After the establishment of the Commune and the appointment of a Mayor the sheriffs naturally lost much of their importance, and they became what they are styled in _Liber Albus_, 'the Eyes of the Mayor.' They often in early times were called also bailiffs. When Middlesex was in ferm to London the two sheriffs were equally Sheriffs of London and Middlesex. There is one instance only in the city records of a Sheriff of Middlesex being mentioned as distinct from the sheriffs, and this was in 1283 when Anketin de Betteville and Walter le Blond are described as Sheriffs of London, and Gerin as Sheriff of Middlesex.[259] This anomaly has not been explained, but Dr. Sharpe remarks respecting a writ of 1308: 'The King to the Sheriff of Middlesex, greeting,' that this was 'presumably addressed to and the return made by the Sheriffs of London acting as Sheriff of Middlesex according to custom.' It was ordained and agreed in 1383 (7 Ric. II.) 'that no person shall from henceforth be Mayor in the said city if he have not first been sheriff of the said city, to the end that he may be tried in governance and bounty before he attains such estate of the mayoralty.'[260] Mr. Baddeley has very clearly described the changes made at various times in the election of sheriffs, and I therefore quote from his book: 'Until the commencement of the fourteenth century the sheriffs were elected by the Mayor, aldermen and commonalty of the city. In 1301 an attempt was made to restrict the number of electors to twelve representatives of each ward, but this, like other subsequent attempts, proved unsuccessful. In 1347 is met with, for the first time, a new method of procedure. In that year one of the sheriffs was elected by the Mayor and the other by the commonalty, and this prerogative of the Mayor for the time being to elect one of the sheriffs continued to be exercised with few, if any, exceptions down to 1638.'[261] This is the mode of election which is described in the _Liber Albus_: 'In the first place, the Mayor shall choose, of his own free will, a reputable man, free of the city, to be one of the sheriffs for the ensuing year, for whom he is willing to answer as to one half of the ferm of the city due to the King, if he who is so elected by the Mayor shall prove not sufficient. But if the Mayor elect him by counsel and with the assent of the aldermen they also ought to be answerable with him. And those who are elected for the Common Council themselves, and the others summoned by the Mayor for this purpose, as before declared, shall choose another sheriff for the commonalty, for whom all the commonalty is bound to be answerable as to the other half of the ferm so due to the King, in case he shall prove not sufficient. And if any controversy arise between the Commons as to the election, the matter is to proceed and be discussed.'[262] COMMON COUNCIL.