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    FORSCHUNGEN IN LAURIACUM

    Band 15

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    FORSCHUNGEN IN LAURIACUM

    herausgegeben von

    Gesellschaft für Landeskunde und Denkmalpege Oberösterreich

    Museumverein Lauriacum

    Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum

     

    Museum der Stadt Enns

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    Akten

    des 5. Österreichischen Numismatikertages

    Enns, 21.–22. Juni 2012

    Enns – Linz 2014

    Herausgegeben von

    Michael Alram, Hubert Emmerig und Reinhardt Harreither 

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    Gedruckt mit freundlicher Unterstützung:

    Münze Österreich AG Historisch-Kulturwissenschaftliche Fakultät der Universität Wien Institut für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte der Universität WienKunsthistorisches Museum Wien, MünzkabinettAbteilung Documenta Antiqua, Institut für Kulturgeschichte der Antike, Österreichische Akademie der WissenschaftenStadtgemeinde Enns

    Die verwendete Papiersorte ist aus chlorfrei gebleichtem Zellstoff hergestellt,frei von säurebildenden Bestandteilen und alterungsbeständig.

    Copyright © 2014 byGesellschaft für Landeskunde und Denkmalpege OberösterreichMuseumverein LauriacumOberösterreichisches Landesmuseum

    Alle Rechte vorbehalten

    Satz und Layout: Andrea Sulzgruber Herstellung: Plöchl Druck GmbH, A-4240 Freistadt

    ISBN 978-3-902299-09-3

    Historisch-kulturwissenschafliche Fakultät

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    V

    Inhaltsverzeichnis

    Vorwort ..................................................................................................................................... VII

    Programm ................................................................................................................................. IX

    Festvortrag

    Bernward ZiegausDie Werkzeuge der keltischen Münzmeister – Funde und Forschungen .................................   3

    Vorträge

    Marc Philipp WahlDas System der Deinomeniden: Motivwanderungen auf westgriechischen Münzen im5. Jahrhundert v. Chr. ...............................................................................................................   33

    Lucijana Šešelj – Mato IlkićMoney circulation in Liburnia in the pre-imperial period: preliminary report ........................   43

    Martina Griesser – René Traum – Klaus VondrovecKorrosionserscheinungen an antiken Bronzemünzen .............................................................. 55

    Karl StrobelVorrömischer und frührömischer Geldverkehr in Noricum: Fragen und Tendenzen .............. 67

    Martin Ziegert

    Zwischen Innovation und Tradition. Die Münzprägung Vespasians .......................................   101

    Ursula Pintz Neue Erkenntnisse zu den Eisenmünzen der Austria Romana ................................................   109

    Slavica Filipović – Tomislav ŠeparovićDie spätantike Nekropole in Zmajevac (Kroatien). Übersicht über die numismatischen Funde.Ein Beitrag zur Erforschung des Umlaufs von Münzen am Donau-Limes in Pannonien ....... 119

     Nikolaus SchindelZur kushano-sasanidischen Münzprägung ...............................................................................   133

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     Inhaltsverzeichnis

    VI

    Hubert EmmerigMünzfunde des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit in Österreich: Die Erschließungeines Quellenbestandes – Der Fundkatalog am Institut für Numismatik undGeldgeschichte der Universität Wien (FK/ING) ......................................................................   143

    Roman Zaoral

    Silver and Glass in Trade Contacts between Bohemia and Venice ..........................................   149

    Petr Schneider Ein Beitrag zur Oberlausitzer Münzgeschichte im 13. Jahrhundert ........................................ 167

    Dagmar Grossmannová

    Beitrag zur Typologie der mährischen Münzen der zweiten Hälfte des 13. Jahrhunderts ....... 177

    Herfried E. Wagner Gefälschte Gegenstempel auf Prager Groschen ....................................................................... 185

    Anna Fabiankowitsch1683 und die Münzfunde in Wien, Niederösterreich und dem Burgenland ............................. 199

    Jürgen Mühlbacher – Irene Mühlbacher 

    Der Diskurs gesellschaftlicher Erinnerungskultur am Beispiel bundesdeutscherSilbermünzen – Ein erster Werkstattbericht ............................................................................. 215

    Bernhard ProkischFunde religiöser Medaillen in Oberösterreich. Ein erster Bericht ........................................... 219

    Karl Peitler „Dem Johanneum, einer Anstalt, in der ich Stifter und Vaterland ehre und liebe“ –Die Schenkungen Anton Prokesch von Ostens an das Münzkabinett des Universal-museums Joanneum .................................................................................................................   235

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    149

    R OMAN ZAORAL

    Silver and Glass in Trade Contacts betweenBohemia and Venice

    During the second half of the 13th centur German settlers and mining eperts started to encounterItalian prospectors, traders and nanciers in Bohemia and Moravia1. The impetus for this develop-ment came from Venice, which subsequentl became the largest European marketplace for pre-cious and non-ferrous metals for more than two centuries (ca. 1280–1500). The cit proted fromthe fact that it was situated closer to Central European mines than an of the other Mediterranean ports. The penetration of Venetian merchants into the Eastern Mediterranean called for growing

     production of coinage, which was wholl dependent on supplies of silver. Large quantities of silverwere an important precondition for the paments made b Venetians for goods purchased in theLevant. Venice derived major nancial benets from its role as intermediar between the Germanregions of production in Central Europe and markets in the Eastern Mediterranean. These protsincreased rapidl after the Venetians introduced the  grosso matapan, which became the mostimportant trade coin in the Mediterranean for more than a centur.

    Signicant quantities of precious metals were etracted from the mines of Bohemia-Moraviaand Hungar, with silver production in Iglau (Jihlava) and Kuttenberg (Kutná Hora) increasingconsiderabl between 1260 and 1350. The eact output is, however, unknown. Ian BLANCHARD with reference to Jan k ořán estimates that it grew to an average of some 5 tonnes a ear fromaround 1270 before nall peaking at 6.5 tonnes of silver a ear in 1298–13062. Jiří MAJER  also

    refers to an output of 5 tonnes in the 1260s and 1270s. However, after the discover of silver oreat Kuttenberg the annual ield increased, according to MAJER , to 10 tonnes b the end of the 13 th centur and 20 tonnes in the rst half of the 14th century3. While production of gold is also assumedto have increased, its volume is unknown4.

    Metal was eported from Central Europe in two directions, to Venice and Flanders. A fai-lure to control suppl during the initial upswing led to local mone markets in Central Europe being ooded with coin. The overpricing of domestic produce caused most of silver and gold to pass into the hands of merchants, who eported it and received western and southern European

    1  This stud originated within the scope of a research programme at the Facult of Humanities, Charles Universit,

    Prague, No. P20/2012/29 (cultural, social and historical anthropolog).2  I. BLANCHARD,  Mining, Metallurgy and Minting in the Middle Ages 3: Continuing Afro-European Supremacy,1250–1450. Stuttgart 2005, 930 prefers gures given in J. k ořán,  Přehledné dějiny československého hornictví[Outline of Czechoslovak mining history] I. Prague 1955, 89–90, 195, based on actual mine revenues, to the hear-sa and chronicle evidence presented b P. SPUFFORD,  Money and its use in medieval Europe. Cambridge 1988,125 or the estimates of J. janáČek , L’argent tchèque et la Méditerranée (xIVe et XVe siècles). In:  Mélanges enl’honneur de Fernand Braudel I. Toulouse 1972, 259 note 12, which ield an eaggerated annual output gure of20–25 tonnes.

    3  J. MAJER , Konjunkturen und Krisen im böhmischen Silberbergbau des Spätmittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit.Zu ihren Ursachen und Folgen. In: Ch. BARTELS – M. A. DENZEL (eds.), Konjunkturen im europäischen Bergbau invorindustrieller Zeit. Festschrift für Ekkehard Westermann zum 60. Geburtstag . Stuttgart 2000, 73, 76–78.

    4  J. janáČek , Stříbro a ekonomika českých zemí ve 13. století [Silver and economics of the Czech lands in the 13 th centur]. Československý časopis historický  20 (1972) 897, note 100. See also J. k uDrnáČ, Prähistorische und

    mittelalterliche Goldgewinnung in Böhmen. Anschnitt  29 (1977) 2–15.

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    manufactured goods in return5. A manuscript compiled in the last third of the 13 th centur detailingthe most important goods transported to Bruges provides a detailed picture of the nature of thistrade, containing specic information about the wares traded during this period with reference toHungar, Bohemia and Poland: “ Dou royaume de Hongrie vient cire, or et argent en plate. Douroyaume de Behaingne vient cire, or et argent et estain. Dou royaume de Polane vient or et argenten plate, cire, vairs et gris et coivre6.” Eports to Venice can be assumed to have had a similar

    commodit structure.As Venetian trade graduall penetrated into the Eastern Mediterranean, the need to boost

     production of coinage grew. A regular ow of silver helped the cit to gain the advantage overGenoa (1257–1270, 1294–1299) and Pisa, and at the same time became a dnamic factor in thedevelopment of commodit-monetar relations for those countries which had a sufcienc ofraw materials7. Under these circumstances most of the new Venetian  grossi were not altered, ineither weight or neness, and new and larger  grossi were graduall introduced. Silver passingconcurrentl from Bohemia had permitted mint-masters to stabilize the main circulator media inthe West – the English pound sterling and the Brabant denier 8. Nevertheless, the relativel rapidestablishment of trading connections between Venice and Bohemia was facilitated not onl bepanding silver production in the Bohemian-Moravian highlands from the earl 1240s but also

     b the epanding power of Ottokar II (Přemsl), King of Bohemia (1253–1278), which etendedinto the Alpine lands and farther south to the neighbouring territories of Venice during the 1260sand 1270s.

