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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
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GENEALOGY 942.2702 S0727SO NO. 11
SOUTHAMPTON RECORD SOCIETY
PUBILiIClLmOlNS.
1905-6.
1. SOUTHAMPTON COURT LEET RECORDS, a.d. 1550—1577 (pp. 164 -f- xxiii).
Edited by F. J. C. Hearnshaw, M.A., LL.D., and (Mrs.) D. M.''Hearnshaw, M.A. Price, 15/9 net ; to Members, 10/6 net.
2. SOUTHAMPTON COURT LEET RECORDS, a.d. 1578-1602 (pp. 208 + vi).
Edited by F. J. 0. Hearnshaw, M.A., LL.D., and (Mrs.) D, M. Hearnshaw, M.A. Price, 15/9 net ; to Members, 10/6 net.
1906-7.
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ton. Edited by W. H. Rogers, Hon. Secretary of the Southampton Geographical Society. Price, 15/9 net ; to Members, 10/6 net.
4. SOUTHAMPTON COURT LEET RECORDS, A^D., 1603—1624 (pp. 232 + iv).
Edited by F. J. C. Hearnshaw, M.A., LL.D.. and (Mrs.) D. M. Hearnshaw, M.A. Price, 15/9 net ; to Members, 10/6 net.
1907-8.
5. LEET JURISDICTION IN ENGLAND, especially as illustrated by the Court
Leet Records of the Borough of Southampton (pp. 406 -I- xv). By F. J. C. Hearnshaw, M.A., LL.D. Price, 21/- net ; to Members, 14/- net.
6. INDEX VOLUME TO COURT LEET RECORDS, A.D. 1550—1624, containing
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1909.
7. THE CHARTERS OF THE BOROUGH OF SOUTHAMPTON, Vol. I (pp. 129-}-
xxv). Edited, with Translation, Notes and Introduction, by H. W. Gidden, M.A. Price, 15/9 net ; to Member.-?, 10/6 net.
8. SPEED'S HISTORY OF SOUTHAMPTON : Written about a.d. 1770 (pp. 247 -{-
xxxvii). Edited from the unique manuscript in the Audit House, by (Miss) E. R. Aubrey, M.A. Piice, 15/9 net ; to Members, 10/6 net.
1910.
9. THE CHARTERS OF THE BOROUGH OF SOUTHAMPTON, Vol. II (pp. 242).
Edited, with Translation and Notes, by H. W. Gidden, M.A. Price, 15/9 net; to Members, 10/6 net.
10. THE "OAK BOOK" OF SOUTHAMPTON, c. A.D. 1300, Vol. I (including the
French Ordinances of the ancient Guild Merchant of Southampton), (pp. 160 -{- xliii). Edited, with Translation, Notes and Introduction, by P. Studeb, M.A. Price, 15/9 net ; to Members, 10/6 net.
1911.
11. THE "OAK BOOK" OF SOUTHAMPTON, Vol II (including a Version of the
Rolls of Oleron), (pp. 145 -i- Ixxi). Edited, with Translation, Notes and Intro- duction, by P. Studer, M.A.
12. THE "OAK BOOK" OF SOUTHAMPTON (Supplement), containing Notes on
the Dialect, Glossary and Index, by Professor P. Studer, M.A.
13. THE " BLACK BOOK " OF SOUTHAMPTON. Edited by (Miss) M. G. Sims, M.A.,
and (Miss) A. B. Wallis Chapman, D.Sc.
14. THE BOOKS OF EXAMINATIONS AND DEPOSITIONS, Vol. I. Edited by
Professor F. Clarke, M.A., and (Miss) G. H. Hamilton.
15. THE BOOKS OF EXAMINATIONS AND DEPOSITIONS. Vol. II. Edited by
Professor F. J. C. Hearnshaw, M.A., LL.D., and (Miss) E. R. Aubrey, M.A.
10. SOUTHAMPTON COURT LEET RECORDS, from a.d. 1625. To be Edited by Rev. W. E. Ashdown, B.A., (Miss) E. R. Aubrey, M.A., and (Miss) M. G. Sims, M.A.
17. THE LETTERS PATENT OF THE BOROUGH OF SOUTHAMPTON. Edited
by H. W. Gidden, M.A.
18. OTHER IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS as decided upon by the Committee.
This Edition is limited to 200 Copies, of which this is
No. 78
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PUBLICATIONS OF THE ^^
SOUTHAMPTON RECORD SOCIETY,
General Editor — Professor F. J. C. Hearnshaw, M.A., LL.D,
. i;b£ (Bak i00k
of
^0iitljam|tt0n,
OF c. A.D. 1300.
Transcribed and Edited from the unique MS. in
THE Audit House, with Translation,
Introduction, Notes, etc.,
BY
P. STUDER, M.A.,
Professor of French and German in the Hartley University College,
Southampton.
