Gild Merchant Documents

[Excerpted from "English Towns and Gilds," Translations and Reprints from the Original Sopurces of European History, E. P. Cheyney, ed., vol. 2, no. 1 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1907), pp. 11-20]

An almost invariable provision in the early town charters was the privilege of possessing a gild merchant, or hanse house, as it was called in the charter of Beverly. This universality of the gild merchant indicates its close connection with the municipal community itself, as well as the prevailing commercial character of the latter. The existence of the gild merchant has been definitely proved in 102 towns and there is little reason to doubt that it existed in practically all the others. The gild merchan t therefore was substantially the embodiment of the trading monopoly of the chartered city or borough. Its principal characteristics are exemplified in the subjoined documents.

Ordinances of the Gild Merchant of Southhampton.

§ l. In the first place, there shall be elected from the gild merchant, and established, an alderman, a steward, a chaplain, four skevins, and an usher. And it is to be known that whosoever shall be alderman shall receive from each one entering into the gild fourpence, the steward, tsvopence; the chaplain, twopence; and the usher, one penny. And the gild shall meet twice a year that is to say, on the Sunday next after It. John the Baptist's day, and on the Sunday next after St. Mary's day.

§ 2. And when the gild shall be sitting no one of the gild is to bring in any stranger, except when required by the alderman or steward. And the alderman shall have a sergeant to serve before him, the steward another sergeant, and the two skevins a sergeant, and the ether two skevins a sergeant, and the chaplain shall have his clerk.

§ 3. And when the gild shall sit, the alderman is to have, each night, so long as the gild sits, two gallons of wine and two candles, and the steward the same; and the four skevins and the chaplain, each of them one gallon of wine and one candle, and the usher one gallon of wine.

§ 4. And when the gild shall sit, the lepers of La Madeleine shall have of the alms of the gild, two sesters of ale, and the sick of God's House and of St. Julian shall have two sesters of ale. And the Friars Minors shall have two resters of ale and one rester of wine. And four sesters Of ale shall be given to the poor wherever the gild shall meet.

§ 5. And when the gild is sitting, no one who is of the gild shall go outside of the town for any business, without the permission of the steward- And if any one does so, let him be fined two shillings, and pay tbem.

§ 6. And when the gild sits, and any gildsman is outside of the city so that he does not know when it xvill happen, he shall have a gallon of wine, if his servants come to get it. And if a gildsman is ill and is in the city, wine shall be sent to hire, tsvo loaves of bread and a gallon of wine and a dish from the kitchen; and two approved men of the gild shall go to visit him and look after his condition.

§ 7. And when a gildsman dies, all those who are of the gild and are in the city shall attend the service of the dead, and gildsmen shall bear the body and bring it to the place of burial. And whoever will not do this shall pay according to his oath, two pence, to be given to the poor. And those of the ward where the dead man shall be ought to find a man to watch over the body the night that the dead shall lie in his house. And so long as the service of the dead shall last, that is to say the vigil and the mass, there ought to burn four candles of the gild, each candle of two pounds weight or more, until the body is buried. And these four candles shall remain in the keeping of the steward of the gild.

§ 8. The steward ought to keep the rolls and the treasure of the gild under the seal of the alderman of the gild.

§ 9. And when a gildsman dies, his eldest son or his nest heir shall have the seat of his father, or of his uncle, if his father was not a gildsman, and of no other one; and he shall give nothing for his seat. No husband can have a seat in the gild by right of his vvife, nor demand a seat by right of his wife's ancestors.

§ l 0. And no one has the right or power to sell or give his seat in the gild to any man; and the son of a gildsman, other than his eldest son, shall enter into the gild on payment of ten shillings, and he shall take the oath of the gild.

§ 1l. And if a gildsman shall be imprisoned in England in time of peace, the alderman with the steward and with one of the skevins shall go at the cost of the gild, to procure the deliverance of the one who is in prison.

§ 12. And if any gildsman strikes another with his fist; and is convicted thereof, he shall lose the gild until he shall have bought it back for ten shillings, and taken the oath of the gild again like a new member. And if a gildsman strikes another with a stick, or a knife, or any other weapon, whatever it may be, he shall lose the gild and the franchise, and shall be held as a stranger until he shall have been reconciled to the good men of the gild and has made recompense to the one whom he has injured, and has paid a fine to the gild of twenty shillings; and this shall not be remitted.

§ 13. If any one does an injury, vsho is not of the gild, and is of the franchise or strikes a gildsman and is reasonably convicted he shall lose his franchise and go to prison for a day and a night.

