CHAPTER IV
THIRTEENTH CENTURY LONDON
INTRODUCTORY NOTES
Mint and Coinage
Compare list of Saxon mints under Athelstane with this account of the King’s mint, in the eighteenth century. The history of coinage is illustrated by notes of clipping; repeated re-coinage; advice of merchants on coinage over-ridden, case of persecution, of laws for clipping, etc.
Compare also with fifteenth century extracts.
Aliens and King’s Income
Great importance of aliens in trade and industry is constantly appearing in London records. The king collects his customs by farming them out to the Lombards; he makes an income by weighing, granting charters, taking prisage, fines, etc.
(1269) The “hosting” of aliens, i.e. the rule that every alien must lodge with an English host who will be answerable for him, is practised. The special position of the Jews is well illustrated, nominally under protection of king and Mayor they are yet attacked by King and Pope as well as people.
City Government
Strife is continual between the citizens and the royal officers for control of the city. Its freedom dated from Henry I’s charter of 1100 (cf. Stubbs, Select Charters). In 1249 the citizens claim to be peers of “the earls and barons of England.” The survival of the Saxon practice of witness on oath is evidenced in 1267 by the witness of “12 sworn men of the City” not swearing to fact but to ancient usage.
The titles and duties of the king’s officers are illustrated; the Treasurer, Constable, Warden, claiming dues for the King, Sheriffs of London and Middlesex, Barons of Exchequer and other wardens all holding by royal appointment. The persistence of the folkmote is evidenced in 1260, when the oath of loyalty is taken, as in the time of Richard I’s crusade. In 1267 a tax on movables is levied, first done in 1207. The intervention of the citizens between Barons and King in 1262 foreshadows their intervention in de Montfort’s Parliament of 1265 and that of Edward I, 1295, indicates the influence of the new class of burghers made wealthy by the wool trade. The various activities of the City officers show the gradual organisation of ordered life in a commune of this date; further illustrated by the Mayor’s reliance on craft-gilds in 1262 against the “aldermen or chief citizens,” the officers of the Merchant Gild.
In connection with the Black Death it is noteworthy how frequent famines were in the earlier part of the fourteenth century and how food sales were regulated; the rules of the Court Leet in the sixteenth century would, no doubt, be in practice at this earlier period in some parts of England.
Battle of Sluys
A good instance of fourteenth century naval warfare, the French make no use of mobility but make conditions as near as possible to land fighting; the English, however, use advantage of wind and are already carrying heavier artillery than their opponents, an English naval characteristic later.
Fourteenth Century Prices
Lancaster was cousin to Edward II, and his rival for power; in 1314 he practically controlled the kingdom, but provoked the envy of Pembroke and was captured at Boroughbridge in 1322 and executed. This period of great royal princes rivalling the king, culminates in the usurpation of Henry IV and the Wars of the Roses. The extract gives a vivid picture of the various ranks in the household of such a lord. It may be used to compare values and prices in this century with those of the thirteenth century (see London Records) and with fifteenth century wages.
THE MINT
(Stow, Survey of London, Book I, p. 96)
The Mint is the Office and Place where the King’s Coin is made, be it Gold or Silver Which is at present, and for a long Time hath been kept, in the Tower of London.
OFFICERS [IN 1722]
(1) The Warden, who is the Chief: and by his Office is to receive the Silver from the Goldsmiths, and to pay them for it....
(2) The Master Worker, who receiveth the Silver from the Warden, causeth it to be melted; and delivers it to the Moniers, and takes it from them again when it is made.
(4) The Master of the Assay, who weigheth the Silver, and seeth whether it be according to the Standard.
(6) The Surveyor of the Melting; who is to see the Silver cast out.
(7) The Clerk of the Irons; who seeth that the Irons be clean and fit to work with.
(8) The Engraver, which graveth the Stamps for the Money.
(9) The Smiter of Irons, who after they are graven, smiteth them upon the Money.
(10) The Melters, that melt the Bullion before it comes to the Coining.
(11) The Blanchers who do anneal, boil and cleanse the Money.
(14) The Moniers, who are some to sheer the Money, some to forge it; some to beat it broad, some to round it and some to stamp or coin it.
COINAGE
A.D. 1247
(Chronicles of Old London, Edited by H. T. Riley)
In the same year, Michael Tovy was again made Mayor, and by precept of his lordship the King it was published that if any clipped penny or halfpenny should be found offered for the purchase of anything, the same should immediately be perforated. At this time, the money was entirely made anew, that is to say, immediately after the Feast of All Saints [November 1.]
A.D. 1257
In this year, the King issued a new coinage, of golden pennies, each of two sterlings [i.e., silver pennies] in weight, and of the purest gold; and it was his will that such gold coin should pass current in value for twenty sterlings.
This year, on the Sunday next after the Feast of All Saints the Mayor and citizens appearing before his lordship the King at the Exchequer in obedience to his precept, he put them to the question, conjuring them by the fealty in which they were bound to him, that they would certify him, according to their consciences, whether the aforesaid coinage would be beneficial and for the common weal of his kingdom, or not. Accordingly, holding counsel and conference thereon among themselves, they appeared before the King and said, that through that coinage the greatest detriment might accrue to his realm, and more especially to the poor of his realm, the chattels of very many of whom are not worth in value a single gold coin. And further they said that through that coinage gold would be held of much lower value, when that money should come to be dispersed in so many hands; a thing that was already evident, seeing that sheet gold, which always used to be worth ten marks, was then worth nine marks only, or even eight (p. oz.). Whereupon after they had set forth many reasons why that coinage would prove otherwise than beneficial, his lordship, the King replied: “It is my will that this coinage shall pass current, the penny for twenty sterlings, but that no one shall be compelled to take it; and whosoever shall take it, shall be at liberty to exchange it wherever he may please, without hindrance therein; and if he shall think proper, he may come to our Exchange, and shall have for every such golden penny nineteen pence and one halfpenny.”
