jANUARY 26TH 1450
Duke of Suffolk update
The commons formally approach the Lords in order to put the Duke of Suffolk, in Custody, to answer these rumours and accusations.
Meanwhile in Kent
Having debated and argued over the weekend, on Monday 26th January, the inhabitants of Eastry, Kent (about 3 miles from Sandwich) and surrounding areas rose up in revolt. Their wrath was aimed against the Duke of Suffolk, the Bishop of Salisbury and James Fiennes. About two hundred or more men were on the march under the command of Thomas Cheyne. Thomas Cheyne went under the name of “Blewbeard the Hermit” and was a self-proclaimed servant of the king of the faerie.
What their intentions were is uncertain, the capture of Dover castle was one of their aims, and then to march on Canterbury and London too! What is known is that there was some anti cleric feeling amongst the group, as many local religious houses were attacked.
Anti-cleric feeling was not unusual for Kent as Lollardism was popular in the region. It had been driven underground in the reign of Henry V, but the sentiments of it still remained.