Champagne fairs
The Champagne fairs were an annual cycle of
The towns
The towns in which the six fairs of the annual circuit were held had some features in common, but none that would have inexorably drawn the commerce of the fairs: each was situated at an intersection or former way-station of
Organization
The series of six fairs, each lasting more than six weeks, were spaced through the year's calendar: the fair of
In actual practice, arrivals and departures were more flexible and efficient, relying on flexibly formed and dissolved partnerships, which freed the "silent" partners from actually undertaking the arduous journey on each occasion, delegated agents (certi missi) who could receive payment and undertake contracts, and factors, integrated with communications and transportation, and the extensive use of
The towns provided huge warehouses, still to be seen at
Reaching the Champagne fairs
To cross the
Dominance and decline
The fairs were also important in the spread and exchange of cultural influences—the first appearance of Gothic architecture in Italy was the result of merchants from Siena rebuilding their houses in the Northern style.[14] The phrase "not to know your Champagne fairs" meant not knowing what everyone else did.[15]
It was in the interest of the
Traditional historians have dated the decline of the Champagne fairs to the subordination of Champagne to the Royal Domain brought about by the marriage alliance of
As the Champagne fairs dwindled to insignificance, their place was assumed by the fairs of
Notes
- ^ Longnon, Auguste (1911). Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 828. . In
- ^ M. M. Postan, E Miller eds., Cambridge Economic History of Europe, (Cambridge University Press) 1952, vol. ii, p. 230
- ^ R. L. Reynolds, "The market for northern textiles in Genoa, 1179–1200", Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire 8.3 (1929:495–533); Reynolds, "Merchants of Arras and the overland trade with Genoa in the twelfth century", Revue belge 9.2 (1930:495–533); Reynolds, "Genoese trade in the late twelfth century, particularly in cloth from the fairs of Champagne", Journal of Economic and Business History 3.3 (1931:362–81).
- ^ ISBN 0-521-34107-8, pp. 231–36.
- ^ ISBN 0-900952-38-5, pp. 65–66
- ^ https://mises.org/library/great-depression-14th-century "During the High Middle Ages, the fairs of Champagne were the main mart for international trade, and the hub of local and international commerce."
- ^ This point was made by Janet L. Abu-Lughod, Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250–1350 "The Fairs of Champagne and Their Towns" (Oxford University Press US) 1991, pp. 55ff: "certainly there were many other modest bourgs, scattered throughout France, whose characteristics were equally propitious for development".
- ^ R. D. Face, "Techniques of Business in the Trade between the Fairs of Champagne and the South of Europe in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries", The Economic History Review, New Series, 10.3 (1958:427–38) p. 427 note 2.
- ^ These aspects form the tenor of Face 1958.
- ^ Paul R. Milgrom, Douglass C. North and Barry R. Weingast, "The role of institutions in the revival of trade: the law merchant, private judges and the Champagne fairs", in Kaushik Basu, ed. Readings in Political Economy 2003:68ff.
- ^ Huvelin, "Les couriers des foires de Champagne", Annales de Droit Commercial Français Étranger et International (Paris) 1898, noted by Face 1958.
- ^ Face 1958:435.
- ISBN 0-00-216133-8
- ^ Braudel, Vol 3, p. 66
- ^ Braudel, Vol 3, p. 111
- ^ Cambridge Economic History of Europe ii, 230.
- ^ ISBN 0-8419-1232-7, p. 27
- ^ Janet L. Abu-Lughod p. 58.
- ^ Rothbard, Murray (23 November 2009). "The Great Depression of the 14th Century". Mises Daily Articles. Mises Institute. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
- ^ Abu-Lughod p. 58.
- ^ Carlo M. Cipolla, Before the Industrial Revolution: European Society and Economy, 1000–1700 (London, 1994), p. 202.
- ^ Fernand Braudel, "Civilization & Capitalism, 15–18th Centuries, Vol 1: The Structures of Everyday Life", p. 419, William Collins & Sons, London 1981
- ISBN 1-85585-081-8; p. 265
- ^ Clive Day, A History of Commerce (London: Longmans, Green) 1914) "Fairs" pp. 65–67 and map p. 66.