Sitric Silkenbeard
Abstract THE UNSKILLED SAILOR will frequently find himself shipwrecked,” Dudo of St. Quentin sagely warns, “just as the merchant who is not skillful at purchasing or bargaining will be ruined:’ This little observation in the midst of a panegyric on the Norman dukes illustrates the increasing importa...
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | unknown |
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Oxford University PressNew York, NY
2005
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195162370.003.0005 https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/51978715/isbn-9780195162370-book-part-5.pdf |
| Summary: | Abstract THE UNSKILLED SAILOR will frequently find himself shipwrecked,” Dudo of St. Quentin sagely warns, “just as the merchant who is not skillful at purchasing or bargaining will be ruined:’ This little observation in the midst of a panegyric on the Norman dukes illustrates the increasing importance of commercial aptitude in the equation of political success. What was true along the banks of the Seine was equally applicable farther north, on the shores of the Irish Sea. The years around the first millennium witnessed an increasing prosperity throughout northern Europe. Villages and ship forts were developing into towns, and these towns were becoming economically important. The expansion of commercial activity around the North Atlantic benefited from changes in the climate since the ninth century. The improvement was pronounced by the beginning of the eleventh century. Winters were milder and the growing season was extended. Ships had more time to sail to lands around the Arctic Circle with less danger from drift ice, a particular worry for Icelanders. Agricultural productivity grew as farms were established up to the utmost limits of arable cultivation, and cereal cultivation increased to feed an expanding population with more wealth to spend on goods. |
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