Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776Reilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776
Reilly, S. A.
Law -- England -- History
Parliament soon was required to meet at least once a year at
the Great Hall at Westminster located beside the royal palace. London
paid its representatives 10s. per day for their attendance at
Parliament. From the time of Edward II, the counties paid their knight-
representatives 4s. daily, and the boroughs paid their burgess-
representatives 2s. daily. When it convened, the Chancellor sat on the
left and the Archbishop of Canterbury on the right of the king. Just
below and in front of the king his council sits on wool sacks brought
in for their comfort from wool stored nearby. It answers questions.
Behind them on the wool sacks sit the justices, who may be called upon
to give legal advice, e.g. in framing statutes. Then come the spiritual
and lay barons, then the knights, and lastly the elected burgesses and
citizens. Lawmaking became a function of Parliament, of which the
King's council is a part, instead of a function of the king with his
council and justices. The common people now had a voice in lawmaking,
though legislation could be passed without their consent. The first
legislation proposed by the commons was alteration of the forest laws
governing the royal pleasure parks. Such a statute was passed in a
bargain for taxes of a percentage of all movables, which were mostly
foodstuffs and animals. The king offered to give up the royal right to
tax merchandise for a new tax: customs on exports. The barons and
knights of the county agreed to pay an 11th, the burgesses, a 7th, and
the clergy a 10th on their other movables. In time, several boroughs
sought to be included in the county representation so they could pay
the lower rate. This new system of taxation began the decline of the
imposition of feudal aids, knights' fees, scutages, carucage, and
tallage, which had been negotiated by the Exchequer with the reeves of
each town, the sheriff and county courts of each county, and the
bishops of each diocese.
The staple [depot or mart, from the French "estaple"] system
began when the export of wool had increased and Parliament initiated
customs duties of 6s.8d. on every sack of wool, woolfells [sheepskin
with wool still on it], or skins exported in 1275. These goods had to
be assessed and collected at certain designated ports. Certain large
wool merchants, the merchants of the staple, were allowed to have a
monopoly on the purchase and export of wool. Imports of wine were taxed
as tunnage as before, that is there was a royal right to take from each
wine ship one cask for every ten at the price of 20s. per cask.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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