Mediæval London, Volume 1: Historical & SocialBesant, Walter
History
Mediæval London, Volume 1: Historical & Social
Besant, Walter
London (England) -- History -- To 1500; London (England) -- Social life and customs -- To 1500
Cade also robbed other merchants. Now since nothing so rouses a
merchant to fury as the prospect of being robbed, the Aldermen met
again and seriously determined that at all costs the rebels must be
kept out. They therefore put their defence into the hands of Lord
Scales, Lord Governor of the Tower. And then follows a battle, now
forgotten, which should have been one of the most picturesque in the
whole list of desperate fights. Like the famous Holding of the Bridge
of Rome was the Holding of the Bridge of London by Matthew Gough and
the citizens. It began on the night of Sunday, July the 5th, at ten
“of the bell,” and it continued all night long, without stopping,
till eight in the morning. Sometimes the Kentish men drove back the
citizens, but never beyond the drawbridge: sometimes the citizens drove
back the Kentish men, but never beyond the “bulwark” of the bridge.
Matthew Gough, lieutenant of the Tower, was killed in the encounter, so
was John Sutton, Alderman, with many other stout citizens and sturdy
rebels. All night long, in the clear twilight of the season, while the
quiet tide ebbed and flowed beneath the bridge, there were the clash
of arms and shouts and groans until the early sun rose. Beyond the
Bridge stood the citizens waiting for their turn, which never came, for
no one could pass out or in, but the fighting men in the front surged
backwards and forwards in a solid mass. And in the houses the people
lay sleepless: trembling while the din of battle ceased not.
[Illustration: LONDON STONE]
The rebels were worsted in the end. That is, thinking it impossible to
force their way into the City they withdrew. Then the Archbishop of
Canterbury with the Bishop of Winchester offered them a free pardon, to
include their leader, if they would go home quietly.
In the Church of St. Margaret, Southwark, an interview was held between
Cade and the Archbishop. The pardons signed by the Chancellor were
shown and handed over. The rebels accepted, and in a few hours the
whole army had melted away. Probably Cade found that it was useless
to hope for success since London held out so fiercely against him. It
is said that he tried to continue a hopeless struggle by taking the
prisoners out of the Marshalsea and King’s Bench. He then sent his
treasures by ship to Rochester and prepared to march on that place
with his army of prisoners. Here the story grows confused. There were
certainly not enough prisoners to form an army. Perhaps Cade looked
for local support at Rochester. However, he found that Rochester would
not receive him, so he made an attempt on Queenborough, and he then
fled, making for the dense forest which at that time covered nearly the
whole of Sussex. He was pursued by the new Sheriff, Alexander Iden, and
mortally wounded at a place called Heathfield.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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