A Political Revolution in Tudor Lynn: The Rise of the Merchant Class and the Decline of Episcopal Power
The story of King’s Lynn in the early sixteenth century is one of conflict, transformation, and ultimately, liberation. It is the story of how a thriving port town on the Norfolk coast won back control from centuries of ecclesiastical dominance and laid the groundwork for a modern civic identity. This political upheaval, culminating in the 1524 and 1537 royal charters, reflects not only a local power shift but also the broader currents of change sweeping through Tudor England.
Merchants versus the Mitre: The Struggle for Civic Autonomy in King’s Lynn
From as early as 1100, the Bishops of Norwich held lordship over Lynn. Their authority encompassed legal, fiscal, and ceremonial domains. The townspeople – particularly the merchants – resented these constraints. King John’s Charter of 1204 granted Lynn certain liberties in return for financial support, but it did not free the town from episcopal overlordship.
The real turning point came in the early 1500s, when Lynn’s merchant class had grown economically powerful enough to mount a sustained challenge. The carrying of the borough sword became a flashpoint. This ceremonial object symbolised civic independence. Merchants insisted it should precede the mayor, not the bishop, during formal processions. A riot in 1377 over this very issue foreshadowed the later crisis.
Wolsey’s Visit: Politics over Dinner in King’s Lynn
In August 1520, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, then Lord Chancellor and England’s most powerful man after the king, visited Lynn. The mayor and aldermen hosted him with a lavish feast costing £22 at Harlewyns (possibly the former residence of wealthy merchant Thomas Thoresby). Wolsey’s visit was no mere courtesy; it was a calculated political move.
Wolsey had reason to favour the town’s merchants over Bishop Richard Nix, with whom he was already in conflict. Shortly after the visit, Thomas Miller – fishmonger, shipowner, and rising political figure – was elected mayor. Miller began asserting authority in ways that defied the bishop’s rights. In 1521, he demanded the borough sword be carried before him. In effect, Lynn was governed as a Crown protectorate, with Miller even referred to in official documents as “governor”.
The 1524 Charter: Redrawing the Lines of Power in King’s Lynn
In 1524, King Henry VIII granted Lynn a new royal charter. This document formally established the town as a self-governing borough with a mayor, 12 aldermen, and 18 councillors. Crucially, it removed the Bishop of Norwich from municipal governance. Though the bishop retained some financial and symbolic rights, the merchants had achieved de facto control.
This moment marked a decisive shift. The bishop’s authority was now limited to what the town would permit. However, Bishop Nix did not quietly retreat. In 1525, he obtained Letters Patent to reaffirm his rights over markets and courts. A lease agreement in 1527 allowed the Corporation to administer markets and fairs in return for an annual payment of 104 shillings.
A Merchants’ Town: Economic Power Behind Political Change in King’s Lynn
The 1520s saw Lynn’s merchants engaging in expansive trade networks. Goods were shipped to and from the Baltic ports, France, and even Iceland. Local merchants exported cloth, rabbit pelts, lead, and salt, and imported wax, flax, timber, and fish.
Thomas Miller imported wine from Gascony. Others like William Castell and Thomas Leighton owned vessels of 60 – 70 tons. They diversified their portfolios by investing in brewing, baking, and chandlering. Merchant marks – unique emblems used to label goods – became common. These symbols of commercial identity also adorned their homes.
The Final Break: 1537 and the Royal Charter for King’s Lynn
The bishop’s power continued to wane. In 1534, Nix faced prosecution for violating the liberties of Thetford and was imprisoned. Though pardoned, his reputation and influence were irreparably damaged. In 1536, Bishop William Rugg was appointed, but his ineffectiveness only hastened the decline of episcopal authority.
In 1537, Henry VIII issued a new charter that renamed the town “King’s Lynn” and eliminated the last vestiges of the bishop’s legal and administrative rights. The town now answered solely to the Crown, and the merchants – by then an entrenched oligarchy – had won the long struggle.
Conclusion: Lynn’s Transition from Medieval Borough to Tudor Corporation
The transformation from Bishop’s Lynn to King’s Lynn was more than a change in name. It was the culmination of a century-long struggle in which economic ambition, ceremonial symbolism, and political calculation converged. The merchant class, acting with both boldness and strategic caution, redefined the town’s governance. While figures like Wolsey and Cromwell helped from afar, it was the determination and unity of Lynn’s leading citizens that ultimately brought about the town’s political revolution.
Click HERE for a Podcast on this material.
© James Rye 2025
Book a Walk with a Trained and Qualified King’s Lynn Guide
Further Reading
- Brandon, P. (2003). The Medieval Port of King’s Lynn: Trade, Society and Politics in a Maritime Town, 1300–1600. Cambridge University Press.
- Emerson, K. (2003). Charters and Power: Legal Reform in the Reign of Henry VIII. Oxford Historical Studies.
- Miller, E. (1980). “Towns and Trade in the Reign of Henry VIII.” Economic History Review, 33(2), 201–225.
- Owen, D.M. (1984). The Making of King’s Lynn: Secular and Ecclesiastical Power, 1100–1550. Methuen & Co.
- Rawcliffe, C. (1991). Urban Bodies: Communal Health in Late Medieval English Towns and Cities. Boydell.
- Richards, P. (2024). A Political Revolution in Tudor Lynn: “To have an end between my Lord of Norwich and the Town of Lynn”: 500 Years since Henry VIII’s Charter of Borough Freedom (1524-2024), Unpublished Public Lecture.
- Rye, J. (2021). The Riot when Bishop Henry Despenser came to Lynn.
- Tudor Royal Proclamations, Vol. I (1964). Ed. Hughes, P.L. & Larkin, J.F. Yale University Press.
- Whiting, R. (1971). Local Responses to the English Reformation. Macmillan.