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70. Statute of Laborers

WHEREAS late against the malice of servants, which were idle, and not willing to serve after the pestilence, without taking excessive wages, it was ordained by our lord the king, and by assent of the prelates, nobles, and other of his council, that such manner of servants, as well men as women, should be bound to serve, receiving salary and wages, accustomed in places where they ought to serve in the twentieth year of the reign of the king that now is, or five or six years before; and that the same servants refusing to serve in such manner, should be punished by imprisonment of their bodies, as in the said statute is more plainly contained: whereupon commissions were made to divers people in every county to inquire and punish all them which offend against the same: and now forasmuch as it is given the king to understand in this present parliament, by the petition of the commonalty, that the said servants having no regard to the said ordinance, but to their ease and singular covetise, do withdraw themselves to serve great men and others, unless they have livery and wages to the double or treble of that they were wont to take the said twentieth year, and before, to the great damage of the great men, and impoverishing of all the said commonalty, whereof the said commonalty prayeth remedy: wherefore in the said parliament, by the assent of the said prelates, earls, barons, and other great men, and of the same commonalty there assembled, to refrain the malice of the said servants, be ordained and established the things underwritten, that is to wit:

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5. Item, that the said stewards, bailiffs, and constables of the said towns, be sworn before the same justices, to inquire diligently by all the good ways they may of all them that come against this ordinance, and to certify the same justices of their names at all times, when they shall come into the country to make their sessions: so that the same justices on certificate of the same stewards, bailiffs, and constables, of the names of the rebels, shall cause them to be attached by their body, to be before the said justices, to answer of such contempts, so that they make fine and ransom to the king, in case they be attainted; and moreover to be commanded to prison, there to remain till they have found surety, to serve, and take, and do their work, and to sell things vendible in the manner aforesaid; and in case that any of them come against his oath, and be thereof attainted, he shall have imprisonment of forty days; and if he be another time convict, he shall have imprisonment of a quarter of a year, so that at every time that he offendeth and is convict, he shall have double pain; * * *

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7. Item, that the said justices make their sessions in all the counties of England at the least four times a year, that is to say, at the feast of the annunciation of our Lady, Saint Margaret, Saint Michael, and Saint Nicholas; and also at all times that shall need, according to the discretion of the said justices; * * *

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71. Statute of Provisors of Benefices

WHEREAS late in the parliament of good memory of Edward king of England, grandfather to our lord the king that now is, the five and thirtieth year of his reign, holden at Carlisle, the petition being heard, which was offered unto the said grandfather and his council in his said parliament, by the commonalty of the said realm, containing, that whereas the holy Church of England was founded in the estate of prelacy, within the realm of England, by the said grandfather and his progenitors, and the earls, barons, and other nobles of his said realm, and their ancestors, to inform them and the people of the law of God, and to make hospitalities, alms, and other works of charity, in the places where the churches were founded, for the souls of the founders, their heirs, and all Christians; and certain possessions, as well in fees, lands, rents, as in advowsons, which do extend to a great value, were assigned by the said founders to the prelates and other people of the holy Church of the said realm, to sustain the same charge, and especially of the possessions which were assigned to archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, religious, and all other people of holy Church, by the kings of the said realm, earls, barons, and other great men of his realm: the same kings, earls, barons, and other nobles, as lords and advowees, have had and ought to have the custody of such voidances [vacancies], and the presentments and the collations of the benefices being of such prelacies: and the said kings in times past were wont to have the greatest part of their council, for the safeguard of the realm when they had need, of such prelates and clerks so advanced; the pope of Rome, accroaching to him the seignories of such possessions and benefices doth give and grant the same benefices to aliens which did never dwell in England, and to cardinals, which might not dwell here, and to others as well aliens as denizens, as if he had been patron or advowee of the said dignities and benefices, as he was not of right by the law of England; whereby if they should be suffered, there should scarcely be any benefice within a short time in the said realm, but that it should be in the hands of aliens and by virtue of such provisions, against the good will and disposition of the founders of the same benefices; and so the elections of archbishops, bishops, and other religious should fail, and the alms, hospitalities, and other works of charity, which should be done in the said places, should be withdrawn, the said grandfather, and other lay-patrons, in the time of such voidances, should lose their presentments, the said council should perish, and goods without number should be carried out of the realm, in annulling of the estate of the holy Church of England, and disherison of the said grandfather, and the earls, barons, and other nobles, and in offence and destruction of the laws and rights of his realm, and to the great damage of his people, and in subversion of all the estate of his said realm, and against the good disposition and will of the first founders: by the assent of the earls, barons, and other nobles and of all the said commonalty, at their instances and requests, the damage and grievances afore considered, in the said full parliament it was provided, ordained, and established, that the said oppressions, grievances, and damages in the same realm from henceforth should not be suffered in any manner. And now it is showed to our lord the king in this present parliament holden at Westminster, at the utas of the Purification of our Lady, the five and twentieth year of his reign of England, and of France the twelfth, by the grievous complaints of all the commons of his realm, that the grievances and mischiefs aforesaid do daily abound, to the greater damage and destruction of all this realm more than ever were before, namely, that now of late our Holy Father the pope by procurement of clerks and other wise, hath reserved, and doth daily reserve to his collation generally and especially as well archbishoprics, bishoprics, abbeys, and priories, as all other dignities and other benefices of England, which be of the advowry of people of holy Church, and doth give the same as well to aliens as to denizens, and taketh of all such benefices the first fruits, and many other profits, and a great part of the treasure of the said realm is carried away and dispended out of the realm, by the purchasers of such graces; and also by such privy reservations many clerks advanced in this realm by their true patrons, which have peaceably holden their advancements by long time be suddenly put out: whereupon the said commons have prayed, our said lord the king, that since the right of the crown of England, and the law of the said realm is such, that upon the mischiefs and damages which happen to his realm, he ought, and is bound by his oath, with the accord of his people in his parliament, thereof to make remedy and law, for the voiding of the mischiefs and damages which thereof ensue, that it may please him therefor to ordain remedy:

