Medieval city trade in the Middle Ages. At the beginning of the Middle Ages, a new trading order was established in Europe. Merchants and bankers, having accumulated great wealth, influenced the policy of the kings. Trade in Europe before the Crusades

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From custom work, artisans are moving to direct trade in the markets, which were one of the main advantages of developing cities. There is a deepening of craft specializations and a wider range of products, thanks to the emergence of new and more modern craft techniques.

Of great importance were the types of craftsmen such as masons, plasterers, carpenters. Metallurgy and weaving craft are also developing, the population of Europe begins to wear not only linen and furs, but also clothes made of wool.

In the Middle Ages, watches were made, in the early period it was a mechanical clock, and later it was already a large tower and pocket clock. The structure of artisans was represented by workshops, which were divided by different economic orientations.

A feature of the structure of the shops was the regulation of production, which was controlled by the shop authorities, taking into account the total market in the city or in the country. Thus, the number of products produced was calculated. There was an apprenticeship system at the guild organization, the training period could be from 2 to 14 years.

The guild production was quite highly developed, many requirements ensured the stability of the work of artisans and the excellent quality of the goods. But such strict regulation and conditions led to the fact that the shops began to stand apart and stop developing.

There was no introduction of new technological means, which led to the impossibility of production progress. Therefore, by the end of the Middle Ages, a more common form of production was becoming a manufactory, which ensured high labor productivity and a freer approach to hired workers.

Foreign trade advantage

With the development of handicrafts, the system of medieval trade was also transformed. Merchants began to play the main role in foreign and domestic trade, selling goods not only in their own country, but also traveling outside it. Due to the fact that they were well educated and spoke many languages, the merchants developed foreign trade.

The North, Baltic and Mediterranean seas were the centers of world trade. The Hanseatic cities, of which there were about 80 (among them Hamburg, Cologne, Bremen), were considered a significant participant in the foreign trade process. However, after the 15th century, the Hansa loses its influence and power, and is replaced by a company of English merchants.

While foreign trade was assiduously developing, domestic trade significantly retarded its progress. Constant robberies, the lack of a decent road system, numerous customs fees, the absence of a single monetary unit were the main disadvantages of the trade of that era. And this, sometimes one-sided system of trade, slowed down the development of society as a whole.

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medieval trade

Trade transactions were characteristic of medieval society in all ages of its existence. Even in the period of early feudalism, with the complete dominance of natural economy, trade did not completely disappear, although it did not have a regular character. Its role increased with the advent of commodity-money relations, caused by the emergence and development of medieval cities; trading activity becomes an integral feature of feudal society.

Oriental goods (spices) were divided into two groups. The “coarse spices” included various fabrics (silk, velvet, etc.), alum, rare metals, i.e., those items that were measured and weighed by elbows, quintals, or by the piece. Actually "spices" were measured in ounces and grosses; these were mainly spices (cloves; pepper, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg), dyes (indigo, brazil), fragrant resins, medicinal herbs.

Development of trade

The role of oriental goods in the life of the Western European peoples was extremely great.

Local trade, i.e., the commodity exchange of handicraft and agricultural products, arose on a serious scale in the developed Middle Ages, as a result of the development of cities, and especially after the spread of monetary rent. The dominance of the monetary form of rent led to the massive involvement of the countryside in commodity-money relations and the creation of a local market. At first it was very narrow: a relatively small part of the peasant production appeared on it, and the purchasing power of a small town was very limited; moreover, the guild monopoly and the trade policy of the towns forced the peasant to trade only in the given market, only in the neighboring town.

However, the scale of this process should not be exaggerated. Firstly, it is typical only for certain regions of the continent, where the specificity of geographical and historical factors created especially favorable conditions for the early commodity specialization of the economy; secondly, the connections of such markets remained unstable and dependent on various, primarily political, circumstances. Thus, the Hundred Years' War interrupted the emerging Bordeaux wine trade in England and the English wool trade in the Netherlands; the entry of Champagne into the French kingdom hindered the flow of Flanders and English goods to the famous champagne fairs and was one of the reasons for their decline. The formation of stable regional, regional markets is a phenomenon inherent mainly in late feudalism; in the era of the developed Middle Ages, we meet only individual manifestations of it.

It should be noted that trade in the Middle Ages was far from reaching the development it was capable of. There was almost no local trade, that is, that which takes place within the boundaries of a city or county. At present, the manufacturer rarely offers his products directly to the consumer; between the producer and the consumer there is one or more intermediaries. In the Middle Ages, however, there was an ideal in the theory of a just price - a theory based both on theological principles and on everyday experience. By virtue of this theory, each thing must be sold for a certain amount, which, firstly, would cover the costs of the producer, and secondly, would provide him with a fair remuneration for his work. Each craftsman had to have a shop and traded in small things. In the same way, producers who lived on the outskirts or in the vicinity of the city could bring their goods into the city only on the condition that they be directly offered to consumers in the market; if on the way they met a merchant who offered to buy the entire cargo from them in order to sell it in parts later, then they had to reject this deal, and the one who offered it was persecuted. Having repurchased the goods, he could sell it at any price, and this would violate the theory of fair price. Edicts directed towards the destruction of this illicit trade were very numerous, especially in England; disobedient were awarded to the pillory. So that the goods were not bought up by dealers, city officials had to monitor; they also monitored the quality of what they brought, and if a fraud was revealed, they immediately punished them by destroying the goods. Nevertheless, after the transformation of large centers, when urban life completely lost its rural character, it was necessary to come to terms with certain types of intermediary trade: bazaars were only once or twice a week, and the population had to feed in between. Then shops began to open, in which merchants daily sold products collected or dressed by others. in Paris in the thirteenth century. there were so-called resellers of fruits, herbs, butter, eggs, cheese and living creatures. In Flanders in the first half of the 13th century. almost all wholesale trade in the communes was carried out through sworn brokers. Their activities were almost everywhere regulated to the smallest detail. As a rule, the number of these intermediaries was limited, they were responsible for the transactions they concluded, their services were obligatory, the payment they received was precisely determined, and the city deducted a certain percentage from it in its favor; they were especially strictly forbidden to be both merchants and brokers. But these few exceptions do not disprove the rule: local trade was extremely small in the Middle Ages.

