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      • The Brokage Books
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Interim results: Commentary and Maps

For much of the fifteenth century, Southampton was a busy international port. Numerous local vessels, occupied in England’s coastal trade, and carracks, galleys and ships engaged in trade overseas, entered and left the port. The success of Southampton in this period depended on this exchange of commodities. Wool and cloth were carried into the town by cart for dispatch overseas, and, in return, raw products for the wool and cloth centres, and luxury goods mainly for the London market, arrived by sea for distribution to towns and villages across Hampshire, Wiltshire and beyond. At Southampton, a daily record was kept of all the goods and carts which passed in and out through the Bargate. These records, the likes of which exist for no other town in England, are known as the Southampton brokage books. They are the source of the uniquely detailed and copious information which is currently being entered onto a relationally structured Access database. It is already obvious how valuable this unique store of information is for the study both of Southampton’s trade and that of England as a whole.

The database makes it possible to examine specific aspects of trade. It identifies Southampton’s trading network and reveals the trade of individual places; the pattern of trade can be examined overall and through specific commodities, identifying those goods which were brought into the town and those which were taken out. A profile can be built up of the people engaged in trade, the recipients and owners, sometimes their trade or occupation; the carters and their journeys, the commodities they carried and the distances they travelled.

The value and scope of the database and mapping technology can be demonstrated with examples of early results. These are expressed in a variety of ways: bar charts, line charts, pie charts, tables and maps. Displaying information in different ways is helpful in identifying trends, highlighting differences, suggesting further lines of enquiry and enabling close analysis of the data.

The following bar chart shows the number of carts which entered and left Southampton in specific years. The number of carts recorded as carrying goods into the town was always less than those which left Southampton to distribute commodities by land.

Pie charts can be used to examine Southampton’s trading partners more closely. Pie charts for 1447-48 and 1492-93 were produced. They show the percentage of carts which went to Southampton’s major trading partners, London, Salisbury, Winchester and Romsey.It is immediately obvious that, although the greatest number of carts, 784 or 35%, went to Salisbury in 1447-48, this figure had reduced to 390 or 22% by 1492-93. Whereas 445 carts or 20% went to London in 1447-48, the figure which had risen to 655 or 38% in 1492-93.

It is also possible to examine the trade of Southampton on a specific day, week or other period and this can then be compared with trade on the same day, week or period of another year or years. As a result, data for the year 1493-94 remains valuable even though the brokage book for that year is incomplete, finishing in May instead of September.

The commodities of trade can be studied in detail. As all items have been categorised, it is possible not only to identify the destination of each group or category, such as spices, but also the destination of an individual item or spice such as nutmeg. When this facility is combined with studying a specific destination, it is possible to produce pie charts to show where spices were taken and which types went where. Pie charts identify which spices were taken to London in 1447-48; another pie chart for 1491-92 enables a comparison between the two years. It is seen that a greater variety of spices went to the capital in the earlier year, including the expensive spice saffron. The range of spices which were taken there in the later period was more restricted, and saffron does not appear on the list, perhaps because it was being produced locally. See pie charts which follow:

Clearly there were substantial changes in the types of spices and their proportions in these two years.

The database identifies each destination with a county which provides the opportunity to study, for instance, the amount of wine which went to specific counties as well as to specific towns. The following bar chart shows that in 1447-48 wine amounting to 117411 gallons left the port by cart.

The following chart then identifies the twelve counties to which this wine was taken, with Wiltshire and then Hampshire taking the greatest quantities.

When studying commodities it is possible to determine not only where they were being taken, but also to whom or for whom. For this, the example of woad is useful. Woad, a blue dye, was brought to England by the Genoese from Northern Italy, although it also came from Toulouse in France. The bar chart identified the places to which woad was carried in 1447-8 and revealed that the largest amounts were taken to Salisbury (842 half-bales) and then London (800 half-bales) but Winchester and Coventry also received significant quantities, with 306 and 210 half bales respectively. It is not surprising that woad was carted 124 miles to Coventry since, in the middle ages, the town had become well-known for its blue dyed cloth.

A pie chart is then used to show which people in London received woad from Southampton in 1447-48 and the quantities each received. The chart shows that while some, such as John Upnother, received just 1% of the total quantity, others, such as Thomas Scot with 73 baletts and Henry Braye with 71 baletts, received 17% each of the total quantity which went to the capital that year.

The pattern of trade changed both over time and with individual commodities. Trends in the tin trade to London can be shown on the graph, or line chart, which follows:

It has already been seen that in 1447-48 Coventry took 210 half bales of woad from Southampton. A study of an individual destination can reveal the volume and type of trade which that place had with Southampton. Take Coventry as an example. A table was produced showing all the commodities which were taken there in 1447-48 - alum, madder, woad and oil for the cloth industry, together with fruit and raisins.

This table is a useful illustration. Not only does it show the commodities and the quantities received but it reveals the date of the journeys as well as the names of the carters and the recipients involved. It also demonstrates that long journeys were undertaken throughout the year even in February, and contributes to the profiles of both the town and the individual carters and those dealing in specific commodities.

