Lincoln

LINCOLN, a city and county of a city, municipal, county and parliamentary borough, and the county town of Lincolnshire, England. Pop. (1931) 60,751. It is situated on the summit and south slope of the limestone ridge of the Cliff range of hills, which rises from the north bank of the river Witham, at its con fluence with the Foss Dyke, to an altitude of 200 ft. above the river. The cathedral stands on the hill, and is a landmark for many miles. Lincoln is 13o m. N. by W. from London by the L.N.E.R.; it is also served by branches of the L.M.S. railways.

History.

The British Lindun, which, according to the early geographer, Ptolemy, was the chief town of the Cori tani, was probably the nucleus of the Roman town of Lindum. This was at first a Roman legionary fortress, and on the removal of the troops northward was converted into a municipality with the title of colonia. Important structural remains attest the rank and importance of the place, which, however, did not attain a very great size. Its bishop attended the council of Arles in and Lincoln (Lindocolina, Lincolle, Nicole) is mentioned in the Itinerary of Antoninus written about 32o. Although said to have been captured by Hengest in 475 and recovered by Ambrosius in the following year, the next authentic mention of the city is Bede's record that Paulinus preached in Lindsey in 628 and built a stone church at Lincoln in which he consecrated Honorius archbishop of Canterbury.

The Danes in 877 established themselves at Lincoln, which was one of the five boroughs recovered by King Edmund in 941. A mint established here in the reign of Alfred was maintained until the reign of Edward I. At the time of the Domesday Survey Lincoln was governed by twelve Lawmen, relics of Danish rule, each with hereditable franchises of sac and soc. The strength of the position of the castle built by William I. in 1°68, brought much fighting on Lincoln.

In 1141 King Stephen regained both castle and city from the empress Maud, but was attacked and captured in the same year at the "Joust of Lincoln." In 1144 he besieged the castle, held by the earl of Chester, and recovered it as a pledge in 1146. In 1191 it was held by Gerard de Camville for Prince John; in 1210 it stood a siege by the partisans of the French prince Louis, who were defeated at the battle called Lincoln Fair on May 19, 1217. Granted by Henry III. to William Longepee, earl of Salisbury, in 1224, the castle descended by the marriage of his descendant Alice to Thomas Plantagenet, and became part of the duchy of Lancaster.

In 1157 Henry II. gave the citizens their first charter, granting them the city at a fee-farm rent and all the liberties which they had had under William II. In 1200 the citizens obtained release from all but pleas of the Crown without the walls, and pleas of external tenure, and were given the pleas of the Crown within the city according to the customs of the city of London, on which those of Lincoln were modelled. The charter also gave them

quittance of toll and lastage throughout the kingdom, and of certain other dues. The mayor's office was abolished by Henry III. and by Edward I. in 129o, though restored by the charter of 130o. In 1275 the citizens claimed the return of writs, assize of bread and ale and other royal rights, and in 1301 Edward I., when confirming the previous charters, gave them quittance of murage, pannage, pontage and other dues. The mayor and citi zens were given criminal jurisdiction in 1327, when the burgh manmot held weekly in the gildhall since 1272 by the mayor and bailiffs was ordered to hear all local pleas which led to friction with the judges of assize. The city became a separate county by charter of 1409, when it was decreed that the bailiffs should henceforth be sheriffs and the mayor the king's escheator, and the mayor and sheriffs with four others, justices of the peace, with defined jurisdiction. As the result of numerous complaints of inability to pay the fee-farm rent of ii8o Edward IV. enlarged the bounds of the city in 1466, while Henry VIII. in 1546 gave the citizens four advowsons, and possibly also in consequence of declining trade the city markets were made free of tolls in 1554. Incorporated by Charles I. in 1628 under a common council with 13 aldermen, 4 coroners and other officers, Lincoln surrendered its charters in 1684, but the first charter was restored after the Revolution, and was in force till Parliaments were held at Lincoln in 1301, 1316 and 1327, and the city returned two burgesses from 1295 to 1885, when it lost one member. After the 13th century the chief interests of Lin coln were ecclesiastical and commercial. As early as 1103 Odericus declared that a rich citizen of Lincoln kept the treasure of King Magnus of Norway, supplying him with all he required, and there is other evidence of intercourse with Scandinavia. There was an important Jewish colony, Aaron of Lincoln being one of the most influential financiers in the kingdom between 1166 and 1186. Made a staple of wool, leather and skins in 1291, famous for its scarlet cloth in the 13th century, Lincoln had a few years of great prosperity, but with the transference of the staple to Boston early in the reign of Edward III., its trade began to decrease. The craft gilds remained important until after the Reformation, a pageant still being held in 1566. The fair now held during the last whole week of April seems to be identical with that granted by Charles II. in 1684. Edward III. authorized a fair from St. Botolph's day to the feast of SS. Peter and Paul in 1327, and William III. gave one for the first Wednesday in September in 1696, while the present November fair is a survival of that granted by Henry IV. in 1409 for fifteen days before the feast of the Deposition of St. Hugh.