A.D. 1278
In this year the exchange was made at the Tower of London, of the new money, sterling, halfpenny and farthing, and Gregory de Rokesle, Master of the Exchange throughout all England.
A.D. 1300
... On the day of St. Stephen (Dec. 28), at the beginning of the eight and twentieth year [of Edward I], the crocards and pollards were proclaimed. (i.e., the crooked or polled, i.e. clipped coins of inferior value. They generally passed for one penny, but by proclamation their value was fixed at one halfpenny.) They were cried down throughout England and continued current only until the Vigil of Easter Day next ensuing: upon which Vigil it was forbidden that they should pass current. This money came from Flanders and was current in England throughout the land for six years, to the great damage of all the realm.
ALIENS
A.D. 1268
... His lordship the King ... had granted unto Sir Edward his son, to take custom of all things coming by sea into England and from England going forth, and such custom had been leased unto certain Italians upon yearly payment to Sir Edward of a farm of six thousand marks; the said Italians exacted the same custom of the citizens of London, and took sureties of them, in contravention of their franchises.
Wherefore the citizens went to Sir Edward, and begged of him that he would not allow such a yoke of servitude to be imposed upon them, in contravention of the franchises by the Charters of his lordship the King, his father, and of his predecessors, Kings of England, unto them granted: whereupon Sir Edward, at their entreaty, granted unto them acquittance of the custom aforesaid, giving them his letters patent thereon. The citizens, however, made court to him, giving him 200 marks.
A.D. 1269
... according to the custom of the City, all merchant strangers coming into London, were wont to be harboured, together with their merchandize, in hostels belonging to the citizens; and their wares, which are sold by the hundredweight, such as wax, alum and the like, to be weighed by the balance of his lordship the King. Other wares again, which are valued by the pound, such as pepper, ginger, brasil (i.e., a kind of wood for making red dye), grains, and the like, used to be weighed by various balances at the hosts’ places, or else by the basket of them, the buyer having upon every hundredweight four pounds for the draught; the commodity being weighed with the pin standing midway, the same as gold and silver are weighed. Afterwards the Italians, the people of Quercy, and the merchants of Provence (who at first however were but few in number), coming to the City with their merchandize, transacted business in a similar manner; but in process of time, when a great number of merchants from the parts aforesaid, who were extremely rich, had brought into the City a very great quantity of merchandize, in order that the amount of such wares might remain unknown to the citizens, they declined to be harboured in the hostels of the citizens, but built houses in the City, and abode therein by themselves, housing there their goods. And then too, weighing by balances of their own, they sold their wares contrary to the custom of the City; and even went so far as themselves to weigh by their own balances certain articles which were sold by the hundredweight, and which ought to be weighed by the King’s balance; to the prejudice of his lordship the King, and to the loss and subtraction of his pesage [duty for weighing]; and this they did for many years.
Afterwards, when his lordship the King gave unto the citizens a new Charter as to their liberties, in which it is set forth that no merchant stranger shall buy or sell any wares that ought to be weighed or troned, except by the beam and tron of his lordship the King, under forfeiture of the whole of such wares—and this, too, had been proclaimed throughout all the City—these merchants, nevertheless, continued to weigh as they had previously done. But when the King and his Council were given to understand this, his bailiffs, in accordance with his command, took all the balances and weights of the said merchants, and upon good sureties, attached the persons themselves. Afterwards, in this year, ... the King summoned the said merchants to appear before himself and his Council at Westminster; and because they were convicted ... and because their balances and weights, when examined in the King’s Exchange, were found, it is said, to be untrue, they were adjudged to be amerced and committed to prison; immediately upon which, being about twenty in number, they were taken to the Tower and there imprisoned.
On the morrow, too, their balances and weights were burnt in Westchepe; and such parts thereof as could not be consumed by fire, were broken to pieces with iron hammers, and wholly destroyed....
Then the said merchants made fine to the King in the sum of one thousand pounds sterling; and this under compulsion, as it were, they being in dread of being thrust into a most noisome prison.
A.D. 1270
... in this year, about Easter last past, it was provided by the common Council of his lordship the King, that cloths coming into England from the parts beyond sea should contain at least 26 ells in length, and an ell and a half in breadth, under forfeiture of the whole piece of cloth. And at the same time, orders were given to the merchants that, after the Fair of St. Botolph then next coming, they should not bring any cloths into England, under the penalty aforesaid, unless they should be of the said length and breadth, burels [coarse cloths] of Normandy excepted.
RIGHTS OF THE CITIZENS OF LONDON
A.D. 1246
In this year, the citizens of London took Queen Hithe, they paying a yearly rent of fifty pounds to Earl Richard, and sixty shillings to the Sick of St. Giles’s without London.
In this year, the Prior and Canons of St. Bartholomew’s, ... set up a new tron, on the vigil of St. Bartholomew, refusing to allow anyone to weigh except with that tron; and this, in contravention of the liberties and customs of the City. Wherefore the principal men of the City, together with their Mayor, Peter Fitz-Alan and a multitude of the citizens, on the morrow went to the Priory of St. Bartholomew, and advised the Prior and Canons of that place to make amends for that act of presumption, and to desist therefrom; whereupon they forthwith gave up the practice, and by the Mayor and Sheriffs of London it was published that every man was to sell, buy and weigh in that market, just as they previously had been wont to do.
JURISDICTION DISPUTED
1247
In the same year ... a Justiciar sent by his lordship the King, came to St. Martin’s le Grand, to hear the record which had been given upon the plaint of Margery Vyel, ... in the previous year ...; as to which judgment the said Margery had made complaint to his lordship the King, and had found pledges to prove that the same was false.
