Pierson—The Corpus Christi Procession, 
145 
Norwich. 
Date Document 
1478. Chambers, II, 386. 
1489. Waterhouse, 
p. XXX-XXXI. 
Chambers II, 389. 
1527. Waterhouse, 
p. XXIX. 
1534. Chambers, II, 387. 
1535. Waterhouse, 
p. XXXI. 
1536. Waterhouse, 
p, XXXI. 
DOCUMENTS. 
Content 
J. Whetley writes 
from Norwich on Corpus 
Christi day " ‘at hys be- 
yng ther that daye ther 
was never no man that 
playd Herrod in Corpus 
Christi play better and 
more agreable to his 
pageaunt than he dud.’ ” 
In 1849 it was ordered 
that the thirty-one 
guilds of the town, on 
Corpus Christi Day, 
should go in procession 
before the pageants 
“ ‘ad Capell, in Campis 
Norwici, modo sequi.’ ” 
The procession was ar¬ 
ranged in the following 
order: the thirty-one 
guilds, the pageants, the 
Shreves clothing, Mr. 
Shreve, the Mair’s cloth¬ 
ing, Maister Mair and 
Maister Aldermen with 
bokes or beads in their 
hands. 
“For some time previ¬ 
ous to 1527, the St. 
Luke’s Guild, consisting 
of the pewterers, bra¬ 
ziers, plumbers, bell- 
founders, glaziers, stey- 
ners and several other 
crafts, had apparently 
become responsible for 
the entire management 
of, and outlay in con¬ 
nection with, the Cor¬ 
pus Christi plays; and 
in tfhat year, finding 
themselves, as a result 
of this, almost in a 
bankrupt condition, they 
petitioned the corpora¬ 
tion to divide the re¬ 
sponsibility and expense 
among the various 
guilds.” 
4 surveyors of pageant 
of grocers chosen. As¬ 
sessment made on Gro¬ 
cers “for the pageant 
and the Corpus Christi 
procession.” 
Performance of Cor¬ 
pus Christi play. 
Performance of Cor¬ 
pus Christi play. 
Interpretation 
Stage V. 
Note in Waterhouse p. 
XXIX: The pageants 
are “referred to always 
as the procession.” 
There is no proof that 
by procession is meant 
pageants. 
In 1527 St. Luke’s 
guild urges that “ ‘where 
of longtime paste the 
said Guylde of Seynt 
Luke yerely till nowe 
hath ben used to be 
kept and holden within 
the k citie aforesaid upon 
the Mundaye in pente 
eoste weke at which 
daye and the daye next 
ensuying many and di¬ 
vers disgisyngs and pa- 
geaunts—that every oc- 
cupacion wythyn the 
seyd citye maye yerly 
at the said procession 
upon the Mondaye in 
Pentecost weke sette 
“forth one pageaunt.’ ” 
Chambers, II, 387. 
Mr. Waterhouse has 
evidently misinterpreted 
the passage. 
Stage I and Stage V. 
The procession and the 
plays were apparently 
separate. 
Stage V. 
Stage V. 
10—S. A. 