§ 14. And if any stranger or any other who is not of the gild nor of the franchise, strikes a gildsman, and is reasonably convicted thereof, let him be in prison two days and two nights, unless the injury is such that he should be more severely punished.

§ l 5. And if a gildsman reviles or slanders another gildsman, and a complaint of it comes to the alderman, and if he is reasonably convicted thereof, he shall pay two shillings fine to the gild, and if he is not able to pay he shall lose the gild.

§ l6. And if anyone who is of the franchise, speaks evil of a gildsman, and is convicted of this before the alderman, he shall pay five shillings for a fine or lose the franchise.

§ 17. And no one shall come to the council of the gild if he is not a gildsman.

§ 18. And if anyone of the gild forfeits the gild by any act or injury, and is excluded by the alderman and the steward and the skevins and the twelve sworn men of the city; and he wishes to have the gild again, he shall do all things anew just as one who has never been of the gild, and shall make amends for his injury according to the discretion of the alderman and the aforesaid approved men. And if anyone of the gild or of the franchise brings a suit against another outside of the city, by a writ or without a writ, he shall lose the gild and the franchise if he is convicted of it.

§ 19. And no one of the city of Southampton shall buy anything to sell again in the same city, unless he is of the gild merchant or of the franchise. And if anyone shall do so and is convicted of it, all which he has so bought shall be forfeited to the king; and no one shall be quit of custom unless he proves that he is in the gild or in the franchise, and this from year to year.

§ 20. And no one shall buy honey, fat, salt herrings, or any kind of oil, or millstones, or fresh hides, or any kind of fresh skins, unless he is a gildsman: nor keep a tavern for wine, nor sell cloth at retail, except in market or fair days; nor keep grain in his granary beyond five quarters, to sell at retail, if he is not a gildsman; and whoever shall do this and be convicted, shall forfeit all to the king.

§ 2l. No one of the gild ought to be partner or joint dealer in any of the kinds of merchandise before mentioned with anyone who is not of the gild, by any manner of Overture, or art, or contrivance, or collusion, or in any other manner. And whosoever shall do this and be convicted, the goods in such manner bought shall be forfeited to the king, and the gildsman shall lose the gild.

§ 22. If any gildsman falls into poverty atttl has not the where~vithal to live, and is not able to work or to provide for hinnself~ he shall have one mark from the gild to relieve his condition when the gild shall sit. No one of the gild nor of the franchise shall avow another's goods for his by which the custom of the city shall be injured And if any one does so and is convicted, he shall lose the gild and the franchise; and the merchandise so avowed shall be forfeited to the king.

§ 23. And no private man nor stranger shall bargain for or buy any kind of merchandise coming into the city before a burgess of the gild merchant, so long as the gildsman is present and wishes to bargain for and buy this merchandise; and if anyone does so and is convicted, that which he buys shall be forfeited to the king.

§ 24. And anyone who is of the gild merchant shall share in all merchandise v.~hich another gildsman shall buy or any other person whosoever he is, if he comes and demands part and is there where the merchandise is bought, and also if he gives satisfaction to the seller and gives security for his part. But no one w ho is not a gildsman is able or ought to share with a gildsman, without the will of the gildsman.

§ 25. And if any gildsman or other of the city refuse a part to the gildsman in the manner abovesaid, he shall not buy or sell in that year in the town, except his victuals.

§ 26. And if any merchant of the town buys wine or grain so that all the risk shall be on the buver, he shall not pay custom for this merchandise. And if any risk is upon the seller, he shall pay.

§ 27. It is provided that the chief alderman of the town, or the bailiffs and the twelve sworn men, shall give attention to the merchants as well strangers as private men, as often as it shall be required, to see that they have sufficient security for their debts, and recognizance from their debtors; and the day of this shall be enrolled before them, so that if that day is not kept, on proof by the creditor, the debtor should be then distrained according to the recognizance which he has made, in lands and chattels, to give satisfaction according to the usage of the town, without any manner of pleading, so that the men of the town should not have damage by the default of payment of the debtors aforesaid.

§ 28. And if any gildsman for any debt Which he may owe, will not suffer himself to he distrained, or when he has been distrained, shall break through, or make removal or break the king's lock, and be convicted thereof, he shall lose his gildship until he has bought it again for twenty shillings, and this each tithe that he offends in such manner. And he shall be none the less distrained until he has made satisfaction for the debt he owes; and if he will not submit to justice as aforesaid and be thereof convicted, he shall go to prison for a day and a night like one v.ho is against the peace; and if he will not submit to justice let the matter be laid before the king and his council in manner aforesaid.

