As of the 12th century, profound changes took place in Europe, trade in the Middle Ages :the rural and closed economy, characteristic of the feudal period, was gradually transformed into an open and commercial economy.
Then, the industry, the markets and the money regained importance. This commercial revival, which reached its peak in the thirteenth century. It was mainly due to the following causes:
- Increased agricultural production , since it generated a surplus of products that had to be sold outside its area.
- The peace in Europe , which offered security on the roads and in the seas, after several centuries of conflicts.
- Population increase due to the decrease in wars and the improvement of food conditions, which caused the need to satisfy the requirements of more and more people.
- The Crusades, which opened new land and sea trade routes and revitalized trade between East and West.
The population and its needs
The demographic increase
Despite the few sources that we have to calculate the volume of the population in the Middle Ages, it is known, by approximations based fundamentally on the extension of crops, that from the twelfth century there was a great demographic increase in Europe. Historians believe that around the year 1100 the European population was about 48 million inhabitants; towards 1200 it became 61 million inhabitants and in 1300 it exceeded 73 million. This demographic increase, which required greater economic development, at the same time led to a greater availability of labor.
Three basic needs
The commercial and industrial activity of the Middle Ages was destined, mainly, to satisfy the basic needs of the population:food, clothing and housing. The food industry was the one that developed the most, despite the fact that most producers worked in small volumes and that almost all this trade in the Middle Ages was carried out in the short distance between the countryside and the city. However, there were always certain foodstuffs that could only be obtained from further afield, and some areas, such as Flanders and Norway, were forced to import even their essential foods from afar. Among the food products that were most traded were cereals, dairy products, salt and beer.
A new character:the merchant
As trade strengthened in the Middle Ages, a class of professional merchants was formed in Europe. or merchants who, with their profession, relegated agricultural activity to a secondary role. These merchants created their own mentality, very particular.
Most of the merchants were of rural origin :people who had been forced to abandon the countryside due to population growth and lack of land, opting for a wandering and hazardous lifestyle. Among this mass of uprooted and adventurous the first merchants were formed.
The first merchants only traveled short distances to sell their products, as the roads were bad and bandits frequently robbed them. In addition, every time they crossed a fiefdom, the feudal lord forced them to pay a tax or confiscated their merchandise.
These merchants sold their products at retail. Their wares were mainly necessities such as salt, beer, honey, wool, and cereals.
At the end of the 12th century, on the other hand, the merchants became wanderers. They moved with their merchandise from place to place and sold their products at fairs that were held on established dates and places. That's why they were called dusty feet .
The dusty feet they used pack animals - in particular, horses - to transport their goods. Another vehicle widely used by these early merchants was the four-wheeled cart, pulled by horses or oxen.
To compensate for the difficulties, the dangers and the cost of the road, the dusty feet they sold not only basic necessities but also luxury products such as perfumes, spices and dyes that left them with a wide profit margin. They also used the waterways and the sea.
From the fourteenth century the merchants became sedentary because the growing volume of their merchandise made it difficult to move from fair to fair. So, they began to settle in certain cities and began to sell wholesale.
The local business
The first type of trade in the Middle Ages that gained importance in the Middle Ages was local trade, that is, trade that was carried out from the countryside to the city . Through this trade, free peasants and feudal lords sold their surpluses to the city:mainly agricultural products, wood, leather and wool.
Then, with the profits obtained from their sales, they bought more elaborate merchandise in the cities that they did not have in the countryside, such as cloth and tools.
Local trade never disappeared. However, it was long-distance or international trade that characterized the economic revival of the Middle Ages.
The Merchants and the field
A new social class
Since the beginning of the 12th century, overpopulation, famine and wars had plagued a considerable number of individuals, wanderers, deprived of everything, who came to swell the already existing multitude of beggars or pilgrims. So, some dedicated themselves to small businesses (…) They tried a new luck that had nothing in common with traditional activities. Thus, one can assume that these merchants created a mentality of their own, very particular. These people, who made a clean slate of their old ties, launched into the adventure (...) seeking, above all, a quick enrichment. The chroniclers of the time speak of upstarts, of men without faith and without law, without scruples, who by their customs and ways differ from other men.
J.Heers. History of the Middle Ages
From the countryside to the city
Most 12th-century medieval towns were small centers where the inhabitants of the surrounding countryside offered a surplus of their production in exchange for objects made in the city, such as shoes, or for articles that came to it from other regions. . The cities collected the surplus from their own area and passed it on to other regions and, at the same time, received part of the surplus from other regions and distributed it in their territory. To concentrate these buying and selling movements, the cities organized fairs that were held once a week.
International trade and its centers
The revival of trade in the Middle Ages was felt throughout Europe, but there were two major focuses where it was concentrated:Northern Italy and Flanders . Both were highly populated areas that were dedicated to the manufacture of textiles, metal objects and ceramics.
