Kontors and Outposts 143
Bruges offered by far the most exotic and varied selection of trade goods
in the region. The Hansards bought large amounts of spices, fine fabrics, and
other luxury goods, which found their way to the local markets in the Hanseatic
towns. Cloth was a very important commodity, but after the shift in the cloth
production of Flanders, which occurred after large-scale unrest in the 1370s,
Hanseatic merchants’ interest decreased as they found alternative markets,
mainly in England. In contrast to other kontors, the Hanseatic merchants did
not often contact local producers of raw materials or semi-produced goods. In
Bruges, most trade was carried out between merchants. Even the famous cloth
from Flanders, which was largely sold in Bruges, had already arrived through
intermediary merchants. Apart from exotic luxury goods, Bruges was one of
the most important book suppliers to the merchant class.34
England mainly exported wool and, from the late fourteenth century
onwards, cloth. Hansards had a good share in the wool and cloth trade,
although they had to compete with Englishmen, Dutchmen, and Italians.
During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, wool trade was decentral-
ized. Hanseatic merchants exported large quantities of wool from London and
the East English towns of Boston, Lynn, Hull, and Yarmouth.35 Along with the
shift from wool to cloth production, the trading routes changed, and London
became the superior export harbor of the kingdom. Hansards still had their
share in the market, but others, especially denizen merchants, controlled
much of the export trade. In the English cloth production, there is an inter-
esting example of market-oriented cooperation between English producers
and Hanseatic merchants.36 Several production areas in the English midlands
focused a part of their production on the special needs of a Hanseatic town
and its hinterland. According to the different fashions in Hamburg, Lübeck,
and Danzig, the designs of cloth sold in Yarmouth, Boston, and Hull could dif-
fer significantly. Producers and merchants had constant contact, making pro-
duction areas able to react quickly to changes in demand. This cooperation
guaranteed a constant purchase of produced cloth, but it involved a certain
danger of economic dependence.
While English cloth producers managed maintain some independence by
orientating their production to different customer areas, the Norwegian suppli-
ers of stockfish were entirely dependent on their Hanseatic partners. Stockfish,
dried cod, was the most important export good in Norway. In the thirteenth
century, stockfish became the royal staple for trade in the west Norwegian
34 Schubert (2000), 24.
35 Burkhardt (2007); Jenks (1992); Lloyd (1991).
36 Jenks, vol. 1 (1992), 452; Lloyd (1991), 84–92.