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Wed 12 April
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Thu 13 April
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Fri 14 April
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Sat 15 April
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Saturday 15 April 2023 11.00 - 13.00
K-14 ECO03b Maritime Transport in Northern Europe, 14th-17th Centuries (Viabundus II)
C22
Network: Economic History Chair: Tapio Salminen
Organizer: Bart Holterman Discussants: -
Kasper Andersen : Connecting a World of Water. The Role of Ferries in Late Medieval and Early Modern Denmark
Denmark is dominated by water. The sea encloses the Danish lands, where only the peninsula of Jutland is directly connected to mainland Europe, and rivers as well as bays and fjords penetrate both the peninsula and the many islands or various sizes. Considering this maritime topography, it may appear obvious ... (Show more)
Denmark is dominated by water. The sea encloses the Danish lands, where only the peninsula of Jutland is directly connected to mainland Europe, and rivers as well as bays and fjords penetrate both the peninsula and the many islands or various sizes. Considering this maritime topography, it may appear obvious that ferries played a crucial role in the infrastructure of late medieval and early modern Denmark. This was the case up until the 20th century, when ferries all over Denmark were replaced by bridges. Research on the ferries connecting Denmark in pre-modern times is, however, very limited, and the Danish Viabundus sub-project represents the first attempt to register the numerous ferries within the Danish realm c. 1350-1650. As part of the digital mapping of the late medieval and early modern road network, around 100 ferries have been confirmed. Based on this registration it is now possible to conduct more substantial research into the economic, political, and social roles of the ferries. Thus, this paper represents the first attempt to unfold the character and social significance of the stable network of ferries in late medieval and early modern Denmark.
It is, of course, difficult to define when a boat or ship was considered a ferry in pre-modern times. One may define ferries as any kind of vessel departing on a regular basis from a permanent location, and carried people, cargo and vehicles across water for payment. Following this definition, it has become clear that many ferries within the Danish realm were an essential part of the Danish infrastructure from the 13th century onwards, and that the most important ferries belonged to the king, and always departed from ports in the most important Danish towns. In this paper the focus will be on the social history of the historical Danish ferries. By discussing the late medieval and early ferries within the Danish realm as a social phenomenon, the paper seeks to illuminate a subject which up until now has not received much scholarly attention. The paper will touch upon questions such as:
- Who were the royal privileged ferrymen?
- What were the social implications of ferries in their local urban or rural communities?
- How did people, who were not included in the social and political elite, benefit from stable ferry routes?
- What can be said about the price developments for using ferries?
- How were ferries integrated in the general maritime and land-based route network? (Show less)

Bart Holterman : Modelling Late Medieval and Early Modern Sea Routes in the North Sea Area
The sea can be theoretically travelled anywhere, as long as enough water depth for a vessel is provided. This makes the mapping of maritime travel routes challenging. Land routes and inland waterways, which are more or less fixed in the landscape by geographical limitations such as relief, bodies of water ... (Show more)
The sea can be theoretically travelled anywhere, as long as enough water depth for a vessel is provided. This makes the mapping of maritime travel routes challenging. Land routes and inland waterways, which are more or less fixed in the landscape by geographical limitations such as relief, bodies of water and marshes, and the fact that it is easier to follow previously established tracks, are well mappable with the use of old maps or traces in the modern landscape. By contrast, sea routes seldom appear on maps and leave no trace on the sea surface, nor are they fixed. Instead, navigation depends on many factors such as wind, waves, currents, the size and form of ships, technical development of ships and navigation instruments, tradition, knowledge and experience of the navigator, etc.

This paper will explore the various methods that can be used for mapping sea routes in the period 1350-1650, with a focus on the North Sea area. The objective is to include these routes as a geospatial network model in the Viabundus online street map, which can be used for calculations such as sailing times and costs. It will look at the possibilities of digital modelling with GIS, as well as at sources that can supply information about actual routes travelled. Next to historical written sources and sea charts, underwater archaeological evidence might be used to accurately reconstruct premodern sailing routes. (Show less)

Niels Petersen : The Sea Port as Destination of Land Transport and the Organisation of Transshipment
Ports always played a vital role in the expansion of long-distance trade. Here, goods are transferred from one means of transport to another - on the one hand from land to water, on the other hand also from smaller inland vessels to large sea-going ships. Numerous complex processes of a ... (Show more)
Ports always played a vital role in the expansion of long-distance trade. Here, goods are transferred from one means of transport to another - on the one hand from land to water, on the other hand also from smaller inland vessels to large sea-going ships. Numerous complex processes of a technical and administrative nature were associated with the handling of goods. In order to fulfil these tasks properly, ports were technical ensembles that required regular investments by town governments. At the same time, those governments had to act in order to prevent harbours from silting or to maintain control over the estuary or bay and thus guarantee a safe movement of ships. As a rule, these investments were at least partially financed by the levying of port fees or transit duties. In order to secure the levy of customs and other duties, and to control the traffic that went through the port, local governments set up institutions such as the customs officer, the scale or the crane or the service of porters whose use was compulsory.
Ports are regularly seen as being oriented towards maritime traffic, and long-distance trade in the area that was dominated by the trade of the hanseatic merchants, that is in the time under consideration the Baltic and North Sea. Research as well has been focussed on maritime transport. But it is obvious that ports had a specific catchment area on land as well, not only socially and economically, but also physically. The corresponding infrastructure, such as roads and related elements such as inns and wheelwrights, as well as a transportation system, could bring the goods produced in the region to the respective port and at the same time distribute the imported goods to the buyers in inland towns. In the process, toll collectors along the main transport routes also benefited indirectly. They therefore had an interest in promoting and protecting traffic and stay in control of the roads.
Using freight papers and customs registers among other sources, the paper tries to show how land transport and maritime transport interrelated. Questions asked include:
1. How did the transition of good from land-bound to sea-bound transport exactly happen and which institutions and agents were involved?
2. In terms of transaction costs: How much time did the change of transport modes need, i.e., how long did the commodities stay in the port? Which costs did the loading and unloading produce?
3. In how far is it possible to map this transition between land and water in spatio-temporal data, and ultimately to measure and analyse it? (Show less)



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