Was Thomas Favent a political pamphleteer? Faction and politics in later fourteenth-century London

Thomas Favent’s Historia has long been recognised as an important source for the turbulent middle years of Richard II’s reign, in particular for its praise of the actions of the Lords Appellant in the Merciless Parliament of 1388. But why did Favent write the Historia and for whom was it written? In recent years the Historia has for the first time been subjected to detailed scrutiny and a case has made for regarding it as a political pamphlet written for a community of reform-minded civil servants eager to celebrate the achievements of parliament. This study offers an alternative explanation. It seeks to place the Historia more squarely within the turbulent environment of London’s factional politics. Favent’s factional affiliations are easily discerned, but his motivations for writing the Historia were complex and multi-faceted. A new reading of this text suggests, in fact, that it was written not to perpetuate divisions within London, but to draw a line underneath them. The article highlights the use of textual representation to shape and ultimately control memories of political conflict.

► Argues that Thomas Favent’s Historia was not a political pamphlet. ► Re-appraises its context in the London of Richard II. ► Suggests that the Historia was written in response to John of Northampton’s continued exile. ► It was not a tool of faction, but supported re-establishment of political consensus in London. ► It was composed as an unsolicited text for London’s ruling elite and ceased to circulate after 1391.