FEEDING EUROPE’S CONSUMER BOOM

Seven products that greased the wheels of the Hanseatic trade network

Pepper was often sourced from southern Europe or markets like Bruges and then supplied by Hanseatic merchants across its northern network. The Danzig merchants based at King's Lynn in England were known locally as 'pepper sacks'.

Grain was collected from farmland around Baltic river systems and supplied to great cities of northern Europe. The Baltic grain trade remained significant for Europe until the opening of the American prairie markets in the 19th century. Hanseatic traders brought together fish from the Baltic Sea and salt from cities such as Kiel on the Baltic mast. This enabled the preservation of fish and its distribution to those observing the religious rules of eating fish on Fridays. The image, left, shows a fishmonger gutting herring in the 15th century.

Hanseatic networks distributed hops from central and eastern Europe, spreading ideas too about how brewing methods could be improved. This helped reinforce, it's been argued, the dividing line between beer-drinking northern Europe and the wine-drinking south.

Timber and wood products were a highly significant Hanseatic product, brought from areas around the Baltic to western European trading markets like Antwerp and Bruges.

Wax was transported to the west from Russia and Poland, which may have given us the word 'polishing'. Sweet-smelling beeswax candles (shown, right, being sold in the 14th century) were in high demand for lighting, and for ecclesiastical use.