Seas of Plenty: Maritime Trade into England and Wales, c. 1400-1540

The book is about sea journeys made by brave souls to stock our homes and feed our island's appetite for exotics, despite facing storms, pirates, and xenophobia. Two dozen ports enabled us to consume almost anything we craved, leading to the growth of our trading fleet and a sense of self-reliance. Trade was vital, and it went on regardless, making us a maritime power.

Format: Hardback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 15 August 2024
Publisher: Amberley Publishing

Sea journeys made by brave souls – Italians, Germans, Dutch, and English – who battled storms, pirates, and xenophobia to stock our homes and feed this island's appetite for exotics and whatever we could not grow or make ourselves as we fought our way through civil war, invasion paranoia, and economic disaster, as if nature's own storms at sea are not challenge enough. The welcome we extended was often less than cordial, but two dozen of our ports, some cosmopolitan and now vastly enriched, others tiny, rudimentary but now among our best-loved holiday resorts, enabled our people to consume – largely in return for English wool and woollen cloth – almost whatever we craved. The Continent could bring us such items from the farthest reaches of Europe and beyond, leading eventually to the growth of our own trading fleet and a sense of self-reliance across our island nation. Being England's trading partner in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries was to ride an economic rollercoaster, to face off against pirates and squabbling navies, and to suffer appalling shipwreck, all in the teeth of a heavy swell of ingratitude. But trade was vital, and it went on regardless. This is how we stocked the larder – and in doing so became a maritime power.

Weight: 710g
Dimension: 166 x 245 x 39 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781398122895