648 A. D. 1432. 



could be made within the kingdom : and the king and parUament or- 

 dered, that letters fliould be fent to the king of Denmark, requiring re- 

 ftitution of the property. [yiSls 10 Hen. VI, c. 3.] 



The commons in parliament pi-opofed (or petitioned) that the Hanfe 

 merchants fettled in London fliould be made liable for compenfation to 

 thofe whofe property fhould be feized by the Hanfe merchants in their 

 own countries. But the king would not confent. {Cvtloii's Abridge- 

 ment, p. 604.] 



14^^, July lo'*" — The filverfmiths and gilders of England ftlll retained 

 their luperiority of workmanfliip, as appears by a pretty confiderable 

 number of articles, partly of plain filver, and partly gilded, exported to 

 France and Navarre. [Fa;dera, V. x, p. 553.] 



July — The parliament prohibited the ufual pradice of accounting 

 nine, inftead of eight, bufliels of corn to a quarter They alfo ordain- 

 ed, that no woollen cloth fhould be offered to fale without being mea- 

 fured and fealed by the king's meafurer. They moreover ordained, 

 that only broad cloths fhould be fubjed to the regulations of the feventh 

 of Henry IV, and that the cloths called7?;wVj- might be made only 12 

 elns in length and one in breadth. [AEls 1 1 Hen. VI, cc. 8, 9.] 



November 21" — The citizens of Barcelona claim the honour of hav- 

 ing made ordinances for regulating the important bufinefs of maritime 

 infurance before any other community in Europe. The counfelors and 

 chief men of the city now ordained, that no veflel fhould be infured for 

 more than three quarters of her real afcertained value ; that no merch- 

 andize belonging to foreigners fhould be infured in Barcelona, unlefs 

 it were freighted onboard a veflel belonging to a fubjedl of the king of 

 Aragon. Merchandize belonging to lubjeds of Aragon, freighted in 

 foreign veflels, fhould be infured only to the extent of half the real 

 value : and no merchandize whatever, except corn and wine, fhould be 

 infured for more than three quarters. The words value more or le/s, and 

 the like, fometimes inferted in policies (' feguretats'), were declared un- 

 lawful, and prohibited. If a veflel were not heard of for fix months, 

 fhe fliould be confidered as certainly loft. The infurance-broker's com- 

 miffion fhould not exceed two ihillings on the hundred pounds, to be 

 paid by the party infured ; and no broker, nearly related to, or con- 

 neded by marriage with, either of the contradting parties, fhould be 

 employed to negotiate an infurance. [Ordeu. ap. Capmany, Mei/i. hijl. dc 

 Barcelona, V. ii, p. 3^^.] 



1434 — It may appear ridiculous to introduce religious pilgrimages as 

 fubjeds of commercial hiftory. But as great funis of money were ex- 

 ported and imported by means of thofe fuppol'ed ads of devotion, they 

 feem to merit Ibme notice. A pilgrimage to the Holy land, being an 

 arduous and expcnfive undertaking, was now only performed upon very 

 extraordinarv occafions : but a fummer trip to Compoftclla in Spain 



