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London and Edward I. (The Alexander Prize Essay.)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2009

Extract

Early in the summer of 1285 Edward I announced that he was sending John de Kirkby and a special commission of judges to the Tower to examine the state of public order in London. On 10 June, nineteen days before their coming, he issued letters patent: the area around St Paul's, he asserted, had become the haunt of thieves and vagabonds, and he empowered the Cathedral to enclose and incorporate it in the churchyard. The ‘area around St Paul's’ was nothing less than the site of the folk-moot and the muster. The moot was the primal city assembly, the muster the characteristic expression of communal patriotism. By this time, it is true, neither was much more than an institutional fossil, but both were integral and basic components of civic tradition. The sites were the city's freehold and there had been no preliminary inquest of any kind. As late as the Iter of 1321, when Hamo de Chigwell tried to reverse the decision, the affront still rankled.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1961

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References

page 81 note 1 For these events, see St Paul's D[ean] and C[hapter] Lib[rary], A. 70/1756; Liber Custumarum (Munimenta Gildhallae Londoniensis, ed. Riley, H.T., ii, R[olls] S[eries], 1862), pp. 338–44Google Scholar; Ann[ales] Lond[onienses] (Chronicles ofthe Reigns of Edward I and Edward II, ed. Stubbs, W., 1, R.S. 1882), pp. 9495.Google Scholar

page 82 note 1 Ann. Lond., loc. cit.; Liber Custumarum, p. 240; C[alendar of] P[atent]R[olls], 1281–1292, pp. 182, 357. For Eswy, see, for example, St Paul's D. and C. Lib., A. 25A/1731; Westminster] A[bbey] M[uniments] 9, 42, 52, 80; P.R.O. Assize Rolls no. 543, m. 10, and no. 538, m. 7; Letter-Bk. A (Calendarof Letter-Books … of the City of London, A-L, ed. Sharpe, R.R., London, 18991912), pp. 2, 209Google Scholar; C, Letter-Bk.Google Scholar (ibid.), p. 24; C[alendar of] C[lose]R[olls], 1288–96, p. 522; C.P.R., 1258–66, p. 465; [Calendar] of Wills […enrolled in the Court of Hits ting, London, 1258–1358], ed. Sharpe, R.R. (London, 1889), 1, pp. 22, 122, 435Google Scholar; Beaven, A.B., The Aldermen of the Cityof London (London, 19091913), 1, p. 375.Google Scholar

page 82 note 2 The whole of this paragraph is based on biographical data collected from a great variety of sources. Aldermen may be identified from A. B. Beaven, op.cit., and the basic sources of information were the Hust[ing] Rolls, Hust. Rolls (Common Pleas), Hust. Rolls (Land) and Recogfnisance] Rolls from the City of London Records Office, together with the Calendar of Letter-Books and Cal. of Wills; the records of St Paul's D. and C. Lib.; W.A.M.; P.R.O., Exchequer records, notably K. R. Accounts Various and K.R. Customs Accounts, the Chancery Rolls (Charter, Close, Liberate and Patent Rolls) and their printed Calendars. Useful for the early history of families is Page, W., London, its Origin and Early Development (London, 1929). For an overall survey, see below, Appendix.Google Scholar

page 83 note 1 These events may be reconstructed from the basic narrative by Arnold fitz Thedmar in De Ant[iquis] Leg[ibus] Lib[er], ed. Stapleton, T. (Camden Soc, 1846)Google Scholar, supplemented by biographical data drawn from the sources given above. On population, see the argument and statistics in Ekwall, E., Studies on the Population of Medieval London (Stockholm, 1956)Google Scholar and id., Two Early London Subsidy Rolls (Lund, 1951); Weinbaum, M., London unterEduard I und II (Stuttgart, 1933)Google Scholar; Thrupp, S.L., The Merchant Class ofMedieval London (Chicago, 1948)Google Scholar; Russell, J.C., British Medieval Population (Albuquerque, 1948)Google Scholar.

page 84 note 1 On his wine sales, see Liberate Rolls no. 37, mm. 7, 11, 13, 14, and no. 47, m. 10; Chancery Miscellanea 3/7/36; C[alendar of] L[iberate]R[olls], 1251–60 (in P.R.O. Literary Search Room, printed but not published) and C.P.R. 1258–81, passim; on his lands and career, see P.R.O. Ancient Deeds E. 220; Hust. Rolls nos. 4 and 5, passim; Letter-Bk. A, p. 163; C.P.R., 1266–72, pp. 8, 112, 208; A. B. Beaven, op. cit., p. 375.

