Town Charters

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries many of the cities and boroughs obtained their first charters. These were documen ts issued and sealed by the king, or by the lord on whose demesne the town had grown up, giving legal recognition to a part or the whole of the body of local customs In no case was the whole body of customs recited in the charter; and in most cases probably no new rights were granted to the towns by the charters; but it was of the greatest value to them to have their more important customary rights defined, legalized and put in a form which could be appealed to in case of subsequent dispute . Moreover, the first grant obtained by any tovrn served as a precedent in obtaining, at favorable opportunities thereafter, new charters extending its powers and privileges. The charter of Southampton, printed below, for instance, was the first of thirty-one such grants to that town between the twelfth century and the seventeenth; varying in character from mere renewals to considerable additions to the city immunities. Types of three classes of municipal charters are given below; those granted by the king, those granted by a secular lord to a town on his demesne, and those granted by a prelate.

Charter of Henry II to the City of Lincoln.

Henry, by the grace of God, king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, count of Anjou, to the bishop of Lincoln, justiciars, sheriffs, barons, officers and all his faithful, French and English, of Lincoln, greeting. Know that I have conceded to my citizens of Lincoln all their liberties and customs and laws, which they had in the time of Edward and William and Henry, kings of England; and their gild merchant of the men of the city and of other merchants of the county, just as they had it in the time of our aforesaid predecessors, kings of England, best and most freely. And all men who dwell within the four divisions of the city and attend the market are to be at the gilds and customs and assizes of the city as they have been best in the time of Edward, William and Henry, kings of England. I grant to them moreover, that if anyone shall buy any land within the city, of the burgage of Lincoln, and shall have held it for a year and a day without any claim, and he who has bought it is able to show that the claimant has been in the land of England within the year and has not claimed it, for the future as before he shall hold it well and in peace, and without any prosecution. I confirm also to them, that if anyone shall have remained in the city of Lincoln for a year and a day without claim on the part of any claimant, and has given the customs, and is able to show by the laws and customs of the city that the claimant has been in existence in the land of England and has not made a claim against hilu, for the future as in the past he shall remain in peace, in my city of Lincoln, as my citizen. Witnesses, E., bishop of Lisieus; Thomas, chancellor; H., constable; Henry of Essex, constable. At Nottingham.

Charter of Henry II to Wallingford.

Henry, by the grace of God, King of England, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, . . . . . . I command you that my burgesses of Wallingford shall have my secure peace through my whole land of England and Normandy, wherever they may be. And know that I have given and conceded to them forever all their liberties and laws and customs well and honorably, just as they had them best and most honorably in the time of King Edward, and in the time of my great grandfather King William, and of his son, the second King William, and in the time of King Henry, my grandfather; that is to say, that they should have freely the gild merchant with all its customs and laws, so that neither my bailiff nor any justice of mine should meddle with their gild; but only their own alderman and officer. And if my officers or any justice shall have brought suit against them in any plea or for any occasion or shall have wished to lead them into a suit, I forbid it, and require that they should not make defense in any manner, except in their own proper portmote. And if the reeve himself shall implead them on any occasion without an accuser, they shall not respond, and if on account of any transgression, or by a right Judgment any one of them shall have made forfeiture by a right consideration of the burgesses, to the reeve shall he pay it. I forbid, moreover, and require that there shall be no market in Crowmarsh, nor any merchant, unless he is in the gild of the merchants; and if anyone goes out from the borough of Wallingford and lives from the merchandise of the same Wallingford, I command that he should make the right gild of the merchants with the same burgesses, wherever he may be, within the borough or without. Know moreover, that I have given and conceded forever to all the men of Wallingford full Pittance from my yearly rent, which they were accustomed to pay from the borough of Wallingford; that is to say, from that which pertains to me in the borough. All these laws and customs and liberties and quittances I give to them and concede forever, and all others which they are able to show that their ancestors had, freely, quietly, and honorably, just as my citizens of Winchester ever had theln at the best; and this on account of the great service and labor which they sustained for me in the acquisition of my hereditary right in England I concede to them, moreover, that wherever they shall go in their journeys as merchants, through my whole land of England and Normandy, Aquitaine and Anjou, "by water and by strand, by wood and by land," they shall be free from toll and passage fees, and from all customs and exactions; nor are they to be troubled in this respect by any one, under a penalty of £10. I forbid, moreover, and require under the same penalty, that the reeve of Wallingford shall not make any fine of scotale or New Year's gift from any one, and that he shall not establish any custom in Wallingford which shall injure the burgesses of the town. Of this grant and concession, the witnesses are Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury and others. Given at Oxford, the first day before the Ides of January.

