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Programming Microcontrollers in C 2nd ed Edition Ted
Vansickle Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Ted VanSickle
ISBN(s): 9781878707574, 1878707574
Edition: 2nd ed
File Details: PDF, 6.78 MB
Year: 2001
Language: english
Programming
Microcontrollers in C
Second Edition

Ted Van Sickle

A Volume in the EMBEDDED TECHNOLOGY TM Series

Eagle Rock, Virginia

www.LLH-Publishing.com
Programming Microcontrollers in C © 2001 by LLH Technology Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form or means
whatsoever, without written permission from the publisher. While every precaution has
been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no
responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages
resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

ISBN: 1-878707-57-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 00-134094

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Project management and developmental editing:

Carol S. Lewis, LLH Technology Publishing
Interior design and production services:
Kelly Johnson, El Cajon, California
Cover design: Brian McMurdo, Valley Center, California

Visit us on the web: www.LLH-Publishing.com

1 Introduction to C ............................................................... 1
Some Simple Programs ...................................................................... 1
Names ................................................................................................. 8
Types and Type Declarations ............................................................. 9
Storage Classes, Linkage, and Scope ................................................ 12
Character Constants ........................................................................... 15
Arrays .................................................................................................. 18
Other types.......................................................................................... 20
Operators and Expressions................................................................. 24
Increment and Decrement Operators.................................................. 30
Precedence and Associativity ............................................................. 34
Program Flow and Control .................................................................. 36
Functions............................................................................................. 51
Recursion ............................................................................................ 61
Summary ............................................................................................. 63

2 Advanced C Topics ........................................................... 65

Pointers ............................................................................................... 65
Multidimensional Arrays ...................................................................... 80
Structures ............................................................................................ 87
More Structures................................................................................... 107
Input and Output ................................................................................. 110
Memory Management ......................................................................... 114
Miscellaneous Functions ..................................................................... 116
Summary ............................................................................................. 121

3 What Are Microcontrollers? ............................................. 123

Microcontroller Memory....................................................................... 127
Input/ Output ....................................................................................... 129
Programming Microcontrollers ............................................................ 134
Coding Tips for Microcontrollers ......................................................... 137

4 Small 8- Bit Systems ......................................................... 149

Microcontroller Memory....................................................................... 153
Timers ................................................................................................. 166
Analog- to- Digital Converter Operation .............................................. 195
Pulse Width Modulator System ........................................................... 201
Other Program Items........................................................................... 207
Summary ............................................................................................. 209

5 Programming Large 8- Bit Systems ................................ 211

Header File.......................................................................................... 211
Sorting Programs ................................................................................ 230
Data Compression .............................................................................. 237
Timer Operations ................................................................................ 245
Summary ............................................................................................. 285
6 Large Microcontrollers ..................................................... 287
The MC68HC16 .................................................................................. 288
System Integration Module ( SIM) ....................................................... 296
A Pulse Width Modulation Program .................................................... 299
Cosmic MC68HC16 Compiler ............................................................. 305
Table Look- Up.................................................................................... 319
Digital Signal Processor Operations ................................................... 326
Other MC68HC16 Considerations ...................................................... 345

7 Advanced Topics in Programming Embedded

Systems ( M68HC12) ............................................................ 347
Numeric Encoding ............................................................................... 352
Numeric Decoding............................................................................... 354
Coding the alpha data ......................................................................... 356
The Monitor Program .......................................................................... 370
The SAVEIT() Routine ........................................................................ 376
The printout() and the printafter() Functions ....................................... 378
Reset................................................................................................... 381
Input/ Output Functions ....................................................................... 382
Putting It All Together.......................................................................... 386
Summary ............................................................................................. 391

8 MCORE, a RISC Machine .................................................. 393

Delay Routine...................................................................................... 395
Delays Revisited ................................................................................. 401
Serial Input/ Output ............................................................................. 404
Handling Interrupts .............................................................................. 413
A Clock Program ................................................................................. 419
Keyboard ............................................................................................. 432
Integrating Keyboard and Clock.......................................................... 440
Adding a Display ................................................................................. 442
Summary ............................................................................................. 446

Index ...................................................................................... 447

 Introduction to Second Edition
Today, even more than when the first edition of this book was written,
the use of microcontrollers has expanded to an almost unbelievable level.
A typical car has 15 microcontrollers. A modern home can have more than
50 microcontrollers controlling everything from the thermostat, to the
furnace, to the microwave. Microcontrollers are everywhere! In the mean­
time, many new chips have been placed on the market as well.
Also, there have been significant modifications to our programming
languages. The standard C language is now called C99 rather than C89.
There have been several changes in the language, but most of these
changes will not be available to us for some time. Many of the modifica­
tions to the language will be of little use to programs for embedded
systems. For example, complex arithmetic has been added to the lan­
guage. It is rare that we use even floating-point arithmetic, and I have
never seen an application for an embedded system where complex arith­
metic was needed. However, other additions allow improved optimization
processes, such as the restrict keyword and the static keyword used to
modify the index of an array. Other changes have less impact on the
generation of code, such as the // opening to a single line comment. Also,
today you will have no implicit int return from a function. All in all,
expect the new versions of C compilers to be significant improvements
over the older versions. Also, expect that the new compilers will not break
older code. The features of the new standard should begin showing up in
any new version of the compilers that you use.
The C++ standard committee has completed its work on the first
language standard for C++. There is much clamor about the use of C++ for
embedded systems. C++ as it stands is an excellent language, but it is
aimed primarily at large system programs, not the small programs that we
will be developing into the future. C still remains the grand champion at
giving us embedded programmers the detailed control over the computer
that we need and that other computer languages seem to overlook.
The first six chapters of the book have been revised and any errors that
were found were corrected. Every chapter has been altered, but not so
much that you would not recognize it. Chapter 7 has been added. In that
chapter, a relatively complex program is developed to run on the
M68HC912B32. The development system was based on this chip and it
had no significant RAM to hold the code during development. Therefore,
all of the code was completely designed, coded, and tested on a DOS­

vii
viii Introduction to Second Edition

based system. Extensive tests were completed to make certain that there
were no hidden bugs. The modules were small and easy to test. Each
module was tested with a program written to exercise all parts of the
module. When the several modules were integrated into a single program,
the program worked in the DOS-based system. All changes needed to
convert this program were implemented under the control of conditional
compiler commands. When the program was converted to the M68HC12
version and compiled, it loaded correctly and ran.
Chapter 8 introduces a new chip for Motorola, the MMC2001. This
chip is a RISC chip. Many of the good things to be said of RISC
configurations are absolutely true. This chip is very fast. Each of its
instructions requires only one word, 32 bits, of memory. Almost all
instructions execute in a single clock cycle. The chip that I used here ran at
32 mHz, and you could not feel any temperature rise on the chip. It is from
a great family of chips that should become a future standard.
The first edition of this book had several appendices. These were
needed to show general background material that the reader should not be
expected to know. Also, quite a few specialized header files used to
interconnect the program to the peripheral components on the
microcontroller were included. Also, with the first edition, there was a
card with which the reader could order two diskettes that contained all of
the source code in the book, demonstration compilers that would compile
the source code, and other useful information. All of these things have
been included on the CD-ROM that comes with this edition. Additionally,
you will find PDF versions of all appropriate Motorola data manuals and
reference manuals for all of the chips discussed in the book. Also included
are copies of all header files used with the programs, and some more that
will probably be useful to you.
 Introduction to First Edition
Early detractors of the C language often said that C was little more
than an over-grown assembler. Those early disparaging remarks were to
some extent true and also prophetic. C is indeed a high level language and
retains much of the contact with the underlying computer hardware that is
usually lost with a high level language. It is this computer relevance that
makes people say that C is a transform of an assembler, but this computer
relevance also makes C the ideal high level language vehicle to deal with
microcontrollers. With C we have all of the advantages of an easily
understood language, a widely standardized language, a language where
programmers are readily available, a language where any trained program­
mer can understand the work of another, and a language that is very
productive.
The main purpose of this book is to explore the use of C as a
programming tool for microcontrollers. We assume that you are familiar
with the basic concepts of programming. A background in C is not
necessary, but some experience with a programming language is required.
I have been teaching C programming for microcontrollers for several
years, and have found that my students are usually excellent programmers
with many years of experience programming microcontrollers in assembly
language. Most have little need or interest in learning a new language. I
have never had a class yet where I was able to jump into programming
microcontrollers without providing substantial background in the C lan­
guage. In many instances, students believe that a high-level language like
C and microcontrollers are incompatible. This forces me, unfortunately, to
turn part of my class into a sales presentation to convince some students
that microcontrollers and C have a future together. I am usually able to
show that the benefits gained from using C far outweigh the costs attrib­
uted to its use. The first two chapters are included for those who are
unfamiliar with C. If you are already familiar with C, feel free to skip
ahead to Chapter 3.
C is a very powerful high level language that allows the programmer
access to the inner workings of the computer. Access to computer details,
memory maps, register bits, and so forth, are not usually available with
high level languages. These features are hidden deliberately from the
programmer to make the languages universal and portable between ma­
chines. The authors of C decided that it is desirable to have access to the
heart of the machine because it was intended to use C to write operating
systems. An operating system must be master of all aspects of the machine
ix
x Introduction to First Edition

