Sir Richard Whittington and his Cat

Richard Whittington (c1350 — 1423), medieval merchant and politician, was the real-life inspiration for the pantomime character, Dick Whittington. Image File history File links Richard_Wittington_and_his_Cat. ... Image File history File links Richard_Wittington_and_his_Cat. ... Events 29 August - An English fleet personally commanded by King Edward III defeats a Spanish fleet in the battle of Les Espagnols sur Mer. ... Events July 31 - Hundred Years War: Battle of Cravant - The French army is defeated at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne. ... It has been suggested that The British Pantomime be merged into this article or section. ... Dick Whittington is a character in British pantomime, very loosely based on the real-life Richard Whittington. ...

He was probably born at Pauntley in Gloucestershire, the son of Sir William Whittington, Lord of the Manor, and so was from an affluent family. (His date of birth is sometimes given as late as 1359.) However, he was a younger son and so would not inherit his father's estate. Consequently he was sent to London to learn the trade of mercer. He became a successful trader, dealing in valuable imports such as silks and velvets, much of which he sold to the Court from about 1388. There is indirect evidence that he was also a major exporter of wool cloth. From 1392 to 1394 he sold goods to Richard II worth £3500. He also began money-lending in 1388, preferring this to outward shows of wealth such as buying property. By 1397 he was lending large sums of money to the King. Gloucestershire (pronounced ; GLOSS-ter-sher) is a county in South West England. ... In England, Lord of the Manor is a feudal title. ... Events Change of emperor of the Ottoman Empire from Orhan I (1326-1359) to Murad I (1359-1389) Berlin joins the Hanseatic League. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... The original definition of a Mercer is a merchant or trader, though its current meaning is more specifically a merchant who deals in textiles. ... Richard II (January 6, 1367 – February 14, 1400) was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan The Fair Maid of Kent. He was born in Bordeaux and became his fathers successor when his elder brother died in infancy. ...

In 1384 Whittington had become a councilman. In 1392 he was one of the city's delegation to the King at Nottingham at which the King seized the City of London's lands because of alleged misgovernment. By 1393, he had become an alderman, as well as a member of the Mercers' Company. When Adam Bamme, the mayor, died in June 1397, Whittington was imposed on the city by the King as Lord Mayor of London in 1397 to fill the vacancy. Within days Whittington had negotiated with the King a deal in which the city bought back its liberties for £10,000. He was elected mayor by a grateful populace on 13 October 1398. Nottingham is a city (and county town of Nottinghamshire) in the East Midlands of England. ... Events Ottoman Turks occupy Veliko Turnovo in north-central Bulgaria. ... An alderman is a member of a municipal legislative body in a town or city with many jurisdictions. ... The Worshipful Company of Mercers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. ... Michael Berry Savory. ... Events February 10 - John Beaufort becomes Earl of Somerset. ... Events Glendalough monastery, Wicklow Ireland destroyed. ...

The deposition of Richard II in 1399 did not affect Whittington and it is thought that he merely acquiesced in the coup. Whittington had long supplied the new king, Henry IV, and so his business continued as before. He also lent the new king substantial amounts of money. He was elected mayor again in 1406 and in 1419, becoming a living legend in the process. In 1416, he became a Member of Parliament, and was also influential with Henry IV's son, Henry V, also lending him large amounts of money and serving on several Royal Commissions of oyer and terminer. For example, Henry V employed him to supervise the expenditure to complete Westminster Abbey. Despite being a moneylender himself he was sufficiently trusted and respected to sit as a judge in usury trials in 1421. Whittington also collected papal revenues and import duties. Events September 30 - Accession of Henry IV of England October 13 - Coronation of Henry IV of England November 1 - Accession of John VI, Duke of Brittany Births William Canynge, English merchant (approximate date; died 1474) Zara Yaqob, Emperor of Ethiopia (died 1468) Deaths January 4 - Nicolau Aymerich, Catalan theologian and... // Birth and life before accession - relationship with Richard II - exile - return and usurpation Henry IV (April 3, 1367 – March 20, 1413) was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence the other name by which he was known, Henry of Bolingbroke. His father, John of Gaunt was the third and oldest... Events Construction of Forbidden City begins in Beijing. ... Events January 19 – Hundred Years War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England which brings Normandy under the control of England. ... May 30 - The Catholic Church burns Jerome of Prague as a heretic. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Henry V, (August 9 or September 16, 1387 – August 31, 1422), King of England (1413-1422), son of Henry IV by Mary de Bohun, was born at Monmouth, Wales, in August or September 1386 or 1387. ... In states that are Commonwealth Realms a Royal Commission is a major government public inquiry into an issue. ... Oyer and terminer is the Anglo-French name, meaning to hear and determine, for one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sits. ... The Abbeys western façade The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, which is almost always referred to as Westminster Abbey, is a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral (and indeed often considered one), in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. ...

