Shipowning in England c. 1450—15501

G. V. Scammell

doi:10.2307/3678864

Shipowning in England c. 1450—15501

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 February 2009

G. V. Scammell

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It is a singular paradox that one of the world's leading maritime powers should have virtually ignored the history of its merchant service. Yet such has been the case in England— inevitably, perhaps, in view of the spectacular course of naval and imperial achievement—and this notwithstanding the labours of a host of publicists to demonstrate the importance of the country's shipping as ‘a principal means to advance [its] honour, strength, safety and profit].

Type: Research Article
Information: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , Volume 12 , December 1962 , pp. 105 - 122

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3678864 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Royal Historical Society 1962

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References

^{page 105 note 2} Waters, D. W., The Art of Navigation in England in Elizabethan and Early Stuart Times (London, 1958), p. 496.Google Scholar

^{page 106 note 1} Scammell, G. V., ‘English Merchant Shipping at the End of the Middle Ages’, Economic History Review, 2nd Series, 13 (1961), pp. 327–41. These and other problems will be more fully discussed in my forthcoming book on English Maritime History.Google Scholar

^{page 106 note 2} See below, p. 107, n. 1; Cams-Wilson, E. M., Medieval Merchant Venturers (London, 1954), pp. 64–73, 95– 97;Google ScholarMarcus, G. J., A Naval History of England (London, 1961), i, pp. 10, 25, 27 –28.Google Scholar

^{page 106 note 3} [Calendar of] L[etters and] P[apers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII], viii, no. 48 (p. 16).

^{page 106 note 4} H[igh] C[ourt of] A[dmiralty], 13/4, fos. 218^r, 279^V, and cf. L.P., xix (i), no. 140 (5).

^{page 107 note 1} Williamson, J. A., The Ocean in English History (Oxford, 1941), p. 35,Google Scholar and Hawkins of Plymouth (London, 1949), pp. 27–33, 142–45, 150–56. Nor should too great a significance be attached to heavy English buying of foreign tonnage. In a trade boom, or a season propitious for piracy, it was obviously better to buy a vessel which could be put into immediate service rather than to await the efforts of a builder. And foreigners, it should be noted, were willing to purchase English ships.Google Scholar

^{page 107 note 2} Johns, A. W., ‘The Principal Officers of the Navy’, Mariner's Mirror, 14 (1928), pp. 32–54, especially p. 37.Google Scholar

^{page 107 note 3} Bronnen [tot de Geschiedenis van den Handel met Engeland, Schotland en Ierland, 1150–1485], ed. H. J. Smit, ii, nos. 1786, 1808, 1853.

^{page 107 note 4} E[arlyRsqb; C[hancery] P[roceedings], 207/1.

^{page 107 note 5} Calendar of Letters, Despatches and State Papers relating to the Negotiations between England and Spain …, 1509 – 25, p. 144.

^{page 107 note 6} L.P., x, no. 538; xx (i), no. 1296. For the building and repair of English ships at Bordeaux, see J., Bernard, ‘Les constructions navales à Bordeaux d7apos;après les archives notariales du XVI^e siècle’, Le navire et l'économie maritime du XV^eau XVIII^esiècle, ed. M., Mollat (Paris, 1957), pp. 41,45–46.Google Scholar

^{page 108 note 1} H.C.A., 1/34, fos. 149^r, 295^r–296^v.

^{page 108 note 2} Williamson, , Hawkins of Plymouth, pp. 104, 115, 135.Google Scholar

^{page 108 note 3} C[alendar of] P[atent] R[olls], 1452–61, p. 348.

^{page 108 note 4} Cf. J., Heers, ‘Types de navires et spécialisation des trafics en Médi terranée a la fin du Moyen–Age’, Le navire [etl' èconomic maritime du Mqyen- Age au XVIII^e siècle, principalement en Méditerranee], ed.M.Mollat (Paris, 1958), pp. 107–17, and especially p. 108.Google Scholar

^{page 109 note 1} After, it would seem, a sharp initial drop. See also below, p. 112, and cf. J., Tadic, ‘Le port de Raguse [et sa flotte au XVI^e siècle]’, Le navire…, pp. 9–20, and especially p. 13.Google Scholar

^{page 109 note 2} Cooper, E. R., ‘The Dunwich Iceland Ships’, Mariner's Mirror, 25 (1939), p. 170.Google Scholar

^{page 109 note 3} Letters and Papers relating to the War with France, 1512–13, ed. A.Spont (Navy Rec. Soc,10, 1897), p. 9; L.P., xix (i), no. 416; E.C.P., 1175/52.

