William Hardel

William Hardel († after 1216) was the first elected Mayor of London .

William Hardel was an important wine merchant from the City of London , who also had properties in Vintry and Bishopsgate Wards . From 1207 to 1208 he served as the Sheriff of London. Under pressure from a nobility opposition, King John Ohneland tried to secure the support of the City of London and, in May 1215, granted it the right to elect a mayor which had previously been appointed by the king. Around this time Hardel was elected fourth Mayor of London to succeed Serlo the Mercer . His predecessor had already started negotiations with Robert FitzWalter , leader of the aristocratic opposition and Lord of Baynard's Castle and thus patron of London. Hardel continued the negotiations successfully, and when the City of London opened the gates to the aristocratic opposition in late May 1215, it was a turning point in the rebellion against the king. The support of the by far most important and largest city in England meant considerable support, especially financial support, for the rebels and forced the king to give in. In the Magna Carta , which the king had to recognize a little later, the King of the City of London guaranteed in Article 13 the respect of their rights and freedoms at sea and on land. This importance of the city also meant that Mayor Hardel was elected as the only commoner to one of the 25 barons who were to monitor the king's compliance with the provisions of the Magna Carta.

On June 19, four days after the Magna Carta was recognized, the rebellious barons reached another contract with the king that he granted them the occupation of London as pledge until the provisions of the Magna Carta were implemented, at the latest until August 15. In fact, the king did not meet all the rebel conditions, so the city remained in the hands of the rebels. Even during the Barons' war that followed , Hardel, Serlo and the other leading merchants remained declared opponents of King John. In May 1216 the city opened its gates to the French Prince Ludwig , to whom the barons had offered the English crown, and on June 2 or 3 the citizens, led by Hardel and Serlo, paid homage to the prince . Only after the defeat of the allied French and rebels did the city submit to the new King Henry III after the Peace of Lambeth in September 1217 .

Hardel's family was at the height of their wealth and success in the early 13th century. As was not uncommon for merchant families at this time, their wealth dwindled in the course of the 13th century, until the wine merchant and goldsmith Gregory de Rokesle took over most of their property under Edward I.

Web links

• Nigel Saul: Magna Carta 800th: William Hardel

Individual evidence

1. ↑ History of the mayoralty: Magna Carta. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on January 14, 2016 ; accessed on January 6, 2016 . 
2. ↑ Brookfield Ancestor Project - Surety Barons. Magna Charta Baron Page for William De Hardell, Mayor of London. Retrieved January 13, 2016 .