The laws by which London was governed are too long for quotation; they are explicitly set forth in Liber Albus. In the year 1191 it was provided that a body of twelve Aldermen should be elected in full Husting, in order to decide all questions that might arise over the enclosure of land; they also had the power to prevent the erection of any wooden house; the walls, either party wall or outside wall, were to be sixteen feet high at least, and three feet thick; and the roofs were to be of tiles or slate instead of thatch. The law, like so many mediæval laws, was sensible and necessary. It fell through, as did all mediæval laws, for want of police to execute it. In London there were thousands of houses at that moment built of wood with roofs of thatch. There does not appear to have been any attempt made to replace wood with stone. That, indeed, would have been impossible on account of the cost; but, at least, as houses fell down, and many of them in the narrow courts were only wattle and daub, an attempt might have been made to replace them with more substantial houses having roofs of tiles. The mediæval way was to understand very clearly what ought to be, then to pass a law commanding that thing to be, and then to sit down, with the feeling that duty had been done.

The general regulations which governed the daily life are given under the heading of “Inquisitions at the Ward Motes”:—

“You shall present if the peace of his lordship the King has been broken, or any affray made within the Ward since the last Wardmote, and by what person or persons the same was done: or if any covin or assemblage against the peace of his lordship the King has been made.

Item, if there is any one resident or harboured within the Ward, who is not a lawful person, or not of good fame, or not under frank-pledge.

Item, if any woman of lewd life, or common scold, or common bawd, or courtesan, is resident within the Ward.

Item, if there is any oven, furnace, or defective reredos within the Ward, whereby it is likely that there may arise misadventure by fire; or if any persons use other fuel than wood or charcoal, against the Ordinance of the City.

Item, if any taverners, brewsters, hostelers, or chandlers, sell without measures sealed with the seal of the Alderman or of the Chamber of the Guildhall; and if any one of them sells against the Assize made thereon by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of the City; and if any one of them receives gamesters or other riotous persons after the hour forbidden by the Ordinance of the City; and if there are any persons in the Ward who are outlawed.

Item, if there is any huckster in the Ward.

Item, if any house in the Ward is covered with any other roofing than tiles, lead or stone, and none with reeds or straw.

Item, if there is any one whose practice it is to place filth in any streets and lanes within the Ward, and offensively before the doors of others.

Item, if any swine or cows are reared within the Ward, to the annoyance of the neighbours.

Item, if any leper is resident in the Ward.

Item, if any bargain of usury has been made within the Ward since the last Wardmote.

Item, if any purprestures are made in the streets or lanes, or upon the walls or fosses, of the City, or upon the Thames or other common soil within the Ward.

Item, if any baker of tourte bread bakes white bread, or the converse.

Item, if there are any persons in the habit of wandering within the Ward after forbidden hours, and in manner forbidden by the Common Council of the City.

Item, if any officer of the City has made extortion or affray within the Ward under colour of his office, to the wrong and detriment of any person; and what it is that has been so done, and how done; or if any person is a maintainer or champertour of litigation that is carried on within the Ward.

Item, if any person pays, or gives as wages unto, masons, carpenters, daubers, tilers, or any other labourers whatsoever, more than is ordained.

Item, if the ale-stake of any tavern is longer or extends further than is ordained.” (Liber Albus, Riley’s translation, p. 290.)

Then follows the regulation of various trades. The baker comes first, subject to so many rules and prohibitions that one is surprised to find any one willing to practise the mystery. Millers, brewers, and sellers of ale, are also taken under paternal surveillance. Usury is strictly forbidden—the frequency of the prohibition shows how powerless the law was to prevent it. The companies had Hall Motes, or meetings of their members, twice a year, at which their ordinances were to be read. No one was to take more than two or three apprentices, and then for a term of at least seven years. No one was to be wandering on the streets after curfew, unless he was a man of repute or his servant. No one was to carry arms in the City. Every Alderman was to keep a good watch on his Ward. None but free men were to be admitted to the freedom of the City. Wager of battle does not lie between persons free of the City, unless they consented thereto.

