The Interactions of Amsterdam and Antwerp with the Baltic region, 1400–1800: De Nederlanden en het Oostzeegebied, 1400–1800

200 Pages·1983·3.93 MB·English

by  R. W. Unger (auth.)

THE INTERACTIONS OF AMSTERDAM AND
ANTWERP WITH THE BALTIC REGION, 1400-1800
De Nederlanden en het Oostzeegebied, 1400-1800
WERKEN
UITGEGEVEN DOOR
DE VEREENIGING
Ret N ederlandsch Economisch
Ristorisch Archief
GEVESTIGD TE AMSTERDAM
16
The interactions of Amsterdam and Antwerp with
the Baltic region, 1400-1800
De N ederlanden en het Oostzeegebied, 1400-1800
Redactiecommissie: Prof.dr. W.J.Wieringa, Voorzitter; Prof.dr. H.F.J.M.
van den Eerenbeemt; Prof.dr. H. Baudet; Prof.dr. H.J. van Stuijven
berg, Secretaris.
The interactions of Amsterdam and
Antwerp with the Baltic region,
1400-1800
De Nederlanden en het Oostzeegebied, 1400-1800
Papers presented at the third international conference of the
'Association Internationale d' Histoire des Mers Nordiques de
l'Europe', Utrecht, August 30th-September 3rd 1982.
Springer-Science+Business Media, B.Y. 1983
Uitgegeven met steun van De Directie van de Oostersche Handel en
Reederijen
De M.A.O.C.Gravin van BijlandtStichting
De Kredietbank N.V. te Brussel
Het Unger-Van Brero Fonds
Het NEHA-Fonds
© 1983bySpringer Science+BusinessMediaDordrecht
OriginallypublishedbyMartinusNijhoff,Leidenin1983.
Softcoverreprintofthehardcover 1stedition 1983
Allrights reserved, includingthe right totrans1ateor to
reproducethisbookor partsthereofinany form
ISBN978-90-247-8012-9 ISBN978-94-017-5952-6(eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-5952-6
PREFACE
'The interactions of Amsterdam and Antwerp with the Baltic region,
1400-1800' was the theme of the third international conference of the
Association Internationale d'Histoire des Mers Nordiques de l'Europe,
held from 30 August through 3 September 1982 in Utrecht. The papers
presented there are collected and printed in this volume.
The fact that the printing of the complete text ofa ll the lectures in the
Werken van het Nederlandsch Economisch-Historisch Archiifhad been financi
ally guaranteed helped to make possible a rather unusual procedure
during the sessions of the conference. Each lecturer had been requested
to send his or her complete text as well as a resume in another language
to the conference secretariat prior to the conference. These resumes
were xeroxed and given to all the conference members at the beginning
of the conference. At each session three or four consecutive lectures, of
15 to 20 minutes each, on mutually related subjects were given. The
lecturers were requested to restrict themselves to the main points out
lined in their resumes in another language. All those present therefore
had had the opportunity to become familiar with these beforehand and
simultaneous translation was rendered unnecessary. After three or four
short lectures had been presented, the discussion was led by the chair
man of that session who had been chosen for this function because of his
knowledgeability in the subjects treated.
This procedure proved to be even more effective than had been
anticipated and brought about the lively discussion and stimulating
exchange ofi deas that had been hoped for. I wish to express my warmest
thanks to the generous donors who, by their financial aid, made the
publication of this volume and thereby also the realisation of this
manner ofc onducting the conference possible. I wish to thank especially
Prof. Dr.J.H. van Stuijvenberg who, as director of the Nederlandsch
Economisch-Historisch Archief, already in the very first stage of pre
paration pledged to make one· volume of his Werken available for the
publication of the conference papers, and to take upon himself the job of
editing them. May this volume keep alive the memory of an extremely
fruitful conference.
