Book contents
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Acknowledgements
- List of Contributors
- List of Figures and Tables
- Introduction
- Part I Approaches
- Part II Merchants
- Part III Markets and Institutions
- 7 Merchant Networks in the Cities of the Crown of Castile
- 8 Galley Routes and Merchant Networks between Venice and the North Sea in the Fifteenth Century
- 9 Network Takers or Network Makers? The Portuguese Traders in the Medieval West
- Part IV Products
- Notes
- Index
8 - Galley Routes and Merchant Networks between Venice and the North Sea in the Fifteenth Century
from Part III - Markets and Institutions
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Acknowledgements
- List of Contributors
- List of Figures and Tables
- Introduction
- Part I Approaches
- Part II Merchants
- Part III Markets and Institutions
- 7 Merchant Networks in the Cities of the Crown of Castile
- 8 Galley Routes and Merchant Networks between Venice and the North Sea in the Fifteenth Century
- 9 Network Takers or Network Makers? The Portuguese Traders in the Medieval West
- Part IV Products
- Notes
- Index
Summary
Introduction
The success of Venetian merchants in the trade between Asia and Europe made Venice one of the main gateways between East and West during the medieval age and the early modern period. Venetians were involved in the long-distance trade that allowed oriental spices and goods to arrive in European ports to be sold to the richest part of the population, and equally for European manufactured goods to be exported to the Middle East ports, from where they were transported to continental Asia. This system, based on private and public navies, reached its apogee during the fifteenth century. However, towards the end of that century, although the galley system, the system of laws and the organization of the arsenale seemed to be running correctly, certain flaws began to surface and became increasingly evident. The same elements that had made Venice one of the most important and richest cities of the ‘Old World’ started to decline and show their weaknesses. The decline of the public mude (convoys), changes within the noble mercantile class and the latent status of war with the Ottoman Empire, later followed by the ascent of the Atlantic powers, seem to have been the antecedents of the slowing down of the Venetian economy.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Commercial Networks and European Cities, 1400–1800 , pp. 153 - 170Publisher: Pickering & ChattoFirst published in: 2014