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The Origin, the Organization
Location of the Staple of England
A Thesis presented to the Faculty of Philosophy of the
University of Pennsylvania
BY
ADALINE L. JENCKES
In Partial Fulfilment of : the Requirements for the Degree
of Doctor of; Philosophy
'illLADrLMlIA, 1908
mm
The Origin, the Organization
Location of the Staple of England
A Thesis presented to the Facuhy of Philosophy of the
University of Pennsylvania
BY
ADALINE L. JENCKES
In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree
of Doctor of Philosophy
PHILADELPHIA, I908
CONTENTS
Chapter I
PAGE
The Origin and Orgfanization of the Staple 5
Chapter II
The Officers 25
J Chapter III
g The Methods of Conducting the Business 32
Chapter IV
The Location 40
Appendix 5Q
Bibliography 81
437202
THE ORIGIN, THE ORGANIZATION AND
THE LOCATION OF THE STAPLE
OF ENGLAND.
CHAPTER I.
THE ORIGIN AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STAPLE.
The Staple of England played an important part in the
life of the nation from the middle of the thirteenth to the
middle of the sixteenth century. Having as it did a monop-
oly of the export of the richest natural products of the realm,
its enormous trade made it a potent factor in England's early
commercial development. The customs derived from the
goods exported through it, formed a large part of the national
income. The very great wealth of the merchants of the
Staple made it, as an organization, a financial power which
was utilized by the crown not only to furnish money for minor
military operations, but for nearly a century to pay the gar-
rison at Calais and to keep the walls of that city in repair.
The dependence of the industrial cities of the Low Countries
upon the chief of all its exports, wool, brought the Staple
very early into contact with international affairs. Flanders,
Brabant, Holland, Zealand, Artois, each country was eager to
have it located within its own territory, and the Staple figured
frequently in the treaties, especially with Flanders, before the
capture of Calais secured for it a location on the continent
free from all international disturbances.
The object of this study is to throw some light on what
the English Staple was, to explain its organization and
methods of business, and to follow the changes in location to
which it was subject from time to time.
5
6 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
Etymologists agree in deriving the word staple from the
Low German stapel,^ through the Old French estaple or etaple.
A stapel was a heap or pile ; a store-house where goods were
laid out in order; a mart.'' In the documents of the four-
teenth century the word evidently means a public market
where foreign merchants were obliged to offer their goods for
sale.3 The droit d' estaple was a monopoly possessed by
some city, especially of a maritime country, over the traffic
of a river or a group of rivers, by which it could compel all
merchants passing up or down the river to offer their goods
for sale in public market for the benefit of its inhabitants,
before taking them elsewhere/ This form of monopoly was
well established in the thirteenth century. In 1178 the mer-
chants of Ghent complained that the town of Cologne tried
to enforce the right of staple upon them in their passage up
' Du Cange; Littre; Skeat. The idea of fixedness runs through all the mean-
ings of the Low German. (Skeat.)
* Archives de Bruges, vol. iv, no. 924, p. 291 quod vos plenum posse
habeatis hujusmodi locum forensem stapel vocatum, transferendi ....
* Ibid., vol. iii, no. 735, p. 229. Cum sepedicti mercatores dicte hansie
Almanie a tempore dictarum commotionum in dicto regno nostro minima fre-
quentarunt, ymo staplam et forum, siue congregationem et ateruum mercimoniarum
suarum aliquin apud Durdrest in Holandia et alibi extra regnum nostrum situarunt,
tenuerunt, et vendidenmt.
*Ibid., vol. iii, no. 815, p. 360 (1323). Item, que toute maniere dauoir
venant dedans le Zwin quelque jl soil, ancois que Ion le vende ou achate, viendra
a son droit estaple a Bruges et non ailleurs, dont estaple sera; se ce nest auoir que
Ion peut mectre sus au Dam par ainsi que les marchans laiment la mieulx a mectre
sus que i Bruges. Cest assauoir vins, velues denrees, etc.
Item, que Ton tiengue ^ I'Escluse nul estaple de draps, ni taille de draps, etc.
Item, que nul eslrainges homs, ne nul de I'Escluse, ne autres, ne porra bois
meltre sus k I'Escluse, pour estaple tenir, anQois vendra toute maniere de bois i
son droit estaple. (Letters of Louis de Nevers, Count of Flanders, regulating the
maritime jurisdiction of his cities of Bruges and I'Ecluse and the staple of Bruges.)
Ibid., vol. ii, no. 568, p. 142; ibid., vol. vi, no. I122, p. 53; ibid., no. 1287,
pp. 444-5; no. 1 301, pp. 458-9. The merchants of the Hanse had taken their
wares overland to the fair at Antwerp; Bruges complained that her right of staple
had been violated.
/bid., Tables et Glossaire, Gloss, flam. V", stapel, pp. 612-3.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 7
the Rhine;' while in 125 1 the city of Ghent found an injus-
tice in the tribute which the city of Bruges levied on all traffic
on the Zwin through the right of staple, and undertook to
remedy it by building a canal to the sea, on which there
should be no staple. ^ The right of staple was exercised at
Dordrecht in Holland, 3 at Bruges, "♦ Mechlin, "* Ardenburg^
and Damme ^ in Flanders, and at Antwerp in Brabant, ^ all
before 1300. But this practice of creating in a certain town
a monopoly of traffic, was not limited to the continent ; for in
1 29 1, Edward I of England made provisions for a staple of
wool, leather and skins to be held in each of sixteen towns
within his dominions. ^
In addition to these local staples in the Low Countries and
in the British Isles there was, during almost the whole of the
period which we are studying, a special Staple in some one
of the continental towns, for the sale of English merchandise.
Sometimes this English Staple was abolished on the continent
and located in the realm. It is this Staple which is the sub-
ject of this paper. Just what relation this English Staple
bore to the staple of the town where it was located, it is not
possible to say ; it seems, however, even in its beginnings,
to have been entirely distinct from it and to have been
moved from place to place at will.'
'Wamkoenig, Histoire de la Flandre, vol. ii, p. 427, Piece Justificatif.
^ Archives de Bruges, Introduction, p. 464.
'Melis Stoke, Chronicler of Holland, iv, 243-4; see Davies, History of Hol-
land and the Dutch Nation, vol. i, p. 112.
^ Ibid., iv, p. 244; see Davies, vol. i, p. 117; Meyer, Annal. Fland., an" 1296;
see Kervyn de Lettenhove, Histoire de Flandre, vol. ii, p. 388.
* Warnkoenig, vol. ii, p. 204.
^Archives de Bruges, Introduction, p. 465.
^Rymer, Foedera, O. ed., ii, 206.
'Hist. MSS. Com., 14th Report, App., pt. viii, p. 6; MSS. of the Corporation
of Lincoln.
'Melis Stoke, iv, 243-4; see Davies, vol. i, pp. 112, 117; Cal. of Pat. Rolls,
1301-1307, p. 435; Cal. of Close Rolls, 1307-1313, p. 293, etal.
There is some evidence that there were in these countries at the same time other
8 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
The connection between this English Staple across the
Channel and the staples in the home towns is also obscure.
There is no doubt that they existed at the same time. When
in 1 29 1 Edward I assigned staples to certain towns in Eng-
land, Ireland and Wales,' the English Staple was, and had
been for six years, at Dordrecht in Holland;^ also in 1312,
the king in council ordained that the merchants should buy
their wool, leather and lead in the home staples,^ while at the
same time the foreign Staple was being held at Antwerp. ♦
We know that in 1371, during a period when the English
Staple was located in the realm but abolished on the con-
tinent, it was granted by parliament that a staple should be
held at Melcombe.s In 1427, when the Staple was at Calais,
parliament granted that Melcombe should be made a port
from which merchandise of the staple could be shipped. ^
staples that might be called " secondary staples," for the king more than once
ordered the merchants to go to some other town than the one where the Staple
was located. For example, in 1299, while the Staple was still at Bruges, the
merchants were ordered to go with their wool to Antwerp, as they used to do.
C. P. R., 1292-1301, p. 423. But the Staple was not removed to Antwerp until
some years later. Moreover, while it was at Antwerp a similar order was issued
with regard to Ardenburg in Flanders. C. P. R., 1301-1307, p. 435. See also
Rymer, Foedern, O. ed., ii, 737, for a staple at Mechlin at the same time as at
Bruges. In 1341 wool was shipped to a staple at Antwerp, although a charter
had just been granted establishing the English Staple at Bruges. C. C. R., 1341-
'343» P- 299; Rymer, Foedera, II, iv, 109. [Unless otherwise specified, refer-
ences to the Foedera will be to the Hague edition.]
'^ Hist. AfSS. Com., 14th Report, App., pt. viii, p. 6, MSS. of the Corporation
of Lincoln.
' Melis Stoke, iv, 243-4; see Davies, vol. i, pp. 112, 117; RjTner, Foedera,
R. ed., ii, 737.
^Annates Paiilini, Chronicles of Edward I and II, vol. i, p. 312. (Rolls
Series.)
* Comptes de la ville de Bruges, 1305, fo. 13; see Kervyn, vol. iii, p. 160;
C. C. R., 1307-1313.?- 293-
'Rot. Pari., vol. ii, p. 304a. Et . . . in Parlement estoit accorde & assentu qe
un estaple soit mys & tenue a la Ville de Melcombe.
^ Statutes of the Realm, 6 Henry VI, c. 6. Every Merchant . . . may freely
ship . . . Merchandises of the Staple in the Port of Melcombe, in the County
of Dorset, and from thence ... to the Staple of Calais.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 9
The records also show that in 1377 a staple was removed
from Queensborough to Sandwich;' in 1378 and also in 1455
there was a staple for wool at Westminster;^ in 1404 a staple
was appointed at Ipswich and also at Lynn ; 3 and in 1445
Southampton was made a staple town.* These places are all
seaports with the exception of Westminster, which has the
neighboring port of London. As there was a Staple at Cal-
ais in 1377, 1378, 1404, 1445 and 1455,^ it is possible that
these English ports were made places from which the mer-
chandise of the staple could be shipped to Calais, as in the
case of Melcombe, and that from this they were called staple
ports, or simply, staples. If we consider merely that the ex-
port of merchandise of the staple was limited to certain ports
where the customs and duties were collected, then the con-
nection between the foreign Staple and these staple ports
would be one which had reality only in so far as it had to do
with the royal Exchequer. But if, on the other hand, they
were not only export towns, but also markets where the mer-
chants had to go with their goods before exporting them,
then the question arises, was there any connection between
these local home staples and the foreign English Staple in
the matter of organization? The records of Southampton
show that this town, at least, was not created a staple merely
for the export of merchandise of the staple, and also that it
had an independent organization of the staple.^ Southamp-
* Rot. Pari., vol. iii, p. loa.
*C. P. R. , 1 377-1 38 1, p. 293; Rot. Pari., vol. v, p. 334b.
'Rot. Pari., vol. iii, p. 560b.
*nist. MSS. Com., nth Report, App., pt. iii, p. 45; Southampton MSS.
* Chapter iv, pp. 49-50.
®Hist. MSS. Com., nth Report, App., pt. iii, p. 45; Southampton MSS.
Letters Patent of concessions to the Mayor and Burgesses of Southampton.
"That the said town shall be henceforth and forever 'una stapula tam ad recog-
niciones debitorum in eadem stapula juxta formam Statuti Stapule in eadem stapula
accipiendas, quam ad omnia alia ad hujus modi stapulam pertinencia ibidem facienda
et exercenda,' and that on Friday before the P'east of St. Matthew the Apostle,
lO THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
ton probably was not an exception. Doubtless all the local
staples in the home towns had a similar organization inde-
pendent of that of the English Staple, whether it was in a
foreign land or within' the realm.
When in 1616 new staples were to be erected in Ireland,
the charters which had been in force in 1496 for the govern-
ment of the staples in England were taken as models, in
order to insure uniformity.' It is probable that there were
home staples at least during the entire period after 1353.''
The Staple should be distinguished from the fair and from
the weekly and monthly markets. One distinguishing char-
acteristic is that while the latter were periodical, the Staple
was continuous. This idea of its permanence comes out in
the application of the word to the town itself where the Staple
was held, which after a time was called a " staple town " ; we
hear also of the " staple laws," " staple merchandise " and
" staple merchants " or " staplers."
In every English town where there was a Staple, there were
definite bounds within which it was held. If the town was
walled, the Staple was bounded by the walls ; if unwalled,
then it was coterminous with the town. 3 The part of the
town where it was held came also to be known as the
"staple;"* for example, we read in the statutes that the
staple of Westminster extended from Temple Bar to Tuthill.s
Within the bounds of the staple certain buildings were set
in each year, the said Burgesses and their successors forever shall have power to
elect from amongst themselves a person to be mayor and two persons to be con-
stables of the said staple for the ensuing year."
' Cal. of State Papers, Carew, 1603-1624, p. 320, no. 163.
*The Roll of the Staple from which the Ordinance of the Staple (27 Edw. Ill,
St. 2) is printed contains the appointment of the several mayors and constables of
the staple throughout the kingdom for every year from the 27th to the 50th
Edw. Ill [1353-1377], Statutes of ike Realm, vol. i, p. 341, Note.
»S. R., 28Ewd. Ill, c. 15.
*Littr6; itape, anciennement, nom donn6 aux places publiques, oil les mar-
chands 6taient obliges d' apporter leurs marchandises, pour les ymettre en vente.
'S. R., 28 Edw. Ill, c. 15.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND I I
apart as store houses for the staple merchandise;' as the ;
property owners were tempted to ask too high a rent for their j
houses, it was fixed at a reasonable amount by four discreet
men of the town together with certain officers of the Staple. '
The merchandise which was sold in the English Staple con- 1
sisted of the raw products of the realm, the chief of which \
were wool, wool-fells, leather, lead and tin. These were ■
known as the " five great staple articles." 3 Kdward III added
worsted cloth, feathers, cheese, butter, honey, osiers, peltfies
and tallow. •♦ Osiers, peltries and tallow appear only in the
list of the year 1376, ^ and feathers are not mentioned after
that year. Honey is not heard of after 1397;^ worsted cloth
was dropped in 1402 ;7 butter and cheese continued on the
list until 1440, when permission was granted to export these
articles without regard to the Staple since they were so per-
ishable and brought so low a price that the merchants com-
plained that they could not bear the costs of the Staple. ^
The manufacturing cities of Brabant, Flanders and Artois
consumed the largest amount of English wool, and it was
natural, therefore, that the foreign Staple for English mer-
chandise should be located in those lands. This began to be
the practice some time in the latter half of the thirteenth
century. 9 As far as can be judged from the meagre records
of this period, until the year 13 13 the king of England chose
which city in these lands should be granted the privilege of
* The word staple was doubtless used also for the store-houses where the mer- !
chandise was kept; in a list of buildings and other works being constructed in
Bruges in the early fourteenth century, there was mentioned " I'^tape de la laine."
Archives de Bruges, Introduction, p. 445.
^S. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c. 16.
* Ibid., 27 Rich. II, c. 17.
* Rymer, Foedera, III, i, 32; iii, 47. *> Ilnd., Ill, iii, 47.
«S. R., 27 Rich. II, c. 17. "i/bid, 2 H. VI, c. 4.
^Ibid., 18 H. VI, c. 3. <
^Melis Stoke, iv, 244; see Davies, vol. i, pp. 112, 117; Rymer, Foedera, I,
iii, 168, 181; C. C. R., 1318-1323, pp. 234-5.
12 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
having the Staple of England located in it. ' This arrange-
ment of one continental market for the raw products of Eng-
land did not arise from the initiative of the merchants ; in
fact great numbers of them evaded the ordinances which
were issued for them to attend it. * At first they were not
fined for disobeying, and consequently much wool was smug-
gled out of the country and taken elsewhere than to the
Staple, to the injury of those merchants who did attend it.
By the fourteenth century these evasions had become very
serious, and in 13 13 a charter was obtained for the purpose
of preventing this abuse. It was given " at the request of
both native and alien merchants," as the native merchants
afterwards claimed. 3 This charter granted to the "mayor
and communalty of the merchants of the realm " the right to
choose the place in Flanders, Brabant or Artois where the
Staple should be held, and to which all the wool merchants
were required to go. To the mayor and a council of the
merchants was granted power to convict and fine those guilty
of infraction of the charter. ^
The questions naturally arise, who were these merchants
of the realm, and why did they attend the Staple while other
merchants would not do so unless under compulsion?
There were in England certain of the merchants of the
realm, both native and foreign, whom the king was accus-
tomed to call to consult with him in his council concerning
loans, customs and subsidies, grants of wool and other matters
'C. P. R., 1292-1301, p. 423; ibid., 1301-1307, p. 435; C. C R., 1307-
1313, p. 293. Comtes de la ville de Bruges, 1305, fo. 13; see Kervyn, vol. iii,
p. 160.
* Ordinance of the Staple, Appendix, pp. 59-61. C. P. R., 1313-1317, pp. I5i
56; 1317-1321, p. 477; C. C. R., 1323-1327, p. 9, et at.
»C. C. R., 1318-1323, p. 234.
* Breve Domini regis de stapida lanarum, Appendix, pp. 61-2. This docu-
ment, which is a letter patent, is always referred to in later documents as the
" Charter of 20 May, 6 Edw. H." An ordinance was issued on the same day to
compel the merchants to go to the Staple chosen by the mayor and the merchants
of the realm. C. P. R., 1307-1313, p. 591.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 1 3
touching their trade and the king's need.' These were prob-
ably the richest and most influential of the wool merchants.
When parliament gave the king a grant of wool, he negotiated
with these merchants for the sale of it.' Sometimes he sold
it to them outright, at other times he arranged with them for
a certain part of the proceeds, after they had sold it in the
continental market. They were habitually spoken of as the
" king's merchants " ^ or the " merchants of the realm."
When they had the king's wool to sell, they were obliged to
take it to the market which he established ;■♦ and it was
because of the injury done to them and through them to the
king, by not attending the same market, that the other mer-
chants were compelled to go there also. Those merchants
of the realm who sold the king's wool formed, then, the
nucleus of the famous English Company known in later times
as the Mayor, Constables and Fellowship of the Staple ; and
out of their organization grew the organization of the Staple.
It is obvious from the charter that the merchants already
had some slight degree of organization. The whole body of
" merchants of the realm" constituted a comnnmitas ; they
were evidently in the habit of acting together, and they had
a major .^ We know that the charter did not create the office
of mayor, since a few months before it was given, a " mayor
of the merchants of the realm " had been sent on a diplo-
matic errand to the count of Flanders.^ The charter also
mentions a council of these same merchants ? with which the
»C. C. R., 1313-1318, p. 258; 1318-1323, p. no; 1327-1330, p. 157; 1333-
1337, p. 60, et al ; C. P. R., 1321-1324, p. 198; Rymer, Foedera, II, i, 163.
»C. C. R., 1341-1343, pp. 204, 227, 255-62.
' C. P. R., 1272-1281, pp. T,2,o-/\oo, passim ; I292-I30i,p. 366; 1307-1312,
pp. 204, 412, 515, ei al.-, C. C. R., 1272-1296, 1307-1313, /««m.
*C. C. R., 1318-1323, pp. 234-5; 1341-1343,^?. 227, 612.
"The Staple was to be ordained and assigned "per majorem et communitatem
dictorum mercatorum de regno nostro." Breve Domini regis. Appendix, p. 61.
«C. C. R., 1307-1313, p. 568.
' Consilium eorundem mercatorum. Breve Domini regis, Appendix, p. 61.
14 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
mayor was to act in cases of infringement upon the rights
granted. There is no indication whether the council was a
new institution or whether it had existed before.
It was these special " merchants of the realm " whom the
king chose to sell his wool, who first attended the Staple.
