5 - European trade through Cracow, 1257–1500

Summary

The main basis for Cracow's prosperity was trade. It was upon trade, particularly transit trade and industry that many of Cracow's citizens had to depend for their means of livelihood. The period from the granting of its municipal charter in 1257 to 1500 was to witness probably the greatest era of commercial success in its history, when the city was one of Europe's more significant emporia. Moreover, the years around 1500 may still be regarded as a convenient and satisfactory point at which to draw a line between the Later Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. The sixteenth century awoke to new political and economic situations throughout the European continent and beyond; the growth of the Spanish Empire, discovery of America, new routes to the East, growth in the money supply, eclipse of the Mediterranean ports at the expense of the Atlantic seaboard, decline of the Hanseatic League and, perhaps most important for Cracow, the increasing pressure of the Ottoman Turks now being felt at the eastern extremities of Europe. Thus, in many ways other than the purely geographical, the sixteenth century was to see a slow process of change; adoption of radically new techniques, different business methods and independent solutions in areas experiencing a similar husbandry, all contributed to a wind of economic change blowing through much of the known world. Prior to these events, one still found cities like Cracow tied to the circumstances of medieval commerce.