Ditchburn - Trade with N Europe 1297-1540

Question 1

1297

William Wallace and Andrew Moray write letter to Lubeck & Hamburg

Answer 1

Letter thanked towns for past help & said Scottish ports open again for business.
Limitations of letter:
» Doesn’t say which ports/burghs traded
» Did other towns receive similar letters?
» What goods were being traded?
» Who was trading and how?
» Was it usual for national Gov’t to concern itself with trade

Question 2

p162

By end C13, Dundee and Berwick - at least - were trading with northern Europe

Answer 2

3 Lubeck merchants failed to pay £80 in customs duties at Dundee in 1297.
At Berwick, evidence suggests German base & possibly resident German community. James of Cologne owned property as did others before 1297
Letter to James the Steward concerns Norwegian ship at Berwick

Question 3

Early C14, Dundee & Berwick still active in north European trade & other burghs joined them

But 2nd War of Indy laid waste to several towns & affected their trade.

Answer 3

1312 - St Andrews merchants had goods seized in Norway.

Aberdeen considered friendly base for Germans selling pirated English goods after Germans helped oust English garrison from Aberdeen in 1308.

Berwick badly affected in 1333. German community may have disappeared at this point. By 1334, James of Cologne had lost his property & Christopher of Cologne was imprisoned in Newcastle 1333-1335 for Scottish sympathies

Question 4

More stable conditions in mid-C14 but no evidence of German or Scandinavian traders visiting Scottish ports.

Answer 4

> > May reflect lack of sources
May reflect increase in Scottish share of foreign trade.
1331-1333, foreign merchants paid twice usual customs duties (except in Berwick) and Scottish share foreign trade was 5/6ths. Even higher in following few years (what was higher, dues or trade share?).
Most Scot-German contact probably in Low Countries at this time with smaller burghs eg Cupar, Inverness & St Andrews involved

Question 5

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By 1380s, Germans coming to Scotland again & Scots visiting Baltic

By end C14, all impt east coast burghs had trading links with German merchants

Answer 5

1385 - earl of March writes to Danzig asking for trade to resume with his burgh of Dunbar.
1388 - Prussians at Edinburgh
1393 - Prussians at Linlithgow
1382 - John Dugude of Perth travels to Prussia (in servicio regis)

Question 6

Relative importance of different burghs

Answer 6

No reason to suppose any one burgh specialised in German trade.
Customs accounts prob reflect relative importance, at least for staple goods
By 1390s - Edinburgh’s ports were largest, approx double nearest rival, Linlithgow trading through Blackness
In C15, east coast burghs had virtual monopoly. Smaller burghs became more active; Cupar, Dunfermline, Dysart, Haddingron, Inverkeithing, Lanark, Peebles, Selkirk all trading with Danzig in 1444 probably through Edinburgh
Danish merchants at Stirling in 1488
Later C15 - Orkney & Shetland attracted German merchants
Except Haddington, links of smaller burghs probably small

Question 7

Only firm evidence of extent of trade for each burgh is from 1497 Sound Toll Registers

Other source of info is customs accounts

Answer 7

21 Scots ships recorded passing through Sound: 7 - Dundee, 5- Leith, 4 - Aberdeen, 4 - St Andrews, 1 - unknown

Total trade diminished during C15 but Edinburgh’s share grew. By reign James IV = 2/3rd total
Aberdeen share = c. 1/6th
Dundee, Berwick, Haddington & Perth next
Linlithgow share fell substantially after late C14

Question 8

p164

Similar picture for eary C16

Answer 8

Before 1540, >40% ships through Sound came from Edinburgh or Leith
Dundee - >30%
St Andrews - c. 9%
Dysart - <4%
Aberdeen - 2.6%
Perth, Linlithgow & Haddington - no ships recorded
All smaller burghs recorded were in Fife or Forth Estuary
1st trips between Baltic & burghs of east neuk of Fife or west coast recorded in later C16

Question 9

Sound Toll Registers don’t record trade with Norway or north-western Germany

Answer 9

Northern burghs might have had stronger links with Norway
Orkney & Shetland most frequented by merchants from Bremen & Hamburg rather than Baltic

By C16 Edinburgh, its port of Leith & Dundee dominated Scotland’s trade with northern Europe.

Question 10

Trade destinations 1

Answer 10

Earliest German contacts probably with Rhineland & Westphalia. Several merchants ‘of Cologne’ already recorded at Berwick. Topographicalo evidence from C13 Cologne suggests strong ties with Scotland.
Also other cities.
Schotte family (name from Scottish trade contacts?) prominent in Soest from late C13. Also links with Dortmund, Osnabruck & Munster.
But from 1340s, Rhenish & Westphalian merchants no longer importand in Scottish trade.
Cologne’s British trade increasingly focused on southern England
Scotland’s direct (western Hansa) trade switched to Dutch towns; Kampen, Nijmegen, Stavoren & maybe Deventer

Question 11

p165

Trade destinations 2

Answer 11

NW German towns had more sustained links with Scotland. When began uncertain but Lubeck letter suggests revial existing trade, not start new trade.

