James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck, was a Scottish biographer and diarist, born in Edinburgh. Boswells surname has passed into the English language as a term for a constant companion and observer, Boswell was born in Blairs Land on the east side of Parliament Close behind St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh on 29 October 1740. He was the eldest son of a judge, Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, as the eldest son, he was heir to his familys estate of Auchinleck in Ayrshire. Boswells mother was a strict Calvinist, and he felt that his father was cold to him, as a child, he was delicate and suffered from some type of nervous ailment which appeared to be inherent and would afflict him sporadically all through his life. At the age of five, he was sent to James Mundells academy, an institution by the standards of the time. Boswell was unhappy there, and his sickliness began to manifest itself in the physical incidents associated with nightmares, in view of this, the now-eight-year-old was removed from the academy and educated by a string of private tutors who included John Dunn and a Mr.
Fergusson. The former had more success than his successor, he versed his charge in the joys of literature. Dunn was present during, if not directly involved in, Boswells serious affliction of 1752 and this afforded him his first experience of genuine society, and his recovery was rapid and complete. It may, have inculcated the notion that travel, at thirteen, Boswell was enrolled into the arts course at the University of Edinburgh, studying there from 1753 to 1758. Midway through his studies, he suffered a depression and nervous illness, but. Boswell had swarthy skin, black hair and dark eyes, he was of average height and his appearance was alert and masculine, and he had an ingratiating sense of good humour. Upon turning nineteen, he was sent to continue his studies at the University of Glasgow, while at Glasgow, Boswell decided to convert to Catholicism and become a monk. Upon learning of this, his father ordered him home, instead of obeying, Boswell ran away to London, where he spent three months, living the life of a libertine, before he was taken back to Scotland by his father.
Upon returning, he was re-enrolled at Edinburgh University and forced by his father to sign away most of his inheritance in return for an allowance of £100 a year, on 30 July 1762, Boswell took his oral law exam, which he passed with some skill. Upon this success, Lord Auchinleck decided to raise his sons allowance to £200 a year and it was during his second spell there that Boswell wrote his London Journal and, on 16 May 1763, met Johnson for the first time. The pair became friends almost immediately, the first conversation between Johnson and Boswell is quoted in Life of Samuel Johnson as follows, Mr. Johnson, I do indeed come from Scotland, but I cannot help it. That, Sir, I find, is what a great many of your countrymen cannot help. It was around three months after this first encounter with Johnson that Boswell departed for Europe with the goal of continuing his law studies at Utrecht University
Lilleshall
Lilleshall is a village in Shropshire, England. It lies between the towns of Telford and Newport, on the A518, in the Telford and Wrekin borough, there is one school in the centre of the village. The village dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, the church being founded by St Chad. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book, the Norman parish church of St Michael and All Angels is a grade I listed building. There is a monument, a club, a tennis club, a church. Lilleshall Abbey, some distance to the east of the village, was an Augustinian house, founded in the twelfth century, after the dissolution of the monasteries the estate was bought by the Wolverhampton wool merchant James Leveson. His family held the site for four generations and, after two owners died without issue, it passed into the hands of the related Leveson-Gower family in the late 17th century. The village and surrounds were the site of early industrial development from as early as the 16th century. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries relatively shallow deposits of coal and limestone were mined, the history of the mining of limestone is reflected in the naming of a road called Limekiln Lane in Lilleshall.
The Sutherland estate was sold off between 1915 and 1917 and the hall passed into state ownership as a sporting facility. It is now the Lilleshall Hall National Sports Centre, once the site of the Football Association youth academy, Lilleshall Hall Golf Club is in the grounds of Lilleshall Hall. The Lilleshall Monument is a 70-foot high obelisk, a landmark which stands on top of Lilleshall Hill and was erected in honour of the 1st Duke of Sutherland. Lilleshall Golf Club website Lilleshall Residents Association Website Lilleshall Cricket Club Website
Manchester
Manchester is a major city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, with a population of 514,414 as of 2013. It lies within the United Kingdoms second-most populous urban area, with a population of 2.55 million, Manchester is fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east and an arc of towns with which it forms a continuous conurbation. The local authority is Manchester City Council and it was historically a part of Lancashire, although areas of Cheshire south of the River Mersey were incorporated during the 20th century. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a township but began to expand at an astonishing rate around the turn of the 19th century. Manchesters unplanned urbanisation was brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, Manchester achieved city status in 1853. The Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894, creating the Port of Manchester and its fortunes declined after the Second World War, owing to deindustrialisation.
