Editing Berkhamsted (section)

===Medieval market town (12th to 15th centuries)===
The town continued to develop separately on the old Akeman Street  {{convert|0.4|miles|km|1}} to the south of the castle and to the west of St Peter's Church; with a triangle formed by Mill Street, Castle Street and Back Lane pointing towards the castle.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=10}}<ref>{{cite report| last=Maher | first=Shane | url=http://www.pre-construct.com/Publications/report-downloads/HHST12-exc-summary.pdf | title=300 High Street, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire| publisher=Construct Archaeology Ltd | date=January 2014}}</ref> In 1156, [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] officially recognised Berkhamsted as a town in a [[royal charter]], which confirmed the laws and customs enjoyed under [[Edward the Confessor]], William I and Henry I, and freed the town's merchants from all tolls and dues. The charter also stated that no market could be set up within {{convert|7|miles|km|0}} of the town.{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=6}}[[File:Tomb of Henry of Berkhamsted. St. Peter's, Berkhamsted- geograph.org.uk - 780334.jpg|thumb|Tomb of Henry of Berkhamsted (who served under Edward the Black Prince at the battles of [[Battle of Crécy|Crécy]] and [[Battle of Poitiers (1356)|Poitiers]]) and his Lady]]
The town became a trading centre on an important trade route in the 12th and 13th centuries, and received more royal charters. In 1216, [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] relieved the men and merchants of the town from all tolls and taxes everywhere in England, and the English [[Plantagenet]] possessions in France, [[Normandy]], [[Aquitaine#English Aquitaine|Aquitaine]] and [[County of Anjou|Anjou]].{{sfn|Birtchnell|1988}} The growing [[wool trade]] brought prosperity to Berkhamsted from the 12th century until the early [[Tudor period]].{{sfn|Slater|Goose|2008|pp=240–241}}{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=9}} Four wealthy Berkhamsted wool merchants were amongst a group in [[Bruges]] to whom Edward III wrote in 1332,{{sfn|Thompson|Bryant|2005|p=9}}<ref name="HakMill" /> and Berkhamsted merchants sold cloth to the royal court.<ref name="HakMill" />

In 1217, Henry III recognised by royal charter the town's oldest institution, Berkhamsted's pre-existing market.{{sfn|Birtchnell|1988}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/list-index-soc/markets-fairs-gazetteer-to-1516/hertfordshire|title=Hertfordshire|publisher=British History Online|work=Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales To 1516 Hertfordshire|access-date=5 February 2015}}</ref>{{refn|The market had been in existence since at least 1086. It was originally held on a Sunday, but by this charter it was changed to Monday, as the rector of the new St Peter's Church objected to the noise. The market is now held on a Saturday.|group = "Notes"}} Trades within medieval Berkhamsted were extensive: early in the 13th century the town had a merchant, two painters, a goldsmith, a forester, two [[farrier]]s, two tailors, a brewer of [[mead]], a blacksmith, carpenters, [[wood turner]]s, tool makers, a manufacturer of roofing tiles and wine producers.{{sfn|Slater|Goose|2008|p=240}}<ref name=page1908 /> In the mid–13th century, a banker, the wealthy Abraham of Berkhamsted, financier to the Earl of Cornwall, lived in the town; this was unusual for a small town in a [[History of the Jews in England#Persecution and expulsion|time of heightened persecution of Jews]].{{sfn|Hillaby|Hillaby|2013|pp=50-52}}

A 1290 taxation list mentions a brewer, a lead burner, a carpenter, leather workers, a [[Fulling|fuller]], a [[Woodturning|turner]], a butcher, a fishmonger, a barber, an archer, a tailor, a cloth-napper, a [[miller]], a cook, a seller of salt and a huntsman.{{sfn|Slater|Goose|2008|p=240}} At this time, larger houses of merchants and castle officials appeared on the south side of the high street (including [[173, High Street, Berkhamsted|173&nbsp;High Street]], the oldest known extant [[jettied]] building in England). In 1307 Berkhamsted was a [[List of towns and cities in England by historical population#Late Medieval Period|large town by English medieval standards]] with an estimated population of 2,000 to 2,500.{{sfn|Slater|Goose|2008|p=56}} In 1355, there were five butchers, two bakers, nine brewers, two [[Cordwainer|cobblers]], a [[Fur clothing|pelter]], a [[Tanner (occupation)|tanner]], five cloth dyers, six [[wheelwright]]s, three [[Metalsmith|smith]]s, six grain merchants, a [[Skinner (profession)|skinner]] and a baker/butcher.{{sfn|Slater|Goose|2008|p=240}} In the 14th century, Berkhamsted (recorded as "Berchamstede") was considered to be one of the "best" market towns in the country.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.dacorum.gov.uk/docs/default-source/planning-development/berkhamsted-conservationareaconsultationreport.pdf?Status=Master&sfvrsn=0|title=Berkhamsted Conservation Area Character Appraisal & Management Proposals|access-date=24 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063326/http://web.dacorum.gov.uk/docs/default-source/planning-development/berkhamsted-conservationareaconsultationreport.pdf?Status=Master&sfvrsn=0|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> In a survey of 1357, Richard Clay was found to own a butcher's shop {{convert|12|ft|m|0|spell=on}} wide, William Herewood had two shops, and there were four other shops {{convert|8|ft|m|0|spell=on}} in length. In 1440, there is a reference to lime kilns.<ref name=page1908 />

The town benefited when [[Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall]], founded [[Ashridge Priory]] in 1283, {{convert|2|miles|km|0|spell=on}} away and within the castle's park. At the foundation of the abbey, the Earl donated a phial claimed to contain Christ's blood. [[Pilgrim]]s from all over Europe passed through the town to see the holy relic. The abbey grew quite wealthy as a result. [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] held parliament at the abbey in 1290 and spent Christmas there.{{sfn|Page|1905|pp=[https://archive.org/details/victoriahistory01pageuoft/page/n453 386-387]}} Berkhamsted burgesses sent two members to [[Parliament of England|parliament]] in 1320, 1338 and 1341, but the town was not represented again.<ref name="EB1911"/> In the mid-14th century, the [[Edward, the Black Prince|Black Prince]] took advantage of the [[Black Death]] to extend the castle's park by {{convert|65|acre|ha|0}}, eventually producing a park covering {{convert|991|acre}}.<ref name=Rowe2007p>{{Harvnb|Rowe|2007|pp=131–144}}</ref> In the 15th century, the town was reaffirmed as a borough by a royal charter granted by Edward IV (1442–1483), which decreed that no other market town was to be set up within {{convert|11|miles|km|0}}.