Table Of ContentCAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN ECONOMIC HISTORY
General Editors:
Professor D.C. Coleman, Pembroke College, Cambridge
Dr L. Hannah, Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Dr N. von Tunzelman, St John's College, Cambridge
England's Baltic trade in
the early seventeenth century
EnglanBda'sl tic tirna de
theea rsleyv enteceenntthu ry
A study in Anglo-Polish commercial diplomacy
J.K. FEDOROWICZ
Assistant Professor
University of Western Ontario
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE
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© Cambridge University Press 1980
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1980
This digitally printed version 2008
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Fedorowicz, J K 1949-
England's baltic trade in the early seventeenth century.
(Cambridge studies in economic history)
A revision of the author's thesis, Cambridge University.
Bibliography: p.
I. England -Commerce- Poland- History. 2. Poland -
Commerce -England-History. 3. England-Commerce -Baltic
States -History. 4. Baltic States -Commerce -England -
History. I. Title.
HF3518.P7F4 1979 382'.0941 '0438 79-11406
ISBN 978-0-521-22425-3 hardback
ISBN 978-0-521-07388-2 paperback
Ku pami<�ci
Franciszka Witka
i
Janiny Tarasewicz
CONTENTS
List of maps and graphs viii
Preface ix
List of abbreviations xi
Introduction
English perceptions of the Polish Commonwealth 5
2 The mechanics of English diplomacy in the Eastland 14
3 The early history of the Eastland Staple at Elbing 34
4 The operation of the staple 50
5 The pattern of English shipping into the Baltic 73
6 English exports to the Baltic 90
7 English imports from the Baltic 102
8 The threat to the Eastland Staple at Elbing I32
9 The depression of I 620 and the crisis of England's Baltic trade I58
IO The political crisis, I 620-9 I74
II The mission of Sir Thomas Roe to the Eastland I88
I2 Attempts at reconciliation with Danzig, I 630-5 207
I3 The climax of English commercial diplomacy, I 635-42 225
I4 Conclusion 249
Notes 262
Bibliography 3II
Index 325
PREFACE
The present study constitutes a substantially revised revsion of a doctoral
dissertation submitted at Cambridge in the autumn of 1975. The help of
many individuals and agencies has made the publication of this book possible
and it is my wish to acknowledge this assistance here, however briefly.
Above all, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the supervisor of my
original doctoral dissertation, Professor C.H. Wilson of Jesus College,
Cambridge. Not only did his sound advice and patient understanding of a
beginner's efforts help me through the difficulties of doctoral research, but
his subsequent generous counsel has continued to facilitate my work long
after my departure from Cambridge. I shall ever remain indebted to him.
It is further appropriate to acknowledge the role of Professor M. Ma1owist
who originally suggested the topic as a subject for research as well as the
unselfish advice of Professors A. M�czak and H. Zins who guided my work in
Poland. At an early stage in my research I was privileged to discuss its direc
tion with Dr R.W.K. Hinton and Professor K. Glamann and several of their
suggestions proved most helpful. I should also like to acknowledge the co
operation of Dr Janusz Tazbir and Professor A. Wyczariski of the historical
section of the Polish Academy of Learning in Warsaw who authorized letters
of introduction to all the major archival collections in Poland. Especially
significant in this regard was the permission granted to me by Dr C. Biernat,
director of the State Archives in Gdansk, to take advantage of that valuable
collection, which I did with the guidance of its curator, Mgr Ruminski. It
would be impossible to name all the people who assisted me in the Public
Record Office of London, the British Museum, the Central Archive of His
torical Documents in Warsaw, the Czartoryski Library in Krakow, and the
Ossolineum in Wroc1aw; I can only acknowledge the role of those institutions
in facilitating my research.
The preparation and publication of this book would have been impossible
without the generosity of numerous agencies. My original doctoral research in
England was supported by a scholarship from the Association of Common
wealth Universities and the British Council, while my sojourn of almost two
ix
Preface
years in Poland was funded by UNESCO and the Polish Ministry of Edu
cation. The dissertation which emerged was fortunate enough to be awarded
the Ellen McArthur Prize for economic history at Cambridge. I can only
express the hope that the confidence which the managers of the prize fund
placed in my work will be justified in its publication.
Part of the expense associated with producing the present book has been
met by a contribution from the Canadian Polish Millenium Foundation. I
should like to express my sincere appreciation of this generous donation
which manifests the Foundation's concern with the dissemination of infor
mation about Polish history and culture.
It is also appropriate to mention a research grant from the Canada Council
which allowed me to gather additional material in Europe during the summer
of 1977; part of this work led to the substantial reconsideration and revision
of several sections in the original dissertation. I wish to acknowledge the role
of facilities provided by the Department of History at the University of
Western Ontario in the preparation of this manuscript. I would especially like
to mention the assistance of its secretarial staff, Kim Cechetto, Jacqueline
Jones, Ruth Lemon, Sharon Mc Watt and Rosie Valastro, who generously gave
of their time to prepare the typescript. Finally, I should like to express my
sincere gratitude to Margaret Tanner who patiently read the typescript; her
loyal encouragement made the preparation of this book much easier than it
would otherwise have been.
Regardless of the influences shaping a book, it is the author who ultimately
must bear responsibility for the final product and, despite the many people
who have been so forthcoming in their advice and assistance during the
preparation of this study, whatever shortcomings it embodies are attributable
to me alone.
J.K. Fedorowicz
University of Western Ontario
x
Description:England's relationship with the Baltic trading area has remained a generally neglected aspect of English commercial development in the seventeenth century. The spectacular colonial ventures have traditionally attracted more historical attention, although the Baltic trade in this period was more fund
