Hanseatic Trade in Flemish Fabrics with Rus in the 14th–15th Centuries

Abstract

The article deals with the archaeological data concerning the import of Flemish textiles to Rus by the Hanseatic League in the 14th–15th centuries. The main material evidence of the Hanseatic–Russian trade in this sort of product are the finds of archaeological textiles and textile seals discovered in Novgorod and other regions of Rus. The examination of textile finds provides information about the nature of Flemish fabrics arriving in Rus and the changes that occurred in their structure; the study of seal finds has contributed to obtaining information about the Flemish cities that produced cloth for import to Rus. The analysis of the finds demonstrated a variety of technical characteristics of Flemish textiles, including the presence within Flemish imports of fabrics differing in color, quality, thread density, and surface texture. Besides, during that period, there was a change in the technological characteristics of fabrics towards their simplification, which reflected changes in Flemish textile production related to the changes in raw materials and to the emergence of "new" textile centers. The research also indicated that fabrics, imported to Novgorod, included items manufactured in Ypres, Saint-Omer, Tournai, Popering, Bruges, Arras, Tienen. Furthermore, Flemish products constituted the majority of the finds of imported textiles of that period.