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Wealthy foreigners were often hated because people believed they received special privileges and saw them as being on the side of the rulers. During the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt rioters in London murdered about 150 foreign weavers and merchants. The story goes that they were asked to say the words ‘bread and cheese’ and if they answered with an accent, they were beheaded.

In times of war, ‘enemy aliens’ could have their goods confiscated or be deported. Flemish merchants, French migrants and Irish immigrants were all expelled from England at different times.

Many people resented foreign merchants and bankers because they believed they had come only to make money for themselves. During the 1381 revolt and again in 1492, the London steelyard was destroyed by rioters.

One of the most useful sources for detail of medieval immigrants’ lives, is also an example of how pressure was put on immigrants. The 1440 alien subsidies were special taxes imposed on aliens as a result of anti-foreigner pressure. They record the names, occupations and places of residence of immigrants at the time.