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Reyne certainly had been most active and valuable, and a simple record of his services would have been grateful to our feelings, but when we are told the whole country went into fits because he put in stone steps for brick, ridicule is brought on both parties.[16]Harrod notwithstanding, the historian may regret that there is not more of this detailed reporting (however biased) of governmental affairs. The identity of the author of the panegyric is not yet known for certain,[17] but it is a fair guess that it was the town clerk. The enthusiasm of the account strongly suggests it to have been written roughly contemporary with the events, for at a later period some of the 'achievements' of the year might have paled; at that time the clerk was Robert Beche. Benham believed that Michael Aunger, responsible for other chronicular passages, was the author; but Aunger does not appear in Colchester until 1380, when Beche (still town clerk) died - his will being proven, significantly, on the same day that Aunger was made a freeman.[18] It is not impossible that Aunger was earlier an assistant to Beche, but there is no evidence for this. No matter; neither Beche nor Aunger exhibit any relationship with Reyne outside of the corporation context, so we cannot attribute the account to personal favouritism. It has been suggested that Reyne himself dictated the eulogy,[19] but this can neither be proved nor disproved. Yet we have already noted that Reyne was that rarity of a man actively pursuing borough office[20] and he may have been equally rare in his energetic efforts to further, rather than simply maintain, the well-being of his town (not least for his own profit, bearing in mind that he was farming the ballivalty). Furthermore, the self-confidence he demonstrated in proposing, to the corporation, the unorthodox method of access to office is not incompatible with the idea that he would have wished to leave a record of his accomplishments. However, a more acceptable explanation for the account lies in the general environment of the time. 1372 had seen major constitutional reforms, revitalising Colchester's government and giving rise to the borough's books of memoranda.[21] The account of the 1373/4 ballivalty was simply part of this programme and its associated enthusiasm, which did not end with that ballivalty, but in fact continued on throughout the decade, in increasingly less detail as the initial burst of energy used itself up. Reyne's vigorous administration no doubt contributed to the interest in recording the events of his term of office. He is credited with:
Created: July 30, 1998 | © Stephen Alsford, 1998-2003 |
Encyclopedia | Library | Reference | Teaching | General | Links | Search | About ORB | HOME The contents of ORB are copyright © 2003 Kathryn M. Talarico except as otherwise indicated herein. |