     Nonetheless the geographical location of Bohemia meant that trade was of necessit long-distance. The main trade routes from the south to inland Europe bpassed the Bohemian basin.Bohemia’s peripheral position is attested b the inland communications network itself, whichlinked Prague with Regensburg, Nuremberg, Magdeburg, Breslau and Vienna, places which werethen part of the main European communications network 9. Throughout the 13th centur the superi-orit of the Danube route in long-distance trade was so marked that Bohemia and Moravia failed totake a major share of the transit trade10. It was one of the reasons wh industrial specialization did

    not take place to an substantial etent, nor did an robustl capitalized domestic merchant stratum

    5  B. HÓMAN, La circolazione delle monete d’oro in Ungheria dal x al xIV secolo et la crisi europea dell’oro nelsecolo XIV. Rivista Italiana di Numismatica, Second Series V (1922) 134, 140.

    6  K. HÖHLBAUM (ed.), Hansische Urkundenbuch III. Halle 1882–1886, 419 note 1. As is evident from this report andalso documented in nds, allos were more widespread in Hungar and Poland than in Bohemia.

    7  Trade relations between Venice and Central Europe have been the subject of man studies b W. VON STROMER .See particularl Binationale deutsch-italienische Handelsgesellschaften im Mittelalter. In: S. DE  R ACHEWITZ  –J. R IEDMANN (eds.), Kommunikation und Mobilität im Mittelalter. Begegnungen zwischen dem Süden und der Mitte

     Europas (11.–14. Jahrhundert). Sigmaringen 1995, 135–158. This topic was also discussed at the conference inPrato (W. VON STROMER  – F. C. LANE – P. SPUFFORD), recorded in the proceedings  La moneta nell’economia euro-

     pea, secoli XIII–XVIII ( Atti della “Sett imane di studio” 7). Prato 1981, 145, 157–158, 879. On the Czech side see

    J. janáČek , L’argent tchèque (note 2), 245–261; R. ZAORAL, Obchodní stk mezi Prahou, Řeznem a Benátkamive 13. století [Trade contacts among Prague, Regensburg and Venice in the 13th centur]. Numismatický sborník  21 (2006) 137–150; ID., Wirtschaftsbeziehungen zwischen Baern und Böhmen. Die Handelskontakte Prags mitEger, Regensburg, Nürnberg und Venedig im 13. Jahrhundert. In: R. LUFT – L. EIBER  (eds.), Bayern und Böhmen.

     Kontakt , Konikt , Kultur . München 2007, 13–34; ID., České země a Benátk: k obchodním stkům ve 13. sto-letí [The Czech lands and Venice: trade contacts in the 13th centur]. In: P. SOMMER  – V. LiŠČák   (eds.), Odorik

     z Pordenone: z Benátek do Pekingu a zpět – Odoric of Pordenone: from Venice to Peking and back (Colloquiamediaevalia Pragensia 10). Prague 2008, 75–94; ID., Silver and glass in medieval trade and cultural echange

     between Venice and the Bohemian Kingdom. The Czech Historical Review – Český časopis historický 109 (2011)235–261.

    8  I. BLANCHARD, Mining  (note 2), 938–956.9  J. PoŠvář , Obchodní cest v českých zemích, na Slovensku, ve Slezsku a v Polsku do 14. století [Trade roads in

    the Czech lands, Slovakia, Silesia and Poland until the 14th centur]. Slezský sborník  62 (1964) 54–63.10

      B. MENDL, Zápas o Donaustauf [Struggle for Donaustauf]. In: Od pravěku k dnešku I. Prague 1930, 218.

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    emerge in the Bohemian kingdom, both of which would have been necessar for foreign tradeto ourish on a larger scale. The import of foreign, mostl luur goods was therefore nanced b the eport of precious metal throughout the period under consideration, namel b those who participated in this trade as customers11.

    Metals from Central Europe were as important for the Venetian trade as arn from the West.The growth of Venice and its trade dominance was based on the balance between the volume of

    overseas trade and the production of metal, in which German miners and merchants plaed a part as well as the Italians. The former mainl came from Regensburg and Vienna, and from the14th centur onwards from Nuremberg. Regensburg with its focus on goldsmithing was the mostimportant centre of the precious metal trade in 11th –14th century Central Europe, and as such ofimportance to Bohemia. It is, however, necessar to bear in mind that a major part of these suppliesof silver was transferred to southern and western Europe in less straightforward was than viadirect trade connections. While this mainl concerns state and church paments, more complicated paths are also to be epected in trade. Through the merchants of southern German towns a part ofeported Bohemian silver was converted into coin while still within the bounds of the Empire, orwas used in jeweler’s products, reaching Ital and Flanders onl in part as pament for eportedgoods12.

    The establishment of close relations between Ital and Central European mining districts wascontingent upon the raising of trade and political barriers. The intensive echange of commodities between Venice and the Empire was enabled b a peace treat concluded between the Hol RomanEmperor Frederick I (Barbarossa; 1155–1190) and Venice, following which a new tpe of silvercoin – the Venetian  grosso – started to be struck. The rst German silver suppliers appeared inVenice in the period between the Third (1189–1192) and the Fifth Crusade (1213–1221). Therichest foreigner in the cit was a Regensburg merchant called Bernard Teutonicus, who dealt insilver from the East Alpine mines (Friesach, Villach), Hungar and Translvania13, and headed a private societ which held a monopol on silver supplies in Venice. In the ears between 1221 and1225 the numbers of merchants from southern German and Austrian towns increased considerabl.

    German suppliers were invested with special rights which enabled them to establish their ownstore-house (Fondaco dei Tedeschi) near the Rialto with about twent brokers who imported silverand copper ores14. The intensication of contacts with transalpine regions was facilitated b theimprovement of communications, particularl with the opening of the St Gotthard Pass in 1237.The Mongol invasion of Central Europe in 1241 seems to have impaired the trade in silver for a

    11  F. GRAUS, Die Handelsbeziehungen Böhmens zu Deutschland und Österreich im 14. und zu Beginn des 15. Jahr-hunderts. Historica 2 (1960) 77–110.

    12

      J. janáČek , Stříbro (note 4), 903–904.13  W. VON  STROMER , Bernardus Teutonicus und die Geschäftsbeziehungen zwischen den deutschen Ostalpen undVenedig vor Gründung des Fondaco dei Tedeschi. In:  Beiträge zur Handels- und Verkehrsgeschichte  (Grazer

     Forschungen zur Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte 3). Graz 1978, 1–15; ID., Venedig und die Weltwirtschaft um1200. Ein neues Bild. In: W. VON STROMER  (ed.), Venedig und die Weltwirtschaft um 1200. Stuttgart 1999, 1–9. Seealso G. R ÖSCH, Venedig und das Reich. Handels- und verkehrspolitische Beziehungen in der deutschen Kaiserzeit .Tübingen 1982.

    14 Sources on the histor of the  Fondaco dei Tedeschi have been published b G. M. THOMAS (ed.), Capitular des Deutschen Hauses in Venedig . Berlin 1874 (reprint Vaduz 1978). See also H. SIMONSFELD, Der Fondaco dei Tedes-chi in Venedig und die deutsch-venetianischen Handelsbeziehungen I.–II. Stuttgart 1887; K.-E. LUPPRIAN, Zur Ent-stehung des Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venedig. In: Grundwissenschaften und Geschichte. Festschrift für P. Acht  ( Münchner Historische Studien, Abteilung Geschichtliche Hilfswissenschaften 15). Kallmünz 1976, 128–134;ID.,  Il Fondaco dei Tedeschi e la sua funzione di controllo del comercio tedesco a Venezia. Venezia 1978 and

    G. R ÖSCH, Venedig und das Reich (note 13), 85–96.

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     brief period; it is no coincidence that Florence and Genoa, which were better supplied with Africangold than Venice, had started to strike gold coins b 1252, with Venice following onl in 128515.

    During the 13th centur, described as a period of revolution in trade, the Italians penetratedmarkets in Flanders and at the same time acted as prospectors in eastern-central Europe supplingItalian towns not onl with precious metals but also non-ferrous metals16 needed for the produc-tion of weapons, instruments and ship ttings. The rst documented journe made b Venetian

    merchants, authorized b the Doge of Venice, to the Hol Roman Empire for trading purposesdates from 123217. B the rst half of the 13th centur trade contacts had become widespread, asis evident from the customs regulations issued for Wiener Neustadt in 1244 b Frederick II, Dukeof Austria (1230–1246). The route via the Phrn Pass seems to have been in operation b thattime18. However, the decisive turn in long-distance trade came onl in the second half of the 13 th centur. The accurate specication of customs duties in the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the building ofa road over the Brenner, the opening up of new trade routes via Nuremberg and western European passes directed at the Rhineland, Flanders and England all laid the foundations for the boom inlate-medieval long-distance trade.

