1. How ‘tolerant’ was medieval Europe? Argue to what degree medieval European societies were ‘tolerant’ of ethnic and/or religious minorities (or a larger underclass of a different ethnicity or faith). Keep in mind how this concept might have been understood at the time.
2. Was there a ‘commercial revolution’? Argue to what degree, or in what ways, the economy of Europe grew between roughly the eleventh century and the fifteenth. Consider how this was appreciated at the time and the consequences this had on society.
3 How did ‘learning’ impact medieval Europe? Argue how, or in what ways, changes in the perception and transmission of knowledge impacted European society between about the eleventh century century and the fourteenth century. Consider what drove these changes and the effect they had on people’s lives.
Commercial Grants of Louis the Pious
Roy C. Cave and Herbert H. Coulson, A Source Book for Medieval Economic History (1936).
Grant of Fishing Rights, 832
In the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Louis, by the grace of God, Emperor
Augustus. If, of our charity, we have provided churches in places dedicated to divine worship,
and in the same place have made refuges for the servants of God, we not only thereby adhere to
the honorable custom of royal munificence, but we hope to receive the reward of eternal life
through this distribution of temporal gifts. Wherefore be it known to all, both present and future,
that, by these presents, we have granted for the love of God and for the salvation of our soul, to
the monastery which is called New Corvey, which we built in Saxony in honor of Saint Stephen,
the first martyr, and at the head of which is our faithful cousin Warin, its first abbot, a certain
fishery in the River Weser.
This fishery is in the village called Wimode, adjoining the villa of Liusci, in the earldom of
Count Abbo. And because it is con structed in the likeness of stakes which the inhabitants of the
district call Hocas, it is known by the natives under the local name of Hocwar. It is at present
within our right, and the same Count Abbo formerly held it as a benefice from us. But seeing that
the same fishery without serfs, who were thought of in this provision, could not be very useful to
the brethren, we have granted thirty-two serfs to be wholly and entirely in possession of that
monastery. And we have also granted to the monastery whatever Abbo had in benefice pertaining
to that same fishery for as long as the monks living there continue to pray for divine clemency for
us. And in order that this charter may be held in high regard, and accepted by our faithful people
in future, we have ordered it to be sealed with our seal below, and we have signed it with our
hand.
Grant of Salt Springs to the Abbey of Corvey, 833
In the name of our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Louis, by the grace of Divine Providence,
Emperor Augustus… We wish it to be known to all our people, both present and future, that . . .
we have founded… a monastery in Saxony, in honor of St. Stephen, the first martyr for Christ,
and have given it the name of New Corvey… Warenne, whom we have made abbot of thasame
monastery, has sought to put in mind of our highness that we should have provided in the Duchy
of Saxony a place where salt might be obtained for seasoning and salting the food of the monks
dwelling for all time in that monastery. Moreover he said that we had promised what salt there
was, as much as it was in our power, in the county of Logi, in the Duchy of Budinisvelt, which is
beyond the Weser. Therefore we have decreed that there shall remain under the authority of that
monastery as much right as we appear to have in that salt, just as we said, for securing what is
necessary for the servants of God dwelling in that monastery. And that this grant may remain
secure we have ordered it to be sealed below with our seal.
1
Grant of Minting Coins to the Abbey of Corvey, 833
In the name of our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Louis, by the grace of Divine Providence,
Emperor Augustus.
We wish it to be known to all the faithful of God’s Holy Church, both now and in the future, how
we, with God’s favor, and with the consent of our faithful people, have founded the monastery of
Corvey in Saxony, with the most devout intention, to the honor of St. Stephen, the first martyr,
and we have granted suitable help out of our charity, in deserved liberality to the said holy place.
Moreover, because that region needed a place of exchange, we have decreed that public money,
issued on our authority, shall always be used beyond that place, to the profit of those fighting for
Christ, seeing that in all honesty, place and person to the contrary notwithstanding, the holy place
possesses all rights of public taxation there by our authorization; and this additional gift of our
charity shall contribute for all time to the usefulness of that monastery. And in order that it might
keep and hold in perpetual security all the gifts granted by us, we have decreed that this charter
shall be strengthened by the impression of our seal below.
2
Grants of Otto I, 10th century
Roy C. Cave and Herbert H. Coulson, A Source Book for Medieval Economic History (1936).
Otto the Great, A.D. 936-973, showed great favor to the Church as is illustrated by the grants he made bestowing
counties and duchies with temporal jurisdiction including rights of coinage, taxation, and markets. The market of
Bremen carried with it a right to a mint, and the merchants who went there were under the special care of the king,
though the archbishop had jurisdisction over the market.
Grant of Market, Coinage and Taxation Privileges to the Bishop of Osnabruck, 952
In the name of the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, Otto, by the grace of God, King.
Be it known to all our faithful, both present and future, that, at the intervention of the venerable
bishop, Drugo, of the see of Osnabrück, we have granted a public market and the right to make
money in the place called Wyddenbrugge; for the redemption of our soul we have given to the
same church whatever the fisc or royal power held there. Rights of coinage and taxation and other
public rights, hitherto under our authority, we grant to the said bishop, or his successors, and we
firmly command that no judge exercise any authority to disturb him in these rights, or do him
harm.
And in order that the bishop and his successors may hold this from us and from our successors
inviolably, and that it may be diligently adhered to by all people, we have ordered this charter to
be sealed by the impression of our seal, confirming it with our own signature.
The year of the Incarnation of the Lord 952, June twenty-eighth, in the sixteenth year of the reign
of King Otto.
Grant of a Market at Bremen, 965
In the name of the undivided Trinity. Otto, by divine favor, Emperor Augustus. If we accede to
the requests of religious men and women, and of our liberality endow places dedicated to divine
worship, we believe that it will undoubtedly bring us eternal reward. Therefore, be it known to all
men that for the love of God we have granted the petition of Adaldagus, the reverend archbishop
of Hamburg, permitting him to establish a market in the place called Bremen, and granting him
jurisdiction, thelony, a mint, and all other rights which our fisc holds there. We also take under
our special protection all the merchants who live in that place, granting them the same protection
and rights as those who live in other cities under our patronage: and no one shall have any
jurisdiction there except the said archbishop, and those to whom he may delegate it. Signed with
our hand, and sealed with the impression of our seal. Done on August 10th in the year of the
Incarnation 966, etc.
3
Henry I, Grant of Tax Liberties to London, 1133
Roy C. Cave and Herbert H. Coulson, A Source Book for Medieval Economic History (1936).
At the time of Henry 1, when London was first emerging as a free city, it obtained the right to collect and pay its own
ferm, thus dispensing with the exactions of the royal sheriff who had previously enjoyed this right and had profited
by it. Sweeping exemptions were granted both from those taxes which were national in character and those which
were local.
Henry, by the grace of God, King of the English, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, bishops,
abbots, earls, barons, justiciars, sherids, and all his faithful, French and English of all England,
greeting.
Know ye that I have granted to my citizens of London, i.e., to them and their heirs from me and
my heirs that they shall hold Middlesex at ferm for ,300, so that those citizens may choose any
sheriff they wish from themselves and any judge they wish from themselves to take care of pleas
of my crown and to decide them; and let no other judge be over these men of London. And the
citizens shall not plead outside the walls of the city for any plea; and let them be quit of scot, of
danegeld, and of murdrum; and none of them shall accept trial by battle. And if any of the
citizens be impleaded concerning pleas of the crown, let him prove himself a man of London by
the oath which has been decreed in the city. And let no one take lodging within the walls of the
city, nor shall my vassals or those of another take hospitality by force. And let all men of London
and all their goods both throughout England, and in harbors, be quit and free of thelony, passage,
lastage, and all other customs. And the churches and barons and citizens shall have and hold well
and peacefully their sokes with all customs so that guests who are lodged in their sokes will give
their customs to no one except to him whose soke it is or to his officer whom he put there. And a
man of London shall not be subject to forfeiture except in his wer, viz., 100 shillings, i.e., in the
case of a plea which refers to money. And further, let there be no miskenninga in borough court
nor in folkmoot, nor in other courts within the city. And the borough court shall sit once a week,
namely on Monday. And I will cause my citizens to have their lands and pledges and debts within
and without the city. And concerning the lands about which they make claim to me I shall do
right to them by the law of the city. And if any one take thelony or custom from the citizens of
London, let the citizens of London take in their city from that town or manor where thelony or
custom was taken, as much as the man of London gave for thelony, and thus he will have been
recompensed for the harm. And all debtors who owe debts to the citizens shall pay them or prove
in London that they do not owe them. But if they be unwilling to pay and do not come to
vindicate themselves, then the citizens to whom they owe their debts shall distrain within the city
goods from the town, manor, or county in which he who owes the debt dwells. And the citizens
shall have their rights of coursing, just as well and fully as their ancestors held them, namely in
Chiltern, and Middlesex, and Surrey.
Witnesses, etc.
4
William Clito of Flanders, Charter to St Omer, 1127
Roy C. Cave and Herbert H. Coulson, A Source Book for Medieval Economic History (1936).
The communal movement, subject to many vicissitudes, developed in France in the twelfth century with the aid of the
Capetians. The rise of the city of St. Omer coincided with the development of its merchant gild. Two noteworthy
features of this charter are freedom from tolls and the payment of an annual rent or ferm. Later in the twelfth century
the gild of St. Omer became a member of the Flemish Hanse of London.
I, William, by the grace of God, Count of Flanders, not wishing to reject the petition of the
citizens of St. Omer—especially as they have willingly received my petition about the consulate
of Flanders, and because they have always been honest and faithful to me—grant them the laws
written below, and command that those laws remain inviolate.
1. First that to every man I will show peace, and I will protect and defend them with good will
just as I do my other men. And I grant that justice be done to all of them by my bailiffs, and I
wish that they do justice to me also. I grant liberty to my bailiffs such as my other bailiffs have.
2. If any citizen of St. Omer lend money to any one, and the borrower freely acknowledge this in
the presence of lawful men of that town and of his heirs, if the debt be unpaid on the agreed date,
he or his goods may be detained until all be paid. If he be unwilling to pay, or deny the
agreement, he shall be detained until he pay the debt if he be convicted on the testimony of two
bailiffs or two sworn men.
5. All those who have their gild and belong to it, and who reside within the limits of the town, I
make free of toll at the port of Dixmude and at the port of Gravelines; and throughout all the land
of Flanders I make them free of sewerp. I grant them the toll which the people of Arras pay at
Bapaume.
