1327
The Goldsmiths' Company is incorporated under a Royal Charter.
1394
The Mercers' Company is incorporated under a Royal Charter.
1403
A Guild of Stationers is set up, after approval from the Corporation of London.
1428
The Grocers' Company is incorporated under a Royal Charter.
1438
The Stationers' Company is incorporated under a Royal Charter.
1438
Drapers' Company is incorporated under a Royal Chater.
1440
The printing press is invented by Johannes Gutenberg around 1440.
1463
The Worshipful Company of Ironmongers is incorporated under a Royal Charter.
1471
The Worshipful Company of Dyer is incorporated under a Royal Charter.
1473 - 1474
Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye or Recueil des Histories de Troye is printed, probably in 1474. A translation by William Caxton of a French courtly romance, it was the first book printed in English.
1476
William Caxton sets up the first printing press in England at Westminster. The first piece of printing to come from Caxton's press is the 1476 bull of Pope Sixtus IV, which extended the benefits of indulgences to departed souls who are already suffering in purgatory.
1484
An Act is passed by Parliament which restricts the conditions under which those who are not born in England could work or trade. The restrictions do not apply to any foreign workers who are engaged in the book-trade.
1509
The Mercers' Company, along with the Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral John Colet, establish St. Paul's School.
1509
Henry VIII succeeds his father to the throne.
1514
Innholders' Company is incorporated under a Royal Charter.
1515
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey begins the build of Hampton Court Palace.
1516
Livery companies are granted an order of precedence by the Lord Mayor of London.
1521
On Sunday 12 May, copies of Martin Luther's books are burned at the cross outside St Paul's Cathedral.
1521
The first ever book written for the press by an English monarch, Henry VIII's Assertio Septem Sacramentorium, which defended Catholic rites and ceremonies such as the seven sacraments, is printed in July. As a token of gratitude, Pope Leo X invests Henry with the title of Fidel Defensor, defender of the faith.
1526
Cardinal Wolsey, worrying about Luther and reports of Tyndale's activities on the continent, plans another public burning of Luther's works at St Paul's Cathedral at the beginning of the year.
1526
William Tyndale's translation of the New Testament is printed by Peter Shoeffer in Worms, Germany. This is the first translation of the New Testament into English from the original language of Greek.
1528
The amalgamation of the Fullers and the Shearmen leads to the formation of the Clothworkers' Company.
1530
In response to episcopal resistance towards the Boleyn marriage, Henry VIII issues a proclamation which forbids the importation of papal bulls that undermine the prerogative of the King.
1530
A royal proclamation is issued in June which promises a vernacular bible but bans William Tyndale's New and Old Testaments and orders the arrest of anyone possessing books in English which are printed abroad.
1534
An Act passes through Parliament which makes it an offence for someone to buy a book which has not been bound in England or sold by a foreign merchant.
1536
Anne Boleyn is executed at the Tower of London after being investigated for high treason.
1536
St. James's Palace is completed, after five years of construction in the City of Westminster.
1536
Dissolution of the Monasteries: Between 1536 to around 1541 King Henry VIII enforced legal and administrative processes which led to the destruction of the monastic system, including abbeys, friaries, nunneries, and monasteries.
1540
Westminster Abbey granted cathedral status: King Henry VIII invokes a royal charter in order to grant Westminster Abbey cathedral status, protecting it from the dissolution of the monasteries.
1541
In May, a proclamation is issued which orders copies of the Great Bible to be placed in all churches with a threat of a 40s. fine if they do not comply.
1543
As a result of the Henrician Reformation, the Benedictine Convent of St Helen in Bishopsgate is acquired by the Company of Leathersellers and used as their hall.
1547
Edward VI, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, succeeds as King on 20 February with Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset acting as Lord Protector.
1549
Act of Uniformity: This establishes the Book of Common Prayer as the chief liturgical book in use in Church of England worship.
1551
Following the 1549 risings, the Edwardian government issues a proclamation which bans publishing works in English, or performing plays or interludes, without written permission from six privy councillors.
1552
Second Act of Uniformity: This authorises for worship a revised form of the 1549 Prayer Book, and among many other things, made it compulsory for attendance at services on Sundays and holy days upon pain of punishment.
1553
Following on from the death of Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey claims the throne, as Edward's heir presumptive.
1554
The Stationers' Company moves from its headquarters in Milk Street in the parish of St Mary Magdalen, to Peter's College
1554
Coopers' Company change their motto from the more religious 'Gaude Maria Virgo' to a more secular 'Love as Brethren'.
1554
A proclamation ordering all aliens who were not denizens or established merchants to leave the country draws particular attention to booksellers and printers.: "On 17 February 1554, a proclamation ordered all aliens who were not denizens or established merchants to leave the country within twenty-four days and drew particular - and interesting - attention to booksellers, printers and preachers".
1554
Lady Jane Grey is deposed on 19 July; Mary I arrives in London on 3 August and becomes Queen of England and Ireland on 1 October.
1555
On Corpus Christi Day in June, the government issues a proclamation against the possessing seditious books. It lists forbidden authors such as William Tyndale, John Frith and Robert Barnes.
1555
The Worshipful Company of Fishmongers is endowed with the Gresham School by the school's founder Sir John Gresham. The Company still the trustee of the school to the present day.
