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EDWARD III. (1312-1377)

From a print in the British Museum.

The letter from the Queen in November 1326; the visit of Mortimer in 1327 and his oath taken before the Mayor and Chamberlain; and the first acts of the new reign—not of the new King, who was not yet of age,—all together prove the importance of the City in the minds of the new rulers. For the first acts were the grants of three simultaneous charters.

The Liber Albus contains a brief synopsis of the contents of the first of these charters, which Maitland rightly calls golden. It is dated 6th March 1327:—

“That the citizens of London shall have their liberties according to the form of the Great Charter, etc.; and that impediments of usurpation upon them in that behalf made shall be repealed and annulled.

Also, that the Mayor of London for the time being shall be one of the Justiciars for (the delivery of) the Gaol of Newgate.

Also, that the citizens of London shall have Infangthef, and Outfangthef, and the chattels of all felons who shall be adjudged by them as such within the liberties of the City aforesaid.

Also, that whereas the citizens of London had been charged by the Sheriffwick of London and Middlesex in the sum of four hundred pounds into the Exchequer of his lordship the King, the said citizens shall in future have one hundred pounds thereof remitted.

Also, that the citizens of London may devise their tenements within the liberties as well in mortmain as in any other way.

That the Sheriffs of London, so often as it shall happen that they are amerced for any offence, shall be amerced according to the extent of such offence, in the same manner as the other Sheriffs of the realm.

Also, that for the escape of thieves the Sheriffs of London shall on no account be charged or amerced otherwise than other Sheriffs, on this side Trent; who for such escapes are amerced, it is said, in the sum of one hundred shillings.

Also, that the citizens of London shall not be charged otherwise than as of old they have been wont to be charged, for the custody of those who flee to churches for immunity, etc.

Also that the citizens of London may remove and seize all Kidels in the waters of Thames and Medewaie, and shall have the punishments therefore unto us pertaining.

Also, that foreign merchants coming into England shall sell their merchandise within forty days after their arrival, and shall lodge at the tables of the free hosts of the City.

Also, that neither the Steward or the Marshal nor the Clerk of the Market shall sit within the liberties of the City, or exercise any office there.

Also, that the Mayor for the time being shall exercise the office of Escheator within the City aforesaid.

Also, that the citizens of London shall not be compelled to go or to send to war beyond the City aforesaid.

Also, that the Constable of the Tower of London shall not make prises, by land or by water, of provisions or of any other things whatsoever.

Also, that the citizens of London shall have wardens of the number of their fellow-citizens to hold pleas in all good fairs of England, pleas of land and pleas of the Crown excepted.

Also, that the Sheriffs for the time being shall not be compelled to make oath at our Exchequer, except at the rendering of their accounts.

Also, that the citizens shall have all their liberties and free customs, as from of old they were wont to enjoy the same, notwithstanding that the said citizens at the Iter of Henry de Stantone and his associates, etc., were challenged as to the same.

Also, that one writ shall suffice in the Exchequer, and in every place of his lordship the King, for the allowance of their charters.

Also, that no summons, attachment, or execution shall be made within the liberties of the City by any officer of his lordship the King, with writ or without writ, but only by the officers of the said (City).

Also, that the Sheriffs of London shall have wholly the forfeitures of victuals, and of other articles and merchandise, according to the tenor of the Charters, etc.

Also, that the citizens of London in future shall at their Iters, be dealt with according to the same laws by which they were dealt with at the Iters holden in the times of their lordships John and Henry, late Kings of England, and other their progenitors.

Also, that nothing in the Iter aforesaid done or attempted against the liberties and free customs of the citizens, shall act to their prejudice or prevent them from being dealt with as from of old.

Also, that the citizens of London, in aids, grants, and contributions, shall be taxed and shall contribute with the commonalty of the realm, like men of the counties and not like men of the cities and boroughs; and that they shall be quit of all other tallages.

Also, that the liberties of the City of London shall not be taken into the hand of his lordship the King for any personal trespass or personal judgment of any officer of the said City; and that no Warden shall in the same on such pretext be appointed.

Also, that no officer of his lordship the King shall make any prise within the City aforesaid, or without, of the goods of citizens against their will, unless he shall immediately make due payment for the same.

Also, that no prise shall be made of the wines of the said citizens by any servant (of ourselves) or of our heirs, or of any other person, against their will; that is to say, (prisage) of one tun before the mast and of one tun behind the mast.

Also, that no officer or purveyor of the King or of his heirs shall trade, by himself or by others, within the said City or without, in anything as to which their offices are concerned.

Also, that the lands lying without the City of such citizens of London as have been, or shall hereafter be, officers of the City aforesaid, shall be held liable for keeping the said City harmless, etc., as to matters that concern their offices, in the same way as their tenements within the same City.

Also, that no market shall in future be held within seven miles in circuit of the City aforesaid.

Also, that all Inquisitions to be taken by the Justiciars and other officers of the King as to men of the said City shall be taken at Saint Martin’s le Grand, and not elsewhere, except inquisitions taken at Iters at the Tower and for delivery of the Gaol of Newgate.

Also, that no citizen shall be impleaded or troubled at the Exchequer or elsewhere by bill; except as to those matters which concern his lordship the King or his heirs.

