Richard Lyons (Warden of the Mint) died later in 1376, after which Lyons, due to his favour with John of Gaunt, was pardoned. Lyons served as MP for Essex in 1380. Lyons established a perpetual chantry foundation at the Church of St James Garlickhithe, to which he donated vestments embroidered with lions. He is commemorated at the Church. Lyons was beheaded, at Cheapside, on 14 June 381, by Wat Tyler during the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. Froissart suggests that Lyons was killed in revenge for historical mistreatment of Wat Tyler: the chronicler Knighton, in contradistinction, contends that the rebellious Peasants targeted Lyons as a consequence of
Peasants' Revolt also resented the presence of foreigners, Flemish weavers in particular. Londoners detested John of Gaunt because he was a supporter of the religious reformer John Wycliffe, whom the London public regarded as a heretic. John of Gaunt was also engaged in a feud with the London elite and was rumoured to be planning to replace the elected mayor with a captain, appointed by the Crown. The London elite were themselves fighting out a vicious, internal battle for political power. As a result, in 1381 the ruling classes in London were unstable and divided. Rural communities, particularly in the south-east, were