The center about which they were organized was the king;
they were primarily the " king's merchants." But after 1 3 13
the other wool merchants also went to the Staple. The
records begin to speak of the " Merchants of the Staple." *
The Staple became the center about which they were organ-
ized, and with this change there came gradually a change in
the title of the mayor to " Mayor of the Merchants of the
Staple," or simply " Mayor of the Staple."^
In 1327 there was no foreign Staple, but there was a
domestic staple in each of sixteen home towns. There
was one mayor for them all. The ordinance which was issued
to regulate the business of the staple gives no indication of
any further development, at this time, in its internal organi-
zation. 3
The next ordinance is that granted in 1341, when the
Staple was set up in Bruges. This gives the impression of a
much greater degree of organization. There were by this
time constables associated with the mayor; the election
of officers was regularly provided for, and special provision
made for the administration of justice for all merchants who
attended the Staple. The minute directions for the methods
to be pursued in exporting wool show that the object for
which the Staple was ordained had not been lost sight of.*
A statute of the year 1353, called the " Statute of the
Staple," 5 is the most important document that is known deal-
•C. P. R., 1313-1317, P- IS; C. C. R., 1323-1327, pp. 9, 564, etal.
»C. C. R., 1318-1323, p. 234; 1323-1327, pp. 14, 378; C. p. R., 1313-
1317, p. 15; 1317-1321, p. 477; 1324-1327, pp. 13, 301.
'C. p. R., 1327-1330, pp. 98-9. * Appendix, pp. 62-5.
55. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 1 5
ing with the organization of a local or home staple. It was
given when, for the second time, there were home staples,
but no English Staple on the continent; after this date it was
always put in force, with but few changes or additions, ;
whenever there was a similar situation. This ordinance
shows that in each town where there was a staple, the ;
merchants who attended it were entirely distinct from the <
townsmen. They dwelt by themselves in certain streets and
houses set apart for them;' they elected their own officers,
who governed them according to royal ordinances,^ and who
judged them according to Law Merchant, ^ not according to
common law. A certain distinct body of usages had grown
up about the staple which amounted to laws, and all mer-
chants swore to see these maintained;"* offenders against the!
laws of the staple were confined in a separate prison,^ and
no officer of the crown could take cognizance of anything
touching the staple.^ These are some of the early steps in
the development of the Company of the Staple. Later \
records show that the Company could hold property, ^ that it \
had a seal,^ and that it was granted the right to sue.' ^
Without doubt the merchants became a chartered Com-
pany sometime in the reign of Edward III, but no charter of
incorporation has been found of earlier date than that granted
the Company by Queen Elizabeth in 1561.'° The merchants
themselves, however, claimed that they had been incorporated
by Edward III." In 1347 the Staple was removed to Calais,
when the title of the Company became the " Mayor, Con-
' S. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c. 16. » Ii>iJ., c. 21. » /6id., c. 8.
^ Ibid., c. 23. ''Ibid., c. 21. * Ibia., cc. 5 and 6.
'In 1513 the Mayor, Constables and Merchants of the Staple of Calais were
granted a license to acquire lands to the yearly value of ^{^300; C. S. P., Let. and
Pap., For. and Dom. , 1509-1514, Henry VIII, vol. i, p. 653, no. 4381.
"S. R., 43 Edw. Ill, c. i. The local staple in the city of York had a seal as
early as 1327. C. C. R., 1327-1330, p. 134.
» S. R., 27 H. VI, c. 2. lo Appendix, pp. 66-74.
"C. S. P., Dom., 1651-1652, p. 472, nos. 42 and 43.
1 6 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
Stables and Fellowship of the Staple of Calais." ' A charter
of liberties was granted the Company by Richard II and con-
firmed by Henry IV, Henry VI,' Henry VHP and Edward
VI. ■♦ As all the charters and patents of the Company were lost
when Calais fell into the hands of the French, a new grant was
sought from Elizabeth. This was given in 1561,5 under the
title of the " Mayor, Constables and Society of the Merchants
of the Staple of England." This charter was confirmed by
James I, in 1617.^ A new charter of incorporation was given
to the Company by Charles II in 1669,7 and it still exists
under it. The Company was, in 1887, an association of
about thirty members ; it maintained nominally some of its
officers, and owned stock to the value of about 4250;^, from
which annual dividends were paid. But the reason for its
I existence had been lost long ago. It was no longer a mer-
/ cantile association ; its character had changed to that of a
■ club, meeting occasionally for social purposes.
We have no knowledge of the qualifications for admission
into the Company.^ There was probably an entrance fee,
but no mention is made of it until late in the sixteenth cen-
tury, when it was lOO marks.' Very little is also known of
'C. S. P., Dom., 1651-1652, p. 472, nos. 42 and 43.
* Schanz, vol. ii, no. 116, p. 539 ff.
* Ibid.; also no. 135, p. 589 ff. *■ Ibid.
'Appendix, p. 67. 'Appendix, pp. 74-78.
^ Mayor, Constables and Company of the Aler chants of the Staple of England
vs. The Governor and Company of the Bank of England. 21 Queen'' s Bench
Division, 160 (Nov. 8, 1887).
*No man could become a merchant of the local staple of Waterford, Ireland,
unless he was a freeman of the city, or an Englishman, or else " had his liberte of
the kynge." The mayor and constables of the staple of Waterford could not re-
ceive anyone into the freedom of the staple without the advice of the merchants of
the staple present, and especially of ten or twelve of the council. Hist. MSS.
Com., loth Report, App. v, p. 306. Acts and Statutes of the City of Waterford
(1469).
* H. O. Star Chamber Proceedings, Henry VHI, vol. ix, p. 23. Printed by
Schanz, vol. ii, no. 125, p. 558. In the seventeenth century there was some
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND I7
the rights and privileges of the Staplers ; but freedom to
cross the sea at will was evidently a legal right possessed
by them from early times.' In 1327 the king forbade
English merchants to leave the kingdom unless they be-
longed to a staple;- and in the fifteenth century, when there
was war between England and France, merchants going to or
coming from the Staple at Calais were exempt from seizure,^
The Staple was not by any means purely a royal expedi- '
ent, although it was so in a great measure. But it was the
merchants who, in 13 13, asked to have a single Staple on the
continent established for English products.* There were, it
is true, complaints against it at various times. Twice the
king abolished all local home staples, once in 1328,^ and
once in 1334;*^ but they were soon in operation again, and ap-
parently with little or no protest from the merchants. But a
reason for maintaining the continental Staple, even when the
foreign merchants complained that it was contrary to their
right to freedom of trade,^ was because it could be made in
various ways to serve the ends of government.
1 It was to a large extent a political agent. In 1285 Edward
I transferred the Staple of English merchandise from Bruges,
in Flanders, to Dordrecht, in Holland, because of hostility
shown by Marguerite and Guy of Flanders, although he ad-
mitted that " ni les portez, ni les arrivages de Holland, ne
complaint about the excessive fee of admission. In 1616 the Chancellor, Sir
Francis Bacon, warned the towns in Ireland which were being erected into staple
towns, not to make it too high. C. S. P., Carew, 1603-1624, p. 329. In 1619
the mayor of Lincoln complained to the council that the rate of admission into
the Company was so high that none in Lincoln could become freemen of it, and
asked that the wool staplers reduce the fee. C. S. F., Uom., 1619-1623, p. 35.
'C. S. P., Dom., 1566-1579, Addenda, p. 434, no. 109. " Further, the very
laws of England, by an especial proviso in that old servile statute, gave . . .
liberty to pass and repass the seas at pleasure, being free of the staple." Ibid.,
p. 494, no. 49.
» Rymer, Foedera, R. ed., II, ii, 705. ' Ibid., IV, ii, 19.
*C. C. R., 1318-1323, pp. 234-5. ^S. R., 2 Edw. Ill, c. 9.
*Rot. Pari., vol. ii, p. 377b. ' C. C. R., 1318-1323, p. 234.
lO THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
sont mie si bons, ni si connus des mariners come ceux de
Flandres." ' Ten years later, seeking an alliance with the
count of Flanders, he withdrew the Staple from Dordrecht
and placed it at Bruges again.' At another time one of the
things granted to the count in a temporary peace was that
the Staple of wool at St. Omer, in Artois, should be sus-
pended while the truce was in force ;3 but as the time drew
near for the truce to expire, its extension was purchased by
the still greater concession of a Staple set up within the very
territory of the count, at the city of Bruges.* In 1338, when
Edward III was trying to detach Louis de Nevers from his
French alliance, he gave power to his ambassador, the count
of Guelders, to propose to Louis the re-establishment of the
Staple of English wool in Flanders ;5 and two years later,
when the communes had yielded him their allegiance, he gave
notice " that in consideration of the aid rendered and prom-
ised to him in the towns of Ghent, Bruges and Ypres, and
the communes of Flanders, the king, with the assent of his
parliament at Westminster, promises that he will establish a
wool-staple at Bruges. . . . " ^
But the Staple was primarily a financial agent. It furnished
the machinery for supervising the export of wool, and thus
was a check upon the frauds of the custom officers ;7 it also,
for much of the time while it was located in Calais, was
directly responsible for the collection and disbursement of
all the customs on staple merchandise. This came about in
the following way. At about the beginning of the fifteenth
century the government began to borrow from the Company
of the Staple, which was then located in Calais, certain sums
' Rymer, Foedera, I, iii, i8i.
' Melis Stoke, iv, 434; see Davies, vol. i, p. 117.
»C. C. R., 1323-1327, p. 9.
^-Ibid., p. 378; C. P. R., 1324-1327, p. 134.
''Rymer, Foedera^ II, iv, 37; C. P. R., 1338-1340, p. 193.
^ /bid., pp, 511, 512-3. ''Chapter iii, pp. 37-8.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND I9
of money to pay the officers and soldiers of the garrison in
that town.' Sometimes their wages were so much in arrears
that the soldiers siezed the wool in the Staple, and held it
until the merchants redeemed it by advancing the money for
their pay.^ This was so disastrous to the wool trade that in
472 the Mayor and Company of the Staple entered into am
agreement with the king by which the soldiers should be
paid directly by the Company.3 A grant was made to the
Staplers for sixteen years, of all the customs and subsidies on
the wools and fells shipped from England to Calais ;■♦ the
Company then became responsible for the wages of the
officers and soldiers of the garrison, for the fees of certain
royal officers, 5 and for the expenses of the convoy of the
wool fleet. This grant was renewed in 1487^ for another
term of sixteen years, and again in 1503.^ In 15 16, however,
the grant then running was canceled and a new one made for
a term of twenty years.^ But the wool trade was already de-
clining in the sixteenth century; the company was not able
^Rymer, Foedera, IV, i, Il6; Pro. & Ord., vol. iii, p. 67; Rot. Pari., vol. v,
dp. 297, 550, 629.
'Pro. & Ord., vol. iii, pp. 67-8, vol. v, p. 203. In 1456 the soldiers being
owed great sums by the king, they took from the Mayor and Merchants of the
Staple at Calais 26,050 marks of the money coming from the sale of wool and
wool-fells. The king ordered certain merchants who owed him for customs to re-
pay the Mayor and Merchants. Rot. Pari., vol. v, p. 297b.
' The following is an account given by the Staplers of the manner in which this
came about. At one time during the wars between Henry VI and Edward IV,
the soldiers at Calais had not been paid for three years. They thereupon seized
the Staplers and shut them up in a house until they promised to pay them the
arrears in their wages. Br. Mus., Cotton, MSS., Tiberius, D. VIII, fo. 16.
Printed by Schanz, vol. ii, no. 129, p. 566.
*Rot. Pari., vol. vi, p. 55 ff.
* These officers were: The Customer and Controller of the great custom in the
port of London, and the king's Judges, Sergeants and Attorney. Rot. Pari., vol.
vi, p. 55 ff.
*Rot. Pari, vol. vi, p. 395 ff.
' S. R., 19 II. VII, c. 27; Rot. Pari., vol. vi, p. 523 ff.
*S. R., 7 H. VIII, c. 10.
20 THE STAI-LE OF ENGLAND
to observe the terms of the grant, and in 1535, being heavily
in debt,' they were released from the contract and a new
license to export granted them for a term of five years, under
easier conditions. Instead of paying a certain yearly sum
for the privilege of exporting wool, they now were permitted to
pay the customs on the actual number of sacks shipped ; but
they were to continue to pay the expenses of the garrison at
Calais, and to fulfil their other obligations.'' This license was
renewed in 1541,^ and again in 1542,'* for one year. In
15535 a license was granted for two years, when it was re-
newed for fifteen years,*' under the same conditions of paying
the garrison.
But to pay the soldiers at Calais was not the only use to
which the Staple was put; it was also a convenient source
from which the king could obtain money without asking
parliament for it.^ While the Staple was located at Calais it
'The king agreed to cancel their debt of ;^I3,033 and arrears of ;^I388 5^.
2}/^d. in exchange for _i^io,ooo, and all their lands and houses in Calais and the
Marches and the County of Guisnes, except Staple Hall and their prison house;
their lands were considered to be worth ^^40 sterling a year. C. S. P., Let. &
Pap., For. & Dom., 1535, Henry VHI, vol. ix, p. 240.
« Ibid.
' Ibid., 1540-41, vol. xvi, p. 217; Pro. & Ord., vol. vii, p. 109.
*C. S. P., Let. & Pap., For. & Dom., 1542, H. VHI, vol. xvii, pp. 20, 55.
^ Acts of the Privy Council, 1552-1554, p. 83.
'Rymer, Foedera, VI, iv, 34.
'In 1342 Edward III ordered the Mayor of the Staple at Bruges to pay ^800
to redeem Queen Philippa's crown. Rymer, Foedera II, iv, 135.
The following is a partial list of the sums borrowed from the Company of the
Staple :
i343,''_^50,ooo per year for three years, C. P. R., 1345-1348, p. 19; 1346,
40,coo m. per year for two years, C. P. R., 1345-1348, pp. 133, 277, 569;
1407, ^'4,000, Rymer, Foedera, IV, i, Ii6; 1423, ^^4,000, Pro. & Ord., vol. iii,
p, 67; 1 44 1, ;^ 1 0,000, ibid., vol. V, p. 164; 1455, ;i^2,530 15^. M., Rot. Pari.,
vol. V, p. 297; i46i,;!(^i,ooo, C. P. R., 1461-1467, p. 54; 1463, ;^6,926 75. 4</.,
ibid., p. 271; 1464, £ii,Z(}\, Rot. Pari., vol. v, p. 550b; 1464, ;i^i,ooo, C. P.
R., 1461-1467, p. 378; 1465, ;if 11,728 19^.2!^^/., ?"i52V/.,p. 438; 1467, ;^io, 000,
Rot. Pari., vol. v, p. 629a; 1471, ;^20,276 8^., C. P. R., 1467-1477, p. 270;
1525. ;^6,500, C. S. P., For. & Dom., 1529-1530, H. VIII, p. 3090; 1529,
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 21
contributed largely, in this way, toward keeping the defenses
of the city in repair,' and it also furnished the means for
carrying on minor military operations on the continent.'
The money thus obtained was, however, in the nature of
loans, and was generally repaid from the customs and sub-
sidies on wool.3
Another very important use made of the Staple was to
regulate the circulation of coin in England.-* The monetary
condition of the country was in great confusion during the
;^i,ooo, C. S. p., Let. & Pap., For. & Dom., 1531-1532, H. VIII, p. 316; 1555,
;^i2,ooo, C. S. P., For., 1553-1558, p. 193. After 1472 the Company was pay-
ing annually ;^I0, 022 4^. 8^/. for the garrison at Calais; ;[^I00 for the salaries of
the controller and custom officer at London; ;i{^i,ooo for the salaries of the king's
judges, sergeants and attorney, and also the expenses of the convoy of the wool
fleet. Whatever surplus there remained from the customs after these expenses
were paid, was handed over to the king. Rot. Pari., vol. vi, pp. 55 ff, 395 ff;
S. R., 19 H. VII, c. 27; 7 H. VIII, St. i, c. 10. In 1482 this surplus amounted
to ;^8,ooo. Cely Papers, pp. 98, 113.
' The Treasurer of Calais promised to try to borrow money from the merchants
of the Staple towards repairing the walls and towers of Calais. Pro. & Ord., vol.
V, p. 400 (1439). The Staple furnished money for the repairs of Calais and for
buying ordinance. C. S. P., Let. & Pap., For. & Dom., 1509-1514, 11. VIII,
p. 516, no. 3832; for paying the workmen for flooding the marches at Calais, and
^500 toward the works; i&id., 1540, p. 355; 4^. on every sack of wool and ICO
fells toward countermuring the town; idu/., p. 340; ;i{^2,ooo for the repairs of
Calais; Brit. Mus., Cotton. MSS., Faustina, E., \ai, fo, 41. Printed by Schanz,
vol. ii, no. 128, p. 564. One of the frequent complaints in parliament was that
licenses granted to export wool elsewhere than to the Staple were the cause of
such a falling off in the customs that the soldiers were not paid, the castle and
walls were not repaired, the town was not maintained, and the city was destroyed.
S. R., 14 H. VI, c. 2; 20 H. VI, c. 12; 27 H. VI, c. 2; Rot. Pari., vol. ii, p.
323a.
*The Staple loaned, in 1430, 3,500 m. to pay archers sent to the aid of Paris;
Pro. & Ord., vol. iv, p. 52; in 1433, 2,000 m. for the siege of St. Wallery; MJ.,
p. 178; in 1442, ;^50o to pay the soldiers of Guisnes; ifiiJ., vol. v, p. 200.
When the captains of Calais made an expedition, the Mayor of the Staple kept
watch in the town with one hundred billmen and two hundred archers of the mer-
chants and their servants, taking no wages from the king. Rot. Pari., vol. ii, p.
3S8b.
*See references p. 20, note 7; above, notes i and 2.
* This subject is fully treated by Ochenkowski, Englands ■wirischaftliche Ent-
■wickelwig, pp . 1 87-2 1 7 .
22 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
middle ages. One of the evils was the steady outflow of the
national coin, while in its place there circulated many different
kinds of foreign coin, brought in by the merchants. As long
as the merchants evaded the ordinance of 1 3 1 3 and took
their wool to any foreign market they chose, there was no
way to prevent them from bringing back much of this foreign
coin. An expedient was tried which finally, through the
Staple, brought some measure of success.
Every merchant exporting wool was obliged to give secur-
ity that he would bring back within three months, for each
sack of wool exported, a plate of silver worth two marks.' The
merchant took the plate to the exchange in the Tower of
London and redeemed his two marks of security.'' But this
regulation d'id not stop the evil. Specie still flowed out of
the country, while the merchants brought back only a small
part of the proceeds of their sales in the form of bullion;
most of it came back in foreign coin. In 1423 the govern-
ment prohibited any specie being taken out of the realm,
except to pay the soldiers at Calais, or for ransoms.3 The
laws which obliged all exporters of staple merchandise to
take their goods to the Staple at Calais were then enforced
with increased penalties.'* It was also decreed that for all
the goods sold in the Staple, payment should be made in
gold or silver bullion, which was to be taken to the mint in
Calais, and a certain proportion of it changed into English
coin.5 The merchants were also prohibited from making a
loan to any purchaser of staple merchandise in Calais, of any
part of the money received by them for their goods, but
were obliged to take it all back into the realm " without
' In 1391 Parliament required, instead of a plate of silver, an ounce of gold
bullion; Rot. Pari., vol. iii, p. 28sa; and in 1399 an ounce of gold of foreign
coin. Ibid., pp. 340a, 429a.
'S. R., 14 Edw. Ill, St. I, c. 21; C. C. R., 1341-1343, pp. 223, 314.
»S. R., 2 H. VI, c. 6. 'Ibid., 8 H. VI, c. 17.
