? No Petitioner named Writ of Edward II, dated 1 November 1315, to William Martyn,...

Petitioners

? No Petitioner named

Nature of request

Writ of Edward II, dated 1 November 1315, to William Martyn, Justice of South Wales, ordering him to obey previous letters concerning markets held in Old Carmarthen by the Prior of Carmarthen. The burgesses of the borough of Carmarthen have complained that, although Edward I granted that only certain goods could be bought and sold in gross within five leagues of their borough, the Prior has been holding markets in Old Carmarthen. The king ordered Martyn to investigate the Prior's rights to hold such a market, but despite no evidence being presented by the Prior allowing him to hold such a market, Martyn has not executed his order and the market is still being held.

Nature of endorsement

The justice replies that he understood the writs, but had been unable to execute them legitimately since, when asked, the Prior claimed that he, his predecessors and the men of the town had sold goods in Old Carmarthen for time beyond memory, and that they ought to enjoy this freedom.

Places mentioned

South Wales

Carmarthen, [Carmarthenshire, Wales]

Old Carmarthen, [Carmarthenshire, Wales]

Clipstone, [Nottinghamshire].

People mentioned

Edward II, King of England

William Martyn (Martin), Justice of South Wales

Burgesses of Carmarthen

Edward [I], King of England

Robert [de Daviston], Prior of Carmarthen.

For an inquisition held into the rights of the Prior in Old Carmarthen see no.22 of C 145/76

For a petition prompted by the response to this writ see SC 8/119/5908B

For an earlier related writ on this matter see SC 8/119/5909

For a later transcript of the present writ see SC 8/119/5910

• Calendar of Ancient Petitions Relating to Wales, Board of Celtic Studies, History and Law, (University of Wales, 1975), pp.194-6 (full translation of writ and response)
• Calendar of Charter Rolls, vol. III, Edw I and Edw II, 1300-1326, (Public Record Office, 1908), p.216 (confirmation of ordinance in favour of the burgesses of Carmarthen) & p.397 (inspeximus of charters in favour of the Prior)
• Calendar of Close Rolls, Edw II, vol. II, 1313-1318, (Public Record Office, 1893), p.370 (order to the Justice of South Wales to allow the Prior to hold his market in Old Carmarthen)
• Documents Illustrative of English History in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries, selected from the Records of the Department of the Queen's Remembrancer of the Exchequer, Ed. H. Cole, (Record Commission, 1844), p.15 (response to a later petition from the Prior of Carmarthen on this issue)