Also, that the citizens of London shall have all their liberties and free customs whole and unimpaired, as freely as they ever had the same (the Statute for merchants, to the injury of the liberties of the City aforesaid, in the Parliament at York in the ninth year of Edward the Third enacted to the contrary notwithstanding), etc.” (Riley’s Trans. pp. 129-132.)

It will be observed that this charter is not only a confirmation of all the ancient Privileges and Liberties, but it creates new ones. (1) The Mayor was appointed one of the Judges of Oyer and Terminer for the trials of criminals in Newgate; (2) the citizens were to have the right of Infang-thefe and Outfang-thefe, i.e. the right of trying every thief or robber taken within the City, and the right of bringing back to the City for trial every citizen apprehended elsewhere. (3) A right to the goods and chattels of all felons condemned within the City. (4) The remission of £100 a year on the rent of Middlesex. (5) The right of devising real property. (6) The Sheriffs of London to be amerced no otherwise than their brothers south of the Thames. (7) All Foreign Merchants to sell their goods within forty days. (8) The citizens not chargeable with the custody of those who take Sanctuary. (9) The King’s Marshal, Steward, or Clerk of the Household to have no authority in the City. (10) The Mayor to be the King’s escheator of felons’ goods. (11) The citizens who resort to country fairs to carry with them a Court of Pie Powder. (12) The citizens to be free from tallages, other than those assessed upon other places. (13) The City liberties not to be seized on account of the personal offences of any magistrate. (14) The King’s Purveyor to have no right to fix the price of anything. (15) And no market to be held within seven miles of the City.

The charter looked as if the citizens had been simply invited to take what they pleased in the way of liberties.

By another charter Southwark, i.e. the King’s Manor, not the whole of Southwark, was granted as a part of the City. By a third a general pardon for all late offences was also granted.

Maitland speaks of a dangerous insurrection of certain trades and of their parading the streets armed, killing many. The so-called “insurrection” seems to have been nothing more than a continuation of the late lawless brawls; the people had tasted the joy of fighting in the streets and wanted to continue that amusement. The King addressed a letter to the Mayor calling upon him to keep better order. A number of arrests were made and a good many persons were executed; but the riotous condition of the City continued. The chief cause of trouble was the continual quarrelling between the trades. Thus at this very time, viz. the first years of Edward III., the Mayor arranged a dispute, which led to free fighting in the streets, between the Saddlers of the one part and the Joiners, Painters, and Loriners of the other part.

“Be it remembered, that whereas a certain affray lately took place between the men of the trade of the saddlers of the City of London, on the one part, and the men of the trades of the joiners, painters, and loriners, as well in copper as in iron, of the same City, on the other part, by reason of a certain rancour and dissension which had lately arisen between them, namely, on Thursday, the Feast of our Lord’s Ascension (May 20) last past: upon which day, certain of them, on either side, strongly provided with an armed force, exchanged blows and manfully began to fight, as well in Chepe as in the street of Crepelgate, and elsewhere in the same City; on which occasion certain among them were wickedly, and against the peace of our Lord the King, killed, and many others mortally wounded; by reason of which dissension and exchange of blows, the greater part of the City was in alarm, to the great disgrace and scandal of the whole City, and the manifest peril thereof; which dissension and exchange of blows became so serious and so outrageous as hardly to be appeased through the intervention of the Mayor, Sheriffs, and officers of the City; such contention being however at last, so well as it might be, allayed by the Mayor, Sheriffs, and other officers of the City, the said Mayor and Sheriffs appointed a day for the men of the trades aforesaid to appear before them at the Guildhall, namely, the Friday following, being the morrow of Our Lord’s Ascension, to the end that they might set forth their reasons on either side.

Upon the said day, there came accordingly to the Guildhall the men of the said trades, and, in presence of the Mayor, Sheriffs, and Aldermen, did set forth their grievances in writing, Whereupon, a certain Petition was presented to the Mayor by the joiners, painters, and loriners. The causes of quarrel are too long to be detailed here. Suffice it to say that all these trades attempted then what they attempt still, and that they cried out on each other for wickedness.”

The reception of the Lady Philippa of Hainault, who came over to be married to the young King, was made an occasion for the display and magnificence which the City has always loved.

As soon as the King was crowned he set out to take the field against the Scots. The Londoners gave him a hundred horsemen fully equipped, and a hundred footmen, on the assurance that this gift would not be taken as a precedent. The expedition accomplished little, and the war was ended by the Treaty of Northampton, which angered the Londoners against Isabella and Mortimer excessively.

In November 1328 the Earl of Lancaster rose in revolt against the Queen-mother. How that rebellion fared we know. Mortimer came out of it, apparently, stronger than ever.

It is difficult to make out clearly what passed in London during and after the revolt of Lancaster. The citizens regarded the want of success in the Scottish Expedition as due to Mortimer and the Queen. But between anger and rebellion there may be a wide gulf. There were partisans of Lancaster and there were supporters of the Queen; the King’s name was used by both parties.

We have already, in the preceding reign, heard of Hamo de Chigwell: we find him now brought to trial; not for favouring the late King, but on a charge of feloniously appropriating two silver basins, the property of the Abbot of Bury St. Edmunds. He was convicted, but claimed the benefit of clergy, and was conveyed to the Bishop of London’s prison. His character is not of the clearest to decipher, but he was one of the foremost citizens of the time, and it was a time when they demanded much strength and resolution. A year later he was allowed to go free. But as the citizens prepared to make a demonstration of rejoicing and welcome, the Queen with alarm ordered his arrest. He escaped, however, and is heard of no more in the City. In 1332 he devised some property to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s to found a chantry.

