The internal politics of Bedford 1660 — 1688,

Summary

“Now there is in this gallant Country of Universe, a fair and delicate TOWN, a Corporation, called Mansoul : a TOWN for its Buildings so curious, for its Situation so commodious, for its Privileges so advantagious;. .”

If Bedford provided the basis of Bunyan's allegory in the ‘Holy War’, the antiquity of the town's privileges may have suggested the extent of the betrayal involved in the surrender of Mansoul. Antedating legal memory, Bedford's borough status rested on prescription and its first charter — that of Henry II — confirmed franchises enjoyed under Henry I.

The borough's constitution was as complex as its privileges were ancient.3 In the earlier 17th century the corporation proper — consisting of the mayor, aidermen, bailiffs, chamberlains and burgesses, with thirteen representatives of the freemen — emerged in clear distinction from the Court Leet. At the same time, the freemen resisted a growing tendency towards oligarchy. The period from 1647 to the Restoration particularly saw marked fluctuations in the relationship of the freemen to the common council, which, from acting as an executive of the Leet, had come itself to direct the affairs of the borough. The freedom — and the burgessdom — took effect through membership of the gild merchant, established originally by award of Richard I and still, in the 17th century, conferring on its members a monopoly of trade in the borough, though membership of the gild did not demand residence there. While their participation was limited, neighbouring gentlemen and those non-residents who wished to share in the commercial privileges of the borough were eligible for entry into the gild and would be liable to bear part of the expenses of the corporation, as, for example, the cost of a new charter.

Three divisions of the corporation had gradually assumed the powers of the Court Leet: the Common Hall, the Common Council and the Court of Aidermen. The first of these, comprising all the resident members of the Corporation except the mayor, aidermen and burgesses, met twice yearly, once to elect the mayor and other officers and again to elect the Representative, the Council of the Commonalty, which from 1650 onwards assumed the burgesses’ share of nominations for the mayoralty.