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.