Government and Merchant Finance in Anglo-Gascon Trade, 1300–1500 (Palgrave Studies in the History of Finance)

The Late Middle Ages (c.1300–c.1500) saw the development of many of the key economic institutions of the modern unitary nation-state in Europe. After the ‘commercial revolution’ of the thirteenth century, taxes on trade became increasingly significant contributors to government finances, and as such there were ever greater efforts to control the flow of goods and money. This book presents a case study of the commercial and financial links between the kingdom of England and the duchy of Aquitaine across the late-medieval period, with a special emphasis on the role of the English Plantagenet government that had ruled both in a political union since 1154. It establishes a strong connection between fluctuations in commodity markets, large monetary flows and unstable financial markets, most notably in trade credit and equity partnerships. It shows how the economic relationship deteriorated under the many exogenous shocks of the period, the wars, plagues and famines, as well as politically motivated regulatory intervention. Despite frequent efforts to innovate in response, both merchants and governments experienced a series of protracted financial crises that presaged the break-up of the union of kingdom and duchy in 1453, with the latter’s conquest by the French crown. Of particular interest to scholars of the late-medieval European economy, this book will also appeal to those researching wider economic or financial history. Acknowledgements 6 Contents 9 Abbreviations 11 Note 11 List of Figures 12 List of Tables 13 Chapter 1: Introduction 14 1.1 Origins 14 1.2 The Study of Anglo-Gascon Union 15 1.3 Sources for Trade and Finance 22 1.4 A Note on Units 24 Chapter 2: The Politics of Markets 32 2.1 The Rise of English Merchants 34 2.2 Anglo-Gascon Staple Ports 38 2.3 Balancing Vested Interests 44 2.4 Lancastrian Reforms and Xenophobia 49 2.5 From Plantagenet to Valois Aquitaine 56 Chapter 3: Commodities and Prices 69 3.1 Gascon Wine 69 3.2 English Wool and Cloth 81 3.3 Foodstuffs 86 3.4 Other Goods 93 Chapter 4: Money and Trade 106 4.1 The Flow of Gold and Silver Coin or Bullion 107 4.2 English Bullionism, Capital and Exchange Controls 114 4.3 Aquitaine’s Mints and Exchange Rates 120 4.4 War, Monetary Crisis, and Recovery 125 4.5 The Principality: Boom and Bust 130 4.6 The Slow Decline of the Money of Bordeaux 133 Chapter 5: Mercantile Finance 151 5.1 Merchants and Their Investments 151 5.2 Profit and Risk 158 5.3 Shipownership 162 5.4 Equity and Non-equity Partnerships 170 5.5 Commercial Credit and Loans 180 5.6 Gascon Credit in England Disappears 182 5.7 The Vulnerability of Credit in Aquitaine 189 5.8 The Advance of English Merchant Capital 194 Chapter 6: Public Finance 211 6.1 Taxes in Aquitaine 212 6.2 Strategic Exemptions 223 6.3 Municipal Taxation in Support of War 229 6.4 Exactions in England 233 6.5 Tax Burdens and the Problem of Evasion 242 6.6 Surpluses, Deficits, and Transfers 246 6.7 The Crown’s Gascon Creditors 251 6.8 A Growing Reliance on English Capital 265 Chapter 7: Conclusion 285 Appendix 294 Bibliography 305 Manuscript Sources 305 Printed Primary Sources 306 Secondary Authorities 309 PhD Theses 323 Web Resources 323 Index 324