Seal and Deal. Cloth Production and Trade between the Netherlands and Scania during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times

Sammanfattning: During the 15th, 16th and 17th century many commodities were traded from east to west and vice versa through The Sound. One commodity of great importance was cloth. To these large quantities of cloth lead cloth seals were attached as a hallmark of quality control. In this study the cloth trade between the Netherlands and Scania during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times is investigated for the first time. This had been done by combining data retrieved from the material study of lead cloth seals, found on archaeological sites in Scania with several written sources concerning the production and trade of cloth in the Netherlands. This has resulted in new insights concerning the production of cloth, but especially of cloth within the strongly competing and changing trading networks in Europe during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times.