Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/682

Rh LONDON 674 LONDON. In Hay, 1357, Edward the Black Prince returned to London with John, King of France, and his son, as prisoners. David II., King of Scots, was also a prisoner at the same time ; and the King of France was placed in the Savoy Palace, in the Strand, a site at that time occupied by splendid mansions, gardens, and pleasure grounds, while the King of Scotland was lodged in the Tower. There were three terrible pestilences, supposed to have come from India or China, in this reign, which are said to have destroyed two-thirds of the population. St. Stephen's chapel was erected. The lords and commons had hitherto sat as one assembly, but each house now moved into its own chamber, and the latter chose their first speaker. Edward III. greatly encouraged the trading companies of the City, and granted them several charters. In his reign gold- smiths were first ordered to put their marks on all plate manufactured by them, as were smiths on all their knives and swords; and the title of Lord Mayor was given to the chief magistrate of the city. He also changed Windsor Castle from a mere fortress into a royal residence, instituted the Order of the Garter, and in his reign the poet Chaucer left the " Tabard Inn," in the borough, on that celebrated pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Thomas-a-Becket at Canterbury, which h has immortalised by his own pen. In the reign of Richard II. occurred the memorable risings under Wat Tyler and Jack Straw. The sovereign, when scarcely eleven years old, made a triumphal entry into London, through streets decorated with various devices, and having Uic conduits running with wine, and was crowned at Westminster, 16th July, 1377. In 1381 the peasantry, indignant at a poll tax which had been imposed, headed by Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, met at Blackheath, in number about 200,000, and proceeded to London, where they burnt the Savoy Palace, and pillaged several warehouses. The king, hearing of the outbreak, took refuge in the Tower, the insurgents marching on through Smithfield to Mile-end, where they were joined by another body of rebels. They demanded certain rights and liberties to which the king agreed ; but upon Wat Tyler having been slain by the Lord Mayor, Sir William Walworth, at Smithfield, Richard retracted all he had granted, and as a memento of the trials and executions which took place at this period, the dagger was added to the City arms. Meanwhile the king lived in so luxurious and extravagant a manner, that when ho was in Ireland in 1399 the nobles and people, headed by Henry of Lancaster, broke out into open revolt. On the 29th September in the same year Richard abdicated in favour of Henry at an interview they had in the Tower, and the new king was crowned at Westminster. During Richard's reign, the present Westminster Hall was built, the statute of preemtmire passed, and the Londoners, who subsequently changed sides, broke into and plundered tho houses of John of Gaunt and Lord Percy for espousing the cause of Wickliffe and tho Reformation. Henry IV. 's reign was chiefly conspicu- ous, as far as London is concerned, for the persecution of the " Lollards," or followers of Wickliffe. During this reign the Order of the Bath was instituted, and the Houso of Commons greatly advanced its powers and privileges. The next king, Henry V., was also a perse- cutor of the Lollards, and in 1413, Sir John Oldcastle, better known as Lord Cobham, their leader, was con- demned as a traitor and heretic. Ho was, however, respited for fifteen days, during which time he escaped from the Tower, but was ultimately burnt in St. Giles's Fields in 1417. In this reign a lantern holding a lighted candle was ordered to be placed at the door of every house in tho City ; Holborn was first paved ; tho new Guildhall, which was begun in 1411, was com- pleted, and Sir Richard Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of London, nourished. Ho was born in 1354, and was a great benefactor to St. Bartholomew's and Christ's hospitals. To the latter he gave a very valuable library and lands in Newgate-street. He also endowed certain almshouses near Sion College (which are now removed to the vicinity of Highgate), and at an enter- tainment to tho king upon his marriage at Guildhall 1 is said to have burnt a packet of bonds for 60,00 which Henry borrowed from him before tho battle of Agincourt, and thus to have cancelled the debt. John Carpenter was one of his executors, and aUo left somo funds for educational purposes, which were applied by the citizens to the foundation of the " City of London school" in 1832. In the reign of the next king, Henry VI., another insurrection took place, headed by Jack Cade, who assumed the name of Mortimer, and collected 20,000 followers, who encamped on Blackheath, and from thence marched over London Bridge into the City. The rebellion, however, was ultimately sup- pressed, and Jack Cade slain in Kent. After the first engagement between the Yorkists and Lancastrian^ London was fixed upon by tho contending factions as tho place of meeting to effect, if possible, a rotoncilia tion ; and Queen Margaret and the Duke of York we in a solemn procession to St. Paul's to swear pcm-i! u friendship, which each undertook for their side to main tain. Notwithstanding these protestations of amity, the wars between the partisans of the " white and roses," as the Yorkists and Lancastrians wen; ri .-i lively styled, from the flowers plucked by each of the leaders in the Temple Gardens, continued, as is we known, for many years. In this reign Eton Col] and King's College, Cambridge, were founded, and i dom of speech was granted to both houses of parliami nt. The apparel of each grade of society was regulated by law, and the first corn law was introduced, by which when wheat reached Cs. 8il. per quarter all importation from foreign countries was prohibited. The first lord mayor's show was established in 1130 ; and in 1132 the frost was so severe in London that the ice upon the Thames was thick enough for heavy waggons to use it as a high road as far down as Gravesend. Money was now first lent to government on security, although only to a very small extent, and thus commenced the "national debt." At the battle of Mortimer's Cross, 2nd February, 1161, tho Yorkists were successful, and Henry waa sent to tho Tower, where he re- mained, with the exception of a short interval when he was released by Warwick, " the king maker," till his death in 1471. In 1467 a grand tournament was in Smithfield in honour of the ambassadors who sent by Charles the Bold of Burgundy to demand tho Princess Margaret, the sister of Edward IV., who then king, in marriage for their master, and upon the ceremony taking place Caxton the printer was made one of the members of her household. At the battj of Tewkesbury, 4th May, 1471, the Lancastrians we finally overthrown, and Queen Margaret was captive to the Tower, whence, however, she was somed by Louis XI. of Franco in 1475. During reign the Bastard of Falconberg sailed up tin London Bridge with 5,000 followers, burnt some liou there, and then marched on to Aldgate. He was uppo by the citizens, who drove tho invaders back to Botolph's church, where they wcresct upon by the To garrison and utterly routed. Jane Shore, wlm her husband to live with Edward, walked bai through the streets to St. Paul's to do penance after his death, and died in Shoreditch in the most abject in 1527. Edward changed tho current coin in 14GjLj and depreciated its value considerably. In 1479 ; plague carried off vast numbers of tho citi: London, and in 1473 a printing press was er. Westminster Abbey. Tho reign of the young 1 V., who, with his brother tho Duke of York, w; fined in the Tower, and murdered by Sir. only lasted for two months and twelve da;. although he was proclaimed he was never i when an alteration was made in the White T< 1671 two bodies in a wooden box were disi foot of the staircase, and were thought to be i the unfortunate princes. On 14th May, 1483, liicbard Duke of Gloucester took the style and till,' <>i "Pro- tector of England," and held councils at his ii Crosby Place and in the Tower,' and at last, by