CHAPTER V. 



TRADE AND MARKETS. 



AT the time with which these volumes begin, English trade 

 was very limited. It had hardly penetrated the Mediterranean, 

 and was chiefly confined, as it had been in the days of Eliza- 

 beth's father, to the western coast of Europe as far as Seville, 

 and to the Low Counties and the Baltic. The trade which had 

 been established with Russia was almost extinguished after the 

 death of Ivan the Terrible (1584) and during the disturbed reign 

 of his successor Feodor. An attempt was made to establish 

 commercial relations with Turkey, and a Turkey Company was 

 constituted by charter, but the document gives no great expec- 

 tations of profit from the undertaking, as the company is 

 expected to guarantee the queen's customs by its exports and 

 imports, under the monopoly which is given it, only to the 

 extent of 500 a year. 



The principal trade of England was with Antwerp, wasted 

 in 'the Spanish fury' under Alva, and finally ruined by the 

 capture of the city in 1585 by Parma. After it was taken, 

 its trade, its wealth, and as many of its merchants as'could 

 escape with their effects migrated to Amsterdam, which 

 gradually became during the period before me the acknow- 

 ledged centre of European commerce. But not a few of the 

 fugitive Flemings passed over to England, and established 

 manufactures which had hitherto been unknown in the country, 

 though even before this time a considerable trade in woollen 

 goods had been developed. 



