The merchants of London wanted to be exempt from toll at the market of St. Edmund's; however, many of them paid it reluctantly, being given no option. In consequence, there was great uproar and outcry among the citizens of London in their husting. Having discussed the matter among themselves, they informed Abbot Samson that they ought to be exempt throughout England, on the authority of the charter they had received from King Henry II. To which the abbot replied that he was quite prepared, if necessary, to bring in the king to warrant that he had never drawn up a charter for them that was to the prejudice of our church nor to the detriment of the franchises of St. Edmund's, to which the saintly Edward [the Confessor] had, prior to the conquest of England, granted and confirmed toll and theam and all regalian rights. And [he said] that King Henry had given the Londoners exemption from toll throughout the lands over which he had dominion – where he was able to give this; he could not give it in the town of St. Edmund, since it was not his [to give].

When this was reported to the Londoners, they communally decided to decree that none of them should frequent the market of St. Edmund's. For two years they stayed away, to the consequent great loss of our market and significant reduction to the offerings made to the sacristy. Finally, through the mediation of the Bishop of London and many others, an agreement was reached between them and us to the effect that they should come to the market and some of them should pay toll, but it would straight away be returned to them, so that through this pretence the franchises of both parties would be upheld.

But after a time, once the abbot had reached an agreement with his knights and had almost settled down in peace, see what again happened: "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" For the Londoners, in unison, threatened to raze to the ground the stone houses that the abbot had built that year, or else to take a hundred times as much from the men of St. Edmund's by way of withernam, unless the abbot promptly redressed the wrong done them by the reeves of the town of St. Edmund, who had taken 15d. from the carts of the citizens of London when they passed through our town carrying herring from Yarmouth. The citizens of London declared that they had been exempt from paying toll in all markets throughout England, wherever and whenever, since the time of Rome's foundation. And that the city of London had been founded at the same time and ought to have this franchise throughout England on the grounds that it was a privileged city that had once been a metropolis, and on the grounds of its antiquity.

The abbot, however, asked that the dispute be put on hold for long enough for the king to return to England, so that he could consult him on the matter. After receiving advice from legal experts, he restored the 15d. to the claimants [on the understanding that] this not prejudice the question of which party was in the right.