However, trade was and originally the safest place for trade was the church. The fact is that in the premises of the church there was “God's world”: it was impossible to rob and kill here, this was considered the gravest sin. But a person who turned out to be on his own, without anyone's protection, was outlawed, and he could be robbed or even killed with impunity. A particularly seductive and defenseless prey was the merchant, who came with goods from distant places and was protected only in the church. Then the trade was moved to the square in front of the church, because the sphere of "God's world" now covered this square as well. But traded only at certain times. At this time, a flag was raised over the square and the square became part of the church. This is how the first fairs and markets were born. There were countless markets in the Middle Ages: the lords organized markets on their lands and attracted merchants here, as they sometimes charged quite a high fee for selling and setting up shops.

It should be noted that individual countries of Western Europe had their own characteristics of the development of internal trade. Therefore, it is necessary to separately consider a number of countries in Western Europe.

So, the island position of England and feudalism, which was established already in the 11th century. as a result of the conquest of England by the Normans and Franks, gave rise to weak feudal fragmentation, and, consequently, the acceleration of economic development (development of industry, trade, agriculture). Economic development, as well as the growth of the urban population, increased the demand for agricultural products - raw materials and foodstuffs - and required a revival of exchange between city and countryside. The result of accelerated economic development was that the peasants were closely connected with the market. Being the main commodity producers in agriculture, they already in the XII-XIII centuries. were converted to cash. As a result, in the XIV-XV centuries.

Historical geography

in England, commodity-money relations developed and the process of gradual formation of a single internal market was underway, and the main reason for accelerating this process was weak feudal fragmentation, which led to changes in the state economy.

Italy was a country of economic and political fragmentation, although it was in the XIV-XV centuries. one of the most developed countries in Europe. In some regions of the country (in Florence, Siena, Assisi, Vercelli, Parma, and others), as a result of the economic upsurge associated with the development of cities, the political power of the feudal lords was broken. The city-states took advantage of their increased political rights to carry out the liberation of the peasants from serfdom on the territory subject to them. And one of the main reasons for the liberation of the peasants by the cities was the need for agricultural products. After the abolition of serfdom, products could be sent to the city without any interference from the feudal lords. But these economically developed city-states were competitors among themselves, and fiercely competed in the foreign market. They fought a merciless war with each other on land and at sea, which further increased the fragmentation of Italy. Therefore, a single national market on the scale of the whole country did not arise here.

A similar situation has developed in Germany. The German lands were a number of economically and politically separate entities. Separate cities and regions were poorly interconnected, there was almost no exchange between the east and west of the country. The successes of sheep breeding and the production of woolen fabrics in the north had little effect on other areas of the country, and the industry of the southern German cities was more connected with the markets of Italy and Spain, with the Mediterranean trade. The domestic market for agricultural products did not take shape, which hampered the growth of the marketability of the peasant economy; not the peasants, but the feudal lords themselves were involved in trade and commodity production (since the surplus of agricultural products was exported, and the feudal lords had more opportunities to sell products abroad than peasants). Thus, fragmentation led to the fact that a single German market did not exist. And it turned out that the growth of world relations was not preceded by internal economic unification.

France developed quite differently. There was a process of unification, the isolation of previously isolated regions was overcome. The cities located along the Seine, the Loire, the Marne, the Oise and the Somme were in constant trade relations with each other. The main items of sale and purchase in markets and fairs at the beginning of the XIV century. there were no longer items of transit trade, but products of local production. Just as in England, money rent was introduced, and, consequently, the peasants became more and more connected with the local market, selling agricultural products and buying urban handicrafts. So, at the beginning of the XIV century. gradually formed a single internal market of France.

Thus, the appearance of a surplus product led to the development of exchange, which took place in specially designated places (in the beginning - the territory of the church, and then bazaars and fairs) and with the help of intermediaries (feudal lords, merchants and, with the development of complex trading operations, sworn brokers). Local trade was created under the influence of cities, the development of which led to the fact that urban residents gradually ceased to engage in agriculture for food, so a connection between the city and the countryside was necessary. A necessary condition for the creation of an internal single market of the country was centralized power. In those countries where the strengthening of centralized power did not occur, the internal (national) market did not develop either.

3. Main directions and ways of foreign trade

Beginning in the early Middle Ages, trade was carried on by professional merchants; often, but not always, they were Jews. As in Roman times, they sailed the Mediterranean, ascending and descending the major rivers of Europe. Where there were no waterways, they moved by land (which was more risky and expensive), leading caravans of pack animals - horses or mules. In addition, there were adventurers or robbers everywhere, who, “straying” into gangs, robbed everything they could, but as soon as they got to a well-protected place, they took on the appearance of peaceful merchants. During the early medieval period, cities did not play a significant role in trade, but there were still several ports through which it was carried out. Roman cities that continued to exist outside the Mediterranean, for the most part survived not as trading centers, but as the residences of bishops or local administration. Compared to the East at that time, Western Europe was an isolated and underdeveloped region.