1557
On 4 May 1557 the Stationers' Company receives a Royal Charter of Incorporation.
1558
Thomas Dockwray is elected as the first Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected the following year.
1558
Richard Waye is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected in 1563.
1558
Proclamation in June against the possession of books that are seen to be heretical or seditious. Possession of any said book could result in execution as a rebel.
1558
Elizabeth I succeeds her half-sister to the throne.
1558
The eight-time Master of the Grocers' Company dies in this year and under terms of his will leaves a substantial estate which the Company uses in order to set up Oundle School.
1558
Upon the death of Andrew Judde, the Skinners' Company is passed responsibility for the running of Tonbridge School.
1559
Reginald Wolfe is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected in 1564, 1567 and 1572.
1559
Elizabeth I is crowned on 15 January.
1559
Injunctions of 1559 set out that books and other printed works are to be run past the Company first, with the licensing being granted by the Crown or its nominees.
1560
On 1 February 1560 the City of London grants the company the right to have a Livery, and so it gains the full status of a Liveried Company.
1560
Stephen Kevall is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected in 1565.
1561
John Cawood is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected the following year and in 1566.
![By Francis Bond (1852-1918) (Francis Bond) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](media/St_Pauls_old_From_Francis_Bond_Early_Christian_Architecture_Last_book_1913.gif)
1561
A lightning strike causes a fire at St Paul's Cathedral, badly damaging the spire and melting the bells.
1562
Ordinances passed by the Company make it so that members with printed work not given a Royal Grant must have a licence for the Wardens and enter their work in the Company's register.
1563
John Foxe's Protestant martyrology, Actes and Monumentsis published by John Day, who will become Master of Stationers' Company seventeen years later.
1563
Canterbury Convocation draw up a new set of articles which declared, among many other things, that communion in two kinds was of necessity and that the Council of Trent's declaration that Tobit, Ecclesiasticus and the Books of Maccabees were part of the canon of scripture is false and cannot be used as the basis of doctrine.
1565
A resolution from the governing body [of the Company] states that 'a freeman could have "the empression of any Copye, peculier to hym" either by royal grant "or by the ordenaunces of this Company"', establishing the idea of copyright and its link to the Company.
1565
Preachers are to urge obedience of the laity to the Prayer Book and Injunctions of 1559 and the clergy are to carefully follow the stipulations of clerical dress which says that parish Eucharists can wear the surplice rather than the cope.
1566
The Star Chamber Decree. This decree 'was a clear recognition of the Stationers' Company as an executive tool of the Government'. This decree extends the search-and-seize powers of the Company, originally granted under the Charter, so that they were now able to search '"all workhouses, shops, warehouses and other places of printers, booksellers, or such as bring books into the realm to be sold, or where they have reasonable cause of suspicion"'. 'The Decree provided that any foBRFeited books were to be brought to the Company to be destroyed or turned into waste paper, and that any moneys generated were to be divided one half to the queen, the other half to the person who seized the books or made the first complaint which led to such seizure'.
1567
The Red Lion Theatre is built outside the City, towards the east.
1568
Richard Jugge is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected in 1569, 1573 and 1574.
1570
William Seres is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected in 1571, 1575, 1576 and 1577.
1570
Pope Pius V's Regnans in Excelsis, which declares Elizabeth I a heretic and excommunicates her from the Church, is 'published' by John Felton when he nails it to the door of the bishop of London's palace on 25 May.
1571
In the aftermath of the Northern Rising, Parliament passes the Treason Act. Publishing views that Elizabeth is a tyrant, heretic or usurper of the English Crown is now punishable through high treason and anyone convicted could be hung, drawn and quartered.
1571
George Wapull is appointed Clerk to Stationers' Company.
1572
The Mayor and Corporation of London bans public plays, in an effort to reduce the risk of the plague spreading.
1573
Jane Kevall dies in June and leaves a house in Salutation Alley for the Company on condition that £5 a year is paid to the poor of the parish of St Mary-at-Hill. It comes to be known as the Dark House.
1573
In June, a royal proclamation is issued against the First and Second Admonition to Parliament, tracts which are fiercely anti-episcopal and argue that bishops are the root cause of all the problems within the church. The proclamation condemns the works and demands the surrender of every copy.
1573
In October, a royal proclamation is issued which demands stricter enforcement of the Act of Uniformity and makes imprisonment the punishment for preaching or writing against the Prayer Book.
1574
Company Halls now required to maintain a store of gunpowder, compounding their role in the defence of the city.
1575
Richard Collins is appointed Clark to Stationers' Company.
1576
The Theatre is opened by James Burbage, in Shoreditch, and is London's second permanent public playhouse.
1577
The election for the Master and Wardens of Stationers' Company is held on Saint's Day and William Seres is elected as Master for his third successive year.
1577
John Wolfe asserts his right to print whatever he wants to and rallies against the Company. He is imprisoned twice but eventually is subdued as he is bribed with membership in the Company.
1577
The theatre is opened in Shoreditch, outside the City of London, and remained open until 1624.
1577
Christopher Barker, who was the printer for the Geneva Bible the year before, is granted the right to print the Book of Common Prayer and all service books.
1578
Richard Tottell is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected in 1584.
1579
James Goneld is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He is re-elected in 1582 and 1585.
1580
John Day is elected Master of Stationers' Company. He dies four years later.