it is controlling. Therefore, no aspect of the machine could be hidden from

the programmer. Features like bit manipulation, bit field manipulation,
direct memory addressing, and the ability to manipulate function ad­
dresses as pointers have been included in C. All of these features are used
in programming microcontrollers. In fact, C is probably the only popular
high level language that can be conveniently used for a microcontroller.
Every effort has been made to present the C aspects of programming
these machines clearly. Example programs and listings along with their
compiled results are presented whenever needed. If there are problems
hidden in the C code, these problems are explored and alternate methods
of writing the code are shown. General rules that will result in more
compact code or quicker execution of the code are developed. Example
programs that demonstrate the basis for these rules will be shown.
C is a rich and powerful language. Beyond the normal high level
language capability, C makes extensive use of pointers and address indi­
rection that is usually available only with assembly language. C also
provides you with a complete set of bit operations, including bit manipula­
tions and bit fields in addition to logical bit operations. In C, the program­
mer knows much about the memory map which is often under program­
mer control. A C programmer can readily write a byte to a control register
of a peripheral component to the computer. These assembly language-like
features of the C language serve to make C the high level language of
choice for the microcontroller programmer.
As a language, C has suffered many well-intended upgrades and
changes. It was written early in the 1970s by Dennis Ritchie of Bell
Laboratories. As originally written, C was a “free wheeling” language
with few constraints on the programmer. It was assumed that any pro­
grammer using the language would be competent, so there was little need
for the controls and hand-holding done by popular compilers of the day.
Therefore, C was a typed language but it was not strongly typed. All
function returns were assumed to be integer unless otherwise specified.
Function arguments were typed, but these types were never checked for
validity when the functions were called. The programmer could specify an
integer argument and then pass a floating point number as the argument.
These kinds of errors are made easily by the best programmer, and they
are usually very difficult to find when debugging the program.
Another set of problems with the language was the library functions
that always accompanied a compiler. No standard library was specified. C
does not have built-in input/output capability. Therefore, the basic C
standard contained the specifications for a set of functions needed to
provide sensible input/output to the language. A few other features such as
a math library, a string handling library, and so forth started out with the
 Introduction to First Edition xi

language. But these and other features were included along with other
enhancements in a helter-skelter manner in different compilers as new
compiler versions were created.
In 1983, an ANSI Committee (The X3J11 ANSI C Standards Com­
mittee) was convened to standardize the C language. The key results of the
work of this committee has been to create a strongly typed language with a
clear standard library. One of the constraints that the ANSI committee
placed upon itself was that the existing base of C code must compile error
free with an ANSI C compiler. Therefore, all of the ANSI dictated typing
requirements are optional under an ANSI C compiler. In this text, it is
always assumed that an ANSI compliant compiler will be used, and the
ANSI C form will be used throughout.
C compilers for microcontrollers—especially the small devices—
must compromise some of the features of a compiler for a large computer.
The small machines have limited resources that are required to implement
some of the code generated by a compiler for a large computer. When the
computer is large, the compiler writer need not worry about such problems
as limited stack space or a small register set. But when the computer is
small, these limitations will often force the compiler writer to take extraor­
dinary steps just to be able to have a compiler. In this book, we will
discuss the C programming language, not an abbreviated version that you
might expect to use with some of the smaller microcontrollers. In the
range of all microcontrollers, you will find components with limited
register sets, memory, and other computer necessary peripherals. You will
also find computers with many megabytes of memory space, and all of the
other important computer features usually found only on a large computer.
Therefore, we will discuss the language C for the large computer, and
when language features must be abbreviated because of computer limita­
tions, these points will be brought out.
All of the programs found in this book have been compiled and tested.
Usually source code that has been compiled has been copied directly from
computer disks into the text so that there should be few errors caused by
hand copying of the programs into the text. The compilers used to test
these programs are available from Byte Craft Ltd. of Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada (for the MC68HC05) and Intermetrics of Cambridge, Massachu­
setts (for the MC68HC11 and MC68HC16). If you wish to develop
serious programs for any of these microcontrollers, you should purchase
the appropriate compiler from the supplier.
How does one partition a book on C programming for microcontrollers?
First, the text must contain a good background on the C language. Second,
it is necessary to include a rather extensive background on some
microcontrollers. Finally, C must be used to demonstrate the creation of
code for the specified microcontrollers. This approach is used here. The C
xii Introduction to First Edition

background is complete. The background on the chosen microcontrollers

is presented briefly, as this book is not intended to be a text on
microcontrollers. Therefore, the chapters that cover specific microcontrollers
are to the point. The references found in each chapter contain texts and
data books that will cover the various microcontrollers discussed. This
book grew out of my teaching activities, so chapters include several
exercises suitable for classroom as well as individual use. The only way to
learn programming is to program, and the exercises are designed to let you
put the material in each chapter to use in typical microcontroller program­
ming situations.
Chapters 1 and 2 contain a background on ANSI C. Data in these
chapters is basic to all C programs. There is no specific coverage for
microcontroller programming. Chapter 3 contains a brief background on
microcontrollers, and it also contains general programming guidelines that
should be used when writing code for microcontrollers.
Chapter 4 is devoted to writing programs for the MC68HC05 family.
In this chapter, the use of microcontroller specific header files is intro­
duced. These header files are written for a specific part, and must be
included in any program for the part.
In Chapter 5 you will find techniques for programming the MC68HC11
family of parts. Several of the peripherals on these parts are examined, and
code to access these peripherals is written.
More complex microcontrollers are found in the MC68HC16 and the
MC68300 families. Programming the MC68HC16 is discussed in Chapter
6. This part contains an internal bus with several peripherals placed on this
bus. Access to these peripherals is through memory mapped registers and
how these peripherals are accessed will be found in Chapter 6.
There are several appendices. Appendix A contains several header
files that are useful in programming MC68HC05 programs. Appendix B
contains some code that demonstrates the power of the types defined by
structures, and how these types can be made into very convenient new
types by the typedef keyword.
One of the advantages of a high level language is that it isolates the
programmer from the details of the computer being programmed. There
are both plusses and minuses to this idea. First, as a programmer, you do
not need to know details of the register map and the programmers model
of the computer being programmed because the language takes care of
these details for you. On the other hand, microcontrollers all have periph­
erals and other components that must be accessed by the program. The
programmer must be able to write C code that will set and reset bits and
flags in control registers for these parts. It would be desirable to write this
book with no detailed discussion of the insides of the microcontrollers you
 Introduction to First Edition xiii

will be programming; however, I could not do it. I needed a careful

discussion of the ways peripheral components are used. Appendix C and
Appendix E contain detailed descriptions of the MC68HC11 and the
MC68HC16 family parts respectively. I am particularly indebted to
Motorola Semiconductor Products, Inc. for the contents of Appendix E.
This Appendix is a very slightly modified version of the Appendix D
found in the MC68HC16Z1 users manual.
Appendix C contains a header file for the MC68HC11Ex series, and
Appendix F contains several header files needed to program the MC68HC16
components.
This book has taken entirely too much time to write. As the author, it
is my fault, and I have been a burden to those around me while I have
labored on this task. The basis for the text comes from about three years of
teaching classes on programming microcontrollers in C. This class has
been taught as a three or four day course, mainly to Motorola customers. I
am amazed that it is possible to learn from every class that I teach. During
the time I have been writing, I have learned object oriented programming
and the C++ language, and I have also taught classes on this subject. It is
difficult to move from one language to another, especially languages with
similar roots like C and C++, and not get them mixed up. I am comfort­
able that this book is on C without C++ spilling into the material.
I have received much help in writing this book. My dear wife, who
understands nothing about computers, has read most of the book and made
comments about the contents. If this text is more readable than usual, it is
her contribution. Any problems that you find are my responsibility entirely.
Motorola has provided me much time and support that I appreciate.
Most of the photographs found in the book are from Motorola files. My
manager, Neil Krohn, has encouraged me at every phase in the preparation
of this manuscript. Neil and Motorola deserve my heartfelt thanks.
[This is a blank page.]
 What’s on the CD-ROM?

Programs
The programs on this CD-ROM will help you learn how to program
small embedded control systems. The directory named Programs contains
all of the programs from the book. Programs from each chapter are
grouped together in directories named Chapter1, Chapter2, etc., where the
number corresponds to the book chapter in which the code is found. The
subdirectory Header~1, or Header Files, contains a series of directories
that contain the specific header files needed to connect your compiled
code to the peripherals found on the indicated chips. These header files
have been used extensively, but you will probably still find an occasional
bug in them. If you do find a bug, please notify me at the email address
below.
There are demonstration compilers for the M6805, the M68HC11, and
the M68HC16 families of chips. The Byte Craft Limited compiler is
placed in directory C6805. Instructions for use of this compiler can be
obtained by merely typing \c6805\c6805 with no arguments and the
instruction sheet will appear.
The two Intermetrics demonstration compilers are placed in
HC11DEMO and HC16DEMO respectively. When using one of these
compilers, the directory name should be placed in the system path. Only
one of the demo directories should be in the path at a time because the two
compilers both use the same function names. Confusion will reign if both
directories are in the path at the same time. In the Software directory, you
will find files named HC16BOOK.TXT and HC11BOOK.TXT. These
files are transcriptions of the books normally shipped with the Demo Kit
packages from Intermetrics. There is no convenient means to copy the
several figures found in these books into these ASCII files. Therefore, the
files are complete with the exception of the figures. The text describes the
contents of the figures. I am sorry for any inconvenience caused by these
necessary omissions. Also, the contents of these books contain discus­
sions of how you should install the various programs contained in the
Demo Kits. These compilers are already installed on the CD-ROM, but
the basic programs from which they are installed are found in the directo­
ries HC16 and HC11. You can reinstall these demonstration compilers
from the programs in these directories if you wish.

xv
xvi What's on the CD-ROM?

