Royal Visitors to Lincoln

Stephen

The first recorded royal visitor to Lincoln was King Stephen, but Lincoln became an important centre during the Norman period: King William may have visited to view his mighty castle on the hill. Before William, there may have been visits by Saxon monarchs of which all record has been lost.

Stephen's first visit to Lincoln was in the early part of 1141. He left before Easter and returned to fight the Battle of Lincoln in the streets of the upper city. He was taken prisoner and lost his crown. Following his release, he again unsuccessfully attacked the castle in 1143.

Henry II

Henry II was crowned in London on 19 December 1154, John Speed, the chronicler, says he was crowned at Lincoln in 1155. Paul de Rapin-Thoyras, the French historian, describes the event as having taken place at Wickford (Wigford) in 1158, most probably at St Mary's Guildhall. The date given by Speed is more likely to be right as Henry probably used his second crowning as a way of securing the support of his subjects before his departure for Flanders, where he was the guardian of the lands of Dietrich of Alsace.

The chronicler, Roger of Hoveden,(?-1201) stated that the King cautiously avoided entering the walls of Lincoln, for the ceremony, but wore his crown in Wigford, to defeat a widely believed prediction, that no king wearing his crown in Lincoln would have a prosperous reign.

Henry stayed in LIncoln for Christmas the same year.

John

King John was a frequent visitor to Lincoln, he arrived on 20th November 1200 and stayed for six days. On the second day of his visit, he met with King William of Scotland.

​The following day the two KIngs met for a conference, outside of Lincoln, on a "lofty hill" (thought to be where Upper Leys Road is now). It was here King William swore fealty to John. On 26th November the body of Bishop Hugh (later St Hugh was brought to Lincoln from London. John acted as one of the coffin bearers.

King John returned to Lincoln, Jan. 13th and 14th, 1201, on a journey to Yorkshire via Grimsby.

In 1205, Lincoln had a third visit from King John, at Lincoln Castle on the 3rd October. Shortly before this (on 25th September) William de Bramfield, a subdean had been murdered by another subdean in St Peters Chapel in the Cathedral. According to an unknown chronicler, William was "a good and a just man". There are two stories about the fate of the murderer: one states that William's servants cut down the murderer and threw his body out of the Cathedral, the other states that the murderer was tied to the tail of a horse, dragged to Canwick Hill and there hanged. Very little is known of the murderer or the reason for the murder. King John left LIncoln for Spalding on 5th October.

In 1211, he stayed again at Lincoln, from January the 9th to the 13th, on his journey from York, where he had spent Christmas. He left Lincoln on the 4th for his castle at Sleaford.

In 1213, on 9th and 10th January and 15th February, he was again at Lincoln. 

In 1215, he made two visits to Lincoln, first from Feb. 22nd, to Feb. 27th. During this visit, he compelled prominent citizens of Lincoln to place their sons in his custody, as a security for the parents' loyalty and continued allegiance, as several of them were showing support for the barons, and for Prince Louis of France, who had landed at Dover.

His next and last visit, from the 20th September to the 2nd of October, was to see that the castle, one of the few still supporting him, was properly equipped with arms, and rid of the many people that would need feeding in case of a siege, then seemingly inevitable. On his arrival, the king was met at the west gate of the Castle, by its custodian, Lady Nichola de la Haye, the widow of the late governor, with the keys, which she begged the king to accept together with her resignation, as her advanced age had rendered her unfit to continue the duties of the office of Castle Constable in the event of a siege. The King refused to accept her resignation. From Lincoln, King John travelled to Norfolk and died in Newark on the 18th of October.

Henry III

His son, King Henry III, visited Lincoln on several occasions. He was at Lincoln at the beginning of 1230, on his return from York, where he and the King of Scotland had spent the Christmas of 1229. He made a short stay at Waddington probably as the guest of Ranulf, Earl of Chester, who then had a manor there. While there, he granted a charter to the Lepers of Lincoln, at the Malandry, dated at Waddington, 10th January 1230.

King Henry next visit was connected to the supposed crucifixion of a Christian child by Jews of the city. The child's mother, it was said, travelled to Scotland, where the court was then staying, to persuade the king to visit Lincoln to investigate the murder. The king and his queen arrived on the 3rd October 1255, having left Alnwick Castle on the 23rd September. The accused Jews were tried, it is not known whether it was in the presence of the king; and, as might be expected they were found guilty and sentenced to a punishment, but their chief crime was probably their wealth and their unprotected social position.

