The Staple

The Staple was a key institution in medieval England that designated towns for the overseas export of key commodities like wool, allowing the Crown to monitor and regulate overseas trade and collect customs duties efficiently. It was part of a general Stapel system used in medieval trade.

At the designated towns, often referred to as staple towns or "Ports of the Staple", accredited merchants were required to submit their goods to inspection and were obliged to pay a levy such as the wool subsidy, to the Crown on goods for export to the continent of Europe. These merchants were later to become organised as Merchants of the Staple.

The English system remained in place for nearly two centuries, though it would decline in importance as exports of finished cloth were substituted for exports of raw wool. With the fall of Calais to the French, in 1558, the staple moved again to Bruges. From 1617, wool exports were stopped entirely, and only domestic staples would remain in England.