ABSTRACT
GOVERNMENT in the early years of the commune was a matter for practised amateurs of good family. The administrative resources at their disposal were by no means negligible. The corpus of city custom was already massive, Husting and wardmoot were mature tribunals. City clerks and the fiscal chamberlain of Guildhall were functioning before the twenties. 1 At this date, however, there is no trace of the complicated structure and large staffs of later years and there were no clerks, no professional civic administrators on the aldermanic council.
