Commerce and Trade

doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521382960.008

7 - Commerce and Trade

from PART II - ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008

Wendy Childs

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Christopher Allmand

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Christopher Allmand: Affiliation:
University of Liverpool

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Summary

the fifteenth century is generally seen as one of economic contraction until the late 1460s and then of expansion, although within it many short-term fluctuations took place. The commercial structure was flexible under these pressures: the trade network, tightly integrated, allowed specialisation; and the sophisticated level of organisation allowed adaptation to the increased need for cost-effectiveness in the early period, and to increased opportunities at the end of the century.

routes and commodities

Trade took place at local, regional and international levels. Major international sea routes ran through the Baltic to the North Sea, with an offshoot to Iceland. The Hansard Kontors at Novgorod, Bergen, Bruges and London epitomise this great trading area, although the Hansards were not the only ones to sail it. Important routes ran along the Channel and Atlantic coasts, linking Bruges to Iberia. The north was also directly linked to the Mediterranean by regular fleets of Italian, Catalan and Basque vessels, and, later, by ships from England and the Low Countries. Equally important routes ran the length of the Mediterranean and into the Black Sea.

Keywords

English Staple Company European commercial structure political stability international trade land transport mercantile organisation fifteenth-century Europe economic policy

Type: Chapter
Information: The New Cambridge Medieval History , pp. 145 - 160

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521382960.008 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 1998

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