of early borough development, the affiliation of distinct groups of towns (No. 6). Nos. 7 and 10 illustrate the coveted privileges of the freedom of a city or borough, and No. 9 the machinery by which a citizen protected himself if his liberty were infringed in another town. The character of tolls imposed by a town for municipal purposes and the possibility of corrupt collectors are shown in Nos. 13 and 14. The specialisation of industry is naturally followed by a differentiation of function, a process which develops normally in the fourteenth century and attains a certain rigidity in the fifteenth. Crafts begin to close their ranks, to lay down elaborate rules of membership, of the conduct of business and the methods of manufacture, to secure incorporation, and to strengthen their hands by establishing disciplinary precedents in relation to the journeymen and apprentices. The competition of the unskilled outsider is suppressed and apprenticeship insisted on (Nos. 15 and 17), the journeyman is restrained (No. 16), and the crafts establish a wide control over the conditions of labour (No. 18). No. 19 is a characteristic indenture of apprenticeship; No. 20 illustrates the tendency to invoke the central authority, which grows in force during the fifteenth century and culminates in the direct control exercised by the Chancellor over gild ordinances in the sixteenth century; while No. 21 is an example of the social religious gild, which was one of the mediæval methods of anticipating the poor law.
AUTHORITIES
The principal modern writers dealing with the subject of this section are:—Madox, Firma Burgi; Maitland, Township and Burgh; Merewether & Stephens, History of the Boroughs; Ballard, British Borough Charters; Bateson, Borough Customs(Selden Society); Gross, The Gild Merchant; Gross, The Affiliation of Boroughs (Antiquary, XII.); Drinkwater, Merchant Gild of Shrewsbury(Salop Archæol. Transactions, N.S. II.); Unwin, The Gilds and Companies of London; Unwin, Industrial Organisation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; Green, Town Life in the Fifteenth Century; Toulmin Smith, English Gilds (Early English Text Society); Davies, History of Southampton; Hibbert, Influence and Development of English Gilds; Hudson, Leet Jurisdiction in the City of Norwich; Leonard, Early History of English Poor Law Relief; Denton, England in the Fifteenth Century.
For contemporary records the student may be referred to the following:—Riley, Memorials of London and London Life; Riley, Liber Albus; Sharpe, Calendars of Letter Books; Stevenson, Records of the Borough of Nottingham; Bateson, Records of the Borough of Leicester; Court Leet of the City of Norwich (Selden Society); Bickley, The Little Red Book of Bristol; Rotuli Cartarum(Record Commission); and the Calendars of Patent, Close and Charter Rolls(Record Office Publications).
1. Payments Made to the Crown by Gilds in the Twelfth Century [Pipe Roll, 26 Henry II], 1179–80.
The weavers of Oxford render account of 6l. for their gild. They have delivered it into the treasury.
And they are quit.
The corvesers of Oxford render account of 15s. for an ounce of gold for their gild. They have delivered it into the treasury.
And they are quit.
The weavers of Huntingdon render account of 40s. for their gild. They have delivered it into the treasury.
And they are quit.
The weavers of Lincoln render account of 6l. for their gild. They have delivered it into the treasury.
And they are quit.
The weavers of York render account of 10l. for their gild. They have delivered it into the treasury.
And they are quit.
The same sheriff [of York] renders account of 2 marks from the gild of glovers and curriers. In the treasury is 1 mark.
And they owe 1 mark.
The same sheriff renders account of 20s. from the gild of saddlers for [customs which they exact unjustly]. In the treasury is 10s.
And it owes 10s.
The same sheriff renders account … of 1 mark from the gild of hosiers by way of mercy …
And he is quit.
The citizens of Exeter render account of 40l. for the fine of a plea touching gilds. In the treasury are 20l.
And they owe 20l.
The same sheriff [of Devon] renders account … of 1 mark from the borough of Barnstaple for a gild without warrant. …
And he is quit.
The burgesses of Bodmin render account of 100s. for their false statement and for their gild without warrant. In the treasury are 50s.
And they owe 50s.
The same sheriff [of Cornwall] renders account … of 3 marks from the burgesses of Launceston for their gild without warrant. …
And he is quit.
The same sheriff [of Dorset and Somerset] renders account of 6 marks from the borough of Wareham for a gild without warrant. In the treasury are 3 marks.
And it owes 3 marks.
The same sheriff renders account … of 3 marks from the borough of Dorchester for a gild without warrant. And of 2 marks from the borough of Bridport for the same. …
And he is quit.
The same sheriff renders account … of 20s. from Axbridge for a gild without warrant. And of ½ mark from Langport for the same. … And he is quit.
The burgesses of Ilchester [render account of] 20s. for a gild without warrant.
The weavers of Winchester render account of 2 marks of gold for their gild. In the treasury are 12l. for 2 marks of gold.
And they are quit.
The fullers of Winchester render account of 6l. for their gild. They have delivered it into the treasury.
And they are quit.
The weavers of Nottingham render account of 40s. for their gild. They have delivered it into the treasury.
And they are quit.
The weavers of London render account of 12l. for their gild. They have delivered it into the treasury.
And they are quit.
Amercements of Adulterine Gilds in the City of London.
The gild whereof Goscelin is alderman owes 30 marks.
The gild of pepperers whereof Edward is alderman owes 16 marks.
The gild of St. Lazarus whereof Ralph le Barre is alderman owes 25 marks.
The gild of goldsmiths whereof Ralph Flael is alderman owes 45 marks.
The gild of Bridge whereof Ailwin Finke is alderman owes 15 marks.
The gild
