Silver and glass in medieval trade and cultural exchange between Bohemia and Venice

"The paper originated in the framework of a research project related to the precious metal transfer from Bohemia to Italy and to the role of gold and silver nominals of Bohemian origin in the money in circulation of late medieval Italy. The project is co-ordinated by Prof. Lucia Travaini (University of Milan) and follows in my previous analysis of the 13th century hoard of Fuchsenhof (Upper Austria). The first aim is to clarify what conditions preceded the long-distance trade development between Bohemia and Venice on the turn of the 14th century and to verify Peter Spufford´s presumption that Prague was the only East-Central European city which profited from the 13th century trade revolution. The paper is based on the confrontation of written documents, originated at the Prague royal court and in Venice (the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, the Maggior Consiglio, the Zecca), with Italian and Islamic glass finds in Bohemia and Moravia. The analysis of these sources refers to the connection between reforms of coins, weights and measures, realized in the 1260s and 1270s from the decision of Přemysl II Ottokar, King of Bohemia (1253-1278) and Duke of Austria (1251-1276), in the Czech and Alpine lands, and legal and administrative changes, carried out at the same time at the Zecca and the Fondaco dei Tedeschi, as well as to Ottokar´s control of most important towns situated on the way to Venice (Aquileia, Cividale, Pordenone, Treviso, Feltre, Verona) as a background for the development of mutual trade contacts. The paper gives evidence of a close relationship between the Venetian mint production and the “German” silver supply, largely originated from the Iglau mine district. The second aim is to point to the fact that this long-distance trade had a cultural dimension. The archaeological finds from the Czech lands support a direct connection between exported silver bullion and imported Islamic and Italian glass, linked to a high dining culture focused on a wine consumption. This luxury glass, dated back to the 1280s – 1350s, is known not only from Prague but also from Brno (Brünn), Jihlava (Iglau) and from some other places. The role of the Italian community in the Czech lands seems to have been increased around 1300 when Bohemian silver started to be re-exported from Venice to Florence and when the Venetians were replaced by the Florentines in Central Europe, not only in Bohemia but also in Hungary. The confrontation of these findings with later merchant diaries proved that the model of trade contacts between Bohemia and Venice, established during the second half of the 13th century and characterized by a struggle of the Italian and South German merchants for the intermediary role in silver supply, has lasted almost two centuries. "