^OL. II,
INCLUDING
A FOURTEENTH CENTURY VERSION OF THE
MEDIEVAL SEA-LAWS KNOWN AS THE
ROLLS OF OLERON.
Southampton : '
Cox & Sharland, 150, High Street.
1911.
"1
V
\S
^
^
^
CONTENTS. ^....^cQ^
Frontispiece ... ... ... ... The Rolls of Oleron
(Photograph by Mr. Max-Mills, Southampton).
Introduction (continued) — pages
VI. The Oak Book (Part II) v — xii
VII. Tolls and Customs ... ... - ... xii — xvi
VIII. Survey of the Trade at Southampton
DURING THE THIRTEENTH AND FOUR- TEENTH Centuries ... ... ... xvi — xxi
IX. The Assise of Bread ... ... ... xxi — xxix
X. The Rolls of Oleron and their Origin xxix — xxxvii
XI. Spread of the Rolls of Oleron ... xxxvii — xlii
XII. The MSS. of the Rolls of Oleron ... xlii — xlvii
XIII. Relationship of the MSS. of the Rolls
OF Oleron ... ... ... ... xlvii — Ixiii
XIV. The Language of the Original Rolls OF Oleron ... ... ... ... Ixiii — Ixvii
XV. Summary of the Contents of the
Rolls of Oleron ... ... ... Ixvii — Ixxi
Chapter V. Table of the Customs of South- ampton (c. A.D. 1300) ... ... 2-17
Chapter VI. Concord between New Sarum (Salisbury) and Southampton regarding Custom Dues
(A.D. 1329) 18-27
|, Chapter VII. The Assise of Bread (first half of
Fourteenth Century) ... ... 28-37
CONTENTS- Cowtc^.
PAGES
Chapter VIII.
Chapter IX.
Chapter X.
Chapter XI.
Chapter XII.
Chapter XIII.
Chapter XIV.
Chapter XV,
Chapter XVI.
Chapter XVII.
Dispute with the Bishop of Win-
CHESTER-t-
1. Charters of the Bishops of Win-
chester (Exemplification of A.D. 1268)
2. Lawsuit between John le Cou-
pere of Farnham, tenant of the Bishop of Winchester, and the Bailiffs of Southampton (6-9 Edward II, A.D. 1312-1316) ...
The Charter of Oleron, or the Laws of the Sea (Fourteenth Century Version) ...
The Charter of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (Inspex- imus of 2 Edward III, A.D. 1328)
Letters Patent of 29 Edward III (A.D. 1355), granting the Bur- gesses OF Southampton a Special Toll to complete the Fortifi- cation OF THEIR Town ...
Dispute with the Justices of the County (31 Henry VI, A.D. 1452)
Fragment of Accounts (end of Four- teenth Century ?) ...
Officers for the Twenty-fourth YEAR OF Edward III (A.D. 1350-1)
Concord between Southampton and Portsmouth (A.D. 1239)
" The Inquisicion of the mettes and
BOUNDES FOR THE ToWNE OF SuTH-
ampton taken in the xxxviij YERE OF Henry, sone off King John" (A.D. 1253)
Various scribbles ...
38-46
46-53
54-103
104-117
118-121 122-127 128, 129 130, 131 132-137
Merchant Marks
138-141
142, 143
144
INTRODUCTION,
VI. THE OAK BOOK (Part II).
fT26. The rise and development of the Guild Merchant at Southampton has been briefly surveyed in Vol. I, where it was shown how the guild gradually rose from a private association of foreign merchants to the exalted position of governing body of the whole town. The laws by which the guild first regulated its private business, and later also the administration of the borough, were discussed at some length in the Introduction, and constituted the chief item of the first part of the Oak Book. The remaining portion of the work, which is published in the present volume, contains no section of quite the same local interest as the French Ordinances (Vol. I, Chap. IV), but it includes a most valuable version of the Rolls of Oleron, which alone would ensure for the Oak Book an important place' among the documents bearing on maritime legislation in the Middle Ages. It supplies us, moreover, with such a mass of detail concerning the various activities of the town during the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, that even from a local point of view it would be difficult to over-estimate its importance.
Most of the chapters of this volume deal with the external politics of Southampton, its disputes with the powerful bishops- of Winchester or with the neighbouring boroughs of Ports- ^ mouth and Salisbury, its rivalry with royal officers, whose interference was strongly resented, its intercourse with mighty religious orders such as the Hospitallers, its contentions with the Exchequer concerning the payment of the fee-farm rent in times of adversity ; above all, wjth its administration of Law Maritime. On these questions, and many others, the Oak BooF supplies trustworthy information. If at the same time it is remembered that Southampton was after all a typical English borough, and that most of the customs practised within its walls were observed also elsewhere, it will not be difficult to see that the Oak Book has claims of interest far above those of
VI. INTRODUCTION.
a mere local record, and that it constitutes a valuable asset to the history of English boroughs in the Middle Ages.
