1. Commercial activities started by pirates
The story begins with the vikings.
Scandinavia is located in the northwest corner of Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea, bordering Russia and Finland in the north and Denmark in the south. The name of the peninsula means "dark place": summer is short and winter is long here, and winter nights are long. Germans also live here, who have long lived by grazing, farming and fishing. When they started their pirate career in the 6th century, the plundered Europeans called them "Northman", which means "northerners", while they called themselves "Viking", which means traveling and plundering.
They do travel and plunder everywhere. In fact, they are famous as pirates in the world. The Vikings who first appeared in historical records were recorded as an attack on Britain in 789 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. At that time, they were mistaken for businessmen by local officials, but these pirates killed the officials who wanted to tax them. The second record was made in 793 AD. In the next 200 years, the vikings invaded the coastal countries of Europe, plundered the inland upstream along the river, and once controlled Russia and the Baltic Sea. It is said that they have reached the Mediterranean Sea and the Caspian Sea. One of them crossed the Baltic Sea, made an expedition to Russia, and arrived in Kiev and Baurgard. Some ships sailed to the Caspian Sea and went to Baghdad to do business with Arabs. The more famous Viking Group marched to the southwest, causing an uproar in the heart of Europe. Generally speaking, Vikings attacked in all directions in a fan shape based on Scandinavia. There is evidence that they were there 500 years before Columbus discovered America.
Wherever the vikings went, they either robbed quickly or extorted money. The people were painted with charcoal, and the king could do nothing about it. According to records, in 845, the Vikings got the first batch of 7,000 pounds of Danish gold and silver from Charles, the bald king of Frank. In 856, he was blackmailed for another 5,000 pounds. During the 9th century and10th century, Franks paid Danish gold 65,438+05 times, totaling over 40,000 pounds of silver coins and 600 pounds of gold coins. In England, the Vikings began to claim Danish gold in 865. Since then, they have frequently levied more and more, and the amount is increasing: 99 1 22,000 pounds per year,1kloc-0/2 years, 48,000 pounds,10/8 years, 72,000 pounds. This situation lasted until 105 1, and Edward, the confessor of the king of England, paid his last tribute-the salary of the Nordic mercenaries.
A large number of foreign currencies, especially Anglo-Saxon currencies, entered Scandinavia by plundering and acquiring Danish gold in the tenth century. According to incomplete statistics, this figure is as high as 270,700 Jin of silver coins, at least 600 Jin of gold coins.
Vikings plundered everywhere, making the dark western Europe worse.
When they feel confident or unable to travel back and forth, they will also settle down in some places, regardless of the length of time. According to records, Norwegian pirates have been wintering in Ireland since 820. In 850, Danish pirates on Sanet Island in England never returned home. During this period, their food supply mainly came from looting. In about 10 century, the Danes occupied and ruled the eastern half of England for about 100 year; That is, in the 10 century, the French king could do nothing about these pirates, so he promised to give them a piece of land and named their leader the Duke of France-this land is Normandy, and this Duke is the Duke of Normandy. Later, the Duke entered England, which opened the history of England.
Facing the plundered huge wealth, the Nordic people mainly take the following two ways to deal with it: First, pay the living expenses. At first, the Nordic people plundered gold and silver and squandered it, such as buying luxury goods such as silk, spices and jewelry, making brooches and other handicrafts, giving them to attendants and leaving them to future generations. Second, manage industry and commerce. After the tenth century, with the weakening of predatory activities, the Nordic people gradually changed from pirates to businessmen.
That is, after the end of the 10 century, the Nordic people almost suddenly stopped piracy. There may be three reasons: first, after hundreds of years of plunder, they have their own land in different places, so they settled down and began to take care of it; The other is that some vikings used the plundered gold and silver wealth to start business and trade; Thirdly, he was gradually influenced by Christianity and wanted to live a stable life. A Viking told King Alfred of England that the land in his hometown was long and narrow, which required both grazing and farming. It is close to the sea, and there are rocks everywhere. As a leader, pirates only have 20 cows, 20 sheep, 20 pigs, a small piece of cultivated land, and cultivated land with horses.
165438+ Since the beginning of the 20th century, Viking plunder and extortion have turned into trade. The influx of gold and silver from overseas first stimulated the development of fur business in northern Europe. Secondly, the traditional amber trade is also promoted by it. Third, the plundered gold and silver wealth also attracted businessmen from Europe and the East, who brought various commodities into Scandinavia. In bilka market, there are many commodities, such as spices, silk, woolen goods, wine, glass, gold and silver ornaments and bronze handicrafts. Nordic shops selling fur, sea ivory, amber, rope, sea fish and honey are lined up. In order to make a profit, the Nordic people even provided slaves to the Arabs.
Compared with the business activities in the Mediterranean, their business activities have two obvious characteristics.
First, inland trade is developed. Vikings entered the interior of Europe from the beginning by virtue of rivers. They plundered the routes they opened everywhere, and their settlements in various places later became trade networks and markets. Mediterranean commerce has been centered on the Mediterranean for more than a thousand years, and it was not until the 10 century that rivers and land entered the European inland. In this way, from the 10 century, Europe began the process of recovery and revival from the sea at the north and south ends.
For example, Danes and Norwegians entered England, Scotland, Ireland and Frank along the coastline, while Swedes entered Russia eastward and built forts along the way. When the winter ended and the river thawed, these Swedes and Russians headed for Constantinople along the Dnieper River, where they had a designated trade zone. They exchanged amber, fur and honey from the east for spices, wine, silk and gold and silver utensils, and then shipped them back to the north. A large number of Arabic coins and Byzantine coins have been unearthed in Russia, which shows the existence and scale of this trade.
