During the Renaissance, plague and sickness often hit the more populous areas of England. In order to prevent the King and Court from becoming ill, the entire Royal Household would pack up and head to the various castles and manors that the Crown owned, as well as the homes of nobles who were either asked or offered to host the King. This was called a Progress. It was extraordinarily expensive to host the Royal Party, and a lot of nobles went into debt and even bankruptcy to do it!

The bright side of this was that because of the nobles coming to town, the local economy was stimulated. Merchants, vendors, and entertainers of all kinds would descend on the town or village, hoping to earn some of the gold from the deep pocket books of the nobility and gentry traveling in the Royal Progress. Thus the start of a village or town faire.