The city centre was devastated in a bombing in 1996, but it led to extensive investment, in 2014, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranked Manchester as a beta world city, the highest-ranked British city apart from London. Manchester is the third-most visited city in the UK and it is notable for its architecture, musical exports, media links and engineering output, social impact, sports clubs and transport connections. Manchester Liverpool Road railway station was the worlds first inter-city passenger railway station and in the city scientists first split the atom, the name Manchester originates from the Latin name Mamucium or its variant Mancunium and the citizens are still referred to as Mancunians. These are generally thought to represent a Latinisation of an original Brittonic name, both meanings are preserved in languages derived from Common Brittonic, mam meaning breast in Irish and mother in Welsh. The suffix -chester is a survival of Old English ceaster and their territory extended across the fertile lowland of what is now Salford and Stretford.
Central Manchester has been settled since this time. A stabilised fragment of foundations of the version of the Roman fort is visible in Castlefield. After the Roman withdrawal and Saxon conquest, the focus of settlement shifted to the confluence of the Irwell, much of the wider area was laid waste in the subsequent Harrying of the North. Thomas de la Warre, lord of the manor and constructed a church for the parish in 1421. The church is now Manchester Cathedral, the premises of the college house Chethams School of Music. The library, which opened in 1653 and is open to the public today, is the oldest free public reference library in the United Kingdom. Manchester is mentioned as having a market in 1282, around the 14th century, Manchester received an influx of Flemish weavers, sometimes credited as the foundation of the regions textile industry
Acts 2
Acts 2 is the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the events on the day of Pentecost, about 10 days after the ascension of Jesus Christ, the book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the Gospel of Luke. The original text is written in Koine Greek and is divided into 47 verses, present were about one hundred and twenty followers of Christ, including the Twelve Apostles, his mother Mary, various other women disciples and his brothers. I will pour out my Spirit, Acts 2,41 reports, So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. Traditional interpretation holds that the Descent of the Holy Spirit took place in the Upper Room, or Cenacle, the Upper Room was first mentioned in Luke 22, 12-13. This Upper Room was to be the location of the Last Supper, the next mention of an upper room is in Acts 1, 13-14, the continuation of the Luke narrative, authored by the same biblical writer.
Here the disciples and women waited and they gave themselves up to constant prayer, until the arrival of the wind mentioned above
The Winter's Tale
The Winters Tale is a play by William Shakespeare, originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, some editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeares late romances. The Winters Tale was revived again in the 19th century, when the fourth act was widely popular. In the second half of the 20th century The Winters Tale in its entirety, following a brief setup scene the play begins with the appearance of two childhood friends, King of Sicilia, and Polixenes, the King of Bohemia. Polixenes is visiting the kingdom of Sicilia, and is enjoying catching up with his old friend, after nine months, Polixenes yearns to return to his own kingdom to tend to affairs and see his son. Leontes desperately attempts to get Polixenes to stay longer, but is unsuccessful, Leontes decides to send his wife, Queen Hermione, to try to convince Polixenes. Hermione agrees and with three short speeches is successful, Leontes orders Camillo, a Sicilian Lord, to poison Polixenes.
Camillo instead warns Polixenes and they flee to Bohemia. Furious at their escape, Leontes now publicly accuses his wife of infidelity, and declares that the child she is bearing must be illegitimate. He throws her in prison, over the protests of his nobles, the queen gives birth to a girl, and her loyal friend Paulina takes the baby to the king, in the hopes that the sight of the child will soften his heart. He grows angrier and orders Paulinas husband, Lord Antigonus, to take the child and Dion return from Delphos with word from the Oracle and find Hermione publicly and humiliatingly put on trial before the king. She asserts her innocence, and asks for the word of the Oracle to be read before the court, the Oracle states categorically that Hermione and Polixenes are innocent, Camillo an honest man, and that Leontes will have no heir until his lost daughter is found. Leontes shuns the news, refusing to believe it as the truth, as this news is revealed, word comes that Leontes son, has died of a wasting sickness brought on by the accusations against his mother.
