Calais Staple

Established in 1363, the Calais Staple became the centre of England's medieval wool trade, linking royal finance, the power of the Merchants of the Staple and the strategic defence of England’s last continental possession.

After Calais was conquered in 1347 by the English, Calais was the staple from 1363, after that right had been assigned in turns to Bruges and Antwerp in the first half of the 14th century. A group of twenty-six traders was incorporated as the Company of the Staple at Calais. In exchange for its cooperation in the payment of taxes, the company was granted a total monopoly on wool exports from England. The company was important to the English crown, both as a source of revenue, and through its role in the defence of Calais against the French.

In 1376 the Good Parliament decreed that the wool staple should return to the Pale of Calais.^[1]

As domestic cloth production increased, raw wool exports were less important, diminishing the power of the Merchants. In 1558, with the loss of Calais to the French, the staple was transferred to Bruges where the Merchant Staplers continued to enjoy their monopoly on exports.

References

1. Lloyd 1977, p. 225.

Sources

• Lloyd, T. H. (1977). The English Wool Trade in the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-52121-239-7.