ABSTRACT
Parallel studies of the commercial relations of Bruges with Flanders and the neighbouring provinces, with Holland, Great Britain, France, Spain and Italy, constitute one-half of the book. The poorters of Bruges dominated the Hanse of London, which, with its two minor branches of Ypres and Lille, monopolized Flemish trade with England, and their members were alone eligible to municipal office in Bruges. The legislation restricting the export of food and raw material offers a close parallel to that of England, and may have been partly prompted by it, though it is more naturally explained as part of a general movement of European opinion. The granting of licences and dispensations to exporters was an inevitable counterpart of the policy, and it is interesting to observe that, just at the moment when such licences were coming into more extensive use and abuse in England, the Scots Parliament was passing Acts to prohibit or restrict them.