Edward I

Edward I made several visits to Lincoln. In 1280 the king and his queen and their family were invited to be present at the removing the remains of the late Bishop Hugh, whose canonisation had taken place shortly before, from the vault in which he had been interred in the year 1200. The remains of the bishop were reinterred in a shrine covered with precious metal and jewels and was witnessed by the royal family and a large number of prelates and nobles, and all levels of society. The ceremony took place on 6th October 1280, within the newly finished presbytery of the Cathedral, in the middle of which the shrine was constructed.

The King's next visit to Lincoln was towards the end of the year 1290, on the solemn occasion of being present at the interment of the casket containing the viscera of his dead queen, whose death had occurred at Harby, on the evening of Tuesday, 28th November. The King was at Lincoln on the 2nd December, the day of the ceremony: and the casket was entombed in the presbytery.

In 1301 he again came to Lincoln to meet his parliament, which had been appointed to assemble and hold its session in Lincoln, the location of the parliament is not known. He stayed at the bishop's palace at Nettleham. The parliament was opened on the 23rd January 1301, it was during this visit that Parliament formalised the creation of the title Prince of Wales for his son (later Edward II), the first English prince to hold the title. The parliament sat until the beginning of March and was one of the most memorable and important of these national assemblies that occurred in the middle ages. At this parliament it was, that the King ordered a letter to be sent to Rome, by which he forbade all papal interference with either the secular or political government of England; and the King with nearly all the nobles and powers of his realm set their seals and signatures, Lincoln, perhaps, never before, and never since, witnessed so large a group of nobles of this country as at that time. The letter was signed on 12th February 1301.

On the 20th December 1304, King Edward made a short visit to Lincoln on his way from Scotland to Westminster. The reason for this visit was to assemble another parliament of barons and ecclesiastics to finally settle certain regulations connected with royal forests, which had continued undecided since the previous parliament at Lincoln.

Edward II

Edward II also assembled one of his parliaments at Lincoln, it was one of the most important parliaments during his reign, and he was present at it several times. Many of the particulars of its decisions, political and ecclesiastical, have been preserved and printed, and it sat from the 27th January 1316 until the beginning of March. The King was at one while, lodged at the White Friars, in the great hall of which the members sat, and at another time he took up his abode at the Deanery, and the parliament following him, completed the session in the chapter-house of the cathedral. This parliament is probably best remembered historically for a brawl between Despencer, the King's favourite and one of the barons that opposed him. A further parliament was held in Lincoln in July 1316.

Edward III

Edward III, his son, at the start of his reign, while staying at Nottingham Castle, travelled several times to Lincoln: and on the 15th September 1327, he assembled a parliament, the last parliament held in Lincoln by any sovereign. Among the many and varied transactions connected with this visit was the confirmation and enlargement of the privileges of the people of Lincoln.

He was at Lincoln again in the following year where, on the 25th March, he confirmed several documents and left Lincoln on the same day for Northampton to meet his parliament.

He arrived in Lincoln on 26th June 1330 and stayed for 4 days, For this visit, it is believed he was the guest of Bishop Henry Burghurst, who, though an enemy of his father, was in favour with the son.

Among the favours the bishop received from the king was the grant of the privilege of claiming for his palace the right of giving sanctuary to all persons who should there seek it. These visits appear to have been frequently repeated while the King continued his residence at Nottingham. The last visit by the king was in the summer of 1331.

Richard II

In 1386 Richard II presented a sword to the Mayor of Lincoln which is carried by the Mayor's Officer as the Sword of State. View the painting of the event here http://goo.gl/rfuPtc

Richard II and his Queen were visitors at Lincoln in 1387. On the 26th of March in the same year, in the choir of the Cathedral, and in the presence of the chief members of the chapter, the king was made a brother and the queen a sister of the fraternity of canons of the Cathedral Church of Lincoln.

Henry V

15 April 1421, Henry V was present for the decision about an important dispute between Dean John Mackworth, and the members of the chapter, the former claiming the right of visiting and punishing the offences and excesses of the latter, as well as those of the vicars, mass-priests, prebendaries, etc. Apart from the King, the Bishop, the Preceptor, Chancellor, Treasurer, Archdeacons, other ecclesiastical dignitaries, and laity were also present in the Hall of the Bishops Palace. To prevent the recurrence of these litigations, a body of Decretals were drawn up and signed by the chapter and many others in the presence of the king, and ratified by the bishop's seal in the Old Temple in London, on the 27th of May following.

Henry VI

Henry VI with his bride visited Lincoln in the autumn of 1445. They were the guests of bishop William Alnwick, who was his confessor, and they most probably lodged at the palace, during their short stay. He was met at the southern boundary of the city, by the mayor, sheriffs, and aldermen, accompanied by 80 or 100 citizens on horseback, of whom a certain convenient number was to ride forward to the cross on the cliff, and there to dismount, and, on bended knees, pray their gracious sovereign to remit to them or exempt their city from the payment of a tenth which was a demand not easily met by their impoverished means.

