Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- List of Abbreviations
- Richard Britnell: An Appreciation
- 1 Unreal Wages: Long-Run Living Standards and the ‘Golden Age’ of the Fifteenth Century
- 2 Minimum Wages and Unemployment Rates in Medieval England: The Case of Old Woodstock, Oxfordshire, 1256–1357
- 3 Crisis Management in London's Food Supply, 1250–1500
- 4 Grain Shortages in Late Medieval Towns
- 5 Market Regulation in Fifteenth-Century England
- 6 Self-Government in the Small Towns of Late Medieval England
- 7 Marketing and Trading Networks in Medieval Durham
- 8 Peasant Opportunities in Rural Durham: Land, Vills and Mills, 1400–1500
- 9 The Shipmaster as Entrepreneur in Medieval England
- 10 Cheating the Boss: Robert Carpenter's Embezzlement Instructions (1261×1268) and Employee Fraud in Medieval England
- 11 The Public Life of the Private Charter in Thirteenth-Century England
- 12 Luxury Goods in Medieval England
- Index of People and Places
- Bibliography of the Writings of Richard Britnell
- Tabula Gratulatoria
5 - Market Regulation in Fifteenth-Century England
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Contributors
- List of Abbreviations
- Richard Britnell: An Appreciation
- 1 Unreal Wages: Long-Run Living Standards and the ‘Golden Age’ of the Fifteenth Century
- 2 Minimum Wages and Unemployment Rates in Medieval England: The Case of Old Woodstock, Oxfordshire, 1256–1357
- 3 Crisis Management in London's Food Supply, 1250–1500
- 4 Grain Shortages in Late Medieval Towns
- 5 Market Regulation in Fifteenth-Century England
- 6 Self-Government in the Small Towns of Late Medieval England
- 7 Marketing and Trading Networks in Medieval Durham
- 8 Peasant Opportunities in Rural Durham: Land, Vills and Mills, 1400–1500
- 9 The Shipmaster as Entrepreneur in Medieval England
- 10 Cheating the Boss: Robert Carpenter's Embezzlement Instructions (1261×1268) and Employee Fraud in Medieval England
- 11 The Public Life of the Private Charter in Thirteenth-Century England
- 12 Luxury Goods in Medieval England
- Index of People and Places
- Bibliography of the Writings of Richard Britnell
- Tabula Gratulatoria
Summary
Close supervision of price, quality, weights, measures and hygiene was an expectation in medieval English markets, both large and small, and this made them attractive venues for commerce. Regulation engendered confidence in users of formal markets, tempering the risks involved in commercial transactions. Admittedly, market regulations were often couched in paternal, moral and protective language, offering succour to poorer consumers but also aiding certain vested interests. Middleman activity was curtailed, prices were fixed according to a consensus about prevailing market conditions, and retail trade could be reserved to residents and burgesses through restrictions and tolls. To an extent, such laws dampened entrepreneurial speculation, but they also addressed the flaws of an immature market system. Many trade regulations, especially those promulgated and enforced across the realm, were intended to allay understandable concerns about asymmetrical information, lack of technical knowledge, trust, adverse selection and haphazard supply. In a developing commercial economy, the provision of national standards and common expectations was a vital foundation for market confidence and success.
The development of market regulation in medieval England was a multifaceted process, influenced by a variety of interested parties. The king, government officials, municipal authorities, lords and the church were just some of those who were active in developing market laws that served fiscal, political and social purposes. However, such laws could not be enforced effectively at a local level unless there was a degree of consensus regarding their viability and utility among general market users.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Commercial Activity, Markets and Entrepreneurs in the Middle AgesEssays in Honour of Richard Britnell, pp. 81 - 106Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2011