    Metal was supplied to Venice from all the ore-mining districts of Central and South EasternEurope known at that time: Freiberg, Freiburg im Breisgau, Trol, Friesach, Iglau, Kuttenberg

    (after 1280), Gölnicbána (Göllnitz, Gelnica) in Zips (Spiš), Rodna in Translvania, and Brskovoin Serbia19. The were purveed b eperienced and wealth merchants from Upper German andnorthern Italian towns, all competing against one another. The entrepreneurs of Prague and otherEast-Central European cities were unable to compete and thus ecluded from this trade. German-Italian rivalr for European markets culminated in the 1270s. In 1272 Venetian merchants wereforbidden from carring on trade on two main routes, one leading via Padua and the BrennerPass to Regensburg and the other via Tarvisio to Vienna. Five ears later Rudolf of Habsburg(1273–1291) promised protection for Venetian merchants in a letter addressed to Jacopo Contarini,Doge of Venice (1278–1280)20; however, it mostl referred to eclusive supplies for use at princelcourts. In particular, contacts between Venice and neighbouring Treviso, which were managed b

    German merchants, had been tense. Reports of reprisals in Treviso in 1265 and bans on trade withthe cit, repeatedl promulgated in Venice (1272, 1284, 1303), illustrate the strenuous efforts made b Venetian merchants to capture the market in metals21. Venetian penetration of central Europehad increased since the 1270s and its position became stabilized after the right of free trade wasobtained for its merchants in the Empire in 130322. The Italians and Germans controlled the work

    15  W. VON STROMER , Hartgeld, Kredit und Girageld. Zu einer monetären Konjunkturtheorie des Spätmittelalters undder Wende zur Neuzeit. In: La moneta nell’economia europea, secoli XIII–XVIII . Prato 1981, 145.

    16 Tin, copper and lead occur most frequentl among the non-ferrous metals eported from Central Europe. SeeI. BLANCHARD, Mining  (note 2), 1451–1572.

    17

      H. SIMONSFELD, Fondaco II (note 14), 31.18  G. R ÖSCH, Venedig und das Reich (note 13), 87.19  Strikingl analogous circumstances documented in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, on the Saon side of the

    Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge) as well as in the Siegerland or Schwarzwald conve an image of a region that wasculturall and technologicall integrated. See J.DoLežeL – J. saDíLek , Středověký důlní komple v trati Havírna uŠtěpánova nad Svratkou. Příspěvek k dějinám těžb stříbra v oblasti severozápadní Morav ve 13. a 14. století [Amedieval mining comple “Havírna”. Contribution to the histor of silver mining in the region of North-westernMoravia in the 13th and 14th centuries]. Mediaevalia archaeologica 6 (2004) 43–119.

    20  R. PREDELLI ET AL. (eds.), I libri commemoriali della Repubblica di Venezia – regesti I. Venezia 1876, document No. 5 of 18th March 1277.

    21  The German colon in Treviso was documented b 1184–1193. H. SIMONSFELD, Eine deutsche Colonie zu Trevisoim späten Mittelalter. In: Abhandlungen der Historischen Klasse der Königlich-Bayerischen Akademie der Wis-

     senschaf ten. München 1891, 555 note 2.22

      W. VON STROMER , Binationale Handelsgesellschaften (note 7), 143–146.

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    of coiners and goldsmiths in the Bohemian kingdom, but the also plaed a prominent role asdiplomats and notaries, in keeping with the “imperial” character of Ottokar’s court23.

    It was the power struggle between the Patriarchate of Aquileia and the local nobilit in 1267which beneted both Venice and the Bohemian king, enabling Venetian entrepreneurs to penetratecentral European mining districts in a more sstematic manner. Ottokar eploited the patriarchatecrisis to his own advantage: he acquired Friuli in 1270, and in the spring of 1272 his commissioner

    in Carinthia, Ulrich of Drnholec, captured Cividale, adding to the king’s sphere of inuence thePatriarchate of Aquileia with its centre in Udine, where the local canonr elected Ottokar captain-

    general24. At that time (1270–1276) the king of Bohemia and his allies had control of most of theimportant towns situated on the route to Venice (Aquileia, Cividale, Pordenone, Treviso, Feltre,Verona). The connection between Bohemia-Moravia and Venice was not in fact as unusual as itmight seem. Essentiall the entire route from Prague or Brno via Vienna or Linz to Venice passedthrough the demesne of the king of Bohemia at that time.

    The doges of Venice and the Great Council ( Maggior Consiglio) took a number of measuresto bring this booming long-distance trade under their control. Three – later four – ofcers wereentrusted with nancial powers over trade transactions of precious metals (1260 and 1266/67), a public debt (1262) and a permanent reserve (1265) were established, together with a law on coi-

    nage (1269). A ta on imported silver was imposed in 1270 and the purchase of silver allos wasauthorized in 127325.

    The import of silver was subject to close controls. In an effort to restrict the growing power ofGerman merchants the council issued a decree in 1268 according to which foreign merchants wereobliged to present imported silver at the mint immediatel after having registered at the Fondaco.It also charged a late or non-notice fee of approimatel 9 per cent of the total silver price and 4 per cent of the total gold price26. The assa ofce in Venice, which was charged with weighing andassaing precious metals, is documented b 1262; however, it does not seem to have been vereffective. This is evident from the fact that the precious metal controls became more restrictivefrom 1278. The council ordered appraisers to weigh all silver offered for sale at their bank or the

    mint. The mint master was obliged to bu it back for mintage and had right to remove from thecurrenc echange ofce anbod who had paid above the ofcial price for silver. The purchasedsilver could take the form of mined silver, coins or allos made in Venice (from 1273). At the sametime silver allos started to be marked with coin dies. Silver in the form of coin was onl allowedto be melted down at the mint or in the state rener on the Rialto27.

    The rst mentions of silver taation and regulation in Venice come from 1268 and 1270.The presumabl refer to the regular suppl of “German” silver, which had established its domi-nance in Venice from the late 1260s and which seems to have come predominantl from Iglau28.German merchants arriving at the Fondaco dei Tedeschi were required to register their wares withthe ofcials (vicedomini) supervising all activities at the Fondaco within two das of their arrival.Failure to register even a single mark of silver or coin resulted in draconian penalties. B 1270 the

    23  Since 1273 Master Henr of Isernia, for eample, had a comfortable post in the chancer of Ottokar II at Prague.See V. NOVOTNÝ, České dějiny [Czech history] I/4. Prague 1937, 370–372.

    24  R. CESSI, Venezia nel Ducento: tra Oriente e Occidente. Venezia 1985, 257; V. NOVOTNÝ, České dějiny I/4 (note 23),252.

    25  A. M. STAHL, Zecca. The Mint of Venice in the Middle Ages. Baltimore – London – New york 2000, passim. Seealso L. TRAVAINI, Mint organization in Ital between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries: a surve. In: N. J.MAY-HEW – P. SPUFFORD (eds.), Later Medieval Mints: Organisation, Administration, Techniques. 8th Oxford Symposiumon Coinage and Monetary History ( BAR International Series 389). Oford 1977, 39–60.

    26  A. M. STAHL, Zecca (note 25), 133.27  Ibidem, 138–139, 169.28

      J.janáČek 

    , L’argent tchèque (note 2), 245-261.

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    had to pa a ta of 2.5 per cent on all their goods, including “argentin et platas argenti”29. Theserules had changed little even b the rst half of the 14th centur, as is evident from the merchant’smanual of Francesco Balducci Pegolotti, a Florentine factor for the Bardi banking house, accordingto which ever merchant had to declare his supplies within three das of his arrival and to realizea sale within a week. After 15–20 das he was to be bought out in Venetian grossi30. A similarordinance was in force in Prague. King Wenceslas II (1278/83–1305) conrmed the decision of

    the Old and Lesser Town in 1304 that ever foreign merchant be obliged to unload his goods and put them on the market within ve das of his arrival in Prague31.Silver was sold for the market price. Even if an gold coins had alread been struck in Venice

     b 1269 (the mint did not start production of these until 1284), the law concerning coinage okedthe price of silver to unstable gold prices32 and required silversmiths working for the mint to pa ata of 0.625 grammes of gold on each pound of silver 33. The mint masters were obliged to pa 107 grossi for a silver pound of grosso neness, that is, a price that had remained unchanged for ftyears34. The mint used the purchased silver to strike grossi and their lesser denominations, whichin 1273–1278 were sold in the proportion of 1 gramme of pure silver to 4.05 – 4.18 grammes ofsilver ore35. Venetian merchants travelling overseas were to be invested with full-bodied grossi byconversion of old ones. In 1278 the Fondaco dei Tedeschi capitular required that the echange of

    valid for devalued coins should be undertaken on a weight-for-weight basis36.Supplies of silver had a direct inuence on the productive efcienc of the Venice mint. Data

     published b Alan STAHL eplicitl support this connection: the rst marked upsurge in mintingoccurred in the 1260s and 1270s, with production peaking in 127837. The mint’s prot was aboutten times higher from the striking of pett coins (20.9 per cent in 1278) than from the striking of grossi (2.3 per cent in 1278). However, even at the peak of production, estimated at 10 tonnes ofsilver in 1278, its total contribution to the settlement of the massive debt carried b the Republicof Venice was negligible38. This debt and the concomitant rise in ination are well documented bthe ratio of pett coins issued to Venetian grosso, which increased from 1:26 in 1254 to 1:32 in

    29  R. CESSI (ed.), Problemi monetari veneziani ( Documenti nanziar i della Repubblica di Venezia IV/1). Padua 1937,11–12, documents No. 14–15.

    30  F. B. PEGOLOTTI, La pratica della mercatura (A. EVANS [ed.]). Cambridge, Mass. 1936. The most recent discussionof PEGOLOTTI is in L. TRAVAINI, Monete, mercanti e matematica: le monete medievali nei trattati di aritmetica e neilibri mercatura. Roma 2003, 118–130.

    31 Prague Cit Archives, Manuscript collection, No. 986, fol. 64. Quoted from M. Dvořák , Zahraniční a vnitřníobchod [Foreign and home trade]. In: Lucemburská Praha 1310–1437 . Prague 2006, 124.

