Economy and trade in the Mediterranean
Credit: Nicolussi-Köhler, Stephan, Marseille, Montpellier und das Mittelmeer. Die Entstehung des südfranzösischen Fernhandels im 12. und 13. Jahrhundert (=Pariser Historische Schriften 121), Heidelberg 2021.
How did the networking of local southern French merchants contribute to the commercial boom of the cities of Marseille and Montpellier in the 12th and 13th centuries? How did the landlocked country, by providing goods, capital and people, enable the expanding Mediterranean trade of the larger coastal cities? The origins of long-distance trade are not only explained in this study by the establishment of the crusader dominions in the East, but are explored directly at its root, namely the local trade circuits in the hinterland of the port cities. In micro-historical studies on specific merchant families, merchant ships and trading privileges, hitherto unknown connections between the various economic actors are brought to light, thus opening up new perspectives on the development of long-distance trade in southern France in the Middle Ages.