The Publications of the Surtees Society

серд

THE YORK MERCERS

AND

MERCHANT ADVENTURERS

1356-1917.

Published for the Society by

ANDREWS & CO., SADLER STREET, DURHAM.
LONDON: BERNARD QUARITCH, 15, PICCADILLY.

1918.

At a Council Meeting of the SURTEES SOCIETY, held in Durham Castle, on Tuesday, 7th March, 1916, the Rev. Henry Gee, D.D., in the Chair,

It was resolved,

That the volume to be issued for the year 1917 be selections from the MSS. belonging to the Merchant Adventurers of York, under the editorship of Miss MAUD SELLERS, Litt.D.

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PREFACE.

My best thanks are due to Mr. Hamilton Thompson, who not only revised my proofs, but generously allowed me to draw on his unrivalled knowledge of ecclesiastical history. It is impossible for me to express adequately the gratitude I feel for the ceaseless care with which he supervised the passage of this volume through the press. To Canon Fowler I owe thanks for many interesting suggestions with regard to emendations of the text.

It is obviously impossible for a writer to deal successfully in a limited introduction with a period of more than five hundred years, and with matter inclusive of all branches of history, constitutional, industrial, economic, religious, and social. have not attempted the impossible. In my introduction, however, I have tried to give such an analysis that I hope my readers will turn to the text, and study for themselves the documents on which my brief account is based.

To the governor of the Merchant Adventurers, Mr. H. Ernest Leetham, my most cordial thanks are due, for allowing me unrestricted access to all the documents under his charge, and for constant interest in my work.

I have not given a schedule of the sources from which the extracts are selected, as all the documents in possession of the company are now arranged chronologically, enclosed in cartels, and placed in the hall, where they may be consulted any weekday between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Merchants' Hall,

Fossgate, York.

M. S.

INTRODUCTION:

Early importance of York, i; three strongly contrasted periods in
history of merchants, two progressive, one retrogressive, ii, iii; origin
of gild in religion-licensed by Edward III-erection of hall and
chapel-early account rolls-institution of hospital, iv-ix; sub-
mergence of religious side of the gild supremacy of mistery in fifteenth
century-office of master of mistery, prelude to office of lord mayor
of city-the royal charter—the poet historians: Langland, Chaucer,
and Gower, ix-xix; the middle of the fifteenth century the climax
of civic supremacy-the later account rolls-the pageant effort
of ecclesiastical power to regain its early position, xix-xxix; aliens—
shipping-northern merchants enlist royal sympathy against London
bully, xxix-xxxviii; life in a mart town-struggle to wrest trade from
Hanse gradual centralisation of power in the hands of London
merchants-government intervention correspondence with mart
towns-Elizabethan charter, xxxviii-lxvii; decadence.

DOCUMENTS:

Licence for the gild-account rolls of 1357, 1368-licence for

the foundation of the hospital-licence to celebrate in the

chapel

Charter

Account rolls of mistery

1-32

33-36

37-55

Rent rolls of hospital

55-59

Account roll of Katherine of Hull