Page:VCH Norfolk 2.djvu/528

A HISTORY OF NORFOLK support, for which it received a suitable reward soon after in the form of a new charter. The county was disturbed for some time by the attacks of Scotch and French ships which harried the coasts of England at this time. In 1402 especially there was a great scare, and the bailiffs of Norwich had to muster all their forces, both archers and ' hoblers,' the latter being light horsemen mounted on ' hobbies ' or ponies. Twenty fully armed men and forty archers were sent to Yarmouth till the king's regular forces should arrive there. The remainder of the reign of Henry IV and that of his successor Henry V do not present any points of great interest locally, though Norfolk took quite its fair share in the great invasion of France in 141 5, and sent a large number of men to the French wars. On 29 May, 141 5, the commis- sioners of array for Norfolk were Sir Thomas de Morley, Sir John Rothenale, John Wodehouse, Sir John Inglethorpe, and, according to the Patent Roll, Edmund Oldhalle. Of these Thomas, Lord Morley, the holder of the barony of Rye (who was afterwards captain-general of the English forces in France), is the only one who can definitely be traced as having been present at the battle. The story of the prowess of Sir John Wodehouse at Agincourt is founded entirely upon a rhyming pedigree of the seventeenth century, and is destitute of sufficient authority.^ The other commissioners were probably left in charge of the county. The king being short of money borrowed i ,000 marks from Norwich, on the pawn of a circle of gold, set with fifty-six ' balays ' (peach-coloured rubies), forty sapphires, eight diamonds, and seven great pearls. Of this the city lent 500 marks, Lynn 400 marks, William Westacre £,o, William Walton >C2o, and Nicholas Scounfet 10 marks. During the reign of Henry VI Norfolk seems to have had but very little to do with imperial politics, but entered upon a long period of internal disturbances and troubles. The weakness of the central government no doubt made itself felt equally all over England, but owing to the vivid light thrown on local affairs by the Paston Letters it can be better realized here than else- where. An instance of the want of order and firm government prevalent may be found in the case of the cruel murder on 3 1 December, 1423, of one John Grys of Wighton by William Aslak, a ruffian of the worst type, who seems to have been under the special protection of Sir Thomas Erpingham.^ It appears that Sir William Paston having opposed Aslak in some lawsuit, was also long threatened with murder by him. Aslak had the effrontery to post up bills on the gates of the priory of the Grey Friars and on the city gates threatening Paston with the same fate as Grys, yet nothing was ever done to punish him. The city of Norwich was in a very disturbed condition ^ for many years, owing principally to the bad behaviour of a party headed by a citizen named Thomas Wetherby, who had won over to his side two well-known Norfolk men. Sir Thomas Tudenham of Oxburgh and John Heydon of Baconsthorpe, and in 1443 there took place in the city what is known as ' Gladman's Insurrection.' ' See a detailed exposure of the story in Norf. Jtiiif. Miscell. (2nd ser.), vol.i. ' Paston Letters (Gardner), xxiv, No. 4. ' A full account of all these disturbances will be found in YiMdion, Records of Norte, pp. Ixxix-xciii ; cf. also PP- 343-7- 486