Italy
Italy benefited from international trade, being at the center of an ancient Roman road network and in the middle of the Mediterranean. For this reason, and as a consequence of the crusades, its cities controlled trade with the East. The ports that most benefited from this were Venice, Genoa and Pisa .
Through the Mediterranean, Italy sold its own products and items brought from northern Europe to the East. From the East, Italian merchants brought spices, silks, and perfumes to Europe.
Flanders
Another commercial area that enjoyed a strategic location was Flanders, which faced the North Sea and into which several European rivers, such as the Rhine and the Mosna, flowed.
The region of Flanders belonged to an important commercial league, the Hanseatic league , which German merchants had arranged with the cities of Hamburg, Lübeck. Rostock and Stettin in the lead. This league monopolized exports from northern Europe, from Novgorod in present-day Russia to London.
In this way, the Hanseatic League consolidated an important traffic of wheat, wood and skins which, in Flanders, met in the city of Bruges, which was its main port of storage and redistribution.
Flanders exported the products of these regions to the rest of Europe in exchange for items from central and southern Europe and items from the East. It also exported its own fabrics .
Routes and transport
To trade over long distances, medieval merchants relied on three routes:land routes, river routes, and sea routes. Although the land transport It allowed to reach inland areas without rivers, it was always the most expensive and difficult, because the roads were bad and unsafe and a large amount of taxes had to be paid.
For security, merchants preferred river transport . The most important river networks were those of the Po River, the Rhône, the network of rivers in the Flanders area. the Rhine and the Danube. However, the river environment was also subject to taxes.
The cheapest means of transport was sea , which is why it was preferred despite the risks of shipwreck and piracy, the low capacity of the ships and the slow speed of the journey. Also, a single ship could carry the cargoes of multiple merchants at once.
Commercial organizations in trade in the Middle Ages
The Hanseatic league
In the northern seas, German merchants organized a network of trading houses that bought and sold goods from England to Russia. This commercial network formed a corporation, the Hanseatic League, whose headquarters were in Lübeck. The league came to include 200 cities. The Hanseatic ships carried a wide variety of goods:honey and furs from Russia, fish from Scandinavia, and wool from England, among other products.
The fairs
The commercial activity was imposed throughout Europe in the course of the thirteenth century. Within an environment of economic fullness, fairs, large markets, became very important. located in areas of contact between Mediterranean and Nordic trade, which were attended by merchants from all over Europe.
The fairs were not permanent markets, since they were only held at certain times of the year . Their celebration lasted several days. Puppeteers and minstrels also attended these commercial events, adding a festive character to the celebration.
Of all the fairs that were held in the Middle Ages, the ones that achieved the greatest renown were the Champagne fairs , which settled in the French plain of that name, halfway between Venice and Bruges. The Champagne fairs were therefore meeting places between Flemish and Italian merchants.
Other instruments of trade in the Middle Ages
Parallel to the development of long-distance trade, there was a monetary development through which coinage and monetary circulation increased.
The first coins that gained international value and therefore were valid in several countries, were made at the end of the 12th century in Venice:the silver matapanes. Later, France, Flanders and England also minted international silver coins.
The coinage of gold, on the other hand, was typical of the 13th century. From then on, most European countries adopted monetary bimetallism:the use of silver and gold coins .
To streamline commercial transactions, the first banks were formed and the bankers appeared, who specialized in recognizing the different currencies, their weight and their equivalences.
Over time, bankers became lenders who charged interest on the loans they made, agreed to watch over savings, opened account books and made money transfers for their clients.
Since traveling with large sums of money was both inconvenient and dangerous, most trade began to be done in the form of credit transactions.
Bills of exchange were also used:an agreement between a lender and his debtor in which the borrowed money could be returned some time later in a different place from the loan and in another currency than the one borrowed.
In this way, an Italian merchant who wanted to buy, for example, fabrics in Flanders, could ask for a bill of exchange in that region and buy what is necessary and some time later, pay for it in Italy. Bills of exchange were used not only by merchants but also by other travelers, for the same purpose as modern traveler's checks.
Fairs and banks
The Champagne fairs
Although the fairs were held in all European countries, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries they were all relegated to the Champagne fairs:six fairs held throughout the year, once in the village of Lagny, once in Barcelona. sur-Aube, twice at Provins and three times at Troyes. These fairs stood out above all others because the counts of Champagne protected them by freeing the merchants who came to them from taxes. They also stood out for their geographical location, which made them the main meeting place for merchants. That is why, at that time, the most important goal of any merchant was the Champagne fairs. The fairs declined in the fourteenth century. when merchants became sedentary.
Theappearanceofthebanks
At first, the merchants carried the money with them. Over time, trading operations became difficult due to the diversity of existing currencies and securities. To exchange money and speed up transactions, the first money changers appeared, who placed a bench in front of their store, on which they placed the different currencies. Another important instrument for their activity was the balance:the weight of the coins made it possible to establish the amount of precious metal they contained and, thereby, to set their value. Very soon the moneychangers received the savings of the people and invested them in lucrative enterprises and in loans. This is how banks were born.