ABSTRACT

The constitutional importance of Edward III'.s reign has been thrown rather into obscurity by the dramatic events of the Hundred Years' War and the Black Death. Yet the long and bitter struggle Edward waged for Gascony and the French Crown had its counterpart and sequel in the protracted and spirited contest waged by the Commons against the king for the preservation of such control of the purse as they had gradually and with difficulty won from his predecessors. This struggle centres round the Taxation of Wool. The profits of the export trade in wool, which had hitherto made the fortunes of families like the Poles, were to provide the English King with funds for war. The purchase and the sale of the wool, however, was to be effected by those who were experienced in the business. Parliament fixed the prices below which no wool was to be sold and the penalties for non-observance of the regulation.