Johanna Maria van Winter
Professor of Medieval History of the State University in Utrecht, as Secretary of the
Netherlands Commission for the History of the North and Baltic Seas Trade in charge of
the organization of the conference
VORWORT
'The interactions of Amsterdam and Antwerp with the Baltic region,
1400-1800', so lautete das Thema des dritten internationalen Kongres
ses der Association Internationale d'Histoire des Mers Nordiques de
l'Europe, der yom 30. August bis zum 3. September 1982 in Utrecht
stattfand. Der vorliegende Band enthiilt die Vortragstexte im Druck.
Die Zusage von Geldmitteln fUr den Druck der ungekiirzten Vor
tragstexte in den Werken van het Nederlandsch Economisch-Historisch Archiif
ermoglichte eine recht ungebriiuchliche Arbeitsweise wiihrend der
Kongressitzungen. Jeder Sprecher musste im voraus beim Kongresse
kretariat nicht nur den vollstiindigen Vortragstext einreichen, sondern
auch eine Zusammenfassung dieses Textes in einer anderen Sprache als
der, in der der Vortrag gehalten wurde. Diese Kurzfassungen wurden
vervielf<iltigt und zu Beginn des Kongresses allen Teilnehmern iiber
reicht. Bei jeder Sitzung wurden nach einander drei oder vier kurze
Vortriige iiber verwandte Themen gehalten, woftir den Sprechern
hochstens 15 bis 20 Minuten zur Verftigung standen. So mussten sie sich
aufdas Wesentliche beschriinken, das, in anderer Sprache, auch in den
Zusammenfassungen zu finden war. AIle Anwesenden konnten sich also
im voraus vorbereiten; umstiindliche Simultaniibersetzungen waren
iiberfliissig. Nach jeweils einer Stunde mit drei oder vier Vortriigen
folgte eine Diskussion unter Leitung des Sitzungsvorsitzenden, der
aufgrund seiner Fachkenntnisse gebeten worden war, diese Rolle zu
iibernehmen.
Diese Arbeitsweise wirkte sich iiber aIle Erwartungen giinstig aus
und hatte wie erhofft eine lebhafte Diskussion und einen anregenden
Gedankenaustausch zur Folge. Darum will ich an dieser Stelle den
Spend ern danken, die mit ihrem finanziellen Beitrag das Erscheinen
dieser Sammlung und damit die besondere Arbeitsweise dieses Kon
gresses ermoglicht haben; mein Dank gilt vor allem Prof. Dr.J.H. van
Stuijvenberg, der als Leiter des Nederlandsch Economisch-Historisch
Archief schon zu Beginn der Vorbereitungen geneigt war, einen Teil
seiner Werken zu diesem Zweck zur VerfUgung zu stellen, und der so
freundlich war, die Redaktion auf sich zu nehmen. Dass diese Samm
lung noch lange die Erinnerung an einen aussergewohnlich fruchtbaren
Kongress wachhalten moge, ist der Wunsch von
Johanna Maria van Winter
Professor fUr Geschichte des Mittelalters an der Universitiit Utrecht, als GeschiiftsfUh
rer der Niederliindischen Arbeitsgruppe fUr die Geschichte des Nord-und Ostseehan
dels beauftragt mit der Kongressleitung.
CONTENTS
Preface V
Vorwort VI
1. R.W. UNGER
Integration of Baltic and Low Countries gram markets,
1400-1800.
2.
