Simon Burley

In the same year, Burley was given the office of Master of the Falcon and Keeper of the Mews near Charring, and was appointed constable of Windsor Castle for life.

The following year, the King further granted Burley the manor of Chiltenham in Gloucester and the 'fee simple' of the castle and lordship of Llanstephan.

In 1384, the King granted him for life the constableship of Dover Castle and the wardenship of the Cinque Ports,[1] and three hundred pounds yearly (for the maintenance of himself, chaplains, etc.)

In some histories, Sir Simon Burley figures as the trigger for the explosion of the English Peasants' Revolt in 1381 in the county of Kent.

In the story related by the Anonimalle Chronicle, Simon Burley appeared in Gravesend with two sergeants on 3 June 1381, and laid claim that one of its residents, a certain Robert Belling (or Bellyng), was his runaway bondsman.

This incident hit a nerve in the region, long tired of corruption and abuses by royal officials, and led directly to a riot in Dartford (just seven miles from Gravesend) the next day.

Firstly, Simon Burley was abroad at the time, negotiating the king's marriage with Anne of Bohemia, and so could not have appeared at Gravesend in person.