Whereupon, the Mayor and citizens meeting there, the record having been read through, and all the writs of his lordship the King which the said Margery had obtained, having been read and heard, the Justiciar said: “I do not say that this judgment is false, but the process therein is faulty, as there is no mention made in this record of summons of the opponents of the said Margery, and, seeing that John Vyel, her husband, made a will, it did not pertain to your Court to determine such a plea as this.” To which the citizens made answer: “There was no necessity to summon those who had possession of the property of the deceased, for they were always ready, and proffered to stand trial at suit of the said Margery in our Court; and besides, we were fully able to entertain such plea by assent of the two parties, who did not at all claim or demand the Ecclesiastical Court, and seeing that his lordship the King by his writ commanded us to determine the same.”
At length, after much altercation ... the Justiciar said that they must shew all this to the King and his Council, and so they withdrew. Afterwards, however, and solely for this cause, his lordship the King took the City into his hand, and by his writ entrusted it to the custody of William de Haverille and Edward de Westminster, namely, on the Vigil of St. Bartholomew (24 August); whereupon, the Mayor and citizens went to the King at Wudestok, and shewed him that they had done no wrong; but they could not regain his favour....
Afterwards, on the Sunday before the Nativity of St. Mary (8 September), the Mayor and Sheriffs, by leave of the King, received the City into their hands, and a day was given them to make answer as to the aforesaid judgment before the King and his Barons.
A.D. 1248
In this year, the citizens of London, at the request of his lordship the King, not compelled, yet as though compelled, took their wares to the Fair of Westminster, on Saint Edward’s Day, and also the citizens of many cities of England, by precept of his lordship the King, repaired thither with their wares; all of whom made a stay at that fair of full fifteen days, all the shops and selds [large sheds] of the merchants of London being closed in the meantime.
And on the morrow of St. Edward, the Mayor and citizens appeared at Westminster, to make answer as to the judgment before mentioned ... his lordship the King requested them to permit the Abbot of Westminster to enjoy the franchises which the King had granted him in Middlesex, in exchange for other liberties which the citizens might of right demand. To which the citizens made answer, that they could do nothing as to such matter without the consent of the whole community. The King, however, on learning this, as though moved to anger, made them appear before him, and after much altercation had passed as to the said judgment ... counsel being at last held before his lordship the King between the Bishops and Barons, the Mayor and citizens were acquitted and took their departure.
A.D. 1249
In the same year, ... the citizens recovered before the King, two kinds of franchise, of which for many years they had been deprived, for the King granted that the Jews, who before had been held to warranty by writ of the Exchequer, should plead in future before the citizens as to their tenements in London. He also granted that the Chirographers of the Chest of the Jews [keepers of the bonds] should be tallaged like other citizens.
In this year, on Sunday in Midlent, nearly all the men, as well as women, of London having met together, in accordance with the precept of his lordship the King in the Great Hall at Westminster, his lordship the King assumed the Cross with the view of setting out in aid of the Holy Land. It is also to be noted, that after his lordship the King had repeatedly requested the citizens to grant to the Abbot of Westminster the franchises which we have already mentioned in this record, in this year, on the Wednesday, namely, in the week of Pentecost, there was a day of love appointed at the demand of his lordship the King, between the citizens and the Abbot; upon which day, the Mayor, and a countless multitude of the citizens with him, came to the New Temple, where the Abbot was, there being also present, William de Haverhill, the Treasurer, Henry de Ba, Roger de Turkelby, John de Gatesdene, Justiciars, and others who had been sent thither by the King. Upon these desiring to hold a conference with the Mayor and Aldermen, the whole of the populace opposed it, and would not allow them, without the whole of the commons being present, to treat at all of the matter; all of them exclaiming with one voice that in no point would they recede from their wonted franchises, which, by Charters of his lordship the King and his predecessors, they possessed.
Upon this, a day was given them by the Justiciars to appear before his lordship the King at Wyndlesore, the Tuesday following, namely; and solely for this reason the King took the City into his hands, and delivered it to William the Treasurer, and to Peter Blund, the Constable of the Tower, all the clerks and serjeants of the Sheriffwick paying obedience to them. On the day appointed, the Mayor and citizens appeared at Wyndlesore; when the King, wishing to harass them, compelled them, through his Justiciars, to shew cause why they had gainsaid the Charter which he had granted to the Abbot of Westminster.
The citizens however made answer, that they had had no day named for pleading there against the Abbot of Westminster, and that out of the City of London they were not bound to plead; and that if they had been bound to plead thereon, they ought not to receive any judgment as to the same in the absence of their peers, the Earls, namely Barons of England....
After this, consultations being held between the King and his Council, the City was restored to the citizens, and day was given them until the Translation of St. Edward (13 October).
A.D. 1250
... it was enacted by the citizens, that the Wardens of the Bridge, from that day forward, should have, take or claim nothing from the ships or property of citizens passing through the middle of the Bridge [drawbridge]; whereas before they had been wont to take twelve pence for every ship belonging to a citizen, the same as foreigners.
A.D. 1253
In this year, it was enacted by the community, that no one of the franchise of the City should in future pay scavage [due paid for right to display] for his beasts sold on the field of Smethefield, as before they had been wont. In this year, about the season of Lent, the Sheriffs of Middlesex, by precept of his lordship the King, caused all wears to be destroyed that stood in the Thames towards the west; and at this time many nets which were injurious, were burnt in Westchep. Afterwards and before Pentecost, the Sheriffs of London, seeing that the water of Thames pertains to London, by precept of his lordship the King destroyed all the other wears from London to the sea.
A.D. 1254
In this year Ralph Hardel was elected Mayor of London.... And immediately after this, the Barons (of the Exchequer) shewed a writ of his lordship the King, by which precept was given unto them that they should take the City into the King’s hands, for non-observance in the City of the assize of bread and ale. And although the citizens ought not to be molested for such a default as this, but only the Sheriffs, if convicted thereof; still the City was taken into the King’s hands, and delivered into the custody of John de Gyseorz, the said John being sworn before the Barons; after which the clerks and all the serjeants of the Sheriffs, as also the Wardens of the Gates, the Thames and the Gaol, were there sworn. And all this had been discussed in the Parliament aforesaid, because the citizens, being divided among themselves, would not appear there before Earl Richard, as they had promised him, to put an end to a matter on which they had frequently entreated him before, namely, the Exchange.
