1339 was one of the worst years for youth gang violence in Londons history! Gangs of young men (organising themselves based on their apprenticeships) confronted each other on the street and fought pitched battles resulting in mass casualties! Historians tell us the dispute had started due to a minor dissing by the Goldsmith Apprentice gang against the Fishmongers Apprentice gang but quickly escalated to include the most violent and feared gang in the city... The Boys of the Bench gang! They were known to be particularly brutal and violent and were able to flaunt the law on account of the fact that they were all lawyers in training - legal apprentices! The violence got so bad that many people died and the government had to use military forces to stop it. Think about that next time you think todays youths invented gangs and violence!
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 13:22:27 +0000