For centuries, one of England’s most powerful aristocratic families is said to have owned half of Lynn. It is a memorable claim. The bishop of […]
Read moreTag: Bishop’s Lynn
Mice, Mellow Men, and Candlewives: The Strange Names of Medieval Lynn
What sort of man acquired the name Richard Skin-the-Cat? Why was another Lynn resident known as William the Mellow? Was Agnes the Candlewife a candle seller, a candle maker, […]
Read moreWhen Lynn Seized the Lord of Castle Rising and Paid Heavily
The castle itself probably was not stormed. Its lord was. Early in the fourteenth century, Robert de Montalt left his great stone residence at Castle […]
Read moreCabbages, Corruption, and Commerce: Bishop’s Lynn in Edward I’s Hundred Rolls
A boat carrying grain arrives at Bishop’s Lynn from the Fenland waterways. Before its cargo can be sold, the merchant must hire an official measuring […]
Read moreThe Bishop Next Door: Gaywood’s Lost Medieval Estate
Anyone passing Gaywood Hall today sees a nineteenth-century house standing among lawns and mature trees. Little above ground suggests that this was once the centre […]
Read moreMoney, Mayors, and Mistrust in Bishop’s Lynn
Who watched the Mayor? Who controlled Lynn’s money? And who had the right to check the men who governed it? The unrest that shook Lynn […]
Read moreLocked in Prayer: Anchorites and Hermits in Medieval Lynn
Medieval Bishop’s Lynn was not a quiet place. It was a port, market town and pilgrimage crossroads, with ships moving along the haven, carts passing […]
Read moreFrom Fleece to Freight: The Long History of Trade in King’s Lynn
Stand on Purfleet Quay and you can still see why King’s Lynn became a port of consequence. The river meets the sea-world here, and the […]
Read moreThe 1347 Summer when Lynn Seized the Corn
Hunger on the Quay: When Bishop’s Lynn Stopped the Grain Ships A June day at the waterfront The grain was already on the move. On […]
Read moreThe King Punishes Lynn
How a Medieval Port Lost, and Regained, Its Freedom In the first years of the thirteenth century Bishop’s Lynn looked like a town with a […]
Read moreThe Angels Of King’s Lynn
Angelic beings were important in late medieval life. They are often represented in English parish church art, especially in open timber roofs. You can see […]
Read moreJohn Capgrave
John Capgrave – the Lynn historian, hagiographer, theologian, and church leader who saw the princess with his own eyes. In 1406 the twelve year-old Princess […]
Read moreMargery Kempe’s Horses and Cries
”His death to me is as if he had died this same day …” Margery Kempe’s Business Failures In Lynn After the failure of one […]
Read moreHostage Taking in Lynn
The French Are Coming Ironically, although King John had proved himself very capable of hostage taking and demanding ransom, it was not King John who […]
Read moreLynn Priest Makes National History
One-time Lynn priest at St Margaret’s, William Sawtry, was the first person in England to be officially burned alive for heresy. He was executed at […]
Read moreKing John Had At Least Three Very Cunning Plans
The leader, commemorated locally for giving Lynn a Charter in 1204, was infamous nationally for taxing certain mistresses – a trick he had adapted from […]
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