Guests or Strangers? The Reception of Visiting Merchants in the Towns of the Baltic Rim, 1515–1559

Abstract

AbstractLong-distance trade brought merchants, skippers, and other visiting traders to the early modern towns of the Baltic rim. This chapter explores how they were received in the visited towns through the court protocols from the towns of Lübeck, Malmö, Stockholm, and Reval covering the period 1515–1559. A spatial perspective on the reception of merchants and traders shows that the level of hospitality granted to visitors depended on their perceived trustworthiness and social standing. The view on visiting traders was conflicted, as they simultaneously offered possibilities for lucrative trade and posed a perceived threat to the social order of the early modern towns.