At York, on Fossgate, the Merchant Adventurers' Hall is the largest timber-framed building in the UK still used for its original function. The heart of the great northern trade, it was the setting of York's merchant power — a power that a charter of Elizabeth I, in 1581, raised to the rank of monopoly.
The merchant heart of York
The great hall was built from 1357 to 1361 by a confraternity of York merchants. This vast timber vessel, with its medieval roof, its chapel and its hospice (undercroft), served at once as a place of meeting, of trade and of charity — the guild managing its affairs, its devotion and aid to its needy members. At a time when York was one of the great cities of the realm, this hall embodied the wealth and organisation of its trading bourgeoisie.
Elizabeth's charter (1581)
The turning point came under Elizabeth I. In 1581, the queen granted by charter to the confraternity the status of 'Company of Merchant Adventurers of the City of York': the 'adventurers' in the sense of the time were the merchants who 'adventured' (risked) their capital in the export trade to the continent. The charter conferred on them the monopoly of export, notably of cloth, to the European markets. This royal privilege made the York company one of the great actors of Elizabethan trade. Exceptionally, the guild has never ceased to exist and still sits in its medieval hall. To see: the Great Hall with its timber roof, the chapel, the hospice (undercroft) with its original posts, the collections of silver, furniture and portraits of the company.
Did you know?
The word 'adventurer' in 'Merchant Adventurers' has nothing to do with adventure in the modern sense: it means the merchant who 'adventured' — that is, risked — his money in distant trade, without guarantee of return. To export cloth to Antwerp or Hamburg in Elizabethan times was to face storms, piracy, wars and bankruptcies: the trader was indeed an adventurer, staking his fortune on each cargo.
Notes
Merchant Adventurers' Hall lies on Fossgate, York, North Yorkshire; a monument open to the public, still the seat of the company (today charitable). Hours to check.
Quiz
- What did Elizabeth I grant the York guild in 1581?
- The status of Company of Merchant Adventurers (export monopoly)
- A noble title
- A cathedral
- What did the Merchant Adventurers 'risk'?
- Their capital in the export trade
- Only their lives at sea
- Nothing
- What is exceptional about this hall?
- The largest timber-framed building still used for its original function
- It is of marble
- It is underground