^ £(i out of every 12 marks, ;^5 out of every 10 marks, and £,s, out of every 8
marks, were to be thus converted. Ibid., 8 H. VI, c. 8.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 23
subtelty or fraud."' By a statute of 1442, one-third of the
bulHon was to be converted into coin of the realm at the
mint at Calais, and taken back into England."" This require-
ment was a burden on the merchants, and they petitioned to
be released from it ;3 but they were relieved only for a time * as
in 1463 parliament ordained that the wool should be paid for
one-half in English money and one-half in plate or bullion.
The coin was to be taken at once into England, and the plate
or bullion coined at the mint in Calais and taken into England
within three months.^ "About a century later, in a petition of
the Staplers for a new license to export, one of the articles
was, that they should not be compelled to bring in any
bullion.^
The state of the mint at Calais affected the circulation of
specie in England, and the rise and fall of the mint depended
on the amount of trade at the Staple. The statutes contain
many complaints that the mint at Calais was " desolate and
destroyed " because merchants were not taking their goods to
the Staple. 7 In this relation between the Staple and the
' S. R., 8 II. VI, c. 18.
"^ Ibid., 20 H. VI, c. 12. ^ Ibid., pp. 216-7.
♦Pro. &Ord., vol. v, pp. 215-6. *S. R., 3 Edw. IV, c. I.
«C. S. P., Let. & Pap., For. & Dom., 1539, H. VIII, vol. xiv, pt. ii, p. 357,
no. 819. A petition of the commons in Rot. Pari., vol. iv, pp. 125 ff, shows
another plan which was once proposed for accomplishing this object, of providing
the realm with English coin. All foreign merchants trading at Calais were to be
obliged to change their money at the mint for English coin. Out of this they
were to pay for the merchandise bought at the Staple, and the English merchant
would thus be provided with coin of the realm instead of foreign coin. Before
leaving Calais for home each English merchant was to have his money placed in
a purse and sealed by the Treasurer of Calais, and an indenture of the sum made
out, one part of which was to be retained by the Treasurer. The other part was
to be taken by the merchant to the mayor of London, who should then compare
the sum in the purse with that named in the indenture. If the amounts agreed the
merchant was to be allowed to depart. Once a year the Treasurer at Calais was
to turn in to the Exchequer all the indentures retained by him, which were to be
compared with those turned in by the mayor of London. This plan evidently
never went into operation.
'S. R., 21 R. II, c. 17; 8 H. VI, c. 17; 10 H. VI, c. 7.
24 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
inflow of specie into England may be found one of the ex-
planations of the exceedingly heavy penalties inflicted for
taking staple merchandise elsewhere than to the Staple at
Calais ;' and also the chief reason why the Staple remained at
Calais uninterruptedly from 1399 until the town fell into the
hands of the French.
* Rot. Pari., vol. iv, pp. 251b, 359a; vol. v, p. 54a; vol. vi, p. 164a; S. R.,
8 H. VI, c. 19; 14 H. VI, c. s; 18 H. VI, c. 15; 4 Edw. IV, c. 2.
CHAPTER II.
THE OFFICERS OF THE STAPLE.
The chief officers of the Staple were a Mayor and two
Constables. The Staplers claimed that there were officers of
the staple as early as 1267,' but there is no proof of it.
We do know, however, that there was a Mayor in the year
1313,^ and that this was the only officer of the Staple ^ men-
tioned until 1 341. In 1326, when the Staple was abolished ^
in Flanders and set up in sixteen different places in England,
Ireland and Wales, there was still but one mayor for all the \
local home staples.* But by the charter of 1341, when the '
Staple was once more established at Bruges, Constables
were appointed to act with the Mayor ;s and in 1353, when
the foreign Staple was again abolished and the domestic sta-
ples set up, a Mayor and two Constables were appointed for
every place where there was a staple.^
Several minor officers were attached to the Staple from
time to time as its organization developed. In 1353 a num-
ber of " Correctors " were ordained in every place where a
local staple was held, whose business it was to record the bar-
gains made between buyers and sellers; but no merchant
need employ a Corrector unless of his own free will. To
'Chapter i, p. 15.
'C. C. R., 1307-1313, p. 568; C. P. R., 1307-1313, p. 591; Breve Domini
regis, Appendix, pp. 61-2.
'C. C. R., 1318-1323, pp. no, 186, 187; 1323-1327, pp. 14, 378; C. P. R.,
1313-1317. PP- 15. 56; 1317-1321, PP- 239,477. 489; 1324-1327. PP- 13. '34-
Ordinance of the Staple, Appendix, pp. 59-61.
*C. C. R., 1323-1327, p. 564. ^ Rymer, Foedera, H, iv, 109; see Appen-
ds. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, ch. 21. [dix, p. 63.
25
26 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
insure impartiality, part of the Correctors were denizens and
part foreigners. They were not salaried officers, but were
paid by the merchants who employed them, and were for-
bidden to engage in trade while they held office. They
gave security before the Mayor and Constables to perform
their duties lawfully.' The conduct of the business in the
staples required in each place a certain number of such
laborers as workers in wool, winders, packers and porters."
There were certain other officers who do not appear until
much later, in connection with the Staple of Calais; they are
the " Lieutenant," " Broucours," " Weyers," " Potters,"
*' Tresourers," "Clerkys,"3 " Collector," '^ " Master," 5 and
" Marshal." ^ The Lieutenant supplied the place of the
Mayor, who was much of the time in England.^ No mer-
chant could hold the office of Mayor, Constable, Lieutenant,
Treasurer or Collector of the Staple of Calais who was a res-
ident of Calais or of any place outside of the realm.^ The
Mayor and Constables, both of the foreign and of the home
staples, took their oath of office in Chancery ; all other officers
and servants of the Staple were sworn before the Mayor.9
We do not know whether the early Mayor of the Staple
was an elected or an appointed officer; but in 1326, when
the Staple on the continent was abolished and there were
only the home staples, his election was given to an assembly
of merchants. Writs were sent out to the mayors, bailiffs,
citizens and burgesses of those cities and tow^ns where the
staples were to be held, ordering them to choose from each
place tu'o of the richest dealers in wool, wool-fells and
leather, who were to go to London and there elect a mer-
' S. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c. 22. ^ Ibid., c. 23.
'C. P. R., 1461-1467, pp. 275-6. ♦Rot. Pari., vol. iv, p. 59.
. *C. S. P., For. and Dom., 1531-1532, H. VIII, vol. v, p. 381, no. 805.
* Ibid., 1517-1518, H. VIII, vol. ii, pt. i, p. 1448. The wages of the Marshal
were 505. a quarter.
'Appendix, p. 65. 'Rot. Pari., vi, p. 59b.
»S. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c. 23.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 27
chant to act as Mayor of the staples.' The power to elect
was gradually extended. The first Mayor and Constables
under the charter of 1341 were appointed by the king, for
life ; but the merchants of the realm were given from that
time full power to remove them for suitable cause, and when
they died, to fill all vacancies.' When in 1353 a Mayor and
two Constables were ordained for each staple place, the king
again had the appointment of the first incumbents ; but the
election of the Mayor was then made annual, and was given
to the communalty of the merchants, both denizen and alien.3
He was eligible to re-election. Somewhat later the Consta-
bles also became annual officers.''
The salaries of the Mayors and Constables were fixed by
ordinance in 1354. While there had been one Staple, and
that in a foreign country, there had been but one Mayor, and '
he had received a certain sum a year.s But when, in 1 3 5 3 , thi s
Staple was abolished, and a Mayor and two Constables were
appointed in each of the domestic staples, 8d. per sack was
assessed on all wool exported, and the receipts in each staple
given to the officers in that place. This plan did not prove
>C. C. R., 1323-1327, p. 564. 'Appendix, p. 63.
' S. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c. 21. In 1429 parliament ordained that the then
acting Mayor of the Staple at Calais should continue in office for two j'ears, " for
certain great and notable causes concerning the Honour of our Soverign Lord the
King and the common weal of all his Realm." S. R., 8 H. VI, c. 25. The Mayor
and Constables of the local staple of Southampton were elected by the burgesses,
not by the merchants of the staple. See chapter i, p. 9, note. In some cases the
Mayor of the town in which a local staple was situated was also Mayor of the
staple. This was so in Bristol. Wm. Hunt, Bristol, p. 77 (Historic Towns
Series). In Waterford, Ireland, not only was the Mayor of the town the Mayor
of the staple, but the Sheriffs of the town were the Constables, and the Gaoler of
the town was the Marshal of the staple. Hist. MSS. Com., lolh Report, App. v,
pp. 282, 284. Municipal Archives of Waterford.
* Co7tfir>nation by Henry VI of Charier of Richard II ; printed by Schanz,
vol. ii, no. 116, p. 539 ff.
^The Mayor of the Staple also received, in addition to his salary, one-third and
sometimes one-half the forfeiture paid by those merchants who were found guilty
of evading the ordinances and shipping wool elsewhere than to the Staple. Ap-
pendix, p. 64; S. R., 8 H. VI, c. 19.
28 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
satisfactory, as some got too much and some not enough.
It was therefore ordained that a tax of 4d. per sack should
be levied in each place on all the wool exported. If at the
end of the year the tax at one place amounted to more than
enough to pay the salaries of the officers there, the surplus
was used to pay the salaries in some place where the tax was
not sufficient. If anything then remained it went to the
common profit of the Company to buy new weights, etc.
The salaries at the different home staples varied consider-
ably; for instance, the Mayor of Westminster received lOO^
per year, and the Constables lo marks each; the Mayors of
York, Kingston-on-Hull, Norwich and Winchester 2o£, and
the Constables lOOs. each; the Mayors of New Castle-on-
Tyne, Chichester and Exeter \o£, and the Constables 5
marks each. If a Mayor or Constable, after having been
elected, refused to serve, he forfeited to the Company a sum
equal to his salary.'
The duties of the Mayor and Constables were both execu-
tive and judicial. As to the first they had a general over-
sight of all the business transacted in the Staple and saw to
it that all the ordinances of the Staple were enforced. When
the Staple was located across the channel, it was their duty
to see that no wool was brought into the Staple which had
not been sealed with the king's seal " cocket" and paid duty
at the place of export. For this purpose they had to be
present at the port of entry, and inspect every cargo before
it could be unloaded ; they must view the weighing of the
wool, and receive and forward to the Exchequer the part of
the indenture brought by the ship master from the custom
officer.* It was also their duty to inquire for all merchants
who took their cocketed wool elsewhere than to the Staple,
and if they were found within the bounds of the Staple, to
* S. R., vol. t, p. 343. Ordinance of the Fees of the Mayor and Constables of
(he Staple. Rot. Stapule de anno 28 Edw. Ill, m. 17.
*C. C. R., 1341-1343, pp. 190, 314, 393; C. P. R., 1343-1345. P- 273-
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 29
arrest and imprison them until they paid their fines of 60s
per sack. They could levy a reasonable tax on the merchants
when the business of the Staple required it. They also had
power to appoint deputies to govern in their absence when
they went to England, as they were obliged to do once or
twice a year, to consult about the management of the Staple.'
When there was no foreign Staple, but the several staple
places within the realm, it was their duty to give certificates
to the merchants for their wool, wool-fells and leather, and to
seal with the seals of the Mayor and at least one of the Con-
stables, every sack of wool which left a staple ; and also to
make indentures with the custom officers for all wool, wool-
fells and leather exported.^ If a staple was in an inland
town, the merchandise could not be taken to the place of ex-
port until it had been certified by the Mayor.^
It was also the duty of the staple authorities to have a
supervision over the storehouses for the merchandise of the
staple and to see that excessive rent was not charged for
them.-* They protected the merchants, both native and
foreign, from infringements on their liberties ; they could also
arrest and try any royal officer who attempted to take prises
within the bounds of a staple,^ or to levy purveyance on the
goods of any foreign merchant.^
But by far the most important duty of the Mayor and
Constables was the administration of justice. They had juris-
diction over all pleas for debt, contract and trespass whether
committed within or without a staple, when one party was
a merchant or a servant of a staple. ^ Justice was admin-
1 Appendix, p. 65. 'C. C. R., 1323-1327, p. 585.
»C. C. R., 1327-1330, p. 134. *S. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c. 16.
^S. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c. 4. ^ Ibid., c. 2.
"^ Ibid., c. 8. By this statute, if a felony was committed within the bounds of
the staple, the Mayor of the staple, with others, was to be assigned justice to
hear the case within the staple, according to common law. But this power was
removed by statute 36 Edw. Ill, c. 7, and thereafter felony was to be tried as it
had always been before the Statute of the Staple of I353-
30 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
istered according to Law Merchant, but a merchant stranger,
whether plaintiff or defendant, might sue at common law
without the bounds of the staple, instead of at Law Merchant
before the Mayor and Constables within the staple, if he
wished."
The inquest was employed in the staple court, and its com-
position was such as to secure impartiality. If both parties
to a suit were natives, the jurors were Englishmen ; if for-
eigners, the jurors were foreigners ; if one was a native and
one a foreigner, the jurors were equally divided, provided
there were a sufficient number of foreigners in the town.
If not, then the inquest contained as many foreigners as there
were in the town who were not parties to the suit, and the
remainder were natives. ^^ Moreover, the foreign merchants
had the right to choose two of their number to sit with the
Mayor and Constables to hear the complaints made against
any of them, and to see that speedy justice was done.3
In all cases tried before the Mayor and Constables, appeal
could be had to the Chancellor and the king's Council.'* In
1427 it was decreed that no suit commenced before the
Mayor and Constables should be removed as long as Law
Merchant accorded with the common law of the land ; s and
the removal of a case from a staple court was said to be a
thing unknown.^
The Mayor and Constables could arrest and imprison
offenders for debt and trespass committed in a staple, and
in each staple place a prison was set apart for their safe
keeping. The officers of the town were obliged to render the
staple authorities all the assistance they needed in the execu-
tion of this duty.^
» S. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c, 8; 36 Edw. Ill, c. 7.
'^ Ibid., 28 Edw. Ill, c. 13. ^ Ibid., 27 Edw. Ill, st. 2, cc. 19 & 24.
^ Ibid., c. 24; Rot. Pari., vol. iv, p. 32Sa. ^Rot. Pari., vol. vi, p. 328a.
* Wars of the English in France, Henry VI, vol. i, pp. 465-469. (Rolls
Series.)
'S. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c. 21.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 3 1
Recognizance of debts within the staple, whether the party
was a merchant or not, was taken by the Mayor before one
or both of the Constables, and when executed at Calais was
of the same force within the realm as though taken before
the Mayor and Constables of a staple within the realm.'
With the exception of the appeal to Chancery, the gov-
ernment of the staples in both administrative and judicial
affairs was left entirely to the staple authorities, the king's
justices and other ministers being prohibited from executing
their office within the bounds of a staple.^ Every regula-
tion in the statutes and ordinances points to the greatest care
being taken, even in minute details, to secure conditions in
the government of the staples which would render commercial
intercourse easy, and give ample protection to the foreign as
well as to the native merchants.
'S. R., 10 H. VI, c. I.
^ Ibid., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, cc. 5 & 6.
CHAPTER III.
REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE BUSINESS OF THE STAPLE.
The government had a strict supervision over the business
connected with the export of wool, wool-fells and leather.
From the Statutes and the Rolls of Parliament it is possible to
form a very clear idea of how the transactions in a staple
were carried on.
The Statute of the Staple of 1353 is the most detailed
statement of the regulations for the home staples. By this
Statute ' all merchants, alien as well as denizen, were allowed
to go about the country and buy up wool wherever they
pleased, but they were obliged to take it to a staple before it
could be exported.' Wool-growers, however, were not obliged
to wait for the merchants to come to them, but could take
their wool to a staple if they chose.3 Before this date alien
merchants had been prohibited from buying anywhere except
atone of the staples,-* or at the markets and fairs ;s native
merchants, on the other hand, had been allowed to buy any-
where, and if, after staying forty days at a staple the wool
was not sold, they could take it elsewhere provided they did
not sell to aliens.^ In 1332, native as well as alien merchants
had been prohibited from selling anywhere except at one of
of the staples. 7
There was great danger when the merchants were free to
go about the country buying up wool, that they would make
agreements among themselves to keep down the price. They
» S. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2. * Ibid., 27 Edw. Ill, st. 2, c. 3.
*Ibid. *C. P. R., 1327-1330, pp. 98-9.
^Ibid., 1330-1334, pp. 362-3. ^Ibid., 1327-1330, pp. 98-9.
"> Ibid., 1330-1334, pp. 362-3.
32
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 33
were prohibited from doing so under penalty of forfeiture
and imprisonment.' Nevertheless, alien merchants in particu-
lar took such advantage of the poverty of the- people that the
commons finally in 1455 petitioned that they should not be
allowed to go about the country, but should be obliged to
buy their wool at the ports of London, Sandwich or South-
ampton, or at the " Towne of VVestmynster, where of olde
tyme Estaple hath been and yet is." ' The petition was
granted.
In 1390, when alien merchants who brought goods into
England were obliged to buy staple merchandise to the
value of one half their imports, native wool merchants were
prohibited from selling anywhere except at a staple, and from
buying anywhere except from wool-growers or tithe-payers.3
The native merchants were, however, allowed by this act to
buy wool for the purpose of making cloth. This interest in
the manufacture of cloth, which here appears for the first
time in connection with the staple regulations, had grown to
such an extent by 1463, that foreign merchants were pro-
hibited, on pain of forfeiture, from buying or exporting
wool, in order that sufficient might be kept in England for
the cloth makers."* Until this prohibition of 1463 the export
of wool, wool-fells and leather had been, in accordance with
the Statute of 1353, the exclusive privilege of foreign mer-
chants,5 except when it was temporarily given to natives in
^C. P. R., 1327-1330, pp. 98-9; 1330-1334, pp. 362-3; S. R., 27 Edw.
Ill, St. 2, c. 3.
' Rot. Pari., vol. v, p. 334b. * Ibid., vol. iii, p. 278a.
*S. R., 3 Edw. IV, c. I. "To the Intent that sufficient Plenty of the said
Wools may continually abide and remain within the said Realm, as may com-
petently and reasonably serve for the Occupation of Cloth makers [of England]
... the king . . . hath ordained and established . . . that no Person, Alien
nor Stranger born . . . shall buy or ship any manner of Wools or Woolfels . . .
within any part of the same Realm or Wales, or them or any of them carry out of
the same Realm or Wales."
^Ibid., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c. 3; 38 Edw. Ill, st. i, c. 2; 43 Edw. Ill, c. i;
14 Rich. II, c. 5.
34 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
return for an increase in customs, a grant of wool, a subsidy
or an aid.' The higher export rates paid by foreign merchants
explains this restriction on the denizens.''
The merchandise could be exposed for sale in a staple
every day in the week except Sunday and Feast days ; no
wool could be shown or sold within three miles of a staple by
a merchant, but a grower of the wool could sell it anywhere. ^
After the merchant had bought his wool, wool-fells or
leather, it had to be taken to a home staple before being
exported. If the staple was in a seaport, the wool, having
been weighed by the king's standard weights in the presence
of the custom officer, was sealed by the official seal of the
Mayor of the staple. An indenture was then made out
between the Mayor and the custom officer, of all the wool and
lead that had been weighed and of all the other merchandise
which had come there; and after the customs were paid, the
merchant was free to export his goods wherever he pleased
provided there was no Staple abroad. But if the home sta-
ple was at an inland town, the wool, after being weighed
by the merchants, probably in the presence of some staple
officer, was sealed by the Mayor of the staple ; then, the
customs having been paid, a certificate for the wool and other
merchandise, and for the duty paid, was made out by the
Mayor and officially sealed. The goods were then taken to a
certain prescribed seaport, where the wool was weighed again,
in the presence of the custom officer.'^ The regulations here
set forth are somewhat deficient ; they do not state, for
• S. R., 31 Edw. Ill, St. I, c. 8; 34 Edw. Ill, c. 21; 36 Edw. Ill, c. 11; 5
Rich. II, St. 2, c. 2.
