Elizabeth Crofts was an English imposter known for her involvement in one event in 1554 known as "the bird in the wall". Reports indicate that Crofts, a serving maid, was paid or volunteered to pretend to be a heavenly messenger against the marriage of

Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

and

Philip II of Spain Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

. She was smuggled into a hollow wall on

Aldersgate Street Aldersgate is a Ward of the City of London, named after one of the northern gates in the London Wall which once enclosed the City. The Ward of Aldersgate is traditionally divided into Aldersgate Within and Aldersgate Without, the suffix denot ...

where she declaimed disinformation regarding the Queen, her marriage and Catholicism

John Stow John Stow (''also'' Stowe; 1524/25 – 5 April 1605) was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as ''The Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles'', ''The C ...

The Pennance of Elizabeth Crofts, for Molesting the Citizens of London with strange noises (1554)
in Helme, William. ''Curious Miscellaneous Fragments On Various Subjects'' (1815) whilst her accomplices moved amongst the crowd interpreting and encouraging it. Within 24 hours they had reputedly gathered a crowd of 17,000 people. It is thought that Sir Anthony Knyvett may have been involved.Daniel Hahn, ‘Crofts, Elizabeth (b. c.1535)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 7 Dec 2014
/ref> After the wall had been knocked down, Crofts was arrested and revealed her story. Some of her accomplices were arrested and punished but generally it was felt that Crofts was not responsible for her actions.

References

Impostors People from London British servants 16th-century English women {{England-bio-stub