A HISTORY OF LONDON apparently reduced by various devices to evade payment of the full amount, and that the wives of householders, in accordance vv^ith the mayor's interpre- tation of the arbitrators' award, did not pay the id. a year which was the customary offering of communicants who were not householders or who occupied houses of less than ioj. rent. They also desired that the tithes should be at the rate of 7.s. qd. in the pound in all parts of the City and suburb. The aldermen accused the rectors of bringing ' unlawful suits ' for tithes, but themselves decided in several cases that payment must be made for shops, &c. In 1543 two Bills were before Parliament, and in 1545 an Act was passed providing for the enforcement of a decree to be made by the archbishop and others. On 24 February 1546 these arbitrators ordered that tithes should be paid for all shops, &;c., that they should be paid on the real value of the property, ' without fraud or covin,' and that the wives of householders must pay the 2d. at Easter ; but, on the other hand, that sums less than 2j. 9^. in the pound should be paid in those places where such lower rate had been accustomed. The aldermen directed that this decree should be printed, and that every parish church should have a copy. It finally superseded the bull of Pope Nicholas, as that had superseded the constitution of Roger Niger." Thus during the early years of the Reformation period the citizens were alienated from their clergy by this dispute. That period began in 1521, when on Sunday, 12 May, ' one Luther . . . was openly declared an heretic at Paul's Cross, and all his books burned.' " The sermon was preached by Bishop Fisher of Rochester ; ^' Wolsey sat in great state, with the ambassadors of the pope and the emperor, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Bishop of Durham, at his feet." Perhaps this pomp was intended to impress on the citizens the enormity of Luther's heresy, but it was more likely to arouse sympathy with him on account of Wolsey's unpopularity.^" Bishop Fitz James died in January 1522." His successor, Cuthbert Tunstall, appointed by Pope Adrian VI at the request of the king,*^ was a man of high character and much learning,** but his constant employment as an ambassador and statesman ** can have left him little leisure for the guidance of his diocese at that critical time. In 1523 the rector of St. Michael Cornhill, Rowland Philips, distinguished himself in Convocation by his oppo- sition to Wolsey's demand for a subsidy ; *^ and the bishop at the opening of Parliament made an eloquent speech, in which he extolled justice.** But the most remarkable event of the year, an anticipation of one of the chief L. and P. Hen. Fill, xi, 204; xv, 722 ; Rec. Corp. Letter Bk. Q, fol. 75^, 82, 83^, oob, iwb, 1533 ; Repert. x, fol. 202^, 295^, 3231^, 326^, 328(5, 334,^ ; xi, fol. 55 (cf L. and P. Hen. Fill, vi, 1315), 75, 2451^ ; Burnell, Land. Tithes Jet, App. ii ; cf. Four Supplications (Early Engl. Text Soc), 84-8. Cases of refusal to pay in 1547 were settled by the aldermen in accordance with the decree ; Rec. Corp. Repert. xi, fol. 309, 324;^. " Henceforth to 1547 events will be given as far as possible in strict chronological order. " Arnold, Customs of Lend. (ed. Douce), Hi. '^ Works (Early Engl. Text Soc), 311. " L. and P. Hen. Fill, iii, 1274 ; cf. Wilkins, Concilia, iii, 690. '^ See Hall, Chron., passim. A dispute concerning parochial property in London was referred to the Cardinal Legate about this time ; Rec. Bk. St. Pancras Soper Lane. A dispute between the rector and parishioners of St. Mary Axe in 1523 was, however, settled by the Archbishop of Canterbury ; Parochial Rec. St. Andrew Undershaft. " Newcourt, Repert. i, 25 ; cf. Sharpe, Cal. of Wills, ii, 634 ; Stow, Surv. (ed. Kingsford), ii, 135.
- ' Z. and P. Hen. Fill, iii, 2032, 2057, 2202, 2264, 2367, 2600.
«' Diet. Nat. Biog. ^ Hall, Chron. ; L. and P. Hen. FIJI, passim. " Diet. Nat. Biog. ^ L and P. Hen. Fill, iii, 2956 ; cf. Hall, op. clt. 252