    32  The contemporar boom in European silver production ensured a progressive cheapening of that metal in relationto African gold. In the 1250s a given weight of gold had been generall purchasable in Europe for eight or ninetimes the amount of silver. B the 1280s the value of gold as compared with silver had increased to a ratio of 1:11

    and b the earl 14th

     centur gold was worth over thirteen times more than silver. See I. BLANCHARD, Mining  (note2), 942.33  L. B. R OBBERT, The Venetian mone market, 1150 to 1229. Studi Veneziani 13 (1971) 63; ID., Mone and prices in

    thirteenth-centur Venice. Journal of Medieval History 20 (1994) 373–390.34  A. M. STAHL, Zecca (note 25), 170.35  Prices of silver valid at the Venetian mint in 1273–1278: upon sale of grossi (1273 and 1274): 1 gramme of native

    silver = 1.04 grammes of coin silver allo of 960/1000 neness = 4.18 grammes of silver ore; upon sale of pettcoins (1278): 1 gramme of native silver = 5.05 grammes of coin silver allo of 198/1000 neness = 4.05 grammesof silver ore. Calculated from data published b L. B. R OBBERT, The Venetian mone market (note 33), 91.

    36  G. M. THOMAS (ed.), Capitular  (note 14), chapter 64.37  A. M. STAHL, Venetian Coinage: Variations in Production. In: Rythmes de la production monétaire, de l’antiquité

    à nos jours. Actes du colloque international organisé à Paris du 10 au 12 janvier 1986 . Louvain-la-Neuve 1987,476–479.

    38

      A. M. STAHL, Zecca (note 25), 169–173.

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    128239. Even other European countries including the Kingdom of Bohemia with its rich resourcesof precious metals failed to escape similar inationar trends.

    It became a general rule of the Echequer of Venice that all incomes collected above a setlimit were to be used for the settlement of debts and amortization. In this case it was possible toloan mone through the mint. The establishment of public debt contributed to increasing sale oftestator’s obligations as well as to regular investments in real estate40. Moreover, the precious

    metals trade supported the development of a banking sstem which, however, was limited to themost advanced regions in Europe. The level of credit in Venice ranged from between 8 to 12 percent at that time41.

    The Bohemian king Ottokar II, as a ruler related to the Hohenstaufen dnast, was probablinspired in his efforts b the economic reforms of Emperor Frederick II (1220–1250). The aim ofthe three reforms undertaken b Ottokar in 1253, 1260/61 and 1268/70 was to make compatibletwo different monetar sstems (bracteates and pfennigs) and to make trade contacts with Veniceeasier. In this sense his last reform, which dealt with the adjustment of weights and measures,is among the most important. The coincidence of these measures with legal and administrativereforms in Venice is remarkable. It is beond doubt that the created the conditions for a moreintensive echange of goods between Prague-Brünn and Venice.

    The monetar polic of the Bohemian king was adopted b the Counts of Gorizia (the mintat Lienz in Trol) and the archbishops of Salzburg (the mint at Friesach in Carinthia), as is evi-dent from their coins which bear the lion coat of arms42. The improvement and stabilization of thecoinage was part of the Ottokar’s pledge before the battle of Kressenbrunn (1260), in which the power struggle for Stria culminated43. The echange of better qualit coins for those with lowersilver content harmed all consumers since coin was not onl a commodit in long-distance trade but also plaed a part in everda life. The solution consisted in introducing sstematic measureswhich were intended to boost the qualit of the coinage and make the echange of currenciesmore practical.

    Accordingl, the Bohemian king “ordered to renew measures and weights and to mark

    them”

    44

    . The aim of  

    Ottokar’s last reform of 1268 was to establish coins of lower weight but highqualit (970–980/1000) and integrate denominations of half value (obols), which have been attes-ted b coin nds, into the currenc sstems of the Czech and Austrian lands. Cancellation of thestriking of one coin tpe in two different weights, new issues of pfennig-tpe deniers45, put intocirculation in Bohemia and Moravia, together with the fact that the weight of the small bracteate

    39  G. LUZZATO, L’oro et l’argento nella politica monetaria veneziana dei secoli xIII–xIV. In: Studia di storia econo-mica veneziana. Padua 1954, 261–263. See also M. K  NAPTON, La nanza pubblica. In: Storia di Venezia II. Roma1995, 375.

    40  R. C. MUELLER , The Procurators of San Marco in thirteenth and fourteenth centuries: a stud of the ofce as anancial and trust institution. Studi Veneziani 13 (1971) 192–193.

    41

      M. K  NAPTON, La nanza pubblica (note 39), 396–402.42  T. k rejČík , Mincovnictví Přemsla Otakara II. v alpských zemích [The coinage of Ottokar II Přemsl in theAlpine lands]. Folia historica bohemica 1 (1979) 209–224.

    43  J. EMLER  – V. V. TOMEK  (eds.), Fontes rerum Bohemicarum (thereinafter FRB) II. Prague 1874, 319.44  J. ŠeBánek  – S. DuŠková (eds.), Codex diplomaticus et epistolaris regni Bohemiae (thereinafter CDB) V/1. Prague

    1974, No. 794. See also FRB II, 300.45  I use the term “pfennig-tpe denier” in the sense intended b Jiří SEJBAL owing to the close connection between

    currenc development in Moravia and Austria and at the same time in an effort to distinguish Moravian coinsfrom Austrian and southern German pfennigs. See J. SEJBAL, K chronologii moravských ražeb 13. století [Chro-nolog of the 13th centur Moravian mints]. In: Sborník I. numismatického symposia 1964. Brno 1966, 78–84; ID.,K základním otázkám vzniku moravských ražeb 13. století [The origin questions of the 13 th centur Moravianmints]. In: Sborník II. numismatického symposia 1969. Brno 1976, 60; ID.,  Základy peněžního vývoje [ ABC ofmonetary development ]. Brno 1997, 119. B contrast J. hásková, K ražbě a ikonograi české mince ve 13. století

    [The striking and iconograph of a Bohemian coin in the 13th

     centur]. In:  Z pomocných věd historických XI –

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    an became equivalent to the weight of the pfennig, all serve as other proofs of more advancedcurrenc conditions46. A new heav pound of 280 grammes seems to have been introduced inMoravia at the time, as is evident from the secondaril modied, originall much lighter, bronzeweight found in the Upper Square in Olmütz (Olomouc) and dating to the second half of the 13 th century47. New medium bracteates started to be struck in Moravia some time after 127048. Thestructural analsis of the Fuchsenhof hoard even supports the hpothesis of a brief period charac-

    terized b a reduction of bracteate tpes in circulation in South Moravia in favour of pfennig-tpedeniers, which could be interpreted as attempt to unif two different coin sstems (pfennigs and bracteates) in the earl 1270s49. Nevertheless, this daring et fundamentall unrealistic plan ofOttokar’s was never full implemented, as attested b his bracteates from the mints of St. Veit andVölkermarkt, which follow Bohemian patterns50. 

    During the second half of the 13th centur the number of mints leased to burghers increasedconsiderabl both in northern Ital and in the Czech lands. The decentralization and “privatization”of coinage through the practice of leasing stood in contrast to the centralization in the distribu-tion of coin metal and in assas of its qualit. The latter is also evident from the centralization ofmining rights in Iglau, where roal ofcials from all over Bohemia and Moravia responsible formanagement of the proceeds from silver mining (so-called urburéři) were concentrated in 127251.

    In order to nd the reason for this epansion in currenc development during the 13th centuryit is necessar to look for uncontrolled mass production of coins that had a fundamentall ina-tionar effect. This made it possible to multipl incomes and create the conditions for enforcingroal dominion in mining and coinage. For practical reasons, that is, to be close to the mines inIglau and Deutschbrod (Smilův Brod), the main mints of the 1260s–1280s were located in theBohemian-Moravian Highlands52.

    It was not onl specialized teams of mint-masters that were engaged in the organizationof the coinage and currenc but also entrepreneurs, who were able to organize the coin renewal(renovatio monetae), during which the withdrew old coins out of circulation and echanged themfor new coins as authorized b the king53. These entrepreneurs seem to have been able to support

    the establishment of the mints and their operations for coin renewal purposes. As is evident fromthe formular reports of 1230–1305, the renovatio monetae, which in fact represented the onleffective form of popular taation at that time, took place annuall on St Peter’s Da (29 June) and

     Numismatica, Acta Universitatis Carolinae – Philosophica et Historica 1, 1993. Prague 1995, 35 note 3 uses theless suitable term “bracteate-tpe denier”.

    46  R. ZAORAL, Die böhmischen und mährischen Münzen des Schatzfundes von Fuchsenhof. In: B. PROKISCH – T.K ÜH-TREIBER  (eds.), Der Schatzfund von Fuchsenhof (Studien zur Kulturgeschichte von Oberösterreich 15). Linz 2004,95–132; ID., České a moravské ražb z pokladu Fuchsenhof [Bohemian and Moravian mints from the Fuchsenhofhoard]. Numismatický sborník 20 (2005) 61–108.

    47  J. DoLežeL, Středověká miskovitá (lotová) závaží v českých a moravských nálezech [Medieval dished weights in

    the Bohemian and Moravian nds]. In: Přehled výzkumů 49. Brno 2008, 198–201.48  F. CACH,  Nejstarší české mince [The oldest Bohemian and Moravian coins] III. Praha 1974, 55–56. J. SEJBAL, Základy peněžního vývoje  (note 45), 125, puts the striking of middle bracteates in Moravia a little later, in the1280s and 1290s.