The journeys made by the carter Stephen Kynge provide another example. All the journeys made by Kynge in 1447-48 were displayed on the following table. The number of times he visited each destination are shown as well as the distances involved.

In 1447-48 Kynge undertook journeys each month of the year, and over the whole year he travelled a total distance of 4646 kilometres, (2887 miles). Of the 36 trips he undertook, 22 were in reasonably close proximity to Southampton, the 0-40 kilometre range; the other 14 journeys, however, were further afield, in the 80 – 160 kilometre zone. The greatest distance he travelled that year was the 183 kilometres (114 miles) to Coventry, a journey which he undertook in May. Whether the time of year had a bearing on the journeys undertaken is difficult to say. Certainly, in January 1448 Kynge went no further than Salisbury, although he went there on eight separate occasions. In February he again went to Salisbury but also went further afield to Oxford and Wallingford. The longer journeys undertaken by Kynge to Burford, Coventry, Gloucester and Warwick took place in April, May and July. When Kynge made his journey to London in May, luxury commodities, silk and saffron, were among the goods he carried there.

John Kytsell, is another carter who was active in the mid-fifteenth century and whose career could be studied. Kytsell travelled to London more than to any other destination, although not to the total exclusion of other places such as Burford, Gloucester, Marlborough and Oxford. While some carters appear in the records only infrequently, for others carting seems to have been a full time occupation.

Although there is less information in the brokage books about the quantity of goods which were brought into the port, it is possible to provide a view of some. Wool and cloth can be used as examples. The first bar chart compares the number of carts entering Southampton with wool and with cloth in 1447-48, 1491-92, 1492-93 and 1493-94. It can be seen that in 1447-48 a greater number of carts arrived with cloth (267) than with wool (169), whereas in the 1490s more carts arrived with wool than with cloth.

The next bar chart shows the number of carts carrying wool and cloth into the port in each week of 1447-48, and also demonstrates seasonal trends.

This chart reveals that the busiest time for cloth seems to have been between weeks 2 and 15 (October to January) and weeks 35 and 45 (June to August). There were only five weeks in the year when no cloth at all was carted into Southampton. However, weeks 2 and 15 (October to January) and weeks 36 to 46 (June to August) were the quietest periods for wool. The greatest number of cartloads of wool arriving in one week occurred in weeks 50 and 51, but there were eleven weeks when no wool at all was brought into the town. A quantity of either wool or cloth entered the port each week of the year, albeit only one cart of wool in weeks 19, 34, and 48.

Maps are another useful method of identifying trends and patterns of trade. Examples of some interim maps follow (for full list, see here).

Key:
Major trading partners are shown in capital letters;
For significant quantities bar charts are used to show how patterns changed with time;
Kilometre zones indicate the distances travelled by the carts;
A Roman and Medieval roads’ dataset has been superimposed on some maps;
A series of maps (tiled maps) shows changes in distribution in a different form.

(Please note that the record for 1493-94 is incomplete and therefore total quantities for this year are also incomplete).

Maps produced illustrate Southampton’s trading hinterland which changed both over time and with specific commodities.

(Maps 1,1a and 1b) They highlight the dominance of Salisbury, London, Winchester and Romsey and reveal how the pattern of trade had changed by the two later years. The two maps for 1538-39 and 1539-40 clearly demonstrate that trade had become more localised with no carts travelling outside the 80 kilometre zone. While throughout the period Salisbury remained an important destination, the number of carts going there had almost halved, from 784 in 1447-48, to 400 in 1539-40. In each of the three years in the 1490s as well as in 1539-40, more carts went to London than to Salisbury. The period which saw the reduction in trade with Salisbury, witnessed the rise of Newbury. Newbury which had been the destination for only 29 carts in 1447-48, and just 3 in 1461-62, had, by comparison, 115 in 1538-39 and 80 in 1539-40. These early decades of the sixteenth century were when Newbury prospered as a centre of the cloth industry under the endeavours of such as the great clothier John Smallwood, or Jack of Newbury, as he was commonly known [J. H. Bettey A Regional History of England - Wessex from AD 1000 (London, 1986) p. 138]. For the growing importance of Newbury see also map 4 – Distribution of Woad.

See following chart for numbers of carts going to Newbury and Salisbury.

Group 2: Dyes and mordants: Numerous carts left Southampton with important commodities for the cloth industry; mordants, such as alum, and dyes, such as madder and woad. The maps showing the distribution of alum (Map 2, 2a, 2b) clearly show the large quantities which the Genoese brought into the port in the mid-fifteenth century. Alum, a mordant, used primarily for fixing colours in cloth, was a vital commodity for the cloth trade. The Genoese controlled the alum trade, obtaining the much-needed supplies from their alum mines in Foglia. The large quantities being distributed in 1447-48 are clearly seen but the maps also reflect the decline in the import of alum through Southampton following the seizure of the Genoese alum mines by the Turks in 1455. By 1459 the Florentines assumed control of the alum trade, bringing supplies from Tolfa in Italy, but quantities arriving in Southampton were considerably less. [See A. A. Ruddock, Italian Merchants and Shipping in Southampton 1270-1600 (Southampton Records Series, 1, 1951)]. Indeed, only one consignment of alum left Southampton in the two-year period 1538-40 and it was taken to an unknown destination.

