• Foreword + Summary
• Details:– Early to 1199
• Details:– 1200 to 1399

Details:– 1400 to 1599

• 1403 The Castle is the main residence of Joan, Henry Ⅳ’s queen. After Joan’s departure in 1437 Castle maintenance is neglected.
• 1412 Henry Ⅳ debased the English currency further (see 1351) from 18 grains of sterling silver within a penny to 15 grains, whilst the half-noble was reduced from 60 grains of fine gold to 54 grains. The driver for this was the Hundred Years’ War.
• 1449 A Charter of Henry Ⅵ constitutes Nottingham as a distinct county, with the right to appoint its own sheriff for the first time (wiki) (before this year Nottingham would have been subject to the High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire), + Lord Lieutenant and it’s own Assizes.
• 1450 Start Date for 31 Holly Cottage, Village Road, Clifton.
• 1461: Edward Ⅳ proclaims himself King at Nottingham Castle during the Wars of the Roses. As Earl of March (and distant relative of Roger Mortimer - see 1330) Edward was on the York (White Rose) side of the opposing parties.
• 1464 Edward Ⅳ debased the English currency yet further (see 1412) from 15 grains of sterling silver per penny to 12 grains. At the same time a new gold coin was introduced; this was a half-angel, and consisted of 40 grains of fine gold and was worth 40 pence. This was in the middle of a 50-year economic slump, but the immediate driver was a Europe-wide shortage of precious metals.
   
  The currency standard in England at this time was Sterling Silver, and is the oldest currency (see 800) still in continuous use since inception. The largest unit is a ‘Pound’ (symbol: ‘£’). That refers to a “Tower Pound” of Sterling Silver (weight), which was divided up into coins. By the ninth century that had become established as 240 sets of pence (symbol: ‘d’), with each shilling (symbol: ‘s’) worth 12 pence, although that was an accounting convenience only since no such coin existed until 1551.
   
  Continental Europe had both silver and gold coins. England had significant trade with both France & Flanders due to export of English wool, and that led to large imports of gold coins. That in turn led to Edward Ⅲ adding gold coins to the English currency (see 1351).
   
  English coins were far more stable than their continental cousins (less often devalued) and, after the initial disaster of the introduction of English gold coins (see 1351), English & continental governments strove in the 1400s to keep their coinage in step with each other. However, global patterns of trading now interfered with all European currencies.
   
  Europe was obtaining large quantities of spices, silks, rare dyestuff’s, pearls and precious gems from the East via markets in Egypt, Syria and Cyprus. Coinage was now commonplace & trusted as currency, and thus there was a continuous, and increasing, outflow of silver & gold from Europe to the Middle East. The influence of war & disease affected production of new bullion and, suddenly, in the 1400s European mints began to fall silent. The population had to resort to barter to be able to trade.
   
  This Bullion Famine was not fixed until the mid-1500s, as Portugal began to access African gold & silver flowed in from Mexico and Peru. It is generally considered that one of the main drivers of European exploration of the Americas was the need to fix this famine.
• 1485: Richard Ⅲ, brother of Edward Ⅳ & the last of the Plantagenets, departs the Castle for Bosworth, where he lost his life in battle against Henry Ⅶ. Henry was the first of the Tudors, and on the Lancastrian (Red Rose) side of the opposing parties within the Wars of the Roses.
• 1500s: Start Date for 29 Hardy’s Cottage, Village Road, Clifton (Grade Ⅱ listed); this was originally two cottages: 27 Clematis Cottage + 29 Fern Cottage.
• 1513 1ˢᵗ Nottingham Grammar School founded in Stoney Street.
• 1518 Treaty of London organised by Cardinal Wolsey to attempt to stop European nations fighting each other. It was signed in London as a peace treaty by the ambassadors for Burgundy, France, England, the Holy Roman Empire (a federation stretching from Austria to Ukraine), the Netherlands, Spain and the Vatican.
   
