Constructing a Civic Community in Late Medieval London: The Common Profit, Charity and Commemoration

An examination of the growth of civic power in the turbulent arena of late medieval London.

In the late fourteenth century, London's government, through mismanagement and negligence, experienced a series of crises. Relationships with the crown were tested; competing factions sought to wrest power from the hands of the once all-powerful victualling guilds; revolt in the streets in 1381 targeted the institutions of royal as well as civic power; and, between 1392 and 1397, King Richard removed ...