A 'Handelspraktik' (mercantile manual) from Upper Germany and mercantile knowledge around 1500

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Gerhard Fouquet
• Subject Area: Medieval History
• Term: from 2016 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 284225552

The project focuses on a 'Handelspraktik' from Upper Germany, which was probably created in 1511. It is preserved in manuscript at the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel today (signature: Cod. Guelf. 18.4. Aug. 4o). The scientific term 'Handelspraktik' refers to a type of pragmatic texts of the late Middle Ages and the early Modern Period presenting mercantile knowledge like a compendium for individual or internal use (i.e. notebooks) or distribution within a greater circle of users (i.e. manuals). While mercantile notebooks have emerged since the late thirteenth and manuals since the fifteenth century in Italy, the 'Handelspraktik' of the Wolfenbüttel library is one of the earliest examples for corresponding texts in German-speaking regions. Among other things, this handbook contains information on market conditions and commercial customs, prices and cost calculations, as well as currencies, measurements and weights together with their conversion. The main focus of the text is on the trade with Venice. In addition, particular attention is given to Augsburg and Nuremberg, to a much lesser extent to Frankfurt. Until today, we do not know who compiled the text, but it probably originates from Augsburg.In recent times 'Handelspraktiken' have attracted increasing interest with regard to economic history, yet, there are still substantive shortcomings in research on them. Significantly, the Wolfenbüttel manuscript has been known to the research community for a long time. Up to today, however, there has been no detailed examination of this source that is of great importance for the history of Upper German trade. The project uses the text in order to analyze the mercantile knowledge of the time around 1500, with it being very specialized practical and procedural knowledge, i.e. application-oriented knowledge, which is studied from three analytical perspectives, closely linked with each other: production (processes and conditions of formation), order (contents and their connections), presentation (techniques and forms of dissemination). Systematic comparisons with other 'Handelspraktiken', especially from Upper Germany, but also from Northern Italy and from regions of Northern Germany and the Netherlands, are methodically necessary. Accordingly, by investigating dependencies, analogies and differences, it will be possible to gain insights concerning constitution and composition, continuities and changes, pragmatics and timeliness, in a word: the dynamics of mercantile knowledge in the decades around 1500. With an exemplary focus on the 'Handelspraktik' from 1511, which is especially significant in terms of time, extent and content, as well as by means of its comparative contextualization, an essential part of the development of mercantile knowledge during the transition from the late Middle Ages to the early Modern Period will be uncovered.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Sven Rabeler