6. If any of them go to the land of the Emperor for trade, he shall not be forced to lose his gild by
any of my people.
7. If it should happen that at any time I should acquire land outside of Flanders, or if a treaty of
peace be made between me and my uncle, Henry, King of the English, I will cause them to be
made free of all toll in the land acquired, or in the whole land of England, or I will make them
free of all customs by the terms of such treaty.
9. All who dwell within the walls of St. Omer, or who dwell there in the future, I make free from
cavagium, i.e., from head-tax, and from suit of court.
1l. Moreover they have asked the king of France and Ralph of Peronne that wherever they go in
their lands they may be free of toll, transit dues, and passage; I wish this to be granted to them.
13. As I wish the citizens of Flanders to be free henceforward from all customs, I shall require
from them no scot, or taille, or forced loan.
14. The thirty pounds a year I had from St. Omer and whatever I ought to have from there, I grant
for the restoration of their damaged property, and for the maintenance of their gild. The burgesses
shall see to it that there is good and stable coinage during my life whereby the town may be
improved.
5
15. Since the guards who nightly watch the castle of St. Omer have had a fee decreed from of old
to be in oats, cheeses, and goatskins, and since they have been accustomed to take bread and one
or two denarii from every house unjustly on the feasts of St. Omer and St. Bertin and at the
Nativity, or to take guarantees from the poor for these things, we decree that they shall not dare in
the future to take anything above their stipend.
16. Whoever comes to Nieuport from any place shall have permission to come to St. Omer with
his goods in whatever ship he pleases.
17. If I make peace with Stephen, Count of Boulogne, I shall make them free of toll and sewerp
throughout all his lands and at Wissant.
18. I grant for their use the pasture in the wood near St. Omer, which is called Lo, and the
marshes, meadows, whins and fallow lands, except the land of the lepers, just as it was in the
time of Count Robert the Bearded.
19. I make free from all toll the houses which are in the care of the advocate of the Abbey of St.
Bertin, namely, those which are inhabited. Each gives twelve denarii at the feast of St. Michael,
twelve denarii as brotban, and twelve denarii as byrban. Those which are empty pay nothing.
25. The following have promised that this agreement shall be observed by all, and they have
sealed their promise with an oath: Louis, King of the French; William, Count of Flanders; Ralph
of Peronne, etc.
Additions and changes made in the preceding charter by Count Thierry of Alsace, 1128
1. The money which the burgesses of St. Omer had they have paid to the count so that he may
treat them well and administer their laws for them well and freely. Moreover, they thereby set an
example to other Flemings to pay promptly.
2. In place of a toll on the city they give a hundred solidi annually as a perpetual tax.
6
Louis VII, Charter of Lorris, 1155
Source: Frederic Austin Ogg, ed., A Source Book of Medieval History (1907).
The growth of the medieval economy, to the point where towns, although containing a minority of the population, were
at the forefront of economic activity, is among the most significant aspects of the 11th and 12th centuries. Kings often
supported the towns, which provided a source of support distinct from the unreliable aristocracy. This is the charter
of Lorris, granted by King Louis VII in 1155, and which was widely imitated in northern France.
1. Every one who has a house in the parish of Lorris shall pay as cens [tax collected by the lord]
sixpence only for his house, and for each acre of land that he possesses in the parish.
2. No inhabitant of the parish of Lorris shall be required to pay a toll or any other tax on his
provisions; and let him not be made to pay measurage fee on the grain which he has raised by his
own labor.
3. No burgher shall go on an expedition, on foot or on horseback, from which he cannot return
the same day to his home if he desires.
4. No burgher shall pay toll on the road to Etampes, to Orléans, to Milly (which is in the
Gatinais), or to Melun.
5. No one who has property in the parish of Lorris shall forfeit it for any offense whatsoever,
unless the offense shall have been committed against us or any of our hotes [representatives].
6. No person while on his way to the fairs and markets of Lorris, or returning, shall be arrested or
disturbed, unless he shall have committed an offense on the same day.
9. No one, neither we nor any other, shall exact from the burghers of Lorris any tallage [land tax],
tax, or subsidy.
12. If a man shall have had a quarrel with another, but without breaking into a fortified house,
and if the parties shall have reached an agreement without bringing a suit before the provost
[leading city official], no fine shall be due to us or our provost on account of the affair.
15. No inhabitant of Lorris is to render us the obligation of corvee [labour services], except twice
a year, when our wine is to be carried to Orléans, and not elsewhere.
16. No one shall be detained in prison if he can furnish surety that he will present himself for
judgment.
17. Any burgher who wishes to sell his property shall have the privilege of doing so; and, having
received the price of the sale, he shall have the right to go from the town freely and without
molestation, if he so desires, unless he has committed some offense in it.
18. Any one who shall dwell a year and a day in the parish of Lorris, without any claim having
pursued him there, and without having refused to lay his case before us or our provost, shall
abide there freely and without molestation.
35. We ordain that every time there shall be a change of provosts in the town the new provost
shall take an oath faithfully to observe these regulations; and the same thing shall be done by new
sergeants [officers of the peace] every time that they are installed.
7
Charter to the Butchers of Paris, 1182
Roy C. Cave and Herbert H. Coulson, A Source Book for Medieval Economic History (1936).
In the name of the Holy and Indivisible Trinity. Amen. Philip, by the grace of God, King of the
Franks. Be it known to all present and future generations that the butchers of Paris came to our
presence asking that we would grant and permit them to hold in peace their ancient customs, just
as our father and grandfather, Louis of good memory, and other predecessors of ours—the Kings
of France—had granted them. On the advice of those who attended us we heard their petition,
but, since those customs granted by our father were not in a written charter, we have ordered
them to be put into writing, and to be confirmed with our seal. These are the customs:
1. The butchers of Paris can buy living and dead cattle, and whatever pertains to their trade,
freely without custom and without giving any pedagium within the area of Paris, whencesoever
they come, or whithersoever they are taken, if by chance it should happen that they are being
taken anywhere. Fish of the sea, and fish from fresh water, they may likewise buy and sell.
2. No one can be a Paris butcher, nor shall other butchers have their rights, namely, food and
drink, unless they wish to concede them of their own will.
3. On the Octave of Christmas every butcher will give us annually twelve denarii; on the Octaves
of Easter and of St. Denis, thirteen denarii to him who holds it in fief from us.
4. Every butcher shall owe an obole for stallage to our reeve for every Sunday on which he cuts
pork or beef, and every butcher owes every year to us, at the vintage, one hautban of wine.
And in order that all these things may remain secure for ever, we have strengthened this charter
by the addition of our seal and signature. Done at Paris in the year of the Incarnation of the Lord,
1182, in the fourth year of our reign. Witnesses, etc.
8
Southampton Merchant Guild, 14th century
Source: E. P. Cheyney, Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European history, Dept. of History of
the University of Pennsylvania (1897).
A common provision of early town charters was the privilege of possessing a “guild merchant” (or hanse house). This
was an institution that embodied the trading monopoly of a chartered city or borough. Few ordinances of such guilds
survive, although over 100 towns had them. This document, from Southampton, dates from the 14th century, although
the rules are from different dates; the first 11 date from periods long before 1300.
1. In the first place, there shall be elected from the gild merchant, and established, an alderman, a
steward, a chaplain, four skevins, and an usher [titles of various administrative officials, of whom
the most senior was the alderman, who was the head of the guild]. And it is to be known that
whosoever shall be alderman shall receive from each one entering into the gild fourpence; the
steward, twopence; the chaplain, twopence; and the usher, one penny. And the gild shall meet
twice a year: that is to say, on the Sunday next after St. John the Baptist’s day, and on the Sunday
next after St. Mary’s day.
2. And when the gild shall be sitting no one of the gild is to bring in any stranger, except when
required by the alderman or steward. And the alderman shall have a sergeant to serve before him,
the steward another sergeant, and the chaplain shall have his clerk.
3. And when the gild shall sit, the alderman is to have, each night, so long as the gild sits, two
gallons of wine and two candles, and the steward the same; and the four skevins and the chaplain,
each of them one gallon of wine and one candle, and the usher one gallon of wine.
4. And when the gild shall sit, the lepers of La Madeleine shall have of the alms of the gild, two
sesters (approximately eight gallons) of ale, and the sick of God’s House and of St. Julian shall
have two sesters of ale. And the Friars Minor shall have two sesters of ale and one sester of wine.
And four sesters of ale shall be given to the poor wherever the gild shall meet.
5. And when the gild is sitting, no one who is of the gild shall go outside the town for any
business, without the permission of the steward. And if any does so, let him be fined two
shillings, and pay them.
6. And when the gild sits, and any gildsman is outside of the city so that he does not know when
it will happen, he shall have a gallon of wine, if his servants come to get it. And if a gildsman is
ill and is in the city, wine shall be sent to him, two loaves of bread and a gallon of wine and a
dish from the kitchen; and two approved men of the gild shall go to visit him and look after his
condition.
7. And when a gildsman dies, all those who are of the gild and are in the city shall attend the
service of the dead, and the gildsmen shall bear the body and bring it to the place of burial. And
whoever will not do this shall pay according to his oath, two pence, to be given to the poor. And
those of the ward where the dead man shall be ought to find a man to watch over the body the
night that the dead shall lie in his house. And so long as the service of the dead shall last, that is
to say the vigil and the mass, there ought to burn four candles of the gild, each candle of two
pounds weight or more, until the body is buried. And these four candles shall remain in the
keeping of the steward of the gild.
9
8. The steward ought to keep the rolls and treasures of the gild under the seal of the alderman of
the gild.
9. And when a gildsman dies, his eldest son or his next heir shall have the seat of his father, or of
his uncle, if his father was not a gildsman, and of no other one; and he shall give nothing for his
seat. No husband can have a seat in the gild by right of his wife, nor demand a seat by right of his
wife’s ancestors.
19. And no one of the city of Southampton shall buy anything to sell again in the same city,
unless he is of the gild merchant or of the franchise. And if anyone shall do so and is convicted of
it, all which he has so bought shall be forfeited to the king; and no one shall be quit of custom
unless he proves that he is in the gild or in the franchise, and this from year to year.
