6 s2014 courts, goivernment and guild
DESCRIPTION
The role of guilds in the economy and local government of 15th century England. Doctors and lawyers.TRANSCRIPT
Government and Guilds
Medicine
Master Surgeons
• Faithfully follow their calling • Take reasonable payment for their services, • Present to the mayor and aldermen the defaults
of others who undertake cures; • Be ready to attend the maimed and wounded at
all times;• Give truthful information to city officers
concerning the maimed, wounded, and others if they be in peril of death.
John Arderne (1307−1377)
• Surgeon and author• Practica of fistula-in-ano– instruments used, – step- by-step account of the operation,– complications – dressings, ointments, and other medicaments to
be given to the patient afterwards • De cura oculorum
Arderne performing
fistula operationSurgical Instruments
Arderne‘Zodiac Man’
Arderne’s practice
• Opium to be used as a soporific as as an external anaesthetic that the patient ‘schal slepe so that he schal fele no kuttyng',
• Dress wounds "with clean sponges wrung out of very hot water,” and “ not oftener than every third day”
• “A leech should not laugh nor talk too much, and as far as possible he should avoid the company of knaves.”
Zodiac Man Times for surgeryMedical text (~1486)
Vein Man(~1486)
Regulation
• Depend on self-regulation of trades– Vintners inspected wines brought into the city – Grocers, Drapers, Goldsmiths and other guilds oversaw
the goods and manufacturing related to their mysteries• Surgeons and Barber-Surgeons’ guilds were
empowered by the mayor to control surgical practice.
• 1423 Conjoint College of Physicians and Surgeons was founded with a mandate to oversee surgery and medicine in London.
1424 Forest v. Rolf, Harwe, Dalton
• Hand wound continued to bleed• Rolf, barber-surgeon, brought in Dalton, fellow
barber-surgeon and John Harwe, surgeon• Cauterization succeeded but left Forest’s hand
disfigured
Jury Decision − Forest Case
• Astrological signs were unfavorable to Forest's recovery because the moon, a bloody sign, was in the constellation of Gemini which governed the arms and legs.
• Patient had chosen mutilation over death• Surgeons had acted in correct manner
Courts
• The higher courts: Exchequer, Common Pleas, Chancery, King’s Bench
• Local courts– Manorial courts– County and borough courts
• Justices of the Peace
Court of the Exchequer
Court of the King’s Bench
Court of Common Pleas
Court of Chancery
Uses
• Right to enjoy the benefits of property) whether the owner of the right has ownership of title or not.
• Under English Common Law "use" of real property became extremely important since title could not be conveyed outside a family line due to "restraints on alienation," so "use" of the property was transferred instead.
Chancery
• A record office with custody of the great seal• Chancellors – bishops and archbishops• Becomes focus of disputes about records• Questions about Crown property – the “Latin
side”• “English side” with pleading and records in
French and English
Reasons to Allow Uses
• Posthumous payment of debts• Prayers• Full transfer to purchaser without problems of
dower rights• Control by a father over his widow/heirs
Cases for Chancery
• Lack of written satisfaction of debt• Cases not covered by common law
Operation of Chancery Court
• “Court of Conscience”• Some cases decided by common law• Decisions generally not recorded• Decisions apply to the person involved only
Variations in orthography 14th/15th centuries
Type I
Midlands
Type II
14th C. London
Type III
Chaucer
Type IV
Chancery
such sych suche swich suchethey þey hij they theygave zouun yafe yaf gaftheir her hire hire theyre
Law Question
• Suppose that as a result of knight-service to the king, a man holds land in two different English counties— in Norfolk and in Suffolk. He has two sons but dies while they are still minors. The laws of Norfolk provide that the elder son is the heir. The laws of Suffolk provide that the younger son is the heir. When the elder son comes of age, in what way can he claim ownership in the tenements in Suffolk?"
Answers
The award in Suffolk was based on an assumption that the elder son was illegitimate.1. The eider son, when he comes of age, may
take possession by force and the younger son can then sue.
