. She
was a woman who had a normal married life with children, but one
day had visions and voices which led her to leave her husband to
take up a life of wandering and praying in holy possession. There
were religious folk ballads such as "The Cherry Tree Carol", about
the command of Jesus from Mary's womb for a cherry tree to bend
down so that Mary could have some cherries from it. The common
people developed ballads, e.g. about their love of the forest,
their wish to hunt, and their hatred of the forest laws.

About 30% of Londoners could read English. Books were bought in
London in such quantities by 1403 that the craft organizations of
text-letter writers, illuminators, bookbinders, and book sellers
was sanctioned by ordinance. "Unto the honorable lords, and wise,
the mayor and aldermen of the city of London, pray very humbly all
the good folks, freemen of the said city, of the trades of writers
of text-letter, limners [illuminator of books], and other folks of
London who are wont to bind and to sell books, that it may please
your great sagenesses to grant unto them that they may elect
yearly two reputable men, the one a limner, the other a text-
writer, to be wardens of the said trades, and that the names of
the wardens so elected may be presented each year before the mayor
for the time being, and they be there sworn well and diligently to
oversee that good rule and governance is had and exercised by all
folks of the same trades in all works unto the said trades
pertaining, to the praise and good fame of the loyal good men of
the said trades and to the shame and blame of the bad and disloyal
men of the same. And that the same wardens may call together all
the men of the said trades honorably and peacefully when need
shall be, as well for the good rule and governance of the said
city as of the trades aforesaid. And that the same wardens, in
performing their due office, may present from time to time all the
defaults of the said bad and disloyal men to the chamberlain at
the Guildhall for the time being, to the end that the same may
there, according to the wise and prudent discretion of the
governors of the said city, be corrected, punished, and duly
redressed. And that all who are rebellious against the said
wardens as to the survey and good rule of the same trades may be
punished according to the general ordinance made as to rebellious
persons in trades of the said city [fines and imprisonment]. And
that it may pl