The third bough of avarice is robbery, which hath many small roots. The
first is in evil executors of bequests. The second is in evil lords, be
he knight or other, that fleece the poor men that they should protect,
by tolls, by duties on corn and cattle (_read_ coruees), by loans, by
evil customs, by lines, by threatenings, or by other customs that they
seek or bethink how they may have of theirs. In this sin are the great
princes or barons that by their power take cities, castles, lands,
baronies, and the other rich men that rob their poor neighbours by force
of lands, vines, or other things, and take on the right hand and on the
left, so that nothing can escape them. The third is in robbers and evil
innkeepers, that rob the pilgrims and the merchants and other wayfaring
men. The fourth is in them that will not pay what they must, and that
withhold wrongfully the wages of their servants, or of them that attend
to their needs. The fifth is in these great prelates, that deprive and
rob their underlings by too much procuring, or by some unlawful
exactions, which they make in too many ways. Those are the wolves that
devour the sheep. The sixth is in such reeves, provosts, beadles, or
official men, whatever they may be, as commit great robberies and wrongs
upon the poor, and buy great heritages. There are so many other kinds of
robberies, which it would be a long business to tell, but some are
continued above that that is (here) related.