V.— The Feast of the Five Kings

In the winter of 1363–4 three foreign kings came to England and were entertained by Edward III in London, whilst a fourth had also intended to come. It was a sufficiently remarkable event and as such was duly recorded by the chroniclers of the time. A civic legend has long passed current that all the four foreign kings and Edward III were present together at a banquet given by Henry Picard, a vintner and sometime mayor of London. The Feast of the Five Kings has accordingly been commemorated in the painting by Mr. Chevalier Taylor, presented to the Royal Exchange by the Vintners Company

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