CHAPTER VI
THOMAS BETSON
A. Raw Material
1. The Stonor Letters and Papers, 1290-1483, ed. C.L. Kingsford (Royal Hist. Soc., Camden, 3rd Series), 2 vols., 1919. The Betson correspondence is in vol. II.
2. The Cely Papers, selected from the Correspondence and Memoranda of the Cely Family, Merchants of the Staple, 1475-88, ed. H.E. Malden (Royal Hist. Soc., Camden 3rd series), 1900.
I am much beholden to the excellent introductions to these two books, which are models of what editorial introductions should be.
3. The best introduction to the history of the Company of the Staple is to be found in Mr Malden's aforesaid introduction to The Cely Papers, which also contains a masterly account of the political relations of England, France and Burgundy during the period. I have constantly relied upon Mr Malden's account of the working of the Staple system. Other useful short accounts of the wool trade and the Stapler's Company may be found in the following works: Sir C.P. Lucas, The Beginnings of English Overseas Enterprise (1917), c. II; and A.L. Jenckes, The Staple of England (1908).
B. Notes to the Text