In 1377 it was ordered that aldermen should be elected annually, as appears from the following entry in Letter Book H (f. 58):-- '51 Edw. III. Precept (_bille_) for the men of each ward to meet on Saturday, the 7th March, and elect an alderman other than the sitting alderman, and to have the name of the alderman so elected endorsed on the Bill at the Guildhall on the Feast of St. Gregory next, at eight o'clock at the latest, under penalty.' This precept was elaborated in an Ordinance made on Friday, 6th March, 51 Edw. III., with the assent of the Mayor, aldermen and divers representations of the livery companies. It was ordered that 'aldermen removed for good and reasonable cause shall not be open for re-election, but that those who go out of office on St. Gregory's Day and have not misconducted themselves may be re-elected after the interval of one year.' In 1384 the rule was modified so as to allow an alderman to be re-elected for his ward at the expiration of his year of office without any interval (Letter Book H, f. 173). In 1394 the Ordinance respecting annual elections was repealed by the King, and aldermen were henceforward elected for life. 6th March, 17 Ric. II., 'and have also ordained for the honour and greater increase of the good government of our said city, that they who should be chosen aldermen of our same city should not be removed out of their offices during their lives, unless for just, reasonable and notable cause.' Shortly after this an order of the Mayor, aldermen and commonalty was issued which took away the right of the wards of directly electing their aldermen. A ward was only allowed to nominate two persons, of whom the Mayor and aldermen were to choose one. Five years later, that is in 1402, the number of names to be nominated was raised to four, and in 1420 this order was reaffirmed.[255] Distinct rank was accorded to aldermen; thus the Common Seal of the Corporation bears the inscription: _Sigillum Baronum Londoniarum_, and we are told by John Carpenter in _Liber Albus_, 'it is a matter of experience that even since the year of our Lord 1350, at the sepulture of aldermen, the ancient custom of interment with baronial honours was observed; for in the church where the alderman was about to be buried a person appeared upon a caparisoned horse, arrayed in the armour of the deceased, bearing a banner in his hand, and carrying upon him his shield, helmet and the rest of his arms, along with the banner, as is still the usage at the sepulture of lords of baronial rank. But by reason of the sudden and frequent changes of the aldermen, and the repeated occurrence of pestilence, this ceremonial in London gradually died out and disappeared.'[256] When the poll tax of 1379 was imposed the Mayor was assessed as an earl and the aldermen as barons.[257]