2. With two competing claims, neither son can gain possession until there is a decisionfrom Chancery.
London Government
• Mayor– Wards- aldermen– Freemen (but not freewomen)
• Assize of Bread, Wine, Ale, Nuisance and Building– Established standards and enforced them
(Hustings courts)
Independence of Boroughs
• Royal charter to incorporate as a county (Bristol, 1373; York, 1396; Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1400; Norwich, 1404; Lincoln, 1409)
• 1440 Plymouth by Act of Parliament• Own sheriff• Control of vacant land; purchase of land– Income from rents
Five Points
Royal sanction to existing practices1. Right to acquire land in mortmain (perpetual)2. Right of perpetual succession3. Right to sue and be sued4. Right to issue by-laws5. Right to a seal
Charters
• Boundaries• Election of officials• Fairs and markets• Tolls• Exemption from local abbeys• Parliamentary representation
The Chartered Guilds
Livery Companies
1. Mercers’ (1394)2. Grocers’ (1428)3. Drapers’ (1438, 1606)4. Fishmongers’ (1272,
1508)5. Goldsmiths’ (1327)
6. Merchant Taylors’(1326)
7. Skinners’ (1327)8. Haberdashers’ (1448)9. Salters’ (1394)10. Ironmongers’ (1463)11. Vintners’ (1437)12. Fullers (Clothworkers’)
(1480)
1484
Membership
• Freemen. – Patrimony– Apprenticeship
• Liverymen– Freemen advanced by a vote of the court of the
Company. – Take part in the election of the Lord Mayor, the
Sheriffs, and the other traditional officers of the City.
Privileges of Freedom of the City
• Vote in Parliamentary and civic elections;• Exemption from all tolls payable on animals
brought into the City for sale;• Exempt from all market tolls payable
anywhere in the country;• Exempt from naval impressment;• Certain legal privileges with respect to being
tried and imprisoned.
Members
Alice Bridenell1427 FreedomDaughter, New freeman Co MercerJane Eyre1428 Apprenticeship Master Co Draper
Religious connections
• Come to mass at their home church on the saint’s day (and stay for the entire mass)
• Come to the dinner– Bring a wife or companion– Fees vary for livery members, out-of-towners and
others of the trade; go to maintenance of the priest
• Guild provides ornaments for the church
Merchants Tailors Company
Members in the 15th century include:• Bishops from fourteen sees became members, – Three bishops of St. David's between 1411 and
1435, – Five bishops of London.
• Parsons, vicars and rectors of 12 London parishes
Merchant Tailors Company
Members (13981473)• Tailors 655• Non-tailors 1229• 51 outside London• 137 gentry • 46 knights– including Sir John Fastolf– Nevilles and Percies
• Henry V
Company NumberGrocers: 42Drapers: 37Mercers: 28Vintners: 28Fishmongers: 24Skinners: 18Goldsmiths: 17Clothworkers 16Haberdashers 5Ironmongers: 4Salters: 4
Ordinances – Tailors of Lincoln
• Entry: A quarter of barley or the price of the best malt
• Obligation: Corpus Chrisit procession• Poor: 7d/week• Death: burial expenses• Pilgrimage: 1d for Jerusalem; 1/2d for Rome
or Compostela
Social and Religious Guilds
• Care for needy by subscription• Support for priests• Processions• Feasts
Preamble
In þe worship of god almighti oure creator, and hys moder seinte marie, and al halwes, and seint Jame apostle, a fraternitee is bygonne of good men, in þe chirche of seint Jame atte Garlekhith in Londone, þe day of seint Jame, þe ȝer of our lord Ml.CCC.LXXV., for amendement of her lyues and of her soules, and to noriche more loue bytwene þe bretheren and sustren of þe bretherhede: and eche of hem had sworen on þe bok, to perſourme þe pointȝ vndernethe wryten atte here power.
Trades 1400
Haberdasher
• Guild recognized 1447• Men’s clothing millinery, accessories • Rising importance of men’s fashion
Livery Companies
Gilds and Welfare
• Some doles for sick and aged• Paid for funerals and prayers for the dead• Almshouses
Guilds and Government 1400-1450 1450-1500
Craft Aldermen Mayors Aldermen MayorsMercers 17 10 24 15Grocers 14 9 17 9Drapers 16 9 17 9Fishmongers 10 5 5 4Goldsmiths 8 2 8 4Skinners 4 2 9 3Ironmongers 4 2 3 -Vintners 2 -Tailors 1 7 1Haberdashers 3 1Salters 3 3
Guilds, Government, Aliens
• 1432 Require traders to live in the City • 1451 Cordwainers get registration of aliens• 1456-57 rioting against Italian merchants
seemingly orchestrated by members of the Mercers' Company
Guild of St. Peter, Bardwell