Extracts Relating to Mediaeval Markets and Fairs in England — A Reader’s Guide

The King's Grip on Fair Duration

A recurring concern in the extracts is the precise timing of fairs. A 1233 mandate to the sheriff of Hampshire orders him to prohibit any business in wool, cloths, and hides after the established term of St. Giles's Fair. Similarly, a 1328 statute commands that lords holding fairs—whether by charter or from time out of mind—must publicly announce how long the fair will last, and merchants who remain beyond that time face grievous punishment. The penalty for lords who overstay is seizure of the fair into the king's hands until a fine is paid. This insistence on temporal boundaries reflects both the crown's desire to prevent unfair competition with neighboring markets and its need to control the flow of revenue and justice.

Policing the Market: Cutpurses and Strangers

Not all markets were welcome. In 1297, the wardens of London abolished the 'Neue Faire' in Soper Lane, a market held after dinner, because it had become a gathering place for thieves, cutpurses, and other misdoers. The ordinance notes that this market was 'established by strangers, foreigners and beggars, dwelling three or four leagues from London.' The language betrays a suspicion of outsiders and a desire to protect the established civic order. Other extracts show similar efforts: a 1233 mandate to the bailiffs of Worcester insists that the fair and drapery be held only in the traditional location, not elsewhere. Such measures aimed to keep commerce predictable and under the watchful eye of local authorities.

The Language of Regulation: Charters, Writs, and Statutes

The documents in this collection are dominated by the formal registers of medieval governance: close rolls, patent rolls, and statutes. The editor has selected passages that illustrate the legal vocabulary of control—'mandate,' 'proclamation,' 'seize into the king's hands,' 'make fine.' A 1317 order to the sheriff of Lincoln commands him to summon all persons claiming fairs to appear before the king's council at Westminster. The repetition of such phrases across centuries suggests a stable administrative tradition. Yet the extracts also capture moments of specificity: the 'Leaden Hall' in London, where foreign poulterers were required to sell between Matins and Prime; or the 'regratresses' who could buy only after the hour of Prime. These details ground the legal formulas in the physical spaces and daily rhythms of medieval commerce.

Everyday Commerce in Official Records

Beneath the official language, the extracts preserve glimpses of ordinary trade. A London ordinance from the 14th century regulates the sale of poultry: foreign poulterers must bring their birds to Leaden Hall, sell first to reputable citizens for their own eating, and only after Prime may sell to cooks and regratresses. The penalty for taking unsold poultry back to lodgings is forfeiture. Such rules reveal the tension between supplying the city's households and controlling resale by middlewomen. Another extract mentions 'the gathering together of thieves in the market, and of cutpurses'—a reminder that markets were not only sites of exchange but also of crime. The editor's selection thus balances the crown's perspective with the lived experience of sellers and buyers.

Douglas-Irvine's compilation is best approached as a primary-source sampler rather than a narrative history. Readers interested in the texture of medieval economic life will find the most reward in the shorter, more specific ordinances—those that name a street, a commodity, or a penalty. The longer charters and statutes can be skimmed for their recurring formulas. Because the extracts are drawn from printed editions (such as Riley's Memorials of London), they are reliable but necessarily decontextualized; consulting the original volumes would yield fuller records of the cases mentioned.

Among the clamor of market tolls and fair courts, I find a quiet kinship with the slow chronicles of England’s seventh book—one records rules for flour and cloth, the other notes the passing reigns behind them. Both whisper of ordinary days made official. Both ask patience. Chronicles (1 of 6): The Historie of England (7 of 8) The Seventh Boke of the Historie of England — Reading Companion sits beside my desk, a familiar neighbor to the old extracts.