Intermetrics no longer supports the compilers found on the CD-ROM.

If you wish continued support with these compilers, you should contact
COSMIC Software at

Cosmic Software
400 W. Cummings Park STE6000
Woburn, MA 01801-6512
781 932 2556 x 15

Motorola Reference Manuals and Data Manuals

The CD-ROM contains full copies of several Motorola M68HC11
reference manuals and data manuals, along with similar information for
the M68HC05, M68HC08, M68HC12, M68HC16, and M683XX family
of chips, and the MCORE family. These reference materials have been
provided with the permission of Motorola and are there for your use.

eBook
Also included on the CD-ROM is a full, searchable eBook version of
the text in Adobe pdf format. In addition, there are sample chapters of
other electronics engineering references available in both eBook and
print versions from LLH Technology Publishing.

Good luck on your venture into C.

Ted Van Sickle

e-mail: [email protected]
http://www.a-sync.com/
 Chapter 1

Introduction to C
Programming is a contact sport. Programming theory is interest­
ing, but you must sit at a keyboard and write code to become a
programmer. The aim of this introductory section is to give you a
brief glimpse of C so that you can quickly write simple programs.
Later sections will revisit many of the concepts outlined here and
provide a more in-depth look at what you are doing. For now, let’s
start writing code.

Some Simple Programs

C is a function based language. You will see that C uses far more
functions than other procedural languages. In fact, any C program it­
self is merely a function. This function has a name declared by the
language. In C, parameters are passed to functions as arguments. A
function consists of a name followed by parentheses enclosing argu­
ments, or perhaps an empty pair of parentheses if the function requires
no arguments. If there are several arguments to be passed, the argu­
ments are separated by commas.
The mandatory program function name in C is main. Every C pro­
gram must have a function named main, and this function is the one
executed when the program is run. Examine the following program:
#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
printf(“Microcontrollers run the world!\n”);
return 0;
}

1
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
meaning underlying it. Before his indentures were made, every
apprentice was ordered to pay twelve pence towards the common
funds, have his name entered in a book prepared for the purpose by
the town clerk, and "swear to the franchises" of the city.[427] The
apprentices' friends might feel aggrieved at this new exaction; it is
less easy to understand why the masters were inclined to resist the
measure. That they were so inclined is shown by an order made
some six months afterwards to the effect that those who still
received apprentices contrary to the ordinance, and continued
stubborn, were to be committed to ward and find surety that they
would in future obey all ordinances of leet.[428] The corporation had
some motive in binding the apprentices by a solemn oath and
enrolling them in this methodical fashion; they evidently wished to
keep a tight hold on them for some particular purpose. For a
hundred years Coventry had been celebrated for clothmaking, and
the sellers of cloth had been the richest men in the city, and
members of their fellowship more frequently in office than those of
any other occupation.[429] It was important that the merchants and
drapers—and of these the corporation was chiefly composed—should
be able to keep the makers of cloth, weavers and fullers, well under
control; and in attempting this, quarrels may well have arisen. The
merchants, thinking they would again arise, determined to weaken
the master-makers of cloth by keeping this tight hold over the
apprentices, and making them responsible to the corporation.
Certain practices, in all probability lately revived under this mayor or
his successor, were particularly detested by the citizens concerned in
clothmaking. Coventry was a great centre for the weaver's industry.
For a long time past, in accordance with orders of leet, cloth had
been sold on market days in the "Drapery," in S. Michael's
churchyard, a house of which the Trinity guild had been possessed
for the last 130 years.[430] There was a second selling place, the
porch of S. Michael's church, which lay a few yards from the Drapery
door. This had been in all probability the traditional sale ground for
cloth before the Drapery was fixed on and passed into the
possession of the guild. In the church porch the payment of stallage
might be avoided, and it may be the makers did not fear for their
workmanship the strict supervision of the craft of drapers. In 1455
the sale of cloth in the porch was forbidden by the leet;[431] yet no
doubt, in spite of pains and penalties, the weavers or makers still
drove their bargains, whenever it was possible, outside the walls of
the Drapery. But the municipality resolved that the orders of leet
should no longer be set at nought; cloth must henceforward be sold
in the Drapery,[432] and not elsewhere.
There was also a fixed place for the weighing and sale of wool,
called the Wool-hall, adjoining the Drapery, and likewise the property
of the guild.[433] The trade in wool was, no doubt, chiefly in the
hands of the wealthy merchants, many of whom were "of the Staple
of Calais." The wardens also overlooked the weighing, and took from
the owners certain dues "for the profit of the town."[434] These dues
must have increased the price of wool, so that the weavers or
clothmakers—or whatever body of men purchased the wool for
manufacture in the first instance[435]—suffered by reason of such a
regulation, and poor householders who bought the wool to weave
for their own use were in like case. The enforcement of this
order[436] and the consequent collection of dues were bitterly
resented, and the citizens, reminded of the traditional "toll freedom"
of their market, cried that the city that had been free was now in
bondage.
"Dame goode Eve[437] made hit fre,
& now the custom for wol & the draperie."
But before Green's year of mayoralty was past, the corporation
found that they would still have to reckon with Laurence Saunders.
It was on Lammas day, 1494, in the presence—so the mayor and
council were "credibly informed"—of forty persons, that he spoke
these words: "Sirs, her me! we shall never have our rights till we
have striken of the heads of III or IIII of thes Churles heds that
rulen us, and if thereafter hit be asked who did that dede, hit shalbe
seid, me and they, and they and me." "He shuld constreyn,"
Laurence went on, "William Boteler to drive his Cart laden with Ots
into the Croschepyng, and ther to unlade the seid cart." Now,
William Boteler was probably either a forestaller and regrater, who
intercepted, in defiance of all manner of ordinances to the contrary,
the grain intended to be sold openly in the market, or he had
encroached upon the common land. Laurence, it appears, fulfilled
his threat, and cried out to the crowd assembled in the Cross
Cheaping or market place: "Come, Sirs, and take the corn who so
wyll, as your owne."[438] The whole proceeding utterly scandalised
the mayor and his worshipful brethren. On the "Wednesday after the
Exaltation of the Holy Cross" they committed Laurence to prison,
and fixed his fine at £40. For months he lay there, while two friends,
whose names were Alexander Horsley and Robert Barlow,[439] were
surety for the payment of this great sum. But this amount meant
ruin, and drove Laurence's party to fury. The mayor and council had
treated a fellow-citizen no better than one of those hated Scots. And
this was not enough. They also bound over this sower of strife "to
good bearing," and the next year, whether for the sake of old
offences or for the commission of new ones, wiped out his name
from among the number of the rulers of the city. Laurence Saunders
was "discharged," the order ran, "from the mayor's council, the
common council, and all other councils ... taken and kept within this
city for the welfare of the same," and forbidden under the penalty of
£40 ever to ride out with the chamberlains on Lammas day.[440]
It was an old custom in Coventry to nail up all announcements,
which for obvious reasons no crier would consent to proclaim, on the
church door, where all might read them. It was in this manner that
friar John Bredon, on the occasion of a dispute between his order
and the monks, some forty years back, appealed to the citizens to
throw off the dominion of the prior, as "the thraldom of Pharaoh." So
within eight days after Lammas, 1495, some unknown rhymester of
the "commonalty" nailed up some verses of his making on the north
door of S. Michael's church; forgetting in them neither the
oppressive acts which had been lately passed nor the punishment
visited on Laurence for the tumult of the preceding year.[441]
"Be it knowen & understand,
This Cite shuld be free & nowe is bonde,
Dame goode Eve made hit free,
& now the custome for woll & the draperie.
Also hit is made that no prentes shalbe
But xiii penyes pay shuld he;
That act did Robert Grene,
Therfor he had many a Curse, I wene.
And nowe a nother rule ye do make
That none shall ride at Lammas but they that
ye take
When our ale is Tunned
ye shall have drynk to your cake."
The final lines recall the heavy fine to be paid by Saunders:—
"Ye have put on man like a Scot to raunsome,
That wol be remembered when ye have all
forgoten 'Caviat.'"[442]
It may be that, in the face of this wrathful discontent—it was just at
this time that the ill-behaviour of John Smith and John Duddesbury
to "men of worship" caused the offenders to be watched so closely—
the corporation felt some anxiety. At least they thought it prudent to
relieve Laurence of the payment of half of the fine they had laid
upon him. Of the remaining sum half was paid by the sureties, but
£10 was yet due, and in 1496 Saunders appealed to the King. The
fruit of his solicitings was a privy seal, addressed to the mayor and
sheriffs asking them in charity to take £10 and remit the rest of the
fine, as Laurence was now old and fallen into poverty.[443] There
was one sentence in the letter very little to the recipients' liking. The
King ordered the mayor "to do right" in a variance concerning a
common pasture which Laurence had informed his grace to be in the
city; "where," as the "men of worship" declared with righteous
anger, "no such variance was." It would be folly indeed to smooth
the lot of Laurence Saunders or release his friends from their bond.
So the great culprit having paid £10 and his sureties a like sum,
matters must be set right at Court, and the appeals of Laurence and
his party made of no effect. So a "writing of the great and many
offences of the said Laurence" was sent to Master Richard Empson,
who was then in London, to be laid before the King. The mayor and
his fellows awaited meanwhile the issue of the recorder's mediation.
Laurence Saunders, too, had his hopes of Court. "As for Mr
Recorder," he said confidently a little later, "I have reckoned with him
before the King, and he shall be easy enough." Meanwhile Lammas
time was approaching, and he looked for some great movement
against the corporation, which that season should bring forth. So he
went into the house of the mayor, John Dove, and said: "Master
mair, I advise yewe to loke wisely on your self, for on Lammasse day
ye shall her other tythyngs, & ffor many of these catifes that loke so
hy nowe shall be brought lower; and ye knowe wele amongist yowe
ye have of myn x li: of money, which I dought not I shall have ayen
on Lamasse day, or elles III or IIII of the best of yowe shall smart.
Therfor I advise yowe, ber upright the swerd at your perill, for ye
shall knowe mor shortly."
That allusion to the mayor's sword carried a sting. A century ago,
Richard II. had ordered it to be borne behind John Deister, the
mayor, rather than before him as the custom was, "because he did
not do justice." It may be John Dove was secretly afraid. Had he
done justice continually? What if the King should visit Laurence with
his favour now? Though this man made so light of the mayor's
dignity, he was not punished; but all waited for the news from
London.
On July 20 Laurence determined to justify his position by putting in
his petition of grievances for the third time. He laid before the mayor
a list of the enclosed common lands, drawn up from inquiries made
among old men of the city the year of his chamberlainship. He asked
that the bill might be read aloud in open court, for the sessions of
the peace were then proceeding. John Dove was not prepared to do
this. It was not a matter to be determined in that court, and besides,
he understood that it required no haste. Saunders might come and
have his answer on the morrow by nine of the clock. On hearing this
the old taunt sprang to Laurence's lips, "Maister meir," he said aloud
in the assembly, "hold upright your swerde"; and after expressing his
hope of "reckoning with Mr Recorder," he left John Dove to recover
his dignity.
As far as we can tell, Saunders' hour of triumph never came, for
there was no rising at Lammas; but soon after the scandal at the
sessions came a letter from the King, giving the mayor and council
full permission to deal with the rebel "after the good and laudable
custom of the city." This permission must have afforded them untold
relief. As Laurence refused to give any pledge as to his future
conduct, they committed him to prison. But he never rested, nor did
his friends give up the battle. They interceded at Court, this time
with Thomas Savage, the Bishop of Rochester,[444] and it seemed
that their intercession was likely to bear fruit, for letters arrived to
the effect that Laurence should be set free to plead his cause before
the King at Woodstock. But the mayor and council would not let him
go, for he offered, to their thinking, insufficient surety, letting fall
also many seditious words, which are recorded in the Book of
Council, and saying, "he wold fynd no other what so ever fell
theruppon." Wherefore, the Leet Book says, he remained in prison.
 BABLAKE AND S. JOHN'S CHURCH
Two "seditious bills"—one nailed on the minster door on S. Anne's
Day—show how strained the situation was becoming. If ever, during
a century and a half, the rule of the Coventry guilds had been as
thoroughly detested as now, the feeling had never been put in words
that have come down to us with such unmistakable force. Of these
attacks, the second has a much loftier tone. After a passing
reference to Laurence, lying in prison—
"You have hunted the hare,
You hold him in a snare"—
there come, in the first set of verses, a warning to all the great folk
that have forgotten to rule justly:—
"Ye that be of myght,
Se that ye do right,
Thynk on your othe;
For wher that ye do wrong,
 Ye shall mend hit among,
Though ye be never so loth."
The poet and his friends—he says in the second set of verses—show
outward respect to their rulers, but their minds are full of bitterness:
—
"This cyte is bond thad shuld be fre,
The right is holden fro the Cominalte;
Our Comiens that at lamas open shuld be cast
They be closed in & hegged full fast,

