Stapleton, Bristol

The name is from the Old English word "stapol" meaning post and "ton" meaning settlement. The antiquary John Weever, quoting the 16th-century Tuscan merchant Lodovico Guicciardini, defined a staple town "to be a place, to which by the prince's authority and privilege wool, hides of beasts, wine, corn or grain, and other exotic or foreign merchandize are transferred, carried or conveyed to be sold". In European historiography, the term "staple" refers to the entire medieval system of trade and its taxation. Under this system, the government or the ruler required that all overseas trade in certain goods be transacted at specific designated market "staple towns" or ports, referred to as the…