Charter fair
fair or market in England, established by Royal Charter
A charter fair in England is a street fair or market which was established by Royal Charter. Many charter fairs date back to the Middle Ages, with their heyday occurring during the 13th century. Originally, most charter fairs started as street markets but since the 19th century the trading aspect has been superseded by entertainment; many charter fairs are now the venue for travelling funfairs run by showmen.
Origins
In Roman times, fairs were holidays on which there was an intermission of labour and pleadings. By the 7th century, a regular fair was being held at Saint-Denis under the French Merovingian kings. In later centuries across Europe, on any special Christian religious occasion, particularly the anniversary dedication of a church, tradesmen would bring and sell their wares, even in the churchyards. Such fairs then continued annually, usually on the feast day of the patron saint to whom the church was dedicated. In England, these early fairs were called a wake, or a vigilia, and many formed the basis for later chartered fairs. In an era in which communications and travel were difficult and often dangerous, local markets and fairs were central to commerce and trade.
Rise of the chartered fair in England
In England, fairs began to develop in the early Norman period, reaching their heyday in the 13th century.
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This entry incorporates text from “Charter fair” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.