Our lord the king seeing the mischiefs and damage before mentioned, and having regard to the said statute made in the time of his said grandfather, and to the causes contained in the same; which statute holdeth always his force, and was never defeated nor annulled in any point, and by so much as he is bounden by his oath to cause the same to be kept as the law of his realm, though that by sufferance and negligence it hath been since attempted to the contrary, also having regard to the grievous complaints made to him by his people in divers his parliaments holden heretofore, willing to ordain remedy for the great damages and mischiefs which have happened and daily do happen to the Church of England by the said cause, by the assent of all the great men and the commonalty of the said realm to the honor of God, and the profit of the said Church of England, and of all his realm, hath ordained and established, that the free elections of archbishops, bishops, and all other dignities and benefices elective in England, shall hold from henceforth in the manner as they were granted by the king’s progenitors, and founded by the ancestors of other lords. And that all prelates and other people of holy Church, which have advowsons of any benefices of the king’s gift, or of any of his progenitors, or of other lords and donors, to do divine services, and other charges thereof ordained, shall have their collations and presentments freely to the same, in the manner as they were enfeoffed by their donors. And in case that reservation, collation, or provision be made by the court of Rome, of any archbishopric, bishopric, dignity, or other benefice, in disturbance of the elections, collations, or presentations aforenamed that at the same time of the voidance, when such reservations, collations, and provisions shall take effect, our lord the king and his heirs shall have and enjoy for the same time the collations to the archbishoprics, bishoprics, and other dignities elective, which be of his advowry, such as his progenitors had, before that free election was granted, seeing that the elections were first granted by the king’s progenitors upon a certain form and condition, as to demand licence of the king to choose, and after the election to have his royal assent, and not in other manner; which conditions not kept, the thing ought by reason to resort to its first nature. And if any such reservation, provision, or collation be made of any house of religion of the king’s advowry, in disturbance of free election, our sovereign lord the king and its heirs, shall have for that time the collation to give this dignity to a convenient person. And in case that collation, reservation, or provision be made by the court of Rome of any church, prebend, or other benefices, which be of the advowry of people of holy Church, whereof the king is advowee paramount immediate, that at the same time of the voidance, at which time the collation, reservation or provision should take effect as afore is said, the king and his heirs shall thereof have the presentment or collation for that time; and so from time to time, whensoever such people of holy Church shall be disturbed of their presentments or collations by such reservations, collations, or provisions, as afore is said; saving to them the right of their advowsons and their presentments, when no collation or provision of the court of Rome is thereof made, or where that the said people of holy Church shall or will to the same benefices present or make collation; and that their presentees may enjoy the effect of their collations or presentments: and in the same manner every other lord, of what condition that he be, shall have the collations or presentments to the houses of religion which be of his advowry and other benefices of holy Church which be pertaining to the same houses. And if such advowees do not present to such benefices within the half year after such voidances, nor the bishop of the place do not give the same by lapse of time within a month after half a year, that then the king shall have thereof the presentments and collations as he hath of other of his own advowry. And in case that the presentees of the king, or the presentees of other patrons of holy Church or of their advowees, or they to whom the king, or such patrons or advowees aforesaid, have given benefices pertaining to their presentments or collations, be disturbed by such provisors, so that they may not have possession of such benefices by virtue of the presentments or collations to them made, or that they which be in possession of such benefices be impeached upon their said possessions by such provisors; then the said provisors, their procurators, executors, and notaries, shall be attached by their body, and brought in to answer. and if they be convict, they shall abide in prison without being let to mainprise, or bail, or otherwise delivered, till that they have made fine and ransom to the king at his will, and satisfaction to the party that shall feel himself grieved. And nevertheless before that they be delivered, they shall make full renunciation, and find sufficient surety that they shall not attempt such things in time to come, nor sue any process by them, nor by other, against any man in the court of Rome, nor in any part elsewhere, for any such imprisonments or renunciations, nor any other thing depending of them.

