English Economic History: Select Documents

by Unknown

24. Royal Letters Patent Overruled by the Custom of the Staple [Early Chancery Proceedings, 11, 289], c. 1436.

To the reverend father in God the Bishop of Bath, Chancellor of England.

Meekly beseecheth your servant, Hugh Dyke, that whereas our lord the King on the second day of December in the fourteenth year of his reign, considering the great kindness which the said Hugh, William Estfield and Hammond Sutton did to him, and specially for that they then granted to lend to our said lord the King the sum of 8,000 marks, and our said lord the King wishing graciously to favour the same William, Hammond and Hugh in this behalf, by his letters patent, by the advice and assent of his council in his Parliament, granted and gave license to the same William, Hammond and Hugh, that in the sale of their wools at the town of Calais they should be preferred before all other merchants there to the value of the sum aforesaid, and that they and every of them, or others in their name whom the said William, Hammond and Hugh would name hereto, might freely sell their wools aforesaid to the value aforesaid within your said town to what person soever and in what manner soever they should wish, before the other merchants aforesaid, and retain by them the sums forthcoming thence without any restriction or partition to be made thereof in the Staple of Calais among the merchants of the same, any statute or ordinance made to the contrary notwithstanding, as is more fully contained in the said letters; and although one Thomas Ketyll, servant to the said Hugh, at the commandment and will of his master, sold a sarpler of wool to a stranger for the sum of 12l. 5s., to have and enjoy to him without any restriction or partition to be made thereof, as parcel of the sum aforesaid, nevertheless Thomas Thurland of Calais, because the said Thomas Ketyll would not deliver the said sum of 12l. 5s. to put the same in partition in the Staple, put him in prison and detained him for a long time contrary to the tenour of the letters aforesaid to the prejudice of our lord the King and the great damage and loss of the said Hugh and Thomas Ketyll. Wherefore please it your benign grace to grant a writ of subpœna directed to the said Thomas Thurland to appear before you in the Chancery of our lord the King upon pain of 30l. to answer as well our lord the King as the said Hugh and Thomas Ketyll touching the premises, and to do right to the parties, by way of charity.

25. Prohibition of Export of Materials for Making Cloth [Guildhall, Letter-Book E, f. 167],[232] 1326.

Edward by the grace of God, King of England, etc., to our well-beloved Hamon de Chigewelle, Mayor of our city of London, greeting. We have read the letters that you have sent us, in the which you have signified unto us that Flemings, Brabanters and other aliens have been suddenly buying throughout our land all the teasels that they can find; and also are buying butter, madder, woad, fullers' earth, and all other things which pertain to the working of cloth, in order that they may disturb the staple and the common profit of our realm; and further, that you have stopped twenty tuns that were shipped and ready for going beyond sea, at the suit of good folks of our said city; upon your doing the which we do congratulate you, and do command and charge you, that you cause the said tuns well and safely to be kept; and if any such things come into our said city from henceforth, to be sent beyond sea by merchants aliens or denizens, cause them also to be stopped and safely kept, until you shall have had other mandate from us thereon; and you are not to allow any such things to pass through your bailiwick, by reason whereof the profit of our staple may be disturbed. We have also commanded our Chancellor, that by writs under our Great Seal he shall cause it everywhere to be forbidden that any such things shall pass from henceforth out of our realm, in any way whatsoever. Given under our Privy Seal at Saltwood the 21st day of May, in the 19th year of our reign.

[232] Printed in Riley, Memorials, 149.

26. Commercial Policy [Political Songs and Poems, Rolls Series, II, 282], temp. Edward IV.

For there is no realm in no manner degree
But they have need to our English commodity;
And the cause thereof I will to you express,
The which is sooth as the gospel of the mass.
Meat, drink and cloth, to every man's sustenance
They belong all three, without variance.
For whoso lacketh any of these three things,
Be they popes or emperors, or so royal kings,
It may not stand with them in any prosperity;
For whoso lacketh any of these, he suffereth adversity;
Whiles this is sooth by your wits discern
Of all the realms in the world this beareth the lantern.
For of every of these three by God's ordinance,
We have sufficiently unto our sustenance,
And with the surplusage of one of these three things
We might rule and govern all Christian kings.
For the merchants come our wools for to buy
Or else the cloth that is made thereof surely,
Out of divers lands far beyond the sea,
To have this merchandise into their country.
Therefore let not our wool be sold for nought,
Neither our cloth, for they must be sought;
And in especial restrain straitly the wool,
That the commons of this land may work at the full.
And if any wool be sold of this land,
Let it be of the worst both to free and bond,
And none other in [no] manner wise,
For many divers causes, as I can devise.
If the wool be coarse, the cloth is mickle the worse,
Yet into little they put out of purse
As much for carding, spinning and weaving,
Fulling, roving, dyeing and shearing;

And yet when such cloth is all ywrought,
To the maker it availeth little or nought,
The price is simple, the cost is never the less,
They that worketh such wool in wit be like an ass.
For and ye knew the sorrow and heaviness
Of the poor people living in distress,
How they be oppressed in all manner of thing,
In giving them too much weight into the spinning.
For nine pounds, I ween, they shall take twelve,
This is very truth, as I know myself;
Their wages be bated, their weight is increased,
Thus the spinners' and carders' avails be all ceased.

27. The Perils of Foreign Travel [Court Roll, 178, 104, m. 3d.],[233] 1315.

The King sent his writ to the bailiffs of the abbot of Ramsey of the fair of St. Ives in these words:—Edward by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine, to the bailiffs of the abbot of Ramsey of the fair of St. Ives, greeting. Whereas, on the frequent complaint of our beloved cousin, Alice countess Marshal, representing to us that lately by our licence she caused a ship about to sail to the parts beyond seas to be laden with jewels of gold and silver and other her goods and chattels to the value of 2000l., to be taken thence to the said parts to await her coming there; and that John Crabbe, master of a ship of The Mew, Miles of Utenham, Christian Trilling, Crabekyn, nephew of John Crabbe, John Labay and John Winter, together with certain other evildoers of the parts of Flanders, met the aforesaid ship so laden on its way towards the said parts on the sea between Boulogne and Whitsand, and in hostile manner took and carried away the same ship so laden with cloths, jewels and other goods aforesaid, and still detain the same jewels and goods of the aforesaid countess, to her no small damage and loss: we many times requested Robert, count of Flanders, by our special letters to hear the plaint of the aforesaid countess on the premises, to be set forth to the same count by her or her proctor or attorney in this behalf, and thereupon to cause full justice to be done to her touching the said cloths, jewels and other goods so carried off; whereupon the same count afterwards wrote back to us, saying that he had caused certain of the aforesaid evildoers to be punished, and was ready to hand over the others whom he might secure to due punishment, as reason should permit. But, because the aforesaid count delayed to show justice to the said countess touching the restitution of the cloths, jewels and goods aforesaid according to the form of our aforesaid requests, we afterwards thought fit to require him divers times by our special letters to cause due restitution or suitable satisfaction, as right should require, to be made to the same countess for the cloths, jewels, goods and chattels aforesaid. And though the count has received our letters aforesaid and has been many times requested with great diligence on behalf of the same countess by her attorneys or proctors to cause full justice to be done to her in the premises, nevertheless he has neglected to do anything therein at such our requests, although a great part of the same goods had come into his hands, but has altogether failed to show her justice, as the mayor and aldermen of our city of London have made known to us by their letters patent sealed with their common seal.