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Features of medieval trade

Medieval trade had a number of specific features. The leading role in it belonged to foreign, transit trade; The natural nature of the economy, which in principle existed in any feudal society, explains the fact that the bulk of consumer goods were produced in the economy itself, only what was not (or was not enough) in the given area was purchased on the market. It could be wine, salt, cloth, bread (in lean years), but most often these were Levantine oriental goods.

Oriental goods (spices) were divided into two groups. The “coarse spices” included various fabrics (silk, velvet, etc.), alum, rare metals, i.e., those items that were measured and weighed by elbows, quintals, or by the piece. Actually "spices" were measured in ounces and grosses; these were mainly spices (cloves; pepper, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg), dyes (indigo, brazil), fragrant resins, medicinal herbs. The role of oriental goods in the life of the Western European peoples was extremely great.

Entire branches of the European economy (wool weaving, for example) depended on overseas dyes and alum, the meat food of the most diverse segments of the population required a large amount of hot spices, and finally, a number of drugs of oriental origin (various herbs, crushed rhinoceros horn, even sugar) were rare and, as it seemed then, the only cures. But, despite the need of the European market for these goods, the scale of trade in them, as will be shown below, was insignificant.

External, transit trade passed through the entire Middle Ages, changing only its scale, direction, and character. The fate of local, domestic trade was different.

Medieval tavern. Photo: Tim Knight

local trade,

Craft and trade in medieval Europe

e. the commodity exchange of handicraft and agricultural products, on a serious scale, arose in the developed Middle Ages, as a result of the development of cities, and especially after the spread of monetary rent. The dominance of the monetary form of rent led to the massive involvement of the countryside in commodity-money relations and the creation of a local market. At first it was very narrow: a relatively small part of the peasant production appeared on it, and the purchasing power of a small town was very limited; moreover, the guild monopoly and the trade policy of the towns forced the peasant to trade only in the given market, only in the neighboring town.

The market links of most medieval towns were small. So, in South-West Germany, urban districts as a whole did not exceed 130-150 square meters. km, in East Germany - 350-500 sq. km. On average, on the continent, towns were located 20-30 km from each other, in England, Flanders, the Netherlands, Italy - even closer. Famous English lawyer of the XIII century. Bracton believed that the normal distance between market places should not exceed 10 km.

Obviously, in practice there was an unwritten rule according to which a peasant could get to the nearest market in a few hours (on bulls!) In order to have time to return back the same day; this situation was considered normal. The most diverse agricultural products of the district and handicrafts necessary for the mass buyer acted as goods on such a market. Naturally, the nature of these market relations was unstable and entirely dependent on the yield of the current year.

With the development of production, economic specialization of different areas for individual products (bread, wine, salt, metals) arises and the nature of local trade changes. It becomes more regular, less dependent on various external factors, and its scale increases. Trade relations of market centers are also expanding: larger markets are emerging, in which products are concentrated not only from the nearest district, but also from more distant places, which are then transported to other regions and countries. Such centers, for example, are Ypres, Ghent and Bruges in Flanders, Bordeaux in Aquitaine, Yarmouth and London in England.

However, the scale of this process should not be exaggerated.

Firstly, it is typical only for certain regions of the continent, where the specificity of geographical and historical factors created especially favorable conditions for the early commodity specialization of the economy; secondly, the connections of such markets remained unstable and dependent on various, primarily political, circumstances. Thus, the Hundred Years' War interrupted the emerging Bordeaux wine trade in England and the English wool trade in the Netherlands; the entry of Champagne into the French kingdom hindered the flow of Flanders and English goods to the famous champagne fairs and was one of the reasons for their decline. The formation of stable regional, regional markets is a phenomenon inherent mainly in late feudalism; in the era of the developed Middle Ages, we meet only individual manifestations of it.

The specifics of the trade of the early and developed Middle Ages consisted in the existence in Europe of two main trading areas, which were distinguished by significant originality - the southern, Mediterranean, and the northern, continental.

The growth of cities in Western Europe contributed in the XI-XV centuries. significant development of domestic and foreign trade. There was both a local market, where the exchange with the rural district was carried out, and a market developed between neighboring regions. A significant role was played by long-distance, transit trade.

The main inter-regional trade was around two trade crossroads.

1. The Mediterranean is a link between Spain, South and Central France - among themselves, as well as with Byzantium, the Black Sea and the countries of the East. During the Crusades, Genoa, Venice, Marseille, Barcelona played a special role. The main objects of trade are luxury items, spices, wine, and some grain exported from the East. From west to east, cloth, fabrics, silver, weapons and slaves.

2. Baltic and North Seas. Northwest Rus' (Narva, Novgorod, Pskov, Polotsk), Poland and East Baltic-Riga, Revel (Tallinn), Danzig, North Germany, Scandinavian countries, Flanders, Brabant and North Netherlands, North France and England. Goods - fish, salt, furs, wool, cloth, linen, wax, etc.

Fairs played an important role - there was a wholesale trade in goods of high demand - fabrics, leather, fur, metals, grain. So in the county of France, Champagne, fairs lasted all year round, and merchants from many European countries met there.

