VOL. I
HISTORICAL & SOCIAL

BY
SIR WALTER BESANT

LONDON
ADAM & CHARLES BLACK
1906

CONTENTS

[PART I]
MEDIÆVAL SOVEREIGNS
CHAP.PAGE
1.[Henry II.]3
2.[Richard I.]9
3.[John]13
4.[Henry III.]20
5.[Edward I.]35
6.[Edward II.]48
7.[Edward III.]58
8.[Richard II.]78
9.[Henry IV.]92
10.[Henry V.]103
11.[Henry VI.]111
12.[Edward IV.]138
13.[Richard III.]152
[PART II]
SOCIAL AND GENERAL
1.[General View]159
2.[Port and Trade of London]185
3.[Trade and Gentility]216
4.[The Streets]226
5.[The Buildings]240
6.[Furniture]255
7.[Wealth and State of Nobles and Citizens]259
8.[Manners and Customs]264
9.[Food]294
10.[Sport and Recreation]307
11.[Literature and Science in London]—
§ I.[The Libraries of Londo]n327
§ II.[London and Literature]330
§ III.[The Physician]336
12.[Fire, Plague, and Famine]341
13.[Crime and Punishment]349
14.[Christian Names and Surnames]372
[APPENDICES]379
[INDEX]405

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
[Edward IV. and his Courtiers]Frontispiece
[Henry II.]3
[Coronation of the “Young King”]5
[Becket disputing with the King]7
[Great Seal of Henry II].8
[First Seal of Richard I].10
[Cross of Knight Templar]12
[King John]13
[Henry Fitzailwyn, Knt., First Lord Mayor of London]14
[King John hunting]16
[A Portion of the Great Charter]17
[Coronation of Henry III].21
[Jews’ Passover]27
[A Pope in Consistory]29
[Edward I.]35
[Queen Eleanor of Castile]36
[Charing Cross]41
[Parliament of Edward I].Facing 44
[Great Seal of Edward I].46
[Head of Edward II].48
[Shrine of King Edward II., Gloucester Cathedral]56
[Edward III.]58
[A Joust or Tournament of the Period]63
[Sir Henry Picard entertaining the Kings of England, France, Scotland, Denmark and Cyprus]Facing 70
[John Wyclyf]76
[Richard II.]78
[King Richard II. and his Council go down the Thames in a Barge to confer with the Rebels]83
[Wat Tyler for his Insolence is killed by Walworth, and King Richard puts himself at the Head of the Rebels]85
[King Richard II. in Great Danger in the City of London]87
[Henry of Lancaster brings King Richard back to London]90
[How Richard II. resigned the Crown to the Duke of Lancaster]Facing 90
[Henry IV.]92
[Funeral Procession of Richard II.]Facing 94
[“The True Portraiture of Richard Whittington, Thrice Lord Mayor of London”]98
[The Porch of the Church of St. Alphage, London Wall, formerly the Chapel of the Priory of Elsinge Spital]99
[Henry V.]103
[Ships at La Rochelle]106
[Marriage of Henry V. and Katherine of France]108
[Henry VI. as an Infant]111
[The Duke of Bedford]115
[Henry VI.]119
[Henry VI. at the Shrine of St. Edmund]123
[White Hart Tavern, Bishopsgate Street]130
[London Stone]131
[Henry VI. and his Courtiers]133
[Edward IV.]138
[Ships of the Period]141
[The Bastard of Falconbridge attacks London Bridge]143
[“The Hierarchy of the Sciences,” as conceived by Mediæval Thought]149
[Richard III.]152
[North-East View of Crosby Hall]153
[Interior of the Council Room, Crosby Hall]153
[Sketch Map of London in the Fifteenth Century]159
[The White Tower]160
[St. Katherine’s by the Tower]161
[Chaucer]163
[The Old Fountain in the Minories, built about 1480, demolished 1793]175
[North-West View of the Ancient Structure of Merchant-Taylors Hall, and the Alms-Houses adjoining, in Threadneedle Street]179
[A South-East View of London before the Destruction of St. Paul’s Steeple by Fire, A.D. 1560]181
[Temple Church, London]183
[A Household Dining]203
[The Steelyard, Thames Street]207
[The Merchant]213
[The Knight]219
[Court of King’s Bench. Temp. Henry VI.]221
[View of the Ruins of Part of the late Church of St. Leonard]229
[View of the Crypt on the Site of the late College of St. Martin Le Grand]229
[Arch of Blackfriars Priory, revealed by the Demolition of a Building in Ireland Yard, May 1900]238
[Matthew Paris Dying]241
[Embassy from the King of England to ask the Hand of the Lady Isabella of France in Marriage]243
[Hall of the Knights of St. John]247
[“The Ladies’ Bower”]249
[Whittington’s House in Swithin’s Passage, Moor Lane]250
[Builders at Work]252
[Retinue of the Earl of Warwick]260
[House Servant and Porter, Early Fourteenth Century]261
[Earl Rivers presenting his Book to Edward IV.]262
[Knights preparing for a Passage of Arms]265
[Queen Isabella and her Ladies out Riding]269
[Making Tapestry]271
[Honi Soit qui mal y Pense]Facing 274
[Westminster Hall]276
[Parting of St. Thomas and the Two Kings]277
[Beggar Importuning Noble Lady]285
[Banquet in London. Temp. Edward IV.]Facing 296
[A Banquet]301
[A Hunting Party]311
[Types of Chaucer’s Characters]313
[A Banquet]315
[King and Jester]316
[Types of Chaucer’s Characters]317
[Tournament of the Earl of Warwick]321
[Coronation of Henry IV.]Facing 322
[English Knights Travelling]323
[A Tournament in London]325
[John Lydgate presenting his “Life of St. Edmund” to Henry VI.]328
[Page from Pleshy Bible]331
[Lydgate at Work]335
[The Doctor of Physic]336
[An Operation]337
[Surgeon Operating on the Skull]337
[An Alchemist’s Laboratory]338
[The Couvre-feu]341
[Prisoner being Sentenced and taken to Execution]349
[The Tun, Cornhill]355
[The Scold’s Bridle in Walton-on-Thames Church]356
[A Beggar]363
[A Hand-to-Hand Fight]367