  This was initiated in the first place by Pope Leo Ⅹ, who wanted Europe to stop squabbling for 5 years & concentrate on stopping the Ottoman Empire from expanding into the Balkans.
   
  Wolsey was Lord Chancellor, chief adviser to Henry Ⅷ, primate of England & archbishop of York, and in the end suffered the fate of being too tall a poppy to continue standing.
   
  The peace the Treaty brought was broken within a couple of years.
• 1551
  • Feb 21: Royal Charter establishes Bridge Estate (pdf) with Nottingham Corporation as trustee.
  • A significant depreciation of English currency became a policy of Henry Ⅷ and continued into the reign of Edward Ⅶ, plus new coins (all common currency in my childhood) were introduced to replace existing ones with a 1½ difference in value:–
    • A ⅓ʳᵈ reduction in the bullion content of each pound sterling
    • Each penny reduced (see 1464) from 12 grains of sterling silver per penny to 8 grains.
    • The 40 grain gold Half-Angel (introduced in 1464) was raised in price from 40 to 60 pence, and was from this date called a ‘Crown’.
    • A silver Threepence (3d) (pronounced ‘thruppance’) to replace the silver Half-Groat (2d).
    • A silver Sixpence (6d) (commonly called a ‘tanner’) to replace the silver Groat (4d).
    • A silver Shilling (12d) (commonly called a ‘bob’) introduced for the first time.
    • A silver Half-Crown (30d) to replace the gold Quarter-Angel (20d).
    • A gold Half-Sovereign (120d) introduced for the first time.
    • A gold Sovereign (£1) introduced for the first time.

    The previous coinage depreciation was in 1464, and the Bullion Famine which largely caused that debasement took yet another 40 years to fix following Henry Ⅷ becoming king in 1509.
     
    Henry’s father was frugal & had established a good number of income streams; in consequence, Henry inherited a prosperous economy plus a large fortune. He managed to squander it all in just 10 years. In his day the monarchy had to pay all government expenses. Henry’s ambition was great in multiple directions, including wars at home & on the continent. He was also profligate & greedy.
     
    Henry Ⅷ caused the Dissolution of the Monastries & converted their wealth, treasure & income into royal revenue. Similar actions with Wales & Ireland were unable to match his ability to spend money. He had some very able ministers in Wolsey & Cromwell yet polled them when they became too tall. Henry was achieving many great things (eg establishment of an effective Navy) but was mismanaging the country’s finances.
     
    The financial mismanagement reached a true nadir with The Great Debasement which began in 1544. The bullion content of gold & silver coins was reduced. In particular, silver in some coins was almost completely replaced with copper. Merchants on the continent discovered this & reduced the value of their offers for the coins. The debasement policy was officially revoked in October 1551, and silver was returned to the pre-debasement standard.

• 1580 Start Date for Wollaton Hall (Grade Ⅰ listed), completed 1588.
• 1598 The first-known use of Zero (nought, oh, nothing) as a number in English.
   
  If this seems strange to you, then realise that at this time very few people were either numerate or literate. The simple fact is that, world-wide, few could add-up, multiply, divide or name a number of items greater than three. Getting close to the concept of ‘Zero’ in human history seems to have made most folks reach for amulets designed to ward off evil. And yet, many mathematical functions are impossible to derive or use without zero (eg calculus). Finally, because zero was missing from the Gregorian & Julian Calendars, this century is the 21ˢᵗ (not the 20ᵗʰ), the latest millennium is the 3ʳᵈ (not the 2ⁿᵈ), and it actually began on Jan 1, 2001.

• 1500s late: Start Date for Clifton Hall, Holgate, Clifton (Grade Ⅰ listed) + Coade Stone Lions near the garden (Grade Ⅱ listed) + a residential home for ghosts.

• Details:– 1600 to 1799
• Details:– 1800 to 1899
• Details:– 1900 to current