Introduction

In commercial history, networks emerged as an important analytical tool for analysing the interaction of its protagonists. The perspective of networks is based on different kinds of social and cultural criteria, such as business relations, merchant companies, ‘nations’ or kinship. Many studies on merchants are not primarily directed to commercial practices but on the social relations of merchants; hence the emergence of markets from networks has not been subject to research. Therefore some approaches that have been developed by economic sociology will be introduced and discussed in respect of analysing markets within historical commercial networks. After a short outline of the conceptual backgrounds, the spatial dimension of markets will be considered. The social relations will be explored in several steps, starting with defining markets as situated social configurations and the distinction of some basic categories of market organization. How markets emerge from networks will be discussed in three steps: first, the basic categories will be assembled to a more comprehensive model based on the French économie des conventions; in a second step, the relevant factors for establishing a market will be considered; and finally in the third step, Harrison C. White's model for production markets will be discussed as an approach for analysing markets within commercial networks. The conclusion emphasizes the necessity of considering the qualities of products and actors that constitute different types of markets.