From his life, historians detect an austere correctness and great trust from the people he dealt with. A long dispute with the Company of Brewers over standard prices and measures of ale was characteristically won by Whittington. In his lifetime he donated much of his profit to the city. He financed: The Worshipful Company of Brewers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. ...

• the rebuilding of the Guildhall
• a ward for unmarried mothers at St Thomas' Hospital
• drainage systems for areas around Billingsgate and Cripplegate
• the rebuilding his parish church, St Michael Paternoster Royal
• a public toilet in the parish of St Martin Vintry that was cleansed by the Thames at high tide
• most of Greyfriars library.

He also provided accommodation for his apprentices in his own house. He passed a law prohibiting the washing of animal skins by apprentices in the River Thames in cold, wet weather because many young boys had died through hypothermia or in the strong river currents. The Guildhall The Guildhall complex in c. ... Saint Thomas’ Hospital. ... Billingsgate is a ward in the south-east of the City of London, lying on the north bank of the River Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. ... Cripplegate was a gate in London Wall and a name for the region of the City of London outside the gate. ... The Order of Friars Minor and other Franciscan movements are disciples of Saint Francis of Assisi. ... The Thames (pronounced []) is a river flowing through southern England, in its lower reaches flowing through London into the sea. ... To be more accessible to a general audience, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Whittington died in March 1423. In 1402 he had married Alice, daughter of Sir Ivo FitzWarin (or Fitzwarren) of Wantage in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), but she predeceased him in 1411. They had no children. In the absence of heirs, Whittington left £7000 in his will to charity, in those days a large sum. Some of this was used to Wantage is a small town in the Thames Valley, southern England. ... Berkshire (IPA: or  ; sometimes abbreviated to Berks) is a county in England and forms part of the South East England region. ... Oxfordshire (abbreviated Oxon, from the Latinised form Oxonia) is a county in south-east England, bordering on Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. ...

• rebuild Newgate Prison
• build the first library in Guildhall
• repair St Bartholomew's Hospital,
• build almshouses and an adjoining hospital
• install some of the first public drinking fountains

The almshouses were relocated in 1966 to Felbridge near East Grinstead. Sixty elderly women and a few married couples currently live in them. The Whittington Charity also disburses money each year to the needy through the Mercers' Company. Old Newgate Prison, which was replaced in the 18th century. ... The King Henry VIII Gate at Barts, which was constructed in 1702. ... The Almshouse at Sherborne, Dorset The Almshouse at Woburn, Bedfordshire West Hackney Almshouses in Stoke Newington, London. ... Statistics Population: 29,000 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TQ395385 Administration District: Mid Sussex Shire county: West Sussex Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: West Sussex Historic county: Sussex Services Police force: {{{Police}}} Ambulance service: South East Coast Post office and telephone...

There is no evidence that Whittington kept a cat, and as the son of gentry he was never very poor. However the gifts left in Whittington's will made him famous, and the legends may have arisen because it was not widely known how he made his money. By 1605 most of the pantomime legend had developed and appeared in a play, The History of Richard Whittington, of his lowe byrth, his great fortune. Some have suggested that one of the most popular legends about Whittington — that his fortunes were founded on the sale of his cat, who had stowed away on a merchant vessel, to the rat-beset Emperor of China — originated in a popular early engraving of the lord mayor in which his hand rested on a cat. Modern analysis of the engraving reveals that the oddly-shaped cat was in fact a later replacement for what had originally been a skull, a popular prop for illustrations of the period. Whether the engraving gave rise to the legend or the reverse is uncertain. 1605 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ...

The Whittington hospital (at Archway, London Borough of Islington), is named after him, and a small statue of a cat along Highgate Hill further commemorates his legendary cat. The Whittington Hospital is a London, UK hospital in Archway, London Borough of Islington. ... Archway Bridge Archway is an area in North London in the London Borough of Islington. ... Arms of Islington London Borough Council Islington Town Hall Islington is a borough of London to the north of the City of London, west of Hackney, east of Camden, and south of Haringey. ...

Despite knowing three kings, there is no evidence that he was knighted, though it is highly probable.

External links

• The History of Sir Richard Whittington by T. H. (1885), from Project Gutenberg
• Large sums