20. And no one shall buy honey, fat, salt herrings, or any kind of oil, or millstones, or fresh hides,
or any kind of fresh skins, unless he is a gildsman: nor keep a tavern for wine, nor sell cloth at
retail, except in market or fair days; nor keep grain in his granary beyond five quarters, to sell at
retail, if he is not a gildsman; and whoever shall do this and be convicted, shall forfeit all to the
king.
22. If any gildsman falls into poverty and has not the wherewithal to live, and is not able to work
or to provide for himself, he shall have one mark from the gild to relieve his condition—when the
gild shall sit. No one of the gild nor of the franchise shall avow another’s goods for his by which
the custom of the city shall be injured. And if any one does so and is convicted, he shall lose the
gild and the franchise; and the merchandise so avowed shall be forfeited to the king.
23. And no private man nor stranger shall bargain for or buy any kind of merchandise coming
into the city before a burgess of the gild merchant, so long as the gildsman is present and wishes
to bargain for and buy this merchandise; and if anyone does so and is convicted, that which he
buys shall be forfeited to the king.
35. The common chest shall be in the house of the chief alderman or of the steward, and the three
keys of it shall be lodged with three discreet men of the aforesaid twelve sworn men, or with
three of the skevins, who shall loyally take care of the common seal, and the charters and of the
treasure of the town, and the standards, and other muniments of the town; and no letter shall be
sealed with the common seal, nor any charter taken out of the common-chest but in the presence
of six or twelve sworn men, and of the alderman or steward; and nobody shall sell by any kind of
measure or weight that is not sealed, under forfeiture of two shillings.
63. No one shall go out to meet a ship bringing wine or other merchandise coming to the town, in
order to buy anything, before the ship be arrived and come to anchor for unlading; and if any one
does so and is convicted, the merchandise which he shall have bought shall be forfeited to the
king.
10
Florentine Crafts Subject to Tax, 1316
Roy C. Cave and Herbert H. Coulson, A Source Book for Medieval Economic History (1936).
The crafts of Florence rapidly acquired legal status, and increased in number in the thirteenth century. Those which
were expected to pay a tax at the beginning of the fourteenth century are given below. The list shows a wide variety of
industries organized as crafts of greater or less importance.
These are the crafts which are compelled to pay the said tax, or which were ordered to pay it to
the commune of Florence:
1. Calimala.
22. Helmet smiths and brass workers.
2. Combmakers.
23. Bakers (for bakeovens).
3. Arte della Lana. [wool]
24. Goldsmiths and flaskmakers.
4. Rough carpenters and manufacturers of
saddles for asses and mules.
25. Purse makers.
5. St. Mary’s Gate [silk].
27. Chest and trunk makers.
6. Spicers.
28. Harness and beltmakers.
7. Physicians.
29. Coopers, barrel makers, coffin makers,
kneading-trough makers.
8. Manufacturers of pack-saddles.
9. Furriers.
10. Retail winemerchants, as tax, 2 denarii
per pound received from the sale of wine.
11. Butchers.
12. Cobblers.
13. Smiths.
14. Linen and yarn merchants.
15. Dealers in used and new locks.
16. Dealers in bedfeathers and matressmakers.
26. Innkeepers.
30. Manufacturers of iron and wooden
shields.
31. Saddlers.
33. Cloth-folders and finishers of French
cloth.
34. Cooks, sellers of tripe, cooked beans,
and bean-meal, vegetables, vermicelli, stews,
etc.
35. Cloth-folders and finishers of Florentine
cloth.
36. Tallow merchants and catgut makers.
17. Stonemasons and woodcutters.
37. Greengrocers.
18. Old clothes and linen dealers.
38. Wagon or carriage makers.
19. Oil, cheese, and grain merchants; chaff
and fodder makers.
39. Hat and cap makers.
20. Armor smiths and sword smiths.
21. Tanners, wholesale and retail.
40. Ass drivers, haulers of sand, lime,
mortar, paving stone, tiles, slates, stones, and
hewn stones.
41. Dyers of all kinds.
11
42. Painters.
43. Bowlmakers, dart makers, turners,
spinning-wheel finishers.
44. Proprietors of bath rooms.
45. Hand porters.
46. Barbers.
47. Teachers of grammar, arithmetic,
reading, and writing.
48. Makers and sellers of glass vessels.
60. Smelters and workers at furnaces, coin
makers; as well as those who put the gold
and silver in the furnaces; also the assayers
in all money operations.
61. Packers.
62. Dicemakers.
63. City river fishermen.
64. Brick and lime burners, and makers of
earthen vessels.
49. Town criers.
65. Manufacturers of glass vessels in the
district.
50. Spiked helmet, buckle, and clasp makers.
66. Bell founders.
51. Judges and notaries.
67. Wheel makers.
52. Money changers or bankers.
68. Lenders of draught mules.
53. Parchment merchants and bookbinders.
69. Millstone makers.
54. Sewer cleaners and garbage removers.
70. Brokers of all kinds.
55. Tailors, seamstresses, and menders.
71. Workers in the quarry, and sellers of
quarry products.
56. Weavers of all kinds.
57. Journeymen and apprentices to dealers in
merchandise.
72. Crossbow and bow makers.
58. Fletchers and arrow makers.
74. Workers in the marble and sandstone
quarries.
59. Public weighers.
73. Basket makers.
12
Reginald of Durham, Life of St. Godric,
Source: Reginald of Durham, “Life of St. Godric,” in Social Life in Britain from the Conquest to the Reformation, ed.
G. G. Coulton (1918).
The growth of trade in the Middle Ages is of overwhelming significance. By the 13th century towns and trade, even
though comprising a minority of the population, dominated the Western economy. This has widespread ramification—
the monetization of life, the possibility of communally rather than aristocratically sponsored art, the possibility of
urban subcultures and so on. On a wider level, it was this expansion of trade which in a later age pushed European
states to establish the world system of the modern period. Since literature was long the domain of aristocrats and
clerics, we sometimes miss direct early accounts of merchants’ lives. One merchant, Godric, became a saint and hence
we do have an account of his life.
This holy man’s father was named Ailward, and his mother Edwenna; both of slender rank and
wealth, but abundant in righteousness and virtue. They were born in Norfolk, and had long lived
in the township called Walpole […] When the boy had passed his childish years quietly at home;
then, as he began to grow to manhood, he began to follow more prudent ways of life, and to learn
carefully and persistently the teachings of worldly forethought. Wherefore he chose not to follow
the life of a husbandman [farmer], but rather to study, learn and exercise the rudiment of more
subtle conceptions. For this reason, aspiring to the merchant’s trade, he began to follow the
chapman’s [pedlar’s] way of life, first learning how to gain in small bargains and things of
insignificant price; and thence, while yet a youth, his mind advanced little by little to buy and sell
and gain from things of greater expense. For, in his beginnings, he was wont to wander with
small wares around the villages and farmsteads of his own neighbourhood; but, in process of
time, he gradually associated himself by compact with city merchants. Hence, within a brief
space of time, the youth who had trudged for many weary hours from village to village, from
farm to farm, did so profit by his increase of age and wisdom as to travel with associates of his
own age through towns and boroughs, fortresses and cities, to fairs and to all the various booths
of the market-place, in pursuit of his public chaffer [trade, dealings]. He went along the highway, neither puffed up by the good testimony of his conscience nor downcast in the nobler part of
his soul by the reproach of poverty…
Yet in all things he walked with simplicity; and, in so far as he yet knew how, it was ever his
pleasure to follow in the footsteps of the truth. For, having learned the Lord’s Prayer and the
Creed from his very cradle, he oftentimes turned them over in his mind, even as he went alone on
his longer journeys; and, in so far as the truth was revealed to his mind, he clung thereunto most
devoutly in all his thoughts concerning God. At first, he lived as a chapman for four years in
Lincolnshire, going on foot and carrying the smallest wares; then he travelled abroad, first to St.
Andrews in Scotland and then for the first time to Rome. On his return, having formed a familiar
friendship with certain other young men who were eager for merchandise, he began to launch
upon bolder courses, and to coast frequently by sea to the foreign lands that lay around him.
Thus, sailing often to and fro between Scotland and Britain, he traded in many divers wares and,
amid these occupations, learned much worldly wisdom […] He fell into many perils of the sea,
yet by God’s mercy he was never wrecked; for He who had upheld St. Peter as he walked upon
the waves, by that same strong right arm kept this His chosen vessel from all misfortune amid
these perils. Thus, having learned by frequent experience his wretchedness amid such dangers, he
13
began to worship certain of the Saints with more ardent zeal, venerating and calling upon their
shrines, and giving himself up by wholehearted service to those holy names. In such invocations
his prayers were oftentimes answered by prompt consolation; some of which prayers he learned
from his fellows with whom he shared these frequent perils; others he collected from faithful
hearsay; others again from the custom of the place, for he saw and visited such holy places with
frequent assiduity. Thus aspiring ever higher and higher, and yearning upward with his whole
heart, at length his great labours and cares bore much fruit of worldly gain. For he laboured not
only as a merchant but also as a shipman […] to Denmark and Flanders and Scotland; in all
which lands he found certain rare, and therefore more precious, wares, which he carried to other
parts wherein he knew them to be least familiar, and coveted by the inhabitants beyond the price
of gold itself; wherefore he exchanged these wares for others coveted by men of other lands; and
thus he chaffered most freely and assiduously. Hence he made great profit in all his bargains, and
gathered much wealth in the sweat of his brow; for he sold dear in one place the wares which he
had bought elsewhere at a small price.
