Great importance of aliens in trade and industry is constantly appearing in London records. The king collects his customs by farming them out to the Lombards; he makes an income by weighing, granting charters, taking prisage, fines, etc. (1269) The “hosting” of aliens, i.e. the rule that every alien must lodge with an English host who will be answerable for him, is practised. The special position of the Jews is well illustrated, nominally under protection of king and Mayor they are yet attacked by King and Pope as well as people. City Government Strife is continual between the citizens and the royal officers for control of the city. Its freedom dated from Henry I’s charter of 1100 (cf. Stubbs, _Select Charters_). In 1249 the citizens claim to be peers of “the earls and barons of England.” The survival of the Saxon practice of witness on oath is evidenced in 1267 by the witness of “12 sworn men of the City” not swearing to fact but to ancient usage. The titles and duties of the king’s officers are illustrated; the Treasurer, Constable, Warden, claiming dues for the King, Sheriffs of London and Middlesex, Barons of Exchequer and other wardens all holding by royal appointment. The persistence of the folkmote is evidenced in 1260, when the oath of loyalty is taken, as in the time of Richard I’s crusade. In 1267 a tax on movables is levied, first done in 1207. The intervention of the citizens between Barons and King in 1262 foreshadows their intervention in de Montfort’s Parliament of 1265 and that of Edward I, 1295, indicates the influence of the new class of burghers made wealthy by the wool trade. The various activities of the City officers show the gradual organisation of ordered life in a commune of this date; further illustrated by the Mayor’s reliance on craft-gilds in 1262 against the “aldermen or chief citizens,” the officers of the Merchant Gild. In connection with the Black Death it is noteworthy how frequent famines were in the earlier part of the fourteenth century and how food sales were regulated; the rules of the Court Leet in the sixteenth century would, no doubt, be in practice at this earlier period in some parts of England. Battle of Sluys A good instance of fourteenth century naval warfare, the French make no use of mobility but make conditions as near as possible to land fighting; the English, however, use advantage of wind and are already carrying heavier artillery than their opponents, an English naval characteristic later. Fourteenth Century Prices