Week 8: Towns and Trade
Tuesday
Music
“Arrival to the Oxford market” (Anonymous, English, 13th cent.; 4:03 min.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFUkIAnE6dA&feature=related
Readings:
Bartlett, England under the Norman and Angevin Kings, pp. 331-345 (towns), 346-360 (The Jews)
Carlin and Crouch, Lost Letters of Medieval Life, pp. 53-73 (Documents 7-14)
Maps:
The Angevin “Empire”:
http://www.heritage-history.com/maps/philips/phil035.jpg
Henry III’s territories:
http://www.heritage-history.com/maps/gardiner/gard012.jpg
Medieval England and Wales:
http://www.heritage-history.com/maps/philips/phil034.jpg
Wales and the Marches in the Thirteenth Century:
http://www.heritage-history.com/maps/philips/phil036c.jpg
Map of England by Matthew Paris
http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/takingliberties/images/319matthewparismapbig.jpg
Topics:
Define:
Market
Fair
Toll
Borough
Burgess
Burgage tenure
Fee farm
Borough charter
Guild
Craft
Merchant
Guild merchant
Civic seal
Commune
Mayor
Money quiz:
Sir Walter needs a new destrier (warhorse), but it will cost £25. He is a good fighter and thinks he can earn the money by entering tournaments and winning ransoms from the knights he defeats.
However, his expenses (for food, lodging, wages, tips, horse care, etc.) will amount to about 13s. 4d. per tournament.
If he enters three tournaments, how much money will he have to win at each in order to cover his expenses and the cost of the new destrier?
Images:
Lendit fair (Paris)
Pair of shops from Horsham (15th cent.)
Borough charter granted by King John to Huntingdon (1205)
Borough seal of Godmanchester, co. Hunts. (13th cent.) Godmanchester received its borough charter from King John in 1212. The seal is 1 5/8 in. in diameter, with the legend ‘Commune Sigillum Gumecestre.’ (Godmanchester was pronounced “Gumster.” Click here for further information, from VCH Hunts.)
Winchester moot horn (bronze, 12th cent.; used for signalling danger and for summoning the Borough Moot)
Max the Maxonian (mascot for the 750th anniversary of Macclesfield’s grant of a charter by King John, 1211)
Plan of medieval St Albans, with plan of the marketplace and plan of the Chequer Street excavations
Thursday:
The Medieval Town (20:38 min.; life in medieval Lincoln: section on market, shops, and trade: 5:00 to 13:00 min.):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2fmsqHTaQk
Readings:
Bartlett, England under the Norman and Angevin Kings, pp. 360-376 (Trade: The Framework; Commodities; Coinage and Monetization)
Carlin and Crouch, Lost Letters of Medieval Life, pp. 32-52 (Documents 2-6)
Terms:
Quarter (dry measure of volume): 8 bushels
Corn: grain
Tun (liquid measure): usually 252 gallons
Topics:
Main roads (many based on Roman roads):
Ermine Street (Great North Road)
The Foss Way (Lincoln – Cornwall)
Icknield Street (East Anglia – Wiltshire)
Watling Street (Dover – London – Chester)
Messengers commonly traveled about 25 miles per day; pack-horses and carts traveled about 12 miles per day
Many bridges built in 12 C., including at Durham, St Ives, and London
Most major ports were on the East coast, except for Southampton and Bristol
In the early 13 C., the king’s annual income was about £60K, and the total value of England’s overseas trade (imports + exports) was more than £60K
Main sources of metals (see map of metal mines in Roman Britain)
iron: Forest of Dean
lead: Mendip Hills (Somerset) and the “mines of Carlisle” (near Alston)
tin: Cornwall and Devon
Textile production:
combing wool or flax fibers
spinning yarn (wool) or thread (flax) with distaff and spindle (video: 2:07 min.)
weaving
fulling
dyeing
shearing
scarlet
grain
ell = 45 inches
clothyard = 37 inches
robe
livery robe
Furs:
Vair, gris, miniver: skins of the red squirrel in winter
Lambskin
Beaver, ermine, etc.
A skinner displays a fur lining to a customer (Chartres, St. James the Greater window, c. 1220-25)
Coinage:
“Short Cross” penny circulated 1180-1247.
Main mints were at London and Canterbury, although others were also in use.
The London and Canterbury mints together produced about 4 million pennies annually in the 1220s, and about 10 million p.a. from 1234 to 1247
Approximate figures for number of pennies in circulation: 13.2 million in 1180 (£55K); 48 million in 1210 (£200K); 114 million in 1247 (£475K)
England minted no gold coinage in 13 C., although imported gold “bezants” from Byzantine Empire were
used for some ceremonial payments and gifts; they were valued at 2 shillings
Wine trade:
Main French wine ships reached English ports (especially Bristol, Southampton, London, Hull, and Sandwich) between October and January
Discussion topics:
What evidence can be used for dating Document 2 (“An Earl Orders Wine from His Vintner”) in Lost Letters of Medieval Life?