Chapter III: Part 3

And that the drapers enfranchised in the mistery of drapery in the
said city, may elect each year four of their own mistery, who may be
sworn twice a year in the presence of the Mayor, to oversee that no
default or deceit be used or committed in the mistery aforesaid, and
to rule and govern the said mistery of drapery in the same city, to
the common profit of the people, and that due punishment be done on
them in whom defaults shall be found, according to the advice and
discretion of the said four persons, by the aid of the Mayor and
Sheriffs when need is; the which Mayor and Sheriffs we will shall be
intendants to the said four persons, when they shall be required by
them.

And we also will and give power to the said four persons who may be
elected and sworn, to take an oath of all those who shall be
received into the said mistery of drapery in the same city, to use
and do whatever appertains to the same mistery well and lawfully,
without fraud, evil design, or subtle management against the points
and ordinances aforesaid.

Saving always to our beloved in God the prior of St. Bartholomew, in
Smithfield, and other lords who have fairs in the said suburbs by
grant of our progenitors, their fairs, franchises, and free-customs,
which they have exercised in their said fairs, from the time of the
said grants, so that no damage or prejudice shall be done to them in
any way under colour of this our ordinance and grant; and saving the
franchises by us granted to the merchants, vintners of England and
Gascoigny, which we will shall remain in force in all points in
manner as in our letters patent to the said drapers is more fully
contained.

* * * * *

Wherefore we command and firmly enjoin you forthwith that at your
peril you cause to be proclaimed and published in the said city and
suburbs, and all places where it should be done, that all the said
things so by us granted may be firmly held and kept in form
aforesaid.

And hereof in no manner fail.

Given at Westminster the 14th day of July (1364).

A LETTER FROM EDWARD III. (1365).

The Battle of Crecy had first demonstrated the immense superiority of archers over mounted knights in battle. It became necessary to insist that Englishmen should be fully and properly trained in the use of the bow and arrow, if this superiority was to be maintained. The youths of London appear to have been addicted at this time to more exciting and less serviceable sports than the old exercise of archery, and Edward III.'s letter is at once a reprimand and an instruction.

The King to the Sheriffs of London, greeting.

Because the people of our realm, as well of good quality as mean,
have commonly in their sports before these times exercised the skill
of shooting arrows; whence it is well known, that honour and profit
have accrued to our whole realm, and to us, by the help of God, no
small assistance in our warlike acts; and now the said skill being,
as it were, wholly laid aside, the same people please themselves in
hurling of stones and wood and iron; and some in hand-ball,
foot-ball, bandy-ball, and in Cambuck, or Cock fighting; and some
also apply themselves to other dishonest games, and less profitable
or useful: whereby the said realm is likely, in a short time, to
become destitute of archers.

We, willing to apply a seasonable remedy to this, command you, that
in places in the foresaid City, as well within the liberties as
without, where you shall see it expedient, you cause public
proclamation to be made, that every one of the said City, strong in
body, at leisure times on holidays, use in their recreations bows
and arrows, or pellets, or bolts, and learn and exercise the art of
shooting; forbidding all and singular on our behalf, that they do
not after any manner apply themselves to the throwing of stones,
wood, iron, hand-ball, foot-ball, bandy-ball, cambuck, or
cock-fighting, nor such other like vain plays, which have no profit
in them, or concern themselves therein, under pain of imprisonment.

Witness the King at Westminster, the twelfth day of
June (1365).

A LEASE TO GEOFFREY CHAUCER (1374).

Modern English poetry may be said to have begun in London. Chaucer was born in London, was the descendant of a long line of Londoners, and lived in London the greater part of his life. Many of his contemporaries, including Gower, Occleve, and Lydgate, were connected with London, and spent much of their time there.

Chaucer's father was a citizen and vintner of London, and owned a house in Thames Street, close to Walbrook. Geoffrey Chaucer was in all probability born in this house; it became his own property, and he parted with it in 1380. Six years before this he acquired the lease of the dwelling-house above the city-gate of Aldgate, on condition that he kept it in good repair; he seems to have made this his usual residence till 1385. In it he must have composed several of his poems, including _The Parlement of Foules_, _The House of Fame_, and _Troilus_. He did not commence the _Canterbury Tales_ until the following year.

=Source.=—Riley's _Memorials_, p. 377.

