THE STRUGGLE FOR MANUFACTURES 491 



their jurisdictions the traffic of alum from the Levant. The 

 Tolfa alum was found to be superior to that brought from 

 the East, and it was bought readily by the dyers and other 

 users, so much so that the demand increased rapidly. Accor- 

 dingly the farmers of the undertaking- made large profits ; 

 the Papal Treasury considered that a share of the enhanced 

 returns was due to them, and extorted a higher rent. The 

 farmers thereupon raised the price, until it became cheaper to 

 use the inferior Levantine product, and then difficulties arose, 

 particularly in Flanders, at that time the most important seat 

 of the woollen industry. According to M. Jules Finot, 1 Charles 

 the Bold in 1467 gave the people of his dominions permission to 

 import alum from any part they chose, but before a menace of 

 direct excommunication he capitulated to the demands of the 

 Holy See, while the king of England on the other hand 

 remained deaf and insensible thereto. By a treaty concluded 

 with the Pope in 1468, Charles engaged not to permit the 

 importation into his dominions of alum other than that from 

 the Pope's mines. This treaty appears to have held good for 

 about twenty years, until the price of the Papal alum was raised 

 to such an extent as to cause a general protest. The Arch- 

 duke Phillipp the Fair, who was now at the head of the 

 Government in the Low Countries, appointed a committee of 

 the principal citizens, merchants, and drapers of Bruges to 

 investigate the matter. The committee recommended him to 

 disregard the Papal pretensions and to authorise the impor- 

 tation of alum from the Levant. It was known that England 

 had taken no notice of the menaces of the Holy See, and that 

 Italian ships continued to supply her ports with alum from the 

 country of the Infidels. The Flemish merchants took advan- 

 tage of this to bring over Levant alum from England, and by the 

 year 1505 this importation amounted to a considerable quantity. 

 This meant a corresponding reduction in the income from the 

 Papal mines; the Pope, Julius II., at once took steps to arrest 

 this, and in 1506 a Bull was issued pronouncing excommuni- 

 cation against those merchants who went to procure alum from 

 the dominions of the Grand Turk, and against those who 

 bought it from the merchants, resold it, or were otherwise 

 concerned in the traffic. Public opinion in Flanders was greatly 



1 Bulletin Hist'orique et Pkilologique, 1902 : Le Commerce de Falun dans les 

 Pays- Bus et la bulle ency clique du P ape Jules II, en 1506. 