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72. The Statute of Treasons

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2. ITEM, whereas divers opinions have been before this time what case should be adjudged treason, and what not; the king, at the request of the lords and of the commons, hath made a declaration in the manner as hereafter followeth, that is to say; when a man doth compass or imagine the death of our lord the king, or of our lady his wife, or of their eldest son and heir; or if a man do violate the king’s wife, or the king’s eldest daughter unmarried, or the wife of the king’s eldest son and heir; or if a man do levy war against our lord the king in his realm, or be adherent to the king’s enemies in his realm, giving to them aid and comfort in the realm, or elsewhere, and thereof be proveably attainted of open deed by people of their condition: and if a man counterfeit the king’s great or privy seal, or his money; and if a man bring false money into this realm, counterfeit to the money of England, as the money called lushburgh, or other, like to the said money of England, knowing the money to be false, to merchandise or make payment in deceit of our said lord the king and of his people; and if a man slay the chancellor, treasurer, or the king’s justices of the one bench or the other, justices in eyre, or justices of assize, and all other justices assigned to hear and determine, being in their places, doing their offices; and it is to be understood, that in the cases above rehearsed, that ought to be judged treason which extends to our lord the king, and his royal majesty: and of such treason the forfeiture of the escheats pertaineth to our sovereign lord, as well of the lands and tenements holden of other, as of himself: and moreover there is another manner of treason, that is to say, when a servant slayeth his master, or a wife her husband, or when a man secular or religious slayeth his prelate, to whom he oweth faith and obedience: and such manner of treason giveth forfeiture of escheats to every lord of his own fee: and because that many other like cases of treason may happen in time to come, which a man cannot think or declare at this present time; it is accorded, that if any other case, supposed treason, which is not above specified, doth happen of new, before any justices, the justices shall tarry without any going to judgment of the treason, till the case be showed before the king in his parliament, and it be declared, whether it ought to be judged treason or else felony. And if perchance any man of this realm ride armed openly or secretly with men of arms against any other, to slay him, or rob him, or take him, or retain him till he hath made fine or ransom for to have his deliverance, it is not the mind of the king nor his council, that in such case it shall be judged treason, but shall be judged felony or trespass, according to the laws of the land of old time used, and according as the case requireth. * * *

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22. Item, because that some do purchase in the court of Rome provisions, to have abbeys and priories in England, in destruction of the realm, and of holy religion; it is accorded, that every man that purchaseth such provisions of abbeys or priories, that he and his executors and procurators, which do sue and make execution of such provisions, shall be out of the king’s protection; and that a man may do with them as of enemies of our sovereign lord the king and his realm; and he that offendeth against such provisors in body or in goods, or in other possessions, shall be excused against all people, and shall never be impeached nor grieved for the same at any man’s suit.