The Oak Book was begun c. A.D. 1300, at a time when the Guild Merchant of Southampton had secured the government of the town, and found it advisable to keep a proper record of the rules of its own association as well as of the laws and customs which, time out of mind, had been observed and honoured within the limits of the borough. The first entry made in the Oak Book included, therefore, the French Ordinances. But in course of time many other documents were added which were considered of particular importance for the administration of the borough.
^27. Contents of Volume II. The present volume contains no less than thirteen chapters, for the most part of considerable importance, and dealing with various questions of interest.
Chapter 1/ is a French tariff of the custom dues levied at Southampton on goods brought into the town or carried out of the same. It is particularly valuable as a record of the chief commodities in which Southampton traded in those distant times, whilst many of the words which it contains are highly interesting from a philological point of view. A study of some of these words will be found in my article in the Modern Lang. Review (April, 191 1). The handwriting of this item is of the same period as that of the French Ordinances (see Vol. I, Chap IV), i.e., about A.D. 1300.
^28. Chapter VI is in Latin, and recites an agreement made between the maj^ors and communities of Salisbury and South- ampton, on the Tuesda}^ in the feast of St. James the Apostle, in the third year of the reign of Edward III (A.D. 1329), by virtue of which agreement the men of Salisbury were allowed to carry their goods free to and from Southampton for purposes of trade, subject only to the payment of certain tolls, of which a list is given. This list reproduces, in the main, the items of the French tariff. Indeed, some of the words have not even been translated into Latin, but appear in their French form, though occasionally the scribe has adorned them with a Latin termination. The list is much shorter than that contained in Chap. V, and on comparison of the two, it will be found that on most commodities the men of Salisbury paid only 50 % of the usual tolls. The question will be treated more fully below. ^
1 Of. t 43 ; also Chap. VI, p. 19, n. 16.
INTRODUCTION. Vll.
^29. Chapter VII fills no less than twelve folios of the MS., and contains an elaborate list of the weights of various kinds of bread according to the price of corn. It was compiled for the benefit of the bailiffs who supervised the assise of bread. To avoid useless repetition, only the first two folios have been printed in extenso, the remaining portion being arranged in tabular form. From the footnotes which have been added to the table it will be seen that the clerk responsible for the original was by no means a brilliant mathematician. Through carelessness, he committed blunders almost on every page, and did so apparently with impunity, seeing that one or two errors only have been rectified in the MS.
^30. Chapter VIII refers to a long controversy between Southampton and the bishops of Winchester, on the question whether the said bishops and their men should be exempted from the payment of tolls at Southampton. The first part of the chapter consists of an exemplification (of A.D. 1268) of the charters granted to the bishops of Winchester, by King John in 1208 and Henry III in 1232, respectively, whilst the second part contains a detailed account of a law suit (6-9 Edward II) by which John le Coupere (or John Cooper), of Farnham, a tenant of the Bishop of Winchester, sought to recover damage from the bailiffs of Southampton for their wrongfully detaining a hide belonging to the said John le Coupere. The defendants alleged that the hide was seized because the plaintiff refused to pay toll for the same. John le Coupere, on the other hand, claimed exemption from all tolls at Southampton by virtue of the privileges conferred upon the bishops of Winchester and their men. Ultimately, judgment was entered for the plaintiff, and the bailiffs of Southampton were fined forty shillings.
^31. Chapter IX is undoubtedly the most valuable section of the Oak Book. It contains a fourteenth century version of the Charter or Rolls of Oleron, the famous sea-laws of the Middle Ages. Several texts of these Rolls have already been published, but few belong to so early a period as the fourteenth century, and nowhere perhaps has the original been preserved so faithfully as in the Oak Book. In order fully to demonstrate the superiority of the Southampton text, I have collated it with the chief versions still extant, and have attempted to classify the most important MSS.^
1 See below, ft 72 and following.
Vlll. INTRODUCTION.
Besides the twenty-four original articles of the Rolls of Oleron, the Oak Book contains a twenty-fifth article, which is peculiar to the Southampton version.-" By the same hand have also been added the opening lines of a royal letter of A.D. 1285. The writing is much faded, and it would seem that a portion of the letter was expunged to make room for the fourth chapter of the Statute of Westminster (A.D. 1275); this has been entered by a different (and apparently later) hand. I have collated this portion of the MSS. with the text published in Statutes at Large, Vol. I, pp. 42, 43, and in one or two instances the Oak Book gives a decidedly better reading.-
^32. Chapter X contains an exemplification of the original charter conferred upon the Hospitallers by Henry III on the 20th of June, 1253, and its confirmations by Edward I in 1280, Edward II in 1308, and Edward III in 1327 and 1328. This charter, which bestowed upon the Order extensive privileges and exemptions, is not recorded in Dugdale's Monasticon, but is almost identical in wording with a charter granted to the Templars by Henry III in 1227.^ This was by no means the first occasion on which the Hospitallers received privileges from English kings. References are found to a charter granted them by King John in the first year of his reign, A.D. 1199, and confirmed afterwards by Henry III on February 9th and loth, 1227."'
