London guild conflicts

The London guild conflicts refer to period of intense civic conflict in the City of London during the 1370s and 1380s. The conflict was between rival political factions often centered on trade guilds or “misteries,” the predecessors of the later livery companies. These divisions reflected wider national divisions in the reigns of Edward III and Richard II and which largely centered around John of Gaunt's influence in the city.

History

Background

As a large city London had always been violent in the Middle Ages and this was often diverted into City politics. There were already rivalries between London and non London based merchants, as well as between the victualling and non-victualling guilds. In this period these rivalries were intensified by plague, a shortage of coin, and the weakness of royal government in the later years of Edward III and the early reign of Richard II, with rival factions vying to present themselves as defenders of the king’s interests. This was exarcebated by heavy taxation, French threats to foreign trade and royal interference in civic affairs.^[1]

The pro-Gaunt faction was centered initially around Richard Lyons who with Adam Bury and John Pecche had a monopoly on the sale of sweet wine in the city. This was lost at the Good Parliament of 1376 which in a generally anti-Gaunt mood saw the three impeached for corruption.^[2] This action crystalised the factions, although this loss of favour was partially reversed when they were pardoned by the Crown in March 1377^[2] after Gaunt gained power after the death of his brother the Black Prince who had been the moving force behind the reforms of the Good Parliament.

The Good Parliament and Gaunt's reaction

In 1376 the election of the Common Council was changed from being ward based to being based on the guilds^[3] which was supported by the lesser trades grouped around John of Northampton.^[4]

Partly because of his support for John Wycliffe during which the Bishop of London was publicly threatened by Gaunt^[5] there were riots against John of Gaunt in 1377.^[1] A more substantive reason for the riots was an attempt by Gaunt in the Bad Parliament to replace the authority of the mayor with that of a captain appointed by the crown.^[6]

Gaunt insisted that Adam Stable, the mayor elected under the new and more democratic rules,^[7] be deposed. To placate Gaunt and to avoid a royally appointed captain in the aftermath of the riots, Stable was replaced with Nicholas Brembre^[7] who as a rich merchant was seen as more acceptable to Gaunt. Ironically like his immediate successor John Philipot^[7] Brembre ended in the anti-Gaunt faction while those representing the "lesser trades" would become pro-Gaunt. The weakness of government and uncertainty about future direction meant that the City of London was unusually important compared to immediately earlier and later times.^[8]

In an attempt to preserve London's autonomy in late 1377 new charter for London was agreed. However a few months later there was a resurgence of mob violence against a king's uncle when a mob broke into the London home of Thomas of Woodstock which led to the charter's revocation.^[1]

The clash of the greater and lesser trades

The anti-Gaunt fishmonger William Walworth held the mayoralty during the Peasants' revolt, and the decisive actions of this faction against Wat Tyler and the rebel army and in support of the Crown gained considerable favour with Richard II, including knighthoods.^[9] Also in the revolt, which was itself strongly hostile to Gaunt, Lyons was executed by the mob.^[2]

However in 1381 the leader of the lesser trades John Northampton (who had become friendly to Gaunt) held the mayoralty for two terms with the king backing his re-election in 1382.^[4] Brembre got the mayoralty back in 1384^[7] with the king's support by placing armed supporters in London Guildhall^[4] where the election was taking place. By the mid-1380s continued unrest over the governance of the city culminated in violent mayoral elections with parliamentary petitions alleging corruption.

After the destruction of tax records following the Peasants Revolt, money was becoming an important issue and extraordinary taxes were proposed mostly through customs, with the 1382 Parliament asking that these be managed by a committee of prominent merchants^[10] half from London,^[11] increasing London's weight in the national political community.

Brembre became a very close and trusted ally of Richard during Richard's attempts to escape limits on his rule. In 1387 he unsuccessfully attempted to raise troops in London for Richard against the Lords Appellant who had taken over effective government of the country.^[12] Brembre was executed by the Merciless Parliament in 1388, marking the effective end of this period of civic factionalism.

Factions

The Vintners

In the mid-1370s John of Gaunt was associated with wealthy financiers such as Richard Lyons^[13] who with Adam Bury and John Pecche had a monopoly on the sale of sweet wine in the city. The members tended to have strong personal links to John of Gaunt.^[2] This monopoly was condemned by the reformist Good Parliament of 1376, and who completely lost all hope of power after the execution of Lyons in the Peasants Revolt.

Greater Guilds

The anti-Gaunt faction had its strength among the greater guilds and more prosperous merchants,^[1] especially victuallers^[13] such as the then dominant grocers and the fishmongers, who had a valuable monopoly on supply of fish to the city that was resented by the other citizens.^[14] The factions' aim was to strengthen the existing oligarchy by depriving the lesser guilds of any voice in the city,^{[citation needed]} and was consequently favourable to Richard's policy. It was hostile to John of Gaunt and supportive of William Courtenay the Bishop of London.^[15] Prominent members included William Walworth,^[16] Nicholas Brembre and John Philipot.

The dominance at various times was evidenced by the fact that at the 1383 election there were sixteen aldermen who belonged to the Grocers' Company.^[17]

Lesser Trades

A more commercially reformist faction that sought open civic markets and wider participation in London’s trade was a collection of the "lesser trades" such as cordwainers and butchers that weren't in the Great Companies and were far more likely to be tradesmen rather than merchants. This was led by John Northampton and in the 1370s opposed the dominance of the Gaunt supported Lyons faction^[4] but in the 1380s won Gaunt's support.^[15] Northampton became a reformist Lord Mayor of London in 1381 and 1382, during dissension in favour of reform of its Common Council in the early years of Richard II's reign. When the anti-Gaunt faction were able to engineer Northampton's overthrow, even the book of records of reform legislation was burned, known as the Jubilee Book. The radical movements' mob politics heightened public reluctance to permit people's engagement in politics.

The pro Gaunt faction was in the nineteenth and early twentieth century often portrayed as also supporting John Wycliffe^[15] due to Gaunt's support for Wycliffe and the great merchants' support for Wycliffe and Gaunt's opponent the Bishop of London. However Northampton was a devout Catholic rather than a Lollard.^[4]