Hermione, falls in a swoon, and is carried away by Paulina, Leontes vows to spend the rest of his days atoning for the loss of his son, his abandoned daughter, and his queen. Antigonus, abandons the baby on the coast of Bohemia, reporting that Hermione appeared to him in a dream and he leaves a fardel by the baby containing gold and other trinkets which suggest that the baby is of noble blood. A violent storm suddenly appears, wrecking the ship on which Antigonus arrived and he wishes to take pity on the child, but is chased away in one of Shakespeares most famous stage directions, pursued by a bear. Fortunately, Perdita is rescued by a shepherd and his son, Time enters and announces the passage of sixteen years. Camillo, now in the service of Polixenes, begs the Bohemian king to him to return to Sicilia
Round Table
The Round Table is King Arthurs famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his Knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status, the table was first described in 1155 by Wace, who relied on previous depictions of Arthurs fabulous retinue. The symbolism of the Round Table developed over time, by the close of the 12th century it had come to represent the order associated with Arthurs court. The Round Table first appears in Waces Roman de Brut, a Norman language adaptation of Geoffrey of Monmouths Historia Regum Britanniae finished in 1155, Wace says Arthur created the Round Table to prevent quarrels among his barons, none of whom would accept a lower place than the others. Layamon added to the story when he adapted Waces work into the Middle English Brut in the early 13th century, in response a Cornish carpenter built an enormous but easily transportable Round Table to prevent further dispute. Wace claims he was not the source of the Round Table, some scholars have doubted this claim, while others believe it may be true.
Though the Round Table itself is not mentioned until Wace, the concept of Arthur having a court made up of many prominent warriors is much older. Geoffrey of Monmouth says that after establishing peace throughout Britain, Arthur increased his personal entourage by inviting very distinguished men from far-distant kingdoms to join it, though no Round Table appears in the early Welsh texts, Arthur is associated with various items of household furniture. A henge at Eamont Bridge near Penrith, Cumbria is known as King Arthurs Round Table, the still-visible Roman amphitheatre at Caerleon has been associated with the Round Table. and has been suggested as a possible source for the legend. The Round Table takes on new dimensions in the romances of the late 12th and early 13th century, where it becomes a symbol of the famed order of chivalry which flourishes under Arthur. In Robert de Borons Merlin, written around the 1190s, the wizard Merlin creates the Round Table in imitation of the table of the Last Supper and of Joseph of Arimatheas Holy Grail table.
This table, here made for Arthurs father Uther Pendragon rather than Arthur himself, has twelve seats and this seat must remain empty until the coming of the knight who will achieve the Grail. The Didot Perceval, a continuation of Roberts work, takes up the story. The prose cycles of the 13th century, the Lancelot-Grail cycle, here it is the perfect knight Galahad, rather than Percival, who assumes the empty seat, now called the Siege Perilous. Galahads arrival marks the start of the Grail quest as well as the end of the Arthurian era, in these works the Round Table is kept by King Leodegrance of Cameliard after Uthers death, Arthur inherits it when he marries Leodegrances daughter Guinevere. Other versions treat the Round Table differently, for instance Italian Arthurian works often distinguish between the Old Table of Uthers time and Arthurs New Table, during the Middle Ages, festivals called Round Tables were celebrated throughout Europe in imitation of Arthurs court. These events featured jousting and feasting, and in some cases attending knights assumed the identities of Arthurs entourage, the earliest of these was held in Cyprus in 1223 to celebrate a knighting.
Round Tables were popular in various European countries through the rest of the Middle Ages and were at times very elaborate, René of Anjou even erected an Arthurian castle for his 1446 Round Table
Kersal Moor
Kersal Moor is a recreation area in Kersal, Greater Manchester, England which consists of eight hectares of moorland bounded by Moor Lane, Heathlands Road, St. Pauls Churchyard and Singleton Brook. Kersal Moor, first called Karsey or Carsall Moor, originally covered a larger area. Evidence of activity during the Neolithic period has been discovered and the area was used by the Romans and it was the site of the first Manchester Racecourse and the second golf course to be built outside Scotland. It is now a Site of Biological Importance and in 2007 was designated as a Local Nature Reserve by English Nature, Kersal Moor is one of the many fluvioglacial ridges that formed along the Irwell Valley during the melting of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age. Typically for this type of landform, the subsoil is composed of sand mixed with coarse gravel, the 19th century botanist Richard Buxton described this as Mr. E. W. Binneys drift deposit no.2. The land to the south is elevated, rising to a point towards the south-west.