'The duties paid by native merchants were: 6s. Sd. for each sack of wool; 6s.
Sd. for 300 wool-fells; 13J. ^d. for a last of hides. Those paid by aliens were:
10^. for a sack of wool, 105. for 300 wool-fells, and 20s. for a last of hides. S.
R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c. I.
* Ibid., 28 Edw. Ill, c. 14. The staple at Westminster began on the next day
after the Feast of St. Peter ad Vincula. John Stow, Survey of London, p, 40.
♦S. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c. I.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 35
instance, that the merchant must show his certificate to the
customer at the second weighing ; but this must have been
done, as this second weighing was without doubt a precaution
taken to prevent wool which had not paid duty from being
exported. Neither does the Statute state that an indenture
was made out in these ports for the wares which had come
from an inland staple ; but we are led to infer that such must
have been the procedure, since an indenture was made out for
all the staple merchandise exported from the other ports.'
It should be noticed that in the case of the inland staple towns
the Mayor of the staple acted as collector of customs; and
also that there must have been staple magistrates in the ports
prescribed for these towns to make out the indentures there.
If the wool was bought at a place between a staple and the
sea, and was to be carried to the staple by water, precautions
were taken to prevent its being carried directly out of the
country without going first to the staple. Before the mer-
chant could ship his goods he was obliged to make out an
indenture with the bailiff of the town, showing how much he
was shipping ; then the merchant and the ship master gave
oath and security that they would go to the staple and no-
where else and unload the cargo before exporting it. The
bailiff sent one part of the indenture to the Mayor of the sta-
ple by the ship master ; ' the other part was sent to the Mayor
at the expense of the exporter by some man for whose hon-
esty he would answer.3
The ordinance of 1341 shows the course to be followed
when there was a Staple across the channel. The goods hav-
ing been brought to a port where the king's custom officers
were, the merchant took an oath that the wool was avowed
under the name of the owner, and gave security that he would
^S. R., 43 Edw. Ill, c. I. This statute, which re-enacts the regulations of
1353, distinctly states that an indenture was to be made out in these special ports
between the customer and the Mayor and at least one of the Constables of the
staple who were in these ports.
■^C. P. R., 1330-1334, pp. 362-3. • S. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c. 15.
36 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
truly take it to the Staple and not elsewhere. An indenture
was then made out between the custom officer and the mer-
chant, one part of which was sealed by the seal of the
exporter and the other by the king's seal " cocket." The
indenture specified the oath and security, the owner of the
wool and the number of sacks exported. The part under the
seal of the exporter was kept by the custom officer to be sent
in to the Exchequer when he rendered his accounts ; the other
part, under the seal " cocket," was given to the ship master,
who then proceeded to the Staple or to the harbor nearest it.
Here he could not unload the cargo until it had been inspected
by the Mayor and the Constables of the Staple, and the other
part of the indenture given to them to be by them turned in
to the Exchequer.' The wool was then weighed again in the
presence of the Mayor of the Staple, and sometimes of some
royal official as well,^ before it was taken to the Staple and
exposed for sale. All' the wool found which had not been
cocketed was forfeited, together with the ship in which it was
laden.3
The Staple thus provided the machinery for a strict super-
vision over the collection of customs. By this system of
checks, made effective by repeated weighings, and by the
certificates and indentures of the Mayor and Constables, an
attempt was made to prevent fraud on the part of the custom
officers and exporters.
But in spite of all the regulations there was much illegal
shipping carried on. A great deal of wool, after it had been
cocketed, was taken to other foreign markets instead of to the
Staple. There were always complaints against this, but they
became especially numerous in the last half of the fourteenth
and throughout the fifteenth century, after the Staple was
'Appendix, p. 63. Mention of the oath is found in earlier documents; e. g..
Ordinance of the Staple (1320), Appendix, p. 60; C. C. R., 1318-1323, pp. 243,
246, et passim ; 1341-1343, p. 223; S. R., 14 Edw. Ill, st. I, c. 21.
'C. C. R., 1341-1343, p. 393. » Appendix, p. 63.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 37
established at Calais. These complaints mention the loss to
the king of the customs and subsidies ; that the mint at Calais
was not sustained ; that the merchandise was sold at so low a
price outside that no one would go to the Staple, so that the
merchants of the Staple were ruined and the town of Calais
was not maintained.' In order to escape the heavy penalties
for this violation of the Staple ordinance, the guilty merchants
did not return to England, but had their wool sent to them
cocketed under the name of merchants who were innocent.
Many foreign merchants also, in order to avoid the heavier
duties levied on aliens, had their wool cocketed under the
names of native merchants who were willing to incur the risk
of the heavy penalties which were inflicted for cocketing as
their own the wool of other merchants.^
Wool was also taken out of ports uncocketed,^ through the
connivance of the custom officers, who accepted bribes from
the merchants to allow the wool to go out unweighed and
without paying duties. Goods were also smuggled out of
creeks and places where there were no custom officers. The
penalty for this was forfeiture of the ship and all the merchan-
dise of whatever kind found in it. Informers against smug-
gling were encouraged by a reward of a large part of the for-
feiture,^ and the act was finally made a felony. s The losses to
the state through these various forms of evading the Ordi-
' Ordinance of the Staple, Appendix, pp. 59-60; C. C. R., I34i-I343,p. 314;
1467-1471, p. 489, ei passim ; Rot. Pari., vol. ii, p. 323b; S. R., 8 H. VI, c.
17; 10 H. VI, c. 7; 14 H. VI, c. 2; 18 H. VI, c. 15; 4 Edw. IV, c. 2.
^Ordinance of the Staple, Appendix, p. 60; C. C. R., 1339-1341. P- I77;
S. R., 21 Rich. II, c. 17. In 1442 there was a petition to parliament that
native merchants carrying wool, etc., elsewhere than to the Staple, should pay the
same customs as aliens, unless they had licenses. Rot. Pari., vol. v, p. 54.
•C. P. R., 1321-1324, p. 164. The collectors sealed blank ••cockets" and
gave them to merchants to fill out for themselves ihe amount of wool, etc., ex-
ported. S. R., II H. VI, c.-'ie.
*S. R., 2 H. VI, c. 5; 8 II. VI, c. 19.
^Ibid., II H. VI, c. 14; 14 H. VI, c. 5.
437202
38 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
nance of the Staple were very great.' The custom officers
who permitted illegal shipping were made the subject of the
same penalties as the shippers,' and finally all export was
prohibited except from certain specified ports, where the
king's beams and weights were kept. In order to insure
still greater control over the export trade, all merchants ship-
ping wool were required to bring from Calais a certificate
from the customer at that port showing that they had gone
there, which was to be deposited in the treasury within a year
from the time of sailing. ^
There were exceptions to the general regulation that all
staple merchandise must be shipped to the Staple. The mer-
chants from Italy and Catalonia were granted permission
under Edward III * to take their wool, etc., to the west
" through the straits of Marrock," instead of to Calais ; and
always after the statute of Richard II of the j^ear 1378, they
were mentioned as an exception when the Staple Ordinance
was enforced. They paid the dues and customs of Calais,
and gave security that they would not go anywhere to the east
unless they went to Calais. Southampton was mentioned as
their special place of export.
A similar exception was made in the case of the burgesses
of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Berwick, who were allowed to
ship to specially appointed markets in Brabant and Flanders, 5
the wool grown in the northern counties of England and in
Scotland, which was of a poorer quality than that from the
rest of England. These northern merchants declared that
this wool could not compete with that sold at the Staple,^ and
'The customs which formerly amounted to ;i^68,COO had fallen in 1449 to_^i2,-
000. S. R., 27 H. VI, c. 2.
« /6tc/. ' /i>iW., 4 Edw. IV, c. 2.
* Rymer, Foedera^ R. ed., II, i, 264; II, ii, 768; S. R., 2 Rich. II, st. i, c. 3.
'The places to which the merchants of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and of Berwick
were allowed to go were, Middleburg and Bruges, Pro. & Ord., vol. iii, p. 39;
Barrowe in Brabant, Rot. Pari., vol. vi, p. 164b; S. R., 14 Edw. Ill, c. 3; to
Bruges for one year, and for one year into Zealand, Pro. & Ord., vol. v, p. 227.
• Pro. & Ord., vol, iii, p. 355.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 39
would not bring a price which would enable them to bear the
expenses of the Staple. The staple merchants, however,
were willing to give for the wool of Newcastle and Berwick
the price it brought in the Flemish market over and above
the customs and subsidies, which under the other arrange-
ment were lost to England.' The license was repealed more
than once,"" but as often granted again, in spite of the injury
done to the Staple at Calais.^ A financial transaction with
the king can be clearly seen here.
The licenses granted to individual merchants to ship wool
free of custom and without going to the Staple * may be
classed with the two preceding exemptions. The granting of
licenses was a royal prerogative, and was used to reward mer-
chants for services and to repay loans. Although this caused
a direct loss to the state revenues, and parliament remon-
strated against it,^ yet it was extensively used as a means of
satisfying the more personal as well as the public needs of
the king.
There does not appear in these regulations for the conduct
of the business of the Staple any care for the interests of the
merchants, but merely for the collection of duties. The
Staple became a great financial agent, and it was because of
the use which could be made of it that the government fos-
tered the institution as long as wool was the chief article of
export.
'S. R., 8 H. VI, c. 21.
^ /did ; Pro. & Ord., vol. vi, p. I17; Rot. Pari., vols, iii, \\, passim.
^ Rot. Pari., vol. iv, p. 379a; Pro. & Ord., vol. v, p. 227.
*C. P. R., 1467-1477, pp. 389, 547; C. C. R , I339-I34i, P- 3. "" Passim;
1341-1343, p. 299; Pro. & Ord., vol. iii, p. 253; vol. v, p. 223.
*Rot. Pari., vol. ii, p. 323a; vol. iii, pp. 465b, 5cob, 66ibj S. R., 21 R. II,
c. 17; 27 H. VI, c. 2.
CHAPTER IV.
THE LOCATION OF THE STAPLE.
The practice of having one particular Staple for English
merchandise located in one or other of the three provinces of
Brabant, Flanders or Artois, was probably begun in the reign
of Henry III.' The native merchants declared, in 1320, that
there had been a Staple in those lands in Henry Ill's life-
time ; and in the sixteenth century the Company of the Staple
set up a claim that they could prove the existence of such a
Staple, with officials, in 1267.'' We may concede that the
Staplers had proofs of their statement, since the Merchant
Adventurers, with whom they were contending for the export
trade in woolen cloth, admitted the claim of their adversaries.
But there is no evidence of the town where it was located,
and no contemporary record of its existence at that time has
been found.3
The earliest record which is known of a Staple for English
merchandise is that of the establishment of a wool Staple at
Dordrecht, in Holland, in 1285.'* Flanders was the principal
>C. C. R., 1318-1323, p. 235.
*Calthorpe's MS., vol. xx, fo. 255; printed by Schanz, vol. ii, no. 135, p.
588. A series of articles setting forth the grounds for the claim of the Staplers of
their right to trade in woolen cloth.
' Malynes, in the Centre of the Circle of Commerce, says that •' There are records
in the Pipe Office of the Exchequer mentioning that they then [1267] had their
staple at Antwerp for the conducting of the vent of English staple wares." See
for this quotation, Anderson, History of Commerce, vol. i, p. 288. Duke, Pro-
lusiones Historicae, vol. i, p. 59, evidently uses the same source. Malynes was
writing in too great heat of controversy for the statement to have much weight,
and it has never been corroborated.
*Melis Stoke, iv, 243-4; see Davies, vol. i, p. 112; Kervyn, vol. ii, p. 358;
Rymer, Foedera, I, iii, 3, 6. Convention between the Count of Holland and the
King of England.
40
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 4I
market for English wool before this ; but the trade between
the two countries was constantly interrupted by political and
commercial differences. The marriage alliance between Ed-
ward, Prince of Wales, and Philippa, daughter of Guy de
Dampierre, count of Flanders, concluded in 1280, seemed to
promise a peaceful settlement of all the difficulties. But the
sympathies of Guy were drawn to the cause of Edward's
enemy, Philip of France, and the projected marriage was
abandoned. Arrests and confiscation of merchandise fol-
lowed on both sides, and Edward, at the request of the mer-
chants of Holland, who were jealous of the Flemish trade,
granted them the coveted monopoly.'
This establishment of the Staple at Dordrecht, in the ter-
ritory of their neighbor, made the Flemish merchants depen-
dent on the markets of Holland for their wool.^ The resent-
ment which the count of Flanders felt at this treatment
caused him to strengthen his relations with Philip the Fair,
whereupon Edward prohibited individual merchants from
carrying any wool into the county, treating Flanders pre-
cisely as he did the country of his French enemy.^ In 1297,
however, the count turned against Philip, and made an offen-
sive and defensive alliance with Edward, and probably about
this time the wool Staple was removed from Dordrecht, and
established at Bruges."* It remained there until some time
after the battle of Courtrai (1302), when it was removed to
Antwerp.s It was still held at Antwerp in 1 3 1 o,^ and doubtless
for four years longer; then St. Omer in Artois was chosen for
'Varenbergh, Relations Diplomatiques, pp. 164-5.
' Ibid., pp. 165-6.
•Champollion, Documents inidits,\o\. i, Lettres 214, 317; see Varenbergh,
p. 177.
*Rymer, Foedera, I, iii, 168, 177; Melis Stoke, iv, p. 244; see Davies, vol.
i, p. 117; Meyer, Anna/. Fland., a" 1296; see Varenbergh, pp. 180, 181.
^ Comptts de la ville de Bruges, a" 1305, fo. 13; see Varenbergh, p. iSi;
Kervyn, vol, iii, p. 160.
•C. C. R., 1307-1313. P- 293-
42 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
it, with the permission of the king of France.' In the same
year the count of Flanders asked Edward II to consent to
the re-establishment of the Staple of wool at Bruges ;^ but the
political relations of the two countries were disturbed, since
the Flemish people were disposed to render aid to Scotland,
and nothing further is heard of the request. The Staple was
still in St. Omer in February, 1315,^ but the treatment to
which the English merchants were subjected by the sailors of
Calais * made its removal advisable, and it was set up in Ant-
werp again, probably before the close of the year.s In 13 18
Robert of Flanders renewed the request for a Staple of Eng-
lish merchandise ; and as the death of Louis of France had
removed the cause of much of Edward's hostility toward
Flanders, the English king called together the merchants of
the realm to consult with regard to granting this favor. ^ But
the assistance which the Flemings continued to give to' the
Scotch was a constant cause of resentment to England, and
the negotiations did not succeed. The Staple was at Ant-
werp until 1320,7 when it was once more located in St. Omer,'
where it remained for the next three years.
The friendly relations between England and Flanders were
strengthened after Louis de Nevers became count, and a
truce was arranged in 1323, which among other things pro-
vided for freedom of trade to all Flemish and other alien
merchants during the truce, without regard to the Staple at St.
Omer.9 This truce was prolonged from time to time,'° and
* Rymer, Foedera, II, i, 66; C. C. R., 1313-1318, p. 219.
* Rymer, Foedera, II, i, 69-70.
»C. C. R., 1313-1318, p. 219.
* Rymer, Foedera, R. ed. ii, 279-81.
* Rymer, Foedera, II, i, 90; C. C. R., 1313-1318, p. 315.
"Rymer, Foedera, II, i, 163; C. C. R., 1318-1323, p. IIO.
' C. C. R., 1313-1318, p. 392; Calthorpe's MS., vol. xx, fo. 255; printed by
Schanz, vol. ii, p. 588, no. 135.
*C. C. R., 1318-1323, pp. 186-7, 250.
^ Ibid., 1323-1327, p. 9. ^° Ibid., p. 378; C. P. R., 1321-1324, p. 402.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 43
on its renewal in 1325, Edward granted that the Staple of
wool should be set up in Bruges.' This city enjoyed the long
desired privilege for only one year, as on May 24, 1326, the
foreign Staple was abolished, and it was ordained by the king
and council that staples should be held at certain places
within the realm.^ The towns chosen were not new staple
places. In the year 1291 Edward I had provided for hold-
ing staples in various towns in England, Ireland and Wales,'
and the same places were selected by Edward II. They
were : Newcastle-upon-Tyne, York, Lincoln, Norwich, Lon-
don, Winchester, Exeter and Bristol, for England; Dublin,
Drogheda and Cork, for Ireland ; Shrewsbury, Carmarthen
and Cardiff for Wales; Lostwithiel and Truro for Cornwall;
and Ashburton, for Devon.!
For a period of tvv^elve years following 1326, there was no
Staple across the Channel. If the Staple had already
proved a burden while it was outside the realm, ^ no less when
there were only the home staples, was the institution looked
upon as injurious to commercial interests; and although one
of the first acts of Edward III was, on May i, 1327, to cop-
firm the staples in the places where they had been established
by his father,^ yet in the following September, at the request
of the merchants, he allowed them to trade freely until after
Christmas. 7 It can be clearly seen, however, that this was
not granted for the benefit of the merchants, but was merely
a financial expedient, as the merchants agreed to pay in-
creased duties on all the wool, fells and hides exported, as a
loan for the Scotch war.
This grant was followed in 1 3 28 by the abolition of all staples
>C. C. R., 1323-1327, p. 378. ■^ Ibid., p. 565.
' Hist. MSS. Com., 14th Report, App., pt. viii, p. 6, MSS. of the Corporation
of Lincoln.
*C. P. R., 1327-1330, pp. 98-9.
^In the ordinance abolishing the foreign Staple it was stated that it was " for
the advantage and easement of the people," C. C. R., 1323-1327, p. 565.
'C. P. R., 1327-1330, pp. 98-9. ''Ibid., p. 169.
44 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
" ordained by kings in times past," ' and all merchants were
allowed to go and come into England " after the Tenor of
the Great Charter." For four years the merchants enjoyed
this privilege, and then in 1332, the staples were once more
set up within the realm.'' The ordinance by which they were
re-established gives such careful directions for the manner in
which the merchandise was to be exported and the customs
collected, that it cannot fail to be apparent what was the real
object of forcing the merchants to attend them.
For two years, from 1332 to 1334, the staples flourished,
and then at the request of the nobles and commons, parlia-
ment again granted that they should cease throughout the
realm. 3 It is impossible to say when they were re-established,
but they were in existence again in 1337.* Thus there had
been eight changes with regard to the staple in twelve years.
This lack of settled policy could not have failed to be disas-
trous to trade. But the regulation of commerce was a royal
prerogative, which was above the rights of the people and the
acts of parliament ; and it was regulated merely with a view
to filling the treasury.
In the meantime the countries across the channel had
suffered from loss of the trade which came to them with the
possession of the English Staple, and Edward made their
desire to regain it serve his political ends.
The struggle with Philip of Valois for the French crown
began in 1336. Louis de Nevers, count of Flanders, took
active means of showing his adherence to the French cause
by arresting all the English merchants in Flanders and con-
fiscating their goods. 5 Edward retaliated by prohibiting, on
August 12, the exportation of wool and leather,^ and on Octo-
» S. R., 2 Edvv. Ill, c. 9. « C. P. R., 1330-1334. p. 362.
*Rot. Pari., vol. ii, p. 377; C. C. R., 1333-1337, P- 223; Rymer, Foedera,
R. ed., II, ii, 879.
* Rymer, Foedera, II, iii, 169.