To all persons to whom this present writing indented shall come,
Adam de Bury, Mayor, the Aldermen, and the Commonalty of the City of
London, greeting. Know ye that we, with unanimous will and assent,
have granted and released by these presents unto Geoffrey Chaucer
the whole of the dwelling-house above the Gate of Aldgate, with the
rooms built over, and a certain cellar beneath, the same gate, on
the South side of that gate, and the appurtenances thereof; to have
and to hold the whole of the house aforesaid, with the rooms so
built over, and the said cellar, and the appurtenances thereof, unto
the aforesaid Geoffrey, for the whole life of him, the same
Geoffrey. And the said Geoffrey shall maintain and repair the whole
of the house aforesaid, and the rooms thereof, so often as shall be
requisite, in all things necessary thereto, competently and
sufficiently, at the expense of the same Geoffrey, throughout the
whole life of him, the same Geoffrey. And it shall be lawful for the
Chamberlain of the Guildhall of London, for the time being, so often
as he shall see fit to enter the house and rooms aforesaid, with
their appurtenances, to see that the same are well and competently,
and sufficiently, maintained and repaired, as aforesaid. And if the
said Geoffrey shall not have maintained or repaired the aforesaid
house and rooms competently and sufficiently, as is before stated,
within forty days after the time when by the same Chamberlain he
shall have been required to do so, it shall be lawful for the said
Chamberlain wholly to oust the before-named Geoffrey therefrom, and
to re-seise and resume the same house, rooms, and cellar, with their
appurtenances, into the hand of the City, to the use of the
Commonalty aforesaid; and to hold the same in their former state to
the use of the same Commonalty, without any gainsaying whatsoever
thereof. And it shall not be lawful for the said Geoffrey to let the
house, rooms, and cellar, aforesaid, or any part thereof, or his
interest therein, to any person whatsoever. And we, the Mayor,
Aldermen, and Commonalty aforesaid, will not cause any gaol to be
made thereof, for the safe-keeping of prisoners therein, during the
life of the said Geoffrey; but we and our successors will warrant
the same house, rooms, and cellar, with their appurtenances unto the
before-named Geoffrey, for the whole life of him, the said Geoffrey,
in form aforesaid: this however excepted, that in time of defence of
the city aforesaid, so often as it shall be necessary, it shall be
lawful for us and our successors to enter the said house and rooms,
and to order and dispose of the same, for such time, and in such
manner, as shall then seem to us to be most expedient. And after the
decease of the same Geoffrey, the house, rooms and cellar aforesaid,
with their appurtenances, shall wholly revert unto us and our
successors. In witness whereof, as well the Common Seal of the City
aforesaid as the seal of the said Geoffrey, have been to these
present indentures interchangeably appended.

Given in the Chamber of the Guildhall of the city
aforesaid, the 10th day of May, in the 48th year
of the reign of King Edward, after the Conquest
the Third.

THE CITY ARMS (1375).

Beneath Pierce's statue of Walworth in Fishmongers' Hall is an inscription:

"Brave Walworth, Knight, Lord Mayor, y^t slew
Rebellious Tyler in his alarmes;
The King, therefore, did give in liew
The dagger to the City armes.

"In the 4th year of Richard II., Anno Domini 1381."

It seems that it has always been a popular belief that the weapon represented in the arms of the City is "Walworth's dagger"; but, as Stow points out, it is intended to represent the sword of St. Paul, who was the patron saint of this Corporation.

=Source.=—Stow's _Survey_, p. 222.

It hath also been, and is now grown to a common opinion, that in
reward of this service done, by the said William Walworth against
the rebel, King Richard added to the arms of this City, (which was
argent, a plain cross gules) a sword or dagger, (for so they term
it) whereof I have read no such record, but to the contrary. I find
that in the fourth year of Richard the second in a full assembly
made in the upper chamber of the Guildhall, summoned by this William
Walworth, then Mayor, as well of Aldermen as of the common Council
in every ward, for certain affairs concerning the king, it was there
by common consent agreed and ordained, that the old seal of the
office of the Mayoralty of the city being very small, old,
unsuitable, and uncomely for the honour of the city, should be
broken, and one other new should be had, which the said Mayor
commanded to be made artificially, and honourable for the exercise
of the said office thereafter in place of the other: in which new
Seal, besides the images of Peter, and Paul, which of old were
rudely engraven, there should be under the feet of the said images,
a shield of the arms of the said City perfectly graved, with two
lions supporting the same with two sergeants of arms, on either part
one, and two tabernacles, in which above should stand two Angels,
between whom above the said images of Peter and Paul, shall be set
the glorious virgin: this being done, the old seal of the office was
delivered to Richard Odiham Chamberlain, who brake it, and in place
thereof, was delivered the new seal to the said Mayor to use in his
office of Mayoralty, as occasion should require. This new seal
seemeth to be made before William Walworth was knighted, for he is
not here entitled Sir, as afterwards he was: and certain it is that
the same new seal then made, is now in use and none other in that
office of the Mayoralty, which may suffice to answer the former
fable, without shewing of any evidence sealed with the old seal,
which was the Cross, and sword of Saint Paul, and not the dagger of
William Walworth.

WAT TYLER IN LONDON (1381).

Froissart's description of the Peasants' Revolt is one of our main sources of information concerning this important event, and seems likely to be fairly accurate. He himself was, of course, an aristocrat, and was in no way disposed to be favourable to the "wicked rebels"; but he seems anxious to represent their case as fairly as possible, although he is plainly out of sympathy with the ideas and arguments of the rebels. It is noteworthy that the rising was almost simultaneous in many parts of the country, but its chief headquarters were in Kent, one of the most prosperous counties in the kingdom, where actual distress was least likely to be prevalent; and it is probable that the peasants in this county had benefited to no small extent by the economic changes which succeeded the Pestilence of 1349, and had improved both their material conditions and their intellectual outlook. The ideas of liberty which formed the motive of the revolt were somewhat vague, but were strengthened by numerous concrete instances of injustice and injury; and the concentration of the insurgents upon London forms one of a long series of indications of the importance of the city as the determining factor in vital issues.

