Merchants on the Margins: Fifteenth-Century Bruges and the Informal Market

Lambert, Bart

Abstract

During the late medieval period, the Flemish city of Bruges acted as the prime hub of international trade in Northwestern Europe, with the town of Sluys as its outport. Trade along the Zwin, the waterway connecting the city to the sea, was subject to a series of tolls and a set of stringent and comprehensive staple restrictions, stipulating that all goods imported had to be sold on the Bruges market. The concentration of commercial activities which these rules resulted in, allowed merchants with the necessary capital to trade more cheaply than elsewhere. For those with more modest means and ambitions, the trip along tollbooths to the heavily regulated and institutionalized staple market only jeopardized the profitability of their endeavours. During the whole fifteenth century, local traders, international shipping and commercial staff and professional smugglers have cut transaction costs by evading the staple restrictions and commercial taxation in Sluys. This article discusses the size of this informal market on the margins of Bruges' jurisdiction, analyzes the backgrounds and motivations of its visitors and reconstructs the strategies they used to escape punishment.

Citation

Lambert, B. (2016). Merchants on the Margins: Fifteenth-Century Bruges and the Informal Market. Journal of Medieval History, 42(2), 226-253. https://doi.org/10.1080/03044181.2016.1141366

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 10, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Mar 2, 2016
• Publication Date: Mar 2, 2016
• Deposit Date: Sep 5, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 2, 2017
• Journal: Journal of Medieval History
• Print ISSN: 1304-4184
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-1279
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 42
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 226-253
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/03044181.2016.1141366
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1403286