The dark side of Chaucer’s London is a rich source for plots and vivid characters who fill the  c hronicles of the time with their passions and ambitions.  Wth more thn riches and reputations at stake, their lives were often in jeopardy as a glance at the archives of the City of London shows.  The mayor is said to have had his own gallows out at Lewisham at a place called the Foul Oak.  When called to account he didn’t run as many did but stayed to face the music.  He put up a good show in the Commons.  It made no difference.  He was beheaded on Tower Hill.  What times.