The military order of the Knights Hospitallers took its name from a hospital, built at Jerusalem (c. A.D. 1092) for the use of pilgrims coming to the Holy Land, and dedicated to John the Baptist. The chief business of these knights was to provide for such pilgrims at that hospital, and to protect them from insult and injury upon the road. They soon came into England, and had a house built for them in London, A.D. iioo ; and from a poor and mean beginning attained to so great wealth, honours and exemptions, that their Superior here in England was the first lay Baron, and had a seat among the Lords in Parliament. Upon many of their manors and estates in the country, the Knights Hospitallers placed small societies of their brethren, generally known as commanderies, because they were placed under the government of a commander." Various commanderies
1 Cf. p. 99, n. 12.
2 See notes to Chap. IX, Ai-t. 27.
3 Cf. Dugdale, Tol. VI, p. 844.
4 Cal Chart. RolU. 11 Heury HL m. 28, 32. 33.
5 Cf. Dugdale, Vol. YI, p. 786.
INTRODUCTION. IX.
were established in Hampshire, and, as the Rev. G. W. Minns kindly informed me, some of these held property in South- ampton as early as the middle of the thirteenth century. Indeed, it appears from the Calendar of Charters, etc., of Godesfield, Baddesley and Rownham, of which Mr. Minns is preparing an edition, that c. A.D. 1250 Benet Ace {alias Benedict Azon), Mayor of Southampton from 1237- 1249, made a perpetual grant to the Hospitallers on a tenement he owned within the town. About the year A.D. 1275 there is a quit-claim by Cecilia, dowager of William Gervas, to the Hospital, of a large tenement between All Saints and the Audit House. Moreover, the Templars had received grants of alms in Southampton in the reign of Henry 11,^ and on the suppression of their order c. A.D. 1300, their property in England was given to the Hospitallers; so that by A.D. 1338 the latter possessed in Southampton and Portsmouth property of the annual value of £20 3s. 4d.- It is only natural to assume that differences must occasionally have arisen between the town and this powerful religious order, which made it very necessary for the town authorities to have a full record of the latter's liberties and privileges.
1133 • Chapter XI refers to a period of great trial for South- ampton. During the Hundred Years' War the town suffered much at the hands of the French. Indeed, as early as A.D. 1338 it was captured and partially destroyed by a band of foreign pirates.^ It became, therefore, a matter of great urgency to strengthen and complete the already existing fortifications On various occasions the king enjoined his burgesses to accelerate the work, and in 1355^ he granted them by letters patent, and for a period of ten years, the right to levy a special toll of one penny in the pound on all goods brought into or taken out of the town, whether by burgesses or strangers. The resulting revenue was to be expended on the town walls. It is interesting to note that the original, from which the copy had been made in the Oak Book, was destroyed (probably by fire) before the ten years had expired, and the king was petitioned by the burgesses to grant them an exemplification of his letter. This exemplifica-
1 Cf. Davies, p. 29. J Cf. Davies, p. 465.
3 Cf. Davies, p. 466.
4 Not in 1356, as Mr. Gidden states (Charters, Vol. I, p. 25). The date 1366, which appears in the Introduction (opus cit-, p. x), is doubtless due to an oversight on the part of the editor.
INTRODUCTION.
tion, witnessed on the loth February, 1365, is preserved among the local archives, and the text has been published by Mr. Gidden in Vol. I, pp. 22-25, of his Charters.
^34. Chapter XII appears to be the latest entry of any length made in the Oak Book, and belongs to the middle of the fifteenth century. It is the answer of King Henry VI to a com- plaint made by the burgesses of Southampton against the unlawful interference of county justices. The king ordered the justices to refrain from such interference, and to permit the bur- gesses to keep all fines and amercements arising within the borough from the infraction of the assises of bread and ale, and other trade regulations.^ Unfortunately, this section of the MS. has been much damaged by gall, barely two-thirds of the words being decipherable. Even with the valuable assistance of Mr. Hubert Hall, of the Record Office, no enrolment of this document could be discovered. In my edition, the gaps have to some extent been supplied from Speed's History, pp. 165-169, where a version — rather unreliable — of the whole document has been transcribed.
^35. Chapter XIII is a fragment of some municipal accounts, probably of arrears of rent owing to the town. At that time the town owned a considerable amount of property, and the expenses incurred for purposes of local government were met out of the revenue arising from that source.^ Unfortunately, I have not succeeded in identifying the names of any of the persons mentioned in these accounts, and cannot, therefore, venture any hypothesis as to their probable date. The writing appears to be of the end of the fourteenth century.