Before leaving England in 1329 the King sent to the City a general proclamation. No one was to carry arms in the City except the officers of the City. No one was to walk about the City after curfew; there were to be no covins or congregations; no tavern was to be kept open after curfew; nobody was to spread lies about the City; no one was to harbour a stranger more than one night and one day, if he did not wish to be answerable for him.

The question which occupied the City at this time was practically that of Free Trade. There had been certain towns at which was established the Staple; that is to say, the market from which wools could be exported. No wool was to be exported until it had remained at a staple for a period of forty days. The rule was relaxed by Edward II. in favour of all towns except London, merchants being allowed to remove wool after fifteen days. The merchants of London naturally complained of this exception, but at first without success.

A JOUST OR TOURNAMENT OF THE PERIOD

From Strutt’s Manners and Customs.

Edward proposed, next, to remove the Staple to the Continent, but the opposition of the merchants obliged him to renounce this project. He thereupon abolished all Staples, and established Free Trade in Wool. He also invited Flemings to come over, settle in England, and carry on their weaving here.

Cheapside would seem to present a narrow and confined area for the manœuvres and the combat of mounted knights, yet King Edward held a great Tournament there in the year 1331. We must remember that between the Church of St. Peter in the west and the House of St. Thomas of Acon in the east the street was a great deal wider than it was afterwards: for a length of 750 feet east and west it had a width of something like 150 feet; the space being occupied chiefly by stalls. It narrowed on the east side at the Poultry, and on the west side at St. Peter’s Church, part of the burial ground of which still remains. Stow’s account of what happened at the Tournament is as follows:—

“In the middle of the City of London in a street called Cheape, the stone pavement being covered with sand, that the horses might not slide when they strongly set their feet to the ground, the King held a tournament three days together, with the nobility, valiant men of the realm, and other some strange knights. And to the end the beholders might with the better ease see the same, there was a wooden scaffold erected across the street, like unto a tower, wherein Queen Philippa and many other ladies, richly attired, and assembled from all parts of the realm, did stand to behold the jousts: but the higher frame, on which the ladies were placed, brake in sunder, whereby they were with some shame forced to fall down, by reason whereof the knights, and such as were underneath were grievously hurt: wherefore the Queen took great care to save the carpenters from punishment, and through her prayers (which she made upon her knees) pacified the King and Council, and thereby purchased great love of the people. After which time the King caused a shed to be strongly made of stone for himself, the Queen, and other estates to stand on, and there to behold the joustings, and other shows, at their pleasure, by the Church of St. Mary Bow, as is showed in Cordwainer Street Ward.”

The stone “selde” or shed, as Stow calls it, was still standing in his time. “Without the north side of St. Mary Bow towards West Cheap a fair building of stone called in record Seldam: a shed which greatly darkeneth the said church; for by means thereof all the windows and doors of that side are stopped up.” Henry IV. granted the place to certain Mercers who established shops there but did not pull it down or alter it, and it remained until the Great Fire as the place from which great personages witnessed City shows. The places most commonly used for tournaments were Smithfield and Tothill Fields. At the former was held a very great tournament thirty years later, in the presence of the King and Queen, and another forty years after there was another when the old King conducted thither, to grace the sports, his mistress Alice Perrers, sitting in a triumphal chariot, as the “Lady of the Sun.”

The example in anarchy and disorder witnessed during the last reign makes it less surprising to hear of fresh riots in London, apparently among the Craftsmen. The King addressed a strong letter to the Mayor calling upon the City to repress these disorders. Further measures were taken against disorderly folk in the City but without success, since the King was forced to write again upon the subject. On Wednesday, 12th April, Sir Robert de Asheby, Clerk of the King, summoned the Mayor and Aldermen before the King’s Council at Westminster. Here they were informed that the King was going to war; that this was a costly amusement; and that he desired the City to lend him £20,000. The Mayor begged for time, and called a meeting of the Aldermen and the better sort, not at Guildhall, but at the Chapter House of Westminster. They began by offering the King 5000 marks, which is £3333: 6: 8. This the King refused, with an intimation that if they could do no better than that, he should ask for a list of the principal citizens. They therefore held another meeting and offered to lend the King £5000—“although it was a hard thing and difficult to do.” This offer was accepted. To raise this sum the whole of the City was assessed, sparing none. The richest man in the City was William de Caustom, Alderman, who was assessed at £400; that is to say, his share of the loan was set down at £400.

In 1338 there was a scare about a French descent. The King ordered the City to be “strictly closed” and fortified against any sudden attack by water. Everybody was to aid in this work, whether belonging to a religious community or not.

An inventory of munitions of war was drawn up in 1339. It shows that at a house near the Tower called the “Bretasche” there were 7 springalds (large crossbows); 380 quarels or bolts feathered with leatten or latone (a mixed metal); 500 quarels of wood; 29 cords; and 8 bows of ash for the springalds. At Aldgate 1 springald and 40 quarels; in the Chamber of the Guildhall 6 engines of latone usually called “gonnes” and 5 rollers for the same; also pellets of lead weighing 4½ cwt.; and 32 pounds of powder. This is the earliest mention of guns in England, the next earliest occurring five years later. Riley suggests that they had been brought over to this country by the Bardi from Florence whose guns had been used in war as early as 1326. He quotes Chaucer, House of Fame, book iii.:

“Swift as a pellet out of a gonne

When fire is in the powder ronne.”

