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Merchants and Mercers in York: A c15th takeover

If you’ve ever visited York, you might be familiar with the splendid Merchant Adventurers Hall along Fossgate. Built some 650 years ago, this building is now mainly used as a venue for corporate events and private venues, but once served as the guildhall for the Company of Merchant Adventurers. That they were traders, we all probably know. But what exactly is the Company of Merchant Adventurers?

Back in the second half of the C15th, the Company of Merchant Adventurers was the popular name for the “Merchants of the Nation of England trading in the Parties of Brabant, Flanders, Holland and Zeeland”. This rather lengthy name instantly explains what the Company was all about. The “merchant” bit means a trader in bulky goods such as wool or wood, as opposed to a “mercer” and a “grocer” who deals in dry goods and foodstuffs respectively. As a trade association, it served to protect the commercial interests of those overseas traders dealing with the Low Countries.

Outbound trade (going to the Low Countries) originally solely consisted of unfinished wool, which would be spun and woven into cloth in the Low Countries. Inbound trade (coming into England) was determined by the choice and specialisation of the individual merchant and the range of goods brought back was very diverse. All trade was seasonal and concentrated on four great trade fairs or marts: the Easter or Paas Mart in Bergen-op-Zoom, the Sinxen or Whitsun Fair at Antwerp, the Bamis Fair in October also in Antwerp and the Cold Mart back in Bergen-op-Zoom again. Even today, there is still an annual fun fair in Antwerp around the end of May, which the locals refer to as “Sinksen Foor”. Merchants would travel together to these fairs for reasons of safety and convenience.

The Merchant Adventurers of England was a true national trade organisation, but was different from what we now know in York as the Merchant Adventurers. The association originated in the late C13th from the colonies of English merchants in Flanders and its expansion was driven by the huge demand for English woollen cloth that emerged around Bruges and shifted to Antwerp during the C15th. The Merchant Adventurers formed a substantial commercial organisation. At a trade meeting in 1421 at the Blackfriars in Antwerp for instance, about 70 merchants were present, including many from the North.

The organisation did have a strong recognition of the commercial power of the north of England. The company was overseen by two governors: the first one from London and the second from “north of the Trent”. Interestingly, the parent society was technically based in the Low Countries, and York, London, Bury St Edmunds, Norwich and other towns with an important trade volume simply formed the overseas branches of the Merchant Adventurers of England. It wasn’t until 1407 that Henry IV gave the guild formal recognition on this side of the Channel.

In York, overseas wool traders operated through the network of Merchant Adventurers of England, but also experienced stiff competition for local political and commercial power from their friends the mercers. Overseas mercers trading in dry goods overseas belonged to the guild of the city’s merchants. Apart from the Low Countries and France, they also had a big trade connection with the Baltic. Locally, the mercers were backed by some of the wealthiest and most influential people in the city.

The mercer’s trade with the Baltic declined during the C15th under pressure from the Hanseatic League, and this downward trend was indirectly responsible for their changed relationship with the merchants. Whilst not dealing in raw wool, the mercers boosted the woollen cloth trade with the Low Countries to replace their lost Baltic connection and it was thus that the dry-goods mercers and ex-peddlars of York would join, displace and eventually absorb the merchants. Hard-core wool traders had to content themselves with becoming members of the Corpus Christi Guild, whilst by 1420 the mercers started to refer to themselves as the “Mercers and Merchants of York” and became known as the Guild of Holy Trinity of Fossgate. By 1430 the mercers and merchants of York had become the city’s most powerful guild and it was expected that leading citizens and mayors would be members.

The Merchant Adventurers of England provided the vehicle the overseas wool trade with the Low Countries and members of the Guild of Holy Trinity of Fossgate would act as Merchant Adventurers of England when travelling to the trade fairs in Antwerp and Bergen-op-Zoom. The relationship between the two organisations was often precarious and this frequently resulted in commercial disputes. In September/October 1478 for instance, Edward IV had to pour oil on troubled waters after the York traders had accused the Merchant Adventurers of England for not electing a northern governor and raising the import dues to the disadvantage of the northern traders. Edward IV wisely chose not to pass judgement, but simply suggested that both guilds continue to develop relations amicably. Don’t mess with York!

It is not until 1580 that the story goes full circle and Elizabeth I reincorporates the merchants and mercers of York as the Society of the Merchant Adventurers of the City of York.

Sources

• None cited

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