Then he purchased the half of a merchant-ship with certain of his partners in the trade; and again
by his prudence he bought the fourth part of another ship. At length, by his skill in navigation,
wherein he excelled all his fellows, he earned promotion to the post of steersman…
For he was vigorous and strenuous in mind, whole of limb and strong in body. He was of middle
stature, broad-shouldered and deep-chested, with a long face, grey eyes most clear and piercing,
bushy brows, a broad forehead, long and open nostrils, a nose of comely curve, and a pointed
chin. His beard was thick, and longer than the ordinary, his mouth well-shaped, with lips of
moderate thickness; in youth his hair was black, in age as white as snow; his neck was short and
thick, knotted with veins and sinews; his legs were somewhat slender, his instep high, his knees
hardened and horny with frequent kneeling; his whole skin rough beyond the ordinary, until all
this roughness was softened by old age […] In labour he was strenuous, assiduous above all men;
and, when by chance his bodily strength proved insufficient, he compassed his ends with great
ease by the skill which his daily labours had given, and by a prudence born of long experience
[…] He knew, from the aspect of sea and stars, how to foretell fair or foul weather. In his various
voyages he visited many saints’ shrines, to whose protection he was wont most devoutly to
commend himself, more especially the church of St. Andrew in Scotland, where he most
frequently made and paid his vows. On the way thither, he oftentimes touched at the island of
Lindisfarne, wherein St. Cuthbert had been bishop, and at the isle of Farne, where that Saint had
lived as an anchorite [a hermit attached to a church], and where St. Godric (as he himself would
tell afterwards) would meditate on the Saint’s life with abundant tears. Thence he began to yearn
for solitude, and to hold his merchandise in less esteem than heretofore…
And now he had lived sixteen years as a merchant, and began to think of spending on charity, to
God’s honour and service, the goods which he had so laboriously acquired. He therefore took the
cross as a pilgrim to Jerusalem, and, having visited the Holy Sepulchre, came back to England by
way of St. James [of Compostela]. Not long afterwards he became steward to a certain rich man
of his own country, with the care of his whole house and household. But certain of the younger
household were men of iniquity, who stole their neighbours’ cattle and thus held luxurious feasts,
whereat Godric, in his ignorance, was sometimes present. Afterwards, discovering the truth, he
rebuked and admonished them to cease; but they made no account of his warnings; wherefore he
concealed not their iniquity, but disclosed it to the lord of the household, who, however, slighted
his advice. Wherefore he begged to be dismissed and went on a pilgrimage, first to St. Gilles and
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thence to Rome the abode of the Apostles, that thus he might knowingly pay the penalty for those
misdeeds wherein he had ignorantly partaken. I have often seen him, even in his old age, weeping
for this unknowing transgression…
On his return from Rome, he abode a while in his father’s house; until, inflamed again with holy
zeal, he purposed to revisit the abode of the Apostles and made his desire known unto his parents.
Not only did they approve his purpose, but his mother besought his leave to bear him company
on this pilgrimage; which he gladly granted, and willingly paid her every filial service that was
her due. They came therefore to London; and they had scarcely departed from thence when his
mother took off her shoes, going thus barefooted to Rome and back to London. Godric, humbly
serving his parent, was wont to bear her on his shoulders…
Godric, when he had restored his mother safe to his father’s arms, abode but a brief while at
home; for he was now already firmly purposed to give himself entirely to God’s service.
Wherefore, that he might follow Christ the more freely, he sold all his possessions and distributed
them among the poor. Then, telling his parents of this purpose and receiving their blessing, he
went forth to no certain abode, but whithersoever the Lord should deign to lead him; for above all
things he coveted the life of a hermit.
15
James I of Aragon, Facilitating Trade, 13th century
Roy C. Cave and Herbert H. Coulson, A Source Book for Medieval Economic History (1936).
James I, king of Aragon, took an interest in the success of Barcelona as a trade port. The documents below speak to
the development of trade and customs practices by the mid-13th century.
Barcelona Navigation Act, 1227
Be it known to all that I, James, by the grace of God, King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona and
Lord of Montpellier, am mindful of the fidelity and services which our faithful citizens of
Barcelona have always shown, and do show now, to us and our predecessors.
Wishing to increase your wealth by the benefits we confer on you, we have granted this special
favor by our present charter to you and your successors in the city of Barcelona, namely, that any
ship or vessel coming from beyond the seas, from Alexandria, or from Egypt, or proposing to go
to those places from Barcelona, shall not take any merchandise or goods or cargo, nor carry them,
nor bring them to those parts, while any native ship of Barcelona can, or wishes to, carry the said
load or merchandise or to take it to those parts. And if any one thinks of sending his goods or
merchandise to those parts let him send them in a ship or vessel of Barcelona and let him not dare
to send them on a foreign ship or vessel while a ship or vessel of Barcelona is there ready to take
his goods or merchandise. And we grant and concede to you, the citizens of Barcelona, that no
foreign ship or other vessel, or ship from Sardinia and South Italy, shall dare to take wine at any
of your quays, or buy it to take it to foreign parts, except with your permission and assent. And
we have firmly ordered that the mayor, our bailiff, the honest men of Barcelona, all other mayors,
bailiffs, nobles of Catalonia, officials, all our servants both now and in the future, and all those
who wish to send merchandise, or to load it on ships or vessels, shall faithfully observe and cause
to be observed all the privileges granted in our charter. And let no one dare to go contrary to this
decree; if any do so, let them know that they will incur our anger and indignation and will pay a
penalty of a thousand gold pieces.
Grant of Trade Privileges to Barcelona, 1232
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Be it known to all, both present and future, that we, James,
by the grace of God, King of Aragon, and of the kingdom of Majorca, Count of Barcelona and
Urgell, and Lord of Montpellier, mindful of the many and praiseworthy services and kindnesses,
which you, our beloved and faithful citizens of Barcelona, have always shown to us and to our
predecessors, and which, with faith and devotion, you freely show today, and wishing to show
you special favor, the benefit of which both you and yours may enjoy forever, we, therefore, by
this charter, given on behalf of us and our successors, enfranchise and make free in every way
each and all of our beloved and faithful citizens, both now and in the future, the inhabitants of
Barcelona, with all your goods and merchandise from all tolls, bridge tolls, municipal tolls, and
all tolls and customs, new and old, decreed or to be decreed, and from all taxes on your goods
everywhere throughout all places in our kingdoms and lands and all places under our dominion,
both by land and sea, and on the river, and going from, staying at, or returning to the harbor.
16
Therefore we decree and firmly ordain that no toll-gatherer, collector, tax gatherer, prefect, major
domo, treasurer, justiciar, bailli, justice or judge, alcalde, mayor, or bailiff, or any other official of
ours, or servant, present or future, shall impede, take or detain, you, or any one of you, or your
officials or messengers, or any of your goods or merchandise, in any place, by reason of those
things from which, as we have said, we have enfranchised you and yours, but you shall be free,
exempt, and quit of all the said things everywhere, always, and to the innermost parts of our
kingdom. And whoever, against the tenor of this our charter, shall attempt to tax you, or your
servants or messengers, or your goods or merchandise, which you have or shall have in the
future, let him know that he will have incurred without any remedy both our anger and a penalty
of a thousand marabotins, to his cost and at his expense, and that he must make restitution to you
fully and in double.
Given at Barcelona on the 12th of April, in the year of the Lord 1232.
Improvement of Barcelona’s Harbour Facilities, 1243
James, by the grace of God, King of Aragon, Majorca, and Valencia, Count of Barcelona and
Urgell, and Lord of Montpellier. Be it known to all that because the citizens of Barcelona do
daily improve, by God’s grace, by reason of their activity in shipping, we have desired to increase
their wealth and to improve the town for our benefit.
Therefore we have decreed, granted, and firmly ordained that for the future, from Arazana in the
west as far as the new building which Bernard Olzeto has made in the east, and from the sea itself
as far as the houses which are constructed of rock or limestone, no one shall dare to construct
houses, residences, workshops, shops, or any other kind of building, big or little, nor shall any
one have his place or court there; but the whole part is set aside for common use for making,
placing, and maintaining ships and other small boats there. Nor shall any one on account of any
acquisition made, or to be made, by us or ours, or on account of long standing use, have within
the said place a shop, house, or other building, or any place or court of his own. And if any house
or shop or other building should be made within the confines of that area, we wish and grant that
without petition to us, such buildings may be destroyed and utterly demolished without any
penalty, civil or criminal, so that no one may continue to reside there at all.
Done at Barcelona on the ninth of September, in the year of the Lord 1243. Seals, etc.
Barcelona Maritime Code, 1258
Be it known to all that we, James, by the grace of God, King of Aragon, of Majorca, and of
Valencia, Count of Barcelona and Urgell, and Lord of Montpellier, hearing the ordinances
written below, which you, James Gruny, our faithful servant, have made at our wish and
command and with our consent, and which you have drawn up with the advice of the honest
water-men of Barcelona and based upon the ordinance of the same, having heard, seen, and
understood that the said ordinances were to be made in our honor, and for the use and welfare of
the water-men and the citizens of Barcelona, having confirmed the document by the authentic
application of our seal, we grant, approve, and confirm all and each of the undermentioned
ordinances, made by you and the said honest men on our authority. Wishing that the said
ordinances may endure and be observed as long as it shall please us and the said honest watermen of Barcelona, by commanding our mayors, and bailiffs, both present and future, that they
17
observe each and all of the undermentioned regulations, firmly and strictly, if they hope
confidently for our grace and affection, and that they see that they are observed inviolably, so that
they do not allow them to be disturbed by any one.
1. In the first place: we ordain, wish, and command, that the captain of a ship or vessel of any
kind and the sailors and mariners shall not leave or depart from the ship or vessel in which they
arrived, until all the merchandise, which is on the ship or vessel, be discharged on land, and until
that same ship or vessel be emptied of ballast and moored. But the captain of that ship or vessel
will be able to go on land with his clerk when he begins to discharge the cargo, if the sea be calm;
and if perhaps the weather be such that he cannot discharge the cargo the said captain, if he be on
land, shall immediately repair to the said ship or vessel, and if he cannot so repair by reason of
the weather, his crew shall have full power and permission to depart with the ship or vessel from
the place at which it arrived, and to go to the harbor or put out to sea. Nevertheless, if the said
captain be unwilling to go to his ship, his merchants shall be able to order and command him
firmly, on behalf of the Lord King and the said James Gruny, to repair to the said ship or vessel
and to place upon him such penalty as the said James Gruny is empowered to place upon him.
Moreover, the said captain of the ship shall not dare to stay on land until all merchandise which
came in the ship or vessel be discharged. And if the merchants wish to disembark from the ship
or vessel and a storm should arise after their disembarkation, the captain of the ship or vessel, if
he be there, or his crew, shall have permission to withdraw from the place in which he was with
that ship or vessel and with the merchandise contained therein, and of going to sea or putting in
to harbor. But if the mariners should not have done this let each one incur a penalty of ten solidi
of the money of Barcelona, and the captain of a ship fifty solidi, and the captain of a vessel thirty
solidi; and over and above the said penalty the captains of ships and vessels shall be condemned
to repair all the damage which the said merchants suffered through their fault. But of the
penalties, both foregoing and those written below, the King will receive half, and the other half
will go to the Order of Water-men of Barcelona. Moreover, these penalties and all those written
below shall be paid as long as it be the will of the honest water-men of Barcelona.
