A spice grocer, dated to the first half of the fifteenth century, from the ‘house books’ of the Mendel Twelve Brothers Foundation, kept now in Nuremberg City Library. Cross-border trade was one of the key concerns of the barons who drew up the Great Charter in 1215. First, John agreed that international trade would be genuinely free, not subject to Government taxes or duties. Second, he agreed that in time of war the Government would not pursue foreign merchants with punitive sanctions unless it was a tit-for-tat measure. These rights he recognised, albeit under duress, in the name of all his successors.
