In the year 1354 we have a regular account of such exports and imports as
paid duty; from which it appears, that there were exported 31,651 sacks of
wool, 3036 cwt. of woad, sixty-five wool-fells, 4774 pieces of cloth, and
8061 pieces of worsted stuff; and there were imported 1831 pieces of fine
cloth, 397 cwt. of wax, and 1829 tuns of wine, besides linen, mercery,
groceries, &c. As tin, lead, and several other articles are not enumerated,
it may be inferred that they paid no duty. In the year 1372 there is the
earliest record of direct trade with Prussia. As the woollen manufactures
of England began to flourish, the importation of woollen cloths necessarily
diminished; so that, in the act of 1378, reviving the acts of 1335 and 1351
for the encouragement of foreign merchants, though cloth of gold and
silver, stuffs of silk, napery, linen, canvas, &c. are enumerated as
imported by them, woollen cloth is not mentoned. The trade to the Baltic
gradually increased as the ports in the north of England, particularly
Newcastle, rose in wealth. In 1378 coals and grindstones were exported from
this place to Prussia, Norway, Schonen, and other ports of the Baltic. Soon
afterwards, in consequence of some disputes between the Prussians and
English, a commercial treaty was formed between the Grand Master of Prussia
and Edward III.
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