The King and the citizens were on friendly terms throughout: but from time to time we see a touch of the Plantagenet.

The assessment shows the comparative wealth of the various wards:

	£	s.	d.
Tower Ward	365	0	0
Billingsgate Ward	763	0	0
Bridge Ward	765	6	8
Dowgate Ward	660	10	0
Langburn Ward	352	6	8
Wallbrook	911	0	0
Bishopsgate Ward	559	6	8
Limestreet Ward	110	0	0
Cornhill Ward	315	0	0
Cheap Ward	517	10	0
Broadstreet Ward	588	0	0
Vintry Ward	634	16	8
Bread Street Ward	461	16	8
Queenhithe Ward	435	13	4
Cordwainer Street Ward	2195	3	4
Faringdon Ward Within	730	16	8
Faringdon Ward Without	114	13	4
Cripplegate Ward	462	10	0
Colemanstreet Ward	1051	16	8
Candlewickstreet Ward	133	6	8
Aldgate Ward	30	0	0
Portsoken Ward	27	10	0
Castle Baynard Ward	63	6	8
Bassisshaw Ward	79	13	4
Aldersgate Ward	57	10	0
Sum Total	£12,385	13	4

A riot in the streets between the Fishmongers and the Skinners led to results much more useful than a King’s letter, for two rioters were executed—an example greatly needed and extremely useful.

Among the ships of Edward’s Fleet were three belonging to London: “La Jonette,” “La Cogge,” and “La Sainte Marie Cogne.” The last ship belonged to William Haunsard, ex-Sheriff. London also sent a contingent of nearly 200 men fully armed on board these ships. These ships were among those which fought in the great victory of Sluys. The battle is thus described by the French Chronicle:—

“In this year all the mariners of England, by commission of our Lord the King, had all their ships speedily assembled and victualled, and hardy and vigorous men from all parts well equipped and armed at all points, in every place to fight for life or death. And when the fleet of ships of England was assembled in manner aforesaid, Sir Edward, our King, and his people were in the parts of Bury Saint Edmund’s: and from thence he passed on to Orwelle, where he put to sea, with his people beyond number, upon the Thirsday next before the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (24 June) which was on a Saturday: and upon the next Friday morning, our King espied his enemies upon the sea, and said ‘Because our Lord Jesus Christ was put to death on a Friday, we will not shed blood upon that day.’

The wind had then been in the east for a whole fortnight before the King put to sea, but by the grace of Him who is Almighty, the wind shifted immediately to the west: so that by the grace of God, the King and his fleet had both wind and weather to their mind. And so they sailed on until sunrise at break of day: when he saw his enemies so strongly equipped, that it was a most dreadful thing to behold: for the fleet of the ships of France was so strongly bound together with massive chains, castles, bretasches, and bars. But, notwithstanding this, Sir Edward our King, said to all those who were around him in the fleet of England:—‘Fair lords and brethren of mine, be nothing dismayed, but be all of good cheer, and he who for me shall begin the fight and shall combat with a right good heart, shall have the benison of God Almighty: and everyone shall retain that which he shall gain.’

And so soon as our King had said this, all were of right eager heart to avenge him of his enemies. And then our mariners hauled their sails half-mast high, and hauled up their anchors in manner as though they intended to fly: and when the fleet of France beheld this, they loosened themselves from their heavy chains to pursue us. And forthwith our ships turned back upon them, and the mêlée began, to the sound of trumpets, nakers, viols, tabors, and many other kinds of minstrelsy. And then did our King, with three hundred ships, vigorously assail the French with their five hundred great ships and gallies, and eagerly did our people exert great diligence to give battle to the French. Our archers and our arbalesters began to fire as densely as hail falls in winter, and our engineers hurled so steadily, that the French had not power to look or to hold up their heads. And in the meantime, while this assault lasted, our English people with a great force boarded their gallies, and fought with the French hand to hand, and threw them out of their ships and gallies. And always our King encouraged to fight bravely with his enemies, he himself being in the cog called ‘Thomas of Winchelsee.’ And at the hour of tierce there came to them a ship of London, which belonged to William Haunsard, and it did much good in the said battle. For the battle was so severe and so hardly contested, that the assault lasted from noon all day and all night, and the morrow until the hour of prime: and when the battle was discontinued no French man remained alive, save only Spaudefisshe, who took to flight with four and twenty ships and gallies.”

The Battle of Sluys was followed by the Siege of Tournay which proved fruitless: the King came home without any money, and furious against his ministers, whom he sent to prison. An inquiry was ordered as to the mode of collecting the King’s revenues in the City. The citizens objected to the judges holding this session in the City; they refused to answer any questions unless their liberties were respected; they raised a special fund for the purpose of defending the City’s rights. The King retorted by ordering an Iter, but being unwilling to alienate the City, which was so useful in time of war, he desisted and gave the citizens a new Charter (26th March 1341). At the same time they were called upon to provide twenty-six ships fully equipped and victualled, and the King for his part got another thousand pounds for himself. After a truce for three years the war was renewed. In March 1346 the London contingent of 600 archers, 100 men-at-arms, and 200 horsemen, were called out and paraded on Tothill Fields. They sailed with the King’s fleet of a thousand ships on the 10th July 1346.

