232 History of the English Landed Interest. 



wove tlie Englisli fleeces into tlieir richest vestments. Every 

 Continental dyer and fuller could distinguisliCotswold wool from 

 that of anj' other country. It became a constant subject for 

 legislation, it was more than once used as a kingly present/ 

 and it at one time imperilled the safety of the Calais garrison.^ 

 But perhaps (for Eobert of Avesbury's statement is probably an 

 exaggeration) the zenith of its political importance was reached 

 when, in 1340, flushed with the news of that great victory off 

 Sluys, the Commons offered King Edward an aid of 30,000 

 sacks, in addition to the wool tithe levied in 1329 and the 

 ninth imposed in the following year. Forestalling the grant, 

 King Edward borrowed money on its security, earning by this 

 transaction the French king's taunt of " wool merchant," and 

 beggared several great Florentine houses. Professor Rogers 

 has estimated the average cost of a sack at SQs.^ which shows 

 a total value of £120,000 ; but if computed at the price for 

 which wool was actually selling during the }■ ear of the grant, 

 it reached a higher total still. It is however doubtful if the 

 king ever obtained the full value of this aid. Commissioners 

 were appointed to assess the quantity of wool in thirty-seven 

 counties and four towns. The total arrived at after most 

 careful scrutiny was nearly 10,000 sacks less than the amount 

 of the grant. So absolute was the monopoly in this produce, 

 that though one-tenth of the nation's annual wool supply was 

 by this means thrown on the market at one stroke of the peu, 

 it enhanced rather than lowered the price per sack.^ 



Severe though the penalties were against defrauding the 

 staple, many a merchant braved the law to smuggle it across 

 the Channel ; and the wool packer enhanced the producer's 

 profits at the expense of the foreigner, by inwinding with the 

 fleeces, peltwool, tar, earth, and other rubbish. Though 

 Cotswold sheep furnished the finest wool, which could be 



^ Edward IV. presented King John of Aragon with some ewes and 

 rams. 



'■* In 1464 the merchants of the staple petitioned the king to continue 

 the wool trade with Burgundy, for fear the soldiers of the garrison should 

 lose their wages. 



^ Rogers, Hix Centuries of Work and Wayes, p. 205. 