2. Also: we order that every ship and vessel shall have a sworn clerk on every voyage, which
clerk shall not write anything in the contract book of that ship or vessel unless both parties are
present, namely the captain and the merchants, or the captain and his mariners; and the said clerk
shall be a good and lawful man, and shall make out the expenses truly and lawfully, and all the
mariners shall be expected to swear to the captains of the ships and vessels that to the best of their
ability they will save, protect, and defend the captain and all his goods, and his ship or vessel, and
its rigging and equipment, and all the merchants going with it, and all their goods and
merchandise, by sea and land, in good faith and without fraud. Moreover, the said clerk shall be
at least of the age of twenty years, and if the captains of the said ships or vessels do not wish to
have the said clerk they shall not leave Barcelona or any other place in which they may be, until
they have another clerk, if they can find one.
3. Also: we command that on every ship which loads at sea, so that it is loaded with merchandise
worth 2000 solidi (Barcelona money), half the mariners of the ship with one ofiicer shall be
obliged to remain one night with their arms on the ship; and after any vessel has loaded at sea
with merchandise worth 1000 solidi (Barcelona money), half the mariners of that vessel with one
officer shall be obliged to stay on their vessel for one night with their arms. Also we command
that the captain of a ship or vessel shall have food in his ship or vessel sufficient for fifteen days;
namely, bread, wine, salt meat, vegetables, oil, water, and two packets of candles. And if the said
18
captain of ship or vessel be unwilling to do this, let him incur a penalty of twenty solidi, and each
of the mariners and crew incur a penalty of five solidi.
4. (Provision made for assistance to be given in storms to ships in distress).
5. Also: we command that no boat shall load for a voyage nor send away any living merchandise
and if it loads with heavy goods, it shall not dare to load except as far as the middle of the deck,
and the captain of the boat shall take his boat, manned and with its rigging, just as is understood
between the captain and the merchants whose merchandise it is; and if the said merchants fear
they will be held as hostages in any place, the captain of the boat shall not enter with his boat nor
go into the place suspected of holding them without the consent of the merchants. Moreover
every boat shall be expected to carry two ballistae with their equipment, and a hundred spears and
two shields; and every sailor is expected to bear a lance and a sword or bill. And if the captains of
the boats should not observe this rule they shall incur a penalty of ten solidi.
6. Also: we command that if any ship or vessel or boat be taken with its company to Barbary or
other parts it shall not take a guard except it be understood between the captain of the vessel and
the partners of the said company.
7. Also: we command that every ship’s mariner who is expected to do the work of a ballistarius,
shall carry two ballistae of two feet, and one scaling ladder, and three hundred spears, and a
helmet, and a breast-plate or corselet, and a straight or curved sword. Likewise, the ballistarii of
the other vessels shall be expected to carry the same weapons; but the other mariners on ships
shall be expected to bear a breast-plate, and an iron helmet, or cofa maresa, and a shield, and two
lances, and a straight or a curved sword. But mariners on vessels shall be expected to carry a
breast-plate or corselet, shield, iron helmet, or cofa maresa, and two lances, and a straight or a
curved sword. And if the said mariners do not have the said arms, the captains of the ships or
vessels shall not take them; and if they do take them they shall pay as a penalty fifty solidi for
each mariner.
8. Also: we command that mariners of vessels or boats shall be expected to help to draw their
vessel or boat on shore, whenever the captain of the vessel or boat wishes to have it done, as long
as those same mariners are present; and they shall be expected to do this by virtue of an oath
taken by them.
9. Also: we command that captains of barges and those who discharge cargoes shall discharge
well and in good order from ships, vessels, and boats, all merchandise with their barges and
boats, and they shall not load their barges or boats excessively; and if they do load them
excessively, let them be in the jurisdiction and command of two honest men whom James Gruny
or his locum tenens with the advice of his counsellors shall have appointed; and if the said
captains of barges transgress the command and jurisdiction of the two honest men, let them repair
all damage which the merchandise has suffered, in the knowledge of the said two honest men.
10. Also: we command that every captain of a barge or boat shall not dare to take ashore any
mariner of a ship or vessel or boat until the said vessel or ship be discharged and emptied of
ballast, or until the said boat be discharged; and if they do contrary to this they shall be expected
to pay five solidi as a penalty for every mariner they take from the ship or vessel.
11. Also: we command that every co-proprietor of a ship or vessel, and every merchant, and
every pilot of a ship or vessel who accepts wages from that ship or vessel shall be expected to
19
take an oath to the captain of the ship, just as the other mariners who are not partners, or pilots, or
merchants, and this by an oath taken by them to us.
12. Also: we command that a vessel with a covered deck shall not take away any merchandise
upon the covered deck, except only the sea-chests of the mariners and merchants, and the wine
and water which are necessary to the mariners and merchants; and if the said vessel have storerooms, it shall not take away any merchandise in those store-rooms, except only its arms and
those of the mariners and merchants, and the rigging of the vessel, if they wish to place them
there. Moreover every vessel with a covered deck shall take four shields and twelve lances,
besides the arms of the mariners and merchants who sail in the vessel above mentioned; and if
any merchandise be carried in the said store-room, it shall pay a fine for the merchandise, which
fine shall be divided between the Lord King and the Society of Water-men.
13. Also: we command that a vessel with two covered decks shall not send or carry away any
merchandise between the mainmast and the poop, except only its boat with its rigging and the
company of the merchants; and if it wishes to have merchandise in the same place, it may do this
with the consent of the merchants, and without their consent it shall not dare to place any
merchandise in the said place. But in the cabin of the poop of the vessel it shall carry its company
and that of the merchants. Moreover, on the higher deck of the said vessel it shall not dare to
carry water or wine, or other merchandise, except only its sea-chests and those of the mariners
and merchants, and in the store-rooms of that same vessel it shall not carry any merchandise,
except only the arms going in that vessel, and the rigging if it can place any there, except it do so
with the consent of the majority of the merchants, and if it carry any merchandise in the said
places, it shall pay the fine incurred just as is contained in the preceding paragraph.
14. Also: we command that every captain of a ship or vessel, of whatever kind it be, shall free his
ship or vessel and the rudders from all tolls in whatever dominion or lordship it be, whether of
Christians or Arabs, without any expense or payment from the merchants. In the same way the
merchants shall free all their merchandise, in whatever dominion or lordship it be, without any
expense to the captains of the vessels or ships, and if the said lordship should chance to make
other tolls, let them stand in the pledge of two honest men, whom they have elected in the said
ship or vessel.
15. Also: we command that every merchant and mariner who takes of his own accord or in
company with his friends anything in common to Barbary or to other parts, before he departs
from Barcelona shall come to an agreement with three or four or more of his partners, according
as he be able to gather several of the said company together, and when the expenses of the
purchase have been made with the deliberation of that same company, the said merchant or
company carrying the goods shall not accept any merchandise from the said partners except
according as they agreed on that day on which it was pledged, and this under pain of an oath to be
taken by them to us and the honest men before mentioned.
16. Also: we command that merchants or mariners or other persons carrying the company to any
parts shall not take their wages or fare nor shall they be given to them until they return to
Barcelona, and then when they have made an agreement with the partners of the company they
shall have and take their wages and fare with the knowledge of their partners with whom they
made the agreement about the company above mentioned. And if the said merchant be not a
mariner or do not perform the office of mariner, he shall not take his wages or fare.
20
17. Also: we command that merchants or mariners or other persons carrying the company shall
not dare to carry any goods or money in denarii for the company or from other persons except for
the company it takes. But all things which they carry with them shall belong to the company and
be in its possession, and whatever they sell or buy, or obtain in any way, they shall buy and sell,
in whatever parts they are, for the good and use of the company mentioned above.
18. Also: we command that all men who have submitted to this ordinance, in whatever parts they
be, shall love each other, and protect and help each other, both in their persons and in their goods
against all other persons, just as if they were the special goods of each one; and they shall do this
in good faith and without any fraud, by virtue of an oath taken to us and to the honest watermen
of Barcelona.
19. Also: we command that if any ship or vessel should have stopped at the quays of Barcelona
so that it could not straightway sail, that all captains of ships and vessels of that society with their
mariners, although their ships or vessels are prepared to sail, shall help the said ship or vessel to
sail or put to sea and they shall not leave that ship or vessel which is detained until it have sailed,
and if they are unwilling to do this the captain of the ship or vessel shall incur a penalty of fifty
solidi and the mariners of five solidi.
20. Also: we command that if any mariner should die in the service of any ship or vessel, from
the time when that ship or vessel moved from the quay or river bank, or from any port, the said
mariner shall have all his wages, just as was written in the contract book of that ship or vessel.
And if any mariner be sick or be injured in his legs from the time when the ship or vessel put to
sea, the captain of the ship or vessel shall give to the said mariner his needs in food for the whole
voyage, if the mariner make the voyage, and the mariner shall have all his wages. But if the
mariner be unwilling to go on the voyage, he shall not have any wages. But if the mariner has
accepted such free victuals for doing work on the said ship or vessel, so that he cannot go on the
said voyage to the knowledge of two honest men of the society, he shall have only half his
wages; and if the captain of the said ship or vessel shall have paid all the wages to the mariner, he
shall not be expected to put another mariner in the place of the one who remained ashore. And if
the said captain shall have paid half the wages to the mariner who remained, the captain shall be
expected to put another mariner in his place, and to give him the remaining half of the wages
which he did not pay. And the merchants will be expected to give the other half of the wages to
the mariner placed in the position of the other who did not go.
21. Also: we command that on every ship or vessel departing from the quay of Barcelona there
shall be appointed and elected by the men in that ship or vessel two proctors distinguished by
their knowledge and lawfulness whose commands they will obey, both the captain of the ship or
vessel, and the mariners, and the merchants going in the ship, and all shall be expected to stand
by and obey the orders of the two proctors. These two proctors shall elect other men of the ship
with the advice of whom they will make and order all things which are to be done on that ship;
and whatever is ordered by the seven men shall be strictly obeyed by all going in that ship. But in
a vessel the two proctors shall elect another two by the advice of whom they shall ordain all
things which are to be obeyed on that vessel. And the election of the two proctors shall be made
within four days or eight before the departure of the said ship or vessel from the shores of
Barcelona, and as many men of Barcelona as they find in other parts, Arab or Christian, shall be
expected to stand by and obey the command and advice of the seven or four. And whatever the
elected men do or ordain they shall do and ordain in the name of the Lord King and saving his
jurisdiction, and in the name of the Council of the honest water-men of Barcelona. But if the two
21
elected men should depart in ships from the place at which they arrived with the said ship, on
their departure let them elect another two with the advice of the said five counsellors who shall
stand in their places, and those two elected on vessels shall elect another two with the advice of
the said two counsellors; and if the two elected by these two shall depart, let them elect another
two, and thus in order; and whatever shall be done or ordered by those elected shall be strictly
observed by all others, and this we command in the name of the Lord King and by virtue of an
oath.
