Nicholas Brembre
Encyclopedia
Sir Nicholas Brembre was a wealthy magnate and a chief ally of King Richard II in 14th c-entury England. He was Lord Mayor of London
in 1377, and again from 1383-5. Named a "worthie and puissant man of the city" by Richard Grafton
(who wrongly termed him a draper
) he was a son of Sir John Brembre, and, becoming a citizen and grocer of London, purchased in 1372–3 (46 Ed. III) from the Malmains family the estates of Mereworth
, Maplescomb, and West Peckham
, in Kent. By his death, his business empire had made him immensely rich, particularly from trading wool, with a wealth of £10,000—the equivalent of almost £3.9 billion in 2007. His ties to Richard ultimately resulted in his downfall, as the anti-Richard Lords Appellant effectively took control of the government and imprisoned, exiled, or executed most of Richard's court. Despite Richard's efforts, Brembre was executed in 1388 for treason at the behest of the Lords Appellant
.
supporting John of Gaunt and John Wycliffe
, while that headed by William Walworth
and John Philipot
supported the opposition and William Courtenay
. On the fall of John of Gaunt and his partisans at the close of Edward III's reign (1377), Adam Stable, the then-lord mayor, was deposed and replaced by Brembre, who belonged to the opposite party. He took his oath at the Tower 29 March 1377, and was also re-elected for the succeeding year (1377–8). His "Proclamacio .... ex parte .... Regis Ricardi" in this mayoralty (as shown by the sheriffs' names) is given in the Cottonian manuscripts
.
for his comptroller, his accounts being still preserved. The party to which Brembre belonged had its strength among the greater companies, especially the grocers, then dominant, and the fishmongers, whose monopoly it upheld against the clamours of the populace. It was oligarchical in its aims, striving to deprive the lesser companies of any voice in the city, and was consequently favourable to Richard's policy. At the Peasants' Revolt
in 1381, Brembre, with his allies Walworth and Philipot, accompanied the king to Smithfield, and was knighted with them for his services on that occasion.
He is mentioned as the king's financial agent in 21 December 1381 Issues of Exchequer, and as one of the leading merchants summoned "a treter and communer" with parliament on supplies, 10 May 1382. His foremost opponent, John Northampton
, held the mayoralty for two years (1381–3) in succession to Walworth, but at the election of 1383 Brembre, who had been returned to parliament for the city at the beginning of this year, and who was one of the sixteen aldermen then belonging to the great Grocers' Company, "ove forte main … et gñt multitude des gentz … feust fait maire" William Stubbs
calls attention to this forcible election as possessing "the importance of a constitutional episode," but wrongly assigns it to 1386.
. Our main knowledge of Brembre's conduct is derived from a bundle of petitions presented to parliament in October–November 1386 by ten companies of the rival faction, of which two (those of the mercers and cordwainers) are printed in the Rolls of Parliament, iii. 225–7. In these he is accused of tyrannous conduct during his mayoralty of 1383–4, especially of beheading the cordwainer Constantyn for the riot in Cheapside
, and of securing his re-election in 1384 by increased violence. Forbidding his opponents to take part in the election, he filled the Guildhall
with armed men, who, at their approach, "sailleront sur eux ove gũnt noise, criantz tuwez, tuwez, lour pursuivantz hydousement." In 1386 he secured the election of his accomplice, Nicholas Exton, who was thus mayor at the time of the petition, so that the mayoralty was still, it urged, "tenuz par conquest et maistrie." While mayor (1384), Brembre had effected the ruin of his rival, John de Northampton (who had appealed in vain to John of Gaunt), by his favourite device of a charge of treason; and though Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester and the opposition accused him of plotting in favour of Suffolk (the chancellor), who was impeached in the parliament of 1386, and of compassing their death, he not only escaped for the time, but at the close of the year (1386) was, with Simon de Burley
and others of the party of resistance, summoned by Richard into his council. Through the year 1387 he supported Richard in London in his struggle for absolute power, but was again accused by Gloucester and the opposition of inciting the mayor and citizens against them, when the former (Exton) shrank from such a plot.
