Fish and Ships

Weblog about pre-modern international trade in the North Atlantic

Welcome to the weblog about research into the late medieval and early modern international trade on the North Atlantic islands. It investigates the economic and cultural connections of merchants from Northern German cities, such as Bremen and Hamburg with the North Atlantic islands of Iceland, Shetland and Faroe during the 15th to 17th centuries. The research is based at the German Maritime Museum (Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum) in Bremerhaven in cooperation with the University of Highlands and Islands in Orkney. The research is carried out by four team members, each with their individual research objectives and disciplinary background. With this blog we want to provide information about the current state of our research, and create a platform to make available results and new knowledge. Read more...

1294 trade privilege between Norway, Bremen and Baltic towns declared part of the register “Memory of the World”

Hans Christian Küchelmann, 14 June 2023

On the 18th of May 2023 the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) included 17 documents related to the Hanseatic League into the register “Memory of the World” (MOW). The documents stem from archives in six countries (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Latvia and Poland). Documents from German archives are located in Braunschweig, Bremen, Hamburg, Köln and Lübeck. Particularly relevant for the Hanseatic North Atlantic trade is a trade privilege given by the Norwegian king to the town council of Bremen and the Baltic ports signed on the 6th of July 1294, the original of which is kept in the Staatsarchiv Bremen (signature StAB 1-Z 1294-Juli-6, see below). Likewise important are the legislative records of the Hanseatic League (Hanserezesse), which contain a lot of debates and decisions related to North Atlantic trade. The original copies of the Bremen town council from 1389-1517 are part of the MOW now as well.

For more information (in German) see:
Staatsarchiv Bremen

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