Given at Barcelona on the twenty-sixth of August, in the year 1258.
Seal of James, by the grace of God, King of Aragon, etc.
22
Saga of Eric the Red, Expedition to Canada, c. 1000
Source: American historical documents, 1000-1904. Harvard Classics 43 (c. 1910).
Source introduction: The following account of the discovery of North America by Leif Ericsson is contained in the
“Saga of Eric the Red”; and the present translation is that made by A. M. Reeves from the version of the Saga in the
Flateyar-bok, compiled by Jon Thordharson about 1387. The part of the coast where Leif landed is much in dispute,
the most recent investigations tending to the southern part of the coast of Labrador, though many scholars believe
Vinland to have been on the New England shore.
Leif the Lucky Baptized
After the sixteen winters had lapsed, from the time when Eric the Red went to colonize
Greenland, Leif, Eric’s son, sailed out from Greenland to Norway. He arrived in Drontheim in the
autumn, when King Olaf Tryggvason was come down from the North, out of Halagoland. Leif
put into Nidaros with his ship, and set out at once to visit the king. King Olaf expounded the faith
to him, as he did to other heathen men who came to visit him. It proved easy for the king to
persuade Leif, and he was accordingly baptized, together with all of his shipmates. Leif remained
throughout the winter with the king, by whom he was well entertained.
Biarni Goes in Quest of Greenland
Heriulf was a son of Bard Heriulfsson. He was a kinsman of Ingolf, the first colonist. Ingolf
allotted land to Heriulf between Vag and Reykianess, and he dwelt at first at Drepstokk. Heriulf’s
wife’s name was Thorgerd, and their son, whose name was Biarni, was a most promising man. He
formed an inclination for voyaging while he was still young, and he prospered both in property
and public esteem. It was his custom to pass his winters alternately abroad and with his father.
Biarni soon became the owner of a trading-ship; and during the last winter that he spent in
Norway [his father] Heriulf determined to accompany Eric on his voyage to Greenland, and made
his preparations to give up his farm. Upon the ship with Heriulf was a Christian man from the
Hebrides; he it was who composed the Sea-Roller’s Song, which contains this stave:
“Mine adventure to the Meek One, Monk-heart-searcher, I commit now; He, who heaven’s halls
doth govern, Hold the hawk’s-seat ever o’er me!”
Heriulf settled at Heriulfsness, and was a most distinguished man. Eric the Red dwelt at
Brattahlid, where he was held in the highest esteem, and all men paid him homage. These were
Eric’s children: Leif, Thorvald, and Thorstein, and a daughter whose name was Freydis; she was
wedded to a man named Thorvard, and they dwelt at Gardar, where the episcopal seat now is.
She was a very haughty woman, while Thorvard was a man of little force of character, and
Freydis had been wedded to him chiefly because of his wealth. At that time the people of
Greenland were heathen.
Biarni arrived with his ship at Eyrar [in Iceland] in the summer of the same year, in the spring of
which his father had sailed away. Biarni was much surprised when he heard this news, and would
not discharge his cargo. His shipmates inquired of him what he intended to do, and he replied that
it was his purpose to keep to his custom, and make his home for the winter with his father; “and I
1
will take the ship to Greenland, if you will bear me company.” They all replied that they would
abide by his decision. Then said Biarni, “Our voyage must be regarded as foolhardy, seeing that
no one of us has ever been in the Greenland Sea.” Nevertheless, they put out to sea when they
were equipped for the voyage, and sailed for three days, until the land was hidden by the water,
and then the fair wind died out, and north winds arose, and fogs, and they knew not whither they
were drifting, and thus it lasted for many “doegr.” Then they saw the sun again, and were able to
determine the quarters of the heavens; they hoisted sail, and sailed that “doegr” through before
they saw land. They discussed among themselves what land it could be, and Biarni said that he
did not believe that it could be Greenland. They asked whether he wished to sail to this land or
not. “It is my counsel” [said he] “to sail close to the land.” They did so, and soon saw that the
land was level, and covered with woods, and that there were small hillocks upon it. They left the
land on their larboard, and let the sheet turn toward the land. They sailed for two “doegr” before
they saw another land. They asked whether Biarni thought this was Greenland yet. He replied that
he did not think this any more like Greenland than the former, “because in Greenland there are
said to be many great ice mountains.” They soon approached this land, and saw that it was a flat
and wooded country. The fair wind failed them then, and the crew took counsel together, and
concluded that it would be wise to land there, but Biarni would not consent to this. They alleged
that they were in need of both wood and water. “Ye have no lack of either of these,” says
Biarni¬a course, forsooth, which won him blame among his shipmates. He bade them hoist sail,
which they did, and turning the prow from the land they sailed out upon the high seas, with
south-westerly gales, for three “doegr,” when they saw the third land; this land was high and
mountainous, with ice mountains upon it. They asked Biarni then whether he would land there,
and he replied that he was not disposed to do so, “because this land does not appear to me to offer
any attractions.” Nor did they lower their sail, but held their course off the land, and saw that it
was an island. They left this land astern, and held out to sea with the same fair wind. The wind
waxed amain, and Biarni directed them to reef, and not to sail at a speed unbefitting their ship
and rigging. They sailed now for four “doegr,” when they saw the fourth land. Again they asked
Biarni whether he thought this could be Greenland or not. Biarni answers, “This is likest
Greenland, according to that which has been reported to me concerning it, and here we will steer
to the land.” They directed their course thither, and landed in the evening, below a cape upon
which there was a boat, and there, upon this cape, dwelt Heriulf, Biarni’s father, whence the cape
took its name, and was afterward called Heriulfsness. Biarni now went to his father, gave up his
voyaging, and remained with his father while Heriulf lived, and continued to live there after his
father.
Here Begins the Brief History of the Greenlanders
Next to this is now to be told how Biarni Heriulfsson came out from Greenland on a visit to Earl
Eric, by whom he was well received. Biarni gave an account of his travels [upon the occasion]
when he saw the lands, and the people though that he had been lacking in enterprise, since he had
no report to give concerning these countries; and the fact brought him reproach. Biarni was
appointed one of the Earl’s men, and went out to Greenland the following summer. There was
now much talk about voyages of discovery. Leif, the son of Eric the Red, of Brattahlid, visited
Biarni Heriulfsson and bought a ship of him, and collected a crew, until they formed altogether a
company of thirty-five men. Leif invited his father, Eric, to become the leader of the expedition,
but Eric declined, saying that he was then stricken in years, and adding that he was less able to
2
endure the exposure of sea life than he had been. Leif replied that he would nevertheless be the
one who would be most apt to bring good luck and Eric yielded to Leif’s solicitation, and rode
from home when they were ready to sail. When he was but a short distance from the ship, the
horse which Eric was riding stumbled, and he was thrown from his back and wounded his foot,
whereupon he exclaimed, “It is not designed for me to discover more lands than the one in which
we are now living, nor can we now continue longer together.” Eric returned home to Brattahlid,
and Leif pursued his way to the ship with his companions, thirty-five men. One of the company
was a German, named Tyrker. They put the ship in order; and, when they were ready, they sailed
out to sea, and found first that land which Biarni and his shipmates found last. They sailed up to
the land, and cast anchor, and launched a boat, and went ashore, and saw no grass there. Great ice
mountains lay inland back from the sea, and it was as a [tableland of] flat rock all the way from
the sea to the ice mountains; and the country seemed to them to be entirely devoid of good
qualities. Then said, Leif “It has not come to pass with us in regard to this land as with Biarni,
that we have not gone upon it. To this country I will now give a name, and call it Helluland.”
They returned to the ship, put out to sea, and found a second land. They sailed again to the land,
and came to anchor, and launched the boat, and went ashore. This was a level wooded land; and
there were broad stretches of white sand where they went, and the land was level by the sea. Then
said Leif, “This land shall have a name after its nature; and we will call it Markland.” They
returned to the ship forthwith, and sailed away upon the main with north-east winds, and were out
two “doegr” before they sighted land. They sailed toward this land, and came to an island which
lay to the northward off the land. There they went ashore and looked about them, the weather
being fine, and they observed that there was dew upon the grass, and it so happened that they
touched the dew with their hands, and touched their hands to their mouths, and it seemed to them
that they had never before tasted anything so sweet as this. They went aboard their ship again and
sailed into a certain sound, which lay between the island and a cape, which jutted out from the
land on the north, and they stood in westering past the cape. At ebb-tide, there were broad
reaches of shallow water there, and they ran their ship aground there, and it was a long distance
from the ship to the ocean; yet were they so anxious to go ashore that they could not wait until
the tide should rise under their ship, but hastened to the land, where a certain river flows out from
a lake. As soon as the tide rose beneath their ship, however, they took the boat and rowed to the
ship, which they conveyed up the river, and so into the lake, where they cast anchor and carried
their hammocks ashore from the ship, and built themselves booths there. They afterward
determined to establish themselves there for the winter, and they accordingly built a large house.
There was no lack of salmon there either in the river or in the lake, and larger salmon than they
had ever seen before. The country thereabouts seemed to be possessed of such good qualities that
cattle would need no fodder there during the winters. There was no frost there in the winters, and
the grass withered but little. The days and nights there were of more nearly equal length than in
Greenland or Iceland. On the shortest day of winter, the sun was up between “eykarstad” and
“dagmalastad.” When they had completed their house, Leif said to his companions, “I propose
now to divide our company into two groups, and to set about an exploration of the country. Onehalf of our party shall remain at home at the house, while the other half shall investigate the land;
and they must not go beyond a point from which they can return home the same evening, and are
not to separate [from each other]. Thus they did for a time. Leif, himself, by turns joined the
exploring party, or remained behind at the house. Leif was a large a powerful man, and of a most
imposing bearing¬a man of sagacity, and a very just man in all things.
