ABSTRACT
The mendicant chroniclers reflect the growing importance of towns in English life – the sympathies of Eccleston and Richard of Durham were with townspeople, and Trevet was himself a Londoner. By the last half of the thirteenth century, London had been a potent political and economic force for over a century. It had privileges of self-government, derived from ancient custom and royal charters. It had a rich oligarchy of merchants and financiers, a thriving population of craftsmen and shop-keepers, besides many poorer people.