^Varenbergh, p. 309; C. C. R., I333-I337. P- 7i3-
• Rymer, Foedera, R. ed., II, ii, 943.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 45
ber 5, by arresting all Flemish merchants and merchandise in
England.' This pressure brought to bear on the commerce
of Flanders did not bring about the abandonment of Philip
by the count as Edward hoped, but it weighed heavily on the
cloth industry not only of Flanders but of all the Low Coun-
tries as well. Brabant, the industrial rival of Flanders, at
once asked that a Staple of wool might be established in one
of the cities of that duchy; but the king of England, not
willing to widen the breach with Flanders by conferring
favors on Brabant, temporized by declaring that he could not
grant the request until he was assured that there would be
free access to English merchants going to Brabant." Although
in February, 1337, he sent an ambassador to treat with the
communalty of Brussels, Louvain and Malines concerning the
establishment of the Staple in Brabant,^ yet nothing came of
it; and two months later he sent the bishop of Lincoln, the
earl of Salisbury and the earl of Huntington, with three col-
leagues, to treat with the count of Flanders and the cities of
Ghent, Bruges and Ypres concerning the liberties which
would be granted if the Staple were erected in Flanders.-*
But the count was not to be drawn away from his adherence
to Philip, and Edward abandoned his advances until early in
October, when he sent another and much larger deputation
on the same fruitless errand.s
In order to relieve the situation in Brabant a license had,
on May 24, 1337, been granted to the citizens of Louvain,
Brussels, Antwerp and fifteen other towns, to buy wool in
England.^ But to insure that none of it should be taken into
Flanders, the merchants were to find out how much would be
used by the workmen in each city, and to take back only
the amount sworn to as being needed, while none of it was
to be taken into any other land than Brabant,
'Rymer, Foedera, II, iii, 152. "^ Ibid., 155. ^ Ibid., 159.
^Ibid., 165; C. P. R., 1334-1338. P- 428.
* Rymer, Foedera, II, iii, 190. ^ Ibid., 169.
46 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
Edward Ill's attempt to win the communes of Flanders, if
not the count himself, by means of the Staple had not suc-
ceeded ; but soon after this, through the influence of Jacques
d' Arteveldt, freedom of trade was established with the
bonnes villcs ; and they were granted by the treaty of June
10, 1338, permission to buy English wool in the neighboring
markets of Holland and Zealand, and to trade in the English
ports.'
Such was the situation when the parliament of 1338 granted
Edward a subsidy of 20,000 sacks of wool, and it became
necessary for him to have a market for it. A Staple was
consequently established in Brabant at Antwerp, to remain
there during the king's pleasure.^ In November, 1338,
Edward again renewed his efforts to win the alliance of Louis
de Nevers and the Flemish communes, and empowered the
count of Guelders to treat with them about locating the
Staple in Flanders.3 This same year, in a manifesto which
the count of Guelders published in Edward's name, when
the latter assumed his office of Vicar of the Empire, he
declared it his intention, if he succeeded in winning the crown
of France, to fix the Staple of wool in Flanders.'* The com-
munes could not then be won from their allegiance to the
king of France; but in 1340, after the king of England had
publicly assumed the title and the arms of France, the situa-
tion was changed, and on the assumption that his claim to
the French crown was legal, their allegiance was due to him.
Among the privileges which he bestowed upon Flanders was
the grant of the Staple of wool for fifteen years to the city of
Bruges, and its establishment forever in the territory of
either Flanders or Brabant.^
^Varenbergh, pp. 315 ff; Rymer, Feeder a, II, iv, 23-4.
»C. P. R., 1338-1340,?. 189.
» Rymer, Foedera, II, iv, 37; C. P. R., 1338-1340, p. 193.
^Notification to Flanders of King Edward'' s Appointment as Vicar of the Enif
pire ; Archives de la ville d' Ypres, printed by Varenbergh, p. 327.
^ Varenbergh, pp. 333-6; C. P. R., 1338-1340, pp. 512 ff.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 47
On the eighth of August, 1341, this grant was confirmed
by a charter.'
The Flemings, who now saw their industrial prosperity re-
turning, took advantage of the situation and attempted to
keep down the price of wool by confining the sale of it to
their own merchants. Foreign merchants were prohibited
from taking away wool bought at the Staple ; the small towns
in Flanders which had formerly used large quantities of wool
were prohibited from making cloth, while the Brabant mer-
chants were obliged to give security that all the wool which
they bought would be worked up in Brabant, and even to
specify in what cities it was to be used."" These restrictions
were very injurious not only to the English merchants, but
also to the realm, as many merchants would not go to the
Staple with their merchandise, and there was consequently
great loss in the customs. There were continued complaints,
yet the king made but feeble effort to remedy the trouble.
He sent deputies and letters to the communes, which prom-
ised for the future that equality of treatment agreed upon in a
previous treaty .3 But the king acted with sufficient energy
in his treatment of the merchants. Notwithstanding the loss
which would accrue to them, the Staple remained at Bruges,
and orders were issued throughout the realm that all wool,
etc., exported should be taken to the Staple, and not else-
where, under penalty of confiscation.'^
After the capture of Calais in 1347, several reasons were
obvious why this would be a favorable location for the conti-
nental English Staple. A permanent native population was
necessary to make the town thoroughly English. The mer-
chants, together with the large number of servants attached to
* Appendix, pp. 62-5; C. P. R., 1340-1343, p. 277; Varenbergh, p. 349.
' Rot. Pari., vol. ii, pp. 143a, 165b; C. C. R., 1343-1346, p. 428.
»C. C. R., 1343-1346, p. 428; C. P. R., 1343-1345. P- '^n- Ed7oard III
aux bourgmestres, echevi?is et conseilUrs de Bruges (1345), printed by Varen-
bergh, p. 443; Rot. Pari., vol. ii, pp. 165I), 202a; Rymer, Foedera, III, i, 29.
*C. C. R., 1343-1346,?. 555.
48 THE STAPLE OE ENGLAND
the Staple would help in a large measure to accomplish this
end ; and the prosperity of the place would be materially in-
creased by the large amount of foreign trade which would
follow the Staple. The staple trade, on the other hand,
would not be so subject to the fluctuations arising from dis-
turbed international relations, and this would, in its turn,
insure a steadier flow of customs duties into the treasury.
Accordingly, Edward III at once removed from Bruges the
Staple for tin, lead, feathers and woolen cloth, and estab-
lished it at Calais for seven years.' The Staple for wool,
wool-fells and leather, however, was allowed to remain at
Bruges. An attempt was made by some of the inhabitants
of Calais to hold a Staple of these goods also, but it proved
so injurious that it was soon given up.' The English Staple
for wool, wool-fells and leather remained at Bruges until 1353,^
when it was entirely abolished on the continent and estab-
lished in a number of towns in England, Ireland and Wales.*
The Staple at Calais seems still to have been held for all of
its merchandise except perhaps lead, which was included with
the wool, wool-fells and leather sold at the domestic staple
places.
There was no English wool Staple on the continent for ten
years (1353— 1363), and then it was set up in Calais ^ on
March i, 1363. In 1365 the Commons asked that it might
be set up in England once more for the benefit of the people.^
The merchants do not appear as petitioners with the com-
mons. They perhaps found Calais at this time a better loca-
tion for their wool market than the English towns, and so
were unw-illing to leave there. This may explain why, al-
though the king granted the petition of the Commons,
and even appointed the towns where the staples should be
» Rymer, Foedera, III, i, 32. ^ Ibid., R. ed., Ill, i, 178.
' S. R., 27 Edvv. Ill, St. 2, Preamble, and c. 1. Thomas Walsingham, Hii-
toria Aiiglicana, vol. i, p. 278 (Rolls Series); Grafton's Chronicle, vol. i, p. 387
*S. R., 27 Edvv. Ill, st.''2, c. I.
''Ibid., 43 Edw. Ill, Preamble. *Rot. Pari., vol. ii, p. 287b.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 49
held, yet there is no indication that the ordinance was ever
carried out. But in 1369 the peace between England and
France came to an end, and the danger by sea was so great
that the merchants themselves now requested that the Staple
at Calais be abolished, and the staples in England be estab-
lished.' The danger of loss in transportation was merely
shifted from the staple merchants to the foreign merchants.
It is difficult to see what financial benefit the Staplers reaped
from the change since the exporters no doubt offset the risk
of loss by sea by paying less for their wool than the Calais
price.
There was no English Staple on the continent until a peace
was arranged, and then, probably in 1373, it was once more
fixed at Calais.^*
Notwithstanding the constant interruption to trade caused
by the war with France, the Staple now remained at Calais
from 1373 to 1383, But the foreign merchants did not fre-
quent the Staple as formerly ; they were in danger of having
their wool captured when they took it away by water, and
there was little or no security for the staple merchants in
Calais. The consequent loss in trade was so great, that in
1383 parliament agreed that unless a truce could be arranged
with France, the Staple should be held in England.^ But
instead of being brought back across the channel it was re-
moved to Middleburgh in Zealand,^ where it remained until
1388,5 when it was returned to Calais. In 1390 the merchants
again asked that it might be transferred to England.* But it
was not until they granted the king a subsidy that they finally
obtained their request, and in January, 1391, it was once
'Rot. Pari., vol. ii, p. 301b; Stow's Annals, p. 268.
*Rot. Pari., vol. ii, p. 318a. * Ibid., vol. iii, p. 159.
*C. P. R., 1381-1385. p. 397-
^S. R., 12 Rich. II, c. 16; Rynier, Foidera, III, iv, 32; Polychronicon
Ranulphi Higden, vol. ix, p. 90 (Rolls Series).
• Rot. Pari., vol. iii, p. 26Sb.
50 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
more established in the home staple towns." But although it
had been promised that it should remain forever in England,
the following June (1392) saw its return to Calais.'' In
14033 and again in 1404'* the merchants desired its removal
because of expected war; and in 1421 parliament gave the
king permission to remove it to any place he chose for three
years.5 But notwithstanding these indications of the popular
desire to hold the Staple in England only, no change was
made in its location, and it remained in Calais without inter-
ruption until the loss of the town in 1558. It was then trans-
ferred to Middleburg, where it remained at least during that
year and the following.* The charter granted to the mer-
chants in Ai^5|i, reserved to the English Sovereign power to
appoint the staple at Middleburg, Bruges, Bergen-op-Zoom,
or elsewhere, on nine months warning to the company. ^ In
1565 the question was agitated whether it should be removed
to Emden or to England,^ and six years later negotiations
were under way with the king of France, touching its estab-
lishment in one of his cities, preferably Rouen, Dieppe or
Rochelle.9 But there was a good deal of opposition to put-
ting into the power of the French such a source of wealth as
the Staple was, even its period of decline, and the English
merchants trading in France did not care to be limited to a
staple town.'° In 1580 objections were made by the Staplers
to its removal to the Brill in Holland ; " Zealand as well as
Holland coveted the market for English wool, and asked to
^ S. R. , 14 Rich. II, Preamble, and c. i; Rot. Pari., vol. iii, pp. 278a, 279a;
Polychronicon Ranulphi Higden, vol. ix, p. 243 (Rolls Series).
* Rot. Pari., vol. iii, p. 285a. * Ibid., p. 529b.
^ Ibid., p. 554a. ^ Ibid., vol. iv, p. 130a.
* MSB. of the Marquis of Salisbury, pt. i, p. 169. Calendared in the Hist.
MSS, Com. Reports.
'Charter of 1 561, Appendix, p. 70.
*C. S. P., Dom. 1547-1580, p. 258.
*Ibid.^ For., 1 572-1574, pp. 22, 33.
^^ Ibid,, Dom., 1547-1580, p. 468. ^^ Ibid., p. 694.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 5I
have the Company of the Staple go there with their merchan-
dise/ but apparently without success.
There was in the meantime much consideration of the
advantage which would follow its removal into England ; '
and when, in 1617, James I confirmed the charter granted by
Elizabeth in 1561, the Staple was fixed in various cities and
towns in the realm.^ It was not now confined to those towns
in which it had been located when it was in the realm before,
but many new ones were added. The places where it was
established in England were: London and its suburbs,
Canterbury, Exeter, Norwich, Worcester, Lincoln, Win-
chester, Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Northampton, Brackley,
Reading, Cirencester, Kendal, Sherborne, Devizes, Taunton
Deane, Ratsdale [Rochdale?], Richmond, Wakefield, Hali-
fax, Coggeshall, and Woodstock.* For Ireland the places
chosen were : Dublin, Waterford, Cork, Drogheda, Limerick,
Galway, Carrickfergus, and Londonderry. * When, in the
same year, the sale of wool was prohibited in all towns ex-
cept those where a staple of wool was held, petitions were
received from many places asking to be erected into staple
towns ; ^ among these were Leicester, Leeds, Chipping
Campden and Tetbury.^ As most of the wool was now
worked up in England the staple places were no longer
confined to towns on or near the coast, but were located
where they would be accessible both to the wool-growers
and to the clothiers. With the constant decrease in the
export of wool the activity of both the local organizations
and the Company of the Staple must have declined, but
their legal existence was not effected. The seat of govern-
'A. P. C, 1586-1587, p. 206. 'C. S. P., Dom., 1581-1590, pp. 59, 6o
* Charter of i6iy. Appendix, p. 75.
* Ibid.
*C. S. P., Carew, 1603-1624, p. 329, no. 171.
^Records of the Borough of Nottingham, vol. iv, p. 355, note 2.
' C. S. P., Dom., 1611-1618, p. 467, no. 28.
52 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
ment of the Company was fixed at Ledden Hall, London, by
the Charter of 1617.' The towns where the staple merchants
held local staples had their staple priviliges by royal patents ; '
and these towns, in some cases at least, continued to exercise
their rights as late as the first part of the nineteenth century. ^
This study of the location of the staple shows that out of
a period of more than three hundred years, there had been
but seven years when there was no Staple for English
merchandise either on the continent or in the realm, and only
twenty years when there was not an English Staple on the
continent. The continental situation was very evidently the
one that was most advantageous, except in periods of foreign
war. There was, to be sure, great want of stability in its
location. For example, it was changed fifteen times between
1326, when it was first abolished on the continent, and 1391,
when it was permanently settled at Calais. The same fact
can also be seen, but in a somewhat less degree, in the selec-
tion of the places where it was located within the realm, when
it was abolished on the continent.
The list of the places chosen by Edward II when he
located the Staple in' England in 1326 has already been
given,"* and the same towns were confirmed as staple places
in 1327 by Edward III,^ who mentioned the last three towns,
Lostwithiel, Truro and Ashburton, as special staples for tin.
In the Statute of the Staple of 1353,^ only Carmarthen was
retained for the staple in Wales, but VVaterford was added
for Ireland; in England, London was dropped, but West-
minster, Canterbury ^ and Chichester were added. As some
of the towns where there was a staple were located inland,
the statute provided that there should be a specified port for
* Charter 0/1617, Appendix, p. 77.
^C. S. P., Dom., 16H-1618, p. 467, no. 28.
'Gross, Gild Merchant, vol. i, p. 147. ''Chapter iv, p. 43,
^C. P. R., 1327-1330, p. 98. « S. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c. I.
'A staple was granted to Canterbury in honor of St. Thomas i Becket, Rot.
Pari., vol. ii, p. 253.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 53
each one, to which the staple merchandise should be taken
for export. These ports were Hull for York ; St. Botolph
[Boston] for Lincoln; Great Yarmouth, for Norwich;
London, for Westminster; Sandwich, for Canterbury; and
Southampton for Winchester.' The year 1369 saw the Eng-
lish continental Staple abolished for the third time. In the
list of home towns where it was placed, the ports of Kingston-
upon-Hull, St. Botolph, Yarmouth and Queensborough, from
which wool had been allowed to be exported, were substituted
for the inland staple towns of York, Lincoln, Norwich and
Canterbury. The staple at Carmarthen was not mentioned.'
In November, 1390, the staples were re-established in the
places named in the Statute of the Staple.3
If these changes are studied in connection with the lists of
shipping-places for staple merchandise, the tendency to bring
the collection of customs into close relation with either the
great organization of the Company of the Merchants of the
Staple, or the local organizations of the merchants in the
home staples will be seen. In 1333 it was ordained that
customs were to be collected only at the staples.* Of the
eighteen ports where the customs were collected in 1341,5
when the English staple was in Bruges, six had been the seat
of the Staple when it was in England;* by 1377, four more
had local home staples ;? and in 1445, one other, Southamp-
ton was granted a patent which gave it staple rights and a
local organization.*
»S. R., 27 Edw. Ill, St. 2, c. I. * Ibid., 43 Edw. Ill, c. i.
»/«</., 14 Rich. II, c. r. ♦ C. C. R., i333-i337. PP- SM-
* These ports were London, Chichester, Sandwich, Southampton, Bristol, Mel-
combe, Weymouth, Exeter, Newcastle, Hertlipole, York, Kingston-upon-Hull,
Boston, Lynn, Great Yarmouth, Ipswich, Carmarthen and Chepstowe. C. C. R.,
1341-1343, p. 190.
• London, York, Exeter, Bristol, Newcastle and Carmarthen.
^Southampton, Weymouth, Hertlipole and Chepstowe.
'Hist. MSS. Com., nth Report, App., part iii, p. 45, Southampton MSS.
After the year 1377 Southampton was always mentioned as the special shipping
54 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
The century and a half during which the Staple was located
uninterruptedly in Calais was the period during which the
government found it most useful as an administrative organ.
But the decline of the Company of the Staple had already set
in long before this period was past. There were several
causes for this, but chief among them was the growth of the
home manufacture of woolen cloth, which made it necessary
to restrict the export of wool.' The continental wars were
also disastrous to the Staplers. Their merchandise was in
danger of being captured in crossing the channel, and when
taken to the Staple it brought ruinously low prices. The for-
eign merchants did not frequent the Staple as formerly, and
those who did attend took advantage of the necessity of the
Staplers, and would not buy except at their own price. The
amount of wool bought annually by the French alone had
fallen in 1527 from 2000 to 400 sacks.' Among their causes
of distress the merchants of the Staple also mention that the
Spanish wool had so improved in quality that it competed
with the fine English wool, and could be sold in the Nether-
lands at a lower price than they could afford at the Staple of
Calais ; for the Staplers were obliged to keep up the price in
order to meet their fixed annual payments to the govern-
ment.3 For these various reasons the shipments to the Sta-
ple fell away in the years 1520 to 1527, so that the merchants
could not meet their obligation by ;^2 3,ooo, while they placed
the loss sustained by the whole body of Staplers at ;^ioo,ooo.'*
There is no doubt much exaggeration in this picture of their
place for the merchants of Lombardy and Catalonia. Doubtless similar staple
privileges were granted to Berwick, which, together with Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
had the monopoly of shipping all the wool grown in the north of England and in
Scotland.
»S. R., 3 Edw. IV, c. I.
» Brit. Mus., Cotton. MSS., Tiberius D., VIII, fo. i6, A Petition of the StapUrs
to the Council, circa 1J27, printed by Schanz, vol. ii, no. 129, p. 565 ff.
' Chapter i, p. 19.
^Petition 0/ the Staplers, printed by Schanz, vol. ii, no. 129, p. 565 ff.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND * 55
condition, as at that time they wanted to be released from
their annual payments; we know that in 1525 they loaned
the king ^^6,500/ But nevertheless the fact that they occu-
pied fewer wool-houses than formerly,' the risks they were
willing to undergo lest their wool should remain unsold in the
Staple,3 as well as the increasing number of petitions for some
remedy for their condition, all show that they had passed the
zenith of their prosperity by the early part of the sixteenth
century.
In 161 7, when the Staple was for the last time abolished
on the continent and re-established in England, it had reached
a critical period in its very existence as an active organiza-
tion. The export trade in the raw material was no longer
able to support a large number of merchants ; the English
manufacturers of woolen cloth preferred to buy directly from
the wool-growers; the Staplers were complained of as " brog-
gers," and were said to be a distinct disadvantage to the Com-
monwealth in exercising their ancient right of buying and
selling wool.*
Their only hope of continued prosperity lay in being able
to share in the export of woolen cloth. Their claim to this
trade involved them in a controversy which had had its origin
about the middle of the fifteenth century. As the manufac-
ture of woolen cloth in England had increased during the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, a new company, the Mer-
chant Adventurers, had arisen, which soon had the same
monopoly in the export of woolen cloth that the Staplers
had in the export of the raw wooks Woolen cloth had been
included in the list of staple articles during part of the
*C. S. P., For. & Dom., 1529-1530. p. 3090, no. 37.
