THE BEGINNING OF TRADE 



the manufacture of cloth was started in England, by which time it had 

 become a saying in Flanders that " We buy fox skins from the English 

 for a groat and re-sell them the tails for a guilder." 



The Rise of Flanders. 



While England was distracted by the beginning of the Hundred 

 Years' War and while her Merchant Service was being used entirely as 

 a transport force, the Mediterranean traders, especially those from 

 Venice, ventured to cross the Bay of Biscay and establish themselves 

 in the Flanders markets. The Count of Flanders gave them adequate 

 protection and was wise enough to be satisfied with very moderate duties 

 while the English Kings were squeezing them for the last penny. The 

 Hanseatic League welcomed newcomers and the result was that a 

 market was established in the Low Countries for Mediterranean and 

 Eastern products from which we were totally barred, and from this in 

 due course grew the Dutch carrying trade and all the trouble that it 

 brought. 



Another Result of the Times. 



Another result of the way trade was maltreated and left unprotected 

 is shown by the establishment of the Ludgate debtors' prison in the time 

 of Richard IL The debtors put themselves there as a kind of sanctuary 

 from their creditors, the regime being mild and the inmates allowed out 

 with a guard. Significant is the fact that it is noted at the time that the 

 inmates were practically all merchants and tradespeople driven to want 

 by losses sustained through piracy at sea, which at this time had attained 

 huge proportions. 



The Beginning of the Coal Trade. 



The Romans worked coal while they occupied England but after 

 their day it seems to have gone out in favour of wood for many cen- 

 turies. It was Edward III who made the first great efTort on behalf of 

 the coal trade and it was due to his interest that the business was put 

 on to a sound basis. In this connection, although of rather later date, 

 it is interesting to note that the fairy-tale connection between Dick 

 Whittington and his cat probably arose from the fact that he made the 

 greater part of his fortune in the coal trade, which at that time was 

 carried down the coast in small sailing vessels named " Cats." 



The Navigation Act, 1382. 



The British Navigation Act is generally associated with the time of 

 the Commonwealth and the Wars with Holland, but the first one was 

 passed as early as 1382 when Richard II enacted that British subjects 

 should export and import goods in English ships only, with the majority 

 of the crews English subjects. This was to foster the Navy, which at 

 that time had dropped to a very low ebb, but it was practically nullified 

 by an amendment in the following year which defeated its object. In 

 1464 a second Act was passed, but after three years' feeble enforcement 

 this was allowed to lapse. 



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