In 'Evil May Day' riots London apprentices attack foreign residents

Historical Context Note

Litencyc Editors (Independent Scholar - Europe)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Domains

Civil Wars, Revolutions and Insurrections

Dates

Date of occurrence 1517-05-01

Places

England (Location)

Resources

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In what became known as the 'Evil May Day' riots, a crowd of approximately a thousand London apprentices were incited to xenophobic rage by an inflammatory speech given at St Paul's Cross on Easter Tuesday at the encouragement of a broker called John Lincoln. On May Day a mob congregated in Cheapside, and attacked foreign residents living in a 'liberty' area called St Martin le Grand. Although three hundred of the rioters were pardoned, sixty were convicted of treason and hanged on orders from Wolsey, along with their leader John Lincoln.

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91 words

Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "In 'Evil May Day' riots London apprentices attack foreign residents". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 November 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=14241, accessed 16 April 2024.]

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