Afterwards the citizens waited upon the Earl to entreat his favour; whereupon he named to them a day at London, saying that he would do nothing therein without counsel of the King, to whom a moiety of the issues of the Exchange belonged. After this, on the third day after the Feast of St. Edmund the Archbishop, the citizens of Westminster made fine to the said Earl before the Council of his lordship the King, in a sum of 600 marks; whereupon all claims were remitted on account of the Exchange, and the Mayor and Sheriffs were restored to their bailiwicks.
(King Henry attempts to make the City answerable for a felon escaped from Newgate).
To this the citizens made answer, that the custody of the Gaol does not belong to them, but to the Sheriffs only. Whereupon answer was made to them by the King, that as they make the Sheriffs, they themselves ought to be answerable for them. To this the citizens said, that they do not make the Sheriffs, but only have to choose them, and present them to the Barons of his lordship the King; and that such Sheriffs can do nothing in respect of their office, before they have been admitted at the Exchequer; that in no point ought they to be answerable for the Sheriffs, save only as to the ferm due from the Sheriffwick, and only then, when the Sheriffs themselves are not of sufficient means to pay the ferm.
EFFECTS OF BARONS’ WAR UPON THE CITY
A.D. 1260
The same year ... the King came to London, and afterwards, on the Sunday before the Feast of St. Valentine, had the Folkmote summoned at St. Paul’s Cross; whither he himself came.... The King also commanded that all persons of the age of twelve years and upwards should make oath before their Alderman, in every Ward, that they would be faithful unto him, so long as he should live, and after his death, to his heir; which was accordingly done. Then all the Gates of the City were shut, night and day, by the King’s command, the Bridge Gate and the Gates of Ludgate and Aldgate excepted, which were open by day and well fortified with armed men.
A.D. 1262
In this year before Pentecost, the Barons who had given their assent to the observance of the Ordinances and Statutes made at Oxford, sent a certain letter to his lordship the King ... after this they sent a letter to the citizens of London ... whether they would observe the said Ordinances.... Upon receiving the message the citizens shewed the same to his lordship the King ... and they further said that all the community was willing to observe those Statutes which were to the honour of God, in fealty to the King, and to the advantage of the realm ... and further that it was their wish that no knights, serjeants, aliens by birth, should be allowed to sojourn in the City; for that it was through them that all the dissensions had arisen between the King and his Barons. After this, by the King’s command, certain of the citizens were sent to Dover with the King’s Council, to treat for peace with the Barons....
At this season, and indeed before, all aliens, both knights and serjeants, were dismissed from the City; who were afterwards placed by Sir Edward in garrison at Wyndleshore. And at this time also the citizens kept watch and ward, riding by night throughout the City with horse and arms; though among them a countless multitude of persons on foot obtruded themselves; some evil-minded among whom, under pretext of searching for aliens, broke open many houses belonging to other persons, and carried off such goods as were there to be found. To restrain the evil designs of these persons, the watches on horseback were therefore put an end to, and watch was kept by the respective Wards, each person keeping himself well armed within his own Ward.
Afterwards, on the Sunday before the Feast of St. Margaret (July 20) the Barons came to London, and on the morrow the King and Queen withdrew from the Tower to Westminster. At this time with the assent of his lordship the King, Hugh le Despencer was made by the Barons Justiciar of all England, and the Tower of London delivered into his charge.
A.D. 1262
Be it here remarked, that this Mayor (Thomas Fitzthomas) during the time of his mayoralty had so pampered the City populace, that, stiling themselves the “Commons of the City,” they had obtained the first voice in the City. For the Mayor, in doing all that he had to do, acted and determined through them, and would say to them, “Is it your will that so it shall be?” and then, if they answered “Ya, ya,” so it was done. And on the other hand, the Aldermen or chief citizens were little or not at all consulted on such matter; but were in fact just as though they had not existed. Through this, that same populace became so elated and so inflated with pride, that during the commotions in the realm ... they formed themselves into covins, and leagued themselves together by oath, by the hundred and by the thousand, under a sort of colour of keeping the peace, whereas they themselves were manifestly disturbers of the peace. For whereas the Barons were only fighting against those who wished to break the aforesaid Statutes, and seized the property of such, and that too by day, the others by night broke into the houses of the people of Quercy and of other persons in the City, who were not against the said Statutes, and by main force carried off the property found in such houses, besides doing many other unlawful acts as well. As to the Mayor, he censured these persons in but a lukewarm way.
Afterwards these same persons, like so many Justiciars Itinerant, wished to remove all purprestures [encroachments], new and old, observing no order of trial; and endeavoured to throw open lanes, which, by writ of his lordship the King and with the sanction of the Justiciars Itinerant, the community assenting thereto, had been stopped up and rented to certain persons; so much so, in fact, that some of them they opened, without judgment given, and in like manner did they remove certain purprestures, and some of them after dinner; and this they did, not only for the purpose of removing them, but for the opportunity of carrying off the timber and other things there to be found.
The Mayor too, had all the populace of the City summoned, telling them that the men of each craft must make such provisions as should be to their own advantage, and he himself would have the same proclaimed throughout the City and strictly observed.
Accordingly after this, from day to day, individuals of every craft of themselves made new statutes and provisions, or rather what might be stiled “abominations,” and that, solely for their own advantage, and to the intolerable loss of all merchants coming to London and visiting the fairs of England, and the exceeding injury of all persons in the realm.
