OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 



thattheBishop of Salisbury and Arclibishop of York, with a " grievous 

 corai)laint went to the king, complaining of the maior and sherifles of 

 London. What trespasse the maior and shcriifes had done, as ychavc hoard 

 before, so may you judge." It was this — that they were "male creduli 

 in Deum et traditiones avitas; Lollardorum sustentores, religiosorwu 

 detractores, decimarum detentores, et commimis vulgi depauperatores.^^ 

 How fiilse this charge of defrauding the poor was (so far at least as 

 Whittington was concerned) is shown by his life and actions.'' Never- 

 theless, he doubtless had his enemies amongst the ecclesiastics of his 

 day ; his very notions of civil reform would be obnoxious to men of 

 their stamp, and they would be ready enough to accuse him of mal- 

 practices. Fox then goes on to say, " The king incensed, not a little 

 with the complaint of the bishops, conceived eftsoons {i.e. soon after- 

 wards) against the mayor and sheriffs, and against the whole citie of 

 London, a great stomackc, insomuch that the mayor and both the 

 sheriffs were removed from their office, and the king removed the 

 courts from London to York, to the great decay of the former citie." 

 Richard II., however, must have found out his mistake as to Whitting- 

 ton's character as we find that he appointed him Mayor in 1397. 



Rapin attributes the King's wrath to another source, namely, the 

 refusal of the Mayor and citizens to advance the money which he 

 required. The Reformation, meanwhile, under "Wickliff's teaching, 

 was making steady progress. The Bible was translated into the English 

 tongue, and whether Whittington actually professed Wickliff's doctrines 

 or not, it is not improbable that they had an influence on his life 

 and character. 



In Dr. Stronge's Heraldry of Henifordskire it is stated, under the 

 name of Wlaittington, that Sir Richard Whittington was Lord Mayor 

 of London in the years 1397, 1406, and 1419, and also was knighted 

 by King Henry V., and had a grant of the Manor of Solers Hope, in Here- 

 fordshire. There must evidently be some error in the statement; for the 

 Manor of Solers Hope had been in the family for manj' generations pre- 

 viously ; and even supposing it to have been forfeited to the King by 

 the outlawry of Sir William Whytyngton, and conferred upon Richard 



h In the Charter of Foundation of his College, his liberality to the poor is 

 expressly mentioned in the following words : — " Cujus manus dum vixerat ad 

 cgenos et paupercs libcralitcr et largitcr sunt cxtensco." — Dugdalc's Monasticon. 



