"The chamberlains' accounts of sixteenth-century Norwich are a crucial source of evidence for life in what was then England's largest provincial city, yet none of them has previously been published in its entirety. The six accounts presented in this volume add significantly to our knowledge of urban finance, government, and culture, while casting a unique light upon Norwich's topography, infrastructure and buildings, both public and domestic. They document in compelling detail the problems encountered by its ruling elite as they struggled to preserve social cohesion and maintain the urban fabric in the face of religious change, food shortages, warfare and recession." --