After the battle of Crecy the King sent word to the Mayor that many of his men had deserted, and that all who could be found were to be seized and sent back, whether they were knights, esquires, or of lower order. This seems to show that they went out on short service time which had expired. It also shows that no police existed to prevent deserters from taking ship across the Channel. Another fleet was fitted out to which the City contributed two ships. All the ships in the port were also seized.

After the surrender of Calais the King came home, his army laden with spoil. “And now,” says Holinshed, “it seemed to the English people that the sunne breake foorth after a long cloudie season, by reason both of the great plentie of althings, and remembrance of the late glorious victories: for there were few women that were housekeepers within this land, but they had some furniture of household that had beene brought to them out of France as part of the Spoile got in Caen, Calis, Carenten, or some other good towne. And beside household stuffe, the English maides and matrones were bedecked and trimmed up in French women’s jewels and apparell, so that as the French women lamented for the loss of these things, so our women rejoiced of the gaine.”

In the twentieth year of Edward’s reign he issued an ordinance providing for the expulsion of all leprous persons from the City. “Forasmuch,” he begins, “as we have been given to understand that many persons, as well of the City aforesaid, as others coming to the same City, being smitten with the blemish of leprosy, do publicly dwell among the other citizens and sound persons and there continually abide; and do not hesitate to communicate with them as well in public places as in private: and that some of them endeavouring to contaminate others with that abominable blemish (that so to their own wretched solace they may have the more fellows in suffering) as well as in the way of mutual communication, and by the contagion of their polluted breath, and by sexual intercourse with women in stews and other secret places detestably frequenting the same, do so taint persons who are sound, both male and female, to the great injury of the people dwelling in the City aforesaid, and the manifest peril of other persons to the same City resorting....” And he orders the removal of all such persons from the City within fifteen days, and forbids for the future any one to harbour in his house any one “smitten with the blemish of leprosy.” This order seems to have been obeyed.

It is unfortunate that we do not know the number of the wretched lepers who were thus driven out. The disease itself, the ravages of which had been terrible, was now slowly disappearing: within two hundred years from this time it had practically disappeared. That there were still a good number of lepers in London is proved by the fact that the citizens in obedience to the law began to build lazar houses outside the City. Three at least there were already: that of St. Giles in the Fields, founded by Queen Matilda, wife of Henry I.; that of St. James in the Fields, founded for leprous virgins; and that of Great Ilford in Essex, founded by King Stephen, the only one now left of the leprous foundations. The new lazar houses erected were: one at the Lock without Southwark in Kent Street; one between Mile End Road and Stratford-le-Bow; one at Kingsland between Shoreditch and Stoke Newington; and one at Knightsbridge. One is mentioned twenty years later at Hackney. Another was founded a hundred years later by one William Yeoman of the Crown, himself a leper, on the high road between Highgate and Holloway. Twenty-six years later John Mayn, a baker and a leper, “who had oftentimes been before commanded by the Mayor and Aldermen to depart from the City” (oftentimes! Here is a proof of the weakness of the Executive!), was finally ordered to depart at once. It is not stated whether he obeyed.

In 1348 the Black Death broke out. We shall hear of this again. It is sufficient here to record that probably two-thirds of the whole population of London were killed by this pestilence. The churchyards were full, and would hold no more bodies. The Bishop of London gave one piece of ground and Sir Walter Manny gave another, making in all over 13 acres of land for the burial of the dead: in a short time 50,000 persons were lying there. Another piece of ground given by a priest named John Cony for the same object on the east side of the City was also speedily filled with thousands of bodies.

Scarcely had the City recovered from this calamity when it was called upon to join in suppressing pirates who in time of war and trouble always infested the Channel. The City furnished two ships, one with forty men-at-arms and sixty archers, commanded by Andrew Turk, and one with thirty men-at-arms and forty archers, commanded by Gosceline de Cleve. The fleet destroyed a Spanish fleet and captured twenty-four ships laden with merchandise.

The return of the Black Prince with his royal captive after the battle of Poitiers was an occasion for such a display as the City always loved. A thousand of the citizens, richly clad and well mounted, met the Prince at Southwark: the King of France rode a splendid charger: beside him the victorious Prince rode a little galloway. At the foot of London Bridge they were met by the Mayor, Aldermen, Sheriffs, and the several craftsmen in their liveries and colours. All through the streets the houses were hung with tapestries and glittered with arms and armour of all kinds. It was perhaps the greatest day for the national pride and rejoicing that the City had ever seen.

At the expiration of the Two Years’ truce the war broke out again. A French fleet swept along the coast of Sussex landing an army of 20,000 men, who committed the atrocities common to an invading force, burning towns, destroying crops, killing men. The City of London fitted out a fleet of 80 vessels with 14,000 men, including archers, but these were too late to meet the enemy.

It was at this time that Henry Picard, the Vintner, gave that most famous of all the City banquets, at which he entertained the King of England, the King of France, the King of Scotland, the King of Denmark, and the King of Cyprus, as well as the Black Prince.

The war lingered on for some years, but there were no more glorious victories, and in 1375 peace was concluded. A change was attempted in the constitution of the City; by this the election of Mayor, Sheriffs, and Common Council was placed in the hands of the guilds instead of the wards, but after ten years the new plan was found not to work so well as the old, to which the City returned.