During Wars of Independence, merchants from Lubeck, Hamburg, Greifswald, Stralsund & limited extent Bremen all traded - but maybe not from home ports.

Probably supplied Scotland from England and Low Countries

Question 12

Trade destinations 3

Answer 12

Little trace of NW German traders in Scotland in mid C14 but trade probably not entirely absent.
Enough Scots visited (NE German ports) Anklam in 1330 & 1335 and Stralsund in 1370 for activity to be regulated
Mid-C15 - considerble contact with Bremen so that James II grated special privilages to Bremen merchants in 1454. But trade declined, except for Shetland fisheries
Closest ties with Stralsund. Scots also settled there in later C15. Closure of the Sound in 1428 through Danish-Hanseatic dispute caused complaints from Stralsund brewers coz it prevented their access to one of most important markets (Scotland)

Question 13

Trade destinations 4

Answer 13

Links with NW Germany became less impt than eastern Baltic.
After opening of the Sound route in 1380s, Prussians fron Danzig & Konigsberg became interested in Scots trade. By early C15, more impt than western towns.
1412 - embargo on Scots trade by Hansa after Scots pirates attacked Hanseatic ships. Danzig, Stralsund & Hamburg objected to embargo.
Embargo in force till 1436 but Prussian merchants visited Scotland anyway.

Question 14

p166

Trade destinations 5

Answer 14

C15 - Links with Danzig & Konigsberg grew & Scots settled there. Trade greatest with Danzig.
Smaller Baltic towns had minor links; eg Stettin by C15 and Colberg by early C16.
From 1470s, Scots trading in Danzig hinterland & even at Cracow.

Question 15

Scandinavian trade

Answer 15

Traditional link was Norway but in C14 & C15 Hansa increasing dominated Norwegian trade. In early C16, Norwegian trade opened again to non-Germans.
German domination of commercial trade in Denmark less marked than in Norway but still later C15 before Scots trade with Denmark developed with Copenhagen as main centre. By 1539 there were enough Scots there to need own altar. Contacts also with Aalborg, Elsinore & Roskilde
Swedish trade only impot in later C16. Except Skania (southern tip adjacent Denmark). Scots at herring fairs here from C14

Question 16

Prussia = region with strongest links to Scotland

Trading patterns shifted from north sea in earlier part period to eastern Baltic

Answer 16

Why shift?
» Part political - Hanseatic dominance of Norway reduced Scots contacts from mid C14
» Opening of the Sound to shipping in 1380s meant direct contact with eastern Europe was possible
» main reason was changing commodities being traded

Question 17

p 167

Exports

Answer 17

Middle ages - main export = wool, fells (wool-bearing skins) and hides. Also some cloth, fish, skins & salt.
Germans trading with Low Countries dealt with all.
Not same demand in Scandinavia or Baltic for these esp wool as no cloth manufacturing to speak of.

Data survive for Baltic for Danzig only for late C15 and early C16. > half was ‘small packs’ ie mixed staple goods. Cloth c. 17%. Scottish cloth poor quality but market among Baltic poor. Salt c. 27% competed with western France esp when Anglo-Hanseatic disputes in C15 meant Hansa ships enroute to France for salt oft attacked by English pirates.

Question 18

More variable exports to western Hanseatic ports

Import-export

Answer 18

Stockfish from Shetland to Bremen & Hamburgh
Coal from Dysart to Denmark, 1507

Some imports to Scotland then re-exported eg wine & alum from Leith to Copenhagen & Elsinore in 1479. Large quantities of cloth, probably originally from England, shipped to Danzig by Scottish merchants, 1444.

Question 19

p 168

Imports

Answer 19

Germans brought victuals & arms from England & Low Countries
Cologne cloth in 1330s and 40s. Rhenish wine.

From 1380s, most Scottish-German trade took place in eastern Baltic. Grain from Prussia & Poland = one of earliest & most important. Teutonic Order’s Scottish factors dealt in wheat, rye, malt & flour. Honey & ale also but these less import.
Raw materials, flax & linen = most impt. Flax bcm mainstay of Prussian trade. Also wood (Eastland boards) used for eg building, masts, barrel staves. Also wood by products of tar, pitch & ash.

Iron = main mineral import though not major item.

Question 20

p 169

Answer 20

Trade with northern Germany less impt than Low Countries & Eastern Baltic but similar commodities

Scots demand for Norwegian timber for ship building saw rise in trade in later C15

Swedish produce eg copper, iron, agricultural produce came to Scotland bia Danzig

Question 21

Limitations for records

Lack of sources means hard to know who traded from Scottish burghs with northern Europe & how.

All but impossible to check merchants known to be active with burgh records

Assume merchants taking citizenship in Baltic towns = men of substance. Parliamentary statute 1467 decreed only the ‘famous & worshipfull’ could trade abroad

Answer 21

Data for Scottish imports & exports survive for Danzig alone of Baltic ports so general conclusions difficult.