As a result of this inland trade, the connection between eastern Europe and western Europe was broken in the south and connected through exchanges in the north. Commodities from eastern Europe and even Asia entered western Europe from the north road, and the eastern economy and culture further influenced western Europe.
Second, maritime trade has been strengthened. Viking's maritime trade is more maritime than the Mediterranean: the Mediterranean is far from the ocean, almost the inland sea of Europe, Asia and Africa, and its natural environment is relatively mild; The vikings faced the ocean directly. Although they started out offshore, they were obviously more familiar with the ocean than Mediterranean businessmen. In addition, the west coast of Europe twists and turns, and there are many offshore islands, which provides convenience for Nordic people to enter the land from various coasts.
2. The rise of northern commerce
The commercial activities initiated by Vikings in northern Europe first flourished in Flanders, which is directly related to the regional characteristics of Flanders.
First, geographical location. Belgium is located in the west of Europe, bordering Germany in the east, the Netherlands in the north, France in the south, Luxembourg in the southeast and Britain across the sea in the west. The coastline is 66.5 kilometers long. Two thirds of the country is hilly and flat lowlands. The whole territory is divided into three parts: the Flanders Plain on the northwest coast, the hilly area in the middle and the Ardennes Plateau in the southeast. The highest point is 694 meters above sea level. The main rivers are Mas River and Eskau River, which belong to marine temperate broad-leaved forest climate with four distinct seasons. Known as the "crossroads" of Western Europe.
From 57 BC to 5/kloc-0 BC, it was conquered by Caesar of Rome and belonged to the Belgian province of Rome. From the 4th century, it was occupied by Franks and became a part of Frankish kingdom. In the mid-9th century, its west (the territory of the Earl of Flanders) belonged to West Frank and its east belonged to East Frank.
Second, the economic foundation. There are wet grasslands along the coast of Flanders, and the quality of sheep wool raised here is superior to other areas-according to historical records, all the sheep in Frank are skin and bones. Since a long time ago, the wool textile industry has developed here, and the wool shawls and wool cloaks produced are very popular everywhere. The army also needs this product very much. There was a factory that made military uniforms here a long time ago. At that time, one of Charlemagne's gifts to the caliph was the wool cloak made here. So Flemish wool products, Nordic furs, Arabian and Byzantine silk products are all listed as luxury goods together. In this way, Flanders is not only a transportation hub, but also a textile industrial base, providing goods for trade. The wool textile industry in Flanders is developing rapidly, and soon the local raw materials are in short supply. Merchants import wool from England-the quality of wool in England is better, which further expands the market of Flemish textiles.
Interestingly, the more developed the wool textile industry in Flanders is, the less interested people here are in business: they prefer to concentrate on industrial development and leave their business to foreigners, that is, Scandinavians and later Lufthansa.
Third, urban development. Driven by commerce, textile industry, garment industry and other handicrafts, the cities here have flourished rapidly. From the beginning, they were industrial and commercial cities, autonomous cities or urban communes. Feudal kingship was weak here, and the lords relied on industry and commerce (in the south) and agriculture (in the north).
Bruges got the permission to build the city on July 27th, 1 128, and built new city walls and canals. /kloc-At the beginning of the 3rd century, Bruges has become one of the important cities in the Flanders fabric market. Entrepreneurs in this city have even increased their wool production in England and Scotland. British merchants brought Normandy grains and Gasconi wine, and the Hanseatic League ships filled the port, so new wooden boats had to be arranged between Dunham and Louis, so that there was a place to berth. 1277, the first merchant ship from Genoa sailed into Bruges, from which Bruges became the first commercial stronghold connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the North Sea. The connection between the North Sea and the South China Sea has been communicated.
The development of business has promoted the development of business and financial technology, and quickly brought a lot of capital to the banking industry in Bruges. The stock exchange opened in 1309 and became the most advanced financial market in the low-lying countries in14th century. The Venetians came to Bruges five years later to learn this financial market technology.
/kloc-In the 4th century, the importance of cloth trade in Bruges gradually lost. Philip II of Burgundy became Earl of Flanders in 1384. He built his own palaces in Brussels, Lille and Bruges, attracting a large number of artists, bankers and other important people from all over Europe. The main activities in Bruges have gradually transformed into banking, luxury goods trading and cultural centers. 1376, new town hall in Castle Square.
Antwerp is another industrial, commercial and port city in the Netherlands. There were settlements in the second and third centuries. At the beginning of the 8th century, a business village was built on the right bank of the Guerder River. Antwerp was founded in 129 1. /kloc-Joined the Hanseatic League in the 3rd century. After the grain trade, the wool trade flourished. With the invention of diamond grinding method,/kloc-0 built a small-scale diamond processing workshop in 476, and/kloc-0 became the world diamond processing and trade center at the beginning of the 7th century. The stock exchange 153 1 opened, and the financial industry rose. /kloc-In the 6th century, woolen cloth, carpet, glass, printing, diamonds and other industries developed rapidly, becoming the most prosperous commercial and financial city and the largest trading port in Europe at that time, with a population of 65,438+million.
In this way, the rise of northern commerce, coupled with the revival of Mediterranean commerce, established the European trade network and laid the foundation for the European market.