An Elizabethan Guild of the City of Exeter: An Account of the Proceeding of the Society of Merchant Adventurers, During the Latter Half of the 16th Century (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from An Elizabethan Guild of the City of Exeter: An Account of the Proceeding of the Society of Merchant Adventurers, During the Latter Half of the 16th CenturyThe published histories of Exeter contain but one short paragraph relating to the most important of the Old City Guilds: it runs thus: - "1556 the Merchant Adventurers of this City trading to France and beyond the seas were incorporated by the Queen's Charter." The Queen here referred to is, of course, Mary, but it is doubtful if this Charter conveyed any substantial privilege or had any effect in stimulating commercial adventure.The real foundation of the Guild dates undoubtedly from the original Charter granted by Queen Elizabeth, in which there is no reference whatever to a previous Charter. Certain services rendered to the Royal cause, in troublous times, is the only consideration expressed in the deed, for the privileges granted.The absence of any allusion to this Guild by local historians is easily accounted for. John Hoker, the historian of the time, was a member of the Society, and was bound by his oath not to reveal its affairs, and when Isacke, his successor, wrote, the Society had been dissolved and left no trace, beyond a few scattered references to be found amongst the Municipal Archives.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.