february 17th 1450

No Gatherings Proclaimed 

George Kriehn, an American historian, the of such to do an in depth study of the Cade rebellion in 1892, reported that an order was sent out to various town to ban gatherings.

Stop it at once!

The feelings of certain areas of the public, were obviously known and the Privy council banned all assemblies, to stem the passing of malcontent to others. The Privy Council sent orders to the mayors and bailiffs of Canterbury. Maidstone, Colchester, Sandwich, Oxford, Winchelsea, and Sudbury tp suffer no unlawful assemblies to be made in their cities, and to harbour no crowds or gatherings.

It would seen as the Privy council were reacting to orders being sent by suspicious and nefarious people pretending to be from officialdom. These letters “under untrewe , fained and pretense colours of entending to the commune weel of this oure lande, where as God knoweth th’entent of thoo that so labour is to subversion thereof.”

It can be seen that as early as February there was a groundswell of dissent and it was beginning to get organised.

For further information in regards Gerge Kriehn’s dissertation  see the historical collection from the British Library, under The English Rising in 1450.