In addition to the Courts already mentioned, there were the Courts of the Sokes; that is to say, of those places which were outside the jurisdiction of the City; such were the places called afterwards Liberties.

The Iter, or Eyre, was a holding by the Justices Itinerant of the Pleas of the Crown, at which the citizens received, and had to answer a series of questions on, their Privileges, Customs, Liberties, and Rights. It was a Court which could be held in a day or two, without giving much trouble, or it was a Court which could be vexatious and oppressive to the highest degree.

John Carpenter is as full and explicit on the subject of the Iter as can be desired. He contemplated that it would be got through in a day or two. But it was a solemn and important function. The Justices sat in the Great Hall of the Tower; on the day appointed, all the laymen of the City were bound to meet at All Hallows at Barking, properly arrayed—“all the laymen”—does this mean the whole body of merchants, traders, and craftsmen? That might mean a company of 40,000 men! During the holding of the Pleas, no shop, seld, cellar, or solar was to be kept open, and nothing was to be sold. Evidently, therefore, the Iter was not expected to take long:—

“Also, upon the same day, by sanction of the Common Council of the City, there should be sent from Berkyngecherche six or more of the more serious, honourable, and discreet Barons of the City; who are to enter the Tower for the purpose of saluting and welcoming his lordship the King, his Council, and his Justiciars, on behalf of the City; begging of them that, if it so please his lordship the King, they may safely appear before them in the said Tower, saving all their liberties and customs unto the Mayor and all other citizens. For his lordship the King and all his predecessors, Kings of England, and their Justiciars, have always preserved unto all the citizens their liberties safe and unimpaired.

And further, the men before named should show unto his lordship the King, and unto his Council and his Justiciars, that, on behalf of his lordship the King, they ought to forbid any person to presume to keep ward at the doors or gates unless he be one of their own fellow-citizens, and by them thereunto appointed. Nor should any marshal or crier appear among their fellow-citizens unless he be one of their number, and acting by desire of the said citizens. For, in accordance with the liberties of the City, they ought, and of usage are wont, to have no porter, usher, marshal, or crier, except of their own number, and such persons as they shall think fit. All the gates and doors are to be kept open to the Barons and to all the citizens, so long as the Pleas of the Crown are being holden, to the end, that they may have free ingress and egress. For so it ought, and of usage is wont, to be.

After this, three men, discreet and moderate, should be chosen; one of them is to present unto his lordship the King, and unto his Council and Justiciars, in due order, such haps and mishaps concerning the Crown of his lordship the King as have occurred within the City, from the time when the pleas were last holden down to the present time: while the other two men are to remain standing by the said presenter, the one namely on his right hand and the other on his left. And if it should so happen that while thus making the presentment he becomes fatigued, one of these is to continue such presentment. And if by any chance he should commit an error in making the presentment, he must in a low voice be corrected by the two who are standing by, it being understood that no other person shall in any way presume to disturb or to correct such presenter, but only the two who are standing by him, in manner already mentioned. No tumult, no murmur, no strife, no debate with one another, is to be going on among the people while such presentments are being made; but all persons are to keep themselves quiet and without litigation, as they would preserve the honour and the liberties of the City, and to the end that the presenter may be heard by all and duly understood in peace.

It should also be known and kept in memory that, in the case of all things charged against the Barons and the community of the citizens, the answer to be made by the City is this—That although they may be fully instructed and certified how to make answer, still, they will not advisedly make answer thereto; but, after holding counsel and conference together thereupon, they will make answer by the Common Council, saving always the liberties of the City. And for the purpose of preparing such answers, four-and-twenty persons or more must be chosen from the Common Council, who shall forthwith proceed to hold a Common Council of the City for ensuring the safety and protection of the whole body of the citizens. And no stranger shall thrust himself among them, to hear the counsels of the City, so long as they shall be thus holding conference together thereon.

After the Justiciars of his lordship the King shall have handed and shown unto the Mayor and Barons of the City the articles pertaining unto the Crown, they shall immediately demand a fitting day, for the purpose of making due preparation and taking counsel thereon, to the end that they may be able safely to make answer to the said articles upon the day so granted unto them by the Justiciars; and that in the meantime they may be enabled discreetly to enrol and brief the same articles and their answers thereto.