Broad conclusions:
No demand for Scottish wool in Baltic & other exports small
Value of Scottish goods in later C15 averaged only 3% Danzig’s total imports.
Exports to Scotland much higher. 12% of Danzig total exports betw 1490-1492.

Bullion used to pay for imports & efforts to prevent this increased in later C15.

Scotland’s stake in overall Baltic trade probably minimal & trade heavily in deficit.

Question 22

p 170

‘lesser’ men limited from visiting Baltic by Aberdeen, 1502. Complaints from all over Germany about itinerant Scottish pedlars but may have come to mean pedlars of any nationality.

No equivlent of peddlars among German traders visiting Scotland but merchant elite probably traded little with Scotland

Answer 22

How trade conducted?

Lack of evidence. In Hanseatic cities, partnerships were common to spread risk & increase capital. not clear if medieval Scots did same as they often sent cargo to Baltic from single owner though usually clubbed together (with other Scots and/or Germans) to charter a ship

Scots often used foreign ships. 1428 act permitted this but already happening re German trade. Germans trading in Scotland also used Scottish ships.

Question 23

p 171

Sailing

Answer 23

Scots skippers liked to hug coast but not always possible.
Usual to sail open seas in convoy for safety
Difficult to know how long trips took but Scotland to Danzig return twice in one season was possible
Some merchants sailed with goods and sold at destination. From later middle ages though buying/selling usually done through factors.

Question 24

Currency

Answer 24

Scots & German traders used various currency eg Scots, prussian, Rhenish, Wendish & English.
Hanseatic traders used credit from C13, evidenced by existence of debts eg 1417, list of 41 Scots in debt of Teutonic Order.
Debt could be money loans or goods not paid for

Question 25

p 172

Threats to trade

Answer 25

Formal & informal hostiities eg duing Hanseatic disput with Denmark, early C16, several Scottish ships arrested by Lubeck.
Piracy - Alexander Stewart, earl of Mar = notable pirate working out of Aberdeen early C15. Scots ports welcome pirates & illicit cargo. Bremen & Cologne also had pirates.
Weather - Hanseatic league prohibited winter sailings coz of weather probs.

Question 26

Other probs

Answer 26

Failure to repay debts, use of debased coinage caused Aberdeen’s trade decline with Danzig in 1480s & 90s
Many Scots came before Danzig course on various charges incl murder.

Greatest threat was Scots’ success and this increased their threat to established interests & made Hanseatic cities more likely to restrict their trade

Question 27

Role of burghs

Burghs aimed to keep trade stable & that wrongs of one merchant didn’t affect others or burgh

Burghs sometimes acted in unison, esp re foreign diplomacy eruge over piracyg Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dundee & Perth acted together in 1348 in dispute with Bruges over piracy

Answer 27

Burghs had +ve role in settling disputes & interceding for traders abroad (if burgesses) but also regulated trade.
p 173
Trade disputes eg debts or ownership of goods, were jurisdiction of local courts. Occasionally, burghs recorded details of transactions
Burghs could also intervene for merchants abroad. Esp impt in Baltic as, unlike in Low Countries, there was no resident Scottish Conservator to oversee & protect Scots communities there.
Trade regulation - burghs regulated weights & measures, ensure imports sold fairly & openly, and protected burghs’ & burgesses’ privileges. Restrictions on foreign merchants also possible (eg Aberdeen’s efforts in 1500 to limit plague from ships arriving)

Question 28

p 174

1445 - pressure from Edinbrugh, Linlithgow, Perth, Cupar & Dundee over Bremen piracy resulted in peace terms.

Answer 28

Burghs also co-operated on legisation eg Act of 1467 over written contacts between merchans & skippers followed law enforced in Edinburgh since 1438

Question 29

Role of the crown

Trade disputes could escalate to national courts eg Admiral’s Court or Lords of Council.

p 175

Crown gradually developed interest in commercial diplomacy eg Lubeck letter, attempt to lift Hanseatic embargo.

By C15, crown interceding for individual merchants eg recommending them to Danzig or complaining about attacks on Scots ships. Foreign powers increasingly apealled to crown to settle trade disputes - they thought justice more likely from crown than burgh

Answer 29

Crown traditionally controlled customs duties & granting privileges & protection to foreign merchants

Later middle ages - customs duties increased & new ones levied, sometimes at higher rates for foreign traders. Aim was to increase royal revenue rather than stimulate trade.
Grants to Hanseatic merchants were small cf those in England or Scandinavia but volumne of trade in Scotland wasn’t worth a dispute. Overall effect was to benefit Scots merchants.

Crown interventions paralleled increasing involvement in European politic affairs in C15.

Question 30

Crown regulation of trade

Answer 30

James I - legislation aimed to restrict foreign traders selling goods without also buying (1424), regulate Scots merchants going abroad (1425) & prohibitions on drain of bullion

Trade destinations, quantities, types ebbed & flowed. Burghs & the crown bot more involved.

One constant - Scotland’s trade balance with northern Europe remained in deficit.