Following the suppression of guilds in 1547, for a time it served as the city's armoury and (until 1822) its treasury, as well as the headquarters for administration for the city council until a new Council House was officially opened in 1920. Coventry's famous "Three Spires"; belonging to St. Michael's (), Holy Trinity (about ) and Christ Church (Greyfriars, just over ), dominated the skyline and would have been an impressive and easily recognised landmark for travellers and visitors to the city, as well as being visible from some distance. When he visited Coventry c. 1540, the noted antiquarian John Leland was impressed by the "many fayre towers in the waulle" and "stately churches in the harte and midle of the towne" as well as its "many fayre stretes...well buyldyd with tymbar." Royalty and parliament The growing importance of Coventry was reflected in the number of royal visits it received, and in recognition of its status Coventry was granted a city charter by King Edward III in 1345, endowing it with the rights of self-government such as the privilege of electing a mayor. On one notable occasion, King Richard II assembled all the nobility of the realm on Gosford Green in 1398 to witness the combat between Henry Bolingbroke, the Duke of Hereford (who later became King Henry IV) and Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk. Discord had grown between the two dukes and it had been decided that they should settle their differences in battle, but they were exiled instead to avoid bloodshed; Norfolk for life, Bolingbroke for 10 years. On several occasions Coventry was briefly the capital of England. In 1404, Henry IV summoned a parliament in Coventry as he needed money to fight rebellion, which wealthy cities such as Coventry lent to him, while both Henry V and VI frequently sought loans from the city to meet the expense of the war with France. During the Wars of the Roses, the Royal Court was moved to Coventry by Margaret of Anjou, the wife of Henry VI. On several occasions between 1456 and 1459 parliament was held in Coventry, which for a while served as the effective seat of government, but this would come to an end in 1461 when Edward IV was installed on the throne. In 1451 King Henry VI granted Coventry a charter making Coventry a county in itself; a status it retained until