on 14 November 1387, and, on the citizens refusing to rise for him, fled, but was captured (in Wales, says Jean Froissart
) and imprisoned at Gloucester, until on 28 January 1388 he was moved to the Tower. The Merciless Parliament
met on 3 February, and the five councillors were formally impeached by Gloucester and the Lords Appellant. Brembre, who was styled "faulx Chivaler de Londres," and who was hated by York and Gloucester, was specially charged with taking twenty-two prisoners out of Newgate and beheading them without trial at the "Foul Oke" in Kent. On 17 February he was brought from the Tower to Westminster before Parliament and put on trial. He pleaded "guilty of nothing" to all charges and claimed trial by battle as a knight, but it was refused. When the king supported him, 305 people in Parliament threw down their gauntlets opposing the king. He was sentenced on the 20th and was ordered to be taken back to the Tower, whence the marshal should "lui treyner parmye la dite cite de Loundres, et avant tan q'as ditz Fourches [Tyburn], et illeõqs lui pendre par le cool" The hanging was carried into effect, though he had "many intercessors" among the citizens but was reversed by Richard in his last struggle, 25 March 1399. John Stow
in his annals incorrectly wrote that he was beheaded ("with the same axe he had prepared for other"). He was buried in the choir of the Christ Church Greyfriars
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
in 1377, and again from 1383-5. Named a "worthie and puissant man of the city" by Richard Grafton
Richard Grafton
Richard Grafton , was King's Printer under Henry VIII and Edward VI. He was a member of the Grocers' Company and MP for Coventry elected 1562-63.-Under Henry VIII:...
(who wrongly termed him a draper
Draper
Draper is the now largely obsolete term for a wholesaler, or especially retailer, of cloth, mainly for clothing, or one who works in a draper's shop. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. The drapers were an important trade guild...
) he was a son of Sir John Brembre, and, becoming a citizen and grocer of London, purchased in 1372–3 (46 Ed. III) from the Malmains family the estates of Mereworth
Mereworth
Mereworth is a village near the town of Maidstone in Kent, England. The Wateringbury Stream flows through the village and powered a watermill, the site of which now lies within the grounds of Mereworth Castle.-History:...
, Maplescomb, and West Peckham
West Peckham
West Peckham is a village in the local government district of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. The River Bourne flows through the extreme west of the parish, and formerly powered a paper mill and corn mill . The Wateringbury Stream rises in the parish...
, in Kent. By his death, his business empire had made him immensely rich, particularly from trading wool, with a wealth of £10,000—the equivalent of almost £3.9 billion in 2007. His ties to Richard ultimately resulted in his downfall, as the anti-Richard Lords Appellant effectively took control of the government and imprisoned, exiled, or executed most of Richard's court. Despite Richard's efforts, Brembre was executed in 1388 for treason at the behest of the Lords Appellant
Lords Appellant
The Lords Appellant were a group of nobles in the reign of King Richard II who sought to impeach some five of the King's favourites in order to restrain what was seen as tyrannical and capricious rule. The word appellant simply means '[one who is] appealing [in a legal sense]'...
.
Becoming mayor
Brembre comes from unknown origins, though he may be related to Sir Thomas Brembre (or Bramber), who served the king from 1347 to 1355. He first appears as an alderman and Sheriff of the City of London in 1372, sitting for Bread Street Ward, in which he resided. The citizens were at this time divided into two factions, the party under John NorthamptonJohn Northampton
John Northampton was a reformist Lord Mayor of London in 1381 and 1382, during dissension in favor of reform of its Common Council in the early years of Richard II's reign. When the oligarchic leaders of London were able to engineer the overthrow of his faction, even the book of records of reform...
supporting John of Gaunt and John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe was an English Scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformer and university teacher who was known as an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. His followers were known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached...
