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This list is obviously incomplete, for it omits towns like Sheffield and Winchester, both of which were important as manufacturing towns from very early times, though the woollen manufactures of the latter were soon outstripped by those of Hull, York, Beverley,1 Lincoln, Boston,1 and especially Norwich.1 But such as it is the list is curious, chiefly as showing how manufactures have long since deserted their original abodes, and have been transferred to towns of quite recent origin.

§ 85. Staple Towns and the Merchants.

It will have been observed that by the time this list was compiled, most towns were either the seat of a certain manufacture or the market where such manufactures were chiefly sold. Now, in the days of Edward I. and Edward II. (1272-1327) several such towns were specially singled out and granted the privilege of selling a particular product, the staple of the district, and were hence called staple towns. But as the articles of commerce upon which customs were levied were wool, woolfells, and leather, these products are generally meant when speaking of staple goods.2 The singling out of certain towns was adopted to facilitate the collection of the customs.3 Besides a number of towns in England, staples were fixed at certain foreign ports for the sale of English goods. At one time Antwerp 1 Cunningham, i. 181 n.

3

2 Craik, Hist. of British Commerce, i. 120. Craik, Hist, Brit, Commerce. i. 121.

4 Cunningham, i. 287.

was selected as the staple town for our produce, at another time Bruges,1 and afterwards St Omer.2 A staple was also

4

set up at Calais 3 when we took it (1347), but at the loss of that town in 1558 it was transferred to Bruges. The staple system thus begun by the first two Edwards was altered and reorganised by Edward III. His first intention seems to have been to abolish the whole system of staples, at least abroad; and this he did 5 in 1328. But such freedom of trade was not maintained for long. After various alterations and changes, it was in 1353 finally decided (by the 27 Ed. III., st. 2, c. 1) to remove the staple from all or any foreign towns, and to hold it only in certain English towns. These were Newcastle, York, Lincoln, Norwich, Westminster, Canterbury, Chichester, Exeter, and Bristol in England; Caermarthen for Wales; and Dublin, Waterford, Drogheda, and Cork for Ireland. To compensate for the closing of foreign staples, every inducement was held out to foreign merchants to frequent the towns in England, though (with the exception of the years 1353-76) the staple at Calais was allowed to remain. Now, although regulations like these are opposed to our modern ideas of free competition, they were to a certain extent useful in the Middle Ages, because the existence of staple towns facilitated the collection of custom duties, and also secured in some degree the good quality of the wares. made in, or exported from, a town. For special officers were appointed to mark them if of the proper quality and reject them if inferior."

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We might add that each staple was, of course, in accordance with the ideas of that time, subject to various regulations, and each staple town had a mayor of the staple" distinct from the mayor of the town, though afterwards the two offices became united,8 There was also an association of "merchants of the staple," who claimed to

1 Rot. Parl., ii. 149 (5), 202 (13).

2 Rot. Hund., i. 406.

3" From the time of Richard II. till 1558 the staple was fixed at Calais." Cunningham, i. 372 n.

Bonwick, Romance of Wool Trade, 172. • Craik, Hist. Brit. Commerce, i. 123. 8 Gross, Gild Merchant, i, 145,

52 Ed. III., c. 9.

7 Cunningham, i. 258.

date as a separate body from the time of Henry III.1 Certainly there seems to have been some sort of recognised body of English merchants trading with Flanders as early

as

1313 A.D., for their "mayor" is mentioned then.2 Another association of some importance as a trading company was The Company of Merchant Adventurers, incorporated in 14073 as a kind of branch of the Mercer's Company. They appear to have had depôts in Exeter and Newcastle, besides their chief place in London, and were engaged in the export of cloth as distinct from raw wool and woolfells, which, of course, formed the business of the Merchants of the Staple. These associations are very interesting as forerunners of those great trading companies, which in later centuries did so much to promote our foreign trade.

Now, these regulations of the staple, and the growth of these trading associations, show pretty clearly the growing importance of commerce in national affairs, and also the increasing prominence of merchants as a distinct and influential class in the community. Their influence arose, of course, from their wealth, and was increased no doubt by the custom of those days, which recognised them as a class apart from the landowners, who were still, with the clergy, almost the only people who were supposed to count for anything in national life. So much were they a special class, that the sovereign always negotiated with them separately." Thus in 1339, when Edward III. was as usual fighting against France, and also, as usual, in great want of money, he was liberally supplied with loans by Sir William de la Pole, a rich merchant of Hull, who acted on behalf of himself and many other merchants.7 On one occasion he lent the King no less than £18,500, a most enormous sum for those days. Sir Richard Whittington performed similar services for Henry IV. and Henry V.8

1 Cunningham, i. 287.

3 Ib., viii. 464.

2

Rymer, Foedera, ii. 102.

