LONDON 1327 : A FRAUDULENT BAKER

A Congregation of ... aldermen, and Roger Chauntecler, one of the sheriffs of London, holden at the Guildhall, on Thursday in the week of Pentecost, that is, on the 4th day of June AD 1327 ... John Brid, baker, was attached to make answer as to certain falsehood, malice, and deceit, by him committed, to the nuisance of the common people; as to which, the mayor, aldermen and sheriffs of the City were given to understand that the same John, for falsely and maliciously obtaining his own private advantage, did skilfully and artfully cause a certain hole to be made upon a table of his, called a ‘moldingborde,’ pertaining to his bakehouse, after the manner of a mousetrap, in which mice are caught; there being a certain wicket warily provided for closing and opening such hole.

And when his neighbours and others, who were wont to bake their bread at his oven, came with their dough or material for making bread, the said John used to put such dough or other material upon the said table, called a ‘moldingborde’ as aforesaid, and over the hole before-mentioned for the purpose of making loaves therefrom, for baking; and such dough or material being so placed upon the table aforesaid, the same John had one of his household, ready provided for the same, sitting in secret beneath such table; which servant of his, so seated beneath the hole, and carefully opening it, piecemeal and bit by bit craftily withdrew some of the dough aforesaid, frequently collecting great quantities from such dough, falsely, wickedly, and
maliciously; to the great loss of all his neighbours and persons living near, and of others, who had come to him with such dough to bake, and to the scandal and disgrace of the whole City, and, in especial, of the mayor and bailiffs for the safe-keeping of the assizes of the City assigned. Which hole, so found in his table aforesaid, was made of aforethought; and in like manner, a great quantity of such dough that had been drawn through the said hole, was found beneath the hole, and was ... brought here into Court.

And the same John, here present in court, being asked how he will acquit himself of the fraud, malice, and deceit aforesaid, personally in court says that of such fraud, malice, and deceit, he is in no way guilty; and puts himself upon the country thereon, etc. Therefore, let inquisition as to the truth of the matter be made by the country, etc...

And after counsel and treaty had been held among the mayor and aldermen, as to passing judgment upon the falsehood, malice, and deceit aforesaid; seeing that, although there is no one who prosecutes them, or any one of them, the said deed is, as it were a certain species of theft, and that it is neither consonant with right nor pleasing to God that such falsehood, deceit, and malice shall go unpunished; the more especially as all those who have come to the said bakers, to bake their bread, have been falsely, wickedly, and maliciously deceived, they themselves being wholly ignorant thereof, and have suffered no little loss thereby; it was agreed and ordained, that all those of the bakers aforesaid, beneath whose tables with holes dough had been found, should be put upon the pillory, with a certain quantity of such dough hung from their necks; and that those bakers in whose houses dough was not found beneath the tables aforesaid, should be put upon the pillory, but without dough hung from their necks; and that they should so remain upon the pillory until vespers at St. Paul’s in London should be ended.

Among the keenest in London to bring such a fraudster to justice would have been the guild of bakers. By the late 1320s there were nearly 30 merchant and craft associations in London, all of which existed – their charitable works notwithstanding – to protect themselves by policing their craft, its reputation and the admittance to the craft’s ‘mysteries’. To this end the guilds drew up stringent rules, of which the Spurriers’ Ordinances is a prime example.

(1327 The City of London Letter-Book)

Extracted from "London The Autobiography - 2000 Years of the Capital’s History by Those who Saw it Happen" edited by Jon E. Lewis, Constable & Robinson Ltd, London, 2008.Adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.