ABSTRACTDuring most of the late medieval period, the Flemish city of Bruges acted as the main com... more ABSTRACTDuring most of the late medieval period, the Flemish city of Bruges acted as the main commercial hub of north-western Europe. In the course of the fifteenth century, however, Bruges lost much of its allure as an economic metropolis. One of the most urgent challenges the urban authorities were facing was the navigability of the waterways in and around the city. While the city government made structural investments to remedy the problems, written sources constantly emphasized how important it was that Bruges remained accessible from the sea. During the same period, the earliest preserved maps of the city and its environment emerged. Drawing on the work of Henri Lefebvre, this article argues that these visual representations were informed by the same commercial ideology. Despite, or exactly because of, the city's decreasing maritime accessibility, they conceived Bruges as a place that could easily be reached by trading ships and where merchants could trade in the best possi...
For a long time, historical research into early modern retail growth and practices has focused on... more For a long time, historical research into early modern retail growth and practices has focused on retailers’ guilds, in particular the mercers. This article shows how ‘traditional’ circuits of producing craftsmen equally contributed to this process of economic ‘modernization’. Via a system of multiple guild membership, producing guild masters extended their production and distribution activities, or they integrated goods and services into their shop, which were produced by other craftsmen or imported from elsewhere. Artisans belonging to several guilds increasingly concentrated on retailing instead of manufacturing and they shifted distribution activities from the market to the shop. A case study of the Leuven victualling, clothing, and art and populuxe trades reveals that the practice of joining multiple guilds was part of a larger trend towards retailing in the Southern Low Countries. Indeed, the surprisingly high retail ratio’s in Netherlandish provincial towns are explained by the far-reaching entanglement of manufacturing and distribution activities in those smaller centers. Hence, multiple guild membership contributed to the relatively high level of commercialization in the provincial Netherlands. Any further study dealing with the retail revolution in the Southern Low Countries should take this complex dynamics into account.
De 1530 a 1653, trois generations de la famille Claeissens, sans interruption, furent actives com... more De 1530 a 1653, trois generations de la famille Claeissens, sans interruption, furent actives comme peintres a Bruges. Etant donne les grandes ressemblances entre leurs peintures et vu le manque de travaux de reference concernant les differents membres de la famille, il en resulte qu'une longue tradition d'attributions s'appuie en grande partie sur des hypotheses. Des recherches recentes ont permis de reattribuer un certain nombre de peintures aux differents membres de la famille. Cet article presente un nouveau travail de reference pour un autre membre de la famille, qui joua un role important mais discret a Bruges, et qui est toujours reste dans l'anonymat. Sur base de cette etude de reference, la diffusion des oeuvres de la famille Claeissens a ensuite ete reevaluee et quelques nouvelles attributions ont ete proposees.
ABSTRACTDuring most of the late medieval period, the Flemish city of Bruges acted as the main com... more ABSTRACTDuring most of the late medieval period, the Flemish city of Bruges acted as the main commercial hub of north-western Europe. In the course of the fifteenth century, however, Bruges lost much of its allure as an economic metropolis. One of the most urgent challenges the urban authorities were facing was the navigability of the waterways in and around the city. While the city government made structural investments to remedy the problems, written sources constantly emphasized how important it was that Bruges remained accessible from the sea. During the same period, the earliest preserved maps of the city and its environment emerged. Drawing on the work of Henri Lefebvre, this article argues that these visual representations were informed by the same commercial ideology. Despite, or exactly because of, the city's decreasing maritime accessibility, they conceived Bruges as a place that could easily be reached by trading ships and where merchants could trade in the best possi...
For a long time, historical research into early modern retail growth and practices has focused on... more For a long time, historical research into early modern retail growth and practices has focused on retailers’ guilds, in particular the mercers. This article shows how ‘traditional’ circuits of producing craftsmen equally contributed to this process of economic ‘modernization’. Via a system of multiple guild membership, producing guild masters extended their production and distribution activities, or they integrated goods and services into their shop, which were produced by other craftsmen or imported from elsewhere. Artisans belonging to several guilds increasingly concentrated on retailing instead of manufacturing and they shifted distribution activities from the market to the shop. A case study of the Leuven victualling, clothing, and art and populuxe trades reveals that the practice of joining multiple guilds was part of a larger trend towards retailing in the Southern Low Countries. Indeed, the surprisingly high retail ratio’s in Netherlandish provincial towns are explained by the far-reaching entanglement of manufacturing and distribution activities in those smaller centers. Hence, multiple guild membership contributed to the relatively high level of commercialization in the provincial Netherlands. Any further study dealing with the retail revolution in the Southern Low Countries should take this complex dynamics into account.