=Source.=—Froissart's _Chroniques_.

In the mean season there fell in England great mischief and
rebellion of the common people, by which deed England was at a point
to have been lost without recovery....

It was a marvellous thing, and of poor foundation, that this
mischief began in England, and to give ensample to all manner of
people, I will speak thereof as it was done, as I was informed, and
of the incidents thereof. There was an usage in England, and yet is
in divers countries, that the noblemen have great franchises over
the commons, and keep them in servage, that is to say, their tenants
ought by custom to labour their lords' lands, to gather and bring
home their corn, and some to thresh and to fan, and by servage to
make their hay and to hew their wood and bring it home. All these
things they ought to do by servage, and there be more of these
people in England than in any other realm. Thus the noblemen and
prelates are served by them, and specially in the counties of Kent,
Essex, Sussex, and Bedford. These unhappy people of these said
counties began to stir, because they said they were being kept in
great servage, and in the beginning of the world, they said, there
were no bondmen, wherefore they maintained that none ought to be
bond, without he did treason to his lord, as Lucifer did to God....
And of this imagination was a foolish priest in the county of Kent,
called John Ball, for which foolish words he had been three times in
the Bishop of Canterbury's prison: for this priest used oftentimes
on the Sundays, after mass, when the people were going out of the
minster, to go into the cloister and preach, and made the people to
assemble about him, and would say thus: "Ah, ye good people, the
matters goeth not well to pass in England, nor shall not do till
everything be common, and that there be no villains nor gentlemen,
but that we may be all united together, and that the lords be no
greater masters than we be. What have we deserved, or why should we
be kept thus in servage? We be all come from one father and from one
mother, Adam and Eve: whereby can they say or show that they be
greater lords than we be, saving by that they cause us to win and
labour for that they dispend.

"They are clothed in velvet and camlet furred with grise, and we be
vestured with poor cloth: they have their wines, spices, and good
bread, and we have the rye, the bran, and the straw, and drink
water: they dwell in fair houses, and we have pain and travail, rain
and wind in the fields: and by that that cometh of our labours they
keep and maintain their estates: we be all called their bondmen,
and, without we do readily them service, we be beaten: and we have
no sovereign to whom we may complain, nor that will hear us, nor do
us right. Let us go to the king, he is young, and show him what
servage we be in, and show him how we will have it otherwise, or
else we will provide us of some remedy; and if we go together, all
manner of people that be now in any bondage will follow us to the
intent to be made free; and when the king seeth us, we shall have
some remedy, either by fairness or otherwise."

Thus John Ball said on Sundays, when the people issued out of the
churches in the villages: wherefore many of the mean people loved
him, and such as intended to no goodness said, how true; and so they
would murmur one with another in the fields, and in the ways as they
went together, affirming how John Ball said truth.

Of his words and deeds there was much people in London informed,
such as had great envy at them that were rich and such as were
noble; and then they began to speak among them, and said how the
realm of England was right evil governed, and how that gold and
silver was taken from them by them that were named noblemen: so thus
these unhappy men of London began to rebel, and assembled them
together, and sent word to the foresaid counties that they should
come to London, and bring their people with them, promising them how
they should find London open to receive them, and the commons of the
city to be of the same accord, saying how they would do so much to
the king that there should not be one bondman in all England.

This promise moved so them of Kent, of Essex, of Sussex, of Bedford,
and of the counties about, that they rose and came towards London to
the number of 60,000. And they had a captain called Walter Tyler,
and with him in company was Jack Straw and John Ball: these three
were chief sovereign captains, but the head of all was Walter Tyler,
and he was indeed a tiler of houses, an ungracious patron. When
these unhappy men began thus to stir, they of London, except such as
were of their band, were greatly affrayed. Then the Mayor of London
and the rich men of the city took counsel together, and when they
saw the people thus coming in on every side, they caused the gates
of the city to be closed, and would suffer no man to enter into the
city. But when they had well imagined, they advised not so to do,
for they thought they should thereby put their suburbs in great
peril to be brent; and so they opened again the city, and there
entered in at the gates in some places a hundred, two hundred, by
twenty or thirty; and so when they came to London, they entered and
lodged: and yet, of truth, most of their people could not tell what
to ask or demand, but followed each other like beasts. In like wise
these villains and poor people came to London, a hundred miles off,
sixty mile, fifty mile, forty mile, and twenty mile off, and from
all counties about London, but the most part came from the counties
before named, and as they came they demanded ever for the king.

The gentlemen of the counties, knights and squires, began to doubt
when they saw the people began to rebel; so the gentlemen drew
together as well as they might.

This rebellion was well known in the king's court ere any of these
people began to stir out of their houses; but the king nor his
council did provide no remedy therefor, which was great marvel.