Two of the many dyes used for cloth were madder and woad. Madder, a red dye coming from the root of a plant, was used for crimson cloth and also for medicinal purposes (Map 3,3a and 3b). Woad, the most important dye, was a blue dye coming from the leaves of a plant. It came from places such as Piedmont, Tuscany and Toulouse in France and was shipped principally by the Genoese to Southampton for redistribution elsewhere (Map 4, 4a, and 4b).

Group 3: Spices and wine: Two luxury commodities which arrived in Southampton in this period were spices and wine. In the middle ages the term spice referred to both the highly flavoured spices such as cinnamon, cumin, ginger, pepper and saffron and also to dried fruits, such as currants and raisins, and to almonds, sugar and rice. Spices, such as cinnamon, ginger and pepper, which had originated in India, and cumin, for example, from the East Indies, were brought to the port and redistributed to a variety of places as shown on the map. However, it is noticeable that much smaller quantities were taken to the capital in the two later years. While Salisbury and Winchester received a greater quantity of spices from Southampton than London in these two years, it is likely that spices were being shipped directly to the capital thus by-passing Southampton. (Map 5,5a and 5b).

Wine from France, Iberia and the Mediterranean was shipped into Southampton from where it was carried, sometimes long distances, to numerous places with London, Salisbury and Winchester taking the greatest quantities, although, the values taken to London diminished in the two later years. Significant quantities were also taken to Bristol, Gloucester and Oxford in some years (Map 6,6a and 6b)

Group 4: Herring, hops and iron: The maps for herring, hops and iron show certain similarities since, with just a few exceptions, distribution of these three commodities was mainly within the 0-40 kilometre zones. Herring, however, were distributed to a far greater number of places within that area. Salisbury and Winchester received the greatest quantities of herring though the bar chart shows that the number of barrels which went to Salisbury in 1447-8 was far greater than in any other year, and quantities taken to Winchester increased in the two later years (Map 7,7a and 7b)

Hops, which were imported from the Low Countries, were also distributed to places in close proximity to the port, though these places were fewer in number than for herring. Salisbury and Winchester received the greatest number of carts with hops, and those taken to Salisbury were possibly for re-distribution. Few carts carried hops to London, although, surprisingly, more went to London in 1493-94 than to any other place (Map 8,8a and 8b).

Iron: By the fifteenth century, in addition to home produced iron from areas such as Sussex, the Forest of Dean and the Midlands, England had become heavily dependent on Spanish iron which was shipped from Bilbao to Southampton (as well as to other ports such as Bristol, Chester and London). The maps show that most of the iron, a heavy commodity, was carted only short distances from the port and mainly within the 0-40 kilometre zones (Map 9,9a and 9b)

Group 5: Tin: Following the setting up of a staple in metals in Southampton in 1492, the port became more involved in the tin trade. London agents arranged for the much-prized Cornish tin to be brought to Southampton either to be taken to the pewterers of London, or else to be exported to the Mediterranean. [See T. B. James ed. The Port Book of Southampton 1509 Southampton Record Series, 32, 1989, pp. xii-xiii]. (Map 10,10a and 10b). The map showing the distribution of tin shows that, although not exclusively, most tin wastaken to the capital. The maps also show that no tin appeared in the records for the earlier year, 1447-48.

Full List of Interim Maps (for the context, see text here)

[Map 1 cart destinations]
[Map 1a cart destinations (with roads)]
[Map 1b cart destinations (series of tiled maps)]

[Map 2 Distribution of alum]
[Map 2a Distribution of alum (with roads)]
[Map 2b Distribution of alum (series of tiled maps)]

[Map 3 Distribution of madder]
[Map 3a Distribution of madder (with roads)]
[Map 3b Distribution of madder (series of tiled maps)]

[Map 4 Distribution of woad]
[Map 4a Distribution of woad (with roads)]
[Map 4b Distribution of woad (series of tiled maps)]

[Map 5 Distribution of spices]
[Map 5a Distribution of spices (with roads)]
Map 5b Distribution of spices (series of tiled maps)]

[Map 6 Distribution of wine]
[Map 6a Distribution of wine (with roads)]
[Map 6b Distribution of wine (series of tiled maps)]

[Map 7 Distribution of herring]
[Map 7a Distribution of herring (with roads)]
[Map 7b Distribution of herring (series of tiled maps)]

[Map 8 Distribution of hops]
[Map 8a Distribution of hops (with roads)]
[Map 8b Distribution of hops (series of tiled maps)]

[Map 9 Distribution of iron]
[Map 9a Distribution of iron (with roads)]
[Map 9b Distribution of iron (series of tiled maps)]

[Map 10 Distribution of tin]
[Map 10a Distribution of tin (with roads)]
[Map 10b Distribution of tin (series of tiled maps)]