Charter of Henry II to Southampton.

Latin: Davies' History of Southampton, 152; Gross' Gild Merchant, II, 213.

Henrv, king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to his reeves and ministers of Hampton, greeting: I ordain that my men of Hampton shall have and hold their gild and all their liberties and customs, by land and by sea, inas good, peaceable, just, free, quiet, and honorable a manner as they had the same, best, mostfreely and quietly in the time of King Henry, my grandfather; and let no one upon this do them any injury or insult. Witness, Richard de Humet, constables Jocelyn de Baliol, at Winchester.

Charter of Ralph, Earl of Chester to that City Between A.D. 1190 and 1211.

Ralph, earl of Chester, to his constable and steward, and to all his barons and bailiffs, and to all his men, French and English, as well to come as at present, greeting. Let it be known to all of y ou that I have given and conceded, and by this my present charter confirmed to all my citizens of Chester their gild merchant with all liberties and free customs which they have had in the aforesaid gild, best, most freely and most peacefully in the times of my predecessors Arid I forbid under forfeiture to me of £10 that any one shall disturb them in it. With these witnesses, etc.

Charter of John, Earl of Chester to that City Between A.D. 1217 and 1277.

Know that I have conceded and by this my present charter con firmed to all my citizens of Chester that no merchant should buy or sell any kind of merchandise which has come to the city of Chester by sea or by land, except these my citizens of Chester themselves and their heirs, or in accordance with their will; except in the established fairs, that is on St. John the Baptist's day and at the feast of St. Michael. . . . . . Likewise, I have conceded and by this my present charter confirmed to my said citizens of Chester, to have and to hold their gild merchant, as freely, quietly and honorably as they held it in the time of my uncle, lord Ralph, earl of Chester and Lincoln.

Charter of Thurston, Archibishop of York, to Beverly, Between A.D. 1217 and 1277.

Thurstan, by the grace of God, archbishop of York, toall the faithful in Christ, as well present as to come, greeting and God's benediction and his own. Let it be known to you that I have given and conceded, and by the advice of the chapter of York and of Beverly and by the advice of my barons have confirmed by my charter to the men of Beverly all their liberties with the same laws which those of York have in their city. Moreover let it not be hid from you that lord Henry our king has conceded to us the power of doing this of his own good will, and by his charter has confirmed our statutes and our laws according to the form of the laws of the burgesses of York, saving the dignity and honor of God and Saint John, and of us and of the canons, in order that he might thus increase the benefactions of his predecessors, and promote them by all these free customs.

I will that my burgesses of Beverly shall have their hanse house, which I give to them and concede in order that they may there determine upon their statutes to the honor of God and of St. John, and of the canons, and to the advantage of the whole body of citizens, being enfranchised by the same law as those of York in their hanse house. I give up to them, moreover, their toll forever for eighteen marks a year; besides in those feasts in which toll belongs to us and to the canons, that is to say, in the feast of St. John the Confessor, in May, in the feast of the translation of St. John, and on the day of the birth of St. John the Baptist; and on these festivals I have made all the burgesses of Beverly free ax d quit from all toll. By the testimony of this charter, moreover, I have conceded to the same burgesses as free entrance and departure within and without the town, in plain and wood and marsh, in roads and byways, and in other suitable places, except in meadows and grainfields, as any one can ever concede and confirm them most freely and broadly; and know that they are as free and quit from all toll through the whole of Yorkshire, as those of York are. And I will that whosoever opposes this may be accursed, as the custom of the church of St. John asserts and as it has been decreed in the church of St. John.

Theseare witnesses: Geoffrey Murdoc, Niger Fossard, Alan de Percy, Walter Spec, Eustace the son of John, Thomas the reeve, Thurstan, archdeacon; Herbert, chamberlain; William the son of Toole; William of Bath; in the presence of the whole household of the archbishop, clerical and lay, in York.