ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses of two trades that are import of wine and the export of woollen cloth. Second, the analysis will show that, even when private commercial records are not available, it is possible to gain some insight into the likely extent of smuggling in particular commodities. More importantly, following the financial crisis at Antwerp in 1550, the Merchant Adventurers, with Crown support, sought to limit and regulate the amount of cloth exported from England, with the aim of both increasing the price of English cloth abroad and ensuring greater financial stability. This graph shows that declared broadcloth exports fell sharply in the first decade of the sixteenth century, following the end of the boom the cloth trade had enjoyed during the last two decades of the fifteenth century. First, the discussion of tax evasion/avoidance in the wine trade revealed that the incentive to engage in illicit trading activities varied depending on the circumstances of the merchant.
