Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Defining Jurisdictional Frameworks for Maritime and Coastal Activities: The Example of the Atlantic Ports of the Kingdom of France in the Second Half of the Middle Ages
- 2 Basque Stevedoring and Cargo Handling Infrastructures (14th–16th Centuries)
- 3 Port Structures and Cargo Handling in Asturias and Galicia (13th–16th Centuries)
- 4 Slave Trade and Northern Portuguese Seaport Operations in the Sixteenth Century
- 5 Transport and Shipping in the Portuguese Northern Border in the Sixteenth Century
- 6 Anchorages, Infrastructures and Stevedoring in Medieval Atlantic Andalusia
- 7 Ports and Port Labour in Tenerife during the Transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age
- Conclusions: The Port Phenomenon of Medieval Atlantic Europe
- Sources and Bibliography
- Index
6 - Anchorages, Infrastructures and Stevedoring in Medieval Atlantic Andalusia
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 May 2021
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Defining Jurisdictional Frameworks for Maritime and Coastal Activities: The Example of the Atlantic Ports of the Kingdom of France in the Second Half of the Middle Ages
- 2 Basque Stevedoring and Cargo Handling Infrastructures (14th–16th Centuries)
- 3 Port Structures and Cargo Handling in Asturias and Galicia (13th–16th Centuries)
- 4 Slave Trade and Northern Portuguese Seaport Operations in the Sixteenth Century
- 5 Transport and Shipping in the Portuguese Northern Border in the Sixteenth Century
- 6 Anchorages, Infrastructures and Stevedoring in Medieval Atlantic Andalusia
- 7 Ports and Port Labour in Tenerife during the Transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern Age
- Conclusions: The Port Phenomenon of Medieval Atlantic Europe
- Sources and Bibliography
- Index
Summary
ABSTRACT. During the Late Middle Ages port infrastructures were, for the most part, very precarious. Landing and cargo handling facilities were in many cases limited to fragile timber structures or beaches and riverbanks. These were frequently poorly fitted and dangerous sites, chiefly due to the persistent silting of waterways that was aggravated by the negligence of operators. On the Andalusian Atlantic littoral, this situation became a great nuisance for communities throughout the fifteenth century in their bid to partake in the economic prosperity stemming from the flourishing mercantile activities. Extant documentation for some of these port enclaves has allowed us to analyse the interventions of the different authorities –including the monarchy, seigneurial nobility, municipal councils and ecclesiastic institutions – to mitigate these deficiencies.
Port Infrastructures in the Late Middle Ages
The fifteenth century witnessed the flourishing and development of maritime commerce on the coast of Atlantic Andalusia. From that moment on, the region became one of the more dynamic and attractive markets in Europe. This scenario was determined by several interconnected factors. First, the strategic position along the international commercial routes made this area an obligatory stopping point for merchants connecting the Mediterranean and the Atlantic. Second, rich fertile lands made this area one of the main exporters of staple goods for the European medieval markets: cereal from the countryside of Seville and Jerez de la Frontera; oil, mainly from the Sevillian Aljarafe region; and wine, in particular from Jerez and the Sierra Norte mountains of Seville. Finally, another element that stimulated the development of the Andalusian littoral was the establishment of numerous foreign communities, attracted to this region for the reasons mentioned above. The majority hailed from other regions within the Iberian Peninsula. They were people of the sea, mostly shipmasters from the Cantabrian seaboard and the Portuguese Algarve, and merchants from the Crown of Aragon. Others came mostly from the Italian peninsula (namely Genoa), Flanders or England. They were fewer in number but highly influential in terms of the development of credit and the export of Andalusian goods.
The vast Andalusian littoral, with an extension of almost 300 kilometres from the river Guadiana on the border with Portugal, to the Strait of Gibraltar, possessed natural features that favoured the establishment of significant port enclaves.
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- Ports in the Medieval European AtlanticShipping, Transport and Labour, pp. 117 - 140Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2021