"GREEK" MERCHANTS IN THE SAXON TOWNS OF TRANSYLVANIA IN THE LATE MIDDLE AGES
Maria Pakucs (Bucharest/Budapest)
The Saxon towns of southern Transylvania, namely Brasov (Brassó/Kronstadt) and Sibiu (Nagyszeben/Hermannstadt) developed into major economic centers of the commercial traffic between Central Europe and the Balkan Peninsula, having Wallachia as a significant trading partner within a regional trade. Strongly supported by the economic policy of Ludovic of Anjou, these two towns, in 1369 and 1378 respectively, were granted privileges against all foreign merchants arriving at their markets. Diplomatic sources, however, give the impression that the staple right was held important particularly in connection with traders coming from Wallachia, who were dealing in the what is called "oriental trade".
The staple right was closely connected with:
1. mandatory roads, the official roads as opposed to the vias falsas
2. customs points
3. the mandatory deposit of goods
4. the exclusive sale of the merchandise wholesale
5. the Vorkausfrecht of the local (Saxon) merchants.
The towns organized the necessary framework for the proper functioning of all mechanisms needed for the staple and made sure to regulate how the goods brought by foreign merchants were sold and bought in the town. Beginning with the sixteenth century, the foreign merchants par excellence were the Wallachian and "Greek" (i.e. Ottoman subjects living in Wallachia). Both Brasov and Sibiu established a merchants' house (Wirt), a sort of a fondaco for these Wallachian and "Greek" merchants. This presentation will focus on how these merchants' houses functioned and on how the town notables strove to control the exchange of goods between foreign and local merchants.
The reluctance of the Transylvanian Saxon towns to accept foreigners in their community is a more complex issue and will not be treated in depth, however it must be mentioned that this closedness of the cities was very strict towards certain foreigners and very permeable to others. I will illustrate this point with examples of foreign families, although of German origin, which managed to enter the upper layers of the social structures of these towns and occupy leading positions in their government within the first generation. The success story of the Haller family is one of the most significant ones.