AWARD OF THE KING OF FRANCE MADE BETWEEN THE KING AND THE BARONS
The Londoners, however, and the Barons of the Cinque Ports, and nearly all the middle class of people throughout the kingdom of England, who indeed had not joined in the reference to the king of France, wholly declined his award.
Wherefore, the Londoners appointed one of their number, Thomas de Piwelesdone by name, to be their Constable, and as Marshal, Stephen Buckerel, at whose summons, upon hearing the great bell of St. Paul’s, all the people were to sally forth, and not otherwise; being prepared as well by night as by day, well armed, to follow the standards of the said Constable and Marshal wheresoever they might think proper to lead them. After this, Hugh le Despencer, the Justiciar, who then had charge of the Tower, with a countless multitude of Londoners, went forth from the City, following the standards of the aforesaid Constable and Marshal, none of them knowing whither they were going, or what they were to do. Being led however as far as Ystleworthe, they there laid waste and ravaged with fire the manor of the King of Almaine,[25] and plundered all the property there found, and broke down and burned his mills and fish preserves, observing no truce, at the very time that the said Parliament [of Oxford, 1262] was in existence. And this was the beginning of woes, and the source of that deadly war, through which so many manors were committed to the flames, so many men, rich and poor, were plundered, and so many thousands of persons lost their lives.
At this time, the Barons and Londoners entered into a league written by instrument and by oath, all in fact of 12 years and upwards; to the effect that they would stand together against all men, saving however their fealty to their lord the King.
A.D. 1265
Be it remarked, that at the time when the City submitted itself unto the mercy of his lordship the King, many persons in the City who had spontaneously sided with the Earl of Leicester, took to flight; having committed depredations and many mischiefs within the City and without, and, in the time of the aforesaid Mayor, styling themselves the “Commons of the City,” having had the first voice there, the principal men being little consulted in reference thereto.
Be it remarked, that many of the common people, on the day that the aforesaid election took place, gainsayed the same, crying “Nay, nay”, and saying, “We will have no one for Mayor, save only Thomas Fitzthomas, and we desire that he be released from prison, as well as his companions, who are at Wyndleshores.” Such base exclamations did the fools of the vulgar classes give utterance to, on the previous Monday, in the same Guildhall. Wherefore his lordship the King, on hearing rumours to this effect, fearing an insurrection of the populace against the principal men of the City, who maintained their fealty towards him, sent to London Sir Roger de Leiburne; who on the Saturday next ensuing, came into the Guildhall with a great retinue of knights and serjeants, with arms beneath their clothes; whither a countless multitude of the City had already resorted, and that without summons. And the same Sir Roger gave orders, on behalf of his lordship the King, that all who were suspected should be seized and put in arrest, lest they might enter into some confederacy with the enemies of his lordship the King. Wherefore on the same day there were taken more than twenty persons, no one of the populace making any opposition thereto.
The same year, on the second of the Ides of July (12 August) at night the wife of Sir Edward was delivered of her firstborn son, at Wyndleshores, on hearing news of which, the citizens of London caused proclamation to be made in the City, that on the morrow the whole community should celebrate the same by doing no handicraft, for joyousness at the birth of the said child. Accordingly on that day all selds and shops being closed, all the men and women, clergy as well as lay, went on foot and horseback to Westminster, to give thanks unto God for the birth of the child, and to offer prayers for its safety. Also throughout the streets of the City there was dancing and singing of carols for joy, as is the usual yearly custom upon the Feast of St. John the Baptist (24 June). The name that was given to the child was John.
FOOD SUPPLIES AND REGULATIONS
ASSISE OF WINE: DISPUTED. A.D. 1256.
In the same year, Henry de Ba (Bath) Justiciar, came to the Guildhall of London, bringing to the Mayor and Sheriffs a writ from his lordship the King; who thereupon summoned before him all the vintners of the City. The Justiciar wishing to amerce all these for breach of the assise of wine, the citizens made answer, that the vintners who had broken the assise ought, and are wont, solely to be amerced at the Common Pleas of the Crown, and not before a Justiciar at the Tower. To whom the Justiciar made answer ... that this will not satisfy his lordship the King, for that it does not seem just or right that they may break the assise for seven years or more with impunity, and only once be amerced for so many offences.
To which reply was made, that his lordship the King is both wont to and may whenever he pleases, upon election by the citizens, appoint two wardens to keep that assise, in manner as heretofore; ... that the same wardens, too, when any one is convicted of breach of the assise, ought to sell the wine found in the tun, in reference to which the breach has been committed, and to produce the money at the Pleas of the Crown holden before the Justiciars, the transgressor nevertheless being there also amerced.
METHODS OF WEIGHING
A.D. 1256
It has usually been the custom, when wares which have to be sold by balance, are weighed, for the draught of the balance to incline on the wares side, the case of gold and silver excepted which are always weighed with the pin standing midway, and inclining neither towards the weight nor towards the gold or silver; and consequently that the weigher who weighs in the City by the balance of his lordship the King, is able, by reason of such draught, to give a greater weight to one person than to another, through favour, maybe, or through fear, or through a bribe passing between them, or perhaps inadvertence.
It was therefore provided and enacted on the Saturday after the Feast of St. Nicholas (6 December) in the one and fortieth year of the reign of King Henry, son of King John, that all wares which have to be weighed by the King’s balances in the City, shall be weighed like gold and silver, the draught in no degree inclining towards the wares; and that in lieu of such draught, the vendor ought to give to the buyer four pounds in every hundred.
A.D. 1257.
In this year there was a failure of the crops; upon which failure a famine ensued, to such a degree that the people from the villages resorted to the City for food; and there upon the famine waxing still greater, many thousand persons perished; many thousands more too would have died of hunger, had not corn just then arrived from Almaine. [The German States.]