, while that headed by William Walworth
William Walworth
Sir William Walworth , was twice Lord Mayor of London . He is best known for killing Wat Tyler.His family came from Durham...
and John Philipot
John Philipot
John Philipot was an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Though he successfully attained the position on Somerset Herald of Arms in Ordinary, he is best known for his production of a roll of arms of the Lord Wardens of the Cinque Ports.Philipot was born at Folkestone in 1588 and was...
supported the opposition and William Courtenay
William Courtenay
William Courtenay , English prelate, was Archbishop of Canterbury, having previously been Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London.-Life:...
. On the fall of John of Gaunt and his partisans at the close of Edward III's reign (1377), Adam Stable, the then-lord mayor, was deposed and replaced by Brembre, who belonged to the opposite party. He took his oath at the Tower 29 March 1377, and was also re-elected for the succeeding year (1377–8). His "Proclamacio .... ex parte .... Regis Ricardi" in this mayoralty (as shown by the sheriffs' names) is given in the Cottonian manuscripts
Cotton library
The Cotton or Cottonian library was collected privately by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton M.P. , an antiquarian and bibliophile, and was the basis of the British Library...
.
Political disputes
In the parliament of Gloucester (1378) Thomas of Woodstock, the king's uncle, demanded Brembre's impeachment as mayor for an outrage by a citizen on one of his followers, but the matter was compromised. He now became for several years (at least from 1379 to 1386) one of the two collectors of customs for the port of London, with Geoffrey ChaucerGeoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
for his comptroller, his accounts being still preserved. The party to which Brembre belonged had its strength among the greater companies, especially the grocers, then dominant, and the fishmongers, whose monopoly it upheld against the clamours of the populace. It was oligarchical in its aims, striving to deprive the lesser companies of any voice in the city, and was consequently favourable to Richard's policy. At the Peasants' Revolt
Peasants' Revolt
The Peasants' Revolt, Wat Tyler's Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England. Tyler's Rebellion was not only the most extreme and widespread insurrection in English history but also the...
in 1381, Brembre, with his allies Walworth and Philipot, accompanied the king to Smithfield, and was knighted with them for his services on that occasion.
He is mentioned as the king's financial agent in 21 December 1381 Issues of Exchequer, and as one of the leading merchants summoned "a treter and communer" with parliament on supplies, 10 May 1382. His foremost opponent, John Northampton
John Northampton
John Northampton was a reformist Lord Mayor of London in 1381 and 1382, during dissension in favor of reform of its Common Council in the early years of Richard II's reign. When the oligarchic leaders of London were able to engineer the overthrow of his faction, even the book of records of reform...
, held the mayoralty for two years (1381–3) in succession to Walworth, but at the election of 1383 Brembre, who had been returned to parliament for the city at the beginning of this year, and who was one of the sixteen aldermen then belonging to the great Grocers' Company, "ove forte main … et gñt multitude des gentz … feust fait maire" William Stubbs
William Stubbs
William Stubbs was an English historian and Bishop of Oxford.The son of William Morley Stubbs, a solicitor, he was born at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and was educated at Ripon Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in 1848, obtaining a first-class in classics and a third in...
calls attention to this forcible election as possessing "the importance of a constitutional episode," but wrongly assigns it to 1386.
Charges of corruption and tyranny
On the outbreak of John Northampton's riot in February 1384, Brembre arrested and beheaded a ringleader, John Constantyn, cordwainerCordwainer
A cordwainer is a shoemaker/cobbler who makes fine soft leather shoes and other luxury footwear articles. The word is derived from "cordwain", or "cordovan", the leather produced in Córdoba, Spain. The term cordwainer was used as early as 1100 in England...
. Our main knowledge of Brembre's conduct is derived from a bundle of petitions presented to parliament in October–November 1386 by ten companies of the rival faction, of which two (those of the mercers and cordwainers) are printed in the Rolls of Parliament, iii. 225–7. In these he is accused of tyrannous conduct during his mayoralty of 1383–4, especially of beheading the cordwainer Constantyn for the riot in Cheapside
Cheapside
Cheapside is a street in the City of London that links Newgate Street with the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Mansion House Street. To the east is Mansion House, the Bank of England, and the major road junction above Bank tube station. To the west is St. Paul's Cathedral, St...