^36. Chapter XIV is a list of the chief officers for the year '^3,5^— '^^5^, namely, the four echevins, the mayor, and the twelve jurats ; but only one bailiff is mentioned. According to the French Ordinances (Vol. I, Chap. IV, Ord. 32) the jurats elected both bailiffs, but it is possible that subsequently one of these officers was appointed by the king. It should also be noticed that under the heading of jurats, fourteen names had originally been written, two being afterwards erased. This means undoubtedly that there had been fourteen nominations in that year. But it proves, further, that the entry was made in the Oak Book at the time of the election, i.e., in A.D. 1350.
1 Cf. also Vol. I, Introduction, p. xxvii, and below, Chap, XII, p. 123, n. 17.
2 In 1491 this revenue amounted to £70 14s. 5d. (see Vol. I, p. 169).
INTRODUCTION. XI.
^37. Chapter XV records an agreement made between South- ampton and Portsmouth. It has already been shown (Vol. I, Introduction, ^11) that from time immemorial the harbour of Portsmouth was within the jurisdiction of Southampton. On the other hand, the latter had no power in the town of Ports- mouth, outside the precincts of the harbour.^ Numerous causes of friction were bound to arise, especially in the administration of Law Merchant. The magistrates of Portsmouth could, for instance, arraign foreign merchants before their own courts, and thus evade the jurisdiction of Southampton, and deprive it of fines, amercements, and other emoluments to which it was legally entitled. Finally, a compromise was arrived at in the year A.D. 1239, in virtue of which the burgesses of Portsmouth not only renounced definitely their claim to customs, etc., arising within the port of Portsmouth, and acknowledged the right of Southampton, but agreed also that, to avoid future disputes, all amercements and profits from strangers, both in the town and in the waters of the port, should henceforth be equally divided between the burgesses of Portsmouth and those of Southampton, and that each party should have a bailiff of its own, appointed to hear and hold pleas in the town of Portsmouth, which bailiffs should proceed by jury, and make oath to each other faithfully to divide and adjudge all profits equally between the two towns, the king's rights being preserved.
^38. Chapter XVI is an Inquisition taken in the thirty-eighth year of Henry III (A.D. 1253-54), ^y twenty-four lawful men, to ascertain the limit and boundary of the borough. Although this is the earliest record we possess of the town boundaries, it is evident that they were not first created in 1253, or indeed in any way modified ; but that they had, time out of mind, been claimed by the burgesses of Southampton, and had certainly been defined in A.D. 1199, when King John granted the town to the burgesses to farm.^ Although no record of that earlier inquisition has been preserved, allusions to it are found in the accounts of some of the perambulations of the town, e.g., in A.D. 1488,^ The tradition that the Common was purchased of John of Shirley in the thirteenth century, and other similar fables, should therefore not be taken seriously.*
1 It appears, however, that in the time of King John the burgesses algo claimed the farm of the town of Portsmouth (cf. Abbrev. Plac, p. 94).
2 See Vol. I, p. 6. 3 Cf. Davies, p. 42.
< For the numerous disputes which arose concerning these boundaries and the modifications made to them from time to time, Davies' History (pp. 41-48) should be consulted.
Xll. INTRODUCTION.
^39. Chapter XVII in many respects resembles Chap. I, except that it is even more insignificant. It consists merely of a few scribbles, one or two elaborate signatures, and a rather carefully drawn merchant mark. All the notes, with the exception of Art. I, are by various hands of the sixteenth century.
VII. TOLLS AND CUSTOMS.
^40. In his illuminative account of the customs-revenue in England, Mr. Hubert Hall remarked that the earliest phases of its history were shrouded in great obscurity, owing to the absence of authentic evidence before the thirteenth century.^ The Pipe Rolls of the Exchequer constitute the only record of an earlier date bearing indirectly on this question. From them " we learn for the first time with any certainty of knowledge, that certain officers of the Crown, whether authorized agents or patented farmers, answered an indefinite but clearly a customary revenue, derived from an assessment in specie or in kind upon any commodity exported or imported, and chargeable at the discretion of the Crown .... To this circumstance of the existence of a customary right, exercised by the Crown in the remoter period of recorded history, must be ascribed the fact that at all times its prerogative has been admitted as an immemorial usage. "^
According to Mr. Hall, the practice of levying custom dues is but a development of the right of pre-emption, conducted on the system of forcible purveyance, which the Crown exercised from Saxon times,^ and which extended to all commodities within its land and jurisdiction, whether of native or foreign production and ownership. At the same time the Crown exercised a further right of restraining the export or import of any native or foreign commodity respectively, at its mere discretion, receiving con- siderable fines for grants of exemption from the restrictions in force. Moreover, the collection of such fines was directly con- trolled by the Exchequer,^ and soon came to be entrusted to officers specially appointed for the purpose.^ The custom dues were, therefore, in the first instance, nothing more than fines made
1 Cf. Hall, Customs-Bev; Vol. I, p. 66.
2 Cf. opus cit., p. 67. 3 Cf. opus oit, pp. 60, 62. 4 Cf. opus cit., pp. 58, 59. 5 Cf. opus oit., p. 64.
INTRODUCTION. Xlll.