From the four-and-twenty men or more before mentioned, four persons or more should be selected, of the Common Council of the City, to be associated with the Mayor for the purpose more especially of making answer to the charges and articles aforesaid. Also the Mayor’s Clerk, together with the Common Clerk of the City and the Sheriffs’ Clerks, shall be seated before them for the purpose of noting by way of memorial all such charges that are made; lest the same, through default of being so noted, should be lost in oblivion. And one of such persons must act as prothonotary; from whose notes all the others are to take copy, in setting down as well the King’s charges as the answers made by the community.

Also, as concerning the Sheriffs and Aldermen, provision must be made as follows:—The Sheriffs are to have their serjeants there present, and all the Aldermen the bedels of their Wards, becomingly and fairly arrayed and shod, prompt and ready to perform and fulfil the commands of the Mayor and Barons of the City, according to such injunctions as may be given to each; their capes, too, and cloaks laid aside, they are to be fairly arrayed in coats and surcoats, bearing straight white wands in their hands. Of these, too, four or more, as may be necessary, must be assigned to the office of keeping the gates and doors; as also two criers, and certain others who are to act as marshals, in fulfilling such duties as may be enjoined them. And if perchance any one of these should be an aged man, weak or infirm, or have sore eyes, then, at the common expense, another person must be substituted in his place, and of the same ward, efficiently to perform such duties. And as to such men, due precautions should be taken that they be seemly and proper persons, newly shaven and shorn.”

The following are “Articles touching his lordship the King”:—

“Of default made in appearing before the Justiciars. Of those who are at the King’s mercy, and have not been amerced. Of old Pleas of the Crown which have been formerly holden before the Justiciars, and have not been determined. Of new Pleas which have since arisen. Of youths of high parentage and of damsels, who are, and who ought to be, in the wardship of his lordship the King: in whose wardship they are, and through whom, and what is the value of their lands. Of escheats of his lordship the King; what such lands are, and who hold them, and through whom, and what is the value thereof. Of demesnes which are in the gift of the King, what they are, and who hold them, and through whom, and how much the lands thereof are worth. Of churches which are in the gift of the King, whether the same are vacant or not; which are such churches, and who holds them, and through whom. Of purprestures made upon the King, by land or by water, or elsewhere; what they are, and who has made them, and through whom. Of measures made throughout the realm; whether the same are observed in such manner as was commanded, and if any one has given reward to the wardens of such measures, that by measures they may sell or buy; and this is to be understood of all measures, as well of wine as of corn, and all measures (of length). Of wines sold contrary to the assize, and who has sold the same. Of treasures-trove, what they are, and who found the same. Of Christian usurers who have died, who they were, and what chattels they had. Of chattels of French or of Flemings, or of enemies of the King, that have been seized; what the chattels are that have been so seized, and who holds the same. Of chattels of Jews who have been slain, and of their debts, and deeds, and securities; who such Jews were, and who holds their securities or deeds. Of those who hold of the Honour of Pevrel in London and of Pevrel in Dover; who they are, and what land they hold, and by what service. Of outlaws, and burglars, and fugitives, and other malefactors, and of those who have harboured them. Of the seaports; if the same have been well-guarded, and if any one has carried corn or other things to the territories of the King’s enemies for sale. Of those who have taken lack of the thirteenths; who they are, and how much they have taken, and from whom. Of serjeants of hundreds or others who have taken reward from men on account of the thirteenths; who they are, and how much, and from whom. Of those who are wont to do injury in parks and piscaries; who they are, and where they have done so, and in what parks and piscaries. Of fugitives, if any one has returned since his flight. Of prises taken by Sheriffs or Constable, or by any Bailiff, against the will of those whose chattels were to be taken. Of forgers and clippers of the coin.”

