London's Changing Market c.1500-1700

            The capacity and influence of London’s markets in the early sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was primarily dictated by the irrefutable advantages of establishing a flourishing system of commerce that exploited England’s burgeoning status as a profiteer in international trade. Substituting the traditional, yet archaic guild system, the advent of trade companies and modernized monetary practices, prompted the large scale economic growth that would eventually fulfill England’s ambition to ascertain a worldwide empire.

            The decline of the guild system is primarily attributed to the widening divisions between entrepreneurs and skilled artisans and the commercial and industrial capitalists. As England’s investments in international trade improved, the jurisdictions of the various guilds became compromised by the reallocation of monetary and municipal boundaries that had previously been  irresolute.<Fisher> As the marketplace shifted to accommodate the growing demands for worldwide commercial trade, expansive conglomerates referred to as trade companies, became the primary executors of London’s economic dealings around the world. England’s initial forays into international trade have been recorded as a trial and error process in which the outcome was often times negative. London’s rural producers were skeptical of corporations and their definite influence over England’s emergent economy. In order to appease corporate investors and localized traders a compromise was formatted to effectively identify two fundamental principles that satisfied all competing economic interests: monopolies and chartered companies. <Fisher>

            Whereas monopolies effectively granted exclusive trading rights on certain exported goods and materials, chartered companies were the primary institution responsible for expanding London’s economic boundaries. Chartered companies represented the interests of not only merchants, but also the wealthy investors who funded expeditions with eventual aspirations of exploiting new sources of raw materials and potential trading partners. The Folger online exhibition asserts that “Incorporations bestowed a charter and a legal personality. Cities and craft and trade companies were alike corporate bodies with legal standing- and all depended on the royal prerogative.” <Folger> In accordance to England’s ventures in international trade, a few prominent companies were rewarded royal charters and were financed directly by the king or queen. King James and King Charles are notable for liberally extending royal support to various trading companies looking to market their goods outside of London’s immediate boarders.

     Once England had successfully established itself as a competitor in international commerce the question then became how to effectively market the exotic goods that were being acquired as a result of monopolies and chartered companies. In 1569 Sir Thomas Gresham convinced the city to purchase land and personally funded the construction of the Royal Exchange.  Designed to accommodate both the private and public economic interests of the city, the Royal Exchange constituted a commercial hub in which London consumers invested in domestic and foreign merchandise. By collaborating with the Dutch, England’s chief trading partner, the Royal Exchange was perhaps most successful in alleviating the trepidations that existed between traditional economic practices and England’s advancement in international trade. <Folger>