The 29th Harlaxton Medieval Symposium
‘The Medieval Merchant’
23-26 July 2012
Convened by Anne F. Sutton and Caroline M. Barron
It was a pleasure to return to Harlaxton after several (too many!) years to attend the 2012 symposium on 'The Medieval Merchant'. The programme was enticing, thoughtfully put together by the organisers, Caroline Barron and Anne Sutton, to present the latest research by new and more established scholars. The surroundings were, as ever, conducive to both serious academic discussion but also (thanks to the welcome reappearance of the sun) to socialising in the gardens around Harlaxton College. The conference was, as ever, efficiently and good-humouredly facilitated by Christian Steer, working with the excellent team from Harlaxton.
The programme was organised into themes which brought to life in their different ways the world of the medieval merchant – trade and consumption, culture, piety, death, marriage, politics and writing. The mark of a good conference is often the way that commonalities between papers and themes emerge, especially during discussion. Here, for instance, we had several presentations which emphasised the skills possessed by medieval merchants, which as well as ensuring their own financial success could lead them to influence the organisation of parishes, or be sought by princes for key administrative tasks. Mark Whelan told the remarkable story of Filippo Scolari, an Italian financier who was given responsibility for the Hungarian empire's southern border by Emperor Maximilian, while Samantha Harper described how Sir John Shaa (a London goldsmith) was entrusted with important duties by Henry VII, including the burial of Princess Elizabeth (the king's fourth child). Inevitably, perhaps, London and its merchants featured prominently in the programme. John Oldland persuasively argued for a significant change in the wealth and consumption patterns of London merchants between 1480 and 1520, a result of rapid increases in the value of both imports and exports, and the city's share of national trade. Justin Colson's paper presented intriguing insights into the government of the London fishmongers, where the fishmongers and stockfishmongers for many years had separate wardens, a reflection of the locations of the two trades and their markets. However, there was also discussion of the city's relationships with the rest of the country: Jessica Lutkin's paper surveyed the evidence for goldsmiths in English urban centres, and posed some important questions about the reach and influence of the London goldsmiths.
The culture and writing of medieval merchants was another prominent theme, not surprisingly given the interdisciplinary traditions of Harlaxton symposia. Malcolm Richardson reflected on ‘mercantile rhetoric' as found in sources such as guild minutes; Julia Boffey and Anne Sutton reminded us respectively of the cultural importance of Robert Fabyan and William Caxton; and Charlotte Bolland and Jane Bridgeman each provided insights into the portrayal of merchants in art. The cultural and religious interests and contributions of merchants were explored by several presenters, with Clive Burgess encouraging more work on their involvement in parish churches, while Nicholas Rogers' paper ranged widely over the subject of saints and cults associated with merchants. The naming patterns of merchants' ships was a particularly intriguing aspect of this, emphasising (as other papers also did) the importance of international travel and communication.
This was a stimulating and wide-ranging conference, which provided much food for thought. The contributions from early career scholars were especially welcome. Other highlights included a very rewarding excursion to Stamford, with guided visits to William Browne's hospital, and to All Saints church, where wonderful brasses of the Brownes survive. Finally - and setting a new standard in Harlaxton events - was a 'Mumming', performed after dinner in the Great Hall by a troupe under the imaginative direction of Meg Twycross and Elisabeth Dutton. The text used was that written by John Lydgate for the mayoralty of the London mercer William Estfield in the 1430s. Guests at dinner were entertained and intrigued in equal measure, not least by the appearance of Christian Steer and Hannes Kleineke, representing St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London respectively, and Anne Sutton as the 'spirit' of the Mercers.
Matthew Davies, August 2012
Monday 23 July
2.00 Welcome: Dr Gordon Kingsley (Harlaxton College) and Christian Steer (Secretary of the Symposium)
2.15 Merchant Writing
Malcolm Richardson (Louisiana State University): The Rhetoric of Merchant Writing
Julia Boffey (QMUL): Robert Fabyan as a Reader and Translator
3.45 Tea
4.15 - 6.00 Merchants in Politics
John McEwan (Aberystwyth University): Merchants and their Seals in the 13th Century
David Stocker (University of Leeds): Wool and Politics in the Reign of Edward IV: the case of the Merchant Stockers of Wyboston and London
Sam Harper (IHR): Sir John Shaa: goldsmith and facilitator of Court-City Relations in the reign of Henry VII
6.30 Dinner
8.00 Jane Bridgeman (St Martin's College of Art) 'A Marchant...in mottolee': a glimpse at the dress of some late medieval and early modern merchants trading in Italy and Flanders
9.00 Bar
Tuesday 24 July
7.00 Breakfast
9.00 -10.45 Merchant Piety
Nicholas Rogers (Sydney Sussex College): Trading Saints: Cults associated with Merchant Activity
Paul Cockerham (Independent Scholar): Some relief in flat monument trading: Hanse Merchant memorials
Clive Burgess (RHUL): Mammon in the Service of God: Merchants and their Piety in the Later Middle Ages
10.45 Coffee
11.30 - 12.45 Merchants in Eastern Europe
Mike Carr (IHR): Merchants as Crusaders during the time of Turkish Expansion in the Mediterranean 1300-1500
Mark Whelan (RHUL): Merchants in the Hungarian Royal Service in the 15th Century
1.00 Lunch
2.15 Wendy Childs (University of Leeds): 'A Paradise hit is to behold': Opportunities for Profit in Iberia in the Later Middle Ages
3.30 Tea
4.15 - 6.00 Merchants and Consumption
Gill Draper (British Association for Local History): The Medieval Merchants of Kent
Jessica Lutkin (University of York): Goldsmiths: London versus Provincial
John Oldland (Bishop's University): Changes in Trade and Consumption in Early Tudor London
6.30 Dinner
8.00 Film of the Merchant of Venice and/or Croquet on the lawn
Wednesday 25 July
7.00 Breakfast
9.00 - 10.15 Merchants and the Law
Henry Summerson (Oxford DNB): Calamity and Commerce: the Burning of Boston fair in 1288
Susanne Jenks (Anglo-American Legal Tradition Project): Justice for
Strangers: The Experience of Alien Merchants in Fifteenth-century English Common Law Courts
10.15 Coffee
11.00 - 12.45 Merchant Culture
Christopher Nicholson (UCL/SSEES): 'Mercator dicit...': The Relationship Between the Merchant and his Assistant in Mastickat (Old Czech play)
Anne Lancashire (University of Toronto): Merchant Drama in London
Jennifer Ward (Independent Scholar): Merchant Culture in Colchester and its Region in the Later Middle Ages
1.00 Picnic lunch in grounds or in refectory
2.00 Outing to Stamford to visit All Saints Church and Browne's Alms house. Speakers will included Dr Sarah Brown and Professor Alan Rogers.
7.00 Reception in Bar
7.30 Conference Dinner in the Great Hall (black tie optional)
Thursday 26 July
9.15 - 11.00 Merchant Social Networks
Sally Badham (Independent Scholar): Merchants in Religious Guilds
Carole Hill (UEA): Medieval Merchant Wives and Widows: Networking in Norwich
Justin Colson (IHR): Medieval London Fishmongers and Local Networks
11.00 Coffee
11.45 - 1.00 Merchants: Fiction and Fact
Rosalind Field (RHUL): Mercantile Malice? Chaucer's Merchant and his Tale
Anne Sutton (The Ricardian): William Caxton: King's Printer
1.15 Lunch and depart
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