worships may be continued in that good sort and meaning as first it was devised " 1. The communal aspect of the gild merchant was also Common bargains. marked in the efforts made to promote co-operation and collective bargaining among the gild-brethren. The gild itself, as an organized body of traders, engaged in commercial transactions. In some towns the gild officers claimed the sole right to deal in certain commodities, the profits of which went into the common purse. At other times they could make the first bid for the wholesale purchase of imported cargoes, which were then distributed among the gildsmen at retail prices; these joint purchases were known as "common bargains". At Liverpool all produce brought into the town was first to be offered for sale to the community and a value placed upon it by the appraisers; if the merchant rejected the offer, he had then to purchase licence to sell in open market 3. These joint-stock purchases were also common at Berwick, where the authorities made communal purchases "for the common weal of the town" 4. At Chester the profits were devoted to public objects, and here the owner of the cargo was required to give the option of purchase to the mayor; the option lasted for no less than forty days, a period later reduced to ten in order not to discourage trade 5. At Bristol, when a ship came to port, the town-traders assembled to decide "what is to be done in that behalf for the weal of the said fellowship", that is, they prevented competition by a preconcerted arrangement as to the prices at which the cargoes should be bought. The practice of collective bargaining sprang partly from a determination to place the merchant stranger always at a disadvantage, and partly to promote equal opportunities for trade among the brotherhood. It has an additional interest for us in that it appears to have contained the germ of the later joint-stock company". 1 Southampton Court Leet Records, 262. E.g. millstones at Lynn: Gross, Gild Merchant, ii. 165. * Ibid. ii. 148. Hist. MSS. Comm. Various Collections, i. 10. Other functions C Apart from its control of trade, the merchant gild served other functions which exhibit in a strong light the core of of the gild merchant. fraternalism inherent in the gild system. These can best be illustrated from the ordinances of the gild merchant of Southampton. Its care for unfortunate brethren is seen in the rule that if a gildsman were ill, he should be given two loaves and a gallon of wine and one dish of cooked food", while two of the "approved men" of the gild were to visit him "and look to his condition". If a gildsman were in prison in any place in England during a time of peace, the alderman with other officers of the gild were to go at the cost of the fraternity to procure his deliverance. A member of the gild who fell into poverty, and could not work or provide for himself, was to receive one mark from the gild at its meetings 1. The rules of the gild merchant of Lynn show a similar regard for unfortunate brethren, and they equally insist upon the obligation to give counsel and assistance to those in distress 2. The brethren were also expected to live in peace and amity with each other; quarrels were to be settled by arbitration without recourse to law3, and if one gildsman struck another he lost his gildship. At the same time steps were taken to prevent excess of competition between fellow-gildsmen. At Shrewsbury, for example, no one was allowed to erect booths or adopt other devices whereby "to have better sale than any of the combrethren " 4. But the principle was abused when traders sought to force up prices, and intimidated those who refused to submit to their decision. In 1397 a herring merchant of Scarborough complained in Chancery that " because he sold his merchandise at a less price than other merchants of the town of Yaxley did there... they assaulted him, beat him and ill-treated him and left him there for dead, so that he despaired of his life" 5. Lastly, we have to remember that the member of a merchant gild possessed a recognized status; he was backed by the resources and prestige of his 1 Oak Book of Southampton, i. 27, 31, 37. 2 Gross, Gild Merchant, ii. 160 seq. For Preston: ibid. ii. 195. 3 Ibid. ii. 162 (Lynn); Morris, Chester, 383 (n. 4). • F. A. Hibbert, Influence and Development of English Gilds (1891), 45. 