Urban Economy and Trade in Medieval Europe
The Work, the Urban Economy, and Trade
Unions: Mechanisms of Economic and Social Control
Although crafts are not specifically urban, their organization into guilds is. The guild is a “quasi-public group of economic law, which subjects its members to collective discipline in the exercise of their profession.” Unions are characterized by their charter, which sets a number of obligations, prohibitions, and encouragements concerning people, techniques, and products. Each guild has a peculiar organization in each locality. Before 1300, one can distinguish between sworn guilds and regulated unions. We can consider the union as an instrument of economic and social control. It is subjected to a double hierarchy: an internal hierarchy among the workers (teachers, officers, trainees), and an external hierarchy among the guilds. This institutional role is added to a social function: the guild, in terms of a mutual aid association, is an important part of socialization. Consequently, it is defended by the artisans, and the high bourgeoisie used it as an instrument of social control. The main function of the guild is economical and is intended to control production.
The Diversity of Urban Activities
Traditionally, the textile industry has been considered the main industry of medieval towns. The large drapery is characterized by the division of tasks. The first consists in preparing the thread, an operation often entrusted to women. Weaving is a complex task that requires expertise and expensive equipment. The final operations are dressing, hard labor performed by an unskilled and low-paid workforce, a real urban proletariat. It takes almost a month to make a piece of cloth. In the thirteenth century, this division of work is consistent with financial concentration. The trades of hides and skins have large numbers of workers and respond to the same principles of the division of labor. The work of metals is an important economic activity, requires highly skilled labor, and is a major benefit when it is targeted for export and luxury markets. The trades dedicated to food cover some basic needs in civic life. Construction is the most important “industry” in the Middle Ages. It is dominated by employees seeking to hire in the construction of buildings, a very demanding job in the cities, especially in the thirteenth century. First, because of urban growth and constant renewal of housing, it occupies a critical mass of workers in large public works and churches: the construction of the cathedral is a powerful stimulus to the urban economy.
Trade Routes, Urban Networks, and Political Spaces
The Origin: Centuries X-XII
The development of international trade is based on two complementary factors: some local and regional markets are opened to foreign trade from the tenth century. The Po appears to be one of the vital axes of Western trade; the customs of London toll refers to Norman and Frankish merchants coming to buy wool. The two great centers of international trade are the Mediterranean and North Seas. The Italian maritime cities appear as pioneers. There is no real specialization of marketed products, but among the leading exports are woolen fabrics, weapons, and slaves, and among the imports are spices, silk, and dyes. Scandinavians are not simply fearsome warriors engaged in looting, but also a few skilled traffickers, supplanting the Frisian merchants, and set up a domain based on the sale of food, wood, metal, and leather. In the second half of the twelfth century, an association of merchants from Lübeck, Westphalia, and Saxony was sworn in on the island of Gotland. Installed in Visby, they frequent Novgorod and the Russian cities. These two communities signed a trade agreement in 1189 with Prince Iaroslav, which provides business privileges corresponding to the Russians and “Westerners.” In 1269, German merchants became privileged intermediaries with the Russians and dominated commercial traffic in the eastern territories. These two trade foci use maritime routes in preference. The circulation of goods within the continent increased, especially by river. Fairs are developed. Between 1150 and 1300, the most famous were those of Champagne, where Flemish and Italians, French and Germans, agreed on the occasion of the six shows that were happening throughout the year in four cities. They spread their banking practices, the Sienese and Florentines. But there were other fairs, famous or at the inter-regional level: those of England for the sale of wool, etc.
The Rise: Century XIII
The rise of big business in the thirteenth century demonstrates the vitality of the urban economy. In medieval towns, the artisan is also selling their products, the dealer is the lender, and the merchant banker is. Production, sales, and credit are linked. The history of commerce has been devoted to the study of exchange networks of some prestigious and well-documented products. Now, the importance of trade at close range is stressed. If we want to outline the geography of international trade in the thirteenth century, two major areas stand out clearly.
The Mediterranean area is dominated by the major Italian cities that control trade with the Orient. Spices and luxury goods are imported from there, and metal products and textiles are exported. The sale of slaves, and especially the maritime trade of cereals, relates exporting regions with large consumer cities. The resurgence of the gold coin is one of the greatest economic innovations of the thirteenth century, which established the triumph of Italian merchant cities. In 1284, Venice issued the ducat, soon to dominate international markets. Coinage was not enough to cover the volume of commercial transactions.
The Nordic area in the thirteenth century revolves around the city of Bruges. It is the great square of English wool merchants. It is dominated by foreign merchants, England, by the Rhenish cities, and representatives of major Italian companies. Bruges is the base of the great Hanseatic trade, controlled by the Germans.
The fairs of Champagne are strategically placed as a turntable for international trade, although there are other north-south routes. The fair consists of three main stages: the ‘sample’, which sets out the goods, the sale, which lasts no more than ten days, and payments, longer and more complex operations in which change activities and credit intervene. In the mid-thirteenth century, this role becomes more important than financial trading activities; the fairs of Champagne become a market where the course of European currencies is set and provides the income statement and balance sheets of trading companies. The success of the fairs of Champagne owes more to political factors than geographical location. Their rise began when the Counts of Champagne put them under their protection. Urban economic strength could not supplant the power of the sovereign. By themselves, cities cannot be political entities. There are economic ties, but they are associations of merchants.
Joining in the Monarchical System
Joining the monarchical system is as secure for cities in the thirteenth century as political stability and economic prosperity. The case of France is exemplary in this regard. The promotion of urban economic activity is a constant concern since Louis VII Capet. This case shows that the market supports and confirms the charters of the communes. So does Philip Augustus, and the city requires political loyalty and military service. The King makes his “good towns” into points of support for monarchical power.