| Abstract [eng] |
The aim of this paper / work is to present an overview of the features of Vilnius city trade in the end of XIVc – the middle of XVIIc. Based on archaeological materials, 4 main tasks were raised in this paper: 1. To evaluate the work inventory, used by merchants in Vilnius and describe the dynamics of its changes in time. 2. To find out the assortment of imported goods and their source. 3. To analyse the impact of the money circulation to the city trade - its features and dynamics. 4. To localise the trading sites, show their variety and changes and reconstruct the image of Vilnius city hall square – the main trading site. Archaeological materials show that the trade in Vilnius developed in line with the whole country, development of which was influenced by political and cultural changes in the city and the rest of Lithuania. More intence relationship between trading and money formed only in the last quarter of the XIVc. Local trade was specifically encouraged by introduction of coins in the country. Production of own coins stimulated retail trade, i.e., daily trading developed among the residents of Vilnius and surroundings. Both, commoners as well as nobleman started using coins as means of payment for small scale trade. Together with the process of introduction of coins in Vilnius, the flow of the imported goods has started; firstly of textile products, which were the most important goods, apart from the food and spices. In the end of XVc. the new type of work means / tools (such as counting equipment, and from the middle of the XVIc. weighting) were in use in Vilnius. From the middle of XVIc. such tools were already produced locally. In the mddle of XVc. the main trade site formed in the city hall square, which remained the main trading site during the whole period, analysed in this paper. Some trade infrastructure already begins to form in the city hall square in the middle of XVIc: the trade places are located according to the type of goods, the places for the retail staff (such as money exchangers) start appearing, as well as the garbage utilisation sites. Trade in Vilnius in the end of XVIc – 1st half of XVIIc. has encountered a critical moment, which was caused by revolution of prices and inflation – a common phenomen in Europe. As the circulation of the money shows, Vilnius was not protected from the turnaround of the meaningless and foreign coins. A different trend is also noticed – together with the circulation of such meaningless coins there was an increase in the flow of cheaper goods produced in the neighbouring countries rather than in the farther foreign countries. This shows that the trade during that period started to regress. |
