case the taxation fell on the
magnates. In the levy _per communam_ the assessment was made through the
wardmoots (in London) and the burden fell on the poorer class. In Henry
II.'s reign London was taxed by both methods, the _barones majores_ by
head, the _barones minores_ through the wardmoot. The pressure of
taxation led in the 13th century to a closer definition of the burghal
constitutions; the commons sought to get an audit of accounts, and (in
London) not only to hear but to treat of municipal affairs. By the end
of the century London had definitely established two councils, that of
the mayor and aldermen, representing the old borough court, and a common
council, representing the voice of the commonalty, as expressed through
the city wards. The choice of councillors in the wards rested probably
with the aldermen and the ward jury summoned by them to make the
presentments. In some cases juries were summoned not to represent
different areas but different classes; thus at Lincoln there were in
1272 juries of the rich, the middling and the poor, chosen presumably by
authority from groups divided by means of the tax roll. Elsewhere the
several groups of traders and artisans made of their gilds all-powerful
agencies for organizing joint action among classes of commons united by
a trade interest, and the history of the towns becomes the history of
the struggle between the gilds which captured control of the council
and the gilds which were excluded therefrom. Many municipal revolutions
took place, and a large number of constitutional experiments were tried
all over the country from the 13th century onward. Schemes which
directed a gradual co-optation, two to choose four, these six to choose
more, and so in widening circles from a centre of officialdom, found
much favour throughout the middle ages. A plan, like the London plan, of
two companies, alderman and council, was widely favoured in the 14th
century, perhaps in imitation of the Houses of Lords and Commons. The
mayor was sometimes styled the "sovereign" and was given many
prerogatives. Great respect was paid to the "ancients," those, namely,
who had already held municipal office. Not till the 15th century were
orderly arrangements for counting "voices" arrived at in a few of the
most highly developed towns, and these were used only in the small
assemblies of the governing body, not in the large electoral assemblies
of the people.

In London in the 13th century ther