POLITICAL HISTORY While things were in this condition in its capital, the county seems to have been in an equally lawless and disturbed state. A good example of the condition of England is afforded by the case of Lord Molynes and William Paston. The latter, who owned the manor of Gresham, was ousted from it by Lord Molynes on the strength of an imaginary, or rather most shadowy, claim. Backed by John Heydon and Sir Thomas Tudenham (the oppressors of Norwich in 1442) Lord Molynes took possession of the manor by force in 1448. Paston, seeing the uselessness of appealing to law at the time, waited until the next year and then reoccupied the place. In 1450, while Paston was away from home, no less than 1,000 men came and besieged the manor ; they broke down the gates, rifled the house, cutting through the door posts and turning out Paston's wife, doing damage to the extent of jC^oo, and, leaving the house almost a ruin, threatened that they would have killed Paston if they had caught him.* In this year, 1450, however, the oppressors Tudenham and Heydon lost a strong supporter, for the earl of Suffolk was impeached and banished on account of his responsibility for the English losses in France. He made his way to Ipswich and then set sail for the Continent, but was caught and beheaded at sea by the order of the duke of Exeter. Two months later Jack Cade, ' calling himself Mortimer,' rose in Kent, but his rebellion does not seem to have affected Norfolk, for there are no traces of any sympathetic movement in the county. One of his quarters, however, was sent to be exhibited here, as had been also those of another Kentish rebel called Bluebeard, in the previous year. Sir John Fastolf seems to have taken some small part in the suppression of this rebellion, for he sent out a messenger to act as a spy upon Cade. This retainer, whose adventures are fully set forth in the Paston Letters,^ had some very unpleasant experiences, and nearly lost his head on this service. On II December, 1450, Jermyn, the new sheriff for Norfolk, brought down a message from the king stating that he had heard of the misrule prevalent in the county, and especially of Sir Thomas Tudenham and Heydon, and wished for a full investigation of the matter. The sheriffs urged all who had grievances to come forward and make them known. ^ In May, 1451, Justice Prisot was sent down to Norwich to hear the charges against Tuden- ham and Heydon, who were accused by Norwich and Swaffham and by Sir John Fastolf, John Paston, and others. Unfortunately Prisot was entirely in favour of the defendants, and in their interests moved the case to Walsingham, where they had most supporters. To this trial the defendants came accompanied by 400 horse, with the result that no one dared make any charge except John Paston, who was strongly advised not to do so. Under the circumstances it is not strange that nothing more came of the accusations.* Another good example of the difficulty of obtaining justice at this time is seen in the attempt now made by John Paston to get some sort of redress for the outrage perpetrated by Lord Molynes at Gresham. Paston determined to bring an action against him and his men for the damage done, but soon found out that it would be doomed to failure, as he was informed by the ' Paston Letters, Introd. xxxi, No. 77, Paston's petition to Pari. ' Ibid. Introd. Ivii, No. 99. 'Ibid. No. 134.
- Ibid. Nos. 92, 151, 152, 158.
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