page 84 note 2 De Ant. Leg. Lib., pp. 159–70; Hust. Roll (Land) I, m. 4; Hust. Roll (Common Pleas) 2, mm. 6, 8.

page 85 note 1 On his career, see C.P.R. and C.C.R. for the reign of Edward I, passim; see also Letter-Bks. A, B, and Hust. Rolls 4–23, passim; Bémont, C., ‘Les institutions municipales de Bordeaux au moyen âge’, Revue Historique, cxxiii (1916), 50Google Scholar; Victoria County History, Middlesex (1911), 2, p. 22; and for his son, see Tout, T.F., The Place of the Reign of Edward II…, 2nd edn. rev. by Johnstone, H. (Manchester Univ. Press, 1936), p. 325.Google Scholar

page 85 note 2 It is virtually impossible to turn a page of the civic records of this period without coming across Rokesle or some kinsman. On his career, see C.P.R. and C.C.R. for the reign of Edward I, passim; see also Cal. of Inquisitions PostMortem, ii, pp. 504–505, no. 824; Cal. of Wills, i, pp. 98–99; Hust. Rolls 9–16; Ann. Lond., p. 99.

page 86 note 1 On his mayoralty, see Letter-Bk. A, pp. 183–84, 211–12, 217–195 LiberCustumarum, pp. 99–100, 282–83; Ann. Lond, pp. 85–86; Hust. Rolls (Common Pleas) no.I, m. I, no. 2, mm. Id, 4; Hust. Roll (Land)I, mm. 1, 7; Recog. Roll I (64, 75, 136, 219); Misc. Roll BB, mm. 4, 5 (City of London Records Office); St Paul's D. and C. Lib., A. 12/1128.

page 86 note 2 C.C.R., 1272–79, p. 557; C.C.R., 1279–88, pp. 361, 528; C.P.R., 1272–1281, pp. 285, 339, 340; Letter-Bk. B, pp. 97, 178; Letter-Bk. C, p. 172; Cal. [of]E[arly]M[ayors] C[ourt] Rolls[… of the City of London, 1298–1307],ed. A. H. Thomas (London, 1924), p. 105.

page 86 note 3 Ann. Lond., pp. 92–93; Letter-Bk. A, p. 156; Letter-Bk. B, pp. 1, 2, 3; Hust. Rolls 5 (2, 3), 14 (9).

page 87 note 1 C.P.R., 1272–81, pp. 99, 239, 285, 339–40;, 406, 407, 409, 411, 414, 456, 460, 472, 474; Letter-Bk. C, pp. 15–17; Liber Custumarum, pp. 282–83.

page 87 note 2 Misc. Roll AA, p. 12 (City of London Records Office); Letter-Bk. B, pp. 1—12.

page 87 note 3 See, for example, on his general attitude, Powicke, F.M., The Thirteenth Century (Oxford, 1953)Google Scholar, and Plucknett, T.F.T., Legislation of Edward I (Oxford, 1949).Google Scholar

page 88 note 1 Petit-Dutaillis, C., Les Communes Franfaises (Paris, 1947), book ii, chapter ii, especially pp. 159–67Google Scholar; Hill, J.W.F., Medieval Lincoln (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1948), pp. 213–16, 239–40Google Scholar; Tait, J., The Medieval English Borough (Manchester Univ. Press, 1936), pp. 201–13.Google Scholar

page 88 note 2 See, for example, K.R. Accounts Various (Alien Merchants) 126/27, m. 3; Liberate Rolls no. 48, m. 12, and 51, m. 6; Hust. Rolls 5–16, passim;Close Rolls, 1231–68, and C.C.R., 1272–88, passim; Chancery Miscellanea 3/21/18.

page 89 note 1 See Letter-Bks. passim, B. C. D., and Cohen, H., A History of the English Bar and Attornatus to 1450 (London, 1929). On Berneval, see Cal. E.M.C.', Rolls, pp. 146–47.Google Scholar

page 89 note 2 See, for example, Letter-Bk. A, pp. 184, 206, 213, 214, 221; Letter-Bk. C, pp. 6, 55, 84, 85, and passim; Liber Ordinationum, fos. 225 ff. (City of London Records Office); Hust. Roll 14 (10).

page 90 note 1 C.P.R., 1281–92, p. 80; Letter-Bk. A, p. 213; Liber Custumarum, pp. 328–29.