In the morning on Corpus Christi Day King Richard heard mass in the
Tower of London, and all his lords, and then he took his barge with
the Earl of Salisbury, the Earl of Warwick, the Earl of Oxford, and
certain knights, and so rowed down along the Thames to Rotherhithe,
where were descended down the hill 10,000 men to see the king and
speak with him. And when they saw the king's barge coming, they
began to shout, and made such a cry, as though all the devils of
hell had been among them. And they had brought with them Sir John
Newton, to the intent that, if the king had not come, they would
have stricken him all to pieces, and so they had promised him. And
when the king and his lords saw the demeanour of the people, the
best assured of them were in dread; and so the king was counselled
by his barons not to take any landing there, but so rowed on down
the river. And the king demanded of them what they would, and said
how he was come thither to speak with them, and they said all with
one voice: "We would that ye should come aland, and then we shall
show you what we lack." Then the Earl of Salisbury answered for the
king, and said: "Sirs, ye be not in such order nor array that the
king ought to speak with you." And so with these words no more was
said: and then the king was counselled to return to the Tower of
London, and so he did.

And when the people saw that, they were inflamed with ire, and
returned to the hill, where the great band was, and then showed them
what answer they had, and how the king was returned to the Tower of
London. Then they all cried out: "Let us go to London," and so they
took their way thither: and in their going they beat down abbeys and
houses of advocates and of men of the court, and so came into the
suburbs of London, which were great and fair, and there beat down
divers fair houses, and specially they brake up the king's prisons,
as the Marshalsea and others, and delivered out all the prisoners
that were within: and then they did much hurt; and on the bridge
foot they threatened them of London because the gates of the bridge
were closed, saying how they would bren all the suburbs and so
conquer London by force, and slay and bren all the commons of the
city. There were many within the city of their accord, and so they
drew together and said: "Why do ye not let these good people enter
into the city? They are our fellows, and that that they do is for
us." So therewith the gates were opened, and then these people
entered into the city, and went into houses and sat down to eat and
drink. They desired nothing but it was incontinent brought to them,
for every man was ready to make them good cheer, and to give them
meat and drink to appease them.

Then the captains, as John Ball, Jack Straw, and Wat Tyler, went
throughout London, 20,000 with them, and so came to the Savoy on the
way to Westminster, which was a goodly house, and it pertaineth to
the Duke of Lancaster. And when they had entered, they slew the
keepers thereof, and robbed and pillaged the house; and when they
had so done, then they set fire on it, and clean destroyed and brent
it. And when they had done that outrage, they left not therewith,
but went straight to the fair hospital called St. John's, and there
they brent house, hospital, minster, and all. Then they went from
street to street and slew all the Flemings that they could find in
church or in any other place, there was none respited from death.

And they brake up divers houses of the Lombards, and robbed them and
took their goods at their pleasure, for there was none that durst
say them nay. And they slew in the city a rich merchant called
Richard Lyon, whom before that time Wat Tyler had served in France;
and on a time this Richard Lyon had beaten him, while he was his
varlet, which Wat Tyler then remembered, and so came to his house
and strake off his head, and caused it to be borne on a spear-point
before him all about the city....

The Saturday the king went to Westminster and heard mass in the
church there, and all his lords with him; and then he leapt on his
horse, and all his lords, and so the king rode toward London; and
when he had ridden a little way, on the left hand there was a way to
pass without London.

The same morning Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, and John Ball had assembled
their company together in a place called Smithfield, where every
Friday there is a market of horses; and there were together all of
one affinity more than 20,000, and yet there were many still in the
town, drinking and making merry in the taverns, and paying nothing,
for they were happy that made them best cheer.

And therewith the king came the same way unaware of them, for he had
thought to have passed that way without London, and with him forty
horse.... The mayor of London came to the king with twelve horsemen
well armed under their coats, and so he broke the press and saw and
heard how Wat Tyler demeaned himself, and said to him: "Ha, thou
knave, how art thou so hardy in the king's presence to speak such
words? It is too much for thee to do so." Then the king began to
chafe and said to the mayor: "Set hands on him." And while the king
said so, Tyler said to the mayor: "A God's name, what have I said to
displease thee?" "Yes, truly," quoth the mayor, "thou false knave,
shalt thou speak thus in the presence of the king, my natural lord?"
And with these words the mayor drew out his sword and strake Tyler
so great a stroke on the head, that he fell down at the feet of his
horse, and as soon as he was fallen, they environed him all about,
whereby he was not seen of his company. Then a squire of the king
alighted, called John Standish, and he drew out his sword and put it
through Wat Tyler's body, and so he died.

Then the ungracious people there assembled, perceiving their captain
slain, began to murmur among themselves and said: "Ah, our captain
is slain, let us go and slay them all;" and therewith they arrayed
themselves on the same place in manner of battle, and their bows
before them. Then the king began a great deed; howbeit, all turned
to the best: for as soon as Tyler was on the earth, the king
departed from all his company, and all alone he rode to these
people, and said to them: "Sirs, what aileth you? Ye shall have no
captain but me: I am your king: be all in rest and peace." And so
the most part of the people that heard the king speak and saw him
among them, were shamefast and began to wax peaceable and depart.

LONDON LICKPENNY (EARLY FIFTEENTH CENTURY).