In 1365 an important ordinance was passed concerning what things a tenant in leaving a house might take with him:—

“It is ordained that if any persons hire a tenement, House, or Houses, in the city of London or in the suburbs of the said city, to hold the same for the term of Life, or of Years, or only from year to year, or from quarter to quarter: if the said tenant shall make, or cause to be made, any pentyses or other easements in the said tenement, house, outhouses, fixed with nails of iron or wooden pegs to the premises, or to the soil thereof: it shall not be lawful for such tenant to remove such pentyses or easements at the end of the term, or at any other time to destroy them: but they shall always remain to the landlord of the said premises, as a parcel thereof.”

This ordinance was translated from Latin into English with the following explanation:—

“Whereas nowe of late amonge divers people was sprongen Matter of doute upon the most olde custome had and used in this Cyte of London, of suche thyngys which by tenauntys terms of lyfe or yerys been affixyd unto houses, without specyall lycence of the owner of the soyle, whether they owe to remayne unto the Owner of the Soyle, as Parcel of the same, or ellys whether it shall be lawfull unto suche Tenantys on thende of her terme all suche thyngys affyxed to remove.

Whereupon olde Bokys seen, and many Recordys, olde processys, and judementys of the sayd Cyte, it was declared by the Mayre and Aldermen, for an olde prescrybed custome of the Cyte aforesayd, that all suche easementys fixyd unto houses, or to soyle by suche tenementys, without specyal and expresse lycence of the owner of the soyle, if they be affyxed with Nayles of Irne or of tree, as pentyses, glasse, lockys, benchys or ony suche other, or ellse yf they be affyxed with Morter or Lyme, or of erther or ony other Morter as forneys, leedys, candorous Chemyneys, Corbels, pavemettis, or suche other: or elles yf plantes be roetyd in the grounds, as vines, trees, grasse stounks, trees of fruit, etc., it shall not be laufull into suche tenauntys in the end of her terme, or ony other tyme therin, nor only of them, to put awaye more, or plucke up in ony wyse, but that they shall alway remayne to the ownar of the soyle, as parcels of the same soyle or Tenement.”

At the Good Parliament of 1376 three City Aldermen were charged with malversation. All three were deprived of their posts: one was imprisoned, one fled to Flanders to escape trial, one was deprived of his patent of monopoly. With the design of winning favour from the young heir to the Crown, the City resolved upon presenting him with an entertainment and gifts. The Prince with his mother and his suite was living at the Palace of Kennington.

SIR HENRY PICARD ENTERTAINING THE KINGS OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, SCOTLAND, DENMARK, AND CYPRUS

From the Fresco painting in the Royal Exchange, London, by permission of the Artist, A. Chevallier Tayler.

“For which purpose, on the Sunday before Candlemas one hundred and thirty-two citizens on horseback in Masquerade attended by trumpets, a variety of other musical instruments, and a vast number of flambeaux, marched from Newgate through the City and Borough of Southwark, to the Prince’s residence aforesaid. In the first division rode eight and forty persons dressed in the habits of Esquires, with Red Coats, Say2 Gowns, and beautiful Vizards. Then followed the same number of persons apparelled like knights, in the same livery as the former. Then rode one in a very pompous imperial habit, followed at some distance by a person resembling the Pope, attended by four and twenty Cardinals: followed by ten persons in hideous black vizards, as legates from an infernal Pontiff. This Cavalcade of masquers being arrived at the Palace, they dismounted and entered the hall, whither instantly repaired the Prince, the Princess of Wales, and the Nobility their attendants. They were saluted by the masquers, who, producing a pair of Dice, showed their inclination of playing with the Prince. The Dice were so artfully prepared that, whenever the Prince threw, he was sure to win, and having thrown three Times, he won a Bowl, a Cup, and a Ring, all of massy gold: after which the said masquers set the Princess, the Duke of Lancaster, and all the other lords, each with a gold ring which they likewise won: whereupon they were most sumptuously entertained at supper: and, after having the honour of dancing with the Prince and Nobility, they joyfully returned to the City.”

In 1371 the King granted a charter ordering that no strangers, i.e. none except freemen, should be allowed to sell by retail, within the City and the suburbs. This privilege had always been resented by the citizens, who were more in favour of free trade.

The reign of Edward III. is remarkable for the regulations of the crafts and companies which were issued, and the formation of companies under rules and by royal license. In Riley’s Memorials we find Charters, Articles, and Ordinances granted to the following long list, between 1327 and 1377. The list is set down in chronological order:—

Pellipers, or Skinners, Girdlers, Hostlers and Haymongers, Tapicers, Butchers, Bakers, Taverners, Vintners, Cutters, Brewers, Spurriers, Whittawyers, Turners, Heaumers, Hatters, Pewterers, Glovers, Shearmen, Furbishers, Braelers, Masons, Farriers, Wax Chandlers, Alien Weavers, Tylers, Dyers, Plumbers, Tawyers, Flemish Weavers, Bowyers, Fletchers, Pouch Makers, Blacksmiths, Leather Sellers, Poulterers, Cordwainers, Barbers, Fullers, Hurers, and Cheesemongers. Some of the articles of the new Companies will be dealt with in another place.

The Black Death of 1349-50 caused a dearth of labour which ran up wages enormously.

