For most of the 14th Century England was at war
with France, a situation that brought opportunities for traders but
inconveniences as well. As the conflict
wore on heavy taxes were levied to pay for it, particularly on exports of
wool. By the 1370s Hull’s merchants were
also facing difficulties due to new regulations which stipulated that all wool
had to be traded via Calais rather then sent direct to its destination. As wool was mostly sold to Flanders, for
those not operating from southern ports this increased journey times and costs.
Ten years later merchants were faced with the loss of their
best customers when Flanders entered the war on the side of the French and
banned imports of English wool. So grave
a threat was this to the entire English economy, that a military expedition was
launched in response and the Bishop of Norwich, Henry Dispenser, volunteered to
be in charge. He had recently had
tremendous fun leading troops against rebels during the Peasants Revolt and now
wished to tackle some foreign enemies.
Dispenser’s lack of real military experience concerned some,
including the new Lord Chancellor Michael de la Pole, however parliament saw
advantages to his leadership. The bishop
had got permission from the Pope to call his enterprise a crusade, which not
only brought holy blessings but also meant that the clergy would have to pay
for it rather then parliament. Dispenser
landed on the continent in May 1383 eager for battle. Unfortunately God must have not have got the
memo that this was an official crusade as although Dispenser initially met with
some success, ultimately his army was routed by a French force at Ypes.
True salvation was to arrive through enterprise and not the
sword. An abundance of wool encouraged
small-scale cloth manufacture, with Yorkshire emerging as one of the main
centres of production. Clothiers used
agents to distribute the wool to villages. It was then worked on mostly by
women, who either operated individually in their homes or in small groups in
workshops. Spinsters spun the wool then
weavers created cloths ranging from rough russets to softer wools. The finished product was then dyed, with blue
being the most popular colour sold at York during the 1394-5 season.
Products from this burgeoning Yorkshire cloth industry where
then exported via the nearby port of Hull, which was ideally situated for access
to purchasers in Holland, Germany and the Baltic states. While wool exports declined steeply, exports
of cloth from Hull rose from single figures in the 1350s to a peak of 6500 in
1429. By 1430 England as a whole was
exporting more cloth then wool.
Photo: Bishop Lane Staith, looking east towards the River Hull.
