William Walworth

Guild career

William Walworth was a member of the Fishmongers Guild in London before he entered politics.^[1]. We know that he would have been well off due to this position as a fishmonger. The guild had a monopoly on selling fish which would have proven to be lucrative for many.^[2] Additionally, because the medieval church did not allow eating meat on many Fridays of the year for fasting purposes, they would get significantly more sales on these days.^[3] As a fishmonger, he was not a member of the lowest class, but he was not of the upper class either — he was simply a middling sort.

Political career

He was an apprentice under John Lovekyn (also a member of the Fishmongers Guild) whom he succeeded as Alderman of Bridge ward in 1368 after his death. One side effect of this was Walworth's marriage to Lovekyn's widow. Whether this was a financial decision or not is unclear, but this is a possibility due to both of their situations — she would have been left Lovekyn's business and Walworth was a growing member of the economy.

This rise in the ranks made him a more prominent figure in London politics.^[4] Walworth became Sheriff of London in 1370 and Lord Mayor of London in 1374. He was a Member of Parliament for the City of London in 1371, 1376, 1377, and 1383, as one of the two aldermanic representatives of the city.^[5] As Lord Mayor of London, Walworth would have had more power than he did as a fishmonger and his wealth would have grown with this power. What some scholars would consider the origins of the modern state were beginning to form and with that was a growing focus on a centralized set of powers.^[6] The Lord Mayor of London would have been included in this set of powers, at least in England.

There was strong factionalism in the city of London during Walworth's time and faction of wealthy food merchants attracted complaints in the House of Commons for conspiring to inflate food prices,^[7] they were also generally opposed to the influence of the king's uncle John of Gaunt.^[8] This uptick in dissatisfaction is what helped to inspire the Peasants' Revolt.

Reasons for the Peasants' Revolt

During Walworth's time, England (and most of Europe for that matter) was in a period of uncertainty. They were not a state by any means, but they were not as scattered as they had once been. This was causing the people to turn towards those in power for guidance rather than the church which had historically been a moral compass for many.^[6] Additionally, the Plague had swept through Europe in the middle of the 14th century and caused quite a few issues. The population was a fraction of what it used to be which meant that those in power needed more money from each individual person to fund their various wars, buildings, etc.^[9] This led to Walworth's most famous exploit — his encounter with Wat Tyler (the leader of the revolt) during the English peasants' revolt of 1381 in his second term as Lord Mayor.^[10]

Assassination of Wat Tyler

In June of that year, when Tyler and his followers entered South London, Walworth defended London Bridge against their revolt. During this encounter, Walworth killed Tyler in front of his people, but the method that Walworth used to kill Tyler is debated because the accounts are messy to the point that one scholar went on to compare it to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.^[11] JFK's assassination is notorious for multiple, contradicting accounts and a number of unanswered questions. Some scholars would suggest that Walworth slashed him heroically and he fell over half dead^[12] while others would suggest an alternate story that portrays Tyler and the other peasants as the heroes.^[13]

Aftermath

Walworth rode immediately back to London to raise the city bodyguard in the king's defense, for which service he was rewarded by knighthood and a pension.^[14] With four colleagues, he was knighted by Richard II following the death of Wat Tyler at Smithfield in June 1381, making him one of a few Londoners to be so elevated in the 14th century.^[15] With Walworth were four other aldermen, Nicholas Brembre, John Philpot, Nicholas Twyford and Robert Launde. The only other Londoners knighted in the century were Richard de Refham around 1312 and Mayor John de Pulteney in 1337; after 1381, the next Londoner knighted was William Estfield nearly 60 years later, in 1439.^[16]

Walworth's Legacy

The Fishmongers Guild considers him to be a hero and uses his legacy to their benefit, and he invariably figured in the pageants prepared by them when one of their members attained the mayoralty.^[18] Additionally, there were a number of references and commemorative artpieces made in his honor years after his death in 1385:

• 1592 — Walworth becomes a favorite hero in popular tales, and appeared in Richard Johnson's Nine Worthies of London^[19]
• 1603 — A survey of London and Westminster was written which depicts him as a hero^[20]
• 1868 — A statue is erected of him at the Holborn Viaduct that has him posed heroically^[21]
• 1914 — One of the six houses at the Kingston Grammar School bears Walworth's name
• Unknown Year — A statue of William Walworth is erected in the Fishmonger's Guild Hall that has him posed with the knife that he used to kill Wat Tyler^[22]

During Walworth's time, he killed a revolt, he countered the lower class, and he had an excessive amount of power as the Lord Mayor of London. He would not have been liked during this time, and the modern interpretations of him would argue otherwise.^[20]