page 90 note 2 Letter-Bk. A, pp. 120–21; Letter-Bk. B, pp. 13–14; Letter-Bk. C, pp. 84–85; Liber Custumarum, pp. 82–83, 213; Ann. Lond.., p. 90; see also Letter-Bk. B, pp. 243–44, and marginal note, and J. Tait, op. cit., p. 208.

page 90 note 3 Ann. Lond.. pp. 92, 93; Beaven, A.B., op. cit., 1, p. 374.Google Scholar

page 91 note 1 These ordinances, in part or entirely, were copied into several custumals. See, for example, Letter-Bk. C, pp. 15–17; Liber, Albus (Munimenta Gildhattae Londoniensis, 1, R.S. 1859), pp. 280–97. The fullest version, and the basis of the text, is Liber Ordinationum, fos. 197–202b.Google Scholar

page 92 note 1 Liber Ordinationum, fo. 197; Madox, T., The History and Antiquities ofthe Exchequer …, 2nd edn. (London, 1769), 2, p. 9Google Scholar; Select Cases before the King's Council, 1243–1482, ed. Leadam, I.S. and Baldwin, J.F. (Selden Soc, 35, 1918), p. lii.Google Scholar

page 93 note 1 Letter-Bk. A, p. 198; Letter-Bk. C, pp. 3, 4; P.R.O. Assize Rolls no. 541a, m. 42d, and no. 541b, mm. 7d, II, IId, 23, 26, 30, 31, 34d.

page 93 note 2 K. R. Memoranda Roll 66, mm. 7, 7d; Ann. Lond., p. 101.

page 93 note 3 P.R.O. Assize Roll 541b, passim; Letter-Bk. A, p. 161 and n. 3; C.C.R., 1279–88, pp. 297, 301, 361; C.P.R., 1281–32, p. 245; A. B. Beaven, op. clu, i, p. 376.

page 93 note 4 For Clifford's hall, see Hust. Roll 19 (19, 20); C.P.R., 1272–81, p. 381; Letter-Bk. A, p. 227; Ann. Lond., p. 89; Harben, H.A., A Dictionary ofLondon (London, 1918), p. 83 (Blackwell, i.e. Bauquell, Hall).Google Scholar

page 94 note 1 Letter-Bk. A, p. 198; Letter-Bk. C, pp. 11, 12, 13; Ann. Lond., p. 102. For Essex and Box, see Recog. Roll 1 (234); Hust. Roll 34 (106); St Paul's D. and C. Lib., A. 14/1185; Letter-Bk. C, pp. 131–32.

page 94 note 2 A. B. Beaven, op. cit., i, pp. 376–78, and biographical data from the sources named above.

page 95 note 1 Ann. Lond., pp. 71, 98; Letter-Bk. C, pp. 4, 7, and passim; Select Casesbefore the King's Council, pp. li-lvi, 8–18.

page 95 note 2 See Edwards, J.G., Confirmatio Cartarum and Baronial Grievances in 1297, Eng. Hist. Rev., lviii (1943)Google Scholar; Rothwell, H., The Confirmation of the Charters, 1297Google Scholar, ibid., lx (1945); Powicke, F. M., op. cit., pp. 678 ff.Google Scholar; Thompson, F., The First Century of Magna Carta (Minneapolis, 1925), pp. 21, 22, 3839.Google Scholar

page 96 note 1 Letter-Bk. B, pp. 243–44. See the account in A Survey of London by Stow, J., ed. Kingsford, C.L. (Oxford, 1908), 1, p. 189; 2, pp. 302303; confirmed by Letter-Bk. B, pp. 75–76, and Letter-Bk. C, pp. 37–39. Dr Sharpe reads ‘a tun’ for ‘the Tun’.Google Scholar

page 96 note 2 Letter-Bk. B, pp. 74–75, 88, 213, 214; Letter-Bk. C, pp. 29, 37, 38, 43, 44, 77, 78, 107; C.C.R., 1296–1302, p. 303; Calendar of Charter Rolls, 1257–1300, pp. 477–78; Hust. Roll (Common Pleas) 24, Interlocutoria, mm. a, b, b (dorse), c; A. B. Beaven, op. cit., i, pp. 375–80.

page 96 note 3 For the conclusions which follow, see below, Appendix, based on the usual sources.

page 97 note 1 Letter-Bk. B, pp. 215, 216, 218, 219; Letter-Bk. C, pp. 11, 14, 26, 132–33.