    49  R. ZAORAL, Die böhmischen und mährischen Münzen (note 46), 124; ID., České a moravské ražb (note 46), 100.50  T.k rejČík , Mincovnictví Přemsla Otakara II. (note 42), 209–224. See also V. vaníČek , Velké dějiny zemí Koruny

    české [ History of the lands of the Bohemian Crown] III, 1250–1310. Prague – Litomšl 2002, 328–329.51  J. ŠeBánek  – S. DuŠková (eds.), CDB V/2. Prague 1981, No. 681.52  L. JAN, Václav II. a struk tury panovnické moci [Wenceslas II and structures of a royal power ]. Brno 2006, 122.53  This compulsor echange of mone was perceived as a burden. Vilémov Monaster (East Bohemia), for eample,

    was granted a charter dated 22 March 1276 eempting it from echanging old mone for new. Likewise, the Jewswere obliged to purchase a certain amount of mone from particular mints once a week. RBM II, No. 1009. Seealso J. ŠUSTA, Dvě knihy česk ých dějin 1: Poslední Přemyslovci a jejich dědictví, 1300–1308 [Two books of Czech

    history I: The last Přemyslides and their heritage, 1300 –1308].2

    Prague 1926 (reprinted Prague 2001), 91.

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    at Candlemas (2 Februar)54. The striking itself took place in mints which were operated on the basis of inherited tenancies b private entrepreneurs (concessores), while the Prague assa ofce provided qualit control of the coining metal55. In Prague as in Venice, three or four cit ofcialswith responsibilit for gold and silver (so-called litkupníci) were entrusted with the mediation ofcommercial transactions involving registered precious metals56. Whenever real estate was soldthe purchaser was asked to add one lot of silver “pro puricando argento”. This was in fact a ta

    amounting to one siteenth of a pound in weight, as is evident from a deed issued b the Všehradchapter on 12 September 127957.

    The minting of 13th-centur coin led to a temporar increase in the price of silver. The reducedcontent of precious metal in the coins was the reason wh unminted metal became a more wide-spread form of pament on the market than coin itself 58. To merchants it represented an advantage-ous counter-value for imported goods. It could often be carried without ecessive customs duties,it was less epensive to transport, and it was unaffected b climatic conditions. These ndings aresupported b Jiří MAJER , who has calculated that about 90 per cent of silver mined in Czech landsduring the 13th centur was sold in unminted form59. The non-punishable use of unminted metalwas established primaril b being deploed for larger paments and taes60. The Venice mint allo-wed silver allos to be purchased in 1273 and thus assisted in making their use more widespread.

    This practice was still common at the beginning of the 14 th centur. Southern German and Italianmerchants took precious metals in various forms with them when the travelled, including silverore, silver and gold jeweller, valid and devalued coins as well as silver allos61. A variet of metalobjects of this kind was found in the Fuchsenhof hoard discovered in Upper Austria which washidden around 1276/78 and might be interpreted as an eample of a suppl of silver bound for theVenetian Fondaco dei Tedeschi62.

    Owing to the gradual reduction of the precious metal content in coins the prot on unmintedmetal would seem to have been larger than has been assumed hitherto63. This is attested b one ofthe principles listed in the capitular of the German Nation of 1278, according to which the priceof silver allos is to be accepted as stipulated b the doge and his council, whereas the price for

    54  J. EMLER  (ed.), Regesta diplomatica nec non epistolaria Bohemiae et Moraviae (thereinafter RBM) II: 1253–1310.Prague 1882, Nos. 2324–2343, in particular No. 2334.

    55  CDB V/1, No. 794.56  M. Dvořák , Císař Karel IV. a pražský zahraniční obchod [Emperor Charles IV and foreign trade in Prague]

    I. Pražsk ý sborník histor ický  34 (2006) 22.57  RBM II, No. 1189.58  The suppl of Venice with unminted metal is analsed in more detail b L. B. R OBBERT, Il sistema monetario. In:

    Storia di Venezia II. Roma 1995, 409–436. See also I. BLANCHARD,  Mining  (note 2), 936–970 and A. M. STAHL, Zecca (note 25), passim.

    59  J. MAJER , Development of Qualit Control in Mining, Metallurg, and Coinage in the Czech Lands (up to the19th Centur). In: History of Managing for Qualit y. Milwaukee (Wisconsin) 1995, 264–266; ID., Rudné hornictví

    v Čechách, na Moravě a ve Slezsku [The ore mining in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia]. Prague 2004, 60.60  An eample of a larger pament made with the non-punishable use of unminted metal is documented in the so-called Saar memorials from 1250, according to which a magnate weighed out his son-in-law 10 pounds of goldand 104 pounds of silver. See FRB II, 528.

    61  K. FISCHER , Regensburger Hochnanz. Die Krise einer europäischen Metropole. Regensburg 2003, 185. Chunksof ne precious metal were also changed into Venetian grossi and ducats later on, as is evident from the accounts

     book of the Regensburg Runtinger famil from 1383–1407. F. BASTIAN, Das Runtingerbuch 1383–1407 und ver -wandtes Material zum Regensburger-südostdeutschen Handel und Münzwesen I–III. Regensburg 1935–1944.

    62  B. PROKISCH – T. K ÜHTREIBER  (eds.), Der Schatzfund von Fuchsenhof (note 46); R. ZAORAL, České a moravské ražbz pokladu Fuchsenhof (note 46), 61–108.

    63  As pointed out in F. C. LANE – R. C. MUELLER , Money and Banking in Medieval and Renaissance Venice I.: Coinsand Money of Account . Baltimore – London 1985, 134–142. See also F. C. LANE, Eportations vénitiennes d’or etd’argent de 1200 à 1450. In: Études d’histoire monétaire XIIe – XIXe siècles. Textes réunis par J. Day. Lille 1984,

    29–48.

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    minted silver is not mentioned at all64. The earl 14th-centur merchant manual b Zibaldone daCanal  gives instructions for the conversion of unminted metal und claims that Venetian mone-dealers purchased unminted silver from German and Hungar which was not ver pure, in con-sequence of which the subsequentl rened it65.

    The last will and testament of Bruno of Schauenburg, Bishop of Olomouc (1245–1281), dated1267, attests to widespread paments in unminted silver being made in Moravia. According to this

    document, taes were paid eclusivel in unminted silver. The will also provides evidence of a spe-cic medium of pament represented b unminted denier ans. Bruno’s efforts to preclude lossesassociated with coin depreciation in clerical incomes were made in the contet of these measures,as attested b a stipulation that wages for two hundred priests in the amount of 12 deniers should be paid not in common devalued coin but in unminted metal66.

    The 13th-centur merchant was not limited b protective measures to the same degree as inlater ages, there being no great barriers for him to pass with his goods67. There was as et no strongcompulsion to process silver through the local mint. Attempts to introduce this in Venice and alittle later in Kuttenberg represent an innovation which was not immediatel successful68. A largenumber of merchants repeatedl sought to evade these regulations. The schemes the emploedto do so sometimes enjoed success, such as on 14 December 1322, when the Major Council of

    Venice was forced to spare Konrad Spitzer, a merchant of Regensburg, punishment for delaingthe registration of imported gold and silver 69. However, this luminar of the mercantile worldcarried on with his sharp business practices in Bohemia, ending up in prison et again in Praguein 132470. The question of whether miners and smelters should strike silver without dela or notseems to have been a subject of debate in man places in Europe at that time, as is evident fromthe fact that in the earl 14th centur miners from the contado of Siena tried to obtain a certicateof their freedoms from the cit council to be able to carr unminted silver in an wa the liked71.

    The high earnings of the Prague patricians, deriving from colonization, mining and the sil-ver trade, enabled the elites in Bohemia and Moravia to purchase a wide range of foreign luurgoods. Demand was considerable. Via foreign merchants the were able to purchase “cheap” (in

    terms of silver) cottons and linens woven in Sria and Egpt, silk 

    72

    , painted or enamelled glassmanufactured in Ital and Sria, as well as a whole range of spices from India and Arabia that passed through the Levant. Thus silver of Bohemian origin owed in the form of Venetian grosso to the eastern Mediterranean, and in 1261–1278 even as far as Tabriz, the capital of the PersianKhanate, where a mint was opened in 1271 to process these burgeoning supplies73. As it was also

    64  G. M. THOMAS (ed.), Capitular  (note 14), chapter 73.65  A. STUSSI (ed.), Zibaldone da Canal, Manoscritto mercant ile del sec. XIV . Venice 1967. See also an English edi-

    tion b J. E. DOTSON, Merchant Culture in Fourteenth Century Venice: The Zibaldone da Canal . Binghampton, N.y. 1994, 32.66  A. BOCZEK  (Hg.), Codex diplomaticus et epistolaris Moraviae (thereinafter CDM) III. Olomouc 1841, 402–408.67  J.MeZník , Praha před husitskou revolucí [ Prague before the Hussite revolution]. Prague 1990, 25.68  In 1305 Wenceslas II tried to interdict the import of unminted metal from Bohemia b Regensburg merchants. See

    J. WIDEMANN (ed.), Regensburger Urkundenbuch I ( Monumenta Boica 53 , N. F. 7). München 1912, 111–112, No.219.

    69  K. FISCHER , Regensburger Hochnanz (note 61), 185.70  J. janáČek , L’argent tchèque (note 2), 247–249.71  P. SPUFFORD, Power and Prot. The Merchant in Medieval Europe. New york 2003, 365.72  A list of domestic and foreign tetiles contained among the archaeological nds has been published b

    H. BřeZinová, Textilní výroba v českých zemích ve 13.–15. století [Textile production in Czech lands during the13th –15th centuries]. Prague – Brno 2007.

    73

      I. BLANCHARD, Mining  (note 2), 946–947. See also P. SPUFFORD, Power and Prot  (note 71), 347.

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     possible to bu these articles in Prague and Brünn, the seem to have become available even to persons outside the roal and episcopal courts74.

