POLITICAL HISTORY Church offered to turn king's evidence and incriminated a number of innocent and respectable inhabitants of the county, including John Paston. Osborn Mundford ^ was also among those accused by Church. What was the end of this affair and what was the fate of Church is not clear, but Paston is stated to have been exonerated of the accusation against him by John Falgate, one of those who had been deluded into taking part in the conspiracy.^ It is very noticeable that the name of Sir Thomas Tudenham, the arch- oppressor of a few years before, should at this time appear as complaining about outrages of the very class of which he had so recently been guilty. He had shown the common people how easy it was to break the law, and was now, by poetical justice, suffering for his own misdeeds and was making common cause with his old opponents the Pastons. The coasts of England during this reign suffered severely at the hands of the French, and in 1457 the town of Yarmouth was evidently in considerable danger. In this year the French fitted out two fleets for an attack on England and ravaged Sandwich. A letter was sent from Yarmouth to the mayor and council of Norwich informing them that the enemy intended to attack Yarmouth, and asking for assistance ; upon which Norwich, laying aside for a time its old jealousy, sent 200 armed men to aid in the defence.^ In the next year the French were again meditating a descent upon Norfolk ; ' Crow- mer and Blakeney is much spoken of among the French,' * and soon after Fastolf himself, in his new castle at Caister, ' had had the French before him and shot many guns,' ^ and the council was to be asked to ' refresh Yarmouth with stuff of ordnance guns and gunpowder.' Later on there is evidence of naval preparations, and Paston obtained a commission for his son to be captain of one of the king's ships named The Barge of Yarmouth. It appears, how- ever, that he was ousted from this by Gilbert Debenham, who got a commission to the same effect and obtained possession. In 1459 ^ there was a Commission of Array at Norwich to aid the king against Warwick, Salisbury, March, Rutland, and York, who were all attainted in this year, and the citizens were directed to maintain a standing force of archers for the king's use. This was followed by another commission in the next year, and it was ordered that the city gates were to be locked day and night, except five which were to be well guarded with soldiers.^ In 1460 the earl of Warwick, whose naval victory in 1458 had brought him to the front, was holding Calais for the Yorkists. It was expected that he would make an attack on the east coast, so Osborn Mundford, who had already seen service at Calais, was sent against him with 500 men, but being attacked by the earl's forces was seized and taken prisoner to Calais and there beheaded.' In 1 46 1 the charter' of the city of Norwich was once more confirmed, and in the same year the citizens paid the expenses of certain armed men to resist the rebels in the north when the king was there. ^^ During this year there are several licences granted to Scotchmen dwelling in various parts of Norfolk, ' This Osborn was one of the Norfolk men who, like Fastolf and Erpingham, had seen service in the French wars ; he was marshal of Calais and treasurer of Normandy. In 1451 he had been driven from the manor of Breydeston by one Thomas Daniel, a favourite of the duke of Somerset. ' Paston Letters, Introd. Ixvii, Nos. 177, 179, 180, 181, 201. ' Blomcfield, op cit. iii, 161.
- Paston Letters, No. 314. ' Ibid. No. 315. ° Blomefield, op cit. iii, l6z.
' Ibid. ° Paston Letters, Introd. i, p. cxxxviii. • Pat. I Edw. IV, pt. vii, m. 5- 1. '" Ibid. pt. ii, m. 8 d. 2 489 62
