Trade fairs, cities and merchants (1350-1600)

About the exhibition

Trade fairs played a decisive role in trade in pre-modern Europe. Not only did they play a key role in trade and payment transactions for supra-regional merchants and banking houses, they also had considerable economic significance for the cities that hosted them. However, the trade fairs, which were mainly located in cities, also competed with each other. They therefore tried to attract traders by various means (e.g. tax breaks or ideal infrastructure). This led to repeated reconfigurations of the fairs, not least in the wake of the opening up of trade and the import of goods from outside Europe, as well as increasing market integration.

The exhibition traces the history of European fairs from the mid-14th to the early 17th century. On display are documents and objects that were created or used in the context of fairs and fair trade. The selection was made by members of the Franco-German research project ‘CoMOR: Configurations of European Fairs: Merchants, Objects, Routes (ca. 1350-1600)’. In line with this research focus, the cities and fairs referred to are mainly located in French, German, Swiss, and Italian areas. The time frame of the project was interpreted generously, especially when certain objects or documents were only available in museums or archives from the period after 1600.

The exhibition makes archival materials, objects and research data available for teaching, research and the interested public. It was developed as part of the CoMOR project at the Universities of Erfurt and Lyon 2 / ENS Lyon and was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR). The main objective of the research project was to gain a better understanding of the constantly changing configurations of fairs and the reasons for their development. The study examined the geography and chronology of fairs, the role of the authorities in organising these large periodic markets, the trade routes used by merchants and transport companies (carriers) by water and land, and the integration process of the goods and financial markets.

Opening hours: Weekdays, all day (during teaching and working hours)