ABSTRACT
IN 1295 the king had a galley built in London. It took twenty weeks and cost over £400, and apart from some timber supplied by magnates and a couple of general merchants, all the material was provided by men of three city crafts heavily dependent on the German trade, the ironmongers, fishmongers and corders. 1 At the same time, men of all three trades were making their first appearance on the aldermanic council, to sit in unwonted equality among mercers and drapers.
