Bergen in Norway, sixteenth century. Hieronymus Scholeus. Source: Civitates Orbis Terrarum, Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden, Collbn Atlas 45-2, fol. 38-39 Guest (guest) IP: 170.106.33.14 On: Mon, 27 Sep 2021 06:47:25 341 Hollanders in pursuit of mercantile success on Hanseatic ground c. 1440-1560. Bergen, Norway: the other story Justyna Wubs-Mrozewicz The trade in both the Baltic and Norway was in Hanseatic more efficient organisation of trade, com- petitive prices and institutional innovations.4 hands in the Late Middle Ages. Hollanders ventured to The common denominator in these explana- tory models is that these factors were bound penetrate both markets and attained growing success in to foster a change in the sixteenth century, a shift from Hanseatic to Hollandish domi- the Baltic. A lesser known story is that they failed to do so in nance in the Baltic. However, such a change did not occur in Bergen, Norway. This article explores the reasons behind the all the areas where Hansards and Hollanders vied for their share of the market in the fif- failure in the period c. 1440-1560 and advances the view that teenth and sixteenth centuries. My doctoral research dealt with a case in which there was local conditions should be considered.1 continuity, not change in the commercial bal- ance.5 In Bergen, the mercantile capital of (Late) Medieval Norway, Hansards main- tained their grip on foreign trade until at Hollanders, Hansards and the Baltic: one of least the end of the sixteenth century. This the grand themes of research on economic fact has until now been omitted from most expansion in the Late Middle Ages and Early of the analyses of the general Hollandish- Modern period. From the fifteenth century on, Hollanders became increasingly active 1 This article is based on research for my doctoral project, which resulted in the North Sea and Baltic trade. As they in the book Traders, Ties and Tensions. The Interaction of Lübeckers, expanded into the Baltic, they became both Overijsslers and Hollanders in Late Medieval Bergen (Hilversum 2008). 2 R. Unger, ‘Feeding Low Countries Towns: the Grain Trade in the Fifteenth partners and competitors of Hanseatic mer- Century’, Revue Belge de Philologie et d’Histoire 77 (1999) 329-358; M. van chants. Eventually, Hollanders outweighed Tielhof, De Hollandse graanhandel, 1470-1570: koren op de Amsterdamse Hansards in the Baltic trade and took over molen (Den Haag 1995); J. de Vries and A. van der Woude, The first modern economy. Success, failure and perseverance of the Dutch economy, the pivotal role in the grain trade. Academic 1500-1815 (Cambridge 1997). discussion has revolved around the impor- 3 D. Seifert, Kompagnons und Konkurrenten. Holland und die Hanse im tance of Baltic grain for the economic de- späten Mittelalter (Köln 1997); K. Spading, Holland und die Hanse im 15. Jahrhundert: zur Problematik des Übergangs vom Feudalismus zum 2 velopment of the Low Countries, the ex- Kapitalismus (Weimar 1973); W. Blockmans, ‘Der holländische Durchbruch tent of Hollandish-Hanseatic rivalry and in der Ostsee’ in: S. Jenks and M. North eds., Der hansische Sonderweg? 3 Beiträge zur Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte der Hanse (Köln 1993) 49- cooperation, and the factors which enabled 58. Hollandish expansion on Hanseatic com- 4 L. Heerma van Voss and E. van Nederveen Meerkerk, ‘The Hanse and mercial ground in the Baltic. With respect to after. State formation, merchant elites and the efficiency of institutions in the Hanse and Holland c. 1400-1680’ in: H. Brand ed., The German the latter, the focus has been predominantly Hanse in Past & Present Europe. A medieval League as a model for modern on the Hollandish background and qualities interregional cooperation? (Groningen 2007) 221-246; A.E. Christensen, Dutch trade to the Baltic about 1600. Studies in the Sound toll registers specific to Hollandish trade and economic and Dutch shipping records (Copenhagen 1941); E. Pitz, ‘Steigende und policy. There are several complementary fallende Tendenzen in Politik und wirtschaftsleben der Hanse im 16. models of explanation for the Hollandish Jahrhundert’, Hansische Geschichtsblätter 102 (1984) 39-77; H. Brand, ‘Habsburg and Hanseatic diplomacy during the Sound controversy of supremacy in the Baltic: among the most 1532’, in: H. Brand ed., The dynamics of economic culture in the North frequently mentio ned are the formation of Sea- and Baltic Region: in the late Middle Ages and early modern period (Hilversum 2007) 102-121; H. Spruyt, The sovereign state and its competi- a state which was superior to the Hanse in tors: an analysis of systems change (Princeton 1994) 109-129, 151-180. political, diplomatic and economic terms, 5 Wubs-Mrozewicz, Traders, Ties and Tensions. Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis - 123e jaargang, nummer 3, p. 340-353 Guest (guest) IP: 170.106.33.14 On: Mon, 27 Sep 2021 06:47:25 342 Justyna Wubs-Mrozewicz Hanseatic relations. It is also a lesser known versus non-Hanseatic, by shared interest, and part of the history of Hollandish trade alto- by (a purposeful) manner of organisation.8 gether. It must be noted that sources on the In the context of this article, the most relations in Bergen have hardly been used striking finding is that none of the afore- in general discussions – this in spite of the mentioned external factors which boosted fact that the published ones (especially the the Hollandish position in the Baltic seem Norwegian source editions) and the unpub- to have played any role in Bergen. It must be lished ones (in particular the recently recov- pointed out here that even though Bergen ered Bergenfahrer archives in Lübeck) offer was initially regarded to have been on the new and fascinating insights into the func- outskirts of commerce in Late Medieval and tioning of Late Medieval commerce.6 In my Early Modern Europe, in reality it was both book, these sources made it possible to pro- geographically and commercially a vital eco- vide a detailed analysis of the ties and ten- nomic hub. Bergen was not only the seat of sions between Hansards in Bergen, namely one of the four major Hanseatic Kontore, but Lübeckers on the one hand and Overijsslers (a also the major staple market of stockfish in term of group self-description used by traders Europe. And stockfish (dried cod) was a com- from Deventer, Kampen and Zwolle in the modity which became a hit product with me- Bergen context) on the other.7 The findings dieval consumers in the age of urbanisation served to put the relations of all Hansards in and one of the major bulk goods in Hanseatic Bergen with Hollanders (as non-Hansards) and European commerce.9 The characteris- in a new light. The application of the con- tics of stockfish, especially its durability, also cept of flexible ingroups and outgroups to made it a product which attracted the con- both Hansards and non-Hansards resulted tinuous interest of foreign traders, among in two general conclusions. Firstly, that inter- them Hansards and Hollanders.10 These two nal Hanseatic relations as well as Hanseatic- groups, however, were quite different and Hollandish relations in Bergen were more their story as it pertains to Bergen turned out complex than formerly assumed (among oth- also quite different. As the following discus- ers, the cooperation between Overijsslers and sion will show, Hansards constituted a much Hollanders in Bergen is explored). A second larger group of foreign traders in Bergen than general conclusion is that groups in Bergen Hollanders, while the latter fetched stockfish were formed by the distinction Hanseatic also outside of Bergen, namely in Iceland and Trondheim. Moreover, the Hollanders’ own 6 A recent study of the network of Lübeckers engaged in the Bergen trade cod and herring fisheries possibly moderated 11 is M. Burkhardt, Der hansische Bergenhandel im Spätmittelalter. Handel- their demand for Norwegian dried cod. Kaufleute-Netzwerke (Köln 2009). 7 In response to this issue in the review of my dissertation by R. Fagel in Also, one can argue that the stockfish trade Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis 121 (2008) 480-481: the fact that these trad- was altogether of secondary importance to ers themselves employed this term when they for instance wanted to Hollanders when compared with the moeder- defend the interests of their group in the Bergen Kontor has motivated my choice of this English neologism; see the more detailed discussion negotie, i.e. the grain trade in the Baltic. Still, and examples in Wubs-Mrozewicz, Traders, Ties and Tensions, 15 note 15. it can be claimed that Bergen was clearly 8 Wubs-Mrozewicz, Traders, Ties and Tensions, 245-263. within the sphere of Hollandish commer- 9 A. Lampen, ‘Stadt und Fisch’, Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte 87 (2000) 281-307; J. Wubs-Mrozewicz, ‘Fish, Stock cial interest, and that there were dynamics of and Barrel. Changes in the Stockfish Trade in Northern Europe c. 1360- competition as in the Baltic. As discussed be- 1560’, in: L. Sicking and D. Abreu-Ferreira eds., Beyond the Catch. Fisheries of the North Atlantic, the North Sea and the Baltic, 900-1850 (Leiden low, the appearance of Hollanders in Bergen 2009) 187; Ph. Dollinger, Die Hanse (5th edition, Stuttgart 1998) 278; when Hansards had temporarily left town, D.E.H. de Boer, ‘“Waermede sal men den cogge laden?” - Enkele aspecten the sustained Hollandish pursuit of rights, van de laat-middeleeuwse handel in de Nederlanden, tot ca. 1470’ in: A. Carmiggelt ed., Rotterdam Papers VII. A contribution to medieval archaeo- and Hanseatic measures against Hollanders logy (Rotterdam 1992) 51-60. in Bergen all indicate that Hollanders acted 10 A. Nedkvitne, Utenrikshandelen fra det vestafjelske Norge (Bergen 1983, unpublished doctoral thesis) 18, 159-169; J. Schreiner, Hanseatene og and were perceived by Hansards as poten- Norge i det 16.