5 Select Cases in Chancery, 28. society, and supported by its common letters or 'tests'corresponding to modern letters of credit-when he fared abroad. When a merchant was at variance with the authorities of a town he could turn to the rulers of his own city, who would intervene on his behalf and take active steps to defend his interests or avenge his wrongs. Nowadays the individual seeks redress for his injuries in a court of law; in a ruder age he found a more expeditious and reliable means of protection in fraternal union with his fellow-gildsmen. The security which a merchant in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries gained in foreign countries as a member of one of the great trading companies, the mediaeval trader found in his own country as a member of the merchant gild. This peculiarity brings forcibly before us the fundamental features of mediaeval town-life. The privileges and burdens of an Englishman were borne in the main as the citizen of a particular town and shared only with a limited group; their nature and extent depended primarily upon the bargain which his community had made with the Crown or with its neighbours. This was no less true of foreign than of English towns; the burgesses of certain continental cities, as will be seen 2, came to enjoy special grace in this country in virtue of a royal charter or municipal treaty. industry. In return for the privileges of membership the gildsman Control of was bound by the regulations which the gild merchant in its wisdom sought fit to impose. The scrutiny of wares exposed for sale in the town was a function not lightly disregarded by the authorities. The gild rolls of Leicester record how one, Roger Aldith, was convicted three times concerning a certain vermilion cloth made contrary to the rules of the gild, "to wit, with the woof in the middle poorer and worse than at the ends". His persistence in fraud met its due reward, and he was "cut off from the gild and separated 1 This is definitely stated in the case of Hereford: Journal British Archæol. Assoc. xxvii. 466. A letter was sent by the authorities of Sherborne to those of Bridport testifying to the good character of an emigrant burgess : Vict. County Hist. Dorsetshire, ii. 244. The mayor of London wrote to Leicester with 'greeting and very dear friendship' commending a merchant: Records of Leicester, ii. 138 (1365). For letters written on behalf of merchants to obtain recovery of tolls, see infra, p. 259. 2 Infra, p. 450. from the community" of the gild brethren1. The control 66 Organiza- At the head of the gild stood the alderman and his tion of associates, two or four in number, who were appointed in the gild merchant. the meetings or morning-speech' of the assembly. The gild of Southampton had an alderman, seneschal, chaplain, four echevins and an usher. The primary qualification of membership appears to have been the obligation to be at scot and lot', that is, to share in the common charges of the community. The ordinances of the merchant gild were enforced in the gild court, which dealt with pleas relating to the colouring of goods, refusals to share purchases and other offences against the privileges of the gild-brethren 8. Apparently, however, commercial matters were more commonly relegated to the borough courts; at Southampton the connexion between the merchant gild and the court leet 2 Ibid. i. 89. 3 Ibid. i. 105. 1 Records of Leicester, i. 69. Ibid. i. 105, ii. 195; Hudson, Leet Jurisdiction in Norwich, 30. was extremely close, and here the regulations of the gild seem to have been carried out in the leet court 1. The exact position occupied by the merchant gild and Relation of the gild its relation to the borough community have been the subject merchant of much controversy 2. It is clear that it was not merely a and the borough. private commercial association devoid of official powers or prestige, nor on the other hand did it coincide with the administrative organization of the borough. It was an important element in the civic constitution, but it was subordinate to and not identical with the municipal government. It dealt primarily with the supervision and control of the trade monopoly, and though there was a growth of other functions they proceeded one and all from this cardinal obligation. The core of the burghal polity was not the merchant gild but the borough court, which was responsible for the assessment, collection and payment of the firma burgi, the administration of police and justice, and the election of the borough officers. Apart from a difference of functions, there were differences of membership and organization. Burgesses were charged with all the liabilities and duties of citizenship; they filled municipal offices, served on juries, kept watch and ward, suppressed riots and disorder, answered the call to arms in defence of the town, maintained and repaired the walls, paved the streets in front of their houses, made bridges and highways, and performed other public works. At the same time they were required to reside within the borough and to own a burgage tenement 5, "or other yearly revenues", as a pledge of their ability to fulfil their financial obligations, "by the which they may justify themselves unto our lord the king and his commonalty". The essential qualification for the gild franchise, however, was the capacity to pay scot and lot for the right of trading. In many towns the gild merchant contained members who did not even live within 1 F. J. C. Hearnshaw, Leet Jurisdiction in England (1908), 209; Southampton Court Leet Records, p. xx. 2 Cf. Gross, Gild Merchant, i. c. v. 3 Supra, p. 191. E.g. Hearnshaw, Southampton Court Leet Records, 13, 102, 152, etc. 6 Journal British Archæol. Assoc. xxvii. 468 (Hereford). |