KING’S PRISAGE. A.D. 1257
After this, on the Nones (5) of August an edict was published in the City, that no one of the King’s household, nor any other person should take anything in the City, except at the will of the vendors; saving however unto his lordship the King his rightful prisage of wine, that is to say from every ship that owes full custom two tuns of wine at the price of forty shillings. And further that if anyone should presume to contravene the same and be convicted thereof, he should be immediately imprisoned. After this no one of the King’s officers, nor yet any of their people, took anything without soon after paying the vendor for the same: this however lasted for a short time only.
A.D. 1262
In this year ... the Mayor and citizens of London shewed unto Sir Philip Basset, Justiciar of England, and others of the Council of his lordship the King at Westminster, that the Constable of the Tower in contravention of their franchises, wished to arrest and seize vessels in the Thames before the Tower, and take prisage of corn and other things, before they had reached the wharf; further saying, that just then he had caused a vessel belonging to Thomas de Basings, laden with wheat, to be stopped before the Tower, and was for taking one hundred quarters therefrom, at a price by the quarter, two pence less than it would have sold for when brought ashore. To which the Constable made answer, that this he was quite at liberty to do, in behalf of his lordship the King; whereupon the citizens replied that attachments on the Thames pertain solely to the Sheriffs of London, seeing that the whole water of Thames belongs to the City from shore to shore, as far as the Newe Were; (close to Yantlet creek) as has been repeatedly shown....
They said also that his lordship the King takes no prisage of corn, before the vessel has reached the wharf, and that then he is to have the quarter of wheat at two pence less than it would sell for; and this only for the support of his own household. Also that neither the Constable nor any other person is to have prisage of corn, but that if he wishes to buy anything, he must buy it in the market of the City, like the citizens, and at the option of the vendor; and they entreated his lordship the King, that he would preserve their liberties....
LIQUID MEASURES. A.D. 1264
In this year it was provided at the Hustings, on the morrow of All Souls (2 November), that all measures by which wine, ale and other liquors are sold, should be of the same dimensions, the mouth of the gallon being ordered to measure four inches across (cf. 1273).
FISHING REGULATIONS. A.D. 1269
Be it remarked that in ancient times it had been enacted and provided as to nets, used for fishing in the Thames, that in the body of such nets the meshes should be woven of such a size that a man’s thumb nail might be able wholly to pass through them; and that if in any net there should be found a single mesh otherwise woven, the whole of such net was to be condemned....
For which reason it was ... there were many nets seized and brought to the Guildhall, and there by twelve sworn men of the City, who had no share in the said nets, adjudged to be in contravention of the statutes aforesaid. But as to this decision some of the citizens thought differently; and in fact there were some who said, that that part only ought to be burnt which was faulty and unfair, and that the other parts which were good and lawful ought to be saved; while on the other hand, the City, in meeting of its commons, pronounced that a net, a part of which is bad, is bad all over....
... in accordance with the precedent that on another occasion such nets had been wholly burnt the citizens agreed in common that these should in the same manner be condemned; and accordingly so it was done ... all those nets, about twenty in number, were burnt in the middle of Westchepe; so that nothing of them whatever was saved.
A.D. 1269
In this year the pillory that stood in Chepe was broken through the negligence of the Bailiffs, and for a long time remained unrepaired; wherefore, in the meantime no punishment was inflicted on the bakers, who made their loaves just as they pleased; so much so, that each of their loaves was deficient in one third of the weight that it ought to weigh, according to the award that had been made upon the assay of the Feast of St. Michael preceding; and this lasted for a whole year and more.
In the same year, all the freemen of the kingdom of England, as well of vills as of cities, and boroughs and elsewhere, gave unto his lordship the King one twentieth part of all their moveable goods, towards payment of his expenses on his expedition to the land of Jerusalem. But afterwards Sir Edward undertook that expedition, on behalf of his father and himself.
A.D. 1270
These Sheriffs, immediately after the Feast of St. Michael, had a new pillory made, and erected it in the place where the old pillory had previously stood....
A.D. 1271
Throughout all this year, no punishment was inflicted upon the bakers; but they made loaves at their own will; so much so, that each loaf was deficient in weight one third, or one fourth at least.
MEASURES
A.D. 1273
In this year, both before and after Pentecost, all the measures were broken in pieces by the Mayor of the City, by which corn used to be sold in the City, and new ones made of larger dimensions; each of which measures was bound in the upper part by an iron hoop, fastened on with iron nails, that so they might not at any time be falsified.
Each measure also, that is to say, each quarter, half quarter, and bushel, was sealed with the Alderman’s seal.
C. A.D. 1293
Memorandum—that the gallon of Conduit water weighs ten pounds four shillings (1s. 3/5oz.) by the ordinary weight.
Also the gallon of Thames water weighs ten pounds, sixteen pence, by the same weight.
Also the grocers’ pound of wax and of fruit is to weigh 25 shillings, the ounce 25 pence, and the quarter 6 shillings and 3 pence.
Be it remembered that the sterling (silver penny) must weigh 32 grains of corn in number, from the middle of the ear;
And to the quarter of an ounce go 160 grains in number.
And to the half ounce go 320 grains.
And to the whole ounce go 640 grains; the ounce, that is to say, of twenty sterlings.
And to the quarter of the pound go 1,920 grains in number.
And to the half pound go 3,840 grains.
And to the pound of 20 shillings sterling go 7,680 grains in number, divided into 12 ounces.
And the weight of two pounds, which amounts in number to 15,360 grains, makes the quarter of liquor.
And the weight of four pounds, which amounts in number to 30,720 grains, makes the pottle.
And the weight of eight pounds, which amounts in number to 61,440 grains, makes the gallon.
And the weight of thirty-two pounds, which amounts in number to 245,760 grains, makes the old half bushel.
And the weight of sixty-four pounds, which amounts in number to 491,520 grains, makes the bushel of wheat, of the ancient standard.
And the weight of 256 pounds, which amounts in number to 19,266,180 grains of wheat, makes the half quarter.
