The Difficulties of the Staplers
| Artifact Summary | |
|---|---|
| Artifact type | |
| Creator/author | |
| Date | 1527 |
| Period | |
| City and country of origin | |
| Abstract | |
Entry
[G. Schanz, Englische Handelspolitik gegen Ende des Mittelalters (1881), Vol. II., pp. 565-69.]
To the lord legats Grace and unto the honourable lordes and councellors of our soveraigne lord the kinge.
Pittiously complayninge, shewinge unto your Grace your orators and duyly bedemen, the mayor, constables and felowship of merchants of the stapull at Caleis, whose auncestours and predecessours have had the trade, traffique and vent of the greate comoditie of this realme, that is to say wooll and woolfells, by the space of five hundreth yeares and above, aswell the tyme the stapull was kept at Brigges, Damme, Ardenborough, Middleborough with other places in the emperours domynion, as now of late yeares sith it hath bine removed unto the kinges towne of Caleis, and by all the said tyme the foresaid merchants have doune their dutyes to our soveraigne lord the kinges noble progenitors and have kept and mayntayned the prises of the said comoditie in utterance theirof to the straungers as much as in them hath lyen, and have bine in tymes past reputed and taken the most worshipfull company of merchantis subiectis to a king that any prince christned hath had, who now be fallen unto poore and lowe estate ; and by no manner of misdemeanor or occation by them comitted or doune, but onely by such occacion as heereafter shall more plainly appeare in articles heereunto annexed .
In tender consideration theereofyt may please your Grace with all other lords of our said soveraigne lord the kinges most honorable councell to ponder and consider their said poore estate and the deepe daungers that they be now in, and to be meanes and mediators to the kinges Highnes for their succor and comfort, that such order and direction may be taken for them, that they may continue their livinges in the said stapull, as their fathers and auncestors have doune, beinge theirine borne and brought up and havinge no other meanes to may[n]tayne the livinges of themselves, their wyves and children.
First it may please your Grace to understand when and how the said staplers entered into the firste acte of reteignour, and by what meane and occacion, soe it was, that in the convention and warre betweene kinge Henry the 6th and kinge Edward the 4[th], the retynue of Caleis beinge unpaide of their wages by the space of three yeares, in a great fury and rage for want of money fell upon the stapull and closed them in a house and would not suffer them to be at large unto such tyme as they had promised to content and pay them all their said wages beinge behinde unpaide, so that at length they did to their greate damage, hurt and dekay of many of the said stapulls for the tyme. In consideracion wherof it was thought expedient and necessary by the kinge and his honorable councell then beinge, that the said retynue should from that tyme forward be paied and answered by the handes of the stapullers upon the revenues from yeare to yeare of the customers growinge out of their said stapul merchandises, as they yearly due ship, whereas before in England; and not many yeares before this fell, the said that tyme the customers weere paide upon greate respites heere stapullers paide no more, but onely 6 s. 8 d. for the custome of every sacke of wooll, whereas now and ever sithence the have paide to the kinges progenitors and also to the kinges Grace for every sacke of wooll 40 s., as well the sacke of course wool as the sacke of fine wooll, which is the greatest custome that his Grace or any prince christened taketh or hath of any merchantis, for it is the 4th pennie of the value of the goodes,that his Grace hath one with another, wheirby thier profittis and gaines are muche lesse now then they have bine in tymes past ; which they nothinge grudge at, but holde them well content with, if the kinges Highnes will so provide that they may have like vent and utterance of their merchandises as they have had in tymes past. Also it may please your Grace to consider and ponder not onely the greate stay and stop, that they have had for the space of 7 yeares last past in ventinge, sellinge and utteringe of theire said stapul-merchandises, but also the ill sales they have bine inforced to make of the same, never such like before hath bine seene, over and besides the importable losses they have had in vente and bringinge over their said moneyes, by the which 3 foresaid inconveniences their is not so little loste by the whole body of the stapul in a generallytie amongst them all as a hundreth thowsand powndes, over and besides thapprestinge and disbursinge out of their purses and stockes 23,000 li. and above to furnish that they have shipped to short. Their is no fellowship of merchandes under any christian prince that could so longe have sustayned like burden and damage; but to their utter confusion and to the same point they be now come, unles the kings Grace extend and shew his pittie and mercie unto them now at this tyme ; for they be brought from the number of 400 shippers unto the number of 140 or 160, the poore and middle sort be decayed andd declyned and the best and richest dayly decay and declyne after all; which decay and decline is arisen and fallen unto them not in their owne defaultis, but such inconvenientis and occacions as lay not in them to remove, helpe or remydye ; not is it possible for them to contynue, except the same 3 inconvenientis and occacions be removed and taken away, which hereafter ensue.