^ Ibid., 1531-1532, Henry VHI, vol. v, p. 639, no. 1510.
* Ibid., 1524-1526, Henry VHI, vol. iv, pt. i, p. 675, no. 1508.
^Defence of the Mayor, Constables and Society of the Merchants of the Staple
of England, State Papers, Dom., Interregnum, vol. 25, nos. 42, 43.
'Lingelbach, Merchant Adventurers of England.
56 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
fourteenth century.' The Staplers had exercised the right
to export it before the date when the Merchant Adventur-
ers became a chartered company.'' A conflict broke out
between the two companies when the Merchant Adventurers
attempted to impose the entrance fee of their Fellowship
upon all Staplers who exported cloth to the Low Countries.
The trouble began in the reign of Henry VI. On being
appealed to by the Staplers the king declared that the charter
which had been granted to the Merchant Adventurers by
Henry IV, was not to be so construed as to injure the Staplers
in their persons or goods.3 Henry VII and Henry VIII ♦
both supported the claims of the Staplers, who based their
right on the antiquity of their Company, and its priority in
engaging in the cloth trade. But the Merchant Adventurers
refused to accept the decision, and caused some of the Stap-
lers to be arrested and thrown into prison.^ However this
affair may have been settled, the controversy broke out again
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, about the year i$yo.^
Whereas the advantage so far had been decidedly with the
Staplers, from this time on there was a change in the attitude
of the Council. The Merchant Adventurers became still
more hostile to the Staplers, and were opposed even to ad-
mitting them into their Fellowship. ^ In 1582 a suit was
begun between the two companies ^ the outcome of which can
be conjectured, as in the following year the Staplers were pro-
* Rymer, Feodera, III, i, 32; iii, 47.
* Merchant Adv., p. 6.
* Grant of Privilege by Henry VI to the Staplers, printed by Schanz, vol. ii,
no. 116, p. 539 ff.
* Inseximus of Star Chamber Decree of H. VII, printed by Schanz, vol. ii, no.
119, p. 547 ff; Interpretation of same by Henry VIII, ibid., no. 120, p. 548;
no. 123, p. 556.
5 Complaint of the Staplers ; P. 0. Star Chamber Proceedings, H. VIII, Yol.
ix, p. 26, printed by Schanz, vol. ii, no. 127, p. 563.
•C. S. P., Dom., 1547-1580, p. 405, no. 102.
''Ibid., p. 698, no. 76. " fbid., 15S1-1590, pp. 59-60, nos. 22, 32.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 57
hibited from exporting woolen cloth.' The Merchant Ad-
venturers petitioned for a trial before the Council ; ' the
Staplers put in a counter petition to have the cause tried at
common law,3 but later acceded to the demand of the Ad-
venturers.* The Staplers evidently lost their suit, as an at-
tempt was made in 1621 to have their trade restored to them
by law. 5 This failed, and the long controversy was finally
ended in 1634, when a petition from the Staplers against a
new order in council in favor of the Merchant Adventurers,
that they should have the sole trade in cloth in the Low
Countries/ led the Attorney General to examine all the
charters and patents of the two Companies. He reported
that the exportation of any manufactures of wool had never
been a right possessed by the Company of the Staple by
virtue of any of their patents, but that it was vested solely in
the Merchant Adventurers. 7 Thus cut off from all hope of
sharing in the growing trade of the rival Company, the Stap-
lers were limited to the export of wool, fells and leather.
But the clothiers needed the wool at home. As the cloth
trade brought in large revenues to the royal treasury, the
export of wool and fells was frequently interrupted. In
1626,^ 1630,9 1632 '° and 1660" laws were passed prohibiting
any wool to be exported. This last act was not repealed
until early in the nineteenth century and it was a blow to the
Company of the Staple from which it never recovered. After
this it ceased to play any part in the economic welfare of
England, although it still retains its form as a chartered
Company.
^C. S. P., Dom., 1581-1590, p. 114, no. 26. * /dU., no. 25.
'/6iJ., no. 27. *■ Ibid., p. 131, no. 75.
^ Ibid., 1619-1623, p. 250, no. 113. Cf. Hist. MSS. Com., 3* Report,
App. , p. 25 ; Calendar of the House of Lords MSS. The bill was introduced in
the House of Lords, and was committed on Dec. 6, 1621. There were no fur-
ther proceedings in the matter.
* C. S. P., Dom., 1634-1635, p. 218, no. 51. ^ Hid., p. 257, no. 59.
• Rymer, Foedera, VHI, ii, 125. ' Ibid., VIII, iii, 96.
^^ Ibid., 245. " S. R., 12 Ch. II, c. 32, sec. I.
APPENDIX.
De Stapula tenenda in certo loco ordinatio, Anno 13, Edwardi
SECUNDI.
Rex collectoribus custumae lanarum & pellium lanutarum in portu
London salutem. Cum nos vicesimo die Maii anno regni nostri
sexto attendentes damna & gravamina, quae mercatoribus de regno
nostro diversimode evenerunt, ex eo quod mercatores tam indigenae
quim alienigenae lanas & pelles lanutas infra regnum & potestatem
nostram ementes, & se cum eisdem lanis & pellibus ad vendendum
eas ad diversa loca infra terras Brabantiae, Flandriae, & de Artoys
eorum libito voluntatis transtulerint : & volentes etiam hujusmodi
^amnis & gravaminibus quatenus bono modo possemus providere, de
consilio nostro ordinaverimus, quod mercatores indigenae & alieni-
genae lanas & pelles hujusmodi infra regnum & potestatem prae-
dictam ementes, & ad terras praedictas ibidem vendendas ducere
volentes, lanas illas & pelles ad certam stapulam infra aliquam earun-Majorft Com-
dem terrarum, per Majorem & Communitatem eorundem mercatorum, "^^j**
de regno nostro ordinandam assignari, ac prout & quando expedire
viderint mutandum, & non ad alia loca in terris illis ducant, seu duci
faciant ullo modo : & inter caetera concesserimus mercatoribus de
regno nostro supradicto pro nobis & haeredibus nostris, quod ipsi
Major & consilium dictorum mercatorum, qui pro tempore fuerint,
quibuscunque mercatoribus indigenis seu alienigenis, qui contra
dictam ordinationem venerint, & modo rationabili convicti fuerint,
certas pecuniae summas pro delictis illis imponant, & quod illae
hujusmodi summae de bonis & mercimoniis mercatorum sic delin-
quentium, ubicunque ea infra regnum & potestatem praedictam
inveniri contigerit, per ministros nostros ad opus nostrum leventur :Ch»rta «nno
regni lez t o
prout m Charta nostra mde confecta plenius contmentur : quam confecta.
quidem Chartam per singulos comitatus regni nostri super costeras
59
6o THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
maris fecimus publican, & firmiter inhiberi, ne qui mercatores indi-
genae seu alienigenae contra tenorem Chartae praedictae sub poenis
contentis in eadem venerint uUo modo : Ac postmodum dato nobis
intelligi, quod quamplures mercatores tarn indigenae quam alieni-
genae, lanas & pelles lanutas infra regnum & potestatem praedictas
ementes,& se cum eisdem lanis & pellibus ad vendendum eas ad alia
loca in dictis terris, quam ad Stapulam juxta concessionem nostram
praedictam per Majorem & communitatem dictorum mercatorum de
regno nostro in aliqua terrarum illarum ordinatam & assignatam
transtulerint in nostri contemptum, & contra Chartam ordinationis,
publicationis & inhibitionis praedictarum assignaverimus quosdam
fideles nostros in diversis partibus regni ad inquirendum de
lanis & pellibus lanutis ad dictas terras alibi qu^m ad Stapulam
illam ductis, ita quod emendae inde ad nos pertinentes, ad opus
nostrum leventur ; etiam intellexerimus , quod quasi omnes mercatores
tam indigenae quam alienigenae hujusmodi mercimonia in dicto
regno nostro exercentes sunt culpabiles de praemissis : & quod plures
inde indictati, ac alii timentes inde indictari, lanas suas ac pelles
lanutas sub nominibus aliorum non culpabilium faciunt advocari, &
extra regnum nostrum transmitti quibusdam alienigenis, sic culpa-
bilibus in dictum regnum forsitan non reversuris, ut sic forisfacturas
praedictas effugiant, & nos de emenda ad nos sic pertinente illudant :
quae si permitterentur sic transire in nostri damnum non modicum
redundarent. Nos volentes hujusmodi fraudibus obviare, & nostris
damnis quatenus bono modo poterimus praecavere, vobis praecipimus
firmiter injungentes, quod a singulis mercatoribus lanas seu pelles
lanutas per portum praedictum ad partes exteras ducere volentibus
corporale sacramentum ad sancta Dei Evangelia recipiatis, quod ipsi
lanas seu pelles lanutas sub nomine ipsius, cujus propriae sunt, &
non alterius advocabunt. & tunc recepta ab illo cujus lanae & pelles
hujusmodi erunt, vel nomine suo sufficiente securitate pro qua re-
spondere volueritis , de respondendo & faciendo nobis id quod ad nos
pertinet de lanis & pellibus lanutis per ipsum ductis seu missis ad
aliquam dictarum terrarum Flandriae & Brabantiae, & de Artoys
contra formam Chartae , proclamationis , & inhibitionis supradictarum,
si ipsum super hoc convinci contingat, lanas & pelles illas lanutas
extra portum praedictum, recepta prius custuma debita de eisdem,
ad partes exteras transire permittatis. Teste Rege apud Doveram
decimo octavo die Junii, per ipsum Regem & Consilium.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 6l
Et postmodum per breve de private sigillo eodem modo manda-
tum est coUectoribus custumae praedictae in portubus subscriptis :
Videlicet,
In portu villae Southampton.
In portu villae Weymouth.
In portu villae Sancti Botolphi.
In portu villae de Kingstone super Hull.
In portu villae de novo Castro.
In portu villae de magna lernemutha.
In portu villae de Lenne.
, In portu villae de Gypwico.
Printed in Hakluyt, Voyages, vol. i, p. 352, ed. 1903-1905, Glasgow.
BREVE Domini regis de Stapula lanarum.
Edw. Dei Gratia, etc.
Sciatis quod cum ante hec tempora dampna et gravamina diversa
mercatoribus de regno nostro, non sine dampno progenitorum nos-
trorum quondam regum Anglie et nostro avenerint multis modis, ex
eo quod mercatores, tam indigene quam alienigene lanas et pellas
lanutas infra regnum praedictum et potestatem nostram ementes et
secum eisdem lanis et pellibus, ad vendendum eas ad diversa loca
infra terras Brabancie, Flandrie et de Artoys, pro eorum libito
transtulerent : nos volentes hujusmodi dampnis et gravaminibus
obviare et nostro ac mercatorum nostrorum de regno predict©, com-
modis quatenus bono modo poterimus providere, volumus et de con-
silio nostro ordinavimus perpetuo durand.,quod mercatores indigene
et alienigene lanas et pellas hujusmodi infra regnum et potestatem
praedictam ementes et ad terras praedictas ibidem vendendas ducere
volentes, lanas illas et pellas ad certam stapulam infra aliquem
eorumdem terrarum, per marjorem et communitatem dictorum mer-
catorum de regno nostro ordinandam et assignandam, ac prout et
quando expedire viderint mutandam et non ad alia loca in terris illis
ducant seu duci faciant uUo modo ; concedentes dictis roajori et
mercatoribus de regno nostro supradicto, pro nobis et heredibus
nostris, quod ipsi major et consilium eorumdem mercatorum, qui pro
tempore fuerint quibuscumque mercatoribus tam indigenis quam
alienigenis qu contra dictam ordinationem venerint et inde per pre-
dictos majorem et consilium dictorum mercatorum rationabiliter
62 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
convincti fuerint, certas pecunie summas pro dilictis illis imponant,
et quod ille hujusmodi pecunie summe de quibus nos aut ministri
nostri per predictum majorem fuerimus informati, de bonis et mer-
cimoniis mercatorum sic delinquentium , ubicumque ea infra regnum
et potestatem praedictam inveniri contigerit, per ministros nostros
juxta informationem praedictam et taxationem inde per ipsum
majorem faciendam, ad opus nostrum leventur salvo semper dictis
majori et mercatoribus , quod ipsi mercatores delinquentes, si eorum
bona et mercimonia in stapula predicta extra regnum et potestatem
nostram predictam contigent inveniri, inter se rationabiliter castigare
valeant et punire, sine occasione vel impedimento mortis vel heredum,
nostrorum seu ministrorum nostrorum quorumcunque sicut hactenus
facere consueverunt. In cujus rei testimonium has litteras nostras
fieri facimus patentes. Teste me ipso apud Cantuar. vicesim. die
maii, anno regni nostri sexto (1312).
Cfr. Delpit, Documents, francais. Printed in Varenbergh, Relations DiplO'
matiques entre le Comte de Flandre et I'Angieterre, p. 440-I.
De Stapula, apud Bruges in Flandria, tenenda.
Rex, Omnibus, ad quos, &c. Salutem.
Sciatis quod,
Ciim nonnuUi, Mercatores & alii tam Alienigenae, quam Indi-
genae, quaerentes in nostro & Respublicae dispendiO Lucrum suum,
Lanas & alias Mercandisas (non solutis Custumis & Subsidiis, nobis
inde debitis) quandoque furtim & occulte, quandoque per Minis-
trorum nostrorum Coniventiam, extra Regnum nostrum Angliae
eduxerint, & indies educere non desistunt, Ipsas quo voluerint tra-
ducentes, in nostri Dampnum non modicum & Contemptum,
Nos,
Tantae volentes obviare Nequitiae, ac nostris & Fidelium nostro-
rum prospicere Commodis, ut debemus,
^An ^i ''e' ^^ instantem requisitionem, Fidelium nostrorum, Mercatorum
III, pat. 15, dicti Regni nostri, de maturo Peritorum nobis assistentium Consilio,
E- ni. p. », Volumus & concedimus quod Stapula Lanarum, ac aliarum Mer-
candisarum, ad hujusmodi Stapulam traduci solitarum, exnunc extra
dictum Regnum nostrum educendarum , apud Villam de Brugges in
Flandria teneatur, juxta Conventiones inter nos ac,dilectos & fideles
nostros, Homines de Flandria super hoc initas duratura,
m. 15.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 63
Et quod per Majorem & Constabularies, jam per nos deputandos ,
&, cum ipsi Mortui, vel rit6 per Mercatores dicti Regni nostri
Amoti fuerint, per alios Idoneos, per Mercatores ejusdem Regni
nostri Angliae eligendos, dirigatur ; ad quas Amotionem,ex causa
rationabili, cum expedire viderint, & Electionem faciendas, plenam
eis concedimus Potestatem.
Volentes quod per dictos, Majorem & Constabularios , fiant, sine
omni Acceptatione Personarum, Punitiones super Transgressionibus
& Delictis, in dicta Stapula perpetratis, & omnia alia prout in hujus-
modi Stapula alias fieri consuevit ; & nos eos in hiis, quae sic rite
fecerint, fovere volumus & tueri.
Quibus etiam, Majori & Constabulariis, ac Mercatoribus & aliis,
ad dictam Stapulam venientibus, omnes Libertates & Consuetudines
rationabiles, quas in hujusmodi Stapula habere consueverant, qua-
tenus ad nos attinet, confirmamus,
Adicientes & concedentes quod omnes Homines, Majores, &
Minores, Alienigenae & Indigenae, cujuscumque states vel con-
ditionis extiterint, Lanas ac Merces alias, ad Stapulam adduci solitas,
volentes extra dictum Regnum nostrum educere, illas ad dictam
Stapulam transmittere, & Collectoribus Custumatorum nostrarum, in
Portubus, ubi dictas Lanas & Mercandisas carcari contigerit, jurare
Securitatem facere teneantur, quod ipsas ad dictam Stapulam, &
non alibi, traducent, ibidem, juxta modum Stapulae, venditioni ex-
ponendas.
Et super hoc, ac super Custuma debita, pro dictis Lanis & Mer-
candisis soluta, fiant Indenturae inter dictos Collectores & Ductores
Lanarum & Mercandisarum praedictarum ; quarum pars altera Sigillo
nostro (quod dicitur Coket) & altera Sigillo dictorum Ductorum
consignentur ;
Ita quod dicti Collectores partem Indenturae, penes eos sub
Sigillo dictorum Ductorum remanentem, habeant ad Scaccarium
nostrum , cum Compotum suum reddiderint ; & praefati Ductores
alteram partem, Sigillo nostro signatam, ut dicitur, praefatis Majori
& Constabulariis, statim cum applicuerint, ostendant & liberent ;
quam iidem. Major & Constabularii , ad dictum Scaccarium, ad one-
randum ibidem dictos Collectores, mittere teneantur.
Et, ut haec Ordinatio nostra, metu poenae, melius observetur,
statuimus & concedimus quod omnes Lanae & Mercandisae prae-
64 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
dictae, quas extra Portus dicti Regni nostri, non Custumatas , nee
Cokettatas, educi contigerit ; ac etiam Naves, dictas Lanas & Mer-
candisas portantes, nobis ipso facto Forisfactae sint & Confiscatae.
Et, si dicti, Major & Constabularii, dictas Lanas & Mercandisas, sic
sine Custuma vel Coketto eductas, inveniant, habeant pro Scrutinio
suo Unam, & nos aliam Medietatem Lanarum & Mercandisarum
praedictarum ; forisfactura Navium, quae propter hoc, ut praedicitur,
incident in commissum, nobis specialiter reservata.
Et, si aliqui Mercatores, vel alii, Lanas & Mercandisas hujusmodi,
sic rit^ Custumatas & Cockettatas, extra Regnum nostrum eduxerint,
& illas non ad dictam Stapulam, set alibi quo voluerint, traduxerint
(Tempestate vel Incursu Hostium non urgente) Sexaginta Solidos pro
quolibet Sacco, & pro Pellibus & aliis Mercandisis, sic traductis, juxta
ratam hujusmodi, nobis solvere teneantur; de quibus dicti. Major
& Constabularii, semper, cum expedierit, Inquisitionem faciant dili-
gentem.
Et cum Tales infra dictam Stapulam & Districtum eorum invene-
rint, ipsos, donee nobis de dicta Poena satisfecerint arestari faciant
& teneri, alias, si ipsos apprehendere nequeant, de Nominibus eorum
nos certificent indilate, ut dictam Poenam de Bonis illorum, qui
dictas Lanas & Mercandisas sic aliunde traduxerint, ubicumque ilia
infra dictum Regnum nostrum inveniri poterunt, levari faciamus.
Et, ut dicti, Major & Constabularii, ac Socii sui Mercatores,
melius possint & liberius dictam Stapulam regere, & in statu debito
conservare , volumus & concedimus quod , pro Factis & Commissis in
dicta Stapula, deducantur tantumodo secundum Legem Mercatoriam,
& non secundum Comunem Legem dicti Regni nostri.
Et, qu6d ab Exquisitis Occasionibus & Molestationbus indebitis
per Nos & Haeredes nostros specialiter praeserventur, si quae Cartae,
Munimenta, vel Pacta, prius facta, dictam Stapulam, & Libertates,
ac Legem ejusdem, non autem Personas singulares, contingentia,
infra dictum Regnum nostrum , vel Potestatem nostram , in quorum-
cumque manibus inveniri contingat, et praedictis Majori & Consta-
bulariis, absque omni difficultate vel contradictione, volumnus
liberari.
Ad haec, volentes Securitati Mercatorum, & aliorum Contra-
hentium in dicta Stapula, uberius providere, volumus & concedi-
mus quod omues Mercatores super Contractibus , factis in dicta
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 65
Stapula, ac Litteris Obligatoriis , & aliis inde factis ibidem placitare
possint infra dictum Regnum nostrum, & illuc habere Justitiam &
Justitiae Executionem , ac si dicti Contractus & Litterae infra dictum
Regnum nostrum initi fuissent & confectae ; quacumque Lege seu
Consuetudine contraria non obstante.