And he that speketh for our right is in the hall,

[445]
And that is shame for yewe & for us all;
You can not denygh hit but he is your brother;
& to bothe Gilds he hath paid as moch as
another."
As for the "commonalty," they have no more to lose, the verse goes
on to say:—
"For eny favour or frenship the comins with
yowe fynde,
But pyke awey our thryfte & make us all
blynde;
And ever ye have nede to the Cominalte,
Such favour as ye shewe us, such shall ye see.
We may speke feir & bid you goode morowe,
But luff with our herts shull ye hav non.
Cherish the Cominalte & se that they have ther
right,
For drede of a worse chaunce be day or be
nyght,
The best of you all litell worth shuld be,
And ye had not help of the Cominalte."[446]
Matters remained for some time at a standstill; then at last, early in
November, Laurence's "labour and busy suit" brought two privy
seals, containing full directions, to Coventry.[447] The mayor was
required to release the prisoner after taking surety in £100, so that
he might appear before the King and council and state his case;
while two or three of the mayor's brethren sufficiently instructed in
the matters to be laid to his charge were to bear him company. At a
meeting of the council on November 14, certain citizens, among
whom was John Boteler the steward, were appointed to ride to
London. There, joined by the recorder and others of the city, who no
doubt had already entered on various negotiations connected with
this suit, they were to lay an account of Laurence's "demeasner"
before the King. Another privy seal had been received, addressed to
four friends[448] of Laurence, who were summoned to London "to th'
entent that they shuld testyfie with hym in such matier as he wold
allege for his greves." And now the business went quickly forward.
"Accordyng which appoyntement the day was kept at London," says
the Leet Book, "befor the Kyngs Counceill in the Sterr Chambre, the
Friday next after Seynt Martyn day, and ther continied dayly vnto the
Tewesday next befor the fest of Seynt Andrew ... at which day befor
my lords of Caunterbury, London and Rochestre, the chief Justice Mr
ffyneux, and many other lords, the hole matier was hard at large,
both the compleynt of the seid Laurence, the answer therunto, the
replicacion of the seid Laurence, and the rejoynder theruppon, with
the disposicions of the witnesse, and proves of the seid Laurence,
wheruppon the seid Laurence was ther and then comyt vnto the
Flete, ther to abyde unto the tyme the kyngs pleasur was knowen."
So Laurence Saunders vanished into the Fleet, while Boteler and the
rest returned in triumph to Coventry. The corporation remained
clearly masters of the field. In a privy seal,[449] received by the
mayor and sheriffs the next December, Laurence's complaints were
pronounced "feined and contrived," and himself a "seducioux" man,
who had "of his great presumpcion and obstinacie not seldom but
often tymes disobeyed the liefell ... precepts of you the said mair ...
to the right evil and pernicioux example of other, therby embolded
and encouraged to offende in like wise." But the King willed that the
laudable and prosperous governance of the city should not
"surceasse or be sette aparte by the sinistre or crafty meanes of any
privat personne," and so the folk of the city were commanded "for
the pretense of any right herafter by thaim ... to bee claymed" to
make no conspiracies and unlawful assemblies.
As for the details of the trial, of them we know nothing.[450] Boteler
kept the complaint and the answer, the replication and the rejoinder,
in papers, "whereof the tenor," says the Leet Book, "her ensuen ..."
but just at this place occurs an unlucky break. The careful and
zealous town clerk was called away, no doubt, at that moment on
business of the first importance; there are no further entries made;
so there can be nothing told of the trial in the Star Chamber that
Martinmas and of the long agony of Laurence Saunders.
 FOOTNOTES:
[360] Ashley, Econ. Hist. i. pt. ii. 53. The act was repealed in
1511-12. In 1522 an order of leet was passed in Coventry to the
effect that the mayor should warn any baker, who had offended
twice against the assize, not to bake any more in the city unless
he could find surety that his fault should not be repeated, and
further, no victualler or butcher was allowed henceforth to be on
the jury of leet (Leet Book, 682).
[361] The loaf varied in weight, but not in price, with the price of
corn (Green, ii. 35).
[362] Harl. MS. 6,388 passim. It is difficult to determine the date
of these risings, so great is the variation between the different
lists of mayors; and so often do Coventry historians antedate
events, owing to the confusion between the old and new styles. It
is noticeable that the mayor in 1381 was Thomas Kele, one of the
founders of the Trinity guild.
[363] Corp. MS. F. 3. It is here said that the mayor, bailiffs, and
commonalty "was seized in their demesne as of fee" of the
common lands in right of the community. There was much
uncertainty among the lawyers of that time as to the entity
possessing rights over the common lands.
[364] Cicely de Montalt, in her grant to the prior of the manorial
"waste" attached to the Earl's-half, reserves for all cottiers their
reasonable pasture (Harl. MS. 6,388, f. 2). Walter de Coventre
bequeathed to his fellow-townsmen and their heirs for ever his
rights of pasture for all the cattle in all his lands (Ib.).
[365] To pay for the expenses of the fee-ferm, etc. On enclosures
to pay for pageants, see below.
[366] I am indebted for the identification of this piece of land to
Mr Beard, late town clerk of Coventry.
[367] The land in question stretched from Whitley brook to
Baron's Field, which was enclosed in 1845 as a cemetery.
[368] Leet Book, 113.
[369] Corp. MS. F. 4.
[370] An obscure word.
[371] Ear = plough.
[372] Individual profit.
[373] Get possession of.
[374] Put in the pound.
[375] Leet Book, 349.
[376] Corp. MS. F. 3.
[377] i.e. rehearsing.
[378] i.e. petitioner.
[379] i.e. slay.
[380] Leet Book, 350.
[381] Leet Book, 375.
[382] Corp. MS. F. 3.
[383] Leet Book, 376 sqq.
[384] Ib., 378.
[385] Leet Book, 379-80.
[386] Ib., 380.
[387] Corp. MS. F. 4.
[388] See Green, Town Life, ii. 315, for a similar case at
Southampton. Here one "ancient" man was aged 104 years and
more.
[389] Baron's Field is now part of the old cemetery.
[390] Corp. MS. C. 204. The varieties in the nomenclature of the
various fields makes it difficult to pronounce decidedly whether
Bristowe gained all he desired according to this arbitration.
[391] Leet Book, 375.
[392] Bristowe's case was again under discussion in 1475, see
Corp. MS. D. 2. This time a verdict, given not by a Coventry jury,
but by a jury of twenty-four knights from the vicinage of the city,
was favourable to Bristowe, and acquitted him of the charge of
assault, etc., brought against him by the corporation.
[393] Leet Book, 156.
[394] Laurence was a member of the "council of Forty-eight,"
Leet Book, 521, and a member of both guilds (Sharp, Antiq., 235;
Leet Book, 578). In 1495 Saunders was discharged from all
attendance at the mayor's council, the common council, and all
other councils to be taken within the city (Ib., 564). The common
council is first mentioned in 1477. Probably the "Forty-eight" and
the common council were identical. The "mayor's council"
consisted apparently of such of the "Forty- eight" as he cared to
summon. There is no evidence that these councillors were elected
by wards.
[395] The prior, in 1498, is said to have refused to pay it for
twenty years (Leet Book, 592).
[396] Ib., 430 sqq.
[397] Leet Book, 436 sqq.
[398] Leet Book, 348. "Cattle surcharging the common to be
driven to the pound and distress taken." And yet this very year
the corporation declared to the prior that the citizens always had
driven their cattle "without number" on the commons.
[399] Leet Book, 439. The meadows in question were the Prior's
Waste and the close by the New Gate. See above, p. 176.
[400] i.e. "eyes."
[401] Leet Book, 441.
[402] Leet Book, 443 sqq.
[403] Mayor's reply, Leet Book, 457.
[404] In the lord's outwoods, moors, and heaths, which were
never under the plough, "he should not be stinted, for the soil is
his" (Rogers, Six Cent. 90). It is extremely doubtful whether the
common lands of Coventry should be included in this category;
many of them had been "under the plough."
[405] Leet Book, 454.
[406] Leet Book, 470.
[407] Leet Book, 474.
[408] Corp. MS. C 209.
[409] Leet Book, 490.
[410] Fineux, one of the prince's council, was deputed to examine
the title deeds on behalf of the town, and Catesby on behalf of
Bristowe.
[411] Leet Book, 492.
[412] Bristowe seems to have allowed his tenants of Whitley to
share in his privilege of intercommoning with the people of
Coventry. See above, p. 174.
[413] Leet Book, 497.
[414] Ib., 496.
[415] Disputes concerning the common lands were usually settled
by arbitration, and not before the judges of the King's bench,
possibly because the "communitas" had no power to sue in law
courts as a legal person (Green, Town Life, ii. 239).
[416] Boteler filled the post of steward as well as that of town
clerk.
[417] Leet Book, 510-11.
[418] Leet Book, 483.
[419] It is noticeable that immediately after this the leet gave
orders that some of the fields granted to the prior, i.e. the field by
the New Gate, should be had again "in a perpetual ferm" of the
convent.
[420] He said "he had as much power as the mayor, and could
arrest him at sessions sitting on the bench" (Leet Book, 520).
[421] Unless he would submit to this condition and to take an
oath at Candlemas—as the mayor did—he was to be dismissed.
Boteler chose to submit.
[422] Leet Book, 537.
[423] The records are very meagre about this time. The fact that
Laurence was a member of the Forty-eight is an indication that
the corporation were well disposed towards him. The fact that the
very same mayor who occasioned Boteler's disgrace enforced
certain acts of leet against the bakers is also a proof that there
was a change of policy in his time at least (ib., 518-9).
[424] Leet Book, 554, 557.
[425] Corp. MS. A. 6. Corpus Christi guild accounts.
[426] Leet Book, 569. This order was re-enacted in 1497; Ib.,
585. No tanner or butcher was "to make conspiracy ... contrary to
this ordinance." Duddesbury had been a member of the Twenty-
four, and was mayor in 1505.
[427] Leet Book, 553-4.
[428] Ib., 559. The continuation of this order shows how restive
the people were becoming under the recent regulations, a like
surety was to be taken from any one who would not obey orders
of leet and be reformed by the mayor and council.
[429] Lists of all the living craftsmen who had held office were
compiled in 1449: 16 drapers, 13 mercers, 7 dyers, 2 wire-
drawers, 2 whittawers, and 2 weavers are mentioned (ib., 246-
52).
[430] Drapery granted to the Trinity gild 1365-9 (Sharp, 131).
[431] Leet Book, 281.
[432] These words are almost identical with a gloss, written in
the margin of one ordinance passed in 1495. For the profits
arising from the Nottingham Drapery, see Nottingham Rec., iii. 62.
[433] Corp. MS. B. 75.
[434] Leet Book, 193. This order was passed in 1440.
[435] In Coventry the wool buyers appear to have been the
clothmakers. The dyers in 1415, who were "great makers of
cloth," took "the flower of the woad" for their own use (Rot. Parl.,
iv. 75). In 1435 we hear of the clothmakers employing combers to
card wool (Leet Book, 182), and in 1512 we find that a searcher
examined the wool to see that it was free from filth for the
clothier (ib., 636).
[436] There are no new ordinances relating to the weighing of
wool at this time. Most likely the ordinance of 1440 (see above)
was often evaded, and it was resolved that a stricter supervision
should be exercised.
[437] i.e. Godiva.
[438] Leet Book, 556-7. Laurence afterwards committed William
Boteler to ward for breach of regulations of leet doubtless, but
"without authority."
[439] For Robert Barlow, see Corpus Christi guild accounts, Corp.
MS. A. 6, f. 5.
[440] Leet Book, 564.
[441] Leet Book, 567. One of the pieces of "civic poetry" quoted
by Sharp, 235.
 [442] Sharp, Antiq., 235.
[443] Leet Book, 574; Corp. MS. A. 79, f. 14. The poverty from
which Laurence suffered now had probably not afflicted him
earlier in his career.
[444] It is noticeable that this bishop sympathized with the unruly
people of York. See Miss Sellers, "The City of York in the
Sixteenth Century" in Eng. Hist. Rev., ix. 275.
[445] i.e. in prison.
[446] Leet Book, 578. The MS. has co'iens and co'ialte
throughout. Both sets printed in Sharp, pp. 235-6.
[447] Leet Book, 578.
[448] One of these, William Huet, probably a tailor or shereman,
was one of the nine score wealthy men. In 1464, he—or one
bearing this name—had been in trouble with the corporation (v.
ante, p. 138). "Norfolk," the name of one other, was a regular
weaver's name in Coventry.
[449] Corp. MS. A. 79, f. 19.
[450] I am afraid that there is nothing further to be learned of
Saunders. Professor S.R. Gardiner was so good as to make
inquiries at the Record Office whether there were any Star
Chamber records bearing upon his case, but none belonging to
this period are in existence.

