CHAPTER XIII
DEVELOPMENT OF THE MEDIEVAL ORGANIZATION OF COMMERCE
127. Types of medieval traders; pedler, shopkeeper.—Enough has already been said to guard the reader against the idea that great wholesale merchants of the modern type were common in the Middle Ages. The regular type of trader was the artisan who manufactured the goods he sold, or the pedler who collected a stock of goods in a town and carried them about in a pack for sale. The pedler’s stock was not unlike that which he would carry around the country nowadays,—sewing materials, toilet articles, etc. An illumination in a manuscript of the fourteenth century, representing monkeys opening a pedler’s box, shows vests, caps, gloves, musical instruments, purses, girdles, hats, cutlasses, pewter pots, and other articles. An English statute of the fourteenth century, describing a similar stock in trade, mentions rabbit skins as one of the articles which the pedlers took in exchange for their wares, and an English author of the period accuses them of catching cats for their skins. The petty shopkeeper stood a step above the pedler. He had a regular shop in a town, where he displayed his wares, and often went on trips to the markets of other towns, where he set up a booth and carried on such trade as the town regulations allowed.
128. Merchants.—Still another step above the shopkeeper was the real merchant, who had his warehouse, from which he supplied the retail traders, and who bought up considerable quantities of goods at the great fairs at home and abroad. It is doubtful whether we can find in this class in northern Europe any men who devoted themselves entirely to wholesale trade; and merchants had not yet specialized so that each would devote himself exclusively to the trade in a particular ware. We can illustrate the point by a German merchant, whose account books have been preserved so that it is possible to follow his business operations exactly. Vicko von Geldersen was a draper of Hamburg, where he rose to wealth and a high position. He imported cloth wholesale, and sold it both wholesale and retail. But he made use of his connection with Bruges, which was the great cloth market, to send there for sale iron, honey, meat, butter, etc., and to import such wares as oil, spices, figs, and almonds, which he sold to smaller dealers in many cities of Germany.
See section 128 for a description of the trade of this merchant. The map shows only his German business, and indicates roughly, by the size of the circle, the importance of each town in his commercial dealings. Note how trade tended to the water routes.
Members of the class to which Vicko belonged were the leaders of commerce in the North of Europe during the Middle Ages; they accumulated wealth which seemed great at the time, and formed an aristocratic class in social and political life. Their sons were brought up to follow the family business, and often trained to it by extensive study and residence in foreign countries.
129. Development of commercial association in the Middle Ages.—In the Middle Ages we find the beginnings of that process of association which can be traced step by step to the formation of the great “trusts” of the present day, and which forms one of the most important features in the development of commerce. To point out the various advantages which arise from the association of laborers and of capitalists would lead us into political economy; and to describe in detail the development of the various forms of association would require an excursion into legal history equally out of place. We must content ourselves with indicating some of the main features which are easily intelligible.
The need of association was felt especially in the Middle Ages because it was necessary that a merchant or his representative should accompany his wares on the road. It was often difficult for a merchant to look after a commercial venture in person; he could not trust it to a hireling; and the slight development of the carrying and commission profession made it impossible for him to leave it to a class of persons who nowadays make it their business to attend to such matters. The merchant, therefore, would associate with him some one who could represent his interests; and a modern author asserts that in comparison with the amount of business many more commercial companies were formed then than at present. The merchant would choose by preference a member of his family, and family partnerships were the prevailing form of association at first. With the growth of commerce, however, greater freedom of association was demanded, and the group ceased to be limited by considerations of relationship.
130. Advantages of association.—By joining together, two or more men could follow different lines; one would stay at home while another could accompany the wares, and perhaps still another could attend to sales in a distant city. The advantages of this are apparent, and of not less importance are the benefits arising from the better utilization of capital. A person who had accumulated wealth, but who on account of advanced age, physical disability, or other circumstance could not himself employ it in commerce, would join with him a man who contributed to the enterprise the necessary business activity.
Capitalists gained also in another way, for they were enabled by association to share the risks of an enterprise. A man who put all his money into one ship or cargo ran the risk of being ruined; and foregoing paragraphs have shown that the dangers in the path of commerce were by no means slight. By distributing his capital in a number of enterprises, however, as could easily be done if he entered into association with others, he could hope to make up for any probable loss by the profits of his successful ventures, and can be regarded as insuring himself. We find, in fact, that the shipping business was for the most part carried on in this way.