Et, ut dicta Stapula melius continuari valeat & defendi, volumus
& concedimus quod Major, Constabularii, & Mercatores, dictae
Stapulae, pro Comunibus Negotiis dictae Stapulae , & Venientium ad
eandem, prosequendis & defendendis, facere possint (cum necessitas
exegerit) rationabiles Impositiones, seu Tallagia, super Mercandisis,
ad dictam Stapulam adductis, & adducendis ; ita quod non deferatur
Uni plus quam Alteri ; set quod, juxta quantitatem Bonorum cujus-
libet, Aequalitas observetur.
Proviso quod illi, qui per dictos Majorem & Constabularios ad
levandum dictas Impositiones vel Tallagia fuerint deputati, ibidem
Compotum inde reddere teneantur, & per redditionem dicti Compoti
sint exonerati : ita quod alibi propter hoc ulterius non vexentur ; &
idem fiat de Transgressionibus ibidem perpetratis & per dictos
Majorem & Constabularios punitis & reformatis (videlicet) quod
alibi non inquiratur nee concedatur ulterius de eisdem.
Item, volumus & concedimus quod, in casu quo Mercatores dictae
Stapulae Platam Argenti, pto Montea cudenda, ad Cuneos nostros
deferre voluerint, Cunei nostri Londoniae & Cantuariae parati erunt
& aperti ad recipiendum & cudendum dictam Platam ; ita quod dicti
Mercatores erunt in forma debita celeriter expediti.
Volumus etiam quod dicti, Major & Mercatores dicti Regni nostri,
possint, saltern semel, vel bis in Anno, cum melius vacare poterint,
in Angliam convenire ad Tractandum & Ordinandum ibidem, prout
pro statu dictae Stapulae & Utilitate Communi atque sua melius
viderint expedire, ita tamen quod alios dimittant in dicta Stapula
loco sui, n^ per illorum absentiam, dicta Stapula Detrimentum
incurrat.
In cujus, &c,
Teste Rege apud Turrim London, octavo die Augusti.
Per ipsum Regem & concilium.
Printed in Rymer, FoeJera, vol. ii, pt. iv, p. 109, ed, 3, Hague, 1739.
66 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
Chartkr granted by Elizabeth to the Merchants of the Staple
OF England, May 30, 1561.
I'atent Roll, 3 Elizabelh, part 2, membrane 27.
Pro mercatoribus stapule Anglie ■\ Regina omnibus ad quos etc.
de concessione sibi et succes- > salutem. Cum tempore sere-
soribus. ) nissimi et invictissimi domini
Edwardi tercii huius regni nostri Anglie quondam Regis progeni-
toris nostri stapula lanarum et pellium lanutarum et aliorum generum
mercium . .^ ab inclito opido Middilburgo in partibus Zelandie usque
ad villam Calicie per prefatum Regem Edvvardum tercium translata
. . fuerit ac in eadem villa Calicie sub ordine regimine et guberna-
cione maioris constabulariorum et societatis mercatorum eiusdem
stapule nonnuUis iam retroactis annis et temporibus remanserit . .
ac eadem stapula et eiusdem societas variis priuilegiis iurisdicionibus
libertatibus et annuitatibus per dictum Regem Edwardum tercium et
per alios progenitores nostros reges Anglie fulcita . . extitere tarn per
separales eorundem quondam regum chartas et concessiones sub
magno sigiilo Anglie confectas quam per diuersa actus et statuta in
diuersis parliamentis edita et prouisa Quequidem societas mercatorum
stapule et mercatores eiusdem predicta villa Calicie per regem
Francorum sorori nostri precharissime Regine Marie defuncte ac
huic regno Anglie tunc temporibus hoste dolo malo iampridem sur-
repta et capta regnale dicta Regina Maria non solum a bonis et
mercibus suis in maximum eorundem mercatorum dampnum et detri-
mentum verum eciam ab usu et exercicio mercature et mutui com-
mercii et omni negociandi genere cum alienigenis penitus sunt
exclusi et expulsi in eorundem (. .) subuercionem et internicionem
perpetuam nisi eas nostro beneficio breui subueniretur Et quia plu-
rime donaciones et concessiones tam per diuersas literas patentes
predictorum progenitorum nostrorum sub magno sigiilo suo Anglie
confectas quam per diuersa actus et statuta diuersorum parliamento-
rum edita referebantur et extentebantur solum modo maiori consta-
bulariis et societati mercatorum stapule ville Calicie predicte ob
defectum igitur negociationis et commercii in eadem villa ut predi-
citur surrepta ac in Francorum potestatem deducta vigor et validitas
eorundem concessionum et status stapule et mercatorum predictorum
in questionem vocari possit Et quia dicta societas mercatorum stapule
' Dots indicate omissions in the text not essential to the meaning.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 6/
habita est inter cetera societati mercatorum huius regni nostri Anglie
vna ex precipuis at antiquissimis et non solum singulari fide estima-
cione et fame apiid exteros antehac dignissima et in Corone nostre
Anglie et reipublice eiusdem membrum vtile et necessarium hucusque
semper estimatum est ac reuenciones et prouentus eiusdem Corone
custumis et subsidiis bonorum et mercerum suorum racione pro-
ueniencium multum annexerint et promouerint Sed eciam ciuitates
burgi oppida ville artifices ceteraque huius regni nostri mem-
bra cum predictis mercatoribus stapule et mercature sue genere
exercitata et frequentata floruerunt in bono statu et condicione
vt plurimum fuerit et extiterit. Nos igitur . . . conferre
de gracia nostra speciali ac ex certa sciencia et mero motu
nostris pro nobis heredibus et successoribus nostris volumus ordi-
namus et per has litteras nostras concedimus quod Willemus Chester
miles Thomas Offley miles et Thomas Lee miles Ricardus Good-
ericke armiger lohannes Mershe Edmundus Hall Willemus Bury
lohannes Bradley Cristoferus Whithed Thomas Palfreyman Thomas
Dalton Ricardus Whethyll et lohannes Hampton ac omnes et
singuli alii mercatores stapule nuper nominati mercatores et societas
stapule ville Calicie aut mercatores stapule apud villam Caliciam seu
quocumque alio nomine vel aliis nominibus quibuscumque cuius-
cumque incorporaciones [s/c'] aut corporis politici vocabantur . .
qui modo sunt aut imposterum erunt de societate mercatorum stapule
predicte sint vna societas communitas et corpus incorporatum de se
re et nomine habeantque successionem perpetuam perpetuis futuris
temporibus duraturam ac sint et erunt in re facto et nomine vnum
corpus incorporatum per se imperpetuum per nomen maioris con-
stabulariorum et societatis mercatorum stapule Anglie ac ipsos ma-
jorem constabularies et societatem mercatorum stapule Anglie et
successores suos incorporauimus stabiliuimus et vniuimus et corpus
incorporatum per idem nomen et sub eodem nomine maioris coh-
stabularionum et societatis mercatorum stapule Anglie imperpetuum
duraturum realiter et ad plenum incorporamus stabilimus creamus
erigimus ordinamus facimus et constituimus per presentes Et quod
habeant successionem imperpetuam et com.mune sigillum rebus et
negociis suis deseruiturum. Ac volumus ac per presentes facimus
ordinandus creamus et constituimus predictum Willelmum Chester
militem maiorem stapule Anglie predicte ac predictos lohannem
68 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
Mershe et Edmundum Hall constabularies dicte stapule Anglie
usque ad festnm Annunciacionis beate Marie Virginis proxime
sequens post datam harum litterarum nostrarum patencium perman-
suros et continuandos aud diucius vel breuiori tempore prout pre-
dicte societati mercatorum dicte stapule Anglie vel maiori parti
eorundem indebitur expedire. Et vlterius pro nobis heredibus et
successoribus nostris volumus et per presentes concedimus quod
dicta societas mercatorum dicte stapule Anglie de seipsis eligere
possint et valeant apud ciuitatem nostram London' vel alibi vbi dicta
stapula Anglie fore contigerit et mercandize eiusdem stapule vendi-
cioni exponentur de tempore in tempus imperpetuum quociens et
quando dicte societati . . aut maiori parti eiusdem ibidem existenti
visum fuerat expedire vnum maiorem et duos constabularios pro
gubernacione mercatorum societatis predicte stapule Anglie eisdem
et consimilibus modo et forma prout predicti mercatores et societas
stapule dicte ville Calicie tempore capcionis dicte ville Calicie aut
infra vnum annum proximo precedentem dictum tempus capcionis
eiusdem ville Calicie eligere poterant vel vsi fuerant quodque iidem
maior et constabularii dicte stapule Anglie pro tempore existentes
habeant eandem tantem et consimilem potestatem et auctoritatem
predictos mercatores societatis stapule Anglie in omnibus et per
omnia gubernandos regendos et tractandos prout maior et constabu-
larii predicte societatis mercatorum predicte ville Calicie . . hab-
uerunt . . racione seu pretextu aliquarum concessionum per aliquem
progenitorum nostrorum quondam Regum Anglie seu alicuius statuti
. . seu aliter quocumque legittimo modo. Et volumus ac per pre-
sentes . . concedimus dictis maiori constabulariis et societati merca-
torum stapule Anglie predicte et successoribus suis quod ipsi et
successores sui imperpetuum per nomen maioris constabulariorum et
societatis mercatorum stapule Anglie sint et erunt imperpetuum vnum
corpus corporatum in lege sufificiens capax habile et idoneum ad
implacitandum prosequendum respondendum et defendendum coram
quibuscumque iudicibus et iusticiariis nostris heredum et successorum
nostrorum tam spiritualibus quam temporalibus et aliis personis qui-
buscumque in omnibus curiis nostris . . in omnibus et omnimodis
accionibus realibus personalibus et mixtus assisa noue dissesine ac
omnibus aliis placitis . . quibuscumque dictos maiorem constabularios
et societatem . . seu terras tenementa . . debita seu aliqua alia
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 69
eorundem maioris constabulariorum et societatis . . tangentibus con-
cernentibus seu respicientibus. Ac vlterius volumus et . . concedi-
mus per presentes prefatis maiori constabulariis et societati . . et
successoribus suis quod dicta societas . . valeat et possit . . libere et
licite de tempore in tempus deinceps imperpetuum convenire et con-
gregacionem et assemblacionem de seipsis facere tarn infra dictam
civitatem nostram London' quam alibi ubicunque in talibus et con-
similibus modo et forma prout dicta societas mercatorum stapule dicte
ville Calicie . . in dicta ville Calicie . . facere consueuerunt vel potue-
runt. Ac quod apud dictam ciuitatem nostram London' seu in quouis
alio loco vbi dicta stapula Anglie fore contigerit et mercandise euisdem
stapule vendicioni exponende de tempore in tempus possint et valeant
de eorum communi assensu vel de communi assensu maioris partis
societatis mercatorum stapule Anglie adtunc et ibidem congregate
et assemblate libere de seipsis nominare et eligere vnum maiorem
pro anno adtunc futuro vel minus duraturum permansurum et con-
tinuaturum ac duos constabularios per tres menses vel minus ad
eiusdem societatis . . vel maioris partis eiusdem . . ibidem con-
gregate et assemblate voluntatem et libitum duraturos permansuros
et continuaturos, Ac eciam quod . . de tempore in tempus im-
perpetuum valeant et possint libere et licite nominare eligere et ad-
mittere in dictam societatem . . ac in dictum corpus per presentes
corporatum et stabilitum omnes et singulas personas quascumque ex
eiusdem societatis . , communi assensu vel maioris partis eiusdem
. . ac . . nominare eligere et constituere omnes et singulos tales
huiusmodi et consimiles ofificiarios ministros et seruientes eiusdem
stapule Anglie pro anno ad tunc futuro seu minis ad eiusdem socie-
tatis . . voluntatem et libitum duraturos et deseruituros quos et
quales . . . expedire seu commodum et necessarium fore pro bonis
ordine regimine et gubernacione predicte stapule Anglie et societatis
eiusdem videbitur. Et quod eosdem sic nominates electos et con-
stitutos . . pro delictis et offensis malo regimine seu aliqua occa-
sione vel causa racionabili quacumque ab ofificiis ministeriis seu ser-
uiciis suis amouere excludere ac alia [jzV] vice et in loco seu locis
eorundem sic amotorum seu exclusorum vel mortuorum nominare
eligere et preficere ibidem durare deseruire et vt predicitur contin-
uare. Necnon facere ordinare constituere et exequi omnia et
singula alia necessaria et oportuna dictam societatem . . eorum
yO THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
statum et regimen tangencia seu qualitercumque concernencia de
tempore in tempus libere et licite valeant et possint imperpetuum in
tarn amplis et beneficialibus modo et forma prout dicti mercatores
. . dicte stapule in dicta villa Calicie . . facere consueuerunt . . .
Ac vlterius . . volumus . . et concedimus prefatis maiori constab-
ulariis et societati mercatorum stapule Anglie predicte et societati-
bus suis quod deinceps stapula lanarum et pellium lanutarum ab hoc
regno nostro Anglie traducendarum et transport'andarum per merca-
tores dicte societatis . . tenebitur seruabitur et custodietur in opidis et
ciuitatibus de Brugis in Flandria de Middelburgo in Zelandia et de
Bargis super Zone in Brabantia seu in eorum aliqua tam diu quam dicte
societati . . videbitur expediri vel in aliquo alio loco conueniente infra
regnum Anglie vel alibi extra regnum Anglie per nos heredes vel
successores nostros per litteras patentes magno sigillo Anglie sigillandas
assignando limitando etappunctando si ad aliquod tempus imposterura
nobis heredibus vel successoribus nostris ita visum fuerit expedire
ac quod dicta stapula lanarum et pellium lanutarum ibidem de tem-
pore in tempus morabitur . . et erit sub ordine . . maioris constab-
ulariorum et societatis mercatorum stapule . . in consimilibus modo
et forma prout dicta societas mercatorum stapule in predicta villa
Calicie vel mercatores eiusdem . . regebantur . . infra dictam villam
Calicie seu alitor . . . Volumus . . et concedimus quod predicta sta-
pula . . de aliquo predictarum ciuitatum opidorum vel locorum de
Brugis Middelburgo seu Bargis predictis vel de aliquo alio loco vbi
predicta stapula Anglie imposterum teneri . . contigerit de cetero
non amoueatur . . nisi monicio ac noticia inde . . per litteras patentes
magno sigillo Anglie sigillatas prefatis maiori constabulariis et socie-
tati mercatorum stapule . . dirigendas et prefato maiori vel vni con-
stabulariorum stapule . . pro tempore existencium deliberandas per
spacium nonem mensium ante quamlibet talem amocionem vel trans-
lacionem detur. Preterea . . damns et concedimus prefatis maiori
et constabulariis et societati . . et successoribus suis imperpetuum . .
plenariam et integram potestatem . . quod ipsi et omnes et singuli
mercatores eiusdem societatis . . et apprenticii eorum . . de tempore
in tempus imperpetuum sine impedimento . . libere et licite et im-
pune valeant et possint . . emere negociari marcari omnia genera et
species lanarum infra hoc regnum . , crescentes . . et contractus
facere et convenire pro eisdem cum omnibus et singulis subditis nos-
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 7I
tris . . et aliis personis quibusciimque cuiuscumque status seu condi-
cionis sint vel fuerint eadem genere lanarum impaccata et in saccos
seu in poketos redacta compressa et signata modo et forma consuetis
et vsitatis. Ac eciam omnes et omnimodas pelles lanutas eskippare
. . ab et extra omnes et singulos portus et portum huius regni nostri
Anglie pro eskippacione . . lanarum et pellium lanutarum antehac
limitatos assignatos seu consuetos vsque ad opidum opida civitates
seu vrbes de Brugis Middilburg seu Bergis super Zone predictis seu
vsque ad eorum aliquod vel vsque ad aliquod aliud opidum vrbem
seu locum transmarinum vel alibi infra regnum Anglie vbi dicta sta-
pula Anglie fore contigerit per assignacionem nostram • aut heredum
vel successorum nostrorum. Ac ea ibidem vendicioni exponere et
vendere quibuscumque personis et cuicumque persone Ac eciam
quod prefati mercatores societatis stapule Anglie predicte . . vendi-
cioni exponere ac vendere et alienare possint et valeant infra hoc
regnum nostrum Anglie vbicumque lanas refutatas et reiectas vocatas
refuce wolles et particulas lane vocatas lookes quibuscumque personis
in talibus et consimilibus modo et forma prout dicta societas merca-
torum stapule dicte ville Calicie aut mercatores dicte stapule . .
facere vendere vel alienare potuerunt absque impeticione . .
nostrum heredum vel successorum nostrorum aut aliorum otifici-
ariorum ministrorum seu subditorum vel ligeorum nostrorum.