From this elevated position there are views across Manchester to the Derbyshire hills in the south, to the Pennines in the north east and across the Irwell Valley, the moor is criss-crossed with footpaths, many of which cut through to the sand and gravel below. Singleton Brook, to the north of the moor, denotes the boundary between Salford and Prestwich, flint scrapers and other materials associated with neolithic humans were discovered on the moor in the late 19th and early 20th century by local antiquarians such as Charles Roeder. The Roman road from Manchester to Ribchester roughly followed the line of the A56 road which is just to the east of Kersal Moor, the last of these trees were burnt around 1880. The first Manchester racecourse was sited on the moor, the earliest record of horse-racing is contained in the following notice in the London Gazette of 2–5 May 1687, On Carsall Moore near Manchester in Lancashire on the 18th instant, a 20£. Plate will be run for to carry ten stone and ride three heats, four miles each heat, and the next day another plate of 40£.
Will be run for at the same moore, riding the same heats, the horses marks are to be given in four days before to Mr. William Swarbrick at the Kings Arms in Manchester. C. Roughly following the line of what is now Nevile Road, racing carried on there until the new Castle Irwell Racecourse was built, just across the river from the moor, in Lower Broughton in 1847. Today part of the course can still be seen as a wide, during the 18th century the moor was used for nude male races, allowing females to study the form before choosing their mates. Indeed, in 1796 Roger Aytoun, known as Spanking Roger acquired Hough Hall in Moston through marriage to the widowed Barbara Minshull, the moor has been used for a number of other sporting activities. In the 18th and early 19th century archery was practised as a village sport. Near Kersal Moor the Broughton archers fix Their targets pierced with many a well aimed shot, in 1818 a golf course was founded on the moor for the Manchester Golf Club, a group of Manchester businessmen, some of whom had emigrated from Scotland.
This was only the course to be built outside Scotland
Le Morte d'Arthur
Le Morte dArthur is a reworking of traditional tales by Sir Thomas Malory about the legendary King Arthur, Lancelot and the Knights of the Round Table. Malory interprets existing French and English stories about these figures and adds original material, Le Morte dArthur was first published in 1485 by William Caxton, and is today perhaps one of the best-known works of Arthurian literature in English. Many modern Arthurian writers have used Malory as their source, including T. H. White in his popular The Once and Future King. Sir Thomas inherited the estate in 1434 after his father died and is believed to have engaged in a life of crime punctuated with long periods of imprisonment. Although in 1450 he was a member of Parliament and he was imprisoned in Coleshill but escaped and soon after robbed the Cistercian monastery. Malory was once arrested in 1454, but two years he was released through a royal pardon. His exact date of birth and early years are obscure, and his name does not enter clear historical record until 1439, Sir Thomas Malory died in prison on 14 March 1471, with Le Morte dArthur published posthumously by William Caxton on 31 July 1485.
He called the full work The hoole booke of kyng Arthur & of his noble knyghtes of the rounde table, modernized editions update the late Middle English spelling, update some pronouns, and repunctuate and reparagraph the text. Others furthermore update the phrasing and vocabulary to contemporary Modern English, here is an example in Middle English and in Modern English, Doo after the good and leve the evyl, and it shal brynge you to good fame and renomme. Do after the good and leave the evil, and it shall bring you to good fame, the Middle English of Le Morte DArthur is much closer to Early Modern English than the Middle English of Chaucers Canterbury Tales. If the spelling is modernized, it reads almost like Elizabethan English, the first printing of Malorys work was made by Caxton in 1485. Only two copies of original printing are known to exist, in the collections of the Morgan Library & Museum. It proved popular and was reprinted in 1498 and 1529 with some additions, three more editions were published before the English Civil War, William Coplands, Thomas Easts, and William Stansbys, each of which contained additional changes and errors.