This poem is generally ascribed to John Lydgate, a disciple of Chaucer, but the authorship is doubtful. Whatever its poetical merit may be, it is full of interest as a picture of contemporary life in London, and the description of the adventures of the poor countryman, endeavouring to obtain legal justice in the metropolis, lacks neither pathos nor humour.

=Source.=—_Minor Poems of Lydgate_, edited by Halliwell, p. 103.

To London once my stepps I bent,
Where trouth in no wyse should be faynt,
To Westmynster-ward I forthwith went,
To a man of law to make complaynt,
I sayd, "For Marys love, that holy saynt!
Pity the poore that wold proceede;"
But for lack of mony I could not spede.

And as I thrust the prese amonge,
By froward chaunce my hood was gone,
Yet for all that I stayd not longe,
Tyll to the kyngs bench I was come.
Before the judge I kneled anone,
And prayd hym for Gods sake to take heede;
But for lack of mony I myght not speede.

Beneth them sat clarkes a great rout,
Which fast dyd wryte by one assent,
There stoode up one and cryed about,
Rychard, Robert, and John of Kent.
I wyst not well what this man ment,
He cryed so thycke there indede;
But he that lackt mony myght not spede.

Unto the common place I yode thoo,
Where sat one with a sylken hoode;
I dyd hym reverence, for I ought to do so,
And told my case as well as I coode,
How my goods were defrauded me by falshood.
I gat not a mum of his mouth for my meed,
And for lack of mony I myght not spede.

Unto the Rolls I gat me from thence,
Before the clarkes of the chauncerye,
Where many I found earnying of pence,
But none at all once regarded mee.
I gave them my playnt uppon my knee;
They lyked it well, when they had it reade:
But lackyng money I could not be sped.

In Westmynster hall I found out one,
Which went in a long gown of raye;
I crowched and kneled before hym anon,
For Maryes love, of help I hym praye.
"I wot not that thou meanest," gan he say:
To get me thence he did me bede,
For lack of mony I cold not speed.

Within this hall, neither rich nor yett poore
Wold do for me ought, although I shold dye.
Which seing, I gat me out of the doore,
Where Flemynges began on me for to cry,
"Master, what will you copen or by?
Fyne felt hattes, or spectacles to reede?
Lay down your sylver, and here you may speede."

Then to Westmynster-Gate I presently went,
When the sonn was at hyghe pryme;
Cookes to me, they tooke good entente,
And proffered me bread, with ale and wyne,
Rybbs of befe, both fat and ful fyne.
A fayre cloth they gan for to sprede;
But wantyng mony I myght not then speede.

Then unto London I dyd me hye,
Of all the land it beareth the pryse:
Hot pescodes, one began to crye,
Strabery rype, and cherryes in the ryse;
One bad me come nere and by some spyce,
Peper and safforne they gan me bede,
But for lack of mony I myght not spede.

Then to the Chepe I began me drawne,
Where mutch people I saw for to stande;
One ofred me velvet, sylke, and lawne,
An other he taketh me by the hande,
"Here is Parys thred, the fynest in the land;"
I never was used to such thyngs indede,
And wantyng mony I myght not spede.

Then went I forth by London stone,
Throughout all Canwyke streete;
Drapers mutch cloth me offred anone;
Then comes me one cryed hot shepes feete;
One cryde makerell, ryster grene, an other gan greete;
One bad me by a hood to cover my head,
But for want of mony I myght not be sped.

Then I hyed me into Est-Chepe;
One cryes rybbs of befe, and many a pye;
Pewter pottes they clattered on a heape;
There was harpe, pype, and mynstrelsye.
"Yea, by cock! nay, by cock!" some began crye;
Some songe of Jenken and Julyan for their mede;
But for lack of mony I myght not spede.

Then into Corn-Hyl anon I yode,
Where was mutch stolen gere amonge;
I saw where honge myne owne hoode,
That I had lost amonge the thronge:
To by my own hood I thought it wronge,
I knew it well as I dyd my crede,
But for lack of mony I could not spede.

The taverner took mee by the sleeve,
"Sir," sayth he, "wyll you our wyne assay?"
I answered, that can not mutch me greve,
A peny can do no more then it may,
I drank a pynt and for it dyd paye;
Yet sone a hungerd from thence I yode,
And wantyng mony I cold not spede.

Then hyed I me to Belyngsgate;
And one cryed, "hoo! go we hence!"
I prayd a barge man, for God's sake,
That he wold spare me my expence.
"Thou scapst not here," quod he, "under ij. pence;
I lyst not yet bestow any almes dede."
Thus lackyng mony I could not speede.

Then I convayd me into Kent;
For of the law wold I meddle no more;
Because no man to me tooke entent,
I dyght me to do as I dyd before.
Now Jesus, that in Bethlem was bore,
Save London, and send trew lawyers there mede!
For who so wantes mony with them shall not spede.

WHITTINGTON'S SECOND MAYORALTY (1406).