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73. Statute of Præmunire

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1. FIRST, because it is showed to our lord the king, by the grievous and clamorous complaints of the great men and commons aforesaid, how that divers of the people be, and have been drawn out of the realm to answer of things, whereof the cognizance pertaineth to the king’s court; and also that the judgments given in the same court be impeached in the court of another, in prejudice and disherison of our lord the king, and of his crown, and of all the people of his said realm, and to the undoing and destruction of the common law of the same realm at all times used: whereupon, good deliberation had with the great men and other of his said council, it is assented and accorded by our lord the king, and the great men and commons aforesaid, that all the people of the king’s liegeance of what condition that they be, which shall draw any out of the realm in plea, whereof the cognizance pertaineth to the king’s court, or of things whereof judgments be given in the king’s court, or which do sue in the court of another, to defeat or impeach the judgments given in the king’s court, shall have a day containing the space of two months, by warning to be made to them in the place where the possessions be, which be in debate, or otherwise where they have lands or other possessions, by the sheriffs, or others the king’s ministers, to appear before the king and his council, or in his chancery, or before the king’s justices in his places of the one bench or the other, or before other the king’s justices which to the same shall be deputed, to answer in their proper persons to the king, of the contempt done in this behalf; and if they come not at the said day in their proper person to be at the law, they, their procurators, attorneys, executors, notaries, and maintainors, shall from that day forth be put out of the king’s protection, and their lands, goods, and chattels forfeit to the king, and their bodies, wheresoever they may be found, shall be taken and imprisoned, and ransomed at the king’s will; and upon the same a writ shall be made to take them by their bodies, and to seise their lands, goods, and possessions into the king’s hands; and if it be returned that they be not found, they shall be put in exigent, and outlawed.

Provided always, that at what time they come before they be outlawed, and will yield them to the king’s prison to be justified by the law, and to receive that which the court shall award in this behalf, that they shall be thereto received: the forfeiture of the lands, goods, and chattels abiding in their force, if they do not yield them within the said two months, as afore is said.

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74. Ordinance of the Staples

EDWARD by the grace of God king of England and of France, and lord of Ireland, to all our sheriffs, mayors, bailiffs, ministers, and other our faithful people to whom these present letters shall come, Greeting: Whereas, good deliberation had with the prelates, dukes, earls, barons and knights of the counties, that is to say of every county, one for all the county and of the commons of cities and boroughs of our realm of England, summoned to our great council, holden at Westminster the Monday next after the feast of Saint Matthew the apostle, the seven and twentieth year of our reign of England, and of France the fourteenth, for the damage which hath notoriously come as well to us and to the great men, as to our people of our realm of England, and of our lands of Wales and Ireland, because that the staple of wools, leather and woolfells of our said realm and lands have been holden out of our said realm and lands, and also for the great profits which should come to the said realm and lands if the staple were holden within the same, and not elsewhere; to the honor of God, and in relief of our realm and lands aforesaid and for to eschew the perils that may happen of the contrary in time to come, by the counsel and common assent of the said prelates, dukes, earls, and barons, knights and commons aforesaid, we have ordained and established the things underwritten, that is to say:

1. First, that the staple of wools, leather, woolfells, and lead, growing or coming forth within our said realm and lands, shall be perpetually holden at the places underwritten; that is to say, for England at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, York, Lincoln, Norwich, Westminster, Canterbury, Chichester, Winchester, Exeter, and Bristol; for Wales, at Carmaerthen; and for Ireland, at Dublin, Waterford, Cork, and Drogheda, and not elsewhere: and that all the said wools, as well old as new, woolfells, leather and lead, which shall be carried out of the said realm and lands, shall be first brought to the said staples, and there the said wool and lead, betwixt merchant and merchant, or merchant and others, shall be lawfully weighed by the standard; and that every sack and the seal of sarpler of the same wools so weighed, be sealed under the mayor of the staple; and that all the wools so weighed and sealed at the staple of York, Lincoln, Norwich, Westminster, Canterbury, and Winchester, and also leather, woolfells, and lead which shall come there, the customs of the staple thereof paid, shall be witnessed by bill, sealed with the seal of the mayor of the staple, and brought to the ports underwritten, that is to say; from York to Hull, from Lincoln to Saint Botolf, from Norwich to Great Yarmouth, from Westminster to London, from Canterbury to Sandwich, and from Winchester to Southampton; and there the said wools and lead shall be another time weighed by our customers assigned in the same ports: and all the wool and lead brought to the said ports of Newcastle, Chichester, Exeter, Bristol, Carmaerthen, Dublin, Waterford, Cork, and Drogheda, where the other staples be holden, shall be but once weighed by the standard betwixt merchant and merchant, or merchant and other, in presence of our customers there; and an indenture shall be made betwixt the mayor of the staple being in the port of the sea, and our customers there, of all the wools and lead so weighed, and also of all the leather and woolfells which shall come to the said staples to pass there: and the same wools and lead, and also the leather and woolfells customed and cocketed, and the customs thereof duly paid to our said customers in all these said ports, that is to say, of denizens for the time that they have passed, half a mark of a sack of wool, half a mark of three hundred woolfells, a mark of a last of leather, and of aliens ten shillings of a sack of wool, ten shillings of three hundred woolfells, and twenty shillings of a last of leather, and three pence of every twenty shillings of lead, then the said merchandises shall be carried by merchants strangers which have bought the same, and not by Englishmen, Welshmen, nor Irishmen, to the parts beyond the sea out of the said realm and lands, to what parts it shall please the said merchants strangers: and that the said mayor and customers shall delay no man willingly for gain: nor for such cause, nor in other manner, shall any take of any person to do that which pertaineth to their office, upon pain of imprisonment, and to pay the party the double of that which they have so taken, and also of that which the party shall be endamaged because of such taking or delay, and moreover be ransomed at our will, but shall hold them content of that which they did take in certain to do their office: and that the mayor of the staple and customers take an oath of all the merchants which so shall pass with wools, leather, woolfells and lead that they shall hold no staple beyond the sea, of the same merchandises.

