The evil May Day Riot of 1517 and the popular politics of anti-immigrant hostility in early modern London

London experienced repeated outbreaks of popular xenophobia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with the worst coming in the Evil May Day riot of 1517. This article illuminates the hydra-like nature of the stereotype of the immigrant at this time, which rhetorically combined the diverse population of aliens into a single material and political threat. It begins with a close analysis of the riot itself, before examining the continuing relevance of this distinctive caricature. It shows how the perceived ‘privileges’ afforded to several different sorts of strangers in early modern London made them a special target for popular hostility