Richard Whittington was the son of a Gloucestershire knight, and was born in 1350. The familiar stories of his roadside adventure in Highgate and of his fortune-making cat are, in common with many other delightful and picturesque incidents of history, rejected by historians; but he is certainly a great and famous man, even when his story is robbed of these interesting particulars. He was four times Mayor, and his justice and patriotism became proverbial. He vigorously opposed the admission of foreigners to the freedom of the City; he was exceedingly generous, and performed many deeds of charity. The following account of his second election to the highest dignity of the City illustrates the form and manner in which the appointment was made in the Middle Ages.

=Source.=—Riley's _Memorials_, p. 565.

On Wednesday, the Feast of the Translation of St. Edward the King
and Confessor [October 13], in the 8th year etc., John Wodecok,
Mayor of the City of London, considering that upon the same day he
and all the Aldermen of the said city, and as many as possible of
the wealthier and more substantial Commoners of the same city, ought
to meet at the Guildhall, as the usuage is, to elect a new Mayor for
the ensuing year, ordered that a Mass of the Holy Spirit should be
celebrated, with solemn music, in the Chapel annexed to the said
Guildhall; to the end that the same Commonalty, by the grace of the
Holy Spirit, might be able peacefully and amicably to nominate two
able and proper persons to be Mayor of the said city for the ensuing
year, by favour of the clemency of Our Saviour, according to the
customs of the said city.

Which Mass having in the said Chapel been solemnly celebrated, there
being present thereat the said John Wodecok, the Mayor, John
Prestone, Recorder, Nicholas Wottone and Geoffrey Broke, Sheriffs,
the Prior of the Holy Trinity, John Hadlee, William Staundone,
Richard Whytyngtone, Drew Barentyn, Thomas Knolles, John Shadworth,
William Askham, William Bramptone, John Warner, William Walderne,
William Venour, Robert Chychely, Thomas Fauconer, Thomas Polle,
William Louthe, William Crowmere, Henry Bartone, and Henry
Pountfreyt, Aldermen, and many reputable Commoners of the City
aforesaid; the same Mayor, Recorder, Sheriffs, Aldermen, and
Commoners, entered the Guildhall, where the precept of the said
Mayor and Aldermen, as the cause of the said congregation, was
becomingly set forth and declared by the said Recorder to the
Commoners aforesaid; to the end that such Commoners should nominate
unto the said Mayor and Aldermen such able and proper persons as had
before filled the office of Sheriff in the City aforesaid; it being
for the said Commoners to take no care which one of the persons so
to be nominated should be chosen by the Mayor and Aldermen to be
Mayor for the ensuing year. Which being done, the said Mayor,
Recorder, Sheriffs, and Aldermen, went up into the Chamber of the
Mayor's Court, within the Guildhall aforesaid, there to await the
nomination of such two persons. Whereupon, the Commoners peacefully
and amicably, without any clamour or discussion, did becomingly
nominate Richard Whytyngtone, mercer, and Drew Barentyn, goldsmith,
through John Westone, Common Countor of the said city, and presented
the same.

And hereupon, the Mayor and Aldermen, with closed doors, in the said
chamber chose Richard Whytyngtone aforesaid, by guidance of the Holy
Spirit, to be Mayor of the City for the ensuing year: after which,
the Mayor and Aldermen, coming down from the Chamber into the Hall,
to the Commoners there assembled as the custom is, notified by the
Recorder unto the same Commoners, how that, by Divine inspiration,
the lot had fallen upon the said Richard Whytyngtone, as above
stated.

THE PERSECUTION OF THE LOLLARDS (1413).

The Lollards were disciples of Wyclif, and increased very considerably in numbers and in power at the beginning of the fifteenth century. A large number of the citizens of London appear to have become attached to the new doctrines, which repudiated some of the most important dogmas of the Church. The clergy were active in their efforts to suppress the new beliefs, and applied to the King for assistance. Whatever may have been the personal views of Henry IV. and Henry V. on the matter, they were compelled by force of circumstances to keep on good terms with the Church, and measures of repression were adopted. The leader of the Lollards, Sir John Oldcastle, a man of distinguished military ability, was imprisoned, but rescued from the Tower by a band of Londoners. A huge meeting was held in St. Giles's Fields, but was prevented from doing any damage by Henry V.'s vigilance; the party was vigorously persecuted, and Oldcastle was captured and hanged. After this Lollardry languished, and gradually disappeared.

The King to the Mayor and Sheriffs of London: Greeting.

Inasmuch as we have been given to understand that certain priests,
not privileged by law for this purpose, nor licensed by the diocesan
of the place, nor permitted by the Church, who are said to be of
this new sect of the Lollards, have been preaching in public places
within the aforesaid city, and in the suburbs and vicinity thereof,
in order to excite and win over some who are ill disposed to the
Catholic faith and the doctrine of holy mother Church; and by their
own rashness, and contrary to the laws and ordinances of the Church,
they have preached, nay, rather have profaned the Word of God; or at
least under pretext of preaching they have in such places been
emboldened to propagate discord among our people on the pestiferous
seeds of Lollardism and evil doctrine, after the manner of
preachers; and as some of our people of our said city and its
vicinity, under pretence of hearing such preaching, have assembled
to those places, and have congregated together in large multitudes;
and, in consequence, murmurs and seditions have in part arisen, and
will probably arise, to the disturbance and no small marring of our
peace, unless a remedy be more quickly applied to abolish such
meetings and pull down such conventicles:

We, desiring especially to provide for the defence of the Catholic
faith, the laws and ordinances of the Church, and for preserving our
peace, command you, that you cause proclamation publicly to be made,
within our city aforesaid, and its suburbs, in every place where you
shall find it expedient:

That no chaplains, of whatsoever degree, state, or condition they
may be, shall henceforward hold, cherish, affirm, preach, or defend
such opinions, heresy, or error, contrary to the decision of holy
mother Church; and that none other our lieges and subjects in this
matter adhere to or abet them, or lend them counsel or assistance,
under penalty of imprisonment of their bodies, and the forfeiture of
all their goods and chattels, to our will and disposal. We further
command and positively enjoin you that, if henceforth you shall be
able to find within your bailiwick any such chaplains preaching and
affirming publicly or secretly, contrary to the aforesaid rescript,
or any other our lieges and subjects making conventicles and
meetings, or receiving the same chaplains, or being under probable
or great suspicion concerning the premises, or in any way
counselling, favouring, or helping such chaplains in this matter,
then arrest ye them without delay, and commit them to prison, there
to remain, until they shall obey the commands of the diocesan in
whose diocese they may have preached....

Witness the King, at Westminster, the 21st day of
August, 1413.

IMPRISONMENT FOR REFUSING OFFICE (1415).

Reluctance to accept positions of dignity and importance is rarely met with nowadays; we are accustomed to witness keen competition for the honour and privilege—even if there be no more solid advantage—of a seat in Parliament or a civic office. But in medieval times there was frequently considerable unwillingness to hold these now coveted posts; most men had their own affairs to attend to, and these were almost certain to be seriously prejudiced by the distractions of public life. More especially was this the case where Parliamentary representation of a remote constituency was concerned. The danger, expense, and time involved in the necessary journeys to the capital were a very serious consideration, and fines had to be imposed frequently upon burgesses or knights of the shire, who resented the greatness which their constituents thrust upon them. The following instance shows that even in London pressure had to be applied in order to induce the acceptance of an important office; and it was not until the holders of such posts began to realise the possibility of deriving profit from them, as, for example, by exempting their own property from taxation, that these difficulties were entirely overcome.

=Source.=—Riley's _Memorials_, p. 601.

Forasmuch as a laudable custom which has hitherto prevailed in the
City of London, has so prescribed and ordained, that the inhabitants
of each of the Wards of the said city are at liberty to elect an
Alderman whensoever they need one, to rule them in their own Ward;
provided always, that the person so elected is presented to the
Mayor and Aldermen, for the time being, and by them is deemed worthy
to be admitted and approved.—And whereas, on the 3rd day of January,
in the 2nd year of the reign of King Henry etc. one Ralph Lobenham,
late Alderman of the Ward of Farndone Without, having voluntarily
resigned the rule of that Ward, the inhabitants of the Ward
thereupon, according to the usual custom, met together at the usual
place within the Ward, for the purpose of electing an Alderman
thereof, and there unanimously chose one John Gedeney, citizen and
draper, to hold the office of Alderman of the Ward aforesaid....

The said John Gedeney appeared before the Mayor and Aldermen, in the
Chamber aforesaid, and after the reason for his being summoned had
been first stated to him, precept was given to him forthwith to take
his seat there in Court, that he might take the oath that pertains
unto the office and rank of Alderman. Whereupon, the same John
Gedeney, after first setting forth his excuses on the ground of his
inability, and his insufficiency for the office, wholly refused to
accept it: upon which, he was informed by the Court that he could
not refuse this office, to which, as being a fit person, he was
admitted by the Court, without breach of his freedom, and of the
oath which by him, when he was admitted to the freedom of the City,
had been made; and this the more especially, as every freeman is
bound to be a partaker in Lot, which is liability to hold office,
and in Scot, which means contribution to taxes and other charges, by
reason of such oath.

But all and singular the matters before stated notwithstanding, he
altogether refused to accept the office, like a person who was
utterly obdurate. And hereupon, the matter having been considered by
the Mayor and Aldermen, because that it appeared to them that if any
one, when elected to such office, should be at liberty at his own
will and pleasure to refuse the post, and pass it by, not improbably
the City before long would be left destitute, as it were, of all
rule and governance whatsoever; the same John Gedeney was by the
said Mayor and Aldermen committed to prison, there to remain until
the Court should be better advised what to do as to the matters
aforesaid.

OATHS OF THE MAYOR AND ALDERMEN (1419).

The following extracts are from the _Liber Albus_, a book on the government of the City of London, by John Carpenter, who was Town Clerk from 1417 to 1438. It contains a complete description of the administration of the City at this interesting point in its history, and gives particulars of the duties and responsibilities of all the civic officers. The author explains that before the office of Mayor was established, the chief person in the City was the Portreeve, who was also the King's representative and justiciar. Then the "Barons of the City," who may have been the Aldermen, obtained the privilege of electing their own Mayor every year; and gradually a custom arose for the Mayor, Aldermen, Sheriffs, and certain chosen commoners to meet for the purpose of choosing a new Mayor. At first the same Mayor was frequently re-elected, so long as there was no expense attached to the office; but when it became customary for him to give feasts and liveries, the cost was generally too great for him to continue in office for more than one year, and the practice arose for the Mayor to retire at the end of his term, when the Aldermen might offer him a second year. The Aldermen held their office for life, and had almost despotic authority in their ward, having their own serjeants to attend them.