Edward IV

Edward IV visited Lincoln briefly on 13th March 1461. He was travelling north to do battle against Henry Beaufort's army at Towton, Although outnumbered by the Lancastrians. Edward secured victory. By order of common council, the King and his friends were to be presented for their dinner, with 12 pikes, 12 tenches, and 12 breams, to be fried and prepared at the city's cost.

Richard III

Richard III visited Lincoln in October 1483 little is known of the reason for this visit.

Henry VII

Henry VII. made a state visit to Lincoln in 1486, He cut short his visit and headed for Yorkshire to stop a rebellion against him. 

Henry returned to Lincoln in June 1487, after his victory at Stoke Field, near Newark Here he spent three days in public prayers, processions, and thanksgivings, he sent his standard to the church of our Lady at Walsingham, says Polydore Vergil, "as a monument of his victory and his gratitude." He ordered while he was at Lincoln, that all those who had been taken in arms should be put to death.

Henry VIII

Henry VIII visited Lincoln on the 10th August 1541, during his Royal Progress around his kingdom. This King very probably passed through Lincoln again on the 12th or 13th of October, when he returned from the journey to York, which had been the cause of his being in these parts, but his return-visit was perhaps incognito, as it was attended with no particulars worthy of notice.

James I

James I visited Lincoln in 1617 and stayed from the 29th March to the 5th April, he watched a cockfight at the George. He had four cocks put in the pit together and “the resulting uproar gave him huge delight”. The King then crossed the road to the Spread Eagle where there was a fencing match between a fencer of the city and an attendant of the court in which the Lincoln man had the best of it. “The King then called for his porter, who took the sword and buckler and gave and received a broken pate".

Charles I

28 October 1640, Charles I, returning from Scotland, visited Lincoln, he was met by Original Peart, one of the sheriffs, at “Burton Wall”. He presented the city with the Civic Mace. He next visited in 1641.

On 1 July 1642 he visited to gain support from the leading citizens of Lincoln to suppress the actions of the Puritans and protect his position of sovereign. The people of Lincoln were almost equally divided between supporters and opponents of the King, so it is not thought that any remarkable display of loyalty was manifested. The King left Lincoln on the 2nd July, for Beverley.

William III

In 1695 William III visited Lincoln. He arrived on 29th October in the early evening and was met by the Mayor and other City officials. The city was full of visitors, "the town was glorious, with candles in everybody's window, so that a pip might have been seen and picked up."

The next day William visited the Cathedral “… having visited Lincoln, while on their tour through the Kingdom, (the King) made the citizens an offer to serve them in any manner they liked best. They asked for a Fair, though it was harvest when few people can attend it, and though the town had no trade nor any manufacture. The King smiled, and granted their request; observing it was a humble one indeed.”

The fair was held in Broadgate on the first Wednesday after the 12th September, lasting until the Friday. This fair became known as the “Fools’ Fair” as most of the potential buyers would be busy with harvest, but it was recorded in 1787 as the largest show of cattle in Lincoln for many years.

In September 1766 Prince Edward, Duke of York and brother of George III, came to the city. He saw the opera "Midas" performed by players visiting Lincoln.   Afterwards, he went to the County Assembly Rooms and "footed it in the merry dance" opening the ball with Lady Scarborough with a minuet.

Prince Albert

Prince Albert passed through Lincoln in 1849 to lay the foundation stone of the Grimsby docks

Queen Victoria

On the 27th August 1851 Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and the Prince of Wales had a brief stop at Lincoln, en route for Balmoral. An address was read by the Mayor and he presented the keys of the city, following Her Majesty’s reply some grapes That had been grown by Richard Ellison of Sudbrooke Holm. 

King Edward VII

The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, was a regular visitor to the city by train, mainly for horse racing, as a guest of Henry Chaplin of Blankney Hall.

King George V

King George V and Queen Mary visited Lincoln in April 1918 their itinerary included the Northern General Hospital (now Christ's Hospital School), Clayton & Shuttleworth, Ruston & Proctor, W Foster & Co., Robey & Co.  They also visited the Cathedral.

King Edward VIII (as Prince of Wales)

The Usher Art Gallery was officially opened on the 25th May 1927 by the then Prince of Wales with a solid gold key.

Queen Elizabeth II

Officially opened Pelham Bridge in June 1958.

Officially opened the first building at Lincoln University in October 1996.