Editing Shepton Mallet (section)

===Middle Ages===
The Malets retained the estate until the reign of [[King John of England|King John]], when on the death of [[William Malet (Magna Carta)|William Malet]] ([[floruit|fl.]] 1192–1215) and the payment by his sons-in-law of a fine of 2000 [[mark (money)|marks]] for participating in a rebellion against the king) it passed through his daughter Mabel to her husband [[Hugh de Vivonne]]. Some generations later, the part of the estate containing Shepton Mallet was sold to a relative, Sir Thomas Gournay. His son, also Thomas, took part in the murder of [[Edward II of England|Edward II]]. His estates were confiscated by [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] in 1337, but returned some years later. When Mathew de Gournay died childless in 1406, the estate reverted to the Crown and was then granted to Sir John de Tiptoft. It was again confiscated from his son by [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] during the [[Wars of the Roses]], when the family sided with [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]], but restored to Sir John's grandson, Edward Tiptoft, when Edward IV regained the throne. He died without issue, and there followed a succession of grants and reversions until [[Glastonbury Abbey]] was [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|dissolved]] by [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]], and its lands, including Shepton Mallet, were granted to the [[Duchy of Cornwall]] in 1536.<ref name="autogenerated10"/><ref name="farbrother">{{Cite book |last=Farbrother |first=John E. |title=Shepton Mallet: Notes on its History, Ancient, Descriptive and Natural |year=1872 |place=Bridgwater |publisher=Reprinted by Somerset County Library 1977 |isbn=0-9503615-3-4 |pages=7–11|edition=Memorial}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2= Blandford|first2= Alan|last3=Beckerleg|first3= Lewis|title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd Ed) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |pages=23–24r}} (but with some probable errors due to confusing [[William Malet (Norman conquest)|William Mallet (died 1071)]] with [[William Malet (Magna Carta)|William Mallet (fl. 1192–1215)]])</ref>

Charters for markets and fairs were granted in 1235, but revoked in 1260 and 1318 after objections by the Bishop of Wells to the competition it represented to the market in his city. This shows that the town was developing and prospering in the 13th and early 14th centuries.<ref name="gathercole"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Eric |title=Shepton Mallet: An Historical and Postal Survey |year=1958 |publisher=Published by the Author |place=Oakhill, Somerset |pages=26–29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2= Blandford |first2= Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3=Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd ed.) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |page=32}}</ref> The [[Black Death]] struck in 1348, reducing the population to about 300.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2=Blandford |first2=Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3=Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd ed.) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |pages=32–33}}</ref> In the late 14th and early 15th centuries, the population and economy were boosted by craftsmen and merchants arriving from France and the [[Low Countries]], who were escaping wars and religious persecution. They introduced cloth-making, which together with the local [[wool trade]], became a major industry in Shepton and other Somerset and [[Wiltshire]] towns.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Farbrother |first=John E. |title=Shepton Mallet: Notes on its History, Ancient, Descriptive and Natural |year=1872 |place=Bridgwater |publisher=Reprinted by Somerset County Library 1977 |isbn=0-9503615-3-4 |pages=13–14|edition=Memorial }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Fred |last2= Blandford|first2= Alan |last3=Beckerleg |first3= Lewis |title=The Shepton Mallet Story (2nd ed.) |year=1977 |publisher=The Shepton Mallet Society |location=Oakhill, Somerset |isbn=978-0-9500568-1-4 |pages=33–34}}</ref> Wool became such a source of riches that when [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] needed money to fight the Scots in 1496, he called on the wool merchants of Shepton to contribute £10.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ford |first=Eric |title=Shepton Mallet: An Historical and Postal Survey |year=1958 |publisher=Published by the Author |place=Oakhill, Somerset |pages=32–34}}</ref>

{{cquote|To our trusty and wellbeloved John Calycote of Shepton Malet...<br />...because as we here ye be a man of good substaunce—we desire and pray you to makelone vnto us of the som of ten poundes whereof ye shal be vndoubtedly and assuredly repayd in our Receipt at the fest of Seynt Andrewe next coming...
| author = [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]]
| source = Letter under King's [[Royal sign-manual|sign manual]] and [[Privy Seal of England|Privy Seal]], 1 December 1496
}}