CHAPTER XIII
The Companies of the Crafts
THE men of Coventry, a city which, in later mediæval times, stood
fourth among the wealthy towns of England,[451] gained a livelihood
by the buying and selling of wool and the making of cloth.[452] As
early as 1398 the traffic in the frieze of Coventry[453] extended
beyond the modest limits of the city itself. In that year two hundred
pounds' worth, the export of one merchant, lay in the port of distant
Stralsund, on the Baltic Coast,[454] and in London and other places
the cloth was in great request during the fifteenth and early
sixteenth centuries.
The men of mediæval Coventry naturally attached great importance
to the maintenance and extension of the cloth trade in view of the
wealth it brought. Special buildings were set apart for the staple
traffic of the city. The Drapery and the Wool-hall, both in Bayley
Lane, under the shadow of S. Michael's Church, were the recognised
selling places for the raw and finished material; and a small illicit
market went on in the porch of the church itself.[455] Hard by stood
the Searching-house, a place devoted to the examination of all the
cloth made by the city workpeople. Two weavers and two fullers,
specially appointed for the purpose, overlooked the handiwork of
their fellow-craftsmen; while six drapers were appointed to
superintend these weavers and fullers, so as to guard against any
exhibition of partiality or slackness in the execution of the task. If
the material were sufficiently fulled and well woven, the city seal
was attached to it in token of its genuine quality; but the searchers
were straitly charged to warrant no piece that fell short of the
standard excellence, and bad wares were returned to the owner to
make therewith as good a bargain as he could.[456]
 TRINITY LANE
An order of leet passed in 1518 gives very precise directions for the
searching process.
 ARMS OF CITY OF COVENTRY
"Hit is to be had in mynde that for a trueth of Clothmakyng to be
had in this cite as foloeth, if it myght be folowed, and the execucion
of the same to be don schortly, or els the cite wolbe so fer past that
it wolbe past remedie to be recouered to eny welth or prosperite, hit
is thought hit were good to have ij wevers & ij walkers sworn to
make true serche of the wevers doyng & also of the walkers & to
present the trueth; and also to be chosen vj drapers to be maisters,
& ouerseers of the doyng of the serchers, that if some of them
cannot a lesour to be at the serchyng at the dayes of the serchers,
yet some of these vj maisters schall euer be ther. And by cause it
were to great a besynes for the serchers to go to every mannes
howse, hit is enacted at this lete to haue a howse of the gilde,[457]
or of some other mannes nyghe the drapery doore, to be ordeyned
well with perches to drawe ouer the clothes when they be thykked,
and also weightes & ballaunce to wey the cloth, and when it cometh
frome the walkers, the walkers to bryng it to the serchyng house,
and to serche it, & to se it ouer a perche, and if it be good cloth as it
owght to be in brede & lengh, that the cite may have a preise by hit
& no sklaunder, then to sett upon hit the Olyvaunt in lede,[458] and
of the bak of the seall the lengh of the cloth, by the which men shall
perceyve and see it is true Coventre cloth, ffor of suerte ther is in
London & other places that sell false & untrewe made cloth, & name
hit Couentre cloth, the which is a gret slaunder to the cite than it
deserveth by a gret partie. And if there be eny man that hath eny
cloth brought to the serchyng house, what degre so ever he be of, if
it be not able for the worschip of the cite to be let passe, let hym
pay for the serche & lett hym do his best with hit, but set not the
Olyvaunt upon it.
"And this serche to be made also this fourme,[459] that is to sey ij
days in the weke, Tewesday & Saturday, and ij of the serchers to be
ther from viij of the clok to a xi, and frome on to iiij of the clok; and
a sealer to be ordeyned & sworne to stryke the cloth and seale hit,
and wrete hit, and fynde leed, & to have a peny for his labour; and
the sealles to be put in a cofre with ij keys, the master of the vj
drapers to have the on, and the serchers the other, and for the
serche of every cloth to the serchers to have j d. and it is to be
thought every good man schal be gladde of that payment."
The person who consistently reaped the greatest benefit from this
activity was the draper, the merchant of cloth. Within the city his
fellowship ranked next to that of the mercers, or merchants proper,
who traded in wool as members of the Staple of Calais, or trafficked
in wine and wax, which they brought in barges from Bristol.[460]
None but the well-to-do could enter into the ranks of the drapers'
craft.[461] Some of its more fortunate brethren were able to
purchase estates and take rank among the county gentry. Thus John
Bristowe, draper, sometime mayor and justice of the peace in
Coventry, became possessed of land at Whitley; and his son William
spoke of his "manor" in those parts, and frequently described
himself as a "gentleman." And John, grandson of Julian Nethermill, a
city dignitary of the same craft, held lands in Exhall, and had his
arms blazoned among those of the great county folk.[462] Many
members of this fellowship have left a name showing the great
power for good or ill that they possessed within the city. There was
John Bristowe, mayor in the early fifteenth century, who, as the
oldest inhabitants declared, "after he had boron office within the cite
of Couentre thynkyng that the common people of the seid cite durst
nor wolde contrarie his doyng, claymed unlawfully" to have certain
rights over the common pasture. John Haddon, another draper-
mayor, has left a better reputation; it was he who came to the
rescue of the poverty-stricken clothiers of the city in 1518,[463] and
by a timely loan enabled them to continue work. While John Bond,
who, as his epitaph declares, gave "divers lands and tenements for
the maintenance of ten poore men, as long as the world shall
endure," is yet remembered as the founder of the Bablake hospital.
The near connection between these great cloth merchants and the
corporation is one of the most striking features of municipal life in
Coventry during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The marks of
the drapers' influence in civic affairs are continually before our eyes.
It was in a draper's mayoralty that ordinances were first made
respecting the searching of cloth.[464] And when the system of
overlooking was perfected in 1518, a few years later, it was to six
men of this craft, that the task of superintending the searchers'
investigations was assigned. Just as, about a hundred years before
that time, when an unsuccessful attempt was made by the town
rulers to exercise complete control over the dyers' craft, it was
suggested that two drapers as well as two dyers, in either case
nominees of the corporation, should keep watch over the dyers'
movements, and "present" them for any "fault or confederacy" at
the court of the mayor.[465]
Measures framed by this body in the interest of any particular craft
or class were doubtless found oppressive by those who had no lot or
part in their enactment. Thus while the yea or nay of the fullers had
little weight in municipal councils, the wealth of the drapers gave
them a control over the local trade to an extent which we can hardly
realise. The reason of this supremacy is not far to seek. The mercers
and drapers in their character of wealthy men usually occupied the
principal official posts in the city.[466] No one, unless he were
possessed of a certain amount of wealth, could rise to a high place
in the corporation. Men were ranked according to the amount of
property in their possession, and to speak of a citizen as "of the
degree of a mayor" or "bailiff," conveyed as definite an idea as the
assertion that "So-and-so has a fortune of £20,000 or £30,000,"
would convey to our minds at the present date.
This body of wealthy merchants, in whose hands was vested all
control over the city trade, could and did make and unmake
regulations of the deepest significance to the various crafts. By an
ordinance of the city leet they could completely alter the conditions
regulating the work of salesmen or artificers, as they had an
absolute control over all workers, since by the craft system all who
practised the same calling were compelled to obey the same
regulations. Nominally the regulations were drawn up by the crafts.
In reality, as certain members of the corporation overlooked them,
amending and annulling at their pleasure, this power of the crafts
was held at the will of the municipal rulers.[467] And the corporation
did not let their power lie idle. In the interests of the general public
they forced the crafts to embody in their rules the ordinances framed
by the court leet. Thus the cloth-workers were compelled to bring
the cloth they had woven to be measured and examined by the
searcher,[468] the fullers to adopt the custom of using a special mark
whereby the work of every individual craftsman could be recognised
and known,[469] the dyers to abstain from using a certain French
dye of inferior consistency,[470] and, much against the wills of this
community, to admit another member into their craft.[471] It was not
only as regards the working of their cloth, but in all other matters
the crafts had to bow before the will of the corporation. Appeals to
courts spiritual to punish for oath-breach any who disobeyed the
ordinances of the fellowship were looked coldly on by the municipal
rulers, and the practice suppressed. In 1518 the mysteries were
compelled to make the mayor the arbiter of all cases of dispute
between offenders and the wardens of their respective fellowships.
If anyone committed a fault against the fellowship, he must be
asked to pay a "reasonable" penalty, and "if he deny and will not pay
... according to the ordinance ... within three or four days, let the
master ask it of him again ... and if he deny it eftsoons and will not
pay it, let the master of the craft and three or four honest men of
the craft come to master mayor and show unto him the dealing of
that person." Whereupon the mayor and justices, should he refuse
to pay double the original sum to the craft, were bound to commit
him to ward until he promised obedience. The offender on his
release was to make submission to the master entreating him to be
"good master" to him during his year of office, and "his good lover"
in time to come.[472]
We may follow in detail the dealings of the corporation with several
of the crafts. The fullers seem to have combined with the tailors to