2. Item, * * * we have ordained and established, that all merchants strangers, which be not of our enmity, of what land or nation that they be, may safely and surely under our protection and safe-conduct come and dwell in our said realm and lands where they will, and from thence return with their ships, wares and all manner of merchandises, and freely sell their merchandises at the staple and elsewhere within the same realm and lands, to any that will buy them, paying the customs thereof due. * * *

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75. Protest of Parliament against Legislation by Ordinance

42. ITEM, because many articles touching the estate of the king and the common profit of his realm were accorded and granted by him, the prelates, great men, and commons of his land, at the council now held; the said commons pray that the said articles be recited at the next parliament, and entered in the roll in the same parliament; to such intent that the ordinances and accords made in councils be not of record, as if they had been made by common parliament.

As to the tenth article, it is the king’s pleasure that all the ordinances made of the staple be published and proclaimed in each county of England and in each place where the staples are, to the end that they be firmly kept. And at the next parliament, for greater surety, that they be rehearsed and put on the roll of parliament.

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76. Certain Ordinances confirmed by Parliament

16. AND so the said commons prayed in this parliament, that the ordinances of the staple and all the other ordinances made at the last council held at Westminster the Monday after the feast of Saint Matthew the apostle last past, which they had considered with good deliberation and counsel and which seemed to them good and profitable for our lord the king and all his people, be affirmed in this parliament and held for a statute to endure forever. To which prayer the king and all the great men unanimously agreed, as at all times, that if anything is to be added it shall be added, or if anything is to be repealed it shall be repealed in parliament, whenever it shall be necessary, and in no other manner.

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77. An Act concerning Justices of the Peace

[short title: Justices of the Peace Act 1361]

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1. FIRST, that in every county of England shall be assigned for the keeping of the peace, one lord, and with him three or four of the most worthy in the county, with some learned in the law, and they shall have power to restrain the offenders, rioters, and all other barrators, and to pursue, arrest, take, and chastise them according their trespass or offence; and to cause them to be imprisoned and duly punished according to the law and customs of the realm, and according to that which to them shall seem best to do by their discretions and good advisement; and also to inform them, and to inquire of all those that have been pillors and robbers in the parts beyond the sea, and be now come again, and go wandering, and will not labor as they were wont in times past: and to take and arrest all those that they may find by indictment, or by suspicion, and to put them in prison; and to take of all them that be not of good fame, where they shall be found, sufficient surety and mainprise of their good behavior towards the king and his people, and the other duly to punish; to the intent that the people be not by such rioters or rebels troubled nor endamaged, nor the peace blemished, nor merchants nor other passing by the highways of the realm disturbed, nor put in fear by peril which might happen of such offenders; and also to hear and determine at the king’s suit all manner of felonies and trespasses done in the same county according to the laws and customs aforesaid; and that writs of oyer and determiner be granted according to the statutes thereof made, and that the justices which shall be thereto assigned be named by the court, and not by the party. And the king will, that all general inquiries before this time granted within any seignories, for the mischiefs and oppressions which have been done to the people by such inquiries, shall cease utterly and be repealed and that fines, which are to be made before justices for a trespass done by any person, be reasonable and just, having regard to the quantity of the trespass, and the causes for which they may be made.