to the Crown to secure exemption from the king's right of pre- emption or prise and from other trade restrictions.^
It is probable that originally payment was often accepted in kind, especially in the case of commodities which lent themselves to such a mode of payment. In the Oak Book we find, for instance, that in the case of spices, the merchant had the option of paying, for every bale, one pound of merchandise or the value thereof (cf. Chap. V, Art. 6i) ; for a thousand of onions he could give, by way of toll, one pound of onions or their value (cf. Chap, V, Art. 8i) ; and for two baskets of lampreys, one lamprey or its value (cf. Chap. V, Art. 93). Further instances could be quoted from contemporary documents in other towns ; thus, in London, from every cart of boards or laths brought into the town, one board or lath had to be given to the bailiff (cf. Liber Albus, p. 232); from every cart of leeks, one " fesselet " or bundle (opus cit., p. 233), etc.
^41. The Fee- Farm. These dues were originally collected by the king's officers, but at a very early period the practice was inaugurated of entrusting the farm of the borough revenue to some individual, a sheriff, a town-reeve, or some wealthy townsman, or even to his wife or widow. ^ Very soon also the monarch showed himself willing to give the town to the bur- gesses themselves to farm, i.e., to allow the burgesses to collect and keep all tolls and customs in return for a fixed annual payment. Such a change took place in Southampton in A.D. 1199 (see Chap. Ill, Art. i), when the burgesses com- pounded with King John the custom dues of the town for a fixed contribution of ;£"2oo a year. Originally — but apparently not for long — a remission of £^ was obtained for Kingsland and Portswood, which Richard I had given to the Canons of St. Denys (see below. Chap. XVI, p. 140). In A.D. 1276 the fee-farm rent was increased by 40 marks, and amounted thus to ;^226 13s. 4d.^ The sum was a large one for the time, and the payment of it was frequently a source of great anxiety to the inhabitants. Even in prosperous years it appears to have absorbed all the revenue derived, not only from the collection of customs, but also from the fines imposed on those who broke the assises of bread and ale, weights and measures, and other
1 Cf. opus cit., p. 62. a Cf . Davies, p. 29.
3 Cf. Davies, p. 33 ; also below, p. 48, n. 2. Note, however, that in Chap. XII (A.D. 1452) it Is again stated to be at £200 (cf. p. 123, n. 18).
XIV. INTRODUCTION.
trade regulations (cf. Chap. XII). When trade was bad, large contributions had to be extorted from the inhabitants to meet the demands of the Exchequer, and not unfrequently the town fell hopelessly in arrears. It was therefore essential that none of the money obtained from the customs should be wasted or misappropriated ; hence the very stringent regulations of the Guild Ordinances compelling the bailiffs to make double entries of all such moneys (cf. Chap. IV, Ord. 34), and the order enjoined on the seneschal or steward, on no account to touch the money set aside for the payment of the fee-farm rent (cf. Vol. I, Appendix C, Art. 33). In all their disputes with Portsmouth, Lymington, Winchester, Salisbury, etc., the bur- gesses pleaded that without these customs and tolls they could not pay the annual fee-farm rent into the king's Exchequer.
^[42. Exemption from the Payment of Customs. In
Vol. I (p. xxx) it has been shown that a considerable section of the population of the town was exempted from the payment of customs. A guildsman or a franchiser imported and exported his goods free of all dues, providing always that within South- ampton Water these goods were being conveyed at the risk of the guildsman or franchiser (cf. Chap. IV, Ord. 26). It was only in very exceptional cases, and for limited periods, that special tolls were established and levied on the goods of bur- gesses and strangers alike. In 1355, when it was found a matter of great urgency to complete the enclosure and fortifica- tion of the town, in view of pending inroads of the French, such a toll of one penny in the pound was levied for ten years, with the sanction of a royal patent.^ But in the usual way only aliens and merchants-strangers were subjected to the payment of customs, and even they could claim exemption, if they were either burgesses of a borough which enjoyed freedom of toll in Southampton,^ or the tenants of some lord temporal or spiritual who enjoyed similar immunity. The question apparently was not easy to settle, and it involved the town in endless disputes not only with other towns, but also with bishops and abbots. The records of many of these quarrels have doubtless perished, but enough have survived to convince us of their frequency and magnitude. In 1239 the town was engaged in a controversy on
1 The text of this document has beau preserved in the Oak Book, and will be found in Chap. XI.
2 A list of such boroughs has been published in Vol. I (Chap. Ill) of the present edition, and a more recent list has been compiled by Dr. Speed (see his History, pp. 236-230).