form the guild of the Nativity some time in the reign of Richard II.,
but were prevented from acting under the terms of their charter. In
the eighteenth year of the reign of Henry VI. the royal licence was
renewed.[473] But the guild was a singularly ineffective body, holding
little if any property, and soon after, possibly at municipal instigation,
the two crafts who formed it were separated, though the tailors
obtained a third renewal of their licence in the twenty-eighth year of
Henry VIII. The dyers appear to have been more stubborn. Early in
the reign of Henry V. they combined together to increase the price of
dyeing of cloth by one-half, and to have the flower of the woad for
their own use.[474] In 1475 they attempted, perhaps, to renew their
old combinations of sixty years back; and five years later Laurence
Saunders, a member of their calling, became the leader of the
opposition which prevailed during the close of the century within the
city.[475] In 1496 all the thunders of the leet ordinances launched
against those who, of their "froward wills," refused to contribute to
the furnishing of the pageants played on Corpus Christi day, failed to
make the dyers join with the other crafts in paying their share.[476]
When the municipality desired to thrust a new member into their
craft, the dyers forbade the journeymen to work for him, and it was
only by circumventing their tactics that the town rulers could compel
the admission of the new candidate into their ranks.
Not only the workers in cloth, but all the fraternities were forced to
bow to the corporation's will. In 1436 the attention of the leet was
drawn to certain malpractices which had arisen among the workers
in iron. A bill, drawn up no doubt by some member of the ruling
class and presented by him to the court, shows the full extent of the
evil and suggests certain measures of reform. Certain workers in
iron, we are told, by employing labourers of the four allied crafts of
smiths, brakemen, girdlers, and card-wiredrawers, had acquired
entire control over the trade, and were able to pass off ill-wrought
iron upon their customers. It was suggested that labourers of but
two occupations should be employed by one master instead of those
of four occupations as had been the custom hitherto.
"Be hit known to you," the bill runs, "but yif certen ordenaunses of
craftes withe in this cite ... be takon good hede to, hit is like myche
of the kynges pepull, and in speciall poor chapmen and
clothemakers, in tyme comeng shullen be gretely hyndered, and as
hit may be supposed the principall cause is like to be amonges hem
that han all the craft in her own hondes, that is to sey, smythiers,
brakemen, gurdelmen, and card-wire drawers, for he that hathe all
thes craftes may, offendying his conscience, do myche harme." A
negligent smith, the bill continues, might heat the iron by "onkynd
hetes," so that it became unfit for future use. "Never the later for his
own eese he will com to his brakemon and sey to hym: 'Here is a
ston of rough iron the whiche must be tendurly cherysshet.'" When
the brakeman has done his task, the metal comes to be sold for
making fish hooks. "And when hit is made in hokes and shulde serve
the ffissher to take fisshe, when hit comythe to distresse then for
febulnes hit all-to brekithe, and thus is the ffisher foule disseyved
and to him grete harme." And if the iron be used for making girdles,
the master passes it to the girdleman with these words: "'Lo, here is
a stryng or ij (two) that hathe ben misgouerned atte herthe, my
brakemon hathe don his dever; I prey the, do now thyne.' And so he
dothe as his maister biddethe hym." Or it may be passed on to the
cardmaker, who finds that it "crachithe and farithe foule; so the
cardmaker is right hevy therof, but neverthelater he sethe be cause
hit is cutte he must nedes helpe hym self in eschueing his losse, [so]
he makithe cardes[477] ther of as well as he may, and when the
cardes ben solde to the clothemaker and shuldon be ocupied, anon
the tethe brekon and fallon out, so the clothemaker is foule
disseyved. Wherefore, sirs," is the conclusion of the bill, "atte
reverens of God in fortheryng of the kynges true lege peapull, and in
eschueng of all disseytes, weithe (weigh) this mater wysely, and ther
as ye see disseyte is like to be, therto settithe remedy be your wyse
discressions." For, as the petitioner suggested, if the two crafts of
smiths and brakemen, and these only, were united on the one hand,
and the two crafts of girdlers and card-wiredrawers, and these only,
on the other, "then hit were to suppose that ther shuld not so myche
disseyvabull wire be wrought and sold as ther is." For if the crafts
were severed in this manner, it was argued, then the girdlers and
cardmakers would buy their wire from the smiths, and look well to
their bargain. "And if the card-wiredrawer," the petitioner proceeds,
"were ones or thies disseyved withe ontrewe wire, he wolde be
warre, and then wold he sey vnto the smythier, that he bought that
wire of: 'Sir, I hadde of you late badde wire, sir, amend your honde,
or in feithe I will no more bye of you.' And then the smythier, lest he
lost his custemers, wold make true goode; and then withe the grase
of godd (God) the craft shuld amend and the kinges peapull not
disseyved with eontrewe goode."[478]
The mayor, we learn, on this important occasion sent round to all the
worthy men of the leet to take their advice upon the matter. Either
the corporation sought an occasion of humbling the workers in iron,
or the common sense expressed in this bill was irresistible; for the
leet fell in with the arrangement of severing the crafts. A number of
master smiths agreed to employ only journeymen of this occupation
and brakemen, while the cardmakers on the other hand undertook
to find occupation for girdlers and cardmakers only. Furthermore, the
leet decreed that their two last-named crafts should by "no colour ne
sotell imagynacion 'sell or buy' no cardwyre ne mystermannes wyre,
the whiche may be hynderying or grevying to the kinges lege pepull
'under pain of £20.'"
The craftspeople, however, occasionally resented municipal
interference, and endeavoured by all means within their power to
get the control of the industry in which they were engaged into their
own hands. Any temporary weakness or disorganisation on the part
of the corporation was taken advantage of by these fraternities. It
was in 1456, when the finances of the city were in some disorder,
owing to the expense of entertaining the Court and the active
support given by the city to the Lancastrian cause, that the
craftspeople took occasion to sue in spiritual courts offenders who
had broken the rules observed by members of fellowships.
"Discord daily falleth in this city among the people of divers crafts"—
such are the words of an order of leet passed in 1457—"because
that divers masters of crafts sue in spiritual courts divers people of
their crafts, affirming they have broken their oaths made in breaking
divers their rules and ordinances, which rules ofttimes be
unreasonable, and the punishment of the said masters over excess,
which, if it continue, by likelihood would cause much people to void
out of the city." The masters were thenceforth forbidden to bring
"any manner suit, cause or quarrel in any court spiritual against any
person of their craft," until "the mayor for the time being have heard
the matter and variance ... and have licensed the suit to be had."
[479] But though defeated in this scheme, the crafts doubtless did
not give up the battle. The dyers' attempt in 1475 to form
confederacies happened in a time of great division within the town
respecting the enclosure of the common pasture. And the same
disputes agitated the community twenty-one years later, when a
member of the party of discontented craftsmen nailed up
inflammatory verses on the church door, taunting the corporation
with injustice and inveighing against the rules they had made for the
buying of wool and selling of cloth.
 NEW STREET
And indeed it may have been well that persons high in authority
curbed the self-seeking spirit of the crafts. These bodies, formed
early in the thirteenth century for mutual help and preservation, had
since degenerated into close corporations eager to exclude
competition at any price.[480] Fettered as they were by ordinances
fixing price, hours of labour and the like, there was so little free play
allowed the craftsman in the management of his business, that the
difficulty of acquiring wealth must have been great. Each company
of craftsmen practically monopolised all the traffic or business
connected with their special calling in the district in which they lived,
and were bound to take good heed that the numbers of those who
formed their body should not be greatly increased, lest the individual
profits should be reduced. They were resolved at all hazards to
guard against competition. The trade of the town might support ten
tanners for instance, but the admission of an eleventh or twelfth into
the craft might endanger the older members' prosperity. Thus, in
1424, the weaver showed a distinct dislike to allowing their members
to take any number of apprentices,[481] who were potential masters
of the craft; and the cappers who in the fifteenth century had risen
to be a very important body, allowed each master to take but two
apprentices only, and when one departed before his serving-time of
seven years was accomplished, the master was forbidden to take
another in his place, without licence from the keepers of the craft,
until the allotted time should be past.[482] The corporation, however,
wished to break down this exclusiveness, and in 1524 declared that
any member of what craft soever might receive what number of
apprentices he would "notwithstanding any ordinance to the
contrary."[483] Some twenty years later, finding perhaps that this
sweeping measure aroused too much opposition, the leet tried to
thrust a modified form of it on the cappers.[484] Twice within a few
months [1544-5] they decreed that any master of the fellowship
might take an extra apprentice when one of them had served five
and a half of the allotted seven years and they repeated the order
after a few years' space.[485]
The craftspeople had another method for keeping would-be
members out of their ranks. They demanded on admission such
fines as could only be paid by the well-to-do. And it was owing to
their jealousy that precautions were taken to ensure the payment of
these admission fines. Trouble came about, we are told, because
new members departed from the town just when the fine was due, a
year after setting up their shop. They were henceforth to be