And the weight of 512 pounds sterling, which amounts in number of grains of wheat to 3,932,160, makes the measure of one quarter of eight bushels.
FAMINE
A.D. 1313
In this year there were such great rains that the wheat failed, and all other things as well, in August; and the rains lasted from Pentecost to Easter.
In this year, upon the Day of St. James (25 July), before August, there was one baker drawn upon the hurdle alone; and because another baker did not have the same sentence carried out, the same day the Mayor was reviled by the people....
1315
In this year there was a great famine, so that people without number died of hunger; and there was also a great pestilence among the people. The quarter of wheat was sold at Pentecost this year and after, at thirty-eight and forty shillings; salt also, at forty shillings, and two small onions for one penny.
DISPUTED ELECTION OF MAYOR
A.D. 1271
When the citizens of London, as the custom is, met together for the election of Mayor in the Guildhall, ... and the Aldermen and more discreet citizens would have chosen Philip le Tayllur, the mob of the City, opposing such election and making a great tumult, cried aloud, “Nay, nay, we will have no one for Mayor but Walter Hervi,” who before was Mayor; and against the will of the rest, with all their might, placed him in the seat of the Mayoralty. The Aldermen, however, and many discreet men who sided with them, being unable to make head against the vast multitude of a countless populace, immediately went to his lordship the King and his Council at Westminster; and Walter Herevy, taking with him the populace, proceeded thither in like manner, promising them, as he before had promised, that he would preserve them, one and all, throughout the whole time of his Mayoralty, exempt from all tallages, exactions and tolls, and would keep the City acquitted of all its debts, both as towards the Queen as towards all other persons, out of the arrears in the rolls of the City Chamberlain contained....
The populace, however, ... making a great tumult in the King’s Hall—so much so, that the noise reached his lordship the King in bed, to which he was confined by a severe illness—was continually crying aloud, “We are the Commons of the City, and unto us belongs the election of Mayor of the City, and our will distinctly is, that Walter Herevy shall be Mayor, whom we have chosen.” But on the other hand, the Aldermen shewed by many reasons, that unto them belongs the election of Mayor, both because they, the Aldermen are the heads, as it were, and the populace the limbs, as also because it is the Aldermen who pronounce judgments in pleas moved within the City. Of the populace on the other hand there are many who have neither lands, rents, nor dwellings in the City, being sons of divers mothers, some of them of servile station, and all of them caring little or nothing about the City’s welfare.
ACCUSATIONS AGAINST A MAYOR
A.D. 1271
Firstly, this Walter had unrighteously attested that a certain person had by writ of his lordship the King been admitted attorney in the Court of his lordship the King as to Pleas of Land; whereas it was afterwards ascertained that no writ thereupon had ever been issued from the Chancery....
Also, in the time of his Mayoralty, he received a writ of his lordship the King, commanding him to appear at Westminster on a certain day there to shew by what right the citizens were to give seizin of the Moor to Walter de Merton. Whereupon he, who was head of the City, and ought to be the City’s defender, made default, and did not return the writ; by reason whereof, the said citizens are in danger of losing the said moor.
Also whereas he ... was bound to maintain and cause to be observed all assises made by the Aldermen and discreet men of the City, and proclaimed throughout the whole City, he allowed ale to be sold in his Ward for threehalfpence the gallon, and confirmed such a sale setting the seal of his Aldermanry to a certain unfair measure made against the statutes of the City, which contained only the sixth part of a gallon.
Also, whereas he ought not to take any part or receive any salary, contrary to his oath he takes fees throughout all the City and receives yearly a sum of money from the community of the fishmongers, upon the understanding that he shall support them in their causes whether just or unjust.
Also as to the letters patent which certain persons of the trades made, ordaining statutes to their own proper advantage only and to the loss of all the City and all the realm; to such letters while he was Mayor, he set a part of the seal of the Community....
Also, whereas corn, wine and the like, when brought into the City for sale, ought not to be taken back out of the City, according to the law and custom of the City, he, taking a bribe, such for example, as from one merchant a tun of wine, from another a pipe, and from another twenty shillings, allowed more than a thousand tuns to be taken out of the City, in contravention of his oath, and to the great loss of the City.
ANTI-SEMITE RIOTS
A.D. 1262
In this year, just after the Feast of St. Martin (11th November) about the time of Vespers, a certain Jew having wounded a Christian in Colechurch Street, many Christians, indeed a countless multitude of people, ran in pursuit of the Jew, and broke into many houses of the Jews; not content with which, afterwards at nightfall they carried off all the goods of the said Jews; and would have broken into many more houses, and carried off the goods, had not the Mayor and Sheriffs repaired to the spot and driven away those offenders by force of arms. For which reason inquisition was made on the morrow and so from day to day, by the Mayor and Sheriffs in the Guildhall....
A.D. 1263
Afterwards in the week before Palm Sunday, the Jewry in London was destroyed, and all the property of the Jews carried off; as many of them as were found being stripped naked, despoiled, and afterwards murdered by night in sections, to the number that is to say of five hundred. And as for those that survived, they were saved by the Justiciars and the Mayor, having been sent to the Tower before the slaughter took place; and then too the Chest of Chirographs was sent to the Tower for safe custody. (See A.D. 1249.)
FLESH SOLD BY JEWS. A.D. 1273
Certain discreet men of the City appeared before the Council of his lordship the King at Westminster; whereupon members of the Council, before certain Jews there present, questioned them thus, saying: “It is notorious that the Jews kill with their own hands all beasts and fowls whose flesh they eat. But some beasts they consider of their law, and some not; the flesh of those which are of their law they eat, and not the flesh of the others. What then do the Jews do with the flesh of those that are not of their law? Is it lawful for the Christians to buy and eat it?”