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78. Purveyance, English to be used in the Courts, etc.

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2. ITEM, for the grievous complaint which hath been made of purveyors of victuals of the houses of the king, the queen, their eldest son, and of other lords and ladies of the realm, the king of his own will, without motion of the great men or commons, hath granted and ordained in ease of his people, that from henceforth no man of the said realm shall have any taking, but only himself and the queen his companion; and moreover, of the assent aforesaid, it is ordained and established, that upon such purveyances from henceforth to be made for the houses of the king and the queen, ready payment shall be made in hand, that is to say, the price for which such victuals be sold commonly in the markets about: * * *

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11. Item, the king by the assent aforesaid having regard to the great subsidy that the commons have granted now in this parliament, of wools, leather, and woolfells to be taken for three years, wills and grants that after the said term passed, nothing be taken nor demanded of the said commons, but only the ancient custom of half a mark; nor that this grant now made, or which hath been made in times past, shall not be had in example nor charge of the said commons in time to come: and that the merchants denizens may pass with their wools as well as the foreigns, without being restrained; and that no subsidy, nor other charge, be set nor granted upon the wools, by the merchants nor by none other from henceforth, without the assent of the parliament.

12. Item, that in the commissions of justices of the peace, and of laborers, express mention be made, that the same justices make their sessions four times by the year, that is to say, one session within the utas of the Epiphany, the second within the second week of Mid-Lent, the third betwixt the feasts of Pentecost and of Saint John Baptist, the fourth within the eight days of Saint Michael.

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15. Item, because it is often showed to the king by the prelates dukes earls, barons, and all the commonalty of the great mischiefs which have happened to divers of the realm, because the laws, customs, and statutes of this realm be not commonly known in the same realm, for that they be pleaded, showed, and judged in the French tongue, which is much unknown in the said realm: so that the people which do implead, or be impleaded, in the king’s court, and in the courts of other have no knowledge nor understanding of that which is said for them or against them by their sergeants and other pleaders: and that reasonably the said laws and customs shall be the more soon learned and known, and better understood in the tongue used in the said realm, and by so much every man of the said realm may the better govern himself without offending of the law, and the better keep, save, and defend his heritage and possessions; and in divers regions and countries where the king, the nobles, and other of the said realm have been, good governance and full right is done to every person, because that their laws and customs be learned and used in the tongue of the country: the king, desiring the good governance and tranquillity of his people, and to put out and eschew the harms and mischiefs which do or may happen in this behalf by the occasions aforesaid, hath ordained and established by the assent aforesaid, that all pleas which shall be pleaded in his court whatsoever, before any of his justices whatsoever, or in his other places, or before any of his other ministers whatsoever, or in the courts and places of any other lords whatsoever within the realm, shall be pleaded, showed, defended, answered, debated, and judged in the English tongue, and that they be entered and inrolled in Latin; and that the laws and customs of the same realm, terms, and processes, be holden and kept as they be and have been before this time; and that by the ancient terms and form of pleaders no man be prejudiced, so that the matter of the action be fully showed in the declaration and in the writ: and it is accorded by the assent aforesaid, that this ordinance and statute of pleading begin and hold place at the fifteenth of Saint Hilary next coming.

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79. Refusal of Tribute to the Pope

7. * * * HE (the chancellor) told them how the king had heard that the pope, by force of an agreement which he said that king John had made with the pope, to do him homage for the realm of England and the land of Ireland, and that by reason of the said homage, he ought to pay each year forever a thousand marks, is minded to institute process against the king and his realm for the said service and to recover the tribute. Wherefore the king prayed the said prelates, dukes, earls, and barons for their advice and good council, as to what he should do in case the pope should proceed against him or his said realm for that cause. And the prelates asked the king to allow them to take counsel by themselves alone and to answer on the morrow. On the said morrow, first the prelates by themselves, and then the other dukes, earls, barons, and great men answered and said, that neither the said king John, nor any other could put himself nor his realm nor his people in such subjection, without their assent and accord. And the commons having been questioned upon this and having taken counsel answered in like manner. * * *

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80. Lawyers and Sheriffs excluded from Parliament

WHEREAS men of the law who follow divers businesses in the king’s courts on behalf of private persons, with whom they are, do procure and cause to be brought into parliament many petitions in the name of the commons, which in no wise relate to them, but only the private persons with whom they are engaged; also sheriffs who are common officers for the people, and ought to be abiding in their office, for the doing right to every one, are named, and have heretofore been and returned to parliament knights of the shires, by the same sheriffs; it is accorded and assented in this parliament, that hereafter no man of the law following business in the king’s court, nor any sheriff for the time that he is sheriff, be returned nor accepted knights of the shires; nor that they who are men of the law and sheriffs now returned to parliament have any wages; but the king willeth that knights and sergeants of the most worthy of the county be hereafter returned knights in parliament; and that they be elected in full county.

