St Paul's Cross
The pulpit stood in 'the Cross yard', the open space on the north-east side of St Paul's Churchyard, adjacent to the row of buildings that would become the home of London's publishing and book-selling trade.[2] The earliest folkmoot known to be held here was by John Mansell, a king's justice, on St Paul's Day (29 June) in 1236, to announce that Henry III wished London to be well-governed and its liberties guarded.[citation needed] The Archbishop of Canterbury and the King attended the next such meeting we know of, in 1259, at which Londoners came to swear their allegiance to the latter and to his heirs (though under duress, as a royal army was holding the city gates at this time).Bishop Thomas Kempe rebuilt the cross in 1449 in grand architectural form, as an open-air pulpit of mostly timber with room for three or four inside it, set on stone steps with a lead-covered roof and an ambulatory around it.On Sunday 22 June 1483, a Cambridge Doctor of Theology, Ralph Shaa, was commissioned to preach a sermon from St Paul's Cross, in which he set forth Richard, Duke of Gloucester's claim to be King of England.John Earle's 'bold forward man' would 'if hee bee a scholler ... ha's commonly stept into the Pulpit before a degree; ... and his next Sermon is at Pauls Crosse, and that printed'.[9] Because the pulpit stood in one of the few open spaces within an increasingly crowded city, and because royal proclamations were often delivered here, Paul's Cross was the site of several political disturbances in the early modern period.
preaching crosspulpitSt Paul's ChurchyardOld St Paul's CathedralReformationSt PaulInigo JonesfolkmootJohn MansellHenry IIIArchbishop of CanterburySimon de MontfortWorcesterBishop of LlandaffCheapsideReginald PecockBishop of St AsaphLollardyBishop of ChichesterhereticalThomas NetterThomas KempeJane ShoreKing Edward IVRalph ShaaRichard IIIEdward VPrinces in the TowerJohn BradfordFoxe's Book of MartyrsEvil May DayRobert BarnesStephen GardinerMatthew HuttonArchbishop of YorkQueen MaryBishop BourneSt Paul's SchoolElizabeth ILord MayorJohn JewelEssex RebellionWilliam DugdaleFirst English Civil WarHenry Charles RichardsChristopher WrenBaroque revivalReginald BlomfieldSaint PaulBertram MackennalDoric columnPortland stoneGrade IIRoss, CharlesEyre MethuenHistoric EnglandNational Heritage List for EnglandSt Paul's CathedralRanulf FlambardRalph de DicetoMartin de PattishallWilliam of Sainte-Mère-ÉgliseHenry de CornhillWalter de SaleronRichard TalbotJohn ChishullThomas IngoldsthorpeWilliam de MontfortRalph BaldockJohn SandaleRichard NewportRoger NorthburghThomas TrilleckThomas LisieuxLawrence BoothWilliam SayWilliam WorsleyRobert SherborneJohn ColetRichard PaceRichard SampsonJohn IncentWilliam MayJohn FeckenhamHenry ColeAlexander NowellJohn OverallValentine CaryJohn DonneThomas WinniffeRichard StewardMatthew NicholasJohn BarwickWilliam SancroftEdward StillingfleetJohn TillotsonWilliam SherlockHenry GodolphinFrancis HareJoseph ButlerThomas SeckerJohn HumeFrederick CornwallisThomas NewtonThomas ThurlowGeorge Pretyman TomlineWilliam Van MildertCharles SumnerEdward CoplestonHenry Hart MilmanHenry Longueville ManselRichard William ChurchRobert GregoryWilliam Ralph IngeWalter MatthewsMartin SullivanAlan WebsterEric EvansJohn MosesGraeme KnowlesMichael ColcloughDavid IsonAndrew TremlettPaula GooderTricia HillasMinor Canons