3
Leif the Lucky Finds Men Upon a Skerry at Sea
It was discovered one evening that one of their company was missing; and this proved to be
Tyrker, the German. Leif was sorely troubled by this, for Tyrker had lived with Leif and his
father for a long time, and had been very devoted to Leif when he was a child. Leif severely
reprimanded his companions, and prepared to go in search of him, taking twelve men with him.
They had proceeded but a short distance from the house, when they were met by Tyrker, whom
they received most cordially. Leif observed at once that his foster-father was in lively spirits.
Tyrker had a prominent forehead, restless eyes, small features, was diminutive in stature, and
rather a sorry-looking individual withal, but was, nevertheless, a most capable handicraftsman.
Leif addressed him, and asked, “Wherefore art thou so belated, foster-father mine, and astray
from the others?” In the beginning Tyrker spoke for some time in German, rolling his eyes and
grinning, and they could not understand him; but after a time he addressed them in the Northern
tongue: “I did not go much further [than you], and yet I have something of novelty to relate. I
have found vines and grapes.” “Is this indeed true, foster-father?” said Leif. “Of a certainty it is
true,” quoth he, “for I was born where there is no lack of either grapes or vines.” They slept the
night through, and on the morrow Leif said to his shipmates, “We will now divide our labors, and
each day will either gather grapes or cut vines and fell trees, so as to obtain a cargo of these for
my ship.” They acted upon this advice, and it is said that their after-boat was filled with grapes. A
cargo sufficient for the ship was cut, and when the spring came they made their ship ready, and
sailed away; and from its products Leif gave the land a name, and called it Wineland. They sailed
out to sea, and had fair winds until they sighted Greenland and the fells below the glaciers. Then
one of the men spoke up and said, “Why do you steer the ship so much into the wind?” Leif
answers: “I have my mind upon my steering, but on other matters as well. Do ye not see anything
out of the common?” They replied that they saw nothing strange. “I do not know,” says Leif,
“whether it is a ship or a skerry that I see.” Now they saw it, and said that it must be a skerry; but
he was so much keener of sight than they that he was able to discern men upon the skerry. “I
think it best to tack,” says Leif, “so that we may draw near to them, that we may be able to render
them assistance if they should stand in need of it; and, if they should not be peaceably disposed,
we shall still have better command of the situation than they.” They approached the skerry, and,
lowering their sail, cast anchor, and launched a second small boat, which they had brought with
them. Tyrker inquired who was the leader of the party. He replied that his name was Thori, and
that he was a Norseman; “but what is thy name?” Leif gave his name. “Art thou a son of Eric the
Red of Brattahlid?” says he. Leif responded that he was. “It is now my wish,” says Leif, “to take
you all into my ship, and likewise so much of your possessions as the ship will hold.” This offer
was accepted, and [with their ship] thus laden they held away to Ericsfirth, and sailed until they
arrived at Brattahlid. Having discharged the cargo, Leif invited Thori, with his wife, Gudrid, and
three others, to make their home with him, and procured quarters for the other members of the
crew, both for his own and Thori’s men. Leif rescued fifteen persons from the skerry. He was
afterwards called Leif the Lucky. Leif had now goodly store both of property and honor. There
was serious illness that winter in Thori’s party, and Thori and a great number of his people died.
Eric the Red also died that winter. There was now much talk about Leif’s Wineland journey; and
his brother, Thorvald, held that the country had not been sufficiently explored. Thereupon Leif
said to Thorvald, “If it be thy will, brother, thou mayest go to Wineland with my ship; but I wish
the ship first to fetch the wood which Thori had upon the skerry.” And so it was done.
4
Thorvald Goes to Wineland [Vinland]
Now Thorvald, with the advice of his brother, Leif, prepared to make this voyage with thirty
men. They put their ship in order, and sailed out to sea; and there is no account of their voyage
before their arrival at Leifs-booths in Wineland. They laid up their ship there, and remained there
quietly during the winter, supplying themselves with food by fishing. In the spring, however,
Thorvald said that they should put their ship in order, and that a few men should take the afterboat, and proceed along the western coast, and explore [the region] thereabouts during the
summer. They found it a fair, well-wooded country. It was but a short distance from the woods to
the sea, and [there were] white sands, as well as great numbers of islands and shallows. They
found neither dwelling of man nor lair of beast; but in one of the westerly islands they found a
wooden building for the shelter of grain. They found no other trace of human handiwork; and
they turned back, and arrived at Leifs-booths in the autumn. The following summer Thorvald set
out toward the east with the ship, and along the northern coast. They were met by a high wind off
a certain promontory, and were driven ashore there, and damaged the keel of their ship, and were
compelled to remain there for a long time and repair the injury to their vessel. Then said Thorvald
to his companions, “I propose that we raise the keel upon this cape, and call it “Keelness”; and so
they did. Then they sailed away to the eastward off the land and into the mouth of the adjoining
firth and to a headland, which projected into the sea there, and which was entirely covered with
woods. They found an anchorage for their ship, and put out the gangway to the land; and
Thorvald and all of his companions went ashore. “It is a fair region here, said he; “and here I
should like to make my home.” They then returned to the ship, and discovered on the sands, in
beyond the headland, three mounds: they went up to these, and saw that they were three skin
canoes with three men under each. They thereupon divided their party, and succeeded in seizing
all of the men but one, who escaped with his canoe. They killed the eight men, and then ascended
the headland again, and looked about them, and discovered within the firth certain hillocks,
which they concluded must be habitations. They were then so overpowered with sleep that they
could not keep awake, and all fell into a [heavy] slumber from which they were awakened by the
sound of a cry uttered above them; and the words of the cry were these: “Awake, Thorvald, thou
and all thy company, if thou wouldst save thy life; and board thy ship with all thy men, and sail
with all speed from the land!” A countless number of skin canoes then advanced toward them
from the inner part of the firth, whereupon Thorvald exclaimed, “We must put out the war-boards
on both sides of the ship, and defend ourselves to the best of our ability, but offer little attack.”
This they did; and the Skrellings, after they had shot at them for a time, fled precipitately, each as
best he could. Thorvald then inquired of his men whether any of them had been wounded, and
they informed him that no one of them had received a wound. “I have been wounded in my
armpit,” says he. “An arrow flew in between the gunwale and the shield, below my arm. Here is
the shaft, and it will bring me to my end. I counsel you now to retrace your way with the utmost
speed. But me ye shall convey to that headland which seemed to me to offer so pleasant a
dwelling-place: thus it may be fulfilled that the truth sprang to my lips when I expressed the wish
to abide there for a time. Ye shall bury me there, and place a cross at my head, and another at my
feet, and call it Crossness forever after.” At that time Christianity had obtained in Greenland: Eric
the Red died, however, before [the introduction of] Christianity.
Thorvald died; and, when they had carried out his injunctions, they took their departure, and
rejoined their companions, and they told each other of the experiences which had befallen them.
They remained there during the winter, and gathered grapes and wood with which to freight the
5
ship. In the following spring they returned to Greenland, and arrived with their ship in Ericsfirth,
where they were able to recount great tidings to Leif.
Thorstein Ericsson Dies In The Western Settlement
In the mean time it had come to pass in Greenland that Thorstein of Ericsfirth had married, and
taken to wife Gudrid, Thorbrion’s daughter, [she] who had been the spouse of Thori Eastman, as
has been already related. Now Thorstein Ericsson, being minded to make the voyage to Wineland
after the body of his brother, Thorvald, equipped the same ship, and selected a crew of twentyfive men of good size and strength, and taking with him his wife, Gudrid, when all was in
readiness, they sailed out into the open ocean, and out of sight of land. They were driven hither
and thither over the sea all that summer, and lost all reckoning; and at the end of the first week of
winter they made the land at Lysufirth in Greenland, in the Western settlement. Thorstein set out
in search of quarters for his crew, and succeeded in procuring homes for all of his shipmates; but
he and his wife were unprovided for, and remained together upon the ship for two or more days.
At this time Christianity was still in its infancy in Greenland. [Here follows the account of
Thorstein’s sickness and death in the winter.] … When he had thus spoken, Thorstein sank back
again; and his body was laid out for burial, and borne to the ship. Thorstein, the master, faithfully
performed all his promises to Gudrid. He sold his lands and live stock in the spring, and
accompanied Gudrid to the ship, with all his possessions. He put the ship in order, procured a
crew, and then sailed for Ericsfirth. The bodies of the dead were now buried at the church; and
Gudrid then went home to Leif at Brattahlid, while Thorstein the Swarthy made a home for
himself on Ericsfirth, and remained there as long as he lived, and was looked upon as a very
superior man.
Of the Wineland Voyages of Thorfinn and His Companions
That same summer a ship came from Norway to Greenland. The skipper’s name was Thorfinn
Karlsefni. He was a son of Thord Horsehead, and a grandson of Snorri, the son of Thord of
Hofdi. Thorfinn Karlsefni, who was a very wealthy man, passed the winter at Brattahlid with Leif
Ericsson. He very soon set his heart upon Gudrid, and sought her hand in marriage. She referred
him to Leif for her answer, and was subsequently betrothed to him; and their marriage was
celebrated that same winter. A renewed discussion arose concerning a Wineland voyage; and the
folk urged Karlsefni to make the venture, Gudrid joining with the others. He determined to
undertake the voyage, and assembled a company of sixty men and five women, and entered into
an agreement with his shipmates that they should each share equally in all the spoils of the
enterprise. They took with them all kinds of cattle, as it was their intention to settle the country, if
they could. Karlsefni asked Leif for the house in Wineland; and he replied that he would lend it,
but not give it. They sailed out to sea with the ship, and arrived safe and sound at Leifs-booths,
and carried their hammocks ashore there. They were soon provided with an abundant and goodly
supply of food; for a whale of good size and quality was driven ashore there, and they secured it,
and flensed it, and had then no lack of provisions. The cattle were turned out upon the land, and
the males soon became very restless and vicious: they had brought a bull with them. Karlsefni
caused trees to be felled and to be hewed into timbers wherewith to load his ship, and the wood
was placed upon a cliff to dry. They gathered somewhat of all of the valuable products of the
land¬grapes, and all kinds of game and fish, and other good things. In the summer succeeding the
6
first winter Skrellings were discovered. A great troop of men came forth from out the woods. The
cattle were hard by, and the bull began to bellow and roar with a great noise, whereat the
Skrellings were frightened, and ran away with their packs, wherein were gray furs, sables, and all
kinds of peltries. They fled towards Karlsefni’s dwelling, and sought to effect an entrance into the
house; but Karlsefni caused the doors to be defended [against them]. Neither [people] could
understand the other’s language. The Skrellings put down their bundles then, and loosed them,
and offered their wares [for barter], and were especially anxious to exchange these for weapons;
but Karlsefni forbade his men to sell their weapons, and, taking counsel with himself, he bade the
women carry out milk to the Skrellings, which they no sooner saw than they wanted to buy it, and
nothing else. Now the outcome of the Skrellings’ trading was that they carried their wares away
in their stomachs, while they left their packs and peltries behind with Karlsefni and his
companions, and, having accomplished this [exchange], they went away. Now it is to be told that
Karlsefni caused a strong wooden palisade to be constructed and set up around the house. It was
at this time that Gudrid, Karlsefni’s wife, gave birth to a male child, and the boy was called
Snorri. In the early part of the second winter the Skrellings came to them again, and these were
now much more numerous than before, and brought with them the same wares as at first. Then
said Karlsefni to the women, “Do ye carry out now the same food which proved so profitable
before, and nought else.” When they saw this, they cast their packs in over the palisade. Gudrid
was sitting within, in the doorway, beside the cradle of her infant son, Snorri, when a shadow fell
upon the door, and a woman in a black namkirtle entered. She was short in stature, and wore a
fillet about her head; her hair was of a light chestnut color, and she was pale of hue, and so bigeyed that never before had eyes so large been seen in a human skull. She went up to where
Gudrid was seated, and said, “What is thy name?” “My name is Gudrid, but what is thy name?”