compelled to pay half their fine at setting up, and to put in two
sufficient sureties that the second half should be paid at the end of
the first year.[486]
It was part of the policy of the town rulers to recognise the
apprentice's possible future citizenship, and withdraw him somewhat
from his master's authority. The lad was therefore forced by the
ordinance of 1494[487] to take the oath "to the franchises," and
bring his twelve pennies to the steward for the town use when his
term of service began. We see from the list of those who took the
oath in 1495 that the apprentice lived in his master's house, serving
him usually—though not invariably—for seven years' space. He
earned a nominal sum, perhaps a shilling, or even 4d., the first six
years, and a larger one, perhaps 10s. or 13s. 4d., during the
seventh. Thus the son of John Preston, of Stafford, "gentleman,"
who was apprenticed to a grocer, earned 12d. a year, the wages of
his last year of service—the ninth—being unfixed; while another lad,
learning the same trade, received 13s. 4d. as his last year's
earnings. The son of a Durham "husbandman" took from his master,
a hat-maker, 4d. a year for six years, and 6s. 8d. during the seventh.
The crafts seem to have made it their business to see that the boys
were properly cared for. If any one of them complained that his
master did not give him sufficient "finding," i.e. food and raiment,
the offender was to receive first an "admonition," and on the
repetition of the offence to pay a reasonable fine; if matters did not
mend, the lad was to be removed and placed elsewhere.[488] The
master exercised a superintendence over the apprentice's moral
well-being. In an early indenture of the time of Richard II. the lad
promises to haunt neither taverns nor houses of ill-fame, nor hold
illicit intercourse with any of the women of the household.[489]
No doubt the number of apprentices was limited partly in order to
prevent any one master from engrossing more than what was
deemed his fair share of trade and profits. The craftspeople were
very sensitive on this point. Thus, in 1424, quarrels arose between a
certain John Grinder on the one side and his fellow-members of his
craft of weavers on the other. The fact that Grinder wove linen as
well as cloth, and had two sets of looms for the purpose,[490] had
aroused the jealousy of the other weavers of the city. It may be
remarked that this weaver was a man wise in his generation. He
gained his cause and made his fortune, and filled the post of bailiff
some time before 1449, being apparently the only man of his calling
during the second quarter of the fifteenth century who ever
occupied a high municipal office. Many precautions were taken to
prevent undue rivalry between brethren of the same fellowship. It
was usual among the artisan crafts for the member to report the
closing of a bargain to the master or keeper of his fraternity.[491]
And no other member of the calling could come between the
contracting parties until the work was finished.[492] But among the
more powerful craftsmen means were often taken to defraud their
brethren of the poorer sort. By collusion between butchers and
tanners the latter were able to buy raw hides "in grete," or
wholesale, with the intention, no doubt, of reselling them at a profit
to others of the craft, a practice the corporation forbade under a
penalty of forty shillings, to be taken from buyer and seller alike.[493]
When any excessive profit was to be made, the public, then as now,
was fair game. In Coventry, as elsewhere, ale-wives gave short
measure, and used an unsealed cup. The clothmakers stretched out
broadcloth to the "high displeasure of God and deceit of the
wearers" to a length the material could ill bear. Of all these matters
the corporation took cognizance, inflicting fines, punishing by the
pillory, or in extreme cases by loss of the freedom of the city.
 BUTCHER ROW
There was one point, however, on which all employers were agreed,
and that was on the advisability of checking unions and
combinations among their workmen for the purpose of obtaining
better wages. The journeymen's, or, as they were called, "yeomen's"
guilds, which seem to have been fairly universal at the close of the
fourteenth and during the fifteenth century, appear in Coventry with
great frequency and persistence. Three several times the corporation
obtained patents against the formation of guilds other than those
already existing in the city.[494] The patent for the suppression of
the first of these combinations that comes before our notice, the
fraternity of S. Anne, is addressed to the mayor and bailiffs, in 1406,
and relates how it had come to the ears of the government that a
certain number of youths, serving men of the tailors and other
artificers working by the day called journeymen, gathered together
in the priory, or the houses of the friars, and formed a fraternity
called the fraternity of S. Anne, to the end that each might maintain
the other in their quarrels. This action was likely, in the opinion of
those in authority, to breed dissensions in the city, do great harm to
the societies founded of old time, namely, the Trinity and Corpus
Christi guilds, and hence bring final destruction upon the townsfolk.
The meetings were declared unlawful, and all who persisted in
assembling to hold them after the patent had been openly
proclaimed were to be arrested, and their names certified to the
King, who would have them punished according to their deserts.[495]
But, in spite of this warning, the journeymen did not give up the
conflict, for the fraternity had again to be crushed in the first year of
Henry V.,[496] only to reappear in 1425 under the title of the guild of
S. George.
Connected with this last movement was the discontent which
affected the journeymen weavers in the year 1424. Indeed it is
possible that the whole company of journeymen within the city were
at that time making demand for higher pay. The weavers had a bond
of union in a common fund which they apparently appropriated to
the furnishing of altar or processional lights, a pretext possibly like
that of the journeymen saddlers in London in the time of Richard II.,
who, under "colour of sanctity" and religious meetings, "sought only
to raise wages greatly in excess."[497] The movement among the
Coventry weavers assumed all the forms of a modern strike. The
men not only refused to serve at the usual wages, but hindered
others from filling their place. The corporation took the matter in
hand, and the question was finally settled by arbitration. The men
were forbidden to hinder any of their fellows from working for their
masters as they had done aforetime, and a regular rate of wages
was established, whereby the journeymen took a third of the sum
paid to their employers for the weaving of each piece of cloth, while
the masters were ordered to exact threepence and no more from
their workmen as a fine for each "contumacy," being, however,
forbidden, under colour of this rule, to oppress their servants.[498]
Nearly a hundred years later we find that the fraternities of
journeymen were still in existence, albeit jealously watched by the
masters of the crafts. In 1518 all initiative was taken from them. "No
journeymen of what occupation or craft soever," runs the order of
leet, shall "make or use any cave or bylaw, or assembly, or meetings
at any place by their summoner without license of the mayor and
the master of their[499] occupation" upon pain of 20s. at the first
fault; at the second the offender's "body to prison," there to remain
until the master and six honest persons of his occupation would
speak for him.[500] At the same time the workers' fraternities were
ordered to bring in the rules already made for the mayor's
inspection. But the attempts on their part to form closer unions in
order to facilitate concerted action still continued, and in 1527 we
find the dyers' serving men assembling together for the apparently
pacific purpose of attending marriages, betrothals, and burials, as if
"they had been a craft or fellowship." These meetings served most
likely as a cloak to more serious proceedings, and they were
forbidden by the leet.[501] Nor was the movement entirely confined
to the workers of the crafts; it spread among those outside the guild
organization. In 1518 the daubers and rough masons were forbidden
to form a fellowship of themselves, but were henceforth to be
common labourers, "and to take such wages as are limited by
statute."[502]
In other matters we may see the discontented attitude of the
workfolk. Thus the journeymen cappers objected to the lengthening
of the hours of their working day, which in 1496 had been fixed to
last from six till six, but which by 1520 was further increased by two
hours in the summer-time, thus lasting from five in the morning to
seven in the evening.[503] Six years later it was enacted that, unless
they kept these hours, it was permitted to any master to "abridge
their wages according to their time of absence." Any rivalry in trade
between masters and men was crushed whenever the masters'
power availed to do so. Thus in 1496 the journeymen cappers
carried on a contraband trade, and scorning to be content with the
permission to "scour and fresh old bonnets" for that purpose, made
new caps for sale; nor did the imposition of a fine of twenty pence
at every default avail to check their activity. Therefore according to
the rules of 1520, members of the craft were forbidden to give any
work to those who knitted the journeymen's caps, or to the spinners
who span for them, thus indirectly checking this illicit competition. In
other ways the journeyman was made to feel the weight of the
master's hand. Among the carpenters none could be set to work
unless he had served for seven years as apprentice to the
handicraft;[504] and a journeyman capper was compelled to certify
the cause of leaving his late master to the satisfaction of the masters
of the craft.[505]
These are some points connected with the life of mediæval
craftsmen. Although so much has been written on the economical,
social, and religious aspects of the subject, we are still very ignorant
as to the actual workings of the craft system. Modern industry
seems to have entirely passed through, and, as it were, forgotten
this immature phase of its existence. The companies in Coventry
which were able to survive the shock of the suppression of the guilds
and chantries under Edward VI., and have lasted to our own day—
the mercers, drapers, cappers, fullers, clothiers, and worsted
weavers—possess none of the powers or organization of their
predecessors, and are mere survivals of a bygone time, "the
shadows of a great name."