But in the Iter of 4 Henry the Third there were only eighteen questions put to the citizens. Both questions and answers turn on points of law. It will readily be understood that such an inquisition was at all times irksome, and might be made tyrannical and intolerable. The Iter of 1321 was such an occasion. It was made to last for six months. One cannot suppose that shops were shut and nothing bought and sold for the whole of that time. The articles and questions submitted to the citizens were more than a hundred in number, and many of them required an investigation of more than twenty years back. In a word, the Justices had come to the Tower with instructions to make themselves as disagreeable as possible, to prolong the inquiries, raise objections, and make difficulties. They carried out these instructions, the citizens becoming more and more indignant. It was intended to prove that the City had been guilty of irregularities, such as to warrant the King’s taking it into his own hands.

Six months after the commencement of these proceedings, however, an insurrection was threatened in Wales. This made it desirable not to exasperate the Londoners any more, and the Iter was brought to a sudden close.

Let us, at this point, consider briefly the relations of London with the King. London, as we know already, except for a very brief period, had no over-lord except the King himself. This, one of her greatest privileges, caused the personal character of the Sovereign to be even more strongly felt by the citizens of London than by the rest of the Kingdom. In London, far more than in the rest of the country, the cause of order and authority rested upon the personal character of the King. If he were strong, the City was well-ordered; if he were weak, the City fell into disorder and confusion. Edward the First, when the City was manifestly beyond the control of the officers, deposed the Mayor for a time and governed the City by his own Warden till order was re-established. This power of the King over the City was not considered usurpation; it was part of the recognised order of things; every citizen knew that he was a servant of the King. On this point let me quote certain wholesome words of Cunningham (Hist. of Trade, p. 131):—

“Of all the cant which is current in the present day about history, none is more pernicious than that which despises the story of real personages and real events and busies itself about abstractions, which tells us that it is not concerned with kings and battles, but with the life of the people. It is true indeed that in modern times the life of the people can be treated apart from the consideration of the personal character of George IV. or William IV. But in the Norman reigns this was not the case; security for person and property, intercourse with other nations and commercial advance were directly connected with the personal character of the King; the life of the people was most deeply affected in every way by the strength or weakness of his disposition.”

The King’s revenue was made up of many distinct branches: (1) there were the Royal domain, manor, and estates scattered about the country and let to tenants; (2) there were the fines paid on great occasions; (3) pre-emption, that is, the right of buying what he pleased at his own price; when his purveyors bought goods exposed for sale this was called “prise”; (4) military tenures, by which for each five tithes of land the King might demand a knight’s services for forty days; (5) aids and fines, as on great occasions, such as the marrying of the King’s daughter; (6) the wealth of the Jews who were the King’s property; he was heir to their estates, and could without question seize on all they had; (7) Danegeld, which William continued; its name was changed but the tax remained; (8) tallages, which were aids in time of special need.

All the taxes were at first on estate. Henry the Second introduced taxation on movables. Sometimes it was a fifteenth. The nature of this tax may be imagined by supposing it to be imposed upon a trader’s stock at the present day. His stock is worth, suppose, £9000; he would pay £600 upon it. But he has a house with furniture, plate, pictures, and books which have accumulated for two or three generations. The contents of the house are worth, say, £3000. He would have to pay £200 on this account. He has £12,000 invested; he must pay £800 on the investments. He would have, then, to pay at one call £1600 in taxes. These taxes were not imposed all at the same time, nor on the same class; one year the clergy were called upon, another the knights, on another occasion the City of London would be taxed. It seems to us an arbitrary method; but then we have lost the sense of kingly authority. To our ancestors, whom we must not consider as prophets, it was a right and proper thing that a man should be called upon by the King at any moment to surrender a great slice of his property.

It was the first proof of a bad King that he demanded these aids too frequently. It was another proof that in spite of his aids he allowed the country to fall into disorder. At such times the hapless trader found it impossible to carry on his business in a country infested by robbers and over seas infested by pirates. Yet, even then, the King was still demanding more and more. The best, the only hope of the citizens was, not to be free from the King, but that the King should make his authority felt over them as well as over the country. They wanted a King like Henry the First, Henry the Second, or Edward the First. It was the greatest blessing to London that their Kings were, with one or two exceptions, strong and clear-headed men.

