Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 The winning of the Hanse franchises, 1157–1361
- 2 The English challenge, 1361–1399
- 3 Jockeying for advantage, 1400–1437
- 4 Trade, piracy, war, 1437–1474
- 5 Rivalry at Antwerp, 1474–1551
- 6 The loss of the Hanse franchises, 1551–1611
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1 Gildhall certificates
- Appendix 2 Hanse trade figures in the late fifteenth century
- Appendix 3 Elizabethan cloth exports
- Appendix 4a English cloth dyed at Hamburg, 1535–1612
- Appendix 4b English cloth forwarded from Hamburg without local handiwork 1568–1605
- Bibliography
- Index
Appendix 1 - Gildhall certificates
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 The winning of the Hanse franchises, 1157–1361
- 2 The English challenge, 1361–1399
- 3 Jockeying for advantage, 1400–1437
- 4 Trade, piracy, war, 1437–1474
- 5 Rivalry at Antwerp, 1474–1551
- 6 The loss of the Hanse franchises, 1551–1611
- Conclusion
- Appendix 1 Gildhall certificates
- Appendix 2 Hanse trade figures in the late fifteenth century
- Appendix 3 Elizabethan cloth exports
- Appendix 4a English cloth dyed at Hamburg, 1535–1612
- Appendix 4b English cloth forwarded from Hamburg without local handiwork 1568–1605
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
At the beginning of Henry IV's reign the Hanseatics were advised that their privileges should be enjoyed only by those merchants and shippers who bore sealed letters of identification from their native towns. To what extent, if any, this rule was enforced is not known, although compliance ought to have been a relatively simple matter. During negotiations early in Edward IV's reign the king's lawyers ruled that only members of the London Gildhall were entitled to use the franchises. This was probably a device to restrict the number of provincial merchants who escaped payment of tunnage and poundage. Everyone claiming immunity now had to be certified by Gildhall officials as a member of that organisation. The check continued until at least the reign of Henry VIII, and there are many surviving certificates from throughout the period. They were sent up to the Exchequer by the customs collector with his particulars of account to establish the claim for allowances. Anomalies in the dates of some of the earliest certificates raise doubts about the integrity of those operating the system. The first is addressed to the customs collectors of Hull from the alderman and merchants of the Gildhall, and was allegedly sealed by them on 9 July 1463. The certificate names seventeen men but gives no details of their trade, and was returned to the Exchequer with the relevant particulars of account and a separate, undated schedule of another nineteen names, this time with the value of each man's goods.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- England and the German Hanse, 1157–1611A Study of their Trade and Commercial Diplomacy, pp. 378 - 380Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1991