The 1444 Sunday law of London

Abstract

Abstract On Sunday 3 May 1444, the London Common Council issued a law that prohibited certain professions from selling their goods on Sundays. While there were numerous laws created during the middle ages that prohibited commerce and work on holy days, the 1444 London law is unique in that it was stricter than the canon law of the church. This article analyses the 1444 London law in order to gain a better insight into mid fifteenth-century London and late medieval religion. It suggests that the 1444 law was created as a response to ideas originally found in canon law and confessors’ manuals. These orthodox sources allowed certain activities that were, seemingly, objectionable to some in 1440s London.