To which answer was made by the citizens, that if any Christian should buy any such flesh of a Jew, he would be immediately expelled; and that if he should be convicted thereof by the Sheriffs of the City or by any other person, he would lose such flesh, and it would be given to the lepers, or to the dogs, to eat; in addition to which he would be heavily amerced by the Sheriffs. “But if it seems to you that this punishment is too light a one, let your discreetness make provision that such Christians shall be visited with a more severe punishment.” Whereupon the members of the King’s Council said: “We will not have such persons visited with any more severe punishment, without his lordship the King; seeing that this matter concerns the Jews, who belong to his lordship the King.”
JEW CLIPPERS OF COINAGE. A.D. 1278
In the same year, upon the Octaves of St. Martin (11th November) which was a Friday, just before tierce (9 o’clock service), all the Jews of England were seized by reason of the coin, which was vilely clipped and falsified, and upon the Feast of St. Lucy (13th December) after, all the goldsmiths of London, and all those of the Exchange and many of the good folks in town were seized, by reason of the purchase of bullion and the exchange of large coin for small, for which they had been indicted by the Wards. And on the Monday next after the Tiffany (Epiphany) the Justiciars sat at the Guildhall for delivery (gaol delivery) thereon ... and by reason of such doing, three Christians and 293 Jews were drawn and hanged, for clipping the coin.
A.D. 1284
In this year all the Jews of England were taken and imprisoned; and put to ransom....
A.D. 1289
And after this it was provided by the King and his Council, upon prayer of the Pope, that all the Jews in England were sent into exile between the Gule (1 Aug.) and the Feast of All Saints, under pain of decapitation, if after such Feast any one of them should be found in England.
SWORDS FORBIDDEN. A.D. 1319
In this year swords were forbidden, so that no one was to wear them; by reason of which, many swords were taken and hung up beneath Ludgate, within and without. At this time many of the people of the trades of London were arrayed in livery, and a good time was about to begin.
EDWARD II AND LONDON. A.D. 1321
And soon after this the King caused a Charter of great service [i.e., military service] to be made, and wished in every way that the good people of London should have sealed it; but the people of the City would not accede to it, for all that the King could do.
PRIVATE EXPENSES OF EDWARD II
(Antiquarian Repertory, Vol. II, p. 407. MS. in the possession of Thomas Astle, F.R.S., F.A.S.)
Item—paid to the king himself to play at Cross and Pile by Peres Barnard two shillings.
Item paid to Sir Will de Kyngeston for cabbage which he bought to make stew in the Boat.
Tuesday, the 17th of October at Walton. Paid at Shene to James Haggesworth, Henry de Hustrete, Robert Sealour, Henry May, Robin Stronball, John Warwyn, Henry Smallsponne for the wages of his seven Bargemen, working varlets in the Barge. Thomas at Lese each taking threepence a day from Tuesday the 15th of October to Friday the 18th of the same month, reckoning four days, bringing from Byfleet to Shene 1540 faggots in a boat for Madame la Despenser, dwelling at Shene aforesaid, and bringing the King from the aforesaid Shene by water in the same Barge to Cyppenham, 7/-.
11th of March. Item paid to Jack of St. Albans, the King’s painter who danced before the king on a table and made him greatly laugh, by gift from the king’s own hands, in aid to him, his wife, and his children, £. s. d.
Item paid at the lodge at Wolmer when the King hunted deer there to Morris Ken of la Kensine because he rode there before the king and fell ofttimes from his horse at which the king greatly laughed, by gift by command 20/-.
BATTLE OF SLUYS. A.D. 1339.
(Chronicles of London)
Upon the Friday morning, our King espied his enemies upon the sea, and said, “Because our Lord Jesus Christ was put to death on a Friday, we will not shed blood upon that day.”
The wind had then been in the East for the whole fortnight before the King put to sea, but by the grace of Him Who is Almighty, the wind shifted immediately to the West; so that, by the grace of God, the King and his fleet had both wind and weather to their mind. And so they sailed on until sunrise at break of day; when he saw his enemies so strongly equipped, that it was a most dreadful thing to behold; for the fleet of the ships of France was so strongly bound together with massive chains, castles, bretasches, and bars.
But notwithstanding this, Sir Edward, our King, said to all those who were around him in the fleet of England,—“Fair Lords and brethren of mine, be nothing dismayed, but be of good cheer, and he who for me shall begin the fight and shall combat with a right good heart, shall have the benison of God Almighty; and every one shall retain that which he shall gain.”
And so soon as our King had said this, all were of right eager heart to avenge him of his enemies. And then our mariners hauled their sails half mast high, and hauled up their anchors in manner as though they intended to fly; and when the fleet of France beheld this, they loosened themselves from their heavy chains to pursue us. And forthwith our ships turned back upon them, and the melee began, to the sound of trumpets, nakers, viols, tabors, and many other kinds of minstrelsy. And then did our King, with three hundred ships, vigorously assail the French with their five hundred great ships and galleys, and eagerly did our people exert great diligence to give battle to the French. Our archers and our arbalesters began to fire as densely as hail falls in winter, and our engineers hurled so steadily, that the French had not power to look or to hold up their heads. And in the meantime, while this assault lasted, our English people with a great force boarded their galleys and fought with the French hand to hand, and threw them out of their ships and galleys.
And always our King encouraged them to fight bravely with his enemies, he himself being in the cog called “Thomas of Winchelsea.” And at the hour of tierce there came to them a ship of London, which belonged to William Haunsard, and it did much good in the said battle. For the battle was so severe and so hardly contested, that the assault lasted from noon all day and all night, and the morrow until the hour of prime (six a.m.) and when the battle was discontinued, no Frenchman remained alive, save only Spaudefisshe, who took to flight with four and twenty ships and galleys.
FOURTEENTH CENTURY PRICES
(Stow I, p. 243)
HOUSEHOLD OF THOMAS, EARL OF LANCASTER
One whole year’s expenses. Seventh of Edward II