However, the scale of trade was limited by low labor productivity, the dominance of subsistence farming in the village, and, of course, the lawlessness of the masters (completely insolent). Money in the Middle Ages was minted not only by sovereigns, but also by prominent lords and bishops, as well as large cities. A special profession of money changers appeared - they exchanged one coin for another, transferred sums of money. The emergence of credit transactions. Creation of special Bank offices. The first such offices appear in the cities of Northern Italy - in Lombardy. The word Lombard has become synonymous with bankers and usurers. The largest credit and usury operations were carried out by the Roman curia.

During the early Middle Ages, the exchange of products was insignificant and was based primarily on the geographical division of labor. Trade was predominantly mined in a few points, but important goods (iron, tin, copper, salt, etc.), as well as luxury goods brought from the East (silk fabrics, jewelry, expensive weapons, etc.). The main role in this trade was played by itinerant, most often foreign merchants. Commodity production in Western Europe was almost not developed. The old Roman cities fell into decay, agrarianization of the economy was observed.

Of course, the early Middle Ages was not a cityless period either. The late slave-owning policy in Byzantium and Western Roman cities (Milan, Florence, Bologna, Naples, Paris, Lyon, Cologne, Mainz, Vienna, London, Chester and others) were preserved. But they played the role of administrative centers, fortified points or residences of bishops. In Europe, urban settlements remained, but the socio-economic situation of their few inhabitants was almost no different from that of the rural population. Trade and craft were designed for the townspeople themselves and did not have a noticeable impact on the surrounding villages.

Thus, on a European scale, the urban system, as a special socio-economic system, did not take shape in the early Middle Ages. However, acting as centers of political, administrative, military-strategic and ecclesiastical organization, cities gradually concentrate commodity production in their hands, become centers of rent redistribution and centers of culture. The basis for the subsequent development of cities was the deepening of the social division of labor, and more specifically, the prerequisites for the development of cities were as follows.

First, by the X-XI centuries. important changes took place in the economic life of Europe. The growth of productive forces proceeded most rapidly in handicrafts, which was expressed in the development of technology, the accumulation of production skills, and the emergence of new types of handicrafts. Handicraft activity required more and more specialization, which became incompatible with peasant labor. In addition, the "narrow specialist" - the artisan no longer found work on the estate and needed a market to sell his products. Such an artisan left the village and settled where there was a concentration of the population, where it was possible to find buyers and customers for handicrafts, where there were the most favorable conditions for independent work. At the same time, the sphere of exchange also developed: fairs spread, means and means of communication developed, and money circulation expanded. The separation of handicraft from agriculture and the transformation of handicraft into an independent branch of production, the concentration of handicraft and trade in special centers became inevitable.

Secondly, there was progress in the development of agriculture. The sowing of grain and industrial crops expanded, gardening, horticulture, viticulture, as well as wine-making, butter-making, and mill business developed. The number and breed of livestock grew. The increase in agricultural productivity made it possible to exchange part of its products for handicrafts.

Thirdly, the royal authorities and the church saw cities as their strongholds and additional sources of cash receipts, and therefore contributed to their development. The growing needs of the ruling strata for luxury goods, weapons, and special living conditions also contributed to an increase in the number of professional artisans. The growth of taxes and rents stimulated the market ties of the peasants, who sometimes had to bring to the market not only the surplus, but also part of the necessary product. On the other hand, the strengthening of feudal oppression forced the peasants to flee to the cities. It was enough for a peasant to live in the city for one year and one day to become free (“The air of the city makes a person free”).

Fourth, in the XI - XIII centuries. Western European feudal lords and the Catholic Church organized eight Crusades to the Middle East. The crusaders did not conquer large territories in the East, but trade relations between Europe and the countries of the East expanded, which contributed to the further urbanization of European society.

Thus, as a result of the separation of craft from agriculture, the development of exchange, the flight of peasants and artisans from feudal lords, cities grew rapidly in Western Europe. They became the organizational basis for the economy of nearby territories (previously, this role was played by estates). The city drew the countryside into commodity-money relations and destroyed the isolation of subsistence farming. Gradually, cities turned into centers of industrial production, where the process of division of labor, the expansion of the sectoral structure of crafts, and urban planning were actively going on. Cities, thus, became the driving force behind the development of the economy, centers of crafts and trade, which inevitably reflected on the social structure and political organization of the urban population.

The population of cities was not numerous, on average from 10 to 35 thousand inhabitants. Only in the largest cities (Paris, Venice, Florence, etc.) there were over 100 thousand people. The city center included the market square, the city's cathedral and the town hall. Cities were surrounded by stone or wooden walls and ditches. The streets were unpaved, unlit, crooked and narrow.

The social composition of the townspeople was very diverse: artisans, merchants, homeowners, merchants, usurers, priests, feudal lords with warriors, officials, servants, doctors, lawyers, artists, artists, innkeepers, cabbies, barbers, etc. Cities attracted rural residents, attracted representatives of various segments of the population. Migration to the cities became the most important factor in the development of society.

