One of the privileges of a county palatine was that none of its
inhabitants could be summoned out of their own county except for
certain offences. This exemption, it appears, was not always observed,
and its non-observance led to several serious riots, and resulted
in the passing of an Act of Parliament in A.D. 1449, which
declared that anyone making a distress where he had no "fee, seigniory
or cause" in the Duchy of Lancaster should be treated as a felon.
Another Act passed in 1453 directed that, if a person was outlawed
in Lancashire, only his goods and lands in that county were to be
forfeited; this law was, however, repealed two years afterwards.
The population of Lancashire shortly before the Black Death in 1349 was
no doubt very much greater than it was for many years subsequently,
notwithstanding the very heavy levies made upon it for the various wars
in which the three Edwards were engaged. For the war in Wales, in 1282,
the Sheriff of Lancashire was instructed to call upon every person
owning land or rents worth £30 a year to provide a horse and armour and
to join the royal forces; whilst William le Boteler, of Warrington,
was ordered to meet the King at Worcester, and with the assistance of
others he was to raise in Lancashire 1,000 strong and able men to serve
in the Welsh war. Amongst the accounts of this campaign we find an
entry referring to this: "To Master William le Boteler for the wages
of one constable, two hundred and six archers, with ten captains of
twenties, from Saturday, January 16 [1283], to Wednesday, the 27th of
the same month, for twelve days, £22 4s."[94]
The Crusaders also had many followers from this county, whilst for the
wars with France and Scotland writ followed writ in quick succession,
all calling for men and arms. And again in the fifteenth century the
drain continued to be heavy, and culminated with the War of the Roses,
which began in 1455. None of the battles between the Houses of York
and Lancaster were fought within this county, but during the struggle
Lancashire must have sent some of her bravest sons to perish in that
ignoble strife between the roses red and white.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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