Elegance, Curiosity or Use, in the City and in the Country Twenty Miles Round ItAnonymous
History
London and Its Environs Described, vol. 4 (of 6): Containing an Account of Whatever is Most Remarkable for Grandeur, Elegance, Curiosity or Use, in the City and in the Country Twenty Miles Round It
Anonymous
London (England) -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800; London (England) -- Gazetteers -- Early works to 1800
At the end of Shoe lane, in Fleet street, a handsome tower with four
turrets was erected upon the conduit, in each of which stood one of the
cardinal Virtues, with their several symbols; who, addressing themselves
to the Queen, promised they would never leave her, but be always her
constant attendants. Within the tower was an excellent concert of music,
and the conduit all the while ran with various sorts of wine.
At Temple Bar she was again entertained with songs, sung in concert by a
choir of men and boys; and having from thence proceeded to Westminster,
she returned the Lord Mayor thanks for his good offices, and those of
the citizens that day. _Stow’s Annals._
The day after, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Sheriffs, performed their
several offices at the coronation; and, in return for the great expence
the city had been at upon the above occasion, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen,
and forty of the principal citizens, had the honour of being afterwards
invited to the christening of the Princess Elizabeth.
In the year 1551, King Edward VI. gave the city a charter, by which he
not only confirmed all its former privileges, but granted the Lord
Mayor, Aldermen, and citizens, several lands and tenements in Southwark,
with the manor thereof, and its appurtenances; the assize of bread,
wine, beer, and ale; a fair for three days; and the offices of Coroner,
Escheator, and Clerk of the market, which are for ever vested in the
Lord Mayor and his successors.
In the beginning of the year 1552, the celebrated company of the
Anseatic merchants, called here the merchants of the Steelyard, were
dissolved, they having engrossed almost the whole trade of the kingdom;
for in the preceding year they exported 40,000 pieces of cloth, while
all the English merchants together did not export 1100.
Upon the breaking out of the rebellion under Sir Thomas Wyat, occasioned
by the report of Queen Mary’s intended marriage with Philip of Spain,
the city was thrown into a violent commotion, and on his marching to
Deptford, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, Sheriffs, and citizens, had not only
recourse to arms; but, it being term time, the Judges sat, and the
Council pleaded in Westminster Hall in armour. In this general confusion
the Queen came to Guildhall, where she was attended by the Lord Mayor,
Aldermen, Sheriffs, and several of the city companies in their
formalities, to whom she made a long and flattering speech, in which she
professed, that she loved them as a mother loves her child, and that she
would not engage in this marriage, if she thought it inconsistent with
the happiness of her loving subjects: but that she desired to leave
_some fruit of her body_ to be their governor.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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