COVENTRY AND THE CROWN IN THE 17TH CENTURY: THE POLITICS OF FEASTING AT ST MARY’S HALL

Throughout history feasting stands out as a favourite means by which relational ties are forged, from alliances between two parties to complex reciprocal networks. It is a performative act with ritual qualities in which the aesthetics of the venue are part and parcel of the feasting experience. The aim of the host is to leave a deep impression on the guests.

In Coventry’s Guildhall, St Mary’s Hall was the City’s banqueting hall, ceremony and feasting its primary purpose. Its size, layout, aesthetics and the extensive kitchen facilities indicate that Coventry’s governing elite recognised the importance of feasting as a cultural and political activity that would enhance Coventry’s reputation and standing.

Feasting was particularly important in the sensitive task of ensuring good relations with the crown, In the 17th century Coventry’s relations with the Stuarts were often fractious. But the Corporation hosted banquets for both James I and James II when City and Crown wanted something from each other.

In 1617 James I visited Coventry on the homeward leg of a progress made to Scotland. Coventry was a convenient stopover as he journeyed south. The visit was timely for both James and the Corporation. There was a prickly history in the relations between James and Coventry. In the early years of his reign James had cause to thank Coventry for providing sanctuary for his daughter, Elizabeth, during the crisis of the Gunpowder Plot. But he also had concerns about the puritan temper of the City elite. In 1611 James had rebuked the Corporation for allowing communion to be administered standing rather than kneeling as the rubrics of the Church of England required and he had made it clear he

wanted the practice to stop.i Then in 1616, the eminent jurist Sir Edward Coke, Recorder of Coventry, the City’s principle legal adviser, and an expert on the legal status of corporations, had advised the mayor and aldermen to reform the governance of the City. In 1605 the Corporation had resolved that the Mayor’s Council should be self-electing and, following Coke’s advice, was keen to obtain a new charter from James to formalise this emerging oligarchy in its governance arrangements.ii

On James’ part he was keen to take the measure of the City particularly in his desire to ensure local conformity to the Church and his policy of raising benevolences or forced loans from the rich men of towns, to avoid recourse to Parliament who had proved reluctant to fund his expensive foreign policy. Benevolences had already been raised in 1614 and James was keen to repeat the exercise, and had been making visits to various towns to assess the appetite for the policy.

Whether the visit was merely co-incidence or concerted to provide an opportunity to address these issues is not clear, as there is no detailed evidence of negotiations on them. But a grand welcome and a fine feast was an essential part of the culture of political engagement when the monarch visited a town. So the City rolled out the red carpet for the visit. The houses were ‘...beautifyed...’ Philemon Holland, Coventry’s noted school master and renowned translator whose verses adorned St Mary’s Hall, made a welcoming eulogy and, with the mayor and aldermen, the King and his entourage processed to St Mary’s Hall. Here ...the King & his nobles was Royally entertained with feasting...’ and he was presented with a gold loving cup ‘...which cost the Citty 240lb...’ (an astonishing £30,000 at today’s values). As it turned out James subsequently abandoned his policy of forced loans and. Coventry eventually got its new charter in 1621, but only after tense negotiations and further guarantees that communion would be celebrated kneeling.iii

The next major feast for a king did not take place for another 70 years as Coventry fell out with the Stuarts and backed Parliament in the Civil War and Interregnum. In August 1642, as the various sides jockeyed for control of Coventry immediately prior to the outbreak of the war, Charles I attempted to enter Coventry. The Corporation was ready to entertain him in the usual manner, borrowing £200 from the royalist Steward, John Whitwick and the mayor Christopher Davenport. But the parliamentarian interest in the City overrode the Corporation and Charles was denied entry.iv

After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 Charles II never visited Coventry. He was a reluctant traveler, rarely leaving London and its neighbouring suburbs and villages, except for the races at Newmarket, the spa towns of Bath and Tunbridge in the hope that the waters might aid conception of an heir, and Salisbury and Oxford to flee the plague. However, he had senior advisers keep an eye on Coventry, wary of its reputation as a rebellious place. In July 1662, in short order, his confidante, the Duke of Ormond was wined and dined at St Mary’s Hall in the traditional way. A few weeks later the Earl of Northampton, Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, was sent to slight Coventry’s formidable defenses and impose religious conformity on the members of the Corporation. The Corporation honoured him with a banquet, no doubt through gritted teeth.v Then in September 1687 James II came to Coventry, and on this occasion we can identify the very particular reason for the visit, again of reciprocal benefit to the Corporation and the King.

Between 1678 and 1681 there was an attempt by Parliament to exclude the Catholic James Duke of York from the succession. Those who wanted exclusion were known as Whigs and drew much of their support from Dissenters. Coventry Corporation, with its strong Dissenting influence, became something of a champion of this cause. It elected MPs who supported the campaign in Parliament and in a very

public manner welcomed to the City the King’s bastard son, the Duke of Monmouth, touted as an alternative successor. Charles reacted by forcing the City to petition for a new charter allowing him to purge Coventry Corporation of its Dissenting members.