Cities were built on lands that usually belonged to feudal lords, and therefore depended on them and paid taxes. Over time, the townspeople began to be weary of this dependence and led the struggle for liberation from the jurisdiction of the feudal lords. In the XI - XIII centuries. in many cities of Western Europe, a communal movement for liberation from the oppression of the feudal lords, for self-government, unfolded. As a result, city-communes (Marseille, Bruges, Ghent, Ypres, etc.), free cities (Hamburg, Bremen, Lübeck), imperial cities (Nuremberg, Augsburg, etc.), city-republics (Venice, Genoa, Florence, Ravenna , Bologna, etc.) were able to free themselves from feudal duties and gained independence to a greater or lesser extent. They could create city self-government bodies, form their own financial and tax system, regulate foreign trade relations, create judicial bodies and even go to war, make peace, and establish diplomatic relations. In addition, communal movements contributed to the formation of city law, which protected the interests of the merchants, artisans, gave certain guarantees for economic activity and local self-government, and ensured a higher social status for citizens compared to peasants. All this contributed to the formation of a society of personally free people.

True, it should be borne in mind that there was a noticeable social stratification among the townspeople, and the real power was in the hands of a privileged elite (houseowners, usurers, wholesale merchants), which was a closed group - the hereditary urban aristocracy (patriciate). The city council, burgomaster, judges of the city were chosen only from their midst. City administration, court, taxes, finances, construction were in the hands of the city elite. That is why, with the development of crafts and the guild system in the cities, a struggle began between artisans, small merchants, hired workers, the poor and the patricians, which often acquired a very acute character.

The economic functions of the city gradually expanded, and their role as industrial centers came to the fore. In the cities, the division of labor was actively developing, expressed in the growth in the number of crafts, the differentiation of crafts, and the expansion of its sectoral structure. At the beginning of the XIV century. in the largest cities, there were up to 300 types of crafts.

The organizational form of the urban craft was the workshop (association of artisans of one or related professions). The first workshops appeared in Italy in the 9th-10th centuries, and the flourishing of the guild system fell on the 13th-15th centuries. The emergence of workshops was due to the common interests of artisans and reflected the corporatism characteristic of feudal society. The need for urban artisans to unite was due to the desire to protect their economic interests from the intervention of feudal lords, the need to regulate the production and marketing of products in order to create favorable conditions for activity in the conditions of a narrow domestic market, the struggle for the monopoly right to produce and market products, the need to protect rural artisans from competition in conditions of limited demand.

The guild of artisans was a typical estate corporation, built according to the hierarchical principle (master - master - apprentice - apprentice). The principle of zunftzwang (guild coercion) operated in the cities; obligatory belonging to the workshop for crafts. In accordance with this principle, artisan peasants could bring to the city only those products that were not produced in this city, and only on fair days. The guild organization regulated not only economic activity, but also all other aspects of the life of an artisan.

The regulation of the activities of artisans played a progressive role, as it contributed to the expansion of the range of products, leveled the conditions for its production and sale, forced to improve the quality to a certain standard, stimulated the growth of self-awareness of artisans, brought up responsibility, accustomed to organization and discipline. However, over time, strict regulation began to restrain the development of production, since the equalizing principle hampered the introduction of technical achievements, prevented the differentiation of artisans, the accumulation of capital, the development of market relations and entrepreneurship. In addition, the desire to preserve small-scale production hindered the development of large-scale production of the capitalist type. Turned into closed corporations that hindered the development of new economic relations, craft workshops were historically doomed. It is natural that in the XIV - XV centuries. in Western Europe, the decomposition of the guild system begins.

The guild system in Western Europe was, of course, not universal. In a number of countries, it has not received distribution and has not reached its final form everywhere. Along with it, in many cities there was a free craft. However, even there there was a regulation of production and protection of the monopoly of artisans of the city, but these functions were carried out not by workshops, but by city governments.

In the XIV - XV centuries. property stratification is increasing among the urban population. The burghers stand out from the wealthy elite of the townspeople. Only personally free people who had considerable funds needed to pay the entrance fee and regular payment of city and state taxes could get into the number of burghers. From among the burghers, a wealthy urban estate begins to form, which will later become the basis of the bourgeoisie.

Thus, the city was a center of crafts and trade, a seat of secular and spiritual power. In European cities, city law appeared, their own court, to a certain extent, autonomous management. The Western European city did not fit into the feudal system and, by its economic nature, is a phenomenon alien to classical feudalism. If feudal relations were built on the basis of natural economy, then the cities became enclaves of commodity-money relations, which led to the death of the feudal system.

The progress of agriculture and the development of handicrafts were accompanied by the establishment of trade relations between individual territories of the Western European states. Trade, along with handicraft, was the economic basis of medieval cities. For a significant part of the townspeople, trade was the main occupation. Among the merchants, small shopkeepers and pedlars, close to the artisan environment, prevailed. The elite consisted of merchants themselves, wealthy merchants, mainly engaged in foreign trade, wholesale transactions. Often merchants became bankers and usurers at the same time. The form of organization of trade was city markets, rural and regional fairs, where products from different cities and countries flocked at certain times.

A number of factors hindered the development of trade in the Middle Ages. An obstacle to the development of trade was the predominance of subsistence farming, the low purchasing power of the peasantry, feudal fragmentation and internal customs duties, the poor development of the road network, lack of security, and the monopoly of the feudal lords on land and peasants. However, as the social division of labor developed, internal trade expanded.

