DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.57079#0019
THE LEVANT COMPANY
3
the other more general articles must have
yielded a good profit too. These included
such goods as silk, cotton, and glass ; and of
these latter, perhaps the trade in silk was the
most important.
A variety of causes brought it about that
the Venetian trade with England gradually
declined. There was first of all the commer-
cial and naval policy of Henry VII, who
desired English ships to have a share in the
wine trade. This led to a quarrel with
Venice,7 who, intent on preserving the mono-
poly she enjoyed, levied an extra duty of
4 Ducats or 18 shillings on every Butt of
Malmsey exported from Candia in foreign
ships. In 1492 Henry retaliated by an Act
of Parliament 8 which fixed 126 gallons as the
precise amount of wine to be contained in
every Butt ; fixed the price of the Butt at 4
pounds sterling, and compelled every alien
importer to pay an extra 18 shillings 9 per
butt as import duty. The Act was to be in
7 Compare Statutes of the Realm, 7° Hen. VII,
chapter 7, preamble.
8 70 Henry VII, cap. 7.
9 Cf. also 8. P. D. James I. vol. 15, No. 4.
3
the other more general articles must have
yielded a good profit too. These included
such goods as silk, cotton, and glass ; and of
these latter, perhaps the trade in silk was the
most important.
A variety of causes brought it about that
the Venetian trade with England gradually
declined. There was first of all the commer-
cial and naval policy of Henry VII, who
desired English ships to have a share in the
wine trade. This led to a quarrel with
Venice,7 who, intent on preserving the mono-
poly she enjoyed, levied an extra duty of
4 Ducats or 18 shillings on every Butt of
Malmsey exported from Candia in foreign
ships. In 1492 Henry retaliated by an Act
of Parliament 8 which fixed 126 gallons as the
precise amount of wine to be contained in
every Butt ; fixed the price of the Butt at 4
pounds sterling, and compelled every alien
importer to pay an extra 18 shillings 9 per
butt as import duty. The Act was to be in
7 Compare Statutes of the Realm, 7° Hen. VII,
chapter 7, preamble.
8 70 Henry VII, cap. 7.
9 Cf. also 8. P. D. James I. vol. 15, No. 4.