Merchants of the Staple
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The Company of Merchants of the Staple of England, the Merchants of the Staple, also known as the Merchant Staplers, is an English company incorporated by Royal Charter in 1319 (and so the oldest mercantile corporation in England) dealing in
wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...
, skins,
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
and
tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
which controlled the export of wool to the continent during the late
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
period. The company of the staple may perhaps trace its ancestry back as far as 1282 or even further.


Etymology

In medieval Latin documents the common expression for ''staple'' is ''stabile emporium'', a staple (fixed) market, where such wares had to be brought; hence the assumed derivation of ''staple'' from ''stabile''. But the word is current in various allied meanings in the Germanic languages, as in O. Eng. ''stapol'', ''stapul'', a prop or post, from ''stapa'', a step; Dutch ''stapel'', a pile; Low Ger. ''stapel'', a heap, a warehouse; whence also O. Fr. ''estaple'', ''estape'' (N. Fr. ''étape''), a station, a stage, generally a town or mart where certain wares were brought on sale, and hence called 'staple wares', or simply 'staples.' The original idea, therefore, appears to be, not so much a ''staple'' or fixed place, as a post or raised platform approached by ''steps'', and arranged for a convenient sale of goods.


History

From 1314, the Crown required all wool for export to be traded at a designated market, called '
The Staple In European historiography, the term "staple" refers to the entire medieval system of trade and its taxation; its French equivalent is ''étape'', and its German equivalent ''stapeln'', words deriving from Late Latin ' with the same meaning, derived ...
'. This allowed the Crown to monitor the trade and levy
tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
on exports. The staple was first fixed at
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
then successively moved to
Saint-Omer Saint-Omer (; vls, Sint-Omaars) is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in France. It is west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais, and is located in the Artois province. The town is named after Saint Audomar, ...
,
Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...
,
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Louvain Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic c ...
,
Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...
and
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
. In 1353 the staple was fixed at Westminster which drew so much business it was raised to the dignity of a town, in 1378 it was removed to
Staple Inn Staple Inn is a part- Tudor building on the south side of High Holborn street in the City of London, London, England. Located near Chancery Lane tube station, it is used as the London venue for meetings of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries ...
,
Holborn Holborn ( or ) is a district in central London, which covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part ( St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Ward of Farringdon Without in the City of London. The area has its roots ...
where it continued.


The staple at Calais

After Calais was conquered in 1347 by the English,
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
was the staple from 1363, after that right had been assigned in turns to
Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...
and
Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,
in the first half of the 14th century. A group of twenty-six traders was incorporated as the Company of the Staple at Calais. In exchange for its cooperation in the payment of taxes, the company was granted a total monopoly on wool exports from England. The company was important to the English crown, both as a source of revenue, and through its role in the defence of Calais against the French. As domestic cloth production increased, raw wool exports were less important, diminishing the power of the Merchants. In 1558, with the loss of Calais to the French, the staple was transferred to Bruges where the Merchant Staplers continued to enjoy their monopoly on exports. However, in 1614, export of raw wool was banned entirely during the
Cockayne Project Cockaigne or Cockayne () is a land of plenty in medieval myth, an imaginary place of extreme luxury and ease where physical comforts and pleasures are always immediately at hand and where the harshness of medieval peasant life does not exist. S ...
under the direction of
William Cockayne Sir William Cockayne (Cokayne) (1561 – 20 October 1626) was a seventeenth-century merchant, alderman, and Lord Mayor of the City of London. Life He was the second son of William Cokayne of Baddesley Ensor, Warwickshire, merchant of London, so ...
and wool was traded only in domestic staples. The project failed however, because the
States-General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States ...
banned the import of cloth from England. In 1617 the English lifted their ban, but the Dutch ban remained in place. The Merchant Staplers continued to exist, but only in local markets.


21st century

The Company still exists, based in Yorkshire, and makes charitable contributions through bursaries and awards to charities involved in the wool business such as the Nuffield Trust, and to educational travel.


Notable staplers

Richard Whittington Richard Whittington (c. 1354–1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal, City of London, was an English merchant and a politician of the late medieval period. He is also the real-life inspiration for the English folk tale ''Dick ...
,
Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...
, was simultaneously Mayor of the Calais Staple, an office also held by William Browne (1410–1489); Sir Henry Keble, Lord Mayor of London under Henry VIII; Thomas Davenport,
Mayor of Leicester The mayor of Leicester is responsible for the executive function of Leicester City Council in England. The incumbent is Peter Soulsby of the Labour Party. Background In December 2010 the Labour controlled Leicester City Council approved plan ...
, was also a Stapler, as was Henry Plankney (c. 1480–1535) from
Grayingham Grayingham is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 123 It is situated south from Kirton in Lindsey, north-east from Gainsborough and 8 miles ...
, Lincolnshire.


See also

* List of Merchants of the Staple *
Statute of the Staple The Ordinance of the Staple was an ordinance issued in the Great Council in October 1353. It aimed to regularise the status of staple ports in England, Wales, and Ireland. In particular, it designated particular ports where specific goods could ...


References


External links


The Company of Merchants of the Staple of England website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merchants Of The Staple Defunct companies of England Economy of medieval England Economic history of England Trading companies established in the 14th century 14th-century establishments in England Hanseatic League Staple ports Trading companies of England