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81. Grant of Tunnage and Poundage, by Citizens and Burgesses alone

14. AND after this leave was given to the knights of the shires to depart and to sue out their writs for their expenses. And so they departed.

15. But the citizen and burgesses who had come to the said parliament, were commanded to tarry for certain reasons, which citizens and burgesses, the next day after, having assembled before the prince and others, prelates and great men, in a chamber near the white chamber, it was shown to them, how the year before, grant had been made for a certain term for the safe and sure conduct of the ships and merchandises coming to this land by sea and passing from it, a subsidy, that is to say, on each tun of wine coming into this land, two shillings, and of each pound of merchandise of what sort soever, both that entering and that leaving, six pence, which term is already past. That they in consideration of the perils and mischiefs which might come to their ships and merchandises at the hands of enemies on the sea, should will to grant such a subsidy, to endure for a year, for the said reasons. Which subsidy they granted to the king to take and to levy in the manner in which it was taken and levied in the year last past. And so they departed.

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82. Impeachment of Richard Lyons

17. FIRST, Richard Lyons, merchant of London, was impeached and accused by the said commons of many deceptions, extortions, and other crimes committed by him against the king our lord, and against his people as well during the time when he was in attendance upon the household and council of the king as also during the time when he was farmer of the subsidies and customs of the king. And especially because the said Richard, by covenant made between him and certain of the privy council of our lord the king to secure their own profit and advantage thereof, has procured the making of many patents and writs of licence for carrying great quantities of wool, woolfells, and other merchandises to places outside of the staple of Calais, contrary to the ordinances and prohibitions made before this time in parliament, to the damage of the same staple of Calais and of the revenue there, to the great damage of the king and of the realm of England and to the ruin of the city of Calais aforesaid. And also, because he has put and procured to be put upon the wool, woolfells, and other merchandises, certain new impositions without the assent of parliament, and he has levied and collected those impositions largely for his own use and for the use of those about the king who are of the said covenant, without the oversight or witness of any comptroller, and without his being charged by record or otherwise except at his will, but he alone is sole treasurer and receiver, and the high treasurer of the realm does not interfere at all. And it is commonly said that he takes in certain from a parcel ten shillings, and from other parcels twelve pence, from each sack etc., which amounts to a vast sum for all the time that he has been receiver and treasurer thereof, as is aforesaid. And likewise of another new imposition of four pence made and put by him upon each pound of coin sent abroad by Lombards and other merchants, in the way of exchange, by his own authority. and without warrant or assent of parliament, or otherwise. And this same imposition of four pence on the pound, a great portion collected and held for the use of the king, he pays our lord the king nothing thereof. And also of various loans made for the use of the king without necessary cause: and especially of one loan which was recently made in London of twenty thousand marks, for which twenty thousand marks our lord the king was obliged to repay thirty thousand marks; and this by the advice of the said Richard, and of other privy councillors about the king, who had agreed with the creditors to receive part of the profit, and to be partners secretly in the said loan: to which loan the said Richard furnished his own money and afterwards gained by way of usury from the king his lord, of whose council he had formerly been a member, a great quantity of coin to the great damage and deception of the king. And also of many other extortions, frauds, deceptions, oppressions, champerties, and maintenances, committed against our lord the king and against his people, in every part of the realm, as well during the time that the said Richard was farmer of the subsidies and customs of the king throughout the realm, and thus acted toward him and his council, and treasurer or receiver of the said new impositions, as at other times, by taking upon himself notoriously the royal power in all the said things, which would have been a horrible matter to rehearse in full. And also in that when the king our lord was debtor of record for many great sums of money to various persons, the said Richard by the assent of other privy councillors about the king, of his said covenant, made bargains in many such debts, some at one time for the tenth penny, and at another time for the twentieth or the hundredth penny, and obtained the payment of the entire debt by the king. And also by his subtleties of this sort, and for his personal profit, both the king our lord and the said debtors were foully deceived: and especially the prior of Saint John of Jerusalem in England to whom the king was debtor for a certain sum, and the said Richard had thereof four marks out of every twenty as brokerage, for obtaining for the prior the payment of the balance. And at another time of the lord le Despenser, to whom the king was also debtor: and the said Richard obtained from him, in the same manner another large sum of money. And also, of many others, to the great deception, slander, and degradation of the king and of his court.

