In the thirteenth century, the townsfolk of Bergen gladly imported English flour, honey and clothing. However, the merchant guilds of the towns of the Hanseatic League, from northern Germany to northwest Russia, began to dominate regional economies. Trade became easier in some respects, but Bergen’s culture was being Europeanised (and not for the better) even as their choice of goods and partners began to shrink. Among the casualties was trade with England; by the fifteenth century, relations with the Hanse were so bad that English merchants attempting to break into Baltic trade were driven off as pirates. Matters began to improve as the Hanse monopoly crumbled, and in 1659 a young Samuel Pepys, the well-known diarist, was among those re-establishing an English presence in the Baltic.
In the thirteenth century, the townsfolk of Bergen gladly imported English flour, honey and clothing. However, the merchant guilds of the towns of the Hanseatic League, from northern Germany to northwest Russia, began to dominate regional economies. Trade became easier in some respects, but Bergen’s culture was being Europeanised (and not for the better) even as their choice of goods and partners began to shrink. Among the casualties was trade with England; by the fifteenth century, relations with the Hanse were so bad that English merchants attempting to break into Baltic trade were driven off as pirates. Matters began to improve as the Hanse monopoly crumbled, and in 1659 a young Samuel Pepys, the well-known diarist, was among those re-establishing an English presence in the Baltic.
THE story of Harald’s ship is confirmed by a speech made by King Sverre in 1186 at Bergen,* to this effect:
“We thank willingly all English men, who have hither brought wheat-flour, and honey, meal and clothes. So willingly we thank all those men who hither have brought linen or flax, wax or kettles.”*
He goes on to say, that he wishes all German traders would leave Bergen unvisited, and not bring their stores of butter and stockfish, for they introduced drunkenness, and all the five evils that come from it.* This English trade went on till the middle of the fifteenth century, when the Hanse merchants obtained a monopoly of trade, the evil effects of which are still apparent.*
ByCharles Isaac Elton1839-1900
Abridged
Abridged from ‘Norway, the Road and the Fell’ (1864), by Charles Isaac Elton (1839-1900). Some small emendations have been made. Additional material from a book review in the Edinburgh Review for 1803, as given in ‘The Collected Works of Sydney Smith’ Vol. III (1846), and ‘Sverissaga - The Saga of King Sverri of Norway’ (1899) translated by J. Sephton.
* Sverre Sigurdsson, King of Norway from 1177 to 1202. His contemporaries in England were Henry II (1154-1189), Richard I (1189-1199) and John (1199-1216).
* In Sverri’s Saga §104 (the Saga was begun in 1185 under the King’s personal direction) the words of Sverre were: “We desire to thank the Englishmen who have come here, bringing wheat and honey, flour and cloth. We desire to thank those who have brought here linen or flax, wax or caldrons. We desire next to make mention of those who have come from the Orkney, Shetland, The Færys [Faroes] or Iceland; all those who have brought here such things as make this land the richer, and we cannot do without. But there are Germans who have come here in great numbers, with large ships intending to carry away butter and dried fish, of which the exportation much impoverishes the land; and they bring wine instead, which people strive to purchase, both my men, townsmen, and merchants.”
* The King enumerated the ‘five evils of excessive drinking’ thus: a loss of income and savings; the impact on memory and cognitive ability; a tendency to desperate violence; unreasonable anger at slight offences; and lastly exhaustion, leading to a breakdown of health.
* The Hanseatic League was a confederation of merchant guilds and market towns clustered around the shores of the Baltic Sea, from northern Germany east to Russia. See An Odious Monopoly. As recently as 1803, Sydney Smith (1771-1845) could write (after another excoriating attack on the slave trade) that “Denmark, after having been long overshadowed by the active industry of the Hanseatic towns, has at length established important commercial connections with all the nations of Europe, and has regulated those connections by very liberal and enlightened principles.”
Questions for Critics
1. What is the author
aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that
strike you. How do they help the author communicate his
ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you?
How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939)
by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at
Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn,
Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University,
USA.
Précis
Elton quoted from a speech by King Sverre of Norway, from the
days of Henry II, expressing his gratitude to English merchants for bringing
much-valued trade to Bergen. Sverre added his regret that German traders from
the Hanse towns could neither offer such useful goods, nor behave with such
sober decorum. (51 / 60 words)
Elton quoted from a speech by King Sverre of Norway, from the
days of Henry II, expressing his gratitude to English merchants for bringing
much-valued trade to Bergen. Sverre added his regret that German traders from
the Hanse towns could neither offer such useful goods, nor behave with such
sober decorum.
Edit | Reset
Variations:
1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 55 words.2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 45 words.3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, may, must, not, ought, since, until.
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1Clothes.Five.Meal.
2Cloth.Linen.Make.
3Merchant.Ship.Trader.
Variations:1.include direct and indirect speech2.include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who3.use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1.Left.2.Still.3.Man.4.Till.5.Found.
Show Suggestions
For each word above, choose one or more suitable
meanings from this list.
1.Discovered.2.Provide the crew for.3.Went away.4.A cash register.5.Abandoned.6.A male person.7.Establish an institution.8.Plough the ground.9.The opposite side to the right.10.Not moving.11.Up to the time.12.Apparatus for making alcoholic drink.13.Even now.14.An island in the Irish Sea.
In each group below, you will find words that are similar to one another, but not exactly the same. Compose your own sentences to bring out the similarities and differences between them, whether in meaning, grammar or use.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
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