FOOTNOTES:
[451] Rogers, Six Cent., 116.
[452] In early times there was a special place in the market
assigned to the sale of cloth. See undated deed Corp. MS. C. 40.
[453] Rot. Parl., iii. 437.
[454] Literæ Cantuarienses (Rolls Series, 85), iii. 81.
[455] See above, p. 202.
[456] Leet Book, 657.
[457] i.e. the Trinity guild.
[458] The elephant, i.e. the city seal, which bears the device of
an elephant and castle.
[459] This system did not by any means insure good
workmanship. It was noted in the middle of the century that
when the make of cloth deteriorated, the clothmaking towns still
set the seal upon the material, "and so abased the credit of their
predecessors to their singuler luker" (Lamond, Common Weal,
77).
[460] Rot. Parl., v. 569. There is a petition concerning the
hindrance of the navigation of the river Severn; Coventry, among
other towns, is spoken of as being injured thereby.
[461] The mercers' and drapers' apprentices were compelled to
pay the admission fines on the sealing of their indentures,
whereas in other fraternities these were not demanded until the
period of apprenticeship was past (Leet Book, 655).
[462] Warw. Antiq. Mag., pt. vi. 110.
[463] Leet Book, 658.
[464] Leet Book, 639.
[465] Rot. Parl., iv. 75. I am indebted for the explanation of the
significance of this petition to parliament against the dyers to Mrs
J.R. Green.
[466] The terms "degree of a mayor—of a bailiff" were used in
assessing fines. In the year 1449 a list of the craftsfolk of the city
enables us to find out to what calling the members of the
corporation belonged (Leet Book, 246 sqq.)
[467] Leet Book. The mayor, recorder, and bailiffs were to take
eight or twelve of the general council of the city, and to summon
before them the wardens of the crafts with their ordinances, and
these "poyntes that byn lawfull, good and honest for the cite be
alowyd hem and all other throw[n]asid [sic], and had for none."
And this order was in substance repeated many times.
[468] Leet Book, 657.
[469] This rule was embodied in the fullers' rules. See Book of
the Fullers (in possession of the fullers' company at Coventry), f.
6.
[470] Leet Book, 698.
[471] Ib., 697-8.
[472] Leet Book, 654. A part of the proceeds of the craft fines
frequently went to the repair of the town wall in the early
fifteenth century. Among the cappers fines for breach of
regulations went "half to the mayor and half to the craft" (ib.,
573.)
[473] Corp. MS. B. 46; B. 63.
[474] The corporation proposed in a petition to parliament that
the twenty-four who elected the mayor should choose two
drapers and two dyers to overlook the craft, and "present" them
for any "fault or confederacy." See above p. 217.
[475] In spite of the provision for overlooking regulations, says an
order of leet for the year 1475, "divers craftsmen of this city now
late have made divers conventicles and ordinances unlawfully
against the common public of this city. And amongst others the
craftsmen of dyers' craft have made an unlawful ordinance, that
is to say that none of them should colour nor dye but under a
certain form amongst themselves ordained upon certain pains ...
ordained by surety of writing and oaths unlawful in that behalf. It
is therefore ordained by this leet ... the said unlawful and hurtful
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