The “Golden City” under Embargo: Prague's International Trade during the Hussite Wars, 1420–1436

Abstract

AbstractAfter the outbreak of the First Hussite Wars (spring 1420), the Hussite capital Prague faced—at least in theory—a total embargo on all trade and commerce. However, trade evidently continued in spite of this embargo. The present article systematically assesses our knowledge on this trade and highlights articles, geographical structures and agents of long-distance trade to and from the Czech metropolis during the war, thus furthering our knowledge about the economic history of early fifteenth-century Central Europe in general. Furthermore, the author uses the example of the anti-Hussite embargo to address important and hitherto largely-neglected methodological questions concerning the analysis of medieval trade prohibitions in general.