The King to all to whom, etc., greeting. Know ye that whereas before these times divers damages and grievances in many ways have befallen the merchants of our realm, not without damage to our progenitors, sometime Kings of England, and to us, because merchants, as well denizen as alien, buying wools and woolfells within the realm aforesaid and our power, have gone at their pleasure with the same wools and fells, to sell them, to divers places within the lands of Brabant, Flanders and Artois: We, wishing to prevent such damages and grievances and to provide as well as we may for the advantage of us and our merchants of the realm aforesaid, do will and by our council ordain, to endure for ever, that merchants denizen and alien, buying such wools and fells within the realm and power aforesaid and wishing to take the same to the aforesaid lands to sell there, shall take those wools and fells or cause them to be taken to a fixed staple to be ordained and assigned within any of the same lands by the mayor and community of the said merchants of our realm, and to be changed as and when they shall deem expedient, and not to other places in those lands in any wise: granting to the said mayor and merchants of our realm aforesaid, for us and our heirs, that the mayor and council of the same merchants for the time being may impose upon all merchants, denizen and alien, who shall contravene the said ordinance and shall be reasonably convicted thereof by the aforesaid mayor and council of the said merchants, certain money penalties for those offences, and that such money penalties, whereof we or our ministers shall be informed by the aforesaid mayor, shall be levied to our use from the goods and wares of merchants so offending, wheresoever they shall be found within the realm and power aforesaid, by our ministers, according to the information aforesaid and the assessment thereof to be made by the mayor himself, saving always to the said mayor and merchants that of themselves they may reasonably chastise and punish offending merchants, if their goods and wares chance to be found in the staple aforesaid outside our realm and power aforesaid, without interference or hindrance on the part of us or our heirs or our ministers whomsoever, as they have hitherto been wont to do. In witness whereof etc. Witness the King at Canterbury, 20 May. By the King himself. [Footnote 223: This document, afterwards referred to as the Staplers' charter (_cf Patent Roll_, _13 Edward II, m. 19 d_), contains the earliest reference in the English records to an organised body of wool merchants with a mayor and council; it is clear from the last words of the ordinance that both Staple and Staplers were older than the royal interest in them.] 21. ARGUMENTS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HOME STAPLE TOWNS [_Exch. K.R. Accounts_, 457, 32.], 1319.