The King also exercised authority over the Moneyers and the Mint. Formerly there were mints in many places; we have seen how Henry the First treated those who debased the coin. Henry the Second kept the Mint in London, where he could control it more effectually. He also set up an office in the Mint for the exchange of foreign money: a great convenience to foreign merchants.

In the year 1312, letters were sent by the King, Edward the Second, to the City of London concerning the safe keeping of the City. The method of reception of a Royal Communication by the Mayor and Aldermen may be learned from Riley’s Memorials (p. 93). The following is the letter:—

“Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord, etc., to the Mayor, and Aldermen, and all the commonalty of our City of London, greeting. Forasmuch as we do confide very much in the loyalty that is among you, and the affection which you have towards ourselves, such as you ought to have for your liege lord; and, more especially, for the love which we have, and at all times have had, towards you, as you well know; we do pray you affectionately, and do command and charge you, strictly enjoining, on the fealty which unto us you owe, and as you wish to save your bodies, and your heritages, and whatsoever you have, from penalty of negligence as regards us, that you cause our City of London right safely and surely to be kept, in behalf of ourselves and of our heirs; that so no damage or peril may befall it—the which God forbid—for default of good and sufficient guard; and that our lordship and our estate be there saved in all points, without any manner of blemish, as we do especially trust in you, and as you would eschew peril unto yourselves. And understand so well this our command, and have it so tenderly at heart, that we may be able to praise you for the same, and that nought of our right, or of our lordship, in our City be lost, on peril of losing whatsoever unto us you may forfeit. Given under our Privy Seal, at York, the 21st day of January, in the 5th year of our reign.”

In addition to this general letter, the following letter was sent separately to the leading citizens, viz.:—

“To John de Gisorz. To John de Lincoln. To Thomas Romain. To Henry de Durham. To William Servat. To John de Wengrave. To William Trente. To Richer de Refham. To William de Leyre. To John de Burford. To Simon Corp. To William de Forneis. To William Walrain. To William Bidik. To Robert de Keleseye. To Stephen de Abyndone. To Ralph le Balancer. To Hamond Godchep. To Robert le Callere. To Edmond Lambyn.”

“Edward, etc., to our well-beloved John de Gisorz, our Mayor of London, greeting. As we have sent word unto you, to the Aldermen, and to the Commonalty, of our City of London, that among you and them, in whose loyalty we do greatly trust, for the affection which you have towards ourselves, as towards your liege lord, especially for the love which we have, and at all times have had, towards you and those of the said City; and as you would yourselves save your bodies, your heritages, and whatsoever you have to save, from penalty of negligence as regards ourselves, you do cause our said City right safely and surely to be kept in our behalf; that so no damage or peril may befall it—the which God forbid—and that our lordship and our estate may there be saved in all points, without any manner of blemish; and as we do know that you are the man in London by whose counsels is guided the manhood thereof, and are persuaded that the manhood of our said City will charge itself with the safe-keeping of the same our City, and most willingly would save it to the use of us and of our heirs, as is right; we do command and charge you, on the fealty which unto us you owe, and as you would wish to eschew the penalty aforesaid, that you use all diligence and all counsel as towards the said manhood of the City, and towards all those of our said City, who shall be most available towards the safe-keeping thereof, that they undertake such safe-keeping, and cause the same our City so safely and surely to be kept, in behalf of us and our heirs, that nought of our right, or of our lordship, be lost therein; and that so we may be able to perceive the diligence that you shall have employed herein; for the which we may be the more especially beholden to you. Given under our Privy Seal, at York, the 21st day of January, in the 5th year of our reign” (pp. 94-95).

In consequence of these letters, John de Gisors, the Mayor, called together the Aldermen and some of the commonalty of each ward on the Saturday after the Purification, i.e. on the 2nd of February. It is remarkable that only seventeen Aldermen are named in the list; that eight did not appear at the meeting; and that, of those to whom the separate letters had been written, only three obeyed the King’s special invitation.

However, at the meeting certain ordinances were passed for the repair and the safety of the walls and the gates and the quay. Elsewhere these and similar orders have been set forth.