    Glass beakers decorated with coloured enamels, which were made in Murano between 1280and 1350, have been discovered in the holdings of Bohemian and Moravian patricians. The Praguends concern not onl Prague Castle but derive mostl from places connected with the activitiesof foreign merchants. Thus the cannot be interpreted solel as gifts or souvenirs from crusades

     but also as part of long-distance trade. Two glass specimens were found at Petrská Street, an areatraditionall associated with a German settlement, while the rest come from the immediate neigh- bourhood of the Old Town square and the Tn court (so-called Ungelt), which served as a customsdut point. A nd from Sněmovní Street, situated close to the main square of the Lesser Town,established as a roal town in 1257, can also be contetualized with foreign inhabitants and theirtrading activities75. These glass artefacts, which consist mostl of cups and dishes, with bottles and beakers occurring onl rarel, originated in Sria (Aleppo), northern Ital (Murano), Bzantium(Constantinople, Corinth) and the region of south-western German.

    The Italians who settled in Prague and Brünn facilitated not onl the importation of glass but also fostered a culture of the use of beakers made from a previousl unknown material. TheBrünn nds of lead (Náměstí Svobod 17), melting-pots (Rabínova Street/Náměstí Svobod) and

    coining dies (Jakubská Street 4) provide evidence of a metal trade and efforts to upgrade its value b means of coinage76. The origins of the glass indicate that there were a signicant numbers ofItalians among the merchants trading in it, some of whom resided in Brünn77. In contrast to thends from Prague and Brünn, Venetian glass from Olmütz (Olomouc) shows evidence of personalcontacts with bishops and canonr. Quite common tpes of bright green glass of Italian originoccurred not onl in the mercantile centres but also directl in the mining regions, as is evidentfrom nds made in Iglau, Altenberg bei Iglau (Staré Hor) and Troppau (Opava)78. Islamic glassoccurs in nds from Prague, Brünn and Znaim (Znojmo)79. Imported glass was, however, notlimited to metal trade centres and mining regions alone. To a certain degree it also spread to thecastles of Pürglitz (Křivoklát) and Kuttenberg in Central Bohemia, Tabor in South Bohemia as

    well as Kremsier (Kroměříž) and Ungarisch Hradisch (Uherské Hradiště) in southern Moravia

    80

    .At some point towards the end of the 13th centur the Venetians started to imitate Islamic glass.

    74  Documentar evidence of the Venetian glass trade in Prague at the end of the 13th century has been located byF. GRAUS, Die Handelsbeziehungen (note 11), 94 note 119. It concerns an entr in the deeds of Břevnov Monasterfrom 1296: It. cristalinam monstranciam Venetiis emptam pro 7 mar. See RBM II, 1202, No. 2752. The nds ofVenetian and Islamic glass in Bohemia and Moravia are subject of a number of works. See, for eample, E. Černá (ed.), Středověké sklo v zemích Koruny české [ Medieval glass in the lands of the Bohemian Crown]. Most 1994;E. Černá – J. PODLISKA, Sklo – indikátor kulturních a obchodních kontaktů středověkých Čech [Glass – indicatorof cultural and trade contacts in medieval Bohemia]. In: P. SOMMER  – V. LiŠČák  (eds.), Odorik z Pordenone (note7), 237–256; H. seDLáČková, Ninth- to Mid-16th Centur Glass Finds in Moravia. Journal of Glass Studies 48

    (2006) 191–224. Z. sMetánka, Archeologické etudy [ Archaeological Etudes]. Prague 2003, 56 deals with the saleof imported glass in 13th-centur Prague.75  E. Černá – J. PODLISKA, Sklo (note 74), 240–245.76  In 1297 Brünn obtained from the king mining rights within si miles, analogous to the mines near the towns of

    Iglau, Kolin or Časlav. See A. BOCZEK  – J. CHYTIL (eds.), CDM V. Brünn 1850, 61–62. See also H. seDLáČková, Ninth- to Mid-16th Centur Glass Finds in Moravia (note 74), 199–203.

    77  L. JAN, Václav II. (note 52), 127–137.78  H. seDLáČková, Středověké sklo z Jihlav [Medieval glass from Iglau]. In:  Zaměřeno na středověk. Zdeňkovi

     Měřínskému k 60. narozeninám. Prague 2010, 442–447.79  E. Černá, Islamisches Glas im mittelalterlichen Böhmen. In:  Ibrahim ibn Yaqub at-Turtushi: Christianity, Islam

    and Judaism Meet in East-Central Europe, c. 800–1300 A.D. Prague 1996, 103–106.80  See the map of Italian glass nds in medieval Moravia published b H. seDLáČková, Italské sklo ve středověku

    na Moravě [Italian glass in medieval Moravia]. In: Gotika severní Itálie. České země a Furlansko ve středověku.

    Mikulov 2009, 46.

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    In the 14th centur, however, imported glass graduall disappears from archaeological nds and isreplaced b products of domestic glass.

    The glass found in Brünn is concentrated in the area of the main square with the church of St Nicholas, founded b Italian colonists, and near the tower house in the neighbourhood of the OldTown Hall, which presumabl served as a mercantile centre. All sorts of glass have been foundthere, including such luur items as a Hedwig beaker or unusual Pordenone-tpe bowls. At that

    time dishes represented a common categor of glass object. Hedwig beakers were made in the Near East using high relief wheel-engraving, a technique unknown in medieval Europe. Dating to1235–1275, this eample was found in the grounds of a building near the main square of Brünn(Náměstí Svobod) and documents the presence of rich patricians in Brünn even before the 1250s.Ulrich Schwarz (Oldřich Černý), a wealth and politicall active burgher who took part in thecrusade of 1248, has been proposed as the owner of this beaker 81.

    Italian and Islamic glass came to Bohemia and Moravia via Venice b two routes. There isa striking concentration of qualit glass in nds made in western Hungar, southern Moravia,south-western Slovakia and Lower Austria on one hand and southern German on the other, all ofwhich are associated with the Viennese route via the Tarvisio Pass and the Regensburg route viathe Brenner Pass82. One of the rst written records of the glass trade on the Viennese route comes

    from the customs book of Wiener Neustadt and is dated 28 Ma 124483. An account from 1282referring to southern German states that merchants transporting glass in a wagon were eemp-ted from import dut up to a value of 10 liras. According to prices known from 1288 this mightrepresent anthing from 400 to 1,300 vessels, depending on the tpe84. Italian glass, however, didnot onl come from Venice. In the 13th –15th centuries more than 60 glass works are recorded inItal, although their range of products was not wide85. The production of individual glass worksmust have been enormous. The annual ield of all glass works producing so-called Venetian glass,i.e. on Italian territor, as well as in Dalmatia and Crete, is estimated to have averaged around760,000 vessels86. Although hollow glassware mostl arrived in transalpine countries between1270 and 1350, both the numbers of nds and the tpes and variants have led some researchers to

     believe that most products in fact originated concurrentl during the last third of the 13

    th

     century,when this high-qualit glass spread to a large part of Europe87. As this glass is connected with anelaborate culture of ne dining focused on wine consumption, the echange of silver for glass hadan important cultural as well as trading contet.

    Luur wares such as the Brno-tpe beakers from Mečová street and the Nuremberg-tpe bottles seem to have been custom-made. The are known from the aristocratic contet at Prague

    81  A nd of 13th-centur Moravian coins in the port of Caesarea (Israel) is indicative of a presumed crusade b otherunnamed pilgrims from Moravia to Palestine. See R. ZAORAL, Numismatic Evidence on Czech Pilgrims in 13thCentur Caesarea. In: D. DoLežaL  – H. K ÜHNE  (eds.), Wallfahrten in der europäischen Kultur - Pilgrimage in

     European Culture. Frankfurt am Main 2006, 73–79.82

      See the map of Brno-tpe beakers (Mečová Street) and of Nuremberg-tpe bottles found in Europe in:M. janovíČková  – H. seDLáČková, Obchod se sklem ve střední Evropě ve 13. a 14. století na příkladu konvictpu „Mečová“ a stolních láhví tpu „Norimberk“ [Glass trade in 13th- and 14th-centur Central Europe using theeample of Brno, Mečová-tpe beakers and Nuremberg-tpe bottles]. In: P. SOMMER  – V. LiŠČák  (eds.), Odorik z

     Pordenone (note 7), 268.83  K. TARCSAY, Mittelalterliche und neuzeitliche Glasfunde aus Wien. Altfunde aus den Beständen des Historischen

    Museum der Stadt Wien. In: Beiträge zur Mittelalterarchäologie in Österreich, Beiheft 3. Wien 1999, 13.84  C. PAUSE, Spätmittelalterliche Glasfunde aus Venedig. Ein archäologischer Beitrag zur deutsch-venezianischen

    Handelsgeschichte. In: Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie 28. Bonn 1996, 114.85  M. MENDERA, Glass production in Tuscan 13th to 16th centur: the archaeological evidence. In: J. VEECKMANN 

    (ed.), Majolica and Glass. From Italy to Antverp and beyond. The transfer of technology in the 16th – early 17thcentury. Antwerpen 2002, 263–294.

    86  C. PAUSE, Spätmittelalterliche Glasfunde (note 84), 101–102.87

      M.janovíČková

     – H.seDLáČková

    , Obchod se sklem (note 82), 263.

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    Castle, the residence of the margraves of Moravia and kings of Bohemia in Brünn, local castlesin Kuttenberg (central Bohemia) and Tabor (southern Bohemia) and in smaller numbers also fromlocalities in the ownership of the church (Olmütz) and the urban patriciate (Prague, Brünn, Bra-tislava, Vienna and Nuremberg). Concentration of the same, unique glass tpes at different placesin Europe cannot be accidental. It might be eplained as a single consignment sent out from onecentre of production88.

