And so the story comes to its surprising ending… having destroyed their political rivals, having gained the favour of the King AND his enemies, having destroyed the Jubilee book, Nicolas Brembre and Nicolas Exton seemed unassailable in their control over London and her politics. But events elsewhere suddenly changed the political calculations, and as Brembre began a new campaign to go after the Mercers, the Saga of the Jubilee sped towards its shocking and bloody conclusion.

In 1387 a book was burned outside of London’s Guildhall by the fishmonger turned mayor Nicolas Exton. But the story of that book, of who made it, of why they made it, and what it contained, is a story of a hidden aspect of London’s life in the 14th century. This special episode of the Story of London looks back over the Jubilee Saga to see how it has danced in and out of the endless arguments and debates that gripped London in that decade… and sets the saga up for its bloody conclusion.

Nicolas Brembre was mayor. Again. His political opponents were jailed. He had the ear of the King. All seemed to be going well for the wool merchant, turned politician. But down the river Thames, in Westminster, national events began spiralling out of control and the young king and Parliament seemed to be on a collision course. Trying their best to navigate this unexpected twist was London, and the Mayor had to find the correct approach to take. A country gripped with fear of invasion is the backdrop of an episode that will lead to the destruction of a certain book…

The ongoing struggle between the two political giants of the City, Nicolas Brembre and John de Northampton, was about to reach its crescendo. Brembre was Mayor for a second time, but de Northampton had learned well what to expect from his last term in office; and so a game of cat and mouse erupted on the streets, leading to riots, snatch squads, secret arrests, attacks upon the Guildhall and sudden beheadings on Cheapside. The epic saga of The Jubilee takes a bloody and violent turn as once again, London is gripped by forces of political violence.

In the aftermath of the Peasants Revolt, London’s ongoing political tensions roared back to life, and the seemingly endless dance between the various factions of the city suddenly dominate everything. London was forced to unify again in the face of the dangers of a furious King’s Uncle and suddenly the John de Northampton gains control of the city and sought to destroy his rivals. Betrayal, intrigue, double dealing and secret arrests abound as we see how the hero of the revolt (former Mayor Walworth) loses everything and the great game for the future of the city moves towards a violent confrontation.

In this special episode we cover the last two days of the Peasants Revolt of June 1381- the destruction and carnage of the previous few days is dwarfed by the mayhem that is to follow; the Archbishop of Canterbury is hacked apart before a baying crown; scores of foreigners are massacred in the streets and the young king forced to hide out in a house in Blackfriars, as the city descends into utter chaos. But quietly, and behind the scenes, the Aldermen of London began flexing their muscles. From saving large numbers of Germans, to orchestrating the plan to kill the rebel leader, this is a story of how the Mayor and his allies were to emerge triumphant in the face of absolute horror.

June 1381- and the peasants revolts slams into London… but what really happened on those crowded and violent streets. The Story of London finally gets to examine the opening part of a terrible few days, where we see far from being angry yokels falling upon an unsuspecting city, rather it is the residents of London who use this as an excuse to settle old scores. From neighbour turning on neighbour in Southwark, from the suburbs of Smithfield, to the Temple and the Savoy, London erupted in flame and destruction, as buildings were set alight, torn down and people murdered.

Yet what role did the Mayor and Aldermen play in all of this? Stalwarts opposed to the violence? Secret facilitators? Or men trying to thread an impossible needle, desperately seeking to stay one jump ahead of the terrible violence?

Of all the events of Medieval London that seemingly came out of nowhere and impacted upon the city, few matched the sudden ferocity and violence of the ‘Peasants Revolt’ of 1381. From Essex and Kent, two vast hordes of rural workers suddenly appeared at the edge of the city, demanding to se the king and leaving in the wake a score of burned houses, and murder and mutilation. But what had triggered this? And what did the events in the weeks before herald for our city?

In the last episode we saw how the ‘Stapler’ faction of London’s Aldermen had betrayed the ‘Radicals’ and gained the concessions they wanted from Parliament, but refused to support the Radicals demand for the return of London’s traditional rights. And this leads to a political backlash.

Welcome to an episode that drags us into the heart of explosive politics, as political control swung from one faction to another, as the very way the city picked its leaders was changed drastically, and the intrigue and politics was played out over a backdrop of riots, insults, executions, and salacious comments about a Prince’s heritage. Welcome to the most intense internal civil war the city had seen since the Magna Carta, a place where the city itself was said to be ‘armed, arrayed in red and white’.

A bumper episode that focuses on the last, pathetic years of King Edward III; an increasingly isolated monarch, being controlled by cunning courtiers and his glamorous mistress causes a political miasma that leads to the most explosive parliament for decades.

But alongside this, London boiled as three, and then four, new political factions began to dominate the body politic; London became a place filled with violence and protest, ruthless deals, nepotism, alliances made and broken, and increasingly fraught risks. The opening salvo of a civil war that was to rock London to its core. Join us as we explore the first part of the Saga of the Jubilee of London.