An Episode of the Trade War in Flanders in the Early 16th Century (Letter About Spanish Alum From the Collection of Academician Nikolai Likhachev)

This is a translation of a letter from King Ferdinand II the Catholic of Castile and Aragon to Margaret of Austria, Stadtholder of the Habsburg Netherlands, regarding the sale in Flanders of alum from Murcia. This document, dated 1511, is valuable for the history of alum mining in Murcia, as the early 16th century is rather poorly represented in the sources. An analysis of the historical context of the letter’s appearance allows us to see the diversity of social, political, and economic relations associated with the production and sale of alum in late medieval Europe. Alum has long been used as a mordant in dyeing fabrics. In the Middle Ages, the County of Flanders, the leader in European textile production, became the main market for alum. Until 1453, Flanders’ needs for this raw material were fully met by alum from Asia Minor. However, the Ottoman conquests forced European rulers to look for their own alum deposits. The largest of these was Tolfa in the Papal States. The Papacy and its agents sought to monopolize the alum market in Flanders. At the same time as Tolfa, alum mines were discovered in Murcia. They were less intensively exploited, but by the end of the 15th century the quantity and quality of Murcian alum allowed their suppliers to enter European markets. The published source testifies to the efforts of the Marquis de Los Velez, one of the owners of alum mines in Murcia, to resist the papal monopoly. The publication is accompanied by a map of the alum deposits of the Mediterranean exploited by the beginning of the 16th century.