4 Gross, Gild Merchant, i. 153.

Rot. Parl., v. 64 (38), speaks of "their merchandises of wool and woolfell."

6 Stubbs, Const. Hist., ii. 191, 192.

7 Craik, Hist. Brit. Commerce, i. 172.

8 Ib., i. 174.

The family of Pole, as is well known, rose by their wealth to great rank and power, being created successively Earls, Marquises, and Dukes of Suffolk, and took an important place in the history of the nation. The rise of Pole and other great merchants to the ranks of the nobility marks a most noticeable social development in English history, for it shows how the peerage has been from almost the earliest times recruited from commerce, while in many other European countries it was impossible for anyone connected with trade to become one of the noblesse. By avoiding this irrational exclusiveness, our nation has to some extent also avoided the fatal evils which in other countries have befallen an aristocracy of a more rigid type.

§ 86. Markets.

Besides the staple towns, another class was formed by the country market towns, many of which exist in agricultural districts to-day in much the same fashion as they did six centuries ago. The control and regulation of the town market was at first in the hands of the lord of the manor,1 but by this period it had mostly been bought by the corporation or by the merchant gild, or by both, and was now one of the most valued of municipal privileges. The market-place was always some large open space within the city walls, such as, for instance, exists very noticeably in Nottingham to this day. London had several such spaces, of which the names Cornhill, Cheapside, and the Poultry still remain. The capital was indeed a perpetual market, though of course provincial towns only held a market on one or two days of the week. It is curious to notice how these days have persisted to modern times. The Wednesday and Saturday market of Oxford has existed for at least six centuries, if not more, and so has that of Nottingham. The control of these markets was undertaken by the corporation for various purposes. The first of these was to 1 Stubbs, Const. Hist., i. p. 426, and Rogers, Hist. Agric., i. 141.

2 Stubbs, Const. Hist., I. xi. p. 408 sqq. implies this.

3 Rogers, Six Centuries, p. 138.

Ashley, Econ. Hist., II. i. p. 19; also see the Nottingham Borough Records, iii. 62.

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prevent frauds and adulteration of goods, and for this purpose special officers were appointed, as in the staple towns, or like the "aulnager" of Norwich mentioned ⚫ before. This was possible in a time when industry was limited and the competitive idea was as yet unborn, and one cannot help thinking that it must have been of great use to purchasers, provided only that these officers were incorruptible, which was not always the case. The second object of the regulators of the market was to keep prices at a "natural level," and to regulate the cost of manufactured articles. The price of provisions in especial was a subject of much regulation, but our forefathers were not very successful in this point, laudable though their object was. The best example of such regulation is found, perhaps, in the Act 13 Rich. II., st. 1, c. 8 (1389-90), which ordains--" Forasmuch as a man cannot put the price of corn and other victuals in certain," the justices of the peace shall every year make proclamation "by their discretion, according to the dearth of victuals, how much every mason, carpenter, tiler, and other craftsmen, workmen, and other labourers by the day shall take by the day, with meat and drink or without meat and drink, and that every man shall obey such proclamations from time to time, as a thing done by statute." Finally, provision is made for the correct keeping of the assize, or assessment from time to time, of the prices of bread and ale. The earliest notice of an "assize" in England is found in the Parliament Rolls for 1203,2 but the practice is probably much older, and the most ancient law upon the subject is the 51st Hen. III. (A.D. 1266), the "Assisa Panis et Cerevisiæ." The assize of bread was in force till the beginning of the nineteenth century, and was only then abolished in London.3

The "assize" arranged by statute was, of course, a national matter, but many local regulations were in force.

1 Gilds usually seem to have appointed their own officers, except the gilds of those who were engaged in providing food and drink. In these cases the officers (such as "ale conners” and “flesh conners") were appointed by the borough authorities. Cf. Ashley, Econ. Hist., II. i. p. 30.

25 John; cf. Craik, Hist. Brit. Commerce, i. 137.

3 Ib.,

P.
137.

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