In the 11th century, professional merchants appeared. For mutual protection on the way and in the markets, in order to eliminate mutual competition, merchants united in guilds (a kind of guild organization). Trade, therefore, was of a corporate nature. Trade guilds provided their members with a privileged position in the market, legal protection, provided mutual assistance, were religious and military organizations. The merchant environment of each city was united by family and corporate ties. The so-called "trading houses" - family merchant companies - became commonplace. In the middle of the 14th century, Hansa, an international merchant guild, which included up to 150 German and West Slavic cities, was organized to protect and regulate trade, which controlled northern European trade until the beginning of the 16th century. The growth in trade volumes led to the emergence of commodity exchanges (wholesale markets), where trade was carried out according to standards and samples. The first international trade exchange arose in 1406 in Bruges. Later commodity exchanges appeared in Venice, Genoa, Florence.

In the XI - XV centuries. The greatest development was foreign trade, which took place in two main directions. The first is trade with the East, or the so-called Levantine trade, which was carried out mainly by Italian cities, primarily Venice and Genoa. Luxurious items, spices, weapons, carpets, jewelry, and perfumes were imported into Western Europe. Thanks to the Levantine trade, Europeans began to consume rice, buckwheat, corn, lemons, watermelons, and cane sugar. These products were of a consumer nature and were designed primarily for the upper strata of the nobility, clergy and cities. But even this trade undermined the naturalness of the economy, as it stimulated the transfer of peasants to cash rent. From Europe to the East, mainly silver and gold were exported, since the Vatican forbade the export of strategic goods (timber, metal, weapons, grain, resin, tar, ships), and the Europeans practically could not offer other goods to the East. The rate of trading profit here was 25 - 40%.

The second direction of trade is the Northern Route, which connected Eastern and Western Europe through the North and Baltic Seas. This trade was monopolized by the Hansa, which became especially strong in the 14th century. Hanseatic trade covered primarily industrial goods (metal, cloth, linen, hemp, lard, wax, livestock, furs, leather, etc.). Trading profit was 5 - 8%, but the low profit was offset by the volume of trade and less risk.

The expansion of trade activated money circulation, but a large number of banknotes and systems required the creation of exchange offices. Exchange operations were carried out by money changers, who received the name of bankers, and their exchange offices began to be called banks. They exchanged one coin for another, and then cash coins for bills. In the 15th century, an international stock exchange arose, where the exchange rate of European currencies was set, and international settlements were carried out. In the same century, pawnshops appeared in Italy. In Venice and Genoa, government securities (bonds) were first issued, and non-cash payments were introduced. However, credit to a minimum extent fell into the production sphere, where the positions of workshops were strong. The predominant form of money capital in medieval Europe was usurious credit. Some banking families (Medici, Fuggers) were richer than the states in which they lived. The activity of medieval bankers was fraught with great risk, which was reflected in high interest rates.

The growth of the domestic market, the strengthening of economic ties between regions and individual countries, the emergence and development of cities, the growth in the volume and specialization of handicraft production, the development of monetary relations, the emergence of new social strata created the objective prerequisites for political centralization in Europe. At the same time, the deepening of these processes testified to the beginning of the crisis of the feudal system, to the appearance in its depths of elements of the capitalist way of life.

Questions to the topic:

1. What are the characteristic (essential) features of the feudal economy?

2. Analyze the genesis of feudalism in the Frankish kingdom.

3. What are the characteristic features of the development of the feudal economy in the XI - XV centuries.

4. What is a census, rent commutation? What is evidence of their occurrence?

5. What are the features of the feudal economy of England.

6. What are the features of the feudal economy in Germany? What is the "second edition of serfdom"?

7. How did trade develop during the period of feudalism?

8. What are the prerequisites for the development of cities in Western Europe and their socio-economic functions?

9. What was the circulation of money during the period of feudalism?

10. Compare the features of Eastern and European feudalism.

Appearance in the XIV-XV centuries. The first manufactories of the capitalist type were supposed to contribute to the formation of commercial capital and its penetration into production. Such capital could accumulate only in the process of development of commodity-money relations. And the main role in this was played by:

Development of trade;

Formation of the merchant class into an estate with specific organizations in the form of guilds, trade unions, etc.;

The concentration in the hands of individual merchant families or even merchant companies of commercial capital;

The emergence of sprouts of market infrastructure in the form of banks, stock exchanges, fairs, which contributed to the turnover of various products and products;

The development of the monetary system, genetically incorporated in the bowels of the economic life of countries since the time of the Ancient World.

With the formation of cities in the early Middle Ages, trade became the most important form of urban activity. The city and its inhabitants were the largest customers for artisans and merchants. Due to subsistence farming during the period of the formation and maturity of the feudal system, the bulk of the products needed by peasants and feudal lords were produced in estates (estates, seigneuries), so internal trade continued to play a small role. The manifestation of inter-regional trade was hindered by the weak specialization of the economy in certain regions and bad roads, robberies on them, as well as the absence of a civilized customs law.

The situation improved towards the end of the 13th century, when, with the victory of communal revolutions, cities throughout Western Europe began to develop independently. Rent-switched trade exchange in the 14th century. became objectively necessary, the peasants needed money to pay the cash dues in favor of the feudal lords. Specialization has increased not only in the production of agricultural products, but also in handicrafts.

In the cities, commodity exchange is gradually taking shape in the form of regular markets in special areas, and periodically in the form of seasonal fairs. Fairs already from the XI-XII centuries. They also had legal protection in the legislative acts of various countries, in the charters of cities.

Trade transactions were also carried out in shops and craft workshops, in ports and on river moorings. In addition, peddlers of various goods roamed both in urban and rural areas. At the same time, in the process of trade, the issues of minting coins and the establishment of duties on various goods by city and regional authorities were resolved.

