Note 185 — Front matter (continued 2)

Any business touching the public weal—such as the payment of a royal debt, granting away of town property and the like—could not be transacted without the official consent of the community. Thus in 1422, when the mayor summoned sixteen of the magnates to weitness the sealing of deds relating to town property, "it was perceived by the mayor and all present that it would be more expedient ... for the mayor to summon these following and many concitizens" (Leet Book, 40).