§ 29. And the chief alderman, and the twelve sworn men, or the bailiffs, each month, or at least four times a year shall see that the assize of bread and ale be well kept in all points according to the price of corn.

§ 32. Every year, on the morrow of St. Michael, shall be elected by the whole community of the town, assembled in a place provided, to consider the estate and treat of the common business of the town, then shall be elected by the whole community, twelve discreet men to esecute the king's commands, together with the bailiffs, and to keep the peace and protect the franchise, and to do and keep justice to all persons, as well poor as rich, natives or strangers, all that year; and to this they shall be sworn in the form provided. And these twelve discreet men shall choose the same day two discreet men from among themselves and the other profitable and wise men to be bailiffs for the ensuing year, who shall take care that the customs shall be well paid; and they shall receive their jurisdiction the day after Michaelmas, as has been customary. And this Shall be done from year to year, so that the bailiffs shall be renewed every year, and the twelve aforesaid, if there is occasion. The same shall be done as to clerk and sergeants of the city, in making and removing.

§ 35. The common chest shall be in the house of the chief alderman or of the steward, and the three keys of it shall be lodged with three discreet men of the aforesaid twelve sworn men, or with three of the skevins, who shall loyally take care of the common seal, and the charters and the treasure of the town, and the standards, and other muniments of the town; and no letter shall be sealed with the common seal, nor any charter taken out of the common-chest but in the presence of six or twelve sworn men, and of the alderman or steward; and nobody shall sell by any kind of measure or weight that is not sealed, under forfeiture of two shillings.

§ 63. No one shall go out to meet a ship bringing wine or other merchandise coming to the town, in order to buy anything, before the ship be arrived and come to anchor for unlading; and if any one does so and is convicted, the merchandise which he shall have bought shall be forfeited to the king.

Ordinances of the Gild Merchant of the Holy Trinity of Lynn Regis.

§ 1. If any stranger is willing to enter into the fraternity, he ought to pledge into the hands of the alderman 100s. and the aforesaid dues of the house. That is to say, to the alderman 4d. to the clerk 2d. to the dean 2d. and afterward out of the 100s. pledged with the alderman and his brethren . . . . . , and shall immediately give one sextary of wine, that is 10d.

§ 2. If any brother has a son, or sons, legitimate, who are willing to enter into the said fraternity, each one ought to pay for his entrance 4s. the aforesaid dues being excepted.

§ 3. Whoever will enter into the said fraternity, ought on the first day of his admission to wait and serve before the alderman and the brethren honorably, in neat clothes and a coronet of gold or silver.

§ 4. The alderman to have on the day of Pentecost one sestary of wine, and the dean half a sestary, the clerk half and each of the skevins, the same day, half a sextary, and every day after, as long as the drinking shall continue, the alderman shall have half a sestary, the dean, clerk and each of the skevins one gallon, and each of the attendants half a gallon, at evening.

§ 5. If any of the brethren shall disclose to any stranger the councils of the said gild, to their detriment without the assent of the alderman and his brethren, he shall forfeit the sum of 32d.

§ 6. If any of the brethren shall fall into poverty or misery, all the brethren are to assist him by common consent out of the chattels of the house or fraternity, or of their proper own.

§ 7. If any brother shall be impleaded, either within Lynn or without, the brethren there present ought to assist him in their council, if they are called, to stand v. ith him and counsel him without any costs; and if they do not they are to forfeit 32d.

§ 8. None of the brethren is to come into the gild before the alderman and his brethren with his cap or hood on, or barefoot, or in any rustic manner; if he does he is to be amerced 4d.

§ 9. If any one should sleep at the gild, either at the general meeting or at their feasts and drinking, he is to forfeit 4d.

§ 10. If any one turns him rudely to his brother, or calls him by any rude name, he is to be amerced 4d.

§ 11. If any is called and cited at a prime and does not come before the issue of the first consult, he is to pay ld. by order of the dean; and if he refuses and sits down he is to be amerced 4d.

§ 12. If any one should be cited to the prime, and shall be found in the town or shall come late to the drinking, and the dean shall say to him to be there at the next prime, and he does not come before they begin to take judgments of defaults, he shall either make some reasonable excuse, or pay 12d., and if he comes before the faults are adjudged, and shall depart without leave he shall pay 12d.

§ 13. If any one of this house shall buy anything and a brother shall come in unexpectedly before the agreement, or at it, he ought to be a partner with him that buys, and if the buyer refuses it, he is to be amerced half a mark.

§ 14. If any servant of the brethren comes at the drinking, or the prime, he is to lay down his cap and cloak, and give it to the janitor to keep, whilst he enters and speaks to his master, and then he is to depart forthwith; if it is at the drinking, let him drink once or twice, provided he does not sit, and then he is to depart, and if he does not his master is to be amerced.

