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The Mayor and the Saint: Remaking Norwich’s Gild of St. George, 1548–49

The second Chantries Act of 1547 called for the dissolution of a range of intercessory institutions, including religious gilds. Rather than disband, Norwich’s Gild of St. George worked to reorganize as a secular company. In the process it abandoned its patron saint and substituted active involvement in the city’s mayor-making ceremonial for traditional religious observances. The decision to remake the gild was a singular one that has not been adequately explained. This article borrows from the work of Jonathan Barry and Phil Withington to argue that the effort was driven by the power of early modern notions of association and company to foster a form of sociability compatible with leading urban political values.