Commons 1604-1629

Hertford was well established before the Norman Conquest, and returned Members to at least 16 medieval Parliaments. However, the town fell into severe decline as a result of the Black Death, and the franchise was allowed to lapse after 1376. During the early sixteenth century the local economy began to recover, mainly because its markets were increasingly frequented by traders from London buying grain, malt, and other staples.E. de Villiers, ‘Parlty. Bors. Restored by the Commons 1621-41’, EHR, lxvii. 180; VCH Herts. iii.