§ 15. If any one refuse to obey the precept of the alderman or dean, for the honor and profit of the house, he is to be amerced 12s.

§ 16. If any poor brother shall die, the alderman and brethren shall see that his body be honorably buried, of the goods or chattels of the house, or out of alms, if he has not the wherewith to bury himself.

§ 17. If the alderman shall die, none belonging to him, neither son nor any other, can act in anything as alderman, but the brethren may choose a new alderman, whom they please.

§ 18. If any brother shall die, the dean is to summon all the brethren to make their offerings for the soul of the deceased; and if anyone is absent he is to give Ad. at the neat prime following, for the soul of the defunct, and the dean is to have 4d. of the alms collected, for the citing of the brethren.

§ 19. If any brother, or alderman, shall act contrary to the ordinances of this house, he is either to forfeit his brotherhood, or pay half a mark for the good of the house.

§ 20. No one shall intrude himself while the drinking continues.

§ 21. If any brother shall offend another brother, in word or deed, he shall make no complaint but to the alderman first, and the mayor; if he does not he is to be amerced half a mark.

§ 22. If the skevins shall merchandise with the chattels of the house, no brother shall have any part therein, but the whole profit shall go to the use of the gild.

§ 23. The skevins are to svvear, when they receive the chattels of the house, that they will employ the same faithfully to the good of the gild, and will fully account and answer for the profit.

Selections from the Usages and Customs of the Gild Merchant of the Holy Trinity of Lynn

If any of the aforesaid brethren shall die in the said town or elsewhere, as soon as knowledge thereof shall come to the alderman, the said alderman shall order solemn mass to be celebrated for him, at which every brother of the said gild that is in town shall make his offering; and further, the alderman shall cause every chaplain of the said gild, immediately on the death of any brother, to say thirty masses for the deceased.

The alderman and skevins of the said gild are by duty obliged to visit four times a year all the infirm, all that are in want, need or poverty, and to minister to and relieve all such, out of the alms of the said gild.

If any brother shall become poor and needy, he shall be supported in food and clothing, according to his exigency, out of the profits of the lands and tenements, goods and chattels of the said gild.

If anyone has a desire and is willing for the honor of the Holy Trinity, to be received into the said gild, that he may be partaker of the alms and benefactions thereof; he shall give to the said gild a certain sum of money to the maintenance of the said alms and benefactions, according to what shall be agreed upon by the alderman and brethren thereof.

No born serf or one of such like condition, nor any apprentice can be received, and if any one of such like condition should be received into the said gild, the alderman and his brethren not knowing it, when it is truly andlawfully proved, such a one shall lose the benefit of thegild. No one until he arrive at the age of twenty-one years, and is of honest fame and condition, can be received into the said gild.

It was ordained on Wednesday, in the week of Pentecost, in the seventh year of Edward III, (1334), that the brethren should keep a general morwespeche three times a year, to wit; on Friday in Whitsunweek, on Friday after the exaltation of the Holy C:ross, and on Friday in the first week'of Lent.

On Friday in the week of Pentecost, in the 23d year of Edward III. (1349), it was provided by common assent forever that no brother should buy or sell any millstones or marble stones, brought to Lynn to be sold, as long as the skevins of this house would buy them for the profit of the gild and pay for them to the full; and if any one brother should act contrary hereto, he should forever be deprived of the society.

On Friday next after the feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cross, in the 31st year of Edward III, (1357), Jeffrey Drew, then being alderman, it was unanimously agreed by the alderman and his brethren, that as by the grant of the king in his charter, the borough of Bishop's Lynn had this liberty, that the burgesses of the same in all fairs through the kingdom of England were free, and enjoyed that freedom; when, therefore, anyone of the said burgesses or brethren should go to the fair at Stourbridge, or where any such like fair is held, and has taken his place by the consent of any of the bailiffs of those places, and marked it out by stakes or pins, by wood or stone; if any other burgess of Lynn, or brother, either by presents or favors, should deprive of or e2rpel the aforesaid burgess or brother from his place so taken as aforesaid, he is to be looked upon and esteemed as a transgressor of the aforesaid liberty, and to be fined 40s., so that the person so deprived and expelled may have 20s. of it; and if the transgressor shall happen to be a brother of the said gild, he shall be obliged by the alderman to pay 20s. for the benefit of the said gild; and if the transgressor shall be a burgess, and not a brother of the gild, he shall be obliged to pay 20s. by the mayor of the town, for the benefit of the commonalty of the said town.