‘…some twenty-five persons, called ‘Aldermen’, elected from among the wealthiest and most moneyed among them, rule the city with supreme power, almost like a Republic, neither the king nore his ministers interfering in any way.’
(Giovanni Michiel, 1557)
London politicians were wealthy men at the top of their trade. They collected the City’s taxes, administered its law and, in times of war, organised its defence.
To find out more about some of the men who governed medieval London, click on the names below.