Coventry Lammas Day Rebellion 1525 #3: Letter from Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, to Sir Henry Willoughby

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 Henry that he had received the King’s letter with his commission to redress the “business done in Coventry”. He additionally wrote that he understood from his letter that Sir Henry had likewise received a letter for his assistance in the same commission. Thomas then writes that he “prays Sir Henry that they may meet on Friday (11th August), and that he will bring with him 20 or 30 of his household men with their bows.” He added that he would have with him about 30 or 50 of his own, which, he thought, would probably be sufficient. The letter was sent from Thomas’ manor of Bradgate Park in Leicestershire and he styled himself as Sir Henry’s assured friend.

Sir Henry was a military man. As a young man he had been sent to train with the Border Reivers and was thus a renowned highly skilled longbowman able to shoot whilst riding. A great many documents refer to him having his own substantial militia of highly skilled longbowmen that was based at Middleton. Most documents refer to the number of his militia as having a permanent number in excess of 100 men. One document referred to his militia as being able to raise nearly 850 able longbowmen. At this time Middleton Hall is also known to have had three armouries.

A member of Living History UK depicts a longbowman from Warwickshire c.1520.

Thomas’ confidence that the contingency of men they were taking would have been sufficient seems to have underestimated the actual numbers they truly needed. He subsequently wrote, in an attempt to assure the King, that he had several thousand men encamped on the outskirts of Coventry in order to quell the “insurrection”.

Further Reading: W. H. Stevenson, Report on the Manuscripts of Lord Middleton, Historical Manuscripts Commission, 1911. p514.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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