The second document in the Middleton Manuscripts that concerns the Lammas Day Rebellion of 1525 in Coventry was a letter sent by Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, to Sir Henry Willoughby. Unfortunately, this letter is undated. However, its contents and later entries in the Middleton accounts and official documents mean that it was probably sent about the 8th August 1525. Thomas addresses the letter to his “loving cousin, Sir Henry Willoughby”. In the letter he informed Sir

The first document in the Middleton Manuscripts relating to the quelling of the Coventry Lammas Day Rebellion was dated the 6th August 1525. It was the commission sent by King Henry VIII to Sir Henry Willoughby instructing him to take part in repressing the riot. The following is a transcription of the letter (some words have been altered to modern English to help legibility): To our trusty and well-beloved servant Sir Henry Willoughby, knight. Trusty and well-beloved, we gre

On Lammas Day in 1525, a rebellion began in Coventry. Sir Henry Willoughby was one of the people sent by King Henry VIII to quell this rebellion. A number of documents relating to this, either in the form of letters in the Middleton Manuscripts or entries within the Middleton accounts, have survived. In a series of posts relating to this event, we will be highlighting these records, but first: What was the Coventry Lammas Day Rebellion of 1525? This rebellion was one of many