Also,—that no one shall pay more to the workmen aforesaid, on pain of paying 40s. to the Commonalty, without any release therefrom; and he who shall take more than the above, shall go to prison for forty days....
Also,—that one person of every company may see that the vessel into which their wine is drawn is clean, and from what tun their wine is drawn; on pain of imprisonment, and of paying to the Chamber, for the first time, half a mark; for the second time, one mark; for the third time, 20s.; and every other time a person shall be found in like default, let his fine be increased by half a mark.
Also,—that the measures shall be standing upright, and sealed with the seal of the Alderman of the Ward; and he who shall sell by other measures, let him go to prison, and further, be amerced in half a mark.
Also,—that the pelterers shall make their furs according to the ancient ordinances, of olden time ordained, and according to the purport of their Charter; on pain of forfeiture and punishment for the same, as of old ordained.
Also,—that no one should go to meet those who are bringing victuals or other wares by land or by water to the City for sale, for the purpose of buying them or bargaining for them, before that they shall have come to certain places assigned thereto, where they ought to be sold; on pain of forfeiture of the victuals and other wares, and of their bodies being committed to prison, until they have been sufficiently punished, at the discretion of the Mayor and Aldermen.
THE CHARTER TO THE DRAPERS (1364).
"Draper" originally meant a cloth-maker, not, as now, a dealer in cloth. In the Middle Ages the drapers both made it and sold it, but gradually their particular work was confined to supervising the manufacture and selling the finished article. The Drapers' Gild must have been one of the earliest associations of craftsmen, and was incorporated by royal charter in 1364. One of the most important features of this charter seems to be the instruction that the mistery of drapery should be definitely separated from those of the tenterers, tellers, and fullers; it appears to have been impossible to exercise proper supervision in a trade which involved so many different operations, and the remedy was obviously to split it up into several trades, each of which might have its own organisation.
Source.—Herbert, Livery Companies, vol. i., p. 480.
The King, to the Mayor and Sheriffs of London, greeting. Whereas, amongst other things ordained in our last parliament, it was for certain causes proposed, and in the same parliament ordained, that no English merchant should use merceries or merchandizes by himself or another by any manner of covine, unless one only, and which he should choose before the feast of Candlemas last past, as in the said ordinances is more fully contained.