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HEADING DIRECTORY— 1914.

In 1212 th e P o p e ’ s Legate held a council here, and in the follow in g year
K in g John m et the legate and barons at R eadin g and held a parliam ent.
H enry I II. after several visits, also held parliaments here in 1241 and 1263 ;
E dw ard II. was at R eadin g in 1314, and E dw ard III. passed Christm as
in the tow n and held a grand tournam ent in 1 3 4 6; hither also, in
1380, cam e R ichard II. to punish such of the tow n sfolk as had lent
help to the rebel, W a t T y le r ; in 1415 H enry V . and in 1440 H enry V I.
w ho then m et his p a rlia m e n t; the marriage of E dw ard IV . w ith E liza ­
beth W o o d v ille was first openly acknow ledged at Reading in 1464, when
she made her pu blic appearance at the a b b ey, being conducted th ither
.by the D uke of Gloucester and the Earl of W a rw ick . Parliam ents were
held here in 1466-67 in the great hall of the abbey. H enry V I I . was
at R eadin g in 1487; H enry V II I. on several occasions, and in 1552
Edw ard V I . visited it and was received w ith much cerem ony b y the
authorities, as afterwards in 1554 were P h ilip and M ary. Queen E liza ­
beth visited R eadin g in 1568, 1572, 1575, 1592, 1602 and in 1603 shortly
b efore her d e a th : the law courts were h eld here in M ichaelm as term
1625, on account o f the plague raging in L on don ; the judges sitting in
the great hall o f the abbey, the tow n hall and council cham ber. In
1643 the tow n sustained a v ery severe siege of ten days from th e P a rlia ­
mentary forces, under the com m and o f the Earl o f E s s e x : th e tow n
itself w as strongly fortified, and Essex having sum m oned the tow n to
surrender, received an answer from Sir A rthu r A ston that “ he w ould starve
o r die in i t : ” operations were then com m enced, and Essex having taken
a fortification at M apledurham and another at Caversham H ill, w hich gave
him the com m and o f the tow n , it was much battered b y the s h o t ; it
how ever held out, b ut the governor, having sustained severe in ju ry b y
the falling o f a brick, the com m and was transferred to Colonel F ieldin g,
and the garrison having at length exhausted their am m unition, held out
a flag o f truce, at w hich juncture P rince R u pert and the K in g , w ho had
marched from O xford to their relief, engaged the besiegers on Caversham
B rid ge, b u t after a severe struggle w ere defeated ; the K in g then retired
to Caversham H ouse, and the tow n surrendered upon the terms o f the
garrison being perm itted to m arch out w ith their colours, arms and
baggage to join the K in g ’s troops at O xford. The tow n continued after­
wards to be garrisoned at intervals b y b oth the contending parties.
In 1663. when Charles II. passed through R eadin g, th e Corporation
presented the K in g , Queen and their servants w ith sums o f m o n e y :
in 1688 a skirm ish took place in the streets betw een th e Scots and Irish
o f Jam es II. and the troops o f the Prince of Orange, know n as the
“ R eadin g figh t,” ' in which the form er w ere beaten, and le ft the tow n
in th e hands of the D utch troops : this affair is still celebrated annually
bv the rin gin g of bells on D ec. 21st. Queen Anne visited the tow n in
1702 and received from the m u n icipality 40 pieces o f gold.
T h e C h u r c h o f S t . G i l e s , stan din g on the east side o f Southam pton
street, is a buildin g o f flint and ston e, in m ixed styles, consisting of
chancel, nave o f four ba ys, aisles, south porch and a battlem ented western
tow er surm ounted b y a slender stone spire, and containing a clock and 8
bells : there are 11 stained w indow s, and a brass to John B ow yer, tanner,
1521. and Joan his w i f e : the church suffered much from the artillery o f the
besiegers during the C ivil W a r, and until a few years since was somewhat
iur euvenient and u nsigh tlv. b u t was com pletely restored and enlarged in
1873 at a total cost o f £10,660, and n ow affords 1,200 sittings. The
churchw ardens’ accounts date from the year 1518, and the register from
the yea r 1564. There is a fund o f about £ 2 5 0 yea rly from house p roperty