“My name is Gudrid,” says she. The housewife Gudrid motioned her with her hand to a seat
beside her; but it so happened that at that very instant Gudrid heard a great crash, whereupon the
woman vanished, and at that same moment one of the Skrellings, who had tried to seize their
weapons, was killed by one of Karlsefni’s followers. At this the Skrellings fled precipitately,
leaving their garments and wares behind them; and not a soul, save Gudrid alone, beheld this
woman. “Now we must needs takes counsel together,” says Karlsefni; “for that I believe they will
visit us a third time in great numbers, and attack us. Let us now adopt this plan. Ten of our
number shall go out upon the cape, and show themselves there; while the remainder of our
company shall go into the woods and hew a clearing for our cattle, when the troop approaches
from the forest. We will also take our bull, and let him go in advance of us.” The lie of the land
was such that the proposed meeting-place had the lake upon the one side and the forest upon the
other. Karlsefni’s advice was now carried into execution. The Skrellings advanced to the spot
which Karlsefni had selected for the encounter; and a battle was fought there, in which great
numbers of the band of the Skrellings were slain. There was one man among the Skrellings, of
large size and fine bearing, whom Karlsefni concluded must be their chief. One of the Skrellings
picked up an axe; and, having looked at it for a time, he brandished it about one of his
companions, and hewed at him, and on the instant the man fell dead. Thereupon the big man
seized the axe; and, after examining it for a moment, he hurled it as far as he could out into the
sea. Then they fled helter skelter into the woods, and thus their intercourse came to an end.
Karlsefni and his party remained there throughout the winter; but in the spring Karlsefni
announces that he is not minded to remain there longer, but will return to Greenland. They now
made ready for the voyage, and carried away with them much booty in vines and grapes and
peltries. They sailed out upon the high seas, and brought their ship safely to Ericsfirth, where
they remained during the winter.
7
Freydis Causes the Brothers to be Put to Death
There was now much talk about a Wineland voyage, for this was reckoned both a profitable and
an honorable enterprise. The same summer that Karlsefni arrived from Wineland a ship from
Norway arrived in Greenland. This ship was commanded by two brothers, Helgi and Finnbogi,
who passed the winter in Greenland. They were descended from an Icelandic family of the Eastfirths. It is now to be added that Freydis, Eric’s daughter, set out from her home at Gardar, and
waited upon the brothers, Helgi and Finnbogi, and invited them to sail with their vessel to
Wineland, and to share with her equally all of the good things which they might succeed in
obtaining there. To this they agreed, and she departed thence to visit her brother, Leif, and ask
him to give her the house which he had caused to be erected in Wineland; but he made her the
same answer [as that which he had given Karlsefni], saying that he would lend the house, but not
give it. It was stipulated between Karlsefni and Freydis that each should have on ship-board thirty
able-bodied men, besides the women; nut Freydis immediately violated this compact by
concealing five men more [than this number], and this the brothers did not discover before they
arrived in Wineland, they now put out to sea, having agreed beforehand that they would sail in
company, if possible, and, although they were not far apart from each other, the brothers, arrived
somewhat in advance, and carried their belongings up to Leif’s house. Now, when Freydis
arrived, her ship was discharged and the baggage carried up to the house, whereupon Freydis
exclaimed, “Why did you carry your baggage in here?” “Since we believed,” said they, “that all
promises made to us would be kept.” “It was to me that Leif loaned the house,” says she, “and not
to you.” Whereupon Helgi exclaimed, “We brothers cannot hope to rival thee in wrong dealing.”
They thereupon carried their baggage forth, and built a hut, above the sea, on the bank of the
lake, and put all in order about it; while Freydis caused wood to be felled, with which to load her
ship. The winter now set in, and the brothers suggested that they should amuse themselves by
playing games. This they did for a time, until the folk began to disagree, when dissensions arose
between them, and the games came to an end, and the visits between the houses ceased; and thus
it continued far into the winter. One morning early Freydis arose from her bed and dressed
herself, but did not put on her shoes and stockings. A heavy dew had fallen, and she took her
husband’s cloak, and wrapped it about her, and then walked to the brothers’ house, and up to the
door, which had been only partly closed by one of the men, who had gone out a short time before.
She pushed the door open, and stood silently in the doorway for a time. Finnbogi, who was lying
on the innermost side of the room, was awake, and said, “What dost thou wish here, Freydis?”
She answers, “I wish thee to rise and go out with me, for I would speak with thee.” He did so; and
they walked to a tree, which lay close by the wall of the house, and seated themselves upon it.
“How art thou pleased here?” says she. He answers, “I am well pleased with the fruitfulness of
the land; but I am ill-content with the breach which has come between us, for, methinks, there has
been no cause for it.” “It is even as thou sayest,” says she, “and so it seems to me; but my errand
to thee is that I wish to exchange ships with you brothers, for that ye have a larger ship than I,
and I wish to depart from here.” “To this I must accede,” says he, “if it is thy pleasure.” Therewith
they parted; and she returned home and Finnbogi to his bed. She climbed up into bed, and
awakened Thorvard with her cold feet; and he asked her why she was so cold and wet. She
answered with great passion: “I have been to the brothers,” says she, “to try to buy their ship, for I
wished to have a larger vessel; but they received my overtures so ill that they struck me and
handled me very roughly; what time thou, poor wretch, wilt neither avenge my shame nor thy
own; and I find, perforce, that I am no longer in Greenland. Moreover I shall part from thee
unless thou wreakest vengeance for this.” And now he could stand her taunts no longer, and
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ordered the men to rise at once and take their weapons; and this they yield. And they then
proceeded directly to the house of the brothers, and entered it while the folk were asleep, and
seized and bound them, and led each one out when he was bound; and, as they came out, Freydis
caused each one to be slain. In this wise all of the men were put to death, and only the women
were left; and these no one would kill. At this Freydis exclaimed, “Hand me an axe.” This was
done; and she fell upon the five women, and left them dead. They returned home after this
dreadful deed; and it was very evident that Freydis was well content with her work. She
addressed her companions, saying, “If it be ordained for us to come again to Greenland, I shall
contrive the death of any man who shall speak of these events. We must give it out that we left
them living here when we came away.” Early in the spring they equipped the ship which had
belonged to the brothers, and freighted it with all of the products of the land which they could
obtain, and which the ship would carry. Then they put out to sea, and after a prosperous voyage
arrived with their ship in Ericsfirth early in the summer. Karlsefni was there, with his ship all
ready to sail, and was awaiting a fair wind; and people say that a ship richer laden than that which
he commanded never left Greenland.
Concerning Freydis
Freydis now went to her home, since it had remained unharmed during her absence. She
bestowed liberal gifts upon all of her companions, for she was anxious to screen her guilt. She
now established herself at her home; but her companions were not all so close-mouthed
concerning their misdeeds and wickedness that rumors did not get abroad at last. These finally
reached her brother, Leif, and he thought it a most shameful story. He thereupon took three of the
men, who had been of Freydis’ party, and forced them all at the same time to a confession of the
affair, and their stories entirely agreed. “I have no heart,” says Leif, “to punish my sister, Freydis,
as she deserves, but this I predict of them, that there is little prosperity in store for their
offspring.” Hence it came to pass that no one from that time forward thought them worthy of
aught but evil. It now remains to take up the story from the time when Karlsefni made his ship
ready, and sailed out to sea. He had a successful voyage, and arrived in Norway safe and sound.
He remained there during the winter, and sold his wares; and both he and his wife were received
with great favor by the most distinguished men of Norway. The following spring he put his ship
in order for the voyage to Iceland; and when all his preparations had been made, and his ship was
lying at the wharf, awaiting favorable winds, there came to him a Southerner, a native of Bremen
in the Saxonland, who wished to buy his “house-neat.” “I do not wish to sell it,” says he. “I will
give thee half a ‘mork’ in gold for it,” says the Southerner. This Karlsefni thought a good offer,
and accordingly closed the bargain. The Southerner went his way with the “house-neat,” and
Karlsefni knew not what wood it was, but it was “mosur,” come from Wineland.
Karlsefni sailed away, and arrived with his ship in the north of Iceland, in Skagafirth. His vessel
was beached there during the winter, and in the spring he bought Glaumboeiar-land, and made his
home there, and dwelt there as long as he lived, and was a man of the greatest prominence. From
his and his wife, Gudrid, a numerous and goodly lineage is descended. After Karlsefni’s death
Gudrid, together with her son Snorri, who was born in Wineland, took charge of the farmstead;
and, when Snorri was married, Gudrid went abroad, and made a pilgrimage to the South, after
which she returned again to the home of her son Snorri, who had caused a church to be built at
Glaumboeiar. Gudrid then took the veil and became an anchorite, and lived there the rest of her
days. Snorri had a son, named Thorgeir, who was the father of Ingveld, the mother of Bishop
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Brand. Hallfrid was the name of the daughter of Snorri, Karlsefni’s son: s…