ABSTRACT
Derived from Old French merchand and its variants, and used to designate a person who earned a living by purchasing and selling goods that were manufactured or produced by someone else, ‘merchant’ was an ambiguous word in the early modern period, used not only to describe those involved in commercial transactions but also to criticise individuals whose background and behaviour questioned notions of status or political allegiance. As individuals who dealt with money and were motivated by profit, merchants could be associated with serving lowly or dishonourable functions. Late medieval and Tudor authors often presented the figure of the merchant as a dubious character, usually in the form of a self-seeking fraudster or usurer who tricked his business partners and clients. In Newes from the north (1579), a work inspired by Piers Plowman, the author complained that ‘it is as hard for a Merchant to be no Liar and for a Taverner or Inholder to be no drunkard’. 1