These regulations passed, the Mayor sent a letter to the King:—

“Whereas, Sire, you have demanded of us by your letters that we should cause to be guarded and safely kept your said City in behalf of yourself and your heirs, according as is in your mandate contained; know, Sire, that of the same wish we ourselves are, and at all times have been, and always will be, to the best of our lawful power, if God so please. And we do let you know that your said City is in good condition, may God be thanked; and your people set in good array, according as the times demand; and that ordinance has been made to strengthen and to repair the gates, and the defaults in the walls, and divers other things which pertain to the safe-keeping of the said City, so speedily as ever the same may be properly done. Unto God, our most dear Lord, we commend you, and may he save you and keep you; and may he grant unto you a good life, and a long” (p. 97).

To this letter was appended a very singular and suggestive rider, which the bearer was instructed to lay before the King:—

“Under the first head:—that the murage which our Lord the King has granted to the City, and wherewith the old walls of the City ought to be repaired, strengthened and amended, is now spent upon the new wall behind the Friars Preachers at Castle Baynard, towards the Thames, by your command and nowhere else.

(Gisors’ Hall, Basing Lane, otherwise denoted Gerrard’s Hall Inn, the residence of Sir John Gisors, Mayor of London in 1245, 1246, and 1259; it descended to another Sir John Gisors, Mayor and Constable of the Tower, in 1311-1314; and was possessed by several of that family until 1386, when it was alienated by Thomas Gisors.) From Londina Illustrata.

The comparative wealth of London at the time of the Conquest is shown by the fact that the City was assessed for Danegeld at 1200 hides: that Westminster was assessed at 118 hides; and Middlesex at 853-1/2 hides; that London paid £120, Middlesex £85: 0: 6; and, one supposes, on the same scale, Westminster £11: 16s.

Though London was never separated in feeling or in fact from the country, though the sons of the country gentlemen came up to London and were there apprenticed, trade was carried on between London and the country with as many laws, restrictions, and regulations, as if the towns were in a foreign state. This was not due to jealousies of the City or the towns, but mainly in consequence of the authority of the over-lord. For instance, the customs of Chester with reference to “foreign” merchants—those of London were foreign—show three separate jurisdictions in the City: that of the King, that of the Earl, and that of the Bishops. Trade with the interior was chiefly conducted at the fairs. During the fair, the people came from all the country round, including those who, like the Friars in later years, roamed about the villages and farms selling small things.

Let us make a special inquiry into the contribution of London to the Royal treasury. There were the customs dues of the Port; the customs tolls of the City Gates and the City Markets, the “Stallages” of the tradesmen, the fines of foreigners, the dues of Billingsgate and Queen Hithe; some of these were paid to the Corporation and some to the King’s officers. Whenever the money was paid into the Exchequer, it was weighed and assayed. Thus, on one occasion the Sheriffs paid in £245 odd on account of money due. The coin was assayed and found 13d. in the pound short. On a second trial it was found 12d. in the pound short. Thereupon the Sheriffs demanded a third trial. The accounts were kept by means of tallies, and for counters they used Venetian shillings and gold besants.

Apart from the customs and the Crown lands, the King’s revenues were largely increased by Fines, Amercements, “Misericordia,” Aids, Scutage and Tallage, all of which were methods of profound interest to the City. As regards fines, there were fines for everything. They were inflicted in the shape of money, horses, wine, hawks, dogs, lampreys, robes, Flemish caps and other things. In the pages of Madox one may read how men paid fines for becoming an Alderman, for the right to succeed to a property, for the King’s help in recovering debts from the Jews, for permission not to plead except in a certain manner, for permission to plead at all, for permission to summon a man, for permission for a jury of matrons to inquire whether a certain woman has or has not borne a child, for an inquiry whether a man was out with John in rebellion, to examine into a pedigree, to inquire into old customs, for permission to move that certain persons ought not to sit on a Jury, for an inquiry whether a certain man was accused unjustly or not, for petitioning the King that the Itinerant Justices might visit a town, for speeding a cause, for delaying a cause, for leave to hold office, for leave to quit office, for leave to marry, for leave (for a woman) to remain unmarried if she pleased (for life, or for five years—a very great number of widows desired to remain unmarried), for leave to marry a certain woman (Geoffrey de Mandeville paid a fine of £20,000, certainly equal to half a million of our money, for leave to marry Isabel, Countess of Gloucester, with all her estates), for leave to form a Guild, to import and export, for the concord of a duel, for leave to have a servant.

