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Although long recognised as one of the most influential organisations operating in medieval London, this is the first work to offer a comprehensive and detailed analysis of mercers and the Mercers' Company. Based on a wealth of primary sources and informed by the latest scholarship, it charts the rise of the mercers and their impact on society from the twelfth to the sixteenth century.
List of contents
Contents: Foreword; Preface; Definition and location: the London Mercery, 1130s-1230s; 'The poor pedlar makes more noise crying his goods than does a rich mercer all his valuable wares': the mercery trade in the 13th century; The origins and early associations of London mercers, 1270s-1340s; 'Loving companions who are dwelling in the good city of London': the commonalty of the mercery; The company and the city 1348-94: from the Black Death to the First Charter; 'Le compaignie del mercerie que dieux veul garder de male et de perile et tutditz convoier a bon aventure': the move into mercantile status, 1290s-1430; Success on all sides: the mercers in 15th-century London; The mercery trade in London: prosperity and conflict; 'C'était une vie d'aventures semblable à celle des chevaliers': the mercers' ascendancy among the adventurers in the Low Countries, 1430s-85; 'All merchandise shall have its course and merchants to have their communication each with other': trade, 1430s-85; 'Give to every man that which is his': the mercers and the merchant adventurers, 1485-1520s; New responsibilities and losses, 1490s-1550s; Religious change, wealth and faith; 'The present understanding of the feat of the merchant adventurer': overseas trade, 1520s-80s; The demise of the medieval mercery; 'A sample and light': charity and protestantism; A new company?; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.
About the author
Anne F. Sutton is Historian Emerita to the Mercers' Company of London, UK.
Summary
Although long recognised as one of the most influential organisations operating in medieval London, this is the first work to offer a comprehensive and detailed analysis of mercers and the Mercers' Company. Based on a wealth of primary sources and informed by the latest scholarship, it charts the rise of the mercers and their impact on society from the twelfth to the sixteenth century.
