Source:
Humbert de Romans, a member of the Dominican Order and a professor of
theology;
wrote c. 1250
Though markets and fairs are terms often used
indiscriminately, there is a difference between them, for fairs deal with
larger things and only once in the year, or at least rarely in
the same place, and to them come men from afar. But markets are for lesser things, the daily
necessaries of life; they are held weekly and only people from near at hand
come. Hence markets are
usually morally worse than fairs… Frequently you will hear men swearing …the lord is defrauded of
market dues, which is perfidy and disloyalty... quarrels happen and violent disputes..., but in the
market-place, since each man is a devil to himself, only one other demon
suffices.
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