2008 is the six hundredth anniversary of the Company’s charter from Henry IV, dated 2 August 1408. To commemorate this, the charter has been taken out of the Muniment Room, cleaned and photographed. The framed photograph will be displayed in the Hall for the next twelve months.

 

The charter consists of a sheet of parchment (sheepskin) measuring 35 inches across and 23 inches in height. The text is in Latin, in 40 lines, commencing “Henricus dei gratia Rex Anglie et Francie et Dominus Hibernie”, the first line decorated with ornamental ascenders on many of the letters. The opening word “Henricus” also has an ornamental capital letter “H” surmounted by a royal crown and the word “Sovereyne”. The Great Seal of Henry IV is attached to the parchment by silk cords. One side shows the king enthroned, and the other the king on horseback. (The same overall design has persisted to the present day, though the present Queen Elizabeth is not shown in armour with sword!) The seal is in green beeswax, denoting a grant in perpetuity.

The Company would have been responsible for the writing and sealing of the charter, once the king had consented to it. As a general rule, the plainer the charter, the more worrying the time. This one is relatively plain. The ascenders and initial “H” are no more than the minimum decoration necessary. In 1408 the Tailors and Linen Armourers (as they then were) would have been foolish to spend any more money. Henry IV might have been removed at any time, just as he had removed and murdered his predecessor, Richard II, in 1399.

The Latin text is complex. Firstly, it confirms the Company’s three earlier charters, from Edward III (1327 and 1341) and Richard II (1390), all of which are recited in full. These had, piecemeal, granted the Company the right to control its trade and membership, to elect a Master and four Wardens annually, and to hold an annual feast on the Baptist’s day. Secondly, it grants new rights: corporate status, for the first time, i.e. the right to have a common seal and to go to law as a company and not as individuals; and, most importantly, the right to hold land “in mortmain” to the value of £100 per year, together with an amnesty for any such property acquired already. In the medieval period holding property in mortmain was a closely guarded privilege. Land which passed into the “dead hand” of institutions deprived the Crown for ever of feudal dues from heirs and children.

The Company already had its Hall, of course, and was beginning to acquire other property too. However the Hall was only held under a licence in mortmain from the late Richard II. There was no harm in having the right to hold property confirmed and augmented by the new dynasty. All of this cost the Company £100 – around £40,000 today – of which we know from the Company accounts that the members contributed £21 13s. What the Master and Clerk though of this level of support is not recorded!