    A number of written records concern the importing of tetiles. One of these is a remindersent b Doge Jacopo Contarini to Queen Kunigunde, Ottokar’s widow, for “two lions”. Althoughthis record has survived onl as a transcript, according to J. B. novák  it is a letter based on a realdocument which was part of Queen Kunigunde’s formular89. It is not certain whether the two lionsreferred to were living animals or works of art. In all likelihood it was a reference to cloth with adesign of alternating lions and trees which was handed down in the collections of Prague Castleand in which the sarcophagus of the king of Bohemia was draped90. King Ottokar also receivedcustoms fees from the Danube trade route in the form of rare tetiles91.

    Mutual contacts are also supported b sporadic nds of Venetian coins at the castles ofPrague and Olmütz92 as well as b the 19th-centur account of the eceptional hoard of Florentineorins found in the small southern Moravian town of Jarmeritz (Jaroměřice nad Roktnou) and

    dating to the second half of the 13 th century93. Another source is associated with the Prague court.According to the Reimchronik  of Ottokar of Stria, the Bohemian king Wenceslas II sent master jewellers to Ital before his coronation in 1297 in order to purchase gemstones for the making ofa new crown and sceptre94.

    On the other hand it is true that the import of luur goods was rather eceptional in 13th-cen-tur Bohemia and had onl marginal importance within the overall structure of its trade relations.Connections with merchants from neighbouring countries and the import of a common range ofgoods far eceeded contacts with Ital, as is evident from the customs tariffs at Prague, Leitmeritz(Litoměřice) and Passau, which were limited to a relativel small list of items including cloth,salt, wine, spices, metal articles and weapons95. While Venice evinced interest in native metal onl,

    the range of articles eported from Bohemia-Moravia to southern German towns was broader andincluded corn, fur, wa, cattle, horses, weapons and occasionall cheap Bohemian and Moraviancloth as well.

    Accordingl, trading capital enabled onl some wholesale merchants in Prague to participateoccasionall in more complicated credit transfers. In 1262 the Florentine banking house of Dal

    88  Ibidem, 266–267.89  J. B.  novák , Kritika listáře královn Kunhut [Criticism of Queen Kunigunde’s memorials]. In: J. BIDLO  –

    G. FRIEDRICH – K. K ROFTA (eds.), Sborník prací historických k šedesátým narozeninám prof. dra Jaroslava Golla.Prague 1906, 124–125.

    90  M. BraverManová, Co se také stávalo s ostatk panovníků [What also happened to rulers ’  remains]. In: Příběh

     Pražského hradu . Prague 2003, 202. See also N. Bažantová, Pohřební roucha českých k rálů [ Burial garbs of the Bohemian kings]. Prague 1993.91  J. EMLER  (ed.), FRB IV: Chronicon aulae regiae. Prague 1884, 150.92  Z.  neMeŠkaLová-jirouDková  – K. toMková, Benátská mince z Pražského hradu [A Venetian coin from Prague

    Castle]. In: Acta Universitatis Carolinae – Philosophica et historica 1, 1993. Z pomocných věd historických XI – Numismatica. Prague 1995, 114–115; V.DOHNAL, Olomoucký hrad v raném středověku [The Olomouc castle in theearly Middle Ages]. Olomouc 2001, illustration plates.

    93  J. PoŠvář , Florentské dukát v nálezu z Jaroměřic n. Rok. z roku 1815 [Florentine ducats in the nd of Jaroměřicenad Roktnou from 1815]. Numismatické listy 21 (1966) 77–78.

    94  J. SEEMÜLLER  (ed.), Ottokars österreichische Reimchronik ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Deutsche ChronikenV/2). Hannover 1893, verses 69039–69050.

    95  R.  NOVÝ, Funkce obchodu a mince v pozdně přemslovských Čechách [The role of trade and coin in latePřemslide Bohemia]. Numismatické listy 35 (1980) 13–17. See also F. TADRA, Kulturní styky Čech s cizinou [The

    cultural contacts of Bohemia with foreign countries]. Prague 1897, 34–43.

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    Burgo allegedl settled a debt incurred b King Ottokar owed to the papal court which derivedfrom his divorce of his rst wife Margaret of Austria and the legalization of his three naturalchildren96. If we ignore the fact that this account is perhaps not entirel reliable, it was surel nota common situation in a region where the mone trade was handled b Jewish usurers97.

    The trading interests of German and Italian entrepreneurs in Bohemia and Moravia and thestimulation the received in the 1290s led to Prague plaing a part in the 13 th-centur trade revo-

    lution as “a cit with etraordinar consumption conditions within the scope of a local market”98 in which a relativel numerous Italian colon was settled99. Thanks to presence in the cit of theroal court and numerous church institutions, customers included individuals whose incomes camefrom virtuall all over the countr. The central position of Prague meant that at least until the 1350sthe Old Town merchants supplied most of smaller towns in Bohemia and Moravia with foreigngoods. The Stapelrecht  (staple right), established around the turn of the 14th century, among otherstipulations forbade foreign merchants to carr on retail sales, restricting them to selling wholesaleto domestic merchants onl100. Nevertheless, because they depended only to a very small degreeon the benets that this right conferred on Prague merchants, foreign wholesalers did not lose out.The had direct connections with other trade centres and their nancial potential and personalcontacts protected them from competition101.

    Venice’s restrictive polic towards the German merchants in the 1280s and 1290s gave theFlorentine entrepreneurs, who controlled international nancial operations, an unrivalled oppor-tunit. Moreover, Bohemian silver stopped being sent to Venice as the sole terminal destination inItal, although it ma have been re-eported from there to Florence102. The Venetians seem to have been replaced b the Florentines around 1300, not onl in Bohemia but also in Hungar, where theVenetians had been active from a much earlier date103. The best known case is that of the Floren-tine banking compan in Bohemia formed b one Rinieri, Apardo and Cno the Lombardian. Theidentication of these individuals is difcult. Apardo probabl came from the inuential FlorentineDonati famil104; the origin of Rinieri, the head of the compan, is, however, unclear. The Czechhistorian Libor JAN identies him with the Peruzzi famil105, while Marco VERONESI assigns him

    to the Macci famil.VERONESI

     connects Verius with the same Macci famil and holds him to be

    96  J. Čechura, Peněžní a nanční aktivit ve středověkých Čechách [Mone and nancial activities in medie-val Bohemia]. In: F. VENCOVSKÝ  – Z. JINDRA  – J.  NOVOTNÝ  – K. PůLPán  – P. Dvořák   a  koL.,  Dějiny bankov-nictví v českých zemích. Praha 1999, 28–29. This account seems to relate to questionable data mentioned bF. L. HÜBSCH, Versuch einer Geschichte des böhmischen Handels. Prag 1849, 112–113. In the same ear PopeUrban IV allegedl seized mone in Venice that was intended for purchasing goods for Ottokar’s court. A cr iticalview of this account is taken b H. SIMONSFELD, Der Fondaco II (note 14), 80.

    97 This situation onl changed in connection with the “etinction of Jewish debts” as a result of the anti-Jewish pogroms of 1349, 1385 and 1390. This opened up new opportunities for business enterprises in the Hol RomanEmpire, with merchants from Nuremberg taking the best advantage of the new situation. See W. VON STROMER ,

    Hartgeld (note 15), 110.98  This characteristic in connection with Prague was rst noted b J. janáČek , Řemeslná výroba v českých městechv 16. století [The craft production in the 16 th century Bohemian towns]. Prague 1961, 187.

    99  P. SPUFFORD, Power  (note 71), 134.100  J.MeZník , Der ökonomische Charakter Prags im 14. Jahrhundert. Historica 17 (1969) 56–58.101  J.MeZník , Praha (note 67), 63.102  Unminted “German” silver appears in an earl (ca. 1290) list at Florence compiled some fort ears later

    (ca. 1330), under the guise of “della bolla di Venegia”, bars of silver stamped at the Venice mint. See Ph. GRIER -SON, The coin list of Pegolotti. In: Studi in onore di Armando Sapori. Milan 1957, 485–492.

    103  M. ŠteFánik , Počiatk obchodných stkov Uhorska s Benátskou republikou za dnastie Arpádovcov [The originsof trade contacts of Hungar with the Republic of Venice under the Árpád dnast]. Historický časopis 50 (2002)553–568.

    104  L. JAN, Václav II. (note 52), 133–135.105

      Ibidem , 146.

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    Rinieri’s successor in the ofce of mint-master in Kuttenberg106. At the same time, around 1300, theMacci banking house was involved in the eport of precious metal from Hungar. Andrew III, Kingof Hungar from 1290 to 1301, banked 4,500 orins with this house alone107. If this identication iscorrect, then it would mean that both Central European kingdoms entered into economic relationswith Florence through the Macci famil, whose trading activities in the transalpine region seemto have started in Prague in 1299 and continued in 1322 at the trade fairs in Nördlingen, where a

     Rainerio de Macis is documented108.These partners established a private trading and nancial compan which acted as a bank andrented from the king the ofce of mint-master together with a mine and including roal incomesfrom smelted precious metals (so-called urbura) with the aim of carring out thoroughgoing mone-tary reform109. Despite the failure of Ottokar’s reforms, the eperience eventuall provided a basisfor its successful implementation. The Florentine nanciers were able to demonstrate their know-ledge and eperience thanks to the high qualit of Bohemian and Moravian coins that had resultedfrom previous reforms110. The carved out an eclusive niche for themselves in the Prague tradewith foreign countries, being eempt from the ordinance stipulating that goods of foreign prove-nance could onl be sold with written authentication of their origin, which meant that the coulddeal in luur consumer goods without restrictions. King Wenceslas II granted them hereditar

    ownership of a house in Brünn that had formerl belonged to the son of a deceased mint-mastercalled Eberhard and which came with an appropriate acreage of land and a farmstead together withtwo mills with fulling rooms, houses, gardens, orchards, a sher and other propert111. Until 1305the dealt in real estate, and were also brie entrusted with authorit in the economic administra-tion. In that same ear the sold their estate to a butcher named John, a burgher of Brünn, for 330 pounds of Prague groschen of Moravian weight, as attested b the deed of sale dated 23  February1305, in which Rinieri is named as captain of Cracow, Apardo as vice-chamberlain, while Cno ismerel referred to as “de Florentia”112. Nevertheless, anticipation of the fabulous prots to be madefrom conducting business in the lands of the “silver” king evidentl proved illusor, as Apardo setout for Bohemia in 1311 in order to claim the man debts that were owed him. In 1316 King John

    the Blind (1310–1346) acknowledged the debt of his predecessors on the Bohemian throne in theamount of 28,000 silver pounds. Claims on a sum of this order were in fact unenforceable and itseems that the compan subsequentl became bankrupt113.

