Skåne Market
The Skåne Market or Scania market (Danish Skånemarkedet, Swedish Skånemarknaden) was a major
The fair took place from August 24 to October 9, mainly in locations between the two Scanian towns of
Herring trade and salt import
The basis for the market's popularity was the rich herring
The demand for herring during this period was great; it was a fairly inexpensive source of
During the fishing season, the necessary
Danish taxation
The fishing trade was closely regulated by the Danish crown, with special rules regarding issues such as the fishing nets' mesh size, enforced by special bailiffs who policed the trade. Royal governors were installed in castles at Skanør and Falsterbo to collect customs and act as judicial and administrative leaders.[1]
Apart from the fishermen and the local fish traders, merchants from Lübeck and other Hanseatic towns, as well as from England, Scotland, Flanders, and Normandy, came to the herring market to buy and sell herring, but also to trade in other goods with the Scandinavian merchants, landowners and peasants. Traders arrived from Denmark, eastern Norway and Sweden, as well as the rest of the Baltic. A wide variety of goods were traded, among them horses, butter, iron, tar, grain, and handicraft products from the North, Prussia, and Livonia.
The fishing and the Scania Market yielded a large income to the
Strife between Denmark and the Hanseatic League
Most of the 14th century was characterized by strife and wars between Danish kings and the Hansa. According to a German view, the Danes got herring "for nothing from God"—only to sell it dearly.[citation needed] As opposed to Stockholm and Bergen, which had Scandinavia's largest Hanseatic colonies, the Danish towns of the Scania Market did not encourage large permanent settlements of Hansa merchants; most of the merchants arrived in the summer and went back home after the end of the market.[5]
In 1367, the Hansa towns allied themselves with Sweden, Mecklenburg, and Holstein, and the Confederation of Cologne went to war against Denmark and Norway.[6] With the Treaty of Stralsund in 1370, a peace was settled that left the Hanseatic League in control of the fortifications at the Scania Market and along the rest of Öresund for 15 years.[5]
The abundance of herring around Scania abruptly ceased in the beginning of the 15th century and the region lost its importance as a trading place.
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 90-04-13652-5, pp. 39–44.
- ^ a b c d Skånemarknaden Archived 2013-04-18 at archive.today. Terra Scaniae, 2007. In Swedish. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
- ISBN 90-04-13652-5, p. 39.
- ^ Weterings, E.J. Negen eeuwen markt in Leiden, 1996, Leiden
- ^ ISBN 0-8240-4787-7, p. 652.
- ISBN 0-415-19073-8, p. 70.
External links
- Scanian Market - by Oresundstid