them as to the matter, nor anything for which they have not as warrant a royal brief. And when they come to fairs they shall take the wares and merchandise for which they have been sent at once and without long delay, lest any merchants be unjustly burdened by them, as formerly they have been burdened. And such bailiffs shall have letters so that four legal merchants of each fair, in the faith which binds them to God and the king, reasonably impose prices on the merchandise, in accordance with the diverse kinds of merchandise which the bailiffs have to buy.

Cal. of Close, 1234-7, 522.

1257. Petition of the barons in the parliament at Oxford.

The earls and barons petition … as to the prises of the lord king in fairs and markets and cities, that those who are assigned to take the said prises take them reasonably, as much, that is to say, as pertains to the uses of the lord king; in which matter they complain that the said takers seize twice or thrice the amount which they deliver to the king's uses, and keep the rest, forsooth, for their own needs and the needs of their friends, and sell thereof a portion.

Stubbs, Select Charters, 385.

1417. A Court of our Lord the King, holden before Henry Bartone, Mayor, and the Aldermen, in the Guild-hall of London, on Tuesday, the 16th day of February….

William Redhede of Barnet was taken and attached, for that when one Hugh Morys, maltman, on Monday the 15th day of February, … brought here to the city of London four bushels of wheat, and exposed them for sale in common and open market, at the market of Graschurch (Gracechurch) in the parish of St. Benedict Graschurch in the city aforesaid, the said William there falsely and fraudulently pretended that he was a taker and purveyor of such victuals, as well for the household of our said lord the king as for the victualling of his town of Harfleur; and so, under feigned colour of his alleged office, would have had the wheat aforesaid taken and carried away, had he not been warily prevented from so doing by the constables and reputable men of the parish aforesaid, and other persons then in the market; in contempt of our lord the king, and to the grievous loss and in deceit of the commonalty of the city aforesaid; and especially of the said market and of other markets in the city, seeing that poor persons, who bring wheat and other victuals to the city aforesaid, do not dare to come, by land or by water, through fear of the multitude of pretended purveyors and takers who resort thither from every side.

… And thereupon, by the said mayor and aldermen, to the end that others might in future have a dread of committing such crimes, it was adjudged that the same William Redhede should, upon the three market days then next ensuing, be taken each day from the prison of Newgate to the market called Le Cornmarket opposite to the Friars Minors (Greyfriars, whose house was on the site of Christ's Hospital), and there the course of the judgement aforesaid was to be proclaimed; and after that he was to be taken through the middle of the high street of Cheap to the pillory on Cornhill, and upon that he was to be placed on each of those three days, there to stand for one hour each day, the reason for such sentence being then and there publicly proclaimed. And after that he was to be taken from thence through the middle of the high street of Cornhill to the market of Graschurch aforesaid, where like proclamation was to be made, and from thence back again to prison.

Riley, Memorials of London, 645.

  MARKET HOUSES.

Already in the early thirteenth century the greater markets and fairs were held partly under cover.

1222. The King to the Sheriff of Gloucester greeting.

We command you that you do not suffer the market which hitherto has been held at Maurice de Gant's manor of Randwick, and which is to the injury of our town and market of Bristol, and of other neighbouring markets, as we have surely learnt. And that you cause the houses built there on account of the market to be removed without delay. So that neither ships come thither nor a market is there held otherwise than was done in the time of the Lord John, King, our father.

Cal. Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), I. 499.

1303. To the Bailiff of Sandwich.

Order to cause a house of the king in that town constructed for the king's fair there … to be repaired by the view and testimony of John de Hoo and Thomas de Shelvyng.

Cal. of Close, 1302-7, 55.

1345. At a congregation of the mayor and aldermen, holden on the Friday next before the feast of St. George the Martyr in the 19th year of the reign of King Edward III., it was ordered for the common advantage of all the citizens dwelling in the city (of London), and of others resorting to the same … that all foreign[9] poulterers bringing poultry to the city should take it to the Leaden Hall, and sell it there, between Matins and the hour of Prime, to the reputable men of the city and their servants for their own eating; and after the hour of Prime the rest of their poultry that should remain unsold they might sell to cooks, regratresses (retail saleswomen), and such other persons as they might please; it being understood that they were to take no portion of their poultry out of the market to their hostels (lodgings) on pain of losing the same.

Riley, Memorials of London, 221.

  ENFORCEMENT OF REGULARITY.

1233. Mandate to the sheriff of Hampshire that he cause strict proclamation and prohibition to be made in the town of Winchester, that no merchant of wool, cloths, and hides, do any business in wool, hides and cloths in the said town of Winchester, after the established term beyond which the fair of St. Giles is not wont to last.

Cal. of Close, 1231-4, 253.

1233. Mandate to the bailiffs of Worcester that they do not permit the fair and drapery of Worcester to be held on the feast of the Nativity of Blessed Mary elsewhere than in that place in which it was held in the time of the Lord John, father of the Lord Henry, King.

Cal. Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), I. 555.

1297. On Thursday next before the feast of Pentecost, in the 25th year of the reign of King Edward, it was ordered in the presence of Sir John le Bretun, warden of the city of London, and certain of the aldermen, that by reason of the murders and strifes arising therefrom between persons known and unknown, the gathering together of thieves in the market, and of cutpurses and other misdoers against the peace of our lord the king, in a certain market which had been lately held after dinner in Soper Lane (on the site of Queen Street, Cheapside), and which was called The Neue Faire; the same should from thenceforth be abolished, and not again be held, on pain of losing the wares both bought and sold there; the same market having been established by strangers, foreigners and beggars, dwelling three or four leagues from London.

Riley, Memorials of London, 33.

1317. To the Sheriff of Lincoln.

Order to cause proclamation to be made that all persons having fairs by charters of the king or of his progenitors or otherwise, shall cause the fairs to be held in the manner and form and on the days and times according to the tenor of the charters, or as they ought to do according to the title, to wit from time out of mind, and upon no other