, and of securing his re-election in 1384 by increased violence. Forbidding his opponents to take part in the election, he filled the Guildhall
Guildhall, London
The Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. It has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation...
with armed men, who, at their approach, "sailleront sur eux ove gũnt noise, criantz tuwez, tuwez, lour pursuivantz hydousement." In 1386 he secured the election of his accomplice, Nicholas Exton, who was thus mayor at the time of the petition, so that the mayoralty was still, it urged, "tenuz par conquest et maistrie." While mayor (1384), Brembre had effected the ruin of his rival, John de Northampton (who had appealed in vain to John of Gaunt), by his favourite device of a charge of treason; and though Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester and the opposition accused him of plotting in favour of Suffolk (the chancellor), who was impeached in the parliament of 1386, and of compassing their death, he not only escaped for the time, but at the close of the year (1386) was, with Simon de Burley
Simon de Burley
Sir Simon de Burley, KG was holder of the offices of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and Constable of Dover Castle between 1384-88, and was a Knight of the Garter....
and others of the party of resistance, summoned by Richard into his council. Through the year 1387 he supported Richard in London in his struggle for absolute power, but was again accused by Gloucester and the opposition of inciting the mayor and citizens against them, when the former (Exton) shrank from such a plot.
Trial and execution
He was therefore among the five councillors charged with treason by the Lords AppellantLords Appellant
The Lords Appellant were a group of nobles in the reign of King Richard II who sought to impeach some five of the King's favourites in order to restrain what was seen as tyrannical and capricious rule. The word appellant simply means '[one who is] appealing [in a legal sense]'...
on 14 November 1387, and, on the citizens refusing to rise for him, fled, but was captured (in Wales, says Jean Froissart
Jean Froissart
Jean Froissart , often referred to in English as John Froissart, was one of the most important chroniclers of medieval France. For centuries, Froissart's Chronicles have been recognized as the chief expression of the chivalric revival of the 14th century Kingdom of England and France...
) and imprisoned at Gloucester, until on 28 January 1388 he was moved to the Tower. The Merciless Parliament
Merciless Parliament
The Merciless Parliament, a term coined by Augustinian chronicler Henry Knighton, refers to the English parliamentary session of February through June 1388, at which many members of Richard II's Court were convicted of treason. The session was preceded by a period in which Richard's power was...
met on 3 February, and the five councillors were formally impeached by Gloucester and the Lords Appellant. Brembre, who was styled "faulx Chivaler de Londres," and who was hated by York and Gloucester, was specially charged with taking twenty-two prisoners out of Newgate and beheading them without trial at the "Foul Oke" in Kent. On 17 February he was brought from the Tower to Westminster before Parliament and put on trial. He pleaded "guilty of nothing" to all charges and claimed trial by battle as a knight, but it was refused. When the king supported him, 305 people in Parliament threw down their gauntlets opposing the king. He was sentenced on the 20th and was ordered to be taken back to the Tower, whence the marshal should "lui treyner parmye la dite cite de Loundres, et avant tan q'as ditz Fourches [Tyburn], et illeõqs lui pendre par le cool" The hanging was carried into effect, though he had "many intercessors" among the citizens but was reversed by Richard in his last struggle, 25 March 1399. John Stow
John Stow
John Stow was an English historian and antiquarian.-Early life:The son of Thomas Stow, a tallow-chandler, he was born about 1525 in London, in the parish of St Michael, Cornhill. His father's whole rent for his house and garden was only 6s. 6d. a year, and Stow in his youth fetched milk every...
in his annals incorrectly wrote that he was beheaded ("with the same axe he had prepared for other"). He was buried in the choir of the Christ Church Greyfriars
Christ Church Greyfriars
Christ Church Greyfriars, also known as Christ Church Newgate, was an Anglican church located on Newgate Street, opposite St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. Built first in the gothic style, then in the English Baroque style by Sir Christopher Wren, it ranked among the City's most notable...