INTRODUCTION. XV.
the subject of tolls both with Portsmouth^ and Marlborough,' in 1260 with Bristol,^ from 1288 to 1290 with the Abbot of Netley/ from 1312 to 1316 with the Bishop of Winchester,* in 1324 with Lymington,^ in 1329 with Salisbury,'' in 1334 with Winchester and Salisbury,® and again in 1411,^ in 1456 with Coventry,^° etc. It is obvious that such litigations must have proved ruinous to all concerned (except lawyers and judges), and the publication of the Books of Remembrances and Stewards' Accounts will probably throw some light on the subject. From records preserved at Salisbury, we know that the controversy of 141 1 cost the burgesses of that town a sum of no less than £8 for lawyers' fees and gratuities alone. *^
^43. Special Tariff of Customs for the men of Salisbury. The amount which could be levied on various goods was apparently fixed by the king. There is a reference in the Black Book of the Admiralty (ed. Twiss, Vol. I, pp. 72-74) to an Act made by King John, ordaining that a uniform rate of customs should be charged, and that the admirals and their lieutenants should twice or three times a year make strict inquiry thereof, so that no merchant be wronged on account of customs. But this royal injunction must have been often disregarded, when the Guild Merchant secured the full control of the town and endeavoured to acquire the monopoly of the local trade. Occasionally, however, a definite agreement was entered into with the merchant-guilds of other towns, that their members should be mutually exempted from the payment of toll in each other's town. Such an agreement was made, for instance, with Marlborough after the controversy of 1239,'' and in 1265 also with Winchester.^^ In the case of Salisbury, a preferential tariff^* was agreed to, in A.D. 1329, to the effect that on most com- modities the merchants of Salisbury should pay only half customs, whilst on others the reduction was greater still, e.g., for
I Tbis is fully recorded in Chap. XV. 2 Cf. Davies, p. 227.
3 Cf. id., loc. cit. 4 Cf. p. 228, loc. cit., also Bot. Pari, Vol. I, p. 20.
s The particulars of this long dispute will be found in Chap. VIII, Part II. 6 Cf . Davies, p. 226. 7 Cf . Chap. VI, Part I.
8 Cf. Bot. Pari., Vol. II, p. 87, also Benson and Hatcher, Vol. I., p. 82.
9 Cf. Benson and Hatcher, Vol. I, p. 110. 10 Cf. Davies, p. 228.
II Benson and Hatcher, Vol. I, p. 110.
12 Cf. Davies, p. 227.
13 Cf . Black Book of Winchester, f. 21b ; alao Gross, Gild Merch., Vol. II, p. 256.
14 The reason why Salisbury was not entitled to a complete exemption is fully stated below, p. 19,
XVI. INTRODUCTION.
12 salmon they paid only id. instead of 3d. (cf. Chap. V, Art. 95, Chap. VI, Art. 17) ; for a hundred boards from Eastland, only -g-d. instead of 4d. (cf. Chap. V, Art. 40, Chap. VI, Art. 25) ; for a bale of Spanish wax, 2d. instead of 8d, (Chap. V, Art. 58, Chap. VI, Art, 4) ; for a hundred rabbit skins, |-d. instead of i^d. (Chap. V, Art. 49, Chap. VI, Art. 58) ; etc. In the case of certain com- modities, however, no reduction was allowed, e.g., on woad (Chap. V, Art. 74, Chap. VI, Arts. 60, 61) ; Spanish wool (Chap.
V, Art. 30, Chap. VI, Art. 37) ; furs (Chap. V, Art. 53, Chap. VI, Art. 40) ; quicksilver (Chap. V, Art. 59, Chap. VI, Art. 33) ; lead (Chap.V, Arts. 71, 72, Chap. VI, Art. 13) ; white herring (Chap.V, Art. 83, Chap. VI, Art. 11) ; mackerel (Chap. V, Art. 89, Chap.
VI, Art. 24) ; porpoise (Chap. V, Art. 98, Chap. VI, Art. 16) ; millstones (Chap. V, Art. loi. Chap. VI, Art. 18) ; coals (Chap. V, Art. 113, Chap. VI, Art. 19) ; calf hides (Chap. V, Art. 141, Chap. VI, Art. 62) ; etc. The trade guilds of Southampton probably eyed the weavers, dyers, and fullers of Salisbury with a certain amount of jealousy, hence their unwillingness to make concessions on such articles as foreign wool, woad, hides, and furs. Moreover, as has already been mentioned, this contract was often violated by the bailiffs of Southampton, and litigation between the two towns was almost incessant.
VIII. SURVEY OF THE TRADE AT SOUTHAMPTON DURING THE THIRTEENTH AND FOURTEENTH
CENTURIES.