^{page 109 note 4} Tadic, , ‘Le port de Raguse ’, pp. 16–17.Google Scholar

^{page 109 note 5} This, it might be assumed, was the case in an age dominated by small and comparatively inexpensive craft. In England, where marine insurance was undeveloped, insurance charges must rarely have been borne. Incidental opportunities of profit—piracy, privateering, naval service—were abundant. Nor should it be overlooked that from roughly 1500 to 1550 there was a boom in English overseas trade. But Dr Davis has argued that in the late seventeenth century capital earnings in shipping were unimpressive; see Davis, R., ‘Earnings of Capital in the English Shipping Industry, 1670–1730’, Journal of Economic History, 17 (1957), pp. 409–25. TRANS. 5TH S. VOL. 12 HGoogle Scholar

^{page 110 note 1} See below, p. 115. If we accept as relevant the evidence of seventeenthcentury conditions, there was the added attraction of limited liability. I owe this suggestion to Professor Fisher., F. J.Google Scholar

^{page 110 note 2} See below, p. 120.

^{page 110 note 3} H.C.A., 1/34, fos. 8^V, 183^r.

^{page 110 note 4} C.P.R., 1452–61, p. 650; ibid., 146y–77, pp. 57, 128–29; Kingsford, C. L., Prejudice and Promise in Fifteenth–Century England (Oxford, 1925), pp. 94–97,102, and Appendix, p. 188. And then, of course, there were Warwick's hauls.Google Scholar

^{page 111 note 1} L.P., xix (ii), no. 560.

^{page 111 note 2} L.P., xvi, no. 73; H.C.A., 1/34, fo. 195^v Cf. Stanford, M. J. G., ‘The Raleghs take to the Sea’, Mariner's Mirror, 48 (1962), pp. 22–23.Google Scholar

^{page 111 note 3} Some figures for larger craft have been added for the sake of comparison. All relate, as far as is known, to rigged ships. In using this Table allowance must be made for the fall in the value of money after c. 1510.

^{page 111 note 4} 11,000 tons (round figures) of craft of 50 ton and over.

^{page 111 note 5} 3,300 tons of craft of 50 ton and over. Sources for these, and the figures in the preceding note, are in Scammell, ‘English Merchant Shipping’, pp. 332, 338, and notes.

^{page 112 note 1} Carus-Wilson, , Medieval Venturers, p. 89.Google Scholar

^{page 112 note 2} Calculated from Manners and Household Expenses of England in the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Centuries …, ed. B. Botfield (Roxburghe Club, 1841), pp. 197 ff. For another carvel, see below, p. 115.

^{page 112 note 3} Spont, , Letters and Papers, pp. 7, n. 1, 61, n. 2, 77, n. 3, 78, 80–82; L.P., ii (ii), p. 1459; L.P.iv (i), n0. 1714.Google Scholar

^{page 112 note 4} H.C.A., 13/3, fos. io7^v, 99^r, H.C.A., 13/4, fos. 97^v–99^r, 109^r. With the ship there went 30 weys of bay salt.

^{page 112 note 5} H.C.A., 13/4, fos. 161^r–52^r.

^{page 112 note 6} First appears 1545 (L.P., xx (i), no. 321). Valued in 1559 (Wills and Inventories illustrative of the History… of the Northern Counties… ed. J. Raine (Surtees Soc, 1835), p. 167)

^{page 112 note 7} Appears 1543 (L.P., xviii (i), nos. 59, 596), and probably 1540 (E. 122/64/15, fo. 2V). Valued 1559 (Wills and Inventories…, pp. 167–68). This and the preceding valuation may well be too high.

