Produced by ellinora, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) _The Story of Coventry_ [Illustration: _Henry VI._ _from the painting in the National Portrait Gallery._] _The Story of_ Coventry _by Mary Dormer Harris_ _Illustrated by Albert Chanler_ [Illustration] _London: J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd._ _Aldine House_ _Bedford Street_ _Covent Garden W.C._ 1911 _All rights reserved_ AD MATREM 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plays--a task the labours of Dr Hardin Craig have rendered comparatively light--I have been able to add one hitherto unpublished item to the subject of the mediæval dramatic history of Coventry (p. 296), and dispel the idea that the name "S. Crytyan" given to a play acted in 1505 is a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