Now and then the list of fines makes one wonder what story is hidden behind them. For instance, why was the wife of Hugh de Nevill fined for permission to stay one night with her husband? Was he in prison? Again, Reginald de Tewarden is fined twenty marks for permission to keep his lands after he had undergone the ordeal of hot iron unsuccessfully, and had abjured the country. He was proved guilty apparently. And was the fine of twenty marks thought the kind of penalty that would meet the case? William de Thievespathe—ominous name!—makes the same request for the same cause and with the same result. The iron, therefore, was sometimes hot. Another man, one Gospatric, pays twenty marks as a fine to escape the ordeal of hot iron. William of Sixteen Tale pays the large fine of £80 for wounding a priest: Robert, son of Hugh, gets off with £7: 2: 9—enough, however, to break a craftsman—for wounding “a man”; observe the difference between a man and a priest. Lawrence the Priest has to pay twenty marks “pro homine ementulato.” Who, again, was “Jeremy of London”? He took sanctuary, he refused to come out, they fined him a hundred shillings, and then? There is no more. Margaret FitzRoger has to pay a fine of £1000 before she can get at her inheritance, to wit, her father’s estate, her husband’s, her own dower, which her son has got, and be released from certain debts to the Jews. Sometimes the fine took the form of a bribe, as when Nathaniel Leveland, hereditary keeper of the King’s houses at Westminster and on the banks of the Fleet, sent in a fine of sixty marks for permission to keep that office, and Osbert de Longchamp paid the same fine for permission to take over those offices.

Every fine, whatever the amount, was either increased by a small sum or contained that small sum, which was called Aurum Reginæ, the Queen’s Gold. Thus when Thomas FitzAnther was forgiven his fine of ten marks, the Aurum Reginæ was at the same time remitted. In the year 1253 the City of London was called upon to pay up the Aurum Reginæ, part of the fine for receiving back their liberties, and in 1254 the Sheriffs were ordered to distrain for the amount.

Reliefs were simply arbitrary sums exacted by the King. The relief of the knight’s fee in the reign of Henry the Second was five pounds; that of a baron one hundred pounds. Scutage was, as its name denotes, an assessment of the knights’ fees.

Tallage corresponded more closely with our modern taxes. The City, ordered to make up so much money, assessed its lands separately at so much, which the Aldermen of each portion was bound to collect by assessing all the free men in his ward. In some cases, private merchants, those known to be wealthy, were separately assessed. Thus in one tallage Hugh de Basing is assessed at twelve marks, Thomas de Plaines at ten marks, William FitzAdam at a hundred shillings. Sometimes the King’s officers are separately assessed, as when the moneyers of London, Archard, Lefwine Besant, and Ailwine Finch, were ordered to pay respectively a hundred shillings, five marks, and two marks.

The tallage of the City in the year 1226 has been preserved. I copy it here from Thomas Madox (History of the Exchequer):—

“William filius Benedict, r. c. de xxxv. marcis, de Warde Fori. Andrew Bukerel, r. c. de xxx l. xvii s. viii. d., de Warde sua. Michael de Sancta Elena, r. c. de C & vii. s. & x. d., de Warda sua. Joceres Fitz Petri, xxxii. l. xviii. s., de Warda sua. Robertus filius Johannis (debet), iiij l. xvij s. & iiij d., de Warda sua. Johannes Viel (debet), xxj l. & xiij s., de Warda sua. Ace le Mairener, r. c. de xxvij l. & xx. d., de Warda sua. Rogerus Blundus, r. c. xxviij l. xi. s. & v. d. & ob., de Warda sua. Stephanus le Gras Waleran (debet), xi. l. & xij. s. de Warda sua.

