In 1666 their buildings of the Steel-yard were burnt in the great fire of London, but were reconstructed in 1680.
In 1852 the premises of the Hanseatic League were finally alienated, and are now built over by the Cannon Street railway station.
CHAPTER XIII.
Treaties with Spain and the merchants of Portugal—Early claim of the right of search—Restrictive laws against the English, and in favour of foreign traders—Accession of Richard II., A.D. 1377—Character of the imports from Italy—Sudden change of policy—First Navigation Act, A.D. 1381—A rage for legislation—Relaxation of the Navigation Act, A.D. 1382-8—Free issue of letters of marque; and of commissions for privateering—Special tax for the support of the Navy, A.D. 1377—Superiority of English seamen—Their intrepidity and skill—Chaucer’s description of the seamen of his time—Henry IV., A.D. 1399-1413—Disputes between the Hanse and the English merchants—Agreement for guarding the English coasts—Henry V., A.D. 1413: his liberal policy, and ambition—The extent of his fleet—Size and splendour of the royal ships—Prologue of the “Dominion of the Sea”—England first formally claims dominion of the sea, about A.D. 1416—Prerogatives conferred thereby—First accounts of revenue and expenditure, A D. 1421—Law for the admeasurement of ships and coal barges—Henry VI. crowned, A.D. 1422—Marauding expedition of the Earl of Warwick—Distress among shipowners not royal favourites, A.D. 1461—Fresh legislative enactments—First “sliding scale” applied to the importation of corn—Relaxation of the laws by means of treaties, A.D. 1467—Treaties of reciprocity—Extension of distant maritime commerce, A.D. 1485—First English consul in the Mediterranean, A.D. 1490—The advantages derived from reciprocal intercourse.
Treaties with Spain and the merchants of Portugal.
Although Edward’s thoughts had been directed almost exclusively to the wars with France and Scotland, he found time to extend English enterprise beyond its then comparatively narrow limits by an advantageous treaty with Spain[578] in A.D. 1351, consisting mainly of an offensive and defensive alliance, so that neither nation were to afford any assistance to their enemies, nor injure each other, the merchants and seamen of both countries having, at the same time, full liberty to proceed by land or sea wherever they pleased with their merchandise. Spanish property found in any vessel taken by the English was to be restored to the owners, and English property similarly situated to be respected by Spanish captors; moreover, Spanish fishermen were permitted to fish on the coasts of England and Brittany, and were allowed to enter any English ports on the payment of the same duties and customs to which English vessels were subjected. A nearly similar treaty was concluded with Portugal in the name of the merchants, mariners, and communities of Lisbon and Oporto, in which, however, curiously enough, no mention is made of the king of Portugal.[579]
Early claim of the right of search.
Restrictive laws against the English, and in favour of foreign traders.
Accession of Richard II., A.D. 1377.
With the Flemings, treaties were made of a more restrictive character; thus, they were not to carry goods belonging to either the French or Spaniards; nor were the ship-owners of these countries allowed to become burgesses, so as to sail with Flemish papers. The papers of the Flemish ships were required to state the contents of their cargoes and their port of discharge, and to be attested by the magistrates of the port of departure, and also by the Count of Flanders. These treaties[580] contain the first suggestion of the simulation of a ship’s papers, so as to secure the ship and cargo from capture by making their owners denizens of a neutral power. Then arose, for the first time, those claims to the “Right of search” which England so long insisted upon, and maintained against the world in arms; claims not yet relinquished, though now rarely enforced. It must not, however, be supposed from these so far salutary regulations that Edward or his council had any knowledge of sound commercial legislation; for, in 1303, every English merchant was commanded to restrict his business to one commodity only, and to select at once the article he would trade in.[581] Five years afterwards they were by law prohibited from importing wine from Gascony, though, at that time, an English dependency;[582] while, with singular inconsistency, the Parliament of England, by an Act of 1378,[583] perceiving “the advantages derived from the resort of merchant strangers,” gave foreign merchants permission to remain in the kingdom as long as they had occasion, and to buy or to sell, wholesale or retail, provisions, spices, fruits, furs, silk, gold and silver wire or thread, and numerous other small wares. The merchant strangers could likewise dispose of various descriptions of cloths, linen, canvas, and other bulky articles of manufacture, in any city, fair, or market, though in quantities of not less than a piece, it being the privilege of freemen only to dispose of them by retail as well as wholesale, with the exclusive right also of retailing wines, foreigners being restricted to their sale in the casks in which they were imported.