Medieval Merchants
York, Beverley and Hull in the Later Middle Ages

An analysis of merchant lives in three northern British cities in the later middle ages.

Jenny Kermode (Author)

9780521522748, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 18 July 2002

404 pages, 2 maps 16 tables
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm, 0.644 kg

'… a solid piece of work which one can recommend unreservedly'. Alan Dyer, Economic History Review

This book is based on some 1400 individuals who lived in three northern English towns during the later middle ages. It analyses the many aspects of merchant society visible to the historian: achievements in politics, attitudes towards religion, the family, wider circles of friends and business acquaintances, and the nature and conduct of trade at every level. Merchants were at the core of urban society, accumulating more wealth than most other townsfolk and developing a distinctive outlook and entrepreneurship in response to the opportunities and pressures of long-distance trade. They played a central role in the development of urban mentalité using political rhetoric to promote a corporatist view of urban society, while their spending on charity, on public works, and on religious observance shaped social attitudes.

1. Introduction
Part I. Society and Politics: 2. Merchants in town government
3. Merchant society: families, dependants and friends, the evidence of wills
4. Merchants and religion, the evidence of wills
Part II. Entrepreneurship and Capital Accumulation: 5. The geography and composition of trade
6. Transaction costs
7. Business and finance
8. Trade and competition
9. Mercantile estates: profits and losses considered
10. Conclusion
Appendices
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], British & Irish history [HBJD1]