Warinus filius Nicholai, r. c. de xiiij l. & xiij s., de Warda sua. Ricardus de Russye (debet), xj l. & iiij s., de Warda sua. Ricardus Raynger, r. c. de xiiij l. x. s. & iiij d., de Warda sua. Radulfus Sperling, r. c. de ix. l. & viij s., de Warda sua. Radulfus Steperingg, r. c. de vj l. & vj s., de Warda sua. Gilbertus filius Fulconis (debet), xix. s., de Warda sua. Walterus de Insula, r. c. de L xxiiij s., de Warda sua. Portsoken (debet), xxiiij s., de Warda sua. Johannes Travers, iiij l. xvj. s., de Warda sua. Petrus filius Rogeri, iiij l. xviij s., de Warda sua. Jacobus Blundus, viij l. xj s. & x. d., de Warda sua. Bassushag, xxxiij s., de Warda sua. Rogerus Burserius, r. c. de L s., de Warda sua. Johannes de Solarijs (debet), xxviij s. & iiij d., de Warda sua.” (Note 5, vol. i. p. 709.)

We also find the City disputing the right of the King to tallage them. Madox relates the story:—

“In or about the 39th year of King Henry III. it was provided by the King’s Council at Merton, that the King should tallage his Demeanes in England towards the great Expenses he had been at in foreign Parts. The citizens of London being called before the King and his Council at Merton about tallaging the City, Ralf Hardell, the Mayor, with several others came, and the King demanded of them a Tallage of three thousand Marks. When they had consulted with their Fellow-citizens, they came and offered two thousand Marks by way of Aid, saying, They could not, nor would give more. Upon this the King sent his Treasurer, Philip Lovell, with others to St. Martin’s to receive of the City a fine of three thousand Marks for Tallage, in case they would enter into such Fine, and if they would not, then they were ordered to assess the Tallage per Capita. The City refusing to enter into that Fine, the Treasurer and the other Commissioners were about to assess the Tallage per Capita, ordering the Citizens to swear concerning the Value of each other’s Chattells. The Citizens refused to make such Oath, or to declare upon the Faith they owed to the King the Value of each other’s chattells. So the Treasurer and other Commissioners came back re infecta. Afterwards the Citizens came before the King and his Council at Westminster on the Sunday after Candlemas. It was there disputed whether this should be called a Tallage or an Aid. The King ordered Search to be made, whether the Citizens had formerly paid Tallage to the King or his Ancestours. Upon Search, it was found both in the Rolls of the Exchequer and of the Chancery, that in the 16th year of King John, the Citizens were tallaged at two thousand Marks, to have the Interdict taken off; that in the 7th year of King Henry III. they were tallaged at one thousand Marks; that in the 26th year of the same King, they paid one thousand Marks by way of Tallage; and that in the 37th year, they gave one thousand Marks and xx Marks of Gold by way of Tallage. Afterwards, on the Morrow, the Mayor and Citizens came and acknowledged, that they were talliable, and gave the King three thousand Marks for Tallage.” (Vol. i. p. 711.)

In this chapter I have shown, by the aid of John Carpenter, that by the end of the fifteenth century the days of “Uncertain Steps” were passed away. The New Order, which gave the power and authority of the City more and more into the hands of the Commonalty, has now become well defined and established; it is the constitution of the City; the old feuds have vanished; the old City families have disappeared; the craftsmen no longer go about bellowing that they are the Commons; they are reduced to order every one in his own Company, and every man knowing his place in his Company; the place of the craftsman is one of obedience; he has been educated by the Company, apprenticed by the Company, made a freeman of the Company; he works in accordance with the rules of the Company; he is paid according to its rules; when he is old he will be a pensioner in the Company; should he die young his widow and children will be the care of the Company. And instead of the former government of the City by hereditary right, the City is now governed by the forms of popular election, with safeguards, by elected Aldermen, elected Sheriffs, elected Common Council, and elected Wardens as Masters of the Companies. And as to the share which the craftsmen possessed in the elections the less that question was raised the better it was for the order and the security of the City.