However, until the process of the formation of nation-states and the strengthening of their borders was completed, commodity relations developed locally, more in the regions. Items of supply and demand within small regions were everyday goods: food, tools, clothing, etc. More expensive goods of rare demand; were the subject of long-distance, including foreign trade. Thus, a demarcation between domestic and foreign trade was planned.

Three zones were typical in those centuries for intercountry trade. The southern trade zone connected the areas of the basins of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, the Crimea, the Caucasus to Asia Minor. Spain and France, Italy, Byzantium were drawn into it. Luxuries, spices, dyes, medicines, precious wood, wine and fruits were brought from the East. They exported to the East: metals, cloth, metal products in the form of knives, needles, spurs for horsemen.

The northern trade zone covered the basin of the Baltic and North Seas, part of the Atlantic. It was attended by: Northern Germany, Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, England, as well as the cities of Rus': Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk. Consumer goods were traded there: salt and fish, furs and wool, hemp, wax, resin, timber, ropes, metals and products from them, and from the 15th century. and grain. Champagne in France and Bruges in Flanders became pan-European centers of fair trade.

The third zone of direct importance for trade with the East was the Volga-Caspian. Here grew large shopping centers on the Volga: Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Saratov, Astrakhan. The trade included: Russian furs, saddles, swords, Baltic amber, cloth from Flanders and England, etc.

The activation of trade along these and other routes was impossible without the development of land, river and sea transport communications. Therefore, the construction of ships began to be divided into military, commercial and transport.

The number of shipyards is growing. A more or less extensive road network creates conditions for the exchange of commercial information at the intercountry level.

If we talk about the social characteristics of the participants in the feudal market, then those who produced them were still more likely to sell goods: peasants, artisans, fishermen, coal burners, seigneurs through intermediaries. But the number of professional traders and resellers increased.

Not only economic ties between individual cities, regions and countries were born and expanded, but also between various branches of agriculture and industry. handicraft production. Obstacles to this most important sphere of human activity were: the dominance of natural production, the underdevelopment of not only ways, but also means of communication, as well as the technology of exchange. The division of feudal society into estates and the special mentality of its representatives hindered the development of commodity-money relations (nobles, especially from aristocratic families, considered it shameful to engage in this type of activity). Outright robbery on land and at sea, including by local feudal lords, caused great damage to the merchants. Robbery was also carried out in a more "civilized" form - by levying numerous duties from merchants: bridge, road, gate, weight, etc.

The merchants were divided into several groups. Numerous and poor among them was a group of small shopkeepers and peddlers of goods. The richest were the "guests", or overseas merchants.

The types of merchant associations include:

Family merchant companies that created offices (branches) in other cities;

Share merchant partnerships (warehousing, committees);

Associations of merchants of one city and country - guilds. Merchant guilds sought monopoly conditions in trade, provided each other with financial assistance if necessary.

From the 13th century in Barcelona, ​​an institution of commercial consuls arose to provide legal protection to merchants who came to Spain. The appearance later in this city of a maritime exchange, where large contracts were concluded, became natural. In the XV century. elements of protectionism appear in the economic policy of various countries (customs benefits for domestic merchants).

The most famous merchant association is Hansa (since 1358) - a trade and political union of northern European cities. He had his own navy to protect against pirates and sought to establish himself in the North and Baltic Seas.

Commodity-money relations cannot be considered without an analysis of the money market. Money changers were engaged in money exchange operations, they also mastered varieties of credit operations (money transfer). Usurers played a huge role in the medieval period. Merchant credit since the 13th century. developed in the field of transit and wholesale transactions. Special banking offices appeared in Lombardy (preserved in the name of pawnshops). The largest usurer was the Roman Catholic Church.

Fearing robbery, when transporting large amounts of silver and copper money, they began to use bills - receipts from agents of money changers. When presented in another city, merchants received money. There were not only banks, but also banking and usury companies with a high loan interest (15-25%). Non-payments of debtors, especially those of high birth, led to the bankruptcy of banking offices. In Genoa and Venice, non-cash payments were carried out, for the first time in history a system of public debt appeared.

Trade and the nascent banking system, monetary and credit operations served the feudal system as a whole. At the same time, commodity-money relations in the 15th century:

1) undermined this system from the inside;

2) prepared the transition to manufacture as a form of capitalist production on the basis of accumulated commercial capital.

By the end of the XV century. Europe was on the threshold of the Great geographical discoveries.



In the XII century. cities and ports arose along trade routes. Italian merchants came to fairs such as Troyes to buy Flemish fabrics and sell goods from Asia.

The early Middle Ages were a time of prosperity for Europe. The population grew, and so did the area of ​​cultivated land. There was a surplus of food that could be sold. Cities grew larger and trade fairs were regularly held in Troyes, Lyon, Antwerp, Frankfurt, Krakow and Kyiv. River and land trade routes became busier. Barter trade was replaced by monetary relations, people were increasingly engaged in business for the sake of profit. Jewish merchants, the Templars, and certain merchant clans specialized in usury and safekeeping. Italy was the richest country in Europe. Venice and Genoa became major independent ports and banking centers. Spices, silk and other luxury items were brought here from the East. Goods from Asia came through Byzantium, Egypt and Syria, and from Africa through Tunisia and Morocco. Instead, fabrics, furs, leather, iron, flax, timber, silver and slaves were taken away.