De 1530 a 1653, trois generations de la famille Claeissens, sans interruption, furent actives com... more De 1530 a 1653, trois generations de la famille Claeissens, sans interruption, furent actives comme peintres a Bruges. Etant donne les grandes ressemblances entre leurs peintures et vu le manque de travaux de reference concernant les differents membres de la famille, il en resulte qu'une longue tradition d'attributions s'appuie en grande partie sur des hypotheses. Des recherches recentes ont permis de reattribuer un certain nombre de peintures aux differents membres de la famille. Cet article presente un nouveau travail de reference pour un autre membre de la famille, qui joua un role important mais discret a Bruges, et qui est toujours reste dans l'anonymat. Sur base de cette etude de reference, la diffusion des oeuvres de la famille Claeissens a ensuite ete reevaluee et quelques nouvelles attributions ont ete proposees.
in: Van ambachten tot corporatisme in de Brabantse steden (middeleeuwen-20ste eeuw). Handelingen van het XVIIIde colloquium 'De Brabantse stad' (Themanummer Noordbrabants Historisch Jaarboek, 35), 2018
The central argument of this article is that current historical research into early modern retail... more The central argument of this article is that current historical research into early modern retail growth and practices has focused too narrowly on the retail of durables (perhaps with the exception of colonial groceries) and on retailers' guilds. The role of food-producing and/or food-retailing guilds hitherto has received less attention. Research into retail practices has not connected to an older (but still lively) research tradition in which the consumption of basic foodstuffs received the bulk of attention. We argue that if selling bread is approached as a ‘system of provision’, competing retail circuits and the different ways in which subsequent subsistence crises affected each of those circuits offer an additional explanation (next to well-documented changes in demand) for the inclusion of other basic provisions, colonial groceries, clothing, and even durables in the assortment of traditional food-producing and food-retailing guild masters, in this case the Leuven bakers.
During most of the late medieval period, the Flemish city of Bruges acted as the main commercial ... more During most of the late medieval period, the Flemish city of Bruges acted as the main commercial hub of north-western Europe. In the course of the fifteenth century, however, Bruges lost much of its allure as an economic metropolis. One of the most urgent challenges the urban authorities were facing was the navigability of the waterways in and around the city. While the city government made structural investments to remedy the problems, written sources constantly emphasized how important it was that Bruges remained accessible from the sea. During the same period, the earliest preserved maps of the city and its environment emerged. Drawing on the work of Henri Lefebvre, this article argues that these visual representations were informed by the same commercial ideology. Despite, or exactly because of, the city's decreasing maritime accessibility, they conceived Bruges as a place that could easily be reached by trading ships and where merchants could trade in the best possible circumstances.
The central argument of this article is that current historical research into early modern retail... more The central argument of this article is that current historical research into early modern retail growth and practices has focused too narrowly on the retail of durables (perhaps with the exception of colonial groceries) and on retailers' guilds. The role of food-producing and/or food-retailing guilds hitherto has received less attention. Research into retail practices has not connected to an older (but still lively) research tradition in which the consumption of basic foodstuffs received the bulk of attention. We argue that if selling bread is approached as a ‘system of provision’, competing retail circuits and the different ways in which subsequent subsistence crises affected each of those circuits offer an additional explanation (next to well-documented changes in demand) for the inclusion of other basic provisions, colonial groceries, clothing, and even durables in the assortment of traditional food-producing and food-retailing guild masters, in this case the Leuven bakers.
K. Brosens, L. Kelchtermans, and K. Van der Stighelen (eds.), Family Ties: Art Production and Kinship Patterns in the Early Modern Low Countries (Turnhout: Brepols) 85-101., 2012
Emily S. Thelen (ed.), The Seven Sorrows Confraternity of Brussels: Drama, Ceremony, and Art Patronage (16th-17th Centuries), Studies in European Urban History (1100-1800), 37 (Turnhout: Brepols) 3-18., 2015
Giampiero Nigro (ed.), Il commercio al minuto. Domanda e offerta tra economia formale e informale secc. XIII-XVIII / Retail Trade: Supply and Demand in the Formal and Informal Economy From the 13th to the 18th Centuries (Florence: Firenze University Press) 91-112., 2015
For a long time, historical research into early modern retail growth and practices has focused on... more For a long time, historical research into early modern retail growth and practices has focused on retailers’ guilds, in particular the mercers. This article shows how ‘traditional’ circuits of producing craftsmen equally contributed to this process of economic ‘modernization’. Via a system of multiple guild membership, producing guild masters extended their production and distribution activities, or they integrated goods and services into their shop, which were produced by other craftsmen or imported from elsewhere. Artisans belonging to several guilds increasingly concentrated on retailing instead of manufacturing and they shifted distribution activities from the market to the shop. A case study of the Leuven victualling, clothing, and art and populuxe trades reveals that the practice of joining multiple guilds was part of a larger trend towards retailing in the Southern Low Countries. Indeed, the surprisingly high retail ratio’s in Netherlandish provincial towns are explained by the far-reaching entanglement of manufacturing and distribution activities in those smaller centers. Hence, multiple guild membership contributed to the relatively high level of commercialization in the provincial Netherlands. Any further study dealing with the retail revolution in the Southern Low Countries should take this complex dynamics into account.
Francesco Ammannati (ed.), Religione e istituzioni religiose nell’economia europea 1000-1800. Religion and religious institutions in the European economy 1000-1800, pp. 671-693, 2012
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