Francis Blomefield

“ In the 15th year of his reign, the King appointed a turnament to be held at Norwich, and at the same time prohibited all turnaments elsewhere, and writs were directed accordingly to all sheriffs in England: this exercise was much in use in ancient times, and is otherwise called justing or tilting; the knights that used this martial sport were armed, and so encountered one another on horseback, with spears or lances, by which they made themselves fit for war, according to the manner of that age, which made use of such weapons ”

“ Edward the Third began his reign, on the 20th day of Jan. in the year 1326, 7, and was crowned five days after at Westminster, by Walter Archbishop of Canterbury, he being then of the age of 14 years; at which solemnity Queen Isabel, his mother, made show of great sorrow and heaviness, but as Daniel observes in his life of this prince, was afterwards pacified by the enlargement of her jointure, which took up three parts of the King's revenues, and among other things, she had an annual pension of a hundred pounds paid her by the bailiffs of this city out of the fee farm rent thereof ”

“ In 1329, Simon de Berford, the King's escheator on this side Trent, gave the city much trouble concerning a great number of houses, shops, and tenements, lately erected by grant of the city, on the waste grounds of the said city, on pretence that all the waste belonged to the King and not to the citizens, and that the rents of all such buildings, should belong to the Crown, by which means, great part of the city rents, namely all the rents de novo incremento, or new increased rents, would have been lost from the city to the value of 9l. ”

“ The Dutchmen that came over, first found fuller's earth, a precious treasure, of which there is more, if not better, than in all the world besides; a great commodity to the making of good cloth, so that nature (says our author) seems to point out our land for the staple of drapery, if the idleness (or the negligence) of her inhabitants be not the only hindrance thereof. ”

“ This year, 1336, is memorable for the great increase of the Flemish stuffs, or worsted manufacture, which proved the most advantageous trade to the nation in general, and this city and county in particular, that ever was introduced among any people, for which reason I cannot omit observing what I have met with, as to its rise and increase.
The inestimable value of our English wool was not unknown to our ancestors, even at the time of the Conquest, as appears from Domesday book, where the sheep of every manor are exactly registered ”

“ That they and their successours for the future, should have the jurisdiction in all places inhabited about the ditches of our castle of our said city, which are of the fee of the said castle, whether they be now, or shall be hereafter inhabited, and that those places be of the same nature and condition, as other places and tenements of the said citizens in the city aforesaid, (the house called the shire-house, where the common pleas of the county are held, only excepted.) ”

“ That if any one suffers any beast to enter the city ditches, or throw or lay any thing whatever into them, or into the arches of the city walls, or into any of the gates, that they should be fined for every such offence, by which he proposed to keep them in that good and beautiful order which he had put them in; and the very day after, having now perfected all his great undertakings, he signed a general release to the city, of all debts, actions and demands, to that day, reserving to himself and heirs the liberties aforesaid, which he so much deserved. ”

“ Paul's parish, and interfered with the toll, assize of bread and ale, and other liberties in the fair time, upon complaint of which, the King directed his writ to the mayor and constables of the staple, dated at Westminster, July 12, commanding them not to molest the Prior in any thing he enjoyed before the staple, but to set free those that were imprisoned, and not to meddle with any thing that the statute of the staple did not authorize them to meddle with; and by the 3d chapter of the statute, it was made felony for any English, Welsh, or Irish merchant to transport wool. ”

“ In 1333, R. de Ref ham, then sheriff of Norfolk, sent a copy of the King's proclamation to the bailiffs of Norwich, commanding them, to cause proclamation to be made in the city, that no man presume to take more than 24s. for the best living ox fatted with grain, and if not fatted with grain, only 16s.; the best fat cow 12s.; the best fat swine of two years old 4s.; the best fat mutton unclipped 20d. ”

“ Here they should feed on fat beef and mutton, till nothing but their fullness should stint their stomacks: yea they should feed on the labours of their own hands, enjoying a proportionable profit of their pains to themselves, their beds should be good, and their bedfellows better, seeing the richest yeomen in England, would not disdain to marry their daughters unto them, and such the English beauties, that the most envious foreigners could not but commend them. ”

“ Newcastle upon Tine, York, Lincoln, Norwich, Westminster, Canterbury, Chichester, Winchester, Exeter, and Bristow, and those commodities which shall be carried out of the said realm shall be first brought to the said staples, and there be lawfully weighed by the standard, between merchant and merchant, and the customs of the staple thereof paid, shall be witnessed by bill, sealed with the seal of the Mayor of the staple, and then shall be carried to the ports belonging to the said staples, viz. from Norwich to Great Yarmouth, &c ”

“ Liberty is a lesson quickly conn'd by heart, men having a principle within themselves to prompt them in case they forget it. Perswaded with the premises, many Dutch servants leave ther masters, and make over for England. ”

“ This year there came a writ directed to the bailiffs, to come personally to London, to inform the King and his Council, what was best to be done in relation to secure the shipping of the kingdom.
In 1369, was a great dearth and pestilence, called the third plague, which seized the people so suddenly, that many who went to bed well, were found dead in the morning. ”

“ And in order to do this, the said bailiffs and citizens, and their successours, shall have power to collect and levy all such payments of all the persons now inhabiting, or that shall hereafter inhabit in any of the places aforesaid, paying to us and our heirs, at our Exchequer, over and above the old fee farm of the city, the annual sum of 26s. ”

“ Michael, and no common seal shall be set to any thing without the 24 consenting, and the chief of the commons, neither shall any business of consequence be transacted without them, and all business concerning the city shall be born at the city charge, the keys of the treasury, the chests, gates, and turrets, shall be delivered by the old bailiffs to the new ones, on Michaelmas day, or within four days after at longest, by which we may see how the city was then governed. ”

“ In 1347, Robert Poleye, one of the King's valets, notwithstanding his patent mentioned at p. 80, was recalled, still exercised the assay and alnage of worsted in Norwich and all Norfolk, and insisted his patent was still good during his life, upon which the worsted-weqvers and merchants prayed a revocation in parliament, and that they might have the grant, and were answered, "It seemeth to the council, that. ”

“ Mary in the Marsh, abutting on Tombland north, and St. Cuthbert's churchyard south, on a little lane called Seve-cote-row east, and partly on a tenement of the Prior and Convent, and a tenement of the said Robert, west, which tenement was in the parish of Little St. Mary, and is now part of the Popingeay inn.
In 1372, June 9, the King had a parliament at Winchester, which lasted but eight days, it being held on purpose for the merchants of London, Norwich, and divers places of the realm, to answer to the defamation laid upon them, namely, that they would rise and rebel against the King ”

“ In 1351, there was a general review in this county, complaint being made that they sold by false measures and weights, and many towns' came before the itinerant justices, and fined for such offences, to above 1000l. value, some being fined 5s. some 6s. but great Yarmouth was fined a 100 marks, and the city the same sum, which was raised by a tax upon the citizens, laid by the bailiffs and commonalty.
In 1353, the staples beyond the sea were recalled, and the staples of wools, leather, wool-fells, and lead, were fixed to be perpetually holden at the following places in England, viz. ”

“ Giles's-gate, 2 at Westwyck-gate, and 2 at the Tolhous; and to every espringold 1 hundred gogions or balls, lock'd up in a box, with ropes and other accoutrements belonging to them, and also 4 great arblasters or cross-bows, and to each of them a hundred gogeons or balls, and 2 pair of graples to draw up the bows with; and other gogeons and armour: he also gave 200l. 5s. to enlarge and deepen the ditches belonging to the city walls, and laid out much money in repairing a low place between the river and St. ”