In most European countries, money was silver, Asian states traded for gold. Because of this, problems arose, so the Templars, Jewish merchants and Italian merchants established banks and introduced bills of exchange and IOUs that could be used instead of money. In the Rhineland, in the north of France, in Flanders and England, industry began to develop, working on purchased raw materials.

In the medieval city, the market usually worked once a week. Livestock, products, metals, fabrics, leather, and wooden products were sold here. People discussed local events here.

Growth in trade

A new class of merchants and skilled artisans emerged. Merchants grew rich by buying and selling, but at the same time they risked money due to robbery on the roads and piracy at sea, where a fortune could be lost at a time. Trading companies, cities and organizations like the Hanseatic League in the Baltic patronized merchants and opened their offices in ports and markets. Genoa and Venice, in a way, maritime powers in the Mediterranean, came to the defense of the merchants. Around 1350, insurance services began to be offered in Genoa to protect merchants from loss and ruin. Banking dynasties such as the Fuggers in Augsburg (Germany) and the Medici in Florence grew in wealth. A new system was being established, the kings, the nobility and the clergy gradually lost power, yielding it to merchants and bankers. Soon this class will influence the politics of kings.

Hanseatic League

In 1241, Hamburg and Lübeck established the Hansa, or trade association of North German cities, to protect common interests and trade routes, which developed by 1260 into the Hanseatic League. They brought raw materials from Eastern Europe in exchange for finished products from Western Europe. Hanseatic League in the 14th century controlled trade between England, Scandinavia and Russia.

Trade in the Middle Ages was a very difficult and dangerous business. Large quantities of goods could only be transported or on broken, bumpy dirt roads. For passage through the possessions of each feudal lord, the merchant had to pay a fee. The use of bridges and crossings was also paid. For example, in order to transport goods along the entire course of the French Loire River, it was necessary to pay a fee 74 times. And when the merchant brought the goods to the place of sale, it often turned out that he paid more duties than the cost of the goods themselves. In addition, feudal lords often robbed merchants on the road. And if the cart broke down and the goods fell to the ground, they became the property of the lord of this land. From here came the saying: "What fell from the cart is gone."

There were two main sea trade routes in medieval Europe. One led across the Mediterranean to the East. This route brought many goods to Europe from Asia and Africa - silks, carpets, weapons. Oriental spices, especially pepper, were extremely valued in Europe. It served not only as a seasoning for food, but also as a cure for stomach diseases. At first, Byzantine merchants played the main role in trade with the East. Then it was taken over by the merchants of two Italian port cities - Venice and Genoa.

The second sea trade route passed through the North and Baltic Seas and connected England, France, Northern Germany, Flanders, the Scandinavian countries, Poland, the Baltic States, Rus'. A prominent place here belonged to the Russian cities - Novgorod and Pskov. Fabrics and other handicrafts were transported along this route to Rus', Sweden and Poland, and from here bread, ship timber, flax, wax and leather went to the west.

In addition, there were two main river routes. One of them led from the Adriatic Sea along the Po River through the Alpine mountain passes to the Rhine River and into the North Sea. By this road southern and eastern goods got to Northern Europe. The other along the Neman River or along the Neva, Volkhov and Lovat rivers led from the Baltic (Varangian) Sea through the Dnieper to the Black (Russian) Sea and Byzantium. In Rus', this road was called the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks."

Fairs and banks

Merchants from all over Europe gathered several times a year in certain cities for fairs. The lord of the area where the fairs were held made an oath that he would ensure the safety of the merchants and the safety of their goods. For this, the merchants paid him duties. Fairs in the French county of Champagne were especially famous. Here you could buy Indian pepper and Scandinavian herring, English wool and Russian linen, champagne and Arab blades.

These same money changers were given money for safekeeping. This is how bankers appeared (from the Italian word “bank” - the bench on which they sat during fairs). Bankers - the owners of banks, that is, money vaults, quickly turned into very rich people, before whom even kings and princes fawned.

Commodity-money economy

The development of handicrafts, trade, and banks undermined the dominance of subsistence farming. If earlier the peasants produced food only for their own consumption and for the payment of dues, now they also produced them for sale in the city. The feudal lords also began to send products from their estates to the city for sale. And artisans generally produced their products only for sale. Products intended for sale are called goods.

And artisans, and peasants, and feudal lords received money for the sold goods. Subsistence economy began to give way to commodity-money.

With the development of a commodity-money economy, great changes took place in the life of feudal Europe. Trade relations were established between different regions. For example, Southern France now produced olive oil not only for itself, but also for sale in the north of the country. The north of France supplied the southern regions with its cloth, and iron was brought from East France to other regions. South, North and East of France could no longer exist without each other and sought to unite in a single state.

Trade relations between individual countries have also intensified. Residents of different countries got to know each other better, exchanged handicrafts, passed on their knowledge to each other. This means that with the development of the commodity-money economy, the development of culture also moved forward.

But the life of the peasants became even more difficult. The feudal lords needed more and more money in order to buy various items in the city, expensive weapons, fine cloth, wine, and spices. They sought to receive this money from the peasants and began to demand payment of dues in cash. Almost all the money that the peasant received from the sale of products in the city, he had to give to the feudal lord. Other feudal lords themselves sought to get more money from selling their own products in the city market. To do this, they increased the quitrent with food or forced the peasants to work more on corvee. Feudal oppression became unbearable. The peasants increasingly rebelled against the feudal lords.

The development of a commodity-money economy led to an intensification of the class struggle between peasants and feudal lords.