Nicholas Brembre

Sir Nicholas Brembre (died 20 February 1388) was an important figure in late 14th-century London and an ally of King Richard II during his dispute with his rebel Lords Appellant in the 1380s. Nothing is known of Brembre’s birth, but he was probably of humble origins. At some point, he became a merchant and joined the Grocers' Company, an important London guild. He became extremely wealthy through involvement in the wool trade. His wealth enabled him to make substantial cash loans to the Crown, and this, in turn, granted him access to the highest levels of government.

Brembre was highly active in London’s civic political life, serving on commissions, as an alderman, sheriff and for four terms as Mayor of London. Much of the latter years were spent in a bitter dispute with a mercantile rival, John Northampton, who also became Mayor. Northampton attacked the traditional processes of city politics, including the traditional monopolies of the major guilds, and this became a source of both political and physical unrest in London. Brembre eventually managed to overturn Northampton's mayoral policies and get his rival arrested and expelled from the city. Brembre was also elected Member of Parliament for the City of London.

Following his last term as Mayor, he became increasingly identified with the court party against the rebels, whose ire he earned when he attempted to raise an army against them, in the King's name. The Appellants eventually gained control of Richard's government and proceeded to dismantle the King's household, many of whom were arrested and executed during the Merciless Parliament of 1388. This included Brembre, who, accused of treason, corruption and judicial murder—and despite the King's personal support—was hanged at Tyburn on 20 February that year.