Compare 1577 edition: 1 2 The king cõ|meth to West|minster hall, and there sit|teth in iudge|ment himselfe.On thursdaie the two & twentith daie of Maie, the king came into Westminster hall, for whome at the vpper end was set a cloth of estate, and the place han|ged with arras. With him was the cardinall, the dukes of Norffolke and Suffolke, the earles of Shrewsburie, of Essex, of Wiltshire, & Surrie, with manie lords and other of the kings councell. The ma|ior & aldermen, with all the chiefe of the citie were there in their best liuerie (according as the cardinall had appointed them) by nine of the clocke. Then the king commanded that all the prisoners should bée brought foorth, so that in came the poore yoonglings and old false knaues bound in ropes all along, one af|ter another in their shirts, and euerie one a halter a|bout his necke, to the number of foure hundred men, and eleuen women. And when all were come before the kings presence, the cardinall sore laid to the ma|ior and communalti [...] their negligence, and to the pri|soners he declared that they had deserued death for their offense. Then all the prisoners togither cried; Mercie gratious lord, mercie. Herewith the lords al|togither besought his grace of mercie, at whose sute the king pardoned them all.The kings gratious and generall pardon. Then the cardinall gaue vnto them a good exhortation, to the great gladnesse of the hearers.

Now, when the generall pardon was pronounced, all the prisoners showted at once, & all togither cast vp their halters into the hall roofe, so that the king might perceiue they were none of the discréetest sort. Here is to be noted, that diuerse offendors, which were not taken, hearing that the king was inclined to mercie, came well apparelled to Westminster, and suddenlie stripped them into their shirts with halters, and came in among the prisoners willing|lie, to be partakers of the kings pardon. By which dooing, it was well knowne, that one Iohn Gelson yeoman of the crowne was the first that began to spoile, and exhorted other to doo the same: and bicause he fled and was not taken, he came in with a rope a|mong the other prisoners,The blacke wagon that followed ill Maie daie. and so had his pardon. This companie was after called the blacke wagon. Then were all the gallowes within the citie taken downe, and manie a good praier said for the king, and the citi|zens tooke more héed to their seruants. But the kings mercie ministred abundant matter of communica|tion, euerie one (speciallie the pardoned and their a|lies) sounding the benefit of his roiall clemencie, whereby of dead men they became liuing, and had susteined the seuere sentence of law, had not mercie remitted the fault and the punishment, which brea|keth the force of iudgement, as the poet trulie saith:

Iudicij neruos frangit miseratio clemens.

In Iune the king had with him diuerse ambassa|dours, for solace of whome he prepared a costlie iu|stes, he himselfe & twelue more against the duke of Suffolke and other twelue.Solemne [...]|stes between the king and others. His base and bard was the one halfe cloth of siluer, & the other halfe blacke tinsell. On the siluer was a curious lose worke of veluet imbrodered with gold, cut on the siluer, and euerie cut ingrailed with gold, so that that side was gold, siluer, and veluet. On the blacke tinsell side was blacke veluet imbrodered with gold, and cut, and euerie cut was ingrailed with flat gold of da|maske. The base and bard were brodered with great letters of massie gold bullion, full of pearles and stones, maruellous rich: all his companie were in like sute, sauing that they had no iewels. The king had on his head a ladies sleeue full of diamonds. On the king attended gentlemen, armourers, and other officers,A gallant and glorious sh [...] to the number of an hundred and twentie fiue persons, all in white veluet and white sattin, horsse and harnesse for horssemen, caps and hosen for footmen, all white, at the kings cost. Thus roiallie the king and his companie with his waiters came to the tilts end.