Nobody knew for certain where he intended to go for he was taking the road which passed out of
London. On the morning of the same day were gathered all the rebels of whom
Wat Tyler,
Jack Straw and
John Ball were captains, and they had come to hold talks at a place called
Smithfield, where the horse market is held every Friday. There were more than twenty thousand of them, all of one mind, and yet more were in the city, breakfasting and drinking sweet grenache and malmsey wine in the taverns of the
Lombards, without paying for anything, and anyone in a position to make them feel welcome counted himself fortunate. The men assembled there had the king's banners, which they had been given the previous day, and these villains had in mind to rob and pillage
London that same day. The captains said,
"We have achieved nothing. These privileges the
king has granted us will not bring us any profit. Yet, let us all be in agreement and overrun this rich and powerful city of
London before the arrival of the people of
Essex,
Sussex,
Cambridge,
Bedfordshire and of other more distant counties,
Arundel,
Warwick,
Reading,
Berkshire,
Oxford,
Guildford,
Coventry,
King's Lynn,
Stafford,
Yarmouth,
Lincoln,
York and
Durham; for they will all come, and I know that
Bacon and
Lister will bring them.
If we take control of
London, we shall be first to claim the gold, silver and riches we find there, and we will never regret it, for if we leave everything, those who arrive after will take it away from us."
They were all in agreement with this suggestion. Then the
king came to that place, completely unaware of them, accompanied by sixty horsemen. It was his intention to ride through and make his way out of
London but when he came to the
Priory Church of St Bartholomew which is there, he beheld the people and came to a halt, declaring that he would go no further until he knew what these folk wanted, and if they were troubled he would soothe them. The lords who accompanied him stopped, as was only right since the
king had come to a standstill.
When
Wat Tyler saw that the
king had come to a halt he said to his people, "There is the
king, I wish to speak with him. Do not move from here without a signal from me, and when I make this signal then come forward and kill all those surrounding the
king, but do not harm the
king himself. He is young; we will bend him to our will and lead him with us throughout
England, wherever it pleases us to go. We shall be lords of the kingdom, no doubt about it."
There was a tailor of
London present called
John Ticle, who had made and brought with him a good sixty doublets, in which some members of the rabble had clad themselves.
John asked him,
"Ah sir! Who will pay me for my doublets? I am owed a good thirty marks."
"Calm down," replied
Tyler, "you will be paid well enough tonight. Stick with me, and you have sufficient guarantee."
With these words he spurred on the horse on which he was mounted and left his companions, heading straight for the
king and approaching so close that his horse's tail was brushing against the head of the king's horse.
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