Thestaple right, also translatedstacking right orstorage right, both from theDutchstapelrecht, was a medieval right accorded to certain ports, the staple ports. It required merchant barges or ships to unload their goods at the port and to display them for sale for a certain period, often three days.[1] This system, known in German asStapelrecht and in French asdroit d’étape, was common throughout medieval Europe, particularly within theHoly Roman Empire, where it granted cities along major trade routes the privilege to compel passing merchants to offer their goods for local sale.
In 1254 thePortuguese Cortes ofLeiria created staple laws on theDouro River, favoring the new royal city ofVila Nova de Gaia at the expense of the old episcopal city ofPorto.
The English andScottish concept ofthe Staple did not involve Stapel rights, but was instead a system in which local market monopolies were granted to designated towns and registered merchants by the government, in exchange for easier regulation and tighter control overcustoms duties.