^44. The two tables of customs contained in the Oak Book are extremely interesting as a clear indication of the com- modities in which Southampton traded in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The second table (Chap. VI) is dated A.D. 1329, but the first bears no date. The writing, however, appears to be of c. A.D. 1300, though it is of course more than probable that the original from which it was copied was somewhat older still. It is curious to note that in this table no mention is made of certain goods which appear on the list of A.D. 1329, e.g., soap (Chap. VI, Arts. 22, 36), sugar (Chap. VI, Arts. 30, 53-55), German wool (Chap. VI, Art. 38), greywork (Chap. VI, Art. 40), haberdashery and mercery (Chap. VI, Ai-t. 41), dates (Chap. VI, Art. 44), copperas (Chap. VI, Art. 46), verdigris (Chap. VI, Art. 31), orpiment (Chap. VI, Art. 32), peony (Chap. VI, Art. 35), aniseed (Chap. VI, Art. 9), and cotton yarn (Chap. VI,
INTRODUCTION. XVll.
Art. 52). We may therefore infer that all these goods were first introduced into Southampton some time between the end of the thirteenth century and 1329.
Most of the other commodities are mentioned in both tables. Unfortunately there is, except in a few cases, no indication whether imports or exports are meant, for customs were levied on both. As no order or system was attempted in the tables, it might be interesting at this point to review their contents.
^45. Corn, WoAD, Fruit, Spices. Corn (Chap. V, Arts. 4, 5) and Bread (Chap. V, Arts. 1-3) were imported from the neigh- bourhood. Woad (Chap. V, Arts. 74-76, also Art. 11 ?) formed one of the most extensive articles of import, in the early reign of Henry III, by the merchants of Amiens, Corby, and Nesle in Picardy ; also, in the reign of Edward III, by the Hanse Merchants and those of Normandy. By public enactments frequently repeated, woad was to be the only medium employed for dyeing woollen cloths. Ever since the time of the primitive Britons it appears to have been the favourite dye in England^ Other colouring matters used in Southampton were litmus (Chap. V, Art. 139), grain and brazil (Chap. V, Art. 61), orpiment (Chap. VI, Art. 32), copperas (Chap. VI, Art. 46), etc.
DiEerent kinds of fruit are mentioned among the imports : apples, pears (Chap. V, Art. 114), and wa/wwi-s, called " French nuts" (Chap. V, Art. 116), probably from France; figs, raisins (Chap. V, Art. 121), and, later, dates (Chap. VI, Art. 44), from the Mediterranean. From the same source also came spices, which were among the most valuable articles of consumption imported from abroad, and included pepper, ginger, zedoary, cinnamon, galingale, mace, cubebs, cloves, sajfron (Chap. V, Art. 61), almonds, cumin, rice, liquorice (Chap. V, Art. 62), later, aniseed (Chap. VI, Art. 9), peony (Chap. VI, Art. 35), and sugar (Chap. VI, Arts. 30, 53-55). Garlic (Chap. V, Arts. 79, 142) and onions (Chap. V, Art. 81) were evidently imported from France, as well as olive oil (Chap. V, Arts. 122-127). Honey was also probably brought into the country (Chap. V, Art. 35). Wax (Chap. V, Art. 58) came from Spain, or rather from PortugaP, though, apparently, a considerable amount of wax was pro- duced in England^ By the year 1329 A.D. soap was also imported from Spain (Chap. VI, Art. 36).
1 Cf. Liber Albus, Introd., p. Ixxxvili.
2 Cf. Shilllngton and Chapmau, p. 29.
3 Cf. Rogers, Sist. o/Agrieult., Vol. I., pp. 416, 417.
XVlll. INTRODUCTION.
^46. Wine, Cider, Beer. Only three kinds of beverage are mentioned in the tables. Wine (Chap. V, Arts. 6, 7-10) was not only the chief beverage, but it was also, at that time, the most important article of trade between Southern France and England. The Rolls of Oleron,^ which regulated the traffic, particularly between Gascony and Northern Europe, contain convincing proof of the importance of the wine trade ; that Southampton largely shared in this trade has been clearly shown by Davies (pp. 248, etc.), and will be further established by the publication of the Water Bailiffs' Accounts. It is noteworthy that in the Tables, wine is mentioned both as import and export. On the other hand, cider (Chap. V, Arts. 6, 13) is mentioned as an export only, both by land and by sea.^ The same applies to beer, and Davies remarks that in June, 1225, the bailiffs were directed to permit the exportation of beer in the case of a merchant of Flanders, notwithstanding a previous order against the exportation of grain and other victuals to foreign parts. ^
^47. Fish. Among the articles of food imported at South- ampton during the Middle Ages, fish ranked among the chief. The Tables mention the following kinds of fish (Chap. V, Arts. 82-100) : red and white herring, sardine, conger, cod, ling, stockfish, mackerel, mulwell, haddock, lamprey, sturgeon, salmon, whale, porpoise, lump fish, and mullet {?), to which must be added grampus (Chap. VI, Art. 7), As by-products of fishing, various kinds of seam, i.e., fish fat or oil, are mentioned, e.g., seam of her- ring and sardine (Chap. 5, Arts. 35, 36), seam of porpoise, grampus, and sturgeon (Chap. VI, Art. 7).