When James succeeded in 1685, he initially intensified this campaign against the Whigs and Dissenters, and three Dissenting aldermen were removed and replaced by sound Church of England men. But James’ overriding ambition was to obtain support for a general toleration for his Catholic co-religionists and so, in a volte-face, he chose to court Dissenters who would also benefit from a policy of toleration. In April 1687 he issued a Declaration of Indulgence suspending the penal laws and the requirement for office holders to take a religious oath of conformity to the Church of England. He then went on a tour of the West Midlands to test and to influence opinion on his plan for a general toleration. Coventry with its dissenting elite was a key place to influence and, keen to recover control of the Corporation, the City’s Dissenters once more feted the monarch in the time honoured way.vi

In September 1687 James was welcomed to the City by the Mayor and Alderman attended by the trade companies with streamers and music. Houses were bedecked in ‘...green boughs...’ and ‘...about 200 Citizens, most dissenters, went to meet his Majesty...’ who ’...showed them great respect...’ He also changed his lodgings from Whitefriars, the home of the loyalist Hales family, to Palace Yard, the house of Richard Hopkins a noted Whig. The Corporation put on a ‘...stately Banquet and Breakfast at St Mary Hall at the Cittie’s charge...’ And the charge was considerable. The bill for the food and wine ran to over £158, which converts to an astonishing £19,000 at today’s values.vii

This welcome certainly bore fruit for the City’s Dissenters, when three months later, eight city officials noted for their Anglican status were removed and replaced with Dissenters. James also dispensed with the

oaths required in the Corporation Act of 1662 stating that the new appointees were to be admitted without administering to them any oath but the usual one for the execution of their roles.viii

The grand banquets at St Mary’ Hall, were thus an important part of its urban political culture. In the 17th century, when the Coventry governing oligarchy had a fractious relationship with the county community and the crown, they were deployed as an important tool in the management of these relationships.

If you’re fascinated by history and eager to delve into the rich heritage of St Mary’s Guildhall and Coventry, why not plan a visit? Step inside and uncover the intriguing stories and vibrant history that this iconic building holds. From its medieval origins to its role in the city’s cultural tapestry, St Mary’s Guildhall offers a captivating journey through time. Don’t miss the chance to explore this historic gem and immerse yourself in Coventry’s fascinating past.

Sources

Primary Sources

Coventry Archives and Research Centre (CARC), BA/H/C/17/2, ‘Council Minute Book 1640-1696; BA/H/C/22/1 ‘Bailiffs’ Accounts 1662’; BA/H/20/3 ‘Corporation Receipt and Payment Book, 1641-91’; BA/A/A/26/3, ‘Chamberlains’ Accounts 1636-1710’.

Secondary Sources.

F. Bliss Burbage, Old Coventry and Lady Godiva, Birmingham n.d.

T. Harris, Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685-1720, London 2006.

J. J. Hurwich,’’A Fanatick Town’:The Political Influence of Dissenters in Coventry, 1660-1720’, Midland History, 4, 1977, pp 15-47.

P Knowles, Continuity and Change in Urban Culture. A case study of two provincial towns, Chester and Coventry c. 1600-c. 1750, D.Phil Thesis, University of Leicester, 2001.

C. Phythian Adams, The Desolation of a City: Coventry and the Urban Crisis of the Late Middle Ages, Cambridge 1979.

C Phythian Adams, ‘Ceremony and the citizen: the communal year at Coventry 1450-1550’, in P. Clark and P. Slack, Crisis and Order in English Towns 1500-1700, London 1972.

T. Sharp, Illustrative Papers on the History and Antiquities of the City of Coventry, Coventry 1871.

F. Smith, Coventry: A Hundred Years of Municipal Life, Coventry 1946.

R. Tittler, Architecture and Power: The Town Hall and the English Urban Community c. 1500-1640, Oxford 1991.

VCH, Warwick VIII (London 1969.

T W Whitley, The Parliamentary Representation of the City of Coventry From the Earliest Times to Present Date...Coventry 1894.

J. L. Wright and M. J. Chan, ‘Feasting from Kings to Communities’ in Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible, ed. D. M. Master, Oxford 2013.

i The City Annals or Mayors Lists of the City of Coventry in F. Bliss Burbidge, Old Coventry and Lady Godiva, Birmingham n.d., pp. 238. The exchange of letters on this issue is quoted in full in T. Sharp, Illustrative Papers on the History and Antiquities of the City of Coventry, Coventry 1871, p.238. ii T. W. Whitley, The Parliamentary Representation of the City of Coventry From the Earliest Times to Present Date, Coventry 1894, p.8; A. A. Dibben, Coventry City Charters, Coventry 1969, pp. 32-3. iii The City Annals, p.339; Coventry Archives and Research Centre (CARC) BA/F/A/23/1: ’Humphrey Burton’s Book’ contains documents on the negotiation with James for this charter. iv A. Hughes, Politics, Society and Civil War in Warwickshire, 1620-1660, Cambridge 1987, pp.147-8. v CARC, BA/H/C/22/1 ‘Bailiffs’ Accounts 1662’; BA/H/20/3 ‘Corporation Receipt and Payment Book, 1641-91’, f. 186; BA/A/A/26/3, ‘Chamberlains’ Accounts 1636-1710’, f.398; BA/H/C/17/2, Council Minute Book, 1640-1696, f. 144; ‘City Annals’, p.253. vi J. J. Hurwich, ‘ ‘A Fanatick Town’: The Political Influence of Disseneter in Coventry, 1660-1720’, Midland History, 4, 1977, pp. 23-7; T. Harris, Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685-1720, London 2006, pp. 229-30. vii ‘City Annals’ pp. 258-9: Whitley, The Parliamentary Representation of the City of Coventry, pp. 112-3. viii CARC, BA/H/C/17/2, Council Minute Book, 1640-1696, f. 362.

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