Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776: June 2011 (Sixth) EditionReilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage: King AEthelbert - King George III, 600 A.D. - 1776: June 2011 (Sixth) Edition
Reilly, S. A.
Law -- England -- History
Town people had more wealth than country people. Most townspeople slept
in nightgowns and nightcaps in beds with mattresses, blankets, linen
sheets, and pillows. Beds were made every morning. Bathing was by
sponging hot water from a basin over the body, sometimes with herbs in
it, rinsing with a splash of warm water, and drying off with a towel.
Tubs used only for baths came into use. There were drapery rugs hung
around beds, handheld mirrors of glass, and salt cellars. The first meal
of the day was a light breakfast, which broke the fast that had lasted
the night. Meals were often prepared according to recipes from cook
books which involved several preparation procedures using flour, eggs,
sugar, cheese, and grated bread, rather than just simple seasoning.
Menus were put together with foods that tasted well together and served
on plates in several courses. Children's sweets included gingerbread and
peppermint drops. Sheffield cutlery was world famous. Table manners
included not making sounds when eating, not playing with one's spoon or
knife, not placing one's elbows on the table, keeping one's mouth clean
with a napkin, and not being boisterous. There were courtesies such as
saying "Good Morning" when meeting someone and not pointing one's finger
at another person. King Richard II invented the handkerchief for
sneezing and blowing one's nose. There were books on etiquette. Cats
were the object of superstition, but there was an Ancient and Honorable
Order of the Men Who Stroke Cats.
New burgesses were recruited locally, usually from within a 20 mile
radius of town. Most of the freemen of the larger boroughs, like
Canterbury and London, came from smaller boroughs. An incoming burgess
was required to buy his right to trade either by way of a seven year
apprenticeship or by payment of an entry fee. To qualify, he needed both
a skill and social respectability.
Towns started acquiring from the king the right to vacant sites and
other waste places, which previously was the lord's right. The
perpetuality of towns was recognized by statutes of 1391, which compared
town-held property to church-held property. The right of London to pass
ordinances was confirmed by charter. Some towns had a town clerk, who
was chief of full-time salaried officers. There was a guildhall to
maintain, a weigh-house, prison, and other public buildings, municipal
water supplies, wharves, cranes, quays, wash-houses, and public
lavatories.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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