Some attempt to fly in the face of the effect of demand upon supply was made soon after the Pestilence by a Proclamation issued (24 Ed. III. 1350) by order of the Mayor, Walter Turk, the Aldermen and the Commonality in which wages were laid down “to be held and firmly observed for ever.” This proclamation gave the craftsmen 6d. a day in the summer months and 5½d. a day in the winter. Any employer who paid more was fined 40s.:—any craftsman who took more was sent to prison for 40 days. It seems strange that in a commercial and industrial city it could be supposed possible to regulate wages and prices “for ever,” or for a week. Like so many other mediæval laws and ordinances there is no proof whatever of any obedience, while in the trials that follow there is no case reported of disobedience. We may assert without fear of contradiction that the proclamation fell dead, and that the craftsmen continued to make the most of the situation.

The relations of Edward III. and the City, on the whole of a cordial kind, are illustrated by some of the papers in Riley’s Memorials. Thus, in November 1328, the King and the Queen being at Westminster, the City resolved to send them a present, and these were the seasonable gifts they sent:—

“To our Lord the King:—10 carcasses of beeves, price £7: 10s.; 20 pigs, price £4;—these being bought of Nicholas Derman: 24 swans, price £6; 24 bitterns and herons, price £4: 4s.; and 10 dozens of capons, price 50s.;—the same being bought of John Brid and John Scott: 5 stone of wax, price £19: 19: 0¾; 4 barrels of sturgeon, price £12; 6 pike and 6 eels, price 10 marks;—these being bought of Hugh Medefrei.

To our Lady the Queen:—5 carcasses of beeves, price 75s.; 12 pigs, price 48s.;—these being bought of the said Nicholas Derman: 12 pheasants, price 48s.; 12 swans, price 60s.;—these being bought of the said John Brid and John Scot:—3 stone of wax, price £11: 19: 5¼; 2 barrels of sturgeon, price £6; also, 3 pike and 3 eels, price 66s. 8d.

Sum total paid for the gift aforesaid, £95: 13: 6.”

Nine years later, at the meeting of Parliament, held in London, the City voted a great number of gifts to the King, the Queen, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of London and Durham and many great Lords. To some, money was given, to others, silver plate, silk cloths, gloves for holding the marks. Apparently, the gifts were intended to buy their favour, for the City got a charter which secured their liberties, although they had appeared in danger from the new statutes about the Staple.

While mentioning these presents we may state that in the year 1363 we find a dozen trades uniting to send a small present of money, amounting in all to no more than £40, to the King. Four companies also present King John of France, then a captive, with money amounting in all to £24: 6: 8; and in the year 1371 a magnificent present of plate costing, for the time, a vast sum of money, was given to the Black Prince on his return from Gascony.

In 1357 the King, evidently from his own observation, called attention to the lay stalls and filth allowed to accumulate on the banks of the river, and gave orders that all should be cleaned up without delay. In the same year he ordered the streets to be kept free of such impediments. And, which shows a glimmering of sanitary science, he orders that this refuse shall be put into carts and taken out of the City, or into the dung boats which were probably intended to carry the refuse down the river; but nothing was to be thrown into the river. When one remembers the uses to which the Walbrook and the Fleet, together with the banks of the Thames, had been put, it is easy to understand that it was necessary to do something. At the same time, the Thames is a broad river, and capable of cleansing itself from a good deal of corruption.

In some cases of robbery or violence the King interfered himself. Thus in 1359 the King ordered the Mayor to make Inquisition into a robbery committed at the House of the Crutched Friars in Hart Street, Aldgate, and to send him the result of his Inquisition. The case is curious, one that implicated certain Brethren of the House. The things stolen consisted of a chalice, two sets of vestments, many valuable books and other goods, the whole valued at £87: 13: 4, i.e. over £1200 of our money. The robbers were Robert de Stannowe, John de Dunmowe, and Richard de Evesham, all Brethren of the Holy Cross. The witnesses, John Bretoun and eleven others, swore that these three were all malefactors and disturbers of the Peace of our Lord the King, and that they stole these things and “committed other enormities.” What became of the sacrilegious three is not known. Possibly the Bishop’s prison could reveal the secret.

There is also a proclamation against sturdy vagrants who get alms “which would otherwise go to many poor folk, such as lepers, blind, halt, and persons oppressed with old age and divers other maladies.” They are ordered to be put in the stocks and then to forswear the City for ever. Nothing is as yet said about whipping vagrants through the streets.

There is a proclamation against evening markets. Nothing was to be sold after sunset because it is easy in the dark to pass off old things for new.

Another scare of a French descent took place in 1370, when it was reported that certain galleys were lying off the Foreland of Thanet. It was ordered that a watch should be kept every night between the Tower and Billingsgate, to consist of 40 men-at-arms and 60 archers. The companies were to form the watch in the following order:—

 Sunday. The Ironmongers, the Armourers, and the Cutlers.

 Monday. The Tawyers, the Spurriers, the Bowyers, and the Girdlers.

 Tuesday. The Drapers and the Tailors.

 Wednesday. The Mercers and the Apothecaries.

 Thursday. The Fishmongers and the Butchers.

 Friday. The Pelterers and the Vintners.

 Saturday. The Goldsmiths and the Saddlers.

The bad government of London at this time is illustrated by the decay of archery. The recent victories in France had proved the immense superiority of the archers to the mounted knights in battle: yet we find the youth of London allowed to neglect a weapon which could only be serviceable if its practice was encouraged and ordered. On this subject we find that the King sent the following letter to the Sheriffs of London in the year 1365:—

“The King to the Sheriffs of London, greeting.