    The Italian inuence on the currenc reform of 1300 is demonstrated b the Mining Law ofKing Wenceslas II, entitled Ius Regale Montanorum, which was drawn up b Gozzius of Orvieto,an Italian professor of law, on the basis of the older German Mining Code of Iglau. This introduced

    106  M. VERONESI, Heinrich von Luemburg und die italienische Hochnanz: Mittelalterlicher Staatskredit, der PragerGroschen und das orentinische Handelshaus der Macci. In: E.WIDDER  – W.K RAUTH (eds.), Vom luxemburgischenGrafen zum europäischen Herrscher – Neue Forschungen zu Heinrich VII . Luemburg 2008, 218–220.

    107  R. DAVIDSOHN, Geschichte von Florenz IV/2. Berlin 1925, 312, 567.108

      See note 106.109  In the light of recent research, which attests Rinieri’s presence in Bohemia from 1299 onwards, the still generallaccepted commentary of Josef ŠUSTA which emphasizes the mediating role plaed b Peter of Aspelt in the reali-zation of Wenceslas II’s currenc reform would seem to be mere ction. See L. JAN, Václav II. (note 52), 144–146.For a detailed account of Florentine activities in the kingdom of Bohemia see W. R EICHERT, Oberitalienische Kauf-leute und Montanunternehmer in Ostmitteleuropa während des 14. Jahrhunderts. In: U. BESTMANN – F. IRSIGLER  –J. SCHNEIDER   (eds.),  Hochnanz. Wirtschaf tsräume. Innovationen. Festschrift für Wolfgang von Stromer I. Trier1987, 269–356; ID., Mercanti e monetieri italiani nel regno di Boemia nella prima metà del xIV secolo. In: M.DEL TREPPO (ed.), Sistema di rapporti d’élites economiche in Europa (secoli XII–XVII). Napoli 1994, 337–348.

    110  I. Pánek , Das Münzvermächtnis des 13. Jahrhunderts in Böhmen. Numismatický sborník  12 (1973) 65–74.111  The mention of a full ing-mill is considered as probable evidence for domestic cloth production in late 13th-centur

    Brünn. See RBM II, No. 1880.112  RBM II, No. 2019.113

      L. JAN, Václav II. (note 52), 147–148.

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    Roman law to the Kingdom of Bohemia, specifing administrative and technical terms and condi-tions for operating the mines, such as the part taken b the king in mining and coinage, regulations pertaining to working safet, legislation on wages and working hours114.

    The favourable conditions for trade and nancial transactions created in the 13th centur werethen full developed during the following period, thanks to the epansion of the southern Germantowns. When the Council of Vienne imposed a veto on trade with Muslims in 1312, Bohemia and

    Hungar became the most important producers of precious metal in late medieval Europe. The sil-ver and other metals supplied b Kuttenberg to the Venice mint peaked between 1330 and 1380115.Bohemian silver – bracciali cioe buenmini or braccali coniata  – in the form of qualit Prague groschen was not melted down in the Venice mint but re-eported from Venice to other Italiantowns as well as to Famagusta (Cprus) and Lajazzo (Lesser Armenia)116.  Zibaldone da Canal  mentions silver from German (l’argento che vien d’Alemagna) in 1320, and Francesco Pegollotistates that the Prague  groschen  from the Kuttenberg mint referred to as buenmini dalla magna (“Bohemian from German”) came to Venice via Vienna117. The Prague groschen ( grossi boemi)thus became one of the most common silver denomination in 14 th-centur Ital, as is evident, foreample, from the pilgrim book of Siena118. Nevertheless, unlike Bohemian orins, which had beenstruck in Prague since 1325, Prague groschen were never hoarded in Ital.

    The Viennese, on whom the staple right was conferred in 1312, proted from this trade. Johnthe Blind, King of Bohemia, and Charles Robert of Anjou, King of Hungar, made a contractagainst the Viennese monopol in 1327 with the aim of preventing Bohemian silver being sentto Ital via Austria. From then on, all silver reserves from the Bohemian-Moravian mines werererouted to the West, thus strengthening the position of Nuremberg. Moreover, the fall in the priceof gold on the Venetian market in 1328–1335 fuelled the rise of the silver trade119.

    The acceptance of the basic principles of northern Italian currenc reform, which consisted inimproving the qualit and weight of coin and led to the creation of a eible currenc sstem andultimatel to the integration of gold denominations in a new sstem of European silver standard,constituted an important precondition for the consolidated economic development of the Bohemian

    kingdom in the 14

    th

     centur. Massive supplies of silver and qualit coin in the form of the Prague groschen attracted the attention of prospectors, merchants and nancial entrepreneurs from far andwide. The import volume of Flemish cloth120, saffron and wine121 into Bohemia grew steadil. Highqualit one-ounce gold in the form of gold wire woven into epensive garments at Lucca, Milanand Venice ma alread have been imported b the end of the 13 th century122. Imports of goods

    114  H. jireČek  (ed.), Codex juris Bohemici I. Prague 1867, 265–435. For an analsis of this law see G. Ch. PFEIFER , Ius Regale Montanorum. Ein Beitrag zur spätmit telalterlichen Rezeptionsgeschichte des römischen Rechtes in Mitteleuropa. Ebelsbach 2002.

    115  J. janáČek , České stříbro a evropský trh drahých kovů v první polovině 14. století [Bohemian silver and the Euro- pean precious metal market in the rst half of the 14th centur]. In:  Historiograe čelem k budoucnosti. Prague

    1982, 549–563.116  F. B. PEGOLOTTI, La pratica della mercatura (note 30), 60, 81. See also I. BLANCHARD, Mining  (note 2), 951–952.117  P. SPUFFORD, Money (note 2), 137–138.118  G. PICCINNI – L. TRAVAINI, Il Libro del pelegrino (Siena 1382–1446). Affari, domini, monete nell’Ospedale di Santa

     Maria della Scala. Naples 2003. See also R. ZAORAL – J. HRDINA, Peněžní hotovosti římských poutníků ve světle poutnické knih ze Sien, 1382–1446 [The cash holdings of pilgrims to Rome in the light of the pilgr im book ofSiena, 1382–1446]. Numismatický sborník  23 (2008) 191–204.

    119  P. SPUFFORD, Money (note 2), 271.120  J. EMLER  (ed.), RBM III. Prague 1890, No. 747.121  RBM III, No. 965. Flemish cloth from Ghent, ypres and Poperinghen was alread being sold on the Prague market

     b the 13th century. See F. GRAUS, Český obchod se suknem ve 14. a počátkem 15. století [The Bohemian trade withcloth in the late 14th –  early 15th century]. Prague 1950, 102.

    122  Such garments were brought to Prague on the orders of the roal court. See notes 90 and 91. The 14th-centur import

    of one-ounce gold is traced b W. EIKENBERG, Das Handelshaus der Runtinger zu Regensburg . Göttingen 1976, 132.

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    from Venice are documented b the authentication tests of Venetian products from 1304 and 1333,which were often counterfeited in Prague123. However, the inu of luur goods had a drawbackfor the Czech lands, taking on such dimensions in the 14th and 15th centuries that it suppressed theepansion of domestic artisanal production124.

    There is no doubt that silver constituted the instrument b which the Kingdom of Bohemia became more effectivel connected with the advanced economic centres of Europe. At the same

    time smptoms of a passive balance of trade started to increase, with the Italians selling moregoods and services to the Cisalpine regions than vice versa. Signicant amounts of mone left theCzech lands in the contet of campaigns, pilgrimages to the Hol Land organized at the epenseof the Venetians, and last but not least with paments to the papal court. Another reason for thisimbalance was a difference between the real and nominal value of coins, which had alread beenrecognized at the start of the groschen reform in 1300. The real worth of 12  parvi, equivalent tothe Prague groat, was cut b 2.77 per cent in comparison with their nominal worth, and this trenddeepened over time125. Nonetheless, despite certain negative tendencies, long-distance trade hel- ped to connect various cultural regions in Europe and to even out the contrasts between them, acircumstance which I view as one of the most important processes of late medieval histor.

    PhDr. Roman Zaoral Charles Universit, Facult of Humanities 

    U Kříže 8, 158 00 Prague 5, Czech Republic [email protected]

      123  F. GRAUS, Die Handelsbeziehungen (note 11), 94.124  J. janáČek , Der böhmische Aussenhandel in der Hälfte des 15. Jahrhunderts. Historica 4 (1962) 39–58.125  R.  NOVÝ, Nominální a reálná hodnota mince dob husitské [The nominal and real coin value of the Hussite

     period]. In:  Acta Universitatis Carolinae – Philosophica et historica 2-1988. Z pomocných věd historických

    VIII . Prague 1989, 82.