The best places were hilly areas where there were
many streams and good pasture for flocks of sheep. He hired
shearers to cut the nap as short as possible to give a smooth
surface, then spinsters to card and spin the wool in their country
cottages, then weavers, and then fullers and dyers to come to
fulling mills established near streams for their waterpower.
Fulling became mechanized as heavy wooden hammers run by water-
power replaced feet trampling the cloth covered with soap or
fuller's clay. The shaft loom was a technological advance in
weaving. This loom was horizontal and its frames, which controlled
the lifting of the warp threads, could each be raised by a foot
treadle. This left both hands free to throw and catch the shuttle
attached to the weft thread from side to side through the warp.
Also many more weaving patterns became possible through the use of
different thread configurations on the frames.
In 1341, the commons forced King Edward III and council to approve
their petition when Parliament was still in session so that they
would draft the legislation in true accordance with the petition.
This had not been done when drafting had been done after
Parliament ended, when the phrase "saving the prerogatives of the
king" was often added. Also the lords and commons consulted each
other and joined in petitions. But they usually stated their
conclusions to the king separately.
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