of Coventry is, in keping and observyng the said custome"; and in bills which he set up on the church doors he "promysed to delyver the pepull of this same Citee from the thraldom of Pharao." The prior of S. Mary was not to be daunted by this audacious front, and petitioned the King against Friar Bredon. In due time sentence was pronounced, and a form of recantation arrived prescribed by parliament. In presence of the Forty-eight[612] the friar was compelled to admit that the custom he had inveighed against "is a custom commendable, and so owyng to be kept and observed to encrese of mede, by pleasure made to Almighty God, who graunte to you and me to lif in this world aftir juste lawes and lawful customs vertuously, soo that we may deserve to rejoyse (enjoy) hevenly recompense everlastyngly."[613] After which recantation he was banished the city. The citizens were as thorough and systematic in their pastimes as in their prayers, and all sorts of amusements of a vigorous character, wherein they gladly indulged, were rarely discouraged by the corporation. The practice of archery was looked on as part of every man's necessary training, and crafts were ordered to keep butts in good repair, so that all members of their fellowships could keep their hands well in use.[614] Bull-baiting, a favourite sport, gave its name to the Bull-ring hard by Trinity church;[615] but the traces of "le cokfyting place"[616] and of the bowling-green near the Charter-house[617] have been lost. [Illustration: PULPIT, HOLY TRINITY CHURCH] Bear-baiting was highly popular likewise, and frequent gifts to Sir Fulk Greville's bearward[618] form a feature in the chamberlains' accounts in the early days of Elizabeth. Like all the great Queen's subjects the men of Coventry delighted in theatrical representations, and now that the local religious drama was dead, their appreciation of the strolling players' art caused constant inroads to be made on the public purse. The wardens were frequently called upon for payments, such as "to the Earle of Darbyes players v_s._," "to the lord Chamberlain's players x_s._,"[619] items which accord ill with the payments for sermons at this time.[620] In the end the sermons gained the day, and it would be hard to find in the Midlands--save Banbury--a more staunchly Puritan town than Coventry under the Stuarts.