^{page 112 note 8} For , Warwick, see Warrants for the Great Seal, C. 81/1378/16; E.122/ 114/3, m. 1; C[alendar of] C[lose] R[olls], 1454–61, p. 475.Google Scholar For Canynges, see Carus-Wilson, , op. cit., p. 89.Google Scholar

^{page 113 note 1} Wills and Inventories, loc. cit.

^{page 113 note 2} Tonnage figures from L.P., Addenda, no. 1430; Scammell, G. V., ‘War at Sea under the Early Tudors’ (II), Archaeologia Aeliana, 4th Series, 39 (1961), p. 204;Google ScholarG., Connell-Smith, Forerunners of Drake (London, 1954), pp. 183–84;Google Scholar L.P., xxi (i), no. 498, all converted at the rate suggested in the text. Cf. also Carus-Wilson, , op. cit., p. 86.Google Scholar

^{page 113 note 3} Nef, J. U., The Rise of the British Coal Industry (London, 1932), i, pp. 377–78;Google ScholarSylvia, L. Thrupp, The Merchant Class of Medieval London (Chicago, 1948), p. 128; Victoria County History, Wiltshire, 4, p. 146.Google Scholar

^{page 113 note 4} See above, p. 107, below, pp. 118–19, and cf O-Lienau, , ‘Danziger Schiffahrt und Schiffbau in der zweiten Halfte des 15. Jahrhunderts’, Zeitschrift des Westpreussischen Geschichtsvereins, 70 (1930), p. 79.Google Scholar

^{page 113 note 5} L.P., xiv (ii), no. 231.

^{page 114 note 1} Thrupp, , op. cit., p. 243.Google Scholar For the Howards, see Manners and Household Expenses, pp. 179 ff.; The Household Books of John, Duke of Norfolk, and Thomas, Earl of Surrey, ed. J. P. Collier (Roxburghe Club, 1844), passim; Scammell, G. V., ‘War at Sea under the Early Tudors’ (I), Archaeologia Aeliana, 4th Series, 38 (1960), p. 80, and below, pp. 119, 120–21.Google Scholar

^{page 114 note 2} H.C.A., 1/34, fos. 5^r–8v.

^{page 114 note 3} Cf. below, p. 117.

^{page 114 note 4} State Papers, 1/3, fo. 87^r.

^{page 114 note 5} Cf. , Tadic, ‘Le port de Raguse’, pp. 13–14;Google ScholarM., Mollat, Le commerce maritime normand à la fin du Moyen–Age (Paris, 1952), pp. 345, 408–09.Google Scholar

^{page 114 note 6} H.C.A., 13/2, fos. 11^r–18^v.

^{page 115 note 1} Bridbury, A. R., England and the Salt Trade in the Later Middle Ages (Oxford, 1955), p. 129.Google Scholar

^{page 115 note 2} Extracts from the Records of the Merchant Adventurers of Newcastleupon– Tyne, ed. J. R. Boyle and F. W. Dendy (Surtees Soc, 1895–1899), i, PP. 41–42.Cf Kerling, N. J. M., Commercial Relations of Holland and Zeeland with England from the Late Thirteenth Century to the Close of the Middle Ages (Leiden, 1954), p. 183.Google Scholar

^{page 115 note 3} E.C.P., 2//84.

^{page 115 note 4} E.C.P., 32/289.

^{page 116 note 1} State Papers, 1/3, fo. 87^r.

^{page 116 note 2} H.C.A., 13/4, fos. 274^v–275^r.

^{page 116 note 3} Scammell, , ‘War at Sea’ (II), pp. 204–05.Google Scholar

^{page 116 note 4} Records of the Merchant Adventurers of Newcastle, i, p. 42; E.C.P., 877/74.

^{page 117 note 1} Scammell, , ‘War at Sea’ (2), pp. 185, 204–05;Google ScholarCarus-Wilson, , Medieval Venturers, p. 89. Bristol total calculated from Exchequer, K.R., Particulars of Customs.Google Scholar

^{page 117 note 2} Cf. Marcus, , A Naval History…, 1, p. 12.Google Scholar

^{page 117 note 3} L.P., xxi (i), no. 147 (p. 65).