18. TO which the said Richard, being present in parliament, replied, that as to the loan made to the king of the twenty thousand marks aforesaid, he was entirely free from any blame. And further he said that he had thereof neither profit nor gain, nor did he furnish anything to the loan aforesaid, in money nor in anything else: and this he was ready to prove by all the reasonable means that might he demanded. And as to the said imposition of ten shillings and of twelve pence on the sack of wool etc., and of four pence on the pound of coin he could not clearly excuse himself of having also levied and collected them and of taking thereof a portion for himself that is to say, twelve pence from each sack of wool, etc. But this he did, he said, at the express command of our lord the king and at the prayer and with the consent of the merchants who asked for such licences. And as to the residue of those impositions, he had caused them to be entirely delivered to the receiver of the chamber of the king and had accounted therefor fully in the said chamber. And the said Richard was told that for it he ought to produce the warrant under the authority of which he had done the said things. But no warrant nor authorization was produced in parliament under the seal of the king, nor otherwise: save only that he said, that he had commandment therefor from the king himself and from his council to do it. And upon this, testimony was given openly in parliament, that our lord the king had said expressly the day before to certain lords here present in parliament, that he did not know how nor in what manner he had entered into such an office with regard to him; and furthermore, he did not recognize him as his officer. And as to the other articles the said Richard made no answer; but he said that if he had committed offence or done wrong in any wise, he placed himself at the mercy of the king our lord.

19. Thereupon the said Richard was ordered to prison during the king’s pleasure: and to be put to fine and ransom, according to the amount and heinousness of his offence: and that he lose his liberty of the city of London, and that he never hold office of the king nor enter the council nor the palace of the king. And accordingly the said Richard was afterwards brought before the lords of parliament, and there he was told that it seemed to the lords that his evil deeds were so great and heinous that he could not make adequate satisfaction for them. And at once the said Richard placed at the mercy of the king, his person, his lands, tenements, goods, and chattels; and there willed and granted that his person, lands, goods, and chattels should be at the mercy of the king to ordain and to do therewith as was his pleasure; requesting the king to grant him his life, if it were his pleasure; and if that were not his pleasure, that he should do with him and his, his entire will. Wherefore it is also adjudged that all his lands, tenements, goods, and chattels he seised into the hands of the king, and that his person remain in prison, during the king’s pleasure. And as to the extortions committed by the said Richard or his deputies during the time that he was farmer of the said subsidies or custom, as is above said, it is ordained in parliament, that good inquisition be made by proper persons in all the ports of England.

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83. Grant of a Poll Tax, and Petition for special Treasurers

19. THE noble lords and commons assembled in this parliament perceiving clearly the great charges and the very grievous and insupportable expenses which our lord the king makes and still must needs make more and more every day, as well, that is to say in the maintenance of the war and the defense of the realm of England, as otherwise, of their common assent and free will, have granted to our said lord the king in maintenance of his said wars, four pence to be taken of the goods of each person of the said realm, as well males as females, above the age of fourteen years. Excepting only genuine mendicants without fraud. Praying most humbly to their said liege lord that it will please him to excuse them because they are not now able to grant a greater subsidy: for, they would have been most willing to do this, if it had not been that they had been so impoverished in the past, as well by great losses on the sea, as otherwise by bad years which had befallen them so that they are not able to do more at present.

20. And also the said commons pray that it may please our lord the king to name two earls and two barons, of those who shall seem to him best, who shall be guardians and treasurers as well of this subsidy now granted and of the subsidy which the clergy of England is yet to grant to the king our lord, as of the subsidy of wool, leather, and woolfells granted in the last parliament: and that these four earls and barons be sworn in their presence that whatever is received by them of the said subsidies shall be wholly expended for the said wars and for no other work; and that the high treasurer of England shall receive nothing of it and shall not meddle in it in any manner.

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