The Worshipful Company of Cordwainers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Cordwainers were workers in fine leather; the Company gets its name from "cordwain", the white leather produced from goatskin in Cordova, Spain. All fine leather makers, including Glovers and Girdlers, were originally classified as Cordwainers; however, the term eventually came to include only fine leather footwear.
The Cordwainers, who received the right to regulate the trade in 1272, received a Royal Charter of incorporation in 1439. The status of the company as a trade association has lessened over the years; the Company is now, as are most other Livery Companies, a charitable body.
The Company ranks twenty-seventh in the order of precedence of Livery Companies and is the highest ranked one without its own guildhall. The Company's motto is Corio et Arte, Latin for Leather and Art.
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