=Source.=—_Liber Albus_, translated by Riley.

You shall swear, that well and lawfully you shall serve our lord the
King in the office of the Mayoralty of the City of London, and the
same City you shall surely and safely keep to the behoof of the King
of England, and of his heirs, Kings of England; and the profit of
the King you shall do in all things that unto you belong to do, and
the rights of the King, in so far as unto the Crown they belong
within the said City, you shall lawfully keep. You shall not assent
unto the decrease, or unto the concealment of the rights or of the
franchises of the King; and where you shall know the rights of the
King or of the Crown, be it in lands, or in rents, or in franchises,
or in suits, to be concealed or withdrawn, to your utmost power you
shall do to repel it; and if you cannot do it, you shall tell it
unto the King, or unto them of his Council, of whom you shall be
certain that they will tell it unto the King. And that lawfully and
rightfully you will treat the people of your bailiwick, and right
will do unto everyone thereof, as well unto strangers as to
denizens, to poor as to rich, in that which belongeth unto you to
do; and that neither for highness, nor for riches, nor for promise,
nor for favour, nor for hate, wrong you shall do unto any one; nor
the right of anyone shall you disturb, nor shall you take anything
whereby the King may lose, or by which his right may be disturbed.
And that in all things which unto the Mayor of the said City it
pertaineth to do, as well in the regulation of victuals as in all
other things, well and lawfully you shall behave yourself.

So God you help, and the Saints.

* * * * *

You shall swear, that well and lawfully you shall serve our lord the
King in the City of London, in the office of Alderman in the Ward of
N, wherein you are chosen Alderman, and shall lawfully treat and
inform the people of the same Ward of such things as unto them
pertain to do, for keeping the City, and for maintaining the peace
within the City; and that the laws, usages, and franchises of the
said City you shall keep and maintain, within town and without,
according to your wit and power. And that attentive you shall be to
save and maintain the rights of orphans, according to the laws and
usages of the said City. And that ready you shall be, and readily
shall come, at the summons and warning of the Mayor and ministers of
the said City, for the time being, to speed the Assizes, Pleas, and
Judgments of the Hustings, and other needs of the said City, if you
be not hindered by the needs of our lord the King, or by other
reasonable cause; and that good lawful counsel you shall give for
such things as touch the common profit in the same City. And that
you shall sell no manner of victuals by retail; that is to say,
bread, ale, wine, fish or flesh, by you, your apprentices, hired
servants, or by any other; nor profit shall you take of any such
manner of victuals sold during your office. And that well and
lawfully you shall (behave) yourself in the said office, and in
other things touching the City. So God you help, and the Saints.

JACK CADE IN LONDON (1450).

The rebellion headed by Cade was a manifestation of discontent at the incompetence of the Government. An expensive and unsuccessful war had been carried on in France, and there was very little disposition in England to aid the inadequate resources of the royal treasury, or to relieve the King from the load of debt which had been contracted. The King's Ministers were forced to have recourse to arbitrary measures, and the affections of the people were completely estranged. Cade was able, by holding out the prospect of redress of grievances, to collect about him a formidable body of malcontents. They were admitted into the City, where at first they conducted themselves with comparative moderation; but very soon indications of violence showed themselves, and the citizens realised their danger and were able to hold the rebels at bay until, dispirited by the opposition which they encountered, they dispersed.

=Source.=—Hall's _Chronicle_.

The captain being advised of the King's absence, came first into
Southwark, and there lodged at the White Hart, prohibiting to all
men, Murder, Rape, or Robbery: by which colour he allured to him the
hearts of the common people. But after that he entered into London,
and cut the ropes of the drawbridge, sticking his sword on London
stone, saying: Now is Mortimer lord of this city, and rode in every
street like a lordly Captain. And after a flattering declaration
made to the Mayor of the city of his thither coming, he departed
again to Southwark. And upon the third day of July, he caused Sir
James Fynes, Lord Say, and Treasurer of England, to be brought to
the Guildhall of London, and there to be arraigned: which being
before the King's justices put to answer, desired to be tried by his
peers, for the longer delay of his life.

The captain perceiving his dilatory plea, by force took him from the
officers, and brought him to the standard in Cheape, and there
before his confession ended, caused his head to be cut off, and
pitched it on a high pole, which was openly borne before him through
the streets. And this cruel tyrant not content with the murder of
the Lord Say, went to Mile end, and there apprehended Sir James
Cromer, then sheriff of Kent, and son in law to the said Lord Say,
and him without confession or excuse heard, caused there likewise to
be beheaded, and his head to be fixed on a pole, and with these two
heads, this bloody butcher entered into the city again, and in
despite caused them in every street to kiss together, to the great
detestation of all the beholders.