RICHARD WHITTINGTON
Richard Whittington was a medieval merchant and politician. He began his career in London as a mercer, selling velvets and damasks. He went on to serve three terms as Lord Mayor of London. He financed a number of public projects in his lifetime, including drainage systems in the poor areas of the medieval city, a hospital ward at St. Thomas's for unmarried mothers and rebuilding the Guildhall. His wealth was bequeathed to charity and nearly 600 years later continues to assist people in need. Despite making large loans to Henry IV and Henry V there is no evidence that he was knighted. His extraordinary life, with the addition of a possibly fictitious cat, was subsequently mythologised into the Dick Whittington of pantomime fame.
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DR. TRACEY HILL is Head of the department of English and Cultural Studies at Bath Spa University. She specialises in the literature and cultural history of London in the 16th and 17th centuries, with a particular emphasis on civic pageantry. She has written two books: Anthony Munday and Civic Culture and Pageantry and Power: a cultural history of the early modern Lord Mayor's Show which won the Bevington Prize in 2011. |