Because the People of our Realm, as well of good Quality as mean, have commonly in their Sports before these Times exercised the Skill of shooting Arrows; whence it is well known, that Honour and Profit have accrued to our whole Realm, and to us, by the Help of God, no small Assistance in our warlike Acts; and now the said Skill being, as it were, wholly laid aside, the same People please themselves in hurling of Stones and Wood and Iron; and some in Hand-ball, Foot-ball, Bandy-ball, and in Cambuck, or Cockfighting; and some also apply themselves to other dishonest Games, and less Profitable or useful; whereby the said Realm is likely, in a short time, to become destitute of Archers:

We, willing to apply a seasonable Remedy to this, command you, that in Places in the foresaid City, as well within the Liberties as without, where you shall see it expedient, you cause publick Proclamation to be made, that every one of the said City, strong in Body, at leisure Times on Holidays, use in their Recreations Bows and Arrows, or Pellets, or Bolts, and learn and exercise the Art of Shooting; forbidding all and singular on our Behalf, that they do not after any Manner apply themselves to the throwing of Stones, Wood, Iron, Hand-ball, Foot-ball, Bandy-ball, Cambuck, or Cockfighting, nor such other like vain Plays, which have no Profit in them, or concern themselves therein, under Pain of Imprisonment. Witness the King at Westminster, the twelfth Day of June.”

In the same year the City was visited by a company of Flagellants. They were Dutch and a hundred and twenty in number. They marched through the streets stripped to the waist, wearing hats with one red cross before and one behind: in their hands they carried whips. They sang a Litany as they walked, and then began to flagellate each other till the blood ran down their bodies. This they are said to have done twice a day either in the streets or in St. Paul’s.

In the disturbances and quarrels which marked the conclusion of the third Edward’s reign and the commencement of Richard’s, it is difficult to separate the part taken by London from the general history of the country. It was a gloomy time for London as well as for the nation: the conquests and the vast possessions acquired by Edward had been lost more quickly than they were won. In 1372 the English fleet was destroyed off Rochelle: in 1373 Poitiers was lost and the English army destroyed: in 1374 Aquitaine was lost: our holding in France was reduced to certain strong places, as Bordeaux and Calais: the King was falling into dotage: the Black Prince was dying: not only the pride of the country was humiliated, but her wealth was impoverished and her trade diminished.

New ideas were rising up in all directions, precursors of the Reformation. Wyclyf wanted a return to simpler external forms and the lowering of the pride and wealth and power of the Church. Piers Plowman spoke for the inarticulate: Chaucer shows the kindly and good-humoured contempt of the well-to-do bourgeois for Friar and Monk: the commons demanded the dismissal of the Clergy from Civil Service: a few years later they petitioned the King (Henry IV.) to suppress all the monastic Houses. And the most powerful noble in the land, John of Gaunt, espoused the popular side and stood forth as the protector of Wyclyf and of John of Northampton.

Unfortunately John of Gaunt meddled with trade. Probably in ignorance of what he was doing he placed himself in the hands of a merchant named Richard Lyons in whom he seems to have had great confidence. Lyons was clearly the predecessor of many who have followed him in the endeavour to make fortune by short cuts; he got from John permission to ship his wool without taking it first to the Staple, thus avoiding the tax; he got himself made farmer of customs at Calais and levied higher duties than those imposed by Parliament; he bought up the King’s debts at a large reduction and made the Council pay him in full; he made corners, obtained and sold monopolies.

In 1376, the year before the old King’s death, the Good Parliament sat. Their speaker, Peter de la Mare, in the name of the Commons refused all supplies so long as the Duke of Lancaster, Lord Latimer, and Sir Richard Sturrie remained counsellors to the King, and so long as Alice Perrers remained the King’s concubine. The charge was allowed. Then the Parliament considered certain abuses in the City. First, they impeached Richard Lyons, “of divers deceits, Extortions, and other Misdemeanours, as well at the Time when he repaired to certain of the King’s Council, as when he was Farmer of the Subsidies and Customs; and especially for his obtaining Licences for the Exportation of large Faizons of Wool and staple Ware; for procuring new Impositions upon staple Ware; for devising the Change of Money; for making the King, for one Chevizance of twenty Marks, to pay thirty Pounds; for buying Debts of divers Men due by the King for small Values; for taking Bribes by way of Brokage for paying the King’s just Debts. All which, it seems, he was guilty of, by tampering with the Council.

To some Part of which Articles Richard answered, and to the rest submitted himself to the King’s mercy; Whereupon he was committed to Prison, and his Estate, both real and personal, confiscated, and for which Crimes he was also disfranchised.

John Peach of London was soon after impeached for procuring a Licence under the Great Seal, for the sole Privilege of selling sweet wine in London; it was said that by colour of this Grant, he took of every Vintner four shillings and fourpence for every tun he sold. The which he justified, as lawfully he might; yet nevertheless he was adjudged to prison, and to make Restitution to all Persons aggrieved. Whereupon the Grant was reversed, and the Citizens restored to their ancient Right of selling such Wine, under the Restriction of having the Price thereof always regulated by the Mayor.” (Maitland, vol. i. p. 134.)

The Parliament, however, came to an end. John of Gaunt returned to power; Richard Lyons and John Peach were let out of prison; the late Speaker, Peter de la Mare, was committed to Nottingham Castle; Alice Perrers went back to the King.