Davisons 1817 edition was promoted by Robert Southey and was based on Caxtons 1485 edition or on a mixture of Caxton, davison was the basis for subsequent editions until the discovery of the Winchester Manuscript. Caxton separated Malorys eight books into 21 books, subdivided each book into a total of 507 chapters, added a summary of each chapter, in some parts, the story ventures farther afield, to Rome and Sarras, and recalls Biblical tales from the ancient Near East. Winchester College headmaster W. F. Oakeshott discovered an unknown manuscript copy of the work in June 1934. Newspaper accounts announced that what Caxton had published in 1485 was not exactly what Malory had written, Oakeshott published The Finding of the Manuscript in 1963, chronicling the initial event and his realization that this indeed was Malory, with startling evidence of revision in the Caxton edition. It is hypothesized that Caxtons text and the Winchester manuscript are both derived from an earlier copy, the Winchester Manuscript is believed to be closer on the whole to Malorys original
Norman conquest of England
Williams claim to the English throne derived from his familial relationship with the childless Anglo-Saxon King Edward the Confessor, who may have encouraged Williams hopes for the throne. Edward died in January 1066 and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson, within days, William landed in southern England. Harold marched south to confront him, leaving a significant portion of his army in the north, Harolds army confronted Williams invaders on 14 October at the Battle of Hastings, Williams force defeated Harold, who was killed in the engagement. Although Williams main rivals were gone, he faced rebellions over the following years and was not secure on his throne until after 1072. The lands of the resisting English elite were confiscated, some of the elite fled into exile, to control his new kingdom, William granted lands to his followers and built castles commanding military strongpoints throughout the land. More gradual changes affected the classes and village life, the main change appears to have been the formal elimination of slavery.
There was little alteration in the structure of government, as the new Norman administrators took over many of the forms of Anglo-Saxon government. In 911 the Carolingian French ruler Charles the Simple allowed a group of Vikings under their leader Rollo to settle in Normandy as part of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for the land, the Norsemen under Rollo were expected to provide protection along the coast against further Viking invaders and their settlement proved successful, and the Vikings in the region became known as the Northmen from which Normandy and Normans are derived. The Normans quickly adopted the culture, renouncing paganism and converting to Christianity. They adopted the langue doïl of their new home and added features from their own Norse language, in 1002 King Æthelred the Unready married Emma of Normandy, the sister of Richard II, Duke of Normandy. Their son Edward the Confessor, who spent many years in exile in Normandy and embroiled in conflict with the formidable Godwin, Earl of Wessex and his sons, Edward may have encouraged Duke William of Normandys ambitions for the English throne.
When King Edward died at the beginning of 1066, the lack of a clear heir led to a succession in which several contenders laid claim to the throne of England. Edwards immediate successor was the Earl of Wessex, Harold Godwinson, Harold was immediately challenged by two powerful neighbouring rulers. William and Harald at once set about assembling troops and ships to invade England, in early 1066, Harolds exiled brother, Tostig Godwinson, raided southeastern England with a fleet he had recruited in Flanders, joined by other ships from Orkney. Threatened by Harolds fleet, Tostig moved north and raided in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, but he was back to his ships by the brothers Edwin, Earl of Mercia. Deserted by most of his followers, he withdrew to Scotland, King Harald Hardrada invaded northern England in early September, leading a fleet of more than 300 ships carrying perhaps 15,000 men. Haralds army was augmented by the forces of Tostig, who threw his support behind the Norwegian kings bid for the throne
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a vessel that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Different traditions describe it as a cup, dish or stone with miraculous powers that provide happiness, a grail, wondrous but not explicitly holy, first appears in Perceval, le Conte du Graal, an unfinished romance written by Chrétien de Troyes around 1190. Here, it is a processional salver used to serve at a feast, in the late 12th century, Robert de Boron wrote in Joseph dArimathie that the Grail was Jesuss vessel from the Last Supper, which Joseph of Arimathea used to catch Christs blood at the Crucifixion. The word graal, as it is earliest spelled, comes from Old French graal or greal, cognate with Old Provençal grazal and Old Catalan gresal, meaning a cup or bowl of earth, wood, or metal. The most commonly accepted etymology derives it from Latin gradalis or gradale via a form, cratalis, a derivative of crater or cratus. Late medieval writers came up with an etymology for sangréal. In Old French, san graal or san gréal means Holy Grail, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia this is a false etymology.
