aries of the decease of her husband the late king and of
Sir John de Eltham his son.(460) The removal of Mortimer corresponded very
closely with the king's coming of age. He was now eighteen years old, and
thenceforth he "ruled as well as reigned."

(M276)

The king's marriage with Philippa of Hainault, which had taken place at
York on the 30th January, 1328, had been popular with the city(461) as
tending to open up trade with Flanders. Hitherto nearly all the wool
produced by this country had been sent to Flanders for manufacture, the
export trade being so large that the king is said to have received more
than L30,000 in a single year from duties levied on this commodity
alone.(462) We have already seen how, in order to punish the Countess of
Flanders for injuries inflicted upon English merchants, the king's
grandfather resorted, in 1270, to the expedient of forbidding all export
of wool to her country.(463) The misery which her half-starved people were
then compelled to suffer soon induced the Countess to come to terms. It
was also in no small measure owing to the fear of a similar stoppage by
the intervention of the French fleet, that the Flemings laid aside their
neutrality in 1339, and openly assisted Edward in his war with France.

(M277)

Towards the close of the last reign the "staples" or market towns for the
sale of certain commodities, but more especially of wool, had been removed
from the continent and established at various places in England, Ireland
and Wales.(464) London was one of those places. No wool was to be exported
abroad until it had remained at one or another of the staples for a period
of forty days. This rule appears however to have been relaxed by Edward
II, in favour of all staple towns but London; merchants being allowed to
remove their goods from other staples after a stay of only fifteen days.
The London merchants, therefore, were under the disadvantage of finding
the market always forestalled. Edward III had not long been on the throne
before they took the opportunity of submitting this hardship not only to
the king, but also to the queen-mother, and prayed that the relaxation of
the rule touching the forty days with respect to other staples might be
withdrawn.(465) Their prayer, however, would seem to have had but little
effect, for within a week of the petition to the king we find that monarch
issuing an order to the collector of customs on wool, leather and
wool-fells in the port of