Et absque aliqua pena . . ea occasione sustinenda, aliquo
statuto . . vel consuetudine ante hac habitis . . incontra-
rium in aliquo non obstantibus. Ac volumus et ordinamus
per presentes quod in et apud quemlibet portum huius regni nostri
Anglie vbi lane et pelles lanute in nauibus imponentur vel eskippa-
buntur ad transportandum et traducendum vt prefertur per merca-
tores stapule Anglie predicte . . vbi maior eiusdem stapule tunc
non fuerit commorans seu residens quedam indenture de tempore in
tempus confecte erant inter collectores custume et subsidii lanarum
er pellium lanutarum in huiusmodi portu vt prefertur eskippandarum
assignatos ex vna parte et tales et huiusmodi mercator et mercatores
qui eadem ad stapulam predictam . , traducere et transportare vol-
uerint . . ex altera parte specificando ac ostendendo sigillatim tam
nomina mercatorum ibidem eskippancium quam quantitatem
bonorum et mercandizarum ibidem in naues mercatorum vt prefertur
eskippatorum. Cuius quidem indenture vna pars sigillabitur sigillo
72 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
nostro . . vocato le Cocket ac altera pars eiusdem sigillabitur sigillo
. . mercatoris . . eadem transportantis . . Ita quod iidem coUec-
tores . . possint et valeant . . vnam partem indenture predicte
habere penes se remanentem ad exhibendum et ostendendum in
scaccario nostro . . ea intencione vt iidem mercatores . . onerentur
. . ibidem de et pro solucione custume et subsidii nobis . . inde
debitis et soluendis et alteram partem eiusdem indenture dicto sigillo
nostro vocato le Cocket sigillatam mercator et transportator . .
earundem lanarum et pellium lanutarum immediate post transfre-
tacionem et arriuacionem nauium apud stapulam predictam ostendet
deliberabit . . maiori aut eius locumtenenti et constabulariis stapule
Anglie predicte . . vel eorum vni. Quamquidem partem indenture
iidem maior vel eius locumtenens et constabularii vel ' eorum vnus
infra spacium trium mensium post recepcionem eiusdem certifi-
cabunt et deliberabunt in scaccarium nostrum . . Et si maior
stapule Anglie predicte in portu vbi huiusmodi lane et pelles lanatas
in nauibus onerabuntur seu eskippabuntur commorans seu residens
sit . . tunc volumus quod indenture fiant inter coUectores seu col-
lectorem custume et subsidii eiusdem portus . . ex vna parte et
maiorem stapule . . ex altera parte specificantes ac ostendentes
sigillatim tarn nomina mercatorum ibidem eskippancium quam quan-
titatem bonorum et mercandizarum ibidem in naues oneratorum et
vt prefertur eskippatorum consimilibus modo et forma prout superius
specificatur et limitatur Ac quod maior stapule . . in tali casu in-
denturas predictas infra tres menses post recepcionem eorundem in
scaccario nostro . . ostendet et deliberabit . . Volumus insuper
per presentes quod predict! maior constabularii et societas . . et
eorum successores de tempore in tempus infra spacium trium men-
sium proximorum post eskippacionem et transfretacionem extra
regnum Anglie aliquarum lanarum et pellium lanutarum ad stapulam
predictam transportandarum . . bene et fideliter persoluent seu
satisfacient . . nomine custume et subsidii nobis . . ad receptam
scaccarii nostri . . pro quolibet sacco lane vbi quando et quamdiu
numerus saccorum lane eskippatorum vel eskippandorum aliquo tem-
pore infra spacium vnius anni non excedebat numerum trium millium
saccorum tres libras bone et legalis monete Anglie et pro quolibet
sacco lane excedente dictum numerum trium millium saccorum
aliquo tempore infra spacium vnius anni eskippato . . quatuor
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 73
marcas bone et legalis monete Anglie et non vltra et pro qualibet
pelle lanuta duos denarios legalis monete Anglie absque vlteriore
dilacione fraude seu covina Et insuper . . volumus
ac per presentes . . concedimus prefatis maiori constabulariis et
societati . . et eorum successoribus imperpetuum . . quod . . habeant
teneant vtentur gaudeant et exerceant . . tam infra hoc regnum
nostrum Anglie quam alibi tot talia tanta eadum huiusmodi et con-
similia libertates consuetudines franchesias priuilegia potestates auc-
toritates preheminencias iurisdicciones annuitates commoditates ac
omnia alia iura quecumque cuiuscumque generis speciei nature quali-
tatis seu condicionis fuit . . non existencia repugnancia siue con-
traria hiis litteris nostris patentibus vel alicui articulo in eisdem con-
tento et specificato quot et qualia quanta et que predicti maior et
constabularii et societas mercatorum stapule dicte ville Calicie . .
habuerunt exercuerunt gauisi aut vsi fuerunt . . racione vel pre-
textu aliquorum statutorum siue actum parliamenti aut aliquarum
litterarum patencium per aliquem progenitorum nostrorum quondam
Regum Anglie habitarum siue factarum aut alicuius prescripcionis
seu consuetudinis aut aliquo alio legali modo iure seu titulo quibus-
cumque aliqua forisfactura non vsu seu abusu earundem seu eorundem
alicuius antehac habita seu facta seu aliqua alia re materia causa
lege statute consuetudine vsu proclamacione surrepcione et capcione
predicte ville Calicie seu continuacione eiusdem in manibus et pos-
sessione Francorum predictorum aut aliqua alia re causa vel materia
quacumque in aliquo non obstante Et denique . . . volumus et
concedimus prefatis maiori constabulariis et societati mercatorum
dicte stapule Anglie et eorum successoribus imperpetuum . . quod
le littere nostre patentes ac omnia et singula concessiones . . in
eisdem contenta et specificata accipientur capientur et interpreta-
buntur ac tam coram nobis consilio nostro in Stellata Camera nostra
quam coram nobis in Banco nostro coram iusticiariis nostris in com-
muni Banco coram thesaurario et baronibus scaccarii nostri et in
quibuscumque curiis nostris . . ac in omnibus aliis locis infra
dominia nostra . . benignius et magis graciose ac in fauorem maioris
constabulariorum et societatis mercatorum dicte stapule Anglie pro
tempore existencium et cuiuslibet eiusdem societatis et apprentic-
ioram eorundem et eorum cuiuslibet ac maxime et precipue in eorum
commodum et vtilitatem ac fortissime . . versus nos heredos et sue-
74 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
cessores nostros aliqua progatiua preheminencia lege consuetudine
statute siue actu parliamenti seu aliqua re causa vel materia qua-
cumque incontrarium antehac habita ordinata facta seu vsitata in
aliquo non obstante. Ac eciam volumus etc. Eo quod expressa
mencio etc. In cuius rei etc. Teste rege apud Westmonasterium
XXX die Maii.
Per breve de private sigillo etc.
Charter granted by James I to the Merchants of the Staple
OF England, 1617.
Sign Manual Grants and Warrants, James I, vol. 8, no. 13.
James R.
Rex omnibus ad quos etc. salutem. Cum Societas Mercatorum
Stapule sit et de antique fuerit inter ceteras societates mercatorum
huius regni nostri Anglie vna ex praecipuis et fama dignissima
imbutu stabilita et confirmata cum diversis privelegiis iurisdiccionibus
libertatibus et imunitatibus tam per diversas literas patentes pro-
genitorum nostrorum sub magno Sigillo Anglie sigillatas quam per
diversa acta et statuta facta edita et ordinata in diversis huius regni
parliamentis Et cum domina Elizabetha nuper Regina Anglie soror
nostra precharissima pro meliori continuacione et stabilitate dicte
antique societatis et incorporacionis per literas suas patentes sub
magno sigillo suo Anglie confectas gerentes datum tricesimo die Maii
anno regni sui tercio de gracia sua speciali ac ex certa sciencia et
mero motu suis pro se heredibus et successoribus suis voluerit ordi-
naverit et concesserit quod. . . [Here follows an inspeximus of Eliz-
abeth's Charter of 1561.] Cumque nos super matura deliberacione
inde habita luculenter invenimus continuacionem vel permissionem
alicuius vlterius transportationis lanarum vel pellium lanatarum ad
dictas villas de Brugis Midelburgo ac Bargis super Zone vel ad ali-
quas alias quascumque partes exteras et transmarinas ad grave dam-
num et preiudicium status et rei publice huius Regni nostri Anglie
tendere Sciatis quod nos ad premissa consideracionem habentes pro
vtilitate regni nostri Anglie ac pro melioracione dicte societatis mer-
catorum stapule Anglie et de advisamento consilii nostri pro nobis
heredibus et successoribus nostris volumus et ordinamus ac per pre-
sentes declaramus et significamus voluntatem et beneplacitum nos-
trum dicte Maiori Censtabulariis et Societati Mercatorum Stapule
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND 75
Anglie ac omnibus aliis quibuscumque quorum interest seu interesse
poterit in hac parte Quod Stapula lanarum et pellium lanatarum
removeatur a dictis civitatibus . . de Brugis Midelburgo et Bergis super
Zone Ac per presentes precipimus prefatis Maiori Constabulariis et
Societati . . . quod ipsi et eorum singuli infra spacium novem men-
sium proxime sequentum post datum harum nostrarurh litterarum
patencium lanas pelles lanatas res et mercandisas suas amoveant et
transferant de predictis civitatibus . . de Brugis Midelburgo seu
Bergis predictis . . et quod posthac dicta Societas Mercatorum Sta-
pule Anglie predicte vel aliqui eorum lanas seu pelles lanatas non
eskippabunt nee transportabunt ad dictas civitates . . de Brugis
Midelburgo seu Bergis super Zone predictis . . Et vlterius volumus
ordinamus et constituimus pro nobis heredibus et successoribus nos-
tris Quod posthac deinceps Stapula lanarum et pellium lanatamm
huius regni nostri Anglie tenebitur servabitur et custodietur infra hoc
regnum nostrum Anglie in civitatibus villis oppidis et locis infranomi-
natis et non alibi, videlicet, in civitatibus London' ac suburbiis eiusdem ,
Canterburie, Exeter Norwic, Worrc. Lincoln Winton et in villis
Shrewsbury et Oswestrie in Comitatitu [^/V] Salopie Northampton
et Brackley in comitatu Northamptonie Reading in comitatu Berk'
Cirencester in comitatu Gloucestrie Kendall in comitatu Westmer-
landie Sherborne in comitatu Dorsett, Devises in comitatu Wiltes
Taunton Deane in comitatu Somersett Ratsdale in comitatu Lancas-
trie, Richmond, Wakerfield Hallifax in comitatu Eboraci Coggeshall
in comitatu Essex et Woodstock in comitatu Oxon' Et vlterius nos
ex animo affectantes Stapulam predictam ac Mercatores et Societatem
eiusdem pristino decori felicitati opulentie et prosperitati quantum in
nobis est restituere et reddere eisdemque Mercatoribus et Societati
non minores aut inferiores libertates iurisdictiones privelegia imuni-
tates et emolumenta quam retroactis temporibus ex progenitorum
nostrorum Regum Anglie munificencia et liberalitate habuerunt dare
et conferre ac vtile reipulilice nostre existimantes marcandisas lan-
arum sub regimine et gubernacione Maioris Constabulariorum et
Societatis Mercatorum Stapule Anglie reduci et stabiliri de advisa-
mento consilii nostri et de gracia nostra speciali ac ex certa sciencia
et mero motu nostris dedimus concessimus et confirmavimus ac per
presentes damns concedimus et confirmamus Maiori Constabulariis
et Societati Mercatorum Stapule Anglie et successoribus suis . . .
76 THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
licenciam libertatem facultatem plenam liberam et integram potes-
tatem et authoritatem quod ipsi . . . per seipsos . . . et per ap-
prenticios servientes et ministros eorum . . et alios quoscumque in
eorum . . dominibus . . inhabitantes . . singulis temporibus et
de tempore in tempus imperpetuum sine impedimento .... libere
licite et impune emere acquirere recipere negotiari et mercari Et
pro eisdem convenire ac facere inire barganias et contractus pro-
missiones dare et recipere cum omnibus et singulis Subditis nostris
. . ac tam cum ovium et decimarum proprietariis quam etiam aliis
personis quibuscumque cuiuscumque status vel condicionis sint . .
Ac licet lane huiusmodi empte non sint . . vel pro eisdem contrac-
tum non sit . . pro provisione Stapule vel ad eskippandum ad
Stapulam Calicie Ac quod ipsi . . sine impedimento . . in
dictis civitatibus burgis et villis supranominatis et pro stapula
assignatis et ordinatis videlicet in civitatibus London' et subur-
biis eiusdem . . vel in allis quibuscumque civitatibus burgis villis
sive locis infra hoc regnum Anglie seu dominium Wallie impos-
terum . . . assignandis . . ad omnia tempus et tempora anni et
super quocumque die vel diebus in hebdomado preter diem
et dies dominicas omnes et omnimodas lanas non solum lanas
refutas reiectas et viles vocatas refuse course woUe et locke et lanas
non aptas pro stapula sed etiam omnes et omnimodas alias lanas
cuiuscumque sint . . generis specei nature vel condicionis crescentes
. . infra regnum nostrum Anglie et dominium Wallie predicta . .
possint ac valeant . . libere licite et impune venditioni exponere
vendere et alienate quibuscumque personis . . et pro eisdem conve-
nire contractus barganias et promissiones inire et facere cum quibus-
cumque personis . . separalibus statutis et actis editis in diversis et
separalibus parliamentis separatim tentis in anno decimo quarto
Edwardi nuper Regis Anglie quarti et in annis quinto et sexto
Edwardi nuper Regis Anglie sexti intitulatis An Act lymittinge the
tymes for buyinge and sellinge of wooUe et aliquibus aliis Statutis vel
aliquo alio Statuto . . non obstante. Et insuper . . volumus . .
concedimus et confirmamus prefatis Maiori Constabulariis et Societati
Mercatorum Stapule Anglie predicte et eorum successoribus imper-
petuum . . quod prefati Maior Constabularii et societas . . ac eorum
successores imperpetuum . . habeant teneant vtantur gaudeant et
exerceant . . infra hoc regnum nostrum Anglie et dominium Wallie
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND ^J
predicta apud civitates burgos villas oppida et loca predicta pro sta-
pula assignata et ordinata . . omnia et omnimoda libertates . . ac
omnia et singula iura et emolumenta quecumque cuiuscumque generis
specei nature qualitatis sue condicionis sint . . que ante datum harum
literarum patencium fuere data concessa vel confirmata dictis Maiori
Constabulariis et societati Mercatorum Stapule vel predecessoribus
suis per dictam nuper Reginam Elizabetham vel per aliquem progeni-
torum nostrorum Regum vel Reginarum Anglie vel per aliqua Statuta
. . in aliquibus parliamentis . . edita quocumque nomine . . vel addi-
cione nominis seu incorporacionis tunc vel vnquam antehac cense-
bantur vocabantur seu nominabantur et in tam amplis modo et forma
ad omnes intenciones et proposiciones prout predicti Maior Consta-
bularii et Societas Mercatorum Stapule vel predecessores sui . . in
aliquo tempore . . quando eskippacio sive transportacio lanarum seu
pellium lanatarum extra hoc regnum Anglie fuere licenciata seu non
licenciata prohibita seu non prohibita habuerunt vsi seu gauisi fuerunt.
Et vlterius . . damus concedimus et confirmamus prefatis Maiori
Constabulariis et Societati . . et successoribus suis quod ipsi et suc-
cessores sui de tempore in tempus 'imperpetuum possint et valeant
habere tenere et exercere regimen et gubernacionem totius Socie-
tatis predicte . . apud civitatem London' in loco ibidem vocato
Ledden Hall vel alibi tam infra quam extra civitatem pre-
dictam ubicumque predictis Maiori Constabulariis et Societati . .
vel maiori parti eorundem in ea parte visum fuerit statuere et ordi-
nare. Et quod omnes et singuli predicti mercatores stapule Anglie
tam presentes quam futuri apud predictas civitates burgos villas op-
pida seu loca predicta pro stapula assignata vel ordinata . . inhab-
itantes commorantes vel mercaturam suum \_sic\ lanarum et pellium
lanatarum quoque modo exercentes sint et erint habeantur et tene-
antur sub regimine et gubernacione predictorum Maioris Constabu-
lariorum et Societatis . . et successorum suorum vel maioris partis
eorundem insimul assemblate sic vt prefertur habita tenta et exer-
cita . . apud Ledden Hall London predictam vel alibi vbicumque
per predictos Maiorem Constabularios et Societatem . . secundum
libertates leges et ordinaciones . . predictas. Proviso semper quod
hec presens concessio seu aliqua in ea contenta non extendatur re-
stringere seu reprimere aliquem . . nativorum subditorum nostrorum
. . pannarium . . nee aliquos alios huiusmodi natives qui convertunt
lanas in filum laneum vel in aliquod genus pannorum laneorum
yS THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
vel in aliam manufacturam factam de lanis. Qui ipsi et eorum
aliqui eorum factores apprenticii et ministri inhabitantes in ipsorum
. . domibus mansionalibus . . possint ac valeant . , hoc licite et
impune emere acquirrere et mercari omnia genera lanarum de aliqua
persona . . ad convertendum easdem lanas ad huiusmodi proposita
et intenciones prout ipsi legitime facere possent ante datum harum
literarum nostrarum patencium Eo quod expressa mencio de certi-
tudine premissorum seu eorum alicuius aut de aliis donis sive con-
cessionibus per nos vel per aliquem progenitorum sive predecessorum
nostrorum prefatis Maiori Constabulariis et Societati Mercatorum
Stapule Anglie predicte sive eorum alicui ante hec tempora factis in
presentibus minime facta existit. Aut aliquo Statuto Actu ordina-
cione proclamacione aut aliqua re causa vel materia quacumque in
aliquo non obstante.
In cuius rei testimonium etc.
ur
Ex per
H : Yeluerton.
It may please your most excellent Ma : "'■
This conteyneth yo' : Ma""' Confirmacion to the Marchantes of
the Staple of a Chartre graunted them by the late Queene Elizabeth
in the thirde yeare of her Raigne.
And yo' Ma'-'' doth heereby transferr the Staple for VVooles as-
signed by the said late Queene to Middleborough Burgis and Burgen
an Zoane unto divers Citties and principall Townes in this yo'
Realme of England where the Merchantes of the Staple are to putt
their woolles to sale.
And is done by order from the L : "''
of yo' Ma'"' privy Councell.
Henry Yeluerton
[^£ndorsei/ :'] Grant to the Marchantes of the Staple,
Grant of the Merchants of the Staple.
1617
Expeditum apud Westmonasterium
vicesimo sexto die Martii anno regni
Regis lacobi decimo quinta
L. WiNDEBANK.
[The letters patent' are dated 29 March.]
' Patent Roll, 15 James I, part 6.
THE STAPLE OF ENGLAND
79
Table Showing the Location of the Staple ok England from 1285 to 161 7.
1285.
1297 (circa).
1302.
1314-
1315-
1320.
1325-
^r|2ej(May24).
Staple located at Dordrecht.
" " " Bruges.
" " Antwerp.
" " St. Omer.
" " Antwerp.
" " St. Omer.
" " Bruges,
on the continent abolished, and staples held at certain places
in the realm. No English Staple on the continent from
1326-1338.
1327. Allstaj)les^olished from September till Christmas.
1328-1332. All staples abolished.
1332-1334. Staples held in the realm.
1334-1337. All staples abolished.
1337-1338. Staples held in the realm.
1338-1341. Staple located at Antwerp.
1 341-1353. Staple located at Bruges.
1347. Staple for tin, lead, feathers and woolen cloth removed to Calais.
Staple for wool remained at Bruges.
Staple for wool abolished on the continent, and held at certain
places in England.
1 363-1 369. Staple located at Calais.
/^^-I373. Staple on the continent abolished; staples held in the realm.
1373-1383. Staple located at Calais.
1383-1388. " " " Middleburgh.
1 388-1 39 1. " " " Calais.
1391-1392. Staple at Calais abolished; staples held in the realm.
1392-1558. Staple located at Calais.
1558. Staple removed from Calais to Middleburgh.
1558-161 7. Staple located at Middleburgh, Bruges, Bergen-op-Zoom or else-
where in the Low Countries.
161 7. Staple on the continent abolished; staples held at various places in
England, Ireland and Wales.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
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Charter of 1561. Patent Roll, 3 Elizabeth, part 2, mem. 27.
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Annates Paulini: Chronicles of Edward II and III. (Rolls Series.)
Armstrong, C, Treatise Concerning the Staple and Commonwealth
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Carew.
Coke, John, Debate between the Heralds of England and France
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Cunningham, William, The Groivth of English Industry and Com-
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Higden, Ranulf, Polychronicon. Vol. IX. (Rolls Series.)
Inventaire des Archives de la ville de Bruges. Gailliard. cd. 9
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1805.
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81
82 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England.
Harris Nicolas, ed. 7 vols. London, 1834-1837.
Records of the Borough of Nottingham. [1155-1625.]. 4 vols., 8°.
London, 1882-1889.
Reports of the Historical Manuscripts Commission. Pari. Papers.
London, 1870 — .
Rotuli Parliamentorum. 6 vols., folio.
Rymer, Thomas, Foedera, Conventiones, Literae. 3d ed., lo vols.,
folio. The Hague, 1739-1745.
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alters. Vol. H. 8°. Leipzig, 1881.
Statutes of the Realm. 9 vols., folio. London, 1810-1828.
The Cely Papers. Camden Series of the Royal Historical Society
Publications. 4°. London, 1890. (Letters of Merchants of the
Staple, 1477- 1488.)
Varenbergh, fimile. Relations diplomatiques entre le Comte de
Flandre et I'Angleterre au moyen age. 8°. Bruxelles, 1874
Walsingham, Thomas, Historia Anglicana. Vol. I. (Rolls Series.)
Warnkoenig, Leopold A., Histoire de la Flandre, et de ses institu-
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IVars of the English in France. Henry VI. Vol. L (Rolls
Series.)
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Secondary Authorities :
Ashley, Wm. J., An Introduction to English Economic History and
Theory. 2 vols., 12°. New York, 1892-1893.
Bourne, Henry R. F.. English Merchants. 12°. London. 1898.
Craik, George L.. The History of British Commerce from the
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Davies, Charles Maurice, History of Holland and the Dutch Na-
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Davies. John Silvester, History of Southampton. 4°. Southamp-
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Duke, Edward, Prolusioncs Historical 8°. Salisbury, 1837.
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Hunt, William, Bristol. (Historic Towns.) 12°, 4th ed. Lon-
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Kervyn de Lettenhove, Joseph M. B. C. (Baron), Histoire de
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