After the cycle of Grail romances was well established, used this alternative etymology. Since then, Sang real is sometimes employed to lend a medievalising air in referring to the Holy Grail and this connection with royal blood bore fruit in a modern bestseller linking many historical conspiracy theories. The Grail was considered a bowl or dish when first described by Chrétien de Troyes, hélinand of Froidmont described a grail as a wide and deep saucer, other authors had their own ideas. Robert de Boron portrayed it as the vessel of the Last Supper, the Welsh romance Peredur had no Grail per se, presenting the hero instead with a platter containing his kinsmans bloody, severed head. The authors of the Vulgate Cycle used the Grail as a symbol of divine grace and the interpretation of the Grail involving him were picked up in the 15th century by Sir Thomas Malory in Le Morte dArthur and remain popular today. The Grail is first featured in Perceval, le Conte du Graal by Chrétien de Troyes, in this incomplete poem, dated sometime between 1180 and 1191, the object has not yet acquired the implications of holiness it would have in works.
First comes a man carrying a bleeding lance, two boys carrying candelabras. Finally, a young girl emerges bearing an elaborately decorated graal. Chrétien refers to this not as The Grail but as a grail, showing the word was used, in its earliest literary context. Perceval, who had warned against talking too much, remains silent through all of this. He learns that if he had asked the questions about what he saw, he would have healed his maimed host
John Mirk
John Mirk was an Augustinian Canon Regular, active in the late 14th and early 15th centuries in Shropshire. He is noted as the author of widely copied, and printed, books intended to aid parish priests, the most famous of these, his Book of Festivals or Festial was probably the most frequently printed English book before the Reformation. Nothing is known of Mirks life apart from what can be gathered from his works, Mirk was a canon of Lilleshall Abbey and prior of the abbey. Until recently he was considered to have written mainly around 1400. His use of language and his name suggest he may have originated in northern England and he seems to have been deeply committed to pastoral work and his work was directly relevant to the situation of Shrewsbury and its environs in his period. This has similarities to the work of lay catechesis pioneered under John of Thoresby, while biographical information is scant, the religious and political background to Mirks work is fairly well-known. Lilleshall Abbey, Mirks home, was a 12th-century foundation, originally intended to follow the rigorist teachings and practices of the Abbey of Arrouaise in northern France.
Richard de Belmeis, one of the founders, was dean of the church of St Alkmund in Shrewsbury and was able to have the college suppressed. This meant that Lilleshall was closely involved in the town of Shrewsbury, as much of its property was close to, and some within, by Mirks time, the abbey had entered a period of stability, reflected in a relatively high standard of monastic life and liturgy. However the most powerful monastery locally was Shrewsbury Abbey, a Benedictine house which greatly prized the relics of Saint Winifred, in the late 14th century a new shrine was built to contain them. A group of monks and abbey servants stole the relics of St Beuno, Winifreds uncle and confessor, from Rhewl, however, in 1397 the king moved against the Arundels and their allies. Earl Richard was arrested on 12 July and executed on 21 September, the Battle of Shrewsbury, decisively securing Henrys grip on power, was fought just to the north of the town in 1403, causing considerable damage to the surrounding area.
After this, Arundel tightened his grip on Shropshire, operating through an affinity of local landowners pledged to his service and these retainers were confirmed in his circle and in mutual solidarity by participating in his religious benefactions. In 1407, for example, a group of Arundels retainers, including Robert Corbet and this outward piety did not stop them taking part in an armed raid directed against Wenlock Priory a few years later. He was particularly critical of pilgrimage, which he considered both futile in itself and surrounded by numerous social ills, thorpe was arrested, together with his associate, John Pollyrbach, and interviewed by Thomas Prestbury, the abbot of Shrewsbury, before being despatched to Archbishop Arundel. Thorpes Testimony, purporting to recount these interviews, portrays the ensuing interchange as a victory for himself against Arundel, whatever the truth of this, Arundel sent commissions to Shropshire in May 1407 to arrest suspected Lollards, suggesting that the movement was perceived as a threat locally.
Mirks works are definitely orthodox and the Festial rejects Lollard teaching both implicitly and explicitly and it is possible that it was deliberately disseminated to combat Lollardy in the Midlands. The Liber Festivalis or Festial is a collection of homilies for the festivals of the year as it was celebrated in Mirks time in Shropshire
