William
and Mary, begging protection for the local wool-trade, and that
competition from unhappy Ireland might be discouraged. The great hall of
the New Inn was used as an exchange, and here were held yearly three
great cloth-fairs, where merchants from London and from all parts
gathered, and stalls and shops in the inn were let to 'foreigners.' The
Tuckers' Hall, built of ruddy stone, still stands in Fore Street, and
the hall has a fine cradle roof with plaster panels.

The most powerful of all the companies was incorporated later than many
of the guilds, for the Merchant Adventurers received their charter from
Queen Elizabeth. Their power and wealth was very considerable; they
cast their lines in all directions, and they secured a monopoly of
trading with France. This company supplied with money, and had a stake
in, some of Sir Humphrey Gilbert's and Captain Davis's enterprises, and
Sir Francis Drake himself invited the 'gentilmen merchauntes' and others
of the city to 'adventure with him in a voiage supportinge some speciall
service ... for the defence of 'religion, Quene and countrye.'' About
Charles I's reign the importance of the company gradually declined, and
the society was eventually dissolved.

During the Civil War, Exeter was twice besieged, but on neither occasion
so rigorously as in 1549. When the war broke out, the Earl of Bedford
appointed the Mayor, the Sheriff, and five Aldermen, Commissioners for
the Parliament. The defences were put in order and arms collected, and
amongst other expenses is recorded 'L300 for 17 packs of wool taken from
Mr Robin's Cellars for the Barricadoes.' Nevertheless, zeal for the
Parliament must have been but lukewarm, for when Prince Maurice's troops
surrounded the city, it was surrendered at the end of fourteen days, and
after the besieged had suffered no further inconvenience than 'the being
kept from taking the air without their own walls.' The next year Queen
Henrietta Maria came to a city which was considered a safer refuge than
Oxford, and here Princess Henrietta was born, and was baptized in the
Cathedral with great pomp, 'a new font having been erected for the
purpose, surmounted by a rich canopy of state.' Charles II always showed
the warmest affection for his sister, famed, as Duchess of Orleans, for
her beauty and charm, and a portrait of the Princess given by the King
to the city hangs in the Guildhall. It is a full-length portrait, and
she is represented standin