The first is the contynuall debate, contention and warre, that hath bine in many yeares past, which hath stayed not onely the emperors subiectis and Frenchmen to come to Caleis to buy the said staple-merchandises, but also hath stayed the said staplers to adventure their goodes into their handes; for at such tyme cometh nor adventureth none but of the worst sort, unto which sort the said staplers have bine inforced by neede and necessitie to make sale to their greate losses and many of their undoinge, and the better sorte of the merchantis straungers knowinge the neede and necessitie of the stapull, and also knowinge aswell as the staplers the ponderous acte of reyteynor hanginge upon their heades, and that of necessitie they must sell their goodes for the(y) discharginnge of the said acte, withdraw themselves from the said stapull and would buy noe woolles nor woollfells except they mought have them at their owen price and better cheape then it stoode the staplers heere in England ; and so undowbted they bought it to the undoinge of many of the staplers, not regardinge the price made and sett by the councell of both the realmes.
The second occacion and impediment is, that the Spanish woolls increase as well in fynes as in quantitie, and bine brought into Flaunders in greate aboundance more in one yeare now then hath bine heeretofore in three ; and for the amytie which is now betweene Spaine and the house of Burgon, the emperors subiectis in those partes practise themselves more and more in the drapery of the said Spanish woolles. And the rather they doe it because they have a better pennyworth theirof, then the staplers can afforde them of English woolles. Also by this occacion the staplers are not able to utter, sell and vent so much wooll and fell as they have doune in tymes past, which occacion hath not arisen or growen by the said stapulers ; for they have soulde in 7 yeares last past to the emperors subiectis, that hath used to drape English woolles, farre under the price that they have bine accustomed to sell before tyme.
If this occacion and inconvenience be not removed, theise two daungers depende theirupon. The first is the confusion of the stapul and the staplers. The seconde is the decay of the comoditie of the realme ; and over this, whereas Frenchmen have bine accustomed yearely, before the warres began, to fetch out of the stapul 2000 sackes of fyne wool, now they doe not fetch nor buy 400 sackes. The third occacion and impediment is the greate morins of sheepe in this realme within fewe yeares more then hathe bine in tymes past ; and specially in these three yeares precedent hath bine greate mortalitie and rott of sheepe and in every of them, and in this last most and worst of all, wheiras heeretofore the morin or rott of sheepe fell but once in 20tie yeares ; by reason of which mortalitie and death of sheepe wooll is brought to great scarceness and in the handes of rich graysiers, brogers and engrossers and by them enhaunsed and lifted to such prise that nether staplers nor clothier is able to gaine his livinge theirupon ; and as standeth with reason and with the comen wealth, the clothier must first be served, so that by reason theirof the said staplers, if they weere now in like wealth and prosperitie as they have bine in tymes past, as they be not, their is not wooll sufficient, the clothier served, to be had to furnish them for the full performaunce of that they be bounden unto by the said acte of reteignour. The least of theise three oc- cacions are able to confounde and bringe to povertye the said staplers or any company of merchantis, be the never so substantiall.
Theise foresaid 3 occations were moved and purposed by the said stapulers and requird by them to be put in writinge into the said acte of reteignour, as stode with good equitie and reason ; to whom it was answered, that they shoulde not thincke any suche unreasonable or hard dealinge in the kinges Grace or his most honorable councell towardes his merchantis and subiectis, but that if sutis chaunces did and upon such reasonable consideracions he would gratiously ponder and consider the same in such wise, as they shoulde not neede so much to mistrust his Grace to put it in ther wrytinge ; upon which wordes of comfort, given to the said staplers by such of the kinges councell as weere at that tyme authorised to comyne and conclude with them, they entered into the said acte of reteignor levinge out of the said act the said 3 articles of consideracions, which now all three be fallen and happened unto them with more greves and hurtes besides theise to prolix and tedious to put into this wrytinge ; for unlesse they may have helpe and remedy in the premisses, the redresse of any other inconveniences to them hapned and come should little availe them.
The premisses considered, it may please your good Grace with all other right honorable lords and councellors to our said soveraigne lord to bee intercessors and mediators to his Highnes for your said poore orators the merchantes of the stapul, and that his Grace will have pittie and compassion upon them, that stand nowe in the state of utter decaye and destruccion, onles his gratious favour and comforte be unto them shewed.