H. VAN DER WEE
Money and economic interdependence between the Nor
thern and Southern Netherlands and the Baltic (15th-17th
centuries) . 11
3. A. ATTMAN
The bullion flow from the Netherlands to the Baltic and the
Arctic, 1500-1800. 19
4. J. SCHILDHAUER
Handelsbeziehungen bedeutender Ostseestiidte zu den Nie-
derlanden. 23
5. M. MORINEAU
Le commerce de 1a Baltique dans ses rapports avec Ie com
a
merce hors de 1a Baltique (du milieu du XVIe siecle 1a fin du
XVIIIe). 31
6. c. ROMER
Erste Schritte nach Amsterdam. 43
7. M. BOGUCKA
The Baltic and Amsterdam in the first half of the 17th centu-
ry. 51
8. R. BAETENS
De Zuidelijke Nederlanden en de handel op de Baltische
ruimte (17e eeuw). 59
Summary: The South. Netherlands and the Baltic (17th
century). 71
VIII CONTENTS
9. H. NORTH
Waldwarenhandel und- Produktion. 73
10. H.G. ROSEVEARE
Stockholm-London-Amsterdam: the triangle of trade,
1660-1680. 85
II. K. NEWMAN
Anglo-Dutch commercial co-operation and the Russia trade
in the eighteenth century. 95
12. H. HOUTMAN-DE SMEDT
De Zuidelijke Nederlanden en de Oostzee in de 18e eeuw
(Oostenrijkse periode) . 105
Summary: The Austrian Netherlands and the Baltic regions
(18th century). 120
13. E. CIESLAK
Amsterdam als Bankier von Gdansk im 18. Jahrhundert. 123
14. J.TH. LINDBLAD and P. DE BUCK
Shipmasters in the shipping between Amsterdam and the
Baltic, 1722-1780. 133
15. C. AHLSTROM
Aspects of the commercial shipping between St. Petersburg
and Western Europe, 1750-1790. 153
16. H.C. JOHANSEN
Ships and cargoes in the traffic between the Baltic and Am-
sterdam in the late eighteenth century. 161
17. E. HARDER-GERSDORFF
Zwischen Riga und Amsterdam: die Geschafte des Herman
Fromhold mit Frederik Beltgens & Comp., 1783-1785. 171
18. W.E. MINCHINTON and D. STARKEY
British shipping; The Netherlands and The Baltic, 1784-
1795. 181
19. K.VERAGHTERT
The Antwerp Port, 1790-1814. 193
l. INTEGRATION OF BAL TIC AND LOW
COUNTRIES GRAIN MARKETS, 1400-1800
R.W. UNGER
Integration of markets, the flow of goods among them, serves to elimi
nate problems of dearth or great abundance. Consumers in regions of
shortage gain from lower prices while producers in regions of surplus
gain from higher returns. Integration also makes possible specialization
in the production of goods in which a region enjoys a comparative
advantage. The more integrated markets are the stronger is the ten
dency for the same price to be paid for the same good at the same time. If
prices should be different traders and shippers will move goods from
places oflower price to meet the higher demand. The goods most likely
to be traded are those with a universal demand, which can be shipped
long distances without deterioration and which can be easily and
exactly described.! The shipment of grain from the Baltic to the Low
Countries had begun by the 14th century. That trade was to last for
centuries and to be one of the most important exchanges in terms of
volume and value, at least in northern Europe, down to the Industrial
Revolution. Though traders maintained contact 'between the Baltic
and the Low Countries through the years from 1400 to 1800 their
success in integrating the markets in those two areas was limited.
Over those four centuries large quantities of grain were moved from
East to West. The records of the tolls charged in the Sund demonstrate
that.2 In the 16th century and again in the 18th it was clear that grain
prices along the coasts of the North and Baltic Seas tended to rise less in
years of shortage because of access to alternate supplies from other
areas. The volume of grain shipped was impressive. The quantity of rye
alone was about 5,500 metric tons in the 1460's and up to well over
20,000 tons each year by the end of the century. By the first half of the
17th century the average for all grains was more than 150,700 metric
tons per year. The maximum reached in 1618 was around 220,000 tons.
1 A. Marshall, Principles of Economics (London, 1920) 8th ecl:, p. 470.
N.S.B. Gras, The Evolution of the English Corn Marketfrom the Twelfth to the Eighteenth
Century (Cambridge, Mass., 1915) p. 34.
2 N.E. Bang, ed., Tabeller over Skibsfart og Varetransport gennem Oresund 1497-1660
(Kif>benhavn, 1906-1933).
W.S. Unger, 'De Sonttabellen'. In: Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis, vol. 41 (1926) pp.
137-155.