^{page 117 note 4} Many were, of course, masters.

^{page 117 note 5} L.P., xv, no. 322.

^{page 117 note 6} Cf Thrupp, , Merchant Class, p. 12.xGoogle Scholar

^{page 118 note 1} Johns, , ‘The Principal Officers’, pp. 35–36; Wills and Inventories, ed. Raine, pp. 166–68.Google Scholar

^{page 118 note 2} Scammell, , ‘War at Sea’ (2), p. 183; and see above, p. 115.Google Scholar

^{page 118 note 3} Christensen, A. E., Dutch Trade to the Baltic about 1600 (Copenhagen, 1941), pp. 40–41, 47–48.Google Scholar

^{page 118 note 4} C.C.R., 1447–54, p. 73.

^{page 118 note 5} C.P.R., 1452–61, pp. 61, 166; C.C.R., 1461–68, pp. 287, 405; C.C.R., 1468–76, no. 892; L.P., i (i), no. 1262; and cf. C.C.R., 1447–54, pp. 41, 138, andCarus-Wilson, , op. cit., pp. 10–11, 128.Google Scholar

^{page 118 note 6} Bridbury, , Salt Trade, p. 129.Google Scholar

^{page 118 note 7} Smit, , Bronnen, 2, no. 1810.Google Scholar

^{page 118 note 8} Connell-Smith, , Forerunners of Drake, p. 97. Harrison was resident in Seville.Google Scholar

^{page 119 note 1} Smit, , Bronnen, 2, no. 1993.Google Scholar

^{page 119 note 2} E.C.P., 27/440. See also above, pp. 112, n. 8; 114, n. 1.1 am grateful to Mr. Richmond, C. F. for some references to aristocratic shipowners.Google Scholar

^{page 119 note 3} Scammell, G. V., Hugh du Puiset (Cambridge, 1956), p. 106;Google ScholarBrooks, F. W., The English Naval Forces 1199–1272 (London, n.d.), p. 135.Google Scholar

^{page 120 note 1} Sir James, Ramsay, Lancaster and York (Oxford, 1892), 2, pp. 222 ff.Google Scholar

^{page 120 note 2} Kingsford, , Prejudice and Promise, pp. 94–95; C.P.R., 1467–77, p. 409.Google Scholar

^{page 120 note 3} Pollard, A. F., England under Protector Somerset (London, 1900), p. 188; Victoria County History, Dorset, 2, pp. 199–200.Google Scholar

^{page 120 note 4} C.P.R., 1452–61, p. 348; C.P.R., 1476–85, p. 366; Cora, L. Scofield, The Life and Reign of Edward IV(London, 1923), 2, pp. 417–20;Google ScholarCooper, , ‘The Dunwich Iceland Ships’, p. 172;Google ScholarThrupp, , Merchant Class, pp. 243–44.Google Scholar

^{page 121 note 1} Acts of Court of the Mercers' Company, 1453–1527 ed. Laetitia, Lyell and Watney, F. D. (Cambridge, 1936), pp. 63–65, 87; Household Books of John, Duke of Norfolk, p. 112.Google Scholar

^{page 121 note 2} Waters, , Art of Navigation, p. 463.Google Scholar

^{page 121 note 3} Scofield, , Edward IV, 1, p. 258; 2, pp. 303–04, 315. See also above, p. 114, n. 1.Google Scholar

^{page 122 note 1} Johns, ,‘The Principal Officers’; Mariner's Mirror, xlvii (1961), pp. 142–44Google Scholar; Braudel, F. and Romano, R., Navires et marchandises à l'entrée du port de Livourne, 1547-1611 (Paris, 1951), p. 25Google Scholar; Waters, Art of Navigation, pp. 83–85; Williamson, Hawkins of Plymouth; Wallace, W. M., Sir Walter Raleigh (Oxford, 1959), p. 7CrossRef Google Scholar; M. J. G. Stanford, ‘The Raleghs take to the Sea’, pp. 18–35. For a Mary Raley in 1503, see E.122/41/25, m. 4.

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Shipowning in England c. 1450—15501

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