mother being forewarned of the
circumstances that would attend his birth in a manner familiar to biblical
readers; that he was deprived of his aldermanry by the king, but was
afterwards restored; that he became supporter of the king against Simon de
Montfort and the barons, and that he was among those whom Thomas
Fitz-Thomas, the leader of the democratic party and his followers, had
"intended to slay" on the very day that news reached London of the battle
of Evesham, which crushed the hopes of Montfort and his supporters. The
date of his death cannot be precisely determined, but there can be but
little doubt that it took place early in the third year of the reign of
Edward the First, inasmuch as his will was proved and enrolled in the
Court of Husting, London, held on Monday, the morrow of the Feast of St.
Scolastica [10 Feb.] of that year (A.D. 1274-5).(164)

Setting aside the statement--namely that mention is made of a mayor of
London, in a document of the reign of Henry II--as wanting corroboration,
the first instance known at the present day of any such official being
named in a formal document occurs in 1193 when the Mayor of London appears
among those who were appointed treasurers of Richard's ransom.(165)

(M111)

Richard's first charter to the City (23 April, 1194)(166) granted a few
weeks after his return from abroad makes no mention of a mayor, nor does
the title occur in any royal charter affecting the City until the year
1202, when John attempted to suppress the guild of weavers "at the request
of our mayor and citizens of London." A few years later when John was
ready to do anything and everything to avoid signing the Great Charter
which the barons were forcing on him, he made a bid for the favour of the
citizens by granting them the right to elect annually a mayor, and thus
their autonomy was rendered complete.

(M112)

When Richard recovered his liberty and returned to England he was heartily
welcomed by all except his brother John. One of his first acts was to
visit the City and return thanks for his safety at St. Paul's.(167) The
City was on this occasion made to look its brightest, and the display of
wealth astonished the foreigners in the King's suite, who had been led to
believe that England had been brought to the lowest stage of poverty by
payment of the King's ransom.(168)

(M113) (M114)

In order to wipe out the stain of his imprisonment, he thought fit to go
through the ceremony of coro