Key
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Keys were often manufactured to appear more complex than they mechanically were. A symbol of effective security and privileged access, they could underscore the bonds of trust shared by men of the same social class. One colleague of Hamlyn, a merchant, made multiple copies of a key for his strongbox that held "writing, scripts, and leases" and distributed them to his peers on the City Councils of Exeter and the nearby town of Lyme Regis for safe keeping.
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